Saint Joseph Catholic Church

One hundred of the 315 students and teachers abducted from a Catholic school in Nigeria last month have been freed, Bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna of Kontagora told Aid to the Church in Need.

Earlier, 50 of the kidnapped victims had escaped.

Reacting to “recent statements regarding the Somali community in the United States,” the chairman of the US bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation said that “each child of God has value and dignity,” and that “language that denigrates a person or community based on his or her ethnicity or country of origin is incompatible with this truth.”

“I call on all—public officials, community leaders and individuals—to refrain from denigrating and dehumanizing language,” said Bishop Daniel Garcia of Austin, whose statement followed comments on Somalis by President Donald Trump.

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Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington, DC, who was hospitalized in November for cancer surgery, has announced that the procedure was successful and he is now “cancer free” and expects no need for further medical treatment.

Pope Leo XIV received Prime Minister Andrej Plenković of Croatia on December 5.

“We discussed global challenges that require our firm commitment to peace, democratic values, solidarity, and respect for international law,” Prime Minister Plenković said. “We emphasized the urgency of bringing the war in Ukraine to an end and achieving a just peace, and we expressed our support for stabilizing the situation in the Middle East.”

After the papal audience, the prime minister met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, and Msgr. Mihăiță Blaj, the recently appointed Undersecretary for Relations with States. The parties discussed Church-state relations, regional cooperation in the Balkans, and the war in Ukraine, according to a Vatican statement.

Croatia, a Southeast European nation of 4.2 million (map), is 94% Christian (87% Catholic) and 2% Muslim.

The Italian Episcopal Conference has published “Educare a una pace disarmata e disarmante” [Educating for a disarmed and disarming peace], a 34-page pastoral note on peace.

The conference’s president, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, said that the document

invites us to rediscover the centrality of Christ “our peace” in every proclamation and commitment to promote reconciliation and harmony, and is part of the Social Doctrine of the Church, with a careful analysis of the current situation marked by numerous conflicts; by the “useless slaughter” of people, mostly civilians and children; by a mentality that pursues the strategy of arms deterrence, which can change the economy and culture of our countries; from widespread violence that risks becoming a culture that fascinates especially the youngest.

Setting cars on fire and vandalizing property, Israeli settlers have again attacked the predominantly Christian village of Taybeh in the West Bank.

The attack on the night of December 4-5 followed similar attacks in July and November.

“Taybeh is the last Christian village in the area, and we need global cooperation to help it survive,” said Father Bashar Fawadleh, pastor of the town’s Latin-rite parish.

The Preacher of the Papal Household preached his first weekly Advent sermon in Paul VI Audience Hall on December 5, in the presence of Pope Leo, the Roman Curia, and staff of the Vatican City State and the Vicariate of Rome.

The title of Father Roberto Pasolini’s sermon was entitled “The Parousia of the Lord: An expectation without hesitation.” The sermon had three sections, devoted to recognizing grace, eliminating evil, and dedicating oneself to salvation.

The overall theme of the Capuchin Franciscan’s series of sermons is “Awaiting and hastening the coming of the day of God: Jubilee hope between waiting for the Lord and the universality of salvation.”