Saint Joseph Catholic Church

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass today (video) at the Basilica of Saint Augustine in Annaba, Algeria, and preached that “Christians are truly born from above.”

The Heralds were founded in 2001 in Brazil. The Vatican ordered an apostolic visitation of the association in 2017 and named Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno Assis as pontifical commissioner. Ordinations were halted in 2019.

“The interruption directly affected candidates who had completed their formation but were unable to proceed to ordination,” The Catholic Herald reported. “No detailed public explanation was given at the time for the suspension, and the situation persisted for several years without a clear timeline for resolution.”

“While this would not involve ordination, it would still represent participation in the liturgy and assist with the Church’s diaconal ministry,” said Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, S.J., of Luxembourg.

In his 1972 apostolic letter Ministeria Quaedam, Pope St. Paul VI noted that the subdiaconate was a major order, along with the diaconate and the priesthood.

“The functions heretofore assigned to the subdeacon are entrusted to the reader and the acolyte; consequently, the major order of subdiaconate no longer exists in the Latin Church,” St. Paul VI declared. “There is, however, no reason why the acolyte cannot be called a subdeacon in some places, at the discretion of the conference of bishops.”