June 14, 2022

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 described Russia’s use of mercenaries in the Ukraine war as “monstrous” in an interview published on Tuesday. Speaking to the editors of Jesuit journals, the pope also suggested that the war, which began with a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, was “perhaps somehow either provoked or not prevented.” Commenting on Ukraine, the pope said: “What we are seeing is the brutality and ferocity with which this war is being carried out by the troops, generally mercenaries, used by the Russians. The Russians prefer to send in Chechen and Syrian mercenaries.” The pope added that he hoped to meet with Russian Orthodox leader Patriarch Kirill in Kazakhstan in September. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251535/pope-francis-deplores-russia-s-monstrous-use-of-mercenaries-in-ukraine US bishops are pleading for an end to violence following the ongoing attacks on Catholic churches and pro-life pregnancy centers. The bishops have tracked 139 church attacks since 2020 — a number that has increased significantly since the May 2 leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion in the abortion case Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In recent months, “charities that support pregnant mothers in need have been firebombed, and pro-life organizations have been attacked almost daily and terrorized, and even the lives of Supreme Court justices have been directly threatened,” the US Church leaders noted. The bishops explained that the Catholic Church provides a great service to all in need, and, quote, “consistently bears witness in word and deed to the beauty and dignity of every human life.” https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251533/title-bishops Pope Francis will not preside at a Mass and procession on the feast of Corpus Christi, the Vatican announced on Monday. The Holy See pre