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O Come, O Come Emmanuel

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Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.

By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
“Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you, they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.”

These awe-filled words of St. Augustine from Book 10 of his Confessions are indeed ever ancient and ever new. They are an echo of the voices who have summoned us to prepare a way for the Lord, the eternal beauty of whom Augustine gushes. Isaiah and St. John the Baptist on behalf of the living God, have called and shouted to break through our deafness. Though them God flashes, shines and dispels our blindness.
Both prophets in extraordinary ways bring us into the presence of the light of the world, Jesus Christ, the Son of God once again this Christmas. The words of the prophet Isaiah are the ancient origin of the liberating experience of St. Augustine nearly a millennium later.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord.” (61:1-2)


It was and is God’s voice calling individuals and a people out of darkness into the marvelous love of the Savior. Through faith and baptism, we are the Lord’s anointed and thus charged to be bearers of the Good News though the uniqueness of our lives and circumstances of the current generation. The gift is to be shared, and the opportunities are endless.

Next, we turn to Mary, highly favored, the chosen one full of grace who was enfolded in the beauty and power of God’s love and so exclaimed for pure joy.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior, for he has looked upon the lowliness of his handmaid.”

God touched her, and she was aflame in his peace. John the Baptist, the final prophet of the Old Testament, and our guide during Advent, who once leapt for joy in the womb of his mother Elizabeth in the moment of Mary’s visitation was perfectly aligned with the long-awaited Messiah as “the voice of one crying out in the desert preparing the way of the Lord.” (John 1:23) This bridge to the Reign of God knew that he was the voice, not the light, not the Word made flesh but the voice summoning people to prepare for God’s eternal beauty and power that was dawning upon them.

St. Paul encouraged the first Christians in Thessalonica to “rejoice always, pray without ceasing and give thanks in all circumstances.” (1Thessalonians 5:16-18)

How is this possible in the face of so much suffering in our age, any reasonable person might ask?
In Advent we dare to hope; we dare to dream and we sing, “O come, O come Emmanuel,” a name that means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23) and for whom nothing is impossible. (Luke 1:37) With St. Augustine may the Lord break through our deafness, dispel our blindness and inspire us to experience deeply his beauty which is pure gift, ever ancient, ever new. Come, Lord Jesus and dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.

Merry Christmas in the light and love of Jesus Christ.

In memoriam: Genevieve Feyen of Pax Christi Franciscans

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JACKSON – Genevieve “Gen” Feyen was born June 14, 1931 to Henry and Alma Feyen in Fond-du-lac, Wisconsin. While in seventh grade she was asked to play the piano, by the Sisters at Holy Rosary School, for the summer weekday Masses. She gathered Kathleen and classmates to get up early and sing in the choir. This went on for six long summers, which turned out God was preparing her for directing a choir.

Following in her aunt Emily’s footsteps, she become a student at St. Agnes School of Nursing in Fond-du-lac, graduating in 1952. She then moved to Milwaukee to work in a hospital there. She had an encounter with God, asking her to dedicate her life to Him.

In 1955, she went to St. Francis Center, which was a part of Pax Christi Franciscans in Greenwood, for one year of service to God. This was in the days of segregation, and the Black community was at the bottom of the list for everything, including health care. She was the nurse working with patients in the dispensary and making home visits. At the end of her year, she moved back to New Holstein, but was bored within a month so returned to Mississippi.

Besides nursing, she worked with Father Daniel Machesky, OFM and developed a skating project for teens. The students really learned to skate well, jumping, spinning, skating backwards and with partners. They learned so quickly that they formed a skating show, the “Centerama” and traveled around to other schools to perform.

Gen’s greatest concern was family centered care and patient teaching. She did home deliveries for many years, and St. Francis Center moved toward the idea of developing a birthing center. In 1964-65, she reluctantly went to school to become a nurse midwife. She graduated as a Certified Nurse-Midwife and being the first in the state of Mississippi. Her license was stamped #1.

In 1968 Gen moved to Jackson and became a member of Christ the King parish where she joined the choir, then became the organist. She loved this part of her life and worked with the choir for the early Mass.

While in Jackson, Gen’s first job was working at Hinds General Hospital. Then, in 1970 she joined the Nurse-Midwifery program at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Gen supervised Nurse-Midwifery students in clinics, labor and delivery. She also supervised Nurse-Midwifery Assistants who made home visits to the mothers and babies for the infant’s first year of life. Later she taught a course at UMMC for nine young ladies who became OB technicians, and she delivered babies when she could in the hospital.

Her work continued in nursing in Family Centered Care in the hospital in 1973, seeing to it that the babies were taken out of the nursery and “roomed in” with their mothers. She taught daily, prenatal classes in the clinic, as mothers waited for their turn to be seen by the residents. She then began working as a Nurse-Midwife in the Prenatal and Women’s Health Clinics at the Mississippi State Board of Health in Jackson in 1977. In 1983 she was honored, receiving the Public Health Nurse Clinician of the Year in Mississippi, and then joined the staff at Rankin County Health Care Center. In 1993 she was awarded the Mississippi Primary Health Care Association’s Outstanding Mid-Level Clinician of the year. This also brought an end to her Nurse-Midwifery career.

Gen continued working with the choir at Christ the King parish. She and Grace Lee formed the Senior Swingers group. It was stated very clearly in the beginning that this was a group to have fun, not another working group. The seniors worked all their lives and it was time for them to relax a bit. She helped out at the school by working one on one with students. She worked many yard sales, raising money for the parish. She was a member of the liturgy team, King’s Workers, Knights of Peter Claver Ladies Auxiliary and Senior Swingers.

On Feb. 24, 1991, she was presented with the L.W. Sampson Award from the Knights of Peter Claver for “Outstanding Leadership Service and Dedication in Christ the King Catholic Church and Community.”
Following her mother’s dreams of traveling, Gen visited Medjugorje, where her life was completely changed. She went from a reluctant disciple to an enthusiastic disciple.

Genevieve was the current president of Pax Christi Franciscans, a position she held many times. Under her direction, she formed the PCF associates with members in Greenwood and Jackson. She continued to be active in so many aspects of life it is hard to name them all, as she served 68 years in Mississippi.
Her last major project and accomplishment was writing a book on her life, “The Reluctant Disciple” which will go to print soon.

Genevieve passed on Nov. 8, 2023 and her funeral service was held at Christ the King Church in Jackson on Saturday, Dec. 2.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Pax Christi Franciscans in her honor.

Called by name

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Father Nick Adam

I have now been the Rector of the Cathedral for a year and a half, and throughout my professional life I have noticed that it takes about that amount of time to get my feet under me whenever I start something new. Being a pastor is a great responsibility but also a great source of joy as I get to walk with the parishioners here at St. Peter. While it’s a challenge to live in the two worlds of parish life and seminarian accompaniment and vocation promotion, I think that living in these two worlds has helped me realize what is ‘absolutely necessary’ and helpful to promote vocations and what isn’t.

One thing that has proven to be helpful time and time again is the ‘Come and See’ that is offered by St. Joseph Seminary College twice a year – once in the fall and once on Palm Sunday weekend in the spring. During this weekend young men are invited to come live at the seminary and hear talks from current seminarians. Our own Grayson Foley served as the emcee at one of these retreats. The Palm Sunday weekend retreat is especially helpful, I think, because the guys get to see the liturgy of the monastery in full color. Holy Week is astounding at St. Joseph Abbey, and I know that is inspiring to see so many seminarians participating in the liturgy and it is a source of grace for the discernment of those considering whether to enter the seminary or not.

So, our offerings for ‘come and see’ experiences have certainly narrowed since I became a pastor. I simply can’t organize the diocesan experiences that we had for a couple of years. But I do believe that we have sufficient resources to accompany young men considering the priesthood, and so I want to encourage you all to promote this ‘Come and See’ to the good young men in your parish. You can share this article with them if you’d like, and make sure they know that they can reach out to me via phone at (601) 969-4020 or email nick.adam@jacksondiocese.org to learn more.

At the end of this year, I’d like to thank all of you who have been consistent readers and encouragers of mine. This little article has been a labor of love for me and it’s just a way to help connect you with vocation ministry. The more we can all be on the same page about what is needed to increase vocations and bring forth men for the priesthood from our own diocese, the more faces we’ll see on that famous seminarian poster that comes out each fall. Merry Christmas, and please, continue to pray for the master of the harvest to bring forth laborers for the harvest!

                       – Father Nick Adam, vocation director

(Read about our current seminarians and their inspirational vocation stories at https://jacksondiocese.org/seminarians. Father Nick Adam can be contacted at nick.adam@jacksondiocese.org.)

Alrededor Diocesano: Guadalupanos

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NATCHEZ – (arriba) Liderados por Lupe Valencia, miembros de la comunidad Hispana se unieron por segundo año. Vestidos con ponchos y de (izq.) Chinelos todosbailaron en procesión por las calles del pueblo. (Fotos de Berta Mexidor)
St. Therese Jackson Guadalupe
Natchez Guadalupe
JACKSON – En fotos, (izq. debajo.) algunos de los danzantes que cada año celebran a la Guadalupe en la parroquia de Santa Teresita Jackson. (Fotos de la Hermana Amelia Bretton y Rosalinda Montoya)
PONTOTOC – (izq.) Miembros del grupo de jóvenes fueron los protagonistas de la celebración a la Guadalupe. Niñas frente a la Virgen, (izq. debajo) Parte de los actores de la representación de la aparición. (Fotos de Aracely Nieves)

Papa: mensaje Guadalupano se basa en sencillez, no en ideología

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Una imagen de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe estaba cerca del altar principal de la Basílica de San Pedro en el Vaticano antes del inicio de una misa celebrada por el Papa Francisco, el 12 de diciembre de 2023, día de su fiesta. (Foto CNS/Lola Gómez)

Por Cindy Wooden
CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) – La imagen icónica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, que se ha convertido en un símbolo cultural y espiritual para América Latina, no puede ser utilizada para promover ningún tipo de ideología, sino que debe mantener su mensaje de amor sencillo, dijo el Papa Francisco.
La imagen mariana que apareció en la tilma de San Juan Diego “nos defiende de tantas ideologías sociales y políticas con la que con tanta frecuencia se usa esta realidad guadalupana para fundamentarse, justificarse, y ganar dinero”, dijo el 12 de diciembre durante la Misa en la fiesta de la Virgen de Guadalupe.

“El mensaje guadalupano no tolera ideologías de ningún género”, dijo en la Misa en la Basílica de San Pedro, sin especificar ninguna ideología en particular.

La Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, en Ciudad de México, que exhibe la tilma en la que apareció la imagen de María, atrae cada año a unos 20 millones de peregrinos.

El Papa dijo que la imagen mariana “queda impresa en la humildad de aquello que somos y tenemos, que no vale mucho, pero que será algo grande a los ojos de Dios”.

Peregrinos hispanohablantes llenaron la Basílica de San Pedro para la Misa papal. Muchos llevaban mantones o pañuelos con una imagen de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe y otros trajeron retratos enmarcados de la imagen para ser bendecidos.

El cardenal estadounidense Robert Prevost, prefecto del Dicasterio para los Obispos y presidente de la Pontificia Comisión para América Latina, fue el celebrante principal en el altar.

En su homilía, el Papa destacó parte de la historia de San Juan Diego, a quien María pidió que recogiera rosas durante el invierno para mostrárselas al obispo local como signo de su aparición.

Las flores “significan las virtudes que el Señor infunde en el corazón, no son obra nuestra”, dijo. “El acto de recogerlas nos revela que Dios quiere que acojamos s ese don, que ‘perfumemos’ nuestra débil realidad con obras de bien, ahuyentando odios y temores”.

Aunque habló sin dar muestras de dificultad, el Papa Francisco se saltó gran parte del texto que tenía preparado. Recientemente canceló un viaje a los Emiratos Árabes Unidos debido a una infección bronquial, y sus ayudantes leyeron sus discursos en su nombre varias veces en la última semana.

El Papa recordó las palabras que María dirigió a San Juan Diego durante una de sus apariciones: “¿No estoy yo aquí, que soy tu madre?”

Dijo que la presencia de María está “permanentemente impresa” en la vida de los cristianos como en las ropas de San Juan Diego, “perfumadas por unas virtudes recogidas en un mundo que parece incapaz de producirlas”.

“Virtudes”, dijo, “que llenan nuestra pobreza en la sencillez de pequeños actos de amor, que van iluminando nuestra tilma, sin que nos demos cuenta, con la imagen de una Iglesia que lleva a Cristo en su seno”.

Para finalizar la Misa, los coros del Pontificio Colegio Mexicano y del Pontificio Colegio Latinoamericano, a los que se unieron miles de personas en la basílica, cantaron “La Guadalupana”, una canción que habla del vínculo especial entre Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe y el pueblo de México.

Ven, Ven Enmanuel

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Obispo Joseph R. Kopacz

Por Obispo Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
“¡¡Tarde te amé,hermosura tan antigua y tan nueva,tarde te amé! Tú estabas dentro de mí, y yo fuera,y por fuera te buscaba, y deforme como era me lanzaba sobre las cosas hermosas por Ti creadas.Tú estabas conmigo, y yo no estaba contigo. Me retenían lejos de Ti todas las cosas,aunque, si no estuviesen en Ti, nada serían. Llamaste y clamaste, y rompiste mi sordera. Brillaste y resplandeciste, y pusiste en fuga mi ceguera. Exhalaste tu perfume, y respiré, y suspiro por Ti. Gusté de Ti, y siento hambre y sed. Me tocaste, y me abrazó tu paz.”

Estas palabras llenas de asombro de San Agustín del Libro 10 de sus Confesiones son en verdad siempre antiguas y siempre nuevas. Son eco de las voces que nos han convocado a preparar el camino al Señor, cuya eterna belleza brota en San Agustín. Isaías y San Juan Bautista en nombre del Dios vivo, han llamado y gritado para romper nuestra sordera. A través de ellos Dios resplandece, brilla y disipa nuestra ceguera.
Ambos profetas nos llevan de manera extraordinaria a la presencia de la luz del mundo, Jesucristo, el Hijo de Dios, una vez más esta Navidad. Las palabras del profeta Isaías son el origen antiguo de la experiencia liberadora de San Agustín casi un milenio después.

“El espíritu del Señor está sobre mí, porque el Señor me ha consagrado; me ha enviado a dar buenas noticias a los pobres, a aliviar a los afligidos, a anunciar libertad a los presos, libertad a los que están en la cárcel; a anunciar el año favorable del Señor.” (61:1-2)

Fue y es la voz de Dios que llama a personas y a un pueblo a salir de las tinieblas al maravilloso amor del Salvador. A través de la fe y el bautismo, somos ungidos por el Señor y, por lo tanto, estamos encargados de ser portadores de la Buena Nueva a través de la singularidad de nuestras vidas y las circunstancias de la generación actual. El regalo debe ser compartido y las oportunidades son infinitas.

A continuación, nos dirigimos a María, muy favorecida, la elegida llena de gracia que se vio envuelta en la belleza y la potencia del amor de Dios y por eso exclamó de puro gozo.

“Mi alma proclama la grandeza del Señor; mi espíritu se regocija en Dios, mi Salvador, porque ha mirado la humildad de su esclava”.

Dios la tocó y ella ardió en su paz. Juan Bautista, el último profeta del Antiguo Testamento y nuestro guía durante el Adviento, que saltó de alegría en el vientre de su madre Isabel en el momento de la visita de María, estaba perfectamente alineado con el tan esperado Mesías como “la voz de uno que clama en el desierto preparando el camino del Señor”. (Juan 1:23) Este puente hacia el Reino de Dios sabía que él era la voz, no la luz, no la Palabra hecha carne, sino la voz que convocaba a las personas a prepararse para la eterna belleza y el poder de Dios que estaba amaneciendo sobre ellos.

San Pablo animó a los primeros cristianos de Tesalónica a “estar siempre alegres, orar sin cesar y dar gracias en todo”. (1 Tesalonicenses 5:16-18)

¿Cómo es posible esto ante tanto sufrimiento en nuestra época?, podría preguntarse cualquier persona razonable.

En Adviento nos atrevemos a tener esperanza; nos atrevemos a soñar y cantamos: “Oh ven, oh ven Emanuel”, nombre que significa “Dios con nosotros” (Mateo 1:23) y para quien nada es imposible. (Lucas 1:37) Que el Señor, con San Agustín, rompa nuestra sordera, disipe nuestra ceguera y nos inspire a experimentar profundamente su belleza, que es don puro, siempre antiguo, siempre nuevo. Ven, Señor Jesús y disipa las tinieblas de nuestros corazones y mentes.

!Feliz Navidad en la Luz y el Amor de Jesucristo!

Guadalupe llama a estar cerca de su Hijo

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NATCHEZ – Por segunda vez los Guadalupanos de la región se reunieron en la noche del 11 de diciembre para procesión y Misa en honor de la Virgen de Guadalupe. La Misa fue celebrada por el Padre Aaron Williams y concelebrada por el Padre Charles Yaklin, en altar detrás de imagen del Vírgen, monje del Monasterio St. Joseph perteneciente a la rama contemplativa del Instituto del Verbo Encarnado y quien fue el homilista. (Foto de Berta Mexidor)

Por Berta Mexidor
NATCHEZ – El lunes 11 de diciembre, día de San Juan Diego, la Virgen, cargada por guadalupanos de la región, salió en procesión por las calles de Natchez, antes de una Misa celebrada por el Padre Aaron Williams y con el Padre Charles Yaklin, IVE como homilista.

Esta fue la segunda ocasión en que los católicos hispanos de la región Natchez-Vidalia recibieron el apoyo del Padre Williams, rector de la Basílica de Santa María y del padre Charles, IVE, monje del monasterio de San José en Natchez.

El padre Charles vino a Natchez hace dos años y todos los domingos ofrece Misa en español a los católicos de la zona. Durante su homilía en español, remarcó que la causa de Guadalupe es el llamado de María a todos para estar cerca de Jesús, el Hijo de Dios “…Ella pidió que se le construyera un templo, no para su gloria, no para que la alabáramos, porque miles de ángeles la rodean, pero el mensaje de su corazón es que estemos cerca de su hijo, a través de la Eucaristía, ” dijo el Padre Charles.

Los hispanos de la zona celebraron este segundo año de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe en Natchez, gracias a muchos voluntarios, entre ellos Lupe Valencia, mexicana, que no quiere llevarse todo el crédito por organizar doce días de Rosarios y bailes. Ayudaron también a Valencia, Paola Siles, Nicaragua, Guillermina Vega y Montserrat González, madre e hija, mexicanas residentes en Vidalia, Rosendo González y Antonio Ortiz, mexicanos que llevaron la imagen en procesión, y Bettina Coffey, Argentina, quien tradujo para el Padre Williams en el centro comunitario, donde finalizó la celebración con bendición, bailes y comida.

Los niños como cada año se roban el show. Sus padres los visten con los trajes típicos, representan a la Virgen y a San Juan Diego y no dejan de bailar en los diferentes grupos de danza. Así es como los Guadalupanos perpetuan la fe y tradición por generaciones. (i-d) Niños de St. Jude Pearl, St. Therese Jackson y St. Mary Basílica Natchez. (Fotos de Tereza Ma, Rosalinda Montoya y Berta Mexidor)

‘…María de Guadalupe: Madre y compañera de camino con fe y esperanza…’

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Por María Elena Méndez Ochoa, MGSPS
CIUDAD MEXICO – Estamos a tan solo ocho años para la celebración del V centenario de las apariciones de la Virgen de Guadalupe en la colina del Tepeyac.

Su presencia nos sigue mostrando su “compasión, auxilio y defensa” ante las constantes vicisitudes de la vida. Ella nos da esperanza especialmente en un mundo marcado por la guerra, la violencia, la migración, la pobreza y las polarizaciones marginales.

En la primera semana de noviembre, estuve en la Ciudad de México. Por estar a solo quince minutos, caminando de la Basílica de Guadalupe, me permitió visitarla, casi todos los días, a las 6:30 de la mañana.
Al llegar, la primera acción a la que me sentía movida era cantarle las Mañanitas Guadalupanas, tradición en muchas de las parroquias, tal como si fuera el 12 de diciembre. Ponerme de pie frente a ella y decirle “Buenos días, Paloma Blanca, hoy te vengo a saludar…” y llamarla cariñosamente, “Niña linda, niña santa,…” era como dar y recibir una caricia de mi madre. Después del saludo y tiernas miradas entre ambas, deposité en su regazo mis peticiones y agradecimientos; al mismo tiempo que ofrecí las de la gente que me encargó orar por ellos.

Ver, observar, dejarme sentir por el amor de los peregrinos fue primordial. No es lo mismo entender desde la mente que desde el corazón, ni como mexicana y Misionera Guadalupana del Espíritu Santo, con un carisma Sacerdotal-Guadalupano, viviendo en el extranjero. Captar la sencillez, la fe y la naturalidad de la gente que no se va sin tomarse una foto con la Madre, como lo hice también yo, fue gratificante a mis ojos y gozo para mi corazón.

En mi búsqueda de la experiencia de la gente, conversé con peregrinos de Tlaxcala, México que caminaron varias horas a pie para llegar a la basílica y visitar a la “morenita del Tepeyac”. La otra parte de sus familias llegaron en camión durante la noche para unirse a ellos a la Misa de 7 de la mañana y me explicaron el gozo que sentían al hacer ese recorrido cada año.

Por la tarde de mi tercer día, algunas hermanas visitamos la Basílica por la tarde y estando allí, nos dimos cuenta de la peregrinación de los pirotécnicos -los que elaboran castillos-. Ellos tenían como ocho castillos dedicados a la Virgen de Guadalupe que encenderían al terminar la Misa. ¡Cómo perdérnoslos!, hasta éramos capaces de quedarnos sin cenar con tal de verlos! Gracias a Dios no nos perdimos ninguna de las dos cosas.

Dos cosas más me impresionaron: una fue la naturalidad de la gente para dormirse alrededor de la basílica, es como si de verdad sintieran las palabras de María de Guadalupe diciéndoles:
“¿No estoy aquí, yo, que soy tu madre? ¿No estás bajo mi sombra y resguardo? ¿No soy la fuente de tu alegría? ¿No estás en el hueco de mi manto, en el cruce de mis brazos? ¿Tienes necesidad de alguna otra cosa?

Claro, triple manto los cubría del rocío de la mañana: la bolsa de dormir, la cobija que cada uno carga y el amanecer del cielo al lado de la estructura en forma de manto acogedor.

En noviembre del 2022, visité la Librería Pública de New York. Al ver la hoja original del Nican Mopohua en Nahualt, mi alegría era inmensa al saber que me encontraba ante un documente original, donde se narra lo que se cree es el primer testimonio escrito de las apariciones de la Virgen de Guadalupe a Juan Diego en 1531, en lo que es hoy la ciudad de México.

Sabia que se encontraba ahí todo el documento, pero para verlo se necesitaba cita y no la podían hacer porque una hoja está en exposición, así que me conformé con ver solo la hoja, admírala y agradecer esa experiencia. Si me hice la pregunta, ¿por qué estaba el documento original en Nueva York y no en México?

En estos dos últimos acontecimientos guadalupanos se renovaron mi amor, mi fe y mi esperanza. María de Guadalupe sigue siendo la Madre que levanta, anima y envía como a Juan Diego a mostrar “todo su amor, auxilio y defensa” a quien la busque y en ella confíe. Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, casi 500 años atrás vino a darle unidad y esperanza a un pueblo convulsionado, hoy nuestro llamado es a la comunión en medio de nuestra diversidad cultural, ella Madre y la Madre siempre nos busca, dejémonos encontrar y atraer por ella para Dios.

Dentro y fuera de la Basílica de Guadalupe, peregrinos, turistas y fieles Guadalupanos, no dejan sola durante el año a la Morenita del Tepeyac. En fotos (arriba) personas admiran una obra de arte que representa uno de los momentos de la aparición. (debajo. izq.) Asistentes a una de las Misa (debajo. der.) la hermana Maria Elena Mendez, MGSP posa frente a una reprentación artística de la evangelización de las Américas y el mundo, a través de la Virgen dirigiéndose a los indígenas del lugar. (Fotos de María Elena Mendez, MGSP)

The pope’s 2023: A year of health challenges, travel and the synod

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By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis’ 2023 was a year of important trips made or postponed, a predecessor’s funeral and his own 10th anniversary as pope, a call to the world to act on climate change and a call to the Catholic Church to strengthen its mission by learning “synodality.”

The Argentine pope, who was born Dec. 17, 1936, was to finish the year as an 87-year-old.

As the oldest reigning pope in the last 120 years, Pope Francis’ year was punctuated with hospitalizations, breathing difficulties and ongoing mobility challenges. The last pope to serve at his age was Pope Leo XIII, who died at the age of 93 in 1903.

For Pope Francis, the year began with mourning Pope Benedict XVI, who resigned in 2013 and died Dec. 31, 2022.

Pope Francis spent the week after his death speaking about his predecessor, lauding his “wisdom, tenderness, devotion” and lauding how his theology was a direct result of his faith.

“His explanation of the faith was carried out with the devotion of a man who has surrendered all of himself to God and who, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, sought an ever-greater participation in the mystery of that Jesus who had fascinated him from his youth,” Pope Francis wrote in the introduction to a book published by the Vatican.

Pope Francis presided over his predecessor’s funeral Jan. 5, and preaching about the Gospel rather than giving a eulogy as liturgical norms dictate, he built his homily around four quotations from Pope Benedict.

The first of five foreign trips Pope Francis made in 2023 took him to Congo and then on an ecumenical peace mission to South Sudan. The trip with the Anglican archbishop of Canterbury and the moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland had been set for July 2022, but was canceled because Pope Francis was experiencing intense pain in his knee.

Even though he was well enough to travel in 2023, the knee continued to be a problem. Photos taken in his residence often showed him using a walker. He would be pushed in a wheelchair to his place when presiding at Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica and when greeting people at his general audiences. On days when it was not so painful, he would use a silver cane.

Pope Francis spent nine days in Rome’s Gemelli hospital in June after undergoing a three-hour surgery to repair a hernia. Surgeons also removed several adhesions or bands of scar tissue that had formed after previous surgeries decades ago.

Suffering from a respiratory infection, he also spent four days in March in the suite of rooms the Gemelli reserves for the pope. When he was experiencing respiratory difficulties again in late November, he went to the Gemelli Isola hospital for a CT scan but returned to his Vatican residence the same day. He was given intravenous antibiotics at home but kept many of his appointments, even if he did have an aide read his speeches for him.

The bronchial infection, which made his breathing very labored, forced him to cancel his planned trip to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates in early December for COP28; he would have been the first pope to attend a U.N. climate change summit.

“Are we working for a culture of life or a culture of death?” he asked world leaders in his COP28 message read in Dubai by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state. “To all of you I make this heartfelt appeal: Let us choose life! Let us choose the future!”

Pope Francis signals that hundreds of thousands of young people are not loud enough after he asks them to repeat that there is space for everyone in the church. The pope’s remarks came at the World Youth Day welcome ceremony at Eduardo VII Park in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug. 3, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

The destruction of the environment is “a sin” that not only “greatly endangers all human beings, especially the most vulnerable,” he wrote to the leaders, but it also “threatens to unleash a conflict between generations.”

In anticipation of the conference, Pope Francis in early October released “Laudate Deum” (“Praise God”), a follow-up document to his 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si’, On Care for Our Common Home.”

“We must move beyond the mentality of appearing to be concerned but not having the courage needed to produce substantial changes,” he wrote in “Laudate Deum.”

Making an even more urgent appeal for action than he did with “Laudato Si’,” the pope wrote that COP28 could “represent a change of direction, showing that everything done since 1992 (with the adoption of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change) was in fact serious and worth the effort, or else it will be a great disappointment and jeopardize whatever good has been achieved thus far.”

The two major events Pope Francis was able to participate in were World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, in August and the long-awaited first assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality in October.

WYD brought more than 1.5 million young people together and, in a letter for local youth day celebrations in November, Pope Francis described it as an “event that surpassed all our expectations. Our meeting in Lisbon was magnificent, a genuine experience of renewal, an explosion of light and joy!”

Throughout his visit to Portugal, in meetings both with young people and with clergy, the pope’s refrain was that in the church there is room for “todos, todos, todos” — “everyone, everyone, everyone.”

“Please, let us not convert the church into a customs office” where only the “just,” “good,” and “properly married” can enter while leaving everyone else outside, he told Portuguese bishops, priests and pastoral workers. “No. The church is not that,” he said, rather it is a place for “righteous and sinners, good and bad, everyone, everyone, everyone.”

Interviewed by Italian television about the Oct. 4-29 assembly of the Synod of Bishops, the pope said, “The result is positive. Everything was discussed with full freedom, and this is a beautiful thing.”

Asked specifically about the assembly’s discussions about welcoming gay Catholics, Pope Francis responded: “When I say ‘everyone, everyone, everyone,’ it’s the people. The church receives people, everyone, and does not ask what you are. Then, within the church, everyone grows and matures in their Christian belonging. It’s true that today it’s a bit fashionable to talk about this. The church receives everyone.”

At his Mass concluding the synod assembly, the pope summarized his key hope for the synod, which will meet again in October 2024: “The Lord will guide us and help us to be a more synodal and missionary church, a church that adores God and serves the women and men of our time, going forth to bring to everyone the consoling joy of the Gospel.”

Just days before the synod opened, Pope Francis created 21 new cardinals from 16 nations, including Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, the Chicago-born prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, and French Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the nuncio to the United States.

In an interview with Mexican journalist Valentina Alazraki Dec. 12, the pope said he feels “quite well” physically and his health continues to improve. Yet asked if people should be concerned about his health, he responded, “Yes, a little bit, yes. I need them to pray for my health.”