Vatican

Young members of the clergy who are tempted to avoid the complex realities of the world — finding solace and safety instead in the sacred — can be vulnerable to the illusions of the mafia, said the priest heading a new department on the Mafia and other criminal networks.

The roughly 15,000 members of the Society of Jesus, their collaborators and many people who draw on the spiritual heritage left by St. Ignatius of Loyola are preparing to mark a special Ignatian Year beginning May 20 and lasting until the saint’s feast day, July 31, 2022.

Calling for formal recognition of “those lay men and women who feel called by virtue of their baptism to cooperate in the work of catechesis,” Pope Francis has instituted the “ministry of catechist.”

Marking the beatification of an Italian judge murdered by the Mafia, a Vatican office announced the formation of a working group on “the excommunication of mafias.”

While millions of laypeople around the world are recognized as catechists in their parish or diocese, Pope Francis is preparing to formally institute the “ministry of catechist.”