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edit- 29 November - Holy See–Russia relations
- Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, the president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue began a six-day journey to Russia on November 23. Guixot met with Orthodox, Muslim, civil leaders. The parties discussed religious liberty and other human rights of minorities. (Catholic World News)
- 16 November - According to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, nearly 1,000 hate crimes against Europe’s Christians were recorded in 2020. The organization documented 980 incidents against Christians, including arson attacks on Catholic churches, desecration and robbery of Eucharistic hosts, assaults on priests, and anti-Catholic graffiti on Church property by abortion activists. (Catholic News Agency)
- 11 November - Internal conflict in Myanmar
- The Catholic cathedral Sacred Heart at Pekon in the Diocese of Pekhon in Burma’s Shan state was among several structures that were reportedly hit by military artillery fire on Nov. 9 amid continuing armed clashes between government and rebel forces. (Catholic News Agency), (Fides)
- 8 November - Holy See–Switzerland relations
- Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis meets with the State Secretary of the Vatican, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to mark 100 years of the restoration of diplomatic relations between Switzerland and the Holy See. The joint declaration, according to the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, called for the promotion of “peace and human rights, the worldwide abolition of the death penalty, the protection of minorities, and interreligious dialogue.” (Swissinfo), (Catholic World News)
- 4 November - Pope Francis appoints Raffaella Petrini as the new secretary general of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, becoming the highest-ranking woman in the Roman Curia and the first woman to ever hold the position. (Vatican News)
- 1 November - Parishioners of Saint Ann’s Catholic Church, a predominantly African American congregation in the East Baltimore Midway neighborhood, Historic St. Francis Xavier, and St. Wenceslaus, seek to make the case that the church should immediately canonize six Black American Catholics. The candidates include Mother Mary Lange, a Baltimore nun who started and ran a school for Black children in the Fells Point area of the city during the era of slavery. (The Washington Post)
- 31 October - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Pope Francis in the Vatican. It is the first-ever meeting between the two leaders. Modi is in Rome for the G20 Heads of State and Government Summit, October 30-31, before he flies to Glasgow, Scotland, for the 26th United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP26), October 31 to November 12. (Vatican News), (Asia News)
- 27 October - Pope Francis blesses two large bells headed to Ukraine and Ecuador. The bells are part of an initiative by the Polish Yes to Life foundation. They each weigh more than 2,000 pounds, are nearly four feet in diameter, and were cast by the Felczyński bell foundry in Przemyśl, Poland. (Catholic News Agency)
- 14 October - Chinese Catholic Bishop Stephen Yang Xiangtai, the retired leader of the Handan diocese, died at the age of 99 after a long illness. Bishop Yang was arrested in 1954 and again in 1966, and served more than a decade in labor camps before being released in 1980. He became Bishop of Handan in 1999. (Catholic World News), (Asia News)
- 11 October - Pope Francis opens the two-year Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. This XVIth Synod of Bishops, ends in Rome in October 2023. In his opening address, Pope Francis presented three “key words”: communion, participation, and mission. (Catholic World News)
- 9 October - Mali War
- A Colombian Roman Catholic nun who had been kidnapped in Mali near the border with Burkina Faso in 2017 by the Macina Liberation Front is freed. The nun is photographed with Malian President Assimi Goïta as the government refuses to state if any ransom was paid for her release. (Reuters)
- 5 October - A court in the Holy See agrees to return to the investigative phase of an ongoing trial against Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu for alleged embezzlement, abuse of power and fraud, and other charges. Becciu was fired from his position in the Vatican City by Pope Francis in 2020 for alleged nepotism, which Becciu also denies. (Reuters)
- 3 October - Catholic Church sexual abuse cases
- A commission to investigate sexual abuse by clergy in France reveals that since the 1950s, there have been about 3,000 pedophiles who have committed sex crimes. (France 24)
- 2 October - Sister Pietra Luana (Etra) Modica, a Scalabrinian Catholic nun, is the new Secretary General of the Pontifical Urbaniana University. The appointment was signed by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and university Grand Chancellor. It is the first time since its founding in 1627 that this position has been assigned to a woman. (Fides)
- 27 September - LGBT rights in Poland
- Three regions in Poland repeal their status as an "LGBT-free zone" after pressure from the European Commission and activists. The declaration of "free of LGBT ideology" had been imposed in 2019 under heavy pressure from Catholic conservatives in the regions. (Reuters)
- 20 September - COVID-19 pandemic in Vatican City
- The Vatican City issues a decree that would require visitors who enter the city state to show an Italian Green Pass or its international immunity passport equivalent, providing proof that they have been vaccinated, tested negative in the previous 72 hours, or have recovered from COVID-19, beginning on October 1. (The Washington Post), (Catholic News Agency)
- 14 September - Continuing his apostolic journey, Pope Francis arrives in Slovakia, meeting with President Zuzana Čaputová who were joined by civil leaders, members of the diplomatic corps and religious leaders. After a meeting with the Jewish community, the Pope went to the apostolic nunciature, where he met with the Speaker of the National Council (parliament), Boris Kollár, and with Prime Minister Eduard Heger. (Catholic World News)
- 12 September - Pope Francis begins his four-day apostolic journey to Hungary and Slovakia, his 34th apostolic journey outside Italy during his eight-year pontificate. At Budapest Pope Francis met with President János Áder and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The Pontiff then met with other Christian and Jewish leaders. Pope Francis celebrated the concluding Mass of the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress at Heroes’ Square in Budapest. (Catholic World News)
- 4 September - COVID-19 pandemic in Slovakia
- Slovakia reverses its ban on unvaccinated people attending public events and will instead allow a negative test or proof of recovery from COVID-19 during a visit by Pope Francis on September 12 to 15 due to low vaccination numbers. (Barron's)
- 3 September - Catholic Church sexual abuse cases
- Defrocked Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick pleads not guilty to three counts of indecent assault and battery on a 16-year-old boy at a wedding reception in Massachusetts in 1974. The statute of limitations paused when he left the state shortly after the alleged incident. McCarrick is the first American cardinal to be charged with a sex crime. (DW)
- 1 September - China–Holy See relations
- Pope Francis defends the dialogue with China via the appointment of new Catholic bishops. Francis says that uneasy dialogue is better than no dialogue at all and compared the talks with China to those with Eastern European countries during the Cold War. The Vatican and China have had strained relations since the communist party took power in 1949. (Reuters)
- 26 August 2021 - Pope Francis appoints Italian nun Alessandra Smerilli as Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, becoming the first woman to do so. (Vatican News)
- 11 August 2021 - Pope Francis says that he is sorrowful at the news of the Aug. 9 murder of French priest Fr. Olivier Maire. Father Maire, 61, was the provincial superior of the Montfort Missionaries. His murder was announced by France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. (Catholic News Agency)
- 9 August 2021 - A barely legible letter to Pope Francis regarding the Vatican's financial scandals, which contained three bullets and is believed to have originated from France, is intercepted by postal workers in Peschiera Borromeo, near Milan. The letter is being treated by authorities as a possible death threat against Francis. (Newsweek via MSN) (Euronews)
- 27 July 2021 – The trial against Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu and ten others for financial crimes opens in the Holy See. Becciu and a monsignor are the only two to appear in court in person. Becciu denied any wrongdoing and the trial was adjourned. Pope Francis had previously stripped Becciu of his immunity and approved his indictment. Becciu's lawyers asked the court not to order the Cardinal's arrest. (Reuters)
- 21 July - On September 12, Pope Francis will visit Hungary as he celebrates the concluding Mass of the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress. He will then travel to Slovakia and return to Rome on September 15. (Catholic Culture) (Vatican News)
- 12 July 2021 – Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, who championed human rights, freedom, and greater democracy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), died at the age of 81. (Catholic News Agency)
- 9 July 2021 – South Sudanese Civil War
- President Salva Kiir Mayardit promises peace on Independence Day and also offers peace to opponent Riek Machar. This offer of peace comes after Pope Francis said that he would visit the Christian-majority country if some kind of peace is achieved. (Reuters)
- 3 July 2021 – A court in the Holy See indicts ten people, including Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, on embezzlement, money laundering, fraud, extortion and abuse of office. Pope Francis personally approved the indictments. (Reuters)
- 2 July 2021 – COVID-19 pandemic in Europe; COVID-19 pandemic in Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bosnia and Herzegovina reports its first case of the Lineage B.1.617 Delta variant in a Spanish woman who visited the Catholic pilgrimage site of Medjugorje. (Reuters)
- 28 June 2021 – Allied Democratic Forces insurgency; 2021 Democratic Republic of the Congo attacks
- A suicide bomber blows himself up at a busy intersection in Beni, Democratic Republic of the Congo. No additional casualties are reported. This is the first suicide bombing in the country and comes a day after a bombing occurred at a Catholic church, seriously injuring two people. Authorities ban public gatherings for two days in response to the attacks, warning about the possibility of further incidents. The Islamic State's Central Africa Province claimed responsibility for both bombings. (AP)(USNews)
- 10 June 2021 – Pope Francis rejects the offer of resignation by Archbishop of Munich Reinhard Marx over what Marx described as mishandling of the "catastrophe" of sexual abuse in the Church. Francis addresses a letter to Marx where he agrees that it is a worldwide "catastrophe" but that Marx should stay on as Archbishop. Francis further stated that they cannot remain "indifferent in the face of the crime". Marx is seen as a progressive ally of Francis within the Church. (Reuters)
- 3 June 2021 – Pope Francis appoints Archbishop Tito Yllana as the new Apostolic Nuncio in Israel and Cyprus, and Apostolic Delegate in Jerusalem and Palestine. The 73-year-old Archbishop Yllana has represented the Holy See on four continents: Africa, Asia, Europe and Oceania. (Vatican News)
- 28 May 2021 – Kamloops Indian Residential School
- A mass grave containing the remains of 215 indigenous children is discovered on the site of the former residential school in British Columbia, Canada. (The Globe and Mail)
- Archbishop J. Michael Miller of Vancouver said he was “filled with deep sadness” after learning of the discovery of the children's remains that were found buried on the site. (CRUX)
- 26 May 2021 – Jan Graffius, the curator of the Stonyhurst Collections states that the theft of the gold rosary that Mary, Queen of Scots took to her execution is a “very tragic loss” for Catholic history. Thieves broke into Arundel Castle in West Sussex, southern England, stealing the rosary and other items worth more than $1.4 million. (Catholic News Agency)
- 21 May 2021 – One Catholic priest is killed and another kidnapped in an armed attack on the parish in Malunfashi, Sokoto State, in northern Nigeria. Several other people were wounded in the assault. (Fides)
- 16 May 2021 – Holy See–Myanmar relations
- Pope Francis condemns the violence and repression in Myanmar and again condemns the coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1. He tells protesters to not despair "in the face of evil or allow themselves to be divided". (Reuters)
- 11 May 2021 – Pope Francis formally institutes the office of catechist as a ministry within the Church. With an apostolic letter entitled Antiquum Ministerium, released on May 11, the Pope establishes the lay ministry, and announces that the Vatican would soon publish a ritual for the commissioning of catechists. (Catholic World News), (Holy See Press Office)
- 7 May 2021 – The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty files a lawsuit on behalf of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee against the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. The department refused to adjust a policy that prevents in-person clergy visits to correctional facilities. (Catholic News Agency)
- 30 April 2021 – A United States Federal court upholds a New Jersey Catholic school’s right to fire a teacher under the Ministerial Exception doctrine. The teacher was terminated from Saint Dominic Academy the day after she returned from a leave due to a motor vehicle accident. (Religion Cause), (Catholic World News)
- 28 April 2021 – Pope Francis accepts the resignations of Ecuadorian Bishop Julio Parrilla Díaz and Monsignor Gerardo Miguel Nieves Loja of the Diocese of Riobamba after reports of poor governance, financial mismanagement and moral failings. (AP)
- 26 April 2021 – Argentine Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, states that the Armenian genocide is a ‘stain’ of evil on all humanity. An estimated 1.5 million Armenians were killed in the genocide. (Catholic News Agency)
- 22 April 2021 – Three of the seven Catholic clergy who were kidnapped in Croix-des-Bouquets, Ouest, Haiti, on April 11 are released. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
- 14 April 2021 – 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings
- The government bans eleven Islamic organizations, including ISIL and al-Qaeda, a week before the second anniversary of the bombings after the country's Roman Catholics threatened massive protests over the government's perceived failure to act against the perpetrators. (Al Jazeera)
- 11 April 2021 – Seven Catholic clergy, including two French citizens, are kidnapped in Croix-des-Bouquets, Ouest, Haiti. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
- 3 April 2021 – Pope Francis sends a video message to the Philippines to mark the 500 year anniversary of the first Mass on Philippine soil on Easter Sunday. (Catholic News Agency)
- 28 March 2021 – 2021 Makassar cathedral bombing
- Twenty people are wounded in a double suicide bombing outside the Sacred Heart Catholic Cathedral in Makassar, South Sulawesi, Indonesia. (CNA)
- 24 March 2021 – COVID-19 recession, COVID-19 pandemic in Vatican City
- Pope Francis issues a decree that cuts the 10% of the cardinals' and other officials' salaries in view of the fact that the Vatican foresees a financial deficit of 50 million euros this year. (BBC)
- 20 March 2021 – The Vatican announces that Pope Francis has designated the Archdiocese of Quito in Ecuador as the host of the 2024 International Eucharistic Congress. (Catholic News Agency)
- 17 March 2021 – Internal conflict in Myanmar
- Nearly 200 civilians, mostly Catholics, are forced to flee their villages due to renewed fighting between the military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Myanmar’s conflict-stricken Kachin state. (UCA News)
- 17 March 2021 – Pope Francis expresses his concerns over the tense situation in Paraguay due to a deepening health and political crisis in the South American nation which have led to instances of violence in recent days. In his message, the Pope appeals for dialogue to prevail over violence. (Vatican News)
- 16 March 2021 – The Israel Antiquities Authority finds fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Cave of Horror, believed to be hidden during a Jewish revolt against Rome 1,900 years ago. In addition, a 10,500-year-old weaving basket made of woven flowers is also found. (Haaretz) (ABC Australia)
- 15 March 2021 – Catholic Church and gay marriage
- The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican body responsible for promulgating Catholic doctrine, rules that priests cannot bless same-sex unions or marriages, calling any such blessing "not licit." (The New York Times), (Vatican Press Office)
- 15 March 2021 – COVID-19 pandemic in Vatican City
- The Vatican Museums and the Palace of Castel Gandolfo's gardens closes for third time for the duration of the last lockdown decree of the Italian Government. (Vatican News)
- 12 March 2021 – COVID-19 pandemic in New York (state)
- New York Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul receives a dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at Catholic Health in Buffalo. (USA Today)
- 11 March 2021 – Pope Francis appoints Archbishop Leo Boccardi, until now apostolic nuncio in Iran, as apostolic nuncio in Japan. (Holy See Press Office)
- 9 March 2021 – Núria Calduch becomes the first female Secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission named by Pope Francis. (Catalunya Religió)
- 5 March 2021 – Pastoral visits of Pope Francis
- Pope Francis lands in Baghdad in a historic first-ever Papal visit to Iraq. (Washington Post)
- 4 March 2021 – Archbishop Cesare Nosiglia of Turin, Italy announces that for the second time, the Shroud of Turin will be exposed for veneration on social media and websites on Holy Saturday, April 3. (Catholic News Agency)
- 22 February 2021 – COVID-19 pandemic, Travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic
- The Vatican Press Office announces that all journalists to accompany Pope Francis on his March trip to Iraq must receive a Covid vaccination. Certificates of vaccination are required for reporters seeking press credentials for the trip. (Catholic Culture)
- 15 February 2021 – Bishop David Zubik of the Pittsburgh Diocese announces that four Catholic elementary schools are merging to form two schools for the school year beginning in fall 2021. The decision comes after more than a year’s deliberation and hours of study. (Catholic News Agency)
- 10 February 2021 – Three angel statues are vandalized at St. Pius X Catholic Parish El Paso, Texas. Bishop Mark J. Seitz of the El Paso Diocese expresses sadness and says a police report is filed. (El Paso Times)
- 6 February 2021 – French religious sister Nathalie Becquart is named by Pope Francis one of the Undersecretaries of the Synod of Bishops, becoming the first woman to reach that office and having a right to vote in the Synod. (CNN)
- 1 February 2021 – Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, visits Cameroon this week. He hopes peace and reconciliation can be found in the country, which is struggling amid an armed separatist movement in the Southwest and Northwest regions. (Catholic News Agency)
- 27 January 2021 – In the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, 100 Hindu activists attack a prayer gathering in the Catholic media center. (UCA News)
- 21 January 2021 – A Vatican tribunal convicts two former executives of the Institute for Religious Works (the IOR, commonly known as the Vatican bank) on embezzlement and money-laundering charges. Angelo Caloia, who was president of the IOR from 1999 to 2009; and two lawyers who had acted as IOR consultants, were found guilty of arranging to profit from the sale of Vatican properties. (AP)
- 21 January 2021 – The Catholic Congregation for the Causes of Saints affirms the “heroic virtue” of Jérôme Lejeune, the French geneticist who found the cause of Down syndrome and became an advocate for the right to life of Down-syndrome babies. He is now eligible for beatification if a miracle is attributed to his intercession. The Congregation recognizes the martyrdom of Giovanni Fornasini, an Italian priest killed in 1944, and the heroic virtue of six additional candidates. (Vatican Press Office)
- 19 January 2021 – Bishop Daniel Thomas of the Diocese of Toledo issues statements on the deaths of a suspect and police officer, and the vandalism and arson at Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral in Toledo, Ohio. (CNS)
- 14 January 2021 – Vatican Museums Director Barbara Jatta, tells Vatican Radio it is necessary to extend the current closure of the Museums after having previously set 16 January as a possible date for re-opening. The current Covid-19 situation in Italy does not allow for certainties. Currently there is a seven-kilometre itinerary mapped out through the Vatican Museums for small numbers of visitors, in compliance with anti-Covid precautions. (Vatican News)
- 13 January 2021 – COVID-19 pandemic in Vatican City
- Pope Francis and Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI receive their firsts doses of COVID-19 vaccine in the first day of the vaccination campaign in the Vatican City. (Fox News)
- 11 January 2021 – Pope Francis publishes an apostolic letter in which, modifying the canon law, opens officially ministries of lector and acolyte to women. (Catholic News Agency)
- 9 January 2021 –
- Thousands of Roman Catholic devotees attend Saturday masses organized in lieu of the cancelled annual procession of the Black Nazarene at the Quiapo Church in Manila. (Reuters)
- COVID-19 pandemic in Vatican City
- Pope Francis confirms in an interview with Italian broadcaster Canale 5 that the vaccination campaign in Vatican City will begin next week and that he will receive the vaccine. (CNN) (Euronews)
- Fabrizio Soccorsi, Pope Francis' personal physician, dies as a result of "complications due to COVID-19", according to Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano. (Fox News)
- 8 January 2021 – Pope Francis appoints Vincenzo Buonomo as Head of the Disciplinary Commission of the Roman Curia, becoming the first lay person to do so. (Catholic News Agency)
- 7 January 2021 – Australia's financial watchdog is reviewing calculations for transfers worth US$1.8 billion sent to the country from the Vatican since 2014, after the Vatican and the Australian Church call for clarification. The transfers ranged from yearly totals of A$71.6 million (US$55.2 million) in 2014 to A$581.3 million in 2017, with about 47,000 separate transfers. "That amount of money and that number of transfers did not leave the Vatican City", a senior Vatican official with knowledge of the city-state's finances told Reuters last week. (Reuters)
- 4 January 2021 – Kidnapped Auxiliary Bishop Moses Chikwe, of the Owerri Archdiocese in Nigeria, is freed by his captors. Kidnapped last Sunday, police allege that no ransom is paid. International condemnation includes Pope Francis, during his new year message calling for Bishop Chikwe’s release. While in Imo state, a Catholic women's organization, stage a peaceful protest at the Imo state government house, calling on governor Hope Uzodinma, to quicken action for the release of the auxiliary bishop. (Vanguard, Lagos)
- 2 January 2021 – Pope Francis accepts the resignation of Auxiliary Bishop Richard B. Higgins, the episcopal vicar for veterans affairs of the Archdiocese for the Military Services. During his career, Bishop Higgins’ is vicar for veterans affairs and responsible for more than 200 chaplains serving at over 150 VA hospitals in the United States, Puerto Rico and Guam. His retirement at age 75 is announced in Washington by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States. (Catholic News Service)
- 1 January 2021 – On New Years Day Pope Francis livestreams his message from the library of the Apostolic Palace. He states "the Virgin Mary’s motherly care encourages us to use our God-given time for building up the world and peace, not destroying it." In the Catholic Church, January 1 is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. (Catholic News Agency)
2020
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Painting by
Herman Richir
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2019
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Church of the
Immaculate Conception, Monte Grande, Argentina
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2018
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2017
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Raleigh
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2016
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May 2015
Photo 27
September 2009
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2015
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Portrait by
Kazimirowski
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2014
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2013
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2012
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2011
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2010
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2009
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2008
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2007
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