Category Archives: U.S. News

US bishops asked to hold new rounds of Synod on Synodality

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By Gina Christian
(OSV News) – Dioceses across the U.S. are asked to hold additional listening sessions in the next few months, following a request from the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops which is preparing for the second session of the global Synod on Synodality in October.
In a Jan. 2 letter (a copy of which OSV News has obtained), Bishop Daniel E. Flores of the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas – who chairs the U.S. bishops’ committee on doctrine and coordinates the U.S. bishops’ synod process – said his team is requesting “each diocese hold 2-3 listening sessions regarding the guiding questions” posed by the synod secretariat.

Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, speaks during a conversation about the Synod on Synodality in Rome at a Nov. 14, 2023, session of the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. Also pictured are Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, USCCB president; and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, USCCB vice president. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)

Those two guiding questions were phrased by Bishop Flores and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Synod Team as follows: “Where have I seen or experienced successes – and distresses – within the church’s structure(s)/organization/leadership/life that encourage or hinder the mission?” and “How can the structures and organization of the church help all the baptized to respond to the call to proclaim the Gospel and to live as a community of love and mercy in Christ?”
Bishop Flores asked that each diocese summarize responses to those questions in a 3-5 page document and send it to the USCCB by April 8. The diocesan summaries will inform the USCCB’s summary, which is due to the synod secretariat in May.
Bishop Flores noted that in addition to the listening sessions, “we are encouraged to continue ongoing engagement with the People of God in the dynamism of a synodal style.”
To that end, dioceses may also include with their submissions “a two-page testimony of best practices for synodality” they have developed, the bishop explained.
Bishop Flores also wrote that in addition to the diocesan consultations taking place, “the USCCB will be holding additional listening sessions at the national level with a focus on participation, social justice, and vocations.”
Diocesan-level synod leaders “will be invited to participate in a national working group with the permission of the bishop,” he said in his letter.
Bishop Flores said that “we all know time is short, but even modest efforts at the local level can bear much fruit.
“Let us do what we can, as well as we can and trust the Lord to accomplish beyond what we can foresee,” he wrote.
Launched by Pope Francis in October 2021, the first session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, organized on the theme “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission,” took place Oct. 4-29, 2023, in Rome.
The first session of the synod, also known as the “Synod on Synodality,” was summarized in a 41-page report intended to allow the global church to digest, reflect on and give feedback on its contents ahead of the synod’s final session in Rome next October.
Part of that task is figuring out how decisions are made in the church in a way that is faithful to its nature – including discerning how episcopal collegiality is exercised in a synodal church – because the church’s members have “differentiated co-responsibility for the common mission of evangelization.”
The synod’s report also covers topics such as evangelization as a mandate of baptism, formation in “authentic discipleship” rooted in the Eucharist and Scripture, clerical and lay formation, ministries of pastoral accompaniment, the role of the Eastern Catholic churches in the life of the universal church, ecumenism, ordaining married men to the priesthood, the role of women in the church and the ongoing impact of clerical sex abuse scandals among others.
The synod’s next session in Rome will have the task of making decisions about what concrete proposals to present before the pope.

(Gina Christian is a national reporter for OSV News. Peter Jesserer Smith, national news and features editor of OSV News, contributed to this report.)

Briefs

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MOBILE, Ala. (OSV News) – An Alabama Catholic priest known for talking about demonology and exorcism has now been fully returned to the lay state months after he fled the country with a recent Catholic high school graduate. The Archdiocese of Mobile announced in a Jan. 5 statement that it had “received notice that the laicization of Alex Crow is complete, effective immediately” in a decision confirmed by Pope Francis. The archdiocese said Crow initiated the process and “this decision of Pope Francis is final. There is no appeal.” On Nov. 20, the former priest civilly married Taylor Victoria Harrison, 18, a June 2023 graduate of McGill-Toolen Catholic High School with whom he had traveled to Italy in July 2023 after abruptly leaving his assignment as a parochial vicar at Corpus Christi Parish in Mobile, Alabama. Harrison turned 18 in June prior to travel, but her family repeatedly expressed grave concerns their daughter had been groomed by Crow, 30, while she was a minor as he provided pastoral ministry to students. Crow handwrote her a Valentine’s Day love letter where he described himself to the minor (at the time) as “married” to her and indicated plans for the pair to be in Italy together “with our family.” Mobile Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi had suspended Crow’s priestly faculties in late July, ordering him not to present himself as a priest, and in a Jan. 5 statement thanked Pope Francis for his decision.
TUCKAHOE, N.Y. (OSV News) – A beloved Italian saint is speaking to the faithful anew through a series of letters sent directly to their email inboxes. The Saint Pio Foundation has announced the release of “Epistolary,” a collection of 365 letters written by Padre (“Father”) Pio to his spiritual directors and students. A dedicated page on the foundation’s website includes a sign-up form (available at https://www.saintpiofoundation.org/saint-pios-epistolary) for receiving a weekly PFY with seven letters, one for each day of a given week. The first batch of letters was sent out Jan. 1 by the Tuckahoe, New York-based foundation. Freshly translated into English from the original Italian, the Epistolary represents a fraction of the “thousands and thousands of letters” Padre Pio wrote during his lifetime, Luciano Lamonarca, founder and CEO of the Saint Pio Foundation, told OSV News. Lamonarca said the Epistolary is one of several “gifts” he wanted to give to the Catholic community to mark the foundation’s upcoming 10th anniversary in April. But the gifts he has received from his own devotion to the saint have been life-changing, he added, noting that he and his wife Valentina credit the 2015 birth of their son Sebastian – after losing several children to stillbirth and miscarriages – to the saint’s intercession. Lamonarca told OSV News that Padre Pio’s spiritual wisdom is summarized in one of the saint’s best-known maxims: pray, hope and don’t worry. “He releases his fear, he releases everything (into) God’s grace.”
ST. PAUL, Minn. (OSV News) – A multiyear investigation overseen by the Catholic Church into Archbishop John C. Nienstedt, who resigned from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has ended with the Vatican finding he acted “imprudently” in several instances but not criminally under canon law, Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda said in a statement Jan. 5. “None of those instances, either standing alone or taken together, were determined to warrant any further investigation or penal sanctions,” Archbishop Hebda said, but Pope Francis determined several administrative actions “are justified.” Among them, Archbishop Nienstedt “may not exercise any public ministries” in the “Province of St. Paul and Minneapolis,” which covers Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota; “may not reside in the Province of St. Paul and Minneapolis”; and “may not exercise ministry in any way outside of his diocese of residence” without permission of the local bishop. Archbishop Nienstedt resigned after criminal and civil charges were brought against the archdiocese in June 2015 for failing to protect children from a former pastor convicted of sexually abusing three minors in his parish. The civil and criminal charges against the archdiocese were dismissed in 2015 and 2016, respectively. In a response to the findings, Archbishop Nienstedt, who lives in Michigan, said he resigned to give the archdiocese “a new beginning” and he has asked the Holy See to clarify the “imprudent” actions he allegedly committed.

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Giving to others in need is not enough; people must look those they help in the eyes and be willing to touch their poverty with their hands and hearts, Pope Francis said. Meeting Jan. 5 with members of the Unicoop supermarket cooperative, which is based in Florence, Italy, the pope said Christians must “be close to the people we help.” When hearing confessions, he said, he asks people if they give to the poor, to which people often answer “yes.” The pope said he asks in reply: “And tell me, when you give to the poor, do you look in the eyes of the person, touch their hand, or throw the money there?” He told the group, “Touch, touch poverty, touch,” encouraging them to develop “a heart that touches, to look and to understand.”
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis expressed his condolences and prayers after two bombings in Kerman, Iran, claimed the lives of 84 people and wounded scores more at a memorial for an assassinated Iranian military officer. In a telegram sent on behalf of the pope Jan. 5, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said the pope “was deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life caused by the recent explosions in Kerman.” “He sends the assurance of his prayers for those who have died and for their grieving families” and expressed “his spiritual solidarity with the injured,” the telegram said. The pope also “invokes upon all the people of Iran, the Almighty’s blessing of wisdom and peace,” it said. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the Jan. 3 attack in southern Iran, saying it was caused by two of its members wearing and detonating explosives. The blasts went off outside a cemetery where thousands had gathered for the anniversary of the assassination of Qasem Soleimani in 2020. Soleimani, whose militia force had fought against the Islamic State in Iraq, had been killed in Iraq in 2020 by a U.S. drone strike.

WORLD
SOKOTO, Nigeria (OSV News) – Gov. Caleb Mutfwang of Nigeria’s Plateau state declared a week of mourning Jan. 1-8 to honor the deaths of at least 200 Christians killed over Christmas by Fulani Muslim herders, targeting Christians in the country. Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto said the attackers are “children of darkness” and come “from the deepest pit of hell.” The Dec. 23-28 killings also have led to thousands of people being forced to flee their homes. As many as 80 villages in Plateau state were attacked, Christian aid group Release International reported Dec. 30. Bodies continue to be discovered, and attacks are expected to continue, Release International reported. “I urge all citizens to use these days for intense prayers to seek the intervention of the almighty God in defending our territories against wicked men that have risen against us,” Mutfwang said in a video statement released Jan. 2. In a three-page New Year’s message, called “Blood and crucifixion on the Plateau,” a copy of which OSV News obtained, Bishop Kukah strongly condemned the killers as “sons of Satan” who “came to the Plateau again, bearing their gifts of death and destruction.” he said. The Fulani herders “came from the deepest pit of hell” and snatched “the light of the joy of Christmas from thousands of people on the Plateau.”
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain (OSV News) – U.S. pilgrims made up the largest international group walking the famous Camino to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, in 2023. The Way of St. James welcomed over 32,000 American visitors in a record year for the ancient pilgrimage site. Interest in the Camino de Santiago – a network of pilgrim routes across Europe that lead to the Tomb of Saint James – is greater than ever, with the worldwide number of pilgrims walking the site approaching half a million. Not everyone, however, walks because of religious reasons. According to the statistics published by the pilgrims’ office, 446,035 pilgrims from all over the world arrived in the City of the Apostles last year. With 44% of the pilgrims (almost 200,000) being Spanish, Americans were the most common international visitors (32,063), followed by Italians (28,645) and Germans (24,342). The Portuguese, French, British, Mexicans, South Koreans and Irish were also represented in the top ten, followed by pilgrims from destinations as far as Australia, Brazil and Canada. According to the Pilgrims’ Bureau, 42.6% of arrivals cited “religious reasons,” 4.7% cited “religious and other reasons” in the latest statistics and 22.7% were walking for “non-religious reasons.”
MEXICO CITY (OSV News) – The U.S. Department of State has demanded the release of Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa and other imprisoned Nicaraguan religious leaders following a wave of detentions targeting Catholic clergy over the Christmas season. The Jan. 2 statement described Bishop Álvarez and the other religious leaders – including Bishop Isidoro Mora of Siuna – as “unjustly detained” and deplored the conditions in which they were being held. Bishop Álvarez has been detained for more than 500 days, it noted. “Nicaraguan authorities have kept Bishop Álvarez in isolation, blocked independent evaluation of the conditions of his imprisonment, and released staged videos and photographs that only increase concerns about his well-being,” read the statement, signed by State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller. The regime of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, “continues to impose severe restrictions on religious communities and deny Nicaraguan citizens the ability to freely practice their religions and express their beliefs. We once again call on the Nicaraguan government to release Bishop Rolando Álvarez immediately and without conditions.” In a separate post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Miller called Bishop Álvarez’s detention “unconscionable,” adding, “Freedom of belief is a human right.” On Dec. 31, Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes of Managua urged prayer for the “families and communities that at this moment feel the absence of their priests or are experiencing other types of pain.”

Turning to Our Lady of Guadalupe with love, hope saved her life, singer says

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By Theresa Cisneros
LOS ANGELES (OSV News) – Five years ago, Rosy Oros lay comatose in a hospital bed in Mexico – some 1,500 miles away from home – after experiencing complications from a medical procedure that had taken a drastic toll on her body and mind.
She was suffering internal and external bleeding, her organs were damaged, and doctors gave her only a 2% chance of surviving.
As she lay there on the brink of death, she finally opened her eyes and – in a haze – saw a familiar set of brown eyes gazing back at her, lovingly, that were very much still alive.
Those eyes belonged to an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe hanging just a few feet away, at once filling her heart with love and hope that the Virgin Mary she’d held dear since childhood would intercede with Jesus to help her make it out of the clinic alive.
Oros’ healing journey came full circle this December as she and other musicians sang hymns of praise and thanksgiving to Our Lady of Guadalupe during the annual “Las Mañanitas” celebration at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in honor of her feast day.
“I am so humbled and blessed to be able to stand there and in my own simple way give thanks to the Virgin,” Oros told Angelus, the online news outlet of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. “It may seem insignificant but I know that she is receiving it with a lot of love and that it makes her happy, because she knows my heart.”
At the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, the festivities ran from the evening of Dec. 11 into the early hours of Guadalupe’s feast day, Dec. 12.

A radiant Rosy Oros stands before an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles during the annual “Las Mañanitas” celebration Dec. 11-12, 2023, in honor of Our Lady’s feast. The singer credits her healing from a deadly infection to the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2018. (OSV News photo/Victor Alemán, Angelus)

As in years past, the celebration featured Aztec and Ballet Folklorico dancers, veneration of the only relic of St. Juan Diego’s “tilma” in the U.S., the rosary, a musical tribute that included “Las Mañanitas,” and ended with midnight Mass, where Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles said the Guadalupe story is a reminder that “Jesus Christ loves us so much that he came to share our hopes and dreams and to offer his life for us.”
“Just as she did with Juan Diego, the most holy Mary entrusts each of us with a task. She has a message that she needs us to spread and she is sending us to tell the whole world about Jesus.” he said.
Oros aimed to do just that as she and six other guest singers delivered individual serenades to the Virgin backed by Mariachi Garibaldi de Jaime Cuellar.
Oros carefully made her way onto the altar, set down a bouquet of red roses near two giant images of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Juan Diego bedecked with hundreds of flowers, and sang two songs to the Virgin while looking deep into the compassionate eyes that she’s come to know so well.
It was a moment that she had trained for all her life.
Oros was born in Aguascalientes, Mexico, into a family of nine that is both musically inclined and devoutly Catholic; one of her brothers spent six years in the seminary, while another is currently a Jesuit novice. She immigrated to Santa Maria in California as a preteen, and studied music theory and vocalization, singing to God and to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
At 12, she discovered a love for Mexican “ranchera” music when her father bought her a copy of Linda Ronstadt’s 1987 album “Canciones De Mi Padre” – in which the American singer recorded traditional mariachi songs that were of special significance to her family.
“I would lock myself in my room and listen to the cassette over and over and over again until I learned all the songs,” she said.
Since then, Oros has remained close to the singing world. She’s enjoyed a long career working in TV, radio, the recording industry and now in publishing as editor-in-chief of Iconos, her own magazine highlighting music and entertainment news.
While she’s remained mostly behind the scenes, she has recorded jingles, produced her own albums and sings when the occasion arises. While living in New York, she had the chance to sing on the “Late Show with David Letterman,” for fashion designer Oscar de la Renta and open for Mexican “ranchera” icon Vicente Fernández at Madison Square Garden.
Oros accepted the chance to sing during this year’s “Mañanitas” celebration at the cathedral, out of gratitude for the role she said Our Lady played in saving her life just five years ago.
In 2018, Oros went into septic shock, and then fell into a coma, after undergoing a medical procedure in Aguascalientes. After awakening, she suffered a cerebral thrombosis and other complications that worsened her prognosis.
Drifting in and out of consciousness, she spent the early days of her recovery in a clinic named, aptly, for Our Lady of Guadalupe, where she said she experienced the love of Jesus for her through Mary.
A pivotal point in her healing, she said, came when she and her husband received messages from Mary through a prayer group.
“She said, ‘I am with you, do not be afraid,’” Oros said. “’You will heal from this but we will do this together …’ In other words, she wanted me to get closer to her Son while holding her by the hand.”
Today, Oros’ body and faith have grown continually stronger.
“She interceded for me to live,” she said. “We always look for the opportunity to thank her and to be in communion with her.”
Surviving the near-fatal incident has shown Oros that Our Lady of Guadalupe is very much alive and is there to help all of her children, she said.
“We may not be perfect, we may be sinners, we may fall, but in the end this is proof of the love and mercy of Christ through his mother. She is the key to the door that opens to Christ and to our salvation.”

(Theresa Cisneros writes for Angelus, the online news outlet of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.)

Serving church, country ‘an honor,’ says priest promoted to general in Air Force Chaplain Corps

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By OSV News
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – At Blessed Sacrament Parish in Tallahassee, Father Peter Zalewski is a busy and beloved pastor, tending to the activities of his church community and the local Catholic school, the largest primary school in the Pensacola-Tallahassee Diocese.
But the pastor also serves in the Air Force Chaplain Corps, and with his Dec. 14 promotion to a one-star, or brigadier, general, he now holds the highest rank in the military of any Catholic priest.
On his one day off a week, he’ll be tending to meetings at the Pentagon or elsewhere in Washington, because he now serves as the primary adviser to the chief of the National Guard Bureau on religious, ethical and morale issues.
As a general, Father Zalewski will provide guidance and programs directing National Guard chaplain personnel and supporting Army and Air Guardsmen.
The Dec. 14 promotion ceremony at the Florida National Guard Headquarters in St. Augustine was the culmination of Father Zalewski’s nearly 40-year life in the military, which began in 1984 as a cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Father Pete Zalewszki, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Tallahassee, Fla., is seen during a Dec. 14, 2023, ceremony at the Florida National Guard Headquarters in St. Augustine where he was promoted him to brigadier general in the Air Force Chaplain Corps. Now the highest-ranked Catholic clergyman in the U.S. Armed Services, he will minister to members of both the Air and Army National Guard. (OSV News photo/courtesy Catholic Extension)

In the early 1990s, he deployed in major military operations, including serving as an intelligence officer in Operation Desert Storm in the first Gulf War. He was following in the footsteps of his father, who served two tours in Vietnam, but he also pursued a military career with encouragement of his mother, who helped him appreciate the meaning of serving the Armed Forces.
The Florida native eventually heard the call to pursue the priesthood instead of Air Force pilot training, so in 1992 he became a seminarian for the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. He also became an Air Force chaplain candidate.
At his promotion ceremony, Father Zalewski thanked his parishioners at Blessed Sacrament, as well as St. Dominic in Panama City, Florida, where he was previously pastor, for always supporting his dual responsibilities.
“Thank you for your support,” he said. “We have to protect those who protect us. So, thank you for allowing me to do that. That means a lot to me.”
Father Zalewski’s remarks were reported by Catholic Extension in an article on its website, www.catholicextension.org.
The priest’s connection to the Chicago-based organization is twofold. He serves on its mission committee, which helps Catholic Extension increase its impact and awareness around the country. He also has involved his parish in raising financial support for various Extension initiatives over the years.
But the priest also was a beneficiary of Extension’s funding of seminary education when he was in formation to be ordained for the Pensacola-Tallahassee Diocese.
Each year, Catholic Extension supports 400 seminarians on their path to the priesthood by providing scholarships that help struggling dioceses pay for seminarian tuition as well as room and board.
After his ordination in 1997, Father Zalewski began serving as a parish priest in his diocese and as a military reserve chaplain at bases in the Florida Panhandle. He would eventually be deployed again in 2008 as a “wing chaplain” to Al-Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, serving military personnel supporting U.S. operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“He knows that the many sacrifices of our service members have created a toll – physical, mental and spiritual,” Catholic Extension said. “Father Zalewski recalls his visits to military bases over these past years where he would encounter young soldiers wearing prosthetics, reminding him of what they gave on the battlefield.
“More troublesome, still, are the wounds that are not visible. Father Zalewski laments that despite many efforts within the services, suicides among military personnel are not decreasing and more needs to be done to stem this tide.”
Father Zalewski said, “It’s been an honor to serve my country in the military, and an honor to serve the Catholic Church in America through Catholic Extension’s mission committee. I see that many of our service members come from rural communities – so Extension is a direct contributor to their spiritual well-being and strength.”
Roughly a quarter of all active-duty military personnel are Catholic, Extension noted, but “as a general, he will serve people regardless of their religious affiliation. … His job will be to ensure that these young, self-sacrificing men and women, who have given so much to our country, have the spiritual care they need.”

National Eucharistic Revival invites Catholics to ‘spark’ a fire with prayer series

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By Katie Yoder

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The National Eucharistic Revival is inviting everyday Catholics to personally participate in the nationwide movement by asking God to transform and renew their hearts through prayer.

“If we want revival for the American church, it must start with you and me,” Kris Frank, chief mission officer for the National Eucharistic Congress, told OSV News of their Spark Series, a prayer series that anyone can join. “As St. Augustine once taught, ‘One loving heart sets another on fire.’ So while the revival is for the entire church, it is also for the individual.”

The revival, a three-year initiative by the U.S. Catholic bishops, seeks to renew the Catholic Church by enkindling a living relationship with Jesus Christ in the holy Eucharist. The grassroots movement culminates in the 10th National Eucharistic Congress, taking place in Indianapolis July 17-21, 2024, followed by a “year of going out on mission.” OSV (the parent company of OSV News and the Our Sunday Visitor newspaper), which has supported the revival from its beginning, was named a “mission partner” for the congress earlier this year.

As part of the movement, the Spark Series consists of nine short daily reflections inviting the faithful to open their hearts for revival. Each day includes a reflection, prayer, and challenge centered on a particular theme.

“We didn’t want this prayer series to be daunting or overwhelming, so using the framework of a nine-day novena gave us a structure and kept the reflections focused,” Frank said of the format. “Obviously, that means we had to leave out some topics we would have liked to include, but the hope is that the Spark Series is a springboard for people to dive deeper into prayer and the richness of the church through revival.”

Catholics can sign up online at the National Eucharistic Revival’s website – eucharisticrevival.org/get-involved – by submitting their email address.

“This prayer series is for everyone,” Frank stressed. “From the holiest amongst us to the person who is just learning about prayer and the church, we believe God has a special grace for all in this season of Eucharistic revival.”

He added, “Our hope is that as people pray through these reflections that God does something new in their heart, and through a renewal of hearts, God will bring about a revival that will bless our church for years to come.”

The prayer series presents reflections to the faithful in a hopeful, encouraging tone while challenging them to examine their lives as children of God. The messages remind people of God’s love and mercy while centering on revival and renewal through the Eucharist. The nine themes for each day are: Revival; Kerygma/Missionaries; Encounter; Healing; Source and Summit; Mary, Mother of the Eucharist (Adoration); Pilgrimage; Works of Mercy; and Mission.

“As you walk with the Holy Spirit during this time, be open to how he wants to speak to you about encounter, healing, mission, and mercy, all flowing from a love for the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith, in which Christ is truly, really, and substantially present,” the introduction to the series reads. “Above all, expect God to work in amazing ways in your life as you surrender yourself more deeply to him.”

At the end of the nine days, the series recommends that Catholics share their experience with others and invite them to participate in the Spark Series too.

Nearly 22,000 people have already signed up to receive and pray through the prayer series, Frank revealed. The inspiration for the series, he said, came from a desire for the church to be unified in its prayers for revival.

“We believe true revival is far more than a series of events or a program, so we created these short reflections that would serve as a prayer guide for personal conversion and renewal for the church,” he said.

Frank explained that the name of the prayer series draws from the vision of Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, chairman of the board of the National Eucharistic Congress, who said of the revival, “We want to start a fire, not a program.”

“The fiercest fires still start with a small spark, so we hope these reflections are simply the start of something far greater,” Frank added.

He addressed the series’ focus on fostering Catholics’ personal renewal and revival.

“Revival doesn’t simply happen because we say we are in a revival, or because we release resources about revival,” he said. “We believe true revival can only happen through a renewal of hearts.”

(Katie Yoder writes for OSV News from Washington. She is a contributing editor for the Our Sunday Visitor newspaper. A link to the Spark Series can be found here at the National Eucharistic Revival’s website: https://www.eucharisticrevival.org/get-involved)

News Briefs

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FORT CALHOUN, Neb. (OSV News) – A Nebraska priest has died after being attacked in the rectory of his parish in the early morning of the Second Sunday of Advent. Father Stephen Gutgsell was found “suffering from injuries sustained during an assault” Dec. 10 at the rectory of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, where he served as pastoral administrator. According to a Dec. 10 press release from the Washington County Sheriff Mike Robinson, the county’s 911 emergency dispatch received an emergency call that day at approximately 5:05 a.m. reporting an attempted break-in at the rectory. Deputies arrived within six minutes and took the suspect into custody while the injured priest was transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where he later died from his injuries. Robinson told local media he does not believe the death is related to the deceased priest’s 2007 conviction for embezzling more than $125,000 from a former parish, for which he received five years’ probation and was returned to ministry following a successful residential rehabilitation program. Local media reported tributes poured in at a vigil held that Sunday, with parishioners mourning a priest they called a “wonderful person” who devoted himself to others above himself. The priest’s final bulletin message to his flock spoke of St. John the Baptist, their patron, who is “to remind us of what we all should be preparing to receive in the Advent Season” before asking God’s blessing on them and their families “in this Wonderful Season of Grace.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio (OSV News) – Two Ohio dioceses are considering a potential merger, according to a joint letter issued Dec. 11 by Bishop Earl K. Fernandes of the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, and Bishop Paul J. Bradley, apostolic administration of the Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio, who said they “have begun very preliminary discussions regarding the potential merger of the dioceses.” The bishops said, “the Apostolic Nunciature has asked the dioceses to work together to consider how different dimensions of the dioceses, including the temporal aspects of life, might be affected by such a proposal.” The move comes a year after a similar attempt was put on hold by former Steubenville Bishop Jeffrey M. Monforton, who admitted he encountered “disappointment and even fear” among faithful regarding the prospect. Now, “while no decision has been made, due diligence is needed so an educated and responsible decision can be discerned in a timely manner,” wrote Bishop Fernandes and Bishop Bradley. “Ultimately the decision is up to the Holy Father,” they wrote. “The work has begun, and as the work continues, updates will be provided.”

OWENSBORO, Ky. (OSV News) – Two years ago over the course of a Friday night Dec. 10-11, a series of tornadoes struck western Kentucky, killing 57 with additional fatalities in Illinois, Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri and damaging and destroying several thousand residences as well as nearly 200 commercial buildings. Just one day before area residents officially observed the outbreak’s second anniversary, tornadoes ripped through middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky inflicting another weather disaster on Dec. 9 just weeks before Christmas. Although no Catholic schools or parishes suffered storm damage, six people were killed in Clarksville, Tennessee, and other communities were devastated as well. Laura Miller, faith formation director and office assistant at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and School in Clarksville, told OSV News their buildings escaped damage but “north Clarksville is pretty torn up.” Father Ryan Harpole, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Bowling Green, Kentucky, reflected on their own experience rebuilding following the deadly 2021 tornadoes, saying “we have adapted quite well, and people have moved on, and if anything came out of this it is a message that says there is hope in the future.” Diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky, Bishop William F. Medley issued a special statement of reflection for the remembrance of the December 2021 tornadoes, saying that while they “permanently changed our communities” they also showed the Catholic Church’s “fast and generous response to those who suffered.”

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis said he has decided to be buried in Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major instead of in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican and that he has simplified the rites for a papal funeral. In a Dec. 12 interview with Mexican news outlet N+, the pope, in good humor, discussed plans for his own funeral as well as the trips he still hopes to complete during his pontificate. The pope said he had already discussed preparations for a papal funeral with his master of liturgical ceremonies, Archbishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli. “We simplified them quite a bit,” he said, and jokingly added that “I will premiere the new ritual.” Breaking with recent tradition, Pope Francis said he has chosen to be buried at the Basilica of St. Mary Major because of his “very strong connection” with the church. “The place is already prepared,” he said. Asked about his future travels, the pope said that a trip to Belgium is “certain” and that two other trips, to Polynesia and Argentina, are pending.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Christmas season is a reminder to Christians that despite hardships, God chose to join himself to humanity and still remains by its side, Pope Francis said. “Christmas is a reminder that God loves us and wants to be with us,” the pope told a group of children at the Vatican Dec. 15 during a meeting with representatives from the Italian Catholic Action movement. The Incarnation, he said, “is a stupendous gift, and it brings with it another: that we may also love one another as brothers and sisters.” He added that such love is needed today when “so many people, so many children suffer because of war.” Later in the day, the pope met with the organizers of a Christmas concert hosted at the Vatican for people in need. Reflecting on the concert’s title, “Christmas Concert with the Poor and for the Poor,” the pope said moving from an attitude of being “for” the poor to one of being “with” the poor is key. “One starts from the ‘for’ but wants to reach the ‘with,’ and this is very Christian,” he said. “God came for us, but how? In what way? By coming to live with us, by even becoming like us.”

An Ukrainian serviceman carries his daughter on his shoulders, while people gather around a Christmas tree in front of the St. Sophia Cathedral, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Dec. 6, 2023. (OSV News photo/Alina Smutko, Reuters)

WORLD
KHARKIV, Ukraine (OSV News) – When Ukraine’s embattled citizens gather this Christmas, their rich festivities will feel symbolically different – as the festival is celebrated for the first time on Dec. 25, in line with the Western calendar. “People here have long insisted we should be united around a common festival, expressing our faith together and enjoying the same work-free days,” explained Auxiliary Bishop Jan Sobilo from Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhia Diocese. “As we withstand Russia’s attacks, however, this change will also have a political dimension in bringing us closer to Western civilization. Many of those who no longer attend church, believing Christians are always feuding, may well be led back to God by this new united spirit of prayer and celebration,” he said. The bishop spoke to OSV News amid preparations for the long-awaited switch to the Western Christmas, agreed earlier in 2023 by church and government leaders. Amid harsh conditions of war, Ukrainians have shown determination in maintaining their Christmas customs. The great festival of Vigilia, or Christmas Eve, is marked with family gatherings around a sviata vechera, or “holy supper,” incorporating a dozen dishes representing the Twelve Apostles, and ends with the midnight Mass. Homes are decorated with the customary didukh, a sheaf of wheat stalks symbolizing ancestors’ spirits, for whom dishes such as the traditional kutia are left on the table.

WARSAW, Poland (OSV News) – Cardinal Grzegorz Rys of Lodz, chairman of the Committee for Dialogue with Judaism of the Polish bishops’ conference, strongly condemned the incident in which a far-right Polish lawmaker used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the Sejm, the country’s parliament. “In connection with the incident in the Sejm committed by Mr. MP Grzegorz Braun, who extinguished the Hanukkah candles and declared that he was not ashamed of what he had done, I declare that I am ashamed and apologize to the entire Jewish community in Poland,” Cardinal Rys wrote Dec. 12. Braun, a member of the Confederation party, provoked outrage from members of faith communities and other members of parliament when he used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles Dec. 12 during an afternoon event with members of the Jewish community. This is a disgrace,” said Donald Tusk, newly appointed prime minister. “Poland’s Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich told Reuters by telephone that Braun’s actions were not representative of the country and that he was “embarrassed” by them. “Someone extinguished the Hanukkah candles and a few minutes later we relit them,” Rabbi Schudrich told Reuters. “For thousands of years our enemies have been trying to extinguish us, from the time of the Maccabees right through to Hamas. But our enemies should learn, they cannot extinguish us.”

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HOBOKEN, N.J. (OSV News) – For the last decade, Msgr. Paul Bochicchio of St. Francis Church in Hoboken has been advising as a spiritual consultant on the upcoming film “Cabrini,” produced by Angel Studios about the life and ministry of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, set to debut in theaters in March 2024. The movie, from the studio that produced “The Chosen” and “Sound of Freedom,” gives a dramatic look into the life of Mother Cabrini, as she is best known, and the uphill battle she faced ministering to the immigrant poor of New York. Msgr. Bochicchio, a priest of 52 years, has had a lifelong devotion to the first American saint. His great-grandmother knew Mother Cabrini personally, as they were both community leaders among New York Italian immigrants at the turn of the 20th century. Noting his grandmother had an enormous influence on his vocation to the priesthood, he found that he had a calling to work with Italian immigrants due to his background and had the perfect model in the patron saint of immigrants. As one of many technical advisers on the set of “Cabrini” but also as a Catholic priest, Msgr. Bochicchio accompanied the cast and crew on work retreats, where he would celebrate Mass every day and give spiritual reflections on the saint. As a script adviser, he would receive every revision and be asked to comment on its accuracy.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (OSV News) – The late James Madison Smith Sr. and Catherine “Kitty” Smith, formerly enslaved Catholics, are being recognized as agents of the Underground Railroad. The Smiths, a freed married couple, are buried in St. Louis Cemetery in Louisville in a once-segregated section of the cemetery. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Park Service announced in late September that the Smiths’ burial site would be included in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. Its mission is to “honor, preserve and promote the history of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight,” according to its website. During the 1850s, worsening conditions for Black people in the South led the Smiths to move from Louisville to Jennings County, Indiana. Their farm – located about 29 miles from the Ohio River – became a shelter for enslaved people fleeing for freedom, said Deacon Ned Berghausen, who led the effort to recognize the Smiths. He serves at St. Agnes Church. Years earlier, James Madison Smith had purchased his freedom and that of Catherine Smith and they were married in 1837 at St. Louis Church, now the site of the Cathedral of the Assumption. Though they left Louisville, the couple remained connected to the city’s Black Catholic community.

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican announced Pope Francis’ Christmas liturgy schedule Nov. 28. It includes: – Dec. 24 at 7:30 p.m., the pope will celebrate the Mass of the Nativity of the Lord in St. Peter’s Basilica. – Dec. 25 at noon, Pope Francis gives his message and blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world) from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. – Dec. 31 at 5 p.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope presides over evening prayer and the chanting of the “Te Deum” in thanksgiving to God for the year that is ending. – Jan. 1 at 10 a.m. in the basilica, the pope celebrates Mass for the feast of Mary, Mother of God, and World Peace Day. – Jan. 6 at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s, Pope Francis celebrates Mass for the feast of the Epiphany. – Jan. 7 at 9:30 a.m. in the Sistine Chapel, the pope presides over a Mass for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and baptizes several infants.

TURIN, Italy (OSV News) – On Oct. 30, three days after Pope Francis lifted the statute of limitations and opened the path for a church trial and possible removal from the priesthood for former Jesuit and mosaic artist Father Marko Rupnik, a woman previously known as Anna gave the world her real name, revealing it in the Italian daily newspaper Domani. Emerging as Gloria Branciani, she openly wanted to protest church policies that put the alleged victims in more pain instead of healing. Branciani alerted church authorities about Father Rupnik’s behavior years ago, but it was a losing battle, she told OSV News. In a first-ever interview by an alleged victim of Father Rupnik, published by Domani Dec. 18, 2022, she spoke about a “descent into hell” she experienced for nine years and recalled how “Father Marko at first slowly and gently infiltrated my psychological and spiritual world by appealing to my uncertainties and frailties while using my relationship with God to push me to have sexual experiences with him.” Father Rupnik was expelled from the Jesuit order June 9 because of his “stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience.” The artist had been accused by several women of sexual, spiritual and psychological abuses that according to media reports over a 30-year period. Branciani said she hopes that in the canonical process recently reopened against Father Rupnik will lead to the truth being recognized.

WORLD
PARIS (OSV News) – If classical literature characters could become saints, France has a perfect example. The real bishop behind Victor Hugo’s famous Les Misérables character is likely to be beatified. The French bishops, gathered in Lourdes Nov. 3-8 for their plenary assembly, voted in favor of opening the diocesan process for his beatification. Bishop Bienvenu de Miollis (1753-1843) was the Bishop of Digne from 1805 to 1838 and an inspiration for Victor Hugo’s character Bishop Myriel in the novel Les Misérables, published in 1862. Bishop Myriel was close to the poor and lived a sober life. He took in the main character, Jean Valjean, who had just been released from the penal colony. The next day, Valjean was recaptured by the police for stealing Bishop Myriel’s silverware. But the prelate pretended it was a gift, and doing so, he saved Valjean from re-arrest. This gesture of mercy marked the beginning of a profound transformation of Valjean, which continued throughout the book. He remained attached to the memory of the bishop all his life. Renowned for his kindness, Bishop de Miollis was very attentive to the poor and beggars, whom he gathered together at the Hospice of Charity, and lived very modestly himself. In 1806, Bishop de Miollis took in a freed convict by the name of Pierre Maurin, whom no-one wanted to take in, and looked for ways to help him regain his dignity – a story that inspired the author of Les Misérables.

BUENOS AIRES (OSV News) – The Nicaraguan government has released a series of photos and videos of imprisoned Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa – purportedly as proof of him receiving preferential treatment – that have sparked alarm over the prelate’s emaciated appearance and indignation over his continued incarceration in one of the country’s most notorious prisons. Nicaragua’s interior ministry published the photos and videos from 10 separate occasions between March 25, 2023, and Nov. 2, 2023, as part of a 20-page press release issued Nov. 28, according to independent Nicaraguan news organization Confidencial. The photos and videos show Bishop Álvarez greeting his brother and sister during prison visits, watching TV in an area full of snacks, and receiving medical attention. “As can be seen in the video and photographs, the conditions of confinement are preferential and the regime of medical consultations, family visits, referral and receipt of packages is strictly complied with, contrary to what slanderous campaigns would have us believe,” the ministry said in its statement. The bishop, 57, appeared emaciated in the photos, according to ecclesial colleagues on social media. An outspoken prelate, who routinely denounced the abuses of Nicaragua’s regime, Bishop Álvarez was convicted Feb. 10 on charges of conspiracy and spreading false information and sentenced to 26 years in prison after a closed trial in which he was denied a lawyer of his choosing.

MARAWI, Philippines (OSV News) – A deadly bomb that exploded during a Mass Dec. 3 killed at least four people and injured dozens at a university in a predominantly Muslim city in southern Philippines. Media reports that the explosion caused panic among dozens of students and teachers in a gymnasium, where Mass was taking place, at Mindanao State University in Marawi, capital of Lanao del Sur province. The explosion took place at around 7 a.m. local time. Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for the deadly blast, according to Reuters and The New York Times. Nearly 80% of the Philippines’ population of 114.6 million people is Catholic. About 6% of the population identifies as Muslim. After praying the Angelus, Pope Francis assured the victims of his prayers. A telegram, addressed to Bishop Edwin de la Peña of Marawi, assured the people of the Holy Father’s spiritual closeness amid this tragedy, and that he commended the souls of those who died to God’s mercy and prayed for “the divine gifts of healing and consolation upon the injured and bereaved.”

US bishops’ meeting shows united front on mission but no clear synod action plan

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By Peter Jesserer Smith

Bishops attend Mass Nov. 13, 2023, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore at the start of their 2023 fall plenary assembly. (OSV News photo/courtesy Angelus Virata, Baltimore Basilica)

BALTIMORE (OSV News) – For two days, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops met in plenary assembly in Baltimore advancing key issues related to liturgy, living out the faith, including in the public square, and retooling the conference to better serve the church’s mission.
However, the bishops’ Nov. 13-16 meeting, which took place nearly three weeks following the conclusion of the global Synod on Synodality, also concluded without a common game plan for how bishops could get consultative feedback from their local parishes with respect to the synod’s “halftime” report before it reconvenes in 11 months.

At the assembly’s opening Mass Nov. 13, the bishops prayed for peace, with USCCB president Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services in the homily saying they asked for wisdom to help others embrace Jesus Christ, and noting the feast day of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American saint, and herself an immigrant who championed care for immigrants.

The public portions of the bishops’ plenary assembly Nov. 14-15 were marked with extraordinary unanimity as the bishops’ closed-door “fraternal dialogues” gave them time for face-to-face group discussions to work out contentious issues in advance of presentations and votes.

The bishops approved a letter to Pope Francis, affirming their shared concern over global conflicts, his teaching on “ecological conversion,” and their commitment to prayerfully reflect on the Synod on Synodality synthesis report.

In their addresses, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the U.S., and Archbishop Broglio offered contrasting viewpoints on synodality. Cardinal Pierre focused on Luke’s Gospel account of the risen Jesus revealing himself to his disciples on the road to Emmaus as illustrating “precisely the synodal path in its essential elements: encountering, accompanying, listening, discerning and rejoicing at what the Holy Spirit reveals.” Archbishop Broglio shared his view that existing advisory structures in the U.S. church, both at the diocesan and national level, are examples of existing synodal realities to “recognize and build on” while remaining open to “new possibilities.”

Over Nov. 14-15, the bishops voted with overwhelming majorities on every issue: U.S. adaptations to the Liturgy of the Hours and liturgical drafts related to consecrated and religious life; national revised statutes for Christian initiation; and it also approved without controversy supplements to its teaching on faithful citizenship that reference Pope Francis’ 2020 encyclical letter “Fratelli Tutti” (“Brothers All”) while naming abortion as “our pre-eminent priority” among other threats to human life and dignity.

The U.S. bishops voted to support the sainthood cause launched by the Archdiocese of New York for Father Isaac Hecker (1819-1888), founder of the Paulist Fathers. They also endorsed an effort to declare St. John Henry Newman a “doctor of the church.”

The bishops voted to reauthorize their Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism for two more years, discern its future place in the conference structure, and change rules so retired Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Joseph N. Perry, who is African American, could continue leading that committee.

The U.S. bishops elected Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City as secretary-elect of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and also elected chairmen-elect for six committees – education, communications, cultural diversity, doctrine, national collections and pro-life activities – as well as bishops for the boards of Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc., or CLINIC, and Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. church’s overseas relief and development agency.

A surprise came when the bishops decided to punt approval of a pastoral framework for Indigenous Catholic ministry that they had commissioned four years ago in order to revise and revisit the plan at their June 2024 assembly.

Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind., speaks during a conversation about the Synod on Synodality in Rome at a Nov. 14, 2023, session of the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. Also pictured are Father Michael J.K. Fuller, USCCB general secretary; Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, USCCB president; and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, USCCB vice president. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)

Outside the hotel where the bishops’ assembly was held, the Baltimore-based Defend Life organization held a rosary rally led by Bishop Joseph E. Strickland. The event, however, was planned in advance of the bishop learning Nov. 11, just days before the assembly, that Pope Francis had removed him from pastoral governance of his Diocese of Tyler, Texas. About 125 participants, including some clergy and religious, participated.

Bishop Strickland told reporters, including OSV News, that he was told by “the nuncio” – indicating Cardinal Christophe Pierre – not to attend the fall plenary meeting. He said he “respected” the decision,” as well as his “commitment to be here for this prayer.”

Back in the bishops’ assembly, the prelates heard an update on the National Eucharistic Revival revealed attendees of the National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21 in Indianapolis now have the option of purchasing single-day and weekend passes, among other provisions to make participation more affordable and flexible, including scholarships and increasing housing options. A plenary indulgence also will be available to anyone who participates in one of the four main routes of the national pilgrimage to the Eucharistic congress.

The bishops also heard an update on the newly launched Institute on the Catechism. Some bishops advocated that instituting lay men and women to the new ministry of catechist would fill a need for authentic, well-formed witnesses to bring that “evangelizing catechesis” to others.

The bishops most sustained public dialogue took place over the mental health campaign launched in response to the “dire mental health crisis” in the U.S. with some bishops calling for more Catholics to enter the mental health field, educating seminarians and priests in properly referring people for counseling, or connecting people with mental health resources similar to the “Walking with Moms In Need” initiative.

With respect to the Oct. 4-29 Synod on Synodality, the bishops heard about positive experiences from some of their delegates, particularly the value of the synod’s “conversations in the Spirit” as a model for carrying out regular conversational interaction among the church’s members for the sake of the church’s mission.

However, by the time the plenary assembly concluded, the bishops did not seem to have any definite process or task force to help them engage the faithful in consultation on the synod’s 41-page report summarizing the body’s consensus, matters for consideration and priority actions.

During a Nov. 14 press conference, Bishop Flores told OSV News he anticipates it will be discussed in June once bishops have taken the time to “let it sink in and read it carefully.” He said what the USCCB could do immediately was request guidance from the Synod Secretariat in Rome, on how to engage their local churches in a focused and relevant way “because the first responsibility of the bishops is to go back to their own people and to say these are some issues that impact us in particular.”

He indicated a synodal culture needs to take root in the local church first – noting parish or diocesan pastoral councils are not used in some places since they are not mandatory – in order to discern what structures are needed to support it at all levels of the church.

The bishops’ showed a move toward deepening that kind of engagement by replacing the USCCB’s current strategic planning cycle with a mission planning process that would allow the conference to have defined regular responsibilities and the flexibility to focus on “mission directives that evolve after a process of discernment” that can be informed by bishops engaging in local and regional consultation.

“I think it is more synodal,” Archbishop Broglio said in an interview with OSV News, “and I think that will be something that will make a difference in how we address issues and concerns of the church in the United States in a different way, in a new way.”

(Peter Jesserer Smith is national news and features editor for OSV News. Follow him on X (formerly known as Twitter) @jesserersmith.dinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, visit https://www.synod.va/en/news/a-synodal-church-in-mission.html)

Bishop Strickland removed from diocese after accusing pope of backing ‘attack on the sacred’

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By Maria Wiering and Peter Jesserer Smith

(OSV News) – Pope Francis has removed Bishop Joseph E. Strickland from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, the Holy See Press Office announced Nov. 11. Simultaneously, Francis has appointed Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin as apostolic administrator to oversee the diocese until a new bishop is appointed.

No reason was given for Bishop Strickland’s removal, although speculation about his future in the diocese has swirled for months following the bishop’s May 12 post on Twitter (now known as X), accusing the pontiff of “undermining the deposit of faith.”

The pope’s decision followed an address given by Bishop Strickland at an Oct. 31 public gathering in Rome, where he read from a lengthy letter, attributed to a “dear friend,” that accused Pope Francis (among other things) of being a “usurper of Peter’s chair.” Later, the bishop opined himself that Pope Francis was supporting an “attack on the sacred” coming out of the Vatican.

The speculation about Bishop Strickland’s future was accelerated by a June 19-24 apostolic visitation of the Diocese of Tyler conducted by retired Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona, and Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan of Camden, New Jersey.

File photo of Pope Francis greeting Bishop Joseph E. Strickland of Tyler, Texas, during a Jan. 20, 2020, meeting with U.S. bishops from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas during their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican. The Holy See Press Office announced Nov. 11, 2023, that Pope Francis has removed Bishop Strickland from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Tyler. (OSV News photo/Vatican Media)

On Nov. 11, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston released a public statement on the bishop’s removal, explaining that after the apostolic visitation of the Tyler Diocese took place – which he described as “an exhaustive inquiry into all aspects of the governance and leadership of the Diocese of Tyler by its Ordinary” – it was recommended “the continuation in office of Bishop Strickland was not feasible.”

“After months of careful consideration by the Dicastery for Bishops and the Holy Father, the decision was reached that the resignation of Bishop Strickland should be requested,” Cardinal DiNardo said in his statement. “Having been presented with that request on November 9, 2023, Bishop Strickland declined to resign from office. Thereafter, on Nov. 11, 2023, the Holy Father removed Bishop Strickland from the Office of Bishop of Tyler.”

“Let us keep Bishop Strickland, the clergy and faithful of the Diocese of Tyler and Bishop Vasquez in our prayers,” Cardinal DiNardo concluded.

OSV News was told by Elizabeth Slaten, communications director for the Diocese of Tyler, that Bishop Strickland is “not available for comment at this time.”

Bishop Strickland had himself indicated previously that he would not resign willingly from office. The Pillar reported in September that Bishop Strickland’s removal had been recommended to the Holy Father following the apostolic visitation.

In a Sept. 20 blog post on his website, bishopstrickland.com, the bishop addressed rumors of an impending resignation, saying to resign “would be me abandoning the flock that I was given charge of by Pope Benedict XVI.” However, he said that he would respect Pope Francis’ authority if the pontiff removed him from the diocese.

Many had connected the apostolic visitation to Bishop Strickland’s vocal criticisms of Pope Francis and other church prelates, especially on X, where he has around 153,900 followers.

The bishop himself likened the apostolic visitation to “being called to the principal’s office.” In July, he said on his weekly radio show, “The Bishop Strickland Hour,” that he believed the apostolic visitation was initiated “because I’ve been bold enough, I love the Lord enough and his church to simply keep preaching the truth.”

At the same time, he acknowledged that in the diocese “there have been some administrative issues, and I’m sure people are concerned.” Overall, he said, “the diocese is really in good shape.”

Bishop Strickland’s public opposition to Pope Francis seemed to increase substantially with the Synod of Bishops the pope had called to discuss synodality in the Catholic Church along the themes of “communion, participation and mission.” The first session of that synod took place in October; the second is scheduled for next year.

Bishop Strickland charged the synod would instead lead to further confusion and division in the church. From Sept. 5 to Oct. 17, Bishop Strickland published seven pastoral letters on various topics, including the nature of the church and of humanity, the Eucharist, matrimony and holy orders, human love in the divine plan and the error of universalism. In his final pastoral letter, he urged the faithful to “lift high the cross.”

The Oct. 31 Rome Life Forum, sponsored by LifeSiteNews, was billed as a “two-day strategy conference … held immediately after the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality which threatens to formalize heretical teachings on the family.” Organizers said the event was meant to “focus on confronting the evils of the Deep Church and Deep State and their involvement in the Great Reset agenda.”

Bishop Strickland gave a 46-minute public address, which included him reading at length from a letter he said was written to him by an unnamed “dear friend.” This letter accused Pope Francis of being “an expert at producing cowards by preaching dialogue and openness in a welcoming spirit and by highlighting always his own authority.”

The letter outright attacked Pope Francis’ validity as the successor of St. Peter, claiming he had ousted his predecessor, the late-Benedict XVI (who denied such allegations): “Would you now allow this one, who has pushed aside the true pope and has attempted to sit on a chair that is not his, define what the church is to be?”

Bishop Strickland said the letter’s words were “challenging” but did not dispute the allegations.

Bishop Strickland himself said in his address that “one of the most frustrating things coming out of the Vatican, and it’s supported at least by Pope Francis, is the attack on the sacred.”

Nine days later, Pope Francis asked for his resignation, before finally removing him Nov. 11.

Bishop Strickland did not mention his removal when posting to social media, but on Nov. 11 posted a message on X urging followers to “rejoice always that…no matter what the day brings Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, yesterday, today and forever.”

Bishop Strickland, 65, was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Dallas in 1985. He ministered in the northeast Texas diocese since its founding in 1987 and led the diocese since his ordination as bishop in 2012.

In 2017, Bishop Strickland issued “A Teaching Diocese: Constitution on Teaching the Catholic Faith,” which outlined a new catechetical structure for the Diocese of Tyler and established the St. Philip Institute of Catechesis and Evangelization, over which he serves as president.

Bishop Strickland has also supported the formation of Veritatis Splendor, an independent, lay-run Catholic community in his diocese with a residential development near Winona, Texas and named for Pope John Paul II’s 1993 encyclical. In a March 2021 message posted to his blog, Bishop Strickland called the initiative “an inspiration of lay Catholics seeking a community where their families can flourish in Jesus Christ.” Months later, the project was marred by scandal as its executive director stepped down over her adulterous relationship with a Texas pro-life leader.

Bishop Strickland’s public profile started growing in 2018 after he issued a notice on the diocese’s website saying he found the accusations made by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò implicating Pope Francis and other prelates in the scandals of then-cardinal Theodore McCarrick (whom Pope Francis laicized in 2019) were “credible.” The post (removed from the website but archived on the internet) directed his priests to read the notice at Mass and post on their websites and social media.

While the bishop was celebrated for his outspokenness by many in the pro-life movement, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he criticized the Vatican’s moral defense of the available vaccines, which in turn had relied upon studies and guidelines established under Pope Francis’ predecessors.

Bishop Strickland’s controversial persona eventually led to profiles in The New York Times and Esquire, the latter calling him a “‘Red-Pilled’ Bishop … Beefing With the Pope,” a reference to a tweet in which the bishop likened himself to Neo in “The Matrix,” who in the film took the “red pill” in order to unplug from the Matrix and experience reality. “I’ve seen the truth,” he explained in a 2019 interview with the National Catholic Register.

The Diocese of Tyler posted Nov. 11 a notice of the transition from Bishop Strickland to Bishop Vásquez as apostolic administrator, adding, “Our work as the Catholic Church in northeast Texas continues.”
“Our mission is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to foster an authentic Christian community, and to serve the needs of all people with compassion and love,” it stated. “We strive to deepen our faith, promote the common good, and create a welcoming environment for all to encounter the loving God – Father, Son, and Spirit.”

(Maria Wiering is senior writer for OSV News. Peter Jesserer Smith is national news and features editor for OSV News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jesserersmith. OSV News national reporter Gina Christian contributed to this report. Follow her on X at @GinaJesseReina.)

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NATION
BALTIMORE (OSV News) – Attendees of the National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21 in Indianapolis now have the option of purchasing single-day and weekend passes in order to make attendance more affordable and flexible, the bishop overseeing the congress announced Nov. 15. Speaking at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ fall plenary assembly, Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, also said scholarship funds may help ease the costs for some attendees, via the bishops’ Solidarity Fund. Standard passes for the five-day congress are $299-$375 for adults, and $99 for children ages 2-18 traveling with their family. The single-day passes will range $49-$95 depending on the day, and weekend passes will be $125. Registration does not include housing, transportation or meals related to the congress. Registration for day and weekend passes will open in January. A limited number of discounted single-day passes will be available for early registrants. The National Eucharistic Congress is the pinnacle of the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative the USCCB launched in 2022 to renew and strengthen Catholics’ understanding of and love for Jesus in the Eucharist.

MENLO PARK, Calif. (OSV News) – At age 50, seminarian Scott-Vincent Borba doesn’t consider his to be a late vocation. “God called me at age 10,” he told OSV News. “I just accepted late.” Now in his pastoral year at St. Patrick’s University and Seminary in Menlo Park, California, Borba shared with OSV News how he traded a life as a young, highly successful cosmetics industry executive – a career that included co-founding the e.l.f. line of products, regular media appearances, and clients such as actress Mila Kunis – for a life of priestly service. Fame, fortune and a nonstop work schedule ultimately couldn’t silence a call Borba experienced at age 10, and his journey back to his childhood faith and his vocation has brought profound joy, he said. “I have never been happier. I have never been more full of joy,” he said. “With everything the world can give me, I would give it back a million times over to be united to Jesus,” added Borba, who is studying to be a priest for the Diocese of Fresno, California.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ migration committee has sent a letter to lawmakers in Congress urging enhanced protections be put in place for migrant children. “In recent months, several concerning reports have emerged regarding incidents of migrant children in the United States suffering exploitative labor conditions and other harmful situations,” Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, said in his Nov. 9 letter. “Among migrants, unaccompanied children constitute the most vulnerable group,” added the bishop, who is chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration. His letter follows the Nov. 1 introduction of a bipartisan, bicameral measure that would add protections for minors to immigration courts, which do not currently have protocols specifically for processing children. Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, alongside Reps. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., and Maria Salazar, R-Fla., introduced the Immigration Court Efficiency and Children’s Court Act, legislation they said would establish a Children’s Court within the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which they argued would both combat the immigration court backlog and strengthen due process rights for unaccompanied migrant children. Reps. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., and Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., are also original co-sponsors of the legislation, according to a release from Bennett’s office.

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Embrace God’s unconditional love and live in a way that is based on and radiates hope, Pope Francis told Catholic young people. Christian hope “is the celebration of the love of the risen Christ, who is always at our side, even when he seems far from us,” the pope said in his annual message for local celebrations of World Youth Day. Hope is nurtured by prayer and the concrete choices one makes every day, he said in the message, published Nov. 14 at the Vatican. “I urge all of you to choose a style of life grounded in hope,” he wrote. For example, instead of sharing negative things on social media, share things that inspire hope. “Each day, try to share a word of hope with others. Try to sow seeds of hope in the lives of your friends and everyone around you,” the pope wrote. While the next international celebration of World Youth Day will be held in Seoul, South Korea, in 2027, Pope Francis has asked Catholic young people around the world to prepare for the Holy Year 2025 and its Jubilee of Young People in Rome, which will be part of the Holy Year celebration. In the two years preceding the Jubilee of Young People, dioceses around the world are to celebrate World Youth Day on a local level on the feast of Christ the King, which will be Nov. 26 this year and Nov. 24, 2024.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Often enough, the first people who need to be evangelized are Christians themselves, Pope Francis said. “A Christian who is discontented, sad, dissatisfied, or worse still, resentful or rancorous, is not credible” and will not attract anyone to a relationship with Jesus and a life of faith, the pope said Nov. 15 at his weekly general audience. After almost a year of audience talks about “zeal for evangelization” and highlighting the example of saints and other exemplary men and women from around the world, Pope Francis said his last talks in the series would focus on four points from his 2013 apostolic exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel.” The first point, the subject of his talk Nov. 15, was the essential role of joy in the life of Christians and in their ability to share the Gospel with others. “The Gospel is not an ideology; the Gospel is a proclamation of joy,” he said. “All ideologies are cold, but the Gospel has the warmth of joy. Ideologies don’t make people smile, but the Gospel is a smile. It makes you smile because it touches your soul with the Good News.”

WORLD
NOTTINGHAM, England (OSV News) – British bishops expressed their condolences to Dean and Claire Gregory, parents of 8-month-old Indi who died Nov. 13 after neither a court battle nor Italian citizenship granted to the infant prevented the British courts from halting her life-support. Following the death of baby Indi, Bishop Patrick McKinney of Nottingham and Bishop John Sherrington, Lead Bishop for Life Issues and Auxiliary of Westminster, wrote in a statement that they learned about the death of the child with “deep sadness,” assuring the parents “of our prayers and those of all the Catholic Community, including Pope Francis, at this sad time.” “As a baptized child of God, we believe that she will now share in the joy of heaven after her short life which brought deep joy to her parents who loved and protected her as a precious gift of God,” the bishops said. The father of the girl said earlier that he was not religious, but he had chosen to have his child baptized Sept. 23 after feeling the “pull of hell” in their court battle to extend her life. Indi died at 1:45 a.m. U.K. time Nov. 13.

NICE, France (OSV News) – The Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious order founded in 1839 by St. Jeanne Jugan, serves the elderly poor in over 30 countries around the world. They serve the neediest with assistance, care and prayer. Now one of their own needs prayers. On Oct. 31, the Little Sisters in Nice experienced a devastating blow when “a car went out of control and up onto a sidewalk, striking two sisters,” the congregation said in a message sent to supporters. “One, less seriously injured, was hospitalized and has now returned home. The other, a 28-year-old sister from India, sustained serious head injuries and doctors do not give any hope for her recovery,” Sister Constance Veit, U.S. communications director for the order, said on behalf of the French sisters. “If this is God’s will, we accept, but we also see this as a call to arms, to pray for her healing, knowing that nothing is impossible to our loving God,” the sisters wrote. “Would you please join us in praying through the intercession of Father Ernest Lelièvre for the healing of Sister Isabelle Antoinette? … Because of his holiness and missionary zeal we believe he could be a powerful role model and intercessor for the clergy of our day.” Father Lelièvre (1826-1889) traveled the world to establish homes run by the sisters.

WARSAW, Poland (OSV News) – On Warsaw’s Rakowiecka street, flanked by a smart new Metro station and office building, a gray cement wall runs mournfully along a damp surface of fallen leaves. At midpoint in the wall, a narrow gateway opens out onto crumbling barrack buildings, still daubed with political graffiti between tightly barred windows. When Mokotow prison was opened as the Museum of Cursed Soldiers and Political Prisoners of the Polish People’s Republic in March, six years after shedding its last inmates, it was agreed regular Masses and liturgies should be held to dispel the site’s dark, malevolent associations. Today, dedicated to communist-era resistance fighters and political prisoners, the museum’s melancholy courtyards and corridors gain special poignancy during the commemorative month of November. “Though this is a secular institution, it’s also a place of prayer,” explained Father Tomasz Trzaska, the museum’s chaplain. “While Poles place candles each year on the graves of loved ones, we should remember many victims of past misrule have no known resting place. It’s especially those people we pray for in November, as work continues to uncover and identify their remains.” Given the horrors perpetrated here, Father Trzaska thinks religious ceremonies are important – especially for ex-inmates who sometimes show up with friends and relatives. “This museum should serve as a visible warning of humanity’s darker side,” said Lidia Ujazdowska, a Warsaw historian.