MS Catholic 12 06 2024 by jacksondiocese

Holy Family School marks 75 years of faith, education and service

BY LAURA GRISHAM

HOLLY

SPRINGS – Holy Family School recently celebrated its 75th anniversary with a three-day event filled with faith, fellowship and festivities. The school, a cornerstone of Catholic education in the region, has evolved from its beginnings as St. Mary’s School in 1948 to Cadet in 1969, and finally Holy Family in 1994.

The celebration began with a special Mass led by Bishop Joseph Kopacz. He was joined by SCJ Fathers Jack Kurps, Vien Nguyen, David Szatkowski and Guy Blair as co-celebrants. The Mass, enhanced by the angelic voices of St. Mary’s choir, set a reverent tone for the festive weekend.

Bishop Kopacz’s homily highlighted the school’s journey and the enduring contributions of its educators. “For 75 years, teachers, administrators and community leaders at Holy Family School have embodied the mind and heart of Christ, serving as beacons of hope and faith for students and families,” he said.

HOLLY SPRINGS – Several staff members were honored at the 75th anniversary celebration at Holy Family School on Saturday, Nov. 9. (Photo by Laura Grisham)

Drawing on the words of St. Paul, the Bishop celebrated the gifts of teaching, prophecy and service in the community of faith. He also tied the celebration to the upcoming Jubilee Year of Hope, declared by Pope Francis for 2025. “Rejoice in hope, persevere in affliction, and be faithful in prayer,” he urged attendees, calling the milestone a testament to faith and resilience.

The festivities reflected the vibrancy of Holy Family’s legacy. Alumni traveled from as far as Alaska, Michigan and Illinois to reconnect and reminisce. St. Mary’s School alumni gathered to sing their school song, “The Bells of St. Mary’s,” rekindling fond memories.

Despite the dreary weather, celebration was attended by Holy Family students and parents, school alumni and people from across the Marshall County community. Throughout the weekend, participants

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BY PETER JESSERER SMITH

BALTIMORE (OSV News) – The U.S. bishops’ annual fall assembly in Baltimore saw the shepherds of the Catholic Church in this country make intentional steps toward integrating their work with the synodal missionary style called for by the global church’s recently concluded Synod on Synodality.

At the outset of the Nov. 11-14 plenary assembly, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, delivered a

homily in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary – “the mother church of the synodal activity of the hierarchy in this country” – where he called upon the bishops to beg for wisdom “because we recognize that we are servants of the truth and charged to find ways to help those entrusted to our care.”

At the opening public session, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal ambassador to the U.S., told the bishops that Pope Francis’ recent encyclical “Dilexit Nos,” on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is a call to “return to the heart” of Jesus – and key to understanding the church’s call to synodal evangelization, Eucharistic revival and the upcoming Jubilee 2025.

“The deeper we go into his heart, the more strengthened we will be to proclaim the Good News together,” he said Nov. 12.

Over the course of the assembly’s Nov. 12 and 13

public sessions, the bishops voted to approve a new “mission directive” for 2025-2028, which commits USCCB committees and staff to prioritize in their work “evangelizing those who are religiously unaffiliated or disaffiliated from the church, with special focus on young adults and the youth.”

Regarding the global synod that concluded in October, a majority of the U.S. bishops in a voice vote Nov. 12 called for the USCCB’s Committee on Priorities and Plans to discern developing a task force to help the conference and dioceses implement the final synod document approved by Pope Francis.

Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, who has led the USCCB’s involvement in the synod process, briefed the bishops on the synod’s October meeting. He said that more theological work needs

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SPIRITUAL ENRICHMENT

GLUCKSTADT – St. Joseph, Millions of Monicas – Praying with conﬁdence for our children, each Tuesday from 6:30-7:30 p.m. in the church. Join with other mothers, grandmothers and step-mothers as we pray for our children’s faithful return to the church. Details: church o ce (601) 856-2054 or email millionsofmonicas@stjosephgluckstadt.com.

St. Joseph, Fatima Five First Saturdays Devotion, Jan. 4, Feb. 1, March 1, April 5 and May 3, 2025. Confession begins at 8 a.m. and ends with a period of meditation beginning at 10 a.m. Details: church o ce (601) 856-2054.

PARISH, FAMILY & SCHOOL EVENTS

COLUMBUS – Annunciation Parish, “Columbus

Sings G.F. Handel’s Messiah,” Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m. Tickets available in church o ce. No charge. Details: church o ce (662) 328-2927.

GREENVILLE – St. Joseph, Christmas Tree Sale, Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays 1-6 p.m. Proceeds go to St. Joseph School. Lot located next to Chillie’s store on Hwy 82. Details: church o ce (662) 335-5251.

JACKSON – Holy Family, Our Lady of Guadalupe Celebration, Sunday, Dec. 15 after 10:30 a.m. Mass. Details: church o ce (601) 362-1888.

Holy Family, Simbang Gabi Mass with a Novena, Dec. 16-24 at 4 a.m. Come join this Filipino spiritual tradtion on the nine days before Christmas. Holy Family, Las Posadas, Monday, Dec. 23 at 6 p.m. in Balsar Hall.

JACKSON – St. Peter, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration, Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025 from 1-2:30 p.m. with speaker Constance Slaughter Harvey. You may write a short reﬂection on how Dr. King’s message impacted your life or society. Submit by Jan. 10. Details: amelia.breton@jacksondiocese.org.

JACKSON – St. Richard, Christmas Candlelighting Celebration for Deceased Loved Ones, Thursday, Dec. 12 at 6 p.m. in Foley Hall. A ceremony of prayer and rememberance is included, followed by refreshments. Details: RSVP to Nancy at (601) 942-2078 or ncmcghee@bellsouth.net.

St. Richard School, Cardinal Christmas at the new campus (4261 I-55 N Frontage Road), Thursday, Dec. 12 from 5:30-8 p.m. Enjoy a chili supper, arts and crafts, Santa, Advent pew auction and Special Kids Art Show. Details: school o ce (601) 366-1157.

MADISON – St. Joseph School, Gifts of the Season Performance, Sunday, Dec. 15 at 2 p.m. in the Fine Arts Auditorium. Details: school o ce (601) 898-4800.

St. Joseph School, $10,000 Draw Down, Saturday, Jan. 25 from 6-10 p.m. at Reunion Golf Club. Details: visit www.stjoebruins.com/drawdown.

NATCHEZ – St. Mary Basilica, Lessons and Carols, Sunday, Dec. 15 at 5 p.m. Donations welcome. Christmas party to follow in the Family Life Center. Details: church o ce (601) 445-5616.

OLIVE BRANCH – Queen of Peace, Cocktails and Catholicism with Father Stephen Hu stetter, SCJ, Friday, Dec. 13, doors open at 6 p.m. Event for 21+. BYOB. Details: register at https://bit.ly/494yJ7L.

Queen of Peace, Christmas Tree Sale, Monday through Friday 4-7 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday from 12-5 p.m. Fraser trees available from 5-10 feet. Details: church o ce (662) 895-5007.

TUPELO – St. James, Misa Mesa Musa, Sunday, Dec. 15, potluck dinner at 6:30 p.m. with testimony, scripture and music beginning at 7 p.m. Details: church o ce (662) 842-4881.

St. James, Family VBS: “I Wonder,” Sunday, Dec. 15 at 10:15 a.m. in Shelton Hall. Details: church o ce (662) 842-4881.

FEATURE PHOTO: Happy Anniversary

DIOCESE

HOLY DAY OF OBLIGATION

– Feast of the Immaculate Conception on Monday, Dec. 9. Consult your local parish for Mass times.

YOUNG ADULTS – Theology on Tap Karaoke Christmas, Thursday, Dec. 19 from 7-9 p.m. at Mr. Chen’s Restaurant in Jackson. Adults 21+ are welcome for an evening of food, fellowship and karaoke. Guest are responsible for cost of drinks and dinner. Details: amelia.rizor@ jacksondiocese.org.

Campus Ministry Winter Retreat, Saturday, Feb. 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at St. Joseph Starkville. Join college students from across the diocese for a day of fellowship, games, prayer, song, scripture, Mass and more. Cost: $20. Details: register at https://bit. ly/3OoES58

Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage, May 12-27. Father Lincoln Dall will be leading this once in a lifetime journey. Space is limited. Email amelia. rizor@jacksondiocese.org for more information.

YOUTH – Diocesan SEARCH Retreat for tenth through twelfth graders, Jan.

17-19, 2025 at Camp Wesley Pines, Gallman. Cost: $125. Search weekend is an encounter that will transform youth and lead to a deeper more fulﬁlling relationship with the Lord. Details: sign up at https:// bit.ly/SEARCH2025 or email abbey.schuhmann@ jacksondiocese.org for more information.

DCYC for ninth through twelfth grades, March 2123, 2025 at the Vicksburg Convention Center. Theme is “Here I am Lord Work in Me.” Keynote presenter is Ali Ho man with worship led by Josh Blakesley. Featuring talks, music, liturgy, games, small groups and more. Registration deadline Feb. 21, contact your parish to register. Details: contact your individual parish o ces or contact Abbey at (601) 949-6934 or abbey.schuhmann@jacksondiocese.org.

WORLD MARRIAGE DAY – Event recognizes couples celebrating special anniversaries in 2025 - 25th, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th or longer. Celebrations held in Jackson at the Cathedral of St. Peter on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 1 p.m. and in Tupelo at St. James on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 5 p.m. Register by Jan. 7, 2025. Details: email debbie.tubertini@jacksondiocese.org.

PENANCE SERVICES

BROOKHAVEN – St. Francis, Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 6 p.m.

CLINTON – Holy Savior, Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 6 p.m.

CANTON – Sacred Heart, Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 6 p.m.

COLUMBUS – Annunciation, Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 6 p.m.

GREENVILLE – St. Joseph, Monday, Dec. 16 at 5:30 p.m.

HERNANDO – Holy Spirit, Wednesday, Dec. 18 at 7 p.m.

JACKSON – Cathedral of St. Peter, Tuesday, Dec. 17 from 5:30-7 p.m.

MAGEE – St. Stephen, Monday, Dec. 9 at 6 p.m.

MERIDIAN – St. Patrick, Thursday, Dec. 12 at 5:30 p.m. in the Family Life Center.

OLIVE BRANCH – Queen of Peace, Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 7 p.m.

PEARL – St. Jude, Wednesday, Dec. 11 at 6 p.m.

SOUTHAVEN – Christ the King, Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 7 p.m.

R dgeland Cl nton

APPLIANCE AUDIO VIDEO BEDDING FURNITURE SUPERSTORE V cksburg Tupelo Columbus Laur el r Oxford Hat t esburg Hat t esburg

Jackson Flowood Pearl

OLIVE BRANCH – Deacon Mark White celebrated his 50th ordination anniversary on Sunday, Nov. 10 at Queen of Peace parish. He is pictured with Bishop Joseph Kopacz who joined in the celebration. (Photo by Sister Rose Hacker)

Kaleidoscope of hope

BY BISHOP JOSEPH R. KOPACZ, D.D.

The recently concluded annual Bishops’ Conference in Baltimore was packed with meetings, presentations, elections to various committees, updates and impacts regarding the aftermath of the national elections, and conversations on many levels about pathways forward for the Catholic Church in the United States. It is a very dynamic environment that has the characteristics of a colorful kaleidoscope, except in this gathering the moving parts are all clothed in black. Yet, in recent years those who plan the annual event, at the behest of the body of bishops, have incorporated more time for quiet prayer, eucharistic adoration, relaxing meals and some exercise. As always, the daily Masses provide the anchor for all activity that follows in the course of a day.

Each time the national conference of bishops gathers the apostolic nuncio addresses the assembled body. Cardinal Christophe Pierre currently occupies the o ce of nuncio as Pope Francis’ ambassador to the church in the United States. His message is always a window into the Holy Father’s recent teachings, pertinent events in the church in the United States and throughout the world, and an overview of the church in relationship to the modern world. Of course, a signiﬁcant milestone in our time is the recently concluded Synod on Synodality, a threeyear journey that produced a ﬁnal document to guide the church from within and to encourage prophetic dialogue with the modern world. There will be much to unpack, study and apply for the foreseeable future.

Happy Ordination Anniversary

December 16

Father Alexis Zuniga Velasquez, ST

December 18

Deacon Carlos Sola

December 19

Father omas Mullally, SVD

December 19

Father Octavio Escobar Rangel, OdeM

December 27

Father Antony Chakkalakkal

tained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing in the glory of God … Hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” (Romans 5:1-5)

In his address Cardinal Christophe pointed to the upcoming Jubilee Year of Hope that will be inaugurated by Pope Francis on the feast of the Holy Family on Dec. 29, 2024. The Holy Father has written a marvelous document for this Year of Favor and Grace from the Lord, entitled, Spes non Confundit, or Hope does not Disappoint (Romans 5:5)

December 27

Father Augustine Palimattam Poulose

Thank you for answering the call!

P.O. Box 2130 Jackson, MS 39225-2130

Phone: 601-969-3581 E-mail: editor@jacksondiocese.org

The full context for this bold proclamation of faith is contained in the following passage. “Since we are justiﬁed through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have ob-

Volume 71 Number 1 (ISSN 1529-1693)

Publisher Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz

Communications Director Joanna Puddister King

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MISSISSIPPI CATHOLIC is an oﬃcial publication of the Diocese of Jackson, 601-969-1880, 237 E. Amite St., Jackson, MS 39201. Published digitally twice per month January – April and September – December; once per month June, July and August. Mississippi Catholic mails 14 editions per year – twice per month in December and January; and once per month February –November. For address changes, corrections or to join the email list for the digital edition, email: editor@jacksondiocese.org. Subscription rate: $20 a year in Mississippi, $21 out-of-state. Periodical postage at Jackson, MS 39201 and additional entry oﬃces. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Mississippi Catholic, P.O. Box 2130, Jackson, MS 39225-2130. Website: www.mississippicatholic.com  www.jacksondiocese.org

Pope Francis o ers this reﬂection regarding St. Paul’s inspired words to the Romans. “In the spirit of hope, the Apostle Paul addressed these words of encouragement to the Christian community of Rome. Hope is the central message of the coming Jubilee that, in accordance with an ancient tradition, the Pope proclaims every twenty-ﬁve years. My thoughts turn to all those pilgrims of hope who will travel to Rome in order to experience the Holy Year and to all those others who, though unable to visit the City of the Apostles Peter and Paul, will celebrate it in their local churches. For everyone, may the Jubilee be a moment of genuine, personal encounter with the Lord Jesus, the “door” (cf. John 10:7.9) of our salvation, whom the church is charged to proclaim always, everywhere and to all as “our hope.” (1 Tim 1:1) (Spes non Confundit)

For the Christian, hope is born of love and based on the love springing from the pierced heart of Jesus upon the cross: “For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:19)

Along with the Jubilee of Hope the nuncio also drew upon the Holy Father’s most recent encyclical on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Delixit Nos, (The Lord) He loved us. “The symbol of the heart has often been used to express the love of Jesus Christ. Some have questioned whether this symbol is still meaningful today. Yet living as we do in an age of superﬁciality, rushing frenetically from one thing to another without really knowing why, and ending up as insatiable consumers and slaves to the mechanisms of a market unconcerned about the deeper meaning of our lives, all of us need to rediscover the importance of the heart.” (Delixit Nos)

When the heart is emboldened by God’s grace, we can face an uncertain future better equipped to avoid the mine ﬁelds of unbelief, doubt and fear. Once again, the Holy Father yearns to carry on his shoulders a world mired in darkness and division into the light of a new day su used with the heart and hope of the Gospel.

BISHOP’S SCHEDULE

Tuesday, Dec. 10 and 17, 7:30 a.m. – Mass, Carmelite Monastery, Jackson

Sunday, Dec. 15, 8:30 a.m. – Mass, St. Joseph, Meridian

Sunday, Dec. 15, 11 a.m. – Mass and Christmas Luncheon, St. Patrick, Meridian

Saturday, Dec. 21, 11 a.m. – Sister Thea Bowman Statue Dedication and Mass, Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle, Jackson

Monday, Jan. 6-9 – Region V Bishops’ Retreat, New Orleans

Saturday, Jan. 18, 1 p.m. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration, Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle, Jackson

All events are subject to change. Check with parishes and schools for further details.

Our first annual Called by Name weekend has wrapped up. Every parish priest was asked to share his vocation story during Mass on the weekend of Nov. 9-10, and then every parishioner was asked if they knew of a man in their parish that they wanted to encourage in his discernment. We will not have final numbers in for a few weeks, as all the cards are being sent to our partners at Vianney Vocations so they can enter the data, but I know that 26 names were submitted via our new jacksonvocations. com website alone. That is 26 names we would not have gotten in prior years, and that is 26 opportunities to reach out and encourage a young man to take his vocation seriously, whether he ends up going to the seminary or not.

All of this is designed to get many more young men thinking about priesthood, and to therefore get many more young men to attend the seminary. As I’ve stated, we want to have 33 seminarians by the year 2030. I believe that many more men are called to the seminary than are currently in the seminary, and we want to change that. The seminary is not the place for fully formed priests, rather, it is the primary place of formation. You don’t have to know you are going to be ordained in order to be a good candidate for the seminary. In fact, most guys don’t know they are going to be ordained. Ordination comes after 7-9 years of prayer, life in community and study. We want more men to enter the seminary so that they can discover whether or not they are called to be priests.

I want to be clear, however, that this does not mean that there is a ‘low bar’ to be accepted to seminary. We have spent the last several years bolstering our application process so that we help a

BY NAME

young man discern whether or not seminary is the right fit for him. It is delicate work trying to discern with a man whether the Lord is calling him to the seminary, and I can’t be the only one who discerns with a man. We have a team of experts in Louisville, Kentucky who work with us and our applicants and proctor psychological testing in order to help the applicant, and us, understand whether a man would be a good fit for seminary life.

As I’ve stated before, I loved my time in the seminary, but if a man is not prepared for the academic and social rigor that is present there, then it will not be as positive an experience for him, or for the community. We also have a vocations board in the diocese that meets with an applicant and provides a recommendation to myself and the bishop. The team meets with the applicant after all the other work is done – references are checked, tests are administered, many conversations are had, and I present that work to the board for their review.

I have grown much more comfortable in recent years taking men through this process and also being honest when necessary, when I think the process may have reached its end. I believe that more men are called to seminary than are currently in seminary, but I also take my responsibility to help these men discern seriously. We have these protocols in place so we only accept a man who will be able to enter into seminary life freely and joyfully, so that he can be formed into the Catholic man God has called him to be, whether or not he becomes a priest. And as the net widens and more men (please God) apply for seminary, this process will continue to be vital.

Please pray for me, our vocations board, and all those who work with seminary applicants. We want to invite as many qualified men into the seminary as we can, but we also need to be good stewards of the resources given to us by the people of God, and good leaders for these men who are trusting us with their future.

– Father Nick Adam, vocation director

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Share your gifts through The Catholic Foundation and leave a lasting legacy for your parish through your will.

For more information about leaving a bequest to your parish please contact rebecca.harris@ jacksondiocese.org.

To create a FREE WILL through My Catholic Will use this link mycatholicwill.com/jacksondiocese or scan the QR code below.

Father Nick Adam

Tower of Babel

IN EXILE

By Father ron rolheiser, oMi

The opening pages of the Bible offer us a series of stories set at the beginning of history which are meant to explain why the world today is as it is. The Adam and Eve story about original sin is one of those stories. There are others. These stories, because they use imagery that might make them sound like fairy tales, can seem total fantasy to us, but they are stories that are truer than true. They happened. They happened to the first man and woman on this planet, and they continue to happen today in a way that affects every man and woman throughout history. They are stories of the heart, not meant to be taken literally, but carrying lessons for the heart.

One of these “in the beginning,” foundational, archetypal, stories is the story of the Tower of Babel. In street language, it goes like this: In the beginning (before time was like it is now) there was a town called Babel which decided it would make a name for itself by building a tower so impressive that all the other towns would have to admire it. They began building the tower, but something strange happened. As they were building it, they suddenly all began to speak different languages, were no longer able to understand each other, and scattered around the world, each now speaking in a language incomprehensible to everyone else.

What’s the lesson? Is this meant to explain the origin of the different languages of the world? No, rather it is meant to explain the deep, seemingly irreconcilable misunderstandings among us. Why do we forever misunderstand each other? What’s at the origin of this?

There are multiple ways this story can be used to shed light on the divisions in our world today. Here’s one: Writing in The Atlantic last year, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt suggested that there is perhaps no better metaphor to explain the divisions among us today than the tower of Babel. His argument runs this way: Social media, the very thing that was meant to connect us not only to our friends and families but to people from around the globe, has in fact led to a radical fragmentation of our society and to the shattering of all that had seemed solid, the scattering of people who had been a community. Take America, for example; while we might still be speaking the same language, social media and cable news echo chambers have supplied us with different sets of facts, values and visions that make actual conversation increasingly impossible.

As the recent tensions around the U.S. presidential elections made evident, as a society we no longer speak the same language in that we can no longer understand each other on virtually every key issue – global warming, immigration, poverty, gender, health, abortion, the place of religion in the public sphere, whose side truth is on, and, most important of all, what truth is. We no longer share any common truths. Rather, we all have our own truth, our own individual language. As the popular saying goes, I have done my own research! I don’t trust science. I don’t trust any mainstream truths. I have my own sources

And those sources are many, too many to count! Hundreds of television channels, countless podcasts and millions of persons feeding us their idiosyncratic version of things on social media so that

now there is skepticism about any fact or truth. This is dividing us at every level: family, neighborhood, church, country and world. We are all now speaking different languages and, like the original inhabitants of Babel, are being scattered around the world.

In the light of this, it is noteworthy how the original Pentecost is described in scripture. The Acts of the Apostles describes Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit, as an event which reverses what happened at the tower of Babel. At the tower of Babel, the languages (the “tongues”) of the earth divided and scattered. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descends on each person as a “tongue of fire” so that, to everyone’s great surprise, everyone now understands everyone one else in his or her own language.

Again, what is being described here is not about

The Pope’s Corner

literal human languages – where at Pentecost everyone suddenly understood Greek or Latin. Rather everyone now understood everyone else in his or her own language. All languages became one language. What is that common language? It’s neither Greek nor Latin nor English nor French nor Spanish nor Yiddish nor Chinese nor Arabic, nor any other of the world’s spoken languages. Neither is it the less-than-fully-compassionate language of the conservatives or the liberals. It is, as Jesus and our scriptures make clear, the language of charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness, long-suffering, fidelity, gentleness, faith and chastity.

This is the only language which can bridge the misunderstandings and differences among us – and when we are speaking it, we will not be trying to build a tower to impress anyone.

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

Final synod document is magisterial, must be accepted, pope says

By Justin Mclellan

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Doubling down on the centrality of synodality in the Catholic Church, Pope Francis said that it is now up to local churches to accept and implement proposals from the final document approved the Synod of Bishops on synodality.

Approved by the pope, the synod’s final document “participates in the ordinary magisterium of the successor of Peter, and as such, I ask that it be accepted,” the pope wrote in a note published by the Vatican Nov. 25.

“Local churches and groupings of churches are now called upon to implement, in different contexts, the authoritative indications contained in the document, through the processes of discernment and decision-making provided by law and by the document itself,” he wrote nearly a month after the synod’s close.

The final document outlined key priorities for the church, including increased participation of laity through new ministries and adjusted governing structures, greater transparency and accountability among church leadership and creating space for previously marginalized groups.

After synod members voted to approve the final document, Pope Francis announced that he would not write the customary apostolic exhortation after the synod but would instead offer the document to the entire church for implementation.

With the exceptions of the first synods convoked by St. Paul VI in 1967 and 1971, all ordinary assemblies of the Synod of Bishops have been followed by an exhortation on the synod’s themes and discussions by the pope.

In his note, Pope Francis clarified that while the document is “not strictly normative” and must be adapted to contexts where it is applied, it still obligates “local churches to make choices consistent with what was indicated” in the document.

He also underscored the need for time to address broader churchwide issues, such as those assigned to the 10 study groups he set up in the spring to explore issues raised during the synod, including women’s ministry, seminary education, relationships between bishops

and religious communities, and the role of nuncios. More groups may be created, the pope said.

The conclusion of the general assembly of the Synod of Bishops “does not end the synodal process,” he wrote.

He added that the final synod document contains recommendations which “can already now be implemented in the local churches and groupings of churches, taking into account different contexts, what has already been done and what remains to be done in order to learn and develop ever better the style proper to the missionary synodal church.”

“In many cases it is a matter of effectively implementing what is already provided for in existing law, Latin and Eastern,” while in other contexts local churches can proceed with the creation of “new forms of ministry and missionary action” through a process of synodal discernment and experimentation.

Pope Francis also specified that during bishops’ “ad limina” visits to Rome, each bishop will be asked to discuss what choices have been made in his local church regarding what has been indicated in the final synod document, reflecting on the challenges and the fruits.

Pope Francis speaks to members of the Synod of Bishops on synodality after they approved their final document Oct. 26, 2024, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

DECEMBER 6, 2024

‘ ... As a church we cannot change all realities of the world ...’

– Continued from page 1 –

to be done alongside efforts to develop a synodal missionary culture among Catholics.

“If it doesn’t reach the parishes, it hardly reaches the people of God,” he noted.

The bishops also decided to go ahead with drafting a new document on lay ecclesial ministry in the U.S., that would take into account what Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, chair of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth, called “the experience of co-responsibility in the church, the evolving nature of parish and diocesan workplaces, and above all the call to greater synodality.”

They also approved a final draft of “The Order of Crowning an Image of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” Spanish texts for the Liturgy of the Hours, and the revised New American Bible for use in liturgy.

The conference also saw exemplars of American holiness promoted. The bishops affirmed two new causes brought to them for consultation: Benedictine Sister Annella Zervas of Moorhead, Minnesota, and Gertrude Agnes Barber, a laywoman from Erie, Pennsylvania.

Auxiliary Bishop Roy E. Campbell of Washington, president of the National Black Catholic Congress, who presented on the NBCC’s 2023 congress and resulting pastoral action plan, called on the bishops to promote the canonization causes of Black Catholics known collectively as the “Holy Six” – Venerable Mother Mary Lange; Venerable Father Augustus Tolton; Venerable Mother Henriette DeLille; Venerable Pierre Toussaint; Servant of God Julia Greeley; and Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman.

Bishop Stepan Sus, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church’s Pastoral and Migration Department, received a standing ovation from the bishops after sharing with them Ukraine’s plight under Russian occupation and thanking the U.S. church for its continued solidarity.

“As a church we cannot change all realities of the world,” he said. “But we can be next to those people who suffer and wipe their tears.”

Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, and board chair of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., discussed the NEC’s next steps after the overwhelmingly positive feedback from the 2024

national Eucharistic pilgrimages and congress, saying the organization would support dioceses in their own events, “especially helping to form and send Eucharistic missionaries.”

The bishops also discussed how to mark the 10th anniversary of the release of “Laudato Si’,” Pope Francis’ encyclical on integral ecology. Ukrainian Catholic Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of Philadelphia, chair of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, suggested the encyclical could be “integrated into our core mission of evangelization,” and that bringing back fasting practices, such as regularly abstaining from eating meat on Fridays, “would be good for the soul and for the planet.”

The bishops also heard a presentation offered by the committees on Laity, Marriage, Family Life, and Youth; Pro-Life Activities; and Catholic Education in relation to implementing the Vatican declaration on human dignity, “Dignitas Infinita,” released in April.

The looming potential of President-elect Donald Trump implementing his campaign promise to enact mass deportations also shaped the bishops’ conversation. Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, encouraged his brother bishops and their priests to speak loudly and unified on the issue of migration, especially in light of recent rhetoric from public figures, saying the lay faithful have a “real hunger ... for leadership from their priests and bishops alike on this issue.”

They elected bishops to several USCCB leadership positions. Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis was voted

in as treasurer-elect and chairman-elect of the budget committee. Auxiliary Bishop Michael G. Woost of Cleveland was elected chairman-elect for the Committee on Divine Worship; Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre of Louisville, Kentucky, was elected chairman-elect of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development; and Bishop Edward J. Burns was elected as head of the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth; and Bishop Brendan J. Cahill of Victoria, Texas, was elected chairman-elect of the Committee on Migration. The prelates assume their positions at the conclusion of the bishops’ 2025 fall assembly.

The USCCB concluded its annual plenary assembly Nov. 14 in executive session, but released a statement of pastoral concern that day of “firm solidarity with our immigrant brothers and sisters who live and labor in these United States.” It stated, “Together, we must speak out on behalf of the ‘huddled masses yearning to breathe free’ and ask our government to provide fair and humane treatment for our beloved immigrant brothers and sisters.”

(Peter Jesserer Smith is the national news and features editor for OSV News.)

‘ ... beacon of hope, faith and service ...’

– Continued from page 1 –

enjoyed a mix of family-friendly activities, including performances by the students, basketball scrimmages, a bazaar, carnival games, a cake walk, grab bags, bingo and a silent auction. The celebration also featured a catered alumni dinner and dance, bringing together past and present members of the school community.

A Legacy of Service

Holy Family School’s story is one of adaptation and commitment to its mission. When it opened in 1948 as St. Mary’s School, it served 55 students across eight grades with just one teacher. The following year, enrollment grew, aided by the arrival of four School Sisters of St. Francis. By 1950, a high school was added, accommodating the rhythms of the cotton harvest by pausing classes in autumn.

In 1969, the school merged with St. Joseph School to become CADET (Christian Aided Development Through Extraordinary Training). In 1994, it adopted the name Holy Family to honor its Catholic roots and its dedication to serving children and families in Holly Springs.

Honoring Staff

Holy Family’s new principal, Cynthia Dixon, school secretary Cathy Walker (45 years) and teachers Artheria Relliford (35 years), Shirley Daugherty (50 years) and Srs. Julene Stromberg and Ramona Schmidknecht, OSFs, (retired).

As part of the anniversary, the Marshall County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution honoring Sister Ramona Schmidknecht, OSF, for her 56 years of service as an educator at St. Mary’s, CADET, and Holy Family School and 61 years of service to the Marshall County community.

Looking Ahead

Several staff members were recognized for their tenure and enduring commitment to the school, including

Bishop Kopacz concluded his remarks by reflecting on the Sacred Heart of Jesus as a model for the community.

“May we strive to beat with the heart of Christ and serve with His mind,” he said, adding his hope that Holy Family’s legacy will endure for another 75 years. With its rich history and unwavering mission, Holy Family School remains a beacon of hope, faith and service in Holly Springs and beyond.

(Laura Grisham is the PR and Communications manager for Sacred Heart Southern Missions in Walls, Mississippi.)

Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Va., speaks during a Nov. 13, 2024, session of the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)

Joy, gratitude over news of Acutis and Frassati canonization dates

By Gina Christian

PHILADELPHIA (OSV News) – News that canonization dates have been set for Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati, who have become popular patrons for teens and young adults, is being met with joy and gratitude by a number of Catholics in the U.S. Pope Francis announced Nov. 20 that he will elevate Acutis and Frassati, both currently titled “blessed,” to sainthood in 2025, when the universal Catholic Church will mark a jubilee year. Acutis will be canonized April 27, during the April 25-27 Jubilee for Adolescents in Rome. Frassati’s canonization will follow amid the July 28-Aug. 3 Jubilee of Young People in Rome.

“This news ushers in great celebration for the Universal Church and especially for young Catholics,” said Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez of Philadelphia in a Nov. 20 statement. “Both of these saintly

young men reflect the call for today’s youth and young adults to live out their Catholic faith with courage, compassion, and divine love.”

“What a wonderful gift to the church militant both of these new saints will be,” Christine Wohar, president of FrassatiUSA – a Nashville-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting Frassati’s canonization, in collaboration with the Associazione Pier Giorgio Frassati in Rome – told OSV News in a Nov. 20 email. Wohar, whose organization is planning a pilgrimage to the canonization, said that the canonizations are timely.

“Our culture so desperately needs Catholic models of courage, devotion to the Eucharist and Our Lady, true manhood and fidelity to the church,” she said.

Father Francesco Maria D’Amico, pastor of St. William Parish in Philadelphia who served as interpreter and guide for Acutis’ mother, Antonia, during her U.S. speaking tour in 2023, also sees these saints as particularly relevant.

“God is the Lord of history, and I think that nowadays, he sees youth being attacked by different ideologies, by secularization, by the false promises of technology,” he said. “So I think that God, by raising these two youth and young adults

as saints, is showing fatherly concern … because they (youth and young adults) are the future of the world.”

Born 90 years apart, Frassati and Acutis both lived brief but faith-filled lives that saw them devoted to Christ, particularly in the Eucharist, and to those around them.

Dubbed the “Man of the Eight Beatitudes” by St. John Paul II, Frassati – born in Turin in 1901 to an influential family – began receiving daily Communion at a young age, while serving the poor through the St. Vincent de Paul Society and evangelizing his friends.

A lay Dominican, Frassati also participated in demonstrations to defend his faith against the Communist and Fascist parties in Italy. His passion for outdoor activities such as mountaineering has made him a patron of athletes. Frassati died in 1925 at age 24, having contracted polio, which doctors speculated he may have contracted from serving the sick.

Pope St. John Paul II beatified Frassati in 1990.

Almost a century later, Acutis in many ways mirrored his predecessor’s qualities. The sunny-faced teen – who was born in London in 1991 and grew up in Milan, Italy – displayed an early attraction to the spiritual life, reciting the rosary and attending Mass daily, serving as a catechist, volunteering at a church soup kitchen and tutoring children with their homework. At the same time, Acutis was known for his enthusiasm for typical teenage interests, such as video games, pets, soccer and music.

Acutis died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15, having lived a brief life of extraordinary holiness that was marked by a profound devotion to Christ and the Eucharist. His desire to foster awareness of the Blessed Sacrament, along with his formidable computer skills, led him to create a database of Eucharistic miracles throughout the world. Pope

Francis beatified him in 2020.

Michael Norton, president of the Malvern Retreat Center in Malvern, Pennsylvania – home to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Blessed Carlo Acutis Shrine and Center for Eucharistic Encounter – told OSV News he has seen firsthand how Acutis offers a relatable vision for holiness to kids and young adults.

“Students are absolutely fascinated and drawn to Carlo,” Norton told OSV News Nov. 20. “It’s like, ‘Wow, he looks like me. I’m just like him. … He lived in our lifetime.’ He talks their language – he’s a computer programmer, he played soccer. And so the kids are really drawn to him.”

Similarly, Frassati has had a profound effect on students at a high school in Texas named in his honor.

“For us, this is yet another special grace upon our community, which has really been under the intercession of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati,” said Tim Lienhard, director of enrollment, marketing and communications at Frassati Catholic High School in Spring, Texas.

Lienhard told OSV News Nov. 20 that the school has “really felt his spirit on our community, and you see that through our growth. We’ve grown from 46 students in our beginning year, 2013, to 350 today, and we continue to grow.”

The school is planning to send some 20 students to Italy during spring break in March 2025 for a pilgrimage that will trace some key places in Frassati’s life, Lienhard said.

Actor Jeromy Darling, who played Frassati in a 2021 play of the same name at Open Window Theatre in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, told OSV News that encountering the saint-to-be through pre-production research had a profound effect on him.

“It changed my life completely,” said Darling, who as a convert to Catholicism said Frassati’s bold witness to the faith was personally inspiring, as the actor navigated rejection experienced for his decision to become Catholic.

“He’s an enormous, enormous part of my life,” Darling said. “He’s one of my best friends. I talk to him every day.”

Many Catholics have been inspired by an Italian phrase Frassati wrote on a well-known photo of him mountaineering: “Verso L’Alto,” which means “to the heights.”

“As St. Frassati reaches his ultimate summit, we pray he will guide each of us on our journey to the top,” said Wohar. “We also share in the joy of all those with a devotion to Blessed Carlo Acutis who likewise offers great inspiration to today’s youth.”

(Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @GinaJesseReina)

Left – Pope Francis recognized May 23, 2024, the second miracle needed for the canonization of Italian Blessed Carlo Acutis, who died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15. He is pictured in an undated photo. (CNS photo/courtesy Sainthood Cause of Carlo Acutis)

Right – Italian Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati was a struggling student who excelled in mountain climbing. He had complete faith in God and persevered through college, dedicating himself to helping the poor and supporting church social teaching. He died at age 24 and was beatified by St. John Paul II in 1990. Pope Francis said he will canonize him in 2025. He is pictured in an undated photo. (CNS file photos)

Hegseth controversy compounds Vatican institution’s concerns over religious symbols’ misuse

By Gina Christian and Kate sCanlon

(OSV News) – Amid controversy over religious-themed tattoos sported by President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for defense secretary Pete Hegseth, a U.S. office of a Vatican lay institution for the church in the Holy Land has expressed concern regarding the misuse of its historic insignia beyond strictly religious purposes.

The Jerusalem Cross and the phrase “Deus (lo) vult” (Latin for “God wills”), the elements of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, are symbols for an organization that “is set up to be a … visible presence of Christ and the people of Christ in the Holy Land,” and “of peace … of loving thy neighbor as thyself,” Deacon John Heyer, executive director of the order’s Eastern Lieutenancy, told OSV News Nov. 21.

The Equestian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem has responded to public speculation about tattoos with the order’s symbols worn by Pete Hegseth, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, amid accusations that the symbols may represent Christian nationalism. (OSV News photo/courtesy Eastern Lieutenancy)

The order – a lay institution under the protection of the Holy See with an estimated 30,000 members in close to 40 countries – aids the work of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land, especially through efforts connected to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which encompasses Cyprus and Jordan as well.

But the Jerusalem Cross (a square cross inset with four smaller crosses) and particularly the Latin phrase that comprise the order’s insignia have drawn intense media scrutiny, as Hegseth – an evangelical Christian – has them tattooed on his chest and arm respectively.

Hegseth, a 44-year-old combat veteran and former Fox News host, is among Trumps’ more controversial nominees, as he has also been accused of sexual assault stemming from a 2017 incident he claimed was consensual, although he later paid the unnamed woman as part of a 2020 nondisclosure agreement.

The “Deus vult” tattoo prompted Hegseth’s fellow National Guardsman Sgt. DeRicko Gaither to flag Hegseth as a possible “insider threat” during President Joe Biden’s inauguration. In a 2021 email to Maj. Gen. William Walker ahead of the event – days after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol – Gaither described the image as “quite disturbing,” since the phrase “is associated with Supremacist groups,” both white and Christian. Army policy bars members from having tattoos deemed extremist, indecent, sexist or racist.

Several experts have cited the use of “Deus vult” by extremist groups. The phrase – attributed to Pope Urban II ahead of the First Crusade in 1095, which sought to regain Christian control of the Holy Land from Muslim rule – has become an online hashtag, and has also appeared in anti-Muslim graffiti, with two Arkansas mosques defaced in 2016 with the text.

OSV News reached out to Hegseth through the press office of the Trump-Vance transition team but did not immediately receive a response.

On Nov. 20, Deacon Heyer’s New York-based office issued a press release, noting the controversy over Hegseth’s tattoos and stressing the order’s political neutrality. While acknowledging that reports have asserted its symbols “have been embraced by what have been described as Christian and white national-

ists,” it did not accuse the defense secretary nominee of espousing those views.

“The Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is a non-partisan Catholic organization under the direct protection of the Holy See and as such does not express partisan political opinions on the qualifications or associations of the cabinet nominee, who is not a member of the order,” said the release.

Deacon Heyer’s office also clarified in its statement that “in today’s context, ‘Deus vult’ or ‘Deus lo vult’ (God wills) – once used to rally crusader knights in the Middle Ages to reclaim the Christian places in the Holy Land – reminds believers God alone has dominion over all, and commands us to ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.’”

The Jerusalem Cross itself “has been part of Christian iconography for more than a millennium and has been an inspiration to Christian pilgrims who no longer see it as a banner for crusades and war but of the passion and death of Jesus and his empty tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem,” said the release, adding, “For centuries, Christian pilgrims from around the world have had the Jerusalem Cross inked on their skin as an indelible reminder of their pilgrimage to the Holy City and of their faith in Christ.”

The symbolically rich image, with five crosses corresponding to the five wounds of Christ, “is particularly important as it reminds Christians of Jesus’ sacrifice to die for the salvation of the entire world, so that we ‘may have life and have it abundantly,’” said the order in its release, quoting John 10:10.

Deacon Heyer told OSV News he has seen “there are groups that have taken over this symbol … or rather are using the symbol in a way that is evocative of what they consider a Christian crusade to be.”

“You often have to look at what is the motivation,” he added. “Are we using the church, are we using the faith to justify our political aspirations, or is our faith informing our decisions? Two very different things.”

The Jerusalem Cross is also the emblem of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and in the press release, Deacon Heyer’s office highlighted the widespread use throughout Jerusalem and the Holy Land.

The cross “is really meant to be not a symbol of war at all, but really a symbol of the sacrifice of Christ as well as his Gospel message of love,” Deacon Heyer told OSV News. “And so anything that goes beyond that is in strict contradiction … to the Gospel and to what that symbol represents.”

As of Nov. 21, it was not yet clear whether Hegseth would earn the requisite number of votes to be confirmed to the position by the U.S. Senate should he undergo a confirmation hearing in January. Republicans will have a 53-47 majority in the new Senate as of January, meaning each of Trump’s nominees could only afford to lose three Republican votes –with Vice President-elect JD Vance’s tiebreaking vote – without earning any Democratic support.

Several Pentagon officials have also questioned whether Hegseth’s resume shows enough experience for the role.

(Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @GinaJesseReina. Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News based in Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.)

Defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth speaks with the media as he departs a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington Nov. 21, 2024. The Equestian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem has responded to public speculation about tattoos with the order’s symbols worn by Hegseth, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for defense secretary, amid accusations that the symbols may represent Christian nationalism. (OSV News photo/Nathan Howard, Reuters)

Annual US collection assists more than 20,000 elderly women and men religious

An elderly nun walks along a sidewalk during a visit to Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay area in North Beach July 22, 2021. The faithful will have an opportunity the weekend of Dec. 7-8, 2024, to support the more than 20,000 elderly religious sisters, brothers and religious order priests who have devoted their lives to service in the Catholic Church through an annual collection benefiting retired religious across the United States. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The faithful will have an opportunity the weekend of Dec. 7-8 to support the more than 20,000 elderly religious sisters, brothers and religious order priests who have devoted their lives to service in the Catholic Church through an annual collection beneﬁting retired religious across the United States.

Coordinated by the National Religious Retirement O ce, or NRRO, and taking place at weekend Masses in participating dioceses, this collection provides “crucial ﬁnancial aid to qualiﬁed religious institutes, enabling them to address the growing needs of their retired members,” according to a news release.

“These men and women religious who taught in schools, served in parish ministries and helped provide social services for the Church selﬂessly devoted their lives to serving others, often for little to no pay,” said the release, issued by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Nov. 4. “As they age, many religious communities face a signiﬁcant gap between the cost of care and available resources.”

Exacerbating the challenge are the rising cost of health care and the fact that religious over age 70 outnumber those younger than 70 by nearly 3 to 1.

“In 2024, 71% of religious communities providing data to the NRRO reported a median age of 70 or higher,” the news release stated.

The collection was launched in 1988 to address the lack of retirement funding for religious communities. In 2023, it raised $29.3 million, yet the annual cost to support retired religious men and women exceeds $1 billion, according to the NRRO.

The average annual cost of care for each religious is about $59,700, with skilled nursing care lifting that cost to an average of $90,700 per person. Meanwhile, a religious’ average annual Social Security beneﬁt is only $8,551, the NRRO said.

“The selﬂess dedication of these religious has enriched countless lives,” said NRRO director John Knutsen. “Your generosity ensures they receive the care they deserve in their retirement. Supporting our aging religious is a shared responsibility and an opportunity to express our gratitude for their lifelong service. By contributing to the Retirement Fund for Religious collection we ensure they receive the care and dignity they deserve while also upholding the values of compassion and solidarity within our faith community.”

The website for the Retirement Fund for Religious, retiredreligious.org, features the stories of religious helped by the collection, including Father Maury Smith, 87, a member of the Order of Friars Minor in St. Louis, and Sister M. Stephanie Belgeri, 72, a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George in Alton, Illinois.

“Donations are needed to have the ordinary kinds of things many senior religious need in terms of food, clothing and housing,” Father Smith said. “We owe it to them to take care of them. Maybe even more than we have in the past. … They need it.”

The friar has served as a retreat director, college educator, pastor, provincial sta and a deanery coordinator of ministry in San Antonio, “enriching countless lives by integrating psychology and theology into contemporary spirituality.”

He serves as a spiritual director and writes biweekly for Today’s Catholic, the archdiocesan newspaper of the San Antonio Archdiocese.

“I think I am in my eighth career,” he said. “I love doing it and am happy.”

A fellow Franciscan who joined her community in 1970, Sister M. Stephanie has been a nurse and a teacher and been involved in pastoral care. She spent four-and-a-half years in Brazil, setting up a foundation for her order.

Upon returning to the United States, Sister M. Stephanie was the director of nursing and later administrator at the Mother of Good Counsel Home, a skilled nursing facility in St. Louis, until 2014.

Sister M. Stephanie’s ministry continues in retirement as she manages her religious community’s library and translates English documents into Portuguese for the sisters in the Brazilian mission.

“Thanks to your generosity, we can provide the very best care to the sisters in our community,” said Sister M. Stephanie said about the Retirement Fund for Religious. “Your contributions enabled upgrades, including building an inﬁrmary, ensuring our sisters’ well-being.”

Since 1988, the collection has distributed more than $973 million to support day-to-day care and self-help projects, as well as educational programs for longterm retirement planning.

Protection of CHILDREN

The Diocese of Jackson is committed to ensuring that no one being served by the church be (is) at risk of sexual abuse or exploitation by clergy, religious or lay church personnel. The spiritual well-being of all the victims, their families and others in the community is of particular concern to the church. In accordance with our policy, all victims are o ered counseling and pastoral care.

Anyone who has been a victim of abuse or exploitation by clergy, religious or lay church personnel and has not yet reported it is encouraged to do so. Our victim assistance coordinator, Erika Rojas, a licensed social worker, is available to assist in making a report. Please contact her at (601) 326-3736.

For more information about diocesan policies and procedures and to learn what the diocese is doing to create a safe environment for everyone, please visit the diocesan website at www.jacksondiocese.org and click on “Protection of Children.”

To report an allegation of abuse or mishandling of allegations of sexual abuse by a bishop, please visit https://reportbishopabuse.org.

+Joseph R. Kopacz D.D., Ph.D. Bishop of Jackson

Please be generous, December 7 & 8

Sirviendo a los Católicos Hispanos de la Diócesis de Jackson desde 1997

Obispos

estadounidenses: ‘Nos solidarizamos

firmemente’ con los inmigrantes

Por Gina christian (OSV News) – Tres obispos católicos de EE.UU. emitieron el 14 de noviembre una declaración de preocupación pastoral – en inglés y posteriormente español – en la que se comprometen a apoyar a los inmigrantes.

“Impulsados por el Evangelio de Jesucristo y reconociendo la dignidad inherente de cada individuo como hijo de Dios, nos solidarizamos firmemente con nuestros hermanos y hermanas inmigrantes que viven y trabajan en estos Estados Unidos”, escribió el arzobispo Timothy P. Broglio de la Arquidiócesis para los Servicios Militares de Estados Unidos, quien es el presidente de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de EE.UU.; Mons. Mark J. Seitz, obispo de El Paso, Texas, presidente del Comité de Migración de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de EE.UU.; y Mons. Jaime Soto, obispo de Sacramento, presidente del consejo de Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc.

Conocida como CLINIC, la red es una organización sin ánimo de lucro con sede en Maryland que ofrece defensa, formación y apoyo a más de 400

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Miembros del Sínodo de los Obispos se reúnen con el Papa Francisco para una vigilia ecuménica con los participantes en el Sínodo de los Obispos el 11 de octubre de 2024, en la Plaza de los Protomártires Romanos del Vaticano. La plaza, justo al sur de la Basílica de San Pedro, es el lugar donde San Pedro y otros cristianos fueron martirizados en el siglo I bajo el emperador Nerón. (Foto CNS/Lola Gómez)

Juez federal anula el programa de Biden que protegía de la deportación a los cónyuges indocumentados de ciudadanos estadounidenses

Por Kate scanLon (OSV News) – Un juez federal de Texas anuló el 7 de noviembre un programa de la administración Biden para proteger de la deportación y ofrecer una vía hacia la ciudadanía estadounidense a cientos de miles de inmigrantes indocumentados que viven en el país y están casados con ciudadanos estadounidenses. El programa, conocido como “Keeping Families Together” (Manteniendo a las Familias Unidas) – que buscaba permitir a los cónyuges e hijastros indocumentados de ciudadanos estadounidenses solicitar la residencia legal permanente sin tener que salir primero de EE.UU. –, fue impugnado por 16 estados liderados por republicanos que presentaron una demanda después de que se pusieran a disposición las solicitudes en agosto. En ese momento, un juez dejó en suspenso el programa.

“Lamentablemente, esta decisión judicial probablemente pondrá fin al programa, ya que Trump lo dará por terminado al asumir el cargo”, dijo a OSV News J. Kevin Appleby, investigador principal de política en el Centro de Estudios Migratorios de Nueva York y ex director de política migratoria de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de Estados Unidos (USCCB).

“En su lugar, su administración comenzará a deportar exactamente a las mismas familias, separando a los niños que sean ciudadanos estadounidenses de sus padres”, dijo Appleby. “Esperemos que los defensores católicos, incluidos los obispos estadounidenses, no se detengan en su oposición a los planes de deportación masiva y anti-asilo de Trump. La historia marcará cómo la iglesia en Estados Unidos defiende los derechos de los migrantes en los próximos años”.

Según los términos del programa, los solicitantes deben haber residido en EE.UU. durante 10 años o más y estar legalmente casados con un ciudadano estadounidense. A las personas aprobadas por el Departamento de Seguridad Na-

cional se les habría permitido permanecer en EE.UU. durante un periodo de tres años para solicitar la residencia permanente.

En junio, la Casa Blanca había dicho que el programa beneficiaría a “aproximadamente medio millón de cónyuges de ciudadanos estadounidenses y a unos 50.000 niños no ciudadanos menores de 21 años con progenitores casados con ciudadanos estadounidenses”.

Pero el juez J. Campbell Barker, de la corte de EE.UU. para el Distrito Este de Texas, quien anteriormente había bloqueado temporalmente el programa, lo anuló el 7 de noviembre, argumentando que la administración se excedió en su autoridad al crear dicho programa.

Hubiera sido improbable que el programa siguiera en vigor una vez que el presidente electo Donald Trump tome posesión de la presidencia en enero.

Andrew Bailey, fiscal general de Misuri, uno de los estados que se unieron a la demanda contra el programa, dijo en un mensaje en X (antes Twitter): “El tribunal acaba de acceder a nuestra petición de anular el programa ilegal de libertad condicional de la administración Biden-Harris, que permite a los extranjeros ilegales permanecer en nuestro país después de haber cruzado la frontera. Una gran victoria para el estado de derecho”.

FWD.us, un grupo de defensa de la reforma de la inmigración y la justicia penal, dijo en un post en X que estaba “profundamente decepcionado” por el fallo, argumentando que el programa representaba “un salvavidas para cientos de miles de familias estadounidenses que necesitan desesperadamente protección para no ser separadas por nuestro fallido sistema de inmigración”.

Anteriormente, el obispo de El Paso, Texas, Mark J. Seitz, presidente del

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‘... necesitamos un sistema que ofrezca un alivio permanente...’

proveedores de servicios jurídicos católicos y comunitarios en materia de inmigración en 49 estados de EE.UU.

Los obispos señalaron que “desde la fundación de nuestra nación, los inmigrantes han sido esenciales para el crecimiento y la prosperidad de esta sociedad”.

“Llegan a nuestras costas como extraños, atraídos por las promesas que ofrece esta tierra y se convierten en estadounidenses”, dijeron los obispos. “Continúan brindando seguridad alimentaria, servicios de salud y muchas otras habilidades esenciales que apoyan a nuestra próspera nación”.

Según datos del Pew Research Center, los inmigrantes representan actualmente el 14,3% de la población estadounidense, el nivel más alto desde 1910, pero aún inferior al porcentaje de 14,8% de 1890.

Los datos de 2022 muestran que la mayoría de los inmigrantes (77%) están en EE.UU. legalmente, con casi la mitad (49%) como ciudadanos naturalizados, algo menos de una cuarta parte (24%) como residentes permanentes legales y un 4% como residentes temporales legales. Algo menos de una cuarta parte (23%) están en el país sin autorización.

Mientras que el presidente electo Donald Trump ha prometido deportar a millones de inmigrantes indocumentados, los obispos dijeron en su declaración que “nuestro país merece un sistema de inmigración que ofrezca caminos justos y generosos hacia la ciudadanía para los inmigrantes que viven y trabajan durante muchos años dentro de nuestras fronteras”.

En particular, afirmaron, “necesitamos un sistema que brinde alivio permanente para los inmigrantes que llegan en la infancia, que ayude a mantener a familias juntas y que dé la bienvenida a refugiados”.

Con gran parte de la migración mundial impulsada por conflictos y desastres naturales, los obispos subrayaron la necesidad de “desarrollar un sistema de asilo eficaz para aquellos que huyen de la persecución”.

Según la legislación internacional sobre derechos humanos – como la Convención de la ONU sobre el Estatuto de los Refugiados de 1951 y su Protocolo de 1967, al que Estados Unidos se adhirió en 1968 –, el principio fundamental de no devolución establece que los refugiados no pueden ser expulsados a territorios donde existan amenazas sustanciales para su vida o su libertad.

Al mismo tiempo, los obispos pidieron “un sistema de inmigración que mantenga nuestras fronteras seguras y protegidas, con políticas de aplicación de la ley que se enfoquen en quienes presentan riesgos y peligros a la sociedad, particularmente esfuerzos para disminuir actividad pandillera, frenar el flujo de las drogas y eliminar la trata de personas”.

La doctrina social católica sobre la inmigración equilibra tres principios interrelacionados: el derecho de las personas a emigrar para mantener sus vidas y las de sus familias, el derecho de un país a regular sus fronteras y controlar la inmigración, y el deber de una nación de regular sus fronteras con justicia y misericordia.

Los obispos dijeron que Estados Unidos debe tener un sistema de inmigración que proteja “a los migrantes vulnerables y a sus familias, muchos de los cuales ya han sido víctimas de actores delincuentes”.

“Juntos, debemos hablar en nombre de las ‘masas apiñadas que quieren respirar en libertad’ y que nuestro gobierno brinde un trato justo y humano a nuestros queridos hermanos y hermanas inmigrantes”, dijeron los obispos, citando una línea de “El nuevo coloso” de la poeta Emma Lazarus, cuyo texto completo está inscrito en la base de la Estatua de la Libertad. “Es nuestra esperanza y nuestra oración que todos podamos trabajar juntos para apoyar una reforma significativa a nuestro sistema de inmigración actual”, añadieron los prelados.

(Gina Christian es reportera multimedia de OSV News. Síguela en X (antes Twitter) @GinaJesseReina.) – Viene de la página 1 –

‘... la unidad familiar es un derecho fundamental ...’

– Viene de la página 1 –

Comité de Migración de la Conferencia de los Obispos Católicos de Estados Unidos, había recibido con beneplácito la noticia de la norma de la administración Biden, señalando que un programa similar había estado disponible para los miembros del servicio militar y sus familias durante varios años.

En una declaración del 18 de junio, el obispo Seitz dijo: “Hemos visto los efectos positivos que pueden tener estos programas, no sólo para los propios beneficiarios, sino también para las familias, los empleadores y las comunidades que dependen de ellos”, y añadió que el nuevo programa “seguramente producirá beneficios similares”.

El magisterio de la Iglesia católica esboza los parámetros morales de la Iglesia sobre la inmigración. El Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica instruye: “Las naciones más prósperas tienen el deber de acoger, en cuanto sea posible, al extranjero que busca la seguridad y los medios de vida que no puede encontrar en su país de origen”. Al mismo tiempo, la Iglesia también ha dejado claro que las leyes humanas también están sujetas a límites divinos conocidos por la razón humana. San Juan Pablo II en su encíclica “Veritatis Splendor” (“Esplendor de la verdad”) de 1993 y en su encíclica “Evangelium Vitae” (“El Evangelio de la vida”) de 1995 – citando las enseñanzas del Concilio Vaticano II en “Gaudium et Spes” (Constitución pastoral sobre la Iglesia en el mundo actual) – ha citado la condena de las “deportaciones” entre otros actos específicos como ofensivos para la dignidad humana que “son ciertamente oprobios que, al corromper la civilización humana, deshonran más a quienes los practican que a quienes padecen la injusticia y son totalmente contrarios al honor debido al Creador”. El difunto pontífice subrayó su gravedad moral en “Veritatis Splendor” calificándolos de ejemplos de “mal intrínseco”, explicando que, independientemente de los motivos, estos actos “se configuran como no-ordenables a Dios, porque contradicen radicalmente el bien de la persona, creada a su imagen”.

En junio, el obispo Seitz había subrayado que “los legisladores tienen el deber moral y patriótico de mejorar nuestro sistema de inmigración legal, incluidas las oportunidades disponibles para la reunificación y preservación de la familia”.

A migrant from Chiapas, Mexico, looks through his family’s immigration paperwork at Casa Alitas in Tucson, Ariz., March 15, 2024. A federal judge in Texas Nov. 7 struck down a Biden administration program that gave a pathway to legalization and citizenship for certain undocumented spouses and children of U.S. citizens. (OSV News photo/Rebecca Noble, Reuters)

“Una sociedad es tan fuerte como sus familias, y la unidad familiar es un derecho fundamental”, dijo. “Por el bien del país, el Congreso debe encontrar una manera de superar las divisiones partidistas y promulgar una reforma migratoria que incluya un programa de legalización ganada para los residentes indocumentados de larga data”.

Por obisPo JosePh r. KoPacz, D.D.

Caleidoscopio de Esperanza

La Conferencia Anual de Obispos en Baltimore, recientemente concluida, estuvo repleta de reuniones, presentaciones, elecciones a varios comités, actualizaciones e impactos con respecto a las secuelas de las elecciones nacionales, y conversaciones en muchos niveles sobre los caminos a seguir para la Iglesia Católica en los Estados Unidos. Es un ambiente muy dinámico que tiene las características de un caleidoscopio colorido, excepto que en esta reunión las partes móviles están todas vestidas de negro. Sin embargo, en los últimos años, los que planifican el evento anual, a instancias del cuerpo de obispos, han incorporado más tiempo para la oración silenciosa, la adoración eucarística, las comidas relajantes y algo de ejercicio. Como siempre, las Misas diarias proporcionan el ancla para todas las actividades que siguen en el transcurso de un día. Cada vez que la Conferencia Nacional de Obispos se reúne, el nuncio apostólico se dirige al cuerpo reunido. El cardenal Christophe Pierre ocupa actualmente el cargo de nuncio como embajador del Papa Francisco ante la Iglesia en los Estados Unidos. Su mensaje es siempre una ventana a las enseñanzas recientes del Santo Padre, a los acontecimientos pertinentes en la Iglesia en los Estados Unidos y en todo el mundo, y una visión general de la Iglesia en relación con el mundo moderno. Por supuesto, un logro significativo en nuestro tiempo es el recientemente concluido Sínodo sobre la Sinodalidad, un viaje de tres años que produjo un documento final para guiar a la Iglesia desde adentro y alentar el diálogo profético con el mundo moderno. Habrá mucho que desempacar, estudiar y aplicar en un futuro predecible.

En su discurso, el cardenal Christophe señaló el próximo Año Jubilar de la Esperanza que será inaugurado por el Papa Francisco en la fiesta de la Sagrada Familia el 29 de diciembre de 2024. El Santo Padre ha escrito un documento maravilloso para este Año de Favor y Gracia del Señor, titulado Spes non Confundit, o La Esperanza no Defrauda. (Romanos 5:5)

El contexto completo de esta audaz proclamación de fe se encuentra en el siguiente pasaje. “Justificados por medio de la fe, tenemos paz con Dios por medio de nuestro Señor Jesucristo, por quien hemos tenido acceso a esta gracia en la cual estamos firmes; en la esperanza de participar en la gloria de Dios ... La esperanza no defrauda, porque el amor de Dios ha sido derramado en nuestros corazones a través del Espíritu Santo que nos ha sido dado”. (Romanos 5:1-5)

El Papa Francisco ofrece esta reflexión sobre las inspiradas palabras de San Pablo a los romanos. “Con espíritu de esperanza, el apóstol Pablo dirigió estas palabras de aliento a la comunidad cristiana de Roma. La esperanza es el mensaje central del próximo Jubileo que, según con una antigua tradición, el Papa proclama cada veinticinco años. Mi pensamiento se dirige a todos los peregrinos de esperanza que viajarán a Roma para vivir el Año Santo y a todos los demás que, aunque no hayan podido visitar la ciudad de los apóstoles Pedro y Pablo, lo celebrarán en sus iglesias locales. Que el jubileo sea para todo un momento de encuentro auténtico y personal con el Señor Jesús, “la puerta” (cf. Jn 10, 7.9) de nuestra salvación, a quien la Iglesia tiene el encargo de proclamar siempre, en todas partes y a todos como “nuestra esperanza”. (1 Timoteo 1:1) (Spes non Confundit) Para el cristiano, la esperanza nace del amor y se basa en el amor que brota del corazón traspasado de Jesús en la cruz: “Porque si siendo enemigos, fuimos reconciliados con Dios por la muerte de su Hijo, mucho más cierto, reconciliados, seremos salvados por su vida”. (Romanos 5:19)

Junto con el Jubileo de la Esperanza, el nuncio también se basó en la más reciente encíclica del Santo Padre sobre el Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, Delixit Nos, (El Señor) Él nos amó. “El símbolo del corazón se ha utilizado a menudo para expresar el amor de Jesucristo. Algunos se han preguntado si este símbolo sigue siendo

significativo hoy en día. Sin embargo, viviendo como vivimos en una época de superficialidad, corriendo frenéticamente de una cosa a otra sin saber realmente por qué, y terminando como consumidores insaciables y esclavos de los mecanismos de un mercado despreocupado por el significado más profundo de nuestras vidas, todos necesitamos redescubrir la importancia del corazón”. (Delixit Nos) Cuando el corazón está envalentonado por la gracia de Dios, podemos enfrentar un futuro incierto mejor equipados para evitar los campos minados de la incredulidad, la duda y el miedo. Una vez más, el Santo Padre anhela llevar sobre sus hombros un mundo sumido en la oscuridad y la división a la luz de un nuevo día impregnado del corazón y la esperanza del Evangelio.

La Esquina del Papa

El Papa dice que el documento final del Sínodo es parte del magisterio y debe ser aceptado

by Justin McLeLLan

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO

(CNS) – Reafirmando la centralidad de la sinodalidad en la Iglesia católica, el Papa Francisco dijo que ahora corresponde a las iglesias locales aceptar y aplicar las propuestas del documento final aprobado por el Sínodo de los Obispos sobre la sinodalidad.

Aprobado por el Papa, el documento final del sínodo “forma parte del magisterio ordinario del sucesor de Pedro y, como tal, pido que sea aceptado”, escribió el pontífice en una nota publicada por el Vaticano el 25 de noviembre.

“Las Iglesias locales y las agrupaciones de iglesias están llamadas ahora a poner en práctica, en sus diferentes contextos, las autorizadas indicaciones contenidas en el documento, a través de los procesos de discernimiento y de decisión previstos por el derecho y el propio documento”, escribió el Santo Padre casi un mes después de la clausura del sínodo.

El documento final esbozaba las prioridades clave para la Iglesia, entre ellas una mayor participación de los laicos a través de nuevos ministerios y estructuras de gobierno ajustadas, una mayor transparencia y responsabilidad entre los dirigentes de la Iglesia y la creación de un espacio para grupos anteriormente marginados. Después de que los miembros del sínodo votaran para aprobar el documento final, el Papa Francisco anunció que no escribiría la exhortación apostólica que se suele publicar después del sínodo, sino que ofrecería el documento a toda la Iglesia para su aplicación.

Con la excepción de los primeros sínodos convocados por San Pablo VI en 1967 y 1971, todas las asambleas ordinarias del Sínodo de los Obispos han ido seguidas de una exhortación sobre los temas del sínodo y los mensajes del Papa.

En su nota, el Papa Francisco aclaró que, aunque el documento “no es estrictamente normativo” y debe adaptarse a los contextos

en los que se aplica, sigue comprometiendo “a las iglesias locales a tomar decisiones coherentes con lo que en él se indica”.

También subrayó la necesidad de tiempo para poder abordar cuestiones más amplias de toda la Iglesia, como las asignadas a los 10 grupos de estudio que creó en primavera para explorar cuestiones planteadas durante el sínodo, como el ministerio de la mujer, la educación en los seminarios, las relaciones entre los obispos y las comunidades religiosas, y el papel de los nuncios. Es posible que se creen más grupos, dijo el Papa. La conclusión de la asamblea general del Sínodo de los Obispos “no pone fin al proceso sinodal”, escribió.

Añadió que el documento final del sínodo contiene recomendaciones que “ya pueden ponerse en práctica en las iglesias locales y en las agrupaciones de iglesias, teniendo en cuenta los diferentes contextos, de lo que ya se ha hecho y de lo que queda por hacer para aprender y desarrollar cada vez mejor el estilo propio de la Iglesia sinodal misionera”.

El Papa Francisco se dirige a los miembros del Sínodo de los Obispos sobre la sinodalidad después de que aprobaran su documento final el 26 de octubre de 2024, en el Aula de Audiencias Pablo VI del Vaticano. (Foto CNS/Vatican Media)

Una réplica de la estatua de la Virgen de París es transportada durante una procesión mariana con velas por las calles de París el 15 de noviembre de 2024, ya que la original, por motivos de seguridad, fue transportada en un camión de vuelta a la catedral de Notre Dame. La estatua permaneció cinco años en la iglesia de Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois, cerca del Louvre, desde que Notre Dame fue arrasada por un incendio en 2019. (Foto OSV News/Stephanie Lecocq, Reuters)

NACIÓN

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Mientras los activistas presionan al Presidente Joe Biden para que conmute las sentencias federales de muerte existentes durante sus últimos meses en el cargo, un nuevo informe del Centro de Información sobre la Pena de Muerte examina lo que denomina disparidades raciales persistentes en los procesos federales de pena de muerte. El informe llega en un momento en que los activistas contra la pena de muerte, incluida la Catholic Mobilizing Network (CMN), han argumentado que Biden, que fue el primer presidente de EE.UU. en hacer campaña para poner fin al uso de la pena de muerte federal, no ha cumplido esa

promesa. CMN está animando a Biden a cumplir esa promesa con acciones concretas en el período postelectoral antes de que el presidente electo Donald Trump, que ha tratado de ampliar el uso de la pena capital, regrese a la Casa Blanca. El informe del centro de información, con sede en Washington, criticó los argumentos de los defensores de la pena capital de que la práctica federal es un “estándar de oro” con “la representación legal de la más alta calidad para los acusados de un conjunto reducido de delitos excepcionales”, lo que lleva a un proceso más fuerte que sus equivalentes a nivel estatal. En cambio, según el informe, la práctica a nivel federal tiene los mismos problemas sistémicos que los sistemas estatales de pena de muerte, “incluida la arbitrariedad, la representación legal ineficaz y, especialmente, el sesgo racial”. Robin M. Maher, director ejecutivo del centro, dijo: “Esperamos que los funcionarios electos consideren seriamente este estudio en profundidad del uso histórico de la pena capital y su uso actual antes de tomar alguna decisión a futuro”.

VATICANO

CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) – No hay cristianos de segunda clase, dijo el Papa Francisco. Los laicos, incluidas las mujeres, y el clero tienen dones especiales para edificar la Iglesia en unidad y santidad.”Los laicos no son los últimos, los laicos no son una especie de colaboradores externos o tropas auxiliares del clero, sino que tienen sus propios carismas y dones con los que contribuir a la misión de la Iglesia”, dijo el Papa el 20 de noviembre en su audiencia general en la Plaza de San Pedro. Continuando con una serie de catequesis sobre el papel del Espíritu Santo en la vida de la Iglesia, el Papa Francisco analizó cómo el Espíritu Santo edifica el Cuerpo de Cristo a través de la efusión de dones y carismas. El Espíritu Santo distribuye gracias especiales entre los fieles de todo rango. Por medio de estos dones, Él los hace aptos y preparados para asumir las diversas tareas y oficios que contribuyen a la renovación y edificación de la Iglesia, dijo, citando la Constitución

6 de diciembre de 2024 MISSISSIPPI CATÓLICO

Dogmática sobre la Iglesia del Concilio Vaticano II, “Lumen Gentium”. Un carisma es “el don concedido ‘para el bien común’. En otras palabras, no está destinado principal y ordinariamente a la santificación de la persona, sino al servicio de la comunidad”, dijo el Papa Francisco. “Se trata, en cambio, de dones ordinarios, cada uno de nosotros tiene su propio carisma, que adquieren un valor extraordinario cuando son inspirados por el Espíritu Santo y encarnados en las situaciones de la vida con amor”, dijo.

MUNDO

PARÍS (OSV News) – Tras haber evitado milagrosamente las que cayeron del techo durante el incendio del 15 de abril de 2019, y después de esperar cinco años para volver a la catedral de Notre Dame, la estatua del siglo XIV de la Virgen de París regresó a casa el 15 de noviembre, acompañada por miles de parisinos que iban rezando, cantando y encendiendo velas mientras caminaban a su Virgen a la iglesia más icónica de París, restaurada después del incendio. Desde el incendio, la estatua, también llamada Virgen con el Niño o Virgen del Pilar, se encuentra cerca del Louvre, en la iglesia de Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois, desde donde partió la procesión a las 6 p.m. hora local. Por razones de seguridad, no fue posible transportar a pie la estatua real de la Virgen. En su lugar, todos pudieron presenciar su salida en camión, antes de partir, con velas y cantos, detrás de una réplica, iluminada y adornada con flores blancas. La procesión recorrió las orillas del Sena en dirección a la Île de la Cité, una de las dos islas parisinas y sede de la catedral de Notre Dame. Al llegar ante la catedral, hacia las 7 p.m., los peregrinos fueron recibidos por los cantos de la Maîtrise Notre Dame, el coro de la catedral. El arzobispo bendijo la estatua original, cuyo cajón se había abierto para que pudiera verse. A continuación, el camión entró en las obras de la cathedral para poder instalar la estatua original.

TOME NOTA

Vírgenes y Santos

La Diócesis de Jackson se compromete a garantizar que ninguna persona a la que sirva la iglesia corra el riesgo de sufrir abuso o explotación sexual por parte del clero, los religiosos o el personal laico de la iglesia.

El bienestar espiritual de todas las víctimas, sus familias y otros miembros de la comunidad es de particular interés para la iglesia. De acuerdo con nuestra política, a todas las víctimas se les ofrece asesoramiento y atención pastoral.

Se alienta a cualquier persona que haya sido víctima de abuso o explotación por parte del clero, religioso o personal de la iglesia laica y aún no lo haya denunciado, a que lo haga. Nuestra coordinadora de asistencia a víctimas, Erika Rojas, una trabajadora social con licencia, está disponible para ayudar a hacer un informe. Números de contacto del Coordinador de Asistencia a las Víctimas: (601) 326-3736; (601) 326-3760.

Para obtener más información sobre las políticas y procedimientos diocesanos y para saber qué está haciendo la diócesis para crear un entorno seguro para todos, visite el sitio web diocesano en www.jacksondiocese.org y haga clic en "Protección de Niños."

Para hacer una denuncia de abuso o mal manejo de denuncias de abuso sexual por parte de un obispo, visite https://reportbishopabuse.org.

Immaculada Concepción de la Bienaventurada Virgen María. Diciembre 9

Bienaventurada Virgen

María de Guadalupe. Diciembre 12

Santa Lucía. Diciembre 13

Natividad del Señor. Diciembre 25

Sagrada Familia de Jesús, María y José. Diciembre 29

JACKSON – St. Therese, Las Posadas, comienza el lunes 16 de diciembre a 6 p.m.

JACKSON – Holy Family, Las Posadas, el lunes 23 de diciembre a 6 p.m. en Balsar Hall.

+Joseph R. Kopacz D.D., Ph.D. Bishop of Jackson

TUPELO – St. James, Evento familiar de formación de la fe «Me Pregunto», domingo 15 de diciembre a las 10:15 a.m. en Shelton Hall. Detalles: Rhonda at rhondaswita13@gmail.com.

Horarios de Misa de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe 12 de diciembre: Las Manañitas, Cristo Rey, Southaven – 5:30 a.m. Holy Spirit, Hernando – 8 a.m.

Cristo Rey, Southaven – 12 p.m.

Catedral de San Pedro, Jackson – 5:30 p.m. procesión y 7 p.m. Misa

St. Gregory, Senatobia – 5:30 p.m.

St. James, Tupelo – 6 p.m. en Shelton Hall.

Cristo Rey, Southaven (Bilingual) – 7 p.m.

St. Joseph, Holly Springs – 7 p.m.

Foto cortesía de Canva

NATION

INDIANAPOLIS (OSV News) – Mary with the Christ Child has long been an iconic Christmas image for cultures and peoples around the world. Starting more than 60 years ago, the U.S. Postal Service began annually issuing Christmas stamps featuring various classic artistic portrayals of the image. This year, the USPS selected as the image for this stamp a painting that has been in the collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newﬁelds in Indianapolis since 1938. The “Madonna and Child” was created in the workshop of the Italian artist Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato in the 17th century. Belinda Tate, the Melvin and Bren Simon director of the museum, said she and the sta were “deeply honored” by having one of its paintings chosen for a Christmas stamp this year. “This selection brings a beloved piece from our collection to a broad audience, allowing us to celebrate its beauty, historical signiﬁcance and the spirit of the season,” Tate added. A broad audience indeed. The USPS has produced 210 million stamps featuring this painting.

FAIRFAX, Va. (OSV News) – Pro-life organizers aim to inspire pro-life youth attending the national March for Life in Washington Jan. 24 with the merger of two pre-march youth events, announced Nov. 14. The Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, and host of Life is VERY Good since 2009, and the Knights of Columbus and the Sisters of Life, co-hosts of Life Fest since 2022, are joining forces to create one big prolife rally called Life Fest. The two-day pro-life event will be held Jan. 23-24 at EagleBank Arena on the campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, 20 miles southwest of the National Mall and the March for Life. Life Fest 2025 will begin with a night of praise, held the evening before the March for Life with speakers, live music and Eucharistic adoration. The following day, a morning rally and Mass will be held hours before the March for Life. Attendees will have the chance to go to confession and to venerate the relics of Pope St. John Paul II, Blessed Carlo Acutis, the recently beatiﬁed Ulma family and Blessed Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus. Organizers hope to attract some 8,400 participants to the event each day.

VATICAN

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – There are no second-class Christians, Pope Francis said. The laity, including women, and the clergy all have special gifts to edify the church in unity and holiness. “The laity are not in last place. No. The laity are not a kind of external collaborator or the clergy’s ‘auxiliary troops.’ No! They have their own charisms and gifts with which to contribute to the mission of the

church,” the pope said Nov. 20 at his general audience in St. Peter’s Square. Continuing a series of talks on the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church, Pope Francis looked at how the Holy Spirit builds up the Body of Christ through the outpouring of charismatic gifts. The Holy Spirit “distributes special graces among the faithful of every rank. By these gifts, He makes them ﬁt and ready to undertake the various tasks and o ces which contribute toward the renewal and building up of the church,” he said, quoting from the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, “Lumen Gentium.” A charism is “the gift given for the common good, to be useful for everyone. It is not, in other words, destined principally and ordinarily for the sanctiﬁcation of the person. No. It is intended, however, for the service of the community,” Pope Francis said. “They are ordinary gifts. Each one of us has his or her own charism that assumes extraordinary value if inspired by the Holy Spirit and embodied with love in situations of life,” he said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis, who will celebrate his 88th birthday in December, has approved simplified liturgical rites for the death of a ponti . His body will rest in a zinclined wooden casket, according to the new rites. Recent popes had been buried inside a cypress wood co n surrounded by another co n made of lead, which was then covered by a third wooden co n. Vatican News carried a story Nov. 20 about the second edition of the “Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis” (“Funeral Rites of the Roman Ponti ”); the book updates the rites originally approved by St. John Paul in 1998, technically published in 2000, but released only when St. John Paul died in 2005. Modified versions of the rites were used after Pope Benedict XVI died Dec. 31, 2022. Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of papal liturgical ceremonies, told Vatican News the revised edition was needed, “first of all because Pope Francis asked, as he himself stated on several occasions, to simplify and adapt some of the rites so that the celebration of the bishop of Rome’s funeral would better express the church’s faith in the risen Christ.”

WORLD

For the image on the 2024 religious Christmas stamp, the U.S. Postal Service has selected this 17th-century “Madonna and Child” painting that has been in the collection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art since 1938. (OSV News photo/courtesy U.S. Postal Service)

SAN SALVADOR (OSV News) – El Salvador has ordered a former president to stand trial for the 1989 murders of six Jesuits, their housekeeper and her 16-year-old daughter – a notorious crime from the Central American country’s civil war, which has languished in the realm of impunity.

A judge in San Salvador issued a Nov. 18 decision ordering former president Alfredo Cristiani, a former congressman and nine others to stand trial as the intellectual authors of the attack on the Jesuits. Cristiani, who was president between 1989 and 1994, was charged with murder, conspiracy and terrorism in 2022. His whereabouts remain unknown, according to media reports. The priests were killed by sol-

diers in their residence on the campus of the Jesuit-run Central American University – an institution they accused of being inﬁltrated by guerrillas. The university has long rejected that accusation and demanded justice for the eight victims. Catholics in El Salvador expressed mixed feelings on the decision to bring Cristiani to trial. The judge’s decision came just two days after the 35th anniversary of the Jesuit martyrs’ murders, marked with a Nov. 16 memorial Mass. The slain priests’ memory continues to inspire Catholics in El Salvador and beyond. “The memory of the martyrs is very much alive,” said Jesuit Father Jeremy Zipple, who traveled with a group from Belize for the memorial.

PARIS (OSV News) – Miraculously missed by burning beams falling from the roof on April 15, 2019, and waiting for five years to make it back to Notre Dame Cathedral, the 14th-century statue of the Virgin of Paris returned home Nov. 15, accompanied by thousands of Parisians praying, singing and lighting candles as they walked their Virgin to Paris’ most iconic church, restored after the fire. Since the fire, the statue, also referred to as Virgin and Child, or the Virgin of the Pillar, has been housed near the Louvre in the Church of Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois, from where the procession started at 6 p.m. local time. Transporting the real statue of the Virgin on foot was out of the question for security reasons. Instead, everyone was able to witness her departure by truck, before setting o , with candles and singing, behind a replica, illuminated and decorated with white flowers. The procession followed along the banks of the Seine River toward the Île de la Cité, one of two Parisian islands and home to Notre Dame Cathedral. Arriving in front of the cathedral at around 7 p.m., the pilgrims were greeted by the singing of the Maîtrise Notre Dame, the cathedral’s choir. The archbishop blessed the original statue, with the crate carrying it opened so that it could be seen. The truck then entered the cathedral’s construction site so the original statue could be installed inside the cathedral.

Bishop Gerow leaves legacy – a century and beyond

Bishop Richard Oliver Gerow reviews materials in the original archives vault in Natchez with Msgr. Daniel O’Beirne circa 1940. Bishop Gerow was the seventh bishop of the diocese, serving from 1924-1966, while Msgr. O’Beirne was diocesan chancellor from 1927-41. (Photo from archives)

FROM THE ARCHIVES

By Mary WoodWard

This week we are taking a short break from Bishop Janssens (fourth bishop) to honor our seventh bishop, Richard Oliver Gerow on the 100th anniversary of his consecration and coming to our diocese. Since this is an article series from the archives, and Bishop Gerow organized our diocesan archive, it would be sacrilege if I let this anniversary pass by without due recognition.

Bishop Gerow was consecrated on Oct. 15, 1924, in the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile. He grew up in the shadows of the cathedral and was baptized and confirmed there. Bishop Edward Allen of Mobile was the principal consecrator and the bishop whom Rev. Gerow has served under for several years.

After the grand liturgy, the young bishop spent a few weeks tying up some loose ends in his hometown, then headed for his new diocese on Nov. 11, by way of New Orleans. Following a visit with Archbishop John Shaw, Gerow, the Archbishop, and the delegation from Mobile boarded a special midnight train to his new diocese.

The Illinois Central Sleeper arrived in Brookhaven a little before 5 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 12. The new bishop was met by a delegation from St. Francis, the local parish, where he celebrated his first Mass in the diocese. A transfer train from Natchez arrived at 8 a.m. in Brookhaven carrying a large delegation from the See City. Bishop Gerow and his entourage boarded the train and arrived in Natchez at 10 a.m. to a warm welcome from the town.

So that he might travel around the entire diocese and see all its parishes and clergy, Bishop Gerow appointed Msgr. Prendergast as vicar general and entrusted most of the details of church business to him until Christmas. All of this is documented in the first few pages of Bishop Gerow’s monumental diary described below.

To be honest we have one of the most complete archives of Mississippi history in the state, albeit a

history through the unique lens of the development of the Catholic Church in the region. The collection is a national treasure. Bishop Gerow is the reason for this.

As a meticulous historian who knew the importance of maintaining proper records and information, Bishop Gerow, assisted by various chancellors along the way, built the comprehensive collection we have in the vault over a period of 42 years.

He kept a detailed diary, as did several of his predecessors, of the daily events in the life of the church as he lived them. His diary is several thousand pages typed up neatly and bound in volumes. His last entry details his retirement in 1966.

He also oversaw the indexing of the six previous bishops’ papers and correspondence along with all the official acts of the office of bishop and the diocesan church.

An avid photographer, he photographed churches and diocesan structures while he travelled throughout the entire state. A small fraction of these is part of our collection in the

Mississippi Digital Library. Visit the collection at https://msdiglib.org/cdj.

Bishop Gerow moved the bishop’s residence and office to Jackson from Natchez and brought most of the archive collection with him. The archives’ vault was built into the ground floor of the diocesan chancery building during its construction in 1947. Our archive collection has documents dating back to the late 1700s with some books dating back farther than that.

Today, the vault is stacked to the ceiling and diocesan records since 1966 are slowly being indexed for future research. There is a great need for space and the vision is to one day have a building for the diocesan archives that can serve as a research center and small museum for educational purposes.

Recently, we have had to close the collection to any research due to a moisture issue that caused some archive collection-specific mold; plus, some of our microfilm rolls of older sacramental records have contracted the dreaded vinegar disease and have been isolated to keep it from spreading to other rolls.

Right now, we manage our treasure the best we can within the allotted space. And we hope one day to be able to better share that treasure in a more appropriate environment.

Until then, I hope you will continue to appreciate the history we share in the space provided in this column.

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)

Sister Thea Bowman Statue Dedication

JACKSON – Bishop Joseph Kopacz will bless the life-sized bronze statue of Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman, FSPA, on Saturday, Dec. 21, at 11 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in downtown Jackson. All are invited to attend. Pictured above is a preliminary clay model of the statue. (Photo by August Taconi)

MOVIE REVIEws

Movie review: “Wicked”

By John Mulderig

NEW YORK (OSV News) – Considered purely from an artistic viewpoint, the lavish musical “Wicked” (Universal) represents a confluence of the best both Broadway and Hollywood have to offer. On a moral level, however, the film’s content, while largely free of overtly problematic material, nonetheless demands careful assessment.

Directed by Jon M. Chu, the opulent production has a long lineage. It provides an origin story for the Wicked Witch of the West (Cynthia Erivo) – here dubbed Elphaba – who features in L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” its classic 1939 film adaptation and the 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire on which the show was based.

Born with green skin, which those around her find repellent, Elphaba grows up an unloved daughter and social outcast. But a turning point comes when Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh), a revered professor of sorcery, discovers Elphaba’s magical powers and insists on enrolling her in the university her wheelchair-bound sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode) is attending.

There Elphaba meets – and initially clashes with – her unwillingly assigned roommate, Galinda Upland (Ariana Grande), the future Good Witch of the North. Though the two eventually become best friends, their bond is repeatedly tested.

First, both Elphaba and Galinda fall for their dashing and fun-loving fellow student, Prince Fiyero (Jonathan Bailey). While Fiyero becomes Galinda’s boyfriend, plot developments reveal that he may have more in common with Elphaba, who masks her attraction to him by an outward attitude of disdain for his apparent frivolousness.

A further strain on the pals’ relationship is eventually introduced by their encounter with Baum’s title character (Jeff Goldblum). Although Elphaba has long idolized the Wizard, on closer scrutiny, he may not prove to be what she was expecting.

Winnie Holzman’s script for this first installment in a two-part adaptation incorporates the stage tunes and lyrics of Stephen Schwartz. Moviegoers will not be left wondering at the outstanding success of the source material since excellent, hard-driving performances and soaring musical numbers fully sustain the ambitious two-and-a-half-hour plus running time.

Additionally, Holzman’s screenplay evokes sympathy for the pathos of Elphaba’s plight as she finds herself continually misunderstood and shunned while it garners laughs from Galinda’s vain ditziness. Mercurial Galinda turns out to be an ideal foil for the resolutely upright Elphaba since she is capable of maliciousness but is also often goodhearted.

“Wicked’s” basic message about the need to stand up against prejudice and persecution is obviously congruent with Gospel values. But a scene of marital infidelity as well as the subtle but clear gay sensibility by which the proceedings are occasionally tinged both suggest parental caution.

Sharp-eyed viewers will note, for instance, that the uniforms male extras playing college students wear have trousers but also half of what looks like a skirt. And at least one such background figure is in full-blown drag.

More substantially, a secondary character in Galinda’s entourage, Pfannee (Bowen Yang), is shown to be as susceptible to Fiyero’s appeal as any of the ladies. During a brief conversation with the prince, in fact, he does everything but fan himself to cool down.

The moment passes and we’re back on track. But, along with some bloodless but possibly scary scenes of action, these details point to an appropriate audience of older teens and their elders.

The film contains some stylized mayhem, an adulterous incident and momentary same-sex flirting. The OSV News classification is A-II – adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG – parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande star in the movie “Wicked.” The OSV News classification is A-II – adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG – parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children. (OSV News photo/Universal)

Movie Review: “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”

By John Mulderig

NEW YORK (OSV News) – Gentle and family-oriented, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” (Lionsgate) offers top-flight holiday entertainment for a wide range of age groups. In adapting author Barbara Robinson’s 1972 children’s novel, helmer Dallas Jenkins blends wry humor and touching drama while also successfully conveying some valuable insights.

As a small-town church prepares for the annual production of its tradition-bound yuletide pageant, the show’s long-standing director, Mrs. Armstrong (Mariam Bernstein), is suddenly put out of commission by an accident. So youthful stay-at-home mom Grace (Judy Greer) volunteers to step into the breach.

As Grace tries to get her bearings, she’s daunted to find that the Herdman children, a brood of six notoriously misbehaving siblings – led by the eldest, Imogene (Beatrice Schneider) – have bullied their way into the principal roles. Imogene, in particular, is determined to play the Virgin Mary.

Grace is inclined to give the neglected kids a chance to prove themselves. Yet she also justifiably fears that they’ll wreak disaster.

As she wavers, Grace is cheered on by her young daughter, Beth (Molly Belle Wright), and gets guarded support from her husband, Bob (Pete Holmes). She’s opposed every step of the way, however, by a band of close-minded

fellow parishioners.

As narrated by the adult Beth (Lauren Graham), this is a mutual conversion story in which characters on both sides of the little controversy end up getting a better grip on the reason for the season. Thus the Herdman kids, as newcomers to worship and scripture, bring a fresh perspective to the tale of Christmas that helps renew the faith of those jaded by its familiarity.

Penned by Ryan Swanson, Platte F. Clark and Darin McDaniel, the script also treats with a delicate touch such themes as pigeonholing prejudice and the positive influence of religious role models. All this far outweighs the few quasi-irreverent exclamations used to illustrate the Herdmans’ naughtiness – wayward language that’s immediately rebuked by others on screen.

Overall, although small fry are unlikely to find it of interest, “Pageant” makes welcome entertainment for all others.

The film contains a few mild oaths and a single rude expression. The OSV News classification is A-II – adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG – parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

(John Mulderig is media reviewer for OSV News. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @JohnMulderig1.)

A scene from the movie “Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” (OSV News photo/ Allen Fraser, Lionsgate)

Faith, school and parish support are source of strength for Olympic champion swimmer

By Mark ZiMMerMann

BETHESDA, Md. (OSV News) – For Olympic champion swimmer Katie Ledecky, one of the best things about winning Olympic medals is sharing them.

Now the most decorated U.S. female Olympian in history, Ledecky paid a visit Oct. 22 to her high school alma mater, Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, to show students her medals and to talk about her Olympic experiences. She also stopped by her home parish, the Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda.

Addressing Stone Ridge students in the school’s theater, Ledecky described what it was like after winning her first gold medal in swimming at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, when she was 15 and a rising sophomore at the school.

She returned home and showed her medal to wounded warriors at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, and she also visited the National Children’s Hospital in Washington, and she remembered putting a medal around a child’s neck there and seeing that child’s face light up.

“That’s probably my favorite part about winning the medals, and that’s probably what really inspires me the most, to try to win those medals and to be able to share them,” the Olympian said.

Ledecky, who wore her four latest Olympic medals around her neck as she addressed the Stone Ridge students, added, “To me, these medals are not just mine. They’re everyone’s, everyone that has supported me, everyone that has driven me to practice, pushed me in practice, taught me in school, supported me in all my goals, and even just everyone at home watching on TV and yelling at their TV.”

In Paris while swimming in her fourth consecutive Summer Olympics, Ledecky won her 14th Olympic medal, adding two more gold medals to her record-setting total of nine gold medals, and she became the most decorated U.S. female Olympian in history.

At the Paris Olympics, Ledecky won gold medals in her signature races – the women’s 800-meter and 1500-meter freestyle events – and she won a silver medal in the 4x200 meter freestyle relay and a bronze in the 400-meter women’s freestyle race.

This summer before the Olympics, her best-selling memoir, “Just Add Water,” was published by Simon & Schuster. In May at the White House, President Joe Biden presented Ledecky with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Five days before speaking to Stone Ridge students, Ledecky was honored at a ceremony on campus, where members of the Montgomery County Council issued a proclamation naming Oct. 17 as “Katie Ledecky Day,” and an honorary road marker, “Katie Ledecky Lane” was unveiled for a roadway along the school.

Speaking to students during Ledecky’s visit, Catherine Ronan Karrels – head of school at Stone Ridge – said of the new road sign, “Now every day when we drive to school, we will be able to see that and be inspired by her as we come and go about our day.”

Ledecky, class of 2015, gave credit to the Stone Ridge community for its support, and for helping her find balance in her life from when she first returned to school in 2012 as an Olympian.

“What was so great was I was able to just get right back to work, get back to school. All my teachers treated me just like any other student, all my classmates treated me like I was just another student,”

she said.

Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart is sponsored by the Society of the Sacred Heart.

Before the Paris Olympics, Stone Ridge held a pep rally for Ledecky and two other alumnae who were swimming in those games – Phoebe Bacon of the class of 2020 and Erin Gemmell of the class of 2023.

Gemmell joined Ledecky in winning a silver medal in the 4x200 meter freestyle relay, and Bacon finished in fourth place in the 200-meter backstroke race, narrowly missing a bronze medal by .04 seconds.

Ledecky said she appreciated how during her years at Stone Ridge, the community supported her in her swimming journey and her academic journey.

“Education has always been a top priority in my life, it’s been a value in my family,” she said. “I never wanted to push my education aside for the sake of swimming. I always wanted to balance both of them. Stone Ridge and everyone in this community allowed me to do that, supported me in that, pushed me in school and in my sport.”

After graduating from Stone Ridge, Ledecky earned a degree in psychology from Stanford University.

The Olympian said another aspect of her Stone Ridge education that she appreciated was the Upper School’s Social Action Program. On one Wednesday each month, Stone Ridge Upper School students participate in a day of community service. When she was at Stone Ridge, Ledecky volunteered with Bikes for the World, which provides donated bicycles to people in developing countries.

“I loved to be able to get out and help other people. ... It’s so great to learn how to give back to your community,” she said.

The athlete, who is now 27, said she started swimming when she was 6 years old, and she loved swimming from the start.

The athlete said she has always set goals for herself. “I set my mind on something I want to achieve, whether that was in the classroom or whether that

was in the pool, and I’d just go do it, do whatever it took to get those goals,” she said.

Describing the work involved in her training, Ledecky said she swims 10 times a week, and she added that she swims about two hours each time, and sometimes adds another swimming session on Sundays. One little girl emphatically asked Ledecky if she ever gets tired of swimming, and the Olympian responded, “I really love it!”

Ledecky is now training to compete in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

The Olympian offered words of encouragement to all the students. “If there’s something that you do find that you love as much as I have found that with swimming, you’ve got to try to pursue it to the fullest and try to be the very best that you can be at it.” That might be a school subject, a sport or an extracurricular activity, she said.

Standing beside the pool at the Stone Ridge Aquatics Center, Ledecky was interviewed by journalists after he remarks.

She said that when she’s competing in the Olympics, she carries in her heart all those people from Stone Ridge and from Little Flower school and parish who have supported her. “They’ve all been so great and have all helped me learn how to have balance in my life,” she said.

Asked if she still prays the Hail Mary before her swimming races, Ledecky said, “I still do that. I joke that it’s probably more like a decade of the rosary now. Yes, I’ve always done that.”

Ledecky said her Catholic faith remains a source of strength for her.

That faith and the support of her Catholic schools and parish help “quiet my head and quiet my heart and help me feel balance and ready and prepared and supported. ... I lean on everything I learned at Little Flower and Stone Ridge,” she said.

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

The Sacred Heart of Jesus is depicted in a stained-glass window at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in the Forest Hills section of the Queens borough of New York. (OSV News photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)

Federal judge strikes down Biden ‘Keeping Families Together’ program

BY KATE SCANLON

(OSV News) – A federal judge in Texas on Nov. 7 struck down a Biden administration program to protect from deportation and provide a path to U.S. citizenship for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants living in the country who are married to U.S. citizens.

The program, known as “Keeping Families Together,” which sought to allow undocumented spouses and stepchildren of U.S. citizens to apply for a green card without ﬁrst having to leave the country, was challenged by 16 Republican-led states that ﬁled a lawsuit after applications were made available in August. At that time, a judge put the program on hold.

“Sadly, this court decision will likely end the program, as Trump will terminate it upon taking ofﬁce,” J. Kevin Appleby, senior fellow for policy at the Center for Migration Studies of New York and the former director of migration policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, told OSV News.

“Instead, his administration will start targeting the exact same families for deportation, separating U.S. citizen children from their parents,” Appleby said. “Hopefully, Catholic advocates, including the U.S. bishops, will not pull their punches in opposing Trump’s mass deportation and anti-asylum plans. History will mark how the church in the U.S. defends the rights of migrants in the years ahead.”

Under the terms of the program, applicants must have resided in the U.S. for 10 or more years and be legally married to a U.S. citizen. Those approved by the Department of Homeland Security would have been permitted to remain in the U.S. for a three-year period to apply for permanent residency.

In June, the White House had said the program would beneﬁt “approximately half a million spouses of U.S. citizens, and ... 50,000 noncitizen children under the age of 21 whose parent is married to a U.S. citizen.”

But Judge J. Campbell Barker of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, who previously temporarily blocked the program, struck it down Nov. 7, arguing the administration exceeded its authority in creating the program.

The program would have been unlikely to remain in place once President-elect Donald Trump takes o ce in January.

FWD.us, an immigration and criminal justice reform advocacy group, said in a post on X it is “deeply disappointed” by the ruling, arguing the program represented “a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of American families in desperate need of protection from being separated by our failed immigration system.”

Previously, Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, who serves as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, praised the Biden administration rule at the time. He noted a similar program had been available to military service members and their families for several years.

In a June 18 statement, Bishop Seitz said, “We’ve seen the positive impacts such programs can have, not only for beneﬁciaries themselves but for the families, employers, and communities that rely on them,” adding that the new program was “sure to yield similar beneﬁts.”

The Catholic Church’s magisterium outlines the church’s moral parameters on immigration. The Catechism of the Catholic Church instructs, “The more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot ﬁnd in his country of origin.”

At the same time, the church has also made clear human laws are also subject to divine limits. St. John Paul II’s 1993 encyclical “Veritatis Splendor” (“Splendor of Truth”) and 1995 encyclical “Evangelium Vitae” (“The Gospel of Life”) – both quote the Second Vatican Council’s teaching in “Gaudium et Spes,” the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, which names “deportation” among various speciﬁc acts “o en-

sive to human dignity” that “are a disgrace, and so long as they infect human civilization they contaminate those who inﬂict them more than those who su er injustice, and they are a negation of the honor due to the Creator.”

Back in June, Bishop Seitz emphasized that “legislators have a moral and patriotic duty to improve our legal immigration system, including the opportunities available for family reuniﬁcation and preservation.”

“A society is only as strong as its families, and family unity is a fundamental right,” he said. “For the good of the country, Congress must ﬁnd a way to overcome partisan divisions and enact immigration reform that includes an earned legalization program for longtime undocumented residents.”

(Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X (formerly known as Twitter) @kgscanlon.)

Launch pad required

KNEADING FAITH

By Fran LaveLLe

“On the evening of that first day of the week ... Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” (John 20:19-20)

We are actively being called to the “upper room” to discern the presence of God in our midst. So too we are called to embody the peace of Christ in our own lives and in the world. We are called to be witnesses and workers.

Under Pope Francis’ leadership, the Synod on Synodality completed the formal meetings on Oct. 27 in Rome. While the formal process of the Synod has concluded, the work of the Synod has just begun. The Synod in its entirety represented a new way of being church. It embraced the whole church. The mere fact that lay leaders, young and old, were active participants in the Synod speaks volumes about how the hierarchy, specifically Pope Francis, sees the value of everyone.

I was on a webinar recently hosted by a Jesuit magazine and Gerald O’Connell, a noted journalist, was included on the panel. As a correspondent he has covered the Vatican for years. His experience as an observer and a lay person was one of deep gratitude. He said seeing people from across the globe from every nation, every background, lay and ordained, men and women, young and old, and witnessing them speaking about matters of faith and being listened to – truly heard, was incredible. Father James Martin,

SJ further went on to say that the way of synodality can really help us begin to heal as a church and a people.

In my humble opinion, we need synodality now more than ever. If you do not understand why, check your email exchanges and text messages from friends and family whose politics are different than yours. In general, it is unhealthy to carry hatred. For followers of Christ, it is deadly. I have been posing the same question for a decade now and I seem to have gotten little traction. How do we as a politically divided nation end the divisive rhetoric? How do we see one another through the lens of Christ as one? If we cannot find a way back to one another as the Body of Christ, how will the rest of the nation heal? Politics is part of governance. We need to be engaged in issues of the day that promote the ideas of liberty and justice for all. I get that. What has become unhealthy is the full-on attack of anyone who holds a different opinion, or experience.

The process of synodality can move us beyond our divisiveness and so much more. When we adopt a synodal way, we become more aware of the importance of the whole body. In seeking solutions to issues that impact our parishes and schools, synodality offers a way to hear from and consider the voices of those who might not otherwise be heard. It offers a prayerful environment that allows the Holy Spirit to breathe insight and wisdom. Synodality provides an open space to listen in order to hear, to hear to understand, and understand to discern a path forward.

The words of Cardinal Blasé Cupich of Chicago give us a great visual image of what the Synod on Synodality means. He said it is not so much a landing strip, but a launch pad. In other words, it is a place for departure not necessarily landing. I love that image.

Faith in our young people

FAITH IN EDUCATION

By KarLa LuKe

For 31 years, my mother dedicated herself to shaping young minds as a second-grade teacher. Growing up, I never imagined I would follow a similar path –until I taught my first middle school class at St. Frances Cabrini Catholic School in New Orleans. From that moment, I discovered an unexpected and profound joy in working with students and seeing their growth and success. Their energy, curiosity and potential filled me with a sense of purpose and helped me to see God’s plan for my life. Since then, I’ve dedicated my career to Catholic education, cherishing the privilege of building meaningful relationships with young people. It’s not enough to declare that young people are the future of the church; they are its present. As Catholic educators, we are tasked with nurturing in them a love for God, others and their faith. This week, I was reminded of this sacred duty with the announcement of an upcoming canonization that holds profound significance for our times – Blessed Carlo Acutis, the first millennial to be declared a saint, will be canonized on April 27, 2025 by Pope Francis.

The remarkable life of Blessed Carlo Acutis

Carlo Acutis, born in London in 1991 and raised in Milan, Italy, exemplifies the intersection of modernity and faith. From a young age, Carlo displayed a deep love for God, actively participating in his Catholic school, church and community as a catechist. Despite his ordinary academic performance and unassuming demeanor, Carlo left an extraordinary legacy of faith.

A technology enthusiast, gamer and music lover, Carlo used his passion for computers to create websites that cataloged Eucharistic miracles, bringing the beauty of faith to the digital age. At just 15 years old, he was diagnosed with leukemia, facing his illness with profound faith, declaring, “I offer all the suffering I will have to suffer for the Lord, for

We need a place of departure if we are going somewhere. And we do need to go somewhere. We have heard it in our own listening around the diocese. We have heard it in our Pastoral Reimagining process, we have heard it from clergy and laity alike. The Spirit of God is always moving forward. Our ability to prepare for both challenges and opportunities that lie ahead of us deserve a launching pad.

The Nov. 12, 2024 edition of America Magazine included a “Q and A” article with Cardinal Cupich, in which Gerald O’Connell asked what the Cardinal’s take away from the Synod was. He responded:

“We have taken another step forward with regard to building a culture of synodality in the life of the church and calling everyone not only to be co-responsible for the church but for all of us to say that everybody counts, that everybody matters. There are people who, maybe for too long, have been given the impression that they don’t matter, they don’t count. And the Pope, in his closing words yesterday, emphasized involving “tutti, tutti” (“all, all”). I believe that is the way forward for us, to make sure that we now take actions to not only establish a broad base of co-responsibility in the life of the church, but we reach out to those people who feel that they don’t count.”

We are being called to the launch pad. We are being asked to do our part to take up the difficult work of our faith that we may be one. Let’s go!

(Fran Lavelle is the Director of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Jackson.)

the Pope, and the church.” Carlo died in 2006, and his cause for canonization began in 2012.

Today, Carlo is enshrined in his tomb wearing Nikes and jeans – a modern saint for a modern world. His life is a powerful reminder of what is possible when young people are formed in their faith.

A model for today’s Catholic educators

In Carlo, we see a reflection of the “Carlos and Carlas” present in our schools today – children with limitless potential for spiritual and moral development. Pope Francis calls Carlo “a model of holiness in the digital age.” His life challenges parents, teachers, administrators, religious and clergy to ask: How are we fostering the growth of faith in our young people?

The Archbishop of Assisi highlighted Carlo’s unique ability to evangelize in modern times, saying, “The computer … has become a way of going through the streets of the world, like the first disciples of Jesus, to bring to hearts and homes the announcement of true peace.”

The responsibility of Catholic adults

As adults in the Catholic faith, we bear both the responsibility and accountability to accompany our young people – the “young church” – on their path to holiness. Catholic schools play a vital role in this mission, partnering with parents to cultivate the spiritual, moral and intellectual development of students. Blessed Carlo Acutis offers us a roadmap for this journey.

Carlo once said, “To always be close to Jesus, that’s my life plan.” Let us help our children adopt this vision, supporting them in their faith through our schools, churches and homes. Together, we can prepare the next generation to live with faith, purpose and holiness in a world that desperately needs their light.

As we await Carlo’s canonization, let us reflect on the lives of the young people around us and recommit to nurturing their spiritual growth. In their potential lies not just the future of the church but its vibrant, faithful present.

For additional information on the extraordinary life of Blessed Carlo Acutis visit: https://bit.ly/3V8np4Q.

(Karla Luke is the executive director of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Jackson)

Preparing your heart and home in Advent

By Woodeene Koenig-BricKer (OSV News)

– “When we let the world know that there is more to the holiday than presents and decorations, we fulfill our mission as Christians to evangelize the world.”

Imagine expecting a new baby. For months, you prepare to welcome this addition, but in the last month, the preparations really step up. You make sure that the crib is clean, the diapers are in place, the car seat is installed, and family and friends are ready to meet the new baby.

That sense of joyful preparation combined with anticipation is the attitude we bring to Advent as we await the arrival of Christ the Lord. Christmas is the high point, but using the days leading up to Dec. 25 to prepare both spiritually and materially is what Advent is all about!

What sets Advent apart from the usual secular preparations for Christmas is the spiritual dimension: Advent is a time of both prayer and penance. As Catholics, we are called to exercise a more disciplined approach to our spiritual lives during the four weeks of Advent and to pay special attention to our words and deeds as we wait patiently for the coming of Christ.

Waiting is a challenge, but instead of just counting down the days, we are called to use Advent as a time to deepen our relationship with God. Keep things simple: Read a Psalm as a bedtime prayer, go to confession, pray the rosary (especially on the special Marian feasts of the Immaculate Conception (Dec. 8) and Our Lady of Guadalupe (Dec. 12)), spend some time in Eucharistic adoration, or go to daily Mass.

You could also say the traditional St. Andrews novena – 25 days of prayer for a holy Christmas, beginning on the feast of St. Andrew, Nov. 30. If you have children, make a “good deed” crèche: Put a slip of paper, acting as a piece of straw, in the manger each time you do a good deed so that the bed will be filled with “holy softness” for the Christ Child.

Some of the major signs of the season are decorations and lights, especially those on the outside of the house. As you decorate your house, think about how lights are more than just pretty objects. Lights, especially candles, have been used for centuries at Christmas time as a symbol of the star that showed the shepherds and wise men where to find the Christ Child. Your lights can serve as a witness to the “light of the world” that is both coming and has already arrived.

Each household develops their own traditions about when to put up a tree, stockings and other decorations. Some people like to do a little bit over the weeks; others prefer to make decorating a major part of Christmas Eve. (And in case you feel as if putting up decorations early is somehow improper, the Vatican puts up its Christmas scene, consisting of trees and a crèche, in very early December!)

St. Francis of Assisi is credited with creating the first nativity scene. Invest in having a crèche of your own. Some people put theirs under the tree, others make a special scene on a table. Some families make the crèche into an ongoing tradition by adding a new figure each year.

Many families have special foods that they serve only at Christmas. As you prepare these treats, use the time to recall – and pray for – all those family members who have gone before us in death.

You might want to begin building some new and flavorful traditions. One idea from the Anglican tradition is to begin your holiday baking on the last Sunday before Advent. This Sunday is called “Stir-up Sunday” because traditional fruit cakes were mixed on this day and left to “mellow” until Christmas. The name comes from the collect prayer from the day’s liturgy: “Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people.” Put a new twist on the tradition by making and freezing batches of cookie dough to be baked later in the month.

Advent is a time of hope and light. It is a time when we reaffirm that “nothing is impossible with God,” not even a virgin bringing forth a child. This Advent, find hope as you recommit yourself to spiritual renewal. This Advent, look for the Light in everything you do, from shopping for presents, to mailing cards, to making special food, to decorating the house.

This Advent, prepare your home and your heart for the coming of Emmanuel, God-with-Us, Jesus Christ.

(Woodeene Koenig-Bricker writes from Oregon.)

JACKSON – An Advent wreath is pictured at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in 2023. (Photo from archives)

Around the diocese ... and beyond

MERIDIAN – Melanie Pressly, first grade teacher at St. Patrick School, checks William McNair’s “voter ID card.” The candidates were Duck, Clifford the Big Red Dog and Arthur. It was a close race, but Clifford won the election! (Photo by Helen Reynolds)

MADISON – The St. Joseph School Bruin News Now crew film the Friday, Nov. 8, 2024, edition of the award-winning, student-produced newscast on location at Independence Square in Philadelphia. Students were in Philadelphia to attend the Journalism Education Association/National Scholastic Press Association fall high school journalism convention. Pictured here are news anchor Thierry Freeman, a junior; camera operator Davis Hammond, a sophomore; and Jason Buckley, a sophomore. (Photo by Terry Cassreino)

– George Rutherford, Max Jones, Stella McArthur and Anna Kate Yentzen work with sculptor, Roz Roy, making clay cardinals. Fourth grade students recently enjoyed a field trip to the Mississippi Craftsmen’s Guild where they worked with artisans specializing in woodworking, pottery and weaving. (Photo by Tori Liberto)

COLUMBUS – Annunciation School celebrated All Saint’s Day Mass on Friday, Nov. 1 with Bishop Joseph Kopacz and Father Jeffrey Waldrep. (Photo by Jacque Hince)

JACKSON

– St. Patrick School first grade teacher Melanie Pressly and assistant Cassy Klutz, watch as Father Augustine Palimattam blesses bottles of holy water on Friday, Nov. 23. Pressly’s class dressed up as saints and held a “Saintsgiving” celebration. (Photo by Helen Reynolds)

SOUTHAVEN – PreK-4 students at Sacred Heart School practice silent prayer time at the end of chapel. (Photo by Sister Margaret Sue Broker)

MCCOMB – Parishioners and youth at St. Alphonsus enjoyed games and fellowship for Halloween. (Photo by Kristen L. Jones)

CLARKSDALE – Fifth and sixth grade students made games for “Math and Science Night” that enhanced learning and fun for all ages. (Photo by Mary Evelyn Stonestreet)

MERIDIAN

U.S. bishops: ‘We stand in rm solidarity’ with immigrants

In particular, they said, “We need a system that provides permanent relief for childhood arrivals, helps families stay together, and welcomes refugees.”

With much of global migration driven by conﬂict and natural disaster, the bishops stressed the need to “develop an e ective asylum system for those ﬂeeing persecution.”

Under international human rights law –such as the U.N.’s 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, the latter of which the U.S. acceded to in 1968 – the fundamental principle of non-refoulement provides that refugees cannot be expelled to territories where substantial threats to life or freedom exist.

At the same time, the bishops called for “an immigration system that keeps our borders safe and secure, with enforcement policies that focus on those who present risks and dangers to society, particularly e orts to reduce gang activity, stem the ﬂow of drugs, and end human tra cking.”

Catholic social teaching on immigration balances three interrelated principles – the right of persons to migrate in order to sustain their lives and those of their families, the right of a country to regulate its borders and control immigration, and a nation’s duty to regulate its borders with justice and mercy.

The bishops said the U.S. “should have an immigration system that protects vulnerable migrants and their families, many of whom have already been victimized by criminal actors.”

BY GINA CHRISTIAN

(OSV News) – With immigration an ongoing issue after the 2024 U.S. general election, three U.S. Catholic bishops issued a Nov. 14 statement of pastoral concern pledging support for immigrants.

“Compelled by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and recognizing the inherent dignity of each person as a child of God, we stand in ﬁrm solidarity with our immigrant brothers and sisters who live and labor in these United States,” wrote Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration; and Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, chairman of the board for Catholic Legal Immigration Network Inc.

Known as CLINIC, the network is a Maryland-based nonproﬁt that provides advocacy, training and support for more than 400 Catholic and community-based immigration law providers in 49 U.S. states.

The bishops noted that “from the founding of our nation, immigrants have been essential to this society’s growth and prosperity.”

“They come to our shores as strangers, drawn by the promises this land o ers, and they become Americans,” said the bishops. “They continue to provide food security, health services, and many other essential skills that support our prosperous nation.”

According to data from the Pew Research Center, immigrants currently account for 14.3% of the U.S. population – the highest level since 1910, but still less than the 14.8% marked in 1890.

Data for 2022 showed that the majority of immigrants (77%) are in the U.S. legally, with close to half (49%) being naturalized citizens, just under a quarter (24%) lawful permanent residents and 4% legal temporary residents. Slightly less than one quarter (23%) are unauthorized.

While President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, the bishops said in their statement that “our country deserves an immigration system that o ers fair and generous pathways to full citizenship for immigrants living and working for many years within our borders.”

“Together, we must speak out on behalf of the ‘huddled masses yearning to breathe free’ and ask our government

to provide fair and humane treatment for our beloved immigrant brothers and sisters,” said the bishops, quoting a line from poet Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus,” the full text of which is inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty. “It is our hope, and our prayer, that all of us can work together to support a meaningful reform of our current immigration system.”

(Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) @ GinaJesseReina.)

The Diocese of Jackson has launched a third-party reporting system that will enable all diocesan employees, volunteers and parishioners to anonymously (or named if preferred) make reports. Examples of this activity include fraud, misconduct, safety violations, harassment or substance abuse occurring at a Catholic parish, Catholic school or at the diocesan level. The system is operated by Lighthouse Services.

To make a report visit www.lighthouse-services.com/jacksondiocese or call 888-830-0004 (English) or 800-216-1288 (Spanish).

The Association of Priests of the Dioceses of Jackson and Biloxi provide a small pension to our retired priests. As you consider your estate plans, please remember these faithful servants by making a donation or leaving a bequest to the Association of Priests. Our parish priests dedicate their lives to caring for us, their ﬂocks. Let us now care for them in their retirement. Donations can be made payable to the Association of Priests and can be mailed to: Diocese of Jackson, P.O. Box 22723, Jackson, MS 39225-2723

Pastoral Assignments

Rev. Vijay Madanu, SVD, appointed Administrator of Holy Ghost Parish in Jackson, e ective Dec. 1, 2024.

Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD, appointed Administrator of Holy Family Parish in Jackson, e ective Dec. 1, 2024. Bishop of Jackson

The Border Wall is seen in the background as migrants from South and Central America look to surrender to immigration officials after crossing into the United States from Mexico in Ruby, Arizona, June 24, 2024. (OSV News photo/Adrees Latif, Reuters)