Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Secretary of State Marco Rubio “discussed pressing challenges, including efforts to improve the humanitarian situation, particularly in Venezuela, as well as the promotion of peace and religious freedom globally,” the US State Department announced.

The two also “reaffirmed their commitment to deepening cooperation between the United States and the Holy See in addressing shared priorities around the world.”

The author of thousands of articles and over 20 books, Shaw “gave us the words to understand what was going on in the Second Vatican Council, in the events of the late 60s, in the pontificate of Pope John Paul II,” said Mike Aquilina, who hosted the first three seasons of Catholic Culture’s Way of the Fathers podcast.

“The cardinals especially assist the supreme pastor of the Church through collegial action in consistories in which they are gathered by order of the Roman Pontiff who presides,” the Code of Canon Law explains. “For an extraordinary consistory, which is celebrated when particular needs of the Church or the treatment of more grave affairs suggests it, all the cardinals are called together” (Canon 353).

The topics on the agenda include

• Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), Pope Francis’s 2013 apostolic exhortation on the proclamation of the Gospel in today’s world
• Praedicate Evangelium (Preach the Gospel), Pope Francis’s 2022 apostolic constitution on the Roman Curia, and the role of the Curia and its relationship with the particular Churches (dioceses)
• synodality
• the liturgy

The historic church, consecrated in 1909, was closed by the Soviet Union in 1938. The church will remain state property, even as it is used by the faithful of the Latin-rite Diocese of Kyiv-Zhytomyr.

“St. Nicholas Church is a cultural heritage site of national importance,” said Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko. “It survived a fire during the Second World War, the difficult decades of the Soviet period, and withstood Russian missile strike very close by in 2024 ... Despite all the trials, the church has survived and continues to be a symbol of the spiritual resilience of the capital and the entire country.”

Neither praising nor condemning the recent US military action in Venezuela, the leaders of the Latin American and Caribbean Episcopal Council (CELAM) issued a “message of closeness and hope“ to the Church and people of Venezuela. They concluded with the words, “Happy 2026!”

“It is often said that you cannot attend Mass in Nigeria without hearing a Jude Nnam composition, an ubiquity Nnam combines with a knack for catchy, soulful tunes and for blending African musical traditions with Western influences,” writes Michael Aromolaran.

The nation of 243 million (map), the most populous in Africa and sixth most populous in the world, is 47% Muslim, 46% Christian (11% Catholic), and 7% ethnic religionist.

“We pray for our nation that it may remain peaceful, especially during times of elections,” Archbishop Paul Ssemogerere said yesterday in a homily. “What we see in the media is disappointing and creates fear and anxiety. Pray for peaceful elections so that justice, freedom, and harmony may prevail.”

The East African nation of 51 million (map) is 84% Christian (40% Catholic) and 13% Muslim.

In 2025, “Ukrainians gained the ability to get married and divorced online,” Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk said in a recent interview devoted to family life in Ukraine. “You can get married without the person you want to build a family with actually being present, and you can just as easily break it all up.”

“This trivializes the institution of the family, and the seriousness of the act and the formation of marital consent, in the canonical sense of the term, are not even considered here,” he added.

The volunteers made their pilgrimage on the evening of January 5. The Pontiff closed the holy door the following morning, ending the jubilee year.

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord (booklet, video) and preached on the disparate reactions of the Magi and Herod to the star of Bethlehem.