Category: Diocese of Scranton News

WASHINGTON (CNS) – The Supreme Court appears set to overturn its Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion for nearly 50 years, according to a leaked initial draft of a court opinion obtained by Politico and published online the evening of May 2.

Just minutes after the leak was published, reactions were fast and furious on social media, and barricades were erected around the Supreme Court. Many people gathered at the court in protest and some, including students from The Catholic University of America, were there to pray the rosary.

The draft opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, said Roe “was egregiously wrong from the start” and that “Roe and Casey must be overruled.” Casey v. Planned Parenthood is the 1992 decision that affirmed Roe.

Alito’s opinion said the court’s 1973 Roe decision had exceptionally weak reasoning “and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division,” he wrote.

He also said abortion policies should be determined on the state level.

Politico’s report says Alito’s opinion is supported by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett and that Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan were working on dissents. It was not clear how Chief Justice John Roberts planned to vote.

The 98-page draft, which includes a 31-page appendix of historical state abortion laws, is an opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization – a case about Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy with the potential to also overturn Roe.

The fact that the opinion was leaked also caused significant reaction, because this is unprecedented in the court’s recent history, especially with such a big case.

A May 3 statement by the Supreme Court verified that the draft opinion reported on “is authentic” but that it “does not represent a decision by the Court or the final position of any member on the issues in the case.”

Roberts, in his own statement, emphasized the significance of the leaked document, which he said was a “singular and egregious breach of that trust that is an affront to the Court and the community of public servants who work here.”

He also said that if this action was “intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed. The work of the Court will not be affected in any way.” He said he has directed the Marshal of the Court to launch an investigation into the source of the leak.

Politico acknowledged that “deliberations on controversial cases have in the past been fluid. Justices can and sometimes do change their votes as draft opinions circulate and major decisions can be subject to multiple drafts and vote-trading, sometimes until just days before a decision is unveiled.”

“The court’s holding will not be final until it is published, likely in the next two months,” it added.

But that does not stop the firestorm of speculation and discussion.

A tweet from scotusblog, which reports on the Supreme Court, said: “It’s impossible to overstate the earthquake this will cause inside the Court, in terms of the destruction of trust among the Justices and staff. This leak is the gravest, most unforgivable sin.”

Pro-life groups praised the court’s potential decision but some also questioned the motivation behind the leak and wondered if the court was being manipulated by this action.

A May 2 tweet by Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund, said her organization would “not be providing comment on an official decision of #scotus possible leak until a decision is officially announced.”

“We also believe that given the leak the court should issue a ruling as soon as possible. This leak was meant to corrupt the process. It is heartbreaking that some abortion advocates will stoop to any level to intimidate the court no matter what the consequences,” she added.

“This leak is an act of desperation from rabid abortion supporters,” said Kristan Hawkins, president, Students for Life, in an email to Catholic News Service. She noted that although she didn’t know if rumors about ending Roe were accurate she stressed that “ending Roe is the right decision.”

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, also expressed some skepticism but also praise for the potential decision.

“If the draft opinion made public tonight is the final opinion of the court, we wholeheartedly applaud the decision,” she said in a statement adding: “If Roe is indeed overturned, our job will be to build consensus for the strongest protections possible for unborn children and women in every legislature.”

Those on the other side of the issue were similarly taken aback by the leak but also by the potential impact of the decision if it ultimately echoes the draft opinion.

American Civil Liberties Union tweeted: “If the Supreme Court does indeed issue a majority opinion along the lines of the leaked draft authored by Justice Alito, the shift in the tectonic plates of abortion rights will be as significant as any opinion the Court has ever issued.”

And Planned Parenthood said in a May 2 tweet: “Let’s be clear: This is a draft opinion. It’s outrageous, it’s unprecedented, but it is not final.”

During oral arguments in this case last December, a majority of the justices indicate that they would uphold Mississippi’s abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which was struck down by a federal District Court in Mississippi in 2018 and upheld a year later by the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.

A 15-week ban is not a “dramatic departure from viability,” Roberts said.

The point of viability — when a fetus is said to be able to survive on its own — was key to the discussion because the Supreme Court has consistently ruled that states cannot restrict abortion before 24 weeks or when a fetus is said to be able to survive on its own.

In the draft opinion, Alito said Roe’s viability distinction “makes no sense.”

If this draft is adopted by the court, it means a ruling in favor of the Mississippi abortion ban. If it goes further to overturn Roe, there would be stricter limits to abortion in parts of the U.S., particularly the South and Midwest, with several states set to immediately impose broad abortion bans.

WASHINGTON (CNS) – The annual report of new priests commissioned by the U.S. bishops shows that among those who responded, a shrinking number are white, a sign of the “little-C” catholic nature of the Catholic Church.

Among ordinands — the term used for seminarians slated for ordination this year –  the percentage who are white is 63%. Last year, the percentage who were white was 65%, and in 2020, 67% of ordinands were white. In religious orders, new white priests are at a plurality of 49%.

This was just one of the findings of the study “The Class of 2022: Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood,” conducted for the bishops by Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, released May 2.

As calls come from many corners for the U.S. government to cut student debt, the survey revealed that 58% completed an undergraduate degree or a graduate degree before entering the seminary. But they also brought significant student debt with them as they entered the seminary. That debt, on average, was $29,550, CARA said.

“Between entering seminary and ordination, the average amount of debt carried by responding ordinands in religious institutes decreased by 53% and the average amount of debt carried by responding diocesan ordinands decreased by 4% since entering the seminary,” CARA reported.

“Those who had educational debt were not delayed entrance by that debt with the exception of four respondents who were delayed between one and two years.”

The ordinands pursued a wide variety of academic disciplines before responding to the call to priesthood. Seven fields got at least 10% of respondents’ answers, with none getting more than 17%. In descending order of choice, they were philosophy, liberal arts, theology, business, science or math, education and engineering.

There was a strong tendency to work in education before joining the seminary, constituting 16% among all ordinands; the next highest profession was at 9%.

Distinct minorities, both among entering diocesan and religious priesthood, went to Catholic schools at any level: elementary, high school or and college. Even smaller were the numbers for those not born in the United States. But majorities went to their parish’s religious education program, by close to a 2-to-1 margin.

In their parishes, 74% served as altar servers before entering the seminary, and 51% served as lectors, the only ministries that garnered affirmative replies by more than half of the respondents.

Three-eighths of the respondents served as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion or catechists. Three in ten served in campus or youth ministry. And a quarter had served as confirmation sponsors or godfathers, or as a cantor or in music ministry.

The largest percentage of diocesan ordinands had gone to seminaries in the Midwest, while the greatest number of religious seminarians had done their seminary studies in the South.

Older vocations are fairly scarce. CARA said only 14% were ages 41 or older when they were ordained. Men ages 25-70 were set to be ordained this year, and the average age was 33.

The survey was administered Jan. 10-March 18. An invitation was sent by email to 419 identified ordinands. Follow-up emails were regularly sent to the ordinands who delayed their response. In all, 317 ordinands completed the survey, a 76% response rate. The respondents included 238 ordinands to the diocesan priesthood, a 75% response rate, and 79 ordinands to the religious priesthood, a 25% response rate.

Three in five responding ordinands are white, while 22% were Hispanic, 11% is Asian/Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian. Only 4% were Black. Foreign-born ordinands made up 26% of the respondents, consistent with surveys dating back to 1999, when 28% of respondents were foreign-born.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis encouraged young men and women to look to Mary as a model of courage in listening and fulfilling God’s will.

“She was courageous and determined to say ‘yes’ to the Lord. You young people, who want to build something new, a better world, follow her example, take risks,” the pope said.

In a video message released by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network May 3, the pope offered his prayer intention for the month of May, which he dedicated to young people. At the start of each month, the network posts a short video of the pope offering his specific prayer intention.

In his video message, the pope said Mary was the model “with whom young people can identify with” because of her “courage, the way she knew how to listen and her dedication to service.”

He also reminded young people that in order to follow Mary, they must discern what “Jesus wants from you, not what you might think you can do.”

For this reason, when discerning God’s will in their lives, young men and women can find help in listening “to the words of their grandparents,” the pope said.

“In those words of grandparents, you will find a wisdom that will take you beyond the issues of the moment. They will provide an overview of your concerns,” he said.

Concluding his prayer intention, Pope Francis called on Christians to pray “so that all young people, called to live life to the fullest, may discover in Mary’s life the way to listen, the depth of discernment, the courage of faith, and dedication to service.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Elderly Christians are called to be consistent in their faith, otherwise they risk becoming a sign of hypocrisy for future generations, Pope Francis said.

Addressing elderly men and women present at his weekly general audience May 4, the pope urged them to “please be attentive to young people, they are watching us.”

“Young people are watching us. And our consistency can open a beautiful path of life for them,” he said. On the other hand, “hypocrisy can do so much damage.”

The pope, who suffers from a torn ligament in his knee, remained seated in his popemobile while greeting pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square. In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera published May 3, the pope said he is receiving therapeutic injections to alleviate the pain in his right knee.

Before concluding the audience, Pope Francis apologized for being unable to greet newlyweds personally and said he hoped the problem with his knee would “pass soon and I can go to you in future audiences.”

The pope continued his series of talks dedicated to the meaning and value of “old age” and reflected on the biblical figure of Eleazar, an elderly Maccabean who was killed for refusing to eat meat sacrificed to idols.

His example, the pope said, gives witness to “the special relationship that exists between the fidelity of old age and the honor of faith.”

“The honor of faith periodically comes under pressure, even violent pressure, from the culture of the rulers, who seek to debase it by treating it as an archaeological find, an old superstition, an anachronistic obsession,” he said.

Even when asked to “pretend to eat the meat without actually doing so,” he added, Eleazar refused to dishonor his faith and risk scandalizing younger generations in exchange for “a handful of days.”

“An old man who has lived in the coherence of his faith for a whole lifetime, and who now adapts himself to feigning repudiation of it, condemns the new generation to thinking that the whole faith has been a sham, an outer covering that can be abandoned, imagining that it can be preserved interiorly,” the pope said.

Older people who accept “that the practice of faith is irrelevant” also risk teaching young people to give in to gnosticism, he said, by making them believe that faith “can be faked or concealed because it is not particularly important for life.”

The gnostic interpretation of faith, he added, “nullifies the realism of Christian faith.”

“Christian faith is not just about reciting the creed, it means thinking about the creed, it means feeling the creed and doing the creed,” the pope explained.

“Instead, this gnostic proposal says, ‘Just pretend; the important thing is that you have spirituality within you and then you can do whatever you want.’ And this is not Christian. It is the first heresy of the gnostics, which is very fashionable these days in so many spirituality centers and such,” he said.

Pope Francis encouraged older Christians to give witness to the faith in a way that “shows the concrete signs of God in the life of the community and resists the perversions of the mind through the gestures of the body.”

“Perhaps it is up to us older people – and there are some present here – to give faith back its honor,” the pope said. “The practice of faith is not the symbol of our weakness, but rather the sign of its strength.”

“Faith deserves respect and honor,” he added. “We will show, in all humility and firmness, precisely in our old age, that believing is not something ‘for old people.’ And the Holy Spirit, who makes all things new, will gladly help us.”

SCRANTON – The Diocese of Scranton will celebrate its annual Mother’s Day Adoption Mass on Sunday, May 8, at 10:00 a.m. at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Scranton. This liturgy prayerfully recognizes all mothers, with a special emphasis on adoptive and foster mothers.

Bishop Joseph C. Bambera is scheduled to be the principal celebrant and homilist.

The Mother’s Day Adoption Mass is open to the public and all faithful are invited to attend.

CTV: Catholic Television of the Diocese of Scranton will broadcast the Mass live. A livestream will also be provided on the Diocese of Scranton website, YouTube channel and across all Diocesan social media platforms.

Pope Francis has said that humanity is “built on mothers” and that their love is a cure for a world, which is so often divided and filled with bitterness.

On May 8, please join us for the Mother’s Day Adoption Mass as we pray for mothers, near and far, including Mary, Mother of the Church.

 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis praised members of the U.S.-based Papal Foundation for helping the Catholic Church build “a culture of solidarity and peace,” including by providing assistance to victims of the war in Ukraine.

“As we are witnessing in these days the devastating effects of war and conflict, you increasingly see the need to provide care and humanitarian assistance to its victims, to refugees and to those forced to leave their homelands in search of a better and more secure future for themselves and their loved ones,” the pope told members of the foundation April 28.

“Your work helps to bring the love, hope and mercy that the Gospel proclaims to all who benefit from your generosity and commitment,” the pope told the foundation’s major donors, who are called Stewards of St. Peter, and members of the board of trustees.

Although the six active American cardinals resident in the United States are part of the foundation’s board, only Cardinals Seán P. O’Malley of Boston and Timothy M. Dolan of New York were part of the group’s pilgrimage to Rome.

Cardinal O’Malley, chairman of the board, told Pope Francis, “As we gather today, we join in your Holiness’ concern and prayer for the tragic circumstances of the attacks on Ukraine and the desperate circumstances of the Ukrainian people.”

The foundation, he said, has provided funds to the Ukrainian Catholic Church “to assist with emergency relief efforts.”

After the meeting with the pope, the foundation announced the approval of $14 million in grants, scholarships and humanitarian aid that will be distributed throughout the world. The amount included more than $9 million in grants requested by the Vatican for 123 projects in 64 countries, the foundation said.

For the year ending June 30, 2021, the foundation reported distributing grants of just over $9.8 million and scholarships of $794,000. Since its founding in 1988, the Papal Foundation and its Stewards of St. Peter have allocated more than $200 million in grants and scholarships around the world to more than 2,000 projects selected according to priorities set by the pope.

The group’s 2021 report highlighted the foundation’s help to build a center for faith formation in Burundi, the construction of an orphanage in the Philippines, the renovation of a retreat house in Chile and the expansion of a church-run health center in Rwanda.

The scholarships provided by the foundation enable close to 100 priests, religious sisters, religious brothers and laity to study at one of the pontifical universities in Rome.

“From its inception,” the pope told the foundation members, “solidarity with the successor of Peter has been a hallmark of the Papal Foundation. I ask you, please, to pray for me and for my ministry, for the needs of the church, the spread of the Gospel and the conversion of hearts.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis and his international Council of Cardinals met in-person at the Vatican April 25, discussing the war in Ukraine, the Vatican press office said.

There was a discussion about the conflict and its impact on the church, ecumenism and the sociopolitical sphere, the Vatican said April 28.

The cardinals reflected on the situation and supported the different initiatives that have been launched by Pope Francis and the Vatican’s secretary and secretariat of state, aimed at finding a peaceful solution, according to the Vatican press office.

Each cardinal then presented a rundown of the different situations on their own continent, touching on such issues as peace, health care, poverty, tenuous political situations and pastoral problems in the local churches, it said.

Six of the seven members of the council participated: Cardinals Seán P. O’Malley of Boston; Óscar Rodríguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India; Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, Germany; Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of Kinshasa, and Giuseppe Bertello, retired president of the commission governing Vatican City State. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, was in Mexico to mark 30 years of diplomatic ties with the Vatican.

On his doctor’s orders to rest an inflamed knee, the pope was forced to cancel his scheduled appointments April 26, which included that day’s session of the Council of Cardinals.

The cardinals spent the day discussing climate change and the upcoming COP27 meeting in Egypt in November. They reflected on what the church could be doing to draw attention to the urgency of the problem. Cardinal Ambongo gave a broader look at the global situation and what expectations came out of the COP26 meeting in Glasgow, particularly in helping poorer nations in Asia, Latin America, Africa and Oceania.

The cardinals also continued an in-depth discussion begun in February on women in the church. The April meeting included a presentation by Sister Laura Vicuña Pereira Manso, a member of the Congregation of Franciscan Catechists and the Kariri Indigenous community from the Amazon region in Brazil.

The final day, April 27, the cardinals continued a reflection on the Vatican’s diplomatic service and the role of the apostolic nuncios. Cardinal Gracias presented a report on the subject, followed by an open discussion.

They ended the session discussing the implementation of the “Praedicate Evangelium” (“Preach the Gospel”), the papal constitution reforming the Roman Curia, a project Pope Francis began with the Council of Cardinals shortly after taking office in 2013. Published by the Vatican March 19, it will go into effect June 5, the feast of Pentecost.

The cardinals discussed possible ways to implement the new legislation and evaluate next steps and potential challenges.

The council is scheduled to meet again in June.

WASHINGTON (CNS) – A monumental work of art depicting migrants and refugees seeking a home has found its own permanent home at a new plaza at The Catholic University of America.

During an April 22 blessing and dedication ceremony, Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory blessed Timothy Schmalz’s “Angels Unawares” sculpture and philanthropist and arts patron Jacqueline Mars pushed a button that initiated water flowing around the base of the sculpture to form a reflecting pool.

The sculpture depicts 140 diverse migrants and refugees from different countries and historical eras huddled together on a boat as if seeking a safe harbor, with the flowing water in the reflecting pool seeming to represent the tides carrying the boat’s occupants toward a new life.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” said Mars, who made a gift of $1.25 million for the plaza. In a ceremony before the blessing, she said, “I believe that this statue so personifies exactly what we should be doing, welcoming the stranger.”

The co-owner of Mars, the world’s largest candy company, said the sculpture reflected how the United States was founded by immigrants, and she also said it was very meaningful to her that the refugees in the artwork included the Holy Family, shown on their flight into Egypt with Joseph holding carpentry tools and Mary cradling the baby Jesus in her arms.

Noting the sculpture and plaza’s location, surrounded by the Catholic University campus and with the nearby Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception forming a majestic backdrop, Mars said: “I chose to support Welcome Plaza because I felt this location was a place where the statue could speak to a variety of people: young and old, from this country and elsewhere.”

“To experience ‘Angels Unawares’ in person is an important lesson for all of us,” she said.

The 20-foot-long, 3.5-ton bronze sculpture is the second casting of that artwork by Schmalz, with the originally commissioned by the Vatican and placed in St. Peter’s Square, where it was unveiled by Pope Francis in September 2019 for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

One year later, the second sculpture was blessed by then-Archbishop Gregory at Catholic University, before it traveled on a 9,700-mile tour across the country.

“Nineteen months later, the sculpture has finally arrived in port, and we have settled the matter of where to dock it,” said Catholic University president John Garvey at the dedication ceremony.

A stone marker identifies Welcome Plaza and the “Angels Unawares” sculpture and includes the biblical quote from Hebrews 13:2 that inspired the work: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

To reinforce that spiritual message of welcoming newcomers, large angel wings stretch skyward in the middle of the figures standing shoulder-to-shoulder on the boat.

In his opening prayer at the gathering, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Vatican’s apostolic nuncio to the United States, noted that these are “dramatic days, when so many of our brothers and sisters are forced from their homes” by war and domestic strife.

“Most of all, oh Lord, we ask you to send your holy angels to comfort the migrants and refugees, the marginalized and the despondent and those who care for them,” he prayed.

The artist also addressed the guests and said viewing the sculpture brought him a flashback of the faces he used as models for the work. The Canadian artist said some, including African refugees, posed for him in his studio, while many of the historical figures were based on photos from the archives of Ellis Island.

The figures in the sculpture represent a range of ages, ethnic backgrounds and emotions. Most look forward, and some look back.

The figures in the front of the sculpture include a Muslim woman fleeing Syria, a Jewish man holding suitcases while escaping Nazi Germany, a pregnant woman from Poland and an Irish boy leaving home during the potato famine. In the back is the figure of a Cherokee man with his hand clutching his face in sorrow as he is forced from his tribe’s lands during the “Trail of Tears.”

“I hope when people look at it, they will see themselves within it,” said Schmalz.

The interfaith ceremony also included remarks by an Episcopal priest, a Muslim imam and a Jewish rabbi, who all spoke of how welcoming strangers is a central tenet to their faiths.

In an interview, the artist said that the “Angels Unawares” in this setting celebrates the story of immigrants in America. And he noted that with this casting of the sculpture, the figures in the boat are able to be surrounded by water, which couldn’t be done in St. Peter’s Square.

Mars said she “felt strongly about the water element and that the statue should be floating as on a boat. When you think of all the immigrants and the images we see of many of them crossing at sea to escape, it just seemed appropriate to have that water element in the plaza, too.”

“I truly hope ‘Angels Unawares’ will move people to a generosity of spirit toward immigrants,” she said.

WASHINGTON (CNS) – A federal judge at an April 25 hearing said he would grant the requests of three states to force the federal government to keep in place a public-health order at the U.S.-Mexico border that has increased the number of expulsions of immigrants trying to cross into the United States.

The public-health order, known as Title 42, allows the United States to bar entry of persons who have recently been in a country where a communicable disease was present. It was applied by the Trump administration in March 2020, soon after the coronavirus pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization.

U.S. District Judge Robert R. Summerhays of the Western District of Louisiana, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, said he would sign an order to keep the policy in place, and to order the federal government to certify that it is not acting ahead of its announced May 23 date to drop the Title 42 provision.

The Biden administration has come under fire from both Republicans and Democrats for planning to end the policy. The Centers for Disease Control and Protection announced in April that the restriction could be dropped in late May.

Catholic groups that support immigrants have long been calling for an end to this restriction.

Since Title 42 was applied at the border, 1.61 million people have been expelled by the United States through January, the latest month for which statistics are available. The vast majority, 1.56 million, were expelled by the U.S. Border Patrol, while 52,735 were expelled by the Office of Field Operations.

Immigration advocates criticized the policy when it was first enacted by Trump, and have pressed the Biden administration to drop it.

Some elected officials have predicted an overwhelming surge in immigration should Title 42 be lifted, predicting 12,000 to 13,000 border crossings daily. The Biden administration said it is planning for 18,000 daily crossings effective May 23.

Summerhays has not yet ruled on another request in the suit to force the Biden administration to keep Title 42 in place. The United States has made exceptions to the policy, particularly in the case of well-founded fears of violence and death if not admitted into the country.

The suit was brought by the states of Arizona, Louisiana and Missouri, the latter two of which have no land border crossing with Mexico.

While the majority of immigrants hail from the “Northern Triangle” countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, a growing number of refugees from countries even further from Mexico — such as Cuba, Brazil and India — have shown up at the border. Mexico has been loath to accept them after they were expelled by the United States.

In recent weeks, Ukrainians fleeing their homeland after Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine have also been seeking entry into the United States from Mexico.