Homegrown Harvest: Growing vocations in the diocese

By Joanna Puddister King
JACKSON – The Jackson Seminarian Homegrown Harvest began with a vision of an event to celebrate future priests of the Diocese of Jackson. Now being hosted at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson, the Homegrown Harvest event has grown from its humble beginnings as an online only event in 2020, where Father Nick Adam and Bishop Joseph Kopacz talked about the call to vocations to an event that brings the community together to celebrate the Catholic faith and future priests.

JACKSON – The Two Mississippi Museums in downtown Jackson will be the site of the annual Jackson Seminarian Homegrown Harvest fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 12. To purchase tickets or to sponsor the Homegrown Harvest in support of seminarian education, visit bit.ly/HGHarvest2024. (Photo courtesy of Mississippi Catholic)

The fifth annual Homegrown Harvest will kick-off at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12 at the Two Mississippi Museums in downtown Jackson. The event boasts fantastic food, a silent auction, raffle and more in support of vocations in the Diocese of Jackson.

Tickets admitting two to the event cost $100 and members of the Women’s Burse Club are invited to the event as well with their membership donation.
The cost of educating seminarians is far from nominal, with the estimated expenses for tuition, room and board at the college seminary and theology levels at $40,000 per year, per student. When adding in travel, summer assignments, and additional formation programs, the total annual cost per seminarian approaches $50,000.

Currently, the diocese has six seminarians – Will Foggo of St. Paul Flowood; Grayson Foley of St. Richard Jackson; EJ Martin of St. Richard Jackson; Wilson Locke of St. Paul Vicksburg; Francisco Maldonado of Immaculate Heart of Mary Greenwood; and Joe Pearson of St. Richard Jackson.

Foggo is the “most senior” of the seminarians for the Diocese of Jackson. Father Nick says that he is scheduled to be ordained a deacon next year and ordained a priest in the spring of 2026. Attendees at Homegrown Harvest will hear from Foggo about his time in seminary and from others.

Father Nick says that the six current seminarians are “just the type of men who we need to be considering the priesthood.” With some parishes in the diocese without a full-time pastor and others with priests nearing the age of retirement, he realizes the need to grow the vocations office to reach more young men, who may need a nudge to accept the call from the Lord to consider priesthood.

“So many incredible priests have served us throughout the years, but we continue to need more men from our diocese to serve,” said Father Nick.

To assist in growing “homegrown” vocations, the newest priest of the diocese – Father Tristan Stovall – was appointed by Bishop Joseph Kopacz as assistant vocations director and the office recently announced a new partnership with Vianney Vocations through an initiative called “Vocation Pathway.”

“We are excited about this new chapter,” said Father Nick. “Please keep us in your prayers and ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers for His harvest.”

To purchase tickets or to sponsor the Homegrown Harvest in support of seminarian education, visit bit.ly/HGHarvest2024.

Youth

Around the diocese

COLUMBUS – (Above) Second grader, Henry Hince receives a blessing from Father Jeffrey Waldrep at Annunciation School. (Photo by Jacque Hince)
HOLLY SPRINGS – Holy Family School student Sophia hands first responders her “thank you” card for Patriots Day on Sept. 11. (Photo by Laura Grisham)
JACKSON – St. Richard students George Rutherford, Gabriel Sullivan and Joseph (Reeves) Buckley that are part of Cub Scout Pack 30 led the procession for Patriots Day Mass on Sept. 11. During this Mass students, families and supporters sang “God Bless America,” said the Pledge of Allegiance and spoke about the significance of our country’s flag and its symbolism. (Photo by Celeste Saucier)
GREENVILLE – First Communion, St. Joseph, May 5, 2024. Pictured: Ryker Ruggeri of St. James, Leland; Father Jose Sanchez; Luke Jones of Our Lady of the Lake, Lake Village, Arkansas; Matthew Cannatella of Our Lady of the Lake, Lake Village; Cesare Wilson and Owen Swafford of St. Joseph Church. (Photo courtesy of Mary Lynn Powers)
NATCHEZ – Dual enrollment students in Anatomy and Physiology dissected rats in class. Pictured: Brittany Smith, Ella Skates, Ally Blanton and Molly Shirley. (Photo by Sarah Welch)

CLARKSDALE – Students at St. Elizabeth School joined around the American flag for a Patriots Day prayer service on Sept. 11. (Photos by Mary Evelyn Stonestreet)

(Below) FLOWOOD – Ms. Betty Taylor reads to nursery babies at St. Paul Early Learning Center. (Photo by Susan Irby)

MADISON – St. Anthony second grader, Lawson Griffin reads with his sixth grade reading buddies Liza McCarthy and Channing Smith. (Photo by Celeste Tassin)

JACKSON – Sister Thea Bowman students, JaKauzi Brown, Joelle Carpenter and Amirah Wilson play the game “Monkeys in a Barrel” to see how many “monkeys” they can get, then worked on creating a bar graph for a graphing lesson. (Photo by Christopher Payne)
MERIDIAN – (Above) Fifth graders at St. Patrick School try out their balloon rocket in science class. Pictured (l-r): Patrick Pittman, Kayleigh Johnson and Nolan Alexander. (Photo by Kasey Owen)

Called by Name

Last issue I shared a little about our brand-new partnership with Vianney Vocations as we have formed a Vocation Team of priests across the diocese to start running discernment groups for young men. These discernment groups are very well organized and each of the priests running a group has gone through four sessions of training to help them understand how to make the group fun and beneficial for the men. The groups meet once a week for six weeks in the fall and in the spring, and they include one service project and one social outing.

The folks at Vianney have been very insistent that we follow their model for these groups. Speaking for myself, I know it is easy to think “well, I know that they said to do it one way, but I’m going to do it another way.” We have been strongly encouraged to avoid this thinking. These groups have been serving young men well in dioceses across the country, and they help guys build fraternal bonds and grow in their faith, whether they end up in seminary or not.

These groups have already kicked off. I know that Father Kent Bowlds has started one in Cleveland, and mine will start Sept. 29 in Jackson. The goal of these groups is to create sources of accompaniment for young men who often feel very isolated in their discernment. Not that many guys in high school or college or in the workforce are comfortable talking about their faith, and even less are seriously open to discerning a call to the priesthood. With these groups, guys will have the opportunity to walk with each other and find encouragement. It also allows them to have regular conversations with a priest who can share with them about his life.

The overarching concern that I have as vocation director is – how can we best accompany young men who are open to God’s call? This is a concern that is difficult to address in a diocese that is so big, and so when Vianney Vocations approached me with their plan and offered their support, I was incredibly interested. As these groups launch, I ask for particular prayers that the priests responsible for them will be inspired by the Holy Spirit to overcome obstacles, think creatively, and be renewed by their service to the men in their groups. I really believe that this will be the key to achieving a sustainable, Spirit-led increase in vocations, and, if God wills it, even an abundance of them.

Also – we just finalized the design for our new seminarian poster, so be on the lookout for those and be sure to keep our six seminarians in your prayers.

Father Nick Adam, vocation director

Encountering, following Jesus changes everything, pope says

By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – It is not enough to know about Jesus, one must encounter him, be changed by his Gospel and follow him, Pope Francis said.

“I can know many things about Jesus, but if I have not encountered him, I still do not know who Jesus is,” the pope told visitors and pilgrims who joined him in St. Peter’s Square Sept. 15 for the midday recitation of the Angelus prayer.

“It takes this life-changing encounter; it changes one’s way of being, one’s way of thinking, it changes the relationships you have with your brothers and sisters, your willingness to accept and forgive, it changes the choices you make in life,” he said.

In the day’s Gospel reading from St. Mark, Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”
Peter responds correctly, saying that he is the Christ, the pope said. However, Peter still has a “worldly” way of thinking that believes the Messiah must be strong and victorious, and can never suffer or die.
“So, the words with which Peter responds are ‘right,’ but his way of thinking has not changed,” Pope Francis said. “He still has to change his mindset; he still has to convert.”

This is the same message for all Catholics, who must ask themselves, “Who is Jesus for me?” he said. It is not enough to respond with something learned in catechism class, to know doctrine and to recite prayers correctly.

Pope Francis greets visitors gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray the Angelus at the Vatican Sept. 15, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

“In reality, to know the Lord, it is not enough to know something about him, but rather to follow him, to let oneself be touched and changed by his Gospel. It is a matter of having a relationship with him, an encounter,” he said.

The faithful, he said, should be “bothered” by the questions and ask “who Jesus is for me, and what place does he occupy in my life? Do I follow Jesus only in word, continuing to have a worldly mentality, or do I set out to follow him, allowing the encounter with him to transform my life?”

“Everything changes if you have truly come to know Jesus!” the pope said.

Being rich, but in a hurry

IN EXILE
By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
Several years ago, I went with another priest to visit a mutual friend. Our friend, a successful businessman, was living on the top floor of a very expensive apartment overlooking the river valley in the city of Edmonton. At one point during our visit, he took us out on his balcony to show us the view. It was spectacular. You could see for miles, the entire river valley and much of the city.

We were in awe and told him so. Thanking us for the compliments, he shared that, sadly, he seldom came out on the balcony to drink in the view. Here are some of his words: “You know, I should give this place to some poor family who could enjoy it. I could live in a basement apartment since I never have time to enjoy this. I can’t remember when I last came out here to watch a sunset or a sunrise. I’m always too busy, too pressured, too preoccupied. This place is wasted on me. About the only time I come out here is when I have visitors and want to show them the view.”

Jesus once said something that might be paraphrased this way: What does it profit you if you gain the whole world and are forever too much in a hurry and too pressured to enjoy it.

When Jesus talks about gaining the whole world and suffering the loss of your own soul, he isn’t first of all referring to having a bad moral life, dying in sin and going to hell. That’s the more radical warning in his message. We can lose our soul in other ways, even while we are good, dedicated, moral people. The man whose story I just shared is indeed a very good, dedicated, moral and kind man. But he is, by his own humble admission, struggling to be a soulful person, to be more inside the richness of his own life because when you live under constant pressure and are perennially forced to hurry, it isn’t easy to get up in the morning and say: “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us be glad and rejoice in it.” We are more likely to say: “Lord, just get me through this day!”

As well, when Jesus tells us that it’s difficult for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, he isn’t just referring to material riches, money and affluence, though these are contained in the warning. The problem can also be a rich agenda, a job or a passion that so consumes us that we rarely take the time (or even think of taking the time) to enjoy the beauty of a sunset or the fact that we are healthy and have the privilege of having a rich agenda.

Full disclosure, this is one of my struggles. During all my years in ministry, I have always been blessed with a rich agenda, important work, work that I love. But, when I’m honest, I need to admit that during these years I have been too hurried and over pressured to watch many sunsets (unless, like my friend, I was pointing out their beauty to a visitor).

I have tried to break out of this by conscripting myself to regular times of quiet prayer, regular walks, retreats, and several weeks of vacation each year. That has helped, no doubt, but I’m still too much of an addict, pressured and hurried almost all the time, longing for space for quiet, for prayer, for sunsets, for a hike in a park, for a glass of wine or scotch, for a contemplative cigar. And I recognize an irony here: I’m hurrying and tiring myself out in order to carve out some time to relax!

I’m no Thomas Merton, but I take consolation in the fact that he, a monk in a monastery, was often too busy and pressured to find solitude. In search of that, he spent the last few years of his life in hermitage, away from the main monastery except for Eucharist and the office of the church each day. Then, when he found solitude, he was surprised at how different it was from the way he had imagined it. Here’s how he describes it in his diary:

Today I am in solitude because at this moment “it is enough to be, in an ordinary human mode, with one’s hunger and sleep, one’s cold and warmth, rising and going to bed. Putting on blankets and taking them off, making coffee and then drinking it. Defrosting the refrigerator, reading, meditating, working, praying. I live as my ancestors lived on this earth, until eventually I die. Amen. There is no need to make an assertion about my life, especially so about it as mine … I must learn to live so as to forget program and artifice.”

And to check out the sunset from my balcony!

When we are rich, busy, pressured and preoccupied, it’s hard to taste one’s own coffee.

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

The glory of ordinary time

On Ordinary Times
By Lucia A. Silecchia
Last weekend, the morning glories took me by surprise – as they always do.

During the all-too-brief months of this past spring and summer, I bought some plants and tried my best to give them the attention they needed so that they would grow into the plants I wanted and the plants I planned. I am too impatient to be a serious gardener, so I was not attempting anything more than keeping the flowers in a few pots alive and well throughout the season. Some did not make it. To my pleasant surprise, others did.

As August rolled around and the plants that thrived were reaching peak bloom, I felt the satisfaction that comes from seeing the tangible beauty of plans realized and effort rewarded. The fruit of my carefully laid botanical plans were blossoms that burst forth looking at least a little bit like the pictures in the garden shop.

Yet, just as the plants I tended were reaching primetime, their beauty was eclipsed by the bright bold explosion of vibrant pink morning glories bursting forth from previously nondescript vines along my fence and in my neighbors’ yards.

We did not plant them, and they received no care all season – except for the sun and rain freely bestowed on them. They were not planned, paid for, or cultivated. Indeed, many serious gardeners rail against morning glories as aggressive, invasive trespassers.

Nevertheless, I must admit that the most beautiful blooms in my yard right now are not those I planned. Rather, it is the morning glories – my uninvited interlopers – that catch my eye and warm my heart.
Lowly, often reviled morning glories may point to something important about life itself. So often, the plans we make – even when they are realized – pale in comparison to the joy that comes our way unexpectedly and uninvited.

So often, we can plan a well-organized and costly vacation only to find when we return home that our favorite memory is an unplanned ice cream cone bought on a beautiful night.

So often, we can meticulously plan a business trip and find that the most valuable time was not the conference we duly attended but a seemingly random conversation that began an important collaboration.

So often, we can plan the perfect Thanksgiving meal and find that decades later it was a culinary disaster that gave the family a wealth of happy memories.

So often, we can plan a specific career path and then pivot to a whole new plan because, unexpectedly, someone or something unanticipated inspired us to try something new.

Appreciating that the unexpected may be better than our own plans is not easy. For a planner like me, it is uncomfortably uncertain. In those moments, though, when I find a new, beautiful, delightful surprise in my path, it may be time to remember the lowly morning glory.

The same God who made the morning glory sees every other beautiful thing for which I have not planned, worked, or sought. The same God who freely offers the beauty of the morning glory also freely offers all the other unexpectedly beautiful gifts that are waiting to be discovered every day.

There is great joy in seeing plans realized as intended – and in seeing the flowers bought, cultivated and cared for bloom on schedule. But there is a very special joy that comes from those beautiful, unhoped for surprises that fill our lives. They are the glory of ordinary time.

(Lucia A. Silecchia is Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Faculty Research at the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law. “On Ordinary Times” is a biweekly column reflecting on the ways to find the sacred in the simple. Email her at silecchia@cua.edu.)

What an autumn poem teaches us about God’s love

GUEST COLUMN
By Father Patrick Briscoe, OP
As the long days of summer fade and autumn’s cool, crisp air starts to settle in, it’s hard not to feel a shift in our spirits, too. I’m not one to have a favorite season; I love them all. But there’s so much to praise about fall. The vibrant colors of the leaves, the shorter days and the cozying up with a warm drink all invite us to slow down, to take stock of where we are in life and to savor our many blessings. Fall naturally draws us to reflection. What better way to do that than through the lens of our faith? And the Catholic poet Rainer Maria Rilke can help.

Father Patrick Briscoe, OP

Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem, “Autumn,” really nails the essence of this season. He writes, “The leaves fall, fall as from far, / Like distant gardens withered in the heavens; / They fall with slow and lingering descent.” The leaves, with their acquiescing descent, are more than just leaves – they are symbols of a fundamental principle in the spiritual life: surrender. Tempted to clutch the boughs of their trees, the leaves give in, however reluctantly, to nature’s summons.
When they begin their descent, they let go of the branches they cling to. Entrusting themselves to wind and breeze, they yield to the whims of current and weather. Whether tossed violently or permitted to descend gracefully, leaves accept it all as it comes. Each leaf relents and falls.

Rilke’s words remind us that this reluctance to let go isn’t just about the leaves. It’s something we all experience, isn’t it? Life is full of changes, and sometimes we resist them, even though we know they’re part of God’s plan. Rilke says in his poem that the Earth itself is falling – “And in the nights the heavy Earth, too, falls / From out the stars into the Solitude.” We’re falling, too, sometimes feeling like we’re drifting into precarity or uncertainty. And it’s so tempting to feel like we’re alone. But here’s the thing: God is found only in the solitude.

“The man who fears to be alone will never be anything but lonely, no matter how much he may surround himself with people,” writes the Trappist monk Thomas Merton. “But the man who learns, in solitude and recollection, to be at peace with his own loneliness, and to prefer its reality to the illusion of merely natural companionship, comes to know the invisible companionship of God.” Solitude isn’t emptiness or darkness.

(Photo courtesy of BigStock)

Rilke doesn’t leave us hanging in despair. The beauty of his poem is that it leads us right back to God. In the midst of all this falling – whether it’s leaves, the Earth, or our own lives – there’s One who holds everything “infinitely softly in His hands.” The poem concludes, “Thus all doth fall. This hand of mine must fall / And lo! the other one: – it is the law. / But there is One who holds this falling / Infinitely softly in His hands.” How comforting is that? In a world that’s constantly changing, where everything seems to be in motion, God is the steady hand holding it all together. He’s unchanging, always there, gently guiding us through the ups and downs, the letting go, and the holding on.

So, as we move into the heart of autumn, let’s take a moment to really see the falling leaves for what they are – a summons to surrender. But even in that surrender, we’re never abandoned. Each leaf that falls is held by the same God who holds us. He’s there in every season, every transition, guiding us with a love that never fails.

(Father Patrick Briscoe, OP, is editor of Our Sunday Visitor. Follow him on X @PatrickMaryOP)

Revive, restore, replenish

FROM THE HERMITAGE
By sr. alies therese
Olympic athletes are exhausted. Revive. A single mother has worked two jobs. Revive. The tent went up in the small rural town, the preacher arrived and the people filed in. Revival.

S.E. Hinton, author of The Outsiders says, “Rat race is a perfect name for it. We’re always going and going and going, and never asking where … It seems like we’re always searching for something to satisfy us, and never finding it.”

Searching for revival seems a real thing today in our political moment, in our moment when all seems lost, in a moment when we discover the message of the Scripture. Revival invites us to rest, recover, and feel something new. Maybe you celebrate the Sabbath (the Lord’s Day)? It is a day of revival. It might be Sunday when you or the family chill, play, and eat family favorites. Every Sunday, we can have a day to interrupt the rat race. Every Sunday, we can enter into the peace of God. Every Sunday. Revival. It is the day we can help, hug, and encourage one another to continue searching and learning to love. We can even take a nap! Maybe that’s why it is called Sabbath rest?

“On the seventh day God finished His work.” (Gen 2:1-3) The heavens and the earth were finished.
Restoration continues this notion of revival by reminding us that on that day God not only rested but He “sanctified and blest the day.” How is that going with you? We enter into this sanctification in one way by attending Mass, where we meet Jesus and our community. We are restored to health and reminded that “the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest holy to the Lord.” (Third commandment)

Restoration is gleaned by allowing ourselves to be forgiving and … forgiven. Repentance is a way to restore harmony in the family, in the town or in the country. Indeed, in God’s universe. One way to do this is to allow our Sabbath day to be a constant in our lives. If I make a doctor’s appointment and write it in my diary … unless something tragic happens, I attend. We can do the same with the Sabbath. It is God’s day … it is our day to be refreshed and restored in His love.

Finally, from paying attention to what revival and restoration do for us, we become replenished with an overflowing joy that we have distanced ourselves from anger and hatred, fear and anxiety. Yes, we open up like newborns and breathe deeply. Our hands are lifted to the Lord, our minds are refreshed, and most importantly our hearts have been refilled with God’s loving-kindness. When we were not kind previously, we can say sorry and allow the kindness of God to fill us and we can pass it on to others. Happiness comes from allowing God, who will always replenish us with kindness, joy, and love, to overflow into the family or community.

The English American writer Frances Hodgson Burnett in The Little Princess reminds us, “Anyone who is kind wants to know when people have been made happy. They care for that more than being thanked.”
So, begin to practice a real Sabbath day (Sunday the Lord’s Day) each week and you will deepen your love of God. Learn to read the Scriptures on that day, share them with your family, and know that this love letter from God is to restore you as He replenishes you. Gratitude will be your best prayer.
Blessings.

(Sister alies therese is a canonically vowed hermit with days formed around prayer and writing.)

Dignity and rest for deceased embryonic children

GUEST COLUMN
By Geralyn Gray-Lewis, RN
“A person’s a person, no matter how small.” – Horton Hears a Who! by Dr. Seuss.

Many of our friends and family find themselves on the unexpected and sorrowful pilgrimage of infertility. We know as the cost of adoption rises, the availability of infants for adoption has also declined, as many women in crisis turn to abortion in their pains. adoption, likewise, has also declined as many women in crisis turn to abortion in their pain.

Thus, many couples find themselves pursuing In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) as a means to build their family. However, as many embryos are often created and then frozen for future use, there exists an unintended consequence: surplus.

It is estimated that between 600,000-1 million embryos are frozen in reserve. However, life is fluid and often goals for family size are regrettably not realized, cost of continued freezing unsustainable or the embryos died before transfer. Ordinarily, such deceased tiny humans in IVF labs are disposed of as “medical waste.”

What should be our proper response to the “disposal” of deceased human embryos?

In 2018, Sacred Heart Guardians began offering a free, dignified, simple Christian cemetery burial for deceased embryonic children. This ceremony occurs every third month and to date 1,611 small humans have been cared for. Parents and family can attend the service in person headquartered in Minnesota or virtually. “This process provides a perpetually cared for place in this world for these special children and their families.”

In so, doing the Sacred Heart Guardians provide dignity to the child and great comfort to families.

For more information, visit www.sacredheartguarduians.org.

(Gerry Gray-Lewis is a parishioner of St. Richard Church in Jackson.)

Pope thrives, hits main themes of his pontificate during Asia-Pacific trip

By Cindy Wooden
ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM SINGAPORE (CNS) – The 87-year-old Pope Francis not only survived the longest trip of his pontificate, but he drew energy from the crowds who came to see him, and he seemed to enjoy his 12-day visit to Asia and the Pacific.

Unity, respect for one’s culture, interreligious dialogue, care for the poor and for the environment were the main themes of his talks in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore Sept. 2-13.
Except for in Jakarta, Indonesia, his last event in each country was a meeting with young people. And despite his age, all the meetings he already had sat through, and changing time zones with each country, Pope Francis seemed to draw the most energy from the young.

He did not follow a single prepared text for his gatherings with teens and young adults, and none of the meetings finished on time. Instead, picking up on a phrase or two of what he heard from his young hosts, he’d launch a dialogue, revving up the crowd with “I can’t hear you” when they didn’t respond loudly enough.

Pope Francis waves to young people gathered for a meeting on interreligious dialogue at the Catholic Junior College in Singapore Sept. 13, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

The 45th trip of his pontificate took him from predominantly Muslim Indonesia to predominantly Christian Papua New Guinea and from poverty-stricken Timor-Leste to super-affluent Singapore.
While poverty, development and the consolidation of democratic institutions are still challenges for the country, which won its independence in 2002, Pope Francis said he was impressed by how young the population was, by the people’s enthusiasm and by their faith.

In fact, an estimated 600,000 people showed up for Mass with the pope Sept. 10 in a park in Tasitolu; the country itself has a population of only 1.3 million people – 96% of whom are Catholic. Excluding Vatican City State, it was the largest percentage of a local population ever gathered for a single Mass, Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister, told reporters.

With government leaders Pope Francis addressed some of the key challenges each country faces, and with church workers he pleaded for ministry that was close to the people, willing to share their struggles and always conveying the joy of knowing one is loved and forgiven by God.

He did not shy away from talking about the serious divide between rich and poor in Indonesia.
“Some people want to deal with this” by resorting to “a law of death, that is, limiting births, limiting the greatest wealth a nation has – new births,” he said, referring to a long-running government program promoting the use of contraceptives.

The pope elicited smiles and laughter when he told government and civic leaders Sept. 4 that in some countries, “families prefer to have a dog or a cat.”

Pope Francis visited Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque – the largest mosque in southeast Asia – Sept. 5, and he and Nasaruddin Umar, the grand imam, signed a short document committing members of their religious communities to defending human dignity, especially when threatened with violence, and to defending the integrity of creation.

But recognizing the sensitive situation of Indonesia’s Catholic community, Pope Francis told church workers that the Christian call to share the Gospel is not about trying to win converts at all costs, but about living in a way that exudes Christian joy and always treats others with respect.

“Proclaiming the Gospel does not mean imposing our faith or placing it in opposition to that of others, but giving and sharing the joy of encountering Christ, always with great respect and fraternal affection for everyone,” the pope told bishops, priests, religious and catechists at a meeting Sept. 4.

He made the same point, in a slightly different and less precise way Sept. 13, when he spoke extemporaneously to young adults engaged in interreligious dialogue in Singapore – a country where many religions coexist but where a significant portion of the population follows no religion at all.

“If we always say, ‘My religion is more important than yours’ or ‘My religion is true and yours is not,’ where will that lead us?” he asked the young people.

“Every religion is a path toward God,” who is the creator and father of all, the pope said. And if there is only one God and father, then all people are brothers and sisters.

In Papua New Guinea, where some 98% of the population is Christian, Pope Francis asked for a greater focus on “the peripheries of this country” with “people belonging to the most deprived segments of urban populations, as well as those who live in the most remote and abandoned areas, where sometimes basic necessities are lacking.”

“I think too of the marginalized and wounded, both morally and physically, by prejudice and superstition, sometimes to the point of having to risk their lives,” the pope said. “The church desires especially to be close to these brothers and sisters, because in them Jesus is present in a special way.”

A group of missionaries – priests and sisters – from Argentina were ministering in the jungle, and Pope Francis decided to pay them a visit.

The Australian Royal Air Force flew him 600 miles to Vanimo near Papua New Guinea’s border with Indonesia Sept. 8 for a meeting in a field with about 20,000 people and then a short drive to the missionaries’ church and school in Baro.

Father Tomás Ravaioli, one of the Argentine Incarnate Word missionaries working in Baro, told reporters, “at his age, in his condition, this is an enormous sacrifice. But it shows that what he says, what he writes, he also demonstrates” in his closeness and service to people.