Saint Joseph Catholic Church

Two arsonists recently lit fires at the entrance and on the altar of St. Peter’s Church in Huttenheim, a small town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The fires were extinguished before they could cause extensive damage.

The Baroque church was dedicated in 1763.

A federal district court ordered US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to permit members of a liberation theology organization and other plaintiffs to distribute Holy Communion at an Illinois ICE facility on Ash Wednesday.

The plaintiffs who sought access to the facility include two priests, a religious sister, and the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership, which describes itself as “merg[ing] liberation theology and community organizing.”

Archbishop Richard Moth was installed today as archbishop of Westminster, England’s leading see (video).

“It is from the Eucharist and from prayer that our work of evangelization flows, for evangelization is a call to a relationship, the relationship with the person of Jesus Christ,” Archbishop Moth preached. “The seventy-two had walked with Jesus, sat with Him, listened to Him. We must, therefore, walk with Jesus on the journey of prayer, listen to Him in the Scriptures, sit with Him in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, welcome Him in the Eucharist.”

Archbishop Moth, 67, was formerly bishop of Arundel and Brighton (2015–25). He succeeds Cardinal Vincent Nichols, 80, who had governed the see since 2009.

Today is the Memorial of Saints Cyril and Methodius. St. Cyril (827-869) was a priest and a philosopher and accompanied his brother St. Methodius (826-885) to Moravia to preach the Gospel. They both perfected a Slavonic alphabet which is now known as the Cyrillic alphabet and translated the liturgy into this language. They were summoned to Rome, where Cyril died on this date in 869, and Methodius was consecrated bishop and sent to Pannonia. Methodius died on April 6, 885, in Velehrad, Czech Republic, after working tirelessly on spreading the Gospel.

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The Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference reported a 16% rise in couples attending marriage-preparation programs, compared to the previous year.

In 2025, the Accord marriage-preparation program, “in the Republic of Ireland, outside of the Dublin area, provided 239 programs for 3,612 couples, and increase of 16%, or 505 couples, over 2024,” according to the bishops’ conference.

The Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba announced the postponement of the bishops’ long-planned ad limina visit to Rome, scheduled for February 16-20.

The bishops cited the “worsening of the socio-economic situation of the country, which has generated instability and uncertainty in large sectors of the population.” The bishops also “reiterated their communion with the Pope and their spiritual closeness to all the people of God, renewing their commitment to prayer and service.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) invited parishes and individuals to contribute to a collective 250 hours of Eucharistic adoration and 250 works of mercy for the nation’s 250th anniversary.

“Parishes can participate in 250 hours of adoration together by offering a Holy Hour on a weekly or monthly basis leading up to the July 4 anniversary,” the bishops’ conference explained. “While 250 hours seems like a lot, each person present constitutes an hour prayed.”

The presidents of the episcopal conferences of France, Germany, Italy, and Poland called upon Europe to “rediscover its soul in order to be able to offer the whole world its indispensable contribution to the ‘common good.’’”

“The founding fathers of [post-World War II] Europe, Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer and Alcide De Gasperi, inspired by their Christian faith, were not naïve dreamers, but the architects of a magnificent, albeit fragile, building,” the prelates said. “Europe cannot be reduced to an economic and financial market, on pain of betraying the initial vision of its founding fathers.”

The prelates added:

The world needs Europe. This is the urgency that Christians must make their own in order to be able to commit themselves decisively, wherever they are, to its future with the same lively awareness as the founding fathers ... In the name of their faith, Christians are called to share with all the inhabitants of the European continent their hope for universal brotherhood.