Angelus News | March 7, 2025 | Vol. 10 No. 5

ANGELUS

PRAYERS FOR

FRANCIS

LA Catholics support the

pope during RE Congress

March 7, 2025 Vol. 10 No. 5

B • ANGELUS • March 7, 2025

ANGELUS

March 7, 2025

Vol. 10 • No. 5

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ON THE COVER

VICTOR ALEMÁN

An image of Pope Francis was displayed at the Feb. 23 closing

Mass of the 2025 LA Religious Education Congress in Anaheim,

where thousands of Catholics from around the U.S. found

themselves praying for the pope amid uncertainty about his

health. On Page 10, associate editor Mike Cisneros heard from

congress-goers about what Francis means to them. On Page 14,

editor-in-chief Pablo Kay reports on how this year’s theme of

“compassion” shaped discussions at the congress.

THIS PAGE

CNS/VATICAN MEDIA

People joined Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican

secretary of state, in reciting the rosary for Pope

Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican the

evening of Monday Feb. 24. Cardinals living

in Rome, leaders of the Roman Curia, and the

faithful joined the nighttime prayer, which was

expected to continue throughout the week

during the pope’s hospitalization.

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Pope Watch.................................................................................................................................... 2

Archbishop Gomez..................................................................................................................... 3

World, Nation, and Local News.......................................................................................... 4-6

In Other Words............................................................................................................................. 7

Father Rolheiser............................................................................................................................ 8

Scott Hahn................................................................................................................................... 32

Events Calendar......................................................................................................................... 33

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CONTENTS

Archdiocese’s wildfire relief fund sees national ‘outpouring’

If Pope Francis’ health means he can’t lead the Vatican, what then?

Mike Aquilina on the martyrs who died for one cause: marriage

Grazie Pozo Christie on America’s national health in 2025

Sign up for our free, daily e-newsletter

Always Forward - newsletter.angelusnews.com

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After the LA wildfires, can helping others help us heal?

Heather King: Make Catholicism ‘weird’ again? It already is

March 7, 2025 • ANGELUS • 1

POPE WATCH

A ‘complex’ medical picture

As of press time on Feb. 24, Pope

Francis was fighting multiple

medical challenges while in

“critical” condition.

When the 88-year-old pope was first

admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital

on Feb. 14, he had been suffering from

bronchitis and difficulty breathing for

more than a week, and was diagnosed

with a respiratory tract infection.

Three days later, the Vatican reported

he had “polymicrobial infection of

the respiratory tract, which required

a further modification of his therapy.”

Polymicrobial means multiple pathogens

are involved, suggesting the pope

was dealing with both viral and bacterial

infections.

The situation grew more worrisome

on Saturday, Feb. 22, when doctors reported

that Francis had experienced “an

asthmatic respiratory crisis of prolonged

magnitude, which also required the use

of oxygen at high flows.”

From there, the Vatican reported

that the pope was using supplemental

oxygen through a nasal cannula. On

Feb. 23, a statement said that blood tests

showed early signs of kidney failure:

“initial, mild renal insufficiency, at

present under control,” it read. A blood

transfusion administered on Feb. 22

provided a positive “rise in the value

of hemoglobin,” but his platelet count

remained low.

The biggest risk the pope faced, doctors

told reporters on Feb. 21, was sepsis:

that is, if the infection that is currently

localized only in his lungs passes into

his bloodstream and begins to affect the

rest of his body’s organs.

Because the pope wanted to be taken

care of at his residence in the Vatican,

the pope’s personal physician Dr. Luigi

Carbone said multiple specialists had

come by, particularly because of the

pope’s previous chronic lung conditions:

bronchiectasis and asthmatic

bronchitis, caused by years of respiratory

problems and repeated bouts of

bronchitis.

These conditions cannot be cured, but

they can be “controlled,” said Dr. Sergio

Alfieri, director of medical and surgical

sciences at Gemelli Hospital.

The doctors were asked if, when Francis

is allowed to return to the Vatican,

they would “tie him to a chair,” order

him to cut his schedule, read fewer

speeches, and see fewer people.

“I don’t think the pope would allow

himself to be tied to a chair,” Alfieri

responded.

Throughout the week, the Vatican

reported multiple times that the pope

had received Communion, “resumed

work activities,” and even once had

Mass with the medical team taking care

of him.

On Feb. 24, Catholic News Service

reported that Francis was still able to get

up and move around, and was eating

normally — but not receiving any

visitors.

“In the evening, he called the priest

of a Gaza parish to express his paternal

closeness,” the Vatican’s Feb. 24 bulletin

said. The pope, who phoned Holy

Family Parish every evening before he

was hospitalized, called to thank the

pastor and parishioners for sending him

a video greeting.

“Pope Francis thanked all God’s people

who gathered to pray for his health

in recent days,” it added.

Reporting courtesy of the Catholic

News Service Rome bureau.

Papal Prayer Intention for March: Let us pray that broken

families might discover the cure for their wounds through

forgiveness, rediscovering each other’s gifts, even in their

differences.

2 • ANGELUS • March 7, 2025

NEW WORLD OF FAITH

ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ

To always be close to Jesus

The following is adapted from the

archbishop’s Feb. 20 address to the

7,500 young people in attendance

for the annual Religious Education

Congress’ Youth Day.

We are privileged today to

worship in the presence of

a sacred relic from Blessed

Carlo Acutis, who Pope Francis will

canonize in April, just after Easter.

Carlo will be our first millennial

saint. He was born in 1991 and grew

up in Milan, Italy.

He was just 15 years old when he

died from leukemia.

But in his short time on this earth, he

lived life to the fullest. He lived with a

spirit of freedom and joy.

He was an ordinary teen. He loved

playing sports and video games with

his friends; he had a genius for making

websites and finding creative ways to

use the internet to share his faith.

What made this ordinary young man

different was that his life was anchored

in Jesus Christ.

When he was your age, he discovered

the secret power of the Eucharist.

He started going to Mass every day

and came to understand the beautiful

truth that the more we receive Jesus in

the Eucharist, the more we become

like him, the deeper he comes to

dwell in our hearts and in our souls.

Carlo used to say, “To always be close

to Jesus, that’s my life plan.”

What a great idea! That should be

your plan and mine, it should be

everybody’s life plan!

That’s what Jesus is getting at in the

Gospel that we just heard.

Jesus today asks his apostles a question:

“But who do you say that I am?”

Jesus isn’t only asking them. He’s

asking us. It’s a question that’s deeply

personal. No one else can answer it

for us.

Lots of people have opinions about

Jesus. But if we want to have a friendship

with Jesus, then we need to make

our own decision about him. Who do

we say that he is? Who do you say that

he is?

It’s a big question, more important

than the SAT or a final exam, because

your life depends on how you answer

this question. Who you are depends

on who Jesus is.

If Jesus is just another historical

figure who lived a long time ago, then

it doesn’t matter who he is; it makes

no difference.

But if we believe that Jesus is who

he says he is, if we believe that Jesus

is the Christ, the Son of God, who

suffered and was killed and on the

third day rose again, then our whole

life changes!

The truth is that Jesus is the Christ!

And he did suffer, die, and rise from

the dead. And he did these things for

us, for you and for me!

In the first Reading today, God tells

Noah that every human life is precious,

because every human life has

been created “in the image of God.”

That means that you are not just a

random creature, another creature on

planet earth. You are a child of God!

Your life has a meaning and purpose

in God’s plan.

And God’s purpose for your life and

mine is fulfilled in Jesus.

If you say to Jesus, as Peter did, “You

are the Christ,” if you put your life in

his hands and follow him, then Jesus

will show you how to lead a beautiful

life, a life filled with love and service,

a life that will become your path to

heaven.

I know we all believe this, and I

know we’re trying hard to live out our

beliefs. That’s why we’re here today!

We come to meet Jesus in the

Eucharist because we want him to

strengthen our faith and renew our

sense of purpose. We come because

If we want to have a friendship with Jesus, then

we need to make our own decision about him.

Who do we say that he is?

we know that in every Eucharist, Jesus

is shaping our hearts and making us

more like him.

That’s why Carlo went to Mass every

day, starting when he was in grade

school.

For Carlo, living with Jesus and

walking with him in friendship was

as natural as breathing. It was who he

was, it was how he wanted to live.

Today, I encourage all of you to keep

going on our journey with Jesus. Stay

close to him and keep working to grow

in your love for God and your love for

others.

As you prepare to meet Jesus again in

the Eucharist today, let us say to him,

like St. Peter, “You are the Christ!”

Let’s thank him for his love and all

his gifts. And let’s ask him to stir in us

the desire to become saints like Carlo.

And let’s also turn our hearts to our

Blessed Mother Mary. May she help

us every day to become more like her

Son — to love as he loves, and to share

his love with everyone we meet.


WORLD

■ Mother Teresa gets

her special day

Priests worldwide will now have

the option to celebrate an annual

memorial Mass for Mother

Teresa.

Though the foundress of the

Missionaries of Charity was

named a saint in 2016, her Sept.

5 feast day was not added to the

General Roman Calendar. In the

almost decade since, numerous

priests, bishops, religious, and lay

groups have petitioned for her

addition to the general calendar,

leading to the February update.

In the Feb. 11 announcement,

Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect

for the Dicastery for Divine

Worship, wrote that he hoped the

addition to the calendar would

help Catholics to contemplate

Teresa as a witness to “the defense

of all human life and of all those

who have been abandoned, discarded,

and despised even in the

hiddenness of the womb.”

A country’s sorrow — Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo de Leon embraces a mourner Feb. 11 at a Mass to

remember the victims of a bus crash a day earlier. The Mass was celebrated at the municipal hall in Santo Domingo Los

Ocotes, Guatemala, during a three-day period of national mourning. In a Feb. 14 telegram, Pope Francis said he was “deeply

saddened” by the Feb. 10 bus crash in Guatemala, which left dozens dead. | OSV NEWS/CRISTINA CHIQUIN, REUTERS

■ Myanmar: Priest killed as civil war rages

Ten people were arrested in connection with the Feb. 14 murder

of a Catholic priest in Myanmar.

Father Donald Martin Ye Naing Win was attacked in his rectory

in the city of Pyin Oo Lwin, while he was working to organize

classes for the parish’s children. Regional schools have been closed

due to an ongoing civil war in the country.

According to two eyewitnesses, Naing Win refused to kneel before

his assailants, who appeared drugged or intoxicated. He was repeatedly

struck and stabbed to death.

“Father Donald did

not utter a word or

complain,” read a

report from Fides, the

information service of

the Pontifical Mission

Societies. “He endured

the senseless violence

without reacting, like

an innocent man, ‘like

a lamb to the slaughter,’

as the witnesses report.”

Win’s funeral service,

held four days later,

drew more than 5,000

people.

Father Donald

Martin Ye

Naing Win in

an undated

photo. | OSV

NEWS/COUR-

TESY ACN

■ Brazilian archbishop apologizes

for unusual ‘concelebrant’ at Mass

A new archbishop in Brazil had to publicly state his

commitment to “doctrinal orthodoxy and liturgical

orthopraxy” after a female Anglican Episcopal minister

appeared to concelebrate at his installation Mass.

Archbishop Odelir José Magri, MCCJ, was installed

as archbishop of Chapecó Feb. 9. As an ecumenical

gesture, two Protestant leaders — the pastor of the

“Renova rem Cristo Church” and a minister of the

Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil — were invited

to the Mass and recognized in the archbishop’s

homily.

While the former sat in the pew, the Anglican minister

processed in wearing an alb and a stole and sat in

the sanctuary with the approximately 70 priests and

bishops in attendance. She was later seen distributing

Communion to herself from the altar along with the

other Catholic ministers.

Two canons of church law bar Catholic clergy from

concelebrating the Eucharist with ministers of other

churches, and from non-Catholic ministers distributing

the sacraments.

“We renew our commitment to doctrinal orthodoxy

and liturgical orthopraxy, and we will strive to avoid

future errors,” Magri’s Feb. 13 statement read.


NATION

■ Pope Francis makes series of

US bishop appointments

Several American dioceses are set to welcome new bishops after a

flurry of February appointments by Pope Francis.

On Feb. 11, the pope appointed 64-year-old Bishop Edward J.

Weisenburger of Tucson, Arizona, as the next archbishop of Detroit,

replacing Archbishop Allen Vigneron, 76, who’s led that archdiocese

since 2008.

The next day, Feb. 12, Auxiliary Bishop Robert Casey of Chicago,

57, was named to succeed Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati.

Schnurr, 76, has been

recently receiving treatment

for bowel cancer.

That day, Francis also

named Father John

Keehner of the Diocese

of Youngstown, Ohio as

the next bishop of Sioux

City, Iowa, and Msgr.

Richard Reidy of the

Diocese of Worcester,

Massachusetts, to lead

the Diocese of Norwich,

Connecticut.

Archbishop-designates Edward J. Weisenburger, left, and Robert

Casey. | DIOCESE OF TUCSON/ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO

■ Amazon reverses ban on book

critical of gender theory

A book critical of the transgender movement

has returned to the Amazon marketplace after

three years of being classified as a “hate” book.

“When Harry Became Sally: Responding to

the Transgender Movement” was written in

2018 by Ryan T. Anderson, a Catholic and senior

research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

The book argues against gender-reassignment

treatments for children, with data and anecdotes

pulled from people who regretted their

gender reassignment treatments. It became a

prominent example of Amazon’s 2021 policy to

bar books the company classified as hateful.

In a new statement, Amazon said the decision

to resume sales was due to “ongoing feedback”

and the fact that other retailers still sold the

book.

“As was the case when we reviewed the book

a few years ago, it was not an easy decision, but

we concluded that we erred on the side of being

too restrictive last time and decided to return

the book to our store,” it said.

■ Family says rosary

sustained American

detainee in Russia

After more than three years detained

in a Russian prison, American schoolteacher

Marc Fogel returned to the

United States Feb.11. His family credits

the rosary as a source of sustenance

throughout his imprisonment.

“We tried to coordinate it so we could

be praying at the same time,” Fogel’s

95-year-old mother, Malphine, told

EWTN News Nightly. “I did the same

thing with my sisters, so at 9:30 at night

we always prayed the rosary simultaneously,

and I think it helped all of us,

and I think particularly Marc.”

Fogel was arrested in August 2021 at

the Moscow airport for possession of

0.6 ounces of marijuana. Prosecutors

claimed he intended to sell the drug

to his students at the Anglo-American

School of Moscow. Sentenced to 14

years in prison, his return was part of a

prisoner exchange negotiated by President

Donald Trump’s special envoy,

American investor and diplomat Steve

Witkoff.

Effects of policy — Migrants line up on the Paso del Norte international border bridge Feb. 7 to leave for

Mexico after being deported from the U.S., following U.S. President Donald Trump’s promised mass deportation

operation, as seen from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. On Feb. 18, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops filed a

lawsuit against the Trump administration over the suspension of refugee resettlement funding, arguing that the

suspension is unlawful and harms newly arrived refugees. The USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services is one of

10 national agencies that work with the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program to help refugees with things like finding

housing and job placement during their first 90 days in the U.S. | OSV NEWS/JOSE LUIS GONZALEZ, REUTERS


LOCAL

Still in our hearts — A portrait of the late Bishop David O’Connell is displayed during a special

Mass and garden dedication on Feb. 9 at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church in South LA, two years

after his death. The garden will include a statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, a decorative water fountain,

and benches for people to pray, meditate, or “just relax.” O’Connell was pastor at St. Frances for

more than 15 years. | VICTOR ALEMÁN

■ Ventura pastor

appointed as St.

John’s Seminary rector

Father Leon Hutton has been

appointed as the rector of St.

John’s Seminary in Camarillo

beginning on July 1.

Hutton, currently the pastor

at Our Lady of the Assumption

Church in Ventura, previously

served as a seminary faculty and

administrator and taught for several

years there. He will replace

Father Marco Durazo, who has

OUR LADY OF ASSUMPTION/YOUTUBE

led St. John’s since July 2018.

Hutton is an alumnus of St. John’s Seminary and grew up in Camarillo.

He briefly served as interim episcopal vicar for the Santa Barbara

Pastoral Region from 2022 to 2023.

■ Route announced for

Eucharistic pilgrimage

coming to LA

The route for the 10-state, 3,300-mile National

Eucharistic Pilgrimage in May will begin in

Indianapolis and end in Los Angeles, organizers

announced.

Similar to the Eucharistic pilgrimages held last

year, teams will carry the Blessed Sacrament

across the country, arriving in Los Angeles with a

Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels for

the feast of Corpus Christi on June 22.

This year’s pilgrimage will focus largely on marginalized

communities, with Eucharistic stops at

nursing homes, prisons, the U.S.-Mexico border,

and more.

An additional Eucharistic pilgrimage, the

Camino de California, will travel to all 21 of

the state’s missions, beginning with Mission San

Francisco Solano on June 6 before converging

with the national route on June 22.

To learn more or sign up, visit eucharisticpilgrimage.org.

■ SoCal tribe’s lawsuit over

‘desecrated’ remains is dismissed

The Gabrieleño Band Of Mission Indians’ lawsuit

against Los Angeles County, the Archdiocese

of Los Angeles, and the nonprofit organization

LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes was dismissed by a

judge on Jan. 30.

The lawsuit alleged that the remains of Native

Americans were “desecrated” after being found

during the 2010 construction of a museum near

Olvera Street in Los Angeles. The remains were

later reburied.

In dismissing the case, Superior Court Judge

Michael Shultz ruled that the allegations named

in the lawsuit exceeded the statute of limitations.

The archdiocese was named in the lawsuit due

to it controlling the cemetery connected to Our

Lady of the Angels Church, known as La Placita,

near the area. The county owns the land on

which the remains were found.

“After dialogue with the County and representatives

of the native peoples, it was agreed that the

County would oversee the reburials according to

the requests of the representatives of the native

peoples,” according to an LA Archdiocese statement

provided to the LA Daily News. “The Archdiocese

consecrated the ground and provided a

blessing according to the Rites of the Catholic

Church for the reinternment by the County.”

Y


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IN OTHER WORDS...

Letters to the Editor

Reminding our Catholic VP of the Gospel

Thanks to Greg Erlandson for his column in the Feb. 21 issue setting

Vice President J.D. Vance straight on Catholic teaching, and even more,

for reminding him of the Gospel. The Sermon on the Mount is so much closer

to the heart of Jesus than any erroneous interpretation of the ordo amoris. As Pope

Francis noted in his recent letter to the U.S. bishops: “The true ordo amoris that

must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable

of the ‘Good Samaritan’ (cf. Luke 10:25–37), that is, by meditating on the love

that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”

— Father Thomas P. Rausch, SJ, Distinguished Scholar in Theology, Loyola Marymount

University

Poem: “Our beloved Pope Francis”

I pray for you

With hopes that

You pull through

In the calm of the night

I light a candle for

My Pope Francis tonight

A prayer sent on wings light and free

And I wish you peace and grace I

Pray for strength to find your place and

You are cherished loved and blessed

By our Lord Jesus Christ forever and

Always Pope Francis we will

Love and pray for you.

— David P. Carroll

Correction

Sydney Graff is a fifth-grader and Charlie Beall is on the St. Martin basketball

team. The two were misidentified in the “Learning Lessons” article in the Feb. 21

issue of Angelus.

Y

Continue the conversation! To submit a letter to the editor, visit AngelusNews.com/Letters-To-The-Editor

and use our online form or send an email to editorial@angelusnews.com. Please limit to 300 words. Letters

may be edited for style, brevity, and clarity.

At Corpus Christi’s ground zero

The Archdiocese of LA’s Digital Team released a short documentary

looking at the damage inside the destroyed Corpus Christi Church with

LA Fire Department Capt. Brian Nassour, who recovered the tabernacle,

and Capt. Frank V. Lima, a former Pacific Palisades firefighter who had

often worshiped at the parish. | ARCHDIOCESE OF LOS ANGELES

“If you really want him to

rest, you have to hospitalize

him.”

~ Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, archbishop of

Marseille, France, on Pope Francis’ work ethic

following his Feb. 14 hospitalization at Gemelli

Hospital in Rome.

“Fasting sends a message

to your body that your

appetites are not in control.”

~ Norbertine Father John Henry Hanson, in a

promotional video for “The Great Fast,” a virtual

Lenten journey created by St. Michael’s Abbey in

Silverado this year.

“The tasks for which

we established our

government are not easily

rendered by bottom-line

analysis.”

~ National Catholic Reporter columnist Michael

Sean Winters, criticizing Elon Musk and the

Department of Government Efficiency’s “wrecking

ball” approach to reforming federal bureaucracies.

“Fires are part of our natural

ecosystem and LA is ready

to rebuild differently.”

~ Pacific Palisades resident Marysia Miernowska,

interviewed for a Feb. 20 LA Times story on the

local push to build fireproof “SuperAdobe” homes.

To view this video

and others, visit

AngelusNews.com/photos-videos

Do you have photos or a story from your parish that you’d

like to share? Please send to editorial @angelusnews.com.

“Catholics and other prolifers:

Ask yourself what

you would say and do if a

Democrat had done this.”

~ Catholic philosopher Edward Feser of Pasadena

City College, criticizing President Donald Trump’s

Feb. 18 executive order expanding access to in vitro

fertilization.


IN EXILE

FATHER RONALD ROLHEISER, OMI

Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father

Ronald Rolheiser is a spiritual

writer; ronrolheiser.com

Our struggle with love

Several years ago, a Presbyterian

minister I know challenged his

congregation to open its doors

and its heart more fully to the poor.

Initially, the congregation responded

with enthusiasm and a number of

programs were introduced to invite

people from the less-privileged

economic areas of the city, including

a number of street people, to come to

their church.

But the romance soon died as coffee

cups and other loose items began to

disappear, some handbags were stolen,

and the church and meeting space

were often left messy and soiled. A

number of the congregation began

to complain and demand an end to

the experiment: “This isn’t what we

expected! Our church isn’t clean and

safe anymore! We wanted to reach out

to these people and this is what we get!

This is too messy to continue!”

But the minister held his ground,

pointing out that their expectations

were naïve, that what they were experiencing

was precisely part of the cost of

reaching out to the poor, and that Jesus

assures us that loving is unsafe and

messy, not just in reaching out to the

poor but in reaching out to anyone.

We like to think of ourselves as

gracious and loving, but truth be told,

that’s often predicated on a naïve

notion of love. We struggle to love as

Jesus invites us to love, namely, to love

each other as I have loved you. The last

clause in the sentence contains the real

challenge: Jesus doesn’t say, love each

other according to the spontaneous

reactions of your heart; nor, love each

other as society defines love. Rather,

love each other as I have loved you.

And, for the most part, we struggle to

do that.

• We struggle to love our enemies,

to turn the other cheek and to reach

across to embrace those who hate

us. We struggle to pray for those who

oppose us.

• We struggle to forgive those who

hurt us, to forgive those who murder

our loved ones. We struggle to ask God

to forgive the people who are hurting

us. We struggle to believe, like Jesus,

that they are not really cognizant of

what they are doing.

• We struggle to be bighearted and

take the high road when we’ve been

slighted or ignored, and we struggle

then to let understanding and empathy

replace bitterness and our urge to withdraw.

We struggle to let go of grudges.

• We struggle to be vulnerable, to

risk humiliation and rejection in our

offers of love. We struggle to give up

our fear of being misunderstood, of not

looking good, of not appearing strong

and in control. We struggle to set out

barefooted, to love without security in

our pockets.

• We struggle to open our hearts

enough to imitate Jesus’ universal,

nondiscriminating embrace, to stretch

our hearts to see everyone as brother

or sister, regardless of race, color, or

religion. We struggle to stop nursing

the silent secret that our own lives and

the lives of our loved ones are more

precious than those of others.

• We struggle to make a preferential

option for the poor, to bring the poor

to our tables, to abandon our propensity

to prefer the attractive and the

influential.

• We struggle to sacrifice ourselves to

the point of losing everything for the

sake of others, to actually lay down our

lives for our friends — and indeed for

our enemies. We struggle to be willing

to die for people who oppose us and

are trying to crucify us.

• We struggle to love with purity

of heart, to not subtly seek ourselves

within our relationships. We struggle

to live chastely, to fully respect and not

violate someone else.

• We struggle to walk in patience,

giving others the full space they need

to relate to us according to their own

inner dictates. We struggle to sweat

blood in order to be faithful. We

struggle to wait in proper patience, in

God’s good time, for God’s judgment

on right and wrong.

•We struggle to resist our natural

urge to judge others, to not impute

motives. We struggle to leave judgment

to God.

• Finally, not least, we struggle to

love and forgive our own selves, knowing

that no mistake we make stands

between us and God. We struggle to

trust that God’s love is enough and

that we are forever held inside God’s

infinite mercy.

Yes, love is a struggle.

After his wife Raissa died, Jacques

Maritain edited a book of her journals.

In the Preface to that book, he

described her struggle with the illness

that eventually killed her. Severely

debilitated and unable to speak, she

struggled mightily in her last days.

Her suffering both tested and matured

Maritain’s own faith. Mightily sobered

by seeing his wife’s sufferings, he

wrote: “Only two kinds of people think

that love is easy: saints, who through

long years of self-sacrifice have made

a habit of virtue, and naïve persons

who don’t know what they’re talking

about.”

He’s right. Only saints and those who

are naïve think love is easy.


A PERFECT PLACE TO

PRAY FOR PETER

Pope Francis’ hospitalization gave

participants at the Religious Education

Congress a chance to pray for his

health — and reflect on his legacy.

STORY BY MIKE CISNEROS /

PHOTOGRAPHY BY

VICTOR ALEMÁN

Thousands attended the closing Mass

of the 2025 LA Religious Education

Congress on Feb. 23 inside the Anaheim

Convention Center arena.

As Pope Francis fought for his

life in a Rome hospital, Maggie

Forney was praying for him

6,000 miles away at the Los Angeles

Religious Education Congress in

Anaheim.

Scrolling through her phone, she

brought up images of the pope from

when she sang with a choir at the Vatican

in 2017. Forney didn’t expect to

see Francis on that trip, but suddenly

got an up-close-and-personal view that

left her practically speechless.

“I was just so in awe to have a man

of God that close to me and I couldn’t

say a word,” said Forney, a parishioner

at St. Cyprian Church in Long Beach.

“I couldn’t say anything. My cousin

was standing there and she goes, ‘Yes

you did.’ I said, ‘What did I say?’ She

said, ‘You said, we’re from California,


we came to pray with you and to pray

for you.’ I don’t remember saying any

of that.

“Ever since I heard of his health

crisis, this is what I’ve been doing, just

pulling these photos up and looking

at them and thinking back on this

memory.”

As Francis’ condition turned to “critical”

on the weekend of Feb. 22-23,

the uncertainty about his prognosis

became a topic that the congress

attendees whispered about. Workshops

began concluding with prayers for

the pope. He became a focal point in

homilies.

With a congress theme of “Called to

Compassion,” how could Francis not

be on the minds and hearts of those in

attendance?

For the congress’ closing Mass, a

photo of Francis was front and center

on stage, and digital banners in the

arena called for prayers. Life-size cutouts

of the pope, such as the one at the

Diocese of Orange’s exhibit booth, got

A portrait of Pope Francis is

seen as Archbishop José H.

Gomez delivers the homily at

the congress’ closing Mass.

more attention. After receiving word

of his “critical” condition Saturday

morning during his “Front Row with

Archbishop Gomez” session Saturday

morning, the archbishop led the audience

in a Hail Mary for the pope.

At a Saturday evening Mass, Auxiliary

Bishop Matthew Elshoff took the

opportunity of the day’s feast of the

Chair of St. Peter to reflect on Francis

and his legacy.

“Francis explains that compassion

speaks to reality as it is,” Elshoff said.

“In other words, it speaks to truthfulness,

whether it be suffering, injustice,

inhumane conditions, the issues of life

from womb to the tomb, racism, or

prejudice. And compassion moves us

to involve ourselves in these problems,

to alleviate suffering, to call out injustice,

racism, prejudice, and to speak

the truth, who is Jesus Christ, who

gives us that moral authority by the gift

of our baptism.”

Francis’ humility and pastoral emphasis

on uplifting the poor and the

marginalized have made him a hero to

many in attendance at the congress.

Frank and Flo Stapleton spoke to Angelus

moments after praying for Francis

inside the event’s Sacred Space.

“What he’s done for the Church has

been life-saving, for the world, really,”

Frank said. “He’s just been a blessing,

a gift sent by God, just a very holy

man and being a real leader for the

Church. He’s just done so much.”

“It all seems to be rooted in a

genuine love, a love for all of humanity,”

Flo said. “And he sees Christ in

everybody and tries to make all of us

aware of that. We’re praying for him,

hope he hangs in there, gives us a few

more years.”

As a couple who has seen five popes

in their lifetime, the Stapletons don’t

look back fondly at pre-Vatican II

Latin Mass days and hope Francis’ legacy

is that the Church keeps looking

ahead.

“It was not a Church that felt welcoming

or focused on love or forgiveness,

a lot of rigidity and judgment,”

Flo said. “He sees the Church in the

future. He doesn’t want to go back.

He feels the Church needs to move

forward in that.”

“I think he’s one of the greater popes

I’ve ever had in my lifetime,” Frank

said.

Diane Klostermann, a first-timer at

the congress from Illinois, hoped that

those who criticized Francis would

have a change of heart.

“I pray that they have an awakening,

that maybe they can look back and

see the good that he has done for the

Church,” she said.

Erika Farkas, a mother of five and

member of St. Clare of Assisi Church

in Santa Clarita, said that despite

sometimes being labeled “controversial,”

she has great respect for Francis,

and prays for him regularly with her

family.

“For me, I’ve seen him as our leader

who is trying his best to lead the

Church, to be a unified Church,” she

said.

Sister Gemma de la Trinidad of the

Eucharistic Franciscan Missionary Sisters

of Los Angeles in East LA said that

her convent’s daily routine includes

reading the pope’s writings together

during meals.


A woman prays after midday Mass at the Cathedral

of Our Lady of the Angels on Monday,

Feb. 24. Archbishop Gomez celebrated the

Mass and spoke to local media afterward.

“We’re spoiled,” she said. “He’s a

father to us. We follow him so much,

we have read so much from him.”

Right now, they’re reading Francis’

encyclical on the Sacred Heart of

Jesus, “Dilexit Nos” (“He Loved Us”).

“It’s very inspiring, the way he talks

about the human heart of the Lord, on

how we are supposed to be like him,”

de la Trinidad said.

Hardini Suraya, a parishioner at

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in

Rowland Heights, praised Francis for

his inspirational visit to her homeland,

Indonesia, and for being a sign to her

as a volunteer at the Twin Towers Correctional

Facility in Los Angeles.

“He’s been a good pope,” she said.

“He always reached out to those who

need it, like prisoners, the sick, those

who need healing, although he doesn’t

know them, but he really touched

them.”

Elisa Valencia, a psychologist and

parishioner at St. Mark Church in

Venice, said Francis was “the pope we

needed,” and his leading by example

could be a model for a new popular

phrase.

“They say, ‘What would Jesus do?’ ” Valencia

said. “But Jesus loves everybody.

What would Pope Francis do? How

would he tell us to love one another

and reach out to each other, be

community and be humble and live

like that?”

Mike Cisneros is the associate editor of

Angelus. Editor-in-chief Pablo Kay also

contributed to this report.

Archbishop Gomez led

attendees in praying a Hail

Mary for Pope Francis

after learning of the pope’s

“critical” condition at his

Saturday morning “Front

Row” congress session.


Deacons from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles process

out of St. Peter’s Basilica after the Feb. 22 Jubilee of

Deacons Mass. | FATHER PARKER SANDOVAL

LA deacons witness history in Rome

As the eyes of the world were on

Rome, 40 deacons and their

wives from the Archdiocese of

Los Angeles were caught up in last-minute

changes to Vatican planning while

on pilgrimage.

The deacons’ Feb. 18-March 1 pilgrimage

for the Jubilee of Deacons in

Rome included stops in Assisi, Siena,

Florence, and Milan. But while in

Rome, they found themselves praying

for Pope Francis — instead of with him

— at a special Feb. 22 Jubilee Mass

with 2,500 deacons from around the

world in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect

of the Dicastery for Evangelization,

celebrated the Mass instead, but delivered

the homily that had been prepared

by Francis. The celebration included

a special procession into St. Peter’s

through the basilica’s Holy Door.

Deacon Don Huntley leads midday prayer at a Feb.

21 Jubilee session for deacons at Rome’s Church of

St. Gregory VII. At right is Cardinal Arthur Roche. |

FATHER PARKER SANDOVAL

“What is amazing for everyone to see

is that despite the illness of the pope,

the life and mission of the Church continues,

even in Rome,” said Father Parker

Sandoval, one of the priest chaplains

on the pilgrimage.

As Francis was receiving treatment for

double pneumonia and a “polymicrobial

infection” on Friday, Feb. 21, the LA

deacons participated in a special catechesis

session at Rome’s Church of St.

Gregory VII. Deacon Don Huntley of

Our Lady of the Assumption Church in

Ventura led midday prayer at the gathering,

while Deacon Frank Gonzalez,

regional assistant to Auxiliary Bishop

Marc V. Trudeau, gave a testimony.

— Pablo Kay


Participants pause for prayer during the opening

ceremony of the 2025 LA Religious Education

Congress. | ISABEL CACHO/DIGITAL TEAM

A BREATH OF COMPASSION

The aftermath of

the LA wildfires, the

decline of marriage,

and the limitations

of our human ‘DNA’

shaped discussions at

LA Congress.

BY PABLO KAY AND

MIKE CISNEROS

Speakers at this year’s Los Angeles

Religious Education Congress

found ways to apply the event’s

theme, “Called to Compassion,” to

everything from interreligious dialogue

to modern social justice concerns, to

personal spirituality.

But the event’s most powerful call to

compassion came from an uninvited

guest: the wildfires that decimated

entire LA County communities last

month.

“Compassion makes us brothers and

Msgr. Liam Kidney said the recovery of the tabernacle from Corpus

Christi Church after the Palisades Fire showed that “no fire can

destroy the body of Christ.” | ISABEL CACHO/DIGITAL TEAM

sisters to those who suffer, compassion

calls us to accompany the broken and

the wounded,” said Archbishop José H.

Gomez in his remarks at the opening

ceremony of the congress, held Feb. 21-

23 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

“This will be our challenge in the

months ahead after these wildfires.”

Whether by accident or by providence,

this year’s congress offered hope

for the long road to recovery ahead.

The adult portion of the congress

kicked off with the testimony of two

survivors of the Palisades Fires: Msgr.

Liam Kidney, pastor of Corpus Christi

Church in Pacific Palisades, and the


parish’s secretary, Lorraine Hartman.

Kidney recalled his first reaction to the

news that Corpus Christi’s tabernacle

had been recovered from the destroyed

church by firefighters.

“It struck me that here we had our tabernacle

containing the body of Christ,

and we’re called Corpus Christi, which

means ‘the body of Christ,’ ” recalled

Kidney.

“And I said, ‘No fire can destroy the

body of Christ, because that body of

Christ lived through that fire, and we,

the body of Christ, will live through

that fire.’ ”

Hartman spoke of the shock from a

parish community losing so much so

suddenly — homes, jobs, the church

building — and the difficulty of prayer

in such times. But as she began to field

a barrage of calls and messages offering

generous support for Corpus Christi parishioners

from around the U.S. in the

weeks after the fires, she came to realize

that “God was showing us his love and

compassion through these people.”

“God was truly showing us that he was

walking with us through the members

of his Church,” said Hartman, the

parish’s secretary since 1999.

In her remarks, lead congress organizer

Sister Rosalia Meza, VDMF, said

that “in difficult times, it’s difficult to

speak of a God of compassion.”

But, the senior director of the LA

Archdiocese’s Office of Religious

Education added, “God chooses to be

present with us, and is willing to enter

into the messiness of our problems and

the ups and downs of life.”

The ‘mission impossible’ of compassion

At workshops and talks throughout the

congress, several speakers seemed to

ponder the same question: What does it

take to have compassion?

For congress mainstay and Angelus

contributor Father Ronald Rolheiser,

the answer begins with acknowledging

that compassion is not “hardwired” in

our human DNA.

“It’s impossible for us to practice

compassion the way Jesus does,” said

Rolheiser in a Friday afternoon workshop.

“It’s impossible for human beings.

It’s not impossible for God.”

The “litmus test” for whether a Catholic

truly shows compassion, Rolheiser

said, is whether they can love their

enemy.

“Can I do good to someone who hurts

me?” asked Rolheiser. “Can I really understand

that Jesus is the only way I can

do it? It goes against all our instincts, so

we’re going to need some help.”

At a Friday panel titled “Is it only

Catholics who are Called to Compassion?”

moderated by Father Alexei

Smith, the archdiocese’s Ecumenical

and Interreligious Officer, speakers

agreed with the DNA metaphor.

“One of the great insights of religion,

and certainly Judaism, Christianity,

and Islam, is to overcome our DNA,”

said panelist Rabbi Michael Lotker,

rabbi emeritus at Temple Ner Ami in

Camarillo. “We are wired in our DNA

to basically see ourselves as a member

of one tribe, and people that look differently,

speak differently, act differently,

they are fair game. Go steal their stuff.”

But the Hebrew Bible familiar to Jews,

Christians, and Muslims “forces us to

say we are all in the same tribe,” Lotker

said.

“We are all created in God’s image,

and we are all bound by ‘rahamim’ (a

Hebrew word that roughly translates

to compassion) because ultimately, we

come from the same divine womb.”

In her Saturday morning keynote talk,

Vatican official Sister Marie-Kolbe

Zamora used the metaphor of human

breathing to explain the need to “inhale”

Jesus’ compassion by accepting

his mercy toward us as sinners, in order

to “exhale” it with the help of baptismal

grace, rather than our human efforts.

Zamora, a Texas native and Franciscan

Sister of Christian Charity who

works in the Vatican’s General Secretariat

of the Synod of Bishops, based

her talk on the passage from the Gospel

of Mark where Jesus invites a young

man to sell all his possessions before

following him.

Archbishop Jose H. Gomez stopped for pictures

while visiting booths in the congress’ exhibit hall. |

VICTOR ALEMÁN


“We are so fixated on hanging on to

ourselves, to our securities, for dear

eternal life, that we reduce the possibility

of our salvation really touching us to

a ‘mission impossible,’ ” said Zamora,

invoking the popular Tom Cruise action

movie series in her talk. “But Jesus

says, ‘for God, all things are possible.’ ”

Family matters

Several congress sessions addressed

perhaps the most serious social concern

for Catholics today: family life.

At Saturday morning’s “Front Row

with Archbishop Gomez” event, a lineup

of experts discussed the challenges

of promoting a “marriage culture” in

California, where high costs of living,

government policies, and the effects of

secularization have led to a “freefall” in

marriage rates.

“Marriage is a fundamental issue

because it affects everyone,” said panel

moderator Kathleen Domingo, executive

director of the California Catholic

RE Congress Youth Day:

Rap battles and ‘Rate My Confessor’

More than 7,500 young people

gathered for talks, music,

entertainment, prayer, and

community at the 2025 Los Angeles

Religious Education Congress’ Youth

Day.

Speakers touched on similar issues facing

young people today: Prayer, making

deeper connections, feeling alone, and

discerning God’s will.

Also, rap music.

Whether it was a Scripture rap battle

between presenters Chris Estrella and

Joe Melendrez — with surprise contestant

Rhyan Ramirez — or Father David

Michael Moses talking about hip-hopinspired

songs he’d written, the day had

a musical theme.

Moses, the popular guitar-playing,

comedy video-making, breakdancing,

rapping priest with a large social media

following, picked up his guitar and

broke into song several times during his

talk, singing about the Eucharist, his

prayer book, and even his dating history.

Comedy videos included “Clergy

Spoon,” suggesting priests could use

their clerical collars in case they run

out of utensils, and “Rate My Confessor,”

a parody of “Rate My Professor.”

In their respective sessions, Maggie

Craig and Noelle Garcia McHugh

used some painful lessons in their lives

to highlight how to let God help.

For McHugh, it was walking her dogs

and being dragged when they began

chasing after a rabbit. When telling

a friend later, they asked her, “Why

didn’t you let go?” She urged the crowd

to “let go” in their prayer lives and let

Young people made use of a life-size picture frame at Youth Day on Thursday, Feb. 20. | VICTOR ALEMÁN

God take control.

Craig relayed a childhood ordeal that

led to needing 37 stitches in her leg,

which segued into letting God heal our

own wounds.

“When we keep our wounds wrapped

up, we never heal,” she said. “What

does Jesus want for you? He wants your

healing.

“So what do we have to do with our

wounds? We have to be vulnerable with

God.”

Los Angeles Archbishop José H.

Gomez bookended the event, first by

leading the crowd in the morning in

Eucharistic adoration, and later by

celebrating the day’s closing Mass.

In his homily, Archbishop Gomez

asked the youth to use Blessed Carlo

Acutis — whose soon-to-be-a-saint

relic was featured at the event’s Sacred

Space — as a model for their lives.

“If you say to Jesus, as St. Peter did,

‘You are the Christ,’ then he will set

your life in a whole new direction,”

Archbishop Gomez said. “If you put

your life in his hands and follow him,

then Jesus will show you how to live a

beautiful life, a life filled with love and

service, a life that will become your

path to heaven.”

— Mike Cisneros


Vatican official Sister

Marie-Kolbe Zamora

delivered a keynote

talk on compassion

Saturday morning

during the congress. |

VICTOR ALEMÁN

Conference, the public policy arm of

the state’s bishops. “It’s the foundation

of our society and our parish life.”

Domingo explained how three years

ago, the state’s bishops decided to

launch the “Radiate Love” pro-marriage

initiative after realizing California’s

marriage trends were “untenable”

for the future. The goal: to “catalyze

a renewal in marriage culture at the

parish level.”

Catholic speaker and marriage expert

Damon Owens said that promoting

such a culture starts with each Catholic

“knowing your lane” regardless of their

vocation, and married couples finding

sources of support — whether through

personal friendships or even going on

annual weekend retreats, as clergy do.

“Marriage isn’t private, it’s personal,”

said Owens. “Every one of us has a

stake in the health of marriage, and

we’ve got to know the lane so that we

can help marriage to flourish rightly.”

Erika Farkas, a mother of five from St.

Clare of Assisi Church in Santa Clarita,

said she appreciated the diversity of the

talks at this year’s congress, but found

Julia Sadusky’s Saturday workshop on

“Talking with Your Teen About Sex”

especially helpful as her oldest child

approaches adolescence.

“Now, with everything that’s in the

media, it feels like you really need to

be on it before, so that they can come

to you first, rather than the world,” said

Farkas.

A home for ‘roaming Catholics’

At the congress’ closing Mass, Archbishop

Gomez told the catechists,

teachers, and ministry leaders in attendance

that “our mission is to raise a

new generation of saints and heroes for

the faith” like Blessed Carlo Acutis, an

Italian youth who died in 2006 at the

age of 15 and whose relic was venerated

during Youth Day.

“The saints tell us that the God we

serve is a consuming fire. Our God

wants all our love and wants every part

of us: all our heart and soul, all our

mind and strength,” said the archbishop.

“That means we can never

proclaim a faith that is just comfortable,

a faith that doesn’t challenge ourselves

and challenge the people around us.”

As the weekend drew to a close, longtime

congress-goer and Corpus Christi

parishioner Fran Zonfrillo told Angelus

her congress experience had given

her hope after losing her home to the

Palisades Fire in January.

“It was wonderful: great music, great

Scripture, great conversations,” said

Zonfrillo, who was married at Corpus

Christi in the 1970s and has now

become one of the parish’s “roaming

Catholics,” attending Sunday Mass

with Kidney at a different LA parish

every weekend.

Except, however, that Sunday, Feb.

23, when Corpus Christi’s weekly

“parish” assignment was the congress’

closing Mass with Archbishop Gomez.

“It gives you a little different lens,” said

Zonfrillo of the experience. “Maybe a

little more sacred, a little more hospitable.

I feel inspired to do more.”

Pablo Kay is the Editor-in-Chief of

Angelus.

Mike Cisneros is the associate editor of

Angelus.

Brett Hoover, a theology professor at Loyola Marymount

University, gave a workshop in Spanish titled “Immigration:

The moral blindness of society and the Catholic faith as a

cure” on Sunday afternoon. | VICTOR ALEMÁN


DISTANT DONATIONS

An outpouring of support for LA fire victims has

come from places near and far, sometimes very far.

BY MIKE CISNEROS

Auxiliary Bishop Brian Nunes, along with

church and school leaders, students, and

volunteers, pose with members from a Kansas

Catholic Church who drove supplies

to help those affected by the LA fires. |

VICTOR ALEMÁN

When the Archdiocese of Los

Angeles set up the donation

portal for the Wildfire Victims

Emergency Relief Fund, organizers

were hoping for a groundswell of

local support.

They got it, in so many ways.

What they didn’t necessarily expect

was the outpouring of support from

parishes, schools, and religious organizations

outside the area, ranging from

Las Vegas, to Hawaii to Boston, and

outside of the United States.

In amounts both big and small,

donors across the country have sent in

assistance to LA wildfire victims in the

form of money, gift cards, clothing,

toiletries, and handmade cards.

The Dioceses of Washington, D.C.,

Knoxville, Tennessee, Rockford, Illinois,

Paterson, New Jersey, Honolulu,

Las Vegas, Orange County, and San

Diego all sent donations.

A Catholic parish near Chicago donated

funds because Church leaders

remembered how devastated they

were after a tornado ripped through its

neighborhood. Students at St. Mary’s

School in Maryland created hundreds

of handmade cards of hope along

with gift cards to send to affected

families. Church leaders from a parish

and school in Kansas drove a supplies-filled

truck across the country to

deliver to those impacted by the fires.

Other groups got creative in how they

raised funds.

A Catholic school near Philadelphia

used a pep rally days before their local

Eagles won the Super Bowl to raise

money for LA fire victims. A San Francisco-area

Catholic school student

organized a bake sale to donate funds

to help animals affected by the fires.

Holy Cross School in New York said

it was donating its recent jog-a-thon

earnings to the Catholic Education

Foundation of Los Angeles’ tuition

fund.

St. John of God Church in Norwalk

decided to forego a grand celebration


for its 75th anniversary and instead

sent those funds raised to the archdiocese.

“It’s just been an amazing experience

of really being Church, being the family

of God, being brothers and sisters

to each other,” said Sister M. Anncarla

Costello, SND, the archdiocese’s

chancellor, who has been the linchpin

for the relief fund.

The archdiocese’s fire relief fund

has since been giving $1,000 checks

to those affected by the wildfires at

any parish in the region. So far, more

than 40 parishes in the archdiocese

have given checks to more than 2,000

households.

St. Monica Church in Santa Monica

has been one of the main hubs for

those seeking assistance, having given

out nearly 1,000 relief checks so far,

said Felipe Sanchez, the parish’s director

of administration.

Due to a couple of unique partnerships,

St. Monica has had its share of

donations from those in far-off places.

When the COVID-19 pandemic first

hit, forcing churches into livestream

Masses, St. Monica received a significant

influx of out-of-state and global

online visitors who stuck around even

when in-person restrictions were lifted.

Msgr. Lloyd Torgerson, St. Monica’s

longtime pastor, still meets on the first

Monday of each month with this online

contingent, many of whom live as

far away as Ireland and South Africa.

When the fires struck, the group

online asked how they could help.

Torgerson mentioned the donation

portal and several sent in their funds

right away. Others mailed gift cards.

Similarly, a friend of St. Monica’s

— Father John Unni at St. Cecilia

Church in Boston — called to ask

how his flock could help, and his

parish took a collection with proceeds

sent to LA.

“They were somehow touched by

what had happened, and their hearts

were filled with generosity,” Sanchez

said. “They were able to extend that

generosity all the way to us here in

California.”

Letters, notes, and handmade cards are displayed that were sent to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles by out-of-towners

expressing support for wildfire victims. | SISTER ANNCARLA COSTELLO, SND

In Toledo, Ohio, the horrifying images

from the Southern California fires

prompted the pastor at Christ the King

Church, Father Dave Nuss, to ask his

staff: Did anyone have a connection in

Los Angeles?

Only one did: Sister Mary Delores

Gatliff, SND, who belongs to the same

order as Sister Costello in Los Angeles.

On the day Gatliff called Costello to

ask how Christ the King could help,

the LA chancellor told her: “Oh,

my goodness, is this a sign of God’s

providence?”

The archdiocese’s relief fund had just

been readied to accept donations.

Christ the King took a collection and

sent thousands of dollars in donations,

Gatliff said, with more money still

rolling in.

“We know that it is directly going to

families that have lost everything or

are in desperate need right now, and

that brings us joy,” Gatliff said. “It gave

us all a sense of hopefully giving these

people a bright future, or at least a sign

to them that people even far away care

about them and want to help.”

Christ the King has made it a point

to identify a needy cause outside of

its area to send a monthly collection

to. The practice has transformed its

parishioners and helped them just as

much as they’ve helped others.

“Our parish has much more a sense

of community and trying to develop in

people a personal relationship with Jesus,

because if they have that, they will

want to do as Jesus did,” Gatliff said.

As fire relief funds continue to be

doled out, Costello is proud that the

archdiocese has been the “conduit” for

bringing some measure of comfort to

those affected, whether they’re Catholic

or not.

“You don’t have to be Catholic, you

don’t have to be Christian, you don’t

have to be documented,” she said.

“We’ve given grants to Hindus and

Buddhists and who knows who else

because no matter what, they’re part of

the human family.”

Fire victims who still require assistance

can inquire at the following

parishes: Holy Angels Church in

Arcadia, St. Monica Church in Santa

Monica, Sacred Heart Church in Altadena,

St. Bede the Venerable Church

in La Cañada Flintridge, St. Didacus

Church in Sylmar, Sacred Heart

Church in Pomona, Dolores Mission

in Boyle Heights, St. Martin of Tours

Church in Brentwood, and St. Joseph

Church in Hawthorne.

Those who wish to donate can visit

lacatholics.org/california-fires.

Mike Cisneros is the associate editor

of Angelus.


The pope’s

sick days

Vatican business carried on during

Francis’ latest health episode. But

even if he recovers, this year’s

Jubilee could look different.

BY ELISE ANN ALLEN

Two pigeons rest on the crosier of a statue

of St. Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s Gemelli

Hospital Feb. 23, where Pope Francis

is being treated. | CNS/PABLO ESPARZA

ROME — In May 2003, fans of

the popular television series

“The West Wing” were taken for

a wild ride when, during the season

four finale, President Josiah Bartlet invoked

the United States Constitution’s

25th Amendment when his youngest

daughter was kidnapped.

The 25th Amendment deals with

presidential succession and disability,

outlining, among other things, what

happens if a sitting president were to

die, resign, or be removed from office

by impeachment.

It also provides for the temporary

transfer of the sitting president’s duties

and powers to the vice president,

either on the president’s own initiative

or on the initiative of the vice president

acting in conjunction with the

majority of the president’s cabinet.

The “what ifs” of such scenarios have

been explored by “The West Wing,”

and more recently, the TV series

“Madam Secretary.”

But with Pope Francis recently

hospitalized with a serious respiratory

infection and double pneumonia, the

question can naturally be applied to

the papacy: What would happen to the

Catholic Church if a pope were to be

incapacitated in some way?

Unlike most governments, the Catholic

Church has no “No. 2” official or

“vice pope” designated to step in if

a pope becomes incapacitated and

unable to perform his duties.

At an administrative level, the secretariat

of state would work with the

Vatican City’s governorate and the

dicasteries of the Roman Curia would

keep things running, but decisions

would simply cease to be made.

Pope Francis has said that he’s signed

a letter of resignation in the case that

he becomes medically incapacitated

and therefore unable to govern. But

there is no clear instruction on who

would enforce that letter, and when.

As of publication time, Francis was

not incapacitated and continued to

govern the Church from the Gemelli

Hospital in Rome.

St. Pope John Paul II, who was shot

in 1981 and suffered from Parkinson’s

in the latter half of his pontificate,

spent seven different stints at Gemelli

in his nearly 27-year papacy. Each

time, decisions were made, documents

were signed, and appointments and

nominations were carried out from the

hospital.

Some have argued that by his final


hospitalizations, John Paul had ceased

to be directly involved in day-to-day

government due to the debilitating

nature of his illness. But that is not

the case with Francis, who continues

to be very much in charge despite his

current limitations.

Complicating the comparisons with

past papal health scares is the fact that

2025 is a Jubilee year, something that

only happens every 25 years. That

makes for an even more packed calendar

than usual, with the pope expected

to preside at special Masses for the

various groups and categories being

celebrated on any given week. That’s

on top of his regular weekly Wednesday

public audience, Sunday Angelus

addresses, and other routine meetings

and events.

February’s hospital stay forced the

pope to delegate certain public tasks

to senior officials: Cardinal José

Tolentino de Mendonça, prefect of

the Dicastery for Culture and Education,

celebrated his Feb. 16 Mass for

the Jubilee for Artists and the World

of Culture, while Archbishop Rino

Fisichella of the Dicastery for Evangelization

led the Mass for the Jubilee of

Deacons a week later.

But in reality, Francis has already

modified his activities over the past few

years to accommodate his weakening

health, including his chronic sciatica.

It’s now normal for aides to celebrate

Masses at St. Peter’s main altar while

he sits in a chair off to the side, and for

assistants to read his speeches when he

is too winded to do so himself.

But as of press time, the reins of

Church government remained very

much in the 88-year-old pope’s own

hands.

If his condition improves and he can

return to the Vatican, this latest episode

will likely result in an even more

modified schedule.

This would be particularly challenging

for a pope during a Jubilee year,

with a swath of extra commitments

and with Lenten and Easter activities

coming up. But an aging Francis has

found ways to adapt before, so further

adjustments to his way of doing business

are not unrealistic.

What all this leaves hanging is the

question of what might happen if a

pope were truly to become incapacitat-

Francis’ VIP visitor

As he fought bronchitis and double pneumonia caused by viral and

bacterial infections in a Roman hospital, Pope Francis wasn’t welcoming

visitors during his February health crisis.

Except, that is, for at least one VIP guest.

After visiting him Feb. 19 at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, Italian Prime

Minister Giorgia Meloni reported that the pope seemed to be in a light

mood.

“I am very happy to have found him alert and responsive,” Meloni said

in a statement issued by her office. “We joked as always. He has not lost

his proverbial sense of humor.”

According to Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, the pope joked with

Meloni: “Some prayed the pope would be taken to heaven, but the Lord

of the harvest decided to leave me here a while.”

Later that week, the Vatican denied reports in Italian media that two of

Francis’ top aides, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and

Canonist Cardinal Gianfranco Ghirlanda, had secretly visited him amid

rumors of a potential papal resignation.

“I think it is all useless speculation,” Parolin told Corriere della Sera Feb.

22.

“Right now, we are focused on the health of the Holy Father, his recovery,

and his return to the Vatican; these are the only things that count.”

The pope’s physicians had said Feb. 21 they were trying to limit even the

number of medical staff going in and out of the pope’s room because of

the danger of infection.

— Reporting courtesy of Catholic News Service

Pope Francis pauses to cough during his weekly general audience in

St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Sept. 25, 2024. | CNS/LOLA GOMEZ

ed, not just for a couple of weeks but a

prolonged period. For now, that’s still a

question for another day.

Elise Ann Allen is a senior correspondent

for Crux in Rome, covering the

Vatican and the global Church.



Marriage: Worth dying for

They were martyred, in every age, because

Christian marriage is essential to the faith.

BY MIKE AQUILINA

Five Spanish Franciscan missionaries, Father

Pedro de Corpa, Father Blas Rodríguez,

Father Miguel de Añon, Brother Antonio de

Badajóz, and Father Francisco de Veráscola

were martyred in 1597 in the present-day

state of Georgia. | DIOCESE OF SAVANNAH

VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

To die for marriage is to die for

Jesus.

Christian Marriage — the

faithful, exclusive lifelong bond between

one man and one woman — is

essential to the Gospel (see Matthew

5:32, 19:3–9).

That is the truth behind Pope Francis’

decree of Jan. 27 proclaiming that five

Franciscan friars who died in 1597 were

killed in odium fidei — in the hatred of

the faith.

The five martyrs were Spanish missionaries

to the New World, serving

among the native Guale people in

territory that is now the state of Georgia.

They were targeted during a native

uprising against the Church.

A question arises, however, when

Christians are killed not by pagans or

nonbelievers, but by other Christians:

Were they killed in the hatred of the

faith, or for other motives? The answer

distinguishes martyrdom from mere

murder.

The question comes up in the case

of the “Georgia Martyrs” because the

man who launched the uprising was

a baptized Christian. Married at the

time of his conversion, a warrior named

Juanillo wished to take a second wife.

The missionary friar Pedro de Corpa rejected

the idea, and Juanillo beheaded

him. Then followed a spree in which

four other friars in the region were

hunted down and killed.

They died as martyrs because they

died defending an indispensable doctrine

of the faith.

But Pedro de Corpa and his companions

were not the first martyrs for marriage.

They are part of a tradition that

stretches back to Christian beginnings.

In matters related to marriage, the

early Christians immediately set

themselves apart from their pagan

neighbors. They believed in the permanence

of marriage. They rejected adultery,

concubinage, and polygamy. Most

controversially, perhaps, they refused

to participate in sexual acts that their

religion forbade as sins. This ruled out

all forms of sodomy — sexual activity

that was intentionally nonprocreative.

The problem was that such acts had

become habitual for Roman couples.

In A.D. 155, St. Justin Martyr wrote

of a woman in the capital city who had

lived that way with her husband until

her conversion to Christianity. Both

she and her husband indulged “in

pleasure contrary to the law of nature”


not only with each other, but also with

their “servants and hirelings.” After

converting, she refused to continue in

this way of life, and the couple became

estranged. The husband went off to Alexandria,

Egypt, where he could freely

carry on extramarital affairs.

Fearing, however, that she was

complicit in his sins, she petitioned the

emperor himself for a divorce.

Her husband did not want to lose her

dowry, and so he, in turn, denounced

her as a Christian, in order to bring

about her death under the law.

For some reason, the emperor — who

must have known the couple — chose

not to prosecute the woman on that

charge. But now the aggrieved husband

wanted vengeance, and so he went on

to denounce the man who had instructed

his former wife in the faith, and

there he succeeded. The instructor,

named Ptolemaeus, was hastily tried

and died as a martyr for marriage.

The historian Robert M. Grant observed,

in a 1985 study, that sexual morality

“was a prime aspect of ‘Christian

formation’ ” in the mid-second century.

The early Church placed a premium

on healthy marriages. In the generation

immediately after Justin’s, the Christian

theologian Clement of Alexandria, in

instructing adult converts, referred to

acts of marital sodomy as “unseemly

embraces” and compared them to the

pleasures dispensed by prostitutes.

For such boldness, Clement would

eventually have to flee his

city.

For all Christians in the

Roman Empire, to teach

the truth about marriage

— or live the truth about

marriage — was a dangerous

thing.

The problem is

perennial, even in a

nominally Christian

society.

Perhaps the most famous

martyr for marriage is St.

Thomas More, a layman

who lived in Catholic England

in the 16th century. A

renowned jurist and author,

he was a close friend and

adviser to the king, Henry

VIII.

When Henry was unable to produce a

son (and heir) with his wife, Catherine

of Aragon, he feared for the stability of

the dynasty, and so he sought an annulment

from the pope. Henry entrusted

the matter to his Lord Chancellor,

Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. But Wolsey

failed to persuade the pope, and so the

king removed the cardinal from office,

replacing him with Thomas More.

But More disagreed with Henry’s

claim that his marriage to Catherine

was invalid, so he refused to sign the

king’s repeated petitions for annulment.

Nevertheless, he kept his opinions

to himself and did not publicly

oppose or criticize the king.

Henry eventually rejected not only

the pope’s decision in the matter of

the annulment, but even the pope’s

authority over him. He declared himself

the supreme head of the Church

of England, requiring all clergy and

government ministers to acknowledge

him as such.

More and the bishop of Rochester,

Cardinal John Fisher, refused to

accept Henry’s claims. They would not

affirm Henry’s annulment. Nor would

they recognize his second marriage

as valid. They did not speak publicly

about these matters, but their silence

was resounding. Both men were tried

and convicted of treason and died by

beheading in the summer of 1535.

They were accused, tried, convicted,

and executed by men who had been

baptized as Catholics. Their crime was

upholding the truth about marriage.

Which brings us back to the

Georgia Martyrs, who died

just a few years after More

and Fisher.

In the year 2007, Archbishop José H.

Gomez preached about them: “They

were martyrs for the sanctity of marriage

— for the truth of the Gospel in

the face of a culture that rejected those

truths.”

But their lives are not merely history

lessons, he added. “They are obvious

role models and intercessors for us as

we seek to evangelize our own dominant

American culture. In which human

love is so distorted. In which the

belief in the fatherhood of God and the

mission of the Church is undermined

and called into question.”

If marriage is what the Gospel says it

is, then its success cannot be measured

by worldly standards of what’s “normal.”

If marriage is what the Gospel says

it is, it is indeed — in every age — a

matter worth dying for.

Mike Aquilina is a contributing editor

to Angelus and the author of “St. Patrick

and His World” (Scepter, $15.99).

“The meeting of Sir Thomas More with his daughter

after his sentence of death,” by William Frederick

Yeames, 1835-1918, British. | WIKIMEDIA COMMONS


WITH GRACE

DR. GRAZIE POZO CHRISTIE

A health check for America

Richard Castillo and his wife, Liz, pray in front of a statue

of Our Lady of Guadalupe following Mass at St. Mary

Our Lady of the Lake Church in Lago Vista, Texas. |

CNS/TOM MCCARTHY JR.

It’s clear that America is in the

process of reassessing, and probably

revolutionizing, its public health

policy.

That’s the expectation after the confirmation

of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary

of the Department of Health and

Human Services. He brings a famously

jaundiced eye to the government’s

cozy relationship with pharmaceutical

companies, to the politics of medical

research, and — most notoriously — to

vaccine schedules. A reexamination

is coming of Americans’ health, and

the way entrenched bureaucracies and

long-held dogmas promote or negatively

affect it.

Let’s face it: Our collective physical

health is abysmal. Obesity is the most

obvious and perhaps the most significant

challenge we face, although

diabetes, heart disease, and cancer

are also exploding. We are definitely

on the wrong track, or more likely, on

several wrong tracks at once. I see it

every day in my own medical practice,

in a way that fills me with pity for my

patients.

We’ll have to wait and see whether

some of these trends will be reversed

by fresh approaches. In the meantime,

there is a deeper philosophical question

that is bubbling under the surface:

the concept of “health” itself.

The classic, biomedical notion of

health — the one that I was trained

in and have practiced for 25 years —

quite simply means the absence of disease.

In this setting, health care is the

treatment of illnesses and the prolongation

of life. No infection, cancer, or

chronic illness? All systems working as

expected for age and sex? The patient

is healthy and needs nothing more, except

screening tests like mammograms

and colonoscopies to detect diseases at

their earliest manifestations.

The biomedical model has largely

been abandoned, for both good and

ill. We have moved on to a holistic

approach embracing much more than

the simply physical. The World Health

Organization (WHO) defines health as

“a state of complete physical, mental,

and social well-being and not merely

the absence of disease or infirmity.”

That is certainly a holistic — or

all-embracing — approach, which at

first sight seems ridiculous. Anyone

who has lived any length of time

knows that days in which we feel

“complete” well-being are few and

far between. Even our most joyful

seasons are marred by some negative

wrinkle in some aspect of our lives. We

Christians, in fact, hope to experience

complete well-being in heaven and not

before.

And yet, for all the hyperbole, there


Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie is a mother of five

who practices radiology in the Miami area.

is something important in the WHO’s

definition.

There is a deep connection between

our physical state and the state of our

souls and minds. No matter how strong

our bodies, a dysfunctional home, a

soul-crushing job, or a deep depression

have the ability to steal physical

contentment from us.

And it works the other way. For

instance, studies have shown that

married people live longer, and have

lower rates of chronic illness like heart

disease, diabetes, and hypertension.

Similar benefits come from regular

church attendance. It is thought that

companionship and connectedness,

and the sense of purpose and meaning

that marriage and faith bring, somehow

improve our immune function and

lower our cortisol levels. I can just see

the note on the prescription pad: “A

strong marriage once per day and Mass

once per week.”

There is a dark side to the holistic

health perspective, however. It sets up

impossible expectations of complete

contentment, breeding unhappiness

with the inevitable difficulties of life.

There is no such thing, anymore, as

“normal for age.” Whether wrinkles,

age-related infertility, or some thickening

around the waist, there is a demand

for medical fixes to normal human

experiences. This has effectively turned

patients into consumers, and doctors

into vending machines.

The crisis is seen in the topic of infertility.

The term has long referred to the

inability of a couple in their childbearing

years to achieve and maintain

a pregnancy. But a redefinition is

underway. Now it has been expanded

to something called “social infertility,”

which can include a post-menopausal

or single woman, or two men who have

no natural way to conceive a child.

Because the definition of health itself

has changed to include social well-being,

and for many people this includes

becoming a parent, ethically disturbing

practices like surrogacy and IVF have

become widespread. Many feel they

should be accessible to anyone, and

free of cost to the consumer.

Abortion, assisted suicide, and

transgender “care” are related to the

redefinition of health, and have in

turn poisoned medicine itself. Elective

abortion is justified as necessary for the

mother’s social and emotional health,

inflicting incalculable damage on

the ethical practice of medicine, the

doctor-patient relationship, and our

collective understanding of the dignity

of life.

Just as horrifying, suicide is now

prescribed in many states to “treat” a

lack of well-being, through the simple

expedient of killing the sufferer. And

the hormonal alterations and cosmetic

surgeries of transgender “care” assault

the physical health of children and

adults and do not appreciably improve

mental health, all in the name of

“well-being.”

These are, of course, some of the

darker ways holistic medicine has

changed our concept of health. Other

ways, like the prolongation of youthful

energy through hormonal replacement,

on the surface seem to promise

only good things.

Looking ahead, we can be certain that

a reexamination of America’s models of

well-being — the dogmas and bureaucracies

that promote those models —

and our progress toward a better state

of health, is long overdue.

Let’s hope we get it right.


The service cure

After a tragedy like the LA fires, is

helping others the key to healing?

BY HEIDI JOHNSON

Volunteers carry essential daily items to the “Eaton Fire

Parish Response” at St. Philip the Apostle Church in

Pasadena Jan. 10. | OSV NEWS/RINGO CHIU

“We lost everything in the

fire.”

Marie, a woman who

was volunteering next to me at the

Pasadena Elks Lodge to help victims of

the Eaton Fire, pulled out her phone

and showed me the charred remains of

what was once her beautiful home.

Her loss, sadness, and shock were

real. But even more shocking to me

was that Marie was facing her loss by

paying it forward to her neighbors and

community members who were in the

same boat.

Another volunteer, Denise, was

helping fold clothing to distribute to

families who had lost everything in

the fire. “I would much rather be here

helping others than thinking about

what has happened in my neighborhood,”

Denise told me.

Teary-eyed and sad, she went on to

tell me about her history of volunteering

in the Altadena community, from

assisting in classrooms to supporting

sports teams.

While those places she supported

may be gone, the community spirit that

created the idyllic neighborhood is not.

No one would have thought less of

Marie or Denise if they decided to

cope with the tragedy in another way.

When the unthinkable happens, it’s

natural to consider one’s needs first.

Who would blame victims if they are

not thinking about others in their acute

suffering?

Yet after interviewing hundreds of

fellow nonprofit founders over the past

decade for a book on this topic, I have

learned that many people intuitively

know the path to their own healing begins

by helping others. The people I’ve

spoken to all suffered a loss to a great or

lesser degree, but they took their pain

and gave it a purpose.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau

and Americorps, more than 75.7 mil-


lion or 28.3% of the U.S. population

aged 16 and older formally volunteered

in 2023. That is more than one out of

four Americans.

In total, their service added up to 5

billion hours of formal volunteering,

an average of 66 hours per person. In

addition, more than half of Americans

16 and older say that they provided

informal help to their neighbors.

As a lifelong Pasadena resident, I have

seen this community come together

time and time again to help one another

in times of loss.

When I lost my own mother in a car

accident two decades ago, our community

rallied around our family in

ways we could never begin to repay.

Neighbors paid my parents’ bills while

my father was in a coma. We received

six weeks worth of meals while we

attended three funerals that resulted

from the accident. Friends mailed our

Christmas cards and bought diapers for

our young children. The list goes on.

This is what this community knows

what to do in the face of tragedy. Like

the beautiful San Gabriel Mountains

which were formed over centuries

of earthquakes, this community will

rise from the rubble as it continues to

give and learn to receive. Learning to

receive is a real act of the will. We have

to acknowledge our vulnerability, dependence,

and need. We have to open

ourselves up to another aspect of being

human — asking for help.

It was through receiving so much help

that I learned how giving has the power

to heal.

A year after our family’s tragedy, I started

a nonprofit with a group of friends

to provide chaplains from a variety of

faiths to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

We created emergency baptismal

kits, organized candlelit vigils for the

children we’d lost, and started the tradition

of “tea for the Soul” for staff.

It was serving that community which

healed my own loss and grief in unforeseen

ways. Seeing another person’s pain

up close helps you to better understand

your own. It is through serving others

we gain empathy and perspective that

puts us on the long path to healing.

I asked my friend Stephanie if I could

start a GoFundMe for her family after

they lost everything in the Altadena

fire. Stephanie asked whether in lieu

of that offer, I would consider starting a

fundraiser for the Los Angeles Regional

Food Bank, of which she is a board

member. I immediately replied, “But

you don’t own a toothbrush!”

In the end, we did both. Stephanie

recognized that her friends needed an

outlet for their own healing by supporting

her family, whom they loved. For

Stephanie, supporting her beloved LA

Regional Food Bank is a way for her to

begin her own healing process.

“Things don’t always end up how you

hope or plan that they will,” she told

me. “But we are discovering the most

amazing support from our community

and everyone around us. I am reminded

daily of the love that surrounds me

during one of the most difficult times

in my life.”

Altadena will dig out of the rubble. In

the process, we will be healed together

— as the statistics and our stories

reveal, it’s the only way we will.

Heidi Johnson is the executive director

of TACSC, a Catholic youth leadership

organization and the founder of the

Charity Matters podcast and blog. She

is a bestselling author with her new book

“Change for Good: The Transformative

Power of Service as the Ultimate Cure”

(She Rises Studios Publishing, $19.99).

People wait for food and other humanitarian

supplies at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia Jan. 14. |

OSV NEWS/BOB ROLLER


DESIRE LINES

HEATHER KING

Making

Catholicism

weird (again)

Visitors view the “The Last Supper” by

Leonardo da Vinci, housed in the refectory

of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie

in Milan, Italy. | SHUTTERSTOCK

make Catholicism weird

again,” is the cri du jour (cry

“Let’s

of the day) of today’s “influencer”

crowd. Again? When has it not

been weird?

For starters, we have a Savior who

speaks in parables, who commands us

to eat his flesh and drink his blood, and

who then hangs suffering and silent,

nailed to the cross. Can anyone possibly

imagine Jesus trying to “curate an

image,” or taking a selfie, or impugning

his integrity trying to be popular or

“trending” or cool?

I do a certain amount of traveling for

work, often combined with visits to

friends. Wherever I go, I try to bring

everything I have. I try to stretch myself

to the limit: physically, emotionally,

spiritually, intellectually, socially. I try

to be 100% available and responsive to

whoever and whatever might come my

way. If I have a talk or presentation, I

pour my heart, mind, and soul into it.

I often wonder whether I’m laying

down my life for my friends or am simply

a pathological people-pleaser. Why

can’t I just do the minimum? Why does

everything have to be life and death?

I keep thinking of an incident that

occurred several summers ago. I was

living in the LA neighborhood of

Koreatown at the time. The mother of

a friend of a friend had died and the

friend couldn’t go to the memorial

service in San Diego because she was

out of town. Could I go in her place?

Drive to San Diego, to a mobile home

park clubhouse where the event was

being held?

My friend lived off a trust fund and

didn’t have to work; I, as usual, was

trying to eke out a livelihood as a freelance

creative writer. It was hot. I dislike

driving the freeways under the best of

circumstances. But there it was: “As

you have done to the least of these, so

you have done it to me.” The woman’s

mother had died, for heaven’s sake.

So I arranged to double up on work

for the next couple of days, gave up my

own day, put on an outfit suitable for a

funeral memorial, drove the three or so

hours to San Diego and, after several

wrong turns, found the clubhouse.

I knew no one but the friend of my

friend, who of course was busy with

other people, so I made small talk with

strangers for an hour-and-a-half or so

while nibbling on dried-out celery

sticks and cheese: a scenario that must

have been all too familiar to Christ —

the wedding at Cana, the countless


Heather King is an award-winning

author, speaker, and workshop leader.

healings at people’s homes — small

talk, bad food, and extreme fatigue.

At the same time, I was glad I’d come,

grateful I’d had the wherewithal to

come. A tiny gesture of solidarity with

a fellow human being, of respect for

the deceased, of the fact that when

someone dies, we need to mark the

occasion; we want to know the person’s

life mattered; we crave closure.

Afterward I helped clean up, and then

my friend offered to take me to Starbucks

for a coffee before I began the

long drive home. “Thanks for coming,”

she said. “That was kind. What I don’t

get, though, what I’ve been meaning to

ask you, is — how can you be Catholic?”

A view of the Blessed Sacrament

exposed in the monstrance during

SEEK25 in Washington, Jan. 3. |

OSV NEWS/COURTESY FOCUS

I stifled a guffaw and the urge to

snap, “Trust me, if I weren’t Catholic,

I would have spent the day in bed

drinking Diet Coke, eating candy, and

binge-watching Netflix. If I weren’t

Catholic, I would not have lifted the

smallest part of a finger to honor your

mother who I never even met. If I

weren’t Catholic, I would not have

voluntarily agreed to undergo what all

told will be six to seven hours of anxiety

driving the Southern California freeways,

been present to your late mother’s

friends with whom I have zero in

common, or sit here with you making

an effort to be pleasant because I know

you’ve just sustained a terrible loss.”

“Because left to my own devices I’m

utterly selfish,

utterly self-absorbed,

and utterly

judgmental,” I

replied instead —

and left it at that.

Then there are

my spiritual but

not religious

friends. “God isn’t

in a box,” they

scoff, a reference

to the useless,

time-wasting

loonies (like me)

who pray before

the tabernacle. “I

can pray whenever

I feel like it,”

they crow. “Wherever

I am.”

Well, yes and

no; or better yet,

yes and yes. Of

course we can

pray anywhere,

anytime. But to

believe in the

Transubstantiation

is to believe

that Christ

himself is in the

tabernacle, and if you love him, and

want to be more like him, and hunger

for his body and blood, to be able to sit

in the same room with him, to kneel

before him, to ceaselessly thank him, is

a rare and precious gift, an unmerited

honor, and a profound mystery.

How can you explain all that to

someone who doesn’t believe, doesn’t

want to believe, and thinks those who

believe are stupid and cowardly and out

of touch with the “real” world?

You can’t. So you drag your aging

body — tired, thirsty, lonely — and sit

before the “box” in silence, and pray for

your spiritual-but-not-religious friend.

Pray for all that is good and true in

them — for there is so much, always.

Pray because they have wounded you,

because they do not understand who

and what you live for, because they

thoughtlessly insulted Our Lord — but

forgive them, Father, for they know not

what they do. Pray for them — and for

yourself — because one day our souls

will be called to account, and we will

be required to name the master for

whom we have labored.

“Whoever is ashamed of me and of

my words in this faithless and sinful

generation, the Son of Man will be

ashamed of when he comes in his Father’s

glory with the holy angels” (Mark

8:38), says Jesus, just six days before the

Transubstantiation.

Whoever is scandalized, in other

words, by the smallness, the last-placeness,

the servanthood, the unlikeliness,

the hiddenness, the utter lack of

“triumph” in the Way, the Truth, and

the Life will never be free from the

bondage of self and of the world’s worship

of power, property, and prestige;

the world’s love for fads and taglines;

the world’s craving to make a mark.

A God who is eternally silent, perpetually

invisible, and offers himself up

— out of love — to be publicly tortured

to death.

Try making a trend out of that.


LETTER AND SPIRIT

SCOTT HAHN

Scott Hahn is founder of the

St. Paul Center for Biblical

Theology; stpaulcenter.com.

Signifying seven

We have just begun our Lent, and we look ahead to

seven weeks of it. Yes, I said seven.

Seven seems like a lot of weeks when we’ve

undertaken a fast — when we’ve given up sweets, or meat, or

screens, or alcohol, or games, or our favorite carbs.

Seven weeks.

Now, I don’t want to overhype the number. The duration of

the “spring fast” has varied down the centuries. Sometimes

it’s been shorter, sometimes longer. So there’s nothing magic

about the number seven.

But there is something significant about it. In fact, there’s

much that’s significant, especially for those of us who revere

sacred Scriptures.

The Bible begins by telling us that the climax of creation

was the seventh day, the Sabbath. God blessed the seventh

day and made it holy.

The Hebrew word sheva (literally, to “seven oneself”)

means “to swear a covenant oath.”

The Bible ends with the Book of Revelation, which uses the

word seven at least five dozen times. There are seven letters

to seven churches, seven seals on the book, seven angels, seven

trumpets, seven thunders, seven plagues, seven chalices,

and so on.

Between Genesis and Revelation

we can find hundreds of instances of

sevens. The father of modern Orthodox

Judaism, Rabbi Samson Raphael

Hirsch raised many examples and said,

“In each of the above biblical passages

the number seven is used to express a

full number ... something ‘whole’ or

‘complete.’ ”

Seven suggests perfection, as it evokes

the completion of God’s work. In

Genesis it is the work of creation, and

in Revelation it is redemption.

But God does more than that. He

doesn’t just finish his work, dust off his

hands, and clock out. He creates the

world not simply for himself but for

those he loves. And as he hallows the

seventh day he makes a covenant with

them — that is, he establishes a bond

of kinship with them.

Ever after, this number becomes the

sign of a covenant. Abraham sacrifices seven ewe lambs

when he makes a covenant with Abimelech at Beer Sheva

(“Well of the Oath,” Genesis 21). Jacob labors for seven

years, and then seven more, so that he can marry Rachel

(Genesis 29).

Well, now you and I face our own time of covenant

renewal: the seven weeks that lead us to Easter. Yes, it will

be a time of fasting, challenges, and difficulty. But, if we are

faithful, these seven weeks will strengthen our family bond

with almighty God, which was sealed by Jesus Christ in the

events of Holy Week.

To mark this special time this year, I’m producing a seven-part

video series of meditations on the Seven Last Words

of Jesus — the seven sayings he uttered as he suffered on

the cross. You’re welcome to join me. The series is free, and

you’ll find a new video every week at StPaulCenter.com/

Lent/.

All suffering has meaning, even the small privations we

volunteer during these seven weeks. Lent should stretch us.

It should make us stronger. But it also should make us love

with greater fervor, greater ardor. May this Lent be the greatest

ever for you and me.

SHUTTERSTOCK


■ FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28

Brews & Blessings. St. Mark Church, 1169 Garfield Ave.,

Venice, 6 p.m. Featuring Ryan Bethea, from No. 1 hit

podcast “Exorcist Files.” Bethea will share testimony and

discuss what it means to have a proper understanding of

the spiritual realm and how a brush with the devil can lead

someone into the arms of Christ. Email pastoral.council@

stmarkvenice.com.

Journeying with Jesus: Lenten Workshop. St. Joseph

Church, 11901 Acacia Ave., Hawthorne, 6:30-9 p.m. Handson

workshop for catechists who minister to elementary-age

children. Learn creative ideas to help families live a

Christ-centered Lent. Cost: $25/person. Visit lacatholics.

org/events.

■ SATURDAY, MARCH 1

Lenten Silent Saturday. Holy Spirit Retreat Center, 4316

Lanai Rd., Encino, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. With Sister Chris Machado,

SSS, and the silent Saturday team. Visit hsrcenter.com or

call 818-784-4515.

Adult Lenten Retreat: Anchor Ourselves in Christ. St.

Bede the Venerable Church, 215 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada

Flintridge, 10 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Cost: $30/person, includes

lunch. Register at bede.org.

Cancer Support Ministry Meeting. St. Euphrasia Church,

11779 Shoshone Ave., Granada Hills, 10 a.m. The group

gathers to honor the gift of life and encourage cancer

patients, survivors, and caregivers, in honor of late pastor

Msgr. James Gehl. For more information, email Lisa Barona

at lbaloha@gmail.com.

Lenten Talk: Media Fasting. Pauline Books & Media, 3908

Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Sister Nancy

Usselmann, FSP, will offer a unique fasting method called

Media Fasting, based on her book. RSVP to 310-397-8676

or email culvercity@paulinemedia.com.

Epiphany Dance Company Presents “With Love to Orvieto,

St. Thomas Aquinas, and the Feast of Corpus Christi.”

Holy Family Church, 1501 Fremont Ave., S. Pasadena, 7:30

p.m. and Sunday, March 2, 2 p.m. Cost: $35. Visit epiphanydancecompany.org

for tickets and information.

■ SUNDAY, MARCH 2

Children’s Lenten Retreat: Here’s My Heart Lord. St.

Bede the Venerable Church, 215 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada

Flintridge, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Visit bede.org.

Virtual Diaconate Information Day. Zoom, 2-4 p.m. See if

you are being called to serve as a deacon. Email Deacon Melecio

Zamora at dmz2011@la-archdiocese.org to register.

Catholic Relief Services Presents: Doreen Kargbo, LL.B,

LL.M. American Martyrs Church, 1431 Deegan Pl., Manhattan

Beach, 3 p.m. Catholic Relief Services is celebrating

the 50th anniversary of the Rice Bowl. Kargbo will share stories

of those whose lives have been changed by its mission.

Visit crsricebowl.org/speakers.

■ WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5

Ash Wednesday Retreat. Holy Spirit Retreat Center, 4316

Lanai Rd., Encino, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Begin your journey

through Lent led by Father Stephen Coffey, OSB Cam. Visit

hsrcenter.com or call 818-784-4515.

Bereavement Ministry. St. Mary of the Assumption

Church, 7215 Newlin Ave., Whittier, 7-8:30 p.m. The group

will meet weekly on Wednesdays through April 9. RSVP to

Cathy at bereavement.ministry.com or call 562-631-8844

by Sunday, March 2.

“The Word of God” weekly series. St. Dorothy Church,

241 S. Valley Center Ave., Glendora, 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesdays

through May 7, 2025. Deepen your understanding of

the Catholic faith through dynamic DVD presentations by

Bishop Robert Barron, Dr. Edward Sri, Dr. Brant Pitre, and

Dr. Scott Hahn. Free events. No reservation required. Call

626-335-2811 or visit the Adult Faith Development ministry

page at www.stdorothy.org for more information.

Taize Prayer. Holy Spirit Retreat Center Chapel, 4316 Lanai

Rd., Encino, 7 p.m. Led by Sister Chris Machado, SSS, and

Sister Marie Lindemann, SSS. Visit hsrcenter.com or call

818-784-4515.

■ THURSDAY, MARCH 6

The University Series Lenten Program: “Connecting Our

Faith with Our Daily Lives.” Held weekly on Thursday

evenings and Friday afternoons through Lent, the program

includes topics on Bible study, current events, faith, evangelization,

and more. Sessions are held in Spanish and English.

Visit theuniversityseries.org.

■ FRIDAY, MARCH 7

Stations of the Cross. St. Bede the Venerable Church, 215

Foothill Blvd., La Cañada Flintridge, 9 a.m., 6:30 p.m. Held

Fridays in Lent through April 4.

Fish Fry. St. Margaret Mary Church, 25511 Eshelman Ave.,

Lomita, 5-7 p.m. Held March 7, 21, 28, and April 4 and 11.

Menu: Baked or fried cod, french fries, coleslaw, roll, dessert,

milk, and coffee. Soft drinks, beer, and wine available.

Take out available. Cost: $12/adults, $10/seniors, $6/children.

Call Joe Vicelja at 310-408-9117.

St. Clare Fish Fry. St. Clare of Assisi Church, 19606 Calla

Way, Santa Clarita, 4:30-8 p.m. Fish fry runs Fridays in Lent.

April 11 is drive-thru only. Menu: 2- or 3-piece dinner of

beer-battered cod, coleslaw, fries, and dinner rolls, ceviche.

Dessert, beverages, and family pack available for purchase.

Cost: $16/2-piece dinner, $18/3-piece dinner. Proceeds

benefit wildfire victims. Visit st-clare.org.

Knights of Columbus Fish Fry. Nativity Church, 1415

Engracia Ave., Torrance, 5-7 p.m. Hosted by the Knights

of Columbus Council 4919, the fish fry runs Fridays in

Lent. Menu: Baked or deep fried fish, baked potato or fries,

coleslaw, roll, and cake. Cost: $15/adults, $10/seniors, $8/

children under 12. 50/50 raffle as time permits. Indoor

seating and takeout service available.

■ SATURDAY, MARCH 8

Catholic Daughters of America, Court of Our Lady of

Victory Annual Lenten Retreat. St. James Church, 415 Vincent

St., Redondo Beach, 8 a.m. Mass, followed by retreat

till 12 p.m. Open to men and women. Led by Father James

Kavanagh. Contact Lisa Malgeri at lisa_malgeri@yahoo.com

or call 310-346-4442.

■ MONDAY, MARCH 10

Lenten Conference. St. Dorothy Church, 241 S. Valley

Center Ave., Glendora, 8:30 a.m. or 7 p.m., and Tuesday,

March 11, 8:30 a.m. or 7 p.m. All conferences begin with

Mass. Deacon Peter Brause will guide participants in using

the rosary as a vehicle to find God’s grace and mercy. For

more information, visit stdorothy.org.

Items for the calendar of events are due four weeks prior to the date of the event. They may be emailed to calendar@angelusnews.com.

All calendar items must include the name, date, time, address of the event, and a phone number for additional information.


Angelus News | March 7, 2025 | Vol. 10 No. 5

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