Clarification on media reports of Bishop Connell’s Reposing of Remains guidelines

Further to media reports on Guidelines for the use of Churches for Reposing of Remains which have been published by Bishop Paul Connell, Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, please note the following for clarity: 

This diocesan guidance clarifies that wakes, with an open coffin, are not permitted in churches.  

There has been no change to the traditional Catholic funeral service, which includes a removal of the remains to the church the evening before the Funeral Mass, when the remains are met with prayers and the opportunity for people to sympathise with the family afterwards.  

The coffin remains closed during this removal service as it does during the Funeral Mass.  

There is no difficulty whatsoever with the remains reposing overnight (with a closed coffin) in the church.

In this context, please see below:

Bishop Paul Connell’s letter to Funeral Directors

Guidelines for the use of Churches for Reposing of Remains

I am writing to you to clarify the question of reposing of remains in churches, a practice that has begun in some parishes in recent months.  

As you can see from the enclosed guidelines which have been forwarded to all the priests and parishes in the diocese, I have directed that reposing of remains in churches will not be permitted in any church belonging to a Catholic parish in this diocese from Monday 9 February 2026.

I wish to make clear that we are anxious to facilitate our parishioners in whatever way we can, particularly at the most sensitive time of a bereavement.  

In that light the use of parish halls, parish centres or other such parish properties etc for reposing is quite acceptable and poses no difficulty.  

The use of a church however for such a purpose is inappropriate given the sacred nature of the building and in particular the presence of the blessed sacrament.  

A church is designed for public worship and quiet prayer and reflection. Reposing by its nature may involve loud engagement and even the provision of hospitality.

The guidelines make clear that the traditional removal ceremony can be employed as long as it does not involve an open coffin in church.

I hope that this clarifies the matter and assists you in your interaction with bereaved families.  With every blessing at this time.

Guidelines for the use of Churches for Reposing of Remains

In recent months a practice has developed in some parishes around the use of churches for the reposing of the remains of those who have died.  

This is a practice that usually was held in the home, or in recent years in a funeral home, where family and friends could gather, offer sympathy and support.

Some parishes have asked for guidance on the matter, that while every community wishes to support a family at the time of a funeral, others have questioned if a church is the best place for reposing of remains to occur.  

In the interests of bereaved families in particular, I would like therefore to provide clarity on this issue.

In looking at the instruction around the nature of a Christian burial it is clear that the tradition of three stations and two processional routes are at the heart of the ritual, as celebrated over the years.  

Those three places being; the home, the church, and the place of committal.  

Each hold their particular meaning that the Christian believes in the understanding of death itself.  

There is the personal element in the home, the community prayer in the church, and the placing in the care of God in the committal.  

Between each of these there is a procession, which highlights that each of our lives is a pilgrimage to eternal rest.  

None of these are purely functional, but hold significance, both in the comfort that they bring and in the faith that they profess.

In recent years the station at the home has, quite often taken place in a funeral home, and then from there to the church, and place of committal.  

However, the use of a church in a manner that makes it like a funeral home breaks this practice and is not faithful to the tradition that we hold.

The element that takes place in the church should always be in the context of faith and worship, as this is the nature and purpose of each church.  

It is a sign and symbol of the Lord’s presence in the community, and the place where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved.  

This point is important for all those who use a church outside the celebration of the liturgy.

I am directing that in parishes where the practice of remains reposing in the church has not begun, that these parishes do not introduce the practice. 

For parishes where it has occurred, I am directing that the practice be discontinued as and from 9 February 2026, and I am requesting the parish communities involved to look at other possibilities within the area for hosting this station of the funeral rites.  

The use of Parish halls or other parish facilities is perfectly in order.

In a parish church the Reception of Remains to a church should follow the Liturgy designed for this station and following this the community should come forward to offer their condolences.  

It is imperative that those attending always acknowledge that the Blessed Sacrament is present and that this is a sacred place of worship.  

Hence the importance that when the remains are placed in front of the Altar, the coffin remains closed.

The way we celebrate the funeral rituals is an important element both in our faith and in our culture.  

I am requesting that these guidelines be followed, so as to ensure the dignity and respect for both those who have died and the place of worship.

In summary

The churches within the diocese are not to be used for the Reposing of Remains.

When the remains of a member of the faithful are received at the church, the appropriate liturgical text provided in the Funeral Ritual should be used.  

When the remains are received in the church, placed before the altar, and kept overnight, the coffin should always be closed.

Funeral Directors

Funeral Directors play a vital role for families who have been bereaved. The support and direction they offer families is greatly appreciated by all involved. It is important that they keep in close contact with the priest conducting the funeral liturgy and that they are available to give guidance and direction to families and mourners both inside and outside the church in consultation with the priest concerned.

There is no question that the demand for reposing in churches has come about not just because there is a lack of venue available but also because of the perceived high cost of the use of a funeral home by comparison. Many families experience financial pressure in relation to funerals.  

I respectfully request funeral directors to be conscious of this and accordingly to continue to offer their facilities at reasonable rates to bereaved families, and also to other funeral directors who may not have a funeral home, in a spirit of co-operation and good will.

Vatican, Microsoft launch digital font inspired by Michelangelo’s handwriting

Writing with the distinctive hand of one of the Renaissance’s greatest geniuses is now possible. Marking the 400th anniversary of the consecration of St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican and Microsoft have introduced “Michelangelus,” a new digital typeface faithfully modeled on the handwriting of Michelangelo Buonarroti.

The font, which will be incorporated into the latest versions of Microsoft Office, is expected to allow millions of users worldwide to draft digital documents in the recognizable handwritten style of the Florentine artist, best known in the Vatican for designing the iconic dome of St. Peter’s.

A tech partnership in service of cultural heritage

The project grew out of an ongoing collaboration between the Fabric of St. Peter — the Vatican body responsible for the basilica’s upkeep and conservation — and the technology company, which has previously participated in other initiatives connected to the basilica.

To develop Michelangelus, Microsoft engineers closely studied documents preserved in the Vatican archives, including letters and personal and technical notes, as well as detailed architectural plans from the period when the basilica was still under construction — many written in Michelangelo’s own hand.

The artist’s harmonious calligraphy, recognizable for its elongated strokes, was reproduced after a lengthy paleographic study of the parchments Michelangelo regularly sent to papal officials to share new ideas, request funding, or report on the progress of the work.

Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, said the new font helps “the writing of the Renaissance genius” meet the digital age.

“Beyond the letters, the numbers handwritten by Michelangelo were represented in an impressive way: Each number seemed like a work of art,” the cardinal said during a Vatican presentation of activities planned to commemorate the basilica’s 1626 consecration by Pope Urban VIII.

St. Peter’s Basilica unveils new Stations of the Cross

St. Peter’s Basilica has inaugurated new Stations of the Cross — 14 large oil paintings by Swiss painter Manuel Dürr — for Lent as part of celebrations marking the 400th anniversary of the church’s 1626 consecration.

The basilica first built at Emperor Constantine’s order in 326 over the tomb of the Apostle Peter stood for 12 centuries. In 1506, Pope Julius II ordered its demolition to raise a new church from the ground up.

The St. Peter’s Basilica known today was consecrated on Nov. 18, 1626, by Pope Urban VIII, capping a long project that drew on the genius of artists and architects including Michelangelo Buonarroti, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, and Carlo Maderno.

Four centuries later, the largest church in Christendom is commemorating the anniversary with a new artistic Stations of the Cross, inaugurated Feb. 20, featuring 14 paintings installed for Lent.

The proposal by Dürr, 36, was selected from more than 1,000 submissions representing 80 countries after an international competition launched in December 2023. A Vatican commission of art historians and liturgists chose the project, awarding it a 120,000-euro ($141,390) prize.

The result is a fresh spiritual perspective on the passion of Christ, depicting Jesus’ final moments from condemnation to burial in 14 oil paintings, each measuring about 51 by 51 inches.

The jury cited the proposal’s “balance and expressive power” and praised its “powerful and immediate” pictorial language, which the Vatican said evokes both the Renaissance and certain elements of the avant-garde.

A monumental commission completed in 8 months

In an interview during the inauguration, Dürr said that, given the magnitude of the commission, he had to “draw a bit of confidence” from within himself.

“Painting Jesus is very, very difficult,” the artist said, “because he’s not someone I’m presenting for the first time; he’s someone about whom billions of people already have an image and a relationship.”

Now that the works are installed around Bernini’s baldachin, Dürr said he feels serene: “I’m very happy to see that the context for which these paintings were conceived … I think they work well.”

Over eight months, Dürr produced the 14 canvases that are now incorporated into the basilica’s central nave during Lent.

From the start, he said he understood he was not working for a contemporary gallery but for a liturgical space with a living tradition. The works were meant “to dialogue with a specific context, with an already existing symbolic universe,” he explained.

Technically, he drew inspiration from “the colors that already exist in the floor mosaics” of St. Peter’s; spiritually, he wanted to insert himself humbly into “a very long and very rich tradition of images that have approached this mystery of the Incarnation and the Passion.”

‘Theologically quite close to the Catholic faith’

Although Dürr is not Catholic, he described himself as “theologically quite close to the Catholic faith.” He belongs to the Jahu community — about 600 people worldwide — linked to the Swiss Reformed Church and marked by a strongly ecumenical character.

Two of his brothers hold doctorates in theology from Catholic universities, which, he joked, helped him get to know the tradition “from the kitchen table.”

Dürr said he hopes the Stations of the Cross can help people find a helpful way to enter more deeply into the mystery they contemplate.

He also recalled how his first visit to St. Peter’s Basilica expanded his horizons and left a mark on his creative process: “My church back home feels very provincial when I see here people of all ages, from all continents and all social classes, gathered around shared expressions of faith.”

He acknowledged the decisive influence of Fra Angelico, especially the frescoes at the Convent of San Marco in Florence where, he said, there is an exemplary synthesis of artistic innovation and spiritual depth.

The Crucifixion as the centerpiece

For Dürr, the Crucifixion became the axis of the entire series: It was the first canvas he began and the last he finished.

“This story has shaped Christian art and European culture — perhaps world culture — like no other,” he reflected.

“The cross, conceived as an instrument of terror to instill fear in the Roman Empire, has been transformed into a symbol of hope that we wear around our neck,” he said.

He expressed hope that the series might offer “a small doorway” into this central mystery of the Christian faith for those who contemplate the new Via Crucis during Lent.

Even so, the most special station for him, he said, was Veronica.

“She holds a cloth with the image of Christ, and in a way that’s what I’m trying to do: paint on a canvas and offer a trace, a mark that allows something deeper to be experienced,” Dürr said.

He added: “That is the great mystery of the Incarnation. Why would God leave a trace on a cloth?”

Four centuries after its consecration, St. Peter’s Basilica is thus preparing to commemorate its history not only through architectural memory but with a renewed invitation to contemplate the Passion of Christ.

Father Zollner: Catholics need to pray more for survivors of sexual abuse

Jesuit Father Hans Zollner is urging Catholics to make prayer for abuse victims a central focus this Lent, saying the Church’s spiritual response to sexual abuse remains underdeveloped. 

The director of the Institute of Anthropology at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University said that while safeguarding policies and research have grown, prayer for victims and secondary victims is often overlooked.

Recent global headlines surrounding abuse cases in Europe

Father Zollner spoke to OSV News as cases of abuse made global news with abuse survivor Gisèle Pelicot meeting Queen Camilla Feb. 23, and with two high profile figures — Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and Peter Mandelson, former British ambassador to the U.S. — arrested due to their connections with Jeffrey Epstein.

Pelicot was drugged by her now-former husband and raped in their French home by strangers while she lay unconscious. Her book, “Hymn to Life: Shame Has to Change Sides,” was launched in London, where actress Kate Winslet, among other stars, read passages from the memoir that left Queen Camilla, as she said in her own words, “speechless.”

Mountbatten Windsor, a former British Prince, allegedly abused Virginia Giuffre, who described her abuse at the hands of associates of Jeffrey Epstein — in what the BBC called “appalling detail” — in a book published posthumously after she took her own life in 2025.

Ongoing cases connected to Catholic priests

Many cases connected to Catholic priests, including high profile ones, such as Father Marko Rupnik, are also ongoing.

Asked for a Catholic response to such harrowing cases, Father Zollner, one of the world’s top experts in sexual abuse and safeguarding, with research spanning more than two decades, told OSV News that while “canonical, psychological, or sociological analysis” in the Church is much needed and developed, one aspect is still lacking in broader Catholic response to abuse in general: prayer. — and Lent is the best time to remind about it.

Father Zollner said “a spiritual reckoning and a spiritual way of understanding” abuse is something everyone in the Church should be paying attention to.

“We pray for the poor, we pray for the homeless, we pray for the sick — but when do we pray for victims?” he asked in a phone conversation with OSV News.

“Our discovery over the last months has been that more and more people are aware that the spirituality of safeguarding, and the theology of safeguarding in the face of abuse, is very much underdeveloped,” Father Zollner said.

“Very often, I ask at conferences — and have asked over the years — participants: ‘When did you pray for victims of abuse last time?’ Most of the time, there is a dead silence after that question, and many people say that they didn’t think about it.”

Prayers for survivors once a year are not enough

He said days of prayers once a year are not enough.

“When do we pray for victims? For secondary victims? When do we pray for perpetrators? When do we pray for Church leaders who have to deal with these situations?” he asked.

It’s not only a question of “credibility,” but a “question of how we understand redemption, how we understand ecclesial life, leadership in the Church, power, and authority from a theological and spiritual point of view.”

“I have been working on these issues for almost 20 years now, and I have asked these questions many times. Many people are startled because they had never thought about them.

For me, one of the really astonishing things is that there is very little faith response to this.”

“What does God want us to do when this is brought before us over and over again over the last 40 years? Where is the response from a strictly faith perspective?” Father Zollner asked.

Lenten reflection series released, focused on safeguarding

The Institute of Anthropology in Rome has announced it will offer a series of Lenten reflections focused on safeguarding, underscoring its longstanding commitment to integrating safeguarding awareness into the Church’s spiritual and liturgical life.

“Our Institute has always emphasized the importance of fostering reflection on safeguarding, including within our liturgical life,” the IADC website states.

The reflections highlight the need for parishes and faith communities to keep the suffering of vulnerable people at the forefront of prayer and pastoral concern.

“In every parish and every community of the faithful, the suffering of vulnerable persons should also become a focus of our prayer. At the same time, we seek to strengthen our sensitivity, to be ready to receive God’s grace and joy, and to encourage those working in safeguarding.”

The Institute is inviting the faithful to take part during the Lenten season, framing the initiative as both a spiritual and practical call to action.

Presenting the Church as an authority in this area must be done cautiously: “We are not through this process ourselves”

While Father Zollner said “we must be cautious about presenting the Church as an authority in this area, because we are not through this process ourselves,” he admitted that when he read about the stories of abuse on Epstein Island “it was very harrowing.”

“These were girls who were trafficked, who suffered the most despicable horrors at the hands of people who had promised them luxury, influence and wealth,” Father Zollner said. “They were probably also longing for real love and understanding — and what they found was hell.”

What was also striking was that “this was happening in front of many people’s eyes.”

“Why do we have millions of pages of documentation, photos, and other material? Because people wrote about it. This did not happen anonymously or in the dark of night — it happened in plain daylight,” he said. “Yet for years, nobody spoke up. Even today, victims have to fight, and some no longer have the the energy and commit suicide, as we have seen.”

For Father Zollner, “This confirms one of the main discoveries of recent years: sexual violence and sexual exploitation have been with humankind from the beginning. And they will not simply end.”

“Even if we do everything we can for safeguarding, even if we tighten laws, human nature requires that we reckon with this reality,” he said.

The Church needs to step up its efforts in education, awareness and support

“As religions, as churches, as societies, we need to step up our efforts to make abuse more difficult,” Father Zollner said “That means education, raising awareness, and engagement at all levels of society and in all sectors. This is not confined to the Catholic Church or to religion — it is everywhere. Nor is it confined to the poorest levels of society; as we see, it exists among the richest as well.”

Asked why both in the Church and in broader society people tend to put the reputation of a powerful person over the dignity of the victim, Father Zollner replied that main two elements are involved — one connected to emotions, the other to the issue of power.

“One is that human beings find it difficult to stand up for the dignity of others if they do not feel close to them or have an emotional connection to them. If someone is outside my family or circle of friends, I may feel sorry for them, but truly engaging in restoring their dignity becomes more difficult. If it is someone close to me, I will be committed and angry. But if the person is distant — an abstract number of victims — it becomes less convincing and less impactful.”

Global impact of sexual abuse today

Father Zollner highlighted that for many years, the World Health Organization has said that 20% of girls in any society are sexually abused before the age of 18.

“That is an abstract number,” he said. But translated to absolute figures it means that, in France alone, between 2.5 to 3.5 million women have been victims of abuse. “The same would be true in Germany, in Poland, and in the United States,” Father Zollner said.

Those numbers will remain abstract unless one listens “to one particular victim.”When you sit down with someone and hear their story, it becomes entirely different,” he said.

“The second element is the question of power, influence and perceived position,” Father Zollner said. “I say perceived because sometimes the power is not even real, but connected to an image — nobility, royalty, hierarchy. There is an elevation and protection around such people that goes beyond the normal citizen. Psychological processes of fear, submissiveness or lack of courage in confronting wrongdoing come into play.”

“There is often a layer of awe, respect and submissiveness attached to certain individuals, which combines with a sense of entitlement — the belief that one is beyond reproach and can do whatever one wishes. Fortunately, in some cases, this spell has begun to break.”

For Father Zollner, confronted with such reflection on the state of human nature, the time of Lent offers a unique opportunity for Catholics to contemplate Christ’s suffering “in which the Son of Man, the Son of God, saves us … identifying with the most vulnerable, marginalized and wounded.”

“This is part of the central message of the Gospel and of Jesus’ life: it is not about my well-being, but about the lives of others. Love of self must always be in relation to love of others,” Rome’s Anthropology Institute’s director said.

Russia’s war on Ukraine means ‘No Priests Left,’ documentary shows

Four years ago, Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest Father Oleksandr Bohomaz was serving at a parish in the southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol, along with his pastor, Father Petro Krenitskyi.

Then Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, continuing attacks initiated in 2014 — which up to that point alone had killed more than 14,000.

A week into the 2022 invasion, “repression began,” said Father Bohomaz, speaking in the recently released short documentary “No Priests Left.”

“Priests and pastors were arrested. They were interrogated. They were beaten. They were held in … torture chambers,” said Father Bohomaz, who was forcibly deported from Russian-occupied Melitopol in December 2022.

He added, “People come out of Russian captivity looking like they came out of Auschwitz, from a death camp. And actually many don’t make it out, because they do die there.” 

In a June 2024 with the media outlet Ukrinform, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, father and head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, said that as a result of Russia’s war on Ukraine, “There is not a single Catholic priest in the occupied territories today — either Greek Catholic or Roman Catholic.” 

‘Faith under Siege’ in Ukraine

That grim reality led to the naming of the “No Priests Left” documentary, part of the film project “A Faith Under Siege.”

The documentary initiative has resulted in several works examining Russia’s persecution of faith communities in occupied regions of Ukraine. 

Spearheading the project are executive producers Colby Barrett, an entrepreneur and former U.S. Marine; Steven E. Moore, a former chief of staff in the U.S. House of Representatives and founder of the Ukraine Freedom Project, a nongovernmental organization bringing humanitarian aid to the front lines of Russia’s war in Ukraine; and Anna Shvetsova, a Ukrainian native and an expert on U.S. policy in that nation.

Appearing in the film along with Father Bohomaz and Father Krenitskyi are Metropolitan Borys A. Gudziak of the Archeparchy of Philadelphia, head of external relations for the global Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church; and Jesuit Father Andriy Zelinsky, deputy head of the Department of Military Chaplaincy for the UGCC.

Both Archbishop Gudziak and Father Zelinsky noted the long historical precedent for Russia’s persecution of Ukrainian Christians not affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church from Russia’s czarist era and into communism.

That repression — which has spanned “the 18th, 19th, 20th and now 21st centuries,” Archbishop Gudziak noted — included the 1946 liquidation of the UGCC by Soviet authorities, driving the Church underground until 1989, ahead of the fall of the Soviet Union.

Russia’s ‘holy war’ against other Christians

Russia’s targeting of these Christians — as well as Jewish and Muslim communities — in Ukraine has become a salient feature of its war, which has been assessed as a genocide in two joint reports from the New Lines Institute and the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights.

The strategy is part of Russia’s “weaponized” Orthodox Christianity, Moore — who has testified before the U.S. Helsinki Commission in Washington on the issue — told OSV News.

In March 2024, the Russian Orthodox Church declared Russia’s war on Ukraine a “holy war,” with Russia “protecting the world from the onslaught of globalism and the victory of the West that has fallen into Satanism.” 

Patriarch Kirill, the church’s head, told believers in a September 2022 sermon that Russian military personnel killed in Ukraine will have “all sins” washed away by their deaths.

“It’s the same way that the Islamic extremists have tried to create martyrs with religion,” Moore explained to OSV News. “That’s what Patriarch Kirill is doing. Catholics, Baptists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals — these are all people that we’ve met that have been tortured or lost loved ones to the Russians.”

Moore said that “Kirill’s followers and Russian Orthodox soldiers have taken him (Kirill) seriously when he says that he’s declared a holy war.

“They have killed by some counts as many as 80 pastors and priests,” Moore added. “And they’ve shut down every church in occupied Ukraine that is not controlled by the Kremlin.”

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, some 700 churches and religious structures have been damaged or destroyed. 

Catholic churches and properties have been seized and rededicated for the Russian Orthodox Church, described by UGCC leadership as a sacrilege.

‘No Priests Left’ documents systematic repression

Russian officials in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region formally “banned” the UGCC, the Knights of Columbus and Caritas.

Torture — including beatings, mutilation and burning — and execution are commonplace and systematic in Russian captivity.

Two UGCC Redemptorist priests, Father Ivan Levitsky and Father Bohdan Geleta, were abducted in late 2022 and subjected to torture while held in Russian custody for some 18 months prior to their Vatican-brokered release.

Archbishop Gudziak told OSV News that “global, particularly American, awareness, prayer and action are crucial” to prevent further atrocities.

He encouraged “all bishops and priests” to show “No Priests Left” to the faithful.

Everyone who does see the film “cannot but be mobilized to prayer and action,” he said.

Archbishop Gudziak said it was crucial for people of goodwill “to see what has happened, to realize the biblical nature of this war, and to do everything we can spiritually, socially, or politically to help the innocent victims.”

Why is an Ivorian diocesan bishop now an auxiliary?

Leo XIV made an appointment in West Africa last week that has left Vatican watchers scratching their heads.

On Feb. 19, the pope named Bishop Gaspard Béby Gnéba as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Abidjan. 

Gnéba had led the Ivory Coast’s Man diocese since 2008, so why was he now being appointed as an auxiliary bishop?

Typically, episcopal appointments work the other way around: auxiliaries are promoted to diocesan bishops. 

The transfer of a diocesan bishop to the post of an auxiliary bishop therefore raises questions.

In keeping with its usual practice, the Holy See press office did not indicate why Gnéba had been reassigned as an auxiliary in the nation’s capital. 

The bishop is 63 years old, meaning he could have led the Man diocese for another 12 years before submitting his resignation to the pope for age reasons.

Many observers would interpret the move reflexively as a demotion. But, as we will see, that is not always the correct conclusion.

Let’s take a look at recent similar appointments, and then consider the specific situation of Bishop Gnéba.

When diocesan bishops become auxiliaries

The past few years have seen a handful of cases in which diocesan bishops have been appointed as auxiliaries.

2023: The 49-year-old Bishop Milan Lach, S.J., had led the Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Parma in Ohio for nearly five years when Pope Francis named him the auxiliary bishop of the Slovak Catholic Eparchy of Bratislava.

2023: The 64-year-old Bishop Thierry Brac de la Perrière had led the French Diocese of Nevers for almost 12 years when Pope Francis appointed him as an auxiliary bishop in the Lyon archdiocese.

2023: The 68-year-old Bishop Jean-Pierre Batut had overseen France’s Blois diocese for eight years when Pope Francis named him as an auxiliary in the Toulouse archdiocese.

2023: The 60-year-old Bishop Jeffrey Monforton had led the U.S. Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio, for 11 years when Pope Francis named him an auxiliary bishop of Detroit, Michigan.

2024: Bishop Paul Dempsey had led Ireland’s Diocese of Achonry for almost four years when Pope Francis named him an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Dublin, Ireland.

What were the reasons for these unusual moves?

In Bishop Lach’s case, the transfer from the U.S. to Slovakia was not particularly surprising. He had previously served as an auxiliary in Prešov, Slovakia, and now returned to his homeland to serve again as an auxiliary, but this time in the capital. 

Aged just 49, Lach would likely be able to pour a lot of energy into his new role, with the benefit of five years of leadership experience in the U.S. It’s possible Lach was being lined up to succeed the current head of the Eparchy of Bratislava, who is now 75.

The French Bishop Brac de la Perrière explained that after 20 years as a bishop, he now aspired “to a less onerous and less exposed ministry.” 

He had previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Lyon archdiocese from 2003 to 2011, so he was returning to a familiar place and role.

His compatriot Bishop Batut had suffered from eyesight problems. In an interview, he spoke about the importance of having the humility to recognize “when the burden becomes too great.”

French media suggested that Brac de la Perrière and Batut moved to low-key auxiliary roles because of a combination of struggling with the demands of episcopal ministry, fatigue, and other health problems.

Bishop Monforton was moved to Detroit after a tumultuous tenure in Steubenville. 

The bishop faced a backlash from clergy after he announced that a process was underway to merge the eastern Ohio diocese with the neighboring Diocese of Columbus. 

Monforton was subject to two separate Vatican-ordered Vos estis lux mundi investigations for his handling of sexual abuse allegations. He also faced accusations of presiding over an administrative crisis in the Steubenville diocese.

The transfer of Ireland’s Bishop Dempsey, meanwhile, seemed to be part of a shift of ecclesiastical resources toward the country’s capital, Dublin. 

In the rural Achonry diocese, Dempsey oversaw just 23 parishes. 

The Dublin archdiocese has more than a million Catholics and almost 200 parishes.

In 2025, the Achonry diocese was united in persona episcopi (in the person of the bishop) with the Diocese of Elphin, suggesting Dempsey’s move was part of a planned consolidation of the Church in western Ireland.

Each of the five recent cases in which diocesan bishops became auxiliaries had its own specific logic, suggesting a wide variety of reasons for these transfers.

The case of Bishop Gnéba

Gaspard Béby Gnéba was born in Tehiri Guitry, southwestern Ivory Coast, in 1963. He was ordained a priest of the local Diocese of Gagnoa in 1992 and served as a professor at the local seminary.

Pope Benedict XVI chose Gnéba to lead the nearby Diocese of Man in 2007, when the churchman was only 44 years of age. 

At that time, the diocese served around 100,000 Catholics out of a total population of 1.5 million. It had a relatively small number of priests and parishes serving a rapidly growing community.

Gnéba made international headlines in January 2024, when he issued a letter urging lay Catholics to denounce priestly misconduct.

With uncommon directness, he wrote: “Any lay faithful who knows that a priest is not faithful to his celibacy, has a wife or child, has committed sexual abuse or economic crimes, must have the courage to denounce him to the bishop, otherwise he commits a sin of complicity before God, the pope, and the Church,”

Gnéba challenged priests with secret wives and children to “come to see me as soon as possible to present their resignation.”

The letter was not well received by local clergy, to put it mildly. Infighting between Gnéba and his priests prompted the Vatican to launch an apostolic visitation — a kind of ecclesiastical audit — of the diocese. Benin’s Archbishop Roger Houngbédji led the apostolic visitation in August 2024.

In December 2024, Pope Francis named Ivorian Cardinal Jean-Pierre Kutwa as apostolic administrator sede plena (“while the see is occupied”) of the Man diocese. This meant that Gnéba remained the Bishop of Man, perhaps in the hopes that Kutwa could engineer a reconciliation between Gnéba and his priests.

As Gnéba began what was described as a period of “spiritual rest,” without administrative responsibilities, the apostolic nuncio Archbishop Mauricio Rueda Beltz likened Kutwa to a “doctor,” sent to heal the wounds of the Man diocese.

Kutwa’s intervention began promisingly, when the Man diocese’s priests issued a statement shortly after his appointment expressing regret at the “unfortunate situation.”

“To our dear brothers and sisters, both consecrated and lay members of the Diocese of Man, we ask for your forgiveness for the scandal we have caused over the past year,” they said.

“We are deeply sorry for the hardship this situation has inflicted on our diocesan family, and we entrust ourselves to your prayers. Thank you for your patience and support.”

The priests added: “We believe this crisis is now behind us. This message marks the beginning of a process that will lead to lasting reconciliation and enduring peace in our region.”

Gnéba’s transfer from Man to Abidjan suggests that “lasting reconciliation” between the bishop and his priests proved elusive. 

Or perhaps Kutwa and the Holy See concluded that reconciliation was best served by offering Catholics in the Man diocese a fresh start with a new bishop, who could be appointed in the coming months.

Meanwhile, Gnéba will assist Cardinal Ignace Bessi Dogbo, Kutwa’s successor as Archbishop of Abidjan. Gnéba is scheduled to be installed in his new post at an April 25 Mass at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Abidjan.

As the sole auxiliary bishop in an archdiocese serving around 2.6 million Catholics, Gnéba is not likely to have much time to dwell on the painful events that led to his departure from the Man diocese. 

For both him and his former diocese, it is a new beginning.

Why has the Netherlands’ nuncio resigned?

Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignation of Archbishop Jean-Marie Speich on Feb. 21 after he spent only 10 months in office as apostolic nuncio to the Netherlands.

Nuncios are allowed to present their resignations at 70 years old, Speich’s age, but the archbishop’s resignation raised eyebrows because he has been seen as something of a high-flyer in the Vatican diplomatic service, had only recently been appointed to his post, and had shown no indication of wishing to retire or having health issues.

Speich has privately spoken of a desire to care for his family estate in France, while Dutch media have speculated that Speich’s resignation might be due to a complicated renovation of the nunciature in the Hague. 

Others have pointed to Speich’s role in the Rupnik scandal during his tenure as apostolic nuncio to Slovenia.

The nuncio’s sudden and officially unexplained departure from office comes after he reached the official though by no means mandatory or even customary retirement age for the diplomatic service of 70 years old in June last year.

While that would make the departure unusually prompt, it is made more curious to Vatican watchers since Speich was only appointed to his role in the Netherlands in April last year — just weeks before his 70th birthday.

His departure also follows what would otherwise seem to many as a model career in the Vatican’s diplomatic service.

Speich was born in Strasbourg in 1955 and was ordained a priest of his home archdiocese in 1982, before entering the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome two years later, graduating to the Vatican’s diplomatic service in 1986.

He went on to serve in the nunciatures in Haiti, Nigeria, Bolivia, Canada, Germany, the UK, Egypt, Spain and Cuba, later becoming the head of the francophone section in the Secretariat of State in 2008.

In August 2013, Pope Francis appointed Speich as apostolic nuncio to Ghana, and personally consecrated him a bishop in October of the same year. 

In March 2019, he became nuncio to Slovenia and apostolic delegate to Kosovo. Just nine days before he died, Pope Francis appointed Speich as nuncio to the Netherlands on April 12, 2025. 

Less than a year later, his resignation was accepted by Pope Leo this week.

A source close to the Dutch bishops’ conference told The Pillar that the Dutch bishops weren’t told much about the reasons behind the resignation, with the Dutch newspaper Nederlands Dagblad saying that Speich sent an email to some Dutch clergy and bishops saying that he was resigning for “personal reasons.”

“The nuncio had said some time ago that he is the last living person of his [family] dynasty and that he had to take care of all the possessions [and family estate] now that his parents and sister have passed away,” the source told The Pillar.

Dutch public broadcaster KRO-NCRV quoted an anonymous source saying that the retirement might be due to “stress” regarding the renovation of the nunciature in The Hague, in which asbestos was discovered.

Meanwhile, Italian website Silere Non Possum connected Speich’s resignation to his tenure as nuncio in Slovenia and the events surrounding the disgraced priest, iconographer and former Jesuit, Fr. Marko Rupnik, who has been accused of sexually abusing approximately 30 religious sisters.

Rupnik was previously convicted by the DDF of sexual crimes related to the sacrament of penance and briefly excommunicated in 2019.

After his alleged crimes became public in December 2022 — including that he sexually abused women religious as part of his creative process — the Vatican initially declined to waive the canonical statute of limitations to allow a new prosecution, before Pope Francis cleared the way for a new trial to go ahead in October of 2023.

In between, the Society of Jesus convened its own internal process against the priest, eventually expelling him for disobedience. 

Silere claimed that Rupnik sent a letter to Bishop Jurij Bizak of Koper, Rupnik’s home diocese, in June 2023, just a month before he was expelled from the Society of Jesus, asking for the disgraced priest to be received ad experimentum in his home diocese.

While the bishop wasn’t convinced of allowing Rupnik to be incardinated in Koper, he consulted Speich, who reportedly said that the incardination was an “excellent” solution because there was no active penalty against Rupnik. 

The website also claimed that Speich was very close to Rupnik and helped ensure that many priests close to the former Jesuit were appointed as bishops.

According to Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, Speich also helped two Slovenian former Jesuits connected with Rupnik, Fr. Milan Zust and Fr. Andrej Brozovic, to be received in the Diocese of Celje in Slovenia by Bishop Maksimilijan Matjaž.

The current Vatican trial of Rupnik is underway, with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith confirming that a five-judge panel has been appointed and is working towards the conclusion of the case.

However, a source close to the Secretariat of State told The Pillar that suggesting that Speich’s resignation was accepted early due his connection in the Rupnik scandal and the potential fallout of a future verdict was “giving the Secretariat [of State] too much credit.”

“If that didn’t play a role [for them] in his appointment last year, why would it suddenly become important now?” the source said.

The source added that Speich was “tired” and may have seen an early retirement as “a way out before his role in dealing with Rupnik blew up in his face.”

The Dutch nunciature has been a revolving door in recent times with only Archbishop François Bacqué, who retired in 2011 after serving more than six years in the post in the 21st century.

Widely considered a senior yet relatively uncomplicated post, many nuncios arrive in The Hague near retirement age, with each of the last eight nuncios to the Netherlands retiring after serving there.

Speich’s predecessors, Archbishop Paul Tschang In-Nam served for two and a half years before retiring at age 75, Archbishop Andre Dupuy, served for three years and a half before retiring at 75 in 2015, and Cardinal Angelo Acerbi served for four years before retiring in 2001 at 76.

Speich’s successor will have significant work ahead, as many Dutch dioceses remain engaged in sweeping parish reorganization processes, including closures, mergers, and the sale of church buildings. 

While the country has experienced a recent uptick in adult baptisms, the vocational situation continues to be bleak, with most Dutch dioceses in the single digits of seminarians and barely ordaining any priests.

In addition, three of the country’s seven dioceses are led by bishops approaching retirement age: Cardinal Wim Eijk of Utrecht, 72 and recently affected by health issues; Bishop Jan Hendriks of Haarlem-Amsterdam, 71; and Bishop Gerard de Korte of Den Bosch, 70.

Excommunicated Spanish nuns return to the Church

Two excommunicated nuns in northern Spain have been reconciled with the Church. 

The religious were excommunicated after their community, the Poor Clare Sisters of Belorado, declared their separation from the post-Vatican II Catholic Church and their allegiance to sedevacantist Bishop Pablo de Rojas Sánchez-Franco in mid-May 2024.

The news of their return was announced by Archbishop Mario Iceta, Archbishop of Burgos, in a letter to the Federation of Poor Clares of Our Lady of Aránzazu, to which the monastery belongs, according to the Spanish news outlet COPE.

The nuns have officially retracted their support for the so-called “Catholic manifesto”, which the community released to explain its decision to break with Rome. 

They have been accompanied in a period of conversion “with humility and gratitude, following the guidelines that had been indicated to them and to their spiritual companions”, according to a statement from the Pontifical Commissioner of the monasteries of Santa Clara de Belorado and Derio and of its daughter house in Orduña.

Following this, the archbishop announced on Ash Wednesday that he was lifting the excommunications and encouraged other Poor Clare Sisters to “welcome them with fraternal affection and rejoice for these sisters who are returning home”.

The return to communion with Rome ends a long and fraught period for the two nuns, with the remaining still excommunicated. 

When their superior, Sister Isabel de la Trinidad, released a five-page open letter on May 13, 2024, along with the 70-page “Catholic Manifesto”, the group was initially under the spiritual care of the excommunicated Bishop Pablo de Rojas Sánchez-Franco. 

Rojas leads a group called the “Pious Union”, which has chapels and Mass centres around Spain. 

They hold the sedevacantist position, maintaining that there have been no valid popes since Pius XII, with some dating this further back to Pius X, owing to liturgical and theological reforms they believe invalidated subsequent pontificates.

Rojas claims episcopal lineage according to the “Thục line”, referring to bishops consecrated by, or deriving succession from, Archbishop Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục (1897–1984), the former Archbishop of Huế in Vietnam and brother of South Vietnam’s President Ngô Đình Diệm.

In response to the sisters’ allegiance, the Archdiocese of Burgos, where the monastery is located, issued a declaration of excommunication and ordered the nuns to leave consecrated life under canon 751 of the Code of Canon Law. 

The excommunication applied to only 10 of the sisters, as one had already left and five were deemed too old. 

The sisters subsequently separated themselves from Rojas. It appears that the bishop and a man associated with his movement, Francisco José Ceareo Sierra, had been staying at the monastery. 

Ceareo, who claims to be a priest, at the time became the self-appointed spokesman for the nuns. 

Declaring to the press that the Bishop of Burgos, Mario Iceta, was a “shameless man”, he became an antagonistic presence among the sisters.

The sisters then welcomed another sedevacantist bishop, Rodrigo da Silva, whose views were so extreme that the now-deceased former SSPX bishop and Englishman Richard Williamson distanced himself from him in 2018. 

Da Silva also claims the Thục lineage. He later left the monastery. 

According to reports, the spiritual needs of the community were then met by the sedevacantist priest Jesús Casas Silva.

Prior to their split with the Catholic Church, the sisters had gained national attention for their handcrafted chocolates, especially mojito-flavoured truffles and chocolate-covered orange sticks, sold in gourmet shops and served in Michelin-starred restaurants such as San Sebastián’s Akelarre. 

After their break with the Church in May 2024, the sisters launched Obraetlabora SL, a company registered in December 2024. 

Its declared activities include chocolate and confectionery production, as well as agriculture, livestock and property rental.

In early 2025, they were reported to owe significant debts, including €18,000 for a chocolate oven and ingredients, while the archdiocese noted that they lacked funds in official convent accounts. 

Despite financial strain, they continue producing chocolates under the brand “Erre que Erre”, showcased at Madrid Fusión 2025. 

In February 2025, three of the sisters moved to Arriondas in Asturias, renting the Hotel-Restaurant Ribera del Chicu. 

There they opened a cloistered restaurant, with dining service handled by volunteers or staff so that the sisters could remain enclosed.

In November 2025, controversy continued when two sisters were arrested in connection with the alleged illegal sale of artwork. 

A month later, four elderly sisters were “rescued” from the convent owing to concerns about their medical condition. 

Three of the nuns were later hospitalised following a medical check-up owing to their greatly deteriorated condition.

The nuns were also formally evicted from their convent. In July 2025 they appeared in court to appeal the eviction, with the court upholding it. 

They then appealed again, with various extensions granted.

At the time the community’s spokesman, Francisco Canals, said the Religious were determined to resist removal from the monastery where they have lived for decades. 

“The nuns will continue because they are useful to society, they represent a value for Spain and they are an example of collective leadership,” he said. “They have spent their entire lives in their own convent and will find solutions along a path that still has many challenges ahead.” He added that the women “trust in divine justice: they know they are persecuted, but God helps them in a context where the best judge is time”.

The sisters now seem to have acknowledged the necessity of their eviction. Earlier this month the sisters launched a campaign for a new convent. 

Creating the website queremosunconvento.com, they asked the Spanish public to offer them a home in which to continue their religious life. Visitors are encouraged to leave a message “if you can help these charismatic nuns”. 

Responses have been mixed, with some using it as an opportunity to advertise houses for sale. Others have offered practical suggestions about abandoned convents. 

One of the more unusual comments came from Mgr Artur Jan Sitko, vicar general in Germany for the Polish National Catholic Church. 

The cleric offered “a formal invitation to you to consider full communion with our Church” in order to facilitate “the establishment of a Mission in Spain”.

It is not clear how the sisters who have left the schismatic group will now live their religious life, though it appears that they will join another community of Poor Clare Sisters in their diocese.

Bishop Martin Hayes congratulates Archbishop Francis Duffy, on his appointment as Bishop of Killala

I wish to congratulate Archbishop Francis Duffy of Tuam, the former Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, who has been appointed by Pope Leo XIV as Bishop of Killala, an appointment which results in the Diocese of Killala and the Archdiocese of Tuam being united in the person of the bishop, in persona episcopi. 

A native of Kilmore diocese, from Bawnboy in the parish of Templeport here in Kilmore, Archbishop Francis attended Munlough National School, Bawnboy, and completed his post-primary education at Saint Patrick’s College, Cavan.  

He was ordained in 1982 after attending Saint Patrick’s College in Cavan town and Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth.

In 2008, following twelve-years as principal of Fatima and Felim’s Secondary School, Ballinamore, Co Leitrim, he was appointed diocesan secretary, financial administrator and chancellor of Kilmore diocese, as well as to Laragh parish in Cavan.  

In October 2013, he was ordained Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, based in Longford town.  On 10 November 2021, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Francis as Archbishop of Tuam. 

In giving thanks for his contribution to Kilmore diocese, and his support as a member of the Episcopal Conference, I wish Archbishop Francis well as he takes up his additional responsibilities as Bishop of Killala.

Finally, I would like to wish Bishop John Fleming well in his retirement and to thank him for his welcome and friendship as a member of the Episcopal Conference.

Archbishop Michael Neary congratulates Archbishop Francis Duffy on his appointment as Bishop of Killala

I warmly congratulate Archbishop Francis Duffy on his appointment today, by Pope Leo XIV, as Bishop of Killala.  

I pray God’s blessing upon him and on his new ministry as he guides the clergy, religious and lay faithful in living out the Gospel values.

The Vatican Bank Takes an Ethical Turn

The Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), better known as the “Vatican Bank,” is completing its transformation. In February 2026, the institution took a historic step by launching its own ethical stock market indices.

Prudence does not preclude performance, especially when it comes to papal finances. 

On February 10, in collaboration with the financial analysis giant Morningstar, the IOR unveiled two new benchmark indices: the Morningstar IOR Eurozone Catholic Principles and the Morningstar IOR US Catholic Principles. 

The goal? 

To provide a compass for Catholic investors worldwide to invest their capital in strict accordance with the Church’s social doctrine.

Vatican Coffers Under Scrutiny

Gone are the days when Vatican funds could, through the complex interplay of portfolios, become indirectly linked to controversial industries. 

The new framework imposes absolutely rigorous Catholic filters.

Thus, the following are systematically excluded from these indices: any company linked to abortion or embryonic stem cell research; pornography, child labor, and arms industries; not to mention polluting companies that do not comply with the criteria of the encyclical Laudato si': Pope Francis has been instrumental in this.

As Giovanni Boscia, Chief Financial Officer of the IOR, emphasized, the idea is not simply to exclude "evil," but to actively promote companies that generate a positive social impact.

Leo XIV in Search of Transparency

This financial evolution bears the mark of Pope Leo XIV. Elected in May 2025, Robert Francis Prevost - the first pontiff of American origin with strong Peruvian ties - has made financial transparency his priority. 

Known for his pragmatic approach, the Pope understood that to convey a credible message of social justice, the Vatican had to be beyond reproach in managing its own funds.

Under his leadership, the IOR (Institute for Religious Works) is no longer merely an internal bank, but aims to become a model for global finance. 

By partnering with Morningstar, the Holy See hopes to gain technical credibility in international markets. 

Leo XIV seems intent on demonstrating that ethics are not an obstacle to profitability, but a guarantee of sustainability in an increasingly volatile economic world.

A Message to Global Markets

The message sent to the financial centers of New York, London, and Paris is clear: the Vatican is no longer content with simply praying for the poor; it is using the lever of capitalism to influence economic structures. 

By directing billions of euros toward ethical investments, the Holy See hopes to create a ripple effect.

Admittedly, some financial purists might scoff at the idea of ​​the Church acting as a broker. But given the rate at which ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) funds are growing, the IOR's initiative appears as a visionary anticipation. 

In 2026, while money may be odorless, a portfolio must have one: the strong leather of a conscience enlightened by the principles of faith.

Catholic monk who sent naked photos of himself to woman holidaymaker will not be prosecuted after it's ruled the snaps were 'spiritual'

A Catholic monk who admitted sending naked photographs of himself to a woman holidaymaker will not be prosecuted after the Crown Prosecution Service ruled the snaps were 'spiritual'.

Brother Titus Keet, 77, confessed to having 200 pictures of himself posing naked on a beach at daybreak, but says they are not sexual.

He sent some of the pictures to Lisa Love, 56, a visitor to Caldey Island off the coast of Pembrokeshire, which has a sordid history of harbouring sex offenders and paedophiles.

Miss Love, of Narberth, Pembrokeshire, went to police after receiving multiple photographs from Keet showing him exercising naked on one of the island's remote beaches.

The monk was arrested in September 2024 on suspicion of harassing the mother-of-two, and while on bail he fled the island and is believed to be in Belgium.

The Crown Prosecution Service wrote to Miss Love to say they will be taking no further action against Keet because the photographs are 'spiritual'.

Miss Love accused police and the CPS of protecting the monk because of his religious background.

She said: 'He's admitted sending the pictures, I can't understand why he is not being taken to court.

'He says the pictures are art and now the police are agreeing with him that they are spiritual. Tell me where in the Bible it says to prance around naked on a beach.

'He's a Catholic monk living in an ancient monastery where they are supposed to pray in silence all day.

'But he is going to the beach, stripping off in front of a camera and then posting pictures to someone who doesn't want them. I can only think he's been let off because he's a monk.'

Miss Love, a tour guide, met Keet 15 years ago while she was staying with her elderly parents at a whitewashed two-bedroomed cottage on the island.

After her mother died in 2011 she continued to holiday on the island with her teenage daughters, staying near the imposing abbey where the monks have their quarters.

She struck up a friendship with the monk and he helped her grieve for her mother, writing to her when she returned to the mainland.

But Miss Love said she was 'startled' when he began enclosing naked photographs of himself in the letters.

She ignored them, but last year the monk started sending the same indecent images to her mobile phone.

Miss Love reported him to the monastery's Abbott and was advised Brother Keet had been disciplined and told to stop sending the explicit snaps.

When he continued to send them she informed Dyfed-Powys Police, who have investigated other monks on the island for sex offences.

Officers were shown text messages between the mother-of-two and the monk which backed his claims that they had been friends.

The letter, from CPS prosecutor Sandra Subacchi, said: 'Those conversations supported the account he gave that the photos were spiritual and there was nothing sexual in your relationship.

'After consideration of all the evidence I have made the decision that the case cannot go ahead.'

Miss Love said she was 'sickened' by the CPS's lack of understanding and has launched a Victims' Right to Review request through her solicitor.

She said: 'Sex offenders make friends with their victims, we all know that, it's called grooming.

'Just because of my friendly and unsuspecting nature, the CPS has decided I brought this on myself.

'They agree that the photographs are unwanted, they are of a naked man but because he says they are spiritual, he gets away with it.'

When confronted by the Daily Mail shortly before his arrest, Keet, who has lived on the holy island for 22 years, confirmed he is the man in the pictures and said he had been 'stupid' and 'naive'.

He said: 'It is art. I was putting my body in the light. I wanted to share with her the body and the light. It is the human body, in its original state. It's not sexual.

'I have a whole collection of myself, it is healthy for people to put their body in nature.'

The monk said he kept his risqué pictures on a digital stick and denied getting sexual gratification from sending the pictures to Miss Love saying it was 'not an option'.

Caldey Island, which welcomes 60,000 holidaymakers each year, was at the centre of a major child abuse scandal after claims more than 50 children were sexually abused by the Trappist monks in the 1970s and 80s.

Some victims were paid meagre amounts of compensation and a review published in 2024 recommended a 'no touch' policy banning the monks from physical contact with visiting tourists.

Victim Kevin O'Connell, who runs the Caldey Island Survivors Campaign said it was 'outrageous' that the CPS is not charging Brother Keet after he admitted sending the unwanted nude photos.

He said: 'It's appalling that CPS lawyers have agreed that these photos are spiritual and even artistic just because he's a monk.

'This case highlights Dyfed-Powys Police's failure to properly investigate and support victims. The force's shortcomings have led to a culture of silence, deterring victims from coming forward.

'It's unacceptable that victims are left without support while perpetrators are seemingly given a free pass. Until Dyfed-Powys police take abuse allegations seriously, Caldey island will remain a haven for perpetrators.'

The CPS declined to comment because Miss Love has made an application under the Victims' Right to Review Scheme.

The Popes Theologian

When Lent begins in the Vatican, the rhythm of life within the Apostolic Palace changes. 

The Holy Father withdraws for the annual Spiritual Exercises, praying alongside cardinals, bishops, and members of the Roman Curia. 

Among them is a quiet but crucial figure: the Theologian of the Papal Household.

Considered part of the so-called “papal family,” he lives and works at the heart of the Vatican, closely involved in the Pope’s spiritual and intellectual life. 

Since 2005, that role has been held by Fr. Wojciech Giertych, a 74-year-old Dominican priest who has served the last three popes. 

One of the few people who reside permanently inside the Apostolic Palace, he now awaits Pope Leo’s move there - ready to welcome him as a neighbor.

Guarding the Pope’s Words

When asked about his responsibilities within the Papal Household, Fr. Giertych responded with characteristic humility: “Well, that’s a good question. I would like to have an answer. I was never given an answer, strictly speaking,” he said, before explaining the practical reality of his work.

“Basically the procedure in the Holy See is such that the discourses which are prepared for the Pope, basically not by the Pope, but for the Pope. It’s obvious that the Pope has many, many meetings and so many discourses are prepared; And they’re prepared by various people depending on the subject matter. And so before the Holy Father receives the text, the function of the theologian of the Holy Father is to look at them and see if they’re not confusing, if they’re not ambiguous, if something has to be corrected. And this is the prime reason why I live here in the Vatican, because these texts are sometimes prepared in the last moment.”

In other words, his task is to safeguard theological clarity. Before a papal address is delivered to the world, it passes through his careful review — ensuring precision, faithfulness, and coherence.

What Lent Truly Means

Beyond his daily responsibilities, Fr. Giertych sees Lent as a deeply spiritual invitation. Asked what Lent means for a believer, he pointed to Christ’s forty days in the desert.

“It’s a time of maybe a deepened prayer,” he explained, recalling how the liturgy reminds the faithful of “the encounter of Jesus with the evil one, and the three temptations.”

He described those temptations in vivid terms: “to use the power of Jesus and change stones into bread, to use the power of the angels and do something stupid, to jump off the pinnacle of the temple and crust in an absurd way, and then to bow in front and adore the evil one as to possess the entire world.”

Christ rejected them all. In doing so, Fr. Giertych noted, Jesus entered fully into the human condition — even into moments “where the meaning of life seems to be difficult, seems to slip through the fingers.”

“And yet, nevertheless, he continued in his prayer,” the Dominican priest emphasized.

For believers today, Lent becomes “an invitation for a deepened prayer, a deepened focus on God and the putting away of distractions and assuring that God is essential in our lives.”

Human Effort and Divine Grace

Lent often raises a fundamental question: is it primarily about human effort — fasting, sacrifice, discipline — or about God’s grace?

Fr. Giertych insists the two cannot be separated. “We have to distinguish between nature and grace,” he explained, “between our natural thinking and working on the basis of faith, which opens us to grace. But grace doesn’t appear as a rival to our will and to our mind.”

He offered a concrete example. A father who spends ten minutes each day speaking with his teenage child gives a fully human gift. “That gift of the dad is 100% human. It’s his gift,” Fr. Giertych said.

But when that effort is lived in faith — perhaps as a special Lenten commitment — something more occurs. “This time given to the child is 100% human and 100% divine at the same time, because grace is working within us.”

Grace, he added, does not diminish freedom. On the contrary, it strengthens it: “in such a way that we don’t lose the dignity and liberty of our will, but we become even more free, even more generous, even more true.”

Why Confession Matters

Confession stands at the center of Lenten practice. When asked why people seek the sacrament, Fr. Giertych again highlighted both the human and divine dimensions.

“There is the human aspect and the divine aspect, and the divine aspect is working through the human, through the gestures, through the words, through the sacramental signs,” he explained.

While it is possible to encounter God outside the sacraments — “through faith, hope, and charity expressed in prayer” — the sacraments provide something distinctive. 

He pointed to Christians who maintained deep spiritual lives even when deprived of sacramental access, such as “In Siberia, under communism,” where believers “had no access to the sacraments.”

“Nevertheless,” he concluded, “the sacraments give, they strengthen the supernatural order in us, and they give the certitude that the grace of God has been given.”

Inside the Apostolic Palace, where papal texts are refined and Lent is lived with particular intensity, that conviction remains central: grace works through human words, human gestures, and human lives — quietly shaping the Church from within.

Candid talk from senior cardinal on Pope Francis, Benedict XVI

Cardinal Camillo Ruini thinks Benedict XVI’s resignation was a mistake. 

Ruini also found himself flummoxed by the Francis pontificate and unsure whether the reign of the late Argentinian pontiff will prove to have done more harm or good.

Ruini said so – in words – in a wide-ranging interview with Italy’s Corriere della sera newspaper that was published late last week.

Ruini, who served the better part of two decades as Pope St. John Paul II’s vicar for the Rome diocese and as president of the Italian bishops’ conference, is more than a venerable figure in the Italian episcopate and senior member of the college of cardinals.

Now 95 years old, he has seen more of the last century than almost anyone else, not only because he lived through it but because he was there for it.

When he gives an opinion about anything – especially about a pope – it is a good idea to take him seriously.

Ruini knows his opinions carry weight, even though he has been retired from active public life since 2008, which is why his candid remarks to the Corriere regarding Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, and Pope Leo XIV are themselves remarkable.

It probably won’t surprise many leaders to know that Ruini ranked Pope St. John Paul II as maggiore – which is the comparative of grande or “great” – saying “he was a true leader on the world stage.”

Corriere had asked him to rank the popes of his lifetime, and Ruini said it was a tall order.

“For the Church, Ruini said, “it has been a fortunate period, in which various great popes have succeeded one another.”

“I think of Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI,” Ruini said.

“I found myself in difficulty with Pope Francis,” Ruini said in response to a question asking whether the late pontiff had disappointed him. “The change was too great and sudden,” Ruini said.

“More than disappointed,” Ruini said he was “surprised.”

Asked for his measure of the Francis pontificate, whether it did “more good or more harm to the Church,” Ruini said his would be “a complex assessment, with very positive aspects and others much less so.”

“It’s too early to judge which of them prevail,” he said.

Ruini was less circumspect regarding the pontificate of Benedict XVI, especially regarding Benedict’s shocking February 2013 decision to resign the papal office.

“I’ll tell you the truth,” Ruini said in response to the Corriere’s point-blank question whether is was a mistake for Benedict to resign, “it was a mistaken decision, at least it seems so to me.”

“He knew his circumstances better than I did,” Ruini said, “so I don’t want to judge.”

About Benedict as pope, Ruini said the German had been “above all a great theologian.”

“Governance was his weak point,” Ruini said, adding that “real alternatives did not emerge,” as far as could see, during the 2005 conclave (in which it has been widely reported that the man who would eventually become Pope Francis ran second).

About Leo XIV, Ruini said he has “an excellent impression,” though he noted having only one audience with the new pope, very shortly after his election. “I am very happy to have this pope,” Ruini said.

When you’ve made 95 turns around the sun, you get to speak your mind, but Ruini’s willingness to disclose his own to the Corriere was arguably more than the forthrightness that comes with venerable seniority.

He acknowledged things red hats and curial officers – along with the rank and file in the Church’s central governing apparatus and bishops around the world have whispered privately for years: that Benedict’s resignation was a mistake and Francis’s reign was not easy for the Church.

That Ruini offered his sentiments both carefully and clearly, with subtlety but unambiguously, was further proof that clear-eyed acknowledgment of reality is both necessary and possible to offer without verbal fireworks or polemics.

Both what Ruini said and how he said it were important, in other words, because both together showed that frank speech can be measured and judicious.

The papacy – the papal office – is an impossible burden for anyone who takes it up. Nobody halfway sane should ever want it. 

It is certain that the all-too-human holders of the office will make mistakes and inevitable that the all-too-human electors of popes will from time to time choose poorly.

These and similar subjects ought not be off-limits, though they oughtn’t be bandied about.

Ruini’s reflections may well make it easier to discuss hard topics, in other words, precisely because the measure of care and judgment he displayed in offering them shows us how.

Tanzania’s Cardinal Pengo remembered as giant of faith, a ‘towering presence’ for Africa

Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, the archbishop emeritus of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, was remembered by Pope Leo XIV and Church leaders as a leading voice for the underprivileged and interreligious dialogue in Africa. 

Cardinal Pengo died Feb. 19 at age 81 and will be buried at the Pugu Pilgrimage Center, where the archdiocese is building a new cathedral.

Cardinal Pengo died while undergoing treatment at the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiology Institute in the Tanzanian capital, hours after arriving in the country from India. 

The cardinal had sought treatment in the Asian country since late December, according to Church officials, but had requested he be brought back to Tanzania after his health deteriorated.

Leading spiritual, moral, national voice

Condolences have continued to pour in for the prominent prelate, considered a leading spiritual, moral and national voice in the East African country. 

He spoke strongly on social justice, advocated for marginalized, poor, and against corruption. He also advocated for the coexistence of Christians and Muslims.

On Feb. 21, Pope Leo mourned Cardinal Pengo as a “wise and gentle pastor” who devoted episcopal ministry over many years to several local churches, highlighting especially his dedication to the formation of the clergy, as well as his service to the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, known as SECAM,  and the Holy See.

‘Wise and gentle pastor’

“I offer heartfelt condolences to you and to the clergy, religious and lay faithful of the Archdiocese of Dar es Salaam,” Pope Leo said in a telegram to Archbishop Jude Thaddaeus Ruwa’ichi of Dar es Salaam. “I join you in commending the soul of this wise and gentle pastor to the mercy of Christ, the Good Shepherd.”

On Feb. 27, his body will be brought to the St. Joseph’s Cathedral and a requiem Mass will be celebrated in the afternoon. His funeral Mass will be Feb. 28 at Pugu Pilgrimage Center.

“The Catholic Church has suffered a great loss following the death,” Archbishop Ruwa’ichi said, announcing the cardinal’s death. 

Promoted Church’s financial self-reliance

Archbishop Charles Kasonde of Solwezi, Zambia, chairman of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa, known as AMECEA, said bishops in Africa will remember Cardinal Pengo for promoting the Church’s financial self-reliance and for depending on Africa’s cultural values.

“Among us, he was a towering presence of Christian integrity and courage, making him the prophetic voice of the church. His pastoral zeal and leadership style were so admired that he was highly regarded among fellow bishops across the” bishops’ conference in Tanzania, said Kasonde in a message of condolence.

Cardinal Pengo was born on Aug. 5, 1944, and ordained priest in 1971. He obtained a doctorate from Pontifical Lateran University in 1977. 

First named a bishop in 1983

He was appointed the bishop of Nachingwea (now Lindi) in 1983 and of Tunduru-Masasi in 1986.

In 1990, he was appointed coadjutor archbishop of Dar es Salaam, and in 1992, he became the archbishop. St. John Paul II made him a cardinal in 1998.

He participated twice in a conclave, electing Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 and Pope Francis in 2013.

He served as president of SECAM from 2007 to 2009 and was a member of various Vatican dicasteries, then called congregations, including the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Retired as archbishop in 2019

In 2019, Cardinal Pengo retired from leading the archdiocese, but continued to support the Church in Tanzania and Africa.

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of Kinshasa, Congo, who is SECAM president, expressed sorrow and paid tribute to Cardinal Pengo for his outstanding service to the Church and commitment to its mission.

“Cardinal Pengo was a remarkable shepherd, whose dedicated service to the Church and unwavering commitment to the mission of Christ left a lasting legacy,” Cardinal Ambongo said in a statement.  

‘Deep faith, pastoral zeal’

“His leadership as the Archbishop of Dar es Salaam and as the President of SECAM was marked by deep faith, pastoral zeal and tireless efforts to promote unity and solidarity among the African Churches,” the prelate said.

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan mourned Cardinal Pengo as a firm crusader of peace, morality and national peace. In 2021, she recognized the cardinal for his advocacy on peace and unity.

Zambian Archbishop Kasonde added in Cardinal Pongo’s remembrance message: “We shall truly miss his presence in the region, especially the wisdom he shared with us whenever we sought his counsel,” he added.

82-year-old nun killed in Brazilian convent

An 82-year-old nun was brutally killed in Brazil by an unknown man who invaded the convent where she lived, in the city of Ivaí, Paraná state. The crime caused great commotion among the Ukrainian Brazilian community and the city’s residents, who tried to lynch the suspect.

Sister Nadia Gavanski, a member of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church’s Sisters Servants of Immaculate Mary congregation, was feeding the hens of the religious house when she came across the intruder.

According to a police report obtained by Crux, a photographer was present at the monastery to take pictures of an event and saw the man shortly after the crime. He told her that he worked there, but she noticed he was agitated and had blood marks on his clothes.

The criminal told the photographer he saw Gavanski lying on the ground. She became suspicious of the man and  secretly recorded him. She also called an ambulance and the police, to whom she showed the footage.

The suspect was already known to police due to prior crimes and was easily identified and located. As the officers came to his house, he tried to escape and resist, but was contained by the agents. He admitted the crime.

A picture posted on social media by local radio station Copas Verdes shows the 33-year-old suspect sitting on the police van with signs of physical altercation.

“He was taken to a station of the Paraná state civil police, where he confirmed his initial statement. During questioning, he reported having spent the night consuming crack cocaine and alcoholic beverages. He also claimed to have heard voices ordering him to kill someone, which, according to him, prompted him to jump over the convent wall with the intention of taking a person’s life,” the police report read.

The man told the police that the victim saw him and asked what he was doing there. He told her he was working at the convent, but noticed that she didn’t believe him.

“The perpetrator stated that he pushed her, causing her to fall to the ground, at which point she began to scream. He declared that he inserted the fingers of his right hand into the victim’s mouth, causing asphyxiation,” the statement said.

The suspect said he didn’t strike the nun on the head, but admitted that injuries may have resulted from her fall. He also denied having committed sexual violence and having the intention of robbing the monastery.

The police found Gavanski’s lifeless body on the ground, partially naked and with evident signs of physical aggression. The hypothesis of sexual crime will be analyzed during the autopsy and additional steps of the inquiry.

The man was charged with the crime of aggravated homicide, with indications of qualifying circumstances such as trivial motive, asphyxiation, and the use of means that hindered the victim’s defense, as well as resistance.

As he was being taken from a military police station in Ivaí to the civil police station in neighboring Imbituva city, local residents gathered in front of the facility in order to lynch him.

Video clips posted on social media show dozens of people waiting for the police car to leave the station with the suspect, while shouting and insulting him.

“Come out, you old lady rapist!” one of the men shouted. Another one is heard saying: “You robbed my boy, you lowlife!”

The police managed to steer around the crowd and took the man to the police station. He was later sent to prison.

“I was shocked when I received the news of Sr. Nadia’s death. We were preparing to visit the seminary of the priests of the Order of Saint Basil the Great, along with bishops from Ukraine and other countries,” Bishop Meron Mazur of the Eparchy of Immaculate Conception in Prudentópolis in Paraná state, told Crux.

Over the past few days, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv–Galicia, who is the Primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, has been visiting Brazil along with a number of prelates of the rite in Canada, Germany, Poland, and Argentina for their permanent synodal process.

In their meetings, one of the most discussed topics has been the war in Ukraine and the terrible impacts on ordinary people’s lives.

Most of the Ukrainian Brazilian community, estimated at 600,000 people, live in Paraná state. In cities like Prudentópolis, near Ivaí, more than 80 percent of the population of 52,000 people has Ukrainian ancestry.

Almost 90 percent of the Ukrainian immigrants who came to Brazil were originally members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, while a minority was Orthodox. Now, many fourth and fifth-generation Ukrainian Brazilians have different creeds, but most of the community continues to be Catholic.

Gavanski was born in Prudentópolis in 1943 and had seven siblings. She joined the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate in 1971 and worked in a number of communities over the years.

“Sister Nadia’s mission within the Congregation was always fulfilled through silent, simple, and humble service: preparing meals, tending the vegetable garden, caring for the chickens, and maintaining the daily routine of the house. Everything was done with love and faithfulness, transforming the ordinary into an offering pleasing to God,” Sister Juliane Martinhuk, one of her colleagues, told Crux.

Years ago, Gavanski had a stroke, which impacted her speech. Martinhuk said the limitations didn’t impede her from remaining “faithful to her simple duties.”

“Strong in faith, she accepted everything with serenity and trust in God. For us sisters, Sr. Nadia was a true example of consecration, self-giving, and the cultivation of an interior life, made manifest in the concrete attitudes of everyday life,” Martinhuk added.

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church’s prelates visited the sisters’ convent on the day of the murder in order to comfort her colleagues and pray for her, Mazur said.

“We have been talking about the tragedy of war and now such a tragedy has happened. It was a great blow for all of us,” he said.

Mazur, who knew Gavanski in person, said she led her whole life in humility and poverty.

“She was a silent woman who devoted life to work and prayer. She didn’t like to be in the spotlight,” he recalled.

On social media, many residents of the region of Ivaí and Prudentópolis expressed their shock. Some recalled Gavanski’s work in their communities.

“Every life pertains to God. Our outrage is great, but Jesus taught we should forgive. Nobody can take a life. We need to eradicate violence from our society by being promoters of peace and love,” Mazur said.

Cardinals criticize Society of St. Pius X for plan to consecrate bishops without papal approval

Cardinal Gerhard Müller and Cardinal Robert Sarah, two prominent supporters of the Traditional Latin Mass, have spoken out against the decision of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) to defy the Vatican and ordain new bishops on July 1.

The decision to proceed with the episcopal consecrations without papal approval was confirmed in a Feb. 18 letter, penned by SSPX superior general Father Davide Pagliarani a week after his Feb. 12 meeting with Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF).

In the letter, the Catholic traditionalist group said it could not “accept the perspective and objectives” for resumed dialogue proposed by the DDF prefect, insisting the July 1 consecrations would “not constitute a rupture of communion” with the Church.

The SSPX, which exclusively celebrates the Traditional Latin Mass, maintains doctrinal differences with certain teachings and reforms of the Second Vatican Council, particularly with regard to religious freedom and the Church’s approach to other faiths.

Under canon law, a bishop who consecrates another bishop without a papal mandate and the person who receives that consecration incur automatic excommunication.

Müller, who served as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) from 2012 to 2017, issued a lengthy Feb. 21 statement, saying “personal sensitivities should take a back seat” for the good of Church unity.

“If the Society of St. Pius X is to have a positive impact on Church history, it cannot fight for the true faith from a distance, from the outside, against the Church united with the pope,” Müller wrote.

Highlighting the importance for SSPX to recognize papal authority “not only in theory but also in practice,” the German prelate said the society must submit to the teaching authority of the Church “without preconditions.”

“No orthodox Catholic can invoke reasons of conscience if he withdraws from the formal authority of the pope regarding the visible unity of the sacramental Church in order to establish an ecclesiastical order not in full communion with him,” Müller said.

Over the weekend, Sarah, who served as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments from 2014 to 2021, also shared his “deep concern and sadness” after SSPX confirmed its decision to ordain new bishops without a papal mandate.

“Is it to desire the salvation of souls to tear apart the mystical body of Christ in a way that may be irreversible? How many souls are in danger of being lost because of this new division?” Sarah lamented in a Feb. 22 Le Journal du Dimanche article.

“We are told that this act is intended to defend tradition and the faith,” he added. “I know how much the deposit of faith is sometimes despised today by those very people whose mission it is to defend it.”

The African prelate ardently appealed for SSPX to be united to the Church founded by Jesus Christ and entrusted to the care of the apostles, particularly St. Peter, the first pope, and his successors.

“Can we really do without following Christ in his humility unto the cross? Is it not a betrayal of tradition to take refuge in human means [and] maintain our works, however good they may be?” he said.

The proposed July 1 date for the episcopal consecrations coincides with the anniversary of the 1988 excommunication of SSPX founder Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre for consecrating four bishops without permission of Rome.