Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, OP, concluded his term as arch-bishop of Vienna, Austria, on Jan. 22, his 80th birthday, when Pope Francis accepted his resignation.
Schönborn, a theologian who led Austria’s most populous archdiocese for three decades, helped write the Catechism of the Catholic Church and chaired the Austrian bishops’ conference for 22 years. He is currently chair-man of Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals.
The Vatican announced Jan. 22 that Pope Francis had accepted Schönborn’s resignation and appointed an apostolic admini-strator, Father Josef Grünwidl, to oversee the Vienna Archdio-cese until the appointment of Schönborn’s successor.
“The fact that Rome has created an interim solution shows us that Pope Francis has appare-ntly not yet made a decision on who should be the next archbishop of Vienna. Since the process is already well advanced, we hope for a decision in the coming weeks,” archdiocesan spokesman Michael Prüller said in a state-ment on Jan. 22.
Schönborn remains a member of the College of Cardinals, to which he was elevated in 1998, but at 80 years of age, he is no longer eligible to vote in a con-clave.
In a video message to Vienna’s Catholics, Schönborn said: “Above all, I have to thank God and I have to thank you all. The decisive experience in my almost 30 years in office has been: Church only works together, society only works together.”

President Donald Trump attended the inaugural prayer ser-vice at the Washington National Cathedral Tuesday morning (Jan. 21), finishing off the festivities marking the beginning of his second term with an interfaith service filled with prayers and hymns – and a sermon that offered a religious challenge to his administration’s stated goals.
About halfway through the service, Trump, seated in the front row, heard a sermon that fun-ctioned as one of the first public criticisms of his second admini-stration. After beginning her homily by exploring the difficulty of forging a “kind of unity that fosters community across diver-sity and division, a unity that ser-ves the common good,” the Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde, the Epis-copal bishop of Washington, singled out three foundational principles for the task: honouring the inherent dignity of every hu-man being, honesty and humility.
Near the end of her sermon, Budde directed her remarks to Trump himself, noting the declaration in his inaugural address that he believes he was “saved by God” from an assassination attempt last year. She then expressed concern for LGBTQ people who may feel targeted by his administration.” “Millions have put their trust in you. As you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” Budde said in her sermon. “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in both Democratic, Republican and independent families who fear for their lives.”
Budde also made a plea for immigrants, a group under fire from Trump’s incoming admi-nistration, saying they include people who “pick our crops” and “work the night shift in hospitals,” among other vital roles.

Pope Francis posed Jesus’ profound question “Do you believe this?” to Christians worldwide during an ecumenical vespers service on Jan. 25th evening as momentum builds for Catholics and Orthodox to consider celebrating Easter on the same date in this historic anniversary year.
Speaking at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls at the conclusion of the 58th Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the pontiff reflected on Christ’s encounter with Martha following the death of Lazarus, emphasizing that hope “rises from the ashes of death.”
“This tender encounter between Jesus and Martha teaches us that even in times of deep desolation, we are not alone and we can continue to hope,” the pope said during his homily, which centred on the week’s theme “Do You Believe This?” from John 11:26.
The celebration on Jan. 25 marked the solemn conclusion of this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which the pope linked to the ongoing jubilee year. “This message of hope is at the heart of the jubilee we have begun,” Francis said, citing the Apostle Paul’s words to the Romans that “hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5).
At the vespers service, the pope noted that this whole jubilee year’s focus is on hope and “providentially” coincides with the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. He emphasized that the council’s profession of faith “transcends all the divisions that have riven the body of Christ over the centuries.”
Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, addressed the Holy Father before the apostolic blessing. He recalled the pope’s historic 2014 visit to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul), where Francis had affirmed that “the Catholic Church does not intend to impose any requirements except the profession of common faith” for achieving full unity. This hope for unity has gained momentum in recent months. Last November, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople confirmed ongoing conversations between Church representatives about establishing a common Easter date, potentially beginning in 2025.

Pope Francis kicked off the first Saturday jubilee audience of 2025 by urging pilgrims to embrace hope as a divine strength that enables new beginnings, drawing inspiration from St. John the Baptist. Speaking to pilgrims gathered in the Vatican’s audience hall on Jan. 11, the pontiff emphasized that hope is not merely a character trait but rather a theological virtue that represents “strength to be asked for” from God. “Many of you are here in Rome as ‘pilgrims of hope,’” Pope Francis said. “Indeed, the jubilee is a new beginning, the possibility for everyone to start anew from God. With the jubilee we start a new life, a new phase.”
The pope highlighted how the Latin word “virtus” means strength, explaining that hope, therefore, comes as a gift from God rather than existing as a mere habit or personality characteristic. The Catholic Church teaches that hope is one of the three theological virtues – along with faith and charity – which God pours into the hearts of the faithful. Drawing connections to the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Francis reflected on John the Baptist as a “great prophet of hope,” noting how people flocked to him “longing for a new beginning.”
“Just as we today pass through the Holy Door, so John proposed to cross the river Jordan, entering the Promised Land as Joshua had done the first time,” the pope said, connecting the biblical narrative to the current jubilee year.
The jubilee audience marked the beginning of regular Saturday gatherings that will welcome pilgrims from around the world throughout the 2025 Jubilee Year. The first major calendar event of the 2025 holy year is the Jubilee of the World of Communications, scheduled for Jan. 24–26. The Vatican expects thousands of journalists and media professionals from around the world to come to Rome for the occasion.

Pope Francis has named for the first time a woman, Sister Simona Brambilla, to head a dicastery of the Roman Curia, continuing to add to the number of women in leadership roles at the Vatican, a hallmark of his pontificate.
The 59-year-old Brambilla, a member and former superior general of the Consolata Missio-nary Sisters, has been secretary of the Vatican department for religious and consecrated life since October 2023.
Sr Brambilla will lead the Dicastery for Institutes of Con-secrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life together with Card-inal Ángel Fernández Artime, who was named pro-prefect on Jan. 6. A Spaniard, the 64-year-old Fernández concluded a decade as rector major of the Salesians last year. The appointment of an ordained bishop as pro-prefect of the same dicastery was necessary because Church law calls for ordi-nation in order to carry out certain governing powers.
Brambilla, who trained as a nurse before entering religious life, was a missionary in Mozam-bique in the late 1990s. She then returned to Italy, where, with her advanced degree in psychology, she taught at the Pontifical Gre-gorian University in its Institute of Psychology. She was head of the institute of Consolata Missio-nary Sisters from 2011 until May 2023.
Brambilla joins several other religious and non-religious lay-women appointed by Pope Francis to important posts in the Vatican, including Franciscan Sister Ra-ffaella Petrini, the first woman to hold the second-ranking post in the government of the Vatican City State.

The new year has seen the Nicaraguan dictatorship cancel the legal personhood of 15 non-profit organizations, adding to the more than 5,400 nongovernmental organizations shut down since 2018 by the regime of President Daniel Ortega and his wife and “co-president,” Rosario Murillo.
The official government newspaper La Gaceta announced on Jan. 8 the “voluntary dissolution” of 11 of these organizations, including Save the Children and the Dominican Nuns Foundation of Nicaragua. According to its website, Save the Children has been working in the Central American country since 1986. “Save the Children’s work in Nicaragua centres on four program areas: education, health and nutrition, child rights governance, and child protection in addition to having the ability to respond to potential humanitarian situations,” the organization indicated, adding that it had 46 people working in Managua and Matagalpa.

Archbishop José Manuel Imba-mba of the Archdiocese of Saurimo in Angola has revealed that he was once on a list of people targeted for assassination for defending truth and justice.In an interview with Radio Ecclesia on Jan. 7, the day he turned 60, Imbamba recalled the dangers he faced in 2003 following Angola’s post-election conflict.
“My priestly life has been full of misunder-standings. I was ordained during a time of intense war in Luena, and I faced many difficulties,” the archbishop recounted. “In 2003, during the post-electoral conflict, I was on a list of people to be eliminated,” he said.
Angola’s first elections in 1992 were marred by violence, leading to a civil conflict that ended in 2002. “I have been threatened face to face by people due to my for-thright discussions. These threats aim to intimidate and tarnish my image and that of the Church. However, I take full responsibility for everything I say. I am not anyone’s mouthpiece,” said Imbamba, who also serves as the president of the Bishops’ Conference of Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe. He emphasized his mission to advocate for the rights of the marginalized and uphold human dig-nity, saying: “For the poor, marginalized, and those deprived of their rights, I will continue to fight in the name of the Gospel, of which I am a servant.” Despite the sacrifices and challenges he faced in his 33 years of priesthood, Imbamba described the ministry as a “beautiful and rewarding vocation.”

Pope Francis kicked off the first Saturday jubilee audience of 2025 by urging pilgrims to embrace hope as a divine strength that enables new beginnings, drawing inspiration from St. John the Baptist. Speaking to pilgrims gathered in the Vatican’s audience hall on Jan. 11, the pontiff emphasized that hope is not merely a character trait but rather a theological virtue that represents “strength to be asked for” from God. “Many of you are here in Rome as ‘pilgrims of hope,’” Pope Francis said. “Indeed, the jubilee is a new beginning, the possibility for everyone to start anew from God. With the jubilee we start a new life, a new phase.”
The pope highlighted how the Latin word “virtus” means strength, explaining that hope, therefore, comes as a gift from God rather than existing as a mere habit or personality characteristic. The Catholic Church teaches that hope is one of the three theological virtues – along with faith and charity – which God pours into the hearts of the faithful. Drawing connections to the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Francis reflected on John the Baptist as a “great prophet of hope,” noting how people flocked to him “longing for a new beginning.”
“Just as we today pass through the Holy Door, so John proposed to cross the river Jordan, entering the Promised Land as Joshua had done the first time,” the pope said, connecting the biblical narrative to the current jubilee year.
The jubilee audience marked the beginning of regular Saturday gatherings that will welcome pilgrims from around the world throughout the 2025 Jubilee Year. The first major calendar event of the 2025 holy year is the Jubilee of the World of Communications, scheduled for Jan. 24–26. The Vatican expects thousands of journalists and media professionals from around the world to come to Rome for the occasion.

Pope Francis has tapped Cardinal Robert McElroy as the new archbishop of Washington, D.C., appointing one of his top U.S. allies, one of the American church’s most forceful defenders of migrants and a sharp critic of Donald Trump’s first administration just days before Trump takes office a second time.
McElroy of San Diego will succeed retiring Cardinal Wilton Gregory, 77, who has led the Washington Archdiocese since 2019, where he became the city’s first African American archbishop. In 2020, Francis elevated him to the College of Cardinals, making him the first Black U.S. cardinal. 
Over the last decade, McElroy has become one of the most vocal champions of Pope Francis’ pastoral agenda among the U.S. hierarchy. He has frequently echoed the pope’s prioritization of migrants and refugees, environmental concerns and a more welcoming approach to LGBTQ people.
The pope’s selection of a prelate who has not shied from implicit criticism of Trump comes just after Trump announced his selection of a sharp critic of Francis to be the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See – which also marks a contrast to the warm relations the pontiff has enjoyed with President Joe Biden.
McElroy, 70, was first made an auxiliary bishop of San Francisco in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI and then named bishop of San Diego by Francis in 2015. In 2022, the pope made him a cardinal. He has a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, and a master’s in U.S. history and a doctorate in political science from Stanford University, among other degrees.
In the U.S. church, McElroy has struck a contrast to many of the more traditionalist bishops in the U.S. and has become one of the leading proponents of Francis’ push for synodality, which focuses on greater lay involvement in the life of the church.

The Italian newspaper “Corriere della Sera” releases several passages from Pope Francis’ autobiographical book entitled “Life. My Story in History,” written with Vatican journalist Fabio Marchese Ragona, set to be released on March 19 by HarperCollins.
In the passages released, the Pope clarified that were he to resign, he would not choose to be called “Pope Emeritus” but simply “Bishop Emeritus of Rome.” In that case, he would live in the Basilica of St. Mary Major “to return to being a confessor and bring communion to the sick.”
The Pope clarified this possible scenario in case of his resignation, which, however, he emphasized, “is a distant hypothesis” because there are no “so serious reasons” to consider this possibility, which he said he never considers, “despite moments of difficulty.” There are no “conditions for a resignation,” according to Pope Francis, unless “a serious physical impediment” arose, in which case a “letter of resignation” deposited in the Secretariat of State signed by Bergoglio at the beginning of his pontificate would apply. He added that the possibility remains remote, since the Pope “is in good health and, God willing, there are many projects still to be realized.”