March 7, 2026 // National

News Briefs: March 8, 2026

OSV NEWS

Pope Leo XIV incenses an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe during Mass on her feast day in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Dec. 12, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Archbishop Calls for Healing at Mass with Migrants in Minneapolis

ST. PAUL, Minnesota (OSV News) – Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis preached on the importance of turning from anger to reconciliation and forgiveness during a Votive Mass of Solidarity with Migrants at the University of St. Thomas’ Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas on Friday, February 27. Archbishop Hebda celebrated the Mass with Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States; Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington, D.C.; and Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, on the morning of the final day of The Way Forward conference that has gathered about 30 bishops for conversations on communication and evangelization in the digital age. The Mass was celebrated, organizers said, in response to the chaotic immigration-related events that have taken place in the archdiocese in recent weeks amid Operation Metro Surge, the federal government’s largest ever immigration enforcement effort. “I’ve been angry when I’ve felt helpless or unable to find the right words or the way forward to stop the madness unfolding before my eyes,” Archbishop Hebda said. Jesus Christ “gave us the ministry of reconciliation,” he said. “Jesus wants us to work actively and intentionally for unity, which has the Spirit as its origin and peace as its binding.”

U.S. Bishops End Lawsuit Over Refugee Resettlement

WASHINGTON, D.C. (OSV News) – The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has ended its lawsuit against the Trump administration over the suspension of a long-running refugee resettlement contract, with monies owed to the USCCB now recovered. Court records show that Judge Trevor N. McFadden of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia signed a January 23 order dismissing the case “without prejudice” – allowing the USCCB the option to bring a subsequent suit on the same grounds. The USCCB had filed a January 22 notice of voluntary dismissal, stating that “no defendant has filed either an answer or a motion for summary judgment in this action.” Chieko Noguchi, spokesperson for the USCCB, confirmed to OSV News on Tuesday, February 24, that the conference had recovered what it was owed for its refugee resettlement work with the federal government. As of April 2025, those funds – still unpaid at the time – amounted to more than $24 million. The USCCB filed suit in February 2025 after the Trump administration suspended the conference’s long-running contract for resettlement under the congressionally established U.S. Refugee Assistance Program.

Mother Cabrini Statue Planned for Chicago Park

CHICAGO (OSV News) – The Chicago Park District announced on Wednesday, February 18, that St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American saint, will be depicted in a planned statue to be put in a public park on Chicago’s Near West Side. It will replace a Christopher Columbus statue that was removed during the pandemic. Mother Cabrini received 1,500 of a total 3,900 votes submitted by the public. She was one of eight eligible nominees who were Italians or Americans of Italian descent who were chosen from dozens of proposed candidates. The statue of the patron saint of immigrants will be erected at Arrigo Park in Chicago’s Little Italy, a historically Italian American neighborhood. Mother Cabrini arrived in the U.S. in 1889, providing the poorest of the poor Italian immigrants of New York with food, shelter, education, and health services. By the 1890s, she established services in Chicago, also erecting several hospitals. She expanded those services to all immigrants across the country and around the world. By the time of her death in 1917 at age 67, the naturalized American citizen had established 67 education, health, and social service institutions throughout the world.

Coalition Challenges Key Claim Blocking Immigration from 75 Countries

WASHINGTON, D.C. (OSV News) – A Catholic legal network and other opponents of the Trump administration’s suspension of immigration from 75 countries are calling into question a key claim the government made in support of that policy. When it announced the policy in January, the State Department said on social media it would pause immigrant visa processing from 75 countries “whose migrants take welfare from the American people at unacceptable rates.” A lawsuit, CLINIC v. Rubio, was filed on February 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, challenging that policy by a group of American citizens, immigration nonprofits including the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, and other legal organizations. Opponents of the policy disputed the government’s claim that immigrants from the 75 countries disproportionately use public benefits. The complaint argues that the government’s claim is “unsupported and demonstrably false.” The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank based in Washington, recently published an analysis finding that immigrants consistently have lower welfare participation than native-born Americans for nearly every program across income levels.

New Knights of Columbus Video Series Explores ‘Dignity of Work’

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (OSV News) – A new video series from the Knights of Columbus – the world’s largest Catholic fraternal service organization – delves into the dignity of work and its role in men’s lives and vocation. “Men, in particular, are struggling to find their mission and meaning in life,” Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly told OSV News. “Our ‘Into the Breach: The Dignity of Work’ video series can help Catholic men understand God’s mission for them on Earth, and how work brings them closer to God and builds virtue.” Released in February, “Into the Breach: The Dignity of Work” invites men to explore the Catholic vision of work in five 12-15 minute episodes. The episodes – available for free on the Knights’ website, kofc.org – feature interviews with Catholic leaders and figures, including Kelly, as well as personal stories of Catholic working men. The videos tackle everything from the nature of work and its relationship with human dignity to the challenges work presents, including workaholism, the discernment of work-life balance, and the rise of artificial intelligence.

Prolific Writer, Catechist Paul Thigpen Dies at 71

KENNESAW, Georgia (OSV News) – Catholic theologian and prolific writer Thomas “Paul” Thigpen died on Tuesday, February 24, at the age of 71. A resident of Kennesaw, Georgia, he wrote more than 60 books and hundreds of articles on religion and faith. An award-winning journalist, as well as an apologist and catechist, Thigpen wrote for dozens of religious and secular publications, both scholarly and popular. His writing topics ranged widely, with book subjects spanning “A Dictionary of Quotes from the Saints” and “The Biblical Names of Jesus” to “Extraterrestrial Intelligence and the Catholic Faith” and “Saints Who Battled Satan.” In a tribute to Thigpen posted February 25 to X, TAN Books CEO Conor Gallagher called him “not only one of the most respected Catholic authors in our industry, but a man who never left a conversation without making you a better person.”