Category: 2024 News

SCRANTON – Father Richard Burke, C.P., Rector of Saint Ann‘s Passionist Monastery and Director of Saint Ann’s Shrine Basilica, announces that the 100th Anniversary of the Solemn Novena to Saint Ann will take place July 17-26, 2024.

The novena is a period of nine days of special Eucharists, devotions, and preaching of the Word of God in West Scranton. These nine days build toward the celebration of the Feast of Saint Ann and Saint Joachim on the tenth day, July 26. Our special Passionist preachers this year will be Father Justin Nelson Alphonse, C.P., Pastor of Saint Agnes Passionist Parish in Louisville, KY, and Father Luis Daniel Guivas Gerena, C.P., Administrator of Saint Gemma Passionist Parish in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Father Richard said the centenary of the Novena has inspired special outreach to the growing Hispanic Catholic community in the Diocese of Scranton and surrounding dioceses. The Novena will have a Eucharist and Novena service in Spanish at 7:30 p.m. each evening from July 17-25. The faithful will celebrate the Feast of Saint Ann in Spanish on Thursday, July 25, at 7:30 p.m. with Passionist Bishop Neil Tiedemann, C.P., D.D. as celebrant.

The Solemn Closing of Saint Ann’s Novena will be on Friday, July 26, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. with the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, serving as preacher and homilist.

All are welcome and encouraged to attend their year’s milestone Novena celebration in West Scranton from July 17-26!

COVINGTON TWP. – After months of research, discussion and planning, the Diocese of Scranton Catholic Cemeteries Office is now offering the option of a ‘green burial’ as an alternative to a customary burial or cremation.

The ‘Green Burial Council’ defines the practice as a “way of caring for the dead with minimal environmental impact that aids in the conservation of natural resources, reduction of carbon emissions, protection of worker health and the restoration and/or preservation of habitat.”

The concept of a green burial is rooted in simplicity and sustainability. Unlike traditional burials, which often involve embalming fluids, concrete vaults and non-biodegradable caskets, green burials prioritize returning the body to the earth in its most natural state.

“Green burials are a natural way of taking care of a person’s burial needs at the time of a death,” Kevin Beck, Diocesan Catholic Cemeteries Superintendent, explained. “It entails no outside vaults, which is a concrete vault that we use in most areas, and no fancy metal caskets. It is supposed to be all natural – wood, reed, bamboo, wicker or cloth – creating less disturbance and less of a carbon footprint at that point.”

In response to inquiries about the practice of green burials, the Diocese of Scranton is now offering a natural burial section at Saint Catherine’s Cemetery near Moscow. Parish cemeteries may offer the service at their discretion and only if following the procedures outlined by the Diocese. Father Thomas Petro, Pastor, Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Dupont, announced in his parish bulletin that its cemetery will also offer the option for individuals.

Alex Burney, who has served as Superintendent at Saint Catherine’s Cemetery for the last year, said an area in the back right corner of the cemetery has been selected to accommodate green burials.

“It is right behind the Sisters of the Good Shepherd section and it is a nice green area. The land is not one-hundred percent level, but that helps to make it natural,” Burney said. “We have 12 graves available right now. However, we have a lot of rom in front of it to be able to expand, so we would be able to do 100 graves and we have other sections that we would also be able to make green burial sections in the cemetery.”

Because embalming is not conducted with a green burial, a body can only be preserved by refrigeration for 36 to 48 hours, so anyone contemplating the new practice should inform family members well in advance. While the cemetery provides the necessary space, a licensed funeral director must administer it.

“We have at least three funeral directors who have either done it, or are preparing themselves for the need,” Beck noted. “All of the funeral directors that I’ve spoken to are willing to do them, but it is still a new process, so most of them have very little experience with it so far.”

For many years, the Catholic Church has emphasized the sanctity of life and the importance of caring for God’s creation. In his encyclical, Laudato Si, Pope Francis called for a renewed sense of ecological responsibility, urging Catholics to recognize the interconnectedness of all living beings and the urgent need for environmental protection.

“It will really resemble a traditional burial outside of the container that the person would be buried in,” Beck said. “A person can still have a funeral Mass. They can still have a final blessing at the gravesite as well and family are welcome to be there. At the time, it is just really the materials and the carbon output to process a body for burial that is different.”

At Saint Catherine’s Cemetery, each gravesite will not have an individual marker or stone, instead, there will be one common marker created that will denote the names of those interred in the natural burial area. Since the area is meant to be natural, the gravesite will settle naturally and no extensive landscaping will be done, other than routine lawn mowing.

According to the new Diocesan Green Burial regulations, which are available on the Diocese of Scranton website, other important rules include:

• Cremated bodies will not be allowed in the green burial section, since the cremation practice involves the use of fossil fuels in the incineration process.

• There will only be one burial per space – and space in the green burial area will be allocated in sequential manner to not disturb previous sites – therefore there is no “choice” of burial space allowed.

• Markers, memorials, plaques or objects of any kind cannot be left in the green burial area. Planting of any type will also be prohibited.

Anyone contemplating a green burial must recognize the solemnity and Catholic nature of the cemetery in which the area is located. No ceremonies, rituals, or acts contrary to Catholic tradition or Canon law will be allowed.

Fees and pricing for green burials will be the same as traditional burial practices.
While there are currently no planned green burials for Saint Catherine’s Cemetery, staff members say they are prepared to handle the first request when it comes in.

“It is a beautiful setting back there. It’s a nice little corner of the cemetery,” Beck said.

Any questions regarding green burials should be directed to the Diocesan Catholic Cemeteries Director.

SCRANTON – The Diocese of Scranton held its annual Mother’s Day Adoption Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Peter on May 12, 2024.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, served as principal celebrant and homilist.

“I love this Mass. I get very emotional every year I attend,” Tamara Hall, Director of Maternity and Family Services at Saint Joseph’s Center, said. “We have a strong following of adoptive families that bring their families to this Mass and I have the privilege of seeing them grow up.”

The Mass recognized all mothers – including foster mothers, adoptive mothers, birth mothers and those who fill a “motherly” role.

 

FAIRMOUNT SPRINGS – The Rev. Brother Andrew Cyril Stola, O.P., will be ordained to the Priesthood of Jesus Christ on Saturday, May 25, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

The son of David and Teresita Stola, Br. Cyril grew up in Huntington Mills and attended Saint Martha’s Church in Fairmount Springs with his family.

Brother Cyril graduated from Northwest Area High School in 2013, and he subsequently attended New York University, where he met the Dominican friars through the university chaplaincy. After graduating NYU with a degree in economics in May 2017, he entered the novitiate of the Dominican Province of Saint Joseph the same Summer, receiving the religious name Brother Cyril.

The Dominican Order, also known as the Order of Preachers, was founded by Saint Dominic in 1216 to preach the Gospel for the salvation of souls.

Dominican friars pray together and serve the local Church through various ministries, and the Province of St. Joseph extends throughout the northeast region of the United States.

Brother Cyril professed simple vows in the Dominican Order in August 2018. He professed solemn vows in February 2022, and he was ordained to the diaconate in March 2023 by Bishop Gerardo Colacicco, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York.

Along with four other Dominican friars, Br. Cyril will be ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Christopher Cardone, O.P., Archbishop of Honiara in the Solomon Islands.

Brother Cyril will offer a Mass of Thanksgiving at Saint Martha’s Church, 260 Bonnieville Road, Fairmount Springs, on Corpus Christi Sunday, June 2, at 10:00 a.m.

A Eucharistic procession, an opportunity to receive a first priestly blessing, and a reception will follow the Mass.

SCRANTON – The public is invited to celebrate and honor World Refugee Day!

On Saturday, June 22, 2024, everyone is invited to join local Scranton refugee communities for a time of sharing, learning, fellowship and celebration that honors global refugees. This year’s theme is, ‘A World Where Refugees Are Always Welcomed,’ which focuses on the power of inclusion and solutions for refugees.

The event will be held from 2 – 4 p.m. at Nay Aug Park in Scranton (on the Greenhouse side of Nay Aug Park). The celebration will include cultural songs and music, refreshments, games and activities for kids.

World Refugee Day is an annual international day, designated by the United Nations, to celebrate the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home countries to escape conflict or persecution.

Several community agencies are working together to put together the 2024 World Refugee Celebration, including Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Scranton, the Church of Saint Gregory in Clarks Green, The University of Scranton, United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania, Ignatian Volunteer Corps, Islamic Center of Scranton, Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit, Congolese Community of Scranton, Bhutanese Cultural Foundation Scranton Association, Saigon Corner Vietnamese Restaurant, The Hexagon Project, and Pennsylvania Department of Education – Migrant Education Program.

More volunteers and community partners are always welcome to participate.

SCRANTON – Since becoming involved in scouting four years ago, Thomas Cain of Jermyn has made many new friends and gained more self-confidence.

“As a boy scout, I try to advance by myself and not with other people. I try to do it on my own,” the sixth grader said.

On April 20, 2024, Cain was one of ten young people who received awards as part of the Diocese of Scranton’s annual Scout Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Peter.

Cain, who is a parishioner of Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Parish, was one of seven students to receive the Ad Altare Dei award, which centers on the Sacraments and equips a scout to take their place as a maturing Catholic.

The three other scouts received the Pope Pius XII emblem, which reflects the ideal of the youth’s growing awareness of the Word of God as well as their place in the world.

Ethan Stangline of Pleasant Mount, who is a parishioner of Saint Katherine Drexel Parish, also received the Ad Altare Dei award.

“Ad Altare Dei meant a lot of hard work and long determination. We had to answer questions based off how scouting relates to Baptism and the Sacraments and how it affects our daily lives,” the seventh grader explained.

Award recipient Ryan Fagan of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Throop said earning his Ad Altare Dei award was an important milestone.

“I think it means a lot because I learned a lot more than I knew before – mostly about marriage and baptism. The other Sacraments I knew somewhat about, even though Confirmation I didn’t know much about though,” Fagan said.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, served as principal celebrant and homilist for the Scout Mass.

After handing each scout his award, he congratulated them on their accomplishments.

“We are extremely proud of you. You are a wonderful sign to all of us – of the young Church of this Diocese – and of a future that is bright and hope-filled because of you,” Bishop Bambera said. “We are richly blessed by all of you.”

In the days following the Mass, the Boy Scouts of America announced a change in name – becoming “Scouting America” in Feb. 2025 – but it will not affect affiliated Catholic scout troops, the executive director of the Catholic Church’s official committee overseeing Scouting programs in the U.S. told OSV News.

“It doesn’t really impact us at all,” said John Anthony, who heads up the National Catholic Committee on Scouting, which sponsors Catholic Scouting.

WILKES-BARRE – It was nearly standing room only inside Saint Nicholas Church in Wilkes-Barre on April 21, 2024, as the faithful gathered to celebrate the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, served as principal celebrant of the 12:15 p.m. liturgy, which was celebrated in Spanish.

“In every stage of our life, we all come to a pause where we don’t know where to head. In times of trouble and need, we look up to God and ask him to clear a path and step into the next path of our life,” Angel Munoz of Saint Nicholas-Saint Mary Parish, said after the celebration. “It was an honor to have the Bishop here.”

The Mass was filled with many young people, some who say they considered a call to religious life because of the strong faith of their family.

“At a young age, I knew it was a possibility,” Marie Vazquez Perez of Saint-Nicholas-Saint Mary Parish, explained. “We come from many generations that are very religious, my grandmother and my mother, so I knew that was always a possibility. It didn’t happen for me, but I did think about the paths that I could take.”

Even though Perez did not pursue a religious life vocation, she still participates in her parish by helping with religious education, Our Lady of Guadalupe activities and the choir.

“I think he is still calling me in many different ways,” she added.

Adriana Sosa, who participated in the Mass as an altar server, agrees.

I feel God calls me in many ways. Throughout life, I have been dedicated to helping out a lot of people,” Sosa said. “He has made me into someone who volunteers.”

ENCOURAGEMENT, ADORATION KEY TO FOSTERING PRIEST VOCATIONS, NEW REPORT SHOWS

Personal encouragement and Eucharistic Adoration are crucial in fostering vocations to the priesthood, according to data from a newly released report.

On April 15, Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate released the 2024 “Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood,” a report made directly to the Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The CARA report was released just days before the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.

Most respondents said they had first considered a vocation to the priesthood when they were 16 years old, and the average age of ordination was 34, a number consistent with the range of 33-37 reported since 1999.

CARA’s executive director, Jesuit Father Thomas Gaunt, told OSV News that direct encouragement of young men to consider priestly life is a “perennial factor” in vocations, with 89% of the respondents, or nine in 10, reporting they had received such support – usually from a parish priest (63%), friend (41%) or parishioner (41%).

“You could almost say that … no one shows up at the seminary who was not encouraged,” Father Gaunt said.

Eucharistic adoration also emerged as significant in vocational discernment, with 75% of the respondents noting they had regularly prayed before the Blessed Sacrament prior to entering the seminary.

 

 

WILKES-BARRE – On April 28, Cathy Swoboda was celebrating the past and looking forward to the future.

The parishioner and business manager of Saint Robert Bellarmine Parish was one of several hundred people who attended a special Mass of Thanksgiving at Saint Aloysius Church in Wilkes-Barre, recognizing the 125th anniversary of the worship site.

“It is a milestone for the church. We have been through so much, starting with the Flood in 1972 and COVID recently,” she said. “For me, 125 years is a celebration of the past and hope for the future.”

Swoboda credits the kindness of her fellow parishioners – and the serenity of the building itself – for making the church a welcoming place.

“I’m involved in everything that goes on in this church because I want to be, not because I have to be. The people are wonderful. Everybody is sweet and kind to each other. We have a great time at our annual bazaar. It’s just a special feeling you have when you walk in the church,” she added.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, served as principal celebrant and homilist for the 125th Anniversary Mass. Father Richard Cirba, pastor, concelebrated the liturgy along with Father Kevin Mulhern, former pastor, and several other native sons of the parish, including Father Andrew Sinnott and Father James Nash.

“It was just a glorious day. The weather is beautiful and we’re happy to welcome back some of the native sons of the parish,” Father Cirba said. “One hundred twenty-five years is a milestone and it would be remiss for us to just let it go by without acknowledging it so it brought great excitement and enthusiasm for the people.”

As he began his homily, Bishop Bambera thanked parishioners for the opportunity to celebrate with them and called the Mass a “beautiful gathering.”

In reflecting on the Gospel message for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, involving Jesus as the vine and his followers as the branches, Bishop Bambera explained how we are all interconnected – with a shared faith in the Risen Jesus and all those who have gone before us.

“I’d invite you today, here in this church, to let your memories flow,” he said. “Maybe this is the church where you and your children were baptized. Maybe this is where you received your First Communion 60 or 70 years ago, or maybe it is the place where you were married and began a family.”

The Bishop reminded those at the Anniversary Mass, however, that a “parish” is not just a building or a structure, it is the people of God.

“We are celebrating nothing less than the power and presence of God in our lives,” Bishop Bambera noted.

The faithful who attend Saint Aloysius Church are very thankful they currently have two seminarians who are discerning a path to the priesthood – Andrew McCarroll and Peter Stec. McCarroll is expected to be ordained a transitional deacon on May 25 and would likely be ordained a priest next summer and Stec will be attending college seminary this coming fall.

“I’m proud just to be able to see the history of this community, especially as I’m discerning my vocation and preparing for ordained ministry, to see all the men who went before me in priestly service to our Diocese,” McCarroll said at the conclusion of the Anniversary Mass. “To see that rich history of service, not only just to this community, but also the Church of Scranton.”

While McCarroll has seen the South Wilkes-Barre community change demographically over the years, he believes there is a lot of hope for the future.

“It is good to see that we’re still proclaiming the Gospel … because Christ’s message is still true, then, as it is now,” McCarroll noted.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The elderly must not be accused of saddling younger generations with their medical expenses and pensions — a notion which foments intergenerational conflict and drives older people into isolation, Pope Francis said.

“The accusation that the elderly ‘rob the young of their future’ is nowadays present everywhere,” the pope wrote in his message for World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly, a church celebration that will take place July 28.

Even in the most advanced and modern societies “there is now a widespread conviction that the elderly are burdening the young with the high cost of the social services that they require, and in this way are diverting resources from the development of the community and thus from the young,” he wrote in the message released May 14.

Such a mentality “assumes that the survival of the elderly puts that of the young at risk, that to favor the young it is necessary to neglect or even suppress the elderly,” he wrote.

Yet the pope stressed that “intergenerational conflict is a fallacy and the poisoned fruit of conflict.”

“To set the young against the old is an unacceptable form of manipulation,” he wrote.

The pope’s message expanded on the theme chosen for this year’s world day which was taken from the Book of Psalms: “Do not cast me off in my old age.”

The 2024 celebration marks the fourth edition of World Day for Grandparents and the elderly. In 2021, Pope Francis instituted the world day to be observed each year on the fourth Sunday of July, close to the liturgical memorial of Sts. Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus.

In his message for this year’s celebration, the pope emphasized that “God never abandons his children,” even as they grow weak and “can risk appearing useless.” But today, a “conspiracy surrounding the life of the elderly” often results in their abandonment by those close to them.

“The loneliness and abandonment of the elderly is not by chance or inevitable, but the fruit of decisions — political, economic, social and personal decisions — that fail to acknowledge the infinite dignity of each person,” he wrote.

The pope explained that such a phenomenon occurs “once we lose sight of the value of each individual and people are then judged in terms of their cost, which is in some cases considered too high to pay.”

Unfortunately, he said, the elderly themselves can succumb to this cost-benefit mindset; “they are made to consider themselves a burden and to feel that they should be the first to step aside.”

Pope Francis identified the decline of communal structures in society and the widespread celebration of individualism as other factors behind the isolation of the elderly, “yet once we grow old and our powers begin to decline, the illusion of individualism, that we need no one and can live without social bonds, is revealed for what it is.”

The pope then recounted the Bible story in which the elderly Naomi encourages her two daughters-in-law to return to their hometowns after the death of her husband and children since she sees herself as a burden to them. “Her words reflect the rigid social and religious conventions of her day, which apparently seal her own fate,” the pope wrote.

While Orpah returns home, grateful for the encouragement, Ruth “is not afraid to challenge customs and inbred patterns of thought” and “courageously remains at her side,” he wrote.

The pope encouraged all people to “express our gratitude to all those people who, often at great sacrifice, follow in practice the example of Ruth, as they care for an older person or simply demonstrate daily closeness to relatives or acquaintances who no longer have anyone else.”

Pope Francis also pointed out how in poorer countries elderly people are often left alone because their children are forced to emigrate, and in regions ravaged by conflict young men are called into conflict while women and children flee for safety, leaving elderly people alone in areas “where abandonment and death seem to reign supreme.”

In a statement released with the pope’s message, Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life, which organizes the world day, lamented the “bitter companion” that is loneliness in the lives of elderly people.

“Attending to our grandparents and the elderly,” he said, “is not only a sign of gratitude and affection, but a necessity in the construction of a more human and fraternal society.”

The cardinal’s message was also accompanied by pastoral guidelines and liturgical resources for parishes and dioceses. The guidelines suggest that Catholics visit the elderly people within their own community, share with them the pope’s message and pray together.

The document said that to involve the elderly in the day, “older people can be asked to offer special prayers for young people and for peace.”

“The ministry of intercession is a real vocation of the elderly,” it said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The troves of knowledge stored in archives and libraries must be made available and accessible to all people, especially as they increasingly depend on technological means for their knowledge, Pope Francis said.

Scholars overseeing archives and managing libraries must have “a great openness to discussion and dialogue,” Pope Francis told professors and students from the Vatican’s archival and library sciences schools May 13. He encouraged them to develop “a readiness to welcome,” especially the marginalized and those suffering “material, cultural and spiritual poverties.”

The pope encouraged the members of the two schools — the Vatican School of Paleography, Diplomatic and Archival Studies and the Vatican School of Library Studies — to avoid becoming complacent in distributing knowledge, particularly given the “decisive and epochal cultural challenges” of modern day, noting the problems of contemporary scholarship “related to globalization, to the risk of a flattening and devaluation of knowledge.”

He highlighted humanity’s “increasing complex relationship with technology,” the challenges of engaging with and studying traditional cultures, making sources of information accessible to all and the responsibility of scholars to “defend all from the toxic, unhealthy and violent things that can lurk in the world of social media and technological knowledge.”

Pope Francis also urged the scholars to avoid “self-referentiality” and to share their ideas and experiences with other academic institutions.

Marking the 140th anniversary of the archival school and the 90th anniversary of the school of library sciences, the pope said that such anniversaries are not meant “just to honor old glories” but to “look forward to the future, to have the courage to rethink yourselves in the face of demands from the cultural and professional world.”

The pope praised the “decisive characteristic” of the two schools: their “eminently practical” and “concrete” approach to problems and studies, which he said enables them to come into contact with past knowledge and transmit it to future generations.

“Confronting the realty of things is worth more than ideology,” he said. “Ideologies always kill.”