OSV News

A group of Ukrainian youth have made a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, asking Mary to bring peace as Russia doubles down on its 11-year war in Ukraine and brutally targets civilians.

A religious sister best known for helping more than 100,000 migrants and asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border in southern Texas was in Chicago April 15 to share her artwork nationally for the first time and reiterate a message of love.

On a cold day in January of 2000, Sister Joaquína Hernández Pereira rode in the back of a truck, laden with supplies and religious habits, into a rural town in the mountainous region of Oaxaca, Mexico. She had a near-impossible mission ahead of her.

The religious sister experienced an expulsion described by the court as "infamous and vexatious," without having committed "the slightest offense," and on the basis of "non-established motives," adding she was "sent back to lay life without mercy." The ruling was made public April 3.

Sisters from the Russian Orthodox convent of St. Elizabeth the Royal Martyr in Minsk, Belarus, said they have received a warm welcome in Ireland despite their country's support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Ireland's strong support for Ukrainians.

Catholic Extension Society recently honored Dominican Sister Jane Meyer, former head of school at St. Agnes Academy, with its seventh annual Houston Spirit of Francis Award for her decades of commitment to Catholic education and promotion of social justice.

Catholic leaders and local officials condemned Feb. 23 an attempt by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to shut down a Catholic nonprofit serving migrants and asylum-seekers at the Southern border, calling it an abuse of power and a violation of religious liberty.

On Feb. 22, the Sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great were formally presented with the 2023-24 Lumen Christi Award, the highest honor conferred by Catholic Extension.

Srs. Juliana Alfonso and Nicole Daly ran a 13.1-mile half marathon in Naples, Florida, Jan. 14, wearing full habits. The two Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco finished the race in 2 hours, 21 minutes. 

A new report shows a continued decrease in the number of permanent vocations to consecrated life in the U.S. — but key factors such as family life, devotional practices, Catholic education and personal encouragement can positively impact those numbers.

Six nuns from the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Anne were kidnapped Jan. 19 while traveling on a bus in the country's capital, Port-au-Prince, according to the Haitian Conference of Religious.

As the nation marks National Human Trafficking Awareness Day Jan. 11, women religious in the U.S. are combating modern slavery with prayer and education.

As part of the ongoing safeguarding reform in the church in France, Conférence des Religieux et Religieuses de France adopted an official charter to guarantee better governance within communities and avoid potential abuse of authority.

Catholic Sr. Agatha Chikelue and Muslim woman Alhaja Bola Usman are building the Nigeria Women of Faith Peacebuilding Network to stand up against violence and to search for peaceful coexistence in their country.

Three orders of women religious were honored for their long ministry of education, pastoral outreach and witness to the Gospel.

The City Council passed a resolution Oct. 30 honoring the Oblate Sisters of Providence for their 194 years of service. The resolution, supported by the Archdiocese of Baltimore, was presented on the 191st anniversary of the death of Oblate Sr. Anthony Duchemin.

In many ways, Sr. Norma Pimentel, a Missionary of Jesus, has become the face of the Catholic response to migrants in the Rio Grande Valley, where she leads Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Brownsville.

The abbot president of the Benedictines' Solesmes Congregation in France came to Vermont to give the abbatial blessing to the first abbess of the newly designated Immaculate Heart of Mary Abbey in Westfield.

"This whole synodal approach is really consistent with the deepest spiritual traditions within the church. How did they work out what to do at the First Council of Jerusalem?"