Catholic News

• Cardinal Cupich, at Guadalupe basilica, speaks out against prospective mass deportations in Chicago (Archdiocese of Chicago)
  Speaking at Mass at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City (video), Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago said that “the reports being circulated of planned mass deportations targeting the Chicago area are not only profoundly disturbing but also wound us deeply.” “The Catholic community stands with the people of Chicago in speaking out in defense of the rights of immigrants and asylum seekers,” he continued. “Similarly, if the reports are true, it should be known that we would oppose any plan that includes a mass deportation of US citizens born of undocumented parents,” as well as attempts by “government agencies to enter places of worship for any enforcement activities.” Cardinal Cupich added that “government has the responsibility to secure our borders and keep us safe.” Still, “people of faith are called to speak for the rights of others and to remind society of its obligation to care for those in need. If the indiscriminate mass deportation being reported were to be carried out, this would be an affront to the dignity of all people and communities, and deny the legacy of what it means to be an American.”
• Jerusalem Patriarch urges Holy Land pilgrimages (Vatican News)
  Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, has issued a call to the world’s Catholics to resume pilgrimages to the Holy Land, in light of the ceasefire in the Gaza war. ”This ceasefire is a turning point,” the cardinal said. “So it’s about time to take courage to come here. We are waiting for you.” In a video message— which he recorded along with Father Francesco Patton, the Franciscan Custos of the Holy Land (a title that the Patriarch once held), Cardinal Pizzaballa reminded the faithful: “The source an origin of hope is here at the Holy Sepulchre with Jesus, the risen Lord.” Father Patton added his own encouragement for Catholics planning Jubilee pilgrimages. “Please, don’t fear,” he said. “Don’t be afraid. Come!”
• USCCB issues statement on President Trump's expected executive orders (USCCB)
  Chieko Noguchi, executive director of public affairs of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a statement on President Trump’s expected executive orders. “The Catholic Church’s foundational teaching calls us to uphold the sacredness of human life and the God-given dignity of the human person,” she said shortly after the president’s inauguration. “This means that the care for immigrants, refugees, and the poor is part of the same teaching of the Church that requires us to protect the most vulnerable among us, especially unborn children, the elderly and the infirm.” “The bishops’ conference will work with the Trump Administration as well as the US Congress to advance the common good for all, which will include instances of agreement, as well as disagreement,” she added.
• Pope Francis issues message for Trump inauguration (Vatican Press Office)
  Six hours before the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th president of the United States, the Vatican released a papal message for the inauguration. “I offer cordial greetings and the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you wisdom, strength and protection in the exercise of your high duties,” the Pope wrote. “Inspired by your nation’s ideals of being a land of opportunity and welcome for all, it is my hope that under your leadership the American people will prosper and always strive to build a more just society, where there is no room for hatred, discrimination or exclusion.” The Pope added: At the same time, as our human family faces numerous challenges, not to mention the scourge of war, I also ask God to guide your efforts in promoting peace and reconciliation among peoples. With these sentiments, I invoke upon you, your family, and the beloved American people an abundance of divine blessings.
• Cardinal Dolan, other clergy offer prayers at Trump inauguration (Detroit News)
  Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York was among the five clergy who offered prayers at President Donald Trump’s inauguration. “Please, God bless America, please mend her every flaw,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan said at the conclusion of his prayer. “You are the God in whom we trust, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen!” Father Frank Mann, a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, delivered the benediction. Rev. Franklin Graham, Rabbi Ari Berman (president of Yeshiva University), and Lorenzo Sewell (pastor of Detroit’s 180 Church) also offered prayers.
• Woman religious tapped to head Vatican City governorate (Vatican News)
  During an Italian television interview on January 19, Pope Francis disclosed that he has chosen Sister Raffaella Petrini to be the president of the Vatican City governorate. Sister Petrini, who is currently secretary-general of the governorate, will take the top spot when Cardinal Fernando Vergez Algaza retires when he reaches his 80th birthday on March 1.
• Spanish pastor threatened with criminal charges for denial of Eucharist (Pillar)
  Ana Redondo, the Minister of Equality for the Spanish government, has threatened criminal prosecution of a priest who denied the Eucharist to a local official who is involved in a homosexual union. ”You cannot discriminate against an LGTBI citizen and require him to choose wither his faith or his sexual condition,” said Redondo, insisting that this would be “contrary to the Spanish constitution.” Redondo was responding to a controversy in the town of Torrecaballeros, where Mayor Ruben Garcia said that his parish priest had denied him Communion.
• Confirmed: Vatican dissolves Peru-based Sodality (AP)
  Leaders of the Sodality of Christian Life (SVC) have confirmed that Pope Francis has dissolved their movement. A January 20 statement from the SCV acknowledged the accuracy of reports that the Vatican had announced the dissolution of the movement during a general assembly of the SCV in Brazil. The statement said, however, that public reports of the Vatican action had included some inaccuracies—but did not provide further details. A report issued earlier this week had indicated that the SCV—which has been under Vatican investigation for months—had been suppressed because of abuses of leadership and financial mismanagement. That unconfirmed report said that Msgr. Jordi Bertomeu Famos, who has headed the Vatican investigation of the movement, will supervise the formal dissolution of the SCV. In the January 20 statement, the SCV said that the earlier reports had been leaked to reporters by two members of the group, who had now been “definitely expelled” from the SCV for violating the confidentiality of the general-assembly meeting.
• Be close to God, the bishop, the people, and one another, Pope tells seminarians (Vatican Press Office)
  In a January 20 audience with seminarians of the Almo Collegio Capranica in Rome, Pope Francis asked, “When does one end up straying, or floundering?” Seminarians end up going astray, the Pope answered, when they do not cultivate closeness to God, the bishop, the people, and one another. In the Vatican’s English translation of the Pope’s remarks, the Pope also said, “The courage of St. Paul VI placed synodality as the aim of the Council” (emphasis added)—a statement not borne out by the historical record. In Pope Francis’s original Italian, Pope Francis said that Paul VI inserted synodality “alla fine del Concilio,” or at the end of the Second Vatican Council (in 1965)—a statement that is historically accurate.
• A sea of faith engulfs Philippine feast of the Christ Child (UCANews)
  More than 4 million people took part in devotions to the Santo Niño de Cebú, an image of the Christ Child venerated in the Philippines. “The Holy Child has been our constant source of hope and joy over the years,” said Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu. “In His childlike form, we see innocence and the enduring power of love that sustains us through all hardships. His presence assures us that we are never alone, and through Him, we are given the strength to endure.”
• French bishops seek Abbé Pierre cover-up probe (Pillar)
  Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, the president of the French bishops’ conference, has asked the prosecutor’s office in Paris to investigate a possible cover-up of sexual abuse committed by Abbé Pierre (1912-2007). In September, the bishops’ conference opened its archives on the priest to historians and journalists, following serious new charges of sexual abuse. Ordained to the priesthood in 1938, Abbé Pierre took part in the French resistance against the Nazis during World War II and was a member of the French parliament from 1945 to 1951. Known for his ministry to the poor and homeless, he became a beloved figure in France. He was also a critic of Catholic teaching on sexual morality.
• Vatican newspaper turns to US conservative think tank to analyze Trump's victory (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
  The Vatican newspaper—which customarily turns to Italian academics to analyze American politics, with sometimes amusing results—turned to the policy director of an American conservative think tank to analyze President Donald Trump’s election victory. In an article for the January 20 edition of the Vatican newspaper, Chris Griswold, policy director of American Compass, wrote that “if international observers want to understand what is happening in American politics and why Donald Trump is back in the White House, it may be helpful to know that America’s political, economic, and business elites have often failed to ask what those words [independence, opportunity, and freedom] mean to working-class Americans and their families.” “The American ideal requires community cohesion, a cohesion that is too often lacking,” he continued. “It is rootedness and connection that Americans most desire, not economic and social advancement. Too often, they experience the opposite, as financial pressures rob them of the ability to invest in their most important relationships.” Griswold added: The degradation of family and community cohesion, economic security, and social stability by the choices of the American elite is the broad context in which American politics now operates. And so is the contempt that the same elite has continued to show for the expressions of discontent by working-class Americans over this failure. This is a recipe for political upheaval. American Compass, according to its website, seeks to develop “the conservative economic agenda to supplant blind faith in free markets with a focus on workers, their families and communities, and the national interest.”
• Pope sees Trump deportation plan as 'disgrace' (Vatican News)
  In his latest interview, with Italian television personality Fabio Fazio, Pope Francis said that President Donald Trump’s plan to deport illegal immigrants is “a disgrace.” The Pope said that he was uncertain about the accuracy of reports that the Trump administration would undertake mass deportations. But he said: “If true, this will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor people who have nothing pay the bill.” Speaking more generally about immigration in Europe, the Pope connected the influx of migrants to the low birth rate. “If you don’t have children, you have to let migrants in,” he said. In the same interview the Pope said that he welcomed the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, and continued to hope that the troubles in the Holy Land might be resolved by a two-state solution. The Pope also used the television interview to promote his autobiography, Hope.
• Pope welcomes Gaza ceasefire, prays for dialogue and reconciliation (CNA)
  At the conclusion of his January 19 Sunday Angelus address, Pope Francis thanked the mediators of the Gaza ceasefire deal. “In recent days, it was announced that the ceasefire in Gaza will come into effect today,” he said. “I express my gratitude to all the mediators. It is a good job, to mediate so that peace is made. Thank you to the mediators!” “And I also thank all the parties involved in this important result,” he continued. “I hope that what has been agreed will be respected immediately by the parties, and that all the hostages may finally return home and embrace their loved ones. I pray a lot for them and for their families. I also hope that humanitarian aid will reach the people of Gaza, who so urgently need it, even faster and in large quantities.” The Pope added: Both the Israelis and the Palestinians need clear signs of hope: I trust that the political authorities of both of them, with the help of the international community, may reach the right solution for the two States. May everyone be able to say: yes to dialogue, yes to reconciliation, yes to peace. And let us pray for this: for dialogue, reconciliation and peace.
• God responds to our 'lack' with superabundance: papal Angelus address (Vatican Press Office)
  Reflecting on John 2:1-11, the Gospel reading of the day, Pope Francis said that “in this Gospel we can find two things: lack and superabundance.” “In the banquet of our life—we might say—at times we realize that the wine is missing: that we lack the strength and many things,” the Pope told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his January 19 Angelus address. “It happens when the worries that plague us, the fears that assail us or the overwhelming forces of evil rob us of the taste for life, the exhilaration of joy and the flavor of hope.” He continued: Take note: in the face of this lack, when the Lord gives, He gives in superabundance. It seems to be a contradiction: the more that is lacking in us, the greater the Lord’s superabundance. Because the Lord wants to celebrate with us, in a feast without end. Let us pray, then, to the Virgin Mary. May she, who is the “woman of the new wine,” intercede for us and, in this Jubilee year, help us to rediscover the joy of the encounter with Jesus.
• Cardinal O'Malley brokered deal for release of Cuban prisoners (New York Times)
  Pope Francis entrusted Cardinal Seán O’Malley, the now retired archbishop of Boston, with the task of brokering the deal between the Biden administration and the Cuban Communist regime that led to the release of more than 500 political prisoners. “The negotiations were conducted over the past three years, with at least a dozen meetings in Havana, New York and Washington, and with the cardinal talking to the foreign ministers and presidents of both countries,” The New York Times reported. José Daniel Ferrer, a leading Cuban human rights activist who was released from prison, said that “the Cuban government made a mockery of both Biden and the Vatican, which should be taking a firmer stance against human rights violations,” according to the newspaper’s paraphrase of his remarks. “Does that mean we should have left them [the prisoners] there?” Cardinal O’Malley responded. “I understand Mr. Ferrer has suffered a lot, and is very anxious to see this government fall,” but “making the Cuban people suffer is not the solution.”
• Investing in weapons to kill is madness, Pope says (Vatican News)
  In a brief address to the Catholic Foundation of Verona, Pope Francis said that “money renders the most when it is invested for the benefit of our neighbour. This is important.” “There is a very bad situation now, with investments,” he continued. “In some countries the investments that give the highest returns are weapons factories: investing to kill ... And when one does this, against or apart from the benefit of the people, money ages and burdens the heart, making it hard and deaf to the voice of the poor.” The Catholic Foundation of Verona, to whose leaders the Pope directed his comments, is a division of Generali Italia insurance company, according to Vatican News. The company is one of the world’s largest insurance companies. The Pope touched on other themes in his brief address, including care for our common home and the importance of “doing good always and to everyone.”
• USCCB issues report on religious liberty, sees 5 areas of 'critical concern' (USCCB)
  The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Religious Liberty has released its annual report on the state of religious liberty in the United States. The 84-page report surveyed 2024 developments related to religious liberty in Congress, the executive branch, the courts, and elsewhere. The report also identified five “areas of critical concern—threats and opportunities—for religious liberty”: “the targeting of faith-based immigration services” “the persistence of elevated levels of antisemitic incidents” “IVF mandates, which represent a significant threat to religious freedom, while the national discussion of IVF represents an opportunity for Catholics to share Church teaching and advocate for human dignity” “the scaling back of gender ideology in law” “parental choice in education, one of the longest-running areas of concern for American Catholics”
• Papal gratitude to Pontifical Swiss Guard Foundation (Vatican Press Office)
  Pope Francis expressed gratitude to the benefactors of the Pontifical Swiss Guard Foundation for their financial support of the members of the Swiss Guard and their families. “The cooperation between your Foundation and the Pontifical Swiss Guard is exemplary, because it demonstrates that no reality can proceed alone,” the Pope said during a January 18 audience. “We must all help each other and support each other, and this applies to you, to individual communities, but also to the Church as a whole.”
• Chinese bishop ordained to new diocese (Fides)
  Bishop Anthony Ji Weizhong has been ordained as bishop of the newly created Diocese of Luliang, in northern China. Bishop Weizhong is the 11th bishop to be ordained in China in the six years since the Vatican reached a secret agreement with Beijing on the appointment of new bishops. Seventy Chinese dioceses still have no bishop.
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