Cathedral of St. Peter in Chains, Cincinnati. / Credit: Mitchell Chabot/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Oct 15, 2024 / 16:35 pm (CNA).

A priest in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati has been reassigned to a parochial vicarship months after resigning from another parish after it became known he had destroyed possible child sex abuse material without notifying police. 

Father Barry Stechschulte was appointed parochial vicar of a family of parishes in the western part of Ohio, near the border with Indiana. That appointment went into effect on Monday, according to the archdiocesan website.

In July, Stechschulte announced his departure from St. Susanna Catholic Parish in Mason, Ohio, weeks after a bombshell media report revealed that in 2012 he ordered the destruction of a hard drive reportedly containing inappropriate pictures of children — and potentially child pornography — and then delayed reporting the incident to police. 

The pastor did not report the incident to law enforcement until 2018. In an apology to parishioners prior to his departure the priest said he had wanted to protect others from seeing the contents of the hard drive.

Several hundred members of St. Susanna called for the pastor’s resignation after the revelation, stating that his failure to report the potential child sexual abuse material had “severely compromised” the parish’s confidence in him. 

Stechschulte indicated in his resignation that he would be sent to another parish at some point. He wrote at the time that he would “step down as pastor, effective immediately, to be reassigned elsewhere in the archdiocese.”

The archdiocese did not immediately return a request on Tuesday for comment about the reassignment. Archdiocesan spokesman Mike Schafer told Cincinnati ABC affiliate WCPO last week that he “[could not] comment further as this is a personnel matter.”

The revelation about Stechschulte destroying the hard drive came as part of a report by WCPO, which earlier this year published an extensive exposé on a yearslong controversy involving Dayton-area priest Father Tony Cutcher.

Cutcher left ministry in 2021 amid a scandal involving “hundreds of text messages he exchanged with a 14-year-old boy.”

Part of the report touched on the 2012 incident in which Stechschulte discovered “what looked like child pornography” on a computer at Holy Rosary Church in St. Marys, north of Dayton. Cutcher had previously served at that parish.

Deacon Marty Brown later told police he “took the hard drive out of the computer and destroyed it with a blow torch at the request of Stechschulte.”

The archdiocese confirmed to WCPO last week that Brown himself is presently on a leave of absence. 

The family of parishes in which Stechschulte is serving comprises seven total churches located just a few miles from the Indiana border.

Parish families in the archdiocese are served by one or more parochial vicars as well as a pastor, the archdiocese says on its website.

Bishop Erik Varden, OCSO, a Trappist monk and spiritual writer, has served as Bishop of Trondheim in Norway since 2020. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Staff, Oct 15, 2024 / 16:05 pm (CNA).

The Norwegian bishops have joined more than 30 Christian communities in that country in issuing a declaration in support of “biological reality” and against movements such as gender ideology and “queer theory.” 

The Ecumenical Declaration on “Gender and Sexual Diversity,” issued on Tuesday, cites both “the confession of the Bible as the word of God” as well as “biological reality” in criticizing those movements.

In their statement, the 31 signatories — including the Norwegian Catholic Bishops’ Council, the Norwegian Lutheran Missionary Society, Foursquare Norway, and the Value Alliance — point out that there are “only two biological sexes: male and female. A person’s sex is decided at the moment of conception.”

“The idea that there is a subjective gender and a self-chosen ‘gender identity’ that is freely chosen and based on feelings is the result of ideology and has no foundation in biology or science,” the statement says. 

In recent years in many countries, authorities have promoted gender ideology to young students. The signatories in their letter describe it as “extremely problematic” to “confront children and young people in the classroom with the idea that there are ‘boys, girls, and other genders.’” 

“This influence can lead to confusion, insecurity, and destructive life choices for many children and young people,” the statement says. 

The statement argues that “government bodies and public authorities abuse their mandate and power when they try to pressure citizens and organizations to conform to ‘queer theory’ in relation to gender, sexuality, and marriage.”

In addition to its criticisms of gender ideology, the statement also criticizes artificial insemination and surrogacy, calling their use “a breach of God’s creative will and the rights of the child.”

“A human being is created from the egg of a woman and the sperm of a man,” it says. “Neither mother nor father or other family members are dispensable or superfluous in the life of a child.”

The signatories write that they are “against bullying and exclusion, manipulation and coercion, harassment and hatred, ostracism and violence in all its facets,” but they stipulate that they ”will not make any concessions at the expense of biblical truths, even if these truths conflict with political guidelines or current social trends.”

“We believe that much of what is known under the modern terms ‘gender diversity’ and ‘sexual diversity’ is not based on medical knowledge and natural science,” they write. “This gender ideology is also incompatible with our Christian faith and understanding of reality.”

‘The Christian anthropological vision’

In a Tuesday interview with CNA Deutsch, Trondheim Bishop Erik Varden, chairman of the Nordic Bishops’ Conference, said the declaration’s background is based on the theology behind a similar 2016 declaration on marriage signed by about three dozen Norwegian Christian groups. 

“[It] is important to show that the Christian anthropological vision, its vision of what a person is, what it means to be a woman or a man, is consistent with empirical data,” the bishop said. “A Christian understanding of life is eminently concrete.”

“Trying to adjust reality based on personal perception is a risky undertaking, especially when it begins to make impossible promises to the vulnerable, lonely, and wounded,” the prelate pointed out.

The signatories “have no illusions about the complexity of human life and relationships,” the bishop said. “We want to accompany complex situations compassionately and creatively.”

Varden noted that a growing number of people harmed by gender ideology are beginning to speak out about it. He pointed to the Tavistock gender identity clinic in England, which for years treated children as young as 10 who were experiencing gender dysphoria with “puberty blockers” and hormone treatments. The government closed the clinic down in 2022 following a critical independent review.

“The consequences of the Tavistock clinic affair in England are a well-known example of dealing with these injuries; it is by no means the only one,” he said. “The choir of voices that want to be heard is getting louder and louder. That’s a good thing.”

The bishop said the signatories of the letter are seeking to “contribute constructively.” 

“Our statement is neither angry nor over-the-counter,” he said. “It arises, in prayer, from our commitment to our nation and our desire to build it.” 

“We reaffirm the preciousness of life, every person — in whom we want to recognize a sister, a brother, a potential friend, by seeing them as far as possible as God sees them, that is, with immense hope,” he said. 

Pope Francis receives the vice president of Argentina, Victoria Villarruel, on Oct. 14, 2024, in a meeting in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican. The two discussed the situation in the country and exchanged gifts in an atmosphere of “great affection,” according to an official statement. / Credit: Vatican Media

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Oct 15, 2024 / 15:32 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Monday received the vice president of Argentina, Victoria Villarruel, in a meeting in which they discussed the situation in the country and exchanged gifts.

The meeting, which lasted about an hour, took place in the library of the Apostolic Palace in an atmosphere of “great affection,” according to the official statement.

Villarruel, who is also the president of the Senate, shared a video on X that showed the moment the pope greeted her with a cordial “Nice to see you.” With his usual sense of humor, he responded to the question “How are you?” by saying: “Very well, still alive. Are you surviving?” Villarruel replied: “I’m so happy to see you standing,” alluding to the pope’s recent public appearances in a wheelchair.

During the conversation, which covered various topics, the pontiff showed interest in the situation in Argentina and thanked her for the visit, to which Villarruel responded: “Thank you, Holy Father, for receiving me.”

The vice president gave the pope a statuette of a horse with its foal and a Spanish sweet. Francis, for his part, gave her a blessed rosary, a book about the historic blessing given in March 2020 with the phrase “No one is saved alone,” and a message of peace signed especially for her.

As she said goodbye, Villarruel said: “I pray for you, but you pray for me, okay?”

What is Victoria Villarruel’s connection to the Catholic Church?

Victoria Villarruel is a practicing Catholic who has participated in pilgrimages to the national shrine of Our Lady of Luján and has shared greetings on social media during Easter.

Last November, Argentine priest Javier Olivera Ravasi told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that he personally met Villarruel, who was the godmother of a person baptized in his chapel.

“She has a strong and determined personality; she’s from a military family; she’s Catholic, Roman apostolic and practicing,” related the priest, who also mentioned that Villarruel attends the Traditional Latin Mass.

Villarruel has spoken out against abortion, saying she defends “the right to life because it begins at conception,” not for religious reasons, but for “pure biology,” according to El País.

In 2018, she attended a Mass for Life in Luján and has expressed her intention to repeal the country’s abortion law, although she noted that the priority at the moment is the economic crisis.

In December, after taking office, Villarruel met with the bishop of the military diocese of Argentina, Santiago Olivera, who gave her an image of the Argentine saint Father Jose Gabriel del Rosario Brochero, wishing her his protection in her administration.

Later, she also met with the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge García Cuerva, and expressed her desire to visit the shrine of the Virgin of Luján to give thanks and pray for the country.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Alejandro Aguilera-Titus (at left), lead staff for Hispanic/Latino Ministry at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, speaks during the 2024 Conference of the National Catholic Association of Diocesan Directors for Hispanic Ministry, which took place from Oct. 8–11. Next to him is Lorianne Aubut of the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, and Edwin Ferrera of the Archdiocese of Seattle. / Credit: Emily Chaffins

Miami, Fla., Oct 15, 2024 / 13:15 pm (CNA).

For attendees at this year’s conference of the National Catholic Association of Diocesan Directors for Hispanic Ministry (NCADDHM), effective Hispanic ministry has become part of the lifeblood of the Catholic Church. 

Just ask Father Brian McWeeney — the Archdiocese of New York’s director of Ethnic Apostolates — who witnessed this firsthand in New York. “When COVID was coming towards the end, the first churches that were filled were the mostly Hispanic churches,” he noted. 

The 2024 annual conference, which took place in Miami Oct. 8–11, was not McWeeney’s first. He said NCADDHM conferences rejuvenate him in his ministry to various ethnic groups, including Hispanics.

“This conference is especially important in conjunction with the Eucharistic Revival and the Synod [on Synodality],” he said, referring to the 16th General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops occurring in Rome Oct. 2–27, 2024. “The synod is calling for communion, participation, and mission. This conference gives us a concrete way of communicating with each other about how to do this in our areas.” 

This year’s theme — “Pathways to Unity from a Synodal Experience” — was intended to “respond to the signs of the times,” as NCADDHM President Ignacio Rodríguez put it. Since synodality emphasizes conversation, Rodríguez said the conference is a place “to share resources, to [enable us to] hear from them firsthand, to help equip them with the right language — so when they go back to their communities, they can better respond to their reality.” 

Approximately 200 professionals from 65 dioceses converged in Miami for the conference, which ran with synodality in mind. Speakers could present in English or Spanish according to their preference. Organizers encouraged hotel guests to attend the conference Mass on Oct. 9; some guests staying at the hotel were seeking refuge from Hurricane Milton, which made landfall near Siesta Key, Sarasota County, that same day.

Speakers from throughout the nation discussed topics related to synodality and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB)’s updated 2023 National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic/Latino Ministry.

Speakers presented a wide range of topics, including ministering to young adults, people with disabilities, immigrants, people with same-sex attraction, and more.

During the “Synodality Through Discernment in the Light of the Gospel” panel on Oct. 9, Alejandro Aguilera-Titus pointed out Hispanic culture’s unique lens regarding the Catholic faith. In doing so, he cited one of the bishops’ statements about Hispanic culture found in the pastoral plan.  

“The beauty of our faith, our dynamic involvement in ecclesial movements, our authentic Marian devotion, our Catholic culture, our love for the family — those things have been said many times — but there is something else that they [the USCCB] told us for the first time,” said Aguilera-Titus, who is the lead staff for Hispanic/Latino ministry at the USCCB.

“They said that, by the mysterious ways of God, God has wanted you, the Hispanic/Latino people, to be missionaries to the Church of the United States,” Aguilera-Titus emphasized. 

In other words, although the pastoral plan is aimed at serving Hispanics in particular, the Church in the United States has discovered a paradoxical effect: These efforts to serve Hispanics have the potential to enhance the entire Church — to make it better attuned to Christ. 

“As we often do from the peripheries of the Church, we are transforming the Church,” Aguilera-Titus said, “because we see Jesus as the center. That makes it possible for us to be more disposed to creating a Church of communion within the cultural and human diversity of our brothers and sisters in this great nation of the United States.” 

Lorianne Aubut, the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, director of Hispanic ministry, presented her diocese’s story as an example of the national pastoral plan’s capabilities. She described how Bishop Donald J. Hying, the Hispanic ministry, and various other organizations across the diocese have collaborated to create a diocesan plan based on the USCCB national pastoral plan.  

“Our diocese’s pastoral plan was inspired by the story of Christ on the road to Emmaus, with encounter at the center of who we are,” Aubut said. In order to create their plan, they practiced both “spiritual discernment” and “practical discernment to create missionary disciples … and a strategic pastoral plan.” 

“Every meeting we had with our bishop we discerned in prayer, before the Mass, what was going to happen in that meeting, how we were going to transform our diocese through the movement of the Holy Spirit,” Aubut said.

To pinpoint their diocese’s needs, they asked for the community’s participation. “More than 900 people from our Hispanic diocese went to listening sessions with the bishop, and 60% of those 900 voiced their opinions and petitions,” she explained.  

Together, they identified that the community’s priority was marriage and family, so the diocese hired a coordinator for marriage and family to exclusively serve the Hispanic community. 

After a process of prayer and research, “the Holy Spirit showed us” that the strategic plan should integrate the areas of “marriage and family, youth, evangelization, catechesis, sacraments and liturgy, the accompaniment and care of the poor and the immigrant, and also the devotion and spirituality of Hispanics,” Aubut said.

For Father McWeeney, it is hearing stories like Aubut’s that makes attending the conference so moving.

“The conference gives hope for the Church,” he said. “We might get discouraged when we think we’re by ourselves. Here, there are so many hardworking people, and we get ideas about how to deal with our particular challenges.”

Kelly Breaux founded Red Bird Ministries to support grieving parents. / Credit: Red Bird Ministries

CNA Staff, Oct 15, 2024 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

This year, as the autumn weather becomes crisp and the leaves begin to fall in much of the U.S., families who have endured miscarriages and infant losses will be honoring their lost children as part of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Month.

A Catholic group known as Red Bird Ministries is hosting a Mass on Oct. 15, Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, where families may attend remotely and light candles from their homes to remember their loved ones, creating a “wave of light” across the U.S. 

Another Catholic group, Sursum Corda, is inviting grieving families to participate in a monthlong creative photography challenge called “Present in Pain,” where families are invited to share photos and an optional reflection throughout October. 

Both groups were founded by women who themselves experienced perinatal loss, which inspired them to launch Catholic grief ministries to support other families going through similar losses. 

Red Bird Ministries’ remembrance Mass

Kelly Breaux’s organization, Red Bird Ministries, invites families who have lost children to an Oct. 15 Mass online. Families can share the name of their lost child to be prayed for during Mass and light a candle at home in remembrance. During the prayers of the faithful, participants will pray for the lost babies, sharing the names of all the children for whom the Mass is offered. 

“To hold space and love for all babies, especially when there is no little body to bury and no place to go to remember, we can turn to prayer,” Breaux told CNA. “Mass is the highest form of prayer for our little babies; therefore, together, we give glory to God for the precious gift of our babies.”

Red Bird Ministries offers grief support from a Catholic, pro-life perspective for families of any faith who have lost children of any age, from pregnancy loss to adolescence or adulthood. 

For perinatal loss, Red Bird Ministries has a “Carried with Love” program “dedicated to serving families who have experienced perinatal loss.” The group offers a variety of resources and information for grieving families as well as resources for navigating the hospital or helping siblings.

Breaux founded Red Bird Ministries with her husband, Ryan, after their own experience with perinatal loss and lack of support. 

The couple was overjoyed when they discovered they were pregnant with twins, a boy and a girl. But at 28 weeks, Breaux experienced complications leading to an emergency cesarean section.

“My husband and I were terrified that we would lose the babies during delivery. Miraculously, Talon Antoine and Emma Grace were born alive but very tiny at only 3 pounds, 1 ounce, and 2 pounds, 5 ounces,” she said. “The NICU was a traumatic experience for us as first-time parents. There was so much we didn’t know nor knew to ask, and so we were unprepared for the possibility of our son’s infection leading to his death.”

After Talon’s baptism and death on Oct. 31, 2005, Breaux said her “grief was put on hold” as she cared for Emma Grace, who was “medically fragile.” Emma Grace contracted swine flu and died after six weeks in the ICU.

“That is truly when the world opened up, and I fell into the deep dark hole,” Breaux recalled.

The couple found out they were pregnant again during this time but experienced another devastating loss of their son at 11 and a half weeks of pregnancy.

In their grief, the couple stepped away from the Church for more than five years.

“The Church was supportive during the week of both of their funerals, but I never heard from anyone after we buried our children,” Breaux said. “When we needed the Church the most, there was nothing they could offer to us to walk with us during the darkest moments of our marriage.”

Breaux said she “turned to the secular world for support” but was struggling with faith-related questions.

“My therapist was not equipped to answer deep theological questions like why babies die, what did I do to deserve this? Am I being punished?” she said. “The death of a child does not make sense without really knowing our faith, but in the middle of the raw, it’s not appropriate to have a catechism lesson; we must first sit and let grievers lament.”

“If we let families explore their grief in the world, the world only feeds into the hopelessness you already feel,” she said.

After making a retreat seven years after Emma Grace’s death, Breaux began healing her relationship with God.

“I knew the missing piece in my healing journey was that I had never invited God into my suffering,” she said. “When my heart was cracked open, if support had been available, I would have run to it and hung on for dear life.”

Lift up your hearts — healing in presence 

The grief of losing a child is often minimized, Eileen Tully, who founded Sursum Corda ministry, told CNA. 

Sursum Corda, which means “Lift up your hearts,” provides online community, resources, and workshops for families who have experienced pregnancy and infant loss.

For the month of October, Tully organized “Present in Pain,” which has daily prompts for participants to take photographs, such as “sunrise” or “special place.” Participants can share their photos, and a reflection if they wish, in a Sursum Corda online group.

“One of the hardest parts of losing a child through pregnancy loss or infant death is feeling like you’re the only person who will remember they existed,” Tully told CNA. “Often parents who have experienced this kind of loss suffer in two ways — first by losing their child and then by others minimizing their loss so that they aren’t sure they’re even allowed to grieve it.”

Tully suggests that friends and family consider setting a reminder on the anniversary of the loss to send the family a note or message “letting them know you’re remembering their child with them,” even adding the child’s name to a Christmas card “to let them know that you remember that this season may feel challenging without their child.” 

“These small gestures of remembrance are so very meaningful for families who are experiencing this unique type of grief — a forward kind that leaves a void where their child would be,” she said. 

Tully’s twin daughters died in 2011, after she already had two miscarriages; one daughter, Fiona, was stillborn, and the other, Brigid, died after 47 days in the NICU. 

“The experience was more devastating than anything we had ever been through before,” Tully said. “It challenged our marriage, shook my faith, shattered relationships, and left me physically, spiritually, emotionally, and mentally wounded for years.” 

Tully struggled to find resources, especially resources from a Catholic perspective, to support her in her grief.

After going through her own healing process, Tully “felt the Lord prompting me to help other mothers who experience child loss to find healing within their Catholic faith.” She told God “I really had no idea how to go about doing such a thing” but was inspired by a personal encounter with Our Lady of Sorrows.

Tully built the ministry “around her example,” offering women the resources that helped her in her own healing. Though many “are reluctant to seek out help” in their grief, Tully said she has seen how her ministry has helped many women.

“It can be so helpful to have practical tools in your healing toolbox: tools like creative activities, the support of other bereaved mothers, validation of their own experiences, a devoted time to process their pain with others who understand, and skills to teach them how to manage their painful and difficult thoughts and emotions,” she said.

“Time alone doesn’t heal our wounds; rather, it’s what we do with that time that matters,” Tully said.

Responding to grief from a Catholic perspective 

Tully and Breaux both emphasized that families experiencing grief after child loss need support and to know that they are not alone. 

“Grieving families need to know that though this pain can feel very isolating, they are not alone,” Tully said. “One in 4 pregnancies ends in loss, and the reality is that there are many people in our parishes and communities who have experienced this pain.” 

Tully advises fellow Catholics to support families “by treating their losses like any other kind of grief — bringing meals, sending flowers and cards, supporting them emotionally, and praying for them,” while being mindful that families may struggle with infertility or hidden losses as well.

She also suggested that offering practical and spiritual help such as parish or diocesan grief support groups “would go a long way to helping them find healing and hope to remain faithful and hopeful after loss.”

Breaux added that “pregnancy loss is often associated with a great deal of physical and mental trauma because families are not prepared for what they will experience.”

“Society often fails to acknowledge the loss of a baby in these situations,” Breaux said. “Families do not feel they have a right to grieve.”

Breaux and Tully both noted that the Church as a whole should be increasing grief ministries and supporting families who have experienced perinatal loss as part of its pro-life response. 

“Married couples are encouraged to be open to life, but very often, they come to the awareness that this openness to life can also mean openness to loss,” Tully said, noting that resources to support these couples are lacking.

Breaux added that “the Church needs to embrace and welcome those who are suffering.”

“Grief ministry is the missing touchpoint for evangelization in the Church,” Breaux added. “Hearts are ready for the Lord to come and heal the broken pieces that have been shattered by death.” 

Elisabeth Román is president of the National Catholic Council for Hispanic Ministry. / Credit: Courtesy of the National Catholic Council for Hispanic Ministry

Vatican City, Oct 15, 2024 / 11:22 am (CNA).

“The Synodality Tent” is the title of an initiative promoted by the Amerindia Network and the Latin American Observatory on Synodality, whose objective is to reflect on the presence of Latin America in the Catholic Church as well as to continue promoting the synodal process.

This place for encounter and dialogue, which also aims to offer an experience of faith, opened in Rome in the context of the second session of the Synod on Synodality.

Until Oct. 23, faithful visiting the Eternal City and members of the synod are invited to visit this “tent” where cultural events, panels, discussions, art exhibitions, and presentations of new books, among other activities, will take place.

According to the observatory, different themes will be addressed from a synodal viewpoint, such as the Hispanic world, people of African descent, popular movements, politics, or the laity.

At the site’s opening, Elisabeth Román, president of the National Catholic Council for Hispanic Ministry, reflected on the Hispanic Church in the United States, which constitutes approximately 40% of the Catholic population in the country.

She also noted the decline in the number of young Latino Catholics born in the United States, the relative lack of Latino representation in Catholic leadership, and pointed out the need for their integration into parish life.

According to ADN Celam (news sgency of the Latin American and Caribbean Bishops’ Council), Román also said there are currently approximately 3,200 Latino priests in the United States, accounting for 9% of the country’s clergy.

Upcoming events

With the support of the General Secretariat of the Synod on Synodality, two opportunities for dialogue are also planned. Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Sister Gloria Liliana Franco, president of the Latin American and Caribbean Confederation of Religious Men and Women (CLAR by its Spanish acronym), will present the topic “From the Pan-Amazonian Synod to the Synod on Synodality.”

In addition, there will also be an occasion for dialogue to “discern in the Spirit and in daily life” in which Mauricio López, director of the Amazon University Program, and Sister Daniela Cannavina, secretary general of CLAR, will participate.

The events can be followed in person at the Collegio Internazionale Sant’ Alberto dei Camelitani (on Sforza Pallavicini Street), or through the social media of Amerindia and the Latin American Observatory of Synodality. The complete program can be viewed here.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

null / Credit: Bill Perry/Shutterstock

CNA Newsroom, Oct 15, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Oct. 15 is the day when the Catholic Church remembers the Spanish Carmelite reformer and doctor of the Church St. Teresa of Ávila, whose life of prayer serves as an example for many Catholics today.

Teresa Sanchez Cepeda Davila y Ahumada was born in the Castilian city of Ávila in 1515, the third child in a family descended from Jewish merchants who had converted to Christianity during the reign of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.

As a child, Teresa was captivated by the thought of eternity and the vision of God granted to the saints in heaven. She experienced many profound hardships, including the loss of her mother at age 14, which caused her to develop a devotion to the Virgin Mary. She also suffered through many debilitating illnesses and physical pain, nurturing a life of deep contemplative prayer. 

Here’s what she had to say about suffering:

1. Remember your mortality.

“O my Lord, and my spouse, the desired hour is now come,” she stated. “The hour is at last come, wherein I shall pass out of this exile, and my soul shall enjoy in thy company what it hath so earnestly longed for.” 

2. We are called to suffer for truth.

“Truth suffers but never dies.”

3. Suffering can serve as an active form of prayer — if we allow it.

“It shouldn’t be thought that he who suffers isn’t praying, for he is offering this to God. And often he is praying much more than the one who is breaking his head in solitude, thinking that if he has squeezed out some tears he is thereby praying.”

4. Even out of evil, God can work for our good and the good of others.

“God knows how to draw good from evil. And the good is all the greater in the measure that we diligently strive that he not be offended in anything.”

5. We act as instruments of Christ to bring aid and hope for those who suffer.

“Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul.”

6. Every trial has a purpose, even if we won’t see it fulfilled on earth.

“Courage, courage, my daughters. Remember that God does not give anyone more trials than can be suffered and that his majesty is with the afflicted. For this is certain, there is no reason to fear but to hope in his mercy. He will reveal the whole truth; and some machinations, which the devil kept hidden so as to create a disturbance, will be made known.”

7. If someone in your life causes you to suffer, all the more reason to take them to prayer.

“I have taken particular care to pray to the Lord for those who think I am angry with them.”

8. Suffering increases our humility if we allow it, thus drawing us closer to God. 

“The closer one approaches to God, the simpler one becomes.”

9. God is close to those who mourn. 

“We need no wings to go in search of him but have only to look upon him present within us.”

10. The people God places in our life bear his image and often can help us to endure our own cross.

“What a great favor God does to those he places in the company of good people!”

This article was first published on Oct. 15, 2022, and has been updated.

Historic St. Anthony of Padua Church in Iquique, Chile engulfed in flames. / Credit: Courtesy of Iquique, Chile Fire Department

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 14, 2024 / 18:40 pm (CNA).

A fire on Friday devastated St. Anthony of Padua Church and a Franciscan convent in the city of Iquique, Chile. The prosecutor’s office has not ruled out arson.

“We are facing here such a lamentable situation, a tragedy in terms of our heritage, in terms of the parish church of St. Anthony of Padua that burned down, as well as the Franciscan convent,” the bishop of Iquique, Isauro Covili, said in a video posted by the diocese on Facebook Oct. 11.

“[It’s] a building, as we all know, so historic and important for the city and the region. We are really hurting because of the fire and everything that it means,” the prelate added, alluding to the fact that in 1994 the site was declared a historical monument in the country.

“It’s all been reduced to nothing, but we also know that the Church, the body of Jesus Christ, the living body of Jesus, will go on just the same in the midst of grief, tragedy, and tears to continue to celebrate with joy and hope the faith and the proclamation of Jesus Christ,” the bishop said.

Covili, who is also a Franciscan, especially thanked the firefighters “who have worked hard throughout the afternoon,” “all the civil institutions,” and “so many people who have expressed their closeness, their concern, and their pain.”

“I thank everyone and I thank God, too, because this place and the presence of the Franciscans here is so dear and treasured by the entire city,” the bishop emphasized.

According to the Chilean media Cooperativa, the fire also affected three adjacent houses and a workshop, injuring six people.

Fire under investigation

Cooperativa also reported that prosecutor Gonzalo Valderrama has opened an investigation to determine whether the fire was intentional.

“An investigation was opened ex officio, based on the information that circulated on social media. Therefore, the Crime Lab of Police Investigations was instructed to carry out an expert evaluation,” Valderrama said.

“At the moment, we have no evidence of arson, but it is a hypothesis that cannot be ruled out,” he said.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Eucharistic adoration at Lucas Oil Stadium during the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, July 17-21,2024. / Credit: Jonah McKeown/CNA

CNA Staff, Oct 14, 2024 / 18:10 pm (CNA).

After the National Eucharistic Congress brought more than 50,000 Catholics together in July to adore and celebrate the Eucharist, the National Eucharistic Revival is continuing its efforts with bilingual outreach to teach Catholics how to share the faith with others.

The Congress in Indianapolis kicked off the third year of revival: the “Year of Mission.” The Year of Mission continues with a series of bilingual webinars about evangelization.

For the next three Tuesdays of October, the National Eucharistic Revival will feature a variety of speakers on evangelization and mission with bilingual options for Spanish listeners. After October, a monthly webinar will be held on the third Tuesday of each month. 

“For many Catholics, sharing the faith can be daunting,” President of the National Eucharistic Congress Jason Shanks told EWTN News. “We felt called to create bilingual resources to meet the needs of the Church in the U.S., a reality that was clear in the multicultural and multilingual participation we encountered at the Congress.”

The series will begin with Father Agustino Torres, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal who has been featured on EWTN programs.

“It’s important that we continue this journey on mission together, learning the tools of encounter and evangelization to bring Christ to our country and the world,” Torres told EWTN News.  

The Year of Mission highlights four pillars of mission: Eucharistic Encounter, Eucharistic Identity, Eucharistic Life, and Eucharistic Mission. The pillars emphasize first deepening one’s personal relationship with Christ; then embracing a Eucharistic identity as children of God; next, bringing love for Christ into daily life; and finally sharing that with others by following the call to evangelize by bringing Christ’s presence to the margins. 

Torres said the Congress “wasn’t just an event, it was a launching point for all who believe in the Eucharist to find a way to reach others with this truth.”

“We want to teach all people how to do that with these sessions,” he noted.  

The sessions will feature an interpreter and offer opt-in small groups for participants available in their preferred language. 

Registration for the webinars is open. The webinars will take place at 8 p.m. ET beginning on Oct. 15 and will afterward be available on YouTube. The Spanish option is available only to the first 1,000 registrants who also opted into breakout groups. 

The Year of Mission will conclude after a procession and Corpus Christi events in Los Angeles in 2025. To learn more about the Year of Mission, visit here.

Barricades are set up at a military checkpoint on the Tongil bridge, the road leading to North Korea’s Kaesong city, in the border city of Paju on Oct. 9, 2024. North Korea’s army said on Oct. 9 it was moving to “permanently shut off and block the southern border” with Seoul and had informed the U.S. military to prevent an accidental clash. / Credit: JUNG YEON-JE/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Oct 14, 2024 / 15:25 pm (CNA).

South Korean officials warned Monday of rapidly growing military threats from North Korea, with tensions escalating.

Days before, a South Korean prelate, in an interview with Fides News Agency, said Catholics continue to pray for peace and hope but that “hope is fading” for reunification between the two East Asian countries.

The South Korean government said Monday that North Korea is preparing to destroy some inter-Korean roads following allegations that Seoul flew drones over northern territories, the Associated Press reported.

North Korean troops have also reportedly been sent to the border between the two countries, with the communist government saying its soldiers are prepared to strike against South Korean targets.

Ahead of the escalating conflict, Seoul Archbishop Peter Soon-taick Chung told Fides that the “desire for reunification is diminishing” among South Koreans.

The archbishop also serves as the apostolic administrator of Pyongyang, North Korea; a bishop has not operated directly out of Pyongyang for decades. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in its 2024 annual report that religious freedom is “nonexistent” in North Korea, with “state-controlled religious sites and organizations” including the Korean Catholic Association offering an “illusion of freedom of religion.” 

The total Catholic population of the country has been estimated to range from 800 to 3,000 faithful. 

“I think many young people in the South are beginning to believe that reconciliation or reunification are not viable paths. Hope is fading,” Chung told the news agency. 

“I think it is appropriate to continue to dream of peaceful coexistence and to keep the light of hope burning in Korean society, especially today,” the prelate said. 

But “in the current stalemate, with the total blockade of communication routes, the situation is very bleak,” he said.

Chung told the news service that Catholics will “continue with prayer and education for peace.” 

“We are approaching the Holy Year, which has as its theme hope; we are pilgrims of hope, also with regard to relations with the North,” he said. 

Bishop Simon Kim Ju-young of the Diocese of Chuncheon in South Korea told Fides that “both sides view each other with a certain hostility and all channels are closed, even that of humanitarian aid, which was kept open in the past.” The bishop also serves as president of the Episcopal Commission for Reconciliation.

“And even if the Korean public opinion is still quite divided on policy towards the North, all Koreans are united when it comes to sending humanitarian aid to North Korea,” he said. 

“But North Korea keeps all channels closed, including humanitarian ones,” he added. 

“We pray above all for the doors to open. All the faithful of the Church in Korea participate in this prayer,” the bishop said.