Morning Catholic must-reads: 04/04/11

Benedict XVI looked forward to the beatification of John Paul II during his Angelus address yesterday (full text).

A thousand civilians have been slaughtered in a town in the Ivory Coast, Caritas Internationalis has reported.

The University of Notre Dame will give this year’s Laetare Medal to Sister Mary Scullion and Joan Dawson McConnon, co-founders of Project HOME.

The Vatican has ordered the l’Union catholique internationale de la presse (UCIP) to remove the word “Catholic” from its name.

Pope Benedict has taken the unusual step of publicly removing a bishop in the Democratic Republic of Congo for mismanagement.

The Holy See Press Office has released new details about the inter-religious meeting in Assisi on October 27.

A court in Scotland has jailed a man who tried to disrupt the Pope’s visit to Britain by claiming there was a bomb at Edinburgh Airport.

A Republican leader in New Hampshire has described a local Catholic bishop as a “paedophile pimp”.

Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles pays tribute to labour leader César Chávez.

Andrew Hamilton SJ asks whether Catholic identity really matters.

Phil Lawler wonders why Catholic Relief Services isn’t giving out Bibles in Darfur.

Thomas Madden offers a primer on the Spanish Inquisition.

And Fr Ray Blake proposes a “Court of Israel” to help settle disputes between Catholics.