Tales of life in the missions around the world.
By Pope Leo XIV, OSV News (OSV News) — The following is the full text of the “urbi et orbi” blessing given by Pope Leo XIV on Christmas Dec. 25, 2025. Dear brothers and sisters, “Let us all rejoice in the Lord, for our Savior has been born in the world. Today, true peace has come down to us from heaven” (Entrance Antiphon, Christmas Mass ...
By John Keegan, M.M. The Nativity of the LordDecember 25, 2025Isaiah 62:1-5; Acts 13:16-17, 22-25; Matthew 1:1-25 Celebrating Christmas is a matter of allowing our joy to be touched by painful realization. For the fleeting moments of celebration, our attention is drawn to the saving power of gentleness and innocence. But, the world beyond our celeb...
By Fredrick Nzwili, OSV News (OSV News) — Catholics in northwestern Nigeria are celebrating just days before Christmas, as the last group of students kidnapped from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri has been freed. Church officials confirmed that the remaining 130 students were released on Dec. 21, ending a monthlong ordeal that began when m...
By OSV News (OSV News) — In a sign of closeness as Christmas approaches, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, accompanied by the Latin Patriarchal Vicar Bishop William Shomali and a small delegation, arrived in Gaza Dec. 19 for a pastoral visit to the Holy Family Parish. During his visit, he planned to “review the cur...
By Louis and Janet Tullo, Maryknoll Affiliates Fourth Sunday of Advent December 14, 2025 Isaiah 7:10-14 | Psalm 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 | Romans 1:1-7 | Matthew 1:18-24 Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.”— Matthew 1:23 Last year, the Gospel reading for today focused o...
By Stephan Uttom Rozario, CNA Father Robert T. McCahill, a Maryknoll missioner who works in health care for poor, disabled people in Bangladesh, marks 50 years of service in the country this December. Over his five decades in Bangladesh, Father McCahill has served in 13 administrative districts in the Muslim-majority nation, spending three years in...
By Paulina Guzik, OSV News (OSV News) — As 2025 draws to a close, the plight of persecuted Christians around the world remains dire — and in many places, deeply forgotten. The year has exposed how fragile religious freedom is, even as the faithful strive to survive with courage, hope and community. Regina Lynch, executive director of Aid to the...
By David Agren, OSV News (OSV News) — Chile’s bishops’ congratulated José Antonio Kast for claiming the South American country’s election, but called for the president-elect to “promote an environment of dialogue, encounter, and respect, essential for rebuilding social trust” amid deep divisions and rising concerns over crime and migra...
By Sithu Kyi, UCA News A deadly airstrike by Myanmar’s military on a hospital in Rakhine state has killed at least 35 people, mostly patients and injured dozens, sparking strong condemnation at home and abroad. The Dec. 10 strike on Mrauk-U District General Hospital in the city of Mrauk-U came during attempts by government forces to reclaim terri...
By Sarah Bueter, MKLM Is. 35:1-6a, 10 | Jas. 5:7-10 | Mt. 11:2-11 Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. — Matthew 1:11 In this Sunday’s reading from the Gospel According to Matthew, John the Baptist waits in expectation from his...
By Ines San Martin, OSV News (OSV News) — As Dec. 12 approaches, millions of pilgrims are converging on the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of the most visited Marian shrines in the world. The feast honoring the Virgin of Guadalupe — celebrated across the Americas and in the Philippines — is again drawing crowds far beyond Mexico’s b...
By Fredrick Nzwili, OSV News (OSV News) — A Catholic bishop in South Sudan appealed for peace, respect of human life and the protection of civilians in Sudan, as the town of Kalogi, South Kordofan region, reeled from the deaths of over 100 people killed in drone strikes. According to reports the drones struck the al-Hanan kindergarten while stude...
By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Pope Leo XIV reiterated the importance of dialogue and his hopes for a just and lasting peace in the region. “In addition, the questions of prisoners of war and the need to assure the return of Ukrainian children to their families we...
