Prosecution of McCarrick moves forward (Crux) A Dec. 21 motion for transcript, audio and video recordings of depositions related to the criminal charges against ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was an important step for the prosecution, according to one of his alleged victims present in the courtroom…
Pope meets with Metropolitan Hilarion (CNA) Pope Francis met with Metropolitan Hilarion on Wednesday amid rising expectations of a second encounter between the pope and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2022. The Holy See press office said that the pope received the chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate before his general audience on Dec. 22…
Bishop “profoundly moved” after trek through diocese damaged by tornadoes (CNS) Following a 400-mile road trip Dec. 15 across his tornado-ravaged Diocese of Owensboro in western Kentucky, Bishop William F. Medley said he will not forget the destruction, “but what will stay with me are the people I saw.” The tornadoes that also hit Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri and Illinois during the night of Dec. 10 broke records as the worst tornado event in both Kentucky history and in U.S. history…
Prayers in Italy for abandoned mission in Afghanistan (UCANews) An Italian missionary priest who was forced to flee Afghanistan following the withdrawal of US forces and the Taliban takeover of the country continues to pray for people left behind in the abandoned Catholic mission. “I send you my Christmas greetings with the same image and the same evangelical quote which I used seven years ago, in 2014, when I was about to leave for Kabul. This year, having forcibly returned to Italy, I can repeat with the Magi: ‘We have seen his star in the East!’. Merry Christmas! Pray for Afghanistan!” said Father Giovanni Scalese, 66, reports Fides news agency…
