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Hello, I'm Gina Christian, and you're listening to our OSV newscast for Monday, May 11th, 2026. Let's catch you up on the Catholic news of the day. Here we go. President Donald Trump said today when he travels to China later this week he plans to discuss the imprisonment of Jimmy Lai, but Trump suggested that the prominent Catholic and pro-democracy campaigner caused a lot of bedlam. Lai is a Hong Kong media tycoon who has been vocal about his deeply held faith. He was convicted of national security offenses under Hong Kong's controversial national security law, which was imposed by Beijing. U.S. officials, including Trump, have cast doubt on the charges leading to Lai's conviction, arguing that they were evidence that the Chinese Communist Party is seeking to silence dissent. Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump told reporters he would bring up the case of Lai and the arrest of Ezra Jean Ningri, founder and pastor of Zion Church, another political prisoner whose case has sparked grave religious freedom concerns from U.S. officials. But Trump seemed to suggest Lai had been a nuisance to the Chinese regime. He said, But Jimmy Lai, it caused lots of turmoil for China. He tried to do the right thing. He wasn't successful, went to jail, and people would like him out. And I'd like to see him get out too. So I'll bring him up again. I have brought him up. Trump is scheduled to arrive in Beijing on May 13th. A Texas-based bishop who leads one of the Catholic Church's three Anglican ordinariates, has seen his pastoral care expanded to Australia, as a fellow prelate, has been tapped to lead a Vatican Dicastery. Today, Pope Leo XIV, named Bishop Stephen Lopes of the Houston-based Ordinariat of the Chair of St. Peter, the Apostolic Administrator of the Ordinariat of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, which is headquartered near Sydney. Bishop Lopes takes over the responsibility from Archbishop Anthony Rondazzo, its previous administrator, whom Pope Leo appointed prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for legislative texts. The Catholic Church has three personal ordinariats with Anglican patrimony worldwide. They're informally called the Anglican Ordinariat, and they function as dioceses led by their respective bishops. They were established under Pope Benedict XVI. Bishop Lopes, whose ordinariat covers the U.S. and Canada, and who had worked closely under Pope Benedict in the establishment of the ordinariates, said that his new territory down under is not unfamiliar. In a press release today, he said he'd visited several times over the years to participate in various ordinariat events and clergy gatherings. Bishop Loops also said, My task now is to be its custodian for a while, encouraging its people to grow in the beauty of holiness as the surest means of growth and fruitfulness. Archbishop Rondazzo said in a statement that it was a privilege to serve the ordinariat during this period of renewal and hope, and he remains confident that its mission will bear fruit well into the future. The Vatican's dialogue with German bishops over blessings for same-sex couples remains ongoing, and it is too early to discuss sanctions. That's what Cardinal Pietro Parolin said on May 6th in Rome. The Vatican Secretary of State told reporters that Pope Leo XIV and church leaders hope to resolve tensions through continued discussion rather than disciplinary measures. Cardinal Parolin's comments followed publication of a 2024 letter from Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, criticizing a German guide for blessing couples not sacramentally married, including same-sex couples. Cardinal Fernandez warned the handbook appeared to legitimize unions in ways contrary to the Vatican document Fiducia supplicans, which permits informal blessings, but not formal liturgical rites resembling marriage. Despite Vatican objections, German bishops published the guide in 2025. Pope Leo recently restated that formalized blessings for same-sex or irregular unions risk causing division within the church and should not go beyond what Pope Francis authorized. Pope Leo XIV thanked the people of Spain's Canary Islands after authorities allowed a cruise ship carrying passengers exposed to Hantavirus to dock in Tenerife. Speaking yesterday after praying the Regina Chele in St. Peter's Square, the Pope praised the island's characteristic hospitality in welcoming the Dutch-operated ship MV Hondius. He said he looks forward to visiting the Canary Islands during his trip to Spain next month. The ship arrived hours after the World Health Organization confirmed eight hantavirus cases on board, including three deaths. Passengers were evacuated and returned home for quarantine and monitoring. Health officials stressed the risk remains low. The World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the anti-strain involved in the outbreak can rarely spread person to person, unlike most hantiviruses, which are linked to infected rodents. The incident sparked protest in Tenerife, though church and health leaders said the situation appears contained and is not expected to become another pandemic. And finally, during a visit last week to St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, Norway, sat down with OSV News to share his insights on Christian hope, the dangers of AI, and weaponizing the Christian faith, and the need for patience in the spiritual life. Bishop Varden, who led the Lenten papal retreat reflections, highlighted the modern tendencies to, as he put it, absolutize our own experience that our wounds are so problematic. He said that leads to turning inward on ourselves, on neglecting empathy for others and the possibility of divine healing. The bishop admitted to having absolutely no hopes at all for AI in creating spiritual renewal, since he said it cannot pierce the human heart. He warned against using Christianity for political gain, which he said veers towards heresy or even blasphemy. He urged faithful to delve into the scriptures and, as he said, to understand and live the sacramental grace of the church deeply, which will naturally attract others to the beauty of Christ's saving love. Bishop Farden also stressed the need for practicing patience, which, as he put it, is not a very fashionable virtue. And he added, great things take time. And to be a human is a great thing. And you can listen to my full interview with Bishop Bardin here on our OSV News Podcast channel. That's your OSV Newscast for today. I'm Gina Christian. Check out the show notes for a link to our website where you can find the stories in this episode. Make sure to subscribe to this podcast, give us a follow on social media, and of course, bookmark osvnews.com. Thanks so much for listening and God bless.

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