Catholic

Paterson Parish showcases powerful devotion during St. Therese Mass #Catholic –

On Oct. 4, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney helped St. Therese Parish in Paterson, N.J., celebrate the feast day of St. Thérèse the Little Flower, traditionally observed on Oct. 1, with a Spanish Mass in the church. The popular saint is also known as St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus.

Father Yasid Salas, St. Therese’s pastor, concelebrated the Mass with Bishop Sweeney. The Mass included many faithful dressed as St. Thérèse and a dramatic devotion to her.

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– On Oct. 4, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney helped St. Therese Parish in Paterson, N.J., celebrate the feast day of St. Thérèse the Little Flower, traditionally observed on Oct. 1, with a Spanish Mass in the church. The popular saint is also known as St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus. Father Yasid Salas, St. Therese’s pastor, concelebrated the Mass with Bishop Sweeney. The Mass included many faithful dressed as St. Thérèse and a dramatic devotion to her. BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

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St. Therese Mountain Lakes event honors U.S.’ 250th birthday #Catholic –

The Rosary and Prayer Ministry of St. Thérèse the Little Flower of St. Catherine of Siena Church in Mountain Lakes, N.J. on Oct. 11 honored the feast day of St. Therese during a devotional event with Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney in the parish church. The popular saint is also known as St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus.

The event featured prayer, music, the Knights of Columbus, bagpipers, five vocalists, organist, a harpist and a patriotic finale to celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States this year.

Despite the inclement weather, more than 200 people clergy, religious and laity attended the event, which began with a processional by Bishop Sweeney; Father Michael J. Parisi, pastor of the parish and vicar general of the Paterson Diocese, N.J.; Deacon James Gillespie opened the ceremony at St. Catherine’s; and the Knights of Columbus Color Corps processed with the Bishop.

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Music featured at the event included Highland Cathedral, Panis Angelicus, the St. Thérèse Hymn, Walk With Us, Dear St. Thérèse, Let there Be Peace on Earth, Be Still My Soul, I Believe, You’ll Never Walk Alone, Lady of Knock, and Ava Maria.

The bagpipers were Bill McEvoy and Paul O’Sullivan. David de la Mora, St. Catherine’s choir director, on piano and vocalist; Lou Scarpa, a trustee at Assumption College for Sisters in Denville, an organist; Kathleen Donahue, harpist and music director at St. Mary’s in Denville; her husband Michael Donahue, vocalist; Barbara Bailey and Deborah Tobia, vocalists and parishioners of St. Catherine of Siena Church. In honor of Deborah’s devotion to our blessed saint, she wrote and composed the St. Therese Hymn which she sang.

During the patriotic finale, cub scouts from Pack 99, Boy Scouts, soldiers from Picatinny Arsenal held the American flag which was 10 feet wide. Jonathan Morales, was the vocalist who performed the Patriotic Finale with songs, such as America The Beautiful, God Bless America, Glory, Glory Hallelujah and the entire congregation recited The Pledge of Allegiance.

Bishop Sweeney concluded by a closing blessing with the Relic of St. Therese. Closing remarks by Carol Bsarany who leads the St. Thérèse Ministry. A reception followed in the parish gym.

The St. Thérèse prayer group meets at St. Catherine’s on Tuesdays at 1 p.m. from May through December. Members pray the Novena to St. Thérèse, a prayer for our nation, the Memorare, and the rosary. Participants are asked to bring a rosary. The group will provide prayer materials.

Two events left for this year are Tuesday, Nov. 17 healing service with Father Edward Rama, pastor of St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish in Wharton, N.J., at 1 p.m.; the Christmas concert featuring two vocalists and an organist on Tuesday, Dec. 15 at 1 p.m. This will be our last prayer service for this year. We will reopen on Tuesday, May 4th, 2027.

St. Thérèse was a Discalced Carmelite nun in France who died at 24 on Sept. 30, 1897.

While the St. Thérèse Ministry meets at St. Catherine’s, the Shrine of St. Thérèse at 54 Rock Lane in Boonton about a mile away is open year-round. Hours for the Shrine are 8 a.m. To 6 p.m. The faithful can continue to visit and light a candle.

The shrine represents the gratitude of its founder, Achille Arci. He made a promise to her in the 1920s after he was cured of an illness. Today, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Boonton, N.J., owns and cares for the shrine.

For further information please call Carol Bsarany at 973-271-9252.

– The Rosary and Prayer Ministry of St. Thérèse the Little Flower of St. Catherine of Siena Church in Mountain Lakes, N.J. on Oct. 11 honored the feast day of St. Therese during a devotional event with Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney in the parish church. The popular saint is also known as St. Thérèse of Lisieux and St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus. The event featured prayer, music, the Knights of Columbus, bagpipers, five vocalists, organist, a harpist and a patriotic finale to celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States this year. Despite the inclement weather, more than 200 people

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French bishops condemn ‘unacceptable violence’ as riots sweep nation #Catholic –

(OSV News) — France’s bishops condemned “unacceptable violence” that “gripped” the country over the Oct. 17-18 weekend, saying the scenes of rioting “plunged the country into shock, fear, and despair, raising numerous questions about the root causes of this crisis,” the bishops wrote in their Oct. 19 statement.

“We urge everyone not to be drawn into the spiral of this deadly violence: our country deserves better,” the bishops wrote, expressing their outrage at law enforcement officers being attacked and injured, shops looted, public property damaged, and buildings representing state institutions vandalized.

“We wish to express our support and solidarity with all those who have suffered injuries, as well as with the many shopkeepers who have been victims of this vandalism,” the bishops said.

Other Church leaders and commentators joined the bishops in their appeals for peaceful solution to the crisis, urging that it’s time for citizens to become peacemakers and reject growing division, with Pope Leo XIV’s recent apostolic visit to the country remembered as a signpost to follow.

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Tragic violence that destroyed historic buildings

Initially called to protest the rising cost of living, the Oct. 17 demonstrations came amid a high school student protest movement that had evolved into a wider urban uprising since late September. Joined by far-left activists and masked rioters, some demonstrators clashed with police, leaving hundreds of officers injured, and carried out attacks on schools and other public property.

Rioters smashed storefronts to loot shops, with desperate owners trying to protect their property, and set cars on fire in numerous cities across France.

City halls and public buildings were attacked, severely damaged or completely destroyed. Limoges City Hall, a historic 19th-century building in central France, was almost entirely ravaged by a spectacular fire.

Cardinal Aveline: France deserves better

The president of the bishops’ conference, Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille, also condemned “unacceptable violence” in his Oct. 18 statement.

“Let us not get caught up in the spiral of this violence,” Cardinal Aveline said. “Our city and our country deserve better than this. Together with all believers, let us pray for an end to these disturbances and for peace to return.”

Cardinal Aveline, who witnessed the violence in Marseille, France’s second-largest city, wrote that “our city, like many others in France, has been the victim of unacceptable violence.”

“On the sidelines of planned demonstrations, shops were looted, churches were broken into, the town hall was invaded and vandalized, a police station was ransacked, and members of the security forces were attacked,” he said.

“Along with the entire Church of Marseille, I wish to express my support and solidarity with those who were injured and with the shopkeepers who were victims of this vandalism,” Cardinal Aveline said.

Archbishop of Lyon points to a ‘society in crisis’

Archbishop Olivier de Germay deplored the destruction that took place in Lyon, another major city, of which he is the archbishop.

“The violence that occurred in Lyon on Oct. 17 goes far beyond the scope of a protest in which legitimate grievances can be expressed,” he wrote on X on Oct. 18. “The city was the scene of clashes, hatred, destruction, and looting — all of which are unacceptable. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the shop owners, law enforcement, and all those who were victims of these excesses, including those who wanted to demonstrate peacefully.”

For Archbishop de Germay, the urgent need now is to act as “peacemakers.”

“I am well aware that this violence is a sign of a society in crisis,” he stated. “But I want to reiterate emphatically that it is a dead end and can only lead to further injustices and divisions. It is not by pitting one group against another, but by working together, that we will be able to meet the challenges facing our society.”

Reactions of deep dismay were evident throughout France on Oct. 18, with commentators expressing the “shame” of seeing the country so disfigured by looters and rioters bent on compulsive destruction. “What is happening to us?” wrote Jérôme Chapuis, editor-in-chief of the Catholic daily La Croix. “The outburst of violence on that fateful October 17 is disheartening, disturbing, and a source of shame for us.”

Chapuis pointed out to “the architects of chaos, influencers, or political parties engaged in the race toward extremes,” as those responsible for the damages as much as violent rioters themselves. He also called for accountability as Paris and other major cities witnessed post-warzone scenes on the morning of Oct. 19.

Voices of those tired of unrest highlight pope’s message to lawmakers

From the arrogance of protesters, Chapuis wrote, rose another form of anger in France, not even a month after a much successful papal visit in the country.

“It is the peaceful anger of men and women of good will who, in the diversity of their opinions and the ways they engage in political action, contemplate the ruins.”

“Faced with the image of the burned-out Limoges City Hall, the recent echo of a speech comes to mind,” Chapuis said, referring to the words of Pope Leo XIV at the Élysée Palace, the seat of the French presidency, on the day of his arrival in France on Sept. 25.

“Liberty, equality and fraternity are not simply words emblazoned on the front of your public buildings; they refer to universal ethical imperatives that also find in the Gospel message an inexhaustible source of inspiration and fulfillment,” the pope said that day, addressing President Emmanuel Macron and the officials present.

For Chapuis, the papal words “would do well to be heard again by all those who cherish civil peace — those who know its value and its fragility.”

President Macron: how the French could do this to France

In Paris, where entire streets had been ravaged, the violence was still ongoing on the evening of Oct. 18 as President Macron addressed the nation on television.

“Watching these images, we all asked ourselves how the French could do this to France,” Président Macron said. “How could they have come to this? Nothing justifies it; nothing explains it.” He referred to the many shop owners who had to “defend their stores themselves against criminals,” attributing responsibility for this “unbridled violence” to “troublemakers from far-left fringe groups joined by numerous criminals.”

Macron concluded his address by referring to the upcoming presidential elections, which will take place in April and May 2027.

“All those who are telling you today that the urgent need is to take to the streets, to protest, to create disorder have only one goal: to undermine the Republic and hijack the debate,” he lamented.

“Debates must take place in public meetings. They must take place with the political parties, not in the streets through violence,” Macron continued. “They must take place in newspapers, on television programs, and at peaceful gatherings, where people speak and explain themselves with respect — never amid chaos and destruction. Our country deserves a great presidential election in six months.”

“With all believers,” he said, “we pray that these disturbances will cease, that legitimate demands will be heard and addressed, and that, through dialogue and respect for justice, peace may return.”

Caroline de Sury writes for OSV News from Paris.

 

– (OSV News) — France’s bishops condemned “unacceptable violence” that “gripped” the country over the Oct. 17-18 weekend, saying the scenes of rioting “plunged the country into shock, fear, and despair, raising numerous questions about the root causes of this crisis,” the bishops wrote in their Oct. 19 statement. “We urge everyone not to be drawn into the spiral of this deadly violence: our country deserves better,” the bishops wrote, expressing their outrage at law enforcement officers being attacked and injured, shops looted, public property damaged, and buildings representing state institutions vandalized. “We wish to express our support and solidarity with

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Pope Leo needs ‘no further treatment’ following lung cancer surgery #Catholic –

(OSV News) — Doctors have confirmed Pope Leo XIV needs “no further treatment” following his Oct. 13 surgery for lung cancer.

In an Oct. 21 message, the Holy See Press Office announced that Drs. Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritora said “the final histological examinations and molecular biology tests on the material removed” during the surgery confirmed the tumor was a “localized lung adenocarcinoma.”

The doctors said that “subsequent oncological evaluation confirmed that no further treatment is necessary.”

“This is really good news,” Dr. Nirmal Veeramachaneni, professor of cardiothoracic surgery at St. Louis University School of Medicine, told OSV News moments after the Vatican released the papal health update.

Although not part of the pope’s care team, Veeramachaneni — an oncology expert who also serves as medical director for lung cancer screening at SSM Health — said that based on his experience and the Holy See statement, Pope Leo’s prognosis seemed to be “excellent.”

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Now, said Veeramachaneni, the pope will simply need “long-term radiographic follow-up to look for recurrence.”

Typically, he said, that entails a regular CT (computed tomography) scan, which uses multiple X-ray images to create a 3D composite of bones, organs and tissue.

He estimated the scanning intervals to range from “every six months” to “once a year for several years.”

Based on his own clinical and research experience, Veeramachaneni said the Vatican’s news was “actually what I was expecting” and “the most likely scenario.”

Veeramachaneni said that “the fact that they (Pope Leo’s medical team) proceeded straight to surgery told me a lot.”

“If they were concerned about the imaging, or if they thought this was a more advanced state of the disease, modern care would have meant chemotherapy up front,” he said.

The Vatican has not disclosed whether Pope Leo received any presurgical, or “neoadjuvant,” cancer treatment before entering Rome’s Gemelli Hospital Oct. 13 and undergoing a 90-minute video-assisted surgery that same day.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Oct. 14 that prior to surgery, Pope Leo had undergone several diagnostic procedures — a robotic bronchoscopy with biopsy, a chest CT scan with contrast and a PET scan — which indicated the need for the operation.

The pope announced after leading the Oct. 11 Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square that doctors had found a “small, localized nodule” in his lung and had recommended intervention.

Following the video-assisted surgery — which saw the removal of the lower lobe of the pope’s right lung — Carbone, the pope’s personal physician, and Margaritora, chief thoracic surgeon at Gemelli, “confirmed the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, as suspected by the preoperative tests.”

Veeramachaneni noted that cancer was at an “early stage.”

Chemotherapy would normally be advised “if this tumor was greater than four centimeters in size or the lymph nodes were involved,” he said.

“As part of a standard oncological examination, the surgeon would have either sampled or dissected out the lymph nodes that hug the central airway, as well as taking out the lymph nodes in the lobe itself,” he said.

Adenocarcinomas are cancers that begin in the glands lining the body’s organs, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

Lung adenocarcinoma is “the most common subtype of lung cancer,” and “falls under the non-small cell category,” said Dr. Stephen Liu, associate professor of medicine, director of thoracic oncology and director of developmental therapeutics at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Almost 9 out of 10 lung cancers are of the non-small cell type, growing more slowly than its small cell counterpart, which typically attacks the airways and spreads rapidly, according to the National Foundation for Cancer Research.

Liu added that lung adenocarcinoma is also “the most common” type of lung cancer “in people without a strong smoking history.”

Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X @GinaJesseReina.

 

– (OSV News) — Doctors have confirmed Pope Leo XIV needs “no further treatment” following his Oct. 13 surgery for lung cancer. In an Oct. 21 message, the Holy See Press Office announced that Drs. Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritora said “the final histological examinations and molecular biology tests on the material removed” during the surgery confirmed the tumor was a “localized lung adenocarcinoma.” The doctors said that “subsequent oncological evaluation confirmed that no further treatment is necessary.” “This is really good news,” Dr. Nirmal Veeramachaneni, professor of cardiothoracic surgery at St. Louis University School of Medicine, told OSV News moments

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Georgia Martyrs’ beatification the next big event for US Church #Catholic –

(OSV News) — While six years separate the two most recent U.S. beatifications of Blessed Michael J. McGivney in 2020 and Blessed Fulton J. Sheen on Sept. 24, mere weeks pass before the next: five Franciscan friars known as the Georgia Martyrs on Oct. 31.

Cardinal Frank Leo of Toronto will celebrate the 11 a.m. beatification Mass, which will be livestreamed on social media channels and the diocesan website, diosav.org, as well as by EWTN.

Speaking about the Georgia Martyrs with OSV News, Cardinal Leo said, “We all have that same command from the Lord Jesus to go make disciples.”

“The Georgia Martyrs offered more than self-sacrifice,” he said. “They brought it to the next level in terms of self-gift. … It was a choice and a decision to make a gift to the Lord by becoming a gift to his people, who needed to know him and to live for him.”

In 1597, the Spanish Franciscans Pedro de Corpa, Blas Rodríguez de Cuacos, Miguel de Añón, Antonio de Badajoz and Francisco de Veráscola were ministering at five missions along the coast and barrier islands of present-day Georgia when they were killed out of hatred for the faith by a band of Indigenous men between Sept. 14-17.

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The friars’ murders were prompted by Father de Corpa angering the heir to a Guale chiefdom, Juanillo, by telling him that as a baptized Christian, he could not follow his culture’s custom and take a second wife. Juanillo and his men killed the priest at a mission near the contemporary city of Eulonia, Georgia, before killing four of the other five Franciscan missionaries ministering in the area. The sixth friar, Francisco de Avila, was kidnapped and tortured for months before being set free. The incident is known as the 1597 Guale Uprising.

At the time, the Spaniards knew the wider coastal area as La Florida, home to the settlement of St. Augustine, established in 1565. By 1595, the friars had established five missions along the coast. Prior to their murders, the six Franciscans appear to have lived among the Guale and other indigenous peoples in peace, without a military presence, for two years.

About a month after the friars were killed, the governor of La Florida led an expedition to locate the martyred friars’ bodies. According to the Diocese of Savannah’s website on the martyrs, there is no record of Friar Francisco’s remains being found. The bodies of Friars Blas, Miguel and Antonio were found buried in shallow graves on St. Catherines Island. The men in the October 1597 expedition reburied them, with the exception of the severed head of Friar Miguel, which they took with them.

Less than a decade later, when Franciscans had returned to the coastline to evangelize, the friars’ bodies on St. Catherines Island were exhumed and brought to St. Augustine, but their whereabouts today are unknown. Some scholars speculate that Franciscans took the martyrs’ remains with them to Cuba when St. Augustine transferred to British rule in 1763.

Friar Pedro de Corpa was decapitated and his body was not found; the location of his skull is uncertain. A skull recovered at the Fort King George State Historical Site in Darien may belong to Friar Pedro or Father Francisco, and testing is underway to learn more about its origins.

The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage drew attention to the martyrs in May, as the nine perpetual pilgrims spent the third day of their pilgrimage in southern Georgia, walking in a Eucharistic procession at Fort King George, where Friar Francisco is believed to have been killed.

The five Franciscans’ martyrdom is “a reminder of how the Church has, over the centuries, continued to send out missionaries to all peoples, to all nations, to faraway places,” Father Pablo Migone, vicar for mission advancement for the Diocese of Savannah, said during that visit. “That is something we have done from the very beginning from the words of Jesus to the apostles.”

The Beatification Mass is not ticketed, and seats in the Savannah Convention Center are first come, first served. Doors for the liturgy open at 8 a.m. Oct. 31. The convention center will host the Georgia Martyr Museum between 8-10:30 a.m. and 1-2:30 p.m.

The Mass coincides with Halloween, the eve of All Saints’ Day. It also coincides with the Jubilee Year of their order’s founder, St. Francis of Assisi, which commemorates the 800th anniversary of his death.

On Nov. 1, Bishop Stephen D. Parkes of Savannah will celebrate a Mass of thanksgiving at 11:30 a.m. at the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist in Savannah, which will also be livestreamed at the cathedral’s website, savannahcathedral.org.

Reports from civil and religious leaders in the months and years after the Franciscans’ deaths reveal that the slain friars’ contemporaries saw them as martyrs. New research in the 20th century about the history of La Florida and the Georgia Martyrs bolstered efforts to move forward with a cause for their beatification.

With the support of the Order of Franciscans Minor, the Diocese of Savannah opened the cause for the martyrs’ canonization in February 1984 under Savannah’s Bishop Raymond W. Lessard, who died in 2016. In January 2025, Pope Francis authorized the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to formally recognize the five friars’ martyrdom “in hatred of the faith.”

Alongside the sainthood cause for the five Georgia martyrs is a separate cause for the Martyrs of La Florida Missions, which encompasses 58 people martyred in the region between 1549 and 1715. Known as Antonio Inija and Companions, Servants of God, their collective cause officially opened Oct. 12, 2015, and includes Dominican, Franciscan and Jesuit priests; lay men and women; and children, including an unborn child.

Maria Wiering is senior managing editor for OSV News.

 

– (OSV News) — While six years separate the two most recent U.S. beatifications of Blessed Michael J. McGivney in 2020 and Blessed Fulton J. Sheen on Sept. 24, mere weeks pass before the next: five Franciscan friars known as the Georgia Martyrs on Oct. 31. Cardinal Frank Leo of Toronto will celebrate the 11 a.m. beatification Mass, which will be livestreamed on social media channels and the diocesan website, diosav.org, as well as by EWTN. Speaking about the Georgia Martyrs with OSV News, Cardinal Leo said, “We all have that same command from the Lord Jesus to go make disciples.”

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Morristown Knights welcome new members #Catholic –

To celebrate Columbus Day, Knights of Columbus George Washington Council 359 in Morristown, N.J. held a CUF (Charity, Unity, Fraternity) ceremony on Oct. 12 to initiate nine new members into the council. Pictured with Msgr. John Hart, pastor of Assumption Parish in Morristown; Past Grand Knight Bill Kostyak (front left), and Chancellor Jim Torney (front right) are: Sean Gallagher, Nicholas Gleichmann, Xhulio Kola, Jack Lee, Logan Lenahan, John Mahoney, Brian Mileo, Stephen Simon, and Matt Sullivan.

Following the ceremony, District Deputy Bill Grant presented the council with the Star Council award (held by Bill Kostyak in photo) in recognition of their many outstanding accomplishments in the 2025-26 Columbian year.

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– To celebrate Columbus Day, Knights of Columbus George Washington Council 359 in Morristown, N.J. held a CUF (Charity, Unity, Fraternity) ceremony on Oct. 12 to initiate nine new members into the council. Pictured with Msgr. John Hart, pastor of Assumption Parish in Morristown; Past Grand Knight Bill Kostyak (front left), and Chancellor Jim Torney (front right) are: Sean Gallagher, Nicholas Gleichmann, Xhulio Kola, Jack Lee, Logan Lenahan, John Mahoney, Brian Mileo, Stephen Simon, and Matt Sullivan. Following the ceremony, District Deputy Bill Grant presented the council with the Star Council award (held by Bill Kostyak in photo) in recognition of

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Morris Plains Knights earn Star Award #Catholic –

Knights of Columbus Bishop McLaughlin Council 3495 received the Star Award plaque at  Tracy Center of St. Virgil Parish in Morris Plains, N.J., on Oct. 13. The council’s chaplain, Father Lukasz Wnuk, who is also St. Virgil’s pastor;  current Grand Knight Daniel Andretti; and other council brothers accepted the honor. The council is based at St. Virgil’s and has earned Star Council status for two consecutive years. The Star Council Award is the international organization’s high honor recognizing overall excellence in local council operations, membership growth, insurance promotion, and program activities.

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– Knights of Columbus Bishop McLaughlin Council 3495 received the Star Award plaque at  Tracy Center of St. Virgil Parish in Morris Plains, N.J., on Oct. 13. The council’s chaplain, Father Lukasz Wnuk, who is also St. Virgil’s pastor;  current Grand Knight Daniel Andretti; and other council brothers accepted the honor. The council is based at St. Virgil’s and has earned Star Council status for two consecutive years. The Star Council Award is the international organization’s high honor recognizing overall excellence in local council operations, membership growth, insurance promotion, and program activities. Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.  

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Faith and tradition unite Peruvians at Paterson Mass #Catholic –

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney helped the Peruvian community from across the diocese celebrate the feast of Señor de los Milagros (Lord of Miracles) during a Spanish Mass on Oct. 11 at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, N.J., the mother church of the Paterson Diocese.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney concelebrated the liturgy with Msgr. Geno Sylva, rector of St. John’s and diocesan vicar for special projects. The Children’s Choir sang hymns of praise.

The Peruvian devotion features an outdoor procession through the streets to the Lord and all his miracles. Peruvians carried an image of Jesus Christ that was painted during the 17th century by an unknown African who was taken as an enslaved person from what is now Angola to Peru. The procession also includes an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The Peruvian community celebrates Señor de los Milagros every October, on or near the 18th. It is the leading Catholic celebration in Peru, and it features one of the largest processions in the world in the South American country. Its name originated in the 17th century during an earthquake in Lima that destroyed most of the city, leaving only the image standing.

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– Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney helped the Peruvian community from across the diocese celebrate the feast of Señor de los Milagros (Lord of Miracles) during a Spanish Mass on Oct. 11 at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson, N.J., the mother church of the Paterson Diocese. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney concelebrated the liturgy with Msgr. Geno Sylva, rector of St. John’s and diocesan vicar for special projects. The Children’s Choir sang hymns of praise. The Peruvian devotion features an outdoor procession through the streets to the Lord and all his miracles. Peruvians carried an image of Jesus Christ

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Morristown Knights honored for their selfless gift of service #Catholic –

The sense of celebration was palpable on Oct. 10 at Assumption Church in Morristown. N.J. members of the Knights of Columbus George Washington Council No. 359 filled the pews.

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney joined about 300 knights, spouses and other family members to celebrate the council’s annual Mass to mark the beginning of its fraternal year. The liturgy was followed by a dinner of appreciation honoring service and compassion throughout the community at Morris County Golf Club in Morris Township. The council, which recently added nine young men, is one of the oldest knight groups in the United States.

“It’s a great blessing to see the inspiration of women and men of faith who serve, lead, and help us as disciples of our Lord Jesus to put our faith into action,” Bishop Sweeney said at the Mass.

George Washington Council is the only one in the U.S. not named after a Catholic; instead, it was named after the Revolutionary War general and first U.S. president. Morristown is known as the military capital of the Revolution, where Washington and the Continental Army wintered during the war.

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The council began at a time of strong anti-Catholic sentiment. Yet the council has always supported patriotism and been engaged in community service.

The council typically raises at least $50,000 each year for local charities, which Knights trustee John Wooters said is focused on people on the margins facing challenges ranging from food and housing to mental health issues. But he said time and talent are as much of a compassionate asset to the community as their financial contribution.

“It’s also manpower. We are probably doing something at least twice a week at some different organization, whether it’s moving medical supplies and medical beds so that they can be put on a container to go to Ukraine, or taking care of somebody who’s involved with [domestic] abuse. We have to move the family,” Wooters said.

The knights’ financial and volunteer support spans from ArcMorris, helping people with disabilities, to performing tasks for the Discalced Carmelites of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel.

Msgr. John Hart, pastor of Assumption, a fourth-degree knight, and the council’s chaplain, said the call to service stems from the faith of these men of diverse ages, backgrounds, and talents.

“It flows from who they are as Catholic men, Catholic gentlemen, as family men,” Msgr. John Hart said.

During the Oct. 10 dinner of appreciation, former grand knight and current trustee Bill Kostyak received the council’s Knight of the Year award. Carolyn Lake received the council’s Lifetime Achievement Award for her volunteer work with the Interfaith Food Pantry in Morris Plains.

The event is the council’s main fundraiser, which has given yearly honors to people from various circles of service, from the medical and education worlds to law enforcement. 

During the Mass, Bishop Sweeney praised the award winners in his homily, citing examples of saints celebrating October feast days such as St. Carlo Acutis and St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

“The beauty of the lives of the saints, my sisters and brothers, is that they were normal people like us in so many ways, but they allowed themselves to fall in love with Jesus, to know Jesus in the sacraments, in prayer, and seeing him in our brothers and sisters who are in need,” Bishop Sweeney said. “To honor our honorees today, [we are] taking time to recognize the goodness, the generosity of those who respond to the Lord’s call.”

[See image gallery at beaconnj.org]
 

– The sense of celebration was palpable on Oct. 10 at Assumption Church in Morristown. N.J. members of the Knights of Columbus George Washington Council No. 359 filled the pews. Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney joined about 300 knights, spouses and other family members to celebrate the council’s annual Mass to mark the beginning of its fraternal year. The liturgy was followed by a dinner of appreciation honoring service and compassion throughout the community at Morris County Golf Club in Morris Township. The council, which recently added nine young men, is one of the oldest knight groups in the United States. “It’s a

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Pequannock prayer deepens faith with evening of worship, prayer #Catholic –

On Oct. 8, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney joined about 120 parishioners of Our Lady of Good Council (OLGC) in the Pompton Plains neighborhood of Pequannock, N.J., for an evening of worship and prayer. The bishop celebrated a Mass in the church, followed by an outdoor rosary procession around the parking lot.

The event was organized by the parish’s Rosary Altar Society, which Father Darwin Lastra, pastor of OLGC, founded several years ago. Jennifer Nardone, president of the society, coordinated the event with a team of members.

The Rosary Altar Society invites someone to speak for its monthly meetings and for the annual Mass and rosary event in October. Bishop Sweeney also participated last year.

For the Mass, Bishop Sweeney was the main celebrant and homilist. Father Lastra concelebrated the liturgy, assisted by Deacon Marc Marin of OLGC. The bishop spoke about aspects of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s life and encouraged the congregants to pray the rosary. He made some remarks in Spanish for the parish’s growing Hispanic community.

After Mass, parish men carried a statue of Our Lady of Fatima from the church and around the parking lot to five stations, where participants stopped to pray each of the five mysteries of the rosary.

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– On Oct. 8, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney joined about 120 parishioners of Our Lady of Good Council (OLGC) in the Pompton Plains neighborhood of Pequannock, N.J., for an evening of worship and prayer. The bishop celebrated a Mass in the church, followed by an outdoor rosary procession around the parking lot. The event was organized by the parish’s Rosary Altar Society, which Father Darwin Lastra, pastor of OLGC, founded several years ago. Jennifer Nardone, president of the society, coordinated the event with a team of members. The Rosary Altar Society invites someone to speak for its monthly meetings and for

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Rockaway Rosary Rally celebrates faith and Marian devotion #Catholic –

About 100 faithful gathered at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Rockaway, N.J., on Oct. 10 for a prayerful Rosary Rally honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary during the Month of the Holy Rosary.

The gathering brought together parishioners from Sacred Heart of Jesus and neighboring parishes, including St. Cecilia, also in Rockaway; St. Peter the Apostle in Parsippany, N.J. St. Joseph in Lincoln Park, N.J., and Our Lady of Mercy in the Whippany neighborhood of Hanover Township, N.J.

Officers and members of the Diocesan Commission for Catholic Filipino Ministries (DCCFM)also participated, reflecting a beautiful spirit of unity, faith, and devotion to the Blessed Mother.

The rally was led by Deacon Elmer Maximo, president of DCCFM, with Maryann Lim-Atienza as this year’s rosary captain. The faithful prayerfully meditated on all four sets of mysteries of the rosary—the Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, and Glorious—offering prayers for the protection, dignity, and respect of every human life, from conception to natural death.

After the rally, participants gathered for a lunch reception and fellowship, sharing food, friendship, and the joy of belonging to one community of faith. The gathering provided a meaningful opportunity to strengthen bonds among parishioners, neighboring Catholic communities, and DCCFM members.

The faithful concluded the day, renewed in their devotion to Our Blessed Mother and strengthened in their commitment to live and share the Gospel of Life.

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– About 100 faithful gathered at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Rockaway, N.J., on Oct. 10 for a prayerful Rosary Rally honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary during the Month of the Holy Rosary. The gathering brought together parishioners from Sacred Heart of Jesus and neighboring parishes, including St. Cecilia, also in Rockaway; St. Peter the Apostle in Parsippany, N.J. St. Joseph in Lincoln Park, N.J., and Our Lady of Mercy in the Whippany neighborhood of Hanover Township, N.J. Officers and members of the Diocesan Commission for Catholic Filipino Ministries (DCCFM)also participated, reflecting a beautiful spirit of unity, faith, and devotion

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Chicago students send Pope Leo a White Sox care package after cancer surgery #Catholic –

(Vatican News) — As Pope Leo XIV recovers from lung cancer surgery in the hospital, a group of students from his hometown of Chicago are sending him a care package with get-well cards and a Chicago White Sox blanket.

Local media outlets reported Oct. 14 that students at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy were planning to send the pope items including get-well cards and a Chicago White Sox blanket.

The students are part of Team 14, a student group named after Pope Leo XIV at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy. The group gained attention last year after organizing a mock conclave that went viral on social media, and several students later traveled to Rome to meet Pope Leo in person.

The roughly 40-member group regularly gathers for prayer and service projects, including food drives for people in need.

“It feels nice to wish (the pope) well because he’s like a close friend and I was really sad when I heard when he was sick,” Ines Martins, one of the sixth-grade students who met the pope, said, according to ABC7 Chicago.

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“Dear Pope Leo. We hope you feel better. We are all praying for you and the doctors that are helping you,” student Sawyer Nolot said.

Another student, Catherine Esser, wrote in her card to the pope, “Get well soon and go White Sox.”

Pope Leo XIV underwent surgery at Gemelli Hospital on Oct. 13, during which doctors removed the lower lobe of his right lung.

The Holy See Press Office said in a statement on Oct. 14 that the pope had undergone scheduled blood tests and chest X-ray, which confirmed that his postoperative recovery is progressing normally.

A version of this story was originally published by Vatican News and distributed through a partnership with OSV News.

 

– (Vatican News) — As Pope Leo XIV recovers from lung cancer surgery in the hospital, a group of students from his hometown of Chicago are sending him a care package with get-well cards and a Chicago White Sox blanket. Local media outlets reported Oct. 14 that students at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy were planning to send the pope items including get-well cards and a Chicago White Sox blanket. The students are part of Team 14, a student group named after Pope Leo XIV at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy. The group gained attention last year after organizing

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Bishops conclude Vatican family meeting as Pope Leo XIV recovers in hospital #Catholic –

VATICAN CITY (OSV News) — The Vatican meeting of the world’s bishops’ conference presidents and the heads of Eastern Catholic churches marking the 10th anniversary of “Amoris Laetitia” concluded on the evening of Oct. 14 with prayers for Pope Leo XIV’s recovery from lung cancer surgery.

Jesuit Father Giacomo Costa, a consultant to the General Secretariat of the Synod who helped to organize the meeting, said Oct. 14 that “accompaniment” was one of the key words in the week’s discussions of marriage and family.

Reflecting on the significance of the experience at the event’s final press conference, Archbishop Charles Scicluna, the archbishop of Malta, said that he is bringing with him from this meeting “a renewed commitment to put the family at the center of the Church’s pastoral mission.”

“‘Amoris Laetitia’ 10 years ago stimulated, provoked, an invitation for pastoral conversion, an attitude of listening to families, before judging, and also discerning situations with … open hearts, seeking the will of God, but also facilitating the meeting with God’s mercy,” Archbishop Scicluna said.

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In the closing session of the Vatican family summit, participants listened to a presentation of the meeting’s synthesis report. Due to the personal request of Pope Leo prior to his surgery, the meeting’s final synthesis report will not be made public until the pope has had time to personally review it. Father Costa said that the pope requested to postpone the meeting’s final report, noting that Pope Leo “wanted to listen to it and be able to offer his own word on it himself.”

“I will read the fruits of your work and discussions, and offer my reflections in due course,” Pope Leo wrote in a brief message to the participants signed on the day of his surgery.

“I encourage you to begin to share with your Episcopal Conferences and Dioceses what you have lived and received, and to continue proclaiming the Gospel with families, drawing on the richness of ‘Amoris Laetitia,’” the pope said.

The bishops, patriarchs, families and experts taking part in the meeting on marriage and family in Paul VI Hall met for more than 42 hours of discussions over the course of Oct. 7 to 14 on topics ranging from cohabitation of young couples to influencers on social media portraying “traditional” families, often referred to as “trad wife” culture.

The topic of annulments, as well as Communion for the divorced and remarried, also came up on Oct. 12, the day that participants devoted to discussing how best to accompany and support families in the difficulties of life, which was overshadowed by Pope Leo’s shocking announcement the day prior that he would be undergoing surgery.

Addressing participants that morning, U.S. theologian Julie Hanlon Rubio said, “In preparing for this intervention, I heard heartbreaking stories. One person told me of his elderly mother suffering from dementia who, when offered Eucharist at Mass, shouted, ‘No!,’ and covered her mouth, because one thing she remembered was that, because her husband of 50 years had been previously married, she was not worthy to receive the Body of Christ,” according to remarks posted on the meeting’s website.

“The Church can offer a challenging vision of marriage as intimate partnership oriented to love and justice that does not require perfection,” she added. “Whether they are single or married, with or without children; whether they are divorced, widowed, or remarried, we can meet them at the door with open arms, tell them that theirs is a challenging and necessary vocation, and assure them they are not alone.”

Earlier in the weeklong meeting, delegates reflected on the delicate first years of married life, a point Pope Francis emphasized in his post-synodal apostolic exhortation “Amoris Laetitia.”

In his address on Oct. 10, Cardinal José Cobo Cano of Madrid warned that the Church should “consider whether we prepared couples more for a wedding ceremony than for married life.”

“The issue is not merely a matter of reviewing contents. It is a question of whether our pastoral care is organized primarily around the planned wedding ceremony or around the human, faith-based and vocation journeys we are called to accompany,” he said.

He also emphasized the need for pastors to be present at significant moments in the first years of marriage “without necessarily turning this accompaniment into a continuous program of meetings.”

“The sacrament has been celebrated, but now the spouses must learn to build and put roots in their married life. They must build a ‘we’ without erasing the ‘I’ and the ‘you,’” Cardinal Cobo said.

Following the intense work during the first days of the meeting, Oct. 11 was scheduled as a recess. However, Pope Leo’s surgery announcement during his Sunday Angelus address shifted the pre-programmed schedule and shocked the participants.

Reconvening on Oct. 12, while under the weight of Pope Leo’s impending surgery, the bishops and patriarchs reflected on the challenges faced by families in difficult situations.

“Amoris Laetitia invited us to give priority to listening, to avoid judging too quickly, and to allow ourselves to be surprised by the action of God’s grace in people’s lives,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life, said in the day’s opening address.

Filipino Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan described ministering to families affected by extreme hardships, noting that the “fragility of many families is not produced only by personal choices.”

“Family life can also be wounded by poverty, migration, violence, addiction, imprisonment, injustice and precarious work. These realities can severely limit people’s freedom and their capacity even to approximate the Christian ideal of family life,” Cardinal David said in a video presentation.

Reflecting on the declining numbers of baptisms and marriages, Hanlon highlighted Pope Francis’ call for a pastoral accompaniment that “is ever ready to understand, forgive, accompany, hope, and, above all, integrate.”

“In an era when influencers on social media show off their seemingly perfect ‘traditional’ families complete with homemade bread and chickens, Francis’ integration of weakness is crucial,” Hanlon said.

In the afternoon, before continuing with reports on group discussions, Cardinal Farrell and Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, released a statement confirming that, because of Pope Leo’s surgery, the synthesis report would not be made public; instead, they would present the report and relevant texts to him after his convalescence.

“We will then proceed according to his instructions,” the cardinals said.

On the meeting’s final day of plenary sessions and group work, Oct. 13, the assembly sent a message to Pope Leo ahead of his surgery in the afternoon, expressing their closeness, affection and prayers for his health.

“We are grateful to you for having wanted this Meeting and for encouraging us to listen to families and to the journeys of our Churches. As we continue our work, we feel your closeness and carry with us your concern for families throughout the world,” the message read.

The day’s discussions focused on Christian families and their significance in the Church’s mission. In his address, Tanzanian Cardinal Protase Rugambwa of Tabora highlighted the need for couples and families to take “on a more active role in the formation of seminarians, deacons, and other pastoral workers.”

“The involvement of families as active subjects of pastoral action is supported very much by the concrete experiences they have gained as faithful and committed Christians, which can be utilized not only in their struggle to support the growth of the Church’s mission but also in shaping the formation of those who are called to accompany them,” Cardinal Rugambwa said.

Pope Leo had been an active participant in the Vatican meeting up until he was admitted to the hospital. During the meeting’s closing Mass the morning following the pope’s surgery, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle read aloud a homily that had been prepared by the pope prior to the operation.

Cameroonian Archbishop Andrew Nkea of Bamenda, one of the bishops participating in the meeting, told OSV News that despite the pope’s absence on the meeting’s final days, those present in the assembly “were not discouraged, but we were very, very strongly united with him in prayer.”

“Every morning before we started the meeting, we prayed for his health and for his quick recovery,” he said. “It really didn’t affect the meeting in the sense that it didn’t kill our spirits, because we have hope in God and trust in his healing power. But at the same time, we missed him in the meeting.”

“We thank God that it was an early discovery,” Archbishop Nkea said. “So, we are hoping that he will recover very fast, and he will get back to his duties because the whole world is waiting for him to get well.”

Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney. Junno Arocho Esteves is an international correspondent for OSV News. Follow him on X @jae_journalist. Paulina Guzik, international editor for OSV News, contributed to this report.

 

– VATICAN CITY (OSV News) — The Vatican meeting of the world’s bishops’ conference presidents and the heads of Eastern Catholic churches marking the 10th anniversary of “Amoris Laetitia” concluded on the evening of Oct. 14 with prayers for Pope Leo XIV’s recovery from lung cancer surgery. Jesuit Father Giacomo Costa, a consultant to the General Secretariat of the Synod who helped to organize the meeting, said Oct. 14 that “accompaniment” was one of the key words in the week’s discussions of marriage and family. Reflecting on the significance of the experience at the event’s final press conference, Archbishop Charles Scicluna,

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Pope Leo XIV starts respiratory physical therapy a day after lung cancer surgery #Catholic –

ROME (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV underwent more medical exams and started respiratory physical therapy on Oct. 14, the day after the lung cancer surgery that removed the lower lobe of the pope’s right lung.

In the first medical update provided by the Vatican since the late-night revelation of the pope’s lung cancer diagnosis, the pope’s doctors said Wednesday that the pope’s “recovery is proceeding as expected” and the pope has begun walking around his hospital room.

“This morning, the Holy Father underwent the blood tests and chest X-ray scheduled following the surgery. The results confirm a normal postoperative recovery: the values are within the normal range for the type of surgery performed,” the joint statement by Dr. Stefano Margaritora, the pope’s surgeon, and Dr. Luigi Carbone, the pope’s personal doctor, said.

“The Holy Father underwent respiratory physical therapy and has begun walking around his room. He has resumed his regular diet, having had breakfast and lunch. His recovery is proceeding as expected.”

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Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told journalists that Pope Leo was “in good spirits” the day after surgery. Bruni told journalists that before having surgery, Pope Leo had undergone a robotic bronchoscopy with biopsy, a chest CT scan with contrast, and a PET scan which indicated the need for the Oct. 13 surgery.

Pope Leo was admitted to Gemelli Hospital Oct. 13 for the lung surgery, following the pope’s Oct. 11 disclosure that recent medical examinations had revealed a “well-contained” lung nodule that had been “detected at a very early stage.”

According to Vatican News, post-operation tests will be conducted on the removed tissue in the coming days.

In response to a question of how long the wait might be to receive any results as to whether cancer remains beyond what was removed during the pope’s surgery, Bruni said, “You have to ask a doctor for the timing of those. It usually takes five, 10, 15 days depending on the situation.”

Speaking with OSV News, medical experts indicated that a potential analysis of the pope’s lymph nodes could be key to evaluating the next steps.

Dr. Nirmal Veeramachaneni, professor of cardiothoracic surgery at St. Louis University School of Medicine and medical director for lung cancer screening at SSM Health — who is not involved in the pope’s care — said in an interview with OSV News that it would typically take a week to get all of the biopsy results back.

The pope’s doctors Oct. 14 statement is the first update from the Vatican on the pope’s medical condition since the pope’s surgery ended with the revelation from his doctors that the “examination confirmed the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, as suspected by the preoperative tests.”

Adenocarcinoma of the lung is the most common form of lung cancer in the United States. It represents about 40% of all lung cancers, according to the Lung Cancer Foundation of America.

The right lower lobe of the lung, which Pope Leo had removed, is the largest of the three lobes in the right lung. Located in the posterior and inferior part of the right chest cavity, it contributes roughly 30% of total lung capacity, making it the single largest lung lobe, according to the Baylor College of Medicine.

Pope Leo is expected to remain in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital as he recovers from surgery for at least one week. The Vatican has canceled all of the pope’s scheduled audiences through Oct. 20.

Bruni said that there were no changes to announce at this time to the pope’s expected length of stay in the hospital or to the pope’s scheduled trip to Latin America Nov. 6-17. He said that Pope Leo XIV had “manifested his intention” to travel to Peru and “that’s still there.”

The previously published schedule for the 12-day trip to South America indicated that he would travel more than 19,000 miles on 14 flights during a November trip to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru, which includes stops high in the Andes mountains.

Peru’s President Keiko Fujimori said the country received the news of the pontiff’s diagnosis “with deep sadness” and asked God “to care for him, to give him strength, and allow us to see him soon recovered.”

“Holy Father, this land, which is also your home, embraces you with immense affection. Today it is our turn to accompany you with our prayers, just as you have so many times accompanied us with yours,” she wrote.

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

 

– ROME (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV underwent more medical exams and started respiratory physical therapy on Oct. 14, the day after the lung cancer surgery that removed the lower lobe of the pope’s right lung. In the first medical update provided by the Vatican since the late-night revelation of the pope’s lung cancer diagnosis, the pope’s doctors said Wednesday that the pope’s “recovery is proceeding as expected” and the pope has begun walking around his hospital room. “This morning, the Holy Father underwent the blood tests and chest X-ray scheduled following the surgery. The results confirm a normal postoperative

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‘To see the face of God in wartime’: a Jesuit’s mission in Siberia #Catholic –

WARSAW, Poland (OSV News) — Every day for more than four years, in a Catholic parish deep in the Russian region of Siberia, a small community has gathered before the Blessed Sacrament to pray the rosary for peace between Russia and Ukraine.

The prayer has continued since Feb. 24, 2022, the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It includes another intention, one that Jesuit Father Wojciech Ziólek said has become essential to his ministry: that God would “save our hearts from hatred and revenge.”

When the war broke out, the world of Father Ziólek, the Polish pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary Parish in Tomsk, seemed to collapse. “I cried so much at the beginning. It was terrible,” Father Ziólek told OSV News during a brief visit to Poland in October. “There was this enormous sense of helplessness. As a Jesuit community, we did not know what to do.”

Father Ziólek spoke with OSV News in Warsaw Sept. 17, ahead of the 100th World Mission Sunday observed Oct. 18, and on the same day Russia launched another large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukraine. The overnight barrage wounded more than 20 people in Kyiv and other cities and damaged homes and infrastructure across several regions, according to Ukrainian officials.

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The war is now well into its fifth year, as diplomatic efforts continue but so far have not brought a resolution for peace. On Oct. 11, right before announcing that would undergo surgery to remove a lung nodule, Pope Leo XIV renewed his appeal for peace, saying, “The war in tormented Ukraine continues to cause suffering far beyond its borders, especially in the poorest countries, where so many people depend on grain imports.”

“I make a heartfelt appeal to the parties to the conflict to allow for the safe transport of grain through the Black Sea. The daily bread of millions of people cannot be held hostage by the war,” the pope said.

Just weeks earlier, Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican secretary for relations with states and international organizations, had completed a visit to Moscow, where he met Russian government officials, representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church and Russia’s small Catholic community. During Mass with Catholic clergy and religious, he urged the Church in Russia to become “true artisans of peace in our daily lives.”

A microscopic minority

For Father Ziólek, that daily life takes place far from Moscow. His parish covers Tomsk Oblast, a Siberian region of more than 122,000 square miles — slightly larger than his homeland, Poland.

“The first thing that makes an impression on someone who has never been there is the distances,” Father Ziólek told OSV News. Across that enormous territory, he added, there are just two Catholic churches: the parish church in Tomsk and a tiny wooden church in the village of Bialystok.

“We are not simply a minority. We are a microscopic minority,” Father Ziólek said. “For someone coming from a Catholic country, or even from a place where there are several churches in one city, it is difficult to understand that across an area the size of Poland there are two churches.”

By Siberian standards, however, Tomsk has a large Catholic parish. Three Sunday Masses draw a combined 200 to 250 people, Father Ziólek said. In some Siberian Catholic communities, he added, Sunday Mass may bring together only 20 or 30. Catholics make up only about 0.5% of Russia’s population, with the Latin-rite Catholic community numbering roughly 800,000 people nationwide, according to recent Church data.

The congregation itself is a portrait of Siberia’s complicated religious history. There are descendants of Poles, Germans and Lithuanians, but also ethnic Russians, including people baptized in the Orthodox Church as infants, who never practiced the faith and later began searching for God as adults.

‘How did you come to God’

That search, Father Ziólek said, is something Russians speak about in a way that still moves him. “There is a beautiful question people ask here, a question I had never heard in Poland: ‘How did you come to God?’” Father Ziólek said. “And then the story begins.”

For older Catholics, those stories often reach back into families in which faith survived decades of Soviet atheism through a grandmother or great-grandmother who prayed while younger generations were taught that religion was meaningless.

Now something new is happening.

“The first generation of Catholics who have been going to church since childhood is entering adulthood,” Father Ziólek said. “These are people who have had contact with faith from birth, who were baptized as children.” Not everyone stays. Some young people rebel and leave, just as they do elsewhere, Father Ziólek said. Some later return. Others arrive by unexpected routes.

Father Ziólek recalled two young women in their 20s who were walking home after a Saturday night party. It was early Sunday morning, it was cold, and public transportation had not yet started running. They saw the Catholic church open and went inside to get warm. “They were dressed as you might dress for a nightclub,” Father Ziólek said. “They were afraid that some grandmother would spot them and tell them what an offense against God it was to come into church dressed like that.”

Nobody did. Mass began while they sat inside. The young women had never attended Catholic Mass before. “And then came the sign of peace,” Father Ziólek said. “Those grandmothers not only did not scold them, but reached out their hands to them. They were shocked.”

Today, he said, both women are among the parish’s most active members. Stories like that help explain why the community matters in a place where Catholics are few and separated by immense distances. Father Ziólek said laypeople play an unusually large role in parish life, including administration, fundraising and other ministries.

“They stay, because here they experienced God,” Father Ziólek said. “And they stay because this is a place of encounter.”

The fruits of war

The war brought a different kind of test. From its first day, Father Ziólek and his fellow Jesuits decided to hold a daily half-hour of Eucharistic adoration and pray the rosary for peace between Russia and Ukraine.

“What we have tried to do from the beginning is, first, to pray for peace and, second, to protect people from hatred and fear,” Father Ziólek said.

“Because the two main fruits of war, the ones that appear immediately, are hatred and fear.”

He is careful to distinguish that experience from religious persecution. “No one persecutes us here as Catholics,” Father Ziólek told OSV News, adding that the parish has warm relations with many Orthodox Christians. Tomsk, he said, has its own tradition of religious and cultural coexistence, shaped partly by generations of people sent there from different corners of the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union.

The Catholic Church itself carries that history. After the suppression of Poland’s November Uprising against Russian rule, many Polish insurgents were exiled to Tomsk and the surrounding region. Their growing presence helped create the need for a permanent Catholic church building, which was consecrated in 1833.

Nearly two centuries later, a Polish Jesuit is serving Catholics there.

Father Ziólek said he welcomed Archbishop Gallagher’s recent effort to meet Russia’s local Catholic community as part of the Vatican’s contacts in Moscow. But diplomacy, in his experience, is only one part of building peace. “I have much more hope in human gestures that bring Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Protestants closer to one another,” Father Ziólek said, pointing to Tomsk as a place where such relationships are part of ordinary Christian life.

For him and the other Jesuits, remaining present to that community has become particularly important since the war began. “Our duty – our honorable duty – is to be with people,” Father Ziólek said, “to help them and accompany them, as much as we are able, on their way to God.”

“People often ask me what I miss in Russia,” Father Ziólek told OSV News. “I always answer: freedom and parsley.” The parsley, he quickly explained, is quite literal. “They have parsley leaves in the vegetable shops, but no parsley root. And you need it to make Polish soup.”
But when OSV News asked what Russian Catholics themselves are missing, Father Ziólek’s answer was no longer a joke. “Love,” he said. “The experience of someone accepting them as they are. Someone who understands their tangled and very painful situation.”

“I think the essence of Christianity is to see the human being in another human being,” he said. “And the essence of working in Russia, in Siberia, is to see the human being in Russian.”

“More than that, it is about seeing the face of God in another person,” Father Ziólek added. “And the essence of working in Russia during the war is to see the face of God in Russians and help them see that face in Ukrainians.”

Katarzyna Szalajko writes for OSV News from Warsaw.

– WARSAW, Poland (OSV News) — Every day for more than four years, in a Catholic parish deep in the Russian region of Siberia, a small community has gathered before the Blessed Sacrament to pray the rosary for peace between Russia and Ukraine. The prayer has continued since Feb. 24, 2022, the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It includes another intention, one that Jesuit Father Wojciech Ziólek said has become essential to his ministry: that God would “save our hearts from hatred and revenge.” When the war broke out, the world of Father Ziólek, the Polish pastor of

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Catholic, evangelical leaders issue joint call for compassionate immigration reform #Catholic –

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Catholic and evangelical leaders issued an ecumenical statement Oct. 13 as part of a joint effort to call for compassionate immigration reform.

Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, and Rev. Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, are the co-chairs of the Evangelical-Catholic Dialogue on Immigration. Their joint statement, “A Call for Christian Compassion and Wisdom in the Immigration Debate,” marks the first such statement on immigration in U.S. history to be jointly issued by senior leaders of their respective traditions, they said.

The pair said that although they have “doctrinal differences,” they are “united in our conviction that God calls us to stand both with our fellow Americans who are experiencing economic and cultural anxieties and with our immigrant neighbors who are facing existential challenges.”

The statement articulated shared principles that every human being is “created with dignity, bearing God’s image,” and that government “is responsible for protecting its citizens and providing for the common good, including the establishment and enforcement of reasonable immigration policies.”

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Those policies should include targeted, humane border enforcement, clear legal pathways to citizenship and efforts to prevent the separation of families, they said.

They also highlighted risks to religious liberty presented by certain immigration enforcement efforts.

Catholic and other faith leaders have pointed to recent cases where religious liberty challenges have intersected with immigration issues, such as a recent lawsuit from the Archdiocese of St. Louis against the federal government over a policy it said prohibits priests from distributing holy Communion and hearing the confessions of people detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“We especially commit to upholding the right to religious liberty,” the statement said. “This right extends to all people, of all faiths and none, no matter their immigration status. It is implicated in a particular way for those in detention, for whom we as Christians are specifically compelled by Christ to offer our pastoral care (Matthew 25:31–46). We are resolute in our commitment to working with the relevant authorities to ensure access to religious and pastoral services for all in detention, that each person may have the opportunity for spiritual counsel and active participation in the sacraments.”

Faith leaders have also raised alarm about the need to prevent immigration enforcement actions at places seen as sensitive locations, including houses of worship, schools and hospitals.

In a joint statement issued through the USCCB, Bishop Cahill — currently bishop of Victoria, Texas, but was recently appointed the next bishop of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois — and Rev. Kim said, “What is unique about this statement is not the content, which is grounded in centuries of Christian teaching and tradition that we have already affirmed separately, but the clear unity that exists between us in this moment.”

“As pastors devoted to proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we share a responsibility to articulate our convictions, even when it comes to subject matter as challenging as immigration. In doing so together, we seek to embrace our common heritage as both Christians and Americans,” they said. They added that through Evangelical-Catholic Dialogue on Immigration, “we have found a strong sense of fraternity and common purpose. It is from this sincere and patriotic perspective, and with deep concern for those affected by current immigration policies, that we offer this statement with both conviction and hope.”

A joint report issued last year by the USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services, the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and World Relief, found that more than 10 million Christians living in the U.S. would be vulnerable to deportation under Trump administration policies implemented in 2025. A majority of them were Catholic followed by a sizable number of evangelicals.

The joint statement from Bishop Cahill and Rev. Kim noted the report’s findings.

“Roughly one in 12 believers in this country either faces the loss of legal status or shares a home with someone who does,” they said. “Their fear is our fear; their tears are ours to wipe.”

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

– WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Catholic and evangelical leaders issued an ecumenical statement Oct. 13 as part of a joint effort to call for compassionate immigration reform. Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, and Rev. Walter Kim, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, are the co-chairs of the Evangelical-Catholic Dialogue on Immigration. Their joint statement, “A Call for Christian Compassion and Wisdom in the Immigration Debate,” marks the first such statement on immigration in U.S. history to be jointly issued by senior leaders of their respective traditions, they said. The pair

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El Papa León XIV inicia fisioterapia respiratoria un día después de la cirugía por cáncer de pulmón #Catholic –

ROMA (OSV News) — El Papa León XIV se sometió a exámenes médicos adicionales y comenzó fisioterapia respiratoria el 14 de octubre, un día después de la cirugía por cáncer pulmonar en la que se le extirpó el lóbulo inferior del pulmón derecho.

En el primer informe médico proporcionado por el Vaticano desde que se dio a conocer, a última hora de la noche, el diagnóstico de cáncer de pulmón del Santo Padre, los médicos del Papa León informaron el miércoles que la “evolución sigue según lo previsto” y que el Papa ha comenzado a caminar por su habitación del hospital.

“Esta mañana, el Santo Padre se ha sometido a los análisis de sangre y a la radiografía de tórax previstos tras la intervención. Los resultados confirman una evolución postoperatoria normal: los valores se encuentran dentro de los límites normales para el tipo de intervención realizada”, indicaron en un comunicado conjunto el Dr. Stefano Margaritora, cirujano del Papa, y el Dr. Luigi Carbone, médico personal del Papa.

“El Santo Padre ha realizado fisioterapia respiratoria y ha comenzado a caminar por la habitación. Ha retomado su alimentación habitual, tomando el desayuno y el almuerzo. La evolución sigue según lo previsto”.

El portavoz del Vaticano, Matteo Bruni, dijo a los periodistas que el Papa León se encontraba “de buen ánimo” el día después de la cirugía programada para extirparle un nódulo localizado en el pulmón. Bruni explicó a los periodistas que, antes de someterse a la cirugía, el Papa León se había realizado una broncoscopia robótica con biopsia, una tomografía computarizada de tórax con contraste y una tomografía por emisión de positrones (PET), cuyos resultados indicaron la necesidad de la cirugía del 13 de octubre.

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El Papa León ingresó en el Hospital Gemelli el 13 de octubre para someterse a la cirugía pulmonar, tras anunciar el 11 de octubre que los exámenes médicos recientes habían revelado un nódulo pulmonar “bien localizado” que se había “detectado todavía en una fase muy temprana”.

Según Vatican News, en los próximos días se realizarán los análisis del tejido extirpado durante la cirugía.

En respuesta a una pregunta sobre cuánto tiempo podría tardar en conocerse si queda cáncer más allá de lo que se extirpó durante la cirugía del Papa, Bruni dijo: “Hay que preguntarle a un médico cuánto tardarán esos resultados. Por lo general, los resultados tardan cinco, diez o quince días, dependiendo de la situación”.

Expertos médicos consultados por OSV News indicaron que un posible análisis de los ganglios linfáticos del Papa León podría ser clave para evaluar los pasos a seguir.

El Dr. Nirmal Veeramachaneni, profesor de cirugía cardiotorácica en la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de St. Louis y director médico del programa de detección de cáncer de pulmón en SSM Health –quien no participa en la atención médica del pontífice–, dijo en una entrevista con OSV News que, por lo general, se tarda una semana en recibir todos los resultados de la biopsia.

El comunicado del 14 de octubre de los médicos del Papa León es la primera actualización del Vaticano sobre el estado de salud del Papa desde que concluyó su cirugía, cuando sus médicos revelaron que “el examen histológico in situ ha confirmado el diagnóstico de adenocarcinoma pulmonar, tal y como se sospechaba a partir de los exámenes preoperatorios”.

El adenocarcinoma de pulmón es la forma más común de cáncer de pulmón en Estados Unidos. Representa alrededor del 40% de todos los cánceres de pulmón, según la Fundación Americana contra el Cáncer de Pulmón.

El lóbulo inferior derecho del pulmón, que le extirparon al Papa León, es el más grande de los tres lóbulos del pulmón derecho. Ubicado en la parte posterior e inferior de la cavidad torácica derecha, aporta aproximadamente el 30% de la capacidad pulmonar total, lo que lo convierte en el lóbulo pulmonar más grande, según el Baylor College of Medicine.

Se espera que el Papa León permanezca al menos una semana en el Hospital Gemelli de Roma mientras se recupera de la cirugía. El Vaticano ha cancelado todas las audiencias programadas del Papa hasta el 20 de octubre.

Bruni dijo que, por el momento, no había cambios que anunciar respecto a la duración prevista de la estancia del Papa en el hospital ni respecto al viaje papal programado a América Latina del 6 al 17 de noviembre. Afirmó que el Papa León XIV había “manifestado su intención” de viajar a Perú, donde había sido misionero y obispo durante muchos años, y “esa intención sigue vigente”.

El itinerario publicado anteriormente para la visita apostólica de 12 días a Sudamérica indicaba que recorrería más de 19.000 millas en 14 vuelos durante un viaje en noviembre a Uruguay, Argentina y Perú, que incluye paradas en zonas de gran altitud de la cordillera de los Andes.

La presidenta de Perú, Keiko Fujimori, dijo que el país recibió la noticia del diagnóstico del pontífice “con profunda tristeza” y le pidió a Dios que “lo cuide, le dé fuerzas y nos permita verlo pronto recuperado”.

“Santo Padre, esta tierra, que también es su hogar, lo abraza con inmenso cariño. Hoy nos toca acompañarlo con nuestras oraciones, así como usted tantas veces nos ha acompañado con las suyas”, escribió. “Hoy, más que nunca, unamos nuestra fe en una gran cadena de oración. Que nuestro Señor de los Milagros escuche nuestras súplicas y lo acompañe en este difícil momento”.

Courtney Mares es editora del Vaticano para OSV News. Síguela en X: @catholicourtney.

– ROMA (OSV News) — El Papa León XIV se sometió a exámenes médicos adicionales y comenzó fisioterapia respiratoria el 14 de octubre, un día después de la cirugía por cáncer pulmonar en la que se le extirpó el lóbulo inferior del pulmón derecho. En el primer informe médico proporcionado por el Vaticano desde que se dio a conocer, a última hora de la noche, el diagnóstico de cáncer de pulmón del Santo Padre, los médicos del Papa León informaron el miércoles que la “evolución sigue según lo previsto” y que el Papa ha comenzado a caminar por su habitación del

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Wanaque parish honors patron on Feast of St. Francis #Catholic –

Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney visited St. Francis of Assisi in the Haskell neighborhood of Wanaque, N.J., on Oct. 4 to celebrate the parish’s popular patron saint on his feast day, with a well-attended Mass. The bishop also confirmed 11 people — 10 youths and an adult —during his visit.

St. Francis is known for his ministry to the poor and underprivileged, his care for nature and animals, his promotion of peace, and his founding of the Franciscan order, one of the largest in the Church.

Father Greg Golba, St. Francis’ pastor, concelebrated the Mass with Bishop Sweeney, serving as main celebrant and homilist. In honor of the Feast of St. Francis, the parish offered refreshments after the weekend Masses. Outside the church stands a new statue, crafted by artisans in Italy and flown to the United States, made possible by a parishioner’s donation.

“It was wonderful to welcome Bishop Sweeney for the Feast of St. Francis. He spoke about how St. Francis is dedicated to others, nature, to God, to the poor, to the Church, and bestowed the Gifts of the Holy Spirit upon our confirmandi,” Father Golba said.

Bishop Sweeney visited St. Francis on Aug. 29, at 11 a.m. to commemorate the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ Transitus (his passing from earthly life to eternal life with God). It was part of the Paterson Diocese, N.J., celebrations for the 800th anniversary, the Jubilee Year of St. Francis, which the universal Church is commemorating.

For the anniversary year, faithful are invited to draw inspiration from St. Francis of Assisi and gain a plenary indulgence by making prayerful pilgrimages to any of five designated St. Francis-related parishes in the diocese, N.J., until Jan. 10, 2027. A plenary indulgence is remission of temporal punishment that may remain after sacramental confession.

On April 29, Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney issued a decree designating the five parishes in the diocese where pilgrims can avail themselves of a plenary indulgence.
These parishes are St. Francis of Assisi in the Haskell neighborhood of Wanaque, N.J.; St. Mary’s Parish in Pompton Lakes, N.J.; St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Butler, N.J.; St. Clare Parish in Clifton, N.J., and St. John Kanty Parish in the Athenia neighborhood of Clifton. Each designated parish in the diocese is connected to St. Francis.

To gain the plenary indulgence, pilgrims must show detachment from sin, receive the Eucharist, go to confession, pray for the Holy Father’s intentions, and recite the Lord’s Prayer and the Creed. Those unable to travel due to illness or caregiving responsibilities may obtain the indulgence by offering their suffering to God.

Click here for a list of Masses and confessions at pilgrimage sites in the Diocese of Paterson for the Year of St. Francis.

In a recent bulletin reflection, Father Golba wrote that St. Francis “remains one of the most beloved saints in the history of Christianity.”

“St. Francis shows us that holiness does not require us to become famous or powerful. Holiness begins
when we allow Christ to transform our hearts, Francis became great not because he sought greatness, but because he became small before God and available to others,” Father Golba wrote.

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– Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney visited St. Francis of Assisi in the Haskell neighborhood of Wanaque, N.J., on Oct. 4 to celebrate the parish’s popular patron saint on his feast day, with a well-attended Mass. The bishop also confirmed 11 people — 10 youths and an adult —during his visit. St. Francis is known for his ministry to the poor and underprivileged, his care for nature and animals, his promotion of peace, and his founding of the Franciscan order, one of the largest in the Church. Father Greg Golba, St. Francis’ pastor, concelebrated the Mass with Bishop Sweeney, serving as main

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