The attorney general of Wisconsin has published an update on the state’s clergy abuse probe as it enters its fourth year. Attorney General Josh Kaul said that his department has received 274 abuse reports, 66 of which were previously unreported, and 76 of which were previously reported only to a religious authority. Kaul pledged to issue a final report, though he said that the timing of its release is uncertain ..read more

Pope Francis received Emomali Rahmon, Tajikistan’s president since 1994, in an April 26 audience. Rahmon also met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations. The parties discussed “the good relations between the Holy See and Tajikistan,” “some aspects of the country’s political and socio-economic situation,” and “the importance of dialogue and mutual understanding between peoples and cultures for the promotion of peace and stability,” according to a Vatican statem ..read more

A chemistry professor in California has urged the University of Washington to revoke a Ph.D. degree earned in 1978 by Patrick O’Donnell, a onetime Spokane priest (now laicized) who has been accused of abusing over 65 boys. The chemistry professor, Dan O’Leary, said he almost became one of O’Donnell’s victims as an altar boy and that O’Donnell’s dissertation, “Evoking Trustworthy Behavior of Children and Adults in A Prisoner’s Dilemma Game,” might have involved “sexually abusive behavior under the pretext of conducting doctoral research.” The University of Washington said that O’Donnell’s actio ..read more

Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, the chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on Migration, urged members of Congress to increase funding for migration-related government programs. Bishop Seitz presented members of Congress with detailed requests for funding for nearly 20 different programs. For example, he requested $150 million for the Executive Office for Immigration Review’s Legal Representation Grant Program, and $432,161,000 for United States Citizenship and Immigration Services operations and support. “We strongly hold that the protection of unborn lives cannot be separated from any work that ..read more

Pope Francis described the concluding October 2024 session of the synod on synodality as the synod’s “prophetic” stage and its “most challenging and important” stage. “Now it is a matter of translating the work of the previous stages into choices that will give impetus and new life to the mission of the Church in our time,” he said. “The most important thing of this synod is synodality, the subjects and topics are there to advance this expression of the Church that is synodality.” “For this, there is a need for people forged in the Spirit, for ‘pilgrims of hope’ ... men and women capable of ch ..read more

Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, said that a “significant shift in the approach to debt is necessary to promote integral human development, social inclusion, and equity.” FfD4, an upcoming forum on global finance, is “an opportune moment to implement new forms of solidarity in the actions to reverse growing economic imbalances,” Archbishop Caccia said at an April 24 UN meeting. “Through debt forgiveness and debt restructuring, developing countries are released from unsustainable debt, enabling them to make critical inves ..read more

Citing the 2024 Global Report on Food Crises, the Vatican newspaper reported that over 281 million people in 59 countries suffered from high levels of acute food insecurity in 2023—up from 105 million people in 48 countries in 2016. “In addition to the dramatic situation in Gaza, where 81% of families do not have access to safe and clean water, Sudan has also suffered the greatest deterioration in its condition” because of the civil war there, L’Osservatore Romano reported. “Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Yemen also suffer from food crises ..read more

Pope Francis received pilgrims from Hungary in Paul VI Audience Hall on April 25, a year after his apostolic journey there. In his address, the Pope recalled the different events of his three-day visit there. He concluded by thanking the pilgrims for their “fidelity to Christ, manifested in the testimony of faith and in lived ecumenism, in relationships with your neighbors, in welcoming charity even for those who are different, in respect for every human life and in responsible care for the environment.” The Pontiff also received Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok in a private audience ..read more

In another televised interview—his first with at US network—Pope Francis has renewed his call for peace in Ukraine and in Gaza, and has dismissed as “foolish” peole who do not believe in the urgency of climate change. In an interview with Norah O’Donnell of CBS, timed for broadcast before World Children’s Day, the Pope spoke about the suffering of children in war zones. “Those kids don’t know how to smile,” he said ruefully. “That’s really very serious.” Questioned about Catholics who have left the Church, the Pope said: “If in this parish, the priest doesn’t seem welcoming, I understand; but ..read more

Pope Francis met on April 25 with members of Italian Catholic Action, and encouraged them to adopt a “culture of the embrace.” In his remarks to the group the Pope asked them to “bear witness to everyone that the way of the embrace is the way of life.” He spoke of “first the missing embrace, then the embrace that saves, and third the embrace that changes life ..read more