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Pope evaluating President Trump's invitation to Vatican to join Gaza Board of Peace (OSV News)

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of His Holiness, said that Pope Leo XIV is evaluating an invitation from President Donald Trump for the Vatican City State to join his Board of Peace for Gaza.

The invitation “requires some time to answer,” Cardinal Parolin told journalists on January 21. The Vatican, he added, “will not be to participate financially” because “we are not in a position to do so.”

Danish bishop publishes brief letter on Greenland (Diocese of Copenhagen)

The Diocese of Copenhagen has published an English translation of a recent letter from its bishop, Bishop Czeslaw Kozon, to the pastor and faithful of the parish in Greenland.

“A lot of concern and anxiety has filled many people worldwide, but especially in Greenland and Denmark, ordinary citizens and politicians alike,” Bishop Kozon wrote on January 16. “A lot of sympathy has been directed towards the people in Greenland. I would also like to assure you, that I follow you with my thoughts and prayers.”

“Many things are challenged and turned upside down in today’s world,” the bishop added. “Peace and stability are at stake ... Let us so be confident in God’s mercy and providence that he may guide the governors of the world and make them open to his wisdom.”

Pope Leo to celebrate Holy Thursday Mass at Lateran Basilica after hiatus under Pope Francis (EWTN News)

The Prefecture of the Pontifical Household has announced that Pope Leo XIV will celebrate the Holy Thursday evening Mass in the Lateran Basilica, as was customary before the pontificate of Pope Francis.

Beginning in 2013, Pope Francis celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in sites such as prisons and migrant centers.

“The years of Pope Francis’ pontificate, as happened with many other celebrations and initiatives, constitute an exception, motivated by the desire to offer the world a clear sign of predilection for the poor and the last, bringing the attention of the bishop of Rome to places of suffering,” said Msgr. Giovanni Falbo, a cathedral canon.

Catholicism has declined in Latin America over the past decade (Pew Research Center)

The percentage of self-identified Catholics in six Latin American nations declined significantly over the past decade, according to the Pew Research Center.

The decline was most pronounced in Colombia (79% to 60%) and Chile (64% to 46%). In Argentina, a decline from 71% to 58% coincided with the reign of an Argentine pope.

Cardinal Parolin rues tensions between US, Europe (Vatican News)

Fielding questions from journalists on January 21, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that tensions between the US and Europe “are not healthy and create a climate that worsens an international situation that is already serious.”

“I believe the important thing would be to eliminate tensions, to discuss the controversial points, but without entering into polemics and without fueling tensions,” the Secretary of State of His Holiness added.

Cardinal Parolin also spoke about respect for international law, the “responsible use of the press,” Venezuela, Iran, the conflict in the Holy Land, and President Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza.

Papal message to Catholic media: be a voice of reconciliation in a polarized world (CWN)

In a papal message to the Fédération des Médias Catholiques (Federation of Catholic Media), Cardinal Pietro Parolin encouraged media professionals to be voices of reconciliation in a polarized world.

Cardinal Krajewski pleads for aid for suffering Ukrainians (Vatican News)

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, appealed for aid for Ukraine.

“One cannot remain indifferent to pain, to suffering—we must act,” he said, “because the risk, as Pope Leo says, is that of the ‘globalization of impotence,’ even more serious than the globalization of indifference.”

Vatican News reported that “the Ukrainian people now live in darkness, with temperatures well below zero, without heating, without electricity, because of intense Russian raids on the capital, Kyiv.”

Iraqi Kurdish leader, Pontiff discuss regional peace (CWN)

Pope Leo XIV received Masoud Barzani, the former president of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region, which provided hospitality to an estimated 100,000 Iraqi Christians who fled the advance of the Islamic State in 2014.

'War is back in fashion,' Pope laments (CWN)

At the conclusion of his January 21 general audience, Pope Leo XIV lamented that “war is back in fashion.”

Reviving custom, Pope Leo presented with lambs on feast of St. Agnes (CWN)

Reviving a custom discontinued by Pope Francis, Pope Leo XIV was presented with two lambs on the memorial of St. Agnes (video).