Cardinal Robert Prevost, the first U.S. pontiff, is now Pope Leo XIV
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, the Chicagoborn prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops under Pope Francis, was elected the 267th pope on May 8 and took the name Pope Leo XIV.
He is the first North American to be elected pope and, before the conclave, was the U.S. cardinal most mentioned as a potential successor of St. Peter.
The white smoke poured from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel at 6:07 p.m. Rome time, and a few minutes later the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica began to ring.
About 20 minutes later, the Vatican police band and two dozen members of the Pontifical Swiss Guard marched into St. Peter’s Square. They soon were joined by the marching band of the Italian Carabinieri, a branch of military police, and by units of the other branches of the Italian military.
As soon as news began to spread, people from all over Rome ran to join the tens of thousands who were already in the square for the smoke
‘A pope among the peop le’
Pope Francis dies and is laid to rest after 12-year papacy
Catholic News Service
Pope Francis was “a pope among the people, with an open heart toward everyone,” said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, as he presided over the funeral of the Holy Father, who died on April 21 at the age of 88.
And the people—an estimated 250,000 of them—were present as 14 pallbearers carried Pope Francis’ casket into St. Peter’s Square and set it on a carpet in front of the altar for the April 26 funeral Mass
His burial was held later the same day in Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major after being driven in a motorcade through the center of the city where he served as bishop from the day of his election to the papacy on March 13, 2013. Security around the Vatican was tight, not only because of the number of mourners expected but especially because of the presence of kings, queens, presidents—including U.S. President Donald J. Trump— and prime ministers from more than 80 countries, and official representatives from scores of other nations Also present were the
Let perpetual light shine upon him Pope Francis greets the crowd during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 27, 2022. The Holy Father died on April 21, Easter Monday, at age 88. He passed away in his Vatican residence, Casa Santa Marta, and physicians said he died of a stroke followed by irreversible cardiac arrest. His funeral Mass was held on Saturday, April 26, in St. Peter's Square and was attended by an estimated 250,000 people, with another 140,000 people lining the streets of Rome to view the funeral procession to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where the pope was buried. St. Mary Major is one of four major papal basilicas and one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome.
residents of a Vatican palace Pope Francis had turned into a shelter for the homeless and the 12 Syrian refugees he brought to Rome with him from a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos in 2016.
The Gospel reading at the funeral was John 21:15-19,
where the Risen Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” And when Peter says yes, Jesus tells him, “Feed my sheep.”
“Despite his frailty and suffering toward the end, Pope Francis chose to follow this path of self-giving until the last day of his earthly
life,” Cardinal Re said in his homily. “He followed in the footsteps of his Lord, the Good Shepherd, who loved His sheep to the point of giving His life for them.”
The 91-year-old cardinal told the crowd the image of Pope Francis that “will remain etched in our memory”
was his appearance on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica the day before he died to give his Easter blessing urbi et orbi (to the city and the world) and then to ride in the popemobile among the people who were celebrating Christ’s victory over death
“The outpouring of affection that we have witnessed in recent days following his passing from this earth into eternity tells us how much the profound pontificate of Pope Francis touched minds and hearts,” Cardinal Re said.
The Vatican estimated that 250,000 people many of whom waited in line for three or four hours filed past the late pope’s body in St. Peter’s Basilica April 23-25.
Within the Church, the cardinal said, “the guiding thread” of Pope Francis’ ministry was his “conviction that the Church is a home for all, a home with its doors always open.
For Pope Francis, he said, the Church was a “field hospital,” one “capable of bending down to every person, regardless of their beliefs or condition, and healing their wounds.”
With President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Olga Lyubimova, Russian minister
Francis continued on page A5
Introducing Pope Leo XIV Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who has chosen the papal name Leo XIV, appears on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on May 8, following his election during the conclave. He is the first North American pope in history.
OSV NEWS PHOTO/CLAUDIA GRECO, REUTERS
Pope Leo continued on page A12
Papal historians share 1st impressions of Pope Leo XIV
Questions of the day: Who is he? What will he do? How will he compare with other popes?
By Kimberley Heatherington OSV News
After the entire world hears the words Habemus Papam and learns there’s a new pope, the questions start: Who is he? What will he do? And how will he compare with previous popes?
To gather some initial answers to such questions about Pope Leo XIV, OSV News spoke with several papal historians.
“He opened with peace. That was just glorious,” said Dr. Thomas F.X. Noble, former chair of the Department of History and director of the Medieval Institute at the University of Notre Dame.
Dr. Noble noted that Pope Leo’s first public words were “Peace be with you!”
“It’s hard to imagine a more kind, a more gentle, a more pastoral opening,” Dr. Noble reflected. “Two or three times, he mentioned mission and missionaries. And what I heard there was Pope Francis. Go to the margins. Go find the least, the last, the forgotten.”
Dr. Noble discerned a potential message to the Trump administration in Washington, D.C., given Pope Leo XIV’s multiple mentions of bridges.
“Obviously, Francis rebuked Trump about building bridges not walls,” Dr. Noble observed.
“Was that a rebuke, or was that simply a statement of saying, ‘OK, here’s where we’re going to go; here’s what we want to do?’”
Dr. Noble also questioned whether Pope Leo’s
The Handmaids of the Precious Blood this year celebrate the 78th year since their founding in 1947; more than three-quarters of a century of prayer and sacrifice for priests. To receive weekly cartoons and short reflections and news from the Handmaids of the Precious Blood, visit their website, nunsforpriests.org, and sign up for the FIAT newsletter.
emphasis on God’s universal love was meant to underscore acceptance of traditionally marginalized groups.
“He repeated, ‘God loves everyone.’ ... That struck me as really powerful. He repeated that again and again and again. God loves everybody. That’s Francis. So that is, it seems to me, a very powerful kind of continuity,” Dr. Noble said.
Prior to Pope Leo’s election, Dr. Noble was uncertain if one of Pope Francis’ signature achievements, the Synod on Synodality, was destined to die a quiet death. The synod a three-year, worldwide Church process actively sought to engage a diversity of voices in collective Church discussion and decision-making.
“I really wondered whether Francis’ successor would commit to synodality,” he said. “From an historical point of view, from an ecclesiological point of view, that was the big thing Francis did. Never mind him saying, ‘Who am I to judge?’ No, that’s not the big thing.”
In previous comments as a cardinal-designate in 2023, Pope Leo praised synodality as a way to address division in the Church, sharing his conviction that “all of us are called to walk together … to truly search for the will of God and the presence of the Spirit listening to one another and car-
How to sign up and qualify for Diocese of Knoxville’s safe-environment program
The Diocese of Knoxville has implemented the CMG Connect platform to administer the Safe Environment Program, which replaces the former Safe Environment Program (VIRTUS “Protecting God’s Children”).
CMG Connect is a web-based platform that will assist in ensuring that all employees and volunteers who are in a position of trust with children and vulnerable adults within Diocese of Knoxville schools and parishes are trained to recognize behavior patterns of potential abusers and provide pro-active measures for preventing abuse in any context.
“Safe Haven-It’s Up to You” is a three-part video that provides vignettes of real-life situations to educate the viewer about methods of grooming, desensitization, bullying, and neglect, all of which can lead to abuse.
Each part of the video is immediately followed by a brief questionnaire to further develop understanding.
Education is a key
element of the Safe Environment Program
All clergy, employees, contracted school personnel, volunteers, members of groups and organizations over the age of 18 who work, volunteer, or participate in any capacity are required to complete the diocesan Safe Environment training and a criminal-background check before they can begin employment, volunteer, or participate with ministries, groups, and organizations affiliated with the Diocese of Knoxville.
In addition, the mandatory renewal training must be completed every five years and a new background check submitted before the five-year expiration of prior training.
The Diocese of Knoxville Safe Environment compliance training and renewal training is a condition of employment and for volunteer ministry in the Diocese of Knoxville.
The CMG Connect
platform contains all three elements of the Diocese of Knoxville’s Safe Environment Program: n Annual review of the Diocese of Knoxville’s Policy and Procedures Relating to Sexual Misconduct; n CMG Connect Safe Haven training program to be completed every five years; n Criminal background check to be completed every five years.
In compliance with the Diocese of Knoxville’s Safe Environment Program, all affiliates require that volunteers and employees complete the requirements prior to working and/or volunteering in a parish, school, or through Catholic Charities of East Tennessee and/ or St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic Go to https:// dioknox.org/safeenvironment on the Diocese of Knoxville website for more information ■
Pray the Holy Father may be for us a true shepherd after the Lord ’s own heart
arlier this month as I was sitting at my desk, the bells of our cathedral church began to chime joyously. Glancing at my watch, I noticed it was shortly after noon and that Mass was occurring—a time when our bells normally do not ring. Instantly, I knew we had a pope!
The first text message had already popped up on my phone— “White smoke has emerged—Habemus Papam—we have a pope!” The Chancery staff gathered in short order to await the arrival of the new Bishop of Rome.
As we watched the excited crowds growing in St. Peter’s Square, our own excitement was building. I called a priest friend who was standing in the square with all of those people, and he said, “Tens of thousands of people from everywhere are flooding into the square!”
Finally, Pope Leo XIV emerged on the balcony: “Peace be with you!” He proclaimed the words of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ to the Apostles in the Upper Room on the night of Easter Sunday, where they had gathered behind locked doors. One could easily see the emotion on the face of our new Holy Father, the 266th successor of the Apostle Peter.
The centuries-old ritual of cardinals gathering in conclave to elect the new pope has captured the attention of the world in these past few weeks. It reminds us of the important spiritual role the pope
Pray for our popes Pope Leo XIV prays in front of a fresco of Our Lady of Good Counsel at the shrine named after the image in Genazzano, Italy, southeast of Rome, on May 10. The shrine, with a famous image of Mary, is run by the pope's Augustinian confreres. Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as the 267th pope on May 8, and he took the name Leo XIV
plays now for people of all faiths and of no faith. It is a tangible human connection to a legacy going back 2,000 years to the first fishermen called by the Lord. And for us Catholics, it is a powerful visible sign of unity in our worldwide Church.
I remember meeting Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost last fall at the New Bishop School I attended in Rome. He struck me as humble, unassuming, and kind Memories of previous elections of popes came back to me. St. John
XXIII was pope when I was born, and St. Paul VI was elected before I was old enough to understand. But I remember well 1978, the year of three popes: the short reign of the “smiling pope,” John Paul I, and the beginning of the great papacy of St. John Paul II.
Pope John Paul II has truly been called “the Great” and became a global force for good in the Church and the world. When news broke in 2005 of white smoke billowing from St. Peter’s, our parish staff was en route to St. Meinrad Archabbey for
a staff retreat.
We heard of the election of Pope Benedict on the radio as we traveled to St. Meinrad. Joyous bells rang from the monastic towers, and the monks sang the Te Deum that evening at Vespers in thanksgiving for a new pope.
When white smoke emerged in 2013, I found myself watching eagerly when Pope Francis appeared. His choice of name, his simple greeting, and request for prayers moved me to tears as I began to pray for him. What a gift he has been for the Church in these past 12 years!
As I look back, it strikes me that each of these popes has brought unique gifts to the Church and the world in their own particular time and place.
Every Good Friday, as we mark the Passion of the Lord, we offer special intercessions for the Church and the world. The second is for the pope, and we pray: “Almighty ever-living God, by whose decree all things are founded, look with favor on our prayers and in your kindness protect the pope chosen for us…” Pope Leo XIV has been “chosen for us” by God, this we believe in faith.
Let us indeed pray for our Holy Father, that he may be for us a true shepherd after the Lord’s own heart. May the light of Christ, to which he bears witness, fill our world with God’s love and grace, this we ask through Christ our Lord! ■
How we have known Pope Francis since 2013
Our faithful departed Holy Father was a pontiff with many gifts
By Elizabeth Scalia OSV News
Before he was known for anything else, Pope Francis was known as “the first non-European pope in nearly 1,300 years.”
As we absorb the news of Francis’ death, his funeral, and then the conclave gathering to elect a new pontiff, here is a quick look at how we have come to know Jorge Bergoglio over these past 12 years.
As Pope Francis, he has led the Church with energy and optimism, traveling four times a year, on average. Usually, he starts and ends those trips by praying before the fifth-century Byzantine icon Salus Populi Romani (“Our Lady, health of the Roman people”) because “With the Virgin, I go with certainty.”
Rarely seen with a rosary, Francis’ devotion to the Blessed Virgin is nevertheless deep and transparent, for Mary, he has written, is “always listening to us!”
So, we quickly gleaned that the 266th pope would be a Pope of the Patroness of All Humanity. As we’ve grown to know him, we have also learned to call Pope Francis:
n The Pope of Pragmatic
Humility: When a stunned-looking Cardinal Jorge Maria Bergoglio was announced in St. Peter’s Square, his self-effacing remark (that the conclave seemed to have “gone to the end of the world” to find a new bishop of Rome), led immediately to a request for prayers first for his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, and then for, well, everybody: “Let us pray for each other (and) for the entire world because there is great brotherhood in the world.”
Eschewing the papal apartments to reside in a guesthouse for visiting clergy, Pope Francis (in his first act of papal continuum) packed his own bags, carrying them to his new digs.
n The Pope of the Poor: In his 2016 apostolic letter, Misericordia et Misera, Pope Francis
A pope for all reasons Pope Francis blesses a prisoner as he visits the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia in this Sept. 27, 2015, file photo. During this U.S. visit, in Washington, D.C., the pope visited the White House and made history as the first pope to address Congress; in New York he spoke at the United Nations and visited ground zero; in Philadelphia he led the World Meeting of Families. Pope Francis, formerly Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, died on April 21 at age 88.
Ms. Scalia
established the first World Day of the Poor, later kicking it off in the Paul VI Hall, sharing a beautifully catered luncheon with the destitute of Rome.
The meal became a tradition that pausing for two years due to the global pandemic was joyfully re-established in 2022.
Even earlier, however, the pontiff had arranged for showers to be provided for the homeless near the Bernini colonnades, embracing St. Peter’s Square. Reminding critics that Jesus said the poor would al-
ways be among us (John 12:8), the pope wrote, “There is no alibi to justify not engaging with the poor when Jesus has identified Himself with each of them.”
n The Pope of Pastoral Tenderness: Tenderness comes up frequently in Pope Francis’ remarks, and they are of a piece with his concerns for the poor. Tenderness suggests intimacy, which is what Francis models when taking a meal with the downtrodden and engaging with them. He has developed an informal “Theology of Tenderness” in demonstrating how small things most take for granted a shower, clean clothes, and sometimes simply being seen and greeted instead
Tenderness comes up frequently in Pope Francis’ remarks, and they are of a piece with his concerns for the poor. Tenderness suggests intimacy, which is what Francis models when taking a meal with the downtrodden and engaging with them. He has developed an informal “Theology of Tenderness” in demonstrating how small things most take for granted a shower, clean clothes, and sometimes simply being seen and greeted instead of ignored affirm human dignity.
of ignored affirm human dignity. “Tenderness is something greater than the logic of the world,” Francis told a 2022 audience. “It is an unexpected way of doing justice.”
n The Pope of Protecting the Environment:
Tenderness even slips into his thoughts on ecology. Upon receiving the fisherman’s ring, Pope Francis preached, “... let us be protectors of creation, (of) God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another, and of the environment,” adding, “Protecting demands goodness, it calls for a certain tenderness.”
In his groundbreaking encyclical, Laudato Si,’ he extolled St. Joseph who, “shows great tenderness, which is not a mark of the weak but of those who are genuinely strong. … That is why he was proclaimed custodian of the universal Church,” who can “inspire us to work with generosity and tenderness in protecting this world…” n The Pope of Pandemic Prayer and Consolation:
In a fearsome and grave global moment, as the whole world went into lockdown isolated and prevented from being with loved ones dying all alone Pope Francis brought us into supplication before God, making “An Extraordinary Prayer in the Time of Pandemic” on the evening of March 27, 2020. Starkly alone in St. Peter’s Square, accompanied only by a 15th-century crucifix, the pope gave voice to what all humanity was feeling: “Thick darkness has gathered … taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void … we find ourselves afraid and lost.” With a monstrance, he blessed the world with the Holy Eucharist, and then repairing to the interior of St. Peter’s Basilica invited us, via satellite, into an hour’s contemplation before the merciful Christ,
Pontiff continued on page A27
‘A beautiful light in this world ’
Bishop Beckman presides at memorial Mass for Pope Francis
By Bill Brewer
Pope Francis was remembered in memorial Masses held in churches throughout the Diocese of Knoxville in the days immediately following his April 21 death.
And as parishes marked the solemn occasion, Bishop Mark Beckman was the principal celebrant of a diocesan memorial Mass for the Holy Father held at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on April 28.
Bishop Beckman spoke about the life, ministry, and legacy of Pope Francis as a portrait of the Holy Father draped in black bunting rested on an easel beside the altar. A candle has burned in memoriam constantly next to the portrait since April 21, keeping silent vigil for the 266th successor to St. Peter.
“Brothers and sisters, it is so good that we are here tonight to pray for Pope Francis during this Easter season as we celebrate the victory of Christ over death. And because of that, we gather with sadness at the loss of a beautiful light in this world. We also are confident in the victory of Christ and full of joy at the promise of the Lord. So, we console ourselves with that promise of the resurrection,” Bishop Beckman said to begin the memorial Mass.
Then, Bishop Beckman offered the Opening Prayer for the Holy Father.
“O God, the Immortal Shepherd of souls, look on Your people’s prayers and grant that Your servant, Pope Francis, who presided over Your Church in charity, may, with the flock entrusted to his care, receive from Your mercy the reward of a faithful steward, through Our Lord, Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.”
Concelebrating the memorial Mass were Father David Boettner, rector of the cathedral; Father Julian Cardona, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Lenoir City; Father Christopher Manning, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Athens; Father Joseph Kuzhupil, MSFS, pastor of Notre Dame Parish in Greeneville; Father Jim Harvey, pastor of Holy Trinity Parish in Jefferson City; Father John O’Neill of the Diocese of Nashville; and Father Jhon Mario Garcia, cathedral associate pastor.
Deacon Sean Smith and Deacon Bob Hunt were joined by Deacon Mike Mescall and Deacon Walt Otey at the Mass. Deacon Mescall served as deacon of the Word, and Deacon Otey served as deacon of the altar.
Readers for the special Mass for the Holy Father were high-school students Nicholas Saez and Maggie Parsons.
Bishop Beckman began his homily with the verse from the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy.”
“The Beatitudes tonight speak to me of a faithful disciple and follower of Jesus, the Lord. And the humility with which Jesus invited His disciples to the mountaintop, where He sat and began to teach them the way of the kingdom. All who were baptized began as followers of the Lord Jesus. And Francis, Jorge Bergoglio, began as a follower of Jesus Christ. As a Jesuit, he would have learned intensely the importance of being close to Jesus and following Him. And if I had to pick one of the Beatitudes that he most effectively gave to the world, it was mercy; mercy for those who most need mercy,” Bishop Beckman said.
The congregation attending the memorial Mass was diverse in age, with faithful young and older remembering the pope who appealed to a world rich in diversity.
In addition to being the first Jesuit to serve as pope, Francis was the first Latin American pon-
tiff. He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He also was the first pontiff from the Southern Hemisphere and the first born or raised outside of Europe since the eighth-century Syrian Pope Gregory III.
Bishop Beckman recalled the early days of Pope Francis’ pontificate, when the Holy Father was reaching out to people around the globe.
“I am reminded early in his papacy when they asked him, I think, on the airplane, ‘Who is Jorge Bergoglio?’ He said in reply, ‘I am a sinner. A sinner who is loved by God.’ And at the end of his papacy, one of his last great documents was on the Sacred Heart of Jesus,” the bishop said.
“And in that beautiful encyclical I think it’s so wonderful that we’re in this Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus tonight he remembered the words of the Apostle Paul, that Paul knew that the Son of God loved him. And it was because of that that Paul was able to do everything that he did,” he added.
Bishop Beckman believes the Holy Father was divinely familiar with the Beatitude most closely associated with him.
Memorial Mass continued on page A17
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Remembering a faithful disciple Bishop Mark Beckman gives the homily during a memorial Mass for Pope Francis on April 28 at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Priests and parishioners gathered for the Mass that was held the week following the Holy Father's death.
DAN MCWILLIAMS
of culture, seated near the altar, Cardinal Re said that “faced with the raging wars of recent years, with their inhuman horrors and countless deaths and destruction, Pope Francis incessantly raised his voice imploring peace and calling for reason and honest negotiation to find possible solutions.”
“Build bridges, not walls, was an exhortation he repeated many times, and his service of faith as successor of the Apostle Peter always was linked to the service of humanity in all its dimensions,” the cardinal said Cardinal Re also recalled Pope Francis’ constant concern for migrants and refugees from his first papal trip outside of Rome to pray for migrants who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea, his visit to Lesbos, and his celebration of Mass in 2016 on the U.S.-Mexican border
At the end of Mass, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, papal vicar of Rome, offered prayers for the city’s deceased bishop, Pope Francis. Then Eastern Catholic patriarchs and major archbishops gathered around the casket and led funeral prayers from the Byzantine tradition in honor of the pastor of the universal Catholic Church
Sister Norma Pimentel, a Missionary of Jesus and director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, had knelt in prayer before the body of Pope Francis on April 25 and was present for the funeral.
“The funeral of Pope Francis is a very important part of who we are as people of faith,” she told Catholic News Service. “We walk together, we cry together, we work together ... doing what we believe is important in our lives as people of faith, and we say farewell together at the end.”
The funeral, she said, is a time “to join him in this last farewell and say thank you: Thank you for being you, for being there with us, and we’ll see you.”
Sister Norma is known especially for her work with migrants and refugees, a ministry close to the heart of Pope Francis
“He was all about making sure that we understood the importance” of welcoming newcomers, she said. His message was: “Please open your hearts. Please care for them. That’s all they’re asking.”
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, N.J., also prayed alongside the pope’s body on April 25 as it lay in state in St. Peter’s Basilica. “It was an important moment of confirming the news that I had heard but did not want to believe” that the pope had died
Pope Francis “had played such an important role in my life as a mentor, as a teacher,” the cardinal said. “It was really a 20-year friendship.”
“We have many reasons to grieve, but we have every reason to hope,” said the cardinal, who concelebrated the funeral Mass and was among the cardinals voting to elect a new pope Cardinal Tobin said he thought Pope Francis’ lasting legacy would be the call to be “a synodal Church,” one where every person takes responsibility for the Church’s mission and where all members listen to one another and to the Holy Spirit.
“That kind of Church is really necessary to bring to fruition all of his other prophetic teachings,” the cardinal said.
“Without a synodal Church,” he said, it will be difficult to put into practice Pope Francis’ teaching on the environment, on dialogue and human fraternity, and even on sharing the joy of the Gospel
The final journey
The casket bearing the body of Pope Francis made its final journey through the streets of Rome accompanied by applause and shouts of gratitude from thousands of mourners
After the funeral Mass, pallbearers carried Pope Francis’ coffin through St. Peter’s Basilica, stopping briefly at the steps leading to St. Peter’s tomb before placing it on a retrofitted popemobile parked outside
Hundreds awaited outside and applauded as the vehicle, accompanied by four police officers on motorcycles, left the grounds of Vatican City for the last time
According to the Vatican and
Pope Francis: The People's Pope
Italian police, some 150,000 people watched the pope’s casket pass by
Along the wide boulevard in front of Torre Argentina, where Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 B.C., tourists and bystanders packed the streets. Residents were leaning out of their upper-story apartment windows, everyone camera-ready. When the motorcade passed, people clapped and cheered, some shouting Grazie, Papa Francesco (“Thank you, Pope Francis”) and Viva il papa (“Long live the pope”)
The cortegé bearing the first Jesuit pope passed by the Gesu Church, the mother church of the Society of Jesus in Rome’s historic center, where the body of the order’s founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola, is buried
Among the tens of thousands of people hoping to catch a glimpse of the papal casket outside Rome's famed Colosseum was a group of 50 young people from the Diocese of Verona who were in Rome for the Jubilee of Adolescents.
For 23-year-old Samuele Simoni, the death of Pope Francis, which happened while the group made their way to Rome for the Jubilee pilgrimage, was “unimaginable.”
Speaking to Catholic News Service, Mr. Simoni said bidding the pope farewell along the route to his tomb was a way for the group to witness “the strength of the Church in such an important time of mourning ”
Pope Francis was “an important and influential figure” in the lives of young people, and to join others in bidding farewell to the pontiff was “definitely a time in which they could also fully experience a bit of the Jubilee,” he said
“People often think of the Jubilee as seeing the pope in a different way. Yet, it is certainly an emotional moment of prayer that is both strong and beautiful,” Mr. Simoni said. “For them, it will truly remain an indelible memory in their hearts.
When the casket arrived at Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major, pallbearers carried it in a solemn procession down the central nave
Among the cardinals present for the burial were: Cardinals Re, dean of the College of Cardinals; Roger M. Mahony, retired archbishop of Los Angeles and ranking member of the order of cardinal priests; Dominique Mamberti, former prefect of the Apostolic Signature and ranking member of the order of cardinal deacons; Stanislaw Rylko, archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major; Rolandas Makrickas, coadjutor archpriest of the basilica; Pietro Parolin, secretary of state under Pope Francis; Baldassare Reina, papal vicar of Rome; and Konrad Kra-
of the tomb, which was created with marble from the northern Italian region of Liguria, the land of the late pope’s grandparents, and inscribed with the Latin version of his name: Franciscus. It also featured a large reproduction of his pectoral cross
In his final testament, which was published by the Vatican shortly after his death, the pope expressed his wish to be buried at the basilica dedicated to Mary to whom he had entrusted his “priestly and episcopal life and ministry ”
The pope further explained his reasons in his autobiography, Hope, which was published in January. In it, he said he would not be buried in St. Peter’s Basilica because “the Vatican is the home of my last service, not my eternal home.”
“I will go in the room where they now keep the candelabra close to the Regina della Pace (Queen of Peace) from whom I have always sought help, and whose embrace I have felt more than a hundred times during the course of my papacy,” he wrote
The Holy Father’s death Pope Francis died April 21 after suffering a stroke and heart failure, according to the director of Vatican City State’s department of health services. The pope also had gone into a coma.
jewski, the papal almoner.
Before reaching the pope’s final resting place, the pallbearers stopped in front of the chapel where Pope Francis often laid flowers and prayed before the icon of Mary. This time, two boys and two girls carried baskets of white flowers and set them before the altar under the Marian icon.
The pallbearers then made their way to Pope Francis’ tomb, where Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell presided over the burial rite. Cardinal Farrell, of the United States, has served as the prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life since 2016, camerlengo (or chamberlain) of the Holy Roman Church since 2019, and president of the Supreme Court of Vatican City since 2024. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Dallas from 2007 to 2017
The Vatican press office had announced that a group of the poor and needy would be present on the steps leading to the papal basilica to welcome the Holy Father’s casket
The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera also reported that five prisoners from Rome’s Rebibbia prison were given special permission to be present at the basilica and attend the pope’s burial
The pope had a special affection for prisoners, celebrating Holy Thursday Mass almost every year at a prison or jail. On April 17, just four days before his death, Pope Francis visited Rome’s Regina Coeli jail
According to Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishops’ conference, Auxiliary Bishop Benoni Ambarus of Rome, who was charged with prison pastoral care for the diocese, revealed the late pope had recently made a personal donation of 200,000 euros ($228,100) to a pasta factory run by the prisoners of Rome’s Casal del Marmo prison
Saying the prisoners felt orphaned after the pope’s death, Bishop Ambarus said he was “working so that (the pope’s) favorite children can be at the funeral. We will see what we can do.”
The Basilica of St. Mary Major was dear to Pope Francis throughout his pontificate as he would often go to pray before the icon Salus Populi Romani (“Health or salvation of the Roman people”), especially before and after his papal trips.
At a briefing with journalists outside the basilica on April 26, Cardinal Makrickas said the pope, who was initially reluctant to be buried outside of St. Peter’s Basilica, told him in May 2022 that the “Virgin Mary told me, ‘Prepare the tomb
The Vatican previewed an image
“I certify that His Holiness Francis, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Dec. 17, 1936, resident of Vatican City, Vatican citizen, passed away at 7:35 a.m. on 4/21/2025 in his apartment at the Domus Sanctae Marthae, Vatican City, from: cerebral stroke, coma, irreversible cardiovascular collapse,” said the statement, signed by the director, Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, and published by the Vatican press office
The doctor said the pope also had a history of: “a previous episode of acute respiratory failure due to polymicrobial bilateral pneumonia; multiple bronchiectases; arterial hypertension; and type II diabetes ”
A heart monitor or ECG was used to ascertain his death, that is, that there was no longer any heart activity, he wrote on the signed declaration
The doctor also read the statement aloud during a special prayer service that began at 8 p.m. local time on April 21 in the late pope’s Domus Sanctae Marthae residence
Cardinal Farrell presided over the rite, which included the formal verification of the pope’s death, the placement of his body in a coffin, and its transfer to the chapel on the first floor of his residence. The pope died in his third-floor apartment
Others at the closed-door ceremony included Cardinal Re; the late pope’s aides, assistants, and members of the papal household; Dr. Arcangeli; and Dr. Luigi Carbone, deputy director of the Vatican’s health department and the pope’s personal physician
This was the first of three rites that were divided into three “stations” based on the place they occur: “at home, in the Vatican basilica, and at the burial place,” according to the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis (“Funeral Rites of the Roman Pontiff”). Services were held for transferring the body to St. Peter’s Basilica, the funeral, the burial, and the memorial Masses after the funeral for the following eight days.
The Vatican press office confirmed that, according to instructions guiding what happens after the death of a pope, the funeral and burial take place “between the fourth and sixth day after death,” which was between April 25 and 27
The exact date was determined at a meeting of all the cardinals able to reach the Vatican immediately after the papal death. The first meeting was held at 9 a.m. on April 22 in the Vatican Synod Hall The press office announced the coffin would be brought to St. Peter’s Basilica April 23 for public viewing and prayer before the funeral. Instead of lying on a catafalque, the body was placed inside a zinc-lined coffin that remained open until the night before the funeral, which was celebrated by Cardinal Re
Paying their respects
After the casket bearing Pope
Francis continued on
Blessing the Holy Father Above: Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, blesses the coffin as he leads the funeral Mass of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 26. Below: A large crowd is seen during the funeral Mass of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 26.
OSV NEWS PHOTO/NATHAN
Pope Francis: The People's Pope
at this basilica.
the sick
Partners in prayer
Pope Francis prays with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, on March 23, 2013. Shortly after his election, Pope Francis traveled by helicopter from the Vatican to Castel Gandolfo for a private meeting with the former pontiff
Solitary intercessions Pope Francis leads a prayer service in an empty St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in this March 27, 2020, file photo. This was at the time COVID-19 shuttered most everything in the world. The Vatican published a book commemorating the prayer service, which made a strong impression on people around the world in the same month COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic
Funeral for a friend and fellow pontiff Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re sprinkles holy water on the coffin of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI as Pope Francis looks on during the late pontiff's funeral Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Jan. 5, 2023. Pope Francis died April 21, 2025, at age 88
Francis’ body was placed in St. Peter’s Basilica, tens of thousands of mourners lined up to pay their respects
The open casket was transferred on April 23 from the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae to the basilica
As the day progressed, two lines one to the right of the basilica, the other circling around the left formed. Moving at a snail’s pace, the lines converged at security checkpoints underneath the colonnade around St. Peter’s Square before joining as one massive line heading through the Holy Door and turning toward the central nave
Waiting times varied, with some told to expect a three- or four-hour wait, while some people leaving the basilica had said it had taken nearly five hours
Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican Press Office, said that in the first 24 hours viewing was open to the public on April 24, more than 50,000 people paid their respects to Pope Francis
The Vatican had originally announced that the basilica would close at midnight April 23-24. However, given the turnout, viewing hours were extended, with the basilica finally closing for 90 minutes at 5:30 a.m
By April 24, coordination efforts with Rome police and civil protection agencies seemed more streamlined. Toward the north of the basilica,
A gathering of Jesuits Pope Francis meets with Jesuits from Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands at St. Michel College in Brussels on Sept. 28, 2024. Francis was the first Jesuit to become pope in the history of the Catholic Church. Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1958 and was ordained a priest in 1969. He later served as the provincial superior of the Jesuits in Argentina before being elected Pope in 2013
one massive line stretched across Rome’s Risorgimento Square leading to security checkpoints with volunteers sporting neon green vests guiding crowds along the city’s bustling streets
By 8 a.m., thousands were already slowly making their way to the basilica
Another line of pilgrims formed heading down the main road Via della Conciliazione leading to the basilica while a third line formed at the southern entrance, toward the left of the Bernini colonnade Consuelo and Ana, two friends from Valencia, Spain, who were in Italy on a group trip when the pope’s death was announced, spoke to Catholic News Service as they stood in line on April 23
The Holy Father’s death “was a total surprise,” Ana said. “We had booked this flight in January, and when he got sick, we were a little concerned, but we did not expect it.”
“His death truly was a surprise,” Consuelo added. “We saw him during Holy Week, and even though he looked very weak, we did not expect him to pass away!”
The two friends said despite the heat from the Roman sun and an estimated four-hour waiting time ahead of them, they wanted to pay their respects
Consuelo said she was saddened by Pope Francis’ death “because he gave himself to the people. He was a pope who wanted a Church that was closer to today’s reality. And it hurts, it hurts (that
he is gone). The Church should open itself more to 21st-century society, and that’s what he tried to do.
Ana said she was unfazed by the long wait in line and was “willing to wait until the end ”
“Look, I am an atheist, but I still admired him,” she said. “He was an exemplary pope who knew how to open up to new things, to a new society, to new worlds. I am here for this historic moment and taking advantage of the opportunity of being here in Rome ”
The Holy Father’s life and ministry
After an estimated 250,000 people had passed by the body of Pope Francis, lying in an open casket in front of the main altar in St. Peter’s Basilica, the casket was sealed in a private ceremony. Inside the casket was a scroll that summarized the life and ministry of the Holy Father
It noted how, in Argentina, “he was a simple and well-loved pastor in his archdiocese, traveling far and wide, including by subway and bus. He lived in an apartment and made his own dinner because he felt like one of the people.”
Cardinal Farrell, as chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, presided over the April 25 prayer service and rite, explaining to the small group of people close to Pope Francis that “we are gathered here to carry out acts of human
ty before the funeral Mass of our pope,
pie-
Francis. Francis continued on page A7
Francis continued from page A5
Praying at St. Mary Major Pope Francis prays in front of the Marian icon Salus Populi Romani during a visit to pray the rosary at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome on May 31, 2022. Following his death on April 21, the Holy Father was entombed
Comforting
Pope Francis blesses a sick man inside the Basilica of Our Lady of Bonaria in Cagliari, Sardinia, on Sept. 22, 2013
Pope Francis: The People's Pope
The prayer service and rituals at 8 p.m., after public viewing of his body had ended, followed what was prescribed in the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis (“Funeral Rites of the Roman Pontiff”). The rites originally were approved by St. John Paul II. Pope Francis revised and simplified them in 2024
A piece of silk cloth was laid over the face of the pope, who was dressed in a red chasuble and was wearing the worn black shoes he always wore
Inside the zinc-lined wooden casket were placed coins minted during his 12-year pontificate and a metal tube containing the rogito or scroll with a brief description of his life, ministry, and pontificate. A copy of the scroll will be kept in the archives of the Office of Papal Liturgical Ceremonies
“The whole Christian community, especially the poor, gave praise to God for the gift of his service rendered with courage and fidelity to the Gospel and to the mystical Bride of Christ,” the scroll said “Francis was the 266th pope. His memory remains in the heart of the Church and of all humanity,” it added
The wooden top secured to the casket was decorated with a cross, the coat of arms of Pope Francis, and a small plate inscribed with his name
The group present for this rite also included: Cardinals Re; Mahony, retired archbishop of Los Angeles, and ranking member of the order of cardinal priests; Mamberti, who is the former prefect of the Apostolic Signature and ranking member of the order of cardinal deacons; Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica; Parolin; Reina; and Krajewski.
The Canticle of Zechariah from Luke 1:68-79 was read. It begins, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for He has visited and brought redemption to His people.” The canticle praises God for His “tender mercy” and forgiveness
The rogito had a brief biography of the late pope, including his birth on Dec. 17, 1936, to parents who emigrated to Argentina from Italy, his entrance into the Society of Jesus, his ordination as a priest, and his appointment as archbishop of
Buenos Aires in 1998
“Always attentive to the least and those discarded by society, Francis, as soon as he was elected” on March 13, 2013, “chose to live in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, because he could not do without contact with people,” it said.
The document noted his efforts to promote dialogue with other religions, especially Islam, the major documents he published, and his expansion of the College of Cardinals
“The doctrinal magisterium of Pope Francis has been very rich,” it said. The documents give “witness to a style that is simple and humble, based on openness to missionary outreach, apostolic courage, and mercy, careful in avoiding the danger of self-referentiality and spiritual worldliness in the Church.”
“Francis left an admirable witness of humanity, a holy life, and universal fatherhood,” it concluded
The role of St. Mary Major
“The Virgin Mary told me, ‘Prepare the tomb.’” That is what Pope Francis said Mary told him when he was discerning whether to be buried in the historic Marian church where his body was laid to rest on April 26
Cardinal Makrickas discussed the pope’s decision to be buried at the papal basilica some three miles outside the Vatican during a news conference on April 25, the day before the late pope’s funeral
The cardinal said that during a meeting with the pope in 2022 to discuss a remodeling project in the basilica, he asked the pope if he wanted to be buried there given his devotion to the Marian icon Salus Populi Romani (“health of the Roman people”), which is housed in the church
“In that moment he said no, because the popes are buried in St. Peter’s Basilica,” Cardinal Makrickas said, but after a week the pope called him to his Vatican residence and shared what Mary told him
In that conversation the pope added, “I am happy that Our Lady hasn’t forgotten about me,” the cardinal told reporters, and he was asked to begin preparing the tomb
The basilica is the first and oldest Marian basili-
ca in the West. It began construction in 432, though it was completed in its present state in 1743
Pope Francis specified that he did not want his tomb placed in the Pauline Chapel, where the Marian icon is on display because “in this chapel people must pray to the Lord, venerate Our Lady, not look at the tomb of a pope,” Cardinal Makrickas said
The late pope visited the Marian icon in St. Mary Major before and after each of his 47 international trips and after each of his hospital stays. He told people he also had visited it each time he came to Rome as a cardinal
His connection to the basilica is also tied to his Jesuit roots: St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, celebrated his first Mass there in 1538, making it a fitting burial place for the Church’s first Jesuit pope
Cardinal Makrickas noted that the basilica’s location also is symbolically important. It is connected by a straight road to the Basilica of St. John Lateran, where St. Francis of Assisi once sought papal approval for his new religious community. According to tradition, Pope Innocent III had a dream of a humble man holding up that basilica to stop its collapse a vision believed to foreshadow St. Francis’ mission
Pope Francis, the first to use that papal name, chose it in honor of St. Francis of Assisi
The pope’s burial place is near the icon that was so dear to him as well as to an altar dedicated to St. Francis, so “the place seems truly perfect,” Cardinal Makrickas said.
Pope Francis was the first pope buried at the basilica since Pope Clement IX, who died in 1669. The last pope to be buried outside the Vatican was Pope Leo XIII, who was buried in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in 1903
A photo of Pope Francis’ tomb released by the Vatican on April 24 showed it to be simple, adorned with an enlarged rendering of his pectoral cross and made of white Ligurian marble—a nod to the land of his Italian grandparents— while bearing only the name “Franciscus.”
“I see it as a connection between the decision to
Francis continued on page A8
Francis continued from page A6
Blessing all of God's children Pope Francis blesses a baby during a visit to a Caritas center for the homeless near the Termini rail station in Rome on Dec. 18, 2015. The pope opened a Door of Mercy at the center
Prayers for those abused Pope Francis prays in front of a candle in memory of victims of sexual abuse as he visits St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 25, 2018
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO/PAUL HARING
On the wings of a dove Pope Francis releases a dove outside the Basilica of St. Nicholas after meeting with the leaders of Christian churches in Bari, Italy, on July 7, 2018
Young at heart Pope Francis waves as he arrives for a meeting with thousands of young people taking part in a pilgrimage organized by the Italian bishops' conference in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 18, 2022
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO/VATICAN MEDIA
A hug for superheros Pope Francis hugs a child during a meeting with more than 7,000 people, including 4,000 youngsters preparing for confirmation from the Italian Archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican on Jan. 27, 2024
Reaching out Pope Francis reaches for a balloon released in the crowd during his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on March 30, 2016
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO/PAUL HARING
not live in the Apostolic Palace, but rather at Casa Santa Marta,” Cardinal Makrickas said. “His life also ends in a place that is different and simple.”
Remembering their favorite son
Thousands of Argentinians gathered for a massive Mass outside the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires to remember the life and legacy of Pope Francis, whose ministry as archbishop in the Argentine capital of taking the Church to the peripheries and prioritizing the poor became a template for his pontificate
Archbishop Jorge García Cuerva of Buenos Aires celebrated an emotional Mass in the iconic Plaza de Mayo, where he told the assembled faithful on April 26, “We cry because we don't want death to triumph. We cry because the father of us all has died. We cry because we already feel his physical absence in our hearts. We cry because we feel orphaned.”
The archbishop fought back tears during the Mass, celebrated hours after Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican. He recalled the pope teaching, “The world today needs to cry. The marginalized cry, those who are left aside cry. The despised cry. But those of us who live a life without great problems don’t know how to cry. Only certain realities of life are seen with eyes cleansed by tears.” He continued, “Let us be brave, the pope said. Do not be afraid to cry. That is why today we mourn Francis. We do so from the depths of our hearts. Without shame, but also with the pain that unites us as a people. May our tears irrigate our homeland, making it fruitful in reconciliation and brotherhood.”
Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, led the archdiocese of Buenos Aires from 1998 until his election in 2013. He became famous for austerity, famously riding the subway, regularly visiting poor barrios, or neighborhoods, and avoiding high society while denouncing allegations of corruption.
Argentines rejoiced after his election, but the enthusiasm faded as the pope was pulled into Argentina’s messy politics—with politicians trying to claim him as a fellow traveler or, in the case of President Javier Milei, attack him.
President Milei, who previously derided Pope Francis as a “filthy leftist,” but eulogized him as “the most important Argentine in history,” also shed tears while attending the late pope’s funeral. He told Radio Mitre in Argentina that he had apologized to Pope Francis. “He told me, ‘Don’t get upset, these are youthful mistakes.’”
Following the April 26 Mass, people marched around the Plaza de Mayo as a “symbolic embrace” for Francis’ legacy, while others visited impoverished areas of the city
The pope’s beloved San Lorenzo de Almagro soccer club also paid homage to their Vatican fan on April 26. During the first game after the Argentine pope’s passing, the stadium was filled with not only pictures but also life-size statues of the pope, Reuters news agency reported Many Argentines had a complicated relationship with the pope, who never returned to the country after leaving for the 2013 conclave. Analysts say many Argentines erroneously viewed Pope Francis as a player in the country’s politics rather than the leader of the universal Church Archbishop García Cuerva acknowledged the thorniness of Argentine politics, saying at an April 21 press conference, “We haven’t let Bergoglio be Francis.”
Priests who worked with the poor found an example in Pope Francis. As archbishop, he prioritized a team of priests known as curas villeros, who worked in Buenos Aires’ shantytowns tackling vices such as poverty and drug addiction
“We want to tell you that we will be united in order to transform the reality of these places,” Father José María di Paola, a prominent cura villero better known as Padre Pepe, said “We want to change an individualistic and selfish world as you have often proposed for a world of love, of fraternity, for the realization of
community. We want no one to be left out, that every person finds fulfillment in the community, that every person recovers in the community, that every person lives fully when they are in community. That is our goal. We will achieve it,” he said
“We will follow in your footsteps, Francis, and we want to tell you that everything you preached to us was not in vain.”
Worldwide memorial Masses
Memorial Masses around the world highlighted the Holy Father’s love for Jesus and care for the vulnerable
We cannot understand Pope Francis “if we don’t understand that he was a man of God ... a friend of God,” said Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the Vatican’s permanent observer to the United Nations
“He believed God was his compass,” the archbishop said in his homily during an April 26 memorial Mass for the pope at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. “His faith in God was also the source of his freedom.”
Archbishop Caccia pointed to Pope Francis’ very first encyclical—issued in 2013 not long after his election as the 266th successor of Peter. It was titled Lumen Fidei (“The Light of Faith”) and encouraged Catholics to embrace their faith more fully
His belief in God “was his strength. That was his vocation and why we are here,” said Archbishop Caccia, who also noted the pope upon his election gave three reasons for choosing St. Francis of Assisi as his namesake: his service to the poor, his constant calls for peace, and his focus on care for creation
Pope Francis said he wanted “to be at the service of the poor, not just to be for the poor,” and dreamed of “a Church close to the poor, and that was not just wishful thinking,” because he put the poor at the front throughout his papacy, the archbishop said.
Francis also believed in the power of prayer, he continued “Since the very evening (after his election in 2013) when he appeared on the balcony, he said to the people, ‘Please pray for me.’ And in any encounter and (in) every part of the world with all people, he always finished (a) meeting with ‘please pray for me,’ and not just to Catholics or Christians but to people of all faiths. He believed in the power of prayer, in the power of being close to God, and even to those who don’t believe, he said, ‘Please wish me well if you don’t pray.”
“Now it’s our turn to ask you
us to reach out to those on the margins: the poor, elderly, disabled, unborn, refugees, and prisoners,”
Archbishop J. Michael Miller, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Vancouver, British Columbia, said in his homily at a memorial Mass for the late pontiff on April 24 at Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver.
“With boldness and a willingness to disregard papal customs, he used his pulpit to give voice to the voiceless, empower lay women and men in the Church’s government, and bring unprecedented regional diversity to the College of Cardinals charged with electing his successor,” he said.
“The Holy Father,” Archbishop Miller continued, “fiercely condemned what he described as ‘the globalization of indifference’ when it came to refugees and the poor; ‘the ideological colonization’ of the developing world by secularizing Western ideas; and ‘the throwaway culture’ that treats everything and everyone deemed no longer useful, including the unborn and elderly, as disposable.”
The archbishop quoted from the homily Pope Francis had prepared for Easter but had not delivered himself:
“Brothers and sisters, this is the greatest hope of our life: we can live this poor, fragile, and wounded existence clinging to Christ because He has conquered death, He conquers our darkness, and He will conquer the shadows of the world, to make us live with Him in joy, forever. This is the goal towards which we press on, as the Apostle Paul says, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead (cf. Philippians 3:12-14).”
to pray for us so that we can follow in your footsteps,” Archbishop Caccia said. “May he rest in peace. Hallelujah!”
At St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica in downtown Toronto at a noon Mass on April 22 for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis, Cardinal Francis Leo addressed the hushed congregation by saying that the requiem Mass was not solely a time of mourning.
“A service for the deceased always has a somber tone of sadness as a member of our family is no longer here with us physically, but in Jesus’ words, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled,’“ he said. “Christ promises to prepare a place for you, and when it’s time, Christ said I will come to take you to be with me, so where I am, you, too, will be.”
“We began Mass at Easter when the Church was dark before we lit the light of Christ. When someone we care about dies, isn’t it true that we might find ourselves in such darkness?” the cardinal asked during his homily. “What do you do in darkness but look for the light of Christ? Pope Francis had a unique mission on earth in transmitting that light of Christ, so now we celebrate for the repose of his soul, a reflection upon how he shared that mission with us and the world.”
Cardinal Leo said that three words Pope Francis used when describing Jesus were embodied by the late pontiff during his 12-year pontificate: “Closeness, compassion, and tenderness.
“Pope Francis embodied the closeness of God, particularly when he came to our country (July 2022) to be close to us and to the Indigenous peoples. He showed the compassion of God in reaching out especially to the sick, poor, imprisoned, and those suffering on the margins. And he led with the tenderness of God. Francis embodied Christ’s will to win others over to God and to the kingdom,” he said
“Jesus embodied these attributes of God’s style, and Pope Francis reminded us as a model by teaching us how to do these in our day. We give thanks to God for the gift that Pope Francis has been to the Church, and we pray for him that the Lord opens wide the gates of heaven and welcomes him home in the house of the Father,” the cardinal concluded Pope Francis “will be remembered foremost as the ‘pope of the peripheries,’ roundly rejecting a ‘selfreferential’ Church. With implacable determination—for Francis had a streak of stubbornness—he pressed
In Washington, D.C., the solemn toll of 88 bells—one for each year for Pope Francis’ life—could be heard on April 21 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and a memorial Mass for the pope was celebrated in the basilica’s Crypt Church, with Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, as the principal celebrant Concelebrants included Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington, D.C.; Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, and Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, retired archbishops of Washington, D.C.; and Auxiliary Bishops Roy E. Campbell Jr. and Juan R. EspositoGarcia of Washington, D.C
In his homily, Cardinal Pierre described Pope Francis as a man deeply rooted in the Gospel and singularly devoted to a vision of the Church as a “field hospital”—a place of mercy, healing, and accompaniment. “The Church as a field hospital continues,” the nuncio said He underscored Pope Francis’ consistent message of hope, mercy, and being a witness to Christ’s Incarnation
“We are not the witnesses of an ideology,” he said. “We are witnesses of the miracle of God’s presence in human reality. And this presence of God in humanity is the source of our hope .”
Following the Mass, Cardinal Pierre and Cardinal McElroy responded to questions from members of the media, including what the pope’s death means for the wider world.
Cardinal Pierre emphasized the enduring value of a life shaped by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“It’s worthwhile to leave this world with the Gospel, with Jesus. That’s worthwhile,” he said. “We cannot fix all the problems of the world. We can be, like what Jesus said in the Gospel ... the seed of the better world.”
Cardinal McElroy pointed to hope as “particularly important” for the Church, adding that “the first words of the Church to anyone approaching are words of love and embrace, rather than judgment.” He also affirmed that humility—so clearly embodied in Pope Francis— should remain a hallmark of leadership in the Church ■
Contributing to this report were Cindy Wooden of Catholic News Service, Carol Glatz of Catholic News Service, Junno Arocho Esteves of Catholic News Service, and David Agren of OSV News.
Celebrating his life and faith Above: Cardinals line the aisle as pallbearers carry the casket of Pope Francis into St. Peter's Basilica at the conclusion of his funeral Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 26. Below: Pope Francis' casket is driven past the Colosseum on its way toward his burial place in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome on April 26.
CATHOLIC
Pope Francis: The People's Pope
Celebrating 75 Years!
Join us as we commemorate the Year of Jubilee, the 25th anniversary of the Our Lady of Fatima church building, and the 75th anniversary of the Our Lady of Fatima parish.
Mark Your Calendar
Tuesday, March 11
Special Bilingual Mass at 6 PM celebrating the 25th anniversary of our church building, followed by a light reception.
Tuesday, May 13
Pilgrimage and Pentecost
Wednesday, August 13
Pilgrimage and Pedagogy
Saturday, September 13
Pilgrimage and Prosperidad
Monday, October 13
Pilgrimage and Prayers
Saturday, November 22
Friday, June 13
Pilgrimage and Picnic
Sunday, July 13
Pilgrimage and Praise
75th Anniversary Mass at Our Lady of Fatima and Reception after at the Airport Hilton.
Come celebrate with us as we give thanks for the past and look forward with hope to the future!
Ministering until his last breath
Bishop Beckman meets with press to discuss Pope Francis ’ enduring
By Maggie Parsons
Pope Francis, known for being the people’s pope and for his pastoral care of God’s creation, kept to his ministry by working until almost his last breath before he passed away on April 21 at the age of 88. Bishop Mark Beckman convened a press conference on April 24 at the Chancery to discuss the Holy Father’s life and legacy and share in mourning the death of the Church’s beloved pontiff.
“My first reaction was disbelief, and then there was a real feeling of sadness that came over me,” Bishop Beckman said via livestream from Nashville, where he was visiting at the time of Pope Francis’ death.
The bishop explained the emotions he went through from the loss of the pope who appointed him as the fourth shepherd of the Church in East Tennessee a year ago.
Although most of the world knew of Pope Francis’ recent ill health, he was showing signs of improvement, and news of his death was a surprise to many.
The Holy Father on Easter Sunday appeared at St. Peter’s Basilica to deliver the traditional blessing. He also went through St. Peter’s Square in the popemobile and met with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who was visiting Rome with his family.
Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, April 21, in his Vatican residence from a stroke and heart failure.
Pope Francis’ funeral Mass was held in St. Peter’s Square in Rome on April 26, where hundreds of thousands of mourners paid their respects to the Holy Father, whose body laid in state in St. Peter’s Basilica April 23-25.
“We were chosen by him, and he is our shepherd” said Bishop Beckman, when asked by reporters about the impact the Holy Father’s death had not only on him but also his fellow bishops.
Bishop Beckman talked about the connection bishops had with Pope Francis, describing their relationship as special because a number of them were appointed by the pontiff.
The head of the Catholic Church in East Tennessee called it a deeper connection and loss because Francis was more than the pope, he was the bishops’ shepherd.
Bishop Beckman recalled his relationship with Pope Francis, who in spring 2024 named him the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville. Bishop Beckman explained that he received a phone call from the papal nuncio, who gave him the news that Pope Francis wanted to elevate then-Father Beckman of the Diocese of Nashville to bishop.
“I had no idea what actually is said on a phone call to ask someone to be a bishop,” Bishop Beckman shared. “I was taken aback when the nuncio said, ‘Pope Francis has appointed you the next Bishop of Knoxville.’ I was not expecting that, much less even being a bishop.”
Bishop Beckman often has recalled that phone call from the nuncio in the past year and the shock he felt from the unexpected news.
Bishop Beckman also shared with the reporters his one-on-one meeting with Pope Francis last September, when the bishop was called to the Vatican to attend New Bishops School.
The bishop expressed confidence that God will once more reveal a pope who is needed to faithfully bring Christ to the world.
The bishop said it serves as a reminder that God always knows what is best, and just as He prepared him to be the bishop of Knoxville, He will prepare a new pope that is right for the Church.
“Who will God choose for us? I’m trusting that the Holy Spirit will guide the College of Cardinals in selecting the person uniquely suited to shepherd the Church going into the future,” Bishop Beckman said, remarking on the trust the faithful
must have in God, and how He is the one who knows best for Catholics, the Church, and the world.
Before the news of Pope Francis’ death, Rome was preparing for the canonization of Blessed Carlos Acutis, where thousands of people were expected to celebrate the new saint. But suddenly, devotees of the teen saint had their excitement turn to mourning as the canonization was postponed.
While the mourning period for Pope Francis gripped the world, Rome was filled with young people who had descended on the Italian capital for the Jubilee of Teenagers that the Holy Father had organized. The teens unexpectedly became part of a historic moment in the life of the Church.
Pope Francis was widely known for the heart he had for a complex Church as well as the work he did ministering to the faithful. The Knoxville-area reporters asked about the Holy Father’s lasting impact on the Church and the world.
“I think there was something about his very DNA that was oriented towards service,” Bishop Beckman said during the press conference, noting how the Holy Father, no matter what, wanted to help people around the world from all walks of life.
“I remember seeing him blessing the people on Easter Sunday, being present that day in St. Peter’s Square. And after his death, I realized he was right at the end of his life, but he wanted to be close to the people of God,” Bishop Beckman said.
At the pope’s funeral Mass, people of many faith traditions joined together: presidents, queens, heads of state, and other dignitaries. The Church’s 266th pope, who for 12 years ministered to bring people together in faith, again brought people together after his death.
The streets of Rome overflowed with people from every stage of life, which illustrated how people loved Pope Francis. The Holy Father had taken care of them, and in return the people wanted to show their love for him. That served as yet another example of the impact the pontiff left not only on the Catholic Church but also on the world.
“The next pope will be someone who will need to be an inspira-
Making introductions John Mecklenborg, director of communications for the Diocese of Knoxville, begins the April 24 Chancery press conference to discuss the death of Pope Francis. Bishop Mark Beckman appeared via livestream from Nashville, where he was visiting when the Holy Father died. Included in the discussion with the media was Bishop Beckman's meeting with Pope Francis in September when the bishop was at the Vatican.
broken, and how the world needs a shepherd who will point people to Christ, who is the light of the world.
Bishop Beckman told the reporters that he, like the rest of the world, excitedly awaits the results of the papal conclave, which convened on May 7 to select the 266th successor to St. Peter. Before the conclave commenced, the Church asked for a nine-day period to mourn Pope Francis.
tion and a source of hope,” Bishop Beckman said when asked what values the new pope will need to bring to the world. He discussed how the world needs the next pope to be hopeful in a world that in some ways is
Some 133 members of the College of Cardinals participated in the 2025 conclave, with 10 of them attending from the United States: Cardinals Raymond Burke, 76; Blase Cupich, 76; Timothy Dolan, 75; Daniel DiNardo, 75; Kevin Farrell, 77; Wilton Gregory, 77; James. M. Harvey, 75; Robert McElroy, 71; Robert F. Prevost, 69; and Joseph W. Tobin, 73. ■
Meet the press Above: Bishop Mark Beckman appears via livestream from Nashville during an April 24 press conference at the Chancery. Attending the press conference were members of the Knoxville-area media and Chancery staff. Below: Members of the media ask Bishop Beckman questions about Pope Francis and his papacy.
DAN MCWILLIAMS (3)
The next Roman pontiff...
Is a Chicago White Sox fan, Villanova grad, Peru missionary, Vatican
By Maria Wiering OSV News
Standing on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, newly elected Pope Leo XIV smiled, waved, and appeared to hold back emotion on May 8 as he introduced himself to the world as the 266th successor to St. Peter the first North American to hold that role. His first words, “Peace be with you,” reverberated around the world.
Pope Leo, 69, formerly Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, is the first pope from the United States. He assumes the chair of Peter with multifaceted leadership experience: He grew up in the Midwest, graduated from Augustinian-run Villanova University in 1977 with a math degree, ministered as a bishop in Peru, and led the Vatican dicastery that helps appoint, form, and retire bishops.
Born in Chicago and ordained a priest for the Order of St. Augustine in 1982, Pope Leo held major leadership roles in his religious community before being ordained a bishop in 2014, ministering in the dioceses of Chiclayo and Callao, Peru. He was installed as the prefect of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Bishops the powerful Vatican body responsible for choosing bishops throughout the world in April 2023 and was elevated that September to the rank of cardinal.
In 2013, as he prepared to leave his role as the Augustinians’ global leader, he told Rome Reports that Augustinians “are called to live a simple life at the service of others, and in a special way, to reach out to those who are poor..., which includes, of course, those who are monetarily poor. But there are many kinds of poverty in today’s world.”
Pope Leo was born in suburban south Chicago on Sept. 14, 1955. His family attended St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Dolton, Ill., and he is reportedly of Italian, French, and Spanish descent. In 1977, Pope Leo entered the novitiate of the Order of St. Augustine in St. Louis. In September 1978, at the age of 22, he professed first vows, and three years later, he made solemn vows.
He earned a theology degree at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago before going to Rome to study canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, also known as the Angelicum, receiving his licentiate in 1984. Three years later, he completed his doctorate, writing on “The role of the local prior in the Order of St. Augustine.”
By the time he received his doctorate, he had been ordained a priest for the Order of St. Augustine for five years and had ministered for a year in the order’s mission of Chulucanas in Piura, Peru.
In 1987, he was elected the vocations director and missions director for his order’s Midwest province, Our Mother of Good Counsel. A year later, he went to Trujillo, Peru, to direct a joint formation project for the region’s Augustinian aspirants. Over the course of a decade in Trujillo, he served as the community’s prior, formation director, and as a teacher. Meanwhile, he served the Archdiocese of Trujillo for nine years as its judicial vicar and was also a professor of canon, patristic, and moral law in the San Carlos e San Marcelo Major Seminary, which is currently celebrating its 400th anniversary.
In 1999, Pope Leo returned to the United States to serve as prior provincial for the Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel. In 2001, at age 46, he was promoted to his order’s prior general, consid-
ered its supreme authority that oversees its administration and governance.
Pope Leo was reelected to the role in 2007, holding it for a total of 12 years until 2013. Under his leadership, the Augustinian provinces in North America reorganized in 2012 as the Federation of the Augustinians of North America, which fostered greater collaboration while allowing each province some autonomy.
For a year, from October 2013 to November 2014, he served as a “teacher of the professed” and provincial vicar.
In November 2014, Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru an area in the northwestern part of the country that was then home to around 1.1 million Catholics, about 88 percent of the population at the time. He was simultaneously named a bishop, but of the titular diocese Sufar, under which title he was ordained a month later on Dec. 12, 2014, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The following year, on Nov. 7, 2015, he was appointed bishop of Chiclayo. He also served for a year, from April 2020 to May 2021, as the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Callao, Peru, whose see city is nearly 500 miles south of Chiclayo along the Peruvian coast.
In 2019, Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Congregation for the Clergy. A year later, he became a member of the Congregation for Bishops.
In January 2023, Pope Leo was appointed to lead the Vatican’s Dicastery of Bishops, replacing the Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, and given the personal title of archbishop. Pope Francis elevated him to a cardinal in September 2023, making him cardinal-deacon of Santa Monica of the Augustinians, a church immediately south of the Vatican dedicated to St. Monica, St. Augustine’s mother. He was the first and so far only cardinal named to that church.
Speaking to the Associated Press after being made a cardinal in 2023, Pope Leo XIV said, “I think that it’s not coincidental that Pope Francis chose me. I've been a missionary my whole life, and I was working in Peru, but I am American, and I think I do have some insights into the Church in the United States.”
He continued: “So, the need to be able to advise, to work with Pope Francis, and to look at the challenges that the Church in the United States is facing, I hope to be able to respond to them with healthy dialogue, as we’ve already begun, with all the bishops in the United States, and to continue to look for ways to be Church in the day and age that we’re living.”
In 2023, Pope Francis also named then-Cardinal Prevost pres-
ident of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, which studies and assists the Church in Latin America.
Pope Leo’s name is an apparent tribute to Pope Leo XIII, known as the father of Catholic social doctrine, who wrote the groundbreaking 1891 social encyclical Rerum Novarum, also known as “On the Condition of the Working Classes,” that responded to the state of industrial society at the time. With the third-longest recorded papacy (with St. John Paul II holding spot No. 2), Pope Leo XIII led the Church from 1878 until his death in 1903.
Despite connecting himself to a pope who reigned more than 120 years ago, Pope Leo XIV appears to be a thoroughly modern prelate who keeps tabs on current events in Rome, Latin America, and the United States. Under “Robert Prevost,” Leo XIV has maintained an X account with sporadic, mostly news-based retweets, such as requests in February to pray for Pope Francis and rebukes of Vice President JD Vance’s comments on the ordering one’s loves, or ordo amoris, a Catholic concept Vice President Vance tried to invoke to justify President Donald Trump’s immigration policy.
Pope Leo XIV reportedly enjoys playing tennis; speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese; and reads Latin and German. According to a May 8 interview with his brother John Prevost, Pope Leo is a Chicago White Sox fan and never cheered for baseball rival Chicago Cubs. “He was never, ever a Cubs fan,” the pope’s brother emphasized.
At age 69, Pope Leo is seven years younger than Pope Francis was when he was elected in 2013, and nine years younger than Benedict XVI when he was elected in 2005. He is 11 years older than St. John Paul II, who was 58, at his 1978 election.
Pope Leo was likely elected on the third vote of the conclave’s second day, after a total of four votes. The 133 cardinal electors entered the conclave on the afternoon of May 7, with the closing of the doors of the Sistine Chapel broadcast live by Vatican Media.
The conclave was the largest and most geographically diverse conclave known in history, with cardinals representing 69 countries across five continents, and with greater percentages of participating cardinals from Africa, Asia, and Latin America than in recent conclaves. By contrast, 115 cardinal electors half of them from Europe participated in the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis. In the 2025 conclave, 43 percent of electors were from Europe.
Prior to the conclave, the cardinal electors met for 12 general congregations, during which they shared their hopes, concerns, and
leader
priorities for the Church. The topics highlighted ranged widely, from evangelization, caring for the poor, and addressing clergy sexual abuse to the economy, peacebuilding efforts, and synodality.
Many of the world’s 252 cardinals, including those over age 80 who were no longer eligible to elect a pope, were already in or arrived in Rome within days of Pope Francis’ death on April 21.
More than 220 cardinals, including then-Cardinal Prevost, attended Francis’ funeral on April 26.
Pope Leo has been commended for his interpersonal skills, with veteran American Vatican journalist John Allen Jr. of Crux describing him as “a moderate, balanced figure, known for solid judgment and a keen capacity to listen.”
Pope Leo also has drawn criticism for his alleged role in the permissions given in 2000 for a priest of the Chicago Archdiocese, who had been credibly accused of multiple cases of child abuse, to live in an Augustinian friary less than a block from a school without informing the school.
While that situation occurred before the 2002 Dallas Charter, within which the U.S. bishops established procedures for addressing clergy sexual abuse, then-Bishop Prevost also has been accused of not fully investigating three sisters’ sexual abuse allegations, made in 2022, against two priests in the Diocese of Chiclayo, a charge the diocese has denied.
The case has drawn global attention because as head of the Dicastery for Bishops, then-Cardinal Prevost oversaw cases of clergy negligence under the worldwide norms Pope Francis established in 2019 with Vos Estis Lux Mundi
As a dicastery head, thenCardinal Prevost participated in both sessions of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality that Pope Francis led in 2023 and 2024.
In remarks given from St. Peter’s loggia before offering his first urbi et orbi blessing, Pope Leo commended Pope Francis’ final blessing of the world on Easter morning, the day before he died, saying, “Let me follow up on that same blessing: God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail! We are all in God’s hands. Therefore, without fear, united hand in hand with God and each other let us go forward. We are disciples of Christ. Christ goes before us.”
Pope Leo also indicated he would continue the legacy of Pope Francis in developing a synodal style within the Catholic Church for the sake of its Gospel mission.
“We want to be a synodal Church,” he said. “A Church that walks, a Church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that always seeks to be close especially to those who suffer.”
The Augustinians’ Philadelphiabased Province of St. Thomas of Villanova announced earlier this year that it was presenting its 2025 St. Augustine Medal to then-Cardinal Prevost, with a celebration scheduled for Aug. 28, the feast of St. Augustine. In that 2013 Rome Reports interview, then-Father Prevost spoke about God and St. Augustine, the fifth-century philosopher, theologian, and bishop who inspired the formation of the Augustinians in 1244.
“God is not someone or something that is absent and far away,” he said. “And Augustine, in his spirituality, in his struggles, in his reflections that we see, for example, in the ‘Confessions,’ is able to open a window ... and to lead others to come to discover how God is working in their lives.” ■
Outside the walls Pope Leo XIV greets people outside the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Genazzano, Italy, southeast of Rome, on May 10. The shrine, with a famous image of Mary, is run by the pope's Augustinian confreres.
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO/VATICAN MEDIA
watch. Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri was among them.
French Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, protodeacon of the College of Cardinals, appeared on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at 7:12 p.m. He told the crowd: “I announce to you a great joy. We have a pope (‘Habemus papam’),” saying the cardinal’s name in Latin and announcing the name by which he will be called.
Twenty minutes later, the new Pope Leo came out onto the balcony, smiling and waving to the crowd wearing the white papal cassock, a red mozzetta or cape, and a red stole to give his first public blessing urbi et orbi (to the city and the world).
The crowd shouted repeatedly, Viva il papa or “Long live the pope” as Pope Leo’s eyes appeared to tear up.
“Peace be with you,” were Pope Leo’s first words to the crowd.
“My dear brothers and sisters, this is the first greeting of the risen Christ, the good shepherd who gave His life for God’s flock,” he said, praying that Christ’s peace would enter people’s hearts, their families, and “the whole earth.”
The peace of the risen Lord, he said, is “a peace that is unarmed and disarming.”
Signaling strong continuity with the papacy of Pope Francis, Pope Leo told the crowd God “loves all of us unconditionally” and that the Church must be open to everyone.
“We are all in God’s hands,” he said, so “without fear, united, hand in hand with God and with each other, let us go forward.”
He thanked the cardinals who elected him on the fourth ballot of the conclave, “to be the successor of Peter and to walk with you as a united Church, always seeking peace, justice” and together being missionary disciples of Christ.
Telling the crowd that he was an Augustinian, he quoted St. Augustine, who said, “With you I am a Christian and for you a bishop.”
“Together we must try to be a missionary Church, a Church that builds bridges and always dialogues, that is always open to receiving everyone like this [St. Peter’s] square, with its arms open to everyone, everyone in need,” he said
ry on this mission of service and love that is so central to the very meaning of what Church is about.”
“I thought Pope Leo’s statement about synodality was the most powerful single thing he said,” Dr. Noble declared. “I thought, wow. That matters. That really matters.”
When Pope Francis was elected in 2013, “there was this sense that we needed a pastor and an administrator. And they pulled (Cardinal Jorge Mario) Bergoglio out of the hat,” Dr. Noble said. “So, what did we need this time? … We know what the very conservative folks wanted. We know what the very progressive folks wanted. I think we probably landed somewhere in the middle.”
Dr. Noble nonetheless cautioned against political labels as observers work to decode Pope Leo’s words and motives. “The secular left-right spectrum simply doesn’t work in the Church,” he stressed. “It just doesn't work.”
Dr. John Frymire, who is an associate professor of history at the University of Missouri, and during the 1990s was part of a small academic team granted access to the Vatican’s so-called “Secret Archives,” also sensed continuity with Francis’ pontificate.
“I'm coming at this as a Church historian, and as a Catholic, and as a citizen of the United States,” Dr. Frymire shared. “I’m thrilled that it’s a United States citizen by birth. As a Church historian, I’m not surprised. And the reason I’m not surprised is because, if my math is correct, 133 cardinals voted; 108 of them had been appointed by Francis,” he noted.
Like Dr. Noble, Dr. Frymire advised that Pope Leo’s new pontificate
The new bishop of Rome told the people of his diocese and of the whole Catholic Church, “We want to be a synodal Church, a Church that journeys, a Church that seeks peace always, that always seeks charity, that wants to be close to people, especially those who are suffering.”
After asking the crowd to recite the Hail Mary with him, Pope Leo gave his first solemn blessing. Cardinals over the age of 80, who were not eligible to enter the conclave, joined the crowd in the square. Among them were Cardinals Seán P. O'Malley, the retired archbishop of Boston; Donald W. Wuerl, the retired archbishop of Washington, D.C.; and Marc Ouellet, retired prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
A longtime missionary in Peru, the 69-year-old pope holds both U.S. and Peruvian citizenship.
La Repubblica, the major Italian daily, described him on April 25 as “cosmopolitan and shy,” but also said he was “appreciated by conservatives and progressives. He has global visibility in a conclave in which few (cardinals) know each other.”
That visibility comes from the fact that as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops for the past two years, he was instrumental in helping Pope Francis choose bishops for many Latin-rite dioceses, he met hundreds of bishops during their ad limina visits to Rome, and was called to assist the world’s Latin-rite bishops “in all matters concerning the correct and fruitful exercise of the pas-
shouldn’t be viewed only through the lens of secular politics.
“Everybody always asks, will he be conservative, or progressive, or whatever?” he said. “I don’t like those terms. But the fact that it’s somebody who I think follows Francis in spirit is not shocking.”
That said, Dr. Frymire also felt there might be an implication to be drawn from the cardinal electors’ selection of Pope Leo.
“They’ve done two things,” he suggested. “He’s an American citizen and was raised here but has an utter international footprint and experience. And I think, again, if we could read the cardinals minds ... some of them wanted to send a message to America and say, ‘Here’s your American Pope, but guess what? For some of you American Christians especially Catholics look at what this guy has to say.’”
Pope Leo’s administrative and pastoral experience, which includes assignments as the elected head of the Augustinian order for two consecutive terms, as well as a missionary and bishop in Peru, offers a unique worldview, Dr. Frymire said.
“It’s knowing the Church and looking within it,” he explained. “But also understanding that your mission is to look beyond it.”
Dr. Vanessa Corcoran, a medieval scholar and advising dean at Georgetown University, also emphasized Pope Leo’s missionary work.
The fact that he has spent so much
toral office entrusted to them.”
The new pope was serving as bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, when Pope Francis called him to the Vatican in January 2023. During a talk at St. Jude Parish in Chicago in August, the then-cardinal said Pope Francis nominated him “specifically because he did not want someone from the Roman Curia to take on this role. He wanted a missionary; he wanted someone from outside; he wanted someone who would come in with a different perspective.”
In a March 2024 interview with Catholic News Service, Pope Leo said Pope Francis’ decision in 2022 to name three women as full members of the dicastery, giving them input on the selection of bishops, “contributes significantly to the process of discernment in looking for who we hope are the best candidates to serve the Church in episcopal ministry.”
To deter attitudes of clericalism among bishops, he said, “It’s important to find men who are truly interested in serving, in preaching the Gospel, not just with eloquent words, but rather with the example and witness they give.”
In fact, the cardinal said, Pope Francis’ “most effective and important” bulwark against clericalism was his being “a pastor who preaches by gesture.”
In an interview in 2023 with Vatican News, then-Cardinal Prevost spoke about the essential leadership quality of a bishop.
“Pope Francis has spoken of four
of his time in ministry in Latin America, particularly in Peru,” she said, “I think that’s really exciting.”
The new pope’s choice of name is significant, noted Dr. Corcoran.
“The name that he chose is mainly tied to Pope Leo XIII, who really brought the Church into the modern era in terms of social justice. A lot of the reforms of the 20th century, it’s kind of hard to imagine them even though Vatican II happened decades later without Leo XIII.”
Pope Leo XIII, who reigned from 1878-1903 and convened the First Vatican Council, penned Rerum Novarum (1891), widely considered the first Catholic social justice encyclical for its insistence upon the rights of workers and the dignity of labor.
“This is someone who is living the mission, continuing, I think, the legacy of Pope Francis,” Dr. Corcoran reflected.
She also admitted some astonishment at the choice of an American as pope.
“Of the global Catholic Church, Americans are 6 percent of Catholics. So that is a major surprise,” Dr. Corcoran said. “It’s the second consecutive pope to be of a religious order, which is also noteworthy.”
Dr. Corcoran, too, feels the synodal emphasis cannot be overlooked.
“Pope Francis had recently called for a second gathering in 2028. And so, the fact that this is going to happen now under Leo XIV’s papacy,
types of closeness: closeness to God, to brother bishops, to priests, and to all God’s people,” he said. “One must not give in to the temptation to live isolated, separated in a palace, satisfied with a certain social level or a certain level within the Church.”
“And we must not hide behind an idea of authority that no longer makes sense today,” he said. “The authority we have is to serve, to accompany priests, to be pastors and teachers.”
As prefect of the dicastery, thenCardinal Prevost also served as president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, where nearly 40 percent of the world’s Catholics reside. He also served as prior general of the Augustinians and spent more than two decades serving in Peru, first as an Augustinian missionary and later as bishop of Chiclayo.
Soon after coming to Rome to head the dicastery, he told Vatican News that bishops have a special mission of promoting the unity of the Church.
“The lack of unity is a wound that the Church suffers, a very painful one,” he said in May 2023. “Divisions and polemics in the Church do not help anything. We bishops especially must accelerate this movement toward unity, toward communion in the Church.”
Pope Leo was born on Sept. 14, 1955, in Chicago. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the Augustinian-run Villanova University in Pennsylvania and joined the order in 1977, making his solemn vows in 1981. He holds a degree in theology from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome
He joined the Augustinian mission in Peru in 1985 and largely worked in the country until 1999, when he was elected head of the Augustinians’ Chicago-based province. From 2001 to 2013, he served as prior general of the worldwide order. In 2014, Pope Francis named him bishop of Chiclayo, in northern Peru, and the pope asked him also to be apostolic administrator of Callao, Peru, from April 2020 to May 2021
The new pope speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese and can read Latin and Ger man ■
I think is really exciting.
… This is of central importance to him.”
Dr. Christopher Bellitto, a professor of history at Kean University in Union, N.J., agreed.
“This was certainly a clear indication the cardinals want the Church to continue on the synodal path that Francis laid down. … He invoked Pope Francis several times and used the words: synodal, bridges, dialogue, inclusive, peace,” said Dr. Bellitto, who is the author of 101 Questions and Answers on Popes and the Papacy from Paulist Press.
“In that sense,” Dr. Bellitto continued, “it’s like Paul VI’s election after John XXIII started Vatican II: picking up where the prior pope left off.”
Dr. Bellitto also name-checked Leo XIII and Rerum Novarum, noting the encyclical “is essentially the Magna Carta of Catholic social justice teaching, which of course originates in the Gospel.”
“Leo XIII placed the Church fully behind workers’ rights, which continues (in) John Paul II’s championing of solidarity. Some conveniently forget that JP2 was as much a critic of capitalism as he was of communism,” Dr. Bellitto said.
And the surprise of an American pope?
“I’d say he’s more American-born than American in the sense he’s spent much of his career in Peru,” Dr. Bellitto reflected. “This likely insulated him from an anti-American sentiment.” ■
Historians continued from page A2
Dr. Noble
Dr. Corcoran
Dr. Bellitto
Greeting the faithful Pope Leo XIV, the former Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, waves to the large crowd in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican after his election as pope on May 8.
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO/VATICAN MEDIA
East Tennesseans react to first U.S.-born pope
‘ The Catholic Church in America is having a moment ’
By Gabrielle Nolan
Catholics around the world rejoiced and celebrated when white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel’s chimney on May 8, signifying the newest pontiff for the universal Church had been chosen.
Because of the influx of news and media outlets in society, within minutes people from every nation were reading and watching to learn more about Pope Leo XIV, formerly known as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost.
Catholics in East Tennessee were no different, with eyes glued to the television to watch the first papal audience or scanning a quickly updated Wikipedia page to learn facts and figures about the first North American-born pope.
The East Tennessee Catholic interviewed some of the local faithful to learn about their reactions to and hopes for the 267th pope of the Catholic Church.
Father Danny Herman, an associate pastor at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Knoxville, was enjoying his day off at a restaurant in Chattanooga when the news station on TV showed white smoke at the Vatican.
Father Herman said he was “startled” when he learned that the selected pope was an American.
“In fact, the day before, I had gone into the fifth-grade classroom and they’d always ask me, ‘Father Danny, is the American going to be pope?’ And I said, ‘We’re going to be dead before there’s an American pope.’ And so, the next day when I preached my homily, I let them know that I’m still around,” he shared.
“I was very happy, a little confused, and a little intrigued to know why because there’s a reason why there hasn’t been an American pope in the last 250 years,” he continued. “And I wanted to learn more about him, and I’m glad that I did because it sparked a great interest in his life and seeing that he has lived a life full of mission but also a life that is devoted to truth.”
Regarding the Catholic Church in the United States, Father Herman thinks that the new pope will be “able to give a little bit more insight to see how the Catholic life in the new world but also in the northern hemisphere fluctuates.”
“Because Pope Leo XIV is from southside Chicago, he has a great insight into poverty but also towards reaching to those who are spiritually poor in great wealth,” he said.
Lastly, Father Herman spoke about his greatest hope for Pope Leo XIV.
“I hope that Pope Leo XIV does what he
" In fact, the day before, I had gone into the fifth-grade classroom and they’d always ask me, ‘Father Danny, is the American going to be pope?’ And I said, ‘We’re going to be dead before there’s an American pope.’ And so, the next day when I preached my homily, I let them know that I’m still around."
says and makes a bridge between heaven and earth, where his priority is to bring more souls to heaven to see more people baptized, to see more people embracing the truth of the faith, and loving our Lord more intimately and more dearly,” he commented.
Kate Walsh, a parishioner at Sacred Heart Cathedral, works at a pediatric office in Maryville. She was preparing for her lunch break when her family alerted her that there was white smoke at the Vatican.
“I was telling everybody, ‘There’s a pope! There’s a new pope!’ My coworkers, none of them are Catholic, but they were very into it. They were like, ‘Who is it? When are we going to know?’ … So, it timed out so nicely that I
got onto my lunch break, and I got to watch the entire thing. It was really exciting, and hearing that it was an American, I was totally blown away like I’m sure everybody was,” she shared. Since her coworkers did not understand the hype of having an American pope, Ms. Walsh explained that this had never happened before.
“Honestly, my mind was blown,” she said. “I read a lot of things, like, oh, people don’t think it will be an American because we already have a lot of weight.”
Ms. Walsh shared that she would love to see “a lot of outreach for pro-life” initiatives with this pontificate.
“I think just a lot of reaching out towards
Reaction continued on page
Pope Leo XIV is a popular pick in Chicago Windy City native sees town abuzz as new favorite son begins papacy
By Deacon Patrick Murphy-Racey
My heart is full as well as my belly as I find myself in my boyhood home trying to imagine how Pope Leo XIV grew up just a stone’s throw from my Chicago neighborhood.
I lost my mom to brain cancer in February, and so I am here visiting my dad, who is in memory care. I come each month and take him out to eat, and we also go on drives to get him out of the facility.
We were eating bratwurst up in Kenosha when my phone blew up with the news of the new pope’s election by the conclave.
At first, I was stunned that he was from America. Then as the news trickled in, we found out that he was from the South Side of Chicago. The mayor then tweeted, “Everything dope, including the Pope, comes from Chicago.”
The city went crazy, with everyone trying to figure out if Pope Leo XIV was a Cubs or Sox fan. But everyone came together and we found ourselves trying to imagine how the news of our new pope could be real.
I grew up on the extreme southwest edge of the city of Chicago in an area called Beverly. Dolton, Ill., is a community just south and a little east from where I write this now. Pope Leo was first known in the neighborhood as simply “Bobby.” Later, he became Father Bob. I’m still known as just Pat or Patrick, but on Sundays people mostly call me Deacon.
Hometown response Students from Everest Academy in Lemont, Ill., cheer on May 8 after it was announced that Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as the next pope. He chose the papal name Leo XIV.
I know the entire country still is in disbelief about our American pope. I never thought my greatgreat-grandchildren would ever see this happen. But for those of us from Chicago, well, we can’t keep from smiling all the time. We will never be known as the “Second City” again after Thursday, May 8. When I was born at Great Lakes Naval Base, which is north of Chicago, Pope Leo was 9 years old and attending St. Mary’s Catholic School in Dolton. When I was making my first Communion, Pope Leo was learning how to drive right here on the South Side. As kids, we would have both gone to sleep listening to the V8s scream around the track at Raceway Park in the
distance. We both would have swum at Calumet Park Beach in Lake Michigan, maybe even at the same time.
We grew up in “The City that Works,” a true statement if there ever was one. To the east of us, the steel mills back in the day were cranking around the clock trying to keep up with demand from Detroit. Our new pope grew up in a neighborhood where blacks and whites punched the same clock, shared meals, and there would have always been someone coming on shift who didn’t speak English so well.
Chicago is a city of immigrants, where helping each other out was not just an option, but the way you moved forward in life.
Murphy-Racey
When I was a kid and we needed a roof on the house, my mom would send me to the firehouse to ask who to get and when they were off next.
The South Side of Chicago is filled with as many blue collars as white. People work hard here, and we try to celebrate the differences between each other. Perhaps the Holy Spirit looked down on the extreme levels of polarization in our country and sent us one of our own to help us with that. Maybe we didn’t know how much we needed Pope Leo until he showed up.
I prayed pretty hard for this election and really hoped to see someone who would follow in what Pope Francis started. Let it suffice to say that I got much more than I could have ever hoped for. And I know my mom is doing somersaults in heaven.
Long live Pope Leo! ■
Deacon Patrick Murphy-Racey serves with the Paulist Fathers at St. John XXIII Parish on the University of Tennessee-Knoxville campus
Celebrating Pope Leo XIV Young adults in the Diocese of Knoxville gather at the Bearden Beer Market to socialize and discuss, among many topics, the Catholic faith and Pope Leo XIV. The group was being led by Father Danny Herman, associate pastor of the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
GABRIELLE NOLAN
Father Danny Herman, Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart associate pastor
Deacon
Leo XIV: A pope is humble servant, nothing more
He reveals how name was selected, says pastors must protect, nourish the faithful
By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service
The Catholic community is alive, beautiful and strong, and it is up to its pastors to protect and nourish the faithful and to help bring God’s hope to the whole world, Pope Leo XIV said. For that reason, the pope invited his brother cardinals “to renew together today our complete commitment to the path that the universal Church has now followed for decades in the wake of the Second Vatican Council,” and that “Pope Francis masterfully and concretely set it forth in the apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), he said on May 10 in his first formal speech to the College of Cardinals.
The pontiff also said that he chose his name in homage to Pope Leo XIII, recognizing the need to renew Catholic social teaching to face today’s new industrial revolution and the developments of artificial intelligence “that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor.”
The pope, who was elected in a conclave of 133 cardinal electors on the fourth ballot on May 8, met with members of the college, including non-electors, in the New Synod Hall at the Vatican.
Pope Leo told the cardinals that after his “short talk with some reflections,” which the Vatican press
office published, they would have “a sort of dialogue,” which many of them had asked for, “to hear what advice, suggestions, proposals, concrete things, which have already been discussed in the days leading up to the conclave.”
Those discussions in the closeddoor meeting were not published.
In the text that was released, the pope said the events of the past three weeks, beginning with Pope Francis’ final days, his death, and funeral, have allowed them “to see the beauty and feel the strength of this immense community, which with such affection and devotion has greeted and mourned its shepherd, accompanying him with faith and prayer at the time of his final encounter with the Lord.”
“We have seen the true grandeur of the Church, which is alive in the rich variety of her members in union with her one head, Christ,” Pope Leo said.
The Catholic Church is “the womb from which we were born and at the same time the flock, the field entrusted to us to protect and cultivate, to nourish with the sacraments of salvation, and to make fruitful by our sowing the seed of the Word, so that, steadfast in one accord and enthusiastic in mission, she may press forward, like the Israelites in the desert, in the shadow of the cloud, and in the light of God’s fire,” he said.
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Unity, not nationality, led to Leo ’s election U.S. cardinals offer insight
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
While it is interesting and perhaps even a point of pride that the new Pope Leo XIV was born in the United States, most of the U.S.-based cardinals who participated in the conclave that elected him said nationality was not a factor.
“I think the impact of him being an American was almost negligible in the deliberations of the conclave and surprisingly so,” Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington, D.C., told reporters on May 9 during a news conference at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
“What surprised me was the real absence of that being a key question at all,” the cardinal said.
Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, retired archbishop of Galveston-Houston, told the reporters that while the cardinals chose a pope who is a U.S. citizen, “he’s really a citizen of the entire world since he has spent so much of his life, ministry, missionary work, and zeal for Christ in South America,” mainly in Peru.
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York said, “The fact that he was born in the United States of America, boy, that’s a sense of pride and gratitude for us,” but the new pope is also a citizen of Peru. And he has served in the Roman Curia as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops for the past two years.
“He’s a citizen of the world,” Cardinal Dolan said.
“Where he comes from is now sort of a thing of the past. You know, Robert Francis Prevost is no longer around. It’s now Pope Leo,” the cardinal said. “He’s the pontiff of the Church universal. Where he came from, (that’s) secondary.”
The cardinals were asked to what extent could people interpret the election of Pope Leo “as a reflection of the desire of the cardinals to offer a counterweight to the global influence of President Trump.”
Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, the retired archbishop of Washington, D.C., said, “The cardinals were quite aware of things that have occurred in the United States, statements that have been made, political actions that have been taken.”
“But what the cardinals were concerned about primarily, at least from my conversations with them,” Cardinal Gregory said, “was, ‘Who among us can bring us together; who among us can strengthen the
into conclave that selected Pope Francis
faith and bring the faith to places where it has grown weak, bring the faith to places where there seems to be less enthusiasm or appreciation of the common things that draw us together?’”
Cardinal Dolan responded, “It should not startle us that we would look to Pope Leo as a bridgebuilder. That’s what the Latin word ‘pontiff’ means. He’s a bridgebuilder. Will he want to build bridges with Donald Trump? I suppose, but he would want to build bridges with the leader of every nation. So, I don’t think at all that my brother cardinals would have thought of it as a conduit to any one person.”
Those from the United States with red hats at the news conference all mentioned the cardinals going into the conclave looking for
someone who could proclaim the Gospel and strengthen the unity of the Church while also continuing the approach and projects of Pope Francis.
“We are looking for someone to follow the pathway of Francis, but we are not looking for a photocopy,” Cardinal McElroy said.
Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, Pope Leo’s hometown, told reporters that the Church does not speak of replacements for a bishop or pope but of successors for them.
“That’s a very important distinction to make, and that is what we were looking for as well,” Cardinal Cupich said. The cardinals asked themselves, “Who could bring forward not only the ministry and life and tradition of Francis but everything that preceded him, especially from that pivotal moment of life in
’ successor
the Church (that was) the Second Vatican Council.”
Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio to the United States, quoted the French poet Charles Peguy: “Everything begins in mysticism and ends in politics.”
The conclave was the opposite, he said. In the days of preparation for the conclave, the media particularly had taken a political view of the election of the new pope.
“What I experienced was that everything begins in politics and ends in mysticism. This is what we lived” in the conclave, Cardinal Pierre said. The conclave began “in this kind of confusion” of languages, cultures, and not knowing each other, he added.
The only solution, he said, was to dialogue and listen to one another, setting aside prejudices and entering into a process of prayerful discernment.
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, N.J., said he had known Pope Leo for 30 years; they were in Rome together in the late 1990s and early 2000s when Cardinal Tobin was superior general of the Redemptorists and Pope Leo was superior of the Augustinian friars. More recently, Cardinal Tobin served as a member of the Dicastery for Bishops, where then-Cardinal Robert F. Prevost was prefect.
Talking about the new pope’s international experience, Cardinal Tobin first referred to him as ‘Bob” and then corrected himself, “Pope Leo.”
Describing the new pope’s leadership style, Cardinal Tobin said,
“I don’t think he’s one that likes to pick fights, but he is not one to back down if the cause is just. And I guess the last thing I’d say about Bob is that he really is a listener, and then he acts.”
Cardinal Tobin said that during the actual election in the Sistine Chapel, when he went up to cast his ballot as the outcome became clearer, he walked by then-Cardinal Prevost, “who had his head in his hands.”
“I was praying for him, because I couldn’t imagine what happens to a human being when you’re facing something like that. And then when he accepted it, it was like he was made for it,” the cardinal said. “All of the anguish or whatever was resolved by feeling I think that this wasn’t simply his saying yes to a proposal, but that God had made something clear, and he agreed with that.” ■
Conclave insight Above: U.S. cardinals participate in a news conference at the Pontifical North American College in Rome on May 9 to discuss the recent conclave and the election of Pope Leo XIV. The panel addressed questions from journalists following the historic announcement. Below: Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, N.J., speaks during the news conference as Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, left, and Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, right, listen. The cardinals reflected on the conclave and the election of Pope Leo XIV.
College assembly Pope Leo XIV prays with the College of Cardinals in the New Synod Hall at the Vatican on May 10 during his first formal address to the college since his election on May 8.
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO/VATICAN MEDIA
Christian witness ‘ desperately needed ’
Pope Leo XIV calls for missionary outreach in a world that often opposes faith
Catholic News Service
Where Christians are “mocked, opposed, despised, or at best tolerated and pitied” is where the Catholic Church’s “missionary outreach is most desperately needed,” Pope Leo XIV said in his first homily as leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
Today, “there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent, settings where other securities are preferred, like technology, money, success, power, or pleasure,” the new pope told cardinals on May 9 during Mass in the Sistine Chapel.
“This is the world that has been entrusted to us, a world in which, as Pope Francis taught us so many times, we are called to bear witness to our joyful faith in Jesus the Savior,” he said.
The day after his election, the new pope returned to the chapel where his fellow 132 cardinals elected him pope the first U.S. citizen, first Peruvian citizen, first Augustinian friar, and likely the first Chicago White Sox fan to become pope to celebrate his first Mass with the College of Cardinals.
Wearing black shoes instead of the traditional red associated with the papacy and walking into the Sistine Chapel carrying Pope Benedict XVI’s papal ferula, or staff, the pope processed into the chapel.
After two women read the Mass readings in English and Spanish a possible nod to the new pope’s U.S. and Peruvian background he greeted the cardinals in English, marking his first public use of the language.
“Through the ministry of Peter, you have called me to carry that cross and to be blessed with that mission,” he said, “and I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me as we continue as a Church, as a community of friends of Jesus, as believers, to announce the good news, to announce the Gospel.”
The Mass, largely in Latin, was celebrated at a portable altar brought into the Sistine Chapel, as opposed to the fixed altar which requires the celebrant to face east, away from the congregation.
In his homily, spoken in Italian, Pope Leo said God had called him to be a “faithful administrator” of the Church so that she may be “a beacon that illumines the dark nights of this world.”
“And this, not so much through the magnificence of her structures or the grandeur of her buildings, like the monuments among which we find ourselves, but rather through the holiness of her members,” he said, standing before Michelangelo’s “The Last Judgment” in the Sistine Chapel.
Reflecting on Jesus’ question to the Apostle Peter in St. Matthew’s Gospel “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” Pope Leo said one might find two possible responses: the world’s, which considers Jesus “a completely insignificant person” who becomes “irksome because of His demands for honesty and His stern moral requirements,” and that of ordinary people, who
see Him as an “upright man, one who has courage, who speaks well, and says the right things.”
“Even today, there are many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent,” he said. In these settings, “a lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appall -
ing violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family, and so many other wounds that afflict our society,” the pope said.
And in many settings in which Jesus is appreciated, the pope said, he can be “reduced to a kind of charismatic leader or superman.”
“This is true not only among nonbelievers but also among many baptized Christians, who thus end up living, at this level, in a state of practical atheism,” he said. “Therefore, it is essential that we, too, repeat, with Peter: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’”
“I say this first of all to myself, as the successor of Peter, as I begin my mission as bishop of Rome,” he said. Referencing St. Ignatius of Antioch, he said the commitment for all who exercise authority in the Church is “to move aside so that Christ may remain, to make oneself small so that He may be known and glorified, to spend oneself to the utmost so that all may have the opportunity to know and love Him.”
Before the Mass, video footage of the pope’s first hours in office circulated online. A video released by the Vatican showed him greeting the cardinals who elected him, praying alone in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace, and wearing black, not red, shoes.
After his election and presentation to the faithful on May 8, a video posted online showed Pope Leo returning to the Vatican residence where he had briefly lived as a cardinal before entering the conclave that elected him pope.
Greeting people who lived in the building, he posed for selfies and gave his blessing.
A girl asked the new pope to bless and sign a book; with a smile he replied: “I need to practice the signature! That old one is no good anymore.” And while signing, he asked, “Today is?” to a roar of laughs from those around him.
Witness for the world Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican as he leads, for the first time, the midday recitation of the Regina Coeli prayer on May 11. The Holy Father says missionary outreach is imperative where Christians are "mocked, opposed, despised, or at best tolerated and pitied."
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
PHOTO/LOLA GOMEZ
Witness continued on page A21
Official crest Pope Leo XIV's coat of arms with his episcopal motto, In Illo uno unum, meaning "In the One (Christ), we are one," is seen in an image published by the Vatican Secretariat of State on May 10. CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO/VATICAN MEDIA
By Maria Wiering OSV News
Who are the Augustinians, Pope Leo XIV ’s religious order?
In Pope Leo XIV’s first greeting after being introduced as pope on May 8, he described himself as a “son of St. Augustine.”
The first American pope has spoken in the past with affection about the fifth-century convert, bishop, and intellectual powerhouse considered the father of
his religious order, the Order of St. Augustine. Although their order was founded more than 800 years after Augustine’s death, the Augustinians draw on his wisdom and holiness to shape their community.
In the early 13th century, loosely organized communities of hermits living in Italy’s Tuscany region sought direction from Pope Innocent IV known to be an excellent canonist, or Church
law scholar to help them adopt a common rule of life to live with greater uniformity. They were inspired, in part, by the recent formation of other new religious orders, including the Franciscans in 1209 and the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans, in 1216. Both were mendicant orders, which meant they relied on begging and working for their susteAugustinian continued on page A26
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Because of that, the pope asked the cardinals to renew together their “complete commitment” to the Church’s post-Vatican II journey, which was detailed in Pope Francis’ 2013 apostolic exhortation on the proclamation of the Gospel in today’s world.
“I would like to highlight several fundamental points” from the document, he said: “the return to the primacy of Christ in proclamation; the missionary conversion of the entire Christian community; growth in collegiality and synodality; attention to the sensus fidei (the people of God’s sense of the faith), especially in its most authentic and inclusive forms, such as popular piety; loving care for the least and the rejected; courageous and trusting dialogue with the contemporary world in its various components and realities.”
“Sensing myself called to continue in this same path, I chose to take the name Leo XIV” for several reasons, he said, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII, “in his historic encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution.”
Today, the Church continues to offer “everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor,” he added.
Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from the United States, said that, “beginning with St. Peter and up to myself, his unworthy successor, the pope has been a humble servant of God and of his brothers and sisters, and nothing more than this.”
Many popes, and most recently Pope Francis, demonstrated this with “complete dedication to service and to sober simplicity of life, his abandonment to God throughout his ministry, and his serene trust at the moment of his return to
the Father's house,” he said.
“Let us take up this precious legacy and continue on the journey, inspired by the same hope that is born of faith,” he said, reminding the cardinals that it is “the risen Lord, present among us, who protects and guides the Church, and continues to fill her with hope.”
“It is up to us to be docile listeners to His voice and faithful ministers of His plan of salvation, mindful that God loves to communicate Himself, not in the roar of thunder and earthquakes, but in the ‘whisper of a gentle breeze’ or, as some translate it, in a ‘sound of sheer silence,’” he said.
“It is this essential and important encounter to which we must guide and accompany all the holy people of God entrusted to our care,” he said.
Thanking the cardinals for their role as the pope’s closest collaborators, he said their presence has proven to be “a great comfort to me in accepting a yoke clearly far beyond my own limited powers, as it would be for any of us.”
God, too, “will not leave me alone in bearing its responsibility,” he said, and he knew he would also be able to count on the closeness of “so many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world who believe in God, love the Church, and support the vicar of Christ by their prayers and good works.”
He concluded his remarks by embracing the hope St. Paul VI expressed at the inauguration of his Petrine ministry in 1963, and he invited them to do the same.
St. Paul prayed that hope “pass over the whole world like a great flame of faith and love kindled in all men and women of goodwill. May it shed light on paths of mutual cooperation and bless humanity abundantly, now and always, with the very strength of God, without whose help nothing is valid, nothing is holy,” he said, quoting the saint. ■
“I am convinced that Pope Francis knew the tender mercy of God, His infinite love, in such a way that he knew that all faithful followers of Jesus must reflect that mercy toward others. That is the real gift he has been to the Church, and I think will be for years to come,” the bishop shared.
Bishop Beckman then asked the congregation how many of them remembered when Pope Francis was first elected on March 13, 2013. A number of hands raised in the air
“I thought I might see quite a few hands tonight. I will never forget. I was watching television because I had seen that the white smoke had gone up. And I was waiting for the new pope to come out on the balcony at St. Peter’s. And when he walked out with all the humility and said, ‘Buona sera.’ Good evening. Very humble. And then he invited and asked for prayer for himself before he gave a blessing. I will never forget that moment,” Bishop Beckman remembered
“As I prayed for Francis that evening, a silence descended upon St. Peter’s Square. All through his papacy, he repeated that refrain: ‘Please pray for me,’” he noted.
Pope Francis appointed Bishop Beckman as the Diocese of Knoxville’s fourth shepherd on May 7, 2024, and the bishop was ordained and installed on July 26.
“The only opportunity I had to meet Pope Francis face to face was the result of him calling me to be your bishop,” the leader of the Church in East Tennessee said. Bishop Beckman pointed out that it was on April 29, 2024, when papal nuncio Cardinal Christophe Pierre called him to share the news that Pope Francis had selected him as the next bishop of Knoxville.
“My response was, ‘Me?’” the bishop said to laughter. “I said, ‘May I pray about this?’ The nuncio said yes.”
“But I got the opportunity, thanks be to God, to meet with Pope Francis last September. One thing I wanted to do was to thank him for the gift he has been to the Church and the world. I had the opportunity to see him face to face, and he took me by the hand, and I looked right into his eyes, and I just said, ‘We love you. Thank you for everything you have done for the Church and the world.’ That heartfelt gratitude that I expressed on your behalf as the people of this diocese was part of my heart that day,” the bishop continued.
Despite the Holy Father’s recent serious illness, his death was unexpected as he appeared to be recovering, and he made public appearances on Easter Sunday, including attending Easter Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square, leading the traditional Easter blessing from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, and meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who was visiting Rome with his family.
“I have to say that I was not prepared for his passing. That moment came for me in a very unexpected way, as I’m sure it did for many of us. It seemed like he was getting better. He had gone to St. Peter’s Square to meet the people and bless them on Easter Sunday,” the bishop shared. “But after I received word that morning on Monday (April 21), the first thing I did was go out on my parents’ screen porch and pray the Morning Prayer.”
“And, of course, the whole liturgy at this time is about the victory of Christ over death, the resurrection. And I knew intuitively that the Lord had called Francis home during this greatest of mysteries, the victory over death. And that, in itself, was full of beautiful, symbolic import. Somehow, the mystery of the victory of Christ and his passing during that great octave of Easter was meant to be,” he noted.
Hundreds of thousands of mourners descended on the Vatican to pay their last respects to the pontiff who they held dear in their hearts. And memorial Masses for Pope Francis were celebrated in virtually every Catholic church.
memoriam Bishop
April
the
for
Concelebrating the Mass are, from left, Father John O'Neill, Father Joseph Kuzhupil, MSFS, Father Jim Harvey, Father Christopher Manning, Father Jhon Mario Garcia, Father Julian Cardona, and Father David Boettner. Assisting at the Mass are Deacon Walt Otey, left center, and Deacon Mike Mescall.
thanks Zoraida
and
left, Nicholas
in the
today. Francis reached out to the needy with the compassion and love of Christ. Let’s continue to bring that light to those who most need it. That’s the way we can continue the beautiful legacy that Pope Francis shared with the world.
“After Jesus spoke the Beatitudes, He said to the Apostles, ‘You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth. Francis never forgot that. Let’s pray that we never forget that,” the bishop concluded.
made the Catholic Church, the
versal Church, the way it is supposed to be,” she said.
“Pope Francis’ legacy is important because he reached out to the poor and sick, following the example of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, the perfect Shepherd,” Ms. Ballew added.
The Holy Father also had an impact on Father O’Neill, who recalls vividly when Francis succeeded Pope Benedict XVI as the leader of the universal Church.
“The first thing I remember about the pope is that he said if somebody comes and confesses the same sin 266 times, you should absolve it 267 times. I know he provoked us. He wanted us to keep going, keep jumping into the trenches. Sometimes he was impatient, undoubtedly, but that was for our good and for us to be ardent, very brave, and courageous priests,” Father O’Neill shared.
The Holy Father’s guidance for the Church’s priests also influenced Father O’Neill.
“He made a very interesting comment about priests that has always stuck in my mind. He said six times never, never, never, never, never, never one priest talk about another, which is a great rule because that can be so devastating to the spirit of fraternity,” he recalled.
“I want to say clearly that there is a loss in this world. Francis brought a unique kind of light to the people of our world. That’s why so many people went to St. Peter’s for his funeral Mass on (April 26) and went to see him,” Bishop Beckman said. “And yet the very mystery that we celebrate is inviting us to bear the light of Christ to the world, to continue to share that gift of what we have experienced, because we, too, have been loved by the Son of God, who loved us and gave His life for us.”
Bishop Beckman pointed out that the light of Christ was present and visible during Easter Vigil in the Paschal Candle, and its light was spread throughout the cathedral. That light from the Paschal Candle was present during the memorial Mass.
“My invitation is that the great mercy of God that Francis so freely made visible, that we’re invited now to make that light known. I want to mention in a few particular ways his passionate concern for this beautiful world God has given us, this planet we call home, to care for it well. I believe Francis now knows the new heaven and the new earth, for there will be no more suffering or mourning,” the bishop said.
“The second task, I believe, is to welcome the stranger, the immigrant, the newcomer, those who most need mercy in the world
Nicholas Saez and his family, who now live in Knoxville, are from Argentina. Nicholas, who is 17, said he was too young to understand the significance of Pope Francis being from Argentina when the pontiff was elected 12 years ago, but his father met the pope when Francis was a bishop in Buenos Aires. But now that he is older, Nicholas grasps how important Francis’ papacy was.
“I really didn’t pay attention as I do now. From what my parents have told me, he was a great pope who was from Argentina. But I started following him, and I will now follow his legacy,” Nicholas said.
Nicholas participated in the memorial Mass with his father, Pedro Saez, who left Argentina to live in East Tennessee.
“I had the opportunity to live in the area where Pope Francis was serving before he was pope. I met him in my life, and I see the very good things he has done, especially how humble he was all his life, all his career,” Mr. Saez said.
“I remember when he became pope and I was in Argentina. I thought, wow, that is unexpected from us. In the whole country, nobody was expecting this. He has made big changes in the Catholic Church, and we are proud of that. He has really made good changes,” Pedro Saez said.
Also attending the memorial Mass was Zoraida Ballew, a longtime Diocese of Knoxville parishioner.
Ms. Ballew said Pope Francis meant a lot to her.
“The way he taught the Gospel through his humbleness, through his love for the poor, and for the marginalized. To me, he was the way a pope should be, and he
"I think Pope Francis will definitely go down as the one who challenged all of us to be missionary disciples. There are no spectator seats in church. Every Christian is really called to be a missionary. But we are also called to go out. The whole point of being a missionary is we go out to the peripheries That is something, I think, he really helped us to take into our hearts and minds. We can’t just sit in our church and wait for people to come to us. We have to go to where people are. We need to be in the prisons. We need to be in the homeless shelters. We need to be where the peripheries are and meet people in those places."
Father David Boettner,
Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
“The other big statement he made that stuck in my mind was that we are sort of a dressing station for emergencies because we worry in times of (chaos) that God just wants you to handle the wounded who come your way and do your very best about that and not worry about what’s going to follow or what’s going to be next. Just say, ‘I saw them. I didn t know when I was ever going see them again. I tried to see them in Christ and see Christ in them, ’” Father O’Neill observed.
“I loved his energy, his telling us to get on with things, and that we couldn’t plan or put our impression on things. We have to see what is in front of us. I loved that,” he continued. “I believe as part of his legacy, we are called to be very brave, to keep looking to the margins, be very, very docile to what you see in front of you. It’s not what you expected or the way you wanted things to be, but it may be very much the way God, after all, wants it to be.”
Father Boettner believes the memorial Mass was a very appropriate way for the Diocese of Knoxville to mourn the passing of Pope Francis and show its love and admiration for the pontiff and his papacy.
“I thought it was a beautiful way for us to gather. To be able to celebrate a memorial Mass for Pope Francis on that one-week anniversary was beautiful. I think gathering together and praying for the dead goes back to the very beginning of apostolic times. That has always been the Church’s tradition, to pray for those who have died,” Father Boettner said.
“The bishop did such a beautiful job in his homily of highlighting Pope Francis. Pope Francis was the pope of mercy. He really called us to look toward each other in mercy, and especially those who are hungering for mercy,” he added.
The cathedral rector also spoke of what the Holy Father’s legacy likely will be.
“I think Pope Francis will definitely go down as the one who challenged all of us to be missionary disciples. There are no spectator seats in church. Every Christian is really called to be a missionary. But we are also called to go out. The whole point of being a missionary is we go out to the peripheries,” Father Boettner continued. “That is something, I think, he really helped us to take into our hearts and minds. We can’t just sit in our church and wait for people to come to us. We have to go to where people are. We need to be in the prisons. We need to be in the homeless shelters. We need to be where the peripheries are and meet people in those places.” ■
In
Mark Beckman presides during the memorial Mass
Pope Francis on
28 at
Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
DAN MCWILLIAMS
Giving
Ballew,
Saez, center,
Pedro Saez participated
memorial Mass for Pope Francis at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on April 28. Pedro Saez is originally from Argentina and met the pontiff there when he was Bishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio.
rector
BILL BREWER
10th anniversary of Laudato Si’ prompts global events
Programs to honor encyclical are planned at parishes around the Diocese of Knoxville
“The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”
(Psalm 24:1)
The East Tennessee Catholic
Catholics around the world are marking the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ groundbreaking encyclical, Laudato Si’ , which was released to the public in May 2015.
Pope Francis, who died on April 21, expressed Church teaching on caring for God’ s creation in the encyclical letter that also was heavily influenced by St. Francis of Assisi.
The encyclical gave rise to a number of care-for-creation lay ministries in the Diocese of Knoxville that actively follow the tenets of Laudato Si ’.
The encyclical focuses on care for the natural environment and all people, as well as broader questions of the relationship among God, humans, and the earth. The encyclical’s subtitle, “Care for Our Common Home,” reinforces these key themes.
An encyclical is a public letter from the pope developing Catholic teaching on a topic often in light of current events. Laudato Si’ is addressed to “every living person on this planet,” according to Pope Francis ’ letter. It is offered as part of an ongoing dialogue within the Catholic Church and between Catholics and the wider world.
The first words of Laudato Si’ are Italian and translate as “praise be to you.” They are part of a quotation from St. Francis of Assisi’s Canticle of the Creatures that opens the encyclical in which the saint praises God by meditating on the goodness of sun, wind, earth, water, and other natural forces.
The choice of this passage to begin Laudato Si’ is a reminder of how people of faith should not only respect the earth but also praise and honor God through their engagement with creation. Laudato Si’ is divided into six chapters, each of which can be read in a sitting of 20 to 30 minutes.
In chapter one, “What Is Happening to Our Common Home” summarizes the scope of current problems related to the environment. Issues discussed include pollution, climate change, water scarcity, loss of biodiversity, and global inequality.
Chapter two, “The Gospel of Creation,” draws on the Bible as a source of insight. The Genesis creation stories are interpreted as enLaudato Si' continued on page A19
We all share in the Care for Our Common Home
By Mary Tankersley
Throughout the lives of our popes, hundreds of magnificent, inspired writings have been produced, and Catholics have an incredible amount of wisdom to connect with and to celebrate in our shared history.
Yet few modern writings have started an enduring global movement like Pope Francis’ second encyclical, Laudato Si’, or more formally, On Care for Our Common Home. This encyclical was released to great acclaim in 2015, and the momentum for its promotion and awareness has not ceased over these 10 years.
Here in this document, our Holy Father courageously speaks to every person of good will in existence who recognizes and is distressed by the social and environmental injustices of our modern times. Pope Francis asks for our full attention right from the start, boldly stating that “I wish to address every person living on this planet” [Laudato Si’ 3] and pleads with us not to divert our eyes [LS 59].
The concepts he presents are both wonderful and difficult, as well as intentionally personal. He quotes the beautiful words in the book of Wisdom, “through the greatness and beauty of creatures one comes to know by analogy their maker” (Wisdom 13:5) and then asks us to truly consider whether we humans have been good stewards of the Creator’s earth, waters, and creatures [LS 12], caring for them and keeping them healthy. Pope Francis requests us, sometimes gently and sometimes sternly, to look outward, always show-
Living at home incorporating Laudato Si ’
Practical tips to complement Pope Francis' encyclical
By Kimberley Heatherington OSV News
For Catholics seeking a way to both honor the memory of Pope Francis and embrace the principles of his landmark encyclical Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home released a decade ago in May 2015 OSV News has gathered some practical tips and thoughts.
These come from the Vatican, a Jesuit expert in environmental sustainability, and a lay Marianist whose grandmother taught him an ecological lesson or two.
And if you think just one person instead of corporations, politicians, and governments can’t do anything significant to help the environment, Pope Francis had a Laudato Si’ piece of advice: “There is a nobility in the duty to care for creation through little daily actions,” he observed, “and it is wonderful how education can bring about real changes in lifestyle.”
“A very practical way to start addressing ecological concerns is to see if we could reduce waste,” said Monsignor Robert Vitillo, senior adviser in the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
The dicastery sponsors the Laudato Si’ Action Platform, providing concrete ecological action resources for everyone: families, parishes and dioceses, educational institutions, health-care services, organizations and groups, the economic sector, and religious orders and communities.
ing us clearly the consequences of our modern consumer lifestyles, which harm the earth and exploit the poor. He writes, “Never have we so hurt and mistreated our common home as we have in the last 200 years. Yet we are called to be instruments of God our Father, so that our planet might be what He desired when He created it” [LS 53] He makes a mighty effort to teach us how to make things right according to the special relationship between God, our neighbor, and the earth itself [LS 66]. And he promotes the vision of a sustainable world where all voices are heard and all needs are equally met. After all, all things are connected [LS 42]. We humans are bound to every other creature on earth, every drop of water, and
every teaspoon of soil by the miracle of God’s creation.
Laudato Si’ is the first full encyclical serving as an urgent call to care for creation in the manner that God the Father intended. Pope Francis consulted a number of scientists in writing it and incorporated the thoughts and writings of leaders and saints who value creation and understand that our care for creation reflects our love for God. Inspired contributions include those of Sts. Basil the Great, Thomas Aquinas, and John of the Cross.
His statements stand upon the shoulders of other popes and religious leaders, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which in 2019 said, “Our care for one another and our care for the earth are intimately bound together.” Pope Francis includes the remarks and contributions of worldwide bishops, including those of South Africa, Australia, and Brazil, and some passages from the Catechism of the Catholic Church [LS 69].
In the early 2000s, Pope John Paul II called for Catholics to undergo an “ecological conversion” and said “our human ability to transform reality must proceed in line with God’s original gift of all that is” [LS 5]. Further back in 1971, Blessed Pope Paul VI wrote that “Humanity runs the risk of destroying nature and becoming in turn a victim of this degradation” [LS 4].
In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis praises the natural cycles of ecosystems in which nothing is wasted,
10TH ANNIVERSARY LAUDATO SI’
JOIN OUR LADY OF FATIMA IN CELEBRATING THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF LAUDATO SI’ WITH A SPECIAL MASS CELEBRATED BY BISHOP BECKMAN.
TUESDAY, MAY 27 6:00 PM OUR LADY OF FATIMA
CATHOLIC CHURCH
Non-perishable food items will be collected for the Community Food Connection
Children are invited to create a symbol of “Care for Creation” such as an art project, an original prayer, or something that reminds them of the beauty of God’s creation These items will be blessed during the Mass Light refreshments will follow in the parish social hall, hosted by the Diocese of Knoxville’s Care for Creation ministries
What is Laudato Si ? It is an encyclical written by Pope Francis on the Care for our Common Home. Laudato Si’ means “Praise Be ”
Care
Pro-Life Day on the Hill experiences a youth movement
The East Tennessee Catholic
The 2025 legislative session has ended in Nashville, but not before key legislation of impact and interest to the Catholic Church in Tennessee was addressed.
A significant development was passage of the Education Freedom Act, which Gov. Bill Lee signed into law on Feb. 12. The school-choice legislation was supported by Tennessee’s three bishops and was approved during a special session of the General Assembly in January.
The legislative session also dealt with sanctity-of-life issues, some that resulted in new laws and some that did not.
On March 25, sanctity-of-life supporters from across the state, many of them Catholic, convened near Capitol Hill and met with lawmakers to lobby for legislation that will
promote life. They were participating in Pro-Life Day on the Hill, which is sponsored annually by Ten-
joining responsible cultivation and protection of nature. Past attempts to justify the absolute human domination of other species are “not a correct interpretation of the Bible,” according to the encyclical. The natural world is further portrayed as a gift, a message, and a common inheritance of all people.
Chapter three, “The Human Roots of the Ecological Crisis,” explores social trends and ideologies that have caused environmental problems. These include the unreflective use of technology, an impulse to manipulate and control nature, a view of humans as separate from the environment, narrowly focused economic theories, and moral relativism.
Chapter four, “Integral Ecology,” presents the encyclical’s main solution to ongoing social and environmental problems. Integral ecology affirms that humans are part of a broader world and calls for “comprehensive solutions, which consider the interactions within natural systems themselves and with social systems.”
While the study of ecosystems has become well-known in the science of ecology, integral ecology expands this paradigm to consider the ethical and spiritual dimensions of how humans are meant to relate to each other and the natural world drawing on culture, family, community, virtue, religion, and respect for the common good.
Chapter five, “Lines of Approach and Action,” applies the concept of integral ecology to political life. It calls for international agreements to protect the environment and assist low-income countries, new national and local policies, inclusive and transparent decisionmaking, and an economy ordered to the good of all.
Lastly in chapter six, “Ecological Education and Spirituality,” the encyclical concludes with applications to personal life. It recommends a lifestyle focused less on consumerism and more on timeless, enduring values. It calls for environmental education, joy in one’s surroundings, civic love, reception of the sacraments, and an “ecological conversion” in which an encounter with Jesus leads to deeper communion with God, other people, and the world of nature.
Pope Francis is not the first pope to address environmental issues. Pope St. John Paul II taught on numerous occasions about a duty of stewardship toward nature.
For example, in his 1991 encyclical Centesimus Annus, John Paul II wrote about nature as a gift from God and the need for humans to cooperate with God in promoting the rightly ordered flourishing of the environment.
Further, Centesimus Annus outlined a connection between natural ecology and “human ecology,” anticipating the concept of integral ecology in Laudato Si’. Pope Benedict XVI echoed these same teachings during his papacy, for example, in his 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate
As outlined in Laudato Si’, its vision of an integrated approach to concern for all people and the environment has roots in Scripture and the history of Catholic thought, in particular in the tradition of Catholic social teaching, tracing back to the late 19th century. Further, Catholic scholars and activists have been outspoken on the connection between social and environmental issues for many years.
What is unique about Laudato Si’ is how Pope Francis develops and expands on these themes at length in a highly prominent way, devoting an entire encyclical to the topic at a time when the wider world is also becoming actively engaged in the pursuit of environmental sustainability.
Climate change is one of the most prominent topics associated with Laudato Si’, both because the encyclical speaks in detail about the moral imperative to address it and because the threat of the climate crisis has grown only more severe since the encyclical’s publication.
Joseph Shouse, 27, and Maria Atencio, 28. The young advocates are members of Holy Ghost Parish in Knoxville.
After observing efforts by the faithful around the Diocese of Knoxville to promote the sanctity of life and how life is being attacked in many quarters of the country, they decided to elevate their concern into action.
So, what did they do?
nessee Right to Life.
Among them were Ian Collins, who is 28, Rebekah Snyder, 22,
Laudato Si’ affirms the “very solid scientific consensus” that climate change is occurring as well as the evidence that human activity is the primary driver of this warming (LS 23). Climate change is “one of the principal challenges facing humanity in our day,” according to the encyclical letter.
Further, the encyclical stresses that existing efforts to reduce climate change have been deeply inadequate. This is because “many of those who possess more resources and economic or political power seem mostly to be concerned with masking the problems or concealing their symptoms,” the encyclical states.
In turn, several ways to address the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis are outlined. These include a drastic reduction in carbon emissions and those of other greenhouse gases, the development of renewable energy sources and related storage capacity, and a transition to energy-efficient methods of production and transportation. For example, a switch from coal and oil to solar and wind power would embody these recommendations. The increased protection of tropical forests also is discussed.
One key theme of Laudato Si’ is that efforts to reduce climate change and help people in poverty should not be pitted against each other but instead pursued as a unified project.
It further asserts that it would be wrong to cut emissions in a way that harms the marginalized in society or places an unmanageable burden on very poor countries. As the encyclical states, “We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis, which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand
They boarded a van in Knoxville, joining a group of like-minded individuals, and traveled to the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, where 350 pro-life supporters gathered for a day filled with legislative updates, inspiring talks, a luncheon, a live auction, and keynote addresses by Lacey Buchanan, who shared the story of her son’s efforts to overcome a rare,
an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded and at the same time protecting nature.”
Low-income countries are expected to suffer the worst effects of climate change and need financial assistance in making the transition to sustainable practices, according to the encyclical. Accordingly, there is a duty for wealthy countries to take the lead in reducing their own emissions and in providing funds to developing countries seeking to do the same, the encyclical states. Laudato Si’ also notes how climate change will cause a rise in the number of migrants leaving homes destroyed by environmental degradation and calls on people to welcome and support these environmental refugees.
Chapter six of Laudato Si’ outlines steps individuals can take in the process of ecological conversion. These include prayer and contemplation, learning more about nature, observance of the Sabbath day of rest, and reduced participation in materialistic forms of consumer culture. A step as simple as giving thanks at mealtime can be a reminder of integral ecology and an individual’s relation to God, nature, and other people.
Most Catholics have positive memories and experiences of nature but may not have connected these with their faith, so the advice in this section is considered helpful in linking spirituality with environmental awareness.
In addition, Laudato Si’ is clear that many environmental problems extend beyond individuals to broader economic and political systems. ■
The Laudato Si’ Movement and its “ Best Laudato Si’ Summary” contributed to this report.
Laudato Si' continued from page A18
Lobbying for life From left, Joseph Shouse, 27, Rebekah Snyder, 22, Ian Collins, 28, and Maria Atencio, 28, say they feel called to the pro-life movement.
BILL BREWER
Life continued on page A23
and then asks us to consider our “throwaway culture” and its impacts, both seen and unseen [LS 22]. He walks us through some major indisputable issues: pollution and climate change, loss of biodiversity, issues of water quality and distribution, and the effect of these on the poor of the world, typically the “global south,” telling us, “we have no such right” to disrupt God’s method of natural systems to such a degree [LS 33].
These consequences derive from our own privileged lifestyles, the cause and effect we are presently experiencing. He regards the recent increasing number and intensity of megastorms, typhoons, wildfires, heat waves, and droughts that are afflicting near and distant parts of the globe as amplifications of the “cry of the earth” and the “cry of the poor” [LS 49]
And frankly, most people who experience the effects of these disruptions and disasters had no part in causing them, and have fewer resources to recover from impacted housing or livelihoods. Pope Francis affirms that all life is sacred and that the rich and poor have equal dignity [LS 94], and he stresses that we need to reconsider our modern models of development, production, and consumption that exploit people and damage the environment [LS 138].
“Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature” [LS 139]. Justice between generations is another urgent theme throughout, as we are asked to consider the health of the world and society we are leaving to our children and grandchildren [LS 159].
The Laudato Si’ encyclical is richly full of praise and prayer. It starts with and ends with the prayer of two Francises. Beloved St. Francis of the 13th century was Pope Francis’ inspiration. St. Francis, our patron saint of ecology, delighted in God’s creation to the point of talking and singing to the plants and animals he adored and considered as brothers and sisters His well-known Canticle of the Sun expresses that love for creation is love for God, and he embedded this Umbrian phrase into the canticle Laudato Si, mi Signore, meaning “Praise be to you, my Lord” [LS 1]. In turn, Pope Francis, contributes two prayers: a prayer for our earth and a prayer to advance peaceful union with creation [LS 246]
He praises both the Divine Trinity and our Mother Mary toward the conclusion of his encyclical, and he also praises the Eucharist as the greatest of God’s gifts: “It is in the Eucharist that all that has been created finds its greatest exaltation. The Eucharist is also a source of light and motivation for our concerns for the environment, directing us to be stewards of all creation” [LS 236].
Going right to the source of wisdom, it was Jesus Himself who said, “Gather the fragments so that nothing is wasted” (John 6:12) after multiplying the loaves and fishes, literally giving us encouragement for a more mindful lifestyle. Jesus’ command to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31) makes it clear that we are to consider the downstream effects of our lifestyles and actions.
Our response
In Laudato Si’ (180), it states that, “Truly, much can be done!” Our pope is courageously giving us a thoughtful perspective: “Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience” [LS 217]. He follows this with a call to action: “Our goal is … to become painfully aware, to dare to turn what is happening to the world into our own personal suffering and thus to discover what each of us can do about it” [LS 19].
In addition, he gives us hope for the journey: “The urgent challenge to protect our common home includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change” [LS 13]. As faithful Catholics, our ultimate challenge is to find the actions that make a positive impact in our
Locally, in response to this call, some Catholic creation-care ministries have begun to make a positive impact on their parishes in the past few years Those active in these ministries include the team at St. John XXIII Parish led by Beth Carroll Hunley, the team at All Saints Parish led by Connie Brace, and Father Peter Iorio and his team at Our Lady of Fatima Parish. — Mary Tankersley, Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Alcoa
own present situations and cultures, and work to see them achieved.
Worldwide, Catholics are listening, learning, responding, and adapting! “All of us can cooperate as instruments of God for the care of creation according to our own culture, experience, involvements, and talents” [LS 14]. Pope Francis has asked us to begin conversations with one another in order to reconsider our impacts on the limited resources of this earth and on the world’s poorest and to cease being over-consumers.
“I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation, which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all” [LS 14]. Since 2015, Laudato Si’ has served as a pillar of the newly formed Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (2016) and the newly established World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and the liturgical Season of Creation (Sept. 1-Oct. 4).
Laudato Si’ has been adopted and promoted by many social justice organizations, primarily the Laudato Si’ Movement, the Laudato Si’ Action Platform, Catholic Climate Covenant, and The Economy of Francesco. These organizations and others offer rich resources of Laudato Si’ projects, books, webinars, animations, courses, and faith retreats to name a few.
The Laudato Si’ Movement has taken part in establishing seven Laudato Si’ goals with the intention that individuals, families, parishes, and schools around the world will use them in taking steps to minimize their impact on earth’s resources; indeed, to take steps toward best practices to protect and enhance the health and sustainability of creation. These exquisitely focused goals are:
n Response to the cry of the earth
n Response to the cry of the poor
n Ecological spirituality
n Ecological education
n Ecological economics
n Adoption of sustainable lifestyles
n Community resilience and empowerment
Naturally, some readers have more aptitude and even expertise in one area over another, but all give encouragement to become more creation-aware in amending our lifestyles.
Examples of practices individuals here in East Tennessee can consider are reducing waste (refusing singleuse plastic) and recycling more, reducing energy and water usage, composting food waste, utilizing local farmers markets to cut down on transportation costs, reconsidering our diets as beef and cheese are very ecologically draining, intentionally spending more contemplative time in nature and appreciating its wonders, supporting organizations that help to lift others out of poverty, and advocating for businesses that adopt sound ecological practices. To help us, the words “Be Not Afraid” resound from the Psalms, the angel Gabriel, and Jesus Himself.
Presently there are 27 Catholic dioceses in the United States that are implementing a Laudato Si’ Action Plan, and they include our neighbors in the Diocese of Lexington and the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Under their bishops’ guidance, they are taking extra care to adopt the principles of creation care in their parishes with emphasis on reducing waste, lowering energy usage, and educating parishioners. Their very impressive action plans for their dioceses can be found on the Laudato Si’ Action Platform website and are worth taking a look.
Locally, in response to this call, some Catholic creation-care minis-
tries have begun to make a positive impact on their parishes in the past few years.
Beth Carroll Hunley at St. John XXIII Parish in Knoxville leads the Catholic Response to Climate Change (CRCC) Zoom meetings each month, providing information, education, and inspiration, and has also offered retreats. CRCC members attend St. John XXIII and Immaculate Conception among other churches.
At All Saints Parish in Knoxville, the Creation Care Team led by Connie Brace has sought to promote creation care as an important Catholic social justice issue by advocating for sustainable practices at the church such as recycling and composting, providing educational bulletin articles, and collaborating with their Girl Scouts in planting a native-plant rosary garden. The All Saints Creation Care Team is also registered with the national organization, Catholic Climate Covenant.
Under the leadership of Father Peter Iorio, the Our Lady of Fatima Care for Creation ministry in Alcoa has been working for almost three years with parish recycling efforts, reducing waste at dinners by purchasing and reusing wheatgrass cups, bowls, and plates, and making changes in the energy usage of the buildings by installing remote thermostats, purchasing energy-saving heat pump units, and changing all fluorescent lighting to LED.
Educational sessions for parishioners have also been offered at Our Lady of Fatima. And a pollinator garden is in the works near the native Black Tupelo that was planted by
the Care for Creation ministry on the Our Lady of Fatima grounds. All of these Care for Creation ministers are inspired by the words of Pope Francis: “All it takes is one good person to restore hope!” [LS 71].
Praising God for His creation is definitely the first step we can take, followed by caring enough to inquire, learn, and make changes. “We need to experience a conversion or change of heart” [LS 218].
God of love, show us our place in this world as channels of your love for all the creatures of this earth, for not one of them is forgotten in your sight.
Enlighten those who possess power and money that they may avoid the sin of indifference, that they may love the common good, advance the weak, and care for this world in which we live. The poor and the earth are crying out O Lord, seize us with your power and light, help us to protect all life, to prepare for a better future, for the coming of your Kingdom of justice, peace, love and beauty. Praise be to you! Amen. [A Christian prayer in union with creation, LS 246.]
Our invitation and encouragement
Bishop Mark Beckman will lead a special celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the Laudato Si’ encyclical at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Alcoa on Tuesday, May 27, at 6 p.m., with a light reception to follow. All parishioners of the Diocese of Knoxville are warmly invited, and we especially hope that young people of our diocese will attend. All young people are invited to bring a memento: a piece of artwork, a prayer, a picture, or anything that symbolizes God’s creation, which will be blessed by Bishop Beckman at the Laudato Si’ Mass.
Please make plans to join us! ■
Mary Tankersley is a parishioner of Our Lady of Fatima in Alcoa and helps lead its Care for Creation Ministry.
Pope’s motto and coat of arms
Pope Leo XIV’s devotion to St. Augustine, his life and ministry as a member of the Augustinian order, and his focus on the unity of the Church are reflected in his episcopal motto and coat of arms. When he appeared on the center balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica shortly after his election on May 8, he introduced himself as “an Augustinian, a son of St. Augustine.”
And he explained that the cardinals who elected him “have chosen me to be the successor of Peter and to walk together with you as a Church, united, ever pursuing peace and justice, ever seeking to act as men and women faithful to Jesus Christ, in order to proclaim the Gospel without fear, to be missionaries.”
His episcopal motto is In Illo uno unum , meaning “In the One, we are one.”
Vatican News explained that the phrase is taken from St. Augustine’s “Exposition on Psalm 127,” where he explains that “although we Christians are many, in the one Christ we are one.”
As a cardinal, he told Vatican News in 2023, “As can be seen from my episcopal motto, unity and communion are truly part of the charism of the Order of St. Augustine, and also of my way of acting and thinking.”
“I believe it is very important to promote communion in the
Tips continued from page A18
“The dicastery was very much involved in setting up the Laudato Si’ Action Platform,” Monsignor Vitillo explained. “This is the way we’re trying to make sure that we have more people involved in this, and committed to the Laudato Si’ encyclical ... but also learning and sharing with each other. It’s another way to motivate more people to do this.”
The Internet-based Laudato Si’ Action Platform invites members of which there are more than 10,000 to commit to various actions and activities based upon seven key goals stated in Laudato Si’: response to the cry of the earth, ecological economics, adoption of sustainable lifestyles, ecological education, ecological spirituality, community resilience and empowerment, and response to the cry of the poor.
“Are we still using throwaway plastic? If we are using plastic, then are we making sure we’re bringing those to be recycled?” asked Monsignor Vitillo. “Those kinds of things seem simple but they often are avoided, because it might be a little bit of trouble having an extra garbage receptacle to collect these things and then bring them somewhere else. But that’s a way that we can start reducing waste.”
Food waste can also be examined leftovers may simply go into the trash, but the systems required to produce and dispose of food in the first place have an environmental impact
“Do we need to take huge portions we’re not going to finish? Do we need to go to restaurants especially in the United States where they have tremendously large portions? It’s not good for us to eat that much,” said Monsignor Vitillo. “But it’s also important for us not to waste food as well.”
Likewise, if your food doesn’t have to travel far, fuel and energy is saved. “Many people commit themselves to eat only locally produced things,” he noted.
Considering transportation alternatives can also assist the environment. “Do we need to go in the car all the time? Could we use the bicycle? Could we walk more?” he asked. Planting trees and gardens, Monsignor Vitillo added, are both doable contributions to sustainability.
He also suggested joining individual action with community action.
“It’s one thing doing this for ourselves and our family,” he said. “If we join others doing it, we may have even more enthusiasm and more energy and more motivation to do it and we’re also able to impact a larger area.”
Church, and we know well that communion, participation, and mission are the three keywords of the Synod” of Bishops on synodality, the Holy Father continued. “So, as an Augustinian, for me promoting unity and communion is fundamental.”
His shield, now topped by a miter instead of the red galero hat on the shield of cardinals, is divided diagonally into two. The upper half features a blue background with a white lily or fleur-de-lis, symbolizing the Virgin Mary but also his French heritage.
The lower half of the shield has
Education and advocacy, Monsignor Vitillo stressed, are essential.
“We need to have an ecological education learn about what’s going on and how we contribute to it, and how we can resolve those situations,” he said. “We can advocate and give sound information, and hopefully help people to change their behavior.”
That change, said Brother Mark Mackey, who is a Jesuit lecturer in environmental sustainability at Loyola University Chicago, does have to be, as suggested by Monsignor Vitillo, both personal and global.
“The solutions need to have individual action,” Brother Mark said. “But we have to recognize that any true, lasting change that we need to counteract climate change as well as biodiversity loss is going to have to be collective as well.”
He recognizes that can be discouraging.
“It’s frustrating to just go to the policy and the global changes the societal changes that need to happen, because as an individual, we can be left feeling frustrated and saying, ‘These changes aren’t happening and what can I do?’”
Brother Mark has several answers for that.
“It’s good first of all to just say, ‘What is it that I even eat?’ In a given day, some of us might not give it a lot of thought,” he noted.
“The first step is to take an assessment and maybe a look at our groceries. Eating lower on the food chain is one of the ways we can reduce how much impact our diet has,” he said.
In September 2011, the Catholic bishops of England and Wales reinstated the obligation for Catholics to abstain from eating meat on Fridays year-round, not just during Lent. A 2022 Cambridge University study “Food for the Soul and the Planet: Measuring the Impact of the Return of Meatless Fridays for (Some) UK Catholics” found only a quarter of the United Kingdom’s four million Catholics complied. Nonetheless, the study projected those who did so reduced 55,000 tons of carbon annually, or the equivalent of 82,000 fewer people flying round-trip from London to New York during the course of a year.
“Nobody really likes to be told what to eat and not eat,” Brother Mark said. “But it’s the reality, ecologically, of how we can reduce our footprint on a daily basis.”
Not surprisingly, he also suggests prayer.
“The fostering of an ecological spirituality is just critical. We can’t really have long-lasting change without that,” Brother Mark said.
a light background and displays an image common to the religious orders named after and inspired by St. Augustine: a closed book with a heart that is pierced by an arrow.
According to Vatican News, “This is a direct reference to the conversion experience of St. Augustine himself, who described his personal encounter with God’s Word using the phrase: Vulnerasti cor meum verbo tuo ‘You have pierced my heart with your Word.’”
Choosing the name
When Catholics heard on May 8
“How do we incorporate the planet and creation into our daily prayer and our understanding of our own story?” he asked. “We have this collective story and our salvation history that’s part of being Christian, being Catholic.”
Mindfulness and intentionality are another place to start.
“We need to bring it to the forefront of our daily life whether it’s in the way we pray, whether it’s just in what we pay attention to,” suggested Brother Mark.
“I really think it needs to be lived out in that way, as well as reducing our footprint perspective,” he said.
For Matt Naveau community coordinator of an effort that created Spiritus, a social justice mission-oriented lay community in Beavercreek, Ohio, molded in the tradition of the Marianist order ecological inspiration was found within his own family, from his grandmother.
“The way that grandma lived her life sustainably, simply, in solidarity with others, and anchored in prayer showed me how to live Laudato Si’ long before the encyclical was published,” Mr. Naveau said.
“It was only after grandma’s passing, as I re-read the encyclical and
the new pope had chosen the name Leo XIV, the thoughts of many turned immediately to Leo XIII, the last pope to bear the name.
Serving as the pontiff from 1878 to 1903, Pope Leo XIII is especially remembered for articulating the Catholic Church’s teaching on social justice in a rapidly changing and ever-industrialized society.
Twelve pontiffs share a name with the new pope, and five of those predecessors have been proclaimed saints.
The five saints are: n Leo the Great (c. 400-461), a bold defender of the faith amid times of controversy and division; n Leo II (611-683), who reigned for just under nine months and is best remembered today through various hymns he composed for the Liturgy of the Hours; n Leo III, who reigned as pope for nearly two decades before his death in 816. He crowned Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor in 800; n Leo IV, whose eight-year pontificate ended in 855 and who restored several churches in Rome after Muslim invaders plundered the sacred structures; n Leo IX (1002-1054), who brought reform to the Catholic Church, reiterating mandatory clerical celibacy and defending the Church's belief in Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist amid scandal. ■
reflected on it with others, that I connected her life’s example with Laudato Si’, he recalled. “I’ve been in many creation-care conversations where the discussion is abstract, focused on buying less and wasting less and doing more to help those around us. These are all great, but I have often found it difficult to translate these ideas into my own life. When I finally connected grandma’s example to the discussion, suddenly the abstract concepts became tangible and realizable in my own life.” Her witness, then, was a witness to Mr. Naveau.
“I now knew what it meant to live sustainably (try to fix before you buy new), what it meant to live simply (don’t buy everything you want), and what it meant to live in solidarity with others (feed them when they are in need),” he added.
“Recognizing grandma’s example of living Laudato Si’ made me understand its concepts more deeply than all of the reading and webinars and small-group discussions I had experienced before,” Mr. Naveau acknowledged. “Grandma’s example made Laudato Si’ real in my life and I suspect we all need an example like hers to fully embrace it ourselves.” ■
Knights of Columbus Bike Program
Knights of Columbus Council 645 would like to thank everyone who has helped over the years with our bicycle program. Through your donations of bikes, we have been able to repair many of them to benefit the Ladies of Charity for the Knights of Columbus Bike Program.
It is only with your donations that we are able to continue this program.
If you have a bicycle that you would like to donate, please drop it off at Ladies of Charity, 120 W Baxter Avenue in Knoxville. If you would like to help in this ministry, we do a bicycle repair workshop every Monday at 5:30 p.m. at the Ladies of Charity location
For information or to participate, please contact KofC645@gmail.com
Thank you
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
PHOTO/VATICAN MEDIA
Meeting with the media Pope Leo XIV greets a man with a laptop during a meeting with representatives of the media who covered his election. The meeting was held at the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican on May 12.
Singer-songwriter leads St. Thérèse of Lisieux retreat
By Gabrielle Nolan
The St. Thérèse of Lisieux Women of Faith and the Chattanooga Deanery Council of Catholic Women presented a Lenten day retreat for women on March 22 at St. Thérèse of Lisieux Church in Cleveland.
More than 310 women attended, representing four states, fives dioceses, and 34 parishes.
Bishop Mark Beckman was the main celebrant of the morning Mass, with St. Thérèse pastor Father Mike Nolan concelebrating. Father Mike Creson also concelebrated, and Deacon Steve Ratterman served as deacon of the Word and deacon of the altar.
The guest speaker for the Lenten retreat was singer-songwriter and musician Sarah Hart, who played piano and sang during the Mass alongside the St. Thérèse of Lisieux choir and youth choir.
The hymns sung during the Mass were written by Mrs. Hart, and many of the Mass prayers were set to Mrs. Hart’s composed Mass of St. Mary Magdalene.
A native of Lancaster, Ohio, Mrs. Hart earned a music degree from Ohio State University. She is now based in Nashville with her husband, Kevin, and two daughters.
Mrs. Hart is considered a leading figure in contemporary Catholic music, and much of her music appears in Catholic hymnals published by OCP Publications. She is a Grammy-nominated songwriter and composer.
Her songs have been recorded by various artists, such as Amy Grant, Celtic Women, Matt Maher, and The Newsboys. Mrs. Hart also has co-written songs with Catholic musicians Sarah
Kroger and Steve Angrisano.
In addition to recording music, Mrs. Hart also has published multiple retreat books and a musical based on the life of St. Bernadette of Lourdes
She travels the country and the world for concerts and speaking engagements, such as parish missions, retreats, and workshops. In October 2013, she had the privilege to sing in St. Peter’s
Square in front of Pope Francis and an audience of 150,000 people.
‘To Love you will return’
At the beginning of Mass, Bishop Beckman mentioned that it was his first time visiting the parish of St. Thérèse of Lisieux
continued on page
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Lenten
A27
GABRIELLE NOLAN
Songs from the heart Sarah Hart delivers a Lenten message at St. Thérèse of Lisieux Church in Cleveland on March 22. Bishop Mark Beckman and Mrs. Hart were the featured guests at the Lenten day retreat for women, which was attended by more than 300 people.
overwhelming birth defect and her family’s effortless love and support for him, and Paul Vaughn, a pro-life advocate who was prosecuted and convicted by the Biden administration Justice Department for peacefully witnessing in the defense of life at a Mount Juliet, Tenn., abortion facility.
After receiving a legislative update from Will Brewer, legal counsel and director of government relations for Tennessee Right to Life, the four young Catholics converged on the Cordell Hull Building in Nashville to meet with legislators and let the lawmakers know of their unwavering support for legislation that upholds the sanctity of life.
At this point in the legislative session, which ran from January through April, bills under consideration included increasing the civil liability of abortion-pill distributors and prescribers who provide abortion pills in Tennessee illegally, clarifying the Human Life Protection Act, weakening the Human Life Protection Act, legalizing assisted suicide in Tennessee, erasing nearly every prolife provision in Tennessee law, and creating an expectation of respect for the sanctity of human life by regulating in vitro fertilization, or IVF, and limiting the number of embryos that can be created and prevent unnecessary destruction of human life.
Mr. Brewer provided an overview of the legislative session after it adjourned on April 22.
“The 2025 legislative session has ended with mixed results for the prolife cause in Tennessee. Because of the continued involvement and contact with legislators by our pro-life supporters, several pro-life measures were passed by the General Assembly, while five pro-death bills were soundly defeated,” Mr. Brewer said. He expounded on the sanctity-oflife bills that were addressed by lawmakers:
n “During the final days of the session, the Medical Ethics Defense Act (HB1044/SB0955) passed and has since been signed by the governor. The law creates conscience protections for doctors who are morally opposed to certain medical practices, including abortion. HB0327/SB0503, which designates June as Celebration of Life month in Tennessee, passed overwhelmingly in the House and Senate and only needs the governor’s signature to go into effect.”
n “The bill that would have had the greatest life-saving impact in Tennessee was left awaiting action by the House Health Committee, where it will be taken up in the 2026 session. HB0005/SB0419 would increase the civil liability of abortion-pill distributors and prescribers who push abortion pills into Tennessee illegally. It would give standing for wrongfuldeath lawsuits to more people than just the mother who took the pill and would increase the possible amount to recover at trial to $5 million.”
n “Tennessee Right to Life carefully watched HB0990/SB1004. … The bill clarifies without weakening current pro-life provisions in the law. It clarifies that previable preterm, premature rupture of membranes, inevitable severe preeclampsia, mirror syndrome associated with fetal hydrops, and an infection that can result in uterine rupture or loss of fertility could be considered exceptions under the law. The bill clarifies what was already assumed in the law. It has been signed by the governor.”
n “Although several attempts were once again made by pro-abortion legislators to remove protections from unborn children, they all failed. They were either voted down or taken off notice by the sponsor. An attempt to legalize assisted suicide was also defeated early in the session. Defeating these measures is a victory for life.”
n “The most disappointing action this session was passage of HB0533/ SB0449, the Fertility Treatment and Contraceptive Protection Act. This bill will allow, as a right under the law, the destruction of ‘unwanted’ human embryos as well as screening/testing that would identify certain traits and characteristics that could target these tiny humans for destruction. After a contentious floor debate in the final days of session,
the bill barely passed in the House.
Tennessee Right to Life, pro-life legislators, and many other pro-life Tennesseans asked the governor to use his veto power to stop this dangerous measure, but unfortunately, he signed it into law, allowing it to take effect on April 29. Several legislators are already planning to address this when they return in 2026, according to Tennessee Right to Life.
Mr. Brewer emphasized that since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, efforts to kill pro-life legislation across the country have dramatically risen.
And that has been true in Tennessee, which has the strongest pro-life laws of any state in the country.
“The blessing and the curse of the post-Dobbs era is that we have changed from a time of clear victories (waiting periods, post-viability bans, trigger bills, etc.) to a time of ‘whack-a-mole’ defense against bills that threaten to undermine our expansive ban on abortion in Tennessee. We were blessed to have killed several anti-life bills, including and especially a bill to create a gaping exception to abortion for babies with life-limiting diagnoses in utero. This bill was a grave threat…,” Mr. Brewer said.
“The silver lining on HB0533 is that there is a passionate appetite to amend it or repeal it completely next year, especially among pro-life legislators who unknowingly voted for its passage this year,” he noted.
Mr. Collins, Ms. Snyder, Ms. Atencio, and Mr. Shouse quickly understood that the sanctity of life, a foundation of the Catholic faith and a key tenet in Church teaching, was on trial in the state legislature, as it appears to be in every recent legislative session.
Mr. Collins pointed out that ProLife Day on the Hill was appropriately held on March 25, the solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord.
When asked why he traveled to Nashville to attend Pro-Life Day on the Hill, Mr. Shouse replied that it was not the first time he had encountered that question.
“My parents asked me the same thing: ‘Why did you go?’ They had the impression we had already won. But if 100 percent of the legislation is not pro-life, then we haven’t won,” Mr. Shouse said. “I went to hopefully, by God’s grace, help increase that to 99 percent to 100 percent.”
Like her friends, Ms. Snyder takes the sanctity of life to heart. She was excited by the opportunity to help make a difference.
“Life is one of the most attacked things in our culture. As one who has been given the gift of life, I feel obliged to be present for those who can’t be present and speak for those who cannot speak,” Ms. Snyder said.
Mr. Shouse and Ms. Snyder agreed that spending the day influencing pro-life legislation at the point of approval or rejection exceeded their expectations.
“I didn’t completely understand that the battle wasn’t over. The battle is definitely not over,” Ms. Snyder said. “How important our presence was and our voice to make that known to legislators.”
And then there was the unexpected.
“We didn’t expect that the day would involve lobbying,” Mr. Shouse
Taking their pro-life message to the top Left: Ian Collins, Rebekah Snyder, Maria Atencio, and Joseph Shouse are among prolife supporters who visited Sen. Randy McNally in the lieutenant governor's office in Nashville. Sen. McNally is a parishioner of St. Mary in Oak Ridge.
said.
He believes that through God people can be made to understand that abortion is something that the United States should be rid of. And he knows that the Holy Spirit is working through those who understand the evil of abortion, those like the people who attended Pro-Life Day on the Hill.
“We feel we were noticed. I feel that us just being there kept the idea in their minds that this is something we shouldn’t allow,” Mr. Shouse said.
Ms. Snyder believes her generation had an impact on Capitol Hill, letting lawmakers know that the defense of life isn’t restricted to those who remember when Roe v. Wade became the law of the land in 1973.
“I think we had the gift of being young. Our youth is a symbol that we’re not going anywhere. We’re going to work hard to change hearts and minds. Our job is to be present for those who can’t be present. Our mere presence was enough to change hearts and minds,” she said.
Ms. Snyder is hoping others in the quartet’s age group will join in the effort to defend life from conception to natural death.
Mr. Shouse understands that changing those hearts and minds can be a monumental effort, but like Ms. Snyder, Ms. Atencio, and Mr. Collins, he believes those prayers will be answered, especially if all generations join hands.
“For a lot of young people, this is a secondary issue. I hope by being there (in Nashville) and our age demographic, we can change minds,” he said. “This is the highest issue. This is life.”
In addition to Pro-Life Day on the Hill being a sanctity-of-life cause, Mr. Collins noted that the special day is a Christian cause that is dear to God.
“‘What you did for the least of these, you did it for me,’” he said, quoting from the book of Matthew. “It’s saving the lives of the defenseless, and I wanted to be a part of this if I could.”
Ms. Atencio could feel the Holy Spirit leading her to make the journey to Nashville.
“It was very providential. I haven’t been that involved, but I wanted to be open to it,” she said. “It really opened my eyes to be a part of it. It was inspiring to be there. It gives people hope for the future.”
Mr. Collins’ front seat for a day to the political process was an awe-inspiring experience, and one he hopes to repeat.
“It was great to see so many prolife politicians and to show the importance of voting pro-life people into the legislature. It is important to
have a part in that as pro-life Tennesseans,” he said.
Mr. Collins shared the views of Ms. Snyder and Mr. Shouse on the role Gen Z can have on the sanctity-of-life issue.
“We had an impact, as much as we were young people who were involved in this,” he said.
And Ms. Atencio felt the strength of so many pro-life supporters converging on Capitol Hill at once on a single day.
“We were strengthening each other for the battle. We are a team. We are a family. You learn a lot from fighting together for this issue, for the children,” she said.
“It’s important for women to know they’re not alone and for people to stand with them for life and for children. This cause really shows the strength of all who are fighting for life,” she added.
Diocese of Nashville Bishop J. Mark Spalding gave a moving opening prayer and talk for the event.
And Stacy Dunn, president of Tennessee Right to Life, expressed gratitude at the turnout for the annual Pro-Life Day on the Hill and to those who spoke to the large group.
“This year’s Pro-Life Day on the Hill was an amazing look into the precious gift of life in all its ages, stages, and conditions. Every speaker and every topic beautifully proclaimed the theme of the day: ‘It’s Simple. Life Is Worth Protecting.’ That means every life. No carve-outs and no exceptions,” Mrs. Dunn said.
She thanked Bishop Spalding for his inspiring remarks that helped set the sanctity-of-life tone for the day.
“It was a great honor to have Bishop Spalding at this year’s ProLife Day. He called attention to the fact that the event coincided with the feast of the Annunciation and encouraged the audience to imitate Mary and say yes to protecting and nurturing the gift of life,” Mrs. Dunn pointed out.
Euthanasia was top of mind for the organizers of Pro-Life Day on the Hill since state lawmakers were considering a law to legalize the controversial practice in certain medical circumstances.
“The theme and speakers were chosen to specifically address a bill that was filed in the Tennessee legislature ... that would have removed protection from children who receive a life-limiting diagnosis while in the womb. If passed, it would have allowed these children to be euthanized. Fortunately, that bill did not advance this year. Thanks be to God,” Mrs. Dunn exclaimed.
Rosetta Graham, a member of St. Henry Parish in Nashville, said she
Below: Bishop J. Mark Spalding of the Diocese of Nashville gives inspirational remarks to some 350 people attending Pro-Life Day on the Hill at the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville on March 25 Life continued on page A24
BILL BREWER (2)
women who are having a child and don’t know where to go if they don’t have help,” she said.
“I really just hope to see the Church continue to try to always do what God is calling it to do,” Ms. Walsh said.
Stan Hunter, an engineer who is a parishioner of Immaculate Conception in Knoxville, was also at work when he heard the news about the pope’s election.
“It’s funny, my boss is not Catholic, but she and her husband were really following it closely, and we were in a group text texting about the pope. ... It was a fun little day at work,” he said.
Mr. Hunter said he was “pretty shocked” to hear that the pope was American “because I know a lot of people thought it was going to be an Italian pope because he was picked so quickly.”
“I kind of feel like the Catholic Church in America is having a moment, and I think this is part of it,” he continued. “I think it’s going to keep building momentum and hopefully people like my boss who aren’t Catholic are really interested in the process, and I’m hoping it can grow the Church in America.”
Mr. Hunter hopes that this pontificate will be similar to Pope Francis’ in terms of focusing on the poor.
“People say [Pope Leo XIV] may be a unifying figure. I feel like the Church isn’t as divided as the media is trying to portray, but I hope he can be that kind of a figure,” he commented.
Claire Collins is a freelance
Life continued from page A23
has attended Pro-Life Day on the Hill for 25 years and enjoys taking part in the daylong event with her sister, Dot LaMarche of Farragut.
Mrs. Graham agreed with her younger counterparts from Holy Ghost Parish about the importance of being present to change hearts and minds about abortion.
Mrs. Graham was especially moved by the keynote speakers and their tireless advocacy for the sanctity of life.
Mr. Vaughn, a Tennessee resident, detailed his Oct. 5, 2022, arrest by the FBI at his home on charges stemming from his peaceful pro-life ministry at the Mount Juliet abortion facility in March 2021.
Mr. Vaughn said he broke no law during the March 2021 event and he pointed out that he even had a positive experience with police officers who were monitoring that event.
However, he said the Dobbs decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2022 prompted the Justice Department in July 2022 to create the Reproductive Rights Task Force, which was charged with enforcing the federal government’s protection of abortion despite the fact abortions were illegal in Tennessee.
He described how he was taken into custody by armed FBI agents as the agents secured his children at gunpoint as he was whisked away Mr. Vaughn was presented with Tennessee Right to Life’s 2025 Lifetime Advocate Award In his talk, Mr. Vaughn spoke of Psalm 145, which describes how one generation will declare the stories of God to the next generation
“God listens to His people,” Mr. Vaughn declared. “It is an amazing time. And those stories are part of who God is in us.”
He pointed out that the pro-life movement in the United States is the only one that has a federal law aimed at prohibiting its speech (the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act).
“My hope for you, each and every one of us, is that we say, ‘God, what is the story that You are telling in my life? What is the narrative that You are telling in this broad picture, and where do I fit? And how can I be used by You to advance Your kingdom and to stand up for the unborn and identify and represent You as the image of God in this world,’” Mr. Vaughn said.
Mrs. Buchanan spoke about her fight for life as she and her husband
writer who is a parishioner at the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Chattanooga. Her family set up the live feed from the Vatican on their projector in the basement for a watch party.
“The kids and I watched with joyful expectation,” she said. “My sons were running around shouting, ‘This is so cool! We have a pope!’ When [the officials] said his name, I kept screaming out in disbelief because I had always heard that we would never have an American pope. I guess it’s true that with God, all things are possible.”
Mrs. Collins had been reading the children’s book titled We Have A Pope with her family to prepare for the conclave.
“It was really cool to watch the boys recognize things like the brass band, the cardinals, St. Peter’s Square, and the phrase Habemus Papam from having read the book together,” she shared. “It was especially cool to be able to watch it all together and answer the questions the kids had. To talk about the tears in our Holy Father’s eyes as he looked into the crowd on the balcony. To see the vast array of national flags represented in the square. To see the men and women faithful, priests and religious, praying and crying together as they received the news. It really touched deeply the reality of our one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church.”
Mrs. Collins previously spent time with the Missionaries of Charity, noting that she realized “that I had never truly experienced what it meant to love the poor.”
“It sounds like our new Holy Father has spent so much time with the poor, and he knows the very faces that Jesus looks upon with such love and tenderness faces it is easy to forget in the United States,” she commented. “Mother Teresa said that those in the West have the true poverty, a spiritual one. I hope that the example of the recent popes will bring to light the poverty we are living in and will inspire us to love the least, not just the economic poor, but also those souls who experience the spiritual, communal, and emotional poverties of our time.”
Mrs. Collins has been struck by Pope Leo XIV’s humility, even connecting it with a local church figure.
“His demeanor reminds me of our new bishop, Bishop Beckman, who a friend reminded me likely became a bishop with the influence of the new pope in his prior role. Both seem to be vessels for God, emptying themselves so as to make room for God to work. This is a beautiful model of the Christian life, as we are all called to become, in a sense, nothing, so that we might be filled with God,” she said.
Blanca Primm, the director of Hispanic Ministry for the Diocese of Knoxville, is a native of Peru, where Pope Leo XIV served as a missionary priest and then bishop.
Mrs. Primm was on a Zoom call at work when a coworker told her there was white smoke to announce a new pope had been elected.
Chancery workers gathered together in a conference room to watch the events unfold via livestream.
“It was great to be with Bishop
Seeking legislative support for life Above: Pro-Life Day on the Hill participants visit with Rep. Jason Zachary, who serves in the Tennessee General Assembly, on March 25. Catholics from across the state joined in the event to lobby state lawmakers to support sanctity-of-life legislation.
The Catholic faithful included Dot LaMarche, Rosetta Graham, and Dr. Michelle Brewer. Below: The group meets with Rep. Elaine Davis in her office on Capitol Hill.
are raising two teen boys, Christian and Chandler, who accompanied her to the Pro-Life Day on the Hill event.
She explained how abortion is foreign to her, even when doctors informed her and her husband that Christian, who is now 14, had an extremely rare genetic disorder called Tessier Cleft Lip and Palate.
“My child was wanted and loved from the moment of conception. The pro-life side of my story didn’t even begin until after Christian was born. My eyes were open to the fact that my child was a target of the pro-abortion movement simply because of his diagnosis,” Mrs. Buchanan said.
“Christian’s diagnosis is so incredibly rare that he is about one of 60 in the world born with his condition. When you Google his condition, all of these pictures of him pop up. He
Mark Beckman and the Chancery staff to experience this historic time,” she said. “Some were looking at an online poll with four leading candidates. I didn’t want to guess any names; I wanted to be surprised by the Holy Spirit!” At that point, Mrs. Primm was unfamiliar with Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost and that he had served in Peru for more than 20 years.
“I must say, it warms my heart and moves me to think about the connection that I feel with the pope,” she remarked. “My parish in Lima, St. Monica, was an Augustinian parish. I received my sacraments of initiation there, and the pastor, Spanish-born missionary priest Father Miguel Diez Medina, was crucial in my spiritual growth and involvement in the parish. When I was 11 years old, he invited me to join a youth group that was being formed with Augustinian spirituality. There I learned about small groups and the importance of building a Christian community of friends where Christ’s love is the center and then sharing that love in the world.”
Mrs. Primm noted that she has been watching many videos about the new pope, and while Bishop Prevost was in Chiclayo, Peru, he was “so respected and loved.”
“He became one with the people,” she said. “He loved Peruvian food (which is among the best in the world). He often visited faraway, small towns, talked to the people, found out their material and spiritual needs. He welcomed
Reaction continued on page A25
really where my pro-life advocacy started.
As a new mother, she encountered strangers who pressed her to see the new baby and were aghast at his appearance that is part of his disability.
And an acquaintance of Mrs. Buchanan’s told her that she was a “horrible mother” for letting Christian live. The woman then began to lecture Mrs. Buchanan that the compassionate and empathetic stance to take was to abort Christian once she received the prenatal diagnosis
“I was confused. I thought, where does she see suffering? I haven’t seen suffering. It was so bewildering to me that she could look at my child and how loved he was and see suffering. That’s when I knew that I didn’t want Christian to live in a world where people looked at him and that was the first thought that they had,” Mrs. Buchanan said
“I wanted people to look at Christian and the first thought they had was his humanity and his value,” she added, receiving an ovation from those in attendance
She decided then that she would not be quieted by the pro-death crowd, and instead she was going to become an advocate for life and persuade the world as best as she could to share her belief about the value, humanity, and dignity of Christian and others with disabilities
“Every life has value. And that does not change because a doctor adds a diagnosis to a medical chart,” she said, noting that babies in the womb are increasingly targeted for abortion because of an abnormality diagnosis
Mrs. Buchanan believes her vocation was divinely inspired.
has written the book on his condition,” she shared.
As part of the condition, Christian is blind.
As the young family (in their early 20s at the time) was introduced to the world of disability and was searching for a new normal, they didn’t expect to face challenges from people upon them seeing Christian.
“We didn’t know that the world viewed disability in such a different way. I guess we took for granted that because we saw Christian as our child, as any other human, that everybody else would, too,” Mrs. Buchanan said. “I was certainly young and naïve in that respect, that people would look at Christian and just see this sweet baby like I saw him. But I learned really quickly that that wasn’t the case. And that’s
“I don’t think it was a mistake that Christian was born while I was in law school, and that I was able to become a lawyer to defend the rights of disabled people,” she said. “Their humanness and their value began the moment they were conceived.”
Pro-Life Day on the Hill proved inspiring to all who attended and illustrated the effectiveness of sanctity-oflife advocates when they join together for the important common cause
The daylong program had a lasting impact on Holy Ghost Parish’s young adults who decided this year to join the fight for life. They plan to return to Nashville in 2026
“This experience solidified my feeling that my presence is impactful, and our prayers can change hearts,” Ms. Snyder said ■
and helped immigrants to Peru, most recently those coming from Venezuela. Peru has over 1 million Venezuelan immigrants. During the COVID pandemic he was able to get oxygen supplies for so many people who without his help would have died. During the El Niño flooding in 2017, he accompanied those impacted by the natural disaster and raised funds to help them. He completely integrated himself in the community.”
With his extensive experience in Peru and other countries, Mrs. Primm believes this will “allow the Holy Father to understand how to reach out to all the different groups within the universal Church.”
“To keep in mind that no one should be excluded from the integration process within the Church, that this is not just for a small group, but for everyone. God is for everyone,” she said.
Mrs. Primm believes that Pope Leo XIV is the “pope that the universal Church needs at this time.”
“He is from the United States, and he is humble, a bridge-builder and a seeker of peace and communion among people,” she said. “He reflects what he preaches. Being a living witness of Christ’s love on earth is what we need. He’s the Vicar of Christ on earth who the Holy Spirit has sent us. He’s a child of immigrants and an immigrant to Peru. He’s a missionary who can teach us by example. I have some friends in Chiclayo who can’t stop describing him as a humble and compassionate pastor who ‘smells like the sheep’ in the
words of Pope Francis, who is always available to the people.”
With the start of the new pontificate, Mrs. Primm has certain hopes for the American Catholic Church and for the pope.
“I hope that we as Catholics in the USA can become more unified with each other and that we feel more strongly united with the universal Church. I also see the importance of becoming more missionary and aware that we need to expand our love to others like Jesus did,” she said.
“I hope Pope Leo XIV will follow in the steps of Pope Francis in continuing to build a Church that welcomes everyone and doesn’t forget the needy,” she continued.
“A pontiff who can be a sign of unity within the Church and among the nations who can lead the Church toward communion and peace through listening and dialogue, and especially a Church that is missionary and centered in Jesus Christ.”
Fernando Sanchez, who leads the pre-catechumenate program at the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Chattanooga, was watching coverage of the conclave on EWTN when the white smoke first appeared. And when Habemus Papam! was announced in Latin and he heard the word Prevost, “I knew exactly who the new pope was and where he was from.”
Mr. Sanchez confided that as the conclave began, he made a bet with a priest friend about who the leading contenders for the papacy were. And while Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was not one of his
top picks, he was a leading contender tapped by his priest friend.
“So, now I owe him a beer. I was genuinely surprised when Cardinal [Dominique] Mamberti said his name. But I knew that he was an American, that he had spent a lot of time doing missionary work in South America, and that Pope Francis God rest his soul had made him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops,” Mr. Sanchez said.
“My initial impression of Pope Leo XIV is very positive. I think his papacy will be one of bringing us ‘back to basics.’ In the homily he delivered to the College of Cardinals at his first papal Mass in the Sistine Chapel the day after his election, Pope Leo spoke about the necessity of being absolutely committed to Jesus Christ. By singing his first papal Mass in Latin and using Benedict XVI’s ferula, Pope Leo revealed his humility and continuity with the past, something he hinted at when he first appeared on the loggia of St. Peter’s after his election wearing the traditional red papal mozzetta and stole,” Mr. Sanchez pointed out.
The basilica lay minister hopes Pope Leo XIV can emphasize the importance of both progressive and conservative Catholic tenets in the U.S. Church and thus be a bridgebuilder by stressing doctrinal clarity.
“By highlighting the importance of both sides like Pope Leo XIII did, I hope that Pope Leo XIV can help heal the sad divisions present in the American Church. I hope Pope Leo will show us how to stand up for the poor, vulner-
able, and marginalized including migrants and refugees while remaining faithful to the Church’s magisterium,” he said.
Susan Collins of Notre Dame Parish in Greeneville was working when the papal announcement was made, so she accessed the Associated Press on her computer and was able to watch the white smoke emerge from the Sistine Chapel.
“I was very surprised yet proud to hear about the first U.S. pope,” Mrs. Collins said. “It was so exciting that I stayed glued to the report as they showed St. Peter’s Basilica with rays of sunshine peeking over the top of the building. Absolutely beautiful! Then the cardinals stepped out on the side balconies as the announcement was made. The Holy Father stepped out on the balcony wearing the vestments he had chosen, and that was a true moment in history.”
And then later on May 8, the Notre Dame community was able to share in the excitement with Bishop Mark Beckman, who was celebrating evening Mass at Notre Dame to confer the sacrament of confirmation to 19 young people “who will remember that day for a long time.”
Mrs. Collins joins with many North American Catholics who thought they would never see a U.S.-born pope and are cheering for Pope Leo XIV.
“I think Americans have taken pride in having a pope that was born in the USA and that they will join many in prayer for the Holy Father to be guided by the Holy Spirit during his papacy,” she shared. ■
Diocesan seminarians Renzo Alvarado Suarez,
A.J. Houston are called to Holy Orders Ordinations are set for June 7
continued from page A16
nance, and unlike the long-established Benedictines and other monks, they did not vow stability, meaning they were not bound to a single monastery for life.
Pope Innocent advised the Tuscan hermits to organize under the rule of St. Augustine, a guide for religious life the saint had developed around the year 400. It covered the breadth of religious life, including purpose and basis of common life, prayer, moderation and self-denial, safeguarding chastity and fraternal correction, and governance and obedience.
Written initially as a letter for a community of religious women in Hippo, the diocese in modernday Algeria that St. Augustine led, the rule made its way to Europe and influenced St. Benedict, who formed the Benedictines in Italy in 529.
The rule of St. Augustine had also informed the Dominicans, but when the Tuscan hermits adopted the rule, they also took the name and spiritual fatherhood of its author. Over time, they transitioned from an eremitical way of life to the mendicant model expressed by other medieval orders, which is why they are known as “friars.”
Women’s religious communities also joined the Augustinians, producing saints including St. Clare of Montefalco and St. Rita of Cascia. Male Augustinian saints include St. John of Sahagún, an early Augustinian from Spain, and St. Nicholas of Tolentine, who was the first Augustinian to be canonized after the order’s “grand union” in 1256 Today, the Order of St. Augustine is an international religious community that includes more than 2,800 members in nearly 50 countries, including the United States, where they are organized into three provinces, or geographical areas. Lay men and women also affiliate themselves with the Augustinians and the order’s spirituality and support the order’s work.
Augustinians in the United States have a strong reputation for education and founded Villanova University near Philadelphia and Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass., and high schools in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oklahoma, Ontario, and Pennsylvania. They also care for several parishes and have missions in Japan and Peru.
Contemporary Augustinians describe themselves as “active contemplatives” with varied ministries who are “called to restlessness” a nod to St. Augustine’s famous description of himself in his influential autobiography, Confessions. “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”
The U.S. Augustinians’ vocations website describes this restlessness as “a divine gift” that they “believe … can direct us to God.”
Despite the order’s 800-year history and its Italian origins Pope Leo XIV is the first Augustinian to be named a pope.
A Chicago native, Pope Leo attended an Augustinian high school seminary, since closed, near Holland, Mich., and then Villanova University, where he majored in math, before entering the Augustinian novitiate in St. Louis in 1977. He professed first vows in 1978 and final vows in 1981. He was ordained a priest the following year. His ministries as a young priest included missionary work in Peru and seminary formation before he became provincial of his order’s Chicago-based Midwest province, Our Mother of Good Counsel, and then his order’s worldwide leader, a role he held for two six-year terms.
Augustinians worldwide met the news of an Augustinian pope with joy. The head of the Midwestern Augustinian province, Prior Provincial Father Anthony B. Pizzo, said on May 8 that the community celebrated the news of Pope Leo’s election, and it was “honored that he is one of our own, a brother formed in the restless heart of the Augustinian Order.”
Preparing for the priesthood
Left: Deacon A.J. Houston signs a declaration made prior to the reception of Holy Orders as Bishop Mark Beckman witnesses the signing in the Our Lady of the Mountains Chapel in the Diocese of Knoxville Chancery on April 16. Above: Deacon Renzo Alvarado Suarez places his hand on the Gospels while he gives a profession of faith and takes the oath of fidelity as part of his call to Holy Orders as Bishop Beckman watches. The transitional deacons have completed their seminary studies and have been called to Holy Orders, which is the final step before being ordained to the priesthood. Bishop Beckman will ordain them on June 7 at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
“We see him as a bridge-builder, rooted in the spirit of St. Augustine, walking forward with the whole Church as a companion on the journey,” he said.
After identifying himself as an Augustinian on
St. Peter’s loggia on May 8, Pope Leo quoted St. Augustine: “For you I am a bishop, with you, I am a Christian.”
“In this sense we can all walk together toward that homeland that God has prepared,” he said. ■
EMILY BOOKER (2)
Augustinian
“Also, I want to welcome the women who have come from all over the place to be here for a day that promises to be a beautiful day of being recreated in the mystery of God’s love. It is good that we are here today during this season of Lent,” he remarked
The Gospel reading for the morning was the story of the prodigal son returning to the home of his father, and Bishop Beckman focused on the love of God
“I remember a few years ago, you’ll perhaps recall it, Ash Wednesday fell on Feb. 14, on Valentine’s Day,” the bishop began in his homily. “I remember celebrating Mass for [school children], and I had read a reflection about the ashes by a priest somewhere in the U.S. ... And he said when we put the ashes on the forehead, one of the formulas that we can use is ‘Remember that you are dust and to dust you will return.’ And, he said, but because we fall on Valentine’s Day this year, I’ve been thinking of another thing. And, of course, what are we thinking about on Valentine’s Day but love? He said, ‘Remember that you are loved and to Love you shall return.’ And is not the cross a perfect sign of God’s love revealed for us?”
Bishop Beckman said he suspected the younger son in the Gospel had forgotten how he was loved by the father.
“For him it was about getting what he wanted at that moment. Give me my inheritance,” he said. “Of course, when do you get your inheritance? When your father is dead. And so, what mattered to him at that moment was pursuing his own desires. He forgot what it was to be loved by his father and to love his father in return. So, he went far from home. And yet the great mystery is that that abandonment of love brought him great misery and suffering. And there’s a blessing in that kind of suffering because it’s calling us back home, isn’t it?”
The bishop shared that before Mass began, he and the other clergy noticed that at a retreat for women, the Gospel story was focused solely on men.
“But I said, isn’t the father in some ways, isn’t his love more like the love of a mother or a grandmother, right? Infinitely unconditional,” he commented. “Most of you women get that more than we stubborn men at times in our lives. So, God is for us both father and in some ways a mother for us, rich in compassion, heartfelt, tender mercy. God created both men and women in the divine image and likeness. So, both men and women reflect something of the great mystery of God.
“The father runs out and embraces the son and places a ring on his finger, a robe on him,” he continued. “He clothes him. His dignity as son, a freed son, is restored to him. He is welcomed home by the father. Remember son, daughter, you are loved and to Love you will return.”
Bishop Beckman than turned his focus to the older son in the Gospel, who responds to his father’s actions with anger
continued from page A3
there present.
“Unfortunately, most of us are like the older son, I fear, because we’re the kind of people who come to these retreats and workshops and are faithful about Church. ‘I always do the right thing,’” the bishop said. “The older son, the paradox is he is also far from home. He, too, does not understand the love of his father for him. For him, it’s all about trying to earn it or prove it, to do the right thing. To be the responsible one. And so that self-righteousness, that pride that he has wrapped around his heart is a shield against love. That’s why he has a hard time loving his brother.”
Bishop Beckman told the congregation that the love of God will “pursue us wherever we are,” never letting go.
“The Gospel ends today unfinished, doesn’t it? What happens to the older son? Will the older son allow the love of his father to pierce the shield around his heart and break it open to know that he, too, is loved? … I believe the Gospel ends unfinished because all of us are invited to look at our own hearts. Where are we today? Are we aware of the deep love of God that so wants to embrace us today and to bring us fully home? Remember that you are loved, and to Love you will return,” the bishop said
At the conclusion of Mass, Bishop Beckman expressed his gratitude for the liturgy and the clergy and also mentioned his connection to the retreat presenter
“Sarah Hart and I were together when I was first a pastor way back in Springfield, Tenn., in the late ’90s, so I’m so grateful to see Sarah, and I baptized her first child,” the bishop recounted
‘Spiritually and emotionally touched by the day’
Following Mass was the retreat check-in and a continental breakfast. Mrs. Hart led a morning session of music, talks, and activities that was infused with her humor. Lunch followed. She led an afternoon session that included a closing prayer, which ended at 2 p.m.
Mrs. Hart explained that the retreat theme of recreation first came to her during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think the start of COVID was a moment for all of us to sort of take stock, wasn’t it?” she said. “I am a traveler by nature; my husband says I am a ball of chaos. … So, it was very, very difficult when COVID happened. I kind of put the brakes on.”
n The Pope of Plain (and Plane) Talk: During 47 trips abroad, Francis who has expressed a dislike of excessive formalities has often gone “off script” amid in-flight press conferences.
His remarks, especially when taken out of context, became sensations. While returning from the 2013 World Youth Day gathering, the pope was asked about homosexual men in the clergy. He answered, “If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord, and has goodwill, who am I to judge?”
Unsurprisingly, parties for and against cherrypicked the comment and controversy ensued.
In “The Name of God is Mercy” his booklength interview with Andrea Tornielli published in 2016 Francis addressed the brouhaha headon, saying he had paraphrased “the Catechism of the Catholic Church, where it says that these people should be treated with delicacy and not be marginalized.” He reminded us that accompaniment has precedent in the Gospels, and thus we should, “... Show goodwill, show them the way, and accompany them along it.”
n The Pope Proponent of the Marginalized: The pope’s concern for people on the margins is sincere and deep. Early in his pontificate
Journeying on their way
Left: Bishop Mark Beckman celebrates Mass at St. Thérèse of Lisieux Church in Cleveland on March 22 as part of a daylong Lenten retreat. Concelebrating the Mass are Father Mike Creson, left, and Father Mike Nolan, right. Deacon Steve Ratterman, center, served as deacon of the Mass.
Below: Sarah Hart plays piano during Mass and sings with the St. Thérèse of Lisieux choir and youth choir. All the hymns that were sung during the Mass were written by Mrs. Hart.
Her booking agent canceled all of her events for six months.
“When you’re a goer, when you’re a runner, it’s very hard to stop and all of a sudden do nothing and go inward,” Mrs. Hart shared. “But that’s what we did during that time. And during this time, I was like, what do I have? What can I do? What can I learn? I really wanted to make it something special, so I did. I made some changes; there were things I loved about that time. One of the coolest things, though, was my mother. … I called her one day and was like, how are you doing? And she’s like, Sarah, I’ve made a decision that I’m going to start taking up art again.”
Her mother, who was previously an art teacher, would send Mrs. Hart images of her work and ask if it was of good quality.
“I think that we as women fail to recognize the gift that we are and the gifts that we possess, and God can always do something new and something beautiful in us and with us,” Mrs. Hart commented She continued to say that in the process of recreating oneself, a key component is dignity.
Looking to the biblical account of Adam and Eve, Mrs. Hart discussed how they hid after eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. However, even though they sinned, God still chose to make clothing for Adam and Eve so they could cover themselves
“All of our lives, from the very beginning, shame and blame have been with us,” she said. “And I’m here to testify to this, that women carry their shame and blame very deeply. We have a hard time with shame and blame. So, I want to talk about
while he was still surprisingly nimble for an older man missing a portion of a lung he habitually waded into the crowds to greet people, kiss babies, and give his security detail agita.
On one memorable occasion, encountering a man whose face was covered in tumors thanks to a genetic disorder, Pope Francis, like his saintly namesake, gently kissed and embraced him a man who a beauty-obsessed world found hard to look at and easy to relegate to the sidelines. “We will not find the Lord unless we truly accept the marginalized,” Francis preached at a 2015 Mass for new cardinals. “Truly, dear brothers, the Gospel of the marginalized is where our credibility is at stake, is discovered, and is revealed.”
We might alliteratively understand Pope Francis in other ways, and his encyclicals would support us:
n The Pope of the People: Fratelli Tutti (“On Fraternity and Social Friendship”)
n The Pope of Prayerful Joy: Evangelii Gaudium
(“The Joy of the Gospel”)
n The Pope of Perpetual Hope: Lumen Fidei (“The Light of Faith”)
It must be said that two of Pope Francis’ most controversial documents, the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, which profoundly reduced opportunities for traditional Catholics to celebrate the Latin Mass (as they had been doing since
embracing our dignity and what it means to embrace our dignity. … Look through the lens of God. Try to see yourself through the lens of God.”
Rachel Richardson, an Episcopalian, attended the day retreat with her sister, who is a parishioner of Holy Spirit in Soddy-Daisy.
Although she is not Catholic, Ms. Richardson thought the event was “wonderful.
“At one point I was just sobbing. … I feel spiritually and emotionally touched by the day,” she said.
Ms. Richardson was particularly moved by Mrs. Hart’s song ”All Is Well.”
“She was talking about anxiety, something that I deal with. That one really got me,” she said.
Jane Hubbard, a parishioner at St. Thérèse of Lisieux, was on the planning committee for the event.
“Sarah is such a creative individual,” she said. “She just shows the love of God in everything that she does, says, and sings. She’s just a true talent, and I love the fact that she shares that talent and her love of God with so many people.”
Ms. Hubbard said that Mrs. Hart’s messages helped her Lenten experience by making her “more reflective and brought up more things for me to pray about, give more attention to.”
She also mentioned that as part of her Lent, she would be making a five-day pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago in Spain.
“[Sarah’s] song that we sang at the end of Mass, ‘I Journey on My Way’… that’s going to be my theme song,” Ms. Hubbard shared.
For more information on Mrs. Hart and her music ministry, visit her website at sarahhart.com ■
Pope Benedict’s own 2007 motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum), and the declaration Fiducia Supplicans, on the pastoral meaning of blessings that went out over the signature of Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, have each required multiple clarifications by Pope Francis or the cardinal, and possibly impacted the spirit of the conclave.
And so, in these early days of remembrance, we recall these moments of unique greatness, while leaving it for others to acknowledge all that remains undone particularly as regards multiple, specific scandals concerning the abuse of minors, seminarians, religious, and vulnerable adults and those crises within the Church that remain insufficiently addressed.
In those cases, many people are still in pain, and thus so is the whole Church. We can prayerfully remain mindful of the intentions of those people as the successor of Francis wrestles with ongoing, substantial, and challenging issues within the culture and the Church.
Doing so would demonstrate that we’ve learned something about tenderness and spiritual generosity from our departed pope. ■ Elizabeth Scalia is editor at large for OSV. Follow her on X @theanchoress.
Pontiff
GABRIELLE NOLAN (2)
Colin “Coke” Lee Kamperman passed away at home on March 14 after a lengthy illness. He was surrounded by family.
Dr. Kamperman was born on April 7, 1930, to O. Carl and Laura D. Kamperman of Ellwood City, Pa. He graduated from Ellwood City High School in 1947 and Geneva College in 1951, majoring in pre-medicine.
After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh in 1955 with a medical degree, he was commissioned into the U.S. Navy Medical Corps.
On Sept. 21, 1957, Dr. Kamperman married his wife of 67 years, Jane E. O’Rourke, his favorite student nurse.
He was boarded in family practice and preventive medicine with a sub-specialty in occupational medicine, and he was a lifelong member of the American Academy of Family Practice as well as various other discipline-specific professional organizations.
He set up a family practice in New Kensington, Pa., and soon after joined the Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA). In New Kensington, he also was on the staff of Citizen’s General Hospital, where he established a “free clinic” that dispensed no-cost immunizations to local citizens. He became the medical director of ALCOA’ s New Kensington Works and then transferred to Maryville in 1972, where he was named medical director of the Tennessee and North Carolina operations.
While in Maryville, Dr. Kamperman volunteered with the Blount County Rescue Squad.
After retiring from ALCOA in 1986, he spent 10 years as the head of occupational medicine at the
U.S. Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Md. After retiring from Aberdeen, Mr. and Mrs. Kamperman returned to Tennessee, settling in Tellico Village. During this period, DMr. Kamperman volunteered with the Loudon County Rescue Squad. His work with the rescue squad eventually resulted in the creation of the EMT division of the Tellico Village Volunteer Fire Department.
Dr. Kamperman was an avid fly fisherman, artisan of wood carvings, American Red Cross disaster response volunteer, member of the Knights of Columbus, lector, and eucharistic minister at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Lenoir City.
Dr. and Mrs. Kamperman are the happy parents of Kevin L. Kamperman (Tracye), Cynthia Kamperman Lineberger (Michael), and Brian K. Kamperman (Jennifer). Grandchildren include Colin M. Lineberger (Michelle), Kaitlyn Jo Lineberger (Ben), Kelsey L. Kamperman (Josh Porter), Margaret KampermanHearn (Patrick), Sean G. Kamperman, Kevin L. Kamperman II (Elyssia), and Conor L. Lineberger (Peyton). Great-grandchildren include Callyn Fletcher, Cael Lineberger, Aiyana Lavigne, Caden Lineberger, and Ashlynn Porter.
A funeral Mass for Dr. Kamperman was held on March 21 at St. Thomas the Apostle.
Memorials in Dr. Kamperman’s memory may be made to t he American Red Cross.
James E. Landsman
James Emanuel Landsman, affectionately known as Jim to his friends and family, passed away peacefully on March 10 in Knoxville due to complications from Parkinson ’s disease.
Mr. Landsman, who was born on May 22, 1944, in Baltimore, spent 80 remarkable years building a legacy of love, service, and unwavering dedication to his family.
Mr. Landsman was preceded
in death by his parents, Raymond and Dorothy Landsman; his siblings, Marty Landsman, Joseph Landsman, Joan Raffensberger, and Jerry Landsman; and his granddaughter, Brandy DeVinentz.
His beloved wife, Theadora (Dora Torres), was his partner in life for 62 incredible years. Together, they raised a family that was Mr. Landsman ’s pride and joy: children, Helena (David) Watson, Valerie Landsman, James (Brandy) Landsman, and Raymond (Regina) Landsman. His legacy includes his adoring grandchildren, Matthew, Benjamin, David James, Jacob, Shannon, Thomas, Brianna, Samantha, Savanah, and Raina; and his great-grandchildren, Elizabeth, Mikala, Michael, Liam, and Emmanuel. They will carry his memory and values into the future.
Surviving siblings include Jack Landsman, Jay Landsman, Jeff Landsman, Jan Landsman, Janice Landsman, and Joel Landsman; and a host of nieces, nephews, and friends.
Mr. Landsman proudly served his country as a veteran of the U.S. Navy, a testament to his unwavering patriotism and sense of duty. His entrepreneurial spirit shone brightly as the former owner of Your Chariot Awaits for 20 years. He also dedicated his time and skills as an EMT and CRT, always ready to lend a helping hand to those in need.
Education was a lifelong pursuit for Mr. Landsman, who studied at Catonsville Community College and Baltimore Community College, laying a foundation for his diverse interests and career paths. His intelligence and meticulous nature were evident in everything he did, whether it was running a
business or indulging in his passion for woodworking.
An avid runner, Mr. Landsman completed marathons and races, including the Marine Corps Marathon and the Baltimore Marathon, with a spirit that inspired all who knew him.
His love for music was expressed through the strings of his guitar, and his passion for horse racing and Baltimore professional sports teams never waned.
Mr. Landsman was a true “jack of all trades,” methodical in planning and completing tasks, a trait that served him well in both his professional and personal life.
In his later years, he found joy in the History Channel and a variety of documentaries, always seeking to learn and understand more about the world. “The Godfather” was his favorite movie, a nod to his appreciation for stories of loyalty and family, and blue was his favorite color, refl ecting the depth of his character. And we can’t forget his love for Maryland blue crabs!
Feeding his family and guests, celebrating holidays surrounded by loved ones, and singing with his grandchildren are among the favorite memories Mr. Landsman leaves behind. His selfl essness, intelligence, and loving nature are words that only begin to describe a man whose impact was as profound as it was heartfelt.
James Emanuel Landsman’s life was a testament to the beauty of selfl essness and the power of love. He will be deeply missed, forever remembered, and always celebrated.
Mr. Landsman was a longtime member of St. Agnes Church in Baltimore, and he served as an altar boy at St. Ambrose Church in Baltimore as a youth.
Although Mr. Landsman was unable to attend Mass in Knoxville due to his illness, he received Communion from the extraordinary ministers at St. Albert the Great Church.
Dr. Kamperman
Colin Lee Kamperman
Mr. Landsman
It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Nancy Marie Godbold Fox, who departed this world on April 10.
Mrs. Fox, who was born in Savannah, Ga., was a devoted wife to Tom Fox for 55 years and a proud mother and grandmother.
Mrs. Fox found joy in spending time with her family and friends and as a dedicated member of her parish, St. Thérèse of Lisieux in Cleveland.
She loved cheering on and playing with her grandchildren and was always their biggest fan.
Mrs. Fox retired from Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga after a remarkable 30-year career as a beloved teacher and coach. She led Notre Dame teams to state championships in softball, tennis, and bowling, and inspired generations of students through her leadership, spirit, and unwavering dedication. She loved Notre Dame and its mission with her whole heart. Her deep commitment to Catholic education and to forming students in faith, character, and excellence was evident in everything she did. She truly gave her life in service to the school she loved so dearly.
A proud alumna of Notre Dame herself, she was deeply committed to the school’s mission. While she led several teams to state championships, her greatest passion was always her students and the lifelong friendships she built within the school community.
Mrs. Fox was preceded in death by her parents, Gustave and Mary Godbold, her brother, Gustave Godbold Jr., and her sister-in-law, Connie Godbold.
Her memory will be cherished by her surviving husband, Tom; her children, Tommy (Tara) and Tony (Lauren); her grandchildren, Anna Grace, Caroline, Ella, Jack, Millie, Ben, Shelby, Eleanor, and Leeam; her brother, Christopher A. Godbold, her niece, Kathleen Godbold Dyke, a nephew, Gustave Godbold III; and countless friends who were touched by her genuine and loving nature.
A celebration of Mrs. Fox’s life was held on April 13, with Father Mike Nolan, pastor of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, officiating.
Richard H. Hunley
Richard Hooper Hunley, age 78, died March 31 at his home in Knoxville.
Mr. Hunley was a kind and gregarious man who loved golf, grilling, music, the beach, football, “The Andy Griffith Show,” vanilla ice cream, making people laugh, and, above all, his family.
Mr. Hunley was born on Oct. 12, 1946, the only son of Reva Beeler Hunley and Richard Hooper Hunley Sr. He was the third of four children; one sister, Iva “Peggy” Miller, preceded him in death. Two sisters survive him: Joan (Jack) Bright and Judy (Bill) Todd.
Mr. Hunley was a graduate of the University of Tennessee and worked in sales for nearly 50 years. After his retirement, he enjoyed spending time with his beloved wife, Judy, and her sister and brother-in-law, Betty Ann and Greg Campbell.
Mr. Hunley will be remembered for his humor and for his enthusiasm for solving the problems of his daughters and anyone else he cared about. He was generous with his time and his good advice on anything from appliance repair to researching new cars. If one of
his daughters mentioned needing something, she might be surprised by a package from Amazon within a day or two. He loved his family more than anything, and they all knew they could count on him. Mr. Hunley spent his last day on earth helping his former wife and dear friend, Beth Carroll Hunley, who was preparing for an upcoming surgery, by picking up some items she needed and taking her dinner.
Mr. Hunley also is survived by his daughters and sons-in-law, Leslie Hunley Sholly and John Sholly, Elizabeth “Betsy” Hunley Rueff and Andrew Rueff, and Anne Hunley Trisler; his stepdaughters, Kelly (J.W.) Hudson and Penny (John) Johnson; his grandchildren, Emily, Jake, Theo, William, and Lorelei Sholly, Anna and Benjamin Rueff, Zachary, Ella, and Leo Trisler, Hailey Hudson, and Mason and Eli Johnson; many nieces and nephews; and countless friends.
A funeral Mass for Mr. Hunley was celebrated at Immaculate Conception Church in Knoxville on April 10, with Father Jim Haley, CSP, serving as the celebrant. Interment was to be at Lynnhurst Cemetery
Donations in Mr. Hunley’s memory may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Valeria M. Baker
Valeria “Val” M. Baker passed away in Crossville on April 25 at the age of 95.
Mrs. Baker was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and greatgrandmother.
She loved to do crafts and was a quilting queen. She was very devoted to her church and her religion.
She leaves behind her loving husband of 68 years, Frank Baker; a son, Frank and wife Paulette; and a daughter, Deborah; grandchildren Stacy, Frankie, and Sarah; and great grandchildren Adam, Oliver, Mallory, and Josie.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her brother, Roy, her grandson, Brandon, and great-grandchildren Joshua and Patrick.
A funeral Mass for Mrs. Baker was celebrated on May 1 at St. Alphonsus Church in Crossville. And heaven has gained another angel.
Mary Seay
Mary Seay, age 98, of Knoxville, passed away on April 30.
Base in Virginia, and the postal accounts division of the General Accounting office in Asheville.
A graveside service at Greenwood Cemetery was to be scheduled.
Donations in Mrs. Seay’s memory can be made to Sacred Ground Hospice House, 1120 Dry Gap Pike, Knoxville, TN 37918, or to Sleep Tight Kids, 110 Doveridge Drive, Columbus, NC 28722.
Ronald L. Johnson
Ronald Lynn Johnson passed away peacefully surrounded by the love and tears of his family and caring and dedicated staff of Ben Atchley Tennessee State Veterans Home.
Mr. Johnson was born at home on Park Road in Clinton on Feb. 7, 1941, to Corrina Mae (Wallace) Johnson and Henry Sherman Johnson. He was the youngest of six boys.
Mr. Johnson was a retired master sergeant in the U.S. Army, with a 22-year career as an infantry paratrooper. He began military service at the young age of 15 with the Tennessee National Guard and enlisted in the Army upon graduation from Clinton High School in 1958.
Mr. Johnson’s military career included combat tours with the 82nd Airborne Division in the Dominican Republic in 1965 and with the 101st Airborne Division (Screaming Eagles) in Vietnam in 1965 and 1966. His military career took him from Clinton to the far corners of the world, including assignments in Korea and multiple tours to Germany.
It was during his first tour while stationed in Berlin, Germany, that he met and then married his wife of 49 years, Hedwig (Heda) Knaus. Their first son, Hans-Jurgen, came into the world in Berlin. Daughter Kyra was born in Fort Bragg, N.C., and son Erick Andreas was born in Knoxville while Mr. Johnson was engaged in heavy fighting in Vietnam.
As a result of his love for Heda, Mr. Johnson adopted the German culture and language as his own. Some of his fondest memories were made with Mrs. Johnson’s family in Butzbach, Germany.
by his parents, his five brothers: Carl Lee, Byron Trent, George Wallace, Roy Paul, and Sherman Jr., and his wife, Heda. He is survived by his three children; five grandchildren, Joshua, Justin, Travis, Taylor, and Aden; and nine great-grandchildren, Krissy, Jared, Jasada, Ally, Cole Wade, Heidi, Little Justin, Aunah, and Summer.
A funeral Mass for Mr. Johnson was held at St. Joseph Church on May 17. The family requests that contributions in Mr. Johnson’s memory be made to the St. Joseph Church columbarium fund.
Calvin Lane
Calvin Dexter Lane of Sevierville passed away on May 1 at the age of 88.
Mr. Lane was remembered at a memorial Mass celebrated by Father John Arthur Orr and concelebrated by Father John O’Neill at Holy Ghost Church in Knoxville on May 7.
Mr. Lane was born on Oct. 1, 1936, to James and Sara Lane in Knoxville.
He worked as a computer console operator at ALCOA and at the University of Tennessee as a courier. He was a member of Holy Ghost Parish and the Knights of Columbus Council 16523.
Mr. Lane enjoyed practicing Spanish and was an avid piano player. He spent many years serving as the piano player at Churchwell Baptist Church and continued sharing his talents with the residents at Sevierville Health and Rehabilitation Center, where he lived for the last four years.
Mr. Lane will be missed by his family, friends, and all who knew him.
Marilyn Joyce Mack
We are sad to announce that on April 15, at the age of 81, Marilyn Joyce Mack of Loudon passed away.
In the sacred silence of farewell, Marilyn Joyce is released into the embrace of eternity, knowing that her light will continue to shine brightly in the tapestry of the lives of her loved ones. And as her memory is carried forward, may comfort be found in the knowledge that love is eternal, and that Marilyn Joyce's spirit lives on in the beauty that surrounds us.
Mrs. Seay was a member of St. Albert the Great Church and enjoyed swimming and playing tennis. Mrs. Seay is preceded in death by her loving husband of 59 years, David; parents, Joseph F. Courtney and Mary Boland Courtney; and sisters, Rosalie Courtney and Kathryn Penland of Asheville, N.C.
She is survived by her daughters, Chris (Ralph) Schwarzkopf, of Knoxville, Fran (Bob) Ray of Weaverville, N.C., Patti (David Doerfer) Wood, Nancy (Darrell) Adkins, Carolyn (John Gilbert) Treece, of Knoxville, and a son, Tommy (Vicki) Seay of DeLand, Fla.; a brother, Joe (Susan) Courtney; and Leigh Courtney and Stuart Bohlinger of California; 15 grandchildren; and 23 great-grandchildren.
Mrs. Seay was a 1944 graduate of Lee H. Edwards High School. She lived in Asheville until 1971, when her husband, David, was transferred to Knoxville as a district manager for Winn-Dixie stores.
She was a volunteer at St. Mary’s Hospital for 42 years. She worked during World War II at the CIA headquarters at Langley Air Force
Mr. Johnson’s military decorations and medals include: National Defense Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm, Army Occupational Medal (Germany), Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Korea), Combat Infantryman Badge, Master Parachutist Badge, Vietnam Service Medal, Purple Heart (for wounds received in action in Vietnam on May 11, 1966), Army Commendation Medal for Heroism (for exceptionally valorous action on May 11, 1966, near Bu Gia Map, Republic of Vietnam), Army Commendation Medal for Heroism, First Oak Leaf Cluster (for exceptionally valorous action on Sept. 21, 1966, near Tuy Hoa, Republic of Vietnam), Bronze Star Medal (for meritorious service in connection with ground operations against a hostile force, Republic of Vietnam, Jan. 1-Nov. 11, 1966), Expert Infantryman Badge, and Good Conduct Medal.
Mr. Johnson retired from Fort Bragg, his last military duty station, to Andersonville, Tenn., in 1979, where Mr. and Mrs. Johnson became active grandparents and built a welcoming home along the banks of the Clinch River.
They became active members of St. Joseph Parish in Norris.
Post military retirement, he worked as an energy adviser for TVA for 10 years.
Mr. Johnson believed that his military service would be his legacy; and yet, clearly, his legacy is the bond he forged with family and friends.
Mr. Johnson is preceded in death
Mrs. Mack was predeceased by her parents, Beulah Josephine Godsey and James Gerald Power; her sister, Brenda Power; and her husband, Ingham Arthur Gerald Mack. She is survived by her children, Kathleen Cooke (Brian) and David Mack; and her grandchildren, Alison, James, and Jackie Cooke.
A funeral Mass for Mrs. Mack was celebrated on April 29 at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Lenoir City, with a burial service held on May 16 at Our Lady of the Fields Cemetery.
Mark C. Pillon
The world bids farewell to Mark Charles Pillon of Knoxville, who passed away on April 19 at the age of 64.
Mr. Pillon leaves behind memories cherished by the community. He was predeceased by his parents, Jacque Charles Pillon and Constance May Hulgan; and his siblings, Guy Pillon, Renee Wood, and Jacqueline Webster. He is survived by his wife, Myra Pillon; his daughter-in-law, Emily; his granddaughters, Elizabeth Frances and Afton Rose; his stepdaughter, Jessica Carringer (Kent); his step-grandchildren, Olivia Scarlett and Jack Michael; his stepson Josh Alston (Sarah); his step-granddaughters, Cora Lynn and Marcella Wren; and his sister, Yvonne Pingatore. He is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews. A rosary for Mr. Pillon was prayed on April 24 at Fountain City Chapel, and a funeral Mass was celebrated on April 25 at St. Albert the Great Church in Knoxville. ■
