January 2021

Pope Francis said yesterday that catechists have the vital responsibility of leading others to a personal encounter with Jesus through prayer, the sacraments, and Scripture.

Pope Francis announced today the establishment of an international day to honour grandparents and the elderly to take place each year in July.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols spoke to LBC radio’s Matt Frei on Saturday 30 January 2021 just days after the tragic news that the UK’s death toll from COVID-19 had passed the 100,000 mark.

Canon Giles Goward RIP Canon Giles Goward, the Rector of St Mary’s College Oscott, the Seminary in Birmingham that trains men for the priesthood, died …

Pope Francis encouraged Catholic organizations yesterday to continue to fight against “unacceptable poverty.”

In a message to two Belgian groups released 29 January, the pope said that the coronavirus pandemic had made poverty relief even more difficult. 

In March 2020, Fr. Michael Stack was looking forward to retiring after years of exhausting priestly ministry. He had served for almost a quarter-century as a chaplain in four major hospitals in the archdiocese of Birmingham, England. 

Pope Francis urged Catholics today to engage in a “mission of compassion” to a world ravaged by the coronavirus crisis. 

Writing in his World Mission Day message, released today, the pope warned Catholics not to succumb to the temptation of justifying indifference on the basis of COVID-19 restrictions.

Emeritus Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue of Lancaster who passed away 24 January 2021 Credit: Diocese of Lancaster A tribute to Bishop Patrick O’Donoghue who sadly died …

Pope Francis met yesterday with the head of the World Food Program, as the organization issued a warning that more than 300 million children are going hungry amid the coronavirus pandemic.

A Vatican cardinal has expressed “astonishment” at a statement by a group of Protestant and Catholic theologians in Germany. 

Poland’s constitutional court published on Wednesday the rationale for its declaration that abortion for fetal abnormalities is unconstitutional three months after it made the ruling. 

The Supreme Court of Ireland ruled Friday that a hospital may withhold medical treatment contrary to the wishes of the parents of a child with severe injuries.

A Vatican official has encouraged Catholics to apply the Church’s social teaching to evaluate proposals for a “Green New Deal.”

The organizers of World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon yesterday unveiled the event’s official theme song.

They said that the song, entitled “Há Pressa no Ar” in Portuguese (“There’s a rush in the air”) and released yesterday, invites young people to identify themselves with the Virgin Mary. 

All Saints Church in Warsaw is an imposing edifice. Its soaring twin bell towers were inspired by a Renaissance abbey in Italy. In 2017, it became the first building in Poland to be designated a “House of Life.” 

The title was awarded by the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, named after the Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary.

Pope Francis said today that commemorating the Holocaust means to be aware that “these things can happen again.” 

A heart monitor in an intensive care unit. Credit: sfam_photo via Shutterstock. A Polish Catholic patient at the centre of a UK court battle died …

An Italian cardinal expressed concern this week about the use of social media by children, encouraging the Church to do its part to give young people hope for the future amid the coronavirus pandemic.

On the day government figures recorded 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 in the United Kingdom, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, said:

“A day of great sadness all over the land. So many people, families, communities, remembering those who have died in these terrible months of the pandemic. Each one is mourned. Each one is to be prayed for.