Category: 2025 News

ASSISI, Italy (CNS) – For centuries, pilgrims came to Assisi to walk in the footsteps of a saint who preached to birds, embraced poverty and wandered the hills barefoot.

But today, many arrive in search of a different model of holiness: that of a teenager in Nike sneakers who built websites and coded for Christ.

“I came to Assisi for Carlo,” said Anne-Sophie, a mother of three from France, speaking outside the Church of St. Mary Major in Assisi, where the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis draws a steady stream of visitors. “Not only Carlo, but St. Francis, of course,” she added April 1, mentioning the town’s patron saint almost as an afterthought.

Individual devotees, pilgrim groups and students on school field trips visited Blessed Carlo’s tomb in the church, which stands next to the site where St. Francis famously stripped off his fine clothing to embrace a life poverty.

In the cobbled streets leading to the shrine, souvenir shops that once featured only tau crosses and rustic Franciscan statues now prominently display Carlo’s face on refrigerator magnets and figurines — often in his signature red polo shirt. Listings on AirBnB even advertise their proximity to his tomb, signaling just how quickly Carlo’s presence has become part of the fabric of Assisi.

For Anne-Sophie, Carlo’s rise in popularity among Catholics feels providential. “In the 20th century, we had Saint Thérèse of Lisieux,” she told Catholic News Service, referring to the French mystic who Pope Francis is known to be fond of. “Now, I really believe Carlo will be the saint for the 21st century. He is a big, big chance for us — don’t miss it.”

Carlo, who died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15, was beatified in 2020 and is set to be canonized April 27 during the Jubilee of Teenagers at the Vatican, becoming the Catholic Church’s first “millennial” saint.

In life, he was known for his cheerfulness, his Eucharistic devotion and his talent with computers — traits that have turned him into a spiritual icon for young Catholics and families looking for a saint who seems to belong to their world.

Pope Francis has long held up Carlo as a model for the digital generation. In his 2019 exhortation “Christus Vivit,” published after the Synod of Bishops on young people, the pope wrote that Carlo “knew how to use the new communications technology to transmit the Gospel, to communicate values and beauty,” even while resisting the “consumerism and distraction” that often dominate online life.

Much of Blessed Carlo’s rise is attributed to his appeal to young Catholics, who see in him a figure who not only looks like them but lives like them, too.

Antonella Sacchi, who was accompanying a group of Italian high school students to his tomb, told CNS that her students were struck not only by Carlo’s age but by “his normal life, his way of living the Gospel in everyday life.”

“They were fascinated” standing before Blessed Carlo’s tomb, she said, “For them, he doesn’t feel far away.”

The pilgrims April 1 included whole families as well as teachers and catechists hoping to introduce young people to the saint.

For some, Blessed Carlo is an intercessor, not just a model.

Paola Ventre, visiting the tomb with her husband Massimo and son Michele, said she had prayed to Carlo for the grace of becoming a mother. “We had many difficulties,” she said, holding her son in her arms. “But I prayed with insistence, and I believe that thanks to his intercession our son was given to us with great love.”

For many, Carlo’s appeal lies in the way he lived his holiness: not by founding a religious order or performing public miracles, but by showing extraordinary faith in the midst of an ordinary teenage life. He channeled his interest in coding to create a website cataloging Eucharistic miracles around the world, hoping to share his love for the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist with others.

“He used social media well,” said Silvia Rodarte, a Mexican mother of four visiting Assisi with her husband, Ramón Torres, for their 25th wedding anniversary. “The internet is great, but if it’s misused it’s terrible, and Carlo used it in a wonderful way. In fact, we know about Carlo Acutis due to social media.” The couple learned about Carlo through their daughter, who had seen a video about him online.

Torres said Carlo reminded him of his own son, who is now about the age Carlo was when he died.

The image of a young saint can make young people “feel represented in the values of the Catholic Church,” Torres said. “I feel that he will be an important bridge between the youth, the new generations and the church.”

The same internet that Carlo once used to bring others closer to God is now leading people to him.

For Kenny Chan from Sydney, discovering Blessed Carlo online was the beginning of a spiritual friendship that eventually brought him and his fiancé all the way to Assisi.

“We watch him every day on YouTube,” he said, referring to the 24-hour livestream of Carlo’s tomb available online. “Spiritually, if I’m feeling low, I’m having a bad day, I put on YouTube and just talk to him. You can always put a message or a prayer in the chat.”

Carlo’s story may have spread across the globe through screens, but for many pilgrims, it is the encounter with his physical presence — his body, his tomb, the hilltop town where it is located — that makes his spirituality feel tangible and close.

Seeing the tomb in person, Chan said, “is much better.”

“I was here, I could see him in person, so it’s worth it.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – As Pope Francis continues his recovery at the Vatican, he is very slowly beginning to get back to his old routine of meeting with top Vatican officials, the Vatican press office said.

In addition to working with his secretaries, he met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, April 7, the press office said in a briefing with reporters April 8.

The pope is also in contact with other dicasteries by phone and goes over the texts and documents he receives from them, it added. His regular phone calls to Holy Family parish in Gaza, which were sporadic during his hospitalization, continue.

Pope Francis was released from Rome’s Gemelli hospital March 23 after more than five weeks of treatment for breathing difficulties, double pneumonia and a polymicrobial infection in his airways.

His doctors had said he would need two months to convalesce following his release, which included staying home, avoiding visitors and keeping up with pharmacological, respiratory and physical therapy.

However, the pope surprised the faithful when he appeared in St. Peter’s Square April 6 at the end of the closing Mass of the Jubilee of the Sick and Health Care Workers. It was the first time Pope Francis had been seen in public since he was discharged from the hospital.

Seated in a wheelchair and wearing a nasal cannula, the pope greeted the crowd with a strained voice, wishing them “A happy Sunday to you all, many thanks!” Before appearing in the square, he also went to confession in St. Peter’s Basilica and passed through the Holy Door, the Vatican press office had said.

A Vatican source said the pope’s appearance Sunday still fit within his doctors’ recommendations, as the moment was very brief, it was outdoors and he greeted just a few people. A period of convalescence means being more careful about certain things and that was being respected, the source said.

The apparent difficulty the pope has in raising his arms, such as when he blessed or greeted the crowds in his last two public appearances, is connected with his long hospitalization and subsequent reduced mobility, the source added. The pope is following physical therapy that is meant to increase and improve all aspects of his mobility.

After concelebrating Mass with his secretaries each day, the pope spends “a good part” of his morning doing his physical therapy and respiratory therapy, which have led to some improvements as his condition and tests remain stable, the press office said. The rest of the day is dedicated to prayer and working.

Pope Francis still has a lingering lung infection, which doctors had said would take time to clear up. He continues to use high-flow oxygen at night only when needed, the press office said.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said it would not renew its cooperative agreements with the federal government related to children’s services and refugee support after its longstanding partnerships with the federal government in those areas became “untenable.”

Earlier this year, the Trump administration suspended a federal refugee resettlement program as part of its broader effort to enforce its hardline immigration policies. The ensuing halt in federal funding for the USCCB’s refugee resettlement services is the subject of ongoing litigation, and it prompted the conference to lay off about a third of the staff in its Migration and Refugee Services Office in February.

A spokesperson for the USCCB told OSV News the bishops were seeking reimbursement of $24,336,858.26 for resettlement services (PRM and ORR programs) that was still pending payment as of April 7.

“This situation has been brought to us by the decisions of the government,” Anthony Granado, associate general secretary for policy and advocacy for the USCCB, told OSV News.

Despite decades of partnership with the USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services, across administrations of both parties, including the first Trump administration, Granado said, “we’ve been placed in an untenable position now.”

“It is clear that the government has decided that it wishes to go about doing this in a different way that doesn’t include us, and so we were kind of forced into this position,” Granado said.

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the USCCB and head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, said in an April 7 statement it was “heartbreaking” to announce the bishops’ conference would not renew its “existing cooperative agreements with the federal government related to children’s services and refugee support.”

“This difficult decision follows the suspension by the government of our cooperative agreements to resettle refugees,” he said. “The decision to reduce these programs drastically forces us to reconsider the best way to serve the needs of our brothers and sisters seeking safe harbor from violence and persecution. As a national effort, we simply cannot sustain the work on our own at current levels or in current form.”

Citing the government’s suspension of the cooperative agreements to resettle refugees, Archbishop Broglio said that the conference has “been concerned with helping families who are fleeing war, violence, and oppression find safe and secure homes.”

“Over the years, partnerships with the federal government helped expand lifesaving programs, benefiting our sisters and brothers from many parts of the world,” Archbishop Broglio said. “All participants in these programs were welcomed by the U.S. government to come to the United States and underwent rigorous screening before their arrival. These are displaced souls who see in America a place of dreams and hope. Some assisted American efforts abroad at their own risk and more seek a place to worship and pray safely as they know God calls them.”

He said, “Our efforts were acts of pastoral care and charity, generously supported by the people of God when funds received from the government did not cover the full cost.”

Federal law requires that unaccompanied refugee minors be cared for, and the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement historically has turned to faith-based organizations, including the USCCB, to carry out this work.

A spokesperson for HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from OSV News about its cooperative agreement with the USCCB.

Granado said the conference’s cooperative agreements with the federal government were “really about people.”

“From the church’s perspective, this is about responding to the Gospel command — Jesus says in the Gospel, ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me,'” he said, referencing Jesus Christ’s words in Matthew 25:35-40 regarding his final judgement. “This has been a blessing and a beautiful part of the USCCB and the Catholic Church in the United States.”

The children and refugees impacted “are real people, real families” as well as “the staff whose work will be impacted,” Granado said.

As the agreements end, Archbishop Broglio added, “we will work to identify alternative means of support for the people the federal government has already admitted to these programs. We ask your prayers for the many staff and refugees impacted.”

The USCCB, Archbishop Broglio said, “will continue advocating for policy reforms that provide orderly, secure immigration processes, ensuring the safety of everyone in our communities.”

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to advocating on behalf of men, women, and children suffering the scourge of human trafficking,” he said. “For half a century, we have been willing partners in implementing the government’s refugee resettlement program. The Gospel’s call to do what we can for the least among us remains our guide. We ask you to join us in praying for God’s grace in finding new ways to bring hope where it is most needed.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, was driving one of four ambulances donated to Ukraine with the help of U.S. Catholics.

With Easter approaching, Pope Francis wanted to make a concrete gesture to show his closeness to “tormented Ukraine,” the dicastery said in a press release April 7.

The pope wanted to send his papal almoner to Ukraine to deliver four ambulances that are fully equipped with medical instruments needed to save lives, it said. The ambulances, which bear the coat of arms of Vatican City State, “will be destined for war zones.”

The cardinal was assisted by three other drivers who came from Ukraine, the press release said. It will be the Polish cardinal’s 10th mission to the war-torn nation as a special envoy sent by Pope Francis, and he was to remain in Ukraine for a few days “to be with the people so tried by the conflict, to pray with them and to be an expression of the pope’s closeness.”

When the pope formally proclaimed the Holy Year dedicated to hope, he had said that “the need for peace challenges us all, and demands that concrete steps be taken.”

One concrete step is the gift of the four ambulances, the dicastery said, becoming “a sign of Jubilee hope anchored in Christ.”

The ambulances were purchased with donations provided by U.S. Catholics through Cross Catholic Outreach, Father Eloy Rojas, a missionary of mercy and hospital chaplain in the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, told Catholic News Service March 28.

Father Rojas was part of a small team of U.S. priests who partner with the U.S.-based Catholic relief and development organization and who met with Cardinal Krajewski in Rome in late March.

The priests were delivering the latest batch of funding from Cross Catholic Outreach and seeing what U.S. donations have been able to provide.

Father Rojas said the cardinal was excited to show the group that with the donations they had raised in dioceses all over the United States, he was able to buy “not one, but four ambulances to support people in Ukraine.”

The cardinal then invited Father Rojas and the others to “have a ride in the ambulance with the cardinal as the driver,” the priest said. The cardinal took them around Vatican City and even outside the walls to Rome.

Being driven around with the cardinal as their driver, he said, was an inspiration, showing him “how to be a better priest, how to be a priest with humility” and to serve the poor.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – With thousands of infirmed people and those who care for them gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis, seated in a wheelchair and wearing a nasal cannula, made an unexpected appearance to greet the crowd.

“A happy Sunday to you all, many thanks!” the pope said to them with a strained voice.

Appearing at the end of the closing Mass of the Jubilee of the Sick and Health Care Workers April 6, the pope shocked the thousands gathered in the square who broke out in cheers upon seeing his nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, wheel him out of St. Peter’s Basilica and into the square.

After his brief greeting, doctors in white lab coats, some wearing red clown noses, and infirmed people in wheelchairs applauded as Pope Francis was taken through the crowd to leave the square.

The appearance marks the first time Pope Francis had been seen in public since he was discharged from Rome’s Gemelli hospital March 23 after more than five weeks of treatment for breathing difficulties and double pneumonia.

Prior to appearing in the square, Pope Francis went to confession in St. Peter’s Basilica and passed through the Holy Door, the Vatican press office said.

Although the pope did not attend the entirety of the Mass, his spiritual presence was made tangible through the large cloth banner bearing his papal coat of arms that hung from the central balcony of the basilica. Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, presided over the Mass as the pope’s delegate and read the pope’s homily.

Even amid pain, illness and human fragility, “God does not leave us alone and, if we abandon ourselves to him precisely where our strength fails, we can experience the consolation of his presence,” the pope wrote. “By becoming man, he wanted to share our weakness in everything. He knows what it is to suffer.”

Organizers expected some 20,000 pilgrims to come to Rome for the Jubilee celebration, including patients, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists and other health care workers from more than 90 countries.

Doctors and infirmed people were seated in the front rows for the Mass; health care workers wearing white lab coats served as lectors during the liturgy.

In his homily, the pope emphasized that the experience of illness, though painful, can become “a school in which we learn each day to love and to let ourselves be loved, without being demanding or pushing back, without regrets and without despair.”

The pope urged society not to marginalize the weak and vulnerable but to embrace them as essential members of the community, quoting Pope Benedict XVI who said that a society unable to accept its suffering members “is a cruel and inhuman society.”

In his written message to accompany the Angelus, published by the Vatican after the Mass, Pope Francis reflected on his personal experience of illness.

“During my hospitalization, even now in my convalescence I feel the ‘finger of God’ and experience his caring touch,” he wrote. “On the day of the Jubilee of the sick and the world of health care, I ask the Lord that this touch of his love may reach those who suffer and encourage those who care for them.”

He expressed deep gratitude for health professionals, “who are not always helped to work in adequate conditions and are sometimes even victims of aggression,” calling for resources to be ” invested in treatment and research, so that health systems are inclusive and attentive to the most fragile and the poorest.”

The pope also renewed his appeal for peace in the world, urging the international community to act with urgency in places devastated by war.

“May the weapons be silenced and dialogue resumed; may all the hostages be freed and aid brought to the population,” he said, naming Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, South Sudan, Congo, Myanmar and Haiti among the suffering regions.

SCRANTON – The month of April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. It is a time to recognize the importance of families and communities working together to prevent child mistreatment.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, will celebrate a Healing Mass for Survivors of Abuse at 12:10 p.m. on Thursday, April 10, 2025, at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Scranton.

The Healing Mass provides space for those affected by abuse to find solace, strength, and support. Through prayer, reflection, and healing, the Diocese of Scranton remains committed to offering care and compassion to survivors

The Mass will be broadcast live on CTV: Catholic Television of the Diocese of Scranton and livestream on the Diocese of Scranton website, YouTube channel and social media.

SCRANTON – Parishes across the Diocese of Scranton, including the Cathedral of Saint Peter, are busy preparing for Holy Week and Easter. The faithful are invited and encouraged to attend Masses to experience the joy, hope and love of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, will celebrate several Pontifical Liturgies at the Cathedral of Saint Peter for this holiest time of the year.

CTV: Catholic Television of the Diocese of Scranton will provide live coverage of all of the Pontifical Masses from the Cathedral of Saint Peter. In addition to being broadcast, the Masses will also be available via livestream on the Diocese of Scranton website, YouTube channel and all Diocesan social media platforms.

PALM SUNDAY, APRIL 13

The solemn observances of Holy Week, which recall the passion and death of Jesus Christ, begin on Palm Sunday, April 13. Those attending the service receive palms, a reminder of Scripture telling us that people welcomed Jesus by laying down their cloaks and waving palm branches.

Bishop Bambera will celebrate a Pontifical Liturgy at 12:15 p.m. at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Scranton.

CHRISM MASS, APRIL 15

Priests serving throughout the Diocese will gather at the Cathedral on Tuesday, April 15, at 4:00 p.m. for the Solemn Pontifical Chrism Mass, at which the Holy Oils used during the conferral of sacraments throughout the Church year will be blessed. Bishop Bambera will be the principal celebrant and homilist.

HOLY THURSDAY, APRIL 17

The three most sacred days of the Church’s liturgical year, known as the Sacred Paschal Triduum, begin on Holy Thursday, April 17, with the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper.

The Pontifical Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, which will include the Rite of the Washing of Feet, will begin at 5:30 p.m.

GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 18

On Good Friday, April 18, and the following day (up to the Easter Vigil Mass), by a most ancient tradition, the Church does not celebrate the sacraments at all, except for Penance and Anointing of the Sick.

The Commemoration of the Passion and Death of the Lord celebrated by Bishop Bambera will begin at 12:10 p.m.

HOLY SATURDAY, APRIL 19

Holy Saturday, April 19, is the day that the Church waits at the Lord’s tomb in prayer, meditating on his passion and death and awaiting his resurrection.

Bishop Bambera will be the principal celebrant and homilist of the Easter Vigil Mass at the Cathedral beginning at 8:00 p.m.

EASTER SUNDAY, APRIL 20

Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord is the most joyous day in the Church year. This joy overflows into the 50 days of the Easter season, which concludes on Pentecost Sunday.

On Easter Day, Bishop Bambera will celebrate a Pontifical Mass at 10:00 a.m. at the Cathedral.

WILKES-BARRE – Hundreds of people will gather Saturday evening, April 5, 2025, for a night of fun with great food and exciting basketball games, all to benefit the programs and services of the Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center.

The CYC will hold its annual ‘March Madness’ event at the Westmoreland Club, South Franklin Street, Wilkes-Barre, from 6 to 11 p.m.

The spirit of March Madness will be everywhere, including with the Final Four basketball games broadcast live on large screens throughout the evening.

The CYC March Madness event is one of the CYC’s largest fundraisers of the year. For those who cannot participate in person, there is an online auction available that opened on Wednesday. Dozens of items, including sports memorabilia, a trip to Walt Disney World, and much more, are available via online auction. All of the items can be viewed here.

The Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center has been a fixture in downtown Wilkes-Barre for decades, providing a solid foundation and serving as a home away from home for area youths and families.

The CYC is the largest single-site childcare center in Luzerne County. The facility serves children and families throughout Luzerne County:

• There are currently 247 children enrolled in the 24-hour-a-day childcare program. Of that number, 110 are aged six months to five years. The other 137 children participate in the CYC before/after-school program
• The CYC served a total of 687 children during the 2024 calendar year in its day care/school-aged program
• The CYC serves nearly 10,000 meals a month to the children in our care
• This past winter, 478 children participated in youth basketball leagues

Over its many decades of service to the community, the CYC has developed the personalities, gifts, talents and goals of thousands of young men and women while serving as a major recreation agency.

The CYC’s original structure consisted of multipurpose rooms for programming and special events. A 1959 expansion brought a gymnasium and swimming pool. More land was purchased in the 1970s that allowed for the construction of outdoor basketball and tennis courts and a playground. Through a capital expansion/improvement program, the CYC added a state-of-the-art aquatic center, converted the existing swimming pool into an additional gymnasium, remodeled its main gymnasium, and purchased land to create a park at the rear of the facility.

The Olympic-size pool and community-use indoor basketball court, among other recreational amenities, are community value-adds in the health and wellness arenas, but – even more important in keeping with the CYC’s core mission – they provide outlets for physical health, recreation and socialization for a local population of underprivileged and underserved families who otherwise would lack options for physical exercise, supervised play or coached sport.

Throughout its history, the CYC has evolved to meet changing community needs and now offers social and recreational opportunities to adults and senior citizens as it operates with a motto of “For the Young and the Young at Heart.”

All programming fosters physical, intellectual, and moral development as it combats and prevents substance abuse, delinquency and undesirable or traumatic family circumstances. Ninety-five percent of individuals served are low-income, and they depend on the CYC for unique offerings that include 24-hour childcare, pick-up and drop-off transportation for respite care and drop-in recreation, physical activity, and socialization.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument April 2 in a case concerning South Carolina’s attempt to prevent Planned Parenthood from participating in its Medicaid health program, in what could determine the nation’s largest abortion provider’s ability to use public funds in states that have restricted abortion.

Supporters of allowing Planned Parenthood to receive Medicaid funds point to that group’s involvement in cancer screening and prevention services — such as pap tests and HPV vaccinations — but critics argue the funds are fungible and could be used to facilitate abortion.

Efforts to strip Planned Parenthood of these or other taxpayer funds are sometimes called “defunding,” such as a 2018 executive order signed by Gov. Henry McMaster, R-S.C., stripping two Planned Parenthood clinics in the state of Medicaid funds, a federal program for health care for people with low incomes that is administered by the states.

Federal law generally prohibits the use of Medicaid funds for abortion, and McMaster argued at the time that abortion clinics should be excluded from participating in the Medicaid program. But the Planned Parenthood affiliate in South Carolina and its Medicaid patient, Julie Edwards, argued that any patients eligible for Medicaid should have free choice to obtain health care from any qualified provider.

A key question in the case is whether Medicaid recipients have the ability to sue over such decisions to maintain their chosen provider.

But John Bursch, Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel and vice president of appellate advocacy, who represented the state, argued before the high court that “the words ‘free’ and ‘choice’ don’t appear anywhere” in the statute relevant to Medicaid.

However, pointing to language in the Medicaid law specifying recipients can choose their doctor, Chief Justice John Roberts asked elsewhere during argument, “If the person thinks that’s not being provided, what remedies do they have?”

Attorney Nicole Saharsky, who is representing Planned Parenthood South Atlantic before the court, argued that there is “no alternative federal remedy.”

“There is no way for individuals to challenge the state’s decision to deny them their provider of choice,” she said. “There is no federal cause of action. There is no administrative remedy. Congress expected that an individual would be able to sue in the rare instance when a state is keeping a needy patient away from a qualified and willing provider, if the individual can’t sue, this provision will be meaningless.”

Planned Parenthood South Atlantic has argued its role in South Carolina’s health system is “irreplaceable,” claiming it provides birth control and cancer screenings to people who cannot afford them elsewhere.

According to its website, each of the two clinics Planned Parenthood South Atlantic operates in South Carolina offer abortion prior to the state’s six-week ban.

National health statistics on abortion compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, show approximately 39.5% of abortions take place within the first six weeks of pregnancy.

The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, and as such, opposes direct abortion.

A decision in the case is expected by the end of the court’s current term, typically in June.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – During his long and fruitful pontificate, St. John Paul II embraced the entire world, which stands yet again in need of his blessing, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said.

“Bless us, Holy Father John Paul II. Bless the Lord’s church on its journey, that it may be a pilgrim of hope. Bless this lacerated and disoriented humanity, that it may find the way back to its dignity and its highest vocation, that it may know the riches of God’s mercy and love,” the cardinal said during a memorial Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica April 2, the 20th anniversary of the late Polish pope’s death.

Hundreds of faithful attended the Mass, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a small government delegation representing Poland as well as cardinals and bishops living in Rome and diplomats accredited to the Vatican.

Retired Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who served as St. John Paul’s personal secretary from 1966 until the pope’s death in 2005, greeted and thanked all those who were present.

“Our hearts go out to the Holy Father Francis,” who could not attend as he continues to recover in his residence, the Polish cardinal said. “We know that right now, he is spiritually united with us.”

“We pray for his health, that the Lord will give him the strength he needs to lead the pilgrim church in this Jubilee Year, under the banner of hope in these difficult times for the church and also for the world,” the cardinal said.

Pope Francis had sent Cardinal Dziwisz a letter before his hospitalization Feb. 14, expressing his wishes for a peaceful Holy Year lived in a spirit of hope and offering his blessings to all those taking part in events April 2.

Cardinal Parolin, who began serving in the Vatican Secretariat of State under the late pope starting in 1986, gave the homily, which recalled the legacy and spirituality of the Polish pope, whose pontificate of more than 26 years was the third longest in history.

Pope John Paul exclaimed “with impressive force from the very first unforgettable homily at the inauguration of his pontificate, ‘Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ,'” who knows what humanity is meant to be and points the way to eternal life, the cardinal said.

Because of that conviction, the late pope “could address with authority and firmness not only the Catholic faithful, but also peoples and government leaders,” urging them to “be aware of their responsibility to defend justice, the dignity of human persons and peace,” he said.

“We remember with gratitude and admiration his tireless service of peace, his passionate warnings, his diplomatic initiatives trying to avert wars” even when he was experiencing difficult moments in his life and “the fragility of physical strength was already evident,” Cardinal Parolin said.

St. John Paul never gave up, he said, even while “many of his appeals remained unfortunately unheeded, as happens even to great prophets.”

Another unforgettable hallmark of Pope John Paul’s legacy, he said, was the great Holy Year of 2000 and his ushering the church and the world into the third millennium.

The pope invited the church to confidently set out to sea and cast wide its nets with the new evangelization, he said.

“His words continue to inspire us and are echoed today by his successor, Francis, in this new jubilee,” which also sees the church’s faithful as setting out into “troubled waters, but still pilgrims of hope,” he said, “guided by Peter’s successor and assisted by the Holy Spirit.”

Like the “countless pilgrims who continually come to this basilica and ask for his intercession at the altar where his body rests,” Cardinal Parolin prayed the saint would continue to bless all the faithful, the church and humanity so that everyone would know God’s mercy and love.

After the Mass, dignitaries processed to St. John Paul’s tomb to pray. Cardinal Dzivisz placed a lit white candle on the altar and four representatives of Poland set a large bouquet of red and white roses, the colors of the Polish flag, next to the tomb, which was adorned with many flowers.

Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the papal vicar of Rome, read a prayer, asking for the saint to bless the world’s young people and the faithful so they would be “tireless missionaries of the Gospel today.”

“Bless every family,” he said, underlining how the pope warned against “Satan’s assault against this precious spark of heaven that God has lit on earth. Make us strong and courageous in defending the family.”

“Pray for the whole world, scarred by so many injustices and lacerated by absurd wars, which turn the world into a bloody battlefield, deliver us from war, which is always a defeat for everyone,” Cardinal Reina said.