As Pope Leo XIV neared his 70th birthday Sept. 14, those closest to the American-born pontiff said they knew, very early on, that he was in for lifelong service to the Church.
Priesthood
When Father Parker Thompson walked through the doors of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Frisco for his ordination last year, the occasion marked the grand culmination of years of prayer, discernment, and formation, according to the priest’s parents, Kathi and Bryan Thompson.
The number of Catholics and permanent deacons in the world rose in 2023, while the number of seminarians, priests, men and women in religious orders, and baptisms all declined, according to Vatican statistics.