Cheyenne Johnson, a returnee who will help lead this year’s route, will be joined by Marcel Ferrer on the six-week journey along the East Coast.
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Vatican ‘unequivocally’ condemns slavery, counters ‘partial narrative’ in UN resolution
By OSV News
The Vatican’s top diplomat to the United Nations condemned modern and historical slavery — while countering what he called a “partial narrative” in a newly adopted U.N. resolution denouncing the transatlantic slave trade as “the gravest crime against humanity.”
The resolution also called for reparations by member states to affected nations.
Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia, the Holy See’s permanent observer to the U.N., delivered a statement on the issue March 25, observed as the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Roman Catholic Churches See a Surge of New Converts
Bishops are trying to understand what’s behind the wave. People joining the church described their reasons as highly personal.
Elizabeth Dias | The New York TImes
People are joining the Roman Catholic Church in surprising numbers.
This Easter the Archdiocese of Detroit will receive 1,428 new Catholics into the church, its highest number in 21 years. The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston will have its most in 15 years. In the Diocese of Des Moines, the count is jumping 51 percent from last year, from 265 people to 400.
Pioneering priest who became the first African American to lead the Josephites remembered for his promotion of gospel music and priestly vocations from Africa
By Mark Zimmermann | Catholic Standard
As the Funeral Mass for Josephite Father William L. Norvel Jr. was about to begin at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Washington, D.C. on March 18, 2026, the Archdiocese of Washington Gospel Mass Choir sang “We’ve Come this Far by Faith,” a spiritual that in many ways reflected the pioneering African American priest’s journey in life.
New data of Annuario Pontificio 2026 shows Catholics growing in Africa
New data from the Annuario Pontificio 2026 and Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2024 highlight trends in baptized populations across the five continents, with a remarkable increase in the number of Catholics in Africa.
Prepared by the Central Office of Church Statistics / Vatican News
The Annuario Pontificio 2026 and the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2024, compiled by the Central Office of Church Statistics of the Secretariat of State and published by the Vatican Publishing House, are now available in bookstores.
The data in the Annuario Pontificio reveal several developments in the life of the Catholic Church worldwide for 2025.