Action Alert!
For the latest on newly-elected Pope Leo XIV, click this announcement.

Stories for May 2025

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Thursday, May. 15

 Help youth fight loneliness, relativism, Pope urges teaching brothers
 Nashville diocese: Sunday Mass not required if attendance would risk safety
 Kennedy orders review of abortion pill effects
 European, African bishops join to question European priorities
 Cardinal Parolin speaks on peace talks, papal trip to Nicea
 Volunteer force helps Vatican ward off computer hackers
 US Catholic population shifting to West and South
 Texas bishop expects attack on Church’s tax exemption
 Louisville archbishop issues new norms for posture during Mass
 Vance, Rubio will head US delegation to Pope’s installation
 Cardinal Müller: Pope Leo can ease divisions within Church
 Can an American Pope vote? Must he pay taxes?
 Filipino bishops rap election irregularities
 Vatican foundation hosts conference on Catholic social thought, polarization
 Opus Dei leader meets with Pope Leo
 St. John Paul immediately forgave would-be assassin, Cardinal Dziwisz says
 Vatican prefect encourages Eastern Catholics to evangelize, hopes they can remain in native lands
 Spread the doctrinal, spiritual heritage of St. Augustine: papal encouragement to Augustinians
 Starvation in Gaza is unacceptable, Jerusalem Patriarch says
 Leo XIV launches Instagram account, inherits @Pontifex on X

Released Wednesday, May. 14

 Robert Royal sees the Pope’s ‘bold bet’ on Leo XIII
 Vatican explains papal coat of arms
 UK rules on reporting abuse will not guard confessional seal
 Pope meets with Italian tennis star
 Pope lauds ‘sense of mystery’ in Eastern Catholic liturgy
 Episcopal Church refuses settlement help for South African refugees
 Government-backed Chinese Catholic groups welcome Pope Leo XIV
 Chartres pilgrimage, overwhelmed, caps registrations at 19,000
 Assassination attempt against St. John Paul commemorated at Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica
 Africa will be ‘central to the pontificate of Leo XIV,’ Augustinian leader says
 Trappist abbot sees ‘consonances’ between Pope Leo’s election, Algerian martyrs
 At Jubilee of Eastern Churches, Armenian Catholic Patriarch prays for peace
 Jewish US novelist writes front-page Gospel commentary for L’Osservatore Romano
 Vatican newspaper rues Israeli attack on Gaza hospital
 Pope makes surprise visit to his Augustinian brothers in Rome

Released Tuesday, May. 13

 Synod leaders voice confidence in Pope Leo
 Pakistani prelates welcome ceasefire, averting ‘very dangerous’ conflict
 Church worker murdered in South Sudan
 Pope names personal secretary
 Vatican announces schedule of papal Masses
 Dean of College of Cardinals pledges to Pope Leo his fidelity, collaboration
 Biden administration covered up slaying of Palestinian Catholic journalist, documentary charges
 Jubilee of Eastern Churches begins with tributes to Coptic Christians, Pope Francis
 Jubilee of Bands culminates in outdoor Mass
 Papal prayer at Santa Maria Maggiore
 Pope visits Marian shrine outside Rome

Released Monday, May. 12

 Vatican issues annual greeting to world’s Buddhists
 German cardinal hopes Pope Leo will clarify ‘synodality’
 Guam archbishop confirms: predecessor’s conviction stands
 Dublin archbishop reports record number of adult baptisms
 Pope speaks with Zelensky
 Pope urges media to move beyond conflict and cliché
 Prelate shares memories of future Pope’s ministry in Peru
 ‘To move aside so that Christ may remain’: Vatican spokesman reflects on new Pope
 Addressing cardinals, Pope Leo discusses choice of name, ‘fundamental points’ of Church’s path
 Seals removed from the papal apartment of the Apostolic Palace
 Pope celebrates Mass at St. Peter’s tomb
 In 1st Regina Caeli address, Pope Leo recalls Good Shepherd Sunday, calls for peace

Released Saturday, May. 10

 Background: World Day of Prayer for Vocations

Released Friday, May. 9

 Bear witness to Jesus Christ, Pope exhorts cardinals
 Boston archdiocese advises foreign priests against travel
 Vatican spokesman explains Pope Leo’s choice of name
 Pope Leo asks offices of Roman Curia to remain at posts
 Villanova, Catholic Theological Union welcome election of alumnus as Pope
 John Prevost: brother is ‘middle of the road,’ will follow in Pope Francis’s footsteps
 Louis Prevost describes election of brother as ‘just mind-blowing’
 President Trump, former presidents, other officials congratulate Pope Leo
 The words of Pope Leo’s 1st Urbi et Orbi blessing
 Augustinians offer filial reverence to confrère, Pope Leo
 Papal preacher: Popes should safeguard faith while allowing it to ‘breathe and grow’
 Vatican newspaper editor ponders St. Peter’s running to the tomb
 Vatican spokesman reflects on papal election and abandoning oneself to Christ
 US bishops welcome Pope Leo XIV

Released Thursday, May. 8

 Pope Leo XIV: the first American Pontiff!
 Prelate decries treatment of Africa ‘as a little child in a cradle’
 Irish government discloses €38 million in support for UN Population Fund
 Guam archbishop, removed in 2019, claims innocence
 Canada: arson against Catholic churches continues; arrests are rare
 Conclave, May 8: morning ballots conclude with no election of Pope
 USCCB committee chairmen back SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act
 Ethics should be at the core of AI innovation, Vatican diplomat says at UN
 Over 13,000 pilgrims expected for Jubilee of Bands
 Conclave schedule, day 2 (May 8)
 Conclave’s 1st day ends with black smoke
 Desire for goodness attracts world’s attention to conclave, Vatican newspaper editor writes

Released Wednesday, May. 7

 Indian archbishop defends country’s military action in Kashmir
 Indian bishop reports damage from Pakistani shelling in Kashmir
 Kenyan cardinal says he was not invited to conclave
 Cardinal Re, at Mass for election of Roman Pontiff, emphasizes Church’s unity in fidelity to the Gospel
 Wall Street Journal examines Vatican’s financial crisis
 US bishops publish new edition of document on pornography
 Cardinal McElroy: ‘I have no guess’ who the next Pope will be
 Vatican spokesman: Pius XII’s message at end of World War II is more relevant than ever
 Leading German bishop congratulates new chancellor, calls for social cohesion
 Swiss Guardsmen remember fallen confrères
 Cardinals discuss importance of supporting new Pope
 Vatican prefect reflects on the servant leadership of St. Peter and the popes

Released Tuesday, May. 6

 Trump administration defends mail delivery of abortion pills
 Trump administration to investigate state law challenging confessional seal
 Cardinals discuss papal priorities in final pre-conclave meeting
 Conclave officials take secrecy oath
 New bishop withdraws opposition to New Jersey grand-jury probe
 Trump denies posting papal meme
 Ring and seal of Pope Francis ceremoniously destroyed
 Cardinals issue call for peace
 Pakistani bishops’ spokesman fears war over Kashmir
 AI image of Trump as pope was ‘not good,’ Cardinal Dolan tells reporters
 Pontifical commission calls on cardinals to act against abuse, support rigorous disciplinary measures
 Ukrainian bishop asks USCCB president to ‘be on the side of the truth,’ counter false narratives
 Truck with papal humanitarian aid departs from Rome to Ukraine
 900 superiors general gather in Rome
 Pope Francis’s cousin, a nun, recalls his childhood Marian devotion, helpful temperament
 ‘Stir things up,’ late Pope urged young people in video
 Vatican spokesman reflects on Pope as father
 Recalling late Pontiff, Cardinal Fernández Artime highlights consecrated life

Released Monday, May. 5

 Archbishop Cordeleone on how to end the liturgy wars
 ‘Popemobile’ to become medical clinic for Gaza
 Cardinal Mamberti presides at final Mass for Pope Francis
 German bishops’ leader promises to work for women’s ordination
 New state law in Washington will attack confessional seal
 Cardinal Ranjith: victims of 2019 Easter bombing recognized as witnesses of faith
 All cardinal-electors now present in Rome
 Cardinals discuss continuance of Pope Francis’s initiatives
 Vatican newspaper decries world’s difference to hunger in Gaza
 Catholic tourist slain by Islamist terrorists in India; bishop hails him as martyr
 Israeli president signs book of condolences to mourn Pope Francis’s death
 Vatican publishes list of delegations from other religions at papal funeral
 Vatican spokesman: Pope Francis was a prophet whose message on war went unheeded
 Jesus ‘slaps me upside the head when I make a mistake,’ Pope said in 2021 interview
 Cardinal Fernández recalls Pope Francis’s work ethic, teaching on work
 Cardinal Gugerotti, at Mass for late Pontiff, preaches on creation, Eastern Catholic churches

Released Friday, May. 2

 UK court orders Vatican to pay legal fees for ‘trial of the century’ defendant
 Tanzanian bishops’ spokesman hospitalized after assault
 Brazilian nun, world’s oldest person, dies at 116
 Vatican spokesman denies health scare for Cardinal Parolin
 Cardinals discuss evangelization at Friday session
 Vatican workers install chimney for ‘white smoke’ announcement
 Belarus: priest sent to labor camp after treason conviction
 Prelate recalls late Pope’s effect on predominantly Buddhist Cambodia
 Advocate for international humanitarian aid, USCCB urges in action alert
 Pope Francis denied absolution only once, Argentine journalist writes
 Ukrainian Catholic leader pays tribute to late Pope, welcomes Trump-Zelensky meeting
 Vatican publishes list of ecumenical delegations at papal funeral
 Annual Swiss Guard swearing-in ceremony postponed
 Over 10,000 in Rome for Jubilee of Workers
 Bishop Marini, former master of pontifical liturgical celebrations, recalls Pope Francis
 At Mass for late Pontiff, Cardinal Sandri reflects on Pope Francis as a servant

Want more news? Visit the Archives.

Fri16 May
Easter

Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Image for Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter

The Roman Martyrology commemorates several saints for this date: St. Ubaldus (1085-1160): Bishop of Gubbio. He is remembered in central Italy as a Bishop who was entirely devoted to the duties of his office. He led a life of exceptional austerity. He belonged to the Order of Canons…

Learn more about this day.

May Calendar ›
Subscribe to Insights...free!
News, analysis & spirituality by email twice-weekly from CatholicCulture.org.
First name:
Last name:
Email address: