Category: Diocese of Scranton News

(OSV News) – Following a gunman’s attempted assault on the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, forcing the evacuation of the president, first lady and members of the Cabinet, the head of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference denounced the violence and called for all to resort to prayer.

“We are grateful the lives of the President, those who protect him, and everyone in attendance last night were spared from serious harm,” Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement April 26.

“Let us all pray for our elected leaders and public officials that they may receive God’s blessings,” he said. “Because human life is a precious gift, there is no room for violence of any kind in our society.”

President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance and several Cabinet members were whisked out of the annual dinner with the White House press corps April 25, after a man rushed toward the main ballroom where the event was held and briefly exchanged gunfire with law enforcement.

According to The Associated Press, witnesses at the Washington Hilton heard about five to eight gunshots. Law enforcement told AP the suspect opened fire before Secret Service agents subdued him. One Secret Service officer was hospitalized after the alleged gunman shot at his bullet-proof vest but was released the next morning, according to the agency.

Attendees — largely hundreds of journalists who cover the White House — took shelter under tables, with some providing moment-by-moment updates to their various outlets amid the confusion.

More details emerged in two evening press briefings held shortly after the ballroom had been cleared, with Trump speaking to reporters at the White House, flanked by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and FBI Director Kash Patel.

During the briefing, Trump said the Secret Service officer injured in the attack had been shot from a very close distance.

A separate briefing was subsequently held at the hotel, where Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser, Jeffrey Carroll, interim police chief of the city’s Metropolitan Police Department, and federal law enforcement updated the media.

Bowser and Carroll said the suspect appeared to be a lone actor, with Carroll noting the individual had charged a Secret Service checkpoint outside the ballroom, “armed with a shotgun, a handgun and multiple knives,” before being “intercepted” by Secret Service agents.

Carroll also confirmed that “law enforcement exchanged gunfire with the individual,” although the suspect “was not struck.”

U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, who was in attendance at the dinner, told media during the briefing that the suspect had so far been charged with two counts — using a firearm during a crime of violence, and assault on a federal officer using a dangerous weapon.

The suspect was scheduled to be arraigned in federal District Court on April 27, and Pirro said there will be “many more charges based upon the information that we are learning in this very fluid situation.”

Media reports have identified the suspect as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, a video game developer and teacher from the Los Angeles suburb of Torrence, California, who recently won a “teacher of the month” award.

After being evacuated, Trump posted on his platform Truth Social that “the shooter has been apprehended,” and that he had “recommended that we ‘LET THE SHOW GO ON.'”

He commended the Secret Service and law enforcement for acting “quickly and bravely.”

Trump and the White House Correspondents’ Association had initially wanted to continue with the program, but deferred to law enforcement’s judgement to cancel the event and evacuate. The event is expected to be rescheduled within 30 days.

Tom Bateman, a State Department correspondent for BBC News, reported that one Secret Service agent described the ballroom as a “crime scene” while ordering attendees to vacate it.

The White House Correspondents’ Association was founded in 1914, with its first dinner hosted in 1921. The association, which counts close to 900 members from almost 300 outlets, works to ensure robust journalistic coverage of the White House.

Shortly after the incident, Bishop David J. Bonnar of Youngstown, Ohio, released a statement deploring the attack and calling for prayer.

“The United States is built on freedom and respect for all. There is no room for violence that
endangers the life of any human being,” said Bishop Bonnar.

“Moreover,” he said, “the issue of gun violence must be addressed. Violence is never the answer.”

Bishop Bonnar added, “We all must look deeper into the human heart to build each other up rather than tear each other down. We pray for peace in moments of disagreement and discord.”

“As we celebrate our 250th birthday may we live as a nation under God with liberty and justice for all,” said Bishop Bonnar, who concluded with a prayer of petition: “For the healing of divisions in our country, that we might always strive to be one nation, under God, and that hatred and violence will be cast out from every heart in our land and throughout the world, let us pray to the Lord.”

Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, a member of the Trump administration’s Religious Liberty Commission, posted a message on the X social media platform April 26, expressing his gratitude that the president and his entourage were unhurt.

“May I raise my voice against the viciousness and tribalism that are so prevalent on the internet and that contribute mightily to the violence we see in our political culture,” he said. “Can we please remember that it is possible to disagree with a politician’s ideas without demonizing and de-humanizing him? Jesus commended us to love our enemies, and that includes our ideological opponents.”

Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia told OSV News, “It is deeply disturbing that the culture and expression of violence continues to spread in our culture, country, and globally.”

He said the attack “only contributes to an anxiety that is ascendant” in the nation.

“We Eastern Catholics — who endure in Ukraine, in the Middle East, in India and elsewhere political violence — strongly condemn what happened in Washington,” and “call all people to a personal and communal stance of peace,” said the archbishop.

“Pope Leo, by his personal example of serenity and moral clarity, and by his prophetic words, has given us a contemporary encouragement to live the life of Jesus,” he said, adding, “Let us say again and again, peace be with you.”

Rob DeFrancesco, executive director of the Catholic Media Association, told OSV News the organization was “deeply unsettled by the attack.”

“We are grateful to the brave men and women who stopped the assailant. We are also mindful that journalists today, including our own members, often work in environments where their profession puts them in danger,” he said.

“Our mission is to share the truth in love,” said DeFrancesco. “That mission requires a society where reporters can seek the truth without the threat of violence.”

(OSV News) – Pope Leo XIV sent a message of support to participants at a Catholic university event marking 15 years since the abolition of the death penalty in his home state of Illinois.

On the same day, the Trump administration announced plans to expand the available methods of federal execution, including bringing back the firing squad and the electric chair.

In a two-minute video released April 24, Pope Leo addressed those on hand that day at DePaul University in Chicago — some 25 miles north of where the pope grew up — for a gathering titled “A Beacon of Light in Darkness.”

The commemoration, which took place at the school’s student center, featured renowned anti-death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean, a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, and former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, who in 2011 signed the state bill abolishing capital punishment, commuting the sentences of the 15 death row inmates at the time to life in prison.

“The Catholic Church has consistently taught that each human life, from the moment of conception until natural death, is sacred and deserves to be protected,” said Pope Leo in his message. “Indeed, the right to life is the very foundation of every other human right.”

“For this reason,” he said, “only when a society safeguards the sanctity of human life will it flourish and prosper.”

Pope Leo then summarized the Catholic Church’s position on the death penalty, the formulation of which Pope Francis clarified in 2018, revising paragraph 2267 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church — a move that built on St. John Paul II’s frequent and longstanding calls to abandon the death penalty.

“In this regard, we affirm that the dignity of the person is not lost even after various serious crimes are committed,” said Pope Leo, paraphrasing a line of the passage — which in turn drew on the words of St. John Paul II, who in his 1995 encyclical “Evangelium Vitae” wrote, “Not even a murderer loses his personal dignity, and God himself pledges to guarantee this.”

“Furthermore, effective systems of detention can be and have been developed that protect citizens,” Pope Leo said, continuing his summary of the Catechism passage.

Such systems “at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption,” he said.

“This is why Pope Francis and my recent predecessors repeatedly insisted that the common good can be safeguarded, and the requirements of justice can be met, without recourse to capital punishment,” the pope explained.

“Consequently,” said Pope Leo — quoting the catechism’s citation of an October 2017 address by Pope Francis — “the Church teaches that the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.”

“I therefore join you in celebrating the decision made by the governor of Illinois in 2011, and I likewise offer my support to those who advocate for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States of America and around the world,” Pope Leo said. “I pray that your efforts will lead to a greater acknowledgment of the dignity of every person, and will inspire others to work for the same just cause.”

The pope added, “With these sentiments, I cordially invoke upon all of you the divine blessings of wisdom, joy and peace.”

In an April 24 statement, Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of Catholic Mobilizing Network — a national organization working to end the death penalty and advance justice solutions in line with Catholic teaching — said the pope “makes it crystal clear that the death penalty is a priority for the universal Church.”

“It was absolutely thrilling to hear the first American Pope’s encouraging words about death penalty abolition efforts in his home state and country,” she said. “It indicates the closeness of the Holy Father Pope Leo to the Church’s indefatigable work across the nation to end this death-dealing practice.”

She also noted that the message came just a few days after Pope Leo’s address at a prison in Equatorial Guinea, where he assured inmates, “Life is not defined solely by one’s mistakes, which are often the result of difficult and complex circumstances. There is always the possibility to start over, learn and become a new person.”

The pope also told the inmates, “Brothers and sisters, you are not alone.”

Also on April 24, the U.S. Department of Justice said it would seek to streamline the death penalty process and increase the means of administering the federal death penalty, directing the Federal Bureau of Prisons to restore the lethal drug pentobarbital and “additional manners of execution.”

“The additional manners of execution that BOP should consider adopting include the firing squad, electrocution, and lethal gas — each of which the Supreme Court has found to be consistent with the Eighth Amendment,” stated the DOJ Office of Legal Policy document “Restoring and Strengthening the Federal Death Penalty.”

Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976 — the same year the nation celebrated its bicentennial — 1,662 men and women have been executed in the U.S., according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center. As of April 24, eight have been executed in 2026.

The center noted that “executions have declined significantly over the past two decades,” with most “concentrated in a few states and a small number of outlier counties.”

Oklahoma had the highest per capita execution rate from 1976-2024, followed by Texas and Missouri, according to the center’s data.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – A national garden in the nation’s capital proposed by survivors of clergy sexual abuse promises to foster healing not only for survivors but also for the Catholic Church as a whole.

“We can’t heal alone,” said Mike Hoffman, chair of the National Healing Garden Working Group. “We want to heal with you, with our Church, with the bishops, with the priests. We want to heal together,” added the executive director of the National Catholic Restorative Justice Initiative, a group dedicated to restorative justice for survivors of Catholic clergy abuse.

Hoffman, a survivor of childhood sexual abuse by clergy, and Deacon Bernie Nojadera, executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection, spoke with OSV News about the efforts behind the National Healing Garden, which will be on the grounds of The Catholic University of America in Washington. The garden is planned for the east side of Caldwell Hall by the St. Francis Peace Garden.

In a statement, Peter Kilpatrick, president of Catholic University, said that the garden “will serve as a tangible sign of God’s mercy and an extension of our commitment to lift up human dignity.”

The university is managing fundraising efforts as well as collaborating on the design. Organizers are seeking to raise $200,000 by spring 2027 to fund the garden that will include flowers, shrubbery, seating, plaques and a prayer labyrinth representing the nonlinear pathway of healing. The garden, which is currently being designed, will serve as a healing space for survivors of clergy abuse and for anyone who has been abused or impacted by abuse.

“Our outreach is to all survivors across the country of any kind of abuse … no matter their faith background, no matter where they came from and no matter who the perpetrator was,” Hoffman said.

The vision statement by the National Healing Garden Working Group — a group of seven clergy abuse survivors and other members including Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala of Washington driving the garden — reflects this desire.

Members of The Catholic Project, a Catholic University initiative dedicated to collaboration between clergy and laity in the wake of the Church’s sexual abuse crisis, were also part of the working group from the beginning, including Stephen White, former executive director, and Sara Perla, acting director.

“As clergy sexual abuse survivors from across the United States, in relationship with the Church, we offer empathy and acknowledgement to all survivors of any kind of abuse,” the statement reads. “In this sacred healing space, we invite the entire Body of Christ into the journey of accompaniment and reconciliation, imploring God’s mercy to bring healing to the lives of everyone harmed by abuse in the Church.”

It concludes: “Pledge with us to continue working to respect, protect, defend, and restore the dignity that all deserve as children of God.”

The garden is put forth in relationship with the Church, particularly the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People. As liaison between the working group and the bishops’ committee, Deacon Nojadera said the working group of survivors did the heavy lifting for this new project.

“In the end, I’m hoping the Church transforms, converts and ends up even a healthier and holier Church — and that’s going to be with the assistance of our survivors, of our survivor-victims, who, in a way, are showing us what it is they need for this healing, for their healing,” he said.

The garden also has the prayerful support of nine bishops and archbishops, eight Catholic organizations, five Catholic academic institutions and three parishes.

The garden draws inspiration from other, more local healing gardens across the country, including one in Chicago, which Hoffman was also behind, and five in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Hoffman, who also serves as chair of the Hope and Healing Committee of the Archdiocese of Chicago, said the Chicago garden helped him in his healing journey. He first came forward to tell his story of clergy abuse in 2006. He called a meeting with the late Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago, a Catholic University alumnus, his “major healing milestone.” As a Church leader, the cardinal apologized to him.

“One reason why I’m here today is because I could unburden myself to Cardinal George, and he could hear that,” Hoffman said of their 2008 meeting.

Hoffman stressed the importance of placing gardens in public, visible spaces. He said how these gardens are used is also important. The Chicago garden, which has been in place for over a decade, holds an annual child abuse prevention prayer service attended by hundreds.

“That’s healing to me,” Hoffman said. “The issue has driven so many of us apart, and here is a healthy and healing space that has brought us together.”

He said organizers plan to hold similar events in the national garden.

The creation of a national garden, or “a permanent site of healing, prayer, and accompaniment for victim-survivors of clergy sex abuse and The Dallas Charter | USCCBfor the broader Church,” is one of four proposals identified by Hoffman’s NCRJI.

Hoffman suggested the garden’s opening might coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Dallas Charter in 2027. The charter, formally called the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” is a set of procedures from the USCCB for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by clergy and prevention of further acts of abuse.

At the USCCB, Deacon Nojadera hoped the garden will remind God’s people that “they are wonderfully created in the image and likeness of God” and of “the reality that every one of us is unconditionally loved.”

(OSV News) – Pope Leo XIV concluded his first trip to Africa April 23, capping a four-country visit marked by urgent calls for peace, direct engagement with conflict zones and a backdrop of international political tension.

Traveling April 13–23 through Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, the pope met civil and religious leaders, celebrated public Masses and encouraged Catholics to remain steadfast witnesses to the Gospel.

His visit brought him into regions scarred by violence, including Cameroon’s separatist conflict, while also addressing inequality and corruption in Angola, promoting interreligious dialogue in Algeria and a just society in Equatorial Guinea.

— Algeria —

Pope Leo’s 11-day trip began with an unexpected controversy after U.S. President Donald Trump criticized him in a late-night April 12 post on Truth Social.

Trump called the pope “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy,” accusing him of believing “it’s OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.” The remarks followed the pope’s criticism of the Iran war and his repeated calls for peace.

Journalists aboard the papal flight quickly pressed for a response.

“I have no fear, neither of the Trump administration nor of speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do,” Pope Leo said.

“We are not politicians,” he added. “We are not looking to make foreign policy … but I do believe in the message of the Gospel: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers’ is the message that the world needs to hear today.”

The remarks sparked backlash from religious and political leaders, but the pope declined to escalate tensions.

“I don’t want to get into a debate,” he said, emphasizing that his mission is to proclaim peace.

“I don’t think that the message of the Gospel is meant to be abused in the way that some people are doing.”

Despite the dispute, Pope Leo struck a positive tone before landing, saying he was “very happy to visit the land of St. Augustine again.”

In Algiers, he visited the Great Mosque, calling the encounter a sign “that we can learn to respect one another, live in harmony and build a world of peace.”

Later, at the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa overlooking the Mediterranean, he honored Algeria’s Christian martyrs and highlighted interreligious dialogue in the Muslim-majority nation.

The basilica, he said, is a “sign of our desire for peace and unity,” symbolizing “a Church of living stones, where communion between Christians and Muslims takes shape.”

On April 14, the pope traveled to Annaba, near the ruins of ancient Hippo Regius, where St. Augustine spent his final years. The visit held personal significance; Pope Leo has often described himself as “a son of Augustine.”

Celebrating Mass at the Basilica of St. Augustine, he urged Christians to follow the saint’s example, “fervently seeking the truth and serving Christ with ardent faith.”

“Be heirs to this tradition, bearing witness through fraternal charity … as a hope of salvation for the world,” he said.

Addressing Algeria’s small Christian community, he praised their quiet witness.

“Your presence in this country is like incense,” he said. “A glowing grain that spreads fragrance because it gives glory to the Lord and joy and comfort to so many.”

— Cameroon —

During his flight to Cameroon, Pope Leo reflected on Algeria as “a special blessing,” noting that St. Augustine’s life offers a vision of unity and respect across differences.

That message carried into Cameroon, a country scarred by separatist violence. Addressing authorities in Yaoundé, the pope acknowledged the suffering caused by conflict in the English-speaking northwest and southwest regions.

Since 2017, fighting between separatist militias and government forces has killed more than 6,500 people and displaced over 500,000.

“Lives have been lost, families displaced, children deprived of schooling and young people no longer see a future,” he said. “Behind the numbers are the faces, stories and shattered hopes of real people.”

Days before his arrival, separatist groups declared a three-day ceasefire to allow safe travel during the visit.

The highlight of the April 15–18 stop was the pope’s visit to Bamenda, in the heart of the conflict zone. Addressing Catholics at St. Joseph’s Cathedral, the pope was met with enthusiasm after declaring, “I am here to proclaim peace.”

After hearing testimony from local residents — including a chief imam who described a deadly attack on a mosque — the pope strongly condemned violence carried out in God’s name.

“But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain,” he said, warning against dragging what is sacred “into darkness and filth.”

Celebrating Mass for 20,000 people at Bamenda’s airport, he urged hope rooted in faith.

“This is the moment to change, to transform the story of this country,” he said. “The time has come, today and not tomorrow.”

He called on Cameroonians to “restore the mosaic of unity” by embracing the country’s diversity.

On April 17, he celebrated Mass in Douala for an estimated 120,000 faithful, urging Africans to share God’s love by feeding the hungry and offering spiritual nourishment.

Though the visit brought hope, media coverage continued to frame the trip through the lens of tensions with Trump — something the pope later addressed directly.

— Angola —

While the pope’s warning to those who use God to justify violence resonated with suffering Cameroonians in Bamenda, several media outlets ran headlines insinuating that Pope Leo was making an indirect dig at Trump.

En route to Angola, Pope Leo clarified that his remarks in Cameroon had been prepared weeks earlier and were not directed at the U.S. president.

“My speeches were written well before the president ever commented,” he said. “It is not in my interest to debate,” adding “there has been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all its aspects.”

Arriving in Luanda, he shifted focus to Angola’s challenges and the Church’s role in offering hope. Home to more than 20 million Catholics, Angola has deep Christian roots but continues to struggle with inequality, corruption and the legacy of a civil war that claimed up to 800,000 lives.

Addressing government leaders, the pope urged them to prioritize the common good.

“Place the common good before every particular interest,” he said. “Never confuse your own part with the whole.”

He warned that the people have suffered when power is abused.

“They bear the scars not only of material exploitation, but also of the presumption of imposing an idea upon others,” he said.

On April 19, Pope Leo celebrated Mass for about 100,000 faithful in Kilamba. Reflecting on the Gospel story of the road to Emmaus, he cautioned against despair in societies marked by prolonged suffering.

“When one is long immersed in a history characterized by pain, one can risk losing hope and remaining paralyzed by discouragement,” he said.

Afterward, he traveled to the Sanctuary of Mama Muxima, southern Africa’s most visited Catholic shrine, where tens of thousands had gathered — many camping for days in intense heat.

Calling the shrine a place where “the heart of the Church” is alive, he noted its enduring role in Angola’s spiritual life.

“For centuries, many have prayed here in joy and sorrow,” he said. “Mama Muxima has quietly kept the heart of the Church alive and beating.”

On April 20, the pope flew east to Saurimo, near Angola’s largest diamond mine. There, he visited a nursing home housing 74 elderly residents, many rejected by their families due to superstitious beliefs.

“The care of the weakest is a sign of the quality of a nation’s social life,” he said. “The elderly must not only be assisted, but listened to, because they preserve the wisdom of a people.”

Celebrating Mass for tens of thousands, he also addressed exploitation linked to the diamond industry.

“How often the hope of many is frustrated by violence, exploited by the overbearing and defrauded by the rich,” he said.

“We were not born to become slaves,” he added. “Every form of oppression, violence and dishonesty negates the resurrection of Christ, the supreme gift of our freedom.”

— Equatorial Guinea —

The final leg of Pope Leo’s 11-day journey took him to Equatorial Guinea. Upon landing on the island of Malabo, the pope was welcomed by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled the oil-rich Central African nation since seizing power in a 1979 coup and is widely regarded as one of the world’s most authoritarian leaders.

Nevertheless, in his address to the country’s civil authorities, the pope appealed for justice and ethical governance in a country long criticized for corruption and human rights abuses.

Drawing from St. Augustine’s classic work “The City of God,” Pope Leo noted that the “city of God” is characterized by love, especially for the poor, while the “earthly city … is centered upon the proud love of self, on the lust for power and worldly glory that leads to destruction.”

“Every human being can benefit from the ancient realization of living on earth as a pilgrim,” he said. “It is essential to discern the difference between that which lasts and that which passes, remaining free from the pursuit of unjust wealth and the illusion of dominion.”

Celebrating Mass April 22 at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in the eastern city of Mongomo, the second-largest Catholic Church in Africa, the pope renewed his call to the country’s leaders and citizens to prioritize the common good.

“May the Lord help you to become a society in which everyone, each according to their respective responsibilities, works ever more fully to serve the common good rather than private interests, bridging the gap between the privileged and the disadvantaged,” he said.

In his final Mass in Malabo Stadium April 23, Pope Leo offered a word of hope to the country’s Catholics, urging them to seek strength, justice and hope from the Gospel and the sacraments.

Encouraging the faithful to “joyfully proclaim” that “Christ is everything for us,” Pope Leo reminded Christians that in Jesus, “we find the fullness of life and meaning.”

“Our problems do not disappear in the Lord’s presence, but they are illuminated,” he said. “Just as every cross finds redemption in Jesus, so too the story of our lives finds its meaning in the Gospel.”

As the Mass concluded, the pope bid farewell to the African continent, saying that his visit was “an invaluable treasure of faith, hope, and charity.”

Highlighting the continent’s significance, the pope said that “today, Africa is called to contribute significantly to the holiness and missionary character of the Christian people.”

“I entrust this intention to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, to whom I commend myself wholeheartedly, as well as your families, your communities, your nation, and all the peoples of Africa,” the pope said.

SCRANTON – The Diocese of Scranton will celebrate its annual Mother’s Day Adoption Mass on Sunday, May 10, 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. The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, will 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.

In his first year as the successor of Peter, Pope Leo XIV has offered the Catholic Church a renewed reflection on the importance of motherhood and maternity.

Through his pastoral tone and public messages, he has emphasized that motherhood is a sacred gift, and maternity is at the heart of the Church’s mission to protect, nurture and evangelize.

As the world grows increasingly more complex, Pope Leo XIV calls the Catholic faithful to rediscover the foundational role of mothers in both the Church and society.

On Mother’s Day 2025, Pope Leo issued a heartfelt message from the Vatican, offering blessings to all mothers, especially those in heaven. In doing so, he reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s deep gratitude for the maternal vocation.

In a formal message to the Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life, Pope Leo XIV framed maternity as a vocation essential to the Catholic Church’s life, and at the Jubilee of Families last year shared that a family’s love, when grounded in Christ, becomes “a sign of peace for the world.”

While Mother’s Day is not a liturgical or Catholic observance, it is a wonderful opportunity to highlight the beautiful vocation of motherhood and the gift of human life. It calls us to cherish the gift of life that we receive from our mothers and to pray for all women to whom God has entrusted life in a very special way.

(OSV News) – Ahead of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s Sept. 24 beatification, the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, recently released a schedule of events, inviting those who plan to travel to The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri, for the beatification to “go deeper” and “transform your trip into a sacred journey.”

“The Sheen Pilgrimage is a spiritual experience centered around prayer, reflection, and celebration,” the diocese said. “Beginning in Peoria, IL, on September 15, this pilgrimage includes the anniversary of Sheen’s ordination, the historic Beatification Mass, and culminates in celebratory Masses and the Sheen Award Gala.”

The schedule begins with a nine-day novena of holy hours at 7 p.m. every evening at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria from Sept. 15-23 and a Sunday, Sept. 20 Anniversary Mass of Sheen’s Ordination at the cathedral at 3 p.m., which requires tickets.

The festivities will continue in St. Louis with Vespers at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis at 5 p.m. on Sept. 23, also requiring tickets.

On the day of the beatification, there will be an expo for attendees at The Dome at America’s Center from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., adoration and confession available at 9 a.m., and a pre-Mass show at 10 a.m.

“With anticipation of a great number of people wanting to participate, we chose (The Dome) because of availability, being indoors, and the close proximity to the Diocese of Peoria,” Bishop Tylka said March 25 when details of the beatification were announced.

Following the 2 p.m. Beatification Mass, there will be veneration of a relic of Sheen from 4 to 6 p.m.

Masses of Thanksgiving and various parish talks will take place in the Diocese of Peoria on Sept. 25, and the Sheen Award Gala, a ticketed event, will get underway in Peoria Civic Center at 6 p.m. that evening.

Masses of Thanksgiving, including a Byzantine Rite Mass of Thanksgiving, will also be celebrated at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Peoria on Sept. 26.

The diocese has more information and tickets for the events that require them at celebratesheen.com.

“Whether you come for a day or the entire week,” the diocese said, “this is an opportunity to walk in the footsteps of a remarkable spiritual leader and grow in faith alongside pilgrims from around the world.”

MONGOMO, Equatorial Guinea (OSV News) – Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in the second-largest Catholic Church in Africa April 22, telling Catholics in the oil-rich nation that “the future of Equatorial Guinea depends upon your choices.”

The pope offered Mass in the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in the eastern city of Mongomo, near Equatorial Guinea’s border with Gabon. The basilica is currently the largest church in Central Africa and the second largest Catholic church throughout Africa, after the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in the Ivory Coast.

In his homily, delivered in Spanish, Pope Leo called on the country’s leaders and citizens to prioritize the common good.

“The Creator has endowed you with great natural wealth: I urge you to work together so that it may be a blessing for all,” he said.

“May the Lord help you to become a society in which everyone, each according to their respective responsibilities, works ever more fully to serve the common good rather than private interests, bridging the gap between the privileged and the disadvantaged,” he said.

“May there be greater room for freedom, and may the dignity of the human person always be safeguarded.”

Thousands attended the Mass, many gathered outside in the square surrounded by the basilica’s colonnade. Before the liturgy, the pope greeted crowds from the popemobile as colorful fireworks went off and a giant rosary made of balloons was released into the air.

Mongomo is the hometown of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has ruled the country since 1979 and who attended the Mass with his wife.

The basilica, inspired by St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, was begun in 2006 and funded by the state. It was consecrated on Dec. 7, 2011, by Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI.

“We are gathered in this magnificent Cathedral Basilica, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, Mother of the Incarnate Word and Patroness of Equatorial Guinea, to listen to the Lord’s word and to celebrate the memorial that he has left us as the source and summit of the Church’s life and mission,” Pope Leo said.

“The Eucharist truly contains every spiritual good of the Church: It is Christ, our Passover, who gives himself to us, he is the living Bread that nourishes us,” he continued. “His presence in the Eucharist reveals God’s infinite love for the entire human family and the way he encounters every woman and every man even today.”

The pope expressed gratitude for missionaries, priests and laypeople who helped spread the faith in the country, noting the 170th anniversary of its evangelization. He also cited St. Paul VI, quoting his 1969 visit to Africa: “Africans, from now on, you are missionaries to yourselves. The Church of Christ is well and truly planted in this blessed soil.”

Sister Kebam Fien Blenderline, a missionary from Cameroon with the Daughters of the Divine Shepherd, has been serving in Equatorial Guinea for nearly two years. She told OSV News that her mission is focused on evangelization, education and promoting the dignity of women.

“For the years I have been here working with the youth, I think what they need to know is that it is a good thing to serve the Lord. It is a good thing to know the Lord, and it is a good thing to practice the Christian values and to love God,” she said.

“This basilica reminds us of the Vatican,” she added. “It is an opportunity for the people of Guinea to really value the presence of God in their lives through this basilica, through the images. There is the Blessed Sacrament in the basilica and it is a place where we recollect. We come together to be at peace with ourselves and to pray for our brothers and sisters.”

During the Mass, musicians played the marimba and a swaying choir sang hymns specifically written for the pope’s visit. Prayers during the liturgy were offered in Spanish and other local languages including Fang, Bisio and Kombe.

“Brothers and sisters, even when faced with personal, family and social situations that are not always favorable, we can trust that the Lord is at work, making the good seed of his kingdom grow in ways unknown to us, including when everything around us seems barren, and even in moments of darkness,” the pope said.

“With such confidence, rooted in the power of his love rather than in our own merits, we are called to remain faithful to the Gospel, to proclaim it, to live it fully and to bear witness to it with joy,” he said.

While at the basilica, the pope also blessed the foundation stone for a new cathedral in Ciudad de la Paz, the new capital for Equatorial Guinea, where roughly 75% of the 1.67 million population is Catholic.

“What is the hunger we feel? And what does this nation hunger for today? The motto chosen for my visit is ‘Christ, Light of Equatorial Guinea, Towards a Future of Hope.’ Perhaps this is precisely the greatest hunger today,” Pope Leo said.

“There is hunger for a future imbued with hope that is capable of engendering a new sense of justice and producing fruits of peace and fraternity. This is not an unknown future that we must passively await, but rather one that we ourselves are called to build with God’s grace. The future of Equatorial Guinea depends upon your choices; it is entrusted to your sense of responsibility and to your shared commitment to safeguarding the life and dignity of every person.”

The Mass marked the first event of the 10th day of the pope’s apostolic journey and the final full day of public engagements before his return to Rome April 23.

Following the Mass, the pope visited a technology school named for Pope Francis before traveling to Bata, the country’s largest coastal city. He stopped at the cathedral, met prisoners and staff at a local jail, and prayed at a memorial honoring victims of a 2021 explosion that killed more than 100 people.

Pope Leo then met with young people and families at a stadium before returning to the island city of Malabo ahead of his departure for Rome on April 23.

“Brothers and sisters, there is a need for Christians to take the destiny of Equatorial Guinea into their own hands,” Pope Leo said in his morning homily. “For this reason, I would like to encourage you: do not be afraid to proclaim the Gospel and bear witness to it with your lives.”

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (OSV News) – Flying over the west coast of central Africa on April 21, Pope Leo XIV paused to honor his predecessor on the first anniversary of Pope Francis’ death, remembering the Argentine pope’s witness to mercy and closeness to the poor.

On the papal flight from Luanda, Angola, to Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, Pope Leo XIV spoke to journalists traveling with him, reflecting on the legacy of Pope Francis, who died April 21, 2025.

“I would like to remember, on this first anniversary of his death, Pope Francis, who gave so much to the church with his life, his testimony, his words, and his gestures,” Pope Leo told reporters, speaking in Italian.

He recalled how Pope Francis truly lived with “closeness to the poorest, the little ones, the sick, the children, the elderly.”

“We can also remember his message of mercy,” Pope Leo said, remembering in particular how his predecessor invited the entire Church to join in the “beautiful celebration of an extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.”

Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on Dec. 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, led the Catholic Church from March 13, 2013, until his death on Easter Monday 2025. He was the first Jesuit pope and the first pope from Latin America.

The late pope’s final public appearance was on Easter Sunday, April 20, 2025, when he unexpectedly came out on the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, raising his hands to wave to thousands of faithful gathered below in the square.

“Happy Easter,” he told the crowd, before delivering what would be his last Easter blessing, “urbi et orbi,” to the city and the world. The visibly frail pope then boarded his popemobile for a final pass through the square to greet the faithful.

“We pray that he is already enjoying the mercy of the Lord and we thank the Lord for the great gift of Francis’ life to the whole Church and to the whole world,” Pope Leo said on the flight.

In Rome, the anniversary of Pope Francis’ death will be marked with a Mass held in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, the final resting place of the late pope.

Pope Leo reflected on this predecessor’s legacy on the papal flight to Equatorial Guinea, the last African country on the pope’s 11-day apostolic journey to the continent.

After his tribute, the pope responded to three questions from Angolan journalists about his experience in their country.

Pope Leo said that it was “a joy to see the places in the world where the Church is growing,” noting that is not the case in other parts of the world, underlining that this is “a call to evangelization, to continue to announce the Gospel and to try to invite others, not with proselytism as Pope Francis said so many times, but with the beauty, the attraction of faith.”

“The joy of believers is one of the best announcements of faith, of the Gospel,” he added.

Asked about the possibility of new African cardinal appointments, Pope Leo said that “this is a question that many want to ask,” noting that it’s “still not decided yet when new cardinals will be created.”

“We must look at the question at the global level,” he said. “We hope that for Africa, and also for Angola, in the future — I’m not saying the next one, a bit further on — but we can consider the creation of new cardinals also for Angola.”

Speaking at roughly 30,000 feet, the pope also wished happy birthday to two journalists on the plane who are traveling as part of the Vatican press corps.

During the papal trip to four countries in Africa, Pope Leo has been flexing his language skills, preaching Masses and giving speeches in French, English, and Portuguese. On each flight to a new country, Pope Leo has spoken to journalists aboard the papal plane in either English or Italian.

In his final destination, the pope will add another language to that list, as Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish-speaking country in Africa.

Pope Leo’s April 21–23 visit to Equatorial Guinea will be only the second papal visit to the country; the first was by St. John Paul II in 1982.

The papal visit coincides with the 170th anniversary of evangelization in the country, where roughly 75% of the 1.67 million population is Catholic.

In Equatorial Guinea, Pope Leo will stop at a psychiatric hospital in the capital Malabo, visit a prison in Bata, and pray at a memorial to victims of a 2021 military base explosion that killed more than 100 people. A papal Mass in Mongomo at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception is expected to draw 100,000 Catholics.

Sister Francine Hien of the Missionary Sisters of Mary Immaculate told OSV News the Christian-majority country was awaiting the pope’s arrival with “enthusiasm, expectations, zeal and joy.”