U.S.
Wyoming Supreme Court strikes down abortion laws
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Supreme Court on Jan. 6 found that two state laws restricting abortion — including the first state law to specifically ban chemical or medication abortions — violated the state’s constitution and could not be enforced. The decision keeps abortion legal in the state after its lone abortion clinic challenged those laws. Wyoming enacted a near-total abortion ban in March 2023, and a preexisting ban also took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling in 2022, which overturned its previous abortion precedent in Roe v. Wade. Lower courts previously found that the abortion restrictions ran afoul of the constitutional language in an amendment that was added in 2012, an interpretation the state’s highest court also reached. (OSV News)
U.S. strikes Nigeria targeting Islamic extremists
WASHINGTON — The U.S. carried out a deadly Dec. 25 strike in northwestern Nigeria, with President Donald Trump stating the attack targeted Islamic State group terrorists who persecuted Christians in that nation. In a post on Truth Social on Dec. 25, Trump wrote that the United States launched a strike against what he referred to as ISIS terrorists who have been targeting and killing innocent Christians. In October, Trump redesignated Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” for severe religious freedom violations. A number of Christian persecution watchdogs have sounded the alarm on attacks by several Islamic extremist groups, with tens of thousands of killings, kidnappings, sexual assaults and other atrocities taking place. (OSV News)
Pope accepts resignation of Rochester Bishop Matano, names Bishop Bonnici as successor
Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Bishop Salvatore R. Matano of Rochester and named as his successor Bishop John S. Bonnici, currently auxiliary bishop of New York. The resignation and appointment were announced by the Vatican and publicized in Washington, on Jan. 7 by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States. Bishop Matano, ordained a priest of Providence, Rhode Island, has headed the Rochester diocese since his appointment in November 2013. Bishop Bonnici was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of New York on June 22, 1991, by Cardinal John J. O’Connnor, with now-Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan serving as his principal consecrator. He was appointed an auxiliary bishop of New York by Pope Francis on Jan. 25, 2022. (OSV News)
WORLD
Pope Leo, bishops react to capture of Maduro with concern for Venezuela
ROME — Pope Leo XIV voiced deep concern after the United States captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, during a nighttime military operation Jan. 3. Speaking after the Angelus in St. Peter’s Square on Jan. 4, the pope said the well-being of the Venezuelan people must come first, calling for justice, peace and an end to violence. He urged respect for Venezuela’s sovereignty, autonomy and constitutional rule of law, with special care for the poor amid the country’s economic crisis. Entrusting Venezuela to Our Lady of Coromoto and newly canonized Saints José Gregorio Hernández and Carmen Rendiles, the pope asked Catholics to pray for the nation. Maduro and Flores were taken to New York to face narco-terrorism conspiracy charges, with Venezuelan officials confirming deaths but not releasing casualty numbers. Venezuela’s bishops responded with calls for prayer, unity and peace, expressing solidarity with the wounded and families of the dead, while urging calm, hope and rejection of all violence as events continue to unfold. (OSV News)
Vatican sees record number of visitors during Jubilee year, officials say
VATICAN CITY — An estimated 33 million visitors and pilgrims came to the Vatican to celebrate the Jubilee Year, exceeding early forecasts, officials said at a news conference at the Vatican Jan. 5. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization’s section for new evangelization and chief organizer of the 2025 Holy Year, said the figure is based on estimates from a study by Roma Tre University, online registrations for the Holy Year and the number of people who passed through the Holy Doors of Rome’s major basilicas and attended papal events. By the time the Holy Year ended Jan. 6, he said, at least 33 million people will have taken part, which breaks down to more than 90,000 people a day. The period with the most pilgrims in Rome was during the Jubilee of Young People from July 21 to Aug. 10, which registered more than 13 million people. Early estimates had expected that the Jubilee Year would bring 30 million to 35 million visitors to the Vatican. Pilgrims from more than 185 countries participated in the Jubilee Year. (CNS)
Christmas celebrations in India disturbed or canceled over Hindu nationalist violence
NEW DELHI — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Christmas visit to a Protestant cathedral in New Delhi has drawn renewed criticism from Christian leaders, who say symbolic gestures are no substitute for action amid rising anti-Christian violence. Catholic lay leader A.C. Michael of the United Christian Forum said Modi’s silence in the face of attacks by Hindu nationalist groups has emboldened perpetrators. Michael and other Christian leaders have urged the government to speak out forcefully and ensure accountability. On Christmas Eve, Syro-Malabar Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, issued a video appeal calling on national and state leaders to unequivocally condemn violence against Christians. He cited disruptions to caroling, vandalized Nativity cribs, threats to worshippers and assaults, including attacks on blind children at a Catholic center. Advocates reported dozens of Christmas-related incidents nationwide. The United Christian Forum recorded 834 attacks on Christians in 2024, up from 733 the year before, warning that religious targeting undermines India’s constitutional promise of religious freedom and social harmony. (OSV News)
Vatican agency says 17 Churchworkers murdered in 2025
VATICAN CITY — Seventeen Catholic priests, sisters, seminarians and lay workers were murdered in 2025, according to Fides, the Vatican’s missionary news agency. Five of the victims were killed in Nigeria where kidnapping priests, seminarians and school students for ransom has plagued the Christian community, Fides reported Dec. 30. Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, a Nigerian and secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization’s missionary section, told Fides, “All of this is a cause of great sadness and also some shame because Nigeria is one of the countries with the most religious populations in the world — a people of believers, Christians and Muslims. “In a situation of “generalized violence,” particularly in areas where farmers and nomadic shepherds were engaged in violent clashes, Archbishop Nwachukwu said, it appears that anti-Christian groups have infiltrated the nomadic groups and are targeting Christians. (CNS)
Pope Leo mourns tragic New Year fire in ski resort bar; 40 presumed dead
CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland — Around 40 people are presumed dead and 115 were injured, most of them seriously, after a fire broke out in a bar packed with people celebrating the New Year in a Swiss ski resort bar. The fire broke out at around 1:30 a.m. Jan. 1 in a bar called Le Constellation in Crans-Montana, a ski resort in southern Switzerland, around 115 miles from Geneva. The pope mourned those killed and consoled their families in a Jan. 2 telegram signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state. “Pope Leo XIV joins in the mourning of the families and of the entire Swiss Confederation. He wishes to express to the relatives of the victims his compassion and his concern.” The Swiss Bishops’ Conference and the Diocese of Sion expressed their “concern, closeness, and compassion for all the victims, their loved ones, and their families. “This evening should have been a moment of celebration and coming together, but it turned into a nightmare,” said Mathias Rénard, head of the regional government. (OSV News)
