reflections, updates and homilies from Deacon Mike Talbot inspired by the following words from my ordination: Receive the Gospel of Christ whose herald you have become. Believe what you read, teach what you believe and practice what you teach...
Patron: of Catholic journalists, tobacconists, Friesland Birth: 1881 Death: 1942 Beatified: Pope John Paul II
Canonized: Pope Francis
Carmelite martyr who died at the hands of the Nazis. He was born in Bolsward in the Netherlands. Becoming a Carmelite as a young man, he displayed a dazzling intellect and scholarship, receiving ordination as a priest in 1905 and earning a doctorate in philosophy at Rome. Titus then taught in Dutch universities and lectured in many countries on Carmelite spirituality and mysticism. lie also served as rector magnificus at the Catholic University of Nijmegen. In 1935 he became an ecclesiastical advisor to Catholic journalists. His academic and spiritual studies were also printed and widely read. When the Nazis occupied the Netherlands,Titus was singled out as an enemy because he fought against the spread of Nazism in Europe. Arrested, Titus was sent to various concentration camps where he demonstrated charity and concern. In 1942, he was martyred in Dachau. Titus was beatified by Pope JohnPaul II on November 3, 1985 and Canonized by Pope Francis in 2022.
FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on July 24, 2024, in Washington, D.C. | Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
FBI Director Christopher Wray denied in his testimony to Congress on Wednesday that the bureau under the Biden administration has been targeting pro-life activists.
Wray claimed while testifying to the House Judiciary Committee that the bureau has primarily focused its attention on investigating pro-abortion extremists rather than pro-life activists since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
This comes just months after several pro-life advocates, including several elderly individuals, were sentenced to years in prison for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act during a “rescue” attempt at a Washington, D.C., abortion clinic in 2020.
The FACE Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994, imposes criminal penalties on individuals convicted of “violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct” that interferes with access to abortion clinics, places of worship, and pregnancy centers.
Several House and Senate Republicans, including Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, have been calling for the FACE Act to be repealed because they say it is being unequally applied to target pro-life advocates.
Wray’s claim was in response to a question raised by Roy about whether the FBI was justified in its use of the FACE Act to sentence Paulette Harlow, a 75-year-old grandmother with a serious medical condition.
Harlow was sentenced to two years in prison for her involvement in the 2020 rescue.
“Do you think it is appropriate for a 75-year-old woman who was praying at a clinic in D.C. to be put in prison for two years for that activity?” Roy asked.
The FBI director claimed that he was “not familiar with this specific case” and said he didn’t want to weigh in without knowing all the facts.
“What I can tell you,” Wray said, “is that when it comes to FACE Act enforcement and abortion-related violent extremism, I think one of the things that gets lost, and I appreciate the opportunity to clarify it, is that really since the Dobbs decision actually more of our abortion-related violent extremism investigations have focused on violence against pro-life facilities as opposed to the other way around.”
Roy responded that the data shared with his office contradicts Wray’s claim and that the FBI has yet to respond to his request for additional data.
Roy’s office shared data obtained from the Department of Justice with CNA on Thursday. The data shows a significant increase in FACE Act indictments against pro-life activists starting in 2022. According to the data shared with CNA, 26 pro-life advocates were sentenced under the FACE Act in 2022 compared with just two in the previous year.
In comparison, only four pro-abortion activists have been charged with violating the FACE Act since 2022, despite numerous attacks against pro-life groups and pregnancy centers after Roe’s overturn.
In an interview with Fox News after the Wednesday hearing, Roy decried the FBI for not being able to stop the attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump, saying: “Meanwhile they put a 75-year-old woman in prison for two years because she was praying at an abortion clinic. Their priorities are all out of whack.”
Roy asked: “What on earth does the FBI actually do besides putting a 75-year-old grandmother in prison?
The Department of Justice did not reply to CNA’s request for comment.
Pope Francis greets 100-year-old Lucilla Macelli before celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, marking World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly July 23, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Any Catholic who participates in the celebration July 28 of the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly can receive a plenary indulgence, the Vatican announced.
“Grandparents, the elderly and all the faithful who, motivated by a true spirit of penance and charity,” attend Mass or other prayer services as part of the day’s celebration can receive the indulgence, which “may also be applied as a suffrage to the souls in purgatory,” said the announcement published July 18 by the Apostolic Penitentiary, the Vatican court charged with granting indulgences.
The Vatican said the indulgence also can apply to those who “devote adequate time to actually or virtually visiting their elderly brothers and sisters in need or in difficulty,” such as those who are sick, lonely or disabled.
To receive a plenary indulgence, which is a remission of the temporal punishment due for one’s sins, a person must show detachment from sin, go to confession, receive the Eucharist and pray for the intentions of the pope. The announcement also urged priests “to make themselves available, in a ready and generous spirit,” to hear confessions.
The indulgence also is available to “the elderly sick and all those who, unable to leave their homes for a serious reason,” spiritually join the celebrations, which will be broadcast through various media, and offer “to the merciful God their prayers, pains or sufferings,” the Vatican said.
Pope Francis celebrated the first World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly in 2021 and decreed that it be observed each year on the Sunday closest to the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne, Jesus’ grandparents.
In his message for this year’s celebration, Pope Francis focused on the problem of intergenerational conflict, calling it “a fallacy and the poisoned fruit of conflict.”
Dedicated to the theme “Do not cast me off in my old age” from the Book of Psalms, the pope’s message said the elderly must not be accused of saddling younger generations with their medical expenses and pensions — a notion which foments intergenerational conflict and drives older people into isolation.
“The loneliness and abandonment of the elderly is not by chance or inevitable, but the fruit of decisions — political, economic, social and personal decisions — that fail to acknowledge the infinite dignity of each person,” the pope had written.
The pope encouraged all people to express gratitude to those who, often at great sacrifice, “care for an older person or simply demonstrate daily closeness to relatives or acquaintances who no longer have anyone else.”
The great Eucharistic Congress in the US; the words of St John Chrysostom; the defence of every life.
By Andrea Tornielli
In a speech delivered at the opening of the US Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis on the evening of July 17, the Apostolic Nuncio Christophe Pierre posed a question: what does "Eucharistic revival" really mean? And, he asked, how might we determine whether we are experiencing a true Eucharistic awakening?
According to Cardinal Pierre, a genuine Eucharistic revival, though always accompanied by sacramental devotion—such as adoration, processions, and catechesis—must extend beyond devotional practices. A true Eucharistic awakening, Cardinal Pierre explained, means seeing Christ in others, not only in our own families, friends, and communities, but also in those we feel distant from due to their ethnicity, social status, or differing opinions. These words are particularly significant given the polarization that characterizes American society, which the Church in that great country is not immune to.
The Nuncio's reflections bring to mind a homily by the great Church Father, St. John Chrysostom, who said: "Do you wish to honor the body of Christ? Do not allow it to be scorned in its members, that is, in the poor who lack clothing to cover themselves. Do not honor him here in church with silk fabrics while neglecting him outside where he suffers from cold and nakedness ... What benefit is it to Christ if the table for the sacrifice is laden with golden vessels while he dies of hunger in the person of the poor?" Chrysostom added, "Think the same way about Christ when he wanders as a pilgrim needing shelter. You refuse to welcome him in the stranger, yet adorn the floor, walls, columns, and walls of the sacred building... While you adorn the place for worship, do not close your heart to your suffering brother. This is the living temple more precious than the other."
Another great bishop, Don Tonino Bello, observed: "Unfortunately, the ostentatious opulence of our cities makes us easily recognize the body of Christ in the Eucharist of our altars but prevents us from seeing the body of Christ in the uncomfortable tabernacles of misery, need, suffering, and loneliness. That is why our Eucharists are eccentric..."
Considering the situation in the United States, we can only hope that the Eucharistic revival will lead to greater attention to the body of Christ in the "uncomfortable tabernacles" of poverty and marginalization. We can also hope that this revival fosters renewed attention to human life and dignity, particularly the weak and defenseless: the unborn, the homeless, migrants, and others. A renewed focus is needed for those whose lives are threatened daily by violence and the uncontrolled spread of firearms, which are sold with alarming ease—a blight that particularly afflicts this great country. Christians—followers of he who, in Gethsemane, instructed Peter to sheath his sword, drawn in defence, and then healed the ear of the High Priest's servant—must never cease to combat this scourge.
By tradition Joachim and Anne are considered to be the names of the parents of Mary, the Mother of God. We have no historical evidence, however, of any elements of their lives, including their names. Any stories about Mary's father and mother come to us through legend and tradition.
We get the oldest story from a document called the Gospel of James, though in no way should this document be trusted to be factual, historical, or the Word of God. The legend told in this document says that after years of childlessness, an angel appeared to tell Anne and Joachim that they would have a child. Anne promised to dedicate this child to God (much the way that Samuel was dedicated by his mother Hannah -- Anne -- in 1 Kings).
For those who wonder what we can learn from people we know nothing about and how we can honor them, we must focus on why they are honored by the church. Whatever their names or the facts of their lives, the truth is that it was the parents of Mary who nurtured Mary, taught her, brought her up to be a worthy Mother of God. It was their teaching that led her to respond to God's request with faith, "Let it be done to me as you will." It was their example of parenting that Mary must have followed as she brought up her own son, Jesus. It was their faith that laid the foundation of courage and strength that allowed her to stand by the cross as her son was crucified and still believe.
Such parents can be examples and models for all parents.
Anne (or Ann) is the patron saint of Christian mothers and of women in labor.
Chaldean Catholic Church reacts 7 months after gay blessings: will not give them 7 months later this important Catholic community reacted by replying to the statement of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith
(ZENIT News / Baghdad, 07.24.2024).- Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, has reaffirmed the Church’s stance against blessing same-sex unions, asserting that such actions are inconsistent with Catholic teachings. On July 22, following the deliberations of the Chaldean Synod, the Church’s position was made unequivocally clear: «The Chaldean Church in Iraq and worldwide does not recognize same-sex unions as marriage. The legitimate and correct form of marriage for the Church is between a man and a woman, and therefore, we will not bless homosexual unions to preserve the sanctity of marriage, which is one of the seven sacraments.» Responding to further inquiries from Per Mariam, Cardinal Sako reiterated this position: «For us Chaldean Catholics, the blessing of a marriage is a sacrament, not merely a blessing. We cannot confer this sacrament on LGBT individuals. However, if an individual requests a prayer, we are willing to offer it, as we do for any person.» A few days earlier, Cardinal Sako had called on the Chaldean community to «return to the source of their authentic Chaldean spirituality.» He emphasized the importance of being «a star that leads people to Christ in our daily lives.» The Chaldean Catholic Church is one of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with the Pope, enjoying autonomy in areas such as canon law. The Church holds significant importance in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, where it maintains a notable presence. On December 18, 2023, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued the Fiducia Supplicans Declaration, which permits non-sacramental blessings for irregular couples. Seven months later, the Chaldean Catholic Church has responded, affirming its commitment to traditional marriage doctrine.
A native of Minneapolis and priest of 30 years with the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis –– Father Kevin Kenney — has been named an auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese.
The appointment by Pope Francis was announced at 5 a.m. CST July 25. It comes just two months after Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams was appointed coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey.
Bishop-elect Kenney, 64, currently pastor of St. Olaf, parochial administrator of Sts. Cyril and Methodius and chaplain at DeLaSalle High School, all in Minneapolis, will join Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Auxiliary Bishop Michael Izen in leading the archdiocese across its 12 counties.
Fluent in Spanish, the bishop-elect has been parochial vicar of St. Olaf and pastor of Our Lady of Peace in Minneapolis, Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Paul, Divine Mercy in Faribault and St. Michael in Kenyon. Among still other assignments, he has been an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.
As vicar for Latino Ministry from 2010 to 2018, Bishop-elect Kenney was instrumental in reopening the archdiocese’s Office of Latino Ministry. He has been ministering at St. Olaf and Sts. Cyril and Methodius since 2019; the latter parish is a hub for the Ecuadorian community in the Twin Cities.
Archbishop Hebda said the archdiocese is blessed by Pope Francis appointing “such a fine pastor.”
“The choice of an Archdiocesan priest to be a successor of the Apostles always honors the local Church that has nourished and sustained his vocation,” the archbishop said in a statement. “I am grateful that the Holy Father has recognized in Bishop-elect Kenney the same exceptionally compassionate priestly heart that I have come to know in the nine years that I have been serving here. I look forward to collaborating in a new way with Bishop-elect Kenney as he assumes his new role.”
Bishop Izen said “Bishop-elect Kenney will be a great blessing” to the archdiocese. “He has a vast experience in our Archdiocese, I know he’s already popular with the Latino community, and I’m confident that energy will only grow. He’s got big shoes to fill with Bishop Williams moving to the Diocese of Camden, but I think Bishop-elect Kenney will do great. I am also thankful that Pope Francis was able to move so quickly with his appointment.”
The bishop-elect said he received a telephone call from Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, in late June. Bishop-elect Kenney told Cardinal Pierre he needed time to pray about the appointment.
The cardinal said, “’Okay, but don’t wait too long,’” Bishop-elect Kenney said in a statement. Battling between “yes” and “no,” reflecting on the fact he had been thinking about his potential retirement in the years ahead and the adventures he could have in ministry, Bishop-elect Kenney said he “finally succumbed to saying, ‘Yes.’”
“Every time I now pass a picture of Pope Francis, I thank him for the new and blessed adventure that is ahead,” Bishop-elect Kenney said. “I thought to myself, ‘I began as a missionary and now I will end as a missionary, going into the world in a new way, to proclaim and live the good news of Jesus Christ.”
Bishop-elect Kenney was born in Minneapolis to William and Dorothy Kenney. He is the fifth of eight children. He attended Annunciation Grade School in 1974 and graduated from DeLaSalle High School in 1978.
As a graduate of the College of St. Thomas (now the University of St. Thomas) with degrees in business administration and Spanish, Bishop-elect Kenney moved to Chicago to work as a lay volunteer with the Claretian Missionaries, a religious community of priests and brothers founded by St. Anthony Marie Claret.
After two years there, working with inner-city youth and teaching English as a second language, Bishop-elect Kenney was hired as director of the Claretian Lay Volunteers. After leading that program for two years, he entered formation with the Claretians and was sent to the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago to complete his studies for priestly ordination.
After five years in formation with the Claretian Missionaries, he discerned that he was called to diocesan priesthood, was accepted as a seminarian for his home diocese and entered formation at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul. On May 28, 1994, Archbishop John Roach ordained Bishop-elect Kenney to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Archbishop Hebda will introduce Bishop-elect Kenney at 10 a.m. July 25 at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center in St. Paul. The bishop-elect’s episcopal ordination is scheduled for 1 p.m. Oct. 28 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.
Cardinal Tagle: Eucharistic Congress was a ‘blessed experience’
In this interview with Vatican Radio, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle reflects on his experience at the Tenth National Eucharistic Congress in the United States, and shares the message Pope Francis had for participants.
By Christopher Wells
The National Eucharistic Congress in the United States was “a blessed experience for me,” Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle told Vatican Radio on his return from the event, which he attended as Pope Francis’ personal representative, known as a “pontifical legate.”
The Pro-Prefect for the Section of First Evangelization for the Dicastery for Evangelization, Cardinal Tagle said, “It was palpable that people were responding to a calling from God who sent His Son Jesus in the flesh and whose presence remains among us in in the Eucharist.” And, he added, “This has sent the Holy Spirit touching their hearts through the voice of their pastors and their religious orders and their lay movements or groups, to come to respond to the call and to express their faith now in Jesus’ Presence among us.”
Recovering a sense of wonder
Noting that it was customary for the Pope to commission his legate with a personal letter, Cardinal Tagle said, “It was very clear that first, the Holy Father wanted to encourage the people to recover the sense of wonder, of amazement at the gifts, the spiritual gifts that the Eucharist brings to us, again, a sense of wonder.”
He went on to say that “the Holy Father added immediately that having received the gift, they should impart to others the beauty of that gift – the missionary of dimension of our Eucharistic devotion so that our Eucharistic devotion does not end up being a closed relationship between Jesus and me, and I forget the world and I forget others.” Instead, the Cardinal explained, “If you have received the gift, then we should go on mission proclaiming the good news that we have seen, that we have tasted, that we have received.”
Interview with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle
Pontifical Legate to the National Eucharistic Congress
Vatican Radio: Your Eminence, Cardinal Tagle, thank you for joining us this afternoon. You’ve just returned from the United States, where you were the pontifical legate, the pope’s representative to the National Eucharistic Congress. Can you tell us about your experience of the event?
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle: Well, first of all, it is a blessed – and a blessing – a blessed experience for me. And I thank the Holy Father for sending me as his representative to the National Eucharistic Congress. You know, it gave me, first of all, an experience once again of a church in the original sense of the word, a gathering of people, but not just a gathering because they wanted to party or just because they have a common interest, but a gathering that is really a response to a calling.
And it was palpable that people were responding to a calling from God who sent His Son Jesus in the flesh and whose presence remains among us in in the Eucharist. And this has sent the Holy Spirit touching their hearts through the voice of their pastors and their religious orders and their lay movements or groups, to come to respond to the call and to express their faith now in Jesus’ presence among us.
So for me, it’s a wonderful experience to see the Church, in coming together in the name of Jesus, in prayer, in wanting to learn more regarding the Word of God through the speeches, through the catechetical events, and most especially through the testimonies of peoples who have been transformed by their Eucharistic life and spirituality. I count it as a blessing for me.
Q. And again, you were the representative of Pope Francis to the National Eucharistic Congress. Can you share with us, what was the message that you brought from the Holy Father to the US faithful?
Speaker2: Well, the Holy Father wrote me a letter – and it is customary for the Holy Father to write a letter to the person that he is sending, as a delegate, to any event, and in this case, to the National Eucharistic Congress. And aside from the letter, I had an opportunity to talk with him before my departure.
But in the letter, it was very clear that first, the Holy Father wanted to encourage the people to recover the sense of wonder, of amazement at the gifts, the spiritual gifts that the Eucharist brings to us, again, a sense of wonder. That’s why I emphasized in my homily the sense of the renewed vision of receiving gifts, the sense of wonder at having been the recipient of this tremendous gift, which is not just anything but the presence of Jesus who fulfilled His mission of love by coming as one of us except in sin. So His mission is accomplished in His being a gift in the flesh. And now He gives His flesh to us as food as a pledge of eternal life.
So the Holy Father wants the people, not only those who attended, but everyone, especially the United States, to recover that sense of amazement and gratitude for the gift being received.
But the Holy Father added immediately that having received the gift, they should impart to others the beauty of that gift – the missionary dimension of our Eucharistic devotion, so that our Eucharistic devotion does not end up being a closed relationship between Jesus and me, and I forget the world and I forget others. No. If you have received the gift, then we should go on mission proclaiming the good news that we have seen, that we have tasted, that we have received.
So I just emphasized those two important aspects of the Pope’s message to me, which I thought he wanted me to relay to everyone in the Congress.
Q. And in fact, the idea of going on mission and sharing the gift we’ve received is part of the ongoing National Eucharistic revival. That was the overall context of the Eucharistic Congress, and that’s still ongoing. What fruits – given your experience in these past few days and over the past few years – what fruits do you hope to see in the Church in the United States as a consequence of the Congress and the Eucharistic revival?
Of course, we rely on the gift of God, the Holy Spirit that moves the hearts of people, and we rely on the power of the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist to produce those fruits.
But I can, in hope, also say that after listening to the people who had participated – even in the airport, I met some of them who were also flying out of Indianapolis – and I already see the beginnings of the growth of the fruits sown during the Congress.
First of all, I saw the joy of being gifted with the Lord. And that joy I hope will be spread by people. Because I think the Holy Father stressed that the Evangelii gaudium, the joy of the gospel, yes, our life as Christians, our Eucharistic practice are not just obligations imposed on us, but they are gifts to us that we should receive with gratitude and with joy.
And I saw much joy, much joy, and I hope that would be one fruit that people will see that following Jesus is a joyful matter. It is. Yes, it will have its challenges. We will bear the Cross, but we bear it with joy.Not with lonely and regretful hearts, but with joy.
And secondly, the fruit is also to encourage people to come together, to come together for the Mass. Because I heard that there was, since the Covid pandemic, there was a drop in the attendance at Mass, the physical attendance at Mass. I hope this big gathering will encourage people to come back to church in their parishes and to experience the totality of the Eucharist, that Jesus gathers us as His Body. We listen to the word of Jesus in the Liturgy of the Word, we gather the gifts of the earth, the fruits of human labor, that will become the body of Christ. And then after receiving it, we go on mission, but before we can go, we should be gathered.
And I hope that this Congress would have encouraged the viewers, those who follow the Congress to go out and go back to church, be with the community, experience being Body of Christ and together also to go on mission.
Q. One last question for you. You’re the pro-prefect of the section of the dicastery for evangelization dealing with the first evangelization and new particular churches. How can renewed Eucharistic devotion, not just in the United States, but maybe throughout the Church, contribute to the first evangelization?
You know, there is what you call an intimate connection between the Eucharist and evangelization. First, when we go to the experience of the early Church after the Resurrection and Ascension of the Lord, we see that the early Christian communities gathered to listen to the teachings of the apostles, to break bread together, and they shared their goods, their properties to be shared in common, especially with the poor. And according to the Acts of the Apostles, that gathering in the Word of God, gathering the Breaking of Bread, the gathering in charity, which is very Eucharistic, caught the attention of many people, and many were converted to the Catholic faith.
So the Eucharistic gathering is in itself a proclamation in action of the good news of what Jesus could do to a community, of what new life, the new life that Jesus brings to a community that is gathered in the Eucharist.
So we hope, we hope that, and I have to testify that in many parts of the world where Christians are a tiny minority, Christians are eager. They walk for miles and miles, even for days, in order to join the community in the celebration of the Eucharist. And in that gathering, they are renewed and they give a witness to non-Christians about the good news. Sometimes it happens that it is the Eucharistic assembly that makes non-Christians curious what I call this holy curiosity. They ask why? Where are you gathering every Sunday and why do you share songs? Why do you share even your food with each other? They open the gates for us to proclaim what we have seen, heard, and touched Jesus in the Eucharist.
Q. Cardinal Tagle, thank you again so much for taking time to speak with us. I know you’ve had a long trip. Is there anything else you’d like to share as we conclude our interview?
Well, I just hope that people who went, from different parts of the United States – because there were pilgrimages leading up to Indianapolis – now the expectation is from Indianapolis, will there be a movement going back to the different parts of the country? That’s where we have to be open to the Holy Spirit, that will lead us to bring Jesus wherever He wants us to go
