Morning Briefing

On Iraq, Pope Francis' message of peace meets reality of war

Pope appeals to UN for action on humanitarian disaster in Iraq

Pope Francis is in Korea. Vatican highlights Francis' Korea events NCR will be with Francis in South Korea. For background on the trip and continuing coverage see Francis in Korea

Pope picks Kia Soul as Korea limo Due to safety issues, the Seoul committee said the pope’s final choice was the Kia Soul, which is slightly bigger than most compact cars at 1,600 cc. The starting sticker price of the Soul stands at 14.5 million won ($14,100).

LCWR is in Nashville this week. Get all the background on that meeting here: LCWR 2014

Commentary -- Sex Abuse and the LCWR: A decade later, struggle for accountability within LCWR on abuse continues

Sri Lanka -- Buddhist extremists oppose Pope’s visit to Sri Lanka Now that the Pope’s visit to the island in January has been confirmed, radical monks are taking a stand and even stormed a meeting organized by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate

The Philippine government and the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front have announced that after 10 days of talks in Davao City, they have resolved contentious issues surrounding a peace deal signed in March. Breakthrough in Philippines peace deal

A round up of recent cases: Marriage Equality Court Cases Raise Opposition from Catholic Bishops

Commentary: New vision of religious life as global sisterhood by Sr. Joyce Meyer Global Sisters Report , devoted to covering the mission and ministry of Catholic women religious. It offers news, commentary and reflections on spirituality and theology.

DELL RAPIDS, S.D. — A volleyball coach at St. Mary High School in Dell Rapids who has publicly announced he's gay says he's being allowed to keep his job.

Naomi Schaefer Riley: Dos and Don'ts of attracting young people to church Interestingly, she says technology is not the answer.

Reader Recommendations:

St. Paul-Minneapolis -- Years ago, he was a young Minnesota priest -- and alleged rapist Reader says, "Tucked away in this piece is a remark that St Louis Bishop Carlson makes to his then-superior that might be of interest to your Missouri readers."

BELGRADE -- Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Irinej has accepted an invitation to visit Catholic Pope Francis in the Vatican, says Catholic Bishop of Zrenjanin Ladislav Nemet.

Looking for a little inspiration to begin your day? NCR's sister publication, Celebration, gives you two options, both based on the Scripture readings of the day:

Pencil Preaching is blog in which Celebration editor Pat Marrin combines Scripture and sketching to reflect on the Word.

Daily Bread is a series of short reflections written by four authors who meet regularly to share the readings. Daily Bread is intended to help daily preachers and others who pray from the assigned Scriptures each day to orient themselves to the Living Word addressed to the church in the world. It's a great way to begin the day.