By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) – The commutation Dec. 13 of all condemned prisoners on Oregon’s death row was one key in the Death Penalty Information Center’s 2022 report on capital punishment in the United States.
Counterbalancing Oregon’s move was Oklahoma’s effort to execute 25 death-row inmates in a 29-month span.
Even though 2022 was another year with fewer than 30 executions, more than half of those were in just two states, Oklahoma and Texas.
By contrast, according to Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, there are 37 states that either do not issue death sentences or have not executed a prisoner in at least 10 years.
In its annual year-end report released Dec. 16, 2022, the Death Penalty Information Center says the use of capital punishment continued its long-term decline in the U.S. in 2022. (CNS screen grab/Death Penalty Information Center)
“That’s three-quarters of the country,” he told Catholic News Service in a Dec. 15 phone interview. Fewer than 50 new death sentences were issued, but getting from a death sentence to an execution has proven more challenging for governments trying to impose the ultimate sentence, as botched executions and protocol errors led to halts in Alabama and Tennessee, while Kentucky became the second state to pass an exemption for serious mental illness.
Further, two more people were exonerated outright last year, bringing the total of exonerees since 1973 to 190. Concerns about innocence attracted unlikely spokespeople to the abolitionist cause, including Republican state legislators and self-described supporters of capital punishment, according to the report.
The Death Penalty Information Center’s prosecutorial accountability project has identified more than 550 trials in which capital convictions or death sentences were overturned or wrongfully convicted death-row prisoners were exonerated as a result of prosecutorial misconduct.
Half of those executed had spent 20 years or more on death row, according to the report, in violation of international human rights norms. Executions took place despite objections from county prosecutors and the relatives of victims. And 83% of prisoners executed in 2022 had evidence of a significant impairment.
“At least 13 of the people executed in 2022 had one or more of the following impairments: serious mental illness (eight); brain injury, developmental brain damage, or an IQ in the intellectually disabled range (five); chronic serious childhood trauma, neglect, and/or abuse (12),” the report explained. “Three prisoners were executed for crimes committed in their teens,” it added. “At least four of the people executed this year were military veterans.”
The Supreme Court continued to withdraw the federal courts from regulation of death penalty cases, limiting access to federal habeas corpus review for death-row prisoners, vacating lower court rulings that had halted executions, and declining to review death-penalty cases that presented serious constitutional issues.
Public support for the death penalty is near its all-time low in the past 50 years. In a Gallup poll, support ticked up 1%, and opposition went down 1%, despite respondents’ concerns over a rise in violent crime.
Dunham said outgoing Oregon Gov. Kate Brown’s mass commutation in Oregon was a big deal. The 17 whose sentences were commuted to life in prison without parole make up the second largest group in the past 50 years to receive a blanket pardon, next to Illinois Gov. George Ryan’s commutation of 160 death sentences in 2003.
“It is an irreversible punishment that does not allow for correction; is wasteful of taxpayer dollars; does not make communities safer; and cannot be and never has been administered fairly and equitably,” Brown said announcing the commutations.
The Death Penalty Information Center’s report said capital punishment continues to be applied discriminatorily. “Eight of the 18 prisoners executed were people of color: five were Black, one was Asian, one Native American and one Latino,” the report said.
One relatively unexamined result of November’s midterm elections was that prosecutors who support criminal legal reform were elected, and in some cases they succeeded death penalty advocates in the process.
In Shelby County, Tennessee, which includes Memphis, Attorney General Amy Weirich, a Republican, who had been investigated for prosecutorial misconduct, lost her reelection bid to Democrat Steve Mulroy, a law professor at the University of Memphis who had formerly been a civil rights prosecutor in the federal Department of Justice.
In Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, the incumbent prosecutor, a death penalty advocate, retired. “Oklahoma County carried out more executions than any state except the state of Texas,” Dunham said. The county, which includes Oklahoma City, “has had more wrongful death penalty convictions overturned than three other counties in the United States,” he added. “So who do they elect? The former director of the Innocence Project.”
Editor’s Note: The Death Penalty Information Center’s full report can be found online at https://bit.ly/3G20ssK.
NATION MENDOTA, Minn. (CNS) – A small article in a Christian magazine caught Bob O’Connell’s eye in 1982. It described a national program that provides Christmas presents to children who have a parent in prison. O’Connell was looking for a way to apply the Gospel message by serving the poor and suffering. “I had been in the charismatic movement … for seven, eight years,” said O’Connell, 78, a member of the Church of St. Peter in Mendota. “I was restless. I was itchy for doing something. I was just kind of bored. ‘OK, I’ve got a full-time job, but when it comes to doing some ministry, something for the Lord, I’m not doing anything.’ So, I thought, ‘What can I do?’” The article described a ministry called Project Angel Tree. It was started by a woman who had been incarcerated herself: Mary Kay Beard of Alabama. She had been hired by an organization called Prison Fellowship and was asked to come up with a Christmas project. She decided to erect Christmas trees at two local shopping malls and attach paper angels with the names of boys and girls who had a parent in prison. On the angels were gift ideas, and Beard coordinated a team of people to deliver gifts to these children of inmates. O’Connell started doing this in the Twin Cities that same year. He has done it every year since, coordinating the program from his Burnsville home. It has expanded to include northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and North and South Dakota. This year, Missouri was added to the list.
LANSING, Mich. (CNS) – A Catholic parish in the Diocese of Lansing has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court to protect its right to hire parish employees and staff for its grade school who uphold the tenets of the Catholic faith. The filing follows a July 28 ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court that reinterpreted a state civil rights statute’s definition of sex to include gender identity and sexual orientation without any exemption for religious organizations. Filed Dec. 5 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan-Southern Division, the suit names state Attorney General Dana Nessel, the Department of Civil Rights and the Civil Rights Commission. Becket, a Washington-based religious liberty law firm, is representing the plaintiff, St. Joseph Catholic Church in St. Johns, Michigan. Founded in 1857, it is the only Catholic parish in town. Its elementary school opened in 1924. The state Supreme Court’s “new understanding” of the civil rights statute “would make it illegal for St. Joseph to operate in accordance with the 2,000-year-old teachings of the Catholic Church on marriage and sexuality,” Becket said in a statement. “This threatens the school’s right to hire staff who will faithfully pass on the tenets of the faith to the next generation,” it said.
Bishop Jacinto Vera of Montevideo, Uruguay, who lived in the 1800s, will be beatified, Pope Francis announced in a series of decrees for sainthood causes released Dec. 17, 2022. (CNS photo/Archdiocese of Montevideo)
VATICAN VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Decrying what he described as “hostile times” when antisemitism and violence against Christians are on the rise, Pope Francis said a renewed commitment to Catholic-Jewish dialogue is needed. “The path we have traveled together is considerable,” but the work clearly is not done, the pope told members of the Amitié Judéo-Chrétienne de France, a dialogue and education group founded in 1948 by Jules Isaac, a French historian who worked to improve Christian-Jewish relations after World War II and met with Popes Pius XII and John XXIII. “We must give thanks to God” for the progress, the pope said, especially “given the weight of mutual prejudices and the sometimes-painful history that must be acknowledged. The task is not finished, and I encourage you to persevere on the path of dialogue, fraternity and joint initiatives. This beautiful work, which consists in creating bonds, is fragile, always to be resumed and consolidated, especially in these hostile times in which attitudes of closure and rejection of the other are becoming more numerous, including with the worrying reappearance of antisemitism, particularly in Europe, and of violence against Christians.”
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Celebrating Christmas is important and beautiful, Pope Francis said, but he asked people to spend less on their celebrations this year and donate the savings to help the people of Ukraine. As he has done at his general audiences since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, the pope asked pilgrims and visitors Dec. 14 to express their “closeness to the martyred Ukrainian people, persevering in fervent prayer for these brothers and sisters of ours who are suffering so much. Brothers and sisters, I tell you, they are suffering so very, very much in Ukraine,” the pope said. “I want to draw your attention to Christmas, which is coming, and to the festivities,” he said. “It’s beautiful to celebrate Christmas and have parties, but let’s reduce the level of Christmas spending a bit; let’s have a simpler Christmas with more modest gifts.” And, the pope said, “let’s send what we save to the people of Ukraine, who are suffering so much.” People in the country are hungry and cold, he said.
WORLD MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (CNS) – Uruguay, South America’s most secular country, is poised to get its first homegrown saint. Bishop Jacinto Vera, the first bishop of Montevideo, was declared venerable in 2015 and on Dec. 17 the Vatican announced that he would be beatified, after Pope Francis formally signed off on a miracle attributed to the future saint. Bishop Vera’s path to sainthood not only reflects the country’s history, but also the new path for the church in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay under the stewardship of Pope Francis, an Argentine. “The image of a saint like Jacinto Vera, someone with such important meaning for our country and our history, is of great benefit for Catholics. He walked our country. There is not a place you go where he has not been,” said Father Gabriel González, a professor at the Catholic University of Uruguay who has written extensively about the life and work of Bishop Vera. Jacinto Vera was born at sea in 1813 to parents who set sail from Spain’s Canary Islands with the goal of reaching farmland in Uruguay, which was still a Spanish colony. He gravitated to the church early in life and studied with the Jesuits in neighboring Argentina until his ordination in 1841 as a diocesan priest. As bishop of Montevideo, he invited the Jesuits to return to Uruguay and brought in several congregations of women religious to reestablish order to a church on the fringes of the continent. González said the local church was in disarray, but that changed with Bishop Vera.
YANGON, Myanmar (CNS) – A Christmas of darkness, silence and fear awaits thousands of Christians in camps for internally displaced persons in Myanmar, where carols, decorations and illuminations are banned because of ongoing conflicts. The sounds of gunfire, fighter jets and artillery shelling have replaced those of carols and celebrations in predominantly Christian Kachin, Kayah, Karen and Chin states, reported ucanews.com. Thousands of Christians have been forced to take refuge in churches, makeshift camps and in forests following military attacks against civilians. Ucanews.com talked to some people in the camps, but, at their request, changed their names to protect their identities. Ucanews.com reported that Josephine Pho Mu, 42, said this is the second time since 1988 she has had to flee her home in Kayah state. “I thought we would be temporarily displaced and go back home. But we have been away from home and sheltering at this camp for 19 months,” said Pho Mu, who has taken refuge at a church-run camp in Loikaw, capital of Kayah state, after leaving her village in Demodo township in May 2021. The mother of three said this will be her second Christmas in the camp. “It is a mix of joy and sorrow when Christmas approaches. We are joyful about welcoming Jesus Christ’s birthday, but we are sorrowful as we are in the camp due to the conflict and don’t know when we will be able to return home.”
Un fragmento del Partenón que representa la cabeza de un niño, que se encuentra en los Museos Vaticanos, se encuentra entre los tres fragmentos antiguos que el papa Francisco entregará al arzobispo Ieronymos II de Atenas y de toda Grecia. Según el sitio web de los Museos Vaticanos, los fragmentos llegaron a su posesión en el siglo XIX. (Foto CNS/Museos Vaticanos)
Los jugadores de fútbol se ayudan mutuamente durante un partido amistoso en el Estadio Al Thumama en Doha, Qatar, el 12 de diciembre de 2022. La experta en civismo Christine Porath, profesora asociada de la Escuela de Negocios McDonough de la Universidad de Georgetown, dice que los pequeños gestos de amabilidad pueden ayudar a revertir la creciente tendencia a la falta de civismo en el lugar de trabajo y en la sociedad en su conjunto. (Foto del CNS/Ibraheem Al Omari, Reuters)
Una mujer en Kenosha, Wisconsin, entrega flores a un miembro de la Guardia Nacional de Wisconsin el 28 de agosto de 2020. La experta en civismo Christine Porath, profesora asociada de la Escuela de Negocios McDonough de la Universidad de Georgetown, dice que los pequeños gestos de amabilidad pueden ayudar a revertir la creciente tendencia a la falta de civismo en el lugar de trabajo y en la sociedad en su conjunto. (Foto del CNS/Brendan McDermid, Reuters)
Una monaguilla cerca de Managua, Nicaragua, balancea un incienso antes de la misa en esta foto de archivo de 2008. Durante una audiencia en la Cámara de Representantes de los EE. UU. sobre la represión de Nicaragua contra los trabajadores de la iglesia y los católicos, el copresidente de la comisión de derechos humanos de la Cámara llamó al Papa Francisco el 15 de diciembre de 2022 a “hablar enérgicamente” contra la situación. (Foto CNS/Oswaldo Rivas, Reuters)
Un árbol de Navidad se encuentra en la Plaza del Pesebre frente a la Iglesia de la Natividad en Belén, Cisjordania, el 15 de diciembre de 2022. La iglesia está construida en lo que se cree que es el lugar donde nació Jesús. (Foto del SNC/Debbie Hill)
This is a meditation with a St. Joseph candle from the “Advent Box” booklet by Banafsaj Christian Designs in Lebanon. The booklet comes with an accompanying set of the Holy Family figurine candles. (CNS photo/courtesy Banafsaj Christian Designs)
NATION PROVIDENCE, R.I. (CNS) – In the past several years, an increasing number of Providence College graduates have pursued a vocation with the Dominican order that runs the Rhode Island university. “During the five years I was in Providence, we had at least one student enter the novitiate at the end of each year,” said Dominican Father Michael Weibley, whose first assignment after ordination was as a chaplain and professor at Providence College. “An average of a novice a year like that is a tremendous blessing for the order,” said the priest, who this year was named pastor of SS. Phillip and James Parish in Baltimore. The increased number of vocations coming from the college emerges in a climate of declining rates of new vocations, particularly for religious orders: In the past 60 years, the total number of active religious priests in the United States has been reduced by more than half. In the past 20 years, the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, which comprises the Northeastern corner of the United States, has been reporting steadily increasing vocations, with many of the new recruits being drawn directly from Providence College. For the novices currently emerging from Providence College, the call to preaching seems to be coming at a much younger age. Seeing “younger and younger friars on campus or students your own age going directly into the novitiate after graduating” makes it “easier to envision yourself actually pursuing that lifestyle,” said Dominican Brother Nicodemus Thomas, a 2018 graduate.
VATICAN VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis told Italian students to “dream big” like St. John XXIII and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. about the world of peace and justice they would like to see. And at the same time, he wished them a good Advent journey “made up of many small gestures of peace each day: gestures of acceptance, encounter, understanding, closeness, forgiveness and service. Gestures that come from the heart and are steps toward Bethlehem, toward Jesus, who is the prince of peace.” Pope Francis met Nov. 28 with some 6,000 Italian schoolchildren, teens and their teachers, who have been participating in the program of the National Network of Schools for Peace. The program is focusing on the theme, “For Peace. With Care,” and Pope Francis told them that the second part is essential. “Usually, we talk about peace when we feel directly threatened, as in the case of a possible nuclear attack or a war being fought on our doorstep,” the pope said. And “we care about the rights of migrants when we have some relative or friend who has migrated.” But even when war is not near or threatening someone known, “peace is always, always about us! Just as it always concerns another, our brother or sister, and he or she must be taken care of,” the pope told the students.
WORLD BEIRUT (CNS) – Violette Yammine aims to illuminate Advent and Christmas hope for Lebanese facing tough times. The graphic designer has launched an “Advent Box” that includes a “Meditations for Advent with the Holy Family” booklet, with an accompanying set of Holy Family figurine candles. Separately, there is also a children’s Christmas story. The two Christmas season family participation projects are the first offerings of Yammine’s Catholic design firm “Banafsaj,” which is how Violette is pronounced in Arabic. Yammine, a Maronite Catholic, considers her enterprise – Banafsaj Christian Designs – a way “to offer beautiful violets, and scents, to the Lord.” In Lebanon, she noticed, most Christian family-oriented publications are produced by evangelical churches. So, she decided “to put all my talent in the service of Christ.” The Advent booklet and accompanying Holy Family candles are intended for the three Sundays preceding Christmas. Yammine said she hopes it will spark “an Advent well spent in prayer.” The first Sunday reading concerns the Annunciation, intended for the Mary candle. The second Sunday reading is the revelation to Joseph, and thus the Joseph candle. The birth of Jesus is the third and final Sunday reading, with the candle of baby Jesus in the manger.
ACCRA, Ghana (CNS) – As Ghana’s national soccer team, the Black Stars, joins other national teams for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, some Ghanaian citizens have been talking about Iñaki Williams, who was named after a Catholic priest. His parents, Ghanaians Felix Williams and Maria (Mary) Arthuer, crossed the Sahara and, when they got to Morocco, jumped the border fence to Melilla, one of two Spanish cities in North Africa. The Guardian reported that, on the advice of a lawyer, they said they were from Liberia to apply for political asylum. They ended up in Bilbao, Spain. A Caritas volunteer, then-Deacon Iñaki Mardones, was instrumental in helping them when they arrived in Bilbao. “I went to pick them up at Abando (railway) station,” Father Mardones told La Provincia, a Spanish magazine. At the time, Maria was seven months pregnant. “I remember them with the suitcase and the uncertainty on their faces,” Father Mardones told La Provincia. The report on them said they understood Spanish, “but when I started to speak they looked at me without understanding anything. When I switched to English they sighed in relief.” He helped them to an apartment used by Caritas, and even helped them get to the hospital for their child’s birth.
By Mike Krokos INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) – It was a time of Scripture, prayer, music and fellowship.
It also was a night to honor the late co-founder of the National Black Catholic Men’s Conference. But for those teenagers and adults from across the United States in attendance, Franciscan Father Agustino Torres’ message Oct. 13 was simple, yet powerful: “The Lord has sent me to bless you.”
Father Agustino, who ministers for his order in the New York borough of the Bronx and is founder of the Hispanic youth ministry Corazon Puro, was the keynote speaker on the first night of the four-day conference at St. Rita Church in Indianapolis.
The gathering drew about 300 people. It was the first in-person gathering since 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Father Agustino shared how on his drive to the Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey for his flight to Indianapolis earlier that day, his usual route led him into gridlock. Instead of fretting about the unforeseen challenge, the priest said he traveled a different way to the airport, trusting that God had a plan for him.
Franciscan Father Agustino Torres, who ministers for his order in Brooklyn, N.Y., and is founder of the Hispanic youth ministry Corazon Puro, prays before delivering a keynote address at the National Black Catholic Men’s Conference at St. Rita Church in Indianapolis Oct. 13, 2022. (CNS photo/Mike Krokos, The Criterion)
While on the unplanned route, Father Agustino took the time to roll down his window and bless the people he encountered.
“I blessed them all. I blessed them all,” Father Agustino said. “When you share the Lord’s blessings, the Lord blesses you tenfold in return.”
The result? Father Agustino said that when he arrived at the airport, he was notified his ticket was upgraded, which led to laughter and applause from the congregation.
The priest said he ministers to people in the inner city, and the heart of his mission is trying to bring them hope. With that hope he also delivers his blessing, much like the blessing he offered to the attendees.
“This blessing is meant to be shared, this blessing is meant to be given, this blessing brings joy,” he said. “This blessing brings life, this blessing heals. … And I love sharing the blessing because someone has shared the blessing with me.”
Father Agustino reflected on a biblical verse from the prophet Jeremiah: “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.” (Jer 29:11).
Despite the fact God has a plan for each of person, the priest continued, some have not shared his blessings. He encouraged people of faith to seek God’s gifts.
He encouraged the conference attendees to pray: “Lord forgive me for the times I knew not what to do with the blessing you gave me. Father, may I receive these blessings now.”
Like many of the prophets, each person is called to be faithful to God and trust in the Lord’s plans, the priest said.
“You are here because someone spoke life into your soul. You are here because someone woke you up when you were lost and brought you back to life when you were dead,” he said. “We give thanks to God for those people. What would we be without those people?”
Father Agustino offered a blessing over the audience: “The Lord wants us to be anointed men to bring peace in our streets, in our homes, and in our hearts” to share God’s message of hope.
As he brings Jesus to the streets of his neighborhood, he, at times, must offer peace and prayers when he encounters evil, the priest said. “Sometimes, it takes courage to stand up to evil, but the man who is blessed, the man who has been anointed, is equipped to face evil.”
Encountering a recent domestic dispute between a man and woman in his neighborhood, Father Agustino intervened despite the man’s insistence that he should not. “This is my business!” the priest said to the man with his voice raised. “This neighborhood belongs to God!”
When reflecting on his reaction, Father Agustino said, “Anger is the power given to us by God to confront evil. The Lord wants us to be angry to confront the evil that is there. … My brothers, a man who is blessed, a man who is anointed, puts his anger” into his response to those situations.
As the man approached the priest, Father Agustino said, “I’m gonna pray for you!”
As we face life’s challenges, we must remember, a man who is blessed and anointed “does the right thing because it is the right thing,” Father Agustino added.
In living their vocation, a person at times will face evil within, he explained. But in failing, a person must remember “the Lord promises, we do have the strength, we do have the intelligence, we do have the fortitude, we do have the commitment, and these are the truths that need to inform those lies that they no more have a place within us,” he said.
Receiving God’s blessing in an anointing, a person will be filled with joy, and “your life will never be the same,” Father Agustino continued.
“And you will not know for what you are living, unless you know that you are living for God.”
During the conference, organizers announced the event would be renamed in honor of its co-founder, Divine Word Father Chester Smith. He died in April 2020.
The conference was launched in Indianapolis in 2004, with Father Smith playing an integral role in developing the yearly gathering, which helps carry out the mission of the city’s Bowman-Francis Ministry.
The ministry is named for two Society of the Divine Word priests and Sister Thea Bowman, a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration. Sister Bowman is a candidate for sainthood and has the title “Servant of God.”
The ministry’s mission is to “minister to the total Black Catholic: spiritually, physically and intellectually (and) … to offer many gainful avenues to meet the needs of Black people everywhere,” according to its website.
Going forward, the event will be known as the Father Chester P. Smith, S.V.D., National Black Catholic Men’s Conference.
(Krokos is editor of The Criterion, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.)
By Mark Pattison WASHINGTON (CNS) – The National Catholic Educational Association says Catholic schools have recovered more quickly from the pandemic than its public school counterparts.
The successes, according to the NCEA, go across the board when looking separately at Black students, Hispanic students, students from low-income households, and students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals.
The scores were first reported in October by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, colloquially known as “The Nation’s Report Card.” The numbers tracked the progress, or lack thereof, in math and reading by both fourth graders and eighth graders.
While Catholic schools’ scores are generally better than those of their public school counterparts – Annie Smith, NCEA vice president of data and research, said eighth graders pre-COVID-19 were about 5% better in math and 6% better in reading – the new numbers, based on testing conducted in 2021, showed a wider separation between the two.
COLUMBUS – Eighth graders, James Cancellare and Tristan Fulton, work on math problems together in October 2022. (Photo by Logan Waggoner)
Catholic schools’ scores have pretty much bounced back to the levels they had achieved prior to the coronavirus pandemic’s onset in March 2020. The only area that is still not up to snuff is eighth-grade math, which is still five points behind pre-pandemic levels.
Even so, said NCEA president Lincoln Snyder, those numbers are 15 points ahead of the comparable figures reported by public schools.
“It wasn’t a surprise to me at all,” Snyder told Catholic News Service in an Oct. 28 phone interview. “We’ve been monitoring testing data, really, throughout COVID.”
The NAEP numbers, Snyder said, bear out what a private firm found in 2021 when it conducted a lateral study of 3 million U.S. students to assess learning loss.
Given the upheaval wrought by the pandemic within society in general, and education in particular, Snyder said, “you would expect all students to have some learning loss.” But it was the ability to bounce back that characterized much of Catholic education, he added.
“It’s a testament to our educators to meet in person as soon as possible,” Snyder said. “It greatly did improve our Catholic school outcomes.”
The NAEP numbers dovetail with the NCEA’s own census showing that, for the first time in 20 years, enrollment in Catholic schools across the United States increased by 62,000. The number of Catholic schools also stayed steady, as 50 new schools were created to offset the closing of 50 other schools. “We did have a big uptick in enrollment. We had an initial drop. In March of ‘20, when we went to distance learning, people were fearful for losing their jobs. Or they did lose their jobs, but they quickly recovered. “
“Our retention of those new families was very high,” Snyder told CNS, citing a rate of 90% percent and “some dioceses were really as high as 98%.”
“They fell in love with the school, but they also stayed because of the community. This is a real opportunity for us to shine,” he said.
Only about one-third of dioceses had reported enrollment numbers for the current school year to the NCEA. A final tally is not expected until the spring.
Smith told CNS in a Nov. 1 phone interview that for Catholic schools to get back to their 2019 achievement levels, “our teachers are doing what they need to do already. They’re in the classroom, they’re working with students, they’re creating individualized learning plans.”
She confessed to being “a little disappointed with the drop in the eighth-grade math” scores, but “they’re going to graduate into our high schools, so we’re going to make sure this doesn’t have a long-term impact.”
Snyder said the NCEA has to “do a good job of telling our story.”
“I think we have a very compelling story to tell,” he explained. “We educate the whole children. We teach them to be servant leaders in Christ. Our teachers really model that servant leadership. I think they were committed to an adult that was committed to them. They can see that commitment and they responded to it.”
NATION BALTIMORE (CNS) – The U.S bishops were encouraged to send participants to the African National Eucharistic Congress, slated for July 21-23 in Washington, and to come themselves. Auxiliary Bishop Eusebio L. Elizondo of Seattle, in a Nov. 16 address to the bishops, told them the congress, known as ANEC, would be “more engaging” beyond the workshops that are part and parcel of the multiday gathering. He said there would be Masses, a eucharistic procession, a rosary procession and cultural celebrations on the congress schedule. “The ANEC is the right ground for the new evangelization, an opportunity for all of us to engage – dioceses, parishes, religious congregations, associations and others – to address the pastoral needs of African Catholics in the United States,” he said. “Your presence will be a tremendous inspiration for those who will attend, and make the ANEC a success.” Next year’s African National Eucharistic Congress will be the fourth such gathering. It will be held on the grounds of The Catholic University of America in Washington. The congress is held every five years.
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Latinos may be changing American politics more than politics is changing Latinos. To hear speakers at a Nov. 16 Georgetown online forum, politics is trying harder to bring Latinos into the fold. Jens Manuel Krogstad of the Pew Research Center, in his work studying Latino demographics and politics, noted that Latinos do not identify as strongly with either the Democratic or Republican parties as do other Americans. “Latinos support for the two parties has ebbed and flowed over the decades,” Krogstad said during a forum sponsored by Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life on: “How Are Latinos Changing Politics and How Are Politics Changing Latinos?”
Democratic support peaked at 70% during the presidencies of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, while GOP support got as high as 40% for George W. Bush and 38% for Donald Trump. “Latinos are not a monolith,” declared Olivia Perez-Cubas of the Winning for Women Action Fund, which recruits and gives financial backing to Republican women candidates. “The GOP depends on its ability to build a tent to diversify the party – which we’re not very good at but I think we’re working on – to speak to a diverse group of voters, and Latinos are very much a big part of that equation.” The upshot of the Nov. 8 midterm elections for Latinos is that “ the community is consequential – it is very consequential – in which party will control Congress, in which party will prevail in presidential elections,” said Julián Castro, a former U.S. secretary of housing and urban development.
Pope Francis poses for a group photo with his cousins and their families after Mass and a luncheon in Asti, Italy, Nov. 20, 2022. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
VATICAN ASTI, Italy (CNS) – With several of his cousins and their children and grandchildren present, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in the Asti cathedral, giving a nod to his family roots and drawing people’s attention to the root of Christian faith: the cross of Jesus. The Mass Nov. 20, the feast of Christ the King and World Youth Day, was the only public event during the pope’s weekend visit to the region from which his grandparents, Giovanni Angelo Bergoglio and Rosa Vassallo, and his father Mario immigrated to Argentina in 1929. The visit was timed to coincide with the 90th birthday of Carla Rabezzana, the pope’s second cousin. And, after landing in Portacomaro near Asti Nov. 19 and stopping for a prayer in a village church, Pope Francis headed straight to Rabezzana’s house for lunch. After lunch, the pope visited a nearby home for the aged and then headed to the little village of Tigliole to visit another second cousin, Delia Gai. The cousins and their families joined an estimated 4,000 people for Mass with the pope the next day in the Asti cathedral. In his homily, sprinkled with words in the Piedmont dialect his grandmother taught him, Pope Francis focused on how the kingship of Christ is different from any idea people usually have of a king. “He is not comfortably enthroned but hanging on a gibbet,” the pope said. “The God who ‘casts down the mighty from their thrones’ appears as a slave executed by those in power.”
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican is willing to do whatever it takes to broker a cease-fire and bring an end to the war on Ukraine, Pope Francis said. “We are continually watching as the situation evolves” concerning ways the Vatican’s diplomatic efforts could help, he said in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa. Vatican News published the interview Nov. 18. The Vatican Secretariat of State is working diligently every day, looking at every possibility and “giving weight to every opening that could lead to a real cease-fire and real negotiations,” he said. “The Holy See is willing to do everything possible to mediate and end the conflict in Ukraine. We are trying to develop a network of relationships that will foster a rapprochement between the parties, to find solutions. Also, the Holy See does what it must to help the prisoners,” he said, as well as provide humanitarian support “for the people of tormented Ukraine, whom I carry in my heart along with their suffering.” Asked about the prospects for reconciliation between Russia and Ukraine, the pope said, “I have hope. Let’s not resign ourselves, peace is possible. But we must all strive to demilitarize hearts, starting with our own, and then defuse, disarm violence. We must all be pacifists,” he said.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The centuries’ old silver fir tree that had been destined to become the centerpiece Christmas decoration in St. Peter’s Square will now live, perhaps to see another century. Forest service rangers arrived at the scene – a mountain grove in central Italy’s Monte Castel Barone – Nov. 14 to alert workers to halt preparations for felling the tree. When it emerged back in 2019 that the small village of Rosello in Italy’s central Abruzzo region was donating the tree to the Vatican for 2022, local activists started flagging problems, such as the lack of transparency concerning the donation and the failure to carry out an environmental impact study. Dario Rapino, a lawyer and nature photographer, even wrote to Pope Francis in 2020, pointing to his encyclical “Laudato Si’ on Care for Our Common Home” and the importance of avoiding any unnecessary human impact on the environment, according to local media reports. Even the World Wildlife Fund had put out a statement Nov. 7 saying, “cutting a tree of this size in the midst of a climate crisis is a debatable decision,” which required “greater transparency.” However, it wasn’t until Rapino recently tracked down the 98-foot-tree, that he discovered it was not located in Rosello, much less in the region of Abruzzo, but was, in fact, in a protected area in the nearby region of Molise in the township of Agnone, according to a report Nov. 12 by ChietiToday. The tree’s size, he said, also put it at around 200 years old.
WORLD SÃO PAULO (CNS) – The Vatican has advanced the sainthood cause of the late Archbishop Hélder Câmara of Olinda and Recife, who may soon be called “venerable.” Archbishop Fernando Saburido of Olinda and Recife made the announcement during the closing ceremony of the 18th National Eucharistic Congress. Archbishop Camara, one of the founders of the Brazilian bishops’ conference, was named to Olinda and Recife in 1964, three weeks before the beginning of the military coup that started the 20-year dictatorship in Brazil. Days after the coup, the archbishop released a manifesto supporting the Catholic workers’ action in Recife. The new military government accused him of being a demagogue and a communist, and he was forbidden to speak publicly. “If I give bread to the poor, everyone calls me a saint. If I show why the poor have no bread, they call me a communist and a subversive,” the archbishop is said to have said during that time. Dom Hélder, as he was known, remained a strong critic of the regime, denouncing human rights violations committed by police authorities.
OXFORD, England (CNS) – European church leaders have urged awareness of human rights issues during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, amid continued criticism that the Gulf state was allowed to host the tournament. “Women continue to be held back in Qatar, while non-Islamic religions, including Christianity, are only granted limited freedom, and sexual minorities subjected to criminal prosecution. All of this expresses, not just from a Western viewpoint, a repressive state and social order,” said Bishop Stefan Oster of Passau, who heads Germany’s Catholic DJK Sportjugend sports association. He said questions were still asked about the 2010 decision by FIFA, the international soccer governing body, to award the tournament to Qatar, which has no soccer tradition. The bishop issued the statement Nov. 17 as final preparations were made for the 2022 World Cup, Nov. 20-Dec. 18. “Like other states on the Arabian peninsula, the Emirate of Qatar has been catapulted into a new era thanks to oil and gas wealth – today, a conservative-traditional Islamic society and economic hypermodern society coexist with each other,” Bishop Oster said. “Although it would be unfair to ignore this special situation when criticizing questionable conditions, it would also be inappropriate to keep silent about human rights restrictions.” The bishop said Qatar’s mostly foreign population was subject to “strict regulations,” while female domestic workers were often isolated and had trouble “upholding their rights against employers.” The situation had worsened, Bishop Oster said, during construction of stadiums and other sites for the World Cup. He said health and safety standards had been “catastrophic,” with “countless accidents and far too many deaths” among low-wage laborers.
BALTIMORE – Gathered in Baltimore for their fall general assembly Nov. 14-17, the bishops elected new leadership, heard about the crisis in Ukraine and what’s facing migrants at the U.S. southern border. They also approved several liturgical items and OK’d the advancement of the sainthood causes of three Catholic women.
The prelates also discussed whether they should update “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” their document on the political responsibility of Catholics that they issue every four years for the presidential election.
By an overwhelming majority, the bishops voted to reissue the teaching document without revisions but to add supplemental materials and begin a process of reexamining the teaching document following the 2024 election.
Speaking from the floor, several bishops said it must include what Pope Francis has said on critical issues of the day in his nearly 10 years as the successor to Peter.
But beyond the business agenda the bishops must attend to every year, there was a greater emphasis on prayer throughout their four days together and changes in seating arrangements to promote “fraternal dialogue.”
Bishops attend a Nov. 15, 2022, session of the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. (CNS photo/Bob Roller)
In the ballroom of the hotel where the assembly takes place, round tables replaced long rows of tables and chairs focused on the stage where USCCB leaders led proceedings.
Each day of the meeting ended with vespers and throughout the plenary, there also was 24-hour eucharistic adoration, which was instituted at their 2021 assembly. There were also less formal bishop-media encounters.
Their first public session took place the afternoon of Nov. 15 and opened with an address by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio, followed by Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, the outgoing president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The nuncio told the bishops that “as we live through a time of accelerated change,” spreading the Gospel message is particularly important.
One way to determine if the church is following its missionary role is to look at how local churches are functioning as evangelizing communities, something he said is especially evident in the current eucharistic revival in the United States.
In his final presidential address, Archbishop Gomez described images of conflict, changes and challenges he saw during his three-year term.
He spoke of the pandemic, “a long season of unrest in our cities,” a contentious presidential election as well as “deepening political, economic and cultural divisions,” war in Europe, a refugee crisis and “the overturning of Roe v. Wade.”
He raised alarm over what he saw as a U.S. society moving “hard and fast toward an uncompromising secularism,” adding that “traditional norms and values are being tested like never before.”
In their elections, the bishops chose Archbishop Gomez’s successor – Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services. He was elected from a slate of 10 nominees, winning with 138 votes.
In subsequent voting, Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore was elected USCCB vice president. He won the post on the third ballot by 143-96 in a runoff with Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana.
The outgoing USCCB officers completed their three-year terms at the conclusion of the assembly, and their successors began their three-year terms.
Archbishop Broglio told reporters a few hours after he was elected that he is willing to meet with public officials, including President Joe Biden, to discuss public policy issues of concern to the church.
“I don’t see my role as political, but if there is any way to insert the Gospel into all aspects of life in our country, I certainly will not miss any occasion to do that,” he said, adding that Archbishop Gomez had desired to meet with Biden, but that such an opportunity did not present itself since Biden’s election two years ago.
The afternoon public session ended with an acknowledgement of the 20th anniversary of the drafting and passage of the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” with prayer and reflection led by Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, New Jersey.
The prelates also heard poignant remarks from Mark Williams, a survivor of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest. He told the bishops he was “grateful and encouraged by the work you are doing to rid abuse from our beloved church.”
Bishop James V. Johnston Jr. of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, outgoing chairman of the Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, said the past 20 years have been a time of growth, awareness, examination and conversion as the church has worked to provide a safe environment and restore justice.
During their public sessions Nov. 15 and 16, the bishops heard several reports, including on:
– Preparations for the next October’s world Synod of Bishops on synodality: Work is proceeding – and quickly, according to Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, chairman of the bishops’ doctrine committee. Diocesan listening sessions concluded this fall. He said dioceses “managed to host over 30,000 listening sessions and other means of coming together.” Now comes “the continental stage” of consultations.
– The ongoing war in Ukraine: Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia asked his fellow U.S. bishops Nov. 16 to pray for Ukraine, and, if possible, to go to Ukraine and pray there for its people. What Ukrainians are facing amounts to genocide, he said. He thanked the bishops and their leadership for spearheading U.S. Catholic support for a nation under attack by Russia since February.
– The three-year National Eucharistic Revival, which is now under way at the diocesan level and will culminate in the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in 2024: Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, which is spearheading the revival, said the revival has “incredible momentum.” The ultimate goal, he said, is that this “this encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist” will move Catholics who have been part of this experience to be missionary disciples who would in turn lead others to the faith.
– The pro-life landscape after the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade: Archbishop Lori, speaking as outgoing chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said that in a year when abortion has been front and center in U.S. politics – from the Supreme Court decision to recent state referendums – the Catholic Church faces a challenge of promoting its pro-life message to its own members and society at large.
“We have more work to do,” he said, but stressed church leaders must must remain united in their efforts to “proclaim the Gospel of life and defend human life at every stage.”
Among liturgical action items before them, the bishops approved English and Spanish versions of “Lay Ministry to the Sick,” a collection of texts taken from other liturgical books. They also approved new Mass texts for the feasts of Our Lady of Loreto (Dec. 10) and the recently canonized St. Paul VI (May 29).
The approved texts now advance to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Sacraments for a “recognitio” before they can be used in the United States.
The bishops also gave their assent in voice votes to the advancement of three sainthood causes: – Mother Margaret Mary Healy Murphy, founder of the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate, the first order of women religious in the state of Texas. – Cora Louise Evans, a California laywoman who was a wife, a mother and possible mystic. – North Dakota laywoman Michelle Duppong.
(Contributing to this report were Carol Zimmermann, Rhina Guidos, Dennis Sadowski and Mark Pattison.)
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The National Prayer Vigil for Life held each January will continue even with the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade because there is “still a great need for prayer and advocacy”‘ to end abortion and protect the unborn and their mothers, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Nov. 11.
The vigil is hosted in Washington by the USCCB Secretariat of Pro-life Activities, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and The Catholic University of America’s Office of Campus Ministry.
A person prays with a rosary during the opening Mass of the National Prayer Vigil for Life Jan. 20, 2022, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. (CNS photo/Bob Roller)
Scheduled for Jan. 19-20 at the national shrine, the vigil has always coincided with the eve of the March for Life, which marks the date of 1973 decision of the court’s Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. The 2023 March for Life is Jan. 20.
“The National Prayer Vigil is a time to praise God for the great gift of the recent Supreme Court Dobbs decision, overturning the tragic Roe v. Wade decision made almost a half-century ago,” said Kat Talalas, assistant director of pro-life communications at the USCCB.
“State and federal legislators are now free to embrace policies that protect preborn children and their mothers,” she said in a statement. “Yet, there is still a great need for prayer and advocacy from the faithful, as there will be intensified efforts to codify Roe in legislation and policies at the state and federal levels.”
She added that “many prayers and sacrifices are needed to transform our culture so that all may cherish the gift of human life and offer life-giving support to vulnerable women, children, and families.”
The opening Mass for the vigil will take place at 5 p.m. (EST) Jan. 19 with Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, as the principal celebrant and homilist.
The Mass will be immediately followed by a Holy Hour for life. This will start off a series of nationwide holy hours throughout the night from dioceses across the country, which will be broadcast on the USCCB’s website, www.usccb.org.
The nationwide vigil concludes at 8 a.m. (EST) Jan. 20 with a closing Mass to be celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Joseph L. Coffey of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services.
A live television broadcast of the vigil will be provided by the Eternal Word Television Network and will be available via livestream on the national shrine’s website, https://www.nationalshrine.org/mass.
The USCCB pro-life secretariat also is encouraging Catholics across the country to observe a nationwide prayer vigil from Jan. 14 to Jan. 20 to pray for an end to abortion and “a greater respect for all human life.”
(Editor’s Note: More details on the National Prayer Vigil for Life in Washington can be found at https://www.usccb.org/prolife/annual-pro-life-events.)
NATION INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) – It was a time of Scripture, prayer, music and fellowship. It also was a night to honor the late co-founder of the National Black Catholic Men’s Conference. But for those teenagers and adults from across the United States in attendance, Franciscan Father Agustino Torres’ message Oct. 13 was simple, yet powerful: “The Lord has sent me to bless you.” Father Agustino, who ministers for his order in the New York borough of the Bronx and is founder of the Hispanic youth ministry Corazon Puro, was the keynote speaker on the first night of the four-day conference at St. Rita Church in Indianapolis. The gathering drew about 300 people. It was the first in-person gathering since 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The priest said he ministers to people in the inner city, and the heart of his mission is trying to bring them hope. With that hope he also delivers his blessing, much like the blessing he offered to the attendees. “This blessing is meant to be shared, this blessing is meant to be given, this blessing brings joy,” he said. “This blessing brings life, this blessing heals. … And I love sharing the blessing because someone has shared the blessing with me.”
WASHINGTON (CNS) – For the world-renowned emblems of the Catholic faith, such as St. Teresa of Kolkata, elevation to sainthood comes fairly quickly following their deaths. For many others, the sainthood cause is a slow process that sometimes lurches to a stop. One example is Venerable Nelson Baker, the Buffalo, New York, priest who died in 1936 and is the only Civil War veteran with a sainthood cause. Father Baker, who served at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Buffalo after his ordination in 1876, was beloved in his lifetime for his charitable efforts for the poor, including serving thousands of meals during the depths of the Great Depression. Dubbed by local newspapers as “the padre of the poor,” he built the Basilica of Our Lady of Victory in Lackawanna, New York, an orphanage, a maternity hospital, a trade school and a home for infant care. The charitable work he began exists today as OLV Charities. Our Lady of Victory institutions include Homes of Charity, Baker Victory Services and Our Lady of Victory Elementary School. Born in 1842, Father Baker entered the priesthood after operating a successful feed and grain business with a partner. Before that, he served in the 74th Infantry of the New York State Militia, a unit that organized in the summer of 1863 and was stationed in Central Pennsylvania, although it didn’t see combat.
VATICAN VATICAN CITY (CNS) – During the month of November, Pope Francis is asking people to pray for children who are suffering because of poverty, war and exploitation. “Let us pray for children who are suffering, especially for those who are homeless, orphans and victims of war. May they be guaranteed access to education, and may they have the opportunity to experience family affection,” the pope said in a video released Oct. 31. In the video message released by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, the pope explained his November prayer intention: “For children who suffer.” “An abandoned child is our fault,” the pope said in the message. “Each marginalized child, abandoned by his or her family, without schooling, without health care, is a cry! A cry that rises up to God and shames the system that we adults have built,” he insisted. Pope Francis noted that there are millions of boys and girls around the world living “in conditions very similar to slavery.”
Catholics and members of a Peruvian community living in Chile attend the procession of El Señor de los Milagros (The Lord of the Miracles), Peru’s most revered Catholic religious icon, in Santiago, Chile, Oct. 30, 2022. (CNS photo/Ivan Alvarado, Reuters)
WORLD LIMA, Peru (CNS) – The church in Latin America and the Caribbean is called to be a missionary church that heeds the cry of the poor and excluded; a synodal church where women, young people and laypeople have greater roles; and a church that is evangelized even as it evangelizes, according to the final document of the church’s First Ecclesial Assembly held a year ago in Mexico. The document of reflections and pastoral challenges resulting from the assembly was released by leaders of the Latin American bishops’ council, CELAM, Oct. 31 during a news conference at the Vatican. The conference was livestreamed on various platforms. The publication reflects a desire for a church that “goes out to the periphery … a Samaritan church … a church that builds fraternity, which is grounded in love, in the encounter with those who suffer most,” Archbishop José Luis Azuaje of Maracaibo, Venezuela, president of Caritas in Latin America and the Caribbean, said in a video message at the presentation. The document is the fruit of a monthslong process that included a “listening” period from April to August 2021, during which some 70,000 people throughout the region provided input, followed by the weeklong assembly Nov. 21-28. That process, which echoed the methodology used for the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon in October 2019, made the ecclesial assembly “a practical laboratory” for the Synod of Bishops on synodality, which began with listening sessions this year, to be followed by meetings in Rome in 2023 and 2024, said Archbishop Miguel Cabrejos of Trujillo, Peru, CELAM president.
BANGKOK, Thailand (CNS) – Catholic bishops in Asia have committed themselves to engage with governments, nongovernmental agencies and civil organizations to respond to issues affecting the church and society in their work for a better Asia. “We believe that peace and reconciliation is the only way forward. We have envisaged new pathways for our ministry based on mutual listening and genuine discernment,” the bishops said in a statement issued Oct. 30, at the end of a two-week general conference. Ucanews.com reported the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences organized its first general conference as a part of its golden jubilee celebrations that brought together 20 cardinals, 120 bishops, 37 priests, eight nuns, and 41 laypeople. The conference, with the theme “Journeying Together as Peoples of Asia,” sought to reaffirm the federation’s work of the past 50 years aiming to “revitalize the church and envision new pathways of service.” One of the paths they identified was “bridge-building” among religions and traditions and also “principled engagement with governments” and nongovernmental agencies on issues of human rights, eradication of poverty, human trafficking, care of the earth, and other common concerns. “The escalating violence and conflicts” in Asia call “for dialogue and reconciliation,” the bishops said without naming any issue or any nation.
