MS Catholic_October 28, 2022

Patron saint, celebrated with Mass and festivities at St. Francis in New Albany

By Galen Holley

NEW ALBANY – Parishioners cele brated Mass outdoors on Oct. 16, on a cool, crisp fall morning, with birds and squirrels darting through the pines encir cling the yard. What better way to honor the legacy of their patron and namesake of the church, St. Francis of Assisi.

“St. Francis was known for loving na ture and animals, and for loving others,” said Father Xavier Jesuraj, preaching his homily in front of a crowd of 300, most of them sitting in lawn chairs, oth ers standing around the makeshift soccer and volleyball field that would soon be teeming with energetic athletes.

An unpainted statue of the saint, his hand held aloft in pious blessing, stood beside the altar, along with fragrant bou quets of flowers. On the west end of the yard, just behind the church, a Hispanic band, complete with bass, guitar, tam bourine and a litany of female singers, serenaded the faithful. During Holy Com munion, they sang, “The Prayer of St. Francis,” in Spanish. “Make me a channel of your peace,” they sang. “Where there is despair in life, let me bring hope.”

Catholics from Tupelo and Ripley

Four recognized for their work in the pro-life movement

By CatHoliC news serviCe

WASHINGTON – Four new awardees were named this year as recipients of People of Life Awards, chosen by the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities for lifetime contributions to the pro-life cause.

Honored at a July dinner for diocesan pro-life lead ers and their guests, Mary Huber, Barbara Lyons, Greg Schleppenbach, and the late Laura Jean Ebert joined 37 other recipients since the secretariat established the award in 2007.

The award recognizes Catholics who have answered the call outlined by St. John Paul II in his 1995 encyc lical "The Gospel of Life" by dedicating themselves to pro-life activities and promoting respect for the dignity of the human person. It is bestowed in honor of their sig nificant and longtime contributions to the culture of life.

Huber spent her 24-year career in pro-life ministry at the Diocese of San Bernardino, California, beginning as a part-time bookkeeper and ultimately becoming the director of Respect Life and Pastoral Care for the dio cese's Department of Life, Dignity and Justice.

Huber worked closely with the California Catholic Conference of Bishops advocating for life-saving protec tions for unborn children, women, and teen girls at risk for abortion and the elderly at risk for assisted suicide.

She launched the first diocesan Project Rachel pro gram, coordinating training for priests and volunteers and providing bilingual phone counseling as well as abortion healing retreats in English and Spanish.

Huber also facilitated mental health programming in parish ministries, particularly for those wounded by abortion, or struggling with end-of-life care. She ulti mately developed comprehensive programs to provide educational resources for accompanying the dying during their final journey.

Lyons began pro-life work in 1974 as volunteer pres ident of the Milwaukee County chapter of Wisconsin Right to Life. She joined the staff of Wisconsin Right to Life in 1977 where she served as legislative director for 10 years, becoming executive director in 1987.

She also led educational outreach through the Veri tas Society media campaign and teen and college train ing programs.

She "retired" from Wisconsin Right to Life in

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NEW ALBANY – Father Xavier Jesuraj incenses the congregation during the celebration of the Mass at St. Francis of Assisi Church in New Albany on Oct.16. The parish celebrated the feast day of their patron saint with an outdoor Mass. Also present at the altar are, from left, Rosa Garcia, Esmeralda Garcia and altar server, Regina Portis. (Photo by Galen Holley)

SPIRITUAL ENRICHMENT

GREENWOOD Locus Benedictus, “The Prison, the Warden and the Key to Freedom” event, Saturday, Nov. 5, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Featured presenters: “Mercy Beau coup” – Cindy Scardina, Ann Roshto and Lynn Mondt. All are welcome. Event is free with love offering taken. Details: sign up on facebook, eventbrite or call (662) 299-1232.

PEARL St. Jude, Join the Marian Servants of Jesus the Lamb of God as we consecrate ourselves to Jesus through the heart of Mary. Nov. 1, we begin a 33-day preparation for Marian Consecration as we meet weekly. For six weeks, we’ll individually read about and reflect on four great Marian giants: St. Louis de Montfort, St. Maximilian Kolbe, St. Mother Teresa and St. John Paul II. They’ll teach us the secrets to drawing closer to the Heart of Jesus through the Heart of Mary. We will also pray with scriptures, share the fruits of our prayer and watch a 30-minute video by Father Michael Gaitley, MIC. You do not have to be a Marian Servant to participate. Books available for purchase for $10. We meet at St. Jude’s ‘Mary’ room in the office building on Tuesdays from 1-3 p.m. Details: Maureen Roberts (601) 278-0423 or email msojlog@gmail.com.

TUPELO St. James, Annual Men’s Retreat, Nov. 1820 at St. Bernard Abbey in Cullman, Ala. Retreat leader is Father Ben Cameron of the Fathers of Mercy. Retreat begins Friday evening and ends Sunday morning. Enjoy this weekend of prayer, rest and fellowship. Cost: $130 if sharing a room or $205 for a private room. Registration includes two nights of lodging, all meals and snacks. De tails: David at (662) 213-3742.

PARISH, FAMILY & SCHOOL EVENTS

ABERDEEN St. Francis, Parish Potluck, Saturday, Nov. 5 after 4 p.m. Mass. Sign-up to bring your favorite dish. Details: church office (662) 813-2295.

CLEVELAND Our Lady of Victories, “Taste of Italy” Lasagna Dinner and Bake Sale, Thursday, Nov. 10 from 4:30-7 p.m. Dine-in or take-out from the Parish Center. Tickets are $15 and include lasagna, salad, bread and

dessert. Details: church office (662) 846-6273.

FLOWOOD St. Paul, Bingo Night, Friday, Nov. 11. Sponsored by the St. Paul Women’s Ministry, enjoy hot dogs and snacks at 6:30 p.m. and begin bingo at 7 p.m. Cost is $5 per card. For ages 18 and up only. BYOB. Details: church office (601) 992-9547.

JACKSON Cathedral of St. Peter, Organ Series Con cert, Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. Details: church office (601) 9693125.

JACKSON 42nd annual Squat & Gobble, Thursday, Nov. 10 at the Country Club of Jackson. All proceeds help victims of sex trafficking and domestic violence. De tails: visit www.friendsforacause.com.

MERIDIAN St. Patrick, 23rd annual Variety Show, Dinner and Fashion Show, Saturday, Nov. 5 in the Fam ily Life Center. Tickets on sale at school or parish office. Reserved $25; adults $10; and children 13 and under $5. Details: church office (601) 693-1321.

NATCHEZ St. Mary Basilica, Annual Cemetery Pro cession at Natchez City Cemetery on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. Procession begins at the Old Catholic Plot 1. Par ticipants recite rosary to honor burials prior to 1861 as they process to Catholic Hill in the rear of the cemetery. All adults and youth are invited to join. Details: church office (601) 445-5616.

OLIVE BRANCH Queen of Peace, Spaghetti Dinner, Sunday, Nov. 20 at 11 a.m. Dine-in or take-out. Cost: $8 per plate; max $25 per family; $2 smoked sausage; $10 quart gravy; $5 quart slaw. All are welcome! Details: church office (662) 895-5007.

Queen of Peace, Card Night, Friday, Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. in the social hall. The Men’s club will host its semi-annual card night with dinner from 6-6:45 p.m. and cards starting at 7 p.m. All parishioners and their guests are welcome. Signup sheet in commons area. Details: church office (662) 895-5007.

RIPLEY St. Matthew, 1st annual Christmas Ba zaar and Photos with Santa, Nov. 18 and 19. Crafters wanted: tables available for $30. Begin making your crafts or preparing for your food booth now. Details: Call Geraldine at (216) 867-8007.

TUPELO St. James, Rummage Sale, Sat urday, Nov. 5 from 7:30-11 a.m. in Shel ton Hall. Also, tama les for sale: Chicken with green sauce or pork with red sauce $20/doz. Order available for pickup Thursday, Friday or Saturday of sale. Pre-orders available by calling Raquel at (662) 402-9599. Details: call Kathy at (662) 322-2556.

St. James, Trivia Night, Saturday, Nov. 5 from 7-9 p.m. in Shelton Hall. Reg ister your team at linktr.ee/stjamestu pelo – Nursery will be provided. Details: church office (662) 231-1055.

SAVE THE DATE DIOCESE

OCTOBER 28, 2022 MISSISSIPPI CATHOLIC

SEARCH Retreat – For Teens, By Teen, Jan. 13-15, 2023 at Camp Wesley Pines in Gallman. Details: email abbey.schuhmann@jacksondiocese.org.

JACKSON St. Richard School, Krewe de Cardinal set for Feb. 10. Call for tickets and sponsorship opportuni ties. Details: school office (601) 366-1157.

MADISON St. Anthony School, Starry Night Gala, Friday, Dec. 9. Details: school office (601) 607-7054.

dgeland

Jackson Flowood Pearl

CAMP GARAYWA – What a great example! Arnie and Lois Senger re ceive a blessing from Father Nick Adam for their 48th wedding aniversary during the Engaged Encounter retreat for young couples approaching holy matrimony. The Senger’s have been long-time supporters of the Engaged Encounter ministry of the diocese. (Photo by Rhonda Bowden)

Synod process flows into national Eucharistic Revival

By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.

Over the next three years in each (Arch)diocese in the United States there will be a Eucharistic Revival that will invite Catholics across our nation to deepen our love for the Lord Jesus in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood, the Eucharist, the Holy Mass, Sagrada Misa. A church in solidarity on nation al and international levels has borne good fruit in the Synod process over the past year. The Holy Spirit has led the Catho lic faithful in prayer, dialogue and reflection that resulted in diocesan, regional and national syntheses, a lamp for our feet in very challenging times.

This synod process can flow seamlessly into a Eucharistic Revival because the Mass is where and when the People of God assemble to proclaim and celebrate the ideal of our oneness as the Body of Christ. We are now in the diocesan phase of the process which begins this weekend at St. Joseph in Gluckstadt with a Eucharistic Congress.

These con gresses are held periodically in order to revive our love for the Eucharist, this ex traordinary and ordinary way of encountering the crucified and risen Lord. This Congress is a very apt way to formally introduce the diocesan phase of the revival. Recognizing the limitations with distance, yet all are in vited to participate for part of the Congress, for most of it, or all of it.

will the presenter and hom ilist. At the core, this time to gether as well as apart from our normal routines allows the grace of God to stir into flame the gift we received through faith at our baptism. With the image of the flow ing waters of Baptism, Jesus’ profound words from his en counter with the Samaritan woman at the well in the Gos pel of St. John (4:1-30) can be applied to help us hear his deep desire for our love in return. “If you recognized the gift of God and who it is that is asking you for something to drink...! (v.10)

This synod process can flow seamlessly into a Eucharistic Revival because the Mass is where and when the People of God assemble to proclaim and celebrate the ideal of our oneness as the Body of Christ.

Earlier this year on June 29, the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Francis issued an Apostolic Letter Desiderio desideravi. The timing is ex quisite from the center of the universal church as a guide for the Eucharistic Revival in our nation. At the outset of the letter Pope Fran cis explained that his purpose is “to invite and help the whole church to rediscover, to safeguard, and to live the truth and power of the Christian celebration” (of the Eucha rist). The Latin phrase Desiderio desideravi recalls the words of Jesus at the beginning of the Last Supper in Luke’s Gospel: “I have eagerly desired to celebrate this Passover with you before I suffer.” (Luke 22:14)

Father Ajani Gibson of the Archdiocese of New Orleans places the mon strance on the altar. He is the featured speaker at the Diocese Eucharistic Revival on Oct. 28-29 at St. Joseph Gluckstadt. (Photo courtesy of Father Ajani Gibson)

Last Supper.” (6)

The Eucharist is a gift and mystery; and Jesus Christ is present and alive in that sacred space where we encoun ter the crucified and risen Lord in his Word, his Body and Blood, in his Body the church assembled, in his Mys tical Body, and with his resurrected Body in heaven, our destiny. In other words, there is a lot going on, and we pray that the Holy Spirit will open the eyes of our hearts and minds to “recognize the gift,” and to be the gift to sanctify the world, and to be the Lord’s presence in a world that crises out for his saving and reconciling love.

We will gather for several hours on Friday evening, and then again on Saturday morning, culminating with Mass at 11:30 a.m. We encourages parishes to mark this occasion in their own churches to be in solidarity with the diocese. On Friday evening and Saturday morning at the Congress there will be ample time for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, personal prayer, the Sacrament of Reconciliation evening and morning presentations on the Eucharist, the Liturgy of the Hours and Benediction. Father Anji Gibson of the Archdiocese of New Orleans

Pope Francis applies profound pastoral and theo logical meaning to these words at such a critical time in Jesus’ earthly life. “Every time we go to Mass, the first reason is that we are drawn there by his desire for us,” and every reception of communion of the Body and Blood of Christ was al ready desired by him in the

BISHOP’S SCHEDULE

Sunday, Nov. 6, 8:30 a.m.; 11 a.m.; and 5 p.m. – Mass, St. John, Ox ford

Thursday, Nov. 10, 5:30 p.m. – 42nd Annual Squat & Gobble for Catholic Charities, Country Club of Jackson

Friday, Nov. 11, 10 a.m. – Blessing of Catholic Charities new facilities, 731 S Pear Orchard Rd, Ste. 51, Ridgeland

Monday, Nov. 14-18 – USCCB Fall General Assembly, Baltimore, Maryland

Tuesday, Nov. 29, 10:30 a.m. – Blessing of “Touchdown Jesus” statue, St. Joseph School Football Field, Greenville

Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2 p.m. – Building Blessing at St. Vincent de Paul, St. Joseph Church, Greenville

Sunday, Dec. 4, 11 a.m. – Confirmation, Immaculate Heart of Mary, Greenwood

Monday, Dec. 12, 6 p.m. – Our Lady of Guadalupe – Procession, Ro sary and Mass, Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle, Jackson

Saturday, Dec. 17, 6 p.m. – Las Posadas, St. Jude, Pearl

Sunday, Dec. 18, 11 a.m. – Mass and Parish Christmas Dinner, St. Pat rick, Meridian

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

BY

Our Homegrown Harvest effort is working. Not only have we netted four new seminarians in the past year, but we have two men currently in the application process and one more who is in a pre-seminary online program that we offer to guys who are seriously considering a priestly vocation.

The health of a vocation department is not just quality and quantity of candidates; it’s also dependent on building up a good support system for all those who have a hand in promoting and supporting vocations. Here are some other initiatives that we recently ramped up with that in mind:

– We had our first ever POPS event on Sept. 24. The Parents of Priests/Seminarians/Sisters is an effort to support our par ents who are supporting their children in discernment. The Knights of Columbus of the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle provided dinner. It was a great event. We are looking at doing a Christmas party in December.

– I attended Southeastern Pastoral Institute’s Encuentro Regional (Regional Encounter Workshop) Oct. 12-14 to learn more about working with young Hispanic Catholics in our parishes and helping them discover their vocation. It was a great experience, and I enjoyed the networking and got some good ideas both for vocation promotion and parish best practices for Hispanic ministry. Bishop Kopacz and Faith Formation director, Fran Lavelle also attended this workshop which was held in St. Augustine, Florida.

– We hosted our first ever Bethany Night in mid-October. This was a dinner, talk, and time of adoration for young women open to the call to religious life. Sister Karolyn Nunes, FSGM, was in town and so I asked her to give a presentation to those who attended. Sister Karolyn is the vocation director for the Franciscan Sisters of the Martyr St. George, the same order that Kathleen McMullin, now Sister Mary Kolbe McMullin, entered last year. A great thanks goes to the Knights of Columbus from Holy Savior in Clinton for providing dinner and to this parish for hosting us. I also took Sister Karolyn to St. Joe High School in Madison to speak with two sections of Senior Theology, and that was a great time, the kids were full of great questions.

And our Homegrown Harvest Festival has brought in a record amount to go toward the tuition/books/fees for our nine seminarians. Thank you all for the trust that you have placed in the Lord as we have made a call for support of our men in formation and thank you for you the encouragement you continue to give to young men to consider the call to the priesthood and young women to consider the call to religious life.

Father Nick Adam

If you are interested in learning more about religious orders or voca tions to the priesthood and religious life, email nick.adam@jackson diocese.org.

Deacon provides thoughtful explanation of Christ’s real presence

By Mitch Finley

“For Real? Christ’s Presence in the Eucharist” by Deacon Dennis Lambert. Liguori Pub lications (Liguori, Missouri, 2022). 182 pp., $16.99.

In some Catholic circles – especially academic ones – the term “apologetics” gets little, if any, respect. It’s true that some efforts at apologetics are little more than Cath olic fundamentalist attempts to prove “us” right and “them” wrong.

Yet, rooted in intellectually responsible Scripture studies and theology, apologetics can help Catholics to embrace a better, more adult understanding of their faith and culti vate an ability to explain it to others.

Dennis Lambert, a deacon in the Diocese of Phoenix, serves up just such an approach to apologetics.

Mass at least once a week ‘don’t believe that the Communion bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Christ.’”

Rather, they believe with many Protestant/evangelical Christians that holy Commu nion is “merely a symbol or remembrance of the Last Supper.”

At the same time, in the months just following the publication of the Pew study, more than a few theologians, liturgists and sociologists expressed their concern that the Pew study was not without its flaws.

Some objected to the ways the Pew study formulated its survey questions; others questioned the meanings the survey apparently took for granted for terms such as “symbol” and “sign.”

Lambert’s research is thorough and his insights helpful for anyone who would gain a better understanding of Catholic beliefs about the Eucharist and holy Communion.

His discussion of what both Old and New Testaments contribute to these beliefs is well done, as is his summary of the teachings of the early Fathers of the church on the topic at hand and his overview of official church teachings.

This is the book cover of “For Real? Christ’s Presence in the Eucharist” by Deacon Dennis Lambert. The book is reviewed by Mitch Finley. (CNS photo/courtesy Liguori Publi cations)

In this case, Lambert’s focus is on the Catholic concept of “real presence,” a tradi tional term that sums up the Catholic doc trine – shared, in one form or another, by some mainline Protestant churches – that in the Eucharist the risen Christ is present, body and blood, soul and divinity, and there fore (to paraphrase the Catechism of the Cath olic Church), the whole Christ is truly, really and substantially contained in the consecrat ed bread and wine of the Eucharist.

Motivation comes, the author explains in his book’s preface, from a 2019 Pew Re search Center study that revealed that “more than one-third of all Catholics who attend

While insightful and clearly stated, one may hazard the opinion that Lambert’s book could have used a livelier, more creative style. Also, it would have been refresh ing to learn a few things about some of the creative insights suggested by contempo rary sacramental theologians.

For example, one Catholic thinker suggests that today’s educated adult believer may gain a deeper understanding of the real presence by supplementing “body and blood, soul and divinity” with “whole person of the risen Christ.”

The final chapter of this book, “Evangelizing the Eucharist: Sharing the Truth of the Real Presence,” is exquisite and powerful.

Readers both Catholic and otherwise will find “For Real?: Christ’s Presence in the Eucharist” worth reading slowly and thoughtfully.

(Finley is the author of more than 30 books on popular Catholic theology, including “The Rosary Handbook: A Guide for Newcomers, Old-Timers and Those In Between,” “The Joy of Being a Eucharistic Minister” and “The Joy of Being Catholic.”

Father Nick Adam

CLINTON – Sister Karolyn Nunes, FSGM, speaks with members of the youth group at Holy Savior Clinton as a part of the Vocations office’s first-ever “Beth any Night.” (Photo by Father Nick Adam)

How to pray when we don’t feel like it

IN EXILE

By Father ron rolheiser, oMi

If we only prayed when we felt like it, we wouldn’t pray a lot.

Enthusiasm, good feelings and fervor will not sustain anyone’s prayer life for long, goodwill and firm intention notwithstanding. Our hearts and minds are complex and promiscuous, wild horses frolicking to their own tunes, with prayer frequently not on their agenda. The renowned mys tic, John of the Cross teaches that, after an initial period of fervor in prayer, we will spend the bulk of our years struggling to pray discur sively, dealing with boredom and distraction. So, the question be comes, how do we pray at those times when we are tired, distracted, bored, disinterest ed, and nursing a thousand other things in our heads and in our hearts? How do we pray when little inside us wants to pray? Especially, how do we pray at those moments when we have a positive distaste for prayer?

Monks have secrets worth knowing. The first secret we need to learn from them is the central place of ritual is sustaining a prayer-life. Monks pray a lot and regularly, but they never try to sustain their prayer on the basis of feelings. They sustain it through ritual. Monks pray together seven or eight times a day ritual ly. They gather in chapel and pray the ritual offices of the church (Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, Vespers, Compline) or they celebrate the Eucharist together. They don’t always go there because they feel like it, they come because they are called to prayer, and then, with their hearts and minds perhaps less than enthusi astic about praying, they pray through the deepest part of themselves, their intention and their will.

In the rule that St. Benedict wrote for monastic life there’s an oft-quoted phrase. A monk’s life, he writes, is to be ruled by the monastic bell. When the monastic bell rings, the monk is immediately to drop whatever he is doing and go to whatever that summons is call ing him to, not because he wants to, but because it is time, and time is not our time, it’s God’s time. That’s a valuable secret, particularly as it applies to prayer. We need to go pray regularly, not because we want to, but because it’s time, and when we can’t pray with our hearts and minds, we can still pray through our wills and through our bodies.

Yes, our bodies! We tend to forget that we are not disincarnate angels, pure heart and mind. We are also a body. Thus, when heart and mind struggle to engage in prayer, we can always still pray with our bodies. Classically, we have tried to do this through certain physical gestures and postures (making the sign of the cross, kneeling, raising our hands, joining hands, genuflection, prostration) and we should never under estimate or denigrate the importance of these bodily gestures. Simply put, when we can’t pray in any oth er way, we can still pray through our bodies. (And who is to say that a sincere bodily gesture is inferior as a prayer to a gesture of the heart or mind?) Personally, I much admire a particu lar bodily gesture, bowing down with

one’s head to the floor which Muslims do in their prayer. To do that is to have your body say to God, “Irrespective of whatever’s on my mind and in my heart right now, I submit to your omnipotence, your holiness, your love.”

Whenever I do meditative prayer alone, normally I end it with this gesture.

Sometimes spiritual writers, catechists, and liturgists have failed us by not making it clear that prayer has different stages – and that affectivity, enthusiasm, fervor are only one stage, and the neophyte stage at that. As the great doctors and mystics of spirituality have universally taught, prayer, like love, goes through three phases. First comes fervor and enthusiasm; next comes the waning of fervor along with dryness and boredom, and finally comes proficiency, an ease, a certain sense of being at home in prayer that does not depend on affectivity and fervor but on

a commitment to be present, irrespective of affective feeling.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer used to say this to a couple when officiating at their marriage. Today you are very much in love and believe that your love will sustain your mar riage. It won’t. Let your marriage [which is a ritual contain er] sustain your love. The same can be said about prayer. Fervor and enthusiasm will not sustain your prayer, but ritual can. When we struggle to pray with our minds and our hearts, we can still always pray through our wills and our bodies. Showing up can be prayer enough.

In a recent book, Dearest Sister Wendy, Robert Ells berg quotes a comment by Michael Leach, who said this in relation to what he was experiencing in having to care long-term for his wife suffering from Alzheimer’s. Falling in love is the easy part; learning to love is the hard part; and living in love is the best part. True too for prayer.

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

Prayer revitalizes the soul, pope says at Angelus

By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Prayer is medicine for one’s faith and it reinvigorates the soul, Pope Francis said.

“We need the daily water of prayer, we need time dedicated to God, so that he can enter into our time, into our lives,” the pope said Oct. 16 during his Sunday Angelus address.

“We need consistent moments in which we open our hearts to him so that he can daily pour out on us love, peace, joy, strength, hope, thus nourishing our faith,” he said.

So often, people spend their day focused on many “urgent, but unnecessary things,” neglecting what counts the most in life, he said. “We allow our love for God to grow cold” bit by bit.

Prayer, he said, is the remedy to rekin dle this “tepid faith.”

“Prayer is the medicine for faith; it is the restorative of the soul,” he said.

Just as a patient must “faithfully and regularly” take his or her medication, Pope Francis said, prayer, too, needs to be con sistent and constant, not practiced in fits and starts.

In the Gospel of Luke’s parable of the persistent widow, Je sus is showing people that they must “pray always without be coming weary,” he said.

When finding the time to pray is a real difficulty, he said, busy people should turn to an old but

“wise spiritual practice” called “aspirations.” These are very short prayers in which the mind is directed to God and “that can be repeated often throughout the day, in the course of various activities, to remain ‘in tune’ with the Lord” so that “our hearts remain connected to him.”

For example, he said, as soon as people wake up, “we can say, ‘Lord, I thank you and I offer this day to you,’” or before beginning an activity, “we can repeat, ‘Come, Holy Spirit,’” and throughout the day, people can pray, “Jesus, I trust in you. Jesus, I love you.”

“And let’s not forget to read his responses” in the Gospel, the pope said.

“The Lord always responds,” he said, so people should open the Gospel “several times every day, to receive a word of life directed to us.”

Pope Francis waves to the crowd as he leads the Angelus from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 16, 2022. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

came to New Albany to worship. The “Danza” group, hon oring their Aztec tradition, also performed.

Fluffy, bundled children scurried about, gathering handfuls of dried pine needles off the pavement. In the impromptu midway, on the north side of the church, the mechanical bull and the bouncy house were going up. The succulent smell of carne asada filled the air, along with the sweet smell of grilling onions, and the crisp, fresh bite of chopped cilantro.

St. Francis of Assisi Parish celebrated 72 years in 2022. The first gatherings were in the home of the Kelso family. Priests from the Glenmary Home Missioners staffed it until four years ago, when diocesan priest, Father Raj, began shepherding the community.

Today, the church is a vibrant mix of Anglo and Latino members, along with other races and nationalities, who col laborate on festive occasions, like this one, to express their unity in Jesus Christ. Their diversity and mutual love testify to a broken world that division is only a deception, and that faith in the risen Jesus is the tie that binds.

Father Raj spoke of his recent trip to the holy sites of Europe, including Assisi. He became emotional when speaking of Carlos Acutis, a remarkable Italian youth, who died of leukemia, in 2006, at the age of 15. The boy had vast computer skills, and documented, online, miracles con cerning the Holy Eucharist. He was beatified in October 2020.

“The Pope says that we need saints in jeans,” said Fa ther Raj, during his homily to the crowd of jean wearers gathered at the celebration Mass. Maybe modern saints are living among us.

In memoriam: Sister Dorothy Olinger, DC

By anna ross EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Sister Dorothy (Dorothy Lorraine)

2014 after 40 years of work in the pro-life movement, yet in her 70s, she was asked to serve as coalitions director for the Patient's Rights Action Fund. She has worked tirelessly into her 80s to prevent vulnerable persons from being targeted by assisted suicide.

Schleppenbach has dedicated his career to pro-life advocacy. He directed the pro-life office at the Nebras ka Catholic Conference from 1991 to 2014 and served as Nebraska Catholic Conference's executive director for two years.

From 2016 to 2022, Schleppenbach was associate director for the U.S. bishops' Secretariat of Pro-Life Ac tivities. He is currently the executive director for the Culture Project, a missionary organization providing education and mentorship for teens on the issues of human dignity and sexual integrity.

Ebert, who passed away in 2021, spent her life in dedicated service to the Catholic Church and the prolife movement. She helped establish pro-life pregnan cy centers in Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Canada. She also served as a housemother at a maternity home in Arkansas.

She was also passionate about Catholic education and worked for many years as a teacher in Illinois. She continued her leadership in compassionate service to women and children at pregnancy care centers near her home of Menominee, Michigan, until her death at age 73.

Olinger died on Sept. 18, 2022 at Ascension St. Vincent Hospital in Evansville, Indiana. Sister was born on July 3, 1933 in Chicago and was one of twelve children of Ma dona (Coonrad) and Peter Olinger. Sister Dorothy graduated from St. Gregory High School in Chica go and entered the Daughters of Charity in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1952.

After initial formation, Sister Dorothy served as a teacher at St. Theresa School in New Orleans (19531956), St. Thomas Home in Birmingham, Alabama (1956-1963), St. Vincent School in Donaldsonville, Louisiana (where she also served as principal, 19631969), St. Francis de Sales School in Lake Zurich, Illinois (1969-1973), Cathedral School in Natchez, Mississippi (1973-1985), St. Joseph School in East St. Louis, Illinois (1985-1987), St. James Major School in Prichard, Alabama (1995-2001), and Our Lady of the

Valley Center in Gloverville, South Carolina (20142016).

Sister received a BA in English from Marillac College in St. Louis, Missouri (1963) and an MA in Elementary Math Education from the University of Detroit in Michigan (1978). Sister also served as a housemother at St. Elizabeth Home in New Orleans (1956), computer consultant at St. Mary’s Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (1987-1993), registrar at St. Louise de Marillac High School in Northfield, Illinois (1993-1994), docent at the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland (2001-2003), tutor-aide at St. Therese School in Jackson, Mississippi (2003-2008) and receptionist at Catholic Charities in Nashville, Tennessee (2008-2014) until she came to Seton Residence in Evansville in 2016 to serve in the ministry of prayer.

A wake service was held on Monday, Sept. 26, 2022 in the Seton Residence Chapel followed by the Mass of Christian Burial; internment at St. Joseph Cemetery.

Sister was preceded in death by her sisters Patricia LoCoco, Mary Catherine Drollinger, Margaret Sellars, Elizabeth Keller and Elaine Tipton and her brothers William, Thomas, John and Joseph Olinger; and she is survived by her brother Michael Olinger and her sister Donna Talley, nieces and nephews, her Sisters in Com munity and many friends.

(Donations may be made to the Daughters of Charity, 4330 Olive Street, St. Louis, MO 63108.)

'... The Pope says that we need saints in jeans ...'

More than 300 people attended the celebration of the patron saint of St. Francis of Assisi Church in New Albany on Oct. 16. Delicious food, athletic events and dancing were part of the fun. (Photo by Galen Holley)

spent her life in dedicated service to the Catholic Church ...'

Pope announces a second session for Synod of Bishops assembly

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY – Saying he did not want to rush the process of discerning how the Holy Spirit is calling the church to grow in “synodality,” Pope Francis an nounced that the next assembly of the Synod of Bishops would take place in two sessions.

The synod assembly, with mostly bish ops as voting members, will meet Oct. 4-29, 2023, as previously announced, the pope said, but the assembly will have a second session in October 2024 as well.

Pope Francis made the announcement Oct. 16 at the end of his Angelus address. He had met Oct. 14 with the synod lead ership.

The pope and local bishops kicked off the listening and discernment process for the “synod on synodality” in October 2021, and by November the synod secre tariat is expected to release a working doc ument for continental assemblies.

With 112 of the 114 bishops’ confer ence in the world having sent in a synthe sis of what emerged in the listening ses sions in their countries, Pope Francis said that “the fruits of the synodal process un derway are many, but so that they might come to full maturity, it is necessary not to be in a rush.”

“To have a more relaxed period of discernment,” the pope announced, “I have established that this synodal assembly will take place in two sessions” rather than the one originally planned.

“I trust that this decision will promote the understanding of synodality as a consti tutive dimension of the church and help everyone to live it as the journey of brothers and sisters who proclaim the joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis told thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus prayer.

The website of the synod secretariat describes synodality as a style seen in the

church’s life and mission that reflects its nature as “the people of God journeying together and gathering in assembly, sum moned by the Lord Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel.”

While it does not imply everyone has a vote on issues facing the church, it does mean that all the members of the church – ordained or lay – have a responsibility to contribute to the church’s mission and to pray, offer suggestions and join in dis cerning the voice of the Holy Spirit.

A statement from the synod secretariat Oct. 16 said Pope Francis’ decision to add a second assembly “stems from the desire that the theme of a ‘synodal church,’ be cause of its breadth and importance, might be the subject of prolonged discernment not only by the members of the synodal assembly, but by the whole church.”

Although it did not feature the same widespread, grassroots listening sessions, the deliberations of the Synod of Bishops on challenges and joys facing families also met in two sessions. First, Pope Francis convoked in 2014 an “extraordinary gen eral assembly” on “the pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangeli zation.” Then, using the 2014 gathering’s final report as an outline, the ordinary general assembly of the Synod of Bishops met in 2015 to look at “the vocation and mission of the family in the church and contem porary world.”

Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, then secretary-general of the synod, wrote to bishops’ conferences at the time explaining that, “the two synodal assemblies, sharing the same topic of the family, become part of a single synodal process, which includes not only the two celebrative phases but also the intervening time between synods, a time to re flect on the reaction to the first synod and to make a thorough theological examination of the church’s pastoral activity in light of the succeeding one.”

Vatican II and the synod: Openness to Spirit brings harmony, official says

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY – Growth toward becoming a “syn odal church,” one in which all the baptized accept and share responsibility for their unity and mission, can get messy, and that should not frighten people, said one of the undersecretaries of the Synod of Bishops.

“What we see with the synod is that the church is learning to face, to name and to be with the tensions, the polarities, the diversity” found among Catholics within parishes and across the globe, “and not just sweep them under the carpet,” said Xavière Missionary Sister Nath alie Becquart.

The process for the Synod of Bishops, like the ses sions of the Second Vatican Council, is marked by theo logical, cultural and practical differences, she said, but she is confident that by listening to the Holy Spirit, lis tening to each other and being patient, consensus will prevail as it did at Vatican II.

Sister Becquart spoke to Catholic News Service Oct. 14, just before she and the synod’s top leadership had a private meeting with Pope Francis.

The meeting came three days after the pope celebrat ed a Mass marking the 60th anniversary of the opening of the council and pleaded with Catholics to resist the temptations of division, “quarrels, gossip and disputes.”

Synodality is the way forward, Sister Becquart said, pointing to Pope Francis’ explanation in the book “Let Us Dream”:

“We need a respectful, mutual listening, free of ideol

ogy and predetermined agendas. The aim is not to reach agreement by means of a contest between opposing posi tions, but to journey together to seek God’s will, allowing differences to harmonize. Most important of all is the synodal spirit: to meet each other with respect and trust, to believe in our shared unity and to receive the new thing that the Spirit wishes to reveal to us.”

Before the end of October, the synod office will re lease its “Document for the Continental Phase” of the synod, echoing the themes that emerged from all the national syntheses of synod listening sessions and the contributions of religious orders, Catholic movements, Vatican dicasteries and nuncios from around the world.

“It’s a working document,” Sister Becquart said. Peo ple who participated in the listening sessions will be asked to read it, pray about it and share their reactions with their national synod coordinators. Then bishops, priests, religious and laity representing the church in their country will meet with representatives from other countries in their region to discuss what “resonates” with them or what they believe is missing.

The idea, she said, is that the synod is not just a oneway process from the grassroots up to the “top.” Rather, the process is “circular,” because a key part of “synodal ecclesiology that comes from Vatican II” sees an “intrin sic link between the local churches and the universal churches” and aims to deepen that relationship.

In the document for the continental phase, the synod office is returning results to the local level, checking that

they were heard and asking them to broaden their reflec tion with people in neighboring countries.

The Synod of Bishops and, especially, the vision of “synodality” is one of “the fruits of Vatican II,” she said, but they are also paths that can help the church and its members receive and experience some of the key in sights of the council.

Sister Becquart pointed particularly to how, with all the Catholic bishops of the entire world gathered in Rome in four sessions from 1962 to 1965, the council was the most concrete experience ever of the church being universal. And its focus on the church as “the peo ple of God” rather than primarily as an institution and its emphasis on the dignity and responsibility of all the baptized are being rediscovered in the synod process, she said.

And, she said, while the 16 documents approved by the council are essential reading, people should not for get that for the participants, the Second Vatican Council was “a human, spiritual and ecclesial experience.” The national reports indicate something similar was happen ing to many of the people participating in the local listen ing sessions, she said.

As the process continues, bumps in the road are ex pected, she said, because “it’s a new way to relate to each other, a new kind of communication and relationship dy namic in the church,” particularly between bishops and laity.

“It is, as we say, a work in progress.”

Pope Francis meets with leaders of the Synod of Bishops’ general secretariat in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Oct. 14, 2022. Pictured with the pontiff are Xavière Missionary Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecre tary; Bishop Luis Marín de San Martín, undersecretary; Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg, relator general; Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-gen eral and Jesuit Father Giacomo Costa, consultant. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Saltillo mission, upcoming jubilee, part I

(Editor’s note: This reflection is part one of a two-part series from Msgr. Michael Flannery on his trip to the Saltillo Mission this fall.)

By Msgr. Michael Flannery

SALTILLO, Mex. – Recently, I had the unique pleasure to be present for the celebration of the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel, on Sept. 29, the patron saint of our mission in Saltillo. I spent six days at the mission. The visit to San Miguel for me was a retreat. I had the opportunity to renew old acquaintances and to make new ones. I must say that the mission is thriving.

Father David Martinez the pastor, continues the good work begun by Father Patrick Quinn more than 50 years ago. The new associate pastor there is Father Antonio Medel Gonzalez. Father Elevio Casarubias who had been assisting Father David, was recently moved to another parish in Saltillo. However, he did make it to the festivities on the Feast of San Miguel.

Transitional Deacon Adam Frey, the Diocese of Biloxi, was present this summer for his diaconal internship and was a valuable member of the par ish staff for four months. He just returned to the seminary of Notre Dame, New Orleans in prepa ration for his priestly ordination which will take place in May 2023.

Presently, we are serving the following church es within the city of Saltillo: San Miguel, Christ the King, St. Juan Diego, the Holy Martyrs, St. Wil liam and Our Lady of Guadalupe. Added to these

churches the mission serves 34 mountain villages. The most remote village takes five hours of travel to reach. All the villages receive a visit at least once a month from the priests at San Miguel. Tuesday is the preferred day for the priests to take a rest from their busy schedule. This gets interrupted if there is a funeral to attend to or someone needing the last rites of the church.

San Miguel is situated in the colony of Vista Hermosa (the beautiful view). It is high up in the mountain and at night you have a beautiful view of the city of Saltillo below. The city of Saltillo is 5,000 feet above sea level. In 2015 the population was 807,000 and now it is estimated at being over 1,000,000. When the mission began in 1968 the population was estimated at being 200,000.

The headquarters of the mission was at Perpetual Help Church and in 1998 it was moved to San Miguel following the death of Father Patrick Quinn of happy memory. Msgr. Michael Thornton of the Diocese of Biloxi was named the first pastor of San Miguel. Following him came Father Bill Cullen, Father Richard Smith and Father Benjamin Piovan of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. With the shortage of priests in Biloxi and Jackson Dioceses, a decision was made to ask the Bishop of Saltillo to appoint a local priest to San Miguel. Both dioceses would continue financial support.

Big plans are underway to celebrate the silver jubilee of San Miguel in 2023. The first building at San Miguel was built by Father Quinn as a retreat center capable of housing 100 retreatants, complete with a chapel. It was built in honor of Father Patrick Quinn’s brother, Michael, a priest in Ireland who died of a brain tumor. The next building to be added was a church to serve the local community. The present church structure was built by Father Benjamin Piovan in 2009. All of this was pos sible through the generosity of the people of the Diocese of Biloxi and the Diocese of Jackson.

An ad hoc committee has been formed to plan the jubilee year celebrations in 2023. A huge candle with the symbol of the jubilee year engraved upon it, will burn for every celebration that will take place at San Miguel for the whole jubilee year. A representative from each of the other churches under the jurisdiction of San Miguel is on the committee to coordinate activities in the outlining churches. The priests who have ministered in the parish will be invited to the jubilee celebration as well as the Bishop of Saltillo, Bishop Joseph Kopacz and Bishop Louis Kihneman.

At every Mass, a special prayer for the jubilee year will be recited at the end of Mass. During Advent a special parish mission is planned, not only in San Miguel but also in the outline churches within its jurisdiction. The people of the 34 ranchos at tached to San Miguel will also be a part of the celebration. Some minor renovations are planned such as: putting a weather sealer on the church tower and painting the buildings.

(Read more in the next Mississippi Catholic on Nov. 11.)

SALTILLO, Mex. – Above, a street bears the name of Father Patrick Quinn, who served the mission in Saltillo for many years. Msgr. Michael Flannery traveled to the diocese mission in Saltillo at the end of September and wrote a reflection on the mission and the upcoming jubilee year celebration in 2023. Below is a poster for the jubilee year. (Photos by Msgr. Mike Flannery)

NATION

WASHINGTON (CNS) – Pope Francis has appointed Father John-Nhan Tran, a priest in the Archdiocese of New Orleans and pastor of Mary Queen of Peace in Man deville, Louisiana, as auxiliary bishop of Atlanta. Bishop-designate Tran, 56, was born in Vietnam and escaped with his family to the United States after the Vietnam War as a refugee when he was 9. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1992. His appointment was announced Oct. 25 in Washington by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Vatican nuncio to the United States. The bishop-designate attended Don Bosco College in New ton, New Jersey, and St. Joseph Seminary College in St. Benedict, Louisiana. He earned a master of divinity in theology from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. He has served at eight parishes in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

WASHINGTON (CNS) – Father Michael Pfleger, a popular Chicago priest and outspoken advocate against gun violence, gangs, poverty and racism, has stepped aside from his ministry after the Chicago Archdiocese said it received an allegation that the priest had sexually abused a minor more than 30 years ago. Chicago Cardinal Blase J. Cupich announced the decision in an Oct. 15 letter to Father Pfleger’s parishioners at the Faith Community of St. Sabina in Chicago. The 73-year-old priest has led the historically African American parish since 1981 and is currently its senior pastor. The priest strongly denied the accusation, which comes on the heels of a similar accusation against him in January 2021 where he also temporarily stepped aside from his minis try until an archdiocesan review found “insufficient reason” to suspect the priest was guilty of abuse allegations said to have taken place 40 years ago. Father Pfleger was reinstated at his parish in June of that year. In a current letter to parishioners, posted on the parish website, Father Pfleger said: “The process of the archdiocese today is that a priest is presumed guilty until proven innocent. Priests are vulnerable targets to anyone at any time. So once again, I have been removed from all public ministry while they investigate again.”

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (CNS) – The world still has not learned “the essential lesson” of the Cuban Missile Crisis that “the only way to eliminate the nuclear danger is through careful, universal, verifiable steps to eliminate nuclear weapons,” said Arch bishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico. “It is the very nature of these weapons that the possession of any nuclear weapons is an existential danger to all,” he said. “And Pope Francis has been explicitly clear that ‘the possessing of nuclear weapons is immoral.’” He renewed his call “for dialogue on the existential issue of eliminating nu clear weapons” and said New Mexico’s congressional delegation should help lead this dialogue,” given that the federal government spends billions in the state on weapons production while New Mexico “remains mired at the bottom of numerous socioeco nomic indicators.” Archbishop Wester made the comments in an Oct. 14 reflection on the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, “regarded as the closest that human ity has ever come to global nuclear annihilation,” he said. A month earlier, he took his summons to begin meaningful conversations to achieve full nuclear disarmament to the annual United Nations prayer service in New York. In August, he apologized for the atomic bombings of Japan in 1945 and to Indigenous New Mexicans, uranium miners and scientists suffering from ill health related to the nuclear weapons industry in the state.

VATICAN

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Completing a project to repatriate human remains held in the Vatican Museums’ ethnological collection, the Vatican and the government of Peru signed an agreement Oct. 17 to return to Peru three mummies sent to the Vatican in 1925. Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, and César Landa Arroyo, foreign minister of Peru, signed an agree ment Oct. 17 in the Vatican Museums for the return of the mummies. The three human remains are thought to be several centuries old, but their exact age will not be known until after thorough studies are conducted in Peru. They were found at an altitude of more than 9,800 feet in the Peruvian Andes along the Ucayali River. The mummies are assumed to be Incan. The mummies were part of the Vatican Museums’ Anima Mundi ethnological collection, which features thousands of pieces of Indigenous art and artifacts from around the world. The mummies, like many of the pieces of art and cultural artifacts from the peoples of Australia and Oceania, the Americas, Africa and Asia, were sent to the Vatican for the 1925 Holy Year opened by Pope Pius XI. The celebration included a major exposition on Catholic missionary activity around the world. With a conviction that human remains are not works of art or collectibles, in 2010 the Vatican Museums began a project to return human remains in its collection to their countries of origin. The first remains, a mummy from Ecuador, were returned in 2014. Three years later, the museums returned to Ecuador a tsantsa, a specially treated head used in ceremonies.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Reviewing one’s life is an essential step in discerning God’s call because it helps one see places where God was at work, even in small things, and also helps one recognize “toxic” thoughts of self-doubt, Pope Francis said. A daily review of one’s actions and feelings is not mainly about acknowledging one’s sins – “we sin a lot, don’t we,” the pope said. Instead, regularly reviewing the day edu cates one’s perspective and helps one recognize “the small miracles that the good God works for us every day.” At his weekly general audience Oct. 19 in St. Peter’s Square,

Pope Francis continued his series of audience talks explaining the key steps in spiritual discernment, focusing on how a daily practice of review and introspection trains a person how to look at the bigger picture of his or her life in order to discern God’s call. Learning to see that God was at work even in small things, “we notice other possible directions” that can be taken and that “strengthen our inner enthusiasm, peace and creativity,” the pope said. “Above all, it makes us freer from toxic stereotypes,” such as thinking, “I am worthless” or “I will never achieve anything worthwhile.”

WORLD

KOCHI, India (CNS) Laypeople in an archdiocese of India’s Syro-Malabar Catholic Church have begun a round-the-clock vigil to stop the Vatican-appointed administrator from gaining entry into the archbishop’s house. Lay leaders in the Ko chi-based Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese say Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, the apostolic administrator, unilaterally revoked the dispensation that had allowed priests to celebrate Mass facing the people, reported ucanews.com. The protesting groups want to continue with the traditional Mass in which the priest faces the congregation throughout, despite a rule that took effect in 2021. Under that rule, devised as a com promise, the Syro-Malabar synod ruled that the priest “will face the congregation until the eucharistic prayer, and then again from Communion to the end of the Mass. From eucharistic prayers until Communion, the priest will face the altar.” The vigil at the Kochi residence was launched Oct. 16, and teams of laypeople from different parishes were assigned to ensure a 24-hour watch, ucanews.com reported. “We no longer want the apostolic administrator to get inside our archbishop’s house,” Riju Kanjookaran, spokesman for the Archdiocesan Movement for Transparency, told ucanews.com Oct. 17.

LVIV, UKRAINE (CNS) – After Ukrainian women were released in a prisoner swap with Russia, the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church said their stories “sim ply break the heart, make the blood run cold in your veins. This war will go down in history as one in which Russia uses sexual violence as a weapon against Ukraine,” said Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych. On Oct. 17, more than 100 Ukrainian women were released from Russian captivity. Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, said it was the first female-only exchange, and he called it “especially emotional and truly special. Mothers and daughters, whose relatives were waiting for them, were held captive,” Yermak said. On Oct. 18, Archbishop Shevchuk thanked God that the women were able to return to their families. “Let us wrap these women together today with our attention, love and prayer, and warm them up with our national warmth,” he said.

NAIROBI, Kenya (CNS) – Eritrean authorities are continuing to detain Catholic Bishop Fikremariam Hagos Tsalim of Segheneity, who was arrested at the Asmara International Airport Oct. 15. After the Catholic Church queried about the situation and his whereabouts, government authorities confirmed the bishop, who turns 52 Oct. 23, is in their custody. Bishop Tsalim was picked up soon after returning from a trip to Europe, but as of Oct. 18, government author ities had not given any reasons for his detention. Fides, news agency of the Pontifical Mission Soci eties, said Bishop Tsalim and two other priests were being held at Adi Abeto prison. “We have received this ominous news (of the arrest) with immense pain and bewilderment at what is happening in our coun try,” Father Mussie Zerai, a Catholic priest of Eritre an origin who works with migrants, told Catholic News Service. “Our hope (is) that all priests and the bishop currently in custo dy will be released as soon as possible.” On Oct. 11, security agents arrested Father Mihratab Stefanos, the priest in charge of St. Michael’s Catholic Church in the diocese. Another Catholic priest, identified as Capuchin Abbot Abra ham, was detained in the western town of Teseney.

Remembering Bishop Latino

FROM THE ARCHIVES

By Mary WoodWard

JACKSON – This past Friday, Oct. 21, would have been the 85th birthday of Bishop Joseph Nunzio Latino of happy memory. +Joseph Nunzio was born in 1937; ordained in 1963; became a monsignor in 1983; and ordained a bishop in 2003.

+Joseph Nunzio was a second generation American whose four grandparents emi grated to New Orleans from a small town on the central plains of Sicily known as Con tessa Entellina. In New Orleans, most Sicilian heritage citizens come from Contessa.

Contessa is part of the Eparchy of Piana degli Al banesi, which serves the descendants of the Albanians who came to Sicily in the 1500s after holding off the Ottoman’s. The pope gave them five towns in Sicily. Al banians are Roman Rite and Byzantine Rite Catholics. +Joseph Nunzio’s father was Roman Rite, hence the name Latino; his mother’s family was Byzantine Rite (Italo-Alba nesi). He had a cousin who was a Byzantine Rite priest named Pa pas Mateo Sciambra, who taught music in the seminary in Palermo.

In 2012, +Joseph Nunzio was finally able to visit his ancestral home and meet many Sciambra cousins in Contessa. New Orleans descendants formed the Contessa Entellina Society to cele brate their proud heritage. To our knowledge, +Joseph Nunzio was the only man to receive the Society’s Man-of-the-Year Award twice.

Since this week’s paper is a digital edition only, I thought I would share some images of him that give a small glimpse into his life of ser vice to the Lord as a priest, bishop and faithful servant. There are far too many to share...

From the top, left to right to bottom: Bishops Latino and Houck look out over Sfer racavallo during 2012 visit Latino’s ancestral homeland of Sicily; Chris Luke and Bishop Latino at his 80th birthday celebration at the chancery on Oct. 21, 2017; first Solemn Blessing concluding his first Mass on May 26, 1963; Father George, Bishop Latino, Bishops William Houck and Sotir Ferrara, during a visit to Italy in 2012.(Photos courtesy of archives)

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

‘Walking with Moms in Need’ helps expectant, new moms ‘where they’re at’

bringing the mother and baby home to Christ and a community of support,” she said.

There are training sessions for volunteers. Each mother is assigned a companion to accompany them on the stressful trek of applying to state agen cies who provide nutrition and housing assistance.

Among the worries, “formula is a big one,” Ketcherside said. Other help includes finding ac cess to parenting classes and vouchers for Section 8 subsidized housing.

mom and where they’re coming from. You can’t make assumptions.”

Another common element, Malone has found, is “fear. They’re all in a position where they’re fearful they can’t raise the child that they’re pregnant with. It is going to be a heck of a lot better to know that the mother will have their baby and we will protect them.”

“They’re overwhelmed,” Ketcherside agreed. “They don’t know where to go.”

In July, pro-life leaders in Baltimore for the U.S. Con ference of Catholic Bishops’ Diocesan Pro-Life Leader ship Conference noted that supporting women in choos ing life is a top priority for them especially in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision June 24.

The ruling overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 rul ing that legalized abortion nationwide, and returned the abortion issue to the states.

By Dennis saDowski

WASHINGTON (CNS) – Dioceses and parish volun teers who have embraced the “Walking with Moms in Need” initiative are still in the early stages of assessing its effectiveness.

Statistics – counting the numbers who have been helped – are an inconclusive means of measuring how well the initiative is working. But anecdotes so far give an encouraging picture.

This initiative of the U.S. bishops aims to connect pregnant women and their families with parishes and to a growing network of resources with the help of volun teers.

The rollout of the program was slowed because it was launched March 25, 2020, just as the pandemic began to take hold, but it is underway.

“It’s not an abortion alternative,” Cindy Ketcherside, a coordinator at St. Theresa Parish in Phoenix, observed in an interview with Catholic News Service. She calls the women “abortion vulnerable,” but “what we’ve found are more working moms who already have children.”

Seldom do the women have to be dissuaded from an abortion. By the time “Walking with Moms in Need” is involved, that decision usually has already been made not to have an abortion.

Promoting the initiative is typically as simple as post ers on parish bulletin boards and brochures. But those in need, going by anecdotal evidence, come to the program from all directions, and even through private conversa tions following Mass.

The common thread in the parish-level stories: There’s no such thing as a stereotype of the women who are helped.

Kathleen Wilson, coordinator of Respect Life for the Archdiocese of Detroit, likes to tell the story of the single mother with triplets. Forced to move back in with her mother because of the financial strain, she turned to the initiative for clothing, medical and nutrition needs.

“It shows you that we’re accompanying them even in very challenging circumstances.”

Another was a 17-year-old girl. Wilson praised the parish’s “lack of (harsh) judgment” so it was able to “em brace these young parents. There’s been this continua tion of supporting this young life as a parish family.” The key question to ask, she said, is “How do we meet that person where they are?”

Parishes are encouraged to find the skills within their ranks, and Wilson knows of one that including a lacta tion specialist who was happy to add her expertise.

Megan Morris, director of the Life Center of Santa Ana, California, calls that loving the mother “where she’s at.”

“Our hope is not only saving the unborn baby, but

Sometimes the contact starts with a phone call, said Denise Malone, the Respect Life coordinator at St. Rose Philippine Duchesne Parish in Anthem, Arizona.

“I heard from a grandmother. Her very young daugh ter had had a baby out of wedlock. So the mom and the baby were living with the grandparents,” Malone told CNS.

And the request was a little different from food, shel ter and clothing. “They wanted the mother to financially support the child. They asked for help in finding at-home day care. Money wasn’t an issue. And they wanted the mom to enroll in classes. So that was successful.”

The key to training volunteers: “Active listening is a really, really big thing, and being able to understand the

Since Dobbs, interest in “Walking with Moms in Need” seems to have increased somewhat. For example, in the 10 days following the ruling, the Archdiocese of Detroit’s “Walking with Moms in Need” webpage received nearly 1,600 unique page views.

In 2021, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said the initiative “directly confronts the false, yet popular, narrative that the Catholic Church merely condemns abortion, without providing the re sources or support women need in raising their children.”

(Editors: More about “Walking with Moms in Need” can be found online at walkingwithmoms.com.)

Parish celebrates parishioner’s 90th birthday

By Carol evans

PAULDING – Members of St. Michael’s Church in Paulding recently attended the 90th birthday of Ann Caraway.

As a child she lived in Heidelberg, attended grade school in Paulding and graduated from Heidelberg High School. She has been a lifelong member of St. Michael’s Church receiving both her First Commu nion and Confirmation there. After high school she moved to Meridian and worked for a trucking compa ny walking to work three miles every day.

In 1955 she married Herman Blackwell, member of the Army Corp of Engineers, and moved to Selma, Alabama. She was there when Martin Luther King walked his famous route.

After her husband died she remarried in 1971 to Willy Grey Caraway and moved to Laurel, where she now resides. Between them she raised eight children. Greg Caraway (Barbara) lives in Houston, Angie San defur (Ron), Denny Caraway (Connie), Linda Glaze (Bobby), Lisa Seymore (David), Janet Barlow (Carey), Brenda Glenn (Roger) and Kenny Caraway. She had four brothers and two sisters.

Her living brothers, Hugh and Ray Bergin and sister, Therese Grant were present at the celebration along with her children, numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren. It is not often we are able to cel ebrate the life and dedication to living as a Catholic in our church so “Happy Birthday” Mrs. Ann and “God Bless you” from your St. Michael’s family.

‘Can’t not do it,’ says Sister Prejean of her fight to end death penalty

and to pray for him at his execution, Sister Helen agreed. But really, nothing could have prepared her for what she witnessed.

“What I saw set my soul on fire, a fire that burns in me still,” she wrote in her memoir, “River of Fire.”

After leaving the prison, in the middle of the night, she said she threw up in the parking lot. But from that day forward, she knew that she had to do something about what she had seen.

As she put it: “Our faith awakens and we speak.”

“I knew very few people were going to get this opportunity ever to be in (the execution chamber). I’m the witness,” she said, adding that she began to speak with whoever would listen.

to reform.”

His 1995 encyclical, “Evangelium Vitae” (The Gos pel of Life”), the pope spoke against the death penalty but he included the caveat that it could be used if abso lutely necessary to defend society. Sister Helen said that phrase made her heart drop because she knew those words would be used by anyone who wanted to sentence someone to death.

She likened St. John Paul’s discussion of the death penalty to taking the issue to the net, then Pope Fran cis pushed it over the net in 2018. That was when he announced the revision of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to include a description of the death penalty as “an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person” and saying it was inadmissible in all cases.

There’s no doubt Sister Helen was pretty happy that day. But by no means did she just take a break afterward.

By Carol Zimmermann

WASHINGTON (CNS) – Sister Helen Prejean, a Sis ter of St. Joseph, shows no signs of slowing down in her long-standing fight to end the death penalty.

At 83, she is writing her fourth book while directing her advocacy organization, Ministry Against the Death Penalty, in New Orleans.

She spends a fair amount of time on the road as she continues to give talks, especially on college campuses, about the injustices she sees with capital punishment. She also continues to minister to both death-row inmates and murder victims’ families.

She has accompanied six men to their executions.

When asked by Catholic News Service in a Sept. 30 interview where she gets her energy, her responses all revolved around the work she does.

For starters, she said she is energized by those she ministers to on death row – currently a Louisiana in mate in his 60s, Manuel Ortiz. The Salvadoran has been on death row for close to 30 years and continues to claim innocence for the sentence he received for hiring someone to murder his wife. Sister Helen said Ortiz is a prayerful man with a great devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

“How does he get up every morning in that cell 30 years now? How does anybody do that?” Sister Helen asked. She said she comes away more enlivened from every visit with him and is also overwhelmed by what he goes through – “knowing you’re innocent, knowing the lies they told about you in trial.”

His case, along with the 690 people currently on death row in this country, remind her “we’ve got our work cut out for us,” she said in her understated way. Her Louisiana drawl almost belies the urgency of the work she sees ahead.

Her passion for both the innocent and the guilty on death row – who all have God-given dignity, she points out – has been her driving force ever since she wit nessed her first execution in 1984: the electrocution of Patrick Sonnier, a 34-year-man found guilty of killing two teenagers.

Sister Helen first came to know Sonnier as a pen pal, when she volunteered to write to someone on death row. From that correspondence she later became Sonnier’s spiritual adviser.

She has often referred to her decision to write to someone on death row as a move of “Sneaky Jesus,” say ing Jesus sneaks up and draws you into doing something that seems small but in the end becomes life changing.

Because Sonnier wanted Sister Helen to be with him

At first, she encountered a lot of crit icism with people shouting things at her like: “What do you know? What’s your authority? The Catholic Church upholds a right of the state to take life!”

She didn’t back down though.

“You just stay in there because you know what your eyes have seen, you know what your heart has felt you know what the Gospel of Jesus says about loving your enemy and forgiving.”

So she has stayed in there, and continues to do so, for nearly four decades. Starting with parish talks and then moving on to writing “Dead Man Walking” and speaking to St. John Paul II and Pope Francis about death penalty wrongs.

“Have to do it. Can’t not do it,” she said of her per sonal crusade.

The woman religious who grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, entered the convent at 18 and spent years teaching in Catholic schools, has not held back in re counting details of what she has seen in state prisons in prisoners’ final moments.

In 1997, she told St. John Paul that she has walked behind a man on his way to be executed, with legs shack led, hands cuffed to a belt and surrounded by guards who whispered to her: “Please pray as I make this walk that God holds up my legs.”

“Where is the dignity in taking a human being and rendering them com pletely defenseless and killing them?” she said she asked the pope. “How do we respect the invio lable dignity even of the guilty? Can you help our church? Can you help us?”

And he did help, she said, in a 1999 visit to St. Louis where he described the death penalty as both cruel and un necessary and said: “Modern society has the means of pro tecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance

She knows there is still plenty of support in the U.S. for capital punishment, even as some states are abolish ing it, and that Catholics are not much different from the general public in their death penalty views.

A 2021 poll by Pew Research shows that 60% of U.S. adults favor the death penalty for people convict ed of murder, including 27% who strongly favor it. It also showed Catholics falling into that same bracket with 58% of them generally supportive of capital punishment, with 27% strongly favoring it.

When asked how to reach people in the pews, Sister Helen said they need to learn about the death penalty in Catholic schools and parish adult education program.

She says she is hardly alone in her advocacy but part of a broader movement. She likens it to “a pot that be gins to boil and these little bubbles start at the bottom and they start rising up. Well, I was one of those little bubbles.”

And even now, the work doesn’t get old for her.

“There’s a great life when you feel you’re fulfilling your purpose,” she said, adding that she is glad to be awake to today’s social injustices even though she said it took 40 years to happen.

“It’s a great grace to be awake and then to be en gaged in soul-sized stuff,” she said. “Bring it on.”

(Follow Zimmermann on Twitter: @carolmaczim)

Sister Helen Prejean, a Sister of St. Joseph, is seen at the Vatican in this 2016 file photo. She has worked in prison ministry and against the death penalty for decades. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Sister Helen Prejean, a Sister of St. Joseph, who is a longtime opponent of capital punishment, speaks to an audience the Vatican Embassy in Washington Oct. 10, 2019. The embassy hosted the 10th anniversary celebration of the Catholic Mobi lizing Network, a group that works to end the death penalty. (CNS photo/Jim Stipe, Catholic Mobilizing Network)

The seasons of ordinary time

ON ORDINARY TIMES

By luCia a. SileCChia

Recently, I enjoyed one of my favorite rites of au tumn – the search for perfect pumpkins for home, office, and anywhere else that might be brightened with glori ous gourds. In a long drive through quaint corners of the countryside, I relished the splendor that is autumn.

Yes, the pumpkins were the excuse for the journey. But the trip was made more beautiful by the showy splash of autumn surrounding the corn fields gone gray and the farmhouses hung with Halloween wreaths. There was enough of a crisp chill to announce that sum mer was gone. Yet, the bright sun that bounced off the red, orange and gold in the trees heralded a new season with a loveliness all its own. I rejoiced in the simple beau ty of a world made new.

It will not be long until I marvel again when I awak en to the first snow that dusts my city streets. The silent brightness of that blanket, the sound of my neighbors’ shovels that beckons me out of bed, and the hot choco late I promise myself when I am back inside are all part of a new type of wonder. (I would rather ignore the icy sidewalks and high heating bill that will follow!) In this, I will rejoice again in the simple beauty of a world made new.

Just when the snowy season starts to lose its charms, there will be shy crocuses rising tentatively from the earth, faint traces of green in lawns coming back to life and trees getting ready to burst forth in the lacy splen

dor of spring. As the days lengthen and the sun grows brighter, I will rejoice again in the simple beauty of a world made new.

While I might, in the fullness of May, doubt that I would ever want to bid farewell to spring, a day will come when the days last long into the night, tomatoes ripen on the vine, and the beach beckons. Summer will hold joys of its own, and yet again I will rejoice in the simple beauty of a world made new.

I am deeply grateful to live in a corner of the world where seasons change around me and every few months life feels different.

Yet, it is not just in the world around us when seasons change. Life, too, has its own seasons.

Some of the people I admire most are those who have the faith and hope that allows them to welcome each new season of life with the same joy I have when I welcome the new seasons of the world around me.

Some seasons of life are filled with excitement and eager anticipation as the start of the adventures of a new school, new job, new home, marriage and parent hood. Some of those that are most important are those we do not remember well, like the transition from in fant to toddler. Some are filled with angst – the so-called terrible twos and the terrible teens – and others with peace. Some seasons change of our own volition when we choose a new path. Other seasons come unwelcomed and unbeckoned.

Some are seasons of dreams fulfilled, and others are seasons when a dream moves out of view. There are

seasons of suffering and loss that come to each life, and seasons to surrender the things to which we cling. There are seasons that are filled with companionship and those when, for a time, we find ourselves walk ing alone.

In the depth of our hearts, there are those seasons when we walk closely with God, and other seasons with the taste of the “dark night of the soul.”

As years pass and I look back at the ways in which life’s seasons have changed, I can see that there is, indeed, something to be grateful for in each of them. At the time, some have seemed to me far more beautiful than others. Yet, in their own way, each season of life made my own heart new – whether I wanted it to or not.

I hope that as I watch autumn unfold and winter fol lows, it will be a reminder to cherish each season of life – to thank God for the blessings it brings, to ask Him for strength through what it may take away, and say a trust ing “Amen” to every season of ordinary times.

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

Jesus is in the chapel – Really!

GUEST COLUMN

By SiSter ConStanCe Veit, lSp

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by magnets. I loved to watch the little magnetic skaters glide across a mirror in our family’s Christmas village at the flip of a switch and I enjoyed doing science experiments with magnets and iron shavings in school.

I recall a comparison Pope St. John Paul II made between the Eucharist and the force of a magnet’s pole.

“The presence of Jesus in the tabernacle must be a kind of magnetic pole attracting an ever greater number of souls enamored of him, ready to wait patiently to hear his voice and, as it were, to sense the beating of his heart,” he wrote just six months before he died.

These words of John Paul II came to mind when I heard about the National Eucha ristic Revival launched by the U.S. bishops earlier this year. It is a beautiful, powerful image – the idea of Jesus acting as a magnet drawing people to himself in the Blessed Sacrament.

I have begun to ask myself, do I allow myself to be drawn to Jesus in the taberna cle? Do I cling to him the way iron shavings cling to a strong magnet? Or do I allow myself to be pulled away too easily by distractions and my lack of love?

The Eucharistic Revival will help us to renew our appreciation for many aspects of Jesus’ ultimate gift to us, beginning with the centrality of the Mass as the representation of Jesus’ saving sacrifice on the Cross.

But it seems to me that when all is said and done, our devotion to the Eucharist will be proportionate to our faith in what we call “the real presence” – our unwavering conviction that Jesus is really and truly present on the altar during every eucharistic sacrifice and in every tabernacle around the world.

Our foundress, St. Jeanne Jugan, was not a highly educated woman but she was a person of profound faith and committed action.

She often told the young Sisters to remember the presence of Jesus in the tabernacle, in the poor and in their own souls. And she gave them this very practical advice:

“Jesus is waiting for you in the chapel. Go and find him when your strength and patience are giving out, when you feel lonely

and helpless. Say to him: ‘You know well what is happening, my dear Jesus. I have only you. Come to my aid ...’ And then go your way. And don’t worry about knowing how you are going to manage. It is enough to have told our good Lord. He has an excellent memory.”

Jeanne Jugan didn’t have an easy life.

As a young person and then the foundress of a religious congregation, she worked hard and shared everything she had with the poor.

Although she chosen to be superior by the young women who joined her and she even achieved a measure of public notoriety, she was treated unjustly by a priest who had been appointed to assist the nascent religious community and stripped of all au thority in it, until, 27 years later, she died in total anonymity.

But Jeanne Jugan possessed something no one could take from her – a very real, strong and intimate relationship with Jesus, whom she knew was always waiting for her “in the chapel.” Jesus Christ was real to her – more real than anyone or anything else.

No doubt St. Jeanne Jugan often told Jesus everything that was happening in her life, in both good times and bad.

Pope Francis recently spoke to seniors about how they should pray. I think his words would resonate with our foundress.

The pope said, “If you have some wound in your heart, some pain, and you want to object, object even to God. God will listen to you. God is a Father. God is not afraid of our prayer of protest, no! God understands. ... Prayer should be like this: spontaneous, like that of a child with his father, who says everything that comes out of his mouth because he knows his father understands him.”

I believe that St. Jeanne Jugan was like a child with her father. She shared with him from the depths of her heart because she knew that God heard and understood her.

May her example, and the words of Pope Francis, convince you that it’s okay to be honest with Jesus, truly present and waiting for us in every chapel or parish church!

Sister Constance Veit is the communications director for the Little Sisters of the Poor in the United States and an occupational therapist.

Around the diocese

LELAND – Family traditions con tinue at St. James parish. Grow ing up at St. James, the adults were all home for a family wed ding and took the opportunity to have their children baptized at their “Home” Church. Children pictured: Infant – Luca Vincent Santucci, Cooper Doyle Santuc ci, Twins – Joseph Able San tucci and John Phillip Santucci. (Photo by Santucci Family)

JACKSON – St. Richard hosted its 41st an nual Special Kids Golf Tournament at Deer field Country Club. All proceeds raised at this event support the school’s exceptional edu cation programs. (Photo by Tammy Conrad)

COLUMBUS – Annunciation first graders dissect flowers during their unit on plants and their parts. (Photo by Logan Waggoner)

VICKSBURG – St. Aloysius Senior, Ally Dorion, was se lected as the 2022 Homecoming Queen. Ally looks with excitement at her Father, Phillip Dorion, as her name was announced. (Photo by Lindsey Bradley)

JACKSON – St. Richard PreK-3 students were treated to a visit from the Jackson Fire Department. Students got to try on the fire men’s gear, use the hose and sit behind the wheel of a real fire engine! (Photo by Tammy Conrad)

Homecoming queen

MADISON – St. Joseph seventh graders work on their lab project: Physical Properties of Matter. (Photo by Tricia Harris)

VICKSBURG – (left) Vicksburg Catholic School alum ni gathered for food, friends, family and football be fore the annual Homecoming Game. (Photo by Lind sey Bradley)

MADISON – (above) Terry Cassreino’s comunnica tion/broadcasting class at St. Joseph School are pic tured in action. (Photo by Tereza Ma)

Youth life around the diocese

COLUMBUS – Annunciation third grade teacher, Mrs. Hubbard, assists Aidan Hinton with his project. (Photo by Logan Waggoner)

MADISON – Students at St. Francis celebrated the many cultures of their parish as they processed into Mass, cele brating the feast day of the parish's patron – St. Francis. (Photo by Sallieann Inman)

CLARKSDALE – St. Elizabeth School held a Blue Mass honoring those in Uni form in the Clarksdale community. (Photo by Rachel Patterson)

With Roe overturned, march will focus on Congress, laws to end abortion

WASHINGTON (CNS) – The U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade "is, without question, an answer to prayer," but in a post-Roe world, "Catholics must now work together for another, even deeper paradigm shift," said the U.S. bishops' pro-life chairman.

"We must move beyond a paradigm shift in the law in order to help the people of our nation better see who we can be as a nation by truly understanding what we owe to one another as members of the same human family," said Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Pro-life Activities.

"To build a world in which all are welcome," he said, Catholics "must heed" the words of St. Teresa of Kolkata "and remember 'that we belong to one another.'"

"We must shift the paradigm to what St. John Paul II described as 'radical solidarity,' making the good of others our own good, including especially mothers, babies – born and preborn – and families throughout the entire human lifespan," Archbish op Lori said.

He made the remarks in a Sept. 21 statement for the U.S. Catholic Church's observance of Re spect Life Month, which is October. The theme of the observance is "Called to Serve Moms in Need."

The first Sunday of October is designated as Respect Life Sunday, which is Oct. 2 this year.

In their June 24 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, a majority of the jus tices ended the court's nearly 50-year nationwide "regime of abortion on demand," the archbishop said.

This "regime" was "based on the indefensible view that the U.S. Constitution implicitly forbids government from protecting the preborn child in the womb from the violence of abortion," he said.

The court "concluded that there is nothing in the Constitution's text, history, American legal tra dition or the court's precedents that justified the extreme holding of Roe," he said.

Dobbs was a challenge to a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks. The court affirmed the law 6-3 and also voted 5-4 to overturn the 1973 Roe ruling, which legalized abortion nationwide, and 1992's Casey

v. Planned Parenthood ruling, which affirmed Roe.

The ruling returned the issue of abortion to the states.

With Dobbs, the high court "cleared the way for a paradigm shift in American law, allowing it to enlarge its boundaries to again welcome a segment of the human family that had been outside of its protections for close to half a century," he added.

He called Dobbs "a victory for justice, the rule of law and self-governance."

vulnerability is a summons to all of us, but especially Catholics because of the teaching of Jesus and his procla mation of the Gospel of life," the archbishop said.

To practice "radical solidarity and unconditional love in a post-Roe world," he said, means speaking and liv ing the truth" with compassion – the truth that abortion not only "unjustly kills a preborn child, but also grave ly wounds women, men, families and the nation as a whole."

"But for those of us who have prayed for this moment to arrive, it is the time for a renewal and rededication of our efforts to build a culture of life and civilization of love," he said. "Justice is, of course, essential to this end. But it is not sufficient.

"To build a world in which all are welcome requires not only justice, but compassion, healing, and above all, unconditional love."

"Abortion is a gruesome sign of how we have forgotten our mutual belonging," Arch bishop Lori continued. "The logic of Roe v. Wade has framed our national discourse on the issue of abortion as a zero-sum conflict among individual strangers."

But "mother and child are not strangers; they are already bound together by flesh and kinship," he said. "The new life that is developing under the heart of the mother is already situated in a network of relations, including family, neighbors and fellow citi zens."

Through law, policy, politics and culture, society must do whatever it can to provide mothers, children and families in need "with the care and support neces sary for their flourishing throughout the entire arc of life's journey," he said.

"Building a world in which women are esteemed, children are loved and protected, and men are called to their responsibilities as fathers, requires us to understand and address the complex and tragic tangle of affliction and strife that culminates in the violence of abortion," Archbishop Lori said. "This is a massive and daunting undertaking."

"Catholics already have a strong foundation in the church's centuries-long encouragement of parental and societal duties," he said. "Millions of individual Catholics from all walks of life are already personally endeavoring to build the bonds of solidarity and compassion through out our society."

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Roe's logic "offers the woman only the right to see lethal force used against her child, but it otherwise abandons her," he ex plained.

But "the logic of the culture of life recog nizes that the pregnant woman and her child are not alone – they are fellow members of our larger human family whose interwoven

Many also are engaged in parish and community ini tiatives such as pregnancy resource centers, post-abor tion counseling, he said, as well as Walking with Moms in Need, an initiative of the U.S. bishops to connect preg nant women and their families with parishes and to a growing network of resources.

(Editor's Note: The full text of Archbishop Lori's state ment and Respect Life Month materials from the USCCB's Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities can be found online at https://www.respectlife.org/respect-life-month.)

Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, concludes the annual March for Life rally in Washington alongside other supporters Jan. 21, 2022. (CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn)