April 14, 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 - The Vatican announced Thursday the date and theme for the third annual World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. The event will take place this year on July 23, the Sunday before the feast of Saints Anne and Joachim, the grandparents of Jesus, and the theme for the day, selected by the pope, will be “His mercy is from age to age” (Luke 1:50). According to the Vatican Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life, the theme is linked to the theme for World Youth Day 2023, which also comes from the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke: “Mary arose and went with haste” (Luke 1:39). Pope Francis will preside over a special Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica to mark the grandparents’ day and has invited parishes, dioceses, associations, and communities around the world to celebrate the day “in their own pastoral context.” https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254089/vatican-announces-theme-and-date-for-2023-world-day-for-grandparents-and-elderly During President Joe Biden’s four-day trip to Ireland, he plans to visit Our Lady of Knock in Knock, County Mayo, which witnesses claim was the site of an apparition of Mary, the Mother of God; Saint Joseph, her spouse; and Saint John the Evangelist in 1879. Biden, who is the nation’s second Catholic president, will be the first American president to visit the shrine. He intends to visit the site on Friday, April 14, on his last day in Ireland. He will then visit Saint Muredach’s Cathedral in Ballina, where he will give an address. About 1.5 million people visit the shrine every year and it is a common destination in Ireland for Catholic pilgrims. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254091/biden-to-visit-our-lady-of-knock-irish-site-of-marian-apparition Today the Church celebrates Saint Peter Gonzalez, who experienced a true conversion experience thanks to a public h