Angelus News | November 14, 2025

ANGELUS

TOUCHED BY

HOLINESS

LA welcomes the relics

of two special saints

November 14, 2025 Vol. 10 No. 23

November 14, 2025

Vol. 10 • No. 23

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ON THE COVER

REESE CUEVAS

A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy is blessed with a first-class

relic belonging to St. Carlo Acutis after a special Mass with inmates

and officers inside Men’s Central Jail on Oct. 20. On Page 10, Angelus

had an exclusive look inside the surprise jail service featuring

the relic brought from Italy. On Page 13, Natalie Romano captured

some of the devotion inspired by the rare visit of relics belonging

to another popular saint, Thérèse of Lisieux, to Southern California

in October.

THIS PAGE

REESE CUEVAS

Father Miguel Ángel Ruiz, pastor of Our

Lady of the Rosary of Talpa in Boyle

Heights, blesses a traditional alfombra

at Calvary Cemetery in East LA’s Oct. 25

Día de los Muertos event. The artwork

depicts two of the Catholic Church’s

newest saints, Carlo Acutis and Pier

Giorgio Frassati.

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

18

20

24

26

28

30

Catholic celebs headline Christian Service 4LIFE at cathedral

Dodgers’ comeback World Series win celebrated by LA Catholics

‘Nostra Aetate’ at 60: Where it came from and where it’s going

Grazie Christie: Confessions of a brand-new empty-nester

Joe Joyce reviews Amazon’s ode to late Catholic funnyman John Candy

Heather King: A journey into Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel’s soul

November 14, 2025 • ANGELUS • 1

POPE WATCH

The true task of education

The following is adapted from Pope Leo

XIV’s homily during Mass for All Saints’

Day, celebrated Saturday, Nov. 1 in St.

Peter’s Square. At the Mass, St. John

Henry Newman was officially declared

a “Doctor of the Church.” Newman was

also officially recognized as co-patron of

education the same week.

Pope Francis once said that we

must work together to set humanity

free from the encircling gloom

of nihilism, which is perhaps the most

dangerous malady of contemporary

culture, since it threatens to “cancel”

hope.

This reference to the darkness that surrounds

us echoes one of St. John Henry

Newman’s best-known texts, the hymn

“Lead, Kindly Light.” In that beautiful

prayer, we come to realize that we are

far from home, our feet are unsteady,

we cannot interpret clearly the way

ahead. Yet none of this impedes us,

since we have found our Guide: “Lead,

Kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom,

Lead Thou me on!”

The task of education is precisely to

offer this “Kindly Light” to those who

might otherwise remain imprisoned by

the particularly insidious shadows of

pessimism and fear.

So, let us disarm the false reasons for

resignation and powerlessness, and let

us share the great reasons for hope in

today’s world. Let us reflect upon and

point out to others those “constellations”

that transmit light and guidance

at this present time, which is darkened

by so much injustice and uncertainty.

In the field of education, the Christian

gaze rests on those who have come “out

of the great tribulation” mentioned in

the Book of Revelation and recognizes

in them the faces of so many brothers

and sisters of every language and

culture who, through the narrow gate

of Jesus, have entered into the fullness

of life.

And so, we must ask ourselves, “Does

this mean that the less gifted are not

human beings? Or that the weak do

not have the same dignity as ourselves?

Are those born with fewer opportunities

of lesser value as human beings?

Should they limit themselves merely to

surviving?” The worth of our societies,

and our own future, depends on the

answers we give to these questions, and

the evangelical value of our education

also depends on the answers we give.

Newman once wrote, “God has

created me to do Him some definite

service; He has committed some work

to me which He has not committed to

another. I have my mission — I never

may know it in this life, but I shall be

told it in the next.”

These words beautifully express the

mystery of the dignity of every human

person, and also the variety of gifts

distributed by God.

Life shines brightly not because we

are rich, beautiful, or powerful. Instead,

it shines when we discover within

ourselves the truth that we are called by

God, have a vocation, have a mission,

that our lives serve something greater

than ourselves. Every single creature

has a role to play.

At the heart of the educational journey

we do not find abstract individuals but

real people, especially those who seem

to be underperforming according to the

parameters of economies that exclude

or even kill them. We are called to form

people, so that they may shine like stars

in their full dignity.

Papal Prayer Intention for November: Let us pray that those

who are struggling with suicidal thoughts might find the

support, care, and love they need in their community, and be

open to the beauty of life.

2 • ANGELUS • November 14, 2025

NEW WORLD OF FAITH

ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ H. GOMEZ

Discovering Jesus in the creed

Later this month, Pope Leo XIV

will visit the ancient city of Nicea,

now known as Iznik, in Turkey.

The occasion is to mark the 1,700th

anniversary of the Council of Nicea,

a gathering of bishops that established

the truth about Jesus and gave us the

creed that we still recite in every Sunday

Mass.

From the Latin credo, meaning “I believe,”

the creed is the official summary

of what we believe as Catholics.

In the early Church, long before there

were printed copies of the Gospels,

preachers, teachers, and ordinary believers

needed a way to profess and share

their beliefs. The various creeds and

“rules of faith” gave them a common

language.

This language comes from the

apostles, who often used short summary

statements in their teaching. St. Paul,

for example, writes to the Corinthians:

“Christ died for our sins … he was buried

… he was raised on the third day

in accordance with the scriptures.”

Today candidates for baptism still

profess their faith using these words.

During the Easter Vigil, they renounce

Satan and affirm each article of the

creed in response to the priest’s questions,

a practice that dates back to the

first Easter celebrations.

We learn these articles of faith by heart

beginning in childhood. But as the

Catechism tells us: “We do not believe

in formulae, but in those realities they

express, which faith allows us to touch.”

Our faith is not an agreement with a

set of ideas. The creed is more like a

prayer that connects us with a divine

Person, drawing us deeper into the mystery

of Jesus, who calls us to know him,

to love him, and to change our lives to

be like him.

The creed is a summary of what Jesus

taught and revealed — about himself,

about God, about the Spirit, about human

nature and human destiny, about

the Church and heaven.

But it is more than that. These beliefs

shape how we see the world and

understand God’s expectations for our

lives; these beliefs change our priorities

and form our actions; they give substance

to what we hope for.

When we say there is only one God

who made everything in heaven and

earth, we confess our belief in his providence.

We believe he is in charge of his

creation, that he holds our lives in his

hand, that he is at work in society and

in the events of history.

When we say this God is our Father,

we recognize that we are more than

mere creatures. We are in truth God’s

children, and his desires for us are a

Father’s desires, he wants only what is

good for us, he wants only that we find

love and happiness.

We profess that the Son of God was

“begotten, not made, consubstantial

with the Father.” This odd word “consubstantial,”

homoousion in Greek, is

the only word in the creed not taken

from the Scriptures.

The bishops at Nicea chose this word

to tell us an essential truth — that Jesus

shares the same nature as the Father.

And because he is “true God and true

man,” he can enter his creation and

transform our humanity, making us

sharers in his divine nature.

As St. Athanasius, one of the heroic

bishops of Nicea, explained: “For the

Son of God became man so that we

might become God.”

This is the deep meaning of the salvation

that Jesus came down from heaven

to bring us.

When we say he suffered and died “for

our sake,” we recognize that our lives

are part of the divine plan; we understand

how precious we are to God. Jesus’

love becomes the reason for everything

we do.

In the creed we affirm that we live

now by the Holy Spirit, who gives us

When we say there is only one God who made

everything in heaven and earth, we confess our

belief in his providence.

new life at baptism, brings about the

forgiveness of our sins, and makes us

children of God.

We walk now by the light of the Spirit,

following the way of Jesus, living as one

family in his Catholic Church, looking

forward to the day when he will fulfill

all his promises, in “the resurrection

of the dead and the life of the world to

come.”

Our Catholic faith is thrilling. We

should feel the excitement every time

we pray the creed. We are part of the

wonder of creation, loved by a God

who becomes one of us so that we can

share our lives with him forever.

Pray for me and I will pray for you.

And let us ask for the intercession of

the Virgin Mary, in whom Our Lord

was “incarnate … and became man.”

May she help us to rediscover her Son

in the creed and grow in our desire to

live the good and beautiful life that he

taught us.


WORLD

■ Spain now has the

world’s tallest church

Barcelona’s Basilica of the Sagrada Familia is now

the world’s tallest church after a part of its central

tower was lifted into place Oct. 30.

The basilica was designed by acclaimed architect

Antoni Gaudí, a devout Catholic being investigated

for sainthood. Started in 1882, work on the basilica

has been slow since his unexpected death in 1926.

It now stands 543 feet tall, overtaking the tip of the

spire of the cathedral of Münster, Germany, which

measures 530 feet.

The basilica is expected to be completed next year

for the centenary of Gaudi’s death. When completed,

the top of the Sagrada Familia will reach 564 feet.

Workers guide a crane as it lifts a part of the “Tower of Jesus Christ” into place on the

Sagrada Familia. | SAGRADA FAMILIA BASILICA

A desk bearing signs of shelling in a school where displaced people protected themselves in

el-Fasher, Sudan, Oct. 7. | OSV NEWS/MOHYALDEEN M ABDALLAH, REUTERS

■ Sudan’s ‘forgotten war’ gets worse

Catholic leaders in Sudan want the world to pay more attention

to a paramilitary army’s siege that has left tens of thousands trapped

without basic necessities.

Gunmen reportedly killed more than 460 people in a hospital in

an Oct. 28 rampage by the Rapid Support Forces, which captured

the city of el-Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur region after an 18-month

siege.

Meanwhile 260,000 civilians — including 130,000 children —

remain trapped in the area’s main camp for internally displaced

people, without access to aid or communications, according to

reports.

Credible reports “point to widespread violations, including summary

executions, house-to-house raids, sexual violence, and attacks

along escape routes preventing civilians from reaching safety,”

according to United Nations officials.

Aid group UNICEF said that children in the camp risk starvation

because the agency’s lifesaving nutrition services are being blocked.

“We cannot accept what is happening in el-Fasher. While the

international media are silent about Sudan, we cannot forget,” said

an appeal for Sudan by the Comboni Missionaries on Oct. 17.

“Dozens of women, men, and children have already lost their lives

due to lack of food.”

■ Brazilian cardinal calls

for reconciliation after bloody

shootout with gangs

The archbishop of Rio de Janeiro called on Catholics

not to “feed hatred, nor respond with indifference” but

to “be seeds of reconciliation” after the bloodiest police

raid in the city’s history.

The Oct. 28 operation, which involved some 2,500 officers,

targeted the city’s “Red Command” gang in Rio’s

northern favelas and left more than 130 people dead,

including four officers. Police said the raid also led to

the arrest of 113 suspects and the seizure of dozens of

firearms and more than a ton of drugs.

“We cannot accept that organized crime continues

to destroy families, oppress residents, and spread drugs

and violence across cities,” said Cardinal Orani João

Tempesta of Rio de Janeiro in a message released hours

after the raid. “We need coordinated work that strikes

at the backbone of drug trafficking

without putting police, children,

and innocent families at risk.”

Brazil’s president said his government

will investigate the circumstances

of the raid.

Families grieve Oct. 30

outside a morgue after

the raid in Rio de Janeiro’s

“favela do Penha.”

| OSV NEWS/ALINE

MASSUCA, REUTERS


NATION

■ Bishop, Jesuits challenge

Hegseth over Wounded

Knee decision

A South Dakota bishop and Jesuits in that

state rejected a top White House official’s

claims over the legacy of the Wounded Knee

Massacre.

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced

in late September that 19 “brave

soldiers” who participated in the 1890

massacre, in which around 300 Lakota

Native Americans were killed, would keep

their Medals of Honor following a reexamination

of their bestowal in 2024 by the Biden

Administration.

In a joint statement Oct. 20, Bishop Scott

E. Bullock of Rapid City and the De Smet

Jesuit Community of West River warned that

“to recognize these acts as honorable is to

distort history itself,” citing testimonies and

military investigations from over the years.

“Those who died at Wounded Knee are sacred.

Jesus stands with all who suffer and die

at the hands of others,” they wrote. “Those

who committed the violence are also sacred;

for this reason, Jesus offers them mercy and

healing. Yet the acts themselves were grave

evils and cannot be honored.”

■ Trump IVF proposal gets

mixed reaction from bishops

Catholic leaders are not happy with President

Trump’s plan to increase access to

in vitro fertilization (IVF). But they’re also

relieved he didn’t fulfill a campaign pledge to

mandate its coverage in insurance plans.

Trump’s Oct. 16 announcement urged

employers to offer fertility benefits directly to

their employees. But while the U.S. Conference

of Catholic Bishops expressed gratitude

for “aspects” of his policies involving ethical

forms of “restorative reproductive medicine,”

it warned that “harmful government action

to expand access to IVF must not also push

people of faith to be complicit in its evils.”

Doug Wilson, CEO of the Catholic Benefits

Association, told OSV News the group is

grateful Trump decided not to mandate

coverage of IVF, “given the concerns that

Catholic employers have about the destruction

of unborn children in the IVF process

and its removal of conception from the union

of spouses.”

Tell it to the priest — Father Richard Miserendino waits to talk with students Oct. 16 outside the

campus coffee shop of the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The campus

ministry chaplain says he sits outside the cafe twice a week as part of a “ministry of presence.” What do

students talk to him about? “Sometimes, they’re a bit more theological. Sometimes they’re a bit more

heart,” he told OSV News. “Sometimes people are just lonely, and they just want to talk.” | OSV NEWS/

MARY SHAFFREY, DIOCESE OF ARLINGTON

■ Minnesota: Last Annunciation

shooting victim leaves hospital

The last student hospitalized

from the Annunciation

Church shooting in Minneapolis

is home.

Twelve-year-old Sophia

Forchas had suffered a gunshot

wound to the head during the

Aug. 27 shooting at Annunciation’s

all-school Mass that

killed two students and injured

21 others. During her recovery,

she was placed in a medically

induced coma and had part of

her skull removed to control

brain swelling.

Doctors, who said she was

nearly brain dead when she

arrived at the hospital, have

called her recovery “miraculous.”

“We are humbled by the

countless individuals across the

globe who have lifted her up in

prayer,” the family wrote in a

statement.

Sophia Forchas and her father, Tom Forchas, were greeted

with signs and cheers as they exited a limousine Oct. 23, just

after her release from Gillette Children’s Hospital in St. Paul.

A police escort led by Minneapolis’s police chief stopped at

Hennepin County Medical Center in downtown Minneapolis

for a brief visit with hospital staff who treated Sophia. | OSV

NEWS/DAVE HRBACEK, THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT


LOCAL

■ LA Archdiocese

launches singing contest

for Las Mañanitas

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is

inviting singers of all ages to participate

in a singing contest where the winner

will be chosen to sing live during the

annual Las Mañanitas celebration to

Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 11 —

the evening before her feast day.

Potential performers can send in a video

or audio file of them singing a song

from a preselected list. The deadline to

submit entries is Nov. 14; the winner

will be announced on Dec. 1.

The yearly Las Mañanitas vigil at the

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

celebrates Our Lady of Guadalupe

with a night of prayer and songs, often

with notable Catholic and Grammy

Award-winning singers and musicians

performing.

Learn more about the contest and

apply at lacatholics.org/guadalupe-serenata.

■ Tijuana archbishop

dies after three-year

cancer battle

Archbishop Francisco Moreno Barrón,

who served as the Metropolitan Archbishop

of Tijuana since 2016, died on

Oct. 26 after a long battle with cancer.

He was 71.

Since 2022, the prelate had been

fighting mesothelioma, a rare, aggressive

type of cancer. Last year, Moreno

Barrón had released a statement updating

his flock on his illness, calling the

cancer part of “the path that God has

laid out for my happiness and satisfaction.”

Born in Salamanca, Guanajuato, in

1954, Moreno Barrón was ordained

a priest in 1979 and served in several

parts of Mexico before he was appointed

to lead the Archdiocese of Tijuana

by Pope Francis in 2016.

His years in Tijuana were marked by

outreach to migrants, collaboration

with local parishes and civic leaders,

and an emphasis on hope and unity in

the face of hardship.

■ South LA priest, parish

honored at Black Catholic event

Anderson Shaw, left, director of the AACCFE, presents the Sankofa Award to Father

Kenneth Ugwu, SSJ. | MYRON MCCLURE PHOTOGRAPHY

The African

American Catholic

Center for

Evangelization

(AACCFE) presented

the Sankofa

Award for Unity

to Father Kenneth

Ugwu, SSJ, and

Holy Name of

Jesus Church in

South Los Angeles

during its annual

luncheon event

on Oct. 18.

The award is

annually given

to local Catholic

parishes, communities,

and organizations that “have demonstrated exceptional commitment to

fostering unity, collaboration, and harmony.”

Holy Name of Jesus Church, a historically Black parish, is staffed by the Josephites,

a religious order that has long served African Catholics.

Specially designed commemorative stoles and lapel pins featuring the Sankofa

symbol were also given to priests and deacons of African descent at the event.

The 2024 award was given to Father Jude Umeobi and St. Eugene Church in

South Los Angeles.

Blessings abound — Archbishop José H. Gomez joined employees for a blessing and reopening ceremony Oct.

14 at Parishioners Federal Credit Union’s offices in Torrance. The credit union also presented a $100,000 gift to

the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. | PARISHIONERS FCU


V

IN OTHER WORDS...

Letters to the Editor

Don’t dismiss ‘neurodivergency’

Heather King’s column in the Oct. 31 issue (“The place no human

should go”) was disrespectful of people who are neurodivergent or on

the autism spectrum. First, she lists a number of disorders, life conditions, and

problems that have nothing to do with autism and then promptly describes them as

being “behaviors on ‘the spectrum.’ ” Then she writes: “ ‘Neurodivergent’: give me

a break.”

To diminish other people’s struggles or pain, to assume such a mocking tone is

uncalled for.

— Gisele Fontaine

The author’s response:

Neurodiversity is not a medical term, condition or diagnosis, but rather a nonmedical

term that arose around 2000 for those who have differences in the way their

brain works. That said, my profound apologies if I conflated neurodiversity with

autism (which is apparently a subset of neurodiversity), and special apologies if I

sounded flippant or uncaring.

Far from being insensitive to the plight of those whose brains may work slightly

or significantly different than the norm, I thought I made it clear that I included

myself in that group.

The point in naming just a few possible deviations from the norm was to express

my horror at the thought of trying to engineer such differences out of the human

person.

— Heather King

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.

Up close and personal with saints

Msgr. Anthony Figueiredo, left, and Deacon Fermin Gomez

present relics of St. Carlo Acutis during a visit to Los Angeles’

Men’s Central Jail on Oct. 20. Southern California Catholics

were treated to relic tours of both St. Carlo and St. Thérèse

of Lisieux in the month of October. | REESE CUEVAS

“Don’t let the algorithm

write your story.”

~ Pope Leo XIV, in an Oct. 30 address to university

students at the Vatican as part of the Jubilee of the

World of Education.

“Christ never left the

school.”

~ Tommy Turner, superintendent at Battiest Public

Schools in Oklahoma, in an Oct. 22 ProPublica

article on the conservative quest for more Christian

public schools.

“I don’t question a left turn

from God.”

~ Victor Fontanez, a former celebrity barber, in an

Oct. 27 People article on opening the first licensed

barber school in a California state prison.

“No one should go hungry

because of politics.”

~ Lovebite Dumplings, a restaurant in Phoenix, on

its Instagram page Oct. 27 offering anyone with an

EBT or SNAP card a free meal.

“At night, people come by

and ask if they can stay

here. I say the whole place

is blown apart.”

~ Father Thomas Ngigi, a priest at St. Theresa of

the Child Jesus Church in Black River, Jamaica,

interviewed by The New York Times for a Nov.

3 story. The church was destroyed by Hurricane

Melissa last month.

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.

“My guess is Leo may try to

do a lot by not doing a lot

publicly.”

~ James Rodio, a Latin Mass devotee from Ohio, to

the Associated Press after a rare Tridentine Mass at

St. Peter’s Basilica amid speculation that Pope Leo

XIV may lift restrictions on the old rite.


IN EXILE

FATHER RONALD ROLHEISER, OMI

Oblate of Mary Immaculate Father

Ronald Rolheiser is a spiritual

writer; ronrolheiser.com

The psalms as prayer

“God behaves in the psalms in ways

he is not allowed to behave in systemic

theology.”

That quip from Sebastian Moore

might be highlighted at a time

when fewer people want to

use the psalms as a form of prayer

because they feel offended that the

psalms speak of murder, revenge,

anger, violence, war-making, and

patriarchy.

Yet for centuries, the psalms have

been central to both Jewish and

Christian prayer. They form the

very heart of the Divine Office (the

Church’s prayer for the world), are

sung in Vespers’ services, are prayed

daily by millions of men and women,

and have been chanted by monks

for centuries as a central part of their

prayer.

Why the objection to the psalms?

Some ask: “How can I pray with

words that are sometimes full of

hatred, anger, violence, and speak

of the glories of war and of crushing

one’s enemies in the name of God?”

For others, the objection is to the

patriarchal nature of the psalms. For

yet others, the offense is aesthetic:

“They’re terrible poetry!” they say.

Perhaps the psalms aren’t great poetry,

and they do, undeniably, smack of

violence, war, hatred of one’s enemies

in the name of God, and the desire

for vengeance. But does that make

them poor language for prayer? No,

to the contrary.

One of the classical definitions of

prayer suggests that “prayer is lifting

mind and heart to God.” Simple,

clear, accurate. Our problem is that

we too seldom actually do this when

we pray. Rather than lifting to God

what’s actually on our minds and in

our hearts, we treat God as someone

from whom we need to hide the real

truth of our thoughts and feelings.

Instead of pouring out mind and

heart, we tell God what we think

God wants to hear — not murderous

thoughts, desire for vengeance, or our

disappointment with him.

But expressing those feelings is the

whole point. What makes the psalms

so apt for prayer is that they do not

hide the truth from God, and they

express the whole gamut of our actual

feelings. They give honest voice to

what’s actually going on in our minds

and hearts.

Sometimes we feel good, and our

spontaneous impulse is to speak

words of praise and gratitude. The

psalms give us that voice. They speak

of God’s goodness — love, friends,

faith, health, food, wine, and enjoyment.

But we don’t always feel that

way. Our lives also have their cold,

lonely seasons when disappointment

and bitterness smolder under the

surface. The psalms then give us honest

voice, and we can open all those

angry feelings to God.

At other times, we fill with the sense

of our own inadequacy, with the fact

that we cannot measure up to the

trust and love that’s given us. The

psalms give us voice for this, asking

God to have mercy, to soften our

hearts, to wash us clean, to give us

a fresh start. And then still there are

times when we feel disappointed with

God himself and need in some way to

express this. The psalms give us this

voice (“Why are you so silent? Why

are you so far from me?”) even as they

make us aware that God is not afraid

of our anger and bitterness, but, like a

loving parent, only wants us to come

and talk about it.

The psalms are a privileged vehicle

for prayer because they lift the full

range of our thoughts and feelings to

God.

But we tend to struggle with that.

First, because our age often fails to

grasp metaphor, and taken literally,

some of the images within the psalms

are offensive. Second, we are often

in denial about our true feelings. It’s

hard to admit that we feel some of the

things we sometimes feel: grandiosity,

sexual obsessions, jealousy, desire for

revenge, murderous thoughts. Too

often, our prayer belies our actual

thoughts and feelings and tells God

what we think God wants to hear.

The psalms have more honesty.

As Kathleen Norris puts it: “If you

pray regularly, there is no way you

can do it right. You are not always

going to sit up straight, let alone think

holy thoughts. You’re not going to

wear your best clothes, but whatever

isn’t in the dirty clothes basket. You

come to the Bible’s great book of

praises through all the moods and

conditions of life, and while you feel

like hell, you sing anyway. To your

surprise, you find that the psalms do

not deny your true feelings but allow

you to reflect them, right in front of

God and everyone.”

Feel-good aphorisms that express

how we think we ought to feel are no

substitute for the earthy realism of the

psalms, which express how we actually

do feel at times. Anyone who would

lift mind and heart to God without

ever mentioning feelings of bitterness,

jealousy, vengeance, hatred, and war,

is better suited to write greeting cards

than to give out spiritual counsel.


A NEW LIFE SENTENCE

Msgr. Anthony Figueiredo, a

priest in Assisi, Italy, speaks to

inmates at LA Men’s Central

Jail about the life of St. Carlo

Acutis before Mass Oct. 20.

At right is Deacon Fermin

Lopez. | REESE CUEVAS

Inmates and deputies at Men’s Central Jail were

expecting a ‘regular’ Mass. They got a moving visit from

the Catholic Church’s youngest saint instead.

BY PABLO KAY

Commander Roel Garcia has

been with the LA County Sheriff’s

Department for 30 years.

He’s only been a practicing adult

Catholic for about 10 months.

Nothing, he believes, could have prepared

him for what he saw the morning

of Oct. 20 inside Men’s Central Jail.

“I can’t even put it into words, it was

amazing,” he said, describing the scene

in the dull, windowless space deep

within the jail known as Three Thousand

Chapel.

Garcia anticipated an event more

like the jail’s simple Sunday Masses or

annual Christmas liturgy. But on that

Monday morning, when a chaplain

brought in the sacred relic of a new

Catholic saint, an Italian teenager

called Carlo Acutis, what unfolded was

nearly three hours of laughter, tears,

and expressions of joy involving some

70 inmates, deputies, and correctional

officers.

“I spoke to inmates afterwards, and

they just had no idea what they were

walking into,” said Garcia. “They

thought they were going to a regular

Mass.”

The relic’s stop here was an unex-


pected addition to a weeklong tour

of parishes in the Archdiocese of Los

Angeles, where thousands waited in

line to ask for graces and miracles from

Acutis, who was born in 1991 and died

of leukemia in 2006.

As they listened to stories from Acutis’

life, sang together at Mass, and took

turns venerating a piece of his heart

tissue, the difference between inmate

and officer almost seemed forgotten.

Garcia describes the LA jail as “one of

the saddest places in our jail system.”

One of the largest in the world, it has

been criticized for poor conditions and

faced repeated calls for closure.

The visit was the idea of Msgr.

Anthony Figueiredo, a British

priest ordained in New Jersey

who worked under three popes while

in Rome. Now based in Assisi, Italy

(where Acutis is buried), he travels the

world promoting devotion to Acutis, a

video game-playing Italian teen known

for his love of the Eucharist and the

poor.

A month earlier, Figueiredo had

welcomed a group of pilgrims from Los

Angeles to Assisi on the eve of Acutis’

canonization in Rome. He said he felt

called by Acutis to visit the incarcerated

while in Los Angeles.

“Carlo takes us where he wants to

go, not the other way around,” he said.

“And he opens doors and hearts.”

Figueredo arranged the visit through

Figueiredo blesses an inmate

by holding the reliquary with

Acutis’ pericardium to his

forehead. | REESE CUEVAS

Gonzalo De Vivero, who oversees the

LA Archdiocese’s Restorative Justice

ministry, who then approached Garcia

at a graduation ceremony at another

jail.

From there, things started to move

quickly — much more quickly than

De Vivero, a 28-year veteran of prison

ministry, expected.

“A lot of things that normally do not

happen, happened in a very quick,

simple way,” De Vivero told Angelus,

including the cancellation of classes for

inmates that morning, and clearances

for multiple inmate groups.

Garcia, who oversees specialized programs

for the Sheriff Department’s custody

division, had the Mass announced

throughout Men’s Central Jail.

Sheriff’s deputies working at the jail pray

during Mass in “Three Thousand Chapel”

Oct. 20. | REESE CUEVAS

“We wanted folks that wanted to be

there,” said Garcia. “We didn’t force

anybody to go.”

In his homily at the jail, Figueiredo

urged inmates to view their sentences

not as an end to their lives, but

as an opportunity to begin new lives

focused on renewal and redemption.

After all, Acutis also had to confront a

grim piece of news about his future: a

terminal leukemia diagnosis at age 15.

“Carlo’s leukemia was a kind of sentence,

yet he faced it without fear because

he trusted that life continues with

God,” Figueiredo told the prisoners.

The priest also spoke about his own

life, including how living with a hand

disability (related to his mother’s use

of the now-banned pregnancy drug

thalidomide) had brought him closer

to God.

“He was just so passionate about St.

Carlo. The way he communicated, it

was so personable,” said Garcia.

After the Mass, the audience had a

chance to personally pray with the

relic. Forming a line, the inmates came

forward one by one, then the deputies.

Figueiredo asked each their name, then

pressed the golden reliquary containing

Acutis’ pericardium to their forehead,

taking at least 15 seconds with each

one.

“I’m watching grown men smile,”

recounted Garcia. “You could see this

peace in their composition as they

walked away from him. And I’ve never

seen that [in a jail] before.”

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day

came from the prison officers.


Father Mario Torres, pastor of St. Thomas the

Apostle Church, shows the relic of St. Carlo Acutis

to students at Bishop Conaty-Our Lady of Loretto

High School Oct. 21. | SUBMITTED PHOTO

“When I walked in and looked

around, I saw my staff was engaged,”

said Garcia. “As this unfolded, I saw

it from both sides. I saw the staff get

brought in, and I saw our inmates get

drawn in.”

“At that moment, no one knew that

there were inmates there or staff,”

said Captain Cynthia Bearse, another

Sheriff’s official working at the jail. “I

think we all felt like we were just in a

Mass together.”

De Vivero, too, was impressed with

the faith of the correction officers.

“There was a tremendous amount

of devotion from deputies that really

moved my heart,” said De Vivero.

The visit marked the first time a relic

of Acutis has been brought to a correctional

facility. Garcia believes that for

his staff, the visit came at exactly the

right time, to just the right place.

“There’s just so much sadness on

both sides,” said Garcia. “You’re dealing

with your residents who are there for

everything under the sun, and they’re

dealing with their own trauma. And

we’re trying to run a jail and the security

of the jail. We’ve got staff that are

overworked and dealing with their own

personal lives, while working with the

residents.”

A

few days after the jail service,

Garcia found himself in front of

Acutis’ relics again. This time,

he was at a standing-room-only Mass in

Spanish at St. Thomas the Apostle. He

watched parents, mostly mothers, hold

up their disabled children to be blessed

by the relic.

“It was the most beautiful Mass I’ve

ever been to,” he affirmed. “I was in

tears 85 percent of the time. And I’ve

been talking about both Masses ever

since.”

Acutis’ appearance at the jail also

came at a providential time for Garcia.

Only a few months earlier he had

received his first holy Communion and

confirmation after going through the

OCIA program at St. Andrew Church

in Pasadena.

Meanwhile Bearse, who is also a

Catholic, is hoping to attend the Jubilee

of Prisoners in Rome next month,

inspired by what she experienced inside

the chapel. The gathering will bring

restorative justice officials from around

the world for a series of events at the

Vatican, including a special Mass with

Pope Leo XIV.

Apart from representing a special

milestone in his own faith journey,

Garcia hopes Acutis’ visit inspires more

attention to prison ministry from people

inside and outside jail walls.

“We have a great opportunity here to

work with the men and women who

are entrusted in our custody and care,

and we have these great volunteers that

come in here and serve them.”

“So, let’s give them that opportunity.

Let’s make it easy for them to help

them.”

Pablo Kay is the editor-in-chief of

Angelus.

Photographer Reese Cuevas contributed

reporting to this story.

After the Mass, inmates and jail officers had time to personally pray

12 • with ANGELUS the relic, a piece • November of Acutis’ pericardium. 14, 2025 | REESE CUEVAS

FERVOR

FOR THE

‘FLOWER’

A young student from Saint Therese

Carmelite School in Alhambra sprinkles

rose petals ahead of the relics

of St. Thérèse during a procession to

the Sacred Heart Retreat House on

Oct. 13. | JEFFREY BRUNO

As the relics of St. Thérèse made a rare visit

to the U.S., LA Catholics came out to show

their devotion to the popular saint.

BY NATALIE ROMANO

With a smile on her face and

a rose in her hand, Monica

McNamara practically floated

out of church after venerating the

visiting relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

McNamara had a great connection

to the saint, who said the French Carmelite’s

intercession had once lifted

her spirits during a moment of great

loneliness, a time when she prayed

for a sign of God’s love and the saint’s

signature flower.

“The next day, I opened the door

and there was a huge case of roses,”

said McNamara, who attends Our

Lady of Grace Church in El Cajon. “I

believe [Thérèse] sent me those roses

through my friend. It made me feel

like she was listening, like God was

listening.

“It completely impacted my faith.”

McNamara was among the estimated

10,000 people in Southern California

who viewed Thérèse’s first-class relics

as they toured the Archdiocese of

Los Angeles Oct. 11-16, the first time

they’d been in the U.S. in 25 years.

The tour was part of a nationwide

pilgrimage marking the 100th anniversary

of Thérèse’s canonization and

the Jubilee Holy Year.

Giant banners of the popular saint

adorned St. Therese Church in

Alhambra, where the first-class relics

of bones made their debut before traveling

to nearby Sacred Heart Retreat

House, Thomas Aquinas College in

Santa Paula, and the Santa Teresita

home in Duarte. At each location,

attendees took in Mass, music, and

testimonials.

The reliquary, which contains the

relics, is 300 pounds of tropical wood

and solid steel. The decorative trim

of roses and scrolls is dipped in gold.

While venerating, the faithful could

touch its protective glass with personal

items or fresh roses, thereby making

them third-class relics.

During the Oct. 15 Votive Mass

at Santa Teresita, Archbishop José

H. Gomez said we should honor

Thérèse’s relics and model her path to

heaven.


Young men carry the 300-pound reliquary holding

the relics of St. Thérèse during the tour’s stop at

Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula. | LIAM

MCDANIEL/THOMAS AQUINAS COLLEGE

The Carmelite friars and sisters were a significant

presence during the tour of St. Thérèse’s relics, the saint

being a former Carmelite herself. | JEFFREY BRUNO

“These relics connect us to the

‘flesh,’ the humanity of our saint,”

Archbishop Gomez said. “They remind

us that on earth St. Thérèse was

a simple child of God, just like each

of us. In the journey of her life, she

loved Jesus and tried to follow him

faithfully, just as we are trying to do.”

Born Marie Françoise-Thérèse Martin

to a pious Catholic family in 1873

in Alencon, France, she successfully

pleaded for permission to enter a cloistered

monastery at just 15 years old,

where she took the name of Thérèse

of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.

The young religious then crafted her

own approach to spirituality, dubbed

“The Little Way,” which says holiness

comes from small acts of love and a

childlike trust in God.

Theresa Sevilla, named after the

saint, came to veneration wearing

a T-shirt with the words “Love like

Thérèse.” Petite in stature, Sevilla said

she connects to “The Little Way” both

literally and figuratively.

“I’m a small person; God made me

this way,” said Sevilla, a parishioner

of Saints Peter and Paul Church in

Wilmington. “I don’t need to be big

and tall to serve him. I serve him in

the littlest way through serving my

family.”

Blessings for family are what Oswaldo

Jiminez prayed for as he gently

pressed his fingertips against the

reliquary. The Baldwin Park resident

said Thérèse answers prayers — but at

a cost.

“Like they say, if you ask something

from the saints, they’re going to put

you to work,” chuckled Jiminez, a

parishioner of St. Therese Church in

Alhambra. “So when I asked for her

help with a health issue, she told me

to come to her church, to come to the

Latin Mass because before the pandemic

I came here. I started coming

back and my health is good.”

Throughout the tour, Carmelite

nuns and friars took to the ambo,

sharing how Thérèse impacted their

calling. Several referenced “The Story

of a Soul,” the collection of Thérèse’s

writings that led to her being declared

a Doctor of the Church. Sister Shawn

Pauline Burke, OCD, said the book

helped her pursue a religious life despite

others calling the idea “crazy.”

“They would say, ‘Why would you

give your life away like that?’ ” said

Burke, novice director of Sacred Heart

Retreat House. “[But] I found myself

drawn into this woman’s love of Jesus

and I thought to myself if I am called

to that, that’s what I can be, like her.”

Father Donald Kinney, OCD, a

French professor turned Carmelite

friar, is the national coordinator of

the relic tour. He, too, was forever

changed by Thérèse, saying her

pure and simple words “went right

through my heart.” Inside his office

at the Carmelite House of Prayer in

Oakville, California, Kinney spent

the last two-and-a-half years planning

the tour’s 40 stops in 11 states with

the aid of thousands of volunteers. He

said, based on his experience with the

previous tour, Thérèse changes lives

wherever she goes.

“My prayer for this visit is that St.

Thérèse will fill hearts and fill churches,”

Kinney said. “There’s a lot of joy

here, but people have brought a lot

of problems. I am absolutely positive

that there will be lots of healings,


A woman venerates

in front of the St.

Thérèse reliquary

at the Sacred Heart

Retreat House

in Alhambra. |

JEFFREY BRUNO

conversions, and vocations. There is

something mysterious and wonderful

about [Thérèse].”

The “Little Flower” herself was no

stranger to heartache. She wrote about

a childhood full of loss, first at age 4

when her mother died, and later when

her older sisters left for the convent.

She also battled depression and an

overwhelming feeling of religious

guilt. Even on her deathbed, suffering

with tuberculosis, she experienced

a crisis of faith before finally finding

peace.

National Catholic speaker Sister

Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, was

among the throng of venerators. She

said Thérèse’s personal challenges

made her a saint we can all relate to.

“You see the real story of her life,”

Heidland said. “It’s not a sanitized, pious

idea, but somebody who had real

struggles, who talks about her own

emotional difficulties. She’s a reminder

to us that Christ is always the way

through. It’s not always easy, but it’s

beautiful and it’s worth doing.”

Before her death, Thérèse declared

she would continue to serve humanity

from heaven and send down “a shower

of roses.” Amber Cantong Araujo,

who helped coordinate the visit at St.

Therese Church, put her faith in that

promise.

“I was so stressed out about the event

going well that I prayed to her, prayed

to get a rose,” Araujo said. “Then I

looked down in the pew in front of

me and I saw a rose on a man’s phone

screensaver and I knew St. Thérèse

was with me.”

Natalie Romano is a freelance writer

for Angelus and the Inland Catholic

Monica McNamara, a parishioner at Our Lady of Grace

Church in El Cajon, said she has a deep devotion to St.

Thérèse in visiting her relics. | NATALIE ROMANO


THE SCHOOL OF LIFE

With help from a pair of big-name speakers,

this year’s Christian Service 4LIFE event

sounded an existential tone.

A panel of speakers took questions from

high-schoolers at Christian Service 4LIFE at the

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels conference

center Oct. 28. From left: Father Ed Benioff, pastor

of Good Shepherd Church in Beverly Hills; Amy

D’Ambra; David Henrie; and Lila Rose.

BY PABLO KAY / PHOTOGRAPHY BY PETER LOBATO

In the 12 years since its conception,

LA’s Christian Service 4LIFE

gathering has wandered between

several venues, including downtown

LA’s Microsoft Theater, the Shrine

Auditorium, and even Dodger Stadium.

Now, it appears to have found its

home.

For several hours on Oct. 28, the Cathedral

of Our Lady of the Angels was

closed to the public while more than

3,000 high school and middle school

students from as far as Santa Barbara

and Lancaster had its campus to themselves.

The day’s program included

open conversations with Catholic

celebrities, Eucharistic adoration,

confession opportunities, and even a

magic show.

The objective: to inspire students to

respect life from conception to natural

death, and get them to think about the

purpose of their own lives. It’s a goal

organizers say can’t be accomplished

through screens.

“A lot of kids are struggling,” said

Carol Golbranson, the event’s executive

director. “I think COVID made it

a lot worse with the isolation and all

the issues we already know about.”

Christian Service 4LIFE moved to

the cathedral in 2023 after Archbishop

José H. Gomez asked organizers to

bring it to “his house.” Golbranson

believes it’s important for students

to know “they’re part of something

big, and it’s shared with thousands of

others.”

“One of our messages is, ‘Get off

your phone, look up, look around

you,’ ” Golbranson said. “See Jesus in

the face of your neighbors and others

and try to figure out someone you can

help.”

In other words, a reminder that the

“fight for life” still has to be waged in

person.

Between sessions, students mingled

in the Cathedral Plaza while visiting

exhibitor booths. Priests stationed

around the plaza listened to more

than 100 confessions from students.

Among those hearing confessions was

Auxiliary Bishop Matt Elshoff, who

also led the joint group in Eucharistic

adoration inside the cathedral.

Later, he was among the kids, eating

Domino’s pizza while listening to

guest speaker Lila Rose describe the

experiences that led her to found

Live Action, a nonprofit that has used

undercover videos and testimonies to


Students had time to visit exhibitor

booths on the Cathedral Plaza

during Christian Service 4LIFE.

More than 3,000

teenage students

from more than 50

Catholic schools in

the LA Archdiocese

attended the 2025

Christian Service

4LIFE gathering.

Altar servers from St. Andrew

School in Pasadena assisted

Auxiliary Bishop Matt Elshoff

during Eucharistic adoration

and Benediction at the start of

Christian Service 4LIFE.

expose disturbing practices used by

abortion providers, and save unborn

babies and their mothers from abortion.

She also walked through the scientific

and religious reasons why abortion

is murder. But the ultimate goal of the

pro-life movement, Rose told them, is

healing.

“You’re in high school, in California,

in the United States,” said Rose.

“There’s a lot of trauma. There’s a

lot of brokenness. There are a lot of

questions: What is life? What am I

going to do with my life? What are we

called to do in the one life that we’ve

been given?”

“God will tell us enough, give us

enough direction for the next right

step, which is always going to be connected

to love.”

The event’s other big-name speaker,

36-year-old actor David Henrie, had a

love story of his own to share.

Known for his role on Disney

Channel’s “Wizards of Waverly Place”

during the 2000s, Henrie recounted

how empty he felt, despite having

fame and money.

“I was exhausted with the world,”

Henrie said. “I needed something

spiritual.”

A few years after finding his answer in

a return to Catholicism 13 years ago,

Henrie was asked to help host Christian

Service 4LIFE in 2014. That’s

where he met former Miss Delaware

and fellow co-host Maria Cahill.

“I met her at this event 10 years ago,

so this is a very special place for me to

be,” said Henrie, pointing to Maria,

now his wife, with their three small

children in the corner.

Campus minister Melinda Evangelista

brought nearly 40 students from

San Gabriel Mission High School,

the all-girls school’s entire sophomore

class. She sees a desire in them to

deepen their faith, but also to understand

the truth.

“A lot of girls ask questions, especially

when it comes to social issues, the

right to life,” Evangelista said.

Evangelista, who’s worked in campus

ministry for 25 years, sees self-esteem

and anxiety problems on the rise

among students.

Continues on Page 22


Dodgers players and their families wave to the crowd

as the Nov. 3 victory parade passes in front of the

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. | REESE CUEVAS

A SERIES OF MIRACLES

Dodgers faithful across the archdiocese

had plenty to celebrate after a thrilling

seven-game World Series victory.

Students at St. Anthony

High School in Long Beach

during a Dodgers spirit day.

Father Jim Anguiano, vicar general and moderator of the Curia

for the Archdiocese of LA, was in Rome during the World Series.

After waking up at 2 a.m. on Nov. 2 to watch Game 7, he went to

St. Peter’s Square to celebrate.


During an Oct. 29 audience in Rome, Archbishop José H.

Gomez asked Pope Leo XIV to “pray for the Dodgers.”

Students at Our Lady of Guadalupe School in

Hermosa Beach at a Dodgers spirit day.

Even Holy Spirit STEM Academy

fourth grade homeroom teacher

Sister Luz Hernandez wore Dodger

blue as students watched a broadcast

of the Nov. 3 victory parade.


Continued from page 19

“As a campus minister, as a teacher,

as a Catholic, I tell them, ‘You are

loved, you belong, you have value.

I’m out here for your salvation,’ ” said

Evangelista.

Among students, the day’s Q&A

session with Rose, Henrie, Benioff

and “My Saint, My Hero” founder

Amy D’Ambra seemed to be the day’s

high point. Many of the students’

questions, which were either written

or asked from a microphone, touched

on spiritual issues such as how to

discern thoughts or what to read about

Catholic theology.

When asked by a student about

balancing family and work with a

faith life, Henrie surprised the crowd

by answering that he was struggling

with that very problem after a year of

frequent travel and filming.

“The balancing of it all is really

tough, actually,” said Henrie, who

asked students for prayers and said he

has a spiritual director helping him.

“It’s something that I really struggle

with because, as a husband and father,

I am motivated to work very hard and

to push myself to the limit. And that

takes me away from my family a lot.”

Rose suggested looking for career

options that allow flexibility to put

family first, saying she sets strict limits

to her daily work hours. As if to prove

her point, Rose had to leave the panel

a few minutes early to pick up her

young son from school.

“It can be tricky, depending on the

career you choose. Pray, discern it,

so that you can put your motherhood

first,” Rose answered a female

high-schooler. “That can be tough

with some jobs and easier with others.”

Jamie Shull, a sophomore at San

Gabriel Mission High School, said

it was “inspiring” to hear that kind of

sincerity.

“It is a concern I have that when

I’m older, I’m not going to be able to

balance them all,” said Shull. “And

to hear David [Henrie] be honest and

say ‘Yeah, I am struggling, but I’m

trying my best,’ that really wowed me.”

Pablo Kay is the editor-in-chief of

Angelus.


A RELIGIOUS REVOLUTION

The Second Vatican Council’s landmark document on non-Christian

religions just turned 60. How big of a deal was it?

BY MIKE AQUILINA

Pope Leo XIV greets Buddhist representatives

during an Oct. 28 event with religious leaders

and people involved in interreligious dialogue

at the Vatican marking the 60th anniversary of

“Nostra Aetate.” | CNS/VATICAN MEDIA

We have by now come to think

of interreligious events as

normal and ceremonial. Of

course, popes and bishops visit synagogues

and meet with rabbis. Why

wouldn’t they?

Yet, a short time ago, such events were

“inconceivable,” to quote the late Chief

Rabbi of London Jonathan Sacks.

If they happen routinely now, Sacks

explained, it is because the document

“Nostra Aetate” (“In Our Time”),

which was released 60 years ago this

month, “brought about one of the

greatest revolutions in religious history.”

“Nostra Aetate,” released on Oct. 28,

1965, was the Second Vatican Council’s

“Declaration on Non-Christian

Religions.” The shortest of the council’s

16 documents, it was passed by a large

majority of the bishops. Less than 4%

voted against it.

“Revolutions” rarely happen so easily

and with so little opposition. For this

one, the moment was right.

In the run-up to the council, St. Pope

John XXIII made clear that he wanted

the gathered bishops to produce a

document on the Church’s relationship

with the Jews.

The Holocaust was a very recent

memory, and everyone had seen the

harrowing photographs and read or

heard the numbers. More than 6 million

Jews had been killed by the Nazis

— one-third of the Jewish population

worldwide and two-thirds of European

Jews.

During World War II, John (then

Angelo Roncalli) was serving as the

Vatican’s envoy to Turkey, and he had

worked to save many lives. He provided

Jews with immigration certificates for

Palestine and temporary baptismal certificates.

As a diplomat, he intervened

with other countries to help refugees,

and he used diplomatic channels to

assist in rescue efforts.

In the postwar years, Archbishop Roncalli

— like Pope Pius XII, the pope at

the time — were widely honored for

these efforts.

Yet they faced the question of how

the Holocaust could have happened in

countries that were at least nominally

Christian. The circumstances forced

an examination of conscience in the

Church, a reconsideration of the language

used to describe the place of the

Jews in salvation history.

John assigned Cardinal Augustin Bea,

a Jesuit and biblical scholar, to draft a

document on the Jews for the coming

council. Bea consulted a wide range of

experts, including the renowned rabbi

Abraham Joshua Heschel.


The initial focus on Judaism met resistance,

however, from non-European

bishops. Those from the Middle East

expressed concern that focusing only

on Jews would be seen as a political

statement and would negatively impact

Christian minorities in Muslim-dominated

countries. Bishops from Asia

argued that the situation of Christians

living as minorities among other world

religions (Hinduism, Buddhism) was

being overlooked.

Bea and his experts recast the text so

that these concerns were addressed,

while the document lost none of its

force as a statement on the relationship

of Catholics and Jews. The final

document declared that “the Jews

should not be spoken of as rejected or

accursed as if this followed from Holy

Scripture.”

This had many practical effects in the

years to come. There was a Churchwide

effort to revise catechetical materials

and even liturgical rites so that they

could not be misunderstood or used to

justify anti-Judaism. Most famously, a

medieval prayer that spoke of “perfidious

Jews” was dropped from the rites for

Good Friday.

In 1974, the Vatican Commission

for Religious Relations with the Jews

issued “Guidelines and Suggestions for

Implementing the Conciliar Declaration

‘Nostra Aetate’ ” and in 1985

“Notes on the Correct Way to Present

the Jews and Judaism in Preaching

and Catechesis in the Roman Catholic

Church.”

For most Catholics, these developments

were not controversial. Some

traditionalists, however, considered

them heresy. The French Bishop Marcel

Lefebvre opposed “Nostra Aetate”

at the council and afterward invoked

the text as evidence that Vatican II

had strayed from the true tradition of

the Church. He argued that “Nostra

Aetate” would weaken the faith of

Catholics and lead to religious indifferentism.

Lefebvre founded the traditionalist

Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in 1970

and took the movement into schism in

1988. Since then, dissent from “Nostra

Aetate” has been commonplace at the

extremes of traditionalism.

But the spirit of the document animated

the pontificate of St. Pope John Paul

Bishops are pictured during a Second Vatican Council session inside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. Ninety-six

percent of bishops at the council voted in favor of “Nostra Aetate.” | OSV NEWS FILE PHOTO

II, leading to interreligious meetings at

Assisi (beginning in 1986) as well as his

visit to Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall.

On Oct. 29, Pope Leo XIV paid

tribute to “Nostra Aetate,” noting that

all his predecessors since the council

“have condemned anti-Semitism with

clear words.”

The document, he added, “teaches us

to meet the followers of other religions

not as outsiders, but as traveling companions

on the path of truth.”

“Nostra Aetate” will surely be on the

pontiff’s mind as he visits two Muslim-majority

countries, Turkey and

Lebanon, from Nov. 27 to Dec. 2.

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).


WITH GRACE

DR. GRAZIE POZO CHRISTIE

Welcome to the empty nest

SHUTTERSTOCK

Someone famously said, long ago,

“There is nothing new under

the sun.” While we all nod along

in agreement with those words, we

are still surprised when we enter a

new stage in life and find out that

everything we’ve heard about it is

true.

For my husband and I, this year, it is

the dreaded “empty nest” stage. After

more that 30 years of baby rearing and

child-chasing, teenage cat-herding

and drama control, safety exhortations

to careless drivers, juggling schedules,

and urgent plans, and 10 different

stages of orthodontia, our wildly complicated

household has been reduced

to a puzzled middle-aged couple in a

too-big house.

So, there being nothing new, we

are feeling the pangs exactly as you’d

expect. I imagine myself as a cheerful,

bustling, managing mama duck with a

string of ducklings suddenly deprived

of her darlings. She looks disconsolately

about the empty nest, which

now seems to her a mere arrangement

of sticks and daubs, and not the warm

and cozy home full of keen interest

and tenderness that it was when the

ducklings were in it.

My husband (Papa duck in this

analogy), who loved to come bursting

on the scene each evening after work

to dispense advice and admonitions, is

feeling out of sorts as well, but insists

that we have done everything right

and this is our reward.

“Some reward!” I quack indignantly.

I don’t quite understand myself apart

from the daily motherhood that has

marked my life these last 30 years.

Even though I am a professional wearing

several hats, my first concern —

by a long stretch — has always been

the children.

This focus was imprinted in my

female DNA by God and pressed onto

my heart by a very traditional upbringing.

As a little girl, my own mother

told me many times: “Mija, los hijos

son tu alegria. Ten muchos para que

nunca te falten.” (“My daughter,

children are your joy. Have many, that


Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie is a mother of five

who practices radiology in the Miami area.

you may never lack for them.”)

How true were her words.

Looking after the children shot

happiness through my veins. It filled

me with the purest, most innocent

enjoyment. Mostly.

And when it was difficult, which it

often was, another kind of joy, a quieter

gladness, came to help me: the

deep-down thrill of knowing that I was

about my Father’s business. In other

words, that my vocation of motherhood

was tinged with the divine, that

in that anxious moment at the bedside

of a sick child, or in the rending

conversation with a troubled teenager,

I was participating in God’s work of

creation. Giving life and sustaining

life, forming and pruning souls,

experiencing the sacrifice of the flesh

in labor and fatigue: there I was at my

Lord’s side, working in his workshop

and hanging on the cross.

That perfect, providential combination

in motherhood, of nature and divine

calling, is an extraordinary thing.

All mothers, I think, experience the

thrill of it. Some mothers, like me, are

fortunate enough to understand the

theological and spiritual implications.

Fortunate because I know, now, as I

rattle around the house with my dear

husband, that my Father is calling me

to forge a new path to holiness. He

has my salvation in mind, as he has

had since my conception, and he has

new, joyful jobs for me to do in his

garden. I don’t have to be afraid of the

emptiness of having no purpose and

the sadness of idle hands.

My husband and I have talked it over

together, and prayed about it, together.

We can sense the danger of letting

work fill those hours that used to be

used so profitably raising the children.

That would be a narrowing of life,

indeed. We can also feel the temptation

of frivolity — of getting caught

up in vain pursuits and distractions to

escape ennui. There is the even more

awful danger of sadness, which grips

me every afternoon around carpool

time, but which we all know is an ally

of the enemy.

My plan is to be quiet for a while, so

I can listen to the voice of the Spirit.

I am already starting to imagine

where it might lead me. My husband

needs me, and I love him dearly. He

has a great soul for me to tend. And

perhaps all those years of motherhood

have made me wise with the blessed

wisdom of grandmothers. I will pray

for that, and for hearts that will grow

closer to God when I share with them

the story of my joy.

NOW PLAYING I LIKE ME

A photo of the late actor

shown in “John Candy:

I Like Me.” | AMAZON

MGM STUDIOS

ONE OF GOD’S

GREAT CHARACTERS

What made Catholic funnyman John Candy

his generation’s most likable actor?

BY JOSEPH JOYCE

Amazon Prime’s new documentary

on the late actor John Candy

is subtitled “I Like Me,” a line

taken from his famous monologue in

“Planes, Trains, and Automobiles,”

where he defends himself against the

slings and arrows of a yuppie played by

Steve Martin. What does it matter if the

world hates him when his friends like

him, and he likes himself?

The irony is that the entire world

saw Candy as their friend. It was this

inherent likability that elevated his

good projects, floated his bad ones,

and robs his own documentary of any

sort of dramatic momentum. Everyone

interviewed is unable or unwilling to

say an ill word toward him (which as

you get older, you realize means the

same thing).

Candy was a member of that endangered

species known as “The Everyman.”

He was made in Toronto, made

his name in Chicago, made his money

in Los Angeles, and made his final

days in Mexico. Each place mourned

him as one of their own. I myself felt

a proprietary claim to him, as in the

film “Volunteers” he was proudly Tom

Tuttle from Tacoma, Washington —

my hometown.

Candy was one of God’s great characters,

and as such his life sometimes

read like unsubtle literature. He was

born on Halloween and exactly five

years to the date later, his father died of

a heart attack at just 35, an event that

convinced him he was already running

on borrowed time. That made him not

waste the years he had, but also not

worry about the years he could have.

There was something of a Greek tragedy

to his passing from a heart attack at

the tender age of 43. Perhaps hearing

Candy golfing

at the Riviera

Country Club in

Pacific Palisades

in 1991. | SHUT-

TERSTOCK


the prophecy made him fatalistically

incapable of preventing it.

One of the risks of dying young is that

those left behind will make you a saint

at the expense of your humanity. The

prevailing narrative of Candy conflates

him far too much with his teddy bear

“Planes, Trains, and Automobiles”

character. But contrary to the archival

footage, Candy wasn’t lit by beatific

light. The man was from Canada, so he

usually lived under no light at all. Part

of being an Everyman is also just being

a man, though this is no great sin: save

for Guinefort, most of our saints were

men too.

One of the more illuminating lines in

the documentary comes from his widow,

chuckling at the memory of how

he was a “rebellious Catholic” when in

reality, John was simply Catholic.

He partied, he drank, and, in his own

words, “lived in sin” with his wife before

marriage. But they were married at

a Catholic church which, in a wonderful

touch by the unsubtle author, was

in the middle of construction. His faith

may have been a work in progress, but

it wasn’t a remodel. He tried, he failed,

he didn’t make excuses, he tried again.

He held grudges, especially about

money owed to him, though it seems

his fury was that getting stiffed limited

his chances at generosity. One of his

last acts on earth was a private donation

to the Durango City Hospital, a city he

had first stepped into just days before.

To those who knew from the screen,

Candy symbolized the unfussed

benevolence we all think we innately

possess, if only reality and our personalities

didn’t get in the way. But to those

who knew him personally, his virtue

was simple and manageable in the way

most of us find impossible.

For example, the film shows how

uniquely kind Candy was to crew

members. His wasn’t the performative

charity where the magnanimity feels

insulting, letting you know just how far

they’ve stooped to rub shoulders. Candy

was a working man who never forgot

it, seeing them as human beings and

knowing that human beings liked pizza.

His parties invited everyone, not just

fellow actors in a similar tax bracket.

There was also charity in Candy’s

restraint. One of the hardest parts of “I

Like Me” is watching interviews where

reporters, mistaking affability for familiarity,

poke fun at his weight. Candy

would laugh it off like a professional,

but there is always a glimpse before the

mask went on, where his mouth and

his eyes weren’t sharing the joke. As the

title says, Candy did like himself, but

it’s lonely when you feel like your only

advocate.

The great tragedy of John Candy is

that he saw changing his habits as a

concession, that any concern for his

health was just another dig. If he didn’t

have self-esteem, he would at least

cling to the self, preferring to go down

with the ship than risk the cold, empty

ocean.

My dad, a Candy fan, was man

enough to tell me his eyes misted up as

he watched this. I generously allowed

him his sentiment, saving my teasing

for a later day. Yet when it was my turn

to watch, I stumbled at those same

moments.

One of them was when Candy’s kids

described themselves as detectives

trying to learn about the father taken

before they got to know him. Their remarks

perfectly captured my own experience

with my own late mother, who

died during my childhood. There was

the moment the 405 Freeway was shut

down for his funeral procession (which

began at St. Martin of Tours Church in

Brentwood), a measure usually saved

for visiting presidents or popes. Or near

the very end, where they found Candy’s

body on his hotel bed and his Gideon’s

Bible fallen to the ground. They

believe he was reading it.

No, I didn’t cry. But I did switch over

to “Uncle Buck” before I risked doing

so.

Joseph Joyce is a screenwriter and freelance

critic based in Sherman Oaks.

Promotional image for

Amazon Studios’ new film

“John Candy: I Like Me.”

DESIRE LINES

HEATHER KING

The long night of Elie Wiesel

Elie Wiesel in 1988. |

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

Elie Wiesel (1928-2016), survivor

of the Nazi death camps, is best

known for his 1960 memoir

“Night” (Hill & Wang, $7.14).

With the recent surge of antisemitism,

this monumental figure is well

worth revisiting.

Terror had come slowly, then all

too quickly, to the Hungarian village

where Wiesel was raised. The Jewish

community and his family had held

him in a warm embrace. But after

Passover in 1944, Jews were fenced off

into ghettoes. Soon, more than 12,000

were herded off into transports. In

April Wiesel, then 15, and his family

boarded a transport themselves.

After a wretched journey, he watched

his mother and little sister walk off to

the crematorium at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

In the space of a day, he had his

belongings and clothes taken away,

his head shaved, and his body disinfected.

Then he was made to stand in

ill-fitting clothes in the freezing wind

before men with snarling dogs, rifles,

and clubs.

Already his central tragedy had occurred:

he had lost his faith.

“The night had passed completely.

The morning star shone in the sky. I

too had become a different person.

The student of Talmud, the child

I was, had been consumed by the

flames. All that was left was a shape

that resembled me. My soul had been

invaded — and devoured — by a

black flame.”

On Rosh Hashanah, this formerly

fervently observant teenage boy

refused to celebrate with the others. “I

was no longer able to lament. On the

contrary, I felt very strong. I was the

accuser, God the accused.

My eyes had opened and

I was alone, terribly alone

in a world without God.”

The death of faith is the

abiding theme of “Night.”

(Lesser known are his two

follow-up novels, “Dawn”

(Hill and Wang, $10.60,

1961) and “Day” (Hill and

Wang, $6.99, 1962), both

of which also treat the

problem of good and evil,

survivor guilt, and loss of

faith).

“Elie Wiesel: Soul on

Fire,” a 2024 documentary

directed by Oren

Rudavsky, amplifies the

story of this remarkable man whose

voice resounded across the globe.

With extensive footage of his family,

speaking career, and travels, the film’s

aim is “to penetrate to the heart of the

known and unknown Elie Wiesel: his

passions, his conflicts and his legacy.”

Wiesel and his fellow prisoners were

liberated from Buchenwald on April

11, 1945: his father had died there a

few months before.

We learn that he made his way to

France, was reunited with his two

older sisters, studied at the Sorbonne,

and became a journalist.

He spent the rest of his long life

trying to keep the memory of his

fellow Holocaust victims alive, urging

humankind to speak out in the face

of injustice, and reminding us that

otherwise the seeds of evil may very

well again take root.


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

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

“Night” evolved from an original

manuscript of 862 pages that Wiesel

completed in 1954. After several

trimmings, a 116-page translation was

published in 1960 by Hill & Wang.

“The act of writing is, for me, often

nothing more than the secret of

conscious desire to carve words on

a tombstone, to the memory of all

those I loved,” he observed, “and who

before I could tell them I loved them,

went away.”

In 1955 he made his way to America

and spoke publicly about his experience.

“Everything died in Auschwitz,”

he told his listeners. “Ideals died

there. Man died there. The image of

God underwent a horrifying metamorphosis.”

In 1969 he married. Marion Wiesel,

originally from Austria, translated

many of his books from French to

English.

The couple had one son, Shlomo Elisha

Wiesel, named after Wiesel’s father.

The family lived in Greenwich,

Connecticut, and New York City.

Wiesel had not wanted to bring

a child into the world but Marion

convinced him. It was then that, in

his wife’s words, “Elie became more

religious. He had never stopped being

religious. He uncovered it. It was

like peeling off layers of nonreligion.

And his true self emerged, which was

religious.”

But his night and his suffering

continued. Never could he forget his

father, who with his dying breath in

the camp had cried out for him, and

who, in his own exhaustion and fear,

he had been unable to console.

He was awarded the Nobel Peace

Prize in 1985. In his acceptance

speech, he said, “Silence encourages

the tormentor, never the tormented.

Sometimes we must interfere. When

human lives are endangered, when

human dignity is in jeopardy, national

borders and sensitivities become

irrelevant.”

Wiesel’s earliest supporters were

often Christian theologians, priests,

and nuns, among them Catholic novelist

François Mauriac — who wrote

the Foreword to the 1958 version of

“Night.”

“What did I say to [Wiesel]?” asks

Mauriac, who was also given a Nobel

Prize (in literature). “Did I speak to

him of this other Jew, this crucified

brother who perhaps resembled him

and whose cross conquered the world?

“Did I explain to him that what had

been a stumbling block for his faith

had become a cornerstone for mine?

“If the Almighty is the Almighty, the

last word for each of us belongs to

Him. That is what I would have said

to this Jewish child” — who is both all

the children killed by the Nazis, and

Wiesel himself.

“But all I could do was embrace him

and weep.”

French Catholic novelist François Mauriac was one of

Wiesel’s earliest supporters. | CATHOLIC EDUCATION

RESOURCE CENTER


LETTER AND SPIRIT

SCOTT HAHN

Scott Hahn is founder of the

St. Paul Center for Biblical

Theology; stpaulcenter.com.

Gratitude is greater than you think

It’s time, in these United States, for our yearly day of

Thanksgiving.

It’s one of those legacy holidays that strongly implies

that there is a God, and that he blesses us, and that he

should be thanked.

Our pilgrim ancestors had no doubt about the matter, and

they established a feast for our reminder.

But really it’s basic Christianity, and it’s Someone far

more authoritative who established a meal to express our

thanksgiving.

St. Paul opens his First Letter to the Thessalonians by

assuring his hearers,

“We give thanks to God

always for all of you,

remembering you in our

prayers, unceasingly” (1

Thessalonians 1:2). The

verb he uses for “give

thanks” is eucharistoumen.

Similarly, the First

Letter to Timothy

prescribes the offering

of eucharistias, which

is often translated as

“thanksgiving.” This

usage certainly evokes

Jesus’ thanksgivings

whenever he broke

bread. The Gospels

present him consistently

“giving thanks,” and to

this end they use forms

of the verb eucharisto.

See Matthew 15:36,

Eucharistic stained-glass window depicting bread and wine surrounded by a frame depicting

grapes and ears of grain, in St. Michael the Archangel Church, Findlay, Ohio. | WIKIMEDIA

COMMONS

Mark 14:23, Luke 22:17,

and John 6:11 and 23.

In Jesus’ own milieu,

these terms of “thanksgiving”

could refer not only to generic categories of prayer,

but also to a specific form of sacrifice. In the sacrificial system

of the Jerusalem Temple, perhaps the most common

ritual was the todah, a sacrifice of bread and wine offered

in thanksgiving to the Lord. Jews in the Greek-speaking

world sometimes translated todah as eucharistia. That’s

how the word is rendered in the translation of Hebrew

Scripture by Aquila, a second-century convert to Judaism.

To first- and second-century readers, the terms todah and

eucharistia would suggest something more than polite

expressions of gratitude. They had important sacrificial

connotations for both Jews and Christians. More than a

century after the fall of the Temple, the Talmud records the

rabbinic belief that in the age of the Messiah “all sacrifices

will cease except the todah sacrifice. This will never cease

in all eternity.”

Did St. Paul intend his “eucharistic” terms to be read with

a sacrificial sense? We

cannot know for sure,

but we should be open

to the possibility. Recent

research has made

academic readers more

sensitive to liturgical

forms embedded in the

epistles.

To first-century authors

and their audiences,

such forms would have

been incomprehensible

apart from some sense of

sacrifice. Sacrifice was

at the heart of biblical

religion.

And it remains there.

Every Mass is an expression

of thanksgiving.

Our Eucharistic Prayers

make it clear from the

beginning: “It is truly

right and just, our duty

and salvation, always

and everywhere to give

you thanks, Father most

holy, through your

beloved Son, Jesus Christ, your Word through whom you

made all things …”

Every Mass is an expression of thanksgiving — and the

holiday is most complete when we celebrate it with Mass.

Make time for it this year, and bring as much of the family

as you can!


■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7

Carlos Colon Requiem. Cathedral of Our Lady of the

Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, 7 p.m. Under the

direction of Dr. Adan Fernandez. Tickets required. Visit

olacathedral.org.

■ SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8

Divine Mercy Congress. Christ the King Church, 624

N. Rossmore Ave., Los Angeles, Nov. 8-9. Spanish and

English congress will feature daily Mass and adoration,

powerful talks, confessions, testimonies, workshops, and

more. For more information, email ctklaoffice@gmail.com,

call 323-465-7605, or visit ctkla.org.

Lead Like Christ: The Catholic Man’s Mission. St. Kateri

Church, 22508 Copper Hill Dr., Santa Clarita, 7 a.m.-4

p.m. Speakers: Father Dave Heney, Tim Staples, and Steve

Thomas. The day includes Mass, adoration, and confession.

Cost: $55/person, includes breakfast and lunch,

$155 VIP package, includes seating, speaker book, and

lunch with speakers. Visit saintkaterimensconference.com

or email info@saintkaterimensgroup.com.

St. Peter Claver Holiday Boutique. St. Peter Claver

Church, 5649 Pittman St., Simi Valley, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun.,

Nov. 9, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. The boutique will be held at the corner

of Stow and Cochran Streets, across from Simi Valley

High School. More than 70 vendors selling crafts, gift

items, clothing, jewelry, home decor, food, gift card basket

raffle, 50/50 drawing, photos with Santa, and more. Call

Lisa at 805-583-0466.

Inspired: A Spiritual Women’s Conference. Sand Canyon

Country Club, 27734 Sand Canyon Rd., Santa Clarita,

10 a.m.-3 p.m. Theme: “Growing Closer to God Through

Each Other” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). Speaker: Lisa Hendey,

founder of CatholicMom.com and bestselling author.

Cost: $65/person, includes breakfast, lunch, dessert, and

coffee/tea service. Visit lacatholics.org/events.

■ SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Pilgrimage. St. Francis Xavier

Church, 3801 Scott Rd., Burbank, 11:30 a.m. Mass followed

by pilgrimage, 2 p.m. lunch. Presented by Mother

Cabrini Chapel and Library Committee. Cost: $30/adults,

$10/children under 12. Call Andrea Linn at 909-762-1392

or email andilimn@gmail.com.

■ MONDAY, NOVEMBER 10

Healing Mass. St. John Eudes Church, 9901 Mason Ave.,

Chatsworth, 6 p.m. Celebrant: Father Bill Adams. Praise

and worship followed by Mass and healing service.

■ TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11

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, NOVEMBER 13

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.


Advent, Mary and the Holy Spirit: Annual Advent

Retreat for Chaplains, Healthcare Professionals, and

Friends. St. Philip the Apostle Church, 151 S. Hill Ave.,

Pasadena, 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Retreat director: Father John

Hopkins, LC, director of Divine Mercy Clinic and Family

Center. Includes Mass, talks, reconciliation, adoration,

and personal prayer. Call Ann Sanders at 213-637-7655 or

email asanders@la-archdiocese.org.

Evangelization and Catechesis. Zoom, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

With Megan Kanatzar Ferguson, D.Min. Participants

will learn the centrality of the Kerygma and how to form

hearts ready to encounter Christ more deeply. Cost: $50/

person. Breaks and lunchtime included. Visit lacatholics.

org/events.

Angels All Around Us: Christmas painting and Kintsugi

ornament workshop. Mary & Joseph Retreat Center,

5300 Crest Rd., Rancho Palos Verdes, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

Participants will paint angels and design mixed-media

Kintsugi Christmas ornaments. Host: Beverlee Klopfenstein.

Cost: $75/person, includes lunch and class materials.

Call Jose at 310-377-4867, ext. 250 or email jsalas@

maryjoseph.org.


Blood Drive. Knights of Columbus Hall, 11231 Rives

Ave., Downey, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Sponsored by Our Lady

of Grace Women’s Guild. Schedule an appointment at

RedCrossBlood.org (sponsor code OLPHCC) or call

1-800-Red-Cross. Walk-ins welcome.

■ FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21

Dominican Sisters Vision of Hope Fall Luncheon. Jonathan

Club, 545 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, 11 a.m. Guest

speaker: Auxiliary Bishop Matthew G. Elshoff, OFM Cap.

Email smcdonald@msjdominicans.org.


Transitional Diaconate Ordination. Cathedral of Our

Lady of the Angels, 555 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, 9

a.m. The Mass is open to the public, but livestream is also

available at lacatholics.org.

St. Jerome Annual Holiday Arts and Craft Faire. St.

Jerome Church, 5550 Thornburn St., Westchester, 9

a.m.-4 p.m., Sun., Nov. 23, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. More than 40

tables selling handmade arts and crafts, raffle, and a game

of Split the Pot. Refreshments for sale and holiday music.

Call Joan Hoffman at 310-670-7801.

Bridges to Better: Spiritual Synodal Reframing of

Conflict in Ministry. Zoom, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. With Marc J.

DelMonico, Ph.D. The session includes skills and tactics

to handle conflict and keep conversations bridging toward

shared interests and possible solutions. Cost: $40/person.

Breaks and lunchtime included. Visit lacatholics.org/

events.

Myth and Reality: Can the Two Ever Meet? Holy Spirit

Retreat Center, 4316 Lanai Rd., Encino, 9:30 a.m.-3:30

p.m. With Father Jim Clarke. Visit hsrcenter.com or call

818-815-4480.

Peter Claver Award Program. Proud Bird Restaurant,

11022 Aviation Blvd., Los Angeles, 11 a.m. Speaker: Father

Tony Ricard. Honorees: Father Bill Bolton and Sister

Betty Harbison, SSS. Cost: $70/person. RSVP to Sherre

Titus at 562-400-3661.


S.H.A.R.E. Ministry Craft Fair. St. Agatha Church, 2610

Mansfield Ave., Los Angeles, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Many one-of-akind

handcrafted items. Entrance on Mansfield.

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.

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Angelus News | November 14, 2025 | Vol. 10, No. 23

Transform your PDFs into Flipbooks and boost your revenue!

Angelus News | November 14, 2025 | Vol. 10, No. 23

Transform your PDFs into Flipbooks and boost your revenue!

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