Stories for week of May 18, 2025

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Friday, May. 23

 Cardinal Grech stresses synodality in talk to religious superiors
 Why Anglicans cannot select a new worldwide leader
 Vandalism against Catholic churches rising in Germany
 Delaware legalized assisted suicide
 North Carolina bishop bars Traditional Mass in parishes
 YouTube drops channel featuring fake sermons of Pope Leo
 Connecticut diocese emerges from bankruptcy
 Cardinal McElroy decries killing of Israeli Embassy staff members as ‘act of anti-Semitic hatred and murder’
 Michigan man charged with hate crime following vandalism, attack on priest
 30% of Americans consult astrology, tarot cards, or fortune tellers
 Priests murdered in Kenya
 Celebratory Mass held in Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, in thanksgiving for Pope Leo’s election
 ‘In Gaza, there is no more time,’ Vatican newspaper warns
 Supreme Court splits 4-4 in Oklahoma Catholic charter school case

Released Thursday, May. 22

 Pope appoints woman religious as secretary of Dicastery for Religious
 Federal court rules employers not required to accommodate workers’ abortions
 Pope lauds work of Pontifical Mission Societies
 Singapore cardinal: new Pontiff will bring clarity
 Augustinian colleague describes leadership style of Pope Leo
 Four German bishops refuse involvement in Synodal Committee
 Vatican advances beatification cause of missionaries killed in Ecuador
 Former Vatican spokesman reflects on Pope’s linguistic skills
 Vatican News warns against fraudulent video of Pope Leo
 Cardinal Kasper says Pope Benedict, Cardinal Sarah blocked change on celibacy
 Bipartisan support for legislation to speed renewal of visas for priests, ministers
 Vice President JD Vance discusses his faith, Pope Leo
 Over 50 ecumenical, interreligious organizations sent representatives to Pope Leo’s inaugural Mass
 Pope Leo, Curial cardinals recall Pope Francis, 1 month after his death
 USCCB president expresses ‘grave concerns’ about federal budget proposal, warns of ‘real and substantial harms’
 Papal video message encourages efforts for ‘ecological, social, and environmental justice’
 Vatican diplomat welcomes WHO pandemic agreement, emphasizes health care is human right
 French bishop resigns from 2nd see, nearly 300 miles from his diocese
 Recalling Nicaea’s anniversary, Cardinal Pizzaballa calls for bold, clear proclamation of faith in Christ
 Invoking Our Lady of Fátima, Pope Leo encourages daily Rosary for peace

Released Wednesday, May. 21

 Wide variations in diocesan statistics on Catholic marriages
 Pope to celebrate public Mass every Sunday in June
 Pope urges opening for humanitarian aid for Gaza
 Pope Leo, at audience, continues series that Pope Francis began
 Chaldean Patriarch tells Pontiff: ‘we’re counting on you’
 Irish public opinion
 Italian premier offers help with Vatican mediation on Ukraine
 Ukrainian Orthodox Church declares independence from Moscow
 Vatican diplomat offers principles to address debt crisis, right to development
 Cardinal Parolin, Vatican’s Secretary of State, awarded Path to Peace Foundation prize
 Brazilian bishop resigns at 60
 Georgia’s president meets with Pope, grateful for Holy See’s support for nation’s territorial integrity
 Pope receives Australia’s prime minister, who invites him to visit nation
 USCCB president pays tribute to Laudato Si’ on its 10th anniversary
 Over 150 nations, international organizations sent representatives to Pope Leo’s inaugural Mass
 Major Archbishop: Pope Leo’s heart ‘beats in unison with the hearts of Ukrainians’
 Vatican newspaper highlights Panamanian villagers’ opposition to reservoir

Released Tuesday, May. 20

 Pontiff prays at basilica of St. Paul
 Vance conveyed invitation for Pope to visit White House
 Trump says Vatican agreed to host Ukraine peace talks
 New Pope makes surprise visit to old dicastery
 Leo has ‘great desire’ to visit Argentina, foreign minister says after audience
 Recalling suffering Ukrainian children, Zelensky gives Leo an icon of Madonna and Child
 Cardinal Parolin in New York: Holy See reaffirms ‘unwavering support’ for UN’s mission
 Emotional meeting between Pontiff, faithful from his former Peruvian diocese
 Ecumenical Patriarchate: Pope Leo to visit Turkey in November
 New Pope, who has visited China, will continue Pope Francis’s approach, Cardinal Chow believes
 Pope Leo ‘has the mentality of a mathematician’ and ‘knows how to govern,’ confrère says
 Bishops applaud House efforts to defund abortion, ‘gender transition’
 Leo calls on Church to be ‘a little leaven’ of unity and love, Vatican spokesman writes

Released Monday, May. 19

 Colombia’s president meets with Pontiff
 Pope calls for ecumenical unity based on shared faith
 Kidnapped priest released in Cameroon
 India’s Cardinal Gracias urges lasting peace accord with Pakistan
 Cardinal Reina to replace Archbishop Paglia as John Paul II Institute chancellor
 Vance, Rubio meet with Pope Leo
 South Carolina Supreme Court interprets state’s fetal heartbeat abortion ban
 End use of child soldiers, Vatican diplomat urges
 Priest remembered as ‘father of orphans’ beatified in France
 Thousands attend Jubilee of Confraternities
 The Church’s social doctrine ‘does not claim to possess a monopoly on truth,’ Pope tells Vatican conference
 Do not forgot those who suffer from war, Pope Leo tells crowd in St. Peter’s Square
 Emphasizing love and unity, Leo XIV installed as 267th Pope

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Thu26 March
Lent

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

Image for Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent

The weekday Masses towards the end of Lent are like a Passion Play. The Gospels, as one scene after the other, show the mounting hatred and growing tension. This is the “Abraham Mass,” telling of the inheritance received through Abraham. The Opening Prayer reminds us of our great inheritance received from Christ.…

Learn more about this day.

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