Nation & World

The skull of St. Zdislava of Lemberk, a 13th-century Dominican laywoman whose remains have been venerated by pilgrims for centuries, is seen in an undated photo at the Basilica of St. Lawrence and St. Zdislava in Jablonne v Podjestedi, a small Czech town 70 miles north of Prague. On May 12, 2026, a thief slipped into the basilica just before evening Mass, smashed the glass reliquary and escaped in a flash with the saint’s skull. On May 15, police announced they had recovered the relic and found the thief. (
Police recover beloved saint's relic taken in brazen theft that shocked Czech Catholics
A young man bows his head in prayer during Holy Thursday’s Mass of the Lord's Supper at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican April 17, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
Young men are struggling to find purpose and vocation
Catholic media mogul Jimmy Lai, founder of Apple Daily, leaves the Court of Final Appeal by prison van in Hong Kong Feb. 9, 2021. On Dec. 15, 2025, three government-vetted judges found Lai, 78, guilty of conspiring with others to collude with foreign forces to endanger national security and conspiracy to publish seditious articles. He had pleaded not guilty to all charges. On Feb. 9, 2026, Lai was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. (OSV News photo/Tyrone Siu, Reuters)
Catholics await word on Jimmy Lai as Trump meets Xi in Beijing
A statue depicting the Sacred Heart of Jesus is seen at Sacred Heart Church in the North End neighborhood of Boston April 22, 2026. (OSV News photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)
US bishops' consecration of nation to Sacred Heart of Jesus affirms 'our reliance on God'
Pope Leo XIV blesses children with disabilities as he arrives to lead his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican May 13, 2026. (OSV News photo/Simone Risoluti, Vatican Media)
Pope remembers attempt on St. John Paul, calls Mary the Church's 'perfect model'
Pope Leo XIV gives his blessing to participants in the Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers after Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican July 29, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
Pope Leo XIV's encyclical on artificial intelligence is coming: Here's what he has said on AI so far
On the steps of Pope Leo XIV’s boyhood home in Dolton, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, the Midwest Augustinians outgoing superior, Father Anthony B. Pizzo, blesses the crowd after blessing the framed portrait of Pope Leo held by the chairman of the Pope Leo XIV American Legacy Foundation, Vince Kolber, while Village of Dolton Mayor Jason House and his staff bow their heads. (OSV News photo/Simone Orendain)
First-ever pilgrimage celebrates Pope Leo with Mass, visits to papal boyhood landmarks
Participants of the "Witness to Hope: Pastoral Care of Immigrant Communities" summit at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit May 6, 2026, pray over Daris Bartolon and her daughter, Maddeline. Daris and her daughter fled their native Guatemala in order to get away from her domestic abuser. She has a court date June 1 to hear her plea for asylum. (OSV News photo/Valaurian Waller, special for Detroit Catholic)
3rd 'Witness to Hope' summit focuses on how Church can better support, protect immigrants
Pope Leo XIV poses with Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim during the Roman Curia's annual Lenten retreat in the Pauline Chapel at the Vatican Feb. 22, 2026. The Norwegian bishop was chosen by Pope Leo to preach at the Lenten retreat, which ran from Feb. 22 to 27, and reflected on the theme, "Illuminated by a Hidden Glory." (OSV News photo/Simone Risoluti, Vatican Media)
Bishop Varden on hope, AI, patience -- and not weaponizing Christianity
A demonstrator holds a placard during a protest outside the Supreme Court May 15, 2025. On April 1, 2026, the court will hear oral arguments in Trump v. Barbara, a challenge to an executive order by President Donald Trump ending birthright citizenship. (OSV News photo/Leah Millis, Reuters)
As justices consider birthright citizenship, displaced mom says her US-born child 'should belong'
Pope Leo XIV speaks as he visits the Pontifical Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Pompeii near Naples, Italy, before celebrating Mass in the piazza outside May 8, 2026, on the first anniversary of his election as the first American pontiff. He visited 400 sick and disabled people inside of the shrine. (OSV News photo/Simone Risoluti, Vatican Media)
'My soul magnifies the Lord!': Pope Leo marks anniversary of election at Marian shrine in Pompeii
Lord of the Flies on Netflix
"Lord of the Flies," streaming, Netflix
An American flag is displayed as Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, waves as he arrives to celebrate his inauguration Mass at the Vatican May 18, 2025. He is the first American pope in history. (OSV News photo/Andy Abeyta, Reuters)
'Peace be with you all': Pope Leo's first words were a roadmap for his first year
Pope Leo XIV and Marco Rubio
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Pope Leo XIV discuss Iran war at Vatican meeting
Pope Leo XIV greets a young boy from the popemobile in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican before leading his weekly general audience May 6, 2026. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
The Church must speak clearly, decisively against all evil, pope says
A pilgrim prays near the Marian shrine of Fatima in central Portugal May 12, 2019. Pilgrims to Fatima today will find a beautiful campus of churches, monuments, plazas and other buildings that have been built up around the site where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in 1917. (OSV News photo/Pedro Nunes, Reuters)
Shrines in Portugal and US are centers of devotion and prayer to Our Lady of Fatima
Pope Leo XIV greets Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, as he meets with the agency's directors May 4, 2026, in the Consistory Hall of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican. (OSV News photo/Mario Tomassetti, Vatican Media)
Pope Leo XIV meets with Catholic Charities USA leadership, urges mission of compassion
Retired Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Joseph N. Perry sits next to a portrait of the first African American priest of the U.S., Father Augustus (Augustine) Tolton, during the announcement April 29, 2026, on the shrine to the priest planned for St. Boniface Church in Quincy, Ill. (OSV News photo/courtesy Diocese of Springfield)
National shrine planned to honor Venerable Augustus Tolton in western Illinois
Michael Flatley, star of the internationally acclaimed Irish dance shows "Lord of the Dance" and "Riverdance," greets Pope Leo XIV at the end of the pope's general audience on April 29, 2026, at St. Peter's Square (OSV News photo/Vatican Media)
Lord of the Dance meets Shepherd of the Flock: Michael Flatley greets Pope Leo XIV at Vatican
In this OSV News composite image, Father Robert P. Boxie III, chaplain at the Sister Thea Bowman Catholic Student Center at Howard University in Washington, and Father Gary R. Studniewski, pastor of Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Washington, are pictured in undated photos. Both priests were appointed by Pope Leo XIV as auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Washington May 1, 2026. (OSV News composite image/photos courtesy Archdiocese of Washington)
Pope appoints two auxiliaries for Washington, accepts resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Campbell
Pope Leo XIV prays in front of a fresco of Our Lady of Good Counsel at the shrine named after the image in Genazzano, Italy, southeast of Rome, May 10, 2025. In a video message released April 30, 2026, by the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network, the pope called on Catholics worldwide to confront the problem of food insecurity with both prayer and concrete action. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope Leo's prayer intention for May: 'That everyone might have food'
Candles are seen around a statue of Mary in the grotto at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France in this file photo. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Six times Mary appeared to encourage, admonish or inspire the faithful
Pope Leo XIV looks through the main telescope of the Vatican Observatory in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, alongside U.S. Jesuit Father David A. Brown, an astronomer, July 20, 2025. The Vatican Observatory announced April 29, 2026, that an asteroid has been named in honor of Pope Leo XIII, who formally re-established the observatory in 1891. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Four asteroids just got named for Pope Leo XIII, Vatican astronomers
People come into the sanctuary of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, Minn., after Mass April 23, 2026, to venerate the Madre Peregrina, a statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe that was brought to the Twin Cities from Mexico City. Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis presided at the Mass with Auxiliary Bishops Michael J. Izen and Kevin T. Kenney concelebrating. A local mariachi band played during and after Mass. (OSV News photo/Dave Hrbacek, The Catholic Spirit)
Madre Peregrina statue on US tour brings message of hope, peace and joy, bishop says
Father Nikodemus Schnabel, then spokesman for the Benedictine Dormition Abbey on Mount Zion in Jerusalem’s Old City, is pictured Jan. 23, 2022. Now abbot, the priest warned in address to Aid to the Church in Need April 24, 2026, the Christian population that has borne the brunt of war and economic hardship is slowly diminishing. OSV News photo/Debbie Hill)
Benedictine abbot warns of Holy Land becoming 'Christian Disneyland'
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