Just after Charlie Kirk was assassinated, Jimmy Kimmel rushed to brand the alleged shooter as a MAGA right winger.
The post MISSION ACCOMPLISHED, JIMMY KIMMEL: Significant Number of Americans Believe Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Was Right Wing (VIDEO) appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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A watchdog has now confirmed that American weaponry left behind in the botched 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan now makes up the ‘core’ of the Taliban military.
The post SURPRISE! Watchdog Claims U.S. Weapons Left Behind by Biden in Afghanistan Now Make Up ‘Core’ of the Taliban Military appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Almost a year after the wildfires that destroyed thousands of homes in southern California, failed Governor Gavin Newsom is trying to blame President Trump for the lack of rebuilding.
The post ZERO SHAME: California Governor Gavin Newsom Blames TRUMP for Lack of Rebuilding in L.A. a Year After Wildfires appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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Researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California monitor a research drone in the Dumont Dunes area of the Mojave Desert in September 2025 as part of a test campaign to develop navigation software to guide future rotorcraft on Mars.
Read MoreFor everything there is a season,
and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born,
and a time to die;
a time to plant,
and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill,
and a time to heal;
a time to break down,
and a time to build up;
a time to weep,
and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn,
and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones,
and a time to gather stones …
Denver, Colorado, Dec 5, 2025 / 18:18 pm (CNA).
After receiving a letter of excommunication from the Vatican, the leader of a schismatic group in Colorado Springs told congregants he would ignore it — furthering the divide between the small splinter group and the Catholic Church.
Anthony Ward heads the Servants of the Holy Family, a group that labels itself as Catholic in spite of the Diocese of Colorado Springs’ declaration that the group is schismatic.
In a 40-minute speech to his congregation in which he called Church authorities “a kangaroo court” of “heretics” and “freemasons,” Ward went public on Nov. 16 about his excommunication and his plans to continue ignoring the Catholic Church’s directives.
During a secret ceremony in 2024, a bishop whose name was withheld at the time consecrated Ward as a bishop without papal permission.
In the Catholic Church, only the pope can appoint bishops. Consecrating a bishop without papal mandate is considered illicit and incurs an automatic “latae sententiae” excommunication for both parties.
During the meeting at the Servants’ chapel on Nov. 16, Ward told his congregation that the Catholic Church had made a declaration of excommunication against him due to what he described as “persistent, rebellious disobedience.”
Though excommunication is a “medicinal penalty” designed to urge an individual to repent, Ward has said he is “ignoring” the letter and will not be responding within the 30-day window given to him.
Embracing the claims of the letter, Ward said he will continue to disobey, instead putting his loyalty toward what he called “the true Catholic faith.”
“I have not and will not obey commands from the kangaroo court composed of heretics, schismatics, Freemasons, representatives of the most vile sinful perversions, enemies of the cross of Christ,” Ward told the congregation, “of whom the majority of bishops — particularly in this country — no longer believe in the real presence of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus, Christ in the Eucharist.”
The U.S. Catholic bishops recently led a yearslong Eucharistic Revival that centered on the Catholic belief that the Eucharist is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ.
Despite the local Catholic diocese’s denouncement of the Servants, the group continues to hold Eucharistic celebrations and is recruiting minors as well as adult men to be trained as priests.
The Servants’ website advertises the group as “faithful to the Latin Mass” as well as to “Catholic doctrine and morals” and claims it is “endorsed by Catholic bishops worldwide.”
Ward named Archbishop Telesphore George Mpundu Lusaka, the African archbishop emeritus of Zambia, as the bishop who illicitly consecrated him, but the other bishops are not specified readily on the website.
When asked to comment, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Colorado Springs referred to the most recent public statement by Bishop James Golka in April 2024.
Since 2013, the Diocese of Colorado Springs has publicly held that the Servants are “not in good standing” with the Church.
Pointing to continued “obstinate ill will” by the Servants, Golka declared last year that Ward and other priests affiliated with the Servants “are not in good standing with the diocesan or the universal Catholic Church” and declared it “a schismatic group.”
Pointing to canon law, Golka declared that its Eucharistic celebration “is illicit and a grave moral offense” and that its celebration of baptism “is illicit.” The bishop also declared celebrations of penance, the sacrament of matrimony, confirmation, and holy orders by this group to be invalid.
Golka said it would be “an act of spiritual danger” for Catholics to attend celebrations led by the Servants and encouraged the faithful to pray for reconciliation.
The Servants did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
Read MoreA reading from the Book of Isaiah
30:19-21, 23-26
Thus says the Lord GOD,
the Holy One of Israel:
O people of Zion, who dwell in Jerusalem,
no more will you weep;
He will be gracious to you when you cry out,
as soon as he hears he will answer you.
The Lord will give you the bread you need
and the water for which you thirst.
No longer will your Teacher hide himself,
but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,
While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:
"This is the way; walk in it,"
when you would turn to the right or to the left.
He will give rain for the seed
that you sow in the ground,
And the wheat that the soil produces
will be rich and abundant.
On that day your flock will be given pasture
and the lamb will graze in spacious meadows;
The oxen and the asses that till the ground
will eat silage tossed to them
with shovel and pitchfork.
Upon every high mountain and lofty hill
there will be streams of running water.
On the day of the great slaughter,
when the towers fall,
The light of the moon will be like that of the sun
and the light of the sun will be seven times greater
like the light of seven days.
On the day the LORD binds up the wounds of his people,
he will heal the bruises left by his blows.
From the Gospel according to Matthew
9:35–10:1, 5a, 6-8
Jesus went around to all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,
and curing every disease and illness.
At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest."
Then he summoned his Twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out
and to cure every disease and every illness.
Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus,
"Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give."
Why proclaim: The motivation lies in a few words of Jesus, which it is good for us to remember: “Freely you have received, freely give” (v. 8). They are just a few words. But why proclaim? Because I have received freely, and I should give freely. The proclamation does not begin from us, but from the beauty of what we have received for free, without merit: meeting Jesus, knowing him, discovering that we are loved and saved. It is such a great gift that we cannot keep it to ourselves, we feel the need to spread it; but in the same style, right? That is, in gratuitousness. In other words: we have a gift, so we are called to make a gift of ourselves; we have received a gift and our vocation is to make a gift of ourselves to others; there is in us the joy of being children of God, it must be shared with our brothers and sisters who do not yet know it! This is the reason for the proclamation. Going forth and bringing the joy of what we have received. (Pope Francis, General Audience, 15 February 2023)
Read More![Rockaway parish continues 150-year legacy of faith, holiness #Catholic - On Nov. 22, St. Cecilia Parish in Rockaway, N.J., rejoiced in recalling its 150-year legacy of faith, service, community, and as an “incubator for vocations,” foremost among them the late Bishop Frank J. Rodimer, the sixth bishop of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey.
During an anniversary Mass that afternoon, worshippers who filled the church also celebrated the current faith community — a population with young people and families strengthening St. Cecilia’s rich legacy of religious devotion, holiness, and spirituality. The Mass was held on the feast of the parish’s patron, St. Cecilia.
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney was the principal celebrant and homilist of the Mass. Concelebrating the liturgy were Father Zig Peplowski, pastor of St. Cecilia’s for the past 16 years; Father Mateusz Darlak, the parish’s parochial vicar; Msgr. John Hart, pastor of Assumption Parish in Morristown, N.J., and a former pastor of St. Cecilia’s, and many priests who had been associated with the parish under Father Peplowski’s leadership.
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“St. Cecilia’s is a beautiful parish. Parishioners continually amaze me with their holiness,” said Father Peplowski. He said families of the parish, “an incubator for vocations,” have so far helped produce seven priests, eight religious sisters, and a religious brother. “The parish has strong Mass attendance. The people find holiness in their embrace of the sacraments, including penance, which restores their faith and commitment to Christ the Savior,” he said.
During the Nov. 22 Mass, Bishop Sweeney blessed a new wooden statue of St. Cecilia for the church, made in Italy and made possible by an anonymous donor.
The Morris County Parish also stays youthful with its school, Divine Mercy Academy (DMA). St. Cecilia School opened in 1958 and closed in 2016, when it merged with Sacred Heart of Jesus School, also in Rockway, to form DMA, which is located on the former St. Cecilia School site.
St. Cecilia’s lives out Christian service with food and coat drives and support to local organizations and diocesan Catholic Charities. The parish offers religious education for children and adults and hosts devotional activities, such as a Padre Pio Prayer Group.
St. Mary Parish in Dover, N.J., established a mission in Rockaway and built a church on Academy Street in 1869. After 1875, chaplains of St. Francis Health Resort in Denville, N.J., provided services. In 1881, St. Cecilia’s mission was advanced to parish status. In 1896, the church was moved to a new site on Church Street. A new church was built in 1955.
The Nov. 22 Mass concluded a yearlong series of 150th anniversary events, including an opening Mass last year with Bishop Emeritus Arthur J. Serratelli, a mission, and a talk about St. Cecilia’s history by Msgr. Raymond Kupke, diocesan archivist; a 40-hour Eucharistic devotion; and the parish’s first-ever carnival.
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]](http://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/rockaway-parish-continues-150-year-legacy-of-faith-holiness-catholic-on-nov-22-st-cecilia-parish-in-rockaway-n-j-rejoiced-in-recalling-its-150-year-legacy-of-faith-service-community-and-a.jpg)
Rockaway parish continues 150-year legacy of faith, holiness #Catholic – 
On Nov. 22, St. Cecilia Parish in Rockaway, N.J., rejoiced in recalling its 150-year legacy of faith, service, community, and as an “incubator for vocations,” foremost among them the late Bishop Frank J. Rodimer, the sixth bishop of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey.
During an anniversary Mass that afternoon, worshippers who filled the church also celebrated the current faith community — a population with young people and families strengthening St. Cecilia’s rich legacy of religious devotion, holiness, and spirituality. The Mass was held on the feast of the parish’s patron, St. Cecilia.
Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney was the principal celebrant and homilist of the Mass. Concelebrating the liturgy were Father Zig Peplowski, pastor of St. Cecilia’s for the past 16 years; Father Mateusz Darlak, the parish’s parochial vicar; Msgr. John Hart, pastor of Assumption Parish in Morristown, N.J., and a former pastor of St. Cecilia’s, and many priests who had been associated with the parish under Father Peplowski’s leadership.
“St. Cecilia’s is a beautiful parish. Parishioners continually amaze me with their holiness,” said Father Peplowski. He said families of the parish, “an incubator for vocations,” have so far helped produce seven priests, eight religious sisters, and a religious brother. “The parish has strong Mass attendance. The people find holiness in their embrace of the sacraments, including penance, which restores their faith and commitment to Christ the Savior,” he said.
During the Nov. 22 Mass, Bishop Sweeney blessed a new wooden statue of St. Cecilia for the church, made in Italy and made possible by an anonymous donor.
The Morris County Parish also stays youthful with its school, Divine Mercy Academy (DMA). St. Cecilia School opened in 1958 and closed in 2016, when it merged with Sacred Heart of Jesus School, also in Rockway, to form DMA, which is located on the former St. Cecilia School site.
St. Cecilia’s lives out Christian service with food and coat drives and support to local organizations and diocesan Catholic Charities. The parish offers religious education for children and adults and hosts devotional activities, such as a Padre Pio Prayer Group.
St. Mary Parish in Dover, N.J., established a mission in Rockaway and built a church on Academy Street in 1869. After 1875, chaplains of St. Francis Health Resort in Denville, N.J., provided services. In 1881, St. Cecilia’s mission was advanced to parish status. In 1896, the church was moved to a new site on Church Street. A new church was built in 1955.
The Nov. 22 Mass concluded a yearlong series of 150th anniversary events, including an opening Mass last year with Bishop Emeritus Arthur J. Serratelli, a mission, and a talk about St. Cecilia’s history by Msgr. Raymond Kupke, diocesan archivist; a 40-hour Eucharistic devotion; and the parish’s first-ever carnival.
– On Nov. 22, St. Cecilia Parish in Rockaway, N.J., rejoiced in recalling its 150-year legacy of faith, service, community, and as an “incubator for vocations,” foremost among them the late Bishop Frank J. Rodimer, the sixth bishop of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey. During an anniversary Mass that afternoon, worshippers who filled the church also celebrated the current faith community — a population with young people and families strengthening St. Cecilia’s rich legacy of religious devotion, holiness, and spirituality. The Mass was held on the feast of the parish’s patron, St. Cecilia. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney was the principal
A paper, published in Astronomy and Astrophysics, details the discovery of a grand-design spiral galaxy that formed just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang. Grand design galaxies are similar to the Milky Way in that they display well-formed spiral arms. Prior to this discovery, astronomers thought such objects took billions of years to achieve grand-designContinue reading “Researchers discover a grand-design spiral that shouldn’t exist”
The post Researchers discover a grand-design spiral that shouldn’t exist appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 5, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).
Here is a roundup of Catholic world news from the past week that you might have missed:
Pope Leo XIV sent a surprise video message to thousands of young Catholics at the Australian Catholic Youth Festival on Nov. 30, urging them to turn to God, “especially through prayer and the sacraments. That’s where you’ll hear your Heavenly Father’s voice most clearly.”
The papal message — played during the opening plenary at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre — drew cheers from young Catholics who gathered from around the country under the 2025 Jubilee theme “Pilgrims of Hope.” The three-day event, held Nov. 30–Dec. 2, opened with a five-kilometer (three-mile) pilgrimage walk from St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Participants accompanied the World Youth Day Cross and Icon through the city streets to the convention center.
“Our lives find their ultimate purpose in becoming who God made us to be, by living out his will,” Leo said. He reminded pilgrims of the words of Pope Benedict XVI: “You are not the result of a random process. Each of you is willed, each of you is loved, each of you is necessary.”
The Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the U.N. called for the end of Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine immediately during a Dec. 3 emergency session.
Monsignor Robert Murphy, chargé d’affaires, said the war in Ukraine must halt “not at some undefined moment in the future, but right now.” Murphy emphasized the need for both sides of the conflict to bring about the return of children to their families and urged all nations represented in the assembly interested in ending the war “to reject passivity and provide tangible support for any initiative that could lead to genuine negotiations and lasting peace.”
The western province of Balochistan in Pakistan has passed a law criminalizing child marriages, eliciting praise from Catholic bishops in the region.
The 2025 Law on the Restriction of Child Marriage in Balochistan penalizes adults who facilitate arranged marriages for minors under the age of 18, repealing a previous law that set the minimum age for girls to be married at 14 years old. Bishop Samson Shukardin, OFM, of Hyderabad and president of the Pakistan Bishops’ Conference, called the new law “a historic decision to protect children and an important step toward strengthening the rights of minors,” according to a Fides report on Monday.
The bishop further expressed gratitude to lawmakers for passing the law, noting that “the Church promotes the fundamental rights of every human being, especially those of girls,” adding: “Early marriage deprives them of their education, their health, and their self-confidence.”
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith is urging Catholics to join emergency response efforts across Sri Lanka as the country recovers from Cyclone Ditwah, the worst natural disaster in its history.
“We request our priests, religious, brothers, sisters, and lay leaders to work together with all the societies and organizations to provide relief to the people who are helpless at this moment,” Ranjith said in a statement, according to UCA News.
Bishop Jude N. Silva of the Diocese of Badulla, one of the “worst affected,” according to UCA, instructed all priests to cancel Masses and programs “until the situation improved.” Caritas Sri Lanka has led the emergency response, according to AsiaNews.
The Council of the Bishops’ Conferences of Europe discussed Catholic-Muslim dialogue at a three-day conference titled “Nostra Aetate, 60 Years On: Perspectives on Catholic-Muslim Dialogue.”
The meeting took place in Augsburg, Germany, and included “over 30 participants, representatives of European Bishops’ Conferences, theologians, and witnesses from 20 European countries,” according to a press release from the council.
In his keynote address, Cardinal Michael Louis Fitzgerald reflected on ways Nostra Aetate may frame encounters where interreligious dialogue takes place, the release said, noting that “the three days of the meeting were characterized by a wide-ranging exchange in the plenary conversations as well as beautiful liturgies celebrated in the churches of St. Moritz, St. Peter in Perlach, and the Basilica of Sts. Ulrich and Afra.”
Capuchin Friars in the Sibolga province of Indonesia welcomed those displaced by flooding in the country due to Cyclone Senyar, according to Fides.
“The worst is over, but the emergency continues. Floods and landslides have swept away entire villages. Many people are homeless. Rescue teams are now trying to reach the displaced: for some it is possible, for others it is not, because the areas remain isolated,” said Provincial Superior of the Capuchin Friars in Sibolga Friar Yoseph Norbert Sinaga. The cyclone has affected 1.5 million people and displaced more than 570,000, according to the report.
The Archdiocese of Raipur in India has concluded a historic Eucharistic yatra, or pilgrimage, covering 1,655 miles across 72 parishes.
The Eucharistic yatra lasted 14 days, with pilgrims traveling through 19 civil districts of the Central Indian state of Chhattisgarh, stopping in each parish for an hour of Eucharistic adoration, according to a Catholic Connect report. Participants in the yatra used a vehicle that was converted into a mobile chapel donated by the Mid India Province of the SCSC Sisters.
Read More![Honorees recognized for service at Catholic Charities’ Caritas Gala #Catholic - Catholic Charities of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey honored five people whose exceptional contributions are giving help and hope to improve the lives of people who are in need during its Caritas Gala 2025 at The Meadow Wood in Randolph, N.J., on Nov. 13. This year, two priests, a lay woman, and a married couple were recognized.
At the event, Catholic Charities celebrated the impact of its 70 programs and services, which promote dignity, well-being, and independence to thousands of people in need. The agency also honored its outstanding volunteers, supporters, and staff. Financial support of the Caritas Gala will make a difference in the lives of those Catholic Charities serves.
That evening, Scott Milliken, Catholic Charities’ CEO; Hazel Yaptangco, development director; and Father Martin Glynn, board president and pastor of St. Mary Parish in Denville, N.J., delivered their remarks. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney gave the invocation. In place of a physical Missing Man table display, Ariel Jacob Luna, Catholic Charities Veteran Partner of the Year, presented a video honoring Veterans Day on Nov. 11 and reflecting on the symbolism of the Missing Man Table.
“We pray that our gratitude to Almighty God and our celebration of the work of our honorees will strengthen each of us in God’s service and make us ever more committed to caring for those in need of your generous, open hearts,” Bishop Sweeney wrote in the gala program.
Bishop Sweeney presented Paul and Anne Krump of St. Joseph Parish in Mendham, N.J., parents of three and grandparents of five, with the Diocese of Paterson Bishop’s Award for promoting Catholic education and supporting the renovation of the Father English Food Pantry in Paterson, N.J. Locally, they have been involved with the Tri-County Scholarship Fund and Assumption College for Sisters in Denville. The Krumps are active in their parish and the Order of Malta.
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Father Owen B. Moran, pastor of St. Vincent Martyr Parish in Madison, N.J., received the Msgr. Mark Giordani Award for more than three decades of pastoral service, social outreach, and spiritual leadership. He initiated a collaborative effort among St. Vincent’s parishioners to help struggling families in Paterson and Dover. He established food pantries at two previous parishes. Father Moran is an Order of Malta chaplain and ministers to the Morris County Correctional Facility, hospice patients, and bereavement groups.
Msgr. John E. Hart, pastor of Assumption Parish in Morristown, N.J., and diocesan director of Clergy Personnel, was honored with the Father Jack Wehrlen Award, “recognizing his priestly heart that reaches out to the brokenhearted and marginalized, giving them hope born of unshakable zeal,” Bishop Sweeney wrote. Msgr. Hart served in many diocesan positions, including as chancellor and in the Tribunal. He is a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus and a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
Harpreet Peleg received the Father Norman James O’Connor Award for “her visionary efforts in the world of finance that build up communities which need new life and hope,” according to the bishop. She is the CEO of Building America CDE and the CFO of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, a leader in impact investing. Formally Building America’s CFO, Peleg played a critical role in its successful allocation of $263 million in New Markets Tax Credits to 31 projects to date.
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]](http://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/honorees-recognized-for-service-at-catholic-charities-caritas-gala-catholic-catholic-charities-of-the-paterson-diocese-in-new-jersey-honored-five-people-whose-exceptional-contributions-are.jpg)
Honorees recognized for service at Catholic Charities’ Caritas Gala #Catholic – 
Catholic Charities of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey honored five people whose exceptional contributions are giving help and hope to improve the lives of people who are in need during its Caritas Gala 2025 at The Meadow Wood in Randolph, N.J., on Nov. 13. This year, two priests, a lay woman, and a married couple were recognized.
At the event, Catholic Charities celebrated the impact of its 70 programs and services, which promote dignity, well-being, and independence to thousands of people in need. The agency also honored its outstanding volunteers, supporters, and staff. Financial support of the Caritas Gala will make a difference in the lives of those Catholic Charities serves.
That evening, Scott Milliken, Catholic Charities’ CEO; Hazel Yaptangco, development director; and Father Martin Glynn, board president and pastor of St. Mary Parish in Denville, N.J., delivered their remarks. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney gave the invocation. In place of a physical Missing Man table display, Ariel Jacob Luna, Catholic Charities Veteran Partner of the Year, presented a video honoring Veterans Day on Nov. 11 and reflecting on the symbolism of the Missing Man Table.
“We pray that our gratitude to Almighty God and our celebration of the work of our honorees will strengthen each of us in God’s service and make us ever more committed to caring for those in need of your generous, open hearts,” Bishop Sweeney wrote in the gala program.
Bishop Sweeney presented Paul and Anne Krump of St. Joseph Parish in Mendham, N.J., parents of three and grandparents of five, with the Diocese of Paterson Bishop’s Award for promoting Catholic education and supporting the renovation of the Father English Food Pantry in Paterson, N.J. Locally, they have been involved with the Tri-County Scholarship Fund and Assumption College for Sisters in Denville. The Krumps are active in their parish and the Order of Malta.
Father Owen B. Moran, pastor of St. Vincent Martyr Parish in Madison, N.J., received the Msgr. Mark Giordani Award for more than three decades of pastoral service, social outreach, and spiritual leadership. He initiated a collaborative effort among St. Vincent’s parishioners to help struggling families in Paterson and Dover. He established food pantries at two previous parishes. Father Moran is an Order of Malta chaplain and ministers to the Morris County Correctional Facility, hospice patients, and bereavement groups.
Msgr. John E. Hart, pastor of Assumption Parish in Morristown, N.J., and diocesan director of Clergy Personnel, was honored with the Father Jack Wehrlen Award, “recognizing his priestly heart that reaches out to the brokenhearted and marginalized, giving them hope born of unshakable zeal,” Bishop Sweeney wrote. Msgr. Hart served in many diocesan positions, including as chancellor and in the Tribunal. He is a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus and a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
Harpreet Peleg received the Father Norman James O’Connor Award for “her visionary efforts in the world of finance that build up communities which need new life and hope,” according to the bishop. She is the CEO of Building America CDE and the CFO of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust, a leader in impact investing. Formally Building America’s CFO, Peleg played a critical role in its successful allocation of $263 million in New Markets Tax Credits to 31 projects to date.
– Catholic Charities of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey honored five people whose exceptional contributions are giving help and hope to improve the lives of people who are in need during its Caritas Gala 2025 at The Meadow Wood in Randolph, N.J., on Nov. 13. This year, two priests, a lay woman, and a married couple were recognized. At the event, Catholic Charities celebrated the impact of its 70 programs and services, which promote dignity, well-being, and independence to thousands of people in need. The agency also honored its outstanding volunteers, supporters, and staff. Financial support of the Caritas Gala
WOODBRIDGE, VA — Local man Brian Cole Jr. reportedly had his invitation to the annual FBI Christmas Party rescinded after being arrested under suspicion that he was the January 6 Pipe Bomber.
Read More
CALEXICO, CA — Venezuelan drug mule-turned-drug lord Gilberto Juarez turned himself in to U.S. federal law enforcement on Thursday so that President Donald Trump would pardon him instead of blowing him up.
Read More
| Picture of the day |
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Two wood knots which resemble two eyes, a simple example of pareidolia. Detail of a wooden fence in Beilstein, Germany.
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ACI Africa, Dec 5, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
The president of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO) has announced the construction of a national shrine dedicated to Blessed Marie-Clémentine Anuarite Nengapeta, a Congolese sister beatified in August 1985.
Announcing the launch of construction on Dec. 1, Archbishop Fulgence Muteba Mugalu described Blessed Anuarite as a timeless model of hope for a nation scarred by violence and social injustice.
“I am pleased to address this message to you on the feast of Blessed Anuarite, during which the construction works for the great shrine dedicated to her are being launched,” Muteba said of the construction, which will take place in the Diocese of Isiro-Niangara.
He said the initiative is a “significant moment” for the Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as it nears the end of the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year, themed “Pilgrims of Hope.”
The bishop of the Archdiocese of Lubumbashi emphasized that the shrine will serve both as a dignified resting place honoring the martyr’s legacy and as a spiritual wellspring for pilgrims who seek her intercession.
He thanked all individuals who contributed to the construction project.
Muteba described Blessed Anuarite as a symbol of moral courage and unwavering faith and hope whose life was “offered to the Lord.”
“We bless the Lord God for the gift he has given our country in the person of Blessed Anuarite, a courageous witness of faith whose life offered to the Lord — even unto the supreme sacrifice — echoes the words of St. Paul the Apostle: Hope does not disappoint,” the archbishop said.
He added: “Indeed, Blessed Anuarite has been, and will always remain, a bearer of hope in this country where human dignity is violated at various levels and in many forms. She is truly the sign of the grain of wheat that falls to the earth and bears much fruit.”
The CENCO president noted that Blessed Anuarite is a “bearer of hope” for the entire Congolese people.
He said the martyr is especially a bearer of hope for the women and children who are victims of violence and for the Congolese people who suffer in regions devastated by war and recurrent insecurity.
“Her blood is a seed of peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” the Congolese Church leader said.
Muteba expressed special gratitude to Prime Minister Judith Suminwa for her personal support and for authorizing the allocation of remaining government funds — initially earmarked for the 2024 60th anniversary pilgrimage — to be redirected toward the shrine’s construction.
While acknowledging the progress made, he noted that “much remains to be done” and appealed for continued support, calling every contribution “a precious and pleasing offering in the eyes of the Lord.”
“May they help us keep hope alive in all circumstances of our lives and obtain for our nation peace and unity,” Muteba implored.
Born on Dec. 29, 1939, the fourth child among six sisters, Anuarite Nengapeta ran away from home, against her mother’s approval, to join the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Kisiangani at the age of 20. Upon her profession, she assumed the name Marie-Clementine.
Anuarite became a victim of the 1964 Mulele rebellion across DRC, when Simba rebels, opposed to the westerners in the country and suspicious of the local religious men and women for cooperating with foreigners, kidnapped her alongside 45 other nuns and led them to a rebel camp. Attempts by the rebels’ leader, Col. Pierre Olombe, to rape Anuarite were resisted with success.
Determined to have her by any means, Olombe forced Anuarite and her colleague, Sister Bokuma Jean-Baptiste, into a car before going back to the house for the keys. The two tried to escape but were intercepted and beaten. Sister Bokuma, who suffered multiple fractures, fainted. The rebel leader ordered fellow rebels to stab Anuarite before he shot her in the chest. “I forgive you, for you know not what you are doing,” Anuarite told her attackers. She died on Dec. 1, 1964.
Anuarite’s attackers buried her in a common grave. Eight months later, her remains were exhumed and reburied. Her remains were exhumed again in December 1978 and moved to Isiro Cathedral in northeastern DRC.
Pope John Paul II beatified Anuarite on Aug. 15, 1985, during his visit to the country, an event that was attended by an estimated 60,000 people. Among them were Anuarite’s parents, Olombe — who had become a devout Catholic and sought audience with the pope to express his remorse — among other significant personalities including the then-country’s president Mobutu Sese Seko.
Blessed Anuarite was the first Bantu woman to receive such a rank in the Catholic Church. She is the patron of the African Jesuit AIDS Network.
This story was first published by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA.
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Puebla, Mexico, Dec 5, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
The metropolitan cathedral of the Archdiocese of Mexico will host a special program to celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe on the night of Dec. 11, the eve of the solemnity of the Virgin of Tepeyac.
Under the title “Guadalupe Night,” a program is planned that will begin at 6 p.m. local time with a procession that will depart from the Church of Santa Inés (St. Agnes) carrying the “Virgin of the Oath” (of loyalty) which, as explained on the cathedral’s social media, is “the historical image before which the Virgin of Guadalupe was proclaimed patroness of New Spain.”
Midway between Santa Inés Church and the metropolitan cathedral stands what was once the archbishop’s palace, built by the first bishop of Mexico, Friar Juan de Zumárraga. It was precisely to this place that St. Juan Diego, the visionary who saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, came to present his request that a “sacred little house” be built at the foot of Tepeyac Hill.
As proof of the veracity of the apparitions, St. Juan Diego carried his cloak filled with roses to the bishop’s residence and when he showed its contents to Zumárraga, the image of the Blessed Virgin was miraculously imprinted on it, an image that is preserved to this day in the Guadalupe Basilica.
Along the route to the metropolitan cathedral’s entrance, four stations are planned, commemorating the four apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which occurred Dec. 9–12, 1531.
Inside the church, the rosary will be recited at 8 p.m., and an hour later, the “Mañanitas” — a traditional Mexican song sung to celebrate birthdays — will be sung to Our Lady of Guadalupe, accompanied by mariachi music.
At 10 p.m. Mass will be celebrated, and at 11 p.m. the program concludes with a “ringing of bells in celebration of the solemnity of the Virgin of Guadalupe.”
In an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Father José A. Carballo, rector of the metropolitan cathedral and dean of the metropolitan chapter, emphasized that celebrating Our Lady of Guadalupe “is to recognize that she continues to walk with us, interceding for our families, our needs, and our nation.”
“Her image, miraculously imprinted on the tilma of St. Juan Diego, is a source of comfort for those seeking refuge, strength for those who bear suffering, and guidance for those who wish to follow Christ.”
This celebration, he added, “is, on its deepest level, an act of filial love toward the Virgin of Guadalupe, who chose to remain forever in the midst of her people.”
The rector of the metropolitan cathedral and dean of the metropolitan chapter emphasized the importance of the presence of the “Virgin of the Oath” at this tribute, since “it recalls the profound historical and spiritual bond that this devotion has had with the life of the Church in Mexico.”
“This image was specifically chosen for its significance as a symbol of the renewal of faith and Christian commitment,” he said, because “it represents the solemn act by which past generations expressed their fidelity to God and to the maternal protection of Holy Mary.”
Carballo also highlighted the coordination between the Mexico City cathedral and the Basilica of Guadalupe, which will also draw large crowds for the solemnity of the Virgin of Tepeyac.
“We walk in synodality, always seeking the good of the people of God,” he said, emphasizing that “dialogue has allowed us to harmonize schedules and activities, so that the celebrations on Dec. 11 and 12 complement each other and do not conflict.”
“Both the basilica and the cathedral offer distinct, yet converging, spaces to experience the Guadalupan event in a spirit of communion, collaboration, and service to the faithful,” he stated.
Father Eduardo Chávez, master theologian on the apparitions of the Guadalupe Basilica and postulator of the cause for the canonization of St. Juan Diego, emphasized in a statement to ACI Prensa the “significance” of both the celebration in the metropolitan cathedral and the event itself of the imprinting of the image of the Virgin in the house of Bishop Fray Juan de Zumárraga.
“That is where the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe was formed” on Dec. 12, 1531, he emphasized, and explained that “it is very significant because certainly from the beginning the Virgin of Guadalupe builds the Church, forms the Church, is Mother of the Church.”
Chávez, director of the Superior Institute of Guadalupan Studies, noted that it was Zumárraga himself who, before the apparitions, “in a moment of so much anguish, so many problems, injustices, so much innocent blood shed” by the First Royal High Court of the Spanish Crown in Mexico, “cried out to heaven in that letter he wrote to the king in 1529” in which he says, “If God does not provide a remedy with his own hand, the land is on the verge of being completely lost.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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