Category: 2024 News

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis signed a letter on synodality in the presence of parish priests and urged them to be “missionaries of synodality,” said several of the priests present.

Father Donald J. Planty Jr., pastor of St. Charles Church in Arlington, Virginia, and one of the U.S. pastors at the meeting, said, “He told us, ‘I want you to take this letter, and I want you to put it into action. I want you to share it and speak to your bishops about it and speak to your brother pastors about it.'”

The pope signed the letter May 2 as he met with more than 200 parish priests in the Vatican Synod Hall. The meeting came at the end of an April 29-May 2 gathering designed as an opportunity for the priests to share their experiences and offer input for the drafting of the working document for the Synod of Bishops on synodality’s second assembly in October.

Father Planty, who served for a time in the Vatican diplomatic corps and in the Vatican Secretariat of State, said it was clear that what participants from around the world had in common was “love for our identity as priests and our mission as priests.”

Clearly, he said, some priests have difficulty getting parishioners to open up and share their hopes, dreams and skills – a crucial part of building a “synodal church” where people listen to one another and share responsibility for the life of the parish and its missionary outreach.

That is not a problem in the United States, Father Planty said. “Especially in a country of an Anglo-Saxon democratic tradition,” people are used to sharing their opinions, including with their priests. They comment after Mass or send an email or phone the parish office.

“A priest who really knows his parish, loves his parishioners, has his finger on the pulse of the parish” not only through the pastoral council and finance council but “also through other, informal settings,” he said. Such a pastor “knows his people, consults with them, listens to them, takes their advice, and ultimately that factors into his pastoral decisions and planning and actions.”

Father Clint Ressler, pastor of St. Mary of the Miraculous Medal Catholic Church in Texas City, Texas, said spiritual discernment adds a key factor because synodality “is not listening to the voice of the people, but the voice of God in the voice of the people.”

“It isn’t just about your voices and your opinions,” he said. “We have to all be willing to then go deeper beneath those voices to try to hear what the Spirit is saying among us.”

People are hesitant about synodality when it is erroneously presented as debating “the issues that are controversial in the church” and “whether or not this is some new instrument to foment change in doctrine or church teaching,” he said. When that happens, “I think it’s disturbing. It’s scary. It’s unsettling,” and it leaves some wondering, “Why are we going to let the people decide what God wants?”

Father Paul Soper, pastor of St. Margaret Mary and St. Denis parishes in Westwood, Massachusetts, and secretary for ministerial personnel in the Archdiocese of Boston said priests and laypeople who have fears or concerns about synodality are afraid of different things.

“The fear of the priests is that there is a degree of randomness to the process,” he said, and that the synod “is going to be recommending big changes in the life of the church somehow or another that will have come from a bunch of random voices rather than from a clearly traceable conciliar process.”

“I think what the people fear is different,” he said. “I think that they fear that this is a conversation that’s not going to go anywhere. That it will simply, in the end, be a collection of reflections on the process of reflecting — a meeting on meetings, if you will.”

But, he said, his experience in evangelization has taught him that the “deep listening” or “contemplative listening” that the synod process is teaching people is what will enable Catholics to understand other people’s stories and invite them into or back into a relationship with Jesus and with the church.

Father Robert L. Connors, director of the Office for Senior Priests in the Archdiocese of Boston and episcopal vicar of the archdiocese’s south region, said the synod’s emphasis on listening also can help Catholics “learn the art of respect in a world where there is very little respect.”

And, especially in parishes and dioceses where there is growing diversity, he said, synodality helps people realize, “we’re all in this together.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – As more than 200 priests from around the world met to share how their parishes experience a sense of shared mission and shared decision-making, many of them spoke of the essential bonds of priests with their parishioners and priests with each other.

The pastors met at a retreat center outside of Rome April 29-May 2 to provide input to the Synod of Bishops on synodality; most of their work took place in small groups divided by language: Spanish, English, French and Italian.

The priests were chosen by their bishops’ conference or Eastern Catholic bishops’ synod to attend the meeting, and the Vatican had asked the bishops to select parish leaders who had had “significant experience in the perspective of a synodal Church.”

The questions they were asked focused on ways they have experienced synodality — processes for praying, listening, discerning and making decisions together for the good of the community and for evangelization.

But the working group reports April 29 also often mentioned loneliness and burnout in the life of pastors, a need to recognize the contributions of women to church life and a need to promote a sense of brotherhood and mutual support among a diocese’s or eparchy’s priests.

One group mentioned the need for “mutual care among brother priests.”

A group report from April 30 spoke of “a deficit of fraternity and communion among us priests” and a lack of care from the bishop. “One person commented that in 30 years of ministry, a bishop never asked him how he was doing, but only told him what to do,” the report said.

Another said that many priests are just trying to survive “and rarely feel valued in what they do.”

The same group said that “the ministry of women is not a problem of the laity but of the priests.”

Many of the groups reported that while their parishioners were eager to share and to listen to one another, the word “synodality” and many of its associated themes, like “discernment,” were unclear or confusing to people.

And one of the French groups submitted a basic question: “If synodality helps us to discern, the fact remains that a decision has to be taken in our parish communities. But ultimately who decides? This remains a strong question in our group, and we look forward to further exploration of this open-ended issue.”

One English group said, “While there is a positive outlook on Synodality, it’s evident that some parish priests may lack interest in embracing new initiatives along this path. Therefore, ongoing formation for parish priests becomes imperative to effectively implement the principles of Synodality at the parish level.”

Another group said that while the synod process “has been more positive than negative,” sometimes the parish listening sessions were used “as a place to vent, complain about the perceived state of the church or to bring up the ways in which they felt they have been hurt by the church. But again, all in our group found that these were occasions to walk with the people and listen.”

Many of the groups echoed what synod-related sessions on the parish, diocesan, continental and universal levels have emphasized: laypeople want and need more education about the Christian faith and more guided experiences of prayer and discernment.

One of the Italian-language groups said that priests are afraid to entrust their parish councils with certain decisions because they fear the members do not have enough theological and pastoral background to understand what is at stake. At the same time, the group said, the priests “are afraid of losing power,” and they know it is easier to give orders than to reach a consensus.

At the end of the day April 30, one of the Spanish groups said that with parishioners often expressing different needs and preferences, a parish might best become “a community of communities,” and synodality could be the key to preserving unity and peace while allowing diversity.

Another group said that just coming together to share their stories has helped the priests, “because the Spirit blows in different ways, and God is at work. We see that in one place there are seven priests for one parish and in others there are seven chapels for one priest.”

Most of the 18 working groups mentioned at least once a need to change seminary formation and to give candidates for the priesthood more practical help in learning what discernment is and how to exercise leadership in a way that values the baptismal dignity and gifts of the laity.

Several of the reports also mentioned the clerical sexual abuse crisis and how it has led many people to leave the church and many others to look at priests with suspicion or at least caution.

One Italian group said that Pope Francis’ emphasis on synodality “has allowed us to start dreaming about the church again after the crisis,” and, in fact, “the synodal journey pays attention to overcoming the logic of abuse of individual power and gives us the antibodies to overcome the contagion from oppressive and controlling dynamics.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – A foundation that promotes devotion to St. Pio of Pietrelcina, more widely known as Padre Pio, is making 10 never-before-seen photographs of the saint available to the devout for free.

The images provide personal insight into the life, attitude and spirituality of 20th-century saint, said the photographer. Some photos show Padre Pio solemnly celebrating Mass while in others he is smiling while surrounded by his confreres.

Elia Stelluto, Padre Pio’s personal photographer, stood proudly — camera in hand — before posters of the 10 new images for the presentation of the photos in the Vatican movie theater April 29.

“It’s enough to look at one image of his face” to understand Padre Pio, he told Catholic News Service. “With that you can understand so much; each photo has its own story, one must at them look one by one and that way you see so much more in his expressions.”

Stelluto photographed the saint for decades at the convent where he lived in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy.

During the photo presentation, Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Dicastery for Communication, said the new photos highlight Padre Pio’s identity as someone who was close to those around him and was filled with joy. He said that although it was not customary to smile in photos at the time, candid photos taken by Stelluto show the saint beaming broadly as he was huddled in a group.

Luciano Lamonarca, founder and CEO of the Saint Pio Foundation which promotes devotion to the Italian saint and organized the publication of the photos, said many people would come to Stelluto requesting his photos for articles and books.

“I never saw any kind of availability for the people” to see the photos directly, he said. That’s why he thought, “Padre Pio is the saint of the people, we must do something for the people.”

Lamonarca, an Italian who lives in the United States, said since many people with a devotion to Padre Pio are unable to visit the areas where the saint lived and ministered, he asked himself, “how does one bring Padre Pio to them, the true Padre Pio, the most authentic form of Padre Pio?”

That’s what spurred him to partner with Stelluto to make the photos available to the public, excluding their use for commercial purposes, by being free to download via the St. Pio Foundation website.

Lamonarca said he hoped that by “looking at the image of a greatly suffering father who could also laugh,” people would think to themselves, “if he could laugh, we can laugh too.”

Stelluto described the images he had taken of Padre Pio as “mysterious,” since they always came out clearly despite dark lighting conditions.

He recalled the challenge of taking photos in a dark convent, coupled with Padre Pio’s distaste for the flash of a camera, especially during Mass, and exclusive use of dim candles to light the altar.

“It’s not that I was talented in doing this, I still don’t understand the thing,” Stelluto said during the photo presentation. “The truth is that he was the source of light.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Religious men and women need to be setting people’s faith on fire, not stamping it out, Pope Francis said.

“It makes me sad when I see religious who seem more like firefighters” than men and women who are ardently filled with the flame of faith and ready to share it with others, he told representatives of congregations founded by St. Magdalene of Canossa during an audience at the Vatican April 29.

Members of the Canossian Sons of Charity, also known as the Canossian Fathers, and the Canossian Daughters of Charity were holding their general chapters in Rome with the theme, “The one who does not burn does not set on fire!”

Reflecting on their theme, the pope encouraged them to set people’s faith ablaze and, “please, no firefighters! We already have too many.”

The pope encouraged the Canossian family’s collaboration with each other and with laypeople, “who are increasingly active and involved.”

“This is important: to have laypeople involved in the spirituality of an institute and who collaborate with its apostolic work,” the pope said.

Their legacy also brings about challenges, he said, “but St. Magdalene showed you how to overcome difficulties.”

He encouraged them to emulate her “when the path becomes difficult.” Look at the crucified Jesus and “look into the eyes and wounds of the poor, and you will see that slowly the answers will make their way into your hearts with ever greater clarity.”

During the same audience, the pope also greeted members of the Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel, who were attending their general chapter in Rome April 3-May 1.

He praised their great international diversity, calling it a “richness” given to them by God.

This treasure “will do so much good for your growth and your apostolate if you know how to live by welcoming and constructively sharing diversity, among yourselves and with everyone,” the pope said.

“Uniformity in a religious institute, in a diocese, in a lay group, kills,” he said. “Diversity in harmony makes one grow.”

“This is an important message, especially in our world, often divided by selfishness” and divisive distinctions, he said.

Diversity is a precious gift to be shared, he said, encouraging them to “be prophets of this with your lives.”

During XVIII Assembly of the Italian Catholic Action in Sacrofano, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, told those gathered that “the canonization of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati is now clear on the horizon and looming for the next jubilee year” of 2025.

According to the Italian newspaper Avvenire, the declaration was met with resounding applause by the thousands of members present, marking a momentous occasion for devotees of Frassati and the wider Catholic community. An official declaration on the matter has yet to come from the Vatican.

Pier Giorgio Frassati, born in Turin in 1901, has inspired countless young people. During his life he was known for his zealous love of God and dedication to serving the less fortunate. Though brief, his life was vibrant with activities ranging from mountaineering to serving the poorest through the St. Vincent de Paul Society, showcasing his dynamic approach to faith and charity. He was also a lay Dominican. He died at the young age of 24 and was beatified in 1990.

During his homily at Pier Giorgio’s beatification Mass, St. John Paul II described Frassati as “the man of the Beatitudes.” He emphasized that Pier Giorgio lived his Christian vocation with joy and pride as part of Catholic Action, the first Catholic lay association founded in Italy in 1867, committing himself to loving Jesus and seeing Him in everyone he met.

In his message for World Youth Day 2016, Pope Francis encouraged young people to look to Pier Giorgio’s example. The pope said, “Pier Giorgio was a young man who understood what it means to have a merciful heart that responds to those most in need.” He urged young people to respond to the needs of the poor the way Pier Giorgio did, in a hidden and unassuming way.

The canonization would recognize Pier Giorgio’s impact not only as a spiritual figure but also as a social advocate in his hometown of Turin, where he is considered one of the city’s “social saints.” His efforts in defending the faith and engaging in charitable works set a powerful example of how the Christian faith can intersect with all human experiences.

Giuseppe Notarstefano, president of Italian Catholic Action, expressed immense gratitude for the news to the Italian newspaper Avvenire, seeing it as a “precious gift” to the association, especially as they celebrate their National Assembly. He reflected on how Frassati’s life embodied the ethos of Catholic Action, blending daily life with faith and creating an enduring legacy of Christian fellowship and social advocacy.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The most important outcome of the current Synod of Bishops on synodality is the synodal process itself and not the hot-button topics discussed, Pope Francis said.

With the second synod assembly scheduled for October, the pope said the synod process is approaching its “most challenging and important” stage — the point at which it must become “prophetic.”

“Now it is a matter of translating the work of the previous stages into choices that will give impetus and new life to the mission of the church in our time,” he told members of the Italian Catholic Action lay association in a packed St. Peter’s Square April 25.

But he noted that “the most important thing of this synod is synodality, the subjects and topics (discussed) are there to advance this expression of the church that is synodality.”

“For this, there is a need for people forged in the Spirit, for ‘pilgrims of hope,'” Pope Francis said, “men and women capable of charting and walking new and challenging paths.”

In March, Pope Francis decided that some of the most controversial issues raised at the first synod assembly “requiring in-depth study” will be examined by study groups; the groups are to issue preliminary reports to the synod assembly in October and give their final reports to the pope by June 2025.

The 10 themes to be explored by the study groups include the guidelines for priestly formation, the role of women in the church and their participation in community leadership, listening to the poor and the criteria for selecting bishops.

While some questions require deeper study, Pope Francis told the crowd to “be athletes and standard bearers of synodality in the dioceses and parishes of which you are part, for a full implementation of the (synodal) path taken so far.”

The Vatican said that 60,000 children, young people and adults were gathered in and around St. Peter’s Square for the association’s meeting with the pope.

Italian Catholic Action is a lay Catholic association with roots going back to 1867. In 2021, Vatican News reported that the group had more than 270,000 members.

Looking out into the crowd gathered within the arms of Bernini’s colonnade, the pope asked them to promote peace by being witnesses of the human embrace.

“At the origin of wars are often missed or rejected embraces, which are followed by prejudice, misunderstanding, suspicion, to the point of seeing the other as an enemy,” he said. “All this is unfortunately before our eyes these days in too many parts of the world.”

Pope Francis also encouraged them to let themselves be embraced by God’s love which is revealed in the Eucharist and in Christ on the cross.

“Brothers and sisters, let us be embraced by him, like children,” he said. “We each have something childlike in our hearts that needs a hug. Let us be embraced by the Lord, that way, in the embrace of the Lord we learn to embrace others.”

(OSV News) – Pope Francis sat down exclusively with “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell on April 24 for an interview ahead of the Vatican’s inaugural “World Children’s Day.” The CBS interview marks the first time a pope has given an in-depth, one-on-one interview to a U.S. broadcast network, according to the network.

In the brief portion of the interview that aired April 24, topics ranged from the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine and the plight of children in these areas to climate change and the decline in the number of U.S. Catholics.

O’Donnell asked Pope Francis about “pictures of starving children coming out of Gaza” and what he thought of those that “call that a genocide.”

The pope replied that he calls a Catholic parish of about 600 people in Gaza every afternoon, where he hears that the situation is “very hard” as “food goes in, but they have to fight for it. It’s very hard.”

In her report, O’Donnell noted that the pope condemned the Oct. 7 attack on Israelis by the terrorist group Hamas and also called on Israel to use restraint. Earlier this month, the pope met with the families of Israelis hostages still held by Hamas. O’Donnell referenced the pope’s past calls for peace and a ceasefire in the region and asked him if he could “help negotiate peace.”

“I can pray, I do,” he replied, “I pray a lot.”

In advance of World Children’s Day, O’Donnell asked about the United Nations’ estimate that “over a million people will be facing famine in Gaza, many of them children.”

“Not only Gaza,” the pope replied, “we should think about Ukraine.”

“Those kids don’t know how to smile,” he lamented. “I tell them something, but they forgot how to smile. And this is very hard when a child forgets to smile. That’s really very serious.”

“Do you have a message for Vladimir Putin when it comes to Ukraine,” O’Donnell asked.

“Please, countries at war, all of them: Stop the war,” the pope said, “look to negotiate. Look for peace. A negotiated peace is better than a war without end.”

When asked about his practice of inviting children to join him in the popemobile and to visit the Apostolic Palace, the pope said that children “always bear a message. They bear a message, and it is a way for us to have a younger heart.”

O’Donnell also asked the pope about those who deny climate change.

“There are people who are foolish and foolish even if you show them research; they don’t believe it,” he replied. “Why? Because they don’t understand the situation or because of their interest, but climate change exists.”

O’Donnell cited a statistic that in the US, only 20% of adults identify as Catholic, down from 24% in 2007. She asked Pope Francis to “speak to those who don’t go to Mass anymore, or maybe don’t see a place for themselves in the Catholic Church.”

“I would say there is always a place, always,” he replied. “If in this parish, the priest doesn’t seem welcoming, I understand, but go and look.”

“There is always a place,” he emphasized. “Do not run away from the church. The church is very big. It’s more than a temple. It’s more. You shouldn’t run away.”

In addition to the brief interview segment that aired April 24, CBS will air more of the interview on “60 Minutes” May 19 and in a primetime special on May 20. O’Donnell revealed that she had also asked the pope about “the migrant crisis, gay rights, women’s role in the church and whether he’s thinking about retirement” in the remainder of the interview.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Donations to the annual Catholic Home Missions Appeal “make a real impact on real people” by supporting pastoral ministry in U.S. mission territory and strengthening the church overall, said the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions.

Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City, Missouri, said that as subcommittee chair and as the shepherd of a mission diocese himself, he can attest that parishes and dioceses in mission territory “are places where ministry is marked by the deep commitment of parishioners and the clergy who serve them.”

“Many often travel many miles through mountains and deserts or arctic terrain to preside or participate at Mass and serve each other and their communities,” the bishop said in a column provided to OSV News. “These Catholics give sacrificially to support their parishes and essential ministries. They are deeply grateful and humbled by your prayers and generous support of the Catholic Home Missions Appeal.”

The appeal takes place during Mass the weekend of April 27-28. Some dioceses have a different date for the collection, but #iGiveCatholicTogether also accepts funds for the appeal.

This collection supports dioceses and eparchies in the United States and its territories where Catholics are too few or too materially impoverished to support local ministry without outside help. Natural disasters or economic hardships caused by unemployment can increase their need.

Gifts to the Catholic Home Missions Appeal provided more than $9.8 million in grants for 2023, according to a news release from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The grants supported mission dioceses by subsidizing vocations work, seminary education, faith formation, evangelization, youth and young adult ministry, family and pro-life ministries and a wide variety of outreach among diverse ethnic or immigrant groups.

Grant recipients included:

— A mentor-driven approach to faith formation in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, where diocesan renewal initiatives are producing growth, evidenced by a rise in Mass attendance.

— A priestly vocations outreach in the Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin, that, after two years without ordinations, in 2023 yielded the largest ordination class in decades. In the program “Called North,” priests mentor and accompany young men as they discern whether they are called to the priesthood.

— A prison ministry program in the Diocese of Amarillo, Texas, that one diocesan leader wrote is helping to “heal these men from their past failures and give them hope for the future.”

— An annual evangelization congress in the Diocese of Stockton, California, organized by Hispanic/Latino young adults who are leading their peers to Christ. Parish youth write and perform skits to show how following the Gospel transforms real life situations.

— Participation of Catholics from the Diocese of Salt Lake City at World Youth Day and local Eucharistic revival activities.

“Ultimately it is the Holy Spirit who transforms hearts, leads people to Christ, and inspires them to greater virtue,” Bishop McKnight wrote. “Yet the Spirit uses your financial gifts to the Catholic Home Missions Appeal to help bring this about. When you give to the collection in your diocese, no matter how large or small the amount, you are an instrument in the hands of God, bringing faith, hope and love to your neighbors.”