Author Archives: Tereza Ma

NCEA speaker addresses impact of social media on adolescents

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By Peter Finney Jr.
NEW ORLEANS (CNS) – The founder of an internet safety initiative warned Catholic school teachers and administrators April 20 about the appeal and impact of social media on today’s students.

Chris McKenna, founder of Protect Young Eyes (www.protectyoungeyes.com), told participants at the annual conference of the National Catholic Educational Association in New Orleans that the world has changed for children because digital technology has been designed slickly to grab kids’ attention and keep them hooked.

He said the ubiquity of online pornography and the sophisticated algorithms used by social media platforms to lure children and teens into inauthentic relationships with strangers and also encourage comparison envy have created unprecedented emotional challenges that can actually harm the brain.
“Please try not to start another conversation, ‘When I was a kid …’ because if TikTok existed when you were a kid, you would’ve been addicted, too,” said McKenna, a father of four.

Contrary to the common wisdom that kids are “resilient,” McKenna said that while children with developing brains are “incredibly adaptive,” the bottom line is that “trauma is trauma.”

“We live in a time, with digital doorways everywhere, where the opportunities for trauma to our young people are more prevalent than ever,” he said, noting that the digital pornography today is of a type far removed from the “2D” pornography of the 1970s.

While adolescents searching for their identity formerly found answers in family, friends and the church, McKenna said the digital world has multiplied places to turn for advice by a thousand.

“The brain operates according to a very simple principle: Whatever I feed my precious brain is what it learns to love, especially before age 16, and this is exactly when we give them all of their technology,” he said.

The technology of platforms such as YouTube – the most popular app with kids – TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram know the adolescent brain “full well.”

Snapchat does something very enticing to grab kids’ attention: A feature called “Snapstreak” provides additional rewards for keeping a daily chat going with another user.

McKenna said Snapchat developers have “figured out” that breaking the streak causes stress, and “if I’m a young person, I’m stressed out about losing that streak.” A hormone released inside the brain nudges the teen to release that stress by returning to the “safety” of Snapchat.

TikTok’s algorithm, McKenna said, “is like nothing else I have experienced on earth.” He said he found himself unconsciously intrigued by a video of a woman harvesting bees and he watched related videos for 90 minutes.

“Here’s how the dopamine system works inside TikTok – your feed studies you. Every twitch is a signal to that algorithm, and then it starts to feed you the most addictive form of that content so that you scroll endlessly. Anything that’s long – especially sitting in a classroom – is boring.”

McKenna said a Facebook whistleblower offered information that its sister platform, Instagram, was known to be “toxic to teen girls” who post “perfect” selfies and then get little response.

McKenna said there are some teens for whom social media can actually be a benefit because they can engage with others who have similar challenges or disabilities. Thus, measuring the overall impact of social media remains “complicated,” he said.

One thing is certain: Gone are the days when some of the worst moments of teenage life in dealing with adversaries are gone and forgotten within a few hours.

“When I was growing up, there were safe places,” he said. “When I got off the bus, I was safe. They couldn’t get to me anymore. If something dramatic happened at the football game, by the time Monday rolled around, it kind of fizzled away.”

“All of the things that used to create a reset for trauma when we were growing up are all of the things that accelerate trauma today,” he continued. “When kids go home, it’s shared, all weekend long. All summer long it gets shared. Imagine a world where social comparison impacts your self-worth.”

One of McKenna’s remedies is to delay kids’ use of social media.

“It’s not ‘no tech’ – we don’t want kids to be bubble-wrapped – but it’s ‘slow tech,’” he said.

Finney is executive editor/general manager of the Clarion Herald, newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Pope promulgates Curia reform, emphasizing
church’s missionary nature

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By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Nine years after taking office, Pope Francis promulgated his constitution reforming the Roman Curia, a project he began with his international College of Cardinals shortly after taking office in 2013.

“Praedicate Evangelium” (“Preach the Gospel”), which was published only in Italian by the Vatican March 19, will go into effect June 5, the feast of Pentecost.

Merging some congregations and pontifical councils and raising the status of others – particularly the charitable office of the papal almoner – Pope Francis said he hoped the constitution would ensure that the offices of the Vatican fulfill their mission in helping promote the church as a community of missionary disciples, sharing the Gospel and caring for all those in need.

Part of that effort, he wrote, requires including more laypeople in Curia leadership positions.

“This new apostolic constitution proposes to better harmonize the present exercise of the Curia’s service with the path of evangelization that the church, especially in this season, is living,” the pope wrote in the document.

Pope Francis leads a meeting of his Council of Cardinals at the Vatican Feb. 21, 2022. On March 19, 2022, Pope Francis promulgated the long-awaited constitution reorganizing the Roman Curia. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

To emphasize the importance of the church’s missionary nature, in the new constitution Pope Francis specified that he is the prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization; he will be assisted by a “pro-prefect” for “basic questions regarding evangelization in the world” and a “pro-prefect” for “the first evangelization and the new particular churches,” those previously supported by the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

In a similar way, until 1968, the popes were prefects of what became the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

“Pastor Bonus” began its description of the doctrinal congregation’s responsibility saying, “The proper duty of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is to promote and safeguard the doctrine on faith and morals in the whole Catholic world; so, it has competence in things that touch this matter in any way.”

The new constitution begins its description by saying, “The task of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is to assist the Roman pontiff and the bishops-eparchs in the proclamation of the Gospel throughout the world, promoting and safeguarding the integrity of Catholic doctrine on faith and morals, drawing on the deposit of faith and also seeking an ever deeper understanding of it in the face of new questions.”

The new constitution does away with the previous distinctions between “congregations” and “pontifical councils,” referring to all of them simply as “dicasteries.”

In addition to creating the Dicastery for the Service of Charity in place of the almoner’s office, the constitution merges the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization into the new Dicastery for Evangelization, and it merges the Congregation for Catholic Education and the Pontifical Council for Culture into the new Dicastery for Culture and Education.

“Praedicate Evangelium” replaces St. John Paul II’s 1988 constitution, “Pastor Bonus,” but, unlike it, does not reserve the leadership of certain offices only to cardinals and bishops, although the individual statutes of those offices may make such a specification.

However, Pope Francis wrote in the document that offices that have “their own statutes and laws shall observe them only insofar as they are not opposed to the present apostolic constitution and shall propose their adaptation for the approval of the Roman pontiff as soon as possible.”

Insisting that every Christian is “a missionary disciple,” the constitution said, the reform of the Curia also needed to “provide for the involvement of laymen and women, including in roles of governance and responsibility.”

The participation of laypeople “is indispensable, because they cooperate for the good of the whole church and, because of their family life, their knowledge of social realities and their faith that leads them to discover God’s paths in the world, they can make valid contributions, especially when it comes to the promotion of the family and respect for the values of life and creation, the Gospel as leaven for temporal realities and the discernment of the signs of the times.”

Describing the personnel of the offices, the constitution said the leadership, “as far as possible, shall come from the different regions of the world so that the Roman Curia may reflect the universality of the church.”

They can be clergy, religious or laypeople “who are distinguished by appropriate experience, knowledge confirmed by suitable qualifications, virtue and prudence. They should be chosen according to objective and transparent criteria and have an adequate number of years of experience in pastoral activities.”

Pope Francis described the reform of the Curia as part of the “missionary conversion” of the church, a renewal movement aimed at making it reflect more “the image of Christ’s own mission of love.”

He also linked it to the ongoing process of promoting “synodality,” a sense of the shared responsibility of all baptized Catholics for the life and mission of the church.

True communion among all Catholics, he said, “gives the church the face of synodality; a church, that is, of mutual listening in which each one has something to learn: the faithful people, the College of Bishops (and) the bishop of Rome listening to the other, and all listening to the Holy Spirit, the spirit of truth.”

Addressing one of the main concerns expressed by bishops around the world in the past, the constitution said, “The Roman Curia does not stand between the pope and the bishops, but rather places itself at the service of both in ways that are proper to the nature of each.”

Pope Francis wrote that in reorganizing the Curia, he wanted to promote a “healthy decentralization” that would, at the same time, promote “co-responsibility” and communion with the bishops and among the Vatican offices.

The Curia, he said, should support individual bishops in their mission as pastors as well as the work of bishops’ conferences and synods of Eastern Catholic bishops.

Because “the face of Christ” is reflected in the faces of his disciples, the document said, members of the Roman Curia should be “distinguished by their spiritual life, good pastoral experience, sobriety of life and love for the poor, spirit of communion and service, competence in the matters entrusted to them, and the ability to discern the signs of the times.”

In the ordering of the Roman Curia, the Secretariat of State maintains its position of leadership and coordination, but the new Dicastery for Evangelization is placed above the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The description of the organization of the doctrinal dicastery includes changes announced by Pope Francis in February, creating separate doctrinal and disciplinary sections, reflecting the growing importance of the office that investigates allegations of clerical sexual abuse and the abuse of office by bishops or religious superiors.

The constitution places the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors “within the dicastery” and says “its task is to provide the Roman pontiff with advice and consultancy and to propose the most appropriate initiatives for the protection of minors and vulnerable people.

Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley of Boston, president of the commission and a member of the Council of Cardinals that drafted the constitution, said, “For the first time, Pope Francis has made safeguarding and the protection of minors a fundamental part of the structure of the church’s central government.”

“Linking the commission more closely with the work of the new Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith represents a significant move forward in upgrading the place and mandate of the commission, which can only lead to a stronger culture of safeguarding throughout the Curia and the entire church,” he said in a statement March 19.

Light of risen Christ dispels darkness of fear

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By Junno Arocho Esteves
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Young people should not allow the darkness of fear to overwhelm them and instead allow the light of Easter to illuminate their lives and give them courage, Pope Francis said.

Fears “must be brought to light. And when fears, which are in darkness, come into the light, the truth bursts out. Do not be discouraged: If you are afraid, put it to the light and it will do you good!” the pope told thousands of young men and women gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

The April 18 event, titled “Seguimi” (“Follow Me”), was organized by the Italian bishops’ conference and brought young teens from all of Italy for a prayer vigil in Rome. While initial projections expected 57,000 people at the event, the Vatican said an estimated 100,000 young people were present.

It was the first large-scale gathering of its kind in St. Peter’s Square since the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered all public events in the country in 2020.

Pope Francis gives the thumbs up as he arrives for a meeting with thousands of young people taking part in a pilgrimage organized by the Italian bishops’ conference in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican April 18, 2022. (CNS photo/Remo Casilli, Reuters)

After riding around and greeting the crowd on his popemobile, Pope Francis welcomed them and said the “square has long been waiting to be filled with your presence, your faces, and your enthusiasm.”

“Today, all of you are together, coming from Italy, in the embrace of this square and in the joy of the Easter that we have just celebrated,” he said.

However, the pope said that although Jesus’ resurrection “conquered the darkness of death,” there are still dense clouds “that darken our time.”

“In addition to the pandemic, Europe is experiencing a terrible war, while injustices and violence continue in many regions of the earth that destroy humankind and the planet,” he said. “Often it is your peers who pay the highest price: Not only is their existence compromised and made insecure, but their dreams for the future are trampled on. Many brothers and sisters are still waiting for the light of Easter.”

Reflecting on a Gospel reading from St. John, in which the risen Christ appears to his disciples while they were fishing on the Sea of Galilee, the pope said young people, like the disciples, can experience moments in life that “put us to the test” and “make us feel naked, helpless and alone.”

In those times of uncertainty, he continued, young people must not keep to themselves, because “fears must be said, fears must be expressed in order to be able to drive them away.”

“Darkness puts us in crisis; but the problem lies in how we manage this crisis,” the pope explained. “If I keep it only for myself, for my heart, and I don’t talk about it with anyone, it doesn’t work. In times of crisis, you have to talk, talk with the friend who can help, with your dad, your mom, your grandfather, your grandmother, with a person who can help. Crises must be illuminated to overcome them.”

He also encouraged the young men and women present to not be afraid of life and all that it entails but instead to be afraid “of the death of the soul, of the death of the future, of the closure of the heart.”

“Life is beautiful, life is meant to be lived and to give it to others; life is meant to be shared with others, not to close it in on itself,” he said.

Like children who call on their mother when in need, Pope Francis said Christians can call upon Mary who, in her adolescence, “accepted her extraordinary vocation to be the mother of Jesus.”

“May Our Lady – the mother who was almost your age when she received the angel’s announcement and became pregnant with him – teach you to say: ‘Here I am!’” the pope said.

(Follow Arocho on Twitter: @arochoju)

Then God created light again

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IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
It doesn’t matter whether you picture the origin of time the way science does, as beginning with the Big Bang, or whether you take the biblical account of the origins of the world literally. Either way there was a time before there was light. The universe was dark before God created light. However, eventually the world grew dark again. When?

Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI

We are told in the Gospels that as Jesus was dying on the cross, between the sixth and ninth hour, it grew dark and Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!” What really happened here?

Are the Gospels saying that it actually grew dark in the early afternoon, an eclipse of the sun, or are they referring to another kind of darkness, of a spiritual kind? Was there an eclipse of the sun as Jesus was dying? Perhaps. We don’t know, but that is of secondary importance anyway. What the Gospels are referring to is a kind of darkness that envelops us whenever what’s precious to us is humiliated, exposed as powerless, ridiculed, terminally defeated and crucified by our world. There’s a darkness that besets us whenever the forces of love seem overpowered by the forces of hatred. The light extinguished then is the light of hope, but there is deeper darkness and this is the kind of darkness that the Gospels say formed a cloud over the world as Jesus hung dying.

What’s being insinuated here is that at Jesus’ crucifixion, creation went back to its original chaos, as it was before there was light. But what’s also being insinuated is that God created light a second time, this time by raising Jesus from the dead, and that this new light is the most staggering light of all. Moreover, unlike the original light, which was only physical, this light is a light both for the eyes and for the soul.

For the eyes, the light of the resurrection is also a radically new physical phenomenon. At the resurrection of Jesus, the atoms of the planet were shaken up from their normal physical workings. A dead body rose from the grave to a life from which it would never again die. That had never happened before. Moreover, the resurrection of Jesus was also a radically new light for the soul, the light of hope. What is this latter light?

There’s a famous song written by Robbie Robertson made popular in the early 1970s by Joan Baez, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. Narrated in the first person by a man called Virgil Caine, the song is a sad lament about the distress experienced by a poor white Southern family during the American Civil War.

All that could go wrong for them, seemingly had gone wrong, including the death of their young son, killed in the war. Their situation is dark, lacking any hope. At a point in the song, the narrator offers this lament about his brother’s death:

He was just eighteen, proud and brave;
But a Yankee laid him in his grave;
I swear by the blood below my feet;
You can’t raise the Cain back up when it’s in defeat.

Can life be raised back up when it’s in defeat? Can a dead body come out of its grave? Can a violated body again become whole? Can lost innocence ever be restored? Can a broken heart ever be mended? Can a crushed hope ever again lift up a soul? Doesn’t darkness extinguish all light? What hope was there for Jesus’ followers as they witnessed his humiliation and death on Good Friday? When goodness itself gets crucified, what’s the basis for any hope?

In two words – the resurrection. When darkness enveloped the earth a second time, God made light a second time, and that light, unlike the physical light created at the dawn of time, can never be extinguished. That’s the difference between the resuscitation of Lazarus and the resurrection of Jesus, between physical light and the light of the resurrection. Lazarus was restored to his self-same body from which he had to die again. Jesus was given a radically new body which would never die again.

The renowned biblical scholar Raymond E. Brown tells us that the darkness that beset the world as Jesus hung dying, would last until we believe in the resurrection. Until we believe that God has a live-giving response for all death and until we believe God will roll back the stone from any grave, no matter how deeply goodness is buried under hatred and violence, the darkness of Good Friday will continue to darken our planet.

Mohandas K. Gandhi once observed that we can see the truth of God always creating new light, simply by looking at history: “When I despair, I remember that all through history, the way of truth and love has always won. There have been murderers and tyrants, and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of it, always.”

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

In memoriam: Sister Kay Burton, SNJM

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ROCKFORD, Wa. – Sister Kay was born Frances Catherine (Kay) Burton on Nov. 3, 1936, in Santa Monica, California to Gordon and Marie Burton while Gordon was employed by Douglas Aircraft to work on experimental airplanes. The family moved to Issaquah, Washington, in 1942 when Gordon began work as a government inspector on airplanes in Renton. They lived there for less than a year when the family moved to Rockford, Washington, where Kay had fond memories of living on the Saunders place. In 1948, the family moved to Lake Creek, Idaho, into the farmhouse where Gordon had been raised and that is still standing today.

In 1954, Kay graduated from Rockford High School as Valedictorian. She enrolled in Holy Names College, Spokane, graduating in 1958 with a degree in Education and began her teaching career at Deer Park High School. In January 1960, after a year and a half teaching in public schools, Kay entered the novitiate of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary at Marylhurst, Oregon receiving the religious name Sister Gordon Mary. She pronounced first vows on Feb. 5, 1962.

Sister Kay spent years developing peace-education programs and anti-racism curricula as an inner-city teacher and administrator in Seattle. She traveled to Clarksdale, Mississippi, in 1978 to teach at Immaculate Conception School and earned a M.Ed. in Counseling and Guidance from Western Michigan University in 1979. After returning to Spokane from 1983-87 to assume a leadership role as Provincial Director of her SNJM community, Sister Kay returned to Mississippi. She bought a house which she immediately remodeled into appropriate space for tutoring. She reached out to the Jonestown community to find out what people wanted. As a result, Sister Kay established GED programs, garden projects, softball teams and life skills classes for the people of Jonestown. Music was important to her and became a major emphasis. She encouraged instructors to come to Jonestown to teach music. The result was joyful singing at annual Christmas celebrations and Black history presentations, as well as piano recitals and other wonderful gatherings.

Her successful volunteer recruitment campaigns led to innumerable home repair and Habitat for Humanity projects benefiting the residents of Jonestown. Volunteers created a playground for younger children and helped upgrade basketball, baseball and track facilities. Sister Kay provided enrichment opportunities to the young people of Jonestown by organizing field trips and driving students to meet Sisters and others involved in service work. These ranged from travels to the Native American Community in Wapato, Washington, to Holy Names Convents in Lesotho, Africa.

Sister Kay also helped found The Call to Vietnam Program which sent Sisters of the Holy Names and volunteers to teach English language skills to the young Lovers of the Holy Cross Sisters in Hue, Vietnam.
Sister Kay’s career spanned a lifetime of giving to those in need. Her gifts as a teacher, administrator, volunteer, advocate, innovator, gardener and counselor touched the lives of the thousands of people she served. The people of Jonestown, Mississippi, will never forget Sister Kay and the impact she had during the thirty-plus years of her ministry there.

Sister Kay Burton, SNJM, died March 18, 2022, in Spokane, Washington, at Hospice House of Spokane. There must have been a joyous greeting in Heaven that morning as her mom and dad along with brothers Dick, Bill, Jim, and Ira met Kay on her journey to everlasting life.

Sister Kay is survived her five brothers: John, Tom, Don, Bob and Steve and generations of nieces and nephews who knew and loved their Aunt Kay. Sister Kay is also survived by members of her religious community the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary.

A funeral Mass was held on Saturday, March 26, 2022 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Rockford, Washington. She is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery.

Memorial gifts may be made to Sisters of the Holy Names Retirement Fund, PO Box 398, Marylhurst, OR, 97036 or online at www.snjmusontario.org/donate.

Pontifical Mission Societies staff accompanies Ukrainians in Holy Week

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By Catholic News Service
LVIV, Ukraine – For Msgr. Kieran Harrington, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States, the timing of his visit to Ukraine – Holy Week according to the Julian calendar – was intentional.

“I thought that it is important at this moment of war to come to a place we support to be with those who are in the midst of suffering, to be with Christ where he is suffering now, to stand at the foot of the cross here in Ukraine,” he said.

“You cannot stop the suffering, but you can be with them, so that they know they are not suffering by themselves, so they know that they are not alone,” he said. “It matters that someone comes and cares about your suffering.”

Msgr. Kieran Harrington, U.S. national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies, participates in an Easter service April 24, 2022, in Lviv, Ukraine. Msgr. Harrington visited the war-torn country during Holy Week on the Julian calendar, followed by Ukrainian Catholics and Orthodox. (CNS photo/Andrey Gorb, courtesy Pontifical Mission Societies)

Msgr. Harrington admitted a bit of fear traveling to Ukraine. “And then I meet mothers concerned about their children, who’ve heard the pounding of bombs and the scaring effect of that. I speak to a young girl who had gone through that experience and is looking at her sister and not wanting her sister to experience that.

“And others feel hatred for what is being done and are so upset that they are hating, because they know we are made for love. This is the takeaway for me. That God made us to love. And war makes us hate.”

Bringing humanitarian aid and other assistance for the outreach by the church in Ukraine and in Poland, Msgr. Harrington noted that “spiritual accompaniment” was critical as well: “to be here in Holy Week, to pray with the people, to journey with them through our Lord’s passion and crucifixion, to remind them of the hope of the resurrection.”

The Pontifical Mission Societies are intended to help the church grow, including with programs for children.

“But now we are in war,” Msgr. Harrington said, “and many of those who have supported our work want to help with the immediate need. And so that is why I am here, to bring that immediate help for food, for medicine. Our brothers and sisters are suffering, so we give what we can.”

Traveling with Msgr. Harrington throughout Ukraine were Father Sebastian Sardo, an Argentine priest who is ecclesiastical assistant at the U.S. office of the Pontifical Mission Societies, and Father Israel Perez, a priest of the Brooklyn Diocese, who is originally from Cuba.

St. Joseph Monastery of the Basilian Fathers near Lviv opened its doors to 170 refugees. This is where the U.S. group started its journey in Ukraine April 20.

Basilian Father Panteleimon Trofimov, the monastery’s superior, told Msgr. Harrington he had no hesitation in welcoming the refugees, mostly mothers and children.

“We are Christians. How could we not welcome them into our home? Our place is to be with people,” he said.

One refugee, Halina, made a 12-hour journey from Kyiv to the Lviv monastery. She said she asks God to keep as many people alive as possible. When asked about where God is in all this, a widow, Taisia, 85, also staying at the monastery, said: “God is here! Here’s an example for you: How else did we get here?”

Many Eastern-rite Catholics, as well as Orthodox, celebrate Easter according to the Julian calendar, often a week after Latin-rite Catholics celebrate Easter.

On Holy Thursday, April 21, Msgr. Harrington visited Ternopil. In addition to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, he met with Ukrainian Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Teodor Martynyuk and discussed church efforts to assist refugees from eastern Ukraine.

The U.S. delegation traveled to Kyiv on Good Friday, April 22, and visited an area with cars destroyed by bullets and bombs – cars where children and families were killed. The priests also prayed at a mass grave.
“Horrifying,” Msgr. Harrington said. “You see the physical destruction, but in speaking to the people, you also learn the emotional destruction.

“God is suffering with us in these moments, but it’s not the last word; we know that from Good Friday,” he said. “It may be ferocious, but at the end of the day, evil is conquered by grace.”

Returning to Lviv for Easter April 24, Msgr. Harrington reflected on his journey in light of Holy Week.
“It’s the grace of Christ’s death and resurrection that give us life,” he said, “and we believe that there will be an Easter moment.”

He encouraged prayer – “we help by our prayers” – and support – “that is what charity is, it is love, giving of ourselves.”

“This was a privileged time,” Msgr. Harrington said, “a blessing to walk with them in their suffering, to walk with them in solidarity.”

By the end of the week, $200,000 had been sent by the Pontifical Mission Societies to support the efforts of the Catholic Church in Ukraine and Poland to assist refugees and those in immediate need.

Editors: Support can be offered for all these efforts through the Pontifical Mission Societies at MISSIO.org/HelpUkraine.

Bishop’s schedule confirmation

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Friday, April 29, 6 p.m. – Confirmation, Joseph, Greenville

Saturday, April 30, 4 p.m. – Confirmation, St. Francis of Assisi, Brookhaven

Sunday, May 1, 10 a.m. – Confirmation, Holy Family, Jackson

Sunday, May 1, 5 p.m. – Confirmation, St. Joseph, Gluckstadt

Monday, May 2, 6 p.m. – Confirmation, All Saints, Belzoni

Wednesday, May 4, 6 p.m. – Confirmation, St. Paul, Flowood

Friday, May 6, 6 p.m. – Confirmation, St. Mary Basilica, Natchez

Sunday, May 8, 10:30 a.m. – Confirmation, St. Mary, Batesville

Tuesday, May 10, 6 p.m. – Confirmation, St. Joseph/St. Patrick, Meridian

Wednesday, May 11, 5 p.m. – Confirmation, St. Joseph, Starkville

Saturday, May 14, 10:30 a.m. – Priestly Ordination of Deacon Andrew Bowden, Cathedral of St. Peter, Jackson

Sunday, May 15, 11 a.m. – Confirmation, St. Anne, Carthage

Sunday, May 15, 5 p.m. – Confirmation, St. Francis of Assisi, Madison

Sunday, May 22, 9:30 a.m. – Confirmation, St. Therese, Jackson

Sunday, May 22, 5 p.m. – Confirmation, St. Richard, Jackson

Saturday, May 28, 10 a.m. – Closing Ceremony for Christian Family Movement, Richland Community Center

Wednesday, June 1, 6 p.m. – Confirmation, St. Jude, Pearl

Friday, June 3, 6 p.m. – Installation of Father Adolfo Suarez, Hope Well Pointe, Morton

Saturday, June 4, 10:30 a.m. – Ordination of Carlisle Beggerly to Diaconate, Immaculate Conception, West Point

Saturday, June 4, 5 p.m. – Confirmation, Immaculate Conception, West Point

Sunday, June 5, 10:30 a.m. – Confirmation, Cathedral of St. Peter, Jackson

Saturday, July 9, 5 p.m. – Confirmation, St. James, Corinth

Sunday, Aug. 28, 10:30 a.m. – Confirmation, St. Elizabeth, Clarksdale

All events are subject to change. Check with parishes for further details.

Divine Mercy resonates grace of forgiveness, peace, reconciliation, hope and life

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By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
The Octave of Easter, the celebration of the Lord’s resurrection from the dead extends for eight days reaching its crescendo on the second Sunday, pastorally and prayerfully cherished as Divine Mercy Sunday.

The Gospel each year for this Sunday is John 21:19-31 when the risen Lord appeared twice to his apostles huddled in fear to bless them with peace, to bestow the Holy Spirit upon them, to restore their lives and to send them on mission. The second appearance in this setting was necessary because Thomas went missing for the first encounter and was still steeped in his shame, doubt, fear, and hopelessness. The resurrection narratives are written down and proclaimed in the words of the evangelist “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31)

Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz

Each year, the Divine Mercy of the crucified and risen Lord is invoked for the “whole world” and many worthy causes, and this year at the Cathedral we raised up in prayer the victims of sexual abuse in our church.

During the Synod process many in our diocese expressed a yearning for unity that acknowledges the necessity for healing on many fronts. Like the apostles, and especially St. Thomas, many in our church and society are hurting for numerous reasons. One grave reason that ensnares far too many is the crime of sexual abuse that continues to afflict victims and loved ones. Some at our parish and diocesan sessions brought to the fore the commitment of church leadership nearly twenty years ago to never lose sight of “The Promise to Protect and the Pledge to Heal.”

Over these past twenty years much has been accomplished through the development and strengthening of safe environments to fulfill the promise to protect our children and young people in church programs. Countless thousands have been educated to be vigilant not only in church settings, but also in their daily lives concerning the behaviors and circumstances that could be problematic for vulnerable children and youth. Never again can we be complacent because predators in all walks of life are always alert for the environmental soft spots that grant access to children.

Just as critical in the fulfillment of the church’s commitment is “The Pledge to Heal,” lest we forget those who are suffering the unspeakable assaults of sexual abuse against their human dignity. Divine Mercy Sunday resonates with the grace of forgiveness, peace, reconciliation, hope and life. It’s twofold. The apostles, the first church leaders, had abandoned and denied their Lord, and they needed the grace of mercy and a new beginning. “For the sake of his sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world,” is a plea for God’s mercy upon church leadership who were perpetrators, or who allowed the abuse to continue.

The more heartfelt prayer is for the mercy of God to bathe those who have been harmed with healing and hope, peace and new life. When we hear Jesus’ invitation to Thomas to place his finger in the nail marks and his hand into the pierced side, we know that God desires healing for all who are broken and beaten down from sexual abuse and who yearn for new life to touch the healing power of God’s mercy in Jesus Christ. This resurrection moment was announced by the Lord Jesus at the outset of his public ministry in St. Luke’s Gospel. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to bring release to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and set the oppressed go free.” (Luke 4:18) These words of the Lord are the fundamental work of the church, and the heart of the “pledge to heal.”

There are many paths to new life in the Body of Christ and our prayer on Divine Mercy Sunday was that we never tire of praying for and accompanying our grievously harmed brothers and sisters on the path of life to him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Diocese statement regarding
conviction and sentencing
of Paul West

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GREENWOOD – Paul West was a teacher and principal at St. Francis School in Greenwood, Mississippi from July 1993 until October 1998. The Diocese of Jackson cooperated fully in the State of Mississippi’s recent criminal conviction of Paul West, including providing background testimony at his trial on the diocese’s list of clergy who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors. The list was first provided to the Attorney General in 2002 and then updated and released publicly in March of 2019.

The diocese reported the initial allegation against Paul West to the Department of Human Services and the Greenwood Police Department in 1998 and reported the subsequent allegations to the Leflore County District Attorney in 2018. West was removed from ministry after the original 1998 complaint.

The Diocese of Jackson is committed to protecting children. Sexual misconduct by church personnel violates human dignity and the mission of the church. The diocese has dedicated substantial time and resources to ensure that children being served by the church are not at risk of sexual abuse by church personnel. The spiritual well-being of all victims, their families, and others in the community is of particular concern to the church.

Over the past thirty years, the Diocese of Jackson has developed and implemented a safe environment program. The diocese has publicized standards of conduct for its priests and deacons as well as diocesan employees, volunteers, and any other church personnel in positions of trust who have regular contact with children and young people. Beginning in 1986, the diocese implemented a written policy and procedure regarding reporting and handling of sexual misconduct claims. The policy was updated in 1994 with the addition of a Diocesan Fitness Review Committee and again in 2002 so that it would reflect the mandates of the Bishops’ Charter.

Anyone who has been a victim of abuse or exploitation by clergy, religious or lay church personnel and has not yet reported it is encouraged to do so. The Victim Assistance Coordinator, Erika Rojas, is available to assist in making a report. The contact number for the Victim Assistance Coordinator is (601) 326-3736.

Ounce of prevention, worth a pound of cure

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OUNCE OF PREVENTION
By Reba J. McMellon, M.S., LPC
The number one reason adult survivors don’t tell their parents about being sexually abused is they didn’t want to make the situation worse. They fear the parent wouldn’t be able to handle the information in a healthy way.

Opening a conversation doesn’t have to be awkward and heavy. Ask your adolescent and adult children what their views are on the recent #metoo movement and the #timesup movement. Then, listen, listen, listen.

Reba J. McMellon, M.S.,LPC

Different generations define sexual assault differently. What was shrugged off in the 1970’s may not be considered something to ignore now. Ask your kids what they consider unwelcomed flirtation and unwelcomed physical touch. Listen to their definitions of sexual assault and sexual misconduct. Define as a family what is considered criminal versus what is considered inappropriate. Then discuss how to handle both.

Always include both male and females in these conversations. Males are even less likely to report sexual abuse than females. Open the dialogue. Reduce the stigma, at least in your own home.

Families are as sick as their secrets and as healthy as their dialogue. Let your children know you can handle what they have to say. You can listen. You can respond in a firm and rational way. If not, they are not likely to come to you with a report of abuse. If you find that this is a subject you simply cannot breech with your children, talk with someone about why. Unresolved issues of a parent’s own sexual abuse can lead to the cycle continuing because it has become a taboo subject.

It is not uncommon for the same family member or community person that abused the parent to also abuse their child. The damage will have lifelong consequences by never reporting or revealing the assault. Abuse can become a multigenerational issue that leads to increasingly severe mental health damage.
However, there is a wide range of what is considered a reportable offense. It’s a new era. Sexual misconduct is in the media and out in the open more than ever.

These tips are for parents of adolescent and adult children.
– Open a discussion with your adolescent and adult children. Ask them to teach you what they know about the #metoo movement. In a discussion with my own son, I stated there were things we just learned to put up with, the “lighter” offenses. He said his generation doesn’t think you should have had to; therefore, we have the #timesup movement. Made sense. I liked it. I learned something.

– Be open and be honest with your children.

– People can’t recover from what has not been uncovered.

– The difference between a victim and a survivor is a victim still has an open wound, a survivor has healed and carries the scar. No shame in carrying a scar-Jesus didn’t hide his and neither should we. Scars show trauma has healed.

– If child abuse prevention is a subject you simply cannot talk about with your children, talk with someone about your own experiences. We must break the cycle.

– If not now, when. If you keep putting off these discussions, they will never happen.

Adult survivors of sexual abuse are as high as 20% of the general population. Be mindful how you discuss child sexual abuse when in the general public, you are likely to be within ear shot of someone who has suffered and survived one of the most devastating offenses to ones mental, social, sexual and spiritual development.

“To help heal the world, start with your own family.” – St. Mother Teresa

(Reba J. McMellon, M.S. is a licensed professional counselor with 35 years of experience. She continues to work in the field of mental health as a consultant and is available for public speaking. Reba can be reached at rebaj@bellsouth.net.)