Catholic News
- Pope Leo XIV: the first American Pontiff! (CWN)
Cardinal Robert Prevost, the American-born missionary who had served for years in Peru before being named prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, has been elected as Roman Pontiff, choosing the name Pope Leo XIV. - Conclave schedule, day 2 (May 8) (CWN)
Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office, has announced the following schedule for the conclave on Thursday, May 8, the conclave’s second day: - Conclave's 1st day ends with black smoke (CWN)
Following the morning Mass for the election of the Roman Pontiff, the conclave to elect the 267th pope began on the afternoon of May 7, with the procession of the 133 cardinal electors from the Pauline Chapel to the Sistine Chapel and the swearing of the oath of secrecy (booklet, video). - Conclave, May 8: morning ballots conclude with no election of Pope (Vatican News)
The appearance of black smoke over the Sistine Chapel at 11:50 AM (5:50 AM Eastern time) on May 8 indicated that the cardinal electors had not chosen a new Pope during the second and third rounds of voting. The fourth and fifth ballots are scheduled for later in the day. - Guam archbishop, removed in 2019, claims innocence (Pacific Daily News)
Archbishop Anthony Apuron, who was removed from his post as Archbishop of Agana in 2019 after a Vatican tribunal found him guilty of sexual abuse, has broken his silence and insisted on his innocence. In a video message, the archbishop said that his innocence was proven by the fact that plaintiffs in sex-abuse lawsuits against him had moved to dismiss their case. A lawyer for the plaintiffs challenged that conclusion, saying that his clients had chosen to settle their case after years of delay, but still maintained that they had suffered abuse. Although the Vatican had removed him from office and ordered him to live outside Guam, Archbishop Apuron argued: ““The canonical process did not result in my laicization. No priest or bishop who has been found guilty of these crimes has remained a priest or bishop as I have. This indicates my innocence.” - Ethics should be at the core of AI innovation, Vatican diplomat says at UN (Holy See Mission)
Addressing a UN meeting on artificial intelligence, a leading Vatican diplomat said that “ethical considerations” should “remain at the core of the development and deployment of AI.” “Artificial Intelligence is an extraordinary technological achievement that also poses many risks,” Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, said on May 6. “For this reason, the international community has an important responsibility to regulate the use of AI in its many forms.” He added: A healthy policy on AI requires that technological innovations be placed within the larger project of seeking the common good. In this sense, the Holy See considers it crucial to ensure that the development and use of AI always remain at the service of men and women, promoting fraternity and preserving critical thinking and the capacity for discernment. - Cardinal Re, at Mass for election of Roman Pontiff, emphasizes Church's unity in fidelity to the Gospel (CWN)
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, celebrated the Mass for the election of the Roman Pontiff in St. Peter’s Basilica on the morning of May 7 (booklet, video). The Mass took place hours before the 133 cardinal electors were scheduled to enter the conclave that will elect the 267th pope. - Canada: arson against Catholic churches continues; arrests are rare (MacDonald Laurier Institute)
Arson attacks on Catholic churches and schools increased by more than 100% after reports began to circulate in 2021 that children were buried in mass graves at the former “residential schools.” A report from the MacDonald Laurier Institute finds that the arson campaign has continued, although no mass graves have been detected. Only 4% of the incidents of arson have resulted in arrests. - Irish government discloses €38 million in support for UN Population Fund (Oireachtas)
The Irish government sent nearly €38 million ($42 million) to the UN Population Fund between 2019 and 2023, a parliamentary query has revealed. Ellis Mulroy of the Pro Life Campaign decried the expenditure of government funds, saying: “Funding given to groups like the UNFPA is not legitimate foreign aid. Rather, it’s an ideological abuse of Irish taxpayers’ money, done in our name but without our consent. - Prelate decries treatment of Africa 'as a little child in a cradle' (Fides)
Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, the secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization, deplored popular attitudes of condescension toward Africa in a May 76 to a conference at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. “Africa is often seen as a little child in a cradle,” the Nigerian archbishop said. “They say, ‘Please go and calm the child so she does not disturb the adults who are talking.’” He went on to charge: “Unfortunately, in the political world, Africa is still only either a mine from which minerals are extracted for one’s own production or a deposit for one’s own waste.” - Desire for goodness attracts world's attention to conclave, Vatican newspaper editor writes (CWN)
In a front-page editorial in the Vatican newspaper’s May 7 edition, Andrea Monda, the editor-in-chief, pondered why “since April 21, all the eyes of the world have been focused here, on the smallest State in the world.” - USCCB committee chairmen back SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act (USCCB)
The chairmen of two committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have lent their support to the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act (House, Senate). Archbishop Borys Gudziak and Bishop Robert Barron said that the legislation would “provide an overdue update to the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program’s asset limits by adjusting the amount of money SSI recipients are allowed to save for the first time in decades, indexing it to inflation, and eliminating the marriage penalty.” “The US bishops have long advocated that society should help to ensure a minimum level of security for workers, their families, and persons with disabilities,” the prelates explained in their letter, dated March 4 and released by the USCCB in early May. “The basic income security offered by SSI helps to do just that ... We must do all we can to strengthen it, so it better meets the needs of those who rely on it for a decent standard of living.” - Over 13,000 pilgrims expected for Jubilee of Bands (Vatican News (Italian))
Over 13,000 pilgrims from over 90 nations are expected in Rome for the Jubilee of Bands and Popular Entertainment, which will take place from May 10-11 as part of the 2025 jubilee year. The event is “dedicated to military, institutional, amateur, folk, village, sports, school and college bands, as well as all categories related to popular entertainment,” Vatican News reported. Early in the evening of May 10, over 100 bands will perform in 31 squares in Rome. - Wall Street Journal examines Vatican's financial crisis (Wall Street Journal)
Noting that the Vatican’s budget deficit tripled under Pope Francis, The Wall Street Journal has published a lengthy article entitled “The Vatican Financial Mess Pope Francis Couldn’t Fix.” “To understand the combination of deficit spending and mismanagement that is driving the Vatican into unsustainable debt, Wall Street Journal reporters met officials from the Vatican’s bank, pension fund and regulatory institutions and with cardinals attending this week’s conclave,” the newspaper reported. “Several met in secret, in locations arranged over Signal, citing an atmosphere of suspicion as the Vatican’s balance sheet deteriorates and blame circulates.” - Cardinals discuss importance of supporting new Pope (CWN)
On the afternoon of May 5, members of the College of Cardinals met in their eleventh general congregation since Pope Francis’s death. “About 170” of the 252 members of the College of Cardinals—including 132 of the 133 cardinal electors—were in attendance, the Vatican newspaper reported. - US bishops publish new edition of document on pornography (USCCB)
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has published a new, 10th anniversary edition of Create in Me a Pure Heart: A Pastoral Response to Pornography. The edition includes a new preface by the bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth. “During the decade since the first publication of this pastoral response to pornography, opposition to this grave evil has weakened among the general population,” the committee states. “The document was needed then, and it is still needed today.” - Indian archbishop defends country's military action in Kashmir (Crux)
Archbishop Vincent Aind of Ranchi, the secretary-general of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), has defended India’s military strikes on Pakistani positions in the disputed province of Kashmir. The archbishop said that India “has demonstrated considerable restraint in selection of targets and method of execution,” in attacks on what India has described as terrorist enclaves. He said that the strikes were a response to Pakistani attacks that had killed more than 20 civilians in India. Archbishop Aind added, however, that military action was not the ideal solution to rising tensions between the two countries. “I would have preferred some diplomatic solution... rather than going to war,” he said. - Cardinal McElroy: 'I have no guess' who the next Pope will be (CNS)
At a May 5 Mass at his titular church in Rome, Cardinal Robert McElroy said that he had “no guess” about who the next Pontiff will be. “It has become ever clearer to me how profound and mysterious this process is, to find a successor to Peter who meets the needs of the present,” he said. “I can give you no insights into who is ahead,” he continued—“not because I cannot do so because of my promise, although I can’t, but because I have no guess.” - Kenyan cardinal says he was not invited to conclave (Catholic Review)
Cardinal John Njue, the retired Archbishop of Nairobi, is not participating in this week’s papal conclave, although he is eligible to vote. The cardinal says he was not invited. Archbishop Philip Anyolo, who succeeded the cardinal in Nairobi, counters that in fact an invitation was sent through the archdiocese, and the archdiocese replied, on behalf of Cardinal Njue, that he could not travel to Rome because of health problems. Cardinal Njue’s case is curious because for years the Vatican listed him as having been born in 1944: a birthdate that would have made him ineligible for this year’s conclave. Only recently the Vatican updated that birthday, listing it as January 1, 1946, and making him eligible—an adjustment that now appears to have made no practical difference. - Indian bishop reports damage from Pakistani shelling in Kashmir (Catholic Connect)
Bishop Ivan Pereira of Jammu, India reports that two children were killed by Pakistani shelling near a Catholic school in Poonch. Shells also hit a convent, causing structural damage but no casualties. The shelling occurred in Kashmir, where Indian and Pakistani forces have exchanged fire in an escalating dispute over control of the province. - More...