Posted on 01/11/2026 08:25 AM (CNA Daily News - Vatican)
Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for the recitation of the Angelus on Jan. 11, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media / null
Vatican City, Jan 11, 2026 / 03:25 am (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday lamented escalating violence in Iran and Syria and renewed his appeal for peace in Ukraine while also offering a special blessing for children receiving baptism and praying for those born into “difficult circumstances.”
Speaking after the Angelus on Jan. 11, the pope said: “My thoughts turn to the situation currently unfolding in the Middle East, especially in Iran and Syria, where ongoing tensions continue to claim many lives.”
He added: “I hope and pray that dialogue and peace may be patiently nurtured in pursuit of the common good of the whole of society.”
The pope’s remarks came amid unrest in Tehran, where anti-government protests that began about two weeks ago have left more than 70 people dead, according to human rights organizations.
He also pointed to renewed fighting in Syria, where international media reports say clashes have erupted in Aleppo between the interim government’s army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces over control of neighborhoods in the city center. At least 14 civilians have been killed, with dozens injured and tens of thousands displaced, according to those reports.
Turning to the war in Ukraine, Leo warned of the mounting toll of Russian strikes as winter intensifies.
“In Ukraine, new attacks — particularly severe ones aimed at energy infrastructure as the cold weather grows harsher — are taking a heavy toll on the civilian population,” he said. “I pray for those who suffer and renew my appeal for an end to the violence and for renewed efforts to achieve peace.”
Recent attacks have left more than 1 million homes without water or heat in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region.
Earlier in the day, the pope celebrated Mass for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and baptized 20 newborns, the children of Vatican employees, in the Sistine Chapel. After the Angelus, he said he wanted to extend his blessing “to all children who have received or will receive baptism during these days — in Rome and throughout the world — entrusting them to the maternal care of the Virgin Mary.”
He added: “In a particular way, I pray for children born into difficult circumstances, whether due to health conditions or external dangers. May the grace of baptism, which unites them to the paschal mystery of Christ, bear fruit in their lives and in the lives of their families.”
During his Angelus reflection, Leo spoke about the meaning of Christ’s baptism and how the sacrament of baptism makes believers “children of God through the power of his Spirit of life,” encouraging the faithful to remember “the great gift we have received” and to bear witness to it “with joy and authenticity.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Posted on 01/10/2026 16:30 PM (CNA Daily News)
Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun speaks at the Asianews Conference at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, Nov. 18, 2014. | Bohumil Petrik/CNA / null
Jan 10, 2026 / 11:30 am (CNA).
Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun delivered a forceful critique of synodality at the extraordinary consistory of cardinals this week, decrying the process as an “ironclad manipulation” that was an “insult to the dignity of the bishops.”
The bishop emeritus of Hong Kong also described the “continual reference to the Holy Spirit” during the 2021–2024 Synod on Synodality as “ridiculous and almost blasphemous.”
The cardinal, 93, made his remarks during one of two free discussion periods during the Jan. 7–8 consistory that drew together 170 of the 245 members of the College of Cardinals in Pope Leo XIV’s first major meeting with the sacred college since his election.
In impassioned comments, first reported Jan. 9 by the College of Cardinals Report, the bishop emeritus criticized Pope Francis for bypassing the college of bishops while at the same time Francis was insisting it was an appropriate means for “understanding the hierarchical ministry.”
The cardinal questioned the ability of any pope to listen to the entire people of God and whether the laity represent the people of God. He asked if the bishops elected to take part in the synodal process had been able to carry out a work of discernment.
“The ironclad manipulation of the process is an insult to the dignity of the bishops, and the continual reference to the Holy Spirit is ridiculous and almost blasphemous,” Zen said. “They expect surprises from the Holy Spirit. What surprises? That he should repudiate what he inspired in the Church’s 2,000-year tradition?”
The cardinal also observed apparent inconsistencies in the synod’s final document: that it was declared to be part of the magisterium and yet it said it did not establish any norms; that although it stressed unity of teaching and practice, it said these could be applied according to “different contexts”; and that each country or region “can seek solutions better suited to its culture and sensitive to its tradition and needs.”
The cardinal also pointed to what he called “many ambiguous and tendentious expressions in the document” and asked if the Holy Spirit guarantees that “contradictory interpretations will not arise.”
Zen openly wondered whether the results of what the document calls “experimenting and testing” of these “new forms of ministeriality” will be submitted to the synod secretariat and, if so, whether the secretariat will be “more competent than the bishops to judge different contexts” of the Church in various countries or regions.
“If the bishops believe themselves to be more competent, do the differing interpretations and choices not lead our Church to the same division (fracture) found in the Anglican Communion?” the cardinal asked.
Regarding the Orthodox Church, Zen said he believes their bishops “will never accept” what he called “Bergoglian synodality” as, for them, synodality is “the importance of the Synod of Bishops.”
Pope Francis, he said, “exploited the word synod but has made the Synod of Bishops — an institution established by Paul VI — disappear.” Zen’s remark was an apparent reference to how the late pope had reshaped the institution by giving non-bishops a formal role, making the institution no longer simply an episcopal advisory body.
The Vatican press office and cardinals chosen to speak to the press made no mention of Zen’s remarks during the consistory.
In press statements, it was claimed there was no criticism of Pope Francis during the two-day meeting, although Cardinal Stephen Brislin did speak of a “divergence” of opinion, saying some cardinals wanted the concept of synodality to be further clarified.
The consistory was a closed-door meeting to which no media were admitted, and cardinals were asked to keep the proceedings confidential.
Posted on 01/10/2026 16:30 PM (CNA Daily News - Vatican)
Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun speaks at the Asianews Conference at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, Nov. 18, 2014. | Bohumil Petrik/CNA / null
Jan 10, 2026 / 11:30 am (CNA).
Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun delivered a forceful critique of synodality at the extraordinary consistory of cardinals this week, decrying the process as an “ironclad manipulation” that was an “insult to the dignity of the bishops.”
The bishop emeritus of Hong Kong also described the “continual reference to the Holy Spirit” during the 2021–2024 Synod on Synodality as “ridiculous and almost blasphemous.”
The cardinal, 93, made his remarks during one of two free discussion periods during the Jan. 7–8 consistory that drew together 170 of the 245 members of the College of Cardinals in Pope Leo XIV’s first major meeting with the sacred college since his election.
In impassioned comments, first reported Jan. 9 by the College of Cardinals Report, the bishop emeritus criticized Pope Francis for bypassing the college of bishops while at the same time Francis was insisting it was an appropriate means for “understanding the hierarchical ministry.”
The cardinal questioned the ability of any pope to listen to the entire people of God and whether the laity represent the people of God. He asked if the bishops elected to take part in the synodal process had been able to carry out a work of discernment.
“The ironclad manipulation of the process is an insult to the dignity of the bishops, and the continual reference to the Holy Spirit is ridiculous and almost blasphemous,” Zen said. “They expect surprises from the Holy Spirit. What surprises? That he should repudiate what he inspired in the Church’s 2,000-year tradition?”
The cardinal also observed apparent inconsistencies in the synod’s final document: that it was declared to be part of the magisterium and yet it said it did not establish any norms; that although it stressed unity of teaching and practice, it said these could be applied according to “different contexts”; and that each country or region “can seek solutions better suited to its culture and sensitive to its tradition and needs.”
The cardinal also pointed to what he called “many ambiguous and tendentious expressions in the document” and asked if the Holy Spirit guarantees that “contradictory interpretations will not arise.”
Zen openly wondered whether the results of what the document calls “experimenting and testing” of these “new forms of ministeriality” will be submitted to the synod secretariat and, if so, whether the secretariat will be “more competent than the bishops to judge different contexts” of the Church in various countries or regions.
“If the bishops believe themselves to be more competent, do the differing interpretations and choices not lead our Church to the same division (fracture) found in the Anglican Communion?” the cardinal asked.
Regarding the Orthodox Church, Zen said he believes their bishops “will never accept” what he called “Bergoglian synodality” as, for them, synodality is “the importance of the Synod of Bishops.”
Pope Francis, he said, “exploited the word synod but has made the Synod of Bishops — an institution established by Paul VI — disappear.” Zen’s remark was an apparent reference to how the late pope had reshaped the institution by giving non-bishops a formal role, making the institution no longer simply an episcopal advisory body.
The Vatican press office and cardinals chosen to speak to the press made no mention of Zen’s remarks during the consistory.
In press statements, it was claimed there was no criticism of Pope Francis during the two-day meeting, although Cardinal Stephen Brislin did speak of a “divergence” of opinion, saying some cardinals wanted the concept of synodality to be further clarified.
The consistory was a closed-door meeting to which no media were admitted, and cardinals were asked to keep the proceedings confidential.
Posted on 01/10/2026 15:12 PM (CNA Daily News - US)
University of Notre Dame professor Kathleen Sprows Cummings. | Credit: Ken Oliver-Méndez/CNA / null
Jan 10, 2026 / 10:12 am (CNA).
Assessing the impact of the Catholic Church’s first American pope was front and center at the 106th annual meeting of the American Catholic Historical Association (ACHA), which met in Pope Leo XIV’s hometown of Chicago from Jan. 8–11.
During a panel on the subject, Catholic scholars noted some of the historic caricatures of what an American papacy would be like and compared that to the first eight months of Leo’s actual papacy.
At the outset of the panel, University of Notre Dame history professor Kathleen Sprows Cummings referenced the 1894 Puck magazine cartoon titled “The American Pope,” which depicts the first apostolic delegate to the United States, Cardinal Francesco Satolli, sitting atop a church labeled the “American headquarters” and casting a shadow of then-Pope Leo XIII over the entire country.
Sprows Cummings noted the cartoon illustrates “fears about papal intervention in the United States” at a time when the country was receiving waves of Catholic immigrants from countries such as Ireland and Italy.
As Catholics became more settled in American society in the subsequent decades, she said some of those prejudices began to lessen and pointed to the 1918 election of Catholic Democrat Al Smith as New York’s governor. By this point, Catholics had become “much more confident about their place in American culture.”
During the same early 20th-century period, the United States also began to rise as a superpower. Sprows Cummings noted that predominant concerns about an American pope shifted to Vatican concerns over the “Americanization of the Catholic Church.”
America magazine’s Vatican correspondent, Colleen Dulle, said some of those concerns were evidently mitigated in the person of then-Cardinal Robert Prevost, whose service to the Church included many years as a missionary and bishop in Peru as well as in Rome as the head of a global religious order, the Augustinians.
Sprows Cummings said the College of Cardinals clearly saw in Cardinal Prevost the “pastoral presence, administrative savvy, and global vision” that the Church needed at this time and that he was “not elected in some flex of American power.”
Miguel Diaz, the John Courtney Murray, SJ, chair in public service at Loyola University Chicago, noted that some of Leo’s actions have actually amounted to the opposite of flexing American power, such as his focus on the dignity of migrants, which he contrasted to the policies of the Trump administration.
Diaz, who served as U.S. ambassador to the Holy See under former President Barack Obama, said Leo is “a different symbol, from America first to America cares.”
He emphasized that having an American pope is significant amid the country’s political debates because “he can say things and he will be listened to.”
The panelists also discussed what Leo’s papacy may look like moving forward, with Dulle noting that only this year are there clear signs of him charting his own programmatic course, as the events and itinerary of the 2025 Jubilee were primarily developed for Pope Francis.
Up until now, she said, he has been mostly “continuing the Francis initiatives in a different style.”
She noted Pope Leo’s management of this week’s consistory — a meeting between the pope and the College of Cardinals — where the pontiff gave them four topics to choose from, which were all in line with Francis’ priorities: synodality, evangelization, reform of the Curia, and the liturgy. The cardinals chose synodality and evangelization.
Dulle said Leo is seen as “a consensus-builder” who aims to build consensus around the Church’s priorities. She noted Pope Leo’s announcement this week of a regular schedule of consistories, with the next one set for June. This approach is emerging as a “hallmark of how he governs the Church,” Dulle said.
Brian Flanagan, the John Cardinal Cody chair of Catholic theology at Loyola University Chicago, also emphasized Leo’s strong appeal to the cardinals and bishops in efforts to reach consensus, in keeping with the pope’s role as a preserver of unity.
Flanagan said he sees Leo exercising the papacy as not so much “at the top of the pyramid but as at the center of conversation.” He said this is likely influenced by Leo’s past as leader of a religious order — the Order of St. Augustine — rather than a diocese because the orders are “global, diverse, and somewhat fractious.”
“You can’t govern a global religious community without getting people on board,” he said.
Posted on 01/10/2026 15:12 PM (CNA Daily News)
University of Notre Dame professor Kathleen Sprows Cummings. | Credit: Ken Oliver-Méndez/CNA / null
Jan 10, 2026 / 10:12 am (CNA).
Assessing the impact of the Catholic Church’s first American pope was front and center at the 106th annual meeting of the American Catholic Historical Association (ACHA), which met in Pope Leo XIV’s hometown of Chicago from Jan. 8–11.
During a panel on the subject, Catholic scholars noted some of the historic caricatures of what an American papacy would be like and compared that to the first eight months of Leo’s actual papacy.
At the outset of the panel, University of Notre Dame history professor Kathleen Sprows Cummings referenced the 1894 Puck magazine cartoon titled “The American Pope,” which depicts the first apostolic delegate to the United States, Cardinal Francesco Satolli, sitting atop a church labeled the “American headquarters” and casting a shadow of then-Pope Leo XIII over the entire country.
Sprows Cummings noted the cartoon illustrates “fears about papal intervention in the United States” at a time when the country was receiving waves of Catholic immigrants from countries such as Ireland and Italy.
As Catholics became more settled in American society in the subsequent decades, she said some of those prejudices began to lessen and pointed to the 1918 election of Catholic Democrat Al Smith as New York’s governor. By this point, Catholics had become “much more confident about their place in American culture.”
During the same early 20th-century period, the United States also began to rise as a superpower. Sprows Cummings noted that predominant concerns about an American pope shifted to Vatican concerns over the “Americanization of the Catholic Church.”
America magazine’s Vatican correspondent, Colleen Dulle, said some of those concerns were evidently mitigated in the person of then-Cardinal Robert Prevost, whose service to the Church included many years as a missionary and bishop in Peru as well as in Rome as the head of a global religious order, the Augustinians.
Sprows Cummings said the College of Cardinals clearly saw in Cardinal Prevost the “pastoral presence, administrative savvy, and global vision” that the Church needed at this time and that he was “not elected in some flex of American power.”
Miguel Diaz, the John Courtney Murray, SJ, chair in public service at Loyola University Chicago, noted that some of Leo’s actions have actually amounted to the opposite of flexing American power, such as his focus on the dignity of migrants, which he contrasted to the policies of the Trump administration.
Diaz, who served as U.S. ambassador to the Holy See under former President Barack Obama, said Leo is “a different symbol, from America first to America cares.”
He emphasized that having an American pope is significant amid the country’s political debates because “he can say things and he will be listened to.”
The panelists also discussed what Leo’s papacy may look like moving forward, with Dulle noting that only this year are there clear signs of him charting his own programmatic course, as the events and itinerary of the 2025 Jubilee were primarily developed for Pope Francis.
Up until now, she said, he has been mostly “continuing the Francis initiatives in a different style.”
She noted Pope Leo’s management of this week’s consistory — a meeting between the pope and the College of Cardinals — where the pontiff gave them four topics to choose from, which were all in line with Francis’ priorities: synodality, evangelization, reform of the Curia, and the liturgy. The cardinals chose synodality and evangelization.
Dulle said Leo is seen as “a consensus-builder” who aims to build consensus around the Church’s priorities. She noted Pope Leo’s announcement this week of a regular schedule of consistories, with the next one set for June. This approach is emerging as a “hallmark of how he governs the Church,” Dulle said.
Brian Flanagan, the John Cardinal Cody chair of Catholic theology at Loyola University Chicago, also emphasized Leo’s strong appeal to the cardinals and bishops in efforts to reach consensus, in keeping with the pope’s role as a preserver of unity.
Flanagan said he sees Leo exercising the papacy as not so much “at the top of the pyramid but as at the center of conversation.” He said this is likely influenced by Leo’s past as leader of a religious order — the Order of St. Augustine — rather than a diocese because the orders are “global, diverse, and somewhat fractious.”
“You can’t govern a global religious community without getting people on board,” he said.
Posted on 01/10/2026 15:00 PM (CNA Daily News)
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser told EWTN News on April 12, 2024, that the pro-life movement is grounded in the dignity of the individual “and has never stopped at a state line.” | Credit: “EWTN News in Depth”/Screenshot / null
Jan 10, 2026 / 10:00 am (CNA).
A major pro-life leader is urging the movement to continue to press for protection for the unborn, calling on advocates to demand more pro-life policy even as the Republican Party shows signs of wavering.
“We have to do everything we can to make sure that we’re communicating the moral position and also the political position,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said on Jan. 9.
Dannenfelser spoke to “EWTN News in Depth” anchor Catherine Hadro on President Donald Trump’s recent remarks in which the president urged the Republican Party to be more “flexible” regarding the taxpayer funding of abortion.
“Now you have to be a little flexible on Hyde,” the president said on Jan. 6, referring to the long-standing federal Hyde Amendment, which has broadly prohibited taxpayer funding of abortion for nearly half a century.
Speaking to Hadro, Dannenfelser said bluntly: “There’s no flexibility on that.”
“Flexibility should be reserved for what you wear tomorrow, what you’re going to eat tonight, where you go on vacation,” she said. “This is a matter of life and death.”
Hadro noted that during his first run for presidency, Trump had outlined a slate of pro-life promises to voters, including the intent to make the Hyde Amendment “permanent law” rather than a legislative provision. Dannenfelser admitted that she engaged with Trump on pro-life issues during his first term alone.
“Once he got into the second term, he thought he was dealing with the life issue by basically saying, ‘States only, we’re not doing anything else on the federal level,’” she said.
“Now we see the consequence of such a position. It means you can’t even stand firm on the Hyde Amendment,” she argued.
Asked by Hadro whether or not the pro-life movement needs to “face reality” and accept changing political priorities with respect to the Hyde Amendment, Dannenfelser said: “I 100% reject it.”
“There is no chance that the power has left the pro-life position,” she argued.
“We’ve been here before. We’ve been here at moments where there was a weakening in the GOP spine, where we have to do everything that we can to make sure that we’re communicating the moral position and also the political position,” she said.
Dannenfelser argued that the pro-life movement is “at the best place we could possibly be to move forward” and continue advancing pro-life goals.
She admitted, however, that the movement is “not safe” in the current Republican Party.
“I think communication is key,” she said. “We can’t hold back in demanding what has been promised and following through.”
Posted on 01/10/2026 14:00 PM (Catholic News Agency)
Northampton Episcopal Vicar for Mission Canon Simon Penhalagan alongside members of the new community at the St. Elena House of Mission and Prayer. | Credit: Maria Heath
, Jan 10, 2026 / 09:00 am (CNA).
Northampton, England, welcomes St. Elena House, a new community focused on prayer and mission inspired by the call to a new evangelization.
Posted on 01/10/2026 14:00 PM (CNA Daily News)
Northampton Episcopal Vicar for Mission Canon Simon Penhalagan alongside members of the new community at the St. Elena House of Mission and Prayer. | Credit: Maria Heath
Jan 10, 2026 / 09:00 am (CNA).
A new and unique house of mission and prayer inspired by the call to a new evangelization has opened in the U.K., hoping to enable Catholics to “catch the fire” of God’s love.
The St. Elena House of Mission and Prayer, which opened in December in Northampton, England, has been established to help the Church become more mission-oriented.
Speaking to CNA, Maria Heath, director of mission in the Diocese of Northampton, called the new House of Mission and Prayer “a prophetic sign in our times.”
“The Church needs to embrace its call to mission, and I believe this house and others like it will enable and inspire the Church to explore new ways to reach out to people with the Gospel,” she said.
The new St. Elena House is comprised of a small community of young women — Beth, Kacey, and Marielle — who are between 20 and 40 years old. As members committed to a life of prayer and mission, they either work or study full or part time while seeking out ways to evangelize.
“The people living there are working or studying but want to serve the Church in a radical way,” Heath explained. “The witness value of community in our times is so important. People are yearning for connection and purpose, and a community centered on prayer and mission is like a light on the hilltop.”
Speaking of the impact of the new evangelization on the formation of the new house, Heath quoted one of its main proponents, St. John Paul II.
“Evangelization needs to be new in its method, ardor, and expression. I believe that raising up communities like this is one of the new expressions that speaks to the world at this time,” she said.
The St. Elena House came about after Heath and her team were exploring how new communities and religious orders could move into the Diocese of Northampton. There was also an idea that a homegrown community could be established.
“Sometimes you push doors and they close, other times the doors keep opening, and this is what happened as we began looking into this possibility,” Heath said. “The idea became a reality and, 18 months on from that initial conversation, the St. Elena House of Mission and Prayer was born.”
Heath explained that she was inspired by the book “Heart Fire,“ by German Catholic evangelist Johannes Hartl, in which a strong connection was presented between 24/7 prayer and mission.
Establishing 24/7 prayer will be one of the priorities in the new house, including perpetual adoration. “While this is a new expression, there is nothing new about the fundamentals: It is communion and mission, which we see down the ages of the Church,” she said.
Explaining the vision for the house, Heath underlined the importance of providing a place to encounter Christ.
“The vision for the St. Elena House of Mission and Prayer is simple: to be a place of encounter, an encounter with Jesus as we pray for the world through 24/7 prayer, and a place where others can come and encounter Jesus.”
Heath also spoke of the impact of the Second Vatican Council.
“The Church needs both the hierarchical and charismatic dimensions of the Church (Lumen Gentium, 4) and if dioceses are to respond to the Church’s call to become mission-oriented, such communities and movements, which are expressions of this charismatic dimension, offer an energy and focus on mission that can support this important work,” she said.
A member of the new community, Beth, also underlined the importance of encounter in the new house, sharing her hopes that people will have “a real deep encounter with (Christ).”
“The hope is that this will be a place where community can be formed, where people can feel welcomed and really catch the fire of God’s love for them,” she told CNA.
Beth said living in the house as a community will enable single people to grow together in faith, highlighting the importance of “being together, inviting other people, and welcoming people.” She added: “As single people, we can feel that sense of isolation in our faith. So it’s about letting people know you’re not on your own.”
The community is intentionally named after St. Elena Guerra, the “apostle of the Holy Spirit” who was canonized in October 2024. Writing at the end of the 19th century, St. Elena urged Pope Leo XIII to encourage Catholics to be open to the power of the Holy Spirit. This prompted Pope Leo to write an encyclical on the Holy Spirit, to create a novena to the Holy Spirit, and to consecrate the 20th century to the Holy Spirit.
“Prayer and mission go hand in hand, and this is what St. Elena longed to see for the Church,” Heath said.
The new initiative has been welcomed in the Diocese of Northampton, with diocesan trustees, friends, and supporters joining members of Mission Northampton for a Mass on Dec. 13 to mark the opening of the new house. The Mass was celebrated by Episcopal Vicar for Mission Canon Simon Penhalagan, with Vicar General Canon Michael Harrison and Father Jithu James concelebrating.
Looking forward, Heath shared her hopes for the new house to “be the first of many houses across our diocese — and beyond.”
“We need to cooperate with the grace of the Holy Spirit and find new ways to reach out to all people,” she said. “This, in its simplest form, is the mission of the Church: to let each person know the joy of being known and loved by God, and the joy of a relationship with him that satisfies our deepest needs and desires.”
Posted on 01/10/2026 13:00 PM (CNA Daily News)
The interior of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. In the center, the Stone of Anointing, with Calvary in the background. | Credit: Marinella Bandini
Jan 10, 2026 / 08:00 am (CNA).
Here is a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed:
Speaking to a group of pilgrims from Rome at the Franciscan headquarters in the Old City of Jerusalem on Jan. 7, Franciscan Father Francesco Ielpo, custos of the Holy Land, called pilgrims back to the Holy Land, saying that the best way to help the Holy Land and the people there is to visit.
“Fear is not overcome with words; it is overcome with witness. Seeing Christians from all over the world come to the Holy Land to visit the holy places generates hope and strengthens the reason for coming here — not to see a museum but to encounter a living Church,” Ielpo said.
Religious pilgrimages and tourism are some of the main sources of economic support for the local Christian community in the Holy Land. Around 50,000 remain there — 6,000 of whom live in Jerusalem, according to Vatican News.
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Tasmania priest Father Mark William Freeman as the new bishop of Ballarat, Australia. He will succeed Bishop Paul Bird, CSsR, who has led the Ballarat Diocese since 2012.
Freeman, 66, is currently a parish priest in Bellerive-Lindisfarne in the Archdiocese of Hobart, Tasmania.
The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference president, Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, SDB, said the announcement will be met with great joy in Ballarat. “His wide experience and many gifts, his deep faith and his pastoral sensitivity will also be greatly valued by his brother bishops as he joins them in their pastoral oversight of the Catholic Church in Australia,” he said.
As the new year began, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Israel to end a ban on humanitarian agencies that provide aid in Gaza. The government recently announced it was suspending 37 foreign humanitarian organizations from accessing the Gaza Strip after they refused to share lists of their Palestinian employees with government officials, Agence France-Presse reported. The list includes Catholic aid agencies Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Jerusalem and goes into effect March 1.
Caritas Internationalis is the Church’s confederation of relief and development agencies.
Guterres, through spokesman Stéphane Dujarric, called the work of international nongovernmental organizations “indispensable to lifesaving humanitarian work” and said that the suspension “risks undermining the fragile progress made during the ceasefire.”
Bishop Jean-Marie Lovey of Sion, Switzerland, presided at a Requiem Mass on the evening of Jan. 1 for the victims of the fire that broke out in a ski resort bar on New Year’s Eve, according to Vatican News. The Mass was prayed in the Saint-Christophe chapel in Crans and broadcast on television, after which mourners processed to the site of the disaster with flowers.
The following day, Jan. 2, church bells were rung throughout the Diocese of Sion “as a sign of solidarity and prayer,” according to the Tablet, which also reported that churches in Switzerland and other countries have offered condolences to victims’ families.
Aleppo has been gripped by fear and uncertainty following the return of heavy fighting to residential neighborhoods, with gunfire and shelling prompting sudden curfews and large-scale civilian displacement, ACI MENA, CNA’ s Arabic-language news partner, has reported. Syrian government forces imposed restrictions on the districts of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh after violent clashes with Kurdish-led Asayish forces.
The escalation coincided with Epiphany and Christmas celebrations for some Eastern Christian communities, leading to canceled services and subdued worship, as clergy once again appealed for dialogue and an end to violence.
Thousands of families have fled the affected areas, while others remain despite the risks. Nearby government-controlled neighborhoods, some with a strong Christian presence, have also experienced waves of displacement as the violence spread, marking one of the most intense escalations in the city in several years. Churches across Aleppo have responded by opening their doors as temporary shelters.
As attacks against Christians increase across India, the All India Catholic Union (AICU), has appealed to India’s government to “urgently address the issue of targeted violence against Christians, which peaked during the Christmas season,” according to a report by persecution.org.
The AICU, which represents about 16 million Catholics in 120 dioceses across India, said in a press release that “token gestures by national leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, such as attending Christian worship services etc., are inadequate without firm action, accountability, and legal reform.”
“The violence and hate experienced by Christians in India throughout 2025, especially during the Christmas season, represent not only attacks on individuals but also on the pluralistic fabric of Indian society,” the statement said.
As the Christmas season began on Jan. 7 in Ethiopia, Cardinal Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel expressed his spiritual closeness with Ethiopians, appealing for solidarity “with those displaced and exiled by war amid conflicts in some regions of the country, according to ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa.
In his Christmas message, which ACI Africa obtained, the cardinal also called for spiritual closeness with those suffering in various ways, including those on the streets, the sick, and the lonely.
Reflecting on what various Church fathers have written on the mystery of the Incarnation, the cardinal said that the “mystery of Christianity is truly astonishing, not only that God became human, but that he became bread fit to be eaten by humanity.”
Posted on 01/10/2026 12:00 PM (CNA Daily News)
A garden now occupies the site of Bangladesh’s first Catholic church at Iswaripur in Satkhira district. Portuguese Jesuits dedicated the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus here on Jan. 1, 1600. | Credit: Milon Munda
Jan 10, 2026 / 07:00 am (CNA).
A financial crisis has halted the Catholic Church’s efforts to reclaim the site of Bangladesh’s first church, leaving the 426-year-old foundation in Satkhira occupied and unpreserved.
Two Portuguese Jesuit priests — Father Francesco Fernandes and Father Domingo de Sousa — built the country’s first church at Iswaripur in the Sundarbans Forest area in the present-day southern Satkhira district. They dedicated it on Jan. 1, 1600, as the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus.
The priests built the church with the permission and funding of the then-Raja (King) Pratapaditya. At the time, many Portuguese soldiers worked under Pratapaditya and worshipped at the church.
The church no longer exists, and a Muslim family has since settled on the land. However, the district’s official website still preserves its history online.
According to the Bangladesh government’s website, many Portuguese soldiers serving in Pratapaditya’s army contributed funds for the church’s construction. Additionally, Pratapaditya assisted in building the place of worship for Christians in his capital, with construction completed in December 1599.
“The bishop took the initiative to take over the site on behalf of the Catholic Church and offered to pay for it, but those living there did not agree. The then-bishop did not pursue it further for some reason,” said Father Philip Mondal, who oversees the Khulna Diocese’s land in the area.
The late Bishop Michael D’Rozario, who led the Khulna Diocese from 1970 to 2005, was the first to attempt to save the church site. Mondal noted he is unsure if the bishop sought administrative assistance at that time.
“But now, to take over this place, we need the support of the administration and a lot of money, which the Khulna Diocese cannot provide,” Mondal told CNA.
However, the priest believes that with government backing and external financial support, the Church in Bangladesh could reclaim this historically unique site.
Christians make up less than 1% of Bangladesh’s 170 million people, a tiny minority in the predominantly Muslim country. The Catholic community, with approximately 400,000 members, is the single-largest Christian group.
Members of the Muslim and Hindu majority often regard Christians highly for their significant contributions to education, health, and social development. Christian missionaries also contributed historically to the Bengali language, promoting its colloquial and simplified form.
Lay Catholics are urging the Church to establish at least a small chapel on the site to preserve its history.
“We have only read in books that the first church in Bangladesh was in Iswaripur, but now when we go there, we do not find any trace of it. It cannot be that the history of a religion has been erased,” Praveen Mondal, 34, a Catholic, told CNA.
He believes that Christianity and its first church are inextricably linked, making the preservation of this memory a major responsibility for the Church.
CNA spoke to Rashed Hossain, a top government land officer in the area, about the site.
“It is true that the first church was established here, but now that church does not exist. However, we need to see how the people who live there now came to own the land,” Hossain told CNA.
He added that if the Church makes a formal request to the government, officials will “look into the matter seriously.”