Saint Joseph Catholic Church

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski has dismissed suggestions that the Vatican deliberately snubbed a group of “transgender” activists by neglecting to seat them with Pope Leo at a head table for the Jubilee Lunch for the Poor on November 16.

At past luncheons the activists had been seated with Pope Francis. But on this occasion they were given other seats. Cardinal Krajewski, the papal almoner, explained that seats at the head table had been given to people who had attended a Mass before the luncheon; the activist had not.

Cardinal Krajewski stressed that the activists were welcome at the luncheon, “because they’re an integral part of the Church, that is all.”

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked Pope Leo XIV to formalize the role of Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who was named by Pope Francis as a special envoy to facilitate negotiations for the release of hostages in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Zelenskyy, who will meet with Pope Leo on Friday, wants the Vatican to act as official intermediary in hostage-release talks. made the request in a letter to Pope Leo XIV ahead of an audience Friday between the pope and a delegation of returned Ukrainian children and civilians. At a briefing Wednesday, the young people described being subject to Russian propaganda and their trauma at being separated from loved ones. Zelenskyy’s letter asked that Leo formalize the informal arrangement launched by Pope Francis in which an Italian cardinal, Matteo Zuppi, had served as a personal papal envoy for humanitarian issues.

In a November 20 address to the 81st general assembly of the Italian episcopal conference, Pope Leo XIV encouraged the bishops to “start afresh from the act of faith that makes us recognize Christ as the Savior and which is expressed in all areas of daily life.”

The Italian bishops are meeting this week at Assisi, and the Pontiff stopped to pray at the tomb of St. Francis before the meeting. He urged the Italian bishops to imitate St. Francis in keep their focus on the face of Jesus Christ.

The Pope asked the bishops to adopt a synodal approach to issues such as diocesan mergers, the “serious discernment of the requests that come from the People of God,” the promotion of integral humanism “to spread a culture of legality and solidarity,” and to “the challenge posed to us by the digital universe.”

The Roman Martyrology commemorates St. Mechtilde (1241-1298), who was born to a noble family in Heifta, Saxony, and was placed in a Benedictine convent at age seven. Mechtilde was a mystic, and aided St. Gertrude with her Book of Special Graces or The Revelation of St. Mechtilde.

Today is the Optional Memorial of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul. The whole Church celebrates the dedication of the two great Roman basilicas of St. Peter at the Vatican and of St. Paul-Outside-the-Walls. The Basilica of St. Peter stands on the site of the tomb of the Prince of the Apostles, where Nero's Circus stood. It was here that St. Peter was executed. Recent excavations have shown that the present basilica which, in the seventeenth century replaced the ancient Constantinian basilica, was built over the tomb of St. Peter, just as the previous basilica. It was consecrated by Urban VIII on November 18, 1626. St. Paul-Outside-the-Walls, situated at the other end of the city on the Ostian Way, is built near the place St. Paul was martyred. It was almost completely destroyed by fire in 1823 and was rebuilt in sumptuous fashion by Gregory XVI and Pius IX and consecrated by the latter on December 10, 1854. The celebration of the anniversary of these two dedications has been kept, nevertheless, on November 18.

The Church celebrates the Memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-1231), religious. She was the daughter of Andrew II, King of Hungary, and wife of Duke Louis IV of Thuringia. She is famous for her great kindness and inexhaustible charity towards the poor and the sick.

Gospel Excerpt, Year C, Lk 21:5-19: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.

Today the Church celebrates the Optional Memorial of St. Albert the Great (c. 1200-1280), son of a German nobleman. While studying at Padua when the Master General of the Dominicans, Jordan of Saxony, succeeded in attracting him to that Order. He was to become one of its greatest glories. After taking his degrees at the University of Paris he taught philosophy and theology at Paris and then in Cologne. St. Thomas Aquinas was among his pupils. His knowledge was encyclopedic. In 1260 he was named Bishop of Ratisbon and devoted himself zealously to the duties of his office. But soon resigned in order to continue his teaching and research. St. Albert died in Cologne on November 15, 1280.

The Roman Martyrology commemorates St. Laurence O'Toole (1128-1180) today, but in Ireland it is an Optional Memorial (although a feast in Dublin). Laurence (also referred to as "Lawrence") was the Archbishop of Dublin during the takeover of Ireland by the Normans and King Henry II. His efforts in the peace process and his frustration with King Henry probably caused his early death. St. Laurence is highly honored at Eu in Normandy, France, where he died.

Today the dioceses in the United States celebrate the Memorial of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917), virgin, born in Lombardy, Italy, one of thirteen children. She came to America as a missionary, founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart to care for poor children in schools and hospitals. She is the first American citizen to be canonized. December 22 is her feast in the Roman Martyrology.