Morning Catholic must-reads: 24/08/10

The papal visit to Britain marks “a new phase” in relations between the monarchy and the papacy, Archbishop Vincent Nichols has told L’Osservatore Romano.

Pope Benedict will celebrate Mass on a “hi-tech Celtic altar” at Bellahouston Park on September 16.

The English agency Catholic Care is considering an appeal against the Charity Commission over gay adoption.

The Northern Ireland police ombudsman is to examine allegations that a Catholic priest was involved in a 1972 bomb attack.

Mgr Charles Scicluna, promoter of justice of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has said that the Pope showed “frustration and anger” over abuse cases.

Read more: http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/08/23/vatican-sex-abuse-prosecutor-talks-to-fox/#ixzz0xW2gqapz

Christopher Gillibrand reports that the German bishops have agreed new guidelines on abuse.

A judge has blocked US government funding for embryonic stem-cell research after he ruled that it broke laws protecting human embryos.

Zenit interviews the only Catholic bishop in the West African state of Gambia.

Fr Thomas Reese SJ claims that the new English translation of the Mass is “a step backwards and confusing to the people in the pews“. Carl Olson responds.

Edmund Adamus, an official of Westminster diocese, argues that Britain is “the geopolitical epicentre of the culture of death“.

And Thomas Hibbs reflects on the “sacramental realism” of Caravaggio.