Category: 2023 News

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Coming from different parts of the world and having different experiences and talents, members of the College of Cardinals are called to create a “symphony,” listening to one another and to the Holy Spirit, Pope Francis said.

Creating 21 new cardinals from 16 nations Sept. 30, the pope used the biblical story of Pentecost to remind the prelates of the roots of their faith, and he invoked the image of a symphony to emphasize their call to be both faithful and creative.

On a warm autumn morning, with shrubs and flowers decorating the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis held his ninth consistory to create new cardinals. The Vatican said 12,000 people attended the ceremony.

Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, the 68-year-old Chicago-born prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, was the only U.S. prelate to receive his red hat at the consistory. He was joined by French Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the 77-year-old nuncio to the United States.

Cardinal Luis Pascual Dri, a 96-year-old Capuchin friar from Argentina, was made a cardinal when the pope proclaimed his name at the consistory, but he did not travel to Rome to receive his red hat because of his health.

With the consistory, the College of Cardinals has 242 members from 91 nations, according to Vatican statistics; 137 of the cardinals are under the age of 80 and eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope. The so-called “cardinal electors” come from 71 countries.

Italy — with 49 cardinals, of whom 14 are electors — continues to dominate the cardinal counts. The United States is second; according to the Vatican, there are 17 U.S. cardinals, including 11 electors. The total would be 18 when counting Italian-born Cardinal Silvano Tomasi, a former Vatican official, who is a U.S. citizen.

At the beginning of the ceremony, Cardinal Prevost thanked Pope Francis on behalf of the new cardinals, noting how the consistory was taking place just before the opening of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops on synodality.

“The church is fully such only when it truly listens, when it walks as the new people of God in its wonderful diversity, rediscovering continually her own baptismal call to contribute to the spread of the Gospel and the kingdom of God,” he said. “The beauty of the universality of the church that will be manifested in the unfolding of the synod will be a very important sign, which will be able to speak of the mission that all of us baptized have received, in communion with the successor of Peter and in the profession of the same faith.”

Before receiving their red hats, their cardinal’s rings and the names of their titular churches in Rome — an assignment that makes them formally members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome — the new cardinals made a profession of faith, reciting the Creed in Latin, and made an oath of fidelity to Pope Francis and his successors.

Cardinal Prevost, a former superior general of the Augustinian religious order, was given the Church of St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine.

In his homily at the consistory, a prayer service that lasted just over an hour, Pope Francis drew the prelates’ attention to the Pentecost story in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles and particularly to its listing of those who heard the apostles, each in their own language although they were “Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia.”

“Normally we pastors, when we read the account of Pentecost, identify ourselves with the apostles,” the pope said. But if the cardinals recognize themselves as members of the crowd, he added, they would “rediscover with amazement the gift of having received the Gospel” in their own languages and would give thanks for having been evangelized among their own people, often by their mothers or grandmothers.

“Indeed, we are evangelizers to the extent we cherish in our hearts the wonder and gratitude of having been evangelized, even of (still) being evangelized, because this is really a gift always present, that must be continually renewed in our memories and in faith,” the pope told them.

In humility, and with that diversity, he said, “the College of Cardinals is called to resemble a symphony orchestra, representing the harmony and synodality of the church.”

Pope Francis said he referred to “synodality” not only because the synod assembly was set to open Oct. 4, “but also because it seems to me that the metaphor of the orchestra can well illuminate the synodal character of the church,” which relies on each member making a contribution, occasionally as a soloist, but usually in harmony with others.

“Mutual listening is essential,” he said. “Each musician must listen to the others. If one listens only to himself, however sublime his sound may be, it will not benefit the symphony; and the same would be the case if one section of the orchestra did not listen to the others, but played as if it were alone, as if it were the whole.”

“In addition,” the pope said, “the conductor of the orchestra is at the service of this kind of miracle that is each performance of a symphony. He has to listen more than anyone else, and at the same time his job is to help each person and the whole orchestra develop the greatest creative fidelity: fidelity to the work being performed, but also creative, able to give a soul to the score, to make it resonate in the here and now in a unique way.”

“We have the Holy Spirit as our master: the interior master of each one of us and the master of walking together,” Pope Francis said. “He creates variety and unity; he is harmony itself.”

SCRANTON – The Diocese of Scranton’s annual Red Mass will be celebrated on Friday, Oct. 6, at 12:10 p.m. at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Scranton.

The Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, will be the principal celebrant and homilist.

Historically, the Red Mass is attended by judges, lawyers and legislators for the purpose of invoking God’s blessing and guidance in the administration of justice. Its traditional name is derived from the color of vestments worn by the celebrants of the Mass, symbolizing the tongues of fire, which indicate the presence of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, the robes of the attending royal judges were, in ancient days, bright scarlet.

The public is invited to the Red Mass to pray for those in the legal profession. Members of the county bar associations from across the 11-county Diocese and the Diocesan Tribunal staff are also invited to participate.

Catholic Television of the Diocese of Scranton will broadcast the Red Mass live and a livestream will be available on the Diocese of Scranton website and social media platforms. The Mass will also be rebroadcast at 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Oct. 6.

HAZLETON – Hundreds of people are expected to participate in a large Eucharistic Procession throughout the streets of South Hazleton on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023, as part of a three-day celebration at Annunciation Parish in honor of Saint Gabriel, patron of the parish church.

Following the 11 a.m. bilingual Mass at Saint Gabriel Church, 122 South Wyoming Street, members of both the English and Spanish-speaking communities will come together to begin the procession outside of the church at approximately 12:15-12:30 p.m.

Those participating in the procession will walk for approximately a half mile, ending with Solemn Benediction back on the steps of the historic Saint Gabriel Church, recently rejuvenated through the great generosity of many benefactors and parishioners.

“The Eucharist is the source and summit of our Catholic faith. We believe it is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ,” Father Kevin Miller, pastor, Annunciation Parish, said. “We are looking to bring awareness to the Eucharist, to the importance of it and how sacred it is in the church.”

The procession is being held as the Catholic Church in the United States has entered its second phase of the U.S. Bishops’ National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative by the prelates to inspire belief in the Eucharist following a 2019 Pew Research study that suggested only about one-third of U.S. Catholics believe the Church’s teaching that the Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

The second phase of the revival, the Year of Parish Revival, is meant to foster Eucharistic devotion at the parish level.

“I want to invite everyone in the Hazleton community and beyond to bear witness to the True Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist as we process through the streets of Mountain City this weekend,” Father Miller added. “We are looking to bring Christ into our everyday lives. There is nothing more powerful than having hundreds of people walking throughout the streets of Hazleton singing, praying, and pointing to Christ!”

The procession is being held on Oct. 1 in honor of the Feast Day of Saint Gabriel (which occurs annually on Sept. 29) and in celebration of El Señor de Los Milagros.

Saint Gabriel is most well known as the angel chosen by God to be the messenger of the Annunciation.

El Señor de Los Milagros (The Lord of the Miracles), is the Patron of Peruvian residents, which is celebrated during the entire month of October. El Señor de Los Milagros is traditionally one of the most popular religious celebrations in Latin America.

DIOCESE CELEBRATES HISPANIC HERITAGE WITH CATHEDRAL MASS

SCRANTON – The Cathedral of Saint Peter was filled with beautiful music and cultural pride as the Diocese of Scranton celebrated a Pontifical Mass for Hispanic Heritage Month on Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023.

Faithful parishioners of Hispanic heritage from Great Bend, East Stroudsburg, Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre, Scranton, Jermyn and beyond filled the Cathedral for the celebration. The Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, served as principal celebrant and homilist for the Mass, which was celebrated entirely in Spanish.

Following the Mass, a Hispanic Heritage celebration was held at the Diocesan Pastoral Center. Hundreds of people enjoyed food, fellowship and cultural music and dance performances. The countries represented included, but were not limited to, Mexico, Colombia, Dominican Republic and Ecuador.

(OSV News) – Almost two-thirds of Catholics believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, but only 17% of adult Catholics physically attend Mass at least once per week, according to a newly published survey from Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. The survey also revealed a high correlation between belief in the Eucharist and weekly or even monthly Mass attendance.

The 2022 survey of self-identified Catholics published Sept. 26 and titled “Eucharist Beliefs: A National Survey of Adult Catholics” found 64% of respondents provided responses that indicate they believe in the Real Presence, that the Lord Jesus Christ is truly present under the appearance of bread and wine in the Eucharist.

That conclusion was drawn from both open-ended and closed-ended questions respondents were asked about their understanding of church teaching about the Eucharist and additional questions to clarify their beliefs.

According to the CARA study, 49% of respondents correctly identified that the church teaches that “Jesus Christ is truly present under the appearance of bread and wine.” The other 51% incorrectly identified the church’s teaching as “Bread and wine are symbols of Jesus’ actions at the Last Supper, meaning that Jesus is only symbolically present in the consecrated bread and wine.”

“Results of this question indicate that there is substantial confusion about what the church teaches about the Eucharist with slightly more adult Catholics not knowing this correctly than those correctly identifying the teachings,” the report stated.

The survey report noted the data from the responses to the questions indicated “most who do not believe in the Real Presence are not rejecting the teaching, as they do not know this is what the church teaches.”

The survey aimed to test or clarify the findings of a 2019 Pew Research Center survey that found one-third of U.S. Catholics agree with the church that the Eucharist is the body and blood of Christ. According to Pew’s analysis published in August 2019, “nearly seven-in-ten Catholics (69%) say they personally believe that during Catholic Mass, the bread and wine used in Communion ‘are symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.’ Just one-third of U.S. Catholics (31%) say they believe that ‘during Catholic Mass, the bread and wine actually become the body and blood of Jesus.'”

The 2019 Pew survey was part of the impetus for the National Eucharistic Revival that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops launched last year, and which will include a National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis in July. The initiative aims “to inspire a movement of Catholics across the United States who are healed, converted, formed, and unified by an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist — and who are then sent out on mission ‘for the life of the world,'” its website states.

In a review of previous surveys asking Catholics about their belief in the Real Presence beginning with a 2008 American National Election Study, CARA indicated that the Pew Research Center’s phrasing for its question on the topic may have been confusing to respondents. CARA aimed to be as clear as possible with its survey’s approach, which is why it opened with an “unaided and open-ended question”: “In your own words, what do you believe happens to the gifts of bread and wine after Consecration during Mass?”

The new CARA study, while showing more Catholics believe in the Real Presence than in the Pew study, still underscores the need for the Eucharistic Revival, said Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, which is supporting the revival.

“It’s still not good news,” Bishop Cozzens, who also serves as board chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress nonprofit formed in 2022 to plan the national event, told OSV News. “What it reveals is that there’s … people who say they believe in the Eucharist, but they don’t go to Mass. In that sense, they obviously haven’t had a real encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist.”

“This is what we’re about with the Eucharistic Revival, this encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist that lets me realize he’s a living person and that changes the way I live,” he continued. “That’s what we really need.”

The survey, however, “might actually show us we have more low-hanging fruit than we thought we did,” he said. “In other words, there are people who say they believe in the Eucharist, but they don’t go to Mass every week. … How do we invite them into an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist so that their lives can be changed?”

The survey found that knowledge of the church’s teaching on the Eucharist and belief that teaching is true is highest among Catholics who attend Mass at least once per week, at 95%. Among Catholics who attend less than weekly but at least once per month, it was 80%.

It also found that weekly Mass attendance has dropped seven percentage points during the COVID-19 pandemic from 24% in 2019 to 17% in 2022 — around 5% watch Mass on television or online due to the pandemic. An additional 18% attend less than weekly but at least once per month. Twenty-six percent attend Mass a few times per year and 35% rarely or never attend Mass.

“What we need is not just good catechesis — we do need that — but we also need to invite people to a relationship,” Bishop Cozzens said. “Helping people understand that it (lack of belief in the Real Presence) is not just an intellectual problem, it’s a problem of the heart in that sense of relationship with Jesus. What we’re really seeking is inviting people to an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist, because that’s what will have the biggest impact.”

The national study was commissioned by the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, “to better understand what the current Catholic population (self-identified) believes about the Catholic Church’s teaching on the Eucharist,” the report stated. The survey included 1,031 respondents ages 18 or older with a margin of error of 4.45 percentage points. It was offered in both English and Spanish, and administered through an online form or via telephone with a live interviewer from July 11 to Aug. 2, 2022.

The McGrath Institute commissioned the CARA study because of its collaboration with the National Eucharistic Revival and the importance of having clearer data on Catholics’ beliefs regarding the Real Presence, Bishop Cozzens said.

Affiliated with Georgetown University in Washington, CARA is a national, nonprofit, research center that conducts social scientific studies about the Catholic Church.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The synod on synodality should dedicate substantial discussion to addressing sexual abuse in the church and include the voices of survivors, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors said.

“We ask that sexual abuse in the church permeate your discussions as they address teaching, ministry, formation and governance,” the commission said in a written “Call to Action” released Sept. 27.

“While at times it may seem like a daunting set of questions to face, please rise to the challenge so that you may address, in a comprehensive way, the threat posed by sexual abuse to (the) church’s credibility in announcing the Gospel,” it added.

The 19-member international papal commission, led by Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley of Boston, released the call to action on occasion of the upcoming assembly of the Synod of Bishops Oct. 4-29 at the Vatican and the consistory for the creation of new cardinals Sept. 30.

The three top priorities, the commission said, were: greater “solidarity with victims and survivors in light of ongoing revelations of abuse”; increased commitment and resources by church leaders to promote safeguarding everywhere; and giving safeguarding a more prominent place in discussions at the synod on synodality.

“The reality of sexual abuse in our church goes to the heart of the synod’s agenda,” it said. “It permeates discussions on leadership models, ministry roles, professional standards of behavior and of being in right relationship with one another and all of creation.”

“We urge you to dedicate meaningful time and space to integrate the testimony of victim/survivors into your work,” it said, as well as the experience synod participants have had in “confronting or dealing with sexual abuse in the church.”

The church and its members must aim for a number of “long-overdue goals,” it said, including:

— Being a place of welcome, empathy and reconciliation for those impacted by abuse and a strong advocate “against the endemic complacency of those in the church and society that silence these testimonies, minimize their significance and stifle hope for renewal.”

— Taking “full account and full responsibility for the wrongs done to so many in its care.”

— Protecting all children with “appropriate safety policies and procedures, ones that are known and verified.”

— Having well-run, “transparent and accessible systems of redress for wrongdoing by the church’s ministers.”

— Implementing and taking responsibility for “robust safeguarding” in dioceses, parishes, schools, hospitals, retreat centers, houses of formation and everywhere the church is present and active.

The commission urged synod participants to work toward these goals, “not just for one or two days during your gathering, but to consider them throughout the entire synod process.”

“Their achievement will be a singular sign of the synod’s success, a sign that we are walking with the wounded and the forgotten as disciples of the one Lord, in search of a better way,” it said.

The commission also said that “recent publicly reported cases point to tragically harmful deficiencies in the norms intended to punish abusers and hold accountable those whose duty is to address wrongdoing.”

“We are long overdue in fixing the flaws in procedures that leave victims wounded and in the dark both during and after cases have been decided,” it said, adding that the commission will continue to study what is not working and to press for necessary changes.

It also called for conversion among all church leaders as “deep frustrations remain, especially among those seeking justice for the wrongs done to them.”

“No one should have to beg for justice in the church. The unacceptable resistance that remains points to a scandalous lack of resolve by many in the church that is often compounded by a serious lack of resources.”

As the College of Cardinals gathers for the Sept. 30 consistory, it said, “we call upon all those in the sacred college to remember victims and their families and to include as part of their oath of fidelity a commitment to remain steadfast in honoring those impacted by sexual abuse by uniting with them in the common pursuit of truth and justice. All bishops and religious superiors should echo this commitment.”

“Together with all those who are worn down by abuse and its consequences, we say, ‘Enough!'” the commission’s statement said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Child pornography is “criminality available to everyone through their phones,” Pope Francis said.

Discussing abuse prevention with representatives of a safeguarding research and formation center from Latin America Sept. 25, the pope put aside his prepared remarks to address “a problem that is very serious on this matter of abuse, the filming of child pornography.”

“Unfortunately, by paying a small fee, one can have it one their phone,” he said. “Where is this child pornography made? In which country is it made? Nobody knows. But it is criminality available to everyone through their phones.”

“Please let us talk about this, too,” Pope Francis urged the group of professionals from a variety of fields working to combat abuse in the church across Latin America. “These children who are recorded, are victims, sophisticated victims of this consumer society.”

In August, the pope told reporters during his return flight from Portugal that livestreamed sexual abuse of minors is “one of the greatest scourges” of society today.

At the Vatican Sept. 25, he told the safeguarding representatives that the church has come a long way in combatting abuse thanks to “prophetic pastors” like Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley of Boston, president of the Commission for the Protection of Minors, who was in Rome for the commission’s plenary assembly. The pope praised the cardinal, who was at the meeting, for being able to take hold of the “hot potato” that was the clerical sex abuse crisis in Boston.

Still, Pope Francis recalled the “sad reality” of abuse cases in the church and in the world, objecting to people who may say, “ah, there aren’t so many.”

“If it were only one, it would already be scandalous, just one, and there are more than one,” he said.

The pope also asked the safeguarding representatives not to reduce their efforts in combatting abuse to merely applying established protocols, but to “entrust them to Jesus in prayer.”