Saint Joseph Catholic Church

The Knights of Columbus, Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and other Catholic organizations came to the defense of Pope Leo XIV following President Donald Trump’s social media post blasting Pope Leo.

“The Successor of Saint Peter is not a politician—he is the Vicar of Christ, entrusted with proclaiming the Gospel and shepherding souls,” said Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly. “Whether one agrees or disagrees with particular policy judgments, the Holy Father’s prophetic voice deserves to be heard with respect and engaged seriously.”

In an April 15 social media post, the Library of Congress highlighted the life and work of Father Thomas Merton (1915-1968), the author of The Seven Storey Mountain and other works.

“In 2025, the Rare Book and Special Collections Division acquired a Thomas Merton Collection comprising 143 items and containing first editions, uncorrected proofs, artwork, manuscripts, recordings, and portraits of this fascinating figure,” wrote Mark Manivong, who said that his post “includes a short biography of Merton and showcases some of the materials in this new collection.”

The Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary filed a lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group after the company rejected the sisters’ request for a shareholder resolution.

“The sisters had asked for a shareholder resolution to be put forth at the company’s annual meeting; resolutions are routinely put before the shareholders to be voted on and congregations of sisters file several of them every year,” the Global Sisters Project reported. The resolution “asked the company to report on whether its spree of acquisitions is making health care less accessible.”

“Shareholders have rights and there needs to be transparency,” said Sister Linda Haydock. “We think it’s incumbent upon us to use our shareholder rights to ask the company to be transparent.”

A leading international human rights advocacy organization charged that the “2018 Provisional Agreement Regarding the Appointment of Bishops between the Holy See and China, which ended a decades-long dispute over the appointment of bishops in China, has facilitated repression of Catholics in China.”

“A decade into President Xi Jinping’s ‘Sinicization’ of religion campaign, Catholic communities across China face tightened ideological control, strict surveillance, and travel restrictions,” Human Rights Watch stated on April 15. “The Holy See and other governments should press Beijing to end the persecution of Catholic communities and respect the rights to freedom of religion for all Catholics and other religious beliefs.”

The Trump administration abruptly cancelled an $11-million contract with Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Miami.

The Miami Herald reported that the federal funds were used “to shelter and care for migrant children who enter the U.S. alone, ending a relationship between the Catholic Church and the U.S. government dating back to the first arrivals of Cuban exiles in South Florida.”

“The U.S. government has abruptly decided to end more than 60 years of relationship with Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Miami,” said Archbishop Thomas Wenski. “The Archdiocese of Miami’s services for unaccompanied minors have been recognized for their excellence and have served as a model for other agencies throughout the country.”

The former principal of a Catholic school in Pompano Beach, Florida, was sentenced to ten years’ probation after she was convicted of stealing more than $238,000 from the school over a nine-year period.

Judge Tim Bailey said that Lori St. Thomas is “not likely to reoffend” and is not a danger to the community. He ordered her to pay $121,548 to the school in restitution.

Several parents at a North Carolina high school charged that a priest asked students inappropriate questions during confessions in December.

“The Diocese of Charlotte looked into complaints raised about conversations that occurred during confession at Charlotte Catholic High School last December,” the diocese said in a statement. “No violations of our conduct policies were identified.”

Some parents expressed frustration with Bishop Michael Martin’s response to their complaints.

“The whole letter [from Bishop Martin] felt like we were being gaslighted,” said one mother. “We understand what is appropriate and inappropriate.”

The Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation announced a series of commemorative events ahead the 100th anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s birth.

Pope Benedict was born on April 16, 1927. The initiatives over the course of the next year “look to the past, to Ratzinger’s thought, but they want to take it up again not in a merely preservative way, but in dialogue with today’s problems and debates because, ultimately, Ratzinger’s thought is still relevant,” said Father Roberto Regoli, the foundation’s president.

The president of the North African Conference of Bishops said in an interview that Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Algeria was “a historic event, not only because no Pope had ever come to Algeria before, but above all because it is Pope Leo XIV, an Augustinian Pope, who has come in the footsteps of Augustine.”

Archbishop Nicolas Lhernould of Tunis added, “I experienced a very strong atmosphere of peace, based on the interculturality that characterizes our communities, but with a gentleness and meekness, which radiated from the Holy Father himself, from his way of being and from his words.”

In a wide-ranging address to the UNESCO executive board, a Vatican diplomat spoke of the obligation, in wartime, “to respect and protect cultural property, including places of worship, as expressions of the identity of peoples.”

“Adherence to these norms constitutes an essential legal and moral responsibility, particularly in contexts of conflict,” said Msgr. Roberto Campisi, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

“Always, but particularly in the dramatic circumstances of war, such as those we are currently experiencing, information must be careful not to transform itself into propaganda,” Msgr. Campisi added. “And the mission of journalists—to verify information so as not to become a megaphone for power—becomes even more urgent and delicate; indeed, I would say essential.”