Five Things To Remember On Feb. 20

1. Bishop Richard E. Pates of the Diocese of Des Moines is Chair of the USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace. Yesterday, he wrote congress to commend sponsorship of H.R. 301, a bill to establish a Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia. He wrote: “Such an envoy, working in partnership with the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom and the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom, can address the particularly complex and dire situation of religious minorities in the region.

2. Despite Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy ending next Thursday, in some ways it is business as usual at the Vatican, according to a Catholic News Service report.

3. So much is being written about who will succeed Pope Benedict XVI that it is helpful to remember how exactly a new pope is chosen.

4. Still, it was revealed by a Vatican spokesperson Wednesday that Pope Benedict XVI could make some late-minute rule changes to the conclave.

5. God loves you.