Pope Francis on the morning of June 7, 2023 shortly before heading to the hospital for abdominal surgery greets pilgrims at his general audience in St. Peter's Square. / Daniel Ibanez/CNARome Newsroom, Jun 7, 2023 / 10:15 am (CNA).Pope Francis audiences have been canceled until June 18, an Italian Catholic diocese said Wednesday, citing the Prefecture of the Papal Household.The communications office of the Diocese of Teramo-Atri sent a press release June 7 expressing the bishop s closeness to Francis after the pope was hospitalized to undergo abdominal surgery Wednesday afternoon.According to a tweet posted by Vatican News, Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni also told journalists the pope s audiences were suspended until June 18 "as a precautionary measure."Catholics of the Diocese of Teramo-Atri, which is in central Italy s Abruzzo region, were scheduled to meet Pope Francis in Rome in St. Peter s Square on the morning of Saturday, June 17.Bishop Lorenzo Leuzz
null / ShutterstockWashington D.C., Jun 5, 2023 / 16:50 pm (CNA).The state of Oklahoma approved the country s first-ever religious charter school on Monday. The move will allow public funds to pay the tuition of children attending an online Catholic school run by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and the Diocese of Tulsa.The Statewide Virtual Charter School Board voted 3-2 to approve St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School in a three-hour-long meeting. The "yes" votes included a new member who was appointed by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt on Friday. In a statement, the governor applauded the decision. "This is a win for religious liberty and education freedom in our great state, and I am encouraged by these efforts to give parents more options when it comes to their child s education," Stitt said. "Oklahomans support religious liberty for all and support an increasingly innovative educational system that expands choice," the governor added. "Toda
Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento, California. / Credit: Randy Miramontez/ShutterstockBoston, Mass., Jun 5, 2023 / 15:00 pm (CNA).California s governor and attorney general are accusing the state of Florida of "kidnapping" a group of 16 South American migrants in Texas, flying them to Sacramento, and dropping them off in front of the Diocese of Sacramento s headquarters.California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the migrants were brought by private plane and had "no prior arrangement in place."The news comes amid a heated national debate over border security and immigration as hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, many of whom are unaccompanied children, have crossed America s southern border in the past year alone.It s unclear if the migrants, who are reportedly from Colombia and Venezuela, are asylum seekers. CNA asked California Gov. Gavin Newsom s office on Monday but did not immediately receive a response.Florida Gov. Ron DeSanti
Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington, Texas. / Credit: CBS News Texas/YouTubeWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 5, 2023 / 15:30 pm (CNA).Carmelite nuns of the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington, Texas, filed new theft and defamation charges Friday against Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth.The nuns new charges were filed in a district court for Tarrant County, Texas, the day after Olson dismissed the monastery s prioress, Reverend Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach, from religious life on the grounds that she had a sexual affair with an unnamed priest.In a Thursday decree, Olson announced he had found Gerlach, prioress of the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington, "guilty of having violated the sixth commandment of the Decalogue and her vow of chastity with a priest from outside the Diocese of Fort Worth."The new charges levied by the monastery are in addition to a lawsuit filed on May 3 that seeks $1 million in civil damages and asks the court to bloc
The tower of Purísima Concepción Church in Lari, Peru, collapsed following earthquakes in May 2023. / Credit: Municipality of CayllomaACI Prensa Staff, Jun 5, 2023 / 16:30 pm (CNA).A tower at a church in southern Peru has collapsed due to a series of earthquakes there in recent days.According to RPP Noticias, the tower, which had already suffered damage from an earthquake in 2016, is located at Purísima Concepción (Most Pure Conception) Church in the Colca Valley in the Lari district of Caylloma province in the Arequipa region.The foundation of the church and 12 other churches are at risk of collapsing due to the condition of their infrastructure after the quakes, which ranged from 2.7 to 5.5 in magnitude.The mayor of Caylloma, Alfonso Mamani, said it is necessary for the Ministry of Culture to intervene in order to rehabilitate and preserve all the churches that had already been damaged in the 2016 earthquake. That earthquake left more than 250 families homeless.Although there.