In a lengthy interview with Robert Cetera of L’Osservatore Romano, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, OFM, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, reflected on 200 days of war. “When we met in Gaza in November for a long conversation 30 days after the beginning of the war, we certainly did not think we would find ourselves here again after 200 days, and without a possible solution to the conflict,” the prelate said. “I have lived in this land for 34 years. It is now my land and I have seen so much between wars, intifada, and clashes, but I have no doubt: this is the most difficult trial we have had t ..read more

Australian police have arrested seven teenagers who they said were part of a network of “religious extremists” involved in the stabbing attack on an Assyrian Orthodox bishop. The teenager who was arrested after the assault on Mar Mari Emmanuel was a part of the group, which was organized around a “religiously motivated, violent extremist ideology,” a spokesman for prosecutors said. Police said that the arrests were made to keep the community safe from further attacks. Officials did not identify those arrested because they are minors. Nor did they identify the religion with which the teenagers ..read more

Four years after the Archdiocese of New Orleans declared bankruptcy, over $36.3 million has been paid to attorneys, accountants, and other professionals, according to court records. Jones Walker, the archdiocese’s law firm, has received nearly $15.5 million; victims’ attorneys have received nearly $13.5 million; and other attorneys, as well as accountants, actuaries and other professionals, have received over $7.3 million ..read more

The bishops of four German dioceses have announced that they will not participate in planning for a “Synodal Council” that will include lay people in pastoral decisions. In their statement Cardinal Rainer Woelki of Cologne and Bishops Gregor Hanke of Eichstätt, Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, and Stefan Oster of Passau said that Synodal Council proposed by the episcopal conference is “not compatible with the sacramental constitution of the Church,” as the Vatican has repeatedly warned. They went on to say that because they do not accept the initiative, it is not accurate to say that it has t ..read more

Pope Francis sent a video message to the faithful of the Diocese of Termoli-Larino, Italy, as the diocese prepared to welcome, for a week, a statue of Our Lady of Fátima. Our Lady is “coming now,” Pope Francis said. “She will arrive by helicopter, but then she’ll knock; with her presence, she knocks on the door of families, of homes—on the door of your hearts ..read more

The chairmen of two committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, joined by the president of Catholic Relief Services, urged members of Congress to increase international humanitarian and development aid. Bishops A. Elias Zaidan and Mark Seitz, joined by Sean Callahan, presented members of Congress with a detailed request for funding increases for 23 different programs. For example, the USCCB and CRS requested $265 million for the McGovern-Dole agricultural program, and $937 million for the Millennium Challenge Account. Overall, the bishops and CRS requested $30.2 billion for ..read more

The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have released a statement on gender theory, rejecting the idea that gender is a “cultural or social construction.” The statement, Intricately Woven by the Lord, acknowledges the “complex but essential pastoral task” of helping people who suffer from gender dysphoria. But the statement adds: “The sexual identity of the person as man or woman is not purely cultural or social construction. It belongs to the specific manner in which the image of God exists.” In a remarkably mild expression of opposition to “gender-affirming” surgery, the bishops’ statement ..read more

A divided Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Moyle v. United States. A 1986 federal law mandates that hospitals that receive Medicare funds provide emergency care to patients—and the Biden administration has interpreted emergency care to include some abortions. Citing the 1986 law, the administration has challenged an Idaho law that protects almost all unborn children from abortion ..read more

“Pride is a potent poison: a single drop is enough to spoil an entire life filled with goodness,” Pope Francis tweeted on April 24. “A person may have performed a mountain of good deeds, but if we did them only to exalt ourselves, then we cannot call ourselves virtuous ..read more

President Joe Biden shocked American Catholics when he ostentatiously made the Sign of the Cross during a political rally when a Democratic Party leader spoke against restrictions on abortion. When Florida’s Democratic Party chairman Nikki Fried blasted a measure to ban abortions after six weeks of gestation, Biden—standing beside her on the platform—ostentatiously blessed himself ..read more