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Widows of Prayer: How women who have lost their husbands are keeping the faith

Widows who are members of the Widows of Prayer gather together in community in various parts of the country. The group is headquartered in the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, and has grown since its founding in 1994 from five widows to 60, with eight candidates currently in discernment. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Widows of Prayer

CNA Staff, Dec 22, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

After Cecilia Cortes-Peck lost both her husband and her son, she wanted to dedicate her life to something. She felt called to devote her life to prayer by making promises to the “Ordo Viduarum,” or Order of Widows — and to not remarry. 

But there was one small problem. There was no group of widowed women where she lived in Ohio for her to join. So, Cortes-Peck appealed to the bishop in a letter in 2022 and in October, the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, approved the establishment of an Order of Widows, which is not a religious order or an association but a special group similar to the Order of Virgins.

Cortes-Peck is now one of six widows in formation as part of the newly established group.

The newly-formed order in Columbus is not the only group of faithful widows in the U.S., however. Carlotta Stricker, assistant servant leader for the Widows of Prayer, spoke with CNA about the daily life of a Widow of Prayer.

The Widows of Prayer is based in the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, has grown since its founding in 1994. It began with five widows and has since grown to 60, with eight candidates in discernment. The apostolate remembers in their prayers an additional 83 members who have passed away.

Daily life as a Widow of Prayer

“As a Widow of Prayer, we live our lives with God as our focus,” Stricker explained. “Responsibilities include: daily Mass, Eucharist, rosary, adoration, Liturgy of the Hours (morning and evening), and Divine Mercy Chaplet. All other forms of prayers and spiritual reading are encouraged. We find that most of the widows coming to us are already practicing these prayerful activities.”

The widows don’t live in community the way many Catholic religious sisters and brothers do.

“Most of our widows live in their own homes — some in nursing homes — but no matter the age or health, we are able to pray,” Stricker said. “We have some widows who still have a job. In spite of our promise and vows, we are still mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers and still have an active role in our families lives.”

The Widows of Prayer has hubs in various dioceses as well as “remote” members of the community. Once there are three or more members in an area, they can become a new community.

“For those Widows of Prayer who have a community close to them, they are able to [gather] in person,” Stricker explained. “For those Widows of Prayer who are remote, they join meetings and prayer sessions via Zoom. We are fortunate that this can be done because of the age and health of our widows.”

“This allows us to feel connected and part of the whole apostolate; we are truly sisters in Christ Jesus!” she added.

Stricker explained that the Widows of Prayer takes inspiration from Mary.

“We call Our Blessed Mother the first Widow of Prayer,” she said. “Vatican archives do not indicate who started the Order of Widows, but it is assumed that it was Our Blessed Mother who was herself a widow and the only one to receive instruction in the Temple as a child. She has asked humanity to pray for her son’s priests and his Church.”

Stricker feels that her vocation honors both God and her late husband.

“It is a privilege to dedicate the remainder of our lives to God!” she said. “I also feel that I am honoring my husband and my marriage by doing this. I chose not to remarry and focus on heaven, and every day is a blessing!”

A woman makes promises to the Widows of Prayer. Women interested in becoming a member of the group go through a process of formation and promises over several years. Credit: Photo courtesy of Widows of Prayer
A woman makes promises to the Widows of Prayer. Women interested in becoming a member of the group go through a process of formation and promises over several years. Credit: Photo courtesy of Widows of Prayer

Becoming a Widow of Prayer

Those interested in becoming a Widow of Prayer go through a process of formation and promises over several years. 

“For those Catholic widows who are looking for a religious life, they begin their first year of formation and discernment once their application has been approved and accepted,” Stricker explained. “At the end of the first year they are invited to profess their first promise. A year later they make their second promise and the third is their final and permanent promise.” 

The third promise includes a profession of private vows of consecration: simplicity, chastity, and obedience, Stricker explained. Widows of Prayer members make their promises after the homily at a Mass with the assistance of the priest and the general servant leader of the Widows of Prayer. 

“Our foundress, Mary Reardon, WP, was hoping for approval of the name Order of Widows, which was listed in the Vatican archives and was established while Jesus was on earth,” Stricker said. “Aside from the name difference, we function as the same order by dedicating our lives to Our Lord and his Church, in which we pray for priests, Church leaders, the Catholic Church. These prayers include seminarians and deacons.”

Stricker said the “formation and building” of the apostolate is challenging and “takes great time and work.” Reardon developed statutes, bylaws, and formation materials that were later approved by the bishop. 

“Now we have the ability to have religious communities throughout the world with the approval of the bishop in that diocese,” Stricker noted. 

Catholic actor David Henrie says mission trip with Cross Catholic Outreach left big impact

Catholic actor David Henrie and his wife, Maria, with children during their mission trip to Guatemala with Cross Catholic Outreach. / Credit: Benjamin Rusnak

CNA Staff, Dec 21, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

Cross Catholic Outreach’s Box of Joy ministry has officially reached its 10th anniversary and marked the occasion with a trip by Catholic actor David Henrie to Guatemala to deliver boxes to children there.

Henrie, who serves as brand ambassador for the nonprofit, flew to Guatemala with his wife, Maria, to hand-deliver the “Boxes of Joy” to children living in extreme poverty.

Founded in 2001, Cross Catholic Outreach is a Vatican-endorsed nonprofit that works to provide aid, such as food, medicine, and shelter, to those suffering from poverty in more than 90 countries. It has also recently been named by Forbes as one of America’s Top 100 charities, ranking at No. 42 on the list.

Catholic actor David Henrie and his wife, Maria, hand out Box of Joy gifts to children in Guatemala. Credit: Benjamin Rusnak
Catholic actor David Henrie and his wife, Maria, hand out Box of Joy gifts to children in Guatemala. Credit: Benjamin Rusnak

The organization’s Box of Joy ministry began in 2014. The boxes are given at Christmas to children in need, many of whom have never received a Christmas gift before. The boxes are filled with toys, clothing, school supplies, a rosary, and a booklet in the language of the children telling the story of Jesus.

Two years ago, Henrie — best known for his role as Justin Russo in the Disney series “Wizards of Waverly Place” — teamed up with Cross Catholic Outreach and its Box of Joy ministry. 

“It had been on my heart to try to align with a Catholic charity, but I wanted to be very selective and find something that could appeal to my fanbase, because there’s millions of people who follow me and a lot of them have very diverse backgrounds and not necessarily the same faith, so I wanted to work with a charity whose mission is just universal and broadly appealing and authentically Catholic,” he told CNA in an interview.

He added that it has been a “true honor” working specifically with the Box of Joy ministry and helping bring more awareness to that cause. 

Catholic actor David Henrie while on his mission trip to Guatemala with Cross Catholic Outreach's Box of Joy ministry. Credit: Benjamin Rusnak
Catholic actor David Henrie while on his mission trip to Guatemala with Cross Catholic Outreach's Box of Joy ministry. Credit: Benjamin Rusnak

From Nov. 19–22, Henrie and his wife visited the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima in Guatemala, which faces extreme poverty with many struggling to provide the basics of food and clean water to their families. Henrie called the experience a “perspective check,” especially for his wife, who had never visited a developing country. He said the experience taught them lessons they are now implementing in their own home with their children, such as simplicity and humility.

The couple was very impressed with “how much these people do with so little and also with how strong family values are in their community.”

Henrie recalled that when many of the kids received their gift, they would instantly turn to their sibling and give it to them. 

“It’s almost like they didn’t even think of themselves,” he said. “Or if they got a piece of candy or something, they would turn to their sibling and give it to their sibling or they would come right back to me and go, ‘Do you want to split this?’”

“That culture is just very beautiful and giving and charitable and you see it all over the place there.”

While there, the Henries met a mother and her children who had just been given a home by Cross Catholic Outreach. Prior to being given a home, the family only had one bed they slept on and when it rained they would pull a big plastic blanket over their bed to protect themselves from the rain. The family was filled with joy as they took Henrie around their 250-square-foot home made of a concrete floor, cinder blocks, and a tin roof. 

“They took us in their home that was just built and the joy in these people’s faces — they were so grateful and they felt so wealthy,” he shared. “And it was such a reality check for me and for my wife … I think a lot of Americans root their happiness and achievements or success in tangible items. That’s not where happiness really is. This is the happiest family on earth and they’re happy that they just have a floor that rain doesn’t get in.”

Henrie added that the trip left an impact on him personally by making him think about “where happiness is really rooted.”

“I saw it in these people and I saw it in what they had — where is happiness rooted — and it’s not rooted in material things, it’s rooted in ultimately your relationship with God and your character, your virtue ... It really isn’t dependent upon your external circumstances, it’s entirely dependent on your internal circumstances.”

Catholic actor David Henrie and his wife, Maria, give a Box of Joy to a little girl in Guatemala. Credit: Benjamin Rusnak
Catholic actor David Henrie and his wife, Maria, give a Box of Joy to a little girl in Guatemala. Credit: Benjamin Rusnak

Speaking to the importance of giving back, especially as Catholics, Henrie said: “Well, if you take the Bible seriously, then there’s a lot of mention of helping the poor in the Bible.”

“I think one of the beautiful things about the Catholic faith is it is the most charitable organization on the planet and always has been since its inception,” he added. “So, why is that? I think fundamentally it’s because Catholics recognize human dignity as something sacred and they see the human person as something infinitely valuable.”

He also highlighted the “unicity” of the Catholic Church.

“One, holy, Catholic, apostolic — unicity. We are all one,” he explained. “So all of the members of the Church need to be healthy and we need to help those who aren’t to help the body function in a more powerful way and healthy way.”

German bishops respond to deadly Magdeburg market attack, call for prayer and peace

Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg in Germany. / Credit: Magdeburg Diocese

CNA Newsroom, Dec 21, 2024 / 07:30 am (CNA).

The president of the German Bishops’ Conference and the local bishop of Magdeburg have expressed their shock and offered prayers after a car attack at a Christmas market in eastern Germany on Friday left five people dead and more than 200 injured.

The “attack in Magdeburg leaves us speechless. The horror, grief, and sympathy are felt today by many people throughout Germany and worldwide,” Bishop Georg Bätzing said, CNA Deutsch reported.

“Our thoughts and prayers are in Magdeburg during these hours. As churches, we mourn with the relatives of the victims of this terrible attack and pray for the injured and the deceased, as well as for their relatives who now fear for their loved ones.”

Bishop Gerhard Feige of Magdeburg issued a statement immediately after the attack on Friday evening local time: “I think of those affected, their relatives, and the emergency services and include them in my prayers.”

The local bishop added: “Especially in these days and before a feast where the message of God’s love, human dignity, and the longing for a healed world particularly move us, such an act is all the more frightening and abysmal.”

Feige also emphasized that the attack presented “a challenge for our society to counter any extremism even more decisively and to work even more for peaceful coexistence.”

In his joint statement with the Lutheran organization EKD, Bätzing expressed gratitude to the “committed emergency services who have been caring for the injured since yesterday and are working under high pressure to clarify what happened, as well as to the emergency chaplains who are standing by the people in this moment and accompanying the traumatized.”

Suspect came from Saudi Arabia

The attack took place shortly after 7 p.m. on Friday when a 50-year-old man from Saudi Arabia drove a black rental car into crowds at a Christmas market in the heart of Magdeburg, a city of 240,000 people about two hours west of Berlin by car.

The suspect, identified as Taleb A., came to Germany in 2006 and had at one time worked as a psychotherapist, according to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. He had been granted indefinite leave to remain in Germany after applying for asylum, citing threats in his home country.

In a 2019 interview with the Frankfurter Rundschau, the suspect had described himself as an “ex-Muslim.”

German media on Saturday reported that the man had acted increasingly erratically on social media in recent months, threatening bloodshed and “war” on German authorities.

The Diocese of Magdeburg announced that St. Sebastian’s Cathedral would be open for prayer and reflection on Saturday. A memorial service will be held at Magdeburg Cathedral on Saturday at 7 p.m., local broadcaster MDR reported.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser visited the city earlier in the day to meet with local officials and pay their respects at the site of the attack.

Bishop Álvarez celebrates public Mass for Nicaragua

Exiled Bishop Rolando Álvarez speaks at a Mass in Seville, Spain, on Dec. 19, 2024. / Credit: Padre Erick Díaz

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 20, 2024 / 18:00 pm (CNA).

In his first public Mass, celebrated in Seville province, Spain, Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who has been living in exile in Rome since January, prayed for his “beloved Nicaragua” and offered his pectoral cross to Our Lady of Sorrows.

“For me it is a pleasure, a joy, and above all a blessing to be celebrating among you this holy Eucharist in honor of Our Lady of Sorrows, in the memory of Our Lady of Hope, Our Expecting Lady, of sweet waiting, and I must also say, on the eve of the 100 years of the canonical foundation of my blessed and beloved Diocese of Matagalpa in Nicaragua,” the prelate said in his homily.

The Diocese of Matagalpa was founded on Dec. 19, 1924, during the pontificate of Pope Pius XI.

“We pray for you in this beautiful town of wonderful people and for our beloved Nicaragua,” added the bishop of Matagalpa and apostolic administrator of Estelí, as seen in a video by 100% Noticias Nicaragua.

In Our Lady of the Orchards Parish in the town of Puebla de Los Infantes in Seville province, the Nicaraguan bishop recalled in his homily some passages from Pope Francis’ letter earlier this month to the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which is suffering tenacious persecution by the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and “co-president,” Rosario Murillo.

“Don’t forget the loving providence of the Lord that accompanies us and is the only central guide, precisely in the most difficult moments when it becomes humanly impossible to understand what God wants from us, we are called not to forget his care and mercy,” the Holy Father said in the text read by Álvarez.

“Be certain that faith and hope perform miracles. Let us turn our gaze to the Immaculate Virgin: She is the shining witness of this trust; you have always experienced her eternal protection in all your needs and you have shown your gratitude with a very beautiful and spiritually rich religiosity,” the pontiff added in the cited text.

Álvarez also read a passage from the 2020 letter Patris Corde, which Pope Francis wrote for the Year of St. Joseph: “In every situation, Joseph declared his own ‘fiat,’ like those of Mary at the Annunciation and Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. … The Gospel tells us that God always manages to save what is important, on the condition that we have the same creative courage as the carpenter of Nazareth, who knew how to transform a problem into an opportunity, always putting his trust in providence first.”

To conclude his homily, the bishop prayed that “Mary, Our Lady of Hope, Our Lady of Sorrows, would keep us expectant for the imminent coming of her son. Amen.”

The pectoral cross for Our Lady of Sorrows

At the end of the Mass, Álvarez offered his pectoral cross, one of the distinctive symbols of the bishops of the Catholic Church, to Our Lady of Sorrows as represented by her image in the church.

“I want to make this gesture of love, leaving the Sorrowful Virgin my pectoral cross, and I would like all my faithful from Matagalpa, from the countryside, and the city to be able to contemplate this, telling them that from La Puebla de los Infantes I am praying for them,” the prelate said.

“And I am making this gesture of love for them, for the Lord, for the Church, for the Most Holy Virgin. I hope that the Brotherhood of Our Lady will keep this pectoral cross in her hands, in a place where you believe it is appropriate, on this date that is memorable for us, very memorable,” he emphasized.

Who is Bishop Rolando Álvarez?

Beginning on Aug. 4, 2022, Álvarez was confined to his residence by Nicaraguan riot police. He was accompanied by several priests, seminarians, and a layman.

Two weeks later, when they had almost run out of food, the police broke into the house and abducted Álvarez, taking him to Managua, the country’s capital.

In the midst of a controversial trial, the dictatorship sentenced him on Feb. 10, 2023, to 26 years and four months in prison, accusing him of being a “traitor to the country.” He was held in La Modelo prison where political prisoners are sent.

One day before being sentenced, Álvarez had refused the chance to board a plane carrying more than 200 political prisoners to be deported to the United States.

The bishop was finally deported to Rome on Jan. 14 through Vatican mediation, along with the bishop of Siuna, Isidoro Mora, other priests, and seminarians.

By decision of Pope Francis, Álvarez was one of the members of the Synod of Synodality held in October in the Vatican.

More detailed information on the life and struggles of the bishop can be found here.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Florida woman convicted in conspiracy targeting pro-life pregnancy resource centers

Vandalism at a Heartbeat of Miami pregnancy center in Hialeah, Florida, July 3, 2022. / Credit: Heartbeat of Miami

CNA Staff, Dec 20, 2024 / 17:30 pm (CNA).

A Florida woman was convicted on Thursday for conspiracy targeting pro-life pregnancy resource centers, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Friday. 

Gabriella Oropesa was convicted “for her role in a conspiracy to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate employees of pro-life pregnancy help centers in the free exercise of the right to provide and seek to provide reproductive health services,” read the Dec. 20 DOJ press release. 

Oropesa was convicted under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, which has been used in the past to allegedly target pro-life activists for blocking clinic entrances. The FACE Act prohibits “violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain, or provide reproductive health services.” 

Many pro-life activists have been sentenced under the FACE Act in recent years, including several elderly people, a young mother, and a Catholic priest. House Republican lawmakers discussed repealing the FACE Act earlier this week after hearing testimony alleging the law has been weaponized against pro-life protesters.

Oropesa and three co-conspirators had vandalized pregnancy health centers that provided alternatives to abortion with threatening messages. Caleb Freestone, Amber Stewart-Smith, and Annarella Rivera previously pleaded guilty for their involvement.

The four had vandalized a series of pro-life pregnancy help centers in Florida, spray-painting threatening messages such as “If abortions aren’t safe than niether [sic] are you,” “YOUR TIME IS UP!!”, “WE’RE COMING for U,” and “We are everywhere.” 

“The Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act is clear: No one should have to face threats and intimidation just for doing their job,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement

“The Justice Department will continue to ensure access to the full spectrum of reproductive health services afforded to the public, whether those services include abortion or counseling on alternatives to abortion,” Clarke continued. 

U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg for the Middle District of Florida reiterated that reproductive health clinic access is protected by federal law.  

“Federal law protects providers who render reproductive health care and those who seek their services,” Handberg said in a statement. “Threats of violence against pregnancy resource centers or those exercising their rights to care will not be tolerated.”

A sentence hearing is scheduled for March 19, 2025. Oropesa will face a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for the conspiracy charge, according to the DOJ. 

The case involved investigation from the FBI’s Tampa field office as well as local police departments.  

At one pregnancy center in Hialeah, Florida, Heartbeat of Miami, the vandalism resulted in thousands of dollars in damages. The Archdiocese of Miami’s Hollywood pregnancy center and the South Broward Pregnancy Help Center, located just north of Miami, were also targeted. At South Broward, the words “Jane’s revenge” and an anarchist symbol were also graffitied on the property.

Stained-glass windows at Notre Dame to be replaced, new modern design revealed

French artist Claire Tabouret poses following a press conference after winning with The Atelier Simon-Marq, the selection to create new stained-glass windows in six chapels of the south aisle of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral in Paris on Dec. 18, 2024. / Credit: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 20, 2024 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

Designs for six new stained-glass windows at Notre Dame have been revealed for the first time, two weeks after the historic cathedral reopened following a devastating fire in April 2019.

The windows in six chapels on the southern side of the cathedral will be replaced with new windows designed by modern French painter Claire Tabouret. According to a report from RTE, the French state is paying $4 million to install the windows, which will be made by French stained-glass maker Simon-Marq.

The original windows, created in the 19th century by architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, had escaped the fire without damage. Several historic preservation groups have protested President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to replace them, including Sites et Monuments and Tribune de l’art, whose site manager launched a petition against the new windows that has garnered 244,833 signatures.

Born in France in 1981, Tabouret graduated from École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 2006. Her paintings and sculptures have been featured in museums across the globe in France, Hong Kong, and Venice. She has also collaborated with luxury designers such as Dior. Tabouret currently lives and works in Los Angeles, according to her website

Tabouret’s turquoise, pink, yellow, and red windows feature images of people from various cultural backgrounds celebrating Pentecost. 

In response to debates surrounding modernist updates to the historic Catholic cathedral, Tabouret stated during a press conference at the cathedral: “I’ve read about different opinions of people because I want to understand their arguments and also to take an approach that is open and two-way.” 

“I find it a fascinating debate,” she said. “We need to remain in movement, we need to be confident in our era and show confidence in contemporary artists.” 

The doors of the newly restored Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral were officially reopened to the public during a ceremony on Dec. 7, just over five years after a blaze ravaged the iconic structure’s roof, frame, and spire.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York and Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai of Antioch were among the 170 bishops from France and around the world who attended the ceremony, which featured a message from Pope Francis, who did not travel for the occasion.

The rector of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Friday blessed the Nativity scene at the historic French landmark church ahead of the first Christmas celebrations since its restoration. 

“You know, for the past 10 days, we’ve been feeling very joyful,” stated Monsignor Olivier Ribadeau Dumas during the ceremony. “My greatest joy is to see people happy because they have a cathedral again, not only because they see these stones again but also because it’s a place for prayer that they got back.”

The windows are expected to be installed in 2026. 

UPDATE: Casualties at German Christmas market after car rams crowd

Police and ambulances stand next to a Christmas market where a car crashed into a crowd injuring between 60 and 80 people, according to a spokesman for the local rescue service, on Dec. 20, 2024, in Magdeburg, eastern Germany. / Credit: NEWS5/NEWS5/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Dec 20, 2024 / 15:55 pm (CNA).

A car driven by a Saudi Arabian immigrant rammed into a crowd at a Christmas market Friday evening in the central German city of Magdeburg, killing at least two people, according to media reports.

Police in Magdeburg, a city of 240,000 about two hours west of Berlin by car, have not yet released official details about whether the incident was a terrorist attack. The regional governor, Reiner Haseloff, told the media that the suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian citizen who has worked in Germany as a doctor since 2006.

German news sources reported that the driver of the car was taken into custody. AFP News Agency, citing emergency services, said that between 60 to 80 people were injured.

Magdeburg Police said on social media simply that “extensive police operations are currently taking place” at the market and “further reports will be made.”

Magdeburg is known as the city where St. Norbert — whose legacy lives on through the worldwide Norbertine (or Premonstratensian) order — served as archbishop until his death in 1134. 

A German official had in November called for “vigilance” at Christmas markets this year amid a heightened security situation more broadly, though no concrete threats were identified at that time. Germany’s BfV domestic security agency said Christmas markets could be targeted due to their “symbolism” related to “Christian values” and as an “embodiment of Western culture and way of life.”

The incident in Magdeburg took place almost exactly eight years after more than a dozen people were killed when a truck driven by an Islamic extremist rammed into crowds at a Berlin Christmas market. That attacker fled and was later killed in a shootout with police in Italy.

In November 2023, two teenagers, aged 15 and 16, were arrested in Germany on suspicion of terrorism. They reportedly sympathized with the Islamic State and were believed to have planned a Christmas market attack using a vehicle, CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, reported earlier this year.

And in April, German authorities reported the arrest of four suspects allegedly planning terror attacks to target Christians attending church services and police stations with knives and Molotov cocktails.

This story was updated Dec. 20, 2024, at 5:35 p.m. ET with information about the driver of the car.

Trump picks CatholicVote president Brian Burch as ambassador to Vatican

President-elect Donald Trump announced on Dec. 20,2024 that he has chosen CatholicVote president, Brian Burch, to be his ambassador to the Holy See. / Credit: Photo courtesy of CRC Advisors

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 20, 2024 / 15:05 pm (CNA).

President-elect Donald Trump selected CatholicVote president and co-founder Brian Burch to serve as the United States ambassador to the Holy See, he announced on Truth Social Friday afternoon.

“Brian is a devout Catholic, a father of nine, and president of CatholicVote,” Trump wrote in the Dec. 20 post. “He has received numerous awards and demonstrated exceptional leadership, helping build one of the largest Catholic advocacy groups in the country.”

CatholicVote is a political advocacy group that endorsed Trump in January and ran advertisements in support the president-elect during his campaign. According to CatholicVote, the organization spent over $10 million on the 2024 elections.

Some of CatholicVote’s ads, running in key swing states, accused Vice President Kamala Harris of supporting taxpayer-funded transgender surgeries for minors.

“[Burch] represented me well during the last election, having garnered more Catholic votes than any presidential candidate in history!” Trump wrote. “Brian loves his Church and the United States — he will make us all proud. Congratulations to Brian, his wife, Sara, and their incredible family!”

According to a Washington Post exit poll, Trump won the Catholic vote by a 15-point margin this year — a 10-point swing in his favor from the previous election. Exit polls also showed Trump winning the majority of Catholic voters in vital swing states.

Burch wrote in a post on X that he is “deeply honored and humbled to have been nominated” for the position.

“The Catholic Church is the largest and most important religious institution in the world, and its relationship to the United States is of vital importance,” he wrote. “I am committed to working with leaders inside the Vatican and the new administration to promote the dignity of all people and the common good.”

Burch wrote that he looks forward to “the opportunity to continue to serve my country and the Church.” He thanked his colleagues and his family, including his father, “who passed to eternal life this past June, who taught me to love the Church and the blessings and responsibilities of being a citizen of the U.S.”

“To God be the glory,” Burch wrote.

Burch, who lives in the Chicago suburbs, is a graduate of the University of Dallas, a private Catholic school. In 2020, he wrote a book called “A New Catholic Moment: Donald Trump and the Politics of the Common Good.” 

According to his biography on CatholicVote, Burch has received the Cardinal O’Connor Defender of the Faith Award from Legatus International and the St. Thomas More Award for Catholic Citizenship by Catholic Citizens of Illinois.

As ambassador, Burch will represent the United States in diplomatic relations with the Holy See. The United States first established formal diplomatic relations with the Holy See in 1984, under the presidency of Ronald Reagan.

During Trump’s first term, he selected Callista Gingrich — the president of Gingrich Productions, wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and a Catholic — to serve as ambassador. She stepped down in 2021. President Joe Biden selected former Sen. Joe Donnelly, who is Catholic, as ambassador to the Holy See during his term. He stepped down earlier this year.

Pope Francis appoints 5 new auxiliary bishops for Chicago Archdiocese

Pope Francis with Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago on Sept. 2, 2015. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 20, 2024 / 14:35 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis has appointed five new auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Chicago and assigned each bishop-elect a titular see in the Middle East and North Africa region, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, announced Dec. 20.

Archbishop of Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich expressed his gratitude to the Holy Father on Friday for the appointments of bishops-elect Father Timothy J. O’Malley, Father Lawrence J. Sullivan, Father José Maria Garcia Maldonado, Father Robert Fedek, and Father John S. Siemianowski.

“These fine archdiocesan priests reflect the people of this particular Church and the many talents of our local presbyterate,” Cupich shared in a Dec. 20 news release.

“Each has a solid and notable record of pastoral service rooted in their shared fidelity to the Gospel and their generosity in using their unique gifts for the good of the Church and society,” he added.

While each of the five bishops-elect will “remain in their present assignments for the time being,” according to the Archdiocese of Chicago release, the Vatican’s announcement states Pope Francis has also assigned each a titular see outside of the U.S.

To titular sees in Algeria, the Holy Father appointed O’Malley, parish priest of Most Blessed Trinity in Waukegan, Illinois, to the see of Numida; Sullivan, parish priest of Christ the King in Chicago, to the see of Lambhua; Maldonado, parish priest of San José Sanchez del Rio in Chicago, to the see of Fallaba; and Siemianowski, parish priest of St. Juliana in Chicago, to the see of Gratianopolis.

The Holy Father assigned Fedek, personal secretary to Cupich in the Chicago Archdiocese, the titular see of Dardano in Turkey. The last titular bishop of Dardano was Bishop Nicolas Coëffeteau, OP, who held the seat over 400 years ago from 1617–1621.

All five bishops-elect attended Mundelein Seminary in Illinois before being assigned to parishes in the Chicago Archdiocese. 

The episcopal ordination of the five bishops-elect will take place at Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral in early 2025.

Rector of Notre Dame Cathedral blesses creche ahead of Christmas celebrations

Archpriest of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral Monsignor Olivier Ribadeau Dumas blesses a Nativity scene in the recently reopened cathedral on Dec. 20, 2024, in Paris. / Credit: Kiran Ridley/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 20, 2024 / 14:05 pm (CNA).

The rector of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris has blessed the Nativity scene at the historic French landmark church ahead of the first Christmas celebrations since its restoration after a devastating 2019 fire.

“You know, for the past 10 days, we’ve been feeling very joyful,” said Notre Dame rector Monsignor Olivier Ribadeau Dumas during the ceremony. “My greatest joy is to see people happy because they have a cathedral again, not only because they see these stones again but also because it’s a place for prayer that they got back.”

During the ceremonial blessing of the 17th-century-style creche, Dumas shook an olive branch soaked in holy water over the Nativity scene, while those of the faithful in attendance prayed and sang hymns. 

“I am the rector of a cathedral that had burnt down,” Dumas said, adding: “and I am now the happy rector of a cathedral that has reopened to welcome all of those who will enter it: pilgrims, visitors, and believers.” 

Notre Dame Cathedral underwent five years of renovation after a fire in April 2019 broke out across its roof and spire, causing significant damage to the beloved cathedral and monument of French culture. 

A Nativity scene in the recently reopened Notre Dame Cathedral on Dec. 20, 2024, in Paris. The large 18th century Nativity scene, comprised of more than 150 figurines, which were amassed over a lifetime by the collector Alberto Ravaglioli, who died prematurely last year, will remain on display in the landmark cathedral until February after its official reopening Dec. 8 following a five-year renovation after a devastating fire on April 15, 2019. Credit: Kiran Ridley/Getty Images
A Nativity scene in the recently reopened Notre Dame Cathedral on Dec. 20, 2024, in Paris. The large 18th century Nativity scene, comprised of more than 150 figurines, which were amassed over a lifetime by the collector Alberto Ravaglioli, who died prematurely last year, will remain on display in the landmark cathedral until February after its official reopening Dec. 8 following a five-year renovation after a devastating fire on April 15, 2019. Credit: Kiran Ridley/Getty Images

The archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, celebrated the first Mass at the cathedral on Dec. 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The altar of the restored cathedral was consecrated during the liturgy, and celebrants wore vibrant chasubles designed by Jean-Charles Castelbajac, a 74-year-old designer who has dressed the likes of Madonna, Beyonce, Rihanna, and St. John Paul II. 

At the Mass, which was attended by the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, some 170 bishops from the country and around the world concelebrated with Ulrich as well as one priest from each of the 106 parishes of the Archdiocese of Paris and one priest from each of the seven Eastern-rite Catholic churches.

Macron, initially scheduled to speak on the cathedral’s forecourt to respect the law of separation between the church and the state, wound up speaking inside the building due to inclement weather, as previously announced in a press release from the Archdiocese of Paris.

Expressing “the gratitude of the French nation” to the cathedral’s rebuilders during his address, Macron asserted that Notre Dame “tells us how much meaning and transcendence help us to live in this world.”

Pope Francis also sent his regards in a message read by the apostolic nuncio to France, Archbishop Celestino Migliore.

“May the rebirth of this admirable church be a prophetic sign of the renewal of the Church in France,” the pontiff said. “I invite all the baptized who will joyfully enter this cathedral to feel a legitimate pride and reclaim their faith heritage.”