By Peter Jesserer Smith
(OSV News) – From the start of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ fall plenary assembly to its end, a resounding concern for the God-given dignity of immigrants, and for unity in teaching the faith clearly and renewing the country spiritually, dominated the days’ proceedings.

The first order of business for the bishops, at the start of the Nov. 10-13 gathering was to invoke the intercession of the Holy Spirit. More than 320 active and retired bishops joined the opening Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore Nov. 10.
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the USCCB and archbishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, reminded bishops in his opening homily of “their duty to be servants of truth,” and shared the story of a young airman who asked him “how to be a saint.”

The fall meeting was also Archbishop Broglio’s farewell as USCCB president after leading the bishops for the past three years through a National Eucharistic Revival, its first National Eucharistic Congress in more than eight decades, the recently concluded Synod on Synodality, and the election of the first American pope.

In his final presidential address, he emphasized the need for the bishops to model unity and help “convince people to listen to each other” amid polarization.

“We have to draw on our unity to illustrate that civil discourse is not only possible, but the most authentically human way forward,” he said.

For Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal ambassador, it was his first opportunity to address the bishops as Pope Leo XIV’s representative to the U.S. since the pope’s election in May. On the theme of unity, he emphasized continuity between the late Pope Francis and Pope Leo’s pontificates, while encourging them to look to the Second Vatican Council as their guide. As he has for the past several years, he encouraged them to develop a synodal culture that could help them unify the church at a time when many Catholics “identify more with tribes and ideologies than with the body of Christ.”

He said, “The synodal path invites us to a different way: a style of being church that makes communion concrete, allows dialogue to become discernment, and catholicity to become shared mission.”

The cardinal’s remarks about synodality, as a means to help the bishops bring about unity, were underscored by a Leadership Roundtable survey from the prior week. It showed that Catholics tend to give their parish pastors and parish high marks, yet a consistent “trust deficit” pattern prevails at the diocesan and national level.

The bishops elected new leadership for the next three years on Nov. 11, the first day of public meetings, choosing the conference’s secretary, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, as their next president out of 10 possible candidates. Archbishop Coakley won on the third ballot in a close run-off with Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas. The bishops then decisively chose Bishop Flores, the conference’s former doctrine committee chair and its point man on implementing synodality in the U.S., as vice president, succeeding Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori.

The following day, the bishops elected Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, as their next secretary. Archbishop Alexander K. Sample of Portland, Oregon, was selected to succeed Bishop Rhoades as chair of the Committee on Religious Liberty. The bishops then elected five other committee chairs: Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob of Milwaukee, for Canonical Affairs and Church Governance; Auxiliary Bishop Peter L. Smith of Portland, Oregon, for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs; Bishop William A. Wack of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, for Evangelization and Catechesis; Ukrainian Catholic Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of Philadelphia, for International Justice and Peace; and Bishop Mark W. O’Connell, newly named bishop of Albany, New York, for Protection of Children and Young People.

While many of the elections were close contests, the bishops’ voice on major issues – from teaching on immigration and gender ideology to public manifestations of Catholic witness and devotion – was overwhelmingly united in every vote.

On Nov. 12, the second public session of the gathering, the prelates approved a special pastoral message on immigration “to raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity.” They amended the message on the floor to clearly condemn “indiscriminate mass deportation” alongside their call to end “dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement.”
The bishops applauded and many got to their feet after it passed with a resounding 216 votes in favor, five votes against, and three abstentions.

The bishops’ plenary assembly heard a report on the immigration situation in the U.S. under the Trump administration, as well as a new initiative of solidarity with migrants called “You Are Not Alone.” In a press conference, Bishop Rhoades also revealed that the issue of the ability of Catholic immigrants in ICE detention to receive sacraments “is now at the top of our concerns.”

“Obviously, the beliefs of the church have political consequences, but they’re not political in the usual sense of the word,” Archbishop Richard G. Henning of Boston told OSV News, explaining the bishops’ special message was “a pastoral address to our people rather than an attempt to lobby.”

The bishops also heard about promising signs of progress in their ongoing efforts to resolve backlogs for religious worker visas with the Trump administration. Close to 90% of the nation’s Catholic dioceses rely on foreign-born clergy and religious.

The bishops also heard a presentation on revisions to their “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services,” which they approved the following day. They approved the new ERDs – 206 bishops voted yes, with eight abstaining and seven opposing – with substantial revisions from the previous version. They incorporate guidance issued in 2023 by the USCCB’s Committee on Doctrine, which prohibited surgical or chemical interventions seeking to exchange or simulate the sex characteristics of a patient’s body for those of the opposite sex.

The bishops also learned that a new English version of the Bible will be called The Catholic American Bible, which aims to unify American Catholics’ reading of Scripture from the Bible they use in the home to the readings they pray with in the liturgy. They also learned that the Vatican approved the new English edition of the Liturgy of the Hours – concluding a 13-year process of revision – and it would be available for everyone by Easter 2027.

As the U.S. marks its 250th anniversary next year, the bishops voted to consecrate the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in 2026, during their spring assembly in June, which concludes on the solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Before the bishops concluded the second and final day of public proceedings – the last day, Nov. 13, was spent in executive session – they approved holding an 11th National Eucharistic Congress in the summer of 2029 following a presentation by Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota. Bishop Cozzens, chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., which will organize the event, said Nov. 12 that a “Revival Impact Study,” which will be made public in December, has shown that a great deal of fruit resulted from the National Eucharistic Revival effort, which included the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis.

Bishop Cozzens said one of the gifts of the National Eucharistic Congress is the unity it brings to the whole church – something he saw at the 2024 event.

“I think we’ll experience that again in 2029,” he told OSV News. He said a theme is in development and the 2029 National Eucharistic Congress itself will be “a beautiful experience of the power of the Holy Spirit.”

(Peter Jesserer Smith is the national news editor for OSV News. OSV News’ Gretchen R. Crowe, Gina Christian, Kate Scanlon, Lauretta Brown and Julie Asher contributed to this report.)

AUSTIN, Texas (OSV News) — The Texas Catholic bishops Nov. 4 issued a warning about the effects of a soon-to-be-released plan to implement a federal appeals court order that will result in the loss of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals protections for an estimated 86,000 immigrants in the state.

The implementation “is imminently expected to change” the presence of DACA beneficiaries “from lawful to unlawful,” they said in a statement issued by the Austin-based Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, the church’s public policy arm in the state.

“We, the Catholic bishops of Texas, firmly resolve to respond with compassion and a call for justice for those who, through no fault of their own, are now being forced to abandon their homes, their livelihood and their communities,” the statement said.

Commonly known as DACA, the program has been the focus of a seven-year back-and-forth legal battle in federal courts since 2018, with numerous rulings, appeals and modifications to its status.

The latest development came on Jan. 17 of this year, when the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order after its review of a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas that declared the DACA program to be unlawful.

“While largely affirming the lower court’s ruling, the Fifth Circuit narrowed the ruling to apply only to Texas,” according to an Oct. 30 memo issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “It also separated the issues of protection from deportation and work authorization. The case was returned to the lower court for implementation of the Fifth Circuit’s order, and further guidance from the district court is expected soon.”

The case is now before U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, Texas, who will determine how to apply the appeals court ruling.

On May 1, 2018, Texas — joined by Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia — filed suit in the district court challenging the legality of the program. The suit, Texas v. United States, accused then-President Barack Obama and his administration of unlawfully and unilaterally granting what amounts to “citizenship” to “otherwise unlawfully present aliens” when it approved the DACA program in 2012.

The plaintiffs argued that DACA recipients increase state costs for education, health care and law enforcement; the district court ruled that Texas had standing to challenge the program and that it was unlawful. The 5th Circuit affirmed that Texas had standing to challenge DACA “based on the financial burden imposed by the presence of DACA recipients” and also found the program to be “substantively unlawful.”

Launched by an executive order from Obama, the program enables employment authorization and temporary protection from deportation to immigrants (commonly called “Dreamers”) brought into the U.S. by their parents as minors without legal authorization. Those eligible must have arrived before age 16, resided continuously in the U.S. since June 15, 2007, and have been under age 31 as of June 15, 2012.

According to KFF (formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation), as of Sept. 30, 2024, there were about 538,000 DAC recipients from nearly 200 different countries of origin in the U.S.

Federal officials proposed an implementation plan of the 5th Circuit’s order on Sept. 29, the USCCB memo said. Briefing by the parties has been scheduled through Nov. 24, with the district court’s detailed plan expected shortly after that.

Under the government’s plan, DACA recipients living in Texas who have a two-year renewable work permit would be given 15 days’ notice that the authorization is being revoked.

Similarly, according to data from the USCCB, “those with a work permit based on DACA who lived in other states and moved to Texas would be given that same 15 days’ notice going forward. However, the district court may introduce a different timeline for any changes to take effect.”

The 5th Circuit’s order “undermines each of these persons’ basic human right to seek work and to support a family,” the Texas bishops said. “It is contrary to the facts to claim that our state is harmed by DACA recipients lawfully working here. Instead, this kind of unprecedented and disruptive action by our government will harm our communities by fomenting fear, severing relationships, disrupting business and removing some of the most upstanding individuals from our community.”

“This decision will impact virtually every community in Texas by removing the lawful presence for DACA recipients who live in Texas,” they said.

DACA recipients would still be allowed to find employment in other states, according to The Texas Tribune. The news outlet also reported that Judge Hanen will also review a Department of Justice plan “that would see the government start accepting new DACA applications for the first time in four years,” though those applicants could not apply for work permits in Texas.

“The present distress in our country regarding immigration is the result of decades of unwillingness on all sides to enact reasonable and meaningful immigration reform, reform which respects both national security needs and the human right of each person to work and raise a family in peace,” the bishops said.

Implementation of the 5th Circuit’s order, they continued, “will harm our communities by fomenting fear, severing relationships, disrupting business and removing some of the most upstanding individuals from our community.”

Across the U.S., Christians account for approximately 80% of all of those at risk of Trump’s mass deportation effort, with the single largest group of affected Christians being Catholics, according to a joint Catholic-Evangelical report published by World Relief.

The report found one in six Catholics (18%) are either vulnerable to deportation or live with someone who is.

The Catholic Church’s Latino community is the most potentially affected by the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations. According to Pew Research Center data released in June, more than four out of 10 Catholics in the U.S. are immigrants (29%) or the children of immigrants (14%); but eight out of 10 Hispanic Catholics are either born outside the U.S. (58%) or are the children of immigrants (22%). 

ICE enforcement methods have become a major flashpoint with the Catholic Church, as various groups have charged ICE treatment of detained migrants is violating their human dignity, and that the rights of detained Catholics to receive the Eucharist and other sacraments have not been respected. The Department of Homeland Security has rejected such claims.

The Texas bishops reminded federal and state authorities “of the importance of proper training and supervision” for agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“No violent actions should ever be taken or justified to harm law enforcement officials or their families,” the bishops said. “The human dignity of law enforcement officers themselves is violated when they are expected to consider brutal and inhumane methods to enforce these decisions.

“We are pastors of ICE agents and DACA recipients, undocumented persons and families whose security is threatened,” they said. “This decision will only exacerbate fear and distrust, pit community members against one another, and cause significant economic disruption for many communities.”

The bishops added, “We want to say unequivocally to all our immigrant sisters and brothers, and in a particular way to those who arrived as children: We have heard your cries. We are with you in these difficult days.”

By Kate Scanlon Gina Christian, OSV News

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – A coalition of Catholic organizations held prayer vigils across the country on Oct. 22 for what organizers called “a national day of public witness for our immigrant brothers and sisters.”

The vigils came amid growing concern from some faith communities — including a Catholic parish in Chicago — about the impact of the Trump administration’s rollback of a policy that prohibited immigration enforcement in sensitive locations, such as churches, schools, and hospitals.

The “One Church, One Family: Catholic Public Witness for Immigrants,” vigils took place in multiple locations around the country on Oct. 22. A second series of events is scheduled for Nov. 13, the feast day of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, universal patroness of immigrants.

The grassroots initiative was spearheaded by the Jesuits West province, with additional sponsors including Jesuit Refugee Service USA, the Ignatian Solidarity Network, Maryknoll, Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Pax Christi USA, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services and several orders of women religious.

The protest and prayer vigil in the nation’s capital took place in front of the headquarters for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as ICE employees entered the building and as rush-hour drivers occasionally honked at the group in apparent acknowledgment.

“We wanted to be a witness,” Judy Coode, communications director for Pax Christi USA told OSV News at the Washington vigil.

“Both as Catholics and also as U.S. citizens, we have a responsibility to bear witness to injustices that we see,” Coode said. “And so part of our tradition is to pray publicly. We have the right to do that, and so we take advantage of that, and we want to bear witness to those who are in power, who are making decisions. We want to call to their consciences, ask them to consider praying for another outcome, praying for another way to be.”

The day before the vigils, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, objected on social media to a CBS News article about pastors expressing concern that fear of ICE raids is keeping some of their congregants away from church. In a post on X, DHS claimed it was “PROTECTING innocent people in our churches by preventing criminal illegal aliens and gang members from exploiting these places of worship.”

“DHS’s directive gives our law enforcement the ability to do their jobs. Our agents use discretion and have secondary supervisor approval before any action can be taken in locations such as a church or a school,” the post said.

In the CBS report, ICE Director Todd Lyons claimed that despite the rollback, houses of worship are not a target.

However, earlier in October, reports of ICE agents near St. Jerome Catholic Church in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood prompted warnings of caution from its pastor, although a spokesperson for ICE denied the church was targeted, NBC Chicago reported.

The rollback of the sensitive locations policy is among the Trump administration’s immigration actions that have been met with criticism from the U.S. bishops. They recently offered their support to a lawsuit challenging the policy change, submitting an amicus brief, sometimes called a friend-of-the-court brief, to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

“The church is a sanctuary and refuge,” Art Laffin, a member of Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House, told OSV News at the Washington vigil.

Immigration enforcement actions in churches, he said, would be “a terrible sin and injustice, and so it really calls for all the people of God to stand together with those who are being targeted and criminalized, whether it’s in the sanctuary or whether it’s in the streets.”

Catholic social teaching on immigration also balances three interrelated principles — the right of persons to migrate in order to sustain their lives and those of their families, the right of a country to regulate its borders and control immigration, and a nation’s duty to regulate its borders with justice and mercy.

Sister of St. Joseph Bethany Welch, part of the national planning team for “One Church, One Family,” told OSV News in a phone interview Oct. 22, “It’s essential that we stand in solidarity, particularly with our brothers and sisters who are being detained.”

Sister Bethany had attended the Oct. 12 binational pilgrimage led by Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas, apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Tucson, Arizona, as part of a mission to stand in solidarity with migrants. She said her participation in the “One Church, One Family” Oct. 22 vigil at an immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey, was a continuation of that effort — and of “the Gospel call to be attentive to those who are being harmed or marginalized.”

While immigrants are often seen “as other,” she said, “in fact, they are part of our church.”

Across the U.S., Christians account for approximately 80% of all of those at risk of Trump’s mass deportation effort, with the single largest group of affected Christians being Catholics, according to a joint Catholic-Evangelical report published by World Relief. The report found one in six Catholics (18%) are either vulnerable to deportation or live with someone who is.

“The church in Philadelphia, the church in Newark, the church in D.C. has been built and sustained through various histories of migration, whether that be Irish immigrants or Latin American immigrants or African or Haitian, etc.,” said Sister Bethany. “So often, as we become more prosperous or have more advantage, we forget our origins and our own humble beginnings.”

She added that “lack of memory,” along with a “scarcity mindset” — which fails to see that God’s love, compassion and mercy are “enough for all of us” — lie at the core of anti-immigrant sentiment.

According to Pew Research Center data released in June, more than four out of 10 Catholics in the U.S. are immigrants (29%) or the children of immigrants (14%). Eight out of 10 Hispanic Catholics are either born outside the U.S. (58%) or are the children of an immigrant (22%), while 92% of Asian Catholics are either immigrants (78%) or are the children of an immigrant (14%). In contrast, the vast majority of white Catholics are three generations or more removed from the immigrant experience: just 6% were born outside the U.S., with another 9% born in the U.S. to at least one immigrant parent.

Sister Bethany said the “One Church, One Family” vigils are “an invitation to remind ourselves where we came from,” she said.

Several dozen participants at a “One Church, One Family” vigil in Philadelphia, which took place outside of that city’s ICE offices, reflected on Christ’s announcement of his earthly mission to the poor, the blind and the captive, as recounted in Luke 4:16-30.

“Who are the poor among us who need to hear the Gospel, and who are the blind who need to recover their sight?” asked Sister of St. Joseph Linda Lukiewski, one of the event’s speakers.

Sister Linda — whose longtime ministry has included assignments in Central America and among U.S.-based Latino communities — responded, “I believe that the poor among us who most need to hear the Gospel are those who lack a sense of compassion and a sense of justice, who suffer from poverty of right judgment, and who are deficient in the knowledge that we are all brothers and sisters, and that we all deserve respect and dignity. I believe the poor among us are those starving for power and domination.”

Peter Pedemonti, founding member and co-director of New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia — an immigrant advocacy nonprofit based on Catholic teaching — noted in his address that “we are standing in front of some captives right now.” He said “at least four people” had been arrested by ICE that morning and were in detention in the building behind vigil participants.

“Let us hold those people who are in holding cells behind us in our hearts, in our prayers,” said Pedemonti.

He also urged those present to “let our hearts break over and over again” so that such detentions do not become “normal.”

(Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News based in Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon. Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X @GinaJesseReina. OSV News national news editor Peter Jesserer Smith contributed to this report.)

NOTES: More information on the One Church, One Family vigils can be found here: https://1family.us/

By David Werning , OSV News

(OSV News) — At the end of our earthly lives, our faith tells us there will be four last things: death, judgment, hell and heaven. Reflecting on such ominous topics in the month in November can seem quite appropriate for both the pessimist and the optimist alike.

On the one hand, the pessimist, who focuses exclusively on his or her demise, finds the cold, dark nights of late fall and early winter, with the season’s gaunt and barren trees, a perfect composition of death.

The optimist, on the other hand, while acknowledging the inevitability of death, takes comfort in the seeds of life that are buried beneath winter’s snows and that will rise again “like wheat that springeth green.” November’s two great feasts — All Saints and All Souls — remind one of the lasting hope we have in Jesus, who has saved the world by his cross and resurrection. The forces of darkness cannot overcome him who is the light of the world.

Clearly, bringing Jesus’ saving acts to bear upon the four last things makes all the difference. Without faith, death can be seen in a merely utilitarian way. Rather than being an experience that one “lives,” including reflecting on it and preparing for it, death becomes something to be forestalled at all cost when one’s life is going well and hastened when one’s life becomes unbearable.

Thus life itself becomes simply another possession that one can have or throw away, rather than a gift to be experienced. Moreover, without faith, judgment and hell and heaven are parts of a grand fairy tale made up by weak people unwilling to face “reality” (see “Evangelium Vitae,” No. 22).

The Christian, by contrast, sees the four last things precisely as parts of a very real and profoundly meaningful life with God that extends beyond the grave. Indeed, life cannot be understood fully without acknowledging all four. Each of them reflects God’s love and mercy and justice in its own way.

Given the promises of Jesus — that he would, once and for all, destroy the power of death and open the gates of heaven — every Christian (and everyone searching for the truth) should develop a healthy appreciation of the last things. Death, judgment, hell and heaven — understood in relation to Christ — must be a part of one’s overall examination of life.
Otherwise, one may miss the blessings such an examination brings.
Worse, if God and his truth are shut out willfully, one may suffer the fate of the damned (see “Gaudium et Spes,” No. 19; “Lumen Gentium,” No. 16).

Death

Among the four last things, death is seen by both believers and nonbelievers as the end of the physical existence human beings enjoy on this earth, but that’s where the agreement ends. A faithless view stops at the grave; there’s nothing more to consider. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, sees death within the context of God’s revelation, and there’s a lot more to consider.

Based on Scripture and tradition, and ultimately on Jesus’ witness, the church recognizes death as the just punishment for the freely chosen sins of human beings: “God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. For he fashioned all things that they might have being. … It was the wicked who with hands and words invited death” (Wis 1:13-14, 16; see also Wis 2:23-24).

In the creation stories found in the book of Genesis, the authors convey the truth that God created a universe that is good, and it is designed according to his laws. God also created human beings to enjoy a relationship with him, which was to be marked not only by fidelity to his will but also by stewardship of his creation and even by the generation of new life. God made human beings in his image, male and female he made them: a communion of persons (reflecting the Trinity) who enjoyed — each one of them — the gifts of reason and free will.

In other words, when making man and woman, God did not desire automatons, but sons and daughters who would choose freely to love each other and their creator.

Human beings, however, chose not to honor their relationship with God, but instead invited death into the world by committing the original sin: rejecting the world as God created it and, instead, asserting themselves as equals to God. Hence the separation from God and the loss of mortal life. Before the first sin, human beings had eternal communion with God as a gift. After sin, an eternity without God is a real possibility.

But it’s not the only possibility. God, who gave the gift of freedom to man and woman, is supremely free. He could have responded to sin in a number of ways: scrap everything and start again, or create a new world with new creatures. God responds, however, by honoring the relationship with human beings, even though they did not. And he does so in a just and merciful way that allows both the consequences of sin to follow (i.e. death) and the gift of freedom to remain intact.

In a word, God’s response is Jesus. From the moment man and woman sinned, God set into motion his plan of salvation. Human beings could never offer an adequate recompense for their sins, so God offers it for them in the person of Jesus (see Rom 5:17). In effect, God opens the floodgates of his love. The world that had been marred by sin is thoroughly bathed in love through Jesus, “who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light” (2 Tim 1:10).

The sinless one dies for the sinners. What could underscore so powerfully the goodness of creation and, at the same time, the evil of sin? What could convince human beings better — or more gently — that God still desires their eternal happiness than his responding to the evil of sin not with anger, not with bloodlust, but with love?

Jesus has saved the world through his life, death and resurrection. Human beings now have the opportunity to accept salvation, to turn back to God by receiving his forgiveness and yielding to his will and, after dying themselves, to enter eternal life.

Understood in the light of Jesus, death takes on a new meaning. It no longer has power over a person who abides in Jesus, for that person has been freed “from the law of sin and death” and received “the spirit of life in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:2). St. Paul received this revelation more fully than most and ordered his life upon it: “For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. … I am caught between the two. I long to depart this life and be with Christ, (for) that is far better. Yet that I remain (in) the flesh is more necessary for your benefit” (Phil 1:21, 23-24).

St. Paul grasped the essential meaning of Jesus’ saving grace for humankind. While living, he was already united to Jesus, for the kingdom of God was already present in a hidden way (see Lk 17:20-21) and, by his ministry, Paul could bring more people to the faith as well. As for death, that would only deepen the union with Jesus.

Therefore, death need not be hastened or forestalled, but can be greeted with serenity when it comes. Passing from this life to the next is simply moving from one way of living in Jesus to another. St. Paul tried to peel away a bit of the mystery by saying, “that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility, and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortality” (1 Cor 15:53). Indeed, the Scriptures show that Jesus’ body had been transformed after the resurrection (see Mk 16:12; Lk 24:16; Jn 20:14, 21:4). The meaning is this: For one who remains faithful to Jesus, life is changed, not ended, at death.

Judgment

The church’s teaching on death can have both a comforting and sobering effect. It is comforting to know that life continues, but the fact that one’s time on this earth is limited should bring some weightiness to one’s decisions. But if death fails to do this, then the church’s teaching on judgment hopefully will (note that the church uses “man” in the universal sense, meaning “man and woman”): “Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven — through a purification or immediately — or immediate and everlasting damnation” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1022). There will also be a universal (or last) judgment of the entire universe at the end of time (see CCC, Nos. 1038-1041).

The basic meaning of the church’s teaching about judgment is that the choices one makes have value — they can be good or bad. Also, God determines the value of one’s choices and metes out the appropriate reward or punishment. This teaching tends to evoke two dominant feelings in people: fear and satisfaction.

Fear, of course, is not a bad feeling to have if one is living a sinful life; it might even prompt one toward conversion. Fear, in the sense of awe, is appropriate too, for God is able to judge everyone and every act in perfect justice and mercy. Only God knows the depths of each person’s heart; only he knows the advantages and disadvantages a person had; only he knows the full circumstances of every person’s life and every situation. God knows the full truth and will judge accordingly. The only bad kind of fear to have is one that is distrustful of God’s judgment, for how could God mistreat the very people he created and saved out of love?

Satisfaction is the other common feeling many people have regarding God’s judgment, which is good if by “satisfaction” one means a sense of contentment concerning God’s ultimate victory over all evil. A person who is content with God’s judgment is able to work diligently for justice on earth without vindictiveness or impatience, knowing that every good effort made at telling the truth, building solidarity, or righting wrongs cooperates with God’s victory. A “satisfaction” that hungers for revenge is not a good thing, for it reveals a distrust in God’s perfect judgment, which will have the final word (see Rom 12:17-21).

Hell

After a person has been judged, he or she will spend eternity in one of two states: hell or heaven. (Many people think of “hell” and “heaven” as places, but they are more accurately denoted vis-à-vis the relationship with God.) Hell is defined by the church as the “state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed” (CCC, No. 1033). God’s judgment in such a case would be to allow the person’s choice to take effect, as the Catechism relates: “God predestines no one to go to hell; for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end” (CCC, No. 1037).

The very mention of “hell” can cause some people to cry “unfair” (placing them in a long tradition going back at least to when Ezekiel was writing; see chapter 18). How could a loving and merciful God allow anyone to suffer eternal damnation? Other people even ignore hell and maintain that Jesus, who loves everyone, will also save everyone. Granted, the thought of hell may be horrifying, but the words of Jesus are clear: “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all evildoers. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth” (Mt 13:41-42).

To understand the terrible mystery of hell, the church directs people to the mystery of freedom, which is a gift human beings have from God. It is a gift that bestows great dignity and enables the person “to initiate and control his own actions” (CCC, No. 1730). But freedom also means that the person is responsible for his or her choices. “The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to the ‘slavery of sin'” (CCC, No. 1733).

Ultimately saying no to hell means saying yes to God. Again, God does not want robots that are forced to love him, but true sons and daughters who choose to love him and their brothers and sisters in freedom. Nevertheless, if they have the freedom to love, then they also must have the freedom not to love. The latter choice leads to hell.

Heaven

The alternative to hell is heaven, and whereas hell is the state of eternal separation from God, heaven is its opposite: “This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity — this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed — is called ‘heaven.’ Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness” (CCC, No. 1024).

And just as a person gets to hell by how he or she lives on earth, so it is with heaven. The crucial difference is that the person who chooses heaven uses his or her freedom to make every effort at yielding to and accepting God’s grace. Another difference is that a person can get to hell by oneself, but getting to heaven involves the whole body of Christ, head and members, as St. Paul reminded the Corinthians: “encourage one another and build one another up” (1 Thes 5:11).

The essence of heaven is the relationship that human beings enjoy with the Holy Trinity (which includes all the saints), a perfect communion that restores the order God intended when he first created everything. In fact, the church teaches that, following the Last Judgment, not only humanity but also the entire universe will be transformed into its glorified state (CCC, No. 1060). For human beings this means a reunification with their bodies, now immortal through the grace of the resurrection (see CCC, No. 1052).

Still, to enjoy this communion, human beings must act on God’s grace now, here on earth. What this means, practically speaking, is honoring one’s relationships as God intended. The book of Genesis suggests “that human life is grounded in three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbor and with the earth itself” (“Laudato Si’,” No. 66). Sin disrupted these relationships, resulting in separation from God, alienation among neighbors and disharmony with the earth. God’s love in Jesus has made it possible to restore all three.

The choice is before each human person: to love as Christ loves, faithful to the Father, united in the Spirit, and working for the salvation of all. If a person joins this work now, he or she will experience its perfection in heaven.

The four last things properly understood in the context of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection need not be so ominous. For example, in what is most likely an apocryphal account, the story is told about St. Bonaventure eating a meal with his fellow friars. One of them asks Bonaventure what he would do if Jesus were to initiate the Last Judgment at that very moment. And Bonaventure answers, “I’d finish eating my soup.” Apocryphal or not, it captures well the peace, even in the face of death and judgment, of one who abides in Jesus

(David Werning writes from Virginia.)

By John Knebels , OSV News

(OSV News) — She prayed with college basketball players before games, counseled them after losses, and reminded them that faith, not fame, was the real victory.

Now, Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, the spirited chaplain who became a national symbol of joy, devotion and perseverance, has completed her earthly journey.

Sister Jean, a Sister of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and longtime chaplain of the Loyola University Chicago men’s basketball team, died Oct. 9. She was 106.

For many Americans, Sister Jean became a household name during Loyola’s stunning run to the 2018 NCAA Final Four, when she was 98 years old. Sitting courtside in her maroon-and-gold scarf, she offered pregame prayers, postgame analysis and the occasional strategic suggestion — earning the affection of fans, players, and coaches nationwide.

Yet long before “March Madness” made her famous, she had already spent decades forming minds, shaping hearts and witnessing to Christ’s love through education and service.

“While we feel grief and a sense of loss, there is great joy in her legacy,” said Loyola President Mark C. Reed. “Her presence was a profound blessing for our entire community, and her spirit abides in thousands of lives.”

A month prior to her death, Loyola had confirmed Sister Jean had officially retired from on-campus work amid growing health concerns, according to The Loyola Phoenix, the student newspaper.

Born Dolores Bertha Schmidt in San Francisco on Aug. 21, 1919, she entered the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1937 and took the name Sister Jean Dolores. She began teaching at Catholic schools in California and Chicago before arriving at Mundelein College in 1961, which later affiliated with Loyola. By 1994, she had joined Loyola’s men’s basketball program as an academic adviser and later team chaplain — a position she held for three decades.

Her spiritual encouragement often blended faith with practical wisdom. During her 106th birthday in August, she urged Loyola students to “make new friends, talk to your old friends,” and to “become the people that God has decided you will be.” Her signature message — “Worship, Work, Win” — became both her personal motto and the slogan that adorns a banner inside Loyola’s Gentile Arena.

“Sister Jean Dolores was a woman of prayer, a dedicated educator, and a bearer of hope,” said Sister LaDonna Manternach, president of her religious order. “She saw God present in all that surrounded her and trusted in His goodness.”

Beyond basketball, Sister Jean led weekly student prayer groups and founded SMILE (Students Moving Into the Lives of the Elderly), pairing Loyola students with residents of The Clare, the assisted-living community she called home. Her influence reached far beyond campus, touching thousands who encountered her through interviews, speaking events, and her bestselling memoir, “Wake Up With Purpose!: What I’ve Learned in My First Hundred Years” (2023).

Over the years, she received numerous honors: induction into the Loyola Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017, the Sword of Loyola in 2018, proclamations from Illinois Gov.J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, and even an apostolic blessing from Pope Francis on her 100th birthday. On her 105th birthday, President Joe Biden recognized her for a lifetime of faith-filled service.

When the news of her passing spread, tributes poured in across social media.

“Sister Jean, our beloved friend and inspiration, went home to the Lord today,” Cardinal Blase J. Cupich said in a statement posted on X. “She nurtured the mind and spirit of her students and all who came to know her with dedication, a firm belief in our faith, and a sharp sense of humor. May she rest in the peace she so richly deserves.”

For Loyola fans, her memory will forever be entwined with that magical 2018 season — when the underdog Ramblers captured the nation’s imagination and, in the eyes of many, proved that prayer and perseverance could move mountains.

But for Sister Jean, the real victory was always deeper.

“Don’t let anybody stop you,” she told students on her last birthday. “You are the future leaders of our churches, our schools, our country and our world.”

A celebration of her life and ministry will be held at Loyola University Chicago at a date to be announced.

John Knebels writes for OSV News from suburban Philadelphia.