U.S.
Catholic groups stress efforts to combat hunger
WASHINGTON — As the U.S. Senate prepares to consider a farm bill recently approved by the U.S. House, Catholic organizations together with the U.S. bishops sought to stress to lawmakers the importance of efforts to combat hunger, such as robust support for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, a major part of the nation’s social safety net. The House passed April 30 a $390 billion farm bill on a close to party-line vote. Julie Bodnar, outreach and policy adviser for the Secretariat of Justice and Peace at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said, historically, the farm bill “brings everything together,” and “acknowledges that the needs of farmers, the needs of rural America, that the needs of hungry people, they’re all linked.” “There’s no need to pit them against each other. These interests are aligned. They’re not opposed,” she said. Catholic groups including Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Relief Services, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA, Catholic Rural Life and the USCCB committees on Domestic Justice and Human Development and International Justice and Peace have urged lawmakers to make several changes to the legislation. (OSV News)
Trump says he plans to discuss Jimmy Lai imprisonment during China visit
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said May 11 he planned to discuss the imprisonment of Jimmy Lai during his visit to China; however, he suggested the prominent Catholic and pro-democracy campaigner “caused a lot of bedlam.” Lai, Hong Kong’s prominent Catholic media tycoon, was convicted of national security offenses under the city’s controversial national security law. U.S. officials, including Trump, have cast the charges leading to Lai’s conviction as trumped up, arguing that they were evidence that the Chinese Communist Party is seeking to silence dissent. In remarks to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump was asked if he planned to raise Lai’s case during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. “I’ll bring them both up,” Trump told reporters, also in reference to the arrest of Ezra Jin Mingri, founder and pastor of Zion Church, another political prisoner whose case sparked grave religious freedom concerns from U.S. officials. But then Trump seemed to suggest Lai had been a nuisance to the Chinese regime. “But Jimmy Lai, it caused lots of turmoil for China,” Trump said. Trump arrived in Beijing May 13. (OSV News)
Ordinariate bishop for North America sees his pastoral care expanded to Australia
SYDNEY — A Texas-based bishop, who leads one of the Catholic Church’s three “Anglican ordinariates,” has seen his pastoral care expanded to Australia, as a fellow prelate has been tapped to lead a Vatican dicastery. On May 11, Pope Leo XIV named Bishop Steven J. Lopes of the Houston-based Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter the apostolic administrator of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, headquartered near Sydney. Bishop Lopes takes over the responsibility from Archbishop Anthony Randazzo, its previous administrator, whom Pope Leo appointed prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Legislative Texts. The Catholic Church has three personal ordinariates with Anglican patrimony worldwide — informally called “the Anglican Ordinariate” — which function as dioceses led by their respective bishops and were established under Pope Benedict XVI. Bishop Lopes, whose ordinariate covers the U.S. and Canada, said that his new territory is not unfamiliar as he had “visited several times over the years to participate in various Ordinariate events and clergy gatherings,” according to a May 11 press release. (OSV News)
California announces free diaper program for newborns, a first in U.S.
SAN FRANCISCO (OSV News) — Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., announced May 8 a first-in-the-nation program to provide 400 free diapers to every newborn in the state. His office said the program would leverage the “bulk purchasing power of the state” to challenge “high prices from major brands.” “California is taking on the cost of raising a family head-on — delivering free school meals, making preschool free for every four-year-old, expanding after-school programs, and now making sure parents leave the hospital with the basics their newborn needs,” Newsom said in a statement. The Urban Institute estimated in 2025 that nearly 8 million children in the U.S. live in families that struggle to afford enough diapers. The same organization said the average cost of diapering one child is about $100 a month, but families report “only being able to pay a median of $65.” Molly Sheahan, associate director for healthy families at the California Catholic Conference, said, “We look forward to even more opportunities that make it easier for families to say yes to their child for a lifetime.”
Pope Leo XIV names former missionary in Cuba as new bishop of Venice, Florida
ROME – Pope Leo XIV has appointed Father Emilio Biosca Agüero, a Capuchin Franciscan missionary who served in Cuba and Papua New Guinea, as the new bishop of the Diocese of Venice in southwest Florida. The Vatican announced the appointment May 13 and accepted the resignation of Bishop Frank J. Dewane, 76, who led the diocese since 2006. Father Biosca, 61, currently serves as pastor of the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Washington, D.C. A member of the Capuchin Franciscan Friars of the Province of Saint Augustine, he spent more than a decade as a missionary in Papua New Guinea before serving in Cuba from 2007 to 2019. (OSV News)
WORLD
Pope to lead Corpus Christi procession in Madrid, Vatican says as it releases Spain schedule
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican on May 6 released the official schedule for Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic visit to Spain, a seven-day trip June 6-12 that will take the pontiff to Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands. The packed itinerary includes meetings with Spain’s royal family and political leaders, along with encounters with migrants, prisoners, young people and Catholic communities across the country. Public Masses, a Corpus Christi procession in Madrid, a visit to Barcelona’s Basilica of the Holy Family, known as Sagrada Família, and stops at migrant reception centers in the Canary Islands are also planned. Spanish bishops, speaking at a press briefing after the schedule’s release, said the visit comes at a time of political and social tension and described Pope Leo as a needed “reference point” for dialogue, encounter and peace. In Madrid, the pope will meet King Felipe VI, Queen Letizia and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez before addressing Spain’s parliament. In Barcelona, he will inaugurate the new Jesus Christ tower at the Sagrada Família. The trip concludes in the Canary Islands with events highlighting the Church’s ministry to migrants arriving along the Atlantic route. (OSV News)
Israeli soldiers punished after desecration of Virgin Mary statue in Lebanon
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said it has disciplined two soldiers after a statue of the Virgin Mary was desecrated in southern Lebanon. One soldier received 21 days of military detention for placing a cigarette in the statue’s mouth in the Christian village of Debel, home to a significant Christian population. Another soldier who photographed the act was sentenced to 14 days. The Israeli Defense Forces called the incident serious and said troops are regularly instructed to respect religious sites and symbols. The case follows a separate April incident in the same village, where soldiers damaged a crucifix Jesus Christ statue with the blunt side of an axe. Two soldiers involved in that case were sentenced to 30 days of detention. (OSV News)
