Saint Joseph Catholic Church

The bishops of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church issued a pastoral letter, “In Unity Lies the Strength of the People,” in which they called for prayer, fasting, and almsgiving during the Nativity Fast for the nation’s sake.

“The only certain path to victory is to pursue the way of Christ,” they wrote. “True victory for Ukraine will not come from the intervention of allies or diplomatic efforts. It will come when each of us makes a sacrifice—of time, energy, abilities, conveniences, and, if necessary, life.”

Pope Leo XIV asked Slovakia to “cherish and uphold the traditional family” and to “build bridges instead of walls,” President Peter Pellegrini said following a papal audience yesterday.

“To our young people, his message shines with clarity and hope: Seek faith with courage, take an active role in shaping our society, and prepare yourselves to shoulder the future of our beloved homeland,” Pellegrini continued. “Pope Leo XIV also expressed his sincere desire to visit Slovakia soon. As President, I welcome this hope with open arms.”

President Pellegrini subsequently 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, the international situation, and “strengthening social cohesion, promoting justice and protecting the family,” according to a Vatican statement.

Slovakia, a Central European nation of 5.6 million (map), is 84% Christian (73% Catholic). Pope Francis made an apostolic journey there in 2021.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court ruling that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis had the freedom to dismiss an employee who announced plans to “transition” from female to male.

The court ruled that since the archdiocese based its employment decision on religious grounds, the First Amendment barred government interference.

Archbishop Bejoy D’Cruze of Dhaka, Bangladesh reports that threats of a violent attack against two local Catholic colleges are “a grave concern for the Catholic Church.”

A militant Islamic group has vowed to destroy the Catholic institutions, charging that they are dedicated to the conversion of Muslims—a charge that the colleges deny.

“The priests and nuns who run these institutions are living in fear and anxiety,” said the archbishop.

Today the Roman Martyrology commemorates St. Sabbas (439-532), an anchorite who dedicated his life to prayer and manual labor. He is pictured as an abbot with an apple, as he was once tempted to eat an apple outside of the prescribed mealtime, whereupon he vowed never to eat apples again. In Jerusalem he built a famous laura (as oriental monasteries are called), which bears his name. When the Arabs later conquered the Holy City, the monks fled to Rome, where they built a monastery and introduced the veneration of their saint. In the Eastern Church St. Sabbas ranks high in popular devotion; he is distinguished by the titles "God-bearer, the Saint, Citizen of the Holy City, Star of the Desert, Patriarch of Monks."

Pope Leo XIV met on December 5 with musicians who will perform in the Concert for the Poor, to be held at the Vatican’s Paul VI auditorium on Saturday, and with organizers of the event.

The Pope remarked that the annual concert is “not merely a performance by talented artists or a simple musical review, as beautiful as it may be; nor is it a moment of solidarity to ease our conscience in the face of social injustices.” It is an expression of love, he said, and “it is when we love that we truly fulfil ourselves.”

Bishop Francis Li Jianlin was ordained on December 5 to head the prefecture of Xinxiang, in Henan province, with the approval of Pope Leo XIV, the Vatican has announced.

The Vatican announcement said that the new bishop was appointed by Pope Leo in August, “in accordance with the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China.” In fact the Chinese government announced the bishop’s appointment in April, after the death of Pope Francis and before Pope Leo’s election.

The Vatican reported that the Pope had accepted the resignation of Bishop Joseph Zhang Weizhu, whose leadership of the Xinxiang prefecture had never been recognized by the Chinese regime. Bishop Zhang Weizhu—who at the age of 67 is still well short of retirement age—was arrested by authorities in 2021 and held for over a year; it is not clear whether he is now free.

In a December 5 address to participants in a Vatican conference on artificial intelligence (AI), Pope Leo XIV asked the key question: “How can we ensure that the development of artificial intelligence truly serves the common good, and is not just used to accumulate wealth and power in the hands of a few?”

The Pontiff called for special attention to “the freedom and inner life of our children and young people, and the possible impact of technology on their intellectual and neurological development.” He added: “The ability to access vast amounts of data and information should not be confused with the ability to derive meaning and value from it.”

A Nigerian archbishop dismissed claims that Christians are persecuted there.

Addressing a gathering of the Knights of St. Mulumba, Archbishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto asked:

If you are a Christian in Nigeria and you say you are persecuted, my question is: how? At least 80% of educated Nigerians are Christians, and up to 85% of the Nigerian economy is controlled by Christians. With such figures, how can anyone say Christians are being persecuted?

Referring to reports on the scope of Christian persecution, he added, “They are saying that 1,200 churches are burnt in Nigeria every year, and I ask myself, in which Nigeria? Interestingly, nobody approached the Catholic Church to get accurate data.”

Pope Leo XIV has abolished a commission set up by Pope Francis to encourage and coordinate donations to the Holy See.

In a decree made public on December 4, Pope Leo suppressed the Commission for Donations to the Holy See, which was created by Pope Francis in February of this year. Pope Leo explained that he was eliminating the new commission in accordance with a recommendation from the Council for the Economy, which is charged with streamlining Vatican finances.

The wording of the December 4 papal decree suggests that Vatican officials were unhappy with the structure and performance of the Commission for Donations. The document states that a new Vatican working group will be set up “to formulate proposals regarding the general structure of fundraising for the Holy See,” while the Council for the Economy will be asked to nominate members of this body.