September 26, 2023

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts. www.catholicnewsagency.com - The Diocese of Enugu in Nigeria has expressed its gratitude to God and the faithful following the release of Father Marcellinus Obioma Okide, who had been abducted on September 17. Father Wilfred Chidi Agubuchie, the chancellor of the Enugu Diocese, said: “We are glad to inform you that our brother and priest, Father Marcellinus Obioma Okide, has been released from the den of the kidnappers.” Nigeria has been experiencing insecurity since 2009 when Boko Haram insurgency began with the aim of turning the country into an Islamic state. Since then, the group, one of largest Islamist groups in Africa, has been orchestrating indiscriminate terrorist attacks on various targets, including religious and political groups as well as civilians. The case of Okide is the latest in a series of kidnappings and murders in Africa’s most populous nation involving members of the clergy, seminarians, and other Christians. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255468/abducted-priest-in-nigeria-released-diocese-grateful The Diocese of Rome on Monday said it is anticipating thousands of pilgrims in attendance at an ecumenical prayer vigil at the Vatican later this week, with the event scheduled ahead of the start of the historic synod taking place in Rome in October. The diocese said in a press release that “approximately 3,000 people” are expected to attend the event “Together — Gathering of the People of God” being hosted in that city over Friday and Saturday. The prayer service is occurring just days before the launch of the 16th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which will take place in Rome over the course of October. The vigil “will be an opportunity to entrust the work of the [synod] to the Holy Spirit,” the diocese said. Hundreds of visitors are expected from numerous countries including France, Hungary, Vietnam, and the United States. Nearly 500 are projected to come from Poland alone. The overall synod itself — dubbed the “synod on synodality” due to its focus on synodality, or collaboration and participation among the Catholic faithful in the furtherance of the Church’s mission — is occurring over the course of several years. Next month’s gathering of bishops is the first of two major assemblies, with the second planned for October of next year. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255464/diocese-of-rome-says-thousands-expected-at-vatican-for-ecumenical-prayer-vigil-ahead-of-synod California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, sued five pro-life pregnancy centers September 21 over their promotion of a drug that is meant to reverse chemical abortions. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/255466/california-ag-sues-pro-life-pregnancy-centers-over-abortion-pill-reversal-drug Today, the Church celebrates Saints Cosmas and Damian, twins born to Christian parents in Arabia, in the third century. They lived in the region around the border between modern day Turkey and Syria. They were physicians who were renowned for their skill as well as their refusal to charge for their services. Their charity and Christian witness won many converts to the faith and earned them a place of prominence in the Christian communites of Asia Minor. They were both martyred by beheading. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/sts-cosmas-and-damian-606