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Browsing News Entries

Browsing News Entries

NBC poll: Pope Leo XIV held in highest esteem among public personalities (EWTN News)

Pope Leo XIV has the highest favorability rating among seven American public personalities, according to an NBC poll.

42% of Americans have a “very positive” or “somewhat positive” view of the Pontiff, while 8% have a negative view.

Other personalities in the survey were Stephen Colbert, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, President Donald Trump, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Missing priest found dead in southern Mexico (EWTN News)

A 53-year-old priest who was reported missing in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas has been found dead.

Father Juan Manuel Zavala Madrigal disappeared after celebrating Mass in a different community from the one in which he lived.

Synod releases study-group report on women's participation in the Church (CWN)

The General Secretariat of the Synod, led by Cardinal Mario Grech, released the third of 15 final reports of the study groups established by Pope Francis during the synod on synodality.

Pope to ordain 8 priests on Good Shepherd Sunday (Diocesi di Roma)

The Diocese of Rome announced that Pope Leo XIV will ordain eight priests for the diocese in St. Peter’s Basilica on April 26, the Fourth Sunday of Easter (Good Shepherd Sunday).

In April 2024, Pope Francis skipped Rome’s diocesan ordination Mass, instead taking part in seven audiences on the day of the ordination. In 2025, Pope Leo resumed the longstanding papal practice of ordaining priests for the diocese when he ordained 11 new priests.

The Diocese of Rome also announced that Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general of His Holiness for Rome, will ordain seven men permanent deacons at the Lateran Basilica on April 18.

Lebanon Asks Vatican to Help Protect Threatened Christian Villages in the South

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Pope Leo XIV Confers Title of 'Monsignor' On U.S. Bishops’ General Secretary

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Pope accepts resignations of Chaldean Patriarch and bishop amid corruption scandal (Pillar)

Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignations of Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, and Bishop Emanuel Hana Shaleta, the Chaldean Catholic bishop of San Diego, on March 10.

Bishop Shaleta was arrested on March 5 at San Diego International Airport while attempting to leave the country and pleaded not guilty on March 9 to embezzlement and money laundering charges. The Pillar reported last month that the prelate was under Vatican investigation for alleged financial and sexual misconduct and that he had submitted his resignation.

Cardinal Sako, 76, has been the Eastern Catholic church’s Patriarch since 2013. The prelate said that he “freely decided to submit my resignation to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV” so that “I could devote myself quietly to prayer, writing, and simple service.” According to The Pillar, Cardinal Sako had considered transferring Bishop Shaleta to a post in Iraq.

Pope Leo also appointed Iraqi Bishop Saad Sirop, a critic of Cardinal Sako’s governance, as apostolic administrator of the San Diego eparchy. In 2006, then-Father Sirop was abducted by Islamist terrorists; during his 28-day captivity, he was tortured and refused to renounce his faith.

Apostolic Penitentiary publishes book on Confession (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))

The Apostolic Penitentiary has published a short book on Confession, Il sacramento della riconciliazione. Fondamenti biblici, formazione presbiterale e guida pratica (The Sacrament of Reconciliation: Biblical Foundations, Priestly Formation, and Practical Guide).

The book, edited by the Major Penitentiary (Cardinal Angelo De Donatis) and Major Penitentiary emeritus (Cardinal Mauro Piacenza), includes ten reasons for going to Confession, including “to pass from death to life,” “to renew the experience of true love,” and “to have the objective certainty of forgiveness.”

Leading Pakistani prelate transferred to far smaller jurisdiction (CWN)

Pope Leo XIV transferred Archbishop Sebastian Shaw, OFM, of Lahore, Pakistan’s most populous archdiocese, to the Apostolic Vicariate of Quetta, the nation’s smallest ecclesiastical jurisdiction.