News from Around the World

Caritas Australia launches “the Africa Food Crisis Appeal” to provide urgently needed humanitarian aid to countries in the Horn of Africa, including Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea.

Ukraine’s Ambassador to the Holy See talks about the significance of the visit to the war-torn country of the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, and says authorities plan to rebuild with the utmost respect for the cultural, religious and ethnic diversities that make up the nation.

Laudato si’ Week, which takes place from the 22-29 May celebrates the seventh anniversary of Pope Francis' encyclical on the care of creation, and focuses on the seven objectives pursued in the Laudato si’ Action Platform.

As Archbishop Gallagher, the Vatican's Secretary for Relations with States, brings Pope Francis' closeness to people of Ukraine, the Mayor of Lviv explains to Vatican News how his citizens are supporting one another in the western city which has hosted countless refugees since Russia's invasion.

When Pope John Paul II arrived for a six-day trip to Cuba on January 21, 1998, he closed his first address to the Cuban people with a historic message: “May Cuba, with all its magnificent potential, open itself to the world, and may the world open itself up to Cuba.”

Celebrating the launch of the Scholas International Educational Movement and its environmental project, Pope Francis encouraged young people, especially women, to lead the charge in fighting climate change.

Bishop Rolando José Álvarez Lagos of Matagalpa, Nicaragua, started a hunger strike May 19. He said he would have only water and electrolytes until police stop the harassment -- including harassment of his parents and family.

Catholics with disabilities can be and want to be active members of the church and missionary disciples, but that will require fighting discrimination, exclusion and paternalism, participants told an online listening session for the Synod of Bishops.

A Catholic priest who directed a migrant shelter was killed in the Mexican border state of Baja California, reinforcing Mexico's reputation as a murderous country for clergy.

"I want to show support and solidarity, also in the name of the Holy Father," the archbishop told Vatican Media while in Lviv.

On the sidelines of his visit to Ukraine, the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States says the war has created “a tremendous humanitarian crisis” and praises the local Church’s efforts to support people in distress.

Pope Francis praises the Pontifical Gregorian University’s Institute of Psychology for its 50 years of service, saying the Church must offer the world competent formators to respond to the destruction of war and conflict rooted in human nature.

Meeting with editors of 10 various Jesuit publications, Pope Francis spoke about the war in Ukraine, the life of the Church, and the synodal journey.

Catholics must draw inspiration and strength from the roots of their faith and the traditions and experiences of their faith communities, but without trying "to hide there because they are afraid of growth," Pope Francis said.

The fight against human trafficking needs to include promoting the ethical and responsible use of technology and social media, Pope Francis said.

The Catholic Church has a responsibility to address the pastoral needs of a world that is in a deep crisis that is disrupting humanity's desire for peace, Pope Francis said.

A Catholic diocese and nuns are working to reduce the number of women who die in childbirth and the number of children who die young, and a hospital administrator said it does not take expensive technology.

As the government of Nicaragua continues to tighten its control over anything and anyone it considers part of the opposition, including the leadership of the Catholic Church, the bishops said that they will continue to denounce “the social structures of sin.”

Archbishop Peter Machado says a new anti-conversion law in the Indian state of Karnataka could “become a tool for the fringe elements to take law into their own hands.”

With the consent of Pope Francis, the Vatican authorized its preliminary investigation into whether an Argentine military officer, kidnapped and allegedly killed by a Marxist group in the 1970s, was a martyr.