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Uprising’s guest expert Courtney Morris, assistant professor of African American and women’s Studies at Penn State University, a social change non-profit dedicated to making policy work for people and their environment, analyzes today’s news headlines:

A new study finds that the median annual pay of corporate CEOs has now surpassed the $10 million mark. The Associated Press, which conducted the study, found that more CEOs were being paid in stocks rather than in cash and stock options in response to criticism. But, because the stock market has performed well for several years in a row, CEOs have greatly benefited from the switch. The CEO of an oil fields services company named Nabors Industries had highest pay of any CEO in 2013, at $68.3 million. According to AP, “More than two-thirds of CEOs at S&P 500 companies received a raise last year.” Click here for an ABC article about the story.

Pope Francis has made his strongest statement yet against sexual abuse by clergy during his first ever meeting with victims of abuse at the Vatican. The Argentine-born Pope who has attracted international attention for his unorthodox ways, said “Sexual abuse is such an ugly crime … because a priest who does this betrays the body of the Lord. It is like a satanic Mass.” Francis also reiterated for the first time since he became Pope that he was open to a change in the laws of celibacy for priests. In related news, the Pope also made headlines over the weekend for praying at the wall in the Occupied Territories that Palestinians call “The Apartheid Wall.” Click here for a Guardian newspaper article about the story.

Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide took to the streets of their cities over the weekend in what is estimated to be the largest ever “March Against Monsanto.” Similar marches against genetically modified foods, and Monsanto’s tight grip over the global food system have been held two years in a row before this one. In response to the question of why target Monsanto, acclaimed environmentalist Vandana Shiva wrote, “we did not choose to target Monsanto. Monsanto chose to target our seed and food freedom, our scientific and democratic institutions, our very lives…The greed and violence of one corporation cannot be allowed to destroy life on Earth …That is why we March Against Monsanto.” Click here for an RT.com article about the story.