The Archdiocese of Seoul in South Korea has reached “the era of 1,000 priests” upon ordaining 26 new priests for the local Church on Feb. 7. Archbishop Peter Chung Soon-taick, who presided over the ceremony, called on the new priests to carry out their ministry “with true love and constant joy.”
“Priests are called to serve the people of God as collaborators of the bishop and united with the bishop through their priestly ministry,” the archbishop recalled in his homily. He added: “Remember that you have been chosen and appointed from among men to carry out the work of God.” He also urged them to “always take as an example the Good Shepherd who came not to be served but to serve, and to seek and save the lost sheep.” The Archdiocese of Seoul reached the milestone 194 years after its creation.
With these 26 ordinations, the number of priests in the most important archdiocese of the Asian country, which will host the next World Youth Day in 2027, rose from 974 (including a cardinal, an archbishop, three bishops, and four monsignors) to exactly 1,000.
In total, the Korean Church has 5,721 priests, according to the latest figures from the episcopate. In its history, the local Church has ordained more than 7,000 priests, St. Andrew Kim Taegon being the first person to receive holy orders in 1845. At the Feb. 7 ceremony, the second deaf Korean priest (and the fourth in all of Asia) was also ordained. In a statement to the Archdiocese of Seoul, Father Kim Dong-jun said he wants to “serve deaf culture in the manner of Jesus Christ, with sensitivity and warmth toward the weak.”
Filipino youth reminded of 1986 People Power Revolution
A Catholic bishop in the Philippines has urged youth in the Catholic-majority nation to conti-nue advocating for social change while seeking out truth, drawing lessons from the People Power Revolution. Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan made his remarks in a message sent to Radio Veritas Philippines ahead of the 39th anniversary of the 1986 popular protest, Radio Veritas Asia reported on Feb. 21.
“In February 1986, we, your grandparents, stood for four days at the Epifanio delos Santos Avenue [EDSA] in Quezon City, between Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame,” Villegas said. “We offered food and prayed the rosary to the soldiers who had been deployed to disperse us. We sang Bayan Ko [‘Our Fatherland,’ a protest song] and slept on the streets,” Villegas added. The pre-late noted that on Feb. 25, 1986, following a peaceful protest, the “dictator and thief” Ferdinand Marcos Sr. fled to Hawaii in exile. “We ousted the dictator without violence and bloodshed,” Villegas emphasized.
An estimated 2 million Fili-pinos participated in the non-violent People Power Revolution from Feb. 22-25, 1986, which ended Marcos’ 20-year-long dictatorship and restored demo-cracy in the nation. Villegas underlined the significance of standing up for what is right and refusing to ignore the wrongdoings of leaders or those in power.
“Abp Socrates loves you. I will not lie to you. I will not mis-lead you. I was there. I saw the corruption, torture, killings, and illegal arrests. That is what ha-ppened,” Villegas said. Villegas pointed out that the revolution was the response of God-loving Filipi-nos to “evil men and evil deeds.”
Massive turnout for funeral of slain Catholic priest in Myanmar
More than 5,000 mourners gathered in the village of Pyin Oo Lwin, defying the dangers and prevailing violence, to honour the late father Donald Martin Ye Naing Win, the Catholic priest who brutally murdered on February 14 in his parish of Our Lady of Lourdes in the Archdiocese of Mandalay.
Priests, religious figures, and the faithful assembled at the Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, where Archbishop Marco Tin Win presided over the funeral Mass, offering condolences and prayers for the slain priest’s family. The moving ceremony included the reading of messages from the Apostolic Nunciature in Yangon and the Bishops’ Conference of Myanmar, which expressed their deep solidarity with the grieving community.
According to sources from Fides News Agency, the overwhelming turnout at the funeral reflected the high regard in which Father Donald was held among the local people.
During his homily, Archbishop Tin Win condemned the cycle of violence gripping the nation, saying, “Violence only brings death and destruction; it is always a defeat.”
He called upon “all armed groups and actors involved in the conflict to lay down their weapons and take a path of peace and reconciliation.”
Father Donald, who was the first parish priest of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, was known for his dedication to the community, particularly in organizing educational initiatives for children and young people. Due to the ongoing civil war, many schools in the region remain closed, leaving religious leaders and catechists to provide informal education.
Italian bishops renew opposition to assisted-suicide law
The Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI) has condemned the recently approved law by the Regional Council of Tuscany on medically-assisted suicide, saying it contradicts the value of human life. In their February 19 statement, which came a few days after the legislation passed, the bishops raise concern that this approval prioritizes assisted death over palliative care and moral responsibility. “We express concern for recent regional initiatives on the subject of end-of-life, said the bishops in a statement. “The first task of the civil community and the health system is to assist and care, not to hasten death.” The law was passed after years of debate and allows terminally-ill patients with unbearable suffering to seek medically-assisted suicide under strict conditions. The law therefore requires a medical and ethics commission to consider an end-of-life request for no more than 30 days.
Life is sacred and should be protected, even in the face of pain and terminal illness, say the bishops, calling for a just society need to encourage value for life not in facilitating death but in providing unwavering support, comfort, and dignity to those facing their most difficult moments. The Italian bishops recalled a message from the bishops of the Emilia-Romagna region last year. “Procuring death, directly or through medically assisted suicide, radically contrasts with the value of the person, with the purposes of the State and with the medical profession itself.”
The bishops lamented the fact that the law on palliative care has not yet been fully implemented and reminded the Regional Council of Tuscany that rights “must be guaranteed to everyone, in an effective and uniform way in each Region, because they represent a concrete way to alleviate suffering and to ensure dignity until the end, as well as a high expression of love for others.”
Cardinal Czerny meets with Syrian refugees in Kfardlakos, northern Lebanon
The Refugee Camp 004 for Syrian refugees in the village of Kfardlakos, Zgharta district, northern Lebanon, is one of fifty camps scattered throughout the country. 125 people, 25 families, and over 60 minors continue to struggle in difficult living conditions eleven years after their escape from Syria, where life is even more difficult. Cardinal Michael Czerny, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, wished visit this place during his ongoing mission to Lebanon.
“We have come to know you and listen to you, and we share your hope of returning home, to Syria,” Cardinal Czerny states. “The Pope is happy that I am here among you. We weep for your suffering. The Pope weeps with you, he loves you.” On the return journey to Harissa, he comments on the visit: “I am speechless after seeing a life lived at the extreme. The conditions are impossible, people fight to survive, they want to return home but they know that in Syria it is difficult. In fact, there is no home there anymore.”
Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue and WCC reaffirm common commitment
The Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue (DID) and the Office of Interreligious Dia-logue and Cooperation (IRDC) of the World Council of Churches (WCC) concluded their annual meeting in Rome, held from 17 to 20 February 2025. The gathering, which took place at the Dicastery’s office, provided an opportunity to assess past initiatives, review ongoing interreligious activities, and explore future collaborations. A key focus was preparing for the 50th anniversary of cooperation between the two institutions, which will be marked in 2027.
Since 1977, the DID and WCC have worked together to promote interreligious dialogue within an ecumenical framework. Their collaboration has produced significant documents, including Interreligious Prayer (1994), Reflection on Interreligious Marriage (1997), Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World: Recommenda-tions for Conduct (2011), Education for Peace in a Multi-Religious World: A Christian Perspective (2019), and Serving a Wounded World in Interreligious Solidarity: A Christian Call to Reflection and Action During COVID-19 (2020).
In their discussions, both delegations reaffirmed their dedication to strengthening interreligious dialogue.
Cardinal Parolin: Europe must rediscover itself to face major challenges
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said that Europe must “rediscover itself” in order to be able to face the “major challenges” of culture, commerce, and migration. In a Feb. 15 interview with the daily Eco di Bergamo, the Vatican offi-cial recalled the “warning of St. John Paul II,” which Pope Francis has also taken up: “Europe, re-discover yourself, be yourself.”
The cardinal stressed that the Old Continent is suffering from a “crisis of ideas” that prevents it from facing the future: “Europe currently has good antibodies to hold up under crises and challen-ges. But the most serious problem is the lack of ideas for the future that allow it to respond with deter-mination to international compe-titors,” he said. Parolin specified that this weakness is due to the relationship that Europe has with its own history, the result of “a deep, and partly justified, fear of its past.” However, he emphasiz-ed that along with the dark episodes of its history, “there are many bright moments.”
In this regard, he referred to the debates on the European Constitution, in which an explicit reference to the continent’s Judeo-Christian roots was avoided, advocating for a generic mention of its “cultural, humanist, and religious heritage.” According to the cardinal, this weakened the continent’s awareness and the sense of European identity: “In-stead of building Europe on its deep foundations and roots, a changing consensus of values has been preferred. But the future can only be built on the past,” he pointed out.
Although Parolin said there were reasons to be concerned, especially in the face of “practi-cal atheism, populism, and reli-gious illiteracy,” he praised other “encouraging phenomena” such as the increase in requests for baptism by young French people.
Ecumenical initiative calls for unity to celebrate Easter together
The First Ecumenical Council, the meeting of Christian bishops that was held in 325 in Nicaea (today Ýznik, Turkey), laid the groundwork for reaching consensus within the Church through an assembly representing all of Christendom. This event marked a key moment in the history of Christianity, 17 centuries ago this year, in which, among other decisions, the way of calculating the date of Easter was established. However, over the centuries, changes to the calendar resulted in discrepancies between the Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox churches, differences that still persist. While Latin-rite Catholics follow the Gregorian calendar, in the East the tradition of calculating liturgical dates according to the Julian calendar has been maintained.
“The process of changing the calendar, which began in 1582 with Pope Gregory and was completed to a certain extent in 1923 with the adoption of the new calendar by some Orthodox churches, was not without difficulties,” Kostas Mygdalis, consultant to the Orthodox Interparliamentary Assembly (IOA), explained in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. “It provoked controversies among the faithful and between the churches and state authorities, consolidating polarizing divisions” that still persist, he added.
Mygdalis is also one of the key figures of the interfaith working group Pasqua (Easter) Together 2025, which seeks to promote the common celebration of Easter between Orthodox and Catholics. Last September, Pope Francis received the members of this ecumenical initiative and expressed his desire to agree on a common date for the celebration of Easter between Catholics and Orthodox. Interestingly, this year both Easters — Catholic and Orthodox — fall on the same date, April 20, due to the alignment of the Julian (used by the Orthodox) and Gregorian (followed by Catholics and other Christian denominations) calendars.
For Mygdalis, the joint celebration of Easter in 2025 should not be seen as just a calendar agreement but as an opportunity to place Christ at the centre of the Christian faith. “The time has come to make a strong appeal to the churches to unify the date of Easter,” he said. He also emphasized that the central message must be the need for unity in the world: “The world needs unity. A common date for Easter is a step toward this unity.”
Sister Raffaella Petrini appointed president of Vatican governorate
Pope Francis has appointed Sister Raffaella Petrini, FSE, as president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and president of the Governorate of Vatican City State, the Vatican announced Saturday. According to the Feb. 15 bulletin from the Holy See Press Office, Petrini will assume her new roles on March 1. She succeeds Cardinal Fernando Vérgez in both positions. Petrini, who has served as secretary-general of the same governorate since November 2021, brings significant academic and administrative experience to her new role. Born in Rome on Jan. 15, 1969, she holds a degree in political science from the Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Guido Carli and a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, where she currently serves as a professor. Before her appointment to the governorate, Petrini worked at the Congregation for the Evangeli-zation of Peoples from 2005 to 2021.
This appointment follows Pope Francis‘ recent selection of Sister Simona Brambilla as prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, marking a continuing trend of women being appointed to senior Vatican leadership positions. During a recent television interview, the pope had previously indicated his intention to promote Petrini.
Christians in Burkina Faso face terrorist attacks, banditry
More than 200 terrorists attacked three villages in western Burkina Faso at the end of January, leaving at least 26 people dead, including at least six Christians. Houses were set ablaze by the attackers, forcing residents to flee. Less than a week later, further attacks led to more deaths. News of the terrorist assaults was relayed to Catholic aid organization “Aid to the Church in Need” by Fr. Jean-Pierre Keita, an ACN project partner, who lost his father and several other family members in the attacks. The attacks took place in the parish of Tansila, a regional centre in Banwa province in western Burkina Faso. The parish includes 37 villages, about a third of whose population is Christian.
On the same day as the first attack in Tansila, two catechists from the nearby Diocese of Dédougou in the western Burkina Faso province of Mouhoun were killed by bandits while returning from catechist training sessions. Aid to the Church in Need reported that sources told them four catechists from Ouakara parish were traveling together on two motorcycles when the group was attacked. The catechists on the first vehicle were able to escape into the forest, but their two companions were later found murdered.