Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako has urged Catholics to pray and fast for peace in Iraq. “The pastoral thrust of this pontificate must reach the American people,” Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Christophe Pierre has told the US bishops (full text). French bishops have backed plans to offer compensation to clerical abuse victims. Indian police have filed a third baby-selling case against the Missionaries of Charity Toronto archdiocese has authorised the city’s Catholic school board to include gender issues in its code of conduct. Matthew Schmitz meets the “garbage people” of Cairo. And Pope Francis will be reunited with a cousin when he visits Thailand this month. Follow me on Twitter @lukecoppen for updates throughout the day.