Pope: Synodality is about “listening to the spirit,” not “majority consensus” (CNS) The synodal process is a path of engagement that makes room for the Holy Spirit, and not a “majority consensus like a parliament” to guide the universal church, Pope Francis said. Speaking with leaders of the French Catholic Action movement Jan. 13, the pope said that synodality is “not a plan or a program to be implemented” but “a style to be adopted” that listens to the spirit through the word of God, prayer and adoration…

Woman charged with hate crime in connection with cathedral vandalism (The Denver Channel) The Denver District Attorney’s Office has charged a woman with a hate crime in connection to the vandalism of a Denver Catholic cathedral back in October, officials announced Thursday. On Oct. 10, 2021, the Cathedral Basilica of Immaculate Conception building and surrounding statues were spray-painted with messages of hate…

Bishop acquitted on charges of raping a nun (The New York Times) A Catholic bishop who was accused of repeatedly raping a nun in southern India over a two-year period was acquitted on Friday, bringing an end for now to what appeared to be the country’s first case of its kind. The bishop, Franco Mulakkal, who had been on trial since 2020, had consistently said he was innocent. “Praise the Lord,” he said after the verdict in the city of Kottayam in Kerala State…

Astronaut talks to Catholic school kids from space (CNS) Crisscrossing above the Seattle region at approximately 17,000 mph aboard the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei took live questions from students at Seattle Nativity School. “How has being in space affected your view of God?” asked one eighth grader at the Jesuit middle school. Vande Hei paused. This was not the usual inquiry…

Vatican unveils motto for 2025 Jubilee (CNA) Preparations are already underway in Rome for the 2025 Jubilee, a special year of grace and pilgrimage in the Catholic Church. Archbishop Rino Fisichella met with Pope Francis this month to discuss the motto for the jubilee.  In a video published by Vatican News on Jan. 13, Fisichella revealed that the motto approved by the pope “can be summed up in two words: Pilgrims of Hope…