COLORADO SPRINGS. This morning, the Vatican announced that Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop James Golka as the ninth bishop of Denver. Archbishop-designate Golka will be installed on Wednesday, March 25 at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. He succeeds Archbishop Samuel Aquila, who turned 75 last September.

Bishop Golka will be introduced to the archdiocese at a press conference today at 10 a.m. at the John Paul II Center. The press conference will be livestreamed at: https://archden.org/live-events.

On Jan. 7, Pope Leo XIV announced that his topic for upcoming general audience catechesis is the re-reading of the Vatican II documents.

“It is a valuable opportunity to rediscover the beauty and the importance of this ecclesial event,” he said. “The generation of bishops, theologians and believers of Vatican II is no longer with us. Therefore, while we hear the call not to let its prophecy fade, and to continue to seek ways and means to implement its insights, it will be important to get to know it again closely, and to do so not through ‘hearsay’ or interpretations that have been given, but by rereading its documents and reflecting on their content. Indeed, it is the Magisterium that still constitutes the guiding star of the Church’s journey today.”

The 2025 Jubilee Year was a year of conversion, growth and deepening of faith for the young adults at St. John Henry Newman Chapel and Catholic Student Center.  It was a reminder of our mortality and that we are pilgrims on earth who have great hope and anticipation for the coming of the kingdom. 

COLORADO SPRINGS. Bishop James Golka issued the following statement in response to the death of Pope Francis:

DENVER. The four bishops of Colorado issued a joint statement Jan. 23 through the Colorado Catholic Conference as President Donald Trump signed various executive orders related to immigration and citizenship requirements.

COLORADO SPRINGS.  An Indian priest serving in the Diocese of Grand Island in Nebraska is now asking the community to help him find a kidney donor.

Venerable Henriette Delille is the foundress of The Sisters of the Holy Family. Born in 1812, she was a descendant of enslaved people and a free woman of color. As her grandmother’s namesake (Henriette Labeau), she was “destined for eldercare.” Henriette enjoyed caring for aunts, uncles, great aunts, and great-uncles, as well as cousins who were scattered through the city.  She was also instructed by her mother in the art of nursing.  How to prepare medicines for the sick and using roots and herbs with curative properties was a skill that was passed on from mother to daughter by these colored nurses. After receiving the sacrament of confirmation,  Delille clearly became a woman committed to the Lord. Her guiding motto, written in a prayer book, captures what defined her heart and spurred her vocation: “I believe in God. I hope in God. I love. I want to live and die for God.”

VATICAN CITY. For centuries a feature of holy year celebrations has been the indulgence, which the church describes as a remission of the temporal punishment a person is due for their sins.

During the Holy Year 2025, which will open at the Vatican Dec. 24 and close Jan. 6, 2026, Catholics can earn a Jubilee Indulgence by passing through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica, fasting for one day of the week from “futile distractions” such as social media and working to defend human life or assist migrants and refugees.

VATICAN CITY. The Vatican has clarified that Catholics in the United States must still attend Mass on holy days of obligation even when they are transferred to Mondays or Saturdays, correcting a long-standing practice in the U.S. Church but causing some short-term disparities in the way the rule is applied.

BISMARCK, North Dakota. In 2012, when Michelle Duppong, who was about to become director of adult formation for the Diocese of Bismarck, North Dakota, asked Jacqueline Matta Balzer if she could be her roommate, Balzer had no idea she was dealing with a possible future saint. Still, “You could just sense there was a holiness about her,” Balzer recalls.