Bishop celebrates Ash Wednesday at Paterson medical center #Catholic –

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney visited St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson, N.J., on Feb. 18, to celebrate Mass for Ash Wednesday, which marks the first day of Lent. He blessed and placed ashes in the mark of a cross on the foreheads of St. Joseph’s staff during Mass. Afterward, Bishop Sweeney visited patients’ rooms to give them ashes and pray with them.

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– Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney visited St. Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson, N.J., on Feb. 18, to celebrate Mass for Ash Wednesday, which marks the first day of Lent. He blessed and placed ashes in the mark of a cross on the foreheads of St. Joseph’s staff during Mass. Afterward, Bishop Sweeney visited patients’ rooms to give them ashes and pray with them. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter. BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI  

US Church faces these areas of ‘critical concern’ on religious liberty, says bishops’ report #Catholic –

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Areas of critical concern for religious liberty in the U.S. include political and anti-religious violence, “unjust terms and conditions on federal grants, and unreliability of government,” access to sacraments for people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and immigration enforcement operations at houses of worship, according to a new report by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The USCCB Committee for Religious Liberty issued Feb. 17 its “Annual Report on the State of Religious Liberty,” which highlights the legislative actions, executive actions, and U.S. Supreme Court cases the U.S. bishops are closely watching.

“While there were positive developments for religious liberty in the past year, there have been worrying developments as well,” Archbishop Alexander K. Sample of Portland, Oregon, chair of the Committee for Religious Liberty, said in his introduction of the report.

The other areas of critical concern the report identified were school choice and the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, the repeal of provisions that prevent religious organizations from participating in government programs, and “further repudiation of gender ideology.”

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Of the areas the report identifies, Archbishop Sample said, “Perhaps most concerning is the ongoing rise in political violence. The polarization the bishops have long lamented seems to be breaking out into serious attacks. Antisemitic sentiment and rhetoric in mainstream institutions appears to be increasing.”

Antisemitic incidents have seen a sharp uptick in recent years, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks antisemitic attacks. That group said in a 2025 report that it recorded 9,354 antisemitic incidents across the U.S. the previous year, which marked a 344% increase over the group’s findings from the previous five years.

The report said that Catholic churches also saw instances of violence and vandalism — most notably the Aug. 27 mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis during a school Mass. The report noted that an investigation “discerned no coherent motive” from the shooter, who expressed “a mix of antisemitic, anti-Trump, racist, and anti-Catholic ideas, along with a strong desire to kill children.”

It also pointed to the Oct. 5 arrest of a man armed with explosive devices from the front steps of the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, shortly before the church’s annual Red Mass, which marks the opening of the Supreme Court’s term.

Examples of political violence included the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and a firebombing attack on the home of Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Joshua Shapiro during Passover that authorities called an attempted murder.

“Too much of our national life is marked by enmity and strife,” Archbishop Sample said.

The report also noted areas of tension between the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement and religious liberty, such as loosened restrictions on ICE agents from making arrests at what are seen as sensitive locations, including houses of worship, schools and hospitals, as well as ensuring those in ICE custody have access to the sacraments.

“Furthermore, the administration’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement has led to fears about going to church, driving down Mass attendance and leading some bishops to dispense the faithful from their Sunday obligation,” Archbishop Sample said.

The report said that five bishops “have taken the extraordinary step of dispensing Catholics from their Sunday obligation if they fear that going to Mass puts them at risk of being detained.”

However, Archbishop Sample said, “there were positive developments for religious liberty too,” citing the Religious Liberty Commission created by President Donald Trump “which several of my brother bishops serve as either members or advisors.”

The report also praised steps taken by the Trump administration “to combat gender ideology, which has corroded religious liberty in recent years,” and Trump’s directive to “repeal regulatory provisions that are unlawful in light of recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court, including Carson v. Makin.”

Archbishop Sample noted, “all of these developments are taking place as Americans prepare to celebrate two hundred fifty years as an independent nation.”

“It is a fitting time to reflect on the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence, and how those ideals have shaped the unique culture that has grown over the past two-and-a-half centuries,” he said. “For Catholics, it is an opportunity to reflect on how the Church has enriched American life.”

Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.

– WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Areas of critical concern for religious liberty in the U.S. include political and anti-religious violence, “unjust terms and conditions on federal grants, and unreliability of government,” access to sacraments for people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and immigration enforcement operations at houses of worship, according to a new report by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The USCCB Committee for Religious Liberty issued Feb. 17 its “Annual Report on the State of Religious Liberty,” which highlights the legislative actions, executive actions, and U.S. Supreme Court cases the U.S. bishops are closely watching. “While there

Rev. Jesse Jackson dies at 84; Catholic leaders praise civil rights leader’s work for justice #Catholic –

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Catholic leaders were among those who praised the legacy of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a Baptist minister and prominent civil rights leader, who died Feb. 17. He was 84.

“For more than six decades, Reverend Jackson dedicated his life to advancing equality, dismantling systems of oppression, and amplifying the voices of the underserved,” said a statement from his family announcing his death.

News reports said he died at his home in Chicago. A cause of death was not immediately shared by the family.

A former aide to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Jackson later sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988. Although those bids were unsuccessful, he became the first Black candidate for U.S. president to get on the primary ballot in all 50 states.

Although, as a politician, Rev. Jackson took some public policy positions at odds with church teaching — such as changing his original views opposing abortion to supporting it over the course of his life — Catholic leaders praised his work in the area of racial justice.

Bishop Daniel E. Garcia of Austin, Texas, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation, said in written comments to OSV News, “As an advocate for racial justice and a central figure in the civil rights movement, Rev. Jesse Jackson played a key role in securing equal rights for African Americans and offered prophetic witness to the dignity of people of all racial backgrounds.”

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“He inspired generations to pursue racial justice, love goodness, and walk humbly with God. My prayers are with his family and close collaborators — may his legacy continue to inspire, guide and uplift all who strive for a more just world and an end to racism,” Bishop Garcia said.

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of Catholic Mobilizing Network, told OSV News that in 1991, Rev. Jackson “came through my small hometown in Connecticut.” The network she heads advocates for the abolition of capital punishment in line with Catholic teaching as well as restorative justice, including addressing the sin of racism.

“He literally walked his talk as he marched through our state, calling attention to the social and economic ills for people who were forgotten, overlooked, and marginalized,” she said. “He was a larger-than-life figure and a deeply faithful man who consistently and pointedly connected the realities of injustice in the present day to the often overlooked sins of systemic racism and institutionalized discrimination.

“Jesse carried an indefatigable hope and a more perfect vision for the future. His faith informed his engagement in politics and the policy arena and undergirded his vision for justice that centered the dignity of all people.”

Vaillancourt Murphy said Catholic Mobilizing Network’s “advocacy to end the death penalty, which recognizes the deep-rooted racism and institutionalized discrimination within the U.S. criminal legal system, has learned much from civil rights leaders like Jesse Jackson.”

“Racism is a sin, and engagement in racial justice efforts are required at the individual, social and systemic levels so that truth-telling can dismantle unjust systems and build up approaches to justice that are equitable, restorative, and life-affirming — more fitting of our faith convictions,” she said. “Jesse Jackson’s witness — a tireless and fervently hopeful pursuit of the good — provides a faithful inspiration in this work.”

Gloria Purvis, a special adviser for integral human development and dignity at Providence College in Rhode Island and a senior fellow at Georgetown’s Initiative for Catholic Social Thought in Public Life in Washington, told OSV News that Rev. Jackson met with St. John Paul II multiple times, notably to advocate for Haitian refugees.

“The preferential option for the poor, solidarity with the oppressed, the dignity of the human person, all of those things, I think, are the positive parts of his legacy that should be remembered and even though he was Baptist, he recognized the moral authority of the Holy Father,” Purvis said.

In a post on X, Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, said, “A few years ago, I shared a dinner with a number of US representatives, and among them was Jesse Jackson, Jr. When I shook his hand, I said, ‘tell your Dad I’m praying for him.’”

“Though we differed on a number of issues, I always admired Jesse Jackson, who died today at 84,” Bishop Barron said. “A top lieutenant of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jackson consistently advocated for the transformative power of non-violence. At a time when our social interaction is marked by terrible violence, this continues to be a welcome message.”

“Moreover, throughout his long public career, Jackson called for the empowerment of young black men through education and the assuming of moral responsibility,” Bishop Barron said. “He knew that government programs were never sufficient for the lifting up of the black community; what was especially needed was the shaping of character. He was also one of the very best public speakers on the scene when I was coming of age. I particularly recall an episode of ‘Firing Line’ which featured a debate between William F. Buckley and Jesse Jackson: very different styles indeed, but both a delight to listen to. So on the day of his death, I will, once again, pray for Jesse Jackson.”

Bipartisan tributes were also made to Rev. Jackson.

Purvis said that “at this time in particular (when) to be able to empathize with other people’s struggles seems to be a difficulty,” Rev. Jackson’s legacy was “a practical enactment” of what Catholic social teaching calls solidarity, “the recognition that we are all responsible for one another.”

President Donald Trump called Rev. Jackson “a good man, with lots of personality, grit, and ‘street smarts’” in a post on his social media website Truth Social.

“He was very gregarious – Someone who truly loved people!” Trump said, adding he was sending “my deepest sympathies and condolences” to his family.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called Rev. Jackson “a legendary voice for the voiceless, powerful civil rights champion and trailblazer extraordinaire.”

“For decades, while laboring in the vineyards of the community, he inspired us to keep hope alive in the struggle for liberty and justice for all,” Jeffries said in a post on X. “We are thankful for the incredible service of Rev. Jesse Jackson to the nation and his profound sacrifice as the people’s champion.”

Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.
 

– WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Catholic leaders were among those who praised the legacy of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a Baptist minister and prominent civil rights leader, who died Feb. 17. He was 84. “For more than six decades, Reverend Jackson dedicated his life to advancing equality, dismantling systems of oppression, and amplifying the voices of the underserved,” said a statement from his family announcing his death. News reports said he died at his home in Chicago. A cause of death was not immediately shared by the family. A former aide to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Jackson

Pope Leo XIV calls for ‘countercultural’ repentance on first Ash Wednesday of his pontificate #Catholic –

ROME (OSV News) — Beneath the Roman pines of the Aventine Hill, Pope Leo XIV led a solemn penitential procession Feb. 18 to Rome’s oldest extant basilica, marking the first Ash Wednesday of his pontificate with a call for “countercultural” repentance for sins from individuals, institutions and the Church itself.

Priests, bishops and cardinals chanted the Litany of the Saints as the procession wound from the Benedictine Basilica of Sant’Anselmo to the ancient Dominican Basilica of Santa Sabina, where the pope offered Ash Wednesday Mass.

“How rare it is to find adults who repent — individuals, businesses and institutions that admit they have done wrong,” Pope Leo said in his homily in the Basilica of Santa Sabina.

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“Indeed, during Lent, a people is formed that recognizes its sins. These sins are evils that have not come from supposed enemies, but afflicts our hearts, and exist within us. We need to respond by courageously accepting responsibility for them,” he added.

Pope Leo acknowledged that “this attitude is countercultural,” but it “constitutes an authentic, honest and attractive option, especially in our times, when it is so easy to feel powerless in the face of a world that is in flames.”

In his homily, the pope pointed to young people as an unexpected sign of openness today.

“Even in secularized contexts, many young people, more than in the past, are open to the invitation of Ash Wednesday,” Pope Leo observed. “Young people especially understand clearly that it is possible to live a just lifestyle, and that there should be accountability for wrongdoings in the Church and in the world.”

He called on the faithful to “embrace the missionary significance of Lent,” not as a distraction from personal conversion, but “in a way that introduces this season to the many restless people of good will who are seeking authentic ways to renew their lives, within the context of the Kingdom of God and his justice.”

Pope Leo received ashes sprinkled atop his head in the Italian custom before imposing them on the cardinals and some of the faithful present.

“We perceive in the ashes imposed on us the weight of a world that is ablaze, of entire cities destroyed by war,” he said.

“This is also reflected in the ashes of international law and justice among peoples, the ashes of entire ecosystems and harmony among peoples, the ashes of critical thinking and ancient local wisdom, the ashes of that sense of the sacred that dwells in every creature,” Pope Leo added.

The pope recalled that 60 years ago, on the Ash Wednesday following the close of the Second Vatican Council, St. Paul VI had warned of the modern world’s “fundamental pessimism” and its tendency to proclaim “‘the inevitable vanity of everything, the immense sadness of life, the metaphysics of the absurd and of nothingness.’”

“Today, we can recognize that his words were prophetic,” Pope Leo added.

The pope also reflected on the significance of the Lenten Station Church tradition, in which pilgrims pray at the tombs of Rome’s early Christian martyrs. The Basilica of Santa Sabina, where Pope Leo offered Mass, is the first church in the Roman Station Church pilgrimage. The basilica dates back to A.D. 422.

“”The ancient and contemporary martyrs shine as pioneers on our journey towards Easter,” he said. “The ancient Roman tradition of the Lenten stationes — which begins today with the first station — is instructive: it refers both to moving, as pilgrims, and to stopping, statio, at the ‘memories’ of the Martyrs, on which stand the basilicas of Rome.”

“Is this not perhaps an invitation to follow in the footsteps of the admirable witnesses to the faith, who can now be found throughout the world?” he added.

Ash Wednesday marks the start of the 40-day Lenten season, during which Christians are called to prayer, fasting, and works of charity. Lent concludes with the Easter Triduum.

“We recognize our sins so that we can be converted; this is itself a sign and testimony of Resurrection. Indeed, it means that we will not remain among the ashes, but will rise up and rebuild,” Pope Leo said.

“Then the Easter Triduum, which we will celebrate as the summit of the Lenten journey, will unleash all its beauty and meaning. This will take place if we participate, through penance, in the passage from death to life, from powerlessness to the possibilities of God.”

Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney.

– ROME (OSV News) — Beneath the Roman pines of the Aventine Hill, Pope Leo XIV led a solemn penitential procession Feb. 18 to Rome’s oldest extant basilica, marking the first Ash Wednesday of his pontificate with a call for “countercultural” repentance for sins from individuals, institutions and the Church itself. Priests, bishops and cardinals chanted the Litany of the Saints as the procession wound from the Benedictine Basilica of Sant’Anselmo to the ancient Dominican Basilica of Santa Sabina, where the pope offered Ash Wednesday Mass. “How rare it is to find adults who repent — individuals, businesses and institutions that

As drought strikes hard, Church leaders in Eastern Africa call for Lenten prayers #Catholic –

NAIROBI, Kenya (OSV News) — As Lent begins, Catholic leaders across Eastern Africa are urging prayers — and action — for millions facing a deepening drought crisis.

Church officials say 20 million to 25 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia need humanitarian aid as failed rains, intensified by La Niña and other climate factors, devastate the region. Livestock have died, wells are drying up and herding communities are on the move, raising fears of conflict.

Bishop Peter Kihara Kariuki of Marsabit, Kenya, has warned against severe drought conditions in his diocese since December, while highlighting the urgent need for food aid, after years of failed rains or no rains at all for extended periods of time.

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“It is a very, very dire situation,” said Bishop Kariuki, adding that even the wells and boreholes were drying up.

According to the bishop, in north and northeastern Kenya and the larger Horn of Africa, livestock are people’s main source of livelihood. When they die, “people are left with nothing,” said the bishop.

In Ethiopia, Cardinal Berhaneyesus Deremew Souraphiel of Addis Ababa, called for the protection against man-made and natural disasters in a Lenten message that also urged justice and peace.

“May our prayer extend beyond personal intentions to embrace our neighbors, those suffering from war and displacement, troubled souls, the imprisoned, and all who carry heavy burdens,” Cardinal Souraphiel wrote in his Feb. 16 appeal.

“Let us pray for our leaders to govern with wisdom and integrity, for protection from man-made and natural disasters, and for peace and justice throughout our nation and the entire world,” said the cardinal, whose country is facing a severe drought in south and southeastern regions.

He also extended “heartfelt wishes for a peaceful and grace-filled journey” of Lent.

Agencies warn that millions of people in Ethiopia will face acute food insecurity in 2026, as conflict, climate shocks and aid cuts are pushing the country into a crisis, according to the International Rescue Committee, or IRC. Renewed violence and displacement are driving hunger and child malnutrition.

In December, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network — a leading provider of early warning and analysis on acute food insecurity around the world, said 20 million to 25 million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia are in need of humanitarian assistance mainly due to the drought.

Cycles of climate change-related droughts are a recurrent experience in the Horn of Africa. Only the nation of Ethiopia is still reeling from a multiyear drought that affected 30 million people between 2020-2023, IRC said.

The Kenyan government said currently 3.3 million people are affected.

“The rains have failed for yet another time. This is becoming too frequent. My fear is this may become a permanent situation,” said Mwende Muli, a Catholic and a small farmer in Eastern Kenya. “We eat what we grow and sell the surplus to generate some financial income. I am afraid the droughts are wiping out these,” she told OSV News.

With 10 of Kenya’s counties reaching a crisis stage, government officials said various government agencies were delivering food and animal feed, while trucking water for people and livestock.

But the concern of the country’s Church leaders is the misuse of relief aid by politicians and government officials. In the past, such aid has been sold or delivered in some leaders’ strongholds.

The Catholic Church is working to deliver humanitarian assistance to the most affected communities.

In central Kenya, Archbishop Anthony Muheria of Nyeri called for urgent interventions against the drought, while warning government leaders and politicians against turning it into a political tool or weapon to win support.

The prelate spoke in Matanya, Laikipia County, on Feb. 15, as millions in semi-arid and arid areas experience serious food and water shortages, and deaths of livestock.

“We must not play the politics of drought … we must not weaponize the drought,” the archbishop was quoted in various news reports as saying. He urged for unity and cooperation to save lives and livelihoods.
 

– NAIROBI, Kenya (OSV News) — As Lent begins, Catholic leaders across Eastern Africa are urging prayers — and action — for millions facing a deepening drought crisis. Church officials say 20 million to 25 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia need humanitarian aid as failed rains, intensified by La Niña and other climate factors, devastate the region. Livestock have died, wells are drying up and herding communities are on the move, raising fears of conflict. Bishop Peter Kihara Kariuki of Marsabit, Kenya, has warned against severe drought conditions in his diocese since December, while highlighting the urgent need for

Pope to Legionaries of Christ: Authority in religious life is not ‘domination’ #Catholic –

(OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV reminded members of the Legionaries of Christ that exercising governance and authority is meant as a service and not as a means to control others.

In his Feb. 19 address to participants of the religious congregation’s General Chapter, the pope said that authority in religious life should serve as a means of “animating common life” centered on Christ, while “avoiding any form of control that does not respect the dignity and freedom of persons.”

“Authority in religious life is not understood as domination, but as spiritual and fraternal service to those who share the same vocation,” he said. “Its exercise must be manifested in the ‘art of accompaniment,’ learning to remove one’s sandals before the sacred ground of the other.”

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The Legionaries of Christ was founded in Mexico by the late-Father Marcial Maciel Degollado.

In May 2006, following an investigation into allegations that Father Maciel sexually abused seminarians, led by Archbishop Charles Scicluna of the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican announced it had sanctioned the Mexican priest and asked him to renounce celebrating public Masses and live a life of penance.

After his death in 2008, it was revealed that Father Maciel had sexually abused dozens of children over several decades. In 2010, the Vatican announced that Father Maciel was guilty of “the very grave and objectively immoral actions” and “real crimes,” and had lived a “life devoid of scruples and of genuine religious meaning.”

A 2025 HBO docuseries “Marcial Maciel: The Wolf of God” — detailing the founder’s disturbing past, which included abuses, drug addiction and fathering children whom he also sexually abused — centered on 2024 revelations that Father Maciel’s crimes were known by the Vatican as far back as the 1950s.

According to the archives of Pope Pius XII, which were opened in 2020, the Vatican was poised to take action against Father Maciel in 1956 and was planning to remove him from the priesthood. However, upon Pius XII’s death in 1958, Father Maciel’s allies took advantage of the leadership vacuum to clear his name, The Associated Press reported.

Welcoming the Legionaries to the Vatican, the pope said the congregation’s General Chapter was “a privileged moment for communal discernment and listening to the Holy Spirit.”

However, he also acknowledged the religious group’s past, noting that the members are “heirs to a charism” that has grown through various “historical expressions” that were “sometimes painful and not without crisis.”

“This shared memory does not look only to the past, but also impels constant renewal in the present, faithful to the Gospel,” he said.

Nevertheless, he continued, the charism entrusted to the Legionaries is “a gift of the Holy Spirit” that must be “received with gratitude and consolation.”

“Remember, therefore, that you are not the owners of the charism, but its custodians and servants,” the pope said. “You are called to give your lives so that this gift may continue to bear fruit in the Church and in the world.”

Pope Leo said that the Legionaries’ mission of offering a “visible testimony of mutual listening and joint search for God’s will” requires “humility to listen, inner freedom to express oneself sincerely, and openness to accepting collective discernment.”

“I urge you to continue living in an attitude of prayer, humility, and inner freedom. Do not pursue personal or regional interests, nor seek mere organizational solutions, but above all, the will of God for your religious family and for the mission the Church has entrusted to you,” the pope said.
 

– (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV reminded members of the Legionaries of Christ that exercising governance and authority is meant as a service and not as a means to control others. In his Feb. 19 address to participants of the religious congregation’s General Chapter, the pope said that authority in religious life should serve as a means of “animating common life” centered on Christ, while “avoiding any form of control that does not respect the dignity and freedom of persons.” “Authority in religious life is not understood as domination, but as spiritual and fraternal service to those who share the

Assumption school eighth-grader in urgent need of kidney #Catholic –

A Morristown, N.J.,  family is desperately seeking a living kidney donor for their son, an eighth-grade student at Assumption School. Thaddeus Giansanti was born with kidney disease and has undergone multiple surgeries including one to remove a non-functioning kidney when he was an infant.

Parents Christa and Carlo are turning to the community for help to find a living donor for their son. Neither parent is a match for the 13-year-old who is now faced with a single declining kidney and is in urgent need of a transplant. According to his doctors, if Thaddeus does not receive a kidney transplant within a couple of weeks, he will need to be put on dialysis.

A donor needs to be in good health, under 45 years old, have a BMI under 30, and have blood type O. If you are able to consider this, please use the links below.

Kidney Transplant Living Donor Questionnaire

Transplant donor form

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– A Morristown, N.J.,  family is desperately seeking a living kidney donor for their son, an eighth-grade student at Assumption School. Thaddeus Giansanti was born with kidney disease and has undergone multiple surgeries including one to remove a non-functioning kidney when he was an infant. Parents Christa and Carlo are turning to the community for help to find a living donor for their son. Neither parent is a match for the 13-year-old who is now faced with a single declining kidney and is in urgent need of a transplant. According to his doctors, if Thaddeus does not receive a kidney transplant

Are you ready for Lent, for a Season of Grace, and the opportunity to be ‘Welcomed Home to Healing?’ #Catholic –

“Lent is a time in which the Church, guided by a sense of maternal care, invites us to place the mystery of God back in the center of our lives, in order to find renewal in our faith and keep our hearts from being consumed by the anxieties and distractions of daily life … the Lenten journey is a welcome opportunity to heed the voice of the Lord and renew our commitment to following Christ, accompanying him on the road to Jerusalem, where the mystery of his passion, death and resurrection will be fulfilled…”

Pope Leo’s Message for Lent 2026

BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY

“Ready or not …” Ash Wednesday and the Season of Lent are at our doorstep or, depending on when you are reading this, may have already arrived. As much as one may try to look ahead, things can still “sneak up” on us. I hope this article will be posted on “Mardi Gras,” the day before Ash Wednesday, and may help some readers make some “last-minute” preparations and/or Lenten resolutions, aka “What I am (are you) going to give up for Lent?” I also hope that some who may read this on Ash Wednesday or in the following days or weeks, might be assisted in getting their Lent started, restarted, or energized.

On Sunday, Feb. 15, I saw that the Vatican had published (on Feb. 13) Pope Leo XIV’s “Message for Lent 2026: ‘Listening and Fasting.’” The link to the full text of the brief message that invites us to consider: “Listening” – especially to God’s Word; “Fasting” – especially offering an invitation, “to a very practical and frequently unappreciated form of abstinence: that of refraining from words that offend and hurt our neighbor…”; and that we are “Together” – “…Lent emphasizes the communal aspect of listening to the word and fasting.”

Before I was aware of Pope Leo’s message, I was preparing to share some thoughts and suggestions for a spiritually fruitful Lent, and I was happy to see on the Hallow app that Father Mike Schmitz was offering his “Top 10 Lent Tips.” I think you need to have a subscription to the Hallow app to see and hear Father Mike’s presentation and commentary. One of the recommendations that I was planning to make was to consider subscribing to the Hallow app because, for the past two years, I have found Hallow’s “Lent Pray 40 Challenge” to have been a very helpful resource in my own, personal Lenten journey.

For those who don’t have Hallow and may not be interested in subscribing, I would like to share with you Father Mike’s “Top 10 Lent Tips,” as the list is available online. I will also offer some of my reactions and comments to Father Mike’s “Top 10.” In a “LinkedIn” post, Alex at Hallow shares Father Mike’s list:

Top 10 tips from Father Mike Schmitz this Lent:

1. Silence every day — just take 5 or 10 minutes to really be with the Lord
2. Pray every day — listen to Him
3. Spend time in God’s Word -— bring it more and more into your daily life
4. Go to Confession — at least once, but really twice
5. Daily Mass — try to find one that works with your schedule
6. Spiritual reading every day — pick a book
7. Fast — doesn’t have to be food, and it doesn’t have to be something bad, just something you might be a little too attached to
8. Almsgiving — go serve the poor
9. Invite someone to Mass — Lent is not something we are meant to do alone
10. Go home and love your family

Father Mike does not say that these 10 “tips” are listed in “order of importance.” He also does not say that he suggests or expects that someone should try to do “all 10” or “pick three” of the 10. Most readers and, I believe, most practicing Catholics are aware of the Church’s “Top 3” Spiritual practices during Lent: Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving. In some ways, Father Mike’s “Top 10” are all “connected,” in some way to prayer, fasting, or almsgiving.

I believe that this will be my “sixth time” in six years (six Lents) as bishop to say that my “Number One” Recommendation for Lent is Daily Mass. As I review Father Mike’s list, his numbers one through four are all very good suggestions and spiritual practices that can produce great fruit. If you are not already attending Daily Mass and you can find a way to attend Daily Mass every day during Lent, I am convinced that you will have a fuller and deeper experience of Holy Week, of the Sacred Triduum, and of Easter Joy.

My No. 2 is Father Mike’s No. 4, “Go to Confession” – I am not sure if I have heard it suggested before, as Father Mike suggests, that you go to Confession (at least) twice during Lent – don’t leave it until the end, during Holy Week, but go early and, then, if you need to, go again approaching or during Holy Week. Here in our Diocese of Paterson, we offer “Welcome Home to Healing” during Lent, which means that you can go to Confession, celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, at ANY and EVERY of the 107 parishes in our diocese (in Passaic, Morris, or Sussex Counties) on EVERY Monday during Lent between 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

I have said before that the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession) is making a comeback. In recent years, people are returning to this Sacrament of Healing and Forgiveness that is still too often misunderstood and underappreciated. I strongly encourage you and ask you to invite others to give this Sacrament “another chance” -if it’s been a while, a few years or many, many years; if you have had a bad experience in the past, please know that our loving and merciful God is “waiting for you” to approach this sacrament so that, after confessing your sins and asking for forgiveness, you can hear those beautiful words, “I absolve you from your sins. Go in Peace, your sins are forgiven.”

There is a way to combine or unite Father Mike’s numbers one to three, by taking time each day in silent prayer and in prayerfully listening to God’s Word. There are many ways to do this, but praying with the daily Mass Readings (if you can’t get to daily Mass) is a powerful and very fruitful form of prayer. If you use the internet (Google), you can easily find the daily Mass Readings at “USCCB daily readings.” 

I hope that these thoughts and suggestions might be helpful to you in some way. As Pope Leo reminds us, let’s be together and pray for one another during Lent. I will conclude with one beautiful form of prayer that I had almost forgotten to mention: The Stations of the Cross. As we pray for one another during Lent, let us remember those beautiful words that we pray during the “Stations”: “We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you, because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the World.”

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– “Lent is a time in which the Church, guided by a sense of maternal care, invites us to place the mystery of God back in the center of our lives, in order to find renewal in our faith and keep our hearts from being consumed by the anxieties and distractions of daily life … the Lenten journey is a welcome opportunity to heed the voice of the Lord and renew our commitment to following Christ, accompanying him on the road to Jerusalem, where the mystery of his passion, death and resurrection will be fulfilled…” Pope Leo’s Message for Lent 2026