U.S.
2025 Catholic Social Ministry Gathering puts ‘dynamo’ of Christian hope into action
WASHINGTON — The Catholic Social Ministry Gathering, held in Washington from Jan. 25-28, focused on collaboration, advocacy and prayer, bringing together Catholic leaders in social ministry from across the country. The event, themed “Missionaries of Hope, Advocates for Justice,” was organized by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and several other groups. Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio to the U.S., read a message from Pope Francis that emphasized the need to bring “organizing hope” to the center of the Church’s pastoral mission. Key discussions addressed a wide range of Catholic social teaching, such as migration, climate change, human trafficking, intergenerational trauma in Native American communities and fostering social trust. The three-day gathering began and ended with Mass and also featured workshops on refugee resettlement, health care, homelessness and family support. (OSV News)
Shrine honoring St. Kateri, Jesuit martyrs confirmed as national shrine
AURIESVILLE, N.Y. — The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has confirmed Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine as a national shrine. Long known also as the National Shrine of the North American Martyrs, the sanctuary honors Jesuit martyrs Sts. Isaac Jogues, René Goupil and Jean de Lalande, as well as St. Kateri Tekakwitha, who was born there in 1656. On Jan. 27, the USCCB notified the shrine that it may use the designation “national.” Friends of Our Lady of Martyrs had requested formal permission to use the title in August 2024. Established in 1885, the shrine now operates under the nonprofit Friends of Our Lady of Martyrs, chaired by Bishop Edward B. Scharfenberger of Albany. Bishop Scharfenberger celebrated the shrine’s confirmed status, calling it a “home for cultivating holiness.” Executive Director Julie Baaki highlighted its role as a place to pray for persecuted Christians and a source of spiritual strength for pilgrims. The shrine will be open to pilgrims May 3-Oct. 19 to mark the centenary of the North American martyrs’ beatification. (OSV News)
Trump order against youth gender transition hailed by U.S. bishops’ family life head
WASHINGTON — In a move welcomed by the U.S. bishops’ point man on family life, President Donald Trump Jan. 28 signed an executive order stating his administration would seek to prohibit certain types of medical or surgical gender reassignment procedures for minors who identify as transgender. The order directed that the government “will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit these destructive and life-altering procedures.” Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, the chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, in a Jan. 29 statement praised the directive “prohibiting the promotion and federal funding of procedures that, based on a false understanding of human nature, attempt to change a child’s sex.” Referencing the Vatican document “Dignitas Infinita,” he said, “Helping young people accept their bodies and their vocation as women and men is the true path of freedom and happiness.” (OSV News)
WORLD
Lunar New Year coinciding with Jubilee Year seen as time for ‘change, renewal’
WASHINGTON — Coinciding with the Church’s Jubilee Year, the Lunar New Year “can be a time of change and renewal” of faith, two U.S. bishops’ committee chairmen said in a special message to Catholics from Asian cultures who celebrate the Chinese New Year. “May the blessings of Almighty God come upon you, so that your Radiant Faith, which enriches the Church, may bring hope and renewal to our world, our country, the Church, and our families,” said Bishop Robert J. Brennan of Brooklyn, New York, and Bishop Earl K. Fernandes of Columbus, Ohio, in a Jan. 28 message issued with their blessings on behalf of all the bishops. They are the chairmen, respectively, of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church and its Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Islanders. This year the festivities begin Jan. 29, ushering in the Year of the Snake, symbolizing good luck, rebirth and regeneration. (OSV News)
Pope Francis, Sweden’s cardinal mourn victims of deadly mass shooting
MALMÖ, Sweden — Pope Francis said he was “deeply saddened” by the tragic shooting in a Swedish school, sending “assurance of his spiritual closeness to all affected by this traumatic incident.” The Feb. 5 telegram, signed by the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said that the pontiff “offers prayers for the repose of the souls of those who have died.” Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Stockholm expressed sorrow following Sweden’s deadliest mass shooting in history on Feb. 4, where 11 people, including the masked gunman, were killed in Örebro. In a Feb. 5 statement, Cardinal Arborelius decried the rising violence in Sweden, calling for God’s help to bring harmony and goodness to the country. While in Rome for the Nordic bishops’ conference’s Jubilee pilgrimage, he pledged to return to Sweden on Feb. 6. St. Eskil’s Catholic Church in Örebro will remain open for prayer, with an evening Mass to be celebrated for the victims Feb. 5. (OSV News)
All Sodalitium-linked movements are ended, Vatican envoy confirms in Peru
LIMA, Peru — Pope Francis’ special envoy to Peru confirmed during a Feb. 2 Mass he concelebrated in Lima’s Sodalitium-run parish that all branches of the controversial lay movement, Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, were ordered suppressed by Pope Francis. Sodalitium was founded by Luis Fernando Figari in 1971, and is being ended by the Vatican citing the lack of an authentic spiritual charism. Jordi Bertomeu, appointed as pontifical commissioner in the process, announced the start of the dissolution process, expressing the pope’s desire for members’ well-being, not punishment. The action follows an investigation into widespread abuse within the movement, including sexual, psychological and physical violations — and several high-profile expulsions from the movement, including the founder himself. At the peak of its membership, Sodalitum counted some 20,000 members across South America and parts of the United States. (OSV News)
