April 25, 2023

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts. www.catholicnewsagency.com - Pope Francis has said he would like to visit his home country of Argentina in 2024. Since his election to the papacy in 2013, Francis has never returned to his home country of Argentina. In a March interview with La Nacion, he explained that a trip to Argentina had been planned in 2017 but had to be canceled because of elections. The pope does not travel to a country in an election year. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254162/pope-francis-says-he-wants-to-visit-argentina-in-2024-ganswein-to-leave-vatican-apartment Pope Francis will receive the prime minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, at the Vatican on Thursday morning. The two last met at the Vatican in March 2021 amid clashes between Ukraine and Russia in the Donbas region. Shmyhal has been Ukraine’s prime minister since March 2020. Francis has been outspoken in his support for Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country on February 24, 2022. He frequently speaks of the “martyred” Ukrainian people and implores for peace between the two nations. In March 2022, he consecrated Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254163/pope-francis-to-receive-ukraine-s-prime-minister-on-thursday Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill April 20 allowing prisoners in the state to be sentenced to death without a unanimous jury verdict. Under the new law, a prisoner can be sentenced to death after eight of the 12 jurors recommend a death sentence, as long as the jury is unanimous that at least one aggravating factor — such as the crime being especially cruel or heinous — exists beyond a reasonable doubt. In that case, a judge has the option of sentencing the defendant to death or life in prison. If fewer than eight jurors agree on the death sentence, the jury’s recommendation must be f