Pope confers ministries of lector, catechist on lay men and women (CNS) Highlighting the importance of the Bible in the life of faith and the role of lay women and men in sharing the Gospel, Pope Francis formally installed eight men and women in the ministry of lector and eight others in the ministry of catechist. During Mass Jan. 23, the church’s celebration of Sunday of the Word of God, the pope used a revised rite for formally installing lectors, a ministry he opened to women a year earlier, and the new rite for the ministry of catechist, which he established in May…
Pope Francis sets day of prayer for Ukraine (CNS) Saying he was worried about Ukraine and how a possible Russian-Ukrainian conflict could spread, Pope Francis proclaimed Jan. 26 as a day of prayer for peace in Ukraine. “I am following with concern the rising tensions that threaten to strike a new blow at peace in Ukraine and put into question the security of the European continent, with even wider repercussions,” the pope said Jan. 23 after reciting the Angelus prayer…
Pope issues message for World Communications Day on listening (Vatican News) After focusing last year on seeing reality and conveying it to others, Pope Francis in his 2022 Message for the World Communications Day emphasized the quality of listening, which he said “is decisive in the grammar of communication and is a condition for genuine dialogue.” The Pope noted that people are quickly losing the ability to listen to one another, while at the same time listening is undergoing new developments, especially due to new forms of communicating. These trends demonstrate that “listening is still essential in human communication…”
New York Catholic high school shut down after bomb threats (The New York Post) A Queens Catholic high school was locked down for over a week after bomb threats were made on social media, according to church officials and cops. “Tomorrow January 14th I will [plant] 5 different bombs across the school in lockers. I might put a nail bomb near the deans so I can kill all them f–kers,” read one threat in an overnight series of since-deleted Instagram posts. One post carried the chilling caption: “The day that everyone will feel my pain…”
March for Life 2022: “A great witness to the sanctity of human life” (CNA) Participants returned in large numbers to the annual March for Life Friday, braving frigid weather one year after the event’s pandemic-related virtual shutdown to demonstrate solidarity for the unborn at the start what could be a decisive year for the pro-life movement. Billed as the “largest human rights demonstration in the world,” the daylong gathering began tentatively with scattered clusters of bundled participants trickling into the National Mall on a clear but chilly morning. That it was bracingly cold was apparent from the the woolen socks Franciscan friars wore beneath their sandal straps…
Was Dorothy Day too left-wing to be a Catholic saint? (The New York Times) “One thing about Dorothy Day that I love is that she makes everyone uncomfortable,” said the Rev. Anthony Andreassi, the principal of Regis High School in Manhattan, who led a prayer service outside Ms. Day’s childhood home in Brooklyn one day last month. “The Catholic Church, like everything else, is so divided between liberals and conservatives,” he said. “She is one of these people who both the left and the right find so much richness in…”
