St. Mary Church

Feast date: Dec 13

St. Lucy is a virgin and martyr of Syracuse in Sicily, whose feast is celebrated on December 13th. According to tradition, Saint Lucy was born to rich and noble parents in the year 283. Her father was of Roman origin, but his early death left her dependent upon her mother, whose name, Eutychia, seems to indicate that she was of Greek heritage.

Like so many of the early martyrs, Lucy had consecrated her virginity to God, and she hoped to devote all her worldly goods to the service of the poor.

Her mother, Eutychia, arranged a marriage for her, but for three years she managed to postpone the marriage. Lucy prayed at the tomb of Saint Agatha to change her mother’s mind about her faith. As a result, her mother's long haemorrhagic illness was cured, and she consented to Lucy's desire to live for God.

Saint Lucy’s rejected bridegroom, Paschasius, denounced Lucy as a Christian. The governor planned to force her into prostitution, but when guards went to fetch her, they could not move her even when they hitched her to a team of oxen. The governor ordered her to be killed instead.

After a gruesome torture which included having her eyes torn out, she was surrounded by bundles of wood which were set afire, but the fire quickly died out. She prophesied against her persecutors, and was then executed by being stabbed to death with a dagger.

According to later accounts, Lucy warned Paschasius he would be punished. When the governor heard this he ordered the guards to gouge out her eyes; however, in another telling, it was Lucy who removed her eyes in an attempt to discourage a persistent suitor who greatly admired them. When her body was being prepared for burial, they discovered her eyes had been restored. This and the meaning of her name ("light" or "lucid") led to her patronage with eyes; the blind, eye trouble, and other eye ailments.

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 12, 2024 / 17:50 pm (CNA).

“Do not be afraid, am I not here, I who am your mother?” This is the message of Our Lady of Guadalupe that Pope Francis encouraged Catholics to keep in mind and listen to throughout their lives, whether in happy or sad situations.

The pope emphasized these words of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego during the Mass celebrated Dec. 12 in St. Peter’s Basilica in honor of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Dec. 12 marks the last day on which Mary appeared to the Indian St. Juan Diego in 1531. On that same date, as proof for Juan de Zumárraga, the first bishop of Mexico, the image of the Virgin miraculously appeared on the tilma or cloak of St. Juan Diego.

In an improvised homily entirely in Spanish, the Holy Father highlighted the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe: “pregnant, announcing the birth of the Savior. A pregnant mother.”

“With what tenderness she said to the Indian: ‘Do not be afraid, am I not here, I who am your mother?’” the pope said, noting that in this message “the motherhood of Mary is revealed.”

These are the same words that Our Lady of Guadalupe addressed to St. Juan Diego, who, according to the Nican Mopohua — a historical document that narrates the apparitions of the Virgin — was worried about the serious illness of his uncle, Juan Bernardino. Faced with the urgency of caring for his relative, Juan Diego decided to attend to him before fulfilling the Virgin’s command to speak with the bishop. 

The pontiff lamented that “so many ideologies have tried to derive ideological advantage from the mystery of Guadalupe” and then highlighted “three things” that come to mind when contemplating the Virgin.

“The tilma, the mother, and the rose. Very simple things. Mary’s motherhood is engraved on that tilma, on that simple tilma. Mary’s motherhood is shown with the beauty of the roses that the Indian finds and brings. And Mary’s motherhood works the miracle of bringing faith to the somewhat incredulous hearts of the prelates,” he said.

“The tilma, the rose, the Indian,” he continued. “Everything that is said about the mystery of Guadalupe beyond this is a lie, it is an attempt to use it for ideologies,” he warned.

The Holy Father emphasized that “the mystery of Guadalupe is to venerate her and to hear in our ears: ‘Am I not here, I who am your mother? ’”

“And to hear this in the moments of life, the various difficult moments of life, the happy moments of life, the daily moments of life."

In conclusion, the pope said: “We go forth with the image of the Lady on the Indian’s tilma. And listening to how in a melodious voice, she tells us over and over: ‘Do not be afraid, am I not here, I who am your mother?’”

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

Vatican City, Dec 12, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Thursday released his message for the 58th World Day of Peace, commemorated annually on Jan. 1, with three concrete proposals for people to embark upon a profound “journey of hope” in the 2025 Jubilee Year.

According to the pope, the path toward “a true and lasting peace” in the world is rooted in the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer and requires a desire for change on a personal, cultural, and structural level “in order to confront the present state of injustice and inequality.”

Renewing the appeals for peace of his predecessors St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and St. Paul VI, the Holy Father called for the development of a new financial framework based on solidarity; the elimination of the death penalty in all nations; and, using a fixed percentage of money “earmarked for armaments,” to establish a global fund to sustainably eradicate hunger and promote education in poorer countries.

“If we take to heart these much-needed changes, the Jubilee Year of Grace can serve to set each of us on a renewed journey of hope, born of the experience of God’s unlimited mercy,” the pope wrote in his Dec. 12 message on peace.

Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, told journalists on Thursday that a “constant renewal of mind and heart” is needed to bring about future changes to improve the lives of the world’s most vulnerable. 

“The Holy Father speaks about the poor countries. In our time, he says this must include the conversion of hearts,” he shared. “Conversion is a path traced by love for Christ that inspires, transforms, orients, and energizes us.”

“‘Love is patient’ says St. Paul (1 Cor 13:14) because it moves us from immediate needs and consumption and a logic of waste and self interest to seeking authentic communion, service, the common good, the gift of oneself, ‘integral human development,’” he continued.

During the press conference, Italian engineer Vito Alfieri Fontana shared with journalists about his humanitarian work dedicated to eliminating land mines following a personal conversion experience in the early 1990s.

“When I was an arms manufacturer I thought that war was a part of the human soul,” he said. “Those who work in the armaments industry go out of the way to offer customers products that ensure quick and effective solutions to face a war.”

“[Political] tensions kept our activities stable,” he said. “Then somehow a mechanism becomes jammed. The questions from your children asking you what you do as a job and why you do it; pressure from public opinion on the problem of land mines… asked me to think about my life, if not, to change it.”

Addressing Pope Francis and St. John Paul II’s call to overturn “structures of sin,” Executive Director of Catholic Mobilizing Network Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy said this year’s theme “Forgive Us Our Trespasses: Grant Us Your Peace” affirms the American organization’s work dedicated to end to the death penalty, advance mercy, and achieve “restorative justice.”

“My friends Vicki and Syl Schieber lost their daughter, Shannon, in 1998,” Murphy told journalists on Thursday. “Their suffering was unimaginable yet they chose to respond in a restorative way. They fought to spare the life of the man who took their daughter’s life from a death sentence.”  

“In the spirit of reconciliation, the Schiebers took courageous steps to ensure their pain did not result in more suffering or feed into a sinful social structure,” she shared. “Forgiveness is a long journey. Dare I say, countercultural.”

“The Holy Father reminds us that the path toward peace needs graced hope to light our way,” she added.

Coinciding with the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, the World Day of Peace was instituted by Pope Paul VI in 1968 and has since been observed “as a hope and as a promise” each year “to give to the history of the world a more happy, ordered, and civilized development.”

CNA Newsroom, Dec 12, 2024 / 11:55 am (CNA).

Pope Francis received Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Vatican on Thursday for discussions focused on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and prospects for peace in the Holy Land.

During the 30-minute audience, which was followed by meetings with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for relations with states, the leaders emphasized the importance of reaching a solution for “the two states only through dialogue and diplomacy,” according to a Vatican statement.

The Holy See said the talks also highlighted “the important contribution of the Catholic Church to Palestinian society” and its role in providing humanitarian assistance in Gaza, where officials called for “a ceasefire and the release of all hostages as soon as possible.”

The meeting marked Abbas’ first visit to the Vatican since 2021.

According to the Vatican, the 89-year-old Palestinian leader, who has been in office for about 20 years, has spoken with Pope Francis several times by phone since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by the Islamist terror group Hamas.

During the “cordial talks,” both parties “reiterated the condemnation of all forms of terrorism” while emphasizing the importance of protecting Jerusalem’s special status as “a place of encounter and friendship between the three great monotheistic religions.”

The Vatican expressed hope that the upcoming 2025 Jubilee Year would see the return of pilgrims to the Holy Land, “which longs so much for peace.”

Abbas’ visit to the Vatican in June 2014 included a peace prayer with then-Israeli President Shimon Peres, during which the leaders planted an olive tree together and embraced in a gesture of peace.

The Palestinian president’s visit comes one day before Lebanese interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati is scheduled to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has called on all nations to eliminate the death penalty, to divert a fixed percentage of arms spending to a global fund to fight hunger and climate change, and to cancel the international debt of developing nations as concrete ways to usher in a new era of hope.

"Sporadic acts of philanthropy are not enough. Cultural and structural changes are necessary, so that enduring change may come about," the pope said in his message for World Peace Day 2025.

The message, "Forgive us our trespasses: grant us your peace," was released Dec. 12 at a Vatican news conference ahead of the Jan. 1 commemoration.

Offering his "cordial good wishes for the New Year to the heads of state and government, to the leaders of international organizations, to the leaders of the various religions and to every person of goodwill," the pope made three proposals for bringing about "much-needed changes" during the Jubilee Year, which focuses on "Pilgrims of Hope."

The proposals, he wrote, are "capable of restoring dignity to the lives of entire peoples and enabling them to set out anew on the journey of hope."

The first proposal, he wrote, is renewing the appeal launched by St. John Paul II for the Holy Year 2000 to consider "reducing substantially, if not canceling outright, the international debt which seriously threatens the future of many nations."

Foreign debt, Pope Francis wrote, "has become a means of control whereby certain governments and private financial institutions of the richer countries unscrupulously and indiscriminately exploit the human and natural resources of poorer countries, simply to satisfy the demands of their own markets."

Pope Francis also said wealthier nations must recognize their own "ecological debt" to the global south due to the exploitation of resources, the destruction of ecosystems and the effects of climate change. "The more prosperous countries ought to feel called to do everything possible to forgive the debts of those countries that are in no condition to repay the amount they owe."

"A new financial framework must be devised, leading to the creation of a global financial charter based on solidarity and harmony between peoples," he wrote, so that debt forgiveness is not just "an isolated act of charity that simply reboots the vicious cycle of financing and indebtedness."

The pope's second proposal was for "a firm commitment" to respecting "the dignity of human life from conception to natural death, so that each person can cherish his or her own life and all may look with hope to a future of prosperity and happiness for themselves and for their children."

"Without hope for the future, it becomes hard for the young to look forward to bringing new lives into the world," he wrote. And a "concrete gesture that can help foster the culture of life" is the elimination of the death penalty in all nations.

The death penalty "not only compromises the inviolability of life but eliminates every human hope of forgiveness and rehabilitation," he wrote.

The pope's third appeal follows "in the footsteps of St. Paul VI and Benedict XVI," he wrote. "In this time marked by wars, let us use at least a fixed percentage of the money earmarked for armaments to establish a global fund."

The fund should finance initiatives "to eradicate hunger" and facilitate educational activities in poor countries to promote sustainable development and combat climate change, he wrote. "We need to work at eliminating every pretext that encourages young people to regard their future as hopeless or dominated by the thirst to avenge the blood of their dear ones."

Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, told reporters at the Vatican Dec. 12 that Caritas Internationalis was launching a global campaign called "'Turn debt into hope' with a global petition aimed at raising awareness about the systemic change needed."

The Jubilee Year and the Christian call for conversion are invitations, not "to a moralistic effort at self-improvement, but to a radical change in how we look at reality," he said.

"Conversion is a path traced by that love for Christ that inspires, transforms, orients, energizes us," the cardinal said. Faith in the merciful and providential hands of God "frees our hearts from anguish, to respond and to serve."

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, executive director of Catholic Mobilizing Network, which promotes restorative justice and the end to capital punishment, said "the death penalty's very existence epitomizes a throwaway culture."

"Capital punishment is a 'structural sin' existing in at least 55 nations across the globe, where nearly 28,000 people find themselves on death row," she told reporters, adding that this number "does not include cases in countries where there are no official statistics reported."

In the United States, in addition to the federal death penalty, "27 of the 50 states have the death penalty," she said.  

Also speaking at the news conference was Vito Alfieri Fontana, an engineer who worked at Italian companies producing grenades and anti-tank and anti-personnel mines.

He said he experienced a personal conversion and began working for the International Campaign to Ban Landmines after his children kept asking about what he did and why, and amid growing public opposition to the use of anti-personnel mines and the promptings of the late Father Tonino Bello to reflect on his life.

"What for me had been normal, became a burden," he said. He was able to emerge from "a privileged bubble -- home to 1% of the population who produce, control and distribute arms" -- and enter into the world of the 99% -- those who do not want war and want to live in peace.

Pope Francis said in his message that the jubilee tradition is meant to remind all people, "rich and poor alike, that no one comes into this world doomed to oppression: all of us are brothers and sisters, sons and daughters of the same Father, born to live in freedom, in accordance with the Lord's will."

Christians "feel bound to cry out and denounce the many situations in which the earth is exploited and our neighbors oppressed," he wrote.
 
Calling for and implementing concrete solutions to systemic injustice is part of the Christian desire to "break the bonds of injustice and to proclaim God's justice," he added.

National Catholic Register, Dec 11, 2024 / 17:35 pm (CNA).

An Italian association of LGBT Christians has said it has received official Vatican approval to make a pilgrimage to next year’s jubilee in Rome, although the Vatican’s jubilee organizers say they are neither supporting nor opposing the event while the figures behind it are declining to comment. 

The association called La Tenda di Gionata (“Jonathan’s Tent”) asked its members to “save the date” — Sept. 6, 2025, at 3 p.m. — and invited “all associations and groups dedicated to supporting LGBT+ individuals and their families to join us as we officially cross the Holy Door of the jubilee at St. Peter’s Basilica.”

In the evening, the LGBT pilgrims, their parents, and pastoral workers have been invited to a Mass at the Jesuit Church of the Gesù, the historic baroque church in central Rome, celebrated by the vice president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Monsignor Francesco Savino. The Gesù will also host a prayer vigil for the pilgrims the evening before. 

Jubilee 2025, which begins with the opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24 and runs until Jan. 6, 2026, is expected to attract 32 million pilgrims to Rome from around the world who will be able to receive a plenary indulgence and attend a variety of spiritual and cultural events. 

Agnese Palmucci, an official spokesman for the jubilee, told the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, that the La Tenda di Gionata association proposed making a pilgrimage to the Holy Door and so it has been “included in the general calendar as a pilgrimage, along with all the other pilgrimages that other dioceses will make.” 

“It is not a jubilee event sponsored or organized by us,” Palmucci continued. “It is a pilgrimage organized by this association which, like the other dioceses, bodies, and associations, will make the pilgrimage as they wish.”

The Italian daily Il Messaggero called the planned event an “absolute novelty, unthinkable until a few years ago, the fruit of pastoral care that extends to groups usually considered on the margins.” 

Francis DeBernardo, editor of the LGBT advocacy website New Ways Ministry, said the news touched his heart “deeply” as he remembered the resistance to homosexuality in Rome during the 2000 jubilee. “While 2025’s event may seem like a small step, when compared with how the Vatican reacted to the presence of gay people in Rome during 2000, we can see what a sea change has taken place in terms of responding to LGBTQ+ people,” he wrote on New Ways’ website. “This development did not happen overnight but has many small steps which paved the way for it.” New Ways has been denounced by both the U.S. bishops’ conference and the Vatican’s doctrinal office for causing confusion on sexual morality among the Catholic faithful.

Writing in the Catholic daily La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana, Luisella Scrosati called the planned events a “defeat not only of the moral doctrine of the Church but also of its pastoral activity” and noted that these associations that promote homosexuality as an identity and won’t tolerate being corrected “will enter St. Peter’s.” 

Scrosati further noted that members of these associations “were created by God male or female” but are being “told the great lie that their tendency, completely disharmonious with what is expressed by their body, is not disordered.” 

Il Messaggero reported that the proposal was met with “internal resistance” but that Pope Francis had “accepted the idea of ​​Father Pino Piva, a Jesuit from Bologna, who has always been dedicated to the rainbow world.” 

The Register asked Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni if the pope was supporting the association’s planned events, but he did not respond. 

Italian media also said Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, the archbishop of Bologna and head of Italy’s bishops; Archbishop Rino Fisichella, organizer of the holy year; and the superior general of the Jesuits, Father Arturo Sosa, have all given the initiative their positive support. 

Asked by the Register via email to confirm that he supported the event and whether he was concerned it would further deepen divisions in the Church, Zuppi said: “The question should be put to the organizers of the jubilee at the Holy See.” When asked again whether or not he supported the initiative, he did not reply.

The rector of the Church of the Gesù was also approached for comment, but he said he would not give interviews over the telephone. The Register then emailed him a set of questions to which he did not answer. 

La Tenda di Gionata also did not reply to general questions about the event, including the pressing question of whether same-sex couples will receive nonliturgical blessings in the Church of the Gesù, as allowed by the 2023 Vatican declaration Fiducia Supplicans. 

Asked whether or not the jubilee organizers were nevertheless supporting the event, Palmucci said: “In reality, we do not support every association or entity that proposes and makes its pilgrimage. It’s not a matter of supporting or not. We do not give our support to anyone; we do not give an approval; we do not give a judgment on an event. So each diocese, each association, each entity that wants to pass through the Holy Door asks us, and we put it in the calendar; but it is an event that’s, let’s say, autonomous.” 

He continued: “Since as a dicastery we manage the entrances to the Holy Doors, if an association comes to us and asks to be able to pass through the Holy Door on that date, what we do is simply see if that date is free.” If it is free, he said they register the group and its numbers of pilgrims so they “can pass through the Holy Door on that day. That’s all we do.” 

Palmucci said the jubilee office only really manages “the big jubilee events,” which number 36 in total, and “those are the ones that are in the [main] calendar.” As a follow-up, the Register asked Palmucci if there are any groups the organizers would not permit to pass through the Holy Door, but he did not respond.  

Scrosati said that with this jubilee event, “false mercy will enter triumphantly into St. Peter’s, with the blessing of the pope, the cardinals, and the bishops.” 

Quoting Matthew 24:15, she asked: “Could this be the new ‘abomination of desolation’ standing in a holy place?”

The Register asked Cardinal Gerhard Müller as well as two African bishops opposed to such events — Archbishop Andrew Nkea of Bamenda, Cameroon, and Bishop Emmanuel Badejo of Oyo, Nigeria — if they would like to comment on the plans but they had not responded by press time. 

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

Vatican City, Dec 11, 2024 / 10:25 am (CNA).

Pope Francis told thousands of pilgrims attending his general audience on Wednesday that “the strength of arguments” is not enough to convince people about Jesus Christ and his Church.

Concluding his 17-part catechetical series on “The Spirit and the Bride” this week, the Holy Father said “the first and most effective form of evangelization” is the love we show others. 

“The apostle Peter exhorted the first Christians with these words: ‘Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you’ (cf. 1 Pt 3:15),” the pope told his listeners gathered inside the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall.

“But he added a recommendation,” he continued. “‘Do it with gentleness and respect.’”

During this week’s catechesis, the Holy Father explained that Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are inseparable “in the economy of salvation.”

Describing the Holy Spirit as “the ever-springing source of Christian hope,” the pope added that the theological virtue of hope “is the most beautiful gift that the Church can give to all humanity.” 

Using the analogy of the Church as a boat, the Holy Father described the Holy Spirit as the “sail that propels it forward through the sea of history today as in the past.” 

“Hope is not an empty word or a vague wish that things will turn out well,” the pope told his listeners on Wednesday. “No, hope is a certainty because it is founded on God’s faithfulness to his promises.

“That is why it is called a theological virtue, because it is infused by God and has God as a guarantor,” he added. 

Prayers for peace, stability in Syria

Following the recent developments in Syria with the fall of the five-decade-long Assad regime in the country on Dec. 8, Pope Francis invited his audience to pray for the intercession of Our Lady to bring peace in the Middle East. 

“I follow what’s happening in Syria at this delicate moment in our history,” he said. “I hope that we will reach a political solution that will not add to the division and conflict but will establish stability in the country.”

“I pray for the intercession of Our Lady that the Syrian population will live in peace, in security in their homeland and [that] the different religions can walk together in friendship in mutual respect for the good of the nation, afflicted by so many years of war,” he continued.

Before imparting his papal blessing to the thousands of international pilgrims inside the hall, the pope also asked for prayers for those suffering injustice in Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, and Myanmar. 

“War is always a defeat. Let us pray for peace,” he said. 

Vatican City, Dec 11, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), the Vatican body responsible for questions of doctrinal orthodoxy in the Catholic Church, has a group of outside consultants. What is the role of these experts in one of the Roman Curia’s most prominent dicasteries?

This past September, Pope Francis appointed 28 new consultants for the dicastery, headed since July 2023 by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández.

The majority of the latest crop of DDF consultants are Italian priests-theologians, experts in canon law and Scripture, as well as six women — two religious and four lay theologians — and two lay male theologians. Among those appointed is a Jesuit priest who holds a doctorate in sacred Scripture, Father Juan Manuel Granados Rojas.

Speaking with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, Granados, a Colombian, explained the details of the new role that he is taking up as “a humble service” to the Catholic Church and the Holy Father.

Granados explained that on Dec. 2, he and his fellow recently appointed consultors took the oath for their new service in a “simple ceremony” where they committed themselves “to safeguard the faith received from the apostles and to keep the pontifical secret.” 

The event, said the professor at the Pontifical Biblical Institute and member of the Catholic Biblical Association, was presided over by the cardinal prefect (Fernández) and took place in a private chapel of the dicastery. Pope Francis was not present.

During the ceremony, the experts recited the Creed in Latin and read “a series of personal commitments to the Catholic Church,” added the Jesuit priest, who is also a member of the team of translators of the Bible of the Church in America (BIA, by its Spanish acronym).

“Consultants are appointed for a period of six years,” Granados explained, “and our role is to respond as quickly as possible to the questions that the dicastery sends us. The questions are asked ad hoc according to the competencies of each consultant.”

In this context, he noted that there are two branches in the DDF: the disciplinary and the doctrinal. He added that most of the new consultants have been appointed for consultations related to the dicastery’s disciplinary role.

In the case of Granados, he said he can expect “consultations that involve biblical material or where the doctrinal statements have to do with the holy Scriptures.”

He received the news of his new role, which he assures will be carried out with “due scientific rigor,” from the undersecretary of the DDF, Archbishop Philippe Curbelié.

“When I asked if I could decline the appointment, he respectfully informed me that by virtue of my fourth vow of obedience I could not do so,” the religious explained, in reference to the commitment of obedience to the pope that Jesuits make.

Granados also noted that almost all of the consultants are professors of ecclesiastical faculties and that the number of laypeople “is greater than in previous years.”

“During the explanation of our responsibilities, the cardinal prefect made us understand that the new group reflects, or is intended to reflect, the initiative of the Holy Father in favor of the synodal character of the Church,” he said.

Granados also emphasized that “the personal opinion of the consultants does not influence either the decisions or the documents issued by the DDF” and that their collaboration is done anonymously.

“We help the cardinal prefect and the other officials stay up to date on academic theological discussions. They will eventually ask us for summaries or opinions on the questions that other dicasteries or bishops address to the DDF,” the Jesuit explained.

In that case, he added, “we will have to give our professional opinion.”

“That doesn’t mean that it coincides or has to coincide with the opinion of the DDF, nor with the decision or document that the DDF subsequently works up. It’s a humble and anonymous service,” he said.

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

WASHINGTON – “With one clear voice, we reaffirm our unwavering and unqualified recognition of the fact that each and every human life is sacred, that all persons are imbued by God with an inviolable dignity, which no earthly power can deny.” The Catholic Church commemorates the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, on December 12. Besides this Marian feast day and devotion to the Blessed Mother carrying special significance for many immigrants in the United States, Our Lady of Guadalupe is also known as patroness of the unborn after appearing to Saint Juan Diego as a pregnant mother. Invoking her intercession, the following reflection was authored by several chairmen of committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB):

“Though we so often distinguish ourselves through borders, races, languages, political ideals, and so many other possible sources of division, Our Lady’s patronage is a powerful reminder that we are all called to be one in Christ Jesus, beginning from the moment of our conception. At this time, when some of our brothers and sisters are experiencing fear and anxiety, we are reminded of the abiding words of Our Lady to Saint Juan Diego: ‘Do not fear any illness or vexation, anxiety or pain. Am I not here, I who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection?’

“Throughout the life of our nation, we have seen at times unacceptable demonstrations of prejudice and hatred, including in recent days mass communications targeting people of color and disparaging comments about immigrant communities. With one clear voice, we reaffirm our unwavering and unqualified recognition of the fact that each and every human life is sacred, that all persons are imbued by God with an inviolable dignity, which no earthly power can deny. The sinful ideologies of racism and xenophobia are antithetical to these core teachings of our Christian faith. No person formed by and committed to the Gospel of Life can harbor such views in good conscience. 

“We beseech you, Blessed Mother: May the same love you radiated in the presence of Saint Juan Diego nearly five hundred years ago penetrate the heart of every man, woman, and child in our nation, creating in each one of us a profound and unrelenting awareness of our shared humanity. Intercede for us with your Son, Jesus, whom you brought forth from your womb to shine as the Light of the World. Envelop us in the comfort of your mantle, bringing forth the peace, hope, and healing that is so desperately needed in our age.”

This reflection on the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe was shared by Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration; Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities; Bishop Eusebio L. Elizondo, auxiliary bishop of Seattle and chairman of the Subcommittee on the Pastoral Care of  Migrants, Refugees, and Travelers; and Bishop Joseph N. Perry, auxiliary bishop emeritus of Chicago and chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism. 

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The "most beautiful gift" the Catholic Church and its members can give the world is a reason to live with hope, Pope Francis said.

"The Christian cannot be satisfied with having hope; he or she must also radiate hope, be a sower of hope," the pope said at his weekly general audience Dec. 11.

Speaking to thousands of visitors and pilgrims in the Vatican audience hall, the pope said he was concluding the series of audience talks that he began in May reflecting on the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the church. 

"The Holy Spirit is the ever-gushing source of Christian hope," the pope said, pointing to St. Paul's Letter to the Romans, which says, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

"If the church is a boat," Pope Francis said, "the Holy Spirit is the sail that propels it and lets it advance on the sea of history, today as in the past!"

At the end of his audience, the pope also expressed his hopes for peace and harmony in Syria after the fall of President Bashar Assad.

Saying he was following the news about Syria "at this delicate moment in its history," Pope Francis prayed Syrians could establish a new government without further conflict.

"I pray through the intercession of the Virgin Mary that the Syrian people may live in peace and security in their beloved land," he said, "and that the different religions may walk together in friendship and mutual respect for the good of the nation, which has been afflicted by years of war." 

In his main talk, the pope brought together the Advent hope for the coming of the Lord and the theme of the upcoming Holy Year, which is "Pilgrims of hope."

For Christians, he said, "hope is not an empty word, or a vague desire of ours that things may turn out for the best; it is a certainty, because it is founded on God's fidelity to his promises. This is why it is called a theological virtue: because it is infused by God and has God as its guarantor."

Hope also is not "a passive virtue, which merely waits for things to happen," the pope said. Rather, "it is a supremely active virtue that helps make them happen."

Pope Francis cited an unnamed writer who explained that the Holy Spirit, bearer of hope, "is the strength given to those who have no strength. He leads the struggle for the emancipation and full realization of the people of the oppressed."

At the same time, the pope said, Christian hope should be shared "with gentleness and reverence," as the First Letter of Peter says, "because it is not so much the strength of the arguments that will convince people, but rather the love that we know how to put in them. This is the first and most effective form of evangelization."