Morning Catholic must-reads: 13/08/10

The Polish Church is seeking to calm a row over a cross erected in front of the presidential palace in memory of the late president Lech Kaczyński.

The South African bishops have responded to Bishop Kevin Dowling’s outspoken speech suggesting that the Church has turned its back on Vatican II.

The former bishop who is now president of Paraguay has been ordered to take a DNA test to see if he is the father of a two-year-old boy.

A “senior Church source” has told the Irish Independent that Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin is “a lame-duck leader of a divided diocese“. David Gibson suggests that the Pope’s decision is aggravating the abuse scandal. David Quinn disagrees.

The rebuilding of churches in Haiti will begin next year, the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, has said.

The Archdiocese of Goa, India, has come under fire after it sold a river island to a resort developer.

A new state law is forcing the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, to provide coverage for contraception in insurance plans for diocesan employees.

The Louisiana State Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors has ordered a group of monks to stop making coffins.

And Fr George Rutler tells Kathryn Jean Lopez about the time that Cardinal Avery Dulles confused his washing machine with the dishwasher.