Saint Joseph Catholic Church

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.”

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.”

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.’”

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.”

Pope Leo XIV appointed twelve new members of the Dicastery for Communication, joining the 20 current members.

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.

“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.”

“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.

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.