DR Congo cardinal warns of plundering of Church land, calls for voter registration (Vatican News)
The Democratic Republic of the Congo, a Central African nation of 105 million (map), is 95% Christian (52% Catholic), with 2% adhering to ethnic religions. Pope Francis is scheduled to make an apostolic journey there in late January and early February.
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem condemns the storming of its land by Israeli radical group (Orthodox Times)
On December 27, Israeli settlers seized land owned by the Greek Orthodox Church in Silwan (Siloam).
Papal message to Taizé youth: Amid war in Europe, ‘opt for trust in God’ (Taizé Community)
Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the Substitute (Sostituto) of the Secretariat of State, has written a message in the Pope’s name to the young people who are participating in the 45th Taizé European meeting in Rostock, Germany. The Taizé Community, an ecumenical French monastic community, was founded by Brother Roger Schütz in 1940.
Over 100 priests and religious sisters kidnapped, arrested or killed in 2022 (Aid to the Church in Need)
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Benedict XVI’s condition: serious but stable (Vatican Press Office)
Matteo Bruni, the director of the Vatican press office, told reporters on December 29 that Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI is “absolutely lucid and alert,” but his health remains precarious. The 95-year-old retired Pope “managed to rest well last night,” Bruni said. He concluded that “although his condition remains serious, the situation at the moment is stable.” […]
Commentary: Finding God in all things
When I was first asked to write this column four years ago, I was working for the Jesuits at Boston College. They introduced me to the tenet of Ignatian spirituality that we can “find God in all things.” I was a bit skeptical at first glance. It seemed like something that could easily give way […]
Papal calendar: 2023 holds important events for Pope Francis
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis will soon pack his bags for his first foreign trip of 2023, a year that promises to be as busy as ever. The pope, who celebrated his 86th birthday Dec. 17, can move quickly — in a wheelchair — and keeps saying in interviews that a functioning head and […]
Commentary: A season of change, a time of hope
There are a lot of joys about being a grandparent, but for starters, it lets us relive those first months and years of being a parent. We’ve got a lot of mileage on our odometer now, but at one time, all of us grandparents held a precious new life for the first time in our […]
Eritrean authorities free Catholic bishop held 75 days in prison
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNS) — Eritrean authorities have freed Catholic Bishop Fikremariam Hagos Tsalim after 75 days in prison. Bishop Tsalim, the 52-year-old bishop of Segheneity, an eparchy in the southern part of Eritrea, had spent Christmas in prison. A video emerged Dec. 28 showing the prelate being greeted by priests and women religious in the […]
Seminarian’s cross made from an old pew part of new seminary’s future
PHILADELPHIA (CNS) — Everybody needs a hobby, as the saying goes, including seminarians. For Rob Bollinger, who is studying for the priesthood at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, his hobby — his way of seeking some respite from his studies — starts with a piece of wood. “There’s definitely a sense of […]