The Church of St. Luke

Having deported four bishops for their criticism of the regime, the Nicaraguan dictator seeks to punish them further by not allowing any ordinations in their dioceses.

WASHINGTON – Pope Leo XIV has appointed Reverend Godfrey Mullen, O.S.B., as Bishop of Belleville. Bishop-elect Mullen is a monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey, and current administrator of the Diocese of Belleville. The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on March 13, 2026, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The following biographical information for Bishop-elect Mullen was drawn from preliminary materials provided to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Father Mullen was born January 22, 1966, in Salem, Illinois. He studied at St. Meinrad College in Indiana where he received a bachelor’s degree in history (1988), a master’s degree in theology (1991), and a master of divinity (1994); he received a Ph.D. in liturgical studies from The Catholic University of America (2003). Father Mullen made his solemn monastic profession with the Order of Saint Benedict on August 15, 1992, and he was ordained to the priesthood on June 5, 1994.

Bishop-elect Mullen’s pastoral assignments include: professor of liturgy at St. Meinrad College in Indiana; rector of St. Benedict Cathedral in Evansville, Indiana; rector of Saint Peter Cathedral in Belleville, Illinois; pastor of Blessed Sacrament parish, and of Queen of Peace parish in Belleville, Illinois. He has also served as vicar general of the Diocese of Belleville and has been apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Belleville since May 9, 2025. Bishop-elect Mullen has authored several articles and books about liturgy.

The Diocese of Belleville is comprised of 11,678 square miles in the State of Illinois.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) --The Catholic Church is made up of diverse people who are united by their faith in Christ and are called to welcome all of humanity, Pope Leo XIV said during his weekly general audience.

“Its unifying principle is not a language, a culture, an ethnicity, but faith in Christ,” he said in St. Peter's Square March 11.

Continuing his series of reflections on the Second Vatican Council, the pope focused on the Dogmatic Constitution "Lumen Gentium," which describes the Church as the “People of God.”

The Church is the assembly of “all those who in faith look upon Jesus,” he said, united not by nationality or culture but by their shared faith in Christ.

Pope Leo said this understanding is rooted in the Bible, pointing to God's covenant with Abraham and the people of Israel, which prepared the way for the new covenant established through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

The pope said love is the law that governs relationships within the Church, as believers receive and experience it through Jesus. Through Christ, believers from every nation are united in faith, he said. The Church is the people of God who “draw their existence from the body of Christ and who are themselves the body of Christ.”

Rather than turning inward, the pope said, the Church must remain open to everyone.

“Unified in Christ, Lord and Savior of every man and woman, the Church can never turn inwards on herself, but is open to everyone and is for everyone,” he said.

In a world marked by conflict and division, Pope Leo added, the diversity of the Church is a sign of hope.

“It is a great sign of hope -- especially in our times, marked by so many conflicts and wars -- to know that the Church is a people in which women and men of different nationalities, languages and cultures live together in faith,” he said.

Before greeting Italian-speakers, the pope said he was close to the Lebanese people "in this moment of grave trial," following the death of Father Pierre El-Rahi. The Maronite priest was killed in an Israeli bombing of southern Lebanon March 9. The pope said his funeral was to be held March 11 in Al-Qlayaa, a Christian village. 

"In Arabic, ‘Adrachi’ means shepherd. Father Pierre was a true shepherd who always remained close to his people with the love and sacrifice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd," he said in Italian. "As soon as he heard that some parishioners had been wounded in a bombing, without hesitation, he ran to help them."

Before the audience, Pope Leo met privately with Cardinal Dominique J. Mathieu, Archbishop of Tehran and Isfahan, Iran. The Belgian cardinal, who is a member of the Franciscans, arrived in Rome March 8 after being evacuated along with every member of the Italian Embassy, where he is based. 

During the general audience, Pope Leo asked for prayers of peace in Iran and throughout the Middle East, above all for the many civilian victims and innocent children. 

"May our prayer be a comfort to those who suffer and a seed of hope for the future," he said.

“Spiritual intelligence is being attuned to God,” the bishop of San Ignacio de Velasco in Bolivia, Robert Flock, explained.

In a statement, the Archdiocese of Tuxtla Gutiérrez stated that the priest’s body was found near Laguna Verde, an ecotourism center located about 12 miles from his parish.

As poor living conditions worsen in Cuba, accelerated by the U.S. oil embargo, Caribbean bishops appealed for assistance to reach those most in need without political manipulations or delays.

With the communist government of Cuba under extreme pressure from the economic crisis of its own making and a U.S.-imposed oil embargo, exiled Cuban opposition leaders outlined the way to democracy.

A Mexican priest is at the center of controversy for sending letters on behalf of two high-profile drug traffickers in U.S. custody.

In Mexico for a meeting with security officials regarding combatting drug trafficking, U.S. drug czar Sara Carter visited the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

While migration into Mexico from the south and from Mexico to the U.S. has significantly decreased, it hasn’t completely stopped, and challenges still remain for Catholic migrant shelters there.