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Stories for March 2023

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Friday, Mar. 31

 Catholic priest found guilty in unusual violation of FACE act [April 1]
 Women’s religious leaders support ‘transgender’ ideology
 Pope recovering, expected ready for Palm Sunday Mass
 Ghana’s leading prelate urges government to reject American aid if it is tied to LGBTQ agenda
 Tabernacle stolen from murdered bishop’s residence
 Vatican rejects German Church’s plans for laity to preach homilies, conduct baptisms
 Pope takes step toward reviving Eastern Catholic church persecuted by czar, Stalin
 Vatican action halts Christchurch’s Catholic cathedral building plan
 In India, ancient Catholic group battles to keep its unique marriage rules
 Ciudad Juárez bishop calls for conversion, justice following migrant center fire
 USCCB welcomes Vatican statement on ‘doctrine of discovery’
 Papal gratitude for closeness, prayer in time of illness

Released Thursday, Mar. 30

 Vatican repudiates ‘doctrine of discovery’
 Iraqi Church leaders threaten to boycott elections
 Cardinal O’Malley ‘surprised’ by Father Zollner’s criticism of abuse commission
 Pope’s condition ‘improving,’ Vatican says
 New Myanmar bishop urged military not to fire on civilians
 Imprisoned Nicaraguan bishop appears in staged TV interview
 Asian prelates clash over Catholic media platform
 Papal prayer for migrants killed in Mexican migrant camp blaze
 Ukrainian Catholic leader calls for release of Chernobyl soldiers
 Sacked Maltese priest in fight with UK’s National Health Service over Catholic teaching on marriage
 In Nigeria, 53 priests kidnapped, 16 killed since 2006
 USCCB: Biden administration’s proposed asylum restrictions are ‘unlawful, unjust, and unwise’
 US bishops’ president asks faithful to pray for Pope Francis’ speedy recovery

Released Wednesday, Mar. 29

 Man arrested for 2022 firebombing of pro-family group
 Orthodox monks move out of Kyiv monastery after lease terminated
 China offers rewards for reporting ‘illegal’ religious gatherings
 Top Vatican abuse expert resigns from papal commission
 Pope hospitalized with respiratory infection [Updated]
 Papal audience: how zeal of St. Paul was transformed
 Papal condolences to Nashville victims
 Papal tribute to Cardinal Rauber, late critic of Benedict XVI
 Polish journalist: ‘True version of events’ is ‘favorable’ to St. John Paul’s handling of abuse claims
 Dissenting organizations condemn USCCB transgender statement
 Nashville bishop offers prayers for victims of Covenant School shooting
 US, Canadian diocesan synod leaders attend session on spiritual conversation
 Cardinal Hollerich, Archbishop Paglia, economist Mazzucato present new book
 American Catholics have favorable views of Jews
 Themes of French bishops’ meeting: sexual abuse, structural reform, euthanasia
 Vatican newspaper draws attention to Libya’s enslavement of migrants

Released Tuesday, Mar. 28

 St. Peter’s basilica offers quicker access for prayer
 Cardinal Hollerich: Loyal to the Pope; ready to change Church teaching [News Analysis]
 Arrest made in vandalism at New York pregnancy-help center
 Prayers of Pope Francis headed for space broadcast
 Kyrgyzstan police fine nun for giving reading during Mass
 Irish Catholic school transferred to government control
 American church attendance has declined after lockdown
 Rome billboards plead for preservation of traditional Latin Mass
 Archbishop Byrnes resigns from Guam post
 Priest reports possible Eucharistic miracle at Connecticut church
 New Zealand abuse survivors’ group says Pope ignored their letter
 Catholic University of America professor pushes back against anti-‘reparative therapy’ studies
 Supreme Court refuses case of Catholic school teacher punished amid fallout from racism lecture
 Church sex abuse allegations detailed in Georgia report
 How a landmark legal battle is impacting Catholic school boards across Ontario
 Popular Church architecture scholar accused of ‘sexually inappropriate’ conduct with seminarians
 Shattered: Catholic community confronts its founder’s lies
 Pope tells Calabria’s bishops to work together and combine seminaries

Released Monday, Mar. 27

 Massachusetts bishop: clerics face sanctions for hookup apps
 German Cardinal Rauber, veteran Vatican diplomat, dies at 88
 Pope issues final norms on abuse; key questions remain [News analysis]
 German bishops’ leader announces surprise resignation
 Americans less concerned about patriotism, faith, children
 Cardinal McElroy bars EWTN from San Diego diocesan media
 Jesus offers support when hope seems lost, Pope tells Sunday audience
 Nordic bishops reject gender ideology in pastoral statement
 Dioceses should share common programs, institutions, Pope tells bishops
 Pope urges ethical approach to artificial intelligence

Released Friday, Mar. 24

 Vatican message for Ramadan focuses on fight against extremism
 God is near, Pope reassures kin of victims of Polish mine accident
 In Spain, seminary enrollments hit a new low
 Pelosi, at Georgetown, dismisses archbishop’s warnings
 Haitian priest released after kidnapping
 Notre Dame basilica to reopen in December 2024
 US bishops’ doctrine committee warns against alkaline hydrolysis, human composting
 Archbishop Gomez to lead 6-mile Eucharistic procession through Los Angeles
 Milwaukee priest loses confession faculties after confession column
 World Council of Churches leader, Pope Francis propose ‘summit’ on Ukraine
 North Rhine-Westphalia’s president discusses abuse scandal with Pope
 Hungarian president confers state honor on Sostituto
 Confession is ‘encounter of love’ that fights evil, Pope tells priests
 Pope Francis sketches vision for future of moral theology

Released Thursday, Mar. 23

 Pope Francis: a different vision of Church role in European project [News Analysis]
 Professor’s suit charges wrongful dismissal for upholding Catholic teaching
 Six candidates move closer to beatification
 House committee raps ‘weaponization’ of Justice Department
 Catholic priests missing in Russian-occupied Ukraine
 Greek Orthodox Church calls for ‘international protection of holy sites’ after Jerusalem attack
 Mozambique’s bishops appeal for solidarity with victims of Cyclone Freddy
 Munich prosecutors drop case of alleged ‘cover up’ against Benedict XVI
 Holy See: Racism still plagues our societies
 US House committee hears testimony on Nicaragua regime’s war against the Church
 Over 70 Christians killed in DR Congo in 2 weeks
 By the numbers: How the Catholic Church has changed during Pope Francis’ pontificate
 Ukrainians on the front line turn to faith
 Vatican cardinal: ‘It is not mercy to lie about sin’
 Seychelles president, nuncio discuss sea level rise, drug addiction

Released Wednesday, Mar. 22

 Bishop rips Notre Dame for ‘reproductive justice’ series
 New study highlights abortion-breast cancer link
 Evangelization requires witness, not just instruction, Pope says
 Renew consecration to the Immaculate Heart, Pope recommends
 Argentine archdiocese condemns destruction of blasphemous art exhibit
 Pope notes World Water Day
 After two years, French bishop allows traditional Latin Mass indoors
 Disney documentary features Pope Francis’s talk with Gen Z on LGBTQ issues, abortion, and more
 Priest denies that Cardinal Zen is near death
 Pope Benedict ordered Archbishop Gänswein to destroy his personal correspondence
 Future Pope John Paul II wrote ‘rule’ for married couples
 Wisconsin bishop criticizes Germany’s Synodal Way
 Clarity emerges on Cardinal Tagle’s role at the Vatican
 Bishop Wilmer calls for ‘significant changes in sexual morality in the Catholic Church’
 ‘Healed by the Eucharist’: Minnesota ministry aims to bring Holy Communion to clerical abuse survivors
 New Ways Ministry: US bishops’ doctrinal note on transgender interventions ‘harms people’
 Vatican newspaper: Climate change report is ‘cry of alarm for the future of the planet’

Released Tuesday, Mar. 21

 Archbishop admits spying on other Vatican officials [News analysis]
 Ukrainian Orthodox bishops stress patriotism, seek meeting with Zelensky
 Papal message will affirm right NOT to migrate
 US bishops’ doctrine committee: Catholic health care services must not perform transgender procedures
 Historic French church vandalized with Satanic and anarchist graffiti
 Vatican ‘foreign minister’ visits Albania
 Bishop ordained for Northern Arabia
 +Archbishop Joseph Powathil, 92
 ‘The Church never abandoned its people,’ former nuncio recalls on 20th anniversary of Iraq war
 San Marino’s leaders meet with Pontiff
 Leading female Vatican diplomatic official reflects on work
 Pope praises fairground workers, ‘sowers of smiles’
 Papal prayer for the Ukrainian people, who ‘continue to suffer due to war crimes’

Released Monday, Mar. 20

 Haitian premier plans military crackdown on gangs
 Vatican envoy leaves Nicaragua
 New York pregnancy-help center again hit by vandals
 Communist agents poisoned famed Polish priest
 Latin Mass suppressed because theology changed: Cardinal Roche
 Top Chinese religious-affairs official is dismissed
 Pope approved payment for kidnapped nun’s release, trial witness says
 Cardinals demand Vatican action against German bishops
 Papal reflections on Christ’s healing of blind man
 Caritas Georgia workers remain wary after ‘foreign agent’ legislation withdrawn
 Why priests steal — researchers look to ‘fraud triangle’ in parish life
 Archbishop Sample elected to USCCB executive committee
 St. Patrick’s Day blessings from Irish bishops’ president
 Spanish monastery admits girls to choir for first time in 700-year history
 Only 60% of Canadian children live with married parents
 Church in Ireland aims to boost priestly vocations with new program
 Synod of Bishops’ preparatory commission holds 1st meeting
 Wyoming abortion ban becomes law, protects babies starting at conception
 Pope hears confessions, launching this year’s ‘24 Hours for the Lord’
 Scripture offers examples of good and bad politics, Pope tells Italian young people
 Papal praise for humanitarian corridors, which ‘break down the walls of indifference’

Released Friday, Mar. 17

 New app allows China to track religious worshippers
 Irish primate: St. Patrick reflects priorities of Pope Francis
 Pope urges religious to uphold ‘the primacy of God’s love’
 Trial testimony: Pope sought quick exit from troubled London deal
 New papal decree for administration of Dicastery for Evangelization
 Online canon-law resource set back by copyright dispute
 2 Saskatoon Catholic schools vandalized
 Former Wyoming Catholic College CFO liable for over $17M
 Oakland diocese ‘giving strong consideration’ to bankruptcy
 Cardinal Dolan discusses Catholic revival in the Bronx
 Polish bishops defend St. John Paul II, form independent commission to investigate ‘full picture’ of archives
 USCCB president criticizes Germany’s Synodal Way
 Michigan adds LGBTQ protections to anti-discrimination law
 Utah governor signs bill banning all abortion clinics
 North Dakota Supreme Court blocks state pro-life law
 USCCB opposes Biden administration’s steep fee increase for religious worker visas
 Hesse’s leader discusses Ukraine, Synodal Way with Pontiff
 Vatican newspaper draws attention to Malawi, ‘a devastated country’

Released Thursday, Mar. 16

 Australian archbishop challenges ‘excessive’ abuse award
 Texas judge hears arguments in key abortion-pill case
 Pope welcomes Taiwanese Buddhists to ‘culture of encounter’
 Lebanese leader meets with Pope to discuss country’s crisis
 Watchdog group cites Pope’s failures on abuse
 German bishops tiptoe toward schism
 Waves of attacks displace Catholic natives in central Nigeria
 Facing hundreds of abuse claims, Albany diocese declares bankruptcy
 Police warn of potential Islamist attack on Vienna’s churches
 Another pope can take up priestly celibacy issue, says Francis
 Maryland bill to remove civil statute of limitations on abuse called ‘unfair’ to Church, other private groups
 Papal appeal for cyclone-hit Malawi
 Pope: Design of sacred architecture must flow from Church’s liturgy
 Papal message to Latin American congress on abuse prevention
 Texas bishop, Japanese feminist nun among 7 named to preparatory commission for October Synod of Bishops
 Pope appoints new Secretary of Dicastery for Evangelization
 ‘A country in ruins’: Vatican newspaper notes 12th anniversary of Syrian civil war

Released Wednesday, Mar. 15

 Sri Lanka: cardinal urges lawmakers to resign
 Pope widens Catholic divisions: New York Times columnist
 Haitian priest is kidnapped
 Pope speaks out against eviction of nuns in Ukraine
 Belgian bishop says Pope accepted policy allowing same-sex blessings
 All Christians must be evangelists, Pope tells audience
 Pope seen avoiding Argentina’s polarized politics
 Vatican tribunal refuses to dismiss lawsuit by former auditor
 Americans mostly favorable to Christian, Jewish faiths, poll shows
 Cardinal McElroy, in new interview, reflects on how Pope Francis has changed the Church
 Germany’s synodal way: How delegates voted and what’s next
 Covid order violated priest’s free exercise rights, Connecticut court rules
 African Catholics give cold reception to Pope’s call to decriminalize homosexuality
 Historic building near Vatican to become Four Seasons hotel
 National Catholic Prayer Breakfast speakers address attacks on human dignity
 Judge approves public release of Baltimore archdiocese sex abuse report with redactions
 President of refounded John Paul II Institute highlights shift in focus
 Pope to Grand Ayatollah: Christians and Muslims must be witnesses of truth and love

Released Tuesday, Mar. 14

 Vatican ‘foreign minister’ admits problems with China accord
 300 attacks on US Catholic churches since 2020
 Cardinal paid consultant for public-relations work, witness says
 20 years after US invasion, Iraq still suffers, prelate says
 Vatican seeking ceasefire in Ukraine, Cardinal Parolin reports
 New Orleans nun condemns ‘ironclad pro-life laws’
 Cardinal Collins reflects on his episcopate, euthanasia, and Canada’s Catholic schools
 Michigan legislature repeals 1931 criminal abortion ban
 Cardinal Dolan defends the unborn, large families, police; criticizes dissent from Church teaching
 Papal reflection on Samaritan woman’s thirst
 Papal encouragement for Church in Spain’s mission outreach efforts
 Pope reflects on women’s capacity for care
 Grand Imam of Al-Azhar pays tribute to papal efforts to build bridges, promote peace
 Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew praises Pope’s priorities and prudence
 Vatican coverage of 10th anniversary of papal election
 Pope, cardinals concelebrate Mass for papal anniversary

Released Monday, Mar. 13

 British chaplain dismissed for answering questions on Christian marriage
 Virginia judge: treat frozen embryos as ‘goods or chattels’
 Spanish bishop bars EWTN
 Feminists vandalize at least 5 Latin American cathedrals, basilicas on International Women’s Day
 Moscow Patriarch appeals to Pope to help stop eviction of monks from Ukraine
 Santa Rosa diocese to file for bankruptcy in wake of nearly 200 sex abuse suits
 Cardinal Czerny calls on universities to become incubators of radical ecological action
 Polish bishops: New allegation that JPII covered up sex abuse based on reports from Communist secret police
 Catholic parish burglarized in Connecticut; hate speech painted on floor and wall
 Chile sees another arson attack on a church
 Women’s ordination, transgender ideology move forward at German Synodal Way
 In new interviews, Pope Francis discusses celibacy, war, and his 10 years
 Pope Francis: Gender ideology is ‘one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations’ today
 Nicaragua suspends Vatican ties after Pope says Ortega regime recalls Nazis, Communists

Released Friday, Mar. 10

 Two more confusing papal interviews [News Analysis]
 German Synodal Path approves same-sex blessings
 Theologian answers Cardinal McElroy’s response to critics
 Papal correspondence undermines Becciu defense at Vatican trial
 Religious leaders fleeing Nicaragua
 French leaders move to enshrine abortion in constitution
 Slain Cameroon priest was not Catholic, bishop says
 Leading Kenyan bishop: LBGTQ ideology ‘seeks to destroy life’
 In unusual move, Pope appoints auxiliary bishop for Bishop Zanchetta’s former diocese
 Taizé leader, Pope Francis discuss pre-Synod prayer vigil
 High-level meeting of Catholic prelates, Shiite Muslim clerics in Iraq
 Vatican newspaper calls for ‘a more humane politics’
 Abortion pill fight engulfs Walgreens
 Pope Francis: Welcome migrants for who they are, more than for what they can contribute

Released Thursday, Mar. 9

 Washington Post rips lay Catholic group for divulging priests’ online habits
 Ten ‘consequential characters’ help define a decade of Pope Francis’ leadership
 Volatile political climate keeping Pope from visit to Argentine homeland?
 Pope reflects on industrial accidents
 Pope meets with Christian-Muslim dialogue group
 Vatican opens prosecution of museum vandals
 Hong Kong’s bishop to visit Beijing
 Boston prelate grateful for reappointment to Pope’s advisory Council of Cardinals
 Cardinal McElroy contradicts Pope Francis on Eucharistic coherence, Bishop Paprocki says
 German synodal way considers same-sex blessings, ordination of the transgendered
 US prelates urge Catholics to ‘intensify’ prayers for Ukraine
 Polish PM defends John Paul II after report he knew of abuse
 Papal preface to book on women’s leadership
 Pope Francis meets with two Nigerian girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram
 Priests give fragment of shipwrecked migrant boat to Pope
 Pope thanks women, condemns violence against women

Released Wednesday, Mar. 8

 Cardinal Kasper again cautions against German schism
 Vatican II highlights zeal for evangelization, Pope tells audience
 Delaware diocese: confessional seal is not negotiable
 Belarus demands rent for churches
 UN calls for release of imprisoned Nicaraguan bishop
 Parliament votes to make silent prayer illegal at abortion clinics
 Bishops, theologians talk frankly about synodality at Boston College conference
 French bishops’ group proposes change to Catechism’s teaching on homosexuality
 Mother Lange canonization cause takes step forward
 Bishop Paprocki defends his heresy essay
 Chinese province’s new ‘Smart Religion’ app requires faithful to register to attend worship services
 Bishops add some spiritual ‘meat’ to St. Patrick’s Day dispensations
 Steubenville bishop bans traditional Latin Mass at Franciscan University, effective immediately
 Abuse expert Father Hans Zollner looks at the state of the crisis in the Church today
 Amarillo diocese: Pavone got ‘harassment’ training after allegations
 Commission member urges Portuguese bishops to suspend priests who have committed abuse
 Nicaraguan government closes Catholic universities
 Priest kidnapped, killed in Cameroon
 Vatican announces ‘24 Hours for the Lord’; Pope to preside at penance service
 Cardinal Parolin calls for safe, regulated migration

Released Tuesday, Mar. 7

 Rupnik reported concelebrating Mass despite ban
 Vatican to return Parthenon sculptures to Greece
 Pope issues new statutes for Vatican bank
 Pro-life groups break with Priests for Life over Pavone scandals
 Pope names new members of Council of Cardinals
 Polish report charges John Paul II concealed abuse evidence
 Minnesota pregnancy center is latest vandal victim
 Irish prime minster: children in primary school should be taught about transgenderism
 Syriac Catholic monk once kidnapped by ISIS consecrated archbishop
 Church in Brazil bans sacramental wine produced with slave labor
 Decade-long decline in worldwide priestly vocations continues
 Mexican bishops condemn police pursuit, violent arrest of migrants on cathedral grounds
 African Synodal continental assembly concludes
 Portuguese bishops announce steps to end sexual abuse in the Church
 Catholic charity says UK plan to ban English Channel migrants ‘unworkable,’ ‘not rational’
 Evangelicals join USCCB in criticizing proposed regulations on federally-funded faith-based organizations
 Women religious discuss the sunset of their communities
 Bishop O’Connell honored by thousands at cathedral funeral: ‘he healed souls’
 Pope laments human trafficking after migrant boat disaster

Released Monday, Mar. 6

 McCarrick breaks silence, denies criminal charge
 English woman arrested again for silent prayer at abortion clinic
 Group calls for international ban on surrogate motherhood
 Share the glory of the Transfiguration, Pope urges
 Pope urges Ohio seminarians to priesthood of service, generosity, zeal
 Regulate ocean activity, Pope suggests
 Papal message to UK Catholic youth conference
 $18M chapel, student center dedicated at Kansas State University
 In Nigeria, wave of post-election murders forces diocesan staff to evacuate
 ‘God really intervened’: how a priest escaped from his kidnappers in Haiti
 In Irish diocese, no priestly ordinations since 2013; no seminarians
 Pro-life sidewalk demonstrators lose challenge to disturbing-the-peace ordinance
 ‘In persona episcopi’: Pope Francis continues to consolidate Italian dioceses
 ‘Abortion doula’ at Notre Dame speaker series adds to Catholic concern
 Papal praise for women and their leadership
 USCCB backs Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act
 Walgreens won’t sell abortion pill by mail in 20 states
 Papal encouragement for Italian TV show A sua immagine

Released Friday, Mar. 3

 Belgian mother who killed her five children is euthanized
 Ukraine jails conscientious objector
 Lenten Sermon: Be open to the new
 European bishops back Sunday rest—to combat loneliness
 Cardinal McElroy: Catholic teaching on grave nature of ‘all sexual sins’ is 17th-century innovation
 Pope calls for ‘concrete actions’ to help abuse victims
 Mexican bishops respond to data showing increasingly fewer Catholics in their country
 After papal visit, spirit of Iraq continues to revive, Dominican priest says
 Holy Land’s Christian leaders lament increasing cycle of violence
 USCCB: Tell HHS to strengthen conscience protections
 Ukrainian Catholic leader decries Russian ideology as genocidal, compares Russian Church to militant Islam
 Vatican newspaper draws attention to ‘the forgotten ones’

Released Thursday, Mar. 2

 Vandalism at cathedral in Tanzania
 Nigerian bishops cite tensions after disputed election
 Vatican investigating clash at Syro-Malabar cathedral
 Utah legislators defeat threat to confessional seal
 English politician sees traditional Latin Mass restrictions as ‘appallingly mean-spirited’
 Papal prayer for victims of deadly train crash in Greece
 At 10 years, Pope Francis makes Americans ‘uncomfortable’ in their political views, Cardinal Gregory says
 Catholic school teachers work more, get paid less, produce better results than public school teachers
 Detroit priest sentenced for rape
 ‘Bishop Dave’ remembered for his ‘special love’ for the poor, as LA County Catholics begin 3 days of goodbyes
 Vatican releases logo and motto of Pope Francis’ visit to Hungary
 Cardinal Müller reflects on Ratzinger and the liberation theologians
 West Virginia passes Religious Freedom Restoration Act
 Sen. Hawley grills AG Garland on anti-Catholic bias in the FBI, raid on pro-life family
 USCCB general counsel offers qualified support for proposed HHS conscience rule
 Vatican newspaper editorial: In the African migrant, Christ knocks at the door of Europe
 March papal prayer intention: for victims of abuse

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