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Pope Francis urged Sri Lankan authorities on Monday to clarify who was responsible for the bombings that claimed more than 200 lives on Easter Sunday, 2019. The pope made the appeal in an April 25 address to Italy’s Sri Lankan community in St. Peter’s Basilica marking the third anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Eight suicide bombers targeted two Catholic churches, one evangelical church, three luxury hotels, and other locations on April 19, 2019, killing an estimated 269 people and injuring more than 500. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the archbishop of Colombo, suggested last month that there was evidence that Sri Lankan officials ignored warnings of the attack.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251054/pope-francis-urges-sri-lanka-s-authorities-to-shed-light-on-2019-easter-bombings
Pope Francis canceled his engagements on Tuesday due to ongoing knee pain. The 85 year old pope has been suffering from pain in his right knee, causing him to take smaller roles in some liturgies and to remain seated more often. His agenda was cleared on April 22 for medical checkups, and he preached at, but did not preside over, Mass for the Octave Day of Easter on April 24. The pope’s movements have been visibly more limited since the start of the year.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251063/pope-francis-cancels-day-s-activities-due-to-knee-pain-says-vatican
Pope Francis on Tuesday named Archbishop Laurent Ulrich as the new Catholic archbishop of Paris. Ulrich, the archbishop of Lille, northern France, succeeds Archbishop Michel Aupetit, who resigned in December. Among the challenges facing the 70-year-old archbishop will be to heal the divisions exposed in the Paris archdiocese during Aupetit’s tenure from 2017 to 2021. He will also oversee the restoration of the interior of Notre-Dame Cathedral following a devastating fire in 2019. The cathedral is expected to reopen for worship on April 16, 2024, five years after the blaze.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251050/pope-francis-names-new-catholic-archbishop-of-paris
A Catholic priest was among four people sentenced on Monday over the shooting of a bishop-elect in South Sudan. A judge at the high court in the capital Juba issued the sentences on April 25 after Father John Mathiang Machol, Moris Sebit Ater, Laat Makur Agok, and Samuel Makir were found guilty of “participating directly or indirectly” in the attempted assassination of the now Bishop Christian Carlassare of Rumbek. Father Mathiang was given a seven-year jail term in connection with the attack on the Italian-born Carlassare, who was shot in both legs on April 26, 2021.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251062/catholic-priest-among-4-sentenced-in-shooting-of-south-sudan-bishop-elect
Abortions have resumed in Kentucky after a federal judge temporarily blocked a multi-faceted abortion restrictions law and said the state needs to do more to ensure those affected by it can comply.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251058/federal-judge-blocks-kentucky-abortion-law-citing-compliance-problems
Today the Church celebrates Our Lady of Good Counsel, a purportedly miraculous image of the Virgin Mary and the child Jesus which appeared in an Italian church in the 15th century. Countless miracles have been attributed to the prayerful intercession of Our Lady of Good Counsel.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/our-lady-of-good-counsel-445