Saint Joseph Catholic Church

Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas said:

Food shortages are being caused by this energy crisis, apart from the difficulties faced by civilians due to the cold. This seems to have some resemblance to the Holodomor that Ukraine went through in the 1930s.

We have our own generator at the Nunciature, which means we can have more light, water, and heating than the others. If the situation remains unchanged, it is possible that the entire Ukrainian capital would need to be evacuated, as the mayor of Kyiv said a few days ago.

The nuncio also spoke about the Latin-rite hierarchy’s decision to dedicate the year to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Seeking Christ’s “merciful reception, forgiveness of sins, and protection from all evil, we prayed that God’s goodness would overcome sin and war and grant us peace,” said the nuncio. “We know that war is caused by the devil’s actions, and the devil is afraid every time we worship God.”

In a lecture delivered on January 17, the Secretary of State of His Holiness emphasized that peace and justice should “once again become the pillars of order among nations, and not merely remain simple aspirations or empty claims.”

In a letter marking the 325th anniversary of the founding of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, Pope Leo XIV offered his vision of Vatican diplomacy, one in which priests of “deep spirituality” listen and build bridges.

A North Carolina bishop returned a priest accused of sexual abuse to active ministry effective January 13, over six years after the priest was placed on administrative leave by the previous bishop.

“In 2026, the United States has entered into the most profound and searing debate about the moral foundation for America’s actions in the world since the end of the Cold War,” said the prelates. “The events in Venezuela, Ukraine and Greenland have raised basic questions about the use of military force and the meaning of peace.”

They continued:

The sovereign rights of nations to self-determination appear all too fragile in a world of ever greater conflagrations. The balancing of national interest with the common good is being framed within starkly polarized terms. Our country’s moral role in confronting evil around the world, sustaining the right to life and human dignity, and supporting religious liberty are all under examination. And the building of just and sustainable peace, so crucial to humanity’s well-being now and in the future, is being reduced to partisan categories that encourage polarization and destructive policies.

Citing the Pope’s recent address to the diplomatic corps, the prelates said that “the contribution of Pope Leo in outlining a truly moral foundation” has “provided us an enduring ethical compass for establishing the pathway for American foreign policy in the coming years.”

They added:

As pastors and citizens, we embrace this vision for the establishment of a genuinely moral foreign policy for our nation. We seek to build a truly just and lasting peace, that peace which Jesus proclaimed in the Gospel.

We renounce war as an instrument for narrow national interests and proclaim that military action must be seen only as a last resort in extreme situations, not a normal instrument of national policy. We seek a foreign policy that respects and advances the right to human life, religious liberty, and the enhancement of human dignity throughout the world, especially through economic assistance.

The murder of two Jesuit priests in 2022 led to “the largest listening movement in Mexico’s recent history: more than a thousand forums throughout the national territory that documented more than 20,000 voices,” according to the Jesuits of Mexico.

The listening sessions led to a national peace agenda and will culminate in the national dialogue. The dialogue’s executive director is Father Atilano González Candia, SJ.

Fielding questions from journalists on January 17, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that “solutions by force cannot be used” in Greenland and that threats to do so are “unacceptable.”