Notre Dame Cathedral before the April 15, 2019, fire
Notre Dame Cathedral before the April 15, 2019, fire (photo: Denis Doukhan / Pixabay/CC0)

Chauvin Verdict, Notre Dame, Catholic Schools and Homeschool Ban in France (April 24)

A jury in Minnesota has found former police officer Derek Chauvin guilty of all charges. How has the nation reacted? Register senior editor Joan Frawley Desmond offers some analysis on this news. Then we turn to Joan’s coverage of Catholic schools as they evaluate the last year and look ahead to the future. And then, we hear from Register European Correspondent Solène Tadié about the homeschool ban in France, and get updates on the rebuilding of Notre Dame Cathedral and the controversial building of the largest mosque in Europe. But she also brings us information on an abbey of French nuns who are providing Gregorian Chant for the world through a one-of-a-kind app.

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne attends a German Synodal Way assembly on March 9, 2023.

Four German Bishops Resist Push to Install Permanent ‘Synodal Council’

Given the Vatican’s repeated interventions against the German process, the bishops said they would instead look to the Synod of Bishops in Rome. Meanwhile, on Monday, German diocesan bishops approved the statutes for a synodal committee; and there are reports that the synodal committee will meet again in June.

Palestinian Christians celebrate Easter Sunday Mass at Holy Family Church in Gaza City on March 31, amid the ongoing battles Israel and the Hamas militant group.

People Explain ‘Why I Go to Mass’

‘Why go to Mass on Sundays? It is not enough to answer that it is a precept of the Church. … We Christians need to participate in Sunday Mass because only with the grace of Jesus, with his living presence in us and among us, can we put into practice his commandment, and thus be his credible witnesses.’ —Pope Francis