MS Catholic 4 21 2023

Synod's 'messy,' 'joyful' North American phase concludes with call to mission, moves to Rome

By Gina Christian

(OSV News) – The final document for the North American phase of the 2021-2024 Synod on Synodality was released April 12, capturing a process of dialogue and discernment that two participants described as 'messy,' 'joyful' and unifying – like the synod itself.

"It's amazing what comes about when ... you invoke the Holy Spirit in the conversation," Julia McStravog, a theologian and co-coordinator of the North American team for the synod's continental phase, told OSV News.

"The synodal approach provoked a genuine appreciation and joyfulness on the part of the people of God to be able to engage in conversation, even if they were talking about difficult issues," team co-coordinator Richard Coll told OSV News. Coll also serves as executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development.

Led by Catholic bishops from Canada and the United States, McStravog, Coll and their fellow team members have now synthesized the results of synod listening sessions throughout the two countries,

producing a 36-page final document available for download at usccb.org/synod. (According to the USCCB, the Catholic Church in Mexico is participating in the global synod with the Latin American Episcopal Council, or

By Joe Lee

CELAM, given its long partnership with that conference.)

The North American synod team – consisting of eight bishops, three laywomen, two priests, two laymen and two women religious – spent time in prayer, silence and discussion to distill responses for inclusion in the text, which forms a response to the Document for the Continental Stage issued by the Holy See’s General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops in October 2022.

The final document for the continental stage from North America, along with the contributions of the six other continental assemblies, will form the basis of the "Instrumentum Laboris," the global synod's working document, to be released by the General Secretariat in June.

Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Doctrine, who leads the North American team with Canadian Bishop Raymond Poisson of Saint-Jérôme-Mont-Laurier, Quebec, presented the document at the Vatican April 12.

– Continued on page 6 –

Men's Holy Week prayer breakfast at St. Richard builds on decades of tradition

JACKSON – For Anthony Thomas and the guys who put on the annual St. Richard men’s prayer breakfast on the Monday of Holy Week, an especially start to the day carries on a tradition that’s in its seventh decade. It’s the opportunity to see old friends, make new ones, and grow in their faith together that keeps these men coming back.

“I moved to the parish in 1974 and got involved in the breakfast the following year,” Thomas said after a group of over 40 enjoyed a tasty, balanced meal of pancakes, sausage, fresh fruit, orange juice and coffee in Foley Hall. “We’ve had only four chefs over the years: Joe Daschbach, Jay Potter, David Evers and Mike Prince, who’s doing it now. We’re fortunate to have had people who can cook that know what they’re doing.”

Bishop Joseph Kopacz, who celebrated a pre-dawn Mass while Thomas and his team of volunteers were next door preparing the meal, also spoke at the breakfast and described his recent pastoral trip to Ireland, a journey that included visits with retired Irish priests who pastored in the Diocese of Jackson and family members of deceased priests who pastored here.

“The presiding bishop has always been the Holy Week speaker since I’ve been in charge of the speakers, which goes back to the mid-1980s,” Thomas said. “I think anybody you talk to who attends enjoys the fellowship as much as the message, but we don’t ever want to book a speaker and then have a small crowd. We enjoy Bishop Kopacz, and there’s always a good turnout for him. We had a nice group this morning.”

“For me to be here as bishop, with the privileged position to be able to go to Ireland, represent the diocese, visit these retired priests and offer a word of thanks and affirmation, that’s a beautiful thing,” Bishop Kopacz said. “And to come back and share the experience with (the breakfast attendees) gives them a perspective and

– Continued on page 6 –

4 Sr. Bernadette McNamara & Sr. Helen Strohman

Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez joins college students, other young adults and ministry leaders during a synodal listening session at La Salle University April 4, 2022. (OSV News photo/CNS file, Sarah Webb, CatholicPhilly.com)

Anthony Thomas

SPIRITUAL ENRICHMENT

METAIRIE, La. Five-day Silent Directed Retreat, June 26 – July 2 at the Archdiocese of New Orleans Retreat Center (5500 Saint Mary Street, Metairie). Cost $500, includes room and board. Meet daily with a spiritual director, pray with scripture and spend the rest of the day in silence, prayer and rest. Register at franu. edu/retreat. Details: tyler.trahan@franu.edu or call (225) 526-1694.

PARISH, FAMILY & SCHOOL EVENTS

CLARKSDALE St. Elizabeth, Parish Community Social in McKenna Hall on Friday, April 28 at 5:30 p.m. Congregations of Immaculate Conception, St. Elizabeth and St. Mary will have a meet and greet and fish fry. Details: church office (662) 624-4301.

FLOWOOD Birthright of Jackson, Mom’s Day 5k, Saturday, May 13 at 8 a.m. at the Flowood Nature Park. For more information or to register: https://raceroster.com/events/2023/67290/moms-day-5k

GREENVILLE Paul and Wadel Abide Memorial Golf Classic, Friday, May 12 at the Greenville Golf and Country Club. Cost: 4-person scramble $150 per golfer, includes cart fee, drink tickets and entry to social. Non-golfers cost is $60 and includes two drink tickets and entry to social. Enjoy food, drinks, door prizes and awards after golfing. Proceeds benefit St. Joseph School Scholarship Fund. Details: school office (662) 378-9711.

GREENVILLE St. Vincent de Paul, Open House, May 2 from 4-6 p.m. Stop by to see renovations and

God’s hands at work. Details: call (662) 378-3105.

HERNANDO Holy Spirit, Yard Sale, Friday, May 19-20. Start saving item donations now. Donations accepted beginning May 8. Details: church office (662) 4297851.

HOLLY SPRINGS CSI – Catholic Service Initiative presented by Northwest Parishes of Mississippi Youth Ministry, Sunday, June 4 through Friday, June 9 at Gregory House. For students completing grades 9-12 in May. Deadline for sign-up is April 30. Cost is $50, with scholarships available upon request. Details: For more information contact Vickie at (662) 895-5007.

JACKSON 17th Annual Sister Thea Bowman School Draw Down, Saturday, April 29 at 6:30 p.m. in the school multi-purpose building. $5,000 Grand prize. Cost $100, second chance insurance extra $20 per ticket. Details: (601) 351-5197 or stbdrawdown@gmail.com.

MADISON St. Catherine’s Village, Alzheimer’s Caregiver Support Group, meets fourth Wednesday of each month from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Campbell Cove building. Lunch provided. All are welcome. Details: call to RSVP (601) 856-0123 or email cynthia.armstrong@fmolhs.org.

MADISON St. Joe School, Bingo Night, Tuesday, May 2 in the St. Joe gym. Early bird games at 6:30 p.m. and regular games at 7 p.m. Packages range from $2545. Concessions available. Must be 21 to play but all ages welcome to attend. Details: email tharris@ stjoebruins.com.

MADISON St. Francis, Save the date: Cajun Fest, Sunday, May 21. Details: church office (601)

FEATURED PHOTO ... B ells over Natchez ...

856-5556.

MERIDIAN Knights of Columbus State Convention, April 28-30 at the Threefoot Hotel. For more information visit: kofc-ms.org/convention/2023

NATCHEZ Cathedral School, 39th annual Crawfish Countdown, Friday, May 5. Join us for a fun night of crawfish, ice-cold beverages, chance to win $5,000 and more.

NATCHEZ Rosary-making Workshop with Face in the Sun Custom Jewelry, Thursday, May 11 from 6:308:30 p.m. at OutsideIN MS (112 N. Commerce Street). Participants will learn to make a rosary using a beading method. Class fee $25, all materials and tools provided. Bring your reading glasses. Pre-registration and advanced payment required. Details: To register contact Robin at (662) 515-0490 or rsperson@bellsouth.net.

SAVE THE DATE

GLUCKSTADT St. Joseph VBS June 5-7 Registration for children (K5-4th graders) and youth volunteers (5th graders on up) will begin May 7. Details: email Karen at kworrellcre@hotmail.com.

MADISON St. Francis, Rocky Railway VBS express, June 19-22 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. All pre-K4 through fourth graders are invited. Details: mc.george@stfrancismadison.org.

NATCHEZ – Father Aaron Williams blesses four bells before their installation at St. Mary Basilica on Wednesday, April 5. For more photos from the bell blessing visit: https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2023/04/05/the-bells-of-st-mary-new-bells-for-natchez-church-blessed-then-lifted-into-church-tower-in-preparation-for-easter-celebration. (Photo by Ben Hillyer/The

Natchez Democrat)

MISSISSIPPI CATHOLIC APRIL 21, 2023 let

there be light

Divine Mercy, focus on compassionate love of God

By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.

The final day of the Easter Octave is Divine Mercy Sunday. This year we celebrated the day of the resurrection of the merciful Lord from the dead for the 24th time since the Jubilee Year of 2000 with the canonization of St. Faustina when St. John Paul II called the universal church to a feast of divine mercy on the second Sunday of Easter.

Divine Mercy Sunday focuses on the compassionate love of God given through Christ’s death, burial and resurrection. As Pope John Paul II stated, “Divine Mercy reaches human beings through the heart of the Christ crucified.”

The iconic symbol of divine mercy is marked by the two rays of light, red and blue, shining from the heart of the risen Lord who revealed to Sister Faustina that they represent blood and water illuminating the world.

We immediately think of the testimony given by the Evangelist John, who, when a soldier on Calvary pierced Christ’s side with his spear, sees blood and water flowing from it. (John 19:34) Moreover, if the blood recalls the sacrifice of the Cross and the gift of the Eucharist, the water, in Johannine symbolism, represents both Baptism and also the gift of the Holy Spirit. (John 3:5; 4:14; 7:37-39)

The Lord Jesus in the miracle of the resurrection transformed death into life, despair into hope, and fear and shame into peace and promise. Each of the four Gospels testify to the power of the resurrection and on Divine Mercy Sunday the Gospel of John takes center stage with his Pentecost moment.

The apostles were huddled together in fear after the crucifixion with their world shattered like broken glass. Traumatized and deeply wounded by the crucifixion the risen Lord came into their midst and bathed the 11 with God’s mercy, peace and the gift of the Holy Spirit. He showed them his hands and his side, even inviting Thomas to touch the wounds inflicted by the crucifixion. His wounds healed their shattered spirit. His cleansing gift of peace with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit empowered them to live in a way they had never known.

Before breathing the gift of the Holy Spirit into his

born-again friends the crucified and risen One gave them their mission. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you,” and in these words and in this action, we see the plan of God’s salvation let loose in the world.

The church’s mandate is the same yesterday, today, and until the Lord comes again, i.e. to announce the Good News of Jesus Christ and to make disciples of all the nations. In the light of Divine Mercy, St. Paul provides some wonderful imagery regarding the vision for our mission. All of us are called to be servants of Jesus Christ and stewards of

Volume 69 Number 10 (ISSN 1529-1693)

P.O. Box 2130 Jackson, MS 39225-2130 Phone: 601-969-3581 E-mail: editor@jacksondiocese.org

Publisher Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz

Communications Director

Joanna Puddister King

Production Manager Tereza Ma

Contributors ......................................................................................................... Berta Mexidor

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. Subscription rate: $20 a year in Mississippi, $21 out-of-state. 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.

Website: www.mississippicatholic.com w www.jacksondiocese.org

God’s mysteries, ambassadors of Jesus Christ and ministers of reconciliation.

The gift of divine mercy we have received; we ought to give as a gift. During the synod process in our diocese those who participated voiced a strong concern for a greater unity that addresses the wounds and polarization in our church and in society. Divine mercy is that leaven in the bread that can transform this brokenness.

For example, within the body of the church the victims of sexual abuse must be provided every opportunity for healing, peace and new life. The perpetrators and those who failed to protect need the mercy and forgiveness of God in large doses. Wherever the wounds exist in his Body, the church, the Lord stands ready to heal. In Christ we want to be new creations. As we look inward to restore the life in abundance that Jesus promised, we also live and move, and have our being in the world to announce the Gospel bringing this Good News of the Kingdom of God to our world.

In the spirit of Divine Mercy, the prayer attributed to St. Francis of Assisi comes to mind as a beacon for the work entrusted to us.

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. And where there is sadness, joy. O divine master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned. And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.”

Sunday, April 23, 10:30 a.m. – Confirmation, Holy Cross, Philadelphia

Sunday, April 23, 5 p.m. – Confirmation, St. Joseph, Gluckstadt

Monday, April 24, 6 p.m. – Confirmation, St. Joseph, Greenville (includes Sacred Heart Greenville and Immaculate Conception Indianola)

Tuesday, April 25, 7:30 a.m. – Mass, Carmelite Monastery, Jackson

Wednesday, April 26, 9:30 a.m. – Blessing of Orphanage Historical Marker, Cathedral School, Natchez

Wednesday, April 26, 6:30 p.m. – Confirmation, Our Lady of Victories, Cleveland

Friday, April 28 – Sunday, April 30 – Knights of Columbus State Convention, The Threefoot Hotel, Meridian

Sunday, April 30, 5 p.m. – Confirmation, St. Francis, Madison

Tuesday, May 2, 6 p.m. – Confirmation, Annunciation, Columbus

Wednesday, May 3, 6 p.m. – Confirmation, St. Paul, Flowood

Thursday, May 4, 6 p.m. – Confirmation, St. Alphonsus, McComb

Saturday, May 6, 10:30 a.m. – Confirmation, Basilica of St. Mary, Natchez

Sunday, May 7, 9 a.m. – Confirmation, Christ the King, Jackson

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

BISHOP’S SCHEDULE

(Cathopic photo/Angie Menes)

Another ‘school year’ is reaching its end for our seminarians. This means final exams and papers and looking ahead to the summer.

Only one of our seminarians will be on parish assignment this summer. Following his first year of studies, EJ Martin (St. Richard, Jackson) will spend his summer at St. John the Evangelist in Oxford with Father Mark Shoffner. John Le (St. Francis, Brookhaven) will be doing clinical pastoral education in Houston, Texas. This is a summer of hospital chaplain fieldwork that many seminaries recommend as men continue to progress toward ordination.

Four of our seminarians, Will Foggo (St. Paul, Flowood), Grayson Foley (St. Richard, Jackson), Ryan Stoer (St. Richard, Jackson) and Tristan Stovall (Holy Cross Philadelphia) will be joining me during the months of June and July in Cuernavaca, Mexico. We have partnered with the Monastery of Our Lady of the Angels in Cuernavaca to provide our seminarians with a summer immersion so they can be on the road to fluency in Spanish by the time they get ordained.

We have two men who have discerned that the Lord is not calling them to priesthood. Tripp Bond (St. Patrick, Meridian) and Straton Garrard (St. Richard, Jackson) have decided to leave the program, or ‘discerned out.’ It is never easy to ‘lose’ a seminarian, but we remember that the seminary is not a place for those who have already decided that they are going to be priests – this is the common misconception that I’ve been trying to debunk. The seminary is the place where men discover whether or not they are called to be priests. I am grateful that Straton and Tripp asked the question in the first place, and we pray that their life has been enriched by their time in formation and that they will grow in holiness as they pursue their life outside priestly formation.

As our program grows, we trust in the Lord. We have one new seminarian for the Fall – Wilson Locke (St. Joseph, Starkville) – and a few others who are seriously considering entering. God is answering our prayers, and supporting vocations means supporting our men whether or not they become priests. If our program is healthy, then we will have more men ‘discern out’ because we are inviting and supporting men who are truly open to God’s will to study in the seminary and discover whether they are called to the priesthood.

The best thing you can do is encourage the young men that you see in your parish to consider the priesthood, and to remind them that seminary is not the end, it is just the beginning. Please pray for all of our seminarians and for Tripp and Straton. Thank you for supporting our program, and we beg the Lord to bring forth more laborers for the harvest.

– Father Nick Adam

For more info on vocations email: nick.adam@jacksondiocese.org.

In memoriam: Sister Bernadette McNamara, SHSp

Sister Bernadette McNamara, SHSp died peacefully at her home, the Convent of the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate, on March 28, 2023.

Born on May 2, 1934 on Achill Island, County Mayo, Ireland, Sister Bernadette grew up in a loving and faithfilled family with her eleven siblings. Her love for her native Ireland and for her family fed her spirit until her last breath.

On Jan. 6, 1950 at the age of fifteen, Sister Bernadette came to San Antonio following her dream of becoming a missionary. Last June, she joyously celebrated her 70th jubilee of reli gious profession.

In her early years of re ligious life, she was known as “Sister Mary Jude” and she spent those years in service of students and families whose situations often seemed hopeless. As a teacher, principal and a fundraiser, she stretched out her years in compassionate ministry in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, including St. Peter the

In memoriam: Sister Helen Strohman, CHM

Sister Helen Strohman (Mary Maurice), CHM, 90, died April 7, 2023, at the Humility of Mary Center (HMC) in Davenport, Iowa.

Helen Anne Strohman was born Dec. 13, 1932, in Keswick, Iowa to Leo and Mary Agnes (Dunn) Strohman. She entered the Congrega tion of the Humility of Mary in 1952 and professed final vows in 1957.

Apostle School in Pascagoula, for 63 years. The religious congregation that she loved so deeply was blessed to have had her generous and gracious spirit with them for so long.

Sister Bernadette is mourned by her sisters and brothers, her 58 nieces and nephews, her over 70 grandnieces/nephews, her many friends and by the members of her religious community, some of whom she had known since she was twelve years old.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Monday, April 3 at the Motherhouse Chapel in San Antonio, Texas. Sister Bernadette is interred in the Community Cemetery. Services can be viewed on the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate Facebook page.

Donations can be made in Sister Bernadette’s memory to the ministries of the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate.

Sister studied education both at Ottumwa Heights College in Ottumwa, and Marycrest College in Davenport, the latter conferring on her a BA in Elementary Education in 1967.

Sister Helen’s career in education began before profession of final vows; in 1954, she began her life as a teacher at St. Anthony School in Des Moines, Iowa. She traveled frequently, serving as a teacher, minister, and educational program director at over 20 locations in Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi and Illinois. Her teaching missions in Iowa include St. Anthony, Christ the King, West Des Moines; and Holy Trinity, Des Moines; St. Alphonsus, Davenport; St. Mary, Marshalltown; St. Donatus in the town of St. Donatus; Assumption, Granger; and St. Mary and St. Patrick in Ottumwa. She also taught at St. Austin, Minneapolis. In Mississippi, her teaching positions included Sacred Heart in Camden and the Rainbow Literacy Center in Canton.

Outside the role of traditional teacher, she also served as the director of the CHM Seeds of Hope program

in Des Moines; and the YES program, the Rainbow Literacy Center and the MadCAAP educational program, all in Canton, Mississippi, programs dedicated to bringing educational opportunities to those who otherwise lack them. In particular, her work at MadCAAP focused on providing education for county jail inmates, helping them to earn their GEDs. She also served as a pastoral minister and caregiver in North English, Iowa and Peoria, Illinois. Finally. in 2003, she became the director of the Sacred Heart Hispanic Outreach in Canton. In 2022, she returned to Humility of Mary Center after beginning hospice care in Mississippi.

Sister Helen’s family and friends will miss her humor, kindness and her deep commitment to persons often overlooked or needing someone to reach out to them. She was gifted at providing these.

Sister Helen is preceded in death by her parents, brothers John Patrick and Joseph Strohman, and sisters Martha Flynn, Katie Grady, and Margaret Strohman. She is survived by sisters Rita Strohman, Sheila Falk (Howard), many nieces, nephews, cousins and her CHM community.

A Mass of Christian Burial was held on Wednesday, April 12, followed by burial in Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Davenport.

Memorials may be made to the Congregation of the Humility of Mary.

Father Nick Adam

Struggling to give birth to hope

IN EXILE

By Father ron rolheiser, oMi

After Jesus rose from the dead, his first appearances were to women. Why? One obvious reason might be that it was women who followed him to his death on Good Friday, while the men largely abandoned him. As well, it was women, not men, who set off for his tomb on Easter morning, hoping to anoint his dead body with spices – so it was women who were in the garden when he first appeared. But there is, I believe, a deeper and more symbolic reason. Women are the midwives. It is generally women who attend to new birth and women who are more paramount in initially nurturing new life in its infancy.

In any birth a midwife can be helpful. When a baby is born, normally the head pushes its way through the birth canal first, opening the way for the body to follow. A good midwife can be very helpful at this time, helping to ease that passage through the birth canal, helping ensure that the baby begins to breathe, and helping the mother to immediately begin to nurture that new life. A midwife can sometimes mean the difference between life and death, and she always makes the birth easier and healthier.

Jesus’ resurrection birthed new life into our world, and in its infancy that life had to be specially midwifed, both in its emergence and in the initial breaths it took in this world. The resurrection birthed many things, and these had to be midwifed; initially by the women to whom Jesus first appeared, then by the apostles who left us their eyewitness accounts of the risen Jesus, then by the early church, then by its martyrs, then by the lived faith of countless women and men through the centuries, and sometimes too by theologians and spiritual writers. We still need to midwife what was born in the resurrection.

And many things were born in that event – an event as radical as the original creation in what it gave birth to. The resurrection of Jesus was the “first day” a second time, the second time light separated from darkness. Indeed, the world measures time by the resurrection. We are in the year 2023 since it happened. (Christianity was born with that event. New time began then. But scholars calculated that Jesus was thirty-three years old when he died and so they added thirty-three years so as to begin new time with the date of his birth.)

Prominent within what the resurrection gives birth to and what needs still to be midwifed, is hope. The resurrection gives birth to hope. The women in the Gospels who first met the resurrected Jesus were the first to be given a true reason for hope and were the first to act as midwifes of that new birth. So too must we. We need to become midwives of hope. But what is hope and how is it given birth in the resurrection?

Genuine hope is never to be confused with either wishful thinking or temperamental optimism. Unlike hope, wishful thinking isn’t based on anything. It’s pure wishing. Optimism, for its part, takes its root either in a natural temperament (“I always see the bright side of things”) or on how good or bad the evening news looks on a given day. And we know how that can change from day to day. Hope has a different basis.

Here’s an example: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a deeply faith-filled scientist, was once challenged by an agnostic colleague after making a presentation within which he tried to show how the story of salvation history fits perfectly with the insights of science regarding the origins of the universe and the process of evolution. Teilhard went on to suggest, in line with Ephesians 1:3-10, that the end of the whole

evolutionary process will be the union of all things in one great final harmony in Christ. An agnostic colleague challenged him to this effect: That’s a wonderfully optimistic little schema you propose. But suppose we blow up the world with an atomic bomb. What happens to your optimist schema then? Teilhard answered in words to this effect: If we blow up the world with an atomic bomb, that will be a set-back, perhaps for millions of years. But what I propose is going to happen, not because I wish it or because I am optimistic that it will happen. It will happen because God promised it –

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Sharing the Gospel requires literally “going out,” witnessing to the joy of faith in person and not just sitting at home, being “keyboard warriors” who argue with others online, Pope Francis said.

“One does not proclaim the Gospel standing still, locked in an office, at one’s desk or at one’s computer, arguing like ‘keyboard warriors’ and replacing the creativity of proclamation with copy-and-paste ideas taken from here and there,” the pope said April 12 during his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

Holding the audience during the Octave of Easter, with tens of thousands of daffodils and tulips still decorating the square, the pope continued his series of audience talks about “evangelical zeal,” looking at how that differs from pretending to share the Gospel while really just seeking attention or pushing one’s own ideas.

At the end of the audience, before leading prayers for peace in Ukraine, Pope Francis noted that April 11 was the 60th anniversary of St. John XXIII’s encyclical, “Pacem in Terris” (“Peace on Earth”).

The encyclical, he said, offered humanity “a glimpse of serenity in the midst of dark clouds” of high tension between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

The document, published in 1963, is as relevant as ever, Pope Francis said, reading one line as an example: “Relations between states, as between individuals, must be regulated not by armed force, but in accordance with the principles of right reason: the principles, that is, of truth, justice and vigorous and sincere co-operation.”

In his main talk, the pope focused on the need for missionary disciples to be ready to set out and to be open to exploring new paths as they seek to share the Gospel through word and deed.

Departing from his prepared text, Pope Francis told people in the square, “I exhort you to be evangelizers

and in the resurrection God showed that God has the power to deliver on that promise.

What the women who first met the risen Jesus experienced was hope, the kind of hope that is based on God’s promise to vindicate good over evil and life over death, no matter the circumstance, no matter the obstacle, no matter how awful the news might look on a given day, no matter death itself, and no matter whether we are optimistic or pessimistic. They were the initial midwives helping to give birth to that hope. That task is now ours.

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

who move, without fear, who go forward to share the beauty of Jesus, the newness of Jesus, who changes everything.”

The pope imagined someone replying to him that, “Yes, father, he changed the calendar because now we count years as ‘before Jesus’” and after.

But, even more, the pope said, Jesus “changes one’s heart.”

“Are you willing to let Jesus change your heart?” he asked those in the crowd. “Or are you a lukewarm Christian, who doesn’t move? Think about it a bit. Are you enthusiastic about Jesus and go forward? Think about it.”

“A herald is ready to go and knows that the Lord passes by in a surprising way,” the pope said, so one cannot be “fossilized” by human calculations about what is likely to be successful or by thoughts that “it has always been done this way.”

Being a missionary disciple means “not letting pass by the opportunities to promulgate the Gospel of peace, that peace that Christ knows how to give more and better than the world gives.”

The Pope’s Corner

‘Keyboard warriors’ don’t evangelize, pope says, they just argue

Pope Francis greets a girl dressed in a traditional costume as he welcomes her and three other youngsters to take a ride with him in the popemobile before his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican April 12, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

'... trust that the Spirit will be there to guide us despite the messiness ...'

– Continued from page 1 –

Launched by Pope Francis in October 2021, the multi-year synod of bishops – the theme of which is "communion, participation and mission" – seeks to cultivate an ongoing dynamic of discernment, listening, humility and engagement within the Catholic Church.

The North American report highlighted three key themes: the implications of baptism, communion with Christ and one another, and missionary discipleship as a living out of the baptismal calling.

"Our baptismal dignity is inseparable from our baptismal responsibility, which sends us forth on mission," the document stated. "Every human person possesses the dignity that comes from being created in the image of God. Through baptism, Christians share in an exalted dignity and vocation to holiness, with no inequality based on race, nationality, social condition, or sex, because we are one in Christ Jesus."

By virtue of their baptism, participants in the synod's North American phase expressed "a desire for a greater recognition of, and opportunities for, co-responsibility within the church and her mission," with greater collaboration "among the laity and the clergy, including bishops," said the document. It stressed "there can be no true co-responsibility in the church without fully honoring the dignity of women."

An "authentic acknowledgment and respect for the gifts and talents of young people is another vital aspect of a co-responsible church in North America," said the document.

Amid "polarization and a strong pull towards fragmentation," synod participants in North America emphasized the need to "maintain the centrality of Christ," especially in the Eucharist.

– Continued from page 1 –

The document candidly acknowledged that a "significant threat to communion within the church is a lack of trust, especially between bishops and the laity, but also between the clergy in general and the lay faithful."

The clergy sexual abuse crisis in particular has caused "major areas of tension in North America," as have "the historical wrongs found in the residential (and) boarding schools for Indigenous people, which ... included abuse of all kinds," said the document.

In their introduction to the document, Bishop Flores and Bishop Poisson admitted the need to "(make) efforts to listen more effectively to those from whom we have not heard, including many who have

the understanding that the church here has a lot of life. We never need to take that for granted; it’s a gift of faith that we have to keep alive.”

Bishop Kopacz noted that many of the breakfast attendees have had personal relationships for decades with the bishops he and Msgr. Elvin Sunds visited in Ireland, such as Father Michael O’Brien and Father P.J. Curley. (Visit mississippicatholic.com/category/bishop to read Bishop Kopacz’s column about the trip, “May the road rise up to meet you,” his first to Ireland since before the Covid pandemic.)

“For Anthony, this is a niche,” Bishop Kopacz said. “It requires others who are setting it up, doing the cooking. He’s an old pro; he’s up early and bringing it together.”

St. Richard parishioner Jeff Cook, who served as an altar server during Mass before enjoying the breakfast, was an attendee for several years before returning after the pandemic to begin helping in the kitchen. He’s one of many regulars who has known Thomas for years and finds his energy and leadership inspiring.

“If it wasn’t for Anthony, I wouldn’t be here,” said current breakfast chef Mike Prince. “I’ve cooked for fifteen years, and the breakfast is a sacrifice, but I learned to keep my head up, keep a positive attitude and trust in the Lord. The first one I ever did, (Foley Hall) was brand new. I forgot to turn the oven hoods on, and in the prayer before breakfast, all the fire alarms in the building went off.

“We always pray before we serve, and God always seems to blaze the trail. In our heyday, 50 was a good crowd, but today was a good crowd. I think the breakfast is a good outreach program for the church, and a great opportunity for the men of the parish to get together to share faith, hear positive stories, and just fellowship.”

been relegated to the margins of our communities, society and church." They noted their "absence" in the synodal process was "not easily interpreted but was palpably felt."

Among those often missing from synodal sessions were priests, with bishops acknowledging their responsibility to address that lack "by example and by conveying the transparency and spiritual/pastoral fruitfulness of synodality."

Synod participants listed women, young people, immigrants, racial or linguistic minorities, LGBTQ+ persons, people who are divorced and civilly remarried without an annulment, and those with varying degrees of physical or mental abilities as marginalized within the church.

Outreach and inclusion of these groups is ultimately driven at the local level by the faithful actively living out their baptism, McStravog told OSV News.

At the same time, "the bishops really took to heart the call ... to reach out to the periphery," Coll told OSV News, who added that virtual synod sessions enabled broader participation.

Synod participants consistently articulated a longing for better formation in the faith and in Catholic social teaching, the document said.

As the synod process moves into its next phase, Coll and McStravog pointed to the need for humility and openness to God's will.

"We don't have all the answers, and none of this is pre-packaged," said Coll. "You have to trust that the Spirit will be there to guide us despite the messiness –or maybe because of it."

(Gina Christian is a national reporter for OSV News. Follow her on Twitter at @GinaJesseReina.)

'... God always seems to blaze the trail ...'

JACKSON – Bishop Joseph Kopacz speaks at the annual men's prayer breakfast at St. Richard parish on Monday, April 3. (Photo by Joe Lee)

Parishes reach out to communities in need after tornadoes

By Joanna Puddister King

JACKSON – Parishes around the diocese have been lending a hand to communities devastated after recent tornadoes. Whether by second collections, monetary donations to charitable causes, donating items or by traveling to affected communities to serve, the Catholic community has been there to help.

Catholic Charities has also been on a mission to be a visible sign of Christ’s love in affected communities. In addition to being present to serve, just hours after a tornado ripped through Rolling Fork, Charities has been assisting with community needs including non-perishable food, toiletries, blankets, pillows, flash lights, batteries, water and more.

“I encourage all to continue to pray and find ways to support all affected communities,” said Bishop Joseph Kopacz.

To support the work of Catholic Charities disaster relief, learn more or donate online at https://jacksondiocese.org/storm-donations.

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 offered 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

Members from the young adult group at Sacred Heart Camden led a caravan with a commercial cooker to prepare and serve grilled chicken and beverages to approximately 200 people in the Rolling Fork community. (Photo courtesy of Father Guy Wilson)

Dcn. Dien Hoang and his wife Hong, of the Cathedral of St. Peter in Jackson, purchased and delivered supplies to Rolling Fork on April 5. (Photos by Hong Hoang)

Two potential Black Catholic saints inspire audiences through theatrical productions

By KimBerley HeatHerington (OSV News)

– Their births were separated by almost a century, but Venerable Father Augustus Tolton (1854-1897) and Servant of God Sister Thea Bowman (1937-1990) both endured and triumphed against the sin of racism in their own eras and in the Catholic Church, offering future generations of every race a timeless legacy of what it means to live in the freedom of following Jesus Christ.

As they progress toward sainthood, and the possibility of becoming the first recognized Black Catholic saints of the United States, Father Tolton’s and Sister Thea’s lives are inspiring theater audiences from coast to coast in two plays, St. Luke Productions’ “Tolton: From Slave to Priest” and ValLimar Jansen’s “I Will Live Until I Die.”

“I was in Springfield Diocese in Illinois,” shared touring actor Leonardo Defilippis, “and this country priest – a pastor – gave me a book on (Tolton), a prayer card and a picture of him.”

Defilippis is founder and president of St. Luke Productions, a theatrical company that brought Father Tolton’s story to the stage, as well as those of many other saints. The priest asked, “Leonardo, why don’t you do a show on him?”

Born to enslaved parents in Missouri, Augustus Tolton, two siblings and his mother, Martha Tolton, fled to Illinois for freedom in 1862 after his father, Peter Tolton, escaped to join the Union Army during the Civil War.

An Irish priest, Father Peter McGirr, encouraged young “Gus,” as he was known, to consider the priesthood. No U.S. Catholic seminary would then admit

African Americans, so in the face of this racist opposition, Augustus Tolton eventually studied for priesthood in Rome. He was ordained in 1886 – the first publicly known African American Catholic priest – and instead of becoming a missionary to Africa, as he expected, Father Tolton returned to the U.S., serving in two Illinois cities, Quincy and Chicago, before dying of heat stroke in 1897.

“Tolton: From Slave to Priest,” which uses multimedia projections and music, has been seen by 65,000 Catholics in parishes, seminaries and schools. Audiences newly aware of Father Tolton have responded by asking his intercession and praying to him, which may assist his sainthood cause.

“His story is one of unity,” Defilippis said, “one of peace and forgiveness, and the complete trust in God –that God will take care of us.”

In the role of Father Tolton is veteran television and stage actor Jim Coleman. “It is my mission to share his story,” Coleman told OSV News. “It is something that has become my passion.”

The production also is impacting vocations. Coleman shared that seminarians have told him, “’This is the push I needed. I was close to giving up – and then to see what he had to go through makes me realize I have nothing to compare to that. My journey is easy.’”

Father Jim Lowe, a Companions of the Cross priest who serves at St. Scholastica Catholic Church in Detroit, recalled the play’s scene of Father Tolton’s first Mass when the play came to his parish March 25. “It was very moving. It felt like I was actually present at his first Mass,” he told OSV News.

Father Lowe detected a presence in that moment – and has no doubt who it was. “In a sense, being at this play brought Father Tolton to life both theatrically and spiritually,” he said. “There is no doubt in my mind that he was interceding on our behalf as we witnessed his heroic life journey.”

After repeatedly being told she reminded people of Sister Thea Bowman, ValLimar Jansen – a singer, composer, recording artist, professor, worship leader and workshop presenter – decided “someone” was sending her a message.

Using as source material the biography penned by a nun who knew Sister Thea, Jansen wrote and arranged a musical, “I Will Live Until I Die,” which takes its title from Sister Thea’s reaction to her cancer diagnosis later in life.

“Her main message was everyone should be valued – everybody’s culture,” Jansen told OSV News. “And to learn what that is; to celebrate it; to bring all that we are to the Eucharistic table.”

Born to African American Methodist parents, Sister Thea was raised in the “Jim Crow” South, with its racial segregation and persistent threat of

This is a poster from Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wis., about a musical that capped the school’s annual Sister Thea Bowman Celebration Week March 27-30, 2023. ValLimar Jansen, a singer, composer, recording artist, professor, worship leader and workshop presenter, performed the musical on the life of the late Sister Bowman. Viterbo was founded in 1890 by the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, the order to which Sister Bowman belonged. (OSV News photo/courtesy of Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration)

anti-Black violence. While her grandfather was born under slavery, her father, a physician, actually moved his family from New York to Mississippi to provide medical care to Black families who were denied this basic human right.

After attending a Canton, Mississippi, school staffed by the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (FSPA), Sister Thea became a Catholic at age 9. As a teenager, she joined the FSPA and later taught, evangelized, earned a doctorate and directed intercultural affairs for the Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi. Breast cancer cut her life short – but not before Sister Thea established a prophetic witness to the Black American Catholic experience. Despite various injustices and limitations she encountered, Sister Thea nonetheless steadfastly maintained, “God makes a way out of no way.”

“ValLimar truly embodied Sister Thea,” said FSPA Sister Laura Nettles, professor and executive director of Mission and Social Justice at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where Jansen’s musical capped the school’s annual Sister Thea Bowman Celebration Week in March.

“It was a resounding success, a full house with multiple standing ovations,” Sister Nettles told OSV News. “People walked away happy, and singing the spirituals that were so important to Thea.”

Sister Nettles reflected, “This work is especially poignant for my congregation and university given that Sister Thea experienced racism in both. We need Sister Thea’s message and guidance now more than ever.”

The positive reaction of Sister Thea’s own religious community has been important to Jansen – energizing her as she tours the musical nationwide, opening eyes and ears to Sister Thea’s essential teaching. “It wasn’t about a color issue,” explained Jansen. “It was about how we are a family of families.”

Priests of the diocese

FROM THE ARCHIVES

By Mary WoodWard

JACKSON – Join me in praying for the priests of our diocese, who participated in their annual retreat the week of April 17-21. Enjoy these photos from the archives of past retreats and priests who have served the Diocese of Jackson. May the blessings of this Easter season bring you joy and peace!

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

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. Based in Deerfield, Illinois, Lighthouse Services maintains ethics, safety and fraud hotlines for over 4,100 organizations between the U.S. and abroad.

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

MISSISSIPPI CATHOLIC APRIL 7, 2023

Father Nathaniel Machesky

Father Peter Quinn

Father Josiah Chatham

Father Leo Fahey

Father Picherit

Msgr. O’Reilly

Msgr. Mathurin Grignon

Priest’s Retreat with Bishop R.O. Gerow

NATION

BALTIMORE (OSV News) – The release of the Maryland Attorney General’s report on clergy sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore was a day of sorrow, Archbishop William E. Lori said in his first interview after the April 5 release. “It’s a day that I must face, and the archdiocese must face the enormity of this horrid legacy of sexual abuse. It is a day when my heart goes out to the victim-survivors, recognizing how many people have been harmed, and harmed very significantly,” he told the Catholic Review, the archdiocesan news outlet. He said that as he read the report, “just as a pastor of souls and as a Catholic,” he felt ”deep sadness” and “shame” and “felt sickened by the report.” Archbishop Lori said he spoke to some victim-survivors in the morning before the anticipated release, an opportunity for which he was grateful, as he has been for the many conversations he has had with victim-survivors over the years. He emphasized that there is no one currently in ministry in the archdiocese who has been credibly accused of abuse. The church began to change decades ago, the archbishop said, and in hearing the voices of victim-survivors, has steadily taken “really important steps to root sexual abuse out of our ranks,” including zero tolerance and removal from ministry of anyone credibly accused of abuse; creating safe environments within parishes and schools to keep young people safe; reporting “any and every allegation” to authorities; offering counseling to victims; and settlements “where desired.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (OSV News) – At least five people were killed and eight were injured in a shooting at Old National Bank in downtown Louisville, Ky., on April 10, local police said. That shooting followed another mass shooting where six people, including three children, were killed at a Nashville school two weeks earlier on March 27. Both mass shootings are just some of the violent events with multiple casualties involving guns, that have taken place in the U.S. A public policy response to gun violence from a Catholic perspective should prioritize the common good, theologians and church leaders told OSV News. Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio in whose diocese is Uvalde, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers last year, has emerged in the wake of the tragedy as an advocate for more gun control. He told OSV News that gun violence is tied to a host of other signs of an acceptance of violence in the culture, from abortion, to domestic violence, to a lack of regard for the immigrant, to failing to care for creation. Archbishop García-Siller said the U.S. bishops have called for gun ownership regulations – banning civilian ownership of tactical-style semi-automatic weapons, eliminating high capacity magazines, and extending universal

background checks – because “people are really suffering.” He said, “We have the teaching of Jesus about being peacemakers. We have to continue advocating, to continue promoting justice, to promote behavior that goes more along with our dignity.”

VATICAN

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican’s chief prosecutor said Pope Francis has given him free rein to investigate the 1983 disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, a 15-year-old Vatican resident. The case has fueled conspiracy theories for close to 40 years and inspired a Netflix series in 2022. Alessandro Diddi, the Vatican prosecutor, told Corriere della Sera, an Italian newspaper, that the pope and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, have an “iron will” to shed whatever light is possible on what happened to Orlandi, the daughter of a Vatican employee, who vanished in Rome June 22, 1983. Diddi’s interview with Corriere della Sera was published April 11, the same day Pietro Orlandi, Emanuela’s brother, met with Diddi and other Vatican prosecutors for more than eight hours. It was their first meeting since Diddi opened a new file on the case in January at Orlandi’s request. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Orlandi said that in 40 years he had “never been questioned so thoroughly” on the case, but the meeting also gave him an opportunity to discuss “the most important things that have come out in these 40 years.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis has chosen “His mercy is from age to age,” a passage from the Gospel of Luke, as the theme for the 2023 celebration of the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.On the world day, which will be celebrated July 23, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, according to the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life. Pope Francis chose the theme to tie the celebration of the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly to World Youth Day, which will be celebrated just over a week later, in Lisbon, Portugal, the dicastery said. The theme for the youth gathering Aug. 1-6 is “Mary arose and went with haste” from Luke 1:39, the dicastery said, and it describes how Mary sets out to visit her elderly cousin Elizabeth and “proclaims, in the Magnificat, the strength of the alliance between young and old.”Pope Francis celebrated the first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly in 2021 and decreed that it be observed each year on the Sunday closest to the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne, Jesus’ grandparents.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis confirmed he will travel to Mongolia in September, becoming the first pope to visit the Asian nation, which is home to a cardinal and some 1,300 Catholics. In an audience April 14 with executives and staff of ITA Airways, the airline that has taken the pope on his international trips since 2021, he said that he will visit Mongolia, a country sandwiched between Russia and China, after traveling to Hungary in late April and Marseille, France, in September. During an airborne news conference on his return flight from South Sudan in February, the pope told journalists there was a “possibility that from Marseille I will fly to Mongolia.” To the airline workers, Pope Francis said that “God willing” he will leave for his 41st apostolic trip, traveling to Hungary April 28-30 “and then there will be Marseille and Mongolia, and all the others that are on the waiting list.” In August 2022, Pope Francis named Italian Bishop Giorgio Marengo, apostolic prefect of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to be the

first cardinal based in Mongolia. The cardinal, 48, is the youngest member of the College of Cardinals.

WORLD

JERUSALEM (OSV News) – A British-Israeli mother and her two daughters were killed in a drive-byshooting terrorist attack in the Jordan valley on April 7, during a week that, instead of seeing the holidays of Passover, Easter and Ramadan celebrated in parallel peacefully, spiraled the region into violence. Rina, 15, and Maia, 20, Dee died at the scene of the attack while their mother Lucy, 48, died of her wounds on April 10. Following the Jordan valley attack, an Italian tourist identified as Alessandro Parini, 36 – in Israel for the Easter holiday – was killed in what Israeli police have said was a car-ramming terrorist attack on a beach promenade in Tel Aviv which left one other Italian and three British nationals among the injured. The attacks were spurred on by an Israeli police raid into Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque compound in the early morning of April 5, and is on a site known to Jews as the “Temple Mount.” Israel police also issued a statement saying they had completed their “extensive…work” in preparation for the Orthodox Holy Fire ceremony on April 15, following coordination meetings with heads of churches. The fire hazard security regulations imposed by Israeli police on the ceremony, and the way in which it is enforced, is always a point of contention. It imposes restrictions on the number of faithful who can attend the ceremony, which sees the holy fire brought forth from the traditional tomb of Jesus inside Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

PARIS (OSV News) – Notre Dame Cathedral will get its spire back by the end of 2023, more than four years after it was devastated by a fire. But to reopen by its deadline of Dec. 8, 2024, the cathedral, a beloved symbol of France, needs to meet three conditions, currently in the works. This includes cleaning and restoration of the interior of the building; restoration of masonry and collapsed vaults; and working to restore the missing spire and frameworks, which, according to the newest statement from the “Rebuild Notre Dame” committee, “is in progress, both on the Ile de la Cité and in the workshop.” More than 1,000 people, spread throughout France, are working simultaneously on the revival of the masterpiece of Gothic art that Notre Dame is, including nearly 500 workers, craftsmen and supervisors who are currently working on the building site, inside the cathedral. Notre Dame also attracted an unprecedented surge of generosity in the history of French philanthropy, with 340,000 donors from 150 countries raising $929 million in donations.

ABUJA, Nigeria (OSV News) – At least 52,250 people have been killed over the last 14 years in Nigeria just for being Christian, a new report published April 10 revealed. The report, titled “Martyred Christians in Nigeria” and published by the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), says 30,250 of those killed were killed since 2015, when President Muhhamadu Buhari came to power. The report blames what it calls Buhari’s radical Islamism for those killings. Approximately 34,000 moderate Muslims were also butchered or hacked to death within the same period. The sheer number of Christians and moderate Muslims killed or displaced has sent chills down the spines of many, including Andrew Boyd, spokesman for Release International, which serves the persecuted church in some 30 countries. He described the report’s finding as “a staggering death toll.” “It is absolutely appalling that so many Christians are being targeted for their faith and killed in Nigeria, while the Nigerian government seems to stand by and let it happen. It is no less appalling that the international community appears content to stay on the sidelines and watch,” he told OSV News. Meanwhile, Aid to the Church in Need, in its own report, has given voice to the thousands of Christians persecuted for their faith in Nigeria.

Scaffolding surrounds the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris July 28, 2022. Four years into the devastating fire, Notre Dame Cathedral will get the spire back by the end of 2023. But to reopen the beloved symbol of France by Dec. 8, 2024, three conditions need to be met. (OSV News photo/Geoffroy Van Der Hassel, pool via Reuters)

Anniversaries in ordinary times

ON ORDINARY TIMES

By Lucia a. SiLecchia

With the arrival of Easter, one of the greatest joys in the lives of parishes around the world is the opportunity to welcome new sisters and brothers in Christ through the sacred celebrations at the great Easter Vigil. To all who celebrate this profound moment this year, welcome! May the graces flowing from the waters of Baptism, the sustenance of the Eucharist and the life of the Holy Spirit fill your soul now and always.

My own welcome to you is filled with great gratitude.

Each year, the faith-filled witness of catechumens and candidates is an inspiration to the parishes that became your spiritual homes and the parishioners who filled the candle-lit pews that evening. I hope that you know how much it means to see you bring your enthusiasm, commitment, joy and devotion to a faith I can too often take for granted because it seems so familiar.

But, if this time of year marks the welcome of new members, that also means that this is the time when many others are celebrating the anniversaries of their own Easter Vigil welcomes. They are marking one year or many years since they, too, were received into the embrace of a faith ever ancient and ever new. To you, happy anniversary! I hope that you will celebrate with great joy.

I mark the date of my own Baptism with gratitude to my parents, godparents and all who have helped me along life’s way since that long ago July when I was five weeks old. Alas, however, I have no recollection of that day.

I hope, though, that you who came to this celebration as adults remember that day with joy and celebrate your anniversaries in special ways.

I hope that you have become active members of the parishes you joined that special day – and all the parishes you have called home since then.

GUEST COLUMN

By SiSter aLicia torreS

I love dogs. Not like I love my family, or like I love Jesus, but I really do have a strong affection for dogs.

A few months ago, I came home from teaching and was welcomed by an unfamiliar, and rather unpleasant, smell in the convent. Entering our large dining room, I noticed the puppy crate had been set up, and indeed was being used! Little Charlie was about 5 months old and it was love at first sight. Although he really did stink.

I hope that the godparents and sponsors who supported you as you began your faith journey continue to walk with you in that faith.

I hope that if life has had difficult moments since then, that your faith has sustained you and the sacraments strengthened you.

I hope that if life has had joyous moments since then, that your faith has been at the center of your happiness.

I hope that when the excitement of your first Easter Vigil passed, the same spirit that guided you to the church inspires your desire to learn more and understand more deeply the faith you first professed that night.

I hope that the members of the parish family who welcomed you with joy continue to be your companions on your journey through this life.

I hope that you have remained powerful witnesses to others as you live out your own life of faith and inspire others to seek greater closeness to God just as others inspired you.

I hope that this year, as you see others make the same commitments you once made, you will support them with your prayers and welcome in the special way only you can.

Thank you for the “yes” that brought you to the faith we share, the hope we treasure, and the love that God alone can give. As we celebrate Easter joy, I hope that you will remember your anniversary, and invite others to share it with you in celebration.

Please remember the joy of that “yes” – whether it was last year, or many years ago. I hope that the joy of that “yes” sustains you through all of your ordinary times.

Happy Anniversary!

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

Earlier that morning, my religious community was serving over 400 families at our weekly food pantry when – seemingly out of nowhere – Charlie had shown up – soaking wet, muddy and full of friendly energy. Sister Kate noticed that this rather large Siberian Husky puppy was causing distress among our pantry guests and quickly put him on a leash.

When I met him some hours later, Charlie had already been given the first of several (very necessary) baths and was making himself at home. He was all cuddles and kisses. Everyone was his friend, and he made sure you knew you were loved.

Through the neighborhood grapevine we learned that Charlie had been abandoned by his owners. Caring for man’s best friend is not easy: It takes time, attention and resources. The people who had originally owned Charlies must have thought, “Surely the nuns will take care of him.” And we did.

But could we become his forever home?

In religious life (and really all Christian life), a great virtue to cultivate is detachment. Unfortunately for me, that virtue wasn’t kicking in (nor was I really attempting to foster it) when it came to Charlie. All I wanted was to keep him. But with three German Shepherds, our little Franciscan community already had our hands full, and for all of his positive character traits, there was not one drop of guard dog in Charlie. At the time we had a small renovation project going on in the convent, and not one “stranger” (construction worker) who entered was bereft of a kiss from him.

Six days after he came to us, we were able to locate a proper Husky rescue, and a few weeks after that, we

received the good news that Charlie had been adopted – he had found his forever home.

If you and I are honest, we really are looking for the same thing as Charlie, aren’t we? Don’t we have a deep, innate desire for home? And no matter how good it can get this side of heaven, that desire is just never fully satisfied.

During my theology classes, I was blessed to befriend Father Tom Norris, an Irish theologian and a visiting professor to Mundelein Seminary. He had a way of teaching – and storytelling – that could leave one not only stunned but speechless and immobile – as if he could open a wellspring of grace, and you couldn’t help but let yourself be lovingly soaked in the glory. One day, as he was describing the paschal mystery he stated: “Good Friday is when the ‘homeland’ enters exile so that the exiles may enter the ‘homeland.’”

I was totally blown away; I began to realize in a new way that the paschal mystery wasn’t just something that happened 2,000 years ago.

What happened on Good Friday and what was victoriously completed in the resurrection and ascension of Jesus is represented for us in the Eucharist at every Mass. In those moments of consecration – so timeless – we are invited with the priest to truly pray the Mass. In doing so, we enter into something that is real, and truer than anything this side of heaven.

Charlie had to roam for a few months before he found “homeland,” but you and I don’t ever have to wait that long. The forever home we long for begins right here, right now, in every Eucharist.

(Sister Alicia Torres is an executive team member for the National Eucharistic Revival, editor of the Heart of the Revival e-newsletter, and a member of the Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago, a religious community that carries out the mission of the church through service to the poor, evangelization and teaching.)

In the Eucharist, we strays can find our ‘forever homeland’

Sister Alicia Torres and Charlie in the convent of the Franciscans of the Eucharist in Chicago. (OSV News photo/Courtesy Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago)

This

In Viaggio: The Travels of Pope Francis

Gianfranco Rosi’s polished retrospective maintains a tranquil tone as it looks back over the 37 journeys to 53 different countries undertaken by the pontiff during the first nine years of his pontificate. The result is thoughtful fare suitable for grown-ups and teens.

As Francis globe-trots from the halls of Congress to the Philippines and on to the streets of Havana, he speaks his mind about refugees, migrants, poverty, war and the need to imagine a better future. He also grapples with the scandalous abuse crisis in the church and the all-too-understandable sensitivities it has created, especially among victims.

Rosi adopts a hands-off, cinema verite approach to his work, eschewing vocal narration and incorporating stretches of contemplative silence. Always meditative, his profile also is sometimes moving, as when it captures Francis’ one-on-one exchanges with the inmates of a Mexican prison.

A sequence showing the pope walking through a deserted St. Peter’s Square at the height of the COVID pandemic is a striking reminder of the isolation to which that disease reduced so many around the world. In a voiceover, Francis ponders the possibility that the tragedy was the outcome of modern people’s unwillingness to slow themselves down and listen to God’s voice.

Along with the discussion of topics that make it inappropriate for youngsters, Rosi’s picture also includes footage that might upset them. Thus we’re shown real-life scenes of shipwreck, violent conflict and death.

By John Mulderig

NEW YORK (OSV News) – “Do not be afraid to dream.” That’s one of the characteristic statements viewers encounter in the uplifting documentary “In Viaggio: The Travels of Pope Francis” (Magnolia).

Despite its depiction of some of the world’s most pressing problems, filmmaker

The Pope’s Exorcist

By John Mulderig

NEW YORK (OSV News) – It’s important to bear in mind that, however credible its source material may be, the ostensibly fact-based possession tale “The Pope’s Exorcist” (Sony) remains a Hollywood horror movie. Considered as such, the film starts off promisingly enough but eventually becomes overheated and lurid.

Any adaptation of books published by high-profile exorcist Pauline Father Gabriele Amorth, who died in 2016, aged 91, is unlikely to be fare suitable for the whole family, moreover. And so it proves in this case since, as directed by Julius Avery, the picture includes a variety of components that even grown-ups in search of casual entertainment may wish to avoid.

Star Russell Crowe brings verve to his portrayal of Father Amorth. Genial and fond of a joke, the cleric is nonetheless never frivolous. Perhaps the most characteristic image among the opening scenes is that of Father Amorth riding his Vespa scooter through the streets of Rome backed by Faith No More’s refrain, “It’s a dirty job but someone’s gotta do it.”

From the Eternal City we jump to Spain, where a trio of Americans – widowed mom Julia (Alex Essoe), rebellious teen daughter Amy (Laurel Marsden) and traumatized preteen son Henry (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney) – are living temporarily. They’ve taken up residence in a former abbey while Julia supervises its renovation with an eye to selling it.

Of course, the spooky old place turns out to be haunted by a demon (voice of Ralph Ineson) who promptly puts Henry under his dominion. Local priest Father Esquibel (Daniel Zovatto) tries to help but he’s way out of his depth. Time to summon Father Amorth.

In fact, it develops that Father Amorth’s presence is part of a scheme the unholy spirit has con-

While not pulling his punches, however, Rosi successfully captures the peaceable atmosphere that generally surrounds Pope Francis. Accordingly, his portrait of a pontiff on the move – energetically yet calmly bringing his message of hope to a rich variety of destinations – can be thought of as an appealing 80-minute opportunity for spiritual reflection.

The film contains mature themes, including the sexual abuse of children, potentially disturbing images and situations of peril. The OSV News classification is A-II – adults and adolescents. Not rated by the Motion Picture Association.

cocted for infiltrating the Vatican. There, an entirely fictional pope (Franco Nero) is not only ailing but surrounded by fractious prelates – some allies of Father Amorth, others his opponents.

While the focus remains on young Henry’s plight, the movie feels dramatically compact and sound, though not lacking in genre cliches. And screenwriters Michael Petroni and Evan Spiliotopoulos successfully make the case for taking the power of evil seriously.

As the duo of clergymen research the abbey’s past, however, extraneous elements ranging from contemporary divisions within the church to the legacy of the Spanish Inquisition are thrown into the mix – and depicted ineptly. As a result, the proceedings eventually degenerate into a muddle while the tone becomes increasingly sensationalist.

Details of religious practice are also portrayed inaccurately. Thus in two of the three confessions we witness on screen, the confessor fails to use the necessary formula of absolution, substituting instead a vague prayer that the penitent may be forgiven. Any well catechized Catholic would demand a do-over.

Speaking of ecclesiastical tensions, in the midst of it all Father Amorth makes an observation that might be taken for heresy in some circles these days. “Prayers,” he tells Father Esquibel, “are more powerful in Latin.”

The film contains mature themes, disturbing images, an attempted suicide, brief aberrant sexual interaction, glimpses of upper and rear female nudity, a few mild oaths, numerous rough terms, occasional crude language and an obscene gesture. The OSV News classification is L – limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association rating is R – restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

is a scene from the documentary “In Viaggio: The Travels of Pope Francis.” The OSV News classification is A-II – adults and adolescents. The documentary is not rated by the Motion Picture Association. (OSV News photo/Archivo Vatican Media, courtesy Magnolia Pictures)

“The Pope’s Exorcist” is a 2023 supernatural horror film starring Russell Crowe as the late Pauline Father Gabriele Amorth, a longtime exorcist for the Diocese of Rome. The film is ‘inspired by’ the Italian priest’s memoirs and was released in the United States April 14, 2023. (CNS photo/ Sony Pictures Entertainment)

MISSISSIPPI CATHOLIC

Youth around the diocese

TUPELO – Matthew Becker assists as an altar server at Mass on Easter Sunday at St. James parish. (Photo courtesy of Michelle Harkins)

JACKSON – (Left) Presenting Mr. and Miss Sister Thea Bowman School 2023: King Zamare’ Owen and Queen Raleigh Mozee. (Photos by Christopher Payne)

MERIDIAN – Myles Spears sells “shamrock supplies” to Liza Thompson at the St. Patrick School Store. (Photo by Emily Thompson)

SOUTHAVEN – Sacred Heart School’s eighth grade students presented live Stations of the Cross just before the Easter holidays. (Photo Father Vien Nguyen, SCJ)

(Below) SOUTHAVEN – Over 100 youth from Holy Spirit Hernando, Christ the King Southaven and Queen of Peace Olive Branch gathered for a Seder Meal on Wednesday, March 26. (Photo by Amanda Mahla Ready)

Blessings!

JACKSON – (Above) St. Richard School hosted its Spring Family Fun Night recently. While parents attended the Parent Association general membership meeting, students got to do exciting STEM experiments and art projects. Everyone was treated to a delicious dinner courtesy of the PA. Pictured l-r: Bo Brown and Gavin Sutton have fun being “scientists.” (Photo by Tammy Conrad)

(Left) Vicksburg Catholic School Class of 2023, along with the help of Golding Barge Line, kicked off their senior retreat week with the installation of a "blessing box" on the corner of Grove Street and Howard Street. The idea is that you “take what you need and give what you can.” (Photo by Lindsey Bradley)

YAZOO CITY – St. Mary’s children enjoyed an Easter egg hunt after Mass. (Photo by Babs McMaster)

Holy Week happenings

Fifth graders from several Catholic schools in the diocese attended the annual Chrism Mass on Tuesday, April 4 with Bishop Joseph Kopacz and got a chance to speak to diocesan seminarians and Sister Amelia Breton about vocations. Students also received a tour of the Cathedral of St. Peter with Chancellor Mary Woodward. (Photos by Joanna Puddister King)

PEARL – Parishioners process behind Father Jofin George on Palm Sunday at St. Jude. (Photo by Rhonda Bowden)

JACKSON – The Holy Spirit enters the Chrism at Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle. (Photo by Rhonda Bowden)

RIPLEY – St. Matthew parish celebrates Leigh Ann Giaroli and Donovan Grant's full communion, confirmation, and baptism at Easter Vigil.

(Photo by Madeleine Hale

PEARL – The Paschal candle is lit at St. Jude parish by Deacon John McGregor.

(Photo by Tereza Ma)

HERNANDO – Father David Szatkowski, SCJ washes feet on Holy Thursday. (Photo by Laura Grisham)