Angelus News | July 25, 2025

NICAEA AT 1,700

The story behind the council

— and the creed —

that saved the Church

ANGELUS

July 25, 2025 Vol. 10 No. 15

July 25, 2025

Vol. 10 • No. 15

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ANGELUS

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ON THE COVER

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

An icon from the Mégalo Metéoron Monastery

in Greece depicts the First Council of

Nicaea in A.D. 325. This year marks the 1,700th

anniversary of the council, which solved a tricky

doctrinal dispute and kept the early Church from

falling apart. On Page 10, contributing editor

Mike Aquilina explains the milestone meeting

that Pope Leo XIV hopes to commemorate with

a visit to Turkey this year.

THIS PAGE

OSV NEWS/GREGORY A. SHEMITZ

Revelers gather around a 35-foot-tall pirate ship and an

80-foot “giglio” tower during the annual feast honoring Our

Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Paulinus of Nola at Our Lady

of Mount Carmel Church in the Williamsburg section of

Brooklyn, New York, on July 13. Each structure includes a

platform for musicians and is elevated by a team of lifters.

The 12-day feast, first held in 1887, pays tribute to the

spiritual and cultural roots of the Italian immigrants who

helped establish the parish.

CONTENTS

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

14

16

20

22

26

28

30

Full list of new 2025 clergy assignments in the Archdiocese of LA

Remembering LA’s Bishop Joe Sartoris: ‘Everything you wanted in a priest’

Covina parish celebrates ‘enthronement’ of new Marian statue

Rafael Alvarez follows St. Francis Xavier’s path to Catholic India

Robert Brennan: A vacation Mass experience to write home about

‘Leon de Peru’ reveals the hard times that forged a future pope

Heather King: Like Christ, beauty needs to die to be beautiful

July 25, 2025 • ANGELUS • 1

POPE WATCH

A ‘revolution of love’

The following is adapted from Pope

Leo XIV’s homily from Sunday Mass

at St. Thomas of Villanova Church in

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, on July 13.

The parable of the Good Samaritan

(Luke 10:25–37) constantly

challenges us to think about

our own lives. It troubles our dormant

or distracted consciences, and warns

us about the risk of a complacent

faith.

The parable is really about compassion.

True, the Gospel story speaks

of the compassion that moved the

Samaritan to act, but it first speaks

of how others regarded the wounded

man lying on the roadside after being

attacked by robbers.

How we look at others is what

counts, because it shows what is in

our hearts. We can look and walk by,

or we can look and be moved with

compassion.

The Good Samaritan is really a

figure of Jesus, the eternal Son whom

the Father sent into our history and

did not walk by. Like the man in the

Gospel who was going down from

Jerusalem to Jericho, humanity was

descending to the depths of death.

Yet God has looked upon us with

compassion; he wanted to walk our

same path and come down among

us. St. Augustine tells us that, as the

Good Samaritan who came to our

aid, Jesus “wanted to be known as

our neighbor. Indeed, the Lord Jesus

Christ makes us realize that he is the

one who cared for the half-dead man

beaten by robbers and left on the side

of the road.”

If Christ shows us the face of a

compassionate God, then to believe

in him and to be his disciples means

allowing ourselves to be changed and

to take on his same feelings. It means

learning to have a heart that is moved,

eyes that see and do not look away,

hands that help others and soothe

their wounds, shoulders that bear the

burden of those in need.

If we realize deep down that Christ,

the Good Samaritan, loves us and

cares for us, we too will be moved to

love in the same way and to become

compassionate as he is. Once we are

healed and loved by Christ, we too

can become witnesses of his love and

compassion in our world.

We need this “revolution of love.”

Today, the road that goes down from

Jerusalem to Jericho is the road

traveled by all those who descend

into sin, suffering, and poverty. It is

the road traveled by all those weighed

down by troubles or hurt by life. The

road traveled by all who fall down,

lose their bearings and hit rock

bottom. The road traveled by all those

peoples that are stripped, robbed, and

pillaged, victims of tyrannical political

systems.

What do we do? Do we look and

walk by, or do we open our hearts to

others, like the Samaritan? Are we

content at times merely to do our

duty, or to regard as our neighbor only

those who are part of our group, who

think like us, who share our same

nationality or religion? Jesus overturns

this way of thinking by presenting

us with a Samaritan, a foreigner or

heretic, who acts as a neighbor to that

wounded man. And he asks us to do

the same.

Papal Prayer Intention for July: Let us pray that we might

again learn how to discern, to know how to choose paths of

life, and reject everything that leads us away from Christ and

the Gospel.

2 • ANGELUS • July 25, 2025

NEW WORLD OF FAITH

ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ

Our burdens, her prayers

Archbishop José H. Gomez led some

300 pilgrims on the annual archdiocesan

pilgrimage to Mexico City to honor

Our Lady of Guadalupe, July 3-5. The

following is adapted from his closing

homily.

As we stand before this sacred image

of Our Lady, in the presence

of our Mother, we tell her very

simply that we love her with all our

heart and soul.

And we consecrate ourselves and our

families once again today to our Blessed

Mother.

Today we bring with us many prayers,

and many burdens. We bring to our

Mother all the troubles of our hearts.

Many of our brothers and sisters,

our friends and family, neighbors and

fellow parishioners, are burdened with

fear and anxiety caused by the new

immigration enforcement efforts in our

country.

Today we lay all our cares at the feet

of Our Lady. And if we open our hearts

today, if we fix our eyes on Our Lady’s,

we will hear her tender words to St.

Juan Diego:

“Am I not your mother? Are you not

under my shadow and my gaze? Am

I not the source of your joy? Are you

not sheltered underneath my mantle,

under the embrace of my arms?”

In this sacred image that Mary left for

us, we can see that she is carrying Jesus

in her womb, under her praying hands,

his heart is beating beneath her heart.

And today, under her shadow, under

her gaze, wrapped in her mantle and

embraced in her arms, we celebrate the

beautiful mystery: that the most holy

Mother of God is our Mother, too.

She tells us today in that beautiful

reading from Sirach: “I am the mother

of fair love, of reverence, of knowledge,

and of holy hope.”

Today we come to our mother and

we tell her that we love her and we ask

her to fill us with her wisdom, and to

instruct us in her ways.

Mary consecrated her whole life to

Jesus. We heard the beautiful words of

her consecration in the Gospel today:

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the

Lord. May it be done to me according

to your Word.”

This is how our Mother teaches us

to live: as servants of her Son. At the

wedding feast at Cana, she told the servants:

“Do whatever he tells you.” This

is her simple teaching for you and me.

And this is how she lived: pondering

his words in her heart, watching his

example in wonder and awe.

This is the secret of the rosary, that

beautiful prayer of love that we make to

our Mother.

The rosary’s mysteries are the scenes

that Mary witnessed in the life of her

Son. She invites her children to ponder

these mysteries day after day, year after

year, gazing on her Son through her

eyes.

This is how we should pray the rosary.

And this is how we should live. In

wonder and love, never taking our eyes

off of Jesus!

It’s important that we always remember

that Mary lived an ordinary life, a

life that was a lot like ours. Her days

were filled with family and work and

daily chores and responsibilities.

And we can be like her. We can serve

Jesus in our everyday work, doing

everything out of love for him and out

of love for those around us, serving our

children and spouses, our family and

relatives, our friends and neighbors.

Living this way, we can bring Jesus

into the world, and lead souls to him.

Just as Mary did.

When we love in all the little things

of life, we become an example to those

around us; our happiness and hope

attracts people. When we live this way,

people want to know where our happiness

comes from, and how we can be so

generous, and so loving.

And of course, we can tell them: We

can love because we know that we are

loved, we can love because we have

found Jesus.

Let’s ask for that grace today. Let us

love as Mary loves.

Our Mother promises us today, in that

beautiful first reading: “Whoever obeys

me will not be put to shame, whoever

serves me will never fail.”

So we trust in Mary, we trust in our

When we love in all the little things of life, we

become an example to those around us; our

happiness and hope attracts people.

Mother with a deep and filial love.

May she teach us her ways of sacrifice

and silence, humility and hiddenness.

May she help us to become like little

children, loving Jesus with the simplicity

of a child’s heart.

We entrust all the troubles of our

hearts, and every fear and uncertainty

to our Mother!

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of

Fairest Love, be a Mother to us always!

Protect us in the mantle of your love!

Show us the path to walk, lead us

always to your Son!


WORLD

■ India’s Syro-Malabar liturgy

dispute appears to be settled

The Vatican has ended the mission of a delegate sent to the

embattled Syro-Malabar Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly,

India, signaling a potential end to a yearslong liturgy

dispute.

Slovak Archbishop Cyril Vasil had been sent by Pope

Francis two years ago in an effort to add stability and order to

a diocese driven to violence over liturgical regulations to the

Syro-Malabar liturgy. All other dioceses had adhered to the

regulations, adopted by the Syro-Malabar Church’s synod.

On June 19, priests reached an agreement with their archbishop

to celebrate one synod-approved Mass each Sunday

and feast day, and maintain older forms of their liturgy on

other days and for additional Sunday Masses.

Those who attended the July 7 Mass received a Jubilee Year plenary indulgence. |

CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE OF ENGLAND AND WALES

■ A Catholic comeback in Canterbury?

In a historic first since the English Reformation, a Catholic

Mass was celebrated in Canterbury Cathedral.

Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía, apostolic nuncio to

the United Kingdom, celebrated the July 7 Mass on the

feast of the Translation of St. Thomas Becket.

Becket, a Roman Catholic bishop of Canterbury in the

1100s, was martyred by supporters of King Henry II for

his defense of the rights of the Church in England. When

King Henry VIII later established the Church of England

as independent of Rome, he assumed possession of Canterbury

Cathedral. Becket’s relics are housed in a shrine

behind the main altar.

Father David Palmer, a member of the Ordinariate of

Our Lady of Walsingham and a former Anglican priest,

explained to Catholic News Agency that the cathedral “is

often referred to as the home of Anglicanism.”

“For those of us who have made the journey from Anglicanism

back to Rome this is an event of special significance

and joy.”

Pope Leo XIV greets people as he

arrives in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, July 6. |

CNS PHOTO/VATICAN MEDIA

■ Pope’s Augustinian confidant

dishes on his summer plans

Pope Leo XIV is using his summer vacation in Castel

Gandolfo to work on his first encyclical and decide on some

high-level Vatican personnel appointments, a close collaborator

told an Italian newspaper.

“I know he is working a lot, with astonishing rhythms,”

Father Alejandro Moral Antón, prior general of the pope’s

Augustinian order told Il Messagero. “He is an indefatigable

person and I know that by nature he never backs down. But

lately, I have even seen him a bit thinner.”

When asked about rumors that Leo will change “his entire

governing team,” Moral replied that “the appointments will

come after the summer. This break will certainly help him

weigh everything.”

Despite the pope’s busy schedule, he is known to stay up

late to reply to personal messages on WhatsApp before going

to bed, and has once stopped by the Augustinian’s general

house in Rome to play tennis with his personal secretary,

Moral said.

Moral expects Leo’s first encyclical will touch on peace, unity,

or artificial intelligence — recurring themes in the pope’s

early messages.

■ Mass obligation waived

for rural Czech diocese

A Czech archbishop has exempted parishioners in remote

areas from their Sunday Mass obligation due to a shortage of

priests.

The dispensation from Archbishop Jozef Nuzik of Olomouc

applies only to Catholics who belong to parishes without a

regular Sunday Mass. Parishioners are still encouraged to

travel to attend Mass or attend a deacon-led Liturgy of the

Word, as they are able. Catholics can also substitute Sunday

Mass with “a half hour of family prayer” or by following Mass

via livestream or radio, the diocese announced.

“When the Mass is absent, the Church is not gone,”

explained one parish bulletin in the region. “Where two or

three are gathered, Christ remains present.”


NATION

What the floods took — Young women mourn as they attend a prayer service for flood victims in Kerrville,

Texas, July 9, after as many as 300 people were either missing or confirmed dead as of July 14. In the days after

the floods, Catholic parishes and social services rallied support for families who lost their homes and loved

ones. Notre Dame Catholic Church in Kerrville, one of the hubs of support, had to pause collection of supplies

July 6 after becoming “overwhelmed” with donations. | OSV NEWS/UMIT BEKTAS, REUTERS

■ Lay Catholic initiative

targets scammers

A new initiative — led by a former

White House chief information officer

— is aimed at helping Catholics avoid

being victimized by scammers.

“Protecting the Faithful” is partnering

with parishes nationwide to provide

guidance in bulletins and through digital

communication on how to spot phishing

attacks and other scams. The effort is

spearheaded by Theresa Payton, CEO

of Fortalice Solutions and former aide to

President George W. Bush.

“I’ve had victims on the other end of

the phone, ashamed that they were a

victim, crying, sending their hard-earned

money to bad people, and I just had such

a broken heart over this that I was like,

something must be done,” Payton told

Catholic News Agency.

Scammers have increasingly impersonated

pastors and prominent Catholic

celebrities, like The Chosen’s Jonathan

Roumie, to con money or steal identities.

■ Despite IRS change,

Catholic Church will not

endorse politicians

While the IRS will now allow churches to

endorse political candidates and keep their

tax-exempt status, don’t expect Catholic

ones to do so.

“The Catholic Church maintains its

stance of not endorsing or opposing political

candidates,” Chieko Noguchi, director

of public affairs for the U.S. Conference

of Catholic Bishops, said in a statement

after the IRS announced the change. “The

Church seeks to help Catholics form their

conscience in the Gospel so they might discern

which candidates and policies would

advance the common good.”

In a July 7 court agreement, the IRS

agreed that the 70-year-old tax exemption

rule does not apply to churches and other

houses of worship, staving off lawsuits from

evangelical groups that argued the rule

violated church’s First Amendment rights.

The U.S. bishops’ stance is consistent

with canon law, which severely restricts

active participation in political parties by

clergy.

■ Pope’s

childhood

home to

become

historic site

The unassuming

two-story

brick house

in Dolton,

Illinois, where

the future Pope

Leo XIV grew

up, will be

converted into

a historical site

The childhood home of Robert Prevost, the future Pope Leo XIV, in Dolton, Illinois,

in May 2025. | OSV NEWS/CARLOS OSORIO, REUTERS

after the local city council voted unanimously to buy the property.

The village will pay $375,000 for the property, nearly twice the $199,000

asking price. That’s still seen as a deal, after the town’s lawyer used threats

that Dolton would take the house via eminent domain to convince the owner

to remove the house from the auction block.

“Even for me, who’s done a lot and seen a lot, this is a once-in-a-lifetime

opportunity,” said the lawyer, Chicago native Burt Odelson. “I’ve dealt with

presidents, senators, mayors, but there’s always another one. Not for this —

he’s the only American pope.”

The village plans to acquire the entire block in their efforts to build a historical

site.


LOCAL

■ San Bernardino bishop

issues Sunday Mass

dispensation over ICE

raid fears

Amid concern over immigration raids,

San Bernardino Bishop Alberto Rojas dispensed

Catholics from their Sunday Mass

obligation if they fear for their well-being.

Rojas cited a provision in canon law to

dispense those who, in his words, “due to

genuine fear of immigration enforcement

actions, are unable to attend Sunday

Mass or Masses on holy days of obligation.”

Rojas, who immigrated to the U.S. from

Mexico in his youth, added that those

dispensed from their obligation should

“maintain their spiritual communion

with Christ and His Church” through

other means such as prayer, spiritual

reading, or watching a livestreamed or

broadcast Mass.

The announcement came days after

ICE agents entered two Catholic parish

properties in Montclair and Highland,

both in the Diocese of San Bernardino.

■ ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ could

affect archdiocesan projects

Solar projects in the Archdiocese of Los

Angeles could be affected by the “One,

Big, Beautiful Bill Act” signed into law by

President Donald Trump on July 4.

The new law significantly cut spending

for renewable energy, including a “direct

pay” program that allowed tax-exempt

faith-based organizations to utilize clean

energy tax credits through the IRS. The

tax credits could reduce the costs of an

energy project through money coming

back from the IRS, similar to a tax

refund.

The archdiocese had been working with

Catholic Climate Covenant’s Catholic

Energies program to put solar panels on

several of its schools.

The loss of federal energy credits would

likely result in a more expensive project

and less cost savings.

“It’s just making projects more expensive,”

Page Gravely, who heads the

Catholic Energies program, told National

Catholic Register.

■ Hundreds bring prayers from

LA to Guadalupe shrine

About 300 LA Catholics joined Archbishop José H. Gomez at the Basilica of

Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City on July 4 for a special Mass during the

Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ annual pilgrimage.

It was Archbishop Gomez’s sixth pilgrimage with LA Catholics to the basilica

in Mexico, the most visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world.

“We can ask Our Lady of Guadalupe to help us. And as we continue in this

pilgrimage, and in our lives, may we always seek Mary, and may she always lead

us to Jesus,” Archbishop Gomez said during his homily.

Before the Mass, the pilgrims processed in the basilica’s outdoor plaza carrying

flowers and the hundreds of prayer intentions collected online and at the Cathedral

of Our Lady of the Angels and Catholic Cemeteries.

Pilgrims

represented

several archdiocesan

parishes,

including St.

Bernard Church

in Bellflower, St.

Junipero Serra

Church in Lancaster,

St. Rose of

Lima Church in

Maywood, and a

delegation of 25

pilgrims from the

Church of Saint

Agnes in New

York City, among

others.

Carrying their tune abroad — The Providence Singers, an advanced choral ensemble at Providence High

School in Burbank, stopped at the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi as part of their tour of Italy, which also

included performances at the Church of San Moisè in Venice and the Church of Santa Trinità in Florence. |

PROVIDENCE HIGH SCHOOL

LA Catholics hold up a banner outside the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in

Mexico City. | ADRIAN MARQUEZ ALARCON

Y


V

IN OTHER WORDS...

Letters to the Editor

Pope Francis’ final message

Thank you for the wonderful article by Gregory Orfalea in the July 11

issue chronicling his time in Rome between the death of Pope Francis

and the election of Pope Leo.

I’d like to add a note, if I may, to the description of Francis’ tomb. The author

eloquently described the simplicity of the tomb in Santa Maria Maggiore, but I

think it’s worth reminding ourselves of the proximity of the burial site to the icon of

the Virgin Mary known as Salus Populi Romani, meaning Health (or Salvation) of

the Roman people.

This was a beloved icon for Pope Francis, and seeing it on TV struck me as a

powerful visual. By ensuring that his tomb is positioned near the icon’s location,

Francis was testifying not only to his love and devotion to Mary, but seemed to be

preaching his last sermon to us, as if to say: If you want to get to heaven, entrust

yourself to Mary! In the words of the ancient prayer, we ask her to pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death!

— Anne Biondi, Sherman Oaks

An incomplete description?

A news brief in the July 11 issue described slain Minnesota lawmaker Melissa

Hortman as a “loyal Catholic parishioner.” But I would have to ask: loyal to whom?

Definitely not the unborn, as Hortman was instrumental in codifying the right to

abortion in the state — an affront to the Catholic faith. Her archbishop called Rep.

Hortman an honorable public servant and a loyal Catholic. But I will pray for her

soul.

— Cindy Hagon, Santa Barbara

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.

Mass with our Mother

Archbishop Jose H. Gomez blesses pilgrims

outside the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe

in Mexico City during LA Catholics’

annual pilgrimage to Mexico on July 4. |

ADRIAN MARQUEZ ALARCON

“I wonder how people go

through things like this

without the Lord.”

~ Sandy Davis Kirk, a Kerr County, Texas, resident,

in a July 11 Religion News Service article on former

Camp Mystic campers reacting to the deadly floods

in the state.

“We are not made of iron,

but rather flesh and blood.”

~ Father Salvador Aguado Miguel, a Spanish priest,

in a July 10 Catholic News Agency article on the

importance of good mental health for priests.

“When father and mother

are united in faith, the

family becomes a fortified

castle, capable of resisting

temptation, evil, and moral

deviation.”

~ Archbishop Benedictus Hanno, Catholic

Archeparchy of Mosul in Iraq, in a July 10 Zenit

News article on 400 Iraqi children making their first

holy Communion.

“She was conceived with

ChatGPT.”

~ Mandy Hoskinson, a first-time mom, in a July 9

Rolling Stone article on women turning to artificial

intelligence to help them get pregnant.

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.

“We’re human beings, not

to be pushed around like

cattle.”

~ Annie Moody, a homeless woman on Skid Row,

in a July 10 LA Times article on how LA became the

epicenter of America’s homeless crisis.


IN EXILE

FATHER RONALD ROLHEISER, OMI

Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father

Ronald Rolheiser is a spiritual

writer; ronrolheiser.com

Poetry and spirituality

Who still reads poetry? In a digital

age and in a time when

the empirical has for the

most part replaced the spiritual, what’s

the value of poetry? What does it bring

to the table?

One of the intellectual giants of our

generation, Charles Taylor, in a recent

book, “Cosmic Connections, Poetry in

the Age of Disenchantment” (Belknap

Press, $29.95), answers that question.

Poetry is meant to reenchant us, to help

us see beyond the tedium of everyday

ordinariness, to see again the deep

innate connections among all things.

For Taylor, as children, we are in

touch naturally with the deep innate

connections among all things; however,

our normal growth and development

work at dissolving our original inarticulate

sense of cosmic order. But we sense

this loss and have an inchoate longing

to recover that sense of wholeness.

And that’s where good poetry can help

us.

When we experience something, we

don’t simply receive it, like a camera

taking a photo, we help define its

meaning. In Taylor’s words, “We do

not just register things; we re-create

the meaning of things.” Thus, like any

good work of art, the function of poetry

is to transfigure a scene so that the

deeper order of things becomes visible

and shines through. The French poet,

Stephane Mallarme, suggests that the

function of art is not to paint something,

but to paint the effect it is meant

to produce.

For Taylor, a good poem can do that.

How? By helping us see things from a

bigger perspective.

Wrapped up in our own lives, we are

too close and so absorbed that we cannot

properly name what we are going

through. “Poetry gives it a plot, a story,

and this in a way that gives it a dramatic

shape. We can now see our life as a story,

a drama, a struggle, with the dignity

and deeper meaning that it has. For

example, by giving poetic expression

to a distressful emotion, poetry allows

us to hold it at a distance. The business

of the poet is to make poetry out of

the raw material of the unpoetical. As

William Wordsworth once said, poetry

is “emotion recollected in tranquility.”

And to do that, the poet needs to

employ a different language.

Here’s how Taylor puts this: “Poetry is

the ‘translation’ of insight into subtler

languages. What cannot adequately be

understood in instrumental language,

namely, value, morality, ethics, love,

and art, requires explorations that can

only be carried out in other vocabularies.

The language of empiricism is

essentially an instrument by which we

can build a responsible and reliable

picture of the world as it lies before

us, but that world is no longer seen

as the site of spirit and magic forces.

Rather the universe is now understood

in terms of laws defined purely by

efficient causality.”

And he goes on: “So a crucial distinction

comes to the fore, between

ordinary, flat, instrumental language

which designates different objects, and

combines these designates into accurate

portraits of things and events, all of

which serve the purpose of controlling

and manipulating things. … [while] on

the other hand, truly insightful speech

[good art] reveals the very nature of

things and restores contact with them.

Poetic language gives us a sense that we

are called, we receive a call. There is

someone or something out there.”

Poetry parallels music as a paralinguistic

practice. But what has any of this to

do with spirituality, not least Christian

spirituality? Aren’t poetry and art purely

subjective and, as such, often amoral?

Taylor would sharply disagree insofar as

this pertains to good poetry and good

art. Good art, he suggests, is never a

matter “of shifting taste.”

Taylor suggests that the meanings we

experience in good poetry and art have

their place alongside moral and ethical

demands. Why? Because, for Taylor,

in good poetry and good art, “the

experience is one of joy and not just

one of pleasure.” The difference? “You

experience joy when you learn or are

reminded of something positive, which

has a strong ethical or spiritual significance,

whereas intense pleasure tends

to enfold you even more in yourself.”

For Taylor, joy awakens a “felt intuition”

which is not merely subjective.

It is an opening to the ontological, to

God.

Finally, quoting Baudelaire, Taylor

leaves us with this insight: “It is both

by poetry and through poetry, by and

through music, that the soul glimpses

the splendor beyond the grave; and

when an exquisite poem brings tears to

the edge of the eyes, these tears are not

the proof of an excess of enjoyment,

they are rather the testimony of an

irritated melancholy, of a postulation

of the nerves of a nature exiled in the

imperfect and which would like to seize

immediately, on this earth, a revealed

paradise.”

So, what has poetry to do with spirituality?

To recast St. Augustine: You have

made us for yourself, Lord, and when

poetry and music stir our hearts with

irritated melancholy, we recognize that

ultimately our rest lies in you alone.


In A.D. 325, a messy council in modern-day

Turkey saved the Church in its darkest hour, and

1,700 years later, Pope Leo wants to celebrate.

BY MIKE AQUILINA

THE FAITH OF NICAEA

A wall fresco

depicting the

First Council

of Nicaea in

the Sistine hall

of the Vatican

Library. | CNS/

CAROL GLATZ

Though he was struggling with

poor health, Pope Francis

announced last November that

he planned to visit Nicaea (Iznik, in

Turkey) in 2025.

Pope Leo, soon after his election,

voiced his intention to fulfill that plan

of his predecessor.

Why were both men so determined

to go as pilgrims to a Muslim city that

hasn’t had an active Christian community

in more than 100 years?

Because in that place, in A.D. 325,

a united Church laid the doctrinal

foundations for believers in every age

to follow.

Iznik is in the news this year because

1,700 years have passed since the

Council of Nicaea. Pope Francis made

the observance of this anniversary a

keynote of the Jubilee Year of Hope,

and Church leaders have expressed

great expectations for what might be

accomplished in 2025.

10 • ANGELUS • July 25, 2025

In its original historical moment, the

Council of Nicaea was an occasion

of hope — especially for the Emperor

Constantine.

It had been 13 years since he took

the imperial throne in Rome. Within

months of his conquest, early in 313,

he issued the Edict of Milan, which

legalized Christianity after centuries

of Roman persecution. Constantine

hoped that religious freedom would

help him achieve unity and peace

throughout the empire.

Though Constantine had not yet

undergone baptism, he gave credit for

his victories to the Christian God. As

ruler of the Western Empire, he took

an active interest in Church matters.

He was bothered by disagreements

among Christians and worried about

their potential for causing political

instability.

He urged bishops to meet in councils

to bring an end to disputes. In North

Africa, Christianity had been rent by

schism since the time of persecution.

From a distance, Constantine summoned

three councils there.

He also sponsored councils in Spain

and Gaul (modern France) and spared

no expense in encouraging attendance.

Each bishop received free transportation

— a carriage big enough to hold

the prelate and his entourage.

Constantine judged these regional

councils to be successful, and he was

pleased to see bishops cooperating and

coming to consensus.

Meanwhile, his own power grew. The

empire had been designed for rule by

four men, a Caesar and his deputy in

the West with a corresponding duo

in the East. In the year 324, however,

Constantine seized control of the

Eastern lands and declared himself sole

ruler. He was determined to bring unity

to the Roman world, the better to ward

off its enemies.

He was appalled, however, to find

the Eastern churches in a virtual state

of civil war — divided over the novel

doctrine of a man named Arius.

A priest of Alexandria in Egypt, Arius

preached that the divine Word (see

John 1:1) was not God in the same

sense that the Father was God. From

scattered Scripture verses, Arius argued

that the Son of God was neither coeternal

nor coequal with the Father.

Thus he denied the full divinity of the

Son of God, whom Arius described as

a creature, though the greatest of all

creatures.

Arius was skilled at preaching, and he

had a knack for summarizing his doctrine

in slogans, which spread rapidly

like the common cold. One popular

ditty went: “There was when he was

not” — that is, there was a time when

the Son did not exist.

The bishop of Alexandria, named

Alexander, condemned Arius for

undermining the most foundational

Christian tenets: the Trinity and the Incarnation.

Such beliefs had long been

enshrined in the liturgy and attested by

the Fathers.

So Arius was banished. But that left

him free to travel and make alliances

among other leaders in the Church

and government. He gathered support,

but also roused opposition. Soon, his

doctrine was dividing congregations in

many lands. There were disputes over

Church property.

Neighboring bishops

were divided over

how to handle the

situation.

In such matters,

Constantine, through

all his years of ruling,

had drawn upon the

counsel of a Spanish

bishop named Hosius

of Cordoba. During

the final years of

Roman persecution,

Hosius had suffered

for the Faith and

remained steadfast.

Historians believe it

was he who first persuaded

Constantine

to commit himself to

the Christian God.

Hosius had organized

the regional councils

that were dear to the

emperor.

But now the stakes

were higher. Arius’

claims struck at the

doctrine of God.

And the problem was

international, not

regional.

Hosius proposed

an unprecedented event — a Church

council that would be universal.

Constantine agreed and chose to host

it close to his own summer home, in

the city of Nicaea, where his influence

might be stronger.

The council convened in mid-May of

325 and closed a month later. The published

proceedings filled 40 volumes,

though none of them has survived.

Most of what we know about the Council

of Nicaea is what we glean from the

accounts of two eyewitnesses: Eusebius

of Caesarea, who had sympathies for

Arius, and Athanasius of Alexandria,

who was a young theological adviser to

Alexander of Alexandria.

The bishops gathered with great

ceremony. Athanasius testified that

Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s statue of the Roman Emperor

Constantine in the portico of St. Peter’s Basilica as

clergy process during the closing Mass of the Synod

of Bishops for Africa at the Vatican in this Oct. 25,

2009, file photo. | CNS/PAUL HARING

July 25, 2025 • ANGELUS • 11

Orthodox icon of

St. Athanasius. |

SHUTTERSTOCK

there were 318 in attendance. Most

were from the East, though the pope

sent two representatives, as he was too

old to travel.

Last to enter was Constantine himself,

his robes glittering with gold and gems.

He humbled himself by venerating the

old bishops who had suffered and still

bore wounds from persecution.

The emperor began with a speech

thanking God for the realization of his

desire: a meeting of the bishops of the

universal Church.

Then the floor belonged to the bishops

— who immediately broke out in

a verbal brawl. According to Eusebius,

“some began to accuse their neighbors,

who defended themselves, and recriminated

in their turn. In this manner

numberless assertions were put forth by

each party, and a violent controversy

arose at the very commencement.”

The cacophony at Nicaea is sometimes

portrayed as a conflict between

Apostolic Tradition and the Arian heresy.

But it wasn’t that simple. Some bishops

thought it imprudent to describe

the mystery of God. They preferred to

stick with language found in Scripture.

Others opposed Arius, but were uneasy

with the language

used to condemn

him. Still others

would gladly use

anything handy to

cudgel the man.

According to

Eusebius, Constantine

patiently

listened. And he

skillfully — over

the course of

weeks — guided

the discussion

toward consensus.

It was Constantine

himself (say

our witnesses)

who first suggested

use of

the Greek word

homoousios to

describe the

relation between

God the Father

and the Son of

God. Homoousios

means “consubstantial.”

The term met resistance from several

bishops. But as they deliberated, it

became clear that no term did the job

as well.

In the end, the Fathers of Nicaea

crafted a profession of faith tuned

precisely to their doctrine.

We believe … in one Lord Jesus Christ,

the Son of God, begotten of the Father

… Light from Light, true God from true

God, begotten, not made, consubstantial

with the Father.

Arius was exiled.

Then the bishops moved quickly

through other business. In the end, the

Council Fathers published 20 canons

that laid down law on matters great and

small.

They imposed a common date for the

celebration of Easter. They set a minimum

time for preparation before adult

baptism. They forbade priests from cohabiting

with women other than their

mothers or sisters. They insisted that at

least three bishops should be present at

the ordination of a bishop.

These are important disciplinary matters,

but they pale in significance and

authority before the doctrinal content

and binding power of the creed, which

is today recited at most Sunday Masses.

The council had solved the Church’s

besetting problem, achieved consensus,

and brought about unity.

That doesn’t mean it found an easy

fix. Arianism would wither for centuries

before vanishing.

Pope Leo XIV greets participants attending a

conference on the ecumenical implications of the

1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea June

7 in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace at

the Vatican. | CNS/VATICAN MEDIA

12 • ANGELUS • July 25, 2025

We look back on Nicaea from

the comfort and clarity of

a developed theology of

Church councils. We know conciliar

authority, and we respect it.

But the Fathers could not consult

centuries of history and reflection.

They made that history. Nicaea was the

first of the General (or Ecumenical)

Councils. The Catholic Church has

convened 20 more since then.

So it’s easy to see why Popes Francis

and Leo have wanted to go to Nicaea

as pilgrims. And it’s understandable

that they have harbored great hopes for

the anniversary. Some of the old issues

have returned to trouble us again —

like the ancient dispute over the date

of Easter. But we’ve added plenty of

new problems, too, and they need to

be remedied before all Christians can

share communion.

History teaches hope. Pope Leo has

learned that lesson.

He said in May: “My election has taken

place during the year of the 1,700th

anniversary of the First Ecumenical

Council of Nicaea. That Council represents

a milestone in the formulation

of the Creed shared by all Churches

and Ecclesial Communities. While we

are on the journey to re-establishing

full communion among all Christians,

we recognize that this unity can only

be unity in faith. As Bishop of Rome,

I consider one of my priorities to be

that of seeking the re-establishment

of full and visible communion among

all those who profess the same faith in

God the Father, the Son and the Holy

Spirit.”

That is the faith of Nicaea.

Mike Aquilina is a contributing editor

to Angelus and author of many books,

including “History’s Queen: Exploring

Mary’s Pivotal Role from Age to Age”

(Ave Maria Press, $16.95).

A seventeenth-century Russian icon

illustrating the articles of the creed. |

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

VICTOR ALEMÁN

Archdiocese of LA parish

leadership assignments for 2025

Archbishop José H. Gomez has approved

the following priests to be appointed

pastors, effective July 1, 2025.

Our Lady of the Angels Region:

Fr. David F. Callardo, Cathedral of Our

Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles

Fr. Roberto Rueda, Immaculate Heart

of Mary Church, Los Angeles

Fr. Paul A. Sustayta, Blessed Sacrament

Church, Los Angeles

Fr. William M. Wheeler, Our Savior

Church, Los Angeles

Santa Barbara Region:

Fr. Jose Maria Ortiz, La Purisima

Concepcion Church, Lompoc

San Fernando Region:

Fr. Luis Estrada, Guardian Angel

Church, Pacoima

Fr. Danilo Manzano Guinto, St. Cyril

of Jerusalem Church, Encino

Fr. Isaiah Mary Molano, OP,

St. Dominic Church, Los Angeles

San Gabriel Region:

Fr. Miguel Angel Ruiz,

Our Lady of the Rosary of Talpa

Church, Los Angeles

San Pedro Region:

Fr. Daniel Garcia, Our Lady of

Perpetual Help Church, Downey

Fr. Raymont Medina, St. Mary of the

Assumption Church, Whittier

The following clergy will be appointed or

reappointed administrators:


Fr. Juan Ayala, OMI,

St. Anne Church, Santa Monica

Fr. Gabriel Kang, St. Gregory

Nazianzen Church, Los Angeles

Fr. George A. Liwhuliwhe, SSJ,

St. Brigid Church, Los Angeles

Fr. Maxime J. Villenueve, OSA,

Our Mother of Good Counsel Church,

Los Angeles


Fr. Francis Aguilar, St. Mary

Magdalen Church, Camarillo

Fr. Paolo Garcia, St. Peter Claver

Church, Simi Valley

Deacon Donald Huntley, Our Lady of

the Assumption Church, Ventura


Fr. Patrick Ayala, Santa Rosa Church,

San Fernando

Fr. Andrew Hedstrom, St. Ferdinand

Church, San Fernando

San Gabriel Region:

Fr. Ambrose Udoji,

St. Thomas Aquinas Church,

Monterey Park

San Pedro Region:

Fr. Gregorio Hidalgo,

Nativity Church, Torrance

Fr. Michael John Sezzi, St. Bernard

Church, Los Angeles

14 • ANGELUS • July 25, 2025

Other 2025 Archdiocese of LA

clergy assignments

Associate pastors:


Fr. Francisco Ho Seok Jin, St. Gregory

Nazianzen Church, Los Angeles

Fr. Eusebio Llonoso, St. Monica

Church, Santa Monica

Fr. Deusdedit Najja, Our Savior

Church, Los Angeles (USC)

Fr. Pedro Valdez, Our Lady of Loretto

Church and St. Columban Church,

Los Angeles


Fr. Arthur Najera, St. Raphael Church,

Santa Barbara

Fr. Uriel H. Useda Sanchez CSsR,

Santa Clara Church, Oxnard

Fr. Daniel Vega, Our Lady of the

Assumption Church, Ventura


Fr. Diego Cabrera Rojas, SSC,

St. Rose of Lima Church, Simi Valley

Fr. Daniel Lopez, Holy Family

Church, Glendale

Fr. Jose A. Rivera Clemente,

St. Didacus Church, Sylmar

Fr. Alberto Chavez Duran, SDB,

St. Genevieve, Panorama City

Fr. Eric Mejia, St. Joseph the Worker

Church, Winnetka

Fr. Luis Mejia Zaragoza, Our Lady of

Grace Church, Encino

Fr. Henry Okeke, St. Peter Claver

Church, Simi Valley

Fr. Emmanuel Sanchez, Our Lady of

Perpetual Help Church, Santa Clarita

Fr. Jorge A. Soto Lugo,

Mary Immaculate Church, Pacoima

Fr. Florentino Victorino Benito, MSC,

Mary Immaculate Church, Pacoima

Fr. Joseph Van Vu, Our Lady of Peace

Church, North Hills

San Gabriel Region:

Fr. Mario Celestine Emuebie, Holy

Family Church, South Pasadena

Fr. Vincent Liwag, OSA, St. Lorenzo

Ruiz Church, Walnut

Fr. Walter A. Paredes, St. John the

Baptist Church, Baldwin Park

Fr. Martin Rodriguez, CORC,

St. Alphonsus Church, East LA

Fr. Carlos Villasano Zuniga, CS,

St. Andrew Church, Pasadena

Fr. Kamil Ziolkowski, St. Frances of

Rome Church, Azusa

Fr. Hoai Phong Vu, SDB, Immaculate

Conception Church, Monrovia

San Pedro Region:

Fr. Juan Gutierrez, St. Frances X.

Cabrini Church, South Los Angeles

Fr. Martin Joseph Varickanickal,

St. Joseph Church, Hawthorne

Fr. Ramon J. Reyes, St. Joseph Church,

Hawthorne

Fr. Jose Stalin Vidal Peñaranda,

St. Lucy Church, Long Beach

Fr. Jonathan D. Nestico, St. James

Church, Redondo Beach

Fr. Armando Javier Prado Flores, FM,

St. Gertrude Church, Bell Gardens

Fr. Jean Gregoire Tattegrain,

St. Hilary Church, Pico Rivera

Special assignment:

Fr. Marco Antonio Durazo, seminary/

faculty, St. John’s Seminary, Camarillo

Fr. Brian Humphrey, seminary/faculty,

St. John’s Seminary, Camarillo

Fr. Leon Hutton, rector, St. John’s

Seminary, Camarillo

Chaplain:

Fr. Jihoon Kim, St. Gabriel Korean

Catholic Center, Rowland Heights

Left Archdiocese:

Fr. Thaddeus Agbasonu, SMMM

Fr. Sarfraz Alam, OSA

Fr. Carlos Alarcon, OMI

Fr. Jerry Gutierrez

Fr. Jacob J. Hsich, O.Praem.

Fr. Kenneth I. Keke SSJ

Fr. Mark S. Mannion

Fr. Everardo Monroy Herrera, SSP

Fr. Peter Rogers. OP

Fr. Predheep Sathiyananthan, SVD

Fr. Kun-Yung Dominic Su, SDB

Fr. Stuart Wilson-Smith, CSP

Other changes:

Fr. Arockia Anthonysamy, MSFS,

resident, St. Louise de Marillac Church,

Covina

Fr. Joseph Thuan Nguyen, resident,

Our Lady of the Assumption Church,

Claremont

Fr. Roberto Raygoza Beltran, resident,

St. Frances X. Cabrini Church,

Los Angeles

Fr. Yesupadam Teneti, resident,

St. Elizabeth Church, Van Nuys

Fr. Alejandro Del Bosque, priest minister,

St. Mary Magadalen Church,

Los Angeles

Deacon Robert Miller, administrator

pro tem, St. Joseph Church,

Hawthorne

Fr. Gerald Osuagwu, administrator pro

tem, Sacred Heart Church, Lancaster

Fr. Hung Ba Tran, sabbatical

Fr. Arturo Velasco, senior priest,

St. Linus Church, Norwalk

Fr. Louie Reyes continues as associate

director of vocations for the Archdiocesan

Catholic Center, and will be associate

director of Queen of Angels Center for

Priestly Formation

Fr. Pedro Saucedo continues as director

of vocations for the Archdiocesan Catholic

Center, and will be director of Queen

of Angels Center for Priestly Formation

Fr. Paul Velazquez, resident, Cathedral

of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles,

continues as adjunct judicial vicar in the

Marriage Tribunal Office

Retired:

Fr. Riz J. Carranza

Fr. Perry D. Leiker

Fr. Modesto Lewis Perez

Msgr. David A. Sork

Fr. Paul Spellman

July 25, 2025 • ANGELUS • 15

‘THE BEST

PASTOR’

Then-Father Joseph Sartoris

with a first communicant

while pastor of St. Margaret

Mary Church in Lomita. |

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Fellow clergy and

laypeople alike

say LA’s Bishop

Joe Sartoris was

‘everything you

wanted in a priest.’

BY MIKE NELSON

Father Joseph Sartoris’ priesthood ordination

picture, 1953. | SUBMITTED PHOTO

On a Saturday morning in October

1978, Mike Molina was

working in the rectory office at

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Church

in Lomita when the doorbell rang. He

answered it to find a tall, smiling priest

with an outstretched hand.

“Hi,” said Father Joe Sartoris. “I’m

your new pastor.”

For Molina, that encounter was the

start of a working relationship with Sartoris

that evolved into a close friendship

lasting nearly 50 years.

Since his death June 27 — four days

before his 98th birthday — late LA

Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Martin Sartoris

is being remembered by friends and

associates like Molina across the Archdiocese

of Los Angeles for his warm,

pastoral presence.

“As a person and as a priest, he was

exactly the same — just a very real,

kind, and loving person, a fun person

with a great sense of humor,” said Auxiliary

Bishop Marc Trudeau, current

San Pedro Pastoral Region bishop, the

role Bishop Sartoris held from 1994 to

2003.

“Joe loved being around people,

and people flocked to him. And every

parish priest, when you mention Joe’s

name, say he was the best pastor, the

best presence, a good shepherd —

everything you wanted in a priest.”

Bishop Oscar Solis of Salt Lake City,

who succeeded Sartoris as auxiliary

bishop for the archdiocese’s San

Pedro Pastoral Region (and preceded

Trudeau), called him “a dedicated

shepherd and my big brother in the

16 • ANGELUS • July 25, 2025

Father Sartoris’ first Mass of

Thanksgiving, Holy Family

Church, Glendale, 1953. |

SUBMITTED PHOTO

everyone. There were also many seminarians

who did their internships at St.

Margaret Mary, and they all benefitted

from Joe’s example.”

When Trudeau was made a bishop

in 2018, he asked Sartoris to be his

co-consecrator.

“Joe advised me to be close to the

priests and parishes,” he said. “He had

a desire to be open and inclusive when

it came to serving the Church. And I’ve

tried to be the same in my ministry.”

‘Holy, warm, caring’

“Bishop Joe was a true son of Vatican

II,” said Molina, now retired as St. Margaret

Mary’s director of liturgy but still

active at the parish. “He loved implementing

the reforms, especially when it

came to full conscious, active participation

of assembly, and in developing

new ministries that engaged the entire

community.”

episcopal ministry” who was a mentor

and a “source of inspiration” during his

time in Los Angeles.

“He was truly a gentleman around all

people, clergy, religious, and the laity

who engaged himself with everyone

around him with great interest, enthusiasm,

and joy,” Solis told Angelus.

“I am grateful for his exemplary

commitment to God, the Church, and

the people of God he served that taught

me a lot. I join the people of God of

the archdiocese in prayer and sadness

but filled with hope in God’s promise

of eternal life.”

‘He remembered everyone’

When LA priest Father Pat Mullen

was ordained in 1985, his first parish

assignment was at St. Margaret Mary.

“It was a joyous unfolding of priesthood

for me, to serve with Joe Sartoris

as my pastor,” said Mullen, now pastor

at Padre Serra Church, Camarillo.

“When I made mistakes, Joe would say

to me, in a very kind way, ‘What have

you learned from this?’ That gentle,

loving approach helped me grow as a

priest. And he had a genuine concern

for the welfare of everyone in the

parish.”

Trudeau recalled being assigned as

pastor to St. Pius X Church in Santa Fe

Springs in 2001, where he first worked

closely with Sartoris. He later served

as pastor of St. Margaret Mary, and

learned firsthand the mark his predecessor

had made as pastor.

“Joe was so loved and well-respected,

it was like he never left,” Trudeau

noted.

“He’d come back for baptisms, weddings

and so forth, and he remembered

Sartoris, left, at Nativity Parish in South Los

Angeles, the first parish where he served as

pastor. | SUBMITTED PHOTO

Those ministries included those

serving and involving youth, the Spanish-speaking,

and the poor.

“Father Joe insisted that we were one

community, worshipping as one people

of God, and he made it a hallmark of

his pastorate,” said Molina.

“We were so lucky to experience

that time and place in the life of our

church.”

When then-Msgr. Sartoris was named

July 25, 2025 • ANGELUS • 17

auxiliary bishop overseeing the San

Pedro Region in 1994, “we had mixed

emotions,” admitted Molina, whose

1988 wedding to his wife, Teresa, was

officiated by the monsignor. “We were

happy that he was named a bishop

because he was certainly deserving, but

we were sad to lose him as pastor. But

the entire region, and the archdiocese,

gained a wonderful pastoral leader.”

Donna Morris-Barnes, who cantored

at St. Margaret Mary while Sartoris was

pastor and then served nearly 30 years

as liturgy and music director at several

parishes in the San Pedro Region,

remembered Bishop Sartoris as “a very

holy, warm, caring person who loved

being with people. He was a musician

himself, a pianist, and he was always

so appreciative of what we as music

ministers provided.”

She recalled how, in the 1990s during

the Croatian War of Independence,

Sartoris came to Mary Star of the Sea

Church in San Pedro, home to a large

Croatian Catholic community.

“A lot of Croatian parishioners had

lost loved ones during the ethnic

cleansing that took place,” Morris-Barnes

said. “Bishop Joe came to

speak to the community, to calm them

down. He had a wonderful way of

Bishop Sartoris greets Pope Francis in St. Peter’s

Square, 2015. | SUBMITTED PHOTO

letting people know that everything was

going to be OK.”

‘Meaningful, moving, spiritual’

LA Catholics close to Sartoris fondly

recall his homilies — and the speaking

voice he used to deliver them.

“I can still hear that

great, deep voice that

carried across a room, and

I can still recall his homilies

— so meaningful, so

moving, so spiritual,” said

Inga Duranovic, director

of operations for Catholic

Travel Centre, Burbank,

which arranged many

Sartoris-led pilgrimages

to Europe and the Holy

Land.

“Bishop Joe was a

favorite among Catholic

Travel Centre’s overseas

guides, who were touched

— as we in our office

were — by his assuring

presence, his good-natured

perspective, and his

genuine gratitude,” said

Bishop Joe celebrating his 50th

anniversary of priesthood ordination,

St. Margaret Mary Church, 2003. |

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Duranovic, who traveled on several of

his pilgrimages. “He always offered that

beautiful smile and a kind word.” That

was clear, Molina noted, from the moment

he met his new pastor in 1978.

“We will always remember him

outside the church, after every Mass,

greeting people with that big smile and

those huge velvet hands,” he said. “It

was important for him to greet people,

because that was how he helped form

community.

“And after he retired as bishop, he

insisted on doing confirmations well

into his 90s, saying, ‘I want to meet our

young people, because they need to

know they have a place in this church.’ ”

“Joe found joy in ministry,” added

Mullen. “At St. Margaret Mary, he

started a Spanish-speaking ministry

and an outreach ministry for the poor,

in addition to ministries for youth and

women and men. There would be

three different things going on at once

around the parish every night, and Joe

was at the heart of it all.

“He was confident in who he was as

a person and a priest,” said Mullen.

“There was a beautiful humility and

strength about him that everyone who

knew him will always treasure.”

Mike Nelson is the former editor of The

Tidings (predecessor of Angelus).

18 • ANGELUS • July 25, 2025

July 25, 2025 • ANGELUS • 19

‘I can feel her

presence’

Hundreds gathered

in Covina to welcome

the U.S. debut of a

new Marian statue

soon to be displayed

at an LA-area shrine.

STORY BY

NATALIE ROMANO /

PHOTOGRAPHY BY

PETER LOBATO

Archbishop José H. Gomez stands in front of the

“Mary, Mother of Fairest Love” statue as he helps

consecrate the faithful to the Blessed Mother at St.

Louise de Marillac Church in Covina on June 26.

Those entering the church

couldn’t help but stop and stare.

They were drawn to the beautiful

statue of “Mary, Mother of Fairest

Love,” her face so serene as she nestles

the baby Jesus, her love flowing gently

like the waves in her hair and the folds

in her gown.

James Chen was enraptured.

“I feel like I’ve seen the mother of

Christ,” said Chen, a parishioner at St.

Timothy Church in Laguna Niguel. “I

can feel her presence. The artist must

have poured out his love for Christ

into this statue.”

More than 700 people packed St.

Louise de Marillac Church in Covina

for the sculpture’s welcome Mass on

June 26. Archbishop José H. Gomez

celebrated the liturgy, which included

the enthronement of “Mary, Mother of

Fairest Love,” and the consecration of

the faithful to her.

The statue’s debut in the United

States coincided with the feast day of

St. Josemaría Escrivá, a Spanish priest

who founded Opus Dei and promoted

devotion to “Mary, Mother of Fairest

Love,” a title from the biblical book of

Sirach.

Archbishop Gomez, whose own

vocation to the priesthood was formed

by Opus Dei, told believers why it was

important to consecrate their lives to

Mary.

“We are Mary’s children and Jesus

calls us to love her as he loves her,”

said Archbishop Gomez during his

homily. “With all our heart and soul.

So, tonight we will consecrate ourselves

and our families to Mary; we

make our lives a gift of love to her.

“All our desires and dreams, all

20 • ANGELUS • July 25, 2025

More than 700 people filled St. Louise de

Marillac Church in Covina for a welcome

Mass for the statue’s United States debut.

our ambitions and plans. We offer

everything to Mary. And we know that

if we seek Mary, she will always lead us

to her Son.”

Archbishop Gomez then commenced

with the rite of enthronement.

He blessed the statue with holy water,

then asked everyone to commit themselves

by reciting the Act of Consecration

of the Family to Mary, Mother

of Fairest Love. Cheerful applause

followed.

“I just felt the love so intensely,” said

Ivan De Herrera Jr., a parishioner at

Holy Name of Mary Church in San

Dimas. “She’s there to guide us to him

and bring us to him. … We just need

to pray.”

The Fairest Love Family Project

commissioned the statue in 2021. The

independent nonprofit organization

works in cooperation with Opus Dei

and provides spiritual support and

resources to families.

Opus Dei member Judy Romea Adams

traveled from Northern California

to witness the enthronement. At her

lowest moment, Adams says she turned

to Mary, Mother of Fairest Love.

“I’ve gone to her during the hard

times of my childbearing journey,” Adams

said as she held her infant daughter.

“Before I got pregnant with her, I

lost one pretty late, I had a stillbirth.

“Now my hands are full.”

In 1928, St. Josemaría established

Opus Dei to encourage both clergy

and laypeople to seek holiness in their

everyday lives. He believed in the value

of Marian shrines and envisioned

one in America.

“We want to help fulfill the dreams of

St. Josemaría,’’ said JL Marti, CEO of

The Fairest Love Family Project. “Los

Angeles, with the entertainment industry,

is a major place of influence. It’s

where we forge values and where we

form ideas of what a family is. That’s

why we want it here.”

While the statue is complete, the

shrine is a long way off. Marti said the

next step is to open a Chino Hillsbased

chapel and retreat house, then

build a shrine where the sculpture will

be relocated, which could take many

years. In the meantime, St. Louise de

Marillac will serve as a pilgrimage site

for visitors drawn to the Mary statue.

The statue, which stands about 7 feet

tall, was crafted and blessed in Italy

and brought to California with the

help of a few major donors. Carrara

marble gives it its bright, white color,

signifying the purity of Mary. Other

highlights include a rose with thorns

to symbolize the passion of Christ and

a wedding ring to acknowledge Mary’s

role as a wife.

The man behind the masterpiece is

American sculptor Cody Swanson,

who’s now based in Florence. He said

his aim was to glorify God and bring

people closer to him.

“My inspiration was to create a work

that invites you to prayer,” said Swanson,

a renowned Catholic artist. “I

wanted it to be something that speaks

to people with different backgrounds

but is also connected to the rich tradition

of our faith … classic and fresh at

the same time.”

Marie Hellrich declared the Mary

Cody Swanson, an American artist now based in

Italy, was the sculptor who created the 7-foot-tall

“Mary, Mother of Fairest Love” statue.

sculpture “gorgeous” and was happy

that so many people came to see it.

Hellrich and her husband have been

members of Opus Dei for 20 years and

wanted their five children to look to

Mary for support.

“Mary is close to our family because

she is closest to Jesus,” said Hellrich,

a parishioner of The Holy Name of

Jesus Catholic Community Church

in Redlands. “She is our guiding light

and our example and we ask for her

intercession.”

Luis Cetina said he’s “working

towards a saintly life” and sees Mary as

a role model for obedience and unity

with Christ.

“There’s no better teacher than

Mary,” said Cetina, a parishioner of

St. Peter and St. Paul Church in Alta

Loma. “Mary offers me a perfect example

of how a husband should be in

terms of loving my wife and raising my

kids in concert with my wife.”

With the statue in place, St. Louise

pastor Father Richard Sunwoo hopes it

will help his parishioners grow in faith

and even join the project’s mission. He

says his involvement with Opus Dei

has made him a better priest.

“It really invigorated my love for the

Mass, for the Eucharist, for Our Lady,”

Sunwoo said. “I think Pope Francis

really said it best when he said, roughly,

‘We should share our faith like one

beggar telling another beggar where to

find the bread.’ I think that for me, I

have found the bread.”

Natalie Romano is a freelance writer

for Angelus and the Inland Catholic

Byte, the news website of the Diocese of

San Bernardino.

July 25, 2025 • ANGELUS • 21

OF GODS AND

DOGS IN GOA

This year, I made a pilgrimage to St. Francis

Xavier’s tomb in India with the help of

a cargo ship. I returned with one more

prayer yet to be answered.

BY RAFAEL ALVAREZ

“India has two million gods and

worships them all. In religion, all other

countries are paupers. India is the only

millionaire.”

— Mark Twain

The difference between me and

Mark Twain, aside from the

number of readers we can claim,

is that I have been to India and he

never made it. And he was off by several

million deities in the land that spawned

Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and

Sikhism several millennia before the

arrival of Christians and their insistence

on one God.

On my 67th birthday, traveling here

alone, I prayed the rosary to the Creator

Built in the early 1600s, the Basilica of Bom

Jesus in Goa, India, houses the remains of Jesuit

St. Francis Xavier. | SUBMITTED PHOTO

22 • ANGELUS • July 25, 2025

of all things seen and unseen on a string

of psychedelic beads in a 16th-century

church built by the Portuguese.

Along with the Taal Basilica in the

Philippines, Goa’s Basilica of Bom

Jesus — a 420-year-old pile of black

granite — is considered the largest

Roman Catholic church in Asia. Inside

and out, it is spectacular in a dark and

quiet way, almost as if it would prefer to

be left alone.

The Basilica — “bom” meaning

“good” — is a UNESCO World Heritage

Site, more a shrine than a parish,

though Mass is celebrated regularly. It

was about to close when I arrived early

in the evening a few weeks ago. I held

up my just purchased, not-yet-blessed

rosary to an usher – beads speckled

green and yellow and orange and blue,

shining like penny candy — and was

allowed to slip into a cordoned off pew.

It was Saturday and I embarked upon

the Joyful Mysteries depicting the

Savior’s childhood. It begins with the

Annunciation, empowered with the

essence of humility spoken by a teenager:

“May it be done to me according to

Thy word. …”

On one of the beads I said a prayer

of thanks that I’d finally made it to the

subcontinent after decades of trying.

As Saul Bellow wrote, a man can get

“held up here for a week, there for a

decade. …”

It wasn’t until the recent deaths of

A sculpture of St. Francis Xavier in the Basilica

of Bom Jesus. | SUBMITTED PHOTO

my parents after several years of elder

care that a way was made for me to

experience the strange and vivid beauty

of India, a land of brilliant color, lush

flora, ruins beyond ruin and Hindu

rituals found nowhere else on earth.

The adventure started with passage on

the Maersk Kinloss cargo ship (where I

pocketed an errant rosary in the vessel’s

library) from Long Beach to Busan,

South Korea. From there I flew south

to Ho Chi Minh City where I gave a

talk to a class of second graders on what

the writing life is like. After Vietnam it

was a jump to Kerala in southernmost

India on the Malabar Coast, where

spices not found in Europe have been

traded since about 2,000 B.C.

An overnight train from Thiruvananthapuram,

the Kerala capital, took

me to Goa. Peas, potato, and instant

coffee for breakfast. The passing

countryside, complete with snow white

egrets, reminded me of the swamps

of Louisiana. At other times it looked

like “Apocalypse Now” if Coppola had

dotted the jungle with pink and purple

houses alongside statues of the Virgin

Mary.

From my hotel in New Goa I hired

a taxi to take me a half-dozen miles to

Old Goa. My cabbie, like many in this

part of the country, had adorned his

dashboard with Catholic sacramentals:

rosary beads, small crucifixes, figurines

of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

One driver had a small sculpture of

Michelangelo’s “Pietà” to the left of the

steering wheel, which are on the right

hand side of cars in India as they are

in Britain, which ruled the country for

two centuries.

Upon arrival, my driver pointed out

the entrance. Rising like a fortress beyond

large rectangles of golf course perfect

grass dotted with huge banyan trees

— the edifice shaded “burnt umber,”

the color of a favorite Crayola crayon

— lay the object of my ramblings.

From my seat at the far back of the

sanctuary — three stories, 183 feet long

by 55 feet wide — the splendor of the

Faith spread out before me. A dark

marble floor embedded with precious

stones leads to a trio of altars. Those on

each side of the tabernacle are dedicated

to St. Michael the Archangel on the

right. The other honors Our Lady of

Hope.

July 25, 2025 • ANGELUS • 23

Dogs rest outside Goa’s

Basilica of Bom Jesus during

the author’s visit in May

2025. | SUBMITTED PHOTO

I’m familiar with many of the honorifics

by which the Blessed Mother

is known, particularly Our Lady of

Lourdes, who intervened in my life for

the better in 1990 when I visited her

shrine in France. But I did not know

that Our Lady of Hope — for whom

scores of parishes are named around

the world — derives from her 1871 appearance

in Pontmain, France, during

a Prussian invasion.

In one of the apparitions there to a

group of children (her preferred audience),

Mary said that “my Son allows

Himself to be moved with compassion.”

Which is why I pray the rosary.

After making it three-quarters of the

way around the beads another guard

leaned in to say they were locking up in

three minutes. I made it to the front to

stand before Xavier’s tomb for a silent

moment.

With all respect to the Savior and his

mother, to the right of the 44-foot-high

main altar rests the star of this particular

show: St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552)

under glass and entombed in a silver

casket.

One of the great Catholic missionaries,

Xavier is said to have converted

more than 30,000 people and complained

in letters that his arms would

get so weary from baptizing people that

at times he couldn’t lift them.

In small ways, my journey to the East

was not unlike Xavier’s expeditions

centuries ago except that he traveled

on foot and wooden ships to spread

hallowed stories, while I bobbed across

the Atlantic and Pacific on mammoth

tubs of steel to collect them. Xavier

went from place to place with sacred

water and holy oils; I wandered with

a notebook and pen, a rosary in my

pocket to give away to whoever might

cross my path with an interest. Buy one,

give it away, replace it, repeat.

Xavier’s body — minus his right arm,

a relic housed in Rome — is said to be

virtually incorruptible. It is exhibited

every 10 years on his Dec. 3 feast day

before enormous crowds, part of an

estimated 4 million annual visitors to

the basilica.

Above the altar is a statue of St.

Ignatius of Loyola, Xavier’s compañero,

fellow Basque and co-founder in

1534 with him of the Society of Jesus.

Xavier’s elder by 15 years, Ignatius is

shown looking skyward toward a seated,

muscular, and bare-chested Christ with

a cross over his shoulder like a rifle.

Dividing their missionary routes,

Ignatius remained in Europe while

Xavier went to the Far East, having

said that he wanted to “go where there

are out-and-out pagans. …” If he were

still with us I’d direct his zeal to a few

bastions of alleged Christianity here in

the States. Then again, as a wise man

from Argentina famously said a few

years ago, “Who am I to judge?”

Xavier brought the Gospel to Japan,

Borneo, the Maluku Islands — the

Spice Isles — and Shangchuan Island

off the Chinese coast, where he died

before making it to the mainland.

(I found it poignant that St. Frances

Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917) took his

name out of her own desire to preach to

the Chinese. Sent to minister to Italian

immigrants in the 19th-century slums

of New York by Pope Leo XIII, Cabrini

never made it to China either.)

Before Xavier’s island hopping near

China, there was India, where he

founded missions in Cochin and Travancore.

He landed in 1542 with orders

from the Portuguese King John III to

24 • ANGELUS • July 25, 2025

bring wayward colonists — not just

sailors and merchants but miscreants

recruited from prison and the streets

— back to the One Holy and Apostolic

Church.

Xavier got to India a half-century

after Vasco de Gama and the first

ships from Lisbon landed in 1498. By

then many of the original settlers were

grandparents to children more Indian

than Portuguese, their homes following

the native customs of the families into

which they had married.

Jesus Jimenes, the cabbie who drove

me to Bom Jesus, is one of some 21

million people (about 2% of the most

populous country on earth) baptized

Catholic in India. Pointing out one of

the many Catholic churches on the

route from New Goa to Old, Jimenes

said he attends Mass faithfully. His

parents were married in the Faith

before 1961, the year that the Republic

of India took Goa back from Portugal

by force.

It was still a bit light outside when

the doors closed behind me. Outside,

prostrate on the stone path that divides

the lawn leading to the church lay three

nearly identical dogs with blonde fur.

It reminded me of the great Joe

Cocker 1970 live album “Mad Dogs &

Englishmen,” taken from a Noel Coward

song mocking the British Empire:

“Only mad dogs and Englishmen go

out in the midday sun.”

A little research led me to the millions

of deities referenced by Twain, back to

Yama, the Hindu and Buddhist god of

death who guards the road to the afterlife

with two dogs. The pair — Sharvara

and Shyama — have four eyes each,

the better to ensure that wicked men do

not sneak into heaven.

In search of cold water, I passed a bewildered

beggar on the sidewalk, seated

and swaying with his back against a low

wall. I’m not even sure he was asking

for money but I passed him a 500 rupee

bill — about six bucks — anyway.

Immediately a well-dressed woman

approached soliciting funds, she said,

for a local school. The apron she held

open was feathered with cash.

I pointed to the man at our feet, a

soul who may have benefited in his

youth from good schooling or any at all.

“Already gave,” I said. She frowned, as

though I had flushed the money down

a toilet, and moved on.

The following evening in Mumbai the

trip abruptly ended when a cluster of

bacteria exploded in my guts. I rushed

home to great concern, a trip to the

hospital, a call from the local health

department wanting to know where

I’d been and a few “I told you so” from

loved ones who’d questioned the prudence

of the trip before it began.

None of it was easy, not by a stretch.

And though I would not have said this

when a trio of E. coli in league with a

norovirus took me down in Room 403

of the Mumbai Airport Holiday Inn, I’ll

say it now.

I want to go back and finish the rosary

I began as the sun began to set behind

the Basilica Bom Jesus in the Land of

the Golden Bird.

Rafael Alvarez is an author and

screenwriter based in his hometown of

Baltimore. He is currently writing a book

about his decades-long experience with

the rosary. If you have any good stories

about praying the beads, please contact

him via orlo.leini@gmail.com.

Indian priests and devotees carry the remains of St. Francis Xavier from Bom Jesus Basilica

to Se Cathedral in Goa on Nov. 21, 2004. The exposition of his remains happens

once every 10 years. | OSV NEWS/ARKO DATTA, REUTERS

July 25, 2025 • ANGELUS • 25

AD REM

ROBERT BRENNAN

Going to Mass as a tourist, or pilgrim?

The Chapel of the

Holy Cross is pictured

surrounded by red rock

formations in Sedona,

Arizona, on June 28. |

OSV NEWS/BOB ROLLER

It’s no secret that traveling, something a lot of people do

this time of year, does plenty of good for the body and the

mind. It helps us break with routine while promising the

potential for new experiences. It also can make one pine for

something new or have a greater appreciation for what awaits

them at home.

But for a Christian, traveling as a pilgrim does something

more. It does good for the soul.

When I say “pilgrim,” don’t think that I’ve just visited

Mary’s house in Ephesus (Turkey) or walked the Camino de

Santiago in northern Spain — although I hope to do both

sometime soon.

Rather, my pilgrimage experience came during a visit to

family in northern Arizona over an extended and very secular

recent American holiday.

It is a long drive, about eight hours plus if you include stops

to eat and rest. Add to this equation a 6-year-old grandson

who asks approximately 21.4 questions per mile and insists

on calling out the names of every car we see based on the

manufacturers’ logos he has somehow put to memory, and

that trip can feel a lot longer. Once there, we had a grand

time with my brothers, nieces and nephews, and their expanding

families.

It always goes fast, a good sign of how beneficial these visits

are, but eventually our departure day arrived. It landed on a

Sunday. A good chunk of that extended family gathered one

last time at the 8 a.m. Mass, another tradition that, due to the

scattering of the clan across the continental United States,

has become much less frequent than I like. But that’s just the

way life goes, I guess.

When Mass ended and we said our goodbyes, my wife and I

girded ourselves for the eight-hour return drive with a 6-yearold

grandson strapped in a car who never met a question he

did not like.

As I prayed for patience (thank you St. Monica) and prayed

for safe travels with gratitude for the opportunity to spend

time with my family, I thought about the Mass we had just

left and how beautiful but different it was from our home

parish back home. When people, who will remain nameless,

spend too much time worrying about the state of things in

the Church, they tend to see the cloud that resides within

every silver lining and believe cataclysm for the Church is

26 • ANGELUS • July 25, 2025

Robert Brennan writes from Los Angeles, where

he has worked in the entertainment industry,

Catholic journalism, and the nonprofit sector.

just one ill-informed internet exposé away.

My experience at that Sunday Mass in Arizona proved to be

the tonic for such silly worrying. It was Catholic life on full

display. Babies were crying all over the place. A toddler was

misbehaving in the pew in front of us, I almost got kicked in

the head. Dad took him out (he came back a sadder but wiser

toddler, and Mass continued uninterrupted). The Gospel

was about Jesus sending his disciples out to spread the word

and here I was, receiving that word in my travels. My own

spiritual rhythm synchronized with the familiar cadence of

worship that surrounded me.

That’s not to say this parish has everything “right” or “figured

out.” Its demographics (age, ethnicity, for example) are

different from my home parish’s, and also differs in some of

the ways the Mass is celebrated. But in the end, those things

fall to the wayside when the bloodless sacrifice is reenacted

on that altar whether that altar be glistening marble, hewn

granite, or polished oak.

Masses look different and the same simultaneously. It is

a very Catholic way of looking at the world, and attending

Mass as a “tourist” makes it even more pronounced. I have

attended Masses in countries where I did not understand

a single word of the vernacular of the Mass or could decipher

particularly cultural rubrics, yet I still knew what was

happening on that altar and was filled with that same sense

of belonging.

As I drove through the Mojave Desert and patiently (thank

you St. Monica … again) answered every question about

every automobile company logo that my grandson did not

recognize, and a couple of questions on heaven, hell, and

purgatory thrown into the mix, I realized how blessed and

fortunate I am.

We made it back home safely, we survived the inexhaustible

inquisition from a 6-year-old, and I will be going to Mass

in my own parish with a renewed sense of joy and peace. Tolstoy

famously said all happy families are alike and unhappy

ones are different. When it comes to the Church and all her

enclaves around the country and around the world, the minutiae

of their differences is outweighed by the overpowering

force of Christ’s love for pilgrims wherever they may be.

July 25, 2025 • ANGELUS • 27

NOW PLAYING LEON DE PERU

PORTRAIT OF A MISSIONARY

Floodwaters, sex-trafficking victims, and lots of chickens:

A Vatican film traces Leo’s Peruvian path to the papacy.

BY AMY WELBORN

Bishop Prevost would often brave

the water and mud to hand out

aid and supplies during the 2017

flooding in Peru caused by El Niño.

| SCREENSHOT VIA YOUTUBE

Y ahora el mundo lo baila así … /

Porque el Papa es Peruano/Es chiclayano/El

es el Papa León!

If you were watching for white

smoke on television back in May,

you probably knew the identity of

Peter’s next successor sooner than I did

— and I was right there in St. Peter’s

Square!

Yes, after the Habemus Papam, I

heard “Roberto”— but then nothing

but muddled Latin through the cheers.

It wasn’t until a friend’s single-word text

from Alabama successfully got past the

phone signal congestion in the Square

that I understood “Prevost.”

Who? Well, I knew the name (an

American pope, seriously?) but not

much more beyond what I saw that day

from the loggia: a man speaking fluent

Italian and Spanish, reading, intriguingly,

from a prepared text. Like you, since

then, I’ve learned a great deal about

his family background and childhood,

his Augustinian identity, and in general

terms, about his years in Peru.

On that last point in particular,

Vatican News is here to help. Within

weeks of his election, the agency produced

and released a moving 45-minute

documentary, “Leon de Peru.”

Watchable on Vatican News’ YouTube

channels, it is valuable not only for

what it tells us about the past, but hints

at the future.

And the world dances like this …

because the pope is Peruvian, Chiclayano!

Those lyrics from the song

“La Cumbia del Papa,” featured in the

film, capture the tone: pride, joy, and

gratitude. Gratitude not simply that the

beloved “Padre Roberto” is now the padre

of the whole Church, but gratitude

for him and what he brought to their

communities: unity, attentive listening,

and openness, all rooted in a deep,

straightforward faith and commitment

to the Works of Mercy.

Following the chronology of the

Holy Father’s time in Peru, we begin

28 • ANGELUS • July 25, 2025

in Chulucanas and Trujillo, where

Prevost, while working with Augustinian

formation from 1985 to 1986, and

1988 to 1989, also engaged in pastoral

ministry.

Catechists, parishioners, and Prevost’s

fellow Augustinians speak of a humble,

hardworking priest. Mentioned most

frequently are the qualities of calmness,

simplicity, approachability, and attentiveness.

An Augustinian describes his

confrere’s process of decision-making:

“Look, reflect, observe, pray, think.” A

catechist remembers him as a man, not

of many words, but of definitive action.

From 1998 to 2015, Prevost lived

outside Peru as he served in various

capacities in the Augustinian order. But

in 2014, he returned as bishop of Chiclayo,

near the northern coast of the

country, where he served until 2023,

when Pope Francis called him to Rome

to lead the Dicastery for Bishops.

This second period in Peru was

marked by two major crises: Severe El

Niño flooding in 2017 and the COV-

ID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Colleagues and parishioners recalled

how Bishop Prevost met these crises:

not at a distance, but hands-on. In the

aftermath of the floods, he would “go

right into the mud, step in, serve, help,

and share.”

“He would go with us as part of the

team, driving the trucks, carrying

the aid kits,” one collaborator in the

Diocese of Chiclayo recalled. “And he

would guide us, hand out supplies and

bless the people.”

In early 2020, Prevost was given an extra

job by Francis: to serve as temporary

administrator of the Diocese of Callao,

near the capital of Lima. That coincided

with the onset of the coronavirus

pandemic, which took a particularly

heavy toll on Peru in its early days.

In the documentary, the pastor and

some residents of the impoverished

town of Pachacútec north of Callao

recalled how Prevost was instrumental

in helping the residents survive the

economic crisis brought by COVID.

Sources of income — markets, mototaxi

driving — disappeared during the

shutdown. How would they survive?

Chickens, that’s how. Prevost arranged

for the delivery of 4,000 chickens a

week to the area during the worst of

it — as well as medicine, water, and a

few pigs.

Not all crises are sudden and dramatic.

Others are endemic and ongoing.

The film documents Prevost’s care for

immigrants — mostly from Venezuela,

prisoners, and movingly, women driven

to sex work. Sylvia Vázquez, herself a

survivor of trafficking and rape, details

how Prevost worked with the Adoratrice

Sisters in this apostolate, celebrating

Mass for the women they worked

with and listening to their stories.

What shines through at every stop in

this journey through Prevost’s time in

Peru, is his foundational understanding

of the unity of the corporal and

spiritual works of mercy as well as a

commitment to collaboration rooted,

not in slogans or abstract schema, but

in the reality of living and working

together as the Body of Christ.

“Leon de Peru” helps us answer the

question everyone is asking: Who is

Pope Leo? But it does so not simply

by listing his human qualities. More

importantly, it offers a window into

how accompanying and serving God’s

people in the midst of joy and suffering

prepared him to assume the office of

the Successor of Peter.

That was something Leo himself

acknowledged in the words he spoke

in Spanish on the loggia of St. Peter’s

Basilica on May 8, when he thanked

his “beloved Diocese of Chiclayo …

a faithful people has accompanied its

Bishop, shared its faith and given so

much, so much, to continue being a

faithful Church of Jesus Christ.”

Amy Welborn is a freelance writer living

in Birmingham, Alabama, and the

author of more than 20 books. Her blog

can be found at AmyWelborn.wordpress.

com.

During the COVID pandemic, Bishop Prevost helped

organize the delivery of thousands of chickens to

residents in Peru going through difficult times. |

SCREENSHOT VIA YOUTUBE

July 25, 2025 • ANGELUS • 29

DESIRE LINES

HEATHER KING

SHUTTERSTOCK

The mystery of

unseen beauty

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they

will see God.”

— Matthew 5:8

Hiking in the mountains above

LA not long ago, I spied a single

scarlet penstemon, almost

lost amidst the chaparral. Bending

down to peer more closely — the

saffron innards, the stamen shrouded

with delicate lettuce-green hairs — I

was suddenly seized with the mystery

of all the unseen beauty in the world.

Some little flower in the forest that

lives and, unheralded, dies. The late

pianist Glenn Gould, playing a Bach

partita alone in his Toronto studio at

night, the fading notes unheard except

by him. My friend Maureen, suffering

from mouth cancer: the crooked part

in her hair as she bent to spit into a

Ralphs grocery bag; her white hand as

it moved across the notepad writing

messages — because talking hurt too

much: beautiful, every cell of her, and

when she died, where did that beauty

go?

It seems we should die of sorrow for

all the beauty that’s forever gone; for

the beauty that we defiled, or were too

blind to see. The paintings, sculptures,

poems, and symphonies over which

unknown artists labored their whole

lives and their next of kin tossed casually

onto the trash heap. The beauty of

St. Maria Goretti, the Italian girl who,

in 1902, was stabbed to death for refusing

to yield her virginity. The beauty of

Christ as he hung on the cross, a virile,

emotionally sensitive 33-year-old man,

scourged, spat upon, his body butchered.

Resurrection.

One thing the Resurrection seems to

say is that beauty never goes unseen;

it doesn’t go to waste. Another is that

pain and suffering, if consciously undergone

in love, give us the eyes to see

beauty to which the world is blind.

30 • ANGELUS • July 25, 2025

Heather King (heather-king.com) writes memoirs, leads workshops,

and posts on Substack at “Desire Lines: Books, Culture, Art.”

Twenty-five years ago, my father died.

At the age of 78, he was worn out: a

retired bricklayer with congestive heart

failure, liver disease, and a diabetes-induced

gangrenous ulcer inching up

one leg.

My seven brothers and sisters and I

came home to New Hampshire and,

for a week, sat vigil with him in the

family living room. We were there,

along with our mother, when he

breathed his last.

We held hands around him, and said

the Lord’s Prayer, and then the hospice

nurse and my brother Tim carried my

father from the armchair over to the

hospital bed and, preparing to bathe

him, removed his pajamas.

I’d never seen my father naked, and

what shocked me — sent a pang to

my own groin — was not his nakedness,

but his beauty: his shoulders, the

whiteness of his loins, his ruined feet.

There is Christ, I thought wonderingly.

That is Christ.

I am only five years younger than my

father was when he died. “Everything

that’s ripe wants to die,” Nietzsche

said, a thought that seems to rise to

mind each time I look in the mirror.

To lose our looks (such as they were,

or are) is painful, but maybe the less

beauty we have, the more we’ll want to

share; the more we’ll realize that whatever

beauty we have is not to keep for

ourselves, or to dole out to the people

who will give us something in return.

It’s for everyone and everything. The

crackhead on the corner. Children.

Old people — especially old people.

The little flower in the forest — even if

I never see it — is somehow for me.

Would life be life if we never died?

Would beauty be beauty if we knew

it would never fade? Even in the

resurrection, Christ resisted returning

unscarred, “whole” — for then he

would no longer have been like us.

“The End of FIRPO in the World,”

published in “Pastoralia” (Riverhead

Books, $18) by contemporary writer

George Saunders, is one of the most

beautiful short stories I know.

The protagonist is a boy who, like us,

is not cared for enough, appreciated

enough, noticed enough; like us,

knows it’s due at least in part to his

own defects; like us, thinks too late of

the snappy comeback and fantasizes

about putting his adversaries in their

place.

He’s riding around his suburban

neighborhood one summer afternoon,

plotting innocent revenge on the

people who’ve slighted him, when he’s

blindsided by a car, flies off his bike,

and bounces off a tree. He’s lying on

the sidewalk, mortally wounded, when

a Christ figure comes upon him, all

the more Christ-like because, as Christ

usually is, he’s in disguise: an old man

with coffee breath and “hairy nips.”

The boy is twitching in a pool of

blood. “Oh boy, oh God,” the man

says. “Say something, pal, can you

talk?” The boy is dying and, like most

of us will when our time comes, wishes

he could have done better, made his

mother happier, lost some weight.

He is thrashing, and the old man

bends over him and whispers, “You are

beautiful, beautiful. God loves you,

you are beautiful in His sight.”

A strange thing happens upon reading

those words: this clumsy boy, who

thinks he’s done everything wrong,

does become beautiful in our eyes.

And by saying them, the old man

with hairy nips — the one we barely

notice — becomes beautiful, too.

July 25, 2025 • ANGELUS • 31

LETTER AND SPIRIT

SCOTT HAHN

Scott Hahn is founder of the

St. Paul Center for Biblical

Theology; stpaulcenter.com.

A little pilgrim way

If you’ve spent time in Catholic circles on social media,

you’ve seen photos of sweaty, dusty people walking the

Camino — the pilgrim way to Santiago de Compostela

in Spain. Almost half a million complete the trek every

year, and Americans make up the largest contingent, second

only to the Spaniards.

According to tradition, Compostela is the final resting

place of Santiago (St. James the Apostle). And, since ancient

times, Christians have made the journey to honor his

memory and ask for his intercession.

This year, his feast, July 25, falls within the term of this

issue of Angelus. I have never hiked the Camino. But

perhaps you and I can together make a “Way” to St. James

through the Scripture.

He was the son of Zebedee and brother of John. James

was originally a Galilean fisherman, and Jesus called him,

along with his brother, while they were in a boat with their

father (Matthew 4:21).

Until that moment, James probably considered himself a

disciple of Jesus. He followed the teaching of this particular

rabbi. But now the Master was calling him to something

greater. The Greek word apostolos, from which we get

“apostle,” is likely a translation of the Hebrew shaliah. And

we don’t have a precise match for that word in English. It

means “emissary,” but not in the sense of a glorified messenger.

A shaliah bore not just a message, but the authority

of the one who sent him. In the “Mishnah,” the rabbis

declared that “a man’s shaliah is as himself.”

Indeed, Jesus thought of his own incarnation in such

terms, and he compared his sending of the apostles to the

Father’s sending of him into the world: “As the Father has

sent me, even so I send you” (John 20:21).

James had a sense of the privilege of his calling, and both

he and John responded with zeal (Mark 10:37–39 and

Luke 9:49, 54). They felt they were ready to do anything

for Jesus.

The Master showed affection for them in many ways. He

gave them a nickname: “Sons of Thunder.” More significantly,

James and John were, with Peter, members of the

trio of disciples who accompanied Jesus at special moments.

Only those three were present to witness the raising

of Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5:37). Only they were on site for

the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2). And only they were called

apart to pray with Jesus during his agony (Matthew 26:37).

Among the elite, then, he was part of a greater elite. He

“St. James the Greater,”

by Guido Reni, 1575-

1642, Italian. | WIKIME-

DIA COMMONS

is known in tradition as “James the Great” to distinguish

him from the other apostle named James, who was perhaps

younger or smaller.

But his true greatness lies elsewhere. Of all the apostles,

he was the first to prove himself willing to “drink the cup”

of Jesus’ suffering. He was beheaded at the command of

King Agrippa of Judea in A.D. 44. His death is the only

martyrdom of an apostle reported in the New Testament

(Acts 12:2). In time his relics were borne to Spain.

If we cannot make it to Compostela this year, let’s honor

the apostle in our hearts and imitate him for his zeal.

32 • ANGELUS • July 25, 2025

■ SATURDAY, JULY 19

Eucharistic Procession on Skid Row. St. Francis Xavier

Church, 222 S. Hewitt St., Los Angeles, 7 p.m. Join the

Sisters and Friars PJC and LA priests for a special procession

to bring Jesus to the homeless and forgotten of society.

■ THURSDAY, JULY 31

Accompaniment Through Illness and End of Life Workshop.

St. Vincent DePaul Church, 621 W. Adams Blvd.,

Los Angeles, 7 p.m. The gathering will offer practical and

spiritual guidance for accompanying parish community

members in need. Call 213-749-8950 to register.

■ FRIDAY, AUGUST 1

National Film Retreat: Communicate Hope with Gentleness.

Pauline Media Studies, 3908 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver

City. The retreat runs Aug. 1-3. Participants will pray cinema

divina style, with five films (including “Audrey’s Children”

and “Sunshine Cleaning”) around the retreat theme. Cost:

$150/person, all meals and snacks provided. Advance registration

required. Visit pauline.org/events or call Sister Hosea

at 310-890-8226.

■ SATURDAY, AUGUST 2

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.

■ MONDAY, AUGUST 4

Natural Family Planning Instruction Session: Marquette

Method. St. Augustine Church, 3850 Jasmine Ave., Culver

City, 7 p.m. Open to all couples in the Archdiocese of Los

Angeles. Call Rene Trabanino at 657-229-0008 or email

rtrabanin@yahoo.com.

■ TUESDAY, AUGUST 5

C3 Conference: Navigating Forward. Bishop Amat High

School, 14301 Fairgrove Ave., La Puente. The two-day

conference by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles C3 team is

dedicated to elevating education and well-being. Runs Aug.

5-6. Visit c3.la-archdiocese.org.

■ THURSDAY, AUGUST 7

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.


The Art and Soul of Journaling: “I Wanna Hold Your

Hand” — The Beatles. Holy Spirit Retreat Center, 4316

Lanai Rd., Encino, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. With Chantel Zimerman.

Visit hsrcenter.com or call 818-784-4515.

■ SUNDAY, AUGUST 10

Eight-day Silent Directed Retreat: At The Heart of All

That Is. Holy Spirit Retreat Center, 4316 Lanai Rd., Encino,

4 p.m.-Sunday, Aug. 17, 1 p.m. With Sister Chris Machado,

SSS, and the retreat team. Visit hsrcenter.com or call 818-

784-4515.

■ TUESDAY, AUGUST 12

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.

■ THURSDAY, AUGUST 14

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.


SCRC Catholic Renewal Convention: “A New Hope.”

Anaheim Marriott Ballrooms, 700 W. Convention Way,

Anaheim, 9 a.m. Runs Aug. 16-17, event features speakers

including Msgr. Stephen Rossetti, Father Robert Spitzer, and

Sister Regina Marie Gorman, OCD. Register at events.scrc.

org. Call or text 818-771-1361 or email spirit@scrc.org.

■ FRIDAY, AUGUST 22

20th Anniversary National Conference for Single

Catholics. Omni Interlocken Hotel, 500 Interlocken Blvd.,

Broomfield, CO. SoCal singles are invited to the NCSC

annual in-person conference, running Aug. 22-24. Features

speakers on dating, growing in faith, finding community,

and forming lasting marriages. Mass, confession, adorations,

dance, vendors, and receptions available. Visit nationalcatholicsingles.com.


New Things: A Retreat Day of Renewal for Grieving

Mothers and Grandmothers. American Martyrs Church,

700 15th St., Manhattan Beach, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Mothers

and grandmothers who have experienced loss are invited to

find hope and healing by opening their hearts to the peaceful

invitations of God. Includes intentional presentations,

experiential activities, and connections with other grieving

mothers. Led by Father Jim Clark, Ph.D., and Rita Morton.

Suggested fee: $120/person, includes breakfast and lunch.

Financial assistance available. Visit sacredsorrows.org or

email rita@sacredsorrows.org.

■ TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2

Pilgrimage to Rome for the Canonizations of Carlo Acutis

and Pier Giorgio Frassati. Auxiliary Bishop Matthew

Elshoff and several LA priests will be leading a Sept. 2-8

pilgrimage to Rome, Italy, for the canonization of the two

Italian blesseds by Pope Leo XIV at a special Sept. 7 Mass at

the Vatican. Cost: $3,795 per pilgrim. Call 213-249-4201 or

visit www.asiatoursexpert.com to sign up.

■ SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6

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.

One Mother, Many Peoples Mass. Cathedral of Our Lady

of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, 10 a.m.-

12:30 p.m. Begins with procession and multilingual rosary.

Celebrant: Archbishop José H. Gomez. Join to pray for peace

and unity through the intercession of Our Lady of the Angels.

Mass will be livestreamed on facebook.com/lacatholics

or on the One Mother, Many Peoples webpage.

■ TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9

Memorial Mass. San Fernando Mission, 15151 San Fernando

Mission Blvd., Mission Hills, 11 a.m. The Mass is open to

the public. Limited seating. RSVP to outreach@catholiccm.

org or call 213-637-7810. Livestream available at Catholic-

CM.org or Facebook.com/lacatholics.

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.

July 25, 2025 • ANGELUS • 33

Angelus News | July 25, 2025 | Vol. 10 No. 15

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