Category Archives: Vatican

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A pilgrim wears a scarf featuring an image of St. Elena Guerra ahead of her canonization Mass, presided over by Pope Francis, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 20, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

NATION
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – National Eucharistic Pilgrimage organizers are seeking eight young adults to spend six weeks traveling with the Eucharist from Indiana to California next summer as perpetual pilgrims in the United States’ second national Eucharistic pilgrimage. The route is scheduled to begin Pentecost Sunday, May 18, following a Mass of thanksgiving in Indianapolis and end in Los Angeles on the feast of Corpus Christi June 22 with a special event hosted by the National Eucharistic Congress Inc. and a citywide Eucharistic procession. The pilgrimage route will cover several Southwestern states, with route details forthcoming in early 2025. The pilgrimage expects to visit the tomb of Father Emil Kapaun, a servant of God, in Wichita, Kansas, and the Blessed Stanley Rother Shrine in Oklahoma City. The route’s perpetual pilgrims will be accompanied by two chaplains and participate in weekly service projects in communities they visit. The 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage was inspired by last year’s first-ever National Eucharistic Pilgrimage that preceded the National Eucharistic Congress in July. Perpetual pilgrim applications are due Nov. 1. More information is available at eucharisticpilgrimage.org.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The U.S. bishops are gathering in Baltimore Nov. 11-14 for their 2024 fall general assembly, which takes place just weeks after the conclusion of the second session of the Catholic Church’s synod on synodality in Rome. Only two days of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ meeting, Nov. 12-13, will be public and livestreamed on the conference’s website. As in years past, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio to the U.S., and Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, president of the USCCB, will both address the assembly. Although the conference said its agenda for the November assembly is subject to change, the bishops plan to consider updates for a collaborative effort on Dignitas Infinita which concerns human dignity; an update on the interim implementation of Antiquum Ministerium, which concerns the ministry of the catechist; the pastoral implementation of Pope Francis’ teaching document Laudato si’, which concerns environmental stewardship; as well as the conference’s mission directive for the years 2025-2028. The bishops also plan to have a consultation on the sainthood causes of Sister Annella Zervas, a professed religious of the Order of St. Benedict, and for the Servant of God Gertrude Agnes Barber. During the assembly, the bishops will vote for the new conference treasurer, as well as chairmen-elect of five conference committees.

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis called on the faithful to yearn to serve, not thirst for power, as he proclaimed 14 new saints, including Canada-born St. Marie-Léonie Paradis, founder of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family, and 11 martyrs. “Those who dominate do not win, only those who serve out of love,” he said Oct. 20, World Mission Sunday, in St. Peter’s Square. “When we learn to serve, our every gesture of attention and care, every expression of tenderness, every work of mercy becomes a reflection of God’s love,” he said. “And so, we continue Jesus’ work in the world.” The pope said the new saints lived Jesus’ way of service. “The faith and the apostolate they carried out did not feed their worldly desires and hunger for power but, on the contrary, they made themselves servants of their brothers and sisters, creative in doing the good, steadfast in difficulties and generous to the end.” “This is what we should yearn for: not power, but service. Service is the Christian way of life,” he said.

WORLD
LIVERPOOL, England (OSV News) – A court has convicted a British army veteran of violating a “buffer zone” around an abortion clinic after he prayed silently within the boundary. Adam Smith-Connor was given a conditional discharge – in which a fine or prison sentence will be imposed if he repeats his offense in the next two years – and ordered to pay prosecution costs of 9,000 British pounds (US $11,700). The Oct. 16 judgment of the Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole Council, or court, on England’s south coast, represents the first time anyone has been convicted for praying silently outside an abortion facility in the U.K. The court decided that his posture had expressed “disapproval for abortion,” noting that his hands were joined in prayer and his head was bowed solemnly. Afterward, Smith-Connor said: “Today, the court has decided that certain thoughts – silent thoughts – can be illegal in the United Kingdom. That cannot be right. All I did was pray to God, in the privacy of my own mind – and yet I stand convicted as a criminal.” Jeremiah Igunnubole, legal counsel for ADF UK, described the ruling as “a legal turning point of immense proportions.” “A man has been convicted today because of the content of his thoughts – his prayers to God – on the public streets of England,” he said.

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (OSV News) – In an early October massacre, at least 150 people, including many Christians, were killed in northeastern Burkina Faso’s town of Manni, in what turned out to be a brutal terrorist rampage. Days after the massacre, Aid to the Church in Need, a pontifical charity working for the cause of persecuted Christians globally, learned that the attack had occurred Oct. 6. Manni is home to a large Catholic community, and many Christians, as well as Muslims, were killed in the massacre, ACN said on the organization’s website. Sources told ACN that the terrorists first cut mobile phone networks before attacking the local market, where many people had gathered after Sunday Mass. “They then opened fire indiscriminately, looted shops and set fire to several buildings, burning some victims alive. The same sources reported that the next day, the perpetrators returned to attack medical staff and kill the many wounded in the city’s hospital,” ACN said. A new incursion took place two days later, when the terrorists again invaded the town of Manni, massacring all the men they could find. Many of the victims were residents from nearby villages who had sought refuge in Manni after being driven out of their homes by terrorists. “The situation is beyond horrific,” one of the local sources told ACN. “But even if the terrorists burned everything, they didn’t burn our faith!”

Synod on synodality: Second session sets sights on mission

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By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – With many of the concrete, hot-button issues removed from the agenda and turned over to study groups, some people wonder what members of the Synod of Bishops on synodality will be doing when they meet at the Vatican in October.

This is the official logo for the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. (CNS photo/courtesy Synod of Bishops)

For Pope Francis and synod organizers, though, taking issues like women deacons or seminary training off the table will allow the 368 synod members to focus on their main task: Finding ways to ensure “the church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channeled for the evangelization of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation.”
Cardinal Mario Grech, general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, cited that quote from Pope Francis’ 2013 exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel,” when explaining what the three-year process of the synod on synodality was all about.

The working document for the synod’s second session Oct. 2-27 summarized as its task “to identify the paths we can follow and the tools we might adopt in our different contexts and circumstances in order to enhance the unique contribution of each baptized person and of each church in the one mission of proclaiming the Risen Lord and his Gospel to the world today.”

In the preface to a book on synodality, published in the Vatican newspaper Sept. 24, Cardinal Grech wrote that the consultations held with Catholics around the world starting in 2021-2022 “noted, not without disappointment, the problem of a church perceived as an exclusive and excluding community – the church of closed doors, customs and tolls to be paid.”

“What needs to change is not the Gospel, but our way of proclaiming it,” he said.

The task of synod members – bishops, priests, members of religious orders and lay men and women – will be to better define or at least describe what is meant by synodality and to suggest ways to live out that vision.

Specifically, that means: helping people listen to one another and to the Holy Spirit; looking at relationships within the church and making sure they empower every member to take responsibility for the church’s mission; reaching out to people who have felt rejected or excluded by the church; increasing the accountability of people in leadership positions; ensuring parish and diocesan councils are truly representative and listened to; and increasing opportunities for women to place their gifts and talents at the service of the church, including in leadership and decision-making.

While those goals make sense from an organizational point of view, the Catholic Church sees itself as the body of Christ, not an organization, and it has traditionally tied the task of governance and decision-making to ordination. How that authority is exercised can vary according to church, country and culture. Synod members come from more than 110 countries and from 15 of the Eastern Catholic churches.
Part of the synod’s discernment involves listening to each other and to the Holy Spirit in respecting people’s traditions with a small “t,” while also being open to something new. Pope Francis’ frequent observation that the Holy Spirit takes diversity and from it creates harmony, not uniformity, is a test for a church that is universal while also incredibly varied.

In the same text published by the Vatican newspaper Sept. 24, Cardinal Grech wrote, “While traditionally Catholicism has focused more on the ‘singular,’ identifying in unity ‘cum et sub Petro’ (‘with and under Peter’) a safeguard against dispersion and error, today we feel the need to rebalance the discourse by making space for the ‘plural,’ so that unity does not degenerate into uniformity, extinguishing the imagination of the Holy Spirit, who scatters seeds of truth and grace in the different peoples and in their varied cultures.”

Cardinal Grech also insisted that the synod’s criticism of “clericalism,” like Pope Francis’ criticism of it, does not come from some “philosophical or political egalitarianism” but from “missionary anxiety.”
“In fact, by sapping the potential of lay men and women in the work of evangelization, clericalism weakens mission, making the church more fragile in the face of the challenge of sharing the Gospel in the world,” the cardinal wrote.

Clericalism restricts evangelization to the clergy, he said, and it “leaves the ‘simple’ baptized in a position of passivity as if the missionary mandate of the Risen Lord did not apply to them as well.”

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A priest raises the monstrance as pilgrims gather for the Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington Sept. 28, 2024. Thousands of pilgrims from across the country gathered at the shrine to honor Mary, the Mother of God, and her gift of the rosary. (OSV News photo/Jeffrey Bruno)

NATION
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Thousands of pilgrims from across the country gathered at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington Sept. 28 to honor Mary, the Mother of God, and her gift of the rosary. “I am entirely yours, Mary, I am entirely yours,” the crowd sang in Latin as the second annual Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage opened with a procession of a statue of Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary. “All that I have, Mother of Christ, all that I have is yours.” More than 3,000 people registered for the free, daylong pilgrimage celebrating the rosary hosted by the Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Joseph and their local charters of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary, a spiritual association dedicated to the rosary. Dominican friars and sisters dotted a diverse crowd of men and women, young and old, individuals and families of different cultures and backgrounds. The event at the basilica, the largest Roman Catholic church in North America, included preaching, adoration, confession, book signings, a recitation of the rosary, enrollment in the confraternity, Mass and an evening concert with the Hillbilly Thomists, a bluegrass band of Dominican friars. Founded in 1216 by St. Dominic de Guzmán, the Dominican Order, also known as the Order of Preachers, has a special relationship with the rosary: According to tradition, Mary appeared to St. Dominic, entrusting the rosary’s promotion to him.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Three years after being approved by the U.S. Catholic bishops, updates to the ritual texts for distribution of holy Communion outside of Mass and for Eucharistic adoration will take effect. The revised version of “Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery outside Mass” will be implemented on the First Sunday of Advent, Dec. 1, 2024. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had signed off on the fresh texts in 2021, with the revisions reviewed by the USCCB’s Secretariat for Divine Worship and confirmed by the Vatican in March 2023. Father David R. Price, associate director of the USCCB’s Secretariat of Divine Worship, told OSV News that “the main thing to keep in mind” regarding the revisions is that “this is a new translation of the ritual book that was given in Latin in the 1970s – so it’s a new translation, it’s not a new ritual book per se.” He emphasized that “the discipline of distribution of holy Communion outside Mass that is in place now is not changing.” The new translation “should hopefully be a way for people to continue to grow and deepen in their faith and to have a sense of unity with the universal church, in that we are praying with words in English that are similar, that are the same in meaning, as words that people are praying these same prayers in other languages – and that the translations are consistent in their meaning between these different languages,” said Father Price. “And that shows the universality of the church.”

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Following an investigation into an influential Peru-based Catholic movement that has expanded across Latin America and the United States, Pope Francis has expelled 10 members from its ranks for physical and spiritual abuse. The group, Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, which operates in seven Latin American countries and has communities in the archdioceses of Denver and Philadelphia, was subject to a Vatican investigation in 2023 for alleged abuses. In a letter from the apostolic nunciature in Peru posted on the Peruvian bishops’ conference website Sept. 25, the Vatican announced the expulsion of the 10 members, including the former superior general, a retired archbishop and three other priests. The 68-year-old Peruvian Archbishop José Antonio Eguren of Piura, the highest-ranking expelled member, resigned from leading his archdiocese in April, eight years shy of the mandatory retirement age for bishops, amid an investigation into Sodalitium. The forms of abuse listed in the Vatican letter include: physical abuse “including sadism and violence,” deploying tactics to “break the will of subordinates,” spiritual abuse, abuse of authority including the cover-up of crimes and abuse in the administration of church goods. “Abuse in the exercise of the apostolate of journalism” was also cited as a form of abuse committed; the list of those expelled included Peruvian journalist Alejandro Bermudez, founder and former executive director of Catholic News Agency, which is now owned by EWTN.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Calling St. John Paul II “one of the men who most shaped the last century,” Pope Francis encouraged Catholics to get to know him better, especially through what he did and wrote before being elected pope Oct. 16, 1978. “Saint John Paul II, despite the time that has passed since his pontificate, continues to be a source of inspiration and draws people to Christ through his way of life, the depth of his teachings, and his ability to connect with the lives of people,” Pope Francis wrote in the introduction to a book titled, “The Goal is Happiness.” Published in Italian, the book offers 366 short passages from St. John Paul’s writings, “most of them unpublished outside of Poland, and some even unpublished within Poland,” Pope Francis noted in the introduction, which was translated into English and posted on Vatican News Sept. 26.

WORLD
MEXICO CITY (OSV News) – Six migrants were killed after soldiers shot at a vehicle evading a military checkpoint in Mexico’s southern Chiapas state – a tragedy condemned by Mexico’s bishops as “the disproportionate use of lethal force on the part of agents of the state.” The Mexican bishops’ conference’s migrant ministry expressed solidarity with the victims and called for a “serious, impartial and investigation” of the shooting. A green truck carrying 33 migrants failed to stop at a checkpoint roughly 50 miles from the Guatemala border, at 8:50 p.m. on Oct. 1, drawing fire from two soldiers, according to an army statement the following day. Six migrants were killed in the incident while 10 were injured and 17 escaped unharmed. The migrants hailed from Nepal, Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Cuba. The army said two soldiers opened fire on the vehicle, which was traveling at high-speed and taking evasive actions. It added that two other trucks, “similar to those used by criminal groups in the region,” were following behind. “Military personnel reported hearing shots, so two (soldiers) fired their weapons, stopping one of the flatbed trucks,” the statement said. A collective of human rights and migration organizations sponsored by the Jesuit-run Iberoamerican University condemned the army’s actions, along with the Mexican government’s militarized response to migration enforcement. The stepped-up enforcement ahead of the November U.S. election has coincided with the Biden administration placing restrictions on asylum-seekers.

Seven things to know about the second and final session of the Synod on Synodality

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By Maria Wiering

(OSV News) — The second meeting of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops begins Oct. 2 at the Vatican. Like last year’s meeting, it’s a four-week-long gathering of 368 voting delegates — with scores more of nonvoting participants — from six continents to address the theme “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission” and experience synodality, a posture of listening, accompaniment and communion in the church.

Unlike last year’s meeting, hot-button topics are not expected to compete for participants’ attention. Instead, the focus is expected to be on synodality itself.

Pope Francis presides over Mass marking the end of the first session of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops on synodality in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Oct. 29, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Here are seven things to know about this year’s second and final gathering for the Synod on Synodality:

1. This meeting is rooted in a three-year process, which began in 2021 with diocesan-level consultation on synodality in the church. That consultation advanced to the level of bishops’ conferences and then included a continental phase. Information gathered from those phases influenced the framework for the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which has been distinguished by including, for the first time, voting lay delegates, and for being held over two meetings. The first meeting was held at the Vatican Oct. 4-28, 2023. Following that meeting, bishops and delegates engaged in further consultation on how to grow as a synodal church, which was synthesized and shared with the Holy See and the public. Meanwhile, eight U.S. priests participated in an International Meeting of Parish Priests from April 28-May 2 to consider the topic of “How to be a synodal local Church in mission?” Participants in the synod’s October 2024 meeting are expected to craft a synthesis report. In the past, synods of bishops have ordinarily resulted in the pope issuing a document on the topic addressed.

2. The “roadmap” for the delegates’ work in October is outlined in the “instrumentum laboris” published in July. This document is the second “working document” of this synod, with a different “instrumentum laboris” issued before the synod’s first meeting in October 2023. The 2024 document is rooted in a wide-ranging synthesis report synod delegates adopted at the end of last year’s meeting that identified areas worthy of further attention ahead of this year’s meeting, as well as the additional consultation undertaken between the meetings. With the overarching theme of “how to be a missionary synodal church,” the working document emphasized questions around Christian formation, communal discernment, and transparency and accountability.

3. The synod formally opens Oct. 2 with a papal Mass, but a penitential liturgy will be held the evening Oct. 1 at St. Peter’s Basilica. With Pope Francis presiding, the penitential liturgy is expected to include three testimonies, including one from a victim-survivor of clergy sexual abuse. It will also include the confessions of “a number of sins,” according to a document from the Holy See: “The aim is not to denounce the sin of others, but to acknowledge oneself as a member of those who, by omission or action, become the cause of suffering and responsible for the evil inflicted on the innocent and defenseless.” Among the sins are those against synodality. The penitential liturgy will conclude a two-day retreat for synod delegates.

Last year’s synod meeting was preceded by a special ecumenical prayer vigil in St. Peter’s Square that brought together leaders of other Christian denominations, including Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. An ecumenical prayer service has been planned this year for the evening of Oct. 11, the 62nd anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council.

  • – 4. The structure of the second synod meeting is expected to mirror the first meeting, with delegates sitting at round tables, listening to presentations and participating in “conversations in the spirit,” an approach to listening to the Holy Spirit and each other that includes periods of silence and an opportunity for everyone to share and respond.
  • – 5. Widely controversial topics — such as women’s ordination to the diaconate, married clergy and ministry to people who identify as LGBT — have moved from the synod’s roundtable discussions to special theological study groups. With these study groups doing the heavy lifting on these topics, synod participants are expected to focus more on the meaning and experience of synodality itself. However, delegates expect to receive a progress report from the study groups, and they are expected to submit final reports on their work in June.

One topic that is expected to be discussed — formally or informally — is the December issuing of “Fiducia Supplicans,” a pastoral instruction issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith that outlined the “possibility of blessing couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage.” The document was met with controversy worldwide, both for its content and its promulgation, with some critics suggesting that the mode for crafting the document did not include proper consultation, or that bishops were underprepared for its publication. Bishops in Africa and elsewhere formally rejected the pastoral guidance offered in the document, and, while the document was not tied to the synod, some African leaders told OSV News that they felt “Fiducia” tainted the synod process.

  • – 6. Of the 368 voting delegates — 272 bishops and 96 non-bishops — the vast majority are returning from the first meeting. The U.S. will have the same 18 delegates with the exception of Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, whose seat has been assumed by Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore. Archbishop Lori was among the bishops initially chosen to attend both synod meetings, but he was unable to attend last year.
  • – 7. For many, “synodality” continues to be a difficult-to-define concept. The synthesis report acknowledged this challenge, noting that “the terms ‘synodal’ and ‘synodality’ require a more accurate clarification of their levels of meaning in different cultures.” The document also explained synodality this way: “In its broadest sense, synodality can be understood as Christians walking in communion with Christ toward the Kingdom along with the whole of humanity. Its orientation is towards mission, and its practice involves gathering in assembly at each level of ecclesial life. It involves reciprocal listening, dialogue, community discernment, and creation of consensus as an expression that renders Christ present in the Holy Spirit, each taking decisions in accordance with their responsibilities.”

Last year’s synthesis report also stated that the assembly members agree, by and large, “that, with the necessary clarifications, synodality represents the future of the church.”

(Maria Wiering is senior writer for OSV News.)

Pope thrives, hits main themes of his pontificate during Asia-Pacific trip

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By Cindy Wooden
ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM SINGAPORE (CNS) – The 87-year-old Pope Francis not only survived the longest trip of his pontificate, but he drew energy from the crowds who came to see him, and he seemed to enjoy his 12-day visit to Asia and the Pacific.

Unity, respect for one’s culture, interreligious dialogue, care for the poor and for the environment were the main themes of his talks in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore Sept. 2-13.
Except for in Jakarta, Indonesia, his last event in each country was a meeting with young people. And despite his age, all the meetings he already had sat through, and changing time zones with each country, Pope Francis seemed to draw the most energy from the young.

He did not follow a single prepared text for his gatherings with teens and young adults, and none of the meetings finished on time. Instead, picking up on a phrase or two of what he heard from his young hosts, he’d launch a dialogue, revving up the crowd with “I can’t hear you” when they didn’t respond loudly enough.

Pope Francis waves to young people gathered for a meeting on interreligious dialogue at the Catholic Junior College in Singapore Sept. 13, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

The 45th trip of his pontificate took him from predominantly Muslim Indonesia to predominantly Christian Papua New Guinea and from poverty-stricken Timor-Leste to super-affluent Singapore.
While poverty, development and the consolidation of democratic institutions are still challenges for the country, which won its independence in 2002, Pope Francis said he was impressed by how young the population was, by the people’s enthusiasm and by their faith.

In fact, an estimated 600,000 people showed up for Mass with the pope Sept. 10 in a park in Tasitolu; the country itself has a population of only 1.3 million people – 96% of whom are Catholic. Excluding Vatican City State, it was the largest percentage of a local population ever gathered for a single Mass, Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister, told reporters.

With government leaders Pope Francis addressed some of the key challenges each country faces, and with church workers he pleaded for ministry that was close to the people, willing to share their struggles and always conveying the joy of knowing one is loved and forgiven by God.

He did not shy away from talking about the serious divide between rich and poor in Indonesia.
“Some people want to deal with this” by resorting to “a law of death, that is, limiting births, limiting the greatest wealth a nation has – new births,” he said, referring to a long-running government program promoting the use of contraceptives.

The pope elicited smiles and laughter when he told government and civic leaders Sept. 4 that in some countries, “families prefer to have a dog or a cat.”

Pope Francis visited Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque – the largest mosque in southeast Asia – Sept. 5, and he and Nasaruddin Umar, the grand imam, signed a short document committing members of their religious communities to defending human dignity, especially when threatened with violence, and to defending the integrity of creation.

But recognizing the sensitive situation of Indonesia’s Catholic community, Pope Francis told church workers that the Christian call to share the Gospel is not about trying to win converts at all costs, but about living in a way that exudes Christian joy and always treats others with respect.

“Proclaiming the Gospel does not mean imposing our faith or placing it in opposition to that of others, but giving and sharing the joy of encountering Christ, always with great respect and fraternal affection for everyone,” the pope told bishops, priests, religious and catechists at a meeting Sept. 4.

He made the same point, in a slightly different and less precise way Sept. 13, when he spoke extemporaneously to young adults engaged in interreligious dialogue in Singapore – a country where many religions coexist but where a significant portion of the population follows no religion at all.

“If we always say, ‘My religion is more important than yours’ or ‘My religion is true and yours is not,’ where will that lead us?” he asked the young people.

“Every religion is a path toward God,” who is the creator and father of all, the pope said. And if there is only one God and father, then all people are brothers and sisters.

In Papua New Guinea, where some 98% of the population is Christian, Pope Francis asked for a greater focus on “the peripheries of this country” with “people belonging to the most deprived segments of urban populations, as well as those who live in the most remote and abandoned areas, where sometimes basic necessities are lacking.”

“I think too of the marginalized and wounded, both morally and physically, by prejudice and superstition, sometimes to the point of having to risk their lives,” the pope said. “The church desires especially to be close to these brothers and sisters, because in them Jesus is present in a special way.”

A group of missionaries – priests and sisters – from Argentina were ministering in the jungle, and Pope Francis decided to pay them a visit.

The Australian Royal Air Force flew him 600 miles to Vanimo near Papua New Guinea’s border with Indonesia Sept. 8 for a meeting in a field with about 20,000 people and then a short drive to the missionaries’ church and school in Baro.

Father Tomás Ravaioli, one of the Argentine Incarnate Word missionaries working in Baro, told reporters, “at his age, in his condition, this is an enormous sacrifice. But it shows that what he says, what he writes, he also demonstrates” in his closeness and service to people.

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James Earl Jones, poses for photographers as he stands next to Darth Vader at the premiere of the film “Star Wars: Attack of the Clones” at the TriBeCa Film Festival in New York City May 12, 2002. The late actor, a Catholic with a storied career that included voicing the character Darth Vader, died the morning of Sept. 9, 2024. (OSV News photo/Chip East, Reuters)

NATION
DUTCHESS COUNTY, N.Y. (OSV News) – James Earl Jones, a distinguished actor known for his resonant voice and a Black Catholic, died Sept. 9 in Dutchess County at age 93. His numerous and versatile roles over an illustrious 70-year career included the voice of Darth Vader in “Star Wars,” beginning in 1977, and Mufasa in “The Lion King” (1994); a reclusive author in “Field of Dreams” (1989); and Admiral James Greer in “The Hunt for Red October” (1990), as well as Broadway and Shakespearan plays. He was also the dramatic voice behind CNN’s tagline “This is CNN.” A convert to the Catholic faith as a young man while serving in the U.S. Army, Jones wrote in 1993, “Perhaps my greatest honor came when I was asked to read the New Testament on tape,” pointing to an unabridged recording of the King James Version of the New Testament he made in the 1980s that was remastered for CD in 2002. His talent earned him the elusive “EGOT,” having garnered Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards. The Oscar was an honorary Academy Award granted in 2011. Jones’ passing coincided with the feast of St. Peter Claver, a patron saint of Black Catholics.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, repeated – without evidence – claims about Haitian immigrants eating the pets of residents in Springfield, Ohio. But Vance’s fellow Ohio Republican officials have said such claims are false, and Catholic leaders have called for respect for migrants. At a Sept. 10 debate, former President Donald Trump also repeated the viral, unverified claims – refuted by local authorities – about Haitian migrants, a largely Catholic population, living in the city of Springfield, Ohio, that accuses them of abducting pets and eating them. In a Sept. 15 interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Vance was confronted by anchor Dana Bash about that claim, which he has also repeated. “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do, Dana, because you guys are completely letting Kamala Harris coast,” Vance said. Vance’s fellow Ohio Republicans including the state’s governor and Springfield’s mayor, called the claims that Haitian migrants are kidnapping and eating pets false. “We have a big-hearted community, and we’re being smeared in a way we don’t deserve,” said Mayor Rob Rue, also a Republican. Credible estimates vary, but a few thousand immigrants from Haiti have settled in Springfield, Ohio, city officials said, and most have legal status. Most came as a result of a local Chamber of Commerce effort to revive Springfield as a manufacturing hub.

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The second session of the Synod of Bishops on synodality, set to bring 368 bishops, priests, religious and laypeople to the Vatican, will begin by asking forgiveness for various sins on behalf of all the baptized. As synod members did before last year’s session, they will spend two days on retreat before beginning work; that period of reflection will conclude Oct. 1 with a penitential liturgy presided over by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican announced. The liturgy will include time to listen to the testimonies of three people: one who suffered from the sin of abuse, one from the sin of war and third from the sin of indifference to the plight of migrants, according to a Vatican statement announcing the liturgy. Afterward, “the confession of a number of sins will take place,” said the statement, released Sept. 16. “The aim is not to denounce the sin of others, but to acknowledge oneself as a member of those who, by omission or action, become the cause of suffering and responsible for the evil inflicted on the innocent and defenseless.” The liturgy is open to all but is specifically geared toward young people, as it “directs the church’s inner gaze to the faces of new generations,” the Vatican said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Maybe it is a sign of aging, Pope Francis said, but he is increasingly concerned about what kind of world he and his peers will leave for younger generations – and the prognosis is not good. “This isn’t pessimism,” the pope told about two dozen representatives of popular movements and grassroots organizations meeting Sept. 20 at the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. Pope Francis said he feared adults are leaving behind “a world discouraged, inferior, violent, marked by the plundering of nature, alienated by dehumanized modes of communication,” and “without the political, social and economic paradigms to lead the way, with few dreams and enormous threats.” But, he said, if people join forces, especially with those who are most often the victims, things can change.

WORLD
HANOI, Vietnam (OSV News) – More than 100 people, including a Catholic religious sister, are still listed as missing after Typhoon Yagi, the most powerful storm to hit Asia this year, left at least 233 dead in northern Vietnam. Sister Maria Nguyen Thi Bich Hang from the Lovers of the Holy Cross congregation is believed by her family to have been killed in the storm. On Sept. 9, heavy rain collapsed the Phong Chau Bridge over the Red River in Phu Tho province and eight people, including 35-year-old Sister Maria Nguyen, were washed away. With winds of up to 92 mph, Typhoon Yagi, the most powerful typhoon to hit Asia in 2024, wreaked havoc in northern Vietnam Sept. 7-11. Besides the death toll, the subsequent landslides and floods also left 807 people injured and 103 missing, according to government figures. In a Sept. 12 telegram signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, the pope said he was “deeply saddened” to learn of the destruction wrought by Typhoon Yagi, offering his “spiritual solidarity to the injured and to all those suffering the continuing effects of this disaster.” The church and the government agencies have provided aid to victims of the storm that hit 20 out of Vietnam’s 25 northern provinces. In the Hung Hoa Diocese in Phu Tho province, Caritas workers were distributing instant noodles, milk, rice and clean water to flood victims.

KRAKOW, Poland (OSV News) – Poland’s government is preparing a decree of a state of natural disaster as the southwestern part of the country was severely flooded by torrential rains caused by Storm Boris. Throughout the weekend of Sept. 14-15, the storm continued to wreak havoc across Central and Eastern Europe. In Austria, Poland and Czech Republic, 11 people were confirmed dead in the regions affected. “I want to express our sympathy to those who have experienced this great drama, but at the same time assure them that they are not left alone,” Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda of Gdansk, president of the Polish bishops’ conference, said in a Sept. 16 statement as thousands of people were evacuated from the flood-affected region of the country. “Water, after heavy rains, flooded many houses, schools, kindergartens, and hospitals. Many homes and public buildings have been destroyed, and the entire road infrastructure in that area has been badly damaged,” the archbishop said. A 17th-century Franciscan monastery in Klodzko was dramatically affected by the flood. “The whole main church was flooded,” said Father Ignacy Szczytowski, guardian of the monastery. “We’re located right at the curve of the Nysa Klodzka River. There were no chances that with this amount of water we would manage to stop it from coming,” he said, estimating the monastery’s losses at $3.5 million.

Lleno de energía, el Papa aborda los principales temas de supontificado durante su viaje a Asia-Pacífico

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Por Cindy Wooden
A BORDO DEL VUELO PAPAL DESDE SINGAPUR (CNS) – El Papa Francisco, de 87 años de edad, no sólo sobrevivió al viaje más largo de su pontificado, sino que atrajo la energía de las multitudes que acudieron a verle, y pareció disfrutar de su visita de 12 días a Asia y el Pacífico.

La unidad, el respeto a la propia cultura, el diálogo interreligioso, el cuidado de los pobres y del medio ambiente fueron los temas principales de sus discursos en Indonesia, Papúa Nueva Guinea, Timor Oriental y Singapur del 2 al 13 de septiembre.

Excepto en Yakarta, Indonesia, su último acto en cada país fue un encuentro con jóvenes. Y a pesar de su edad, de todas las reuniones a las que ya había asistido y de los cambios de horario en cada país, el Papa Francisco pareció sacar la mayor energía de esos encuentros con los jóvenes.

Al hablar con la juventud, el Papa no siguió ninguno de los textos preparados para sus encuentros con adolescentes y jóvenes adultos, y ninguna de las reuniones terminaba a tiempo. En su lugar, recogiendo una o dos frases de lo que oía a sus jóvenes anfitriones, iniciaba un diálogo, avivando a la multitud con un “no los oigo” cuando no respondían lo suficientemente alto.

El 45º viaje de su pontificado le llevó desde Indonesia, un país predominantemente musulmán, a la predominantemente cristiana Papúa Nueva Guinea, y de un Timor Oriental asolado por la pobreza al súper próspero Singapur.

El Papa Francisco hace su aportación a un cuadro conmemorativo de su viaje a Singapur tras un encuentro con jóvenes en el Catholic Junior College de Singapur el 13 de septiembre de 2024. (Foto CNS/Vatican Media)

Aunque la pobreza, el desarrollo y la consolidación de las instituciones democráticas siguen siendo retos para el país, que obtuvo su independencia en 2002, el Papa Francisco dijo estar impresionado por lo joven que era la población, por el entusiasmo de la gente y por su fe.

De hecho, se calcula que 600.000 personas asistieron a la Misa con el Papa el 10 de septiembre en un parque de Tasitolu; el país tiene una población de sólo 1,3 millones de habitantes, de los cuales el 96% son católicos. Sin contar el Estado de la Ciudad del Vaticano, fue el mayor porcentaje de población local jamás reunido en una sola Misa, según el arzobispo Paul R. Gallagher, ministro de Asuntos Exteriores del Vaticano.

Con los líderes del gobierno, el Papa Francisco abordó algunos de los retos clave a los que se enfrenta cada país, y con los trabajadores de la Iglesia, el Santo Padre abogó por un ministerio cercano a la gente, dispuesto a compartir sus luchas y transmitiendo siempre la alegría de saberse amado y perdonado por Dios.

El Papa no eludió hablar de la grave división entre ricos y pobres en Indonesia.

“Algunos quieren hacer frente a esto” recurriendo a “ una legislación de muerte, es decir, limitando la natalidad, limitando la mayor riqueza que tiene un país, que son los nacimientos”, dijo, refiriéndose a un programa gubernamental de larga duración que promueve el uso de anticonceptivos.

El Papa provocó sonrisas y risas cuando dijo a líderes gubernamentales y cívicos el 4 de septiembre que en algunos países “las familias prefieren tener un gato o un perro pequeño”.

El Papa Francisco visitó la mezquita Istiqlal de Yakarta – una mezquita del sudeste asiático – el 5 de septiembre, y él y Nasaruddin Umar, el gran imán, firmaron un breve documento en el que los miembros de sus comunidades religiosas se comprometían a defender la dignidad humana, especialmente cuando se ve amenazada por la violencia, y a defender la integridad de la creación.

Pero reconociendo la delicada situación de la comunidad católica de Indonesia, el Papa Francisco dijo a los trabajadores de la Iglesia que la llamada cristiana a compartir el Evangelio no consiste en intentar ganar conversos a toda costa, sino en vivir de una manera que destile alegría cristiana y tratar siempre a los demás con respeto.

“Anunciar el Evangelio no significa imponer o contraponer la propia fe a la de los demás, no significa hacer proselitismo, significa, más bien, dar y compartir la alegría del encuentro con Cristo, siempre con gran respeto y afecto fraterno por cada persona”, dijo el Papa a obispos, sacerdotes, religiosos y catequistas en una reunión celebrada el 4 de septiembre.

El 13 de septiembre, cuando habló extemporáneamente a jóvenes adultos comprometidos en el diálogo interreligioso en Singapur, un país en el que coexisten muchas religiones, pero donde una parte significativa de la población no profesa ninguna religión, hizo la misma observación, de una manera ligeramente diferente y menos precisa.

“ Si empiezan a discutir ‘Mi religión es más importante que la tuya’ o ‘La mía es la verdadera, en cambio la tuya no es verdadera’, ¿Adónde lleva todo esto?”, preguntó a los jóvenes.

“Todas las religiones son un camino para llegar a Dios”, que es el creador y padre de todos, dijo el Papa. “Y si sólo hay un Dios y padre, entonces todas las personas son hermanos y hermanas”.

“Sin embargo, para el diálogo interreligioso entre los jóvenes se requiere valentía. Porque la juventud es la edad de la valentía. Pero mientras podrías tener esa valentía para hacer cosas que no te ayudarían, sería mejor tener valentía para avanzar y para el diálogo”, dijo.

En Papúa Nueva Guinea, donde alrededor del 98% de la población es cristiana, el Papa Francisco pidió una mayor atención a “las periferias de este país” con “ las personas de los sectores más desfavorecidos de las poblaciones urbanas, así como a aquellas que viven en las zonas más remotas y abandonadas, donde a menudo falta lo indispensable”.

“Pienso también en las personas marginadas y heridas, tanto moral como físicamente, a causa de los prejuicios y las supersticiones, en ocasiones, hasta el punto de arriesgar la propia vida”, dijo el Papa. “La Iglesia quiere estar particularmente cercana a estos hermanos y hermanas, porque en ellos, Jesús está presente de un modo especial”.

Un grupo de misioneros – sacerdotes y religiosas – de Argentina estaban ejerciendo su ministerio en la selva, y el Papa Francisco decidió hacerles una visita.

La Fuerza Aérea Real Australiana le llevó en avión 600 millas hasta Vanimo, cerca de la frontera de Papúa Nueva Guinea con Indonesia, el 8 de septiembre, para una reunión en un campo con unas 20.000 personas y luego un corto trayecto en coche hasta la iglesia y la escuela de los misioneros en Baro.

El padre Tomás Ravaioli, uno de los misioneros argentinos del Verbo Encarnado que trabajan en Baro, declaró a la prensa: “A su edad, en su estado, es un sacrificio enorme. Pero demuestra que lo que dice, lo que escribe, también lo demuestra” en su cercanía y servicio a la gente.

Second synod session to open with penitential liturgy

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By Justin McLellan
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The second session of the Synod of Bishops on synodality, set to bring 368 bishops, priests, religious and laypeople to the Vatican, will begin by asking forgiveness for various sins on behalf of all the baptized.

As synod members did before last year’s session, they will spend two days on retreat before beginning work; that period of reflection will conclude Oct. 1 with a penitential liturgy presided over by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican announced.

This is the official logo for the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. (CNS photo/courtesy Synod of Bishops)

The liturgy will include time to listen to the testimonies of three people: one who suffered from the sin of abuse, one from the sin of war and third from the sin of indifference to the plight of migrants, according to a Vatican statement announcing the liturgy.

Afterward, “the confession of a number of sins will take place,” said the statement, released Sept. 16. “The aim is not to denounce the sin of others, but to acknowledge oneself as a member of those who, by omission or action, become the cause of suffering and responsible for the evil inflicted on the innocent and defenseless.”

According to the Vatican, the sins confessed will include: sins against peace; sins against creation, sins against Indigenous populations and migrants; the sin of abuse; sins against women, family and youth; the sin of “using doctrine as stones to be hurled”; sins against poverty; and sins against synodality or the lack of listening and communion.

The liturgy is open to all but is specifically geared toward young people, as it “directs the Church’s inner gaze to the faces of new generations,” the Vatican said.

“Indeed, it will be the young people present in the Basilica who will receive the sign that the future of the Church is theirs, and that the request for forgiveness is the first step of a faith-filled and missionary credibility that must be reestablished,” it said.

Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the synod, said that in addressing young people, the church wants “to communicate to them and to the world that the church is in a dynamic of conversion.”

“After all, this is the path to holiness, not that there is no sin but that we recognize our limits, our weakness, that we are open to conversion, to learning, always with the help of the Lord,” he said.

Presenting details for the upcoming synod session at a news conference Sept. 16, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, relator general of the synod, said most of the participants would be the same as those who participated in the first assembly, which was held in October 2023, though 25 changes were made for different reasons, such as health problems.

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, who participated last year as an alternate delegate of the U.S. bishops’ conference, will not be at the assembly; Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, who was elected but could not attend in 2023, will take his place as part of the U.S. delegation.

Cardinal Hollerich said that of the 368 voting members, 96 — or just over a quarter — are not bishops. Additionally, he said the number of representatives from other Christian communities participating in the synod without voting privileges increased from 12 to 16 “given the great interest that the sister churches have shown in this synodal journey.”

Jesuit Father Giacomo Costa, special secretary of the synod, said at the news conference that unlike the first session of the synod on synodality’s assembly, which focused on “an awareness and identification of some priorities,” the second session is about “going in-depth” into some of the key points raised during the listening sessions around the world and during the first assembly.

But Cardinal Grech confirmed that some of the more controversial points raised, including about ordaining women to the diaconate, would not be a topic of discussion at the assembly. In March, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had established study groups to examine those issues and report back to him in 2025. But the groups will share a progress report with the synod members at the beginning of the October assembly.

Whereas the synod assembly produced a synthesis report at the end of its first session in 2023, the 2024 session will produce a final document to be given to the pope.

“To date, there has always been a communication to the people of God on the part of the Holy Father,” Cardinal Grech said in response to a question on whether the pope will issue a post-synodal exhortation after the synod.

Another introduction into this year’s session is the organization of four public “theological-pastoral forums” centered on different topics for a deeper understanding of synodality. The forums, hosted in Rome and open to the public, are titled: “People of God as Subject of the Mission”; “The Role and Authority of the Bishop in a Synodal Church”; “The Mutual Relationship Local Church-Universal Church”; and “The Exercise of the Primacy and the Synod of Bishops.”

The forums are intended to respond to the need to “continue the theological, canonical and pastoral deepening of the meaning of synodality for the different aspects of the Church’s faith and to offer theologians and canonists the opportunity to contribute to the work of the Assembly,” a Vatican statement said.

Briefs

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NATION
DENVER (OSV News) – The organization that coordinates efforts related to the National Eucharistic Revival announced Sept. 3 the launch of the Society of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus to boost revival efforts. In an email to supporters, Jason Shanks, CEO of National Eucharistic Congress Inc., described the society as a way people “can help and remain closely connected to the many ongoing efforts of charity and evangelization, of pilgrimage and procession – of mission – to bring Christ to every corner of our nation.” Joining the society requires a minimum $10 monthly donation to National Eucharistic Congress Inc. Members will receive a copy of “For the Life of the World: Invited to Eucharistic Mission” by Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, who serves as board chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., and Tim Glemkowski, the founding CEO of National Eucharistic Congress Inc., who served in that role until Aug. 1. Society members also receive access to the National Eucharistic Congress digital platform, which includes all of the talks from the July 17-21 National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, as well as additional Eucharist-related content. Information on joining the society can be found at www.eucharisticcongress.org/donate.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Ahead of Hispanic Heritage Month, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Cultural Diversity in the Church has released a resource kit “to help illustrate the profound impact of the Hispanic/Latino community within the Catholic Church in the United States,” according to a Sept. 4 press release. This resource kit includes statistical information on the Catholic population in the United States, categorized by race/ethnicity, a statistical profile of Hispanic/Latino ministry, the percentage of Hispanic/Latino Catholics by diocese and the percentage growth of Hispanic/Latino Catholics in the Millennial and Gen Z generations. It also reports on the growth of the Hispanic/Latino population in the church’s 14 episcopal regions and the estimated Hispanic/Latino population in the U.S. in 2022 by country of origin, as well as a timeline of Hispanic/Latino ministry events and milestones spanning from 1945 to 2024. Alejandro Aguilera-Titus, assistant director of Hispanic Affairs under the USCCB’s cultural diversity secretariat, said that through the information in this resource, they hope to “help show the vibrant faith and the richness of the Hispanic and Latino communities within our Church and society.” The resource kit – published in English and Spanish – is available on the USCCB website: usccb.org/committees/hispaniclatino-affairs.

VATICAN
JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNS) – Even members of the most remote, smallest and poorest Christian communities are called to share the Gospel and to do so, first, by the way they live, Pope Francis told the Catholics of Indonesia. With tens of thousands of people gathered in Jakarta’s Gelora Bung Karno Stadium Sept. 5 – and thousands more watching on screens from Madya Stadium, a smaller venue nearby – Pope Francis presided over his only public Mass in Indonesia. He was scheduled to fly to Papua New Guinea the next morning. Seated together wearing the bright green, yellow, white, blue, red or black t-shirts designating the parish, diocese or Catholic organization they belong to, the crowd made the main stadium look like it was built with Lego bricks. The people arrived at the stadium hours early, visiting with each other, singing hymns and lively modern Christian songs and praying the rosary. In his homily, Pope Francis urged Indonesian Catholics “to sow seeds of love, confidently tread the path of dialogue, continue to show your goodness and kindness with your characteristic smile and be builders of unity and peace.” Pope Francis asked the crowd not to forget that “the first task of the disciple is not to clothe ourselves with an outwardly perfect religiosity, do extraordinary things or engage in grandiose undertakings. The first step, instead, is to know how to listen to the only word that saves, the word of Jesus.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Earth is ailing, and it needs the prayers of Catholics as well as their personal commitment to caring for creation, Pope Francis said. “Let us pray that each of us listen with our hearts to the cry of the Earth and of the victims of environmental disasters and climate change, making a personal commitment to care for the world we inhabit,” the pope said in a video message released Aug. 30 by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network. The network posts a short video of the pope offering his specific prayer intention each month, and members of the network pray for that intention each day. Pope Francis’ intention for September is: “For the cry of the Earth,” which coincides with the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation Sept. 1 and its inauguration of the monthlong “Season of Creation.”

Pope Francis receives wine from women in traditional Indonesian dress during the presentation of gifts as he celebrates Mass in Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia, Mass Sept. 5, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

WORLD
KATSINA, Nigeria (OSV News) – Back to school will be especially tough in Nigeria this year as a new report shows that Fulani herders, or ethnic militia, are killing Nigerian civilians unopposed. Mass killings, abductions and the torture of whole families go largely unchallenged as government forces pursue targets hundreds of miles away, according to the research findings. As the security situation in Nigeria worsens, an increasing number of schools, especially in the northern part of the country, face forced shutdown on the verge of a new academic year. This has led to a significant decline in student enrollment, with many citizens relocating within the country or going abroad. A new report published Aug. 29 by the Observatory of Religious Freedom in Africa – a four-year data project on religious persecution in Nigeria – showed that the most populous African country was an extremely violent and insecure place to live in the reporting period from October 2019 to September 2023, at least in parts of the country. In total, 55,910 people were killed in 9,970 attacks, while 21,621 people were abducted in 2,705 attacks, the report said. “Many civilians lived in high levels of insecurity and fear of the unexpected,” the report said. The data shows that more Nigerian Christians were victims of violence than Nigerians with other religious affiliations.

JERUSALEM (OSV News) – The Holy Land’s sacred sites overflow with tourists in normal times, but with war in Gaza, most airlines have canceled flights to the region. The streets of the Old City of Jerusalem are deserted with merchant’s stalls shuttered. Yet for two Catholic peace activists from the United States, it was the perfect time to visit. Invited by Palestinian Christian groups, they joined with 10 other U.S. Christians and flew to neighboring Jordan. From there they journeyed overland to Palestine and Israel. “Church leaders here asked people from the United States to come and stand in solidarity with their brothers and sisters. That concept of solidarity is central to my faith, to the way that I think about the cross,” said Kelly Johnson, an associate professor of religious studies at the University of Dayton, Ohio. The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 40,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Scott Wright, a 74-year-old Pax Christi member from Washington who worked for years with refugees in Central America, said he wanted to come precisely because it was a difficult time. The U.S. Catholic delegation’s schedule included interviews with church leaders, clerics, nonviolent activists, Palestinian farmers and urban residents whose lands have been appropriated by army-backed settlers, and families whose homes have been demolished in East Jerusalem. In Rahat, Israel, the group helped local residents pack food boxes for distribution inside Gaza.

Pope prays Mary will protect persecuted Christians in Nicaragua

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By Justin McLellan

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – As the Catholic Church and Christians at large experience intense persecution in Nicaragua, Pope Francis expressed encouragement and support to the people living under the country’s authoritarian regime.

“To the beloved people of Nicaragua: I encourage you to renew your hope in Jesus,” he said after praying the Angelus Aug. 25. “Remember that the Holy Spirit always guides history toward higher projects.”

The previous week, the Nicaraguan government revoked the legal status of 1,500 nonprofit organizations operating in the country, many of them Christian churches as well as Catholic charitable organizations and religious congregations. Nicaragua’s national assembly also approved new measures Aug. 20 to tax donations to churches and religious organizations of all denominations. And during the first three weeks of August, nine Catholic priests were arrested in Nicaragua and exiled to Rome.

“May the Immaculate Virgin protect you in times of trial and help you feel her motherly tenderness; may Our Lady accompany the beloved people of Nicaragua,” the pope prayed with visitors in St. Peter’s Square.

Pope Francis also expressed his solidarity with the thousands of people affected by outbreaks of monkeypox, which was declared a “public health emergency of international concern” by the World Health Organization Aug. 14. According to figures from the U.N. organization updated Aug. 22, there have been 3,562 cases of monkeypox in 2024, resulting in 26 deaths. Twelve countries have reported cases of monkeypox with the outbreak being most acute in Congo.

“I pray for all those infected, especially the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo suffering greatly,” the pope said. “I express my sympathy to the local churches in the countries most affected by this disease, and I encourage governments and private industries to share available technology and treatments so that no one lacks adequate medical care.”

Gesturing to the mass of visitors dressed in black under the August sun, Pope Francis greeted the new seminarians studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome and wished them “a good formative journey.”

“I also wish them to live their priesthood with joy, because true prayer gives us joy,” he said.

The Pontifical North American College’s incoming class consists of 38 seminarians — 36 from the United States and two from Australia. For the 2024-25 academic year, a total of 113 men from 56 dioceses and eparchies will be preparing for the priesthood at the college with the Archdiocese of Washington having the largest number of seminarians enrolled.

In his main address, the pope reflected on the day’s Gospel reading from St. John in which Jesus’ followers are shocked after he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” Many of Jesus’ disciples abandoned him after hearing this because what he said was too hard to understand.

But “Jesus’ choices often go beyond common thinking, beyond the very canons of institutional religion and traditions to the point of creating provocative and embarrassing situations,” Pope Francis said.

“It is not easy to follow him,” he added. “Even for us, it is not easy to follow the Lord, to understand his way of acting, to make his criteria and his example our own.”

“It is not easy for us. However, the closer we are to him — the more we adhere to his Gospel, receive his grace in the sacraments, stay in his company in prayer, imitate him in humility and charity — the more we experience the beauty of having him as our friend and realize that he alone has the words of eternal life,” the pope said.