VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Exchanging Christmas gifts and organizing holiday parties are all well and good, but Christians should contemplate the scene of Jesus’ birth to recover what is truly important during the Christmas season, Pope Francis said.

At his weekly general audience Dec. 20, just five days before Christmas, the pope told people that “the risk of losing what matters in life is great, and paradoxically increases at Christmas.”

A Nativity scene donated by the Catholic University of St. Teresa of Avila in Spain is on display as part of the “100 Nativity Scenes at the Vatican” exhibit under the colonnade in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Dec. 20, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

“The atmosphere of Christmas is changing,” he said. “It’s true, if people want to give presents, that’s good, but with the frenzy of shopping, ‘go, go, go,’ this pulls one’s attention somewhere else, and there is not that simplicity of Christmas.”

For people caught up in the holiday rush, “there is no interior space for wonder” before the mystery of Jesus’ birth, but “only to organize parties,” he said.

Organizing parties is fine, “but with what spirit do I do that?” he encouraged people to ask.

After a band performed Christmas songs using traditional wooden instruments, Pope Francis entered the Paul VI Audience Hall using a cane. He read most of his lengthy catechesis, often departing from his prepared text to speak off-the-cuff and only occasionally pausing to catch his breath.

Recalling the first Nativity scene — a live one — staged by St. Francis of Assisi 800 years ago in Greccio, Italy, the pope said that the Nativity scenes being prepared by Christians around the world should provoke a sense of amazement in the humility of a God who became human.

“If we Christians look at the Nativity as something nice, something historic, even religious, and pray, that is not enough,” he said. “Before the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word, before the birth of Jesus, one needs a religious attitude of wonder. If I, before the mysteries, don’t arrive at this wonder, my faith is simply superficial.”

The Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican this year is a recreation of St. Francis’ original Nativity scene and includes a figure of the saint and three other Franciscan friars, including a Franciscan priest celebrating Mass, just as one of St. Francis’ confreres did in the cave near Greccio on Christmas Eve in 1223.

St. Francis created the first Nativity scene “to bring us back to what matters: to God coming to live among us. That’s why it is important to look at the Nativity scene,” the pope said. He also highlighted how the many figures often included in Nativity scenes — Mary, St. Joseph, local herders and other figures close to Jesus — convey how God puts “people before things.”

“So often we put things before people; this doesn’t work,” the pope said.

Nativity scenes also depict great joy, he said, but that “is different than having fun.”

“Having fun is not a bad thing if it is done in the right way, it’s something human,” he said, “but joy is even more profound, more human, and sometimes there is the temptation to have fun without joy.”

The pope read an account of those who attended the first Nativity scene in Greccio and “returned home with an ineffable joy.” Such joy, he said, did not come from bringing home gifts or attending lavish parties, “no, it was the joy that overflows from the heart when one touches the closeness of Jesus, the tenderness of God who does not leave one alone but consoles them.”

“If before the Nativity scene we entrust to Jesus all that we have in our hearts, we too will feel a great joy,” he said, encouraging people to go to a Nativity scene, “look, and let yourself feel something in your heart.”

Pope Francis ended his audience by asking people not to forget those who suffer because of war, particularly those in Palestine, Israel and Ukraine.

“Let us think of the children in war, the things they see; let us go to the Nativity scene and ask Jesus for peace,” the pope said. “He is the prince of peace.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican City State criminal court sentenced Cardinal Angelo Becciu to five years and six months in prison on two counts of embezzlement and one of aggravated fraud but found him not guilty of abuse of office or witness tampering.

The 75-year-old cardinal’s attorney, Fabio Veglione, told reporters his client would appeal.

Venerando Marano, Giuseppe Pignatone and Carlo Bonzano, judges of the Vatican City State court, read their verdict in the trial of Cardinal Angelo Becciu and nine others on charges of financial malfeasance Dec. 16, 2023, in a makeshift courtroom at the Vatican Museums. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

The three-judge panel of the Vatican court handed down the verdicts late Dec. 16. In addition to Cardinal Becciu, five other people were sentenced to jail time ranging from three years to seven years and were ordered to pay the Vatican millions of dollars in damages.

Pending appeal, none of the six people given jail terms were taken into custody.

Only one of the 10 defendants, Msgr. Mauro Carlino, the former secretary of then-Archbishop Becciu when he served as “sostituto,” the No. 3 position in the Vatican Secretariat of State, was found not guilty of all charges.

Enrico Crasso, a long-time investment manager who often worked with the Vatican, received the stiffest sentence: seven years in jail.

René Brülhart and Tommaso di Ruzza, respectively former president and former director of the Vatican’s financial watchdog agency, now known as the Supervisory and Financial Information Authority, were “absolved” of the charge of abuse of office but were found guilty of negligence for not reporting a suspect financial operation. They each were fined 1,750 euros ($1,900).

The trial revolved around the Vatican’s investment in a property in London’s chic Chelsea district. But the way the deal was structured and restructured ended up costing the Vatican as much as $200 million. Cardinal Becciu was the No. 3 official at the Vatican Secretariat of State when the property deal, using money invested by the secretariat, was first made in 2014.

The cardinal and three others — Raffaele Mincione, Fabrizio Tirabassi and Enrico Crasso — were found guilty of embezzlement for taking $200.5 million from the Secretariat of State’s investment fund — a third of the entire fund — and investing it with Athena Capital Commodities.

The court described the fund as being “highly speculative” and risky, which violated Vatican guidelines and canon law on the use of church funds.

Mincione, who ran Athena Capital, was found guilty of money laundering for using the Vatican funds to buy the London property, but the court said Cardinal Becciu, Tirabassi and Crasso were not responsible for the London property disaster because they had no control over the money once it was invested with Athena.

The cardinal also was accused of embezzling money that he gave to a Caritas project run by his brother in Sardinia and for aggravated fraud for giving more than 570,000 euros of Vatican money to a woman named Cecilia Marogna, who claimed she could help win the release of a nun kidnapped in Mali.

Marogna was found guilty of being complicit in the aggravated fraud and was sentenced to three years and nine months in jail.

Nicola Squillace, a Milan-based lawyer who helped broker the London property deal, was given a 22-month suspended sentence.

The Vatican tribunal said it would confiscate the equivalent of about $181 million from those found guilty and ordered them to pay another $218 million in damages to the Secretariat of State, the Vatican bank, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, and Supervisory and Financial Information Authority.

The verdicts were announced two and a half years after the trial began; 86 courts sessions were held with more than 600 hours of testimony by some 69 witnesses. Hundreds of thousands of pages of documents, emails, text messages and transcripts of phone conversations were entered into evidence.

All together, 10 people and four companies had been charged with 49 crimes including bribery, embezzlement, abuse of office, money laundering, fraud and, in Cardinal Becciu’s case, witness tampering, a charge for which the court said it found no evidence.

In April 2021, the pope updated the laws governing the Vatican’s civil judicial system, stating that cardinals and bishops accused of a crime could be tried in a Vatican court, which, as it turned out, paved the way for the indictment three months later against Cardinal Becciu.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Christmas season is a reminder to Christians that despite hardships, God chose to join himself to humanity and still remains by its side, Pope Francis said.

“Christmas is a reminder that God loves us and wants to be with us,” the pope told a group of children at the Vatican Dec. 15 during a meeting with representatives from the Italian Catholic Action movement.

Pope Francis receives a small Nativity scene from a child during a meeting with the Italian Catholic Action movement at the Vatican Dec. 15, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

The Incarnation, he said, “is a stupendous gift, and it brings with it another: that we may also love one another as brothers and sisters.”

“How much we need this today,” he added, “so many people, so many children suffer because of war.”

The children, who came from 14 dioceses across Italy, brought with them large paper stars to remember the children who have died from conflicts.

Pope Francis recalled that more than 3,000 children have died in Gaza since the outbreak of war in the Holy Land, as well as the more than 500 children that have died in Ukraine and the thousands that died during the years of war in Yemen.

“Their memory, in turn, invites us to be lights for the world, to touch the hearts of many people, especially those who can stop the whirlwind of violence,” the pope said.

He added that only by loving God and loving one another “can the world rediscover the light and the peace that it needs” and which was proclaimed by the angels who announced Jesus’ birth.

As a Christmas gift, the children gave the pope sleeping bags and personal hygiene products to be given to the papal almoner and donated to people in need.

Later in the day, the pope met with the organizers of a Christmas concert hosted at the Vatican for people in need.

“With music you present a moment of encounter, of sharing,” he told them. “In a word: fraternity. This is very consistent with the message of Christmas.”

Reflecting on the concert’s title, “Christmas Concert with the Poor and for the Poor,” the pope said moving from an attitude of being “for” the poor to one of being “with” the poor is key.

“One starts from the ‘for’ but wants to reach the ‘with,’ and this is very Christian,” he said. “God came for us, but how? In what way? By coming to live with us, by even becoming like us.”

Although the mystery of the Incarnation “leaves us without words,” Pope Francis said “we can experience it in the encounter with the other that is different than myself: when my giving something to him or her becomes a receiving, it becomes a sharing, it becomes friendship.”

The pope encouraged the organizers to pray so that they may be moved from an attitude of “for” to one of “with,” because “music is not enough, lights are not enough, decorations are not enough, no, it takes prayer.”

The concert, in its fourth edition, was set to take place in the Paul VI Audience Hall Dec. 15. The orchestra and chorus of Rome’s opera theater were scheduled to perform classics by Mozart, Rossini and Tchaikovsky, as well as Christmas songs such as “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World.”

 

On Monday, December 18, 2023, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued the Declaration, “Fiducia Supplicans” (“Supplicating Trust”) which was approved by Pope Francis.

In response to the Declaration’s release, the Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, issued the following statement:

“With the approval of Pope Francis, the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith issued the Declaration, Fiducia Supplicans, on Monday, December 18, 2023. The Declaration clarifies that there are forms of blessings within the Church and recounted throughout the Sacred Scriptures, which are ‘poured out on others as a gesture of grace, protection, and goodness’ (18).

“The Diocese of Scranton is guided by the teachings of the Holy Father, and I invite all people of good will to join me in reading, praying, and reflecting upon the new Declaration, which carefully distinguishes between liturgical (sacramental) blessings and pastoral blessings, which may be spontaneous or personal.

“As evangelizers, we desire to bring the love and Good News of Jesus to every person, yet we know many people struggle to encounter God in their lives for one reason or another. Blessings, therefore, offer all people ‘an invitation to draw ever closer to the love of Christ.’ (44)

“The Declaration is very clear that the Church’s teaching on marriage has not changed – clearly upholding the sacrament of marriage as between a man and a woman – and is also specific regarding the possibility and context of blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex.

“As the Declaration states, ‘this blessing should never be imparted in concurrence with the ceremonies of a civil union, and not even in connection with them. Nor can it be performed with any clothing, gestures, or words that are proper to a wedding,’ adding, ‘such a blessing may instead find its place in other contexts, such as a visit to a shrine, a meeting with a priest, a prayer recited in a group, or during a pilgrimage’ (39-40).

“The pastoral sensitivity being shown by Pope Francis in this new Declaration is evident and most understandable as it states, ‘when people ask for a blessing, an exhaustive moral analysis should not be placed as a precondition for conferring it. For those seeking a blessing should not be required to have prior moral perfection’ (25). To the contrary, the Declaration is intended ‘as a tribute to the faithful People of God, who worship the Lord with so many gestures of deep trust in his mercy and who, with this confidence, constantly come to seek a blessing from Mother Church.’

“May this Declaration enable all of us who seek to walk by faith to feel the closeness and compassion of God.”

 

SCRANTON – As he celebrated Masses for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in both Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, told parishioners it is Mary’s journey of faith that can help each of us embrace the power and presence of God.

“Following her election by God to be the mother of the Savior, Mary immediately journeyed to visit Elizabeth. But her willingness to follow God’s invitation didn’t end with that encounter. She journeyed to Bethlehem where her son was born and then to Egypt to keep him safe for his mission. She journeyed to Cana where Jesus performed the first sign revealing his glory and then she followed Jesus all the way to the cross. And after Jesus’ resurrection, Mary journeyed with his disciples to receive the Spirit and to build the Church – the redeemed People of God,” Bishop Bambera said.

A statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary is carried into the Cathedral of Saint Peter during the entrance procession of the Mass in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe. (Photos/Mike Melisky)

The bishop said Mary’s journey continued well beyond the earliest days of the Church.

“She journeyed all the way to Tepeyac to accompany Juan Diego. And she continues to this very day – to journey throughout our world, assisted by your prayers and devotions. She journeys to homes and prison cells, to hospital rooms, schools, rest homes, and even to our borders with those seeking refuge, safety, and peace,” he continued.

It is the appearance nearly five centuries ago, Dec. 9, 10, and 12, 1531 in Tepeyac, near present-day Mexico City, when God sent Mary as his messenger appearing before Blessed Juan Diego, an Aztec Indian, that brings out hundreds of people to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in parishes all around the Diocese of Scranton. The Blessed Mother’s appearance is believed to have resulted in millions of conversions to Catholicism.

The Cathedral of Saint Peter was nearly filled on Dec. 10 for a Mass organized by Saint Teresa of Calcutta Parish in South Scranton.

On Dec. 12, hundreds of others participated in a procession through the streets of Wilkes-Barre, ending with Mass celebrated at Saint Nicholas Church.

“She brings all of our communities together, especially with people coming from different countries,” Karla Andrade of Saint Theresa of Calcutta Parish said.

While the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is especially important to members of the Latino and Hispanic populations, she is the Patroness of the Americas, and we should all celebrate her.

“I feel so happy to be part of this celebration,” Wenceslao De La Cruz of Scranton said following Mass on Dec. 10 at the Cathedral of Saint Peter.

“It is something that is truly embedded into our communities, our homes, it is a huge celebration,” Jenny Gonzalez of Scranton said. “It’s a day when a lot of people gather together. They will pray and show a lot of gratitude but it’s also a day when they genuinely ask Our Lady of Guadalupe for something special for their families.”
Gonzalez really enjoyed watching all the young people take part in the Mass and reception which followed at the Diocesan Pastoral Center which featured music and dancing.

“It is really an important day not only for our community but also for our diocese,” she added.

Parishes in Brodheadsville, East Stroudsburg, Hazleton, Jermyn, Meshoppen, Plains and West Hazleton also held Feast Day celebrations.

LAFLIN – Nearly 200 people from across the Diocese of Scranton gathered together Nov. 18 to hear speakers Rhonda Gruenewald and Leticia Ramirez teach them how to foster vocations in our parishes.

Pastors first heard from Gruenewald at the annual Priest Convocation in October and were encouraged to invite parishioners to the Hundredfold Vocation Ministry workshops given in English and Spanish at Saint Maria Goretti Parish in Laflin.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, led parishioners in prayer before the sessions began for the day. Rev. Alex Roche, Diocesan Vocation Director, then celebrated Mass and offered a commissioning prayer for the future vocation promoters present at the event.

Gruenewald, a Houston-based convert to Catholicism and founder of Vocation Ministry, shared the story of how her priest asked her and her husband to be part of their parish’s vocations committee. In turn, she said the nearly 200 parishioners in attendance at the workshop are now being called to do the same.

Once Gruenewald had established a foundation for vocation work in her parish, she was called to develop a plan to bring this ministry to the Diocese of Houston and now, after the release of her first book, Hundredfold: A Guide to Parish Vocation Ministry, to dioceses across the country.

At the Diocese of Scranton’s Hundredfold workshop, parishioners were given the tools to create an action plan for creating vocation-friendly parishes, discover programming opportunities offered by the Diocesan Vocations Office, and discuss possibilities for future vocation initiatives.

Gruenewald suggested that parishes host holy hours for vocations, encourage youth in the parish to write cards to their pastor for his ordination anniversary, implement a Traveling Chalice program, adopt a seminarian in prayer, and much more to promote vocations at the parish level.

Parishioners were also encouraged to promote Vocations Office events such as Quo Vadis Days, monthly XLT, and World Day of Prayer for Vocations.

To find out how you can help promote vocations in your parish and become part of this diocesan-wide ministry, please email vocations@dioceseofscranton.org or visit www.dioceseofscranton.org/vocations.

NANTICOKE – A beloved holiday tradition at Saint Faustina Kowalska Parish will continue this weekend as the play ‘Miracle at Bethlehem’ returns for a two-night showing.

The play, which depicts the birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ, will be performed on Saturday, Dec. 16, and Sunday, Dec. 17, at 7 p.m. at the Saint Faustina Cultural Centre, 38 W. Church Street, Nanticoke. All are welcome to attend. A free will offering will be taken.

“The way the play is performed by the cast, they believe in it, and it draws everyone into the story,” director Judy Minsavage said.

Father Brian Van Fossen, pastor, said the play helps the community relate to Jesus’ birth in a new way, as opposed to simply reading about it in Scripture.

“When you see it actually lived out and you see people actually being part of that story, it really enters you into that story,” Father Van Fossen explained. “Whether you can relate to Joseph and Mary wandering the streets or whoever has a grasp on your imagination and allows you to realize that Jesus was real.”

The presentation of the ‘Miracle at Bethlehem’ involves dozens of cast members and crew who handle lighting, sound and serve as ushers.

“The parish community works so hard at making sure the play is put forward and put forward in such a beautiful way,” Father Van Fossen added.

In years past, the play was performed at the beginning of December, but this year, it is being held closer to Christmas itself to help the audience enter into the true meaning of the holiday.

“Being closer to Christmas this year, I think the hustle and bustle of the Christmas holiday will be at its end and everyone will be ready to get into the real meaning (of the holiday) and how they really want to celebrate the birth of Christ,” Minsavage said.

With Hallmark Christmas movies beginning in the summer and Christmas music on the radio beginning just after Thanksgiving, Father Van Fossen believes the play, so close to Christmas, will help people to recognize the gift God gave to all of us.

“What this play allows us to do is break from that commercialism – to break from television and electronics – and to really ‘smell the hay’ and really allow those moments to really penetrate our lives,” he said.

SCRANTON — The beginning of the new liturgical year in the Catholic Church brought about new beginnings for six parishes in Scranton’s south and west sides.

Following a thorough period of discussion and consultation through the Vision 2030 Pastoral Planning Process, the parish communities of Saint John Neumann and Saint Paul of the Cross in South Scranton were consolidated on Nov. 26. The parish consolidations of Saint Ann Basilica and Saints Peter & Paul, West Scranton; and Saint Patrick and Saint Lucy, West Scranton, became official on Dec. 3.

Beginning in September, the four West Scranton parishes entered into two separate linkages, each shepherded by one pastor. The two South Scranton parishes linked in 2021.

Based on the Vision 2030 Process of examination of demographic changes in the communities, Mass attendance, sacramental participation, financial obligations and the availability of clergy, recommendations were proposed to create three parishes out of the previous six independent entities.

The consolidation of the two large South Scranton parishes has resulted in a new identity for the worship sites of Nativity of Our Lord Church, located at 633 Orchard St., and Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary Church, 1217 Prospect Ave., as the former parishes are now united under the new name of Saint Teresa of Calcutta Parish.

“United as one community of faith there is so much we can do together,” Father Jonathan Kuhar, pastor of the new parish under the patronage of the renowned saint of modern times, proclaimed in the inaugural parish bulletin on the Feast of Christ the King. “Let us begin this work by imagining new ways of being community to each other and creative ways of doing the work of discipleship in the world.”

Sunday Mass times at the parish churches are as follows: Nativity of Our Lord, 9:30 and 11 a.m.; Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary, 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. (Spanish).

Sacred Hearts Church serves as the site for the weekday morning Masses, Tuesday thru Friday, at 8 a.m., and a Saturday Vigil Mass at 4 p.m. Nativity Church offers a Spanish-language liturgy on Thursday at 7 p.m., and their weekend Vigil Mass on Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

Father Kuhar implored the prayerful intercession of the new parish’s patroness and the blessed patrons of the two former parishes — Saint John Neumann and Saint Paul of the Cross.

Encouraging his new, united flock to act with urgency in carrying out the Lord’s work, the pastor shared the inspiring words of Mother Teresa, known as the “Saint of the Gutters” who visited the Diocese of Scranton on several occasions:

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We only have today. Let us begin.”

Saint Ann Basilica Parish now encompasses the nearby former Saints Peter & Paul Parish and its longtime worship site at 1309 West Locust St. in West Scranton.

As pastor of Saint Ann’s, Father Jim Paisley has guided the two parishes since they were linked in September. In assuming the pastoral reins, he becomes the first Scranton Diocesan priest to lead the parish after more than a century of pastorates filled by clergy from the Passionist Order of priests.

“The people of both parishes have been very understanding of the need for a consolidation,” Father Paisley said. “Although no one wants to see this kind of thing happen to their church, parishioners know that certain changes need to take place in order to secure a strong and vibrant (Catholic) future in West Scranton.”

He added that, since September, faithful from both Saint Ann’s and Saints Peter & Paul’s have collaborated and meshed well to work together on various events and endeavors, minister at the altar, serve in the choir, and attend Masses.

“They are forming a new parish family identity with each passing day,” Father Paisley noted. “We are blessed.”

The Basilica Church of Saint Ann, 1250 Saint Ann St., West Scranton, offers Sunday Masses at 8:30 & 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.; and Monday Masses at 8 a.m., noon, 3:30 & 6 p.m. Weekday liturgies are also celebrated Tuesday thru Friday at 9 a.m. and 7 p.m.; Saturday Masses are at 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. (Sunday Vigil).

Saints Peter & Paul Church hosts a Sunday morning Mass at 11 a.m., and offers a Eucharistic liturgy on Monday at 9 a.m.

On a personal note, the new pastor acknowledged how members from the combined parishes have welcomed him with “open arms and loving hearts.”

“Both faith communities are kind and compassionate,” Father Paisley expressed, “and I am most grateful for their willingness to travel this journey of faith together.”

He further noted that the Passionist Community of Saint Ann’s Monastery and Basilica has been equally welcoming and supportive. “I am honored to share ministry of Saint Ann’s and Saints Peter and Paul’s with such a devoted Order of men.”

Under the spiritual leadership of their longtime pastor, Father Richard Fox, the consolidation of the Parish of Saint Patrick with Saint Lucy Parish adds to Saint Patrick’s a devout family of faithful and a third parish worship site.

“It’s been a smooth transition,” Father Fox remarked, concerning the other Catholic parish merger in Scranton’s West Side. He added that support staff and those involved in music ministry from both parishes have successfully combined their time and talents.

Saint Patrick Parish now includes Saint Lucy Church, 949 Scranton St., West Scranton, along with the IHM Chapel, 1605 Oram St., which the parish has overseen for numerous years.

Sunday Masses are celebrated at 7, 8:30 & 11 a.m. in Saint Patrick Church, 1403 Jackson St., which also celebrates 8 a.m. morning Masses on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; and a Saturday Vigil liturgy at 4 p.m.

Saint Lucy Church now hosts a Sunday morning Mass at 9 a.m.; the IHM Chapel offers 8 a.m. weekday Masses on Tuesday and Thursday, and a Vigil liturgy on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

“We are blessed to bring together two very strong and proud parish communities,” Father Fox said of the new parish family. “Both churches, which are most venerable and rich in history, have been the sacred homes for a very long time to devout Catholics grounded in their faith.”

MONTDALE – For years, faith leaders have talked about the importance of removing the stigma surrounding mental health challenges while emphasizing that those struggling with mental health are loved and valued by the church.

Two parishes in Lackawanna County are now taking action by starting a joint mental health ministry team which is providing free training and other resources.

Saint John Vianney Parish in Montdale and Saint Gregory Parish in Clarks Green recently launched an inter-parish Mental Health Ministry Team. The goal is to support each parish’s awareness of, accompaniment with, and advocacy for persons with mental health challenges and those who care for them.

More than a dozen people participated in a Mental Health First Aid Training Program at Saint John Vianney Parish in Montdale on Nov. 11, 2023.

“With this model, we are able to pool our resources in offering the ministry, and are able to serve a wider audience, including the community members outside the walls of our churches,” Jen Housel, Executive Director, Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers, and parishioner of Saint John Vianney parish, said.

On Nov. 11, the two parishes held a Mental Health First Aid Training Program which taught 13 people how to recognize signs of mental health or substance use challenges in adults, offer and provide initial help, and knowledge on how to guide a person toward appropriate care if necessary.

“It was better than any of us thought it could be,” participant Ellen Aherne explained, describing the combination of small group activities and large group sessions. “I highly recommend it to any member of our diocese who has the opportunity to spend a Saturday learning how to better serve the mental health needs of their parishes.”

In addition to having people from both parishes launching the Mental Health Ministry Team, there were also attendees from Our Lady of the Snows Parish, Clarks Summit; Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish, Dickson City; and Divine Mercy Parish, Scranton.

“As a person who once taught psychiatric nursing, I gained some valuable information and practical skills,” Mary Ann Paulukonis, who serves as the Mental Health Ministry team leader at Saint Gregory Parish. “I was gratified that a couple participants decided to join our inter-parish team and a few others asked how to start a mental health ministry in their own parishes.”

Beginning the week of Jan. 8, the parishes will begin offering The Sanctuary Course for Catholics in tandem for eight weeks to explore the realities of mental health and illness, as well as the vital need for faith-based community conversations about these topics.

Statistics show one in four people will be affected by a mental health challenge at some point in their lives, yet the stigma surrounding mental illness silences many and prevents faith communities from responding compassionately and effectively.

The eight small group sessions will be held at Saint John Vianney Parish on Mondays at 6:30 p.m. and Saint Gregory Parish on Fridays at 9:00 a.m.

Interested individuals can attend one session or all eight, at either church or both locations or via Zoom. Online registration at catholicmhm.org/csdeaneryregistration is encouraged, but not required.

“Optimally, sessions are offered to and attended by those within the same general faith community. This allows those involved to deeply consider how their community currently responds to this issue/need and how they as a community may take action to do better,” Housel stated. “The sessions include the opportunity to learn, to pray, and to share together.”

There is no fee for the training. All costs are being covered by a Social Justice Grant from the 2023 Diocesan Annual Appeal.

“The Social Justice Grant funds allowed us to begin this mental health ministry programming on an ambitious scale and to offer multiple opportunities cost-free to those who could benefit from them,” Housel added.

“Receiving the grants had the effect of propelling us forward at a faster rate than we might otherwise have proceeded,” Paulukonis said.

INDIANAPOLIS – The 2023 National Catholic Youth Conference had a deep impact on dozens of local high school teens from parishes across the Diocese of Scranton.

For three days – this year Nov. 16-18 in Indianapolis – their faith was enriched through speakers, uplifting music, Eucharistic Adoration, group prayer, the opportunity for the Sacrament of Penance and Daily Mass.

The Most Rev. Joseph A. Espaillat, Auxiliary Bishop of New York, leads Eucharistic Adoration at Lucas Oil Stadium on Nov. 17, 2023.

Their faith also is emboldened in witnessing and worshipping with thousands of their Catholic peers, leaving the youths encouraged by the fact that they are not alone in following Christ in the one true church.

“NCYC was truly incredible. I came in, not expecting it to be half of what it was,” Hannah Rocco from Saint Eulalia Parish in Roaring Brook Township, said. “Adoration with 13,000 kids was truly incredible!”

The Diocese of Scranton sent a total of 92 pilgrims – young adults and chaperones – to this year’s conference.

“It was such an awesome experience,” Hayden Schwabe from Saint Jude Parish in Mountain Top, said. “You don’t have to worry about hiding your faith or being scared about putting your hands up in the air to take in the Holy Spirit because other people are doing it.”

For Max Mohutsky of Saint Jude Parish, this year’s NCYC was his first.

Teens from Saint Eulalia Parish and Saint Catherine of Siena Parish participate in a Civil Dialogue breakout session.

“Obviously I didn’t really know what to expect so I was leaning on what people told me from the past, but it was great once I was there,” he said. “I learned a lot more about God and I met new people and had a great time.”

This was the second NCYC for Shaylee Kimmick of Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Brodheadsville.

“I came two years ago, and it was a lot more overwhelming this time because there were so many more people,” Kimmick said. “During the opening ceremony, the archbishop said, ‘You’re not a problem to be solved, you’re a mystery to be revealed,’ and that really stuck with me!”

In a prayer service at the opening session of NCYC, Archbishop Charles C. Thompson spoke to the teens about this year’s NCYC theme “Fully Alive.” He quoted his favorite line from Pope Francis’ encyclical, “Laudato Si,” saying, “Rather than a problem to be solved, the world is a joyful mystery to be contemplated with gladness and praise.”

NCYC participants from Saint Matthew Parish, East Stroudsburg, and Saint Luke Parish, Stroudsburg, pose for a picture outside Lucas Oil Stadium where nearly 13,000 teens gathered together each day.

“We heard that beautiful reading about creation from the Book of Genesis,” Archbishop Thompson said. “But the ultimate part of that creation is when God created humanity, when God created us. We are part of that creation that’s been given life by the Spirit breathing into us, by the Word taking root in us, claiming us as his own.”

Kimmick is looking forward to bringing that message home and sharing her experiences with other teens in her Monroe County parish.

“I’m going to talk to people about my experience and try to help them feel more connected in their faith and help them grow,” she said.

Betty Clark of Saint Eulalia Parish described her experience as “simply amazing.”
“The spirit, the energy that everyone had and that we all could feel during the sessions, and when we were talking to other people, we really were ‘fully alive.’ It was crazy. I loved it,” the North Pocono teenager said.

In describing what she was taking away from NCYC, Clark referenced the importance of the National Eucharistic Revival that is underway – and the National Eucharistic Congress which will be held in the same city and stadium July 17-21 next year.

Roland McLaine of Saint Eulalia Parish, center, participates in a team building activity involving stacking milk crates on Nov. 18, 2023. (Photos/Eric Deabill)

“I think that a lot of time we forget how present Jesus is in the Eucharist and I think that is what the priests and bishops are trying to do with the Eucharistic Revival. I think that I was really impacted by that, and I think it’s going to really help me worship Jesus in the Mass and when I see Him in the Eucharist in the future,” she explained.

During the two-hour closing Mass for NCYC, Auxiliary Bishop Joseph A. Espaillat of New York encouraged the teens to put “joy over fear.”

In explaining this, Bishop Espaillat distinguished between a “worldly fear that creates panic and anxiety” and “a holy fear, or fear of the Lord, (that) is a source of peace and happiness.”

“If we love God and know that we are loved by God, then why do we need to fear?” he asked those in attendance.

Bishop Espaillat then laid out three simple points he wanted the young people at NCYC to take home with them.

“You’ve got to have faith,” he said. “You’ve got to have fun while you do it. And you need family and friends and community along the way.”

Before boarding a bus to make the trip back to northeastern Pennsylvania, George Sabatini of Saint Jude Parish said was proud that so many of his Catholic peers from across the country came together to celebrate their faith.

“It’s just a great experience to strengthen your faith and to meet like-minded people,” Sabatini said.