• January 31
  The Press Office of the Holy See informed that the Holy Father accepted the resignation from the pastoral government of the archdiocese of Mérida, Venezuela, presented by Cardinal Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo, archbishop of Caracas. He was succeeded by Helizandro Terán Bermúdez, O.S.A., until then coadjutor archbishop of that metropolitan see.

• January 30
  L'Osservatore Romano informed that Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, president of the Pontifical Commission for the State of Vatican City and president of the Governatorate of the State of Vatican City, solemnly took possession of the deaconry of Santa Maria della Mercede e Sant’Adriano a Villa Albani. Arriving in the Roman church in via Basento, the cardinal of the Legionaries of Christ was welcomed by the parish priest Giuseppe Celano, of the Order of Our Lady of Mercy, who presented him with the crucifix for kissing and veneration. Then the Spanish cardinal presided over the Mass, concelebrated, among others, by Cardinals Arthur Roche, prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and Giuseppe Bertello, president emeritus of the Pontifical Commision for Vatican City State and of the Governatorate of Vatican City; by Archbishop Renato Boccardo, by Bishops Brian Farrell, Paul Tighe and Aurelio García Macías; by the superior general and the vicar general of the Legionaries of Christ, Fathers John Connor and Hernán Jiménez; by Father Rafael García de la Serrana Villalobos, of the clergy of the personal prelature of Opus Dei, director of the infrastructure and services directorate of the Governorate; and by the religious of the Mercedarian community of the parish. Monsignor L'ubomír Welnitz, pontifical cerimoniere, directed the rite. Among those present were Sister Raffaella Petrini, of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist, general secretary of the Governorate; Gianluca Gauzzi Broccoletti and Davide Giulietti, respectively commander and deputy commander of the Gendarmerie Corps.

• January 30
  The Press Office of the Holy See informed that the Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the office of prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and of president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America presented by Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S. To succeed him, the pope named Robert Francis Prevost, O.S.A., until then bishop of Chiclayo, Perú, conferring on him at the same time the title of archbishop-bishop emeritus of Chiclayo. He will take possession of the position April 12, 2023.

• January 30
  The Office of Liturgical Celebrations informed that on Sunday February 5, 2023, at noon, Cardinal Peter Ebere Okpaleke, bishop of Ekwulobia, Nigeria, will take possession of the title of Santi Martiri dell’Uganda a Poggio Ameno, Via Adolfo Ravà, 31, Rome.

• January 26
  The Press Office of the Holy See informed that the Holy Father accepted the resignation from the pastoral government of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, presented by Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, S.D.B. To succeed him, the pope named Reverend Father José Vicente Nácher Tatay, C.M., until then pastor of San Vicente de Paúl in San Pedro Sula (Honduras) and regional superior of the Congregation of the Mission in Honduras.

• January 25
  Additional details have been included in the biographical entries of Pseudocardinals François de Meez, O.S.B.Clun. (1440); Bernard de La Planche, O.S.B. (1440); Juan de Ragusa, O.P. (1440); Johann Grünwalder (1440); and Juan de Segovia (1440), kindly provided by Mr. Francisco Vázquez, from Valencia, Spain.

• January 23
  The Office of Liturgical Celebrations informed that on Sunday January 29, 2023, at 11:30 a.m., Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, L.C., president of the Pontifical Commission for the State of Vatican City and president of the Governatorate of the State of Vatican City, will take porssession of the deaconry of Santa Maria della Mercede e Sant’Adriano a Villa Albani, Via Basento, 100, Rome.

• January 21
  Additional details have been included in the biographical entry of Pseudo-cardinal Bernard de La Planche, O.S.B. (1440), kindly provided by Mr. Francisco Vázquez, from Valencia, Spain.

• January 17
  The Examiner informed that the body of Cardinal George Pell, archbishop emeritus of Sydney, Australia, will lie in state at St Mary's cathedral in Sydney ahead of a Requiem Mass and private burial service on February 2.
  Arrangements are being made for his body to be returned to Australia for burial in the crypt of St Mary's cathedral. The cardinal will lie in state at the cathedral from 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, February 1, Sydney's Catholic archdiocese said in a statement on Tuesday evening.
  His successor as archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, O.P., will be the principal celebrant at the Pontifical Requiem Mass for the cardinal, starting at 11 a.m. on Thursday, February 2 before his burial in a private ceremony.
  In a statement on Tuesday evening the St Mary's cathedral dean, Father Don Richardson, said that thousands of mourners from Australia and overseas are expected to attend the Mass. The Mass will be livestreamed on the St. Mary's cathedral You Tube Channel to allow overseas mourners to participate in the ceremony. Father Richardson said screens will be erected in the cathedral forecourt to accommodate the large numbers of mourners expected to attend to pay their respects to Cardinal Pell who served as archbishop of Sydney from 2001 to 2014.
  For mourners unable to attend the Funeral Mass on February 2, there will be Masses for the late cardinal at the cathedral on Wednesday, February 1 at 1:10 p.m. and 8 p.m.

• January 17
  The Press Office of the Holy See informed that the Holy Father named Cardinal Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo archbishop of Caracas, Venezuela, until then apostolic administrator sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of Caracas. He is also archbishop of Mérida.

• January 14
  Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop emeritus of Genoa, Italy, turned eighty years old and, according to the regulation in the seventh paragraph of the introduction of the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis, lost the right to participate in the conclave.

  The number of cardinals is 223. The cardinal electors are now 124; and the cardinal non-electors are now 99.

• January 13
  Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, was decorated as bailiff grand cross of honour and devotion of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta.

• January 12
  La Croix Africa informed that on January 11 and 12, 2023 took place the funeral ceremonies for Cardinal Richard Kuuia Baawobr, M.Afr., bishop of Wa, Ghana. The Mass was presided by Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, chancellor of the pontifical Academy of Science and of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. Father Stanley Lubungo, superior general of the Missionaries of Africa, pronounced the homily. Thousands of faithful, political and traditional authorities paid homage to the late cardinal. Several African cardinals and bishops concelebrated the Mass. At the end of the ceremony, Henryk Mieczysław Jagodziński, titular archbishop of Limosano, apostolic nuncio to Ghana, read the message of condolence from the Holy Father and prayed for the eternal rest of the late cardinal. President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, also paid homage to the late bishop of Wa. The late cardinal was buried in Saint Andrew's cathedral in Wa.

• January 12
  The Office of Liturgical Celebrations informed that on Saturday January 14, 2023, at 11:30 a.m., at the Altar of the Chair of St. Peter's Basilica, will take place the funeral for Cardinal George Pell, of the title of S. Maria Domenica Mazzarello, archbishop emeritus of Sydney, Australia, and prefect emeritus of the Secretariat for the Economy. The funeral liturgy will be celebrated by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, together with the other cardinals and the archbishops and bishops. At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, the Holy Father Francis will preside over the rite of the Ultima Commendatio and the Valedictio.

• January 11
  After learning the news of the death of Cardinal George Pell, archbishop emeritus of Sydney, Australia, prefect emeritus of the Secretariat for the Economy of the Holy See and of Vatican City, of the title of S. Maria Domenica Mazzarello, the Holy Father sent Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, a telegram of condolence.

• January 10
  ACI Stampa informed that Cardinal George Pell, prefect emeritus of the Secretariat for the Economy and archbishop emeritus of Sydney, Australlia, died today in Rome. The cardinal died following some complications that arose after hip surgery on the same day. He was 81 years old.
  After the death of Cardinal Pell the number of cardinals is 223; 125 are electors and 98 are non-electors.

• January 10
  Additional details have been included in the biographical entries of Cardinals Adam Joseph Maida (1994); Seán Patrick O’Malley, O.F.M.Cap. (2006); Velasio de Paolis, C.S. (2010); Kelvin Edward Felix (2014); Luigi De Magistris (2015); Cornelius Sim (2020); Augusto Paolo Lojudice (2020) and Enrico Feroci (2020) kindly provided by Mr. Eman Bonnici, from Malta.

• January 6
  The Conferência Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil (CNBB) asks the faithful, the missionary ecclesial communities and Brazilian dioceses to pray for the health of the archbishop emeritus of São Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, Cardinal Geraldo Majella Agnelo, who is 89 years old. He has been in a hospital in Londrina for 17 days "and his state of health inspires care".

• January 6
  L'Osservatore Romano published the deed for the pious transit of His Holiness Benedict XVI Pope Emeritus: Obitus, depositio et tumulatio Benedicti XVI, pp. emeriti, sanctae memoriae

• January 5
  Requiem Mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Vatican News, YouTube.

• January 2
  L'Osservatore Romano informed that gratitude and affection are being expressed, in these hours, by the people who, in the style of prayer, are paying their last respects to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Since this morning, the body of the late pope emeritus has been on display in St. Peter's Basilica. At 7 a.m. the transfer took place from the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, in the Vatican Gardens, where he died at 9:34 a.m. on Saturday December 31. The basilica will remain open today until 7 p.m.; Tuesday January 3rd and Wednesday January 4th from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.. The funeral will be celebrated on Thursday January 5, at 9:30 a.m., in Piazza San Pietro. The rite will be presided over by Pope Francis who, on Saturday December 31 in the morning, having heard the news of his death, immediately went to the Mater Ecclesiae monastery. At the end of the funeral, the Pope Emeritus will be buried in the Vatican Grottoes, in the same chapel where the body of Pope John Paul II and, previously, of Pope John XXIII were placed.

• January 1
  The Press Office of the Holy See published the first photographs of the body of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in the Monastery Mater Ecclesiae at the Vatican.

• As of January 1, 2023, the members of the College of Cardinals are 224; 125 are electors and 99 are non-electors, having lost their right to participate in the conclave when they turned 80 years old, according to the regulation in the seventh paragraph of the introduction of the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici gregis. During this year, eleven cardinals will turn 80. They are: Angelo Bagnasco, January 14, 1943; Domenico Calcagno, February 3, 1943; Dominik Jaroslav Duka, O.P., April 26, 1943; Crescenzio Sepe, June 2, 1943; Giuseppe Versaldi, July 30, 1943; Angelo Comastri, September 17, 1943; Patrick D’Rozario, C.S.C., October 1, 1943; Leonardo Sandri, November 18, 1943; Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, December 5, 1943; Jean Zerbo, December 27, 1943 and Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, December 28, 1943.

• From January 1 to December 31, 2022, the cardinals' site received 93, 162 visits as well as numerous electronic messages with comments, corrections, and additional information. The counter records only the initial visit to the site and not the ones to other sections on the same occasion. On January 1, 2023, the number of visitors to the site since January 1, 2002, was 2,707,193. The site contains the biographical entries of the 4,495 pre-cardinals, cardinals, quasi-cardinals and pseudocardinals identified between 494 and 2022.

©1998-2023 Salvador Miranda.