The Vatican has published the agenda of the upcoming international meeting “Parish Priests for the Synod,” which was announced in February amid criticism that parish priests were insufficiently included on the Synod on synodality.

The meeting’s coordinator is Bishop Luis Marín de San Martín, OSA, one of the two undersecretaries of the Synod of Bishops; the overarching theme is “How to be a synodal local Church in mission?”

The talks and discussion on April 29 are devoted to “the face of the synodal Church”; on April 30, to “all disciples, all missionaries”; and on May 1, to “weaving ties, building communities.” On May 2, the gathering will conclude with a conversation with Pope Francis, followed by Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, celebrated by Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops.

Five parish priests from the United States are among the over 200 from around the world who will take part in the gathering.

Pope Francis has written the preface to Omaggio a Pio X: Ritratti coevi [Tribute to Pius X: Contemporary Portraits], a new book by Father Lucio Bonora, an official of the Secretariat of State.

Pope Francis praised his predecessor, who reigned from 1903 to 1914, as a “meek and strong Pope. A humble and clear Pope. A Pope who made the whole Church understand that without the Eucharist, and without assimilation of revealed truth, personal faith weakens and dies.”

“Pope Pius X: a Pope who desired to stand with the little ones, the poor, the needy, earthquake victims, the disadvantaged, and those suffering from natural disasters,” Pope Francis continued.

In a likely reference to the Society of St. Pius X, founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, Pope Francis added, “Pius X is not confined to past eras of history or monopolized by particular groups, but belongs to the Church of today, to the people of the Church, that is, to the people, to the baptized of all ages, who want to be faithful to the Gospel and to their proper Pastors and feel the saints as true models of life and their sincere companions on the journey behind Jesus and the Gospel, drawing on the examples and choices of their lives.”

Pope Francis concluded, “Long live St. Pius X, and may he live deeply in the heart of the Church of today!”

Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão, the president of the Latin-rite Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, urged the faithful of his diocese to vote in the national election.

Voting takes place in different Indian states and territories on different days; the faithful in his Archdiocese of Goa and Daman will vote on May 7. Cardinal Ferrão asked the faithful, if necessary, to postpone pilgrimages to the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health “for the sake of the greater good and the sacred duty of exercising one’s franchise on the election day.”

In a time of increasingly mainstream Hindu nationalism, the prelate called for votes for candidates committed to the Indian constitution’s nonsectarianism: candidates “with secular credentials, who are truly committed to work for the good of all the people and to uphold the values enshrined in our Constitution.”

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of Kinshasa has warned that the situation in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo “is deteriorating day by day,” as rebel troops gain ground and “the Congolese army is in complete chaos.”

The cardinal reports that the government has provided weapons to militia groups in the region, hoping they would join in the fight against the rebels. “All of these groups are now well armed, and the population is paying the price, the risk of general insecurity.” He said that the armed groups have robbed and murdered, and used their new strength to trade in the minerals from the region’s rich mines.

At the conclusion of his April 17 general audience, Pope Francis deplored torture as he called for the release of prisoners of war and appealed for peace.

“And speaking of prisoners, those who are tortured come to mind,” he said to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square. “The torture of prisoners is a horrible thing, it is not human. We think of so many kinds of torture that wound the dignity of the person, and of so many tortured people.”

A leading Vatican diplomat called for immediate international action to address the humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia, which is suffering from the effects of civil conflict as well as its worst drought in decades.

“These catastrophic events have led to increased malnutrition rates, affecting in particular one million children and numerous women,” Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer to the United Nations Office and Specialized Agencies in Geneva, said at a UN event on April 16. “The Holy See supports the appeals of the Ethiopian Episcopal Conference for immediate action and humanitarian aid.”

“Let us act quickly and provide unwavering support to ensure that we make every effort to bring security, stability, and peace through our collective response to the humanitarian needs of Ethiopia,” he added.

Bishop William Medley of Owensboro, Kentucky, has reported that diocesan “listening sessions,” held in preparation for the October meeting of the Synod of Bishops, have revealed frustration among the laity because of ambiguity in Vatican statements.

Bishop Medley said that the expressions of frustration were “generally related to Fiducia Supplicans and the confusion and consternation it caused among the faithful regarding what was perceived to be an approval for the blessing of same-sex unions.”

The Catholic bishops of Quebec are urging their people to address a dramatic increase in the number of people suffering from a shortage of food, and to “ensure that everyone has enough to eat.”

The bishops report that 10% of the population of Quebec sought help from food banks in 2023. That number represented a 30% increase over the previous year and a shocking 70% jump from 2019. The bishops observed, too, that many of those looking for assistance with food were also facing soaring prices for housing and other necessities.

Pope Francis encouraged Discalced Carmelites to “discover new language, new ways and means to give greater impetus to the contemplative life that the Lord has called you to embrace.”

The Pope was speaking on April 18 to an audience of delegates of the Discalced Carmelites, who have gathered in Rome to work on the revision of their constitutions. He remarked that they face a particular challenge “because your lives embody the tension between separation from the world and immersion in it.”

Today the Church in Canada celebrates the Optional Memorial of Blessed Marie-Anne Blondin (1809-1890), the foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Anne. Her work established universal education, so that there was a standard for both boys and girls, and men and women could teach both. She suffered greatly from persecution from the order's chaplain and from within the order, but remained humble and dedicated to God's work, instead of pushing back to be prominent in leadership. She died of natural causes at the age of 81 and was beatified on April 29, 2001 by Pope St. John Paul II.