St. Marianne Cope

Feast date: Jan 23

In 1883, Mother Marianne’s community was the only one of fifty to respond positively to an emissary from Hawaii who requested Catholic sisters to provide health care on the Hawaiian Islands, especially to those with leprosy.

Over the next five years, St. Marianne set up a system of long-term education and care for her patients.

She ministered to patients at Kalaupapa on the island of Molokai. Her time of service overlapped with the last years of St. Damien of Molokai, a priest who served victims of Hansen’s disease and himself died of leprosy.

St. Marianne promised her sisters that none of them would ever contract the disease. To this day, no sister has. Her care earned her the affectionate title “beloved mother of the outcasts.”

She died in 1918 and was beatified on May 14, 2005 and canonized on October 21, 2012, both by Pope Benedict XVI.

"At a time when little could be done for those suffering from this terrible disease, Marianne Cope showed the highest love, courage and enthusiasm," Pope Benedict XVI said in his homily during the Mass for her canonization. "She is a shining and energetic example of the best of the tradition of Catholic nursing sisters and of the spirit of her beloved Saint Francis."

St. Ildephonsus

Feast date: Jan 23

St. Ildephonsus was the Archbishop of Toledo, and died 23 January, 667. He was born of a distinguished family and was the nephew of St. Eugenius, his predecessor in the See of Toledo. At an early age, despite the determined opposition of his father, he embraced the monastic life in the monastery of Agli, near Toledo. He was ordained a deacon, around the year 630. He was called by King Reccesvinth, near the end of 657 to fill the archiepiscopal throne of Toledo, where he governed the Church of Toledo for just over nine years and was buried in the Basilica of Saint Leocadia.

Ildephonsus had a strong devotion to the Blessd Mother, and it is said that  one day he was praying before the relics of Saint Leocadia, when the martyr arose from her tomb and thanked the saint for the devotion he showed towards the Mother of God. It was also related that on another occasion the Blessed Virgin appeared to him in person and presented him with a priestly vestment, to reward him for his zeal in honoring her.

The literary work of Ildephonsus is more widely known than the details of his life, and merits for him a distinguished place in the role of Spanish writers.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India condemned the attack and demanded “immediate action against the perpetrators and justice for the victim.”

Odisha, then known as Orissa, was the site of a 2008 anti-Christian pogrom in which an estimated 100 Christians were murdered, and 50,000 fled their homes.

Allen worked for the National Catholic Report from 1997 to 2014, when he founded Crux. American author George Weigel described Allen as “the best Anglophone Vaticanista in the business during the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI.”

Allen was also the author of several books.

250 of the Vatican’s employees, who number over 4,000, took part in the survey.

Msgr. Marco Sprizzi, president of the Labor Office of the Apostolic See, responded:

Technically, it is a survey conducted on a very small sample, since it involves less than 5% of employees. In any case, we take all voices seriously, even if it were the voice of just one employee who complained of a lack of attention, dialogue, or respect for the rules.

The prelates of the Holy Land Coordination said the Palestinian Christians in the West Bank “told us of their suffering: endless attacks from extremist settlers, uprooting of their olive trees, the seizure of their land and intimidatory acts that make their daily life unbearable, driving many into mass emigration.”

“As Christians, it is our calling and duty to give a voice to the voiceless, and to bear witness to their dignity, so that the world may know their suffering and be moved to advocate for justice and compassion,” the prelates added. “The people of the Holy Land cry out for our help and prayers; they long for an end to their suffering. Stand with them.”

“We’ve seen an increase in people coming to the Bible from scratch,” said the retail sales director of a bookstore near Westminster Abbey. “They have no Christian background whatsoever. They have no grounding from their parents or from their school ... It’s definitely younger people who are seeking some sort of spirituality.”

Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska, preached, “I firmly believe that 50 years from now when my generation will have gone to God, your grandchildren will ask you: ‘Is it true, that when you were my age, they put children to death in the womb?’”

In an audience with the prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Pope Leo XIV approved the promulgation of decrees that pave the way for the beatification of two Servants of God and recognize the heroic virtue of four others.

“I send warm greetings to those of you participating in the 2026 March for Life,” Pope Leo began. “I likewise express heartfelt appreciation, and assure you of my spiritual closeness as you gather for this eloquent public witness to affirm that the protection of the right to life constitutes the indispensable foundation of every other human right.”

“I would encourage you, especially the young people, to continue striving to ensure that life is respected in all of its stages through appropriate efforts at every level of society, including dialogue with civil and political leaders,” the Pope continued. “May Jesus, who promised to be with us always (cf. Mt 28:20), accompany you today as you courageously and peacefully march on behalf of unborn children.”

“By advocating for them, please know that you are fulfilling the Lord’s command to serve him in the least of our brothers and sisters (cf. Mt 25:31-46),” he added in his message, dated January 17 and released yesterday.