Author: Eric Deabill

(OSV News) – Catholic aid workers in Gaza are determined to continue their mission after a deadly strike killed colleagues from a fellow organization.

Seven staff members of World Central Kitchen died April 1 when their three-vehicle convoy was hit in an Israeli air attack. The group — comprised of Australian, British, Polish and Palestinian nationals, as well as a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen — had just dropped off more than 100 tons of food stocks to a warehouse in central Gaza.

Israel has admitted responsibility for the internationally condemned deaths, which Israel Defense Forces chief of general staff Herzi Halevi called a “grave mistake” resulting from misidentification of the group. WCK founder José Andrés has said his team was targeted “systematically, car by car.”

Now, “the overall humanitarian community is … reeling from the news of the WCK incident,” said Jason Knapp, country representative for Catholic Relief Services in Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza.

CRS, the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States, provides a range of assistance programs in more than 100 nations. The organization is also a member of Caritas Internationalis, a confederation of over 160 Catholic relief organizations in more than 140 countries that form the official humanitarian arm of the universal Catholic Church.

Founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops in the wake of World War II, CRS is now working to alleviate suffering caused by the Israel-Hamas war, which was sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 ambush — coinciding with a Sabbath and Jewish holiday — on some 22 locations in Israel.

Hamas members gunned down civilians and took 253 hostages, according to Israel, including infants, the elderly and people with disabilities. Following several releases and rescues, some 130 hostages are believed to remain in captivity, with at least 34 believed dead, according to the Israeli Defence Forces.

A New York Times investigation found at least seven locations along the Hamas attack front where Israeli women and girls had been sexually assaulted and mutilated Oct. 7. Returned female hostages have reported sexual abuse while being held by Hamas.

Israel declared war on Hamas Oct. 8, placing Gaza under siege and pounding the region with airstrikes as Hamas returned fire. To date, more than 1,200 in Israel, including at least 30 U.S. citizens, and more than 32,900 in Gaza have been killed, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials respectively. The ensuing humanitarian crisis has left the Middle East “on the verge of the abyss,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.

That crisis is set to be compounded as WCK and other aid agencies have now suspended operations in Gaza after the April 1 strike. U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that more than 200 aid workers have died so far during the war in Gaza.

Knapp, speaking to OSV News from Jerusalem, said that none of CRS’s 45-member Gaza staff have been killed “to date, thankfully.”

One female staffer, a Gaza native and mother of two young children, remains injured within the Holy Family Catholic Church complex in Gaza City, having been wounded during a Dec. 16, 2023 attack on the compound that killed an elderly woman and her daughter. A second CRS staffer is also sheltering at Holy Family, while a third is staying at the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius, said Knapp. The latter church was struck by an Israeli strike in October 2023.

Aid workers are protected under international humanitarian law, and Knapp explained that his team participates in a “humanitarian notification system” to advise the warring parties of CRS Gaza movements.

“There is the ability to notify the Israeli authorities directly or to use a centralized system where basically all humanitarian notifications can go through to the IDF,” Knapp said. “So as CRS, we do use the humanitarian notification system.”

“And then at times, especially if we feel like there are increased risks, we can also notify the Israeli Defense Forces directly through what’s called COGAT (the agency for Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories) to make sure that they’re very aware of our operations and taking appropriate precautions around our staff and our operations,” he said.

Knapp told OSV News he is “amazed every single day by the CRS colleagues who are providing assistance in Gaza.

“The vast majority of our team is Gazan themselves and they are displaced,” he said. “Many of them have had family members lost. They have gone through really immense suffering and yet are finding quite significant hope in being able to serve those who are in need around them, even as they’re in need themselves.”

The CRS Gaza team has “reached about three quarters of a million people since the beginning of the war,” providing “food, cash-based assistance or market-based assistance, blankets and shelter and other types of items to families who need it,” said Knapp.

Most of CRS Gaza’s operations have been forced out of the northern half of Gaza and reestablished in the south, he said.

“We’re working with other actors who are trying to coordinate for the movement of goods into the north, and then basically trying to link them with our partners who are active (there),” so as to ensure “some regularity and sustainability … (in) aid to the north,” Knapp said.

At the same time, a looming invasion of Rafah in the south presents CRS Gaza with another set of challenges, he said.

Along with the “huge, huge concern (of) the protection of civilians,” Knapp said he is troubled by a lack of “plans on the table” about ensuring a steady flow of aid into the area, since the current “pipelines of goods into Gaza … almost all go through areas that would be (within) active military operations.”

Another issue is “the safe and predictable movement of humanitarians in and out of Gaza,” he said. “A lot of NGOs, the U.N. and others are using the Rafah pedestrian crossing to rotate staff into Gaza and out of Gaza.”

Sea and air routes are not viable alternatives for providing “significant amounts of aid,” said Knapp. “We need as many land routes as possible to be functioning at scale.”

Food and emergency shelter are the top aid priorities — and above all, a cessation of hostilities, he said.

“Anytime I talk to a Gazan, they say, ‘Please make the bombs stop. That is by far the most important thing that we need, so we can start building a new life and a future for ourselves,'” said Knapp.

(OSV News) – A new video series featuring several U.S. Catholic bishops will offer what organizers call a “deep dive into the sacred mysteries of the Mass.”

“Beautiful Light: A Paschal Mystagogy,” produced by the National Eucharistic Revival, will be livestreamed on seven consecutive Thursdays from April 4-May 16 at 8 p.m. ET on the revival’s Facebook, YouTube and Instagram channels.

Launched in June 2022, the revival is a three-year grassroots initiative sponsored by the nation’s Catholic bishops to enkindle devotion to the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. The various events and programs of the revival will be capped by the National Eucharistic Congress, which will take place July 17-21 in Indianapolis.

The upcoming video series will be hosted by Sister Alicia Torres, a member of the Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago and part of the revival’s executive team, and National Eucharistic Revival missionary Tanner Kalina.

The episodes, led by various bishops, will survey the central aspects of the Mass as part of what the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1075) calls “liturgical catechesis,” or “mystagogy.”

Derived from the Greek for “being led (or initiated) into the mysteries,” mystagogy has since the early church enabled newly initiated Christians to better understand the sacred mysteries they have just embraced.

The video series is intended for both viewers who are “cradle Catholics” as well as those who “have just entered the church at Easter,” Sister Alicia said in a blog post announcing the series — and the participating bishops will also share their responses to “questions that are pressing on our hearts,” she added.

Along with a better understanding of the Mass, the series aims to help the faithful lead Eucharistic lives, Sister Alicia wrote.

The schedule for the series is as follows:

— Episode 1 (April 4), “Sacrifice” with Archbishop Charles C. Thompson of Indianapolis, who will focus on the offertory of the Mass, explaining how the faithful can unite their own offerings to the total self-gift of Jesus to the Father for the salvation of the world.

— Episode 2 (April 11), “Praise and Thanksgiving” with Bishop Robert J. Brennan of Brooklyn, New York, mystical Body of Christ while offering praise and thanksgiving to God.

— Episode 3 (April 18), “Called to Holiness” with Auxiliary Bishop Gregory W. Gordon of Las Vegas, who will consider the epiclesis prayer, through which the Holy Spirit is invoked to consecrate the bread and the wine — and the faithful.

— Episode 4 (April 25), “Jesus, Lord and Lover of Souls” with Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, and leader of the National Eucharistic Revival on behalf of the U.S. bishops, who will explain the institution narrative, during which the bread and wine are transformed into Christ’s body and blood as the priest speaks Jesus’ words from the Last Supper.

— Episode 5 (May 2), “Paschal Mystery” with Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer of Atlanta, who will speak about the “anamnesis” (Greek for “calling to mind”), also known as the memorial acclamation, and how that sacred remembrance once again makes present the paschal mystery.

— Episode 6 (May 9), “The Body of Christ, the Church” with Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory of Washington, who will explain how the entire mystical body of Christ — those in heaven, on earth and in purgatory — is present at every Mass.

— Episode 7 (May 16), “The Joy of Trinitarian Adoration” with Auxiliary Bishop Joseph L. Coffey of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, who will examine the significance of the Doxology and Great Amen, during which the priest elevates the consecrated host and chalice while proclaiming praise for the Triune God.

More information about the video series, along with links to the platforms on which it will be livestreamed, can be found at the website of the National Eucharistic Revival (https://www.eucharisticrevival.org/post/beautiful-light-a-paschal-mystagogy-live)

(OSV News) – Have you got your glasses?

For those in the path of the April 8 astronomical event dubbed “the Great North American Eclipse” – the total solar eclipse that will occur when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, completely blocking the sun – it’s a question of both practicality and safety. As NASA notes, “When watching the partial phases of the solar eclipse directly with your eyes … you must look through safe solar viewing glasses (‘eclipse glasses’) or a safe handheld viewer at all times.”

The total solar eclipse will be visible only along a slim corridor stretching from Texas to Maine, but a partial eclipse will be visible in other U.S. states. On average, NASA — which will hold a live online broadcast — says about 375 years elapse between the appearance of two total eclipses in the same place.

Father John Kartje – rector and president of the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Illinois, who also holds a doctorate in astrophysics from the University of Chicago – has been fielding a multitude of eclipse inquiries from fellow Catholics.

Those questions, he told OSV News, are sometimes informed by an underlying anxiety, “almost asking about, is there some portent to this or is this a sign – the way a question might have been asked centuries ago.”

Father Kartje stressed that he nonetheless treats such questions with reverence, although none of his petitioners have yet suggested “that we’ve been cursed or something like that.”

Still, dramatic celestial events are easily capable of both unsettling and exhilarating the public, even if they don’t believe an eclipse is an advent of the apocalyptic.

There are at least a couple of ways to think about a solar eclipse, Father Kartje suggested — the physical and the spiritual.

“There’s just the basic astronomical reality,” Father Kartje told OSV News. “The Earth goes around the sun, and there happens to be a large rock that goes around the Earth, we call the moon.” The moon takes about one month — 27.3 days — to orbit Earth. “And so it’s inevitable that every so often, that rock — the moon — is going to get in between our view and the sun.”

“From a physical standpoint, we shouldn’t look at that and say, ‘Oh my goodness — there’s a one in 10 trillion chance that this would ever happen,'” Father Kartje added. “No — it’s exactly the sort of thing that should happen when any one object blocks the view of another object.”

While Father Kartje’s astrophysics training has unquestionably demystified the phenomenon for him, he still admits “it’s an incredibly cool thing, and really just awe-inspiring to see.”

And on a spiritual level?

“We can know, scientifically, that the sun is not particularly extraordinary as stars go,” explained Father Kartje, “but it’s one thing to read that in an astronomy book; it’s another thing to be a little human being on the surface of the Earth in the presence of this extraordinary ball of burning gas, and when that ‘goes out’ — when it’s completely blocked — in a total eclipse, there’s that humbling sense of, these are truly things of cosmic proportion.”

It also can remind us of who put those things in motion in the first place.

“As extraordinary as an eclipse is, it’s simply the natural world behaving in the way the one and only God who created it set it up to behave,” Father Kartje said. “But I think anything that can give us a little jaw-dropping awe and wonder to stop us in our tracks — to quiet and silence the din and buzz of everyday busyness — can be a great opportunity to reflect on God’s grandeur.”

Father Kartje suggests the eclipse is a chance to “spend a little time in quiet contemplation. And if someone is stumped where to start, I’d say go to Psalm 8. Psalm 8 is my favorite psalm about just beholding the wonder of the natural sky — and the psalmist literally says that.”

In Mundelein, he and his St. Mary of the Lake colleagues will experience a deep partial solar eclipse with a 92.7% magnitude. In a solar eclipse, the magnitude is the fraction of the sun’s diameter that is covered by the moon.

“I was just down at NASA headquarters in Huntsville, Alabama,” shared Father Kartje, referring to the Marshall Space Flight Center. “NASA manufactures these little disposable eclipse viewing glasses by the millions, so I came back with an armful of them that I’ll give out.”

In Rochester, New York, the House of Mercy — a homeless shelter and advocacy center founded in 1985 by Sister Grace Miller with help from her order, the Sisters of Mercy — is ensuring their guests and clients can also take part in the landmark astronomical event.

Rochester was named by National Geographic as one of the best cities in which to watch the 2024 eclipse.

“We work with an awful lot of people that don’t have access to many of the things the average person that reads the newspaper and listens to the radio in their car has,” explained Brian Keene, House of Mercy’s building and grounds manager.

Keene – with representatives from 52 other local organizations – is an official Rochester Museum and Science Center-designated “Eclipse Ambassador.”

The museum gave House of Mercy a solar filter-equipped telescope, and staff have distributed more than 70 “eclipse backpacks” stuffed with a commemorative water bottle; two pairs of eclipse glasses; basic scientific information; a blanket; bagged lunch; hygiene supplies; and more.

“Not only is it a great way to include people in the festivities, it’s also a great conversation starter for a street outreach person,” said Keene. “You only have so many introductions — especially if you’re walking up to someone in a tent encampment, or somebody that’s sleeping in the street,” he added. “In our work, that’s our opportunity. Every one of those connections is a chance to get somebody inside and into a program. So these eclipse backpacks are great for that.”

At St. Cecilia Catholic School in Houston — where the sun should appear to be about 93%-95% covered — it’s “Eclipse 2.0,” with more activities planned than the last occurrence.

John Aylor, assistant principal, has been telling St. Cecilia’s 616 pre-Kindergarten through eighth-grade students, “This is your opportunity to see God’s creation in action.”

Mary Margaret Leavitt — St. Cecilia’s STREAM (Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Arts and Math) Integration Teacher — assembled a compendium of different activities recommended by NASA and other institutions, providing a set of resources to teachers.

Eclipse viewing will take place both outdoors and via indoor livestream. Younger grades are learning about physical science to understand the process of what’s happening, while more advanced grades are studying the physics of the phenomenon through shadow and light waves.

“This is a chance for them to see what sort of design, what sort of beauty, is within the world — and just to help incorporate a better understanding of the science behind it all,” said Aylor. “And then, just the historical perspective of it — ‘I was there.’ We took time to learn; we took time to think — and stop and wonder.”

Brother Guy Consolmagno — the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory — told OSV News the April 8 solar eclipse “might be more spectacular than the one in 2017 because the sun is more active right now.”

That said, it’s uncertain if the heavens will cooperate with clear skies.

“What I find particularly spiritual in an eclipse is that we can predict precisely when it will happen — and plan accordingly — but we cannot predict just what it will look like or how we will react,” said Brother Guy. “In that way, it reminds me how God is forever reliable but still always able to surprise us.”

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Multiple states will have measures to expand access to abortion on their ballots in November, a key challenge for pro-life groups in the fall after their losses on similar contests in post-Dobbs elections.

The Florida Supreme Court on April 1 simultaneously ruled that the state’s Constitution does not protect abortion access and allowed a proposed amendment seeking to do so to qualify for the state’s November ballot.

Kelsey Pritchard, state public affairs director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, told OSV News in an interview that while her group celebrates that the Florida Supreme Court upheld abortion restrictions in that state, “at the same time, we recognize that Florida is in real jeopardy of losing those protections through the ballot measure that they also upheld and said would be on the ballot in November.”

“And we really call on Gov. Ron DeSantis, on people in Florida who are pro-life and GOP leaders there to step up, and especially for the governor because he signed both of those bills into law and he needs to be at the forefront of protecting Florida from big abortion’s agenda,” she added in reference to laws limiting abortion signed by DeSantis, a Republican who unsuccessfully sought his party’s nomination for president in 2024.

Maryland and New York also will have efforts to enshrine abortion protections in their state constitutions on the ballot, while efforts for similar amendments to qualify for the ballot are still underway in several states including Arizona and Montana, where closely watched races for the U.S. Senate also will take place.

Ballot measures on abortion proved elusive for the pro-life movement in 2022 and 2023, despite achieving their long-held goal of reversing Roe v. Wade when the U.S. Supreme Court issued its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision, which overturned the 1973 Roe decision and related precedent establishing abortion as a constitutional right, as well as the passage of legislation limiting the procedure in several states as well as new revenue streams of support in some states for women and families facing unplanned pregnancies.

Ohio voters on Nov. 7, 2023, approved a measure to codify abortion access in the state’s constitution, legalizing abortion up to the point of fetal viability — the gestational point at which a baby may be capable of living outside the uterus — and beyond, if a physician decided an abortion was necessary for the sake of the mother’s life or health. The Ohio results were not an outlier, as they followed losses for the pro-life movement when voters in California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Vermont and Kansas either rejected new limitations on abortion or expanded legal protections for it.

Pritchard said, “In addition to Florida, we are involved with Arizona, Arkansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, and South Dakota,” other states where advocates of expanding abortion access also are seeking the requisite number of signatures to qualify for similar ballot measures to amend those states’ constitutions.

Some Democratic strategists have argued those measures could help their efforts in battleground states, as voters even in Republican-leaning states have adopted them.

Asked how the group plans to shift its strategy on abortion ballot measures in the next election cycle, Pritchard said, “What has to be different this time is the level of engagement from GOP leaders, they have to be willing to get into these fights now, and help by raising money and vocally standing in opposition and to really unveil what these measures actually do.”

Pritchard added that opponents of such constitutional amendments need “to expose that the abortion industry is lying in their ads when they say that, if you don’t pass this constitutional amendment women are going to die in your state.”

“That’s a complete lie, because it’s just an obvious truth that every state has a life of the mother provision,” she said.

Although supporters of state-level abortion restrictions note each of those laws passed in the wake of Dobbs contains an exception for circumstances where a pregnancy presents a risk to a woman’s life, critics have pointed to cases where women alleged that the laws in their states forced them to continue pregnancies despite grave risks to their health.

The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred and must be respected from conception to natural death. As such, the church opposes direct abortion as an act of violence that takes the life of the unborn child.

After the Dobbs decision, church officials in the U.S. have reiterated the church’s concern for both mother and child, as well as about social issues that push women toward having an abortion.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Like the women disciples who discovered Jesus had risen from the dead and ran to tell the others, Christians should be filled with such joy at Easter that they cannot help sharing it with others, Pope Francis said.

“The resurrection of Jesus is not just wonderful news or the happy ending of a story, but something that changes our lives completely and forever,” the pope said April 1 as he led the midday recitation of the “Regina Coeli” prayer.

Beginning by wishing visitors in St. Peter’s Square a “Happy Easter,” the pope said the joy of the resurrection is beyond any other joy because “it is the victory of life over death, hope over despondency.”

“Jesus broke through the darkness of the tomb and lives forever. His presence can fill anything with light,” the pope said. “With him, every day becomes a step in an eternal journey, every ‘today’ can hope for a ‘tomorrow,’ every end a new beginning, every instant is projected beyond the limits of time, toward eternity.”

Pope Francis prayed that the peace and hope that flow from the Resurrection would “reach those places where there is greatest need: the people exhausted by war, by hunger, by every form of oppression.”

The Risen Lord told the women and tells Christians today, “Do not be afraid,” he said. “And if Jesus, the conqueror of sin, fear and death, tells us not to fear, then let us not be afraid, let us not settle into a hopeless life, let us not give up the joy of Easter!”

The women’s joy came from encountering the Risen Jesus and sharing the news with others, he said. “So, let us hasten to seek him in the Eucharist, in his forgiveness, in prayer and in lived charity.”

“Joy increases when it is shared,” he said. “Let us share the joy of Risen One.”

SCRANTON – Rectory, Set, Cook! III, an online fundraising event featuring priests from across the Diocese of Scranton, set a record for money raised this year – bringing in $217,715 from 2,586 donors at the close of the competition.

The online contest ran for six weeks during Lent, beginning on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024, and concluding on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.

In all, 37 priests participated in Rectory, Set, Cook! III, filming a total of 30 videos, which were made available for the public to vote for their favorite recipe or video. Many of the priests were joined by guest ‘sous chefs’ which included Catholic school students, faith formation students, parishioners and even three media personalities.

Money raised from this year’s Rectory, Set, Cook! event will benefit anti-hunger and anti-homelessness initiatives of Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Scranton, while also supporting the parishes of the participating pastor chefs.

“Year after year, people tell us how much they love to see their priest participating in this contest. Whether the pastor knows his way around the kitchen or not, people say they love to see them cooking and raising money for charity at the same time,” Sandra Snyder, Diocesan Director of Foundation Relations and Special Events, said. “This year was particularly fun and exciting as we crossed the $200,000 milestone for the first time!”

At the close of the competition on March 26, 2024, the following five teams had raised the most money and have been named the “2024 Top Chefs.”

1. 3 “Villans” + A Sister Act: Monsignor John J. Bendik, Monsignor Vincent Grimalia and Father Charles Cummings from the Villa Saint Joseph, Dunmore
   Total Raised: $28,485
   Recipe: Chicken a la Villa (Chicken a la King)
2. Father Jim Paisley, Pastor, Saint Ann Basilica Parish, Scranton
   Total Raised: $22,192
   Recipe: International Pizza
3. Father Shawn Simchock, Administrator Pro Tem, Saint Ann Parish, Williamsport
   Total Raised: $18,303
   Recipe: Homemade Meatballs
4. Team Bradford County led Father Jose Kuriappilly, Pastor, Saints Peter & Paul Parish, Towanda, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, Wyalusing (with assistance of Father Daniel Toomey, Pastor, Epiphany Parish, Sayre; Father Shinu Vazhakkoottathil, Assistant Pastor, Epiphany Parish; and Father Binesh Kanjirakattu, Assistant Pastor, Good Shepherd Parish, Drums, and Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Parish, Freeland)
   Total Raised: $14,813
   Recipe: Kerala Shrimp Roast and Kerala-Style Chicken Biryani
5. Father Kevin Miller, Pastor, Annunciation Parish, Hazleton
   Total Raised: $13,092
   Recipe: Maureen Miller’s Cranberry Walnut Cake

“We are so very grateful to all those who supported this worthwhile cause,” Monsignor Bendik said. “As priests, each one of us is faithful to what our church teaches us about serving others, especially the hungry and those experiencing homelessness. Every one of us has such a commitment to the poor and it has been inspirational to see the community respond to this year’s competition. What a wonderful gift our whole Diocese is receiving!”

In its inaugural year, 2022, Rectory, Set, Cook! brought in more than $171,000. In 2023, the online culinary competition raised a total of $197,000.

A number of community businesses help to sponsor Rectory, Set, Cook!, including the program’s presenting sponsor, Hawk Family Foundation. All sponsorship dollars raised stay directly with Catholic Social Services to benefit area kitchens, food and clothing pantries, and emergency shelters.

Throughout the 2023 calendar year, Catholic Social Services responded to an increasing need in the community.

For example, Saint Vincent de Paul Kitchen in Wilkes-Barre served 107,832 meals, the Catholic Social Services food pantry in Carbondale served 22,617 individuals, and the Saint Joseph Food Pantry in Hazleton served 5,369 individuals.

The agency plans to use the money raised from Rectory, Set, Cook! to continue to respond to the community’s hunger needs – as well as to help create a new permanent home for Mother Teresa’s Haven, the emergency shelter for the city of Wilkes-Barre.

“After being nomadic since it began in the 1980s, Mother Teresa’s Haven will soon be located above Saint Vincent de Paul Kitchen on East Jackson Street,” Joe Mahoney, Chief Executive Officer of Catholic Social Services, explained. “The more we can provide services in that location, the better off we’re going to be, the better off our clients are going to be, and the better off the community is going to be.”

Recipes featured in Rectory, Set, Cook! III will be available in a cookbook which is available for purchase. Each cookbook costs $15 and can be ordered on the Diocese of Scranton website (dioceseofscranton.org). Cookbooks will be shipped directly to a person’s home upon completion.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Just as Jesus removed the stone that sealed his tomb on the morning of the Resurrection, on Easter Christ alone “has the power to roll away the stones that block the path to life” and which trap humanity in war and injustice, Pope Francis said.

Through his resurrection, Jesus opens “those doors that continually we shut with the wars spreading throughout the world,” he said after celebrating Easter Mass in St. Peter’s Square March 31. “Only the risen Christ, by granting us the forgiveness of our sins, opens the way for a renewed world.”

Seated on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope asked the risen Christ to bring peace in Israel, Palestine and Ukraine and a host of other conflict-ridden regions in the world.

“In calling for respect for the principles of international law, I express my hope for a general exchange of all prisoners between Russia and Ukraine,” he said. “All for the sake of all!”

Pope Francis then appealed to the international community to ensure access of humanitarian aid to Gaza and called for the “prompt release” of hostages taken during Hamas’ attack on Israel Oct. 7 as well as “an immediate cease-fire in the strip.”

“War is always an absurdity, war is always a defeat,” he said, asking that the “strengthening winds of war” do not reach Europe and the Mediterranean. “Let us not yield to the logic of weapons and rearming. Peace is never made with arms, but with outstretched hands and open hearts.”

Easter Mass in the flower-laden square began with the singing of the “alleluia,” traditionally absent from liturgical celebrations during Lent, as part of the rite of “Resurrexit” in which an icon of Jesus is presented to the pope to recall St. Peter’s witness to Christ’s resurrection.

More than 21,000 flower bulbs donated by Dutch flower growers decorated the square and popped with color against the overcast sky.

As is traditional, the pope did not give a homily during the morning Mass but bowed his head and observed several minutes of silent reflection after the chanting of the Gospel in both Latin and Greek.

Although the Vatican said Pope Francis stayed home from a Way of the Cross service at Rome’s Colosseum March 29 “to conserve his health” for the Easter vigil and Mass, the pope appeared in high spirits while greeting cardinals and bishops after the Mass. He spent considerable time riding the popemobile among the faithful, smiling and waving to the throngs of visitors in St. Peter’s Square and lining the long avenue approaching the Vatican.

The Vatican said some 30,000 people attended the pope’s morning Mass and, by noon, there were approximately 60,000 people inside and around St. Peter’s Square for his Easter message and blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world).

U.S. Cardinal James M. Harvey, archpriest of Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, stood alongside Pope Francis for the blessing and announced a plenary indulgence available to those present and to everyone following through radio, television and other channels of communication.

Stopping only occasionally to clear his throat, Pope Francis read the entirety of his Easter message and prayed for peace in several conflict hotspots around the world, including Syria, Lebanon, Haiti, Myanmar, Sudan, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

He also prayed for the Rohingya — a persecuted, predominantly Muslim, ethnic group residing largely in Myanmar — who he said are “beset by a grave humanitarian crisis.”

The pope praised the Western Balkan region’s steps toward European integration, urging the region to embrace its ethnic, cultural and confessional differences, as well as the peace negotiations taking place between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“May the risen Christ open a path of hope to all those who in other parts of the world are suffering from violence, conflict, food insecurity and the effects of climate change. May he grant consolation to the victims of terrorism in all its forms,” he prayed, asking visitors to “pray for all those who have lost their lives and implore the repentance and conversion of the perpetrators of those crimes.”

On Easter, which Pope Francis said celebrates the life given to humanity through the resurrection of God’s son, he lamented “how much the precious gift of life is despised” today.

“How many children cannot even be born?” he asked. “How many die of hunger and are deprived of essential care or are victims of abuse and violence? How many lives are made objects of trafficking for the increasing commerce in human beings?”

“On the day when Christ has set us free from the slavery of death, I appeal to all who have political responsibilities to spare no efforts in combatting the scourge of human trafficking, by working tirelessly to dismantle the networks of exploitation and to bring freedom to those who are their victims,” he said.

Pope Francis also asked that the light of the risen Christ “shine upon migrants and on all those who are passing through a period of economic difficulty” as a source of consolation and hope.

“May Christ guide all persons of goodwill to unite themselves in solidarity, in order to address together the many challenges which loom over the poorest families in their search for a better life and happiness,” he said, praying that the light of the Resurrection “illumine our minds and convert our hearts, and make us aware of the value of every human life, which must be welcomed, protected and loved.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Easter is a promise that no matter how dark the world may seem and no matter how heavy the burdens one carries, victory belongs to the Risen Christ and all who believe in him, Pope Francis said.

“Let us lift our eyes to him and ask that the power of his resurrection may roll away the heavy stones that weigh down our souls,” the pope said in his homily at the Easter Vigil March 30.

“Let us lift our eyes to him, the Risen Lord, and press forward in the certainty that, against the obscure backdrop of our failed hopes and our deaths, the eternal life that he came to bring is even now present in our midst,” he said.

After staying home the night before rather than preside over the Way of the Cross at Rome’s Colosseum, the pope arrived at the basilica in a wheelchair. Although he had to clear his throat several times, he read the entire prepared text of his homily.

During the Mass, two deacons brought a baptismal font to Pope Francis, and he baptized eight adults: four Italians, two South Koreans, a man from Japan and a woman from Albania. He also confirmed them and gave them their first Communion.

The liturgy began in the back of St. Peter’s Basilica, under a tapestry of the Risen Christ, with the blessing of the fire and the lighting of the Easter candle.

Norbertine Brother Gerard P. Juhasz, a deacon from St. Michael’s Abbey in Silverado, California, carried the paschal candle into a darkened St. Peter’s Basilica, chanting three times, “Lumen Christi” (Latin for “the Light of Christ”). After being blessed by Pope Francis, he sang the Exsultet, the solemn Easter proclamation.

In his homily, Pope Francis asked the congregation of about 6,000 people to think about what the women who had gone to Jesus’ tomb to anoint his body must have been thinking and feeling.

“The tears of Good Friday are not yet dried; they are grief-stricken, overwhelmed by the sense that all has been said and done,” the pope said.

And, according to the Gospel of Mark, they are worried about being able to move the stone away so they can anoint Jesus’ body.

“That stone marked the end of Jesus’ story, now buried in the night of death,” the pope said. “He, the life that came into the world, had been killed. He, who proclaimed the merciful love of the Father, had met with no mercy. He, who relieved sinners of the burden of their condemnation, had been condemned to the cross.”

But, Pope Francis said, the stone also represents the weight on the heart of Jesus’ female disciples and the burdens carried by everyone who is grief-stricken and without hope.

“There are times when we may feel that a great stone blocks the door of our hearts, stifling life, extinguishing hope, imprisoning us in the tomb of our fears and regrets, and standing in the way of joy and hope,” he said.

Those “tombstones,” he said, can come with the death of a loved one, a failure to do good, a missed chance to build a more just society and “in all our aspirations for peace that are shattered by cruel hatred and the brutality of war.”

But the Gospel says that when the women “looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back.”

“This is the Pasch of Christ, the revelation of God’s power: the victory of life over death, the triumph of light over darkness, the rebirth of hope amid the ruins of failure,” Pope Francis said. “It is the Lord, the God of the impossible, who rolled away the stone forever.”

“Even now,” the pope said, “he opens our tombs so that hope may be born ever anew. We too, then, should ‘look up’ to him.”

“If we allow Jesus to take us by the hand, no experience of failure or sorrow, however painful, will have the last word on the meaning and destiny of our lives,” he said. “Henceforth, if we allow ourselves to be raised up by the Risen Lord, no setback, no suffering, no death will be able to halt our progress toward the fullness of life.”

“Let us welcome Jesus, the God of life, into our lives, and today once again say ‘yes’ to him,” Pope Francis said. “Then no stone will block the way to our hearts, no tomb will suppress the joy of life, no failure will doom us to despair.”

(OSV News) – A proclamation from the nation’s second Catholic president on a transgender-themed occasion is causing consternation among some faithful, as the date coincides this year with Easter – and as the annual White House Easter egg art contest bans, among other things, religious symbolism.

On March 29, President Joe Biden issued his annual message for the March 31 “International Transgender Day of Visibility,” which he said “honor(s) the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm(s) our Nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect Union.”

The observance was created in 2009 by psychotherapist Rachel Crandall-Crocker, executive director of the advocacy group Transgender Michigan and its Transgender Michigan help line.

Crandall-Crocker recently told NPR that her goal was to create a celebratory day distinct from the Nov. 20 “Transgender Day of Remembrance.” That event was launched in 1999 to “highlight the need for awareness around anti-transgender violence,” founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith explained in a 2012 Huffington Post essay.

At the same time, the White House instructed youth participating in its traditional Easter egg art contest to refrain from designs with “religious symbols” and “overtly religious themes,” as well as “partisan political statements”; hateful and discriminatory material, and “any questionable content.”

Easter, or Pascha, is the chief religious feast in all Christian churches, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead three days after his crucifixion on Good Friday. The tradition of dyed “Easter eggs” is believed to have originated with Persia’s early Christians, as a symbol of Christ’s resurrection, with the custom gradually spreading to the other Eastern and then Western churches.

Easter is a feast whose date is meant to be close to the Jewish feast of Passover — when the Gospels say Jesus’ crucifixion, death and resurrection took place — while also taking place on a Sunday. It changes each year depending on a complex calculation of spring lunar months and the solar calendar. In the Catholic Church and other Protestant churches, Easter is celebrated in 2024 on March 31; most Orthodox churches celebrate Easter on May 5 due to calendar differences.

Biden’s proclamation, the simultaneous dates of Easter and the transgender observance, and the White House contest rules combined to spark outrage on social media.

Among those weighing was Catholic pro-life advocate Lila Rose, who wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, March 30 that the White House “will proudly celebrate the religion of the trans cult, but ban Christian ‘symbols or themes’ on the biggest Christian holiday – Easter.

“Our ‘Catholic’ President cynically uses the faith when convenient as a selling point, and then mocks and denigrates it,” she wrote.

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “‘Being man’ or ‘being woman’ is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity which comes to them immediately from God their Creator. Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity ‘in the image of God.’ In their ‘being-man’ and ‘being-woman,’ they reflect the Creator’s wisdom and goodness.”

In March 2023, the U.S. bishops’ doctrine committee issued a 14-page statement declaring that surgical, chemical or other interventions that aim “to exchange” a person’s “sex characteristics” for those of the opposite sex “are not morally justified.”

“The human person, body and soul, man or woman, has a fundamental order and finality whose integrity must be respected,” said the committee, chaired by Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas. “Because of this order and finality, neither patients nor physicians nor researchers nor any other persons have unlimited rights over the body; they must respect the order and finality inscribed in the embodied person.”

The doctrine committee acknowledged that “many people are sincerely looking for ways to respond to real problems and real suffering.”

Nevertheless, the doctrine committee said that “any technological intervention that does not accord with the fundamental order of the human person as a unity of body and soul, including the sexual difference inscribed in the body, ultimately does not help but, rather, harms the human person.”

In October 2023, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said that “a transsexual — even one who has undergone hormone treatment and gender reassignment surgery — may receive baptism under the same conditions as other faithful,” if it would not cause scandal or confusion among other Catholics.

The dicastery said in the same document that “there is nothing in current universal canonical legislation that prohibits” transgender or other persons who identify as LGBTQ+ from serving as a witness at a Catholic wedding.