Catholic News

• 'Let us make room inside ourselves for the Word of God,' Pope preaches during new commemoration (Vatican Press Office)
  In 2019, Pope Francis issued Aperuit illis, an apostolic letter instituting the annual Sunday of the Word of God, which takes place on the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time. On January 26, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica (video, booklet).
• Pope calls for remembrance and prayer on Auschwitz liberation anniversary (Vatican News)
  “Tomorrow we are all invited to set aside a moment of prayer and recollection, saying in our hearts: never again,” the Pope said on January 26, the day before the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Pope Francis visited the concentration camp in 2016, as did Pope Benedict XVI in 2006 and Pope St. John Paul II in 1979.
• Cardinal Re elected new Dean of College of Cardinals (Vatican Press Office)
  Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 85, was Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops from 2000 to 2010; he succeeds Cardinal Angelo Sodano. The dean, considered first among equals in the College of Cardinals, presides over the cardinals’ meetings between the death of a Pope and the conclave to elect the next Pope. The new vice-dean of the College of Cardinals is Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, 76, since 2007 the Prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches.
• Unity, salvation, hospitality: Pope concludes Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Vatican Press Office)
  On January 25, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle, Pope Francis celebrated Vespers in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls (video, booklet). “They showed us unusual kindness“ (cf. Acts 28:2) was the theme of the 2020 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
• Open your hearts and minds to receive Jesus' good news, Pope tells pilgrims (Zenit)
  In his January 26 Angelus address (video), Pope Francis reflected on Matthew 4:12-23, the Gospel of the day.
• Protect and promote Christian couples, Pope says in address to Roman Rota (Vatican News)
  The Apostolic Tribunal of the Roman Rota is the Church’s highest appellate canonical court.
• 'Life becomes history' is theme of Pope's Message for World Day of Social Communications (Vatican Press Office)
  The Pope’s annual message is traditionally released on January 24, the memorial of St. Francis de Sales (patron of journalists); in 2020, the day will be celebrated on May 24. Pope Francis writes, “I would like to devote this year’s Message to the theme of storytelling, because I believe that, so as not to lose our bearings, we need to make our own the truth contained in good stories. Stories that build up, not tear down; stories that help us rediscover our roots and the strength needed to move forward together.”
• Pope prays for those affected by coronavirus (Vatican News)
  “I wish to be close to and pray for the people who are sick because of the virus that has spread through China,” Pope Francis said on January 26 in reference to the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak. “May the Lord welcome the dead into his peace, comfort families and sustain the great commitment by the Chinese community that has already been put in place to combat the epidemic.”
• Iraq's president meets with Pope (Vatican Press Office)
  “The parties focused on the challenges the country currently faces and on the importance of promoting stability and the reconstruction process, encouraging the path of dialogue and the search for suitable solutions in favour of citizens and with respect for national sovereignty,” according to the Vatican press office. “Attention then turned to the importance of preserving the historical presence of Christians in the country.”
• Uruguayan priest named Pope's personal secretary (Vatican News)
  Father Gonzalo Aemilius, 40, was ordained in 2006 and is known for his work with street children and drug addicts. He succeeds Msgr. Fabian Pedacchio, an Argentine priest.
• 'We are not making an impact,' leading South African prelate says (SACBC)
  Launching a new pastoral plan (“Evangelizing Community, Serving God, Humanity and all Creation”), Bishop Sithembele Sipuka, president of the bishops’ conference, spoke of “the realization by the bishops that as a Church in this region, we are not making an impact, both on the people we serve and in society. There is no growth in faith and spirituality, the furthest most of our faithful go is confirmation and they remain there. With regard to witnessing for Christ and continuing the work of evangelization, the majority of our Catholics do not see these as their task … Our faith does not influence society, it is as if the Catholic Church does not exist.”
• 8 sainthood causes advance (Vatican Press Office)
  Pope Francis approved decrees on the causes of the martyrdoms of 3 Capuchin Franciscans (Spain, 1936) and 10 priests and lay faithful slain in Guatemala (1980-1991), paving the way for their beatification. In addition, the Pontiff approved decrees recognizing the heroic virtues of a bishop, a cathedral canon, 3 diocesan priests, and a nun; each may now be called “venerable.”
• In video message, Pope recalls Brazilian dam disaster (Vatican Press Office)
  270 people were killed in the January 2019 Brumadinho dam disaster.
• 'Listen to the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth,' Cardinal Turkson says at Davos (Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development)
  “And if, with the analogy of Pope Francis, the earth and its poor are crying to us, then there is an urgency on the part of humanity: to go to these elements which are crying to us and to try to save them, to help them stop crying,” the prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development said during a press conference at the the 2020 World Economic Forum.
• Prince Charles meets with Holy Land Christian leaders in Bethlehem (Custody of the Holy Land)
  “You are the ‘living stones’ to which St. Peter first referred,” the Prince of Wales said during his speech. “And I need hardly say that it would be the greatest tragedy if those ‘living stones’ were to disappear from the Holy Land after these past millennia.”
• President Trump's speech highlights March for Life (CWN)
  "Unborn children have never had a stronger defender in the White House," boasted President Donald Trump, as he addressed hundreds of thousands of pro-life demonstrators participating in the March for Life on January 24.
• Vatican diplomat urges international community to 'keep the flame of dialogue alive' in the Middle East (Holy See Mission)
  Msgr. Fredrik Hansen, Chargé d’Affaires of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, addressed a UN Security Council meeting devoted to the Middle East.
• US bishops applaud administration measures to strengthen religious liberty (USCCB)
  Days after a statement expressing appreciation for the Trump administration’s “‘concrete actions” on religious liberty, two USCCB committee chairmen expressed their gratitude for new steps taken by the administration on school prayer and federal grants for faith-based organizations.
• Vice President Pence meets Pope Francis (CNA)
  US Vice President Mike Pence met on January 24 with Pope Francis, and told reporters after the meeting that they had discussed the March for Life, which took place in Washington the same day. Pence said that he had also spoken with the Pontiff about the persecution of Christians, particularly in the Middle East; and about the suffering of the people in Venezuela.
• 'No to new wars,' bishops of 3 African nations plead (Fides)
  “We appeal to the conscience of rulers to keep in their hearts and minds the duty to protect the populations and to work for the prosperity of people who must fully enjoy their rights as creatures created in the image of God,” said the bishops of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda.
• More...