Saint Joseph Catholic Church

The prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith told Vatican News that the German bishops’ April 2025 document, “Segnungen für Paare, die sich lieben“ (Blessings for couples who love one another) does not have Vatican approval.

Bishop Kevin Doran of Achonry and of Elphin preached:

The truth of the matter is that abortion not only kills babies; it also wounds women in the depth of their being (and judging by the way the present law is framed, society has no interest in even asking them what led them to make this choice); it leaves communities denuded of the joyful laughter of children, and the creative energy of youth. Abortion wiped out the equivalent of 1,000 primary school classes in the past five years.

It does untold moral and spiritual damage to all who promote it or who participate in it, precisely because it flies in the face of truth.

“Notwithstanding the obstacles placed in our path, we need to find new ways of offering life-affirming support to women who are in crisis during pregnancy or after the birth of a child,” Bishop Doran added.

Pope Leo XIV received U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio today (video), three days after President Donald Trump renewed his criticism of the Pontiff.

Father Thomas McCarthy, O.S.A., recounted that two months after his election as Pope, the Pontiff, using the name Robert Prevost, called a Chicago bank to update his account information. After he answered all of the security questions, the customer service representative told him that he would have to come into the bank in person for the changes to take effect. When he said that a visit was impossible because he was now the Pope, the representative hung up on him.

Pope Leo XIV today received members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard and their families, a day after 28 new members were sworn in.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin said on May 6 that he sees a “consonance of thought” between the writings of Pope Benedict XVI and the writings of the future Pope Leo.

Father Gabriel Romanelli, I.V.E., said:

The Pope sent us a message expressing his closeness, his prayers, his concern for the entire situation, praying day after day for the end of the war in Gaza, for the parish, for all the local people, so that the Lord may grant what the prayers of the Successor of Saint Peter, today Leo XIV, implores for the world: peace for Palestine, peace for Israel, conversion, and grace for all.

Describing the situation in Gaza, Father Romanelli said that “the ceasefire that began in October has somewhat improved the situation, in the sense that there are no blanket bombings. However, people are still dying, being killed.”

The Italian online magazine documents violations of religious freedom in China and elsewhere.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has documented over 400 acts of vandalism, arson, and other destruction at parishes and other Catholic sites in the United States since 2020. A tracker at CatholicVote.org lists additional attacks.

Twenty-eight new members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard were sworn in during a ceremony in Paul VI Audience Hall on May 6 (video).