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Why isn’t the Annunciation celebrated today?

The Annunciation by Fra Angelico (public domain) via Wikimedia Commons. / null

ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 25, 2024 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

Every March 25, the solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord is celebrated in the Catholic Church, but this year Holy Week supersedes that observance.

The Annunciation of the Lord commemorates the archangel Gabriel’s announcing to Mary that she would become the mother of the Savior. With her “yes,” or “fiat,” the Son of God became incarnated in the womb of the Virgin Mary (cf. Lk 1:26-38).

The Annunciation holds the rank of a solemnity, which means its celebration takes precedence over all the feast days and memorials for saints or blesseds. However, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops explained why it cannot be celebrated on March 25 this year.

“Since March 25 is Monday of Holy Week this year, the solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord is moved to Monday, April 8,” the liturgical calendar for American dioceses states.

Holy Week (this year March 24–30) commemorates the passion, death, and resurrection of the Lord as well as the institution of the Eucharist, events that infinitely surpass any other solemnity or feast day of any saint or blessed.

In addition, after Holy Week comes the Easter Octave, during which the Church continues to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Easter is “the ‘Feast of feasts,’ the ‘Solemnity of solemnities’” (No. 1169).

The Easter Octave, which begins on Easter Sunday and concludes with Divine Mercy Sunday, runs from March 31 to April 7 this year.

Thus for 2024, the solemnity of the Annunciation has been moved to April 8, two weeks after March 25, so it can be celebrated with the recognition it deserves, this great mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God, which prepares us for Christmas.

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

Pope Francis to offer Mass in Venice’s St. Mark’s Square

St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy. / Shutterstock|maziarz

Vatican City, Mar 25, 2024 / 11:45 am (CNA).

Pope Francis will travel by motorboat along Venice’s canals and offer Mass in St. Mark’s Square during his visit to the “floating city,” the Vatican announced Monday.

The Holy See Press Office has released the schedule for the pope’s upcoming day trip to Venice — the pope’s only scheduled trip so far in 2024.

Pope Francis will preside over a public Mass in St. Mark’s Square at 11 a.m. on Sunday, April 28, as he visits the Vatican pavilion at the Venice Biennale art exhibition

The 87-year-old pope will travel by helicopter from Vatican City to Venice in under two hours and will land on Giudecca Island, home to Venice’s women’s prison.

The pope’s first meeting will be with inmates in the prison, where he will also tour the Vatican art exhibit being displayed there and meet with the featured artists. 

Pope Francis will then travel by motorboat from Giudecca Island to Venice’s Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, a place of pilgrimage in the city built in thanksgiving to the Virgin Mary for saving Venice from the terrible plague of 1630. 

The pope will give a speech to young people from dioceses throughout Italy’s northern Veneto region in the piazza in front of the basilica before crossing a bridge over the Grand Canal to arrive at St. Mark’s Square.

After the Mass, Pope Francis will privately venerate the relics of St. Mark the Evangelist inside the basilica. He will leave St. Mark’s Square via motorboat to arrive at a heliport on Sant’Elena Island, where he will depart by helicopter at 1 p.m. after having spent only five hours in Venice.

Pope Francis will be the first pope to visit the prestigious Venice Biennale art exhibition, which will be open to the public from April 20 to Nov. 24.

The Vatican has participated in the Art Biennale since 2013. The first Holy See Pavilion was commissioned by Pope Benedict XVI, who also visited Venice in 2011 and traveled across the Grand Canal in the same gondola as Pope John Paul II did in 1985.

Norway bishops: Proposal to expand abortion abandons ‘Christian and humanistic heritage’

Ultrasound of baby at 12 weeks / arhendrix/Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 25, 2024 / 10:30 am (CNA).

Norway’s Council of Catholic Bishops is warning that a proposal to liberalize the country’s abortion laws “represents a step away from Norway’s Christian and humanistic heritage” and “obscures our understanding of what is, and is not, a human life.”

A special abortion commission instituted by the Norwegian government has recommended Norway legalize elective abortion through the 18th week of pregnancy and legalize abortion in some cases even later into the pregnancy. 

Current law allows elective abortions through the 12th week of pregnancy but only allows abortion in limited circumstances in the 13th week through the 18th week of pregnancy. 

Under the current law, abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy require the woman to submit an application to a medical association board, with each reviewed on a case-by-case basis. The proposal would eliminate this requirement through the 18th week. 

The bishops’ conference submitted a letter to Norway’s Ministry of Health and Care outlining its objections to the proposal, stating that it fails to consider the interests of the preborn child, establishes an ambiguous concept of human life, and undermines the country’s traditional values.

“The law proposal cancels the fetus as a subject entitled to rights,” the bishops wrote, according to an unofficial translation published by the website Coram Fratribus.

“The consideration of abortion has, in the strict sense of this word, a tragic dimension,” they continued. “In every case an accomplished abortion is an occasion for grief, a loss to the community. Only on this basis, such is our conviction, can our society rightly consider the welfare of all parties concerned in a way that is responsible and rational.”

If the commission succeeds in extending elective abortions by six weeks, the bishops warned that it develops an “ambiguity” on how society understands life. The abortion law, they noted, would treat the preborn child “as a growth on the women’s body, an organic parasite.” 

On the other hand, a woman who intends to give birth to her preborn child “may see a fabulous video of a 17-weeks-old ‘baby’ ‘in a very active period’” with the current technology. 

“We are able, at one and the same time, to regard an 18-week-old fetus as a nonperson and as a beloved baby displaying characteristic personality,” the bishops noted. “The criterion of difference in discernment is the degree to which the baby is wanted.”

The letter further claimed that the language in the proposal marks a significant shift from current law. The current standard, according to the bishops, recognizes that “abortion is complex.” It ensures that a pregnant woman considering abortion is offered information about support she can receive to continue her pregnancy and bring her preborn child to term.

Although “she is granted the possibility to interrupt her pregnancy within clearly defined boundaries … it is made clear that the choice in question is a matter of life and death,” the bishops noted. The proposal from the commission changes this approach, stating that women “are entitled to abortion” through 18 weeks, according to the bishops.

“The vocabulary of legislation is rhetorically translated from a register of humanity to a register to consumerism rooted in terms such as ‘right,’ ‘claim,’ and ‘quality provision,’” the bishops added. “The woman’s decisional process is entirely privatized.”

The bishops further disparaged the language of the proposal, arguing that it simplifies the complexity of abortion by characterizing it as a matter of individual rights and women’s rights — while neglecting to acknowledge the preborn child.

“Of course women, as men, should enjoy autonomy and the right to dispose of their bodies,” the bishops explained. “The question of abortion, however, cannot be reduced … to a question of gender conflict. What makes the question complex is the fact that it touches, not just one subject — the pregnant woman — but two subjects, inasmuch as the unborn child must also be recognized as a person.”

The bishops argued that the bill fails to succeed in its stated goal of protecting “the integrity of individual persons” because it neglects the preborn child. They add that it fails to uphold the principle embedded in Article 2 of the country’s constitution, which states “our values will remain our Christian and humanist heritage.”

“Is it to Norway’s benefit to develop legislation sentimentalizing the very notion of personhood, ascribing personhood to a wanted individual but withholding recognition of personhood from one that is unwanted, and on this basis expediting that individual either towards survival or to death?” the bishops asked in the letter.

“We hold that it is not to Norway’s benefit to develop such legislation,” they said.

Pope Francis gives thanks to young Nigerian priests and nuns who answered God’s call

Pope Francis meets with Nigerians living in Rome on March 25, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Mar 25, 2024 / 09:30 am (CNA).

Pope Francis gave thanks on Monday for the many young Nigerians who have answered God’s call to the priesthood or religious life.

In a meeting with Nigerians living in Rome on March 25, the pope said he was grateful for all that Nigerian Catholics have done to bear witness to the Gospel, especially as many parts of the country are experiencing insecurity and Christian persecution.

“I also join you in thanking Almighty God for the many young Nigerians who have heard the Lord’s call to the priesthood and consecrated life and responded with generosity, humility, and perseverance,” Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis meets with Nigerians living in Rome on March 25, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Francis meets with Nigerians living in Rome on March 25, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media

“There are some here among you, young priests and young nuns,” he remarked. “May you always be missionary disciples, grateful that the Lord has chosen you to follow him and has sent you to zealously proclaim our faith and contribute to the construction of a more just and humane world.”

Nigeria has had a vocations boom in the past 50 years. In 2019, more than 400 diocesan priests were ordained in the West African country, which also sends priests to serve dioceses facing priest shortages in the United States and Europe.

Last year, Nigeria was recognized as having the highest Mass attendance in the world. A study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University found that 94% of Nigeria’s 30 million Catholics say they attend Mass at least weekly or more, while only 17% of American Catholics attend Mass weekly.

Nigeria has also been recognized as one of the most dangerous countries in the world to be a Christian. According to Open Doors International 4,998 Christians were killed in Nigeria in 2023 amid attacks by Islamic militants, kidnappings by armed bandits, and overall insecurity.

Catholic bishops in Nigeria’s Ibadan ecclesiastical province issued a statement last month lamenting the country’s recurrent and pervasive security challenges. 

“Our dear country Nigeria is fast becoming a hostile killing field,” the bishops said.

Kidnappings from seminaries, monasteries, and other places of religious formation have been on the rise in Nigeria. While some victims of the kidnappings have been killed, seminarians who survived the ordeal have shared in interviews with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, how they have come back stronger — and ready to die for their faith.

Pope Francis addressed Nigeria’s security challenges during the audience and assured the Nigerian community of his prayers for security and unity in their country.

Pope Francis meets with Nigerians living in Rome on March 25, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Francis meets with Nigerians living in Rome on March 25, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media

“Unfortunately, many regions of the world are experiencing conflict and suffering, and Nigeria is also experiencing difficult times,” the pope said.

“In assuring you of my prayers for the security, unity, and spiritual and economic progress of your nation, I invite everyone to encourage dialogue and listen to each other with an open heart, without excluding anyone on a political, social, and religious level,” Francis added.

The pope also encouraged Nigerians to be “heralds of the great mercy of the Lord, working for reconciliation between all your brothers and sisters, contributing to alleviating the burden of the poor and the most needy.”

“In this way all Nigerians will be able to continue to walk together in fraternal solidarity and harmony,” he said.

“I entrust your community to the loving protection of the Virgin Mary, queen and patroness of Nigeria, and I heartily bless you. And please don’t forget to pray for me,” Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis to young people: ‘Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive!’

Pope Francis addresses approximately 7,000 children from around the world in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Nov. 6, 2023, at an event sponsored by the Dicastery for Culture and Education dedicated to the theme “Let us learn from boys and girls.” / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Mar 25, 2024 / 08:51 am (CNA).

Pope Francis published a message for young people on Monday urging them to realize that Christ is alive today and wants us to live in a way that is fully alive.

“Christ is alive and he wants you to be alive!” Pope Francis wrote in the letter signed on March 25.

“In today’s world, marked by so many conflicts and so much suffering, I suspect that many of you feel disheartened. So together with you, I would like to set out from the proclamation that is the basis of our hope and that of all humanity: ‘Christ is alive!’”

The pope’s message marked five years since the pope wrote Christus Vivit (“Christ Is Alive”), his postsynodal apostolic exhortation on the 2018 Synod of Bishops on young people, faith, and vocational discernment. 

Pope Francis signed the 50-page letter, addressed to “all Christian young people” in Loreto, Italy, in the Shrine of the Holy House of Mary on the solemnity of the Annunciation on March 25, 2019, calling the Marian shrine of Loreto “a privileged place where young people can come in search of their vocation.”

In his 2024 message to youth, the pope said he wanted to repeat to each young person individually: “Christ is alive and he loves you with an infinite love.”

“His love for you is unaffected by your failings or your mistakes. He gave his life for you, so in his love for you he does not wait for you to be perfect. Look at his arms outstretched on the cross, and let yourself be saved over and over again,” Pope Francis said.

“Walk with him as with a friend, welcome him into your life and let him share all the joys and hopes, the problems and struggles of this time in your lives. You will see that the path ahead will become clearer and that your difficulties will be much less burdensome, because he will be carrying them with you. So pray daily to the Holy Spirit who draws you ever more deeply into the heart of Christ, so that you can grow in his love, his life, and his power.”

The pope also encouraged young people to share this message of hope with their friends and to “make your voices heard.”

“For you have received a great mission: to bear witness before everyone to the joy born of friendship with Christ,” Pope Francis said.

“Proclaim, not so much in words but by your life and your heart, the truth that Christ is alive! And in this way, help the whole Church to get up and set out ever anew to bring his message to the entire world,” he said.

Young people are the living hope of a missionary church, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Young people need to understand how much Christ loves them unconditionally and how much the church needs their voices and presence, Pope Francis said.

"Dear young people, you are the living hope of a Church on the move! For this reason, I thank you for your presence and for your contribution to the life of the Body of Christ," the pope told the world's young people in a written message.

The pope's message was released by the Vatican March 25 to mark the fifth anniversary of his apostolic exhortation "Christus Vivit" ("Christ is Alive"), published in 2019 and reflecting on the 2018 Synod of Bishops on young people, the faith and vocational discernment.

Pope Francis said he wanted to reach out again to young people with a message that could be "a source of renewed hope for you."

Christ is alive, he said in his message, and "his love for you is unaffected by your failings or your mistakes. He gave his life for you, so in his love for you he does not wait for you to be perfect."

"Walk with him as with a friend, welcome him into your life and let him share all the joys and hopes, the problems and struggles of this time in your lives," the pope wrote. "You will see that the path ahead will become clearer and that your difficulties will be much less burdensome, because he will be carrying them with you."

Pope Francis at World Youth Day 2023
Pope Francis, accompanied by an international group of World Youth Day pilgrims, waves to the crowd before beginning the WYD prayer vigil at Tejo Park in Lisbon, Portugal, Aug. 5, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

"In today's world, marked by so many conflicts and so much suffering, I suspect that many of you feel disheartened. So together with you, I would like to set out from the proclamation that is the basis of our hope and that of all humanity: 'Christ is alive!'" he wrote, and "he loves you with an infinite love."

"How greatly I want this proclamation to reach every one of you, for you to accept it as living and true in your own lives, and feel the desire to share it with your friends!" the pope wrote.

Pope Francis noted that April 14 will mark the 40th anniversary of the first great gathering of young people that, during St. John Paul II's Holy Year of the Redemption, "was the seed of the future World Youth Days."

Pope Francis recalled his first World Youth Day as pope in Rio de Janeiro in 2013, and how "I urged you to make your voices heard! 'Hagan lio!' Make a mess!"

"Today, once again, I ask you: make your voices heard! Proclaim, not so much in words but by your life and your heart, the truth that Christ is alive! And in this way, help the whole Church to get up and set out ever anew to bring his message to the entire world," he wrote.

He encouraged young people to never "leave us without your good way of 'making a mess,' your drive, like that of a clean and well-tuned engine, and your own particular way of living and proclaiming the joy of the risen Jesus!"

 

On Palm Sunday, pope prays people open hearts to God, quell all hatred

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Only Jesus can deliver humanity from hatred and violence, Pope Francis said on Palm Sunday.
 
"Jesus entered Jerusalem as a humble and peaceful king," he said in brief remarks after celebrating Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square. He prayed that the faithful would open their hearts to the Lord because he alone "can deliver us from animosity, hatred, violence, because he is mercy and the forgiveness of sins."

On a sunny and windy day, about 60,000 people attended the Mass March 24, which began with a solemn procession of hundreds of people carrying green palm branches followed by about 60 cardinals and bishops, carrying "palmurelli," pale green palm branches that were woven and braided. 

palm sunday
Prelates carry palm fronds in procession as Pope Francis looks on at the start of the celebration of Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican March 24, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Dressed in red vestments, the color of the Passion, Pope Francis presided over the Mass, the solemn beginning of Holy Week, but he skipped the homily and did not have an aide read any prepared remarks. Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for Eastern Churches, was the main celebrant at the altar.

The Vatican offered no explanation about why there was no homily. The pope did read brief remarks after praying the Angelus, greeted the cardinals in attendance from his wheelchair, and he rode in the popemobile for about 15 minutes enthusiastically greeting the faithful, waving, gesturing, offering a thumbs up and occasionally calling out remarks to those he saw. 

In his brief remarks, he expressed his sorrow over a deadly attack in Moscow March 22 in which more than 130 people were killed inside a crowded concert venue.

He prayed for the victims of this "cowardly terrorist attack" and called for the conversion of the "hearts of those who plan, organize and carry out these inhumane actions that offend God, who commanded, 'Thou shalt not kill.'"

The pope extended his prayers to all people who suffer because of war, particularly those in Ukraine, "where so many people find themselves without electricity because of intense attacks against the infrastructure that, in addition to causing death and suffering, carry the risk of an even larger humanitarian catastrophe." 

He also asked people not to forget about the people of Gaza who "are suffering so much" and the many other places experiencing war.

Pope: Pray for war-torn regions this Holy Week

Pope: Pray for war-torn regions this Holy Week

A look at Pope Francis' Palm Sunday.

U.S. Bishops’ President and Chairman of International Justice and Peace Issue Holy Week Call to Prayer for an End to the Israel-Hamas War

WASHINGTON – Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the U.S. Conference of Bishops (USCCB), and Bishop A. Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon, the chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on International Justice and Peace call on the faithful to renew their prayers during Holy Week for an end to the Israel-Hamas war.

“As the Church enters Holy Week and Christ’s suffering on the cross and his resurrection are made present to us so vividly, we are connected to the very source of hope. It is that hope that spurs us to call on Catholics here in the United States and all those of good will to renew their prayers for an end to the raging Israel-Hamas war.

“Thousands of innocent people have died in this conflict, and thousands more have been displaced and face tremendous suffering. This must stop. As the Holy Father recently said, ‘One cannot move forward in war. We must make every effort to negotiate, to negotiate, to end the war.’ To move forward, a cease fire and a permanent cessation of war and violence is absolutely necessary. To move forward, those held hostage must be released and civilians must be protected. To move forward, humanitarian aid must reach those who are in such dire need.  

“As Christians, we are rooted in the hope of the resurrection, and so we pray for a just and lasting peace in the Holy Land.”  

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Discernment is essential to discipleship, papal preacher says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Holy Spirit is like a line prompter at a theater, behind the scenes and constantly whispering to Christians the words of Jesus, said the preacher of the papal household.

"However, he does not mechanically suggest the words of the Gospel, like from a script, but explains them, adapts them and applies them to specific situations," Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa told Pope Francis, cardinals and members of the Roman Curia.

Concluding his series of Friday Lenten meditations March 22, Cardinal Cantalamessa insisted that listening to the Holy Spirit and discerning what the Spirit is saying to individuals and to the church at large is an exercise essential to following Jesus.

"We don't start out knowing the concrete path of holiness God wants for each of us," he said. "God reveals it step by step, so it is not enough to have a well-crafted plan and then follow it. There is no model of perfection that is identical for everyone."

God does not produce saints with a cookie cutter -- "God does not like cloning," he said. "Every saint is an original invention of the Spirit."

Faith, for a Christian, is not just a belief or even a feeling of love for the Lord, the cardinal said, it is a call to follow Jesus concretely in the way one lives and shares in the mission of the church.

And that, too, is different for each person, he said.

Cardinal Cantalamessa leads Lenten meditation
Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the papal household, gives a Lenten meditation to Pope Francis, cardinals, members of the Roman Curia and Vatican employees in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican March 22, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

A person comes to understand their unique call through prayer, meditating on Scripture, speaking with a spiritual guide and following the teaching of the church, he said. But especially important are the promptings and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which also give the person "the necessary strength and often the joy to accomplish it if the person consents."

Of course, Cardinal Cantalamessa said, understanding that call requires discernment, which is not as easy as judging something as good or bad.

"The most delicate problem about inspirations has always been to discern those that come from the Spirit of God from those that come from the spirit of the world or from your own passions or from the evil spirit," he said.

Jesus told his disciples that a true or false prophecy can be judged by the fruit it produces, the cardinal said, which is a helpful thing to keep in mind as the universal church continues to grow in the process of synodality and its encouragement to listen and pray together to discover the promptings of the Holy Spirit for sharing the Gospel today.

"In the moral field," Cardinal Cantalamessa said, "a fundamental criterion is the Spirit's coherence with itself. One cannot ask for something that is contrary to divine will as expressed in the Scriptures, in the teaching of the church and in the obligations of one's own state in life. A divine inspiration will never ask one to do something the church considers immoral."

"The flesh," he said, tries to make its own arguments and sometimes they sound good, "for example, that God is love and everything that is done for love is from God."

St. Ignatius of Loyola taught that "what comes from the Spirit of God brings with it joy, peace, tranquility, sweetness, simplicity, light. What comes from the spirit of evil, instead, brings with it disturbance, agitation, anxiety, confusion, darkness," he said.

"But it is true that in practice things are more complex," he said. "Inspiration can come from God, and despite that, cause great disturbance. But this is not due to the inspiration, which is sweet and peaceful like everything that comes from God. Rather it is born from resistance to the inspiration or from the fact that we are not ready to do what we are asked to do."

However, he said, "if inspiration is accepted, the heart will soon find itself in a deep peace. God rewards every little victory in this area by making the soul feel its approval, which is the most beautiful thing, the purest joy that exists in this world."

 

Pope urges the church to see the face of Christ in migrants

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church can draw closer to Jesus by accompanying migrants in their pursuit of a better life, Pope Francis said.

In the faces of migrants, the church "discovers the face of Christ," he wrote, and like St. Veronica who offered a cloth to wipe Jesus' face during his passion, the church "brings relief and hope on the 'Way of the Cross' of migration."

The pope wrote his comments in a letter March 21 to participants at a meeting between bishops, church officials and migrants in Lajas Blancas, Panama, near the Darién Gap jungle crossed by thousands of migrants each day. The meeting took place during a three-day conference organized by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development for bishops from Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama to discuss accompanying migrants.

Migrant brothers and sisters "represent the suffering flesh of Christ" since they are "forced to leave their land, to face the risks and tribulations of a hard road without finding another way out," Pope Francis wrote in his message to the group.

Bishops and other members of the church who support migrants "are the face of a mother church that walks with her sons and daughters," he wrote.

Pope Francis at his weekly general audience
Pope Francis makes brief remarks at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican March 20, 2024. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Pope Francis urged the migrants to "never forget about your human dignity," and encouraged them to "not be afraid to look others in the eye, because you are not discarded, but you form part of the human family and the family of God's children."

"I also am the son of migrants who left in search of a better future," the pope told them, referencing his upbringing in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as the child of Italian immigrants. "There were times when they were left with nothing, even starving, with their hands empty but their hearts full of hope."

The meeting of church officials and migrants took place outside of the Darién Gap jungle that straddles the Panama-Colombia border. Record numbers of migrants have risked their lives to cross the Darién Gap in recent months, subjected to rampant extortion, physical abuse and sexual violence by criminal gangs. More than 500,000 people crossed the gap in 2023, according to data published by the Panamanian government.

In a message to the bishops a day earlier, Pope Francis had written that the church's pastors must break free from indifference in addressing the crisis of forced migration across the Americas and that every migrant challenges Christians to embrace a spirit of hospitality.