Dioceses across the country welcomed thousands of people into the Catholic Church at Easter Vigil Masses on the evening of April 20th. As the culmination of the Easter Triduum, the Vigil celebrates the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. While people can become Catholic at any time of the year, the Easter Vigil is a particularly appropriate moment for adult catechumens to be baptized and for already baptized Christians to be received into full communion with the Catholic Church. Parishes welcomed these new Catholics through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).

Many of the dioceses across the nation have reported their numbers of people who intend to become Catholic to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Based on these reports, more than 37,000 people are expected to be welcomed into the Church at Easter Vigil Masses. Prior to beginning the RCIA process, an individual comes to some knowledge of Jesus Christ, considers his or her relationship with Jesus Christ and is usually attracted in some way to the Catholic Church. Then during the RCIA process, which typically lasts nine months or more, a person learns the teachings of the Catholic Church in a more formal way and discerns that he or she is ready to commit to living according to these beliefs. Thousands of people have already passed through this process and are ready to take this step in parishes throughout the country.

Two distinct groups of people were initiated into the Catholic Church. Catechumens, who have never been baptized, received Baptism, Confirmation and first Communion at the Holy Saturday Easter Vigil. Candidates, who have already been baptized in another Christian tradition, entered the Church through a profession of faith and reception of Confirmation and the Eucharist.

A group of prominent German-speaking theologians has sharply criticized retired Pope Benedict XVI’s recent letter on clergy sexual abuse, saying it “instrumentalized” the Catholic Church’s continuing crisis to rehash stale, decades-long theological disputes.

In a blunt two-page letter released on April 15, the theologians said the former pontiff ignored scientific research on the causes of abuse, neglected evidence of the centuries-long history of the problem, and did not speak from the perspective of victim-survivors.

“The analysis of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI is based on a number of false assumptions,” said the German Association of Moral Theologians, which represents about 40 prominent academics. “It is assessed by us as a failed and improper contribution to the resolution of the abuse crisis.”

In his letter, released on April 11, Benedict had partially blamed the abuse crisis on developments in theology following the Second Vatican Council. The ex-pope alleged that there had been a “collapse” in moral theology in recent decades that left the church “defenseless” against changes in wider society, and even identified two German theologians by name.

The letter, one of a handful Benedict has shared publicly since his resignation in 2013, immediately drew criticism from Vatican watchers. They noted, it did not address structural issues that abetted abuse cover-up, or Benedict’s own contested 24-year role as head of the Vatican’s powerful doctrinal office.

Prominent U.S. theologians also expressed concern that Benedict’s action risked undermining Pope Francis’ efforts to address clergy abuse and played into narratives splitting Catholics between two Popes.

In their April 15 response, the German theologians said, they felt compelled to comment on Benedict’s letter because it was a “reproach and insult to the reputations of former and current members” of their association.

Paris police investigators think an electrical short-circuit most likely caused the fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral, a police official said on April 18 , as France paid a daylong tribute to the firefighters who saved the world-renowned landmark.

A judicial police official told The Associated Press that investigators made an initial assessment of the cathedral Wednesday but don’t have a green light to search Notre on Dame’s charred interior because of ongoing safety hazards.

The cathedral’s fragile walls were being shored up with wooden planks, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak by name about an ongoing investigation.

Investigators so far believe the fire was accidental, and are questioning both cathedral staff and workers who were carrying out renovations. Some 40 people had been questioned by, according to the Paris prosecutor’s office.

A hero emerging from the Notre-Dame Cathedral fire on April 15 was Father Jean-Marc Fournier, chaplain of the Paris Fire Brigade, who is credited with saving a reliquary containing the crown of thorns and the Blessed Sacrament from the burning cathedral. “Father Fournier is an absolute hero,” a member of the Paris fire department told reporters on April 16, adding that the priest showed “no fear at all as he made straight for the relics inside the cathedral, and made sure they were saved. He deals with life and death every day and shows no fear.”