Several weeks ago, I was visiting a parish not my own for Mass on a Sunday morning. I sat about a third of the way back – on the left had side as I usually do. When I came in, I noticed some young children sitting a few rows behind me. I did not pay too much attention to them during Mass because they were remarkably quiet.
But then … we reached the sacred moment of the Consecration. The bells rang and the Blessed Sacrament was elevated in that holy moment I so often take for granted. At that exact instant, there was a small voice from a young child who said, clearly and simply, “wow.”
Maybe he was reacting to the bells. Maybe he was impressed by something entirely unrelated to Mass. Maybe one of his siblings had done something that caught his attention. Maybe his parents were embarrassed by his exuberance. Maybe I should have been critical of the way he broke the sacred silence. But I was grateful.
Lucia A. Silecchia
I was grateful for that tiny voice that said “wow.” He drew my attention to the fact that I had just witnessed something awesome for which “wow” seems to be the only right reaction. It was a reaction that recognized that what he, and I, and we had just seen was a miracle far beyond our comprehension, and yet within our grasp.
We had just seen the miracle that, through God’s lavish generosity, happens every moment of every day in grand cathedrals and silent chapels in every corner of the globe. It is the miracle that has happened for nearly two millennia.
As an adult, I know with my mind what happens at Mass. Sometimes, though, the heart and soul can lag behind. They can fail to see how glorious that miraculous, sacrificial gift is. Sometimes, the heart and soul need to hear “wow” to remember what awe really means.
The Catholic Church in the United States is in the first year of the National Eucharistic Revival. The Revival’s aim is “to restore understanding and devotion to this great mystery.” As the years of the Revival unfold, the invitation to delve more deeply into the heart of this “great mystery” will take many forms in our dioceses and in our parishes.
Certainly, the aim of restoring understanding is a critical first step in bringing about a fuller appreciation for the great gift of the Eucharist and the reality that it is, truly, Christ Himself. If this understanding leads to greater devotion, the Revival will have been a great gift to the church in our time.
Yet, my tiny friend’s “wow” leads me to think that understanding and devotion are but the first two steps on the journey to awe.
My tiny friend’s “wow” was the invitation to stop taking this daily miracle for granted and really notice what happens.
My tiny friend’s “wow” expressed the grateful reverence and reverent gratitude that should not belong solely to the young. It belongs to all who rejoice in this great miracle of ordinary time.
(Lucia A. Silecchia is a Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Faculty Research at the Catholic University of America. “On Ordinary Times” is a biweekly column reflecting on the ways to find the sacred in the simple. Email her at silecchia@cua.edu.)
My friend Sister Mary Hogan told me that what she remembers most vividly about her experience in Selma, Alabama, in 1965 was the “hate stare.”
Sister Hogan was a young religious sister in Detroit when then Archbishop (later Cardinal) John Dearden permitted his priests to respond to the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King’s request for clergy and religious leaders to come to Selma. The day before, peaceful marchers had been met by violence from police and bystanders on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Her community’s superior asked who wanted to go to Selma in response to Dr. King’s plea. “I jumped up and said, ‘I do,’” Sister Hogan told me in an interview in 2015. “I thought she was kidding.”
But the next day, Sister Hogan found herself on a plane, and if you see pictures of sisters in long, traditional black serge habits sitting in the grass near that famous bridge, you may spot her.
Later, she recalled the eyes full of contempt watching her along the march and following her at the airport. Decades later, Sister Hogan said she had never again experienced the level of hatred conveyed in those eyes.
Much has changed for the better since 1965. But Black Americans still face powerful struggles and inequality in housing, employment, health care, incarceration and education.
And how about Black Catholics?
A recent Pew research study reveals 6% of Black Americans are Catholic. That translates into about 3 million people.
Do they sense the same commitment from their church and its leadership as evidenced by Archbishop Dearden in 1965? Or do they sometimes feel invisible?
Over the recent Martin Luther King weekend, I attended a local parish. I intentionally scanned the crowd and found not one Black face. The homily did not mention our national observance and the bulletin made no reference to the holiday or to the day of service it engendered.
King’s long-ago observation rang true: The 11 o’clock hour on Sunday is the most segregated in America. But did not we, a church full of Catholics regardless of color, have a deep need to be reminded of the ongoing struggle for justice and the legacy of a great American?
Later, I went online and found that Sunday’s bulletin for Gesu Parish in Detroit, where my friend Jesuit Father Lorn Snow is pastor. His parish, in a neighborhood that used to be mostly Jewish and Irish, is predominantly Black. But that, too, is changing, as young and suburban white Catholics come seeking the parish’s diversity.
In pastoring a Black community, said Father Snow, who is white, “the most important thing is to listen.” Enculturating people’s experience into the liturgy is also important, he said. Gesu’s music ministry incorporates a lively African-American vibe.
Gesu’s bulletin for MLK week contained a full page of events relative to social and racial justice – an archdiocesan Mass at the cathedral, a parish event, an invitation to the National Black Catholic Congress in July. There was a reminder that the Novena of Grace, a nine-day preached event in March which is a tradition in Jesuit parishes, will have racial justice as its theme. If the novena is live-streamed, I plan to attend as a good (hopefully fruitful) Lenten exercise.
But what else can I do for Lent?
One Lenten wake-up call for those who often sit in segregated pews is to read “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King’s stirring admonition to “moderate” whites and to Christian church leaders who often disappointed him.
Written in 1963 while King languished in jail for civil disobedience, the letter still holds relevance and challenge for our church today.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” wrote King. As the church, how do we stand for justice?
(Effie Caldarola writes for the Catholic News Service.)
MEXICO CITY (OSV News) – Nicaragua has released more than 200 political prisoners, including Catholic priests, students, and opponents of the regime, who were taken from detention in deplorable conditions and sent to the United States. Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa was among the political prisoners included on the list for release and exile, but he refused to abandon the country. He was sentenced to 26 years and 4 months in prison on Feb. 10, according to media reports.
Media in the Central American countries reported 222 political prisoners boarded a flight Feb. 9 to the United States, where they would be granted refuge.
Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa, Nicaragua, a frequent critic of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, prays at a Catholic church in Managua May 20, 2022. A Nicaraguan court sentenced Bishop Álvarez to more than 26 years in prison Feb. 10, 2023 for conspiracy and spreading false information. (OSV News photo/Maynor Valenzuela, Reuters)
The New York Times reported the regime of President Daniel Ortega asked for nothing in exchange for the release of political prisoners but cited a Biden administration official saying Nicaragua hoped to improve relations between the two countries.
“The release of these individuals, one of whom is a U.S. citizen, by the Government of Nicaragua marks a constructive step toward addressing human rights abuses in the country and opens the door to further dialogue between the United States and Nicaragua regarding issues of concern,” U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a Feb. 9 statement.
“Today’s development is the product of concerted American diplomacy, and we will continue to support the Nicaraguan people.”
The plane with released prisoners landed in Washington at noon Eastern time.
In a video statement issued early Feb. 9, Nicaraguan judge Octavio Rothschuh ordered the political prisoners “deported” from Nicaragua.
“The deportees were declared traitors to the homeland, perpetually disqualified from exercising public office in the name of Nicaragua and perpetually disqualified from (holding) any elected position. They are in the United States, and, in this manner, we conclude the deportation sentence,” Rothschuh said.
The National Assembly promptly stripped the exiled political prisoners of their Nicaraguan citizenship. The names of the prisoners were not immediately released, but Nicaraguan media and priests in exile said the list included churchmen convicted in sham trials of conspiracy and spreading false information. The list also included opposition candidates disqualified by Ortega prior to elections in 2021 – the results of which U.S. and European officials refused to recognize.
Independent Nicaraguan news organization Confidencial reported that six churchmen and a diocesan communicator, sentenced to 10 years in prison on conspiracy charges by a Nicaraguan court Feb. 6, were on the flight to the United States.
The list includes Fathers Ramiro Tijerino, José Luis Díaz and Sadiel Eugarrios; Deacon Raúl Antonio Vega; seminarians Darvin Leiva and Melkin Centeno; and cameraman Sergio Cárdenas – all from the Diocese of Matagalpa. Another priest, Father Óscar Danilo Benavidez, pastor in the community of Mulukuku, who was arrested Aug. 14 and was sentenced Feb. 5 on similar charges of conspiracy and spreading false information, also was reported to be on the flight.
During a Feb. 9 televised message to the Nicaraguan nation, Ortega said Bishop Álvarez “demanded to speak with bishops, a reunion with the bishops” while in line to board the flight. The bishop turned back after his request was denied. Bishop Álvarez, an unrelenting critic of the regime, was transferred from house arrest, where he has been held since August 2022, to the notorious Modelo prison.
Ortega belittled the bishop, calling him “deranged” and telling a national audience: “He has shown the arrogant behavior of someone who considers himself leader of the church in Nicaragua, the church in Latin America.
“I don’t know what this gentleman thinks,” Ortega said. “In the face of a decision from the Nicaraguan state, he says that he does not abide by it, a resolution from a state power that orders him to leave the country.”
The bishop has previously refused to flee the country, in spite of increasing persecution. It was reported that a court decision could come as soon as Feb. 15 in his trial on charges of conspiracy and spreading false information. However, on Feb. 10, a Nicaraguan judge sentenced Bishop Álvarez to 26 years and 4 months in prison, and stripped him of his citizenship under the charges of treason and “undermining national integrity.”
The release of the political prisoners offered a rare moment of relief for Catholics in Nicaragua, but some consternation as those being expelled were stripped of their citizenship.
Auxiliary Bishop Silvio José Baez tweeted Feb. 9: “It gives me deep joy that Nicaragua’s political prisoners are out of prison. I have thanks to God for them! They never should have been prisoners. By banishing them, Nicaragua’s dictatorship committed another crime, showing that it’s them (the regime) who do not deserve to be Nicaraguans.”
Bishop Baez serves the Archdiocese of Managua in Nicaragua but now lives in exile in Miami. He fled the country in 2019 after facing down death threats for criticizing the country’s totalitarian government.
The Nicaraguan Catholic Church has drawn the ire of the Ortega regime for its providing shelter to protesters after demonstrations erupted in 2018 and subsequently accompanying the families of political prisoners.
Juan Sebastian Chamorro, one of the more than 200 freed political prisoners from Nicaragua, speaks to reporters after arriving in the United States at Dulles International Airport in Virginia Feb. 9, 2023. (OSV News photo/Kevin Lamarque, Reuters)
“The church is important because it is still one of the institutions with the greatest trust among the population,” Tiziano Breda, researcher at the Italian Institute of International Affairs, told OSV News. “(Bishop) Álvarez was one of the voices that was outspoken and … had a capacity to convene people. (His imprisonment) disincentivizes any other voices in the Catholic Church from expressing views or rally people and criticize the government,” he said.
The persecution of Nicaraguan Catholics has caused international consternation and expressions of solidarity from bishops’ conferences from around the world.
“We follow with sadness and concern the situation in Nicaragua, and the persecution to which our church is being subjected,” Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg, president of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), said in a Feb. 6 letter to Bishop Carlos Enrique Herrera Gutiérrez of Jinotega, president of the Nicaraguan bishops’ conference.
“As bishops of COMECE, we are committed to promote freedom, democracy and justice in Nicaragua through our regular dialogue with the representatives of EU institutions,” Cardinal Hollerich added.
Pope Francis has spoken somewhat tepidly on Nicaragua, where the regime expelled the apostolic nuncio, Archbishop Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, in March 2022.
The pope has publicly expressed concern for the situation in Nicaragua and called for dialogue. He told reporters in September, “There is dialogue. That doesn’t mean we approve of everything the government is doing or disapprove of it.”
Breda said the objectives of dialogues involving Nicaraguan officials had diminished from trying to find a solution to the political crisis – including free elections, allowing Ortega to peacefully leave power – “to trying to persuade the government to give the most minimal, humane conditions for political prisoners.” The Catholic Church has previously promoted dialogue in Nicaragua to find a peaceful solution to the protests but broke off talks after the regime showed bad faith. Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, have subsequently branded church leaders “coup mongers” and “terrorists.”
(David Agren writes for OSV News from Mexico City.)
AMMAN, Jordan (OSV News) – A new earthquake struck the border area between Turkey and Syria the night of Feb. 20, sparking fear and anxiety for people already bereft and for those helping them since the Feb. 6 temblor. Six people were reported killed in the new quake.
With a magnitude of 6.4 and centered in the southern Turkish city of Antakya, the new earthquake shook the ground two weeks after a massive quake killed more than 47,000 people and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes.
Catholic aid workers were rushing badly needed humanitarian help to the victims of Turkey and Syria’s deadly earthquakes, but with this latest earthquake to strike, they expressed concern over the lasting impact of loss for those deeply traumatized.
A woman is carried out by rescuers from the site of a collapsed building in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, Feb.7, 2023. A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked areas of Turkey and Syria early Feb. 6, toppling hundreds of buildings and killing thousands. (OSV News photo/Dilara Senkaya, Reuters)
Andrea Avveduto, a psychologist on the ground in northwest Syria and director of communications for Pro Terra Sancta, told OSV News that “everyone is so afraid.”
“It’s a very dramatic situation, especially for children,” Avveduto said of his organization’s work in Aleppo in northwest Syria. “We are sending a group of psychologists specialized in post-traumatic stress to Syria because children are experiencing much trauma.”
“Children don’t want to sleep or go to the bathroom alone and insist that their parents stay close by. They become very afraid when they hear any loud noise and they want to cling to their parents,” Avveduto told OSV News.
He told the story of a 6-year-old Ibrahim, a blind boy, who was very terrified by the impact of the first earthquake. Everything crumbled around him. Sand was in his mouth and dust filled his nose. Ibrahim also tasted blood and then, as he reported, there was silence, followed by the sound of rain.
And yet, Ibrahim “immediately ran to our center, seeking shelter, food and some comfort,” Avveduto said of the boy who managed to escape the devastation.
Besides the more than 47,000 people killed in the Feb. 6 quake, thousands more have been injured. Many say they are terrified at night, unable to sleep and fearful.
Pro Terra Sancta, based in Jerusalem, Rome and Milan, supports the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. Since the start of the war in 2011, it has aided Franciscan fathers in Syria by opening four emergency centers in Damascus, Latakia, Aleppo, Knayeh and Yacoubieh, the latter places are found in northwest Syria.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have any information from the Franciscan friars in the villages of Knayeh and Yacoubieh. The communication lines are very bad, and we’ve had great difficulty trying to contact them,” Avveduto explained. Adding to the woes of these predominantly Christian villages has been the presence of Islamist militants who are in control there.
Avveduto also expressed concern for villagers in Tulul and some other areas in the northwest facing a double disaster, as some villages have been deluged with water by the collapse of local levees due to the aftershocks.
“We know there is also a huge problem due to flooding. We think there are people under the destroyed buildings that have drowned,” Avveduto said.
“Meanwhile, we are looking for people still trapped underneath the collapsed buildings in Aleppo. Our emergency center provides food, blankets and medicines, and the needs are growing. We have more than 4,000 people daily coming for hot meals in Aleppo and … Latakia,” he said of those displaced.
Some 2,500 are sheltering in the Terra Sancta College in Aleppo. First aid kits, blankets and clothes are being distributed.
Italian Cardinal Mario Zenari, apostolic nuncio in Syria, warned that “the worst thing that could happen to Syria … is to be forgotten.”
Cardinal Zenari underscored the dire circumstances Syrians face saying that already “there are more than 13 million Syrians who have been affected by the war and require humanitarian assistance.” The cardinal shared his remarks with AVSI, an international humanitarian organization.
Cardinal Zenari has supported AVSI’s Open Hospitals, an initiative to address Syria’s health crisis by providing medical care for those living in poverty and aiding three nonprofit hospitals in Syria. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Catholic Health Association and private individuals provide financial support.
An earthquake survivor holding a child sits by a collapsed building in Hatay, Turkey, Feb. 10, 2023. The powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked areas of Turkey and Syria early Feb. 6, toppling hundreds of buildings and killing thousands. (OSV News photo/Umit Bektas, Reuters)
AVSI has treated the injured, and provided warm meals and clothing, shoes and blankets to families in shelters and camps set up after the earthquake.
These organizations along with the U.S.-based Salesian Missions have set up disaster relief funds to aid quake survivors and are requesting financial support.
“Some families took refuge in our house in Aleppo. They arrived with only the clothes they had on. Their homes are not in good condition because of the war, and they feel safer with us,” explained Father Alejandro León, superior of the Salesian Province of the Middle East, from Kafroun, near Homs and the Lebanese border.
The Salesians said in a statement that they are aiding the displaced as much as possible despite severe shortages of electricity and fuel affecting Syria. “The population is really having a difficult time,” said Salesian Father Pier Jabloyan, provincial delegate for social communication.
Internally displaced Syrians who had escaped to the rebel-held areas of northwest Syria during the 12-year conflict have criticized the slow international response to bringing rescue equipment as well as medical and other relief aid to the region. Medical facilities are reported to be close to collapse there. Now, more than 140 trucks loaded with supplies from six United Nations agencies have crossed into northwest Syria, mainly through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, but also through two other crossing points, which were previously closed.
Miracle rescues have taken place mainly in Turkey, where the enormous death toll has made it the worst disaster in modern Turkish history. Many people in both Syria and Turkey remain unaccounted for.
Meanwhile, several thousand Syrian refugees sheltering in Turkey have returned home to Syria’s conflict zone to check on relatives after the earthquakes. Turkish authorities are allowing them to spend up to six months in the rebel-held northwest without losing the opportunity to return to Turkey.
Aid groups say that survivors will need months of humanitarian aid, medical and psychological support to help rebuild their lives.
By Pablo Kay and Tom Hoffarth LOS ANGELES (OSV News) – A 61-year-old Hispanic man was taken into custody the morning of Feb. 20 by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies as the prime suspect in the murder of Auxiliary Bishop David G. O’Connell of Los Angeles. LA County Sheriff Robert G. Luna announced at a news conference Monday afternoon local time at the Los Angeles County Hall of Justice in downtown LA that citizen tips led to the 8:15 a.m. arrest of Carlos Medina, the husband of a housekeeper who had worked at Bishop O’Connell’s home in Hacienda Heights, after an all-night search.
Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David G. O’Connell is pictured speaking with parishioners outside St. Frances X. Cabrini Church in Los Angeles July 19, 2015. According to local news reports, Los Angeles County sheriffs found him dead of a gunshot wound at his home Feb. 18, 2023, and his death has been ruled a homicide. An investigation was under way for a suspect and motive. A native of Ireland, he spent most of his four decades as a priest ministering in the inner city of Los Angeles. He was 69. Editors: This cutline has been updated to reflect new details about the bishop’s death. (OSV News photo/CNS file, John Rueda, The Tidings)
Bishop O’Connell, a native of Ireland who spent most of his 43 years as a priest serving in LA’s inner city, was found dead in his home on the afternoon of Feb. 18. The next day, the LA Sheriff’s department announced that Bishop O’Connell’s death was being investigated as a homicide. Luna established a timeline based on the work of detectives that indicated that at 7 p.m. Feb. 19 a tip was received linking Medina to the murder. “They were concerned he was acting strange (and) irrational, and made comments about the bishop owing him money,” Luna said of the tip from the informant. The tipster also said Medina had left his residence in Torrance and was headed for the Central California area.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna comforts Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez while he speaks during a Feb. 20, 2023, news conference after the arrest of 65-year-old Carlos Medina, the suspect in the murder of Auxiliary Bishop David G. O’Connell. Bishop O’Connell was found dead of a single gunshot wound Feb. 18 at his home in Hacienda Heights, a neighborhood east of Los Angeles. (OSV News photo/Victor Alemán, Angelus News)
After obtaining an arrest warrant, police began a search of Medina’s home. Another tip at 2 a.m. Feb. 20 indicated that Medina had returned home, and LA Sheriff’s Carson Station deputies were dispatched to the scene. Medina refused to come out of his residence when asked to surrender, Luna said. The original search warrant was amended so Medina’s house could again be searched. A tactical team dispatched again called for Medina’s surrender, and he was then taken into custody around 8:15 a.m. without further incident. Luna said two firearms were recovered and are being tested to see if they were used in the murder. In an emotional press conference, Luna said “my heart grieves” for the death of Bishop O’Connell, based on all the calls of support he received in the investigation over the last 48 hours. “This man, this bishop, made a huge difference in our community,” said Luna. “He was loved. It is very sad that we are gathered here today about this murder.” Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, one of the speakers at the press conference, stopped several times during his remarks to collect himself. At one point, Luna put his arm around his shoulder to comfort him. “On behalf of our entire community, I want to share thanks for your professionalism and sensitivity,” Archbishop Gomez said of the investigation. “It is a sad and painful moment for all of us. Let us keep praying for Bishop Dave and his family, just as he prayed for law enforcement officials.” Archbishop Gomez Feb. 19 called on Catholics to pray for the late bishop and those investigating his death. “We continue to pray for Bishop Dave, and for his family in Ireland, and we pray for law enforcement officials as they continue their investigation into this terrible crime,” he said at a Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels that morning. Sheriff Luna confirmed a deacon who worked with Bishop O’Connell was the first to find him in his home. The deacon went to check on the bishop after he didn’t show up to a meeting that morning, then dialed 911. Bishop O’Connell was found in his bed with at least one gunshot wound. No firearm was recovered at the home, nor was there a sign of forced entry, Luna said. After interviewing neighbors, Luna said surveillance video showed a vehicle had pulled into Bishop O’Connell’s driveway – a dark-colored compact SUV – which was later linked to the car his housekeeper had used. Luna emphasized their investigation has not confirmed anything about a financial dispute between Medina and Bishop O’Connell, only that that information came from a witness. “Our investigation continues … to get a better picture of what happened here,” said Luna. “The detectives will go out and validate.” Luna added that not all information from the investigation will be revealed yet, as “keeping the integrity of the investigation is a priority,” he said. “The next step is to present all of the evidence and try to get a criminal prosecution (filed against) Medina.” Bishop O’Connell was originally from Brooklodge, Glanmire, in County Cork, the largest county in Ireland. He studied for the priesthood at the former All Hallows College in Dublin and was ordained to serve in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 1979. Bishop O’Connell was named an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles by Pope Francis in July 2015. Since then, he had served as episcopal vicar for the San Gabriel Pastoral Region, one of the LA archdiocese’s five regions. During his time as auxiliary bishop in Los Angeles, evangelization, pastoral care for immigrants, and ensuring the future of his region’s Catholic schools were all top priorities for Bishop O’Connell, who believed that “parishes and schools are powerful instruments of transformation of people’s lives and of neighborhoods.” Before being named a bishop, he was well-known for his pastoral work in south LA – where he served as pastor of four different parishes – in the years before and after the 1992 Rodney King riots. He played a key role, along with other local faith leaders, in bringing together communities already suffering from gang violence, poverty and drugs, while working to restore trust between community members and law enforcement.
(Pablo Kay is editor of Angelus News, a publication of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Tom Hoffarth also writes for Angelus News.)
NATION GROSSE POINTE FARMS, Mich. (OSV NEWS) – Tears were shed, words of consolation were shared, and memories were cherished the evening of Feb. 14 during two emotional prayer vigils to honor the memory of three Michigan State University students whose lives were cut short during a shooting on the East Lansing campus one night earlier. Two of the students, Brian Fraser and Alexandria Verner, belonged to Catholic parishes in Metro Detroit, while the third, Arielle Anderson, was a much-loved graduate of Grosse Pointe North High School. Father Jim Bilot led hundreds of mourners at St. Paul on the Lake Parish in Grosse Pointe Farms in a prayer vigil that featured a picture of Fraser, 20, a Michigan State sophomore and 2017 graduate of the parish school, surrounded by candles in the sanctuary. “We come to pray, and that is the most important and most powerful thing that we could do at this time,” Father Bilot said. Deacon Christopher Stark led a livestreamed rosary from the parish, while a candlelight vigil took place at Clawson City Park, attended by community members, teachers, students and staff from Clawson High School, where Verner graduated in 2020.
PHILADELPHIA (OSV News) – An unexploded pipe bomb found Feb. 19 near railroad tracks behind St. Dominic Catholic Church in Philadelphia was likely not meant to target the parish, pastor Father Edward T. Kearns told OSV News. “I don’t think it was in connection to us,” said Father Edward T. Kearns, pastor of St. Dominic parish in. “It was behind us, not on our property, (but) on the other side of the railroad tracks … 100 yards from my church.” The pipe bomb posed a potential threat to the Philadelphia freight line at a time when the U.S. is still grappling with the catastrophic impact of a Feb. 3 freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. At the same time, Father Kearns said he plans to meet with staff about increasing security at the church. “I don’t think (anyone) is out to get us,” Father Kearns told OSV News. “But you never know these days. There’s so much anger in the world.”
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – During Black History Month in February, Catholics are being invited to register to attend this summer’s National Black Catholic Congress, which over the years has made history of its own. The National Black Catholic Congress XIII will be held July 20-23 at the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, Maryland, just outside the District of Columbia. It marks the third time the Washington area has hosted the gathering, and each of those times, key participants included noted figures in U.S. Catholic history. Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory – the archbishop of Washington who was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis in 2020, becoming the first African American cardinal in history – will give the opening keynote speech and celebrate the opening Mass. Early registration for the National Black Catholic Congress XIII ends Feb. 28 and regular registration ends July 15,. For more information, including a schedule of events, and to register, go online to nbccgathering2023.org.
VATICAN VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Tradition is a source of inspiration for seeking out new paths to take with Jesus and for avoiding the traps of stagnation or impromptu experimentation, Pope Francis said. “Jesus is himself the way, and therefore, both in the liturgical journey (of Lent) and in the journey of the synod, the church does nothing other than enter ever more deeply and fully into the mystery of Christ the savior,” the pope said in his message for Lent, which begins Feb. 22 for Latin-rite Catholics. Released by the Vatican Feb. 17, the text of the pope’s message focused on seeing Lenten penance and the synodal experience both as arduous journeys that lead to the wondrous experience of Christ’s divine light and splendor. “To deepen our knowledge of the Master, to fully understand and embrace the mystery of his salvation, accomplished in total self-giving inspired by love, we must allow ourselves to be taken aside by him and to detach ourselves from mediocrity and vanity,” the pope said. “We need to set out on the journey, an uphill path that, like a mountain trek, requires effort, sacrifice and concentration,” he said. “These requisites are also important for the synodal journey which, as a church, we are committed to making.” “During any strenuous mountain trek, we must keep our eyes firmly fixed on the path; yet the panorama that opens up at the end amazes us and rewards us by its grandeur,” Pope Francis wrote. The text of the pope’s message in English is online at https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/lent/documents/20230125-messaggio-quaresima.html.
WORLD DAVID, Panama (OSV News) – Pope Francis has expressed sorrow for the victims of a bus crash in Panama, which claimed the lives of 39 migrants transiting the Central American country. In a Feb. 16 telegram to Cardinal José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuán of David, Panama – whose diocese includes the site of the crash – Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said: “The Holy Father has received with deep sadness the news of the bus accident … in which several migrants have lost their lives and others were injured.” The tragedy occurred in the early morning hours of Feb. 15 in the western Panama province of Chiriquí. Panama’s immigration director Samira Gozaine told reporters the bus had entered a camp for migrants and the driver was turning the vehicle around when it slid down an embankment. The driver was among the victims, Gozaine said. The deaths were a tragic reminder of the perils faced by migrants traveling through Central America and Mexico on their journey toward the U.S. border.
JACKSON – Rev. Liam Pentony, PE entered eternal life on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023 at Silver Stream Nursing Home in Duleek, Co. Meath, Ireland. Father Pentony was 94 years old and celebrated 67 years in priestly life.
Born on Nov. 25, 1928 in Brittas, Dunleer Co. Louth, Ireland, Father Pentony enrolled at St. Mary’s School in Knockbeg and then St. Patrick’s College in Carlow. He was ordained for the Diocese of Jackson (nee Natchez) after completing his seminary studies on June 5, 1955.
Arriving in the diocese on Oct. 5, 1955, when the Diocese of Jackson was known as the Diocese of Natchez, Father Pentony was assigned to St. Paul’s Church in Vicksburg by Bishop R.O. Gerow. In 1958, he served as an assistant in Clarksdale at St. Elizabeth parish.
Moving south, Father Pentony was assigned as pastor of St. Joseph parish in Woodville on July 1, 1964. After spending three years in Woodville, Father Pentony was then assigned as pastor of St. Peter parish in Grenada in 1967 by Bishop Joseph Brunini.
In 1969, he was assigned as pastor of St. Therese parish in Jackson for six months before his assignment at St. Joseph parish in Moss Point on July, 1, 1969, only a month and a half before Hurricane Camille struck causing immense damage to the coastal region of the state.
After three and a half years in Moss Point, Father Pentony was assigned as pastor of Immaculate Conception parish in Laurel on Jan. 15, 1973. While in Laurel, the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson was divided, with the southern counties being reorganized as the Diocese of Biloxi in March of 1977.
After serving in Laurel, in 1981 Father Pentony was assigned to Sacred Heart parish in Hattiesburg, serving until he was moved from the Diocese of Biloxi to the Diocese of Jackson in 1982.
Father Pentony was then appointed administrator for St. James parish in Tupelo on Jan. 14, 1983 and then incardinated and appointed as pastor in September of 1984 by Bishop William Houck.
From Tupelo, Father Pentony was assigned as pastor of St. Francis parish in Brookhaven for a period of nine years before retiring from the Diocese of Jackson and moving to Ireland in 2001, where he served in the parish of Darver and Dromiskin for another sixteen years.
Father Pentony was a much loved brother to Clare, Seamus, Tom, Sile and Lily. He will be sadly missed by his brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends.
A wake service was held at McGeough’s Funeral Home Jocelyn Street, Dundalk (A91WX66) on Saturday, Feb. 11.
A Funeral Mass was held on Sunday, Feb. 12 at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Tenure. Father Pentony is buried in Monasterboice Cemetery.
The Mass can be viewed online at https://www.churchservices.tv/monasterboice.
La CROSSE, Wis. – Sister Dorothy Ann Kundinger, Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration, 81, died on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2023, at Hospice Ministries in Ridgeland, Mississippi, where she had been chaplain for many years. She was in her sixty-second year of religious profession. She made first profession of vows on Aug. 12, 1961.
Dorothy Agnes was born on Oct. 8, 1941 in Auburndale, Wisconsin to Joseph and Martha (Bayerl) Kundinger.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts in History with a minor in English from Viterbo College (University) and an MS in Education from Xavier University, Cincinnati.
The first 26 years of her ministry were spent as a middle grade and junior high teacher. She taught in Wisconsin at Platteville (1962-65), Blessed Sacrament School in La Crosse (1966-70 and 1977-79) and Dodgeville (1973-77) also serving as principal.
In 1979, Sister Dorothy Ann moved to Holy Child Jesus School in Canton, Mississippi where she taught junior high for 10 years. During her time in Canton, Sister Dorothy Ann became a companion to Sister Thea Bowman, an FSPA who gained prominence as a teacher, musician and civil rights activist to the African American community. She traveled across the country with Sister Thea, until Sister Thea eventually succumbed to cancer in 1990.
After Sister Thea’s death, Sister Dorothy Ann remained in Canton as a volunteer hospice worker, ministering to people with HIV/AIDS. In 1993, she moved to Jackson, Mississippi where she served as chaplain and hospice worker, providing care for people with HIV/AIDS at Grace House.
Sister Dorothy Ann is survived by her religious community, her brother Thomas (Diana), Marshfield, Wis., her sisters Patricia Kust, Bellingham, Washington, Kathleen Kundinger, San Jose, California, Elizabeth Hocking, Washington, D.C., her sister-in-law Dolores Kundinger, Marshfield, Wisconsin and nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents and her brother James.
There was a wake service for Sister Dorothy Ann on Monday, Feb. 20 at Mary of the Angels Chapel in La Crosse. A Mass of Christian Burial was held at Mary of the Angels Chapel on Tuesday, Feb. 21. Sister Dorothy Ann is buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, La Crosse.
Memorials may be sent to Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, 912 Market Street, La Crosse, WI 54601-4782.
Catholics from the Jackson Metro area gathered to receive ashes at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in downtown Jackson at noon on Ash Wednesday, February 22 for the beginning of the Lenten season. During the 40-day period of Lent, Catholics seek the Lord through prayer, giving alms and fasting. (Photos by Tereza Ma)
JACKSON – Bishop Joseph Kopacz congratulates new Habitat for Humanity homeowner, Mrs. Brown. Brown and her children were the beneficiaries of the Catholic Build home on Prentiss Street this year. She was very excited and thankful for all of the help from parishes in the Jackson area on her new home. (Photos by Tereza Ma)
