Pope Leo on papal plane to Cameroon: St. Augustine invites all to search for God and truth today DOJ report accuses Biden administration of ‘weaponizing’ prosecutions of pro-life activists Dominicans who care for poor cancer patients sue over state’s transgender mandates Pope Leo XIV sets stage for June consistory with letter to cardinals Catholic leaders appeal to end Russia’s religious persecution in Ukraine Local News Xaverian Brother Charles Warthen dies at 92 Catholic Review Staff April 14, 2026 A memorial service for Xaverian Brother Charles (Dean) Warthen will be offered April 18 at 11 a.m. at the Mount St. Joseph High School Chapel in Irvington. His funeral Mass was previously offered in Virginia Beach, Va. Brother Charles died March 16. He was 92. St. Michael-St. Clement School will close at end of academic year Christopher Gunty April 13, 2026 School leadership announced April 13 that St. Michael-St. Clement School in Overlea, which serves preschool through eighth grade, will not reopen in the fall for the 2026-27 academic year. Spain’s Sagrada Familia Basilica invites visitors to see ‘Bible in stone’ Christopher Gunty April 13, 2026 Visitors to the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, don’t even have to go inside the basilica to be inspired. The exterior of the basilica itself is a “Bible in stone in the facades,” according to Mauricio Cortés Sierra, the lead architect for the basilica’s Tower of Christ that was completed earlier this year. Radio Interview: Forgiveness and Divine Mercy Catholic Review Staff April 13, 2026 Our God is a merciful God, and that is ever-present especially in the sacrament of reconciliation or confession. Catholic Review Editor Christopher Gunty talked with Father Michael DeAscanis, pastor of St. Louis Parish in Clarksville and St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Fulton, about his great joy in bringing people back into communion with God through confession. More Local News World News Pope Leo on papal plane to Cameroon: St. Augustine invites all to search for God and truth today Courtney Mares April 15, 2026 Pope Leo XIV spoke to journalists aboard the papal plane on April 15 on the five-hour flight from Algeria to Cameroon, underlining St. Augustine’s enduring importance today, saying that the saint’s invitation “to search for God and to search for truth is something that is very much needed today.” DOJ report accuses Biden administration of ‘weaponizing’ prosecutions of pro-life activists Kurt Jensen April 15, 2026 More than a year after President Donald Trump pardoned 23 pro-life activists convicted of violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances, or FACE Act, and the Justice Department announced it would severely limit prosecutions of such cases, the department has issued an 882-page report accusing the Biden administration of weaponizing the prosecutions. Dominicans who care for poor cancer patients sue over state’s transgender mandates OSV News April 15, 2026 The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who operate a 42-bed nursing home that provides palliative care for the dying poor, are suing New York state over a 2024 law requiring long-term care facilities to use preferred pronouns and assign rooms based on gender identity. Pope Leo XIV sets stage for June consistory with letter to cardinals OSV News April 15, 2026 Pope Leo XIV sent a letter to the College of Cardinals thanking them for their participation in the January consistory and preparing the conversation for their next gathering June 26-27 — right before the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. More World News Commentary An Open Letter to Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, S.J. George Weigel April 15, 2026 Permit the suggestion, Your Eminence, that the Church’s pastors should avoid causing further confusion (and, indeed, whatever suffering is caused by those confusions) by helping God’s people embrace the mysteries of faith in love, rather than by suggesting that what has been settled by divine revelation and the authoritative teaching of the Church (in the 1994 apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis) is not, in fact, settled. Common sense slowly emerges for protecting women’s athletics Kenneth Craycraft April 13, 2026 On March 26, the International Olympic Committee made an announcement that is simultaneously surprising and banal. The IOC declared that only women are eligible to participate in women’s events in the Olympics. Of course, saying that women’s events are limited to women is as newsworthy as a declaration that water is wet. Eternal investment Carole Norris Greene April 13, 2026 Lose no opportunity to invest quality time with children at every stage of their lives. Remind them of how precious they are. Teach them as they grow how to recognize opportunities to spread the good news of salvation that our resurrected Lord makes attainable for generations to come. Fly Me to the Moon (or Fly Someone Else and Let Me Watch) Rita Buettner April 12, 2026 This type of encounter helps us see the beauty and the power and the imagination behind God’s creation. Orestes Brownson: A spiritual seeker turned prominent Catholic intellectual ‘bomb-thrower’ Russell Shaw April 11, 2026 By the end of his life, Orestes Brownson, who was the most distinguished American Catholic public intellectual of the 19th century, had become a ferocious critic of the Americanist path that most of his fellow Catholics had chosen. More Commentary Featured Video The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA), home to the largest public collection of Matisse’s work in the world, will open an exhibition March 29 featuring a rare group of preparatory drawings for the artist’s Stations of the Cross. The exhibition runs through June 28 and includes more than 80 drawings that trace the development of the monumental work.
Xaverian Brother Charles Warthen dies at 92 Catholic Review Staff April 14, 2026 A memorial service for Xaverian Brother Charles (Dean) Warthen will be offered April 18 at 11 a.m. at the Mount St. Joseph High School Chapel in Irvington. His funeral Mass was previously offered in Virginia Beach, Va. Brother Charles died March 16. He was 92.
St. Michael-St. Clement School will close at end of academic year Christopher Gunty April 13, 2026 School leadership announced April 13 that St. Michael-St. Clement School in Overlea, which serves preschool through eighth grade, will not reopen in the fall for the 2026-27 academic year.
Spain’s Sagrada Familia Basilica invites visitors to see ‘Bible in stone’ Christopher Gunty April 13, 2026 Visitors to the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain, don’t even have to go inside the basilica to be inspired. The exterior of the basilica itself is a “Bible in stone in the facades,” according to Mauricio Cortés Sierra, the lead architect for the basilica’s Tower of Christ that was completed earlier this year.
Radio Interview: Forgiveness and Divine Mercy Catholic Review Staff April 13, 2026 Our God is a merciful God, and that is ever-present especially in the sacrament of reconciliation or confession. Catholic Review Editor Christopher Gunty talked with Father Michael DeAscanis, pastor of St. Louis Parish in Clarksville and St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Fulton, about his great joy in bringing people back into communion with God through confession.
Pope Leo on papal plane to Cameroon: St. Augustine invites all to search for God and truth today Courtney Mares April 15, 2026 Pope Leo XIV spoke to journalists aboard the papal plane on April 15 on the five-hour flight from Algeria to Cameroon, underlining St. Augustine’s enduring importance today, saying that the saint’s invitation “to search for God and to search for truth is something that is very much needed today.”
DOJ report accuses Biden administration of ‘weaponizing’ prosecutions of pro-life activists Kurt Jensen April 15, 2026 More than a year after President Donald Trump pardoned 23 pro-life activists convicted of violating the federal Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances, or FACE Act, and the Justice Department announced it would severely limit prosecutions of such cases, the department has issued an 882-page report accusing the Biden administration of weaponizing the prosecutions.
Dominicans who care for poor cancer patients sue over state’s transgender mandates OSV News April 15, 2026 The Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who operate a 42-bed nursing home that provides palliative care for the dying poor, are suing New York state over a 2024 law requiring long-term care facilities to use preferred pronouns and assign rooms based on gender identity.
Pope Leo XIV sets stage for June consistory with letter to cardinals OSV News April 15, 2026 Pope Leo XIV sent a letter to the College of Cardinals thanking them for their participation in the January consistory and preparing the conversation for their next gathering June 26-27 — right before the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.
An Open Letter to Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, S.J. George Weigel April 15, 2026 Permit the suggestion, Your Eminence, that the Church’s pastors should avoid causing further confusion (and, indeed, whatever suffering is caused by those confusions) by helping God’s people embrace the mysteries of faith in love, rather than by suggesting that what has been settled by divine revelation and the authoritative teaching of the Church (in the 1994 apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis) is not, in fact, settled.
Common sense slowly emerges for protecting women’s athletics Kenneth Craycraft April 13, 2026 On March 26, the International Olympic Committee made an announcement that is simultaneously surprising and banal. The IOC declared that only women are eligible to participate in women’s events in the Olympics. Of course, saying that women’s events are limited to women is as newsworthy as a declaration that water is wet.
Eternal investment Carole Norris Greene April 13, 2026 Lose no opportunity to invest quality time with children at every stage of their lives. Remind them of how precious they are. Teach them as they grow how to recognize opportunities to spread the good news of salvation that our resurrected Lord makes attainable for generations to come.
Fly Me to the Moon (or Fly Someone Else and Let Me Watch) Rita Buettner April 12, 2026 This type of encounter helps us see the beauty and the power and the imagination behind God’s creation.
Orestes Brownson: A spiritual seeker turned prominent Catholic intellectual ‘bomb-thrower’ Russell Shaw April 11, 2026 By the end of his life, Orestes Brownson, who was the most distinguished American Catholic public intellectual of the 19th century, had become a ferocious critic of the Americanist path that most of his fellow Catholics had chosen.
