July 13, 2021 by Catholic News published on 2021-07-13T15:26:38Z A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts. www.catholicnewsagency.com - The pope is praying for the victims of a fire today in a coronavirus isolation ward at a hospital in southern Iraq. More than sixty people were killed in the fire, and more than one hundred others injured. Authorities have not yet announced the cause of the fire. The ward opened three months ago. Pro-life advocates say a draft spending bill would force taxpayers to subsidize abortion on demand. A House subcommittee advanced the bill on Monday without the Hyde Amendment, which bars funding of abortions in Medicaid. In Cuba, a Catholic priest was beaten and arrested on Sunday during protests against the communist government. The priest was reportedly defending young protesters. He was arrested and accused of public disorder. Cuban Catholics held a peaceful demonstration at the police station on Monday to demand the priest’s release. Today marks ten days since Pope Francis underwent intestinal surgery at a hospital in Rome. The Vatican said the pope is continuing medical treatment in order to return to the Vatican as soon as possible. A Vatican spokesman had originally announced that the pope would spend around seven days in the hospital, barring complications. Today the Catholic Church celebrates the memory of Saint Henry the Second. The German king led and defended Europe’s Holy Roman Empire at the beginning of the first millennium. Genre News & Politics