Morning Catholic must-reads

The Pope is expected to name Archbishop Velasio DePaolis the Apostolic Delegate to the Legion of Christ.

The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York are reportedly preparing to make a last-ditch effort to prevent thousands of traditionalists leaving the Church of England.

The Vatican’s spokesman expressed “esteem and solidarity” with Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe yesterday as it emerged that police are investigating the Archbishop of Naples for alleged corruption.

Benedict XVI made an urgent appeal for peace in southern Kyrgyzstan and prayed for the world’s refugees after the Angelus on Sunday (full text, video).

Pope Benedict ordained 14 new priests for the Diocese of Rome in St Peter’s Basilica yesterday (hfull text).

A Vatican spokesman has denied reports that the disgraced former Archbishop of Poznań, Juliusz Paetz, is to be “rehabilitated”.

Zenit publishes the final part of Pope Benedict’s question-and-answer session with priests.

Fr Edward Daly welcomes the Saville report into Bloody Sunday.

Commonweal responds to criticism by the US bishops of its stance on the healthcare bill.

John Allen points out the “elephants in the room” of the Catholic debate on healthcare reform.

Kevin O’Rourke looks at “the complicated reasons behind an abortion at a Catholic hospital” in Phoenix.

George Weigel describes the alternative to “Catholic Lite”.

Karl Giberson urges Christians not to vilify the New Atheists.

Joanna Bogle profiles Catholic Voices, which aims to transform the media image of Catholicism during the Pope’s visit to Britain.

Austen Ivereigh applauds Archbishop Vincent Nichols’s efforts to promote the papal visit.

Rocco Palmo reports on the remarkable success of the iBreviary app for the iPhone.

And Fr Z wonders if the iPad will replace the altar missal.

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Morning Catholic must-reads

Fides has named the 37 Church workers, priests and religious killed in 2009.

Cardinal Walter Kasper says that the papal Mass at Coventry will not be “easy for a German Pope because Coventry is a symbol of the Second World War”.

More than two million people saw the Turin Shroud during its exposition from April 10 to May 23.

The Catholic world marked a day of prayer for the Church in China yesterday (video).

Benedict XVI received President Denis Sassou N’Guesso of the Republic of Congo on Monday (video).

The organisers of World Youth Day in Madrid next year are seeking 20,000 volunteers to support the expected two million participants (video).

A man who once locked a priest out of his own church is to be ordained a deacon.

The Maronites of Cyprus are eagerly awaiting Pope Benedict’s visit to the island next month.

Barrister Neil Addison courts arrest with his post on the arrest of Christian street preacher Dale Mcalpine.

Peter Jennings is dismayed by John Cornwell’s controversial book on Cardinal Newman.

Fresh from a skirmish with Robert George, Michael Sean Winters finds something to praise in the Princeton professor’s work.

Carl Olson and Moyra Doorly debate the “hierarchy of truths”.

Edward Oakes SJ goes another round with the New Atheists.

Depaul UK, a charity with close links to the Church, has created a hit iPhone app giving users their very own homeless person to look after.

And the Vatican has apologised after its television channel wrongly identified a Bulgarian delegation meeting the Pope as Macedonian.

Morning Catholic must-reads

Pope Benedict’s visit to Cyprus next month could lead to a historic meeting with the Patriarch of Moscow.

Benedict XVI expressed concern about the effects of climate change in Mongolia when meeting the country’s new ambassador to the Holy See yesterday (video).

The Pope also welcomed the first ambassador to the Holy See from the United Arab Emirates (video).

A Maltese man has been fined for posting a comment on Facebook saying the Pope should be shot.

Composer James MacMillan’s new Mass setting will be sung in Coventry as well as Glasgow during the Pope’s visit to Britain.

Jason Berry says the abuse crisis has created “cracks in the wall of the Roman Curia”.

Historian Diarmaid MacCulloch accuses Pope Benedict of attempting to re-write Vatican II.

Andrew Brown asks whether the creation of “synthetic life” has turned men into gods. Rod Dreher wonders what C S Lewis would have made of it.

Edward Pentin ponders the political risks of Pope Benedict’s visit to Cyprus.

David Gibson praises Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston for saying that Catholic schools should welcome the children of same-sex couples.

Thomas Reese SJ says Pope Benedict would support greater financial regulation in the United States.

Thomas Peters is annoyed by an irreverent new iPhone app.

And an Italian light-middleweight boxer has promised that if he wins a new title belt he will ask the Pope to bless it.

Morning Catholic must-reads

John Allen has an exclusive interview with Mother Mary Clare Millea, the nun leading the Apostolic Visitation of America’s female religious.

Pope Benedict XVI has chosen Salesian Fr Enrico dal Covolo to preach at his week-long Lenten retreat.

The Pope is considering an invitation to consecrate the Sagrada Familia church, designed by Antoni Gaudí, in Barcelona.

The Pope told Rome’s priests yesterday that they must be true men in order to bridge the human and divine realities (video).

The number of students who claim they were sexually abused by Jesuit priests at schools across Germany has risen to 115, a lawyer has said.

Cardinal George Pell has confirmed that he had a pacemaker fitted in a Rome hospital after a cardiac problem during his visit to the Vatican last month.

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, has urged Christians not to fear Islam.

The American bishops are to offer seminars on the new English translation of the Roman Missal across the country.

Rocco Palmo reports on Archbishop Diarmuid Martin’s powerful Ash Wednesday homily and assesses the Pope’s choice as the next Archbishop of Prague.

Vatican Radio catches up with Cardinal Peter Turkson, the new president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

Andrew Sullivan challenges the US bishops to crack down on dissent from the Magisterium’s teaching on torture, while Fr James Martin SJ accuses EWTN of “cafeteria Catholicism”.

No Hidden Magenta suggests the Church needs to employ a PR firm.

Deacon Greg Kandra spots the rarely seen “Loggia whisperer”.

Republic of Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni says he would like to coach Vatican City’s football team after he retires.

The Vatican Observatory? There’s an app for that.

And Mark Shea discovers that rare thing: Lenten humour.

What kind of Christian is your smartphone?

A short while ago on Twitter, I mentioned that our office was discussing whether the iPhone is Catholic and the BlackBerry Protestant. It generated an impressive debate (search for @lukecoppen here to see it) . A consensus seems to be emerging:

The Windows Mobile is Protestant:

The BlackBerry is Anglo-Catholic:

The iPhone is Catholic:

And the iPad (though it’s not actually a smartphone) is Orthodox:

Daily Mass on your phone

If you’re lucky enough to have an iPhone, you can now carry Catholic television around wherever you go. CatholicTV.com has created a free app enabling you to view the Mass, the rosary and a brief reflection each day.

You can download the CatholicTV App at the iPhone App Store. There’s a funny promo video to promote it.