In recent days, congressional staff working in the U.S. Capitol have reported finding Jesus figurines in the building in what appears to be part of a TikTok trend.

The social media app’s booming faith content is changing religious practice in innovative and notable ways.

TikTok is even selling packs of up to 100 tiny Jesus statuettes on the app’s store, TikTok Shop. Many Christian users are encouraging others to buy them to place in stores, hospitals, gas stations, or any other stops they make throughout their days.

Some people are posting videos of themselves leaving the figurines in public spaces, often with the hashtags #jesuslovesyou and #spreadingthelove. The trend is meant to serve as a reminder that “everyone needs a little Jesus,” according to some of the viral videos.

Users can search the phrase “hiding mini Jesus” on the app to see dozens of people spreading Jesus by placing the figures around for strangers to find.

Assisted suicide and euthanasia must be available on the National Health Service (NHS), paid for by British taxpayers, a bill to legalise it will require.

Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP driving the legislation through Westminster, is planning amendments to stipulate that the practice must be available free at the point of use, even if it is provided by private companies.

Ministers believe that thousands of people a year may ultimately end up being helped to kill themselves under the new regime as they work to establish the impact of the law on the NHS.

The London Times revealed this week that ‘assisted dying’ would be provided by private companies under options being developed to stop requests hampering efforts to bring down NHS waiting lists.

The NHS would contract out ‘assisted death’ services to the private sector to ensure that patients had free access at the point of use.

A retired medical scientist will face trial this week after she held up a sign reading “here to talk, if you want to” near an abortion facility in Bournemouth

Several individuals approached Livia Tossici-Bolt, 63, to take up her offer of a conversation about matters going on in their lives.

Local authorities confronted Tossici-Bolt, alleging that she had breached a local abortion “buffer zone”, which bans “expression of approval or disapproval of abortion”. They issued a Fixed Penalty Notice, which Tossici-Bolt refused to pay, on the grounds that she did not breach the terms of the PSPO, and had the right, protected under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act, to offer consensual conversations.

“There’s nothing wrong with two adults engaging in a consensual conversation on the street. I shouldn’t be treated like a criminal just for this,” said Livia Tossici-Bolt, whose legal defence is being supported by ADF UK.

The United States has officially rejoined the pro-life Geneva Consensus Declaration. The Geneva Consensus Declaration was signed in 2020 by 37 nations at UN level.

It seeks to protect the sovereignty of independent nations, particularly in the developing world, to adhere to pro-life laws. It explicitly seeks to curb the ‘neo-colonial’ influence of transnational corporations, NGOs, and (Western) governments from pushing pro-abortion policies on the developing world.

The previous US administration withdrew from the Geneva Consensus Declaration in 2021, but the new administration has taken the decision to support it again.

In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US is “committed to supporting families, promoting women’s health, and protecting children at all stages of life.”

A father is due to testify in a court in Spain against granting an assisted suicide to his own daughter.

The 23-year-old woman called Noelia who wants to end her life is paraplegic, meaning she has lost the use of her legs, due to injuries suffered when she tried to take her own life in 2022.

A local euthanasia guarantee and evaluation board unanimously supported her decision in July 2024 despite her not being terminally ill.

Her father, however, has argued that she is suffering from a personality disorder which affects her judgement and he has pointed to “the obligation of the state to protect the lives of people, especially the most vulnerable, as is the case with a young person with mental health problems.”

He has also said that she has responded well to rehabilitation treatment.

His legal representation has also claimed that the young woman has changed her mind about undergoing euthanasia several times.

The public prosecutor has not positioned itself with regard to the case, instead calling for the judge to hear the opinions of experts and the woman herself before taking a decision.

Religious content is booming on the social media app, TikTok, where videos with faith hashtags have been viewed more than 1.2 trillion times, according to the Economist magazine and it says many of the effects are negative.

“FaithTok”, as some call the phenomenon, is changing religiosity in notable ways, the article claims, reducing ideas to 30-second clips that erode the “habits and virtues” of traditional “faith journeys”.

Conversions are occurring differently, especially among young people, who are often attracted not to established churches but to online ministries. They prefer unedited clips to polished productions, while influencers are lauded for their charisma rather than their credentials.

One of TikTok’s biggest effects on faith is sowing division, according to The Economist. As ever more voices proclaim authority, people’s belief systems have splintered and worshippers are leaving traditional institutions to follow new religions.

Influencers’ ministries are often “non-denominational”, espousing views separate from any established sect. On the outer fringes of FaithTok people are defecting to “new age” spirituality. #Wicca (paganism) and #Witchcraft each have billions of views on the platform, as youngsters extol crystals, potions and spells.

The Vatican’s Academy for Life has awarded a Ukrainian religious sister the 2025 “Guardian of Life” award for her work leading a perinatal hospice for parents who receive a life-ending or life-limiting diagnosis for their preborn children.

This helps pregnant women carry their sick or dying child in the womb with dignity, rather than end their baby’s life prematurely through abortion.

Sister Giustina Olha Holubets, SSMI, is a bioethicist, biologist, psychologist, and president of the nonprofit organization “Perinatal Hospice – Imprint of Life” in Lviv, Ukraine.

Receiving the award, she said life is always precious, “even if it is very, very small, and even if it is very short.”

“Any threat to the life and dignity of the person strikes the Church deeply in its heart,” Holubets said, noting that the organization’s motto is “I cannot give days to your life, however, I can give life to your days.”

“We are convinced that there is no foot too tiny to not leave its mark on this world,” she said.

Ireland’s media watchdog has cleared the State broadcaster of any unfairness in a programme labelled by the Pro-Life Campaign as “the single most biased broadcast on abortion that RTÉ ever put on air”.

Complaints were submitted by the Pro Life Campaign and others regarding the RTÉ Investigates programme which aired last year in a prime time slot.

It offered only pro-choice criticisms of the operation of Ireland’s abortion law, and no pro-life criticisms.

Coimisiún na Meán accepted RTE’s disclaimer at the start of the programme that it was not “looking at the rights and wrongs of abortion” but was only examining the operation of abortion provision under the new law.

It then found no fault with the programme.

A new pro-abortion law in the Mexican state of Campeche has prompted local Bishop José Francisco González to warn that those who promote and facilitate the practice — including women, doctors, and legislators — will be excommunicated from the Catholic Church.

The abortion measure, promoted by Campeche state’s Human Rights Commission, was passed Feb. 24 in a closed session of the state congress.

With this move, the Penal Code was changed to allow the “interruption of pregnancy” within the first 12 weeks.

Campeche is now the 21st Mexican state to decriminalize abortion.

During a Feb. 26 press conference, Bishop González described the decision as “incomprehensible” from a legal and social point of view.

The prelate pointed out that the Code of Canon Law establishes that those who support abortion “are as a matter of practice outside of communion with the Church. That is, those who promote it, those who carry it out, and those who collaborate cannot participate in the sacraments.”

A proposal by the Social Democrats and Labour to remove the prayer reading before Dáil sessions has been denounced by other TDs as showing a “contempt for Christian practices”.

The prayer is read out in both Irish and English by the Ceann Comhairle before Dáil sessions. It is followed by a 30-second moment of reflection. Such a practice is common in parliaments based on the British model.

Carol Nolan TD for Laois-Offaly told The Irish Catholic the issue of the prayer was debated and resolved in 2017 when it last arose, which showed “there is no desire to abandon the prayer”.

“Here we go again on the self-indulgent merry-go-round with parliamentarians trying to disguise what is really a fundamental contempt for Christian practices under a guise of inclusiveness,” Ms Nolan said.

Minister of State and Kerry TD Michael Healy-Rae said that he would be “vehemently opposed to any suggestion to remove the prayer and the moment of reflection that we have in the Dáil”.