VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Catholics need to recover a sense of awe and adoration before the Eucharist, knowing that it is “the real and loving presence of the Lord,” Pope Francis told members of the committees organizing the National Eucharistic Revival and the National Eucharistic Congress in the United States.

Jesus spoke of himself as “the living bread which came down from heaven, the true bread that gives life to the world,” the pope told the group June 19, just three days after leaving the hospital following abdominal surgery.

Parishioners of Saint Michael Parish in Canton hold a Eucharistic Procession on the Feast of Corpus Christi.

“This morning, while I was celebrating the Eucharist, I thought about this a lot because it is what gives us life,” the pope said. “Indeed, the Eucharist is God’s response to the deepest hunger of the human heart, the hunger for authentic life because in the Eucharist Christ himself is truly in our midst to nourish, console and sustain us on our journey.”

Pope Francis walked into the library using his cane instead of a wheelchair. And although he sat when he read his prepared text — and added spontaneous comments — he stood to bless the four-foot-tall monstrance, paten and chalice that will be used during the eucharistic congress in Indianapolis July 17-21, 2024.

The group was led by Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, chair of the U.S. bishops’ advisory group for the National Eucharistic Revival, a multi-year process aimed at renewing and strengthening faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and chair of the board of directors planning the eucharistic congress.

Bishop Cozzens told Catholic News Service it was “an incredible privilege” to meet the pope and experience “his love, his passion for the Eucharist and for the work that we’re about.”

Pope Francis told the group that, unfortunately, today many Catholics “believe that the Eucharist is more a symbol than the reality of the Lord’s presence and love.”

But, he said, “it is more than a symbol; it is the real and loving presence of the Lord.”

“It is my hope, then, that the eucharistic congress will inspire Catholics throughout the country to discover anew the sense of wonder and awe at the Lord’s great gift of himself,” he said, “and to spend time with him in the celebration of the holy Mass and in personal prayer and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.”

Parishioners of Saint Ann Parish in Williamsport hold a Eucharistic Procession on the streets of Lycoming County following the 10 a.m. Mass on Sunday, June 11, 2023.

Pope Francis lamented that many people “have lost the sense of adoration. We need to regain the sense of adoring in silence, adoration. It is a prayer we have lost; few people know what this is, and you bishops need to catechize the faithful on the prayer of adoration,” he said, looking at Bishop Cozzens and Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, who also accompanied the group.

The pope insisted on the link between celebrating Mass, eucharistic adoration and sharing the Gospel with others.

“In the Eucharist, we encounter the one who gave everything for us, who sacrificed himself in order to give us life, who loved us to the end,” he said. “We become credible witnesses to the joy and transforming beautify of the Gospel only when we recognize that the love we celebrate in this sacrament cannot be kept to ourselves but demands to be shared with all.”

“This is the sense of mission: You go, you celebrate Mass, you take Communion, you go to adoration — and afterward?” he asked. “Afterward you go out, you go out and evangelize; Jesus makes us this way.”

“The Eucharist impels us to a strong and committed love of neighbor,” he insisted. “For we cannot truly understand or live the meaning of the Eucharist if our hearts are closed to our brothers and sisters, especially those who are poor, suffering, weary or may have gone astray in life.”

Speaking off the cuff, the pope said those who believe in the Eucharist must reach out to and visit “the elderly, who are the wisdom of a people, and the sick, who take the form of the suffering Jesus.”

Pope Francis prayed that the National Eucharistic Congress would “bear fruit in guiding men and women throughout your nation to the Lord who, by his presence among us, rekindles hope and renews life.”

In an interview with CNS following the papal audience, Bishop Cozzens said the ongoing process of the Synod of Bishops on synodality and the eucharistic revival are related since, in the listening sessions for the synod, many Catholics expressed concern about a lack of belief in the real presence and about declining Mass attendance.

“We’re probably at an all-time low in the United States in terms of the percentage of Catholics who are actually going to Mass every Sunday,” he said, which is “a huge concern that came forward in the synod process.”

The listening sessions also pleaded with the bishops to work for the unity of the church in the country and draw everyone together around the sacrament of unity, and communion is the best way to do that, he said. “So, I would argue that the synodal process helped us build the whole thing.”

“The Eucharist is the source of our life in the church,” the bishop said. “It’s the beating heart of the church where we receive the life of Christ as the body of Christ.”

ORLANDO, Fla. (OSV News) – Meeting in Orlando for their spring assembly, the U.S. bishops moved ahead on some efforts to advance the church’s mission in the U.S., including new pastoral initiatives aimed at activating Catholics as missionary disciples. The gathering’s June 15-16 plenary sessions proved relatively smooth, but featured moments of vigorous discussion at a few points, particularly around the formation of priests.

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services gave his first address as U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops president presiding over the bishops’ plenary assembly. He covered a variety of issues of concern to Catholics, such as the need for Congress to pass a comprehensive immigration reform and for an end to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Bishop William A. Wack of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Fla., and other prelates listen to a speaker June 16, 2023, during the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ spring plenary assembly in Orlando, Fla. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)

“We cannot fail to see the face of Christ in all of those who need our assistance, especially the poor and the vulnerable,” he said.

The papal nuncio to the U.S., Archbishop Christophe Pierre, made his case to the U.S. bishops June 15 that synodality, oriented to Jesus Christ as their “true north,” unleashes missionary activity.

“The purpose of walking this synodal path is to make our evangelization more effective in the context of the precise challenges that we face today,” Archbishop Pierre said in his address at the U.S. bishops’ spring plenary assembly in Orlando.

The archbishop also singled out Auxiliary Bishop David G. O’Connell of Los Angeles, who was shot to death earlier this year, as “a model of synodal service, combined with Eucharistic charity.”

The U.S. Catholic bishops gathered voiced their approval for the advancement of a cause to canonize five missionary priests from Brittany, France, known as the “Shreveport martyrs.”

“They demonstrated heroic charity during the third worst pandemic in U.S. history,” said Bishop Francis I. Malone of Shreveport, noting they were all young men who voluntarily sacrificed their own lives to journey with the dying and bring the Eucharist to the faithful.

In their message to Pope Francis, the bishops also strongly condemned an execution that the state of Florida carried out June 15 in the evening following their meeting.

Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, updated the bishops on the progress of the 2023-2024 global Synod on Synodality. Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, presented on the National Eucharistic Revival, and outlined how the “small group initiative” in the parish year could help deepen people’s relationship to Christ in the Eucharist.

“We all know how much our church needs to move from maintenance to mission … this is really the heart of what we’re attempting to do,” he said.

Most votes taking place had near unanimous approval, such as the agenda items related to retranslating the Liturgy of the Hours into English, including having the future edition include some prayer texts in Latin.

The bishops approved the National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Latino Ministry with 167 in favor and 2 against and 2 abstentions. The 62-page plan seeks to respond to the needs of about 30 million Hispanic/Latino Catholics in the U.S. and strengthen Hispanic/Latino ministries at the national, local and parish level.

Ahead of the vote, Bishop Oscar Cantú of San Jose, California, chairman of the bishops’ Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs, told OSV News there was a great need to “get moving so that (the new pastoral plan) can be implemented in our dioceses and parishes.”

A day before the vote took place, Detroit Auxiliary Bishop J. Arturo Cepeda, who chairs the USCCB’s Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church, called the plan a sign of the times that recognizes Hispanic/Latino Catholics — who account for more than 40% of U.S. Catholics — as “missionaries among us” that can reinvigorate the life of the church.

The most contentious discussion took place regarding the proposed second edition of the “Basic Plan for the Ongoing Formation of Priests.” Some bishops took to the floor to object they had not had time to read the document, or that it was so lengthy priests would likely not read it and dismiss its contents.

Other bishops expressed concern that the discussion on “spiritual fatherhood” needed to be fleshed out, expressing concern that otherwise it could fuel the “narcissistic tendencies” and “hubris” of some priests.

Bishop Steven R. Biegler of Cheyenne, Wyoming, said he appreciated the document’s beautiful description of the Christian relationship to God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “What I find lacking is that communal relationship to the Body of Christ … that puts us in solidarity with one another as brother and sister,” he said.

However, other bishops pushed back against delaying the document, noting the hard work that went into developing it, and that the document was meant to be a guide adapted to the realities of local churches.

Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt, ordained as a priest for the Servants of the Eucharist and Mary, who is an auxiliary for the Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut, said the term “spiritual fatherhood” is “actually a term that is more familiar and clear for those who are younger in the priesthood.”

Ultimately, the bishops approved the formation document with 144 voting in favor, 24 against, and 8 abstentions.

The discussion and vote on priorities for the 2025-28 USCCB strategic plan were put on hold so that the bishops could reflect upon and, presumably, include some of the discussion from the synod conversations.

In a voice vote, the bishops approved beginning the process of consultation and revision of ethical directives for Catholic health care facilities to guide them in caring for people suffering from gender dysphoria and who identify as transgender.

Bishop Flores said potential changes would be “limited and very focused” in nature, and involve extensive consultation. He praised the calls from bishops on the floor for a “pastorally sensitive” approach to the complex topic.

The U.S. bishops also voiced approval for the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth to move ahead on drafting a new pastoral statement for persons with disabilities.

“We do believe a new statement is needed to address disability concerns in the 21st century,” Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, the committee’s chair, told the bishops June 16. The intended statement aims to emphasize the giftedness of persons with disabilities, eliminate outdated forms of referring to persons with disabilities, and would be inclusive of persons who have mental illnesses.

During the discussion, Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley of Boston joined Bishop John T. Folda of Fargo, North Dakota, in noting the importance of Catholics being allied with the disability community against assisted suicide, and the cardinal asked for more attention to support parents of children with autism.

The bishops also heard an update on the upcoming World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, and were encouraged to have their own stateside events for youth and young adults “to form them as missionary disciples.”

Finally, just before the bishops concluded their assembly, Bishop Earl A. Boyea of Lansing, Michigan, chair of the bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, discussed The Catholic Project’s 2022 study of 10,000 Catholic religious and diocesan priests that found most priests distrust their bishops with only 24% saying they had confidence in bishops in general.

Bishop Boyea encouraged the bishops to help priests “feel kinship and fraternity with us” through better personal communication, such as recognizing important moments in their lives, and better lines of communicating information to them.

“This is not the completion, but a beginning, to heal our relationship,” he said of the report.

At the conclusion of their assembly, recognizing it was the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the bishops prayed together the Litany of the Sacred Heart, invoking Jesus’ heart repeatedly to “have mercy on us.”

(OSV News) — The U.S. bishops approved a new National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministry to multiply pastoral responses addressing the realities of close to 30 million Hispanic Catholics in the U.S.

On June 16, with 167 supporting votes out of 171, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops resoundingly approved a comprehensive plan aimed at responding to the needs of Hispanic/Latino Catholics in the U.S. and strengthening Hispanic/Latino ministries across the country at the national, local and parish level. The last time the U.S. bishops put forth such a plan was in 1987.

With a recent Pew Research Center analysis showing that 43% of Hispanic/Latino adults self-identify as Catholic in 2022, down from 67% in 2010 — and that the number of Latino Catholics drops to 30% for those ages 18-29 — the urgency to provide pastoral care for Hispanic Catholics is a high priority.

File photo of worshippers reciting the Lord’s Prayer during a Mass celebrated in honor of the 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church Dec. 9 in San Diego. The church was first founded to serve the recently arrived Mexican population in San Diego and has since then become a cornerstone of the local Latino Catholic community. On June 16, 2023, the U.S. Bishops approved a national pastoral plan to address pastoral needs of Hispanic/Latino Catholics in the United States. (CNS photo/David Maung)



Ahead of the vote, Bishop Oscar Cantú of San Jose, California, chairman of the bishops’ Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs, told OSV News that there was a great need to “get moving so that (the new pastoral plan) can be implemented in our dioceses and parishes.”

The plan has been in the works since the four-year the Fifth National Encuentro of Hispanic/Latino Ministry (V Encuentro) process that culminated with a national gathering in Grapevine, Texas, in 2018, though its advancement suffered a setback during the COVID-19 pandemic. It directly responds to the pastoral priorities and recommendations generated through the V Encuentro process.

The priorities listed in the plan include formation, accompaniment of families, immigration and advocacy, care for those on the peripheries, the promotion of vocations, and the need to engage with youth and young adults.

The pastoral plan calls on “pastoral leaders ‘to exercise their prophetic role without fear’ and to develop or promote specific pastoral responses to the issues that pervade their local communities, while also inviting the faithful to promote the common good on the national and global levels.” It also recognizes the unique ways Hispanic Catholics engage in their faith.

“For Hispanic/Latino ministry, evangelization also requires a deep appreciation for the gift of the living popular piety in our communities, a spirituality understood as mística, referring to ‘the motivations, profound values, traditions, prayer, music, art and methodologies that give life to a process of the people, create experiences of faith, and generate a spirituality that incentivizes faith and ministry,” said the document.

The document offers a renewed vision and mission for ministry among Latinos in the context of a culturally diverse Church and recommends the comprehensive response of the U.S. Catholic bishops through specific objectives and activities to be implemented over the next 10 years, Detroit Auxiliary Bishop J. Arturo Cepeda, who chairs the USCCB’s Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church, said June 15, a day before the vote took place.

This “living document,” he said, is a sign of the times that recognizes Hispanic/Latino Catholics as “missionaries among us” that can reinvigorate the life of the church.

The pastoral plan encourages coordination between diocesan staff dedicated to serving the Hispanic/Latino community and other offices to prevent a “siloing effect,” noting that specific pastoral needs may vary from diocese to diocese. A key component of effective outreach at the diocesan level is to encourage vocations.

“The number of Hispanic priests and religious in the United States is not proportional to the number of Hispanic Catholics in the United States,” Bishop Cantú told OSV News. “There are social, economic and even legal reasons for that — and cultural ones. There’s a real need and desire to … create a culture of vocations among the Hispanic communities.”

Hispanics account for more than 40% of U.S. Catholics, yet media reports indicate that of the 37,300 U.S.-based priests, only 3,000 of them are Hispanic/Latino and of these, 2,000 are foreign-born. One of the plan’s added amendments mentioned at the spring assembly was to include the need to pray for vocations, particularly to the priesthood and religious life, in Eucharistic adoration and other forms of prayer.

In response to a comment during the presentation of the plan, in which a bishop mentioned the recent Pew analysis and the steady decline of Latino adults who self-identify as Catholics, Bishop Cantú acknowledged “the need for evangelization in the Hispanic community and simply pastoral care.”

“It has been five years since the national Encuentro in Grapevine. The community is waiting for this document,” Bishop Cantú said.

He added that many of the goals of this plan are already being implemented throughout the country and that the plan “will provide impetus and some guidance for our dioceses and our parishes for further development of activity.”

Recognizing the reality that many young Hispanics in the U.S. may be English-dominant, the pastoral plan also called for an active engagement with youth and young adults in both English and Spanish.

“Hispanic/Latino young people are a great treasure to the Church — as both recipients and protagonists of accompaniment and pastoral care — and they are uniquely situated as bridge builders among cultures, languages, generations and ecclesial experiences,” the plan said. “Our faith communities need to be a privileged place for welcoming, engaging, forming, and accompanying Hispanic/Latino young people through a variety of youth and young adult groups, ministries and initiatives (both in English and in Spanish) that empower them to be young missionary disciples in the context of their culturally diverse communities.”

Included in this outreach to young people should be an effort by Catholic schools to enroll and graduate Hispanic students. Bishop Cantú noted that in Latin America, many Catholic schools are seen as elitist, which could prevent Hispanic families from considering Catholic education.

Recalling his own parents who struggled with English when he was a child, the bishop argued for the importance of having people available to welcome Spanish-speaking families in schools.

“To have someone at the front office who can receive them and welcome them in their own language, that’s not unreasonable,” he said. “A lot of it is to dispel the impression that Catholic schools are elitist, that they are only for the upper-middle class or the rich. They are accessible, scholarships are available.”

Another pastoral priority is for the church to be a prophetic voice advocating for those affected by immigration.

“The work of missionary disciples is urgently needed amid the inhumane and immoral treatment of asylum seekers, families and unaccompanied minors, particularly at the U.S. southern border,” the plan said. “The Church’s long-standing support for immigration reform is not merely a humanitarian gesture or a struggle to achieve a justice-unfulfilled. Rather, our support signifies our efforts to accompany communities that too often remain at the margins and demonstrates our solidarity with them.”

The pastoral plan also received input from consultations related to the Synod on Young People of 2018 and the ongoing Synod on Synodality. The Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs worked on the document during three years of consultation with diocesan and national leaders and with 12 USCCB committees.

Bishop Cepeda said the document “exhorts all dioceses, parishes, and other Catholic organizations and institutions to generate their own pastoral responses in light of the pastoral priorities, recommendations, and guidelines articulated in the plan.”

“It seeks to engage and form a new generation of Hispanic Latino leaders, both lay and ordained, who are interculturally competent and ready to serve the entire church and society in the United States of America,” he said.

The document called for initiatives of the plan to be implemented at the local level ahead of the 500th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe coming in 2031 and 2,000 years after Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, coming in 2033.

“In a unique way, Hispanics/Latinos find God in the arms of Mary, the Mother of God, where they experience her goodness, compassion, protection, inspiration and example, particularly under the advocation of Our Lady of Guadalupe,” the plan said. “We need this same missionary spirit to continue creating a culture of encounter and to animate our pastoral ministries over the next ten years, helping us journey together as joyful missionary disciples going forth in solidarity and mercy.”

ROME (OSV News) – Pope Francis is one of the strongest advocates championing those forced to flee their homelands due to conflict, persecution and other adversities as he repeatedly urges “to welcome, to protect, to promote and to integrate” refugees and migrants, so they can live in peace and dignity.

The practical aspects of this call are carried out by the Holy See’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, created in 2016.

Halime Adam Moussa, a Sudanese refugee who is seeking refuge in Chad for a second time, waits with other refugees to receive a food portion from World Food Programme (WFP), near the border between Sudan and Chad in Koufroun, Chad, May 9, 2023. (OSV News photo/Zohra Bensemra, Reuters)

“We assist those who care for migrants, refugees and victims of human trafficking as well as the internally displaced and climate displaced,” Scalabrinian Father Fabio Baggio told OSV News regarding the many local churches, pastors, parish priests, bishops, and Catholic organizations and individuals the dicastery helps as it provides pastoral and practical care to the most vulnerable worldwide.

The dicastery asks a simple question of “how can we assist those in making their pastoral care effective, adequate to the real challenges posed,” said Father Baggio, who is the dicastery’s undersecretary for refugee, migrant and human trafficking concerns.

Father Baggio is a priest of the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo, commonly known as the Scalabrinian Fathers, founded in 1887 with a particular mission to aid migrants and refugees. The congregation works in 33 countries.

“As a missionary, residing in several countries and being exposed to different realities changed my life and my way of seeing and understanding my problems compared with the problems of many brothers and sisters who are just trying to survive, to ensure the minimum necessary for themselves and their families,” the Italian priest explained.

“This kind of openness can be understood by Christians and Catholics to see others as brothers and sisters, who are, unfortunately, victims of different situations. And we have to rescue and save them exactly as a lost brother with everything we can give,” he said, underscoring the papal call.

“On the other hand, I can say that this provides us with the picture of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew 25, where he says: ‘I was naked, I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was a foreigner,’” he continued. “Pope Francis recalls this many times and asks: ‘Is it really Jesus Christ who is knocking on my door?’ It’s an invitation to help those in need.”

“In the past year, we have been collecting all the information available from all around the world and reflecting on this scientifically and theologically. We have also developed manuals (pastoral orientations) for the local Churches aimed at providing clear criteria on how to shape the action and programs to help migrants, refugees, internally displaced people and victims of human trafficking,” Father Baggio said, commenting on the dicastery’s work.

“As soon as we started, we immediately had to face the massive migrations flows from Syria and Venezuela,” Father Baggio added.

In the case of Syrian refugees, the dicastery coordinated closely with several Catholic relief organizations, particularly with Caritas Internationalis and International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC), working in Jordan and Lebanon, where millions of Syrian refugees fled. It also assisted the bishop’ conferences of South American countries to develop programs to accompany Venezuelan migrants and refugees seeking safety, especially along the routes to Chile and Argentina.

Catholics in Canada, the United States and Australia have sought advice from the dicastery on how to engage in sponsorship programs for refugees. The dicastery also has assisted Catholic organizations aiding refugees and migrants, such as Caritas Italy and the Rome-based Sant’Egidio Community, in organizing humanitarian corridors for the most vulnerable.

Most recently, various Catholic organizations, including Caritas Internationalis, ICMC and the Jesuit Refugee Service, approached the dicastery to create joint action and resource sharing to address the crisis in Ukraine, aiding those displaced inside the war-ravaged country and the millions of refugees outside.

As a fruit of these dialogues, the Catholic Response for Ukraine was established. “It is a very good model that has been developed, which can also be replicated for new humanitarian crises,” Father Baggio said.

The organizations are involved in advocacy on behalf of the vulnerable, providing them with humanitarian assistance and pastoral care as well as spiritual formation, especially for the youth. Giving accurate and updated information to the media also is key.

Father Baggio emphasizes that social assistance and humanitarian aid are provided by the Catholic Church to all migrants and refugees, without distinction of nationality and religion.

“This is the expression of the spirituality of giving. It’s providing aid in the name of Jesus Christ. It is not out of philanthropy. It’s part of the mission of the church,” he said.

“Pope Francis has repeatedly urged the Catholic Church to be like a hospital just going out into the field and healing people,” he said. “Pope Francis is asking us to build bridges and overcome barriers. It is important to leave our comfort zone and reach out to others. I would like to encourage all those who have the possibility to go and see and touch directly the human tragedies that are just around the corner.”

Father Baggio and other humanitarians are calling for a global governance to aid those people who are on the move, whether due to conflict, climate or economics. The sudden eruption of war in Sudan, where many have already been displaced is yet another incident pointing to the need for global governance, he said.

“It is a crisis, and it challenges us today. And we should expect more migrants, more displaced people in the forthcoming years. We need to be prepared. We cannot always be on an emergency footing,” Father Baggio said.

“It’s also a question of long-sided programs that should be enacted today in line with the global governance which comes as a must from everyone’s commitment to care for the common home and the common family.”

ROME (CNS) – Pope Francis has returned to the Vatican after a nine-day hospital stay and intends to go ahead with his planned trips abroad in August and September, according to his chief surgeon.

“The pope is fine. He’s better than before,” said Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the chief surgeon who operated on the pope June 7 to repair a hernia; he also operated on the pope in 2021.

Pope Francis smiles and waves to people as he leaves Rome’s Gemelli hospital early June 16, 2023, nine days after undergoing abdominal surgery. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

“The pope has confirmed all his trips,” the doctor told reporters outside Rome’s Gemelli hospital June 16, right after the pope was released. The pope was scheduled to attend World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug. 2-6, and to go to Mongolia Aug. 31-Sept. 4.

“As a matter of fact,” Alfieri said, according to Vatican News, “he will be able to embark on them better than before because now he will no longer have the discomfort of his previous ailments. He will be a stronger pope.”

When asked about the pope’s “convalescence” to fully heal from abdominal surgery, Alfieri said, “he doesn’t convalesce; he has already started working.”

“We asked him to do some convalescence (and) this time I’m sure he will listen to us a little bit more because he has important events ahead of him and he has already said personally that he will go through with all of them, including his trips,” Alfieri said.

When the pope emerged from the hospital in a wheelchair the morning of June 16, he greeted well-wishers and journalists who asked him how he was. “I’m still alive,” he said, smiling.

He also expressed his sorrow for the recent deaths of migrants who drowned crossing the Mediterranean Sea near Greece.

He was accompanied to an awaiting white Fiat car by his aides and Alfieri, and then, with the front passenger-side window open, waved to others lining the road as he left.

Before returning to the Vatican, he stopped to pray at the icon of Mary, “Salus Populi Romani,” in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, a stop he makes before and after every trip abroad and a stop he also made in July 2021 after undergoing colon surgery at the Gemelli.

Then the pope “stopped for a brief private visit to the sisters of the Institute of the Most Holy Child Mary, gathered for their general chapter,” the Vatican press office said. The pope also greeted police outside one of the side entrances into the Vatican to “thank them for their service.”

The Vatican press office said the pope’s Angelus address and prayer with visitors in St. Peter’s Square June 18 was confirmed as well as individual audiences in the coming days.

His general audience June 21 was canceled, however, “to safeguard the Holy Father’s postoperative recovery,” it said in a communique June 16.

Pope Francis underwent a three-hour surgery to repair a hernia June 7. The procedure, under general anesthesia, was performed using a surgical mesh to strengthen the repair and prevent the recurrence of a hernia. Surgeons also removed several adhesions or bands of scar tissue that had formed after previous surgeries decades ago, Alfieri told reporters after the operation.

Alfieri had explained that the pope’s immediate recovery required avoiding undue stress or strain so as not to tear the prosthetic mesh used to reinforce the abdominal wall.

The pope had spent seven days in the hospital in July 2021 after undergoing colon surgery to treat diverticulitis, inflammation of bulges in the intestine. He was also hospitalized for three nights for a respiratory infection in late March.

SCRANTON – The Cathedral of Saint Peter will be the setting on Saturday, June 24, 2023, as Reverend Mr. Michael J. Boris is ordained to the Order of the Priesthood for service in the Diocese of Scranton.

The Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, will serve as ordaining prelate for the Mass that will be celebrated at 10 a.m.

The public is welcome and encouraged to attend the Ordination Mass.

CTV: Catholic Television of the Diocese of Scranton will broadcast the Mass live and provide livestreaming on the Diocese of Scranton’s website, YouTube channel and social media platforms.

Boris, a native of Dallas, was ordained a transitional deacon in 2022 and is now ready to take his final steps toward priestly ordination.

“I’m very excited, a little nervous, of course, but that is natural,” Boris said. “I feel a lot of peace about my discernment and all of the great work that the Diocese has done for me.”

Boris, 27, is the son of Joseph and Susan Boris. He is a graduate of Holy Redeemer High School and King’s College where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theology and Philosophy. Boris entered Saint Mary’s Seminary and University in the fall of 2018 and completed his studies this May.

“Saint Mary’s is a wonderful place. They helped me to pray and discern what God is calling me to do,” Boris explained.

During his priestly formation, Boris served a summer assignment in 2019 in the parish communities of Holy Cross Parish, Olyphant, and Blessed Sacrament Parish, Throop. He also served a pastoral year (2020-2021) in the parish communities of Saint Rose of Lima Parish and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, both in Carbondale.

Boris said he never seriously considered the priesthood until he was a senior in high school and Father Don Williams, Vocations Director for the Diocese of Scranton at the time, met with potential candidates recommended by teachers. Following that conversation, Boris began attending more discernment events, followed by a retreat and he ultimately made the decision to enter seminary.

As he prepares for this next step in his Christian journey, Boris has been thinking back to what one of his seminary professors said shortly before the end of classes.

“He said a lot of things are going to happen in the next few weeks and months, you’ll be ordained and it will be easy to get lost in the hustle and bustle,” Boris said. “But he said don’t forget the amazing gift and power of the priesthood and that you’re being ordained to serve Christ and His Church.”

Boris adds he is thankful to all those who have supported him on this journey.

“Thank you for your prayers and support over the years,” he explained.

ROME (CNS) – Pope Francis was scheduled to be released from Rome’s Gemelli hospital June 16 after having abdominal surgery June 7, the Vatican press office said.

His blood tests have been normal, and his recovery has continued smoothly, Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, told reporters June 15. “The health care team that is following Pope Francis confirmed the Holy Father’s discharge” from the hospital was planned for the morning of June 16, he said in a written communique.

Pope Francis visits children, their parents and staff members of the pediatric oncology and neurosurgery ward located on the same floor as his room in Rome’s Gemelli hospital June 15, 2023. The Vatican said the pope was expected to be released from the hospital the next day. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

The pope spent part of June 15 visiting children in the pediatric oncology and neurosurgery ward located on the same floor as the private suite of rooms set aside for the pope.

He greeted the young patients, who were among those who had sent him letters, drawings and gifts wishing him a speedy recovery, and he gave each of them a rosary and book, Bruni wrote.

Pope Francis witnessed first-hand “the pain of these children, who carry, together with their mothers and fathers, the suffering of the cross on their shoulders every day,” Bruni wrote.

The pope thanked the staff “for their professionalism and efforts to alleviate others’ suffering with tenderness and humanity as well as medication.”

Earlier in the day, he met with and thanked the medical staff and personnel involved with his surgery June 7 and met with hospital administrators, Bruni said.

The evening before, he added, the pope had dinner with “those who have been assisting him since the day of his hospitalization.”

Pope Francis underwent a three-hour surgery to repair a hernia June 7. The procedure, under general anesthesia, was performed using a surgical mesh to strengthen the repair and prevent the recurrence of a hernia. Surgeons also removed several adhesions or bands of scar tissue that had formed after previous surgeries decades ago, according to Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the chief surgeon operating on the pope.

Vatican News reported that the pope’s audiences have been canceled until June 18 as a “precaution.”

(OSV News) – Two archbishops and a cardinal are calling on Catholics in the U.S. to pray and make reparations to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as a professional sports team plans to honor a group parodying women religious.

A statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is seen in the Cathedral of St. Peter in Wilmington, Del., May 27, 2021. (CNS photo/Chaz Muth)

“We call on Catholics to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart on June 16 (Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus), offering this prayer as an act of reparation for the blasphemies against our Lord we see in our culture today,” said Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB); Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee for Religious Liberty; and Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles in a joint statement issued June 12.

The three noted that this year’s solemnity coincides with a Los Angeles Dodgers’ “Pride Night” game at which that city’s branch of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will be feted.

According to the group’s website, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence use “humor and irreverent wit,” often sexual in nature, “to promulgate universal joy and expiate stigmatic guilt.” Members don drag-style makeup, religious habits and names such as “Sister Jezabelle” and “Pope Dementia the Last.” The decentralized organization, founded in 1979 in San Francisco, counts an estimated 1,000 members globally, members of the Los Angeles chapter told OSV News.

The Dodgers’ invitation had been briefly withdrawn after protests, but was reinstated with a public apology to the group from the team. The team’s follow-up decision to host a July 30 Christian Faith and Family Day drew criticism from several Catholic leaders, including Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota — previously an auxiliary bishop for the Los Angeles Archdiocese — who said in a May 26 tweet the move was “not enough.”

In their statement, Archbishops Broglio and Gomez and Cardinal Dolan said the Dodgers had “shockingly chosen to honor a group whose lewdness and vulgarity in mocking our Lord, His Mother and consecrated women cannot be overstated.”

“This is not just offensive and painful to Christians everywhere; it is blasphemy,” they said.

However, the LA Sisters maintain they have been unfairly characterized. In an email to OSV News, Sister Dominia — who heads the Los Angeles branch of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence as “a gay Catholic who went to Catholic school” and “loves and respects Catholic nuns” — said that community is “not mocking nuns or Catholics,” and that “most events detailed in the media that have shown offense were done by other, independent Sister houses, and we cannot speak for them.”

“We are devoted to charity work and we raise much needed funds for local nonprofit charities,” said Sister Dominia.

In an email to OSV News, a member who goes by the name Sister Unity claimed “a number” of the LA Sisters “are practicing Catholics.”

The bishops and cardinal said in their June 12 statement that “it has been heartening to see so many faithful Catholics and others of good will stand up to say that what this group does is wrong, and it is wrong to honor them.”

June is traditionally recognized by Catholics as “the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus,” a time during which “we call to mind Christ’s love for us, which is visible in a special way in the image of His pierced heart,” they said. “We pray that our own hearts might be conformed to His, calling us to love and respect all His people.”

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which traces its origins to the writings of medieval mystics, became popular after St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a 17th-century French Visitandine nun, disclosed to her confessor a series of private revelations she had received from Jesus Christ.

In the visions, Christ told her he wished his heart to be revered with reparation for sin, frequent reception of holy Communion and Eucharistic adoration. In 1856, Pope Pius IX added the solemnity, celebrated on the third Friday after Pentecost, to the church’s liturgical calendar.

SCRANTON – This past weekend, the Church celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi – a day that calls each of us to reflect upon the gift of God given to us in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.

It also marked the beginning of the second year of the National Eucharistic Revival, a year focused on parish renewal, which is expected to increase the Eucharist’s visibility in many communities through Eucharistic processions.

Parishioners of Saint Gregory Parish in Clarks Green take Christ to the streets of Lackawanna County during a Eucharistic Procession on Sunday, June 11, 2023.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, celebrated an Opening Mass for the Parish Phase of the National Eucharistic Revival at the Cathedral of Saint Peter on Sunday, June 11, 2023.

“We have been given the opportunity to contemplate and proclaim with a deeper resolve the doctrine of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, a belief that has sustained countless numbers of Catholic Christians for two millennia,” Bishop Bambera said during his homily.

Recalling the words of Saint Augustine, the Bishop urged the faithful to “Become the mystery you celebrate.”

Bishop Bambera urged the faithful to not only “receive Christ” but to “become Christ” for one another.

The faithful of Saint Ann Basilica Parish in West Scranton hold a Eucharistic Procession on the grounds of the Monastery on Saturday, June 10, 2023.

“Become Christ for your husband or your wife. Become Christ for your mother, your father, your son or daughter. Become Christ for your neighbor and for the stranger,” Bishop Bambera said. “Become Christ for the unborn child. Become Christ for the hungry and poor. Become Christ for those whom we have relegated to the margins of our world because of our own self-righteousness. Become Christ for the immigrant. Become Christ for the forgotten. Become the Christ whom you adore and whom you worship.”

Following Communion, the faithful attending Mass participated in a Eucharistic Procession that left the Cathedral and proceeded down Wyoming Avenue to the steps of the Cathedral rectory where Eucharistic Benediction took place.

Just before the Eucharistic Blessing, Bishop Bambera prayed, “Lord our God, in this great sacrament we come into the presence of Jesus Christ, your Son, born of the Virgin Mary and crucified for our salvation. May we who declare our faith in this fountain of love and mercy drink from it the water of everlasting life.”

During the Eucharistic procession and Benediction, several people driving along Wyoming Avenue or walking on the sidewalk took notice of what was taking place outside the Cathedral.

“Processions have been a very public witness and display of faith,” Joel Stepanek, the National Eucharistic Revival’s chief mission officer, said.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL’S SECOND YEAR

Launched as an initiative of the U.S. Catholic bishops in June 2022, the National Eucharistic Revival is a three-year movement that aims to deepen Catholics’ love for Jesus through encountering him in the Eucharist. The revival’s second year leads up to a National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis.

Parishioners of Saint Ann Parish in Williamsport hold a Eucharistic Procession on the streets of Lycoming County following the 10 a.m. Mass on Sunday, June 11, 2023.

The revival’s first year was titled “The Year of Diocesan Revival,” and efforts focused on formation for diocesan leadership and diocesan-wide events. The revival’s second year, “The Year of Parish Revival,” aims to reach Catholics in their parishes through renewed attention to the “art” of the Mass, Eucharistic devotions, and small-group faith sharing and formation.

Eucharistic processions put together by parishes will also take place in the coming year.

Processions have been visible signs of the National Eucharistic Revival, organizers say, with dioceses introducing new events or expanding long-standing ones.

Among them was a two-hour Eucharistic procession in New York City, which on Pentecost May 28 brought more than 4,000 Catholics to Times Square and ended with Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

“Processions are a really unique opportunity for neighbors, for people who maybe don’t know anything about the faith to say, ‘Wow, what’s going on? Who is that passing by?’” David Spesia, executive director of the Committee for Evangelization and Catechesis at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said.

Eucharistic processions also will be a key part of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, four routes pilgrims will travel with the Eucharist across the United States culminating in Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress, July 17-21, 2024.

Organizers expect the Congress to draw 80,000 people.

More than 100 parishioners and liturgical ministers from Saint Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Pocono Pines held a Eucharistic Procession on the streets of Monroe County on Sunday, June 11, 2023.

In contrast to the magnitude of the national event, revival organizers are encouraging parishes to organize small groups for formation and faith sharing, and are preparing online study resources to aid them.

While organizers expect “getting people back into the pews” to be a “fruit” of the revival, “the goal is really this encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist, and to understand that, when he promised he was with us always, the most unique and precious way that happens is with the gift of the Eucharist and the celebration of the Mass,” Spesia said.

Devotions and acts of popular piety such as Eucharistic processions and Eucharistic adoration do not compete with the Mass, but rather continue its celebration, he added.

“We all know that the celebration of the Sunday Mass is the key experience of the church, worshipping the Father, with the Son, through the Holy Spirit,” he said.

“Those devotions – that time of adoration – is the continuation of that celebration, that presence that comes from the sacrifice of the Mass. The Eucharistic processions flow from the Mass, and they’re designed to lead people back to the Sunday liturgy.”

SCRANTON – Less than one year after making a pastoral visit to the Diocese of Sunyani in Ghana, the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, is planning to return to the African nation.

This time, the trip came about simply by coincidence.

“It was not my expectation that I would be traveling back to Ghana in 12 months from my original trip there last August,” Bishop Bambera said. “As providence would have it, the Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogue, which I’m very fortunate to co-chair, is being hosted this year by the Pentecostals. This year, the Pentecostals are inviting us to Accra, the capital of Ghana.”

Bishop Bambera, left, visits a church under construction in Tain, Ghana, on Aug. 16, 2022, as part of a pastoral visit to the Diocese of Sunyani. Bishop Bambera will be returning to Ghana this July.

The primary goal of the International Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogue is to foster mutual respect and understanding between the Catholic Church and Classical Pentecostal leaders and churches in light of the prayer of Jesus that all may be one (Jn 17:21). Last year, the Dialogue, which was celebrating its 50th anniversary, was hosted by the Catholics in Rome.

Because Bishop Bambera will already be in Ghana to participate in the International Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogue from July 13-19, 2023, the Bishop of the Diocese of Sunyani has invited him to return to their diocese one week earlier (July 5-12) for a very special reason.

“When it was made known to the priests of the Diocese of Sunyani that the Dialogue would take place in Ghana, their bishop, Bishop Matthew, asked me if I would honor them by celebrating the Ordination Rite for 14 men who are being ordained to the priesthood for their 50th anniversary year as a diocese,” Bishop Bambera explained.

Bishop Bambera said it was an honor to be asked to celebrate the Ordination Mass.
“I’m happily returning to Ghana both for ecumenical work and also to once again connect with the Diocese of Sunyani that has been so generous in providing for the needs of our people here in the United States,” Bishop Bambera said.

When Bishop Bambera last visited Ghana, Aug. 10-19, 2022, he celebrated the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary with more than 15,000 people, while also visiting a seminary, schools, parishes and health care facilities.

On that trip, Father Gerald Shantillo and Father Brian J.T. Clarke joined him, but this time, two seminarians from the Diocese of Scranton will accompany Bishop Bambera.

“On many occasions, the Bishop of Sunyani, Bishop Matthew, invited me to send seminarians over just to experience their country and the background from which many of the priests who are serving in our land come from,” he said. “I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to invite our seminarians.”

Thomas Dzwonczyk and Andrew McCarroll have agreed to accompany the Bishop to Ghana.

“I’m really thrilled to be able to have them, not only to travel with, but more importantly to experience the Diocese of Sunyani and the African people,” Bishop Bambera noted. “I will be with them half the time. I will leave Sunyani after about a week and then travel to Accra for the Dialogue and while I’m in Accra, the seminarians will be hosted by the priests of Sunyani and the Bishop as well.”