Friday, January 17th 2025 Established 1905 27 Brickdam, Stabroek, Georgetown, Guyana Year 120, No. 2
Best gift a child can receive is faith, pope says at baptisms - p2 Gaza Catholics celebrate as Israel and Hamas agree to ceasefire - p3 Pope injures arm in a fall - p3 A Christian Perspective on Social Issues - p4 Sunday Scripture - p5 Haiti bishop describes ‘suffocating’ chaos due to gangs - p6 Don’t lose hope, pope says as he opens Holy Door at Rome prison - p7 Cuba to release 553 prisoners for Jubilee at pope’s request - p7 Pope Francis' autobiography released in 80 countries - p8 Prayer for the Week for Christian Unity - p8 Children’s Page - p9 President Biden awards Pope Francis Medal of Freedom - p10 Baptism & First Communion at Fair View - p11 Consecration of new church at site of Jesus’ baptism called a sign of hope for region - p12 Jubilee 2025 Calendar of major events - p13 Diamond holds Jubilee Planning Meeting - p14 Saint of the Week - p14 VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As Christian churches prepare to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will focus on affirming the Nicene Creed and its expression of the faith Christians share.
Materials for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Jan. 18-25 are prepared each year by the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity and Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches.
Pope Francis is scheduled to close the week with an ecumenical prayer service at Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls Jan. 25. The pope and Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch (please turn to page 8)
attend CEAMA Assembly prep meeting
Bishop Francis Alleyne, OSB and Fr. Joel Thompson, SJ were in
Peru January 13th-14th for a meeting to prepare for the 3rd
Assembly of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon (CEAMA), which takes place in August this year. This week’s meeting brought together eight Bishops from the seven Episcopal conferences of the Amazon (Antilles, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela), six theologians, and the organizing commission of CEAMA. The purpose of the meeting was to define the challenges for a synodal Church with an Amazonian face and to create a methodology for listening to all the Bishops of the Amazon (around 120 in total) during the 3rd Assembly of CEAMA in August.❖
Bishop’s Engagements Sunday, January 19th to February 2nd Retreat for Bishops, Belo Horizante, Brazil Monday, February 3rd - Return to Guyana During my absence for the period January 12th to February 3rd all matters relating to the Diocese could be referred to my Office and Reverend Ronald Fernandes, SJ - Vicar General.
Francis Alleyne OSB