Stories for March 2024

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Sunday, Mar. 31

 Pope Francis: Easter Message ‘Urbi et Orbi’ (To the City and the World)
 60,000 attend papal Easter Sunday Mass

Released Saturday, Mar. 30

 Ask the risen Jesus to remove the stone from your heart, Pope preaches at Easter Vigil Mass
 Pope skips Good Friday Via Crucis in effort to preserve health

Released Friday, Mar. 29

 Pope presides at Good Friday service at St. Peter’s Basilica
 Ukrainian Orthodox blast Russian Orthodox support for war
 Pope composes meditations for Good Friday liturgy
 Texas bishop tells faithful: resist ‘racist’ border policies
 Detroit archbishop’s pastoral: respect biological gender
 Survey examines US Catholics’ views on environment, climate
 Cardinal Dolan: Packed Easter pews counter ‘atomized’ individualism
 ‘There is no place that is safe’: Haiti’s leading prelate has not been to his cathedral in 2 years
 USCCB publishes fact sheet on abortion pills
 Mexican prelate denounces nation’s treatment of migrants
 Look to Christ’s Resurrection in dark times, Jerusalem’s Christian leaders say in Easter message
 Pope emphasizes service, God’s forgiveness at Holy Thursday Mass in women’s prison
 Vatican spokesman warns against contemptuous judgments of others

Released Thursday, Mar. 28

 At Chrism Mass, Pope recalls tears of St. Peter
 See the face of Jesus, Pope urges Catholics in El Salvador
 Vatican cardinal leads Holy Week prayer vigil for recently martyred Christians
 Canadian territory’s capital imposes property tax on churches
 Sri Lanka bishops call for ‘major change’ in nation’s system of governance
 Catholic Army chaplain, Servant of God, to get statue at Kansas Capitol
 Idaho prohibits discrimination against religious believers in adoption and foster care cases
 War is a ‘catastrophe’ for Holy Land’s Christians, abbot says
 South Sudan’s suffering people are on ‘brink of destitution,’ bishop says

Released Wednesday, Mar. 27

 French Catholic dioceses report jump in adult baptisms
 Rising violence against Christians in India
 UK group asks inquiry into lockdown effects on religion
 Belgian church with lay-led liturgies loses parish status
 Russian Orthodox repudiate Fiducia Supplicans
 Vatican ‘foreign minister’ speaks on Ukraine, Gaza
 Pope greets Israeli, Palestinian fathers who mourn children together
 Pope, at audience, speaks on patience
 Papal message of solidarity to Catholics in Holy Land
 Amid lawsuits, nation’s first state-funded Catholic school opens applications
 Ukrainian Catholic churches sealed off in Donetsk
 Usher accused of embezzling from large Charlotte parish
 Pope writes meditations for Via Crucis at Colosseum, Vatican says
 Supreme Court hears abortion-drug case
 Church in Latin America marks ‘World Day of Hope,’ in commemoration of Pope’s pandemic prayer
 UN criticizes Cuba’s imprisonment of pastor
 Nigerian prelate implores government to increase security
 Vatican cardinal, Polish president mark 80th anniversary of Ulma family’s martyrdom

Released Tuesday, Mar. 26

 Vatican cardinal says Synod should build a ‘rainbow’ Church
 Pope sends message to drug-plagued Argentine city
 Russia will not negotiate, Ukrainian prelate says
 Pope’s surgeon sees no major health concerns
 German bishops to proceed with Synodal Committee
 Pennsylvania diocese recruits former police to guard schools
 Cardinal Pizzaballa, Patriarch of Jerusalem, seen among papabile
 Sagrada Familia to be completed in 2026
 Louisiana deacon excommunicated for leaving Church, after his son was abused by priest
 Leading pro-life obstetrician-gynecologist discusses medical basis of mifepristone ruling
 USCCB committee chairman backs Senate resolution recognizing religious freedom as fundamental right
 Leading Italian bishop, Vatican newspaper pay tribute to ‘Via Crucis of a Gay Boy’
 Vatican releases schedule for papal trip to Venice
 Albanian foreign minister meets with Pontiff, emphasizes interreligious brotherhood

Released Monday, Mar. 25

 South Sudan: high court frees priest convicted in shooting of bishop
 Pope repeats message to youth: Hagan lio!
 Pope warns Nigerians against tribalism
 Vatican requires changes in French episcopal conference plans
 Rights groups rap abuse of Haitians in Dominican Republic
 Cardinal Fernandez meets with Pontiff; new document expected
 Myanmar cardinal prays for hope amid wartime fears
 Vatican prefect: ending celibacy would not spur vocations
 Argentine bishops critique Milei’s policies
 Cardinal Parolin echoes papal call for ‘ecological conversion’
 Report: Eucharistic Congress cautioned speaker over ‘Catholic Prayer for Trump’ event
 Louisiana Supreme Court strikes down ‘lookback window’ for child sex abuse victims
 New Indiana law strengthens right to have children released from public school for religious instruction
 US bishops call for Holy Week prayers to end Israel–Hamas war
 Synodal standoff: German bishops and Vatican commit to resolution roadmap
 Papal preacher concludes Lenten sermons on Christ’s ‘I am’ statements—after questioning whether Jesus said them
 ‘Service,’ ‘public’: papal encouragement for Italy’s public broadcasting network
 On Palm Sunday, Pope prays that people open hearts to God, quell all hatred

Released Friday, Mar. 22

 Pollster finds US elites willing to cheat in elections
 Irish doctors’ group rejected assisted suicide
 New Hampshire man charged under new fetal-homicide law
 Haitian bishops plead for peace, reject government role
 English diocese clears bishop-elect after investigation of charges
 Congo cardinal raps restoration of death penalty
 A frank appraisal of Catholic-school decline
 US weakness creates ‘intolerable’ situation in Gaza, prelate says
 Pharmacist’s refusal to dispense abortifacient violated Minnesota’s human rights law, court rules
 USCCB urges State Department not to tie foreign aid to support for gender ideology, abortion
 Cardinal Zuppi pens new book, God Does Not Leave Us Alone
 Papal encouragement for Brazilian bishops’ social week
 Pope Francis invited to visit Spain
 Vatican newspaper laments ‘veil of denied rights’ in Afghanistan
 Prelate works to ‘keep the light of Christianity alive’ in Turkey

Released Thursday, Mar. 21

 Cardinal Müller: Pope should sympathize with Ukraine
 Pope, ‘child of migrants,’ sends support to migrants in Panama
 Malta’s president meets with Pontiff
 German bishops to confer with Vatican on Synodal Council
 Papal visit to Indonesia under discussion?
 Belgian bishop laicized after repeated pleas for Vatican action
 Congo cardinal speaks on exploitation of resources, challenge of Fiducia
 Kremlin mum on possible papal visit
 US abortions up 10% since 2020; 63% caused by abortion pills
 Pope urges Poland to protect life from the moment of conception
 Belize awaits new bishop after puzzling resignation
 Italian president pays tribute to Pope Francis
 Vatican newspaper highlights strict fasting discipline of Ethiopian, Eritrean Catholic churches
 5 parish priests from US to participate in world meeting of priests in Rome
 Vatican ‘foreign minister’ begins 4-day diplomatic visit to Montenegro

Released Wednesday, Mar. 20

 Vatican denies plans afoot for papal trip to Moscow
 Pope appeals to St. Joseph to help war victims
 Prudence is focus of weekly papal audience
 New statutes for Roman basilica of St. Mary Major
 ‘Eradicate indifference’ toward migrants, Pope urges bishops of Colombia, Panama
 Rupnik work featured on Vatican News site
 New Biden rules restrict faith-based federal contractors
 Texas priest suspended after calling Pope ‘usurper’
 Vatican diplomat: Address climate change—but not through population control
 US bishops call for daily prayer for Supreme Court decision on abortion pill

Released Tuesday, Mar. 19

 Aparecida shrine will go forward with Rupnik mural project
 Americans see religious influence in decline, poll finds
 Papal message for World Day of Prayer for Vocations
 Pope’s message cites need for family farms
 India’s bishops call for fasting, prayer to end persecution
 Biden ‘skittish’ on abortion despite advocacy?
 Legal experts fault Vatican justice system in landmark trial
 Papal praise for priest killed after denouncing Mafia
 Judge approves New Jersey diocese’s $87.5M abuse settlement
 Grammy-winning Florida priest returned to ministry after man withdraws allegation
 Supreme Court declines appeal from Catholic parents who lost custody of trans teen
 A proclamation, not a show: papal message for Holy Week processions in Spanish city
 512 people now living at Gaza’s Catholic parish
 Pontifical Biblical, Oriental Institutes merged with Pontifical Gregorian University
 Renewed papal call for prayer for nations suffering from war
 Pope expresses relief over release of the kidnapped in Haiti, prays for those still held

Released Monday, Mar. 18

 Biden proclaims Catholic faith at St. Patrick’s day brunch
 Veteran Vatican diplomat questions two-state solution
 Irish primate: avoid extremes on immigration
 Vatican probes privacy violations in connection with financial trial
 ‘Giving and forgiveness are the essence of the glory of God,’ Pope tells pilgrims
 Giving, care, and community: papal remarks for 100th anniversary of Bambino Gesù Hospital
 ‘Working among the last,’ ‘working together’: papal encouragement for Italian charity
 Pope remembers late German cardinal’s care for the poor
 Papal tribute to Patriarch Neophyte, late head of Bulgarian Orthodox Church
 Vatican newspaper recalls anniversary of Syrian civil war
 Vatican publishing house highlights Catholics who opposed Hitler
 Theme of 4th Lenten sermon to the Curia: ‘I am the resurrection and the life’
 New officials named to pontifical abuse commission
 Pontifical Academy for Life on abortion in France: ‘There can be no right to suppress a human life’

Released Friday, Mar. 15

 Cardinal Becciu’s brother to face Italian prosecution
 Pope sees ‘spirituality of mercy’ as key to evangelization
 German Cardinal Cordes, critic of episcopal conference, dead at 89
 Vatican message to Muslims: ‘No war is holy’
 VP Harris visits abortion clinic
 Resentment is key to Pope’s thinking, Archbishop Chaput writes
 Pope defends same-sex blessings, civil unions
 Russian embassy praises Pope Francis for his ‘truly strategic viewpoint on world problems’
 Joint Christian-Taoist statement calls for awakening of ‘spiritual energy’ to foster harmonious society
 French archbishop transferred to smaller diocese
 Vatican spokesman: Pope provokes the ‘same scandalized reactions’ as Jesus did
 +Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria, 78
 Vatican newspaper highlights demographic crisis in South Korea, Japan
 Synod announces ‘permanent forum’ on synodality

Released Thursday, Mar. 14

 Hong Kong bill threatens confessional seal, warn advocates
 Pope lists themes for Synod ‘study groups’
 US bishops issue note on anti-Semitism for Good Friday services
 Thirty Christians have died in Gaza
 Mexican presidential candidates sign bishops’ peace pledge
 Nathaniel Hawthorne’s daughter moves toward beatification
 Combine indigenous wisdom with scientific thought, Pope suggests
 Indiana priest suing diocese for defamation over abuse charge
 Pope, in autobiography, says no plans to resign
 Paulists to shrink to 31 active priests over next decade
 Members of Christian employers’ organization do not have to cover, perform gender transition, federal judge rules
 Biden administration will provide IVF benefits to unmarried veterans, same-sex couples
 Priest murdered in South African cathedral
 Papal commission to submit first safeguarding report, launches study group
 WSJ op-ed rues Pope’s ‘moral myopia’ on Ukraine and just-war theory
 US Catholic leaders call on Senate to pass human trafficking legislation
 Papal prayer for an end to the madness of war

Released Wednesday, Mar. 13

 Bishops’ group rallies support for European project
 Texas court blocks suit against Catholic shelter for migrants
 Bishops’ spokesman assures UK parliament: no false baptism for immigrants
 China pushing for ‘sinicization’ of Islam
 Pope, at general audience, reflects on virtuous action
 Pope Francis’s defense of bishop who admitted abuse cover-ups garners increased scrutiny
 Kansas court upholds state law requiring biological sex on driver’s licenses
 USCCB releases ‘In Vitro Fertilization: The Human Cost’
 Vatican engages Confucians, Taoists in interfaith dialogue
 Papal reflection on weakness and sexual abuse

Released Tuesday, Mar. 12

 Chicago Catholic Charities to cut government contract work
 Buffalo diocese to sell headquarters building
 Vatican ‘foreign secretary’ in Jordan for meetings
 New spate of kidnappings in Nigeria; motives questioned
 Vatican court rejects activists’ appeal of sentence for Museum vandalism
 Rupnik still listed as consultant to Vatican dicastery
 Vatican Secretary of State: Russia should cease fire first
 NY priest status unclear after $270k parish theft
 President Biden issues Ramadan statement
 Pope tells priests: ‘Don’t ask too much’ during Confession, forgive always
 USCCB committee chairman on IVF: millions of human beings have been killed or permanently frozen
 Vatican installation at Venice art festival features works of 1960s-era American ex-nun

Released Monday, Mar. 11

 Irish voters, in referenda, rout anti-family amendments
 Italian bishop: reported Marian apparitions, messages not authentic
 Pope, at audience, underlines women’s dignity
 Haiti near complete security breakdown, archbishop says
 Cardinal O’Malley reflects on work of papal abuse commission
 Vatican document on human dignity due soon: Cardinal Fernandez
 Polish bishop resigns over negligence on abuse complaints
 Papal prayers for Haiti, close to Muslims as Ramadan begins
 Vatican appeals for aid to Holy Land collection as donations decline by 25%
 Google AI leader, Nobel laureates among new appointments to Pontifical Academy of Sciences
 Theme of 3rd Lenten sermon to the Curia: ‘I am the Good Shepherd’
 Pope Francis calls for ‘courage of the white flag’ in Ukraine; bishops respond: ‘surrender means death’
 Following Fiducia Supplicans, Coptic Orthodox Church suspends theological dialogue with Catholic Church

Released Friday, Mar. 8

 Veteran Vatican diplomat cites obligation to disarm
 Pope speaks on Confession, Act of Contrition
 Catalonian Socialist leader meets with Pontiff
 Papal gratitude for peace concert in Spain
 Pope Francis calls for recovery of St. Thomas Aquinas’ philosophical, theological perspective

Released Thursday, Mar. 7

 Montenegro president meets with Pontiff
 Retired judge to lead abuse probe on Canadian cardinal
 Today’s world needs perspective of St. Thomas Aquinas, Pope says
 Pope encourages abuse commission, avoiding Rupnik issue
 At Vatican conference, women question ‘feminine’ role
 Pope hails ‘feminine genius’ at Vatican conference
 Euthanasia deaths in Belgium reach record high
 Canadian Anglican theologian sees Fiducia Supplicans as the ‘fall of Rome’
 Florida senator demands President Biden denounce attacks on Catholic churches
 Court upholds Maryland’s Child Victims Act; Archdiocese of Washington announces appeal
 Parents, Yukon education department take aim at ‘homophobic’ lessons at Catholic school
 Assisted suicide proposal successfully rebuffed again in Maryland legislature
 New Zealand cardinal accused of abuse, police will not press charges; high court permits news report

Released Wednesday, Mar. 6

 Catholic Relief Services linked to contraception, condoms
 Pope to celebrate Holy Thursday Mass at Rome prison
 Italian investigators probe illegal surveillance of Vatican trial defendants
 Greek Orthodox bishop bars supporters of same-sex marriage
 German bishop sketches plans for ‘queer pastoral care’
 Mexico bishops warn: gang violence could disrupt elections
 Pope shows frailty at Wednesday audience
 Poster for Paris Olympics eliminates steeple cross
 Catholic leaders call for vigilance as more state legislatures advance assisted-suicide bills
 Leading medical journal lauds papal encyclical’s contribution to ‘planetary health’
 Ukrainian Catholic leader thanks Americans for support
 Pope, at general audience, warns against pride
 Spanish bishops elect new president
 Ecumenical group chaired by Cardinal Tobin calls for Catholic recognition of some Orthodox divorces, remarriages

Released Tuesday, Mar. 5

 Jerusalem patriarch pleads for ceasefire in Gaza
 Chaldean Catholic Patriarch finds ‘surprising’ welcome in Saudi Arabia
 Pope highlights ‘gratuitousness’ in Christian charity
 Church officials seek international help as Haiti chaos spreads
 Attorneys general warn YouTube on ‘misleading’ abortion videos
 German ‘church tax’ revenues will plummet, canonist warns
 France makes abortion a constitutional right
 ‘Terrified’ pro-life student group needs police protection from mob at English university
 Belgian bishops face bruising questions at abuse inquiry
 Appeals court permits enforcement of Indiana law protecting minors from transgender procedures
 Federal court greenlights destruction of sacred Native American site
 Cardinal Gregory: Political polarization has ‘infected’ Church
 ‘Non-liturgical’ blessings do not exist, theologian argues
 Knife-wielding woman breaks into Omaha rectory
 Catholic leaders in Venezuela skeptical of Maduro’s election promises
 Lapsed Italian Catholics reverting to ancient Roman gods, seers and sorcerers

Released Monday, Mar. 4

 Laws in 13 US states could threaten IVF business
 Church Militant, crippled by defamation judgment, to cease operations
 Church leaders condemn attack on civilians in Gaza
 Recovering from bronchitis, Pope renews call for end of Gaza conflict
 Angelus address: ‘greater sense of home and less of a sense of the market’
 German chancellor meets with Pontiff
 Message for 1st World Children’s Day: ‘be united with Jesus’ and ‘pray a lot’
 70th motu proprio of pontificate modifies proper law of Apostolic Signatura
 Vatican City judicial year opens with papal call for justice
 Pope encourages bereaved parents to find comfort in prayer
 Mozambique: Christians fleeing Islamist terror ‘only bring what they can carry,’ bishop says
 Theme of 2nd Lenten sermon to Curia: ‘I am the light of the world’

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Thu16 January
Ordinary Time

Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

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Today is Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time. The Roman Martyrology commemorates Pope St. Marcellus I (d. 309), who was elected Pope in 308, just at the time when the Emperor Diocletian had spent somewhat his first violence against the Church. In Rome he reorganized the Catholic…

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