Category: Diocese of Scranton News

NORTH ABINGTON TWP– As the Catholic Church entered the ‘Season of Creation’ at the beginning of September, a group of young adults from across the Diocese of Scranton found a simple way to celebrate the beauty of God’s creation.

On Saturday, Sept. 4, 2026, the Diocesan Office for Parish Life hosted its second annual Young Adult Rosary Hike at Lackawanna State Park, bringing together seven dozen people from communities stretching from Conyngham and Drums to Meshoppen and Scranton.

The group followed the Turkey Hill Trail and part of the Abington Trail on a 2.7-mile hike, pausing along the way to pray the Rosary.

Bridget Maille, Program Coordinator for Family Life in the Diocesan Office for Parish Life, said combining prayer with the outdoors was intentional.

“Being that we work with young adults, we want them to start engaging their faith in the things that they do on a regular basis,” she explained.

“A hike is a really good way to gather and come together in community, but also to unite what you love to do with your faith.”

After holding a similar Rosary Hike last year at Rickett’s Glen State Park, organizers decided to switch up locations and had a whole new group of people sign up.

“The response has been very, very positive,” Maille said. “Everybody is meeting new people; they’re smiling and having a good time. It is also a gorgeous day – praise God.”

Participants say the Rosary Hike was an enjoyable afternoon that brought them closer to God.

Tristan Cole of Holy Name of Mary Parish in Montrose said being surrounded by nature helped him recognize God’s presence in a tangible way.

“It’s very good for us to see the gifts that He’s given us firsthand,” he said. “Sitting in prayer is very important, but getting out here in nature is very helpful. It definitely helps us connect with God.”

Ava Rockey, a Misericordia University student from New Jersey, only started praying the Rosary last year and heard about the event through an email.

“I feel so connected to God with nature,” she said. “That’s how I can feel that presence. It can be a quiet time of reflective prayer for me too.”

The hike offered Rockey more than an opportunity to pray. She also made new friends.

“It was beautiful. I had some great conversations with some new people and I’m really excited about those connections,” she added.

Matthias Mooris of Saint Michael Parish in Scranton also appreciated the opportunity to meet other young Catholics.

“Regardless of your age, you should be connecting to people with common values,” Mooris said. “Nature, for me, has always been one of the best places to get your mind straight and get right with God. You’re looking around and how could you not think about God, especially out here in these beautiful woods.”

DINGMAN TOWNSHIP – Fifty years of faith and community were celebrated on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, as Saint Vincent de Paul Parish in Pike County marked its golden anniversary with a special Mass celebrated by the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton.

The 11:15 a.m. Mass, held at the parish in Dingman Township, served as the official kickoff to more than a year of anniversary activities designed to celebrate the church’s past while looking toward its future.

Parishioners have chosen the theme “This Far By Faith” for the year-long celebration, reflecting the parish’s journey since its founding in 1976.

“It actually brought me to tears,” Sue Casey, chairperson of the anniversary celebrations, said describing the Mass. “We started this about eight months ago. I met with maybe 50 parishioners to come up with ideas about how we wanted to represent this year. It turned out that everybody said that beginning with a Mass, beginning with the Bishop and the Word (of God), was the way we wanted to do it.”

Casey said the theme reflects both gratitude for the parish’s history and confidence in where God is leading it next.

“The energy is here. Over the next year, we’re going to be doing something every month and I think that is really going to build on it,” Casey explained.

The 50th Anniversary Mass brought together current and former parish leaders, deacons, parishioners and families who have helped shape Saint Vincent de Paul over the past five decades.

For Father Ed Casey, Pastor of Saint Vincent de Paul Parish, as well as Saint Ann Parish, Shohola, and Saint John Neumann Parish, Lords Valley, the Anniversary Mass offered an opportunity to celebrate something positive and meaningful.

“A lot of times, when you hear news on the radio or TV, it is usually negative,” Father Casey said. “We thought there is such a good spirit here, that we celebrate something positive, something that has lasted for 50 years, against many difficulties, but has survived and continues to preach the Gospel of Christ.”

The parish’s location along the Route 739 corridor of Pike County places it some distance from the Diocese of Scranton’s urban center. Father Casey said having Bishop Bambera present was especially meaningful for parishioners.

“What is important for the people here, because of their distance from the city, they don’t get to see who is the real pastor of the Diocese of Scranton, and that is Bishop Bambera,” he said. “So we were so glad that he was able to come and be with us today.”

For those who call Saint Vincent de Paul their “home parish,” they say its greatest strength is not in its location or facilities, but in its people.

Laurie Hanley, a member of the anniversary committee, describes the parish as a place where people feel welcomed and invited to participate.

“Everybody says, ‘all are welcome here at this parish,’ and we feel that,” she said.

That spirit of welcome extends across generations.

Jennifer Alfaro-Martinez, chairperson of the anniversary potluck committee, has been a parishioner for only a few years, but said her family was welcomed immediately.

“This church is a God-send for us,” she said. “They’re giving, they’re welcoming, and it is really a beautiful parish.”

Alfaro-Martinez was particularly impressed by the Children’s Choir which performed at the Anniversary Mass. Parishioners say the Children’s Choir has not performed in a long time.

“The Children’s Choir was adorable. My two children were in it. It was amazing,” she said.

For Cathy Davidson, who became active in the parish after moving to the area with her family, Saint Vincent de Paul quickly became a “second home.”

“It feels like I came home,” she said. “It feels like God built the parish for me and this is where I belong.”

Now, as the parish looks toward its next 50 years, its anniversary celebration will continue to bring parishioners together throughout the next year.

From a ministry fair and veterans’ tribute to a children’s birthday celebration for Jesus, special bingo, Lenten activities, service at a nursing facility, a musical celebration, family fun day and more, the parish has planned a different activity each month throughout the coming year.

For Sue Casey, these activities are not simply a way to commemorate a milestone. They are an opportunity to remember the moments – both ordinary and extraordinary – that have made Saint Vincent de Paul Parish what it is.

During the Anniversary Mass, she recalled one particularly meaningful memory: the baptism of her grandson in the parish after her son-in-law was deployed to Iraq in 2009.

“Those were times through those last 50 years which we may have forgotten,” she said. “But we came this far by faith – and it’s good to have those memories.”

WILKES-BARRE – Exactly eighty years after King’s College celebrated its first Convocation Mass in 1946, students, administrators and alumni gathered in both thanksgiving and hope.

On Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, an 80th Anniversary Mass for King’s College was celebrated in the Chapel of Christ the King on the Wilkes-Barre college’s campus. The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, served as principal celebrant while Father Thomas P. Looney, C.S.C., President of King’s College, delivered the homily.

Father Looney invited the King’s community to celebrate how the college has grown from a single building and rented playing fields into a 31-acre downtown campus with a 33-acre athletic complex, more than 40 undergraduate majors, 11 graduate programs and 28 NCAA Division III athletic teams.

The student body, once all male, has also grown into a diverse community of women and men from a variety of cultural, ethnic, religious, and racial backgrounds.

Yet, Father Looney emphasized that the most essential element of the last eight decades isn’t measured in buildings or programs. Instead, it is the fact that King’s has remained faithful to its founding mission as a Catholic institution committed to transforming students in both mind and heart.

“The birth of King’s College was – and our continued mission is – a condition of possibility for the transformation of the lives of the students who come to us,” Father Looney said.

More than 22,000 alumni have gone forth from King’s to serve in the fields of education, medicine, engineering, health care, business and more, while also raising families, serving their communities and caring for those most in need.

“We are small, but we are mighty and we are great. We do amazing, transformative work,” Father Looney emphasized.

During his homily, Father Looney described the founding of King’s as a “risky” collaboration between the Diocese of Scranton, the Congregation of Holy Cross and lay collaborators – a mission that required a “yes” so many decades ago and continues to require that same spirit of commitment today.

“That same Holy Spirit has drawn us together today to offer praise and thanksgiving to God for these past 80 years of King’s College. And we gather together and we pray that the same Holy Spirit will enable us to live, ever more deeply, the mission God’s loving providence has entrusted to us,” Father Looney said.

The connection between the past and the future took on a particularly meaningful form during the Mass when Father Looney presented Bishop Bambera with a relic of Saint Pius X as a gift from King’s College.

Bishop Bambera accepted the relic on behalf of Saint Pius X Seminary, which was re-established in downtown Scranton just weeks earlier.

The gift will be a tangible connection between King’s College and the Diocese of Scranton which are both committed to formation and service.

SCRANTON – The Cathedral of Saint Peter was filled to capacity earlier this month as generations of Italian Americans gathered to celebrate their faith and heritage.

The annual Mass in Italian, which has been part of La Festa Italiana since its beginning 50 years ago, was held on Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026.

Father David Cappelloni, La Festa chaplain and Pastor of Saint John Paul II Parish in Dunmore, served as the principal celebrant of the Mass. The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, was in attendance and delivered the homily.

“It is pretty obvious to me this morning from this gathering, that our ancestors didn’t simply bring to this country recipes and traditions … they brought faith,” Bishop Bambera said. “That is why this Cathedral is packed this morning to standing room only.”

The Bishop emphasized it is that faith that sustained them and brought them hope.

“They built community. They shared from their bounty and even from their poverty. And they served,” he said. “They served – as the Lord whom they worshiped – gave them example.”

For La Festa Italiana President and Chairman Chris DiMattio, that combination of faith and heritage is precisely why the Mass remains so important.

“It is a way to bring family tradition and faith together and to celebrate with music and prayer. It’s wonderful,” DiMattio said.

DiMattio said continuing to celebrate the Mass largely in Italian is also important for preserving the Italian heritage for future generations.

“Once you lose the language, you lose the culture,” he added. “So, we’re so happy that we continue to do most of the Mass in Italian. That keeps our culture alive.”

Father Cappelloni said the whole four-day La Festa Italiana event in downtown Scranton, which features dozens of food vendors and bringing in more than 100,000 people, would not be complete without the Cathedral liturgy.

“We couldn’t have La Festa without the Mass,” he said, noting that faith was as much a part of the Italian immigrant experience as food, language and other traditions.

For some people, the weekend serves as a homecoming.

Rick DiLiberto, second vice president of UNICO National, traveled from Delaware with his wife, and met up with his daughter who now lives in Florida.

“It’s important for us to be together,” he said.

A Hazleton native, DiLiberto said the Mass remains integral to Italian American history and tradition.

As he participated in the Sign of Peace during Mass, DiLiberto reflected on its importance.

“In today’s world, that is really what we need, which is finding commonalities and similarities rather than differences,” he said.

AVOCA – Irish music filled Saint Mary’s Hall late last month as parishioners of Queen of the Apostles Parish gathered for an evening of food, fellowship and a celebration of the heritage that has been part of their community for generations.

An “Irish Night” held on Aug. 29, 2026, brought approximately 125 people together to enjoy traditional Irish food, live Celtic music, and a performance by the Joyce School of Irish Dance.

When asked why the parish decided to put the event together, chairman Jimbo McMahon smiled and offered a short, simple response.

“Because it’s Avoca and Avoca is Irish,” he said.

The evening featured a traditional Irish buffet prepared by Chef Eugene Philbin, an Avoca native and parishioner, including Irish sausage with red onion and whiskey gravy, tender beef prepared with Guinness stout and red wine gravy, roasted garlic mashed potatoes with cabbage and greens, seasonal vegetables, Irish soda bread and homemade desserts.

Guests also enjoyed live music from The Quietmen, a Dalton-based group performing Irish and Celtic music, folk favorites and popular acoustic songs spanning several decades.

For Father Thomas Petro, who became Pastor of Queen of the Apostles Parish in July 2025, the evening was an opportunity to honor parishioner’s cultural roots that stretch back more than 150 years.

“Our parish was established in the year 1871. The church (Saint Mary Church) was built in 1874,” Father Petro explained. “Since that time, Irish Catholics have been living and praying and celebrating in Avoca and we wanted to continue a little bit of that tradition.”

The celebration also provided an opportunity for parishioners to gather with one another and spend time with Father Petro, if they hadn’t yet had the opportunity to meet him.

“Here at Saint Mary’s, we have a long tradition in Avoca of being Irish, Catholic and being proud of that,” Father Petro added.

For parishioner Jackie Galvin, the evening was particularly meaningful.

“It’s just really nice to have an event where we can celebrate all those things that are important to us, in terms of our heritage and our faith,” she said.

Galvin, a third-generation Irish American, said her family has deep ties to Saint Mary Church, where she and her husband were married and where their son is receiving his sacraments.

“I think it’s important to remember where you came from,” she said. “Our ancestors came here for a better life and to help build America.”

The turnout of parishioners was especially encouraging for organizers, who hope to hold similar events in the future.

“Everybody was so happy. The food was delicious,” McMahon said. “I’m glad everybody showed up and I’m looking forward to doing it again.”

FOREST CITY – Hamburgers, hot dogs, games, and face painting helped bring families together before the start of the new school year on Aug. 22, 2026, as Ascension Parish hosted a Family Fun Day at Saint Joseph Church in Forest City.

The gathering welcomed children and families from Ascension Parish, Saint Katharine Drexel Parish, and the surrounding community for an afternoon of food, fellowship and fun.

“We are very excited for the whole parish to see the children of our parishes and community and to bring them together to share joy and fun before they go to school,” Father Arun Lakra, Pastor, explained.

In addition to games and free food, school supplies and other necessities were distributed to help local students prepare for the year ahead.
Parishioner Kathryn Pavlovich said the event also provided an opportunity for neighbors to get to know one another.

“There are a lot of people that really don’t know each other in the community, and I think a gathering (like this) will help them communicate with each other,” she said.

Madison Franckowiac, a young parishioner who was volunteering to get community service hours for the National Junior Honor Society, helped to distribute hygiene supplies to those needing them.

“It was a nice fun day before school starts,” she said. “It’s a get together for the community.”

Parishioner Jennifer Pearson said the event reflected the parish’s desire to support local families while strengthening connections between generations.

“We want to bring more young people into our community,” Pearson said. “I like to see the connections between the kids and the adults.”

(OSV News) – The much-anticipated beatification of Venerable Fulton J. Sheen is set for Sept. 24 in St. Louis, marking a historic moment for the Catholic Church in the United States. Not only is Sheen the first television host to be formally recognized by the Church as “blessed,” but he also will become the first American-born bishop to be beatified.

For many of the nation’s bishops, however, Sheen’s beatification is about more than historical firsts. In interviews with OSV News, several bishops described a man whose influence as an evangelist and communicator flowed from a deeply rooted life of prayer and sacrifice — and whose example remains relevant to the Church’s mission today.

An auxiliary bishop of New York from 1951 to 1966, Sheen left an indelible mark on the Church in the United States and beyond. Yet when he arrived in New York, he was no stranger to the city. For two decades, while teaching at The Catholic University of America in Washington, he had traveled regularly to NBC studios to broadcast his popular weekly radio program. As an auxiliary bishop in New York, he also directed the Society for the Propagation of the Faith (one of The Pontifical Mission Societies), connecting American Catholics to the Church’s missionary work throughout the world.

For New York Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks, who said he is “filled with joy” at Sheen’s impending beatification, Sheen’s ministry offers a lesson the Church still needs today: evangelization must lead people into the mission of the Church.

“He was able to connect evangelization with mission,” Archbishop Hicks said. “We oftentimes focus only on his efforts to be on the radio or in front of television, and he did an extraordinary job at all of that. And at the same time, he used that platform to connect people to the mission of the Church, helping us to go deeper in our journey to know, love and serve Jesus.”

Sheen’s extraordinary public ministry, Archbishop Hicks stressed, flowed from the depth of his own Catholic life.

“I love his devotion to the Eucharist, to the Word, to the Rosary. I mean, it was all there — the Catholic life he embraced and he amplified and magnified.”

Sheen was “always making sure that we were never a self-referential Church, a self-serving Church, but a Church always on mission,” Archbishop Hicks said. Through his leadership of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, Sheen devoted considerable energy to supporting young churches throughout the world.

But what inspires Archbishop Hicks most is Sheen’s willingness to serve wherever he was needed.

“Sheen always answered with a ‘Yes, send me where you need me, Lord,’ and I will go and I will respond and I will give it my best,” he said. “And his example inspires me.”

Rockville Centre Bishop John O. Barres finds in Sheen a similar connection between holiness and mission, calling him “our American St. Paul.” Citing Pope St. John Paul II’s insight that every saint is both deeply contemplative and deeply missionary, Bishop Barres said Sheen demonstrates how prayer and sacrifice bear fruit in evangelization.

“The more Catholics in the United States and everywhere are praying, sacrificing, carrying crosses on behalf of Catholic global worldwide mission in every continent,” he said, “the better we evangelize our families, our parishes, our secular networks and secular workplaces.”

Bishop Barres, who serves as chairman of the board of The Pontifical Mission Societies — the successor organization to the one Sheen directed — also was baptized by Sheen. He sees the beatification as an opportunity not only to remember Sheen’s accomplishments in supporting the missions, but “to move it forward in the 21st century.”

He points to Sheen’s gifts as a teacher and model for bishops, particularly his conviction “that the truth claims of the Catholic Church are liberating to all human beings because they are objectively true for all human beings.”

For Denver Archbishop James R. Golka, Sheen’s legacy as a teacher of the faith is equally compelling.

“When I picture him, one of the images that I have is of him as a bishop standing with his chalkboard teaching the whole world about Jesus and the Catholic faith,” Archbishop Golka said. “And for me that’s what we all ought to be doing. It’s kind of like a commission to do the same — not just teach our own flock, but the whole world.”

Sheen’s “clear, unambiguous teachings,” Archbishop Golka said, demonstrate how “truth leads to beauty and to wonder and to love.” In a culture increasingly marked by division and anxiety, he sees Sheen’s insistence on putting Christ at the center of everything as an enduring message.

“Our culture and world are divided and anxious, and we know the only remedy to that is Christ,” he said.

Bishop Steven J. Maekawa, O.P., of Fairbanks similarly sees Sheen’s ability to speak to ordinary human experience as central to his enduring appeal. Sheen could speak, Bishop Maekawa said, to “the regularity of the cross” in people’s lives and awaken within them a recognition of their deepest hunger.

“He’s trying to draw out that hunger and say that, you know, this is meant for you to have,” Bishop Maekawa said. “God wants you to have this.”

Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Sheen’s example is especially relevant to the bishops’ priority of evangelization and inviting others into an encounter with Jesus Christ. Calling Sheen “one of the premier evangelists in our nation’s history,” Archbishop Coakley sees his example as “prophetic and profound.”

“He was, in a certain sense, all things to all people in his day,” Archbishop Coakley said. “I think that’s going to be his lasting legacy as an evangelist, really.”

Sheen’s witness will also continue to inspire future generations of priests, Bishop Barres believes. Through his life, intercession and writings on the priesthood, “Sheen’s going to be an instrument of a rich harvest of vocations for the priesthood,” he said.

Among a younger generation of clerics particularly inspired by Sheen is the soon-to-be-blessed’s own successor in Rochester, Bishop John S. Bonnici. Installed earlier this year, Bishop Bonnici has spoken with priests who served under Sheen during his brief tenure as bishop of Rochester from 1966 to 1969 and discovered another dimension of the famous television personality.

“The priests that I’ve spoken to speak of how his love for the poor always stood out, which is not what you necessarily would glean from his TV appearances,” Bishop Bonnici said.

Sheen was deeply concerned about Rochester’s housing problems and the beginnings of homelessness, Bishop Bonnici noted, and he was willing to challenge powerful interests on behalf of those in need.

One priest recalled to Bishop Bonnici how he was accompanying Sheen when a beggar with a reputation approached Sheen for money. As Sheen reached into his pocket, the priest warned him, “He’s taking you for a ride.” But Sheen stopped him. “I never want to make the mistake of turning someone away that just might be Jesus,” he said before giving the man his money.

Bishop Bonnici also admires Sheen’s humility in accepting his appointment to Rochester despite his international reputation and lack of experience leading a diocese.

“A man of his stature and popularity and fame still acknowledged that he, despite his age, needed a lot of learning,” Bishop Bonnici said. “So I think that’s inspirational and sobering.”

As Bishop Bonnici travels throughout the Rochester diocese, he has begun using Sheen’s crosier. When people recognize it from old photographs, he said, “they’re just drawn to it. They want to touch it. They want to hear about it.”

Several of the bishops also point to Sheen’s own prayer life — particularly his commitment to a daily Holy Hour for nearly six decades — as an inspiration to bishops and laity alike.

“Clearly you don’t do that unless there’s a huge love and personal hunger for God,” Bishop Maekawa said.

Bishop Bonnici observed that “a lot of young people today are grasping and appreciating” Sheen’s hallmark spiritual practice.

“What most young people today, I think, are seeking is a pause from the craziness of the technical world that they live in,” he said. “And I think that’s drawing them to prayer. So what better person than Sheen to not only nurture that in their lives, but also offer them guidance and insight on how to move forward?”

Archbishop Coakley sees Sheen’s continued relevance as multifaceted. He recalled that “one of my first ways of coming to reverence and recognize him was as a champion for life,” having prayed for decades a pro-life prayer attributed to Sheen.

For Archbishop Coakley, Sheen’s beatification is also “a source of pride” for the U.S. bishops “that the Church has recognized this man who is such a great evangelist, such a great figure in American Catholic Church history.”

But the significance goes beyond historical significance. For bishops who appreciate Sheen’s legacy as missionary, teacher and evangelist, attentive to the poor and grounded in prayer, his beatification offers a model of episcopal ministry rooted in personal holiness.

Sheen’s life also demonstrates that his greatest legacy was not his achievements or fame, but the way he made use of it all to point beyond himself — toward Christ, the Church and the needs of others. Sheen’s witness shows that evangelization flows from prayer, fidelity to Christ leads outward in mission, and ordained ministry must remain grounded in holiness.

That, Archbishop Coakley suggested, gives Sheen’s beatification significance for the entire U.S. episcopate.

“In a certain sense, Sheen’s beatification is evidence that the Church in the United States is coming of age and maturing in many ways,” he said. “The full flowering of our baptismal grace is a life of holiness, and to have some of our ecclesiastical figures, priests and bishops, who are being acknowledged and recognized by the Church for their holiness is, I think, a sign of great hope.”

Archbishop Coakley stressed that “we all have much to learn from him” and sees Sheen’s beatification as “a certain affirmation to the U.S. bishops.”

“To have one of our own beatified, the first member of this conference who’s ever been beatified,” he said, “it is a beautiful thing, isn’t it?”

(OSV News) – Amid recent calls from several artificial intelligence leaders for a slowdown in the technology’s development, the nation’s Catholic bishops are engaging tech leaders and lawmakers to address concerns over AI and online child safety.

The bishops have also formed a task force to safeguard human dignity as AI rapidly evolves, echoing Pope Leo XIV’s urgent message in his encyclical on AI, “Magnifica Humanitas.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced the developments in a Sept. 16 press release, saying its Administrative Committee had met at the USCCB’s Washington headquarters with “representatives from a variety of tech firms and specialists” in AI earlier that day.

The committee, led by USCCB president Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, serves as the conference’s board of directors. Members include the USCCB’s officers, standing committee chairs and a representative from each of the nation’s 15 episcopal regions, including the Eastern Catholic Churches.

In its press release, the USCCB said Bishop Oscar Cantú of San Jose, California — home to Silicon Valley and the hub of AI development — will chair its Bishops’ Task Force on Preserving Human Dignity in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.

In a Sept. 16 phone call following the committee meeting, Bishop Cantú told OSV News that the task force had been unanimously approved, with a goal of carrying out “the vision of Pope Leo” expressed in “Magnifica Humanitas.”

Bishop Cantú explained that Pope Leo has “given the Church marching orders” to remind the world that technology can be beneficial “when it’s able to assist humanity in the work that we do” while “supporting our dignity as individuals and families and helping us to build healthy societies.”

“Time is of the essence” in ensuring creating awareness of and meaningful dialogue at all levels regarding AI, said Bishop Cantú.

He stressed that the Church is “concerned about how this (AI) affects the individual, human dignity, the family, society and particularly the most vulnerable.”

Following the Administrative Committee meeting, the USCCB said in its release, more than a dozen bishops headed to Capitol Hill “to meet with members of Congress urging for the enactment of meaningful safety guardrails on Artificial Intelligence and to support legislation to protect children online.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has dismissed alarms over AI dangers, calling the issue a “hoax” in an onstage phone call to NVIDIA chief Jensen Huang during Huang’s talk at a Sept. 14 conference in Los Angeles.

In the press release, USCCB executive director of public affairs Chieko Noguchi said the dialogue with AI experts had “focused on ways to keep any system of artificial intelligence at the service of humanity.”

The exchange also stressed “the urgent need to address the real and present dangers such technology present,” said Noguchi.

“Recent events have only emphasized the great need for action by everyone involved,” she said.

In a Sept. 12 essay, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei declared that “we must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models.”

Amodei, whose company was on hand for the unveiling of Pope Leo’s AI encyclical, cited two key reasons for his warning.

The first, he said, is AI’s “growing ability to build the next generation” of itself, with such recursive self-improvement becoming industry-wide.

“Left unchecked, it could outrun our ability to understand and control these systems, and so must be pursued very carefully, if at all,” said Amodei.

A second red flag was an incident involving OpenAI and Hugging Face (recently acquired by tech giant NVIDIA), where AI agents conducted a rogue attack outside the scope of a test.

Amodei said while “it’s easy to dismiss this incident because no one was hurt and the economic damage was minimal,” a “swarm” of AI agents possessing “greater capabilities but a similar level of misalignment” with human values “could have caused catastrophic damage.”

Fellow Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark has also called for an AI downshift, as have OpenAI’s Sam Altman and xAI’s Elon Musk.

Noguchi said the bishops hoped their Sept. 16 meeting with tech experts would “help to identify ways the Church can contribute to the moral foundation of AI models,” as well as “steps the companies can take to protect against misuse of their inventions and to guarantee human oversight of the technology.”

The discussion also explored “how the Church and industry can work together toward the goal of ensuring that technology is used in ways that keep it human-centered, respecting the dignity of each person, and benefiting all — poor and rich alike,” said Noguchi.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – While overwhelming sorrow at the memory of the dead from 9/11 comes easily, the continuing challenge for Catholics is forgiveness and reconciliation in a fractured world, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio said in his Sept. 11 homily.

Archbishop Broglio, head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, called for “reconciliation, dialogue, and rebuilding a sense of our common humanity.”

The afternoon Mass celebrated by the military archbishop in the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception was a quiet, reflective end to a day filled with somber and emotional 25th anniversary commemorations in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, marking when al-Qaida terrorists hijacked and crashed four planes on Sept. 11, 2001 killing 2,977, including first responders. Thousands have died in years since from 9/11-related illnesses, adding to the death toll.

Masses were held by bishops around all three locations to commemorate 9/11, including a vigil Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York on Sept. 10, and a Red, White & Blue Mass at the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Siena in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 11 that began at 8:46 a.m. That marked the moment American Airlines Flight 11 hit the World Trade Center’s North Tower in New York. United Airlines Flight 175 would strike the South Tower within 20 minutes at 9:03 a.m. The Allentown Diocese includes Shanksville, where United Airlines Flight 93 went down at 10:03 a.m. after passengers mounted a valiant fight to take back the hijacked plane.

Masses celebrated to commemorate 9/11 included a vigil Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York the evening of Sept. 10 and a Red, White & Blue Mass at the Cathedral of St. Catharine of Siena in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 11 that began at 8:46 a.m. That marked the moment American Airlines Flight 11 hit the World Trade Center’s North Tower in New York. United Airlines Flight 175 would strike the South Tower within 20 minutes at 9:03 a.m.

United Airlines Flight 93 went down at 10:03 a.m. in a field near Shanksville after passengers mounted a valiant fight to take back the hijacked plane. Shanksville is in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, whose bishop, Bishop Mark L. Bartchak, participated with other faith leaders in a Sept. 11 commemoration at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville.

Prior to the Mass in Washington with the military archbishop, the national shrine tolled its largest bell, the Mary Bell, 25 times at 9:37 a.m. on Sept. 11, commemorating when American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon just 5 miles away.

“We raise up to God the nearly 3,000 lives who were lost; we pay tribute to the first responders; and we will never forget the day that shook our nation to its very core,” said Msgr. Walter R. Rossi, the basilica’s rector.

In his homily, Archbishop Broglio compared the abiding memories of 9/11 to the memories of those old enough to remember where they were when President John F. Kennedy, the first Catholic president of the U.S., was assassinated Nov. 22, 1963.

With the suddenness of the deliberate plane crashes on that clear morning, “in a very real sense, the whole world felt the impact of the attack,” he said.

He added, “No one really prepares for a tragedy of that dimension. Certainly, the first responders train, follow procedures and imagine emergencies; but the magnitude of the events of that September day took the world by surprise.”

“So many of the police and firefighters who rushed into that situation died in the catastrophe,” he said, adding, “At this celebration, we pray for their eternal repose.”

Referring to the Gospel of John, in which Jesus reminds his disciples that there is no greater love than laying down one’s life for one’s friends, Archbishop Broglio reflected: “Is not that the application that these men and women made to care for others? Did they not set aside all of the considerations that would make someone go away from these scenes, and instead do what they could?”

He remembered that “some still suffer the ill effects of the toxic air they breathed in the moments of immediate response. Others experienced trauma as they so quickly responded. We pray for them as well. They will carry those effects with them for a lifetime, perhaps even a shorter one than expected.”

Of the grieving families, he said, “We beg the Lord to shower healing and serenity upon them.”

St. Paul, he said, “reminds us that preaching the Gospel is an obligation, not an option,” and that his advice was “be persistent, whether it is convenient or inconvenient.”

Recalling the horrors of 9/11, Archbishop Broglio acknowledged the search for retribution and justice for the crimes committed against the dignity of the human person.

“We find it difficult to forgive, and more difficult to work for reconciliation. We find challenging the notion that I cannot change another, or his or her perceptions,” he reflected.

“But I can change mine,” he said. “I can adjust my approach. Drawing on divine grace, I can be an instrument of reconciliation.”

ROME (OSV News) – Pope Leo XIV visited the Vatican Library for the first time as pope on his birthday, Sept. 14, and announced plans for the construction of a new modern building in Vatican City to house the holdings of the library and the Vatican Apostolic Archive.

The pope said it seemed providential to celebrate his 71st birthday at the Vatican Library because his mother was a librarian.

On the day of his visit, the pope also issued a decree ordering the construction of a new building in Vatican City State on the site of what is now a parking lot. The facility, to be shared by the Vatican Library and the Vatican archives, will be built “according to the most modern architectural and technological principles.”

It was one of two papal decrees published by the Vatican on the pope’s birthday. The other repealed provisions introduced by Pope Francis in March 2021 that reduced the salaries of cardinals and Vatican employees as a cost-saving measure during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The library decree also reverses a prior decision by Pope Francis. Citing a lack of space in the Vatican Library, Pope Francis had decided that excess library holdings would be housed outside Vatican City State at the Pontifical Roman Major Seminary. In the Sept. 14 decree, Pope Leo wrote that using space within Vatican City is “undoubtedly preferable for many reasons to the solution already identified.”

The seminary space designated by Pope Francis in 2022 will continue to store excess library and archive holdings until the new Vatican City facility is completed.

The Vatican Apostolic Library, formally founded in the 15th century, houses a collection of 2 million books, 100,000 archival documents, and hundreds of thousands of coins, medals, and graphic works.

During his visit to the library, the pope had the opportunity to examine some of the library’s historic books and coins and formally inaugurated a new exhibition, “AQVA: Catastrophe and Wonder.” The exhibit will be open to the public from Sept. 25 to May 14, 2027, and features, among other works, a massive wave installation mounted on scaffolding outside the library. Pope Leo also spent time celebrating his birthday with library staff over cake.

The pope recalled the pivotal moment in the conversion of St. Augustine when he heard the voice of a child singing, “Take and read, take and read,” leading the future fifth-century bishop and doctor of the Church to read St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans. St. Augustine later wrote in “The Confessions” that the passage “penetrated his heart,” dispelling the darkness of doubt.

The Augustinian pope added that St. Augustine’s “doubt was dispelled, but not his desire — which, in fact, grew stronger, driving him to explore the full breadth and depth of the Holy Scriptures.”

“He himself speaks of this on several occasions, when he says that he studied carefully — bent over like a question mark — various manuscripts of the Biblical books in order to determine the best text,” the pope said. “The book of Scripture that came into Augustine’s hands is the very one that opened his spirit wide.”

“Dearest friends, all of you, by preserving, studying, and making the books of Peter’s successor available to scholars, you help the Church and humanity to rise to the depth of that desire,” the pope said. “Without it, everything drifts away from the living God, the source of truth and love.”