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Catholics who visit a cemetery on any day in the month of November, to pray for the dead, can earn a plenary indulgence. Typically Catholics can earn this plenary indulgence for praying for the dead only during the first week of November, which is the week of the Solemnity of All Soul’s Day. Last year, the Vatican extended the indulgence to every day of November, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Chinese authorities have reportedly kidnapped a Catholic bishop in eastern China. The 58-year-old bishop has been arrested several times since he was appointed to his diocese in 2016. Detentions of underground clergy in China are common. The Chinese government will pressure clergy to join the state-run Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association.
The pope has donated $170,000 to the Catholic Church in Syria, for its work with the poor. More than 350,000 people have been killed in Syria, since civil war broke out in 2011.
Pope Francis has appointed new archbishops of Seoul, South Korea, and Nairobi, Kenya. The new archbishop of Seoul is a member of the Discalced Carmelites. The new archbishop of Nairobi has been president of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops since 2015.
Today the Church remembers Saints Simon and Jude. Saint Jude was a brother of Saint James the Lesser, and a relative of Jesus. He was martyred in Persia. Little is known about the life of Saint Simon the Zealot, but it is believed that he preached in Egypt, and then joined Saint Jude in Persia.