Morning Catholic must-reads: 11/07/11

Benedict XVI urged pirates to treat their captives “with respect and humanity” at the Angelus yesterday (full text).

Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster urged the faithful to deepen their reverence for the Blessed Sacrament in a pastoral letter issued at the weekend (full text in PDF format, audio).

Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has defended the Pope’s decision to hold an interfaith meeting at Assisi in October.

Several Filipino bishops have announced that they will return state-donated cars following media criticism.

Jeffrey Tucker claims that “vast swaths of existing music used in the English-speaking world are soon to be regarded as illicit”. Fr Anthony Ruff disagrees.

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi hails the birth of South Sudan.

Diane Korzeniewski examines the changing face of Fr John Corapi.

Kathryn Jean Lopez defends Archbishop Timothy Dolan against critics of his handling of the New York same-sex marriage vote.

Simcha Fisher recommends that we never trust reports that include the phrase “the Vatican says…”

And Fr John Hunwicke says that humour is part of the Anglican patrimony that members of the ordinariate bring to the Catholic Church (audio from 8:00).