Minnesota butter sculptor brings skills to NCEA convention, enshrines pope in the dairy staple Religious Liberty Commission holds final hearing in shadow of Christian backlash to Trump posts Xaverian Brother Charles Warthen dies at 92 New Chaldean patriarch elected for Iraq amid pope’s calls he ‘should be’ a ‘father in faith’ Trump draws backlash over Pope Leo rant, ‘deeply offensive’ image of him looking like Christ 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 Minnesota butter sculptor brings skills to NCEA convention, enshrines pope in the dairy staple Dianne Towalski April 14, 2026 Since 2020, Gerry Kulzer has created the butter sculptures of the Minnesota State Fair dairy princesses that Minnesotans are so familiar with. Hundreds of people line up to watch him create his masterpieces live during the fair. Religious Liberty Commission holds final hearing in shadow of Christian backlash to Trump posts Kate Scanlon April 14, 2026 At the capstone hearing of the Department of Justice’s Religious Liberty Commission April 13, commissioners considered testimony from their seven hearings, signaling several areas for potential policy recommendations that they may include in their report to the president. New Chaldean patriarch elected for Iraq amid pope’s calls he ‘should be’ a ‘father in faith’ Junno Arocho Esteves April 14, 2026 Iraqi Archbishop Amel Shamon Nona, who until now led the Chaldean Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle of Australia and New Zealand, was elected patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, succeeding Cardinal Louis Sako. Trump draws backlash over Pope Leo rant, ‘deeply offensive’ image of him looking like Christ Gina Christian April 14, 2026 Catholic bishops and lay leaders across the political spectrum are expressing their shock and disapproval following President Donald Trump’s online screed against Pope Leo XIV. More World News Commentary 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. Mary, icon of the Church Leonard J. DeLorenzo April 9, 2026 On a snow-covered winter day in 1842, Father Edward Sorin stood before a frozen lake in northern Indiana and did something audacious. He consecrated the land, the institution he was about to found and every soul who would ever study or work there to the Blessed Virgin Mary — and he did this not as an afterthought or pious decoration, but as the founding act itself. 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.
Minnesota butter sculptor brings skills to NCEA convention, enshrines pope in the dairy staple Dianne Towalski April 14, 2026 Since 2020, Gerry Kulzer has created the butter sculptures of the Minnesota State Fair dairy princesses that Minnesotans are so familiar with. Hundreds of people line up to watch him create his masterpieces live during the fair.
Religious Liberty Commission holds final hearing in shadow of Christian backlash to Trump posts Kate Scanlon April 14, 2026 At the capstone hearing of the Department of Justice’s Religious Liberty Commission April 13, commissioners considered testimony from their seven hearings, signaling several areas for potential policy recommendations that they may include in their report to the president.
New Chaldean patriarch elected for Iraq amid pope’s calls he ‘should be’ a ‘father in faith’ Junno Arocho Esteves April 14, 2026 Iraqi Archbishop Amel Shamon Nona, who until now led the Chaldean Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle of Australia and New Zealand, was elected patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, succeeding Cardinal Louis Sako.
Trump draws backlash over Pope Leo rant, ‘deeply offensive’ image of him looking like Christ Gina Christian April 14, 2026 Catholic bishops and lay leaders across the political spectrum are expressing their shock and disapproval following President Donald Trump’s online screed against Pope Leo XIV.
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.
Mary, icon of the Church Leonard J. DeLorenzo April 9, 2026 On a snow-covered winter day in 1842, Father Edward Sorin stood before a frozen lake in northern Indiana and did something audacious. He consecrated the land, the institution he was about to found and every soul who would ever study or work there to the Blessed Virgin Mary — and he did this not as an afterthought or pious decoration, but as the founding act itself.
