News from Good Shepherd and Beyond

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Word on Fire
Catholic News Service
Rome Reports
Whispers in the Loggia
- 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...

Catholic News Service
- Governments, schools push to extend broadband’s reach
  
  WASHINGTON (CNS) — The coronavirus pandemic that began in 2020 brought into focus the “digital...
- COMMENTARY: The struggle for hearts and minds will continue
  
  In advance of the Supreme Court’s much-awaited decision on the Mississippi law that would ban...
- Cardinals cite retired pope’s outreach to victims, action against abusers
  
  ROME (CNS) — A cardinal who had served as an aide to now-retired Pope Benedict...
- Benedictines’ Ozark hermitage offers 300 acres for spiritual reflection
  
  NEW BLAINE, Ark. (CNS) — As society gets more anxious, divisive and turbulent with each...
- Vatican projects budget deficit for 2022 as pandemic continues
  
  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Presenting a budget projection that foresees a deficit of $37.1 million...
- One city’s effort to close the digital divide
  
  WASHINGTON (CNS) — As a native of Detroit, I was stupefied to read in a...
- Kentucky tornado recovery expected to last two to four years
  
  OWENSBORO, Ky. (CNS) — Families across western Kentucky continue to face the impact of the...
National Catholic Register
- Christ Has Redeemed Our Suffering
  
  ‘The Deep Places’ book cover A personal review of ‘The Deep Places’ by Ross Douthat
- Who Is Benedict XVI? Cardinal Filoni Shares His Testimony
  
  Daniel Ibáñez Cardinal Fernando Filoni has known Pope Emeritus Benedict well since 2007. ‘I can testify first of all to his profound and very high moral and intellectual honesty.’
- Catholic Charity Calls for Day of Prayer for Myanmar on Coup Anniversary
  
  Myanmar local media. Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng begs police not to shoot protesters during Myanmar unrest. The pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) invited Catholics to...
- The Universe Looks Like a Fine-Tuned Fix
  
  WikiImages Deep space “Scripture and Tradition never cease to teach and celebrate this fundamental truth: ‘The world was made for the glory of God.’” (CCC 293)
- Pope Francis Tells Catholic Media Consortium: Accurate Information on COVID-19 Vaccines Is a ‘Human Right’
  
  National Catholic Register Pope Francis meets members of the Catholic Factchecking consortium at the Vatican’s Clementine Hall, Jan. 28. The Holy Father criticized ‘fake news’ about the...
- Pope Francis Appoints New Catholic Bishop of Fatima
  
  Santuário de Fátima. Bishop José Ornelas Carvalho will now lead the Portuguese Diocese of Fatima. Bishop José Ornelas Carvalho was elected president of the Portuguese bishops’ conference in...
- Holy Land’s Catholic Bishops Invite Orthodox Leaders to Contribute to Synodal Path
  
  Courtesy photo Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa blesses the congregation at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on April 4, 2021. The Holy Land’s Catholic bishops explained that...
News from the Vatican
- Cardinals cite retired pope’s outreach to victims, action against abusers
  
  A cardinal who had served as an aide to now-retired Pope Benedict XVI and was present for his meetings with survivors of clerical sexual abuse said he "never found in him any shadow or attempt to...
- Pope to meet university students as part of synodal process
  
  Highlighting the importance of a church that truly listens, Pope Francis will participate in a virtual meeting hosted by Loyola University in Chicago with students from North, Central and South...
- Vatican selling London property at heart of fraud trial
  
  The Vatican said Friday it has signed a contract to sell a luxury London building that is at the heart of a fraud and embezzlement trial under way in the Vatican’s criminal tribunal, recovering more...
- Pope denounces fake news about COVID, vaccines, urges truth
  
  Pope Francis denounced fake news about COVID-19 and vaccines Friday, blasting the “distortion of reality based on fear” but also urging that people who believe such lies are helped to understand true...
- Pope: Church courts must never manipulate facts for a desired end
  
  The promotion of justice, including in marriage tribunals, requires a "synodal spirit" of pastoral accompaniment, heartfelt listening and using "the right reasoning" in discernment, Pope Francis said.
- Pope: People must never forget or repeat horrors of Holocaust
  
  The cruelty of the Holocaust must never be repeated, Pope Francis said on the eve of the international day of commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
- Vatican UN rep urges ‘concrete action’ to protect civilians amid armed conflict
  
  Efforts by the United Nations to limit the use of explosive weaponry in highly populated urban areas gained the support of the Vatican's nuncio to the world organization.