Saint Joseph Catholic Church

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In separate announcements, the apostolic nuncio to Angola and the president of Equatorial Guinea said that Pope Leo XIV will visit their nations.

The Vatican has not officially announced the visits.

Angola, a nation of 37 million (map) is 92% Christian (52% Catholic) and 6% ethnic religionist. Equatorial Guinea, a nation of 1.9 million (map), is 88% Christian (80% Catholic) and 4% Muslim.

Seventy-six students at the University of Notre Dame are preparing to enter the Church this Easter—up from 33 in 2023 and 52 in 2024.

The National Catholic Register reported that “growth this year has been particularly strong among catechumens, meaning those who have never been baptized.” A record number of students are also preparing to enter the Church at Harvard University.

Reacting to violence in Minneapolis, the head of the nation’s largest diocese said today that “the country cannot go on like this.”

“The first task is to restore order and peace to our streets, and insist on calm and restraint in our public discourse,” Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles wrote in an archdiocesan media column. “I hope all sides in this conflict—federal authorities, city and state officials, and those protesting the enforcement actions—will take a step back in the interests of the common good.”

Archbishop Gomez added:

There is no question that the federal government has the duty to enforce immigration laws. But there must be a better way than this ... It serves no national interest to deport undocumented men and women who are contributing to the good of our society, it only leaves children without their parents.

Our rights do not depend on the decisions of government officials or law enforcement officers; we do not lose our rights based on the color of our skin, or the language we speak, or for not having the proper documents. Right now our government seems to be treating undocumented immigrants—men, women, and children—as if they have no rights.

The cardinal archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, called for the defunding of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

“How will you say ‘no’ to violence?” he said yesterday during an online interfaith prayer service. “How will you say ‘no’ this week when an appropriations bill is going to be considered in Congress?”

Cardinal Tobin added:

Will you contact your congressional representatives, the senators and representatives from your district? Will you ask them, for the love of God and the love of human beings, which can’t be separated, to vote against renewing funding for such a lawless organization?