CCHD had $7,284,574 in revenue and $18,696,903 in expenses in 2023, leading to an operating deficit of $11,412,329. CCHD’s net assets, which stood at nearly $8.5 million at the beginning of 2023, stood at negative $2.3 million at the end of 2023.

In his letter introducing the annual report, Bishop Timothy Senior of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the chairman of the US bishops’ CCHD subcommittee, made no reference to the deficit, but instead discussed how “CCHD is designed to put Catholic social teaching into action, helping the poorest of the poor use the gifts that God has given them to improve their communities and care for those around them.”

Ralph McCloud, who became director of CCHD in 2008, resigned from his position in April and is now a fellow at NETWORK, a Catholic sisters’ political advocacy group.

In a November 21 letter to the College of Cardinals and the prefects of the Roman Curia, the Pope said that proper funding for pensions had long been a matter of concern, but recent studies have underlined the urgency of the problem, and reforms “can no longer be postponed.”

Putting the pension fund on sustainable basis will involve tough decisions ‘that will require particular sensitivity, generosity and willingness to sacrifice on the part of all,” the Pope warned. He asked the prelates for “special cooperation in facilitating this new and inescapable path of change.”

Pope Francis has given Cardinal Farrell, the prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life, a steadily more important role in handling Vatican financial affairs. In 2019 the Pontiff appointed him as the camerlengo, the official who supervises the material goods of the Holy See during a papal interregnum. In 2020 he was named president of the Pontifical Commission on Confidential Matters, and in 2022 he became the president of the Pontifical Commission on Investments.

Born in Ireland, the future cardinal was ordained as a priest of the Legionaires of Christ in 1978. In 1984 he left the Legionaires to become a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, where he rose to become vicar general, serving under then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. He was named Bishop of Dallas in 2007, then appointed to his current post in the Roman Curia by Pope Francis in 2016, and raised to the College of Cardinals soon thereafter.

Blessed Carlo Acutis will be canonized during the Jubilee for Teenagers, which is scheduled for April 25-27. The ceremony is expected to be held in St. Peter’s Square on April 27.

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati will be canonized during the Jubilee for Youth, scheduled for July 28 to August 3.

The dates for the two canonizations were released on November 20, at the conclusion of the weekly papal audience, after Pope Francis announced plans for a celebration of a World Meeting on Children’s Rights in February.

The Pope said that all Catholics should study the history of the Church, to help them understand “the imperfect and wounded world in which she lives.” Remembering the problems of the past, he said, “is not an obstacle to progress but a foundation for justice and harmony.”

In his letter Pope Francis argued strongly against any partisan approach to history—particularly the “cancel culture”—and insisted that the study of the past should not be motivated by ideological goals is the present.

The US bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, in effect since 2002, provides that “for even a single act of sexual abuse of a minor? whenever it occurred?which is admitted or established after an appropriate process in accord with canon law, the offending priest or deacon is to be permanently removed from ministry and, if warranted, dismissed from the clerical state.”

In contrast, the new Book VI of the Code of Canon Law, promulgated by Pope Francis in 2021, states that a cleric who sexually abuses a minor is “to be punished with deprivation of office and with other just penalties, not excluding, where the case calls for it, dismissal from the clerical state” (Canon 1398)?thus allowing some clerics who have sexually abused minors to resume active ministry in a different office.

(See also CWN editor Phil Lawler’s commentary, “Here’s why the ‘zero tolerance’ policy is going nowhere.”)

Referring to Archbishop Dominique Joseph Mathieu, a Belgian Conventual Franciscan, the Pope said, “I plan to elevate the Archbishop of Tehran-Ispahan?a great friar?to the College of Cardinals. This decision expresses my closeness and concern for the Church in Iran, and in turn honors the entire country.”

The Pope continued:

The life of the Catholic Church in Iran, a “little flock,” is very close to my heart. The Church is not against the government; to say otherwise is a lie. I am aware of its situation and the challenges it faces as it perseveres in bearing witness to Christ and contributing, quietly but significantly, to the good of society as a whole, while rejecting all religious, ethnic or political discrimination.

“The weakening of faith and religious practice in some societies has a direct impact on the family,” the Pope added, as he turned to the topic of the colloquium. “Consequently, in order to fulfil better its educational mission, the family needs the full support of everyone, including the state, the school, its own religious community and other institutions.”

In bestowing the honor, Biden said that Richards “fearlessly leads us forward to be the America we say we are—a nation of freedom.” He extolled her work to “defend and advance women’s reproductive rights and equality.”

Richards, who from 2006 to 2018 led the nation’s leading abortion provider, currently suffers from brain cancer.

The Pontiff said:

The future belongs to the new generations, and they will be able to build it if the teachers you train know how to transmit confidence and boldness to them, if the texts you prepare will succeed in developing a thirst for knowledge and wisdom.

Judge Melissa Owens cited Article 1, Section 38(a) of the state constitution, which states that “each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions.” (Article 1, Section 38(c) allows the legislature to “determine reasonable and necessary restrictions on the rights granted under this section.”)

Gov. Mark Gordon, who appointed Owens to the bench in 2021, announced he would appeal the decision to the state supreme court.

The crèche hails from Grado, a town of 8,000 in northeastern Italy. The tree, from the small town of Ledro in northern Italy, is 95 feet high and 200 years old.

Residents of the town have gathered around the tree to prevent it from being cut down, MSN.com reported. A petition that gathered 50,000 signatures made a “heartfelt appeal to His Holiness to spare our Green Giant,” and instead use a tree felled by a storm.

Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, LC, the president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, countered, “The choice of this specimen was determined not only by aesthetic value but also by an ecologically responsible one, considering that the removal of the tree will ensure the natural renewal of the forest for the coming decades.”

“I am grateful to His Holiness for his prayers for peace for Ukraine,” she tweeted after the meeting. “I hope that the authority of the Holy See will help save more innocent lives that have the right to be safe in their native land.”

“It was a very positive and serene moment,” said Andrii Yurash, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See, said after the meeting. “This was another significant opportunity to strengthen our friendship with the Vatican. Relations have never been this robust.”

Father Mutiara Andalas made his dramatic gesture in early October, but the resulting photo became an internet sensation a month later, forcing the country’s environment minister to acknowledge: “If waste management had been done properly, then such an unfortunate situation would not have occurred.”

The report also shows that nearly 1,700 Catholic churches in France are now closed—for reasons ranging from safety problems to a lack of parishioners. Some 149 churches have been demolished since 2000. Only 16 churches are currently under construction.

The bishops’ conference had undertaken an inventory of the country’s churches, in response to a request for an overview of their condition. Under the strict French policy of secularism, church buildings are regarded as the property of the government and part of the nation’s cultural patrimony.

In 1985, Pope St. John Paul II announced the annual celebration of World Youth Day in the dioceses of the world. In addition, World Youth Days have been celebrated internationally every few years—most recently, in Lisbon (2023).

“To each individual, the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit,” the Pope said. These gifts, he stressed, are intended to serve the common good, not the welfare of the individuals who receive them. At the same time the charisms are specially designed for the individuals who may benefit from them.

These charisms, the Pontiff continued, may be conferred by the Holy Spirit upon lay people, who “have their own charisms and gifts.”

The Pontiff made his announced on November 20 during his regular weekly audience, noting that the date coincided with the International Day for the Rights of Children and Adolescents.

On the same day, November 20, the Pope released a document establishing the Pontifical Committee for the World Day of Children, and appointing Father Enzo Fortunato as its first president. “Family, Church, and State exist for children, not the other way around,” the Pope said in that document.

The new ritual, which the Pontiff approved in April, emphasizes the simplicity of the service. Msgr. Diego Ravelli, the master of ceremonies for papal liturgies, told L’Osservatore Romano that the revised service will “emphasize even more that the Roman Pontiff’s funeral is that of a shepherd and disciple of Christ and not of a powerful man of this world.”

Pope Francis had already said that he wants to be buried in the basilica of St. Mary Major, rather than in the crypt of St. Peter’s, where his predecessors have been laid to rest. The new ritual allows for him to be buried in a simple casket, rather than the traditional three caskets: one cyprus, one lead, and one oak.

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk added:

We are a people who rely on the power of the resurrected Savior and bear witness to this power daily in our personal history. That is why we now declare to the whole world: Ukraine stands, fights, and prays! Ukraine trusts in God’s power, which is revealed even through our wounds, tears, and grief! Ukraine is rising today with our risen Savior!

The Holy See, he said, has been focused on maintaining the Church’s autonomy and fostering the common good. The Holy See has diplomatic relations with 51 of Africa’s 54 nations.

“I am well aware that no human words can protect their lives from daily bombings, console those mourning their dead, heal the wounded, bring children back home, free prisoners, or restore justice and peace,” the Pope wrote.

“May the Lord comfort our hearts and strengthen the hope that, while gathering every tear shed and holding all accountable, He remains close to us even when human efforts seem fruitless and actions inadequate,” he added.