Month: February 2024

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Today’s wars and conflicts have put humanity on the brink of the abyss, Pope Francis said, calling for a worldwide cease-fire.

“I will never tire of reiterating my call, addressed in particular to those who have political responsibility: stop the bombs and missiles now, end hostile stances” everywhere, the pope said in an interview with La Stampa, an Italian newspaper, published Jan. 29.

“A global cease-fire is urgent: either we do not realize it or we are pretending not to see that we are on the brink of the abyss,” he said.

Asked specifically about the situation in Israel and Palestine, the pope said that the Oslo Accord is “very clear with the two-state solution. Until that agreement is implemented, real peace remains distant.”

The pope said the thing he fears most is a “military escalation” in which the conflict might “further worsen the tensions and violence that already mark the planet.”

However, he said he is also hopeful because “confidential meetings are taking place to try to reach an agreement. A truce would already be a good result.”

A key figure in the Vatican’s efforts concerning the Middle East, he said, is Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem. “He is trying with determination to mediate.”

“The Christians and the people of Gaza — I don’t mean Hamas — have a right to peace,” the pope said.

He said he connects daily on the video platform Zoom with the Holy Family Catholic Parish in Gaza to speak to them. Some 600 people sheltering in the parish compound are “living their lives looking death in the face every day.”

The other priority remains the release of the Israeli hostages, he added.

The Holy See continues with its diplomatic efforts regarding Ukraine, particularly through the papal envoy, Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, who is working to “build an atmosphere of reconciliation,” the pope said.

It is also still mediating for the exchange of prisoners, the return of Ukrainian civilians and repatriation of Ukrainian children forcibly taken to Russia. One child has already returned to its family, he said.

Asked if there were such a thing as “just war,” the pope said it is better to use the term “legitimate defense.”

“If thieves come into your house to rob you and attack you, you defend yourself. But I don’t like to call this reaction a ‘just war’ reaction, because it is a definition that can be exploited,” he said.

“It is right and legitimate to defend yourself,” he said, so it is better to discuss situations of legitimate defense, “so we can avoid justifying wars, which are always wrong.”

World peace must be built on dialogue and the pursuit of human solidarity and fraternity, he said. “We can no longer kill each other, between brothers and sisters! It makes no sense!”

The pope also called for peace after praying the Angelus with visitors in St. Peter’s Square Jan. 28.

He highlighted the current conflict in Myanmar, joining the call of some Burmese bishops for turning weapons of destruction “into instruments for the growth of humanity and justice” and for allowing humanitarian aid to reach everyone in need.

“Peace is a journey, and I invite all parties involved to take steps in dialogue and to clothe themselves in understanding so that the land of Myanmar may reach the goal of fraternal reconciliation,” the pope said.

“The same must happen in the Middle East, in Palestine and Israel, and wherever there is conflict: the populations must be respected!” he said.

Thinking of all victims of war, especially civilians, the pope said, “Please, listen to their cry for peace: it is the cry of the people, who are tired of violence and want the war to stop. It is a disaster for the people and a defeat for humanity!”

The pope also thanked the boys and girls of Catholic Action, parishes and Catholic schools in Rome who came to Rome for the annual “Caravan of Peace,” organized by Catholic Action.

“Thank you for your presence! And thank you for your commitment to building a better society,” he said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis again insisted that an informal blessing of a gay or other unmarried couple is not a blessing of their union but a sign of the Catholic Church’s closeness to them and its hope that they will grow in faith.

“The intent of ‘pastoral and spontaneous blessings’ is to concretely show the closeness of the Lord and the church to all those who, finding themselves in different situations, ask for help to carry on — sometimes to begin — a journey of faith,” Pope Francis said Jan. 26 as he met members of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The full membership of the dicastery was holding its annual plenary meeting at the Vatican.

While Pope Francis’ remarks to the members focused on their discussions about the sacraments, human dignity and faith, particularly the centrality of evangelization, he also mentioned “Fiducia Supplicans” (“Supplicating Trust”) on “the pastoral meaning of blessings,” which was published by the dicastery and signed by Pope Francis Dec. 18.

The document said that while the church “remains firm” in teaching that marriage is only a life-long union between a man and a woman, in certain circumstances priests can give non-sacramental, non-liturgical blessings to “couples in irregular situations and same-sex couples without officially validating their status or changing in any way the Church’s perennial teaching on marriage.”

Reaction from bishops to the document ran the gamut from saying it did not go far enough to outrage and diocesan bans on implementing it.

Pope Francis told dicastery members that he wanted to make two points about the document. The first, he said, was that “these blessings, outside of any liturgical context and form, do not require moral perfection to be received.”

Secondly, he said, “when a couple spontaneously approaches to ask for it, one does not bless the union, but simply the people who made the request together. Not the union, but the people, taking into account, of course, the context, the sensitivities, the places where people live and the most appropriate ways to do it.”

In early January, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the dicastery, issued a note clarifying that “prudence and attention to the ecclesial context and to the local culture could allow for different methods of application” of “Fiducia Supplicans.”

In his speech to dicastery members, Pope Francis also mentioned a document on human dignity that the dicastery is working on.

In an interview with the Spanish news agency EFE Jan. 13, Cardinal Fernández said, “We are preparing a very important document on human dignity which includes not only social issues, but also a strong critique of moral issues such as sex change, surrogacy, gender ideologies, etc.”

“As Christians, we must not tire of insisting on the primacy of the human person and the defense of his or her dignity beyond every circumstance,” the pope said, adding that he hoped the new document “will help us, as a church, to always be close to all those who, without fanfare, in concrete daily life, fight and personally pay the price for defending the rights of those who do not count.”

Pope Francis began his speech to the group by quoting the dicastery’s main task as described by “Praedicate Evangelium,” which says it is “to help the Roman Pontiff and the Bishops to proclaim the Gospel throughout the world by promoting and safeguarding the integrity of Catholic teaching on faith and morals.”

As the church prepares to celebrate the Holy Year 2025 and as it strives to preach the Gospel to a changing world, he said, the dicastery must lead the way in helping the church “reflect again and with greater passion on several themes: the proclamation and communication of the faith in the contemporary world, especially to the younger generations; the missionary conversion of ecclesial structures and pastoral workers; the new urban cultures with their many challenges but also unprecedented questions about meaning; finally, and especially, the centrality of the kerygma in the life and mission of the church.”

In his 2013 exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium,” Pope Francis summarized the “kerygma” as the message: “Jesus Christ loves you; he gave his life to save you; and now he is living at your side every day to enlighten, strengthen and free you.”

“For us, that which is most essential, most beautiful, most attractive and, at the same time, most necessary, is faith in Christ Jesus,” the pope told dicastery members. “All of us together, God willing, will solemnly renew it in the course of the jubilee year and each one of us is called to proclaim it to every man and woman on earth.”

(OSV News) – A new study offers a more nuanced take on the nation’s religiously unaffiliated, and the findings show that Catholic parishes need to become more “outward facing” to reach those beyond the pews, an evangelization expert said.

“This is the managing of the journey out of Christendom,” Sherry Anne Weddell, cofounder and executive director of the Colorado-based Catherine of Siena Institute, told OSV News. “And what we’re struggling with is, what does it mean now to function missionally outside of Christendom? That’s the transition.”

“Religious ‘Nones’ in America: Who They Are and What They Believe,” released Jan. 24 by Pew Research Center, found that about 28% of U.S. adults are religiously unaffiliated. Of that group, which has been dubbed the “nones,” 63% described their religion as “nothing in particular,” with 17% saying they were atheist and 20% saying they were agnostic. 

Weddell, author of the 2012 book “Forming Intentional Disciples” and a consultant for hundreds of parishes worldwide, said the study was “really fascinating” and “fits everything else” she is seeing in the field regarding “nones.”

“It’s not a surprise, but it’s wonderful to have it all documented in this way,” she said.

The Pew data reveals a more complex view of “nones,” exploring their views of God, religion, morality, science and spirituality.

Broadly, researchers found that most “nones” believe in the God of the Bible (13%) or another higher power (56%), but few attend religious services regularly: 90% said they “seldom” or “never” do.

Pew researchers noted that “nones” are “not uniformly anti-religious,” allowing that religion can do either equal amounts of harm and good (41%) or more good than harm (14%), although most “nones” maintain that religion does more harm than good (43%).

The “nones” — a roughly even mix of women (47%) and men (51%) — are a younger population, according to Pew, with 69% under the age of 50, and 31% of them 50 or older. In contrast, 45% of U.S. adults who identify with a religion are under 50, and 55% are age 50 or older. Men are significantly more represented among atheists and agnostics. 

Gregory A. Smith, associate director of research at Pew Research Center and primary researcher for the study, told OSV News that “one of the most important factors in understanding the growth of the nones over time is that this is a generational thing.”

During the last few decades, said Smith, “quite religious” older cohorts of Americans who have aged and passed away “are being replaced by a new generation of young adults that is simply far less religious than their parents and their grandparents before them.”

Weddell sees the “nones” demographic as comprising “the generation of the sexual abuse scandals.”

“I’ve heard this over and over again: ‘My child was 18, when in 2002 …  (clerical abuse scandals arose), and they’re old enough to understand it, and to get the kind of damage that it did and has done,'” said Weddell. “And since (2002), there’s just been all kinds of conflict within the church. … Their peers are skeptical, and the culture they’re immersed in, especially online, is skeptical.”

The Pew study found that the top reason “nones” cited for their stance was doubt about religious teachings themselves (60%), with 32% naming a lack of belief in God or any higher power. 

In addition, 47% of “nones” listed dislike of religious organizations and 30% pointed to negative experiences with religious people. In total, 55% of the “nones” said religious organizations, religious people or both were key reasons for being nonreligious. In 44% of the nones, a lack of need or time for religion was cited. 

The Pew study also adds an important dimension to what the authors call the “complicated” link between religious disaffiliation and civic engagement. While “nones” tend to vote, volunteer and follow public affairs at lower rates, that lower level of involvement is “concentrated among ‘nones’ whose religion is ‘nothing in particular,'” rather than agnostic or atheist. In fact, the study said that “atheists and agnostics tend to participate in civic life at rates matching or exceeding religiously affiliated people.” Overall, most “nones” expressed satisfaction with their family, social and communal lives, according to the study.

The researchers also highlighted the following features of “nones”:

– Moral decision making. Most “nones” (83%) base decisions between right and wrong on a desire to avoid hurting people, with an almost equally high percentage (82%) also saying that logic and reason are crucial in this regard. Feeling good about moral decisions is a major driver (69%), as is the desire to stay out of trouble (60%). The same factors also apply to religiously affiliated people, but the “nones” do not rely on religious beliefs to weigh such factors. 

– Spirituality. More than half (54%) of “nones” undertake some activity (such as meditation, exercise, yoga, spending time in nature, centering themselves) to connect with either a sense of transcendence, others or their “true self.” Most “nones” also hold that animals have spirits or spiritual energies, and believe the same to be true for cemeteries, part of nature and certain objects. However, such beliefs and practices are also shared by those who are religiously affiliated. 

– Perspective on science. “Nones” tend to view science more favorably than their religiously affiliated counterparts (56% compared to 40%). Yet most “nones” admit there is “something spiritual beyond the natural world” (63%) and that science is unable to explain some things (56%).

Smith told OSV News that while “there are a number of trends that suggest the U.S. is growing less religious … it’s also important to remember that in many ways, the U.S. remains a very religious place, and most Americans identify as Christians.”

For Catholics, the challenge is now to focus on “two big starting points” for recalibrating their pastoral outreach to “nones” — those who may be in the pews and those beyond the church doors, said Weddell.

“We want to break the silence about the reality of a living relationship with God; we want to break the silence about Jesus,” she said. “The church teaches that when we name his name, he is present; we’re invoking his presence.”

The second “crucial” step is “serious, intercessory prayer for a change in the local spiritual climate,” joining with Christ, who is “interceding for every human being, and for the purpose of God in the fulfillment of the Father’s plan of salvation,” Weddell said.

Such prayer lifts the “secular haze” that “makes it very difficult for people to see and experience the presence of God,” she said.

Amid the National Eucharistic Revival — a three-year, grassroots initiative of the U.S. bishops to enkindle devotion to the Real Presence — parishes can offer Eucharistic adoration to seekers, inviting them encounter Christ and pursue a deeper relationship with him through the Catholic faith. 

“The great high priest intercessor is dwelling in our tabernacles … pouring out his Holy Spirit,” said Weddell. “When we intercede (for souls), we will see a lot more of these sovereign sort of actions of God that we don’t have in our five-year plan, that we never even dreamed of, and that we don’t even have concepts for.”

(OSV News) – As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine reaches the two-year mark, the Knights of Columbus remain steadfast in bringing relief to vulnerable Ukrainians living in some of the hardest-hit areas, one of the organization’s leaders told OSV News.

“Our members are doing heroic work, and they are willing to risk their lives to bring aid to people in places like Avdiivka and … other villages that (are) close to the front line,” said Szymon Czyszek, director of international growth in Europe for the Knights of Columbus.

The global Catholic fraternal organization established its first council in Ukraine in 2012 and now counts some 10,000 members in Ukraine and neighboring Poland, said Czyszek, who spoke amid another massive Russian attack on Ukrainian cities. Air strikes hit Kyiv, the capital, and Kharkiv, among other places, on Jan. 23, local officials said, killing 10 people and wounding more than 70 as Moscow’s war approaches the start of its third year. Video from Ukraine’s police showed emergency workers helping residents of apartment buildings as another video showed a body of a 9-year-old girl pulled from under the rubble. Her mother also died in the attack.

Among the first six members of the Knights in Ukraine were Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, and Roman Catholic Archbishop Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki of Lviv, said Czyszek, noting that the “beautiful ceremony” during which both were inducted was “a great symbol of the unity (between) both rites, (which) the Knights want to bring together to work to support the church, the people and families.”

With the support of more than 67,500 donors, the Knights as a whole have provided Ukraine with close to $22.1 million in aid through the Ukraine Solidarity Fund, which the organization established within hours of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. To date, the Knights have sent over 7.3 million pounds of supplies and goods, more than 250,000 care packages and 400 wheelchairs to Ukraine, helping upward of 1.4 million people.

Czyszek told OSV News the Knights “can be defined as men who courageously respond to the needs of people” — especially in places like Avdiivka, located about 15 miles north of Russian-occupied Donetsk and site of some of the most intense clashes between Ukraine’s defense and invading Russian troops along the estimated 808-mile front line.

Czyszek told OSV News that some Knights have had “bombs explode in front of them” as they travel to ensure aid reaches such areas, where “people are very often forgotten and have nowhere to go.”

During the Christmas season, Knights hosted several dinners across Ukraine for families of fallen soldiers, even as Russia unleashed its largest missile barrages since the start of its full-scale invasion in February 2022. At a Dec. 30 gathering in the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk, women and children braved a missile alert to pray for the men they have lost to the war, and to share a dinner catered by the Knights.

In occupied areas of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, the Knights — along with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and Caritas, the official humanitarian arm of the universal Catholic Church — were banned by Yevgeny Balitsky, the Kremlin-installed head of the area’s military-civil administration.

An order signed by Balitysky in December 2002 denounced the Knights as “associated with the intelligence services of the United States and the Vatican.”

Czyszek said the order serves as “a confirmation” of the power of the works of the Catholic Church and its ministries — one that also “tells you something” about those behind the ban.

“It’s a sign that people who want to bring (this aid) are driven by Christian love,” said Czyszek, adding that “we see again” the “tactics of banning the church.”

At the same time, the Knights are taking “appropriate measures to make sure that we do reasonable things,” he said. “We are of course very careful about our actions, because we don’t want our members to die in the work of doing these (charitable works).”

Russia’s invasion, which continues attacks launched in 2014, has been named a genocide in two joint reports from the New Lines Institute and the Raoul Wallenberg Center for Human Rights. Ukraine has reported some 123,685 war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine since February 2022.

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, for the unlawful deportation and transfer of 19,546 children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.

The effects of Russia’s war – which has intensely targeted civilian housing and infrastructure – have been devastating, said Czyszek.

“It’s just a difficult reality, when you see the pictures, the conditions,” he said. “They live in apartment buildings with no windows in the middle of winter.”

Through their ministry, the Knights seek to reassure those they serve that the Lord has not abandoned them, he said.

“Many of these people are asking, ‘Where’s God in this; where’s God?'” said Czyszek. “And the work that we are doing is to really show to people that amid the suffering, God is present. So every care package that we deliver or generator or clothing … we just want to show people that God has not forgotten them, and they are not alone. And we just want to be instruments of God’s mercy.”

Along with meeting immediate needs for basic provisions, that mission has expanded to include what Czyszek calls “a new phase,” where Knights “try to address the long-term challenges and difficulties” faced by a population wounded at heart by a decade of war.

“His Beatitude (Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church) has said that more than 80% of Ukrainians will need some kind of psychological and spiritual assistance, and (assistance in) dealing with trauma,” said Czyszek. “And we have already started doing a huge number of things (in this regard). We are doing work with widows and orphans, because I think these women and children, and the families of the fallen soldiers are already paying the highest price for the war.”

Among the initiatives in this area are events such as “pilgrimages and dinners,” which offer “a time when they can experience solidarity,” he said.

“We have stories of women who have said in meetings organized by our local councils that when they receive support, they want to live again,” Czyszek said. “This horrible experience of losing a husband or a father or a son — you can think that your life is over. But with the work that we try to do in different areas, they regain hope for the future.”

Czyszek also stressed that “it’s very important that this work … is done in a way that provides a holistic approach and a proper Christian anthropology,” adding that the Knights sponsor “a number of psychological workshops for veterans and their spouses” that reflect such an approach.

He said that such a faith-based response embraces “not only Catholics, (but) … anybody in need,” and includes “spiritual support (for) the deep spiritual wounds that people will carry within themselves for years” after the hostilities cease.

Czyszek urged supporters of the Knights to live out Pope Francis’ call to global solidarity by “being aware” and not “forgetting about the people of Ukraine.”

He also highlighted that the Knights’ work is “possible only because of the generosity of so many people.

“And the last thing that we ask people is pray,” said Czyszek. “Prayer has this power to transform the hearts and minds of those that we can’t convince with the strength of our argument. Prayer is the response that we can offer, wherever we are. This is a spiritual gift that we can offer to people who suffer in Ukraine.