The Church celebrates the Feast of the Apostles Saints Simon and Jude. Their names occur together in the Canon of the Mass and are also celebrated on the same day. They may be paired together because they both preached the Gospel in Mesopotamia and Persia where it is said they had both been sent, but in actual fact we know nothing for certain about them beyond what is told us of their being called as Apostles in the New Testament. St. Jude is the author of the short Epistle which forms part of the New Testament.

The Roman Martyrology commemorates St. Evaristus, one of the first popes and the successor of St. Clement. Pope Evaristus governed the Church from 97 to about 107. He was buried at the Vatican.

Gospel Excerpt, Luke 18:9-14: Jesus addressed this parable: "Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity--greedy, dishonest, adulterous--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.' But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.' I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

Today in Wales is the feast of the Six Welsh Martyrs and their Companions. The Welsh Martyrs are the priests Philip Evans and John Lloyd, John Jones, David Lewis, John Roberts, and the teacher Richard Gwyn, and 34 English companions who were executed for their Faith during the Catholic persecution in England and Wales from 1535-1679. The former feast of the Forty Holy Martyrs of England and Wales is now celebrated together with all the 284 canonized or beatified martyrs of the English Reformation for the Feast of the English Martyrs on May 4.

Following is a statement by Kristen Curran, director of government relations for the New York State Catholic Conference on the inclusion of a $25 million so-called “Reproductive Freedom & Equity” grant program for abortion providers in the enacted 2024-25 New York State Budget: “In a difficult budget year amid continued economic uncertainty, New York lawmakers […]

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New York State’s Catholic schools will benefit from increased support under the recently enacted state budget. Governor Hochul and legislative leaders provided significant increases in several programs that serve religious and independent schools. The most notable funding increases include: $25 million increase for Health, Safety, & Security initiatives (totaling $70 million); $45 million increase in […]

The post Catholic Schools Fare Well in State Budget first appeared on New York State Catholic Conference.

Memorandum of Opposition Re: S3180 Hoylman-Sigal / A1829 Jean-Pierre  Includes private, independent and religious schools under the provisions of the “Dignity for All Students Act” The above referenced legislation would force the state’s religious and independent schools to comply with the provisions of Chapter 482 of the Laws of 2009, despite the clear and explicit […]

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Memorandum of Opposition Re: A4921-C Paulin / S5107-C Hoylman-Sigal  Relates to surrogacy programs and agreements The above referenced bill makes technical “corrections” to the dangerous and misguided law which legalized paid surrogacy in 2020. Nothing can correct such an inherently horrible public policy as commercial surrogacy. The New York State Catholic Conference opposes this legislation. Legal […]

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Memorandum of Support Re: S8661 Hoylman-Sigal  Relates to the establishment of a statewide supervised visitation initiative The above-referenced legislation would direct the office of children and family services, in consultation with the office for the prevention of domestic violence, to establish a statewide supervised visitation initiative. The initiative would include culturally sensitive services and require […]

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Memorandum of Support Re: A6929 McGowan / S7040 Weber Expands the criteria for a hate crime  The above referenced bill expands the criteria for a hate crime to include trespass committed at a house of worship. The New York State Catholic Conference strongly supports this legislation. Current geopolitical events, culture wars and societal divisions have […]

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