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Taxes should fund solidarity at home and abroad, Cardinal Parolin says
Posted on 02/13/2025 09:30 AM (USCCB News Releases)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Individuals and corporations have a moral obligation to pay their fair share of taxes, and wealthy nations have an obligation to use that money to help their poorer citizens and provide aid to developing nations, the Vatican secretary of state said.
The "overarching objective" of tax collection and government spending "should be to cultivate a public finance framework that is not only effective but also serves as a catalyst for solidarity and development," Cardinal Pietro Parolin told participants in a workshop sponsored by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences Feb. 13.
The workshop, "Tax Justice and Solidarity," looked how tax policies, tax evasion and government spending impact economic inequality and the ability of nations to fulfill their obligations to their own citizens and to the global community.
"It is not sufficient to be vigilant in the fight against corruption," Cardinal Parolin told participants. "There is also a moral obligation to assist those most in need and to provide education and health care. Furthermore, wealthy nations are obligated to provide aid to developing nations."
The academy's note for the workshop said, "Tax avoidance by multinational corporations is one of the most toxic aspects of globalization. Corporations that make billions of dollars of profits whilst benefiting from the investments in knowledge, technology, and infrastructure financed by public sectors, have been the major winners of globalization."
"By shifting a large part of their profits to tax havens, they deprive public sectors of the critical resources needed for investment in fundamental human rights such as health and education, and in policies to combat poverty and climate change," the note said.
And the world's wealthiest individuals, it said, "have the ability to lower their taxes by exploiting international tax competition and tax avoidance opportunities."
"Research conducted by numerous scholars and summarized in the Global Tax Evasion Report 2024 shows that when all taxes are considered as a whole -- personal income taxes, consumption taxes, corporate taxes, etc. -- the wealthiest individuals pay proportionately far less in taxes than other socio-economic groups," the academy said.
The New Testament and Catholic social teaching emphasize the responsibility to pay one's taxes. St. Paul's Letter to the Romans 13:7 says, "Pay to all their dues, taxes to whom taxes are due, toll to whom toll is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due."
Cardinal Parolin told workshop participants that tax collection and public spending have a "pivotal role" to play in the economic well-being of societies.
"A judiciously designed public finance system characterized by fairness, efficiency and effectiveness has the potential to exert a transformative influence on the economic landscape," he said. But "the current model fuels inequalities, both between and within countries."
For the Catholic Church, as explained by Pope Francis, a just tax system is characterized by "legality, impartiality and transparency," he said.
"Taxation should promote the redistribution of wealth and protect the economically disadvantaged," the cardinal said. When done fairly, it promotes the common good by ensuring the poorest at least have their basic needs met, he said, including their needs for education and health care.
Pray, do penance, do everything possible for peace, pope says at audience
Posted on 02/12/2025 09:30 AM (USCCB News Releases)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- People were born to help communities thrive, not to kill others, Pope Francis said.
"Please let's pray for peace, let's do penance for peace," he said during his general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall Feb. 12, launching an appeal for Catholics to ask for a peaceful resolution to the world's conflicts.
Reflecting on the many countries at war, such as Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, North Kivu in Congo and South Sudan, the pope said, "Let's pray for peace, let's do our all for peace. Don't forget that war is always a defeat."
"We are not born to kill but to help people thrive. May we find paths of peace, please in your daily prayers, ask for peace," he said.
The pope made his appeal for peace himself and read his prepared greetings to Italian visitors as well as the short summary of his catechesis in Spanish, but his breathing sounded labored and congested. The pope had an aide, Msgr. Pierluigi Giroli, read his main talk and greetings to different language groups in Italian.
He apologized for not delivering the main talk himself, saying it was "because I still can't with my bronchitis. I hope next time I can."
In his prepared text, the pope focused on the birth of Jesus, the messianic king, in a humble stable.
"The Son of God is not born in a royal palace, but at the back of a house, in the space where the animals are kept," the text said. "God does not come into the world with resounding proclamations; he does not manifest himself with noise but begins his journey in humility."
This is the humility of "a God who comes into history and does not dismantle the structures of the world but wants to illuminate them and recreate them from within," the pope's text said.
Then, the first witnesses of this joyous, momentous event are shepherds: "men of little culture, malodorous from constant contact with animals, they live on the margins of society," the pope wrote.
"The place to meet the Messiah is a manger," the text said.
The shepherds discover that the long-awaited Messiah is born "for them, to be their savior, their shepherd. This news opens their hearts to wonder, praise and joyful proclamation," it said.
Most people are too busy to see the most essential thing of all -- the gift of salvation, the pope's text said. "It is the humble and the poor who greet the event of the Incarnation."
The pope asked the faithful to ask for "the grace of being, like the shepherds, capable of wonder and praise before God, and capable of cherishing what he has entrusted to us: the talents, charisms, our vocation and the people he places beside us."
"Let us ask the Lord to be able to discern in weakness the extraordinary strength of the child God, who comes to renew the world and transform our lives with his plan full of hope for all humanity," he wrote in his text.
Pope Francis Appoints Monsignor Richard Reidy as Bishop of Norwich
Posted on 02/12/2025 09:30 AM (USCCB News Releases)
WASHINGTON – Pope Francis has appointed Monsignor Richard F. Reidy, as Bishop of Norwich. Bishop-elect Reidy is a priest of the Diocese of Worcester and currently serves as the diocese’s Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia. The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on February 12, 2025, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
The following biographical information for Bishop-elect Reidy was drawn from preliminary materials provided to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:
Father Reidy was born on May 30, 1958, in Worcester, Massachusetts. Bishop-elect Reidy received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester (1980), and a Juris Doctor from Boston College of Law in Newton (1983). He also studied at Saint Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore and continued his studies in Rome at the Pontifical North American College (1991-1994), earning a doctorate in sacred theology (1993) from the Pontifical Gregorian University, and a master’s degree at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (1994). He was ordained to the priesthood on June 25, 1994. Bishop-elect Reidy also received a licentiate in canon law from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. in 2010.
Bishop-elect Reidy’s assignments after ordination include: associate pastor at Saint Peter parish (1994-1995); rector of the Cathedral of Saint Paul (1995-2008); pastor of Saint Ann parish in North Oxford (2010-2013); temporary administrator at Saint Bernadette parish in Northborough and Saint George parish in Worcester (2013-present); temporary administrator of Saint Denis is Ashburnham (2021); temporary administrator of Saint Paul and Saint Stanislaus parishes in Warren and West Warren (2022-2023). Since 2013, he has served as Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Worcester.
Bishop-elect Reidy has also served various roles for the Diocese of Worcester: diocesan director for the Office of Ongoing Formation of the Clergy (2005-2008); defender of the bond for the Diocesan Tribunal (2010 - present), and since 2013, he has served as the diocese’s Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia. In 2023, he was named a Chaplain to His Holiness, with the title of Monsignor. Bishop-elect Reidy speaks English and Italian.
The Diocese of Norwich is comprised of 1,978 square miles in the States of Connecticut and New York and has a total population of 669,430 of which 228,520 are Catholic.
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Pope Francis Accepts Resignation of Bishop Walker Nickless of the Diocese of Sioux City; Appoints Rev. John Keehner as Successor
Posted on 02/12/2025 09:30 AM (USCCB News Releases)
WASHINGTON – Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Ralph Walker Nickless, 77, from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Sioux City, and has appointed Reverend John E. Keehner, Jr., as Bishop-elect of Sioux City. Bishop-elect Keehner is a priest of the Diocese of Youngstown and currently serves as pastor of four parishes in Ashtabula County, Ohio: Our Lady Queen of Peace in Ashtabula, Corpus Christi in Conneaut, Saint Andrew Bobola in Kingsville, and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Geneva. The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington, D.C. on February 12, 2025, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
The following biographical information for Bishop-elect Keehner was drawn from preliminary materials provided to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:
Father Keehner was born November 19, 1965, in Youngstown, Ohio. Bishop-elect Keehner pursued studies at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, where he received a bachelor’s degree in English. He also studied at Saint Mary’s of the West Seminary in Cincinnati where he received a master of divinity and a master of arts in biblical studies. Additionally, Bishop-elect Keehner received a licentiate in canon law from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 12, 1993.
Bishop-elect Keehner’s assignments after ordination include: associate pastor at Saint Charles Borromeo parish in Boardman (1993); judge (1999; 2004), advocate, episcopal delegate, defender of the bond for the diocesan tribunal (2004); vice rector (2000), administrator (2006), and rector (2007) of Saint Columba Cathedral in Youngstown; director of campus ministry at Youngstown State University (2003); administrator, then pastor of Saint Casmir parish in Youngtown (2006-2007); pastor at Saint Christine parish in Youngstown (2012); canonical pastor of Saint Luke in Boardman (2017); pastor at Saint Paul in North Canton (2019). Since 2024, he has served as pastor of four parishes in Ashtabula County, Ohio: Our Lady Queen of Peace parish in Ashtabula, Corpus Christi parish in Conneaut, Saint Andrew Bobola parish in Kingsville, and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish in Geneva.
Bishop-elect Keehner’s additional responsibilities for the Diocese of Youngstown have included: member of the Priest Council, member of the Diocesan Board of Religious Education, member of the Board of Meditation and Arbitration for the Diocesan Office of Conciliation, administrative secretary for the Presbyteral Council, spiritual director for the diocesan diaconate program, and dean of the Ashtabula Deanery. Bishop-elect Keehner speaks English, Spanish, and some Italian.
The Diocese of Sioux City is comprised of 14,518 square miles in the State of Iowa and has a total population of 460,323 of which 78,045 are Catholic.
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Pope Francis Accepts Resignation of Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati; Appoints Bishop Robert Casey as Successor
Posted on 02/12/2025 09:30 AM (USCCB News Releases)
WASHINGTON – Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr, 76, from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, and has appointed Bishop Robert G. Casey, auxiliary bishop of Chicago, as his successor.
The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington, D.C. on February 12, 2025, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
The Archdiocese of Cincinnati is comprised of 8,543 square miles in the State of Ohio and has a total population of 3,090,762 of which 438,802, are Catholic.
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Archbishop Broglio Responds to Letter from Pope Francis
Posted on 02/11/2025 09:30 AM (USCCB News Releases)
WASHINGTON – “As successor to Saint Peter, you call not only every Catholic, but every Christian to what unites us in faith – offering the hope of Jesus Christ to every person, citizen and immigrant alike,” said Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in a letter responding to Pope Francis. Earlier today, the Holy Father wrote to the bishops of the United States affirming their work on behalf of migrants and refugees, and offered his support, moral encouragement, and prayers.
“We all turn to the Lord in prayer that families suffering from the sudden withdrawal of aid may find the strength to endure. With you, we pray that the U.S. government keep its prior commitments to help those in desperate need,” he said. Archbishop Broglio closed by asking the Holy Father for his continued prayers “so that we may find the courage as a nation to build a more humane system of immigration, one that protects our communities while safeguarding the dignity of all.”
Read the full text of Archbishop Broglio’s letter to Pope Francis here.
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Pope to U.S.: Migration policies built on force, not truth, 'will end badly'
Posted on 02/11/2025 09:30 AM (USCCB News Releases)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has urged U.S. Catholics and people of goodwill to not give in to "narratives" that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to migrants and refugees.
"I recognize your valuable efforts, dear brother bishops of the United States, as you work closely with migrants and refugees, proclaiming Jesus Christ and promoting fundamental human rights," he said in a letter to the U.S. bishops published by the Vatican Feb. 11.
Pope Francis said he was writing because of "the major crisis that is taking place in the United States" with the start of President Donald J. Trump's "program of mass deportations."
"The rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality," Pope Francis said.
He also applauded the efforts of the U.S. bishops' to assist migrants and refugees and to counter the arguments of the Trump administration, saying that "God will richly reward all that you do for the protection and defense of those who are considered less valuable, less important or less human!"
"I exhort all the faithful of the Catholic Church, and all men and women of goodwill, not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters," he wrote.
"With charity and clarity we are all called to live in solidarity and fraternity, to build bridges that bring us ever closer together, to avoid walls of ignominy and to learn to give our lives as Jesus Christ gave his for the salvation of all," the pope wrote.
In his presidential executive order, "Protecting the American people against invasion," released Jan. 20, Trump said, "Many of these aliens unlawfully within the United States present significant threats to national security and public safety, committing vile and heinous acts against innocent Americans."
In his letter to the bishops, the pope said every nation has the right to defend itself and keep its communities safe "from those who have committed violent or serious crimes while in the country or prior to arrival."
However, he continued, "the act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness."
"This is not a minor issue," he wrote. "An authentic rule of law is verified precisely in the dignified treatment that all people deserve, especially the poorest and most marginalized."
Pope Francis also used the letter to respond to an assertion U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, made in a late January television interview about the Catholic concept of "ordo amoris" (the order of love or charity).
The concept, Vance said, teaches that "you love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country. And then after that, you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world."
However, the pope said, "Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups. In other words: the human person is not a mere individual, relatively expansive, with some philanthropic feelings!"
"The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the 'Good Samaritan,' that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception," the pope wrote.
The pope wrote that "worrying about personal, community or national identity, apart from these considerations (of human fraternity), easily introduces an ideological criterion that distorts social life and imposes the will of the strongest as the criterion of truth."
"The true common good is promoted when society and government, with creativity and strict respect for the rights of all -- as I have affirmed on numerous occasions -- welcomes, protects, promotes and integrates the most fragile, unprotected and vulnerable," he wrote.
That does not prevent or hamper the development of policies that regulate "orderly and legal migration," he wrote. "However, this development cannot come about through the privilege of some and the sacrifice of others."
"What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly," the pope warned.
While the pope did not name specific U.S. policies, his letter emphasized the Catholic Church's longstanding closeness to and support of migrants and refugees.
The U.S. bishops' conference had recently faced unfounded claims that it profited from its partnership with the U.S. government in assisting refugees who qualified for federal assistance. U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, questioned the bishops' motives for criticizing new immigration policies in a Jan. 26 interview, asking whether the bishops were just concerned about receiving federal resettlement funding.
At a time that is "so clearly marked by the phenomenon of migration," the pope reaffirmed "not only our faith in a God who is always close, incarnate, migrant and refugee, but also the infinite and transcendent dignity of every human person."
These words, he said, "are not an artificial construct." Even a quick look at the church's social doctrine over the centuries clearly shows Jesus Christ "did not live apart from the difficult experience of being expelled from his own land because of an imminent risk to his life and from the experience of having to take refuge in a society and a culture foreign to his own."
"The Son of God, in becoming man, also chose to live the drama of immigration," he wrote.
Therefore, he wrote, "all the Christian faithful and people of goodwill are called upon to consider the legitimacy of norms and public policies in the light of the dignity of the person and his or her fundamental rights, not vice versa."
"Let us ask Our Lady of Guadalupe to protect individuals and families who live in fear or pain due to migration and/or deportation," he wrote.
Care for the Poor and the Suffering is at the Heart of the Mission that Christ Gave the Church
Posted on 02/11/2025 09:30 AM (USCCB News Releases)
WASHINGTON – “Care for the poor and the suffering is at the heart of the mission that Christ gave the Church,” said Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “Today, the Holy See announced that Pope Francis has raised up a contemporary witness of that care, Saint Teresa of Calcutta, adding her to the Church’s calendar of feast days celebrated throughout the world.”
Archbishop Broglio reflected on the news that the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has decreed the inclusion of Saint Teresa of Calcutta on the General Roman Calendar as an Optional Memorial on September 5. The bishops of the United States expressed broad support for this addition during their November 2023 plenary.
“Care for the poor and the suffering is at the heart of the mission that Christ gave the Church. Today, the Holy See announced that Pope Francis has raised up a contemporary witness of that care, Saint Teresa of Calcutta, adding her to the Church’s calendar of feast days celebrated throughout the world.
“The addition of Mother Teresa to the Church calendar is an occasion of joy for all Catholics and for our entire nation, whose elected officials proclaimed her an honorary citizen in 1996. Indeed, the impact of Saint Teresa’s words and deeds upon Catholics and non-Catholics has been profound, and the good and generous work carried out by her Missionaries of Charity is a testimony to her enduring importance in the life of the Church and the world. Especially timely is her witness of love for the poorest among us.
“May we listen anew to the words she spoke to our nation nearly thirty years ago at the National Prayer Breakfast: ‘Love, to be true, has to hurt. I must be willing to give whatever it takes not to harm other people and, in fact, to do good to them. This requires that I be willing to give until it hurts. Otherwise, there is not true love in me, and I bring injustice, not peace, to those around me.’”
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Pope Francis Accepts Resignation of Archbishop Allen Vigneron of the Archdiocese of Detroit; Appoints Bishop Edward Weisenburger as Successor
Posted on 02/11/2025 09:30 AM (USCCB News Releases)
WASHINGTON – Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, 76, from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Detroit, and has appointed Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger of Tucson, as Archbishop of that Metropolitan See, and Superior of the Mission sui juris of the Cayman Islands.
The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington, D.C. on February 11, 2025, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
The Archdiocese of Detroit is comprised of 3,901 square miles in the State of Michigan and has a total population of 4,305,209 of which 904,110, are Catholic.
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Hope amid suffering leads to God, pope says in message for world's sick
Posted on 02/11/2025 09:30 AM (USCCB News Releases)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While the Holy Year 2025 refrain, "Hope does not disappoint," can be difficult for those suffering from illness to embrace, Christians are called to recognize God's closeness even in moments of weakness or despair, Pope Francis said.
Sickness "becomes an occasion for a transformative encounter" when one is open to God, he wrote in his message for the 33rd World Day of the Sick, observed by the church Feb. 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.
In addition, the Vatican will host the Jubilee of the Sick and Health Care Workers April 5-6, an event that will close with a papal Mass celebrated in St. Peter's Square.
"Suffering always brings with it a mysterious promise of salvation, for it makes us experience the closeness and reality of God's consoling presence," the pope wrote in the message released Jan. 27.
Despite the frailty felt "on the physical, psychological and spiritual levels" during times of illness, "we also experience the closeness and compassion of God, who, in Jesus, shared in our human suffering," Pope Francis wrote. "God does not abandon us and often amazes us by granting us a strength that we never expected and would never have found on our own."
Pope Francis said that suffering can also be accepted by Christians as a gift, for it "makes us aware that hope comes from the Lord."
"Indeed, only in Christ's resurrection does our own life and destiny find its place within the infinite horizon of eternity," he wrote.
The pope compared the journey of the ill to that of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, who, by sharing their anxieties and disappointments with Jesus, came to recognize his presence, enabling them to "sense that 'greater reality' which, by drawing near to us, restores our courage and confidence."
Suffering, Pope Francis added, develops a profound sense of sharing and encounter. Those who tend to the sick realize that they are "angels of hope and messengers of God for one another," be it at home or at a clinic, nursing home or hospital.
"We need to learn how to appreciate the beauty and significance of these grace-filled encounters," he wrote. "We need to learn how to cherish the gentle smile of a nurse, the gratitude and trust of a patient, the caring face of a doctor or volunteer, or the anxious and expectant look of a spouse, a child, a grandchild or a dear friend."
Such gestures are "rays of light to be treasured," the pope said, which even amid adversity "give us strength, while at the same time teaching us the deeper meaning of life in love and closeness."
Those who care for the sick during the Jubilee year "play an especially important part," the pope said in his message. Their dedication has an impact "far beyond the rooms and beds of health facilities" in promoting charity and are "capable of bringing light and warmth wherever they are most needed."
"The whole church thanks you for this!" he wrote. "I do as well, and I remember you always in my prayers."