The Vatican newspaper reported on a series of recent attacks on Christians in Pakistan.

After the flurry of activities for the jubilee year and the extraordinary consistory of cardinals, Pope Leo will celebrate Vespers on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle (January 25), celebrate Mass on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (February 2), and celebrate Mass on Ash Wednesday (February 18), according to yesterday’s announcement.

During the First Week of Lent, from February 22-27, he and the members of the Roman Curia will take part in a retreat in the Apostolic Palace.

“A shepherd must be with his flock in difficult times,” he said. “We as Christians have set up three places to accommodate the displaced. Nearly 3,500 people have already been taken in, while others have found shelter in some private homes.”

A police officer recently lost his life as he thwarted an attempted suicide-bomb attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Aleppo, Vatican News reported.

The staff “stands in continuity with those used by his predecessors, uniting the mission of proclaiming the mystery of love expressed by Christ on the Cross with its glorious manifestation in the Resurrection,” according to the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff.

The new staff “presents Christ no longer bound by the nails of the Passion, but with His glorified body in the act of ascending to the Father,” the Office stated. “As in the appearances of the Risen Lord, He shows His wounds to His own as luminous signs of victory, which, while not erasing human suffering, transfigure it into the dawn of divine life.”

Pope Leo XIV has established three new dioceses in the past three weeks.

The announcement describes ecumenism as “a grammar of peace, a gift for public space, care for spirituality and wisdom of differences.” The two-day symposium will begin in Bari on January 23.

“Our time, marked by strong conflict and violence, asks Christians for a renewed commitment to promote a culture of peace,” said Bishop Derio Olivero of Pinerolo, president of the Italian bishops’ Commission for Ecumenism and Dialogue. “This is a responsibility that we cannot shirk ... Differences are not an obstacle, but a heritage to be valued for the good of the Churches and of a society that is more than ever in need of communion and reconciliation.”