(June 1)News Brief

News Briefs: Vatican will not publish full text of Pope’s weekday Mass homilies In response to requests for the full texts of Pope Francis’s weekday Mass homilies, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi explained why VaticanRadio and L’Osservatore Romano are publishing only summaries of the homilies. . . . Pope heard confessions during parish visit Pope Francis heard several confessions during his visit to a parish on the outskirts of Rome last weekend, notes Sandro Magister of L'Espresso. . . . Pope, UN leader discuss peace efforts, humanitarian needs Pope Francis met on May 31 with Vuk Jeremic, the president of the 67th session of the UN’s General Assembly. . . . SNAP leaders sought to squelch publicity on support for doctor in child-porn case The founder and president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) wrote a letter in favor of a Louisiana psychologist who was facing charges for child pornography, andurged SNAP members not to answer questions about the episode, The Media Report has disclosed. . . . Vatican bank president praises institute’s soundness In a lengthy interview with Vatican Radio, the new head of the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), popularly known as the Vatican bank, praised the institute’s financial and ethical soundness and said that public relations has been his principal task. . . . Hamas pressing for Islamicization of Gaza, bishop reports “There are obvious signs of Islamicization everywhere” in the Gaza Strip, warns Bishop William Shomali, the vicar general of the Latin-rite patriarchate of Jerusalem. . . . 1st Catholic university inaugurated in Jordan Four years after Pope Benedict blessed its cornerstone during his apostolic journey to the Holy Land, the first Catholic university in Jordan held its inauguration ceremony. . . . Late-term abortions touted at major women’s health conference Late-term abortion was defended by speakers at WomenDeliver, the self-described “largestmeeting of the decade to focus on the health and well-being of girls and women.” . . . USCCB: pray, fast for engaged couples The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has asked Catholics to pray, fast, and abstain from meat on May 31 “for engaged couples, that their time of preparation for marriagemay be richly blessed as they prepare to give themselves fully and irrevocably to each other as a sign of Christ’s love for His Church.” . . . To learn more or make a tax-deductible contribution, visit http://www.catholicculture.org/about/donor_information_center/ today.