Category Archives: U.S. News

Serving church, country ‘an honor,’ says priest promoted to general in Air Force Chaplain Corps

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By OSV News
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – At Blessed Sacrament Parish in Tallahassee, Father Peter Zalewski is a busy and beloved pastor, tending to the activities of his church community and the local Catholic school, the largest primary school in the Pensacola-Tallahassee Diocese.
But the pastor also serves in the Air Force Chaplain Corps, and with his Dec. 14 promotion to a one-star, or brigadier, general, he now holds the highest rank in the military of any Catholic priest.
On his one day off a week, he’ll be tending to meetings at the Pentagon or elsewhere in Washington, because he now serves as the primary adviser to the chief of the National Guard Bureau on religious, ethical and morale issues.
As a general, Father Zalewski will provide guidance and programs directing National Guard chaplain personnel and supporting Army and Air Guardsmen.
The Dec. 14 promotion ceremony at the Florida National Guard Headquarters in St. Augustine was the culmination of Father Zalewski’s nearly 40-year life in the military, which began in 1984 as a cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Father Pete Zalewszki, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Tallahassee, Fla., is seen during a Dec. 14, 2023, ceremony at the Florida National Guard Headquarters in St. Augustine where he was promoted him to brigadier general in the Air Force Chaplain Corps. Now the highest-ranked Catholic clergyman in the U.S. Armed Services, he will minister to members of both the Air and Army National Guard. (OSV News photo/courtesy Catholic Extension)

In the early 1990s, he deployed in major military operations, including serving as an intelligence officer in Operation Desert Storm in the first Gulf War. He was following in the footsteps of his father, who served two tours in Vietnam, but he also pursued a military career with encouragement of his mother, who helped him appreciate the meaning of serving the Armed Forces.
The Florida native eventually heard the call to pursue the priesthood instead of Air Force pilot training, so in 1992 he became a seminarian for the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. He also became an Air Force chaplain candidate.
At his promotion ceremony, Father Zalewski thanked his parishioners at Blessed Sacrament, as well as St. Dominic in Panama City, Florida, where he was previously pastor, for always supporting his dual responsibilities.
“Thank you for your support,” he said. “We have to protect those who protect us. So, thank you for allowing me to do that. That means a lot to me.”
Father Zalewski’s remarks were reported by Catholic Extension in an article on its website, www.catholicextension.org.
The priest’s connection to the Chicago-based organization is twofold. He serves on its mission committee, which helps Catholic Extension increase its impact and awareness around the country. He also has involved his parish in raising financial support for various Extension initiatives over the years.
But the priest also was a beneficiary of Extension’s funding of seminary education when he was in formation to be ordained for the Pensacola-Tallahassee Diocese.
Each year, Catholic Extension supports 400 seminarians on their path to the priesthood by providing scholarships that help struggling dioceses pay for seminarian tuition as well as room and board.
After his ordination in 1997, Father Zalewski began serving as a parish priest in his diocese and as a military reserve chaplain at bases in the Florida Panhandle. He would eventually be deployed again in 2008 as a “wing chaplain” to Al-Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, serving military personnel supporting U.S. operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“He knows that the many sacrifices of our service members have created a toll – physical, mental and spiritual,” Catholic Extension said. “Father Zalewski recalls his visits to military bases over these past years where he would encounter young soldiers wearing prosthetics, reminding him of what they gave on the battlefield.
“More troublesome, still, are the wounds that are not visible. Father Zalewski laments that despite many efforts within the services, suicides among military personnel are not decreasing and more needs to be done to stem this tide.”
Father Zalewski said, “It’s been an honor to serve my country in the military, and an honor to serve the Catholic Church in America through Catholic Extension’s mission committee. I see that many of our service members come from rural communities – so Extension is a direct contributor to their spiritual well-being and strength.”
Roughly a quarter of all active-duty military personnel are Catholic, Extension noted, but “as a general, he will serve people regardless of their religious affiliation. … His job will be to ensure that these young, self-sacrificing men and women, who have given so much to our country, have the spiritual care they need.”

National Eucharistic Revival invites Catholics to ‘spark’ a fire with prayer series

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By Katie Yoder

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The National Eucharistic Revival is inviting everyday Catholics to personally participate in the nationwide movement by asking God to transform and renew their hearts through prayer.

“If we want revival for the American church, it must start with you and me,” Kris Frank, chief mission officer for the National Eucharistic Congress, told OSV News of their Spark Series, a prayer series that anyone can join. “As St. Augustine once taught, ‘One loving heart sets another on fire.’ So while the revival is for the entire church, it is also for the individual.”

The revival, a three-year initiative by the U.S. Catholic bishops, seeks to renew the Catholic Church by enkindling a living relationship with Jesus Christ in the holy Eucharist. The grassroots movement culminates in the 10th National Eucharistic Congress, taking place in Indianapolis July 17-21, 2024, followed by a “year of going out on mission.” OSV (the parent company of OSV News and the Our Sunday Visitor newspaper), which has supported the revival from its beginning, was named a “mission partner” for the congress earlier this year.

As part of the movement, the Spark Series consists of nine short daily reflections inviting the faithful to open their hearts for revival. Each day includes a reflection, prayer, and challenge centered on a particular theme.

“We didn’t want this prayer series to be daunting or overwhelming, so using the framework of a nine-day novena gave us a structure and kept the reflections focused,” Frank said of the format. “Obviously, that means we had to leave out some topics we would have liked to include, but the hope is that the Spark Series is a springboard for people to dive deeper into prayer and the richness of the church through revival.”

Catholics can sign up online at the National Eucharistic Revival’s website – eucharisticrevival.org/get-involved – by submitting their email address.

“This prayer series is for everyone,” Frank stressed. “From the holiest amongst us to the person who is just learning about prayer and the church, we believe God has a special grace for all in this season of Eucharistic revival.”

He added, “Our hope is that as people pray through these reflections that God does something new in their heart, and through a renewal of hearts, God will bring about a revival that will bless our church for years to come.”

The prayer series presents reflections to the faithful in a hopeful, encouraging tone while challenging them to examine their lives as children of God. The messages remind people of God’s love and mercy while centering on revival and renewal through the Eucharist. The nine themes for each day are: Revival; Kerygma/Missionaries; Encounter; Healing; Source and Summit; Mary, Mother of the Eucharist (Adoration); Pilgrimage; Works of Mercy; and Mission.

“As you walk with the Holy Spirit during this time, be open to how he wants to speak to you about encounter, healing, mission, and mercy, all flowing from a love for the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith, in which Christ is truly, really, and substantially present,” the introduction to the series reads. “Above all, expect God to work in amazing ways in your life as you surrender yourself more deeply to him.”

At the end of the nine days, the series recommends that Catholics share their experience with others and invite them to participate in the Spark Series too.

Nearly 22,000 people have already signed up to receive and pray through the prayer series, Frank revealed. The inspiration for the series, he said, came from a desire for the church to be unified in its prayers for revival.

“We believe true revival is far more than a series of events or a program, so we created these short reflections that would serve as a prayer guide for personal conversion and renewal for the church,” he said.

Frank explained that the name of the prayer series draws from the vision of Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, chairman of the board of the National Eucharistic Congress, who said of the revival, “We want to start a fire, not a program.”

“The fiercest fires still start with a small spark, so we hope these reflections are simply the start of something far greater,” Frank added.

He addressed the series’ focus on fostering Catholics’ personal renewal and revival.

“Revival doesn’t simply happen because we say we are in a revival, or because we release resources about revival,” he said. “We believe true revival can only happen through a renewal of hearts.”

(Katie Yoder writes for OSV News from Washington. She is a contributing editor for the Our Sunday Visitor newspaper. A link to the Spark Series can be found here at the National Eucharistic Revival’s website: https://www.eucharisticrevival.org/get-involved)

News Briefs

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NATION
FORT CALHOUN, Neb. (OSV News) – A Nebraska priest has died after being attacked in the rectory of his parish in the early morning of the Second Sunday of Advent. Father Stephen Gutgsell was found “suffering from injuries sustained during an assault” Dec. 10 at the rectory of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, where he served as pastoral administrator. According to a Dec. 10 press release from the Washington County Sheriff Mike Robinson, the county’s 911 emergency dispatch received an emergency call that day at approximately 5:05 a.m. reporting an attempted break-in at the rectory. Deputies arrived within six minutes and took the suspect into custody while the injured priest was transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, where he later died from his injuries. Robinson told local media he does not believe the death is related to the deceased priest’s 2007 conviction for embezzling more than $125,000 from a former parish, for which he received five years’ probation and was returned to ministry following a successful residential rehabilitation program. Local media reported tributes poured in at a vigil held that Sunday, with parishioners mourning a priest they called a “wonderful person” who devoted himself to others above himself. The priest’s final bulletin message to his flock spoke of St. John the Baptist, their patron, who is “to remind us of what we all should be preparing to receive in the Advent Season” before asking God’s blessing on them and their families “in this Wonderful Season of Grace.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio (OSV News) – Two Ohio dioceses are considering a potential merger, according to a joint letter issued Dec. 11 by Bishop Earl K. Fernandes of the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, and Bishop Paul J. Bradley, apostolic administration of the Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio, who said they “have begun very preliminary discussions regarding the potential merger of the dioceses.” The bishops said, “the Apostolic Nunciature has asked the dioceses to work together to consider how different dimensions of the dioceses, including the temporal aspects of life, might be affected by such a proposal.” The move comes a year after a similar attempt was put on hold by former Steubenville Bishop Jeffrey M. Monforton, who admitted he encountered “disappointment and even fear” among faithful regarding the prospect. Now, “while no decision has been made, due diligence is needed so an educated and responsible decision can be discerned in a timely manner,” wrote Bishop Fernandes and Bishop Bradley. “Ultimately the decision is up to the Holy Father,” they wrote. “The work has begun, and as the work continues, updates will be provided.”

OWENSBORO, Ky. (OSV News) – Two years ago over the course of a Friday night Dec. 10-11, a series of tornadoes struck western Kentucky, killing 57 with additional fatalities in Illinois, Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri and damaging and destroying several thousand residences as well as nearly 200 commercial buildings. Just one day before area residents officially observed the outbreak’s second anniversary, tornadoes ripped through middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky inflicting another weather disaster on Dec. 9 just weeks before Christmas. Although no Catholic schools or parishes suffered storm damage, six people were killed in Clarksville, Tennessee, and other communities were devastated as well. Laura Miller, faith formation director and office assistant at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church and School in Clarksville, told OSV News their buildings escaped damage but “north Clarksville is pretty torn up.” Father Ryan Harpole, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Bowling Green, Kentucky, reflected on their own experience rebuilding following the deadly 2021 tornadoes, saying “we have adapted quite well, and people have moved on, and if anything came out of this it is a message that says there is hope in the future.” Diocese of Owensboro, Kentucky, Bishop William F. Medley issued a special statement of reflection for the remembrance of the December 2021 tornadoes, saying that while they “permanently changed our communities” they also showed the Catholic Church’s “fast and generous response to those who suffered.”

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis said he has decided to be buried in Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major instead of in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican and that he has simplified the rites for a papal funeral. In a Dec. 12 interview with Mexican news outlet N+, the pope, in good humor, discussed plans for his own funeral as well as the trips he still hopes to complete during his pontificate. The pope said he had already discussed preparations for a papal funeral with his master of liturgical ceremonies, Archbishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli. “We simplified them quite a bit,” he said, and jokingly added that “I will premiere the new ritual.” Breaking with recent tradition, Pope Francis said he has chosen to be buried at the Basilica of St. Mary Major because of his “very strong connection” with the church. “The place is already prepared,” he said. Asked about his future travels, the pope said that a trip to Belgium is “certain” and that two other trips, to Polynesia and Argentina, are pending.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Christmas season is a reminder to Christians that despite hardships, God chose to join himself to humanity and still remains by its side, Pope Francis said. “Christmas is a reminder that God loves us and wants to be with us,” the pope told a group of children at the Vatican Dec. 15 during a meeting with representatives from the Italian Catholic Action movement. The Incarnation, he said, “is a stupendous gift, and it brings with it another: that we may also love one another as brothers and sisters.” He added that such love is needed today when “so many people, so many children suffer because of war.” Later in the day, the pope met with the organizers of a Christmas concert hosted at the Vatican for people in need. Reflecting on the concert’s title, “Christmas Concert with the Poor and for the Poor,” the pope said moving from an attitude of being “for” the poor to one of being “with” the poor is key. “One starts from the ‘for’ but wants to reach the ‘with,’ and this is very Christian,” he said. “God came for us, but how? In what way? By coming to live with us, by even becoming like us.”

An Ukrainian serviceman carries his daughter on his shoulders, while people gather around a Christmas tree in front of the St. Sophia Cathedral, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Dec. 6, 2023. (OSV News photo/Alina Smutko, Reuters)

WORLD
KHARKIV, Ukraine (OSV News) – When Ukraine’s embattled citizens gather this Christmas, their rich festivities will feel symbolically different – as the festival is celebrated for the first time on Dec. 25, in line with the Western calendar. “People here have long insisted we should be united around a common festival, expressing our faith together and enjoying the same work-free days,” explained Auxiliary Bishop Jan Sobilo from Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhia Diocese. “As we withstand Russia’s attacks, however, this change will also have a political dimension in bringing us closer to Western civilization. Many of those who no longer attend church, believing Christians are always feuding, may well be led back to God by this new united spirit of prayer and celebration,” he said. The bishop spoke to OSV News amid preparations for the long-awaited switch to the Western Christmas, agreed earlier in 2023 by church and government leaders. Amid harsh conditions of war, Ukrainians have shown determination in maintaining their Christmas customs. The great festival of Vigilia, or Christmas Eve, is marked with family gatherings around a sviata vechera, or “holy supper,” incorporating a dozen dishes representing the Twelve Apostles, and ends with the midnight Mass. Homes are decorated with the customary didukh, a sheaf of wheat stalks symbolizing ancestors’ spirits, for whom dishes such as the traditional kutia are left on the table.

WARSAW, Poland (OSV News) – Cardinal Grzegorz Rys of Lodz, chairman of the Committee for Dialogue with Judaism of the Polish bishops’ conference, strongly condemned the incident in which a far-right Polish lawmaker used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the Sejm, the country’s parliament. “In connection with the incident in the Sejm committed by Mr. MP Grzegorz Braun, who extinguished the Hanukkah candles and declared that he was not ashamed of what he had done, I declare that I am ashamed and apologize to the entire Jewish community in Poland,” Cardinal Rys wrote Dec. 12. Braun, a member of the Confederation party, provoked outrage from members of faith communities and other members of parliament when he used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles Dec. 12 during an afternoon event with members of the Jewish community. This is a disgrace,” said Donald Tusk, newly appointed prime minister. “Poland’s Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich told Reuters by telephone that Braun’s actions were not representative of the country and that he was “embarrassed” by them. “Someone extinguished the Hanukkah candles and a few minutes later we relit them,” Rabbi Schudrich told Reuters. “For thousands of years our enemies have been trying to extinguish us, from the time of the Maccabees right through to Hamas. But our enemies should learn, they cannot extinguish us.”

Briefs

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NATION
HOBOKEN, N.J. (OSV News) – For the last decade, Msgr. Paul Bochicchio of St. Francis Church in Hoboken has been advising as a spiritual consultant on the upcoming film “Cabrini,” produced by Angel Studios about the life and ministry of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, set to debut in theaters in March 2024. The movie, from the studio that produced “The Chosen” and “Sound of Freedom,” gives a dramatic look into the life of Mother Cabrini, as she is best known, and the uphill battle she faced ministering to the immigrant poor of New York. Msgr. Bochicchio, a priest of 52 years, has had a lifelong devotion to the first American saint. His great-grandmother knew Mother Cabrini personally, as they were both community leaders among New York Italian immigrants at the turn of the 20th century. Noting his grandmother had an enormous influence on his vocation to the priesthood, he found that he had a calling to work with Italian immigrants due to his background and had the perfect model in the patron saint of immigrants. As one of many technical advisers on the set of “Cabrini” but also as a Catholic priest, Msgr. Bochicchio accompanied the cast and crew on work retreats, where he would celebrate Mass every day and give spiritual reflections on the saint. As a script adviser, he would receive every revision and be asked to comment on its accuracy.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (OSV News) – The late James Madison Smith Sr. and Catherine “Kitty” Smith, formerly enslaved Catholics, are being recognized as agents of the Underground Railroad. The Smiths, a freed married couple, are buried in St. Louis Cemetery in Louisville in a once-segregated section of the cemetery. The U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Park Service announced in late September that the Smiths’ burial site would be included in the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. Its mission is to “honor, preserve and promote the history of resistance to enslavement through escape and flight,” according to its website. During the 1850s, worsening conditions for Black people in the South led the Smiths to move from Louisville to Jennings County, Indiana. Their farm – located about 29 miles from the Ohio River – became a shelter for enslaved people fleeing for freedom, said Deacon Ned Berghausen, who led the effort to recognize the Smiths. He serves at St. Agnes Church. Years earlier, James Madison Smith had purchased his freedom and that of Catherine Smith and they were married in 1837 at St. Louis Church, now the site of the Cathedral of the Assumption. Though they left Louisville, the couple remained connected to the city’s Black Catholic community.

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican announced Pope Francis’ Christmas liturgy schedule Nov. 28. It includes: – Dec. 24 at 7:30 p.m., the pope will celebrate the Mass of the Nativity of the Lord in St. Peter’s Basilica. – Dec. 25 at noon, Pope Francis gives his message and blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world) from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. – Dec. 31 at 5 p.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope presides over evening prayer and the chanting of the “Te Deum” in thanksgiving to God for the year that is ending. – Jan. 1 at 10 a.m. in the basilica, the pope celebrates Mass for the feast of Mary, Mother of God, and World Peace Day. – Jan. 6 at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s, Pope Francis celebrates Mass for the feast of the Epiphany. – Jan. 7 at 9:30 a.m. in the Sistine Chapel, the pope presides over a Mass for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and baptizes several infants.

TURIN, Italy (OSV News) – On Oct. 30, three days after Pope Francis lifted the statute of limitations and opened the path for a church trial and possible removal from the priesthood for former Jesuit and mosaic artist Father Marko Rupnik, a woman previously known as Anna gave the world her real name, revealing it in the Italian daily newspaper Domani. Emerging as Gloria Branciani, she openly wanted to protest church policies that put the alleged victims in more pain instead of healing. Branciani alerted church authorities about Father Rupnik’s behavior years ago, but it was a losing battle, she told OSV News. In a first-ever interview by an alleged victim of Father Rupnik, published by Domani Dec. 18, 2022, she spoke about a “descent into hell” she experienced for nine years and recalled how “Father Marko at first slowly and gently infiltrated my psychological and spiritual world by appealing to my uncertainties and frailties while using my relationship with God to push me to have sexual experiences with him.” Father Rupnik was expelled from the Jesuit order June 9 because of his “stubborn refusal to observe the vow of obedience.” The artist had been accused by several women of sexual, spiritual and psychological abuses that according to media reports over a 30-year period. Branciani said she hopes that in the canonical process recently reopened against Father Rupnik will lead to the truth being recognized.

WORLD
PARIS (OSV News) – If classical literature characters could become saints, France has a perfect example. The real bishop behind Victor Hugo’s famous Les Misérables character is likely to be beatified. The French bishops, gathered in Lourdes Nov. 3-8 for their plenary assembly, voted in favor of opening the diocesan process for his beatification. Bishop Bienvenu de Miollis (1753-1843) was the Bishop of Digne from 1805 to 1838 and an inspiration for Victor Hugo’s character Bishop Myriel in the novel Les Misérables, published in 1862. Bishop Myriel was close to the poor and lived a sober life. He took in the main character, Jean Valjean, who had just been released from the penal colony. The next day, Valjean was recaptured by the police for stealing Bishop Myriel’s silverware. But the prelate pretended it was a gift, and doing so, he saved Valjean from re-arrest. This gesture of mercy marked the beginning of a profound transformation of Valjean, which continued throughout the book. He remained attached to the memory of the bishop all his life. Renowned for his kindness, Bishop de Miollis was very attentive to the poor and beggars, whom he gathered together at the Hospice of Charity, and lived very modestly himself. In 1806, Bishop de Miollis took in a freed convict by the name of Pierre Maurin, whom no-one wanted to take in, and looked for ways to help him regain his dignity – a story that inspired the author of Les Misérables.

BUENOS AIRES (OSV News) – The Nicaraguan government has released a series of photos and videos of imprisoned Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa – purportedly as proof of him receiving preferential treatment – that have sparked alarm over the prelate’s emaciated appearance and indignation over his continued incarceration in one of the country’s most notorious prisons. Nicaragua’s interior ministry published the photos and videos from 10 separate occasions between March 25, 2023, and Nov. 2, 2023, as part of a 20-page press release issued Nov. 28, according to independent Nicaraguan news organization Confidencial. The photos and videos show Bishop Álvarez greeting his brother and sister during prison visits, watching TV in an area full of snacks, and receiving medical attention. “As can be seen in the video and photographs, the conditions of confinement are preferential and the regime of medical consultations, family visits, referral and receipt of packages is strictly complied with, contrary to what slanderous campaigns would have us believe,” the ministry said in its statement. The bishop, 57, appeared emaciated in the photos, according to ecclesial colleagues on social media. An outspoken prelate, who routinely denounced the abuses of Nicaragua’s regime, Bishop Álvarez was convicted Feb. 10 on charges of conspiracy and spreading false information and sentenced to 26 years in prison after a closed trial in which he was denied a lawyer of his choosing.

MARAWI, Philippines (OSV News) – A deadly bomb that exploded during a Mass Dec. 3 killed at least four people and injured dozens at a university in a predominantly Muslim city in southern Philippines. Media reports that the explosion caused panic among dozens of students and teachers in a gymnasium, where Mass was taking place, at Mindanao State University in Marawi, capital of Lanao del Sur province. The explosion took place at around 7 a.m. local time. Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for the deadly blast, according to Reuters and The New York Times. Nearly 80% of the Philippines’ population of 114.6 million people is Catholic. About 6% of the population identifies as Muslim. After praying the Angelus, Pope Francis assured the victims of his prayers. A telegram, addressed to Bishop Edwin de la Peña of Marawi, assured the people of the Holy Father’s spiritual closeness amid this tragedy, and that he commended the souls of those who died to God’s mercy and prayed for “the divine gifts of healing and consolation upon the injured and bereaved.”

US bishops’ meeting shows united front on mission but no clear synod action plan

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By Peter Jesserer Smith

Bishops attend Mass Nov. 13, 2023, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore at the start of their 2023 fall plenary assembly. (OSV News photo/courtesy Angelus Virata, Baltimore Basilica)

BALTIMORE (OSV News) – For two days, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops met in plenary assembly in Baltimore advancing key issues related to liturgy, living out the faith, including in the public square, and retooling the conference to better serve the church’s mission.
However, the bishops’ Nov. 13-16 meeting, which took place nearly three weeks following the conclusion of the global Synod on Synodality, also concluded without a common game plan for how bishops could get consultative feedback from their local parishes with respect to the synod’s “halftime” report before it reconvenes in 11 months.

At the assembly’s opening Mass Nov. 13, the bishops prayed for peace, with USCCB president Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services in the homily saying they asked for wisdom to help others embrace Jesus Christ, and noting the feast day of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American saint, and herself an immigrant who championed care for immigrants.

The public portions of the bishops’ plenary assembly Nov. 14-15 were marked with extraordinary unanimity as the bishops’ closed-door “fraternal dialogues” gave them time for face-to-face group discussions to work out contentious issues in advance of presentations and votes.

The bishops approved a letter to Pope Francis, affirming their shared concern over global conflicts, his teaching on “ecological conversion,” and their commitment to prayerfully reflect on the Synod on Synodality synthesis report.

In their addresses, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the U.S., and Archbishop Broglio offered contrasting viewpoints on synodality. Cardinal Pierre focused on Luke’s Gospel account of the risen Jesus revealing himself to his disciples on the road to Emmaus as illustrating “precisely the synodal path in its essential elements: encountering, accompanying, listening, discerning and rejoicing at what the Holy Spirit reveals.” Archbishop Broglio shared his view that existing advisory structures in the U.S. church, both at the diocesan and national level, are examples of existing synodal realities to “recognize and build on” while remaining open to “new possibilities.”

Over Nov. 14-15, the bishops voted with overwhelming majorities on every issue: U.S. adaptations to the Liturgy of the Hours and liturgical drafts related to consecrated and religious life; national revised statutes for Christian initiation; and it also approved without controversy supplements to its teaching on faithful citizenship that reference Pope Francis’ 2020 encyclical letter “Fratelli Tutti” (“Brothers All”) while naming abortion as “our pre-eminent priority” among other threats to human life and dignity.

The U.S. bishops voted to support the sainthood cause launched by the Archdiocese of New York for Father Isaac Hecker (1819-1888), founder of the Paulist Fathers. They also endorsed an effort to declare St. John Henry Newman a “doctor of the church.”

The bishops voted to reauthorize their Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism for two more years, discern its future place in the conference structure, and change rules so retired Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Joseph N. Perry, who is African American, could continue leading that committee.

The U.S. bishops elected Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City as secretary-elect of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and also elected chairmen-elect for six committees – education, communications, cultural diversity, doctrine, national collections and pro-life activities – as well as bishops for the boards of Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc., or CLINIC, and Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. church’s overseas relief and development agency.

A surprise came when the bishops decided to punt approval of a pastoral framework for Indigenous Catholic ministry that they had commissioned four years ago in order to revise and revisit the plan at their June 2024 assembly.

Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Ind., speaks during a conversation about the Synod on Synodality in Rome at a Nov. 14, 2023, session of the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. Also pictured are Father Michael J.K. Fuller, USCCB general secretary; Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, USCCB president; and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, USCCB vice president. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)

Outside the hotel where the bishops’ assembly was held, the Baltimore-based Defend Life organization held a rosary rally led by Bishop Joseph E. Strickland. The event, however, was planned in advance of the bishop learning Nov. 11, just days before the assembly, that Pope Francis had removed him from pastoral governance of his Diocese of Tyler, Texas. About 125 participants, including some clergy and religious, participated.

Bishop Strickland told reporters, including OSV News, that he was told by “the nuncio” – indicating Cardinal Christophe Pierre – not to attend the fall plenary meeting. He said he “respected” the decision,” as well as his “commitment to be here for this prayer.”

Back in the bishops’ assembly, the prelates heard an update on the National Eucharistic Revival revealed attendees of the National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21 in Indianapolis now have the option of purchasing single-day and weekend passes, among other provisions to make participation more affordable and flexible, including scholarships and increasing housing options. A plenary indulgence also will be available to anyone who participates in one of the four main routes of the national pilgrimage to the Eucharistic congress.

The bishops also heard an update on the newly launched Institute on the Catechism. Some bishops advocated that instituting lay men and women to the new ministry of catechist would fill a need for authentic, well-formed witnesses to bring that “evangelizing catechesis” to others.

The bishops most sustained public dialogue took place over the mental health campaign launched in response to the “dire mental health crisis” in the U.S. with some bishops calling for more Catholics to enter the mental health field, educating seminarians and priests in properly referring people for counseling, or connecting people with mental health resources similar to the “Walking with Moms In Need” initiative.

With respect to the Oct. 4-29 Synod on Synodality, the bishops heard about positive experiences from some of their delegates, particularly the value of the synod’s “conversations in the Spirit” as a model for carrying out regular conversational interaction among the church’s members for the sake of the church’s mission.

However, by the time the plenary assembly concluded, the bishops did not seem to have any definite process or task force to help them engage the faithful in consultation on the synod’s 41-page report summarizing the body’s consensus, matters for consideration and priority actions.

During a Nov. 14 press conference, Bishop Flores told OSV News he anticipates it will be discussed in June once bishops have taken the time to “let it sink in and read it carefully.” He said what the USCCB could do immediately was request guidance from the Synod Secretariat in Rome, on how to engage their local churches in a focused and relevant way “because the first responsibility of the bishops is to go back to their own people and to say these are some issues that impact us in particular.”

He indicated a synodal culture needs to take root in the local church first – noting parish or diocesan pastoral councils are not used in some places since they are not mandatory – in order to discern what structures are needed to support it at all levels of the church.

The bishops’ showed a move toward deepening that kind of engagement by replacing the USCCB’s current strategic planning cycle with a mission planning process that would allow the conference to have defined regular responsibilities and the flexibility to focus on “mission directives that evolve after a process of discernment” that can be informed by bishops engaging in local and regional consultation.

“I think it is more synodal,” Archbishop Broglio said in an interview with OSV News, “and I think that will be something that will make a difference in how we address issues and concerns of the church in the United States in a different way, in a new way.”

(Peter Jesserer Smith is national news and features editor for OSV News. Follow him on X (formerly known as Twitter) @jesserersmith.dinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, visit https://www.synod.va/en/news/a-synodal-church-in-mission.html)

Bishop Strickland removed from diocese after accusing pope of backing ‘attack on the sacred’

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By Maria Wiering and Peter Jesserer Smith

(OSV News) – Pope Francis has removed Bishop Joseph E. Strickland from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, the Holy See Press Office announced Nov. 11. Simultaneously, Francis has appointed Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin as apostolic administrator to oversee the diocese until a new bishop is appointed.

No reason was given for Bishop Strickland’s removal, although speculation about his future in the diocese has swirled for months following the bishop’s May 12 post on Twitter (now known as X), accusing the pontiff of “undermining the deposit of faith.”

The pope’s decision followed an address given by Bishop Strickland at an Oct. 31 public gathering in Rome, where he read from a lengthy letter, attributed to a “dear friend,” that accused Pope Francis (among other things) of being a “usurper of Peter’s chair.” Later, the bishop opined himself that Pope Francis was supporting an “attack on the sacred” coming out of the Vatican.

The speculation about Bishop Strickland’s future was accelerated by a June 19-24 apostolic visitation of the Diocese of Tyler conducted by retired Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona, and Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan of Camden, New Jersey.

File photo of Pope Francis greeting Bishop Joseph E. Strickland of Tyler, Texas, during a Jan. 20, 2020, meeting with U.S. bishops from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas during their “ad limina” visits to the Vatican. The Holy See Press Office announced Nov. 11, 2023, that Pope Francis has removed Bishop Strickland from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Tyler. (OSV News photo/Vatican Media)

On Nov. 11, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston released a public statement on the bishop’s removal, explaining that after the apostolic visitation of the Tyler Diocese took place – which he described as “an exhaustive inquiry into all aspects of the governance and leadership of the Diocese of Tyler by its Ordinary” – it was recommended “the continuation in office of Bishop Strickland was not feasible.”

“After months of careful consideration by the Dicastery for Bishops and the Holy Father, the decision was reached that the resignation of Bishop Strickland should be requested,” Cardinal DiNardo said in his statement. “Having been presented with that request on November 9, 2023, Bishop Strickland declined to resign from office. Thereafter, on Nov. 11, 2023, the Holy Father removed Bishop Strickland from the Office of Bishop of Tyler.”

“Let us keep Bishop Strickland, the clergy and faithful of the Diocese of Tyler and Bishop Vasquez in our prayers,” Cardinal DiNardo concluded.

OSV News was told by Elizabeth Slaten, communications director for the Diocese of Tyler, that Bishop Strickland is “not available for comment at this time.”

Bishop Strickland had himself indicated previously that he would not resign willingly from office. The Pillar reported in September that Bishop Strickland’s removal had been recommended to the Holy Father following the apostolic visitation.

In a Sept. 20 blog post on his website, bishopstrickland.com, the bishop addressed rumors of an impending resignation, saying to resign “would be me abandoning the flock that I was given charge of by Pope Benedict XVI.” However, he said that he would respect Pope Francis’ authority if the pontiff removed him from the diocese.

Many had connected the apostolic visitation to Bishop Strickland’s vocal criticisms of Pope Francis and other church prelates, especially on X, where he has around 153,900 followers.

The bishop himself likened the apostolic visitation to “being called to the principal’s office.” In July, he said on his weekly radio show, “The Bishop Strickland Hour,” that he believed the apostolic visitation was initiated “because I’ve been bold enough, I love the Lord enough and his church to simply keep preaching the truth.”

At the same time, he acknowledged that in the diocese “there have been some administrative issues, and I’m sure people are concerned.” Overall, he said, “the diocese is really in good shape.”

Bishop Strickland’s public opposition to Pope Francis seemed to increase substantially with the Synod of Bishops the pope had called to discuss synodality in the Catholic Church along the themes of “communion, participation and mission.” The first session of that synod took place in October; the second is scheduled for next year.

Bishop Strickland charged the synod would instead lead to further confusion and division in the church. From Sept. 5 to Oct. 17, Bishop Strickland published seven pastoral letters on various topics, including the nature of the church and of humanity, the Eucharist, matrimony and holy orders, human love in the divine plan and the error of universalism. In his final pastoral letter, he urged the faithful to “lift high the cross.”

The Oct. 31 Rome Life Forum, sponsored by LifeSiteNews, was billed as a “two-day strategy conference … held immediately after the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality which threatens to formalize heretical teachings on the family.” Organizers said the event was meant to “focus on confronting the evils of the Deep Church and Deep State and their involvement in the Great Reset agenda.”

Bishop Strickland gave a 46-minute public address, which included him reading at length from a letter he said was written to him by an unnamed “dear friend.” This letter accused Pope Francis of being “an expert at producing cowards by preaching dialogue and openness in a welcoming spirit and by highlighting always his own authority.”

The letter outright attacked Pope Francis’ validity as the successor of St. Peter, claiming he had ousted his predecessor, the late-Benedict XVI (who denied such allegations): “Would you now allow this one, who has pushed aside the true pope and has attempted to sit on a chair that is not his, define what the church is to be?”

Bishop Strickland said the letter’s words were “challenging” but did not dispute the allegations.

Bishop Strickland himself said in his address that “one of the most frustrating things coming out of the Vatican, and it’s supported at least by Pope Francis, is the attack on the sacred.”

Nine days later, Pope Francis asked for his resignation, before finally removing him Nov. 11.

Bishop Strickland did not mention his removal when posting to social media, but on Nov. 11 posted a message on X urging followers to “rejoice always that…no matter what the day brings Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, yesterday, today and forever.”

Bishop Strickland, 65, was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Dallas in 1985. He ministered in the northeast Texas diocese since its founding in 1987 and led the diocese since his ordination as bishop in 2012.

In 2017, Bishop Strickland issued “A Teaching Diocese: Constitution on Teaching the Catholic Faith,” which outlined a new catechetical structure for the Diocese of Tyler and established the St. Philip Institute of Catechesis and Evangelization, over which he serves as president.

Bishop Strickland has also supported the formation of Veritatis Splendor, an independent, lay-run Catholic community in his diocese with a residential development near Winona, Texas and named for Pope John Paul II’s 1993 encyclical. In a March 2021 message posted to his blog, Bishop Strickland called the initiative “an inspiration of lay Catholics seeking a community where their families can flourish in Jesus Christ.” Months later, the project was marred by scandal as its executive director stepped down over her adulterous relationship with a Texas pro-life leader.

Bishop Strickland’s public profile started growing in 2018 after he issued a notice on the diocese’s website saying he found the accusations made by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò implicating Pope Francis and other prelates in the scandals of then-cardinal Theodore McCarrick (whom Pope Francis laicized in 2019) were “credible.” The post (removed from the website but archived on the internet) directed his priests to read the notice at Mass and post on their websites and social media.

While the bishop was celebrated for his outspokenness by many in the pro-life movement, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he criticized the Vatican’s moral defense of the available vaccines, which in turn had relied upon studies and guidelines established under Pope Francis’ predecessors.

Bishop Strickland’s controversial persona eventually led to profiles in The New York Times and Esquire, the latter calling him a “‘Red-Pilled’ Bishop … Beefing With the Pope,” a reference to a tweet in which the bishop likened himself to Neo in “The Matrix,” who in the film took the “red pill” in order to unplug from the Matrix and experience reality. “I’ve seen the truth,” he explained in a 2019 interview with the National Catholic Register.

The Diocese of Tyler posted Nov. 11 a notice of the transition from Bishop Strickland to Bishop Vásquez as apostolic administrator, adding, “Our work as the Catholic Church in northeast Texas continues.”
“Our mission is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to foster an authentic Christian community, and to serve the needs of all people with compassion and love,” it stated. “We strive to deepen our faith, promote the common good, and create a welcoming environment for all to encounter the loving God – Father, Son, and Spirit.”

(Maria Wiering is senior writer for OSV News. Peter Jesserer Smith is national news and features editor for OSV News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jesserersmith. OSV News national reporter Gina Christian contributed to this report. Follow her on X at @GinaJesseReina.)

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NATION
BALTIMORE (OSV News) – Attendees of the National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21 in Indianapolis now have the option of purchasing single-day and weekend passes in order to make attendance more affordable and flexible, the bishop overseeing the congress announced Nov. 15. Speaking at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ fall plenary assembly, Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, also said scholarship funds may help ease the costs for some attendees, via the bishops’ Solidarity Fund. Standard passes for the five-day congress are $299-$375 for adults, and $99 for children ages 2-18 traveling with their family. The single-day passes will range $49-$95 depending on the day, and weekend passes will be $125. Registration does not include housing, transportation or meals related to the congress. Registration for day and weekend passes will open in January. A limited number of discounted single-day passes will be available for early registrants. The National Eucharistic Congress is the pinnacle of the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative the USCCB launched in 2022 to renew and strengthen Catholics’ understanding of and love for Jesus in the Eucharist.

MENLO PARK, Calif. (OSV News) – At age 50, seminarian Scott-Vincent Borba doesn’t consider his to be a late vocation. “God called me at age 10,” he told OSV News. “I just accepted late.” Now in his pastoral year at St. Patrick’s University and Seminary in Menlo Park, California, Borba shared with OSV News how he traded a life as a young, highly successful cosmetics industry executive – a career that included co-founding the e.l.f. line of products, regular media appearances, and clients such as actress Mila Kunis – for a life of priestly service. Fame, fortune and a nonstop work schedule ultimately couldn’t silence a call Borba experienced at age 10, and his journey back to his childhood faith and his vocation has brought profound joy, he said. “I have never been happier. I have never been more full of joy,” he said. “With everything the world can give me, I would give it back a million times over to be united to Jesus,” added Borba, who is studying to be a priest for the Diocese of Fresno, California.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ migration committee has sent a letter to lawmakers in Congress urging enhanced protections be put in place for migrant children. “In recent months, several concerning reports have emerged regarding incidents of migrant children in the United States suffering exploitative labor conditions and other harmful situations,” Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, said in his Nov. 9 letter. “Among migrants, unaccompanied children constitute the most vulnerable group,” added the bishop, who is chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration. His letter follows the Nov. 1 introduction of a bipartisan, bicameral measure that would add protections for minors to immigration courts, which do not currently have protocols specifically for processing children. Sens. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, alongside Reps. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., and Maria Salazar, R-Fla., introduced the Immigration Court Efficiency and Children’s Court Act, legislation they said would establish a Children’s Court within the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which they argued would both combat the immigration court backlog and strengthen due process rights for unaccompanied migrant children. Reps. Hillary Scholten, D-Mich., and Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., are also original co-sponsors of the legislation, according to a release from Bennett’s office.

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Embrace God’s unconditional love and live in a way that is based on and radiates hope, Pope Francis told Catholic young people. Christian hope “is the celebration of the love of the risen Christ, who is always at our side, even when he seems far from us,” the pope said in his annual message for local celebrations of World Youth Day. Hope is nurtured by prayer and the concrete choices one makes every day, he said in the message, published Nov. 14 at the Vatican. “I urge all of you to choose a style of life grounded in hope,” he wrote. For example, instead of sharing negative things on social media, share things that inspire hope. “Each day, try to share a word of hope with others. Try to sow seeds of hope in the lives of your friends and everyone around you,” the pope wrote. While the next international celebration of World Youth Day will be held in Seoul, South Korea, in 2027, Pope Francis has asked Catholic young people around the world to prepare for the Holy Year 2025 and its Jubilee of Young People in Rome, which will be part of the Holy Year celebration. In the two years preceding the Jubilee of Young People, dioceses around the world are to celebrate World Youth Day on a local level on the feast of Christ the King, which will be Nov. 26 this year and Nov. 24, 2024.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Often enough, the first people who need to be evangelized are Christians themselves, Pope Francis said. “A Christian who is discontented, sad, dissatisfied, or worse still, resentful or rancorous, is not credible” and will not attract anyone to a relationship with Jesus and a life of faith, the pope said Nov. 15 at his weekly general audience. After almost a year of audience talks about “zeal for evangelization” and highlighting the example of saints and other exemplary men and women from around the world, Pope Francis said his last talks in the series would focus on four points from his 2013 apostolic exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel.” The first point, the subject of his talk Nov. 15, was the essential role of joy in the life of Christians and in their ability to share the Gospel with others. “The Gospel is not an ideology; the Gospel is a proclamation of joy,” he said. “All ideologies are cold, but the Gospel has the warmth of joy. Ideologies don’t make people smile, but the Gospel is a smile. It makes you smile because it touches your soul with the Good News.”

WORLD
NOTTINGHAM, England (OSV News) – British bishops expressed their condolences to Dean and Claire Gregory, parents of 8-month-old Indi who died Nov. 13 after neither a court battle nor Italian citizenship granted to the infant prevented the British courts from halting her life-support. Following the death of baby Indi, Bishop Patrick McKinney of Nottingham and Bishop John Sherrington, Lead Bishop for Life Issues and Auxiliary of Westminster, wrote in a statement that they learned about the death of the child with “deep sadness,” assuring the parents “of our prayers and those of all the Catholic Community, including Pope Francis, at this sad time.” “As a baptized child of God, we believe that she will now share in the joy of heaven after her short life which brought deep joy to her parents who loved and protected her as a precious gift of God,” the bishops said. The father of the girl said earlier that he was not religious, but he had chosen to have his child baptized Sept. 23 after feeling the “pull of hell” in their court battle to extend her life. Indi died at 1:45 a.m. U.K. time Nov. 13.

NICE, France (OSV News) – The Little Sisters of the Poor, a religious order founded in 1839 by St. Jeanne Jugan, serves the elderly poor in over 30 countries around the world. They serve the neediest with assistance, care and prayer. Now one of their own needs prayers. On Oct. 31, the Little Sisters in Nice experienced a devastating blow when “a car went out of control and up onto a sidewalk, striking two sisters,” the congregation said in a message sent to supporters. “One, less seriously injured, was hospitalized and has now returned home. The other, a 28-year-old sister from India, sustained serious head injuries and doctors do not give any hope for her recovery,” Sister Constance Veit, U.S. communications director for the order, said on behalf of the French sisters. “If this is God’s will, we accept, but we also see this as a call to arms, to pray for her healing, knowing that nothing is impossible to our loving God,” the sisters wrote. “Would you please join us in praying through the intercession of Father Ernest Lelièvre for the healing of Sister Isabelle Antoinette? … Because of his holiness and missionary zeal we believe he could be a powerful role model and intercessor for the clergy of our day.” Father Lelièvre (1826-1889) traveled the world to establish homes run by the sisters.

WARSAW, Poland (OSV News) – On Warsaw’s Rakowiecka street, flanked by a smart new Metro station and office building, a gray cement wall runs mournfully along a damp surface of fallen leaves. At midpoint in the wall, a narrow gateway opens out onto crumbling barrack buildings, still daubed with political graffiti between tightly barred windows. When Mokotow prison was opened as the Museum of Cursed Soldiers and Political Prisoners of the Polish People’s Republic in March, six years after shedding its last inmates, it was agreed regular Masses and liturgies should be held to dispel the site’s dark, malevolent associations. Today, dedicated to communist-era resistance fighters and political prisoners, the museum’s melancholy courtyards and corridors gain special poignancy during the commemorative month of November. “Though this is a secular institution, it’s also a place of prayer,” explained Father Tomasz Trzaska, the museum’s chaplain. “While Poles place candles each year on the graves of loved ones, we should remember many victims of past misrule have no known resting place. It’s especially those people we pray for in November, as work continues to uncover and identify their remains.” Given the horrors perpetrated here, Father Trzaska thinks religious ceremonies are important – especially for ex-inmates who sometimes show up with friends and relatives. “This museum should serve as a visible warning of humanity’s darker side,” said Lidia Ujazdowska, a Warsaw historian.

Sometimes called ‘little Lent,’ Advent zeros in on preparation,which can include penitence

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By Katie Yoder

(OSV News) – For Kendra Tierney, a Catholic author and mother of 10, the Advent season leading up to Christmas is like preparing to give birth.

“There’s such a unique character to that time where you can’t rush it and that you’re trying to prepare everything,” said the founder and CEO of Catholic All Year. “I think that Advent gives us all that opportunity to really dive into that sort of feeling, where we want to use that time to prepare our homes and to prepare our families to welcome Christ into our lives.”

Advent marks the beginning of the church’s liturgical year, starting four Sundays before Christmas. The name “Advent” hints at its meaning: It comes from the Latin word “advenire,” which translates to “to come to” or “to arrive.” The season begins Dec. 3 this year.

Bethlehem nativity scene photo by BigStock

While Advent is sometimes called “a little Lent,” Catholic experts observe that there are important similarities and differences between the two, both of which lead up to major feast days and liturgical seasons: Christmas and Easter, respectively. Advent, they agree, is primarily a season of preparation.

“Lent has that penitential character where … we are trying to focus on exercising those muscles of being penitent. I think that the character of Advent is intended to be a little different than that – that it is really, actually, a waiting for a birth,” said Tierney, who writes about living the liturgical year in the home.
In a 2019 blog post, she describes the difference from Lent: “Advent is predominantly preparation, and Lent is predominantly penance.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church uses similar wording in describing Advent. “When the church celebrates the liturgy of Advent each year, she makes present this ancient expectancy of the Messiah, for by sharing in the long preparation for the Savior’s first coming, the faithful renew their ardent desire for his second coming,” it says.

In contrast, the catechism calls Lent one of the “intense moments of the church’s penitential practice.”
Father Agustino Torres, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal and author of the new book “Prepare Your Hearts: A Guided Advent Journal for Prayer and Meditation,” tied the penitential and preparation aspects together.

“Although it’s not widely thought of as such, Advent is a time when we can offer up penance to prepare the way for the coming Christ Child,” he said. “It is not penitential in the same way Lent is, but there has been a long-held tradition in the church to offer up prayer vigils, fasts and offerings during Advent.”

Timothy O’Malley, the director of education at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and the academic director of the Notre Dame Center for Liturgy, emphasized that much of the church’s year has historically been penitential.

“Advent takes on a penitential spirit inspired by the three-fold advent of Jesus Christ,” he said. “The Christ who comes at the end of time, who will judge the world. The Christ who comes into the heart of every believer longing for his presence. The Christ who comes as the newborn babe.”

He added: “It is penitential insofar as we have to ask ourselves if we’re ready for these various presences.”
Like Lent, Advent in the Roman Catholic Church historically included fasting, O’Malley said.

“Advent develops as a fasting period preceding the celebration of Christmas, likely connected to initiation of Christians,” he noted. “But the Roman rite was later to adopt this period of around four weeks – it’s Gregory the Great that tells us of the four weeks. We know in Milan, it was six weeks (and still is).”

Advent is also marked by the use of the Advent wreath, which O’Malley said was adopted as a practice of popular piety from Germany, and the O Antiphons, descriptions of the Messiah drawn from the Book of Isaiah which are used in the Liturgy of the Hours’ evening prayer Dec. 17-23.

Father Torres points to fasts, vigils, wreaths and readings of the Prophet Isaiah. And in many countries, he said, the period between Dec. 17 and Christmas Eve “is filled with prayers, processions and devotions followed by a celebration and songs.”

Father Torres also noted that Lent was added to the church’s liturgical calendar before Advent.

“Initially, only Easter had a preparatory season, but later Christmas developed its own similar period called Advent,” he said. “Both Advent and Lent share common features, such as violet liturgical color, omitting the Gloria at Sunday Masses, and having a Sunday of ‘joy’ during both seasons – Gaudete Sunday and Laetare Sunday.”

The seasons also have notable contrasts, Father Torres added. “While Lent lacks flowers, Advent features them moderately. Lent has images of going into the desert, Advent has a voice coming from the desert. Lent has readings of conversion of life; Advent has readings of fulfillment of prophecy in our lives. Advent has a joyous anticipation feel, because it is meant to embody the expectation for the Messiah with delightful devotion, whereas Lent has penitential practices like the Way of the Cross,” he said.

He noted that the current expectations of Advent are that it is a time of joyful anticipation.
“If your home is getting ready to receive a lovely guest, there is a time of cleaning, cooking and prepping,” he said. “We are readying our hearts for Jesus in Advent in similar ways.”

Katie Yoder writes for OSV News from the Washington, D.C., area.

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NATION
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (OSV News) – Bishop Robert J. Brennan of Brooklyn celebrated a Mass of Reparation Nov. 4 in a Brooklyn Catholic Church used in a violent and provocative music video, and he has removed its well-known pastor from his diocesan development role. Pop singer Sabrina Carpenter released a music video to her song “Feather” Oct. 31, which includes scenes of the singer dancing and performing inside and outside of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Brooklyn, including in the sanctuary where the altar is located. Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, the parish’s pastor, was removed as the Diocese of Brooklyn’s vicar for development Nov. 3. He will remain pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel-Annunciation Parish. However, Bishop Robert Brennan has appointed Auxiliary Bishop Witold Mroziewski as the temporary administrator. Earlier this week, Bishop Brennan was said to be “appalled” by what was filmed. “Bishop Robert Brennan strongly condemns the filming of the music video inside Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church. A review of the documents presented to the parish prior to the filming, while failing to depict the entirety of the scenes, clearly portrays inappropriate behavior unsuitable for a church sanctuary,” a diocesan statement read.

This is a painting of Blessed María Antonia de San José, an 18th-century consecrated laywoman from Argentina who will be canonized in early 2024, according to an Oct. 24, 2023, announcement by the Vatican. A miracle through her intervention that was needed for her canonization was recently authenticated. San José, popularly known as “Mama Antula,” will be Argentina’s first home-grown female saint (OSV News artwork/Enrique Breccia)

MOBILE, Ala. (OSV News) – The Archdiocese of Mobile said it is “relieved” that a priest who fled his pastoral assignment this summer has returned to the U.S., as the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office announced its investigation into the priest has been closed with no charges filed. The archdiocese also affirmed the soon-to-be-laicized cleric has been removed from ministry. Father Alex Crow, who abruptly left Corpus Christi Parish in Mobile at the end of July to travel to Italy with a June 2023 graduate of McGill-Toolen Catholic High School, “may have returned home to the Mobile area” according to “numerous individuals and media reports,” said the archdiocese in a Nov. 6 statement. The statement – which referred to the priest by his given name, without the title “Father” – noted that he had not contacted the archdiocese, which stressed that Father Crow “has been removed from ministry and his priestly faculties are suspended. “Therefore, Crow is not to exercise any ministry as a priest, or present himself as a priest,” said the statement. “He is not allowed to celebrate Mass, visit school grounds, or lead any church ministries. If anyone is aware of Crow doing so, they are encouraged to contact the Archdiocese immediately at (251) 434-1587.”

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis will travel to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates Dec. 1-3 to participate in the U.N. Climate Change Conference, the Vatican press office confirmed. In an interview broadcast in Italy Nov. 1, the pope had said he intended to go, but the Vatican did not confirm the trip until Nov. 3. “Accepting the invitation of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates, His Holiness Pope Francis will make the previously announced trip to Dubai from 1 to 3 December 2023, on the occasion of the upcoming Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,” commonly called COP28, said Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office. The conference is designed to assess progress or failures in reaching the goals adopted by 196 nations and parties, including the Holy See, with the Paris climate agreement in 2015.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – On the 800th anniversary of St. Francis of Assisi setting up the first Nativity scene, the creche in St. Peter’s Square in 2023 will come from the Diocese of Rieti, Italy, and pay tribute to the scene set up in the diocese in 1223. The Christmas tree that will stand in St. Peter’s Square is expected to be more than 80 feet tall and come from the Maira Valley near Turin. It will be decorated with live edelweiss flowers cultivated at a nursery nearby; picking or transplanting wild edelweiss is against the law in Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The unveiling of the creche and lighting of the Christmas tree in the square is scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 9. They will remain in the square through the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Jan. 7, 2024.

WORLD
WADOWICE, Poland (OSV News) – In 1988, when he was a convicted drug addict serving time in prison, he thought of God as a severe Father who punishes rather than loves. Until a tiny woman visited his prison. That woman was Mother Teresa. James Wahlberg, once a convict, is now a film producer and has just created a documentary about her. “Mother Teresa: No Greater Love,” produced with the Knights of Columbus, commemorated the 25th anniversary of the death of one of the world’s favorite saints, but the film also provides an exploration of her long-lasting legacy, and producers traveled the world to show it. “This film is much bigger. … Sometimes in Catholic programming … budgets are very low. We had a full budget and we had full access to the Missionaries of Charity,” Wahlberg told OSV News. Brother of Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg, James was a troubled kid and fell into drug addiction. Asked about the encounter that changed his life, he said he had “goosebumps” and “emotion welling up” in his chest. “I’m just thinking about that day, the day the first time I ever heard in my life that God loved me and that Jesus died for me,” he said. He recalled there were 800 people in the room but he remembered Mother Teresa “talking to me.” The documentary premiered in Poland Oct. 19.

BUENOS AIRES (OSV News) – Argentina will get its first home-grown female saint in early 2024 with the canonization of Blessed María Antonia de San José. The Vatican announced Oct. 24 that San José, born as María Antonia de Pa Figueroa, but known throughout Argentina simply as Mama Antula, would be canonized as the pope authorized the promulgation of the decree on the miracle attributed to her intercession. The decision means a lot for Argentina, its native Pope Francis and his Jesuit order. She will be the fifth saint associated with Argentina of whom four were elevated to sainthood by Pope Francis but is the first female of Argentina to be canonized. “Mama Antula is considered the mother of the nation. She was a strong, brave woman who believed in Argentina. She was committed to the country and that knowing Christ would transform society,” Bishop Santiago Olivera told OSV News. Mama Antula’s path to sainthood began more than a century ago. Pope Francis beatified her in 2016. When the Jesuits were expelled from Spain and its colonies in the Americas in 1767, Bishop Olivera said that Mama Antula kept the Jesuits’ work going and she continued to work with the Jesuits until the end of her life. “It is impressive that after all these years she will be canonized and it will be a Jesuit who makes her a saint,” said Bishop Olivera.

Hispanic ministry leaders find hope, challenges in new U.S. bishops’ pastoral plan’s implementation

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By James Ramos

HOUSTON (OSV News) – Thirty years ago, a group of Hispanic ministry leaders from around the U.S. gathered in Houston to discuss plans and initiatives to minister to the Hispanic and Latino Catholics living in the U.S.

This Oct. 10-13, the National Catholic Association of Diocesan Directors for Hispanic Ministry’s annual conference returned to Houston, gathering 250 Hispanic ministry leaders from 109 dioceses in the U.S. The national conference which took place at the tail end of this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month, observed Sept. 15-Oct. 15 also gathered some six bishops, several who lead U.S. bishops’ committees on Hispanic ministry and cultural diversity in the church.

The NCADDHM conference focused on the new “National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministry,” a new document, approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in June 2023, that was developed through a process of consultation, discernment and leadership over multiple years.

The plan is a response to the Fifth National Encuentro of Hispanic/Latino Ministry (V Encuentro) process to help Hispanic laypeople and church leaders to meet the needs of the fastest growing demographic of the Catholic Church in the U.S.

Sister Elsa Narvaez Rodrigues, an evangelization consultant for the Hispanic communities in the Archdiocese of Boston, speaks during a small group discussion at the National Catholic Association of Diocesan Directors for Hispanic Ministry’s annual conference Oct. 11 in Houston. (OSV News photo/James Ramos, Texas Catholic Herald)

At the Houston conference, Alejandro Aguilera-Titus, assistant director of USCCB’s Subcommittee for Hispanic Affairs and national coordinator for the V Encuentro, said the pastoral plan was a direct reflection and response to the “priorities, needs and aspirations” of Hispanic and Latino Catholics and has “the potential to transform the church in the United States.”

The Encuentro was a multiyear series of diocesan, regional and national meetings involving tens of thousands Hispanic and Latino leaders that culminated with a national gathering in Grapevine, Texas, in 2018, and identified key pastoral priorities for Latino Catholics.

Among the 10 priorities highlighted in the pastoral plan was the engagement of youth and young adults, vocations, faith formation, accompaniment of families, ministry to the marginalized, and immigration and policy advocacy.

During the conference, leaders heard from speakers, bishops and theologians who talked about the implications of the pastoral plan. In addition to daily Mass and presentations, participants broke into small groups at different times to share how the new plan would look like in their ministries and their regions.

For Olga Lucía Villar, executive director of the Miami-based Southeast Pastoral Institute – which coordinates and assists Hispanic ministries in 30 dioceses of the Southeastern United States – and one of many speakers at the conference, the new pastoral plan could not come soon enough.

She sees the pastoral plan as helping the church become more sensitive to the multicultural reality of the present Catholic Church in the U.S. “Especially at times where it is difficult, where there are more issues that might divide us racially, I think that the plan is placing us at a good point to continue healing the processes of reconciliation and focus on belonging and being sent off by Christ,” she told OSV News.

Villar saw a parallel between the Encuentro process and the more recent synod effort led by Pope Francis and said that “the plan walks us toward being a synodal church.”

Since the first Encuentro was held in 1972, Villar said, the efforts have been bringing the church together to reflect, dialogue and look together for ways to move forward as Hispanic Catholics in the U.S. That continues to be the case although the demographic landscape has changed.

Since 1972, the number of Hispanics in the U.S. has increased sevenfold, from about 9 million to 63.7 million, according to 2022 U.S. census data. And even though there have been reports of an increase in disaffiliation, recent demographic data showed that about 31 million Hispanics and Latinos identify as Catholic.

“We are talking more as we belong to this church. We’re not going anywhere. It’s our church too, and we want to be part of it,” said Villar. “And I think that the whole synod process, and the way that Pope Francis encourages (us) to move forward in that direction, we’ve been doing it in small steps throughout these 51 years.”

Auxiliary Bishop Arturo Cepeda of Detroit, chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church, said the new pastoral plan was the “fruit of many years of wisdom and consultation, experiences, ups and downs, of listening, collaboration, and so many fruits that the Encuentros have brought.”

He hopes that the pastoral plan will help equip ministry leaders and Hispanic and Latino parishioners to understand how to share their faith experiences with generations who will come after those in ministry today.

“We need to be able to share that and to know that we need to prepare our second, third generations,” Bishop Cepeda told OSV News. “We need to move forward. I think that it is a blessing. It is a challenge, yes. But we need to be aware of it.”

In Houston, Lázaro Contreras, director of the Office of Hispanic Ministry of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, said he looks forward to seeing how each parish and Catholic community in the region will uniquely implement the pastoral plan.

“With this pastoral plan, I hope that people are motivated and encouraged to make it their own,” he said. “Hispanic ministry is a work that we don’t do alone. It’s a work that we all do as one church. That is why these kinds of gatherings are a constant reminder that, in that work of pastoral ministry of accompaniment to Hispanic Catholics, is done by the whole church.”

That united movement forward is what excited Ignacio Rodriguez, NCADDHM president, especially during the conference, which began with an opening Mass celebrated by Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston Oct. 10.

While the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 slowed down much of the follow-up collaborations between the 3,000 Hispanic ministry leaders and clergy who met in Texas in 2018 for the V Encuentro, Rodriguez said the zeal and desire for the pastoral plan to take shape only grew.

Now that the pastoral plan is out in the hands of ministry leaders, Aguilera-Titus said that the plan emphasizes the importance of diversity and intercultural engagement and includes practical guidelines and resources for creating a sense of unity and belonging. He noted how a parish can thrive when it embraces diverse cultures present in a congregation through its shared Catholic faith.

“When they develop relationships with one another across cultures, they begin to develop a new sense of identity as a diverse, Catholic community,” Aguilera-Titus said. “The plan has a language that is inclusive, engaging and is meant for not only Hispanic/Latino Catholics, but for the entire church. We hope that it will bring new ways to bring the Gospel to life and create a more synodal and diverse church.”

That intercultural relationship is a key to evangelization, said Sister Elsa Narvaez, a member of the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Word and an evangelization consultant for the Hispanic communities in the Archdiocese of Boston.

“Many people might think (the pastoral plan) is just for Hispanics and Latinos, but it’s not. Our goal is to bring Christ to everyone. It’s like we are missionaries here in the U.S.,” she said, noting how U.S Catholics used to visit Latino and South American countries to evangelize.

“We help us now. We are here doing a mission and we know everyone is the same before God,” she continued, saying that the plan is not about sharing languages or cultures but about evangelization and strengthening of the faith. “It’s not because you’re Hispanic or you’re not Hispanic. We are one church, and we are here to love and serve each other and just to bring Jesus to everyone. That’s our goal. … It’s Jesus, that’s the goal.”

James Ramos writes for OSV News from Houston.