Pope Francis received participants in the 48th general chapter of the Brothers of Christian Instruction on April 22 and encouraged them to be like fathers to children on the margins of society.

“Dear brothers, you work in regions of the world where poverty, youth unemployment and social crises of all kinds are rampant,” Pope Francis said. “I therefore exhort you to be fathers for those to whom you are sent, fathers who reflect the loving and compassionate face of God.”

The Pontiff also lamented the effects of war on children, advised the brothers to collaborate with local bishops and avoid gossip, and encouraged them to be inspired by the prayers and example of the Virgin Mary as they prepared to reconsecrate their institute to her Immaculate Heart.

Founded in 1819 by Ven. Jean-Marie de La Mennais and Father Gabriel Deshayes, the Brothers of Christian Instruction are distinct from the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (founded by St. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle) and the Congregation of Christian Brothers (founded by Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice).

When South Korea’s National Assembly meets in May, there will be 80 Catholics among the 300 members: an all-time high for Catholic representation.

The proportion of Catholics in the National Assembly will be more than double the percentage (11.3%) in the nation’s population.

Political commentator Candace Owens has disclosed that she has been received into the Catholic Church, saying “praise be to God for his gentle but relentless guiding of my heart toward Truth.”

Owens—whose husband George Farmer is also a convert to Catholicism—was received in the Brompton Oratory in London.

Police in Bolivia have raided the residence of a retired Catholic bishop, saying that he is suspected of involvement in a money-laundering operation.

A local prosecutor said that Bishop Karl Stetter—who retired in 2016 from his post as head of the Diocese of San Ignacio de Velasco—has been identified as the owner of extensive properties, which cannot be explained by his relatively modest income.

Bishop Aurelio Pesoa, the head of the Bolivian bishops’ conference, denounced the raid as “an act of intimidation of the pastors of the Bolivian Church.”

Citing unnamed Vatican sources, the French Catholic newspaper La Croix has reported that Pope Francis has accepted an invitation to address the UN General Assembly in September of this year.

If accurate, the report would suggest an unusually rigorous travel schedule for the 87-year-old Pontiff. Pope Francis is already scheduled to make a lengthy trip to Asia in early September, with stops expected in Indonesia, Singapore, Papua New Guina, East Timor, and possibly Vietnam.

Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, has revealed that he had no prior notice about the release of Fiducia Supplicans.

Cardinal Grech told that he heard about the declaration from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, authorizing blessings for same-sex couples, “like everybody else, when it was published.” However, he said that he saw no particular reason why he should have been consulted on the document, emphasizing that any Vatican dicastery can release statements in its own sphere.

Questioned about the impact of the controversial document on the deliberations of the Synod of Bishops, the cardinal said the statement has “nothing to do with” the Synod.

Pope Francis received members of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences on April 20, in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of its founding under Venerable Pius XII.

“It is good that you collaborate with others, expanding your scientific and human relations, and avoiding forms of mental and institutional isolation,” Pope Francis told the historians. “I encourage you to maintain this enriching approach, based on constant and attentive listening, free from any ideology—ideologies kill—and respecting the truth.”

Contrasting the “civilization of encounter” with “the temptations of self-absorbed individualism and the ideological affirmation of one’s own point of view [that] fuel the incivility of confrontation,” the Pope told the members of the committee that “it is good that you, 70 years after your establishment, bear witness to being able to resist such temptations, living with passion, through study, the regenerative experience of service to unity.”

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, “tells us that we are always infinitely worthy in His eyes,” Pope Francis emphasized during his Regina Caeli address on April 21, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, as he reflected on the day’s Gospel reading (John 10:11-18).

The Pope told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square, “Brothers, sisters, let us ask ourselves: am I able to find the time, every day, to embrace this assurance that gives value to my life? Am I able to find the time for a moment of prayer, of adoration, of praise, to be in the presence of Christ and to let myself be caressed by Him?”

“Brother, sister, the Good Shepherd tells us that if you do this, you will rediscover the secret of life: you will remember that He gave His life for you, for me, for all of us,” he continued. “And that for Him, we are all important, each and every one of us.”

“May Our Lady help us to find in Jesus what is essential for life,” the Pope concluded.

Pope Francis called public attention to the celebration of Earth Day on April 22, with a Twitter statement:

Our generation has bequeathed many riches, but we have failed to protect the planet and we are not safeguarding peace. We are called to become artisans and caretakers of our common home, the Earth which is “falling into ruin.”

In a report on the Pontiff’s statement, Vatican News called special attention to a UN drive to eliminate single-use plastics, and particularly to the UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution.

The Carmelite nuns of the Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Texas have rejected a Vatican directive putting their community under the jurisdiction of a national Carmelite Association, saying that it is “in effect a hostile takeover that we cannot in conscience accept.”

The members of the embattled Carmelite community—which has been locked in a dispute with Bishop Michael Olsen of Fort Worth—announced that they would not welcome a visitation by the Carmelite Association of Christ the King. They said that they were “surprised and disappointed” that the Vatican decision was announced without any consultation.

The Carmelite community professed its willingness to submit to proper ecclesiastical authority. “An abusive father, however, must be resisted,” they said.