Pope Leo XIV spends the evening of July 4, 2026, with U.S. ambassador Brian Burch and his family, where they discussed peace and freedom, and the Burch family presented the pope with a U.S.A. World Cup jersey, a baseball and an apple pie. (OSV News photo/courtesy U.S. Embassy to the Holy See)
(OSV News) – After spending the morning praying for migrants on the island of Lampedusa, Italy, Pope Leo XIV celebrated the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See and his family.
“I am deeply honored to celebrate this special day with a fellow American and the Bishop of Rome,” Ambassador Brian Burch said, in a post on X.
Further posts on X said that the ambassador and Pope Leo “discussed President Trump’s bold leadership and American efforts to pursue peace, religious freedom, and the need for moral clarity and courage around the world.”
They also indicated that Pope Leo had received “a USA World Cup jersey, a commemorative Freedom 250 baseball, and a homemade apple pie” from the Burch family, the post said.
In a message to journalists, the Holy See Press Office July 4 confirmed the visit, saying, “welcoming an invitation from the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, the Holy Father visited the ambassador’s residence on the evening of Saturday, July 4, on the occasion of the national holiday.”
The post thread added that Pope Leo had confirmed during the visit that he is rooting for Team USA in the World Cup.
IN EXILE By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI Darkness is only bad because there is light. Sin can only happen if first there is love.
Karl Rahner makes a very insightful comment about the text in the Gospels where Jesus is being crucified and says of his executioners: “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do!”
Rahner suggests that they knew exactly what they were doing. They knew they were putting an innocent man to death, that they were shedding innocent blood. So why does Jesus say what he said?
What was their innocence? What was their naivete?
Rahner’s answer: They didn’t know what they were doing because they didn’t know how much they were loved. And that can make for a naivete of the heart. How so?
There’s a place inside us, a place of which we are rarely consciously aware, where each of us is being held unconditionally in love by God. The people who crucified Jesus didn’t know what they were doing because they weren’t aware of that. That was their blindness, their ignorance. Despite what it looks like on the surface, they didn’t know what they were doing.
This is also true for us. Far too often we crucify others and ourselves because of this ignorance: we don’t know how much we are loved. Consequently, we’re sometimes cruel in our judgments and prone to do things which compromise our dignity. We struggle not to be one of the executioners at the crucifixion because, at the end of the day, we are acting out of ignorance. We don’t know any better, like the naivete of the child who hurts herself in ignorance.
But this isn’t a new insight.
Theology has classically drawn a distinction between culpable and inculpable ignorance. The latter, also called invincible ignorance, was seen to excuse one from sin and responsibility. Hence, there was the teaching that you could do things that were wrong but not sinful because you were acting in ignorance. This was predicated on the belief that you could act morally and responsibly only if you actually knew what you were doing. To sin, you had to act “knowingly.” Granted, that’s a tricky caveat.
However, looking at our world today, I would risk saying that in a number of important moral matters, we are acting in invincible ignorance. Simply put, we don’t know any better. Only the type of ignorance that allowed sincere people to crucify Jesus can explain why we, good and sincere people, can be so massively blind, communally and individually, to the poor, to the economic and social demands made by our faith. The real reason we can live so comfortably as the gap between the rich and the poor widens is not because we are bad and without conscience, but rather, as Rahner says, we don’t know how much we are loved.
The same holds true for our attitude towards sex. We have been able to trivialize sex, split it off from the sacredness of marriage, and turn it into an extension of dating (or simply recreational sex) only because of a certain invincible ignorance. We don’t know any better, not because we lack conscience, but because we lack any real sense of the deep love of God and the dignity it gives us. Like Jesus’ executioners, we have an astounding capacity to rationalize, trivialize and compensate precisely because we don’t know what we’re doing. We don’t have a conscious sense of God’s love for us. Hence, it’s easy to lose perspective, feel excluded, and do things that we would never do if we were more aware of our full dignity.
Small wonder we settle for second-best or for most anything that promises comfort and security. Jesus, no doubt, is looking at us and saying: “Forgive them Father for they know not what they do!”
But is that true? Can we really plead ignorance and innocence and say that we don’t know any better?
I say yes, though it’s not that we’re stupid or lack intelligence. This is a naivete of the heart. We are inculpably unaware of how much God loves us.
Too few of us, at any existential level, have ever heard God say to us: “I love you!” Too few of us have ever heard felt what Jesus must have felt at his baptism when he heard his Father say: “You are my beloved child; in you I take delight!” Indeed, too few of us have ever heard another person, soul to soul, say to us, I love you unconditionally!In you I take delight! Is it a surprise then that, like Jesus’ executioners, we have an amazing capacity, in good conscience, to sometimes be blind and not true to ourselves?
Darkness is only bad because there is light. Sin can only happen if first there is love. Betrayal is only possible if first one has heard the words: “I love you.” Jesus’ executioners acted in a darkness that came from never having heard that. The same, I suspect, is true for many of us.
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser is a professor of spirituality at Oblate School of Theology and award-winning author.)
LAMPEDUSA, ITALY – Pope Leo XIV traveled to the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa July 4, laying a wreath at the graves of migrants who drowned trying to reach Europe and celebrating an open-air Mass in which he called on Catholics to be Good Samaritans offering compassion to those who suffer attempting make the perilous journey by sea.
“I have not come to give speeches, but to celebrate the Eucharist, the supreme sign of Christ’s presence among us. Jesus’ gesture of breaking bread to give himself gives meaning and strength to our daily acts of assistance and sharing,” Pope Leo told the crowd before offering Mass in a field overlooking Lampedusa’s main port.
Pope Leo XIV blesses a plaque at Molo Favaloro in Lampedusa, Italy, and dedicates the pier to Pope Francis as he visits the island, a key entry point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea, during a pastoral trip July 4, 2026. (OSV News photo/Reuters, Remo Casilli)
“Yes, this is a place where gestures speak more than words,” he added. “But gestures, to be human, require a heart. This is why we have gathered here: to draw from Christ the love that only He can give us, so that the world of today and tomorrow may be more human, for everyone.”
Lampedusa has for years been one of the main gateways to Europe for migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Tunisia and Libya, a journey that has claimed thousands of lives.
In April, the Italian coast guard recovered 19 bodies and rescued 58 people after intercepting a distressed dinghy about 80 nautical miles south of Lampedusa, according to the Associated Press. Last August, a boat carrying nearly 100 migrants capsized in international waters near the island, killing at least 26 people.
During his homily, Pope Leo described the seas surrounding Lampedusa as “as dangerous as the one that led down from Jerusalem to Jericho” in Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan in the Gospel of Luke.
“Here you have seen not just one, but thousands of human beings fallen into the hands of robbers who have taken everything from them, beat them brutally and walked away, leaving them half-dead,” he said. “The sea has claimed the lives of others … we feel their presence, which challenges us no less than that of those who have landed in need of attention and aid.”
The pope landed on the island, which sits closer to the coast of North Africa than to mainland Italy, just before 9 a.m. His first stop was a cemetery, where he laid a floral wreath on the tombs of migrants who died at sea. The pope then visited the “Porta d’Europa,” or “Gateway to Europe,” a monument on the island, where he walked hand in hand with migrant children on the windy summer day.
About 14,000 migrants arrived on Italy’s shores in the first six months of 2026, according to the UNHR. Nearly 60% of that number arrived in Lampedusa, which is only about 8 square miles in size.
While walking along the island’s rocky coastline, the wind blew the pope’s zucchetto off his head, which his personal secretary Msgr. Edgard Rimaycuna quickly retrieved.
From there, the pope traveled to the Favaloro Pier, where he blessed a plaque dedicating the pier to the late Pope Francis and greeted a group of migrants accompanied by the Red Cross before celebrating the Mass with about 4,000 people in attendance.
“I have come to thank you, brothers and sisters of Lampedusa, for the solidarity that so many of you have shown,” the pope told the crowd at the Mass. “The miracle of compassion … is an inner revolution that brings forth within us God’s ‘heart’ and broadens our thoughts, hearts and lives.”
Among those present at the papal Mass was 24-year-old Giuseppe Capizzi, who traveled eight hours on an overnight ferry with about 70 other people from his parish of St. Francis in Cancicatti, Sicily, to attend Mass with the pope.
“I’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time, and I’m absolutely thrilled,” Capizzi told OSV News.
Father Mikolaj Dobosz from Warsaw, Poland, traveled even farther to be present at the Mass.
The Polish priest, who has devoted the past few years to welcoming Ukrainian refugee mothers and children at his parish, said that he felt this was an important moment to pray with the pope for migrants and for people who are suffering.
“We work in Poland a lot with migrants, not from Africa or (the) Middle East, but from Ukraine mainly. I work with kids from Ukraine, and I’m really happy to pray with the pope for the people who are suffering,” Father Dobosz said.
One of the few Americans in the crowd for the papal Mass on U.S. Independence Day was Father Daniel Groody, a professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame and a member of the Vatican Dicastery for Integral Human Development.
“Pope Leo, especially now on the Fourth of July, is signaling what true freedom is about. True freedom is about the capacity to love,” Father Groody told OSV News.
“I think he’s continuing the tradition of the Church that has always recognized that everybody is created in the image and likeness of God, and that he really wants to bring out the dignity that’s often diminished in today’s society.”
Pope Leo’s visit comes 13 years after Pope Francis visited Lampedusa in July 2013, drawing attention to the island by choosing it as the destination of his first trip outside Rome after his election as pope, as a gesture of solidarity with migrants smuggled from North Africa.
During his visit, Pope Francis celebrated Mass on an altar built from the wood of wrecked migrant boats and condemned what he called the “globalization of indifference” toward people risking their lives to reach Europe.
Migration has remained a concern for Pope Leo since his May 2025 election. In June, he met with migrants and local aid organizations in Spain’s Canary Islands, another major entry point for people crossing from Africa, where he called on governments to establish legal and safe pathways for migration, strengthen rescue and assistance efforts, while also speaking of the “right not to have to migrate,” or the right of people to remain in their homelands free of hunger, war, persecution and violence.
“It’s just a great expression that Pope Leo, at the beginning of his pontificate, really has decided to come here to Lampedusa, as Pope Francis did, to recognize the Church must always be on the margins,” Father Groody said.
“The Church must always be accompanying those who are struggling to live a more dignified life and to really highlight the importance of the connection between faith and justice that’s really integral to our faith.”
Salvatore Sortino, who directs the International Organization for Migration’s coordination office for the Mediterranean, said that even as overall crossing numbers have declined since Pope Francis’ visit, the proportion of migrants who die at sea or fall victim to accidents during the journey has risen.
On Lampedusa, the IOM works with Italian authorities and humanitarian partners throughout the reception and assistance process, identifying trafficking victims and other vulnerable migrants so they can be referred to appropriate authorities and transferred to suitable facilities on the Italian mainland.
“The importance of search-and-rescue operations remains a central element of protection in the Mediterranean,” Sortino told Vatican Radio. “But opening legal pathways is eventually the real answer.”
Pope Leo’s Lampedusa visit came a day after the pope delivered a virtual address to a gathering at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, which awarded him its 2026 Liberty Medal for advancing religious liberty and freedom of conscience, in which he spoke passionately about the importance of the “right to life” from the moment of conception to natural death.
In his homily in Lampedusa, the Pope Leo said that Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan “tells us that love is always rooted in freedom, and freedom lies in the decisions we make.”
He said that “before any intellectual consideration or ideological conviction, the encounter with those who lie before us, stripped of everything, calls us to be close to them.”
“There are also those who choose not to be a neighbor,” the pope commented, adding, “it is time to recognize and affirm that religious affiliation must never become a reason for discrimination, as if faith had boundaries rather than being a universal call to salvation.”
“There is no love of God without love of neighbor, and there is no neighbor if I do not draw near. To pause, to be moved, to bend down, to weep before another’s pain – as Jesus did – means entering into the dynamic of love, the very movement in which God has revealed himself,” Pope Leo said.
An image of Our Lady of Portosalvo, Italian for “Our Lady of Safe Harbor,” to whom Lampedusa’s historic Marian shrine is dedicated, stood near the altar throughout the Mass.
“St. Augustine liked to describe human life as a voyage across a stormy sea and one’s destiny as a safe and secure harbor,” Pope Leo said. “In God we all have a safe haven, and every Christian community is called to be a reflection of it on earth.”
(Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney.)
By Tricia Buxton SINSINAWA, Wis. – Three Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa celebrate jubileesm who served in the Diocese of Jackson.
75 Years – Sister Barbara Bartek Dominican Sister of Sinsinawa Barbara Bartek, OP, will celebrate her 75 th jubilee Oct. 24, 2026. Born to Dr. Julius and Bernadette (Connor) Bartek in Omaha, Nebraska, she joined the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa in 1951 and received the religious name Sister Katharina. She earned her BA in biology from Rosary College (now Dominican University), River Forest, Ill., and MS in biology from St. Mary College, Winona, Minnesota.
Sister Barbara’s ministry has been dedicated to teaching, administration, pastoral ministry and health care. In Illinois, Sister Barbara taught at St. Barnabas School and St. Jarlath School in Chicago; Holy Trinity School, Bloomington; and Trinity High School, River Forest. She then served as principal and teacher at Sacred Heart Academy in Washington, D.C. In Colorado, she served as principal and teacher at SS. Peter and Paul Grade School, Wheat Ridge, and years later as pastoral associate at St. Dominic Parish, Denver. In Wisconsin, Sister Barbara served at St. John Cathedral High School, Milwaukee, and at Dominican High School, Whitefish Bay, as teacher and as principal. She served in various ministries at Sinsinawa Mound, the Motherhouse for the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters. Elsewhere, she was prioress at St. Dominic Villa, Dubuque, Iowa, and then served as clinic case worker at DePorres Health Center, Marks, Mississippi.
50 Years – Sister Mary Jane Quinn Sister Mary Jane Quinn, OP, will celebrate her 50th jubilee Oct. 24, 2026. Born to Marie (Magner) and Martin Quinn in Minneapolis, Minnesota, she made her profession with the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa in 1976. She received a certificate as radiology technologist from St. Catherine School of Radiology, Kenosha, Wis.; a certificate in gerontology from St. Mary of the Woods College, Ind.; a BA in social work from Carthage College, Kenosha; a certificate in CPE from Winchester House, Libertyville, Ill.; and her CPE from Emmanuel College, Boston.
Sister Mary Jane’s ministry has been dedicated to pastoral and clinical care. She was radiology tech at St. Catherine Hospital, Kenosha, and x-ray tech at Mercy Hospital, Merced, Calif.She served the Sinsinawa Dominican Congregation as vocation director for two years and then served in clinical pastoral care in Indiana, Illinois, and Massachusetts. She was clinic coordinator at Jonestown Health Center, Marks, Mississippi. She then served in pastoral care at Catholic Eldercare, Minneapolis; Holy Name Care Center, Spokane, Washington and at the Dominican Motherhouse, Sinsinawa, Wisconsin.
50 Years – Sister Sal Stanaway Sister Selina “Sal” Stanaway, OP, will celebrate her 50th jubilee Oct. 24, 2026. Born to Agnes (Monahan) and William Stanaway in Butte, Montana, she made profession with the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa in 1976. Sister Sal graduated with a BA in English from Carroll College, Helena, Montana; an MEd from University of Montana-Missoula; an MA in catechetics and liturgy from the College of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota; an MA in community service and administration from Regis College, Denver; and an MSW from the University of Tennessee, Memphis.
Her ministry has been dedicated to social work. She taught theology, English, and religion at Bishop Lynch High School, Dallas, Texas. Sister Sal then served as caseworker at the Brady Center, Richardson, Texas, and DePorres Delta Ministries, Marks, Mississippi, where she also served as social services director. She served the Sinsinawa Dominican Congregation as provincial councilor of the southern province and as social worker at St. Dominic Villa, Sinsinawa, Wisconsin.
By Kurt Jensen WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Independence Day is a reminder that Americans’ “inalienable rights” mentioned in the Declaration of Independence – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – are gifts from God, Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl said July 4 in the nation’s capital.
Cardinal Wuerl, the retired archbishop of Washington, delivered the homily at a Mass of Thanksgiving for America’s 250th anniversary held at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. The quietly dignified service was a cool reprise from the 100-degree heat and high humidity outside.
“We can claim to be free because we have been created free and equal by God,” Cardinal Wuerl said.
And that, he said, can be traced, in American history, all the way back to the Mayflower Compact in New England in 1620. The compact, he reminded the congregation, only had two elements: “The law of God and the need of the common good.”
In addition, American identity “doesn’t rest on blood ties, ethnic origin or national heritage.”
“Our beginnings as a nation celebrate our freedom,” the cardinal observed, calling on the congregation to “do our part now to honor that promise for everyone.”
Lightning strikes behind the illuminated Washington Monument as people gather to watch the fireworks during the Freedom 250’s Salute to America as the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary on Independence Day in the early morning of July 5, 2026, after the celebration was delayed by bad weather. (OSV News photo/Nathan Howard, Reuters)
In 1776, “We as a people collectively started down the pathway that eventually resulted in our national independence. We claimed our freedom as a nation and our civil liberties as a people,” he said.
This event, he added, “calls for our reflection, our celebration and our prayers of thanksgiving as we renew today our appreciation of our historic heritage and focus on the present effort today to live up to all those ideals that have so identified us as a nation and as a people.”
Thomas Jefferson, when he authored the declaration, told others that it did not contain ideas original to himself, but rather expressed “the common beliefs of people of his day,” Cardinal Wuerl said.
Jefferson would call the Declaration “an expression of the American mind and spirit, deeply rooted in the thoughts and faith of the American people,” he said.
As a result, the cardinal added, the many references of “our faith in God” should not come as a surprise to anyone.
“Even in this quintessentially civil declaration, we should not be surprised to find so many references to our faith in God,” he said.
So on the Fourth of July, “We renew our identity as a people who claim a God-given right: To life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Our beginnings as a nation have religious roots, deep in the convictions of the people in those original 13 states and those who we refer to as our founders,” he said.
Cardinal Wuerl, a native of Pittsburgh, was archbishop of Washington from 2006 to 2018.
One of the principal concelebrants was Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the new Apostolic Nuncio to the United States.
Delivering a message from Pope Leo IV, Archbishop Caccia said July 4, 1776, was “the defining moment in the history of the United States of America, and giving voice to the ideas of liberty, equality, pursuit of happiness, justice, and democratic types of government.”
Religious freedom, and the ability to practice one’s faith openly without fear, has long been central to the American promise, Archbishop Caccia said.
PEARL – Members of the Knights of Columbus worked behind the scenes preparing hot dogs and hamburgers for St. Jude’s July 5 celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary. Pictured are Jose Arellano, Jeff Paczak, Nat Zummo, and (back, from left) Basil Demarest, Caleb Hall and Jeff Alderman. The parish celebrated the occasion with food, fellowship and they even completed their goal of 250 hours of Eucharistic adoration honoring the anniversary. (Photo by Beth Paczak)
SPIRITUAL ENRICHMENT ALEXANDRIA, La. – Genesis of Eve Catholic Women’s Conference, Sept. 18-20 at the Randolph Riverfront Center. Spend time with Jesus in an Adoration service, access priests for confession, shop amazing Catholic artists, authors and vendors; and hear faith-filled Catholic speakers, including Kendra Tierney Norton, Rachel Bullman, Katie Prejean McGrady and Father Brice Higgenbotham. All are welcome. Open to ages 18+. General admission cost: $295.29. Details: visit www.genesisofeve.org.
CAMDEN – Sacred Heart, “Woke in Christ” Mission Revival, Sunday, Aug. 23 at 9 a.m. and Aug. 24-25 at 7 p.m. Guest priest is Father Anthony Bozeman, SSJ. Come be renewed. Encounter Christ. Live the mission. Refreshments will be served. All are welcome. Details: church office (662) 468-2354.
GRAND COTEAU, La. – St. Charles College, The Chosen retreat experience, Dec. 10-13. Calling all women to relax, restore and reconnect, using the hit series – The Chosen. Details: www.gcretrets.org or text Betsy at (985) 517-1019.
OXFORD – St. John the Evangelist, Catechist Workshop, Saturday, Aug. 1, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m, with speaker, Dr. Tom Neal. Details: register at https://bit.ly/oxford-catechist-event-26.
MADISON – Millions of Monicas will be praying at St. Catherine’s Village chapel (200 Dominican Drive), the second Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. When you arrive at the gate, let the team know you are joining the Millions of Monicas ministry. Please, mark your calendars for the following meeting dates: Aug. 11, Sept. 8, Oct. 13, Nov. 10 and Dec. 8, 2026. Details: call (601) 613-8526.
OLIVE BRANCH – Queen of Peace, Millions of Monicas, Thursdays from 6:15-7:15 pm. Join with other mothers as we pray to grow in holiness and for our children’s faithful return to the Church. Details: church office (662) 895-5007.
RIPLEY – St. Matthew, Liturgical workshop in Spanish, Saturday, July 25 from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. All are welcome. Details: church office (662) 993-8832 or stmatthewcatholicchurch@ripleycable.net.
YOUNG ADULTS – Young adults are invited to join the Archdiocese of New Orleans on a Pilgrimage to Seoul, South Korea, August 1-10, 2027. Details: contact James Behan at (504) 836-0551 ext. 3228 or email: yam@arch-no.org.
PARISH & YOUTH EVENTS BATESVILE – St. Mary, Rummage Sale, Aug. 7-8. Details: church office at (662) 563-2273.
GREENVILLE – St. Joseph, “Rainforest Falls: Exploring the Nature of God” Vacation Bible School, July 27-29. Details: church office (662) 335-5251.
JACKSON – Cathedral of St. Peter, ABIDE High School Youth Group Kickoff Event, Saturday, Aug. 29 from 7-9 p.m. in Bolton. Bring a chair and join us for food, games and fellowship. Group for 9th-12th graders. Details: Jodi at (601) 383-4720.
MERIDIAN – Catholic Youth of Meridian, Summer Retreat at Pine Lake Camp, July 25 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. from 5th through 12th graders. Cost: $15 Enjoy fun summer activities, build friendships and encounter Christ. Details: Kristen at (850) 305-1771.
OLIVE BRANCH – Queen of Peace, Indoor Yard Sale, Save the Date – Saturday, Aug. 1. Details: church office (662) 895 5007.
Queen of Peace, Family Bowling, Sunday, July 26 at 2 p.m. at Strik Zone in Southaven. Cost: $15.50 per person (must prepay). Fee includes two hours of bowling and shoe rental. Invite your family and friends – we need a minimum of 30 participants. Details: church office (662) 895-5007.
PONTOTOC – St. Christopher, Vacation Bible School, Saturday, July 25 for ages 14-17 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Details: Sister Raquel – raquelssnd@gmail.com.
DIOCESE EVENTS ENGAGED ENCOUNTER 2026: Aug. 28-30; and Oct. 2-4. Details: couples may register at https://jacksondiocese.flocknote.com/signup/230073 or email debbie.tubertini@jacksondiocese.org.
FALL FAITH FORMATION DAY: Save the Date – Sept. 19 at St. Francis of Assisi in Madison. Come for a day of learning, prayer and community for catechists, faith formation leaders, and all those involved in forming disciples of all ages.
MIDDLE SCHOOL FALL RETREAT – Registration is now open for the annual Middle School Fall Retreat. This year’s theme is “Others First” at Lake Forest Ranch, Oct. 17-18 for 7th and 8th graders. The retreat will be presented by Cooper Ray – Catholic speaker and worship leader. Cost: $75 per person with a registration deadline of Sept. 11. Contact your parish youth leader to sign up.
YOUNG ADULT PILGRIMAGE – Young adults ages 21-35 are invited on an unforgettable pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion in Wisconsin, the site of the only Church-approved Marian apparition in the United States. This eight-day pilgrimage, taking place May 15-22, 2027, includes visits to the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament, Ave Maria Grotto, Gethsemane Abbey, Saint Meinrad Seminary, the Basilica of Saint Louis King of France, Sister Thea Bowman’s gravesite and more. Daily Mass, prayer and fellowship will make this a journey to remember. Registration deadline: July 31. Cost: $925, includes admission to all pilgrimage stops, transportation, lodging and donations to shrines. Excludes cost of meals. Details: amelia.rizor@jacksondiocese.org.
(OSV News) – On July 1, the Society of St. Pius X, widely known as the SSPX, illicitly consecrated new four bishops without authorization from the Holy See, leading Pope Leo XIV to declare its bishops, clergy and formally affiliated laity to be in schism with the Catholic Church. Here’s a short primer on the SSPX, what happened and why it matters.
The SSPX formed in reaction to the Second Vatican Council. Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (1905-1991), a Frenchman who as a bishop had been a key Church leader in French Africa, founded the society of priests in 1970 in Fribourg, Switzerland. Its priests celebrate the sacraments according to the 1962 Roman Missal, which was issued prior to the Second Vatican Council, but which was replaced by revised liturgical texts in 1969. The society has now twice been excommunicated for consecrating bishops without the permission of the Holy See.
The society is based in Menzingen, Switzerland, with an international seminary in Écône, Switzerland, where the July 1 consecrations took place. In the United States, about 100 SSPX priests live in 20 houses, or “priories,” and are active around 120 locations, called “missions” or “chapels,” according to its website. Its U.S. headquarters are in Platte City, Missouri, about 30 miles north of Kansas City.
According to the SSPX, Archbishop Lefebvre chose St. Pius X, who had served as pope 1903-1914, as the society’s patron because of that pope’s commitment to the integrity of the priesthood.
Before the most recent schism, the SSPX had an irregular status with respect to the Catholic Church that first began decades ago. The society appears to have lost its ecclesiastical permission to exist by the competent ecclesiastical authority in 1975. A year later, Archbishop Lefebvre was suspended after ordaining priests against the express will of ecclesiastical authorities.
In 1988, St. John Paul II excommunicated Archbishop Lefebvre and four bishops he consecrated that year without papal mandate. Their episcopal ordinations were valid but illicit, or unauthorized.
All subsequent acts of orders by those bishops have been affected. Acts of jurisdiction are invalid – such as the witnessing of marriages and absolution of sins. Other sacramental actions are considered valid, though illicit.
In its July 2 decree issuing the excommunication, the Holy See explicitly stated that sacraments of penance and marriage proceeded within the society are invalid.
The SSPX should not be confused with other “TLM” communities. Many Catholic communities in communion with the Holy See celebrate Mass according to the 1962 Roman Missal, commonly called the traditional Latin Mass.
In 2007, Pope Benedict XVI issued “Summorum Pontificum,” which expanded permission to priests to celebrate the preconciliar Mass. In 2021, Pope Francis issued “Traditionis Custodes,” legislation that tightened use of the preconciliar form of the Mass. However, many bishops, including in the United States, have continued to make this form of the Mass available within the new parameters.
Priests who are members of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, for example, exclusively celebrate sacraments according to the 1962 missal and are in communion with the Holy See. (The society was formed in 1988 by priests who left the SSPX after Archbishop Lefebvre’s illicit bishop consecrations that year.) FSSP priests are active internationally and minister in 39 U.S. dioceses.
Other examples of religious orders dedicated exclusively to celebrating liturgy and sacraments in the form of the Roman rite celebrated prior to Vatican II that have regular status within the Catholic Church are the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest and the Institute of the Good Shepherd.
SSPX leaders say the society is not in schism, and they believe all sacraments and acts of jurisdiction are valid. However, Archbishop Lefebvre’s contentions with the Catholic Church included his refusal to adopt the post-conciliar reform of the order of the Mass, which the SSPX considers deficient or having “heretical elements.”
Archbishop Lefebvre and his followers also questioned, and in some cases publicly rejected, the very orthodoxy of teachings of the Second Vatican Council, especially the Declaration on Religious Freedom, “Dignitatis Humanae.” While some argued that this declaration amounted to a change in doctrine, the Church recognized it as a development of doctrine on the dignity of the human person.
In a statement that included a 28-page “Profession of Faith” published June 24, the SSPX said the Catholic Church is facing pressures from within and without “which push her in every possible direction, except – it seems to us – the right one.” Other Catholic teaching the SSPX dismissed in that statement included aspects of ecumenism, postconciliar liturgical reforms, synodality and religious freedom.
The Holy See has sought a path to full reconciliation. For decades, Vatican officials have sought ways to fully reintegrate SSPX members into the life of the Catholic Church. Talks between the Holy See and the society began under St. John Paul and continued during the pontificates of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. Pope Benedict lifted the excommunications of the four bishops in 2009, opening the way for more regular talks. The Vatican made clear the society at that point was in an irregular canonical state, but not in schism.
During the 2015-2016 Year of Mercy, Pope Francis made special provisions to validate the absolution offered by SSPX priests through the sacrament of confession. After the Holy Year ended, he extended that provision “lest anyone ever be deprived of the sacramental sign of reconciliation through the Church’s pardon.”
In April 2017, the late pontiff continued pursuing initiatives aimed at a reconciliation with the SSPX by allowing their bishops to ensure the validity of marriages celebrated in their traditionalist communities.
St. John Paul’s 1988 apostolic letter “Ecclesia Dei,” issued in response to the illicit consecrations, established a pontifical commission by the same name with the “task of collaborating with the bishops, with the departments of the Roman Curia and with the circles concerned, for the purpose of facilitating full ecclesial communion of priests, seminarians, religious communities or individuals” who were associated with SSPX and “who may wish to remain united to the Successor Peter in the Catholic Church.”
In 2019, Pope Francis suppressed the “Ecclesia Dei” commission and moved its responsibilities to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The Holy See told SSPX leaders not to consecrate new bishops. In February, Father Davide Pagliarani, superior general of the SSPX, announced the society would proceed with the consecration of new bishops July 1, following a breakdown in communication with the Vatican after requests for an audience with Pope Leo went unanswered.
Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, offered to continue dialogue with the SSPX on the condition that the society suspend its decision to consecrate new bishops. After the SSPX chose not to accept, Cardinal Fernandez said the consecration of bishops without a papal mandate would be considered “a schismatic act” and would incur excommunication.
The Church’s Code of Canon Law defines schism as “the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him” (Canon 751).
Pope Leo publicly appealed for the SSPX not to proceed with the consecrations. Pope Leo issued a plea June 30 for the SSPX not to proceed with the consecrations. “I urge you to consider carefully the spiritual good of the faithful, because the schismatic act you are about to undertake would deprive them of the licit and, in some cases, even valid reception of the Sacraments, which they love and seek for their sanctification,” Pope Leo wrote. Father Pagliarani’s response indicated that the society planned to move ahead with the consecrations while insisting the group was “neither schismatic nor hostile to the Church.”
After the SSPX moved ahead with the illicit consecrations July 1, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, or DDF, declared July 2 that the SSPX’s six bishops were excommunicated, and warned clergy and laypeople not to “adhere to the schism” and thereby also incur excommunication.
One of the four illicitly consecrated bishops July 1 is from the United States. A native of North Dakota, Bishop Michael Goldade grew up in St. Marys, Kansas, an enclave of the SSPX community. He is the rector of the SSPX St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Dillwyn, Virginia.
The DDF has issued procedures for those who decide to leave the SSPX to reestablish communion with the Catholic Church. The instructions provide specific actions that must be taken by a priest ordained in the SSPX community or affiliated with the SSPX after his licit ordination. Procedures for laypeople are more nuanced, as their steps to regain communion depend on their level of attachment to the SSPX community and ideas.
OXFORD – Youth from St. John the Evangelist Parish in Oxford spent June 22-26 serving widows, fellow parishioners and the Oxford community during Mission 38655. Along with daily Mass and prayer, participants completed service projects including cemetery cleanup and building beds for children in need. At left, Sofia Vazquez and Flannery Hamilton help build beds for children in the community (right). (Left) Andi Baker, Elizabeth Cauthen, Sofia Vazquez and Lynlee Cummins work in a local cemetery. (Photos by Jennifer Newsom)SOUTHAVEN – Scarlet enjoys a slice of watermelon grown in Sacred Heart School’s own garden. In the spring, kindergarten students planted a watermelon patch, and summer camp participants are now enjoying the sweet rewards of their efforts. (Photo by Sister Margaret Sue Broker)
Summer activities at St. Jude parish
PEARL – Betsy Walter leads Kamila Avila and Lydia Maynard in an activity during Vacation Bible School at St. Jude Parish. This year’s theme, “Summer Cathletics: Training to Be Champions for Christ,” invited children to grow in faith through games, lessons and activities. (Photo by Beth Paczak)ALEXANDRIA, La. – (Left) Amy Chavez of St. Jude Parish takes part in the excitement of an evening session at the 2026 Steubenville South Conference in Alexandria, Louisiana, as participants celebrate their faith through worship and fellowship. (right) Youth from St. Jude Parish attended the 2026 Steubenville South Conference in Alexandria, Louisiana, June 26-28. This year’s theme, “WORTHY,” encouraged participants to Walk by Faith, Overcome Through Christ, Be Redeemed by Grace, Trust in Him, Hope in Jesus, and Yield to God. The conference brought together nearly 3,000 young people from across the South for a weekend of worship, fellowship and encounters with Christ. Pictured are Kimberly Castillo and Becky Torres during one of the conference sessions. (Photos by Ashley Arenas)PEARL – Lily and Maddie Hall play cornhole during St. Jude Parish’s celebration of America’s 250th anniversary on July 5. Parishioners gathered for an afternoon of food, games and fellowship as they celebrated the milestone anniversary. (Photo by Beth Paczak)
Por Joanna Puddister King FLOWOOD – Cincuenta años después de que un joven sacerdote irlandés llegara a Misisipi y comenzara a darse cuenta de que el inglés del sur y el inglés irlandés no siempre eran la misma lengua, el padre Gerry Hurley celebró su jubileo de oro rodeado de su familia, feligreses y compañeros sacerdotes que lo habían acompañado en este camino.
La iglesia estaba llena el 12 de junio, cuando más de dos docenas de sacerdotes concelebraron una misa de acción de gracias para conmemorar el 50.º aniversario de la ordenación sacerdotal del padre Hurley en la iglesia católica de San Pablo, en Flowood. Entre los más de dos docenas de sacerdotes concelebrantes se encontraban otros clérigos nacidos en Irlanda que habían formado parte de la larga tradición de sacerdotes misioneros irlandeses en Misisipi, incluidos sacerdotes jubilados de la Diócesis de Jackson y sacerdotes que prestan servicio en la Diócesis de Biloxi.
Su presencia sirvió como un recordatorio de la influencia misionera irlandesa que dio forma a la Diócesis de Jackson durante décadas.
Miembros de la familia del padre Hurley viajaron desde Irlanda para la celebración, uniéndose a feligreses y amigos para conmemorar este hito.
FLOWOOD – El padre Gerry Hurley celebró una misa de acción de gracias con motivo del 50.º aniversario de su ordenación sacerdotal el 12 de junio en la iglesia católica de San Pablo, en Flowood. La iglesia se llenó de feligreses, familiares y más de dos docenas de sacerdotes concelebrantes para la celebración del jubileo de oro. (Foto por Tereza Ma) Vea más fotografías en jacksondiocese.zenfoliosite.com.
La fecha tenía un significado especial. El padre Hurley fue ordenado el 12 de junio de 1976 en la iglesia de San Patricio en Bandon, condado de Cork, Irlanda, para la Diócesis de Natchez-Jackson, por lo que la celebración del aniversario se realizó exactamente 50 años después de su ordenación.
Hoy en día, es el último sacerdote nacido en Irlanda que sigue en activo en la Diócesis de Jackson.
“Recuerdo haber asistido a un 50.º aniversario hace 25 años y pensé para mis adentros: “Esos tipos son viejos””, dijo el padre Hurley durante su homilía, lo que provocó las risas de la congregación. “Y ahora yo soy viejo”. Cuando el padre Hurley llegó a Misisipi en 1976, los sacerdotes nacidos en Irlanda constituían una parte significativa del clero que prestaba servicio en toda la diócesis.
“Cuando llegué en 1976, la mayoría de nuestros sacerdotes eran de Irlanda”, recordó. “Y ahora contamos con nuevos sacerdotes indios nacidos en el extranjero. Hacen un trabajo magnífico y estamos muy contentos… Como último de los irlandeses que llegué en una época de transición para nuestra Iglesia, sé que está en muy buenas manos con ustedes, hermanos”.
En muchos sentidos, ese momento reflejó el cambio que ha vivido la Iglesia y del que el padre Hurley ha sido testigo a lo largo de su ministerio: los sacerdotes misioneros de Irlanda dieron paso a las vocaciones locales y a misioneros de todo el mundo que continúan la labor en Misisipi.
El obispo Joseph R. Kopacz reflexionó sobre esa continuidad en sus comentarios tras la misa.
“El Señor enseñó a los discípulos que un buen escriba en el reino puede acudir al almacén y sacar lo mejor de lo antiguo y lo mejor de lo nuevo”, dijo el obispo. “Creo que eso describe muy bien al padre Gerry”.
El obispo también elogió el don del padre Hurley para la vida comunitaria y su extraordinaria capacidad para recordar nombres. “No sé si hay sacerdotes con mejor memoria para los nombres que el padre Gerry”, dijo el obispo Kopacz. “Ha aprendido a preguntar “¿Quién es tu mamá?” y todo eso –muy al estilo sureño”.
La familia del padre Hurley ofreció su propia visión del sacerdote que habían conocido mucho antes de que Mississippi lo conociera, compartiendo recuerdos de un niño en Irlanda que anunció desde muy temprana edad que tenía la intención de convertirse en sacerdote.
“Intentó dedicarse a la cirugía”, bromeó una de sus hermanas durante sus comentarios después de la misa. “Pero la paciente –mi muñeca– no sobrevivió. La cirugía no fue un éxito”.
Su propia trayectoria comenzó en la ciudad de Cork, Irlanda, donde nació el 25 de enero de 1952. Estudió en el Carlow College antes de ser ordenado para la Diócesis de Natchez-Jackson y llegar a Misisipi más tarde ese mismo año.
Su primer cargo fue como vicario en la parroquia de San Pablo en Vicksburg, donde pronto descubrió que adaptarse a la vida en Misisipi implicaba algo más que un simple cambio de lugar.
“Un sábado por la noche, una señora mayor se me acercó después de la misa y me dijo: “Padre, me encanta escucharlo hablar”. Me dijo: “No lo entiendo, pero me encanta escucharlo hablar””, recordó, provocando las risas de los presentes. “Me ha llevado casi 50 años aprender a hablar correctamente de nuevo”.
Durante las siguientes cinco décadas, el ministerio del padre Hurley lo llevaría por toda la Diócesis de Jackson, prestando servicio en San José en Greenville, como director diocesano de jóvenes, en San Ricardo en Jackson, San José en Starkville, la Anunciación en Columbus, San Judas en Pearl y, finalmente, San Pablo en Flowood, donde ha prestado servicio desde 2010.
San Pablo se ha convertido en su asignación más prolongada –más larga, señaló, que cualquier lugar en el que haya vivido durante su infancia en Irlanda–.
“Qué lugar tan maravilloso para pasar ese tiempo”, dijo. “Les agradezco a todos por su bienvenida y su apoyo a lo largo de los años”.
Para el padre Hurley, las lecturas elegidas para la misa reflejaban la esencia del ministerio sacerdotal y el discipulado.
En el Evangelio, Jesús le pregunta a Pedro tres veces: “¿Me amas?”, antes de encargarle que apaciente a sus ovejas.
“Jesús no le pregunta a Pedro: “¿Te arrepientes?”, ni le pide que nunca vuelva a fallar”, dijo el padre Hurley. “Le pregunta: “¿Me amas?”. Porque para Jesús, el fundamento del ministerio es el amor a Cristo y el cuidado de su pueblo”.
Tras cinco décadas de sacerdocio, el padre Hurley sigue agradecido por la vocación que lo llevó a cruzar el Atlántico y por las personas que han caminado a su lado.
“Después de 50 años, estoy agradecido por todo lo que Dios me ha dado y por las abundantes bendiciones que me ha concedido a través de cada uno de ustedes y de los muchos otros que nos han precedido”, dijo.
Al concluir la celebración, la congregación se unió para cantar “Irish Blessing”, despidiendo al sacerdote que llegó desde el condado de Cork a Misisipi hace 50 años hacia el siguiente capítulo de su ministerio con las palabras que desde hace mucho conectan a ambos lugares que ahora considera su hogar:
“Que el camino se levante para recibirte. Que el viento siempre sople a tu favor.”
