Catholic News
- Cardinal Parolin calls on mankind, Europe to turn to Christ, seek healing, peace (Vatican News (Italian))
Preaching at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on April 1 for the second Italian synodal assembly, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, compared mankind and Europe to the paralytic in the day’s Gospel reading. Mankind, he said, is “in the grip of the madness of power on the one hand and heavily wounded by violence on the other.” He continued: Do you want to get well? Do you really want to free yourself from the illusory logic that paralyzes you? Because first of all you need to put your inner resources into motion. If so, then get up, take your stretcher and walk. That is, free yourself from everything that prevents you from walking towards healing and peace . Mankind can free itself through Jesus, “the source of gushing water,” Cardinal Parolin explained, since Christ is capable of “making everything he touches to flourish again.” - Italian synodal assembly, day 1: Dialogue with the world is essential, says Cardinal Zuppi (CWN)
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, the president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, delivered the opening address at the Church in Italy’s second synodal assembly, which is taking place at the Vatican, in Paul VI Audience Hall, from March 31 to April 3. - Report finds 111 attacks on Israeli Christians in 2024; most perpetrated by 'ultra-Orthodox' Jews (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
A new report by the Jerusalem-based Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue has found “111 cases of attacks or violence recorded in 2024” against Christians in Israel and Jerusalem, the Vatican newspaper reported. “In 35 cases there was also vandalism of churches, monasteries and public religious signs,” the report continued. “In almost all cases, the perpetrators identified are young ultra-Orthodox Jews belonging to the circles of nationalist-religious extremism.” The report added that “unfortunately, [their] growing influence in Israeli government policy has contributed to creating an environment of constant threat towards religious minorities and, in particular, Christians. The results are dire ... 48% of young Christians under 30 interviewed said they were considering leaving the region and migrating.” - Church in Bahrain takes further root with introduction of child missionary society (Fides)
Bishop Aldo Berardi, the apostolic vicar of Northern Arabia, has inaugurated the Pontifical Society of the Holy Childhood in Bahrain, just four years after the dedication of the cathedral there. During a Mass on March 28, 46 children pledged to be “child missionaries, to become friends of Jesus, and to serve [other] children,” the Fides news agency reported. The nation of 1.6 million, located in the Persian Gulf (map), is 78% Muslim, 12% Christian (10% Catholic), and 9% Hindu. Islam is the state religion, with religious freedom respected to a markedly greater degree than in neighboring Saudi Arabia. Pope Francis made an apostolic journey there in 2022. - Kentucky lawmakers defy court decision, order return of Ten Commandments monument to capitol (Religion Clause)
Defying a 2002 court decision, Kentucky lawmakers have passed a resolution ordering the return of a Ten Commandments monument to the state capitol. The resolution took effect after Gov. Andy Beshear neither signed nor vetoed the measure. The Ten Commandments monument, donated to the state capitol in 1971, was removed in 2002 following a federal court decision. The new resolution states that the legal justification for the 2002 court decision “has been abandoned by the United States Supreme Court, and is no longer good law.” - Syracuse abuse victims back $100M bankruptcy plan (Syracuse Post-Standard)
324 people who allege they suffered clerical sexual abuse in the Diocese of Syracuse have voted to approve a bankruptcy plan that would establish a $100-million fund for victims. The upstate New York diocese declared bankruptcy in 2020. “Bishop Douglas Lucia previously said the diocese would cover half of the $100 million fund, with the rest paid by parishes, schools, missions and Catholic Charities,” the Syracuse Post-Standard reported. “If split evenly among the parishes, each would face an average bill of nearly $400,000.” - Breaking: Mystery vandals cut top from Vatican obelisk (CWN)
The tip of the obelisk in St. Peter’s Square has been reported missing, leaving Vatican officials unable to explain its disappearance. - Vatican update on papal health (Vatican News)
In an April 1 update on the health of Pope Francis, the Vatican press office has disclosed that the Pontiff’s recovery is continuing, but still has not determined whether the Pope will be able to participate in public liturgical events of Holy Week. The Pope’s blood work is normal, and an X-ray has shown “an improvement in his lungs,” reported Matteo Bruni, the director of the Vatican press office. Doctors treating the Pope have been able to decrease the use of supplemental oxygen, providing high-flow oxygen “mainly at night and as necessary.” Pope Francis is working at his desk each day, but has not resumed meetings, except with “health personnel, as well as his closest collaborators.” He continues physical therapy, and has shown improvement in “motor skills, breathing, and the use of his voice.” - Supreme Court grills Wisconsin attorney on Catholic Charities case (New York Times)
In March 31 oral arguments in the case of Catholic Charities Bureau v. Wisconsin, US Supreme Court justices seemed likely to rule against a state determination that Catholic Charities does not qualify as a religious organization. Wisconsin courts had affirmed the judgment of the state’s Labor and Industry Review Commission that Catholic Charities did not qualify for a religious exemption from unemployment taxes because the bureau did not “attempt to imbue program participants with the Catholic faith.” Several Supreme Court justices questioned the logic of that ruling. Justice Elena Kagan observed that some religions require proselytism, while others do not. “Why are we treating some religions better than others on that element of religious doctrine,” she asked. Justice Amy Coney Barrett—who often differs with Justice Kagan—agreed: “Judaism does not have that as part of its religion. So does that mean that Judaism is completely disqualified from getting the exemption when they’re running these sorts of organizations?” - Trump administration withholding some Planned Parenthood funding (Politico)
The Trump administration is withholding funding from Planned Parenthood offices, which are suspected of violating new federal policies “including prohibitions on promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion.” Nine state affiliates of Planned Parenthood have been notified of the temporary block on fund from the Title X family-planning program. - 'Everything comes from the Spirit,' Pope tells Italian bishops' synodal assembly (CWN)
Pope Francis has sent a message to the second synodal assembly of Italy’s dioceses, which is taking place at the Vatican, in Paul VI Audience Hall, from March 31 to April 3. - Catholic woman named Syria's labor minister (AsiaNews)
A Catholic woman, Hind Kabawat, has been named Syria’s Minister of Labor and Social Affairs. She is the only woman in the cabinet led by Syria’s president, the militant Islamist Ahmed al-Sharaa. Kabawat has worked as director of interfaith peacebuilding at George Mason University’s Center for World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution. In February, she was the only Christian appointed to the seven-member committee drafting the nation’s new constitution. - Evangelical organizations join USCCB in lamenting potential impact of deportations (USCCB)
The US bishops’ Department of Migration and Refugee Services—joined by the National Association of Evangelicals, World Relief, and the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary—have published “One Part of the Body: The Potential Impact of Deportations on American Christian Families.” “Roughly one in 12 Christians in the United States are vulnerable to deportation or live with a family member who could be deported,” the report states. “Our prayer with this report is that American Christians will recognize that these proposed deportations—to whatever extent they ultimately become a reality—are not just a policy issue, but a dynamic that will impact us, disciples of Jesus who are knit together in unity under Christ.” - Cameroon bishops issue pastoral letter on October elections (Fides)
The Catholic bishops of Cameroon have issued a pastoral letter about the presidential elections scheduled for this October, suggesting a “code of electoral conduct.” Previous elections have been marred by “violence during campaigns; candidates who were not welcome in some constituencies; falsified electoral rolls; vote buying and selling,” the bishops note. They urge “the need for reform of the electoral system and campaign financing.” The bishops also list the traits that would distinguish a good presidential candidate, including “integrity, humility, modesty, and moral leadership qualities.” - Pope appoints 85-year-old to govern 2 Eastern-rite jurisdictions (CWN)
In a rare move, Pope Francis has appointed an 85-year-old retired bishop as apostolic administrator of two Eastern-rite jurisdictions. - 'John Paul II effect' seen in Latin America's fertility rise (Crux)
A Notre Dame researcher suggests that a rise in fertility in Latin America may be traced to the 13 visits to the region by Pope John Paul II. Economist Lakshmi Iyer points to a significant rise in birth rates in Latin America—resulting in an estimated quarter-million children, and says, “These results indicate that people are really listening to what the Pope has to say.” - For 3rd time in recent months, Chicago priest named archbishop (CWN)
For the third time in recent months, Pope Francis has appointed a Chicago priest as a metropolitan archbishop. - April papal prayer intention: proper use of new technologies (Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network)
The Pope’s April 2025 prayer intention, disseminated by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (formerly known as the Apostleship of Prayer), is “let us pray that the use of the new technologies will not replace human relationships, will respect the dignity of the person, and will help us face the crises of our times.” - Trappistine monastery designated jubilee pilgrimage site (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
In an uncommon move, Bishop Orazio Piazza of Viterbo, Italy, recently designated a monastery of 70 cloistered Trappistine nuns as a diocesan jubilee pilgrimage site. Pilgrims often speak of the “big and true questions that people carry in their hearts, many situations, even painful ones, that they experience and that they entrust to us so that we can bring them into our prayers,” said Sister Giovanna Maria, OCSO, a nun there. The participation of pilgrims in the sacred liturgy, she continued, “rekindles a nostalgia for God, for silence, for prayer and gives birth to hope in hearts: the hope that what we experience has a meaning, that there is a good plan for us, that our sins can be forgiven, that God can be met, listened to, known.” - Vatican prefect, newspaper pay tribute to Teilhard de Chardin; skirt views on race, eugenics (CWN)
With one headline describing him as “a Moses of the 20th century,” L’Osservatore Romano devoted two pages of its March 27 edition to Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), the French Jesuit philosopher and paleontologist whose views on race and eugenics have come under increased scrutiny over the past decade. - More...