Pope Francis hints at changes in Roman curia (CNA) Multiple sources have told CNA that Pope Francis told the Italian bishops that there will soon be a new prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, and that the appointment might come out as early as May 25. Pope Francis met the Italian bishops as they are gathering in their 74th general assembly. Pope Francis delivered an opening address to the assembly and later held an open discussion with the bishops…
Pope to Vatican media: who reads your news? (AP) Pope Francis challenged the Vatican’s own media employees Monday to essentially justify their continued work, asking them how many people actually consume their news as he visited the office that costs the Holy See more than all its embassies around the world combined…
Catholic diagnosed with rare brain disease last month dies at 53 (Charlotte Observer) Father Michael Kottar, a Roman Catholic priest who had served in the Diocese of Charlotte for more than 21 years and who revealed earlier this month that a rare brain disease would soon take his life, died on Saturday night in Pickerington, Ohio. He was 53. The cause was Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that the CDC distinguishes as “rapidly progressive and always fatal.” Kottar had recently taken leave as pastor of St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church in Shelby and Christ the King Catholic Mission in Kings Mountain — positions he’d held since 2007 — and returned to Ohio to be with his family while receiving end-of-life care…
Patriarch describes situation in Syria as ‘humanly unbearable’ (CNS) The Syriac Catholic patriarch said the situation in Syria “continues to be humanly unbearable and devastating” and risks emptying the war-torn country of its Christian community for good. Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan called on Western countries to lift “all economic sanctions against Syria, because they only harm the innocent…”
Vatican issues street art stamp, and gets sued (CNA) One night in early 2019, Rome street artist Alessia Babrow glued a stylized image of Christ she had made onto a bridge near the Vatican. A year later, she was shocked to learn that the Vatican had apparently used a reproduction of her image, which featured her hallmark heart emblazoned across Christ’s chest, as its 2020 Easter postage stamp. Babrow sued the Vatican City State’s telecommunications office in a Rome court last month, alleging it was wrongfully profiting off her creativity and was violating the original intent of her artwork. The lawsuit, which is seeking nearly 130,000 euros in damages, said the Vatican never responded officially to Babrow’s attempts to negotiate a settlement after she discovered it had used her image without her consent and then allegedly sold it…
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