National Eucharistic Pilgrimage to include shrines, secular landmarks, diocesan events

By Maria Wiering
(OSV News) – On May 18-19, groups of eight young adults will leave San Francisco; New Haven, Connecticut; San Juan, Texas; and Itasca State Park in Minnesota.

For eight weeks they’ll travel, mostly on foot, along four routes through major U.S. cities, small towns and countryside toward Indianapolis, where they’re expected to arrive July 16, the day before the opening of the National Eucharistic Congress.

Together, they’ll cover more than 6,500 miles over 27 states and 65 dioceses. With them every step of the way will be the Eucharist, held in a specially designed monstrance, or reserved in a support vehicle’s tabernacle.

This is an updated map showing the four routes of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage to the National Eucharistic Congress in 2024. Pilgrims traveling in “Eucharistic caravans” on all four routes will begin their journeys with Pentecost weekend celebrations May 17-18, 2024, leaving May 19. They will all converge on Indianapolis July 16, 2024, the day before the five-day Congress opens. (OSV News illustration/courtesy National Eucharistic Congress)

The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage is a major prelude to the National Eucharistic Congress, which expects to bring together tens of thousands of Catholics July 17-21 in Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium for worship, speakers and Eucharist-centered events. The pilgrimage and the congress are part of the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative of the U.S. Catholic bishops that began in 2022 with the aim of deepening Catholics’ love for the Eucharist.

“A cross-country pilgrimage of this scale has never been attempted before,” said Tim Glemkowski, CEO of the Denver-based National Eucharistic Congress, Inc., in a Feb. 22 media release announcing updated routes and related events. “It will be a tremendously powerful action of witness and intercession as it interacts with local parish communities at stops all along the way.”

The pilgrimage’s four groups of Perpetual Pilgrims are young adults ages 19-29 selected in an application process to travel the full length of each route. Their names will be announced March 11.

People who wish to travel as a “day pilgrim” or attend a pilgrimage-related event along the routes may register online at www.eucharisticpilgrimage.org. Day pilgrims must make their own arrangements for meals, transportation and lodging, as needed.

Each route passes religious and secular landmarks, including Folsom State Prison in California, Ellis Island in New York, the campuses of the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and Benedictine College in Kansas, and the shrines of Our Lady of Champion in Wisconsin, the Most Blessed Sacrament in Alabama, and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Maryland.

Dioceses that the routes cross through have planned special events to welcome the pilgrims. Detailed event information for these events and each of the routes – the St. Junipero Serra Route from the West, St. Juan Diego Route from the South, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Route from the East and Marian Route from the North – will be posted at www.eucharisticpilgrimage.org.

Pilgrimage events will include Masses, Eucharistic adoration and prayer, as well as service projects. All public events are free.

Supporting the Perpetual Pilgrims spiritually will be a “rotating cadre” of 30 Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. Father Roger Landry of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, plans to accompany the Seton Route pilgrims for the entire route.

“Following Jesus and praying through cities and rural towns is going to be life changing for the church across America,” Glemkowski said. “I personally cannot wait to participate in this pilgrimage!”

(Maria Wiering is senior writer for OSV News.)

NOTES: For details on the Southern route of the Eucharistic Pilgrimage traveling through the Diocese of Biloxi, visit https://biloxidiocese.org/eucharist.

To learn more about the National Eucharistic Revival, Congress and Pilgrimage visit: https://www.eucharisticcongress.org. Scholarships are available to the National Eucharistic Congress, visit https://www.eucharisticcongress.org/solidarity-fund for more information.

Still sick, pope has aide read his audience talk on envy and pride

By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Arriving in a wheelchair instead of walking with his cane, Pope Francis began his weekly general audience by telling visitors and pilgrims, “I’m still a bit sick,” so an aide would read his prepared text.

The pope had canceled his appointments Feb. 24 and Feb. 26 because of what the Vatican press office described as “mild flu-symptoms,” but Pope Francis led the recitation of the Angelus prayer Feb. 25 without obvious difficulty.

At his general audience Feb. 28, his voice was hoarser and softer. Besides briefly telling the crowd he would not be reading his prepared text, he took the microphone only to pray at the beginning and end of the gathering and to read his appeals for peace and for an end to the use of landmines.

The Italian news agency ANSA reported that Pope Francis went from the audience to Rome’s Gemelli Isola Hospital for a checkup before returning to the Vatican. In late November when he was suffering similar symptoms, he had gone to that hospital for a CT scan of his lungs.

The Vatican press office later said the pope had gone to the hospital for “diagnostic tests.” It provided no other information.

Pope Francis gathers with a group of religious sisters for a group photo at the end of his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican Feb. 28, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Pope Francis’ main audience talk focused on envy and vainglory, or exaggerated pride, as part of his continuing series of audience talks about vices and virtues.

Envy and vainglory “go hand in hand,” the pope wrote. “Together these two vices are characteristic of a person who aspires to be the center of the world, free to exploit everything and everyone, the object of all praise and love.”

Reading the Book of Genesis, envy appears to be “one of the oldest vices: Cain’s hatred of Abel is unleashed when he realizes that his brother’s sacrifices are pleasing to God,” he wrote.

“The face of the envious man is always sad: he’s always looking down, he seems to be continually investigating the ground; but in reality, he sees nothing, because his mind is wrapped up in thoughts full of wickedness,” he said. “Envy, if unchecked, leads to hatred of the other. Abel would be killed at the hands of Cain, who could not bear his brother’s happiness.”

The root of the vice and sin of envy, he said, “is a false idea of God: we do not accept that God has His own ‘math.’”

As an example, Pope Francis cited the parable from Matthew 20:1-16 about workers hired at different times of the day to work in a vineyard, but the owner pays them all the same.

When those who worked longest protest, the owner says, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?”

“We would like to impose our own selfish logic on God; instead, the logic of God is love,” the pope’s text said. “The good things he gives us are meant to be shared. This is why St. Paul exhorts Christians, ‘Love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor’ (Rom. 12:10). Here is the remedy for envy!”

Pope Francis described vainglory as “an inflated and baseless self-esteem,” which leads to having no empathy and to seeing others only as objects to be used.

The vainglorious person “is a perpetual beggar for attention,” the pope wrote, and when recognition is not given, “he becomes fiercely angry.”

Usually, he said, the remedy for such pride comes automatically when people offer criticism rather than praise.

Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before disaster, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

A wise person recognizes, as St. Paul did, that freedom comes from recognizing one’s weaknesses and failures, relying only on God for strength, Pope Francis’ text said.

After the bloom has left the rose

IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
What is our deepest center? Normally, we take that to mean the deepest part of our heart, the deepest part of our soul, our affective center, our moral center, that place inside of us which Thomas Merton called le pointe vierge. And that is a good way of imagining it. But there’s another.

The classical mystic, John of the Cross saw things differently. For him, the deepest center of anything is the furthest point attainable by that object’s being and power and force of operation and movement. What does he mean by that? In essence, this is what he is saying: The deepest center of anything, be it a flower or a human being, is the furthest point to which can grow before it dies.

Take a flower for example: It begins as a seed, then grows into a tiny bud that sprouts into a young plant. That plant eventually bursts forth in a beautiful bloom. That bloom lasts for a while, and then begins to dry out and wither. Eventually, what was once the substance of a beautiful bloom turns into seeds, and then in its very act of dying, the flower gives off those seeds to leave new life behind.

Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI

Thus, for John of the Cross, the deepest center for a flower is not its moment of spectacular beauty, its bloom, but its last moment when its bloom has turned to seed, and it is able to give off that seed in its very act of dying.

There’s a lesson in which goes against how we commonly assess things. When are we the most generative potentially? When do we have the greatest capacity to use our lives to give off the seeds for new life? What is our deepest center of growth?

Normally, of course, we think of the deepest center as the bloom, namely, that period or moment in our lives when a combination of good health, physical attractiveness, talent, achievement, and influence make us someone who is admired and perhaps envied. This is the time in our lives when we look our best and, as they say, are at the peak of our game. This is our bloom! The best we will ever look!

John of the Cross wouldn’t denigrate that moment in our lives. Indeed, he would challenge us to be in that moment, to enjoy it, be grateful to God for it, and to try to use the advantages and privileges that come with that to help others. But, he wouldn’t say this is the peak moment of our generativity, that this is the moment or period of our lives when we are giving off the most seeds for new life. No, like a flower that gives off its seeds in its very act of dying, we too are potentially most generative after the bloom has given way to the grey of age and our achievements have given way to a different kind of fruitfulness.

Imagine a young woman who is beautiful and talented, and becomes a famous movie actor. At the height of her career, she is in full bloom and is given the gaze of admiration. Indeed, she is adulated. Moreover, in her life outside of the movies she may be a generous person, a wonderful wife, a dedicated mother, and a trusted friend. However, that bloom is not her furthest point of growth, her deepest center, that time in her life when she is giving off the most vis-a-vis generating new life. Instead, when she is an aged grandmother, struggling with health issues, her physical looks diminished, facing the prospect of assisted living and imminent death that, potentially, like the flower whose bloom has dried and turned to seed, she can give her life away in a manner that helps create new life in a way she couldn’t do when she was young, attractive, admired, envied and in full bloom.

A similar case might be made for a star male athlete. At the height of his career, winning a championship, becoming a household name, his envied youthful athletic image seen everywhere in ads and on billboards, he is in full bloom; but at that time, he is not optimally generative in terms of his life giving off seeds to bring about new life. That can happen later, in his old age, when his achievements no longer define him, and he, like everyone else, with his hair greying, is facing physical diminishment, marginalization and imminent death. It is then, after the bloom has left the rose, that in his dying he can give off seeds to create new life.

We tend to identify a spectacular bloom with powerful generativity. Fair enough, that bloom has its own importance, legitimate purpose and value. Indeed, one of our challenges is to give that bloom the gaze of admiration without envy. Not easy to do, and something we often don’t do well. The bigger challenge however is to learn what we ourselves are called to do after the bloom has left the rose.

(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser is a theologian, teacher and award-winning author. He can be contacted through his website www.ronrolheiser.com.)

Called by Name

I was blessed to spend the first weekend of March with the youth of the diocese at DCYC in Vicksburg. I know that this is being covered in another part of this issue, but I wanted to share my perspective! Each year I am blown away by the excellence of the event which our diocesan youth office puts on under the leadership of Abbey Schuhmann. The speaker and the musicians were full of faith and energy and inspired the kids, and myself.

Our seminarians help in various ways for the youth convention each year, and this year we noted that it felt like we were all a ‘well-oiled machine.’ I was really proud of Deacon Tristan Stovall and Grayson Foley as they were the masters of ceremony at the event; and Will Foggo, as he organized all the liturgies for the weekend. Our newer seminarians got their feet wet at the event supporting the organizing efforts of the other guys and walking with the youth and getting to know them.

VICKSBURG – Parish teams engaged in team building to construct the tallest tower to see which group will be first in line for dinner at DCYC. (Photo courtesy Lauren Roberts)

But it wasn’t just our seminarians providing support – I’m just in charge of them! It was really encouraging to see the network of young people in the church bringing along the younger generation and walking with them. Amelia Rizor helped coordinate a team of college students from her campus ministry team to walk with the kids and organize events. There were fantastic chaperones and youth ministers who continue to help our young people grow in their faith and inspire them to share the Gospel.

I came away from the weekend encouraged by the teamwork and dynamic leadership that our church has, especially in the young people who are at these events and on fire for the Lord. I have known many of our seminarians since they were in high school – they’ve been formed by our schools and our parish catechesis programs and our pastors and youth leaders, and they are sharing those gifts. I’ve also known many of our young youth leaders since they were in high school, and they are sharing their gifts as well.

This is the sort of teamwork that shows that we are members of One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I’d like to thank Abbey and her team for letting my department play a role at diocesan youth convention, and I look forward to seeing it continue to grow and bring forth great leaders in the church for years to come.

Father Nick Adam, vocation director

(Father Nick Adam can be contacted at nick.adam@jacksondiocese.org.)

“How’s Momma?”

Kneading Faith
By Fran Lavelle

”For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Church leadership hears the same often bleak news about the state of religion in our country. According to the most recent PEW Research study, 28 percent of adults in the United States are religiously unaffiliated. The religiously unaffiliated are also known as nones.

The decline in membership is being felt across the spectrum of Christian denominations. The questions this reality begs are many but chief among them is simply – why? Why are folks leaving organized religion? According to the PEW study:

The reason “nones” give most often for not having a religion is that they question religious teachings: 60% say doubt about these teachings is an extremely or very important reason why they are nonreligious. In addition, 32% cite a lack of belief in God or any other higher power. Altogether, 67% cite skepticism or nonbelief (or some combination of both) as a key factor in why they are nonreligious.

Meanwhile, 47% of “nones” say their dislike of religious organizations is an extremely or very important reason they are nonreligious. And 30% cite bad experiences with religious people. Altogether, 55% of “nones” mention religious organizations or religious people (or both) as key reasons for being nonreligious.


About four-in-ten “nones” attribute their lack of religiousness to not having a need for religion in their lives. And 12% say they don’t have time for religion. Altogether, 44% cite a lack of need or a lack of time (or both) as reasons for why they are not religious.


I have been working on the Pastoral Reimagining process for the diocese for the last year. Enveloped in this process is a desire to dream. It is important to dream but it is equally important to anchor our dreams in reality. This process for me has done both. The question posed by many of our parishes and missions is how do we reach out to the “nones” that once identified as Catholic? What are the areas of church life that need to be examined and reimagined?

Fran Lavelle

The diocesan process for the Synod on Synodality identified unity and healing as the greatest need in our parishes. I refer to it as finding our way back to one another. Like any relationship some people have moved on feeling like they no longer need the church. Other folks have told me that they “took a break” for going to Mass and didn’t really miss anything. The challenge in all of this is not be defensive and assign blame on those who no longer worship with us. The difficult thing to do is look at who we are as a community and ask how we can be more welcoming and inviting. This is not to say that there needs to be a cheesy welcome to visitors like it’s their first time on a cruise ship, but a reinforcement of everything we do from the time people arrive in the parking lot until the time they get in their cars to leave they have been surrounded by the love of Christ manifested in how they were treated when they were with us.

We have a tendency to dismiss the missing. Statements like, “if they only believed this” or “if they were more that” diminish our responsibility to understanding why people leave in the first place. Many of those who have left said that once they were gone no one called or wrote to see how they were doing. One of my former college students told me after she left college and moved to a large city, “no one noticed when I was there, and no one noticed when I was gone.”

Catholics are creatures of habit. Most families sit within a two-pew area every week. The other members of this noted pew seating chart know when someone is not there. How can we respectfully reach out without seeming nosey? One of my friends at St. Joseph in Starkville lets me know when she is out of town, so my Mom doesn’t worry about her. Likewise, when Mom is not at Mass several church members “drop by the pew” on the way out and ask, “How’s Momma?”

It not only makes me realize how much they care about her, but it also makes me realize how easy it is to make the effort to let people know that their presence matters.

As Lent continues and Holy week approaches, who do we need to ask, ‘How’s Momma?”

(Fran Lavelle is the Director of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Jackson.)

This Lent, say sorry – and mean it

GUEST COLUMN
By Dr. Greg Popcak

Lent is a time of reparation – a season of sorrow for sins committed and expressions of a sincere desire to reform our lives. But what does it mean to be sorry? What are the components of real remorse?

Whether we are expressing sorrow to God, a spouse, family member or friend, it can be hard to say, “I’m sorry.” It can be even harder to say it well. Sometimes, when people say that they are sorry to us, we can feel like there is something missing. Often, it’s because there is. But what?

As we express our sorrow to God this Lent for the ways that our lives do not reflect his plan for us, it can be important to make sure our “I’m sorrys” have all the components of sincere remorse. Researchers note that good apologies involve three ingredients: empathy, restitution and objective criteria.

When people offer a sincere apology rooted not in obligation but genuine remorse, they tend to express a real emotional understanding of how their actions hurt us. “I am so sorry for doing that. I never meant to treat you that way. I know how badly you were hurt. Please forgive me.”

The truly remorseful person doesn’t make excuses or tell the person they hurt that they were “just kidding,” or that the wounded party needs to get a thicker skin or a better sense of humor. They understand the impact of their actions and they let you know that they feel your pain.

When we express our sorrow to God this Lent, are we going through the motions of repentance, or are we allowing ourselves to express genuine sorrow for the pain God feels when we reject his attempts to love us and make us whole?

When people offer a sincere apology, they don’t just “say the magic words.” They offer a plan for making things right again. Or, if they don’t know what to do to make it right, they ask you what you need them to do to heal the hurt their actions caused. They say things like, “The next time I feel that angry about something, I’m going to do this instead of that,” or, “I really want to make this right. What can I do to earn your trust again?”

Restitution isn’t about asking people to jump through hoops for the sake of watching them dance. It is about committing to the process of reconciliation – healing the wounds our actions caused.

When we confess our sins this Lent, have we put some time into how we would handle similar problem situations differently in the future? Hearing the words “I absolve you” is just the beginning. How will we let the grace of that absolution compel us to heal the wounds our actions have caused those we love, and how can we make sure to avoid those problem behaviors the next time we are tempted to go down a similar path?

Truly sorrowful people don’t hide out behind the belief that “the real problem” is that others are expecting too much of them. If we are truly sorry, we recognize that the person we hurt had an objective right to expect more from us.

How often do others apologize to us in ways that make us feel strangely ashamed for daring to expect them to be faithful, trustworthy or respectful? How often do the apologies others offer sound like, “I’m sorry, but don’t you think you’re being a little controlling/sensitive/judgmental/ needy/demanding/unfair?”

The person offering a sincere apology acknowledges that anyone in a similar situation would be reasonable to expect what you are asking of them. “You’re absolutely right to expect more of me. I’m really sorry I let you down.”

In our relationship with God, how often do we think that the real problem is that he is just asking for entirely too much. Sure, we’re sorry for what we did, but the real problem is that he expects us to be saints. Saints, I tell you! Can you believe it?!? How ridiculous is that?!?

As we conclude Lent, will we continue to pay lip service to the idea that God wants great things for us, or will we embrace the fact that every day he is calling us into deeper union with him and greater perfection in his grace?

Whether we are expressing remorse to God or others, being sorry isn’t, ultimately, about making ourselves seem pitiful enough or appearing pathetic enough to make the other person feel bad and let us off the hook.

Apologizing is about picking up our cross and embracing the hard work that comes with changing our behavior – not so that we can jump through some spiritual hoop but so that we can participate more effectively in the healing process that allows us to achieve our ultimate destiny: loving union with God.

(Dr. Greg Popcak is an author and the director of www.CatholicCounselors.com.)

Pope praises those assisting victims, clearing anti-personnel minefields

By Carol Glatz , Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Anti-personnel mines are “devious” weapons that continue to kill innocent civilians and children long after a conflict has ended, Pope Francis said.

“I thank all those who offer their help to assist victims and clean up contaminated areas,” he said at the end of his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall Feb. 28.

“Their work is a concrete response to the universal call to be peacemakers, taking care of our brothers and sisters,” he said.

A graphic, entitled “The Persistent Scourge of Landmines,” shows the global number of mine/explosive remnants of war casualties per year. Copyrighted work created by Statista available under Creative Commons attribution only license CC by 4.0 (CNS photo/Statista, CC by 4.0)

The pope, who was still dealing with a cold, read aloud his remarks about landmines after having aides read his lengthier catechesis and greetings during the audience.

March 1 marks the 25th anniversary of the entry into force of the Ottawa Convention, which prohibits the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines and mandates assisting victims, clearing minefields and destroying stockpiles.

Anti-personnel mines, the pope said, “continue to target innocent civilians, particularly children, even many years after the end of hostilities.”

“I express my closeness to the many victims of these devious devices, which remind us of the dramatic cruelty of war and the price civilian populations are forced to pay,” he said.

At least 4,710 casualties of mines and explosive remnants of war were recorded in 2022, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines said in its 2023 report. Civilians made up 85% of all recorded casualties in places where the military or civilian status was known, and children accounted for half of all civilian casualties, where ages were recorded.

Anti-personnel landmines were used by Ukraine, Myanmar and Russia during 2022 and the first half of 2023, the report by the global coalition of non-governmental organizations said.

“Russia has used anti-personnel mines extensively in Ukraine since invading the country in February 2022, resulting in an unprecedented situation in which a country that is not party to the Mine Ban Treaty is using the weapon on the territory of a state party,” it wrote.

Non-state armed groups used anti-personnel mines in at least five countries in 2022: Colombia, India, Myanmar, Thailand and Tunisia and countries in or bordering the Sahel region of Africa, it added.

At least 60 countries and other areas are contaminated by anti-personnel mines.

Eighty percent of the world’s nations have joined the mine ban treaty, and while 33 states remain outside of the treaty, most of them do not use or produce antipersonnel mines, it said.

A small number of countries are actively producing anti-personnel landmines and they are likely to include India, Iran, Myanmar, Pakistan and Russia, The biggest stockpiles are held by Russia, Pakistan, India, China and the United States.

A graphic, entitled “Where are the Landmines?”, shows global landmine contamination statuses as of 2022. Copyrighted work created by Statista available under Creative Commons attribution only license CC by 4.0 (CNS photo/Statista, CC by 4.0)

As war enters third year, Ukrainians helped by church number in the millions

By Paulina Guzik

KRAKOW, Poland (OSV News) – A group of women from a little village between Kharkiv and Izium in eastern Ukraine decided they were fed up with landmine danger in their village, preventing residents from living their lives in some normality amid war.

So with materials as simple as a plank and a long string, they constructed their own equipment and demined a part of the village.

“They really show the incredible resilience of this country!” Father Leszek Kryza told OSV News.
Father Kryza travels to Ukraine at least once a month, especially to the devastated eastern regions. In January, he visited the “mine-blowing” women not only because of their sheer bravado, but because the Polish bishops’ Office for Helping the Church in the East led by Father Kryza equipped them with sewing machines so that – despite ongoing war – they have a job.

Once the war started, the women sheltered with the Orionine sisters in Korotych and it was the sisters who signaled Father Kryza, who then alerted his friends in the church in Italy, and that’s how supplies and sewing machines eventually landed in eastern Ukraine.

“It has worked like that since Feb. 24, 2022,” he told OSV News, referring to the start of a full- scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“It’s a constant chain of good hearts,” he said.

Entering the third year of war several church institutions wrapped their aid effort in “two years of war” reports, showing that millions of people have been saved thanks to the Catholic Church.

A million people – whether Ukrainian refugees in Poland or those inside Ukraine – have been helped by Caritas Poland. In 2023 alone, the aid was worth $37 million.

Another 1.6 million have been helped by the Knights of Columbus, with $22.3 million raised for Ukraine since 2022.

CNEWA, or Catholic Near East Welfare Association, rushed $5,8 million in emergency funds over the past year to church-led relief efforts in Ukraine and in neighboring countries receiving those fleeing the missiles.

The Vatican sent 240 trucks with supplies to Ukraine over the past two years, with $2.2 million of its charity funds dedicated to Ukraine just in 2022.

Asked what percentage of help for 17 million Ukrainians, including 5 million of those internally displaced, comes from the Catholic Church, Father Kryza said, “I tried to calculate it once, but it’s impossible! Because it’s not that you’ll gather data from Caritas, Knights of Columbus, the Vatican and other ‘big actors.’ It’s the orders, female and male congregations, individual priests, volunteers spread across Ukraine, it’s just one big church on the front lines.”

Father Luca Bovio, an Italian Consolata Missionary who works next door to Father Kryza in Warsaw, in the Polish branch of Pontifical Mission Societies, told OSV News that it’s an “incredible international chain” of aid. “When the war started, people from Africa, Canada and several European countries called me, and said, ‘We want to help, where do we send the funds or supplies?’ So I knocked on my neighbor’s door – Father Leszek, for whom Ukraine is another home, and that’s how since his first trip after February 24, we’re in this together!”

If numbers hide the concrete faces of people aided by the church, Polish Dominican Sister Mateusza Trynda, who is working in the western Ukraine city of Zhovkva, has plenty to talk about.

Sister Mateusza was on front pages of Polish media when the war started, pictured with a ladle and huge pot of soup, standing in the middle of a field next to the road leading to the Ukrainian border with Poland.

Now she said the help looks different – but the needs are just as great.

“We distributed aid packages to 700 people in February, but in the war’s peak moment we handed aid to a group of 2,500 internally displaced people regularly,” she told OSV News.

“We distribute everything that is needed for life. So there’s food, clothing, furniture, mattresses, pillows, quilts, dishes, heaters, irons,” she said.

All is needed – a sentence repeated over and over again from Kyiv to the Vatican.

“In one of our trucks we had thousands of jeans. One was full of chairs. And in one we sent hundreds of electric shavers,” Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity and papal almoner, told OSV News.

“The war is not ending. The needs are huge. I am told by Ukrainians all the time, ‘We need everything.’ Everything,” he said, adding that the shavers were sent to soldiers and that he recently received a picture of a female sergeant cutting the hair of her colleagues somewhere on the front line.

Cardinal Krajewski visited Ukraine seven times since the start of the full-scale invasion, including Zaporozhzhia, where had to escape gunfire in September 2022.

In the eastern Ukraine city, the Albertine brothers still distribute 1,500 meals a week. Their bakery is operated by the homeless they shelter on a daily basis.

Russian occupation authorities banned the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and other Catholic ministries, including Caritas and the Knights of Columbus in December 2023 in occupied areas of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.

“That ban shows how important the role of the church is, and under what circumstances we can and must act to help those most in need,” said Szymon Czyszek, the Knights of Columbus’ director of international growth in Europe.

The organization delivered aid to the besieged town of Avdiivka before it fell to the Russian forces in mid-February.

“It must be said that such actions involve the risk of loss of life. A bomb exploded in front of the car with the Knights driving with help,” he said. “They were lucky to survive,” he added.

From establishing border Mercy Centers at the beginning of the war, to distributing 250,000 care packages with 7.7 million pounds of food and supplies, and thousands of warm coats to Ukrainian children in addition to running programs deactivating landmines, the Knights will continue to help, said Czyszek.

“No matter how tense the political situation over Ukraine will be, we won’t stop. Because Ukraine is the embodiment of the suffering Christ – we cannot be indifferent,” he said.

“We can’t be bored by this war,” Father Marcin Izycki, director of Caritas Poland, told journalists ahead of the second anniversary of the war in Ukraine.

Father Bovio added that “the situation is as bad as it was at the beginning of the invasion, it’s sad, but that’s the reality.”

Cardinal Krajewski emphasized that the church won’t stop helping as it’s the “pure Gospel” to stand with those that suffer, but that discussions in the West regarding whether to send or not to send aid to Ukraine are worrying him the most.

“Being divided never helps, it doesn’t help any country, it doesn’t help any church, and it doesn’t help Ukraine,” he said.

“I know so many people who still dedicate all their free time of the year to go to Ukraine and distribute help as volunteers – the world needs to learn how to be compassionate from them,” he said.

“It’s so that hope doesn’t die,” Sister Mateusza told OSV News. “I met people with damaged houses that have nothing at all. But they still had hope. Because if hope dies, that’s really the end.”

Sister Mateusza said psychological help is urgently needed for people tired of war, and desperate for it to end, widows and orphaned children, but also those internally displaced and over 6 million Ukrainians living abroad as refugees.

She said everyone can help with prayer, too. “It’s crucial. None of us in Zhovkva, and there are four of us sisters there, won’t go to bed without saying a rosary for soldiers. We added those prayers to our daily order routine. Please pray, Ukrainians need you.”

Basilian Sister Lucia Murashko talks with volunteers Denys Kuprikov, left, and Ivan Smyglia, far right, in Zaporizhzhia in southeast Ukraine Feb. 7, 2023, where they planned to distribute humanitarian aid along the front in Russia’s war against Ukraine. (OSV News photo/Konstantin Chernichkin, CNEWA)

(Paulina Guzik is international editor for OSV News. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @Guzik_Paulina)

Briefs

NATION
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (OSV News) – Alabama lawmakers in both the state’s House and Senate Feb. 29 passed similar bills to implement legal protections to in vitro fertilization clinics following a ruling by that state’s Supreme Court that frozen embryos qualify as children under the state law’s wrongful death law. IVF is a form of fertility treatment opposed by the Catholic Church on the grounds that it often involves the destruction of human embryos, among other concerns. Both chambers passed similar bills, but they must reconcile their pieces of legislation before sending one to the governor’s desk. Republican Gov. Kay Ivey has signaled her support for protecting IVF in law. The ruling by the Alabama Supreme Court found that embryos are children under the state’s Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, a statute that allows parents of a deceased child to recover punitive damages for their child’s death. That ruling came in response to appeals brought by couples whose embryos were destroyed in 2020, when a hospital patient improperly removed frozen embryos from storage equipment, which they argued constituted a wrongful death. The judges found that under the law, parents’ ability to sue over the wrongful death of a minor child applies to unborn children, without an exception for “extrauterine children.” Though limited in scope, the ruling has created complex legal questions about what it entailed for IVF treatments in the state.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (OSV News) – A candidate for sainthood is inspiring Catholic Scouts in Illinois to earn a new patch while deepening their relationship with Christ in the Eucharist. The Catholic Committee on Scouting in the Diocese of Springfield has announced the creation of the Venerable Father Augustine Tolton Activity Patch, which honors the first recognized Black priest in the U.S. Requirements for the patch include learning about Tolton’s life, visiting a seminary or religious community to better understand vocational discernment, modeling Father Tolton’s patient disposition and engaging in prayer. Kyle Holtgrave, the diocese’s director for catechesis, said the inspiration for the Tolton patch came from the upcoming National Eucharistic Congress, set to take place in Indianapolis July 17-21 as the culmination of the three-year National Eucharistic Revival, a grassroots effort by the U.S. bishops to rekindle devotion to the Real Presence. Father Tolton, who persisted in his faith despite systemic racism and rejection, exemplified a love for the Eucharist – one that speaks to a new generation, said Holtgrave.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The ability of Catholic and other faith-based groups to “meet migrants’ basic human needs” at the U.S.-Mexico border is a religious liberty issue and must be defended, U.S. bishops said in recent statements. In a Feb. 26 statement issued in response to a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in an attempt to shut down Annunciation House, a Catholic nonprofit in El Paso serving migrants, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee for Religious Liberty, expressed solidarity with faith-driven ministries to migrants. He noted the “strong tradition of religious liberty” in the U.S. “allows us to live out our faith in full,” and said that as “the tragic situation along our border with Mexico increasingly poses challenges for American communities and vulnerable persons alike, we must especially preserve the freedom of Catholics and other people of faith to assist their communities and meet migrants’ basic human needs.” Paxton’s suit targeting El Paso’s Annunciation House comes as some Republicans have grown increasingly hostile toward nongovernmental organizations, particularly Catholic ones, that provide resources such as food and shelter to migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Bishop Rhoades’ statement followed the Texas bishops’ Feb. 23 statement, which he praised for “expressing solidarity with those seeking simply to fulfill the fundamental biblical call: ‘whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’”

An image taken with the near-infrared camera from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows the Ring Nebula Aug. 21, 2023. (CNS photo/courtesy ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, M. Barlow, N. Cox, R. Wesson)

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Orbiting the sun nearly 1 million miles from Earth, the James Webb Space Telescope is reshaping the way scientists understand the universe and its origins, a number of astronomers said at a Vatican-sponsored meeting. “The telescope is able to see things that prior telescopes just could not see,” Jonathan Lunine, a professor of astronomy and department chair at Cornell University, told Catholic News Service Feb. 28. It has such unprecedented power in terms of its sensitivity, wavelength range and image sharpness that it is “doing revolutionary things” and leading to exciting new discoveries in multiple fields, he said. Lunine, who is a planetary scientist and physicist, was one of nearly 50 experts in the field of astronomy attending a Feb. 27-29 workshop organized by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences to discuss the newest results from the Webb telescope. Launched Dec. 25, 2021, NASA’s latest space science observatory is the largest and most powerful space telescope ever built. It began sending full-color images and data back to Earth after it became fully operational in July 2022. NASA said on its Webb.nasa.gov page, “Telescopes show us how things were – not how they are right now,” which helps humanity “understand the origins of the universe.” “Webb is so sensitive it could theoretically detect the heat signature of a bumblebee at the distance of the Moon,” it said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Crying out to God and demanding answers when one’s child dies is anything but a sign of a lack of faith, Pope Francis told a group of grieving Italian parents. “There is nothing worse than silencing pain, putting a silencer on suffering, removing traumas without facing them, as our world often encourages in its rush and numbness,” the pope said in a speech written for members of the “Talità Kum” Association from Vicenza, Italy. While the pope had an aide read his speech March 2 because he was suffering from bronchitis, he personally greeted each member of the group. In the text, the pope said he wanted to “offer a caress to your heart, broken and pierced like that of Jesus on the cross: a heart that is bleeding, a heart bathed in tears and torn apart by a heavy sense of emptiness.” The loss of a child is “an experience that defies theoretical descriptions and rejects the triviality of religious or sentimental words” or “sterile encouragements,” the text said. Recognizing that too often the pious phrases Christians offer to grieving parents do nothing to help and may just add to the pain, the pope said that the best response is “to imitate the emotion and compassion of Jesus in the face of pain,” not trying to minimize it, but to share it.

WORLD
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (OSV News) – As the wave of violence torments gang-decimated Haiti, six male religious, a lay teacher and a priest were kidnapped in two separate incidents Feb. 23 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. The six members of the Congregation of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart were abducted on their way to the John XXIII School, which is run by the order. A teacher who was with them was also taken, the pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need confirmed. “In view of this painful event, the John XXIII institution is closing its doors until further notice. The other institutions of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart throughout the country will continue the work of raising awareness among the new generation of the values of living together in harmony, with a view to the emergence of a new society that is more humane, more caring, and more united,” said the congregation in a statement sent to ACN. Only a few hours later, a priest was also kidnapped in Port-au-Prince. He was taken from his parish church, alongside some of the faithful, soon after celebrating morning Mass. Despite the tireless work of the church, clergy and religious have not been spared the violence of armed gangs.

DORI, Burkina Faso (OSV News) – At least 15 people were killed in an attack by gunmen on Catholics gathered for Sunday Mass in a Burkina Faso village Feb. 25, according to multiple news reports. Twelve Catholics were dead at the scene in the village of Essakane, with another three dying while being treated at a health center, and two others wounded, according to a statement from Bishop Laurent Birfuoré Dabiré of the Diocese of Dori in Northern Burkina Faso, which includes Essakane. “In these painful circumstances, we invite you to pray for the eternal rest of those who have died in the faith, for the healing of the wounded and for the consolation of sorrowful hearts,” the bishop said in the statement. “We also pray for the conversion of those who continue to sow death and desolation in our country. May our efforts of penance and prayer during this period of Lent bring peace and security to our country, Burkina Faso,” the bishop said. According to AP, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but jihadis who have perpetuated similar violence are suspected of carrying it out. Christians in Burkina Faso have been increasingly targeted in recent years by terrorist groups amid political and social upheaval.

FEATURED PHOTO … The award goes to …

LONG BEACH – Director of Catholic Education for the diocese, Karla Luke was bestowed the Dr. Keith Shaffer Memorial Educational Leadership Award by Cognia at their Annual Spring Continuous Improvement Institute on Wednesday, Feb. 28. Cognia is a global accrediting agency that strengthens school performance by centering efforts on school improvement. Luke was described as “a shining example of servant leadership.” (Photo courtesy of Bridget Martin)