By Gigi Duncan, National Catholic Register – When Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Catholic Church’s top authority in the Holy Land, was blocked by Israeli police from entering Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulcher this past Palm Sunday, the incident set off a wave of criticism in the U.S. — including from many Generation Z Catholics… Users of the social-media platform X led the charge, accusing the Israeli government of hostility toward Christians and even calling into question American support for the Jewish nation-state.

By Deacon Frank, Catholic Exchange – “Deacon Frank” is a permanent deacon in the United States. He is involved in the Eucharistic Revival… Everything I am going to reveal to you in this article is true. It happened to me, and it changed the very trajectory of my life for the good. It occurred in the summer of 1995… My grandfather, who helped raise me, was in the final months of his life. His body was riddled with cancer. As his death approached, I had a strong intuition that on his deathbed my grandfather would see his mother, who had died thirty years prior, and that my father would witness it.

By Saint Michael Center for the Blessed Virgin Mary – 3. Offers Powerful Spiritual Protection – The Blessed Mother herself said to St. Dominic: “One day, through the Rosary and the Scapular, I will save the world.”… Praying the Rosary protects against temptation, evil, and spiritual attack… It’s often described as a spiritual armor in the battle against sin. …

By Michael Haynes, PerMariam, (Substack) – The watchdog agency Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned that the controversial 2018 deal between China and the Vatican has “helped the Chinese government to pressure underground Catholic communities to join the official church.”… According to a detailed new report issued by HRW, the Chinese state is only increasing its persecution of underground Catholics, and is doing so aided by the framework of the 2018 deal between Beijing and the Holy See regarding the appointment of bishops.

By Mary Rose, Zeale – Trump (stated) … “Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz. A total violation of our ceasefire agreement.” He added that the shots targeted vessels including a French ship and a United Kingdom freighter… Trump also detailed the seizure of the Iranian-flagged cargo ship TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman… “The U.S. Navy Guided Missile Destroyer USS SPRUANCE intercepted the TOUSKA,” he wrote on Truth Social.

By Catholic World News – The typical member of the priestly ordination class of 2026 is a 33-year-old cradle Catholic, according to a newly released survey of 334 of the 428 men slated to be ordained to the priesthood in the United States this year. The survey was conducted for the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations of the USCCB by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate and posted on the USCCB’s website… The typical ordinand regularly took part in Eucharistic adoration and prayed the Rosary before entering seminary, according to the survey. …

By Brad Miner, The Catholic Thing – When St. John Paul II went to Poland, he made no direct criticisms of the communist government. The closest he came was when he told the crowd in Warsaw’s Victory Square that “at any longitude or latitude of geography, the exclusion of Christ from the history of man is an act against man.” I imagined Edward Gierek turning to Wojciech Jaruzelski and asking, “Are we to believe in Christ now?”… Wedging Jesus into the conflict in Iran or border enforcement in the U.S., while hardly a fool’s errand, risks sinking Roman Catholicism into the very worst version of synodality: as an ongoing, transformational whatsis equal to The Blob. …

The American Conservative – At the recent oral argument in perhaps the most consequential case on the Supreme Court’s docket, the birthright citizenship case of Trump v. Barbara, Chief Justice John Roberts made a telling and illustrative quip. In an exchange with Solicitor General John Sauer concerning the problem of birth tourism, the chief justice responded to Sauer’s concern that 8 billion people around the planet are a “plane ride away from having a child who’s a U.S. citizen.”

By Francesca Pollio Fenton, EWTN News, (Catholic World Report) – According to the World Health Organization, about 1 in 6 people globally experience infertility in their lifetime. In the United States, 1 in 8 couples deal with infertility… This year, National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW) runs from April 19–25. Established in 1989 by RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, NIAW is an annual initiative held each April that raises public awareness, promotes policy change — especially regarding insurance coverage — and fosters open conversations to support those struggling to build their families.

By Fr. Ed Broom, OMV, Catholic Exchange – About twenty years ago, I launched a program for daily life that has since changed thousands of lives—one based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Years later, I still frequently encounter people grateful for having gone through this ten-week program… Consequently, I decided, with the help of a team of wonderful collaborators, to format and articulate this work in book form, Ten Weeks to Spiritual Advancement, scheduled for release in mid-April 2026.

By Father Nicola Bux, Edward Pentin’s Substack – “Christ did not waste time criticising the Roman Empire, but founded the Church” — T.S. Eliot, Choruses from The Rock… Popes from John XXIII to Leo XIV have, in different ways, separated the question of peace from the concrete reality of the Church; as a result, their appeals for peace risk becoming utopian — aspirations that lack the means necessary for their fulfilment… This separation appears when peace is framed primarily as a political or humanitarian goal: ending wars, encouraging dialogue, and fostering cooperation among nations. These aims are good, but when they are presented without reference to the Church’s essential mission — the conversion of persons and peoples to Christ — they lose their foundation. …

By Fr. Joseph Gill, Crisis Magazine – We’ve all been to our fair share of banal, cringe, or even disrespectful Novus Ordo Masses. As a priest who celebrates the Novus Ordo, I can see how easy it is in the New Rite to fall into those traps. It is evermore necessary, then, for a priest who celebrates the Novus Ordo to cultivate a rich interior life of union with Christ because this is the only antidote to the myriad of temptations to trivialize the liturgy.

By Steven Ertelt, LifeNews – HHS Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accused the Biden administration of blocking Christian families from fostering children… Kennedy said Biden official were imposing rules that required placements to affirm LGBTQ identities, a policy he said dramatically reduced the pool of available homes for vulnerable kids… Kennedy made the remarks while highlighting efforts to roll back the Biden-era regulations during congressional testimony this week.

By Bishop Joseph E. Strickland, Bishop Emeritus, Pillars of Faith – We are living in a time when the world feels as though it is unraveling before our eyes. Nations rise against nations. Conflicts escalate. Voices grow louder, angrier, more divided. And even among Catholics – among those who should be united in the truth of Jesus Christ – we see confusion, tension, and sometimes even hostility… In moments like this, many people ask, “Who is right? Which side should I support? What position should I take?”… But before we ask any of those questions, there is a deeper and more important one that must come first: “Are we thinking with the mind of Christ … or with the mind of the world?” …

Author Don Schwager, Servants of the Word – John 6:16-21 – 16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea rose because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat. They were frightened, 20 but he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” …