Upholding the dignity of the human person, and the rule of law, are essential for good politics, Pope Francis said Monday to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See. Such politics promote the common good and establish and maintain peace between nations, he said, by considering “the transcendent dimension of the human person, created in the image and likeness of God.” The pope made his annual address to the diplomatic corps Jan. 7 in the Vatican's Sala Regia. Read More

Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) and Reps. Dan Lipinski (D-IL), and Chris Smith (R-NJ) will be joined by Louisiana State Rep. Katrina Jackson (D). This will be Daines’ first time addressing the March for Life. “We are delighted to have these four pro-life champions speak at the March for Life rally. The right to life is a non-partisan issue and, regardless of politics, we should all unite for life and stand against abortion, the greatest human rights abuse of our time,” Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, said in a statement to the press. Read More

The Synod of Bishops released Thursday an English translation of the final document of the 2018 session on young people, faith, and vocational discernment. The document encourages young people to seek an authentic encounter with God, instead of adopting a morally relativistic outlook on life. The document highlights the spiritual and religious experiences of young people around the world, both in and outside of the Church, noting that in many places “forms of alternative religiosity are on the rise.” It also held out the authentic Christian experience of many young people as a witness of faith and hope to their peers. “The youth help to enrich what the Church is and not only what she does. They are her present and not only her future,” the synod fathers wrote. Read More

To serve the poor and sick in a generous manner is a powerful form of evangelization, Pope Francis said Tuesday in a message for the upcoming World Day of the Sick. “The Church – as a Mother to all her children, especially the infirm – reminds us that generous gestures, like that of the Good Samaritan, are the most credible means of evangelization,” the pope wrote. His message for the World Day of the Sick was published Jan. 8, in advance of the solemn celebration to be held Feb. 11, 2019, in Calcutta, India. The theme of this year’s message comes from Matthew 10:8: “You received without payment; give without payment.” Read More

The law, which was authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), authorizes $430 million to be spent over the next four years to help combat sex and labor trafficking both in the United States and abroad. This is Smith’s fifth anti-trafficking bill to become law. “In the fight to end modern day slavery, my law honors the extraordinary legacy of one of the greatest Americans who ever lived,” Smith said of Frederick Douglass, a former slave who became a prominent abolitionist after being freed. Read More

Bishop Daniel Flores of the Diocese of Brownsville, which is located along the southern border, tweeted Jan. 9: “Mothers and children are fleeing the very criminal elements that we ourselves recognize represent a mortal danger. Are we not capable of sustaining a response that both protects the vulnerable and restrains the menace?” Read More

Bishop Joseph Lawson Howze, Biloxi’s founding bishop and the first black bishop in the 20th century to head a diocese in the United States, died on January 9, 2019. Bishop Howze joined the Knights of Peter Claver through Council 25, Our Mother of Sorrows in 2005. “While we are saddened by the death of Bishop Joseph Lawson Howze, we rejoice in his life. His was a life well lived in faithful service to Almighty God and to the people of Mississippi, both as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson and later as first bishop of Biloxi from 1977 to 2001,” said Biloxi Bishop Louis F. Kihneman III. “Establishing a new diocese was hard work, but Bishop Howze was very proud of what he, with the help of devoted clergy, religious and laity, accomplished during his tenure as bishop of Biloxi and was forever grateful to the people of the diocese for their unfailing generosity of time, talent and treasure Read More

Please keep the family of our beloved brother, Reverend Jerome LeDoux, S.V.D., in your prayers as he transitioned to be with our Heavenly father on Monday, January 8, 2019 at the age of 88. Read More