News from Good Shepherd and Beyond

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- For Brooklyn, “Columbus” Day Comes Early – In NY Homecoming, Pope Taps Brennan to Succeed “The Czar”
  
  In the first Stateside move of the Vatican’s new working year, the most significant opening on the current US docket is off the table… and as Mets fans can always use good news, for once they’re in...
- Amid US Bench's Communion Clash, The "Holy Office" Flashes A Red Light
  
  As some US bishops advocate levying de facto sanctions on President Biden and other Catholic politicians for their support of legal abortion, the Holy See's distinct, but veiled skepticism over a...
- "A Child Can Teach Us How To Love" – Despite COVID and Curfews, Christus Natus Est
  
  Before anything else, especially amid all the sorrows, fears, loss and disorientation of a brutal year across the globe, Buon Natale a tutti – to one and all, a Blessed Christmas... may all its light,
- "The Poor Are The Center of The Gospel" – At Vatican "Festivus," The Church's Choice: "The Docility of the Shepherds, or the Defensiveness of Herod"
  
  Fifteen years (less a day) since Benedict XVI revolutionized the Roman Pontiff's Christmas "greeting" to the leaders of his Curia – transforming the holiday pleasantry into a Pope's ultimate...
- Whether you’ve been waiting three decades or just three weeks for this, the “mountaintop” is at hand. From 4pm Rome (10am US ET), the livefeed of a Public Consistory like no other – from the Altar of...
- Fearing "Attack" On "Fundamental Values," The Bishops Warn Biden's White House
  
  As the US bishops face a moment unseen in most of their lifetimes – the nation's election of a Catholic to the Presidency – the issue of Joe Biden's faith emerged by surprise at today's public close...
- On Day Two, The "Viruses" Take Center Stage
  
  Set to begin at 1pm Eastern, this final day of a virtual – and heavily curtailed – USCCB Plenary will be underpinned by what've arguably been the two key threads of American life in 2020: the bench's...

National Catholic Register
- Explosion Kills 68 Armenian Refugees as Thousands Flee Nagorno-Karabakh
  
  ALAIN JOCARD Refugees wait next to a line of vehicles near the border town of Kornidzor, Armenia, arriving from Nagorno-Karabakh, on Sept. 26. A...
- Lone Michigan Democrat Holds Up ‘Extreme’ Pro-Abortion Bill
  
  MANDEL NGAN State Rep. Karen Whitsett, D-Mich., speaks at a meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 2020. A coalition of...
- Courage: 6 Bible Quotes to Help Put Panic in Its Place, Pray for a Priest Blogger, and More Great Links!
  
  Peter Fischer ‘Crusader’ The Best In Catholic Blogging
- Parents Beware: ‘Paw Patrol’ Spin-Off ‘Rubble & Crew’ Adds LGBTQ Character
  
  Gerald Matzka The main characters fool around on the blue carpet at the fan screening of the first 'Paw Patrol' movie. ‘So the progressive...
- Canadian Bishops Prepare for Synod, Discuss Humanitarian Efforts in Honduras
  
  The 2023 Plenary Assembly of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is underway. During their meeting this week, the bishops will also...
- Cardinal Dolan Says Biden ‘Doesn’t Take my Calls’ on Migrant Crisis in New York City
  
  Credit: Jeffrey Bruno Cardinal Timothy Dolan. In addition to working with asylum-seeking migrant families to address their imminent needs...
- Investigating Theodore McCarrick Again? Unanswered Questions Have Some Saying the Catholic Church Should Do So
  
  Michael Dwyer Demonstrators watch as former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick leaves Dedham District Court after his arraignment, Sept. 3, 2021, in Dedham, Mass.
News from the Vatican
- Rome readies for pre-game frenzy ahead of the Super Bowl of Synods
  
  If the Synod of Bishops on Synodality is this fall’s Catholic equivalent of the Super Bowl, the next few days are similarly chock-full of what might be described as pre-game activities.
- Pope makes history to pay respects to former Italian president
  
  Giorgio Napolitano, a former leader of Italy’s Communist party, was a non-believer, and in accord with his wishes, his funeral Tuesday will be a civil ceremony, the first time a former head of state...
- Vatican calls claims that cardinal withdrew from synod over abuse case ‘pure fantasy’
  
  Shortly after the new list was published, some Italian media outlets speculated that Cardinal Luis Ladaria’s decision to opt out of the synod was related to the case of Slovene Jesuit Father Marko...
- In Marseille, pope will push agenda on climate, migration
  
  As Pope Francis heads to Marseille this weekend for a summit on the Mediterranean, two towering issues will loom large, and those are the ongoing migration crisis amid a new surge in arrivals to...
- Alleged Rupnik victims say rehabilitation shows zero tolerance is just a ‘PR campaign’
  
  The audience and the statement from the Rome diocese, they said, demonstrate that “the church isn’t interested at all in the victims and those who ask for justice.”
- Pope condemns hitting civilian targets after Caritas warehouse destroyed in Lviv
  
  Pope Francis has condemned the use of “conventional weapons” against civilian targets in a message to Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson the day after a warehouse in Ukraine containing several tons of...
- Envoy says Pope Francis wants to meet Russian Orthodox leader again
  
  “Pope Francis recalled his meeting with Patriarch Kirill in Havana warmly, and expressed the hope that it will not be the last, that he can see the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church again,” Ivan...