"Before being a moral or ethical value, Christianity is the experience of love," Benedict XVI said at the general audience this morning (full text, video). The Vatican Secretariat of State has approved the creation of a new office for liturgical music, art and architecture, reports Andrea Tornielli. The US bishops gave their backing to the Cause of Dorothy Day at their plenary meeting yesterday, but rejected a draft statement on the economy. A teacher was shot dead as she left evening Mass in Bongao in the Philippines yesterday. George Weigel calls for "a serious debate within American Catholicism on whether the Church ought not pre-emptively withdraw from the civil marriage business". Mark Shea welcomes the launch of a website billed as "the Catholic alternative to Amazon.com". And Notre Dame cathedral in Paris is planning to replace its famous bells for the first time in 156 years. Follow me on Twitter @lukecoppen for updates throughout the day.