OSV Newscast

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Maggie Murray of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for August 25, 2026. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

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1. Pope Leo XIV told members of Spain's Marsodeto Federation that recognizing Christ in the faces of people with disabilities helps society grow, praising their 45 years of service to more than 2,600 people.
2. Archbishop Paul Gallagher arrived in Moscow for a four-day diplomatic visit as European leaders gathered in Kyiv for Ukraine's independence anniversary, reflecting the Vatican's commitment to keeping dialogue open.
3. Father Thomas Esposito of Our Lady of Dallas Cistercian Abbey published "Blue Miles," a debut novel following an elderly monk through a single day and exploring both the joys and struggles of monastic life.
4. Jesuit Father Robert Spitzer's new "Science, Reason, and Faith: Catholic Study Bible" aims to show that science and faith are complementary, addressing a leading reason young Catholics leave the Church.
5. A new Iona Institute report found Catholic baptisms in Ireland fell nearly 30 percent over the past decade, driven by declining birth rates and accelerating secularization.

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Maggie Murray of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for August 24, 2026. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

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1. Pope Leo XIV called for a culture of love and mercy to overcome hatred, suspicion and the “culture of power,” urging people to challenge unjust structures and become courageous pioneers of change.
2. A year after the shooting at Annunciation Catholic School and Church in Minneapolis, Molly and Matt Stommes reflect on the tragedy and the meaningful, practical support their family and community have received.
3. Hundreds of Catholics gathered in Houston for a Mass, prayer procession and candlelight vigil honoring Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, with Church leaders and his family calling for compassion, accountability and justice.
4. Two months after devastating earthquakes struck northern Venezuela, the Catholic Church continues its spiritual and humanitarian response as Archbishop Jesús González de Zárate emphasizes hope, mercy and solidarity with survivors.
5. Young Catholics in the Washington Archdiocese say invitations, authentic relationships, belonging, clear teaching and keeping Christ at the center can help draw their peers to the Church and give them reasons to stay.

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Gina Christian of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for Aug. 21, 2026. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

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• Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis presided Aug. 19 at Mass ahead of a panel discussion with members of Minneapolis' Annunciation Catholic School community recounting their experiences following a fatal shooting during an all-school Mass Aug. 27, 2025. 
• All mosaics created by disgraced former Jesuit artist Father Marko Rupnik on the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary in Lourdes will be covered ahead of Pope Leo XIV's September visit and remain hidden indefinitely.
• Pope Leo XIV is urging lawmakers worldwide to establish strong guardrails for artificial intelligence, warning that unchecked technological progress risks eroding human dignity.
• Pope Leo XIV met with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the Vatican on Aug. 20 as church officials voiced deep concern over stalled efforts to secure peace along the Lebanon-Israel border.
• Catholic education is "an act of hope" that demands a holistic commitment from parents, clergy and teachers to form children in the truth of Christ's love, said Bishop Earl K. Fernandes of Columbus, Ohio. 

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Maggie Murray of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for August 20, 2026. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

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1. Pope Leo XIV called war and environmental destruction symptoms of a deeper moral crisis in his message for the World Day of Prayer for Creation, urging a spiritual conversion that redirects resources from destruction to caring for the poor.
2. Arizona's Supreme Court issued a second ruling on clergy-penitent privilege, prompting canon law experts to clarify that while conversations outside the confessional may lose legal protection, the sacramental seal of confession itself remains absolutely inviolable.
3. Eighty clergy from the Archdiocese of Bogotá departed on a five-day "Spiritual First Aid" mission to earthquake-devastated Colombian cities, offering prayer, pastoral support and reconciliation to survivors as the death toll reached 319.
4. Papal nuncio Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas told OSV News that prayer remains Ukraine's "number one weapon" against Russian aggression, warning that spiritual despair would be a more tragic defeat than the war itself.
5. Thousands gathered along Louisiana's Bayou Teche for the Fête-Dieu du Teche, a 40-mile Eucharistic boat procession retracing the path of exiled Acadian Catholics and celebrating both the Assumption and Cajun heritage.

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Gina Christian of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for Aug. 19, 2026. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

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• A shooting in a Jesuit-run school in the Philippines, which saw a student kill a fellow student before killing himself, sparked shock and reignited alarm over juvenile delinquency and campus security. 
• Pope Leo XIV and church leaders in Poland and Hungary are mourning 12 Polish pilgrims killed in a bus crash in eastern Hungary while returning from the Marian shrine of Medjugorje.
• Singing and playing music during the liturgy is an integral and necessary part of the celebration, which means it is much more than something "decorative," Pope Leo XIV said. 
• Technology use is commonplace in U.S. Catholic schools, but as more studies show the harms of heavy tech use in the classroom and beyond, some schools are starting to pull back. 
• Pope Leo XIV has appointed three U.S.-based consultors, all with ties to the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, to the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. 

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Maggie Murray of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for August 18, 2026. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

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1. Pope Leo XIV offered prayers and consolation for Zimbabwe after an overloaded ferry capsized on Lake Kariba, killing at least 92 people, with local bishops coordinating pastoral care for grieving families.
2. Residents of Taybeh, the West Bank's last fully Christian village, face escalating settler harassment and threats to their olive harvest, prompting Pope Leo XIV to renew his call for a two-state solution.
3. USCCB education director John DeJak highlighted the nation's nearly 5,800 Catholic schools serving 1.7 million students as a new school year begins, emphasizing parents' obligation to form children in the faith.
4. Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller announced the laicization and excommunication of Father John Mary Foster, found guilty of schism for calling Popes Francis and Leo XIV "usurpers" and defying archdiocesan authority.
5. Ahead of Archbishop Fulton Sheen's September beatification, OSV News highlighted the largely forgotten women who sustained his missionary fundraising operation for sixteen years as national director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.

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Maggie Murray of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for August 17, 2026. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

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1. Pope Leo XIV said true beauty is found in enduring love rather than worldly aesthetics during his Feast of the Assumption homily, pointing to weary parents and devoted grandparents as modern reflections of Mary's love.
2. Pope Leo XIV expressed deep sadness and offered spiritual solidarity to Indonesia after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake killed at least 53 people and displaced nearly 5,500, prompting the Archdiocese of Ende to move Masses outdoors.
3. Pope Leo XIV renewed his call to end escalating West Bank violence and pursue a two-state solution after Israeli settler attacks surged against Taybeh, one of the region's last Christian villages.
4. LCWR president Sister Vicky Larson urged Catholic sisters to "lead by listening" as their annual Orlando assembly closed, with Sister Debra Sciano beginning her term as the new president representing two-thirds of US women religious.
5. More than 2,000 Catholic Scouts gathered for an outdoor Mass at Scouting America's National Jamboree in West Virginia, with Bishop Evelio Menjívar calling the joyful liturgy "always a sign of hope."

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Maggie Murray of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for August 14, 2026. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

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1. Florida's Catholic bishops urged Governor Ron DeSantis to commute William Silvia's August 18th execution to life without parole, citing Church teaching that "every human life, given by God, is sacred."
2. Iowa's four Catholic dioceses formed the Iowa Catholic Scholarship Granting Organization to help families access a new federal education tax credit offering up to $1,700 for K-12 scholarship donations starting in 2027.
3. An Australian court convicted former Bishop Christopher Saunders of 13 counts of sexually abusing three young Aboriginal men, prompting the Vatican to resume its paused canonical investigation.
4. Pope Leo XIV called on the world to prioritize the dignity of vulnerable migrant children in his World Day of Migrants and Refugees message, warning of trafficking, conflict recruitment and sexual violence along transit routes.
5. The Vatican released its first euro coin set featuring Pope Leo XIV's portrait, marking his pontificate's start and the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi's death.

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Maggie Murray of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for August 13, 2026. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

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1. The Supreme Court set November 3rd for oral arguments in St. Mary Catholic Parish v. Roy, a case over whether Colorado's universal preschool program can exclude Catholic preschools based on their religious beliefs.
2. Arizona's Supreme Court unanimously ruled that courts must defer to church doctrine in defining what qualifies as a "confession," a decision Catholic dioceses say bolsters protection for the seal of confession.
3. Jordan is investing $120 million to prepare Al-Maghtas, the site of Christ's Baptism, for millions of pilgrims expected for the 2,000th anniversary of the event in 2030.
4. Pope Leo XIV sent an initial 100,000 euros in emergency Vatican aid to Colombia as the earthquake death toll climbed to at least 265, with additional resources being prepared for long-term recovery.
5. The Dominican friar band Hillbilly Thomists released their sixth album, "Strange Land," while touring ten cities, wrapping up in Nashville on the feast of St. Dominic.

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Maggie Murray of OSV News catches you up on the Catholic news of the day for August 12, 2026. Tune in and visit us online at osvnews.com.

Read the stories in this episode:

1. Bishop Thomas Paprocki, four Catholic doctors and a Lutheran nursing home sued Illinois to block a new physician-assisted suicide law from taking effect September 12th, arguing it violates religious and free-speech protections.
2. Pope Leo XIV urged sisters gathered at the Leadership Conference of Women Religious to actively foster vocations, pointing to "a growing hunger for God" among young people despite widespread secularization.
3. A Spanish Christian legal group filed a formal complaint after intruders desecrated tabernacles and a relic of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque at a Madrid parish, demanding the incident be investigated as a religious hate crime.
4. Bishops' conferences across Latin America pledged prayers and humanitarian aid for Colombia as the death toll from Sunday's magnitude 7.4 earthquake surpassed 250, with CELAM coordinating relief for displaced and indigenous communities.
5. Pope Leo XIV called Sunday "the foundation and kernel" of the liturgical year, urging Catholics and employers alike to prioritize conditions that allow everyone to attend Sunday Mass.