NATION
HOUSTON (OSV News) – As the astronauts of NASA’s first crewed lunar flyby in half a century reached their closest approach to the moon, the team’s pilot reminded the Earth of Jesus Christ’s command to love both God and neighbor. “As we get close to the nearest point to the moon and farthest point from Earth, … I would like to remind you of one of the most important mysteries there on Earth, and that’s love,” said astronaut Victor Glover, pilot of the Artemis II mission, speaking to ground control April 6 from aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft Integrity. “Christ said, in response to what was the greatest command, that it was to love God with all you are,” said Glover. “And he also, being a great teacher, said the second is equal to it. And that is to love your neighbor as yourself.” The call for unity by Glover, who has spoken publicly about his Christian faith, took on an immediate urgency as the crew faced a 40-minute communication lapse with ground control April 6, when the spacecraft passed behind the moon, blocking signals. Moments before the loss of signal – which ended as scheduled, with the crew safely emerging on a homeward bound trajectory – Glover said, “As we prepare to go out of radio communication … to all of you down there on Earth and around Earth, we love you from the moon.”

VATICAN
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (OSV News) – Pope Leo XIV asked all people of goodwill to search always for peace and not violence, in a tacit rebuke of President Donald Trump’s threat that a “whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran does not make a deal by 8 p.m. EDT on April 7. Without naming Trump, Pope Leo called the threat “truly unacceptable,” addressing it as a moral question that affects the good of an entire people. He added that he wanted to remind all involved that “attacks on civilian infrastructure is against international law.” Such attacks, he added, are a sign of “the hatred, the division and the destruction that the human being is capable of.” “And we all want to work for peace, people want peace,” Pope Leo said. “I would invite the citizens of all the countries involved to contact the authorities, political leaders, congressmen, to, ask them, tell them to work for peace and to reject war.” Earlier April 7, in a post on his social media website, Truth Social, Trump said, “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will.” Pope Leo said that due to the Iran war, which “many people have said is an unjust war,” there is “a worldwide economic crisis, energy crisis,” and a “situation in the Middle East of great instability, which is only provoking more hatred throughout the world.” He said, “Let’s talk, let’s look for solutions in a peaceful way.”

WORLD
LOURDES, France (OSV News) – After 17 years at the helm of Lourdes’ medical investigations, Italian American physician Alessandro de Franciscis retired as head of the sanctuary’s Office of Medical Observations. He will be succeeded by Italian surgeon Giada Monami, who will become the first woman to hold the post. Appointed in 2009 as the first non-French chief physician, de Franciscis oversaw the rigorous evaluation of reported healings at the Marian shrine. “Our role as doctors is solely to determine whether a person has been cured, and whether that cure is unexplained given the current state of scientific knowledge,” he said, noting that the Church alone judges miracles. Since 1883, tens of thousands of healings have been reported at Lourdes, but only a fraction undergo detailed review. Strict criteria require verified diagnosis, sudden and lasting recovery, and extensive follow-up. Of roughly 8,000 recorded cases since 1858, just 72 have been recognized as miracles. De Franciscis, the bureau’s 15th physician, said five miracles were confirmed during his tenure.