Pope decides women will be voting members of Synod of Bishops

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – At least three dozen women will be voting members of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October, Pope Francis has decided.

In a decision formalized April 17, “the Holy Father approved the extension of participation in the synodal assembly to ‘non-bishops’ — priests, deacons, consecrated men and women, lay men and women,” the synod office said in a statement April 26.

Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, relator general of the synod, told reporters April 26 that about 21% of the synod’s 370 members would not be bishops and at least half of that group would be women.

Xavière Missionary Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, speaks to Iacopo Scaramuzzi, a reporter for La Repubblica, in the Vatican press office April 26, 2023. The Vatican had just announced Pope Francis’ decision to have women and laymen as voting members of the synod. (CNS photo/Cindy Wooden)

Adding women and young people to the membership will make sure “the church is well represented” in the prayer and discussions scheduled for Oct. 4-29 at the Vatican, the cardinal said. “It will be a joy to have the whole church represented in Rome for the synod.”

“As you can see, the space in the tent is being enlarged,” Cardinal Mario Grech, synod secretary-general, told reporters, echoing the title that had been chosen for the working document for the just-completed continental phase of the synod. The document said that in local and national synod listening sessions there were consistent questions about how to promote greater inclusion in the Catholic Church while staying true to church teaching.

“The Synod of Bishops will remain a synod of bishops,” Cardinal Grech said, but it will be “enriched” by representatives of the whole church.

The pope’s decision to expand the categories of synod members, the April statement said, “is in continuity” with the Catholic Church’s growing understanding of the synodal dimension of the church and “the consequent understanding of the institutions through which it is exercised.”

Since the Synod of Bishops was reinstituted after the Second Vatican Council, the voting members of the synod have all been men. The membership was primarily cardinals and bishops, except for the 10 priests — and recently one religious brother — elected by the men’s Union of Superiors General.

Now, rather than the Union of Superiors General selecting 10 voting members, the office said, it will elect only five priests or brothers. And the women’s International Union of Superiors General also will elect five sisters or nuns.

Past synods have included women as non-voting “auditors,” a group that included many women.

Pope Francis has done away with the “auditor” category of synod participant, the Vatican said. Instead, there will be a group of 70 non-bishop members representing “various groupings of the faithful of the people of God,” including priests, consecrated women, deacons and laypeople from every part of the world.

The pope will choose the 70 from a list of 140 people selected by bishops and organizers of six regional groupings of bishops and by the Assembly of Patriarchs of Eastern Catholic Churches. The six regional groups are: the council of bishops’ conferences of Latin America and the Caribbean, known as CELAM; the Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Europe; the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar; the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences: the Federation of Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Oceania; and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops together.

Each of the seven bishops’ groups will nominate 20 people, the statement said, and “it is requested that 50% of them be women and that the presence of young people also be emphasized.”

In addition to the 10 religious elected by their groups of superiors and the 70 non-bishop members nominated by continental groups, Pope Francis may include “non-bishop members” among the members he appoints.

And, since the leadership of the synod secretariat will be full members, that includes Xavière Missionary Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary of the synod. Cardinal Hollerich added that after all the work they did preparing the synod, “it would be very unfair” to exclude them as members.

Most synod members will be bishops elected by their episcopal conference or by their Eastern Catholic bishops’ synod. The number of delegates each conference can elect depends on the size of the conference. Bishops’ conferences with more than 200 members — like the conferences of Italy, Brazil and the United States — will elect five members.

Being guided by “mission over maintenance,” our Parish Pastoral and Finance Councils will continue to work with the Diocese of Scranton in fulfilling the Mission Statement of Vision 2030 and will utilize the Vision 2030 Blueprint Process as a “proactive initiative focused on being as responsive as possible to the mission of the Church.”

FORWARD TOGETHER IN FAITH

May 13-14, 2023

Our Lady of Fatima Parish

St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church

Saint Nicholas Parish

St. Nicholas Church

In July 2021, the parish communities of Our Lady of Fatima at Saint Mary’s Church and Saint Nicholas came together in a linkage. Since then, we have been focused on how best to move our faith-filled communities forward given several priority drivers. These include a 26-percent drop in the total number of registered parishioners over the last decade, a $1.7 million outstanding assessment debt of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, and a facilities assessment of the deferred maintenance of the buildings and grounds at Our Lady of Fatima Parish that exceeds $800,000 in total.

There has been a significant change in the demographics of the greater Wilkes-Barre community. As a point of reference, in 1968, Wilkes-Barre had 20 parishes served by 50 priests. The city now has five parishes with only five priests. Over the last 100 years, the city’s population has effectively been reduced by 50-percent. Between 2018 and 2022, Our Lady of Fatima Parish has seen a 54-percent decline in its number of parishioners and the average attendance at weekend Mass decreased 46-percent during the same five-year time period.

The parish offertory at Our Lady of Fatima has also continued to steadily decline from 2018 to 2022. The parish does not do a significant amount of fundraising and has been unable to pay its current obligations historically. The parish also does not have any significant savings available for capital needs to address an aging facility structure and compounding deferred maintenance obligations.

Within the backdrop of this information, throughout the last seven months, representatives of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Saint Nicholas Parish, Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center and the Diocese of Scranton have been studying the possibility of utilizing space at Our Lady of Fatima Parish to provide additional daycare/childcare opportunities to our Wilkes-Barre community.

The study to determine whether the project could be both successful and sustainable was not rushed. It involved an extensive evaluation of the physical space, evaluation of possible reimbursements available and more. The study determined roughly $1.4-$1.7 million would be needed to be spent at the Saint Mary’s church property in order to get the project off the ground. Aside from the normal expenditures to completely rehabilitate the space to meet the building and construction codes for childcare utilization, the existing building conditions presented additional financial challenges including: code requirements for a multi-use facility, fire protection sprinklers throughout the entire facility, new fire rated walls and assemblies, insufficient parking to comply with the zoning code and the increased cost required for below grade accessibility/means of egress and areas of refuge for both the parish center and basement of the church.

The Transition Team representing Our Lady of Fatima and Saint Nicholas, in consultation with the Diocese of Scranton, weighed all of this information. Together, we have reached the decision that it is not in the best financial interest of our parishes to continue pursuing the daycare/childcare option at Our Lady of Fatima Parish. We are committed to being outstanding stewards of all of the resources entrusted to us. An honest assessment of the financial and demographic realities we face show it is most prudent to utilize our combined resources for improved programming to support the parishioners and the mission of the Church as opposed to the struggle of maintaining bricks and mortar.

With all of these factors being extensively considered, it is the recommendation of the Transition Team that the best path forward at this time is to bring our two independent parishes, which are currently only “linked,” together as one new parish through consolidation. This means forming a new parish community for the faithful of downtown Wilkes-Barre. Once consolidation takes place, we will continue to study the impact all of the priority drivers in regards to our two church buildings and continue to prayerfully discern the best path forward. Being guided by “mission over maintenance,” our Parish Pastoral and Finance Councils will continue to work with the Diocese of Scranton in fulfilling the Mission Statement of Vision 2030 and will utilize the Vision 2030 Blueprint Process as a “proactive initiative focused on being as responsive as possible to the mission of the Church.”

Editor Note: For the complete text of Pope Francis’ message in English click here.

For the complete text of Pope Francis’ message in Spanish click here.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Every Christian has a vocation to respond to God’s love and to share that love with others, Pope Francis said.

“The Lord’s call is grace, complete gift and at the same time a commitment to bring the Gospel to others,” the pope wrote in his message for the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, which was to be marked April 30 in most dioceses.

“Vocation: Grace and Mission” was the theme the pope chose for the 2023 celebration.

Father Matt Browne is flanked by seminarians as he presides at a “Holy Hour for Vocations” prayer service at Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, N.Y., Jan. 6, 2023. File photo. (OSV News photo/Gregory A. Schemitz)

The pope’s message was released at the Vatican April 26 with a news conference led by Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-sik, prefect of the Dicastery for Clergy.

The message, the cardinal said, emphasizes that a vocation is “the gift of self,” a call that is “common to all Christians: all are called to be on the front line, to do their part so that the earth may become the common home in which individuals and peoples live together as brothers and sisters, under the gaze of the one Father.”

In his message, Pope Francis said that, “led by the Spirit, Christians are challenged to respond to existential peripheries and human dramas, ever conscious that the mission is God’s work.”

The mission, he said, “is not carried out by us alone, but always in ecclesial communion, together with our brothers and sisters, and under the guidance of the church’s pastors.”

The multiplicity of vocations, gifts and responsibilities in the church, he said, always has been part of “God’s dream: that we should live with him in a communion of love.”

In the church, and in the pope’s message, “vocation” referred to more than just the call to priesthood or consecrated religious life.

In fact, the pope wrote, “our common vocation to give ourselves in love develops and finds concrete expression in the life of lay men and women, devoted to raising a family as a small domestic church and working as a leaven of the Gospel to renew the different sectors of society; in the testimony of consecrated women and men who are completely committed to God for the sake of their brothers and sisters as a prophetic sign of the kingdom of God; in ordained ministers – deacons, priests and bishops – placed at the service of preaching, prayer and fostering the communion of the holy people of God.”

The “true nature and richness” of each of those vocations, he said, is revealed and makes sense only in relation to the others within the community of the church.

“Viewed in this light,” the pope said, “the church is a vocational ‘symphony’ with every vocation united yet distinct, in harmony and joined together in ‘going forth’ to radiate throughout the world the new life of the kingdom of God.”

The vocation God gives to each Christian is not a command or imposition, Pope Francis said, but an individual call to respond to God’s love with the gifts, talents and dreams that each person has.

“In the course of our lives,” he said, “this call, which is part of the fiber of our being and the secret of our happiness, comes to us by the work of the Holy Spirit in ever new ways. It enlightens our minds, strengthens our wills, fills us with amazement and sets our hearts afire.”

Cardinal You Heung-sik, presenting the pope’s message, told reporters, “God, in fact, has a ‘dream’ that he wishes to realize for us and with us, a project that he gives us so that, accepting it and realizing it with all freedom, we can find the authentic meaning of our existence, the realization of our humanity, but also the mission through which we can contribute to the construction of a more fraternal, more just and more supportive world, the anticipation and realization of the kingdom of God.”

Sometimes the call comes “in completely unexpected ways,” Pope Francis wrote, recounting how, for him, the call came on “Sept. 21, 1953, as I was on my way to an annual school celebration, (and) I was led to stop by a church and go to confession.”

“That day changed my life and left a mark that has endured to the present day,” the pope wrote.

“The gift of vocation is like a divine seed that springs up in the soil of our existence, opens our hearts to God and to others, so that we can share with them the treasure we ourselves have found,” the pope said.

The basic way vocation works, he wrote, is: “God calls us in love and we, in gratitude, respond to him in love. We realize that we are beloved sons and daughters of the one Father, and we come to see ourselves as brothers and sisters of one another.”

Cardinal You Heung-sik told reporters that Pope Francis “truly gives an excellent example” of what a Christian vocation is, “not just as a bishop or priest,” but as a person who has encountered Jesus and joyfully shares the faith with others.

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Ronald W. Gainer of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who is 75, and has appointed Auxiliary Bishop Timothy C. Senior of Philadelphia to succeed him.

Bishop Gainer, who has headed the Harrisburg Diocese since 2014, turned 75 last August, the age at which canon requires bishops to submit their resignation to the pope.

Bishop Senior, who turned 63 March 22, has been a Philadelphia auxiliary since 2009. He is regional bishop of Montgomery County and chancellor of the archdiocese’s St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. Bishop Senior was the seminary’s rector from 2012 to 2022.

The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington April 25 by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Bishop Senior will be installed as the 12th bishop of Harrisburg by Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez during a June 21 Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral in Harrisburg.

“This is certainly a joyous day for our clergy, the religious and laity of our diocese, for the members of our diocesan staff and for me personally, and today’s announcement is one that we have been expecting for several months,” Bishop Gainer said at a press conference in Harrisburg.

He said he was grateful to Pope Francis for sending the diocese “a man devoted to living the demands of the Gospel.”

“As we enter this new chapter in the history of the Harrisburg Diocese, I do so with confidence that the offices of teaching, sanctifying and shepherding in our local church are in the very best hands,” Bishop Gainer said, noting that his successor is “a classically trained pianist.”

“I’m confident that the music and singing at our diocesan staff Christmas party will be kicked up a few notches,” he added.

Bishop Gainer also thanked the media, saying, “You help us to spread the message of the diocese beyond the walls of our churches, and I am grateful for your presence today.”

Introduced by his predecessor, Bishop Senior said he was “profoundly grateful” to the pope for “his confidence and trust in appointing me to serve the faithful of the Diocese of Harrisburg as their next bishop.”

“Trusting in God’s will and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, I pray that I may be a faithful, holy and worthy shepherd for the people of central Pennsylvania in service of Jesus Christ and for the good of his church.”

Archbishop Pérez called Bishop Senior’s appointment a “moment” of “great joy for the Church in Philadelphia!”

“I’ve known and worked closely with Bishop Senior since long before either of us were bishops. He is an exemplary priest who has served his hometown faithfully for many years with great wisdom, intelligence and apostolic zeal for the good of souls,” the prelate said in a statement. “It has been an inspiration for me to witness his humility, devotion and unending dedication for many years.”

The pope, he added, has given the faithful of the Harrisburg Diocese “a true gift in making this appointment. I know Bishop Senior will serve them joyfully as a faithful shepherd.”

Then-Msgr. Senior was named an auxiliary bishop for Philadelphia June 8, 2009, and he was ordained a bishop July 31, 2009. Bishop Senior served as the moderator of the curia for the archdiocese from 2009 to 2012, when Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, then head of the Philadelphia Archdiocese, appointed him rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.

In July 2022, Archbishop Pérez named him seminary chancellor with responsibility over the plans for the seminary’s move from its historic Wynnewood campus west of Philadelphia in 2024 to Lower Gwynedd Township, which is northeast of the city. The official groundbreaking on the new campus took place Dec. 8, 2022.

Timothy Christian Senior was born March 22, 1960, in North Wales, Pennsylvania, to James Harwood (d. 1977) and Elise (née Rothwell) Senior. The youngest of three children, he has a brother, Jim, and a sister, Myra. He attended St. Rose of Lima Elementary School and graduated from Lansdale Catholic High School in 1977. He then studied at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, earning bachelor of philosophy degree in 1981. He also has a master of divinity and a master of arts degrees in pastoral theology degrees from the seminary.

He was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia by Cardinal John J. Krol May 18, 1985. He served as an assistant pastor at a parish in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and taught religion in an archdiocesan high school before pursuing full-time graduate studies at Boston College, where he earned master’s degrees in social work and business administration.

When he returned to Philadelphia, he served in the archdiocesan Secretariat for Catholic Human Services from 1992 to 2004, first as deputy secretary and then secretary. He was vicar for clergy from 2004 to 2009. He was named a monsignor in 2005.

He is a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.

The 15-county Harrisburg Diocese covers 7,660 square miles and has a Catholic population of about 206,000 out of a total population of just over 2.3 million people.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Jesus knows how to turn every difficulty or fall into a step forward, Pope Francis said.

With Christ’s love “even that which seems wearisome and unsuccessful can appear under another light,” he said April 23.

Pope Francis greets an estimated 30,000 visitors and pilgrims who joined him for the recitation of the “Regina Coeli” prayer April 23, 2023, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Before reciting the midday “Regina Coeli” prayer with about 30,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis spoke about the day’s Gospel reading, Luke 24:13-35, which describes the Risen Jesus’ encounter with the disciples heading to Emmaus.

Jesus appears beside the two disciples and prompts them to tell him what has happened and made them sad. And, while they are walking, Jesus “helps them reinterpret the facts in a different way, in the light of the prophecies, of the Word of God,” the pope said.

“Today’s Gospel invites us to tell Jesus everything, sincerely, without being afraid of disturbing him – he listens – without fear of saying the wrong thing, without shame at our struggle to understand,” he said.

“The Lord is happy whenever we open ourselves to him,” he said. “Only in this way can he take us by the hand, accompany us and make our hearts burn again.”

The pope said a good way to do this is to dedicate some time every evening to a brief examination of conscience and to reread the day with Jesus, by “opening your heart to him, bringing to him people, choices, fears, falls and hopes — all the things that happened — to learn gradually to look at things with different eyes, with his eyes and not just our own.”

“We can thus relive the experience of those two disciples,” he said. “A difficult cross to embrace, the decision to forgive an offense, a missed opportunity for redress, the toil of work, the sincerity that comes at a price and the trials of family life can appear to us in a new light, the light of the crucified and Risen One, who knows how to turn every fall into a step forward.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán believe strengthening Christian values can make Europe a better place, but they have key differences when describing those values and how they should be promoted.

Pope Francis will visit Hungary’s capital, Budapest, April 28-30. It will be his 41st foreign trip since becoming pope in 2013.

Pope Francis greets Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Budapest, Hungary, in this file photo from Sept. 12, 2021. Pope Francis will return to Hungary April 28-30. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

The top issues on the pope’s agenda are likely to be the ongoing war in Ukraine and immigration — pressing issues that will illustrate some common ground and substantial chasms.

Since Russia’s war on Ukraine began in February 2022, Hungary has seen some 2.5 million Ukrainians cross its borders, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency. While the agency reports only about 35,000 of them have requested temporary protection status to remain in Hungary, the Hungarian government and Catholic and other private humanitarian agencies mobilized quickly to assist both those seeking refuge in the country and those simply passing through. A year later, that assistance continues.

Pope Francis will thank Hungary and its people for welcoming their next-door neighbors in need. And he will meet refugees April 29; Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, said he assumed many of them would be Ukrainians.

But the pope is likely to say something like what Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, told Hungarian officials a year ago: A welcoming attitude should be a permanent part of Hungarian government policy and should be extended to other people seeking refuge, not just Ukrainians.

Since 2015 Orbán has consistently maintained a “no migrants” policy, arguing that “ethnic homogeneity” was an important value for his country.

Pope Francis, while recognizing a nation’s right to control its borders and regulate migration, also insists that people fleeing danger and those seeking a decent life for themselves and their families have a right to move.

Father Csaba Torok, who is responsible for media relations for the Hungarian bishops’ conference, told reporters April 18 that when Pope Francis made a seven-hour visit to Hungary in September 2021 to close the International Eucharistic Congress, Orbán gave him a rather pointed gift: a copy of a letter written by King Bela IV to Pope Innocent IV in 1250 asking for help against Mongol warriors.

“It was a sign,” Father Torok said. “Victor Orbán portrays himself as a defender of Christianity and is intentionally seeking a connection with the pope.”

“Orbán says things that support the church, but he does things that are not always in harmony with church teaching,” the priest said.

Officially, the bishops’ conference and individual bishops have not taken strong public stances against Orbán’s anti-migrant policy, he said. “The Catholic Church in Hungary is not independent in terms of funding. Schools, institutes, hospitals, even dioceses are financed by the state. Whenever political tensions arise, whether internal or external, people prefer not to say anything because there is a risk of jeopardizing the inflow of funds. Should a government become an enemy of the church, it could drive the church to bankruptcy within a few months.”

On the question of the war in Ukraine, Orbán claims he and the pope are on the same page.

In his state of the nation speech in February, the prime minister defended his opposition to sanctions against Russia and to sending weapons or military supplies to Ukraine. His government’s opposition is consistently voiced in meetings of both NATO and the European Union.

The decision to send tanks to Ukraine, Orbán said in the February speech, moved Germany “from the peace camp into the war camp. That left two of us: Hungary and the Vatican. We cannot complain about the company, but we need to address some serious consequences.”

“In essence,” Father Torok said, “what Orbán is saying is: ‘We are the Vatican’s ally and the only country in Europe that protects Christianity; we are doing our utmost for peace in our foreign policy following in the footsteps of the pope.'”

Pope Francis recognizes Ukraine’s right to defend itself, but he also has insisted dialogue is the only way to stop the war. As he told an Italian newspaper in November: Lasting peace cannot be achieved by sending more weapons “because they don’t defeat hatred and the thirst for domination, which will reemerge.”

Orbán has described his policy regarding the war as “strategic calm,” providing humanitarian aid to Ukrainians, but not interrupting Hungary’s strong economic ties with Russia.

Hungary for decades has been trying to promote détente between the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church, Father Torok said. Before St. John Paul II visited the country in 1996 attempts were made to plan a meeting there between the pope and then-Patriarch Alexei II of Moscow. The meeting did not take place.

“The Hungarian Catholic Church has consistently tried to serve as a bridge connecting the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church,” he said. But given the situation with the war, it seems there is “nothing on the table” now.

Still, Bruni, the Vatican press office director, told reporters April 21 that Orthodox delegations could attend some of the papal events in April.

Those delegations likely would include Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, who was head of external relations for the Russian Orthodox Church until, without explanation, he was made administrator of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Budapest and Hungary last June.

Whether or not the pope has direct contact with Russian Orthodox officials in Hungary, what he says about the war will make its way to Moscow.

SCRANTON (April 25, 2023) – The Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, released the following statement on the announcement of the Most Reverend Timothy C. Senior being named Twelfth Bishop of Harrisburg on Tuesday, April 25, 2023:

“As Bishop of the Diocese of Scranton, I am delighted to extend congratulations, best wishes and prayers to Bishop-designate Timothy C. Senior, who has been appointed by our Holy Father, Pope Francis, to become the twelfth Bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg.

“Bishop-designate Senior brings wide ranging pastoral and administrative experience to his new position, which will undoubtedly help him to shepherd the faithful of the 15-counties that make up the Harrisburg Diocese. Having known Bishop Senior well and having worked with him on issues facing the Church here in Pennsylvania for many years, I have no doubt that he will dedicate himself
tirelessly to promoting the Gospel message and the mission of Jesus Christ.

“I ask the faithful of the Diocese of Scranton to join me in praying for Bishop-designate Senior as he prepares to accept this new assignment.

“On behalf of the priests, deacons, religious, and lay faithful of the Diocese of Scranton, I also extend heartfelt congratulations to Bishop Ronald W. Gainer who has led the Diocese of Harrisburg since 2014 and now will become Bishop Emeritus.”

HARRISBURG – The Most Reverend Ronald W. Gainer, Eleventh Bishop of Harrisburg, announced this morning that Pope Francis has named the Most Reverend Timothy C. Senior as the Twelfth Bishop of Harrisburg.

Bishop-designate Senior succeeds Bishop Gainer, who, in keeping with canon law, offered his resignation to the Holy Father when he turned 75 years of age in August of 2022. Bishop Senior’s Mass of Installation will be at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, June 21, 2023, at the Cathedral of Saint Patrick in Harrisburg.

Bishop Senior will be introduced at 10 a.m. today at a press conference. The press conference can be viewed live at https://youtube.com/live/5TrYFmDv_4M.

“This is a joyous day for our clergy, staff, the people of the Diocese and for me personally. I have known Bishop Senior for well over 25 years and have full confidence that he will be a caring, faithful shepherd who will speak the truth with love and conviction, leading the Diocese of Harrisburg with the truths of the Church as a witness of Jesus Christ,” said Bishop Gainer. “I am grateful to our Holy Father in sending the Diocese of Harrisburg a man devoted to answering the call of the Gospel, who also has numerous skills in business, education, and human service administration. The Diocese of Harrisburg will be well cared for in the hands of Bishop-designate Senior.”

Bishop Senior was ordained an Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia in July, 2009. He is currently Regional Bishop of Montgomery County and Philadelphia-South, as well as Chancellor of Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary.

Prior to assuming these responsibilities, Bishop Senior served as Rector of Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary from 2012 to 2022, after having been the Moderator of the Curia of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 2009 to 2012. He served as Vicar for Clergy from 2004 to 2009. From 1992 to 2004, Bishop Senior served in the Archdiocesan Secretariat for Catholic Human Services, both as Deputy Secretary and then Secretary.

A 1977 graduate of Lansdale Catholic High School, Lansdale, PA, Bishop Senior is a classically trained pianist and the youngest of the three children of the late James H. and Elise Rothwell Senior. Bishop Senior was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1985. He earned a Masters of Divinity and Master of Arts in Theology from Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, served as an assistant pastor at a parish in Bucks County and taught religion in an Archdiocesan high school. He was then assigned to graduate studies at Boston College, earning his Masters in Social Work and Masters in Business Administration in 1992.

In 1998, he was named Honorary Chaplain to His Holiness, and in 2005, he was named a Prelate of Honor. In 2009, Bishop Senior was appointed Titular Bishop of Floriana and Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia, and was ordained a Bishop on July 31, 2009 by Cardinal Justin Rigali.

In responding to today’s announcement, Bishop Senior said, “I am profoundly grateful to Pope Francis for his confidence and trust in appointing me to serve the faithful of the Diocese of Harrisburg as their next bishop. Trusting in God’s will and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, I pray that I may be a faithful, holy, and worthy shepherd for the people of central Pennsylvania in service of Jesus Christ and for the good of His Church.”

Bishop Gainer has led the Diocese of Harrisburg since 2014 and plans to remain in the Diocese as our Bishop Emeritus.

As the Diocese enters this period of transition, please join us in praying for Bishop Senior and for Bishop Gainer.

Queen of Heaven Parish, 750 North Vine Street, Hazleton, will be the location for the Diocese of Scranton’s annual World Day of Prayer for Vocations Mass on Saturday, April 29, 2023.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, will be the principal celebrant for the 5:30 p.m. liturgy.

The purpose of World Day of Prayer for Vocations is to publicly fulfill the Lord’s instruction to, “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into his harvest” (Mt 9:38; Lk 10:2).

While those in attendance will pray for all those discerning and living out their vocation, on this weekend the Church concentrates its attention on vocations to the ordained ministries (priesthood and diaconate), consecrated life in all its forms (male and female religious life, societies of apostolic life, consecrated virginity), secular institutes in their diversity of services and membership, and to the missionary life.

This year, 2023, marks the 60th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Vocations.

Every parish in the Diocese of Scranton will be celebrating World Day of Prayer for Vocations at their weekend Masses on April 29/30.

May Christ the Good Shepherd guide and protect us as we respond to our vocations in total surrender to Him!

April 20, 2023

WASHINGTON – On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate voted 51 to 48 to reject a Congressional Review Act resolution that would overturn an interim final rule from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) which added abortion to veterans’ and dependents’ health benefits packages. In response, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, chairman of the USCCB’s Commttee on Pro-Life Activities, issued the following joint statement:

“It is a gross failure that the Senate did not pass this lifesaving resolution. Our heroes and their dependents deserve quality health care services, instead of policies to end the lives of their own children. Many veterans face tremendous life challenges, especially as the active duty experience too often involves significant mental health traumas and can be followed by a difficult readjustment to civilian life. It is inhumane to provide fully taxpayer-funded abortion (which itself can increase mental health risks) as a so-called solution to pregnancy, instead of resources needed to welcome a child and flourish as a family. We continue to urge Congress to prevent implementation of this harmful policy, and to provide instead real support for our military veterans and their loved ones.”

The USCCB, together with the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, submitted a joint regulatory comment letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs when the rule was announced in September, which can be read here.

A joint letter to Congress from Archbishop Broglio and Bishop Burbidge on the Department of Defense’s and the VA’s abortion policies can be read here.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Martyrdom is primarily an act of love, not heroism, and while it often comes in the midst of persecution, it should motivate Christians to seek peace and reconciliation, Pope Francis said.

Persecution and martyrdom are not a thing of the past, he told people at his weekly general audience April 19. “Today there is persecution of Christians in the world. A lot. There are more martyrs today than there were” in the first centuries of Christianity.

As part of his series of talks about “zeal” for evangelization, Pope Francis spoke about the witness of “the host of martyrs – men and women of every age, language and nation – who have given their life for Christ.”

Pope Francis gives his blessing at the end of his weekly general audience April 19, 2023, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

“The martyrs, in imitation of Christ and with his grace, turn the violence of those who refuse the proclamation (of the Gospel) into a supreme occasion of love, which goes as far as forgiving their persecutors,” the pope said. “This is interesting: martyrs always forgive their persecutors. Stephen, the first martyr, died praying, ‘Lord, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.’ Martyrs always pray for their persecutors.”

To illustrate his point about modern martyrdom, Pope Francis drew attention specifically to Yemen, “a land that has for many years been afflicted by a terrible, forgotten war, that has caused many deaths and still causes many people, especially children, to suffer today.”

Out of a population of about 31.6 million people, the Vatican estimates the number of Catholics in Yemen to be about 1,000.

In a situation of war and dire poverty, Pope Francis said, “there have been shining witnesses of faith, such as that of the Missionaries of Charity. They are still present today in Yemen, where they offer assistance to elderly who are sick and to people with disabilities. They welcome everyone, of any religion, because charity and fraternity have no boundaries.”

The sisters’ witness of love to others has cost them dearly though. The pope reminded the crowd in St. Peter’s Square that three of the sisters – Sisters Aletta, Zelia and Michael – were “killed by a fanatic” in July 1998 as they were returning home from Mass.

“More recently, shortly after the beginning of the still ongoing conflict, in March 2016, Sister Anselm, Sister Marguerite, Sister Reginette and Sister Judith were killed together with some laypeople who helped them in their work of charity among the least,” the pope said.

The dozen laypeople included “some Muslim faithful who worked with the religious sisters,” he said.

“It moves us to see how the witness of blood can unite people of different religions,” he continued. “One should never kill in the name of God, because for him we are all brothers and sisters. But together one can give one’s life for others.”

Pope Francis prayed that Christians would “never tire of bearing witness to the Gospel, even in times of tribulation.”

“May all the martyr saints be seeds of peace and reconciliation among peoples for a more humane and fraternal world as we await the full manifestation of the kingdom of heaven when God will be all in all,” the pope said.