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U.S. Church Leaders Offer Prayers for Pope Francis’ Recovery

Catholic Church leaders around the country offered prayers for Pope Francis following the Vatican’s March 29 announcement that he would be hospitalized in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital for a few days to treat a respiratory infection.

Bishop Robert Brennan said in a tweet that afternoon that he “along with so many of the Catholic Faithful, pray for the Holy Father. In fact, we will pray in a special way during the previously scheduled Lenten Pilgrimage at Corpus Christi where I will lead the rosary at 7:30 this evening.”

In a March 30 video message, Bishop Brennan said he prayed the “rosary before the Blessed Sacrament with about 300 people, and we prayed in a particular way, our intention was the health of the Holy Father and for his healing.

“Today I’m over at Immaculate Conception and at Mass we prayed for him as well. I am praying for him, people from all over Brooklyn and Queens are praying. We join people from all around the world.”

New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan tweeted that he was “following the updates on the Holy Father through the media. Please join me in keeping him in prayer for a speedy return to health!”

While church leaders offered their prayers and well wishes for the 86-year-old pontiff on social media, the pope similarly used this platform to respond to this outpouring of encouragement. In a March 30 tweet from his Twitter account, @Pontifex, he said: “I am touched by the many messages received in these hours and I express my gratitude for the closeness and prayer.”

Bishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, issued a March 29 statement urging all Catholics to pray for the pope’s recovery.

“We pray intensely for our Holy Father,” he said, adding that on behalf of his brother bishops, he invited “all the faithful to pause, if possible before the Blessed Sacrament” to pray for the pope’s speedy recovery.

“May our dear shepherd and all those in need of healing experience the comfort of Christ,” he said.

Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark also asked people to join him in prayer for the pope’s “quick and full recovery.” He tweeted on March 29: “May Our Lady Health of the Sick accompany him now and in the days ahead.”

Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez also used Twitter to call on the faithful to pray for the pope and said: “We entrust him to the tender care of Our Lady of Guadalupe and we ask that she keep him close in her love.”

Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory similarly urged those in the Archdiocese of Washington “and people of goodwill everywhere,” to join him in praying for Pope Francis “that he quickly regains his health and strength in order to preside at the ceremonies of Holy Week so central to the life of our Church.”

Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, in a March 29 statement, asked those in the Chicago Archdiocese to pray for the pope’s “swift and complete recovery.

“Over the past month,” he said, “people around the world prayed millions of Hail Marys to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Holy Father’s election to the chair of Peter. We responded then to Pope Francis’ often-repeated request to pray for him. Let us continue our prayers, this time for the return of this extraordinary shepherd to good health and to his work of spreading the joy of God’s love and mercy.”

Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican Press Office, said in a March 30 statement that the pope’s “clinical picture is progressively improving, and he is continuing with his planned treatment.”

The statement also noted that after the pope had breakfast, he read some newspapers and resumed work. Later that morning he prayed in a private chapel in the hospital and received the Eucharist.

Vatican News reported that wishes for the pope’s “speedy recovery are pouring into the Vatican.”

Some have been wondering whether the pope’s health would preclude him from celebrating liturgies during Holy Week. Bishop Brennan said that if the pope is unable to celebrate those liturgies, “there are many senior cardinals in Rome. I’m sure he’ll delegate those responsibilities to the cardinals who assist him.”

Diocese of Brooklyn Priest Showcases Classical Training in Interactive Concert

Bows, strings, keys and voices – each part adds to a collective sound. Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater is the sound of a mother’s unconditional love.

It’s a Christian hymn to Mary depicting her suffering at the foot of the cross during Jesus’ crucifixion.

“The Marian devotion of it makes it more relatable and to combine it with the praying of the stations of the cross will make it more meaningful I think,” said vocalist Emily Bergmann.

“Through these great geniuses who wrote this music, you’re being carried into some deeper place,” said Fr. Tom Vassalotti.


Fr. Tom is providing the deepest pitch in this orchestra on the bass. He’s the pastor of Divine Mercy Parish which includes St. Francis Paola church in Williamsburg. He’s also a classically trained musician and Juilliard graduate.

“God gives you gifts and this buy has been in my life a long time, and music has been part of my life and still is,” he said.

Fr. Tom and fellow Juilliard grad, violinist Eric Grossman put a nine-piece orchestra together. On Friday, they’ll perform the music while parishioners pray the stations of the cross.

“Everything enhances what really needs to be communicated and makes it more vivid and deeper for not only the congregation and people who are here but for us as musicians,” Eric said.

Fr. Tom’s love for music started long before he devoted his life to God, now it’s part of that devotion. Each press, pluck and note is intentional and evokes emotion.

“It’s a place where people throughout history have expressed the very best of themselves in terms of their competence and their art to give the very best and it’s a wonderful lesson for all of us, give the very best of what you have,” he said.

This is the best of who Fr. Tom is. 

Pulse of the Parish: St. Clare’s in Rosedale

A church in Queens that is nearly a century old has experienced many changes over the years, from the landscape of the neighborhood to its demographics.

But one thing has remained the same at St. Clare’s in Rosedale: strong parishioners like Sachara Valme who are passing the faith on  to the next generation.

She is the pulse of the parish for St. Clare. 

Catholic News Headlines for Wednesday 03/29/2023

 

At The Mary Louis Academy, all the school’s resources are poured into the students’ academic success as they get ready to take on college.

Vigils are being held in Nashville, as the heartbroken community grapples with the mass shooting at The Covenant School.

How one parishioner at St. Clare’s in Rosedale is helping to grow the congregation.

Students Can Take College Courses at TMLA as Freshmen & It’s Giving Them an Advantage on Admissions

Carin Hennis wants to go into emergency medicine. She’s only 17, but says the sky is the limit and The Mary Louis Academy set her trajectory.

Carin said when the time came to choose the college of her dreams, she was prepared.

“I’ve learned study habits that kind of when I explain to my other friends from other schools they’re kind of like oh no, I wouldn’t put that much effort because maybe their school isn’t pushing them as hard,” she said.

Principal, Ann O’Hagan-Cordes says the school has a 100 percent graduation rate and everyone goes off to college, ready.

“Everything we do is about helping our students graduate to the best of her ability so that she will go out into this world and make the changes we need,” she said.

That’s a stark difference from the current state of New York City’s public schools. A whopping 47 percent of DOE graduates, who were headed for a city university, had to take remedial classes. An audit by the state comptroller’s office also found that only 57 percent of DOE graduates are college ready.

At Mary Louis, students have the option of taking college classes starting as early as freshman year. Out of the 200 who graduated in 2022, they earned more than 70 million dollars in merit-based-scholarships.

“Advice for my teachers and my counselors has been perfectly tailored specifically for me,” said aspire student Veronica Arty.

“I took the most challenging courses and I think that helped me form good study habits it challenged my brain I learned a lot and I feel really prepared for college,” said Marisa Mamak, also in the aspire program.

Worried she wouldn’t be able to afford any of the top tier schools she’s applying to, the Mary Louis Academy’s Aspire program stepped in. Whatever Carin’s parent’s can’t afford and scholarships don’t cover – an alumna of the school will pay for.

“I can get this quality education by just working hard without having to think about kind of can I even afford this,” she said.

These students say at their school – it’s harder to fail than to succeed.

Finance Prof. on Banking Collapse: ‘It’s Not Clear Why Regulators Didn’t Do Something to Stop It’

On Capitol Hill, lawmakers are demanding answers and calling on U.S. finance regulators to testify following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

Silicon Valley Bank was on the Federal Reserve’s radar for more than a year and was repeatedly warned it wouldn’t have enough cash on hand in the event of trouble.

Yet, the bank still collapsed despite those repeated warnings.

Associate Professor of Finance at Villanova University, John Sedunov, joins Currents News to dig deeper into the banking crisis and how we can protect our money.

‘God Showed Up In A Very Powerful, Powerful Way’: Archdiocese of Hartford Investigating Possible Eucharistic Miracle

(OSV News) — The Archdiocese of Hartford is investigating a possible Eucharistic miracle at one of its parishes, where Communion hosts seemingly multiplied during a March 5 Sunday Mass.

Father Joseph Crowley, pastor of St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Thomaston, Connecticut, said in a YouTube livestream of his March 12 homily that an unnamed extraordinary minister of the Eucharist at the previous week’s liturgy had begun to run out of Communion hosts — only to find that “all of a sudden there (were) more hosts in the ciborium.” The St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish is comprised of three church locations — St. Thomas, Immaculate Conception and St. Casimir — and the alleged multiplication of Communion hosts took place at St. Thomas.

The minister continued to distribute the hosts to some “100, 150 people in the congregation,” after which “there was the same amount, if not more hosts” in the ciborium, said Father Crowley, who had celebrated the March 5 liturgy. “What happened is Our Lord multiplied himself. … I have no doubt. I know what I gave the person. I know what (was) returned (to the tabernacle). It was just very obvious and plain to me as to what happened.”

Father Crowley said in his March 12 homily he wanted to tell parishioners “from the horse’s mouth as to exactly what happened,” and “stick to the facts” to avoid confusion.

In a livestream video of his post-Communion remarks at the March 5 liturgy at St. Thomas, a visibly struck Father Crowley said the experience was “very powerful, very awesome, very real, very shocking.”

David Elliott, associate director of communications for the Archdiocese of Hartford, told OSV News that the archdiocesan judicial vicar, Father George S. Mukuka, “has been looking into the possibility of a Eucharistic miracle” at the parish.

Following the investigation, the judicial vicar will prepare a report for Hartford Archbishop Leonard P. Blair, “who will make a determination from there” regarding the event’s supernatural nature, said Elliott.

Several of the seemingly multiplied hosts had been distributed at daily Mass March 6 and 7, but were then kept in reserve as the archdiocesan investigation is still underway, said Father Crowley in his March 12 homily.

He said that the incident — which he described as “one of those moments where God showed up in a very powerful, powerful way” — had stunned him.

“I haven’t been praying for anything like this,” he said. “I’ve heard of this happening. I don’t know of any person out of my 20-plus years of dealing with the church … (and) dealing with hundreds of priests … hundreds, thousands of people, (and) many, many bishops. I know that the Lord can do anything. He does all things for nothing is impossible for God.”

At the same time, “the real miracle is the fact that we’re able to take simple bread and wine, and through the prayers of the church, through the hands of the priest, Christ is made present through transubstantiation,” said Father Crowley. “Our Lord then becomes the flesh and blood hidden under the mere presence of bread and wine.”

Through the apparent multiplication of hosts, “Our Lord gave us one of the best moments of reflection this Lent about himself, about the Eucharist,” said Father Crowley.

Father Crowley acknowledged that people often go through situations where “God seems so removed, so hidden … not part of our everyday moment because we don’t see him.”

“It’s sometimes hard to see a God that seems to be so hidden,” he said. “Perhaps the Lord had done this before, where you just give Communion out and all of a sudden there’s plenty of hosts and you just keep going. But to … be made aware is part of the miracle.”

A local saint in the making also may have played a role, Father Crowley said, since Blessed Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, served as pastor of St. Thomas Church from 1884 until his death in 1890.

“I think in a very profound way that … because of Blessed McGivney’s life here … it shows that this is a very special place. And it’s important to God,” said Father Crowley. “And I think good things are coming. I think great things are coming.”

As a parishioner pointed out to him, “we’re so easy to accept an act of evil, an act of harm,” but “it’s hard for us to accept an act of goodness or a God moment or a moment with Christ,” said Father Crowley.

“As we move forward, we really need to see our world through the lens of faith, through the eyes of faith,” he said. “And the more we get closer to our Lord, the more we’re going to see him in our everyday lives.”

Texas Bishop Calls for Policy Change After Fire Kills Migrants in Mexican Border Facility

A fire that killed more than three dozen migrants at the National Migration Institute in Ciudad Juárez — the city that borders El Paso along the U.S-Mexico border — on the evening of March 27 was reportedly started by migrants who set mattresses ablaze to protest their pending deportation.

“As a protest, at the door of the shelter, they put mattresses and set them on fire, and they did not imagine that this was going to cause this terrible tragedy,” Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said at a news conference. “We assume it was because they found out they were going to be deported.”

In addition to at least 40 people who died, 29 others were injured and are in “delicate-serious” condition, the institute said in a statement. They added that there were 68 men from Central and South America held in the detention center at the time of the fire.

During Pope Francis’ greeting to Spanish-speaking faithful at his March 29 general audience in St. Peter’s Square, he dedicated a silent prayer to the victims and their families.

“Let us pray for the migrants that died yesterday in a tragic fire in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. May the Lord receive them in his kingdom and console the families,” he said before bowing his head in silence.

Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso said the tragedy “underscores the urgency of addressing the complex humanitarian crisis” at the border.

“Our brother and sister migrants, who are in many cases fleeing extreme violence, persecution, and extreme poverty, deserve dignity, compassion, and the protection of their human rights as children of God,” Bishop Seitz said in a statement. “As a faith community, we are called to respond to their suffering with love, empathy, and support.

“I will continue to call for just and humane immigration policies that respect the dignity and rights of all people,” continued Bishop Seitz, who is the U.S. bishops’ conference migration committee chair.

Bishop Seitz also offered his “deepest and most heartfelt condolences” to the families of the migrants who died and extended “prayers for the swift recovery” of the individuals who were injured.

“As we mourn this devastating loss, I call upon people of all faiths and goodwill to join in prayer for the victims and their families,” Bishop Seitz said. “May our collective efforts lead to meaningful change and help prevent such tragedies from occurring.”

Directly across from El Paso, Ciudad Juárez has long been a hot spot for migrants to gather before they attempt to enter the United States. U.S. Customs and Border Protection have encountered almost 225,000 migrants trying to illegally cross into El Paso between Oct. 1, 2022, and February 2023, according to agency data.

Overall, there have been almost 900,000 total encounters over that time, the data shows.

A few weeks ago, hundreds of migrants — most of them Venezuelans — tried to storm into the U.S. via a bridge connecting Ciudad Juárez and El Paso after rumors circulated that they would be allowed to enter. U.S. border security personnel quickly secured the bridge to stop the attempt.

Dylan Corbett, executive director of the El Paso-based Hope Border Institute — a faith-based immigration advocacy organization that does humanitarian work in both El Paso and Ciudad Juárez — told The Tablet that the fire is a direct result of U.S. pressure on Mexico to up its immigration enforcement, especially at the northern part of the border.

Corbett said Hope has done humanitarian work at the National Migration Institute in Ciudad Juárez in the past, but has not had access in recent months amid the crackdown prompted by the U.S. government.

“We know there’s a direct line that you can draw from the Biden administration pressuring the government of Ciudad Juárez to increase enforcement to the death that we’ve seen,” Corbett said.

“The strategy that we’ve implemented includes as part of its overhead death, so it’s an indictment of our approach,” Corbett continued. “Death can’t be the price of immigration enforcement and there’s nothing stopping us from putting in place a humane and effective and safe process at the border.”

Corbett and other immigration advocates have long been critical of the Biden administration’s border entry deterrent policies that limit migrants’ ability to seek asylum, arguing that they are not just illegal but ineffective given the desperation of many migrants.

They have argued — at a time of record number of migrant crossings at the border — that the administration and Congress need to work on comprehensive reform to the nation’s immigration system and work to address the root causes that force people to migrate in the first place. In the short term, advocates say more effective legal pathways are needed.

“The system we allowed to be created in our name is predicated on pain and death and that is what killed them,” Corbett said. “We have to work to put in place a more just system.”

Bishop Seitz also works with migrants on both sides of the border, calling Ciudad Juárez El Paso’s “sister city.” He said in the aftermath of the fire, he has been in communication with the bishop of Ciudad Juárez.

“I have been in contact with Bishop José Guadalupe Torres Campos, expressed my prayer solidarity with him and the faithful of his diocese, and offered support to him and the people in his pastoral care in the Diocese of Ciudad Juárez,” Bishop Seitz said.

Diocese of Nashville Reaches Out to Community After School Shooting

The Diocese of Nashville offered a special Mass, Monday evening, to help the community process the day’s tragedy.

Bishop Mark Spalding offered Mass to allow people to pray for the victims of the Covenant School shooting.

He reminded them that love will help them get through painful times like this.

The bishop went on to say that people need to come together and not only listen to each other, but to be there for each other during this tragic time.