Mission
Hot Topics
1.5 million people attend Pope Leo XIV’s Mass in Lima; tickets available through Ticketmaster; and a “papacopter” in Peru
Christian Mother Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison in Nigeria
Interview with Paolo Ruffini, Outgoing Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication: A Look Back at His Concluding Work and Ahead to the Near Future
The Church is the institution that inspires the most trust in Latin America, according to a new study. Political parties rank last
Is Gen Z Really Returning to Religion? New Pew Studies Reveal a More Complicated American Picture
He Said He Would, and He Did: Prince of Liechtenstein Vetoes Abortion Law
Culture and Its Relationship to the Christian Faith: An Explanation by Pope Leo XIV
The Vatican’s “foreign minister” opens up to the press: China, Leo XIV, the Pope’s travels, and his relationship with the Curia
Afghanistan: Report on the Financial Networks That Facilitate the Persecution of Christians
Pope Leo XIV will meet with survivors of abuse during his tour of Argentina, Peru, and Uruguay
Author
Joachin Meisner Hertz

Articles By Joachin Meisner Hertz

Local Church•Priests

The number of priests killed in Russia’s war against Ukraine is rising

The human cost of the conflict was also at the center of a meeting at the Vatican on October 23, when Pope Leo XIV received Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. The encounter brought together two urgent concerns: the fate of Ukrainians held captive by Russia and the worsening humanitarian pressures facing a country preparing for another harsh winter

Gender Ideology•Local Church•Marriage and Family•Religious Freedom

Sex education in Catholic schools sparks a dispute between parents and the bishop of Hamburg, with the Vatican looking on

The latest controversy concerns an internal email dated August 28, 2026, from the archdiocese’s vicar general, Father Sascha-Philipp Geißler. He characterized the parents’ campaign as an attempt to create uncertainty and discord in school communities, and advised employees not to respond to the network’s messages or enter into debate

Analysis Opinion•Islam•Local Church•Young People

Vienna’s Silent Transformation: Nearly 50% of students in schools are already Muslim. Only 17% are Catholic

Perhaps no recent controversy symbolizes Vienna’s cultural unease more clearly than the city government’s decision earlier this year not to erect a statue honoring Polish King John III Sobieski. Sobieski led the Christian coalition that defeated Ottoman forces outside Vienna on September 12, 1683, in one of the decisive battles of European history

Persecuted Christians•Religious Freedom

Between Cross and Power: Persecution, Propaganda, and the Cost of Faith in Russian-Controlled Territories

Two episodes, distinct in geography but closely linked in context, illustrate a pattern that is drawing increasing concern among observers of religious freedom: the death in custody of a Christian blogger in Russia, and the seizure of a Catholic church in occupied Ukraine during one of the most sacred moments of the Christian calendar