NATION
MOBILE, Ala. (OSV News) – An Alabama Catholic priest known for talking about demonology and exorcism has now been fully returned to the lay state months after he fled the country with a recent Catholic high school graduate. The Archdiocese of Mobile announced in a Jan. 5 statement that it had “received notice that the laicization of Alex Crow is complete, effective immediately” in a decision confirmed by Pope Francis. The archdiocese said Crow initiated the process and “this decision of Pope Francis is final. There is no appeal.” On Nov. 20, the former priest civilly married Taylor Victoria Harrison, 18, a June 2023 graduate of McGill-Toolen Catholic High School with whom he had traveled to Italy in July 2023 after abruptly leaving his assignment as a parochial vicar at Corpus Christi Parish in Mobile, Alabama. Harrison turned 18 in June prior to travel, but her family repeatedly expressed grave concerns their daughter had been groomed by Crow, 30, while she was a minor as he provided pastoral ministry to students. Crow handwrote her a Valentine’s Day love letter where he described himself to the minor (at the time) as “married” to her and indicated plans for the pair to be in Italy together “with our family.” Mobile Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi had suspended Crow’s priestly faculties in late July, ordering him not to present himself as a priest, and in a Jan. 5 statement thanked Pope Francis for his decision.
TUCKAHOE, N.Y. (OSV News) – A beloved Italian saint is speaking to the faithful anew through a series of letters sent directly to their email inboxes. The Saint Pio Foundation has announced the release of “Epistolary,” a collection of 365 letters written by Padre (“Father”) Pio to his spiritual directors and students. A dedicated page on the foundation’s website includes a sign-up form (available at https://www.saintpiofoundation.org/saint-pios-epistolary) for receiving a weekly PFY with seven letters, one for each day of a given week. The first batch of letters was sent out Jan. 1 by the Tuckahoe, New York-based foundation. Freshly translated into English from the original Italian, the Epistolary represents a fraction of the “thousands and thousands of letters” Padre Pio wrote during his lifetime, Luciano Lamonarca, founder and CEO of the Saint Pio Foundation, told OSV News. Lamonarca said the Epistolary is one of several “gifts” he wanted to give to the Catholic community to mark the foundation’s upcoming 10th anniversary in April. But the gifts he has received from his own devotion to the saint have been life-changing, he added, noting that he and his wife Valentina credit the 2015 birth of their son Sebastian – after losing several children to stillbirth and miscarriages – to the saint’s intercession. Lamonarca told OSV News that Padre Pio’s spiritual wisdom is summarized in one of the saint’s best-known maxims: pray, hope and don’t worry. “He releases his fear, he releases everything (into) God’s grace.”
ST. PAUL, Minn. (OSV News) – A multiyear investigation overseen by the Catholic Church into Archbishop John C. Nienstedt, who resigned from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has ended with the Vatican finding he acted “imprudently” in several instances but not criminally under canon law, Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda said in a statement Jan. 5. “None of those instances, either standing alone or taken together, were determined to warrant any further investigation or penal sanctions,” Archbishop Hebda said, but Pope Francis determined several administrative actions “are justified.” Among them, Archbishop Nienstedt “may not exercise any public ministries” in the “Province of St. Paul and Minneapolis,” which covers Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota; “may not reside in the Province of St. Paul and Minneapolis”; and “may not exercise ministry in any way outside of his diocese of residence” without permission of the local bishop. Archbishop Nienstedt resigned after criminal and civil charges were brought against the archdiocese in June 2015 for failing to protect children from a former pastor convicted of sexually abusing three minors in his parish. The civil and criminal charges against the archdiocese were dismissed in 2015 and 2016, respectively. In a response to the findings, Archbishop Nienstedt, who lives in Michigan, said he resigned to give the archdiocese “a new beginning” and he has asked the Holy See to clarify the “imprudent” actions he allegedly committed.

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Giving to others in need is not enough; people must look those they help in the eyes and be willing to touch their poverty with their hands and hearts, Pope Francis said. Meeting Jan. 5 with members of the Unicoop supermarket cooperative, which is based in Florence, Italy, the pope said Christians must “be close to the people we help.” When hearing confessions, he said, he asks people if they give to the poor, to which people often answer “yes.” The pope said he asks in reply: “And tell me, when you give to the poor, do you look in the eyes of the person, touch their hand, or throw the money there?” He told the group, “Touch, touch poverty, touch,” encouraging them to develop “a heart that touches, to look and to understand.”
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis expressed his condolences and prayers after two bombings in Kerman, Iran, claimed the lives of 84 people and wounded scores more at a memorial for an assassinated Iranian military officer. In a telegram sent on behalf of the pope Jan. 5, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said the pope “was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life caused by the recent explosions in Kerman.” “He sends the assurance of his prayers for those who have died and for their grieving families” and expressed “his spiritual solidarity with the injured,” the telegram said. The pope also “invokes upon all the people of Iran, the Almighty’s blessing of wisdom and peace,” it said. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Jan. 3 attack in southern Iran, saying it was caused by two of its members wearing and detonating explosives. The blasts went off outside a cemetery where thousands had gathered for the anniversary of the assassination of Qasem Soleimani in 2020. Soleimani, whose militia force had fought against the Islamic State in Iraq, had been killed in Iraq in 2020 by a U.S. drone strike.

WORLD
SOKOTO, Nigeria (OSV News) – Gov. Caleb Mutfwang of Nigeria’s Plateau state declared a week of mourning Jan. 1-8 to honor the deaths of at least 200 Christians killed over Christmas by Fulani Muslim herders, targeting Christians in the country. Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto said the attackers are “children of darkness” and come “from the deepest pit of hell.” The Dec. 23-28 killings also have led to thousands of people being forced to flee their homes. As many as 80 villages in Plateau state were attacked, Christian aid group Release International reported Dec. 30. Bodies continue to be discovered, and attacks are expected to continue, Release International reported. “I urge all citizens to use these days for intense prayers to seek the intervention of the almighty God in defending our territories against wicked men that have risen against us,” Mutfwang said in a video statement released Jan. 2. In a three-page New Year’s message, called “Blood and crucifixion on the Plateau,” a copy of which OSV News obtained, Bishop Kukah strongly condemned the killers as “sons of Satan” who “came to the Plateau again, bearing their gifts of death and destruction.” he said. The Fulani herders “came from the deepest pit of hell” and snatched “the light of the joy of Christmas from thousands of people on the Plateau.”
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain (OSV News) – U.S. pilgrims made up the largest international group walking the famous Camino to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, in 2023. The Way of St. James welcomed over 32,000 American visitors in a record year for the ancient pilgrimage site. Interest in the Camino de Santiago – a network of pilgrim routes across Europe that lead to the Tomb of Saint James – is greater than ever, with the worldwide number of pilgrims walking the site approaching half a million. Not everyone, however, walks because of religious reasons. According to the statistics published by the pilgrims’ office, 446,035 pilgrims from all over the world arrived in the City of the Apostles last year. With 44% of the pilgrims (almost 200,000) being Spanish, Americans were the most common international visitors (32,063), followed by Italians (28,645) and Germans (24,342). The Portuguese, French, British, Mexicans, South Koreans and Irish were also represented in the top ten, followed by pilgrims from destinations as far as Australia, Brazil and Canada. According to the Pilgrims’ Bureau, 42.6% of arrivals cited “religious reasons,” 4.7% cited “religious and other reasons” in the latest statistics and 22.7% were walking for “non-religious reasons.”
MEXICO CITY (OSV News) – The U.S. Department of State has demanded the release of Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa and other imprisoned Nicaraguan religious leaders following a wave of detentions targeting Catholic clergy over the Christmas season. The Jan. 2 statement described Bishop Álvarez and the other religious leaders – including Bishop Isidoro Mora of Siuna – as “unjustly detained” and deplored the conditions in which they were being held. Bishop Álvarez has been detained for more than 500 days, it noted. “Nicaraguan authorities have kept Bishop Álvarez in isolation, blocked independent evaluation of the conditions of his imprisonment, and released staged videos and photographs that only increase concerns about his well-being,” read the statement, signed by State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. The regime of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, “continues to impose severe restrictions on religious communities and deny Nicaraguan citizens the ability to freely practice their religions and express their beliefs. We once again call on the Nicaraguan government to release Bishop Rolando Álvarez immediately and without conditions.” In a separate post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Miller called Bishop Álvarez’s detention “unconscionable,” adding, “Freedom of belief is a human right.” On Dec. 31, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes of Managua urged prayer for the “families and communities that at this moment feel the absence of their priests or are experiencing other types of pain.”

NATION
FORT CALHOUN, Neb. (OSV News) – A Nebraska priest has died after being attacked in the rectory of his parish in the early morning of the Second Sunday of Advent. Father Stephen Gutgsell was found “suffering from injuries sustained during an assault” Dec. 10 at the rectory of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, where he served as pastoral administrator. According to a Dec. 10 press release from the Washington County Sheriff Mike Robinson, the county’s 911 emergency dispatch received an emergency call that day at approximately 5:05 a.m. reporting an attempted break-in at the rectory. Deputies arrived within six minutes and took the suspect into custody while the injured priest was transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where he later died from his injuries. Robinson told local media he does not believe the death is related to the deceased priest’s 2007 conviction for embezzling more than $125,000 from a former parish, for which he received five years’ probation and was returned to ministry following a successful residential rehabilitation program. Local media reported tributes poured in at a vigil held that Sunday, with parishioners mourning a priest they called a “wonderful person” who devoted himself to others above himself. The priest’s final bulletin message to his flock spoke of St. John the Baptist, their patron, who is “to remind us of what we all should be preparing to receive in the Advent Season” before asking God’s blessing on them and their families “in this Wonderful Season of Grace.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio (OSV News) – Two Ohio dioceses are considering a potential merger, according to a joint letter issued Dec. 11 by Bishop Earl K. Fernandes of the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, and Bishop Paul J. Bradley, apostolic administration of the Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio, who said they “have begun very preliminary discussions regarding the potential merger of the dioceses.” The bishops said, “the Apostolic Nunciature has asked the dioceses to work together to consider how different dimensions of the dioceses, including the temporal aspects of life, might be affected by such a proposal.” The move comes a year after a similar attempt was put on hold by former Steubenville Bishop Jeffrey M. Monforton, who admitted he encountered “disappointment and even fear” among faithful regarding the prospect. Now, “while no decision has been made, due diligence is needed so an educated and responsible decision can be discerned in a timely manner,” wrote Bishop Fernandes and Bishop Bradley. “Ultimately the decision is up to the Holy Father,” they wrote. “The work has begun, and as the work continues, updates will be provided.”

OWENSBORO, Ky. (OSV News) – Two years ago over the course of a Friday night Dec. 10-11, a series of tornadoes struck western Kentucky, killing 57 with additional fatalities in Illinois, Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri and damaging and destroying several thousand residences as well as nearly 200 commercial buildings. Just one day before area residents officially observed the outbreak’s second anniversary, tornadoes ripped through middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky inflicting another weather disaster on Dec. 9 just weeks before Christmas. Although no Catholic schools or parishes suffered storm damage, six people were killed in Clarksville, Tennessee, and other communities were devastated as well. Laura Miller, faith formation director and office assistant at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and School in Clarksville, told OSV News their buildings escaped damage but “north Clarksville is pretty torn up.” Father Ryan Harpole, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Bowling Green, Kentucky, reflected on their own experience rebuilding following the deadly 2021 tornadoes, saying “we have adapted quite well, and people have moved on, and if anything came out of this it is a message that says there is hope in the future.” Diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky, Bishop William F. Medley issued a special statement of reflection for the remembrance of the December 2021 tornadoes, saying that while they “permanently changed our communities” they also showed the Catholic Church’s “fast and generous response to those who suffered.”

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis said he has decided to be buried in Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major instead of in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican and that he has simplified the rites for a papal funeral. In a Dec. 12 interview with Mexican news outlet N+, the pope, in good humor, discussed plans for his own funeral as well as the trips he still hopes to complete during his pontificate. The pope said he had already discussed preparations for a papal funeral with his master of liturgical ceremonies, Archbishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli. “We simplified them quite a bit,” he said, and jokingly added that “I will premiere the new ritual.” Breaking with recent tradition, Pope Francis said he has chosen to be buried at the Basilica of St. Mary Major because of his “very strong connection” with the church. “The place is already prepared,” he said. Asked about his future travels, the pope said that a trip to Belgium is “certain” and that two other trips, to Polynesia and Argentina, are pending.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Christmas season is a reminder to Christians that despite hardships, God chose to join himself to humanity and still remains by its side, Pope Francis said. “Christmas is a reminder that God loves us and wants to be with us,” the pope told a group of children at the Vatican Dec. 15 during a meeting with representatives from the Italian Catholic Action movement. The Incarnation, he said, “is a stupendous gift, and it brings with it another: that we may also love one another as brothers and sisters.” He added that such love is needed today when “so many people, so many children suffer because of war.” Later in the day, the pope met with the organizers of a Christmas concert hosted at the Vatican for people in need. Reflecting on the concert’s title, “Christmas Concert with the Poor and for the Poor,” the pope said moving from an attitude of being “for” the poor to one of being “with” the poor is key. “One starts from the ‘for’ but wants to reach the ‘with,’ and this is very Christian,” he said. “God came for us, but how? In what way? By coming to live with us, by even becoming like us.”

WORLD
KHARKIV, Ukraine (OSV News) – When Ukraine’s embattled citizens gather this Christmas, their rich festivities will feel symbolically different – as the festival is celebrated for the first time on Dec. 25, in line with the Western calendar. “People here have long insisted we should be united around a common festival, expressing our faith together and enjoying the same work-free days,” explained Auxiliary Bishop Jan Sobilo from Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhia Diocese. “As we withstand Russia’s attacks, however, this change will also have a political dimension in bringing us closer to Western civilization. Many of those who no longer attend church, believing Christians are always feuding, may well be led back to God by this new united spirit of prayer and celebration,” he said. The bishop spoke to OSV News amid preparations for the long-awaited switch to the Western Christmas, agreed earlier in 2023 by church and government leaders. Amid harsh conditions of war, Ukrainians have shown determination in maintaining their Christmas customs. The great festival of Vigilia, or Christmas Eve, is marked with family gatherings around a sviata vechera, or “holy supper,” incorporating a dozen dishes representing the Twelve Apostles, and ends with the midnight Mass. Homes are decorated with the customary didukh, a sheaf of wheat stalks symbolizing ancestors’ spirits, for whom dishes such as the traditional kutia are left on the table.

WARSAW, Poland (OSV News) – Cardinal Grzegorz Rys of Lodz, chairman of the Committee for Dialogue with Judaism of the Polish bishops’ conference, strongly condemned the incident in which a far-right Polish lawmaker used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the Sejm, the country’s parliament. “In connection with the incident in the Sejm committed by Mr. MP Grzegorz Braun, who extinguished the Hanukkah candles and declared that he was not ashamed of what he had done, I declare that I am ashamed and apologize to the entire Jewish community in Poland,” Cardinal Rys wrote Dec. 12. Braun, a member of the Confederation party, provoked outrage from members of faith communities and other members of parliament when he used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles Dec. 12 during an afternoon event with members of the Jewish community. This is a disgrace,” said Donald Tusk, newly appointed prime minister. “Poland’s Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich told Reuters by telephone that Braun’s actions were not representative of the country and that he was “embarrassed” by them. “Someone extinguished the Hanukkah candles and a few minutes later we relit them,” Rabbi Schudrich told Reuters. “For thousands of years our enemies have been trying to extinguish us, from the time of the Maccabees right through to Hamas. But our enemies should learn, they cannot extinguish us.”

NATION
HOBOKEN, N.J. (OSV News) – For the last decade, Msgr. Paul Bochicchio of St. Francis Church in Hoboken has been advising as a spiritual consultant on the upcoming film “Cabrini,” produced by Angel Studios about the life and ministry of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, set to debut in theaters in March 2024. The movie, from the studio that produced “The Chosen” and “Sound of Freedom,” gives a dramatic look into the life of Mother Cabrini, as she is best known, and the uphill battle she faced ministering to the immigrant poor of New York. Msgr. Bochicchio, a priest of 52 years, has had a lifelong devotion to the first American saint. His great-grandmother knew Mother Cabrini personally, as they were both community leaders among New York Italian immigrants at the turn of the 20th century. Noting his grandmother had an enormous influence on his vocation to the priesthood, he found that he had a calling to work with Italian immigrants due to his background and had the perfect model in the patron saint of immigrants. As one of many technical advisers on the set of “Cabrini” but also as a Catholic priest, Msgr. Bochicchio accompanied the cast and crew on work retreats, where he would celebrate Mass every day and give spiritual reflections on the saint. As a script adviser, he would receive every revision and be asked to comment on its accuracy.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (OSV News) – The late James Madison Smith Sr. and Catherine “Kitty” Smith, formerly enslaved Catholics, are being recognized as agents of the Underground Railroad. The Smiths, a freed married couple, are buried in St. Louis Cemetery in Louisville in a once-segregated section of the cemetery. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Park Service announced in late September that the Smiths’ burial site would be included in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. Its mission is to “honor, preserve and promote the history of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight,” according to its website. During the 1850s, worsening conditions for Black people in the South led the Smiths to move from Louisville to Jennings County, Indiana. Their farm – located about 29 miles from the Ohio River – became a shelter for enslaved people fleeing for freedom, said Deacon Ned Berghausen, who led the effort to recognize the Smiths. He serves at St. Agnes Church. Years earlier, James Madison Smith had purchased his freedom and that of Catherine Smith and they were married in 1837 at St. Louis Church, now the site of the Cathedral of the Assumption. Though they left Louisville, the couple remained connected to the city’s Black Catholic community.

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican announced Pope Francis’ Christmas liturgy schedule Nov. 28. It includes: – Dec. 24 at 7:30 p.m., the pope will celebrate the Mass of the Nativity of the Lord in St. Peter’s Basilica. – Dec. 25 at noon, Pope Francis gives his message and blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world) from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. – Dec. 31 at 5 p.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope presides over evening prayer and the chanting of the “Te Deum” in thanksgiving to God for the year that is ending. – Jan. 1 at 10 a.m. in the basilica, the pope celebrates Mass for the feast of Mary, Mother of God, and World Peace Day. – Jan. 6 at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s, Pope Francis celebrates Mass for the feast of the Epiphany. – Jan. 7 at 9:30 a.m. in the Sistine Chapel, the pope presides over a Mass for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and baptizes several infants.

TURIN, Italy (OSV News) – On Oct. 30, three days after Pope Francis lifted the statute of limitations and opened the path for a church trial and possible removal from the priesthood for former Jesuit and mosaic artist Father Marko Rupnik, a woman previously known as Anna gave the world her real name, revealing it in the Italian daily newspaper Domani. Emerging as Gloria Branciani, she openly wanted to protest church policies that put the alleged victims in more pain instead of healing. Branciani alerted church authorities about Father Rupnik’s behavior years ago, but it was a losing battle, she told OSV News. In a first-ever interview by an alleged victim of Father Rupnik, published by Domani Dec. 18, 2022, she spoke about a “descent into hell” she experienced for nine years and recalled how “Father Marko at first slowly and gently infiltrated my psychological and spiritual world by appealing to my uncertainties and frailties while using my relationship with God to push me to have sexual experiences with him.” Father Rupnik was expelled from the Jesuit order June 9 because of his “stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience.” The artist had been accused by several women of sexual, spiritual and psychological abuses that according to media reports over a 30-year period. Branciani said she hopes that in the canonical process recently reopened against Father Rupnik will lead to the truth being recognized.

WORLD
PARIS (OSV News) – If classical literature characters could become saints, France has a perfect example. The real bishop behind Victor Hugo’s famous Les Misérables character is likely to be beatified. The French bishops, gathered in Lourdes Nov. 3-8 for their plenary assembly, voted in favor of opening the diocesan process for his beatification. Bishop Bienvenu de Miollis (1753-1843) was the Bishop of Digne from 1805 to 1838 and an inspiration for Victor Hugo’s character Bishop Myriel in the novel Les Misérables, published in 1862. Bishop Myriel was close to the poor and lived a sober life. He took in the main character, Jean Valjean, who had just been released from the penal colony. The next day, Valjean was recaptured by the police for stealing Bishop Myriel’s silverware. But the prelate pretended it was a gift, and doing so, he saved Valjean from re-arrest. This gesture of mercy marked the beginning of a profound transformation of Valjean, which continued throughout the book. He remained attached to the memory of the bishop all his life. Renowned for his kindness, Bishop de Miollis was very attentive to the poor and beggars, whom he gathered together at the Hospice of Charity, and lived very modestly himself. In 1806, Bishop de Miollis took in a freed convict by the name of Pierre Maurin, whom no-one wanted to take in, and looked for ways to help him regain his dignity – a story that inspired the author of Les Misérables.

BUENOS AIRES (OSV News) – The Nicaraguan government has released a series of photos and videos of imprisoned Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa – purportedly as proof of him receiving preferential treatment – that have sparked alarm over the prelate’s emaciated appearance and indignation over his continued incarceration in one of the country’s most notorious prisons. Nicaragua’s interior ministry published the photos and videos from 10 separate occasions between March 25, 2023, and Nov. 2, 2023, as part of a 20-page press release issued Nov. 28, according to independent Nicaraguan news organization Confidencial. The photos and videos show Bishop Álvarez greeting his brother and sister during prison visits, watching TV in an area full of snacks, and receiving medical attention. “As can be seen in the video and photographs, the conditions of confinement are preferential and the regime of medical consultations, family visits, referral and receipt of packages is strictly complied with, contrary to what slanderous campaigns would have us believe,” the ministry said in its statement. The bishop, 57, appeared emaciated in the photos, according to ecclesial colleagues on social media. An outspoken prelate, who routinely denounced the abuses of Nicaragua’s regime, Bishop Álvarez was convicted Feb. 10 on charges of conspiracy and spreading false information and sentenced to 26 years in prison after a closed trial in which he was denied a lawyer of his choosing.

MARAWI, Philippines (OSV News) – A deadly bomb that exploded during a Mass Dec. 3 killed at least four people and injured dozens at a university in a predominantly Muslim city in southern Philippines. Media reports that the explosion caused panic among dozens of students and teachers in a gymnasium, where Mass was taking place, at Mindanao State University in Marawi, capital of Lanao del Sur province. The explosion took place at around 7 a.m. local time. Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for the deadly blast, according to Reuters and The New York Times. Nearly 80% of the Philippines’ population of 114.6 million people is Catholic. About 6% of the population identifies as Muslim. After praying the Angelus, Pope Francis assured the victims of his prayers. A telegram, addressed to Bishop Edwin de la Peña of Marawi, assured the people of the Holy Father’s spiritual closeness amid this tragedy, and that he commended the souls of those who died to God’s mercy and prayed for “the divine gifts of healing and consolation upon the injured and bereaved.”