Category: Diocese of Scranton News

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The U.S. Supreme Court on June 5 unanimously ruled in favor of the Catholic Charities Bureau of the Diocese of Superior, Wisconsin, which had asked the high court to overturn a decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court the agency argued discounted its religious identity.

The group previously appealed a ruling by the Wisconsin Supreme Court that Catholic Charities is not exempt from paying into the state’s unemployment insurance system because its operations aren’t primarily religious under the definition in the statute requiring certain employers to do so.

Wisconsin law states religious employers in the Badger State are eligible for an exemption from paying into its unemployment benefit program if they operate primarily for religious purposes. The state argued, however, that the Catholic Charities Bureau does not meet that standard since it employs non-Catholics and does not make its service to the less fortunate contingent on Catholic religious practice, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court previously sided with the state, drawing a distinction between its mission or purpose and its “activities.”

However, in an opinion written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously found the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s ruling violated the First Amendment by creating a preference for some religious practices over others.

“It is fundamental to our constitutional order that the government maintain ‘neutrality between religion and religion,'” Sotomayor wrote, quoting previous Supreme Court precedent in Epperson v. Arkansas. “There may be hard calls to make in policing that rule, but this is not one.”

At oral arguments in the case in March, the justices appeared to note that the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s interpretation of the law would appear to favor religions that would limit their hiring or services to co-religionists.

Justice Elena Kagan said at that time that it might be a “matter of religious doctrine” that some religions “don’t require people to say the Lord’s Prayer with us before we give them soup.”

“I thought it was pretty fundamental that we don’t treat some religions better than other religions, and we certainly don’t do it based on the content of the religious doctrine that those religions preach,” she said.

Bishop James P. Powers of Superior celebrated the ruling in a statement.

“At the heart of Catholic Charities’ ministry is Christ’s call to care for the least of our brothers and sisters, without condition and without exception,” Bishop Powers said. “We’re grateful the Court unanimously recognized that improving the human condition by serving the poor is part of our religious exercise and has allowed us to continue serving those in need throughout our diocese and beyond.”

Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, a religious liberty law firm that represented the Catholic Charities bureau, said, “Wisconsin shouldn’t have picked this fight in the first place.”

“It was always absurd to claim that Catholic Charities wasn’t religious because it helps everyone, no matter their religion,” Rassbach said. “Today, the Court resoundingly reaffirmed a fundamental truth of our constitutional order: the First Amendment protects all religious beliefs, not just those the government favors.”

Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Religious Liberty, said in a statement, “The Wisconsin Supreme Court badly erred when it concluded that Catholic Charities is essentially secular because it does not engage in activities such as proselytism. I am grateful for the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court.”

“Catholic Charities carries out ministries of the Catholic Church, the body of Christ, in the world today,” Bishop Rhoades said. “Through Catholic Charities, the Church feeds the hungry and clothes the naked. The Church engages in these activities in obedience to Jesus, informed by millennia of tradition from the Apostles.”

(OSV News) – Since his election to the chair of St. Peter one month ago, Pope Leo XIV has made efforts to learn the lay of the land in the world’s smallest state.

Those who have had the chance to know and observe the new pope see both a continuity with his predecessor, Pope Francis, while tracing a different path that is his own.

Although no major curial appointments or announcements have been made, one person who had a chance to know then-Cardinal Robert F. Prevost during the Synod on Synodality said the new pope takes his time and listens before speaking or taking concrete action.

“He’s reaching out and basically listening right now, and taking notes. And, well, that’s what he did, not only in the synod,” but also in the diocese he led in Chiclayo, Peru, said José Manuel De Urquidi, founder of the Juan Diego Network.

Urquidi, who was among the lay delegates attending the Synod of Bishops, was in the same group as the future pope and saw firsthand Pope Leo’s modus operandi.

“He doesn’t just want to listen, and that’s it, but to listen to everyone as a first step. And to also see how to react in a good way, and work with everyone,” he told OSV News June 5.

For Msgr. Roger Landry, national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies USA, the pope’s missionary experience “and his 12 years traveling the globe as Augustinian prior general, have really prepared him well to steer the barque of Peter in the church’s worldwide fishing expedition.”

“The most striking thing about him is how poised he has been in everything he has been doing,” Msgr. Landry said in an email to OSV News June 6. “While his election may have been a shock to almost everyone else, he has seemed, from the moment he walked out on the balcony, to be ready and perfectly comfortable in his new and greatly expanded mission.”

Urquidi echoed those sentiments, noting that the pope’s “missionary heart” gave him a unique perspective on leading by listening first and then acting.

“He has a very universal approach — American but also Latin American — but also this very unique experience of being a superior for many years with the Augustinians,” Urquidi told OSV News.

“A lot of people in the media, or even pundits, (try to) classify American bishops or cardinals on a spectrum, and he doesn’t fit any of those at all. And we’re seeing that in how he’s approaching things during this first month.”

In the first month of his pontificate, Msgr. Landry noted that Pope Leo repeatedly mentioned various themes “that seem to be the initial lines of his papal magisterium.”

Among those themes are “the peace of the risen Christ that the world urgently needs; the summons of everyone in the church to proclaim and give witness to Jesus as the Son of the Living God and the answer to man’s restless heart; the call for the church to serve as the sacrament of communion for the human race in the one Christ who seeks to make us one,” he told OSV News.

Msgr. Landry noted that Pope Leo also emphasized “the importance of Catholic teaching to respond to the social, anthropological, economic and intellectual revolution underway because of artificial intelligence; and a humble reaffirmation that the pope is indeed still Catholic with regard to gender ideology, marriage, family, human sexuality, and the dignity of every human life.”

During the lead-up to the conclave, countless media outlets divided cardinals into ideological camps.

The Catholic Church is no stranger to the ideological divisions in the world, and it made the election of Pope Leo XIV, who was labeled as a dark horse candidate with little chance due to his American heritage, all the more surprising.

Urquidi told OSV News that “it’s no secret” that Catholics around the world, including the United States, are “clearly polarized.”

However, “it’s still very cool and a good sign that a month in, Catholics on … the theological, doctrinal, and even liturgical spectrums are still claiming him” as one of their own, he said.

“I think it has been very clear that in a very concrete way, we could say that he’s reflecting both a continuity with Francis, but also has his own unique priorities,” Urquidi added.

Msgr. Landry said the pope’s experience as an American can help “unite American Catholics” and inspire them to become “salt, light and leaven” both at home and abroad, while his Augustinian background can help reintroduce Catholics to St. Augustine’s writings which “respond to many of the most pressing questions that are devouring the psyches and souls of so many in secular cultures.”

However, he said, the pope’s motto — “In Illo Uno Unum” (“In the One, we are one”) — is a hopeful indication that the new pontificate will help heal divisions.

“I hope that he will help us to become one in the one Christ through helping the church overcome the theological, liturgical, and moral divisions that wound her and enfeeble her witness to Christ and his ongoing saving work,” Msgr. Landry told OSV News.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Leo XIV and Russian leader Vladimir Putin held their first telephone conversation June 4 with the pope encouraging Putin to make a gesture to show he is serious about peace with Ukraine, the Vatican press office said.

“I confirm that this afternoon there was a telephone conversation between Pope Leo XIV and President Putin,” said Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office.

While they spoke of several “matters of mutual interest,” Bruni said that “special attention was paid to the situation in Ukraine and peace.”

“The pope made an appeal for Russia to make a gesture that would promote peace, stressed the importance of dialogue for the realization of positive contacts between the parties and seeking solutions to the conflict,” Bruni said.

The pope and president also discussed the humanitarian situation, the need to facilitate the delivery of aid and ongoing negotiations over the exchange of prisoners of war, an effort Italian Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna is involved with, he said.

Bruni also said Pope Leo spoke about Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, an ally of Putin.

The pope thanked the patriarch for sending his best wishes at the start of the pope’s pontificate, Bruni said, and the pope “emphasized how common Christian values can be a light to help seek peace, defend life and seek genuine religious freedom.”

In a post on Telegram, the Russian news agency Tass, citing the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, said that “Putin drew the pope’s attention to the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict by the Kiev (Kyiv) regime,” apparently referred to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian war planes June 1.

Tass also reported that “Putin expressed his hope that the Holy See would step up its efforts to promote religious freedom in Ukraine,” a reference to the Ukrainian parliament’s decision in 2024 to ban the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine and to outlaw ties with Russian-based religious organizations.

Putin “thanked the Pope for his readiness to assist in resolving the conflict in Ukraine,” Tass reported. Pope Leo had offered the Vatican as a neutral site for peace talks, but Russia declined the invitation.

“The Russian leader reiterated his interest in achieving peace in Ukraine through political and diplomatic means,” Tass said.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Bishop David A. Zubik of Pittsburgh, 75, and has appointed Auxiliary Bishop Mark A. Eckman of Pittsburgh as his successor.

Bishop Zubik, a native of Pennsylvania, has headed the Pittsburgh Diocese since 2007. At 75, he is at the age canon law requires bishops to submit their resignation to the pope.

Bishop Eckman, 66, was named a Pittsburgh auxiliary Nov. 5, 2021, by Pope Francis and his episcopal ordination was Jan. 11, 2022.

The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington June 4 by Msgr. Veceslav Tumir, chargé d’ affaires of the apostolic nunciature, in the temporary absence of Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop Eckman will be installed July 14 as the 13th bishop of the diocese during a special Mass at St. Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood.

“I am both grateful and thrilled with this appointment,” Bishop Zubik wrote in a letter to diocesan clergy. “Bishop Eckman knows the diocese. And we know him as an exceptional pastor, and outstanding administrator — truly an exemplary priest.”

Bishop Eckman expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve.

“With a grateful and humble heart, I accept this appointment and ask for the prayers of all the faithful,” Bishop Eckman said in a statement. “Together, we will continue the mission of Jesus Christ with hope.”

The Diocese of Pittsburgh is comprised of six counties in western Pennsylvania and has a Catholic population of nearly 616,000 Catholics out of a total population of over 1.9 million.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Although Pope Francis already set Aug. 3 as the date to declare the sainthood of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, Pope Leo XIV will hold a meeting with cardinals to approve his canonization and that of seven other people.

The meeting, known as an “ordinary public consistory,” is scheduled for June 13, the Vatican announced.

Cardinals living in or visiting Rome are invited to participate in the consistory, which typically is a prayer service that includes the reading of a brief biography of the sainthood candidate, the pope’s solicitation of the cardinals’ approval of the canonization and, usually, an announcement of the date for the ceremony.

Since the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, which had been scheduled for April 27, was postponed after the death of Pope Francis, it is possible that in conjunction with the consistory the Vatican would announce a new date to proclaim him a saint.

Announcing the consistory June 4, the Vatican said the cardinals will approve the canonizations of:

— Blessed Ignatius Maloyan, the martyred Armenian Catholic archbishop of Mardin, which is in present-day Turkey; born in 1869, he was arrested, tortured and executed in Turkey in 1915.

— Blessed Peter To Rot, a martyred lay catechist, husband and father from Papua New Guinea. Born in 1912, he was arrested in 1945 during the Japanese occupation in World War II and was killed by lethal injection while in prison.

— Blessed Vincenza Maria Poloni, founder of the Sisters of Mercy of Verona, Italy; she lived from 1802-1855.

— Blessed Maria Rendiles Martínez, the Venezuelan founder of the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus. Born in Caracas in 1903, she died in 1977. She will be Venezuela’s first female saint.

— Blessed Maria Troncatti, a Salesian sister born in Italy in 1883 who became a missionary in Ecuador in 1922. She died in a plane crash in 1969.

— Blessed José Gregorio Hernández Cisneros, a Venezuelan doctor born in 1864. He was a Third Order Franciscan and became known as “the doctor of the poor.” He was killed in an accident in 1919 on his way to helping a patient.

— Blessed Frassati, was born in 1901 to a wealthy and influential family in Turin in northern Italy. He was popular, known for his practical jokes, for daily Mass attendance and for his charitable work with the St. Vincent de Paul Society. He contracted polio, probably from one of the people he was helping, and died in 1925 at the age of 24.

— Blessed Bartolo Longo, an Italian lawyer born in 1841. He had been a militant opponent of the church and involved in the occult, but converted, dedicating himself to charity and to building the Pontifical Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Pompei. He died in 1926.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – God loves every person and wants to help everyone discover their inherent value and dignity, especially those who feel unworthy or unappreciated, Pope Leo XIV said.

“God wants to give his kingdom, that is, full, eternal and happy life, to everyone,” the pope said June 4 as he held his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

“And this is what Jesus does with us: he does not establish rankings, he gives all of himself to those who open their hearts to him,” the pope said.

Pope Leo continued a series of talks focusing on Gospel parables that give hope, focusing on “The Workers in the Vineyard” in the Gospel of St. Matthew (20:1-16), which reveals the equality of all the disciples in inheriting eternal life.

Pope Leo said it is “a story that fosters our hope,” because “at times we have the impression that we cannot find meaning for our lives: we feel useless, inadequate, just like the laborers who wait in the marketplace, waiting for someone to hire them to work.”

“The metaphor of the marketplace is very appropriate for our times, too, because the market is the place of business, where unfortunately even affection and dignity are bought and sold, in the attempt to earn something,” he said. “And when we do not feel appreciated, acknowledged, we risk selling ourselves to the first bidder.”

“Instead, the Lord reminds us that our life is worthy, and his wish is to help us discover this,” he said.

The Lord, represented by the owner of the vineyard in the parable, wants to establish a personal relationship with everyone he meets, and he repeatedly goes out looking for “those who are waiting to give meaning to their lives,” Pope Leo said.

“This tireless master, who wants at all costs to give value to the life of every one of us,” even goes out toward the end of the workday to take on those who are still waiting, he said. This shows that “even when it seems we are able to do little in life, it is always worthwhile. There is always the possibility to find meaning because God loves our life.”

The landowner pays each worker the same, even those who arrived late in the day and worked fewer hours in the field, because God believes “it is just that each person has what he needs to live” because he knows their dignity, the pope said.

“The story says that the laborers from the first hour are disappointed,” Pope Leo said. “They cannot see the beauty of the gesture of the landowner, who was not unjust, but simply generous, who looked not only at merit but also at need.”

The “payment” God wants to give is his kingdom, and he offers the same reward of a full, eternal and happy life to everyone without “rankings,” he said. The Lord gives everything to everyone who opens their hearts to him.

But, he said, “in the light of this parable, today’s Christian might be tempted to think, ‘Why start work immediately? If the pay is the same, why work more?'”

Pope Leo said St. Augustine responded to that question in a sermon asking why would someone delay when God is calling with a promise that they know is a sure thing. The saint warned that people do not know when their time will come, and they should be careful because a delay might mean they miss out on what God wants to give.

“I would like to say, especially to the young, do not wait, but respond enthusiastically to the Lord who calls us to work in his vineyard,” the pope said. “Do not delay, roll up your sleeves, because the Lord is generous and you will not be disappointed!”

It is by “working in his vineyard” that people find the meaning of their life, he said.

Do not be discouraged “even in the dark moments of life” when answers seem to be lacking, the pope told his listeners. “The Lord is generous, and he will come soon!”

Before the general audience, Pope Leo met with members of the board of directors of the National Italian American Foundation, which educates young people about Italian culture and history, as well as provides scholarships and other charitable assistance in both countries.

“A hallmark of many who immigrated to the United States from Italy was their Catholic faith, with its rich traditions of popular piety and devotions that they continued to practice in their new nation,” he said. “This faith sustained them in difficult moments, even as they arrived with a sense of hope for a prosperous future in their new country.”

“In an age beset by many challenges,” Pope Leo prayed that their visit to Rome would “renew your sense of hope and trust in the future.”

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The Trump administration announced June 3 that it would revoke Biden-era guidance to the nation’s hospitals directing them to perform abortions in emergency circumstances even in states that banned the procedure.

In 2022, shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned the court’s previous precedent that held abortion as a constitutional right, the Biden administration issued the directive under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act.

Supporters of the Biden administration’s directive argued it would shield doctors and medical staff from legal repercussions in states that restricted abortion if they performed an abortion in an emergency, but opponents argued the 1986 EMTALA law obligates doctors and hospitals to attempt to stabilize both mother and unborn child in an emergency.

The Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said they would rescind the directive, adding that “CMS will continue to enforce EMTALA, which protects all individuals who present to a hospital emergency department seeking examination or treatment, including for identified emergency medical conditions that place the health of a pregnant woman or her unborn child in serious jeopardy.”

“CMS will work to rectify any perceived legal confusion and instability created by the former administration’s actions,” the announcement said.

EMTALA was initially enacted to ensure patients’ access to emergency services regardless of their ability to pay. It requires Medicare-participating hospitals that offer emergency services to stabilize patients without the means to pay for treatment instead of transferring them to another hospital.

A statement on X from the Pro-Choice Caucus in the U.S. House said, “Every patient in America has the right to lifesaving health care.”
“EMTALA requires hospitals to provide emergency care, including abortion,” the statement said. “No matter how hard he tries, Donald Trump cannot change that.”

But Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., chair of the Senate Pro-Life Caucus, argued in a statement that the previous guidance “warped EMTALA obligations and created widespread confusion in emergency rooms nationwide.”

“EMTALA is a decades-old statute that was originally designed to protect mother-patients and their unborn children in emergency situations, but the Biden administration manipulated the law’s purpose by issuing guidance that forced emergency room doctors to perform abortions, regardless of their states’ life-affirming laws,” Hyde-Smith said. “Restoring EMTALA to its original purpose brings much-needed clarity to our incredible emergency room doctors across the country and peace of mind to the patients they serve.”

The Justice Department under the Biden administration previously argued Idaho’s abortion restrictions were in conflict with EMTALA, but that suit was dismissed on procedural grounds by the Supreme Court in 2024 without resolving the central question. In March, the Justice Department under the Trump administration said it would drop that suit.

The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred and must be respected from conception to natural death, and as such, opposes direct abortion. The U.S. bishops’ “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services,” Directive 47, states, “Operations, treatments, and medications that have as their direct purpose the cure of a proportionately serious pathological condition of a pregnant woman are permitted when they cannot be safely postponed until the unborn child is viable, even if they will result in the death of the unborn child.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for June, a month devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is “that the world might grow in compassion.”

“Let us pray that each one of us might find consolation in a personal relationship with Jesus, and from his heart, learn to have compassion on the world,” the pope prays in English in his first contribution to “The Pope Video,” a monthly reflection published by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network.

The video, released June 3, also includes an original prayer people can recite daily during the month.

“You showed us the Father’s love by loving us without measure with Your divine and human Heart,” the prayer said.

“Grant all Your children the grace of encountering You. Change, shape and transform our plans, so that we seek only You in every circumstance: in prayer, in work, in encounters and in our daily routine,” the prayer continued. “From this encounter, send us out on mission, a mission of compassion for the world in which You are the source from which all consolation flows.”

The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, formerly known as the Apostleship of Prayer, is a global movement of people who make a commitment each day to pray for the pope’s intentions.

Jesuit Father Cristóbal Fones, director of the prayer network, said Pope Leo’s intention “focuses on growing in compassion for the world through a personal relationship with Jesus.”

“By cultivating this truly close relationship, our hearts are more conformed to His. We grow in love and mercy, and we better learn what compassion is,” Father Fones said. “Jesus manifested an unconditional love for everyone, especially for the poor, the sick and those who were suffering. The pope encourages us to imitate this compassionate love by extending a hand to those in need.”

In a statement accompanying the video, Father Fones also pointed out that during the Holy Year 2025, “The Pope Video acquires special relevance since through it we know the prayer intentions the pope holds in his heart. To properly receive the graces of the Jubilee indulgence, it is necessary to pray for the pope’s intentions.”

The prayer network also noted how four popes have devoted encyclicals to Catholics’ devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

“Pope Leo XIII, whose name the current pope took, wrote ‘Annum Sacrum’ in 1899, in which he consecrated all of humanity to the Heart of Jesus. In 1928, Pope Pius XI, in ‘Miserentissimus Redemptor,’ invited us to make reparation through acts of love for the wounds our sins inflict on the Heart of Christ,” the network said.

“For his part, Pope Pius XII published ‘Haurietis Aquas’ in 1956, in which he explores the theological basis for devotion to the Sacred Heart,” it said. And “lastly, Pope Francis wrote ‘Dilexit Nos’ in 2024, and proposed devotion to the Heart of Christ as a response to the throwaway culture and the culture of indifference.”

SÃO PAULO (OSV News) – A video of Brazilian nuns beatboxing and dancing hip-hop, a scene taken from a local TV show and defined by celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg as “a real life ‘Sister Act,'” went viral on May 28, with millions of views all over the world.

Sisters Marizele Isabel Cassiano Rego, 46, and Marisa de Paula Neves, 41, were taking part May 20 in a TV show of the Catholic network Pai Eterno (Eternal Father), in Goiás state, in order to talk about a vocational encounter the two were attending in the region.

As they mentioned their artistic ways of reaching the youth, they presented a song they wrote about God’s calling. Sister Marizele sang it and Sister Marisa began to dance — the whole act had a noticeable hip-hop nature. That’s when Sister Marizele began beatboxing.

The short clip went viral on social media and was reproduced by international news agencies on May 28. Actress Viola Davis shared it on her Instagram account, mentioning Sister Mary Clarence, Whoopi Goldberg’s character in the 1992 movie “Sister Act.”

On ABC’s “The View,” Goldberg commented on the clip, saying that “anytime you can praise the Lord with some music and you’re doing your thing, I think it’s a good sign.”

Sister Marizele and Sister Marisa are members of the Brazilian congregation of the Sisters of the Copious Redemption, created in 1989 by Redemptorist Father Wilton Lopes in the city of Ponta Grossa, Paraná state, where both of the sisters live today. Their mission is to work especially on the rehabilitation of drug addicts.

Father Lopes received a revelation in 1991, after which it was decided that every day each sister will pray for drug or alcohol addicts in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

“I’ve learned how to sing with my family. My grandfather was a player of Caipira guitar,” Sister Marizele told OSV News, mentioning a 10-string guitar developed in the colonial era in São Paulo state — traditionally used for playing rhythms from the countryside.

At home, she and her sisters would promote karaoke nights, something that further developed her abilities. Since her teens, she has been experimenting with mouth sounds as well.

“I’ve never had the opportunity to formally learn beatboxing, but somehow I managed to develop my own way of doing it. Experts told me it’s pretty fine,” said Sister Marizele.

As a young participant of Catholic charismatic renewal groups, she began singing at church before joining the congregation, which happened 21 years ago.

“In order to evangelize drug addicts, we would resort to beatboxing, dance, music, theater. We need to be rather creative,” described Sister Marizele, who has lived for nine years in therapeutic communities.

Sister Marisa, in a convent for the last 14 years, told OSV News she has always liked to dance. Coming from a small city in Paraná state, she first learned to dance the traditional rhythms of the region, also connected to the Caipira culture and U.S. country music.

“But afterwards I joined the city’s dance group and took classes in ballet and street dance,” she explained.

As a nun, she worked with children and teens in a cultural center where she learned tap dancing and break dance.

“As they saw me learning how to dance those rhythms, they would be encouraged to join the classes too,” Sister Marisa explained.

The impact of such artistic activities in the sisters’ missionary work has been noticeable, they said. They both have been focusing on vocational initiatives and realized how the arts can break down barriers and bring the youth close to them.

“People usually think nuns are rigid, even grumpy women. When they see us singing and dancing, when they get to know us better, they realize we’re not,” Sister Marizele said.

The same thing happens in different parishes and church groups, added Sister Marisa. Some of them promote contemplation, while others are more vivacious. People can be attracted by different styles.

“Our church is diverse. That is her beauty,” she said.

With its intense use of music and its particular spirituality, the Catholic charismatic renewal, to which both sisters are connected, is viewed by many analysts in Brazil as a way to halt the continuous erosion of Catholicism in the country.

Traditionally a Catholic nation, only 50% of Brazil’s population today is Catholic, while evangelicals make up 25% of the population. Scholars predict that by 2032 Brazil may become a predominantly evangelical country.

The charismatic renewal way may be productive drawing people back to the Catholic Church, indeed. According to Sister Marizele, since their video went viral, more and more people have been looking for them.

“Boys and girls who we meet in different locations have been asking us about our work and our congregation, including boys interested in beatboxing,” she said with a smile.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Pope Leo XIV, as the first U.S.-born pope, may bring unique insight to the problem of polarization in the U.S. and in the U.S. church, analysts told OSV News.

“From what I’ve heard, Rome always has an eye on the U.S. church, but that doesn’t mean that what is going on in the United States is going to shape the ways Pope Leo leads the global church. However, he is going to be more intimately aware of what is happening in the United States and more attuned to the cultural subtleties than previous popes have been,” Maureen Day, a research affiliate at the University of Southern California’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture and that university’s Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies, told OSV News.

Multiple recent academic studies show evidence of growing partisanship and polarization in the U.S. A New York Times analysis even found these trends apparent in moving patterns of Americans who relocate to other neighborhoods, towns or states.

Catholic leaders, including the U.S. bishops, have also observed these trends in the U.S. church.

Father William Dailey, a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross, lecturer in law at Notre Dame Law School, and St. Thomas More Fellow of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture at Notre Dame, told OSV News the new pontiff “already (has) me thinking less about what divides and more about what does and must unite us.”

Father Dailey cautioned against looking at Leo’s pontificate through an inward lens, and to remember he is the leader of a global church.

“Anyone who comes from a particular culture stands a decent shot at understanding its nuances and particularities better than someone from outside, presumably,” he said. “So we might imagine that in working with the U.S. bishops and in appointing them he’ll have a better than usual sense of our challenges and how he might hope to offer guidance. He also brings a better sense of the global church to that conversation than many of us here would, which might help complement his insights about the U.S. church and what we might think are unique challenges or priorities for us but he might see as part of something larger.”

The political and social views of the former Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost were among the subjects some Catholics were eager to find clues to when he became pontiff. A review of a social media account previously used by the now-pope critical of the Trump administration’s immigration policy, but also posts critical of abortion and the death penalty, calls for a greater effort to address gun violence in the U.S., as well as prayers for healing and an end to racism after the murder of Minneapolis man George Floyd, whose death in police custody sparked unrest.

Both Father Dailey and Day suggested that in each of those subjects, the posts suggested an alignment with church teaching.

His posts “look like he puts his faith first and lets the politics fall into place,” Day said, while Father Dailey noted, “There’s very little in his tweeting in his own voice, as far as I can tell.”

“He retweeted articles that made basic points about the church being pro-life further in the past, and basic points about the church caring for immigrants and the poor more recently — these should not be polarizing among believing Catholics,” Father Dailey said of now-Pope Leo. “I imagine he agreed with the contents of the retweets, but I don’t see it as him wading into partisan politics then, and doubt he would do so now.”

Day added, “I think Pope Leo will be very clear on what the church teaches without ending conversations with those who see things differently. In a spirit of synodality, I think he will want to start a lot of conversations and make room for people to grow and surprise us.”

“He’s not going out of his way to excite one side or another,” Father Dailey said, arguing that Pope Leo’s early actions appear to be “about being Christ-centered.”

“So far, the tone that Leo has established has been interesting and calm,” he said. “Remember the great fanfare around Francis choosing a unique name and dressing a bit differently from his predecessors — it’s no criticism of those choices to note that people made a huge deal about them (some happy, some unhappy) whereas so far with Leo there’s a sense of his quietly surrendering himself into this unique and incomprehensibly demanding office — not without a vision but very much not making a splash.”

Day added that the late Pope Francis “was often dismissed by those who disagreed with him as simply not understanding the U.S. context,” and for some of those critics, when Pope Leo “weighs in on issues that are occuring within American public life,” they may see him more as a voice who carries “the weight of an insider.”