ROME (CNS) — The reform projects launched by Pope Francis — reforming not just institutions like the Roman Curia, but attitudes and pastoral approaches — will not be reversed, even though some may take different forms in the future, said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state. Ongoing discernment, “which is not simply intuition but the fruit of continual prayer in the Spirit,” will show the church “how to continue and what to make institutional,” the cardinal said April 24 at a book presentation. But “precisely because it is the action of the Spirit there can be no reversal.” The ..read more

A new AI priest, launched by a Catholic teaching apostolate to answer questions about the faith, has been “laicized” after sparking more backlash than belief online. The nonprofit apologetics website Catholic Answers debuted a “Father Justin” interactive AI app April 23, aiming “to provide users with faithful and educational answers to questions about Catholicism,” according to an announcement that day by the organization. Father Justin — a bearded, bushy-browed white male in clerical attire, who sat placidly overlooking the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Italy’s Perugia province — was ..read more

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Peace begins when each person decides to accept it as a gift and live at peace with everyone throughout the day, Pope Francis said. Peace “begins at my front door when, before I leave home, I decide whether I want to live that day as a man or woman of peace, that is, to live at peace with others,” he said during an audience with visitors from Hungary in the Paul VI Audience Hall April 25. “Peace comes when I decide to forgive, even if it is difficult, and this fills my heart with joy,” he said. The pope met with about 1,200 Hungarian pilgrims, including laypeople, bishops ..read more

Arizona’s Republican-controlled House voted April 24 to repeal the state’s 1864 law banning abortion recently upheld by that state’s Supreme Court. Republicans in the state Senate recently allowed that chamber to proceed to a repeal vote, meaning that chamber could soon follow suit. Should the state Senate do so the following week, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is expected to sign the repeal. “We mourn for the loss of the children who would have been protected, and the mothers who would have received life-affirming help to address their holistic needs, under Arizona’s strongest pro-life law,” M ..read more

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — The Supreme Court on April 24 weighed a potential conflict between Idaho’s abortion restrictions and federal law governing emergency health care. Supporters of Idaho’s law argued it makes appropriate exceptions for emergency circumstances, while opponents argued that the law runs afoul of federal requirements to provide stabilizing care to pregnant women experiencing adverse effects in emergency rooms. The federal law in question, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA, obligates doctors and hospitals to attempt to stabilize both mother and unborn chi ..read more

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — President Joe Biden on April 24 said the U.S. will begin sending military aid to Ukraine within “the next few hours” after he signed legislation sent to him by Congress approving $95 billion in foreign aid to provide weapons and support to key U.S. allies including Ukraine and Israel — as well as billions in humanitarian aid — after a monthslong process. “It was a difficult path (to my desk) and should have been easier and it should have gotten there sooner,” Biden said in remarks at the White House. The legislation was delayed due to objections from some hard-right Ho ..read more

Several years ago, while talking to a group of men, I shook up my listeners a bit — and perhaps also myself — by speaking in praise of wasting time or doing what many people would consider wasting it. After all, I said, most normal individuals were busy at that very moment doing their jobs, mowing their lawns, buying groceries, washing the laundry, saving the world. And here we sat talking about making good use of time but not getting anything done. I’ll come back to that. For the moment, let’s agree that one person’s good use of time is another person’s waste. But it would be a mistake to le ..read more

As Jordan Brathwaite looks ahead to his basketball and academic career at Yale University, he sees two Catholic schools as playing a pivotal role in his preparation. “What I learned with my Catholic education was invaluable,” said the Mount St. Joseph senior, who recently committed to an academic scholarship to the New Haven, Conn., university. “Both Catholic schools I attended helped me flourish, and taught me about communities and the importance of incorporating values into everyday life.” Brathwaite, a resident of Fulton in Howard County, spent his first three years of high school at Our L ..read more

ORLANDO, Fla. (OSV News) — A bill recently signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been described by a farmworker advocate as “inhumane” and draconian. DeSantis, who usually has public signing of bills, signed HB 433 in a closed door session April 11, along with other bills. Opponents of HB 433 say it hurts farmworkers and any workers who labor under Florida’s sun because it prohibits counties or municipalities from creating their own heat exposure requirements for those who work outside, giving the state the sole authority to determine the standards. It also preempts local regulatio ..read more

In an impassioned feedback meeting, Black Catholics in Baltimore City displayed many of the well-known stages of grieving: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Participants shared pros and cons of a plan, including opportunities for ministry with larger congregations, as well as concerns about merging parish identities and leaving some areas without a nearby church. Hannah Merez, a parishioner of St. Veronica in Cherry Hill, received a standing ovation following her impassioned remarks at the special Seek the City To Come meeting for the Black Catholic community April 23, 202 ..read more