Catholic News
- DDF publishes 2024 criticism of German bishops' guide for blessing irregular unions (Pillar)
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has released a 2024 letter stating that “Blessings for couples who love one another,” a document then under consideration by the German bishops, violates Fiducia Supplicans, the dicastery’s declaration on the pastoral meaning of blessings. The release of the 2024 letter (translation), written by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández to a German bishop, follows a defense of the German blessing guidelines by Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, the former chairman of the German bishops’ conference, as well as Cardinal Reinhard Marx’s instruction to priests to facilitate blessings of same-sex couples. Fiducia Supplicans states: Within the horizon outlined here appears the possibility of blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex, the form of which should not be fixed ritually by ecclesial authorities to avoid producing confusion with the blessing proper to the Sacrament of Marriage ... One should neither provide for nor promote a ritual for the blessings of couples in an irregular situation. At the same time, one should not prevent or prohibit the Church’s closeness to people in every situation in which they might seek God’s help through a simple blessing. - Pope encourages Catholic Charities USA to love the poor with Christ's love (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV received members of the board of directors of Catholic Charities USA today, thanked them for their work amid the challenges the agency faces, and encouraged them to love the poor with Christ’s love. - Supreme Court allows 1-week resumption of mail delivery of abortion pill (Religion Clause)
Three days after a federal appeals court temporarily halted the delivery by mail of the abortion pill mifepristone, the Supreme Court granted a stay on the decision for one week. The stay, granted by Justice Samuel Alito, allows mail delivery of mifepristone to resume while attorneys for pharmaceutical companies prepare to request a longer stay on the appellate court decision. - Iceland's president meets with Pontiff (Vatican Press Office)
Pope Leo XIV received President Halla Tómasdóttir of Iceland on May 4. Following the audience, President Tómasdóttir met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of His Holiness, and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations. The parties discussed the “positive contribution of the local Church to the promotion of the common good of society and particularly of young people,” according to a Vatican press release, as well as regional and international issues. The nation of 367,000 is 87% Christian; Lutheranism is the state religion. - Melkite bishops denounce Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure (AP)
The bishops of the Melkite Catholic Church (CNEWA profile), an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Holy See, denounced the Israeli destruction of civilian buildings in southern Lebanon. The bishops described the destruction of civilian buildings in the abandoned village of Yaroun as a “deep wound in the national and human conscience.” - Belarus regime denies permission for 3 more priests to remain (Forum 18)
Continuing a trend of recent years, the government of Belarus denied permission to three Polish priests to remain in ministry in the nation. One of the priests has ministered in Belarus since 1990. The Eastern European nation of 9.5 million (map) is 82% Christian (63% Orthodox, 17% Catholic). An autocratic president, Alexander Lukashenko, has led the nation since 1994. - Hindu mob disrupts Mass in India; 4 Catholics arrested (UCANews)
A mob of Hindu activists disrupted a Mass in Kalinjara, India, on May 1. Police arrested four Catholics who confronted them. “They entered the substation during Communion and started filming it on their mobiles, and then began alleging religious conversion activity,” said Father Arvind Amliyar. “They also alleged that a cow had been killed for the community feast.” “One of them even tried to threaten our men with a knife, but he was overpowered, and the knife was snatched from him,” Father Amliyar added. - Canadian priest offered euthanasia twice while recovering from hip fracture (National Catholic Register)
A 79-year-old Canadian priest was twice offered the option of medical aid in dying (MAID) while he was recovering from a hip fracture in a Vancouver hospital. “I think I was very shocked,” said Father Larry Holland, who told a doctor he was opposed to euthanasia. A hospital spokesman said that “staff may consider bringing up MAID based on their clinical judgment, provided they possess the necessary knowledge and skills to do so.” - Transalpine Redemptorists denounce 'post-Vatican II claimants to the papacy' (Transalpine Redemptorists)
The Transalpine Redemptorists, a traditionalist community that reconciled with the Holy See in 2008, published a document on May 2 denouncing “post-Vatican II claimants to the papacy” as “manifest heretics.” Adopting a sedevacantist position, the institute listed Popes Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Francis, and Leo XIV as “papal pretenders.” In 2024, the institute was expelled from a New Zealand diocese following a Vatican investigation. - Dubai's Christian leaders pray for peace, thank civil authorities (Fides)
Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant leaders in the United Arab Emirates gathered at a Catholic church in Dubai to pray for peace, over two months after the beginning of the Iran war. We thank our civil authorities who have protected us during these months; we continue to pray for them,” said Bishop Paolo Martinelli, vicar apostolic of Southern Arabia. “May the Lord hear our common prayer; may he grant us peace and reconciliation, harmony and prosperity.” - Bishop Gracida, outspoken emeritus of Corpus Christi, dies at 102 (OSV News)
Bishop René Gracida, ordained to the priesthood in 1959 and to the episcopate in 1975, died on May 1 at the age of 102. Before his 1997 retirement from the office of bishop of Corpus Christi, Texas, Bishop Gracida imposed an interdict on a pro-abortion politician. Outspoken in his retirement, he denounced voting for pro-abortion candidates and signed a filial correction directed to Pope Francis. - Moscow archbishop resigns at 65 (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignation of Archbishop Paolo Pezzi, F.S.C.B., as head of the Archdiocese of the Mother of God at Moscow. Archbishop Pezzi, 65, had led the archdiocese since 2007. - Employees at Padre Pio's hospital begin hunger strike (Foggia Today (Italian))
Unions representing employees at the Home for the Relief of Suffering, a hospital founded by St. Pio of Pietrelcina in 1956, announced the beginning of a hunger strike on May 2. Foggia Today reported that the unions have four non-negotiable demands: “guarantee of quality care for all patients who see the hospital as a national point of reference; protection of the rights and future of hundreds of workers and their families, defense of the original mission of Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza; [and] enhancement of the historical and social heritage of the territory.” “We are not willing to watch a heritage of faith, solidarity and professionalism crumble,” the union representatives said in a joint statement. The Foggia Today article did not report on the hospital management’s reaction. - Vatican newspaper decries Israeli attack on Catholic school building in Lebanon (CWN)
The Vatican newspaper decried the Israeli army’s attack on a Catholic school building in Yaroun, Lebanon. - 2 immigrants named US bishops; 1 was Bishop Strickland's vicar general (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV appointed Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala of Washington, DC, as the new bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia. - Bishop Campbell, author of 'DEI means God,' retires (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignation of Bishop Roy Campbell from the office of auxiliary bishop of Washington, DC. The prelate, now 78, was ordained to the priesthood at 59 and consecrated a bishop at 69. - Vatican publishes writings of future Pope Leo, when he was Augustinian prior general (CWN)
The Vatican publishing house has published Liberi Sotto la Grazia (Free under Grace), a compilation of writings of the future Pope Leo from 2001-2013, when he was prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine. - Vatican prosecutors defy appeals-court order [News Analysis] (CWN)
Vatican prosecutors have refused to comply with an order from a Vatican appeals court, in the latest stunning development in the long-running “trial of the century.” - Former federal prosecutor: 'I'd like to prosecute any nun who still wears the head habit' (National Catholic Register)
The Senate Judiciary Committee released text messages of federal prosecutors who expressed a desire to prosecute nuns as they investigated the January 6, 2021, United States Capitol attack. A photograph “shows three women wearing traditional habits standing on the National Mall near the stage for the rally and does not show them trying to breach restricted areas or enter the U.S. Capitol,” the National Catholic Register reported. “The women appear to be associated with a convent that is not in communion with the Roman Catholic Church.” “I was appalled, but sadly not surprised, to discover evidence of Biden DOJ [Department of Justice] prosecutors threatening to use the power of the federal justice system to target people of faith,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Judiciary Committee. - Cardinal Farrell: Infant baptisms fell 31%, Catholic weddings fell 48% over 30-year period (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
In a talk delivered at a Vatican conference on marriage formation, Cardinal Kevin Farrell spoke of steep declines in the number of infant baptisms and weddings worldwide over a 30-year period. “The transmission of faith within families is weaker now than in the past,” said Cardinal Farrell, the prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. “According to the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2021, between 1991 and 2021, the number of baptisms administered worldwide to children under the age of seven declined by 31.1%, and Catholic marriages by 48%.” “Faced with these figures, we must not lose heart; rather, we must remain fully aware of them so as to transform this situation into an opportunity for ecclesial renewal,” he added. - More...