Feast date: Jan 13

On January 13, Catholics celebrate St. Hilary of Poitiers, a fourth-century philosopher whose studies made him a champion of Orthodox Trinitarian theology during one of the most difficult periods of Church history. He protected the Church and its members by brilliantly defending the sacred humanity of Jesus while also defeating Arianism which denied Christ's placement within the Trinity. St. Hilary was a gentle and courteous man, devoted to writing some of the greatest theology on the Trinity, and was like his Master in being labeled a "disturber of the peace." In a very troubled period in the Church, his holiness was lived out in both scholarship and controversy.

Little is known about St. Hilary's life before he became a bishop. Fittingly, what historians do know about him derives mostly from personal details contained within his extensive theological works. Those remarks indicate that Hilary was born to a pagan family in present-day France, most likely around 310 – three years before the Roman Empire declared its official toleration of Christianity.

Hilary himself grew up apparently without any significant Christian influence, but received an otherwise comprehensive education in the Latin and Greek classics. Not unusual for his era, he rigorously studied both Greek philosophy and the Bible. Like many other early Church Fathers, he came to accept the truth of the Bible by recognizing its compatibility with philosophy and the sciences.

This was a gradual process for him, however, and it was not until 345 – by which time he was already married, and had a daughter– that Hilary committed himself to full membership in the Catholic Church by receiving baptism with the rest of his family. His rise within the Church, however, was not gradual at all: around 353, the people of Poitiers called for him to be made their bishop.

By its nature, the position involved tremendous responsibility, as well as significant personal sacrifice. While the early church permitted some married men to become bishops, they were traditionally required to practice celibacy within marriage, and many adopted a radically simplified lifestyle akin to monasticism. There are indications that Hilary followed this ascetic path, once ordained.

Moreover, Hilary's election as the Bishop of Poitiers coincided with the second wave of the Church's first great doctrinal controversy, in which he would play a significant role. Although the Council of Nicaea in 325 had confirmed the Church’s rejection of Arianism – which claimed Jesus was only human, not divine – powerful forces within both the Church and the empire clung to the heresy.

Only a few years after his assumption of episcopal rank, Hilary found himself virtually alone in defending Jesus’ deity before a hostile crowd of bishops in the southern French region of Gaul. The bishops appealed to Emperor Constantius II, who favored a modified version of Arianism and declared Hilary’s exile from Gaul.

Constantius II did not likely suspect that by banishing Hilary to Phrygia he would inspire the bishop to mount an even greater defense of orthodox theology. There, he wrote his most important work, “On the Trinity,” showing the Bible’s consistent witness to the central mystery of Christian faith.

Remarkably, this staunchly Orthodox bishop also showed great charity toward those he believed were honestly mistaken. He worked closely with groups of clergy and faithful whose formulations of dogma he perceived to be merely imperfect or imprecise, but not intentionally heretical, to support what was correct in their understanding and lead them into full adherence with tradition.

Hilary even traveled to Constantinople during his exile, to explain to the city’s bishops why their emperor was not orthodox. After the death of Constantius II in 361, Hilary was able to return to his diocese at Poitiers. Once exiled for opposing Arianism in Gaul, he lived to see it squarely condemned in the local church after his return.

Although deeply committed to the leadership of his own diocese, Hilary took steps late in his life to support orthodox teaching in other regions. Most significantly, he denounced Auxentius, the Arian bishop of Milan. Subsequent opposition to Auxentius led to his succession by St. Ambrose of Milan, who, in turn, greatly influenced the conversion of St. Augustine.

St. Hilary died at Poitiers in 367, after having passed on his teachings and way of life to a number of students, including St. Martin of Tours.

Long regarded and celebrated as a saint within the Church, St. Hilary was also declared a Doctor of the Church in 1851.

In an unusual move, Pope Francis has appointed a third secretary for the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education.

Praedicate Evangelium, the Pope’s apostolic constitution on the Roman Curia, states that each dicastery is led by a prefect and assisted by a secretary (Art. 14). The Dicastery for Culture and Education, however, had two secretaries: Bishop Paul Tighe (for the culture section) and Archbishop Giovanni Cesare Pagazzi (for the education section).

On January 12, Pope Francis named Msgr. Carlo Maria Polvani, adjunct undersecretary of the dicastery, as the third official in the dicastery with the title of secretary. The Pontiff also appointed him an archbishop.

Pope Francis presided at Mass in the Sistine Chapel on January 12, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord and baptized 21 children of Vatican employees (video).

“Each of you, parents, and the Church itself are giving the greatest gift, the greatest gift: the gift of faith to the children,” the Pontiff said during his extremely brief remarks, delivered in Italian.

Pope Francis emphasized “the face and the voice” as he reflected on the Gospel reading for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

“First of all, the face,” he told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his January 12 Angelus address. “In revealing Himself to be the Father through the Son, God establishes a special space for entering into dialogue and communion with humanity. It is the face of the beloved Son.”

“In second place, the voice,” the Pope continued. “Face and voice. ‘You are my beloved Son’ (Luke 3:22). This is another sign that accompanies the revelation of Jesus.”

As he has in the past, the Pontiff encouraged pilgrims to find out the date of their baptism and “celebrate this date as if it were a new birthday: that of our birth in the Spirit of God.”

Bishop Bosco Puthur, the apostolic administrator of the Syro-Malabar Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly since 2023, resigned his position on January 11 amid protests against his appointments and his attempts to implement the uniform method of celebrating the liturgy in the archeparchy.

Pope Francis has exhorted the faithful of the Eastern-rite Syro-Malabar Church to obey the Syro-Malabar hierarchy’s decision on a uniform method of celebrating the liturgy in all of the church’s eparchies (dioceses).

The uniform method envisions the celebrant turning towards the faithful in the initial rites but then turning towards the altar during the Eucharistic sacrifice. In some eparchies, however, including the Major Archeparchy of Ernakulam–Angamaly, the entire liturgy has been offered facing the people in recent decades—and the uniform method has sparked intense opposition there.

On January 11, the Synod of Bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church also chose Archbishop Joseph Pamplany as vicar of Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, the head of the Syro-Malabar Church. As vicar, Archbishop Pamplany has been entrusted with day-to-day governance of the Major Archeparchy of Ernakulam–Angamaly while continuing to lead his own Archeparchy of Tellicherry.

With Archbishop Pamplany’s appointment by the Syro-Malabar synod, the day-to-day governance of the Ernakulam–Angamaly archeparchy by papally appointed apostolic administrators has come to an end. Archbishop Andrews Thazhath was apostolic administrator from 2022 to 2023, and Bishop Puthur from 2023 to January 11.

In the first in a series of special Saturday audiences for the jubilee year, Pope Francis paid tribute to St. John the Baptist as a “great prophet of hope.”

When the Baptist was imprisoned by Herod, he was “full of questions,” Pope Francis told pilgrims in a packed Paul VI Audience Hall. “We too bring many questions on our pilgrimage, because there are many ‘Herods’ who still oppose the Kingdom of God.”

“Jesus, however, shows us the new path, the path of the Beatitudes, which are the surprising law of the Gospel,” the Pope continued. “Let us ask ourselves, then: do I have within me a true desire to start again?”

Pope Francis concluded:

From John the Baptist, then, we learn to recreate ourselves. Hope for our common home—this Earth of ours, so abused and wounded—and the hope for all human beings resides in the difference of God. His greatness is different. And let us start again from this originality of God, which shone in Jesus and which now binds us to serve, to love fraternally, to acknowledge ourselves as small. And to see the least, to listen to them and to be their voice. Here is the new beginning, our Jubilee.

Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, OFM Cap, the Preacher of the Papal Household from 1980 to 2024, said he was not involved in the decision to select Father Marko Rupnik to take his place in preaching a 2020 Lenten sermon to the Roman Curia.

Father Rupnik took Cardinal Cantalamessa’s place because the prelate was sick that day. Two months earlier, Father Rupnik had unanimously been found guilty of the excommunicable offense of absolution of an accomplice in a sin against the Sixth Commandment—though it was not public knowledge at the time.

Father Rupnik “was not of course chosen by me,” said Cardinal Cantalamessa. “I had no authority for doing this and I lived away from Rome at the time because of a temporary illness. To tell the truth, neither do I know who suggested his name.”

“I don’t think it was the Pope personally, but probably the competent office of the Curia, knowing that there was little time for preparation and Rupnik was in Rome and was known for giving retreats and writing spiritual books,” Cardinal Cantalamessa added.

The competent office of the Curia is the Prefecture of the Papal Household, led at the time by Archbishop Georg Gänswein—but his responsibilities had been reduced earlier in 2020.

The “archbishop does not remember any personal participation [in] that decision [in] 2020,” said Father Vincentas Lizdenis, a member of the administrative staff of the Apostolic Nunciature in the Baltic States, where Archbishop Gänswein is now apostolic nuncio.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Pope’s Secretary of State, has sent a telegram in the Pope’s name to Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, as fires devastated the region.

“Saddened by the loss of life and the widespread destruction caused by the fires near Los Angeles, His Holiness Pope Francis assures you and the communities affected by this tragedy of his spiritual closeness,” Cardinal Parolin wrote on January 11.

“Entrusting the souls of the deceased to the loving mercy of Almighty God, His Holiness sends heartfelt condolences to those who mourn their loss,” Cardinal Parolin continued. “He likewise prays for the relief efforts of the emergency services personnel and imparts his blessing to all as a pledge of consolation and strength in the Lord.”

Pope Francis received Francesco Rocca, the president of Italy’s Lazio region (map), and Roberto Gualtieri, the mayor of Rome, In separate January 10 audiences.

Rocca said that his meeting was “full of joy and hope” and that he spoke with the Pontiff about “the many challenges that the Jubilee entails, especially in the health sector.”

“It was a great joy to meet Pope Francis,” said Gualtieri. “We talked about the Jubilee and how to make Rome an increasingly welcoming and supportive city, putting people and their needs at the center.” Gualtieri added that he discussed “solidarity projects” for those in need, and he thanked the Pope “for the encouragement and affection he always expresses for our city.”

The January 10 encounter with Gualtieri took place less than two weeks after the Pope’s 2024 year-end homily, in which he thanked the city’s mayor for “moving the city forward” through construction projects—in contrast to his 2023 year-end homily, in which he criticized Rome for its deficient functionality.

Two women religious who were kidnapped in southeastern Nigeria on January 7 have been released unharmed.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters Vincentia Maria Nwankwo and Grace Mariette Okoli had been seized by gunmen as they traveled back from a meeting. Their congregation announced on January 13 that they were “unconditionally released and in good health,” without further details.