Bishop Stephen Chow Sau Yan, SJ, of Hong Kong Diocese, stressed the formation of laity, young people and clergy for a synodal Church in the coming years, in his advent message for 2022.
At the conclusion of the General Audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis expressed his closeness to the victims of the Java earthquake which left 271 killed, 40 still missing, and injured nearly 2043 people as of Wednesday.
A German missionary, Father Hans-Joachim Lohre, was allegedly kidnapped in the capital Bamako, Mali on Sunday. While he was preparing to go for the Mass in another part of the city, he disappeared.
Pope Francis appointed Dr. Pier Francesco Pinelli as a temporary Administrator to relaunch Caritas Internationalis in a decree issued on Tuesday to revise the current Caritas’ procedures and norms and to prepare for the elections at the next General Assembly.
Pope Francis visited his cousin-sister and relatives at his family’s place of origin in Asti, in the northern part of Italy, on November 19 and had special lunch for his cousin Carla Rebezzana's 90th birthday.
Pope Francis appointed the first lay secretary, Gleison De Paula Souza, for the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life on November 17. 38-year-old Souza is a high school teacher of religion and a father of two daughters.
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio was elected as the new president and Archbishop William Edward Lori as vice president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) at the bishops’ General Assembly held in Baltimore, Maryland on November 15.
In a Telegram message on Tuesday, Pope Francis "sends condolences to the families and friends of those who have died, assuring the injured and those who mourn their loved ones of his spiritual closeness."
