Catholic News
- Nuncio laments bombing of Beirut, calls for truce (Vatican News)
Archbishop Paolo Borgia, the apostolic nuncio to Lebanon, said in an interview that “there has never been an attack like this” as he discussed the Israeli bombing of Beirut, Lebanon’s capital. “They say that in ten minutes there were ten almost simultaneous strikes,” he said. “A very large number of Israeli warplanes were used.” “All day, we were accompanied by mortar fire due to clashes between Hezbollah and Israel,” he continued. “We saw this all day long. Now there is heavy traffic, the city is congested, there are sirens and ambulances in the center—Beirut is in turmoil. Israeli raids are still ongoing.” “As is known, Israel seeks the disarmament of Hezbollah, and this goal has not been achieved,” he added. “A truce would reopen the door to diplomacy ... War is bringing destruction, death, many displaced people, and many painful and difficult situations.” - Vatican spokesman previews Pope's impending trip to Africa (CWN)
The director of the Holy See Press Office briefed journalists on Pope Leo’s upcoming apostolic journey to four African nations and described the trip as a “journey through the richness and diversity of this great continent, populated by diverse peoples and worlds.” - Czech court finds parts of Vatican-Czech treaty unconstitutional (Catholic World Report)
The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic declared parts of a 2024 treaty between the Czech Republic and the Holy See to be unconstitutional. The court faulted provisions related to Church archives and to the seal of Confession; the latter, said the court, is “a clear violation of the neutrality of the state and the principle of equal treatment of different churches.” - Archbishop Eterović retires at 75; led Synod of Bishops under Pope Benedict (Vatican Press Office)
Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignation of Archbishop Nikola Eterović, 75, from his position as apostolic nuncio to Germany. The Croatian prelate was one of the leading Vatican officials late in the pontificate of John Paul II and throughout the pontificate of Benedict XVI: he served as secretary general of the Synod of Bishops from 2004 to 2013, coordinating the synods on the Eucharist (2005), the Word of God (2008), and the New Evangelization (2012). Pope Francis named him apostolic nuncio to Germany in 2013. Pope Leo named Archbishop Hubertus Matheus Maria van Megen, the current nuncio to Kenya, as Archbishop Eterović’s successor in Germany. - USCCB calls for assistance for Lebanon's people (USCCB)
The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace called on President Donald Trump and the international community “to ensure that the people of Lebanon receive greater access to humanitarian assistance, including food and medical supplies, especially in the south.” “I acknowledge that the people of Israel have the right to live in peace, as well as the innocent Lebanese civilians who are currently suffering from lack of food, medical supplies, and from paralyzing fear,” Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, the Maronite bishop of Los Angeles and a Lebanese native, said in an April 9 statement. “Distressingly, over one million people, including 370,000 children, have been displaced by the fighting, in what is becoming one of Lebanon’s most acute internal displacement crises in recent history.” “For peace in Lebanon to take root, it is imperative that all parties work toward the full and immediate disarming of Hezbollah, as well as the implementation of the UN resolutions concerning Lebanon,” Bishop Zaidan added. “Hopefully, after that, the governments of Israel and Lebanon can sign an agreement for lasting peace.” - Nuncio's Pentagon meeting was 'frank exchange of ideas,' officials say (Pillar)
Officials from the Vatican and the Pentagon dismissed a report that Elbridge Colby, the U.S. Under Secretary of War for Policy, issued a threat to Cardinal Christophe Pierre, then the apostolic nuncio to the United States, during a January meeting. A Vatican official said the meeting was “tense” and at times “aggressive,” but there was “no question of anyone threatening anyone.” Likewise, a senior Defense Department official said, “Under Secretary Colby’s meeting with Cardinal Pierre was a productive, cordial meeting, and a chance for real dialogue on serious issues. They had an honest and respectful conversation. Reporting about threats or disrespect is false and scurrilous.” Brian Burch, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, said that Cardinal Pierre “confirmed that recent media characterizations of his meeting with Undersecretary Colby are ‘fabrications’ that were ‘just invented.’” - 12 new members named to Dicastery for Communication (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV appointed twelve new members of the Dicastery for Communication, joining the 20 current members. - Albanian cardinal marks 70 years as a priest, recalls brutal Communist persecution (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
The Vatican newspaper published an article by Albanian Cardinal Ernst Simoni on the 70th anniversary of his priestly ordination. Cardinal Simoni joined Pope Leo as the Pontiff imparted his Easter blessing from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica. Cardinal Simoni, who was sentenced to forced labor in 1963, recalled the brutal persecution of the Church under the Communist regime (1946-1991). “In secret, I managed to celebrate Holy Mass—reciting the Latin liturgy entirely from memory—using hosts made of flour and water that I baked on makeshift stoves,” he wrote. - Vatican concludes visitation of Heiligenkreuz Abbey in Austria (Catholic Herald)
The Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life concluded its apostolic visitation of Heiligenkreuz Abbey, an Austrian Cistercian abbey known for its Latin liturgy and Gregorian chant. The visitors, Benedictine Abbot Primate Jeremias Schröder and Sister Christine Rod, were given the task of assess Abbot Maximilian Heim’s leadership and the handling of abuse allegations. The visitors’ proposals included “optimized communication skills of the community internally and externally, strategic considerations for the future of the abbey and prioritization of tasks, reflection on the theological and spiritual orientation, deepening the introduction of young people to monastic life and the priesthood, and a sharpening of the identity and self-image of Heiligenkreuz Abbey.” “We thank the Dicastery and the two visitors for the valuable discussions during the visitation and the helpful guidance for the future,” Abbot Heim said. The dicastery, in turn, thanked Abbot Heim for his “outstanding personal commitment to Heiligenkreuz Abbey, which has contributed to a remarkable flourishing of the community.” - New Westminster archbishop: 'I don't think we're managing decline' (Pillar)
The new archbishop of Westminster, England, said in an interview that “I don’t think we’re managing decline. It is the case that we have a few less priests knocking around than we used to.” Archbishop Richard Moth said: For me, it’s not about managing decline. It’s about saying, “OK, we may need to deploy our clergy slightly differently.” But also, I think this is an invitation to engage everybody in the Church’s mission. That’s the bit that I find really very positive. The synodal journey that Pope Francis asked us to engage in is a help to that, because that’s not about doctrine, it’s about the way we do our business. It’s about having relationships, having conversations, talking to one another so that we can discern the way forward together. And then with priests, religious, deacons, lay faithful, married, single, consecrated, we can all see where our gifts and talents lie for the mission that the Lord has called us to carry out. That, to me, is the moment of excitement that we’ve got now. Archbishop Moth also described the celibate priesthood as “a great gift to the Church.” “We’re at a moment where those countercultural signs of the Gospel become more and more important, because it speaks to us of the ways of Christ,” he added. “It speaks to us of the ways of the kingdom of heaven ultimately. That’s something that we need to proclaim.” - Lebanese priest discusses suffering of Christians in Beqaa Valley, under Israeli attack (Vatican News (Italian))
A Maronite priest spoke with Vatican News about the plight of the faithful in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, which is under Israeli attack. “The situation in the Beqaa Valley and the Baalbek region is particularly distressing,” said Father Elie Gemayel, a parish priest of the Maronite Eparchy of Baalbek–Deir el-Ahmar. “The most urgent need is often the simplest one: the ability to live with dignity. For many families, this means being able to buy food, pay for medicines, or ensure their children receive an education.” “We sometimes feel a profound weariness, a deep inner poverty, and a certain fear of the future, as if our souls were being put to the test just as much as our bodies,” he added. “We recognize that our role is simply to be present: God does not abandon us, even when everything seems shrouded in darkness.” - US fertility rate has fallen 23% since 2007 (CDC)
The general fertility rate in the United States fell 1% in 2025, from 53.8 births per 1,000 women (ages 15-44) to 53.1 births, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The rate has generally declined since 2007, decreasing by 23%,” according to the report. The number of births in the United States fell from 3,628,934 in 2024 to 3,606,400 in 2025. - Sport can be a 'workshop for a reconciled humanity,' Pope tells Olympic athletes (Dicastery for Communication)
Pope Leo XIV today received 80 athletes from the Italian teams at the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games (video) and told them that “sport, if lived well, becomes a workshop for a reconciled humanity, where diversity is not a threat but a wealth.” “Sport contributes to the maturing of our character, requires a steadfast spirituality and is a fruitful form of education,” Pope Leo said. “Through sport, we learn to know our own bodies without idolizing them, to control our emotions, to compete without losing our sense of fraternity, to accept defeat without despair and victory without arrogance.” - Cardinal Parolin, in wide-ranging interview, laments international drift from diplomacy to force (Dialoghi)
In a wide-ranging interview with Dialoghi, a periodical published by the Italian Catholic Action movement, Cardinal Pietro Parolin lamented the drift from diplomacy to force in international relations. “I am struck by how much determination—I was about to say ease—the war option is presented as decisive, almost inevitable, bending international law to one’s liking,” the Secretary of State of His Holiness said. “The awareness of the value of peace, the awareness of the tragic nature of war, the awareness of the importance of shared rules and of respecting them seems to have disappeared.” Cardinal Parolin also discussed the European Union, the United Nations, China, Venezuela, and Greenland, as well as the contribution that Christians can make to public life: by their support of “human life and dignity, of religious freedom, of the proposal of correctives to the current economic-financial system in accordance with the principles of the social doctrine of the Church, of the protection of creation.” Asked about the Trump administration’s professed support of Christian values, Cardinal Parolin said: We cannot say that we love and defend life and be concerned only with that of the unborn without considering that life is also that of migrants who die at sea, of women and children who have nothing to eat, of peoples devastated by the weapons we produce and sell ... At the same time, those who are concerned about saving whales but justify the silent killing of huge numbers of human beings in the womb fall into the same contradiction. - Survey assesses Americans' views on morality (Pew Research Center)
A recent report by the Pew Research Center found that 90% of Americans believe adultery is morally wrong, while only 9% believe that IVF is morally wrong and 8% believe that contraception is morally wrong. 47% of Americans consider abortion morally wrong, according to the report; 55% of white Catholics and 56% of Hispanic Catholics said that they believe abortion is morally wrong. - VP Vance, Defense Department respond to report that official delivered 'bitter lecture' to Cardinal Pierre (Newsweek)
The Free Press reported that Defense Department officials summoned Cardinal Christophe Pierre, then the apostolic nuncio to the United States, to the Pentagon in January and delivered “a bitter lecture warning that the United States has the military power to do whatever it wants.” Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby reportedly told Cardinal Pierre, “America has the military power to do whatever it wants in the world. The Catholic Church had better take its side.” “I would actually like to talk to Cardinal Cristophe Pierre and, frankly, to our people, to figure out what actually happened,” Vice President JD Vance said in response. “I think it’s always a bad idea to offer an opinion on stories that are unconfirmed and uncorroborated, so I’m not going to do that.” A spokesman for the Defense Department described the report as “highly exaggerated and distorted” and said that “the meeting between Pentagon and Vatican officials was a respectful and reasonable discussion. We have nothing but the highest regard and welcome continued dialogue with the Holy See.” - Bishops issue Rwanda genocide anniversary statement, call for unity (ACI Africa)
The Commission for Justice and Peace of the Episcopal Conference of Rwanda issued a statement marking the 32nd anniversary of the Rwanda genocide. “The genocide perpetrated against the Tutsi is an indelible stain on humanity and particularly on the Rwandan nation,” the bishops said. “Remembering our painful history is not meant to fuel hatred or revenge but to preserve the memory of those who died and to affirm that death does not erase the deep bonds that unite us.” - Teen killed, 60 hurt after truck rams Easter procession in Pakistan (EWTN News)
A truck driver rammed into an Easter Sunday procession in Mariamabad, Pakistan, killing a teenager and injuring more than 60 people. The suspect, Muhammad Bilal, remains at large. - Nigerian archdiocese pleads with government to rescue abducted worshippers (Leadership)
The Archdiocese of Kaduna, Nigeria, called on federal and state governments to rescue the Catholic and other Christian worshippers who were kidnapped in Ariko on Easter Sunday. “The attack in Ariko left five worshippers dead, and about 35 others abducted,” said Father Christian Okewu Emmanuel, the archdiocesan chancellor, according to an Abuja-based newspaper. “Our hearts are heavy as families grieve the loss of loved ones while others remain in captivity,” he added. “We appeal to the authorities to do all in their power to ensure their safe return.” - Augustinians see 'Leo effect' after Pope's election (National Catholic Register)
The prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine said that the order has experienced a “Leo effect” in 11 months since the election of the Pontiff. “We’re seeing a growth in interest,” said Father Joseph Farrell, O.S.A. “We hope it continues for a long time.” The Midwest Augustinians, to which the future Pope Leo belonged, reported a steep rise in vocation inquiries, from the typical 50-60 per year to over 300. - More...