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Pope Leo XIV has appointed Father Susai Jesu, OMI, as archbishop of Keewatin-Le Pas, Canada (map).

Born and ordained in India, the priest began to minister in Canadian parishes in 2009.

The appointment “was shocking for me,” said Father Jesu. “I went to the church and spent almost one and a half hours kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament. And it was kind of emotional as the Lord was calling me.”

In an address to diocesan liturgical pastoral workers, Pope Leo XIV called upon dioceses and parishes to “initiate biblical and liturgical courses” where they are not present.

“Ensure that instituted lectors and those who regularly read the Scriptures at celebrations are thoroughly prepared,” said the Pope. “Basic biblical knowledge, clear diction, the ability to sing the responsorial psalm, as well as to compose prayers of the faithful for the community are important aspects that implement liturgical reform and help the People of God grow on their path.”

Liturgical formation, the Pope added, should “foster the fruitful participation of the People of God, as well as a dignified liturgy that is attentive to different sensibilities and sober in its solemnity.”

Pope Leo XIV met with leaders of the Spanish Episcopal Conference for an hour on November 17.

Archbishop Luis Argüello of Valladolid, the conference’s president, said that the prelates discussed evangelization, dwindling numbers of religious, immigration, missionary priests from Latin America and Africa, and reparations for sexual abuse victims.

Commenting on the investigation into an abuse allegation against Bishop Rafael Zornoza Boy of Cádiz y Ceuta, Archbishop Argüello said that “the Holy Father is obviously aware, but he hasn’t told us anything more.”

Members of the Allied Democratic Forces, an Islamist rebel group, attacked a diocesan health clinic in North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Islamists “massacred patients, and then set the entire facility ablaze, killing several women in the maternity ward,” according to Vatican News, the news agency of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication.

Father Giovanni Piumatti, an Italian missionary, said that “15 people were killed in the clinic and another five in the surrounding area. They set fire to the entire facility and 27 nearby homes. Before destroying everything, they looted all the medical supplies ... They killed mothers as they were breastfeeding their babies.”

Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, the newly elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, praised Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma for commuting a death sentence to life in prison without possibility of parole.

“The governor’s commitment to balancing justice with mercy and maintaining an opportunity for redemption is laudable,” said Archbishop Coakley. “In view of the particularly troubling details of [Tremane] Wood’s case, erring on the side of life should always be our first instinct.”

“We must also pray for the victims of violent crimes and their families, in this case Ronnie Wipf and those who mourn his death,” the prelate added.

The Vatican has announced that the principal commemoration of the 2026 World Day of the Sick (background) will take place at the Shrine of Our Lady of Peace in Chiclayo, Peru.

Bishop Robert Prevost, the future Pontiff, was bishop of the Diocese of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023.

The Vatican also announced that Pope Leo has appointed Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, as his special envoy to the commemoration there.