Read the latest news from regional and global sources, presenting different voices and perspectives.

Bishops, theologians, and authority in the Catholic Church
Ralph Martin giving his thoughts on the Conclave. Screenshot: Renewal Ministries/Youtube. The recent removal of prominent theologian Ralph Martin from his teaching role at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit has brought renewed attention to a...

Religion news 30 July 2025
Board of Deputies: government must not reward Hamas The Board of Deputies of British Jews says it is seeking clarification that the UK government will not recognise a Palestine state while Hamas fails to meet UK demands, including accepting a...

Pope Leo makes surprise appearance as 120,000 youth gather in Rome for Vatican jubilee
VATICAN CITY, July 30 — Pope Leo XIV made a surprise appearance in a crowd of 120,000 young Catholics who gathered yesterday in Rome for the Vatican’s Jubilee of Youth—an event that takes place every 25 years. The week-long event is taking place...

Vatican's Jubilee of Youth draws tens of thousands of Catholics
This handout photo taken on July 29, 2025 and released by the Vatican press office, Vatican Media, shows Pope Leo XIV waving as he unexpectedly arrives in the Pope Mobile to greet pilgrims waiting in St. Peter’s Square, for the launching of the...

Pope Leo condemns vile Isis terror attack on church which left 49 Christian worshippers dead
Pope Leo has come out to condemn a brutal Isis attack on a church which left 49 Christian worshippers dead. The pontiff, alongside the UN, the US's State Department and a leading Christian group, have all reacted with fury to the mass killings -...

Vatican reports good profit as Leo tackles its finances
Pope Leo XIV —AP VATICAN CITY — The office that manages Vatican investments and real estate on Tuesday reported a profit last year of 62 million euros (around $63 million), up 16 million euros from 2023. It’s one of the best results in years and a...
The Vatican’s Catholic influencer Jubilee is worth celebrating—and scrutinizing
With smartphones and ring lights in hand, a new group of pilgrims arrived at the Vatican this week. The Jubilee of Digital Missionaries and Catholic Influencers, part of the church’s celebration of the Jubilee Year of Hope, marks the growing...

Vatican OKs only private devotion for alleged Mount St. Onofrio apparitions
The Vatican’s doctrinal office has issued a mixed opinion on alleged Marian apparitions that have occurred in Southern Italy, allowing private acts of devotion but no public worship at the site. Mount St. Onofrio. Credit: Madonna del monte...

VATICAN - Cardinal Tagle to “Catholic Influencers”: Let us be “influenced” and changed by the Love of Christ
VaticanMedia Rome (Agenzia Fides) – To offer salvation to the men and women of all times, God "did not send us a text message, an email, or a document." God "sent his Son, the Word of God who became man," who "became flesh and dwelt among us." To...

Catholic Church moves to Strengthen the Ministry of Exorcism in Malawi
In a landmark initiative to strengthen the church’s pastoral care and deepen its spiritual outreach, the Malawi Conference of Catholic Bishops (MCCB) has launched a five-day national training for exorcists. Organized in collaboration with the...

VATICAN/JUBILEE - The Pope to Catholic digital influencers: In online spaces, always look for the “suffering flesh of Christ” in every brother and sister
Tuesday, 29 July 2025 Vatican Media Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – "In online spaces, always look for the “suffering flesh of Christ” in every brother and sister." This is the mission that Pope Leo entrusted to the digital missionaries and...

New secular study finds Vatican II triggered a decline in Catholic Mass attendance worldwide
News Economic research found that religious service attendance in Catholic nations significantly decreased compared with all other countries beginning in 1965, the final year of Vatican II. (LifeSiteNews) — A newly published secular study found...

Vatican permits exclusively private devotion for alleged apparitions at Italian mountain
Vatican City, Jul 29, 2025 / 10:47 am The Vatican’s doctrinal office has expressed reservations about an alleged Marian apparition site in southern Italy, permitting only private devotion and warning that claims that a deceased woman has...

Pope Leo XIV holds Jubilee of Youth at the Vatican
VATICAN CITY (CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Pope Leo XIV is welcoming more than a half-a-million young people to the Vatican this week for the Jubilee of Youth. Americans are among pilgrims from nearly 150 countries who've traveled to Rome for the event. Pope...

Tackling Africa’s Wildlife Crimes From The Religious Front
The Book of Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals and over all the creatures that...

More churches are suing ICE over arrests in places of worship: ‘Congregations have gone underground’
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our...

The never-ending ISRAEL-PALESTINE war that murders innocents, children and starving refugees is a moral dilemma of staggering magnitude
The never-ending ISRAEL-PALESTINE war that murders innocents, children and starving refugees is a moral dilemma of staggering magnitude What to do? Palestinian terrorists hide in schools, hospitals and refugee camps and shoot missiles at Israel,...

Tens of thousands of Catholics head to Vatican's Jubilee of Youth
Pope Leo XIV made a surprise appearance in a crowd of 120,000 young Catholics who gathered on Tuesday in Rome for the Vatican's Jubilee of Youth -- an event that takes place every 25 years. The week-long event is taking place just over two months...

‘Nurture a Culture of Christian Humanism,’ Leo XIV Reminds Digital Influencers
‘It is not simply a matter of generating content but of creating an encounter of hearts,’ the Pope said while sharing three missions or challenges when it comes to evangelizing online. Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday participated in the Mass celebrated in...

Vatican Communication Office Urges Two-State Solution as France Backs Palestinian Statehood
While Pope Francis was the first of the popes to use the term “State of Palestine” upon his 2014 visit to the Holy land, Tornielli pointed out that Pope Benedict XVI affirmed both that “the State of Israel has the right to exist and enjoy peace...