Stories for April 2022

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Friday, Apr. 29

 Swiss priests say diocesan policy would ‘muzzle the doctrine of faith and morality’
 Family is asset to society, Pope tells Pontifical Academy
 Trump resisted CDC plan to curb church services, records show
 Cardinal Cupich instrumental in ouster of Puerto Rican bishop, priests report
 Ousted founder of Bose monastery plans new community
 Vatican intervenes in dispute between Carmelites, Argentine archbishop
 Abuse commission will retain independence, Pope promises
 Scotland’s bishops, Church of Scotland release ‘Declaration of Friendship’
 Benedict XVI greets St. John Paul II’s long-time secretary on canonization anniversary
 Hindu nationalists in Karnataka oppose Bible classes in Christian school
 Mexican Church leaders blame State for violence against women
 Ukrainian Catholic leader: Russia has expelled, deported over 1 million Ukrainians
 Supreme Court justices seem to side with football coach over postgame prayers
 Indonesian government invites Pope to visit nation
 Pope thanks Papal Foundation for supporting Church’s mission
 Pope encourages Polish pilgrims to cultivate ecumenism and mercy
 Italian children should not automatically receive their father’s surname, court rules
 USCCB welcomes stricter environmental regulations on infrastructure projects

Released Thursday, Apr. 28

 Federal court tosses suits challenging Texas pro-life law
 Chicago archdiocese settles abuse cases
 Pope says traditionalist priests must concelebrate Chrism Mass
 Pro-life activists urge prosecution of DC abortionist
 Gabon’s president meets with Pontiff
 Council of Cardinals discusses environment, poverty, women
 Tennessee bishop said assault claim was ‘boundary issue’ for seminarian to whom he gave thousands
 Ukrainian Orthodox Primate: Russian Patriarch should be ‘condemned by the fulness of Orthodoxy’
 Be bridges for peace, Pope Francis urges US Hispanic ministry congress
 Vatican’s chief diplomat visits Mexico during time of Church-State tensions
 Patriarch Kirill: ‘Russia will be invincible’ if nation preserves its faith
 US commission names 15 ‘egregious’ violators of religious freedom
 Priest, 3 others sentenced in shooting of bishop in South Sudan
 Cardinal Carlos Amigo Vallejo, advocate for interreligious dialogue, dies at 87
 Argentine prelate decries city’s drug campaign
 Ukrainian Catholic leader renews criticism of Vatican’s Good Friday Stations of the Cross
 Vatican trial places Pope Francis at center of London deal

Released Wednesday, Apr. 27

 Jordan’s king reaffirms role in protecting shrines
 One bishop to head two dioceses in Ireland and in Wales
 See Naomi and Ruth as models for generations, Pope suggests
 Cardinal Pell: Pope must defend apostolic tradition
 Pope Francis ends automatic dismissal of religious-order priests for abuse (updated)
 Vatican hosts conference on working conditions in lay movements
 Synodality and vulnerability: theme of meeting of 700 leaders of women’s religious institutes
 Pope to Missionaries of Mercy: Show the face of God’s boundless mercy to all
 Missionaries evangelize with a heartfelt smile, Pope tells young people
 Pope: ‘War in Ukraine recalls urgent need for society of love’

Released Tuesday, Apr. 26

 New Archbishop of Paris appointed
 Pope again cancels appointments, citing doctors’ advice
 New draft constitution continues controversy for Knights of Malta
 Brazilian cardinal’s appearance alongside Bolsonaro causes controversy
 Cardinal Czerny: Earth Day demands urgent action
 Pope Francis: ‘Mary teaches us not to be ashamed of tears’
 God’s mercy gives joy, grants forgiveness, and offers comfort, Pope preaches
 Head of Eastern Catholic church resigns at 68
 Renewed papal appeal for Easter truce, prayer for peace
 ‘Cultivate the culture of encounter,’ Pope tells students from Belfast
 Papal encouragement to Trinitarians: continue your work against slavery
 Ukrainian Catholic leader warns of concentration camps
 Cameroon’s bishops consecrate nation to Immaculate Heart, hold pilgrimage for peace

Released Monday, Apr. 25

 French bishops’ leader welcomes Macron’s re-election
 Pope urges Sri Lanka to solve, prosecute 2019 Easter bombings
 Pope’s Easter greeting to Russian prelate: focus on peace
 Pope fills 5 key Vatican posts
 In election statement, Australian bishops call for ‘a better kind of politics’
 Vatican officials in US to study alleged miracles in Father Tolton’s cause
 African bishops tell IMF to help continent with debt stress
 Ukrainian Catholic leader, in Easter pastoral letter, lauds nation’s ‘unbroken spirit’
 Offer a more generous welcome to Ukrainians, US bishops urge Biden administration
 Priest stabbed in church in Nice, France
 I am ready to do everything to stop the war: papal interview with Argentine newspaper
 A second ‘first bishop’ chosen for new diocese in Ecuador
 Pope, in book preface, commends Honduran cardinal’s explanation of curial reform document
 Vietnam, Vatican agree to a pontifical representative in Hanoi in the ‘near future’
 ‘Halt the destruction of our common home’: papal Earth Day tweet

Released Friday, Apr. 22

 Cardinal Dziwisz, former papal secretary, cleared of negligence on abuse
 Pope has shelved plans to meet with Russian Orthodox Patriarch
 Pope clears schedule for medical tests
 African cardinal: Homosexual marriage is an abomination
 127 acts of anti-Christian violence in India this year
 Canada’s national indigenous Anglican prelate resigns over misconduct allegations
 French priest, Holocaust investigator to document Russian war crimes
 Peruvian prime minister insults cardinal
 Philippines leads the world in baptisms
 Moscow-affiliated Ukrainian Orthodox leader calls for humanitarian procession to Mariupol
 Vatican publishes text on families and the synod
 Pope ‘asked for our forgiveness,’ Manitoba Métis Federation president says after Vatican meeting
 “We stand by Ukraine,” Ecumenical Patriarch says in Easter message
 Pope thanks Orban for taking Ukrainians, Orban invites Pope to Hungary

Released Thursday, Apr. 21

 Swedish cardinal laments riots, religious intolerance
 Vatican approves US norms for training seminarians
 Vatican joins UN in plea for Easter truce in Ukraine
 Wisconsin AG’s abuse investigation generates 200 reports in 1 year
 Montreal Church ombudswoman details delays, resistance to complaint process
 Professor who resisted mandatory transgender pronouns reaches settlement with university
 Cardinal Ranjith disapproves of new Sri Lankan cabinet
 NJ diocese agrees to $87.5M deal to settle abuse suits
 Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem reacts angrily to police restrictions on Easter services
 Cardinal laments worsening crisis in Tigray
 Mothers in Mariupol turn to Pope Francis for help
 ‘Nurture the desire for truth, goodness, and beauty,’ Pope tells Catholic educators
 Cardinal Parolin orders all Vatican vaccine mandates to remain in place
 +Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán, 89

Released Wednesday, Apr. 20

 India: bishop decries Good Friday arrests
 Biden administration to remove conscience protection for health workers
 Pope, at audience, speaks on honor for elderly
 Manitoba Métis delegation heads to Rome for meeting with Pope Francis
 Latin American prelates call for hope during political uncertainties
 Syro-Malabar priests in 335 of 340 churches defy cardinal’s decree
 Turkish offensive in Syria and Iraq: 1 Christian victim, churches and houses damaged
 WCC urges Patriarch Kirill: ‘Ask publicly for a ceasefire during the Resurrection service’
 Russian Orthodox leader backs war in Ukraine, divides flock
 Franciscan brother murdered in Bolivia
 As Russian attacks intensify, Ukrainian Catholic leader pleads for prayer for nation’s army
 Researchers rediscover original medieval altar of Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre
 Cardinal Gregory urges reflection on ‘weighty moral question’ of capital punishment
 Cardinal Krajewski brings Pope’s blessings to Ukraine
 ‘Share your fears and they disappear,’ Pope tells 100,000 Italian teenagers

Released Tuesday, Apr. 19

 Hong Kong bishop hopes for women’s ordination
 Be courageous and proclaim the joy of Easter, Pope tells pilgrims
 Pope says journalists accusing him of pro-Russian stance take pleasure in excrement
 Cologne archdiocese spent $1.24M for priest’s gambling debts
 Cardinal Nichols, Anglican primate condemn Rwanda asylum plan
 Sri Lanka: Catholic Church backs Galle Face protests
 Monasteries, churches are not spared from Myanmar’s conflict
 Pope Francis to make 3 Canadian stops in July to meet residential school survivors, sources say
 ‘Stop the shelling of cities and villages’ during religious holidays, Ukrainian faith leaders plead
 Ukrainian Orthodox leader open to receiving bishops, parishes from Moscow Patriarchate
 Ukrainian Catholic leader: ‘Today Christ comes to eliminate our fear of the enemy’
 Patriarch in his Easter message: Lebanese people are responsible for their political choices
 Catholic missionary expelled from Moscow
 Papal preacher invites atheists, agnostics to consider Christ

Released Monday, Apr. 18

 Vatican cardinal urges German bishops to answer critics
 German bishops’ leader responds to criticism of Synodal Path
 Vatican amended Good Friday Stations after criticism
 Self-sabotaging Catholicism won’t help Australia, archbishop says of plenary council prep
 Indian Dalit Christians step up protests against non-Dalit archbishop
 In Easter message, Ghana’s bishops warn of conflicts
 Jerusalem’s Christian churches resist Israeli settlers
 Cardinal Bo: The Way of the Cross is still lived in Myanmar
 OSCE: Russia must stop attacks on churches in Ukraine
 Ukrainian Catholic leader pays tribute to women’s heroism, decries Russian offenses
 Vatican cardinal leads the Via Crucis in war-torn Kyiv
 Do not ‘take us back to war,’ bishops in Sudan, South Sudan tell political leaders
 In TV interview, Pope speaks about the devil, war, women’s strength, and refugees

Released Sunday, Apr. 17

 Pope Francis: Easter Message Urbi et Orbi (To the City and the World)

Released Saturday, Apr. 16

 ‘They saw, they heard, they proclaimed’: Pope’s homily at Easter Vigil Mass

Released Friday, Apr. 15

 Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum: full text of meditations
 Syria’s health ministry receives papal donation of 4 respirators
 Papal prayer for victims of typhoon in the Philippines
 Catholic, Anglican primates of All Ireland issue joint Easter message
 Manila cardinal washes feet of new voters, election officials
 Leading Russian Orthodox official says Pope is ‘very balanced’ on Ukraine
 Kyiv’s Latin-rite bishop joins criticism of Pope’s Way of the Cross
 Supreme Court: religious liberty cases to watch
 Pope gives book to priests present at Chrism Mass
 Pope Francis celebrates Mass of the Lord’s Supper at Italian prison

Released Thursday, Apr. 14

 Belarus: clerics arrested for opposing war in Ukraine
 Pope says Benedict XVI was prophetic to foresee smaller Church
 English woman challenges fine for ‘prayer walk’ during lockdown
 Avoid worldly idols, Pope urges priests at Chrism Mass
 Pope Francis: ‘Speak out forcefully’ against ‘abominable actions’ in Ukraine
 Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem releases Easter message
 Dozens of seminarians abducted in Cameroon regain freedom
 Nuncio distances himself from inclusion of Russians in Pope’s Way of the Cross
 National Eucharistic Congress about ‘encounter with a person,’ official says
 Nigeria: abducted priest released; 2 other priests still in the hands of kidnappers
 Pope Francis publishes new book, ‘Against War’
 Sri Lankan government denies claims of Easter attack cover-up
 Hindu extremists in Karnataka oppose allowing Bibles in prison
 European Christian leaders send letter to Putin, Zelenskyy calling for an Easter ceasefire
 American Nobel laureate named to pontifical academy
 USCCB notes ‘minimal thresholds’ for seminary adminssion

Released Wednesday, Apr. 13

 Pope Francis visits Benedict XVI to offer birthday greetings
 Cardinal Burke: Synod official should not have addressed New Ways Ministry conference
 Papal nuncio opposes bid to outlaw Russian Orthodox in Ukraine
 Pope reflects on ‘peace of Easter’ at Wednesday audience
 Nicaraguan cardinal warns government ‘the kingdoms of this world are fragile’
 WCC leader opposed to potential expulsion of Russian Orthodox Church
 Ukraine, refugees are focus of US Eastern Catholic bishops’ meeting
 Maryland lawmakers override governor’s veto of expansive abortion bill
 Priests react to sudden change in Pakistani government
 Israel grants permits to 722 Gaza Christians to celebrate Easter in Jerusalem
 Vatican cardinal laments attack on Caritas center in Mariupol
 Vatican representative denies Holy See is against sending weapons to Ukraine
 Synod of Bishops publishes ‘Biblical Resources for Synodality’
 Knights of Columbus leader meets with Pope
 Canadian bishops: ‘We have to own our past’
 Jerusalem’s Christian leaders release Easter message
 UNESCO reports damage to churches, historical sites and museums in Ukraine
 European Parliament condemns Russian Orthodox leader

Released Tuesday, Apr. 12

 70 bishops caution German episcopate on Synodal Path
 Pope plans September visit to Kazakhstan for world religious congress
 Vatican prelate backs Ukraine’s right to defensive war
 Former Anglican bishop named monsignor
 Pope to meet Russian Patriarch in Jerusalem?
 Ukrainian Catholic leader objects to Pope’s plan for Stations of the Cross
 Russian Patriarch says Orthodox faithful are holding back the Antichrist
 Cardinal says Curia reform requires a change of attitude at the Vatican
 Bishops offer to mediate crisis in Peru after PM praises Hitler
 Protesting priests mull quitting Syro-Malabar Church
 Attacks on faith-based foster care continue
 Ukraine aside, Vatican watching other global hotspots
 Relic of Blessed Carlo Acutis to accompany Eucharistic Revival initiative
 Pope, in Palm Sunday homily, preaches on Christ’s words of forgiveness on the Cross
 Pope advances sainthood causes, including Salesian brother
 Pope Francis: ‘Values of sport can help prevent war’
 French bishops urge integral ecology in response to climate change
 Vatican cardinal announces trip to Ukraine to manifest Pope’s support
 Ukrainian Catholic leader prays at mass grave in Bucha
 Council of Europe’s leader meets with Pontiff

Released Monday, Apr. 11

 Pope calls for Easter truce in Ukraine
 New US ambassador presents credentials at Vatican
 Seattle archdiocese sells property for carbon-neutral development
 Nigerian priest released by kidnappers
 Cardinal Parolin hopes to improve secret Vatican-China deal
 Vatican Stations of the Cross to highlight problems of families
 Brazilian archdiocese defends politician who disrupted service
 Pontifical academy warns of ‘grave threat’ of nuclear war
 Legionaries’ updated abuse report reveals 4 new allegations, 170 total victims
 Priest sends open letter to German cardinal begging him to uphold Catholic teaching on homosexuality
 Growing up lonely: Generation Z
 As 3 feasts converge, Holy Land Christians hope for peace, tourism
 Priest dies from stabbing on seaside promenade in Egypt
 ‘Sharing joys and sorrows’: theme of Vatican’s message for Ramadan
 Work ‘with’ as well as ‘for’ those you serve, Pope tells Milan charity
 Papal preacher devotes final Lenten sermon to the washing of the feet
 European human rights commissioner meets with Pontiff
 Myanmar junta raids cathedral complex in Mandalay
 Papal encouragement to Italian judges to fight corruption
 Ecumenical Patriarch calls for dialogue as the only way to stop the war in Ukraine

Released Friday, Apr. 8

 Bomb safely removed from French cathedral
 Cardinal Parolin hopes for larger Vatican role in mediation
 European Christian leaders join in call for peace in Ukraine
 Ukrainian Catholic leader cautions against fear, says God’s power is manifest
 Vatican’s Secretary of State affirms ‘legitimate self-defense,’ warns against escalation of war
 With reservations, joint Catholic-Lutheran text on ‘Baptism and Growth in Communion’
 Ethiopian bishop pleads for international action in Tigray
 Spanish bishops brief Pope on abuse commission
 Speaker at meeting of cardinals, theologians rips ‘Catho-capitalists,’ ‘culture warriors,’ National Catholic Bioethics Center
 Pope Francis: Promote reconciliation, as Pope Adrian VI did
 Desire to restore ‘imperialist power’ leads to death, Vatican cardinal says
 Families involved in volunteer work to write meditations for papal Way of the Cross
 Vatican spokesman: Pope Francis ‘strongly believes’ in the United Nations
 Pope officially welcomes Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See

Released Thursday, Apr. 7

 Former Vatican financial watchdog says he was powerless to stop London deal
 Lebanese bishops welcome news of papal visit
 Keynote speaker at meeting of cardinals, theologians sees ‘unprecedented’ rebellion against Vatican II in US
 Ukrainian religious leaders denounce Russian genocide, call on other countries to send weapons
 Peru’s bishops denounce President Castillo’s suspension of rights
 DR Congo’s bishops urge priests who have fathered children to leave ministry
 Anglican primate to travel to Canada, meet with residential school survivors
 Food is running out in Russian-occupied territory, Ukrainian Catholic leader warns
 Congressional report documents Chinese government’s persecution of Catholics, other believers
 At general audience, Pope recalls apostolic journey to Malta
 Cameroon: Boko Haram raiders ravage villages
 USCCB welcomes end of Title 42 Covid asylum limits

Released Wednesday, Apr. 6

 Oklahoma lawmakers approve abortion ban
 Chicago archdiocese to join Muslims in breaking Ramadan fast
 Massachusetts bishop: Catholic school should not fly BLM flag
 Cardinal visits refugees from Central African Republic
 Pope raps UN failure to stop Ukraine war
 Ecumenical Patriarch: This war is not a holy and blessed war as some claim, but an evil war
 Korean archbishop expresses hope country’s new president will work for unity, justice
 Video released for April papal prayer intention
 Ukraine’s man in the Vatican says papal trip to Kyiv would be ‘message to end the war’
 Costa Rica’s bishops call for a ‘truly participatory democracy’
 New Orleans nun kidnapped in Burkina Faso
 Brülhart testifies he briefed Pope about London real estate deal
 Finnish Orthodox leader: The Russian Orthodox Church has gone astray
 Ukrainian Catholic leader laments ‘mountains of corpses, rivers of blood, a sea of tears’
 Vatican officials, ambassadors screen documentary on ‘Mother Teresa of Honduras’

Released Tuesday, Apr. 5

 Pope to visit Lebanon in June?
 Ranking Vatican official speaks to Dignity conference
 Sought to avoid bad publicity in London deal, Vatican archbishop testifies
 USCCB action alert: ‘Protect houses of worship’
 Jerusalem’s Christian leaders lament Holy Land violence
 Cologne cardinal calls Pope ‘old man,’ reportedly adds Pope is ‘out of touch with reality’
 As focus in Vatican trial shifts to ex-watchdog, is it legal or personal?
 Ukrainian Orthodox Primate blasts Russian Orthodox counterpart
 With Jesus, a new different life is always possible: papal homily
 Papal prayer for end to ‘sacrilegious’ war, refugee welcome
 Pope Francis reminds migrants in Malta of his ‘closeness’ on last day of visit
 Ukrainian Catholic leader deplores Russian atrocities, renews call for papal visit
 Vatican spokesman: Pope wants the Church to return to the essentials of faith

Released Monday, Apr. 4

 Nigerian Christian leaders reject plan for mercenaries
 Russian Orthodox Synod strained by Ukraine fighting
 In airplane interview, Pope renews blanket condemnation of war
 British police alter rules to allow clergy access to crime scenes
 Cardinal Turkson named head of Pontifical Academies
 7 Marian shrines, in open letter to Putin, denounce invasion of Ukraine
 1st Ramadan prayers in Hagia Sophia in 88 years
 The love of God drives our joy, Pope emphasizes in Malta
 Pope, in Malta, decries ‘icy winds of war’ waged by nationalist ‘potentate’
 Bishop concerned about Solomon Islands’ negotiations with China
 Papal meeting with Ukrainian refugees
 Ukrainian Catholic leader praises nation’s resilience, speaks of struggle with Satan
 Columbus diocese’s new bishop-elect is 1st Indian-American bishop
 Papal letter exhorts Syro-Malabar faithful to obey decision on the celebration of the Mass
 Papal preacher, in 4th Lenten sermon, considers ‘Eucharistic ecumenism’
 In new book, Pope answers 100 questions from the impoverished

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Tue29 April
Easter

Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Image for Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

Today is the Memorial of St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380). She was born Catherine Benincasa in Siena at a date that remains uncertain, was favored with visions from the age of seven. Becoming a tertiary of the Dominican Order, she acquired great influence by her life of prayer and extraordinary…

Learn more about this day.

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