Catholic News

• Recalling Nostra Aetate, Pope condemns anti-Semitism (@Pontifex)
  In a social media post on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Pope Leo XIV condemned anti-Semitism and offered readers a link to Nostra Aetate, the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions. “On Holocaust Remembrance Day, I would like to recall that the Church remains faithful to the unwavering position of the Declaration Nostra Aetate against every form of antisemitism,” Pope Leo tweeted. “The Church rejects any discrimination or harassment based on ethnicity, language, nationality, or religion.”
• Cardinal Fernández, DDF prefect, warns against lack of intellectual humility (CWN)
  The prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith called for intellectual humility at the opening of the dicastery’s plenary session and linked the lack of such humility to the “excesses of the Inquisition, the world wars, the Shoah, and the massacres in Gaza.”
• Cardinal Parolin recalls 1200th anniversary of St. Ansgar's evangelizing mission (Vatican News)
  Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, celebrated Mass in St. Ansgar’s Cathedral in Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, in commemoration of the 1200th anniversary of the beginning of the saint’s evangelizing mission in Denmark. St. Ansgar, now remembered as the Apostle of the North, “faced enormous opposition and seemed to fail, but success was not what he sought,” Cardinal Parolin preached. The saint’s life, the prelate said, shows that the Church grows “not primarily in numbers, but in men and women who live lives of faithfulness, perseverance, and love: the mission begins with transformed hearts.”
• Sri Lankan archdiocese organizes demonstration following police assault of priest (AsiaNews)
  The Archdiocese of Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital, organized a silent demonstration of priests and religious following the assault of Father Milan Priyadarshana, for which six police officers have been arrested. “We have gathered here to declare that the police have no right to inflict physical or mental violence on any citizen of our country,” said Father Jude Krishantha, spokesman for the archdiocese. “We call on the president and all those who handle the law to ensure that the police do not allow such physical and mental violence against any citizen, not just a religious leader.”
• Cardinal Tagle encourages Hong Kong's Catholics to be 'courageous witnesses to the Lord' (Fides)
  Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, one of the two pro-prefects of the Dicastery for Evangelization, encouraged Catholics in Hong Kong “to bring hope to society” and become “courageous witnesses of the Lord.” “May the face of Jesus, always shine upon Hong Kong, and may Hong Kong rejoice in the face of Jesus,” he said. Cardinal Tagle made his remarks at a January 18 concert marking the 80th anniversary of the Diocese of Hong Kong. Others in attendance included Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan, SJ, of Hong Kong; current and former governors of Hong Kong; the cardinal archbishop of Tokyo; bishops from Macau and Taipei; Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck of Essen, Germany; and Bishop Oscar Cantú of San Jose, California.
• Cardinal Tobin calls for defunding of 'lawless' ICE (National Catholic Reporter)
  The cardinal archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, called for the defunding of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). “How will you say ‘no’ to violence?” he said yesterday during an online interfaith prayer service. “How will you say ‘no’ this week when an appropriations bill is going to be considered in Congress?” Cardinal Tobin added: Will you contact your congressional representatives, the senators and representatives from your district? Will you ask them, for the love of God and the love of human beings, which can’t be separated, to vote against renewing funding for such a lawless organization?
• Pope Leo warns of dangers of AI, emphasizes dignity of human faces, voices (CWN)
  In his message for World Communications Day, Pope Leo XIV spoke of the dignity of the human face and the human voice, warned of the dangers of artificial intelligence (AI), and called for “responsibility, cooperation, and education” to help guide the use of AI.
• Reports: Pope to visit Angola, Equatorial Guinea (ACI Africa)
  In separate announcements, the apostolic nuncio to Angola and the president of Equatorial Guinea said that Pope Leo XIV will visit their nations. The Vatican has not officially announced the visits. Angola, a nation of 37 million (map) is 92% Christian (52% Catholic) and 6% ethnic religionist. Equatorial Guinea, a nation of 1.9 million (map), is 88% Christian (80% Catholic) and 4% Muslim.
• Restoration of Grotto of the Nativity announced (Custody of the Holy Land)
  The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land announced that an Italian firm will conduct imminent restoration work on the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The Custody of the Holy Land is the Franciscan province there. In the 14th century, the Holy See entrusted the care of the holy sites in the Holy Land to the Franciscan order. The Church of the Nativity was constructed over the site of the grotto in the early fourth century. The present structure dates to 565.
• Archbishop Gomez: 'The country cannot go on like this' (Angelus News)
  Reacting to violence in Minneapolis, the head of the nation’s largest diocese said today that “the country cannot go on like this.” “The first task is to restore order and peace to our streets, and insist on calm and restraint in our public discourse,” Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles wrote in an archdiocesan media column. “I hope all sides in this conflict—federal authorities, city and state officials, and those protesting the enforcement actions—will take a step back in the interests of the common good.” Archbishop Gomez added: There is no question that the federal government has the duty to enforce immigration laws. But there must be a better way than this ... It serves no national interest to deport undocumented men and women who are contributing to the good of our society, it only leaves children without their parents. Our rights do not depend on the decisions of government officials or law enforcement officers; we do not lose our rights based on the color of our skin, or the language we speak, or for not having the proper documents. Right now our government seems to be treating undocumented immigrants—men, women, and children—as if they have no rights.
• Zayed Award announces $1M prize recipients; Vatican cardinal sits on judging committee (CWN)
  The Zayed Award for Human Fraternity has announced its three 2026 honorees: the Azerbaijan-Armenia Peace Agreement, brokered by President Donald Trump; Zarqa Yaftali, an Afghan girls’ education advocate; and Taawon, a Palestinian development association. Each of the honorees will receive a $1-million prize on February 4, the anniversary of the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity.
• Pontifical academy weighs in on response to AI (Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences)
  The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences on January 22 released “Digital Rerum Novarum: Artificial Intelligence for Peace, Social Justice, and Integral Human Development,” the 14-page final report of the academy’s October seminar on the topic. “Ultimately, the forces driving historical change are the same ones that transform the human heart,” the report concluded. “This conviction, which unites ethics, spirituality and political action, must guide our response to the challenge of AI and orient its development toward a genuine project of integral human development.”
• UN official hails Pope's moral authority on refugees (CWN)
  Praising Pope Leo’s “moral and spiritual leadership,” the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees thanked Pope Leo XIV for his “steadfast support” for refugees.
• Leading Brazilian bishops meet with Pontiff (CWN)
  Pope Leo XIV received the officers of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) on January 26.
• Priest attacked in DR Congo (ACI Africa)
  Father Jean-Richard Ilunga, a priest of the Diocese of Mbuji-Mayi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is in critical condition after armed bandits attacked him on January 24. “The assailants robbed Father Ilunga of his motorcycle, personal bag, mobile phone, and money before tying him up and abandoning him,” ACI Africa reported.
• University of Notre Dame sees record number of converts (National Catholic Register)
  Seventy-six students at the University of Notre Dame are preparing to enter the Church this Easter—up from 33 in 2023 and 52 in 2024. The National Catholic Register reported that “growth this year has been particularly strong among catechumens, meaning those who have never been baptized.” A record number of students are also preparing to enter the Church at Harvard University.
• Msgr. Crispino Valenziano, liturgist, dies at 93 (CWN)
  Msgr. Crispino Valenziano, an influential Italian liturgist, died on January 24 at the age of 93.
• Athletica Vaticana to bring Olympic Cross to Milan for Winter Games (Vatican News)
  The Holy See’s sports association, Athletica Vaticana, will bring the Olympic and Paralympic Cross to a basilica in Milan, the site of the upcoming 2026 Winter Games. The Olympic and Paralympic Cross was made in 2012. During the Jubilee of Sport last year, the president of the International Olympic Committee joined the prefect of the Dicastery for Culture and Education in carrying it through the holy door of St. Peter’s Basilica.
• Pope concludes Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with call for renewed commitment to mission (CWN)
  Pope Leo XIV concluded the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with the celebration of Vespers this evening in the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls (video).
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