Saint Joseph Catholic Church

Pope Leo XIV marked the centenary of the Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology by issuing an apostolic letter today on the importance of archaeology.

In the apostolic letter—the sixth of his pontificate—Pope Leo wrote that archaeology “reminds us that God chose to speak in a human language, to walk the earth and to inhabit places, houses, synagogues and streets.”

“By concentrating on the physical traces of faith, archaeology educates us in a theology of the senses: a theology that knows how to see, touch, smell and listen,” he said. “By examining stones, ruins and other artifacts, it teaches us that nothing touched by faith is insignificant ... In this sense, archaeology is also a school of humility.”

The Dicastery for the Clergy has overturned Bishop Michael Fisher’s decision to close three parishes in the Diocese of Buffalo, according to Save Our Buffalo Churches, which has advocated on the parishes’ behalf.

Following the discovery of a procedural error, the bishop revoked a decree closing an additional parish.

Addressing a session of the International Organization for Migration, a Vatican diplomat said yesterday that states “have both the right to protect their borders and the duty to respect the rights of those who arrive at their borders.”

Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, Switzerland, said that “it is essential to remember that each person on the move is first and foremost a human being whose rights and God-given dignity must be at the care of international cooperation and migration governance. Regrettably, today’s debates are all too often clouded by stereotypes and polarized narratives.”

The vice president of the Haitian bishops’ conference said in an interview that the nation needs “new moral leadership.”

Bishop Pierre-André Dumas, who was severely wounded in an assassination attempt and is recovering in the United States, spoke with Vatican News about a “lack of vision and moral leadership. The state is often paralyzed and leaves the violent control of a large part of the territory to gangs.”

Haiti’s people cry out in pain “because of the wounds of poverty, gang violence, insecurity, and the fragility of institutions that should be rebuilt,” the prelate said. Despite the pain, he has hope that is “rooted in Christ: the certainty that evil will not have the last word.”

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities USA, and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network said that they “strongly oppose” the Trump administration’s decision to end the automatic extension of employment authorization for migrants.

In a 14-page letter to an official of US Citizenship and Immigration Services, the organizations argued that the decision “will guarantee widespread employment-authorization gaps; destabilize fragile households; generate severe backlogs and administrative burdens for affiliates; impede the functioning of state agencies, such as Departments of Motor Vehicles; and impose substantial costs on US employers and local economies.”

William Quinn, the USCCB’s general counsel, signed the letter on behalf of the bishops’ conference.

The US Department of Justice’s Religious Liberty Commission heard testimony yesterday from the vicar general of the Archdiocese for the Military Services about the US Army’s cancellation of contracts for help at military chapels.

“A military that preserves the sacramental life of its Catholic members is one that respects their dignity, supports their resilience and reinforces the moral fabric essential to honorable service,” said Msgr. Anthony Frontiero.

President Donald Trump established the Religious Liberty Commission in May; its members include Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Bishop Robert Barron.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, sent a message in Pope Leo’s name to participants in the recent national conference for the educators and leaders of the Italian Catholic Action movement.

In the message, Pope Leo asked the 1,700 attendees to “consider how the life of the educator, his constant human and spiritual growth as a disciple of Christ, sustained by the grace of God, is a fundamental factor at his disposal to give effectiveness to his service to the younger generations.”

At the conclusion of his general audience yesterday, Pope Leo XIV recalled the 60th anniversary of the Letter of Reconciliation of the Polish Bishops to the German Bishops, written two decades after the conclusion of World War II.

The message “changed the history of Europe,” Pope Leo told Polish-speaking pilgrims. “May the words of that document—‘We forgive and ask forgiveness’—be for the peoples in conflict today a testimony that reconciliation and forgiveness are possible when they are born of a mutual desire for peace and a common commitment, in truth, for the good of humanity.”

The Vatican omitted Pope Leo’s words from its English translation of his remarks.

On December 9, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, marked the anniversary in an Italian-language address at Pontifical Gregorian University.

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary by St. Anne at a Divine Liturgy in Canberra, Australia.

“By studying biology and modern science, you know that human life begins at conception,” he preached. “With the development of the central and peripheral nervous systems, the child in the womb enters into personal relationships. A newborn child recognizes the mother’s voice and feels her heartbeat.”

“Today, with this solemn service, we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of our Mother, the Heavenly Virgin Mary,” he continued. “The Virgin Mary entered into a special relationship not only with her mother [St. Anne], but also with the Holy Trinity.”

Pope Leo has sent aid, through the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, to assist victims of floods in at least four Asian nations.

The Vatican newspaper did not report on the amount of the aid, but did report that the aid was sent “to countries in serious difficulty, such as Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.”