One in seven Christians worldwide face “very high or extreme levels” of persecution or discrimination, according to Open Doors International, which advocates on behalf of persecuted Christians.

The organization estimates that 4,476 Christians were murdered on account of their faith in 2024, and 7,679 churches and other Christian properties were attacked.

The ten nations with the highest levels of persecution, according to its World Watch List 2025, are North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan.

The Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land has issued a statement welcoming the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

“We hope that this ceasefire will mark an important end to the violence that has caused immeasurable suffering,” the bishops stated. “It is a necessary step to halt the destruction and meet the urgent humanitarian needs of countless families affected by the conflict.”

The bishops also urged “political leaders and the international community to develop a clear and just political vision for the post-war period. A future built on dignity, security and freedom for all peoples is a prerequisite for true and lasting peace.”

Emphasizing that “the moral purpose of the economy is to support the flourishing of families,” the chairmen of five committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have weighed in on congressional negotiations on the federal budget.

In a January 13 letter to congressional committee leaders, the bishops offered suggestions under ten headings:

• Protect human life and dignity
• Care for the poor
• Family formation and strengthening
• Progressivity of the tax code
• Adequate revenue for the sake of the common good
• Avoid cuts to poverty programs to finance tax reform
• Incentivize charitable giving and development
• Support parental choice in education
• Inclusion of immigrant and mixed-status families
• Energy and environment

“We appreciate the competing priorities and difficult decisions you will have to contend with in the days ahead,” the bishops added. “We urge you to seek the common good, uplift those who are most vulnerable among us, and commit to authentic dialogue with one another.”

In a message for the 600th anniversary of the arrival of the Gitano people in Spain, Pope Francis wrote that “God is a pilgrim in history with humanity and has become a nomad with the Gitano people.”

The Pontiff asked the Gitanos (known elsewhere as Roma, Romani, or Gypsies) to walk with their bishops and to evangelize. “Now is the time to proclaim, with the strength of the Lord Jesus, the personal love of God who became man, who gave himself up for us, who is living and who offers us his salvation and his friendship,” the Pope wrote, as he recalled the example of Gitanos who have been beatified.

Today is Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time. The Roman Martyrology commemorates Pope St. Marcellus I (d. 309), who was elected Pope in 308, just at the time when the Emperor Diocletian had spent somewhat his first violence against the Church. In Rome he reorganized the Catholic hierarchy disrupted by the persecution. He was exiled and put to labor. He is considered a martyr as he died in 309 because of his treatment during his exile.

Pope injured his arm in a household fall on January 16—the second such accident in recent weeks.

The Vatican reported that the Pope’s right arm was badly bruised, but not broken. His arm was immobilized in a sling “as a precautionary measure.”

Pope Francis fell in his apartment at the Santa Marta residence, the Vatican disclosed. He had suffered a similar fall on December 7, when he stumbled into a nightstand, resulting in a visible bruise on his jaw.

The 88-year-old Pontiff regularly uses a walker at home. He moves around the Vatican in a wheelchair, due to the deteriorating condition of his knees.

The latest study of the clerical sex-abuse crisis in the US has found that American dioceses and religious orders have paid more than $5 billion to resolve abuse cases.

The study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), covering abuse charges that have been filed in the past 20 years, puts the overall cost of the scandal a just over $5 billion, including legal fees.

The study finds that the number of sex-abuse complaints has dropped, with only 3% of the cases involving incidents that occurred after 2000. More than 90% of the cases covered in the study dated back to before 1989; in many such cases the alleged perpetrator was already deceased.

The CARA study confirmed that 80% of the abuse complaints involved male victims, with a vast majority (80%) involving adolescent or teenage boys.

Pope Francis has decided that lay Vatican employees with three or more children will receive a monthly bonus of €300, to be paid until the children are adults.

The Pope also has decided to lengthen the paid leave that employees are given when a child is born: from three days to five.

The allowances for children are a partial response to complaints from Vatican lay workers, who have said they are being asked to bear a disproportionate share of the Vatican’s cost-cutting efforts.

The Vatican’s Secretary of State said that Cuba’s decision to release over 500 prisoners at the start of the Jubilee Year is “a sign of great hope.”

Cardinal Pietro Parolin added that the decision of US President Joe Biden to commute the death sentences of 37 convicted felons was a welcome response to the Jubilee. Regarding the Cuban prisoner release, he told a Vatican News interviews: “It is significant that Havana authorities linked this decision directly to Pope Francis’ appeal.” Cuba began releasing prisoners immediately after Biden announced he would change the American designation of Cuba as a sponsor of terrorism.

"This is what Catholic athletics is all about."