Daily News

Morning must-reads

May 8

Pope Leo, Secretary of State Rubio exchange views

Affirm shared commitment to promoting peace, dignity

Jerusalem: Head of Dormition Abbey talks persecution

Says Israeli leadership includes 'notorious Christian haters'

Vatican orders Baton Rouge bishop investigation

After his failure to respond to allegation about priest

Filipino bishop-designate withdraws before ordination

Due to 'deep awareness' of his 'limitations, inadequacies'

One year on, Leo's reputation is 'quiet American pope'

Pressing issues promise to reveal more about his leadership

Report: Worship attendance at many U.S. churches is up

For first time in 2 decades; seen as post-COVID stabilization

May 7

German bishops’ blessings don't have Vatican approval

DDF head Cardinal Fernández restates 'Fiducia Supp.' foul

Parolin: Premature to discuss sanctions on Germans

Cdl. doesn't rule out intervention but hopes to avoid it

Lebanese priests enjoy surprise video call from Pope

Leo encourages Christian community facing IDF attacks

Azerbaijan continues ‘caviar diplomacy’ with Vatican

Will fund Rome renovation; razed Armenian cathedral

Mass. high court hears arguments on religion & art

Re: statues of St. Michael & St. Florian at civic building

Chinese bishops join in study of ‘Xi Jinping thought'

On 'tradition' of cultural nationalism & political loyalty

May 6

Vatican newspaper spotlights Gaza’s ‘prolonged agony’

8,000+ corpses trapped in rubble foster rodents, disease

Pope rejects Trump claim about supporting Iran nukes

Church has spoken for years against all such weapons

Synod releases 6th of 15 final reports by study groups

Including testimonies of men civilly 'married' to other men

Historic church in Mozambique destroyed by Islamists

Parishioners, in Muslim-majority area, 'remain in shock'

Legionaries of Christ mark 20 years of reform, renewal

New leader says Rome's support was decisive in healing

PP makes up to $25,000/head selling trans hormones

Unlike abortion, for trans there’s no rule on gov't funding

May 5

Vatican releases letter to Germans on gay blessings

As 2024 rejection was already circulating online this week

Clergy, nuns push OH lawmakers to end death penalty

State's last execution was in 2018, before Gov. DeWine

Supreme Court temporarily lifts abortion-pill ban

While justices consider drug-makers' request for pause

India: Mob disrupts Mass, four Catholics arrested

Parishioners tried to halt the Hindus, leading to scuffle

Pope accepts Moscow archbishop Pezzi's resignation

Due to health, wear and tear from years in tough post

European Parliament finally calls Azerbaijan to account

For destroying old Armenian churches & Christian sites

May 4

Fed. court halts mailing of abortion pills nationwide

As allowing it 'undermines' state's right; in-person okay

Vatican newspaper decries Israeli razing of school

Routine in Lebanon villages: evacuate, bomb, bulldoze

Louisiana ‘Vos estis’ complaint remains unanswered

Baton Rouge whistleblower gets no reply from Vatican

Senate comm. releases texts by bigoted prosecutors

'Iʼd like to prosecute any nun who still wears the head habit'

Vatican prosecutors defy Vatican appeals-court order

Latest development in long-running 'trial of the century'

Notre-Dame stained-glass dispute enters new phase

Swapping in contemporary windows is widely opposed

May 1

Exorcists org lauds courage in Pope Leo's calls for peace

'Authentic peace is inseparable from liberation from sin'

Suspect arrested in attack on French nun in Jerusalem

Violence fits pattern of growing hostility toward Christians

Scholars recover 42 lost pages of ancient 'Codex H'

Incl. oldest known lists of chapters for St. Paul’s epistles

S. Korean Catholics now number 6M but face a crisis

Of demographics: too low fertility rate & aging population

Silicon Valley consults with Church in Minerva Dialogues

Supplying Catholic understanding of the person for AI dev

London Marathon winner S. Sawe ‘never misses Mass’

Devout Kenyan broke two-hour mark for world record

April 30

St. Cloud diocese begins drastic reduction in parishes

MN's most severe: 1/3 of 131 parishes to lose Sun. Mass

SCOTUS: NJ pregnancy center can challenge state AG

Who subpoenaed information about the org’s donors

USCCB v. O’Connell suit makes its way to high court

Peter’s Pence donor alleges fraud, breach of duty, more

Belarus frees priest amid ten-person prisoner swap

Polish Carmelite friar was detained on espionage charges

Pope’s refusal to meet with SSPX head is act of mercy

His likely aim: to forestall schismatic act by its leaders

Archdiocese of Atlanta launches online high school

Open to 9th-12th graders anywhere; tuition: $7,200/yr

April 29

Azerbaijan’s gov't demolishes Armenian cathedral

In region where Armenian Christians were exiled in 2023

U.S., Japanese bishops: 'Nuclear threats are escalating'

Nine nuclear powers are killing non-proliferation treaty

SIPRI: Military spending continues to grow in Asia

By China, Japan, India, & Taiwan, driven by instability

Vatican newspaper: Jihadi crisis in Mali, Sahel region

Intensification of attacks by thug militias against militaries

Pope: Vatican diplomats must be channels of peace

Tells trainees, 'You bring to the world the Word of Life'

Florida diocese to debut 'tiny homes' for needy seniors

Affordable-housing village built near diocesan center

April 28

Pope Leo meets with Anglican leader Sarah Mullally

Amid strained ecumenical relations, division in C of E

Calif. bishop participates in Anglican consecration

Fresno's Brennan stands by during laying on of hands

Three Swiss people shared Eucharist with their dogs

Diocese: No sacrilegious intent, thus no excommunication

Jerusalem cardinal Pizzaballa issues letter to faithful

For 'living the vocation of the Church in the Holy Land'

German bishop Bätzing defends 'irregular' blessings

Contradicts Pope & claims no danger to unity of Church

Virginians march against extreme abortion amendment

Which, if passed, would enshrine killing in state constitution

April 27

Latin Patriarchate fights Israelis’ West Bank land grabs

Settlers encroach on Church land; demo machines seized

Trump DOJ announces aim to bring back firing squad

Meanwhile, Pope Leo urges abolition of death penalty

Pope to new priests: Keep Church door open, also go out

Says flocks 'inhabit pastures that you must come to know'

Lebanon: Italians replace crucifix smashed by IDF thug

Nuncio to Lebanon archbishop Borgia attends installation

Vatican confidentially disciplined Belgian bishop in 2021

For mishandling abuse; transparency questions are raised

England & Wales: 'Inevitable' assisted-suicide bill fails

Halted in House of Lords after 'extraordinary' pro-life effort

April 24

Pope speaks bluntly in 20-minute in-flight interview

On war, immigration, same-sex blessings, diplomacy, more

Pew studies prevalence of ex-Catholics in 24 countries

30% of Americans were raised in Church; almost half left

Toronto cardinal to PM Carney: Halt expansion of MAiD

Plan to offer death to the mentally ill may begin in 2027

Fed. court upholds Ten Commandments in TX schools

Says 'exposing children to religious language' isn't coercive

Cardinal Ambongo: Pope's Africa visit promoted dignity

Boosted Catholic identity, poked consciences of leaders

Conn. diocese ‘hires’ AI fundraising 'staffer' Maria

Bridgeport launches pilot scheme to 'reach more people'

April 23

Pope Leo celebrates final Mass in Equatorial Guinea

For 30,000; 75% of nation's 1.6M citizens are Catholic

Germany: Marx instructs priests on same-sex blessings

Cardinal pushes handout, contradicts Fiducia Supplicans

U.S.: Over 400 men to be ordained priests this spring

25% were foreign-born, many from Vietnam & Mexico

Pope soon to ordain 8 new priests for Diocese of Rome

No. of priests working in diocese has halved in 25 years

NY bishops issue new guidebook on end-of-life decisions

Now that state law has legalized assisted suicide there

Early U.S. data: 108K marriages in '25, further decline

While Catholic population has grown by 20M since 1970

April 22

Pope, at Mass, exhorts the faithful of Equatorial Guinea

Says, 'Take the destiny of your nation into your own hands'

Equat. Guinea’s civil leaders urged to serve City of God

Papal address centers on Augustine's model of two cities

Dubuque diocesan clusters raise canonical questions

As Sunday Mass will be discontinued in half its churches

U.S. suffered more than 1.12M abortions in 2025

Actual figure higher, as it excludes interstate pill provision

Ex abortion clinic director exposes PP in new book

Mayra Rodríguez debuts message to Mexicans, Hispanics

French pathologist applies forensic science to relics

Has examined Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Francis, Joan of Arc

April 21

Pope Leo arrives in Catholic-majority Equatorial Guinea

An oil-rich nation where most of its 2M citizens are poor

Pizzaballa condemns IDF soldier’s desecration of crucifix

In Christian village in southern Lebanon; photo goes viral

Leo, at Mass in Angola, warns on seeing Christ as 'guru'

Angolans' joyful faith is marked by songs, dance, applause

Vatican diplomat: Iran war may worsen global hunger

Due to costs of energy, fertilizer & broken supply chains

USCCB committee chairs back Clergy Act bill in House

To allow priests to opt back into Social Security, Medicare

Growing Catholic initiative breaks silence on infertility

Emphasizes spiritual motherhood, call to foster & adopt