Christian leaders and Catholic clergy in the Muslim-majority South Asian nation are urging Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to add Easter Sunday to the government holiday calendar.
Catholic Charities USA’s traveling museum ‘celebrates power of Christian service’ #Catholic – 
NEW YORK (OSV News) — Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York welcomed the mobile People of Hope Museum March 26, near Union Square in Manhattan. The tractor-trailer-sized traveling museum will tour under the sponsorship of Catholic Charities USA.
With its welcome in New York, “People of Hope: Faith-Filled Stories of Neighbors Helping Neighbors” began a three-year journey across the United States.
Produced by Catholic Charities USA, the People of Hope Museum will ultimately visit more than 150 communities to promote empathy and inspire visitors to find ways to serve those in need in their local areas. The initiative is made possible thanks to a 2024 grant of nearly $5 million from Lilly Endowment Inc. through an invitational round of its National Storytelling Initiative on Christian Faith and Life.
The museum is a nationwide storytelling initiative from CCUSA “highlighting the impact of neighbors helping neighbors, and celebrating the power of Christian service,” organizers said.
Locally, Catholic Charities of New York is co-sponsoring the People of Hope Museum with CCUSA, along with Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Brooklyn.
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The People of Hope Museum was parked March 26 in an area near Union Square. A 10 a.m. opening ceremony and ribbon cutting took place in front of three dozen Catholic Charities staff, affiliates and journalists.
About an hour later, the museum was open to the public until 6 p.m. The next day it was open to the public again from 12 noon to 6 p.m.
“We’re here to tell the stories of many, many employees of Catholic Charities throughout the country — hundreds of Catholic Charities (chapters), thousands of employees, who day in and day out, they take care of the people who need it the most,” J. Antonio Fernandez, president and CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, said during the opening ceremony. “Thank you for coming today as we celebrate this wonderful museum. Thank you, and God bless you.”
Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, was at the opening of the mobile museum, a venture she said “is a testament to mercy, service, hope, compassion and faith. And it is a special honor that we are here in New York City, and that it is co-hosted by Catholic Charities (of the) Archdiocese of New York, and Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens.”
Father Patrick J. Keating, deputy CEO of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Brooklyn, offered a prayer of blessing for the museum, the people who enter it, and for “the human family.”
Jamar Carr, a substance abuse counselor with the Brooklyn Diocese, was given the honor of cutting the ribbon.
Housed in a digitally outfitted semi-truck, the People of Hope Museum features 42 original, authentic video stories told by Catholic Charities staff and volunteers from agencies around the country. In the brief videos, the storytellers share first-person accounts of what it means to serve someone in need in their darkest moment.
Beyond these stories, the museum contains an interactive poverty simulation of stepping into another person’s life, making difficult choices and experiencing the realities of living on the margins.
Visitors can also peruse a learning library featuring curated 2- to 4-minute audio segments from prominent books on poverty, social isolation, bridgebuilding and community action, including by authors Matthew Desmond, Arthur Brooks and Robert Putnam.
National and state data illustrate the scope of need and the vital role of social services organizations across the country, and a recording room allows attendees to share their own stories of hope and service.
From New York, through December, the mobile museum will go through 21 states, from Texas to Ohio and from Maine to Florida, mostly in the eastern half of the United States. It will tour the Western states in 2027. In the first half of 2028, the museum will visit communities that were missed or would like a repeat visit, CCUSA said in a news release.
CCUSA, which has its headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, is a network of local Catholic Charities agencies in dioceses across the U.S.
Thomas Galfo, 44, and his wife, Hazel Yaptangco, were among members of the public who entered the mobile museum on its opening morning to view and listen to what the museum had to offer. They are parishioners of St. Simon the Apostle Catholic Church in Green Pond, New Jersey, in the Paterson Diocese.
“We heard about this through social media, and we wanted to take the trip into the city to see it firsthand. It’s absolutely amazing, from the second that you walk up to the trailer, and walking through the trailer with all the details. They did an excellent job,” Galfo said in an interview inside the museum with The Good Newsroom, the news outlet of the Archdiocese of New York.
Yaptangco said, “Wow, there are many real stories here, of people struggling every day. This really spells it out, what is going on in their lives. It’s great to see an organization bringing awareness to that, and showing ways that you can take action.”
Click here to sign up for updates on the tour stops for the People of Hope traveling museum.
Armando Machado writes for The Good Newsroom. This story was originally published by The Good Newsroom, the online news outlet of the Archdiocese of New York, and distributed through a partnership with OSV News.
– NEW YORK (OSV News) — Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York welcomed the mobile People of Hope Museum March 26, near Union Square in Manhattan. The tractor-trailer-sized traveling museum will tour under the sponsorship of Catholic Charities USA. With its welcome in New York, “People of Hope: Faith-Filled Stories of Neighbors Helping Neighbors” began a three-year journey across the United States. Produced by Catholic Charities USA, the People of Hope Museum will ultimately visit more than 150 communities to promote empathy and inspire visitors to find ways to serve those in need in their local areas. The initiative
UEFA told EWTN News its fine on a Serbian soccer club was for offensive language, not a massive Orthodox Christian display — contradicting widespread reports the sanction targeted religious imagery.
HOLLYWOOD, CA — The movie industry saw the revival of one of its brightest young stars, as actress Brie Larson’s career showed signs of taking off to new heights after she started shutting up.
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the United States Supreme Court issued a decisive ruling on a controversial case in Colorado regarding conversion therapy for minors, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson raised a pertinent question about the constitutionality of the law.
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A previously unpublished illustration intended for the Saturday Evening Post’s 1943 New Year’s edition. It was never used due to publisher demands that the illustrator, J.C. Leyendecker, create a more optimistic and patriotic cover that was sensitive to the families of American soldiers. It was publicly shown for the first time in 2020 as part of an auction.
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Two Paterson churches will merge to create a vibrant St. Pio Parish #Catholic – 
Located only three blocks apart, St. Bonaventure and Our Lady of Pompei (OLP) parishes brought Christ’s love to the people of the Stoney Road section of Paterson, N.J., as separate faith communities for more than 260 years combined. The churches are so close that each parish can hear the other’s church bells from its front steps.
So it might seem providential that on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 12, these two parishes, each with its own history and traditions, will merge into a single parish under a new name: St. Pio of Pietrelcina — also known as “Padre Pio” — Parish. The merger will streamline the administration of St. Bonaventure’s and OLP into one parish. To keep meeting the people’s spiritual and pastoral needs, St. Pio’s is ensuring that both churches will remain open and has readjusted the Mass schedules at both locations.
Father Manuel Cuellar, who will become pastor on April 12, and St. Pio’s looks forward to uniting both parishes and bringing together their (Anglo) English-speaking and growing Hispanic communities. During the past year, this merger process has unfolded in a spirit of prayerful discernment and collaboration.
On April 12, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney will celebrate the establishment of St. Pio’s during a Eucharistic procession at 3 p.m. from OLP on Murray Avenue to St. Bonaventure’s on Ramsey Street. The event will start with the Divine Mercy Chaplet at OLP and conclude with Benediction at St. Bonaventure’s. Bishop Sweeney approved the merger after prayer and consultation and accompanied parishioners during the process.
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“Our Lady of Pompei and St. Bonaventure’s have four different communities, including two (Anglo) English-speaking and two Hispanic. But I want to see St. Pio become one dynamic community,” said Father Cuellar. He will remain the parochial vicar of St. Gerard Majella Parish in Paterson until he becomes St. Pio’s pastor. “In my homilies, I say that no matter what language we speak or where we come from, we are all children of God. We are doing this merger for the good of the people, especially for our children.”
Also attending the April 12 prayer service will be clergy from the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey, who have been instrumental in shepherding this merger. They are Msgr. George Hundt, pastor of St. Gerard’s and pastor of OLP until Father Cuellar becomes pastor of St. Pio’s, and Father Alex Nevitt, diocesan episcopal delegate for parish leadership development and administrator of St. Bonaventure’s until that day.
Father Cuellar helped expand and strengthen OLP’s Hispanic community. He established the parish’s first Spanish Mass at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday in September 2024. It has grown from 12 churchgoers to more than 140. The priest united the community through a December procession through the city streets for Our Lady of Guadalupe, a Mexican Catholic devotion, and has encouraged other lively, colorful devotions, such as Our Lady of Altagracia, a Dominican devotion. He also brought the OLP parish together for a Christmas party.
Meanwhile, St. Bonaventure’s has been expanding its digital presence. The parish recently launched a young adult ministry that has attracted about 40 members and become the largest of its kind in the diocese. St. Bonaventure’s has a Spanish Mass at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Raysa Gonzalez, a lector for OLP’s Spanish Mass, was involved in roundtable discussions about the merger. A lifelong churchgoer, she didn’t feel connected to her faith until she started attending the parish’s Spanish Mass. Her son also enjoys attending the liturgy.
“In his homilies, Father Manuel relates the Gospel by giving examples from real life. It helps me understand the message of the bible,” said Gonzalez, who called the merger process “a little scary, but we have faith and pray. Everything has been wonderful. Everybody is trying to do their part to connect with each other and grow together as one family.”
Last year, parishioners voted to choose the name of the new faith community: St. Pio of Pietrelcina. Padre Pio (1887–1968) was an Italian Capuchin priest renowned for his intense prayer, stigmatization, and service to the suffering. Father Nevitt said the name “recounts Padre Pio’s bilocation, an evocative sign as we unite two churches within one parish.”
“In proposing St. Pio of Pietrelcina, we express our desire to form a community of deep sacramental life and missionary outreach — one that inspires every generation, including young people and families, through a clear witness of holiness, Eucharistic devotion, and prayerful charity,” Father Nevitt wrote in a letter about the new name to Bishop Sweeney.
Temporarily, St. Pio’s staff will work from St. Bonaventure’s offices, while clergy will live in St. Bonaventure’s rectory. Eventually, the OLP rectory will be renovated into St. Pio’s offices, and St. Bonaventure’s rectory will be renovated into St. Pio’s rectory. Father Nevitt will assist Father Cuellar, a fellow 2019 ordination classmate, with technology upgrades, a new website, and a new logo featuring a smiling St. Pio.
The two parishes represent more than 260 years of service to the area —150 at St. Bonaventure’s and 110 at OLP. St. Bonaventure’s, the diocese’s second-oldest parish, was founded when Franciscan Friars arrived in Paterson from Germany in 1876. Bishop Sweeney assigned Father Nevitt to help transition St. Bonaventure’s to a diocesan parish after the Franciscan Friars announced they were leaving, citing manpower shortages, in 2024.
In 1916, OLP was started as a mission of St. Michael Parish in Paterson to serve the Italian community. Msgr. Hundt became pastor of OLP and St. Gerard’s in July 2024, before the Franciscans left St. Bonaventure. The populations of OLP and St. Bonaventure’s were both declining, and OLP was also facing financial struggles.
Msgr. Hundt praised the decision to keep both churches open, which provides more room for St. Pio Parish. Merger discussions became more relaxed once parishioners were reassured that neither church would close, he said.
“The challenge was helping people realize we’re moving toward something important, but that it’s going to involve letting go of part of their experience of community,” Msgr. Hundt said. “There’s a certain dying that has to take place in both communities to rise to the new parish of St. Padre Pio. It takes a lot of grace for God to help us let that happen. I think they’re doing that beautifully.”
For Mass times and other information, visit piopaterson.org as of April 12.
– Located only three blocks apart, St. Bonaventure and Our Lady of Pompei (OLP) parishes brought Christ’s love to the people of the Stoney Road section of Paterson, N.J., as separate faith communities for more than 260 years combined. The churches are so close that each parish can hear the other’s church bells from its front steps. So it might seem providential that on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 12, these two parishes, each with its own history and traditions, will merge into a single parish under a new name: St. Pio of Pietrelcina — also known as “Padre Pio” — Parish.
Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column. March 31: The galaxy’s Great Bird April’s evenings kick off with a Full Moon, which occurs at 10:12 P.M. EDT tonight. The April Full Moon is also called the Pink Moon, after the wildflowers that begin to run rampant as spring begins. Continue reading “The Sky Today on Wednesday, April 1: A Full Pink Moon and a double star”
The post The Sky Today on Wednesday, April 1: A Full Pink Moon and a double star appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.
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