Stories for April 2024

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Tuesday, Apr. 30

 Congo attorney general accuses cardinal of ‘seditious behavior’
 Court rules insurers must cover gender-change surgery
 French prosecutor dismisses charges against priest who opposed homosexuality
 Vandals strike again at Portland, Oregon church
 German diocese celebrates ‘Deacon’s Day’ for women
 Priest stole from parish, spent $40K on mobile phone games, police say
 Miami archbishop slams Biden for ‘unconscionable’ deportation of Haitian refugees
 Mexican bishop abducted, released
 Florida permits public school chaplains
 Vatican meeting of parish priests opens with talks by Synod cardinal, Czech theologian
 Pope encourages religious to look to Jesus and the poor, treasure ‘diversity in harmony’
 Sicilian bishops meet with Pontiff, discuss migration, criminality, depopulation
 Vatican cardinal pays tribute to St. John Paul II
 Schedule released for papal trip to Verona

Released Monday, Apr. 29

 Papal preface for book on synodality
 New York court: insurer not required to pay abuse claims for archdiocese
 Iraq outlaws homosexual acts,
 Cardinal Parolin rips EU vote on abortion
 Director of US bishops’ troubled CCHD program resigns
 Africa is united on Fiducia Supplicans, cardinal says
 Canonization soon for Pier Giorgio Frassati?
 Bishop to lead British ordinariate of former Anglicans
 Biden administration forbids disclosure of out-of-state abortions to law enforcement
 Fund the Affordable Connectivity Program, bishops, other Catholic leaders urge Congress
 ‘Taking care of the elderly is taking on a legacy,’ Pope tells foundation
 Papal tribute to the game of checkers
 Welcome, prayer, surrender: Pope addresses Burgos seminarians
 Love makes us better, richer, and wiser, Pope tells grandparents and grandchildren
 Impeached Brazilian ex-president meets with Pontiff
 Like Venice, people are beautiful, fragile, Pope says during journey to city

Released Friday, Apr. 26

 Irish priest unharmed after attempted stabbing
 Episcopal bishop rips collar off female priest
 State police search New Orleans archdiocesan files on sex abuse
 Tajikistan’s president meets with Pontiff
 Wisconsin clergy abuse probe enters 4th year
 University urged to revoke degree earned by notorious priest
 USCCB committee chairman presents Congress with detailed requests for migration-relation budget increases
 Pope asks lay Catholics to prepare for synod’s ‘prophetic’ stage
 Vatican diplomat calls for debt restructuring and forgiveness for poor nations
 Global hunger on the rise
 ‘The gift of peace begins in our hearts,’ Pope tells Hungarian pilgrims

Released Thursday, Apr. 25

 Hungarian president meets with Pontiff
 Cardinal Parolin: no going back on Pope’s reforms
 Pope proposes ‘culture of embrace’ for Catholic Action
 Pope, in CBS interview, speaks on war, climate change
 Baby flown from UK to Vatican for emergency surgery
 Kenyan cardinal officially listed as one year younger
 Web site ‘defrocks’ priest generated by AI
 US fertility rate hits all-time low
 Lawyers, accountants have received over $36M in New Orleans archdiocesan bankruptcy case
 Supreme Court appears skeptical that state abortion bans conflict with federal health care law
 USCCB, CRS present Congress with detailed requests for foreign-aid budget increases
 A ‘single drop of pride’ can spoil an entire life, Pope warns
 Leading Vatican diplomat laments sexual violence in war
 Open the door to Our Lady, Pope tells Italian diocese
 Jerusalem Patriarch reflects on 200 days of war
 Pope meets head of Cisco as AI ethics pact continues to grow
 Ghana’s VP meets with Pontiff

Released Wednesday, Apr. 24

 Australian police arrest 7 in ‘religious extremist’ network
 Ghana’s vice-president meets with Pontiff
 Doctor who prepared negative report on gender surgery now faces threats
 Vatican preparing document on apparitions
 British bishops issue mild statement on gender theory
 Biden makes Sign of the Cross at pro-abortion rally
 Four German bishops opt out of ‘Synodal Council’
 Pope prays again for peace in Ukraine, Gaza
 Toronto Catholic school board trustees vote against flying pro-life flag
 Catholic Charities found partly liable for 2017 death of 4-year-old
 Fides corrects story on leading African cardinal, apologizes
 Pope, at general audience, reflects on the life of grace
 Sri Lanka cardinal initiates beatification process for Catholic victims of Easter bombings
 Spanish government, bishops at odds over compensation of abuse victims
 Ohio judge bars enforcement of Saving Adolescents from Experimentation Act
 Bishops back Native American Child Protection Act
 ‘Teach Us to Pray,’ Vatican resource for Year of Prayer, now available in English

Released Tuesday, Apr. 23

 Irish archbishop paints grim picture of drop in vocations
 Kennedy campaign proposes day-care subsidy to counter abortion
 Vatican hopes to extend secret deal with China
 Bolivian bishop’s home raided; prosecutor sees financial misconduct
 Record Catholic representation in Korean parliament
 Cardinal Grech: Fiducia has ‘nothing to do’ with October Synod meeting
 Pope to speak at UN in September?
 Candace Owens becomes a Catholic
 A year after resignation, Bishop Stika sends ‘threatening and intimidating’ messages to priests
 Connecticut archbishop on transgenderism: ‘Biology is biology’
 President Biden issues Passover statement
 USCCB committee chairman asks US government to be like Simon of Cyrene in South Sudan
 ‘The caress and the smile’: 6,000 grandparents, grandchildren to gather with Pope Francis
 Papal nuncio to US warns of ‘auto-referential’ Church
 Vatican foreign minister concludes visit to Vietnam
 ‘Vote for climate, vote for our future,’ front-page Vatican newspaper image urges
 Be like fathers to children on the margins, Pope tells Brothers of Christian Instruction

Released Monday, Apr. 22

 Pope welcomes Earth Day celebration
 Probe finds no ‘malicious intent’ in FBI memo on Catholics
 Texas Carmelites resist ‘unacceptable’ Vatican directive
 European bishops’ conference backs EU expansion
 Massachusetts politicians to speak at Vatican climate conference
 Vatican breaks silence on Italian abortion controversy
 Pakistani bishop laments lack of justice following attacks on 26 churches
 USCCB committee chairman decries new abortion leave-time mandate for employers
 Belize prime minister meets with Pontiff
 Georgia senator meets with Pope
 Respect the truth, shun ideology, Pontiff bids historians
 Integrate prayer, study, fraternity, and mission, Pope tells Seville seminarians
 Communion, witness, mercy: papal tribute to Pius VII
 Papal tribute to recently deceased missionary
 Priests ordained for Diocese of Rome; Pope absent from ordination Mass
 Renewed papal appeal for peace
 Christ, the Good Shepherd, loves you and gave His life for you, Pope tells pilgrims

Released Saturday, Apr. 20

 Background: World Day of Prayer for Vocations

Released Friday, Apr. 19

 Ukraine court rejects bid for house arrest of Orthodox leader
 Orthodox prelate in Russia convicted for criticizing Ukraine war
 New motu proprio sets standards for Vatican tribunal judges
 Vatican clinic offers breast-cancer screening for homeless
 Rupnik remains listed as Vatican liturgical consultant
 Dream big, build peace: Pope exhorts young students
 Vatican puts Texas Carmelite convent under supervision of national association
 Finnish lawmaker facing 3rd trial for citing Bible on homosexuality
 Papal encouragement for Global Christian Forum
 DC Knights call for Rupnik art removal
 British court upholds school’s ban on student prayer
 Vatican cardinal reflects on vocational discernment
 Cardinal Dolan meets with Israeli, Palestinian leaders, speaks of local reactions to Pope
 7 major Italian sees no longer led by a cardinal
 USCCB leadership meets with Pontiff
 Parish priest who served as missionary named archbishop of Florence
 ‘Climate change is splitting the world in two,’ Vatican newspaper warns

Released Thursday, Apr. 18

 Congo nears chaos, cardinal warns
 Kentucky bishop sees confusion in papal teaching
 Quebec’s bishops see mounting crisis of hunger
 Pope urges renewal for Discalced Carmelites
 More abuse charges against retired Australian bishop
 Episcopalian bishops oppose Catholic group’s use of seminary property
 Palestinian Christian woman arrested without warrant, detained without charges
 Support indigenous efforts to ‘take care of their roots,’ nuncio tells UN forum
 Papal condolences following death of Colombian cardinal
 Pope Francis pays tribute to St. Pius X
 Program announced for international meeting of parish priests at Vatican
 Pope Francis intends to visit Argentina this year, governor says after audience
 Indian cardinal calls voting a ‘sacred duty,’ urges faithful to put it before pilgrimage
 Vatican diplomat calls for immediate action, aid to address Ethiopia’s humanitarian crisis
 Torture is inhuman, Pope says

Released Wednesday, Apr. 17

 Key witness in landmark Vatican trial confirmed in post
 Swiss bishop defends attendance at predecessor’s SSPX funeral
 Chartres pilgrimage faces flood of registrations
 National Conservatism Conference resumes in Brussels
 Pope prays for release of prisoners of war
 Pope, at general audience, reflects on temperance
 Florida bishops oppose extreme abortion amendment
 Holocaust scholar contrasts welcome at Catholic college, close-mindedness at secular college
 Federal appeals court rules against West Virginia’s ‘Save Women’s Sports Act’
 Young vandals cause significant damage to Kentucky parish
 Malaysia: Catholic woman’s conversion to Islam declared invalid
 Zimbabwe: 4 men sentenced to 21 years for robbing parish, assaulting priest
 NY Attorney General: Brooklyn diocese mishandled abuse allegations; agreement announced
 Pope, Council of Cardinals continue discussion of women in the Church
 USCCB committee chairman backs Asylum Seeker Work Authorization Act
 Typical new US priest: 34-year-old who prays Rosary, takes part in Eucharistic adoration

Released Tuesday, Apr. 16

 Brussels police shut down conservative conference
 Baltimore archdiocese unveils parish consolidation plan
 Congo authorities restrict cardinal’s access at airport
 Stabbing of Orthodox prelate seen as ‘terrorist incident’
 Colombian Cardinal Pedro Rubiano Saenz dead at 91
 Fake priest arrested for stealing from churches across the US
 Abuse victims reject NY diocese’s $200M settlement offer
 USCCB committee chairman affirms Church’s closeness to immigrant laborers
 Leading EU official meets with Pontiff; demography discussed
 Criminals attack church facility in Odisha state in India
 Polish bishops launch day of prayer for unborn after lawmakers advance pro-abortion bills
 Lower religious practice correlates with lower mental health
 Supreme Court allows Idaho to enforce its ban on transgender procedures for minors
 Papal prayer for victims of Australian stabbings
 Pope calls for Mideast peace, religious freedom for region’s Christians

Released Monday, Apr. 15

 Orthodox prelate attacked during sermon at Australian service
 Pope sides with Peruvian farmers against Catholic group
 Council of Cardinals meeting this week
 Catholics remain 20% of US population
 Vatican tribunal rejects prosecutor’s complaint against Italian journalist
 Vatican protests French court ruling against Cardinal Ouellet
 Turkish government official, Pontiff discuss Mideast peace, threats to family
 3 beatification, sainthood causes advance
 Pope makes unannounced visit to catechism class
 Papal tribute to life lessons of past Spaniards
 Crib, carpentry workshop, forest: papal encouragement for scout projects
 Malawi’s bishops deplore abduction, torture of nun
 Vatican letter marks National Day for the University of the Sacred Heart
 Priest pepper-sprayed during confession in Texas cathedral
 Pope pleads for military restraint in the Middle East
 Sudan civil war leaves no seminarians and almost no Catholic Church
 Share with others your encounter with Jesus, Pope tells pilgrims

Released Friday, Apr. 12

 German police thwart terror attacks on Christian churches
 Priest in Myanmar shot down during Mass
 Bishops lament EU vote to enshrine abortion right
 Texas bishop rips anti-immigrant rhetoric
 Africans defending faith, Cardinal Sarah says
 Chaldean Catholic returns to Baghdad after voluntary exile
 Pope’s popularity ratings in US still high despite slippage
 Archbishop Gänswein to become papal nuncio?
 Vatican prosecutor sues Italian journalist for defamation
 Papal thanks, encouragement for Papal Foundation
 Vatican announces 11-day papal trip to Indonesia, 3 other nations
 Chaldean Patriarch rededicates parish desecrated by ISIS
 Cleveland diocese among least transparent in addressing abuse, groups charge
 Australian state enacts elaborate conversion therapy ban
 Cardinal Gregory notes lack of priests at October Synod
 ‘Pope Francis shuts down the cafeteria,’ priest writes in Wall Street Journal op-ed
 Vietnam’s prime minister, Vatican’s ‘foreign minister’ hope for papal visit to Vietnam
 Pope Francis, bishops of Campania discuss ‘challenges of the Gospel’
 Vatican dicastery, African bishops encourage interreligious dialogue

Released Thursday, Apr. 11

 Catholic group sees ‘decisive breakdown in consensus’ on brain death
 Swiss bishops move forward with ‘Synodal Commission’
 Scottish bishop-elect dies before ordination
 SSPX priest admits to abuse charges in France
 Ghana bishop decries corruption of scholarship program
 Jesus joins those who suffer, Pope says
 Fight the ‘throwaway culture,’ Pope urges
 African bishops underline role of inter-religious dialogue
 Pope Francis praised Bishop Gumbleton as ‘a good shepherd’ in letter before his death
 New complaints of abuse by Father Rupnik presented to Vatican
 Arizona can enforce an 1864 law criminalizing nearly all abortions, court says
 Cardinal Gregory: Respectfully invite LGBTQ community to accept Church’s moral teaching
 In unusual move, bishop named an auxiliary bishop as Pope reshapes Church in western Ireland
 Economist Stiglitz meets with Pontiff
 Indigenous leader asks Pope to support Brazilian president in reversing damage to the Amazon

Released Wednesday, Apr. 10

 An odd press conference introducing DDF document
 ‘Gender care’ based on ‘shaky foundations,’ major British study finds
 Papal prayers for victims of Kazakh floods, Myanmar war
 Pope reactivates traditional title: ‘Patriarch of the West’
 Pope, at general audience, reflects on fortitude
 White House press secretary reacts to Dignitas Infinita
 Transgender Catholics, advocates criticize Dignitas Infinita
 13-year-old Filipina who loved the Eucharist begins official path to sainthood
 Catholic young adults more likely than Protestants to maintain religious affiliation
 Leading Catholic hospital system shrinks maternity care
 Plenary indulgences granted for National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, National Eucharistic Congress
 ‘Heavy metal’: Vatican newspaper rues mercury contamination in Amazon indigenous community

Released Tuesday, Apr. 9

 Lebanese prelate calls for calm after murder of Christian leader
 Chinese Church reports hundreds of Easter baptisms
 700 newly baptized in Nigerian diocese despite violence
 Catholic bishop protests deportation from Mexico
 European bishops: abortion cannot be a fundamental right
 Top Vatican diplomat in Vietnam for talks
 Survey: 21% of US adults attend religious services weekly
 Philippine bishops call for protection of land rights of indigenous people on resort island
 Leading prelate discusses challenges facing Church in Japan
 Pope visits working-class Roman parish, meets with 35 area priests
 Pope says he is taking time to discern appointment of new cardinal vicar of Rome
 Freed Nigerian priest discusses abduction ordeal
 Study from Netherlands: Most children outgrow transgender inclinations
 Strike down law criminalizing homelessness, USCCB urges in Supreme Court brief

Released Monday, Apr. 8

 Seton Hall University names new president after former head quits, sues school
 Russian prosecutors press charges against Ukrainian priests
 Vatican document condemns assaults on human dignity [News analysis]
 Trump: leave abortion issue to states
 Papal trip to Indonesia confirmed for September
 Israeli hostages’ families meet with Pontiff
 AP style book: no ‘false balance’ in climate coverage
 Argentine archbishop—key figure in Zanchetta affair—convicted of gender violence against nuns
 Wisconsin bishop charges Archbishop Viganó with illicit ordination, defamation
 Lawsuit challenging Indiana abortion restrictions succeeds on religious-freedom grounds
 USCCB action alert: Oppose IVF bills, as preborn lives are at stake
 Diocese of Rome shake-up: Pope Francis transfers vicar to Vatican post
 Leading Spanish lawmaker, Pontiff discuss government abuse report
 Like Mary, have compassion for the suffering of others: papal encouragement for Sicilian group
 Pope: Red Cross’s humanitarian work shows that fraternity is possible
 Renewed papal appeal for prayer for peace
 Papal call for sports to foster social friendship, fraternity
 Papal prayer for bus crash victims in South Africa
 Open your hearts to encounter Jesus, Pope tells pilgrims

Released Friday, Apr. 5

 Spanish priest dies from burns after Easter vigil ceremony
 Pope speaks on stigmata in audience with Franciscans
 French court rules against Cardinal Ouellet in nun’s dismissal
 Vatican employee arrested for selling stolen goods
 +Abbot Notker Wolf, OSB, 84
 Papal prayer for victims of Taiwan earthquake
 Man sets fire to New Jersey parish
 Baltimore archdiocese sues insurers over abuse claims coverage
 Cardinal Scola urged ‘vote for Bergoglio’ during 2013 conclave, Pope Francis says
 Attorney examines civil suits filed by priests
 +Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, 94

Released Thursday, Apr. 4

 Worldwide Catholic population up, priests and religious down
 Retired bishop dies, living in Swiss SSPX institute
 Rely on prayers of the faithful, Pope urges seminarians
 Tensions in Jerusalem as zealots seek to evict Armenian Christians
 Pope encourages inter-religious dialogue
 Crisis in Haiti worsens: minor seminary attacked by gangs
 ‘They want to become nuns and priests. Student debt holds them back.’
 Hosts scattered in WV church parking lot during Easter Mass
 Trump administration official arranged biweekly Masses in White House compound
 June meeting seen as next stage of showdown between Vatican, German bishops
 Catholic leaders, sisters rescue child survivors of sexual violence in Sierra Leone
 Engage with Nigeria’s bishops to counter extremism, USCCB committee chairman urges US Secretary of State
 Pope, in video, laments genital mutilation, discrimination against women
 Nicaraguan regime sentences 11 evangelical pastors to prison, fines them $80M each

Released Wednesday, Apr. 3

 Mexican bishops seek mediation role to curb violence
 Spanish bishop, laicized, marries in Church
 Nuclear deterrence is an illusory, Vatican envoy argues
 Renewed papal appeal for Gaza ceasefire
 French priest faces charges for condemning homosexual acts
 Ukrainian bishops meet with Zelenskyy
 Vatican, US bishops had drafted statements on gender theory
 Cardinal Müller concerned that US could become ‘Orwellian state’
 English bishop’s resignation preceded by Vos Estis investigation
 University launches gender studies program that seeks to be authentically Catholic
 Threats to Catholic Charities staffers increase
 Pope, at general audience, reflects on justice
 USCCB weighs in on Supreme Court spousal immigration case
 Ecumenical Patriarch rues lack of common date for celebration of Easter

Released Tuesday, Apr. 2

 Vatican document on human dignity due April 8
 Vatican envoy calls for stronger action on crimes against humanity
 Retrospective: Pope John Paul II died 19 years ago today
 Vatican News now available in 53 languages
 Pope Francis sees Cardinal Sarah as ‘bitter,’ rips Archbishop Gänswein
 Hindu nationalists call for Caritas license for foreign funding to be revoked
 Pope accepts resignation of Peruvian prelate, a member of scandal-plagued group
 DDF decision restores accused Minnesota priest to ministry in case that involved clergy dicastery, Signatura
 San Antonio parish hit by vandals Easter Sunday, marking 3rd incident within a month
 Canadian dioceses sign covenant with Native American group
 Diocese of Sacramento files for bankruptcy

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Wed26 March
Lent

Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

Image for Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent

Today we have a venerable Lenten Mass. This Mass is best understood by remembering that the ancient catechumens (or prospective converts) used to come for instructions to the first part of Lenten Masses. The catechumens heard the readings and homily, and then left the church. The offertory procession and remainder…

Learn more about this day.

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