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VATICAN CITY (CNS) — During his long and fruitful pontificate, St. John Paul II embraced the entire world, which stands yet again in need of his blessing, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said.
“Bless us, Holy Father John Paul II. Bless the Lord’s church on its journey, that it may be a pilgrim of hope. Bless this lacerated and disoriented humanity, that it may find the way back to its dignity and its highest vocation, that it may know the riches of God’s mercy and love,” the cardinal said during a memorial Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica April 2, the 20th anniversary of the late Polish pope’s death.
Hundreds of faithful attended the Mass, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a small government delegation representing Poland as well as cardinals and bishops living in Rome and diplomats accredited to the Vatican.
Retired Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who served as St. John Paul’s personal secretary from 1966 until the pope’s death in 2005, greeted and thanked all those who were present.
“Our hearts go out to the Holy Father Francis,” who could not attend as he continues to recover in his residence, the Polish cardinal said. “We know that right now, he is spiritually united with us.”
“We pray for his health, that the Lord will give him the strength he needs to lead the pilgrim church in this Jubilee Year, under the banner of hope in these difficult times for the church and also for the world,” the cardinal said.
Pope Francis had sent Cardinal Dziwisz a letter before his hospitalization Feb. 14, expressing his wishes for a peaceful Holy Year lived in a spirit of hope and offering his blessings to all those taking part in events April 2.
Cardinal Parolin, who began serving in the Vatican Secretariat of State under the late pope starting in 1986, gave the homily, which recalled the legacy and spirituality of the Polish pope, whose pontificate of more than 26 years was the third longest in history.
Pope John Paul exclaimed “with impressive force from the very first unforgettable homily at the inauguration of his pontificate, ‘Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ,'” who knows what humanity is meant to be and points the way to eternal life, the cardinal said.
Because of that conviction, the late pope “could address with authority and firmness not only the Catholic faithful, but also peoples and government leaders,” urging them to “be aware of their responsibility to defend justice, the dignity of human persons and peace,” he said.
“We remember with gratitude and admiration his tireless service of peace, his passionate warnings, his diplomatic initiatives trying to avert wars” even when he was experiencing difficult moments in his life and “the fragility of physical strength was already evident,” Cardinal Parolin said.
St. John Paul never gave up, he said, even while “many of his appeals remained unfortunately unheeded, as happens even to great prophets.”
Another unforgettable hallmark of Pope John Paul’s legacy, he said, was the great Holy Year of 2000 and his ushering the church and the world into the third millennium.
The pope invited the church to confidently set out to sea and cast wide its nets with the new evangelization, he said.
“His words continue to inspire us and are echoed today by his successor, Francis, in this new jubilee,” which also sees the church’s faithful as setting out into “troubled waters, but still pilgrims of hope,” he said, “guided by Peter’s successor and assisted by the Holy Spirit.”
Like the “countless pilgrims who continually come to this basilica and ask for his intercession at the altar where his body rests,” Cardinal Parolin prayed the saint would continue to bless all the faithful, the church and humanity so that everyone would know God’s mercy and love.
After the Mass, dignitaries processed to St. John Paul’s tomb to pray. Cardinal Dzivisz placed a lit white candle on the altar and four representatives of Poland set a large bouquet of red and white roses, the colors of the Polish flag, next to the tomb, which was adorned with many flowers.
Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the papal vicar of Rome, read a prayer, asking for the saint to bless the world’s young people and the faithful so they would be “tireless missionaries of the Gospel today.”
“Bless every family,” he said, underlining how the pope warned against “Satan’s assault against this precious spark of heaven that God has lit on earth. Make us strong and courageous in defending the family.”
“Pray for the whole world, scarred by so many injustices and lacerated by absurd wars, which turn the world into a bloody battlefield, deliver us from war, which is always a defeat for everyone,” Cardinal Reina said.
This Lenten season, Catholic Relief Services marks 50 years of life-saving and community-building efforts through its annual Rice Bowl almsgiving program. However, CRS now faces deep cuts in funding through the Trump Administration’s freezing of funds flowing from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), from which CRS gets half of its $1.5 billion budget. Now, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is asking for critical funding.
On Tuesday, the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten pilgrims made their way to St. Andrew Avellino for an evening dedicated to the eucharist. Bishop Robert Brennan lead the pilgrims and the Flushing parish in the benediction of the blessed sacrament before celebrating mass. The Brooklyn shepherd thanked the pilgrims for taking time to be with Christ, saying their show of faith touched his heart and many others.
By Currents News
Students at Saint Luke’s School are giving themselves a round of applause for spreading kindness with their new garden of inspiration!
The garden is filled with rocks painted with vibrant colors and inspirational quotes like “Be kind” and “Like the moon, not always full, but beautiful.”
The kids gathered outside the Whitestone school with their teachers and principal for a prayer and a blessing of the rocks led by Father John Costello, who called the garden a gift to the neighborhood.
By Currents News Staff
Students at saint elizabeth catholic academy went on a pilgrimage around the world, and didn’t even have to leave their school!
The Ozone Park students celebrated International Day, learning about different countries.
First graders represented China– wearing traditional Chinese clothing. While the fourth graders embraced the Nigerian culture, showing off their dance moves.
Parents also joined in on the fun by buying passports and touring the classrooms to get them stamped.
By Katie Vasquez
It was a day of prayer and closeness to the body of Christ, as St. Jude Shrine church welcomes pilgrims from the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Lenten Pilgrimage on Wednesday, April 2.
The Canarsie church is connecting the faithful of Brooklyn and Queens during this season, and in the months to come, as a Jubilee station church for the diocese.
The pews were filled with pilgrims of all ages, including young people from the parish school, Our Lady of Trust Catholic Academy. They rejoiced in song as Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan celebrated the 8 am Mass.
Although the shepherd of the Diocese of Brooklyn has been leading the way during this Lenten Pilgrimage, he says seeing young people at this stop has been an inspiration for him and his fellow pilgrims.
“It’s a great experience to celebrate with the young people. First of all, for them to take part in something that, part of who we are and what we’re doing, there’s an educational piece and exposes them to something new and different. But they bring such joy, such hope, such faith. and that’s an inspiration to all of us,” said Bishop Robert Brennan of the Diocese of Brooklyn.
“The treat with the bishop was amazing. Cohesive message. During this special time of Lent. I love that the children are here praying. I have the privilege of having three of my kids here. So my daughter was one of the ones who did the reading. So, it’s extra special for me,” said Luis Machica, a parishioner at St. Jude Shrine Church.
“I have enjoyed the Masses because it just gives me, like a better relationship with God, like a better opportunity to talk with him and stuff like that,” said Gabriella Machica, an 8th grader at Our Lady of Trust Catholic Academy in Brooklyn.
“Today’s Gospel really, truly confirmed my beliefs in believing that God truly loves me and I fully trust in him no matter what,” said 8th grader Melanie Reneau from Our Lady of Trust Catholic Academy.
Because St Jude has been designated a Jubilee shrine church, that means pilgrims who visited on that Wednesday and met certain conditions, could receive a plenary indulgence and be free from the temporal punishment of sin.
If you also want to receive an indulgence you have until the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, 2025 to visit a shrine church like St Jude.
Faithful are making their way across the Diocese of Brooklyn during the local Lenten Pilgrimage, but the next stop on their journey is one that connects them to the universal Church.
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By Katie Vasquez
After finishing his breakfast, Thomas Hinchen doesn’t throw his scraps in the garbage. He puts them in a special bucket he has on his kitchen counter for composting.
“For the city, if it’s organic, it can be composted,” Hinchen tells Currents News.
After he separates the scraps, he then brings the food waste out to his yard to a compost tumbler. It’s a practice he’s been doing for nearly 27 years.
The routine is part of what he says are “just general, good gardening principles.”
Now, all of the Big Apple is joining him.
Starting April 1, New Yorkers can face a $25 fine if they don’t separate their trash.
Composting is meant for your kitchen food scraps, food soiled paper, and dead plants or leaves. It is not meant for paper, glass or plastic – that still goes in your regular recycling.
“Well my tip is just to start out with doing the little that’s required of you,” says Hinchen about making the switch. “What’s required of you is to gather your food scraps and put them in the bin.”
It’s a move that as a parishioner at St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Brooklyn, he applauds.
“I was very happy. I think this is where we need to go, and other cities have gone and other jurisdictions hopefully will go in the future,” Hinchen explains.
He also doesn’t just compost in his own backyard, but at the Prospect Farm garden that he helps with as well.
Although it can get messy, Hinchen knows the reward is worth the work because it ends up in the garden.
As a faithful Catholic, he also knows this work follows the message laid out in Pope Francis’ paper, Laudato Si, that we must care for God’s creation.
“We’re keeping materials out of landfills. If food waste went into landfills, it would be generating methane gas,” says Hinchen, “As the pope said, we need to be concerned about the generations to come.”
And Hinchen will keep his commitment to the earth, one scrap of food at a time.
Starting April 1, New York City residents have to start composting or they’ll face a fine. One parishioner in the Diocese of Brooklyn has been composting for years and is sharing his tips with first-timers.
The Vatican reports that Pope Francis’ condition is improving every day, and that he’s in good spirits.
Fourth graders at a Queens Catholic academy are learning about the significance of Lent by creating their own Stations of the Cross.