Catholic News
- Franciscans, Pope Leo mark beginning of 800th anniversary year of St. Francis of Assisi's death (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV and the leaders of Franciscan communities marked the beginning of the 800th anniversary year of the death of St. Francis of Assisi. - Pope thanks jubilee officials, volunteers (Vatican Press Office)
Pope Leo XIV thanked the Church officials, civil officials, and thousands of volunteers involved in the events of the recently completed jubilee year. “The visit to the tombs of Peter and Paul, of the other Apostles and Martyrs, the journey towards the Holy Door, the experience of forgiveness and of God’s mercy, were for many people moments of fruitful encounter with the Lord Jesus,” Pope Leo said this morning to the thousands gathered in Paul VI Audience Hall (video). The Pope added, “With your work, you helped many people to find and rediscover hope, and to resume the journey of life with renewed faith and intentions of charity.” - Pope decries abuse of political power in 'State of the World' address [News Analysis] (CWN)
“War is back in vogue and the zeal for war is spreading,” Pope Leo XIV said in a January 9 speech to the Vatican diplomatic corps. Basing his address on the thought of St. Augustine, the Pontiff made an appeal for a new approach to international collaboration, which “cannot depend on mere circumstances and military or strategic interests.” - Christians in Pakistan suffer series of brutal attacks (CWN)
The Vatican newspaper reported on a series of recent attacks on Christians in Pakistan. - Situation in Aleppo goes 'from bad to worse,' bishop says; suicide attack on church thwarted (Vatican News)
Amid clashes between Syrian security forces and Kurdish fighters, the situation in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, has gone “from bad to worse,” said Bishop Hanna Jallouf, OFM, who leads the Latin-rite apostolic vicariate there. “A shepherd must be with his flock in difficult times,” he said. “We as Christians have set up three places to accommodate the displaced. Nearly 3,500 people have already been taken in, while others have found shelter in some private homes.” A police officer recently lost his life as he thwarted an attempted suicide-bomb attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Aleppo, Vatican News reported. - Caritas laments 1,000 days of Sudan crisis (Caritas Internationalis)
Caritas Internationalis, the Church’s federation of relief and development agencies, released a statement yesterday marking the 1,000th day of the Sudanese civil war. Sudan is the site of “one of the world’s most severe humanitarian crises—where more than 33.7 million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance, effectively two in three people, and where famine has been declared twice in less than a year,” Caritas said in its statement. “At this time, Caritas Internationalis joins other leading aid agencies in urging the international community to act now to prevent further catastrophe in Sudan.” - Veteran diplomat hails Pope Leo's commitment to peace (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
As is customary, the dean of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See delivered an address during the annual papal audience with the diplomatic corps (CWN analysis). Ambassador Georgios Poulides, the ambassador of Cyprus to the Holy See, recalled the jubilee year, the death of Pope Francis, the election of Pope Leo, and the papal visit to Turkey and Lebanon. Highlighting Pope Leo’s commitment to peace, brotherhood, human dignity, and human development, Ambassador Poulides described the Pope’s appeals for peace as “the path that every man and woman is called to follow.” “In them resonates the calm and powerful inevitability of a reconciled world,” the diplomat said. “This is where the profound meaning of the diplomatic mission lies: resolving conflicts with the strength of reason and the constant determination towards the common good.” - Only 1 Christian school remains open in Gaza Strip (Vatican News (Italian))
Only one of the Gaza Strip’s five Christian schools is open, said Father Davide Meli, chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Father Meli was among the Church officials who spoke with journalists and pilgrims about the Latin Patriarchate’s aid to the Church in Gaza. “There are no sewers, there is no electricity grid, workplaces are destroyed,” Vatican News reported. “There are no more bombings, but about two million people are homeless, without essential services and live in a portion of land reduced by almost half due to the borders imposed by the ceasefire of October.” - Vatican has diplomatic relations with 184 states (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
The Holy See maintains diplomatic relations with 184 states, including the European Union and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, the Vatican newspaper reported. The figure is unchanged from 2024 and 2025. Ninety-three of the diplomatic missions have offices in Rome. L’Osservatore Romano‘s report included a list of the diplomatic agreements signed over the past year between the Holy See and other entities. - Pontiff to celebrate only 3 public liturgies in remainder of January, February (Vatican Press Office)
Archbishop Diego Ravelli, the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations, released the calendar of public celebrations presided over by Pope Leo XIV during the remainder of January and February. After the flurry of activities for the jubilee year and the extraordinary consistory of cardinals, Pope Leo will celebrate Vespers on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle (January 25), celebrate Mass on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (February 2), and celebrate Mass on Ash Wednesday (February 18), according to yesterday’s announcement. During the First Week of Lent, from February 22-27, he and the members of the Roman Curia will take part in a retreat in the Apostolic Palace. - Pope Leo establishes 3 new dioceses in 3 weeks (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV has established three new dioceses in the past three weeks. - New Salesian leader devotes new year's message to faith (Salesian Bulletin)
Father Fabio Attard, SDB, elected rector major of the Salesians of Don Bosco last year, devoted his first strenna, or new year’s message, to faith. “We recognize that our mission is to educate to faith and in faith,” Father Attard wrote in the message’s introduction. “The challenge that immediately arises is very clear: how can we do this if this source of light within me is growing dim? How can we remain calm when we realize that extinguishing the light in our hearts means, in the long run, leaving young people and all those we accompany in the deepest darkness?” The Salesians (13,694 members) are poised to overtake the Jesuits (13,768 members) as the largest male religious institute. - Bishop Sipuka appointed to Cape Town, succeeding Cardinal Brislin (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV has named Bishop Sithembele Anton Sipuka of Umtata, South Africa, as the new archbishop of Cape Town, the nation’s legislative capital. - Pontifical academy president lauds DDF's poetry citations in monogamy document (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
The president of the Pontifical Academy of Theology hailed the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s recent doctrinal note on monogamy as “revolutionary” in its use of poetry. Writing in the Vatican newspaper, Bishop Antonio Staglianò spoke of “a revolutionary act: the Congregation that was once called the Holy Office, the one of silences and denials, today quotes poets to explain why ‘two’ are better than three, four, or the liquid infinity of contemporary love.” “We are not faced with a theological treatise,” Bishop Staglianò continued. “It is something more radical: a cultural manifesto that tries to rehabilitate monogamy not as an imposition, but as an experience of beauty. And it does so with a secret weapon: poetry.’ - Italian Christian leaders to discuss 'way of dialogue' (CEI (Italian))
The Italian Episcopal Conference has announced the First Symposium of the Christian Churches, in which Italian Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant delegates will discuss the “Italian way of dialogue.” The announcement describes ecumenism as “a grammar of peace, a gift for public space, care for spirituality and wisdom of differences.” The two-day symposium will begin in Bari on January 23. “Our time, marked by strong conflict and violence, asks Christians for a renewed commitment to promote a culture of peace,” said Bishop Derio Olivero of Pinerolo, president of the Italian bishops’ Commission for Ecumenism and Dialogue. “This is a responsibility that we cannot shirk ... Differences are not an obstacle, but a heritage to be valued for the good of the Churches and of a society that is more than ever in need of communion and reconciliation.” - L'Osservatore Romano surveys upcoming Asian elections (CWN)
The Vatican newspaper published a four-page special section yesterday on upcoming elections in Asia. - Over 5,000 Catholics gather in Jordan to commemorate Christ's baptism (Vatican News)
More than 5,000 Catholics of various rites made a pilgrimage yesterday to the Church of the Baptism of Jesus in Jordan, consecrated last year at what is believed to be the site of the Lord’s Baptism. Representatives of the Melkite Greek, Maronite, Chaldean, Syriac, and Armenian Catholic Churches were present at the Mass celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Iyad Twal of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Diplomats from ten nations were also present. “We extend a sincere invitation to pilgrims from all over the world,” Bishop Twal said. “Come to the Holy Land, come to the Jordan River, come to this holy place, visit this church, and be blessed by the waters of the Jordan.” - Place your hopes, your ideas, and your lives upon the altar, Pope preaches to cardinals (CWN)
Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the beginning of the second and final day of the extraordinary consistory of cardinals (booklet, video). - Ecumenical Patriarch laments Russian invasion, defends recognition of Orthodox Church of Ukraine (Vema of the Church (Australia))
The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who holds a primacy of honor among the Orthodox churches, lamented the Russian invasion of Ukraine as he celebrated the Feast of the Theophany (Epiphany) with thousands of pilgrims. A Greek Orthodox newspaper published in Australia reported that Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew defended his decision seven years earlier to grant canonical recognition to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. The decision provoked the ire of the Russian Orthodox Church. - New pastoral staff for Pope Leo (Vatican News)
On the Solemnity of the Epiphany, Pope Leo XIV began to use a new pastoral staff (image). The staff “stands in continuity with those used by his predecessors, uniting the mission of proclaiming the mystery of love expressed by Christ on the Cross with its glorious manifestation in the Resurrection,” according to the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff. The new staff “presents Christ no longer bound by the nails of the Passion, but with His glorified body in the act of ascending to the Father,” the Office stated. “As in the appearances of the Risen Lord, He shows His wounds to His own as luminous signs of victory, which, while not erasing human suffering, transfigure it into the dawn of divine life.” - More...