Month: December 2025

SCRANTON – The National Religious Retirement Office (NRRO) is announcing that the annual Retirement Fund for Religious collection will be held in parishes throughout the Diocese of Scranton on the weekend of Dec. 13-14.

In 2024, Catholics across the Diocese of Scranton contributed $70,104.60 to the collection, mostly through their home parishes.

“The generosity of U.S. Catholics continues to make a profound difference in the lives of aging religious,” John Knutsen, NRRO director, said. “This year, we invite all Catholics to help provide the care and dignity these women and men of faith so richly deserve.”

Rising health-care costs and the absence of traditional retirement plans have placed significant financial strain on many religious communities.

The Retirement Fund for Religious helps address this need, supporting more than 21,000 religious over the age of 70.

In 2024, the average annual cost of care was about $56,600 per person, with skilled nursing care averaging $96,000.

Since its establishment in 1988, the collection has raised over $1 billion, with nearly $900 million distributed for direct care and over $103.7 million allocated to retirement planning projects.

Since 2009, the annual total cost to support senior women and men religious has exceeded $1.1 billion.

In 2024, the appeal raised over $28.1 million, providing financial assistance for the retirement needs of 266 U.S. religious communities.

Beyond financial aid, the collection supports educational programs, empowering religious communities to plan for their long-term needs.

For more information on the collection, visit retiredreligious.org.

By D.D. Emmons, OSV News

(OSV News) – During an adult religious education session, the instructor was discussing the Immaculate Conception and said that the Blessed Mother was conceived without original sin, born without sin and lived without sin. One of those listening immediately responded: “Oh no, you got that wrong! The only person to live a sinless life was Jesus.”

Even after nearly 2,000 years, we still have trouble fully appreciating the beautiful church teaching about the conception of Mary.

Not only are some of the faithful confused about the Mother of God being conceived, born and living without sin, but some think the Immaculate Conception refers to Jesus. Even certain Church Fathers and theologians had questions regarding Mary’s conception.

Today, many – especially outside the church – seek to find flaws with this doctrine that evolved to become a belief by all Catholics. It took centuries of discussion, debate and devotion to the Blessed Mother and a groundswell from the laity and the clergy before the church magisterium confirmed a dogma — an article of faith — to be believed by all the faithful, that Mary was immaculately conceived.

Church dogma is a truth revealed by God, declared as such by the infallible authority of the magisterium and considered necessary for salvation; the terms “official church teaching” and “articles of faith” are sometimes used in a synonymous way.

The basic Christian beliefs regarding the divinity of Jesus and holiness of Mary were not widespread issues among the early followers of Christ, at least not until Constantine eliminated religious persecutions in the fourth century; suddenly, Christians began to publicly debate different aspects of Christian teaching.

Early on, the Arians contended that Jesus and God were not the same; a priest named Arius promoted this heretical belief, claiming Jesus was a great prophet and teacher but he was not God. It took the first ever church-wide (ecumenical) council in 325 at Nicaea, Turkey, to sort this issue. The church’s bishops assembled and proclaimed that Jesus and God were equals, and then put a sharp point on the matter by issuing a creed that echoed their sentiment that Jesus is “consubstantial with the Father.” Arius was excommunicated, but the issue did not fully go away.

During the next century, Nestorius, the bishop of Constantinople, took another approach to reject the divinity of Jesus. He preached that Mary was the mother of Jesus but not the mother of God, meaning that Jesus and God were not the same. He had many supporters, and again, the church bishops congregated (the Third Ecumenical Council), this time in the town of Ephesus, Turkey, in the summer of 431.

St. Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, opposed Nestorius’ false teaching and had written the misguided bishop several letters telling Nestorius he was preaching heresy. At the council, the bishops affirmed the decisions of Nicaea, that Jesus was consubstantial with the Father, and defined Mary as the Mother of God. While the doctrine of Mary’s Immaculate Conception was not addressed at either of these councils, the bishops had announced to the world that Jesus was divine and Mary was his mother.

That she was somehow tainted with sin was not questioned until 300 years later when a celebration of the Conception of Mary began in the church. As early as 388, St. Ambrose wrote, “Mary, a virgin not only undefiled but a virgin whom grace has made inviolate, free from every stain of sin.”

By the eighth century, the Eastern Church was celebrating what it called the feast of the Conception of Mary by St. Anne, and over the next 100 years, it spread to the West, first to Southern Italy, then Ireland, and by the 11th century to France and other European countries. As the feast broadened in Europe, the emphasis of the devotion changed from St. Anne to an emphasis on Mary and that she was conceived without sin.

It was in France that St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) raised objection to the belief about a sinless conception. He said: “I say that the virgin Mary could not be sanctified before her conception, inasmuch as she did not exist. If, all the more, she could not be sanctified in the moment of her conception by reason of the sin which is inseparable from conception, then it remains to believe that she was sanctified after she was conceived in the womb of her mother. This sanctification, if it annihilates sin, makes holy her birth, but not her conception. No one is given the right to be conceived in sanctity: only the Lord Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit and he alone is holy from his very conception.”

Any of the theologians of that era who opposed Mary being conceived immaculately without original sin argued along these same lines, including St. Albert the Great (1206-80) and St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-74). They pointed to the fact that original sin is inherent, universal to every man, save Jesus, and they referred to Romans 5:12: “Therefore, just as through one person (Adam) sin entered the world, and through sin, death, and thus death came to all, inasmuch as all sinned.”

Accordingly, they said, all men needed the redemption given by Jesus Christ — all needed a savior.

How, then, could Mary have been free from original sin, if Jesus had not yet been born, had not yet died on the cross and resurrected? They could accept that she was cleansed from original sin sometime between conception and birth, which was the case with John the Baptist, but they couldn’t accept her being conceived with no sin.

The complex issue was explained by Blessed Duns Scotus, a Franciscan who lived from 1266 until 1308. He reasoned that because Mary was going to be the vessel that carried Jesus for nine months and was the source of the miraculous birth, that she could never be soiled with original sin or any sin. She was preserved from all sin at the moment of conception in her mother’s womb, redeemed in advance — a preserved redemption.

At her conception, Mary was infused with supernatural grace in the manner of Eve; she was conceived without sin, born without sin, and, unlike Eve, lived without sin. While original sin is removed from us at baptism, she, because she was destined to become the Mother of God, was, in a unique and singular way, never allowed to acquire sin.

Duns Scotus used this example: “It is a more excellent gift to preserve someone from evil than to permit them to fall into evil and afterwards to deliver him from evil. Thus it is for Mary a more excellent gift to be preserved from original sin than to permit in her the contraction of original sin, and to purify her from it.” While this rationale was accepted by many, the church did not define the Immaculate Conception as dogma or as an article of faith for another 500 years.

In the 14th century, the feast was called the feast of the Blessed Virgin’s Conception and added to the universal church calendar, but Catholics were not required to accept it as official church teaching. Then, as now, the thinking was not that Mary was conceived or born miraculously like Jesus; indeed, she was conceived by relations between her parents, born like every other human being. But unlike others, the sin of Adam was never transferred to her. At the moment, in her mother’s womb, when her soul was united with flesh, she was infused with supernatural grace and protected from original sin.

It appeared that a major advancement in the church — wide proclamation of this belief — was fermented at the Council of Basel (1431-49). The bishops made it clear that Mary, “through the workings of a singular preventive grace was never subject to original sin and always immune from original and actual sin.” The bishops went on to say that this belief had been long held in the church: “We define that it is to be approved by all Catholics and that from now on no one should be allowed to preach or teach the contrary.”

This seemed to move the belief forward toward an official proclamation, but unfortunately, at that time in history, the bishops were not in communion with the pope, and the decrees of the council were not binding.

Nearly 50 years later, Pope Sixtus IV (r. 1471-84) approved the feast of the Conception of the Immaculate Virgin Mary in the Diocese of Rome, and he encouraged all Christians to celebrate the feast and believe in the Immaculate Conception. Sixtus also directed that those celebrating the feast or believing in the Immaculate Conception would not be rebuffed by anyone in the church.

At the Council of Trent, (1545-63) the bishops avoided discussion of original sin as it applied to Mary but referred to the guidance of Pope Sixtus IV. In 1661, Pope Alexander VII (r. 1655-67) declared in a papal bull, “Sollicitudo omnium Ecclesiarum,” that Mary was conceived without original sin and that the feast of the conception celebrates that fact. This bull would have an impact on the eventual decision to declare the Immaculate Conception a church dogma. Pope Clement XI (r. 1700-21) extended the feast of the Conception to the universal church.

Devotion to the Immaculate Conception continued to increase among the laity and clergy as the 19th century began. In 1830, the Blessed Mother appeared in several visions to a nun named Catherine Labouré — later named a saint — at the Daughters of Charity monastery in Chatillion-sur-Seine, France. On Nov. 27, Catherine saw Mary appearing as a picture inside an oval frame standing on a globe with light streaming from her hands. The vision included an inscription: “O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.”

Our Lady asked Catherine to pursue the making of a medal based on the vision that Catherine was witnessing. This medal was initially called the “Immaculate Conception Medal,” but so many miracles came to those who wore it that it became known as the “Miraculous Medal.”

Between 1834 and 1847, the Holy See reportedly received 300 petitions seeking permission to insert the word “immaculate” into the Preface of the Mass on the feast day of Our Lady of the Conception. The people of the United States were devoted to the Immaculate Conception, and in 1846 the bishops of this country chose the Blessed Virgin Conceived without Original Sin as the patroness of the United States.

They requested and received permission from the Vatican to add “immaculate” before the word conception in the Office of the Conception of the Blessed Mother and in the preface of the feast day Mass. All this widespread devotion, as well as that of Christians for centuries, took place before the church defined the Immaculate Conception as dogma to be believed by every Catholic.

Pope Pius IX (r. 1846-78), witnessing the continuous church-wide love and affection for the Blessed Mother as the Immaculate Conception, issued a letter to the worldwide bishops requesting their feedback, that of their clergy and the laity, as to whether or not this long held belief should be adopted as a church dogma.

Pius also convened a group of theologians to study the history and church documents to determine if the belief could be dogmatically defined. The responses were overwhelmingly positive. People throughout the world prayed that the pope would approve and adopt this belief as universal throughout the church.

On Dec. 8, 1854, in the presence of 40,000 people including hundreds of bishops and cardinals, Pope Pius, with great emotion, read his decree “Ineffabilis Deus” (“Ineffable God”), in which he eloquently pronounced the Blessed Mother “preserved from all stain of original sin” was immaculately conceived.

Catholics rejoiced at this infallible act by the Holy Father, an act that affirmed what had been believed by Christians from antiquity, promoted and avowed by popes, church councils, and especially the faithful whose love for the Blessed Mother has continued and grown through the centuries. This papal letter elevated Mary’s perfection to new heights throughout the world, defining that the Mother of God was perfect — is perfect in every way, even from her conception.

Just four years after Pope Pius IX’s papal bull, God affirmed this dogma at Lourdes, France, where a young woman, Bernadette Soubirous, experienced a series of visions of Our Lady. On March 25, 1858, Bernadette asked the Lady her name, and the Blessed Virgin responded, “I am the Immaculate Conception.”

The 14-year-old Bernadette, as well as her parents, had allegedly never heard that name before. The church has authenticated this Marian apparition; Bernadette was declared a saint in 1933, and Catholics annually celebrate the memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes on Feb. 11.

Every Advent, as we await the birth of Our Savior, the holy season is punctuated by the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. On Dec. 8, we are called to this beautiful holy day of obligation, to celebrate once again the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Mother and how God almighty prepared her for her role in salvation history, her role as the Mother of the Messiah.

CLARKS SUMMIT – The Diocese of Scranton is mourning the loss of a long-time employee. We remember Mary Jane Sheridan, who devoted more than three decades to the Diocese of Scranton – serving most recently as the Executive Assistant to the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton. 

Please join us for praying for the repose of the soul of Mary Jane Sheridan, as well as for the love and support of her husband, Patrick, daughters Jennifer and Kristen, and her entire extended family. 

Memorial contributions in honor of Mary Jane can be made directly online by clicking this link.

 

OBITUARY:

Mary Jane Sheridan, Clarks Summit, passed away peacefully on Friday afternoon at her home surrounded by her family. Her husband of 52 years is Patrick J. Sheridan.

Her greatest joy came from caring for her family, to whom she gave unwavering love, support, and guidance. She was a devoted mother, wife, sister, friend, and “Mimi” to her grandchildren.

Born March 12, 1951 in Scranton, Mary Jane was the daughter of the late James J. and Eleanor Huber Thomas. She was a graduate of Scranton Technical High School and went on to work for the Scranton School District for 10 years.

After spending years at home with her children, she joined the Diocese of Scranton for over 30 years, serving in the Office of Parish Ministries, Diocesan Schools Office, and culminating her career as the executive assistant to the Bishop of the Diocese of Scranton. She was a member of the Church of Saint Gregory, Clarks Summit, and formerly a member of St. Patrick’s Parish, West Scranton.

Also surviving are her daughters Jennifer Sheridan, Ed.D. and Kristen Sheridan Wozniak, FNP and her husband Ethan; her beloved grandchildren Ellia, Ryan, and Andrew Wozniak; her brothers James J. Thomas and his wife Carol, George T. Thomas and his wife Kathy, Patrick J. Thomas and his wife Gina, and sister Lori Thomas Wagner, as well as, several cherished nieces and nephews.

She was also preceded in death by her sister Eleanor M. Powell; her in-laws Charles J. and Mary T. Sheridan; brothers-in-law Thomas “TJ” Wagner and Joseph C. Sheridan.

Mary Jane’s family would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to the many talented, dedicated, and compassionate doctors, nurses, and health care professionals, who cared for her during her illness in Scranton and at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia.

Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Thursday morning at 10 a.m. in the Church of Saint Gregory, 330 North Abington Rd. Clarks Summit with The Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, D.D., J.C.L., Bishop of the Diocese of Scranton serving as the principal celebrant.

Friends may call Wednesday from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the Vanston and James Funeral Home, 1401 Ash St., Scranton.

All those attending the funeral are asked to go directly to The Church of St. Gregory on Thursday morning.

Interment, Cathedral Cemetery.

To share a memory, to express your condolences to the family or to view Mary Jane’s memorial slideshow please visit jamesfamilyfunerals.com

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial offerings be directed to the Diocese of Scranton in thanksgiving for Mary Jane’s life. Memorial offerings should be forwarded to: Diocese of Scranton, Development Office, 300 Wyoming Avenue, Scranton, PA 18503.

(OSV News) – Pope Leo XIV’s childhood home just outside of Chicago has been declared a historic landmark.

The board of trustees of the village of Dolton, Illinois, approved a motion for the designation during a regular meeting Dec. 1 that began with a recitation of the Lord’s Prayer.

Mayor Jason House described the property as one of the “most culturally and spiritually significant locations in the United States,” according to ABC-7 Chicago.

The modest, one-story brick residence, located at 212 E. 141st Pl., was purchased by the village’s board in July for $375,000, an amount that included all applicable realtor and auction fees.

Weeks after the election of the first U.S.-born pope, the board had moved to acquire the 75-year-old home where the former Robert Prevost and his family lived until 1969. The site immediately became a tourist attraction and even a place of pilgrimage after Pope Leo’s papal election.

In July, Dolton spokesperson Nakita Cloud told OSV News that making the place a historic site would “open the door for federal and state funding opportunities tied to historic preservation, tourism development, and community revitalization,” while also attracting “philanthropic and nonprofit partnerships that support cultural and educational initiatives.”

Speaking during the board meeting ahead of the vote, House said the move represented “a very big moment for residents” of the village.

He commended Dolton’s volunteer historical commission for its work on the project.

Commission member and village clerk Alison Key said she and her fellow commission members were “very excited about this, because this is something very new to the village.”

She stressed that the commission sought to ensure the process was followed correctly, adding, “We just want to make sure that everybody is excited, and that you are proud to live in Dolton, the home of Pope Leo XIV.”

House said that additional documentation and review is planned “to make sure that our community is very proud of what’s to come.”

He added that there is a “target timeline” of spring 2027 for implementation and completion of the project, adding, “I’ll say ‘target,’ because hopefully it’s faster.”

In July, Cloud had indicated a possible future collaboration with the Archdiocese of Chicago on the development of the historical site. OSV News is awaiting a response to its request for comment from the archdiocese.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Visiting two countries over six days on his first foreign papal trip, Pope Leo XIV preached unity, dialogue and respect for differences as the only paths to peace.

Spending time with Catholics, other Christian leaders and top Muslim clerics in Turkey Nov. 27-Nov. 30 and Lebanon Nov. 30-Dec. 2, the pope made formal speeches about how believing in God as the father of all means recognizing one another as brothers and sisters.

But he also set aside time in a packed schedule for private talks, lunches and late evening meetings with the leaders.

“The more we can promote authentic unity and understanding, respect and human relationships of friendship and dialogue in the world, the greater possibility there is that we will put aside the arms of war, that we will leave aside the distrust, the hatred, the animosity that has so often been built up and that we will find ways to come together and be able to promote authentic peace and justice throughout the world,” he told reporters flying back to Rome with him Dec. 2.

The three iconic moments of the trip were his prayer with top Christian leaders Nov. 28 at the site of the Council of Nicaea, his visit to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul Nov. 29 and his prayer Dec. 2 amid the rubble of the Beirut port explosion in 2020.

The whole trip was planned to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea and its drafting of the Creed that mainline Christian communities still recite today.

Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople hosted the ecumenical prayer service and the common recitation of the Creed on a platform overlooking the ruins of a Christian basilica in Iznik, site of the ancient Nicaea, about 80 miles southeast of Istanbul.

With the Greek Orthodox patriarchs of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem or their representatives and with representatives of other Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant churches, Pope Leo said that at a time when humanity is “afflicted by violence and conflict,” the world “is crying out for reconciliation.”

“The desire for full communion among all believers in Jesus Christ is always accompanied by the search for fraternity among all human beings,” he said. “In the Nicene Creed, we profess our faith ‘in one God, the Father.’ Yet, it would not be possible to invoke God as Father if we refused to recognize as brothers and sisters all other men and women, who are created in the image of God.”

The desire to reach out and form relationships with others also was on display when Pope Leo, like his two immediate predecessors, removed his shoes and entered the so-called Blue Mosque in Turkey’s capital; he spent about 20 minutes inside but did not appear to pause for prayer as Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis had done.

Instead, he listened to Askin Musa Tunca, the mosque’s muezzin who calls people to prayer five times a day, explain the building, its construction and how Muslims pray. And the pope asked questions.

The Vatican press office said afterward that Pope Leo visited the mosque “in a spirit of reflection and attentive listening, with deep respect for the place and for the faith of those who gather there in prayer.”

On his last morning in Beirut, he laid a wreath, lighted a candle and prayed silently at a memorial to the more than 200 people killed when improperly stored chemicals exploded at the port; the blast also injured some 7,000 people and left an estimated 300,000 people without homes.

Standing amid mountains of rubble, piles of burnt-out cars and heaps of tattered clothing and cloth, the pope was joined by family members of those killed and by people still bearing the scars of injuries they suffered that day.

They carried photos of the loved ones they lost and signs appealing for the government to seriously investigate who was at fault for allowing the chemicals to be stored there.

A young woman, crying, asked Pope Leo for a hug, which the pope gave her before putting his hand on her head and blessing her.

At Mass afterward, he said, “I prayed for all the victims, and I carry with me the pain, and the thirst for truth and justice, of so many families, of an entire country.”

And after Mass, before heading to the airport, he told the people, “During these days of my first apostolic journey, undertaken during this Jubilee Year, I wanted to come as a pilgrim of hope to the Middle East, imploring God for the gift of peace for this beloved land, marked by instability, wars and suffering.”

Even when it seems peace is far off, Pope Leo said, “I invite you to lift your gaze to the Lord who is coming! Let us look to him with hope and courage, inviting everyone to set out on the path of coexistence, fraternity and peace. Be artisans of peace, heralds of peace, witnesses of peace!”

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The Supreme Court on Dec. 2 heard oral arguments in an appeal from a group of faith-based pregnancy centers in New Jersey challenging an investigation by that state’s attorney general alleging they misled people about their services and seeking information about their donors.

First Choice Women’s Resource Centers operates five centers in the Garden State that provide some medical services, including ultrasounds, to women with unplanned pregnancies.

In 2023, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin moved to launch a consumer protection probe investigating First Choice, alleging they misrepresented themselves to clients as if their services included referrals for abortion. As part of his probe, he issued a subpoena seeking information including about its donors — but before the expiration date, First Choice asked a federal court to intervene on its behalf, arguing the probe violated its First Amendment rights.

A key question in the case is whether First Choice must first pursue its claims in state court or meet the legal threshold for the federal court.

Erin Hawley, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom — a legal organization representing First Choice — and vice president of ADF’s Center for Life and Regulatory Practice, argued to the justices that “this Court has long safeguarded the right of association by protecting the membership and donor lists of nonprofit organizations like First Choice.”

“Yet the Attorney General of New Jersey issued a sweeping subpoena commanding on pain of contempt that first choice produced donor names, addresses and phone numbers so his office could contact and question them,” Hawley, who also is the wife of Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., added.

Hawley argued that the probe chilled her clients’ First Amendment rights and that “First Choice is simply asking for its day in federal court.”

Sundeep Iyer, who represented New Jersey, denied Hawley’s argument, instead arguing that any disclosure of such information from the subpoena is “wholly contingent on a future state court order requiring production.”

“My friends on the other side, don’t let the actual factual allegations get in the way of telling a story about hostility here, but I think that story is just not borne out by the record evidence that’s been offered here” he said.

But in a notable moment, Justice Elena Kagan asked Iyer whether “an ordinary person, one of the funders for this organization, or for any similar organization, presented with this subpoena and then told, ‘but don’t worry, it has to be stamped by a court,'” is “going to take that as very reassuring?”

In remarks on a press call with reporters the previous day, Aimee Huber, executive director of First Choice, said, “On November 15, 2023, a representative from New Jersey’s Attorney General’s office came to my office, asked for me, and handed me a subpoena. It commanded us to release up to 10 years of documentation on our donor communications, advertising statements about abortion pill reversal, and even our donors’ identities. There were no allegations of wrongdoing. It was simply a fishing expedition.”

Proponents of a process sometimes called abortion pill reversal say administering a dose of progesterone in an attempt to stop the effects of a chemical or medication abortion can halt the effects of mifepristone, the first of two drugs used in the process. But opponents argue that it is an unproven method. A 2019 study of the abortion reversal process was ended early due to safety concerns. New Jersey and New York are among the states that have probed organizations that advertise abortion pill reversal.

A spokesperson for Platkin’s office did not immediately respond to a request from OSV News for comment.

The First Amendment issues at play in the case drew support for First Choice from a broad range of organizations. The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Jersey joined an amicus brief written by the Foundation for Individual Rights & Expression, or FIRE, in support of what they argued was First Choice’s right to seek federal relief.

“Even before they’re enforced, law enforcement subpoenas seeking sensitive donor information threaten to scare away supporters essential to any nonprofit’s work,” Brian Hauss, deputy project director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, said in a Dec. 2 statement. “At a time when government officials throughout the country abuse regulatory powers to punish their ideological opponents, federal courts must remain a venue in which people can vindicate their First Amendment rights.”

Ashley McGuire, senior fellow at The Catholic Association, argued in a Dec. 2 statement that pregnancy resource centers “are an essential part of a pro-life safety net that enables women to thrive as the mothers they want to be.”

“They provide essential medical and material support to mothers and babies valued at more than $450 million annually, going beyond meeting the immediate needs of women in crisis pregnancies,” she said. “PRCs help transform expectant mothers’ lives with housing, parenting classes, and job training, to name a few invaluable resources. Given that the overwhelming majority of women who have abortions say they were pressured or coerced and that 60 percent of post-abortive women say they would have preferred to have their baby if they had support, PRCs offer what women want: a true choice. And yet, they face never-ending legal harassment.”

First Choice states on its website that it works to “equip women and men to make informed pregnancy decisions” about a range of options.

“First Choice Women’s Resource Centers is an abortion clinic alternative that does not perform or refer for termination services,” it states.

The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, and as such, opposes direct abortion.

(OSV News) – Dozens of “home mission dioceses” across the nation have received much-needed financial support, provided by the generosity of U.S. Catholics through an annual collection.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced Dec. 1 that 69 mission dioceses and Eastern Catholic eparchies had been awarded a collective total of more than $7.8 million in grants.

The allocations — which ranged from $10,000 to approximately $145,000 — were determined by the USCCB’s Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions, which met earlier in the fall to review the 2025-2026 grant applications.

The awarded funds were made possible through the USCCB’s annual Catholic Home Missions appeal. The collection, taken up in many dioceses and parishes on the last weekend in April, was established in 1998 to strengthen U.S.-based mission dioceses.

Donations to the appeal can also be made through the iGiveCatholic.org platform.

Mission dioceses rely on sustained aid, including funds from the annual collection, in order to provide basic pastoral services to the faithful.

In its announcement, the USCCB noted that the mission dioceses and Eastern Catholic eparchies receiving the grants “are found across the United States and its territories,” with many located “in regions with small Catholic populations in rural areas affected by economic hardship.”

The USCCB said the grants “support parish and diocesan operations, as well as ministries of evangelization, catechesis, and healing that grow and strengthen the Church.”

Bishop Chad W. Zielinski of New Ulm, Minnesota, who chairs the USCCB home missions subcommittee, said in a statement that parishioners contributing to the annual appeal “bring faith, hope and love where it is most needed,” regardless of the amount of their gift.

The donations “have a profound, positive impact on Catholics who face poverty or the isolation of being a small, minority faith,” he said.

Among the recipients for this year’s grants is the Diocese of Rapid City, South Dakota, with the $60,000 in funds applied to the diocese’s ministry on the Standing Rock Reservation, which covers 2.3 million acres in both South and North Dakota and is home to both the Lakota and Dakota nations.

The ministry, led by three Franciscan women religious and a priest, provides home visitation and parish faith formation for about 500 Catholics, as well as social support for 8,000 residents of various faiths.

The Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, received $50,000 to bolster its Office of Deliverance Ministry, which works to offer both spiritual and emotional care for those experiencing the wounds of sin and oppression. The more than 100 visits per month the ministry sees include prayers of healing and the sacraments of Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick.

The USCCB subcommittee approved $145,000 for the Syro-Malankara Eparchy of St. Mary Queen of Peace, whose 24 priests serve some 11,000 parishioners across the nation, and which has no paid lay staff. The grant will make possible “a wide range of ministry, including a youth summer camp, retreats, family conventions and vocational discernment,” said the USCCB.

Bishop Zielinski said such programs “reveal the wide range of spiritual and financial needs that the Catholic Home Missions Appeal addresses.”

Noting that “parishioners in mission dioceses already give sacrificially from their limited means,” Bishop Zielinski said, “My prayer is that their example of faith will inspire the rest of us to dig deeper to help our neighbors carry out the mission that Jesus has entrusted to us.”

BEIRUT (CNS) – Acknowledging the existence of “circumstances that are highly complex, conflictual and uncertain,” Pope Leo XIV arrived in Lebanon preaching peace.

Just a week before the pope arrived Nov. 30, Israel had made its latest strike on Lebanon, killing a Hezbollah commander and four militants in a suburb of Beirut.

Arriving from Istanbul, a two-hour flight, Pope Leo was met at the Beirut airport by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Cardinal Bechara Rai, patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church, the largest of the Catholic churches in Lebanon.

After a 21-cannon salute and the playing of the Lebanese and Vatican anthems, they headed to the presidential palace in Beirut.

Hundreds of people lined the streets near the presidential palace to see the pope, and many stayed even when a heavy rain began. The rain also did not stop a dance troupe outside the palace from performing a traditional “dabke” dance featuring rhythmic stomping, which made a literal splash.

After the private meetings, the president and the pope addressed about 400 government officials, as well as religious, business, cultural and civic leaders.

Not mentioning Israel by name, Pope Leo praised the Lebanese as “a people who do not give up, but in the face of trials, always know how to rise again with courage.”

“Your resilience is an essential characteristic of authentic peacemakers, for the work of peace is indeed a continuous starting anew,” the pope said. “Moreover, the commitment and love for peace know no fear in the face of apparent defeat, are not daunted by disappointment, but look ahead, welcoming and embracing all situations with hope.”

“It takes tenacity to build peace,” Pope Leo said. “It takes perseverance to protect and nurture life.”

After two years of political tensions, the Lebanese parliament finally elected a president in January. The country also has experienced a prolonged economic crisis.

“You have suffered greatly from the consequences of an economy that kills,” the pope said, using a phrase Pope Francis often employed, as well as from “the radicalization of identities and conflicts.

“But you have always wanted, and known how, to start again,” Pope Leo told the leaders.

That effort, he said, requires reconciliation, which only comes from honest dialogue.

“Truth and reconciliation only ever grow together, whether in a family, between different communities and the various people of a country, or between nations,” he said.

For many Lebanese “there are times when it is easier to flee, or simply more convenient to move elsewhere,” he said. “It takes real courage and foresight to stay or return to one’s own country and to consider even somewhat difficult situations worthy of love and dedication.”

Lebanon, which hosts more refugees per capita than any other nation, is experiencing “an exodus of young people and families,” the pope noted.

The church, he said, “does not want anyone to be forced to leave their country. Moreover, the church wants those who wish to return home to be able to do so safely.”

The leaders of Lebanon and other countries in the region must ask themselves what they can do to encourage young people to stay and work for peace in their homelands rather than seeking it elsewhere, the pope said.

“In this regard,” he said, “Christians and Muslims together, and all religious and civil components of Lebanese society, are called to play their part, and to commit themselves to raising awareness of this issue within the international community.”

While most Lebanese are Muslim, Christians make up at least 33% of the country’s population. The Vatican estimates Catholics number more than 2 million; in addition to the Maronites, the Catholic community also includes Melkite, Armenian, Syriac, Chaldean and Latin-rite Catholics.

Aoun, in his speech at the meeting, said that “if Christians in Lebanon were to disappear, the delicate balance” of strong Christian and Muslim communities living side by side “would collapse and with-it justice.”

“Similarly, any harm to the Muslim community in Lebanon would also destabilize the equation and undermine justice as well,” the president said. “The fall of Lebanon, precipitated by the loss of any of its integral components, would foster the rise of extremism, violence and bloodshed both in our region and in the world.”

The motto of the pope’s trip was “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

He prayed that the “desire for peace, which comes from God,” would grow among all Lebanese because, “even today, peace can transform the way you look at others and the way you live together in this land, a land that God deeply loves and continues to bless.”

ISTANBUL (CNS) – Pope Leo XIV, speaking to Christian leaders in Turkey, said he hoped they could meet in Jerusalem in 2033 to celebrate together the 2,000th anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

And, later in a joint declaration with Orthodox Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, he called on Christians of the East and West to finally agree on a common date for Easter. The pope and patriarch also appealed for an end to war.

The two met in Istanbul Nov. 29 with the Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Protestant leaders who had joined them the previous day in Iznik, site of the ancient city of Nicaea, to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea and the basics of the Nicene Creed, which all mainline Christians share.

The meeting with the leaders was held at the Syriac Orthodox Church of Mor Ephrem, which was inaugurated in 2023 — the first and only Christian church to be built in Turkey since the foundation of the Republic of Turkey as a constitutionally secular nation in 1923.

According to the Vatican press office, Pope Leo spoke to the leaders about having a Jubilee 2033 celebration together in Jerusalem.

The pope would like to celebrate “in the Cenacle, place of the Last Supper of Jesus with his disciples, where he washed their feet, and the place of Pentecost,” the press office said. But to facilitate the encounter, the leaders need to make progress in their efforts toward full unity, the pope had told them, “citing his episcopal motto, ‘In Illo uno unum,'” or literally “In the One, we are one,” referring to faith in one Lord.

Pope Leo joined Patriarch Bartholomew again in the early evening in the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. George for a doxology prayer service of praise to God.

“Yesterday, and again this morning, we experienced extraordinary moments of grace as we commemorated, together with our brothers and sisters in faith, the 1,700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea,” Pope Leo said at the service.

“By remembering that highly significant event and inspired by the prayer of Jesus that all his disciples may be one,” the pope said, “we are encouraged in our commitment to seek the restoration of full communion among all Christians, a task that we undertake with God’s help.”

During the doxology, he said, “the deacon addressed to God the petition ‘for the stability of the Holy Churches and for the unity of all.’ This same petition will also be repeated in tomorrow’s Divine Liturgy. May God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and indeed fulfill that prayer.”

The Council of Nicaea also set a common date for all Christians to celebrate Easter — on the first Sunday after the full moon following the spring equinox. But the Julian calendar, which is what Christians used in the fourth century, was increasingly out of sync with the actual solar year, so March 21 — generally assumed to be the date of the Northern Hemisphere’s spring equinox — gradually “drifted” away from the actual equinox.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII reformed the calendar, dropping 10 days and making the equinox fall on March 21 again. Most Eastern Christians did not adopt the new calendar though, leading to a situation where Easter occasionally is on the same day, but Eastern Christians’ celebration can be as much as four weeks later.

St. Paul VI and all the popes who succeeded him, including Pope Leo, have said the Catholic Church is open to accepting an Orthodox proposal for a common date for Easter.

In their joint declaration, the pope and patriarch said the anniversary of Nicaea should inspire “new and courageous steps on the path toward unity,” including finding that common date.

“We are grateful to divine providence that this year the whole Christian world celebrated Easter on the same day,” they said. “It is our shared desire to continue the process of exploring a possible solution for celebrating together the Feast of Feasts every year. We hope and pray that all Christians will, ‘in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,’ commit themselves to the process of arriving at a common celebration of the glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Part of the goal of Christianity, they also said, is to contribute to peace among all people.

“Together we fervently raise our voices in invoking God’s gift of peace upon our world,” they said. “Tragically, in many regions of our world, conflict and violence continue to destroy the lives of so many. We appeal to those who have civil and political responsibilities to do everything possible to ensure that the tragedy of war ceases immediately, and we ask all people of good will to support our entreaty.”

IZNIK, Turkey (CNS) – Although the ancient city of Nicaea lies in ruins and the geographic center of Christianity has shifted West, Pope Leo XIV and Christian leaders gathered at an archaeological site in Turkey to celebrate the enduring faith set out in the Nicene Creed.

Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople hosted the ecumenical prayer service and the common recitation of the Creed Nov. 28 at Iznik, site of the ancient Nicaea, about 80 miles southeast of Istanbul.

With the Greek Orthodox patriarchs of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem or their representatives and with representatives of other Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant churches, Pope Leo marked the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea — the primary motive for his first foreign trip as pope.

The joint recitation of the Creed did not include the phrase known as the “filioque” — the statement that the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father and the Son” — since the phrase is not used by the Orthodox because it was inserted into the Latin Creed by Pope Benedict VIII in 1014.

Recent popes, including Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis and Pope Leo, have omitted the phrase at ecumenical prayer services.

Standing on a platform overlooking the remains of the Basilica of St. Neophytos, now partially submerged in Lake Iznik, the church leaders took turns leading the prayers — in English, Greek and Arabic — and lighting candles as a Catholic choir, singing in Latin, and an Orthodox choir, singing in Greek, alternated.

Patriarch Bartholomew, welcoming the pope and other guests, noted that “despite so many intervening centuries and all the upheavals, difficulties and divisions they have brought, we nevertheless approach this sacred commemoration with shared reverence and a common feeling of hope.”

“The power of this place does not reside in what passes away, but in what endures forever,” he said.

Speaking after the patriarch, Pope Leo told his fellow Christian leaders that at a time when humanity is “afflicted by violence and conflict,” the world “is crying out for reconciliation.”

“The desire for full communion among all believers in Jesus Christ is always accompanied by the search for fraternity among all human beings,” he said. “In the Nicene Creed, we profess our faith ‘in one God, the Father.’ Yet, it would not be possible to invoke God as Father if we refused to recognize as brothers and sisters all other men and women, who are created in the image of God.”

Though united by faith, the Russian Orthodox Church — the largest of the world’s Eastern Orthodox churches — was not represented at the service. The Russian church broke relations with the Ecumenical Patriarchate over the recognition in 2018 of the autonomy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Belief in God the father, Pope Leo said in Iznik, means “there is a universal fraternity of men and women regardless of ethnicity, nationality, religion or personal perspectives.”

With many of the Christian leaders, especially the Oriental Orthodox, coming from nations that recently faced or are facing war and persecution, Pope Leo said Christians must give concrete witness to their belief that all people are children of one God and therefore brothers and sisters to each other.

“Furthermore, we must strongly reject the use of religion for justifying war, violence or any form of fundamentalism or fanaticism,” he said. “Instead, the paths to follow are those of fraternal encounter, dialogue and cooperation.”

The pope also repeated a concern he had mentioned during a meeting with Catholic leaders earlier in the day: the risk that many Christians have departed from the Nicene Creed’s firm belief in the divinity of Jesus.

“This question is especially important for Christians, who risk reducing Jesus Christ to a kind of charismatic leader or superman, a misrepresentation that ultimately leads to sadness and confusion,” he said.

At the time of the Council of Nicaea, the pope said, Arius — a priest from Alexandria in Egypt — had denied the divinity of Christ, reducing him to “a mere intermediary between God and humanity, ignoring the reality of the Incarnation such that the divine and the human remained irremediably separated.”

“But if God did not become man, how can mortal creatures participate in his immortal life?” Pope Leo asked.

The pope told the Christian leaders that sharing the same faith in Jesus and being able to recite the Creed together means there “is a profound bond already uniting all Christians.”

“We are all invited to overcome the scandal of the divisions that unfortunately still exist and to nurture the desire for unity for which the Lord Jesus prayed and gave his life,” the pope said. “The more we are reconciled, the more we Christians can bear credible witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is a proclamation of hope for all.”

Patriarch Bartholomew told the leaders that with “the fervor of the faith of Nicaea burning in our hearts,” they must “run the course” of Christian unity in fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer for the unity of his disciples.

“And, finally,” the patriarch said, “let us love one another that with one mind we may confess: Father, Son and Holy Spirit — Trinity consubstantial and undivided.”