Author Archives: Mississippi Catholic

Pope to open Holy Door at Rome prison at beginning of Jubilee 2025

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By Justin McLellan
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Two days after opening the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica to inaugurate the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis will travel to a Rome prison to open a Holy Door as a “tangible sign of the message of hope” for people in prisons around the world, the Vatican announced.

The pope will go Dec. 26 to Rebibbia prison on the outskirts of Rome, “a symbol of all the prisons dispersed throughout the world,” to deliver a message of hope to prisoners, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization’s section for new evangelization and the chief organizer of the Holy Year 2025, announced at a news conference Oct. 28.

Pope Francis will open the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 24. He will then open the Holy Doors at the major basilicas of St. John Lateran Dec. 29, St. Mary Major Jan. 1 and St. Paul Outside the Walls Jan. 5.
In his “bull of indiction,” the document formally proclaiming the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis wrote that during the Holy Year he will have close to his heart “prisoners who, deprived of their freedom, feel daily the harshness of detention and its restrictions, lack of affection and, in more than a few cases, lack of respect for their persons.”

“Luce” (Italian for “Light”), the official mascot for the Holy Year 2025, is seen during a news conference at the Vatican Oct. 28, 2024. (CNS photo/Justin McLellan)

In the document, the pope also called on governments to “undertake initiatives aimed at restoring hope” for incarcerated persons during the Holy Year, such as expanding forms of amnesty and social reintegration programs.

Archbishop Fisichella announced that the Vatican had signed an agreement with Italy’s minister of justice and the government commissioner for Rome to implement reintegration programs for incarcerated individuals by involving their participation in activities during the Jubilee Year.

The archbishop also outlined the schedule of cultural offerings leading up to the Jubilee Year, during which the city of Rome estimates that 30 million people will visit the Italian capital.

The Vatican will organize a concert of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5, to be performed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in Rome Nov. 3; three art exhibitions in November and December, including a display of rare Christian icons from the collection of the Vatican Museums; and a concert from the Sistine Chapel Choir two days before the opening of the Holy Door.

Archbishop Fisichella also unveiled the official mascot of the Holy Year 2025: “Luce” (Italian for light), a cartoon pilgrim dressed in a yellow raincoat, mud-stained boots, wearing a missionary cross and holding a pilgrim’s staff. Luce’s glowing eyes feature the shape of scallop shells, a traditional symbol of pilgrimage and hope.

The mascot, he said, was inspired by the church’s desire “to live even within the pop culture so beloved by our youth.”

“Luce” will also serve as the mascot of the Holy See’s pavilion at Expo 2025, which will take place in Osaka, Japan, from April to October 2025. The Holy See pavilion – which will be hosted inside of Italy’s national pavilion – will have the theme “Beauty brings hope,” and display the 17th-century painting “The Entombment of Christ” by Caravaggio – the only one of his works housed in the Vatican Museums.all.”

Bishop Kopacz among the participants at international conference on the dual threats of climate disruption and nuclear weapons

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By Mary Gorski
OLIVE BRANCH – Next year the church celebrates the 10th anniversary of Laudato Sí, Pope Francis’ encyclical letter addressed to all people, to “every person living on this planet” to “care for our common home.”

This was the spark that brought approximately 90 people from throughout Canada and the United States to Olive Branch, Mississippi (just south of Memphis), Oct. 7-10, to discuss two seemingly diverse themes: climate change and nuclear weapons. Hosted by the Priests of the Sacred Heart (Dehonians), the “Dehonian Conference on the Dual Threats of Climate Change and Nuclear Weapons,” featured presentations by Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe and Sister Kathleen Storms, SSND. Participants included Dehonian priests and brothers, coworkers, parishioners, students, seminarians and others with a connection to the religious order, including Bishop Joseph Kopacz, who was present on the first day of the conference and celebrated Mass with participants.

Threats to our “common home”
According to the presenters, two of the greatest threats to our “common home” are climate change and nuclear weapons.

OLIVE BRANCH – Bishop Joseph Kopacz speaks to Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe during a live “Q&A” session during the Dehonian Conference on the Dual Threats of Climate Change and Nuclear Weapons that took place between Oct. 7 and 10, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Mary Gorski)

“Climate change is a normal process, but what we are experiencing now is climate disruption,” said Sister Kathleen. “Disruption gets to the roots of our existence; it creates extinction.”

As she spoke, Florida was bracing for Hurricane Milton, the second of two significant hurricanes with devastating impacts in just a few weeks’ time.

“We often look at the environmental crisis and say it will pass,” she continued. “But it is a different kind of crisis right now. It is felt all over the globe. If we don’t care for creation now, we will be in deep trouble.”

An environmental educator, Sister Kathleen Storms had the opportunity to read Laudato Sí prior to it being published. “For me it has given us a new creed of beliefs founded on the ‘Gospel of Creation,’ as expressed in scripture, teachings of the church over the centuries and by numerous popes,” she said. In 2018, on the third anniversary of the encyclical, she was part of a two-day conference in Rome focused on integral ecology. “A term coined by Pope Francis to speak about the oneness of all creation.”

She urged the Mississippi conference participants to consider an “ecological spiritual conversion,” to reflect on what they can change personally, locally and at an organizational level to better care for our common home.

“What is ours to do?” asked Sister Kathleen. “Our home matters, our creation matters.” And as people of hope, we can work together to bring change. “But it will take every one of us to be the hope needed to make the changes that are necessary.”

Hope is essential
“Hope” may seem an unlikely concept in the midst of presentations on the threats of climate change and nuclear weapons, but it was a word used repeatedly by both of the conference’s presenters.

“Our hope is in Jesus,” said Archbishop John Wester. “We must be people of hope that believe that God will work in us and through us… As Christians, how is the Lord calling me to be an instrument of peace in nuclear disarmament?”

The archbishop was profoundly impacted by a visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 2017. When he returned to Santa Fe, he was acutely aware that much of the work of developing and testing atomic bombs took place in New Mexico. He has since become a staunch advocate for universal, verifiable nuclear disarmament.

In 2022, Archbishop Wester published a pastoral letter titled, “Living in the Light of Christ’s Peace: A Conversation Toward Nuclear Disarmament.”

In the years since, he has continued to keep the issue in the public eye through letters, speeches and regular “pilgrimages of peace” to Japan on the anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Via a pre-recorded interview, and a live Q&A through Zoom, Archbishop Wester spoke to the conference about the challenges of disarmament, including arguments for the use of nuclear weapons as a deterrent against aggression.

“I ask, what is better strategy: deterrence or disarmament?” said the archbishop. “If you look at the danger that nuclear weapons pose, and factor in human nature, tyrants, dictators, terrorism and genuine mistakes, I prefer the strategy of disarmament. Some people may say I am naïve, but I think that the ones who are being naïve are the ones who think that deterrence will work.”

To those who say that deterrence is working, Archbishop Wester insists that “we are simply lucky, and luck is not a good strategy to protect lives… just one Trident submarine has the capacity to destroy all of human civilization. It sounds like hyperbole, but it is not…

“If we care about humanity, if we care about our planet, if we care about the God of peace and human conscience, then we must start a public conversation on these urgent questions and find a new path toward nuclear disarmament.”

More than just words
One of the challenges of any conference is turning it into something more than just an isolated moment in time. In small and large-group discussions, participants identified “next steps” to be taken personally and locally to better care “for our common home.”

Such actions included commitments to live more mindfully, leaving a smaller ecological footprint on the planet, buying locally, and using recyclable materials as much as possible, as well as participants’ commitment to educating themselves on the topics of the conference and having the courage to engage others in discussion of the threats of nuclear weapons and climate disruption, emphasizing that nuclear disarmament is a pro-life issue.

Groups from each region committed to continuing the work of the conference in their ministries; setting dates for future meetings on the local level to ensure that the work of the conference is not easily forgotten. Coworkers talked about working towards paper-free offices, where everything from budgets to publications to province assemblies is done digitally.

The conference concluded with a commissioning ceremony in which participants committed – in writing – to actions that they will do personally at home as a follow-up to the conference.

“My dear brothers and sisters, our gathering here in Mississippi is not on the world stage like the big meetings of heads of state or the United Nations, but believe me, if each of us commits to taking concrete action with the tools we will have at the end of this meeting we will make an impact on the world,” said Father Gustave Lulendo, SCJ, regional superior of Canada, in his words of welcome to the conference. “Like the leaven of the Gospel, even though it takes such a small quantity to make the dough rise, we will change the lives of our brothers and sisters by influencing the choices they make to preserve our common heritage, this common home that we want to leave to posterity.”

(Mary Gorski is the communications director for the US province of the Priests of the Sacred Heart.)

The Priests of the Sacred Heart is a Catholic religious order of brothers and priests found in over 40 countries around the world. In many they are known as “Dehonians” after their founder, Fr. Leo John Dehon, or by their initials – SCJ – which stands for the official name of the congregation, “Sacerdotum Corde Jesu.” In the United States, the Dehonians have ministries in Texas, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Mississippi, where the order operates two grade schools (Holy Family in Holly Springs and Sacred Heart in Southaven), Sacred Heart Southern Missions, and minister to six parishes in the northern counties of the state.

Host of new ‘The Rosary in a Year’ podcast hopes people ‘fall in love’ with the prayer

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By Katie Yoder
(OSV News) – A new podcast about the rosary promises to deepen listeners’ love of the Marian devotion and draw them closer to Jesus and his mother, Mary, in the new year.

“I hope people fall in love,” Father Mark-Mary Ames, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal, the host of “The Rosary in a Year” podcast, said during a virtual press conference Oct. 28. “I hope our listeners and those who make this journey with us … fall in love with the rosary because they experience it as … a privileged door for encounter with Our Lord and Our Lady.”

A new podcast from Ascension – “The Rosary in Year” – promises to deepen listeners’ love of the Marian devotion hosted by Father Mark-Mary Ames, CFR begins Jan. 1, 2025. (Photo by Ascension)

The free podcast by Ascension, a Catholic multimedia network, begins Jan. 1, 2025, and continues through the year with a new episode released daily. Listeners can tune in on platforms including the Ascension App, Spotify and Apple Podcasts, for the episodes that run 10 to 15 minutes long. Each one will feature guidance and instruction, a prayer prompt and prayers of the rosary.
Father Mark-Mary, director of communications and director of priestly studies for the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, said he hopes the podcast meets people where they are, from those who pray the rosary regularly to those who are beginners.

“I believe that our journey for ‘The Rosary in a Year’ is going to be learning how to – and actually being accompanied in – praying with the truths of our faith,” he said during the virtual event.

The podcast will walk with listeners through six phases of deepening prayer by starting small and gradually growing over time. It promises to help people of faith learn how to build a daily prayer habit, form relationships with Jesus and Mary, discover the biblical foundations of the rosary, realize Mary’s influence in one’s own life and meditate with sacred art, the writings of the saints and Scripture.

Listeners can follow along with the podcast by signing up online for a free prayer plan at Ascension’s website, ascensionpress.com. Other related resources are available there too, including “The Rosary in a Year Prayer Guide,” a free parish kit and a package of 50 “How to Pray a Better Rosary” booklets. Ascension also offers rosaries inspired by the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and their devotion to their patroness, Our Lady of Guadalupe. A new “The Rosary in a Year” YouTube channel will provide video content.

The podcast is the fourth of Ascension’s popular “In a Year” podcasts, following “The Bible in a Year,” its sister podcast in Spanish, “La Biblia en un Año,” and “The Catechism in a Year.”

Father Mike Schmitz, host of “The Bible in a Year” and “The Catechism in a Year” podcasts, will appear on bonus episodes with Father Mark-Mary.

This latest podcast comes after Father Mark-Mary did a video for Ascension in 2021 about learning to pray the rosary in a year. He has spoken about the rosary for Ascension before, including in a 2019 pray-along rosary video that went viral with more than 5 million views.

At the virtual press conference, Father Mark-Mary revealed that he struggled with the rosary as a teenager and hoped that this podcast serves as the resource he wishes he had as a young man. Pointing to St. John Paul’s II apostolic letter on the rosary, which kicked off the “Year of the Rosary” from October 2002 to October 2003, he shared how the rosary has impacted him personally.

At the end of the year, in October 2003, Father Mark-Mary was in his first semester of college and had stopped attending Mass for the first time, he said in response to a question by OSV News. Then, out of nowhere, he found himself speaking with a young woman at a dorm party who identified as an atheist.
“I said like, ‘How can you not believe?’” he remembered. “I started to defend the faith and all of a sudden like all of the lights went on. It’s like, I believe and it needs to affect my whole life.”

“The timing of it – it just can’t be coincidental,” he said of the event, adding that he believes that the grace of his own conversion came from all of the prayers said during the rosary year.

Today, he said, he prays the rosary every day and wears a rosary as a part of his habit.

For those who want a preview of Father Mark-Mary’s podcast, a bonus introduction episode is available.
“In a difficult world and a difficult time where it’s so easy for us to turn our attention towards everything going wrong, brothers and sisters, here is the response,” Father Mark-Mary says toward the end of that episode. “Let’s go to the Lord, let’s pray, let’s focus on him, let’s focus on the great mysteries of our salvation, let’s turn back to Our Lady, let’s remember that we have a mother who loves us, who is also powerful, who is queen of heaven and earth.”

(Katie Yoder is a contributing editor for Our Sunday Visitor magazine.)

In response to ‘black mass,’ thousands join Atlanta procession to show devotion to Eucharist

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By Andrew Nelson
NORCROSS, Ga. (OSV News) – Traffic came to a standstill along Beaver Ruin Road in the northeast metro area of Atlanta Oct. 25 as Catholics, representing several parishes and speaking multiple languages, followed on foot the Blessed Sacrament as a sign of devotion.

Called “Pilgrims of Hope,” the fall procession’s route linked St. Patrick Church and Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Church in Norcross and Our Lady of Americas Mission, Lilburn, in a prayerful march defending an attack on the participants’ most sacred beliefs. Drivers took photos of the passing event, as organizers handed out rosaries to people stopped in their cars.

Organizers estimated thousands of people took part in the walk.

Ighocha Macokor, 41, a member of the Knights of Columbus at St. Patrick Church said he was walking in his first procession to “stand against evil” and to show the faith to people passing by.

Meanwhile, lawyers working for the Archdiocese of Atlanta received a response from the organizers of a so-called “black mass” scheduled for the same Friday. The organizers confirmed they intended the event as entertainment and possessed no consecrated host.

Concern about the event and its possible sacrilege of a consecrated host prompted the Archdiocese of Atlanta to call for a special day of prayer, reparation and public support for belief in the Eucharist.
Pedro Ulloa and his wife, Flor, and their two grown daughters walked in the thick of the procession. Wearing two crosses around his neck, he said the show of faith allows others to “see the good things about Jesus Christ.”

Faith calls for people to show respect to Jesus, but some choose not to, he told The Georgia Bulletin, Atlanta’s archdiocesan newspaper.

“People can see we want to make a difference,” said Ulloa.

Nancy Frost, a longtime church member, spoke about the black mass event.

“We can’t have people doing that,” she said about the alleged mistreatment of what the faithful believe to be the body of Christ. “I am proud of the people that we have in our community. It just called to me. There’s no reason I can’t do this. It moves me that this many people are out.”

The procession began at St. Patrick Church, which celebrates Sunday Mass in English, Spanish and Korean, serving a large, diverse congregation. Following the prayers, the believers set out around 3:30 p.m. for a two-hour walk to Holy Vietnamese Martyrs Church.

Under a cloudless sky, the faithful spilled over the narrow sidewalk lining the road, reciting traditional prayers in Spanish and English. Lilburn police escorted the believers along the two-and-a-half-mile route for the first leg of the pilgrimage.

A rotating crew of men and women carry an altar with the Blessed Sacrament Oct. 25, 2024, during the “Pilgrims of Hope” procession along Beaver Ruin Road in Norcross, Ga., in the Archdiocese of Atlanta in response to a satanic group’s planned black mass event (OSV News photo/Andrew Nelson, Georgia Bulletin)

A rotating crew of men and women were pulled from the crowd to shoulder the heavy wooden altar, leaving them with strained and sweaty faces. A large sunburst monstrance with the exposed Eucharist was surrounded by white flowers and candles.

Loud booms of drums greeted the Eucharist as the participants arrived at the first stop at the Vietnamese church. It was another five miles to the mission destination.

“This shows we are one united church,” said Marissa Anguiano, who works at Our Lady of Americas Mission. She said believers are hurting at the idea of others intentionally desecrating the Eucharist, which Catholics believe is Jesus’ body, soul and divinity.

“We know Jesus is alive and hurting him really brings the community together in prayer,” said Anguiano.

Around the same time that afternoon, Atlanta Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer updated the Catholic community on a response. Staff at archdiocesan offices were “overwhelmed with calls, emails and messages of all kinds offering support,” he said. However, the archbishop emphasized that all action from Catholics must be a sign of “love stronger than hate or violence.” He condemned any threats or violence against the venue hosting the event or its organizers.

Lawyers with Smith Gambrell Russell, on behalf of the archdiocese, prepared to take the issue to court to force the return of the Eucharist. A group planning a black mass in Oklahoma returned a stolen host after the diocese there pursued a lawsuit in 2014.

According to the archbishop’s statement, the Satanic Temple of Atlanta responded saying that “they had no such consecrated host, and no such consecrated host would be used in their black mass.” The group’s letter “called their event entertainment and defended their right to express their beliefs by mocking ours,” said the archbishop.

“While their letter continued to mock the Eucharist and our beliefs, it also demonstrated an understanding of how seriously we have taken this threat to our core belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist,” he said.

In the end, “while there will always be people who mock and blaspheme Our Lord in the public square,” the archbishop wrote, “we know too, that he will be defended by all of us who love him.”

Archbishop Hartmayer urged “continued prayer both in reparation for all insults to Christ our Lord, but also prayer for those who do not yet know of his love for them.”

“Let us pray for those who turn to darkness. Let us pray that they will come to know that they are welcome in the arms of Jesus; that they will come to experience his true presence and experience true conversion,” he said.

(Andrew Nelson is a staff writer at The Georgia Bulletin, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.)

Sacred Heart encyclical hailed as a ‘simple and powerful cure’ to rekindle love

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By Gina Christian
(OSV News) – Pope Francis’ new encyclical on the Sacred Heart of Jesus is being hailed as “a simple and powerful cure” for a fractured world, said the president of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference – and that sentiment was echoed by other experts on devotion to the Sacred Heart.

“Dilexit Nos” was released Oct. 24, following Pope Francis’ announcement in June, a month traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart, that he planned to issue a document about the devotion to “illuminate the path of ecclesial renewal, but also to say something significant to a world that seems to have lost its heart.”

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is depicted in a stained-glass window at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in the Forest Hills section of the Queens borough of New York. (OSV News photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)

“The ills of modern society can read like a litany of uncurable diseases: consumerism, secularism, partisanism,” said Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, in an Oct. 24 statement. “In his latest encyclical … the Holy Father teaches us that devotion to the heart of Jesus can open our own hearts to renewed ways we can love and be loved.”

Subtitled “On the human and divine love of the heart of Jesus Christ,” the 28,000-word text – available on the Vatican’s website in Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish – draws on Scripture, church teaching and the writings of various saints regarding the devotion, which has a centuries-long history.
The encyclical adds to the numerous papal documents on the Sacred Heart since 1899, and is intended to complement Pope Francis’ previous two encyclicals on social teaching, “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home” and “Fratelli Tutti: On Fraternity and Social Friendship.”

“The present document can help us see that the teaching of the social encyclicals … is not unrelated to our encounter with the love of Jesus Christ,” Pope Francis wrote. “For it is by drinking of that same love that we become capable of forging bonds of fraternity, of recognizing the dignity of each human being, and of working together to care for our common home.”

“We need this timely counsel,” Archbishop Broglio said in his statement.

“In an age where we are at each other’s throats – whether it’s simply disagreeing with positions or even going to war – appealing to the heart of not only of people, but more importantly of Christ, refocuses us on what really matters to being human,” Father Thomas Dailey, a member of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales and author of “Behold This Heart: St. Francis de Sales and Devotion to the Sacred Heart,” told OSV News.

Timothy O’Donnell, president emeritus of Christendom College and author of “Heart of the Redeemer,” said the pope’s new encyclical “could really go a long way to help people get back to what’s really essential in Christianity.

“Devotion to the Sacred Heart really is a summary of the whole mystery of our redemption, as Pope Pius XII and numerous other popes have said,” O’Donnell told OSV News. “And if anything, that call … is even more urgent now in our current times, with the loneliness, the isolation, the sort of secular miasma that we all have to breathe, where oftentimes we are affected far more by this atmosphere of secularity, (rather) than drawing from the riches of a relationship with Christ.

And it is Christ, O’Donnell said, “who brings love to a world that really is starving for it.”

The timing of the document is “intentional,” added Father Dailey, who is the chair of homiletics and social communications, as well as project director of the Catholic Preaching Institute, at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Ambler, Pennsylvania.

He stressed the need to approach others not in terms of “policy to policy, war to war, or nationality to nationality,” but “heart to heart,” since “the heart is what makes us the same.”

The encyclical stands to call attention to “the personhood and the importance of the uniqueness of each individual,” said Father Donald Calloway, a member of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception and author of numerous books, including “Sacred Heart Gems: Daily Wisdom on the Heart of Jesus.”

Father Calloway said that in his initial perusal of the encyclical he was struck by the document’s emphasis on “an aspect of being” that is often neglected in current society.

“Being devoted to the heart is being devoted to the person,” he told OSV News. “I think it’s time to get back to some of these fundamentals. We live in this robotic, technological age where, I think, we’re forgetting that things have consequences. You can be on social media and you crank out a post, not realizing that you’re actually hurting people. You’re hurting hearts, not just some robot or some machine. … It affects people.”

He also stressed the need to attend to “the heart of our God.”

“There’s so much going on in the world right now that I think is offending our Lord’s heart,” Father Calloway said.

“It’s a good time to be reminded of the heart of our God, and that he loves us and wants us even to console him, to make reparation to him for our own sins and the sins of others,” he said.

“Jesus has a heart just like you and I do,” Father Dailey emphasized. “That heart loves just as yours and mine does. That heart breaks; that heart, poured out in love for humanity, is the ultimate sign of God’s love for human beings.”

(Gina Christian is a national reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @GinaJesseReina.)

A legacy of love and service: School Sisters of St. Francis commemorate 150 years

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By Laura Grisham
HERNANDO – Our local School Sisters of St. Francis recently celebrated the 150th anniversary of their religious order with a Mass and dinner at Holy Spirit Church in Hernando, Mississippi. Fittingly, the event took place on the day of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Northern Mississippi’s four School Sisters of St. Francis – Sisters Margaret Sue Broker, Ramona Schmidtknecht, Julene Stromberg and Rose Hacker – were joined by their U.S. Provincial, Sister Kathleen O’Brien, ten local Associates, and numerous parishioners from six area parishes. The Most Reverend Joseph Kopacz served as the main celebrant, with Mississippi SCJs as concelebrants.

The School Sisters of St. Francis was founded in 1874 by Emma Hoell (Mother Alexia), Paulina Schmid (Mother Alfons) and Helena Seiter (Sister Clara), who traveled from Germany to establish the order in Wisconsin. Over the years, the Sisters have expanded their ministries globally, reaching countries such as Honduras, Peru, India, Nicaragua, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and more recently, Tanzania.

HERNANDO – Sister Kathleen O’Brien, OSF addressed those in attendance at the 150th anniversary celebration of the School Sisters of St. Francis about the order’s modest beginnings and praised Sacred Heart School as a “wonderful place and expression” of the Sisters’ mission. (Photos by Laura Grisham)

In his homily, Bishop Kopacz honored the courage of the order’s founders, reflecting on their desire to assist immigrants and create a robust religious community to address the church’s needs. “One year after the Sisters of St. Francis began their migration to this country, the church dedicated the World Day of Migrants and Refugees,” Bishop Kopacz noted. He also highlighted the Sisters’ work in Mississippi, dating back to the 1940s in Yazoo City and later in Walls and Holly Springs, where they were invited to educate and help care for the poor by the Priests of the Sacred Heart.

Drawing from the life of St. Francis, Bishop Kopacz described how the Sisters’ mission reflects his vision of compassionate service. Referencing Pope Francis’ emphasis on tenderness, the bishop remarked that St. Francis was “the original ecologist,” deeply connected to both creation and the cross. He commended the Sisters’ continued dedication, stating, “Every day requires the courage to live and proclaim the Gospel.”
Sister Kathleen O’Brien, OSF, addressed the gathering, describing the order’s modest beginnings and the vision of the three founders, which grew into a global community. “They came from Germany, stopping in Philadelphia, Chicago, and Milwaukee, eventually founding their order in a small town in Wisconsin 150 years ago.” She invited all in attendance to view a display of flags representing the Sisters’ worldwide reach.

Reflecting on her first visit to Mississippi, Sister Kathleen praised Sacred Heart School as “a wonderful place and expression” of the Sisters’ mission. She emphasized the importance of collaboration, saying, “We consider you partners and collaborators in God’s mission … we are all participants, ensuring this is a community of love and care.” She commended Sisters Broker, Schmidtknecht, Stromberg and Hacker, who together have served 178 years in Mississippi.

In appreciation of the Sisters’ work across northern Mississippi, the Queen of Peace Church Women’s Club presented a $1,000 donation, expressing hope that the Sisters would “continue their mission of witnessing to God’s love and being a source of hope.” The evening concluded with a blessing over the meal, thanking God for the community gathered to celebrate this milestone and for the bounty of creation.

The congregation has a rich history, with Mother Alexia extending the Sisters’ ministries across Europe in the late 19th century. Under the leadership of Mother Alfons, known for her love of the arts, the community developed a strong tradition in music and liturgical arts. This legacy of artistic excellence and leadership continues to shape their ministries. Since their founding on April 28, 1874, the Sisters have devoted themselves to Christ’s mission through nursing, teaching, social work, and pastoral ministry, addressing the needs of their time with enthusiasm and commitment.

(Laura Grisham is the PR and Communications manager for Sacred Heart Southern Missions in Walls, Mississippi.)

Briefs

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NATION
FORT WORTH, Texas (OSV News) – Members of a women’s religious community in Arlington have been dismissed from the Carmelite order and Catholic religious life, according to Oct. 28 statements from Bishop Michael F. Olson of Fort Worth and Mother Marie of the Incarnation, whom a Vatican office appointed as the community’s major superior in April. The bishop and major superior attributed the dismissal to the nuns’ decisions “to break faith with their Mother, the Church of Rome” through denying the authority of the Vatican Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, their bishop and the dicastery-appointed major superior. The nuns also entered into an unlawful, formal association with the Society of St. Pius X Sept. 14 and soon after illicitly transferred ownership of their Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity to a nonprofit organization of laypeople, the statement notes. The affected nuns did not immediately respond on their website, which has been their mainstay for public communication over the past 18 months as they have openly feuded with Bishop Olson following his allegations in April 2023 that their community-elected prioress had committed unspecified sins against chastity. The saga has included church and civil courts, the nuns’ public rejection of the bishop’s governance authority over them, and their formal affiliation with the Society of St. Pius X.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (OSV News) – This year’s National Catholic Youth Conference theme “El Camino / The Way,” seeks to resonate with attendees, said Natalie Ibarra, the communications manager for the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, emphasizing the focus is on walking alongside peers and families in faith. The three-day conference, scheduled for Nov. 14-16 in Long Beach, California, is designed for high school students and their chaperones, and provides a central location that is more accessible for West Coast participants. NCYC 2024 will include a variety of engaging activities, including over 20 youth breakout sessions on topics ranging from pro-life activism to vocational discernment. Notable speakers and artists will enhance the experience, while an interactive exhibit hall will allow youth to explore various aspects of Catholic life and ministry. Ibarra noted efforts to reach Latino youth, acknowledging the financial barriers some families face. Organizers stressed that NCYC aims to unite young Catholics from across the country, fostering a sense of belonging and shared faith among participants. Pat Clasby, a parish director of confirmation and youth ministry at St. Patrick Church in Carlsbad, California, who is involved in organizing this year’s NCYC, said the conference will allow youth to see the larger Catholic Church. “It’s an opportunity for the youth to see other young people from around the country practicing their faith and realize they are not the only ones that are teenagers who are Catholic,” he said. “They are not the only ones trying to live their faith out loud.”

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Migrants demonstrate what hope is, and the Catholic Church must support them to keep that hope alive, Pope Francis said. “If migrants are to preserve the strength and resilience necessary for them to continue on their journey, they need someone to attend to their wounds and to care for them in their extreme physical, spiritual and psychological vulnerability,” the pope told members of the Scalabrinians during an audience at the Vatican Oct. 28. “Effective pastoral interventions that demonstrate closeness on the material, religious and human levels are required in order to keep their hope alive and to help them advance on their personal journey toward God, their faithful companion on the way,” he said. The pope lamented “the hostility shown by rich countries that perceive those knocking at their door as a threat to their own well-being.” Migrants are to be welcomed, accompanied, supported and integrated in the host communities, he said. Regardless of who they are or where they came from, all immigrants are to be “viewed as a gift of God, unique, sacred, inviolable, a precious resource for the benefit of all,” he said.

A person walks in a flooded street Oct. 30, 2024, in Llombai, in Spain’s Valencia region, after the Spanish meteorological agency put the region on the highest red alert for extreme rainfalls. (OSV News photo/Eva Manez, Reuters)

WORLD
DHAKA, Bangladesh (OSV News) – Amid signs of changes and more religious inclusivity in the country, church leaders in Bangladesh called for Easter Sunday to be a public holiday. The United Church Council of Bangladesh, the Catholic bishops’ conference and Bangladesh’s Christian Association have separately demanded a public holiday from the interim government on Easter Sunday. On Oct. 17, Bangladesh’s United Church Council president, Archbishop Bejoy Nicephorus D’Cruze of Dhaka, sent a letter to the chief adviser to the interim government. After the student uprising in August that left hundreds of people dead, the country’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, stepped down and fled the country to India. In his letter, Archbishop D’Cruze welcomed the interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus and said that Easter Sunday celebrates “the triumph of Lord Jesus Christ over sin and death” and is an important day for Christians. “Unfortunately, the government has not given it a (status of) holiday, despite repeated appeals to the previous government. As a result, many Christians cannot observe Easter Sunday,” the archbishop of Dhaka wrote. According to the 2022 national census by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the Muslim-majority country has about 500,000 Christians out of about 180 million, including 400,000 Catholics told ACN. “But even if the terrorists burned everything, they didn’t burn our faith!”

VALENCIA, Spain (OSV News) – The archbishop of Valencia expressed “grave concern” and said Mass for those affected after at least 72 people died, and many more went missing amid torrential rains that caused massive flooding in southeastern Spain. The flooding turned roads into rivers of floating cars and cut off highways and access points, with water reaching the first floor of buildings. Archbishop Enrique Benavent said Oct. 30 he “hopes that the victims and missing persons will be found safe and sound as soon as possible,” according to Spanish Catholic news outlet Alfa y Omega. The archbishop celebrated Mass for all those affected on the morning of Oct. 30 in a local basilica. In a letter sent to Archbishop Benavent and Msgr. Julián Ros, apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Albacete, West from Valencia, Spanish bishops said that they share “their pain at the difficult times that they are experiencing in their dioceses.” The horrendous flooding that left piles of cars stuck in between buildings in historical narrow streets of Valencia and trapped dozens of residents was caused by storm Dana – described as an “unprecedented phenomenon” by Spain’s defense minister, Margarita Robles. King Felipe VI spoke of his “devastation and concern” over the flash flooding. Speaking of “enormous destruction” Oct. 30, he said accessing some areas was still difficult. Spain declared three days of mourning after the flash floods devastated parts of the country.

Calendar of events

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SPIRITUAL ENRICHMENT
OFFICE OF CATHOLIC EDUCATION – The OCE hosts a Zoom Rosary the first Wednesday of each month during the school year at 7 p.m. On Dec. 4, Annunciation School will lead us in prayer. Join early and place your intentions in the chat. Details: Join the rosary via zoom at https://bit.ly/zoomrosary2024 or check the diocese calendar of events.

PHILADELPHIA, Penn. – Basilica Shrine of the Miraculous Medal, Black Catholic History Month Event featuring Therese Wilson Favors and Ralph Moore on being Black and Catholic (475 E Chelten Ave, Philadelphia, PA) from 12:30-4 p.m. Details: Office for Black Catholics for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (215) 587-3541.

PARISH, FAMILY & SCHOOL EVENTS
CLEVELAND – Our Lady of Victories, “Taste of Italy” Lasagna Dinner, Thursday, Nov. 14 from 4:30-7 p.m. Details: church office (662) 846-6273.

COLUMBUS – Annunciation School, Open House, Thursday, Nov. 14, 9:45 a.m. to 12 p.m. classrooms open, 8:30 a.m. Mass (optional). Little Eagles Preview at 6 p.m. for PreK-3, PreK and Kindergarten. Details: RSVP to marketing@annunciationcatholicschool.org.

HERNANDO – Holy Spirit, Christmas Program and Dinner, Sunday, Dec. 8. Save the date. Details: Keelan at (601) 604-2202.

MAGEE – St. Stephen, Fall Potluck Lunch, Sunday, Nov. 24. Details: church office (601) 849-3237.

MERIDIAN – St. Patrick, Gender and Theology of Your Body hosted by Jason Evert, Wednesday, Nov. 20 from 6-9:15 p.m. Tickets are $15. Proceeds go to the Chastity Project. Details: https://tinyurl.com/stpatmeridian.

St. Patrick School, Candy Cane Dash, Saturday, Dec. 7 at 8:30 a.m. Register by Nov. 10 to guarantee a shirt. Details: register at https://time2run.raceentry.com/candy-cane-5k-dash/race-information.

St. Patrick, Our Lady’s Corner Christmas Open House, Wednesday, Nov. 13 from 4-6:30 p.m. in the Family Life Center. Come shop for some meaningful Christmas gifts for your friends and family.

St. Patrick, Meridian Catholic Community Thanksgiving Dinner, Sunday, Nov. 17 at 12 p.m. in the Family Life Center. Details: church office (601) 693-1321.

NATCHEZ – St. Mary Basilica, Advent Wreath Workshop, Sunday, Dec. 1, in the Family Life Center after 10 a.m. Mass. Families or individuals are invited to come and make an Advent wreath. Fun craft activities available for children. Details: church office (601) 445-5616.

NATCHEZ – Wreaths Across America endeavors to honor all veteran’s graves with beautiful wreaths. Home With Heros is the proud, local Miss-Lou partner. Wreath ceremonies take place on Dec. 14 at 9 a.m. at Vidalia Cemetery and 11 a.m. at the Natchez National Military Cemetery. Wreaths cost $17/each. Order yours today at https://bit.ly/3AnaFjs. Details: call Larry at (253) 970-2090.

OLIVE BRANCH – Queen of Peace, Knights of Columbus Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser, Sunday, Nov. 24 at 11 a.m. Dine in or carry out. Details: church office (662) 895-5007.

Queen of Peace, Day of Reflection for Women of the Parish, Wednesday, Nov. 13 beginning at 9:30 a.m. in the social hall. Presentation by Father Guy Blair, SCJ. Details: Bridget at (901) 412-9865.

Queen of Peace, Fellowship Card Night sponsored by the Men’s Club, Friday, Nov. 15 with dinner at 6 p.m. and games at 7 p.m. cost: $20 per participant for dinner, beverage and 200 chips. All parishioners and guests welcome. Must be 21+. Details: Sign up in the Commons or contact Tracy at lindseyroofing1@gmail.com or (901) 828-4848.

SOUTHAVEN – Christ the King, Advent Program, Sunday, Dec. 1, at 4 p.m. followed by dinner. Details: church office (662) 342-1073.

DIOCESE
JOB OPENING – The Diocese of Jackson’s Office of Communications is looking for a full-time communications specialist. Role involves creating and promoting content across multimedia platforms, including social media, websites and promotional materials. The position requires strong communication skills, knowledge of Catholic teachings and proficiency in design and communication software. College degree required with two years experience. Send a cover letter and resume to joanna.king@jacksondiocese.org. If you would like a full job description, visit https://jacksondiocese.org/employment-1.

YOUNG ADULTS – Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage, May 12-27. Father Lincoln Dall will be leading this once in a lifetime journey. Space is limited. Email amelia.rizor@jacksondiocese.org for more information.

YOUTH – Diocesan SEARCH Retreat for tenth through twelfth graders, Jan. 17-19, 2025 at Camp Wesley Pines, Gallman. Diocese High School Confirmation Retreat, Jan. 25-26, 2025 at Lake Forest Ranch, Macon. Diocese Catholic Youth Conference – DCYC for ninth through twelfth grades, March 21-23, 2025 at the Vicksburg Convention Center. Details: contact your individual parish offices or contact Abbey at (601) 949-6934 or abbey.schuhmann@jacksondiocese.org.

CATHOLIC ENGAGED ENCOUNTER – CEE is our diocesan marriage prep program for couples preparing for the sacrament of marriage. The upcoming weekends for 2025 are: Feb. 21-23; August 1-3; and Oct. 24-26at Camp Garaywa in Clinton; and April 25-27 at Lake Tiak-O’Khata in Louisville. Register at https://bit.ly/CEE2024-2025. Details: email debbie.tubertini@jacksondiocese.org.

FEATURE PHOTO … Eucharistic Procession …

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NATCHEZ — St. Mary Basilica parishioners participated in the Procession of the Eucharist following 10 a.m. Mass on Sunday. A Eucharist procession is a Catholic ceremony in which the Eucharist — the bread and wine representing Christ’s body and blood — is carried through the streets as the faithful follow along, praying and singing. The St. Mary processional proceeded down Main Street to Wall Street to State Street and back to the church.

‘No olviden que hay 65 millones de hispanos en este país, todos de origen católico, pero viven un cambio cultural tremendo’

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By Marietha Góngora V. , OSV News

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – En la noche del pasado 16 de octubre en la nunciatura de la Santa Sede en Washington D.C., el Comité de Diversidad Cultural en la Iglesia de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos (USCCB) y el Subcomité de Asuntos Hispanos, en cabeza de su presidente el Mons. Oscar Cantú, obispo de San José; convocaron a líderes de organizaciones católicas y líderes de la pastoral hispana de las diferentes diócesis del país.

Esta jornada, en el marco del cierre del Mes de la Herencia Hispana, se llevó a cabo en medio de un ambiente festivo en el que el cardenal Christophe Pierre, nuncio apostólico de la Santa Sede en EE.UU., compartió una serie de experiencias y reflexiones de cara a esta celebración.

“Yo pienso que, en la pastoral hispana, en todos ustedes, siempre he encontrado algo especial. Yo he vivido 20 años de mi vida también en América Latina, en México y también en Cuba”, dijo en sus palabras de bienvenida el nuncio apostólico.

“Si hay algo que siempre me ha impresionado y que pienso que es algo que ustedes nunca deben perder es el entusiasmo para la misión”, expresó. “Eso ciertamente es parte de su ADN”.

Afirmando que, durante sus casi nueve años como nuncio en EE.UU., él mismo ha percibido un deseo de vivir la fe como misión, el cardenal Pierre dijo que no hay que perder la “experiencia misionera como miembros de la Iglesia a través de movimientos, a través de una formación” que muchos de los presentes habían experimentado.

Para el cardenal, el dinamismo propio de los fieles hispanos no se puede perder. “Hay que continuar ofreciendo (ese dinamismo) a la Iglesia de este país. Esa puede ser su contribución, la misión”, afirmó.

“El dinamismo, el método, la capacidad de preparar el V Encuentro. Eso fue muy bueno”, dijo el nuncio, con relación al proceso de muchos años del V Encuentro Nacional de Pastoral Hispana/Latina (V Encuentro) que incluyó una reunión nacional en Grapevine, Texas, en 2018, y cuyas conclusiones siguen dando frutos.

El nuncio subrayó que los líderes estaban también reunidos “para, finalmente, poner en práctica el Plan Pastoral (Nacional para el Ministerio Hispano/Latino)” que busca multiplicar las respuestas pastorales para hacer frente a las realidades de los hispanos católicos en EE.UU.

“El plan pastoral es un plan sinodal, ha sido un camino sinodal. Hemos caminado por meses, y meses, y meses para poder producir algo que corresponde a las necesidades de la cultura de hoy para poder evangelizar esta cultura, evangelizar a la gente”, destacó el nuncio, refiriéndose al plan de 10 años que fue aprobado por los obispos en 2023.

El cardenal instó a los presentes a no olvidar que “hay 65 millones de hispanos en este país, todos de origen católico, pero viven un cambio cultural tremendo”.

Según la Oficina del Censo del país, hoy en día hay más de 65 millones de hispanos que viven en EE.UU. El año pasado, un análisis de datos de Pew Research Center identificó que el número de Latinos sin afiliación religiosa ha aumentado, mientras que el porcentaje de Latinos que se identifican como católicos ahora representa un 43% de la población hispana.

El nuncio recordó que en la Conferencia de Aparecida del 2007, celebrada por CELAM en Brasil, “los obispos (de Latinoamérica y el Caribe) identificaron uno de los datos muy importantes del cambio de época, como lo dijeron ellos, fue la dificultad de transmitir la fe, la cultura de una generación a otra. Que no es solamente un cambio cultural de una generación a otra, es algo más profundo”.

El mundo ha cambiado, continuó el cardenal Pierre, agregando que innovar “es salir de nosotros mismos para (ir al) encuentro de las personas y entrar precisamente, provocar un nuevo encuentro que va a producir frutos nuevos. Eso es la cultura del encuentro. Esa es la nueva evangelización”, afirmó el representante de la Santa Sede.

Durante el encuentro, el nuncio destacó y agradeció la presencia de monseñor Bruce A. Lewandowski, C.Ss.R., obispo auxiliar de la Arquidiócesis de Baltimore; monseñor Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, obispo auxiliar de la Arquidiócesis de Washington; monseñor Cristiano G. Borro Barbosa, obispo auxiliar de la Arquidiócesis de Boston y monseñor Luís Miguel Romero Fernández, M.Id, obispo auxiliar de la Diócesis de Rockville Centre en Nueva York.

Dirigiéndose a los líderes de organizaciones católicas y líderes de la pastoral hispana presentes en el evento, el cardenal Pierre dijo que se sentía “muy feliz de ver que cada uno de ustedes tiene responsabilidad en la Iglesia. Responsabilidad a nivel nacional, movimientos, grupos que también vienen de todos los lugares, del norte, del sur, del este, del oeste”, concluyó.

Por su parte, el obispo Oscar Cantú reflexionó sobre la presencia hispana/latina y los hallazgos fruto de los recientes estudios liderados por el equipo de esta secretaría y sobre la importancia de la inculturación en los procesos de la evangelización, tomando como ejemplo las apariciones de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe en 1531.

“Cuando los frailes tuvieron poco éxito en la evangelización, por más de 10 años, envió Dios a una mujer, a Su madre, a evangelizar. ¿Cuál fue la metodología que usó? Inculturó el mensaje del Evangelio a la cultura de ese momento y comenzó desde abajo, con los humildes, con un Juan Diego”, dijo el obispo Cantú.

El prelado recordó la iniciativa del Consejo Episcopal Latinoamericano y Caribeño (CELAM), de la Conferencia del Episcopado Mexicano y la Pontificia Comisión para América Latina de celebrar los 500 años de estas apariciones de la Patrona de las Américas con una novena intercontinental que inició el 12 de diciembre de 2022 y que finaliza justo el día en que se cumplen los cinco siglos de la llegada de la Virgen de Guadalupe al nuevo mundo.

Para el obispo Cantú, esta es una oportunidad para “fortalecer nuestra fe, nuestra devoción, nuestra Iglesia y nuestro poblado hispano. Qué bonito que podemos celebrar este mes de la hispanidad aquí, en la nunciatura, con estos anuncios. Entonces, les invito a todos ustedes, líderes de muchas personas, (a) fomentar esa invitación a vivir esta Novena Guadalupana”.

Por su parte, Alejandro Aguilera-Titus, subdirector de Asuntos Hispanos del Secretariado de Diversidad Cultural en la Iglesia, dijo a OSV News, concluida la jornada, que notó que los asistentes se encontraban “con un corazón agradecido, abierto e inspirado. Nosotros esperábamos treinta personas y vinieron sesenta, veintiocho tuvieron que volar para llegar acá y muestra el cariño y el deseo que tienen de celebrar, de demostrar su aprecio, de seguir comunicándose con sus colegas a nivel del liderazgo nacional”.

“Fue maravilloso ver el nivel de interés que expresaron, el entusiasmo que hay y también querían saber cómo es que se está implementando el Plan Pastoral”, aseguró Aguilera-Titus en relación a un video que documentó cómo cuatro diócesis avanzan exitosamente en el proceso de implementación, material que pronto será publicado.

OSV, compañía católica que ha apoyado los esfuerzos del V Encuentro, está apoyando la creación de dicho recurso, y también fue “host” del evento del 16 de octubre. (OSV es la empresa matriz de OSV News y de la revista Our Sunday Visitor).

(Marietha Góngora escribe para OSV News desde Washington D.C.)