WASHINGTON - Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of the Most Reverend Patrick J.  Zurek, 77, from the Office of Bishop of Amarillo. At the same time, he has appointed His Eminence Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, archbishop emeritus of Galveston-Houston, as the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Amarillo to serve until the appointment and installation of the new bishop.

The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington, D.C. on February 14, 2026, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States. 

The Diocese of Amarillo is comprised of 25,800 square miles in the State of Texas.

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The Prefect of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life has been called to serve as a Member of the Dicastery for Bishops, together with Sister Raffaella Petrini and María Lía Zervino, who were appointed by Pope Francis in 2022.

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Pope Leo XIV meets with members of the National Confederation of the Misericordie of Italy, and encourages lay people to live out the Christian faith in acts of charity that respond to the needs of our times.

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As the Church marks the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Fr. Edmund Power reflects on the theme: “On tablets of human hearts”.

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Pope Leo XIV publishes a chirograph abolishing the Pontifical Committee for the World Children’s Day, established by Pope Francis in 2024.

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About 600 participants from 10 pastoral centers come together in Siem Reap, Cambodia for the first pastoral gathering of clergy, religious, and lay leaders for “communion, mission and shared service”.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican released Pope Leo XIV's message for Lent, which begins Feb. 18 on Ash Wednesday.

Titled, "Listening and Fasting: Lent as a Time of Conversion," the papal message asked Catholics to come together as a community to listen to the word of God and to the vulnerable.

The pope also invited the faithful to engage in a "very practical and frequently unappreciated form of abstinence: that of refraining from words that offend and hurt our neighbor."

Instead, he asked, "let us strive to measure our words and cultivate kindness and respect in our families, among our friends, at work, on social media, in political debates, in the media and in Christian communities. In this way, words of hatred will give way to words of hope and peace."

Lent is a time to "place the mystery of God back in the center of our lives, in order to find renewal in our faith and keep our hearts from being consumed by the anxieties and distractions of daily life," the pope wrote. 

The pope's full message can be found in English and in Spanish. 

 

Ahead of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore releases a pastoral letter inviting Americans to thank God for their nation while working for political renewal.

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A United Nations aid worker has been killed in Gaza despite a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and the Israeli military.

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Pope Leo XIV appoints Sister Nina Benedikta Krapić, MVZ, an official of the Dicastery for Communication, as Deputy Director of the Holy See Press Office, taking the place of Cristiane Murray, who has stepped down from the position she has held since July 2019.

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