Pope names Bishop Shelton Fabre to succeed Archbishop Kurtz in Louisville (Holy See Bulletin) The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Louisville (USA), presented by HE Mons. Joseph Edward Kurtz. The Holy Father has appointed HE Msgr. Shelton Joseph Fabre, currently Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux (USA), Metropolitan Archbishop of Louisville…

Nun sentenced to one year in prison (KTLA) A nun who worked as the principal of a Catholic elementary school in Torrance was sentenced to a year in prison after pleading guilty to stealing more than $835,000 in school funds to pay for personal expenses, officials announced Monday. Mary Margaret Kreuper, 80, of Arlington Heights in Los Angeles, was also ordered to pay $825,338 in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California…

Pope to priests: Don’t “remain barricaded in the sacristy” (CNA) Pope Francis encouraged priests on Monday not to “remain barricaded in the sacristy” as the world is “waiting for the Gospel.” In an address to members of Rome’s Pontifical Lombard Seminary at the Vatican’s Clementine Hall on Feb. 7, the pope noted that Achille Ratti, the future Pope Pius XI, had studied at the institution…

Vatican: synodal process showing some progress, challenges (CNS) The Catholic Church worldwide is showing good progress and “much joy” after the opening of the synodal process, but there also have been some “uncertainties” and challenges, said the ordinary council of the Synod of Bishops. “There is growing awareness that the synodal conversion to which all the baptized are called is a lengthy process that will prolong itself well beyond 2023,” the council said in a press release Feb. 7. “The desire all over the world is (that) this synodal journey, which has begun at the local level,” continues “so that tangible signs of synodality might increasingly be manifest as constitutive of the church,” it said…

Catholic school enrollments are rebounding (The Tablet) New data from the National Catholic Educational Association shows enrollment in Catholic schools nationwide is climbing back towards pre-pandemic levels after an enrollment drop in the 2020-2021 school year.  Catholic school enrollment this year is 1,688,417, up almost 4% from the 2020-2021 school year when enrollment was 1,626,291, according to Margaret Kaplow, NCEA vice president of communications…

Missouri governor’s “Christian values” statement prompts concern (St. Louis Posat-Dispatch) Does the next director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services need to be a Christian? That is the question after Gov. Mike Parson said in a statement Tuesday that he would only choose someone for the job who shared the “same Christian values” as the governor. Parson, a Republican, was blasting conservative hard-liners in the Missouri Senate who had just jettisoned his pick for state health director, Donald Kauerauf, a pro-vaccine and -mask public health professional with 35 years of experience. But in defending his pick, Parson’s statement, which his office also shared on social media, prompted a whole new round of criticism…