Pope Urges Peace in Annual Christmas Message VATICAN CITY (CNS) – As millions of pilgrims prepare to cross through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis called on individuals, nations, and the global community to take a transformative step toward peace and reconciliation by walking through the “door of salvation” that is Jesus Christ. “Jesus is the door of peace,” he said from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday, December 25. “This Christmas, at the beginning of the Jubilee Year, I invite every individual, and all peoples and nations, to find the courage needed to walk through that door, to become pilgrims of hope, to silence the sound of arms and overcome divisions!” During his annual Christmas address urbi et orbi (“to the city and the world”), Pope Francis called for an end to hostilities in Ukraine, praying for “the boldness needed to open the door to negotiation, and to gestures of dialogue and encounter, in order to achieve a just and lasting peace.” Pope Prays for Victims of New Orleans Attack VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis was “deeply saddened” to learn of deaths and injuries caused by the attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, which killed 15 people. “In assuring the entire community of his spiritual closeness, His Holiness commends the souls of those who have died to the loving mercy of almighty God and prays for the healing and consolation of the injured and bereaved,” said a telegram signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, and issued on the pope’s behalf. The telegram was sent on Thursday, January 2, to Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans. According to law enforcement agencies, a U.S. Army veteran, apparently inspired by the Islamic State group, drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people celebrating the new year in New Orleans’ famed French Quarter early on January 1 before he was killed in a shootout with police. In addition to the 15 people who died, some 30 other people were injured. “This violent act is a sign of utter disrespect for human life,” Archbishop Aymond said in a statement on January 1. “I join with others in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans in offering prayerful support to the victims’ families. I give thanks for the heroic duty of hundreds of law enforcement and medical personnel in the face of such evil.” Cardinal McElroy to Succeed Cardinal Gregory in Washington, D.C. WASHINGTON, D.C. (OSV News) – Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of San Diego has been appointed the next archbishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, following Pope Francis’ acceptance of the resignation of Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, the first African American cardinal, Vatican officials announced on Monday, January 6. Canon law required Cardinal Gregory, 77, to submit his resignation to the pope when he turned 75, which was December 7, 2022. Vatican officials announced the news of Cardinal Gregory’s retirement and Cardinal McElroy’s appointment two weeks before the second inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump in Washington. The 70-year-old Cardinal McElroy – a San Francisco native who pursued degrees at Harvard and Stanford before his 1980 priestly ordination – was appointed as bishop of the San Diego Diocese in 2015. Pope Francis named him a cardinal in 2022. He is also a member of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life and Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. On New Year’s, Pope Calls for Real Commitment to Respect Human Life VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Marking the feast of Mary, Mother of God, and the beginning of the new year, Pope Francis renewed his appeal for a “firm commitment” to respect all human life worldwide. “May we learn to care for every child born of a woman, above all by protecting, like Mary, the precious gift of life: life in the womb, the lives of children, the lives of the suffering, the poor, the elderly, the lonely, and the dying,” he said in his homily during Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday, January 1. “All of us are invited to take up the summons that flows from the maternal heart of Mary: We are called to cherish life, to care for wounded lives – so many wounded lives, so many – to restore dignity to the lives of everyone” because it is the basis for building a culture of peace, he said, highlighting that the feast also marks the World Day of Peace. “Let us entrust this new year to Mary, Mother of God. May we learn, like her, to discover God’s greatness in the little things of life,” he said. God chose to act “through littleness and hiddenness” by coming into the world as a tiny helpless child born of a woman in a manger to be “one of us and, for this, he is able to save us,” the pope said. “By the frailty of his humanity and his concern for the weak and vulnerable, Jesus shows us the face of God,” who is always near, compassionate and merciful “to those suffering in body and spirit.” Pope Names First Woman as Dicastery Prefect VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis has appointed Consolata Missionary Sister Simona Brambilla to be the first woman to lead a Vatican dicastery, naming her prefect of the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life. The 59-year-old Italian sister had served as secretary of the dicastery since October of 2023. The announcement of her appointment on Monday, January 6, also said Pope Francis named as pro-prefect of the dicastery Spanish Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, 64, the former rector general of the Salesians. The dicastery, according to the apostolic constitution on the Roman Curia, is called “to promote, encourage, and regulate the practice of the evangelical counsels, how they are lived out in the approved forms of consecrated life, and all matters concerning the life and activity of Societies of Apostolic Life throughout the Latin Church.” Sister Brambilla succeeds 77-year-old Brazilian Cardinal João Bráz de Aviz, who has led the dicastery since 2011. National Seton Shrine Marks 50th Anniversary of Saint’s Canonization EMMITSBURG, Maryland (OSV News) – She was a wife, a mother, and a teacher. She was also – as the title of a new exhibit at the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg tells visitors – “One of Us.” And as the first native-born American saint, the 50th anniversary of Mother Seton’s canonization will be celebrated with a full year of spiritually immersive activities at the pilgrimage destination bearing her name. Born in New York City in 1774 to a prominent Episcopal family, Mother Seton experienced much loss and sorrow – the death of her mother, the bankruptcy of her husband’s business, and his eventual death. But following her 1805 conversion to Catholicism, she also led a courageous and pioneering life – founding the first U.S. community for religious women and planting the seeds of Catholic education in America. On September 14, 1975, Pope St. Paul VI canonized Mother Seton in St. Peter’s Square and called on Americans to “preserve her fruitful heritage.” The shrine, which attracts more than 50,000 visitors each year, will also operate its regular programs, tours, and other activities throughout the year. A priest holds the Blessed Sacrament in a golden monstrance in procession at SEEK25 in Salt Lake City Jan. 3, 2025. Each year the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, known as FOCUS, holds the annual SEEK conference to bring together thousands of its campus missionaries and college students from across the nation. For 2025, it was held Jan. 1-5 in Salt Lake City and Jan. 2-5 in Washington. (OSV News photo/courtesy FOCUS) The post News Briefs: January 12, 2025 appeared first on Today's Catholic.