Every Palm Sunday weekend, St. Joseph Seminary College hosts a “Come and See” experience for young men. This has been a very important retreat for many of our current and former seminarians because it gives them an up-close look at what seminary life is really like. One of the biggest challenges in vocation promotion is trying to overcome perceptions that we have about seminary formation. I know that before I actually went and saw the seminary, I thought it was much more like a monastery. I expected to see people quietly praying and being very serious all the time. Of course, we all hope that there is lots of prayer in seminary life, and there is, but there is also vibrant community life. This is what is highlighted most clearly at the St. Ben’s Come and See (as I’ve said before, St. Joseph is colloquially known as St. Ben’s since it is a Benedictine monastery!)
Father Nick Adam
The men arrive on Friday night and have a big crawfish boil which some local Knights of Columbus Council put on. The weekend is filled with talks about seminary life, and there are lots of opportunities to play sports throughout the days on campus. The weekend is rounded off with “Emaus walks,” where current seminarians pair off with Come and See participants to give them a listening ear to process what they have seen and heard over the weekend. After this, every goes to Palm Sunday Mass at the Abbey Church on campus. This is the highlight of the weekend as huge palms are waved throughout the sanctuary and the nave of the Church. The monks of St. Joseph Abbey take great care in their Holy Week liturgies, and it is inspiring to the visitors.
I ask you to regularly pray for men discerning the priesthood. There are many obstacles that are placed in front of young men even as they make the first steps in a healthy discernment. Distractions can seem much more distracting, fears can become much more pronounced and sometimes the Lord’s voice can get drowned out by the many voices in the culture which do not prioritize the Lord. We have several young men actively discerning whether the seminary would be right for them right now, please keep them in prayer, and simply pray that God’s will be done! Satan does not want good and holy priests, and he wants to shut off the possibility of priesthood at the earliest moments, so pray a St. Michael prayer and ask the Archangel to intercede as these men consider their call and fight against distractions in their discernment.
By Justin McLellan VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis asked tech leaders to measure the value of their innovations not in processing power or profit potential, but in their capacity to promote human dignity.
In a meeting at the Vatican March 27 with scientists, engineers, businesspeople and lawyers working across the tech industry, the pope reflected on the social and cultural impact of artificial intelligence. The benefits of artificial intelligence and automated learning for humanity will be realized only if developers act in an “ethical and responsible way” that respects the intrinsic dignity of each person, the pope said.
But he expressed concern that such respect is missing when, for instance, artificially intelligent software is used in producing legal sentences by analyzing an individual’s criminal record and generalized data.
“An individual’s past behavior should not be used to deny him or her the opportunity to change, grow and contribute to society,” he said. “We cannot allow algorithms to limit or condition respect for human dignity, nor can we allow them to exclude compassion, mercy, forgiveness and, above all, an openness to hope for personal change.”
Technology experts fear that the data used to build algorithms in artificially intelligent legal software may amplify pre-existing biases in justice systems, further oppressing already marginalized groups. “That data can be contaminated by prejudices and social preconceptions,” said the pope. “The fundamental value of a person cannot be measured by a set of data.”
He noted how digital technologies have increased global inequality both economically and in terms of political and social influence. Such inequality, he said, is rooted in a “false sense of meritocracy.”
“There is a risk of conceiving the economic advantage of a few as earned or merited, while the poverty of many is seen, in a certain way, as their fault,” he said.
Pope Francis invited the industry leaders to consider how their innovations may create a more equal and inclusive society.
“Are our national and international institutions able to hold technology companies accountable for the social and cultural impact of their products? Is there are a risk that increased inequality can compromise our sense of human and social solidarity?” he asked.
The pope recalled the ethical principles in AI development agreed to by religious, government and tech industry leaders at the Vatican: transparency, inclusion, responsibility, impartiality, reliability, security and privacy.
Pope Francis meets leaders from the tech industry at the Vatican March 27, 2023. The pope called for an “ethical and responsible” development of artificial intelligence. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
In January, executives from Microsoft and IBM as well as representatives from the Muslim and Jewish communities met at the Vatican to sign a document calling for a human-centered approach to AI development in which the principles were agreed upon.
The document advocated for establishing “an outlook in which AI is developed with a focus not on technology, but rather for the good of humanity and of the environment.”
At the March meeting, the pope thanked the tech leaders for engaging in discussions on responsible technology use that are “open to religious values,” and said that dialogue between religious believers and non-believers on science and ethics “is a path to peacebuilding and integral human development.”
“We only live, only suspire, consumed by either fire or fire.”
T.S. Eliot wrote those words and, with them, suggests that our choice in this life is not between calm and storm, but between two kinds of storms.
He is right, of course, but sometimes it is good to vary the metaphor: We live in this world caught between two great gods, very different from each other: chaos and order.
Chaos is the god of fire, of fertility, of risk, of creativity, of novelty, of letting go. Chaos is the god of wildness, the god who brings disorder and mess. Most artists worship at his shrine. He is also the god of sleeplessness, of restlessness, and disintegration. In fact, chaos works precisely by disintegration of what is stable. Chaos is the god more worshipped by those of a liberal temperament.
Order is the god of water, of prudence, of chastity, of common sense, of stability, of hanging on. He is the god of pragma. He likes systems, clarity and a roof that doesn’t leak. He is more worshipped by those of a conservative temperament. Few artists pay him homage, but the corporate and ecclesiastical worlds more than compensate for this. By and large, he is their God. He can also be the god of boredom, timidity and rigidity. With him, you will never disintegrate, but you might suffocate. However, while he does not generate a lot of excitement, this god keeps a lot of people sane and alive.
Chaos and order, fire and water, don’t much like each other. However, both demand the respect accorded a deity. Unfortunately, like all one-sided deities, each wants all of us, but to give that submission is dangerous.
Allegiance to either, to the exclusion of the other, not infrequently leads to a self-destruction. When chaos reigns unchecked by order, moral and emotional disintegration soon enough unleash a darkness from which there is often no recovery. That’s what it means to fall apart, to become unglued. Conversely, when order totally dispels chaos, a certain self-annihilating virtue, posturing as God, begins to drain life of delight and possibility.
It is dangerous to worship at only the shrine. Both gods are needed. The soul, the church, practical life, the structures of society and love itself need the tempering that comes from both fire and water, order and chaos. Too much fire and things just burn up, disintegrate. Too much water and nothing ever changes, petrification sets in. Too much letting go and the sublimity of love lies prostituted; too much timidity and love shrivels up like a dried prune. No, both gods are needed – in practical life, in romantic life, in ecclesiology, in morality, in business and in government. Risk and prudence, rock music and Gregorian chant, both contain some whisperings of God. It is not by blind chance that we are caught between the two.
This should not be surprising because God, the God of Jesus Christ, is the God of both – fire and water, chaos, and order, liberal and conservative, chastity and prodigal love. God is the great stillpoint and God is also the principle of novelty, freshness, and resurrection.
Thomas Aquinas once defined the human soul as made up of two principles, the principle of energy and the principle of integration. One principle keeps us alive and the other keeps us glued together. These two principles, while in tension with each other, desperately need each other. A healthy soul keeps us energized, eager for life, but a healthy soul also keeps us solidly glued together, knowing who we are when we look at ourselves in a mirror. Our souls need to provide us with both energy and integrity, fire and glue.
God is love, and love wants and needs both order and chaos. Love wants always to build a home, to settle down, to create a calm, stable and chaste place. Something inside us wants the calm of paradise and thus love is about order. It wants to avoid emotional and moral disintegration. But love is also about chaos. There is something in love that wants to let go, that wants to be taken, that wants to surrender its boundaries, that wants the new, the foreign, and that wants to let go of its old self. That’s a fertile principle within love that has kept the human race going!
Our God hallows both of these gods, chaos and order, and that is why it is healthy that both be kept in a healthy tension. To be healthy, we need to bring them together within ourselves and we need to bring them together not as we would bring two parties to meet at a negotiating table, but as a high and a low-pressure system meet to produce a storm. After a storm, the weather is clear.
In the tempest there is life and there is God. In it we are initiated, initiated through immersion into the intense fires of desire and the ecstatic waters of surrender.
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser is a theologian, teacher and award-winning author. He can be contacted through his website www.ronrolheiser.com.)
JACKSON – The timing of this edition of Mississippi Catholic coincides with the week called “holy.” Throughout this week Catholics hopefully will be filling pews in churches around the world for the Sacred Triduum liturgies that culminate in the celebration of Easter.
This week we journey from the Upper Room to the Garden of Gethsemane to Calvary the Tomb and finally the Resurrection. It is an immersion in Christ’s journey that brings us out of darkness and into light.
Many staff and volunteers will be preparing sanctuaries for foot washing, eucharistic processions into a symbolic Garden of Gethsemane, the Passion reading, venerating the cross, and bringing the newly blessed paschal candle into the darkness and spreading its light. A lot of details are carried out behind the scenes so that all may enter into these sacred liturgies surrounded by the rich symbols and traditions of our church.
JACKSON – Mary Woodward works behind the scenes to prepare for Holy Week at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle. (Photos courtesy of archives)
Reflecting on all the details, I decided to take a look at our friend, Bishop Gunn’s diary to see what a Holy Week might be like for him. I found these interesting accounts from Holy Weeks of his time.
Holy Week 1913: “Holy Week kept me busy from March 18 to Easter Sunday March 23. I had to pontify on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday; to preach on Friday and Sunday, wash feet on Thursday, and hear all the confessions of the Italians that gravitated ‘round the Cathedral during my stay.
“I was glad when the Alleluias were heard, and I remained quietly in Natchez to March 30 when the usual confirmation class was confirmed.”
Holy Week 1914: “From Vicksburg I returned to Chatawa for March 29 to remain there until April 4, when I went on April 5 to Natchez for Palm Sunday and its ceremonies. I remained in Natchez for the Holy Week functions and as usual the honors of carrying nearly the entire burden were gracefully assigned to me.
“I pontified on Holy Thursday, consecrated the oils and gave a short sermon on the blessed Eucharist on Thursday night. The washing of the feet of thirteen orphans and a sermon on the Passion Friday night gave a full day’s work.
“Saturday morning, I did all that had to be done and enjoyed the Alleluias when they came somewhere near midday. On Saturday afternoon I helped in the confessional and pontified on Easter Sunday and preached.”
Holy Week 1915: “On March 29 the Bishop went to Natchez [from Pass Christian] to consecrate the holy oils and to pontify at the Cathedral on Easter Sunday.
“April – Father Horton replaced the Bishop at the Pass for Easter Sunday and he made his visit exceptionally short on account of the scandalous conduct of some New Orleans visitors on Easter Sunday. They talked and laughed and giggled during his sermon to the extent that Horton left as soon as he could get away and nothing could induce him to return to the Pass ever since.
“This forced the Bishop to send on April 8, Father Burns who was assistant at Vicksburg and he reached the Pass to take care of the church and parish and act as the Bishop’s Chancellor.”
My favorite quotes from Holy Week 1916: “the washing of the feet came too soon after dinner.”
“Holy Saturday was like some sermons – without any terminal facilities. It was an endurance more than a religious test to get through the morning service, changing into every color imaginable at the Bishop’s throne, using vestments that had not been out of the moth balls for twelve months…” I enjoy Bishop Gunn’s phrasing and descriptions. He certainly had a gift for sizing up situations and experiences.
This Holy Week I pray you enter into the liturgies with an open heart – one that seeks to walk in procession with Jesus into the Upper Room, out into the garden to pray quietly in his presence, on to Calvary at the foot of the Cross, then carrying his light into the darkness.
Let us remember all those affected so terribly by the recent tornadoes. May they experience the light of Christ through us.
(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)
HATTIESBURG – Msgr. Joseph Clement Mercier “Father Joe,” a native of Hattiesburg, passed away on March 20, 2023 after a long and full life of priestly ministry.
Msgr. Mercier was preceded in death by his parents, Albert and Ella Mae McGinley; five brothers, Albert Lucien, Patrick Bernard, Adrian Gabriel, Delphins Francis & Michael James; two sisters, Agnes Therese Morgan and Mary Claire Debrow. Msgr. Mercier is survived by his brother, Damian Mercier of Hattiesburg; numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews; and many priestly brothers and deacons.
Msgr. Mercier graduated from Sacred Heart High School, Hattiesburg, in 1944. After a brief tour in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He began his seminary training at St. Joseph Seminary in St. Benedict, Louisiana, and then completed his formation at the North American College and Gregorian University, both in Rome, Italy. He was ordained a priest at the Church of The Twelve Apostles in Rome for the Diocese of Natchez on July 17, 1955. As a priest, Msgr. Mercier served as associate pastor of St. Mary’s parish, Jackson; Nativity Cathedral, Biloxi; St. John the Evangelist parish, Gulfport; and Sacred Heart parish, Hattiesburg. He then served as pastor of Christ the King and Holy Family parishes in Jackson; Sacred Heart parish, Pascagoula; St. John the Evangelist parish, Gulfport; and Sacred Heart parish, Dedeaux.
During his nearly 68 years of priestly ministry Msgr. Mercier served the Catholic community in many roles. He served as a teacher in three Catholic high schools in Mississippi, overseeing many parishes with attached schools, he also served Catholic students at the University of Southern Mississippi as chaplain of the Newman Club on campus and acquired the land on behalf of the diocese where St. Thomas Church and the Newman Center are today. He also served on the diocesan board of consultors, clergy council, diocesan liturgical commission, personnel board, synodal examiner, parish priest consultor for the “Mississippi Register” newspaper (now “Mississippi Catholic”) for the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson. While at Sacred Heart parish, in Dedeaux, he was the priest director of the Cursillo movement of South Mississippi and lay retreats. After his retirement he spent many years assisting fellow priests by traveling to celebrate Mass, hear confessions and continued ministry with the Cursillo movement.
Msgr. Mercier spent his last years at The Claiborne assisted living facility in Hattiesburg where he continued to celebrate Mass for small groups in his room until his health prevented him from continuing. A Mass of Christian burial was held at Sacred Heart Church for Msgr. Mercier, with interment at Sacred Heart Cemetery on Bonhomie Road.
By Peter Finney Jr. NEW ORLEANS (OSV News) – Bishop Fernand (Ferd) Joseph Cheri III, a New Orleans native who had served since 2015 as auxiliary bishop of New Orleans, died March 21 at Chateau de Notre Dame in New Orleans following a lengthy illness. He was 71.
Ordained to the episcopacy March 23, 2015, at St. Louis Cathedral, the late prelate was one of seven active African American bishops in the U.S.
A solemn vesper service took place on March 31 at Notre Dame Seminary with a funeral Mass held on April 1 at St. Louis Cathedral, for Bishop Cheri.
Bishop Cheri served most recently as administrator of St. Peter Claver Parish in New Orleans until kidney and heart problems forced him to step away from active ministry. He was born with one kidney and had been on dialysis three days a week for several months.
“He has been called home to the Lord,” New Orleans Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond said in a message to priests, religious and laity of the archdiocese. “We mourn his death and thank God for his life and ministry.”
Auxiliary Bishop Fernand (Ferd) J. Cheri III of New Orleans is seen during a Black History Month Mass of thanksgiving Feb. 14, 2016, at the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston, N.Y. Bishop Cheri died March 21, 2023, at Chateau de Notre Dame in New Orleans following a lengthy illness. He was 71. The New Orleans native had served as auxiliary bishop of his home archdiocese since 2015. (OSV News photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)
The archbishop said Bishop Cheri started his vocational journey in the Archdiocese of New Orleans “as a seminarian, as a priest and as a pastor” and had directed a “very dedicated ministry.”
“And then, he heard God’s call to join the Franciscans and was a valued member of the Franciscan community,” Archbishop Aymond said. “We were delighted to receive him back into the Archdiocese of New Orleans as auxiliary bishop in 2015, and I have enjoyed working with him in sharing episcopal ministry and shepherding God’s people.”
The late bishop was ordained a New Orleans archdiocesan priest May 20, 1978, by Archbishop Philip M. Hannan. In 1992, then-Father-Cheri entered the novitiate of the Franciscans’ Sacred Heart Province. He professed solemn vows in the order Aug. 26, 1996, and served mostly in Illinois in various ministries, including as a high school chaplain, guidance counselor, choir director and campus minister. He also was pastor of a Nashville, Tennessee, parish from 1996-2002; during that time he also was a member of the provincial council for his Franciscan province (1999-2002).
In 2015, when Pope Francis named him an auxiliary bishop of New Orleans, he had been director of campus ministry at Quincy University in Quincy, Illinois, and as vicar of the Holy Cross Friary in Quincy since 2011.
“We saw him not only as a vocal advocate for African American Catholics and advocating for our needs, but also as a shepherd to the world,” said Ansel Augustine, director of the New Orleans archdiocesan Office of Black Catholic Ministries. “When you think of bishops being shepherds, you see someone who cares about people, one on one. When you talked to him, you felt like you were the only person in the world that mattered even though he might have had eight million other things going on.”
In 2020, after the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minneapolis, Bishop Cheri led a peaceful march of 250 from the archdiocesan chancery building to Notre Dame Seminary. The prayer service was called “Requiem for the Black Children of God.”
In a 2018 address honoring New Orleans’ tricentennial, Bishop Cheri traced the history of the Black Catholic church in New Orleans and praised the Sisters of the Holy Family, founded in 1842 by Venerable Henriette Delille, a free woman of color; the Knights and Ladies of St. Peter Claver; the Office of Black Catholic Ministries; and the Institute of Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana, founded in 1980 to explore Scripture and church teachings from both “a righteous Black consciousness and an authentic Catholic tradition.”
“These individuals and moments challenged the Catholic community of the Archdiocese of New Orleans to not only change the narrative of the church, but to affirm that we share common journeys together,” Bishop Cheri said.
Fernand (Ferd) Joseph Cheri III was born Jan. 28, 1952, to Fernand Jr. and Gladys Cheri. He received his high school education at St. John Vianney Preparatory Seminary in New Orleans. He went on to study at St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington, Louisiana, and Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans.
A lifelong singer, Bishop Cheri loved to break into song during a homily or whenever the mood struck. When he was just 3 years old, his mother recalled little Ferd, the first boy among her seven children, belting out a tune in their house on St. Anthony Street in New Orleans.
In a 2015 interview before his ordination, Bishop Cheri spoke about how he reveled in the gift of music and his vocation.
“The experience of becoming a bishop – and how people are reacting to it – I feel like I sang a solo that became the community’s prayer,” he told the Clarion Herald.
(Peter Finney Jr. is executive editor of the Clarion Herald, newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.)
NATION LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (OSV News) – Catholic faithful turned to prayer as tornadoes tore through several U.S. states March 31, killing at least 21, injuring dozens and devastating thousands of homes, businesses and schools. Amid the loss of life and property, Catholics in hard-hit Arkansas told OSV News they see a glimpse of God’s mysterious mercies. “Any time a natural disaster hits … it brings us to our knees, and not in a cute theological sense,” Father Stephen Gadberry, pastor of St. Teresa Catholic Church in Little Rock, told OSV News. “It levels the playing field and shows we’re not the big and strong individuals we think we are. We really do need community. Literally, overnight, enemies are working together in the same yard, getting past their differences. … We’re a pilgrim people, and we have to journey on together.” St. Teresa school principal Kristy Dunn, who lost her home to a tornado as a child, added, “The Lord is so good … and there is so much good in humanity. Praise God I’m able to see it up close and personal now.”
HOUMA, La. (OSV News) – Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, a former auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, was installed March 29 as the fifth bishop of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana. “I put my trust in Jesus Christ because whenever he gives us a mission, he also gives us the strength and the wisdom to carry it out,” Bishop Dorsonville said as he was installed during a nearly two-hour liturgy at the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales in Houma.
Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, seated in the cathedra, or bishop’s chair, with his crosier, is applauded by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, and New Orleans Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond during his installation Mass as the fifth bishop of Houma-Thibodaux, La., at the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales in Houma March 29, 2023. (OSV News photo/Lawrence Chatagnier, Bayou Catholic)
During the Mass, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, read Pope Francis’ mandate appointing Bishop Dorsonville as the bishop of Houma-Thibodaux. In the decree, Pope Francis asked the faithful of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux to welcome their new bishop “as a father to be loved and a teacher to be heeded.” Archbishop Pierre told Bishop Dorsonville that he will be made to feel at home in his new diocese “because you will find in this diocese many opportunities to continue your ministry as shepherd.” He also urged Bishop Dorsonville to “listen to the laity who have many gifts and much love for the Church” and serve as “both a brother and a father” to his priests.
THOMASTON, Conn. (OSV News) – The Archdiocese of Hartford is investigating a possible Eucharistic miracle after Communion hosts, distributed by a lay minister, seemingly multiplied during a March 5 liturgy at St. Thomas Church in Thomaston, where Blessed Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, had once served as pastor. Celebrant Father Joseph Crowley, pastor of the merged St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish of which the church is a part, described the incident in a March 12 homily livestreamed on YouTube as “one of those moments where God showed up in a very powerful, powerful way.” He added the occurrence showed St. Thomas Church “is a very special place” because of “Blessed McGivney’s life here.” At the same time, said Father Crowley, “the real miracle is the fact that we’re able to take simple bread and wine, and through the prayers of the church, through the hands of the priest, Christ is made present through transubstantiation. Our Lord then becomes the flesh and blood hidden under the mere presence of bread and wine.” David Elliott, associate director of communications for the Archdiocese of Hartford, told OSV News that the archdiocesan judicial vicar, Father George S. Mukuka, “has been looking into the possibility of a Eucharistic miracle” at the parish. Following the investigation, Elliott said, the judicial vicar will prepare a report for Hartford Archbishop Leonard P. Blair, “who will make a determination from there” regarding the event’s supernatural nature.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (OSV News) – Officials of the Nashville Diocese called news of a morning mass shooting and loss of life at a private Christian school in the city heartbreaking and “deeply sad and shocking.” Six individuals, including three children, were fatally shot during the mid-morning hours March 27, at The Covenant School in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville. The private, Christian school educates students in preschool through sixth grade and was founded as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church. The shooter, identified as 28-year-old Audrey E. Hale, carried out the attack armed with two short barrel, magazine-fed tactical-style semiautomatic weapons, and a semiautomatic handgun. Hale died upon being immediately engaged by police officers who had responded to the scene. “My heart breaks with news of the school shooting at The Covenant School this morning,” Bishop J. Mark Spalding of Nashville said in a statement posted to social media. “Let us pray for the victims, their families and the Covenant Presbyterian community.” Bishop Spalding celebrated the 5:30 p.m. Mass March 27 at the Cathedral of the Incarnation to pray for the victims of the shooting and the school.
VATICAN VATICAN CITY (OSV News) – “I’m still alive,” Pope Francis joked to reporters who asked how he was doing as he left Rome’s Gemelli hospital April 1. The 86-year-old pope, who had been hospitalized since March 29 for treatment of bronchitis, stopped his car and got out to greet well-wishers and reporters waiting outside the hospital. He embraced a sobbing mother, whose daughter had died the night before. He reached out to the father, too, and holding their hands, he prayed with them. The pope then traced a cross on the forehead of each of them and gave them both a kiss on the cheek. Reporters present said he also signed the cast of a boy who said he broke his arm playing soccer. Before returning to the Vatican, he stopped to pray at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, a stop he makes before and after every trip abroad and a stop he also made in July 2021 after undergoing colon surgery at the Gemelli. “Pausing before the icon of Mary, ‘Salus Populi Romani,’ he prayerfully entrusted to her the children he met yesterday in the hospital’s pediatric oncology and children’s neurosurgery wards, all the sick and those suffering from illness and the loss of their loved ones,” the Vatican press office said.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis has updated the procedures for investigating allegations of sexual abuse or the cover up of abuse, specifying that the leaders of Vatican-recognized international Catholic lay associations and movements have the same responsibilities over their members that a bishop has over the priests of his diocese. The updated version of “Vos Estis Lux Mundi” (You are the light of the world), published March 25, also expanded the categories of victims covered by the regulations to include vulnerable adults. The original text spoke of the crime of “sexual acts with a minor or a vulnerable person.” The updated text read, “a crime against the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue committed with a minor, or with a person who habitually has an imperfect use of reason, or with a vulnerable adult.” Oblate Father Andrew Small, secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, told Catholic News Service March 25, “Anything that expands the categories of those who should be protected is to be welcomed.” Father Small also pointed to the updated document’s insistence that not only must dioceses and bishops’ conferences have a “system” for reporting abuse or its cover up, they also must have “organisms or offices easily accessible to the public” to accept reports. Making the procedures “well known and publicly accessible is part of justice,” he said.
WORLD MEXICO CITY (OSV News) – A fire in a Mexican immigration detention center has claimed the lives of at least 40 migrants, who appeared to be abandoned by guards as flames engulfed their locked cells, according to a leaked video from the facility near the U.S. border in Ciudad Juárez. The tragedy provoked sorrow and outrage from Catholic leaders and laity working on migration matters in the United States, Mexico and across Central America, along with calls for a rethinking of immigration policy which criminalizes migrants streaming through Mexico toward the U.S. border. “The pain and suffering from abandoning their homes is already too much, and we cannot allow their transit through Mexico to become an ordeal for those who leave their family and country in search of a better life,” said a March 28 statement from the Mexican bishops’ conference.
MANAGUA (OSV News) – Imprisoned Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando Álvarez appeared unexpectedly on Nicaraguan television March 24, more than six weeks after refusing to head into exile and being sentenced to 26 years behind bars. Pale, gaunt and dressed in blue, Bishop Álvarez was reunited with his brother and sister for a meal at the La Modelo prison, where he has been held since hastily being convicted in a secret trial of conspiracy for “undermining national integrity” and spreading false information. The appearance followed weeks of Catholic leaders and human rights groups demanding proof of life – with the last photos of Álvarez dating back to a Jan. 10 court date. He had previously been held under house arrest after being detained in an August 2022 raid on his diocesan headquarters.
MARKOWA, Poland (OSV News) – Kelly Lindquist was three months pregnant with their seventh child when her husband Ian was diagnosed with leukemia on March 24, 2021. That was the day when she learned about another family of seven, living in Poland at the beginning of the 20th century: Servants of God Józef and Wiktoria Ulma. They became the Lindquist family’s protectors throughout Ian’s disease. Ian Lindquist, an education scholar of Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, died of leukemia on May 5, 2022. His wife and their seven children made a trip to the Polish village of Markowa to thank the descendants of the Ulmas for prayers and the special bond the Lindquists’ felt throughout the battle for Ian’s life. “What I saw in Markowa is the Ulma family struggle, the evils that persisted around them and how they didn’t stop being good despite the evil,” Lindquist said. “And I found myself very grateful for their willingness to die for what is good.” “Kelly entrusted everything to God and for us here in Markowa it is a testimony we will never forget,” Urszula Niemczak, Wiktoria Ulma’s relative, told OSV News.
By Carolyn Howard MADISON – St. Joseph Gluckstadt Knights of Columbus Ladies’ Auxiliary were thrilled to be able to resume their annual charity event this year, aptly titled – Charity Tea.
Auxiliary members cooked, baked and prepared all of the food served at the event. They also provided their finest silver, china and crystal to add to the beauty of our event making it truly an event to behold. In addition, a special team of ladies provided and arranged all of the flowers that decorated the hall and tables.
GLUCKSTADT – Tea guests at the Knights of Columbus Ladies Auxiliary Charity Tea event listen attentively as they learn about Catholic Charities Born Free/New Beginnings program and the services they provide on Saturday, March 25 in the St. Joseph Church hall. (Photo by Carolyn Howard)
On Saturday, March 25, more than 80 ladies at the sold-out event, who had purchased tickets in advance, filled the St. Joseph church hall, excited to enjoy a traditional afternoon tea. Tea guests arrived dressed in their finest, including hats, fascinators, pearls and gloves. The little ladies present were particularly excited to be included in such a grand affair. All guests were treated to a menu of savory tea sandwiches, a fresh array of baked goods, including warm buttermilk scones baked on site, and delectable, sweet delights from the desserts course.
The Ladies’ Auxiliary members were overwhelmed by the generousity and support shown by all of those who participated in the event this year. Local vendors graciously donated prizes to our raffle; and Auxiliary members donated food, talents, time, prizes and more.
In coordination with the Knights of Columbus chapter at the parish, the Ladies’ Auxiliary supports organizations dedicated to serving pregnant women in the community. This year, funds raised at the Charity Tea were presented to Catholic Charities Born Free/New Beginnings program to support the work to aid pregnant women get a fresh start and have their children born drug-free.
Prior to moving to Mississippi in 1999 to serve as the campus minister at Mississippi State, I was a lay missioner with the Glenmary Sisters, headquartered in Owensboro, Kentucky. I was missioned in Providence, Kentucky from 1996-1999.
I recently found out that one of the Glenmary Sisters, Sister Kathleen Mulchrone passed away. She was born in Ireland but came to the States in the 1950s. She served in active ministry as a Glenmary Sister for 61 years and retired in 2019. She was in her 90s.
Fran Lavelle
I was reflecting on my time in Kentucky and in particular the influence Sister Kathleen had on my ministry and my life. During my orientation one of the things the sisters underscored repeatedly was the importance of the ministry of presence. That is that no matter where you are or what you are doing you are called to be present to the people surrounding you and environment you are in. A good Glenmarian always came back from the post office with more than mail. Not only would they be present to the people who were in the post office, but they would pick up the news of the day from postal workers as well. This is especially effective in rural communities. More often than not they would hear of someone in the community who was sick, or someone who lost their job, and good news like the birth of a baby or engagement. The post office is not the only place where a ministry of presence can happen. It happens anywhere and everywhere. It is an intentional disposition. It is the art of listening and hearing what is happening to the people around you. Sister Kathleen was masterful at the ministry of presence.
I remember my days in youth ministry, the most challenging but privileged time during our time together was at the end of the night when the kids voiced their prayer petitions. One can learn a lot about what’s going on in the lives of the people around them when they are present and listen. In his 2016 book, The Name of God Is Mercy, Pope Francis opines, “People are looking for someone to listen to them. Someone willing to grant them time, to listen to their dramas and difficulties. This is what I call the ‘apostolate of the ear,’ and it is important.” What we vocalize in prayer speaks of our hopes and dreams and also our grief and worries.
Listening and presence are greatly missing in the public forum today. More often than not people listen to respond or do not listen at all. We all can recall a time when someone was speaking to us and the whole time, we were having our own conversation in our head about what we needed from the grocery store. In the church, especially today, a lack of intentional listening and presence is deadly. People, especially young people want to be seen, valued and heard. For Jesus, intentional listening and a ministry of presence sum up the whole praxis of accompaniment. We have all heard the saying, “Meet people where they are.” It can be a bit slogan-ish, but in practice is the very place where meaningful ministry begins. How can we help people grow in their faith if we do not understand where they are with their faith?
Amelia Rizor is the coordinator for the Office of Young Adults and Campus Ministry for the diocese. She has put together two men’s basketball teams for a Jackson area young adult basketball league. On the occasion of the two Catholic teams competing against one another Amelia invited Bishop Kopacz and I to attend the game with her. We did. It was loads of fun. But, perhaps the most impactful part of the evening was at the end of the game a player on another team recognized Bishop Kopacz and spoke to him. In that brief encounter he told us that he was not Catholic but had been to Mass on several occasions. He also said that he has been thinking about becoming Catholic. That brief exchange was an example of the ministry of presence and why it’s so important. We cannot be present to others if we remain behind our desks or on our phones. We cannot share the apostolate of the ear if we are not in places where people need to be heard.
This Easter season I encourage you to slow your pace and look around you for opportunities to exercise the ministry of presence and the apostolate of the ear. Take in a local sporting event or go out for coffee after Mass. In listening to the needs of others, you just might discover something about yourself.
(Fran Lavelle is the Director of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Jackson.)
LIGHT ONE CANDLE By Father Ed Dougherty, M.M., The Christophers’ board of directors
Have you ever wondered what it was like for the Apostles and followers of Christ during the period of time we now call Eastertide, which begins with the Resurrection and concludes with Pentecost? First, they were struck by the most astounding event in human history in discovering that Christ had risen from the dead. It must have been such an extremely jubilant time, yet they were also left with the traumatizing memory of the Crucifixion and the fear of what might be done to them as news of the Resurrection spread and panic set in among those who wanted that news silenced.
Amid this mix of jubilation and fear was a lingering question about what they should do, and that question would not be fully answered until Pentecost, when they were commissioned by God to evangelize the world. The roller coaster of emotions the Apostles and followers of Christ must have experienced during that time is probably something most of us can relate to as we attempt to walk in their footsteps today.
Father Ed Dougherty
One of the most beautiful moments that occurred after the Resurrection was when Jesus appeared to the Apostles on a beach at the Sea of Galilee. The scene points to answers for questions we all have amid our own mix of emotions over the triumphs, failures, and fears that life throws our way. The Apostles had been fishing all night and caught nothing until daybreak, when a man called to them from the beach telling them to cast their net to the other side of the boat, at which point they caught so many fish they couldn’t haul it all in. Upon realizing the man on the beach was Jesus, Peter jumped out of the boat to hurry towards Him.
Imagine the emotions Peter must have had rushing out of the water towards Christ on that beach. It must have been a bittersweet moment of joy mixed with the sorrow he probably still carried over his three denials before the Crucifixion. Later, walking along the beach together, Christ asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Each time, Peter answers that he does, until finally saying the third time, “Lord, You know everything; You know that I love You.”
We’re told that Peter felt hurt to be asked a third time, and maybe that was partly because it reminded him of his previous denials. But it seems Jesus was also providing him with an opportunity to understand the Redemption. Perhaps this was even Jesus’ way of emphasizing for Peter that He knows he loves Him despite those previous denials because He gives him the chance to answer “yes” three times, almost as though to wash away the mistakes of the past. That conversation must have lingered with Peter as a stark reminder of the love of God and the confidence we must have that opportunities will always be provided for redemption.
This then is the ultimate message of the Resurrection, that we are redeemed every time we run to Christ with a spirit of reconciliation and hope in sharing His joy. This also answers the commission the Apostles were awaiting and received at Pentecost and that we have inherited as followers of Christ. We must constantly be at work healing the wounds of others through a spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation, providing opportunities wherever we can to open hearts to the transformative power of God’s love and having confidence those opportunities will always find us.
(For a free copy of The Christophers’ LIFT UP YOUR HEARTS, e-mail: mail@christophers.org)
