Faith World News

A report warns that the U.S. has shifted away from a focus on international religious freedom. Alternatively, the State Department says Trump has made the U.

A report published by Dallas Baptist University’s Center for Global Religious Freedom detailed concerns that the United States and some other Western nations have shifted their diplomatic priorities away from international religious freedom advocacy.

The report, published July 27, alleged “a retreat of Western nations from human rights” like religious freedom, which has “contributed to widespread religious persecution affecting Christians and other faith communities worldwide.”

According to the authors, the U.S. and many European nations are prioritizing “hard interests,” which they called a shift “reverting to the historical norms of foreign affairs.” The report notes some specific changes seen in President…

Enacted legislation removes all of Massachusetts’ restrictions on abortion after 24 weeks and allows elective abortion through all nine months based on the “judgment of the physician.

Democratic Gov. Maura Healey signed a bill allowing abortion at any point in pregnancy in the state of Massachusetts, making it the 11th state to impose no limits on abortion.

The legislation signed Aug. 10 removes all of the state’s restrictions on abortion after 24 weeks. An elective late-term abortion may be done based upon “the professional judgment of the physician” performing it, under the law.

“It should shock the conscience that tens of thousands of unborn Americans are barbarically dismembered limb by limb and torn apart every single year. Sadly, that number will only increase with Gov. Healey’s approval of…

The study, which looked at data over three decades, reports that a country’s religious values may serve as “a protective factor” against anxiety issues in children and adolescents.

Religious faith in society may do more than provide spiritual comfort and moral guidance; it could also help protect against anxiety disorders, according to a recent study published in Developmental Science.

The research published in March explored if there were links between what societies value — such as independence and community — and anxiety disorder rates among children and adolescents over three decades.

The study by Leonard Konstantin Kulisch, Ana Lorena Domínguez Rojas, Silvia Schneider, and Babett Voigt analyzed preexisting records and data during the years 1989 to 2022 from the World Value Survey, Global Burden of Disease study, Human Development…

The music group’s latest project was released as a surprise drop just a couple of days into their summer tour.

Between ministering to their communities and traveling down the southern interstate from Macon, Georgia, to Birmingham, Alabama, the Dominican friars of The Hillbilly Thomists are balancing full-time religious life with the whirlwind of a regional tour.

The music group’s latest project, “Strange Land,” was released as a surprise drop just a couple of days into their summer tour, offering listeners a blend of deep theological reflection and traditional Americana music.

The surprise drop decision was driven largely by their demanding schedules. After writing and recording the tracks a year prior, the postproduction process had to fit around their primary duties as “hounds…

“What we’ve come to understand is that mental illness has really come to the forefront as a very big factor in those who are experiencing homelessness,” Dan Brown told “EWTN News Nightly.

The Atlantic City, New Jersey, Rescue Mission’s leader said the nation must confront mental‑health drivers of homelessness after a Vatican call for action.

“What we’ve come to understand is that mental illness has really come to the forefront as a very big factor in those who are experiencing homelessness,” , told “EWTN News Nightly” on Aug. 7.

“Over the years itʼs been addiction, both alcohol and narcotic kind, and then just traumatic family events, death of a loved one, things like that,” he said. “But the largest…

Bishops in Australia sound alarm over antisemitism, Canada’s military bishop expresses concern over latest prayer restrictions, and more in this week’s roundup of Catholic world news.

The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference raised concern over rising antisemitism in its second 2026 Social Justice Statement, “Living the Gospel in Times of Social Division,” released Aug. 7.

“In Australia, the strain on social cohesion has been made painfully visible by a disturbing rise in antisemitism,” the statement said, citing the Bondi Beach shooting attack and other forms of targeting that have “left many to feel unsafe in places that should be secure, such as schools, synagogues, streets, and public events.”

“Such hatred is an affront to God,” the bishops said, calling on Catholics to live the Gospel by remaining…

The Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC) criticized an executive order targeting birthright citizenship.

A Catholic legal group criticized President Donald Trump’s executive orders to restrict birthright citizenship, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is reviewing and monitoring them.

The executive orders issued Aug. 6 direct the government to stop allowing foreign visitors to enter the United States on short‑term visas for the purpose of giving birth and impose a narrower limit on birthright citizenship after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a broader attempt to end citizenship for children born to people in the country temporarily or unlawfully.

One executive order would end automatic birthright citizenship for the children of parents…

Texas Children’s will pay $10 million to resolve the claims, with $8,576,000 going to the state of Texas, as well as fund, for five years, a first-of-its kind detransition clinic.

The historic settlement agreement between Texas Children’s Hospital, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and the state of Texas has been fully executed, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said this week.

Under the terms of the settlement agreement, first announced by Paxton’s office in May, Texas Children’s, the largest children’s hospital in the United States, said it would no longer provide “gender-transition” interventions, including puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, to minors, per Texas law.

“This historic settlement is a resounding defeat for the radical gender ideology that has preyed on Texas children under the guise of ‘care,’” Paxton said in…