Pope Francis met on 6 April with members of the Italian Red Cross (ICR), as they celebrate the 160th anniversary of its foundation in 1864. Addressing some 6,000 ICR volunteers and workers in the Paul VI Audience Hall, Pope Francis warmly thanked them for the humanitarian aid they continue to provide to those suffering war and other disasters across the world.
“Your commitment,” he noted, “inspired by the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, volunteerism, unity and universality, is also a visible sign that fraternity is possible.” In thanking the Italian Red Cross for this ”irreplaceable service”, not only in conflict zones and in areas affected by natural disasters, but also in favour of migrants and the most vulnerable, the Pope encouraged them “to continue in this great work of charity, especially for children, the most vulnerable to the ravages of war.
Pope Francis went on to note that the slogan chosen for the anniversary celebrations – “Everywhere for anyone” – is particularly fitting for the humanitarian organization, as it typically describes its style, and its being there where needed.
“Everywhere”, he remarked, implies that “no context can be said to be free from suffering,” that we must “globalize solidarity” and also that we need “rules that guarantee human rights in every place, practices that nourish the culture of encounter and people capable of looking at the world with a broad perspective.” The word “anyone”, on the other hand, reminds us that “every person has their dignity and deserves our attention”, and that “we cannot look the other way or discard them because of their conditions, their disability, their origin or their social status.”

Three chapters offer the foundations for the fourth, which is dedicated to “some grave vio-lations of human dignity.” That’s the structure of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s new Declaration Dignitas infinita, which commemorates the 75th anniversary of the Universal De-claration of Human Rights and reaffirms “the indispensable nature of the dignity of the human person in Christian anthropology.”
The main novelty of the document, which is the fruit of five years’ work, is the inclusion of a number of key themes from the recent papal magisterium that accompany the bioethical ones. In the ‘non-exhaustive’ list that is offered, abortion, euthanasia and surrogate mo-therhood are listed as violations of human dignity alongside war, poverty and human trafficking.
The new text thus contributes to overcoming the dichotomy that exists between those who focus exclusively on beginning-and-end-of-life issues, while forgetting so many other attacks against human dignity and, conversely, those who focus only on defending the poor and migrants while forgetting that life must be defended from conception to its natural conclusion.

The Catholic Church has responded to the publication of “The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill” by Liam McArthur MSP. Bishop John Keenan, the Bishop of Paisley has described it as the introduction of “a dangerous idea that a citizen can lose their value and worth.” Bishop Keenan adds; “Assisted suicide sends a message that there are situations when suicide is an appropriate response to one’s individual circumstances, worries, anxieties. It normalises suicide and accepts that some people are beyond hope.”

The 2024 Pontifical Yearbook and the 2022 Statistical Yearbook of the Church, edited by the Central Statistical Office of the Church, published by the Vatican Printing Press.
The Pontifical Yearbook offers information regarding the life of the Catholic Church worldwide for the period ranging from De-cember 1, 2022, to December 31, 2023.
The number of Catholics worldwide increased by 14 million in 2022, according to the Vatican’s 2022 Statistical Yearbook of the Church released earlier this month and highlighted in a report by the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.
The figures from 2021 to 2022 – the most recent years where numbers are available – marked a decrease in the number of priests and seminarians.
While vocations to the priest-hood and religious life have de-creased overall, the Church shows signs of growth in some parts of the world – most notably Africa and Asia.
The number of baptized Catholics has increased by about 1% – 14 million – rising from 1.376 billion in 2021 to 1.390 billion in 2022. As in previous years, the Catholic Church in Africa continues to grow. Africa had the highest increase in Ca-tholics at 3%, while the Americas recorded a 0.9% increase and Asia a 0.6% increase. The number of Catholics in Europe remained steady at about 286 million from 2021 to 2022.
The number of priests con-tinued the downward trend that began in 2012. Globally, the number of priests decreased by 142 from 2021 to 2022, going from 407,872 to 407,730. But the number of prie-sts continues to grow in Africa and Asia, while vocations in other continents plateau or decline. The number of priests in Africa and Asia increased by 3.2% and 1.6%, respectively, while the number remained steady in the Americas. Oceania saw a 1.5% decrease in priests, while Europe had a 1.7% decrease.
There are also fewer semi-narians worldwide. According to the Vatican numbers, there were 1.3% fewer men preparing for priesthood in 2022 than in 2021. This decrease is most marked in Europe, where there has been a noted vocations crisis since 2008. The number of seminarians decreased by 6% from 2021 to 2022. The number of seminarians also decreased in the Americas by 3.2% and in Asia by 1.2%. But Africa saw a 2.1% increase in the number of seminarians, while Oceania had a notable 1.3% increase.
Africa had the highest number of seminarians in 2022, at almost 35,000 men, while Oceania (which makes up only 0.6% of the world’s population) had the least, at almost 1,000. Asia and the Americas had roughly 30,000 and 27,000 seminarians, respectively, while Europe, which makes up almost 10% of the world’s population, had only 14,461 seminarians.
The number of professed religious men — not including priests — decreased by 360, from 49,774 in 2021 to 49,414 in 2022. Asia and the Americas were the only regions where religious vocations for men increased, with the most substantial increase in Asia.
While there are more religious women than priests by almost 50%, the number of religious women is also declining. According to the most recent data from 2021 to 2022, their numbers have declined by 1.6% — meaning almost 10,000 fewer religious sisters worldwide. This decline is most prevalent in Oceania, Europe, and North America, where the number of women religious decreased by 3.6%, 3.5%, and 3% respectively. South and Central America also saw a slight decrease of more than 2,000 religious women.
But Africa had the largest increase in religious women at 1.7%, increasing by more than 1,000 vocations. Southeast Asia’s numbers also reflected a small increase of 0.1% — almost 200 more religious women.

Humanitarian organisa-tions working in Sudan and its neighbouring countries are sounding the alarm that Sudan is on the verge of famine, urg-ing all actors to immediately scale-up efforts to avoid the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives. The appeal comes ahead of a humanitarian conference to be hosted in Paris on 15 April by France, the European Union and Germany to help resolve what the UN considers to be “one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent history, with potential to trigger the world’s largest hunger emergency.”
The food crisis is a direct consequence of the conflict that broke out on April 15 last year between the two rival generals, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan at the head of the Sudanese regular army (SAF), and Mohamed Dagalo “Hemedti” leading the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Despite General Dagalo announcing his commitment to a ceasefire early in January this year, and a recent United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a cessation of hostilities, the fighting shows no sign of abating.
Children and women are disproportionately and severely affected by the hunger and malnutrition emergency. Already nearly 4 million children under 5 years old are acutely malnourished. Women and girls are eating less and less nutritious foods than men and boys. Approximately 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women face acute malnutrition. As the food security situation worsens women also face sexual violence, including rape, said Sofia Sprechmann Sineiro, Secretary-General of CARE International.
With over 70% of health facilities shut down in conflict areas dropping child-vaccination coverage, limited access to services and looming disease outbreaks compound the threats faced by these highly vulnerable groups.
Furthermore the conflict has serioulsy affected Sudan’s education system: 19 million Sudanese children are out of school, said Eatizaz Yousif, Sudan Country Director of the International Red Cross (IRC)

In a press release published on 8 April by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC), the bishops present the 32-page document, which they say is a means “of furthering the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s ongoing commitment to the safety of children and vulnerable people”.
The Document, entitled “Integrity in Our Common Mission” was approved by the bishops at their plenary meeting in November 2023 and replaces earlier codes such as Integrity in Ministry for clergy and Religious, and Integrity in the Service of the Church for Church lay workers, and brings these into a single presentation, as requested by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse. It reflects the National Catholic Safeguarding Standards and aims to “ assist in the formation and induction of clergy and lay pastoral leaders to reflect integrity in all aspects of their lives”.
In their press release, the Australian bishops write that “any person performing pastoral work at the request of, or under the ultimate supervision of, a diocesan bishop must comply with the national code of conduct. Depending on the circumstances, they may also be subject to specific statutory, contractual or other obligations”.
Bishop Greg Bennet, chair of the Bishops Commission for Professional Standards and Safeguarding, emphasized this further by stressing that the Church has zero tolerance for abuse. “Integrity in Our Common Mission is a vital resource for renewing our commitment to the safety of children and vulnerable people,” he said, adding that “its principles have been developed to guide, form, strengthen and affirm those behaviours which are expected of all engaged in the ministries of the Church.”

Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, his Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome, as the new Major Peni-tentiary. He succeeds Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, who has held the post since 2013 and will turn 80 in September this year.
Cardinal De Donatis, aged 70, has overseen the administrative needs of the Diocese of Rome as the Pope’s Vicar since 2017 when he was also appointed Archpriest of the Lateran Basilica.
With his new role as Major Penitentiary, he will serve as the head of the Vatican tribunal in charge of cases involving exco-mmunication and serious sins, including those whose absolution is reserved to the Holy See.
On Saturday, the Pope also appointed Jesuit Bishop Daniele Libanori, one of Rome’s seven auxiliary bishops, as the Holy Father’s Assessor for Consecrated Life.

On 8 April, a meeting of the Holy Father with the Council of Bishops of the diocese of Rome was held in the Apostolic Palace. Due to the delicacy of the office of Cardinal Vicar, Pope Francis informed the bishops, his close collaborators, that he would take time to make a healthy discern-ment on the figure of the person whom he will appoint to fill this role. In this transitional phase, the Holy Father has encouraged the bishops to continue the pastoral ministry and administrative activities they have already begun. As foreseen by Article 14 § 3 of the Apostolic Constitution In Ecclesiarum Communione con-cerning the ordering of the Vica-riate of Rome, as long as the office of Cardinal Vicar is vacant, all its functions and powers, in-cluding those of legal represen-tation, will be exercised by the Vicegerent, Bishop Baldassare Reina.

“Benedict was a man of great gentleness. In some cases, people took advantage of him, perhaps without malice, and limited his movements. Unfortunately, in a certain sense, they were encir-cling him. He was a very delicate man, but he was not weak: he was strong. But he was humble, and preferred not to impose. So he suffered a lot.”
That’s how Pope Francis remembers his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI, in a new interview book with journalist Javier Mar-tínez-Brocal (“The Successor”).
“He let me grow”, explains the Pope, “he was patient. And if he didn’t agree with something, he would think three or four times before telling me. He let me grow and gave me the freedom to make decisions.” Pope Francis recounts his relationship with the Pope emeritus over almost ten years of cohabitation in the Vatican: “He left me free, he never interfered. On one occasion, when there was a decision he didn’t understand, he asked me for an explanation in a very natural way. He told me: ‘Look, I don’t understand this, but the decision is in your hands.’ I explained the reasons to him and he was happy. “In the book, Pope Francis explains that his pre-decessor never opposed any of his decisions: “He never withdrew his support from me. Maybe there was something he didn’t agree with, but he never said it.”
The Pope also remembers the circumstances of his farewell to Benedict, on Wednesday, Dece-mber 28, 2022, when he saw him for the last time. “Benedict lay in bed. He was still conscious, but he couldn’t speak. He looked at me, squeezed my hand, under-stood what I was saying, but couldn’t articulate a word. I stayed with him like that for a while, looking at him and holding his hand. I remember his clear eyes… I said a few words to him affectionately and blessed him. That’s how we said goodbye.”
With regard to the continuity between the pontificates, the Pope notes that “What I see in the last popes… is that each successor has always been marked by continuity, continuity and difference,” because “in continuity, each one has brought his own personal charism … there is always continuity, and no rupture.”
Pope Francis also recounts a specific case in which he was defended by Benedict XVI. “I had a very nice conversation with him when some cardinals went to see him surprised by my words about marriage, and he was very clear with them. One day they showed up at his house to practically hold a trial against me, and accused me in to him of promoting same-sex marriage. Benedict didn’t get agitated because he knew perfectly well what I think. He listened to them all, one by one, calmed them down, and explained everything to them. There was a time when I said that, since marriage is a sacrament, it cannot be administered to same-sex couples, but somehow some civil guarantee or protection had to be given to these people’s situation. I said that, in France, there is the formula of ‘civil unions,’ which at first glance can be a good option because they don’t limit marriage. For example, I said, three elderly pensioners who need to share health services, inheritance, housing, etc., can be accommodated. I meant that it seemed like an interesting solution. Some went to tell Benedict that I was saying heresies. He listened to them and with great dignity helped them to distinguish things… He told them: ‘This is not heresy.’ How he defended me!… He always defended me.”
In the book, the Pope also responds to a question from the journalist about the books published at the time of Pope Benedict’s death. Francis replies: “They caused me great pain: that on the day of the funeral, a book that upset me was published, saying things that are not true, all very sad. Of course, it doesn’t affect me, in the sense that it doesn’t condition me. But it hurt me that Benedict was used. The book was published on the day of the funeral, and I experienced it as a lack of nobility and humanity.”
Finally, the Pope reveals to Javier Martínez-Brocal that he has already ordered a revision of papal funerals, explaining that the funeral vigil for Benedict XVI will be the last with the Pope’s body outside the coffin and the catafalque with pillows. Popes “should be watched over and buried like any other child of the Church. With dignity, like any Christian.”