World AIDS Day is December 1. There are 37 million adults and 2.5 million children living with this disease. Pope Benedict XVI has appealed for solidarity with those living with and otherwise affected by HIV/AIDS throughout the world. There is an urgent need to mobilize the Catholic community and the general public to fight the HIV/AIDS crisis. Resources are available at: National Catholic AIDS Network, www.ncan.org/resources/liturgies/index.cfm, and USCCB Secretariat for African American Catholics, www.usccb.org/saac.

Washington (November 10, 2005) - Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Monsignor R. Walker Nickless,Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Denver, as Bishop of Sioux City, Iowa. He succeeds Bishop Daniel N. DiNardo, who became Coadjutor Archbishop of Galveston-Houston, Texas, in 2004. Ralph Walker Nickless was born May 28, 1947. He was ordained a priest on August 4, 1973.

Zenit.org - After watching the television film "John Paul II," Benedict XVI thanked God publicly for having given the world such a man. Thousands attended the showing November 18, including actor Jon Voight, who plays Pope John Paul II in the production. Benedict XVI, who often held his face with his left hand resting his elbow on the arm of the seat, did not miss a moment of the film on Karol Wojtyla, which includes the main events of his papacy, including the 1981 assassination attempt. Many details of the life of the Polish Pope were included, thanks to collaboration with the director of the Vatican press office, Joaquín Navarro Valls, and John Paul II's longtime personal secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz.

"Watching this film," Benedict XVI said, "has renewed in me and, I think, in everyone who had the gift of knowing him, a sense of profound gratitude to God for having given the Church and the world a Pope of such an exalted human and spiritual stature." The Holy Father also thanked the producers and cast of the movie. He added that "over and above any specific evaluation, I feel the film constitutes further proof ... of the love people have for Pope John Paul II, and of their great desire to remember him, to see him again, to feel him close." The four hour mini-series will be broadcast Dec. 4 and Dec. 7 in the United States on CBS.

More volunteers are urgently needed in the area of Mississippi heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina according to volunteer coordinator Caroline Bush of Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida. With the onset of cold weather, the need for homes to be gutted for mold abatement becomes more critical as people move back inside whenever possible.Volunteers are asked to coordinate their activities through Caroline Bush, to avoid duplication of or gaps in services. To volunteer, contact Caroline Bush at (850) 436-6410.

Escalating health care costs and lowered return on investments have dramatically affected religious capacity to fund retirement. This year’s national appeal for the Retirement Fund for Religious in parishes is December 11. Please give generously in your parish. For further information visit www.usccb.org/nrro.

Escalating health care costs and lowered return on investments have dramatically affected religious capacity to fund retirement. This year’s national appeal for the Retirement Fund for Religious in parishes is December 11. Please give generously in your parish. For further information visit www.usccb.org/nrro.