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Cardinal George Pell, prefect emeritus of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, died on Tuesday at the age of 81. The Australian cardinal suffered a cardiac arrest following a routine hip replacement surgery. Pell served for many years as archbishop of Melbourne and then Sydney before Pope Francis appointed him to lead the Vatican’s economy department in 2014. In 2017, Pell left Rome for Australia to defend his innocence of abuse charges. After 404 days in prison he was ultimately acquitted in 2020. He returned to live in Rome on Sept. 30, 2020. Pope Francis on Wednesday praised Pell’s witness, dedication, and faith. “I offer sentiments of heartfelt condolence,” the pope said in a January 11 message, “remembering with a grateful heart his consistent and committed witness, his dedication to the Gospel and the Church, and particularly his diligent cooperation with the Holy See in the context of its recent economic reform, of which he laid the foundations with determination and wisdom.” The Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, said a memorial Mass will be held for Pell at Saint Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney, where he will be buried.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253312/breaking-cardinal-george-pell-dies-at-81
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253318/pope-francis-praises-cardinal-george-pell-s-dedication-to-the-church
Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of January is for educators. “Education is an act of love that illuminates the path for us to recover a sense of fraternity, so we will not ignore those who are most vulnerable,” the pope said in a video message. The Holy Father concluded the video message with a prayer: “Let us pray that educators may be credible witnesses, teaching fraternity rather than confrontation and helping especially the youngest and most vulnerable above all.”
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253305/this-is-pope-francis-prayer-intention-for-the-month-of-january
The Vatican promoter of justice announced Monday that the investigation into the vanishing of Emanuela Orlandi, a teenaged Vatican citizen whose disappearance in the 1980s has since spawned myriad conspiracy theories, will be reopened. In a brief statement posted to Vatican News, the Holy See Press Office director, Matteo Bruni, reported Monday that the decision to reopen the investigation was made partly in response to several requests made by Orlandi’s family. Emanuela Orlandi was the 15-year-old daughter of Ercole Orlandi, an envoy of the Prefecture of the Pontifical House and a citizen of Vatican City State. Her disappearance on June 22, 1983, after leaving for a music lesson in Rome dominated headlines and has been the subject of speculation for years. The Vatican statement did not elaborate further on the reasons why the case is being reopened, but public interest in the case was rekindled last fall after the release of the docuseries “Vatican Girl: The Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi” on Netflix.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253306/investigation-into-vatican-girl-cold-case-reopened-amid-rekindled-public-interest
Today, the Church celebrates Saint Theodosius Abbott, a fifth-century hermit who lived in a cave in the desert of Judah and founded a monastery at Cathismus. Next to the monastery he built a hospital for the sick, a hospice for the aged, and a mental hospital. He continued to work until his health gave out, and spent the rest of his time praying for his community. He died at the age of 105.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-theodosius-abbot-113