Synod on Synodality official: Women priests ‘not an open question’ for the Church

The highest-ranking woman in the general secretariat of the Synod of Bishops has said that, from an official position, the ordination of women as Catholic priests is “not an open question” at this time. Sister Nathalie Becquart, who serves as an undersecretary for the Church’s ongoing Synod on Synodality, was named on the BBC’s 2022 list of 100 inspiring and influential women around the world. In an article published recently, the French religious sister said that there are many ways for women to serve the Church, but ordination is not an option. 

Fr. Mario Rupnik was excommunicated in 2019?

The Jesuit Superior General, Father Arturo Sosa, has confirmed that the artist, Father Marko Rupnik, incurred an automatic excommunication in 2019 for absolving a woman he had sex with, a fact his religious order was aware of but did not disclose until now. Sosa disclosed this new information Wednesday in a briefing with journalists in Rome. Abusing the sacrament of confession in this manner is one of the most serious crimes in the Catholic Church and comes with the penalty of automatic excommunication. Sosa also contradicted the Jesuits’ earlier statement and said the restrictions on Rupnik’s ministry, which remain in effect, dated from this earlier conviction, and not the 2021 allegations.  

This is why Pope Francis wants you to spend less money this Christmas Pope 

Francis is inviting everyone to have “a humbler Christmas” this year. At the end of his last general audience, the pope asked people to consider spending less on gifts and parties and in order to help the people of Ukraine. “It is good to celebrate Christmas, to have parties — but let’s lower the level of Christmas spending,” he encouraged. “Let’s send what we save to the Ukrainian people, who are in need, suffering so much; they go hungry, they feel the cold, and so many die because there are no doctors or nurses at hand." “Let’s have a humbler Christmas, with more humble gifts,” he said. 

Pope Francis to new ambassadors: 'Shine light in the darkest corners of the world' 

Pope Francis welcomed the new ambassadors to the Holy See of Belize, Bahamas, Thailand, Norway, Mongolia, Niger, Uganda and Sudan, encouraging them to be artisans of peace. The Pope asked the new ambassadors "to shed light in the darkest corners of the world," and addressed issues of dignity and human rights, lasting peace, and care for the common home, highlighting the value of each country's distinctive cultural heritage. 

Pope Francis: Look at each other, not cell phone screens 

Pope Francis has urged young people to look away from their cell phone screens and to make eye contact with the people around them. In a meeting on December 15 with youth groups affiliated with Catholic Action, the pope cautioned the young people against spending too much of their time on their phones. “Our eyes are meant to look into the eyes of others,” he said. “They were not made to look down at a virtual world that we hold in our hands, but to look up to heaven, to God, and to look into the eyes of those who live next to us.”