ROME (CNS) – Pope Francis was scheduled to be released from Rome’s Gemelli hospital June 16 after having abdominal surgery June 7, the Vatican press office said.
His blood tests have been normal, and his recovery has continued smoothly, Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, told reporters June 15. “The health care team that is following Pope Francis confirmed the Holy Father’s discharge” from the hospital was planned for the morning of June 16, he said in a written communique.
Pope Francis visits children, their parents and staff members of the pediatric oncology and neurosurgery ward located on the same floor as his room in Rome’s Gemelli hospital June 15, 2023. The Vatican said the pope was expected to be released from the hospital the next day. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
The pope spent part of June 15 visiting children in the pediatric oncology and neurosurgery ward located on the same floor as the private suite of rooms set aside for the pope.
He greeted the young patients, who were among those who had sent him letters, drawings and gifts wishing him a speedy recovery, and he gave each of them a rosary and book, Bruni wrote.
Pope Francis witnessed first-hand “the pain of these children, who carry, together with their mothers and fathers, the suffering of the cross on their shoulders every day,” Bruni wrote.
The pope thanked the staff “for their professionalism and efforts to alleviate others’ suffering with tenderness and humanity as well as medication.”
Earlier in the day, he met with and thanked the medical staff and personnel involved with his surgery June 7 and met with hospital administrators, Bruni said.
The evening before, he added, the pope had dinner with “those who have been assisting him since the day of his hospitalization.”
Pope Francis underwent a three-hour surgery to repair a hernia June 7. The procedure, under general anesthesia, was performed using a surgical mesh to strengthen the repair and prevent the recurrence of a hernia. Surgeons also removed several adhesions or bands of scar tissue that had formed after previous surgeries decades ago, according to Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the chief surgeon operating on the pope.
Vatican News reported that the pope’s audiences have been canceled until June 18 as a “precaution.”
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(OSV News) – Two archbishops and a cardinal are calling on Catholics in the U.S. to pray and make reparations to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, as a professional sports team plans to honor a group parodying women religious.
A statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is seen in the Cathedral of St. Peter in Wilmington, Del., May 27, 2021. (CNS photo/Chaz Muth)
“We call on Catholics to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart on June 16 (Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus), offering this prayer as an act of reparation for the blasphemies against our Lord we see in our culture today,” said Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB); Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee for Religious Liberty; and Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles in a joint statement issued June 12.
The three noted that this year’s solemnity coincides with a Los Angeles Dodgers’ “Pride Night” game at which that city’s branch of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will be feted.
According to the group’s website, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence use “humor and irreverent wit,” often sexual in nature, “to promulgate universal joy and expiate stigmatic guilt.” Members don drag-style makeup, religious habits and names such as “Sister Jezabelle” and “Pope Dementia the Last.” The decentralized organization, founded in 1979 in San Francisco, counts an estimated 1,000 members globally, members of the Los Angeles chapter told OSV News.
The Dodgers’ invitation had been briefly withdrawn after protests, but was reinstated with a public apology to the group from the team. The team’s follow-up decision to host a July 30 Christian Faith and Family Day drew criticism from several Catholic leaders, including Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota — previously an auxiliary bishop for the Los Angeles Archdiocese — who said in a May 26 tweet the move was “not enough.”
In their statement, Archbishops Broglio and Gomez and Cardinal Dolan said the Dodgers had “shockingly chosen to honor a group whose lewdness and vulgarity in mocking our Lord, His Mother and consecrated women cannot be overstated.”
“This is not just offensive and painful to Christians everywhere; it is blasphemy,” they said.
However, the LA Sisters maintain they have been unfairly characterized. In an email to OSV News, Sister Dominia — who heads the Los Angeles branch of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence as “a gay Catholic who went to Catholic school” and “loves and respects Catholic nuns” — said that community is “not mocking nuns or Catholics,” and that “most events detailed in the media that have shown offense were done by other, independent Sister houses, and we cannot speak for them.”
“We are devoted to charity work and we raise much needed funds for local nonprofit charities,” said Sister Dominia.
In an email to OSV News, a member who goes by the name Sister Unity claimed “a number” of the LA Sisters “are practicing Catholics.”
The bishops and cardinal said in their June 12 statement that “it has been heartening to see so many faithful Catholics and others of good will stand up to say that what this group does is wrong, and it is wrong to honor them.”
June is traditionally recognized by Catholics as “the month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus,” a time during which “we call to mind Christ’s love for us, which is visible in a special way in the image of His pierced heart,” they said. “We pray that our own hearts might be conformed to His, calling us to love and respect all His people.”
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which traces its origins to the writings of medieval mystics, became popular after St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a 17th-century French Visitandine nun, disclosed to her confessor a series of private revelations she had received from Jesus Christ.
In the visions, Christ told her he wished his heart to be revered with reparation for sin, frequent reception of holy Communion and Eucharistic adoration. In 1856, Pope Pius IX added the solemnity, celebrated on the third Friday after Pentecost, to the church’s liturgical calendar.
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SCRANTON – This past weekend, the Church celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi – a day that calls each of us to reflect upon the gift of God given to us in the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.
It also marked the beginning of the second year of the National Eucharistic Revival, a year focused on parish renewal, which is expected to increase the Eucharist’s visibility in many communities through Eucharistic processions.
Parishioners of Saint Gregory Parish in Clarks Green take Christ to the streets of Lackawanna County during a Eucharistic Procession on Sunday, June 11, 2023.
The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, celebrated an Opening Mass for the Parish Phase of the National Eucharistic Revival at the Cathedral of Saint Peter on Sunday, June 11, 2023.
“We have been given the opportunity to contemplate and proclaim with a deeper resolve the doctrine of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, a belief that has sustained countless numbers of Catholic Christians for two millennia,” Bishop Bambera said during his homily.
Recalling the words of Saint Augustine, the Bishop urged the faithful to “Become the mystery you celebrate.”
Bishop Bambera urged the faithful to not only “receive Christ” but to “become Christ” for one another.
The faithful of Saint Ann Basilica Parish in West Scranton hold a Eucharistic Procession on the grounds of the Monastery on Saturday, June 10, 2023.
“Become Christ for your husband or your wife. Become Christ for your mother, your father, your son or daughter. Become Christ for your neighbor and for the stranger,” Bishop Bambera said. “Become Christ for the unborn child. Become Christ for the hungry and poor. Become Christ for those whom we have relegated to the margins of our world because of our own self-righteousness. Become Christ for the immigrant. Become Christ for the forgotten. Become the Christ whom you adore and whom you worship.”
Following Communion, the faithful attending Mass participated in a Eucharistic Procession that left the Cathedral and proceeded down Wyoming Avenue to the steps of the Cathedral rectory where Eucharistic Benediction took place.
Just before the Eucharistic Blessing, Bishop Bambera prayed, “Lord our God, in this great sacrament we come into the presence of Jesus Christ, your Son, born of the Virgin Mary and crucified for our salvation. May we who declare our faith in this fountain of love and mercy drink from it the water of everlasting life.”
During the Eucharistic procession and Benediction, several people driving along Wyoming Avenue or walking on the sidewalk took notice of what was taking place outside the Cathedral.
“Processions have been a very public witness and display of faith,” Joel Stepanek, the National Eucharistic Revival’s chief mission officer, said.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL’S SECOND YEAR
Launched as an initiative of the U.S. Catholic bishops in June 2022, the National Eucharistic Revival is a three-year movement that aims to deepen Catholics’ love for Jesus through encountering him in the Eucharist. The revival’s second year leads up to a National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis.
Parishioners of Saint Ann Parish in Williamsport hold a Eucharistic Procession on the streets of Lycoming County following the 10 a.m. Mass on Sunday, June 11, 2023.
The revival’s first year was titled “The Year of Diocesan Revival,” and efforts focused on formation for diocesan leadership and diocesan-wide events. The revival’s second year, “The Year of Parish Revival,” aims to reach Catholics in their parishes through renewed attention to the “art” of the Mass, Eucharistic devotions, and small-group faith sharing and formation.
Eucharistic processions put together by parishes will also take place in the coming year.
Processions have been visible signs of the National Eucharistic Revival, organizers say, with dioceses introducing new events or expanding long-standing ones.
Among them was a two-hour Eucharistic procession in New York City, which on Pentecost May 28 brought more than 4,000 Catholics to Times Square and ended with Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
“Processions are a really unique opportunity for neighbors, for people who maybe don’t know anything about the faith to say, ‘Wow, what’s going on? Who is that passing by?’” David Spesia, executive director of the Committee for Evangelization and Catechesis at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said.
Eucharistic processions also will be a key part of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, four routes pilgrims will travel with the Eucharist across the United States culminating in Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress, July 17-21, 2024.
Organizers expect the Congress to draw 80,000 people.
More than 100 parishioners and liturgical ministers from Saint Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Pocono Pines held a Eucharistic Procession on the streets of Monroe County on Sunday, June 11, 2023.
In contrast to the magnitude of the national event, revival organizers are encouraging parishes to organize small groups for formation and faith sharing, and are preparing online study resources to aid them.
While organizers expect “getting people back into the pews” to be a “fruit” of the revival, “the goal is really this encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist, and to understand that, when he promised he was with us always, the most unique and precious way that happens is with the gift of the Eucharist and the celebration of the Mass,” Spesia said.
Devotions and acts of popular piety such as Eucharistic processions and Eucharistic adoration do not compete with the Mass, but rather continue its celebration, he added.
“We all know that the celebration of the Sunday Mass is the key experience of the church, worshipping the Father, with the Son, through the Holy Spirit,” he said.
“Those devotions – that time of adoration – is the continuation of that celebration, that presence that comes from the sacrifice of the Mass. The Eucharistic processions flow from the Mass, and they’re designed to lead people back to the Sunday liturgy.”
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SCRANTON – Less than one year after making a pastoral visit to the Diocese of Sunyani in Ghana, the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, is planning to return to the African nation.
This time, the trip came about simply by coincidence.
“It was not my expectation that I would be traveling back to Ghana in 12 months from my original trip there last August,” Bishop Bambera said. “As providence would have it, the Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogue, which I’m very fortunate to co-chair, is being hosted this year by the Pentecostals. This year, the Pentecostals are inviting us to Accra, the capital of Ghana.”
Bishop Bambera, left, visits a church under construction in Tain, Ghana, on Aug. 16, 2022, as part of a pastoral visit to the Diocese of Sunyani. Bishop Bambera will be returning to Ghana this July.
The primary goal of the International Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogue is to foster mutual respect and understanding between the Catholic Church and Classical Pentecostal leaders and churches in light of the prayer of Jesus that all may be one (Jn 17:21). Last year, the Dialogue, which was celebrating its 50th anniversary, was hosted by the Catholics in Rome.
Because Bishop Bambera will already be in Ghana to participate in the International Catholic-Pentecostal Dialogue from July 13-19, 2023, the Bishop of the Diocese of Sunyani has invited him to return to their diocese one week earlier (July 5-12) for a very special reason.
“When it was made known to the priests of the Diocese of Sunyani that the Dialogue would take place in Ghana, their bishop, Bishop Matthew, asked me if I would honor them by celebrating the Ordination Rite for 14 men who are being ordained to the priesthood for their 50th anniversary year as a diocese,” Bishop Bambera explained.
Bishop Bambera said it was an honor to be asked to celebrate the Ordination Mass. “I’m happily returning to Ghana both for ecumenical work and also to once again connect with the Diocese of Sunyani that has been so generous in providing for the needs of our people here in the United States,” Bishop Bambera said.
When Bishop Bambera last visited Ghana, Aug. 10-19, 2022, he celebrated the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary with more than 15,000 people, while also visiting a seminary, schools, parishes and health care facilities.
On that trip, Father Gerald Shantillo and Father Brian J.T. Clarke joined him, but this time, two seminarians from the Diocese of Scranton will accompany Bishop Bambera.
“On many occasions, the Bishop of Sunyani, Bishop Matthew, invited me to send seminarians over just to experience their country and the background from which many of the priests who are serving in our land come from,” he said. “I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to invite our seminarians.”
Thomas Dzwonczyk and Andrew McCarroll have agreed to accompany the Bishop to Ghana.
“I’m really thrilled to be able to have them, not only to travel with, but more importantly to experience the Diocese of Sunyani and the African people,” Bishop Bambera noted. “I will be with them half the time. I will leave Sunyani after about a week and then travel to Accra for the Dialogue and while I’m in Accra, the seminarians will be hosted by the priests of Sunyani and the Bishop as well.”
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SCRANTON – A sold-out, energized crowd of 400 women filled Nazareth Hall on the campus of Marywood University June 10 for the 2023 “Refresh Your Faith” Catholic Women’s Conference.
Gathering under the theme of “With the Holy Spirit,” attendees participated in Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Rosary meditations and more.
A sold-out crowd of 400 women attended the 2023 Catholic Women’s Conference which was held June 10 at Marywood University.
“It is wonderful to be in the presence of so many women who have such great faith. It encourages me to grow,” Lois Rinaldi of Archbald, a parishioner of Queen of Angels Parish in Jessup, said.
Evie Rafalko McNulty of Scranton, a parishioner of Immaculate Conception Parish, first attended the Catholic Women’s Conference last year, and had been looking forward to returning this year.
“I need to be reinvigorated and just reminded about how much I depend on my faith to get me through the difficult times and the struggles of daily life,” Rafalko McNulty explained.
Johnnette Benkovic Williams, founder and president of Women of Grace, a Catholic apostolate for women, and founder and president of Living His Life Abundantly International, Inc., served as the main conference speaker. Due to illness, the keynote speaker, Kathleen McCarthy, was unable to attend.
Johnnette Benkovic Williams delivers one of her speeches during the 2023 Catholic Women’s Conference.
Gladly accepting conference organizers invitation to speak for extra time, Williams told the conference attendees that each one of them is essential to God’s plan.
“I want you to know how important you are to God’s plan. There is nothing that God will not take and use for the good when we surrender it and give it to Him,” she said.
As she ended the daylong conference, Williams had just as much energy and excitement as when the day began, raising her voice in praise to God, calling each woman to mission. The crowd responded by standing in boisterous applause.
“You have such a marvelous future as the daughters of the Most High God. He is calling us into this great and glorious mission. He is suiting us up with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit and setting us on fire, sending us into the highways and byways of life to bring the word of God to everybody,” Williams said to constant applause.
“Johnnette is an energizing speaker. I don’t know if I’ve seen such a dynamic speaker before and it’s been incredible to sit here and listen to her. I don’t think I’ve ever been so engaged listening to a speaker before,” Maura Kettel, a parishioner of Saint Gregory Parish in Clarks Green, said.
Geri Featherby of Covington Township prays during Mass.
The conference began with the celebration of Mass with the Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, who focused on the theme of “With the Holy Spirit” during his homily.
“The real miracle of the Spirit’s presence within our Church is that in spite of the brokenness of its members, the Church has always been blessed by the presence of God within it – not because we are righteous and have earned that presence – but because God is rich in mercy and faithful to His covenant,” Bishop Bambera said.
Dara Dirhan, a native of Luzerne County who now lives in the West Chester area, returned home for the conference so that she could be filled by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
“This is a testimony to women of great faith. We need to support one another as women and uplift one another in our faith,” Dirhan said. “We are all walking different journeys at this point in our lives and it is so valuable to share with one another our stories of faith and continue together on this faith-filled journey.”
As the day concluded, women were encouraged to save the date for next year’s Catholic Women’s Conference, which will be June 8, 2024, when the theme will center on the ongoing Eucharistic Revival and the Real Presence of Jesus.
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A Mass for Priest Jubilarians was held on June 8, 2023, at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Scranton. Pictured after the Mass, front row, from left: Rev. Jackson Pinhero, O.S.J. (25 years); Rev. Mariusz Beczek, O.S.J. (25 years) Rev. Andrew Mensah Amankwaa (25 years); Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton; Rev. Thomas V. Banick (60 years); Rev. Paul M. Mullen (50 years); Msgr. John A. Esseff (70 years); and Rev. Anthony M. Urban (50 years). Second row, from left: Rev. Gerald W. Stantillo, V.G., S.T.L., Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia; Rev. John V. Polednak, V.E., Episcopal Vicar for Clergy; and Rev. James J. Walsh (50 years).
SCRANTON – Fourteen priests – who have provided a total of 665 years of service to the priesthood – were honored during the 2023 Mass for Priest Jubilarians on Thursday, June 8, 2023, at the Cathedral of Saint Peter.
“I’m excited. It’s a great feeling,” Father Jackson Pinhero, O.S.J., Assistant Pastor of Saint John the Evangelist and Saint Joseph Marello Parishes in Pittston, said just before the liturgy began. “I came to this country in 2007 so it has been almost 16 years that I have been here working in the Diocese of Scranton. I also worked for nine years in India.”
Father Pinhero, who is an Oblate of Saint Joseph priest, was ordained on April 15, 1998. The Cathedral Mass is actually the third celebration he has taken part in this year.
“I had a beautiful celebration in my parishes in Pittston, and then I recently went home to India for my vacation so I also had another celebration with my family and friends in India, in my hometown parish where I was ordained a priest,” he said. As he reflected on the service of his fellow Jubilarians, he joked that he is actually the “young guy.”
“I see most of the other guys celebrating 50 years or more. It’s only my silver jubilee,” Father Pinhero said with a smile and laugh.
The Mass celebrated the priestly ministry and service of Monsignor John A. Esseff, who has served the Church for 70 years; Father William D. Campbell, who has served for 65 years; Monsignor Thomas V. Banick and Fathers John P. Ryan and Eugene R. Carr, who have served for 60 years; Fathers William M. Petruska, Anthony M. Urban, Thomas R. Hudak, Paul M. Mullen and James J. Walsh, who have served for 50 years and Fathers Philip S. Rayappan, Jackson Pinhero, O.S.J., Mariusz Beczek, O.S.J., and Andrew Mensah Amankwaa, who have served the Church for 25 years.
Msgr. Esseff, who is celebrating 70 years of priestly service this year, is greeted by religious sisters and friends following the Jubilee Mass.
“God’s strength is still moving us and that is the joy,” Father Mullen said at the conclusion of Mass. “Every day is a blessing.”
Reflecting on 50 years, Father Mullen admitted he was scared by the priestly vocation he first assumed, but now has realized what a “wonderful gift” it has been. “Looking back, I know God has always been with me,” he explained.
The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, served as principal celebrant and homilist at the Priest Jubilarian Mass. The bishop thanked each man for his service to the Church and to the Lord Jesus. By patterning their lives after the life and love of Jesus, he said the Jubilarians have brought countless people to a deeper sense of meaning, life and peace.
“I thank you for your commitment in joyful moments and in challenging times. I thank you for leading us through change and upheaval to harmony and peace,” Bishop Bambera said. “And I thank you for always reminding us of God’s presence in our lives – in the great gift of the Eucharist – in the Word proclaimed – and in the Church, the People of God from among whom every priest is called and with whom every priest is privileged to journey in faith.”
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WILKES-BARRE – One year after Saint Dominic Church held its final Mass, the building is still serving the needs of the community, albeit in a different way.
“We were glad that we were able to turn this beautiful structure into something that still is ‘church,’ it is still outreach, it is still ministry,” Laura Rudloff, organizer of Treasures, a clothing closet ministry operated by volunteers of Saints Peter & Paul Parish in Plains, said.
The former Saint Dominic Church building in Wilkes-Barre has become the new home of ‘Treasures,’ a clothing closet ministry operated by volunteers of Saints Peter & Paul Parish in Plains. (Photos/Eric Deabill)
Last fall, the former church building became the new location of Treasures, which supports hundreds of people in the community by providing clothes each year.
“We’re excited to be here,” Rudloff stated. “Individuals in any type of need can come. The community that we serve is vast. It is not just this immediate area. We help individuals from social services, Children & Youth, fire victims and police officers contact us when they find out people are in need of something. We have long arms.”
All of the clothing items in Treasures clothing closet are free. The pieces are donated by members of the community and are passed on to those in need.
“It is all about helping the community by giving them things that they need – clothes, shoes, coats – to people that are having difficulty,” volunteer Kathy Pilconis said.
Pilconis says the new space has been such a blessing for volunteers and the people being served.
“It is so much more open. We have areas where things can be divided the way they should be – men, women, adults, children. Shoppers are finding it a lot easier to shop. They can look around. We have more space. We have space where we can put shoes out that we didn’t have before,” she added.
“We’re able to show the clothing in more of a boutique setting. People like it. They like to come and shop. They like the surroundings. It is a really beautiful space,” Rudloff said.
After operating at Saints Peter & Paul Church in Plains for its first two years in existence, in 2020, the clothing closet moved to the former rectory of Saint Dominic Church on Austin Avenue in Wilkes-Barre because it needed more space. The ministry program has proven to be so necessary and vital to the community it quickly ran out of room again to sort, organize and display all of the clothing items donated.
By now being able to utilize the former church building itself, there is much more space available.
“It makes me teary,” Pilconis admitted. “It just feels good in this space for some reason. This is just an extension of what we’re supposed to do.”
“We enjoy being in this space. It has brought a whole new life to the volunteers as well. It was a boost to all of us. Everyone loves our job and we’re excited to come to volunteer every week,” Rudloff said.
Treasures is currently open on Monday evenings from 5-7 p.m. and Friday mornings from 10 a.m. until noon. On average, at least 20 people visit the clothing closet each day that it is open.
“We’re looking to be open on Wednesdays as well. That is how much need there is. That is in the works for the future,” Rudloff said. “The word has gotten out and we work with a lot of other churches.”
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Parishioners of Saint Ann Parish in Shohola display their “family quilt” outside their church in May. The 7’ x 18’ quilt is made up of squares designed by each parish family.
SHOHOLA – Pictures do not do it justice!
That is how parishioners of Saint Ann Parish in Pike County describe a family quilt just been completed after nearly one year of work.
“It’s awe-inspiring when you look at it,” parishioner Christine Cancemi said. “It was just a great project to do. It was a lot of fun.”
The quilt project began in September 2022 when the parish held a fall Intergenerational Session. The session focused on Church as family and concluded with each family being given a quilt square to decorate however they wished in a way that would represent them.
Squares were also given out after all Masses in an effort to include everyone in the parish. All of the squares were collected at the end of November.
“The individual squares were amazing. The artistry, the magic, it just all came together,” Cancemi explained.
Cancemi led a group of eight women who spent the next five months planning, designing the layout, ironing, embroidering, quilting, sewing, binding, pinning, praying, and stitching the quilt together.
The other members of the Walker Lake Woman’s Club participating in the project are Karen Batalin, Linda Dubowski, Rita Furno, Jean Gannon, Maryann Muschlite, Pat Sheppard and Kathy Weber.
Drawing on a shared belief in faith and community, they designed a quilt rich in sacred symbols and even included several blank squares that can be decorated by new parishioners or anyone who missed the first opportunity to create their square.
“It was stunning. There are no words to describe it. When I took it up to the rectory office, we laid it on the table and just stood there. It was absolutely amazing how the whole thing came together,” Cancemi added.
In May, the parish held its spring Intergenerational Session, where the faithful continued to focus on Church as family with more reflections and readings. The session concluded with the unveiling of the Saint Ann Family Quilt.
The quilt measures approximately seven feet by nearly 18 feet (84” x 215”). The bright, colorful squares, which are all so different, symbolize how the church family is composed of unique, dynamic, individual families coming together to make one beautiful union to glorify God.
The quilt now hangs in the church as a visible sign of the unity and diversity of the Saint Ann Parish family.
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WILKES-BARRE – Mother Teresa’s Haven, a shelter for homeless men operated by Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Scranton, will soon have a new, permanent home.
In late April, the Wilkes-Barre zoning hearing board unanimously approved an application for a special exception to establish a homeless shelter above Saint Vincent de Paul Kitchen at 39 E. Jackson Street.
Mother Teresa’s Haven homeless shelter will soon be relocating to the area above Saint Vincent de Paul Kitchen in Wilkes-Barre.
“The shelter has been nomadic since its inception in the 1980s. When Catholic Social Services took over more than a decade ago, we started talking about a permanent location,” Harry Lyons, program director for Mother Teresa’s Haven, said. “You need a permanent location so you have the ability to offer these men showers and somewhere they can send their mail.”
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mother Teresa’s Haven had been located in the basement of Saint Mary’s Church of the Immaculate Conception at 134 S. Washington Street. Prior to that, the shelter had rotated between several churches in Wilkes-Barre.
“We’re grateful to the churches that have supported us all these years but it is time for us to take the next step and provide better services to the men,” Lyons added. “Saint Mary’s was not meant to be a long-term solution. It is a beautiful space and we’re absolutely grateful for it but it was never meant to be a long-term solution.”
In 2022, Mother Teresa’s Haven provided 5,838 individual nights of shelter to men in the community who are experiencing homelessness. That is the highest number of clients served in more than six years.
When the emergency shelter moves into its new location, it will be able to house 20 to 24 men each night. It would be open 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily and would be fully staffed. Security will be provided. Men are able to stay at the shelter a maximum of 30 days and can be granted a 15-day extension if they are taking steps to improve their condition.
“We’re optimistic about the future. The better services we can provide, hopefully the quicker somebody can get through a bout of homelessness. That is the ultimate goal, to get people to self-sufficiency, getting them into a place that is safe, stable and affordable,” Lyons explained.
The new, permanent location will allow Catholic Social Services to offer beds to clients instead of cots and will be beneficial for integrating services in one location. “It makes sense to have the shelter and Saint Vincent de Paul Kitchen right next to each other so people don’t have to wander around downtown as much,” Joe Mahoney, Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Social Services, said during the Wilkes-Barre zoning board meeting. “The more we can provide services in that one location, the better off we’re going to be, the better off our clients are going to be, and the better off the community is going to be.”
Renovation work is expected to begin on the new, permanent location for Mother Teresa’s Haven by late summer or early fall. An expected completion date is not yet known but Catholic Social Services does not anticipate any interruption of services for the men they serve during the transition process.
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(OSV News) – A new study indicates Americans are pleased with virtual religious services, but more prefer to attend in person now that the COVID-19 public health emergency has officially ended.
About a quarter of U.S. adults regularly watch religious services online, with 21% using apps or websites to aid Scripture reading, according to a report released June 2 by the Pew Research Center.
Parishioners attend Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Scranton on Sunday, June 11, 2023.
Pew surveyed more than 11,000 respondents in November 2022, well after the pandemic’s peak but before the U.S. government officially declared it over. Over half (57%) said they do not generally attend religious services, either in person or virtually.
Researchers said the online and television worship driven by COVID lockdowns remains popular with 25% of those surveyed. Two thirds of those polled said they were “extremely” or “very satisfied” with the experience.
“When asked why they watch religious services online or on TV, many regular viewers cite multiple reasons,” Pew stated in a summary of the survey data. “But as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes, convenience is the most-commonly selected option — not fear of catching or spreading any illness.”
Worshippers who opt for a mix of in-person and online worship strongly favor the former by a margin of 76% to 11%. Black American adults were found to be “more engaged with digital technology in their religious lives,” with 48% saying they watched religious services online or on television at least once a month, according to the study.
Yet respondents who attended in person expressed even greater enthusiasm for their experience, with 74% extremely or very satisfied with the sermons and 69% with service music.
The preference for in-person attendance is “not shocking,” said Father Thomas Dailey, professor of homiletics and social communications at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.
Post pandemic, the challenge is to use livestream worship creatively as a tool for driving authentic community among the faithful, he told OSV News.
“The number of people who said in the survey they watch online because they can’t otherwise get there is, to me, the reason for continuing to livestream,” said Father Dailey, an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales.
Of Catholic adults who regularly watch religious services online or on TV, 16% said an illness or disability preventing them from attending in person was a “major reason” for watching religious services on TV or online, and 23% identified it as a “minor reason.”
Father Dailey stressed that “the fullness of liturgical participation is hearing the word and receiving the Eucharist.”
“Obviously, you can’t receive the Eucharist online,” he said. “But if there is some mechanism by which we can provide the Eucharist to those not physically present at the celebration of Mass, that’s something that enables people to participate more fully.”
Livestreamed liturgies, combined with extraordinary ministers of holy Communion for the homebound, can do just that, he said.
“The person who can’t get to church can participate in the worship online, and then receive the Eucharist from that Mass with an extraordinary minister bringing it to them,” said Father Dailey. “Obviously, there’s a time gap, but you facilitate participation in the Mass as best one can.”
The same arrangement can benefit merged and rural parishes, where priests are stretched thin to cover the celebration of Mass, Father Dailey said.
“You can imagine Mass being celebrated in the nearest city or deanery church, livestreamed to the distant rural churches, where the faithful gather and can receive the sacrament” from permanent deacons or extraordinary ministers of holy Communion, he said.
That approach avoids “sitting at home watching Mass,” he added.
“Our worship is by definition communal,” said Father Dailey. “It’s about communion with God, yes, but also with one another.”
