Por Kate Scanlon
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – El máximo representante diplomático del Vaticano en Estados Unidos fue convocado al Pentágono en enero para recibir una “dura reprimenda” por los comentarios del papa León XIV, que algunos altos funcionarios de Defensa estadounidenses interpretaron como una crítica a la administración Trump, según informó The Free Press el 6 de abril.
“Los funcionarios del Vaticano informados sobre la reunión, que hablaron con The Free Press bajo condición de anonimato, la describieron como una reprimenda en la que se advertía que Estados Unidos tiene el poder militar para hacer lo que quiera, – y que más le vale a la Iglesia ponerse de su lado”, señaló el informe.
La Embajada del Vaticano en Washington confirmó a OSV News en un comunicado escrito que la reunión tuvo lugar, pero no dio detalles sobre el tono de la misma ni ofreció información específica sobre lo que se discutió allí.
En un comunicado escrito proporcionado a OSV News, un funcionario del Departamento de Defensa dijo: “La descripción que hace The Free Press de la reunión es muy exagerada y distorsionada”, y afirmó que la reunión “fue una discusión respetuosa y razonable”. Añadió: “No sentimos más que el mayor respeto y acogemos con agrado el diálogo continuo con la Santa Sede”.
Varias horas más tarde, la Embajada de Estados Unidos ante la Santa Sede también refutó el informe, afirmando que el exembajador papal en Estados Unidos, el cardenal Christophe Pierre, “negó enfáticamente la descripción que los medios de comunicación hicieron de su reunión” en el Pentágono. El cardenal Pierre no se ha pronunciado públicamente sobre estas afirmaciones.
Matteo Bruni, director de la Oficina de Prensa de la Santa Sede, reconoció el informe de The Free Press en declaraciones a los periodistas en Roma el 9 de abril, pero se negó a comentar sobre su veracidad.
El diario The Free Press informó de que, tras el discurso pronunciado por el papa León el 9 de enero ante los miembros del cuerpo diplomático, Eldridge Colby, subsecretario de Guerra para Asuntos Políticos, convocó al entonces embajador de la Santa Sede en Estados Unidos, el cardenal Christophe Pierre, al Pentágono. En el discurso, el pontífice había condenado el afán de guerra y había alertado de que “el principio establecido tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial, que prohibía a las naciones utilizar la fuerza para violar las fronteras de otras, se ha visto completamente socavado”.
El Free Press describió la reunión entre Colby y el cardenal Pierre como probablemente sin precedentes, ya que no parece haber ningún registro público de que algún funcionario del Vaticano se haya reunido jamás en el Pentágono.
El cardenal Pierre, de 80 años, se jubiló este año como embajador del Vaticano – o nuncio apostólico – en Estados Unidos, y el 7 de marzo el papa León nombró al arzobispo Gabriele G. Caccia como próximo nuncio apostólico en Estados Unidos.
El arzobispo Caccia se reunió con Brian Burch, embajador de Estados Unidos ante la Santa Sede, para hablar sobre las relaciones entre Estados Unidos y la Santa Sede y sobre temas de interés mutuo, según informó la Embajada de Estados Unidos el 8 de abril.
Author Archives: Mississippi Catholic
Sacerdotes: Los detenidos por ICE ven las visitas del Triduo Pascual de un grupo de Chicago como un signo de ‘humanidad’
Por Simone Orendain
CHICAGO (OSV News) – Las visitas del Triduo Pascual pusieron fin al tiempo de Cuaresma para un pequeño grupo de religiosos y clérigos del área de Chicago que atendían a personas sin autorización legal en Estados Unidos, detenidas en un centro del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas (ICE, por sus siglas en inglés).
El mismo grupo inició el período de 40 días de preparación para la pasión, muerte y resurrección de Jesucristo con una visita el Miércoles de Ceniza al centro de tramitación de Broadview, Illinois, para llevar la Sagrada Comunión, impartir las cenizas y rezar con los católicos allí recluidos.
Las visitas durante el período más sagrado del año para la Iglesia fueron el resultado de órdenes judiciales que obligaron al Departamento de Seguridad Nacional a permitir el acceso a los miembros de Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership (CSPL). El año pasado, esta organización católica de justicia social con sede en Chicago intentó en varias ocasiones entrar en la unidad de procesamiento del ICE, pero fue rechazada cada vez.
El padre jesuita David Inczauskis formó parte del equipo de CSPL, compuesto por tres sacerdotes y una religiosa, que entró en las instalaciones de Broadview el Jueves Santo, 2 de abril.
El 6 de abril, Lunes de Pascua, el sacerdote declaró a OSV News que le impactó ver, cuando el grupo llegó, a las personas que eran conducidas para ser procesadas con esposas y grilletes en los tobillos.
Era la primera vez que el padre Inczauskis se encontraba con detenidos encadenados. Ha realizado labores de pastoral carcelaria (o penitenciaria) en Perú y Honduras, y también ha atendido a menores en Estados Unidos que habían sido separados de sus padres.
“Creo que ver esto fue algo único, y especialmente devastador y deshumanizador”, afirmó.
El padre Inczauskis y otro sacerdote que habló con OSV News describieron el escenario de las visitas pastorales. Contaron que la pequeña delegación rezó, leyó las Escrituras y administró la comunión a través de una puerta dividida en dos mitades, en lo que describieron como una “intersección entre dos largos pasillos” separados por esa puerta. Explicaron que las 14 personas a las que atendieron el Jueves Santo fueron llevadas hasta la puerta en dos grupos de cinco y, luego, de cuatro.
Los demás días del Triduo, había muchos menos detenidos a los que atender, a veces solo uno o dos, añadieron.
A un sacerdote se le permitió lavar los pies encadenados de los detenidos después de que el padre Inczauskis leyera el Evangelio del Jueves Santo sobre la Última Cena. En la lectura, Jesús lavó los pies de sus discípulos antes de ir al huerto de Getsemaní a orar, donde luego fue arrestado.
El superior de la provincia de Estados Unidos y Canadá de los Claretianos, el padre Paul Keller, dirigió las oraciones y las bendiciones de apertura y clausura. También el Lunes de Pascua, describió la misma expresión de “conmoción y desorientación” en los rostros de los detenidos que había percibido la última vez que estuvo dentro del centro, el Miércoles de Ceniza. Señaló que se encontraban en los primeros minutos y horas tras su llegada.
“Algunas personas realmente se derrumbaron”, dijo. “Fue un momento en el que quizá dejaron salir la tristeza y la frustración que venían sintiendo”.
“Pero también tuve la sensación de que algunos de ellos interpretaron el lavatorio de pies como un signo de cuidado y humanidad en una situación de tal deshumanización, que esto les permitió experimentar esas emociones de sentirse cuidados en este momento de gran angustia”, declaró a OSV News.
El centro de tramitación se encuentra en Broadview, un suburbio a unos 20 km al oeste del centro de Chicago. Fue un punto álgido de enfrentamientos acalorados entre manifestantes y personal del ICE en el momento álgido de la campaña de represión migratoria de la administración Trump.
La CSPL presentó una demanda para obtener acceso al centro en noviembre del año pasado, alegando violaciones de su derecho a ejercer libremente su religión en virtud de la Primera Enmienda, la Ley de Restauración de la Libertad Religiosa y la Ley de Uso del Suelo para Fines Religiosos y Personas Institucionalizadas (RLUIPA, por sus siglas en inglés).
OSV News solicitó comentarios al Departamento de Seguridad Nacional sobre las recientes visitas y aún no ha recibido respuesta.
Entre los migrantes con mayor riesgo de ser detenidos y deportados por ICE, alrededor del 80% son cristianos; la mayoría de ellos (61%) son católicos, según un informe conjunto católico-evangélico publicado por World Relief y la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos.
El juez federal de distrito Robert W. Gettleman, del Distrito Norte de Illinois, dictó una orden judicial preliminar para permitir que los miembros de CSPL impartieran las cenizas y la comunión el Miércoles de Ceniza. Asimismo, ordenó a ambas partes que acordaran un calendario para futuras visitas y que permitieran a los ministros religiosos y laicos volver a rezar frente a las instalaciones de Broadview, tal y como habían hecho durante años hasta que se intensificó la campaña de control de la inmigración.
En la orden judicial parcial dictada el 31 de marzo que obligó a permitir las visitas durante el Triduo, Gettleman escribió: “El tribunal considera que el Gobierno ha obstaculizado sustancialmente el ejercicio de la religión por parte de los demandantes”.
Señaló: “El tribunal también coincide con los demandantes en que la orden judicial redunda en interés público. Permitir a los demandantes prestar atención pastoral a los migrantes y detenidos mejorará las condiciones de quienes se encuentran recluidos en Broadview”.
Gettleman reiteró la necesidad de que ambas partes programen más visitas periódicas y oraciones a las puertas del centro de Broadview, a la vista de los detenidos. Se fijó una audiencia para revisar los avances para el 7 de abril.
Michael Okinczyc-Cruz, director ejecutivo de CSPL, declaró a OSV News que las visitas del Triduo y de Pascua fueron una “experiencia profundamente conmovedora y emotiva… no solo para nuestros ministros que entraron, sino también para las comunidades que rodearon a esos ministros con sus oraciones”.
“Y para nuestros hermanos y hermanas que están detenidos y sus familias”, dijo, “supuso un consuelo y un alivio en un período de profunda oscuridad”.
(Simone Orendain es corresponsal de OSV News. Escribe desde Chicago.)
El evento ‘Catholic Saints of America’ celebrará el 250.º aniversario de Estados Unidos
Por Katie Yoder, OSV News
(OSV News) – Inspirándose en San Carlos Acutis, un santuario nacional en Wisconsin invita a los católicos a celebrar el 250.º aniversario de los Estados Unidos este verano, uniéndose en oración y aprendiendo sobre los santos y santas estadounidenses.
“Fundaron escuelas, cuidaron a los enfermos, sirvieron a los pobres y dieron testimonio del Evangelio a través de vidas de sacrificio, servicio y amor inquebrantable por Jesucristo”, dijo el padre de la Misericordia Anthony Stephens, rector del Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de Champion. “Su ejemplo nos muestra lo que realmente significa ser un católico fiel y ser estadounidense”.
Del 1 al 9 de julio, “Catholic Saints of America” ??incluirá una novena especial, una exposición en honor a los estadounidenses que son santos o están en camino a la santidad, y la oportunidad de venerar sus reliquias. Entre las reliquias o restos de Santa Elizabeth Ann Seton, el beato Solanus Casey y el beato Stanley Rother estarán en exhibición.
Todo esto se desarrolla en el único sitio de aparición mariana aprobado por la Iglesia en Estados Unidos.
“Primero, a través de esta novena y exposición, esperamos que la gente conozca el proceso de canonización”, declaró el padre Stephens a OSV News. “Luego, queremos ayudar a las personas a descubrir a quienes algún día podrían ser declarados santos. Finalmente, podemos ayudar a las personas a encontrar una nueva devoción que las inspire a acercarse más a Cristo”.
La oración de la novena, que está escribiendo el padre Stephens, implorará la intercesión de María por la unidad, la santidad y la renovación en todo el país. Junto con la novena, la exposición presentará las historias de santos y santas estadounidenses. Destacará sus vidas, virtudes y legado, según informaron los organizadores.
Su formato se inspiró en una exposición itinerante sobre milagros eucarísticos, basada a su vez en un sitio web creado por San Carlos Acutis, un adolescente italiano canonizado el año pasado.
“Hay menos de 15 santos estadounidenses y poco más de 70 personas cuyas causas de canonización se han abierto” en Estados Unidos, dijo el padre Stephens. “Cada uno de estos santos tiene una hermosa historia y un poderoso ejemplo, sin embargo, muy poca gente los conoce”.
“No tenemos santos de hace 2.000 años; tenemos santos de hoy”, añadió. “Esto demuestra que Dios sigue obrando, llamando a las personas a sí mismo”.
Entre los estadounidenses canonizados se encuentran Santa Elizabeth Ann Seton, San John Neumann, Santa Marianne Cope, Santa Katharine Drexel, San Damien de Veuster de Molokai, San Junípero Serra, Santa Kateri Tekakwitha, San Théodore Guérin, Santa Francisca Javier Cabrini y Santa Rose PhilippineDuchesne. Santa Teresa de Calcuta recibió la ciudadanía estadounidense honoraria en 1996, un año antes de su fallecimiento.
Entre los beatos estadounidenses figuran los beatos Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, Stanley Rother, Solanus Casey, Michael J. McGivney, San Francis Xavier Seelos y Carlos Manuel Cecilio Rodríguez Santiago de Puerto Rico. Cinco frailes franciscanos conocidos como los mártires de Georgia se unirán a ellos el 31 de octubre, y también se espera próximamente la beatificación del arzobispo Fulton Sheen.
El santuario está invitando a promotores de todas las causas estadounidenses a participar. Hasta el momento, los promotores de más de 35 causas han confirmado que colaborarán de alguna manera. Algunos ayudarán a crear sus respectivas exhibiciones y muchos asistirán en persona, dijo el padre Stephens.
Si bien la novena y la exposición se llevarán a cabo del 1 al 9 de julio, muchos de los promotores y representantes de estas causas estarán presentes del 3 al 5 de julio. Durante esos días, oradores invitados también “interactuarán con los peregrinos, compartirán las historias de estos santos y santas y brindarán oportunidades para aprender más sobre el camino a la santidad en Estados Unidos”, dijo Kim May, coordinadora de eventos y voluntarios del santuario.
Los organizadores esperan la asistencia de más de 15.000 peregrinos, lo que convertiría a este evento en el más grande organizado por el santuario.
La exposición reconocerá de manera especial la causa de Adele Brice, Sierva de Dios, una inmigrante belga que afirmó haber visto a la Santísima Virgen María tres veces en 1859. Está enterrada en el santuario, que marca el lugar donde se encontraron. La causa de su canonización se abrió en enero.
María, tal como se le apareció a Brice (a veces también escrito “Brise”), es venerada bajo la advocación de “Nuestra Señora de Champion” por la cercana ciudad de Champion, ubicada a 24 kilómetros al noreste de Green Bay.
El padre Stephens, rector del santuario y promotor de la causa de Brice, informó que el próximo evento conmemorará el 130 aniversario de la muerte de la catequista, el 5 de julio.
El santuario celebrará una Misa ese día a las 11:30 a.m. (hora local) para orar por la causa de canonización de Brice y por su continua intercesión, añadió.
“La tarde incluirá ponentes invitados que representarán causas de canonización y presentaciones catequéticas, continuando así la misión que la Virgen María encomendó a Adele: enseñar la fe y guiar a las almas a la salvación”, concluyó.
El santuario también ofrecerá un picnic ese día. Además de la Misa y las charlas, se proyectarán videos y presentaciones educativas que destacarán a las santas y los santos de Estados Unidos.
May explicó que el santuario encomienda el evento a la Virgen María bajo sus advocaciones de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, patrona de las Américas; la Inmaculada Concepción, patrona de los Estados Unidos; y Nuestra Señora de Champion
El evento, apto para todas las edades, incluirá actividades interactivas para familias.
El santuario ofrecerá búsquedas del tesoro históricas, hojas de actividades para niños y mucho más.
“Nuestra esperanza”, dijo May, “es que las familias se reúnan para celebrar este momento histórico, aprender sobre los santos y santas que forjaron nuestra nación y sentirse inspiradas para crecer en la fe”.
(Katie Yoder es corresponsal de OSV News. Escribe desde Maryland.)
NOTA: Para más información sobre el evento, visite https://championshrine.org/americansaints.
Youth
Jack Williams, of St. Joseph Catholic School in Madison, and Elizabeth Bednar of St. Aloysius/Vicksburg Catholic School received the prestigious academic honor, which recognizes high-achieving students nationwide.
The National Merit Scholarship Program, established in 1955, is an annual academic competition for recognition and college undergraduate scholarships. About half of the finalists will earn National Merit Scholarships and the title of Merit Scholar.
FLOWOOD – Students at St. Paul Early Learning Center listen to award-winning author Cindy Allison Bell, a Madison resident with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. Bell, a mother of three grown sons and grandmother to twin boys, draws on her Christian background to write about celebrating unconditional love and the people God places in our lives. (Photo by Wendi Murray)
Jackson Diocese celebrates love
JACKSON – The Diocese of Jackson joyfully honored the anniversaries of married couples from across the diocese with two special Masses, celebrated by Bishop Joseph Kopacz. The first Mass took place on Saturday, Feb. 7, at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Jackson, followed by a second celebration on Saturday, Feb. 14, at St. James in Tupelo. These gatherings brought together couples of all ages to celebrate the sacred bond of marriage and their commitment to one another through the years.
During the World Marriage Day celebrations, couples were honored with a special anniversary certificate, blessed and signed by Bishop Kopacz. These certificates serve as a meaningful keepsake, commemorating their years of love, commitment and faith.
The ceremonies also provided an opportunity for couples to renew their vows in the presence of family, friends and fellow parishioners, reaffirming their dedication to one another and to God.
The diocese extends heartfelt congratulations to all the couples who participated in this year’s celebrations. Whether newlyweds or those marking decades of marriage, each couple serves as a witness to the enduring power of love and the grace of the sacrament of matrimony.
Please join us in celebrating and praying for these special couples, that their love may continue to grow and inspire others for years to come.
(View photos from World Marriage Day at https://jacksondiocese.zenfoliosite.com.)
Sorrow, shock, prayer for Catholics in Middle East as US and Israel strike Iran, igniting war
By Gina Christian
(OSV News) – Catholics across the Middle East are reeling with shock and sorrow, and responding with prayer, amid joint strikes Israeli and U.S. forces launched on Iran Feb. 28, plunging the region into war.
The U.S. and Israel revealed that Iran’s supreme leader, 86-year-old Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is among the country’s senior leaders killed in the initial assault, which targeted Tehran and cities across Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump described the attacks as part of “major combat operations” to overthrow Iran’s regime in order to “defend the American people.”
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz announced the Feb. 28 “preemptive strike” against Iran, with a state of emergency declared across Israel.
Iran has retaliated with counterstrikes, targeting Israel and several U.S.-interest locations across a number of Middle East nations.
Casualties on all sides – including countries caught in the crossfire – are still being assessed amid the ongoing exchanges.
Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, claimed that a girls’ school in Minab was bombed in the U.S.-Israeli air assault and showed a photo.
“Dozens of innocent children have been murdered at this site alone,” he said. “These crimes against the Iranian People will not go unanswered.”
U.N. Secretary General António Guterres begged “all parties to return immediately to the negotiating table,” warning “the alternative is a potential wider conflict with grave consequences for civilians and regional stability.”
On March 1, Pope Leo XVI spoke out in the Sunday Angelus at St. Peter’s Square telling the warring parties they had a “moral responsibility” to end the fighting and return to diplomacy before the violence led to an “irreparable abyss.”
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, warned, “We are faced with the possibility of a tragedy of immense proportions.”
Bishop Aldo Berardi, apostolic vicar of northern Arabia issued a Feb. 28 statement on Facebook, urging the faithful “to remain calm, united in prayer, and attentive to the safety of everyone.”
“Please follow carefully the instructions of civil authorities and take all necessary precautions,” said Bishop Berardi.
“Let us remain united in faith and charity, caring especially for the elderly, the sick, and the vulnerable,” said Bishop Berardi. “May Our Lady of Arabia, our mother, watch over us all.”
Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar M. Warda of Irbil, Iraq, told OSV News March 2 he “could see the whole scene” of nearby missile attacks by Iran on a U.S. military base near the Irbil airport.
“The missiles … the noise and the bombing,” he said. “You can imagine the fear and horror.”
“Prayer is the only hope we have,” he said.
In Israel, Benedictine Father Nikodemus Schnabel – abbot of Dormition Abbey on Mount Zion in the heart of Jerusalem and of Tabgha, the community’s priory on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee – sheltered with some 60 pilgrims at Tabgha, the revered site of Jesus Christ’s multiplication of the loaves and fishes.
“It was always in the air that … something could happen,” he explained.
He said their international group had been in the shelter for two hours, describing the time – which video obtained by OSV News showed the pilgrims praying and singing – as unifying amid the attacks.
“It was a good experience. We don’t know each other, but then we sing songs in different languages. We pray together,” he explained.
He said the experience was an example of Benedictine hospitality.
“Very often I say, ‘I want that our two monasteries are two islands of hope in an ocean of suffering,’” said Father Schnabel. “And this was exactly the feeling. We were also today an island of hope in an ocean of suffering.”
Jesuit Father John Paul, rector of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute – located between Bethlehem and Jerusalem – told OSV News he believed “Jerusalem is not a target area.”
The priest, whose institute is staffed by both Palestinians and Israelis, pointed to the sorrow evoked by the strikes, which follow the Israel-Hamas war and ongoing tensions between Israel and Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
“Overall, with local Palestinians” there is “a feeling of real sadness – my guess is with Israelis as well,” said Father John Paul.
Father Schnabel said the pilgrims at Tagbha were praying for all affected.
“We pray for the others … So let’s pray for the people in Iran. Let’s pray for the people in Israel. Let’s pray for the people in Palestine. Let’s pray for the people in the region who are facing this situation,” he said.
(Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Paulina Guzik, international editor of OSV News, contributed to this report.)
Pope Leo’s Prayer to St. Francis: A call to peace in a divided world
(OSV News) – As tensions escalate following the Feb. 28 U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran, we share this prayer to St. Francis of Assisi – a timeless intercessor for peace – which Pope Leo XIV shared with leaders of the Franciscan order on the beginning of the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ death in January 2026.
Beloved Notre Dame coaching legend Lou Holtz remembered
By Eric Peat, Today’s Catholic
(OSV News) – Leading up to a college football clash between Notre Dame and heated rival Miami in the late 1980s, a team chaplain for the Hurricanes proclaimed that God doesn’t care who wins football games.
Lou Holtz, coach of the Fighting Irish at the time, agreed. “I don’t think God cares who wins, either,” he replied with a smile. “But his Mother does.”
This now-famous quip captured the essence of the legendary coach: an uncanny wit, an unwavering Catholic faith and an unshakable love for Notre Dame – Our Lady’s university. On March 4, Holtz died in Orlando, Florida, at the age of 89, surrounded by his family. Holtz leaves behind not just a decorated football resume but a legacy of shaping young men and inspiring people to live virtuously.
Louis Leo Holtz was born on Jan. 6, 1937, in Follansbee, West Virginia, and grew up in East Liverpool, Ohio. He played linebacker at Kent State University before beginning a coaching career that would span over four decades. With head coaching stops at William and Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame and South Carolina, Holtz became the ninth-winningest coach in college football history with a record of 249-132-7. He received national Coach of the Year honors on three occasions and remains the only coach to lead six separate programs to bowl games.
However, Holtz is best remembered for his 11 seasons in South Bend, where he revitalized the Notre Dame football program. From 1986 through 1996, the Fighting Irish won 100 games, reached a program-record nine consecutive bowl games, and were undefeated national champions in 1988 – Notre Dame’s last national title to date.
After retiring from coaching, Holtz spent time as a studio analyst for ESPN, a best-selling author and a motivational speaker, where he continued inspiring people with the same energy and charisma.
He often told crowds, “I follow three rules: Do the right thing, do the best you can, and always show people you care.” Holtz preached that “life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it.” He challenged people to live exceptional lives, famously stating, “I can’t believe that God put us on this earth to be ordinary.”
Central to everything Holtz did was his faith. A lifelong Catholic, Holtz served as an altar boy and credited the education he received from the Sisters of Notre Dame with instilling the desire to make God the focus of his life. Holtz was outspoken about his faith and believed following Church teachings “brings meaning and lasting happiness to life.”
He possessed a deep and profound love for Notre Dame – not just his team, but the university, the students, the fans and the faith alive on campus. “Every single day being there was very special,” Holtz told the National Catholic Register in a 2012 interview, “because there were so many opportunities to encounter and live out the Catholic faith.”
(Eric Peat writes from Fort Wayne, Indiana, for Today’s Catholic, the news outlet of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.)
Briefs
NATION
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (OSV News) – St. Mary Parish School in Sacramento averted a possible mass shooting during an Ash Wednesday school liturgy, thanks to the quick intervention of an off-duty law enforcement officer and school parent who detained an armed former student attempting to enter the church. The suspect, 20-year-old Brian Richard Girardot Jr., now faces a federal charge of possessing a firearm within a school zone. School principal Amy Hale credits parent volunteers serving as safety monitors for preventing what could have been a tragedy. The Feb. 18 incident comes some six months after the deadly shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis during a school liturgy. A police search of Girardot’s car and home turned up several more weapons and a profanity-laced suicide note that named three relatives as the reason for his potential attack. “Thanks to the vigilance and professionalism of our parent volunteers, our children remained safely inside the church for the duration of Mass and a potential crisis was averted,” Hale said in a Feb. 18 statement posted to the school’s Facebook page. “No students came into contact with the man, and were unaware of the situation happening outside. After Mass the children were escorted back to class.”
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – A number of violent extremist groups, led by minors and young adults, are increasingly targeting kids online – in some cases, with deadly results. And as federal officials, counterterrorism experts and child advocates sound the alarm, parents need to take action amid the “growing problem,” a scholar at a Catholic university told OSV News. “There is a naive view of the dangers that are currently online,” said Mary Graw Leary, professor of law at the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America. Leary, a former federal prosecutor and an expert on technology and victimization, said that despite ongoing efforts to protect children and youth in the digital space, “we see law enforcement issuing more and more warnings” – especially about 764, a loosely affiliated network of online communities that prey on vulnerable youth. The group coerces them to produce sexually explicit material, and then blackmailing them to harm themselves as well as others, even beloved family pets. Deemed a terrorist organization by Canada, 764 is gaining increased scrutiny by U.S. federal and state authorities. Leary said that while children and vulnerable persons have throughout history been at risk of abuse and exploitation, groups such as 764 show that “the internet provides access to large groups of victims” for predators. Leary said the internet and such deviant subgroups “provide affinity and normalization” for the worst of human behavior. “We’ve got people supporting each other’s perverse, violent proclivities in a way that we didn’t see before,” she said. “These channels are fueling this in a way that didn’t exist.”
VATICAN
ROME (CNS) – Pope Leo XIV will travel to six countries over the next four months, including a 10-day tour of Africa and trips to Monaco and Spain, the Vatican announced Feb. 25. His first stop will be Monaco on March 28 – the first papal visit there in the modern era. Then, from April 13 to 23, he’ll travel to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, marking his first visit to Africa as pope. The Vatican said peace and care for the poor will be key themes of the trip. In Algeria, he hopes to visit sites linked to St. Augustine and to “continue the conversation of dialogue, of building bridges between the Christian world and the Muslim world.” And, in Cameroon, he’ll enter a region scarred by separatist violence. In June, Pope Leo heads to Spain, where he is expected to inaugurate the tallest tower of Barcelona’s Sagrada Família and visit the Canary Islands. With expected stops in Tenerife and Gran Canaria, the Canary Islands visit could draw attention to the migration issue. The Atlantic archipelago, situated off the northwest coast of Africa, is one of Europe’s main entry points for migrants crossing from Africa.
ROME (OSV News) – A Synod on Synodality study group has recommended the creation of a new “Pontifical Commission for Digital Culture and New Technologies” in the first of 15 synod study group reports expected in the coming weeks. The Vatican published the first two final reports from its Synod on Synodality study groups on March 3. The first report contains recommendations on navigating the Church’s presence in digital spaces. The second report focuses on guidelines for the formation of future priests and includes a call for more women to play a role in aiding the formation of seminarians for the priesthood. The report also lists 26 real world examples of “best practices” from seminaries around the world. Among those highlighted: a program in eight U.S. dioceses focused on healing wounds caused by the excessive use of technology and family breakdown, centered on an eight-day silent retreat and a small-group chastity program; and a Nigerian seminary that requires seminarians to perform all maintenance work and cleaning of their seminary building to “experience the dignity of human labor.” The General Secretariat of the Synod will publish 13 more study group final reports, according to its website.
WORLD
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine reaches the four-year mark, the recently released documentary “No Priests Left,” available on YouTube, shows the ravages of the aggression on Ukraine’s Catholic communities. In the occupied regions, Russian officials have driven out all Catholic clergy. Torture, imprisonment, and killing of clergy by Russian forces has been documented, with some 700 houses of worship damaged or destroyed. Ukrainian Greek Catholic priest Father Oleksandr Bohomaz, who appears in the film, described the repression of the Church in eastern Ukraine after Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. “Priests and pastors were arrested. They were interrogated. They were beaten. They were held in … torture chambers,” said Father Bohomaz, who was forcibly deported from Russian-occupied Melitopol in December 2022. Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Archeparchy of Philadelphia, who appears in the film, told OSV News that “global, particularly American, awareness, prayer and action are crucial” to prevent further atrocities. He encouraged “all bishops and priests” to show “No Priests Left” to the faithful. Everyone who does see the film “cannot but be mobilized to prayer and action,” he said. Archbishop Gudziak stressed that it was crucial “as human beings and as Christians” for people of goodwill “to see what has happened, to realize the biblical nature of this war, and to do everything we can spiritually, socially, or politically to help the innocent victims.”
Can you hear me now?
FROM THE HERMITAGE
By sister alies therese
“Don’t turn a deaf ear when I call to You, God. If all I get from You is deafening silence, I’d be better off in a Black Hole.” (The Message, E. Peterson, Ps 28:1)
And that’s how it is for many of us … there is no answer to prayer, no sense that God is listening. During Lent we have been turning our minds and hearts toward the relationship we have with Jesus so that we might be purified vessels for God to use. How is that working for you? Have you made great progress this year, unlike years before? Maybe not.
Our CCC highlights this issue in Part Four, Christian Prayer. Here are a few key ideas: “Why do we complain of not being heard? (2735 ff) … what motivates our prayer: an instrument to be used or the Father? … pray to be able to know what He wants? If we enter into the desire of the Spirit, we shall be heard.”
Psalm 28 continues, “I’m letting You know what I need, calling out for help and lifting my arms toward Your inner sanctum. Don’t shove me into the same jail cell with those crooks who are full-time employers of evil. They talk a good line of ‘peace’, then moonlight for the devil.” Oh, ok … I’m letting You know … what arrogance! Deciding what God should do and how He should do it. Maybe it is all ‘about me’? Afterall, it is my prayer. Really, I’m the one who knows who I want to pray for, what I need, and what I think God needs to hear. Does it surprise you that He might not be listening to that attitude while deciding what He will be gifting you?
We also find this in the CCC (2697 ff): “Prayer is the life of the new heart. It ought to animate us at every moment. But we tend to forget Him who is our life and our all … prayer is a remembrance of God often awakened by the memory of the heart: ‘We must remember God more often than we draw breath’ (St. Gregory Nazianzus).”
Because prayer is a fundamental relationship, the attitude mentioned might be how we relate to other people. Do we actually listen or are we reworking our responses as they talk? Does anger feature in our relationships; is there desire for retaliation in our resentment, bitterness or sadness? The desert Fathers and Mothers (4th century) offer lessons for us. “Abba Evagrius once defined prayer as ‘the seed of gentleness and the absence of anger.’ Further, ‘the opposite is also true. The desire to retaliate could be so deeply imbedded that any attempt at prayer would be futile; to be able to pray again, one would have to deal with the particular source of that anger.’”
You wonder if or when God is listening to you? Consider Abba Zeno: “If a person wants God to hear quickly, … one must pray with all one’s heart for one’s enemies (Mt 5:44). Through this action God will hear everything you ask.” (The Word in the Desert)
Oh, so I need to change my attitude? A new heart? Perhaps one resembling Brother Lawrence (The Practice of the Presence of God, Carmel, Paris, d. 1691): “Ah, did I know my heart loved not God, this very instant I would pluck it out. O loving-kindness so old and still so new, I have been too late loving You. You young … consecrate all your early years to His love … believe me count as lost each day you have not used in loving God.”
CCC challenges us to this kind of loving (2730) when facing difficulties in prayer: “the battle against the possessive and dominating self requires vigilance, sobriety of heart. When Jesus insists on vigilance, He always relates it to Himself, to His coming on the last day and every day, today. ‘Come,’ my heart says, ‘seek His face.’” With an attitude as arrogant as we began with, we are not seeking His face, but our will and desires. Fortunately, the psalmist has moved from that attitude to more understanding, rooting his life in thankfulness and joy, “Blessed be God – He heard me praying. He proved He’s on my side; I’ve thrown my lot in with Him. Now I’m jumping for joy, and shouting and singing my thanks to Him. God is all strength for His people …. Save Your people and bless Your heritage. Care for them; carry them like a Good Shepherd.”
As we move toward the Passion and Easter, let us, with Brother Lawrence, beg for enrichment of soul, courage in difficulty, and grateful love. “We have a God who is infinitely gracious and knows all our want … He will come in His own time, and when you least expect it. Hope in Him more than ever; thank Him…” (Br. Lawrence, Third Letter). Can He hear you now? I suspect so!
Blessings. Happy Easter.
(sister alies therese is a canonical hermit who prays and writes.)