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Holy See: Racism still plagues our societies (Vatican News)

Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, delivered an address to the UN General Assembly on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Munich prosecutors drop case of alleged 'cover up' against Benedict XVI (CNA)

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, as Archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982, had been under investigation for “aiding and abetting” clerical sexual abuse. Prosecutors also decided not to proceed with their case against his successor, Cardinal Friedrich Wetter.

By the numbers: How the Catholic Church has changed during Pope Francis' pontificate (CNA)

“Statistically speaking, the Church has grown, keeping pace with and even exceeding overall world population growth,” according to the report.

However, “the Church performed 2 million fewer baptisms in 2020 [marked by Covid lockdowns] than in 2013. The number of marriages declined by 702,246, or nearly a third. Confirmations and first Communions also dropped by 12% and 13%, respectively, despite relatively stable levels of Mass attendance in the world’s 13 most Catholic countries.”

Vatican cardinal: 'It is not mercy to lie about sin' (CWN)

Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, the Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary since 2013, delivered an 11-page lecture to participants in the Penitentiary’s 33rd annual course on the internal forum.

Over 70 Christians killed in DR Congo in 2 weeks (International Christian Concern)

In the war-torn eastern section of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (map), Islamist rebels killed 72 Christians in a two-week period, according to the report.

Pope Francis made an apostolic journey to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan earlier this year, but stayed in the nation’s capital, where he met with the war’s victims.

US House committee hears testimony on Nicaragua regime's war against the Church (House Foreign Affairs Committee)

On March 22, two subcommittees of the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a joint hearing on “The Ortega-Murillo Regime’s War Against the Catholic Church and Civil Society in Nicaragua: Bishop Alvarez, Political Prisoners, and Prisoners of Conscience.”

Professor's suit charges wrongful dismissal for upholding Catholic teaching (MLive)

A former faculty member at Western Michigan University has brought suit against the school, saying that he was “maligned and punished solely for holding to and expressing orthodox Catholic teaching elsewhere.”

Daniel Mattson had been an adjunct professor in the School of Music, but was dismissed after the publication of his book, Why I Don’t Call Myself Gay: How I Reclaimed My Sexual Reality and Found Peace. In the suit, Mattson says that he did not express his religious views on the campus, although he became a prominent defender of Catholic teaching on homosexuality.

Six candidates move closer to beatification (Vatican Press Office)

In a series of decrees issued on March 23, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints confirmed the “heroic virtue” of the following, who will now be eligible for beatification if a miracle is attributed to their intercession:

  • Carlo Crespi Croci (1891-1982), an Italian Salesian priest who died in Ecuador;
  • Maria Caterina Flanagan (1892-1942), an English Bridgettine;
  • Leonilde di San Giovanni Battista (1890-1945), an Italian Missionary Sister of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary;
  • María do Monte Pereira (1897-1963), a Portuguese sister of the Hospitaller Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus;
  • Teresa Enríquez de Alvarado (1456—1529), a Spanish lay woman; and
  • Maria Domenica Lazzeri (1815—1848), an Italian lay woman.

Pope Francis: a different vision of Church role in European project [News Analysis] (CWN)

At a March 23 audience with delegate for the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), Pope Francis welcomed a new president of the group, paid tribute to the outgoing president, and urged COMECE to serve the cause of unity and peace in Europe.

House committee raps 'weaponization' of Justice Department (House Judiciary Committee)

The Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives has issued a report criticizing the Biden administration for its aggressive campaign against parents who protested school-board decisions.

A committee report found that “the Biden Administration misused federal law-enforcement and counterterrorism resources for political purposes,” that “there was no compelling nationwide law-enforcement justification” for a Justice Department directive that ordered the FBI to investigate protests against school-board decisions.

In a related development, the Heritage Foundation has joined other pro-life groups in a lawsuit charging that the Justice Department has failed to comply with legal requests for documents related to a series of violent attacks on pregnancy-help centers.