St. Jude The Apostle Catholic Church

Pope Francis participates in Mass on the solemnity of Pentecost, May 19, 2024 / Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, May 19, 2024 / 08:15 am (CNA).

On the solemnity of Pentecost, Pope Francis said that Christians are called to proclaim the Gospel to everyone with gentleness and the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Speaking in St. Peter’s Basilica, the pope explained that the Holy Spirit’s “work in us is powerful, as symbolized by the signs of wind and fire,” but it is also gentle and “welcoming to all.”

“From the ‘Upper Room’ of this basilica, like the Apostles, we too are being sent forth to proclaim the Gospel to all,” Pope Francis said in his homily on May 19.

“Thanks to the Spirit, we can and must do this with his own power and gentleness,” he added.

Pope Francis underlined that this power is not arrogant, calculating, or imposing, but is “born of fidelity to the truth that the Spirit teaches us in our hearts.”

“Consequently, we do not give up, but tirelessly proclaim peace to those who desire war, forgiveness to those who seek revenge, welcome and solidarity to those who bar their doors and erect barriers, life to those who choose death, respect to those who love to humiliate, insult and reject, fidelity to those who would sever every bond, thereby confusing freedom with a bleak and empty individualism,” he said.

“Nor are we intimidated by hardship, derision or opposition, which, today as always, are never lacking in the apostolate.”

Pope Francis presided over the Mass the day after traveling to the northern Italian city of Verona. The 87-year-old pope was not the main celebrant but gave a shortened homily from a white chair at the front of the congregation to the right of the altar.

Cardinal Arthur Roche, the prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, served as the main celebrant for the Pentecost Mass.

In his homily, Pope Francis explained how the Holy Spirit helps us to overcome sinful passions, like impurity or envy, and then gently plants the seeds of virtue and helps them to grow.

“He lovingly protects these virtues, so that they can grow stronger and so that, after the toil of combatting evil, we may taste the sweetness of mercy and communion with God,” he said.

“As a beautiful prayer of the early Church says: ‘Let your gentleness, O Lord, and the fruits of your love, abide with me,’” he added.

Thousands were gathered inside St. Peter’s Basilica for the Pentecost Mass. After the Mass, Pope Francis appeared in the window of the Apostolic Palace and prayed the “Regina Caeli” in Latin.

The pope told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square that listening to the Word of God helps to “silence the chatter” and provides space for one to hear the consoling voice of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit repeats in us “transformative words of love,” he added, that help us to realize the eternal love of God. The pope recommended that people spend time praying in silence in Eucharistic adoration to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. 

Pope Francis also prayed for the Holy Spirit to bring communion between Christians, harmony in families, and an end to the wars in Ukraine and Holy Land.

The solemnity of Pentecost, which is celebrated 50 days after Easter, marks the descent of the Holy Spirit.

At the end of his Pentecost homily, Pope Francis prayed: “Come, Creator Spirit, enlighten our minds, fill our hearts with your grace, guide our steps, grant your peace to our world.”

More than 1,000 Catholics attend the Eucharistic Procession in Washington, D.C. to celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph / Tyler Arnold

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 19, 2024 / 07:30 am (CNA).

A crowd of more than 1,000 Catholics processed with the Eucharist through the streets of downtown Washington, D.C. to celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph on Saturday morning in spite of scattered rainfall throughout the event.

The Catholic Information Center’s (CIC) second annual Eucharistic procession — which took place just blocks from the White House — drew participation from priests, nuns and lay people from the area. The May 18 procession was nearly twice the size of last year’s procession on May 20. 

"People have shown their love for the Eucharist [by] showing up in this rainy weather,” Father Charles Trullols, the director of CIC, told CNA after the procession.

Trullols said he “wasn’t certain” whether the weather would reduce attendance, but surpassing last year’s turnout was “even more incredible because of the rain.” He added that bystanders who saw the procession appeared “so impressed” with the “beauty of the procession” and “the reverence of everyone praying.”

"[This procession] impacted so many souls,” Trullols added.

The event began with Mass inside CIC’s chapel, although a large portion of attendees viewed the Mass on a video displayed on a truck outside of the building as the whole crowd was not able to fit inside. 

This was followed by the exposition of the Most Blessed Sacrament on K Street and a recitation of the Litany of St. Joseph before the procession began down the road. 

At the lead of the procession were the cross bearer and candle bearers, followed by religious sisters. After the sisters were children who have recently received their First Communion, and then the Blessed Sacrament itself inside of a monstrance and under a processional canopy. Behind the Eucharist were the priests, the choir and the lay faithful. 

Throughout the procession, attendees said prayers, including the rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet. The faithful also sang various hymns and stopped at three stations to kneel in front of the Blessed Sacrament where Trullols would read from the Gospel. 

One of the attendees — Joseph Duncan from McLean, Virginia — told CNA the procession was “amazing” and noted the importance of a procession near the White House during an election year: “[It can] bring a lot of grace to the country.”

Brittany Baldwin, from Houston, Texas, told CNA the procession was “incredibly moving” and that she “choked up” during the procession and “watching people’s reactions was equally moving.” 

Baldwin, who said she also attended CIC’s procession last year, noted the growth in attendees and added: “I’m sure there would have been a lot more if it wasn’t for the rain.”

The CIC offers daily Mass on weekdays and regularly hosts informational events on Catholic theology and other Catholic issues. The organization also has a bookstore.

Holy Spirit stained glass in St. Peter's Basilica. / Credit: Alexey Gotovskyi/CNA

National Catholic Register, May 19, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Sunday, May 19, is Pentecost Sunday, and the Mass readings — Acts 2:1-11; Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34; 1 Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13; and John 20:19-23 — present a number of symbols of the Holy Spirit: strong, driving wind; tongues of fire; races united; and breath of Jesus on the apostles.

The Holy Spirit is like a strong driving wind, because the Holy Spirit has a clear direction and wants to take everyone there with it. A wind is an unseen force that refreshes; so is the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is a tongue of fire; not a wildfire that destroys, not a stationary fire that we have to huddle next to, but a fire bestowed on us, which transforms what it touches.

The Holy Spirit unites people and breaks down barriers. When St. Peter speaks after receiving the Holy Spirit, he speaks with boldness, decisiveness, but also attractiveness, drawing many to the faith. He doesn’t condemn, insult, and disperse the people because of their weakness; he challenges them and calls them to greatness, each in his or her own language.

The Holy Spirit is the breath of God in us. He breathes on his apostles and gives them the ability to forgive sins. He breathes on us, too, and we also become his representatives. “For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit,” as the second reading says.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (Nos. 694–700) mentions other symbols of the Holy Spirit worth considering:

The Holy Spirit is like water. Water fills all things; it is gentle like dew or strong like a flood; it seeps into what will let it, bringing life, and pushes aside what will not.

The Holy Spirit is an anointing, a sacramental seal. The Spirit marks us as God’s, incorporates us into his family, and connects us with his company of saints.

The Holy Spirit is like a cloud and light. The Spirit is like a cloud because God is a mystery and like light because “mystery” means he is too brilliant for us to fully comprehend.

The Holy Spirit is like a hand or a finger. He is a hand that works, reaches out, heals, and blesses.

The Holy Spirit is like a dove. A dove can fly high or walk lightly, and its beauty is subtle and calming.

You can also hear all of these symbols echoed powerfully in the 13th-century British prayer that St. John Paul II prayed when he visited Great Britain:

Wash what is unclean.

Water what is parched.

Heal what is diseased.

Bend what is rigid.

Warm what is cold.

Straighten what is crooked.

This story was originally published in the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, on May 15, 2016, and has been updated and adapted by CNA.

null / Credit: Photographee.eu/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, May 19, 2024 / 05:00 am (CNA).

As assisted suicide and euthanasia continue to grow more common throughout much of the developed world, services like palliative and hospice care serve as a vital counterweight to those trends, offering what one provider calls care for “the whole person” that’s respectful of both a patient’s life — and death. 

Assisted suicide and euthanasia have been legalized in countries such as Canada, Australia, Spain, Belgium, and in multiple U.S. states, permitting patients to take their own lives or allowing doctors to kill them outright. 

In contrast, services such as palliative care and end-of-life hospice care seek to uphold the dignity of each human life, especially as it nears its end.

What is palliative care? What about hospice?

Dian Backoff told CNA that both palliative and hospice providers are trained to minister to the “psychosocial, spiritual, and financial needs” of patients facing debilitating or terminal illnesses. 

Backoff, the executive director of Catholic Hospice for Catholic Health Services in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, told CNA that palliative care is meant to address “what the whole patient wants during the treatment of an illness,” whether or not the patient is terminally ill or dealing with a long-term affliction. 

Oftentimes a patient suffering from a severe illness has multiple doctors from multiple disciplines, such as neuroscientists and cardiac experts, Backoff pointed out.

“Palliative care has someone bring all that specialty work together so that we don’t forget there’s a person behind the brain, behind the liver, behind the heart,” she said.

Backoff said hospice is a part of palliative care, one that arises at the end of a patient’s life. A significant part of hospice service, she said, involves ensuring that dying patients have medication to alleviate any pain or suffering they may have as death nears. 

But, she noted, “all of the services that are applied to the patient, other than clinical, are also applied to the family.” 

“How are you going to cope with the death? Is there anticipatory grief? Is there complicated grief pending because there are unresolved family issues?” she said.

Hospice workers “make sure coping mechanisms are appropriate” and that family members are “grieving appropriately instead of dealing with something years down the road.”

Hospice ‘absolutely vital,’ in line with Catholic teaching

Joe Zalot, an ethicist and the director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, said that hospice, when done right, is “very, very important” for both dying patients and families.

“Hospice, when done correctly, is proper accompaniment at the end of life,” Zalot said. “It’s palliating symptoms, it’s providing spiritual care, it’s helping people live the most full possible life that they can given the limitations of their illness. It’s helping them and their family prepare well for death.”

“When done well, it’s absolutely vital and very much in line with Catholic teaching,” he said. 

Zalot warned, however, that there are “not-so-good” hospice practices on the market as well. 

“We get calls on our consult line and we hear horror stories, from families and doctors, where people go in and they’re medicated for whatever reason, there’s questions about nutrition and hydration, any number of different things,” he said. 

Zalot said the best hospice workers are those who support the family unobtrusively. “If you don’t know what they did, they probably did their job correctly,” he said. 

Among the best practices of hospice, he said, are symptom management, relief from pain and nausea, and relief from complications that arise from one’s pain, conditions, or treatments.

“Another essential element is to help family members and support them as they journey with their loved ones,” he said. 

“Specifically from a Catholic perspective, a very good-quality hospice is one that provides spiritual care and access to the sacraments, through chaplains,” Zalot noted. 

Backoff said their patients are split between home and hospital settings, with the majority in the former. “We have 750 patients, and all but about 120 are at home,” she said. “The rest are in nursing homes or in our hospice facility.”

“The average length of stay for us is about 70 days,” she said. “That’s average for us, and probably it’s fairly consistent around the country.”

Zalot said the Church’s opposition to euthanasia and assisted suicide is because those procedures are quite literally homicide. “You’re killing people,” he said. 

“It’s sort of like abortion,” Zalot said. “We have all of these euphemisms — ’reproductive rights,’ et cetera. It’s the same thing with assisted suicide and euthanasia: ‘Death with dignity,’ ‘medical aid in dying.’” 

“Euthanasia and assisted suicide are killing people,” he said. “They are actions that kill people. And the Fifth Commandment says that thou shalt not kill. And that’s the bottom line.”

Pentecost painting. / Credit: Public domain

Rome, Italy, May 19, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

This weekend, the Church celebrates Pentecost, one of the most important feast days of the year, which concludes the Easter season and celebrates the birth of the Church. 

Here’s what you need to know about the feast day.

Pentecost always occurs 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus and 10 days after his ascension into heaven. Because Easter is a moveable feast without a fixed date and Pentecost depends on the timing of Easter, Pentecost can fall anywhere between May 10 and June 13.

The timing of these feasts is also where Catholics get the concept of the novena — nine days of prayer — because in Acts 1, Mary and the apostles prayed together “continuously” for nine days after the Ascension leading up to Pentecost. Traditionally, the Church prays the novena to the Holy Spirit in the days before Pentecost.

The name of the day itself is derived from the Greek word “pentecoste,” meaning “50th.”

There is a parallel Jewish holiday, Shavu’ot, which falls 50 days after Passover. Shavu’ot is sometimes called the “Feast of Weeks,” referring to the seven weeks since Passover.

Originally a harvest feast, Shavu’ot now commemorates the sealing of the Old Covenant on Mount Sinai, when the Lord revealed the Torah to Moses. Every year, the Jewish people renew their acceptance of the gift of the Torah on this day.

In the Christian tradition, Pentecost is the celebration of the person of the Holy Spirit coming upon the apostles, Mary, and the first followers of Jesus, who were gathered together in the upper room.

A “strong, driving” wind filled the room where they were gathered, and “tongues as of fire” came to rest on each one of them (Acts 2:13). They were suddenly able to speak in different languages and be understood. It was such a strange phenomenon that some people thought the Christians were drunk — but Peter pointed out that it was only “9 in the morning” and said the phenomenon was caused by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit also gave the apostles the other gifts necessary to fulfill the great commission — to go out and preach the Gospel to all nations. This fulfilled the New Testament promise from Christ that the apostles would be “clothed with power” before they would be sent out to spread the Gospel (Luke 24:46-49).

It was right after Pentecost that Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, preached his first homily to Jews and other nonbelievers, in which he opened the Scriptures of the Old Testament, showing how the prophet Joel prophesied events and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

He also told the people that the Jesus they crucified is the Lord and was raised from the dead, which “cut them to the heart.” When they asked what they should do, Peter exhorted them to repent of their sins and to be baptized. According to the account in Acts, about 3,000 people were baptized following Peter’s sermon.

For this reason, Pentecost is considered the birthday of the Church — Peter, the first pope, preaches for the first time and converts thousands of new believers. The apostles and believers, for the first time, were united by a common language and a common zeal and purpose to go and preach the Gospel.

Typically, priests will wear red vestments on Pentecost, symbolic of the burning fire of God’s love and the tongues of fire that descended on the apostles.

However, in some parts of the world, Pentecost is also referred to as “Whitsunday,” or White Sunday, referring to the white vestments that are typically worn in Britain and Ireland. The white is symbolic of the dove of the Holy Spirit and typical of the vestments that catechumens desiring baptism wear on that day.

An Italian Pentecost tradition is to scatter rose leaves from the ceiling of the churches to recall the miracle of the fiery tongues, and so, in some places in Italy, Pentecost is sometimes called “Pascha Rosatum” (“Easter roses”). One of the most famous locations for the rose petal dropping is the Pantheon.

In France, it is tradition to blow trumpets during Mass to recall the sound of the driving wind of the Holy Spirit.

In Asia, it is typical to have an extra service, called genuflexion, during which long poems and prayers are recited.

In Russia, Mass-goers often carry flowers or green branches during Pentecost services.

This story was originally published on June 2, 2017, and has been updated.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle at the Synod of Bishops on Oct. 9, 2015. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, May 18, 2024 / 10:35 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, as his special envoy to the National Eucharistic Congress in the United States, which will be celebrated in Indianapolis July 17–21. The announcement was made Saturday by the Vatican.

Tagle will celebrate the closing Mass of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress.

Calling the appointment “a gift to the Eucharistic Congress,” Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), said that Tagle’s “deep passion for apostolic mission rooted in the Eucharist is sure to have an inspirational impact for everyone attending the Congress,” according to a USCCB press release. Broglio also pointed out that Tagle knows the U.S. well as he earned a doctorate in theology at the Catholic University of America in 1991. 

This will be the first National Eucharistic Congress in over half a century and a pivotal event in the three-year National Eucharistic Revival, leading into the final year of the revival — the Year of Missionary Sending. 

“The congress will give public witness to the Church’s core identity rooted in the Eucharist, and we pray that it will inspire a renewed sense of mission as we live out the gifts of unity and charity,” Broglio said in the USCCB statement. “May it be the catalyst for a continued deepening of our faith in the Real Presence.” 

This weekend marks the beginning of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimages, consisting of four different routes beginning on opposite sides of the country and meeting in Indianapolis for the Congress in July. Collectively the four pilgrimage routes will traverse 6,500 miles, 27 states, and 65 dioceses while carrying Christ in the Eucharist. 

More information on the Eucharistic Revival, Pilgrimage, and Congress can be found at https://www.eucharisticrevival.org.

Pope Francis speaks to pilgrims gathered in the arena in Verona, Italy, on May 18, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Verona, Italy, May 18, 2024 / 09:40 am (CNA).

Pope Francis’s one-day pastoral visit to the northern Italian city of Verona on Saturday centered on a message of peace, offering an alternative to the current social paradigm. While the city is home to just over 250,000 residents, the pope’s message was global in scope. 

“Peace will never be the result of mistrust, of walls, of weapons pointed at each other,” the pope said at the end of his address at the “Justice and Peace They Shall Kiss” meeting held at the Verona Arena. 

“Everyone will reap what they sow,” he e said, quoting from St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. “Let’s not sow death, destruction, fear. Let's sow hope! 

“This is what you are doing too, in this Arena of Peace. Don't stop. Don't be discouraged. Do not become spectators of the so-called `inevitable' war.’”

The apex of the event came when the pope embraced Maoz Inon, an Israeli whose parents were killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, and Aziz Sarah, a Palestinian, whose brother was killed in the war.

Calling them “brothers,” Francis proceeded to hug each, calling the embrace “a project for the future.” This was met by a thunderous standing vocation, but followed by a moment of silence for the victims of the war. 

The Holy Father arrived in Verona by helicopter at 8 a.m., at the Bentegodi Stadium, and was greeted by the Bishop of Verona, Domenico Pompili, the president of the Veneto Region Luca Zaia, as well as the prefect and mayor of the city. 

The first encounter of the day was in the Romanesque Basilica of San Zeno, where the pope addressed priests and consecrated religious. Speaking on the importance of their vocation, Francis reminded them that it is predicated upon “the audacity of testimony” and “the joy of an active faith in charity, the resourcefulness of a Church that knows how to grasp the signs of our time and respond to the needs of those who struggle most.”

“At the origin of consecrated life and priestly life,” the pontiff added, “there is not us, our gifts or some special merit, but there is the surprising call of the Lord, his merciful gaze that bent over us and chose us to this ministry, although we are no better than others, we are sinners like others.” 

After the address, Pope Francis made his way into the adjacent piazza, brimming with over 5,000 people, where he was warmly greeted by children and young people. 

In a brief question-and-answer exchange with three different children, the Holy Father highlighted the importance of the day’s overarching theme of peace. 

“There are many wars, many wars, both in Ukraine and in the Holy Land, in Africa, in Myanmar... Many, many wars,” the pope said. 

“Does Jesus preach war or peace?,” the pope asked the children. Answering in a booming and unified voice they shouted: “peace!”

After his address to the young people, Pope Francis arrived at Verona’s first-century Roman amphitheater after 10 a.m and was greeted with a standing ovation by the over 10,000 spectators in attendance.  

Much like the arena itself, the event was rich in symbolism, reflecting the overarching themes of justice, peace, and social inclusion. 

Pope Francis took his place at the center of the stage and sat in a high-back wooden armchair — constructed by inmates — responding to a series of questions on ecology, migration, and just economic development, all of which were subsumed under the urgent call for peace.

Responding to a question, fielded by an Afghani woman, on how to make peace work, the pope warned against a culture “marked by individualism,” as this runs the risk of “making the dimension of the community disappear.” 

“The dimension of the community disappears, the dimension of the vital bonds that support us and make us advance. And it inevitably also produces consequences on the way in which authority is understood.”

“And this,” the pontiff continued, “is perhaps the root of dictatorships.” 

The Holy Father proceeded to the next event, a meeting with the inmates at Verona’s Montorio prison where he expressed his closeness and reminded them: “God forgives everything and he always forgives.” 

The pope also addressed the conditions of the prison, one of the most overcrowded in Italy, and expressed his “pain” that some inmates have committed suicide. 

“Life is always worth living, always,” the pope declared. 

“Our existence,” he continued “is a unique gift for us and for others, for everyone, and above all for God, who never abandons us, and who actually knows how to listen, rejoice and cry with us, and always forgive.” 

A map of a few of the largest cities that will be traversed by the Serra Route of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimages. / Credit: EWTN News in Depth

CNA Staff, May 18, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

This weekend marks the beginning of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimages, an unprecedented effort to walk with the Eucharist thousands of miles across the United States as a public witness to the Church’s teaching that the Eucharist is truly the body of Jesus Christ. 

A group of two dozen young people, dubbed “perpetual pilgrims,” will walk the entire way, 6,500 miles in total across the four routes. All are welcome to participate in Eucharistic processions and other prayer-filled events taking place across the country over the next two months.

The longest and arguably the most challenging of the four routes, the Junipero Serra Route, begins in San Francisco and ends in Indianapolis at the National Eucharistic Congress July 17–21. The Serra Route pilgrims will walk over 2,000 miles — across the Golden Gate Bridge, the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and the Midwest’s Great Plains. 

The Serra Route is named after “The Apostle of California,” St. Junipero Serra, whom Pope Francis canonized during a visit to the United States in 2015. Serra was an 18th-century Franciscan priest and missionary who founded mission churches all along the California coast, many of which are still in operation as Catholic churches today.

Here are some highlights to expect during this historic pilgrimage.

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge — May 19

There will be a special blessing of the perpetual pilgrims before they begin their journey at Mission Dolores, which was founded in 1776 and remains the oldest intact building in San Francisco. Soon after the commencement of the pilgrimage following Pentecost Mass at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco, the procession will move to the Golden Gate Bridge and cross its iconic 1.7-mile span. Those wanting to join for this portion can register here.

Sailing on the Sacramento River — May 22

After arriving in Sacramento — California’s capital, which is named for the Blessed Sacrament — by boat, the procession will proceed to a homeless shelter for Eucharistic adoration. Later, the pilgrims will visit inmates at Folsom Prison. Catholic leaders in Sacramento say they have arranged for the events in Sacramento to serve and celebrate the city’s marginalized: the unhoused, prisoners, migrants, mothers in need, and farm workers. (Register here.)

Boating across Lake Tahoe — May 24

At South Lake Tahoe near the California-Nevada border, the procession will take to the water once again and sail across the lake, which is world-renowned for its scenery and recreation opportunities. (Register to join here.)

Traversing the Rocky Mountains — roughly May 26 to June 6

Between Lake Tahoe and Denver, there will be numerous opportunities for participants to join the procession as it goes through some of the country’s most spectacular scenery in Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah. 

This portion of the route will take the pilgrims across the Great Basin desert and then through the rugged and awe-inspiring Rocky Mountains, which inspired St. John Paul II when, as pope, he came to Denver for World Youth Day in 1993. (In case you’re wondering, not everything on the route will be done on foot; specially designed vans will transport the Eucharist and the pilgrims over certain portions of all four routes.)

Jesus on the plains of Nebraska — June 21

In a joint event between the Archdiocese of Omaha and the Diocese of Lincoln, the procession will begin outside on the grounds of the Cloisters on the Platte (a well-known Ignatian retreat center) and process about five miles with the Blessed Sacrament to the picturesque Holy Family Shrine. (Register here.)

A stop at Benedictine College — June 25-26

The procession will go through Atchison, Kansas, home of Benedictine College. Overnight adoration will take place June 25, followed the next morning by the Liturgy of the Hours and Benediction, the celebration of Mass, and a Eucharistic procession around campus on June 26. (Register here.)

A walk through the ‘Rome of the West’ — July 5-7

In early July the procession will make its way through St. Louis, which is sometimes called the “Rome of the West” for its many beautiful Catholic churches. The procession will stop at several shrines, including the Shrine of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne, a French missionary saint who brought Catholic education to the Missouri frontier in the early 19th century. (Register here.)

A view of the crowd and nearby waterfront at the opening Mass for World Youth Day in Lisbon, Portugal on Aug. 1, 2023. / Credit: Arlindo Homem/JMJ Lisboa 2023

ACI Prensa Staff, May 18, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Jimena, the young woman who regained her sight after receiving Communion at a Mass during World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon, Portugal, in August 2023, told ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, about how she experienced that moment, her return home, and the details of a special meeting she had with Pope Francis during a pilgrimage she made with her family to Rome to thank the Virgin for that “miracle.”

For two and a half years, Jimena suffered from a loss of sight due to a myopia problem that left her with a 95% vision loss.

She traveled to Lisbon from Madrid with a group from Opus Dei. During the days prior, relatives and acquaintances of the young woman organized a novena to pray to Our Lady of the Snows, whose feast day is commemorated Aug. 5, the same day she recovered her sight.

Time seemed to stop in that Madrid cafeteria where Jimena and her father spoke with ACI Prensa. With the simplicity of a 17-year-old girl and an expression full of light and hope, Jimena remembered in detail what she felt on that day last year when she was cured.

‘I cried from a sense of peace’

“When we came back from Communion I sat down in the pew and then all the nervousness I had felt suddenly disappeared. I had been shaking with nervousness, and when we got down on our knees after taking Communion, I closed my eyes, and I felt a lot of peace, and then I stopped shaking.”

After receiving the body of Christ in a church in Évora de Alcobaça, a town north of Lisbon, the young woman said she felt the need to cry, but it was not a normal cry: “I began to cry from a sense of peace, it had never happened to me before; I didn’t know that you could cry for feeling at peace.”

“I was like super peaceful, as if inside I already knew what had happened, without opening my eyes. And then I opened them, I dried my tears, and I could see the altar, the tabernacle perfectly...”

‘God’s plans are much bigger than ours’

She also recalled recognizing her friends, who began to celebrate with her over what had happened. “When the Mass was over, for thanksgiving, I went up to read the prayer of the Virgin of the Snows to give thanks.”

From that moment on, Jimena has been grateful every day for the “miracle” that made her understand “that you have to let yourself fall a little into the arms of God, because his plans are much bigger than ours. It’s more about trusting than trying to take our life of faith wherever we want.”

‘Our Mother doesn’t leave things halfway’

Her father recalled that just prior to the healing, Jimena was going to undergo emergency surgery in the operating room. “She prayed a lot to the Virgin that night, and the next day the convergence in her eye was cured,” so there was no need to operate, he said.

For her father, this first healing of his daughter had been a sign: “If you have a previous healing from the Virgin, then your faith is sustained by that. That is to say, Our Mother doesn’t leave things halfway, and she was not going to abandon us at that time.”

After some time after that “sign,” during a walk on the Rincón de la Victoria beach in Málaga, Spain, on the way to stop and pray before an image of the Our Lady of Mount Carmel that is among the rocks, father and daughter decided to abandon themselves completely to the Virgin.

“It was on that walk on the beach where we remembered a very important thing, which I believe is essential in this entire process, and that is to let God act, not to put God in our plans, but to be part of his. So, you change the way you pray. It’s not about praying for God to do what you want, but about praying to understand what God wants you to do.”

Jimena’s father explained that it was then “when we understood that we had to put together a novena for Aug. 5.”

The doctors’ opinion after ‘the miracle’

Upon returning from Portugal, Jimena visited the doctor who had followed her case in recent years and who due to her illness she didn’t know by face. “I couldn’t explain it to her, I was very emotional. And then a doctor also said that no matter at what point I might have been cured, it would never have been instantaneous,” the young woman related.

“Yes,” her father said, “she basically told us that she had no logical explanation; that within the medical possibilities, Jimena could have been cured little by little by the time she was 40 or 45 years old. So there was that possibility, but of course, at 16 years of age and so suddenly there are no previous cases — there are none.”

The young woman’s father said it was a very nice appointment with the doctor and that “all the nurses were excited to see her and gave her hugs. They did all the tests again and the condition was completely gone.”

Pope Francis encouraged pilgrimage to St. Mary Major

Upon returning from World Youth Day, Jimena wrote a letter to Pope Francis to tell him about her experience.

The Holy Father did not take long to respond and encouraged her and her family to make a pilgrimage to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, also known as St. Mary of the Snows, one of the most important basilicas in Rome dedicated to Our Lady of the Snows and for which the pontiff has a special love.

What Pope Francis did not know is that providentially the family had already planned — a year ago — a trip to Rome to spend the end of the year there.

“I got the tickets in January of last year, months before Jimena had been cured. We assumed that we would go to Rome with Jimena being blind, but look…” her father said, becoming emotional.

A special meeting with Pope Francis

During their trip to the Eternal City, which became a pilgrimage in gratitude to the Virgin, the family had a private meeting with the Holy Father and also participated in the Mass he offered on Jan. 1, the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

Jimena’s father recalled that everyone was “captivated” by Pope Francis, who received them for more than an hour in the Vatican’s St. Martha House with his typical closeness and familiarity.

Jimena’s father told ACI Prensa that the pope gave them a lot of advice and encouraged them “to put down all of Jimena’s testimony in writing and to contact our bishop in Madrid.” 

Following the pontiff’s advice, they are currently working on writing up Jimena’s testimony and are awaiting a response from the archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal José Cobo Cano, whom they tried to contact a few months ago.

Regarding the doctors’ reaction, he said the Holy Father “stressed that this type of medical comment is admitted as valid in their process for miracles and so on. Because, as he told him, it’s very difficult for a doctor to manage to pronounce the word ‘miracle’ with all of their scientific knowledge.”

Jimena and the Virgin Mary

Jimena, who during this time has shared her testimony to small groups in Madrid, said she now has “a great deal of devotion” to Our Lady of the Snows but confesses that she has always had a bond with the Virgin Mary: “I feel her close every day.”

She also said that she has “a special affection for her, because in the end, in everything that has happened to me, I have always relied a lot on the Virgin, especially because it seemed easier for me to hold on to the rosary.”

“The Virgin, in the end, since she is an intercessor, that relationship that she has as a mother with us seemed easier to me. I see her as the mother that she is and that she appears, not physically, but she has little signs or things in which she shows us all that she is already here.”

Her father emphasized that Jimena has been able to understand that “she is not the protagonist of all this, but that she had a gift far above other people and that it is her responsibility to be generous and give it. But the protagonist in the end is the Virgin.”

“Since the miracle of Aug. 5 last year, they ask us to join novenas for healing people, and we join them all. But we do it anonymously, because I think it would be bad for people to think that Jimena has power. Another thing is that Jimena may have an extraordinary faith and a very great interior life, but that belongs to her private life,” her father noted.

He emphasized that “it’s a mistake to think that, suddenly, someone has power because they have received a gift. They are two very different things, and mixing them is a mistake. I believe that one of the beautiful things, which is also a grace of the Virgin, is being able to share her experience in personal and in-person testimonies so that other people come closer to the Lord. And that’s it. And the rest is pure superstition.”

The young woman’s father noted that there are many miracles in the Gospel whose recipients are people whose name is never known. Also, he stressed that today there are many miracles and that “Jimena’s has been more notable because the Virgin wanted it.”

“You have to leave it to her. She [the Virgin Mary] is the one who takes us to all corners [of the world]. It’s impossible for us to have planned with a large publicity budget to get to where this story has reached,” he pointed out.

‘The Eucharist is a much greater miracle’

For Jimena, “the Eucharist, in the end, is a much bigger miracle because it seems like it is hidden because it does not have — what do I know — lightning bolts falling from the sky or anything, but in the end it is God, who is the one who has allowed me to recover my sight and for us to all be here, the one who who comes down from heaven to put that in a piece of bread and that we receive it.”

“It seems to me that it is the moment in which we are closest to heaven here on earth, because in the end we are in union with God. So, I try to go to Mass whenever I can.”

A ‘new normal’

Jimena said with a smile that, before recovering her sight, she “had a list of books that I wanted read to me. The return to normal life has been a new normal in which I have done many things,” she said.

The young woman added that in a few days she will make a pilgrimage again to Rome with the group of her friends who were with her during World Youth Day.

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

Construction projects are underway in Rome as the city prepares for the 2025 Jubilee Year. / Credit: EWTN News

Rome Newsroom, May 18, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Construction projects are underway in Rome as the city prepares for the 2025 Jubilee Year (Dec. 24, 2024, to Jan. 6, 2026). According to the city’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, the upcoming “Jubilee of Hope” is expected to draw in an additional 30 million to 35 million tourists to Italy during the Catholic holy year.

“The jubilee is an extraordinary global event with a great spiritual significance for which the city of Rome must be ready,” Gualtieri told EWTN News Vatican Bureau Chief Andreas Thonhauser. “We are working to make it more welcoming so that pilgrims can live the experience of the Jubilee in the best possible way.” 

The city of Rome’s online portal Roma Si Transforma currently lists approximately 358 planned projects in the Lazio region in which Rome is located. Each project is categorized as either a culture, innovation, inclusion, or sustainability intervention, with projects specifically funded for the jubilee including the 79.5-million-euro (about $86.4 million) Piazza Pia transformation and the 4-million-euro (about $4.3 million) Piazza Risorgimento redevelopment.

Next to Vatican City, the transformation of Piazza Pia into a more open and pedestrian-friendly square is close to halfway completed. It will connect Castel Sant’Angelo — a historic structure originally built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian but later used as a papal fortress — to St. Peter’s Square. 

“Piazza Pia will unite — in a kind of embrace — Castel Sant’Angelo, Via della Conciliazione, and St. Peter’s Square. Before, a highway passed through it, [but] I think it will become one of the most beautiful squares in the world,” Gualtieri said.

As the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums are two famous tourist attractions for visitors to Rome, Gualtieri explained that he has been closely collaborating with Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect for the Section of New Evangelization of the Dicastery for Evangelization, and other Holy See representatives to support the crowds of pilgrims wanting to see the art collections and religious masterpieces contained within the walls of Vatican City.

“We had to work hard to imagine how to make Piazza Risorgimento more beautiful and make the arrival [of visitors] from the subway to the Vatican Museums more accessible,” Gualtieri explained. “[Archbishop] Fisichella is truly extraordinary in helping us always to find solutions. The whole Holy See is busy, starting with the Holy Father, [Cardinal Pietro] Parolin [Vatican secretary of state] and everyone else.”

The façade of the Basilica of St. John Lateran — one of four main papal basilicas in Rome that will have Holy Doors opened by the pope and remain open throughout the jubilee year — is under renovation in preparation for the millions of pilgrims expected to visit the city next year.

Besides the papal basilicas — St. Peter’s Basilica, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major, and St. Paul Outside the Walls — there are also 12 “jubilee churches” in Rome to serve as places of gathering for pilgrims who wish to attend catechesis sessions on the year’s theme of “hope” or to receive the sacraments in varying languages.

According to Gualtieri, several local parishes spread across the city are also being refurbished ahead of the jubilee year to support the Catholic communities already living within Rome.

The city of Rome has also considered specific sites for the calendar events of the jubilee year in Rome and the wider Lazio region, which have the capacity to host hundreds of thousands of pilgrims.

Tor Vergata will hold the Jubilee of the Youth and World Youth Day festival and overnight vigil in mid-2025, while Centocelle Park will be the location of several Mass celebrations for various groups including the sick and health care workers, artists, and even the armed forces.

Gualtieri also told EWTN that pilgrimage routes, including the ancient Via Francigena — which extends from England to Italy — would also undergo restoration work to improve usability, safety, and accessibility for pilgrims.  

On May 9, the feast of the Ascension, Pope Francis officially proclaimed the 2025 Jubilee Year through a papal bull at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, indicating further guidelines on the special year of pilgrimage and grace for Catholics worldwide. 

Through the announcement, the Holy Father invited “pilgrims of hope” to “travel the ancient and more modern routes in order to experience the jubilee year to the full” and “above all by approaching the sacrament of reconciliation — the essential starting point of any true journey of conversion.”