February 18, 2025 // National

News Briefs: February 23, 2025

OSV NEWS

Feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta Added to Universal Calendar

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis has added the feast day of St. Mother Teresa, a “beacon of hope” and an example of loving service to the poorest of the poor, to the General Roman Calendar so that her “Optional Memorial shall be celebrated by all on September 5 every year.” Cardinal Arthur Roche and Archbishop Vittorio Francesco Viola, respectively prefect and secretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, announced the pope’s decision in a decree published by the Vatican on Tuesday, February 11. Previously the feast day of St. Teresa of Calcutta, as the Vatican refers to the city in India where she began her work with the abandoned poor, was inscribed only in the proper calendar of the Missionaries of Charity and the proper calendar of India. Now her memorial is included in the calendar of the universal Church.

Pope Appoints Religious Sister to Run Vatican City State

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist Raffaella Petrini, secretary-general of the office governing Vatican City State, will become president of the office beginning Saturday, March 1, Vatican officials confirmed. On an Italian television program in January, Pope Francis had announced that Sister Petrini would succeed Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga. The announcement on Saturday, February 15, said Sister Petrini’s appointment would take effect on Saturday, March 1, the day Cardinal Vérgez turns 80 and is required to step down. Sister Petrini, 56, was born in Rome and made her perpetual vows with the U.S.-based Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist in 2007. The Vatican governor’s office oversees departments as diverse as the Vatican Museums, post office, and police force.

Pope: Without Human Control, AI Could Show ‘fearsome’ side

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Ways must be found to ensure artificial intelligence benefits everyone and protects the environment, given the high amounts of energy consumed by data centers, Pope Francis told leaders at a global meeting on AI. There is also a great need to secure and safeguard a place for “proper human control over the choices made by artificial intelligence programs,” he said in a written message to French President Emmanuel Macron, who was co-hosting with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi the “Artificial Intelligence Action Summit” in Paris on February 10-11. “I am convinced that, lacking such control, artificial intelligence, albeit an ‘exciting’ new tool, could show its most ‘fearsome’ side by posing a threat to human dignity,” he said in the message, released by Vatican officials on Tuesday, February 11. “Artificial intelligence, I believe, can become a powerful tool in the hands of those scientists and experts who cooperate in finding innovative and creative solutions that promote the eco-sustainability of the earth, our common home, while not overlooking the high consumption of energy associated with the operation of artificial intelligence infrastructures,” the pope wrote.

U.S. Bishops Thank Pope Francis for Support on Migration Issues

WASHINGTON, D.C. (OSV News) – The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops thanked Pope Francis on Tuesday, February 11, for his support for the U.S. bishops’ work with migrants and refugees amid the current “struggle” on immigration policies in the U.S. “I ask for your continued prayers so that we may find the courage as a nation to build a more humane system of immigration, one that protects our communities while safeguarding the dignity of all,” Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the USCCB, wrote. Archbishop Broglio added, “As we struggle to continue our care for the needy in our midst and the desire to improve the situation in those places from which immigrants come to our shores, we are ever mindful that in them we see the face of Christ.” Earlier that day, Pope Francis released a letter to the U.S. bishops, Catholics, and people of goodwill to not give in to “narratives” that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to migrants and refugees. As a part of its effort to enforce its hardline immigration policies, the Trump administration suspended a federal refugee resettlement program in which the USCCB participates to resettle legally eligible refugees. That suspension prompted the bishops’ conference to lay off about a third of the staff in its Migration and Refugee Services Office on Friday, February 7.

Pope Appoints 3 New Bishops to Lead U.S. Dioceses

WASHINGTON, D.C. (OSV News) – Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr, 76, from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and has appointed Auxiliary Bishop Robert G. Casey of Chicago as his successor. The pope has also accepted the resignation of Bishop R. Walker Nickless, 77, from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa, and appointed Father John E. Keehner Jr. pastor of four parishes in the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, to succeed him. In a third appointment, the pope named Msgr. Richard F. Reidy, vicar general and moderator of the curia of the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, to head the Diocese of Norwich, Connecticut. Bishop-designate Reidy succeeds Bishop Michael R. Cote, who retired on September 3, 2024. The three resignations and appointments were publicized in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, February 12, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Church Expresses Solidarity after Guatemala Bus Crash

GUATEMALA CITY (OSV News) – A devastating bus crash in Guatemala City on Monday, February 10, claimed at least 54 lives, including children, sparking nationwide outrage and calls for reform in the country’s poorly regulated bus system. The bus, carrying nearly 70 passengers, crashed through a guardrail and plunged off a bridge, falling 115 feet into a stream below and killing most passengers instantly. Investigations revealed the driver lacked a professional license, and the bus was operating off its authorized route. Pope Francis sent a message of condolence, offering prayers and an apostolic blessing to the victims’ families in a February 14 telegram, sent the day he entered Rome’s Gemelli hospital for tests and bronchitis recovery. A telegram sent by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican’s secretary of state, to Archbishop Gonzalo de Villa y Vásquez of Santiago de Guatemala, said that the Holy Father was “deeply saddened” by the “painful news” and prayed for those lost in the accident. Local bishops have been actively supporting the grieving families, celebrating memorial Masses and prayer services. Church officials are demanding stronger safety measures and accountability from the government, with some blaming systemic corruption for the lack of proper infrastructure and regulation.

Altar servers exchange the sign of peace during the Diocese of Brooklyn’s annual Black History Month Mass of thanksgiving at St. Therese of Lisieux Church in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, N.Y., Feb. 16, 2025. The liturgy is sponsored by the diocese’s Vicariate Office of Black Catholic Concerns. (OSV News photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)