Author: Eric Deabill

PITTSTON – On Sunday, December 10 at 3:00 p.m., the parishes of St. John the Evangelist and St. Joseph Marello in Pittston will present “A Christmas Celebration,” a fun, family-friendly Christmas organ concert with guest organist Greg Zelek, principal organist of the Madison Symphony Orchestra in Wisconsin.

The concert will take place at St. John the Evangelist Church, 35 William Street in Pittston, and will feature festive organ music for the Christmas season and the singing of Christmas carols accompanied by Greg on the church’s recently refurbished 1930 Kilgen organ.

Praised as “extraordinary in the classical music world” (Jon Hornbacher, PBS Wisconsin Life) and a “musical star” (Bill Wineke, Channel 3000), Greg Zelek is the Principal Organist of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Curator of the Overture Concert Organ, where he oversees all of the MSO’s organ programming. Since September 2017, Greg has proudly held the Elaine and Nicholas Mischler Curatorship.

In 2016, Greg was chosen by The Diapason magazine as one of the top “20 Under 30” organists, a feature which selects the most successful young artists in the field. He was the First Prize winner in the 2012 Rodgers North American Classical Organ Competition, 2012 West Chester University Organ Competition, and 2010 East Carolina University Organ Competition, as well as the Audience Prize winner of the 2016 Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition. A recipient of the inaugural Kovner Fellowship, Greg received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, as well as an Artist Diploma, from the Juilliard School as a student of Paul Jacobs.

For more information about the concert, please contact Saint John’s organist and director of music, Mike Sowa, at the parish office: 570-654-0053.

(OSV News) – A closer look at the largest survey of U.S. Catholic priests in 50 years has revealed “a major shift in how priests view themselves and their priesthood,” said researchers.

Compared to their older peers, younger priests are far more likely to describe themselves as theologically orthodox or conservative, politically conservative or moderate, and prepared to be “first responders” to the abuse victims they encounter in their ministry. Furthermore, researchers noted “a significant proportion of American priests say that they had ‘personally experienced sexual harassment or abuse or suffered sexual misconduct’ during their formation or time in seminary.”

The findings were detailed in “Polarization, Generational Dynamics, and the Ongoing Impact of the Abuse Crisis: Further Insights from the National Study of Catholic Priests,” a November 2023 report released by The Catholic Project, an initiative from The Catholic University of America designed to foster effective collaboration between the church’s clergy and laity in the wake of the sexual abuse crisis.

The report drew on data collected for The Catholic Project’s landmark “National Study of Catholic Priests,” the results of which were issued in October 2022 and featured responses from 3,516 priests (out of 10,000) across 191 dioceses and eparchies. The national study also included in-depth interviews with more than 100 priests selected from those respondents and a census survey of U.S. bishops that drew 131 responses.

Three themes were the focus of the November 2023 report on that data: polarization, generational dynamics and the ongoing impact of the abuse crisis in the Catholic Church.

Stephen White, executive director of The Catholic Project, told OSV News the research represents an effort “to really understand how our priests are doing … so that we can provide the data that can help bishops and priests.”

He said, “This is really a tool for the edification and help of the church.”

With respect to theology and doctrine, younger priests are far more likely to describe themselves as “conservative/orthodox” or “very conservative/orthodox,” as opposed to “very progressive,” “somewhat progressive” or “middle of the road,” according to the report.

“More than half of the priests who were ordained since 2010 see themselves on the conservative side of the scale,” said the report. “No surveyed priests who were ordained after 2020 described themselves as ‘very progressive.'”

That shift became particularly apparent among the cohort of respondents ordained between 1985-1989, and has continued to the present, according to the report.

One survey respondent quoted anonymously in the report said “priests in their 70s and 60s now would be one cohort,” with a Pope John Paul II generation that “would be very orthodox” with some “freeflowing” liturgical approaches. The respondent broadly characterized priests ordained during Pope Benedict XVI’s papacy as “the hard-on-everything kind of guys,” while “the young guys now … have a lot in common with those last few cohorts.”

The report noted that while theologically “progressive” and “very progressive” priests once made up 68% of new ordinands — the 1965-1969 cohort — it added that number today “has dwindled almost to zero.”

White also told OSV News that as “the priesthood has become more unified over time theologically, it’s become more moderate politically, and it’s become more racially diverse, racially and ethnically diverse over time.”

In fact, the report noted that in contrast to the theological trend among priests, the trend in their political views “seems to have stabilized to include a large proportion of ‘moderates.'”

“While roughly half (52%) of the recently-ordained cohort described themselves as ‘conservative’ or ‘very conservative,’ a full 44% (the highest percentage of any cohort) self-described as ‘moderate,'” said the report.

Yet “it’s important to qualify” such descriptors, said White.

“These are ways that priests themselves chose to describe themselves. And across generations, that changes,” he said, stressing that “context matters.”

“At the Second Vatican Council, Joseph Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) would have fairly been described as sort of a reformer or more progressive relative to his surroundings,” White said. “And without having changed too much 30 years later, he would have been described very differently.”

Additionally, “despite younger age and ordination cohorts trending more conservative/orthodox both politically and theologically, the overwhelming majority of these youngest priests do value accountability to Pope Francis,” who is often regarded as being more liberal than his predecessors, said the report.

The researchers found as well that priests tended to trust bishops whom they perceived to share their theological and political views. Overall, levels of trust expressed by priests in their bishop varied widely among dioceses, from 100% to as low as 9%.

Noting that “the causes and consequences of these shifts” are “no doubt complex,” the report said qualitative interviews with respondents pointed to “two watershed moments” that shape priests’ perception of themselves: the Second Vatican Council and the clergy sexual abuse crisis of 2002.

Regarding the abuse crisis, the report anonymously quoted several respondents ordained after 2002 who indicated they accepted that healing the wounds is essential to their pastoral ministry.

“The Lord intends to use me and my priesthood to help restore this and restore the trust and credibility of the priesthood for people,” said one respondent, while another quoted his seminary rector as saying, “You guys will spend your entire priesthood restoring trust.”

The data showed that “71% of priests report knowing at least one victim-survivor of clergy sexual abuse, with 11% knowing five or more.”

However, priests are also among the victims of sexual abuse with 9% reporting they personally experienced sexual harassment or abuse or suffered sexual misconduct during priestly formation or seminary; another 6% said they were unsure or preferred not to answer.

The majority of priests surveyed (69%) “say that they feel well-prepared to minister to a victim of abuse, and 54% report that they are already doing so,” the report said.

“There’s a sense in which the church in the United States is about two decades ahead of much of the rest of the church in responding to the abuse crisis,” White said.

He and his team found in their report that “against the backdrop of all these challenges, priests remain largely satisfied in their ministry and few (4%) are considering leaving.

“Many of these trends have been decades in the making and show little sign of reversal any time soon. Building trust and restoring confidence begins with mutual understanding,” the report stated. “It is our hope that the data presented here can strengthen that understanding among all Catholics, but particularly for our bishops and priests upon whom so much depends.”

(OSV News) – Ohio voters Nov. 7 approved Issue 1, a measure that will codify abortion access in the state’s constitution through fetal viability, typically understood to be 24 weeks gestation. The loss marks another electoral defeat for anti-abortion ballot measures in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.

With 99% of precincts reporting, Ohio voters passed Issue 1, with 56.6% voting “yes” while 43.4% voted “no.”

The measure, advanced by the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights and Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom, will legalize abortion up to the point of fetal viability – the gestational maturity 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.

Although Ohio lawmakers enacted a six-week abortion ban that is not being enforced amid a legal challenge, the passage of Issue 1 will likely block its implementation.

Supporters of the measure argued it would return the state to the legal standard set prior to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Opponents argued the measure would go further than that through its definition of fetal viability, which states viability would be determined on “a case-by-case basis.”

Some proponents argued that failure to enact the measure could criminalize miscarriage care. In an Oct. 13 statement, the Ohio Catholic Conference pushed back on such claims, arguing that “over thirty Catholic hospitals, providing care to millions of patients in Ohio, affirm their commitment to delivering comprehensive healthcare for women and preborn children during pregnancy complications.”

In a Nov. 7 social media post, Ohio’s Republican Sen. J.D. Vance urged the state to “Vote NO on Issue 1!”

“There’s been a lot of lies out there from the Yes campaign,” Vance wrote. “People do in fact abort healthy late term pregnancies. Issue 1 doesn’t make it illegal to have a miscarriage. Think for yourself and vote no!”

Meanwhile, Ohio’s Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown wrote, “I trust Ohio women to make their own health care decisions and that is a right I will always fight for in the Senate. Vote YES on Issue One.”

Ohio voters previously rejected in August another ballot initiative that would have raised the threshold for passing constitutional amendments to 60% of voters, leaving in place the state’s requirement of 50% plus one vote. That measure, which was seen as a proxy for the November election, would have made passing Issue 1 more difficult.

The election was contentious in the state. In October, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati released a statement saying that “numerous accounts of theft and vandalism have been reported to police at Catholic schools, churches and cemeteries across the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.”

More than a dozen other church properties, Catholic high schools and cemeteries have reported theft of Vote No yard signs, the statement added.

In a Nov. 7 statement, Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr of Cincinnati said, “The people of Ohio missed this important opportunity to demonstrate that the health and safety of women, the fundamental rights of parents, and the lives of preborn children deserve protection.”

“Despite this outcome, we are grateful for all of you who prayed, educated yourselves and others, and voted NO on this horrific amendment,” Archbishop Schnurr said. “And we praise God for the gift of His great love and mercy which He continues to pour out to us in good times and in bad.”

The measure’s passage, he said, “shows that there remains a desperate need for conversion of hearts and minds to a culture of life in our country, one that respects the inherent dignity and sacredness of every human being from conception to natural death.”

“This conversion will only come about through the witness of our earnest prayer and compassionate care for the most vulnerable among us,” he said. “I urge everyone in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati to redouble support for the many Catholic ministries that provide material resources and personal accompaniment to women, children and families so that abortion ceases to be a consideration.”

In a Nov. 7 statement, President Joe Biden praised the outcome as a victory for democracy and “fundamental freedoms.” He said his administration would call on Congress to enact legislation “to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law once and for all.”

“Ohioans and voters across the country rejected attempts by MAGA Republican elected officials to impose extreme abortion bans that put the health and lives of women in jeopardy, force women to travel hundreds of miles for care, and threaten to criminalize doctors and nurses for providing the health care that their patients need and that they are trained to provide,” he said. “This extreme and dangerous agenda is out-of-step with the vast majority of Americans.”

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, which works to elect anti-abortion candidates, said in a statement that “Issue 1 passed because abortion activists and outside Democrat donors ran a campaign of fear to Ohio voters: vote for this ballot measure or women will die.”

“This lie not only deceived voters but put pregnant women at risk by sowing confusion, so much that even the state health department endeavored to set the record straight so women knew they could get care during a miscarriage,” Dannenfelser added. “The truth is that every state in the country with a pro-life law allows for timely and necessary care for pregnant women in an emergency. But abortion activists will continue to lie to voters because it is politically expedient. Without those lies, they can’t push their deeply unpopular agenda of no-limits, painful, late-term abortion on demand.”

Dannenfelser said that there “have been many valuable lessons learned from Issue 1.”

“Moving forward in states where abortion will be on the ballot in 2024, pro-life, pro-woman coalitions will need to devote more resources to compassionate pro-life messages for women and their children, combatting the campaign of fear from the other side,” she said.

In 2022, voters in California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Vermont and Kansas either rejected new limitations on abortion or expanded legal protections for it. Abortion advocates are seeking to hold comparable votes in 2024 in states including Arizona and Florida.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In a celebration of life, peace, joy and harmony, thousands of children representing young people on every continent greeted Pope Francis during an afternoon event in the Vatican’s Paul VI hall.

Children from different parts of the world, such as the Amazon and favelas of Brazil, sang on stage, and Italian pop star Mr. Rain performed his hit single, “Super Heroes.”

The event Nov. 6 was sponsored by the Dicastery for Culture and Education and was attended by more than 6,000 children from different parts of Italy and other parts of the world.

Dedicated to the importance of peace, fraternity and respect for others and creation, the event was titled, “Let Us Learn from Boys and Girls,” to focus attention on children’s simple and sincere desires for peace and harmony in the world.

“There is much to learn from you,” the pope said. “I am always happy when I meet you because you teach me something new every time. For example, you remind me how beautiful life is in its simplicity and how beautiful it is to be together!”

“Two big gifts God has given us,” he said, are life and being together with simplicity.

The pope encouraged the kids to embrace their adolescence, which is “a wonderful age” and to make their thoughts, feelings and experiences heard by adults.

He asked the children to remember all the other kids their age who are suffering from war, hunger, climate disasters and poverty.

“You know there are bad people who do bad things, they make war and destroy. Do you want to do bad things?” the pope asked. After the children yelled, “No!” he asked, “Do you want to help?” to which they replied with enthusiasm, “Yes!”

The pope cut short his prepared speech in order to dedicate more time to questions from the children, who asked him questions about climate change, wars, his friends, his work habits and what he dreams about at night.

“I don’t know what I dream because I am asleep!” he joked as the kids laughed. Sometimes, he said, he dreams about things he remembers when he was a child. “Dreaming is beautiful,” he said, because it shows something alive is stirring inside.

With each question, the pope had a tidbit of wisdom for the kids to remember, making them repeat each phrase a number of times.

His words of advice included: “Whoever destroys the earth, destroys us.” “Take care of nature because nature takes care of us.” “Work gives us dignity.” “Do not waste food.” “Let’s work for peace.” “Peace is made with the heart and an outstretched hand.” “Children’s voices are needed” because “kids are messengers of peace.” “When you are angry, drink a glass of water before you respond.”

When a 9-year-old boy from Syria asked the pope, “Why do they kill kids during a war and no one defends them?” the pope said, “This shows the wickedness of war.”

That innocent civilians and children are killed in wartime, he said, “is cruelty,” and he led the children in praying the Our Father for all children killed in wars.

He urged all the children to work for peace after a 12-year-old girl from Palestine asked whether there would be no more peace if World War III broke out.

“We have to work for peace,” the pope said, asking everyone wave to the girl so she could let the people back in Palestine know that everyone there said “Hello.”

“Peace is beautiful!” the pope said, as the children repeated it loudly.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – God seeks and loves those who are humble because it allows him to be a part of their lives, Pope Francis said.

“This is Christian humility, which is not simply one virtue among others, but the basic disposition of life: believing ourselves to be in need of God, making room for him and putting all our trust in him,” the pope said in his homily Nov. 3.

The pope celebrated a memorial Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for Pope Benedict XVI and the six cardinals and 147 bishops who died over the past year. Eighteen of the bishops were from the United States and five were from Canada. Also included was Australian Cardinal George Pell, former prefect of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy, who died in January in Rome at the age of 81.

Pope Benedict, who died Dec. 31, 2022, reminded everyone “that faith is not primarily an idea to be understood or a moral precept to be followed, but a person to be encountered.” Pope Francis said. “That person is Jesus Christ, whose heart beats with love for us, whose eyes look with pity upon our suffering.”

The Lord is compassionate and “is moved by death, the greatest cause of our suffering,” Pope Francis said. “How important it is to communicate that same look of compassion to all those who grieve for the death of their loved ones!”

The Lord is especially compassionate and close to orphans, widows and “strangers,” those who are “most alone and forsaken, having no one else to trust but God,” the pope said.

“These are the people closest and dearest to the Lord,” he said. “We cannot be close and dear to God if we ignore those who enjoy his protection and preferential love, for one day they will be the ones to welcome us to heaven.”

“It is the humble, the poor in spirit, who reveal to us the ‘littleness’ so pleasing to the Lord, the path that leads to heaven,” he said.

“God loves humility because it permits him to interact with us,” he said.

Pope Francis recalled “the very first words with which Pope Benedict described himself following his election: ‘a humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord.'”

“Indeed, Christians, especially the pope, the cardinals and the bishops, are called to be humble laborers: to serve, not to be served and to put the fruits of the Lord’s vineyard before their own advantage,” he said. “What a fine thing it is to renounce ourselves for the church of Jesus!”

“Let us pray for our beloved, departed brethren. Their hearts were pastoral, compassionate and humble, for the Lord was the center of their lives,” he said. “In him may they find eternal peace.”

More than 20 men and women religious, who are celebrating milestone Ordination anniversaries this year, will be celebrated at the 2023 Jubilee Mass for Women and Men Religious on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, will be the principal celebrant for the celebration at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Scranton at 12:15 p.m.

The Mass will be broadcast live on CTV: Catholic Television of the Diocese of Scranton and livestream links provided on all Diocesan social media platforms.

All people are welcome and encouraged to attend the Cathedral Mass on Nov. 5!

A list of the 2023 Jubilarians is below:

Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (I.H.M.)

80 Years

Sister Jean Toolan, I.H.M.

75 Years

Sister M. Carleen Boehlert, I.H.M.

Sister M. Josaire Brady, I.H.M.

Sister Maureen Cryan, I.H.M.

Sister Mary Jane Maloney, I.H.M.

Sister Mary Joy O’Neill, I.H.M.

Sister Mary Rassley, I.H.M.

Sister M. Mercille Schneider, I.H.M.

60 Years  

Sister Mary Ann Adams, I.H.M. 

Sister Eileen Mary Coleman, I.H.M.

Sister Dolores Dunn, I.H.M.

Sister Marianne Knight, I.H.M.

Sister Theresa Petz, I.H.M.

Sister Miriam Joseph Reinhardt, I.H.M.                                                                             

50 Years

Sister Joyce Marks, I.H.M.

 

Sisters of Mercy of the Americas (R.S.M.)

80 Years  

Sister Stephanie Olek, R.S.M.

75 Years                                                                                                                                              

Sister Giuseppe DaBella, R.S.M.

Sister Anne Fleming, R.S.M.  

Sister Linus Loesch, R.S.M.                            

Sister Benedict Joseph Watters R.S.M.

70 Years   

Sister Agnes Therese Brennan, R.S.M.                                                                                         

Sister Ellen Mary Bringenberg, R.S.M. 

Sister Jane Frances Kennedy, R.S.M.

60 Years

Sister Elizabeth Ann Brody, R.S.M.

Sister Kathleen Mary Smith, R.S.M.

 

Sisters of Christian Charity (S.C.C.)

70 Years

Sister Verna Marie Stopper, S.C.C.

 

Oblates of Saint Joseph (O.S.J.)

70 Years

Reverend Raymond Tabone, O.S.J.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – A rule proposed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace,” would govern the implementation of federal law on harassment and associated nondiscrimination policies.

However, the U.S. Catholic bishops and other religious organizations have argued that the way the rule defines “pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions” to include abortion could result in pro-life views leading to a harassment charge.

The proposed guidance on workplace harassment seeks to protect employees from harassment based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age or genetic information, according to the Biden administration and the EEOC.

The rule, published for public inspection Oct. 2, states that “sex-based harassment” also includes harassment based on “pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions” which it defines as inclusive of “current pregnancy, past pregnancy, potential pregnancy, lactation (including breastfeeding and pumping), use of birth control, menstruation, infertility and fertility treatments, endometriosis, miscarriage, stillbirth, or having or choosing not to have an abortion, among other conditions.”

EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows said in a Sept. 29 statement announcing the proposed guidance that “preventing and addressing harassment in America’s workplaces has long been a key priority for the EEOC, and this guidance will provide clarity on new developments in the law and build on the Commission’s previous work.”

“The Commission looks forward to receiving public input on the proposed enforcement guidance,” Burrows said.

In an Oct. 27 letter to the EEOC, representatives of the bishops’ conference argued that “references to abortion in the harassment guidance are problematic and should be removed.”

“Opposition to abortion (including speech opposing abortion) is not sexual harassment because it is not based on sex,” the letter said.

“We encourage speech on abortion and other moral issues that is respectful, courteous, and constructive,” it said. “It is reasonable for employers and employees to insist upon civility and non-disruption in the workplace as a general matter. But on issues that involve no protected category, such as abortion, Title VII itself is silent and therefore has no role.”

In a message to its supporters, the USCCB urged the public to comment in opposition to the rule. The comment period was to close Nov. 1.

“It is good that we have laws prohibiting harassment in the workplace,” the bishops’ message said. “But speech expressing moral opposition to abortion, contraception, or same-sex unions, or speech that refers to people by their actual sex, is not harassment.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – A report summarizing discussions at the assembly of the Synod of Bishops said the church may need more welcoming pastoral approaches, especially to people who feel excluded, but also acknowledged fears of betraying traditional church teachings and practices.

Among the topics addressed in the report were clerical sexual abuse, women’s roles in the church, outreach to poor and the concept of “synodality” itself.

The assembly, with 364 voting members – 365 counting Pope Francis – met in working sessions six days a week Oct. 4-28 after a three-day retreat outside of Rome. They were scheduled to join the pope Oct. 29 for the assembly’s closing Mass.

After the voting on the synthesis concluded, the pope said he wanted to remind everyone that “the protagonist of the synod is the Holy Spirit.” He briefly thanked the synod officers and joined members of the assembly in giving thanks to God.

The assembly’s discussions set the stage for a year-long period of reflection that will culminate in the second and final synod assembly in late 2024 on the same topic.

The 41-page synthesis report, voted on paragraph-by-paragraph Oct. 28, described its purpose as presenting “convergences, matters for consideration and proposals that emerged from the dialogue” on issues discussed under the headings of synodality, communion, mission and participation.

Every item in the report was approved by at least two-thirds of the members present and voting, synod officials said. They published a complete list of the votes.

Within the synod topics, members looked at the role of women in the church, including in decision making, and at the possibility of ordaining women deacons. The report asked for more “theological and pastoral research on the access of women to the diaconate,” including a review of the conclusions of commissions Pope Francis set up in 2016 and 2020.

The paragraph, one of several on the theme of women deacons, was approved 279-67, which was more than the needed two-thirds support but still garnered among the highest negative votes.

Among members of the assembly, the report said, some thought the idea of women deacons would be a break with tradition, while others insisted it would “restore the practice of the Early Church,” including at the time of the New Testament, which mentions women deacons.

“Others still, discern it as an appropriate and necessary response to the signs of the times, faithful to the Tradition, and one that would find an echo in the hearts of many who seek new energy and vitality in the Church,” it said. But, the report added, some members thought that would “marry the Church to the spirit of the age.”

The paragraph on how different members explained their support of or opposition to women deacons also was approved by more than two-thirds of the voting members, but it received more negative votes than any other item, passing 277 to 69.

Assembly members also discussed pastoral approaches to welcoming and including in the life of parishes people who have felt excluded, including the poor, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ Catholics and Catholics whose marriages are not recognized by the church.

The synthesis report did not use the term “LGBTQ+” or even “homosexuality” and spoke only generally of issues related to “matters of identity and sexuality.”

Jesuit Father James Martin, a synod member involved in outreach to LGBTQ+ Catholics, told Catholic News Service, “From what I understand, there was too much pushback to make using the term ‘LGBTQ’ viable, even though it was contained in the ‘Instrumentum Laboris,'” or synod working document.

“This opposition came up often in the plenary sessions, along with others who argued from the other side, that is, for greater inclusion and for seeing LGBTQ people as people and not an ideology,” he said.

The synthesis said that “to develop authentic ecclesial discernment in these and other areas, it is necessary to approach these questions in the light of the Word of God and Church teaching, properly informed and reflected upon.”

“In order to avoid repeating vacuous formulas, we need to provide an opportunity for a dialogue involving the human and social sciences, as well as philosophical and theological reflection,” it added.

The divergences in the assembly, it said, reflected opposing concerns: that “if we use doctrine harshly and with a judgmental attitude, we betray the Gospel; if we practice mercy ‘on the cheap,’ we do not convey God’s love.”

Still, it said, “in different ways, people who feel marginalized or excluded from the Church because of their marriage status, identity or sexuality, also ask to be heard and accompanied. There was a deep sense of love, mercy and compassion felt in the Assembly for those who are or feel hurt or neglected by the Church, who want a place to call ‘home’ where they can feel safe, be heard and respected, without fear of feeling judged.”

The report emphasized the “listening” that took place on the local, national and continental levels before the assembly and the “conversations in the Spirit” that took place during it, which involved each person speaking in his or her small group, other participants at first commenting only on what struck them, silent reflection and then discussion.

In several places throughout the report, assembly members insisted that greater efforts must be made to listen to the survivors of clerical sexual abuse and those who have endured spiritual or psychological abuse.

“Openness to listening and accompanying all, including those who have suffered abuse and hurt in the Church, has made visible many who have long felt invisible,” it said. “The long journey toward reconciliation and justice, including addressing the structural conditions that abetted such abuse, remains before us, and requires concrete gestures of penitence.”

Members of the assembly said the process helped them experience the church as “God’s home and family, a Church that is closer to the lives of her people, less bureaucratic and more relational.”

However, it said, the terms “synodal” and “synodality,” which “have been associated with this experience and desire,” need further clarification, including theological clarification and, perhaps, in canon law.

Some participants, it said, questioned how an assembly where about 21% of participants were lay women, lay men, religious and priests could be termed a Synod of Bishops.

The report also acknowledged fears, including that “the teaching of the Church will be changed, causing us to depart from the Apostolic faith of our forebears and, in doing so, betraying the expectations of those who hunger and thirst for God today.”

In response, though, assembly members said, “We are confident that synodality is an expression of the dynamic and living Tradition.”

“It is clear that some people are afraid that they will be forced to change; others fear that nothing at all will change or that there will be too little courage to move at the pace of the living Tradition,” the report said.

“Also,” it added, “perplexity and opposition can sometimes conceal a fear of losing power and the privileges that derive from it.”

Members of the assembly described the synodal process as being “rooted in the Tradition of the Church” and taking place in light of the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, particularly its emphasis on “the Church as Mystery and People of God, called to holiness.”

Synodality, they said, “values the contribution all the baptized make, according to their respective vocations,” and thus “constitutes a true act of further reception of the Council.”

The report also insisted the purpose of synodality is mission.

“As disciples of Jesus, we cannot shirk the responsibility of demonstrating and transmitting the love and tenderness of God to a wounded humanity,” the report said.

Throughout the synod process, the report said, “many women expressed deep gratitude for the work of priests and bishops. They also spoke of a Church that wounds. Clericalism, a chauvinist mentality and inappropriate expressions of authority continue to scar the face of the Church and damage its communion.”

“A profound spiritual conversion is needed as the foundation for any effective structural change,” it said. “Sexual abuse and the abuse of power and authority continue to cry out for justice, healing and reconciliation.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis asked Mary to look mercifully upon the human family, “which has strayed from the path of peace,” and entrusted to her protection the world’s regions and nations at war.

“Queen of Peace, you suffer with us and for us, as you see so many of your children suffering from the conflicts and wars that are tearing our world apart,” the pope said during a prayer service for peace in St. Peter’s Basilica Oct. 27.

“At this dark hour — this is a dark hour, mother — we submerge ourselves in your luminous eyes, we entrust ourselves to your heart, sensitive to our problems,” he said, looking at an icon of Mary.

With a black-beaded rosary in hand, Pope Francis prayed with cardinals, bishops and delegates of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops, recalling Mary’s strength and initiative from several Gospel scenes — the visitation, the wedding feast at Cana, Jesus’ passion and resurrection.

“Now, mother, once more take the initiative for us, in these times rent by conflicts and waste by the fire of arms,” the pope said. “Teach us to cherish and care for life — each and every human life! — and to repudiate the folly of war, which sows death and eliminates the future.”

Pope Francis asked Mary to “touch the hearts of those imprisoned by hatred, convert those who fuel and foment conflict.”

“Queen of all peoples, reconcile your children, seduced by evil, blinded by power and hate,” he said.

The pope also asked her to care for the victims of war: children, the elderly and isolated, the sick and wounded and those forced to abandon their homeland and loved ones due to conflict.

“To you we consecrate our world, especially those countries and regions at war,” the pope said without naming any particular nation or region. “To you we consecrate the church, so that in her witness to the love of Jesus before the world, she may be a sign of harmony and an instrument of peace.”

Present on the altar was icon of Mary, “Salus Populi Romani,” which has been present on the stage of the Vatican audience hall where the assembly of the synod on synodality has been held.

Among the cardinals present for the ceremony was Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, the pope’s Ukraine peace envoy and a synod delegate. Ambassadors to the Holy See from many nations also attended.

On the eve of the last working day of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops, Pope Francis asked Mary to “help us preserve unity in the church and to be artisans of communion in our world.”

“Make us realize once more the importance of the role we play,” he said, “strengthen our sense of responsibility for the cause of peace as men and women called to pray, worship, intercede and make reparation for the whole human race.”

After Pope Francis’ prayer for peace, the Eucharist was exposed on the basilica’s main altar, and a moment for silent prayer in adoration was observed.

Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, led benediction, blessing the people gathered in the basilica by making the sign of the cross with the monstrance, praying “let us adore with living faith the holy mystery of your body and your blood.”