Morning Catholic must-reads: 21/05/12

Benedict XVI prayed for the victims of this weekend’s bombing and earthquake in Italy at the Regina Caeli yesterday (full text).

Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi’s decision to publish confidential letters to and from Pope Benedict in his new book is “a criminal act”, the Vatican spokesman said on Saturday (full text of statement).

The Pope has dismissed Bishop Francesco Miccichè from the pastoral care of the Sicilian Diocese of Trapani following claims of financial mismanagement that the bishop has denied.

Joseph Pronechen celebrates the 50th anniversary of the foundation of Mother Angelica’s Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Alabama.

Dylan Parry argues that English Bishop Mark Davies is right to trim his diocesan bureaucracy in straitened times.

Matt Flegenheimer welcomes Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York’s arrival on Twitter.

And 40 years ago today a Hungarian man attacked Michelangelo’s Pietà, causing substantial damage with a geological hammer.