Saint Joseph Catholic Church

Pope Leo XIV named Auxiliary Bishop Claudio Pablo Castricone, of Orán, Argentina, as the diocese’s coadjutor bishop. Bishop Castricone will succeed Bishop Luis Scozzina, O.F.M., 74, upon his retirement.

In an unusual move, Pope Francis appointed Castricone as auxiliary bishop of the small diocese in 2023.

From 2013 to 2017, the diocese was governed by Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta, who had worked closely with the future Pope Francis at the Argentine Episcopal Conference. In August 2017, Pope Francis accepted Bishop Zanchetta’s resignation for “health reasons”; four months later, the Pope appointed him assessor of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, which manages the Holy See’s real estate and other assets and investments.

It later emerged that diocesan priests had complained to the Vatican that Bishop Zanchetta had pornographic images of youths on his phone; they also alleged financial mismanagement, abuse of power, and the sexual abuse of seminarians. In 2022, an Argentine court convicted Bishop Zanchetta of sexually abusing two seminarians.

The president of the Pakistan Catholic Bishops’ Conference demanded safety for Christian girls after a court validated the marriage of a 13-year-old Christian girl to a 30-year-old Muslim man.

The girl’s father said that his daughter was abducted, forced to convert to Islam, and did not consent to the marriage. Under Pakistani civil law, the minimum age for marriage is 18, but the court cited Islamic law in validating the marriage.

“The Church is not in favor of marriages involving conversion under such circumstances,” said Bishop Samson Shukardin of Hyderabad. “We demand safety for our daughters and will continue to raise our voice for underage brides of any religion.”

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Alleluia Verse, Ps 118:24:This is the day the LORD has made; let us be glad and rejoice in it.