Saint Joseph Catholic Church

In an interview with The Guardian, Bishop Michael Pham of San Diego recalled his family’s journey from Communist Vietnam to the United States and discussed his decision to accompany migrants to immigration enforcement proceedings.

“There are people in court who have lived here for 10, 20, 30, 40 years without criminal records,” Bishop Pham told the British newspaper. “And just imagine they have family, children, grandchildren, businesses—now being torn apart.”

At least 212 Nigerian priests have suffered abduction since 2015, according to a study conducted by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria.

“Of the 212 kidnapped, 183 were released or escaped, 12 were murdered and three died later as a result of trauma and injuries suffered during their captivity,” according to the report. “Currently, at least four kidnapped priests remain in captivity.”

In Spes Non Confundit, his bull of indiction for the 2025 jubilee year, Pope Francis established that the jubilee year would end in the world’s dioceses on December 28. This article summarizes the homilies of the archbishops of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Detroit, Miami, Galveston-Houston, and Los Angeles.

In a recent homily, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, one of the two pro-prefects of the Dicastery for Evangelization, discussed his trips to three predominantly Muslim nations: Azerbaijan, Malaysia, and the United Arab Emirates.

“It is good to remember that the population of Asia is around 4.8 billion people, of which only 3% is Catholic,” Cardinal Tagle preached on December 23 in the Chapel of the Magi, in the Palace of Propaganda Fide.

In Azerbaijan, “around 400 regularly attend the Masses on Sundays, most of them migrants brimming with hope amidst their difficult lives,” he said. “There are catechumens who grew up not practicing any faith, but are now drawn to Jesus and the Gospel, thanks to the friendship and sense of community provided by the Catholics.”

In Malaysia, Cardinal Tagle spoke at a gathering organized by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences; in the United Arab Emirates, he celebrated Mass for 30,000 in Dubai (the nation’s largest city) and 18,000 in Abu Dhabi (the nation’s capital).

In his latest weekly address, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church said that Ukrainians are celebrating the Christmas season, “although the circumstances in which they celebrate it are becoming increasingly dire.”

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk added, “By celebrating Christmas, Ukraine finds the Savior, who was born among us today, incarnated; who became a Ukrainian soldier defending the homeland; a refugee who left his home; a volunteer helping all those in need; a rescuer extinguishing fires; and a medic who saves human lives.”

Pope Leo XIV received pilgrims from the Parish of Santo Tomás de Villanueva in Alcalá de Henares, Spain, and spoke to them about the parish’s patron saint.

St. Thomas of Villanova (or Villanueva) was an “Augustinian religious who was open to God’s action in his life, and whose readiness led him to do much good for the Church and society of his time,” Pope Leo said during the audience, which took place yesterday in Consistory Hall of the Apostolic Palace.

The Pontiff—like St. Thomas of Villanova, a member of the Order of Saint Augustine—spoke about the saint’s continuous prayer, industriousness, and love for the poor.

Speaking with Vatican News, the president of the episcopal conference in the strife-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo welcomed Pope Leo’s repeated calls for a “disarmed and disarming peace.”

Archbishop Fulgence Muteba of Lubumbashi also welcomed the continuity between Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical on care for our common home, and the teaching of the current pope. The Congolese prelate said, “The future of the world depends on safeguarding the environment and combating the destruction of everything around us.”

Vatican News, the news agency of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, summarized Archbishop Muteba’s comments in its English-language report; it also posted the video of the interview, which was conducted in French.

cna

Seventeen Catholic missionary workers were killed in 2025, the Fides news service reports in an annual year-end account.

Since the start of the 21st century, Fides reports, 626 missionary workers have been killed. That figure includes priests, religious, seminarians, and lay catechists.

Nigeria accounted for five of the missionaries slain in 2025. Two were killed in Haiti and two in Burkina Faso. Others died in Kenya, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Mexico, the US, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Poland.

Africa saw the largest number of missionary killings, with ten. The Americas—treated by Vatican statistics as a single continent—followed with four.