January 10, 2024

Catholic News

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts. www.catholicnewsagency.com - Thousands of Christians rallied this week in front of the governor’s office in Nigeria’s Plateau state to demand action after more than 200 were killed in a series of Christmas massacres. The attacks, which targeted Christian villages beginning December 23 and continuing through Christmas day, left Christian communities in Nigeria’s Plateau state reeling. Photos obtained by CNA after the attack showed villagers burying their slain relatives and loved ones in mass graves. According to an evangelical leader who helped to organize the rally, the attacks also left 15,000 people displaced without homes. Among the demands being made by the protestors, they asked for an “urgent humanitarian relief material response by the state and federal government” and for the arrest of the perpetrators of the Christmas massacre, which he called a “genocidal,” “terrorist” attack. The attack marks the latest instance of terrorists targeting Christian Nigerians on significant Christian feast days. Due to continued attacks, Nigeria is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a Christian, according to a 2023 report by the advocacy group International Christian Concern. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256487/thousands-of-christians-in-nigeria-rally-to-demand-action-after-christmas-massacres The Black Nazarene procession in the Philippines, one of the largest religious devotions in the world, returned this year to its traditional size for the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, attracting millions of devotees. The procession, known locally as “Traslacion,” sees devotees carry across Manila a replica of a famous life-size statue of Jesus carrying a black wooden cross. Taking place each year in January, this year’s event marked a return to the traditional procession after three years of drastic downsizing due to the threat of COVID-19. In 2020, 2021, and 2022 the procession was essentially canceled entirely. In 2023, an estimated 103,277 faithful participated, far fewer than in past years. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256485/black-nazarene-procession-in-the-philippines-draws-millions-after-returning-from-covid The attorney general of Michigan on Monday released the second of seven expected reports of alleged clergy abuse in the state, part of a multiyear investigation into abuse allegations — many of them decades old — against Church officials there. Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office announced the release of the report on the office’s website. The office said the report involves “allegations of abuse that took place in the Diocese of Gaylord.” The Michigan attorney general is conducting investigations of abuse allegations in each of the seven Catholic dioceses in the state. ​​In a press conference on Monday following the report’s release, Gaylord Bishop Jeffrey Walsh said there is no priest or deacon in active public ministry in the Diocese of Gaylord who has a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse or misconduct against a minor. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256484/michigan-attorney-general-releases-second-report-of-clergy-abuse-in-state Today, the Church celebrates Saint Gregory of Nyssa. In 379 he assisted at the Council of Antioch, which had been summoned because of the Meletian schism. He also asserted the faith of Nicaea, and tried to put an end to Arianism and Pneumatism in the East. It is very probable that Gregory was present at another council, the Council of Constantinople in 383. Between 385 and 386 he disappears from history, but not without leaving a significant number of theological writings. He made significant contributions to the doctrine of the Trinity and the Nicene Creed. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-gregory-of-nyssa-112