International News

As Barcelona prepares for the centenary of Antoni Gaudí’s death in 2026, renewed attention is focusing not only on the famed Spanish architect’s genius but also on the deep Catholic faith that shaped his life and work.

While the religiously unaffiliated are on the rise globally, something curious is also happening: Some American dioceses are reporting significant upticks in adults preparing to enter the Catholic Church this Easter.

An agreement has been reached with Israeli authorities to allow Holy Week and Easter celebrations to take place at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Cardinal Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, and Franciscan Father Francesco Ielpo, the custos of the Holy Land, were prevented from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre by Israeli police on Palm Sunday.

Pope Leo XIV has assured Archbishop Sarah Mullally, the 106th archbishop of Canterbury and the first female to lead the Church of England, of his prayers and invoked "grace, mercy, and peace … in truth and love."

Over 20,000 catechumens in France are expected to be baptized during the Easter Vigil, marking a 20% increase compared to baptisms in 2025.

A Belgian Catholic bishop said he “will make every effort to ordain married men as priests” and expressed his commitment to doing so by 2028.

Chairmen of several U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops committees wrote in a letter to key House lawmakers that they support a bill that would establish an effort to investigate and document the histories and practices of Indian boarding schools, and their long-term effects on Native American peoples.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said wartime restrictions have forced the cancellation or postponement of key Holy Week observances, urging the faithful to remain united in prayer despite the inability to gather for traditional celebrations.

In 2023, following a major television documentary claiming that St. John Paul II had covered up clerical sexual abuse when he was leading the Archdiocese of Kraków, Polish experts rejected the claim and urged that archdiocesan records be opened to allow the full context.