Posted on 01/9/2026 20:01 PM (CNA Daily News - US)
Church employee Francisco Paredes, 46, was handcuffed by ICE Dec. 4, 2025. | Credit: Photo courtesy of Francisco Paredes
Jan 9, 2026 / 15:01 pm (CNA).
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents surveilled St. Gabriel the Archangel Catholic Church in Hopkins, Minnesota, on Epiphany after deporting the parish’s beloved maintenance worker to Mexico five weeks earlier.
The Trump administration last year eliminated a federal policy that generally prohibited immigration enforcement in “sensitive locations” such as schools, churches, and hospitals. Attendance at St. Gabriel’s Spanish Mass has dropped by half since the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, and parishioners have expressed fear of churchgoing about eight miles from where an ICE agent shot and killed U.S. citizen Renee Good on Jan. 7.
Father Paul Haverstock, pastor of St. Gabriel’s, said he had vested for the 1 p.m. Spanish Mass Jan. 4 when a parishioner told him about men wearing ski masks in a car outside the church. He said he was disturbed to receive the report, went to the sacristy to get his cellphone, and placed it next to his chair in the sanctuary.
“If there is an incident of agents coming in, I want to make sure that it’s recorded, and I want a clear recording of me letting the agents know that we’re in the middle of a religious service,” Haverstock said.
It didn’t come to that, but ICE’s presence outside has impeded parishioners’ free exercise of religion, Haverstock said. ICE agents camped outside the church felt like “a violation,” he said.
“Who wouldn’t feel intimidated by that?” he said.
“It felt like a violation of our constitutional rights, felt like a violation of civilization and good manners. It felt like we were not living in the United States of America but in some third world, violent place, somewhere else,” Haverstock said. “Yeah, it feels like we’re in a war zone here.”
In a statement to CNA, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said ICE "does not raid churches," calling such allegations "smears."
"The facts are criminals are no longer able to hide in places of worship to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement and instead trusts them to use common sense," the statement said.
"If a dangerous illegal alien felon were to flee into a church, or a child sex offender was working as an employee, there may be a situation where an arrest is made to protect public safety.”
Church employee Francisco Paredes, 46, who had lived in the U.S. for 25 years with one conviction for driving under the influence, was handcuffed by ICE Dec. 4, 2025. Eight federal vehicles pulled into a large parking lot adjacent to St. Gabriel’s on 13th Avenue South after Paredes picked up coffee on his way to work, Paredes said, and he was driven to a processing facility.
About 2,000 immigration enforcement agents have come to Minnesota, according to government officials. On Jan. 4, “they were definitely out in front of the church, waiting in front of the church,” Hopkins Mayor Patrick Hanlon said in an interview.
Hanlon said he wants ICE to obey the laws of Hopkins, a community of about 19,000 people known for its lively "Mainstreet" and arts scene, and summertime Raspberry Festival.
Hanlon made an Instagram reel following the shooting of Good urging ICE to obey Hopkins’ traffic rules and other laws.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda in his statement after Good’s death pleaded for “all people of goodwill to join me in prayer for the person who was killed, for their loved ones, and for our community.”
After observing ICE monitoring the church during Sunday Mass, Haverstock called Hebda and the mayor.
Haverstock told them: “They had out-of-state license plates, and they were just sitting outside our doors for a while.” He added: “They came to our church, and even though they didn’t enter, they were apparently surveilling us.”
Until Paredes’ arrest and before ICE parked outside St. Gabriel’s, more than 400 people had usually attended the Spanish Mass, Haverstock said. Haverstock said he is considering offering a temporary Sunday Mass dispensation in his parish for those who are afraid.
“I think if I don’t give them a dispensation, hardly any of them will be here anyway because of the fear factor. So out of consideration for their circumstances and their souls, I think it’s likely I will give a dispensation for this coming Sunday, but I feel torn because we need God in this situation,” Haverstock said.
ICE’s presence has been “a real interference with our parishioners’ right to worship and come to Mass,” Haverstock said.
“They’re also terrorizing anybody of goodwill just by their presence, masks, and idling outside of a church. It’s frightening. I was frightened when I heard that they were there. I was frightened for the safety of the people in the church, including myself, and I was especially frightened for my immigrants,” he said.
Haverstock said he was “really blessed to see that our parish has not split on political lines in this situation, but we’ve united to help our immigrant brothers and sisters.”
Fear is palpable, Haverstock said, with “people being detained, even after showing IDs, and people being harassed, even if they’re here legally.”
When maintenance employee Paredes was deported, “it really got my attention,” Haverstock said.
Paredes, who sang in the church choir, said he spent about a month incarcerated in the ICE detention system before being sent to Mexico. He said he had asked to make a phone call when he was arrested and was denied for several days so his U.S.-citizen daughter didn’t know his whereabouts. Paredes spent Christmas imprisoned and said he had no access to any religious services.
In the Bloomington, Minnesota, immigration office, Paredes, who lacked legal permission to live in the U.S., said he was in a cell with 40 people. There was only one bathroom for the men to share, and “anyone can see when you go to the bathroom,” Paredes said.
After about seven hours later, Paredes said he was transferred to the Crow Wing County Jail in Brainerd, Minnesota. Paredes said a government-financed plane later took him to Laredo, Texas, where he was imprisoned in the Webb County Detention Center.
“They treat people like an animal,” Paredes said. “I was there!”
Paredes said no hot meals were provided, only a sandwich, an orange, crackers, and water. In a large warehouse-like building, “we sleep on the floor. No blanket. They treat you like an animal,” Paredes said.
The Homeland Security spokesperson, meanwhile, told CNA that "any claim there are subprime conditions at ICE detention centers" is "false."
"All detainees are provided with proper meals, medical treatment, showers, blankets, and have opportunities to communicate with their family members and attorneys," the statement said. "The truth is most ICE facilities have higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons that hold actual U.S. citizens. Ensuring the safety, security, and well-being of individuals in our custody is a top priority.”
When President Donald Trump talks about deporting “the worst of the worst,” Paredes said, “he doesn’t have any idea. All the people I met in the prison, they are hardworking people.”
Haverstock said he misses Paredes, who was a “wonderful worker and one of those rare, fully bilingual people, so that was a huge help to have him around.”
“We should be firmly resolved to do our part to obtain justice, not just for ourselves but for our brothers and sisters, and not even just those in the Church, but anyone’s who’s being persecuted, who happens to be our neighbor,” Haverstock said. “Families should not be separated except for extremely grave reasons. And I can say from my personal experience, from what I’ve seen, and from what I’ve heard, that these deportations and this massive push by ICE is not just targeting drug cartels and violent criminals and repeat offenders of major crimes, but it’s targeting moms and dads and families who have committed, in some cases, no crime except entering our country illegally, and separating a family because of that is unjust.”
At the end of Mass, Haverstock invites parishioners to learn how to “help immigrants in the parish who have been negatively impacted by recent events” and join an ad hoc team “to serve our brothers and sisters through works of mercy.”
Haverstock said the parish has used the same petition in the Prayer of the Faithful for several weeks: “For immigrants living in fear, for families that have been separated, and for wise immigration reform in our land, let us pray to the Lord.”
Update: This report was updated on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, at 11 a.m. to correct grammar in the statement provided by the Department of Homeland Security at the department's request.
Posted on 01/9/2026 15:30 PM (U.S. Catholic)
In Augustine’s time, after a period of persecution against the church, a sect of Catholics known as Donatists held a grudge against the Catholics who had appeased their persecutors rather than refused to comply. This grudge led them to deny the sacramental authority of priests who had succumbed to fear, and to reject the baptismal […]
The post In an age of discord, what does it mean to be the body of Christ? appeared first on U.S. Catholic.
Posted on 01/9/2026 15:17 PM (CNA Daily News - Vatican)
Pope Leo XIV addresses ambassadors and other diplomatic representatives to the Holy See in the Apostolic Palace on Jan. 9, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Jan 9, 2026 / 10:17 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV condemned the weakening of international multilateralism and the increased use of force in a speech to diplomats at the Vatican on Friday.
He also said states should respect fundamental human rights, such as religious freedom and freedom of speech, and comply with international humanitarian law in the lengthiest speech to date of his pontificate.
“A diplomacy that promotes dialogue and seeks consensus among all parties is being replaced by a diplomacy based on force, by either individuals or groups of allies. War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading,” he told ambassadors and other diplomatic representatives to the Holy See in the Apostolic Palace on Jan. 9. Currently, 184 states have diplomatic relations with the Holy See.
“Peace is no longer sought as a gift and a desirable good in itself,” the pontiff continued. “Instead, peace is sought through weapons as a condition for asserting one’s own dominion. This gravely threatens the rule of law, which is the foundation of all peaceful civil coexistence.”
The Holy Father called for concern for the common good of peoples to take precedence over “the defense of partisan interests” amid escalating tensions, pointing in particular to Venezuela, for which he reiterated an appeal “to respect the will of the Venezuelan people, and to safeguard the human and civil rights of all.”
Leo framed his speech, part of the annual new year greeting to the diplomatic corps, within St. Augustine of Hippo’s work of Christian philosophy “De Civitate Dei” (“City of God”).
“The ‘City of God’ does not propose a political program. Instead, it offers valuable reflections on fundamental issues concerning social and political life, such as the search for a more just and peaceful coexistence among peoples. Augustine also warns of the grave dangers to political life arising from false representations of history, excessive nationalism and the distortion of the ideal of the political leader,” the pope said.
He called “City of God,” written in the fifth century, highly relevant to the present time, marked by widespread migration and the “profound readjustment of geopolitical balances and cultural paradigms.”
Leo lamented what he called a “short circuit” of human rights around the world today, especially the right to life.
“We firmly reiterate that the protection of the right to life constitutes the indispensable foundation of every other human right. A society is healthy and truly progresses only when it safeguards the sanctity of human life and works actively to promote it,” he said.
He also called out the restriction of the right to freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, religious freedom, and the right to life in favor of other “so-called new rights,” so that “the very framework of human rights is losing its vitality and creating space for force and oppression.”
“This occurs when each right becomes self-referential, and especially when it becomes disconnected from reality, nature, and truth,” he added.
Pope Leo said Christian persecution is one of the most widespread human rights crises today, with over 380 million believers around the world suffering high or extreme levels of discrimination, violence, and oppression.
He recalled the victims of religiously motivated violence in Bangladesh, in the Sahel region, in Nigeria, and those killed or injured in the terrorist attack on the parish of St. Elias in Damascus in June.
The pontiff also decried “a subtle form of religious discrimination against Christians” taking place even in Christian-majority countries in Europe and the Americas.
“There, they are sometimes restricted in their ability to proclaim the truths of the Gospel for political or ideological reasons, especially when they defend the dignity of the weakest, the unborn, refugees and migrants, or promote the family,” he said.
Leo also called for respect for the freedom of other religious communities and the rejection of all forms of antisemitism.
The Holy Father also spoke about debates over the meaning of words and how they are tied to attacks on freedom of expression.
“Rediscovering the meaning of words is perhaps one of the primary challenges of our time. When words lose their connection to reality, and reality itself becomes debatable and ultimately incommunicable,” he said.
“We should also note the paradox that this weakening of language is often invoked in the name of freedom of expression itself. However, on closer inspection, the opposite is true, for freedom of speech and expression is guaranteed precisely by the certainty of language and the fact that every term is anchored in the truth,” he noted.
He called it painful to see the space for genuine freedom of expression rapidly shrink, especially in the West.
“At the same time, a new Orwellian-style language is developing which, in an attempt to be increasingly inclusive, ends up excluding those who do not conform to the ideologies that are fueling it,” he said.
A consequence of this, Leo said, is that the freedom of conscience, another fundamental human right, is increasingly questioned by states.
The freedom of conscience, which “establishes a balance between the collective interest and individual dignity,” protects individuals “to refuse legal or professional obligations that conflict with moral, ethical, or religious principles deeply rooted in their personal lives,” such as military service, abortion, or euthanasia.
“Conscientious objection is not rebellion but an act of fidelity to oneself,” he underlined.
Pope Leo urged states to protect the institution of the family as “the vocation to love and to life” manifested in the “exclusive and indissoluble union between a woman and a man” and implying a “fundamental ethical imperative for enabling families to welcome and fully care for unborn life.”
Noting the increasing priority of raising birth rates, he emphasized life as a gift to be cherished and said “we categorically reject any practice that denies or exploits the origin of life and its development,” including abortion and surrogacy.
He added that the Holy See is also concerned about projects aimed at financing cross-border mobility to increase access to abortion and “considers it deplorable that public resources are allocated to suppress life rather than being invested to support mothers and families.”
For the sick and elderly, “civil society and states also have a responsibility to respond concretely to situations of vulnerability, offering solutions to human suffering, such as palliative care, and promoting policies of authentic solidarity rather than encouraging deceptive forms of compassion such as euthanasia,” he said.
The pontiff underlined the inalienable dignity of every person and that migrants, as people, have “inalienable rights that must be respected in every situation.”
“I renew the Holy See’s hope that the actions taken by states against criminality and human trafficking will not become a pretext for undermining the dignity of migrants and refugees,” he said.
Leo recalled that in Augustine’s “City of God,” the saint interprets events and history according to a model of two cities. The city of God is characterized by God’s unconditional love and love for one’s neighbor, especially the poor, while the earthly city “is centered on pride and self-love (‘amor sui’), on the thirst for worldly power and glory that leads to destruction.”
“While St. Augustine highlights the coexistence of the heavenly and earthly cities until the end of time, our era seems somewhat inclined to deny the city of God its ‘right of citizenship,’” the pope noted.
“Yet, as Augustine notes, ‘Great is the folly of pride in those individuals who think that the supreme good can be found in this life and that they can become happy by their own resources,’” Leo said. “Pride obscures both reality itself and our empathy towards others. It is no coincidence that pride is always at the root of every conflict.”
Posted on 01/9/2026 09:30 AM (USCCB News)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Every level of Church leadership must strengthen and improve its ability to listen to everyone, especially to victims of sexual abuse and those who suffer, Pope Leo XIV said.
The problem of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church "is truly a wound in the life of the Church in many places," and "we cannot close our eyes or our hearts" to the crisis and its victims, he said at the conclusion of an extraordinary meeting with the world's cardinals at the Vatican.
"I encourage you to share this with your bishops: often the pain of the victims has been made worse by the fact that they were not welcomed and listened to," he said Jan. 8. The Vatican published the remarks Jan. 10.
"The abuse itself causes a deep wound that may last a lifetime, but often the scandal in the Church is because the door was closed and the victims were not welcomed and accompanied by authentic pastors," he said.
And so, he said, "listening is profoundly important" in this and all areas. "Formation in listening, formation in a spirituality of listening" is needed in seminaries, "but also for bishops" and all levels of church leadership, including laypeople working for the Church.
The pope's remarks came at the conclusion of an extraordinary consistory Jan. 7-8.
The overarching aim of their encounter was to grow in communion and discern together "what the Lord is asking of us for the good of his people."
After convening the international group of cardinals in Rome, the pope decided to make the gathering an annual event, however, with an additional meeting later this year, it will be a kind of synodal journey for Pope Leo and members of his College of Cardinals.
It marked an approach that vastly expanded on what Pope Francis established after his election in 2013. Wishing for a more decentralized and listening Church, the late pope created a nine-member Council of Cardinals to help and advise him on several critical matters facing the Church, particularly the reform of the Roman Curia, by meeting at least quarterly in Rome.
Pope Leo decided he would be inviting all the world's cardinals to Rome every year for a few days, Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, told reporters at a news conference after the consistory ended Jan. 8.
College members will meet with the pope again for at least three days sometime in June, possibly around the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29, and then the gathering will be held over three to four days once a year in the following years.
The College of Cardinals is made up of 245 cardinals from all over the world. About 170 of them -- about 69% -- made it to Rome after the pope's invitation Dec. 12 that they come together again for the first time since the conclave that elected him May 8.
Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe, a Dominican theologian, offered a reflection Jan. 7 to help the cardinals understand their role not just as advisers to the pope, but as much-needed companions along life's way.
He recalled St. Mark's account of Jesus making his disciples go out ahead of him by boat, which encountered a "great storm."
Jesus does not want Peter or any of the disciples to go into the storm alone, he said. "This is our first obedience, to be in the barque of Peter, with his successor, as he faces the storms of our times."
Some of the storms shaking the Church, he said, include "sexual abuse and ideological division. The Lord commands us to sail out into these storms and face them truthfully, not timidly waiting on the beach. If we do so in this consistory, we shall see him coming to us. If we hide on the beach, we shall not encounter him."
However, Cardinal Radcliffe said, "If the boat of Peter is filled with disciples who quarrel, we shall be of no use to the Holy Father. If we are at peace with each other in love, even when we disagree, God will indeed be present even when he seems to be absent."
Pope Leo emphasized the essential element of love in his opening remarks to the cardinals in the Vatican's Synod Hall Jan. 7.
"To the extent that we love one another as Christ has loved us, we belong to him, we are his community, and he can continue to draw others to himself through us. In fact, only love is credible; only love is trustworthy," he said.
"Therefore, in order to be a truly missionary Church, one that is capable of witnessing to the attractive power of Christ's love, we must first of all put into practice his commandment … 'Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another,'" the pope said. Jesus underlined that it will be by a Christian's love that the world will know "that you are my disciples."
The "collegial journey" that they have begun with their first consistory, he said, would be an opportunity to reflect together on two themes of their choice out of the following four themes: the mission of the Church in today's world, especially as presented in Pope Francis' "Evangelii Gaudium"; the synod and synodality as an instrument and a style of cooperation; the service of the Holy See, especially to the local Churches; and the liturgy, the source and summit of the Christian life. The cardinals voted with "a large majority" to discuss the first two themes -- mission and synodality, Bruni told reporters.
Following a synodal structure, the cardinals were broken into 21 groups, but nine of those groups, made up of cardinals under 80 years old, who were not resident in Rome, were asked to submit reports based on their small group discussions, which followed the Synod on Synodality's "conversation in the Spirit" method.
"I am here to listen," Pope Leo told the cardinals before they began their two days of reflection and dialogue.
"We must not arrive at a text, but continue a conversation that will help me in serving the mission of the entire Church," he said. Specifically, he wanted the groups to look at the next one or two years and consider what "priorities could guide the action of the Holy Father and of the Curia regarding each theme?"
The pope further encouraged the cardinals the next day in his homily during an early morning Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.
Their task, he said, was to discern what "the Lord is asking of us for the good of his people," not "to promote personal or group 'agendas.'"
Through prayer, silence, listening and sharing, he said, "we become a voice for all those whom the Lord has entrusted to our pastoral care in many different parts of the world."
Speaking to reporters at a news conference after the consistory, Cardinal Luis José Rueda Aparicio, archbishop of Bogotá, Colombia, said the experience "strengthened us" individually and as a group as they got to know each other better.
The pope underlined how important hope was in the life and mission of the church, he said. When Christ is at the center of one's life, proclaiming his word "fills us and the world with hope."
Cardinal Stephen Brislin, archbishop of Johannesburg, South Africa, told reporters the vast differences between cardinals -- with their different perspectives and needs -- proved to be "very enriching" and interesting, and not a source of contention.
Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, bishop of Kalookan, Philippines, told reporters the synodal format and style of the consistory "was familiar" to those who had taken part in the synodal assemblies in Rome in 2023 and 2024.
When asked if it seemed the pope was going to use their sessions to inform or contribute to any kind of papal document, Cardinal David said, "I don't know," but the pope was "taking notes very seriously so he must be up to something."
Cardinal Brislin said there is no indication that a document was the aim of the gathering, and it was more a concrete response to the cardinals' request that they meet.
Cardinal Aparicio said by listening to all the world's cardinals, the pope "listens to the different parts of the world."
Pope Leo XIV told an extraordinary gathering of the College of Cardinals that he wanted to listen to their concerns and suggestions for the church during the meeting at the Vatican Jan. 7-8, 2026. (CNS video/Robert Duncan)
Posted on 01/9/2026 09:30 AM (USCCB News)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Leo XIV warned diplomats of rising global volatility, fractured communication and a growing disregard for human life in his annual speech to representatives to the Holy See.
Speaking to representatives of the 184 countries that have full diplomatic relations with the Vatican, the pope expressed concern over a "weak" global approach and action among countries on certain issues, saying that "war is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading."
Peace is being sought through weapons, threatening the rule of law and therefore the foundation of all peaceful civil coexistence, he said in the Jan. 9 speech at the Hall of Benedictions at the Vatican.
He expressed concern about religious freedom being curtailed around the world. Aid to the Church in Need, an international Catholic aid organization, released its "Religious Freedom in the World Report" last year, concluding that 64.7% of the world's population lives in countries with "serious or very serious violations of religious freedom."
He cited deadly attacks on Christian communities in Africa and the Middle East, while also warning of less visible discrimination in Europe and the Americas.
He briefly spoke about the importance of treating migrants with human dignity, an issue he has been vocal about for months, before focusing his final thoughts on the value of family and the unborn.
The pope said the Church strongly rejects "any practice that denies or exploits the origin of life and its development."
The pope reiterated the Church's stance on abortion, including a deep concern about projects aimed at financing cross-border mobility for the purpose of accessing the so-called "right to safe abortion."
"It also considers it deplorable that public resources are allocated to suppress life, rather than being invested to support mothers and families," he said.
He also spoke out against surrogacy.
"By transforming gestation into a negotiable service, this violates the dignity both of the child, who is reduced to a 'product,' and of the mother, exploiting her body and the generative process, and distorting the original relational calling of the family," he said.
In this speech and throughout the year, the pope has spoken out on ongoing international strife, including the war in Ukraine, the Israel-Gaza conflict and the U.S. military operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
When looking at today's conflicts, he said, "we cannot ignore that the destruction of hospitals, energy infrastructure, homes and places essential to daily life constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law."
He pointed to the United Nations as a counterbalance to this trend, saying that it is the center of international cooperation that defends humanitarian rights and mediates conflict.
But, he said, one of the greatest current challenges to dialogue as a way to address conflicts is the loss of a shared understanding of language.
"Today, the meaning of words is ever more fluid and the concepts they represent are increasingly ambiguous," he said. "Language is no longer the preferred means by which human beings come to know and encounter one another."
He said that the "contortions of semantic ambiguity" are becoming "more and more a weapon with which to deceive or to strike and offend opponents." He suggested clearer, more direct language be used throughout the home, politics and the media to address these misunderstandings and to avoid conflict on a greater scale.
He went on to say that efforts to loosen or blur the meaning of words are often defended as protecting free expression, but in fact undermine it.
"It is painful to see how, especially in the West, the space for genuine freedom of expression is rapidly shrinking," he said. "At the same time, a new Orwellian-style language is developing which, in an attempt to be increasingly inclusive, ends up excluding those who do not conform to the ideologies that are fueling it."
When moral or linguistic boundaries are weakened, he said, it doesn't stop at speech, but rather it spills over into limits on basic human rights and an individual's ability to act according to their moral and religious beliefs.
"This may be the refusal of military service in the name of non-violence or the refusal on the part of doctors and health care professionals to engage in practices such as abortion or euthanasia," he said.
The pope said if a society forces moral uniformity, it risks sliding toward authoritarianism.
Pope Leo closed by saying that despite conflict found around the world, there is no shortage of signs for courage and pointed to St. Francis of Assisi.
"His life shines brightly, for it was inspired by the courage to live in truth," he said, "and the knowledge that a peaceful world is built starting with humble hearts turned toward the heavenly city."
Speaking to diplomats accredited to the Holy See Jan. 9, 2026, Pope Leo XIV said that language has become increasingly ambiguous and weaponized, undermining clear realities, authentic dialogue, and diplomacy’s role in preventing conflict. (CNS video...
Posted on 01/9/2026 00:18 AM (CNA Daily News - Vatican)
Cardinals meet with Pope Leo XIV in the third session of the consistory on Jan. 8, 2025, at the Vatican. | Credit: Vatican Media
Jan 8, 2026 / 19:18 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV will be hosting a second consistory of cardinals at the end of June and wants to hold such meetings annually.
The Vatican made the announcement Thursday evening at the conclusion of the Holy Father’s first extraordinary consistory of cardinals that lasted two days. The next such meeting is expected to be held on June 27–28, the vigil of Sts. Peter and Paul.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the pope would like to hold annual meetings lasting three to four days, allowing more time for discussion on various topics of importance and for free interventions by the members of the Sacred College of Cardinals.
Cardinal Stephen Brislin of Johannesburg, South Africa, told reporters at a closing Vatican briefing that he and the other cardinals found this consistory a “very enriching and very deepening experience.” He said they also appreciated that it also gave the opportunity for the cardinals to “get to know each other and to listen to each other.” The fact that the pope wishes to hold more meetings, he added, shows that the pope, too, “found it very important” and helpful.
The cardinal said some doubts were expressed when they were told they would be split into small groups, and “certainly a concern” was that there would be insufficient opportunity for them “to express themselves and to listen to others.” Still, he said he thought the way the groups were constructed, having been split into two blocks, was “very helpful” and “gave the opportunity for every cardinal to speak,” even if it wasn’t heard by the whole assembly.
The liturgy was briefly mentioned, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, archbishop emeritus of Durban, South Africa, told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner. But he said the Traditional Latin Mass and “particulars like that” were not discussed. “I think the whole thing was how do we get the whole Church onto the same level at evangelizing, I think that was the main point,” he said.” Hope was expressed by various cardinals that other topics not discussed would be covered at forthcoming consistories.
Little information emerged both during and after the consistory as cardinals told reporters that Pope Leo had instructed them to keep the proceedings confidential. Nevertheless, Brislin, who was joined by Filippino Cardinal Pablo David and Colombian Cardinal Luis José Rueda Aparicio at Thursday’s press briefing, spoke relatively freely.
Posted on 01/8/2026 22:40 PM (CNA Daily News - Vatican)
Official image of the “Pray with the Pope” campaign for January 2026. | Credit: World Prayer Network
Jan 8, 2026 / 17:40 pm (CNA).
The Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication has launched a new prayer campaign in which Pope Leo XIV invites Catholics to pray with him for the great challenges facing the world.
The “Pray with the Pope” initiative is part of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, which, during the pontificate of Pope Francis, launched the project known as “The Pope’s Video,” through which the faithful were invited each month to unite in prayer for a specific intention.
Continuing this mission, the new campaign not only invites people to pray but also offers a specific prayer from Leo XIV, who will present his monthly intention from a renewed perspective, encouraging an intimate and serene experience with Christ.
According to Jesuit Father Cristobal Fones, international director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, who presented the initiative Jan. 7 in Rome alongside Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, the initiative proposes “a shared inner experience that aspires to transform life from within.”
The focus of this new phase, as the Jesuit priest explained, “will be more centered on supporting a spiritual experience, which often becomes difficult amidst our busy and noise-filled daily lives.”
“The pope is very aware of this and wants to help us, inviting us to pray together for others,” he added. The “update” of the initiative, according to Fones, stems “from the profound need we have to slow down in order to achieve greater depth in our decisions and relationships.”
With a simple and accessible format, “Pray with the Pope” aims to allow anyone, wherever they are, to join in the Holy Father’s prayer intention, which this year 2026 begins with the invitation to “learn to pray with the most definitive Word, which is not our own, so full of empty promises, but Jesus Christ.”
In this month’s video, Pope Leo XIV is seen silently reading a passage from the Bible in the presence of the Lord, and then he recites a short prayer:
“Lord Jesus, living word of the Father, in you we find the light that guides our steps.
“We know that the human heart lives restless, hungry for meaning, and only your Gospel can give it peace and fullness.
“Teach us to listen to you each day in the Scriptures, to let ourselves be challenged by your voice, and to discern our decisions from the closeness to your heart.
“May your word be nourishment in weariness, hope in darkness, and strength in our communities.
“Lord, may your word never be absent from our lips or from our hearts — the word that makes us sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, disciples and missionaries of your kingdom.
“Make us a Church that prays with the word, that builds upon it and shares it with joy, so that in every person the hope of a new world may be born again.
“May our faith grow in the encounter with you through your word, moving us from the heart to reach out to others, to serve the most vulnerable, to forgive, build bridges, and proclaim life. Amen.”
For Fones, this January’s intention will be the basis for the rest of the year’s intentions, which will include children with incurable diseases, the end of war, priests in crisis, respect for human life, and families experiencing the absence of a mother or father, among others.
The priest explained that the initiative also seeks to “highlight important and crucial issues for everyone, opening our hearts to urgent realities and transforming our environment to counteract the globalization of indifference.”
The campaign can be followed on the pope’s prayer website in several languages, and will also be available in audio format through Vatican Radio and partner platforms such as Pray as You Go, RezandoVoy, and Hallow. The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network is currently present in more than 90 countries and reaches over 22 million people.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Posted on 01/8/2026 22:04 PM (CNA Daily News - Vatican)
Pope Leo XIV arrives at St. Peter’s Basilica for a Mass with cardinals on Jan. 8, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Jan 8, 2026 / 17:04 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Thursday called on cardinals to experience the extraordinary consistory as a time of spiritual discernment in unity and warned against the temptation to put personal interests ahead of the common good.
“We gather not to promote personal or group ‘agendas’ but to entrust our plans and inspirations to a discernment that transcends us — ‘as the heavens are higher than the earth’ — and which comes only from the Lord,” he said in his homily for the Mass he celebrated Jan. 8 in St. Peter’s Basilica with the cardinals present in Rome for this important two-day ecclesial meeting convened to help him make decisions about the future of the Catholic Church.
Leo XIV urged the cardinals to experience the Eucharist as the place where this discernment is purified and transformed, asking them to place all their “hopes and ideas upon the altar.”
“Only in this way will we truly know how to listen to his voice and to welcome it through the gift that we are to one another — which is the very reason we have gathered,” he added.
The pope linked this vision to the spirituality of communion, recalling that Christian love is “Trinitarian” and “relational,” and quoted St. John Paul II, who defined it as “the heart’s contemplation of the mystery of the Trinity dwelling in us.”
This extraordinary consistory — different from the ordinary ones, which are more limited and frequent — was planned to take place immediately after the Jubilee of Hope to “offer support and advice to the Holy Father in the exercise of his high and arduous responsibility of governing the Church,” according to a statement from the Holy See.
St. John Paul II convened six extraordinary consistories during his 26-year pontificate, while Pope Benedict XVI chose to hold consultative meetings with the cardinals on the eve of the ordinary consistories. In total, he held three such meetings during his pontificate.
During the 12 years of his pontificate, Pope Francis held only one extraordinary consistory, on Feb. 20, 2014, which focused primarily on the family and marriage, ahead of the Synod on the Family held that same year.
Unlike his predecessor, who preferred to consult with a smaller council, Leo XIV convened the entire College of Cardinals to assist him in governing the universal Church.
The cardinals are expected to offer the new pontiff their views on two specific topics: the Synod and synodality, and the mission of evangelization and the missionary character of the Church in light of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium. Initially, the meeting topics also included discussions on the liturgy and the apostolic constitution Praedicate Evangelium, but lack of time has limited the issues that will be addressed.
The pontiff reflected on the very meaning of the consistory, recalling that the word “consistorium” in Latin refers to the idea of “pausing.”
“Indeed, all of us have ‘paused’ in order to be here. We have set aside our activities for a time, and even canceled important commitments, so as to discern together what the Lord is asking of us for the good of his people,” he emphasized.
In his homily, the Holy Father reminded those present that this gathering is not about a “mere group of experts” but “a community of faith. Only when the gifts that each person brings are offered to the Lord and returned by him, will they bear the greatest fruit according to his providence.”
The pontiff also recalled the words of St. Leo the Great to emphasize the communal dimension of ecclesial service: “In this way,” he said, “‘the hungry are fed, the naked clothed, the sick visited, and no one seeks his or her own interests, but those of others.’”
Referring to the challenges of today’s world, marked by profound inequalities and a widespread “hunger for goodness and peace,” the pope acknowledged the feeling of inadequacy in the face of the mission but encouraged them to face it together, trusting in providence.
“We will be able to help one another — and in particular, to help the pope — to find the “five loaves and two fish” that providence “never fails to provide,” he affirmed.
Leo XIV concluded his homily by offering the cardinals his “heartfelt thanks” for their service and reminding them that, even if they don’t always manage to find solutions to the problems they face.
“We may not always be able to find immediate solutions to the problems we face. Yet in every place and circumstance, we will be able to help one another — and in particular, to help the pope,” he said, calling for collaboration.
“Beloved brothers,” the pope noted, “what you offer to the Church through your service, at every level, is something profound and very personal, unique to each of you and precious to all.”
According to what the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, reported Jan. 7, of the 245 cardinals who currently make up the College of Cardinals, 170 are in Rome participating in the closed-door meetings that concluded Thursday.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Posted on 01/8/2026 20:06 PM (Catholic News Agency)
Participants gather for worship at the MEHR conference in Augsburg, Germany, Jan. 3–6, 2026. | Credit: Andreas Thonhauser/EWTN
, Jan 8, 2026 / 15:06 pm (CNA).
The four-day MEHR conference drew participants from across the European continent to hear from international speakers, including American presenters.
Posted on 01/8/2026 19:17 PM (CNA Daily News - Vatican)
Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass for the Jubilee of Prisoners in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 14, 2025. | Credit: Vatican Media
Jan 8, 2026 / 14:17 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of January is for the faithful to pray with the word of God.
In a video released Jan. 7 on X, the Holy Father said that he is praying “that we may learn, practice, and love praying with the word of God.”
“The gift of Scripture is God’s love letter to humankind,” he said. “Let’s pray that we all draw from this gift and get to know Our Lord.”
The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network and the Dicastery for Communication announced Jan. 7 the “Pray with the Pope” project. According to a press release, this is a new initiative in which the pope will share his monthly prayer intentions through both video and audio, “inviting the universal Church and all people of goodwill to unite spiritually, using the same prayer that will now be led by the pope himself.”
“This initiative aims to increase the visibility of the pope’s prayer intentions, using a language suitable for prayer, in new formats, so as to better reach the faithful throughout the world, especially in today’s world of digital communication,” the press release stated.
In the full video shared on the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network website, Pope Leo recites an original prayer written specifically for this month’s prayer intention.
Here is the pope’s full prayer:
Lord Jesus, living Word of the Father,
in you we find the light that guides our steps.
We know that the human heart lives restless, hungry for meaning,
and only your Gospel can give it peace and fullness.
Teach us to listen to you each day in the Scriptures,
to let ourselves be challenged by your voice,
and to discern our decisions
from the closeness to your heart.
May your word be nourishment in weariness,
hope in darkness,
and strength in our communities.
Lord, may your word never be absent from our lips or from our hearts —
the word that makes us sons and daughters, brothers and sisters,
disciples and missionaries of your kingdom.
Make us a Church that prays with the word,
that is built upon it and shares it with joy,
so that in every person the hope of a new world may be born again.
May our faith grow in the encounter with you through your word,
moving us from the heart
to reach out to others,
to serve the most vulnerable,
to forgive, build bridges, and proclaim life.
Amen.
“Pray with the Pope” is accessible on the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network website and its digital platforms.