Edition of Wednesday, October 28

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Vietnam issued a statement regarding Vu Minh Hung, who was reportedly ordained a bishop by the Old Roman Catholic Church.

Little Flower Home, an established nonprofit organization in Ohio, plans to open a Catholic maternity home in Columbus. The organization is currently searching for a property to house pregnant women age 18 and older who are experiencing housing instability.

The home intends to provide material assistance and support for mothers and infants through the child's first year of life. The organization's founding board is developing life-skills programs, formation training, and daily routines for the residents. The board is currently meeting to discern the establishment of the home and organize its committees.

The Diocese of Sicuani employment and youth program held a theoretical and practical workshop on cultivating oyster mushrooms on October 21. The training took place at the I.E. Simón Bolívar in the San Pablo district of Canchis province.

66 students from various educational institutions in the Canchis and Canas provinces participated in the session. The attendees represented schools in Maranganí, Tinta, Pampaccalasaya, San Pablo, Layo, El Descanso, and Sicuani.

An engineer provided technical instruction and guided the students through the practical process of planting the edible mushrooms. The diocese organized the workshop to provide technical skills for local productive projects and youth entrepreneurship.

Approximately 600 pilgrims walked from Ballarat to Bendigo for the annual Christus Rex Pilgrimage. Held over the last weekend in October to honor the feast of Christ the King, the event follows the 1962 Tridentine calendar.

Now in its 36th year, the pilgrimage is described as the first known Traditional Catholic pilgrimage in Australia. Participants stayed in parish halls during the journey.

Bishop Mark Freeman is encouraging members of the Diocese of Ballarat to enroll in a 2027 leadership formation program focused on synodality. The program, titled "Identity and Mission in the Synodal Church," will be held in partnership with Catholic Theological College.

The initiative follows a pilot program that enrolled 20 participants and stems from themes identified during the Ballarat Diocesan Assembly in late 2024. The upcoming phase is supported by a bursary from the Therese D’Orsa Mission Fund. Participants will study the theological, ecclesiological, and cultural frameworks that inform leadership and mission within Catholic communities.

The curriculum consists of three interconnected sessions designed to help participants develop a synodal praxis project for their specific parish, school, ministry, or diocesan setting. The first session is scheduled for December 5, 2026, to establish the cohort's purpose and introduce the theological foundations of the course.

The Colorado Catholic Conference published a report detailing how the Colorado bishops approach public policy regarding educational opportunity and school choice. The report is part of a ten-part series on the public policy priorities of the bishops in Colorado.

The series states that the Catholic Church teaches parents are the primary educators of their children. This principle informs the bishops' stance on protecting the right to choose educational options for students.

The Australian Catholic University (ACU) Aquinas campus in Ballarat celebrated 35 years of operation on October 25. Alumni, staff, students, and community partners gathered at the campus to recognize its history and its role in regional education.

The campus has a history of teacher education in Ballarat dating back to 1909, when the Sisters of Mercy founded the Aquinas Training College. While the campus remains a center for teacher formation, it has expanded to include professional training in fields such as paramedicine, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy.

The celebration included recognition of the partnerships between the university and local schools, including the Diocesan Catholic Education Ballarat (DOBCEL), which employs many ACU alumni.

Room at the Inn named its new complex for Fran and Paul Breitbach during the organization's 27th annual fundraiser in Greensboro. The Breitbachs, who are parishioners at St. Leo the Great, provided the gift to launch the Promise Center in Kernersville.

The center will house a support services center, a volunteer building, an education center, and a childhood development center. Bishop Michael Martin praised the Breitbachs in a video message, noting their long-term support for the Church and ministries like Room at the Inn.

Since 2001, Room at the Inn has provided housing for more than 600 homeless mothers through maternity shelters and has assisted thousands of others through community resources and educational programs. Founder Albert Hodges, a parishioner at Our Lady of Grace, stated that the organization seeks to support young women in building better lives.

Rita Buettner suggests using a prayer basket to remember the deceased during the month of November.

Each year at the start of November, Buettner writes the names of deceased loved ones on slips of paper and places them in a basket. Every morning throughout the month, she draws one name to serve as the daily prayer intention. When possible, she contacts friends to inform them that their loved one was included in the day's prayers.

The Diocese of Charlotte will host the Discipleship Conference on Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Hickory Convention Center. Formerly called the Diocesan Catechetical Conference, the event has been renamed to reflect the pastoral vision and baptismal call of the diocese, according to Christy Cabaniss, director of faith formation.

The conference is open to anyone seeking to grow in faith and leadership. Kenn deMoll, director of innovation and formation at St. John Church in Westminster, Maryland, will deliver the keynote address titled "The Ministry Reset: Rethinking Challenges, Reimagining Possibilities."

Other scheduled presentations include a session by Jaun Ayala and Mary Briganti regarding connecting youth to the Catholic faith after high school, as well as a talk on the role of accompaniment and mentorship in ministry. The event returns to Hickory after being held in various locations across the diocese in previous years.

More than 500 youths from various parishes in the Madang Archdiocese participated in a Marian Motorcade on Friday, 23rd of October.

The procession featured a statue of the Blessed Mother followed by trucks carrying youth from different parishes who sang songs of praise. The motorcade began at Alexishafen and included stops at 4 stations/alters along the route.

The Archdiocese of Miami stated that the transition from Halloween to All Souls' Day offers the Catholic faithful a focus on the promise of eternal life and hope beyond death.

A proposed federal tax credit scholarship program would fund need-based scholarships for K-12 education, which the Archdiocese of Miami says could help South Florida families afford Catholic schools. This would be the first federal tax credit scholarship program in the United States.