NYPD increasing presence at churches after incidents at Staten Island Catholic parishes

Staten Island, New York | Credit: John McAdorey/ShutterstockJan 16, 2026 / 17:40 pm (CNA).The New York Police Department (NYPD) says it will increase officer presence at local churches after several crimes committed at Catholic parishes on Staten Island.Several Catholic churches on Staten Island have been vandalized or attacked in recent weeks, including a robbery and a violent incident during a morning Mass in which two police officers were injured. State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton called for increased police presence at churches in the area after the incidents. At a Jan. 15 press conference, local leaders including NYPD Staten Island Borough Commander Melissa Eger said police presence would be heightened at churches across the borough. Eger said at the press conference that none of the incidents indicated that the Catholic churches had been targeted due to religion, describing the crimes as "acts ... of opportunism and theft" as well as one incident involving a m...

Trump to negotiate with Congress over pro-life protections in health plan

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Aug. 5, 2025, in Washington, D.C. | Credit: Win McNamee/Getty ImagesJan 16, 2026 / 18:29 pm (CNA).U.S. bishops and Catholic pro-life organizations will be watching to see if President Donald Trump's health care plan includes pro-life language.Trump has faced criticism over the past week from pro-life activists after he urged Republican lawmakers to be "flexible" on the Hyde Amendment when negotiating extensions for health care subsidies related to the Affordable Care Act.Trump's health plan, outlined in a four-point memo, will be negotiated with Congress over whether to include the strongest possible pro-life protections and prevent federal funds from being used to pay for abortions. The Hyde Amendment, long included in federal spending bills, prevents tax dollars from being used on elective abortions.The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (U...

Christian symbols in public buildings on trial before European Court of Human Rights

A case that seeks to remove Christian symbols, including icons and religious artwork, from public buildings in Greece began when two atheists asked for the removal of Christian icons displayed in Greek courtrooms. | Credit: Courtesy of ADF InternationalJan 16, 2026 / 14:05 pm (CNA).The European Court of Human Rights is examining a case that seeks to remove Christian symbols, including icons and religious artwork, from public buildings in Greece.The case began when two atheists asked for the removal of Christian icons displayed in Greek courtrooms during hearings involving religious matters, claiming the icons were discriminatory, compromised judicial objectivity, and violated their rights to a fair trial and to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.Greek courts rejected the requests. ADF International has intervened in the case, known as Union of Atheists v. Greece, arguing that removing religious symbols in public spaces is a misinterpretation of religious freedom.Th...

Bishop Fernandes praises religious worker visa rule change, says work still to be done

Bishop Earl K. Fernandes of the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.Jan 16, 2026 / 14:35 pm (CNA).Bishop Earl Fernandes of Columbus, Ohio, expressed gratitude that the Department of Homeland Security is easing visa restrictions for religious workers and called for passage of a bill to address visa backlogs."This rule change provides some much-needed relief!" Fernandes said in a statement released Jan. 15. "We take comfort in knowing that sacramental and pastoral care will not be disrupted in our parishes, schools, hospitals, and prison ministries." Under the rule, religious workers in the country on R-1 visas would no longer be required to reside outside of the U.S. for a full year if they reach their statutory five-year maximum period of stay before completing their green card applications.Fernandes said 21 priests and 13 sisters who hold R-1 visas and work within the diocese would have been affected in the absence of...

Vice President Vance, House Speaker Johnson to speak at 2026 March for Life

U.S. Vice President JD Vance. | Credit: Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia CommonsJan 16, 2026 / 16:40 pm (CNA).Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to speak at the 2026 March for Life Rally in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 23.Vance, who is the nation's second Catholic vice president, will join Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, among other speakers at the 53rd annual pro-life event, organizers said."Vice President Vance is grateful to the tens of thousands of Americans who travel to the National Mall each year to speak out in support of life and looks forward to joining them for the second consecutive year," a spokesperson for the vice president told EWTN News.Vance will be attending and speaking at the event for the second time as vice president. He spoke at the March for Life in 2025 where he delivered his first public remarks in the leadership position.Addressing the crowd at the 2025 march, Vance said becoming a father hel...

Dutch conservative activist and Catholic convert barred from entering the UK

Dutch conservative political commentator and activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek delivers a speech during the first "Remigration Summit" at Teatro Condominio on May 17, 2025, in Gallarate, Italy. She was recently barred by the U.K. government from entering the U.K., deemed "not conducive to the public good." | Credit: Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images)Jan 16, 2026 / 17:10 pm (CNA).Here is a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed:Dutch conservative activist and Catholic convert barred from entering UKEva Vlaardingerbroek, a 28-year-old Dutch lawyer, activist, and Catholic convert, announced on X that her Electronic Travel Authorization was revoked as of Jan. 13 and she may not enter the U.K. The U.K. government said her "presence in the U.K. is not conducive to the public good" and that she may not appeal it. The notice came just days after she accused Britian's Prime Minister Keir Starmer of allowing "the ongoing rape and killing of British girls b...

Italian diocese to award $58K to international 'economy of fraternity' prize winners

Monsignor Anthony J. Figueiredo and Bishop Mylo Vergara of Pasig, Philippines, bless the facility of the 2022 "Economy of Fraternity" prize recipient, the Ecocharcoal Briquettes Project in the Diocese of Pasig, on Dec. 3, 2025. | Courtesy of Monsignor Anthony J. FigueiredoJan 16, 2026 / 09:26 am (CNA).The Diocese of Assisi in Italy will award 50,000 euros ($58,000) to the winner of the 2026 edition of the "Francis of Assisi and Carlo Acutis for an Economy of Fraternity" award.Inspired by Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical letter Laudato Si', the former archbishop of Assisi, Domenico Sorrentino, instituted the award in 2020 on the day of St. Carlo Acutis' Oct. 10 beatification.In addition to the 50,000-euro ($58,000) prize money, award winners also receive an icon with the images of Sts. Francis and Carlo Acutis and are symbolically vested with the "cloak of Francis" by the bishop of Assisi during a ceremony to be held in May at the Sanctuary of the Renunciation.Monsignor Anthony J. ...

Nigeria accounts for 72% of Christian killings worldwide, new report finds

Member of Parliament David Smith, the U.K. special envoy for freedom of religion or belief, speaks at the parliamentary launch of the World Watch List on Jan. 14, 2026. | Credit: Open DoorsJan 16, 2026 / 10:11 am (CNA).More Christians were killed in Nigeria last year than anywhere else in the world combined, a new report has found, placing the country at the center of a growing global persecution crisis.Of the 4,849 Christians killed for their faith worldwide, 3,490 were in Nigeria, according to Open Doors' World Watch List 2026.Open Doors is a Netherlands-based international Christian mission that tracks global persecution and supports persecuted Christians worldwide. The organization's annual World Watch List ranks 50 countries by the severity of persecution faced by active Christians.The new report also shows a global increase of 8 million Christians facing high levels of persecution and discrimination between October 2024 and September 2025, bringing the total to 388 mi...

Mexico's Cardinal Aguiar: Pope Leo XIV would like to visit Mexico 'soon'

Cardinal Aguiar and his auxiliary bishop, Francisco Javier Acero Pérez, OAR, met with Pope Leo on Jan. 14, 2026. | Credit: Vatican MediaJan 16, 2026 / 06:00 am (CNA).The primatial archbishop of Mexico, Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes, has invited Pope Leo XIV to visit the country. The cardinal extended the invitation during their Jan. 14 meeting at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, shortly before the Wednesday general audience.According to a statement released later by the Archdiocese of Mexico, during the audience Aguiar renewed the invitation he had first extended to the pope a few days after the conclave for him to travel to the country."In response, the Holy Father expressed his gratitude and his desire and interest in visiting our country soon to entrust his pontificate to Our Lady of Guadalupe," the press release indicated.In addition, Aguiar shared with Pope Leo XIV the progress and development of the synodal process underway in the Mexican diocese.In this context, the p...

UPDATE: Ohio moves to close nursing home amid 'widespread care failures' after purchase from Catholic nuns

Credit: Digital Storm/ShutterstockJan 15, 2026 / 06:00 am (CNA).The attorney general of Ohio is moving to shut down a nursing home after a congregation of Catholic nuns sold it, amid reports that the facility's "shockingly poor care" is placing elderly residents in "clear and present danger."House of Loreto, a nursing facility formerly run by the sisters of the Congregation of the Divine Spirit, has allegedly committed "widespread care failures," Attorney General Dave Yost's office said in a Jan. 13 press release. The sisters were involved with the home from 1957, when then-Youngstown Bishop Emmet Walsh asked for the religious to run the facility. The current facility opened in 1963. The Youngstown Diocese said in March 2025 that the home had been acquired by Hari Group LLC, a company based out of Ohio. In its press release announcing the sale the diocese did not note any troubles experienced by House of Loreto at the time. A diocesan spokesman said on Jan. 15 that the ...