Catholic News

• Pope returns to residence after 5-week hospitalization (CWN)
  Pope Francis returned to his residence on March 23 following a 38-day stay in Gemelli Hospital.
• Papal Angelus address: reflection on Lord's patience, hospitalization (Vatican Press Office)
  In his Angelus address for the Third Sunday of Lent, Pope Francis reflected on the Lord’s patience with the barren fig tree, as recounted in the day’s Gospel reading (Luke 13:1-9). “This patient farmer is the Lord, who works the soil of our lives with care and waits confidently for our return to Him,” the Pope said in his address, which he prepared but did not deliver. “In this long period of my hospitalization, I have had the opportunity to experience the Lord’s patience, which I also see reflected in the tireless care of the doctors and healthcare workers, as well as in the care and hopes of the relatives of the sick,” the Pope added. “This trusting patience, anchored in God’s unfailing love, is indeed necessary in our lives, especially when facing the most difficult and painful situations.”
• Vatican now choosing judges for Rupnik trial: Cardinal Fernandez (Crux)
  The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) has completed an investigation of Father Marko Rupnik, and is now selecting judges for his trial, reports Cardinal Victor Fernandez. Cardinal Fernandez says that the DDF has “made a list” of potential judges, noting that they must be chosen carefully because of the sensitivity and prominence of the case. Some of the judges who have been approached have not yet indicated whether they will accept the appointment, he added. The DDF first received complaints of sexual abuse by Father Rupnik in 2018. After an investigation—which resulted in his excommunication for the separate canonical crime of abuse of the confessional—the DDF announced that the allegations of sexual abuse were covered by the statute of limitations, and the prosecution could not proceed. In October 2022, amid an international uproar, Pope Francis waived the statute of limitations in this case, allowing for the investigation of Rupnik to be re-opened. Thus seven years have passed since the original complaint, and nearly five years since the case was re-opened, and the DDF still has not set a date for the trial.
• Cardinal Parolin sees AI as 'exciting' but 'fearful' tool (Vatican News (Italian))
  Addressing a Vatican conference on AI and children, the Pope’s Secretary of State described AI as an “exciting and fearful tool at the same time.” “It is essential that governments, technology companies, educators, civil society and religious institutions work together to reflect on ethical regulations and governance frameworks, as well as data transparency and child-centered policies,” said Cardinal Pietro Parolin. “It is not only essential to ensure children’s safety, privacy and respect for their dignity, but also to protect them from the harm caused by artificial intelligence.” “It is equally essential to ensure transparency, accountability and equity to make artificial intelligence more beneficial for every child,” he added.
• 12-year decline in worldwide priestly vocations accelerates (CWN)
  The number of major seminarians worldwide fell from 108,481 in 2022 to 106,495 in 2023, according to statistics published in the new Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae (CWN coverage)—a decline of 1.83% in a single year.
• Diocesan jubilee pilgrimages foster unity, faith, charity, Pope tells pilgrims (Vatican Press Office)
  In a brief message to pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Naples and other Italian dioceses, Pope Francis wrote that diocesan pilgrimages for the 2025 jubilee year “express the unity that gathers you as a community around your pastors and the bishop of Rome, as well as the commitment to embrace Jesus’ invitation to enter ‘through the narrow gate.’” “Love is like this: it unites and makes us grow together,” the Pope said in his March 22 message. “That is why, even though your paths are different, it has brought you here together at the tomb of Peter, from which you can depart even stronger in faith and more united in charity.”
• Ukrainian primate: no peace without punishment of Russia (UGCC)
  Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of the Ukrainian Catholic Church has insisted that an end to the war in Ukraine “will never result in a just and lasting peace” unless it means “full international condemnation of everything that led to Russia’s genocidal war.” In an interview with the Italian daily Il Foglio, the Ukrainian primate said that “unpunished evil will eventually resurface,” and any peace accord that does not condemn “the ideology of the Russian world’ will be illusory.
• Renewed papal appeal for peace in Gaza, elsewhere (Vatican Press Office)
  At the conclusion of his March 23 Angelus address, Pope Francis renewed his appeal for prayer for peace. Turning first to Gaza, the Pope said: I am saddened by the resumption of heavy Israeli bombing on the Gaza Strip, causing many deaths and injuries. I call for an immediate halt to the weapons; and for the courage to resume dialogue, so that all hostages may be released and a final ceasefire reached. In the Strip, the humanitarian situation is again very serious and requires urgent commitment from the conflicting parties and the international community. The Pope then welcomed progress toward peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan before calling for prayer “for an end to wars and for peace, especially in tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”
• Swiss bishop urges ordination of women as priests (CNA)
  Bishop Markus Büchel of the Diocese of St. Gallen in Switzerland has called for the ordination of women to the Catholic priesthood. Bishop Büchel said that the move is necessary to address a “consecration emergency”—the shortage of priests—which he attributed to the fact that the priesthood is open only to celibate males.
• Desecration of church in Orissa, India (AsiaNews)
  Vandals desecrated a Catholic church in the state of Orissa, India, on March 21. Msgr. Niranjan Sualsingh informed parishioners of Holy Family church in Titilagarh that thieves had broken into a collection box, destroyed a statue, and taken the tabernacle with the Eucharistic species. “The acts of sacrilege and vandalism have deeply wounded our community,” he said.
• Nigeria: one priest freed, another kidnapped (Fides)
  One Catholic priest was freed from kidnappers on Sunday, March 23. But another was kidnapped that same day. Father Stephen Echezona was set free by police and military forces in a successful joint operation in Ihiala, in the southeast of the country. He had been seized by gunmen at a gas station, but his abductors abandoned him and fled after an exchange of gunfire with police. However in nearby Oguta, Father John Ubaechu was seized as he traveled to an annual retreat for priests. The Archdiocese of Owerri issued a call for prayers for his safe release.
• Seoul archbishop rues climate of 'hatred, conflict, and division' between North, South Korea (Fides)
  Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-Taick of Seoul, South Korea, said in a recent homily that “the current situation on the Korean peninsula is dominated by the mechanism of hatred, conflict, and division, rather than love, reconciliation, and unity.” As he marked the 30th anniversary of an archdiocesan committee for Korean reconciliation, the prelate called on the faithful to “take courage so that we can continue on our path of national reconciliation and remember our mission for peace in this country: inter-Korean reconciliation and the evangelization of all people.” “Amid the current tensions and conflicts on the Korean peninsula, your efforts to open a new chapter of reconciliation are more valuable than ever,” said Archbishop Giovanni Gaspari, who was also present at the Mass. “The Holy See follows these efforts with great attention and joins in prayer for the peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula.”
• Catholic, Orthodox prelates criticize Kerala's government over lax alcohol policy (AsiaNews)
  Catholic and Orthodox leaders in the the southwestern Indian state of Kerala (map) criticized the state government’s alcohol policy for its laxity. “Many governments, after securing consecutive terms in power, resort to increasing revenue through measures such as the production and distribution of alcohol,” the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council stated, as they warned of an attempt to “drown Kerala in liquor.” Likewise, the head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church (CNEWA profile) said that “despite the easy access to alcohol, the authorities are working to increase its flow even more and this is not the right approach ... The news of children and mothers being killed is terrifying. The cause of all this is alcohol and drugs,”
• Veteran Vatican reporter sees Pope Francis as 'best communicator' (Crux)
  Valentina Alazraki, a Mexican journalist who has covered the Vatican since 1978, says that Pope Francis is “the best communicator there is.” In a speech commenting on the Pontiffs she has covered, Alazraki said that Pope John Paul II was extremely effective in communications, in large part because he worked well with the Vatican press office and his spokesman, Dr. Joaquin Navarro-Valls. Pope Benedict did not work closely with the press office, she said, and this was partly responsible for some negative media coverage. Pope Francis also does not work through the Vatican communications machinery, Alazraki remarked; he handles the media directly, and sometimes pays the price in public statements that go awry. The veteran Vatican-watcher says of Pope Francis: He believes he communicates with his language, with his spontaneous, non-institutional communication. And the press office reflects the pope’s desire to be the one who communicates.
• Pope creates new diocese in Paraguay (CWN)
  Countering the trend of diocesan consolidations in Italy, Canada, and elsewhere, Pope Francis has created a new diocese in the South American nation of Paraguay.
• Myanmar soldiers set fire to cathedral (AsiaNews)
  Soldiers associated with Myanmar’s military junta set fire to the cathedral in Bhamo, a city in Kachin State, site of the Kachin conflict. “The priest’s house, the three-story building that houses the diocesan offices and the high school had already been set on fire on 26 February,” AsiaNews, the agency of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, reported. Last month, the regime bombed the cathedral in Mindat. It has also occupied the cathedral in Loikaw.
• Cardinal Parolin: Holy See displeased by European rearmament plan, backs Russia-Ukraine talks (Vatican News)
  Speaking with reporters at an event at the Moroccan embassy, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that the Holy See “cannot be pleased” with the EU’s proposed $841-billion rearmament plan. Noting that the Holy See has supported “general and controlled disarmament” since the First World War, the Pope’s Secretary of State asked, “When rearmament takes place, sooner or later, the weapons must be used, right?” Cardinal Parolin also expressed support for talks between Russia and Ukraine, stating, “Since Ukraine has finally expressed its willingness, we hope that there will also be willingness from the other side to initiate this ceasefire.” Subsequent negotiations, he hopes, will “bring an end to the war and establish the just and lasting peace for which we have long hoped.”
• Papal health update, March 21 (Vatican News)
  Pope Francis no longer requires mechanical ventilation when he sleeps, doctors are reducing the use of high-flow oxygen to assist his breathing, and his condition remains stable, the Vatican press office announced on Friday afternoon. However, the Vatican said, “the doctors have not yet given any indication regarding his discharge from the hospital.” In a more disturbing statement, during an interview with the Italian daily La Repubblica, Cardinal Victor Fernandez, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, said that “the Pope must learn to speak again.” Pope Francis has not lost the ability to speak; he recorded an audio message to the faithful on March 6. But at that time his voice was weak, his speech unclear, and his breathing labored. Cardinal Fernandez expressed confidence that the Pope would recover and continue his leadership. But when asked whether he would return to action before Easter, the cardinal replied: “I don’t think so.”
• Worldwide Catholic population up slightly to 1.4 billion (Vatican News)
  The world’s Catholic population continues to grow by just over 1% annually, surpassing 1.4 billion, according to the latest data published in the Pontifical Yearbook, the Annuarium for 2025. The official statistics—covering 2023, the last year for which full figures are available—show rapid growth of the Catholic population in Africa, with slower growth in the Americas and Asia, and almost no growth in Europe. Africa, which saw a 3.3% growth rate in the Catholic population in 2023, now accounts for 20% of all the world’s Catholics—nearly as many as Europe, which is 20.4% Catholic. But with Europe’s Catholic population growing by only 0.2%, Africa is likely to outstrip Europe soon. The Americas—treated as a single continent in Vatican statistics—have the largest Catholic population, accounting for nearly half (47.8%) of the worldwide total. There the growth rate was 0.9%. Asia saw a 0.6% population increase among Catholics; Oceania, 1.9%. There were 406,996 Catholic priests in the world at the close of 2023: a decrease of 0.2% from the previous year. That trend is likely to continue, since the number of seminarians (106,495) has also sunk by 1.8%. But the figures show wide differences among the continents; Africa saw a 2.7% increase in the number of priests; Europe a 1.6% decrease. The number of women religious also dropped by 1.6%, continuing a long-term trend. But here too the numbers were different across the continents, with Africa reporting a substantial increase (2.2%) and Europe the largest decrease (3.8%).
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