CARBONDALE – With champagne in hand, parishioners gathered outside Saint Rose of Lima Church on Aug. 23, 2021, to celebrate the relighting of its steeple after the completion of a major renovation project.

The outdoor event followed a 7:30 p.m. Mass for the Solemnity of Saint Rose, in which the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, served as principal celebrant.

“It is a real pleasure for me to join with this parish community,” the bishop said in welcoming the large crowd that gathered. “We give thanks for the incredible work that has been done to restore this beautiful church and particularly its tower, which really shines as a beacon of faith and hope to this entire community.”

After several years of planning and fundraising, Saint Rose of Lima Parish recently completed a large-scale church renovation project in which its granite steps, steeple and façade were all restored. Knowing the church’s importance, both parishioners and the Carbondale business community embraced the renovation work, raising more than $850,000 for the project.

Reverend Jeffrey J. Walsh, pastor, delivered the homily during the Mass.

“We’re so happy with the conclusion of this project. It was long overdue,” Father Walsh said. “Everyone who made a contribution to this project did what our ancestors did… They knew that faith needed to be a priority for them and their families and so they invested in a beautiful house of worship that just continued to grow and grow.”

Father Walsh spent much of his homily focusing on “little details.”

Quoting Pope Francis, the Carbondale pastor emphasized that “little details” are important saying, “Jesus asked his disciples to pay attention to details, the little detail that wine was running out at a party, the little details that one sheep was missing.”

Father Walsh then explained all the “little details” that went into making the restoration project at Saint Rose of Lima Church a success. The details ranged from the hard work it took to replace the steps outside the church, to the meticulous effort to make sure the scaffolding outside the church was put up properly so that workers could reach the steeple, to the masonry work involved with the bluestone over the church’s archways.

“It was an awful lot of work,” Father Walsh said.

Even as the steeple was re-lit to great joy in the community, Father Walsh ended his homily by emphasizing that while a church building is a great treasure, it is the faith of each person that needs to shine the brightest.

“What God manifests in the external, he also wants to manifest in the internal,” Father Walsh said. “All of the detail work that goes into restoring the outside of this church applies equally to the detail that each one of us is responsible for in maintaining our spiritual lives.”

RILEYVILLE – With a banner hanging outside Saint Joseph Church announcing its 150th anniversary, parishioners in northern Wayne County gathered on Aug. 22 to celebrate the special milestone of their house of worship.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, served as principal celebrant for a Pontifical Concelebrated Mass of Thanksgiving marking the sesquicentennial anniversary of the church.

“For all of the memories that are likely flooding the minds and hearts of all of us who gather this morning, I suspect that when we recall events that have taken place in our lives in relationship to Saint Joseph Church, we are more likely to recall certain people than merely a place,” Bishop Bambera said during his homily.

The bishop explained a personal connection to Saint Joseph Church. When he was a young, he would often attend Mass at the church while staying with his father at a nearby hunting lodge on weekends. Even as a young boy, the bishop noted the welcoming atmosphere the parish offered.

In encouraging people to reflect on the fact that a parish is much more than just a building, Bishop Bambera used the words of Saint John Paul II. As the late Holy Father indicated, a parish is “the family of God, a fellowship afire with a unifying spirit.”

On the milestone anniversary for Saint Joseph Church, the bishop said the celebration should remind parishioners of who they are as Catholic Christians, remind them of the need to engage a power in life bigger than themselves and reinforce that we receive the Holy Eucharist for mission.

“Right here in Rileyville, look at the mission that you’ve embraced for the past 150 years. You have celebrated life and called one another to a profound respect for that sublime gift. You have taught people about our faith. You have fed families and clothed the poor. You have healed bodies and spirits, consoled, buried and converted hearts to the Lord. You have done Christ’s work!” the bishop noted.

The anniversary Mass took place on the 21st Week in Ordinary Time, when the Gospel message indicated that many of Jesus’ followers were having a difficult time understanding his teaching about the Eucharist and many walked away.

The bishop noted that parishioners at Saint Joseph Church have stayed through the power of God at work in their lives.

“It is pretty obvious that you stay a part of this church because of your faith – a faith that enables you to see and experience signs of hope and signs of God’s life, his mercy and his love!” the bishop noted.

Saint Joseph Church was established in 1871 as a mission worship site of Saint Juliana Parish at Rock Lake. In 1944, the care of Saint Joseph’s was assumed by Saint Mary Magdalen Parish, Honesdale, with Saint John the Evangelist taking over the guardianship of the small mission church three years later.

SCRANTON – Seminarian Michael J. Boris stood before the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, on Aug. 19 and affirmed his desire to advance along the path toward the priesthood.

Bishop Bambera served as presider, principal celebrant and homilist for Solemn Vespers with the Rite of Admission to Candidacy for Holy Orders as well as the Celebration of the Eucharist with the Institution of Acolyte for Michael J. Boris at the Cathedral of Saint Peter.

In the Rite of Admission to Candidacy for Holy Orders, a man who aspires to ordination publicly declares his will to offer himself to God and to the Church for sacred ministry. During the rite, the bishop asks the candidate two questions about his resolve to complete preparations for the priesthood. If the candidate answers these questions affirmatively, he is accepted as a candidate for holy orders.

Acolyte is the last step before ordination. Acolytes serve at the altar, assisting priests and deacons during liturgical celebrations. They may also purify the sacred vessels after Holy Communion.

In his homily, Bishop Bambera reflected on a Gospel passage of Saint Luke (Luke 5:1-11) which finds Jesus beginning his ministry by calling a simple fisherman, Simon Peter, to be one of his most trusted friends.

“Today, he calls you to walk with him in a very special way,” Bishop Bambera said to Michael J. Boris.

The bishop said that Jesus accepted Simon Peter as he was, taking him as he found him with a heart that was open.

“Michael, remember that Jesus accepts and calls us as we all are also,” the bishop noted.

Bishop Bambera emphasized that Jesus is able to see beyond the brokenness of our lives and invites all of us to trust at a deeper level.

“Jesus responds to you Michael, in the very same way that he responded to his first followers. He calls you to cast the net of God’s love and mercy upon the waters of this time and place. He calls you to extend your hands and grasp the lives of those who struggle to find a way forward. He calls you to embrace them with compassion, mercy and forgiveness.”

SCRANTON – Hundreds of people gathered to celebrate their faith – and their Italian heritage – at the Cathedral of Saint Peter on Sept. 5 at the 45th annual La Festa Italiana Mass.

The Mass, which was celebrated in Italian, was held in conjunction with La Festa Italiana. The annual four-day food festival takes place on Courthouse Square over the long Labor Day weekend.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, attended the Mass. Reverend Paul A. McDonnell, OSJ, served as principal celebrant and homilist. McDonnell is the current rector of the Oblates of Saint Joseph in Laflin.

“Today we celebrate the Italian heritage, this wonderful gift given first of all to our country that came from Italy,” Father McDonnell said.

Reflecting on the hallmarks of the Italian culture, which he defined as “faith, family, friends and hospitality,” McDonnell said gratefully each has made its way into the Diocese of Scranton.

During his homily, Father McDonnell joked that his last name is Irish – but he is half-Italian because of his mother. He emphasized that Italians love being in the company of others.

“Being able to share our lives, share our joys, our blessings and our accomplishments and to share also our sorrows, crosses and burdens. We do it together,” he explained.

Connecting that to the Church, the “family of God,” Father McDonnell reminded the crowd that we are also supposed to “walk” with our brothers and sisters in faith.

“We don’t worship in isolation. We don’t serve in isolation. Jesus reminds us over and over again, if you want to love me, then love each other,” he said.

While the La Festa Italiana Mass emphasizes the Italian culture, Father McDonnell reminded those in attendance that many cultures have influenced the Diocese of Scranton.

“We are reminded of all the cultures that have influenced this diocese and have a very important role to play. It reminds us of our rich and diverse history as we acknowledge all ethnic groups that immigrated here: Slovaks, Polish, Lithuanians, Irish, German and today our most recent immigrants from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Cape Verde, Vietnam, India, the Philippines and the continent of Africa,” he said.

Just as the day’s Gospel message stressed – the homilist added we must all be more accepting and loving of others.

“If we are truly rooted in Christ, then we don’t see our brothers and sisters from other races, creeds or colors as a burden, but as an asset to enrich our society and personal lives,” he explained.

This year’s Italian Mass was offered in memory of all those members and friends of La Festa Italiana who passed away since the last Mass was celebrated, including Ray Alberigi, John “Jack” Brunetti, Christina Caprio, Father Andrew Gallia, Patrick A. Luongo, Joseph “Chef” Schiavone, Kevin Shaughnessy and Father Joseph Sica.

Before the concluding prayer, Bishop Bambera thanked the La Festa Committee for helping to organize and participate in the Mass – as well as for their hard work to put on one of the community’s most popular events.

Seizing on the homily message that Father McDonnell shared, the bishop drew connections to the pandemic that we continue to battle.

“We are in this together,” the bishop said. “We are all connected through faith, through life and the fact that we are all a part of this family that God has given to each one of us!”

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, released the following greeting on Sept. 15, 2021, to those observing Yom Kippur:

“On behalf of all the clergy, religious and faithful of the Diocese of Scranton, I offer my heartfelt best wishes to our Jewish brothers and sisters who will celebrate Yom Kippur beginning this evening at sunset.

“As Christians, we must always continue to deepen the bonds of friendship between our two faith traditions and break down any walls that may separate us.

“On this Day of Atonement, may we all ask God for forgiveness from our sins and join together in praying for peace and stability in our world.

“To all our Jewish neighbors, I wish all an easy and meaningful fast this Yom Kippur.”

 

 

“As we mark the twentieth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, we remember and pray for all those who lost their lives, as well as their family and friends, and those individuals who continue to carry the physical and emotional burdens of that terrible day.

“Over the last two decades, the people of our great nation have shared so many feelings – ranging from anger and shock – to loss and pain – to a determination to never forget. On this somber anniversary, we must continue to honor the selflessness of our first responders – including our brave firefighters, police, emergency workers and port authority personnel — as well as the heroism of ordinary citizens who were willing to sacrifice their own lives for others.

“In the immediate aftermath of that terrible day, our faith lifted us up and sustained us. Our nation turned to God in prayer and in faith with a new intensity. Let us continue to turn to God as our source of strength, comfort and peace in challenging times.

“In the words that Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI both used while visiting Ground Zero,

‘O Lord, comfort and console us, strengthen us in hope, and give us the wisdom and courage to work tirelessly for a world where true peace and love reign among nations and in the hearts of all.’”

 

SCRANTON – On Saturday, September 11, our nation and the world will mark the passage of two decades since the day that changed our lives forever. The Cathedral of Saint Peter will commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with a memorial bell toll, commencing at 8:46 a.m., the time at which American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into 1 World Trade Center in New York City, NY. The toll will conclude at 10:03 a.m., the time at which Flight 93 crashed into a field near Shanksville, PA.

A portion of the bell toll will be available on the Cathedral’s Facebook page.

Monsignor Rupert, Pastor of the Cathedral Parish states, “As we commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York, Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon, it is a time for remembrance, renewal, and hope.

“We reverently recall those who were most directly affected by this tragedy—those who died, were injured, or lost loved ones. In a special way, we recall the selfless first responders—firefighters, police, chaplains, emergency workers, and other brave persons—who risked, and many times lost, their lives in their courageous and selfless efforts to save others.

“On this day most especially, let us reflect on God’s gracious gifts of love and mercy. Nurture hope, take time to understand and appreciate others, and focus on the positives of each person you encounter. Be a sign of hope for those around you. These small acts will help point our country and world on the course to a better day, much like the countless heroes who answered the call to serve neighbors and strangers on one of our nation’s worst days.

“May we always show true gratitude for those who lost their lives and remember them and their families in our prayers.”

Let us make our own the prayer of Pope Benedict XVI when he visited Ground Zero in New York in 2008, which was also used by Pope Francis during his visit to the Ground Zero Memorial in September 2015:

O God of love, compassion, and healing,
look on us, people of many different faiths
and religious traditions,
who gather today on this hallowed ground,
the scene of unspeakable violence and pain.

We ask you in your goodness
to give eternal light and peace
to all who died here:
the heroic first-responders:
our fire fighters, police officers,
emergency service workers
and Port Authority personnel,
along with all the innocent men and women
who were victims of this tragedy
simply because their work or service
brought them here on September 11.

We ask you, in your compassion,
to bring healing to those who,
because of their presence here fourteen years ago,
continue to suffer from injuries and illness.

Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families
and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy.
Give them strength to continue their lives
with courage and hope.

We are mindful as well
of those who suffered death, injury, and loss
on the same day at the Pentagon
and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Our hearts are one with theirs
as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering.

God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:
peace in the hearts of all men and women
and peace among the nations of the earth.
Turn to your way of love
those whose hearts and minds
are consumed with hatred,
and who justify killing in the name of religion.

God of understanding,
overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,
we seek your light and guidance
as we confront such terrible events.

Grant that those whose lives were spared
may live so that the lives lost here
may not have been lost in vain.

Comfort and console us, strengthen us in hope,
and give us the wisdom and courage
to work tirelessly for a world
where true peace and love reign
among nations and in the hearts of all.

 

 

Father Kevin M. Smith, pastor of Our Lady of the Snow Parish in Blue Point, N.Y., is seen in his office Aug. 25, 2021. Father Smith, a Nassau County, N.Y., fire chaplain, served as a 9/11 first responder in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)

BLUE POINT, N.Y. (CNS) – Father Kevin M. Smith, a veteran fire chaplain, trauma counselor and loyal friend to scores of active and retired firefighters in the New York metropolitan area, receives more phone calls in early September than any other time of the year.

Most of the calls are from firefighters who served amid the carnage and chaos in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on New York City’s World Trade Center.

A fire chaplain with 30 years of service, Father Smith, 60, is commissioned by Nassau County, New York, to minister to members of the county’s 71 volunteer fire departments, many of whom work full time with the New York Fire Department.

He also is a member of the county’s Critical Incident Stress Management team, which provides support to firefighters and emergency medical services workers who are dealing with trauma associated with their duties as first responders.

Father Smith’s cellphone starts ringing and dinging with calls and texts from firefighters in the days leading up to and including the 9/11 anniversary. They come from front-line heroes who have been emotionally and, in many cases, physically affected by the cataclysmic event.

Father Smith — pastor of Our Lady of the Snow Church in Blue Point in the Diocese of Rockville Centre — can empathize with the callers. He, too, was a first responder at ground zero, arriving near the scene as the World Trade Center’s North Tower was collapsing, completing the total destruction of the two 110-story buildings and resulting in a mountain of crushed concrete, twisted steel and pulverized debris where they once stood in lower Manhattan.

In an interview with Catholic News Service to mark the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, Father Smith spoke about his role as a chaplain on and after 9/11.

“I can’t believe it was 20 years ago,” he remarked. “There are days when it feels like yesterday.”

For Father Smith, Sept. 11, 2001, began at St. Rose of Lima Church in Massapequa, some 40 miles east of the city. An associate pastor at the time, he had been preparing to celebrate morning Mass when a parish secretary told him to turn on the television where he witnessed the second of two hijacked jetliners crash into the World Trade Center.

Several minutes later, his fire pager chirped, alerting him about the mass casualty incident.

After notifying his pastor that he was responding to the call, Father Smith jumped into his black Chevy Trailblazer — a vehicle with emergency lights and sirens — and headed toward the city. Along the way he picked up his younger brother, Patrick Smith, an off-duty New York City firefighter, and dropped him off at his firehouse in the Bronx.

When he eventually arrived in lower Manhattan, Father Smith encountered a surreal scene. The devastation was overwhelming.

“The whole place was filled with smoke,” he recalled. “There was a lot of stuff coming out of the air. Fire trucks and Emergency Service Unit vehicles were catching fire from the falling debris and exploding.”

Throughout the day and into the early hours the following day, Father Smith — protected by a fire helmet and bunker coat — offered prayers, emotional support and assistance to firefighters and other emergency personnel. A trained firefighter, he also helped search for victims.

As shaken first responders went about their business amid the mayhem, a number of them asked Father Smith to hear their confessions.

“They wanted absolution before heading down to ‘the pile’ because you didn’t know what was going to explode next, what was going to fall down,” he said.

In addition to ministering to the firefighters, the priest blessed the bodies of many of the FDNY’s 343 fallen heroes, including Franciscan Father Mychal Judge, the beloved FDNY chaplain and first certified casualty of 9/11.

For several months following 9/11, Father Smith would commute almost daily from his parish to ground zero, where he continued to offer support to the firefighters, including his brother Patrick, who was among those participating in the recovery efforts.

He said his faith helped sustain him through the difficult work and grueling schedule. “Prayer, adrenaline and the Holy Spirit,” were the emboldening forces, he said, adding: “I had a sense that God was with me.”

Referring to his vocation as “a ministry of presence,” he said he spent time with the firefighters when they were working at ground zero and during their meals and rest breaks.

“I appreciated being a priest and a lot of people appreciated me being a priest. A lot of guys said, ‘Father, thank God you’re down here with us.’ … I felt needed.”

Father Smith was also present to the bereaved members of the fallen firefighters’ families. He estimates that he concelebrated 30 to 40 funeral Masses of firefighters, sometimes two or three in a single day.

“I knew a lot of the guys,” he said.

He also had been friendly with a number of people who worked inside the towers. One of his former parishes, St. Mary Church in Manhasset, lost 22 parishioners and alumni from its elementary and secondary schools, the majority of whom Father Smith had known personally. He concelebrated several of those funeral liturgies.

“I remember a year or two after 9/11 looking at a list of victims to see how many people I actually knew,” Father Smith said. “It was about 60. Sixty friends that I had contact with and knew their families. They were firefighters, guys from Cantor Fitzgerald and the other financial groups at the Trade Center.”

Like many emergency responders who served at the World Trade Center site on 9/11 and post-9/11, Father Smith developed health issues related to the toxic conditions of the environment.

“I have chronic sinusitis. I have sleep apnea. I’ve had some skin cancer,” he said. “All have been certified as 9/11-related.”

His brother Patrick, meanwhile, was forced to retire from the FDNY in 2006 with a 9/11-related respiratory illness.

Father Smith said he has proactively addressed the emotional scars that he bears from his time at ground zero. “I go to counseling,” he said. “It helps, especially on the (9/11) anniversaries. If you’re going to do trauma counseling, it’s not a bad thing to check in with somebody from time to time.

“The first couple of years, I’d have nightmares, flashbacks, a lot of that stuff.”

Father Smith’s 9/11 recollections also include positive memories of a time when people expressed their appreciation for the firefighters, police officers, construction workers and many others who pitched in at ground zero.

“At night, when you left the Trade Center, there would be people on the streets with big signs saying: ‘Thank You.’ They’d hand you a bottle of water or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich made by a school kid in Connecticut.”

Father Smith fondly remembers strangers chatting with and helping one another, a byproduct of the collective pain people shared and their desire for healing in the wake of the catastrophe.

He said he misses the post-9/11 period that was marked by a heightened degree of charity and fellowship, along with intense national pride and unity.

“It petered out over time to the point today where we’re probably yelling and screaming at each other a lot more than we should,” the priest said.

“You wish that some of the lessons we learned from 9/11 would have been passed on, like reaching out to one another, forgiving one another, being a little more patient with one another.”

The most important lesson, he said: “Cherish every single day.”

 

Pope Francis leads his general audience in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican Sept. 8, 2021. At left is Msgr. Leonardo Sapienza, an official of the Prefecture of the Papal Household. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – There is no place for discrimination or divisive distinctions among people who believe in Christ, Pope Francis said during his weekly general audience.

That everyone is made new and equal in Christ overcomes all ethnic, economic and social differences, even between the two sexes, “establishing an equality between man and woman which was revolutionary at the time and which needs to be reaffirmed even today,” he said Sept. 8 to those gathered in the Paul VI audience hall at the Vatican.

“How many times we hear expressions that denigrate women,” he said, adding that even today women experience a kind of slavery in which “women do not have the same opportunities as men.”

The pope continued his series of talks on St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians by looking at what faith in Christ brings.

With faith and baptism, people become new creatures, “clothed” with Christ and children of God in Christ, the apostle writes. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is no male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

The pope said this shows how “baptism, therefore, is not merely an external rite. Those who receive it are transformed deep within, in their inmost being, and possess new life” with an identity that is so new “that it prevails over the differences that exist on the ethnic-religious level” and social and economic levels.

St. Paul’s teaching was “shocking” and “revolutionary” at a time when distinctions, for example, between slaves and free citizens “was vital in ancient society,” the pope said.

“By law, free citizens enjoyed all rights, while the human dignity of slaves was not even recognized,” he said.

The same thing is happening to many people in the world today, “who do not have the right to eat, who do not have the right to education, who do not have the right to work. They are the new slaves. They are the ones who live on the margins, who are exploited by everyone” and whose human dignity is denied, he said.

“Equality in Christ overcomes the social differences between the two sexes, establishing an equality between man and woman,” he said, calling for a reaffirmation of this truth.

St. Paul “confirms the profound unity that exists between all the baptized, in whatever condition they are bound to, because every one of them is a new creature in Christ. Every distinction becomes secondary to the dignity of being children of God.”

Therefore, “it is decisive even for all of us today to rediscover the beauty of being children of God, to be brothers and sisters among ourselves, because we have been united in Christ, who redeemed us,” he said.

Differences and conflicts caused by separation “should not exist among believers in Christ,” he said, cautioning against creating differences between people, “many times unconsciously.”

“Rather, our vocation is that of making concrete and evident the call to unity of the entire human race.”

“Everything that exacerbates the differences between people, often causing discrimination — all of this, before God, no longer has any meaning, thanks to the salvation effected in Christ.”

At the end of the general audience, the pope marked the day’s feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary by asking people to pray that “our mother help us to rediscover the beauty of being children of God and, overcoming differences and conflicts, to help us live as brothers and sisters.”

The day is also when the people of Cuba celebrate their patroness, Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, he said. Recalling his visit to her shrine in 2015, “I want to once again present at the feet of the Virgin of Charity the life, dreams, hopes and sorrows of the Cuban people,” so that wherever they find themselves, they may experience the tenderness of Mary be led to Christ.

The pope also greeted all students heading back to school, saying he hoped the coming academic year would be “a time of educational growth and deepening of the bonds of friendship.”

“May the Lord help you safeguard the faith and cultivate science in order to become protagonists of a better future in which humanity may be able to enjoy peace, fraternity and tranquility.”

 

An election worker in San Diego, Calif., places mail-in ballots into a voting box at a drive-through drop off location at the Registrar of Voters for San Diego County Oct. 19, 2020. Polarization in politics, the church and across society has prompted the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to launch an initiative that looks to bring people together to serve the common good through “charity, clarity and creativity.” (CNS photo/Mike Blake, Reuters)

CLEVELAND (CNS) – Polarization across society has prompted the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to launch an initiative that looks to bring people together to serve the common good.

Called “Civilize It: A Better Kind of Politics,” the initiative is designed to “move forward the kind of conversations that we need to be having to overcome our divisions,” said Jill Rauh, director of education and outreach in the USCCB’s Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, which is coordinating the effort.

The USCCB introduced the initiative Sept. 7.

The effort draws heavily from the teachings of Pope Francis, particularly his call in the third encyclical of his papacy, “Fratelli Tutti, on Fraternity and Social Friendship.”

“We are in a situation where both in society and the church we are experiencing a lot of division and polarization,” Rauh told Catholic News Service. “In Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis specifically is calling Catholics and all people of goodwill to build a better kind of politics, one at the service of the common good.”

The Civilize It initiative is meant not just for political leaders, but for all people, Rauh added.

A special webpage for the initiative, CivilizeIt.org, has links to a tool kit with resources to help parishes, small groups and individuals address polarization of any kind.

“Pope Francis is very clear in ‘Fratelli Tutti’ and the bishops have been clear in ‘Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship’ that we are called to engage in the public sphere and to do so year-round, to be working together and to try to identify ways to work for the common good,” Rauh said.

“Forming Consciences” is the bishops’ quadrennial document on election participation.

Other USCCB offices also are promoting the initiative, Rauh said. In addition, leaders in at least 45 dioceses are planning to incorporate the initiative in diocesan programs and more are expected to also take part.

Tool kit resources range from a Prayer for Civility that draws from the Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi to a reflection titled “Loving our Neighbor through Dialogue.” Other materials include a study guide and parish bulletin inserts.

Website visitors are invited to sign a pledge saying they will rely on “charity, clarity and creativity” to promote understanding and dialogue over division.

Signers pledge to affirm each person’s dignity, even when they disagree with someone and respectfully listen to others “to understand experiences different from my own.”

The pledge also invites signers to engage in “critical examination to ensure that my perspectives are rooted in truth, that my sources of information are unbiased and that I not open myself to manipulation by partisan interests.”

Other actions listed with the pledge include becoming a “bridgebuilder who participates in constructive dialogue based in shared values” and to see differences in perspectives as “opportunities for creative tension which can yield solutions for the common good.”

The initiative builds on a program with a similar name introduced by the Department of Justice Peace and Human Development for the 2020 election cycle. That effort sought to remind people that civility in political discussions, not rancor, is a virtue.

The idea for “Civilize It” originated in the Social Action Office of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in 2016. Its success in Ohio caught the attention of the USCCB, which decided that the model, with a few tweaks, could be introduced nationwide in 2019.