Stories for week of February 23, 2025

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Friday, Feb. 28

 Pope’s condition worsens
 Papal message stresses bishop’s role in liturgy
 Cardinal McElroy: no plans for meeting with Trump
 Trump administration cancels USCCB refugee programs
 Robert George urges new State Department approach to human rights
 Caritas International rips government funding cuts
 Mexican bishop: lawmakers who support abortion are excommunicated
 Vance highlights Trump support for pro-lifers, peace efforts
 Papal letter to grieving mother: ‘Always ask for Mary’s intercession’
 Albanian bishop recalls his secret baptism, catechesis
 Jesuit Refugee Service warns foreign aid pause could harm efforts combating Christian persecution
 Civil courts can decide dispute over Catholic organization’s bylaws, Connecticut court rules
 Papal message encourages Korean missionaries to proclaim faith boldly
 German archdiocese condemns carnival float linking Jesus to abuse
 In Sri Lanka, Buddhist monks pray for Pope’s health
 March papal prayer intention: for families in crisis
 USCCB publishes Lenten calendar
 Vatican ‘foreign minister’ calls for international arms agreements, ‘before it may be too late’

Released Thursday, Feb. 27

 Austrian bishop names female vicar
 Catholic priest collapses after conviction on abuse charge
 Cardinal Müller: don’t suppress Latin Mass
 Irish archbishops in Rome to discuss diocesan mergers
 New church in Ur will be sign of harmony, says Iraqi prelate
 Indianapolis archdiocese investigates possible Eucharistic miracle
 Pope, in message, reflects on AI and abuse of minors
 Mexico’s bishops express concern about Trump’s policies
 Traditionalist order to leave Scottish diocese
 Focus on abortion has harmed women’s advancement, Vatican diplomat argues
 Missionaries plead for ceasefire, humanitarian aid for Sudan
 Church retirement plans sidestep federal oversight—and employees pay the price
 Jesus loves you and awaits you in Confession, USCCB committee chairman tells those who have committed abortion

Released Wednesday, Feb. 26

 Armed attackers beat missionaries in Mozambique
 Decline in US Christian population slowing?
 Pope’s text, planned for audience, speaks of Presentation
 Church leaders issue joint plea for global debt relief
 Vatican: do not publish lists of ‘credibly accused’ clerics
 Pope sets up new Vatican fundraising panel
 Ukrainian Orthodox priest sent to Russian labor camp
 Papal condition update
 Vatican ‘foreign minister’ renews call for debt relief, abolition of death penalty
 At outdoor Mass for Pope, Buenos Aires archbishop rues ‘lies and slander’ against Pontiff
 Holy See again calls for cessation of hostilities in Ukraine
 Hindu nationalist influencer in India calls for attacks on Christians on March 1
 ‘Little by little, hope is being reborn’ in Central African Republic amid civil war, bishops say
 ‘We are grateful that we are still alive’: faithful in Bukavu give thanks
 USCCB publishes ‘Life Matters: Reproductive Technologies’
 Cardinal Tagle leads Rosary for Pope’s recovery

Released Tuesday, Feb. 25

 Pope’s Lenten message: ‘Let us journey together in hope’
 Changes loom among the world’s cardinals, Vatican journalist notes
 Two secretaries-general named to Vatican City Governorate
 Father Kapuan, heroic US Army chaplain, approved for beatification
 Former Archbishop of Canterbury could face sanctions
 Are lawyers, not bishops, setting diocesan policies?
 In India, demographic change raises religious tensions
 Leading official at Synod on synodality named bishop
 Ukraine Catholic leader describes change in US policy as an ‘earthquake’
 US Supreme Court declines abortion clinic buffer zone challenge
 Vandalism, arson attack on Bavarian church
 Catholic Charities: ‘Tell your representative to oppose budget cuts to Medicaid and SNAP’
 2 priests kidnapped in Nigeria
 Preserve Religious Freedom Restoration Act, religious leaders urge Congress
 Faithful unite in St. Peter’s Square, praying for Pope’s health

Released Monday, Feb. 24

 Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople strongly backs Ukraine
 English bishop resigns, cites personal reasons
 Vatican prayer vigils as Pope’s condition remains critical [updated Tues PM]
 Federal court sides with transgender ex-employee against Liberty University
 Ukrainian Catholic leader meets with White House official, discusses Russian persecution of Church
 70 Christians killed in Islamist massacre in DR Congo church, local sources confirm
 Archbishop Stanovnik, key figure in Zanchetta affair, retires at 75
 USCCB publishes parish leader kit on IVF, other assisted reproductive technologies
 Papal homily for Jubilee of Deacons: Be ‘apostles of forgiveness,’ ‘selfless servants,’ and ‘builders of communion’
 Papal Angelus address: encouragement for deacons, gratitude for his doctors
 Ukraine war anniversary is ‘painful and shameful,’ Pope writes

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Fri3 April
Lent

Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion

Image for Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion

"It is accomplished; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit." Today the whole Church mourns the death of our Savior. This is traditionally a day of sadness, spent in fasting and prayer. The title for this day varies in different parts of the world: "Holy Friday" for Latin nations, Slavs and…

Learn more about this day.

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