First things first!

1. Brad Myers, a senior program officer for the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation's Catholic Sisters Initiative, confirmed to CNA on Aug. 22 that the foundation board last week approved a three-year, $2.3 million grant to the Kansas City, Missouri-based National Catholic Reporter. (CNA)

2. "Conservative Catholic" author and former editor-in-chief of "First Things" magazine Joseph Bottum writes lengthy essay in defense of his conversion to the cause of "same-sex marriage" for Commonweal magazine: "Funding for this essay has been provided by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation."

3. "The Moscow Patriarchate Department for Church Charity and Social Service transferred $1,320,407 to the bank account of the Patriarchate of Antioch [i.e. the besieged Eastern Orthodox in Syria] in the beginning of August 2013." (Pravoslavie)