Category Archives: U.S. News

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NATION
LOS ANGELES (OSV News) – A recent court ruling has become another bend in a “rollercoaster” ride for hundreds of thousands of individuals who arrived in the U.S. as children without legal permission, said an immigration expert. On Sept. 13, a federal judge in Texas found the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program unlawful. DACA was created in 2012 under the Obama administration. According to a March 2023 report by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 578,680 people are beneficiaries of DACA. Ilissa Mira, a senior attorney with the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc., or CLINIC, said DACA recipients can continue to file renewal applications and their employment authorizations. She added they will do so “with this thing that’s still gonna continue to loom over their heads – this uncertainty about what will happen to DACA in the long run. So it’s still a situation where the clock is ticking for them.” Carlos Alberto Méndez Velázquez told OSV News he knows that anxiety all too well. The 33-year-old Los Angeles resident, a filmmaker, said he wants the government to give DACA recipients like him a path out of their immigration limbo, especially since he and fellow DACA recipients generate jobs and contribute to the nation’s prosperity.

Pictured is one bead from a living rosary prayed in memory of Ethan Gerads Sept. 3, 2023, at Seven Dolors Church in Albany, Minn. Ethan, 16, was killed in a car accident July 21, a short time after he helped make the rosary. (OSV News photo/Dianne Towalski, The Central Minnesota Catholic)

ALBANY, Minn. (OSV News) – Earlier this summer, Jeff Gerads volunteered to construct a giant rosary for the Harvest of Hope Area Catholic Community. When he invited his sons Ethan, 16, and Owen, 12, to help, he could never have known how special that rosary would become. Ethan was killed in a car accident July 21. Now that rosary and the community are helping the family, Jeff and his wife, Melissa, Owen and his sister, Emma, to cope with the loss. People from across the Harvest of Hope community, which includes the parishes in Albany, Avon, St. Martin and St. Anthony, in central Minnesota, gathered Sept. 3 at Seven Dolors in Albany to pray a special living rosary to remember Ethan using the rosary he helped make. Ethan was an usher and an altar server and would have been a junior this year at Albany High School. He grew up seeing his dad pray the rosary while they were hunting and had started bringing his own rosary on hunting trips, Jeff said. “The four parishes each have an identity, but then an event like this happens and we discover something that we hold in common,” said Deacon Steven Koop, who is assigned to the Harvest of Hope community. “And that is how much we love family, how much we respect one another.”

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The American public’s views of the family are “complicated” and becoming “more pessimistic than optimistic about the institution of marriage and the family,” according to a new report from Pew Research Center. Social and legal changes in recent decades have increased the variety of households in the United States, data shows. A growing share of U.S. adults in recent decades have either delayed or foregone marriage, according to Pew’s analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. The survey about the future of the country found that when asked about marriage and family, 40% of Americans said they are very or somewhat pessimistic about the institution of marriage and the family. Just 25% are very or somewhat optimistic. Another 29% said they are neither optimistic nor pessimistic. Just 23% of Americans called being married as either extremely or very important to living a fulfilling life, while just 26% said the same of having children. Those trends hold across religious groups. Just 22% of Catholics identified marriage as either extremely or very important to living a fulfilling life; 31% said the same about having children. When asked to rank what factors were extremely or very important for a fulfilling life, most Americans pointed to career satisfaction (71%) and having close friends (61%). Most Catholics ranked having a job or career they enjoy (77%) and having close friends (59%) as extremely or very important to living a fulfilling life.

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – On the recommendation of the Catholic bishops of mainland China in consultation with the Chinese government, Pope Francis has named two bishops from the country’s mainland as members of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops. Bishop Joseph Yang Yongqiang of Zhoucun, who has served as vice president of the government-related Council of Chinese Bishops, and Bishop Anthony Yao Shun of Jining, the first bishop ordained after the Vatican and China signed a provisional agreement on the nomination of bishops in 2018, will be among the 365 synod members, a number which includes the pope, the Vatican said. The Vatican released an updated list Sept. 21 of people expected to participate in the assembly of the Synod of Bishops Oct. 4-19. A list released in July included Cardinal-designate Stephen Chow Sau-Yan of Hong Kong, but no bishop from the Chinese mainland. Bishop Luis Marín de San Martín, undersecretary of the synod, told reporters that 464 people are expected to be involved in the synod, including 54 women participating as full members and 27 women joining as experts, facilitators or special guests.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican urged members of the U.N. Security Council to be “creative and courageous artisans of peace and weavers of constructive dialogue” to find a peaceful solution to the war in Ukraine. Addressing a meeting of the U.N. Security Council in New York Sept. 20, Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister, said today the “entire international community, more than ever, cannot surrender itself and let this issue pass in silence.” He said “all member states of the United Nations, and especially those of the Security Council, are called upon to join efforts in the search for a just and lasting peace for Ukraine as an important element of the global peace of which the world thirsts.” The Security Council meeting included a speech from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who criticized the council’s structure which gives five countries the power to veto any council resolution or decision, saying that Russia’s misuse of the veto power is “to the detriment of all other U.N. members.” Archbishop Gallagher did not discuss the subject of veto power, but said it is “undeniable that the Russian attack on Ukraine has jeopardized the entire global order which arose after World War II.”

WORLD
ABUJA, Nigeria (OSV News) – In another chapter of an “evil scheme” plaguing Nigeria, the southern Enugu Diocese asked for prayers for Father Marcellinus Obioma Okide, who was kidnapped Sept. 17. The priest was reportedly abducted on his way to St. Mary Amofia-Agu Affa Parish, where he serves as a parish priest. Six other people who were traveling with him were also kidnapped. In a Sept. 18 release sent to OSV News, Father Wilfred Chidi Agubuchie, the diocesan chancellor and secretary confirmed the abductions, and called on the Christian community to pray for the priest’s safe release and “a change of heart on the part of the kidnappers.” Christians in Africa’s largest nation have become prized targets for terrorist groups such as Fulani herdsmen, according to Emeka Umeagbalasi, chairman of Intersociety, a nongovernmental human rights organization. He said 22 communities and villages have been under the siege of the jihadist Fulani herdsmen and other assembled jihadists since 2022, accusing the government of former President, Muhammaru Buhari of using such Fulani attacks to enhance an agenda of “Islamizing Nigeria.” Johan Viljoen, Director of the Denis Hurley Peace Institute of the South Africa Catholic bishops’ conference told OSV News that “the situation in Enugu is particularly severe. Enugu state shares a border with Benue state, which has been under sustained attack.”

MEXICO CITY (OSV News) – Dominican Brother Obed Cuellar has seen large numbers of migrants arrive daily in the Mexican border city of Piedras Negras, where they plan to cross the Rio Grande into neighboring Eagle Pass, Texas. But there’s still space available in the diocesan-run migrant shelter. “They head straight for the river,” he told OSV News. An estimated 2,200 migrants crossed the Rio Grande into Eagle Pass in the early morning hours of Sept. 18, one of the largest massive crossings on record, according to Fox News. It’s a scene playing at other crossings across the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border as migrants arrive in increasingly large numbers, straining the resources of migrant-assistance organizations and U.S. border patrol officials alike. The U.S. Border Patrol recorded more than 177,000 arrests in August, according to the Washington Post – roughly a 30% increase from the 132,652 migrants detained in July. The sharp increase in arrests followed a jump from 99,539 detentions in June – the month following the end of Title 42, the pandemic-era health provision which allowed for the immediate expulsion of migrants to Mexico. A record number of families also were taken into custody by Border Patrol in August, according to the Post. Analysts say the urge to migrate remains strong – with many people coming from countries such as Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba. Some migrants are allowed entry into the U.S. and receive notices to appear in court. But many are sent back to Mexico and transported to destinations in southern states far from the United States border.

LAMPEDUSA, Italy (OSV News) – In front of the Church of St. Gerland on the Italian island of Lampedusa, dozens of migrants lined up Sept. 14 in a neat row, one after the other. The queue was long as they waited patiently. More than 130 Red Cross employees and volunteers were working day and night to provide migrants not only with sanitary assistance, but also with a warm meal. They prepared 5,000 portions at noon and a similar amount for dinner. From Sept. 12 to Sept. 13, 7,000 migrants reached Lampedusa, an Italian island once visited by Pope Francis as his first apostolic trip destination in July 2013. On Sept. 13, authorities said a record number of 120 fragile boats arrived on the island within 24 hours. “If you count all of us here on the island we are just 5,000 inhabitants,” former Mayor Totò Martello told journalists, when, together with other people of goodwill, he rolled up his sleeves and offered the outstretched hand of another refugee a plate of pasta al pomodoro. “There haven’t been that many people here ever before probably,” 80-year-old Salvatore, who only gave his first name, told OSV News, but “at least there is a relative order here close to the church.” So far in 2023, nearly 126,000 migrants have arrived in Italy, almost double the figure by the same time in 2022. Those desperately trying to reach Europe came mainly from Africa’s Guinea, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, but also from Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Catholic student center at Washington’s Howard University named for Sister Thea Bowman

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By Mark Zimmermann
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – On a day when history was made 60 years earlier with the March on Washington, Father Robert Boxie III, the Catholic chaplain at Howard University in the nation’s capital, noted that the campus ministry program there was making history of its own, with the blessing and dedication of its new Sister Thea Bowman Catholic Student Center.

“Today is an historic day, dedicating this new center,” Father Boxie said Aug. 28. “It’s going to be a place for students to pray, to worship, to study, to meet, to fellowship, to socialize, even to cook – we have a kitchen – (it will be) a place to build community and grow in authentic friendship, and a place where we can be unabashedly young, Black, gifted and Catholic.”

Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory speaks during a ceremony Aug. 28, 2023, where he blessed and dedicated the new Sister Thea Bowman Catholic Student Center at Howard University in the nation’s capital. At left are Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, retired archbishop of Washington, and Father Robert Boxie III, the Catholic chaplain at Howard University. (OSV News photo/Patrick Ryan, Catholic Standard)

Howard University, one of the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, was founded in 1867, and the Catholic campus ministry at Howard University, named HU Bison Catholic to reflect the nickname of the university’s sports teams, marked its 75th anniversary this past year.

Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory blessed and dedicated the new Catholic student center at Howard University, named for the late Sister Bowman. The Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration was a dynamic evangelist and noted educator who died of cancer in 1990. She also is one of six Black Catholics from the United States being considered for sainthood. She has the title “Servant of God.”

“What a wonderful thing we do today to set aside this place as another house for God,” the cardinal said.
As he dedicated the center, he prayed, “We ask that the life of Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman may inspire these young people to share their God-given gifts, rooted in the African- American and African traditions, with the church and on this campus.”

The new center is located in a semi-detached row house in Washington’s LeDroit Park neighborhood. According to Father Boxie, the home once belonged to Gen. William Birney, a Southern abolitionist who served in the Union Army during the Civil War. After the war, Birney moved to Washington to establish a law practice.

Father Boxie opened the ceremony noting that “no event that involves Sister Thea Bowman is without music, is without singing a song,” and in homage to the woman religious who was known for her soaring singing voice, he led the students, alumni and guests in singing the spiritual “We Have Come This Far by Faith.”

To applause from attendees, he introduced Cardinal Gregory, noting he is “the first African American cardinal in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.'” Pope Francis made him a cardinal in 2020.

Also attending the ceremony was Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, retired archbishop of Washington, who was thanked by Cardinal Gregory for helping to find financial support for the purchase of the building now housing the Catholic student center; and Washington Auxiliary Bishop Roy E. Campbell Jr., who is pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Largo, Maryland, a suburb of Washington.

Bishop Campbell, who also is president of the National Black Catholic Congress, offered a closing prayer at the ceremony. He is an alumnus of Howard University and studied zoology there.

The guests also included Redemptorist Father Maurice Nutt, the author of the book “Thea Bowman: Faithful and Free.” A consultant to the Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi, for her canonization cause, he was her student at the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University in New Orleans, the nation’s only historically Black Catholic university. Father Nutt donated a large portrait of Sister Thea to the center, a print of a painting by Vernon Adams, a young Black Catholic artist from her home state of Mississippi.
Also attending the ceremony were several pastors of Washington parishes and members of the Knights of Peter Claver and that group’s Ladies Auxiliary. Representing Howard University was Leelannee Malin, its associate dean for community engagement and strategic partnerships.

Father Boxie acknowledged the presence of many Catholic students from Howard University, saying, “This is a day to celebrate you, and what God will be doing through you in this center.”

Offering an opening prayer, Elei Nkata, a Howard University junior from Nigeria who is majoring in computer science and is a co-president of the Catholic campus ministry at the university, asked God to “unite the hearts of every one of us that passes through here with your love and joy, and lead us to become the sons and daughters of faith you have called us to be.”

Another co-president of HU Bison Catholic, Loren Otoo – a junior from Ghana majoring in electrical engineering – noted that when he came to the university he sought a group where he could be connected to his Catholic faith, and he had found friends and “grown a lot in my spiritual journey” in the campus ministry program. Another Howard University student, Cameron Humes, a junior from Birmingham, Alabama, majoring in political science, read a Scripture reading at the ceremony. He serves as the liturgy chair for the campus ministry program.

Ali Mumbach, campus minister for HU Bison Catholic, spoke on Sister Thea’s life and legacy.

“Sister Thea was a radiant disciple of Jesus Christ. People Catholic and not, Christian and not, were attracted to her exuberant spirit,” said Mumbach, a graduate student working toward a master’s degree in sociology at Howard University and is also working toward a master’s degree in theology at the Institute for Black Catholic Studies.

She quoted part of a dramatic address that Sister Thea gave to the nation’s Catholic bishops in 1989, in which she said that as a Black Catholic, “I bring my whole history, my traditions, my experience, my culture, my African American song and dance and gesture and movement and teaching and preaching and healing and responsibility – as gifts to the church.”

Mumbach pointed out Sister Thea’s special connection to Howard University: She spoke at the school after the 1968 assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Naming the university’s new Catholic student center after Sister Thea honors her role as a Black Catholic leader, she said.

“We as Black people have gifts to share with the church. This is a part of our ministry at Howard,” Mumbach said. “In HU Bison Catholic, we are raising up and equipping the next Black Catholic leaders. We hope that this is the first of many Bowman Centers on HBCU campuses – that in the same way there are Newman Centers to remember and honor the great work of (St.) John Newman, we can celebrate, commemorate and carry on the legacy of Sister Thea Bowman.”

After the ceremony, Father Nutt, who wrote Sister Thea’s biography, said he was very moved that Howard University’s new Catholic student center was named for her.

“She was my teacher, my mentor and my spiritual mother,” he told the Catholic Standard, Washington’s archdiocesan newspaper. “It was hard to hold back the tears, because I know how much this would mean to Sister Thea Bowman. She loved her time in Washington, D.C. It was here she became greatly aware of her identity of being Black and Catholic. She was inspired by the large number of Black Catholics in the archdiocese, and they welcomed her with open arms.”

He added, “I know she will inspire them (the students here) to share their gifts of Blackness, not only with Howard University, but with the whole church.”

In Washington, Sister Thea Bowman earned a master’s and a doctorate degree in English from The Catholic University of America, and in 2022, a street at the campus was renamed as Sister Thea Bowman Drive. That same spring, Georgetown University renamed its chapel in Copley Hall after her.

(Mark Zimmerman writes for the Catholic Standard.)

Briefs

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NATION
HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, N.J. (OSV News) – For an Archdiocese of Newark deacon who survived the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the real battle – a search for God – began after reaching the ground. Now-Deacon Paul Carris was a 46-year-old civil engineer working in the World Trade Center’s North Tower when al-Qaida hijackers slammed American Airlines Flight 11 into the building. The deacon, who described himself as a rather indifferent Catholic layman at the time, accompanied a fellow floormate with severe health issues down 71 flights of steps to safety, even as the building burned and the South Tower was struck by a second plane. The pair were among the last to safely exit the building before it collapsed. In the following days and weeks after the terrorist attacks, he wrestled with anger and frustration that pointed to an unfulfilled hunger for a deeper relationship with God. Over the years, he immersed himself in faith formation and social outreach, eventually discerning a call to the permanent diaconate. Now assigned to Corpus Christi Parish in Hasbrouck Heights, he told OSV News that surviving 9/11 gave him “a rock of a foundation, knowing that God is here. I have no questions about the reality of God and the reality of God in everybody’s life. But unfortunately, we sometimes have to go through tragedy to wake us up to open that door.”

CHICAGO (OSV News) – St. Jude may be best known in the United States for being the patron saint of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, a cancer treatment center founded by Lebanese-American entertainer Danny Thomas. Thomas credited St. Jude – also well known among Catholics as the patron saint of hopeless causes and desperate situations – with reviving his career during a particularly low moment. He founded the hospital in gratitude. Now more Catholics are going to learn about this faithful apostle, martyr and saint as his relic – bone fragments from an arm believed to be his – leaves Italy for the first time in centuries, sponsored by the Treasures of the Church ministry, for a tour that extends into May 2024. The tour begins in Chicago on Sept. 9 at St. John Cantius Church. Scheduled stops for the remainder of 2023 include parishes in Illinois, Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa, followed by Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska, Indiana and Michigan. The relic’s tour then veers east to parishes in Ohio and central Pennsylvania – some 45 parishes. There are to be 100 stops in all. The 2024 stops into May have not yet been announced. At each parish, there will be public veneration and special Masses. The detailed St. Jude relic tour schedule is available at apostleoftheimpossible.com.

BALTIMORE (OSV News) – Archbishop William E. Lori told Catholics Sept. 5 that the Archdiocese of Baltimore is considering Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization as one option to deal with lawsuits expected to be filed when the state’s Child Victims Act takes effect Oct. 1. The law, passed by the Maryland General Assembly earlier this year, removed any statute of limitations for civil suits involving child sexual abuse. It caps suits against public institutions such as government schools at $890,000, and for private individuals or institutions such as churches at $1.5 million. The previous law allowed such suits for people up to age 38, an increase from the previous age limit of 25. At the time, the Maryland Catholic Conference – which includes the Archdiocese of Baltimore as well as the Archdiocese of Washington and the Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware, which both include Maryland counties – supported the increase to age 38. In his Sept. 5 letter, the archbishop said he has two overarching goals as the archdiocese considers its response: “the healing of victim-survivors who have suffered so profoundly from the actions of some ministers of the church” and “the continuation and furtherance of the many ministries of the Archdiocese that provide for the spiritual, educational, and social needs of countless people – Catholic and non-Catholic – across the state.” The archbishop said he plans to prioritize both goals.

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – If people can learn how to inflict suffering on others with ever more deadly weapons, they also can learn to stop doing so, Pope Francis said. “If we can hurt someone, a relative or friend, with harsh words and vindictive gestures, we can also choose not to do so,” he added. “Learning the lexicon of peace means restoring the value of dialogue, the practice of kindness and respect for others.” Marking International Literacy Day, Pope Francis sent a message to Audrey Azoulay, director-general of UNESCO, encouraging efforts to teach reading and writing to the hundreds of millions of people in the world who do not have basic literacy skills, but he also focused on the education needed to help all people contribute to building sustainable and peaceful societies. The papal message, was published by the Vatican Sept. 8, International Literacy Day.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Any limitations and rules regarding media access and communications during the upcoming Synod of Bishops are rooted in the “essence” of a synod and meant to help participants in their process of discernment, said the head of the synod’s communication committee. “The way in which we are going to share information about the synod is very important for the discernment process and for the entire church,” Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, told reporters at a Vatican news conference Sept. 8. Some of the “few rules regarding communication” stem from “the essence of the synod,” he said, which Pope Francis has repeatedly underlined is not a “parliament” or convention but a journey of listening and walking together in accordance with the Holy Spirit. However, Ruffini said, some portions of the synod will be livestreamed and open to Vatican accredited reporters: – Mass in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 4 to open the assembly of the Synod of Bishops. – The first general congregation, which begins that afternoon with remarks by Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the synod, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, relator general of the synod, and Pope Francis. – The moment of prayer beginning each general congregation. – The opening sessions of each of the five segments or “modules” into which the synod will be divided.

WORLD
MEXICO CITY (OSV News) – Mexico’s Supreme Court has removed abortion restrictions on national level – a decision expanding access to abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy across the country. The high court granted an injunction Sept. 6, requiring federally operated hospitals and health facilities to provide abortion services. The decision also scrapped criminal penalties for physicians and health professionals performing abortions. One of the litigants, the Information Group on Reproductive Choice (known by its Spanish acronym GIRE), called the unanimous court decision “a historic milestone,” as more than 70% percent of Mexican women have access to Mexico’s federal health system. That health system includes the Mexican Social Security Institute – the largest in Latin America which covers salaried workers, along with systems for public employees and the poor. Pro-life groups decried the decision. “It is an attack on the lives of the most defenseless, innocent and vulnerable,” The National Front for the Family said via X, previously known as Twitter, calling the decision “supreme injustice.”

SÃO PAULO (OSV News) – Church activists in the Amazon are worried about the Brazilian government’s plan to exploit oil in a marine area close to the mouth of the Amazon River. Oil drilling, an issue discussed in different meetings over the past months by ecclesial movements and environmentalists, has been a problem in several regions of the Amazon. While there was relevant progress recently in the struggle to restrain the oil companies’ operations in the rainforest, the pressure from those corporations is immense, and it will take much effort from Catholics inspired by Pope Francis’ “Laudato Si’” encyclical to secure the protection ‘ of their “common home” in the Amazon, activists say. The project of exploiting oil about 300 miles northeast from Amazon River’s mouth has put top government officials on opposite sides: On one side is Environment Minister Marina Silva, who argues that technical studies showed that the operation would have a huge impact on the environment and local communities, and on the other is most of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s cabinet. Lula is himself among the ones who think that it is possible to go on with the project without harming the environment. The plan was among the topics discussed by Lula and the presidents of the other nations of the Pan-Amazon region during an Aug. 8-9 summit in Belem, in Brazil. The region consists of nine countries: Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, Suriname, Guiana and French Guiana. “The summit’s final document failed to address key elements concerning extractivism in the Amazon. All decisions should be unanimous and there was no consensus on those issues,” explained Father Dario Bossi, a member of the Integral Ecology and Mining Commission of the bishops’ conference.

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MOBILE, Ala. (OSV News) – An Alabama priest disgraced after abandoning his parish to travel to Italy with an 18-year-old woman described himself as “married” to her in a Valentine’s Day letter. Father Alex Crow, 30, and the unnamed woman are believed to have left Mobile unannounced July 24 and have been located in Italy. In a separate letter, Father Crow indicated he believed that Jesus had told him and the young women to leave, and planned to remain a priest. Father Crow had been a parochial vicar at Corpus Christi Parish in Mobile and left behind a letter to the Archdiocese of Mobile stating that he would never return to the United States, according to the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office has been investigating whether a crime has occurred. A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said that there are currently no criminal charges against Father Crow, but the office is investigating the nature of the relationship and whether the woman has been manipulated or coerced. The office is also clarifying the nature of Father Crow’s involvement at the young woman’s former high school. Mobile Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi has told Father Crow that “he may no longer exercise ministry as a priest, nor to tell people he is a priest, nor to dress as a priest.” In July, the archdiocese reported the situation to the Mobile County District Attorney, who opened the investigation. In its Aug. 14 statement, the Mobile Archdiocese said that it “has and will continue to cooperate fully with all requests for information from law enforcement.”

NEW ORLEANS (OSV News) – The Archdiocese of New Orleans and Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond are pushing back at a newspaper’s investigative report claiming they mishandled several claims of clerical abuse. The Guardian published an Aug. 8 investigative feature concluding that the “archbishop on six different occasions disregarded findings of credibility” for accused priests, allegedly overriding the archdiocesan review board, a consultative body required for each diocese or eparchy by the U.S. bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” also known as the Dallas Charter. The newspaper article cited a confidential 48-page attorney’s memorandum it had obtained, claiming the document revealed the archdiocese was keeping several priests from being named as credibly accused while the archbishop approved a number of settlements. Allegations against the deceased or retired priests named in The Guardian’s report ranged from inappropriate touching to rape. “We adamantly deny the assertions made in The Guardian that allegations of sexual abuse were mishandled by Archbishop Aymond and the Archdiocese of New Orleans,” Sarah Comiskey McDonald, archdiocesan communications director, said in an Aug. 8 email to OSV News. “Each allegation is complex and unique. A finding of credibility by the Internal Review Board is not a determination of guilt in either canon law or civil law,” she said. McDonald provided the archbishop’s statement to The Guardian where he said, “In each instance … decisions were made and actions were taken based upon the information and in consultation with lay professionals and experts as well as church leadership.” He said, “Each situation is complex and decisions were not made with a careless disregard for survivors nor a desire to protect the church and the priests.”

PETERSBURG, Va. (OSV News) – Father Brian Capuano has worn many hats during his tenure as a priest: pastor, mentor, director of worship and vicar for vocations, just to name a few. He also can count brewmaster among them. This spring Trapezium Brewing Co. in Petersburg launched the second release of his signature “Father Brian’s Bourbon Barrel Brown Ale,” where hundreds of family, friends and past parishioners toasted the beloved priest. For nine years Father Capuano was pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Petersburg, which is in the Richmond Diocese. To learn more about the community, its people and its culture, he would walk the streets, often dressed in his full priest cassock, and interact with those he met along the way. He ventured to local restaurants and events, believing it was important to be seen outside of church, which eventually led him to Trapezium. It became a place where he could get some paperwork done and engage with the community. Since 2019 he has been Richmond’s diocesan vicar for vocations in 2019, and despite an ever-busy schedule he still tries to frequent Trapezium and other venues. He sees this as an important part of his mission and the greater mission of the church. “We can’t expect people to simply ‘come to church’ to be evangelized,” he said. “From the beginning, the Lord sent the 12 and then the 72 to bring the good news to people who need salvation. That has to continue today; we cannot be limited as priests, and Catholics in general, to simply serving the needs of those who cross the threshold of our churches.”

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Thanking a group of European lawyers for their attention to environmental protection laws, Pope Francis said he was preparing another document on the subject. “I am writing a second part to Laudato Si’ to update it on current problems,” the pope told the lawyers Aug. 21 during a meeting in the library of the Apostolic Palace. He provided no further information. “Laudato Si’, On Care for Our Common Home” was the title of Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical letter on the need for an “integral ecology” that respects the dignity and value of the human person, helps the poor and safeguards the planet. The pope made his remark in the context of thanking the lawyers for their “willingness to work for the development of a normative framework aimed at protecting the environment.” He told them, “It must never be forgotten that future generations are entitled to receive from our hands a beautiful and habitable world, and that this entails grave responsibilities toward the natural world that we have received from the benevolent hands of God.”

WORLD
MEXICO CITY (OSV News) – The Jesuit-run Central American University in Managua suspended operations Aug. 16 after Nicaraguan authorities branded the school a “center of terrorism” the previous day and froze its assets for confiscation – actions marking an escalation in the regime’s repression of the Catholic Church and its charitable and educational projects. The Jesuit province in Central America immediately rebuked the terrorism accusations as “false and unfounded,” saying in an Aug. 16 statement, “The de facto confiscation of the (university) is the price to pay for seeking a more just society, protecting life, truth and freedom for the Nicaraguan people in accordance with the (school) slogan, ‘The truth will set you free.’” The accusations against the school, known locally as UCA, “form part of a series of unjustified attacks against the Nicaraguan population and other educational and social institutions of civil society – and are generating a climate of violence and insecurity and worsening the country’s social-political crisis.” UCA confirmed in a statement to the university community that the country’s 10th district court – which accused the school of “organizing criminal groups” – had ordered its assets seized and handed over to “the State of Nicaragua, which will guarantee the continuity of all educational programs.” Auxiliary Bishop Silvio José Baez of Managua, currently exiled in Miami, called the “confiscation” of the UCA “unjust,” “illegal” and “outrageous.”

BOGOTÁ, Colombia (OSV News) – The Colombian bishops’ conference has welcomed the beginning of a six-month ceasefire between the nation’s military and the largest remaining rebel group and began to train dozens of priests and lay workers from different parts of the country on how to help monitor the truce. In a statement published on Aug. 10, the bishop’s conference said that 31 representatives from 18 different dioceses were briefed on details of the ceasefire and on international humanitarian law. The group also discussed methods that would be suitable to report breaches of the ceasefire. “We will take this knowledge to our territories,” said Father Jairo Alberto Rave, from the Diocese of Barrancabermeja, “so that we can make an important contribution” to the peace process. The truce started on Aug. 3, and seeks to facilitate peace talks between the Colombian government and the National Liberation Army – known as ELN by its Spanish acronym – a Marxist-oriented rebel group that is particularly influential in the west of Colombia and along its eastern border with Venezuela. It is the longest ceasefire ever between Colombia’s government and the ELN and is part of President Gustavo Petro’s plans to pacify rural areas of the country that are still affected by violence waged by rebel groups and cartels, that were not part of a 2016 peace deal between the Colombian government and the FARC guerrilla group.

St. Augustine, Fla., celebration unites cultures, continents and launches Camino de la Unidad

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By Jessica Larson
AUGUSTINE, Fla. (OSV News) – The newly unveiled sculpture of the Apostle Santiago at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine in the heart of downtown St. Augustine is a tangible link to its counterpart at the entrance of the Santiago Cathedral in Spain.

Placement of the statue came on the feast of St. James (Santiago), July 25, during an event marking the convergence of spiritual connections between cultures and continents. It included the opening ceremony of Camino de la Unidad, a network of pilgrimage routes in the Americas.

The evening commenced with a solemn procession, as the revered statue of St. James was carried from the Castillo de San Marcos, a Spanish-built masonry fort dating to the late 1600s, to its new home in the cathedral basilica a few blocks away.

Pilgrims join in a procession in downtown St. Augustine, Fla., taking a statute of St. James (the Apostle Santiago) from the Castillo de San Marcos, a Spanish-built masonry fort dating to the late 1600s, to its new home in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine a few blocks away July 25, 2023. (OSV News photo/Brandon Forschino, St. Augustine Catholic)

The statue, crafted by the skilled hands of Juan Vega, is fashioned after one found at Spain’s
Santiago Cathedral. It returned with a local Florida delegation that visited Spain in 2022 to solidify St. Augustine’s connection to the Camino de Santiago de Compostela (the Way of St. James) and will reside permanently in the west courtyard of the cathedral basilica.

Jesus counted St. James among his three closest apostles, and he earned the title of Apostle of Spain for his unwavering evangelical zeal and his missionary endeavors in A.D. 40. After he was martyred in A.D. 44, his remains were laid to rest in the Cathedral de Santiago de Compostela, the destination of the renowned Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain.

The newly unveiled sculpture of the Apostle Santiago in St. Augustine invites pilgrims and visitors alike to embark on a spiritual journey, embracing the values and teachings of the Camino de Santiago. Its presence in St. Augustine is a powerful symbol of harmony and continuity, bridging the spiritual connection between the Camino in Spain and its expansion to the Americas through the Camino de la Unidad.

The Camino de Santiago in Spain draws pilgrims from diverse backgrounds, and it is hoped that St. Augustine will soon become another cherished destination for spiritual seekers from around the world.

During the celebration of evening Mass July 25, Deacon Mike Elison highlighted the diverse motivations of those who undertake the Camino de Santiago. Whether mourning the loss of a loved one, seeking direction at a crossroads in life, pursuing adventure and meaningful connections or simply yearning for solitude with God, the Camino can be a transformative experience.

In his homily, Deacon Elison urged attendees to step out of their comfort zones, carrying with them only what truly matters.

The deacon shared 10 life lessons gleaned from the Camino experience, and one in particular – “Pack light and throw stuff out” – resonated deeply with Timothy Johnson, who was part of the Florida delegation that went to Spain in 2022.

Johnson, who is the Craig and Audrey Thorn distinguished professor of religion at Flagler College in St. Augustine, was among representatives of St. Augustine’s academic, cultural, historical, government and religious sectors that took the trip to solidify their membership in the Alliance of Cathedrals and strengthen the city’s connection to the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.

According to the St. Augustine diocesan website, the alliance “is an association formed by historic and culturally rich cathedrals from different parts of the world. Its main objective is to strengthen the importance of these cathedrals as tourist destinations and as centers of spirituality and culture, enriching the experience of visitors and promoting intercultural understanding and dialogue.”

Johnson told the St. Augustine Catholic, the diocesan magazine, he was delighted to see the project come full circle.

During the Mass, Father John Tetlow, pastor and rector of the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, officially signed the proclamation joining the Alliance of Cathedrals. The alliance is dedicated to promoting faith, research, knowledge exchange and cooperation in areas such as theology, sociology, heritage conservation, cultural and religious tourism promotion, and the organization of joint events and activities.

The cathedral basilica, a founding member of the alliance, now officially becomes the anchor for the new Camino de la Unidad network of pilgrimage routes in the Americas, offering another way for people to experience the transformative power of pilgrimages.

Father Tetlow also unveiled the new stamp for the local Camino, which will serve as an official record of a pilgrim’s “Certificate of Distance.” This certificate, issued by the Chapter of the Cathedral of Santiago, certifies the number of kilometers pilgrims have traveled, provided they have covered at least 100 km (about 62 miles) on foot.

(Jessica Larson writes for the St. Augustine Catholic, magazine of the Diocese of St. Augustine.
NOTES: For more information about the Camino de la Unidad or Camino is the Way, visit https://caminoistheway.com/quienes-somos. A video of the July 25 feast day celebration can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/yw2fv3fy.)

Spanish teen says she has regained sight after praying to Our Lady of the Snows

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By Paulina Guzik
LISBON, Portugal (OSV News) – World Youth Day is known as an event that can and does change lives, but when a teenager said she has regained her sight during the Portuguese youth fair, it electrified both Portugal and Spain on Aug. 6.

Two and a half years ago, Jimena, a 14-year-old girl from Madrid, lost 95% of her sight due to a problem related to her myopia. Being a teenager, she was still using her cell phone, but only for audio messages. Over the course of her disease, she had begun to learn Braille to read with her hands.

Last week, she traveled to World Youth Day in Lisbon with her Opus Dei youth club, El Vado, from the popular Madrid neighborhood of Vallecas. Because of her visual impairment, she was registered as a handicapped pilgrim. On Aug. 5 – the first Saturday of the month and the day when Pope Francis prayed the rosary with sick young people in Fatima – Jimena got up like every day, with blurred vision.

After praying to Our Lady of the Snows, whose feast day it was, and after having completed the novena to Our Lady with her classmates, Jimena went to Mass. When she returned to her seat after receiving Communion, she realized she had recovered her sight.

“When I opened my eyes I saw perfectly!” she said in a WhatsApp audio message that she sent to her family and friends, that has since gone viral.

Pope Francis prays in front of a statue of Our Lady of Fátima before beginning his celebration of the closing Mass for World Youth Day at Tejo Park in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug. 6, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

“After Communion I sat on the bench, I started crying a lot because it was the last day of the novena and I wanted to … I asked God very much (for this), and when I opened my eyes, I saw perfectly,” she said.

The healing was so instantaneous that at the end of that same Mass, Jimena got up and read the last prayer of the novena clearly and aloud, to the astonishment and joy of her friends present at the church.

The audio continues with her being surprised at seeing her “older” classmates (she had not seen them for more than two years), and then asking for a mirror to see herself, after which she admitted: “I am a little changed, too.”

Jimena asked all her friends to accompany her to thank God for that “gift,” and commented that she will call all her daughters “Nieves” – “Snow” – because Aug. 5 is her “new birthday.”

In an interview with the Spanish radio network COPE, Jimena explained that she convinced all the young people with her group at WYD to pray for her healing. “And today after Communion … I see perfectly! Well, I don’t know how to explain it,” she said.

Jimena’s mother, whose name was not revealed, was quoted by Spanish blog Camino Catolico saying that “Faith moves mountains,” and that the miracle happened precisely at noon “after (Jimena received) Communion and in front of her entire WYD group.”

“Jimena saw again,” the mother said.

“She has called us crying and with all her friends like crazy. We don’t know much else at the moment. They are going to try to see the pope to tell him. Today everything begins again, and Our Lady of the Snows is already an active part of our faith,” she was quoted as saying.

A nun friend of the family contacted Cardinal Juan José Omella of Barcelona, president of the Spanish bishops’ conference, to tell him what happened and the cardinal called the girl to hear the story directly from her. Jimena, in the words of the cardinal, “was very enthusiastic.”

Asked at a press conference in the WYD media center Aug. 6 about the case, the cardinal considered it a “grace of God,” nevertheless counseling those present to wait for medical assessments before proclaiming the event as miraculous.

“I think that there we have a piece of information that is beautiful and a girl who has recovered her sight,” the cardinal said. “Doctors will now have to assess whether or not it was incurable,” the first process in the official declaration of a miracle.

At one of the WYD sessions with young pilgrims from Spain, Bishop José Ignacio Munilla of Orihuela-Alicante, Spain, commented: “What happened with Jimena is a sign, which is how miracles are called in the Gospel of St. John. We need the light to see God and to see everything with the eyes of God. It is a sign,” he clarified, “and a call from Our Lady to open our eyes, to grow in our faith.”

The healing appeared to happen a few hours after Pope Francis was praying in the famous Marian shrine on Aug. 5.

“We are very happy and rejoice with her, and we pray with her,” Carmo Rodeia, spokesperson of the Shrine of Fatima, told OSV News.

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

All aboard: WYD pilgrims know about the synod, share its concerns

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By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – With the approach of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops, a major event in the pontificate of Pope Francis, it was surprising that the pope did not use the word “synod” or “synodality” in any of his talks to the 1.5 million young people gathered in Portugal for World Youth Day.

If he thought young Catholics were not aware of the synod, of its vision and of some of the controversy surrounding it, he was wrong.

The staff of the synod secretariat went to World Youth Day in Lisbon prepared to explain “synodality” to young Catholics, but they found the pilgrims from around the world already knew about the synod assembly planned for October and about many of the issues proposed for discussion.

“Being in contact with the young people was amazing, really amazing,” said Thierry Bonaventura, the synod communication manager. “Most of them knew about the synod, were ready to listen to more about it” and were eager to share their hopes and concerns.

The synod had a booth at the “City of Joy,” a venue in a Lisbon park where religious orders and Catholic service and mission organizations interacted with young people throughout World Youth Day Aug. 1-6.

The young people who visited the synod booth left thousands of prayers for the synod and for the church written on Post-it Notes and hundreds of letters to Pope Francis and synod members on full-sized sheets of paper pre-printed with “Say something to the synod.”

While Bonaventura and the synod staff were still sorting through the notes and letters back at the Vatican Aug. 9, he told Catholic News Service that the young Catholics’ chief concerns were clear, and first on their lists was the unity of the church.

One unsigned Post-it prayer read, “That together we may grow both in unity & diversity. All are welcome.”

And a message to the synod written in English signed by a German pilgrim said, “I hope that the synod will strengthen and renew the unity in the church and not lead to division. Please find a way to find all together in Christ.”

Young Catholics in Lisbon told synod staff they want more time and space in the church dedicated to them, Bonaventura said, but not simply as recipients of ministry. They want the church to welcome their gifts and talents, for instance by using their skills in technology and social media.

Recognizing and expanding the leadership of women in the church and ensuring LGBT Catholics feel welcome also were top concerns, he said.

Another frequently repeated concern, “always repeated with this idea of unity in diversity,” he said, was greater access to the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass.

On a “say something to the synod” form, a young man from the United States wrote that the traditional Latin Masses he has attended are “the most beautiful Masses that I have ever been to,” and he asked Pope Francis to end the restrictions on its celebration because they “exclude and ostracize a large group of faithful Catholics.”

For Bonaventura, World Youth Day was a clear demonstration of synodality in action: Young Catholics from around the world literally walked together, joining “to praise the Lord, to deepen their knowledge of Jesus, to gather around the pope and listen to his teaching.”

“And what astonished me a little bit, because I didn’t know it was so strong, was their awareness of mission, of really helping others who don’t know Jesus to know him,” he said.

While Pope Francis did not talk about the synod to the young people, his “todos, todos, todos” refrain – his insistence that all are welcome in the church – and his encouragement to share the Gospel will joy resonated with the pilgrims and echoed the key points of the synod’s theme: “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission.”

Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of San Diego, who was appointed by the pope to be a member of the synod, told CNS, “His constant refrain that all are welcome in the life of the church – that strikes young people very profoundly and beautifully.”

“This is how God relates to us: first, wanting us to know we are loved; second, wanting us to know that God stands with us as we face the problems which weigh us down; and thirdly that God is helping us to change in our lives,” the cardinal said.

Speaking to reporters on his return flight to Rome Aug. 6, Pope Francis said he knows some people don’t like his insistence on welcoming everyone. A common objection, he said, is: “But young people don’t always live life in accordance with morality.”

“Who among us has not made a moral mistake in our lives? Everyone has,” he continued. “Each of us has had downfalls in our own history. Life is like that. But the Lord is always waiting for us because he is merciful and is Father, and mercy goes beyond everything.”

In welcoming and ministering to all, he told the reporters, “One of the important things is patience: accompanying people step by step on their way to maturity.”

Father Hendrick Ardianto, SCJ of the Catholic Parishes of Northwest Mississippi displays the US Flag during an event at World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal.

Although Pope Francis did not speak to the WYD pilgrims about the synod, it was a significant part of his homily Aug. 2 at a prayer service with bishops, priests and pastoral workers in Portugal.
“The church is synodal,” he said. “She is communion, mutual assistance and shared journey.”

“In the boat of the church, there has to be room for everyone: all the baptized are called on board to lower the nets, becoming personally involved in the preaching of the Gospel,” the pope continued.

The model, he said, is “that passage of the Gospel in which the wedding feast of the son is all prepared, and people do not come to it. So, what does the Lord, the master of the feast, say? ‘Go out to the highways and byways and bring everyone, everyone: the sick, the healthy, young and old, the righteous and sinners. Everyone!’”

(Follow Wooden on Twitter: @Cindy_Wooden)

Sister Josephine Garrett shares ‘hope stories’ of Black Catholicsin podcast meant to inspire

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By Katie Yoder

(OSV News) – A podcast production by Catholic publishing company OSV (the parent company of OSV News) with a nationally-recognized religious sister is featuring “Hope Stories with Black Catholics” this summer.

“A hope story is a time in someone’s life when he or she was called to hope in a deep way,” Sister Josephine Garrett, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, told OSV News of the ongoing series. “Hope (especially hope that is deep and profound and connected to the deepest desires of our hearts) takes courage, and as we wait for what is longed for, we can experience grief, loss, joy, fear, expectancy – all sorts of feelings.”

“Hope isn’t the easiest experience to enter into,” she added, saying that “in each episode the guests share times in their life when they were brought to the thresholds of hope.”
In total, the podcast will consist of 15 episodes lasting around 30 minutes each while highlighting the stories of 17 U.S. Black Catholics from all walks of life.

This is an illustration for a new podcast called “Hope Stories,” hosted by Sister Josephine Garrett, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. The first episode launched June 26, 2023, and is available at https://www.osvpodcasts.com. (OSV News photo/OSV)

“Seventeen guests because some episodes include married couples!” Sister Garrett explained, adding that the podcast also will include single Catholics, deacons, religious, priests and a bishop.

Sister Garrett, a writer, speaker and mental health counselor based in Tyler, Texas, has experience talking about hope. A relevant voice on social media, where thousands of people follow her on platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, Sister Garrett became Catholic in 2005 before professing vows in 2020.

While Sister Garrett’s podcast about hope stories will cover the same topic in each episode, each story is unique because each guest is unique, she stressed.

“We discuss the guest’s faith journey, their definition of hope, their hope story that they chose to share in the episode and each guest also shares their views on the place of Black culture in the life of the church,” Sister Garrett said.

As one of the guests, Father Robert Boxie, chaplain at Howard University and priest-in-residence at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Washington, told OSV News he “absolutely enjoyed” being a part of the podcast and sharing his hope story. He was grateful to share his work as the Catholic chaplain at one of the U.S.’s preeminent historically Black institutions of higher education ministering to young Black Catholics and students at Howard.

“I believe we are bringing hope in a real way because our Catholic faith has something to offer on campuses like Howard,” he said. “And more importantly, we are encouraging and forming a generation of Black Catholic leaders with the message that their faith, their gifts, their contributions and their presence in the church matter.”

Father Boxie also shared his advice for listeners seeking hope.

“We all have a story of hope to tell and all of us have a reason for our hope, that is, Jesus Christ,” he said. “My prayer is that listeners will be inspired by the stories of Black Catholics, appreciate the unique witness that we bring to the Catholic Church and realize how it’s necessary for these stories to be told.”

Sister Garrett agreed that every person has a hope story.

“We all have stories of hope, we are all called to hope courageously in the promises of God, so I believe these episodes will resonate in some way with all people,” she said before citing Romans 5:2-5: “We boast in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

She said the podcast began after OSV decided to enter the podcasting space and invited her to host one that they hoped to launch.

“We knew the podcast would line up with my book that comes out in the fall and we zeroed in on highlighting Black Catholics before we zeroed in on telling stories of hope,” she said, referencing her upcoming book that will be released by OSV called “Hope: An Invitation.”

“It wasn’t a private inspiration, it was the fruit of my own prayer, my editor’s prayer and the prayer of other members of the OSV team,” she added.

If listeners take away one thing from the podcast, Sister Garrett hopes it is the realization “that every member of the body of Christ is a gift and brings something to the church that only he or she can bring.”

“While our stories are unique and our various hopes are unique, at the same time all of our stories and all of our hopes are rooted in Christ, and the hope of the resurrection won for us in Christ,” she said.

“I also want listeners to enter into the joy,” she added. “There is so much laughter and joy throughout this podcast and so I hope listeners take away the joy as well.”

Listeners can already tune in to the first several episodes of the production from OSV podcasts on a variety of platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Amazon Music, Castro, Castbox and Goodpods.

(Katie Yoder is a contributing editor for Our Sunday Visitor, a national Catholic newspaper based in Huntington, Ind. NOTES: A link to “Hope Stories with Black Catholics” is here: https://hopestories.osvpodcasts.com/)

At Congress closing Mass, Black Catholics urged, ‘Don’t let the fire go out!’At Congress closing Mass, Black Catholics urged, ‘Don’t let the fire go out!’

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Editor’s note: Ivory Phillips, parishioner of Holy Ghost Jackson, wrote a summary of his experience at the 13th National Black Catholic Congress that took place from July 20-23 in National Harbor, Maryland. To read it, visit https://bit.ly/PhillipsNBCC.
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By Gina Christian
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (OSV News) – A Sending forth the participants of the 13th National Black Catholic Congress at their July 23 closing Mass in the Washington metropolitan area, Bishop John H. Ricard offered them an admonition that he said he learned from his days as a youth camping in the woods – “Don’t let the fire go out!”

Bishop Ricard, the superior general of the Josephites, who formerly served as the bishop of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, was the homilist at the Mass, celebrated at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland. He encouraged the congress participants to be enlivened by the flame of the Holy Spirit, and to bring that spirit of faith back to their homes, parishes, dioceses and to the African American communities in their cities and towns.

“You’ve got to poke the flame and stir it up … We can’t let the fire go out,” he said, also encouraging people to address problems like violence in their communities, the mass incarceration of people of color, and the challenge of reaching out to young adult Black Catholics raised in the faith, who no longer go to church.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Pictured (l-r) at the National Black Catholic Congress are Maxine Ford (St. Francis Greenwood); Dr. Ivory Phillips (Holy Ghost Jackson); Sister Amelia Breton, SBS; Jackie Lewis (St. Francis Greenwood); Father Sebastian Myladiyil, SVD (Sacred Heart Greenville); Laveria Green (Holy Family Natchez); Vincent Green (Holy Family Natchez); Glara Martin (St. Francis Greenwood); Linda Simmons (Christ the King Jackson); Janie Hicks (Holy Family Jackson); and Edith Spells (St. Francis Greenwood). (Photo courtesy of Sister Amelia Breton, SBS)

An estimated 3,000 Black Catholics from 80 dioceses across the United States attended the four-day gathering, which included Masses, keynote addresses, breakout sessions for adults and youth, and a visit to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
“I’m grateful to God that you are here in such great numbers, to bear witness to our church and our faith in the Lord,” Bishop Ricard, 83, said.

In his homily, Bishop Ricard praised the legacies of faith of the six U.S. Black Catholics being considered for sainthood whose portraits were depicted in large banners hanging behind the altar, noting how the Holy Spirit had reigned down on each of them.

“We’re here this weekend to reap the harvest that has been sown,” said Bishop Ricard.

Those candidates for sainthood include Venerable Henriette Delille of New Orleans, the foundress of the Sisters of the Holy Family; Venerable Mother Mary Elizabeth Lange of Baltimore, the foundress of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first religious congregation of African American women; Venerable Father Augustus Tolton of Chicago, the first publicly known Black Catholic priest in the United States; Venerable Pierre Toussaint of New York, renowned for his charitable works; Servant of God Julia Greeley of Denver, known for her devout faith; and Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration and dynamic evangelist from Mississippi who died of cancer in 1990.

Sister Thea, who was known for her soaring style of singing, participated in the sixth National Black Catholic Congress, held in 1987 on the campus of The Catholic University of America in Washington. Remembering the impact of her life, Bishop Ricard said, “The Holy Spirit came upon the songbird. Didn’t she become a witness of triumph over sickness and discrimination?”

Bishop Ricard also noted the legacy of Daniel Rudd, a pioneer Black Catholic journalist from Kentucky who founded the Congress of Colored Catholics that first met at St. Augustine Church in Washington in 1889.

That group, the bishop said, “is the granddaddy of the National Black Catholic Congress,” a movement that was revived in 1987, after Rudd’s group had held five earlier national gatherings around the turn of the century.

Honoring the memory of Rudd’s effort, Bishop Ricard said, “They had the vision, they had the determination, and they had the will back then to come together, because Rudd believed that in the Catholic Church, there was the fullness of the revelation of the teaching of Jesus, and that was the answer to all of the problems that Blacks were facing.”

The main celebrant of the July 23 closing Mass was Washington Auxiliary Bishop Roy E. Campbell Jr., the president of the National Black Catholic Congress. He was joined by five other bishops, about 60 priests and nearly 50 deacons. Joining the laypeople in the congregation were numerous African American women and men religious.

(Mark Zimmermann is editor of the Catholic Standard, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Washington.)

Catholics appeal for help as Biden declares Maui’s deadly fires a federal emergency

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By Patrick Downes
(OSV News) – Catholic Charities Hawai’i in the Honolulu Diocese has appealed for donations to help the agency meet housing, food and other needs of what could be thousands of victims from wildfires raging on the island of Maui that wiped out an entire town and drove people to seek refuge in the ocean.

More than 11,000 people were evacuated as wildfires burned the historic town of Lahaina “to the ground,” as numerous news outlets reported. Maui County officials confirmed Aug. 17 that at least 111 people have died, with two of them identified; and possibly 1,000 still missing. Maui police have asked families of people still unaccounted for to submit DNA samples to aid in possible identification.

An assessment of the Lahaina fire by the Pacific Disaster Center and Federal Emergency Management Agency reported 2,170 acres burned and more than 2,200 structures were damaged or destroyed.

Other Maui communities affected by the fires include the Kihei area and inland communities known as Upcountry. Firefighting crews continued to extinguish flare-ups in Lahaina and Upcountry into the evening Aug. 12, and the Pulehu/Kihei area fire was declared 100% contained to avoid further spread of the flames.

An aerial view shows the community of Lahaina after wildfires driven by high winds burned across most of the town several days ago, in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii, U.S. August 10, 2023. (OSV News photo/Marco Garcia, Reuters)

News reports said that wildfires also were affecting the Big Island (officially named Hawaii), and crews were battling a total of six fires, with three simultaneously torching Maui.

Various news outlets have reported on survivors supporting one another and receiving aid from local volunteer relief efforts. The Hawai’i Emergency Management Agency website maintains a page listing where to find the latest updates online and via radio, along with various agencies and resources on the ground for supplies, shelter, services and finding missing loved ones. Hawai’i Governor Josh Green said Aug. 13 that a Temporary Housing Task Force has been formed to work with federal partners, and has already secured 1,000 rooms to house those displaced by the fire with longer-term housing plans in the works.

“We can only imagine the distress and heartache that many are currently experiencing from the destructive wildfires on Maui, and our thoughts and prayers are with everyone impacted,” said a statement posted on the website of Catholic Charities Hawai’i, which urged people to make a donation to the agency for Maui relief at catholiccharitieshawaii.org/maui-relief.

“As a community of hope we can help those in need to overcome this tragedy and rebuild their lives through recovery efforts. Thank you for your consideration and for your continued support as we navigate through this challenging time together,” the agency said.

As the fires continued to burn and as the death toll continued to rise, Pope Francis offered his prayers, his encouragement to firefighters and rescue workers, and invoked “upon all the people of Maui Almighty God’s blessings of strength and peace,” according to a telegram sent by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, to Cardinal-designate Christoph Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The Maui blazes began the night of Aug. 8. The National Weather Service said strong winds from Hurricane Dora, passing hundreds of miles to the southwest of the Hawaiian Islands, were partly to blame for fueling the fires, though authorities had not yet identified what caused the fires.

During an Aug. 10 visit to a Veterans Affairs medical center in Salt Lake City, President Joe Biden issued a federal disaster declaration for Maui and the Big Island, ordering “all available federal assets on the Islands to help with response.” Green requested the declaration, which makes federal funds available to affected individuals by providing grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and other assistance. The federal funds can help businesses as well as state and eligible county governments, and nonprofit organizations.

“This is a tragic day for everyone in Hawai’i and the nation. Our hearts go out to the families of the victims and the survivors suffering through the deadliest natural disaster the state has seen in generations,” Green said in an Aug. 10 statement.

“In the coming days – as more and more details emerge – I ask that we as a state provide all the emotional and financial support we can to the people of Lahaina and Maui,” he said, adding that as governor, “I pledge to spare no resources to combat the destructive wildfires, shelter the displaced, treat and bring comfort to the traumatized, support our first responders, restore communication lines and enlist the aid of our federal and county partners to confront this this once-in-a-lifetime catastrophe.”

Lahaina’s Maria Lanakila Catholic Church miraculously survived the blaze.

In the days immediately following the fire, the Diocese of Honolulu had been unable to verify the fate of the church and its nearby parish school, K-8 Sacred Hearts School. The day before the fire, Aug. 7, half of the school’s roof blew off from the heavy winds.

Father Robert Ni Ni, a Missionaries of Faith priest who is pastor of the neighboring parish of St. Rita in Haiku and recently had been assigned to Maria Lanakila as parochial vicar, said he had heard conflicting reports on the fate of the church. He said it would be a “miracle” if the church survived.
The daily Honolulu Star-Advertiser had reported that the church had burned down. Another news source reported the church was still standing, Father Ni Ni told the Hawaii Catholic Herald, Honolulu’s diocesan newspaper, by phone Aug. 10.

The Star-Advertiser corrected its report Aug. 11 with a story that the church was still standing.
The Lahaina fire ripped down Front Street, leaving the famous waterfront home to visitors’ shops and restaurants a smoldering pile of ashes. The church is a block from Front Street.

With all the power and cellphone service out, the fate of Maria Lanakila Church was for several days the subject of rumor. The day after the fire ripped through Lahaina town, the word going around was that the church was “gone.” By Aug. 10 the diocese had received enough ground and aerial photographic evidence to determine that the church and rectory survived intact, while the school was heavily damaged. However, no one from the church has been able to visit the site because the area is closed off indefinitely as the search for victims continues.

Father Ni Ni reported that the pastor, Father Kuriakose Nadooparambil, and a visiting priest are safe as are three sisters of the Missionaries of Faith who work for the parish, and all the school and parish lay employees. At least five lost their homes, however.

Father Ni Ni has been one source of information about Lahaina as communication lines are down all over.

When the fire struck, Honolulu Bishop Larry Silva was on vacation in California as he returned from World Youth Day. His office quickly organized a Zoom virtual rosary to pray for the victims.

“What is needed is prayer for those who have lost their homes and businesses, prayers for our firefighters and first responders and police, and all those you are trying to protect the community, prayer for our social service agencies which are gearing up to help those who are most in need in this time of crisis and trial,” he said, introducing the virtual prayer session that was attended by about 300 people.

“And so we pray to our Blessed Mother for victory over all these tragedies,” he said, noting that Maria Lanakila translates into “Our Lady of Victory.”

“We ask the Lord to quench those fires immediately, so that they will no longer do any damage, so that they will be a memory of the past so we can begin the work of recovery and rebuilding,” he said in closing.

According to the National Park Service, Lahaina holds deep cultural significance for Hawaiians as the district “was once the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom.” The Lahaina Historic District, which encompassed downtown Lahaina, Front Street and its vicinity, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962, according to the park service’s website.

The first Mass was celebrated in Lahaina in 1841 by Sacred Hearts Father Modestus Favens, in a grass structure belonging to the Spanish cowboy Joakini. A bronze plaque on Front Street marked the spot.

According to the parish website, Maria Lanakika Church was established in 1846.

In 1862, Sacred Hearts Father Aubert Bouillon opened Sacred Hearts School with two classrooms. The English-speaking school was run by laywomen until the Sisters of St. Francis took it over from 1928 to 2001.

A new school building and convent, built of donated second-hand lumber, were blessed in 1951 by Bishop James J. Sweeney.

An arsonist burned the school down in 1971. The sisters rebuilt it with donations and by selling sweetbread, pickled mango and other items.

Patrick Downes is editor of the Hawaii Catholic Herald, newspaper of the Diocese of Honolulu. OSV News staff contributed to this report. Julie Asher is senior editor for OSV News.