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Pope Francis left a lasting legacy, not least his appreciation for art. In his 2025 biography, Hope, Francis spoke of his admiration for the Baroque painter Caravaggio. He recalled that during his travels to Rome as a cardinal, he prayed in front of the painting by CaravaggioThe Calling of Saint Matthew. The painting is found in the chapel dedicated to St. Matthew in the Church of San Luigi dei Francesi. The donor of the chapel was a French cardinal, Matthieu Cointerel, who died in 1585. This was the first commission for Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, who was hired in July 1599. A year later, The Calling of Saint Matthew and The Martyrdom of Saint Matthew, depicting the beginning and the end of the apostle Matthews ministry, were installed. The motto that Francis selected for his papacy, miserando atque eligendo, translated as looking at him with mercy, he chose him, is directly connected with this painting. The words miserando atque eligendo come from a sermon on the calling of Matthew written in the eighth century by the celebrated monk and historian Bede the Venerable. It is used in the readings for the Feast of St. Matthew on September 21. The Calling of Saint Matthew [Image: Caravaggio] The Calling of Saint Matthew Matthew is described in the Bible as a tax collector, viewed at the time as a highly dubious occupation. In the painting, Christ enters the room from the right. We see only his silhouetted head and outstretched arm pointing in Matthews direction. Light from the window behind Christ, which aligns with the actual light from the window in the chapel, falls on a group of men, including some handsome youths in fancy clothes, counting money. Matthew, the bearded man in the center, makes a gesture that suggests, Who, me? Matthew became one of four disciples of Christalong with Mark, Luke, and Johnwhose accounts of Christs life, called Gospels, are included in the Bible. Francis and Jesuit training Franciss thinking about this painting was shaped by his training as a Jesuit, a Catholic order that he entered in 1958. Jesuits practice something called a process of discernment. The painting represents God calling to Matthew to show him his will for the future, one that requires discernment. The founder of the order, Ignatius of Loyola, stressed a humble but vigorous effort to understand Gods will for each individual, as part of this process. Ignatiuss own life demonstrated this search for Gods will. His initial career as a soldier ended when he was gravely wounded in the battle of Pamplona in 1521, permanently damaging his leg. He subsequently tried to follow the life of a hermit, meditating in solitude, and then tried to become a missionary to the Holy Land. At the age of 33, he entered a university in order to become a priest, ultimately initiating the most influential transformation of religious education since the Middle Ages. Jesuits became a great teaching force, stressing individual study and debate over memorization. Ignatius was named a saint in 1622. Inspiration of Saint Matthew [Photo: Caravaggio] The Inspiration of St. Matthew The central painting in the chapel, Inspiration of Saint Matthew is Caravaggios third painting, which was put in place in 1602. The patrons originally planned to install statues at the center, but upon their arrival they rejected the idea and commissioned Caravaggio instead. This painting also shows the saint searching to understand Gods directions. In this painting, Matthew is in conversation with his symbol, a winged man. Each of the four evangelists are represented in art through symbols. The winged man symbol for Matthew refers to the beginning of his Gospel that records the genealogy of Christ. The angel-like figure, resembling one of the young men depicted alongside the saint in Caravaggios The Calling of St. Matthew, appears to hold his left index finger with his right hand, as if to signal that this is the first and most important point. Matthew seems careworn, even distracted, struggling to write while leaning his knee on a bench. Francis remarked in his biography that Caravaggio increased viewers empathy by using contemporary figures from the artists own time. The figures in the painting are dressed in clothes worn in Italy in the late 16th century, so that the viewers in Caravaggios time could see themselves in the painting. Viewers come to art with different perspectives derived from their own experiences and challenges. Francis, too, connected to art through his own experiences. Virginia Raguin is a distinguished professor of humanities emerita at the College of the Holy Cross. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-calling-of-saint-matthew-by-caravaggio-was-pope-francis-favorite-painting-an-art-historian-explains-255577">original article.
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Human-caused climate change intensified deadly rainfall in Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and other states in early April and made those storms more likely to occur, according to an analysis released Thursday by the World Weather Attribution group of scientists.The series of storms unleashed tornadoes, strong winds and extreme rainfall in the central Mississippi Valley region from April 3-6 and caused at least 24 deaths. Homes, roads and vehicles were inundated and 15 deaths were likely caused by catastrophic floods.The WWA analysis found that climate change increased rainfall intensity in the storms by 9% and made them 40% more likely compared to probability of such events in the pre-industrial age climate.Some of the moisture that fueled the storms came from the Gulf of Mexico, where water temperatures were abnormally warm by 1.2°C (2.2°F) compared to pre-industrial temperatures. That warming was made 14 times more likely due to climate change, according to the researchers from universities and meteorological agencies in the United States and Europe.Rapid analyses from the WWA use peer-reviewed methods to study an extreme weather event and distill it down to the factors that caused it. This approach lets scientists analyze which contributing factors had the biggest influence and how the event could have played out in a world without climate change.The analysis found a rainfall event of April’s intensity could occur in the central Mississippi Valley region about once every 100 years. Even heavier downpours are expected to hit the region in the future unless the world rapidly slashes emissions of polluting gases such as carbon dioxide and methane that causes temperatures to rise, the study said.“That one in 100 years is likely to go down to once every few decades,” said Ben Clarke, a researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College London and the study’s lead author. “If we continue to burn fossil fuels, events like this will not only continue to occur, but they’ll keep getting more dangerous.”Heavier and more persistent rainfall is expected with climate change because the atmosphere holds more moisture as it warms. Warming ocean temperatures result in higher evaporation rates, which means more moisture is available to fuel storms.Forecast information and weather alerts from the National Weather Service communicated the risks of the April heavy rain days in advance, which the WWA says likely reduced the death toll. But workforce and budget cuts made by the Trump administration have left nearly half of NWS offices with 20% vacancy rates or higher, raising concerns for public safety during future extreme weather events and the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season that officially begins June 1.“If we start cutting back on these offices or reducing the staff the unfortunate result is going to be more death. We’re going to have more people dying because the warnings are not going to get out, the warnings are not going to be as fine-tuned as they are today,” said Randall Cerveny, a climate professor at Arizona State University who was not involved in the study. The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org. Isabella O’Malley, Associated Press
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In honor of its 25th anniversary, the Gates Foundation made a major announcement. On Thursday, chair Bill Gates said he would give away most of his fortune over the next two decades. “People will say a lot of things about me when I die, but I am determined that ‘he died rich’ will not be one of them,” Gates wrote in an announcement on GatesNotes. The statement continued, There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people. That is why I have decided to give my money back to society much faster than I had originally planned.” Gates explained that he would give away practically all of his fortune over the next 20 years, estimating about $200 billion in spending will occur in an effort to save and improve lives. The businessman and Microsoft cofounder said the exact amount will depend on the markets, as well as inflation. A news release from the Gates Foundation called the plan “the largest philanthropic commitment in modern history” and said it will wind down operations circa 2045. In his post, Gates shared that on December 31, 2045, the foundation will cease all operations. An accelerated timeline for a world on fire Gates noted that the plan is a major shift away from the foundation’s original plan to sunset 20 years after his and his ex-wife Melinda Gates’s deaths. Post-divorce, Melinda French Gates has given away a hefty share of her own wealth, pledging over $1 billion to organizations supporting women and girls. In Bill Gates’s statement, he also outlined three major goals for the accelerated spending plan: “help end preventable deaths of moms and babies” “ensure the next generation grows up without having to suffer from deadly infectious diseases” “lift millions of people out of poverty, putting them on a path to prosperity” “The Gates Foundations mission remains rooted in the idea that where you are born should not determine your opportunities,” Gates wrote in his statement Thursday. “I am excited to see how our next chapter continues to move the world closer to a future where everyone everywhere has the chance to live a healthy and productive life.”
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The federal human resources agency at the heart of billionaire Elon Musk’s efforts to slash the federal workforce is poised to roll out software to speed layoffs across the U.S. government, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The software could turbocharge the rapid-fire effort to downsize the government at a time when a number of larger federal agencies are preparing to execute plans for mass layoffs of tens of thousands of workers. Some 260,000 government workers already have accepted buyouts, early retirement or been laid off since Republican President Donald Trump returned to the presidency in January, according to a Reuters tally. The process has been far from smooth. Some workers were mistakenly fired and had to be rehired. The software is an updated version of a decades-old Pentagon program, known as AutoRIF, that had been little used in recent years. Under direction from Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), software developers at the U.S. Office Of Personnel Management (OPM) have created a more user-friendly web-based version over the past few months that provides targets for layoffs much more quickly than the current labor-intensive manual process, four sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The program is poised to be rolled out to the agencies by OPM just as Musk steps back from DOGE, which has driven the downsizing effort, to focus more on Tesla and his other companies. AutoRIF’s name comes from “Reduction in Force,” a term used to describe mass layoffs. The revamped version has been given the more benign-sounding name “Workforce Reshaping Tool,” three sources said. With the software revamp now complete, OPM will lead demonstrations, user testing and start adding new users in the coming weeks, one of the sources said. DOGE, OPM, the White House, Pentagon and Musk did not respond to requests for comment. Wired magazine was first to report on the revamp effort. But Reuters is reporting for the first time on the completion of that revamp, the capabilities of the new program, rollout plans and its new name. JOB-CUTTING SCYTHE Trump established DOGE to modernize government software, cut spending and drastically reduce the size of the federal workforce, which he complains is bloated and wasteful. DOGE has said it has saved more than $160 billion through cuts to federal contracts and staff, but it has given few details publicly about what it is doing to modernize technology to make the government more efficient. The update of the Pentagon software, which DOGE has not publicly confirmed, is the only known example of that effort bearing fruit. Currently, most federal RIFs are done manuallywith HR employees poring over spreadsheets containing data on employee seniority, veteran status and performance, three sources told Reuters. The new software is being rolled out just as larger agencies such as the Department of Veterans Affairs are set to move forward with plans to eliminate some 80,000 jobs. The Internal Revenue Service has said it wants to slash its payrolls by 40%, according to media reports. The tool will allow agencies “to remove a massive number of federal employees from their positions,” if it works, said Nick Bednar, an associate professor of law at the University of Minnesota who has been tracking the government layoffs. “What DOGE has started is going to continue without Elon Musk,” Bednar said. AutoRIF was developed by the Pentagon more than a quarter century ago. It pulled data from its HR system, sifted through firing rules quickly and produced names of employees eligible to be laid off. But it was difficult to migrate it to other agencies, whose workers had to manually input data on potential candidates for dismissal, a cumbersome process that is subject to errors. The program, described as “clunky” by a 2020 Pentagon HR newsletter, also would allow only one employee to work on a RIF, two sources said. The upgrade makes it web-based, easing employee access to the tool while enabling multiple people to work on a mass layoff, three sources said. It also allows for the upload of employee data for analysis, freeing HR workers from having to manually input personal records of possible targets for dismissal. While speed is a clear advantage, the software could pose other challenges, according to Don Moynihan, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy. “If you automate bad assumptions into a process, then the scale of the error becomes far greater than an individual could undertake,” Moynihan said. “It won’t necessarily help them to make better decisions and it won’t make those decisions more popular,” Moynihan added. Trump’s drive to downsize and reshape the government already has led to the gutting of entire agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which seeks to protect Americans from financial abuses. The government overhaul has led to numerous lawsuits that seek to block the Trump administration from moving forward with some of the planned dismissals. Alexandra Alper, Reuters
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The price of Bitcoin is nearing the psychologically important price point of $100,000 this morninga level the cryptocurrency has not seen since early February. As of the time of this writing, one Bitcoin is currently trading at over $99,800. Thats up nearly 3% in the last 24 hours and only $10,000 lower than the all-time high that the token reached earlier this year. Heres what you need to know about Bitcoins most recent approach to six figures. Bitcoin nears $100,000again Bitcoin is currently trading at less than $200 shy of $100,000 per coin as of the time of this writing. The cryptocurrency king hasnt traded at levels this high since early February, and it has not surpassed the $100,000 mark since the first few days of that month. While a $100,000 price point of Bitcoin doesnt have any underlying meaning on a fundamentals level, the passing of the six-figure barrier again will likely signal an important psychological threshold in many investors’ minds. In late January, just a day before President Trump was sworn in for his second term, Bitcoin traded at an all-time high of over $109,114 per coin. The coin had first crossed the $100,000 threshold back in December 2024, shortly after then-president-elect Trump announced the crypto-friendly Paul Atkins as the new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair. Atkinss appointment was seen as signaling a much more friendly regulatory environment with the new administration. In the days leading up to Trumps inauguration, Bitcoin continued to rise. But then came Trumps Liberation Day tariffs in Apriland along with the crash of global stock markets, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies crashed too. Last month, Bitcoin was trading at less than $75,000 per coin. Todays nearly $100,000 price, then, marks a staggering turnaround for Bitcoin from just over 30 days ago. It is up over 30% in the past month and up over 4% in the past five days alone, with the price of the digital asset up nearly 3% in just the last 24 hours. But what is the reason for Bitcoin’s flirtation with the $100,000 mark today? Trade deals. Hopes of trade deals boost Bitcoin Investing.com notes that Bitcoin’s rise to nearly $100,000 in the past 24 hours can be attributed to one main factor: trade deal optimism. Yesterday, President Trump teased on Truth Social that today there would be a big news conference detailing a major trade deal with a big country. It was the president’s first firm sign that one of his many promised trade deals was actually imminent. If the United States actually starts signing trade deals with other nations, investors will likely feel less uncomfortable about the state of the global economy and the economic uncertainty that Trump’s tariffs have unleashed within Americas borders and across the world. Then, early today, Trump took to Truth Social to follow up on his earlier post, announcing that the U.S. has entered into a full and comprehensive agreement with the United Kingdom. While Trump didnt specify that it was a trade agreement, that is the most likely type of agreement he is talking about. The president added, Many other deals, which are in serious stages of negotiation, to follow! Details of the U.S.-U.K. agreement are expected to be announced at a press conference at 10 a.m. ET today, reports CNBC. Anticipation of the U.S.-U.K. news further buoyed earlier optimism that, after nearly a month of uncertainty, major countries were closer than ever to working out new economic frameworks with the United States. Other cryptocurrencies are also on the rise Bitcoin isnt the only cryptocurrency to rise on trade deal optimism. As of the time of this writing, other major coins are also up, including: Ethereum: up 6.2% XRP: up 3.1% Solana: up 4.2% Meme coins are also up, including: Dogecoin: up 5.8% Shiba Inu: up 4.7% Of course, it’s worth noting that cryptocurrencies are more volatile than more traditional assets, so theres no guarantee that Bitcoin will indeed cross the $100,000 threshold again. However, todays move closer to that mark will surely please jittery investors who have been forced to watch the crypto king decline by tens of thousands of dollars over the past several months.
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