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Pope Francis called surrogacy “deplorable” and called for a global ban on the exploitative practice of “so-called surrogate motherhood” in a speech to all of the world’s ambassadors to the Vatican on Monday. “The path to peace calls for respect for life, for every human life, starting with the life of the unborn child in the mother’s womb, which cannot be suppressed or turned into an object of trafficking,” Pope Francis said January 8. “In this regard, I deem deplorable the practice of so-called surrogate motherhood, which represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs. A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract.” Pope Francis’ strong condemnation of surrogacy came during his annual foreign policy speech to all of the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See. The pope’s annual speech to diplomats has been called his “state of the world” address because it is one of a handful of times that the pope addresses global crises and specific conflicts happening around the world all at once. For more from Pope Francis’ wide-ranging 45 minute speech, visit catholic news agency dot com.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256468/pope-francis-calls-surrogacy-deplorable-calls-for-global-ban-in-speech-to-ambassadors

Pope Francis said Sunday that if you do not know the date of your baptism, you need to look it up so that you can celebrate the anniversary of becoming a child of God and heir to the kingdom of heaven. The pope spoke on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which commemorates Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River by Saint John the Baptist. The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes baptism as the “basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit ... and the door which gives access to the other sacraments.” He also encouraged Catholics to thank God for their parents who brought them to the baptismal font and gave them the gift of the sacrament.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256466/pope-francis-if-you-don-t-know-the-date-of-your-baptism-look-it-up

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Apollinaris, one of the first great martyrs of the Church. He was made Bishop of Ravenna by Saint Peter. The miracles he conducted in Ravenna soon attracted official attention, for they and his preaching won many converts to the faith. However, at the same time, his words and works brought upon the fury of the pagan people who beat Apollinaris cruelly on several occasions. When Emperor Vespasian issued a decree of banishment against the Christians, Apollinaris was kept hidden for some time, but as he was leaving, passing through the gates of the city, he was attacked and savagely beaten. He lived for seven days, foretelling that the persecutions would increase, but that the Church would ultimately triumph.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-apollinaris-110

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Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, more than 20,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Yesterday the Associated Press reported that in central Gaza Strip, eight people were killed in a strike on a building in Nuseirat refugee camp, and on Tuesday, at least five people, including a baby, were killed and several injured in an airstrike on the Red Crescent headquarters in the city of Khan Yunis. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they have launched an investigation. Gaza-based journalist Akram Al Satarri spoke with “EWTN News Nightly” from Khan Yunis about the state of the Gaza Strip as bombs went off in the background. In terms of the conflict escalating, Al Satarri believes it is “inevitable.” The killing of a senior Hamas leader in Beirut by a suspected Israeli air strike, followed by more than 85 people killed in Tehran at a ceremony marking the four-year anniversary of General Qasem Soleimani’s assassination, are the latest indications of a widening conflict.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256442/gaza-journalist-says-escalation-of-war-is-inevitable

A federal judge heard testimony this week in a trial that will decide whether the state of Colorado can exclude Catholic schools from participating in its universal preschool program. The Archdiocese of Denver, along with two Catholic preschools, is taking legal action against the state, contending that the program is unconstitutional as it discriminates against Catholic schools by preventing them from participating. The suit, which began on Tuesday, was filed in the US District Court for the District of Colorado in August 2023. Colorado’s universal preschool program, created in 2022, offers eligible families at least 15 hours per week of free preschool for every participating child, according to the program website. The lawsuit maintains that the program rules are unconstitutional and objects to the exclusion of Catholic schools but not the preschool programs of other private schools.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256440/colorado-catholic-preschools-argue-in-court-that-state-program-discriminates-against-them

Today, the Church celebrates Saint John Nepomucene Neumann. Neumann was born on March 28, 1811, in Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic, and was ordained a priest in the United States and sent to Buffalo. Father John established himself in a small log parish house. He hardly ever lit a fire and often lived on only bread and water. He joined the Redemptorist order and continued his missionary work until he was appointed bishop of Philadelphia in 1852. As bishop, Neumann built 50 churches and began the constuction of a cathedral. He opened almost 100 schools, and the number of parochial school students grew from 500 to 9,000. He died suddenly on January 5, 1860 and became the first American bishop to be beatified.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-john-nepomucene-neumann-106

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A record number of college-age students, priests, bishops, religious brothers, sisters, and more are attending this week’s SEEK24 conference in downtown Saint Louis with anticipation already building for 2025’s conference, set to be held in Salt Lake City. The conference, which is being held by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) for a second straight year in Saint Louis, has attracted nearly 20,000 young people for presentations and talks related to the Catholic faith from world-renowned speakers as well as opportunities for Mass, confession, and Eucharistic adoration. As of Tuesday evening, the conference had 19,707 paid attendees registered, a 28% increase over last year. The keynote address Tuesday evening, presented in the former NFL stadium attached to the convention center, was delivered by Monsignor James Shea and Sister Mary Grace, SV. The conference continues all this week, wrapping up with a closing Mass on Friday morning.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256438/seek24-continues-in-st-louis-with-an-eye-to-salt-lake-city-in-2025

The Vatican’s doctrine office issued a response on Thursday to “clarify the reception of Fiducia Supplicans” amid widespread international backlash to the Vatican’s recent declaration on same-sex blessings. Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), published a five-page press release on January 4 that refers to Fiducia Supplicans as “perennial doctrine” and underlines that pastoral blessings of couples in irregular situations should not be “an endorsement of the life led by those who request them.” Fernández said that the responses he has received from bishops’ conferences around the world to the declaration highlight “the need for a more extended period of pastoral reflection” and that what is expressed in these bishops’ statements “cannot be interpreted as doctrinal opposition because the document is clear and definitive about marriage and sexuality.” The clarification was published two and a half weeks after the December 18 publication of Fiducia Supplicans, which prompted strong backlash from bishops in several African and Eastern European countries as well as confusion and division from other parts of the world. Some bishops have welcomed the declaration, some are approaching it with caution, and others are refusing to implement it. The press release did not mention anything about cases in which priests have already violated the terms stipulated in the Fiducia Supplicans declaration, which requires that blessings be spontaneous and cannot be a “blessing similar to a liturgical rite that can create confusion.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256439/vatican-responds-to-widespread-backlash-on-same-sex-blessing-directive

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, foundress and first superior of the Sisters of Charity in the United States. Elizabeth Ann Seton was beatified in 1963 and she was canonized on September 14, 1975.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-elizabeth-ann-seton-105

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Each month Pope Francis shares a prayer intention as part of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network. The monthly prayer intentions express the Holy Father’s concerns for humanity and the mission of the Catholic Church.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256420/these-are-pope-francis-prayer-intentions-for-2024

Pope Francis was “deeply saddened” to learn of a devastating earthquake that struck western Japan on New Year’s Day, the Vatican said on Tuesday, with the pontiff extending his prayers and condolences to the country after dozens of deaths were reported. The reported 7.6-magnitude quake struck Ishikawa Prefecture in the western part of the country. More than 50 people were reported dead as of Tuesday morning, with reports of tens of thousands of homes having been destroyed in the tremor. In a telegram sent on behalf of Pope Francis, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, secretary of state of the Vatican, said the Holy Father “was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and damage caused by the earthquake.” The pope “assures everyone affected by this disaster of his heartfelt solidarity and spiritual closeness, and prays especially for the dead, those who mourn their loss, and for the rescue of any persons still missing,” the telegram said.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256418/pope-sends-message-of-condolence-to-victims-of-deadly-earthquake-in-japan

The Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) SEEK24 conference is underway this week in St. Louis with the attendance of more than 19,000 mostly young people from around the country and the world. The event, which is taking place at the former NFL stadium attached to the America’s Center Convention complex, aims to galvanize young people to deepen and share their Catholic faith. This year’s SEEK conference is bigger than 2023’s by almost every metric, according to organizers. The conference currently has 19,707 paid attendees registered, a 28% increase over last year. The conference continues all this week, wrapping up with a closing Mass on Friday morning.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256423/massive-attendance-enthusiasm-at-fellowship-of-catholic-university-students-conference

Today, the Church celebrates the memorial of The Most Holy Name of Jesus.

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Friends, scholars, and former colleagues of Pope Benedict XVI gathered in the Campo Santo Teutonico in Vatican City from December. 30–31 for a two-day conference to reflect on the late pope’s life and rich theological legacy on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of his death. Touching upon a wide range of themes, from his early life to his extensive theological corpus that covered the virtues of hope and love, the liturgy, and the life of Christ, the common thread uniting his work and life was a deep Christocentrism, which was made tangible in the Eucharist. On the morning of Sunday, December 31, Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the longtime personal secretary of Pope Benedict, at the Altar of the Chair of Saint Peter. During his emotional and intimate homily, the archbishop noted that Benedict’s life was characterized by rich prayer and a deep love of the Eucharist.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256417/conference-on-pope-benedict-s-death-legacy-defined-by-love-of-christ-the-eucharist

Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong Catholic democracy activist, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to all charges leveled against him in his national security trial there. Lai, the Chinese-born founder of the anti-government newspaper Apple Daily, entered a not-guilty plea to the charges of conspiring to collude with a foreign power. The 76-year-old Lai was originally arrested in August 2020 under that year’s controversial national security law, which was passed by China’s communist-controlled government. He has been imprisoned by Chinese authorities since his arrest. Lai’s trial in Hong Kong began last month, launching what is expected to be a protracted legal exhibition capping several years of imprisonment for the embattled pro-democracy advocate. Lai faces life in prison over the charges.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256416/jimmy-lai-pleads-not-guilty-in-hong-kong-national-security-trial

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Basil the Great, one of the most distinguished Doctors of the Church and Bishop of Caesarea. He ranks after Athanasius as a defender of the Oriental Church against the heresies of the fourth century, especially Arianism, which denied the divine nature of Jesus Christ. He was a strong supporter of the Nicene Creed. Seventy-two years after his death, the Council of Chalcedon described him as “the great Basil, minister of grace who has expounded the truth to the whole earth.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-basil-the-great-103

The Church also celebrates Saint Gregory Nazianzen, a Doctor of the Church, born at Arianzus in Asia Minor, probably in 325, and died in 389. After his baptism at age 30, Gregory joined his friend Basil in a newly founded monastery. It was in Constantinople, where he tried to bring back Christians from Aryanism, where he began giving the great sermons on the Trinity for which he is famous.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-gregory-nazianzen-107

Thank you for being a Catholic News listener. Due to the Christmas holiday, there will be no new news briefing on this channel until January 1st. We would like to thank you for listening to this podcast, and we hope you and your family are richly blessed this Christmas. From all of us at Catholic News Agency, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. This podcast will return in 2024, so be sure to listen in. As always, the latest news will still be available at catholicnewsagency.com.

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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On Sunday, mother and daughter Nahida and Samar Anton, who were killed at Holy Family Parish in Gaza, were laid to rest in the small cemetery located within the parish compound. A statement from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem released the evening of their deaths, December 16, reported that they were killed by an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sniper, though the IDF has denied responsibility. On the same Saturday, rockets were reportedly fired from an IDF tank and hit the convent of the Sisters of Mother Teresa, the Missionaries of Charity, on the parish compound, rendering the home uninhabitable, according to the Latin Patriarchate. The images of the attack on the convent, taken on cellphones by eyewitnesses and sent to Father Gabriel Romanelli of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, pastor of Holy Family Parish, depict a massive column of smoke rising from the building within the parish compound. The photos show that inside the convent, the flames darkened walls and destroyed large areas of the building. All the guests of the house “are unharmed and have been relocated to another area within the compound, but their conditions are very precarious. Some of them, requiring respirators, are at risk of not surviving for long,” the priest said. Unable to move the elderly and disabled or to evacuate safely to the south at the beginning of the war, the sisters chose to remain by the side of those they serve. In Holy Family Parish, prayers and liturgies continue without interruption.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256328/missionaries-of-charity-convent-in-gaza-unhabitable-after-taking-fire-residents-take-refuge-in-parish-church

Bishops in Malawi have prohibited the implementation of the Vatican declaration on the blessing of “same-sex couples” and couples in other “irregular situations,” which came out this week. In a statement dated December 19, members of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi stated that they prohibit the practice of such blessings in the southern African nation. The bishops said they offered the clarifications “having noted certain erroneous interpretations of this declaration that have generated interest, fears, and worries among Catholics and people who look up to the Catholic Church for moral, spiritual, and doctrinal guidance.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256327/bishops-in-malawi-declare-blessings-for-same-sex-unions-of-any-kind-are-not-permitted

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Peter Canisius, an important figure in the Catholic counter-reformation that responded to the 16th century spread of Protestantism, a priest and a Doctor of the Church. His efforts as a preacher, author, and religious educator strengthened the Catholic faith in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and parts of Central Europe during a period of doctrinal confusion.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-peter-canisius-91

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Several American Catholic dioceses have already issued statements on how they intend to implement new Vatican guidelines that permit nonliturgical pastoral blessings of homosexual couples, but it’s still unclear what this will look like in most of the country. The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a declaration on Monday titled Fiducia Supplicans, which allows “spontaneous” pastoral blessings for “same-sex couples” and other couples in “irregular situations.” The document still prohibits any sort of liturgical blessing of homosexual couples because such a blessing would “offer a form of moral legitimacy to a union that presumes to be a marriage or to an extra-marital sexual practice.” The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s document has led to some controversy among the Catholic faithful and some confusion about what the Vatican is actually calling on bishops and priests to do. The implementation of the new guidelines could differ from diocese to diocese, as various bishops appear to be emphasizing different parts of the document.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256321/us-dioceses-respond-to-vatican-declaration-on-same-sex-couple-blessings

More than 40 laymen and laywomen in the Diocese of Clogher in the north of Ireland will soon begin presiding over funeral liturgies amid a shortage of priests. A major vocation crisis could result in fewer than 10 active priests in the diocese in less than 20 years, according to the local ordinary, Bishop Larry Duffy. Duffy said that the diocese is “far too dependent” on priests for pastoral care, administration, property maintenance, planning, and parish governance. In 2021, a survey by the Association of Catholic Priests found that only about 30% of Catholics in Ireland attend Mass weekly — a significant drop from 91% in 1975.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256318/irish-diocese-to-rely-on-laity-to-preside-over-funerals-amid-shortage-of-priests

A religious freedom watchdog group is urging the Biden administration to add the government of India to a list of the world’s worst violators of religious freedom. The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said this month in a press release that it was “alarmed by India’s increased transnational targeting of religious minorities and those advocating on their behalf.” The commission this month said Indian authorities “have used spyware and online harassment campaigns to target and intimidate journalists and activists abroad advocating on behalf of religious minorities.” Commissioner Stephen Schneck said in the release that the indications of religious persecution are “deeply troubling and represent a severe escalation of India’s efforts to silence religious minorities and human rights defenders both within its country and abroad.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256317/us-religious-freedom-watchdog-urges-white-house-to-list-india-as-country-of-concern

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Dominic of Silos, a Spanish monk who in the eleventh century renewed the spirit of the monastery of San Sebastian in Silos, reforming its structure, its finances, and its works of charity. Dominic was known for miracles of healing, which he obtained through prayer, and for his work of ransoming Christian prisoners from the moors.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-dominic-of-silos-90

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The Vatican has issued new guidance on the topic of blessings of same-sex attracted people, stating that Catholic priests can bless same-sex couples as an expression of pastoral closeness without condoning their sexual relations. The ruling, which also applies to Catholics civilly remarried without having received an annulment as well as to couples in other “irregular situations,” underscored that such blessings cannot be offered in a way that would cause any confusion about the nature of marriage, which the document affirms is the only “context that sexual relations find their natural, proper, and fully human meaning.” The declaration emphasizes that blessings may only be given “spontaneously” and not in the context of a formal liturgical rite. For more information about this new declaration from the Vatican, visit catholic news agency dot com.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256308/vatican-says-priests-can-bless-same-sex-couples-without-condoning-their-lifestyles

The US bishops over the weekend renewed their call for peace in the Holy Land amid reports on Saturday that two Christian women were killed by sniper fire from Israeli forces at the Holy Family Parish in Gaza. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said on Saturday morning that “around noon” on December 16, a sniper of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “murdered two Christian women inside the Holy Family Parish in Gaza, where the majority of Christian families has taken refuge since the start of the war.” Several others were also shot, the statement said. The IDF has denied culpability for the deaths. In a statement on Saturday, meanwhile, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, called for “an immediate cessation of all hostilities, the release of hostages, and for earnest negotiations towards a peaceful resolution of this conflict.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256307/us-bishops-renew-call-for-peace-after-christian-women-reportedly-killed-in-gaza-church

Today, the Church celebrates Blessed Pope Urban V. He is perhaps best known for his decision to return the papacy to Rome and end the Avignon exile of the popes.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/blessed-pope-urban-v-89

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Pope Francis celebrated his 87th birthday on Sunday morning ahead of his weekly Angelus by meeting with children and families who are assisted by a Vatican pediatric clinic. It has been the custom of the Argentine pontiff since becoming pope in 2013 to eschew more formal celebrations on his birthday and instead spend time with Rome’s poor and underprivileged. As the 266th successor of St. Peter to the papacy, Francis will be the oldest bishop of Rome since Pope Leo XIII, the oldest pope in history, who served until his death in 1903 at the age of 93. Fewer than 10 popes have served at the age of 87.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256305/pope-francis-celebrates-87th-birthday-with-children-who-receive-aid-from-vatican-clinic

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256300/pope-francis-turns-87-one-of-the-oldest-popes-in-church-history

Judges delivered verdicts in the Vatican’s financial corruption trial on Saturday, sentencing Cardinal Angelo Becciu to more than five years in prison and convicting five other defendants to similar jail sentences for financial crimes.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256302/vatican-court-convicts-cardinal-becciu-sentences-him-to-5-years-in-jail-for-embezzling-funds

In the latest sign of escalating strain between the Holy See and Israel over the mounting civilian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war, Pope Francis after his Angelus address on Sunday sharply condemned the reported killing of two women outside a Catholic church in Gaza City, allegedly by an Israeli sniper.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256303/pope-francis-comments-on-attack-on-catholic-church-in-gaza

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Gatian of Tours. Not much is known about the life of Saint Gatian, but we do know that he was the first bishop of Tours in France, and is said to be a disciple of Saint Denis of Paris. Arriving in Gaul, a pagan land, completely untouched by the Good News, Gatian scattered the first seeds of the faith in the region of Tours, laying the foundations of the Church in the city of the great Saint Martin. Saint Gatian died in 337.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-gatian-of-tours-88