Europe

English archbishop warns legalizing assisted suicide could close church-run hospices

Simon Caldwell · September 2, 2025

An English archbishop has called on Catholics to write to members of the House of Lords to urge them to oppose an assisted suicide bill which could trigger the closure of church-run hospices and care homes.

Ukraine church tensions surface in wake of Alaska summit

Jonathan Luxmoore · August 21, 2025

Ukrainian religious leaders have rejected demands for Russia's Orthodox Church and language to be guaranteed official status in their country, although a Catholic bishop also warned against a threatened crackdown on Orthodox communities.

Spanish party criticizes Church's defense of Muslim community

Junno Arocho Esteves · August 13, 2025

The Spanish bishops' conference was criticized by the head of Spain's far-right VOX party after the Church expressed religious concerns following a local council's measure that would effectively ban Muslims from holding religious events in certain areas.

Pleas for Vatican aid as Russian adoption database shows Ukraine's children

Gina Christian · August 12, 2025

Ukrainian child advocate Mykola Kuleba is pleading for the Vatican's assistance, after publicly highlighting what he said was one of several databases used by Russian occupation officials to market abducted Ukrainian children to Russian foster and adoption families.

Cordoba cathedral catastrophe avoided as fire quickly extinguished

OSV News · August 11, 2025

Firefighters saved the historic cathedral in Cordoba, Spain, Aug. 8, after flames and smoke were seen billowing from the iconic mosque-turned-church.

As excavation begins at Irish maternity home, Catholic experts urge fact-based news reporting

Michael Kelly · July 16, 2025

A full excavation began July 14 at a site near a former mother-and-baby home in the west of Ireland, believed to be the final resting place of up to 800 infants.

Church of England weighs proposal to place St. Thomas More's skull in shrine for veneration

Simon Caldwell · July 16, 2025

The Church of England is weighing plans to exhume and enshrine the head of St. Thomas More , the patron saint of statesmen and politicians, in time for the 500th anniversary of his 1535 martyrdom.

30 years on, wounds of Srebrenica massacre still felt

Junno Arocho Esteves · July 14, 2025

The wounds inflicted on innocent men, women and children during the Srebrenica massacre, one of the worst atrocities to happen in Europe since World War II, are hardly healed 30 years later.

French archbishop appoints chancellor convicted of abuse

Junno Arocho Esteves · July 10, 2025

French Archbishop Guy de Kerimel of Toulouse defended his appointment of a priest convicted of sexually abusing a minor as diocesan chancellor, saying that he had "chosen the path of mercy."

As annual NATO summit emphasizes military readiness, local church leaders call for peace

Elsa Eikema · June 27, 2025

While the NATO summit in the Netherlands focused on military preparedness, Christian voices in the country are advocating for peace and justice in a biblical sense, calling on people to pray for peace and aid for victims in the days surrounding the summit.