Catholic News

• Pope Leo XIV: the first American Pontiff! (CWN)
  Cardinal Robert Prevost, the American-born missionary who had served for years in Peru before being named prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, has been elected as Roman Pontiff, choosing the name Pope Leo XIV.
• Conclave schedule, day 2 (May 8) (CWN)
  Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office, has announced the following schedule for the conclave on Thursday, May 8, the conclave’s second day:
• Conclave's 1st day ends with black smoke (CWN)
  Following the morning Mass for the election of the Roman Pontiff, the conclave to elect the 267th pope began on the afternoon of May 7, with the procession of the 133 cardinal electors from the Pauline Chapel to the Sistine Chapel and the swearing of the oath of secrecy (booklet, video).
• Conclave, May 8: morning ballots conclude with no election of Pope (Vatican News)
  The appearance of black smoke over the Sistine Chapel at 11:50 AM (5:50 AM Eastern time) on May 8 indicated that the cardinal electors had not chosen a new Pope during the second and third rounds of voting. The fourth and fifth ballots are scheduled for later in the day.
• Guam archbishop, removed in 2019, claims innocence (Pacific Daily News)
  Archbishop Anthony Apuron, who was removed from his post as Archbishop of Agana in 2019 after a Vatican tribunal found him guilty of sexual abuse, has broken his silence and insisted on his innocence. In a video message, the archbishop said that his innocence was proven by the fact that plaintiffs in sex-abuse lawsuits against him had moved to dismiss their case. A lawyer for the plaintiffs challenged that conclusion, saying that his clients had chosen to settle their case after years of delay, but still maintained that they had suffered abuse. Although the Vatican had removed him from office and ordered him to live outside Guam, Archbishop Apuron argued: ““The canonical process did not result in my laicization. No priest or bishop who has been found guilty of these crimes has remained a priest or bishop as I have. This indicates my innocence.”
• Ethics should be at the core of AI innovation, Vatican diplomat says at UN (Holy See Mission)
  Addressing a UN meeting on artificial intelligence, a leading Vatican diplomat said that “ethical considerations” should “remain at the core of the development and deployment of AI.” “Artificial Intelligence is an extraordinary technological achievement that also poses many risks,” Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, said on May 6. “For this reason, the international community has an important responsibility to regulate the use of AI in its many forms.” He added: A healthy policy on AI requires that technological innovations be placed within the larger project of seeking the common good. In this sense, the Holy See considers it crucial to ensure that the development and use of AI always remain at the service of men and women, promoting fraternity and preserving critical thinking and the capacity for discernment.
• Cardinal Re, at Mass for election of Roman Pontiff, emphasizes Church's unity in fidelity to the Gospel (CWN)
  Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, celebrated the Mass for the election of the Roman Pontiff in St. Peter’s Basilica on the morning of May 7 (booklet, video). The Mass took place hours before the 133 cardinal electors were scheduled to enter the conclave that will elect the 267th pope.
• Canada: arson against Catholic churches continues; arrests are rare (MacDonald Laurier Institute)
  Arson attacks on Catholic churches and schools increased by more than 100% after reports began to circulate in 2021 that children were buried in mass graves at the former “residential schools.” A report from the MacDonald Laurier Institute finds that the arson campaign has continued, although no mass graves have been detected. Only 4% of the incidents of arson have resulted in arrests.
• Irish government discloses €38 million in support for UN Population Fund (Oireachtas)
  The Irish government sent nearly €38 million ($42 million) to the UN Population Fund between 2019 and 2023, a parliamentary query has revealed. Ellis Mulroy of the Pro Life Campaign decried the expenditure of government funds, saying: “Funding given to groups like the UNFPA is not legitimate foreign aid. Rather, it’s an ideological abuse of Irish taxpayers’ money, done in our name but without our consent.
• Prelate decries treatment of Africa 'as a little child in a cradle' (Fides)
  Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, the secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization, deplored popular attitudes of condescension toward Africa in a May 76 to a conference at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. “Africa is often seen as a little child in a cradle,” the Nigerian archbishop said. “They say, ‘Please go and calm the child so she does not disturb the adults who are talking.’” He went on to charge: “Unfortunately, in the political world, Africa is still only either a mine from which minerals are extracted for one’s own production or a deposit for one’s own waste.”
• Desire for goodness attracts world's attention to conclave, Vatican newspaper editor writes (CWN)
  In a front-page editorial in the Vatican newspaper’s May 7 edition, Andrea Monda, the editor-in-chief, pondered why “since April 21, all the eyes of the world have been focused here, on the smallest State in the world.”
• USCCB committee chairmen back SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act (USCCB)
  The chairmen of two committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have lent their support to the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act (House, Senate). Archbishop Borys Gudziak and Bishop Robert Barron said that the legislation would “provide an overdue update to the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program’s asset limits by adjusting the amount of money SSI recipients are allowed to save for the first time in decades, indexing it to inflation, and eliminating the marriage penalty.” “The US bishops have long advocated that society should help to ensure a minimum level of security for workers, their families, and persons with disabilities,” the prelates explained in their letter, dated March 4 and released by the USCCB in early May. “The basic income security offered by SSI helps to do just that ... We must do all we can to strengthen it, so it better meets the needs of those who rely on it for a decent standard of living.”
• Over 13,000 pilgrims expected for Jubilee of Bands (Vatican News (Italian))
  Over 13,000 pilgrims from over 90 nations are expected in Rome for the Jubilee of Bands and Popular Entertainment, which will take place from May 10-11 as part of the 2025 jubilee year. The event is “dedicated to military, institutional, amateur, folk, village, sports, school and college bands, as well as all categories related to popular entertainment,” Vatican News reported. Early in the evening of May 10, over 100 bands will perform in 31 squares in Rome.
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