(OSV News) – For Kendra Tierney, a Catholic author and mother of 10, the Advent season leading up to Christmas is like preparing to give birth.
“There’s such a unique character to that time where you can’t rush it and that you’re trying to prepare everything,” said the founder and CEO of Catholic All Year. “I think that Advent gives us all that opportunity to really dive into that sort of feeling, where we want to use that time to prepare our homes and to prepare our families to welcome Christ into our lives.”
Advent marks the beginning of the church’s liturgical year, starting four Sundays before Christmas. The name “Advent” hints at its meaning: It comes from the Latin word “advenire,” which translates to “to come to” or “to arrive.” The season begins Dec. 3 this year.
Bethlehem nativity scene photo by BigStock
While Advent is sometimes called “a little Lent,” Catholic experts observe that there are important similarities and differences between the two, both of which lead up to major feast days and liturgical seasons: Christmas and Easter, respectively. Advent, they agree, is primarily a season of preparation.
“Lent has that penitential character where … we are trying to focus on exercising those muscles of being penitent. I think that the character of Advent is intended to be a little different than that – that it is really, actually, a waiting for a birth,” said Tierney, who writes about living the liturgical year in the home. In a 2019 blog post, she describes the difference from Lent: “Advent is predominantly preparation, and Lent is predominantly penance.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church uses similar wording in describing Advent. “When the church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming,” it says.
In contrast, the catechism calls Lent one of the “intense moments of the church’s penitential practice.” Father Agustino Torres, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal and author of the new book “Prepare Your Hearts: A Guided Advent Journal for Prayer and Meditation,” tied the penitential and preparation aspects together.
“Although it’s not widely thought of as such, Advent is a time when we can offer up penance to prepare the way for the coming Christ Child,” he said. “It is not penitential in the same way Lent is, but there has been a long-held tradition in the church to offer up prayer vigils, fasts and offerings during Advent.”
Timothy O’Malley, the director of education at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and the academic director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy, emphasized that much of the church’s year has historically been penitential.
“Advent takes on a penitential spirit inspired by the three-fold advent of Jesus Christ,” he said. “The Christ who comes at the end of time, who will judge the world. The Christ who comes into the heart of every believer longing for his presence. The Christ who comes as the newborn babe.”
He added: “It is penitential insofar as we have to ask ourselves if we’re ready for these various presences.” Like Lent, Advent in the Roman Catholic Church historically included fasting, O’Malley said.
“Advent develops as a fasting period preceding the celebration of Christmas, likely connected to initiation of Christians,” he noted. “But the Roman rite was later to adopt this period of around four weeks – it’s Gregory the Great that tells us of the four weeks. We know in Milan, it was six weeks (and still is).”
Advent is also marked by the use of the Advent wreath, which O’Malley said was adopted as a practice of popular piety from Germany, and the O Antiphons, descriptions of the Messiah drawn from the Book of Isaiah which are used in the Liturgy of the Hours’ evening prayer Dec. 17-23.
Father Torres points to fasts, vigils, wreaths and readings of the Prophet Isaiah. And in many countries, he said, the period between Dec. 17 and Christmas Eve “is filled with prayers, processions and devotions followed by a celebration and songs.”
Father Torres also noted that Lent was added to the church’s liturgical calendar before Advent.
“Initially, only Easter had a preparatory season, but later Christmas developed its own similar period called Advent,” he said. “Both Advent and Lent share common features, such as violet liturgical color, omitting the Gloria at Sunday Masses, and having a Sunday of ‘joy’ during both seasons – Gaudete Sunday and Laetare Sunday.”
The seasons also have notable contrasts, Father Torres added. “While Lent lacks flowers, Advent features them moderately. Lent has images of going into the desert, Advent has a voice coming from the desert. Lent has readings of conversion of life; Advent has readings of fulfillment of prophecy in our lives. Advent has a joyous anticipation feel, because it is meant to embody the expectation for the Messiah with delightful devotion, whereas Lent has penitential practices like the Way of the Cross,” he said.
He noted that the current expectations of Advent are that it is a time of joyful anticipation. “If your home is getting ready to receive a lovely guest, there is a time of cleaning, cooking and prepping,” he said. “We are readying our hearts for Jesus in Advent in similar ways.”
Katie Yoder writes for OSV News from the Washington, D.C., area.
NATION BROOKLYN, N.Y. (OSV News) – Bishop Robert J. Brennan of Brooklyn celebrated a Mass of Reparation Nov. 4 in a Brooklyn Catholic Church used in a violent and provocative music video, and he has removed its well-known pastor from his diocesan development role. Pop singer Sabrina Carpenter released a music video to her song “Feather” Oct. 31, which includes scenes of the singer dancing and performing inside and outside of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Brooklyn, including in the sanctuary where the altar is located. Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, the parish’s pastor, was removed as the Diocese of Brooklyn’s vicar for development Nov. 3. He will remain pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation Parish. However, Bishop Robert Brennan has appointed Auxiliary Bishop Witold Mroziewski as the temporary administrator. Earlier this week, Bishop Brennan was said to be “appalled” by what was filmed. “Bishop Robert Brennan strongly condemns the filming of the music video inside Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church. A review of the documents presented to the parish prior to the filming, while failing to depict the entirety of the scenes, clearly portrays inappropriate behavior unsuitable for a church sanctuary,” a diocesan statement read.
This is a painting of Blessed María Antonia de San José, an 18th-century consecrated laywoman from Argentina who will be canonized in early 2024, according to an Oct. 24, 2023, announcement by the Vatican. A miracle through her intervention that was needed for her canonization was recently authenticated. San José, popularly known as “Mama Antula,” will be Argentina’s first home-grown female saint (OSV News artwork/Enrique Breccia)
MOBILE, Ala. (OSV News) – The Archdiocese of Mobile said it is “relieved” that a priest who fled his pastoral assignment this summer has returned to the U.S., as the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office announced its investigation into the priest has been closed with no charges filed. The archdiocese also affirmed the soon-to-be-laicized cleric has been removed from ministry. Father Alex Crow, who abruptly left Corpus Christi Parish in Mobile at the end of July to travel to Italy with a June 2023 graduate of McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, “may have returned home to the Mobile area” according to “numerous individuals and media reports,” said the archdiocese in a Nov. 6 statement. The statement – which referred to the priest by his given name, without the title “Father” – noted that he had not contacted the archdiocese, which stressed that Father Crow “has been removed from ministry and his priestly faculties are suspended. “Therefore, Crow is not to exercise any ministry as a priest, or present himself as a priest,” said the statement. “He is not allowed to celebrate Mass, visit school grounds, or lead any church ministries. If anyone is aware of Crow doing so, they are encouraged to contact the Archdiocese immediately at (251) 434-1587.”
VATICAN VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis will travel to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates Dec. 1-3 to participate in the U.N. Climate Change Conference, the Vatican press office confirmed. In an interview broadcast in Italy Nov. 1, the pope had said he intended to go, but the Vatican did not confirm the trip until Nov. 3. “Accepting the invitation of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates, His Holiness Pope Francis will make the previously announced trip to Dubai from 1 to 3 December 2023, on the occasion of the upcoming Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,” commonly called COP28, said Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office. The conference is designed to assess progress or failures in reaching the goals adopted by 196 nations and parties, including the Holy See, with the Paris climate agreement in 2015.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – On the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi setting up the first Nativity scene, the creche in St. Peter’s Square in 2023 will come from the Diocese of Rieti, Italy, and pay tribute to the scene set up in the diocese in 1223. The Christmas tree that will stand in St. Peter’s Square is expected to be more than 80 feet tall and come from the Maira Valley near Turin. It will be decorated with live edelweiss flowers cultivated at a nursery nearby; picking or transplanting wild edelweiss is against the law in Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The unveiling of the creche and lighting of the Christmas tree in the square is scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 9. They will remain in the square through the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Jan. 7, 2024.
WORLD WADOWICE, Poland (OSV News) – In 1988, when he was a convicted drug addict serving time in prison, he thought of God as a severe Father who punishes rather than loves. Until a tiny woman visited his prison. That woman was Mother Teresa. James Wahlberg, once a convict, is now a film producer and has just created a documentary about her. “Mother Teresa: No Greater Love,” produced with the Knights of Columbus, commemorated the 25th anniversary of the death of one of the world’s favorite saints, but the film also provides an exploration of her long-lasting legacy, and producers traveled the world to show it. “This film is much bigger. … Sometimes in Catholic programming … budgets are very low. We had a full budget and we had full access to the Missionaries of Charity,” Wahlberg told OSV News. Brother of Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg, James was a troubled kid and fell into drug addiction. Asked about the encounter that changed his life, he said he had “goosebumps” and “emotion welling up” in his chest. “I’m just thinking about that day, the day the first time I ever heard in my life that God loved me and that Jesus died for me,” he said. He recalled there were 800 people in the room but he remembered Mother Teresa “talking to me.” The documentary premiered in Poland Oct. 19.
BUENOS AIRES (OSV News) – Argentina will get its first home-grown female saint in early 2024 with the canonization of Blessed María Antonia de San José. The Vatican announced Oct. 24 that San José, born as María Antonia de Pa Figueroa, but known throughout Argentina simply as Mama Antula, would be canonized as the pope authorized the promulgation of the decree on the miracle attributed to her intercession. The decision means a lot for Argentina, its native Pope Francis and his Jesuit order. She will be the fifth saint associated with Argentina of whom four were elevated to sainthood by Pope Francis but is the first female of Argentina to be canonized. “Mama Antula is considered the mother of the nation. She was a strong, brave woman who believed in Argentina. She was committed to the country and that knowing Christ would transform society,” Bishop Santiago Olivera told OSV News. Mama Antula’s path to sainthood began more than a century ago. Pope Francis beatified her in 2016. When the Jesuits were expelled from Spain and its colonies in the Americas in 1767, Bishop Olivera said that Mama Antula kept the Jesuits’ work going and she continued to work with the Jesuits until the end of her life. “It is impressive that after all these years she will be canonized and it will be a Jesuit who makes her a saint,” said Bishop Olivera.
HOUSTON (OSV News) – Thirty years ago, a group of Hispanic ministry leaders from around the U.S. gathered in Houston to discuss plans and initiatives to minister to the Hispanic and Latino Catholics living in the U.S.
This Oct. 10-13, the National Catholic Association of Diocesan Directors for Hispanic Ministry’s annual conference returned to Houston, gathering 250 Hispanic ministry leaders from 109 dioceses in the U.S. The national conference which took place at the tail end of this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month, observed Sept. 15-Oct. 15 also gathered some six bishops, several who lead U.S. bishops’ committees on Hispanic ministry and cultural diversity in the church.
The NCADDHM conference focused on the new “National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministry,” a new document, approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in June 2023, that was developed through a process of consultation, discernment and leadership over multiple years.
The plan is a response to the Fifth National Encuentro of Hispanic/Latino Ministry (V Encuentro) process to help Hispanic laypeople and church leaders to meet the needs of the fastest growing demographic of the Catholic Church in the U.S.
Sister Elsa Narvaez Rodrigues, an evangelization consultant for the Hispanic communities in the Archdiocese of Boston, speaks during a small group discussion at the National Catholic Association of Diocesan Directors for Hispanic Ministry’s annual conference Oct. 11 in Houston. (OSV News photo/James Ramos, Texas Catholic Herald)
At the Houston conference, Alejandro Aguilera-Titus, assistant director of USCCB’s Subcommittee for Hispanic Affairs and national coordinator for the V Encuentro, said the pastoral plan was a direct reflection and response to the “priorities, needs and aspirations” of Hispanic and Latino Catholics and has “the potential to transform the church in the United States.”
The Encuentro was a multiyear series of diocesan, regional and national meetings involving tens of thousands Hispanic and Latino leaders that culminated with a national gathering in Grapevine, Texas, in 2018, and identified key pastoral priorities for Latino Catholics.
Among the 10 priorities highlighted in the pastoral plan was the engagement of youth and young adults, vocations, faith formation, accompaniment of families, ministry to the marginalized, and immigration and policy advocacy.
During the conference, leaders heard from speakers, bishops and theologians who talked about the implications of the pastoral plan. In addition to daily Mass and presentations, participants broke into small groups at different times to share how the new plan would look like in their ministries and their regions.
For Olga Lucía Villar, executive director of the Miami-based Southeast Pastoral Institute – which coordinates and assists Hispanic ministries in 30 dioceses of the Southeastern United States – and one of many speakers at the conference, the new pastoral plan could not come soon enough.
She sees the pastoral plan as helping the church become more sensitive to the multicultural reality of the present Catholic Church in the U.S. “Especially at times where it is difficult, where there are more issues that might divide us racially, I think that the plan is placing us at a good point to continue healing the processes of reconciliation and focus on belonging and being sent off by Christ,” she told OSV News.
Villar saw a parallel between the Encuentro process and the more recent synod effort led by Pope Francis and said that “the plan walks us toward being a synodal church.”
Since the first Encuentro was held in 1972, Villar said, the efforts have been bringing the church together to reflect, dialogue and look together for ways to move forward as Hispanic Catholics in the U.S. That continues to be the case although the demographic landscape has changed.
Since 1972, the number of Hispanics in the U.S. has increased sevenfold, from about 9 million to 63.7 million, according to 2022 U.S. census data. And even though there have been reports of an increase in disaffiliation, recent demographic data showed that about 31 million Hispanics and Latinos identify as Catholic.
“We are talking more as we belong to this church. We’re not going anywhere. It’s our church too, and we want to be part of it,” said Villar. “And I think that the whole synod process, and the way that Pope Francis encourages (us) to move forward in that direction, we’ve been doing it in small steps throughout these 51 years.”
Auxiliary Bishop Arturo Cepeda of Detroit, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church, said the new pastoral plan was the “fruit of many years of wisdom and consultation, experiences, ups and downs, of listening, collaboration, and so many fruits that the Encuentros have brought.”
He hopes that the pastoral plan will help equip ministry leaders and Hispanic and Latino parishioners to understand how to share their faith experiences with generations who will come after those in ministry today.
“We need to be able to share that and to know that we need to prepare our second, third generations,” Bishop Cepeda told OSV News. “We need to move forward. I think that it is a blessing. It is a challenge, yes. But we need to be aware of it.”
In Houston, Lázaro Contreras, director of the Office of Hispanic Ministry of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, said he looks forward to seeing how each parish and Catholic community in the region will uniquely implement the pastoral plan.
“With this pastoral plan, I hope that people are motivated and encouraged to make it their own,” he said. “Hispanic ministry is a work that we don’t do alone. It’s a work that we all do as one church. That is why these kinds of gatherings are a constant reminder that, in that work of pastoral ministry of accompaniment to Hispanic Catholics, is done by the whole church.”
That united movement forward is what excited Ignacio Rodriguez, NCADDHM president, especially during the conference, which began with an opening Mass celebrated by Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston Oct. 10.
While the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 slowed down much of the follow-up collaborations between the 3,000 Hispanic ministry leaders and clergy who met in Texas in 2018 for the V Encuentro, Rodriguez said the zeal and desire for the pastoral plan to take shape only grew.
Now that the pastoral plan is out in the hands of ministry leaders, Aguilera-Titus said that the plan emphasizes the importance of diversity and intercultural engagement and includes practical guidelines and resources for creating a sense of unity and belonging. He noted how a parish can thrive when it embraces diverse cultures present in a congregation through its shared Catholic faith.
“When they develop relationships with one another across cultures, they begin to develop a new sense of identity as a diverse, Catholic community,” Aguilera-Titus said. “The plan has a language that is inclusive, engaging and is meant for not only Hispanic/Latino Catholics, but for the entire church. We hope that it will bring new ways to bring the Gospel to life and create a more synodal and diverse church.”
That intercultural relationship is a key to evangelization, said Sister Elsa Narvaez, a member of the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Word and an evangelization consultant for the Hispanic communities in the Archdiocese of Boston.
“Many people might think (the pastoral plan) is just for Hispanics and Latinos, but it’s not. Our goal is to bring Christ to everyone. It’s like we are missionaries here in the U.S.,” she said, noting how U.S Catholics used to visit Latino and South American countries to evangelize.
“We help us now. We are here doing a mission and we know everyone is the same before God,” she continued, saying that the plan is not about sharing languages or cultures but about evangelization and strengthening of the faith. “It’s not because you’re Hispanic or you’re not Hispanic. We are one church, and we are here to love and serve each other and just to bring Jesus to everyone. That’s our goal. … It’s Jesus, that’s the goal.”
The Synod on Synodality’s first session at the Vatican has concluded, with its results wrapped up in a 41-page “half-time report” for the entire church to digest, reflect on and give feedback about ahead of the synod’s final session in Rome next October.
Pope Francis gives his blessing at the conclusion of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops’ last working session Oct. 28, 2023, in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
The report, a synthesis of the Oct. 4-29 meeting, is fundamentally an instrument for discernment, and it is designed to elicit further reflection and response from the whole church. The synod’s next session in Rome will have the task of making decisions about what concrete proposals to present before the pope. Ultimately, the pope will decide what to implement coming out of the Synod on Synodality.
The following are 10 takeaways about the synod’s synthesis report, with why it matters for Catholics in parishes and what happens next.
– 1. Synodality is about the church’s evangelizing mission, and baptism is why synodal governance matters.
The synod relates that “synodality is ordered to mission,” recognizing that the church’s members – with diverse backgrounds, languages and cultures — share the “common grace of baptism.” The synod’s themes of “communion, participation, mission” are the hallmarks for how the entire people of God in a synodal church – the laity, consecrated religious, deacons and priests with the bishops united with the pope – relate to each other and live together the call to holiness, proclaiming Jesus Christ’s good news to the world.
The synod explicitly says its work is rooted in the church’s dynamic and living tradition in the context of the Second Vatican Council’s teaching. But the synod also recognizes much remains to be done to clarify what “synodality” means, and to develop it into real processes and structures.
Part of that 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 “conversations in the Spirit” – an experience of listening and sharing in the light of faith, and seeking God’s will in an authentically evangelical atmosphere” – is recognized as a helpful tool in this regard.
– 2. The synod calls for formation in “authentic discipleship,” united by the Eucharist and nourished by the Word.
The synod stresses that all the church’s members are called to be “all disciples, all missionaries” who have the “responsibility of demonstrating and transmitting the love and tenderness of God to a wounded humanity.” In other words, living discipleship is at the heart of being Catholic.
The synod suggested deepening the notion that a “mature exercise of the ‘sensus fidei’ requires not only reception of baptism but a life lived in authentic discipleship that develops the grace of baptism.” The synod recognizes this can help discern where the Holy Spirit is at work, as opposed to where the baptized are just advocating dominant thinking, cultural conditions or “matters inconsistent with the Gospel.”
In this regard, the synod stresses that “the Eucharist shapes synodality,” and so the Mass should be celebrated “with an authentic sense of friendship in Christ” that reflects beauty and simplicity. The synod proposes “liturgy celebrated with authenticity is the first and fundamental school of discipleship.”
It also proposes enriching Catholic life beyond the Mass with alternative forms of liturgical prayer, as well as popular piety, particularly Marian devotion – both of which form the faithful and can also help others outside the church encounter the Lord.
– 3. Synodality is not about having more meetings, but it is about discerning together how to go on mission at each level of the church.
The synod also emphasizes that synodality in the church calls Catholics to discern intentionally as a community how Jesus is calling them to live out their mission. It’s not about self-referential meetings, but rather a style of carrying out “evangelical proclamation, service to those experiencing poverty, care for our common home and theological research.”
The document emphasizes the need for formation, and also making spaces to receive the church’s teaching, and discern how to act on it. The church’s social doctrine needs to be understood by the faithful so they can build up the kingdom of God.
Synodality is about gathering the disciple community together to discern what is their mission and how Jesus is sending them on mission. Any effective structural change to make the church’s members “co-responsible” presupposes “profound spiritual conversion,” both personal and communal, in order to carry out Jesus’ mission.
At the same time, the synod calls for further consideration on how the church’s theology and modern developments in science can dialogue, and effective ways to do that for the church’s discernment, particularly on complicated or controversial questions. Above all, the synod says, “Jesus’ actions, assimilated in prayer and conversion of heart, show us the way forward.”
– 4. A synodal church must reflect on what formation its priests, deacons and laity need to carry out their mission together.
The synod recognizes bishops and priests face disproportionate burdens of responsibility for the church’s mission. It also identifies clericalism as opposed to Jesus’ model of ministerial service, leading to “authoritarian attitudes,” and vocations stifled by privilege and power that refuse accountability.
The synod suggests extensive discussion and consideration of revising priestly formation to address this. Instead of forming priests in an “artificial environment separate from the ordinary lives of the faith,” they should develop through “close contact with the People of God and through concrete service learning experiences.”
The synod recognized there is universal agreement that priestly celibacy is “richly prophetic and a profound witness to Christ.” But it also suggested further consideration of whether it is appropriate for the Latin Church alone to continue to insist on it – the Eastern Churches (Catholic and Orthodox) have a tradition of celibate and married clergy – when there are ecclesial and cultural contexts that make it more difficult for the church’s mission.
The synod is calling for a deepening reflection on the vocation of the deacon, “above all in the exercise of charity.”
The synod indicated the importance of expanding women’s access to theological formation, their inclusion in decision-making and responsibility in pastoral care and ministry, and even the exploration of new ministries where women could decisively contribute. It noted the debate over women and the diaconal ministry, and expressed openness to continuing research and examining what has been done so far.
It also touched on lay ministry and called for more creativity in how these roles are thought of and lived at the service of mission: for example, developing the ministry of lector beyond its liturgical role, such as preaching in appropriate contexts. It also envisioned possibly a lay ministry taken up by married couples to support married and family life.
– 5. Disciples listen to people and accompany them like Christ in whatever their personal, familial or social situations.
The synod says “listening is the word that best expresses our experience. This is listening given and received.” Listening really is where the church discerns the mission Jesus is calling his disciples and their particular communities.
It also emphasized the church needs to give its closeness, listening and accompaniment to those who feel alone in remaining faithful to the church’s teaching on marriage and sexual ethics, as well as to those on the margins because of “their marriage status, identity or sexuality.”
The synod suggests further consideration of the point that listening “does not mean compromising proclamation of the Gospel or endorsing any opinion or position proposed” – but rather being like Jesus, who listens and loves unconditionally to share his good news.
It also emphasized the church needs to extend its closeness to the lonely and abandoned, the elderly and sick.
The synod document called for further discernment about “Eucharistic hospitality” – the situation of people of different churches receiving Communion – and “inter-church marriages.”
– 6. The Catholic Church needs strong Eastern Churches collaborating with the Latin Church.
The synod indicates it is vital for Catholics to realize that the Catholic Church is a communion of coequal sister churches – Latin Church (the biggest and headed by the pope) and 23 different Eastern Catholic Churches, all enjoying communion through their unity with the pope. The synod calls for all Catholic communities and clergy to learn about each other and actively work together modeling “unity in diversity.”
It stresses that the Latin Church’s members (for the most part known as Roman Catholics) need to help Eastern Catholics in situations where they do not have access to their own churches to live out their traditions. The synod said “Latinization” (making Eastern churches conform to the traditions and practices of Latin churches) is “outdated.”
The synod indicated that Eastern Churches must work out their relationship to role of the pope, whose role is rooted in the Latin Church, specifically in whether his assent is needed in the selection of bishops, and the fact that Catholics of these Eastern Churches are no longer confined to traditional patriarchal territory but are now all over the world.
It proposes a permanent council of patriarchs and major archbishops to the Holy Father, and that Eastern Catholics should be adequately represented throughout the Roman Curia.
– 7. The synod suggests a new path for ecumenism, particularly thanks to the martyrs.
There has been a lot of discouragement about dialogue between Catholic and other Christian confessions achieving its goal of actual unity – but the synod appears to have made significant suggestions for moving ahead.
Among the proposals was that an “ecumenical martyrology” be developed, which would allow the church to commemorate Christian martyrs who share a common baptism but not the same confessional boundaries. The point has been emphasized most recently by the early 21st-century martyrdoms, such as in the Middle East, where Islamist militants killed Orthodox and Catholics for being Christians – among them the 21 Coptic Orthodox martyrs of Libya.
The synod emphasized that local churches can engage ecumenically with other churches in carrying out the work of the Gospel, and the importance of continuing to involve Christians of other churches and traditions in synodal processes “at all levels.”
Among the proposals is to find a common date for the celebration of Easter with an eye to the year 2025, the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.
– 8. The synod emphasizes the church needs to evangelize digital spaces intentionally as a dimension of its mission.
The synod views the digital realm not as a separate field but a “crucial dimension of the church’s witness in contemporary culture.” This means understanding digital culture in order to evangelize it and engaging the church’s younger generation – clergy, religious and lay – in carrying out the mission here.
The synod proposes discernment on how the church can be involved in helping make the online world “safe” for families — noting the dangers of intimidation, disinformation, sex exploitation and addiction — and how the church can make the digital realm “spiritually life-giving.”
This challenges parishes and dioceses about how to engage here, especially forming and accompanying “digital missionaries” and networking them together. It also suggests creating collaborative opportunities with influencers, particularly in areas of “human dignity, justice and care for our common home.”
– 9. Sex abuse is undermining the church’s missionary life, and the synod recognizes that a truly synodal church needs to get this right.
The synod stated, “Sexual abuse and the abuse of power and authority continue to cry out for justice, healing and reconciliation.” It acknowledges this synodal process has seen the Holy Spirit pour out fruits of “hope, healing, reconciliation and restoration of trust.”
Furthermore, listening to and accompanying those who have suffered abuse in the church have helped people feel no longer invisible. At the same time, the synod makes clear “the long journey towards reconciliation and justice” remains and requires “addressing the structural conditions that abetted such abuse” and “concrete gestures of penitence.”
A synodal church requires a “culture of transparency,” respect for existing procedures to safeguard minors and people when they are vulnerable, and “further structures dedicated to the prevention of abuse.” It noted bishops are in a difficult situation of reconciling their “role of father with that of judge,” and suggested exploring the possibility of giving the judicial task to another body specified in canon law.
– 10. The bishops must now figure out how to take these ideas to the pews for further discernment and bring that back to the synod.
The synod synthesis’ 41-pages are broken up into three sections with vital topics that truly interest and affect the entire People of God.
At this point, the synod leaves it to worldwide episcopal conferences to discern the next steps to take. During the synod’s first session, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, acknowledged that the bishops would have to foster greater participation, including encouraging pastors to buy in. U.S. participation rate in the synod’s preparatory process was 1% of U.S. Catholics.
The prospect of getting this feedback within a year may seem daunting to bishops. If the document is really going to be thoroughly discerned and feedback provided within 11 months, the lay faithful will likely have to raise their voices and volunteer to work with their pastors and bishops to get it done in time for the second October session.
Peter Jesserer Smith is national news and features editor for OSV News.
Every year the U.S. Catholic Church dedicates a week in November to pray for and promote vocations to the priesthood, the diaconate and consecrated life through prayer and education.
This year National Vocation Awareness Week is Nov. 5-11, and Catholic organizations, dioceses, schools and local parish communities are sponsoring events and providing different resources to raise awareness for vocations, and help those who are discerning a vocation, particularly one to ordained ministry or consecrated life.
“During this week, the Church gives thanks to God for the faithful example of husbands and wives, and joyful witness of ordained ministers and consecrated persons,” said an Oct. 30 statement from Bishop Earl A. Boyea of Lansing, Michigan, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations.
Twelve sisters kneel as Bishop J. Mark Spalding of Nashville, Tenn., makes examination on their readiness to dedicate themselves to God and to seek perfect charity, as they prepare to pronounce final vows with the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation in Nashville July 25, 2023. (OSV News photo/Rachel Lombardi, Tennessee Register)
“We pray that many more men and women will be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit in their hearts as they discern the mission God has for them,” he said.
Bishop Austin A. Vetter of Helena, Montana, a member of the USCCB vocations committee, said the week is a “wonderful time for us to hone in our efforts” to promote vocations.
“We should always have vocation awareness and always asking God for an increase of vocations to the priesthood and religious life around around the world and for our own local churches,” he said, underscoring the importance of the weeklong focus “to heighten awareness” about the need for vocations and have this on “the forefront of our minds.”
The bishop, whose statement accompanied Bishop Boyea’s remarks in a USCCB news release, also is episcopal liaison to the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors, the National Religious Vocation Conference and Serra International.
Bishop Vetter emphasized that National Vocation Awareness Week offers a special opportunity for “redoubling our efforts of prayer that young people would be able to hear the voice — the quiet, gentle voice many times — of Jesus inviting them into a vocation as a priest or religious.”
“It’s such a beautiful life and it’s such a needed life and a life that is so loved by our people,” he added, noting his own prayers “and commitment to do my part” to increase vocations.
Beginning in 1976, the U.S. bishops designated the 28th Sunday of the year as an opportunity for the Catholic Church in the United States to renew its prayerful support for those discerning an ecclesial vocation. In 2014, the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations committee elected to move the observance to the first week of November “to better engage Catholic educational institutions in the efforts to raise awareness for vocations,” according to the USCCB news release.
NOTES: USCCB resources on vocations as well as resources from the National Religious Vocation Conference, National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors, and the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious are available on the USCCB website,www.usccb.org.
Advent prepares us for Jesus’ coming at Christmas and for his coming into our lives afresh. And no one knows how to get ready to welcome Christ better than the saints.
Advent candles and a wreath help bring focus to the time before the coming of our Lord. Each candle represents a week of Advent. (OSV News photo/Nancy Wiechec)
They express their love for him by putting him first in their hearts. They make room for him by clearing out the clutter of sins and faults. The saints pursue holiness by embracing the Lord’s teaching and lifestyle. They respond to his graces by practicing spiritual disciplines like prayer, Scripture study, fasting and almsgiving. And the saints express their love for God by reaching out to others with the Good News. They especially dedicate themselves to caring for the poor and marginalized.
So, let’s make the most of this Advent and spend it with four representative saints, imitating the ways that they opened their hearts to Jesus.
– St. Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–1897)
We are attracted to St. Thérèse because she was an ordinary person. Raised in a faithful Catholic family, she was doted on by her father, teased by her sisters and suffered the pain of loss. Her youth was troubled by her mother’s death and by two sisters entering the convent. But on Christmas 1887, Thérèse experienced a conversion that released her spiritual sadness. “Love filled my heart, I forgot myself, and henceforth I was happy,” she said.
The next year, when Thérèse was only 15, the bishop allowed her to join the Carmelite convent at Lisieux. She wanted to become a missionary and a martyr, but soon realized that neither option was open to a cloistered nun. So she sought the Holy Spirit for another way to serve the Lord Jesus. Reflecting on Scripture, Thérèse learned to do the loving thing in every situation, which she discovered was the fuel that fired the faith of martyrs and saints. Doing the least of actions for love became the secret of her “little way.”
What does a 19th-century nun have to do with us? Juggling the duties of family, work or school, navigating freeways and keeping up with the digital world, we don’t have much time for pursuing holiness, do we? But that’s where Thérèse sets the example for us. Her simplicity shows us that we, too, can be holy.
– Venerable Matt Talbot (1856–1925)
For 16 years, Venerable Matt Talbot was a daily drunk. Then one day, an unanticipated conversion transformed him and he became a model penitent following Jesus Christ.
As a child of a poor family in Dublin, Matt had to forgo school for a job. After a year of basic education, he started working for a wine seller. And Matt started drinking heavily at the early age of 12.
His father beat him and made him change jobs — but nothing could stop Matt’s habit. He said that when he was intoxicated, he occasionally thought about the Blessed Mother and prayed an off-handed Hail Mary. Matt speculated later that she had something to do with his conversion.
One day in 1884 everything suddenly changed. Matt had been out of work several days and expected his buddies to take him drinking. When they snubbed him, he made a decision that transformed his life.
When he arrived at home, his mother said, “You’re home early, Matt, and you’re sober!” He replied, “Yes, mother, I am and I’m going to take the pledge.” The next day he went to confession and took the sobriety pledge for three months.
But Matt extended three months of going without alcohol into 41 years. In 1891, Matt found community support by joining the Franciscan Third Order. He lived the rest of his life quietly, working and praying. St. Paul VI declared him venerable in 1975.
At a time when addictions to alcohol, other drugs and pornography are running rampant, Matt Talbot stands as an exemplar of the ways to freedom and holiness through Jesus.
– Blessed Anne Mary Taigi (1769-1837)
A model woman, Blessed Anne Mary managed a large household in Rome for nearly five decades. She handled finances with little money, patiently cared for a difficult extended family and entertained a constant stream of guests. She did all this full of faith and good cheer.
At age 21, Anne Mary married Domenico Taigi, a servant in a Roman palace. They had seven children, two of whom died in childbirth. Early in her marriage, Anne Mary experienced a religious conversion. She simplified her life, initiating practices of prayer and self-denial that she pursued the rest of her life in following Jesus Christ.
Anne Mary took the spiritual lead in her family. The day began with morning prayer and Mass, and ended with reading lives of the saints and praying the rosary. The Taigis had little of their own, but Anne Mary always found ways of providing for those who had less. She also took in her hard-to-get-along-with parents and her widowed daughter, Sophie, with her six children.
Domenico’s violent temper often disrupted the family. But Anne Mary was always able to calm him and restore peaceful relationships. In his old age, Domenico gave this touching tribute to his wife:
“With her wonderful tact she was able to maintain a heavenly peace in our home. And that even though we were a large household full of people with very different temperaments.
“I often came home tired, moody and cross, but she always succeeded in soothing and cheering me. And due to her, I corrected some of my faults. If I were a young man and could search the whole world to find such a wife, it would be vain. I believe that God has received her into heaven because of her great virtue. And I hope that she will pray for me and our family.”
We may imagine that becoming a saint requires heroics like founding a religious order or converting people in faraway places who have never heard of the Gospel. But Blessed Anne Mary shows us that the daily faithful care of a family requires more than enough heroism to make us holy.
– Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925)
Pope St. John Paul II celebrated Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati as a man of the Beatitudes. Athletic and strong, he devoted himself to the weak and malformed. He was wealthy, but he lived in poverty so he could give everything to the poor. He was gregarious, but a lover of solitude. He was rambunctious, the life of every party, and a practical joker, but at prayer he was solemn, reflective and quiet.
As a teenager, Pier Giorgio made friends of the poor in Turin’s back streets and gave them whatever he had – his money, his shoes, his overcoat. “Jesus comes to me every morning in holy Communion,” he replied to a friend who asked why the hovels did not repulse him. “I repay him in my very small way by visiting the poor. The house may be sordid, but I am going to Christ.”
Pier Giorgio saw the need for social change to relieve the causes of poverty. At the university, he decided to major in mechanical engineering so that he could work with miners, who were especially disadvantaged. He was a leader in student political organizations and actively opposed Benito Mussolini and the Fascists.
At the same time, he was the organizer of student parties, games and ski trips to the Alps, where he would lead his friends in prayer. Afterward, they relaxed and enjoyed food, wine, cigars and songs.
Blessed Pier Giorgio has become the hero of contemporary young Catholics. They recognize his high Christian ideals, still held while pursuing the same pleasures that they enjoy. They gravitate to this handsome and charming saint who delighted in reciting the poetry of Dante, praying the rosary in a booming voice and spending a night in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
– Christ’s final coming
Advent anticipates not only Jesus’ coming to us as a baby, but it also expects his final coming in glory. Since the Father alone knows the day of the end, the Lord cautioned us always to be watchful and to conduct ourselves in uprightness. When Jesus comes as the Bridegroom to wed the church, we do not want to be as unprepared as the five foolish virgins in the parable (see Mt 25:1-13).
So this Advent, following the saints, may we decide always to love God above all and to do the loving thing in every circumstance.
(Bert Ghezzi is the author of many books including “Voices of the Saints” and “The Power of Daily Prayer.” He lives near Orlando, Florida.)
NATION LAS VEGAS (OSV News) – In a sign of the growing Catholic community of southern Nevada and the Western United States, the Archdiocese of Las Vegas has become the newest archdiocese in America. A solemn Mass Oct. 16 at the Shrine of the Most Holy Redeemer in Las Vegas formally celebrated the designation of the archdiocese and the appointment of Archbishop George Leo Thomas by Pope Francis May 30. The new metropolitan archdiocese and province of Las Vegas includes Reno, Nevada, and Salt Lake City as suffragan dioceses of the province. During the Mass, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the pope’s representative as apostolic nuncio to the United States, placed the pallium – a woolen liturgical garment worn by a metropolitan archbishop – upon Archbishop Thomas’ shoulders. The pallium represents a pastor’s care of his flock and his unity with the pope. Pope Francis gave the archbishop the pallium in June at the Vatican. The growth in the presence of Catholics in Las Vegas and southern Nevada was a key factor in its elevation to an archdiocese. The 350,000 Catholics among a total regional population of more than 1 million in 1995 has ballooned to an estimated 750,000 Catholics among more than 2 million residents today, according to the archdiocese. This growth was “a result of the dynamism and the vitality of the church here,” Cardinal Pierre told Massgoers.
Members of a tour group explore the catacombs of the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in New York City Oct. 15, 2023. Tours of the historic basilica, its catacombs and cemetery have proven to be popular with New Yorkers and out-of-towners. (OSV News photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)
NEW YORK (OSV News) – “Catacombs by Candlelight” perhaps conjures images of a subterranean tour in Rome led by a guide wearing a headlamp. In New York, it’s the name of a revenue-generating history lesson told while exploring the cemetery and burial vaults of one of the city’s oldest Catholic churches. At the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, the tour’s tone is respectful and the candles are battery-operated LED models. Frank Alfieri, the basilica’s director of cemetery and columbaria, said the tours were established in 2017 to communicate and monetize the historical significance of the property, which has been an active mainstay of the lower Manhattan area for more than 200 years. When it opened in 1815, St. Patrick’s served as New York’s first cathedral until the new St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue was dedicated in 1879. The Old Cathedral was named a basilica in 2010. The catacombs were developed before the church was built above them and consist of 37 hermetically sealed family and group vaults arrayed along three 120-foot corridors. Most of the vaults have marble facades and bear the now-unfamiliar names of prominent 19th-century New York Catholics of Irish, German, French and Spanish heritage. Eight 80-minute tours are offered five days a week for groups as large as 40.
VATICAN VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis will celebrate a memorial Mass Nov. 3 for Pope Benedict XVI and cardinals and bishops who have died in the past year. The Mass will take place at the main altar in St. Peter’s Basilica at 11 a.m., the Vatican announced. Pope Benedict died Dec. 31 at the age of 95. The previous day, the Nov. 2 feast of All Souls, the pope will celebrate Mass at the Rome War Cemetery, the burial place of members of the military forces of the Commonwealth who died during and immediately after World War II. The 426 men buried there died between November 1942 and February 1947. They came from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa. Also on the pope’s liturgical calendar for November is his celebration of Mass for the World Day of the Poor. He will preside over the liturgy Nov. 19 in St. Peter’s Basilica.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis said a trip to his native Argentina remains on his schedule and that he has been encouraged to travel through Oceania. Asked by an Argentine reporter what important trips remain pending in his pontificate, the pope said “I would like to go” to Argentina in an interview released Oct. 16. “Talking a bit farther away, Papua New Guinea is still left.” He added that someone had told him, “Since I’m going to Argentina, to have a layover in Río Gallegos (Argentina), then the South Pole, land in Melbourne and visit New Zealand and Australia.” Though the 86-year-old pope said, “It would be a bit long.” In the wide-spanning interview recorded in September with the Argentine state news agency Télam, Pope Francis said that while he receives many invitations to visit countries and there is a list of possible papal trips, ideas for trips also originate from the Vatican, such as his Aug. 31-Sept. 4 trip to Mongolia. Pope Francis also spoke about the synod on synodality, relating it to the vision of St. John XXIII at the start of the Second Vatican Council. “It is not only about changing style, it is about a change of growth in favor of people’s dignity,” he said.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Huddled in a stairwell at the Catholic parish and school in Gaza, Rosary Sister Nabila Saleh, another sister and Father Youssef Asaad filmed themselves speaking to Pope Francis on the phone and begging for his continued prayers. Pope Francis phoned Holy Family parish – the only Catholic parish in Gaza – the evening of Oct. 15, Vatican News reported. Sister Saleh said Father Asaad passed her the phone because he doesn’t speak Italian as well as she does. After Hamas launched attacks on Israel Oct. 7 and Israel responded by bombing targets in Gaza, “the Holy Father wanted to know how many people we are hosting in the parish facilities,” Sister Saleh told Vatican News. There are about 500 people, including “the sick, families, children, the disabled, people who have lost their homes and every belonging.” Sister Saleh said, it was “a great blessing” to speak with the pope. “He gave us courage and the support of prayer.”
WORLD NAIROBI, Kenya (OSV News) – On the day the world celebrates efforts to combat hunger and food insecurity, a bishop in Ethiopia was warning that his people were still dying of hunger, a year after a ceasefire ended a deadly conflict in the northern region of Tigray. Bishop Tesfasellassie Medhin of Adigrat said he wanted the world to know the situation in the region was still critical, and deaths were occurring due to serious food shortages and malnutrition. “The situation is very bad. Many parts of the region experienced failed harvests due to drought, and food aid distribution had also stopped,” Bishop Medhin told OSV News in an interview ahead of the World Food Day. “People are dying of hunger. The hospitals are also reporting increased cases of malnutrition. It is very frustrating.” More than 20 million people need food assistance in Africa’s second most populous nation after the Horn of Africa’s worst drought in decades and a two-year conflict in the Tigray region on top of it. On Oct. 16, the globe rallied to mark the World Food Day, an annual awareness and action day against hunger and malnutrition, reminding of the importance of food security and access to nutritious food for all. It also addresses the importance of sustainable agriculture and food production.
OSLO, Norway (OSV News) – Church leaders in Norway have welcomed the award of the Nobel Prize for Literature to Jon Fosse, a Catholic convert, predicting the honor could raise Catholicism’s profile in the traditionally Protestant country. “Fosse gives voice, with elegance and beauty, to the mystery of faith. … I think our country is blessed to have a poet of his stature,” said Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim. “A Catholic writer is someone who assimilated the grace of belonging to the church in such a way that it’s perfectly innate and natural to their self-expression. In that sense, Fosse is very much a Catholic writer.” The novelist and playwright will receive the 2023 prize in Stockholm Dec. 10. Born in 1959 at Haugesund on Norway’s west coast, Fosse has published over 30 novels, as well as poetry collections, essays, children’s books and translations. His theater works, performed worldwide, have made him Norway’s most performed playwright since Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906). Fosse was received into the Catholic Church at St. Dominic’s Monastery, Oslo, in 2012. His multivolume work, “Septology,” centering on a Catholic convert-painter, was shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize and National Books Critics Award. In a November 2022 interview with The New Yorker, Fosse described his style as “slow prose” and “mystical realism,” adding that he had turned to religious faith while struggling with alcoholism and other problems.
By Kurt Jensen NEW YORK (OSV News) – “Early on in the history of film, stage actors had to make the transition from the outsized gestures and expressions needed to convey emotion to a crowded theater to the restraint required by the intimacy of the camera. The same contrast is always likely to be highlighted in a movie dedicated to capturing a lavish stadium music concert.
Taylor Swift attends a premiere for “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” in Los Angeles Oct. 11, 2023. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. (OSV News photo/Mario Anzuoni, Reuters)
Those attending “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” (AMC Theaters) will discover that the titular singer-songwriter – the current doyenne of breakup songs – is aware of this. Just as the smirks and eye rolls of some of her numbers become cloying, the solo balladeer emerges and equilibrium is restored.
While Swift can be credited with aesthetic insight, parents of teens clamoring to see her on screen will be concerned with other matters. In a world of ultra-raunchy rap and the obscenity-laden lyrics often found even outside that genre, Swift shows considerable moderation. A smattering of vulgar words aside, her performance is more glitzy than gritty. So, although her preteen fans may have to be kept away from this production, older teens can probably be given the green light.
They’ll find “Eras” a lively recap of all 10 of her studio albums across 17 years. Directed by Sam Wrench, the footage was compiled from concerts at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, outside Los Angeles, during Swift’s ongoing tour.
This is, then, no valedictory. Rather, it’s a powerful summation of Swift’s life and work so far. The idea is to craft an experience just as communal and immersive as the vocalist’s live events. Audience members, for instance, are encouraged to sing along. Yet in a movie theater the noise is not overwhelming, making it possible to concentrate on Swift in all her sparkly glory throughout.
Little exposition is provided. Instead, there’s continuous music, enhanced by CGI special effects and a bit of dancing. By contrast to some of the documentaries in which Swift has featured in the past, no backstage segments are included and no forum is given to her opinions.
Her lyrics do, however, address the loneliness of her level of stardom and hint, pretty consistently, at past heartbreak. At their poignant best, her songs somehow manage to combine the varied qualities of honky-tonk blues and the sophisticated work of German-born American composer Kurt Weill.
It’ll cost you a lot more than three pennies, though, to have a look.
The film contains fleeting rough and crude language. The OSV News classification is A-III – adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 – parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
(Kurt Jensen is a guest reviewer for OSV News.)
The Exorcist: Believer
By John Mulderig NEW YORK (OSV News) – Although the horror sequel “The Exorcist: Believer” (Universal) gets off to a reasonably promising start, it degenerates quickly. In fact, it ends up being a muddle both dramatically and, more significantly, in its treatment of religion.
Director and co-writer David Gordon Green’s take on the demonic possession theme follows the ordeal of widowed father Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jr.). Victor’s life is initially disrupted when his daughter Angela (Lidya Jewett) disappears in the company of her schoolmate and friend, Katherine (Olivia O’Neill).
Although Victor agonizes over Angela’s absence, he gets more than he bargained for when both girls eventually return. As the audience knows, the pals had gone into the woods to practice amateur spiritualism in the hope of communicating with Angela’s late mother. To that extent, the screenplay – penned with Peter Sattler – presents a cautionary tale applicable in real life.
As Victor and Katherine’s parents, Miranda (Jennifer Nettles) and Tony (Norbert Leo Butz), try to cope with the duo’s bizarre subsequent behavior – as well as some inexplicable phenomena – they get religious guidance from nun-turned-nurse Ann (Ann Dowd). They also get less specific advice from self-described exorcism expert Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn).
Tracey Graves and Leslie Odom Jr. are pictured in a scene from the movie “The Exorcist: Believer.” The OSV News classification is O — morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. (OSV News photo/Eli Joshua Adé, Universal Pictures)
Chris is, of course, the mother of Regan, the victim in a similar incident showcased in the 1973 film that inaugurated the franchise. Although the current movie is intended as a direct sequel to the original and, in that respect, a reboot of the series, the approach of this script to its subject matter departs markedly from the earlier tale.
As adapted from his own fact-based novel by screenwriter William Peter Blatty, and directed by William Friedkin, the Watergate-era picture may have sensationalized matters but at its center was a fairly straightforward confrontation between Regan’s tormentor and two Catholic priests.
The driving away of the devil here, by contrast, takes on the qualities of a circus.
In part, that’s probably attributable to the fact that the more-or-less church-friendly attitude of the earlier movie would jar on contemporary Hollywood sensibilities. What’s presented to the audience, as a result, is a spiritual free-for-all.
There is a well-meaning cleric, Father Maddox (E.J. Bonilla), hovering around. But his superiors won’t authorize an exorcism. So Ann decides she’ll read from the Roman Ritual herself. Miranda and Tony’s unnamed minister (Raphael Sbarge) also is on hand, loudly reciting verses from the Bible.
This interdenominational broadmindedness is further extended by the inclusion of a female shaman, Dr. Beehibe (Okwui Okpokwasili). She’s out to see what her version of African animism can contribute to the overheated shouting match.
The good doctor’s practices are shown to be just as effective as the prayers of priest or pastor. But the dialogue in some quieter scenes assures us that it’s really interpersonal solidarity that will ultimately send Satan packing.
The production thus promotes a syncretist, humanistic and even vaguely anti-Catholic outlook that could be spiritually dangerous for anyone inclined to take it seriously. On the whole, however, this half-a-century-later follow-up is best dismissed as a bit of chaotic schlock.
The film contains misguided spiritual ideas, brief gory images, mature references, including to abortion, a handful of mild oaths, a few rough terms and at least one crass expression. The OSV News classification is O – morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association rating is R – restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
(John Mulderig is media reviewer for OSV News. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @JohnMulderig1.)
(OSV News) – Almost two-thirds of Catholics believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, but only 17% of adult Catholics physically attend Mass at least once per week, according to a newly published survey from Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. The survey also revealed a high correlation between belief in the Eucharist and weekly or even monthly Mass attendance. The 2022 survey of self-identified Catholics published Sept. 26 and titled “Eucharist Beliefs: A National Survey of Adult Catholics” found 64% of respondents provided responses that indicate they believe in the Real Presence, that the Lord Jesus Christ is truly present under the appearance of bread and wine in the Eucharist.
That conclusion was drawn from both open-ended and closed-ended questions respondents were asked about their understanding of church teaching about the Eucharist and additional questions to clarify their beliefs.
This is the logo for the U.S. bishops’ three-year National Eucharistic Revival. The National Eucharistic Congress organizers describe the routes pilgrims will walk with the Eucharist to the NEC in 2024. The National Eucharistic Congress organizers have set the routes pilgrims will walk with the Eucharist to the NEC in 2024. (OSV News photo/courtesy USCCB)
According to the CARA study, 49% of respondents correctly identified that the church teaches that “Jesus Christ is truly present under the appearance of bread and wine.” The other 51% incorrectly identified the church’s teaching as “Bread and wine are symbols of Jesus’ actions at the Last Supper, meaning that Jesus is only symbolically present in the consecrated bread and wine.”
“Results of this question indicate that there is substantial confusion about what the church teaches about the Eucharist with slightly more adult Catholics not knowing this correctly than those correctly identifying the teachings,” the report stated. The survey report noted the data from the responses to the questions indicated “most who do not believe in the Real Presence are not rejecting the teaching, as they do not know this is what the church teaches.”
The survey aimed to test or clarify the findings of a 2019 Pew Research Center survey that found one-third of U.S. Catholics agree with the church that the Eucharist is the body and blood of Christ. According to Pew’s analysis published in August 2019, “nearly seven-in-ten Catholics (69%) say they personally believe that during Catholic Mass, the bread and wine used in Communion ‘are symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.’ Just one-third of U.S. Catholics (31%) say they believe that ‘during Catholic Mass, the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus.’”
The 2019 Pew survey was part of the impetus for the National Eucharistic Revival that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops launched last year, and which will include a National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in July. The initiative aims “to inspire a movement of Catholics across the United States who are healed, converted, formed, and unified by an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist – and who are then sent out on mission ‘for the life of the world,’” its website states.
In a review of previous surveys asking Catholics about their belief in the Real Presence beginning with a 2008 American National Election Study, CARA indicated that the Pew Research Center’s phrasing for its question on the topic may have been confusing to respondents. CARA aimed to be as clear as possible with its survey’s approach, which is why it opened with an “unaided and open-ended question”: “In your own words, what do you believe happens to the gifts of bread and wine after Consecration during Mass?” The new CARA study, while showing more Catholics believe in the Real Presence than in the Pew study, still underscores the need for the Eucharistic Revival, said Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, which is supporting the revival.
“It’s still not good news,” Bishop Cozzens, who also serves as board chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress nonprofit formed in 2022 to plan the national event, told OSV News. “What it reveals is that there’s … people who say they believe in the Eucharist, but they don’t go to Mass. In that sense, they obviously haven’t had a real encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist.”
“This is what we’re about with the Eucharistic Revival, this encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist that lets me realize he’s a living person and that changes the way I live,” he continued.
The survey, however, “might actually show us we have more low-hanging fruit than we thought,” he said. “In other words, there are people who say they believe in the Eucharist, but they don’t go to Mass every week. … How do we invite them into an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist so that their lives can be changed?”
The survey found that knowledge of the church’s teaching on the Eucharist and belief that teaching is true is highest among Catholics who attend Mass at least once per week, at 95%. Among Catholics who attend less than weekly but at least once per month, it was 80%.
It also found that weekly Mass attendance has dropped seven percentage points during the COVID-19 pandemic from 24% in 2019 to 17% in 2022 – around 5% watch Mass on television or online due to the pandemic. An additional 18% attend less than weekly but at least once per month. Twenty-six percent attend Mass a few times per year and 35% rarely or never attend Mass.
“What we need is not just good catechesis – we do need that – but we also need to invite people to a relationship,” Bishop Cozzens said. “Helping people understand that it (lack of belief in the Real Presence) is not just an intellectual problem, it’s a problem of the heart in that sense of relationship with Jesus. What we’re really seeking is inviting people to an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist.”
The national study was commissioned by the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, “to better understand what the current Catholic population (self-identified) believes about the Catholic Church’s teaching on the Eucharist,” the report stated. The survey included 1,031 respondents ages 18 or older with a margin of error of 4.45 percentage points. It was offered in English and Spanish, and administered via online form or live telephone interview from July 11 to Aug. 2, 2022.
The McGrath Institute commissioned the CARA study because of its collaboration with the National Eucharistic Revival and the importance of having clearer data on Catholics’ beliefs regarding the Real Presence, Bishop Cozzens said.
Affiliated with Georgetown University in Washington, CARA is a national, nonprofit, research center that conducts social scientific studies about the Catholic Church.
(OSV News) – In Marietta, Georgia, helping moms in need goes beyond diaper distribution or rental assistance. It’s rocking a baby in the middle of the night to help a tired mother sleep, a phone call to check in and listen, a warm relationship of support.
“It would be easy for these ministries to drop some diapers off, and not to say that’s not important,” said Keri Ninness, who leads the Walking with Moms in Need ministry at St. Joseph Parish in Marietta. “But when we’re talking about long-term impact – and we’re talking long term – being the hands and feet of Jesus, that means relationship.”
This is the illustration included in the materials for the U.S. bishops’ Respect Life Month 2023. The U.S. Catholic Church celebrates Respect Life Month every October. (OSV News photo/courtesy USCCB)
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops launched Walking with Moms In Need, a parish-based ministry that networks resources and accompanies pregnant and parenting mothers, in March 2020. While initial efforts were stymied by the COVID-19 pandemic, many have recommitted to helping pregnant and parenting mothers, especially as abortion lawmaking returned to states last year following the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
On Sept. 18, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, called Catholics to “radical solidarity” with vulnerable pregnant women in a letter titled “Living Radical Solidarity” issued ahead of the 50th anniversary of the inaugural Respect Life Month this October.
“While ending legalized abortion remains our preeminent priority, the most immediate way to save babies and mothers from abortion is to thoroughly surround mothers in need with life-giving support and personal accompaniment. This is radical solidarity,” Bishop Burbidge wrote.
The phrase, the letter notes, echoes St. John Paul II, who first defined “radical solidarity” as becoming “courageously ‘pro woman,’ promoting a choice that is truly in favor of women” by not leaving a woman in need alone. Drawing on Pope Francis, Bishop Burbidge said radical solidarity requires a “new mindset … moving beyond the status quo and out of our comfort zones.”
For Ninness, “Solidarity means to be one with each other. It means to be in communion with one another,” she said. She pointed to a quote in Bishop Burbidge’s letter from Pope Francis saying solidarity is not found in “a few sporadic acts of generosity.”
That’s why relationships and prayer are key to St. Joseph’s Walking with Moms in Need program, she said. That approach is familiar to Father Peter Ascik, who coordinates the Walking with Moms in Need initiative for parishes in the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, as the first director of its nearly two-year-old office of family life.
As a parochial vicar in 2020, he helped one of the diocese’s largest parishes, St. Matthew in Charlotte, start a Walking with Women in Need program. Along with another Walking with Moms program at St. Pius X in Greensboro, North Carolina, “the programs at both of those parishes have flourished and are bearing really good fruit,” he said.
While the state generally bans abortions after 12 weeks, it has become a destination for women seeking abortions from neighboring states, including Georgia, with more restrictive laws, said Father Ascik, who is also pastor of St. Mary, Help of Christians Church in Shelby, North Carolina.
He praises the program for building networks of social services and providers of material resources, and the parishes for noticing gaps and working to fill them. St. Matthew parishioners identified paperwork-related barriers for mothers to get free diapers, so it organized a day each month where mothers could pick up diapers and other baby supplies, no questions asked.
In another situation, a mother’s car broke down, and she started to receive Uber gift cards “out of nowhere.” The woman was surprised to realize the wide network of people who wanted to help her, he said, and because of Walking With Moms in Need, the communication for a call for help was in place. Part of that network are three long-standing maternity homes, as well as transitional housing for women and children experiencing homelessness in the Diocese of Charlotte.
“Radical solidarity is going to mean radical availability,” Father Ascik said. “Radical availability is being willing to answer a text message, maybe at 9 p.m. at night or on a weekend, with a need that mom’s having right now.”
“That’s the culture that Walking with Moms helps us build,” he continued, “because, whereas, maybe before we would say, ‘Yeah, I want to help pregnant moms,’ … the next step is stepping up and saying, ‘I’m here. I’m the person that you can call on, the person that will go and talk to you, the person that will help you run down a place where you can get food on a weekend,’” when food banks are closed.
A holistic approach to supporting expecting and parenting mothers in difficult circumstances is the crux of the Women and Children First initiative at the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana.
In November 2021, just before oral arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization were heard by the U.S. Supreme Court and real potential loomed for the overturn of Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the de Nicola Center launched an initiative to unite scholars on the interdisciplinary questions that surround building a culture of life.
“Let’s just try to think creatively and comprehensively about what people facing difficult pregnancies, difficult decisions, what they’re going to need to flourish, what’s going to be needed to protect those babies, those moms, and to create a world in which they can be cared for and loved and supported,” said O. Carter Snead, the center’s director and a professor of law and political science, of the initiative. That meant focused academic programming and events, as well as engaging researchers interested in public policy, health care, race, addiction management, mental health care, employment law, housing and other facets that play into vulnerable parents’ circumstances and decisions, Snead said.
Among the de Nicola Center’s current partnerships is the university’s Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities and the National Maternity Housing Coalition, which are conducting an empirical study of maternity homes’ role in improving outcomes for mothers and babies.
Snead, a consultant to the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said that kind of research refutes the popular “slander” that accuses pro-life advocates of caring only for unborn babies, not their mothers or children post-birth.
“It’s the case, and it’s always been the case, that pro-lifers have stepped up to try to care for moms and families in need,” he said. “This is … the radical solidarity, radical hospitality: caring for others in need by virtue and in proportion to their need, not because we have something to gain by it or some kind of pre-existing obligations do it, but … everybody has a claim on us, especially the weakest and most vulnerable.”
How Walking with Moms in Need will grow remains to be seen, but its leaders know the work is valuable. In the past year, St. Joseph in Marietta has helped about 18 women, Ninness said.
“These ministries have the opportunity to preach the Gospel in a way that does not even require quoting Scripture,” she said. “It’s ‘I’m going to allow myself to be the hands and feet of Jesus for you, so that you might not know who Jesus is, but you will see what he does, through what this ministry does.”
