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WASHINGTON - At Masses on the weekend of March 9-10, Catholics across the United States will have an opportunity to help the most impoverished and marginalized by giving to The Catholic Relief Services Collection of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). This annual collection helps fund the U.S. bishops' flagship international relief and development organization (Catholic Relief Services), but it also supports five other initiatives:The U.S. bishops' Office of International Justice and Peace, works to end conflicts and build just societies that respect human rights, religious freedom, and integral human development; the Holy Father's Relief Fund allows Pope Francis to send emergency aid to disaster victims worldwide; the U.S. bishops' Department of Migration and Refugee Services, promotes awareness of the plight of immigrants, migrants, refugees, trafficking victims, and people on the move, and assists with programmatic assistance and aid; the Catholic Legal Immigration...
WASHINGTON - Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Robert P. Deeley, 77, from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Portland, and has appointed Reverend James T. Ruggieri, as Bishop-elect of Portland. Bishop-elect Ruggieri is a priest of the Diocese of Providence, and currently serves as pastor at St. Patrick's parish and St. Michael's parish in Providence, Rhode Island. The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington, D.C. on February 13, 2024, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.The following biographical information for Bishop-elect Ruggieri was drawn from preliminary materials provided to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:Father Ruggieri was born January 12, 1968, in Providence, Rhode Island. He attended public schools in Barrington, Rhode Island, followed by studies at Holy Cross and Providence College (1986-1990) and received a bachelor's degree in philosophy while attending Our Lady of Providence Seminary....
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis's concern for migrants and refugees, his focus on ecology, his calls to "go out" to share the good news of salvation, even his support for the controversial possibility of informally blessing LGBTQ+ couples flow from his conviction that people need to know they belong to God, to one another and to creation."All the life-threatening crises that beset us around the world, from the ecological crisis to the wars, the injustices against the poor and vulnerable, have their roots in this rejection of our belonging to God and to each other," the pope wrote in a foreword to "First Belong to God: A Retreat with Pope Francis," a book released Feb. 13, the day before the beginning of Lent.To understand Pope Francis and his teaching, it is helpful to understand -- and even experience -- the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius that have shaped his spirituality since he joined the Jesuits in 1958, said Austen Ivereigh, author of the new book.Ivereigh, who has wri...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The vice of "acedia," often translated as "sloth," can cause laziness, but it is much more than that; it is a lack of caring for anything and being bored with everything, even one's relationship with God, Pope Francis said."The demon of acedia wants precisely to destroy the simple joy of the here and now, the grateful wonder of reality; it wants to make you believe that it is all in vain, that nothing has meaning, that it is not worth taking care of anything or anyone," the pope said at his weekly general audience Feb. 14.Holding his audience on Ash Wednesday, Pope Francis prayed that God would accompany and bless people through their Lenten journey, but his main talk was a continuation of his series on vices and virtues.People spend too little time talking about "the capital sin" of acedia, he said, and even when they do, they refer to it as sloth or laziness.But "in reality, laziness is an effect more than a cause," the pope said. "When a person is idle, indo...
ROME (CNS) -- In an age when even one's most intimate thoughts and feelings can become fodder for social media, Lent is a time to cast aside appearances and to find God at work in the depths of the heart, Pope Francis said.Without realizing it, Christians have become immersed "in a world in which everything, including our emotions and deepest feelings, has to become 'social,'" the pope said while celebrating Mass at the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome to mark the beginning of Lent Feb. 14.Today, "even the most tragic and painful experiences risk not having a quiet place where they can be kept," he said. "Everything has to be exposed, shown off, fed to the gossip mill of the moment."Dressed in purple vestments to mark the Lenten season, Pope Francis said Lent is a chance for Christians to ensure their relationship with God "is not reduced to mere outward show." Cardinals pray during Pope Francis' Ash Wednesday Mass at the Basilica of Santa Sabina in Rome Feb. 14, 2024. (CNS photo/L...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has chosen a line from Psalm 71 -- "Do not cast me off in my old age" -- as the theme for the 2024 celebration of the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.In a note announcing the theme for the day, which will be celebrated July 28, the Vatican said the choice was "meant to call attention to the fact that, sadly, loneliness is the bitter lot in life of many elderly persons, so often the victims of the throwaway culture."Pope Francis celebrated the first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly in 2021 and decreed that it be observed each year on the Sunday closest to the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne, Jesus' grandparents.As the Catholic Church prepares for the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis has asked Catholics to focus on prayer, which is why he chose the prayer of an elderly person from the Psalms for the theme, the Vatican said in a statement released Feb. 15. This graphic for World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly 2024 features the t...
BOLOGNA, Italy (CNS) -- Incense slowly drifted upward, not below the vaulted ceiling of Bologna's Basilica of San Petronio, but toward the fluorescent lighting and steel beams in the city's convention center, which for three days bore the trappings of a temple rather than those of a corporate meeting place.From Feb. 11-13, the Italian city hosted more than 200 vendors of religious art, liturgical attire and services for churches, who showcased their offerings at the Devotio International Religious Products and Services Exhibition, sponsored in part by the Vatican Dicastery for Culture and Education.Retailers, owners of religious shops, wholesalers and manufacturers of religious goods were the primary buyers at the convention, though priests and religious sisters also represented a sizable portion of the crowd wandering through Bologna's convention center. Organizers said more than 3,000 people attended. A priest shops for a chasuble with the help of his father at the International ...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Vices, such as vanity and greed, are like "wild beasts" of the soul that risk tearing people apart, Pope Francis said.Vices "must be tamed and fought, otherwise they will devour our freedom," he said Feb. 18 before reciting the Angelus prayer with about 15,000 visitors in St. Peter's Square.  Visitors gather in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican to pray the Angelus with Pope Francis Feb. 18, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)The period of Lent, he added, helps Christians create moments of silence, prayer and reflection in order to correct those vices and perceive the promptings of the Holy Spirit.On the first Sunday of Lent, the pope focused his main Angelus address on the day's Gospel reading about Jesus in the desert or "the wilderness." He remained there for 40 days, "tempted by Satan. He was among wild beasts, and the angels ministered to him," according to the Gospel of St. Mark (1:12-13)."We too, during Lent, are invited to 'enter the wilderness,' that is, s...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The second assembly of the Synod of Bishops on synodality will meet Oct. 2-27 and will be preceded by several formal studies coordinated by the synod general secretariat working with various offices of the Roman Curia.The Vatican announced the dates for the assembly Feb. 17, indicating that the desire of some synod members to spend less time in Rome was not accepted. The fall assembly will be preceded by a retreat for members Sept. 30-Oct. 1, the Vatican said.And in response to a formal call by members of the first assembly of the synod, Pope Francis has agreed to the establishment of "study groups that will initiate, with a synodal method, the in-depth study of some of the themes that emerged."In a chirograph, or brief papal document, released Feb. 17, the pope said that "these study groups are to be established by mutual agreement between the competent dicasteries of the Roman Curia and the General Secretariat of the Synod, which is entrusted with coordinatio...
Lawyer Laura Sgro, left, sits with Gloria Branciani, center, and Marjiam Kovac, during a press conference in Rome on Feb. 21, 2024. Branciani and Kovac allege that they were subjected to spiritual, psychological and sexual abuse by famous mosaic artist Father Marko Rupnik. / Credit: Matthew Santucci/CNARome Newsroom, Feb 21, 2024 / 17:43 pm (CNA).Two alleged abuse victims of mosaic artist Father Marko Rupnik spoke publicly for the first time Wednesday, detailing the tactics the former Jesuit allegedly used to manipulate them.Italian Gloria Branciani and Slovenian-born Marjiam Kovac, former sisters of the now dissolved Loyola community in Slovenia, shared their stories at a crowded press conference in the Rome offices of the trade union for Italian journalists.They were joined by their high-profile lawyer Laura Sgrò, who has represented clients in the VatiLeaks scandal, as well as the family of Emanuela Orlandi, an Italian girl who disappeared under mysterious circumstances deca...
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