Daily News

Morning must-reads

April 17

UK high court rules 'woman' is defined by biological sex

Unanimous verdict; the Scottish gov't argued otherwise

Detroit archdiocese: Parishes must halt TLMs by July 1

Bishop will identify four non-parish locations for them

Cardinal Parolin, VP Vance to meet in Rome on Good Fri.

Vance also to meet with Italian Prime Minister Meloni

Nicaraguan regime again bans Holy Week processions

Police told to prevent any public manifestation of faith

Thieving Milwaukee priest had atypical clerical support

And got only probation after multiple thefts from parish

Philippines town reenacts Christ and Mary’s encounter

With intricately carved and movable wooden statues

April 16

Nonprofit promotes stories of priests' virtue, courage

To restore confidence in priesthood & inspire vocations

Fed. judge declines to halt immigration-raid policy

Lack of standing; won't reinstate 'sensitive locations'

Cameroon diocese issues ‘urgent alert’ on trafficking

Ongoing crises have increased vulnerability, incidence

Guttmacher: U.S. abortions rose 1%, 2023 to 2024

Not including 'self-managed' use of abortion pills at home

Maryland: Pastors ceremonially 'bless' abortion clinic

Led by a Baptist 'minister' and Yale Divinity School grad

French artist James Tissot painted Holy Week scenes

His 'The Dead Appear in the Temple' depicts Mt. 27:51-53

April 15

Jerusalem Patriarch on Palm Sunday: ‘We are not afraid’

Holy City is the place of 'a love that saves and overcomes'

20,000 celebrate Palm Sun. in Iraq’s ‘City of Hosanna’

Spirited procession: hymns, prayers, traditional attire

Dicastery for Clergy tightens rules for Mass stipends

Allows 'collective intentions' only under strict conditions

India: Delhi police bar Way of the Cross procession

Cite 'law and order, traffic concerns'; archdiocese shocked

Normandy: Benedictine monks reviving ancient abbey

Saint-Wandrille preserved Latin liturgy, Gregorian chant

Pope declares Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí venerable

Vatican opened cause in 2003 after years of lay advocacy

April 14

France to welcome 10,384 adult catechumens on Sat.

Young adults now constitute largest share of its converts

Is Islam's presence in Europe rousing Christian identity?

Renewal afoot even in bastions of secular progressivism

U.S. bishops push Religious Workforce Protection Act

For foreign-born religious to wait in U.S. for green cards

Univ. of Mary & Diocese of Phoenix launch seminary

Phoenix hasn't had its own seminary in over 50 years

Netherlands: 9,958 reported euthanasia deaths in '24

Gov't mulls option for anyone over age 74, without illness

Gaudí expert: His faith deepened during basilica work

He attempted Lenten fast, prompting bishop to intervene

April 11

Cardinals tout book on vocations and sexual orientation

On integrating affections & feelings; Pope writes preface

Vatican grants 14 New York churches delay on mergers

Amid Buffalo bishop's effort to buoy diocesan finances

DDF prefect's ‘sex change’ remarks raise questions

Critic rues 'retreat from relative clarity of Dignitas Infinita'

Ukrainian Catholics rebut U.S. rel. freedom commission

Say new law isn't restrictive but is necessary safeguard

Ill. bishops drop opposition to homeschooling red tape

Bill would impose onerous regulations on families

Australia's two party leaders both identify as Catholic

Citizens, 20% of whom are Catholic, go to polls May 3

April 10

Vatican financial watchdog: Suspicious reports drop

'Only' 79 such reports in 2024, down from 123 in 2023

Former Jerusalem Patriarch fears Gaza annexation

Calls expelling Palestinians from home 'violence, sacrilege'

Priest of only Catholic parish in Gaza calls for peace

And thanks Cardinal Pizzaballa for his 'constant help'

Bismarck ND boasts booming Catholic community

Transplants drawn to great schools, dynamic culture

Colo. bishops urge veto of foul abortion funding bill

State gov't claims it will save money via 'averted births'

600+ Notre Dame students call for campus porn filter

Petition asks new president Dowd; Jenkins rejected similar

April 9

Senior Vatican officials celebrate Teilhard de Chardin

On anniv.; despite Vatican warning affirmed by JPII, others

U.S. bishops back Religious Workforce Protection Act

Would allow foreign priests, nuns to extend special visas

UK: Young Catholics outnumber Anglicans in pews

Catholics age 18-34 comprise 41%, versus 20% in C of E

Pope shows 'slight improvements in voice, mobility'

And his lung infection is 'ongoing though decreasing'

St. Egidio community brings 700 Afghans to Italy

Who fled 'after the mass exodus from Kabul in Aug. 2021'

Bishop describes Church in Netherlands after Vatican II

A small cadre devised upheaval, similar to Germans now

April 8

Vatican pension deficit estimated at 1.4 billion euros

Ten years ago; meantime, virtually nothing's been done

Trump admin. directs NIH to study sex-change regret

Including negative consequences of hormones, surgery

Lax laws + IVF make for high-tech 'birthright tourism'

Many Chinese 'rent a womb' here, baby gets citizenship

N. American bishops decry new immigration rules

Group of 11 meet in El Paso, issue pastoral letter on it

USCCB ends refugee partnership with government

Citing funding cuts; will consider new ways to assist

Myanmar Catholics urge ceasefire, lead aid effort

After earthquake killed 3,600, followed by heavy rains

April 7

Theodore McCarrick, laicized in 2019, dies at age 94

He'd been living in Missouri at an undisclosed location

Pope makes surprise appearance at St. Peter’s Square

At Jubilee of the Sick, in wheelchair, with oxygen tube

Italian synodal assembly ends in document stand-off

Libs cite insufficient treatment of LGBs, abuse, women

Spain: Tallest cross in world to remain despite project

Gov't to 'resignify' site 'in line with democratic values'

Eastern Catholic churches seen as bridge toward unity

With Orthodox; per recent shift in Latin-rite attitudes

Chanel fashion house to restore 12th-C. French abbey

Coco Chanel spent early teens & learned to sew there

April 4

Seneca, Kansas, priest shot in rectory, dies at hospital

Archbishop Naumann decries 'senseless act of violence'

Vatican issues document for 1,700th anniv. of Nicaea

'Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior,' on 1st ecumenical council

Italian synodal assembly prioritizes sexual orientation

And women's role in Church; ignores demographic winter

Pew data profiles beliefs, practices of U.S. Catholics

Weekly Mass attendance is 29%; 11% more go 1-2x/month

Gang members murder two women religious in Haiti

Both from Congregation of Little Sisters of St. Thérèse

Church in the Philippines has record five cardinals

Their focus has been New Evangelization & synodality

April 3

Fátima shrine will not alter its giant Rupnik mosaic

Unlike Lourdes; but it has suspended use of the image

Protests in Nigerian diocese call for end to abductions

'Strangers are coming into our land and terrorizing us'

Vatican marks 20th anniv. of St. JPII’s death with Mass

L’Osservatore Romano runs front-page piece + two pages

China adds restrictions on foreigners' religious activity

Separate liturgies from natives; limit on books brought in

Supreme Court hears arguments on Medicaid & PP

Whether states have authority to set eligibility rules

KY Ten Commandments monument: Back to capitol

Lawmakers: 2002 court decision is 'no longer good law'

April 2

U.S. State Dept. is ‘monitoring’ UK arrest of pro-lifer

Stresses need to 'respect, protect freedom of expression'

Trump admin. defunds 16 PP abortion clinics in 9 states

'Temporarily' for 'possible violations' of fed. civil rights law

‘John Paul II effect’ seen in Latin America’s fertility rise

He taught on marriage & family during 13 visits, 1979-1996

Archbishop discusses Spain’s growing secularization

Many of 23,000 baptism fonts across nation 'have no water'

Saint Mary’s College prez's lie corrected by native Irish

'Nonsense' to pretend McAleese didn't usher in abortion

Catholic U. of Portland theology majors can avoid Bible

Can study 'Queer Theologies,' 'God Our Mother,' instead

April 1

Does next Synod phase mirror Anglicanism’s model?

Bishops taking part in 'Assembly' will not be majority

Lourdes bishop covers Rupnik mosaics on Basilica doors

2025 pilgrims seek jubilee plenary indulgence at Shrine

Chicago priest named archbishop; 3rd in recent months

McGovern of Belleville, Ill., named archbishop of Omaha

Will Chicago lawsuit change handling of allegations?

Practice has been to quickly accept, settle historical claims

Catholic woman is named Syria’s labor minister

Kabawat long has been active in inter-religious dialogue

Lebanon: Religious-tourism group plans 'caminos'

One, a Transfiguration Trail, will follow path of Jesus

March 31

Supreme Court hears Wis. Catholic Charities case

Will decide whether such agencies are ‘religious enough’

Kansas: Violent ‘black mass’ leader arrested at Capitol

After punching protestors who interrupted his ritual

Total of German ordinations hits record low of 29

Limburg, led by Bp. Bätzing, is among 11 dioceses with zero

U.S. foundation to 'restore & endow' Catholic parishes

Launches 'innovative, Vatican-approved funding model'

Journalist: Human trafficking is at dire levels in Africa

Amid weak law enforcement, corruption, poverty, war

Steady decline in rule of law under Francis pontificate

His disregard for uniform application, clarity harms Church