Angelus News | May 2, 2025 | Vol. 10 No. 9

ANGELUS
WITNESSES OF
THE RESURRECTION
Saints who lived the
true meaning of Easter
May 2, 2025 Vol. 10 No. 9

B • ANGELUS • May 2, 2025

ANGELUS
May 2, 2025
Vol. 10 • No. 9
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ON THE COVER
KATIE PONDER
An illustration of St. Francis of Assisi from the new book “Saints, Angels
& Demons.” Everybody knows Easter is an important Christian feast,
but what does it have to do with us? For the saints, Christ’s death and
resurrection was something that touched their very lives, gave meaning to
their existence, and could be experienced in this life. On Page 10, author
Gary Jansen looks at five holy men and women who lived as true “witnesses
of the Resurrection.”
THIS PAGE
OSV NEWS/DEBBIE HILL
Catholic nuns carry palm branches as
Christians walk the traditional path
that Jesus took on his last entry into
Jerusalem during the Palm Sunday
procession on the Mount of Olives
April 13.
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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
Pacoima Catholics welcome new church 40 years in the making
Priest’s African sabbatical includes water wells and a baby delivery
How Trump’s tariffs are already affecting the Vatican
Can these two Catholics make America believe again?
St. Catherine of Siena’s prescription for ‘gospel amnesia’
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Always Forward - newsletter.angelusnews.com
28
30
Robert Brennan: What street preachers can teach Catholics
Heather King: ‘Beware of Pity’ and the lessons of expressing love
May 2, 2025 • ANGELUS • 1

POPE WATCH
The ‘Simons’ of our time
Carrying the cross means more
than bearing personal suffering
— it means stepping into
the pain of others and walking beside
them, Pope Francis wrote at the start
of Holy Week.
“To carry the cross of Christ is never
in vain,” he wrote in his homily for
Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s
Square April 13. “It is the most tangible
way for us to share in his redemptive
love.”
The pope, still recovering from respiratory
infections, made only a brief
appearance in the square at the end
of Mass, but his homily was read by
Argentine Cardinal Leonardo Sandri,
subdean of the College of Cardinals,
who celebrated the Mass.
“Have a good Palm Sunday. Have a
good Holy Week,” the pope said with
a strained voice from the stage in St.
Peter’s Square. He was not using a
nasal cannula to receive oxygen during
his public appearance, unlike the
week before when he had come to the
square at the end of Mass to deliver a
blessing.
The Vatican also released a video of
the pope in St. Peter’s Basilica after
the Mass; he stopped to pray before
the tombs of Sts. Peter, Pius X, and his
successor, Pope Benedict XV.
As of April 14, the Vatican had not
confirmed which Holy Week liturgies
the pope may attend.
The Palm Sunday Mass began
with throngs of laypeople processing
into St. Peter’s Square holding palm
branches, followed by more than 60
cardinals and bishops.
In his written homily, Francis reflected
on Simon of Cyrene, the man
forced by Roman soldiers to carry the
cross behind Jesus.
Simon, the pope said, did not speak
but simply acted, and in doing so
became part of salvation history.
“Between him and Jesus, there is no
dialogue; not a single word is spoken.
Between him and Jesus, there is only
the wood of the cross.”
Francis invited Christians to reflect
on how they respond to the suffering
of others — with “anger or pity,
compassion or annoyance” — and
to recognize Christ in the people
whose lives are burdened by pain and
injustice.
“How many Simons of Cyrene are
there in our own day, bearing the cross
of Christ on their shoulders!” he wrote.
“Can we recognize them? Can we see
the Lord in their faces, marred by the
burden of war and deprivation?”
In his message for the recitation of
the Angelus, published by the Vatican,
the pope thanked people for their
prayers during his illness and asked
them to join him in praying for those
suffering from war, poverty, and natural
disasters. He made a particular appeal
for peace in Sudan, where April
15 marks two years since the outbreak
of civil war, and remembered the
victims of a building collapse in Santo
Domingo, Dominican Republic.
“May peace finally come to martyred
Ukraine, to Palestine, Israel, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Myanmar,
and South Sudan,” he wrote. “Mary,
Our Lady of Sorrows, obtain this grace
for us and help us to live Holy Week
with faith.”
Reporting courtesy of Catholic News
Service Rome correspondent Justin
McLellan.
Papal Prayer Intention for May: Let us pray that through
work, each person might find fulfillment, families might be
sustained in dignity, and that society might be humanized.
2 • ANGELUS • May 2, 2025

NEW WORLD OF FAITH
ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ
Easter in the year of hope
I
hope you all had a holy and happy
Easter, sharing your joy in the Resurrection
with the ones you love.
This Easter season, I have been
reflecting on the virtue of hope, as
we celebrate the Jubilee Year of Hope
declared by Pope Francis.
I’ve been reflecting on the meaning
of hope and also on what it is that we
hope for.
Although everyone is different, it
seems that there are certain hopes we
have in common.
We all hope for love and happiness
in our lives and in our families; we
hope for work that will sustain our
families; we hope that our loved ones
will be kept free from evil.
We also hope that our children will
grow to know and love Jesus and find
love and happiness in their lives. We
hope that our elders will grow old
with grace and good health and that
eventually they will have a good and
holy death and go to heaven.
We hope for peace in the world and
in our neighborhoods and communities.
These hopes form the substance of
people’s everyday prayers, worries,
and dreams. To realize these hopes,
people will often make sacrifices and
put off satisfying their own immediate
needs and wants.
But these daily hopes are not
enough. Our hearts need a greater
hope, we need God.
The great hope that we all share is
to know that our lives matter, that
we make a difference, that there is a
reason and purpose for our lives, and
that our sufferings and hardships are
not all for nothing.
We all hope for a love that is pure
and true, a love that transcends this
mortal life, a love that will last forever.
And we all hope that death is not
the end, that this earthly life is not all
there is.
These are hopes that can be found
in every human heart, in every time
and place.
Easter is God’s answer to everything
that we hope for.
In Jesus, the living God comes to
reveal himself in human flesh, he
comes to show us his face and open
his heart for us.
Jesus reveals that we are loved and
that our lives have a purpose in God’s
plan.
He gives a path to walk and promises
that if we walk this path with
him, if we live by his teaching and
example, then we will find happiness
and love in this life and live with him
forever in his kingdom, in a love that
never ends!
This is the beautiful hope that we
have as Catholics. It is a hope born
out of the blood that Jesus shed for us
on the cross.
This Year of Hope invites us, once
again, to establish our lives on
the strong foundation of this hope
that we have in Jesus, the hope of
salvation, the hope of glory, the hope
of eternal life.
By this hope we know that this
world is not our home, that we are
just passing through our way to a
better country, a heavenly one.
By this hope we know that whatever
happens in our lives, whatever sufferings
we’re asked to bear, whatever
dark valleys we’re called to walk,
Jesus goes with us, and he will give us
the strength we need.
Hope means trusting in God’s plan,
no matter where he leads us. In
sickness and health, in tragedy and
sorrow, in joy and good fortune.
One of the saints said, “I am definitely
loved and whatever happens to
me, I am awaited by this Love. And
so my life is good.”
Our life is good, too. And we know
that our life is bound for glory.
Jesus will love us until the end. And
we know that when our earthly life
is over, the God who is Love will be
waiting to welcome us.
Jesus left us the gift of the Eucharist
as a pledge of the glory to come.
The apostles and early Church Fathers
used to call the Eucharist “the
medicine of immortality, the antidote
of death, and the food that makes us
live forever in Jesus Christ.”
In this year of hope, I pray that all
There are hopes that can be found in every
human heart, in every time and place. Easter is
God’s answer to everything that we hope for.
of us in the Church will recover that
same awareness that by sharing in his
body and blood we will live forever,
and he will raise us up on the last
day.
Pray for me and I will pray for you.
And during this Easter season in
the Year of Hope, let us ask holy
Mary, the Mother of Hope, to keep
us always close to her Son, knowing
that he is leading us to the hope that
awaits us in heaven.
May 2, 2025 • ANGELUS • 3

WORLD
■ Two nuns killed as Haiti
remains in ‘persistent unsafety’
The Haitian Bishops’ Conference issued a stark rebuke of the government
amid continuing gang violence in the island nation.
Spurred by the killings of Sisters Jeanne Voltaire and Evanette Onezaire
on March 31, the conference’s April 3 statement “prophetically
denounced the inaction of the authorities.”
The two members of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of St.
Therese of the Child Jesus were killed when gangs took control of a
town 30 miles northeast of Port-au-Prince. The capital and its surrounding
regions have been under gang control since early 2024,
despite the arrival of hundreds of security personnel from Africa.
“The absence of an efficacious reaction in the face of a persistent
unsafety is a serious failure that endangers the nation, abandoned to
the destructive
forces,” the
statement read.
Because
the town is
still under
gang control,
Church leaders
had not been
able to retrieve
the bodies for
burial as of
press time.
Sisters Evanette Onezaire, left, and Jeanne Voltaire. | ADN CELAM
■ Religious, pro-life charities
could lose Canadian tax
exemption
Proponents of Catholic and pro-life charities in
Canada are worried about a proposal to take away
their tax exempt status.
The two proposed amendments to the Income
Tax Act would strip “anti-abortion organizations”
of charitable status and remove “the privileged
status of ‘advancement of religion’ as a charitable
purpose.”
When the Canadian Conference of Catholic
Bishops (CCCB) wrote to the government’s
finance department in March to express concerns,
neither concern was addressed in the
department’s reply — only a message that the
department “continues to explore ways to ensure
the tax system remains fair and effective in
supporting Canadians and the organizations that
serve them.”
Forty percent of all charitable organizations
in the country are faith based, according to the
CCCB. The bishops warned that stripping charitable
status “would decrease donations, causing
their revenue to dwindle, thus crippling their
ability to inspire, operate, and maintain essential
social services that benefit the wider community.”
■ Spain: Church and state
negotiate fate of war memorial
A preliminary agreement between the Holy
See and the Spanish government would preserve
the religious elements — including the world’s
tallest cross — at Spain’s “Valley of the Fallen.”
The Spanish Civil War memorial was inaugurated
in 1959 under military dictator Francisco
Franco. The complex includes a monastery
and a basilica church where Franco was buried
until 2019, when his body was exhumed on the
orders of Spain’s socialist prime minister Pedro
Sánchez.
In October 2024, Sánchez informed the Vatican
of his government’s intention to resignify the
memorial, including deconsecrating the basilica
and expelling the Benedictine community.
Though a formal agreement has not been
finalized, a spokesman for the Spanish Bishops’
Conference said April 4 that the government
had agreed to maintain Catholic worship at
the site, and preserve the existing Benedictine
monastery. Procedures to carry out the “resignification”
process, which would include a museum
on the site, have already begun.
A king bearing gifts — Britain’s King Charles III and Queen Camilla greet Pope Francis during a
visit at the Vatican April 9. During the 20-minute meeting, the pope congratulated the royal couple
on the 20th anniversary of their wedding and “reciprocated His Majesty’s wishes for a speedy
recovery of his health,” the Vatican press office said. The meeting also included an exchange of
gifts. | CNS/VATICAN MEDIA
4 • ANGELUS • May 2, 2025

NATION
■ USCCB cuts ties with
federal refugee funding
The U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops (USCCB) announced April 7
that it would not renew its longstanding
federal contracts related to child
services and refugee support.
The decision follows the conference’s
decision to cut a third of its Migration
and Refugee Services staff due to the
Trump administration’s suspension of
federal funding in February.
“The decision to reduce these
programs drastically forces us to
reconsider the best way to serve the
needs of our brothers and sisters
seeking safe harbor from violence and
persecution,” said USCCB president
Archbishop Timothy Broglio April 7.
“As a national effort, we simply cannot
sustain the work on our own at current
levels or in current form.”
The USCCB is still awaiting more
than $24 million for resettlement
services already delivered, a USCCB
spokesperson said.
Up close and personal with the saints — Children were among those venerating more than 500 relics exposed
at a special, one-day exhibit at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Oratory in Montclair, New Jersey, on April 5. The event
was coordinated by the International Crusade for Holy Relics, which works to share donated relics or reclaim
relics that are inappropriately listed for sale. | SEAN QUINN/ARCHDIOCESE OF NEWARK
Tech investor Peter
Thiel. | GARY
SKIDMORE/WIKI-
MEDIA COMMONS
■ Silicon Valley startup
wants to change how we
procreate
Could technology forever replace the
“old-fashioned way” of having kids?
In an April 7 New York Times report
titled, “Should Human Life Be Optimized?,”
journalist Anna Louie Sussman
took a close look at startup company
Orchid and its founder Noora Siddiqui,
which are joining other IVF providers in
offering preimplantation genetic testing
(PGT).
But unlike other companies which
screen only for specific illnesses like
Down’s syndrome or sickle cell anemia,
Orchid’s sequencing technology allows
customers to screen based on preferences or fears for specific genetic diseases; the
embryos not selected for implantation are destroyed.
“Siddiqui — and others in Silicon Valley, where investors in and users of this technology
abound — envision such comprehensive screening eventually replacing the
old-fashioned way of having children altogether,” Sussman wrote.
“Sex is for fun, and embryo screening is for babies,” Siddiqui said in a video she
shared on X. “It’s going to become insane not to screen for these things.”
Among Orchid’s major investors is Peter Thiel, a tech billionaire and friend of
Vice President J.D. Vance.
■ Minnesota: Catholics
pitch in for Jubilee Year
medical debt forgiveness
A Minnesota parish is marking the
Jubilee Year by helping pay off medical
debt.
St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Community
in the city of Maple Grove has
joined 20 other faith congregations in
the state to raise money for a nonprofit
called Undue Medical Debt.
Founded by former debt collectors,
the organization purchases portfolios of
debt from other creditors at a discount
and then forgives the debts. Since 2014,
it has forgiven almost $15 million in
debts, and claims that for every $10 donation
an average of $1,000 is relieved.
Barry Shay, director of discipleship
and mission at the parish, told OSV
News, “To have somebody that just
writes [medical debt] off and says, ‘You
don’t owe anything’ and expects nothing
in return — how theological is that?
It’s exactly what happens to us in our
own lives, through the mercy of Jesus.”
May 2, 2025 • ANGELUS • 5

LOCAL
■ LA Archdiocese priest
accused of sexual misconduct
A priest in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles
was arrested on April 3 on suspicion that he
engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor.
Father Jaime Arriaga, 41, was ordained in
June 2024 and had been serving as associate
pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church
in Downey.
After the archdiocese received a report
alleging misconduct on April 2, Arriaga was
removed from ministry and the following day
surrendered to L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies.
At an April 7 arraignment hearing in LA Superior
Court, Arriaga pled not guilty to assault
with intent to commit a felony and four felony
counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a person
14 to 15. He remains in the Los Angeles
County Men’s Central Jail and is being held
without bail.
The archdiocese is encouraging anyone who
may have experienced misconduct involving
Arriaga to contact law enforcement and the
archdiocese’s Office of Victims Assistance
Ministry at (213) 637-7650.
■ Venice parish
unveils high-traffic
street mural
A new multi-sided mural at
St. Mark Church in Venice
is part of the parish’s push to
evangelize through art.
The parish hall mural
created by artist Presa Hall,
passed by more than 100,000
people each day on the
corner of Lincoln Boulevard
and Garfield Avenue, portrays
a sixth-century Greek
mosaic of St. Mark on the
most visible east side of the building.
On the hall’s south side are mural depictions of Blessed Miguel Pro, Blessed
Sister Marie Rose Durocher (founder of the Sisters of the Holy Names,
which started the school), and St. Candidus of Thebes, whose relics were
brought to LA in the 1860s.
St. Mark’s concerted effort to focus on the pastoral impact of arts and media
is reflected in the demographics of its congregation, St. Mark pastor Father
Albert van der Woerd said in a bulletin posting. The church’s recent surveys
show some 60% of its adults work in the media.
“It’s the calling card to the community, attractive to Catholics and
non-Catholics,” said Charlie Echeverry, a deacon at the parish who’s worked
at Disney and Univision.
Works of mercy — Students in grades 3-8 at St Michael’s Catholic School in South LA made 1,000
homemade lunches and donated 37 cases of water on March 21 to The Midnight Mission, a homeless
shelter and provider in Los Angeles. | ST. MICHAEL CATHOLIC SCHOOL
The eastern wall of St. Mark Church’s parish hall in Venice
features a Greek mosaic of St. Mark. | TOM HOFFARTH
■ Loyola Marymount names
new university president
Loyola Marymount University on April
8 named Thomas Poon, Ph.D., as the
university’s 17th president, replacing
Timothy Law Snyder.
Poon had previously served as LMU’s
executive vice president and provost.
His tenure as president of the Catholic
university will begin on June 1.
A tenured professor of chemistry, Poon
is a nationally recognized educator,
researcher, and author, and has boosted
LMU’s profile as a premier Catholic
research university.
“Dr. Poon is a distinguished scholar and
academic leader, and I look forward to
working with him,” Archbishop José H.
Gomez said. “It is a noble calling to lead
a Catholic university. I pray that God will
grant Dr. Poon humility, wisdom, and
the courage to serve from the heart of the
Church, guiding students to seek all that
is beautiful, good, and true, and inspiring
them to build a society that promotes the
sanctity and dignity of the human person
created in God’s image.
Y
6 • ANGELUS • May 2, 2025

V
IN OTHER WORDS...
Letters to the Editor
What will it take for Catholics to give more?
Evan Holguin’s article “The American Catholic giving crisis” in the
April 18 issue has a single focus: Catholics simply don’t donate enough
money. But the article doesn’t offer possible explanations as to why.
Please accept that I cannot speak beyond my 75 years of age nor my 40 years of
Catholic faith.
As a child I was raised Methodist. Our family and church did what was possible
with both time and money. Money would include donations of food, clothing,
household needs, or other material support. Time was invested in many ways to
support the community.
Charitable support also extends beyond a direct connection to the church. What
about levels of support for organizations like Unbound, Heifer, Mom’s House, and
Tunnel to Towers?
Factors that affect charitable giving are stewardship, accountability, and transparency.
While the statistics of Catholic giving are interesting, the article doesn’t recognize
what the breadth of charity includes, doesn’t offer explanations or remedies,
and doesn’t inspire to simply give more.
— Michael Jacobs, Holland, Ohio
Editor’s note:
Due to Holy Week, this issue of Angelus (May 2) is arriving to our subscribers one
week earlier than our biweekly schedule implies. The next issue of Angelus, dated
May 16, will arrive in the mail the week of May 9.
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.
Holy Week in LA
“I don’t know if I can talk
because I’m crying like
never before.”
~ José Manuel Almuzara, longtime promoter of
architect Antoni Gaudi’s beatification cause, to
Spanish paper Alfa y Omega after the designer was
declared “Venerable” by the Vatican April 14. Gaudi
designed Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia basilica and
was known for his deep faith.
“What other sport stops
the beginning of the whole
show for prayer?”
~ Actor Neal McDonough, Professional Bull Riders
brand ambassador, in an April 3 GQ article on
whether bull riding can become the next UFC.
“I can say that twice the
situation was lost and then
a miracle happened.”
~ Sergio Alfieri, Pope Francis’ doctor, when asked
whether he thought prayers had helped the pope
pull through his recent health crisis while in critical
condition.
“They need refuge, not
ridicule.”
~ Writer Freya India, in an April 11 First Things
commentary on how young women and girls are not
feeling seen or heard, especially by Christians and
conservatives.
A woman holds up a cross made from palms during the Palm Sunday celebration at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
April 13. Check out more photos from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ Holy Week 2025 events. | PETER LOBATO
“My kids love eating potato
bunnies.”
~ Kayla Vogel, senior global marketing manager at
Potatoes USA, in an April 3 Mental Floss article
on decorating potatoes this Easter rather than
expensive eggs.
View more photos
from this gallery at
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.
May 2, 2025 • ANGELUS • 7

IN EXILE
FATHER RONALD ROLHEISER, OMI
Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father
Ronald Rolheiser is a spiritual
writer; ronrolheiser.com
What I like about ‘The Chosen’
I
am sure many of you are familiar with
the TV series about the life of Jesus
called “The Chosen.” It was launched
in 2019, has been in theaters and on
streaming platforms since, and now has
more than 200 million viewers. It has
been translated into 50 languages and
has 13 million social media followers,
with about 30% of its audience being
non-Christian.
It was created and produced by Dallas
Jenkins, an Evangelical Christian with
wide ecumenical and interfaith sympathies.
Jonathan Roumie, a devout
Roman Catholic, plays the role of
Jesus, and the Jesus he portrays in “The
Chosen” comes through as somewhat
different from, and more relatable to,
than the Jesus we have generally seen in
other movies and portrayals of him. And
this has had an interesting impact.
What’s the impact? Father Joe Hoover,
SJ, writing in a recent issue of America
magazine, makes this comment: “I have
been a baptized Christian for 53 years,
attended a Catholic Christian grade
school and for more than two decades
have been a member of a religious
order that bears the name of Jesus …
and ‘The Chosen’ television series had
done things for my understanding and
engagement with the life of Christ and
his disciples that nothing else has. No
sermon, no theological exhortation,
no master’s degree, no class on John or
Mark or Luke, no spirituality workshop,
no 30-day biblically based retreat has
brought the Gospels home and made
Christ and his people real and relatable
to me in quite the way ‘The Chosen’
has.”
That speaks for me as well. “The
Chosen” has had a similar effect on me.
Like Hoover, I was baptized as an infant,
raised a Roman Catholic, am a member
of a religious order, have degrees
in theology, have been to every kind of
spirituality workshop, and have studied
the Gospels under the guidance of some
world class scholars, and yet this TV series
has given a face to Jesus that I didn’t
quite receive in all that past learning
and has helped me in my prayer and my
relationship to Christ.
In essence, this is what “The Chosen”
has done for me. It has presented a
Jesus whom I actually want to be with.
Shouldn’t we always want to be with
Jesus? Yes, but the Jesus who is often
presented to us is not someone, if we are
honest with ourselves, we would want
to spend a lot of one-on-one time with,
with whom we could be at ease and
comfortable without affectations.
For instance, the Jesus who has often
been presented to us in movies is generally
lacking in human warmth, is distant,
stern, other-worldly, over pious, and
whose very gaze makes you feel guilty
because your sin caused his crucifixion.
That Jesus is also humorless, doesn’t ever
seem to bring God’s smile to the world,
and never brings any lightness into a
room. He is not a Jesus with whom you
are at ease.
Unfortunately, that is often the Jesus
who has been presented to us in our
preaching, catechesis, Sunday schools,
theological classes, and in popular
spirituality. The Jesus we meet there, for
all the truth and revelation he brings into
the world, is generally still too divine and
overly pious for us to be at ease with humanly.
He is a Jesus we admire, perhaps
even adore, and whom we trust enough
to commit our lives to (no small thing).
But he is also a Jesus with whom we are
not much at ease, whom we wouldn’t
pick to sit next to at table, with whom
we wouldn’t pick to go on vacation,
and who is so distant and distinct from
us that it is easier for us to have him as
an admired teacher than as an intimate
“The Chosen” presents us with a Jesus whose
divinity you never doubt, even as he appears as
warm and attractive.
friend, let alone as a lover to whom we
want to bear our soul.
This is not a plea to humanize Jesus (as
is sometimes in fashion today) by making
him just a nice man who preaches
love but doesn’t at the same time radiate
God’s non-negotiable truth. This is not
what “The Chosen” does. Far from it.
“The Chosen” presents us with a Jesus
whose divinity you never doubt, even as
he appears as warm and attractive, with
a humanity that puts you at ease in his
presence; indeed, it lures you into his
presence. Watching “The Chosen,” one
never doubts for an instant that Jesus is
specially and inextricably linked to his
Father and that he brings us God’s truth
and revelation without compromise. But
this Jesus also brings God’s smile, God’s
warmth, and God’s blessing upon our
lives, which too often suffer from a lack
of these.
The great mystic Julian of Norwich
once described God is this way: “God
sits in heaven, completely relaxed, his
face looking like a marvelous symphony.”
Among other things, “The Chosen”
shows us this relaxed face of God, which
to our own detriment we too seldom see.
8 • ANGELUS • May 2, 2025

FRIENDS
OF THE
RISEN
CHRIST
What difference does
the Resurrection make,
anyway? Here are five
saints whose lives hold
the answer.
BY GARY JANSEN
man listens more
willingly to witnesses
“Modern
than to teachers,” wrote
St. Pope Paul VI in “Evangelii Nuntiandi”
(“In Proclaiming the Gospel”).
“And if he does listen to teachers, it is
because they are witnesses.”
Each liturgical season offers a new
lens through which to encounter
God in the rhythms of daily life.
Advent invites us to long for light.
Christmas stirs hope and the promise
of new beginnings. The unfolding days of Ordinary Time
encourage reflection, learning, and steady growth, while
Lent a time of sacrifice and preparation. But Easter, paired
as it is with the awakening of spring, calls us to transformation.
Easter is a special season of witness, of renewal, of
revelation.
As we step into this Easter season, Paul’s words take on
renewed urgency. Christianity is not a philosophy; it is an
encounter. And the Resurrection is not merely a past event;
it is a living reality, still unfolding in the lives of believers.
As a writer and editor for nearly 20 years, my mission has
been to shine a light on the witnesses of our faith so that we
might not only learn from them but be transformed through
Icon of Christ’s appearance to Mary Magdalene after the Resurrection from the church Basilica di San
Giovanni Battista dei Fiorentini in Rome, Italy, by an unknown artist. | SHUTTERSTOCK
encounter. That truth echoed again and again while I
was researching and writing my book “Saints, Angels &
Demons: An A-to-Z Guide to the Holy and the Damned”
(Black Dog & Leventhal, $32). The saints were not merely
teachers of the faith; they embodied the faith. Their lives
stood as living witnesses to the living resurrection that is
Christ Jesus. In every age and in their own unique ways,
they show us what it means to move through the world with
Easter light in our eyes.
As we embark on another Easter season, it’s easy to view
the saints as distant or extraordinary figures set apart by
miracles or heroic virtue. But when we see them instead as
witnesses and companions on the journey, their lives be-
10 • ANGELUS • May 2, 2025

come invitations. Through them, we glimpse what it means
to be transformed by the Resurrection in tangible ways.
There are thousands of men and women whose witness to
that transformation can help us grow in awareness, understanding,
and the daily experience of the risen Christ. Here
are five of them.
St. Mary Magdalene: The first witness
Easter begins with the joy that can come from confusion.
Jesus has died a horrible death. Mary Magdalene, traumatized
by what happened to her friend and confidante, arrives
at the tomb expecting the usual signs of death. Instead,
she finds emptiness.
Weeping and in a state of bewilderment, she has an encounter
with a mysterious figure. She doesn’t recognize the
person standing in front of her until he speaks her name. In
that moment, sorrow becomes bliss.
Though Jesus and Mary exchange a few words, the
resurrection isn’t explained to her; it is revealed by Christ’s
presence. Mary Magdalene becomes the first witness —
not as a scholar, not as a writer, not as a speaker, but as a
woman whose grief was transformed by an encounter with
Love. Her life tells us the powerful truth that to witness is to
encounter, and from that encounter to proclaim what has
awakened in us with joy and excitement.
St. Francis of Assisi: Witness of love’s
castaways
Born into wealth, St. Francis gave it
all away after encountering Christ in
the face of a leper. His life became
a witness to the Gospel, not only in
words but in radical simplicity and
joy. He kissed wounds, preached to
animals, and called the sun and moon
his kin. His stigmata marked him outwardly,
but it was the inner radiance of
his love that bore witness to Christ.
Francis didn’t just believe in the
Resurrection. He lived it, every day,
with contagious joy. Through Francis
we come to realize that we often
encounter Jesus most fully not in
triumph but in the eyes of people who
are suffering. It is a strange and holy
paradox that something as seemingly
lofty as God is most vividly revealed
in moments of disease, breakdown,
woundedness, and need.
St. Teresa of Calcutta: Witness of
love in disguise
St. Teresa of Calcutta saw Christ
in what she called “the distressing
disguise of the poor.” Her life bore
witness not through spectacle but
through quiet, consistent acts of
compassion: washing wounds, holding
hands, whispering dignifying, consoling
words into the ears of the dying. She believed with
unwavering conviction that in serving the abandoned, she
was serving Jesus himself. In the hidden places of the world,
she lived out the truth of Easter: that resurrection begins
wherever love dares to go.
And yet, although she was an accomplished teacher and
international bestselling author, it was not Teresa’s teachings
or writings that drew people to her. It was her presence.
It was her embodiment of her encounter with Jesus. In the
poorest of the poor, she saw not problems to be solved but
persons to be loved. Her witness reminds us that the risen
Christ is found not only in churches and cathedrals but also
in alleyways, hospital wards, and hospice beds.
St. Maximilian Kolbe: Witness of light in the darkness
In Auschwitz, Father Maximilian Kolbe performed one of
the most selfless acts of witness in modern history. When
a fellow prisoner, Franciszek Gajowniczek, a husband and
father, was randomly selected to die in retaliation for an
escape, Kolbe stepped forward and calmly asked to take
his place. The guards, stunned by the request, granted it.
Kolbe was sent to the starvation bunker, where he led the
condemned in prayers and hymns, transforming that pit of
death into a chapel of hope.
His compassion gave witness to the greatest act of love,
which is to lay down one’s life for another. When he was
A painting of St. Teresa
of Calcutta hangs on the
wall of the Metropolitan
Cathedral in Guatemala
City. | CNS FILE PHOTO/
OCTAVIO DURAN
May 2, 2025 • ANGELUS • 11

Gospels do not place her at the empty tomb, tradition holds
her close to the mystery of the resurrection; surely, her Son
appeared to her in his risen glory.
Mary’s witness was not one of words but of unwavering
love. She kept vigil in the darkest hour, pondering her Son’s
promises and trusting in God’s plan. Her life reminds us
that to witness is not always to speak but sometimes just to
be present. Through her example, we see what it means
to live Easter from the inside out, by calling forth courage,
contemplation, and a love that never lets go.
This Easter, as Christ and the world awakens around us,
may we awaken too — to the call of witness. Let us not
focus on teaching one another, but instead live with open
eyes and courageous hearts, always attentive to the people
and moments God places before us. The Resurrection
continues. And through our lives, others may be inspired
to know what we know, feel what we feel, believe what we
believe: Jesus is risen, and indeed he is with us right now.
Hallelujah!
Gary Jansen is the executive editor at Loyola Press and the
author of, among other books, “Saints, Angels & Demons:
An A-Z Guide to the Holy and the Damned” (Black Dog &
Leventhal, $30), “The Healing Power of Praying the Rosary”
(Loyola Press, $14.95), and “Meditations at Midnight”
(Loyola Press, $9.99).
“The Risen Christ Appears
to His Mother,” by Daniele
Monteleone, 1600, Italian. |
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
This painting of holy martyr St. Maximilian Kolbe hangs in Chiesa
di San Francesco d’Assisi in Brescia, Italy. | SHUTTERSTOCK
finally killed by lethal injection, his body passed from this
world to the next, but his witness did not. Kolbe proclaimed
the Resurrection not with words but with silence that spoke
volumes, with sacrifice, and with astonishing love. In the
darkest night of human cruelty, he bore witness to a truth
even Auschwitz could not undo: Christ is alive, and we can
find his life in the life of others.
St. Mary, mother of God: Witness of mystery
Mary, the mother of God, the first disciple as well as the
Church’s most enduring witness, was present through every
season of Christ’s life — from the stable to the cross, from
the silence of Holy Saturday to the birth of the Church
at Pentecost. She stood firm beneath the cross, enduring
suffering no mother should have to bear. And though the
12 • ANGELUS • May 2, 2025

ROOM TO GROW
Archbishop José H. Gomez
consecrates the altar of
the new Guardian Angel
Church in Pacoima at the
April 4 dedication Mass.
Four decades of dreams came true at Guardian Angel in Pacoima,
which welcomed a new church five times the size of the original.
BY PABLO KAY / PHOTOGRAPHY BY VICTOR ALEMÁN
After nearly 40 years of wandering
in a desert of changing plans
and dashed hopes, parishioners
at Guardian Angel Church in Pacoima
finally reached their Promised Land.
And not on Easter, but on a Friday of
Lent.
The evening of April 4, they came in
the hundreds to catch a first glimpse
at their shiny new church, filling
every one of its 1,030 seats and spilling
into the aisles and vestibule for a
long-awaited dedication Mass.
“It still seems too small,” joked Archbishop
José H. Gomez in Spanish as
he looked out at the standing-room-only
crowd. “We’re going to have to
take a second collection to buy more
chairs.”
The irony was not lost on anyone.
For decades, Guardian Angel’s biggest
headache had been its lack of space,
even if parishioners found reasons
to keep cramming into the 200-seatchurch
with no parking lot.
Now, there would be no more folding
chairs in the patio during Mass, and
hopefully, thanks to a new lot with
more than 200 car spaces, no more
scouring the neighborhood streets for
parking.
“I feel as if I’ve just been fulfilled,”
said Irene Chavez after the nearly
three-hour event, which drew some
1,500 people, including 30 priests. “After
years and years of waiting, and not
seeing anything, and then suddenly,
there’s a new church built. It’s a great
emotion.”
Longtime parishioners like Chavez
understood that a bigger church at
Guardian Angel would take divine
intervention. The original one was
located inside San Fernando Gardens,
a low-income public housing project
with a history of gang violence. Expanding
it was out of the question.
Although talk of building a bigger
14 • ANGELUS • May 2, 2025

Architect Chuck Kluger
presents Archbishop Gomez
with the blueprints for the new
church at the beginning of the
April 4 dedication ceremony.
church started as far back as the 1980s,
a serious effort first took shape in the
late 1990s. With the help of individual
donations, food sale fundraisers, and
special collections held by parishes
across the LA Archdiocese’s San
Fernando Pastoral Region, a lot onemile
west of the original church was
acquired in 2009.
In 2014, architect JP Darling and
Associates took on the building project,
which was handed off in 2021 to
architect Chuck Kluger after Darling’s
death. With help from archdiocesan
fundraisers and grants from philanthropical
outfits like the Shea Foundation,
construction finally broke ground
in July 2023.
Before the April 4 dedication Mass,
hundreds crowded the church
entrance to hear remarks from those
involved in the project, including Rich
Villacorta of the archdiocese’s Strategic
Capital Projects office, and LA City
Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez.
After the crowd sang in Spanish the
words of Psalm 122, “How I rejoiced
when they said to me, let us go to
the house of the Lord,” Archbishop
Gomez was presented with the new
church’s blueprints, then its keys by
contractor Chris Hoffman. Once
Guardian Angel pastor Father Luis
Estrada used them to open the front
door, parishioners moved eagerly to get
their first look at the finished project,
while an usher had to reassure them:
“Go in with calm, there’s room for
everyone.”
After entering, many were visibly
overcome with emotion. “It’s so beautiful,
so welcoming,” remarked parishioner
Leticia Valdivia.
From the outside, the new church’s
light adobe-colored exterior echoes the
“mission style” church architecture
typical in Southern California. Inside,
Some 1,500 people came for the dedication Mass of
Guardian Angel’s new church, which officially seats
1,030. The old church fit 200.
May 2, 2025 • ANGELUS • 15

Archbishop Gomez, together with Cardinal Roger
Mahony, Auxiliary Bishop Albert Bahhuth, and
retired Bishop Gerald Wilkerson, anointed the walls
of the new church during the dedication Mass.
pews made of red oak form a symmetrical,
semi-circular assembly directed
toward a new marble altar. Above it
hangs the wooden crucifix from the
old church.
But perhaps the new church’s most
eye-catching feature is its oldest one:
the Stations of the Cross. Donated
by a local Catholic art collector, the
18th-century marble relief carvings are
thought to originally be from Italy or
Spain, and were restored by local artist
Maria Szopinski.
Besides the stations, the church’s
white walls are still mostly blank for
now. But parish leaders expect that
once the final construction loan is
paid off, future generations will add
devotional elements commonly found
in most parishes, like saint statues and
paintings. A mosaic wall dedicated to
Our Lady of Guadalupe, for example,
is expected in the near future.
One of the night’s most excited guests
was Father Christopher Felix. Now 38,
he grew up at Guardian Angel, where
his father, Mario, founded an altar
serving ministry for young men and
where he and his 10 brothers and sisters
would come to Mass on Sundays.
“We used to take up almost two pews
just to sit in the church,” recalled
Felix, the administrator of St. Frances
X. Cabrini Church in South LA.
Felix admited he’ll miss the “intimacy”
of the old church in the projects,
which will remain open as a chapel.
But he expects the new Guardian
Angel will be a “beacon of hope,”
sending a message that the Church is
still growing in this tough corner of the
San Fernando Valley.
“There’s that room to grow, you
can invite more people, bring everybody
together,” said Felix of the new
church.
During the dedication Mass, Archbishop
Gomez congratulated the
parish for an achievement that had
been “a long time coming.”
“This church is a wonderful witness
to your hope,” he said. “Also, to your
patience and perseverance.”
Following the homily, the people
kneeled as they recited the Litany of
the Saints to invoke prayers for the
new church. Then Archbishop Gomez
proceeded to the heart of the liturgy’s
dedication rite: installing relics belonging
to St. Junípero Serra and Frances
Xavier Cabrini in the altar, anointing
the altar and the walls of the church
with sacred chrism oil, and incensing
the altar for the first time.
Among those at the bilingual dedication
Mass were two figures who’d
helped shepherd the project from its
origins: Bishop Gerald Wilkerson,
the San Fernando Pastoral Region’s
auxiliary bishop from 1998 to 2015,
and archbishop emeritus Cardinal
Roger Mahony. “Every time I came
to Guardian Angel church or school,
everyone said to me, ‘Bishop, where’s
the new church?’ ” said Wilkerson
before the end of the dedication Mass.
“And I would say, ‘Well, it’s coming,
it’s coming.’
“But tonight, you can ask me again,
and I’ll say: ‘It’s here, it’s here!’,”
Wilkerson added, drawing laughs and
applause from the crowd.
Parishioner Maritza Sanchez started
attending Guardian Angel 25 years ago
after immigrating from Guatemala.
She likens the 40-year process of building
a new church to the 40 years spent
by the Israelites in the desert after the
Exodus from Egypt.
“The people who started this project
didn’t make it to this day,” said
Sanchez after the Communion Rite.
“But are we blessed to have made it,
and today we’re here representing
them.”
In his closing remarks at the Mass
moments later, Estrada invoked the
same biblical metaphor. In recognizing
former pastors Father Juan
Enriquez, Father Steve Guitron, and
Father Rafael Lara, he recalled how
when Moses was not allowed to lead
his people into the Promised Land, the
task fell to Joshua.
“In a sense, I feel like a Joshua,” said
Estrada. “Behind me there are so
many extraordinary pastors who walked
with this community for almost 40
years, to whom we are so grateful for
their leadership and dedication.”
By the end of the night, Chavez was
fighting back tears as she left her new
church for the first time. She compared
those priests, together with benefactors
and parish leaders, to angels
whose contributions over the years had
made the dream a reality.
“It felt like a dream, I was thinking,
‘Someone pinch me, tell me this is
really happening,’ ” she said of the
dedication Mass. “I felt the presence
of God tonight. God is here in this
church, and he’s here to stay.”
Pablo Kay is the editor-in-chief of
Angelus.
16 • ANGELUS • May 2, 2025

FATHER BRINGS
THE WATER
A Monterey Park pastor’s
sabbatical in his hometown
in Africa turned into a
lifesaving mission.
BY TOM HOFFARTH
Since he became a priest in the Archdiocese
of Los Angeles 27 years ago, Father John
Kyebasuuta marvels at what has changed
— and what remains the same — every time he
makes his annual trip to the Ugandan village
where he grew up.
On one trip to his hometown on Buvuma
Island in Africa’s famous Lake Victoria 10 years
ago, Kyebasuuta was struck by the sight of a
small boy struggling with a heavy container of
water that he drew from a borehole miles away to
help his family.
“My first thought was, ‘Oh my, that was me
40 years ago,’ ” said Kyebasuuta, the pastor at
St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Monterey Park
since 2013. “The more I thought about it, the
more I wondered if I could make a difference.
Water affects everyone.”
By 2019, Kyebasuuta did research and raised
money to bring an efficient, solar-powered
well to the island. Four 10,000-liter tanks atop
a mountain use gravity to send water into five
directions, easily accessed by a spigot. No more
dangerous digging by hand of wells going 250
feet deep. No energy exerted with hand pumps.
Power drills, pipes, and tanks had to be imported,
but Kyebasuuta felt it was worth the $20,000
cost. Especially since his mother, Anna, who
turned 99 in March and still lives in a small
jungle home, would benefit. Kyebasuuta, 57, is
the 10th of 13 children in his family.
Then came last July, when Kyebasuuta arranged
for a four-month sabbatical to go home,
hoping he could accomplish more than just
feeding cows and picking produce on his family
farm.
He began by overseeing the construction of a fifth water-well
project for the 75 families of Bubere Village, who
traveled long distances to a stream shared with animals as the
only source.
The well is a spiritual fulfillment for him as well.
“Water is sacramental in the Church, and from what I’ve
seen, it can bring a new baptism to these people and improve
the quality of life everywhere,” he said. “Water-borne diseases
disappeared. Irrigation was better. Animals no longer had
contaminated water — all the pigs used to be a shade of pink
with kinky hair, but they became white with straight hair after
just six months. Everything changed.”
Things got more interesting when he was asked to celebrate
Father John Kyebasuuta celebrates Mass on the island of Namiti in Uganda in a
primitive church that he helped the locals rebuild. | FATHER JOHN KYEBASUUTA
Masses on the distant islands of Namiti and Ziiru, two hours
away by boat. On one trip, Kyebasuuta followed a group of
fishermen to a primitive mud-brick structure in an open field.
“To my surprise, this was a church,” he said, noting there
was no front door, no windows, and large rocks covered the
floor. Worse, only the scaffolding of a roof was above. The
locals working on this for the last five years ran out of funding
and materials.
“With my American mindset, I knew this wasn’t safe,” he
said.
Kyebasuuta’s connections came through again. He camped
18 • ANGELUS • May 2, 2025

for a week in a small tent outside the church and oversaw
completion of a sturdy sheet-metal roof. He also resourced
a new altar, ambo, and a presider’s chair made of metal
(termites had eaten through the wooden ones). Local families
broke apart the stones by hand and carried out the debris to
make way for a concrete pour.
As the materials came by boat, donations helped purchase
a new high-powered outboard motor to make deliveries
happen faster. After Kyebasuuta returned from Uganda in
November, the work continued. He wrote a story for the
parish bulletin, and his Monterey Park community stepped
up with more donations.
“He is an amazing priest and I love supporting him,” said
Msgr. John Moretta of nearby Resurrection Church in Boyle
Heights. That parish helped Kyebasuuta fund a 2022 well
project near the St. Joseph Catholic Education boarding
school for orphans and homeless affected by the local civil
war.
“When he came to show us what he was doing, he guaranteed
when we came to visit Uganda, we would have free
water for the rest of our lives,” Moretta said.
Since the Eaton Fire burned hundreds of homes, Kyebasuuta
has seen more families move from Altadena to become
part of St. Thomas Aquinas Church. And he finds their
priorities have shifted.
“There is more of an awareness in the world of what we
have,” said Kyebasuuta, who first came to the U.S. at age 22
and was ordained a priest in 1998 by Cardinal Roger Mahony.
“Domestically, and overseas, we see we can’t take things
for granted.”
After previously completing
four water-well
projects, Kyebasuuta
helped construct a fifth
well during his latest
visit. | FATHER JOHN
KYEBASUUTA
There’s one other unexpected event
from Kyebasuuta’s sabbatical that he’s
been recounting a lot lately.
As he was about to go to sleep around
11 p.m. one night, an urgent call came
from a catechist on Ziiru Island — a
pregnant woman going into labor
needed help. She lived two miles up a
winding mountainous road, now in pitch-black darkness.
For the next six hours, Kyebasuuta made calls. He found a
motorcycle so someone could pick her up. He tracked down
a boat with no motor. Then found a motor, but with no gas.
They found gas.
Kyebasuuta’s friend in Kampala, Uganda’s capital city, had
a pickup truck that could meet her at the shoreline and take
her to a hospital. But as she was jostled around in the truck
bed, she had to deliver quickly. A local midwife was found,
met them at a dental clinic, and at 2:30 a.m., a boy named
Pablo was born. Kyebasuuta had suggested the name to the
mother.
“I never thought for a minute I would be coordinating a
life-changing situation,” Kyebasuuta said, laughing. “Each
person was called to action and did their part. It reminded me
of the miracle of the wedding at Cana. People poured the water
and wine was created. In a way,
all we have to do is pour water and
God will make the wine happen.”
Tom Hoffarth is an award-winning
journalist based in Los Angeles.
While helping to rebuild
a church in Uganda, Kyebasuuta
slept in a small tent
outside. | FATHER JOHN
KYEBASUUTA
May 2, 2025 • ANGELUS • 19

What tariffs don’t protect
The Vatican city-state isn’t exactly a global trade
power. But America’s trade policy drama could have
deep consequences on the Church anyway.
A Caritas worker walks
through destroyed buildings
in Gaza City March 16,
2024. | OSV NEWS/COUR-
TESY CARITAS POLAND
BY CHARLES COLLINS
One of the most famous quotes
from British writer G.K. Chesterton
is something he calls a
paradox.
“There exists in such a case a certain
institution or law; let us say for the sake
of simplicity, a fence or gate erected
across a road. The more modern type
of reformer goes gaily up to it and says,
‘I don’t see the use of this; let us clear
it away.’ To which the more intelligent
type of reformer will do well to answer:
‘If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly
won’t let you clear it away. Go away
and think. Then, when you can come
back and tell me that you do see the
use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.’ ”
He wrote those words in “The Thing:
Why I Am a Catholic” back in 1929. In
other words, Chesterton was saying, do
not remove a fence until you know why
it was put up in the first place.
That maxim came to mind recently as
President Donald Trump announced
he would be imposing tariffs on foreign
goods coming to the United States.
Free trade has been a concrete aspect
of Western doctrine since the end of
World War II. But why?
The modern free trade system
emerged after World War II, when
the U.S. helped establish the General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT) — now the World Trade Organization
(WTO) — to help strengthen
the Western world’s relationship.
The new collaboration lowered tariffs
and opened markets, changing the way
the world economy worked: bringing
U.S. families Japanese and German
cars, for example.
Before World War II, the United
States was one of the chief users of tariffs,
which were the main source of the
national government’s income before
the federal income tax began in 1913.
Many supporters in the first 175 years
of the nation’s history credited the rise
of America’s economy to the prevention
of foreign competition.
However, after two world wars, the
United States felt building economic
ties would decrease the possibility of
conflicts between countries — after all,
they would be more interconnected if
they were trading more.
Trump’s decision to reintroduce tariffs
20 • ANGELUS • May 2, 2025

raises the question: Even if tariffs can
improve a country’s home economy,
can the world revert back from the
integral system that has emerged over
the last 70 years?
Right now, it seems the answer is: not
easily. Stock markets around the world
crashed after Trump announced his
tariffs, but as of this writing, Trump
had paused most of the tariffs out of
the fear generated by the economic
consequences.
But there are still plenty of problems
to contend with as the world learns
how interconnected it now is. Even the
small businesses the tariffs were meant
to protect, for example, were getting
many of their products from overseas.
One nation people haven’t focused on
will also feel the punch: the Vatican.
Although the small papal city-state
doesn’t have a manufacturing industry,
it does rely highly on the world economy.
Donations from around the world
are affected by economic uncertainty,
even if the stock market recovers.
But more importantly, the international
aid that often is administered by
the Vatican directly and indirectly has
now suffered a double hit. First, Trump
suspended much of this aid, causing
agencies supported by Caritas International
to cut staff and end programs.
Now, the money supported by the Holy
See’s financial earnings is being hit, as
stock prices fall, and other earnings get
lowered. (In a bit of irony, the beginning
of Trump’s term coincided with
the temporary closure in January 2025
of the only supermarket for Vatican
City residents for renovation work).
Brian Burch, Trump’s nominee for
U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, told
the U.S. Senate at his April 8 confirmation
hearing that the president
acknowledges the importance of the
Vatican.
“The Holy See, as the governing body
of the Catholic Church, plays a critical
and influential role in international
affairs. We can and we must continue
our strong partnership, while advancing
our mutual interests in addressing
an array of global challenges, including
working to resolve war and conflict
in multiple regions around the globe,
religious persecution, the exploitation
of the poor and vulnerable, the scourge
of human trafficking, and the defense
and promotion of human dignity and
prosperity,” he said on April 8.
But he didn’t really bring up some of
the tension between the president and
current pontiff over immigration and
helping the poorest nations around the
world.
Pope Francis is known for being a
particularly hands-on leader of the city
state he governs, and his current medical
issues mean he is less informed and
less involved in the day-to-day running
of the Church. In many ways, this is
leaving the Vatican more paralyzed
in dealing with the sudden global
economic fears that are percolating
during the first months of the Trump
administration.
Many observers were predicting that
round two of Francis vs. Trump was
going to be a thunderous affair. But the
sequel might be a silent movie, which
is even more frightening.
Charles Collins is an American
journalist currently living in the United
Kingdom, and is Crux’s managing
editor.
Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica on April 10. | OSV NEWS/
LUIZ GIL, HANDOUT VIA REUTERS
Wait, is that … the pope?
Pope Francis raised some eyebrows by opting for a casual dress code
during an unannounced visit to St. Peter’s Basilica.
The 88-year-old pope was pushed in a wheelchair by his nurse into
the basilica just before 1 p.m. on April 10, after having asked his assistants to
take him there to pray, Vatican News reported.
During the visit, Francis went to the tomb of St. Pius X (as he had done
on previous occasions) and saw ongoing restoration work in the basilica. He
was using a nasal cannula to deliver supplemental oxygen,
But the biggest surprise to many observers was his choice of dress: for the
first time since becoming pope, Francis was seen in public not wearing his
white cassock or white zucchetto. Instead, his head was bare, and he wore
black trousers and a white shirt. He had a striped blanket draped over his
chest and arms.
The Vatican press office said the visit is a clear sign his condition is improving.
Tourists, pilgrims, and even priests who minister in the basilica were
taken by surprise.
“So much emotion,” Msgr. Valerio Di Palma, one of the canons of the
basilica, told Vatican News. “My vision blurred with tears, and I couldn’t
even take a picture.”
Of course, others present in the basilica did take photos and videos on
their phones and posted them to social media, capturing him blessing a
baby and chatting with a young boy.
— Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
May 2, 2025 • ANGELUS • 21

Making America
believe again
Jonathan Roumie,
center, plays Christ
in “The Chosen.” |
OSV/FATHOM
If popular culture is going to have a true ‘Catholic moment,’
two laymen may hold the keys to making it happen.
BY ELISE URENECK
Historically, the celebration of
Holy Week, Easter, and the 50
days that follow have represented
the zenith of the Christian
calendar.
But in the year 2025, do Americans
care?
The state of religious practice in the
U.S. depends on who you ask. On
the one hand, Catholicism seems to
be having a “moment.” In a recent
episode of The Ezra Klein podcast,
the host, an opinion columnist at The
New York Times, described our current
era as more “mystical than technological,”
citing an uptick in interest in
spirituality writ large, but Catholicism
in particular.
There are concrete things to point to:
celebrity conversions; the chart-topping
Bible and Catechism in a Year
podcasts; Hallow reaching No. 2 in the
app store at the start of Lent.
Numbers from the recent Religious
Landscape Survey conducted by the
Pew Research Center lay bare some
harder truths: For every one convert
the Church gets, she loses 8.4 people
through “religious switching” — either
finding another faith or abandoning it
altogether.
And while the trend of religious disaffiliation
seems to be plateauing, Ryan
Burge, associate professor of political
science at Eastern Illinois University,
cautions the numbers will likely go
up over time due to “generational
replacement.” Basically, baby boomers
are nearing the end of their lives as a
significantly less religious cohort, Generation
Z, reaches adulthood.
The numbers confirm that the task
of communicating the good news to a
post-Christian America is complicated.
But so far in 2025, two laymen have
been working in tandem, though
they may now know it, to make this
Catholic moment last: Ross Douthat,
opinion columnist at The New York
Times, and Jonathan Roumie, the
actor who portrays Jesus Christ in the
television series “The Chosen.”
Their efforts end in the same place:
the bold proclamation of Jesus Christ
who suffered, died, and rose from the
dead and who gives us, through the
Catholic Church, the fullness of the
means of salvation.
Douthat’s recently released New York
Times bestseller, “Believe: Why Everyone
Should Be Religious” (Zondervan,
$29.99), is not written for the masses.
It’s for undergraduates, graduates, and
members of the intellectual class who
have embraced atheism as their default
position, often as a badge of honor.
22 • ANGELUS • May 2, 2025

Given that individuals with advanced
degrees are 50% more likely than those
with a high school diploma to attend
weekly religious services, Douthat has
a target rich audience.
To them he writes, “As its promises
of liberation dissolve, as unhappiness
and angst and regret take over, atheism
defends itself by pretending to be hardheaded,
extremely serious, the price
you pay for intellectual adulthood. It’s
none of those things.”
Douthat presents his case for why
the religious perspective “asks you to
bear the full weight of being human,
grounds both intellectual rigor and
moral idealism, and has the better case
for being true.”
For starters, the Copernican and Darwinian
revolutions were supposed to
have dismantled religious worldviews.
Instead, Douthat said that they have
“revealed wider evidence of cosmic
order than what was available to the
premodern world.”
The universe has precise, measurable
order and structure, but scientists still
can’t say why, nor can they account for
why human beings are uniquely positioned
to comprehend so much of it.
He also takes on neuroscience, which
New York Times
columnist Ross Douthat,
left, participates in the
“Can Humanity Survive
the Digital Age?” event
hosted by the Institute for
Human Ecology at The
Catholic University of
America in Washington,
D.C., Sept. 17, 2024.
| OSV NEWS/PATRICK
RYAN, CATHOLIC UNIVER-
SITY OF AMERICA
was supposed to reduce the mind to
matter by explaining emotions as the
mere firing of neurons, and thoughts
as the result of electrical impulses. But
Douthat points out that consciousness,
a “supernatural” or “super-material”
phenomenon, remains a mystery.
Moreover, the supernatural keeps
breaking through to believers and nonbelievers:
near-death experiences point
to something after this life rather than
nothing; exorcisms are still performed
with terrifying details; and physicians
do not know why their incurable
patients are healed.
The author also provides answers to
the major “stumbling blocks” to belief:
you need not reject your family’s faith
just because it is inherited; religious
people have done despicable things in
the name of God, but so have others
for family, business, and other goods.
And major religions, especially Catholicism,
hold positions on extramarital
sex because “once you accept that the
universe was probably made with us
in mind, that there is some cosmic
purpose to human consciousness and
human lives, then why wouldn’t God
or the cosmos care about the most
important way that human beings
HARPER COLLINS
bond with one another, create the
most intimate and the most sprawling
intergenerational forms of community,
and participate in the creation of new
life?”
Douthat encourages readers to start
by seeking answers where they are
naturally drawn.
But he goes further, saying that while
all of this could lead him to conclude
that some amount of truth can be
found in all religions or that he could
practice Catholicism without
claiming that it contains
the fullness of God’s revelation,
he doesn’t.
The Jesus “event” — the
incarnation, crucifixion,
and resurrection — was
not just some “spike on the
graph” in the history of a
cosmos made for us, “not a
flash of light but a window
flung wide open.” Douthat
ends with urgency, begging
his readers who now see to
believe.
But what about everyone
else? What about people
not likely to pick up a book
like “Believe”?
“Ordinary people always
have room to take in the
mystery,” Pope Francis has
said. “Perhaps we have reduced
our way of speaking
about mystery to rational explanations;
but for ordinary
people the mystery enters
through the heart.”
May 2, 2025 • ANGELUS • 23

Enter Jonathan Roumie, who has
been on a media blitz discussing his
experience playing Jesus Christ as well
as his deepening relationship with the
person he portrays.
In recent weeks Roumie has appeared
on “The Tonight Show with
Jimmy Fallon” and “The View” to
promote the upcoming fifth season of
“The Chosen,” which chronicles the
events of Holy Week.
Those television programs combined
have an average of 3.8 million viewers.
His Ash Wednesday interview with
Tucker Carlson was viewed by 1.3
million people.
And according to “The Chosen’s”
streaming data, 240 million individuals
have watched the series worldwide,
30% of whom self-identify as nonbelievers.
In his interview with the hosts of
“The View,” Roumie said nonbelievers
are drawn to “the greatest story ever
told,” especially one of high cinematic
quality. He likens “The Chosen” to an
“Ignatian insight into the Gospels,” in
which people place themselves in the
story, using their senses and imagination
to engage Scripture.
“No matter where you are in the
journey of faith, whether you are
just getting familiar with the Bible
or you’ve been a lifelong student for
decades … there’s so much to learn,
there’s so much to be able to live out
in your life in trying to reach those
ideals, reach that bar that [Jesus] set,”
he shared.
While fans of the show often project
onto Roumie Christ’s attributes, he has
shared how at times he’s felt unworthy
of playing him.
“These are holy words said by the
holiest being ever to walk the earth,”
he shared with Carlson while choking
up. His director has at times encouraged
him, reminding him that they are
doing this “so the world may know his
story, and those who haven’t heard his
story may know the impact he’s had on
the world and on our lives personally.”
Like Douthat, Roumie tries to provide
an avenue for seekers and believers
of different faith traditions to meet
Jesus. But ultimately, he also believes,
the Catholic Church “feels like the
truth as I understand it in God’s eyes.”
“It is the Church that Christ himself
ultimately started. For reasons God
knows and despite every effort to
thwart it … it didn’t happen. And that
means something to me.”
Forty years ago, St. Pope John Paul
II taught that evangelizing cultures
that left Christianity behind would
require “new ardor, methods, and
expressions.” Ten years ago, Francis
“Perhaps we have reduced our way of speaking
about mystery to rational explanations,” Pope
Francis has said. “But for ordinary people the
mystery enters through the heart.”
asked, “Are we still a Church capable
of warming hearts? A Church capable
of leading people back to Jerusalem?
Of bringing them home?”
The jury is still out, given the
numbers of people in the pews. But
in 2025, it’s clear that two American
Catholic men with incredible influence
in today’s media environment are
offering a shot in the arm to Catholics
who might not have big platforms, but
who surely have people in their lives
who would like to believe.
Elise Ureneck is a communications
consultant writing from Rhode Island.
Joy Behar and Jonathan
Roumie during his March 18
appearance on “The View.” |
SCREENSHOT VIA YOUTUBE
24 • ANGELUS • May 2, 2025

“St. Catherine of Siena,” by Baldassare
Franceschini, 1611-1689, Italian. |
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
LOVE,
SAINT CATHERINE
How one of
Catholicism’s most
unsettling saints
helped me to start
loving myself in a
healthy way.
BY LUMA SIMMS
One day a few years ago, I told
my husband with frank sincerity
that I was tired of hearing
him tell me, “Jesus loves you.” The
phrase rang trite and superficial to my
ears. I wanted and needed something
deeper and more substantial, having
become complacent with the story of
how Jesus died on the cross for my sins.
With equal frankness, he countered,
“You have a hard time with love. You
can’t believe that Jesus loves you.
Repent and believe the Gospel.”
Not only did I want to “move on”
from the fundamental message of the
Gospel, but thought doing so was a
sign of Christian maturity. How have
I gotten here? I diagnosed myself with
“Gospel amnesia.” I had forgotten the
goodness of the good news.
Gradually, through my conversion to
Catholicism, I started to understand
proper self-love and to accept how
God loves not only everyone, but me,
personally.
God’s love for me did not require
me to hate myself, but rather to love
myself properly. The key to a real selflove,
as I was to learn from reading the
works of St. Catherine of Siena, is to
humbly accept God’s love and mercy.
I was introduced to the 14th-century
Italian mystic and writer when I first
began to study the Catholic faith, but
in 2018 I delved into one of her major
works, entitled “The Dialogue of St.
Catherine of Siena: A Conversation
with God on Living Your Spiritual Life
26 • ANGELUS • May 2, 2025

to the fullest” (TAN Books, $12.95),
which is a conversation between Catherine
and God the Father.
Catherine doesn’t write about mercy
with banality. Her language is gory and
raw.
In this conversation, Catherine says
to God, “You cannot resist giving
[mercy] to whoever asks you for it. ...
And for what are they asking? For the
blood of this door, Your Truth. In this
blood you have washed away iniquity
and drained the pus of Adam’s sin. His
blood is ours because you have made
of it a bath for us, and you neither can
nor will refuse it to those who ask it of
you in truth.”
God responds by saying that he
doesn’t want Catherine to think about
her individual sins without thinking
also of his mercy. “Otherwise she will
only be confounded. For if self-knowledge
and the thought of sin are not
seasoned with remembrance of the
blood and hope for mercy, the result is
bound to be confusion.”
He warns that confusion can easily
lead to despair when one considers
“their sinfulness greater than God’s
mercy.”
This was a habit I had lived with for
years. It may sound paradoxical, but
dwelling on my sin was a form of pride
— and pride works not just against
humility, but love.
The cure for “Gospel amnesia” is
to remember that God’s love for us
surpasses every occasion of our sin.
Elsewhere in “The Dialogue,” God
tells Catherine that by his divine charity
he left us an “ongoing baptism of
blood accessible by heartfelt contrition
and a holy confession.” There is a lot
of blood in St. Catherine’s work, and
it’s powerful: Christ’s blood is to be
honored, treasured and revered; it baptizes;
it bears fruit; it bathes; it washes;
it blesses; it is power; it is love.
This “ongoing baptism of blood”
the Lord speaks of is the sacrament
of reconciliation, and the fruit of the
blood is absolution and reconciliation
with God.
Even though over the years I became
more self-aware, better understood
the root of my sins, and embraced the
confessional with docility, I experienced
that “confusion” God warned
her about. That is because I have not
continuously developed the habit of
“seasoning” my self-knowledge with
Christ’s blood and mercy.
My husband was right all those years
ago when he told me that I could not
accept Jesus’ love, when he called on
me to repent and believe the Gospel.
I wanted to understand God, and to
obey him, but what I did for so long
was use theology as a way to avoid
dealing with what blood and mercy
truly meant — love. I had no problem
with studying, but I couldn’t face it at
the level of the heart.
He meant that Jesus loved me. I
understood it intellectually, I accepted
it as a faith truth, I believed in God
and confessed the creed —but what
I felt was my sin, failure, weakness,
worthlessness. I could not grasp love.
Because I could not grasp love, I
A priest listens to a woman’s
confession before Mass at the
Cathedral of the Immaculate
Conception in Beijing. | CNS
FILE PHOTO/NANCY WIECHEC
cheapened it, and by cheapening love,
I cheapened the Gospel.
For Catherine, only through God’s
mercy can we do anything, especially
love. “O mercy! My heart is engulfed
with the thought of you! For wherever
I turn my thoughts I find nothing but
mercy!”
I firmly believe that every woman
who is struggling to see herself as God
sees her should befriend this great
saint as her friend. For that matter,
she’s a good guide for men, too.
As the Church celebrates Catherine
April 29, may we see God’s mercy in
our lives and surrender to it, so that
all of our love may be rightly ordered,
including love for ourselves.
Luma Simms is a fellow at the Ethics
and Public Policy Center.
May 2, 2025 • ANGELUS • 27

AD REM
ROBERT BRENNAN
The street preacher challenge
A street preacher in Los Angeles. |
SHUTTERSTOCK
After videos of people scraping their keys across certain
electric vehicles, the other most popular images
on social media these days seem to be those of
“street preachers,” either standing in the commons of some
institution of higher learning, or on a street corner. The
street-corner variety almost always seems to be at night, and
in a rough part of town.
None of the preachers seem to be Catholic. I have mixed
feelings about that. The rational (or less courageous) part
of me thinks these preachers are crazy to expose themselves
the way they do, and I have yet to see one of these videos
where the person they are speaking to falls on their knees
and begs God for pardon of their sins. The quick, short
attention span street theater usually ends with the preacher
being cursed at, mocked, or in some instances physically
attacked.
But on a spiritual level, I feel a little envious of these bold
proclaimers of the Gospel.
True, their version of the Gospel may not totally align
with the full understanding and truth that resides within
Mother Church. But they have the courage of their
convictions. They have taken the order, not the advice, of
Jesus himself and decided to preach to all nations, which
includes that gaggle of college students on their lunch
break, or some toughs (both male and female) who have
just stumbled out of a bar at two o’clock in the morning.
The college version of this usually involves young people
a little too smug in their disbelief who try to “catch” the
preacher in some kind of biblical contradiction they heard
in their Comparative Religion 101 class. But there is
another class of adversaries that comes across many times
as simply demonic: people who seem to take great delight
in telling these preachers that they don’t need Jesus or have
any desire to know him. Some happily tell the preachers
that they are looking forward to going to hell. Those statements
are usually followed by drunken cheers from nearby
friends also in the same state of being overserved.
Remarkably, I have not seen one of these preachers take
28 • ANGELUS • May 2, 2025

Robert Brennan writes from Los Angeles, where
he has worked in the entertainment industry,
Catholic journalism, and the nonprofit sector.
a swing at some of the viler and physically threatening lost
sheep they encounter. And I have not seen one of them
run away when a guy who looks like he got kicked out
of the Hell’s Angels for being too aggressive gets in the
preacher’s face with eyes violently open and muscular body
ready to strike.
Again, I am not that brave, nor do I know if street preachers
make any difference at all. But the amount of verbal
abuse they take and the fact they willingly march themselves
into various kinds of lions’ dens is something to
respect.
Are there other ways to preach the Gospel? Most assuredly.
St. Damien of Molokai “preached” by living among
the lepers there, eating next to them, saying Mass for them
and fighting for their dignity. St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
“preached” by scooping up the desperately sick and nursing
them back to health, or by picking up the dead from
the gutter and giving them a dignified burial.
We all have the opportunity to “preach” at work, at home,
or wherever life takes us on any given day. The problem,
many times, is we are too timid.
We do not have to challenge a drunk coming out of
Monahan’s Fine Food and Spirits on a Saturday night (or
morning) or take incoming slings and arrows from a college
sophomore who just discovered Sam Harris or Richard
Dawkins. That is unlikely to bear much fruit.
But maybe years later, when that drunk is now sober and a
father of a couple of kids, and that sophomore realized how
much smarter old people became as he put on years, will
encounter one of those timid and weak Catholics at a job.
Or maybe in the stands at their kid’s Little League game.
And maybe there, if we have the courage, they will see
God’s word in action and their ears may open.
And who knows, maybe if us timid types show just enough
Gospel in our words and our actions, those who once
mocked and even threatened those “crazy” street preachers
will harken back to a time when some guy standing on a
street corner told them how much Jesus loved them as they
had staggered out of a bar, or college classroom; and that
mustard seed planted back then just might sprout.
May 2, 2025 • ANGELUS • 29

DESIRE LINES
HEATHER KING
An upside-down love story
Stefan Zweig (1881-1942) was a
Jewish author from Austria who,
having emigrated in 1934 due
to the rise of Hitler in Germany, was
living in London as a refugee. In his
day, he was one of the most popular
and translated writers in Europe.
His 1939 novel, “Beware of Pity”
(NYRB Classics, $18.95), tells the story
of a twisted psychological “romance”
grounded in a deeply disordered
concept of compassion. It’s been called
frightening, gripping, intoxicating, and
Zweig’s single greatest work.
Anyone who has ever been the victim
Photo of Stefan Zweig by F. X.
Setzer, published in 1927. |
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
— from either end — of unrequited
love will squirm, it must be said deliciously,
throughout.
The setting is the Austro-Hungarian
empire before the eruption of the First
World War. The book is told in hindsight
by Anton Hofmiller, a famously
decorated soldier in his maturity (he
denigrates his military accomplishments,
refusing to think of himself as
a hero), but at the time the tale begins
with a young cavalry officer.
Through a chance meeting at a
café with friends, he’s introduced to
a local millionaire, Kekesfalva. Be-
lieving him to be a nobleman (in fact
Kekesfalva made his money through
shrewd business dealings), Hofmiller
approaches the family castle with awe
and trepidation. His first evening there,
he’s introduced among others to Edith,
Kekesfalva’s crippled daughter.
Edith, 18, has lost the use of her legs
in a riding accident and is coddled,
pampered, indulged, and lied to within
an inch of her life by all those who
surround her.
No one has bothered to tell Hofmiller
that Edith can’t walk and, having come
late to the dinner party, he’s only seen
her sitting down. After coffee, cigars,
and liqueurs, the band strikes up and
Hofmiller hugely enjoys himself dancing
with the pretty ladies.
Then, realizing that courtesy demands
he must also dance with the host’s
daughter, he approaches Edith and
asks.
A gracious, mature young person
might have responded: “You’re so kind,
but you see, I’m unable to dance. Do
pull up a chair, though — I want to
know all about you!”
Just about everyone in the novel,
though, has emotions that are absurdly
delicate and overheated.
So instead, with insane melodrama
Edith starts, stares, attempts to rise unaided
from her seat, totters forward, and
with a tremendous clatter, falls splat on
the floor. Hofmiller very understandably
flees, but in the aftermath convinces
himself the gaffe was his, reproaches
himself for cowardliness, returns to the
castle, is slowly made to feel that Edith
lives for him alone, and thus the tragedy
unfolds.
Zweig knows there are two kinds of
pity: one weak-minded and sentimental,
one unsentimental but creative.
Edith’s treating physician, Dr. Condor,
supposedly exemplifies the second kind.
30 • ANGELUS • May 2, 2025

Heather King is an award-winning
author, speaker, and workshop leader.
Many years before he had accidentally
blinded a patient — then married her.
He’s not in love and the two have virtually
nothing in common. Shut away in
their home, untidy, desperately lonely,
and possessed of a doglike devotion, she
lives for his brief presence, his smallest
need. He, in turn, unfailingly if absentmindedly
kind, believes he is sacrificing
his life for a worthy cause.
But is that compassion?
Condor, too, lies to Edith. There
may be a cure, he tells her month after
month (knowing there isn’t): let’s wait
and see. Later he lays a massive guilt
trip on Hofmiller, informing him that
if he fails to continue his “friendship”
with Edith, he will have in essence
committed a murder.
On and on the story creeps, with one
more ridiculous episode of crossed
communications. Hofmiller keeps
thinking Edith will read between the
lines; Edith keeps pathologically clinging,
spinning the smallest crumb of
affection into a declaration of love.
One day, having been consigned to
bed by yet another misunderstanding-induced
hysteric collapse, she begs
Hofmiller to come into her chamber
before leaving. In a burst of pity,
he leans down to kiss her forehead,
whereupon she jerks herself up, grabs
his head between her hands, and kisses
him avidly, greedily, on the mouth.
Hofmiller is horrified, repulsed, shaken
to the core. Soon after, he agrees to
marry her.
Check out the 1946 film starring Lilli
Palmer, also called “Beware of Pity,”
if you long (as I did) to see all this hothouse
activity in action.
The whole novel you want to shake
Edith, her father, Dr. Condor, and
Hofmiller, and say, like Christ to the
paralytic at the pool of Bethsaida,
“Wake up! Do you want to be healed?
Pick up your mat and walk!” (See John
5:1–9).
Walk, even if you can’t physically
walk, into a life of honesty, integrity,
purpose, and meaning. Accept your
limitations and quit with the emotional
blackmail. From the receiving end, quit
letting yourself be manipulated and
guilt-tripped. Risk being thought not
compassionate.
That is authentic, creative love, not
the sickly lies and faux martyrdom that
so often pass for love.
The historical backdrop to the novel
was the slow build of Nazism. In his
introduction to the 2013 Pushkin Press
edition, journalist Nicholas Lezard
notes: “One of the earliest writers to
note what Freud was doing, Zweig took
on early the lesson that directly dealing
with terrible things is not necessarily
the way the mind works. His stories are
full of characters poisoned by things
left unsaid, or situations misread. We
tell ourselves stories about what is going
on, but sometimes they are the wrong
stories.”
Zweig moved briefly to New York City,
then to Brazil. There he and his wife
Lotte committed suicide together in
February 1942, overdosing on barbiturates.
Lilli Palmer as Edith, and
Albert Lieven as Hofmiller,
in the 1946 film adaptation
“Beware of Pity.” | IMDB
May 2, 2025 • ANGELUS • 31

LETTER AND SPIRIT
SCOTT HAHN
Scott Hahn is founder of the
St. Paul Center for Biblical
Theology; stpaulcenter.com.
The hand that rocks the creedal
“Virgin and Child
with Six Angels,” by
Lorenzo Monaco,
c. 1370-c. 1425,
Sienese. | WIKIME-
DIA COMMONS
May is Mary’s month.
Let’s begin it this
year by looking at her
place in the classic Christian
confessions of faith, the Apostles’
Creed and the Nicene
Creed.
A creed is a historical record,
and so it names names. It
calls upon the witness of real
historical figures — not only
Jesus, but also his mother,
Mary, and even the man who
condemned Jesus to death,
Pontius Pilate.
Pilate is well known from
ancient sources. His memory
was preserved by his contemporaries,
almost always
in an unflattering light. So
Christians gained nothing by
including him in the creed —
nothing except a marker for
historical accuracy.
With Mary, of course, it’s a
different story. She got into the
creed by willingly receiving
the Word. She conceived, the
Apostles’ Creed tells us, “by
the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Hers was the only human
agency involved in Jesus’
conception. Thus, even in the
most minimal account of salvation
history, she must be named, because salvation turned on
her consent.
Mary’s presence in the creed reminds us of our own freedom
and dignity. God does not coerce Mary; nor will he ever
coerce us. He does not force his will upon her, but rather
awaits her yes.
We name Mary in the creed because she is the model of
perfect life in covenant with God. Hers is an intelligent obedience
and obedient intelligence. She dares to question the
angel — not because she doubts him, but because she wants
to understand God’s plan.
The first Christians found it
necessary to invoke her even in
the most abbreviated versions
of the story of Jesus. Her presence
in the creed was for his
sake, but also for theirs.
Every creed that invokes
Mary names her with a title:
“the Virgin.” Her virginity,
indeed, is essential to the story.
But its invocation in the creed
has even more significance.
For in the ancient world,
virginity was considered a
shameful condition — something
to be mourned (see
Judges 11:37–38). A woman’s
worth was measured by her relationship
to a man: her father
or her husband or her sons. A
virgin was a woman without
the support or protection of
a man — and so, typically, a
person who was vulnerable
and impoverished.
With the coming of Christ,
such values were turned on
their head. Now the poor are
blessed, as are the hungry and
persecuted (Luke 6:20–22);
and now the virgin is called
blessed by all generations
(Luke 1:48). In the New Covenant,
virginity is a condition
of honor, not shame (see 1 Corinthians 7), and many have
discerned it to be their lifelong vocation.
“The Virgin,” moreover, is known to be the fulfillment of
the prophet Isaiah’s oracle: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel
(which means, God with us)” (Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14).
Mary’s virginity, foretold in the Old Covenant, becomes an
indisputable testimony to Jesus’ status as Messiah.
This small point of traditional devotion will always be an
essential part of any authentic Christian confession of faith —
an essential part of the creed.
32 • ANGELUS • May 2, 2025

■ SATURDAY, APRIL 26
Carlo Acutis Canonization Vigil for Teens. St. Agnes
Church, 2625 Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, 5-9 p.m. Young
people are invited to keep vigil on the eve of Carlo Acutis’
canonization in Rome during the Jubilee of Teenagers.
Eucharistic adoration, confession, music, games, and food.
Easter Hope — You Will Be Changed Into Me: The
Fruits of the Eucharist. Holy Family Church, 1501 Fremont
Ave., S. Pasadena, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Workshop
will explore the spiritual fruits of the Eucharist, recognizing
its transformative power in our lives and how it calls us
to become more like Christ. Presenters: Diana Torrefranca,
worship leader and singer songwriter, Stuart Squires, Ph.D.
in historical and systematic theology. Free event. Visit
lacatholics.org/events.
Praying Divine Mercy on Our Families. St. Dorothy
Church, 241 S. Valley Center Ave., Glendora, 11:30 a.m.-
3:30 p.m. Topics include: “Healing prayer for families,” and
“Who is St. Faustina?” Speakers: Dominic Berardino, Dr.
Elizabeth Kim, and Father Michael Barry, SSCC. Visit scrc.
org.
Choral Vespers: Music of Rheinberger. Holy Family
Church, 220 East Elk, Glendale, 7 p.m. Immerse yourself
in prayerful worship through the Liturgy of the Hours,
accompanied by the sacred music of Rheinberger. Visit
hfglendale.org/music.
■ TUESDAY, APRIL 29
Bereavement Ministry Training. St. Mary of the Assumption,
7215 Newlin Ave., Whittier, 6-9 p.m. Runs Tuesdays
April 29, May 6, 13, 20, 27, June 3, and Saturday, May 3,
9 a.m.-3 p.m. Cost: $100/person, includes materials, resources,
and Saturday breakfast, lunch, and snacks. RSVP
to Cathy by April 23 by calling 562-631-8844 or email
bereavement.ministry@yahoo.com.
■ THURSDAY, MAY 1
San Fernando Mission Guides Meeting. San Fernando
Mission Cantwell Hall, 15151 Mission Blvd., Mission
Hills, 1 p.m. Meetings on the first Thursday of each
month, open to new prospective docents, performing
tours mainly for California fourth-graders. Call John Panico
at 661-877-7528 or email jdpanico@gmail.com.
■ SATURDAY, MAY 3
Bereavement Retreat. St. Lorenzo Ruiz Church, 747
Meadow Pass Rd., Walnut, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Are you struggling
to find healing in your grief? Do you need help letting
go? The only way to deal with grief is to grieve. Cost: $75/
person, covers materials, continental breakfast, and lunch.
RSVP to Cathy by April 27 by calling 562-631-8844 or
email bereavement.ministry@yahoo.com. Zelle payments
to 562-631-8844.
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.
World Labyrinth Day: Walk as One at 1. Holy Spirit
Retreat Center, 4316 Lanai Rd., Encino, 12:30 p.m.-3 p.m.
An annual event to pray for peace. Visit hsrcenter.com or
call 818-784-4515.
Sacred Prism: Children’s Choral Academy Spring Concert.
Holy Family Church, 220 East Elk, Glendale, 7:30
p.m. Visit hfglendale.org/music.
■ SUNDAY, MAY 4
Catholic Singles Network Dinner Party. El Torito Grill,
555 Point Dr., Brea, 5-7 p.m. Mingling will be maximized
at the dinner by having attendees rotate to different
tables. Call Celeste at 661-916-2727 or visit CatholicSinglesNetwork.com.
■ TUESDAY, MAY 6
South Bay Catholic-Jewish Women’s Dialogue Conference.
Temple Menorah, 1101 Camino Real, Redondo
Beach, 8:30 a.m. Navigating Troubled Waters: How Faith
Can Build a Bridge to Solace. Speakers: Rabbi Deborah
Schuldenfrel and Linda Schultz. Cost: $30/person, includes
continental breakfast and lunch. Visit sbcjwd.com
to register and for more information.
A Pastoral Response to Addiction. Tarzana Treatment
Center College, 6022 Variel Ave., Woodland Hills, 9 a.m.-
noon. Clergy, parish/school, and other ministry leaders
invited to address the challenges of substance use and opioid
addiction. Register at https://bit.ly/4l2Uqum or email
Jeanette Seneviratne at jseneviratne@la-archdiocese.org
or call 213-637-7646.
■ THURSDAY, MAY 8
St. Padre Pio Mass. St. Anne Church, 340 10th St., Seal
Beach, 1 p.m. Celebrant: Father Al Baca. For more information,
call 562-537-4526.
■ SATURDAY, MAY 10
Preparation for Consecration to Mary in the Spirituality
of St. Maximilian Kolbe. Father Kolbe Missionaries
Center, 531 E. Merced Ave., West Covina, 9:30 a.m.-4
p.m. Day does not include Mass. RSVP to 626-917-0040.
Mother’s Day Rosary Prayer Service. All Catholic
Cemeteries & Mortuaries locations, 2 p.m. Rosary will be
livestreamed online at catholiccm.org or facebook.com/
lacatholics.
■ TUESDAY, MAY 13
Memorial Mass. San Fernando Mission, 15151 San
Fernando Mission Blvd., Mission Hills, 11 a.m. Mass is
open to the public. Limited seating. RSVP to outreach@
catholiccm.org or call 213-637-7810. Livestream available
at CatholicCM.org or Facebook.com/lacatholics.
■ SATURDAY, MAY 17
Mother Luisita Fundraiser Dinner. Casa Sanchez Restaurant,
4500 S. Centinela Ave., Los Angeles, 6 p.m. registration
and social hour, 7 p.m. dinner and program. The event
will raise funds for a wheelchair-accessible passenger van
for Marycrest Manor. Cost: $150/ person, sponsorships
available. Hosted by Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred
Heart of Los Angeles. Visit marycrestculvercity.com/
dinner/ or call 310-838-2778, ext. 4004 (ask for Lori) for
tickets and more information.
■ SATURDAY, MAY 31
He Shall Rise: The Seven Last Words of Christ. Holy
Family Church, 220 East Elk, Glendale, 7:30 p.m. Uplifting
worship experience with the music of Michael John Trotta,
a brass ensemble, and a joyful singalong led by the St.
Cecilia and Filipino Chorales. Visit hfglendale.org/music.
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.
May 2, 2025 • ANGELUS • 33