Catholic News
- 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. - Pope Leo upholds St. Catherine of Siena as example for young people and the sick (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV upheld St. Catherine of Siena as a model for young people and the sick to emulate. - Pope laments Colombia violence, recalls Poland's clergy martyrs of World War II (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV called for peace in Colombia amid escalating pre-election violence in the South American nation. - Pope, at general audience, reviews apostolic journey to Africa (CWN)
At his general audience today, Pope Leo XIV spoke about his recent apostolic journey to four African nations. - Belarus frees priest, prominent journalist in a 10-person prisoner swap (AP)
Father Grzegorz Gawel, a Polish Carmelite friar imprisoned in Belarus, was among ten persons released in a ten-person prisoner exchange. Father Gawel was detained in 2025 on espionage charges, according to Reform.news, which covers events in Belarus. 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. - Colombian bishops decry election violence (Conferencia Episcopal de Colombia)
The officers of the Episcopal Conference of Colombia issued a statement decrying pre-election violence there. “Any armed action that attacks the civilian population constitutes a grave offense against God and a rupture of the moral and social order,” said Archbishop Francisco Javier Múnera Correa, Archbishop Gabriel Ángel Villa Vahos, and Bishop Germán Medina Acosta. “Human life is sacred and must be protected under all circumstances.” The prelates added, “In the name of God, we exhort those who promote and carry out violent actions to exercise restraint, to immediately cease every act that threatens life, to comply with the principles of international humanitarian law, and to treat the population with humanity.” - EU leader, Pope discuss Middle East, Africa (Vatican Press Office)
The Holy See Press Office announced that Pope Leo XIV spoke by telephone on April 29 with António Costa, president of the European Council. According to the statement, the parties discussed the Middle East, “with particular attention given to the West Bank in the State of Palestine and the situation of Christians in southern Lebanon,” and the Pope’s recent apostolic journey to Africa, “emphasizing the importance of interreligious dialogue, the promotion of peace and support for the continent’s most disadvantaged communities.” - Westminster archbishop: Pope, Anglican primate well aware of differences (CWN)
Archbishop Richard Moth of Westminster, who was present in Rome for the meeting between Pope Leo and Archbishop Sarah Mullally of Canterbury, said that the Pontiff and the Anglican primate are well aware of their differences but recognize the importance of conversing with each other. - Chernobyl cleanup crew members, grieving parents meet with Pontiff (CWN)
At his April 29 general audience, Pope Leo XIV met with over 45 members of the nuclear cleanup crew who worked in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster. - Minerva Dialogues build bridges between Vatican, Silicon Valley (The Atlantic)
The Minerva Dialogues, an annual meeting organized by the Dicastery for Culture and Education, have built bridges between the Church and Silicon Valley over the past decade, The Atlantic reported. “Last year, the influential futurist Jaron Lanier attended a Vatican conference on AI even though he disagrees with the Church on plenty of other issues,” according to the report. Lanier “left the discussion thinking that the Catholic understanding of the human person is ‘vastly, vastly, vastly more sane and reasonable’ than that of his Silicon Valley peers.” - Minnesota diocese begins drastic reduction in parishes (Minnesota Star Tribune)
The Diocese of St. Cloud has embarked upon the “most drastic reduction of Catholic parishes ever seen in Minnesota,” The Minnesota Star Tribune reported. “Right now, all of our 131 parishes have Mass every weekend,” said Brenda Kresky, director of diocesan pastoral planning. “We’re reducing that by [about] a third and saying, even if you remain open, you won’t have Mass on the weekend.” “We are resurrection people,” she added. “You have to go through Good Friday to get to the resurrection. You don’t get to skip Good Friday.” The Diocese of St. Cloud has 131 parishes, 49 diocesan priests active in the diocese, 87 total diocesan priests, and 73 religious priests in the diocese, according to the 2025 edition of The Official Catholic Directory. - Oakland bishop announces closing of 12 parishes, 1 pastoral center (Diocese of Oakland)
The bishop of Oakland, California, announced the closing of twelve parishes and a Korean pastoral center. “I deeply understand the sacrifice this will require,” Bishop Michael Barber, S.J., wrote in his statement, entitled “Aligning our reality with our mission.” “We cannot allow nostalgia and sentimentality to hold back the message of the Gospel,” he continued. “While we love our local church building, the church has never been solely a building ... The faith of our people will continue, just in a different place and with new people.” The Diocese of Oakland has 82 parishes, 153 diocesan priests active in the diocese, 218 total diocesan priests, and 179 religious priests in the diocese, according to the 2025 edition of The Official Catholic Directory. - Tulsa deacon charged with bank fraud (NewsOn6.com )
A deacon of the Diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was charged with bank fraud. Deacon John Sommer, who has been placed on leave, was business manager at the Parish of Christ the King in Tulsa. He stands accused of transferring $1.46 million out of church accounts over a seven-month period last year. - Retired Belgian bishop disciplined for mishandling abuse case (Pillar)
The Diocese of Namur, Belgium, confirmed that the Vatican imposed disciplinary measures on a retired bishop in 2021 for mishandling an abuse case. Bishop Rémy Vancottem, who governed the diocese from 2010 to 2019, is not permitted to celebrate Mass publicly or to participate in bodies of the episcopal conference. The diocese statement followed the publication of an article in Humo, a Dutch-Belgian magazine. - Priest attacked during Bangladesh parish robbery (The Daily Star (Dhaka))
A missionary priest in Bangladesh was attacked during the nighttime robbery of his parish in Dhaka, the nation’s capital and largest city. Father Subash Gomes, O.M.I., was hospitalized, and his passport stolen. The South Asian nation of 170 million (map)--the world’s eighth most populous—is 89% Muslim and 9% Hindu. - Asteroid is named after Pope Leo XIII (Vatican Observatory)
An asteroid discovered in 2012 has been named Gioacchinopecci, in honor Pope Leo XIII (Gioacchino Pecci), who reigned from 1878 to 1903. The Pontiff “had a great interest in the sciences and was responsible for the re-establishment and reform of the Vatican Observatory in 1891 within the walls of the Vatican,” the Vatican Observatory noted. The naming was announced in the International Astronomical Union’s WGSBN Bulletin (p. 14); the WGSBN is the Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature. - Azerbaijan's government demolishes Armenian cathedral (Pillar)
The government of Azerbaijan, a nation that is 97% Muslim, destroyed the Holy Mother of God Cathedral, an Armenian Apostolic cathedral in Stepanakert. Stepanakert is a city in Nagorno-Karabakh, an historic Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan that Armenians call Artsakh. “It is obvious that the Azerbaijani government continues to target Armenian Christian holy sites with the aim of erasing the Armenian trace from Artsakh,” the Armenian Apostolic Church said in a statement. “This state-level vandalism once again proves that Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian policy has not changed.” The Armenian Apostolic Church (CNEWA profile) is among the Oriental Orthodox churches that ceased to be in full communion with the Holy See following the Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon (451). - Jerusalem cardinal emphasizes centrality of liturgy, prayer amid war (Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)
In a letter entitled “They returned to Jerusalem with great joy,” the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem emphasized the centrality of the liturgy and prayer amid war. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, O.F.M., said that “we must therefore keep the liturgy and prayer at the center of the life of our communities. Not just prayers for peace—which also need to be promoted—but prayer as a constant and enduring atmosphere of life, giving shape to our days, our weeks, our communities.” “I am thinking in particular of the Liturgy of the Hours prayed in community, of lectio divina, of Eucharistic adoration: not practices for specialists, but simple and profound expressions of the Church’s prayer, capable of inserting our daily life—with all its fears and expectations—into a living relationship with God,” he continued. “Let us make prayer the beating heart of our parishes, our families, our schools.” - EU bishops issue peace plea, draw attention to plight of Christians in Northern Cyprus (COMECE)
The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) held its spring meeting in Cyprus and issued a plea for peace. The bishops said that they “turn to the Lord in prayer and stand in solidarity with all those suffering from devastating violence, instability and injustice in the Holy Land, Lebanon, Iran and the wider Middle East region. In particular, we remember the Christian communities, whose presence in these lands, where our faith has its roots, remains a powerful testimony of perseverance, resilience and hope.” The bishops also visited two Christian villages in Northern Cyprus, which has been under Turkish military occupation since 1974. At the Maronite co-cathedral in one of the villages, Archbishop Selim Sfeir preached that “we desire more than ever the full return of our villages and our places of divine worship, and we renew our firm commitment, with great determination and continuous effort, to achieve this return in a spirit of responsibility, perseverance, and cooperation.” - Vatican newspaper sounds alarm about jihadist advances in the Sahel (CWN)
The Vatican newspaper warned of an “explosive crisis” in Mali and other nations of Africa’s Sahel region because of jihadist attacks. - More...