Catholic News

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Today, the Church celebrates Saint Katharine Drexel, a Philadelphia heiress who abandoned her family’s fortune to found an order of sisters dedicated to serving the impoverished African American and Native American populations of the United States.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-katharine-drexel-166

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

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Today, the Church celebrates Saint Angela of the Cross, the Foundress of the Institute of the Sisters of the Company of the Cross.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-angela-of-the-cross-165

The Church also celebrates Saint Agnes of Prague, a relative of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. She entered the Order of Saint Clare in the monastery of Saint Saviour at Prague, which she herself had erected. She was elected abbess of the monastery, and through this office became a model of Christian virtue and religious observance for all. God favored her with the gift of miracles, and she predicted the victory of her brother Wenceslaus over the Duke of Austria.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-agnes-of-prague-170

Finally, the Church celebrates Blessed Charles the Good, a twelfth-century king of Denmark.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/blessed-charles-the-good-412

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

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This week a federal Texas judge could stop over half of the abortions happening in the country in what may be the most consequential abortion ruling since the reversal of Roe v Wade. US Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk for the Northern District of Texas is set to issue a decision in the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine’s (AHM) suit against the Federal Drug Administration that alleges the agency ignored its own research and testing standards when approving the abortion drug mifepristone. Mifepristone is the first of two drugs used in chemical abortions, which account for 53% of all abortions in the country. If Kacsmaryk rules against the FDA, the administration could be forced to rescind its approval of the drug, bringing its legal distribution to a halt across the country, even in states where abortion remains legal. Though a ruling against the FDA could block the legal distribution of mifepristone, that result might only be temporary.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253763/here-s-how-half-of-us-abortions-could-be-stopped-this-week

The Nicaraguan dictatorship led by Daniel Ortega has prohibited holding the Stations of the Cross in the streets the same week that the dictator accused the Church of being a “mafia.” Local media reported February 23 and 24 that the government had banned the Stations of the Cross, a traditional practice during Lent and Holy Week. Hundreds of faithful participated in the Stations of the Cross that took place around the Managua Cathedral on Friday, February 24. Ortega’s government has in recent years detained, imprisoned, and likely tortured numerous Catholic leaders, including at least one bishop and several priests. His government has also taken action to repress Catholic radio and television stations, and driven Catholic religious orders, including the Missionaries of Charity, from the country. The regime also expelled Archbishop Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, the former apostolic nuncio in Nicaragua, from the country, a move the Vatican called “incomprehensible.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253760/dictatorship-in-nicaragua-bans-stations-of-the-cross-in-the-streets

Today, the Church celebrates Saint David of Wales. David is the patron of the Welsh people, remembered as a missionary bishop and the founder of many monasteries during the sixth century. David was a popular namesake for churches in Wales prior to the Anglican schism, and his feast day is still an important religious and civic observance. Twelve monasteries have their founding ascribed to David, who developed a reputation for strict asceticism. His monks modeled their lives on the earliest desert hermits – combining hard manual labor, silence, long hours of prayer, and a diet that completely excluded meat and alcohol.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-david-of-wales-163

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Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, 92, filed a motion in a Massachusetts court claiming he is “legally incompetent” to stand trial for sex abuse charges, citing “significant, worsening, and irreversible dementia.” McCarrick, laicized by Pope Francis in 2019, held one of the highest offices in the Catholic Church and has been accused of serially abusing his priestly authority by sexually abusing minors and seminarians. McCarrick is charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14. The state of Massachusetts told CNA that it wants an opportunity to examine McCarrick’s competency to stand trial. It would be a violation of McCarrick’s 14th Amendment right in the Constitution and Article XII of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights if he were to stand trial with his dementia, his lawyers maintain in a court document.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253756/ex-cardinal-mccarrick-asks-for-dismissal-of-sex-abuse-case-against-him-citing-dementia

The Diocese of Albany, New York, has at least temporarily banned the Traditional Latin Mass at two parishes to comply with an order issued by the Vatican last week. Effective immediately, parish churches in the diocese are prohibited from celebrating the Latin Mass in accordance with the “Missale Romanum” of 1962, according to a statement from the diocese. In 2021, Pope Francis issued a motu proprio titled Traditionis custodes, which directed bishops to designate locations for the celebration of the Latin Mass but added that those locations not be within parish churches. Many bishops offered dispensations for parishes that already had thriving Latin Mass communities. On Feb. 21, Cardinal Arthur Roche, who serves as the prefect for the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, clarified that all dispensations must be approved by the Vatican and ordered any bishop who had already issued dispensations to inform the dicastery, which will evaluate individual cases. The effect of Cardinal Roche’s rescript is still unclear, as many bishops have yet to clearly indicate what they will do next. However, some bishops have already sought and received Vatican approval for dispensations. These dispensations, however, are not permanent but instead only granted for a limited period of time.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253757/albany-diocese-bans-latin-masses-following-new-guidance-from-the-vatican

Today, the Church celebrates Blessed Villana de’Botti, a wife and a Third Order Dominican. After reforming her apparently lazy and world ways, she became a Dominican tertiary, concentrated on her vocation of married life, and spent her free time praying and reading Scripture and the lives of the saints. She was given to religious ecstasies at Mass, visions of Our Lady and the saints, and had the gift of prophecy. She died in 1361 of natural causes at the age of 30.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/blessed-villana-debotti-161

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The Vatican announced Saturday that Pope Francis will visit Hungary for the second time, from April 28-30. According to today’s announcement, the three-day papal trip to Budapest will include meetings with Hungary President Katalin Novák, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a private visit with children at the Blessed László Batthyány-Strattmann Institute, and meetings with poor people and migrants, young people, clergy, academics, and members of the Society of Jesus. Pope Francis met Orbán during his 2021 visit to Hungary and in the Vatican in 2022. Novák, who was elected president of Hungary in March 2022, met Pope Francis at the Vatican last August. A Christian wife and mother, Novák was formerly Hungary’s family minister. Pope Francis is returning to the central European country after a short visit in 2021 for the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253745/pope-francis-to-visit-hungary-in-april

Pope Francis and leaders of the Church in Italy expressed their pain and sent their prayers for the eternal rest of at least 59 migrants who died in a shipwreck this Sunday off the southern coast of Italy. The boat that was transporting them crashed into the rocks a few meters from the coast of the village of Steccato di Cutro in Calabria. Italian authorities continue to search with boats for dozens still missing at sea. According to some witnesses, the ship carried about 250 people on board. Some 80 migrants have been rescued so far. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed on February 26 “her deep regret for the numerous human lives cut short by human traffickers.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253749/shipwreck-leaves-more-than-50-migrants-dead-in-italy-the-church-expresses-pain

Pope Francis said a spontaneous prayer for peace during a Vatican event for the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Friday. After saying a few words about the war in Ukraine, the pope invited those present to pray with him. “Holy Father, who art in heaven, look at our miseries, look at our wounds, look our pain. Look also at our selfishness, our petty interests, and the capacity we have to destroy ourselves,” he prayed. “Heal us. Heal our hearts, heal our minds, heal our eyes that they may see the beauty that you have made and not destroy it in selfishness. Sow in us the seed of peace. Amen.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253747/this-was-pope-francis-spontaneous-prayer-for-ukraine-on-anniversary-of-war

Today, the Church celebrates Blessed Maria Caridad Brader, Despite her mother's opinion, Maria entered a Franciscan convent in 1880. She made her final vows two years later and began teaching at the convent school. At the end of the 19th century, it became permissible for cloistered nuns to work as missionaries. Maria volunteered to be one of the first of six sisters to work in Ecuador. Maria served as a teacher and catechist in Ecuador. In 1893, she was transferred to Colombia to attend to the sick and rejected. In response to an urgent need for missionaries, Maria founded the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate in 1893 in Colombia. Maria served as the congregation's superior general until 1919 and again from 1928 to 1940. Maria urged her sisters to combine contemplation and action with great care. Her congregation also emphasized good education for both the sisters and their students. Maria died in 1943 in Colombia and her grave immediately became a popular pilgrimage site. She was beatified by St. John Paul II in 2003.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/blessed-maria-caridad-brader-160

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On Thursday, Pope Francis approved a miracle to advance the cause of canonization of Venerable Servant of God Elisabetta Martinez, an Italian nun and founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of Santa Maria di Leuca. The miracle involved the healing of an unborn baby girl in Rimini, Italy. Ultrasound imagery in 2017 revealed to the child’s mother that her baby was suffering from several severe life-limiting and potentially life-ending conditions. A family friend informed the Daughters of Santa Maria di Leuca, whose various congregations began praying novenas for a miraculous healing through the intercession of their founder Elisabetta Martinez. In January 2018 new ultrasound imagery shocked doctors by revealing regular quantities of amniotic fluid and regular fetal flowmetry, both major improvements to the baby’s condition. Yet, the baby girl was still found to be suffering from at least two serious conditions. On March 19, 2018, the baby girl was born completely healthy. A February 23 decree by Pope Francis authorized the advancement of Martinez’s canonization cause based on the baby girl’s miraculous healing. The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints will now advance Martinez to the status of “blessed,” one step away from being declared a saint in the Catholic Church.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253723/pope-francis-approves-miracle-involving-unborn-baby-that-paves-way-to-beatification-of-elisabetta-martinez

Carlos Medina, the husband of Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell’s housekeeper, has admitted to murdering the bishop, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón said in a press conference Wednesday.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253727/suspect-confesses-to-the-murder-of-bishop-david-o-connell

Nigeria will hold presidential elections on Saturday, February 25.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253730/nigerians-head-to-the-polls-to-choose-a-new-president-and-brace-for-post-election-violence

The Holy See and Oman have established full diplomatic relations, leaving only six countries worldwide without any diplomatic connection to the Vatican.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253722/holy-see-and-the-sultanate-of-oman-establish-diplomatic-ties

Today, the Church celebrates Blessed Thomas Maria Fusco, who founded the Congregation of the “Daughters of Charity of the Most Precious Blood.” He entered the seminary in 1847 and was ordained a priest in 1855. He was completely dedicated to his priestly ministry, preaching spiritual retreats and missions, teaching catechism to youth and organizing prayer for young people and adults at his parish. He worked to build a strong devotion to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus among the people he served.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/blessed-thomas-maria-fusco-157

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

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Carlos Medina, the suspect in the murder of Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell, was arraigned in state court Wednesday and formally charged with one count of murder and a special allegation that he personally used a firearm. O’Connell was found dead with “at least” one gunshot wound to his upper body on February 18 in his bedroom at his Hacienda Heights home, Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna said in a Monday press conference. News of O’Connell’s death shocked the nation and rocked the local and international Catholic community. Offering remarks at Monday’s press conference, Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez broke into tears and struggled to complete his brief comments on Bishop O’Connell. “Out of his love for God, he served this city for more than 40 years,” Gomez said. “Every day he worked to show compassion to the poor, to the homeless, to the immigrant, and to all those living on society’s margins. He was a good priest and a good bishop and a man of peace, and we are very sad to lose him,” Gomez said.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253716/housekeeper-s-husband-officially-charged-in-murder-of-la-auxiliary-bishop-o-connell

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Polycarp of Smyrna, a disciple of the apostle and evangelist St. John. Polycarp is celebrated on the same date by Eastern Orthodox Christians, who also honor him as a Saint. According to tradition, Polycarp was martyred by Roman authorities by being stabbed to death, but only after no flames touched his body during an attempt to burn him alive.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-polycarp-of-smyrna-156

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

www.catholicnewsagency.com

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A suspect has been arrested in connection with the February 18 shooting homicide of Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD) said Monday. In a press conference Monday, Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna announced that charges would be brought against 65-year-old Carlos Medina, the husband of O’Connell’s housekeeper. Prior to the arrest, there was a standoff between the subject and law enforcement in the city of Torrance, about a 45-minute drive southwest from Hacienda Heights, where O’Connell was found dead. Police discovered O’Connell with “at least” one gunshot wound to his upper body while in his bedroom, Luna said. Luna said there was no evidence of a “forced entry” or “burglary” and added that no firearm was found at the scene. A native of Ireland, O’Connell was named a bishop by Pope Francis in 2015. He ministered to immigrants, the poor, and victims of gang violence for 45 years in the South Los Angeles area.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253690/breaking-arrest-made-in-murder-of-bishop-david-o-connell

Wisconsin voters are set to head to the polls today to vote for a new state Supreme Court justice in a nonpartisan primary. Though turnout in Wisconsin judicial elections is generally low, pro-life advocates say this election will play a major role in determining whether unborn children will continue to receive protection in Wisconsin, a state that currently has a near-total ban on abortion in place. Pro-choice groups within and outside Wisconsin have identified the state Supreme Court race as a key one in their attempts to get the state’s abortion ban overturned. Wisconsin’s governor and Attorney General announced a lawsuit last year to attempt to overturn the law, arguing that it has been superseded by subsequent legislation and cannot be enforced. Pro-life advocates worry that should the state Supreme Court obtain a pro-choice majority, the state’s pre-Roe ban could be thrown out, as happened last year in neighboring Michigan.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253691/wisconsin-judicial-elections-could-affect-future-of-state-abortion-ban-pro-lifers-say

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Peter Damian, a Benedictine monk who strove to purify the Church during the early years of its second millennium.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-peter-damian-154

The Church also celebrates Saint Robert Southwell, SJ an English Roman Catholic Jesuit priest and one of the 40 martyrs of England & Wales murdered during the English anti-Catholic Reformation.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-robert-southwell-739

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

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The shooting death of Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David O’Connell Saturday is being investigated as a homicide, authorities have confirmed. The shooting happened around 1 pm local time Saturday inside a home in the 1500 block of Janlu Avenue in Hacienda Heights, Los Angeles County, the sheriff’s department said. Sheriff deputies called to the scene for a medical emergency found O’Connell suffering from a gunshot wound to his torso. He was pronounced dead at the scene, the LASD said. A native of Ireland, O’Connell, 69, ministered to immigrants, the poor, and victims of gang violence for 45 years in the South Los Angeles area. Pope Francis made him a bishop in 2015. O’Connell’s friends and fellow bishops reacted with shock and sadness to the news of his death. “He dedicated his priesthood to serving the poor. I can honestly say that he was one of the most Christ-like men I’ve known. May he rest in peace,” Bishop Robert Barron said.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253687/tk

Today, the Church celebrates Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto, the youngest non-martyrs to be canonized in the history of the Church. The brother and sister, who tended to their families’ sheep with their cousin Lucia Santo in the fields of Fatima, Portugal, witnessed the apparitions of Mary, now commonly known as Our Lady of Fatima.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/blessed-francisco-and-jacinta-marto-153

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

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Pope Francis addressed once again the question of whether he will resign the papacy in two conversations with Jesuit priests in Africa this month, saying he believes a Pope’s ministry is for life. The pope, repeating information he had revealed in a prior interview, said that he signed a resignation letter two months after his election as pope in case he should become incapacitated. He mentioned again the letter he signed in case his health should deteriorate to a point he could not resign and pointed to the resignation letter Venerable Pope Pius XII prepared in case he should be kidnapped by Hitler.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253663/pope-francis-i-believe-that-the-pope-s-ministry-is-for-life

Two UK Catholics, one of whom is a priest, were acquitted Thursday of all charges against them after they were accused of breaking the law for praying in front of an abortion clinic. Both Father Sean Gough — a priest of the Archdiocese of Birmingham — and Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, co-director of March for Life UK, were charged with violating a local Public Spaces Protection Order that censors speech in the area around a Birmingham abortion clinic. Gough said he stood near a closed abortion clinic on Station Road in Birmingham with a sign that said “praying for free speech.” Officials criminally charged him with “intimidating service users” of the abortion clinic. He faced a second charge related to an “unborn lives matter” sticker on his parked car. The charges against both Gough and Vaughan-Spruce were eventually dropped because of insufficient evidence against them.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253665/two-uk-catholics-acquitted-after-being-charged-for-praying-in-front-of-abortion-clinic

Today, the Church celebrates the Seven Founders of the Order of Servites. These seven men were born in Florence, Italy and led lives as hermits on Monte Senario. They had a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. On Friday, April 13, 1240, the hermits received a vision of Our Lady, who told them to found a new order. They accepted the wisdom of Our Lady, wrote a Rule based on Saint Augustine and the Dominican Constitutions, adopted the black habit of an Augustinian monk, and lived as mendicant friars. The men founded the Order of Servites which in 1304 received the approval of the Holy See.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/seven-founders-of-the-order-of-servites-150