Morning Catholic must-reads: 09/04/12

Benedict XVI is planning to cut down on foreign travel as he prepares to celebrate his 85th birthday, his brother Mgr Georg Ratzinger has said.

The Vatican has written to the Austrian bishops demanding that they take action against a group of priests whose “Call to Disobedience” was criticised by the Pope on Holy Thursday.

Pope Benedict has expressed his condolences following the death of Syrian Cardinal Ignace Moussa I Daoud.

Some 3,500 people were baptised at the Easter Vigil in Hong Kong on Saturday.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster has said that “quite frankly a lot of people don’t understand” why the British Prime Minister David Cameron intends to legalise same-sex marriage.

Fr Federico Lombardi says that the decision to ask a married couple to write the Pope’s Via Crucis meditations was a “significant step” in the preparation for the World Meeting of Families in Milan.

Sandro Magister suggests that the Focolare Movement is gaining influence in the Vatican.

Fr Robert Barron responds to Andrew Sullivan’s Newsweek cover essay on the politicisation of Christianity.

And John Allen argues that “anyone expecting Benedict XVI to turn into Dick Cheney in a cassock is destined for disappointment”.