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Author Archives: Mississippi Catholic
Works of mercy are best way to invest what God gave you, pope says
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – While giving money to charity is a good thing, God expects Christians to do more by giving of themselves to help others, Pope Leo XIV said.
“It is not simply a matter of sharing the material goods we have, but putting our skills, time, love, presence and compassion at the service of others,” the pope told thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square Aug. 10 for the recitation of the Angelus prayer.
Commenting on the day’s Gospel reading, Luke 12:32-48, the pope focused on how Jesus invites his followers to “invest” the treasure that is their lives.
“Everything in God’s plan that makes each of us a priceless and unrepeatable good, a living and breathing asset, must be cultivated and invested in order to grow,” he said.
“Otherwise, these gifts dry up and diminish in value, or they end up being taken away by those who, like thieves, snatch them up as something simply to be consumed.”
“The works of mercy are the most secure and profitable bank” for investing those treasures and talents, the pope said, “because there, as the Gospel teaches us, with ‘two small copper coins’ even the poor widow becomes the richest person in the world.”
Pope Leo urged people to be attentive so that no matter whether they are at home or work or in their parish they do not “miss any opportunity to act with love.”
“This is the type of vigilance that Jesus asks of us: to grow in the habit of being attentive, ready and sensitive to one another, just as he is with us in every moment,” the pope said.
Pastoral Assignments
CSA feature: A heart for faith and formation
For more than two decades, Michelle Harkins has been a steady and faithful presence at St. James Parish in Tupelo, Mississippi. From full-time volunteer to trusted parish leader, her ministry has touched the lives of countless families – and it all began with a mother’s simple “yes.”
Her ministry started with a desire to support her children’s faith journey.
“I felt it was crucial, as a parent, to be involved and active,” she said.
That involvement soon grew into teaching CCD classes, working with the Catholic Youth Program and eventually leading the parish’s Protection of Children ministry.
Over the years, Harkins’ own faith has deepened.
“Working with the youth helps me learn more so I can give a simple answer to what they may find a difficult question,” she said.
She speaks with great pride about the bonds that are built through ministry – connections that last well beyond confirmation or graduation.
“The moments I treasure most are when I’m told, ‘Thank you for being there with me through it all. Thank you for your time and understanding,’” Harkins said.
Perhaps the most rewarding part of her ministry has been seeing the full circle of faith lived out in the lives of the young people she once taught.
“There are so many stories,” she said. “But the ones that stand out are those I walked with through faith formation and now they walk with me as adult teachers and chaperones. Lauren Pound, Patrick Dye, Denise Burnley … they were ‘my kids’ and today they are young adults who are constant and present for the youth in our parish. It’s amazing and beautiful to see the full circle come to completion with the Catholic faith as their strong foundation.”
Harkins’ ministry is one of many supported by the Catholic Service Appeal (CSA), which funds programs and services throughout the Diocese of Jackson. She believes in it wholeheartedly and encourages others to give.
“The CSA provides so much more than people realize,” she said. “Please give and take the time to find out all the various and beautiful opportunities it supports across the diocese. It continues to provide for our retired priests like Father Henry Shelton – who is retired, yet still faithfully serves St. James.”
“To those who give to CSA and those considering a gift,” she added, “know in your heart that you are serving others in our diocese in so many ways. If you want to understand all that the CSA does, take the time to do your research. Contact the diocese. Ask questions. You’ll find that you are giving to a truly great cause.”
As Harkins continues her ministry, her story stands as a testament to the lasting impact one person can have on a faith community – and the ripple effect of generosity shared through initiatives like the Catholic Service Appeal.
The annual Catholic Service Appeal unites Catholics across the Diocese of Jackson to support 14 vital ministries that serve local communities. From faith formation and youth ministry to seminarian education and clergy healthcare, these initiatives help carry the Gospel’s message to those in need throughout the diocese. Give today to help these ministries thrive.
Pope Leo’s first 100 days: Leaning into his new role
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Stories about “the first 100 days” are standard fare at the beginning of a U.S. president’s four-year term; the articles usually focus on how much the new president was able to accomplish and how quickly.
But a pope is elected for life and without having promised voters anything or having presented a platform.
Pope Leo XIV was elected May 8, making Aug. 16 the 100th day since he stepped out onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica as pope. He will celebrate his 70th birthday Sept. 14.
While the first 100 days of a pontificate may hint at what is to come, the initial period of Pope Leo’s ministry as the successor of Peter and bishop of Rome seemed mostly about him getting used to the role, the crowds and the protocol.
According to canon law, the pope “possesses supreme, full, immediate and universal ordinary power in the church, which he is always able to exercise freely.”
In other words, he could have issued a slew of the canonical equivalent of executive orders in his first days in office. Instead, he lived up to his reputation as a person who listens before deciding – holding a meeting with the College of Cardinals and individual meetings with the heads of Vatican offices.
Like his predecessors, Pope Leo confirmed the heads of Curia offices on a temporary basis a few days after his election. Some major nominations are expected in September or early October, starting with his own replacement as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.
His choices for members of his team, and whether he decides to have an international Council of Cardinals to advise him will send signals not only about what he wants to do but also how he wants to do it. (Pope Francis set up the Council of Cardinals early in his pontificate to help him with the reform of the Roman Curia and to advise him on other matters, but he did not make the council a formal body.)
September also should bring an announcement about where Pope Leo will live. Several cardinals have said that in the days before the conclave they encouraged the future pope – whoever he would be – to move back into the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace.
In his first public address, moments after his election, the new pope said: “We want to be a synodal church, a church that moves forward, a church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that always seeks to be close above all to those who are suffering.”
Pope Leo went deeper when he spoke about the key objectives of his ministry – in a pontificate that easily could last 20 years – during a meeting with the College of Cardinals two days after his election.
He asked the cardinals to join him in renewing a “complete commitment to the path that the universal church has now followed for decades in the wake of the Second Vatican Council.”
That path had six fundamental points that, Pope Leo said, “Pope Francis masterfully and concretely set it forth” in his exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel.”
The six points highlighted by Pope Leo were: “the return to the primacy of Christ in proclamation; the missionary conversion of the entire Christian community; growth in collegiality and synodality; attention to the ‘sensus fidei’ (the people of God’s sense of the faith), especially in its most authentic and inclusive forms, such as popular piety; loving care for the least and the rejected; (and) courageous and trusting dialogue with the contemporary world in its various components and realities.”
Those realities include the widespread media attention focused on the election of the first U.S.-born pope as well as the fact that people feel free to use social media to proclaim what Pope Leo “should” do, “must” or “must not” do.
According to a Gallup Poll published Aug. 5, Pope Leo was the most favorably viewed of 14 world leaders and newsmakers; 57% of Americans said they had a “favorable opinion” of him and 11% said they had an “unfavorable” opinion.
“These figures closely match Pope Francis’ ratings when he assumed the role in 2013, then viewed favorably by 58% and unfavorably by 10%, as well as Pope Benedict in 2005 – 55% favorable, 12% unfavorable,” Gallup said.
As the weeks passed after his election, Pope Leo seemed to grow more comfortable with a crowd, spending more time blessing babies and enjoying his interactions with the thousands of people who came to St. Peter’s Square for his weekly general audiences.
At his general audience Aug. 6 – held outside on a very warm summer day – the pope finished his formal program in less than an hour, then spent another two and a half hours shaking hands, posing for photos with pilgrim groups and having unusually long conversations with dozens of newlywed couples before offering them his blessing.
As a Curia official, the future pope had a reputation of being reserved, but Pope Leo has shown he has a special tool for connecting with a crowd: speaking English and Spanish as well as Italian, the Vatican’s official working language.
St. Joseph Church awards inaugural Scholarship in honor of Father Cosgrove
By Staff Reports
MERIDIAN – St. Joseph Catholic Church has awarded the first Father Cosgrove Scholarship to Dane Hill, valedictorian of Meridian High School’s Class of 2025.
The scholarship honors Father Frank Cosgrove, former pastor of St. Joseph and St. Patrick Catholic churches and St. Patrick School in Meridian. Now retired at St. Catherine’s Village in Madison, Cosgrove is remembered for his wisdom, humor and deep pastoral care.
Thanks to an anonymous donor, the parish established a $10,000 scholarship fund to be awarded annually to the school’s valedictorian for as long as funds are available.
“Father Cosgrove has had a profound and lasting impact on our community,” said Father Augustine Palimattam, current pastor of the Catholic Community. “This scholarship honors his legacy by encouraging and supporting the academic and moral excellence he always championed.”
Hill, the first recipient, will attend Clark Atlanta University this fall.
Don’t settle for less; God is waiting to transform your life, pope tells youth
By Carol Glatz
ROME (CNS) – The fullness of life depends on how much one joyfully welcomes and shares in life while also living with a constant yearning for those things that only come from God, Pope Leo XIV told young people.
“Aspire to great things, to holiness, wherever you are. Do not settle for less. You will then see the light of the Gospel growing every day, in you and around you,” he said in his homily during Mass concluding the Jubilee of Youth Aug. 3.
The outdoor Mass, held in Rome’s Tor Vergata neighborhood, marked the culmination of a week-long series of events for the Jubilee of Youth.
More than 1 million people were estimated to be gathered across the 130 acres that had been prepared for the morning Mass, the prayer vigil the evening before, and for the hundreds of thousands of people sleeping overnight.
After touching down by helicopter less than 12 hours after leaving the evening vigil, the pope rode in the popemobile throughout the open areas – dotted with tents and tarps, and filled with young people, cheering, waving their nation’s flag, and sometimes launching at him shirts and gifts.
“Good morning!” he said in six languages from the stage set up for the Mass.
“I hope you all rested a little bit,” he said in English. “We will shortly begin the greatest celebration that Christ left us: his very presence in the Eucharist.”
He said he hoped the concluding Mass would be “a truly memorable occasion for each and every one of us” because “when together, as Christ’s church, we follow, we walk together, we live with Jesus Christ.”
In his homily during the Mass, the pope again highlighted the importance of the Eucharist, as “the sacrament of the Lord’s total gift of himself to us.”
It is Christ, the Risen One, he said, “who transforms our lives and enlightens our affections, desires and thoughts.”
“We are not made for a life where everything is taken for granted and static, but for an existence that is constantly renewed through the gift of self in love,” he said.
Much like a field of flowers, where each small, delicate stem may dry out, become bent and crushed, he said, each flower is “immediately replaced by others that sprout up after them, generously nourished and fertilized by the first ones as they decay on the ground. This is how the field survives: through constant regeneration.”
“This is why we continually aspire to something ‘more’ that no created reality can give us; we feel a deep and burning thirst that no drink in this world can satisfy,” he said. “Knowing this, let us not deceive our hearts by trying to satisfy them with cheap imitations!”
Pope Leo urged the young people to listen to that yearning and “turn this thirst into a step stool, like children who stand on tiptoe, in order to peer through the window of encounter with God,” who has been “waiting for us, knocking gently on the window of our soul.”
“It is truly beautiful, especially at a young age, to open wide your hearts, to allow him to enter, and to set out on this adventure with him towards eternity,” he said.
Speaking briefly in English, the pope said, “There is a burning question in our hearts, a need for truth that we cannot ignore, which leads us to ask ourselves: what is true happiness? What is the true meaning of life? What can free us from being trapped in meaninglessness, boredom and mediocrity?”
“Buying, hoarding and consuming are not enough,” he said. The fullness of existence “has to do with what we joyfully welcome and share.”
“We need to lift our eyes, to look upwards, to the ‘things that are above,’ to realize that everything in the world has meaning only insofar as it serves to unite us to God and to our brothers and sisters in charity, helping us to grow in ‘compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience,’ forgiveness and peace, all in imitation of Christ,” he said.
Evoking St. John Paul II’s words during the XV World Youth Day prayer vigil held in the same spot 25 years ago, Pope Leo reminded the young people that “Jesus is our hope.”
“Let us remain united to him, let us remain in his friendship, always, cultivating it through prayer, adoration, Eucharistic communion, frequent confession, and generous charity, following the examples of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and Blessed Carlo Acutis, who will soon be declared saints,” he said.
Wishing everyone “a good trip home,” he encouraged the young people to “continue to walk joyfully in the footsteps of the Savior, and spread your enthusiasm and the witness of your faith to everyone you meet!”
Catholic advocates push Trump administration to address religious worker visa backlog
By Kate Scanlon
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Some immigrant religious workers are facing legal limbo, and Catholic advocates are pushing the Trump administration to address the backlog in their visa category.
Many immigrant religious workers, such as Catholic priests and nuns, legally enter the country on R-1 non-immigrant religious worker visas. These are initially granted for a 30-month period, with one possible renewal allowing for a total of five years. During that window, they can apply for employment-based EB-4 status to remain in the U.S. without interruption.
“One of the challenges is that because the number of green cards that are issued every year is not representative of the number of people that are eligible,” said Erin Corcoran, associate teaching professor and executive director of the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.
That backlog could have a grave impact on the church in the U.S. The National Study of Catholic Priests, released in 2022 by The Catholic University of America’s Catholic Project, indicated 24% of priests serving in the U.S. are foreign-born.
In April, bipartisan legislation, the Religious Workforce Protection Act, was introduced in the Senate by Sens. Tim Kaine, D-Va.; Susan Collins, R-Maine; and Jim Risch, R-Idaho, and in the House by Reps. Mike Carey, R-Ohio, and Richard Neal, D-Mass. All five are Catholic.
If signed into law, the bill would permit religious workers already in the U.S. on temporary R-1 status with pending EB-4 applications to stay in the U.S. while waiting for permanent residency, Collins’ office said.
Catholic organizations, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Jesuit Refugee Service/USA and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC), have backed the legislation.
A USCCB spokesperson told OSV News on Aug. 6, “We’re continuing our education efforts about the pressing need for the RWPA.”
“We remain hopeful that Congress will have an opportunity to move the bill forward before the end of the year,” the spokesperson said.
Corcoran said the legislation would allow, for example, a Catholic priest with temporary R-1 status to move from one parish to another in accordance with diocesan needs.
The bill would not increase the limit on how many visas are granted.
“It’s a very modest fix,” she said.
Despite bipartisan support, it was not immediately clear what the prospects might be for the bill once lawmakers return from their August recess, or whether President Donald Trump would sign it.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment from OSV News by publication time on whether the Trump administration would support the bill.
Dylan Corbett, executive director of the Hope Border Institute, told OSV News, “Congress and the Trump administration have a good opportunity to make an urgent targeted fix to ensure clergy and religious from abroad serving our communities throughout the country don’t become casualties of an increasingly broken immigration system.”
Corcoran said, “We’ve seen so little bipartisan solutions to problems, and we all benefit from these people being in our parishes.”
Advocacy for the bill comes as the Trump administration seeks to implement hardline immigration policies, including its pursuit of what it has called “the largest deportation in U.S. history.”
However, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an Aug. 7 interview with Raymond Arroyo on EWTN’s The World Over that the administration is trying to “create its own standalone process” for religious workers, instead of having them conflated with other immigration categories.
“And I’ve been in touch, for example, with a number of our cardinals here in the United States and bishops about that as well,” Rubio said. “We don’t want to read headlines that some Catholic Church had to close because it couldn’t get their priests here … some order closed because some nun couldn’t get here.”
Congress is scheduled to return from its August recess in early September.
Green card policy change may leave immigrants seeking legal status vulnerable to deportation
By Kate Scanlon
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reportedly closed off a pathway for citizenship for immigrants who apply for green cards through a spouse or other family members, raising the prospect of deporting them and breaking up their families.
NBC News reported that new guidance issued by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services made a change to its policy manual stating that federal immigration authorities may begin removal proceedings for those seeking legal status through a spouse or other relative.
“Petitioners and alien beneficiaries should be aware that a family-based petition accords no immigration status nor does it bar removal,” the guidance said.
In an Aug. 1 memo about the policy change, USCIS said, “Fraudulent, frivolous, or otherwise non-meritorious family-based immigrant visa petitions erode confidence in family-based pathways to lawful permanent resident (LPR) status and undermine the immigration system in the United States.”
“USCIS must ensure that qualifying marriages and family relationships are genuine, verifiable, and compliant with all applicable laws,” the memo said.
Dylan Corbett, executive director of the Hope Border Institute, a group that works to apply the perspective of Catholic social teaching in policy and practice to the U.S.-Mexico border region, told OSV News, “The administration continues to insist that they are simply targeting criminals in immigration enforcement operations, but that’s not what is happening.”
“They are deploying ICE agents to arrest people showing up to their immigration hearings,” Corbett said. “They are taking away people’s legal status and making them undocumented by revoking their parole and TPS. And now they are threatening to go after those trying to pursue lawful residency.”
On social media, USCIS argued it was “consolidating and clarifying certain requirements for family-based immigration” to “increase the integrity and security of our immigration processes.”
But Corbett argued, “Rather than trying to rack up numbers with an indiscriminate mass deportation campaign, we should be focusing on offering legal pathways to migrants who are desperate to do things the right way.”
“That’s something everybody can agree on,” he said.
(Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.)
Briefs
NATION
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (OSV News) – Bishop James R. Golka of Colorado Springs announced in late July his office would “study and discern” the “massive undertaking” of determining whether to open a sainthood cause for a teenager who was killed after he rushed the shooter during a school shooting incident six years ago in suburban Denver. Eighteen-year-old Kendrick Castillo was the only student who died in the STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting on May 7, 2019, that left other eight students injured. Two students, were convicted on dozens of charges for the shooting and sentenced to life imprisonment. Months after Kendrick’s death, the Knights of Columbus conferred honorary membership on him and gave his parents a Caritas Medal, their second highest honor. Two priests from St. Mark Catholic Church in Highlands Ranch submitted the petition and preliminary supporting materials for a possible sainthood cause for Kendrick to Bishop Golka, saying that he “lived a life that was so (much) one of faith and service and holiness and caring for others.” In a December 2019 posting on the Knights of Columbus website, John called his son “a catalyst of love” whose devotion to God was “number one.” The boy was days away from high school graduation and planned to study aerospace engineering.
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – A federal district court in Philadelphia on Aug. 13 struck down a religious conscience rule implemented by the first Trump administration exempting employers with religious or moral concerns from having to provide their employees with insurance coverage for contraceptives and other drugs or procedures to which they have an objection. The Little Sisters of the Poor, defendants in the suit, are expected to appeal. U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone in Philadelphia found the rules, which expanded the parameters for the types of nonprofits that could use the exception, were not necessary to protect the conscience rights of religious employers. Becket, the religious liberty law firm representing the Little Sisters of the Poor in their ongoing legal efforts over their objections to paying for abortifacient drugs, sterilizations and contraceptives in their employee health plans, said the nuns would appeal the ruling “in the coming weeks.” “The district court blessed an out-of-control effort by Pennsylvania and New Jersey to attack the Little Sisters and religious liberty,” Mark Rienzi, president of Becket and lead attorney for the Little Sisters, argued in a statement.
VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – God never gives up on anyone, even when the person betrays God’s love, Pope Leo XIV said. Christian hope flows from “knowing that even if we fail, God will never fail us. Even if we betray him, he never stops loving us,” the pope said Aug. 13 at his weekly general audience. Arriving in the Vatican audience hall, Pope Leo welcomed the visitors in English, Spanish and Italian and explained that the audience would be held in two parts – in the hall and in St. Peter’s Basilica – so people would not be forced to stay outside under the very hot sun. Pope Leo was scheduled to leave the Vatican after the two-part audience to return to the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo where he had spent part of July. The Vatican press office said he would stay until Aug. 19 in the town, which is about 15 miles southeast of Rome.
WORLD
JINOTEPE, Nicaragua (OSV News) – Nicaragua’s ruling Sandinista regime has seized a prominent Catholic school, claiming without proof that it had operated a “torture” center during past protests and renaming the education facility for a slain partisan. The Colegio San José de Jinotepe, a project of the Congregation of the Josephine Sisters, was “transferred to the state” on Aug. 12, according to Co-President Rosario Murillo. The school was renamed “Héroe Bismarck Martínez,” who supporters of the Sandinista regime claim was tortured and murdered in Jinotepe during the protests of 2018, when Nicaraguans took to the streets and demanded the ouster of then-President Daniel Ortega – now co-president with his wife, Murillo. An investigation by the Inter-American Human Rights Commission found 355 individuals died during “the repression of social protests.” Details of Martinez’s disappearance and death remain mysterious, but Ortega criticized the country’s bishops in 2019 for not condemning Bismark’s death. The seizure of the Colegio San José de Jinotepe continued the Sandinista regime’s crackdown on the Catholic Church. Even the most mild dissent is not tolerated and priests must watch their words during Mass. Four bishops have been exiled from Nicaragua, along with more than 250 priests, women religious and seminarians.
NAGASAKI, Japan (OSV News) – In his homily at a solemn Peace Memorial Mass Aug. 9, Archbishop Peter Michiaki Nakamura of Nagasaki issued a passionate plea: “We must abandon the fists, weapons, and tools of violence we hold in our hands, and stop creating and using nuclear weapons. Let us use our hands to love and embrace others.” The Mass was offered at Urakami Cathedral in Ngagasaki on the exact day that 80 years ago the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on that city – which followed the Aug. 6, 1945, U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The concelebrants at the Mass included the four U.S. prelates participating in a “Pilgrimage of Peace”: Washington Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, Chicago Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Archbishop Paul D. Etienne of Seattle, and Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico. For the pilgrimage, the four prelates were joined by U.S. Catholic university leaders and students to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the bombings and to pray together for peace and for a world without nuclear weapons. After the Mass, the U.S. pilgrims and Japanese Catholics marched from Urakami Cathedral to Nagasaki Peace Park in a torchlight procession symbolizing the light of faith and hope for a nuclear-free future.