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Sister Andre Randon, a French nun and the oldest person in the world, died on Tuesday at the age of 118. Randon became the world’s oldest person on April 19, 2022, when Kane Tanaka of Japan died at the age of 119. Born in 1904 in Alés, France, Sister Andre converted from Protestantism to Catholicism when she was 19. She joined the Daughters of Charity — founded by Saint Vincent de Paul — in 1944. She took the name Sister Andre in honor of her deceased brother. In 2021 she tested positive for COVID-19. She was isolated from the other residents but displayed no symptoms. For her 115th birthday in 2019, Sister Andre received a card and a blessed rosary from Pope Francis, which she used every day. When she turned 116 in 2020, the Vincentian nun shared her “recipe for a happy life” — prayer and a cup of hot cocoa every day.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253376/oldest-person-in-the-world-french-catholic-nun-sister-andre-dies-at-118
Unidentified individuals on January 15 desecrated the Blessed Sacrament in a Catholic church in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. Our Lady of the Abandoned Parish in the San Rafael del Sur area reported the desecration on its Facebook page January 17. The parish encouraged all the local faithful to “turn to prayer” and announced an act of reparation for the desecration.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253374/blessed-sacrament-desecrated-in-church-in-nicaragua
At the end of his Wednesday audience, Pope Francis asked for people to join him in praying for persecuted Christians around the world. The pope said on January 18 that he was praying for Father Isaac Achi, a Catholic priest who died after bandits set fire to his parish rectory in northern Nigeria. Armed bandits attacked the parish residence at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Kafin Koro, Nigeria, at 3 am on Sunday. Another priest at the rectory, Father Collins Omeh, escaped the building but sustained gunshot wounds. The Diocese of Minna has said that Omeh is responding to treatment. The pope’s upcoming trip to Africa will provide an opportunity for him to further highlight the ongoing violence against Christians in the region.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253377/pope-francis-prays-for-priest-killed-in-nigeria-asks-for-prayers-for-persecuted-christians
Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick is in “significant” mental decline and may not be fit to stand trial for allegedly sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy, his attorneys say in a new court filing. The legal team for the 92-year-old ex-prelate said it plans to file a motion to dismiss the case. citing a neurological exam. The results show McCarrick to be suffering from “significant neuropsychological deficits” that “appear to have started relatively recently, to be worsening rapidly, and to impair both Mr. McCarrick’s cognition and his memory,” according to the court document filed January 13 in Dedham District Court in Massachusetts. A final report is expected within 30 days.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253373/theodore-mccarrick-criminal-sex-abuse-trial-mental-incompetent
Today, the Church celebrates Saint Charles of Sezze, a 17th-century Franciscan lay brother known for his holiness, simplicity, and charity.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-charles-of-sezze-416