In his Urbi et Orbi Easter message, Pope Leo XIV greeted the faithful around the world in ten languages. "Happy Easter! Bring the joy of the risen Jesus, who is present among us, to everyone.” Click on the video to hear him in Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese and Latin.
Leo XIV. wünscht den Gläubigen frohe Ostern in zehn Sprachen: Italienisch, Französisch, Englisch, Deutsch, Spanisch, Portugiesisch, Polnisch, Arabisch, Mandarin-Chinesisch und Latein
Enoch Burke @EnochBurke BREAKING: Enoch Burke’s mother and sister arrested and jailed Martina and Ammi Burke were arrested by Gardaí today at Castlerea Prison after visiting jailed schoolteacher Enoch Burke, their son and brother. Judge Brian Cregan sentenced them to two weeks in prison after they spoke out against his lies and unlawful actions in the case of Enoch Burke. Martina and Ammi Burke had been teaching in Castlebar this morning before travelling to Castlerea for their scheduled visit at 2.15pm. As they left the prison after concluding the visit, Gardaí were waiting outside to arrest them. Lies have been told from the bench since September 2022 when Enoch Burke was first taken from his teaching post at Wilson’s Hospital School and thrown into a jail cell. He refused to call a student by a new name and the “they” pronoun. He was subsequently suspended and has now spent over 600 days in prison. Ireland’s church leaders have maintained a treacherous silence on this issue. …Lokwengentiwe
Following government directives, public Easter services in Dubai have been cancelled since Good Friday. The regime's excuse is that tensions in the Middle East are escalating. Dubai has two Catholic parishes - Saint Mary's and Saint Francis of Assisi in Jebel Ali. Both have confirmed the closures on their websites and will remain closed "until further notice". Saint Mary’s Church is one of the largest Catholic parishes in the world, with around 30,000 members, many of whom are Filipino workers. On Good Friday, many Catholics who had not been informed of the closure were seen praying outside on the pavement instead. Easter liturgies were only being streamed online. Bishop Paolo Martinelli, Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia, acknowledged worshippers' disappointment at missing Holy Week celebrations. #newsAfvbsxvwah
Needs Smarter Sycophants April 4, 2026 nytimes.com/2026/04/04/opinion/trump-bondi- … Kristi Noem is gone. Pam Bondi is out. If there’s going to be a fall guy for our ill-starred regime-change operation in Iran, it’s likely to be Pete Hegseth, whose prewar overconfidence is being highlighted in hostile leaks from inside the administration, emphasizing how he was “caught off guard” (never a good look!) by the scale and boldness of the Iranian response. The former secretary of homeland security, the jettisoned attorney general and the embattled secretary of defense have often seemed like President Trump’s ideal cabinet officials: selected for televisual looks and energy, lacking any political constituency apart from Trump himself, serving without qualm as pure conduits of his will. So their struggles offer a lesson for Republicans contemplating service in this administration’s 33 (but who’s counting?) remaining months: What Trump appears to want and what he actually wants are not exactly …Lokwengentiwe
Valerie Anne Smith @ValerieAnne1970 Top Doctors sound the alarm on the dangers of biopsies..."Biopsies are the kiss of death. The needle punches a hole in the tumor, dragging cancer cells & spreading them." ~Dr. Ben Johnson
On the Easter Vigil of 4 April 2026, His Beatitude, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, presided over a solemn celebration at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre before the empty tomb. This concluded the Sacred Triduum and proclaimed the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Hegseth Says U.S. Troops Are Fighting for Jesus. The Pope Disagrees. In sharp contrast to the Trump administration’s calls for Christian prayers for the war effort, Pope Leo XIV says military domination is “entirely foreign to the way of Jesus Christ.” nytimes.com/2026/04/03/world/middleeast/pope- … April 3, 2026 Pete Hegseth, the U.S. defense secretary, has asked the American people to pray “every day, on bended knee” for a military victory in the Middle East “in the name of Jesus Christ.” Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pontiff, has a starkly different take on what should be done in Jesus’s name. In a homily during a Mass on Thursday morning before Easter, the pope said that the Christian mission has often been “distorted by a desire for domination, entirely foreign to the way of Jesus Christ.” Since the United States and Israel began bombing Iran in late February, the pope has consistently called for an end to the violence and a return to dialogue to resolve the conflict. …Lokwengentiwe
The silence of Holy Saturday experienced in the Papal Archbasilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, the first Church in the West dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who weeps for her Son today.
"I know many bishops, and almost all of them — mostly from Western Europe — tell me that they also want to ordain married men," said Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp in an interview with Katholisch.de on 2 April. In March, he announced his intention to ordain married men as priests by 2028. "I have not yet heard a Catholic bishop tell me, 'Even if the Pope gives me the possibility, I will not ordain married men.' They know this in Rome as well." Bishop Bonny worked in the Vatican for eleven years and is familiar with the different interests at play: "In Rome, they understand the situation here, and I know bishops and cardinals who support this solution, at least in Western Europe." He believes that the ordination of married men as priests is "a great necessity". "The consensus is there." Until the 1960s, a diocese such as Antwerp's had almost 1,500 active priests, as well as several hundred more who were retired. Now, the diocese has fewer than 100 priests, half of whom come from abroad. …Lokwengentiwe
Many priests went from Antwerp to The Netherlands for their formation, because they didn't want to become social workers in Antwerp. Others went to France. Many were discouraged. At some time praying the rosary was prohibited in the Flemish seminary in Leuven. All conservative movements are discouraged or prohibited. The dioceses in Flanders constantly praise women rights, homosexuality and blaim the celibacy for ... And then you say there are no vocations, and you need to protestantisize the priesthood, in a paid job for married men (state paid in Belgium), and already hinting for woman priests.... But they cannot find men for the married diaconate. If you do not pray for priests, if you do not honour them, if you degrade the sacraments ... then go and do something else, mgr Bonny.
Every night I give a Latin blessing to the housekeeper. As soon as I begin the blessing, my dog wakes up from sleep and follows me to my sleeping quarters.