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Peter Jesserer Smith, national news editor of OSV News, catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for Sept. 9, 2025, the feast of St. Peter Claver. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

In this episode:

• The White House has launched an initiative calling upon people to pray for the nation as part of the upcoming celebration of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.
  
  
• St. Petersburg Bishop Gregory L. Parkes announced that his "1,000,000 Acts of Mercy Challenge" had exceeded its goal within the diocese and through acts of kindness sometimes extending far beyond its boundaries. 
  
  
• Auxiliary Bishop Pedro Bismarck Chau has made history in Newark, New Jersey,  as the first Nicaraguan-born bishop in the United States.
   
• The "whole situation" in the Middle East "is very serious," Pope Leo XIV told reporters after Israel launched an attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar.
  
  
• St. Francis of Assisi composed a poem that turns 800 in 2025 and remains familiar today, inspiring hymns, art and the titles of two of Pope Francis' documents on integral ecology.

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Gina Christian of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for Sept. 8, 2025 (the Blessed Mother's birthday!). Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

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Gina Christian of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for Sept. 5, 2025. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

In this episode:

• As lawmakers returned to Washington Sept. 2 from their August recess, they faced a familiar deadline: Passing legislation to fund the federal government after Sept. 30 to prevent a shutdown -- a major concern for Catholic advocates of the poor and vulnerable.
  
  
• Italian police say they’ve prevented what could have been a deadly attack at one of the country’s most cherished Catholic traditions. 
  
  
• As Israeli military operations in Gaza continued, Pope Leo XIV met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the Vatican. 
  
  
• The future Christians hope for and must build "is not one of walls and barbed wire, but one of mutual acceptance," Pope Leo XIV told young adult Catholics from more than a dozen Mediterranean countries.
  
  
• One of the first parishes in North America to bear the name "Carlo Acutis" is hosting multiple "Carlo Fest" events related to the first millennial to become a saint ahead of his canonization Sept. 7. 
  
  
• Thousands will gather in St. Peter's Square Sept. 7 for the highly anticipated canonization of two modern saints, Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. Here's where to watch. 

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Gina Christian of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for Sept. 4, 2025. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

In this episode:

• After the deadly Aug. 27 mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis during a liturgy marking the start of the school year, lawmakers are weighing what -- if any -- legislative response may follow. 
  
  
• Those who are religiously unaffiliated are less likely to hold spiritual beliefs or engage in religious practices -- but in a number of countries, many such "nones" have nuanced beliefs.
  
  
• "We are brothers and sisters and Christ calls us to be Christ for one another," Archbishop Mark S. Rivituso told the faithful gathered at the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile for his Sept. 3 installation as Alabama's new archbishop.
  
  
• Pope Leo extended condolences to Portugal, which is in mourning after a tragic accident on one of Lisbon's most iconic landmarks, the Elevador da Glória funicular streetcar.
  
  
• The human longing for love is not a sign of weakness but demonstrates that no one is completely self-sufficient and that salvation comes from letting oneself be loved and assisted by God, Pope Leo XIV said.

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Gina Christian of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for Sept. 3, 2025. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

In this episode:

• Blessing her forehead and both hands with holy water from Lourdes, France, as she lay unconscious in a hospital bed in Minneapolis, Auxiliary Bishop Michael J. Izen of St. Paul and Minneapolis prayed for 12-year-old Sophia Forchas, left in critical condition with head injuries when bullets tore through Annunciation's church in Minneapolis one week before. 
  
  
• Law enforcement officials arrested an Alabama man after he allegedly made criminal threats against a Catholic church in Orange County, California, and a cache of ammunition and body armor was found in his vehicle, authorities said.
  
  
• An Irish missionary held hostage in Haiti has been freed after nearly a month in captivity. 
  
  
• Pope Leo XIV publicly called on the leaders of Sudan's warring factions to negotiate an end to the violence and to ensure aid can reach desperate civilians.
  
  
• Pope Leo XIV turns 70 on Sept. 14, and OSV News is celebrating by gathering a host of prayers into a very special "spiritual birthday bouquet" for the Holy Father. The best part? Everyone can participate. 

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Gina Christian of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for Sept. 2, 2025. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

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What words can address the unspeakable? OSV News sat down with Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis following the deadly Aug. 27, 2025 mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, where two children were slain and more than a dozen injured, with the suspect dying of suicide. The archbishop shares how amid unfathomable darkness, the light of faith leads to a place of hope and healing.

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Gina Christian of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for Aug. 28, 2025. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

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Gina Christian of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for Aug. 27, 2025. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

In this episode:

• A deadly mass shooting took place the morning of Aug. 27 at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis shortly after the start of the school day -- the first Catholic school affected since the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.
  
  
•  Pope Leo XIV sent his "heartfelt condolences and the assurance of spiritual closeness" to all those affected by the "terrible tragedy" of the Catholic school shooting in Minneapolis.
  
  
• A federal judge in Maine declined on Aug. 25 to prevent the government from stripping Medicaid funding from a network of abortion providers in Maine, a decision greeted by the state's Catholic bishop.
  
  
• The 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina marks a call to "renew our commitment to racial equity and justice in every sector of public life," said two U.S. Catholic bishops. 
  
  
• Bishop Paul Tighe, a top official at the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education, is urging caution on artificial intelligence -- warning that its hidden environmental costs, impact on jobs, and broader social risks can’t be overlooked.

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Gina Christian of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for Aug. 26, 2025. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

In this episode:

• President Donald Trump said at an Aug. 26 Cabinet meeting that capital punishment will be sought for all murders in Washington, D.C. 
  
  
• Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national and Maryland resident at the center of a high-profile immigration case, surrendered to U.S. immigration authorities in Baltimore on Aug. 25, and faces possible deportation to Uganda.
  
  
• Every Catholic at Mass, but especially the altar servers, should rejoice that they are in the presence of Jesus, Pope Leo XIV said. 
  
  
• Catholic leaders from multiple organizations are calling for an immediate ceasefire and an end to Israeli attacks on Gaza, amid ongoing civilian casualties, famine and threats of forced population transfers. 
  
  
• A Nebraska pastor, deeply moved by an elderly man who prayed during the night for his daughter who had left the Catholic Church, told OSV News he founded The St. Monica Project to support parents and others praying for their loved ones to return to the Catholic faith.