Saint Joseph Catholic Church

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A relic of St. Thomas the Apostle has been stolen from a Syro-Malabar church in Toronto.

“The relic of St. Thomas the Apostle is invaluable to us because it is a first-class relic that we received from Italy,” said Father Baiju Chakkery, pastor of St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Forane Church. “It has great emotional value to the people here. It matters for our faith.”

The relic was stolen during an overnight break-in of the church, sacristy, and parish office.

Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, a leading proponent of Germany’s controversial Synodal Way, announced that he will not run for another term as chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference.

The prelate has held the position since 2020.

The dissident group We Are Church lamented his decision, describing it as a “bitter setback.”

New York State has ceased its longtime effort to compel religious organizations to provide abortion in their health insurance plans.

“After nearly a decade of trying to force nuns and other religious ministries to cover abortions, the state of New York has thrown in the towel,” the religious-liberty law firm Becket said in a statement. “Following two trips to the U.S. Supreme Court, the state late last week gave up on trying to make nuns pay for abortions.”

The superior general of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), accompanied by one of the institute’s founders, met with Pope Leo XIV on January 20.

“The cordial half-hour meeting was an opportunity to present to the Holy Father in greater detail the foundation and history of the Fraternity, as well as the various forms of apostolate that it has been offering to the faithful for almost 38 years,” the Fraternity said in a statement. “The proper law and charism that guide the sanctification of its members were recalled.”

“This audience also provided an opportunity to evoke any misunderstandings and obstacles that the Fraternity encounters in certain places and to answer questions from the Supreme Pontiff,” added the Fraternity, whose priests offer the extraordinary form of the Latin Mass.

Founded in 1988, the institute has grown to 579 members, 387 of whom are priests.

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem said in a statement that “recent activities undertaken by local individuals who advance damaging ideologies, such as Christian Zionism, mislead the public, sow confusion, and harm the unity of our flock.”

“The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem reiterate that they alone represent the Churches and their flock in matters pertaining to Christian religious, communal, and pastoral life in the Holy Land,” the Christian leaders added.

A bishop who ministers in Kazakhstan said that he has asked Pope Leo to promulgate an apostolic constitution that places the ordinary and extraordinary forms of the Mass on equal footing.

Auxiliary Bishop Athanasius Schneider, ORC, of Astana said that his proposal would guarantee “complete freedom and the co-existence of both forms, pacific co-existence, with no limitations and impediments of both forms.”

“Just like a bishop cannot forbid the Novus Ordo, the same principle applies: a bishop cannot limit or forbid the traditional form,” the prelate said of his proposal, made to the Pontiff during an audience last month.

The secretary general of Mali’s episcopal conference said that the nation’s bishops are meeting to “assess the current financial situation” of the Church there.

Vatican News, the news agency of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, warned that the assessment is necessary to ensure the “continuity and credibility” of the Church’s mission.

The West African nation of 22.6 million (map) is 87.5% Muslim and 3.5% Christian, with 9% adhering to ethnic religions. The Mali War began in 2012; it pits Mali’s government against various Islamist groups.

Observing that “Jesus wanted one Church, not a variety of churches,” Cardinal Kurt Koch said that “ecumenism can assist society if it does not mirror society’s discord, but is rather itself a sign of unity.”

The prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity told Vatican News that ecumenism is a “tool of peace for the world” and that ecumenism “can assist society if it does not mirror society’s discord, but is rather itself a sign of unity.”

The prelate, appointed to his position by Pope Benedict in 2010, made his remarks during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

The president of Venezuela’s episcopal conference told the Vatican newspaper that the Church there “strives to be a place of encounter for all and to constantly accompany the population in its struggle for the triumph of goodness, truth, and justice.”

Archbishop Andoni González de Zárate Salas of Valencia said that the Church is emphasizing “the primacy of the dignity of the person, the common good and the great evangelical values” amid dire poverty and great political uncertainty.

The prelate also renewed the Church’s call for the immediate release of all political prisoners; he said that the “release process” under new Venezuelan leadership has been “very slow.”