Browsing News Entries

Grammy-winning Florida priest cleared of sexual misconduct charges

Father Jerome "Jerry" Kaywell, a Grammy award-winning musician, had been placed on leave amid claims of sexual misconduct before his accuser apologized and said the accusations were based on a "false memory." / Credit: Jerry Kaywell YouTube page

CNA Staff, Mar 19, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

A Grammy award-winning Florida priest has been cleared of allegations of sexual misconduct after his accuser recanted his claims and said the accusations had been the product of a “false memory.”

In a letter obtained by CNA, Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice, Florida, last week told parishioners of Sacred Heart Parish in Punta Gorda there was “no evidence to support” the allegations that Father Jerome Kaywell had committed sexual misconduct in 2013 and 2014. 

Dewane had informed parishioners in January that the diocese had “received notification from a law firm of an allegation of sexual misconduct” regarding Kaywell. The incident “allegedly occurred in the winter of 2013/2014,” the bishop said at the time. The priest was placed on administrative leave after the allegations were leveled against him.

In his letter this month, Dewane told Sacred Heart Parish that shortly thereafter the alleged victim “withdrew his allegation,” with the accuser writing an apology and declaring the alleged sexual misconduct was “a false memory.”

The diocese continued to investigate the matter in accordance with diocesan policy, the bishop said. The diocesan review board subsequently met in March, “examined the investigatory report and all aspects of the matter,” and “unanimously” concluded “that there was no evidence to support the allegation.”

“The Diocesan Review Board recommended that Father Kaywell be returned to ministry,” Dewane wrote. “I have accepted their recommendation and inform you that Father Kaywell has been returned to ministry, effective immediately.” 

“Therefore, I consider the matter closed and the good name of Father Jerome Kaywell restored,” the bishop said. 

Throughout the investigation, the bishop noted, Kaywell “maintained his innocence, stating that the allegation could not have happened.”

As of Tuesday, the priest was once again listed on Sacred Heart’s website as its pastor after having been removed during the investigation. 

Kaywell has been pastor of the Punta Gorda church since 2004. He attended both St. Francis University and St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary.

He is known for having established a musical and advertising career before becoming a priest. In 1985 he recorded a Grammy-winning album, “Let My People Go,” with the gospel group the Winans. He was ordained in 1991 and has released two more albums since then. 

Pope Francis appoints new bishop to lead Wisconsin diocese

Pope Francis on March 19, 2024, appointed Bishop Gerard Battersby to lead the Diocese of La Crosse in western Wisconsin. / Credit: Marek Dziekonski/courtesy of the Archdiocese of Detroit

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 19, 2024 / 12:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Tuesday appointed Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Gerard Battersby to lead the Diocese of La Crosse in western Wisconsin after accepting the resignation of Bishop William Callahan.

The pope’s appointment was communicated to the U.S. bishops by the apostolic nuncio to the U.S., Cardinal Christophe Pierre.

Erik Archer, a representative for the Diocese of La Crosse, told CNA that Battersby will be officially installed as bishop of the diocese on May 20 at St. Joseph the Workman Cathedral. 

At 63 years old, Battersby will become the 11th bishop to lead the Diocese of La Crosse. He was born in Detroit and has been serving as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Detroit since 2017. He issued a statement on Tuesday upon learning of his appointment.

“It is with joy that I received the news that the Holy Father had named me the 11th bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse,” Battersby wrote. “When I was baptized, ordained a priest, and consecrated a bishop, I received a call within a call, an invitation to follow. The Risen One has bid me to follow him to western Wisconsin, to the banks of the Mighty Mississippi. I leave with hope and anticipatory joy.”

Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit congratulated Battersby, saying: “The gift of bishop Battersby’s ministry now goes to the people of La Crosse. The priests, religious, and faithful of Detroit send him there with our heartfelt prayers of gratitude.”

Battersby’s predecessor, Callahan, is retiring at age 73 after serving the Diocese of La Crosse since 2010. According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Callahan is retiring for health reasons.

Callahan was the first conventional Franciscan to be named a bishop in the United States. He led the diocese through some turbulent periods. In 2021 he decided to remove Father James Altman from ministry for disobedience and for proclaiming that “Catholics can’t be Democrats.” Altman later went on to release more controversial videos, one notably making statements understood by some as calling for the death of Pope Francis.

The retiring bishop released a statement obtained by CNA on Tuesday in which he expressed his gratitude for his time as bishop of La Crosse.

“In 2010, I was called by His Holiness, Pope Benedict, to become the 10th bishop of La Crosse and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to work with some of the best priests and deacons in the Church in this capacity,” Callahan said in a statement. “Looking back, it is a great blessing and I simply say ‘thank you’ to all the wonderful people who have been part of my journey, especially the priests, deacons, religious, and holy women who have been so kind to me over these 14 years.”

According to Callahan’s statement, he will remain in La Crosse, continuing to serve the Church as a retired bishop.

“I look forward to continuing my service to Bishop Battersby and spiritual service to brother priests and deacons in La Crosse,” he said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to remain in this wonderful community for as long as God allows, and I will cherish the memories and experiences I have had here.”

The Diocese of La Crosse spans 19 counties in Wisconsin and consists of 156 parishes and 65 schools serving a population of 135,000 Catholic faithful.

Pope Francis laicizes Toledo priest after life sentence for sexual abuse of minors

The flag of Vatican City. / Andreas Duren/CNA.

CNA Staff, Mar 19, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has laicized an Ohio priest after the clergyman received a life sentence in prison for the sexual abuse of minors, the Diocese of Toledo said this week. 

Michael Zacharias, 57, was convicted on five counts of sex trafficking by a federal jury in the Northern District of Ohio last May. His crimes, committed between 1999 and 2020, involved three victims, two of whom were minors when Zacharias began abusing them.

Upon his conviction, he faced a minimum of 15 years in prison. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said in November that the then-priest received a life sentence for the crimes. 

In a press release on Monday, the Diocese of Toledo said that following Zacharias’ convection, diocesan officials “had transmitted the case to the Holy See along with the request to the Holy Father to impose the penalty of direct dismissal from the clerical state.”

“The diocese was recently informed that the Holy Father has imposed upon Zacharias the perpetual penalty of direct dismissal from the clerical state (returning him to the lay state), for the sexual abuse of minors and other reprehensible immoral behavior,” the statement said. 

Laicization is the term for when a priest has been dismissed from the clerical state. An individual who is confirmed as a priest will always remain one, but laicization takes away his ability to licitly execute the functions of the priesthood, except in the extreme situation of encountering someone who is in immediate danger of death.

Bishop Daniel E. Thomas said in the statement that “with the imposition of this penalty, it is my hope and prayer that healing for victims may continue and justice be restored, as we remain vigilant in confronting evil.”

“The Holy Father alone has the authority to impose this penalty of direct dismissal from the clerical state when the case warrants such an action,” the diocese noted. 

Zacharias’ trial revealed that he met his abuse victims “through his affiliation with a Catholic school,” according to the Department of Justice. 

The ex-priest “used his affiliation and position of authority to groom the boys and grow close with their families,” the DOJ said, “before ultimately coercing the victims into engaging in commercial sex acts and manipulating the opioid addictions they developed.”

John Paul the Great Catholic University to double its academic space

John Paul the Great Catholic University is a Catholic liberal arts college located in the northern suburbs of San Diego. The school features hands-on creative programs in film, animation, design, music, and acting, as well as business entrepreneurship, combined with an education in theology, philosophy, and the humanities. / Credit: John Paul the Great Catholic University

CNA Staff, Mar 19, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

John Paul the Great Catholic University, also known as “JPCatholic,” announced earlier this month that it will double its academic space through a new creative arts academic complex.

The Catholic liberal arts college, located in Escondido, California, in the northern suburbs of San Diego, features hands-on creative programs in film, animation, design, music, and acting, as well as business entrepreneurship, combined with an education in theology, philosophy, and the humanities. 

The two new arts buildings will feature a new soundstage, an illustration studio, an acting rehearsal studio, additional classrooms, computer labs, and more. 

Floorplan for new creative arts academic complex at John Paul the Great Catholic University. The complex features a cinematic and visual arts building and a performing arts building as well as a courtyard and "parkette." Credit: Courtesy of JPCatholic
Floorplan for new creative arts academic complex at John Paul the Great Catholic University. The complex features a cinematic and visual arts building and a performing arts building as well as a courtyard and "parkette." Credit: Courtesy of JPCatholic

“This complex will more than double our academic space and equip our growing student body with the resources needed to produce impactful projects across the creative arts,” the university said in a press release. 

“Right now, the facilities can handle 300 students pretty well, but there’s a lot of space that has double and triple usage,” founding president Derry Connolly, Ph.D., told CNA. “So once we bring the new building online, we’ll have much more dedicated facilities for each of the programs.”

The 30,620-square-foot building, previously the home of Johnson Furniture and Sears Roebuck, will be repurposed into a cinematic and visual arts building and a performing arts building. The property will feature outdoor space as well, with a courtyard for community events, outdoor performances, and student life. 

“With the new building, we’re going to have much larger, dedicated spaces for all of the artistic, creative work that the students do,” Connolly said. “So that’s the biggest impact.”

Students at John Paul the Great Catholic University in Escondido, California, north of San Diego, at work on a film project. The Catholic liberal arts college features hands-on creative programs in film, animation, design, music, acting, as well as business entrepreneurship, combined with an education in theology, philosophy, and the humanities. Credit: John Paul the Great Catholic University
Students at John Paul the Great Catholic University in Escondido, California, north of San Diego, at work on a film project. The Catholic liberal arts college features hands-on creative programs in film, animation, design, music, acting, as well as business entrepreneurship, combined with an education in theology, philosophy, and the humanities. Credit: John Paul the Great Catholic University

Professor of music Robert Giracello, who pioneered the digital music program at JPCatholic, said the new project will “give us twice as many opportunities for creative arts projects for the students.”

“It’s a great place for all of our creative disciplines, between visual art and acting and film and music, to collaborate and work together in a centered area,” he noted.

Giracello said a soundstage can be used as “a multifaceted blackbox area.”

“You could film a scene there, or you can green screen, or we could even use it as a live room and do live recording of music,” he said. “Or we could even put on a performance.”

The renovation is expected to be completed in early 2025.

Derry Connolly is founder and president of John Paul the Great Catholic University. Credit: John Paul the Great Catholic University
Derry Connolly is founder and president of John Paul the Great Catholic University. Credit: John Paul the Great Catholic University

What is JPCatholic? 

Connolly launched the school in 2006 and it has continued to grow ever since, with a small, but lively, “dynamically Catholic” community of about 300 students. It is now affectionately known as “JPCatholic.”

Connolly was inspired to found the school after a visit to Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, late on a Friday night while in adoration. 

“God hit me over the head and said, ‘I want something like this in San Diego,’” he recalled, adding: “God never put something on my heart [like that] before or afterwards.”

Far from being a creative, Connolly was an engineer and businessman, originally from Ireland. But he saw what he called a “great need” for a “Catholic academic institution that trains people to use the arts for evangelization.”

“And that was in the early 2000s, when the Internet and Internet video was starting to boom,” he recalled. “I felt that the Church desperately needed something in the creative arts so combining what God had put on my heart and looking at the reality of the times led to the genesis of JPCatholic.”

Students at John Paul the Great Catholic University. Credit: John Paul the Great Catholic University
Students at John Paul the Great Catholic University. Credit: John Paul the Great Catholic University

“There’s a huge need in the particular space we’re in,” he said. “The creative arts were something that the Church totally dominated in the Middle Ages [and] the Renaissance… But in the 2020s, it’s not very clear that the Church has any great influence on the arts.”

But Connolly noted that young Catholic creatives are “looking for a place where they can create with people who share their values, and that’s difficult to find.”

“There’s no shortage of talent. God has produced the talent,” he said. “He just needs a place where they can be together and work on creating together.”

Montessori religious community develops in North Dakota ‘to serve Christ in the child’

Mother Chiara Thérèse and Sister Lucia Rose of Servants of the Children of the Light after the ceremony with Bishop David Kagan of the Diocese of Bismarck, North Dakota. / Credit: Deborah Kates Photography

CNA Staff, Mar 19, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

When you think of Montessori education, you don’t think of Catholic nuns. But Dr. Maria Montessori wanted just that: a Catholic order of religious sisters dedicated to the education method that became her namesake.

Two years before her death, Montessori (1870–1952) expressed her wish that a religious order would exist to promote and develop Montessori-style education. More than 70 years later, the Servants of the Children of the Light is now a reality, thanks to Mother Chiara Thérèse.

Following “many years of personal discernment,” Mother Chiara brought the idea to her local Ordinary in Manden, North Dakota. Originally named Julie Jacobson, she took the name Chiara Thérèse and received her habit in 2020, taking her first vows on Jan. 3, 2021, the feast of the Epiphany. 

Mother Chiara professing her final vows in the hands of the bishop. Credit: Deborah Kates Photography
Mother Chiara professing her final vows in the hands of the bishop. Credit: Deborah Kates Photography

“The Lord often brings about new religious communities in response to a need in the world at a particular moment or time in history,” she continued. “Although the Lord needs the ‘yes’ of human instruments, he works independent of us, drawing souls to live out this new form of life in the Church.”

The community was established as a Public Association of the Christian Faithful for Women in view of becoming a religious institute in the Diocese of Bismarck on Oct. 1, 2020.

“The inspiration for the founding of the community comes from the Holy Spirit,” Mother Chiara Thérèse said. 

Mother Chiara prostrates before her final vows while the litany of the saints is sung on Jan. 6, 2024. Credit: Deborah Kates Photography
Mother Chiara prostrates before her final vows while the litany of the saints is sung on Jan. 6, 2024. Credit: Deborah Kates Photography

Founding a religious order is a long process, and the group currently boasts two members. 

Earlier this year, on Jan. 6, Mother Chiara Thérèse professed her final vows, and novice Sister Lucia Rose received her habit during a special Mass at Our Lady of Victory Chapel on the campus of St. Mary’s Central High School in Bismarck.

“The process of beginning a new community follows the path of Christian life, and a solid foundation is necessary in order to grow and flourish,” Mother Chiara told CNA. 

Sister Lucia Rose receives the holy habit of religion in a ceremony called investiture, and thereupon enters the novitiate on Jan. 6, 2024, the feast of the Epiphany. Credit: Deborah Kates Photography
Sister Lucia Rose receives the holy habit of religion in a ceremony called investiture, and thereupon enters the novitiate on Jan. 6, 2024, the feast of the Epiphany. Credit: Deborah Kates Photography

Though the community is small, it has received international support. 

“We have been blessed to have the support of many people in the Church, far and wide; from our local bishop to the faithful in the Diocese of Bismarck, to people from all over the world,” she noted. 

“I was taken aback, at the time of foundation, to hear from individuals across the world, as far away as Australia, Sweden, Wales, and Canada,” she continued. “Their voices resounded in unison as all exclaimed their joy that Dr. Montessori’s dream of a religious community was finally being realized.”

Since its establishment in 2020, the community has “had the grace of establishing ourselves in a proper convent, through the generosity of many benefactors,” Mother Chiara explained. 

The Servants currently serve at Christ the King Catholic Montessori School in Mandan, a city just west of Bismarck. 

“We continue to form young people — body, mind, and soul — through this method of education,” she said. “The early years of formation of the young sisters takes place at our convent. After the profession of simple vows, the sisters will pursue an AMI Montessori diploma, according to the age of the children they feel called to serve.”

“We continue to be open to what the Lord is asking of us and pray that we can remain faithful to the call we have received,” she noted. 

Dr. Maria Montessori’s name has become synonymous with a style of education for children that is tactile, playful, and practical. It’s designed for the developmental needs of the child.

“Dr. Montessori desired that the child be respected and honored in this world, so often made only for adults,” Mother Chiara explained. “Therefore, from her we draw our deep desire to not only assist the child but to understand and respect the child in all his moments of development.”

Montessori became the first female doctor in Italy and studied psychiatry with a focus on education. In 1907, she opened a child care center in Rome, “Casa dei Bambini” — Italian for “Children’s House,” where she worked with disadvantaged children. 

Catholic religious education was initially an integral part of Maria Montessori’s educational program, but as secular Montessori schools were established in the U.S., the religious element was dropped from the curriculum.  

“We know that Dr. Montessori was a devout Catholic. In fact, she said, as E.M. Standing recounts, that ‘her own method could only find its fullest expression when applied to the teaching of the Catholic faith,’” Mother Chiara explained. 

“In 1950, two years before her death, Dr. Montessori spoke of her desire for a religious community to carry out her work,” she continued. “She was convinced that she alone could do little in comparison to how a religious community could spread her work throughout the world.”

Dr. Montessori wished for the community to be called “The Servants of the Children of Light.” 

“Therefore, it is her desire that is finally being realized after all of these years!” she noted. 

Mother Chiara explained the Montessori “learned much” from the Catholic Church “as she formulated and developed her method of education,”

“Dr. Montessori also believed that ‘the true respect of the child is only possible when one respects God in the child,” Mother Chiara noted, citing her own translation of “Dio e il Bambino,” (“God and the Child”), a book of Montessori’s writings that have not been fully translated into English yet.

“From this flows our community’s unique fourth vow: to serve Christ in the child. We do so not only to safeguard our charism but also to truly serve the child as Dr. Montessori prescribes in her method,” Mother Chiara continued. “She said that a Montessori guide (or teacher) must root out all pride, impatience, and anger if he is truly going to lead the child to develop into the ‘man he is to become.’”

To find out more about the Servants of the Children of the Light, visit their website.

5 shrines dedicated to St. Joseph in North America

The St. Joseph Oratory of Mount Royal in Montreal, Quebec. / Credit: Drone Tours/St. Joseph Oratory of Mount Royal

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

The feast of St. Joseph, celebrated on March 19, honors the foster father of Jesus and the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He was one of the most important figures in Jesus’ life and yet one of the quietest. However, St. Joseph remains a strong example to the faithful of trusting God, accepting his will, serving one’s family, and working hard.

In honor of the patron of the universal Church, here are five shrines dedicated to St. Joseph in North America that pilgrims visit throughout the year.

The St. Joseph Oratory of Mount Royal in Montreal, Quebec. Credit: Andre Charron
The St. Joseph Oratory of Mount Royal in Montreal, Quebec. Credit: Andre Charron

St. Joseph Oratory of Mount Royal — Montreal, Quebec

Each year about 2 million people visit the St. Joseph Oratory of Mount Royal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. St. Andre Bessette, a lay brother of the Congregation of Holy Cross, was devoted to St. Joseph and his dream was to build a chapel dedicated to the beloved saint. The first chapel built where the Oratory now sits was 15 feet by 18 feet. It has now been enlarged four times. Many pilgrims climb up the 100 stairs to reach the church on their knees in a gesture of prayer. The Oratory was founded in 1904 and is the largest shrine in the world dedicated to St. Joseph.

St. Joseph Shrine — Detroit

The St. Joseph Shrine in Detroit was completed in 1873 and is a landmark center of the Catholic faith in Detroit’s historic Eastern Market district. The Victorian Gothic shrine was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 due to its beautiful stained-glass windows in the sanctuary and its intricate architecture. What was once a key parish in the area, in March 2020 the parish was granted the designation of archdiocesan shrine. The shrine, which offers daily Traditional Latin Masses, is home to an active and growing community. 

The National Shrine of St. Joseph in De Pere, Wisconsin. Benjamin Wideman / St. Norbert Abbey
The National Shrine of St. Joseph in De Pere, Wisconsin. Benjamin Wideman / St. Norbert Abbey

National Shrine of St. Joseph — De Pere, Wisconsin

The National Shrine of St. Joseph in De Pere, Wisconsin, was initiated by Father Joseph Durin, MCS, pastor of the former parish, in 1888. On Sept. 25, 1891, Pope Leo XIII issued the Bull of Canonical Coronation for the solemn crowning of the shrine’s statue of St. Joseph. This statue remains one of only 17 crowned Josephian statues in the world by papal decree and the only one in the U.S. In 1892, the term “National Shrine of St. Joseph” began to be used and it has been defined that way ever since. In 1898, the shrine was entrusted to the local missionary Norbertines. Today, it  is visited by thousands of pilgrims each year seeking the intercession of St. Joseph.

The Shrine of St. Joseph in St. Louis. Credit: Jim Blum/Shrine of St. Joseph
The Shrine of St. Joseph in St. Louis. Credit: Jim Blum/Shrine of St. Joseph

Shrine of St. Joseph — St. Louis

Founded by the Jesuits in 1843, the Shrine of St. Joseph in St. Louis is one of the few churches in the Midwest to be the site of a Vatican-authenticated miracle. In 1864, Ignatius Strecker, a German immigrant, was suffering from an injury he received while working at the local soap factory. After all known treatments failed, he was given two weeks to live. He visited the church and kissed a relic of Blessed Peter Claver. He was miraculously healed and within a few days was back at work and returned to full health in a few months. The miracle was authenticated by the Vatican in 1887 and Blessed Peter Claver was canonized in 1888.

The miracles didn’t end there. During an outbreak of cholera in the city two years after Strecker was cured, parishioners gathered together and vowed to build a monument to St. Joseph if God would protect them from illness. No one who signed the vow died of cholera. The monument honoring St. Joseph, known as the Altar of Answered Prayers, was installed in 1867 and continues to be the centerpiece of the church today. Thousands visit the shrine each year. 

The Shrine of St. Joseph Guardian of the Redeemer in Santa Cruz, California. Susie Vega / The Shrine of St. Joseph
The Shrine of St. Joseph Guardian of the Redeemer in Santa Cruz, California. Susie Vega / The Shrine of St. Joseph

Shrine of St. Joseph Guardian of the Redeemer — Santa Cruz, California

Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the Shrine of St. Joseph, Guardian of the Redeemer in Santa Cruz, California, is a ministry of the Oblates of St. Joseph. Construction of the church began in 1951 but it wasn’t until 1993, after extensive construction and renovations, that it was proclaimed a diocesan shrine in honor of St. Joseph. The shrine encourages the faithful to visit the chapel where daily Mass is held along with daily confessions. The shrine also has a coffee shop called Shrine Coffee, which is a nonprofit community coffeehouse seeking to evangelize through the “culture of encounter.”

San Antonio archbishop bans retreat center for ‘false teachings’ against Pope Francis

Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller, MSpS, of San Antonio. / Credit: Veronicamarkland, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 18, 2024 / 18:00 pm (CNA).

San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller has restricted a local priest and a ministry known as the Mission of Divine Mercy (MDM) for disobedience and for spreading “false teachings,” presented as prophecies, against Pope Francis. 

The apostolate and priest who was sanctioned, meanwhile, are defying the archbishop’s disciplinary measures and have held at least one unsanctioned Mass. 

Garcia-Siller’s disciplinary action follows MDM’s publication of several messages on its website in which the group claimed “God the Father” told one of its members that the pope is a “usurper” and an “enemy of the Church.” 

In response, García-Siller said in a March 15 statement that the group’s “status as a Catholic apostolate of the Archdiocese of San Antonio has been suppressed and revoked by official decree.”

According to the archbishop’s statement, MDM’s founder, Father John Mary Foster, refused to remove the messages from the group’s website despite repeated admonitions, thus breaking his vow of obedience and necessitating that he be barred from publicly practicing his priestly faculties.

Despite the archbishop’s ban, a representative for MDM told CNA that the apostolate plans to continue operating and that Foster celebrated Mass on Sunday.

What did the ‘prophetic messages’ say?

Based in New Braunfels, a town in the Texas Hill Country, MDM has operated as an approved Catholic retreat house and ministry devoted to promoting prayer and contemplating God’s will since 2010. According to García-Siller, the ministry has enjoyed good relations with the archdiocese until now.

Then in February, MDM began posting a series of supposed “prophetic messages” conveyed by “God the Father” to a member of the ministry, identified as “Sister Amapola.”

MDM claimed in one of its website statements that God had a message for priests in which he said: “You have not only let the smoke of Satan infiltrate into My Sanctuary; but you have allowed a whole army of demons to take your places. And you have allowed the usurper to sit on the chair of My Peter — he who is carrying out the Great Treason that will leave My Church desolate.” 

Several other similar messages were posted to the apostolate’s website claiming that the Church was filled with “demons” and “imposters.” 

Foster endorsed the messages, saying in a video that the Church is facing an “extreme crisis,” which he said justifies his disobedience to the archbishop. He pointed to the controversial Vatican document Fiducia Supplicans, which approved blessings for same-sex couples, as an example of “confusion and harm” being sown by Francis.

“From this statement and others of a similar nature that we’ve received, the terrible conclusion seems clear: Bergoglio [Pope Francis] is exercising illegitimate authority and acting as the enemy of Christ and his Church,” Foster said. “Given this extreme crisis, we are obeying God in publishing these messages, even without our archbishop’s permission.”

Archbishop bans MDM

García-Siller issued three official decrees on March 15, barring MDM as an apostolate, removing Foster as the group’s leader, and barring Foster from exercising priestly faculties.

“Whereas the activities of the Reverend FOSTER and the Mission of Divine Mercy have led to confusion and division and have caused grave scandal to the faithful … I WITHDRAW my approval of the ‘Mission of Divine Mercy’ as a Catholic apostolate,” one decree reads.

In so doing, the archbishop restricted the Christian faithful from associating with MDM and ordered that the apostolate not “use the name Catholic or call themselves a Catholic association.”

The archbishop further prohibited Foster from publicly exercising his priestly ministry on MDM grounds and ordered him to enter a “time of spiritual retreat” for six months. The decree said that if Foster violated the prohibition, he could face a total ban on publicly exercising his priestly ministry in the archdiocese.

The archdiocese declined to comment further on the matter, directing CNA to the archbishop’s decrees and statement.

According to the decrees, Foster and MDM have 10 days to appeal the archbishop’s decision.

MDM continues to defy archbishop

Emily Jebbia, a representative for MDM, told CNA that despite the archbishop’s ban, Foster celebrated Mass at the New Braunfels retreat center on Sunday. According to Jebbia, the Mass was attended by about 450 people, which she said is more than double the amount at a normal Sunday service. 

Jordan McMorrough, a representative for the archdiocese, confirmed with CNA that the Mass was in violation of the bishop’s decree. 

Jebbia said that though MDM has yet to confer with canon lawyers since the archbishop’s decree, apostolate staff plan to continue their ministry.

Jebbia said that MDM has previously had a “cordial” relationship with García-Siller and that they take the archbishop’s statement seriously. Nevertheless, she said that “given that we think this is an unprecedented situation in the Church, we have to act in an unprecedented way in obedience to what we believe God has asked us to do.”

Asked if MDM hopes to reconcile with the archbishop, Jebbia said “yes,” but she qualified her response by saying: “We hope that the [arch]bishop will be open to what is happening here at the mission.”

Stephen Colbert co-narrates Pope Francis’ new audiobook memoir

Stephen Colbert and Pope Francis. / Credit: Montclair Film, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Vatican Media

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 18, 2024 / 17:00 pm (CNA).

The Catholic late-night talk show host and comedian Stephen Colbert is one of the narrators for the English audiobook version of Pope Francis’ upcoming autobiography, which comes out on Tuesday, March 19.

Francis’ book, titled “Life: My Story Through History,” documents the most significant moments of the pontiff’s life from his childhood until the present day. The publisher, HarperCollins, lists “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” host, along with Franciscan Father John Quigley, as the narrators for the English-language audiobook version of the autobiography.

The book discusses Francis’ upbringing, his time in the seminary, and his service as a priest, bishop, and ultimately pope. It does not shy away from the controversial elements of his papacy but rather addresses his detractors and defends his efforts to make the Church more pastoral.

Colbert, who has been outspoken about his Catholic faith throughout his career, has frequently expressed his affinity for Francis’ papacy, such as saying on his show in 2015 that he is “a total Francis fanboy.” When the pontiff visited the United States that year, Colbert dedicated a small portion of his show to discussing papal infallibility, the Second Vatican Council, and apostolic succession.

Despite his Catholic faith, Colbert has diverged from Church teaching on some issues, such as homosexuality and abortion.

U.S. bishops call for ‘focused effort of prayer’ ahead of Supreme Court abortion pill hearings

Katie Mahoney, Rev. Pat Mahoney, Peggy Nienaber of Faith and Liberty, and Mark Lee Dickson of Right to Life East Texas pray in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on April 21, 2023, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

CNA Newsroom, Mar 18, 2024 / 12:55 pm (CNA).

The U.S. bishops are calling for a nationwide prayer campaign ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s hearing next week that could affect the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone.

The court last year said it would review a Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling decided in August 2023 that imposed restrictions on the abortion pill based on safety concerns. The Supreme Court’s ultimate decision could curtail the shipping of the drug through the mail. 

The hearing is scheduled for March 26. In a letter this month, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) president Archbishop Timothy Broglio and USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities chairman Bishop Michael Burbidge said they were “inviting Catholics to join a focused effort of prayer” for “the end of abortion and the protection of women and preborn children” starting on March 25. 

The bishops said that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), through its allowance of mailed abortion pills, “has enabled a nationwide mail-order abortion industry and turned neighborhood pharmacies into chemical abortion providers.” 

Those pills “are now the most common form of abortion in the United States,” the bishops pointed out. 

The Supreme Court’s ultimate decision on the matter, the bishops noted, “has the potential to make a major impact in the widespread accessibility of chemical abortion.”

“While the Supreme Court case is not about ending chemical abortion, it can restore limitations that the FDA has overridden,” they wrote. 

The prayer campaign — which will begin on the anniversary of St. John Paul II’s pro-life encyclical Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) — will invoke the intercession of St. Joseph under his title “Defender of Life.”

“We ask Catholics to offer this prayer daily, from March 25 through June, when a decision is expected,” the bishops wrote. 

The FDA’s regulation of abortion pills was subject to a whipsaw series of court decisions last year. In 2022, several pro-life groups and individuals, represented by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), sued the FDA arguing that the administration failed to use the proper channels and hurriedly approved the drug in 2000 without weighing its severe risks to women.

Texas judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a controversial ruling on April 7, 2023, that suspended the FDA’s approval of mifepristone on the grounds that the agency had “acquiesced on its legitimate safety concerns” and approved the drug “based on plainly unsound reasoning and studies that did not support its conclusions.”

The Biden administration immediately issued an emergency appeal to block the ruling, first to a three-judge panel in the 5th Circuit and then to the Supreme Court. 

In a 7-2 decision, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked Kacsmaryk’s ruling and returned the case to the 5th Circuit for full review, leading to the ruling in August, which will be the subject of the Supreme Court’s March hearing. 

Do you know how to make ‘St. Joseph’s bread’? Here’s the recipe

St. Joseph’s altar at St. Mary’s Assumption Church in the Lower Garden District of New Orleans. / Credit: William A. Morgan/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Mar 18, 2024 / 11:00 am (CNA).

In the book “Dining with the Saints” there is a special recipe for making delicious “St. Joseph’s Bread.” Below you can find the ingredients and how to make it, perhaps as a special treat for the saint’s feast day, March 19.

According to the National Catholic Register, the book “Dining with the Saints” features a variety of foods and drinks in honor of famous and not-so-known saints. In addition, there’s a wide variety of dishes according to the liturgical season.

The book was written by chef and EWTN host Father Leo Patalinghug and drinks expert Michael Foley. At the end of each recipe you can even find a box titled “Food for Thought” with messages about faith or advice from a saint.

The introduction explains that “Dining with the Saints” offers you the resources you need for a healthy and uplifting family meal, a memorable couples’ night-in, or a fun dinner.

In honor of St. Joseph, a prudent and just man, the book offers the following recipe for a sweet bread for four people:

St. Joseph’s Bread

Serves 4

Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups lukewarm milk (110 degrees Fahrenheit)

2 packages active dry yeast

6 cups bread flour, divided

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

4 tablespoons melted butter, at room temperature

5 large eggs, divided

1 tablespoon water

1 teaspoon anise seeds

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Combine lukewarm milk and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir together and rest for 10 minutes until yeast blooms.

2. Add melted butter, sugar, and 1 cup of the flour and beat with the regular paddle attachment of the mixer for about 2 minutes.

3. Add 4 of the eggs, the anise seeds, and 1 more cup of flour and beat for 2 more minutes.

4. Switch out the regular paddle attachment on the mixer for the dough hook and add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough starts to tighten up. (Depending on the size of the eggs, you may not need all the flour.) Continue to knead the dough for about 3-4 minutes.

5. Transfer dough to a greased bowl, cover with a cloth towel, and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

6. Punch the dough and divide it into 3 equal pieces.

7. Roll each piece of dough into the shape of a thick noodle, about 1/2- to 1-inch thick and 20-22 inches long. Braid the dough together loosely and tuck the ends of the braids under the dough. Place the braided loaf on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

9. Combine the water and the remaining egg to make an egg wash, and use it to brush the loaf.

10. Generously sprinkle the top of the dough with sesame seeds.

11. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.

12. Transfer dough to a wire rack and let it rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting and serving.

Enjoy!

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