The encyclical “Evangelium Vitae” was published 30 years ago this week, so it seems fitting that many of our stories looked at the sanctity of human life and our culture — both from life’s earliest beginnings to its end. From state legislation to broader national stories on these themes, we entrust it all into the hands of the Author of Life.
You can read even more of our stories on OSVNews.com, or on our Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also listen to top headlines each weekday evening in the OSV Newscast.
Megan Marley
Digital Editor
P.S.: Enjoy reading this roundup? Sign up to receive our emails here.
Brother of Terri Schiavo says fight to protect life at all stages more urgent than ever
Bobby Schindler, brother of the late Terri Schiavo, spoke to OSV News ahead of the 20th anniversary of Terri’s death, which followed a years-long legal battle that made international headlines.
US lawmakers push anti-discrimination bill to protect pregnancy resource centers
The bill allows states to use the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program and other federal funds for pregnancy centers without government interference, and enables centers to sue for perceived federal discrimination.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE: Massive USDA program cuts hit some Catholic efforts to feed school kids
FEDERAL EMPLOYEES: Special Mass at Washington cathedral offers support to federal workers
GUNS: Supreme Court upholds effort to regulate ‘ghost guns’
PLANNED PARENTHOOD: Pro-life advocates call on Trump, Congress to fully defund Planned Parenthood
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: USCIRF says government must not retreat from defense of international religious liberty
Seitz: US policy shift making migrants fearful, creating a less welcoming nation
INTERVIEW: Ahead of a March 24 immigrant solidarity rally he organized in El Paso, Texas, OSV News interviewed Bishop Mark J. Seitz of that diocese for his thoughts on current U.S. immigration policy, and the challenges faced by those he serves in his borderlands community. Bishop Seitz, who currently chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, spoke of the tremendous fear currently being experienced by faithful of varying immigration statuses within his diocese. While noting that a nation must regulate its borders, Bishop Seitz called for a greater understanding of the root causes of migration, saying, “People are fleeing for their lives … their children’s lives.” He also expressed concern for a hardening of hearts against immigrants. “We’re losing something that is essential for us to be who we are, to have our own particular identity as a country of immigrants that welcomes people who are different than ourselves,” he said.
MARCH & VIGIL: Hundreds join El Paso bishop’s protest against migrant mass deportation, asylum bans
Bill requires homeschooling families, private schools give Illinois students’ personal info
An Illinois bill that compels homeschooling families and private schools to provide the state with the personal information of every student enrolled in some form of private education passed in an 8-4 committee vote March 19 after drawing significant backlash from parents and religious and other private schools.
FLORIDA: For attendees at Florida vigil, death penalty shows no dignity, respect for life
ILLINOIS: Illinois pro-life march takes aim at assisted suicide, abortion proposals
INDIANA: No Eucharistic miracle in Indianapolis, archdiocese confirms after lab tests
MARYLAND: Collapse of Baltimore’s Key Bridge a year ago has left indelible mark on countless lives
MINNESOTA: Australian sociologist: Church must tackle clergy sexual misconduct with adults
MINNESOTA: Parishes drive debt forgiveness in the Jubilee Year through medical bill erasure
MISSOURI: Wildfires force 3 Missouri religious communities to evacuate temporarily
TENNESSEE: Man charged with terrorism for alleged threat to ‘butcher’ Memphis Catholic churchgoers
TEXAS: New archbishop pledges to serve Galveston-Houston Archdiocese ‘with all my heart’
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Óscar Reyes, former editor of El Pregonero, dies at 88
Pilgrims look forward to bringing Eucharist across Southwest, including wildfire-recovering LA
It may feel counterintuitive, but Charlie McCullough says that pilgrimage “teaches us how to live a normal life.” That has been his experience after traveling the southern route of the 2024 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage from the Texas-Mexico border to Indianapolis over the span of two months. This year, he is doing it again — on a different route, with a different group — as the team lead of the 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage from Indianapolis to Los Angeles.
Spanish church rallies Catholics against ‘demographic winter’ of abortion
On March 25, Spanish bishops marked International Day for Life by calling for stronger support for “stable families” in Spain. They warned that the country, like many Western nations, faces a significant demographic decline and urged policies that promote family stability, including better job security, fair wages and affordable housing.
BANGLADESH: First Christian lay-led hospital in Bangladesh will tend to the poor with special fund
CONGO: Catholic religious sisters attacked in Congo as crisis continues
FRANCE: After Notre Dame, another iconic French church will get its spire back after 180 years
ITALY: As Pope Francis leaves hospital, his almoner and doctors bring medical care to migrants
SPAIN: Spain: Principal of Legionaries of Christ-linked school resigns amid abuse scandal
TURKEY: Turkey’s Catholics ‘left in fear’ amid new nationwide unrest
Grupos católicos califican de ‘contraproducente’ la repentina cancelación del programa de ‘parole’ humanitario de cubanos, haitianos, nicaragüenses y venezolanos
Grupos católicos que atienden a migrantes y refugiados están expresando su preocupación por la orden del presidente Donald Trump de revocar el programa de libertad condicional que permitía a los migrantes de varios países de América Latina y el Caribe conectarse con familiares patrocinadores y trabajar legalmente en los Estados Unidos desde octubre de 2022. El Registro Federal tiene previsto publicar el 25 de marzo la orden oficial que elimina el estatus legal temporal para 532.000 migrantes de Cuba, Haití, Nicaragua y Venezuela.
El Papa regresa al Vaticano tras una larga hospitalización
Satanistas obligados a admitir bajo juramento que no poseen la Eucaristía para su ‘misa negra’
La Iglesia pide proteger a los jóvenes tras el ataque a un grupo de jóvenes mexicanos
Un obispo de EEUU dice que la reanudación de la guerra entre Israel y Hamás augura ‘consecuencias nefastas’ para la región
Jesús nos da el encuentro en nuestras aflicciones para ofrecer sanación, dice la catequesis del Papa
COLUMNA: Todavía estamos a tiempo (y también lo están los que llegan tarde a Misa)
Vatican statistics: Baptisms down, but first Communions, confirmations up
The number of Catholics and permanent deacons in the world rose in 2023, while the number of seminarians, priests, men and women in religious orders, and baptisms all declined, according to Vatican statistics. However, the Vatican’s Statistical Yearbook of the Church said, 9.1 million people received their first Communion in 2023, up from 8.68 million people the previous year, and almost 7.7 million people were confirmed, up from 7.4 million people in 2022.
AGING: Pope’s return from hospital coincides with Vatican conference on aging
ARTS: Poetry key to understanding Pope Francis, cardinal, speakers say
CANONICAL TRIAL: Rupnik case: ‘Now a tribunal must be found,’ cardinal says
DICASTERY: Pro-life movement needs new approach, driven by all the faithful, dicastery says
DOCTOR: Pope knew he ‘might not make it,’ physician says
EASTER: Not knowing pope’s role, Vatican publishes Holy Week, Easter schedule
POPE’S HEALTH: Pope’s condition slowly improving after release from hospital
RUPNIK: Jesuits offer help to women who say they were abused by Father Rupnik
Princeton’s Robert George reflects on ‘Evangelium Vitae’ 30 years on
CAMOSY AT LARGE: A discussion with Princeton professor Robert P. George on the 30th anniversary of the encyclical “Evangelium Vitae” and the the sanctity of human life.
END OF LIFE: How a ‘spirituality of martyrdom’ shapes a Christian approach to end of life care
PRAYER: OSV Editors: Even though the pope is home, don’t stop praying for him
WELCOME: 10 reasons to come back to the Catholic Church
“The Chosen: Last Supper – Part 1” (Fathom)
MOVIE REVIEW: Theatrical release of the first two episodes of the popular TV series’ fifth season focuses on the early events of Holy Week, beginning with the triumphal entry of Jesus (Jonathan Roumie) into Jerusalem and concluding with his cleansing of the Temple. OSV News classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association.
MOVIE HIGHLIGHTS: ‘The Chosen: Last Supper’ premieres in Dallas, bringing Holy Week to the big screen
