Pope Francis prays during his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Oct. 9, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 21, 2024 / 07:49 am (CNA).

Pope Francis will publish the fourth encyclical of his pontificate on Thursday on “the human and divine love of the heart of Jesus Christ.”

The encyclical, titled Dilexit Nos, meaning “he has loved us,” will be published Oct. 24.

The pope had announced in June that he was preparing a document on the Sacred Heart of Jesus, noting that meditating on the Lord’s love can “illuminate the path of ecclesial renewal and say something meaningful to a world that seems to have lost its heart.”

Pope Francis then described the document as something that “brings together the precious reflections of previous magisterial texts and a long history that goes back to the sacred Scriptures in order to re-propose today to the whole Church this devotion imbued with spiritual beauty.”

“I believe it will do us great good to meditate on various aspects of the Lord’s love, which can illuminate the path of ecclesial renewal and say something meaningful to a world that seems to have lost its heart,” Francis said at the end of his general audience on June 5. 

The encyclical is being published amid the celebrations of the 350th anniversary of the apparitions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, which began on Dec. 27, 2023, and will conclude on June 27, 2025.

The Vatican will hold a livestreamed press conference on Thursday, Oct. 24, on the encyclical: “Dilexit Nos: Encyclical Letter on the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ.” 

Archbishop Bruno Forte, an Italian theologian and a new member of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, will present the encyclical to the press together with Sister Antonella Fraaccaro, the head of the Italian religious order Discepole del Vangelo (“Disciples of the Gospel”).

Dilexit Nos will be Pope Francis’ fourth encyclical after Fratelli Tutti, published in 2020, Laudato Si’ published in 2015, and Lumen Fidei, published in 2013.

“The Dark Charm of Halloween” is the title of a new book launched by the International Association of Exorcists (AIE, by its Italian acronym) and written by its vice president, Father Francesco Bamonte, along with Alberto Castaldini, spokesman for the institution. / Credit: Courtesy of the International Association of Exorcists

Lima Newsroom, Oct 21, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

“The Dark Charm of Halloween” is the title of a new book launched by the International Association of Exorcists (AIE, by its Italian acronym) and written by its vice president, Father Francesco Bamonte, along with Alberto Castaldini, spokesman for the institution.

In the online presentation of the book, which is written in question-and-answer format and now available in Italian only, Bamonte pointed out that Halloween is not “a playful and innocent celebration or a secular occasion” but that “in reality, it is the representation of a pagan religious celebration: the Samhain festival originating in the Celtic world.”

At this pagan festival, “in the evenings between late October and early November, in addition to numerous magical rites, animal sacrifices were performed and, in all likelihood, even human sacrifices.”

“During the process of Christianization of the British Isles,” Bamonte said, “the solemnity of All Saints’ Day prevailed and the community celebration retained only some of the old customs, turning toward a new perspective, from a salvific perspective.” 

The priest explained that the consumerist reinterpretation of the Celtic festival in the United States emptied it of its content of faith and allowed it to once again “become rooted in magic, horror, and death, unlike Christianity,” in addition to being “closely linked today to dark realities such as witchcraft and satanism.”

The exorcist also highlighted that it marks, for satanists, the beginning of the Satanic Year, which makes it more dangerous. Although most of those who celebrate it “have no intention of celebrating witchcraft and the devil,” they put themselves “in communion with this maleficent spiritual current” and become “more vulnerable to the ordinary and extraordinary actions” of the devil.

The priest warned that some children’s websites offer links to satanism pages and noted that on Halloween there is a proliferation of “acts of blasphemy and sacrilege against the Christian faith and symbols,” in addition to tragedies such as what happened in Seoul, South Korea, in 2022, when 158 people died while celebrating Halloween.

What can a Catholic do about Halloween?

The vice president of the AIE encouraged rediscovering the power of the solemnity of All Saints on Nov. 1, encouraging people to dress up as saints, promote their lives, take part in processions and involve children, including with vigils of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

“It’s important to explain to children and adults — on the Sundays before Oct. 31 and, in particular, during the homily of the Mass on Oct. 31 in the evening and on Nov. 1 — the communion that unites us to all the saints and to our deceased, helping them to distinguish what is harmless from what is not,” the Italian exorcist explained.

It’s also important to remind everyone “how important it is for us Catholics to celebrate our brothers and sisters the saints, whose intercession can obtain for us so many graces, and to commemorate our beloved deceased, who await our prayers and with whom we hope to be united one day for eternity.”

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

Statuary sits before imagery of the recently canonized saints in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 20, 2024 / 11:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis canonized 14 new saints on Sunday, including a father of eight and Franciscan friars killed in Syria for refusing to renounce their faith and convert to Islam.

In a Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 20, the pope declared three 19th-century founders of religious orders and the 11 “Martyrs of Damascus” as saints to be venerated by the global Catholic Church, commending their lives of sacrifice, missionary zeal, and service to the Church.

“These new saints lived Jesus’ way: service,” Pope Francis said. “They made themselves servants of their brothers and sisters, creative in doing good, steadfast in difficulties, and generous to the end.”

The newly canonized include St. Giuseppe Allamano, a diocesan priest from Italy who founded the Consolata missionary orders, and St. Marie-Léonie Paradis, a Canadian nun from Montreal known for founding an order dedicated to the service of priests.

Also among the saints are St. Elena Guerra, hailed as an “apostle of the Holy Spirit,” and St. Manuel Ruiz López and his seven Franciscan companions, all martyred in Damascus in 1860 for refusing to renounce their Christian faith.

The final three canonized are siblings, Sts. Francis, Mooti, and Raphael Massabki, lay Maronite Catholics martyred in Syria along with the Franciscans.

Thousands of pilgrims prayed the Litany of the Saints together in St. Peter’s Square before Pope Francis declared the 14 as enrolled among the saints “for the honor of the Blessed Trinity, the exaltation of the Catholic faith, and the increase of the Christian life, by the authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the holy apostles Peter and Paul.”

“We confidently ask for their intercession so that we too can follow Christ, follow him in service,  and become witnesses of hope for the world,” the pope said.

In his homily, Pope Francis highlighted how service embodied the lives of each of the new saints. “When we learn to serve,” he said, “our every gesture of attention and care, every expression of tenderness, every work of mercy becomes a reflection of God’s love. And so we continue Jesus’ work in the world.”

The Gospel for the Mass was chanted in Greek in addition to Latin in honor of the 11 Martyrs of Damascus.

Father Marwan Dadas, a Franciscan friar from Jerusalem, was among those who attended the canonization. He said the testimony of the martyrs from the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land is especially meaningful to people who are suffering due to the ongoing war and violence in the region today.

“This is a good message to say that even though we have challenges — and it seems we have death continuously — we still have the light of God that is helping us and guiding us through these difficult periods,” Dadas told CNA.

“It’s an important message for me, and I hope it will be the message for all the people of the Holy Land, not only the Holy Land but for everybody. It is a message from God saying that he is always with us.”

St. Giuseppe Allamano: a missionary heart

One of the most celebrated figures among the new saints is St. Giuseppe Allamano (1851–1926), an Italian diocesan priest who founded the Consolata Missionaries and the Consolata Missionary Sisters. Allamano, though he spent his entire life in Italy, left a global legacy by training missionaries who carried the Gospel to remote corners of Africa, Asia, and South America.

Allamano told the missionaries in the order he founded in northern Italy in 1901 that they needed to be “first saints, then missionaries.”

The medical miracle that led to Allamano’s canonization involved the healing of a man who was attacked by a jaguar in the Amazon rainforest. In 1996, a man named Sorino Yanomami, a member of the Indigenous Yanomami tribe in the Amazon, was mauled by a jaguar and left with life-threatening injuries.

As doctors treated his skull fractures, Consolata missionaries prayed in the hospital with a relic of Allamano, seeking his intercession. Miraculously, Yanomami recovered without any long-term damage, according to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.

Allamano, whose spiritual director was St. John Bosco, emphasized the importance of holiness in priestly life, telling his priests: “You must not only be holy, but extraordinarily holy.” His influence has endured through the orders he founded, present today in 30 countries across the globe.

St. Marie-Léonie Paradis: ‘humble among the humble’

St. Marie-Léonie Paradis (1840–1912), a Canadian religious sister, also took her place among the new saints. She founded the Little Sisters of the Holy Family, an order whose spirituality and charism is the support of priests through both prayer and by taking care of the cooking, cleaning, and laundry in rectories in “humble and joyful service” in imitation of “Christ the Servant.”

During his homily, Pope Francis praised Paradis’ faith and underlined that “those who follow Christ, if they wish to be great, must serve by learning from him” who made himself “a servant to reach everyone with his love.”

Born in the Acadian region of Quebec, Paradis also spent eight years in New York serving in the St. Vincent de Paul Orphanage in the 1860s and taught French at St. Mary’s Academy in Indiana before founding her religious order in New Brunswick, Canada.

Paradis’ canonization was supported by the miraculous healing of a newborn in Canada attributed to her intercession.

St. Elena Guerra: an ‘apostle of the Holy Spirit’

Among the canonized was St. Elena Guerra (1835–1914), known for her ardent devotion to the Holy Spirit. Guerra, who founded the Oblates of the Holy Spirit, was instrumental in promoting the first-ever novena to the Holy Spirit under Pope Leo XIII in 1895. Her writings and spiritual leadership inspired many, including St. Gemma Galgani, a mystic and saint who was her student.

For much of her 20s, Guerra was bedridden with a serious illness, a challenge that turned out to be transformational for her as she dedicated herself to meditating on Scripture and the writings of the Church Fathers. She felt the call to consecrate herself to God during a pilgrimage to Rome with her father after her recovery and went on to form the religious community dedicated to education.

During her correspondence with Pope Leo XIII, Guerra composed prayers to the Holy Spirit, including a Holy Spirit Chaplet, asking the Lord to “send forth your spirit and renew the world.”

“Pentecost is not over,” Guerra wrote. “In fact, it is continually going on in every time and in every place, because the Holy Spirit desired to give himself to all men and all who want him can always receive him, so we do not have to envy the apostles and the first believers; we only have to dispose ourselves like them to receive him well, and he will come to us as he did to them.”

The Martyrs of Damascus: courageous witnesses of faith

The solemnity of the ceremony was heightened as Pope Francis canonized the Martyrs of Damascus, a group of 11 men killed in 1860 for refusing to renounce their Christian faith and convert to Islam. The martyrs, including eight Franciscan friars and three laymen, were attacked in a church in the Christian quarter of Damascus during a wave of religious violence.

The canonized Franciscan friars include six priests and two professed religious — all missionaries from Spain except for Father Engelbert Kolland, who was from Salzburg, Austria.

Franciscan Father Manuel Ruiz, Father Carmelo Bolta, Father Nicanor Ascanio, Father Nicolás M. Alberca y Torres, Father Pedro Soler, Kolland, Brother Francisco Pinazo Peñalver, and Brother Juan S. Fernández were all declared saints.

The three laymen were brothers — Francis, Abdel Mooti, and Raphael Massabki — known for their deep piety and devotion to the Christian faith. Francis Massabki, the oldest of the brothers, was a father of eight children. Mooti was a father of five who visited the Church of St. Paul daily for prayer and to teach catechism lessons. The youngest brother, Raphael, was single and was known to spend long periods of time praying in the church and helping the friars.

According to witnesses, the brothers were offered the chance to live if they renounced their faith, but they refused. “We are Christians, and we want to live and die as Christians,” Francis Massabki reportedly said. All 11 were brutally killed that night, some beheaded, others stabbed to death.

“They remained faithful servants,” Pope Francis said. “[They] served in martyrdom and in joy.”

A global celebration

The canonization ceremony was attended by pilgrims from around the world, including Catholics from Kenya, Canada, Uganda, Spain, Italy, and the Middle East. More than 1,000 members of the Consolata order traveled to Rome to witness the canonization of their founder.

And bagpipers from Galicia in northern Spain played traditional music at the end of the Mass to honor the Spanish Franciscans canonized among the Damascus martyrs.

“I thank all of you who have come to honor the new saints,” Pope Francis said. “I greet the cardinals, the bishops, the consecrated men and women, especially the Friars Minor and the Maronite faithful, the Consolata Missionaries, the Little Sisters of the Holy Family and the Oblates of the Holy Spirit, as well as the other groups of pilgrims who have come from various places.”

Pope Francis led the crowd in the Angelus prayer at the end of the Mass and asked people to pray in particular for the gift of peace for “populations who are suffering as a result of war — tormented Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, tormented Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, and all the others.”

The pope also greeted a group of Ugandan pilgrims who traveled from Rome to mark the 60th anniversary of the canonization of the Ugandan Martyrs and urged people to pray for missionaries on World Mission Sunday. 

“Let us support, with our prayer and our aid, all the missionaries who, often at great sacrifice, bring the shining proclamation of the Gospel to every part of the world,” he said.

“May the Virgin Mary help us to be like her and like the saints courageous and joyful witnesses of the Gospel.”

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, speaks during a press conference about a new Vatican document on human dignity on April 8, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 20, 2024 / 08:30 am (CNA).

Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), has reportedly apologized for what he called a “misunderstanding” regarding his absence from an Oct. 18 meeting of Synod on Synodality delegates about a Vatican study group on women’s roles in the Church.

Attendees confirmed to CNA over the weekend that there was significant frustration among synod delegates over both the cardinal’s absence from the meeting and how the meeting itself was conducted.

More than 90 synod delegates attended the encounter expecting to engage with Fernández and members of study group 5, one of 10 announced in February to examine theological questions that emerged out of the first session of the Synod on Synodality last year.

This group is charged with exploring “some theological and canonical issues around specific ministerial forms,” in particular “the question of the necessary participation of women in the life and leadership of the Church.” This includes the questions surrounding the possibility of female deacons.

Instead, attendees on Friday were greeted by two officials from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith who were not members of the study group, according to sources. The officials reportedly distributed slips of paper with an email address for submitting feedback and could not answer most questions posed by delegates.

The Pillar reported that in a statement to synod participants late on Oct. 18, Fernández said he was “sorry for the misunderstanding” and that his absence was “due not to any unwillingness but to my objective inability to attend on the scheduled day and time.”

The cardinal added that he had previously indicated two dicastery officials would attend the meeting in his place. He offered to meet with interested synod members on Oct. 21 “to listen to their reflections and receive any written documents from them.”

Earlier this month, Fernández announced that study group 5 had shifted its focus away from the question of women deacons as an ordained group.

On Oct. 2, the cardinal said: “Based on the analysis so far ... there is still no room for a positive decision” on ordaining women deacons “understood as a degree of the sacrament of holy orders.”

Fernández said the group was instead examining historical ways women have exercised authority in the Church apart from ordained ministry.

The question of women deacons has been studied and debated in recent years.

In July 2024, Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, said the DDF was studying “the women’s diaconate” within the context of its in-depth study of ministries.

However, Pope Francis has repeatedly reaffirmed that holy orders remain reserved for men.

In an interview published in October 2023, the pope said: “The question of whether some women in the early Church were ‘deaconesses’ or another kind of collaborator with the bishops is not irrelevant, because holy orders is reserved for men.”

Meanwhile, Pope Francis held two private audiences over the weekend, including participating women and the synod’s lay members. No details have been released about the content of these meetings.

He also received Grech and Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the relator-general, and Special Secretary Riccardo Battocchio.

Cristo Rey students focus on their studies, preparing for success in both college and career. / Credit: Cristo Rey Network

CNA Staff, Oct 20, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A network of 40 Jesuit Catholic schools around the U.S. is using a unique model to provide quality Catholic education and professional experience for students from low-income families.

The Cristo Rey Network implements a “Corporate Work Study” program that places students at professional jobs once a week during the school year, giving them job experiences while helping fund their education.

The network fills a gap in low-income neighborhoods where many Catholic schools have closed “because their tuition-based model has become unaffordable for families,” Father Jim Gartland, SJ, Cristo Rey Network’s chief mission and identity officer, told CNA.

“The need for accessible Catholic education is especially urgent in low-income neighborhoods, where the Catholic Church has historically been a pillar of support,” Gartland said. “While there is more funding in wealthier neighborhoods, it’s vital that all students, regardless of their socioeconomic status, have access to rigorous academics and a safe environment that Catholic schools provide.”

“Catholic, after all, means universal — and we’re committed to educating all people with excellence,” Gartland said.

A transformational education 

Jason Morrison, president of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School Twin Cities in Minneapolis, said that being part of Cristo Rey Network means being part of a network that works to ensure “that every young person has access to the best education.”

“We can meet students where they are so they can work to achieve college readiness by the time they graduate, giving them choices in their postsecondary future,” Morrison told CNA. “They can choose their path without being forced into one because of a lack of opportunity.”

Morrison called the environment at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in the Twin Cities “transformational.” 

“In addition to transforming the lives of our students and their families, we are transforming the status quo in education,” Morrison said.

With more than 3,000 corporate partners, the network connects students with professional industries, enabling students to get both a quality education and professional experience. Cristo Rey schools also offer college and alumni counseling for students. Cristo Rey Network’s students have an 100% college acceptance rate and average daily attendance rates of 96%, which more than doubles the local districts rates, Morrison noted. 

But the social isolation and remote schooling of the COVID-19 era set many students back, and at Cristo Rey in the Twin Cities, this affected students in both academic life and in the work study program. Gartland noted that the network is facing both a challenge and an opportunity: “adapting to the post-COVID hybrid work environment.” 

Morrison, along with Gartland and other network leaders, have been working to face this challenge. 

“We continue to adapt to new models while maintaining the impactful relationships our students form with employers,” Gartland said. “We’re constantly seeking ways to remain marketable in this changing landscape, ensuring corporate partners can continue to provide hands-on, transformative experiences for our students.”

Morrison said he looks to the founder of Cristo Rey Network, Father John Foley, SJ, for inspiration. 

“Father Foley, the network’s founder, has always challenged us never to be content with doing something small,” Morrison said.

School leaders are “investing in intensive intervention programming,” designed to help struggling students, Morrison noted. For the corporate work study program, school leaders are “looking to new markets for work for our students while rewriting the value proposition for new job types,” he added.

“This is who we are as a school and a network: a community committed to a growth mindset to ensure our students achieve their God-given potential,” Morrison said.

Catholic identity 

Cristo Rey Network has 40 college preparatory schools in 24 different states, totalling more than 12,300 students, Gartland told CNA. The schools work with religious sponsors ranging from the Jesuits to the Dominicans to the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, who ensure the schools “are Catholic in identity and mission, true to the religious charism of their respective order,” Gartland said. 

Cristo Rey Network offers an approach that is “rooted in Catholic values, strengthens students’ knowledge and life skills while helping them fully realize their dreams for the future,” Gartland noted. 

“What started as a single school in 1996 in Chicago has grown to 40 across the country,” Gartland said. “Our founding Midwest Jesuits never thought our first campus — Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago, a culturally rich community known for its deep Mexican heritage — would expand nationwide with more schools opening year by year.”

“Our work is inspired by the belief that every student, especially those from low-income backgrounds, deserves a quality education that equips them for both college and the workforce,” Gartland noted. “Cristo Rey Network was founded to support economically disadvantaged families, offering students a path to success through education, professional development through relationships with corporate partners, and supporting our alumni to and through college.”

Cristo Rey Jesuit High School is faith-centered and staff incorporate daily prayer, Morrison said. 

“Our Jesuit charism permeates every aspect of Cristo Rey from morning prayer to the daily practice of the examen to grounding each year in an Ignatian theme,” he said. “Our Catholic identity is a lived experience as we commit to ensuring all students graduate with the values of being open to growth, religious, intellectually competent, loving, committed to justice, and work-experienced.”

“For me, faith is what called me to this ministry,” Morrison continued. “A quote often attributed to St. Ignatius and St. Augustine is my guiding force: ‘Pray as though everything depends upon God, and act as though everything depends upon you.’” 

When asked what inspires him at Cristo Rey, Morrison said he “is inspired daily by our students, who dedicate themselves to achieving their dreams,” as well as the faculty and staff who “devote countless hours to creating an environment where all students are seen, valued, and heard.” He also takes inspiration from the corporate partners “who mentor our students and provide meaningful work model leadership,” as well as the generosity of the network’s donors.

“While each school certainly has its own unique environment, the network creates an opportunity for us to implement what might be working at another school and apply it locally,” Morrison said. “We truly can create a space where education is the great equalizer because of our ability to implement the network model within our local context.”

“Cristo Rey is a place where prayers of hope and love are realized, and where each community member owns their role in taking action to achieve greatness,” Morrison added.

Cristo Rey Network recently opened a Cristo Rey Jesuit Seattle High School this school year, while a new Cristo Rey school in Orlando, Florida, is set to open in fall 2025. Plans for another possible Cristo Rey school in Charleston, South Carolina, are underway.

Cristo Rey students focus on their studies, preparing for success in both college and career. / Credit: Cristo Rey Network

CNA Staff, Oct 20, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A network of 40 Jesuit Catholic schools around the U.S. is using a unique model to provide quality Catholic education and professional experience for students from low-income families.

The Cristo Rey Network implements a “Corporate Work Study” program that places students at professional jobs once a week during the school year, giving them job experiences while helping fund their education.

The network fills a gap in low-income neighborhoods where many Catholic schools have closed “because their tuition-based model has become unaffordable for families,” Father Jim Gartland, SJ, Cristo Rey Network’s chief mission and identity officer, told CNA.

“The need for accessible Catholic education is especially urgent in low-income neighborhoods, where the Catholic Church has historically been a pillar of support,” Gartland said. “While there is more funding in wealthier neighborhoods, it’s vital that all students, regardless of their socioeconomic status, have access to rigorous academics and a safe environment that Catholic schools provide.”

“Catholic, after all, means universal — and we’re committed to educating all people with excellence,” Gartland said.

A transformational education 

Jason Morrison, president of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School Twin Cities in Minneapolis, said that being part of Cristo Rey Network means being part of a network that works to ensure “that every young person has access to the best education.”

“We can meet students where they are so they can work to achieve college readiness by the time they graduate, giving them choices in their postsecondary future,” Morrison told CNA. “They can choose their path without being forced into one because of a lack of opportunity.”

Morrison called the environment at Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in the Twin Cities “transformational.” 

“In addition to transforming the lives of our students and their families, we are transforming the status quo in education,” Morrison said.

With more than 3,000 corporate partners, the network connects students with professional industries, enabling students to get both a quality education and professional experience. Cristo Rey schools also offer college and alumni counseling for students. Cristo Rey Network’s students have an 100% college acceptance rate and average daily attendance rates of 96%, which more than doubles the local districts rates, Morrison noted. 

But the social isolation and remote schooling of the COVID-19 era set many students back, and at Cristo Rey in the Twin Cities, this affected students in both academic life and in the work study program. Gartland noted that the network is facing both a challenge and an opportunity: “adapting to the post-COVID hybrid work environment.” 

Morrison, along with Gartland and other network leaders, have been working to face this challenge. 

“We continue to adapt to new models while maintaining the impactful relationships our students form with employers,” Gartland said. “We’re constantly seeking ways to remain marketable in this changing landscape, ensuring corporate partners can continue to provide hands-on, transformative experiences for our students.”

Morrison said he looks to the founder of Cristo Rey Network, Father John Foley, SJ, for inspiration. 

“Father Foley, the network’s founder, has always challenged us never to be content with doing something small,” Morrison said.

School leaders are “investing in intensive intervention programming,” designed to help struggling students, Morrison noted. For the corporate work study program, school leaders are “looking to new markets for work for our students while rewriting the value proposition for new job types,” he added.

“This is who we are as a school and a network: a community committed to a growth mindset to ensure our students achieve their God-given potential,” Morrison said.

Catholic identity 

Cristo Rey Network has 40 college preparatory schools in 24 different states, totalling more than 12,300 students, Gartland told CNA. The schools work with religious sponsors ranging from the Jesuits to the Dominicans to the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, who ensure the schools “are Catholic in identity and mission, true to the religious charism of their respective order,” Gartland said. 

Cristo Rey Network offers an approach that is “rooted in Catholic values, strengthens students’ knowledge and life skills while helping them fully realize their dreams for the future,” Gartland noted. 

“What started as a single school in 1996 in Chicago has grown to 40 across the country,” Gartland said. “Our founding Midwest Jesuits never thought our first campus — Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago, a culturally rich community known for its deep Mexican heritage — would expand nationwide with more schools opening year by year.”

“Our work is inspired by the belief that every student, especially those from low-income backgrounds, deserves a quality education that equips them for both college and the workforce,” Gartland noted. “Cristo Rey Network was founded to support economically disadvantaged families, offering students a path to success through education, professional development through relationships with corporate partners, and supporting our alumni to and through college.”

Cristo Rey Jesuit High School is faith-centered and staff incorporate daily prayer, Morrison said. 

“Our Jesuit charism permeates every aspect of Cristo Rey from morning prayer to the daily practice of the examen to grounding each year in an Ignatian theme,” he said. “Our Catholic identity is a lived experience as we commit to ensuring all students graduate with the values of being open to growth, religious, intellectually competent, loving, committed to justice, and work-experienced.”

“For me, faith is what called me to this ministry,” Morrison continued. “A quote often attributed to St. Ignatius and St. Augustine is my guiding force: ‘Pray as though everything depends upon God, and act as though everything depends upon you.’” 

When asked what inspires him at Cristo Rey, Morrison said he “is inspired daily by our students, who dedicate themselves to achieving their dreams,” as well as the faculty and staff who “devote countless hours to creating an environment where all students are seen, valued, and heard.” He also takes inspiration from the corporate partners “who mentor our students and provide meaningful work model leadership,” as well as the generosity of the network’s donors.

“While each school certainly has its own unique environment, the network creates an opportunity for us to implement what might be working at another school and apply it locally,” Morrison said. “We truly can create a space where education is the great equalizer because of our ability to implement the network model within our local context.”

“Cristo Rey is a place where prayers of hope and love are realized, and where each community member owns their role in taking action to achieve greatness,” Morrison added.

Cristo Rey Network recently opened a Cristo Rey Jesuit Seattle High School this school year, while a new Cristo Rey school in Orlando, Florida, is set to open in fall 2025. Plans for another possible Cristo Rey school in Charleston, South Carolina, are underway.

The Catholic Church of the Saviour, also called Xishiku Church or Beitang, in Xicheng District, Beijing, China. / Credit: Fotokon/Shutterstock

Vatican City, Oct 19, 2024 / 11:05 am (CNA).

Two prominent Catholics — Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong and American author George Weigel — have leveled sharp criticisms at the Synod on Synodality, focusing particularly on the Vatican’s approach to China.

In a blog post published on Oct. 18, Zen, the 92-year-old bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, issued an urgent appeal for prayer as the synod enters its third week.

“We must pray for the successful (decent) ending of this synod,” Zen wrote, outlining three fundamental concerns.

The cardinal questioned the gathering’s legitimacy as a Synod of Bishops, given the inclusion of non-bishop voting members.

“With the ‘non-bishops’ voting together, it is no longer a Synod of Bishops,” Zen argued.

About the controversial declaration Fiducia Supplicans and LGBTQ issues, Zen wrote: “I think endless debate should be avoided at least on the issue of blessing same-sex couples“ and urged synod delegates: “If this issue is not resolved in the synod, the future of the Church will be very unclear, because some clergy and friends of the pope insist on changing the Church tradition in this regard.“

The bishop emeritus of Hong Kong also warned against granting individual bishops’ conferences independent authority over doctrinal matters. “If this idea succeeds, we will no longer be the Catholic Church,” Zen cautioned.

This is not the first time the cardinal has voiced concerns about the synod.

In a critique published on Feb. 15, he argued that the synod presents “two opposing visions” of the Church’s nature and organization.

Meanwhile, Weigel, a distinguished senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, penned an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on Oct. 17 criticizing the presence of two Chinese bishops at the synod.

Weigel argued that Bishop Vincent Zhan Silu of Funing/Mindong and Bishop Joseph Yang Yongqiang of Hangzhou are “bent on ‘sinicizing’ the Catholic Church.”

The biographer of St. John Paul II also pointed out that Zhan Silu was previously excommunicated for accepting consecration without papal approval. Weigel noted that Yang Yongqiang is vice president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which Weigel describes as “a tool of the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.”

Controversial deal expected to be renewed

The synod takes place against the backdrop of the ongoing debate over the diplomatic relationship between the Holy See and Beijing, particularly the Sino-Vatican deal on bishop appointments.

The provisional agreement was first signed in 2018 and renewed in 2020 and 2022 and is likely due for another renewal this October.

As of this report, the Vatican has not yet announced whether the agreement has been extended, though observers widely expect it to be renewed.

While critics have raised serious concerns over the Vatican’s diplomatic approach to Beijing and the Chinese policy of Sinicization, the Holy See has publicly doubled down on the diplomatic strategy of supporting Beijing.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin has praised Chinese President Xi Jinping’s campaign of “Sinicization” of religion and culture in the country, saying it relates to the Catholic concept of inculturation “without confusion and without opposition.”

Weigel strongly rejected this interpretation in a commentary for the National Catholic Register.

More recently, Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of Vatican News, wrote on Oct. 17 that the Chinese bishops at the synod emphasized their communion with the universal Church.

Tornielli quoted Yang as saying: “The Church in China is the same as the Catholic Church in other countries of the world: We belong to the same faith, share the same baptism, and we are all faithful to the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.”

The Vatican News director also reported Yang stating: “We follow the evangelical spirit of ‘becoming all things to all people.’ We effectively adapt to society, serve it, adhere to the direction of the Sinicization of Catholicism, and preach the good news.”

More than 30 students — most of whom were from the U.S. — from over 10 universities attended “The University Students in Dialogue with Synod Leaders,” an Oct. 18, 2024, event organized by the General Secretariat of the Synod held in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall. / Credit: Synod-va YouTube screenshot

Vatican City, Oct 19, 2024 / 10:00 am (CNA).

More than 30 students — most of whom were from the U.S. — from over 10 universities attended “The University Students in Dialogue with Synod Leaders,” an Oct. 18 event organized by the General Secretariat of the Synod held in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall. 

The event was moderated by four young staff members of the Synod on Synodality’s communications team who presented questions to four guest panelists participating in the second global synodal session at the Vatican: Secretary-General of the Synod Cardinal Mario Grech; Relator General of the Synod Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich; Sister Leticia Salazar, chancellor of the Diocese of San Bernardino, California; and Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas.

An additional 360 people worldwide watched the event live via the synod’s YouTube channel.

Before a predominantly American audience, Hollerich drew attention to the upcoming Nov. 5 U.S. elections and stressed the importance of seeing the person behind the opinion. 

“When I see on television about the elections in the States, there are two worlds that seem to be opposed, and you have to be an enemy of the others — that thinking is very far from synodal thinking,” the cardinal said.

“The person with the different opinion is not an enemy. We are together part of humanity. We live in the same world and we have to find common solutions,” he added. 

Further commenting on the sharp political and ideological divide within the U.S., panelist Salazar encouraged young Catholics in the country to not be afraid of sharing the faith with others. 

“Living in a reality of polarization, synodality really has a gentle way of announcing the good news in a very respectful way,” she said.

“I’m very happy and very hopeful for the United States to see you [young Catholics] here [in the Vatican],” she added. “We have a lot of work to do, we have a journey to walk, but the beauty of this is that we are not by ourselves.”

During the event, synod delegate Flores said students must be “real” to be credible witnesses of the Church in a culture “that has forgotten how to talk to each other.”   

“You can’t keep announcing the Gospel if you don’t have a sense of the reality people are living, and that’s part of what the listening thing is about,” he said. “Open the ears and listen on a deeper level just to hear the reality.”

“I repeat, the hardest part of synodality is listening patiently with someone you have decided is already wrong,” he said. “If somebody tells you about their life it is a gift that you should appreciate as something rather sacred.”

Delegates at the 2024 Synod on Synodality participate in roundtable meetings on Oct. 10, 2024, in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Oct 19, 2024 / 08:30 am (CNA).

After two and a half weeks, the last of two assemblies for the Synod on Synodality is about to enter its final stretch before officially concluding on Oct. 27.

As conversations on the agenda set by the Instrumentum Laboris, or working document, wrapped up this week, the focus going forward will be the writing and editing of the Synod on Synodality’s final document.

Schedule

After having the afternoon off on Friday, Oct. 18, the synod’s lay and female participants, a minority among the mostly bishop delegates, had special meetings with Pope Francis on Saturday.

Though the two categories have some crossover, the pope met separately with women — both religious sisters and non-religious sisters — and with non-cleric, non-religious laymen and laywomen in the Apostolic Palace on Oct. 19.

The audiences followed three and a half days of debates on the last part of the 2024 Instrumentum Laboris, which finished Friday morning with summaries of small-group discussions due for submission by 12:30 p.m.

On Sunday, Oct. 20, the synod will attend a Mass of canonization for 14 saints in St. Peter’s Square. The commission elected to oversee the creation of the final document will also meet.

The first day of the last full week of the Synod on Synodality, Oct. 21, will be mostly dedicated to prayer, including Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica and a presentation of the first draft of the final document.

Oct. 22 and 23 will be devoted to small-group discussions and speeches in the full assembly about the final document, as well as the submission of requests for changes.

The text will contain the synod’s ideas, thoughts, and recommendations — the product of the group discernment undertaken over the last couple of weeks and the culmination of a synodal process first begun by Pope Francis in October 2021.

The synod, an advisory body of the Church, will then deliver the final document to the pope, who can either adopt and publish it as an official papal text or use it as a guide for writing his own postsynodal document.

Those tasked with incorporating the requested changes to the final document will work for two days while the rest of synod members have a break Oct. 24–25.

The final draft of the document will be presented to synod delegates on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 26, and then after lunch voted on paragraph by paragraph for inclusion in the final text.

The final document is expected to be published by the Vatican the evening after the vote.

The formal closing of the Synod on Synodality will be a Mass with Pope Francis on Oct. 27 inside St. Peter’s Basilica, where the baldacchino designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini is slated to be unveiled after eight months of restorations.

Worshippers attend a Mass at Ouagadougou's Catholic cathedral on June 12, 2022, in Burkina Faso. The country has been grappling with Islamist terrorism since 2015 and Christian communities live in fear of furhter attacks. / Credit: OLYMPIA DE MAISMONT/AFP via Getty Images

ACI Prensa Staff, Oct 19, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

More than 150 people, including many Christians, have been massacred by Islamic terrorists in Burkina Faso, local sources told the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

On Oct. 6, an Islamic terrorist attack took place in the town of Manni in the African country’s eastern region. For several months, the insurgents have increased their brutality and their determination to spread terror, which has allowed them to control about half of the territory, ACN reported.

Despite the massacre, which local Christians describe as “beyond horrible,” the community of believers said without hesitation that “even if the terrorists burned everything, they didn’t burn our faith!”

Local sources told ACN that the terrorists first cut off all telephone communications before attacking the market, where many people had gathered after attending Sunday Mass. They then fired indiscriminately, looted shops, and set fire to several buildings, burning some victims alive.

The next day, the terrorists returned to attack medical staff and kill the wounded who were being treated. Then, on Oct. 8, they returned to the village again, this time killing all the men they could find.

ACN reported that many of the victims were people from other localities who had been displaced by similar attacks and found refuge in Manni. At the end of September, a priest from the Rollo district told the pontifical foundation that they have received 2,000 people, including Catholics and Muslims, displaced by Islamic terrorism since May 8, 2023.

“When the extremists arrive, either they kill the whole population, or — having killed several people at random to show that they are serious — they force the people to leave their houses before nightfall,” Father André Poré said on that occasion.

On Oct. 9, Pierre Claver Malgo, the bishop of the Diocese of Fada N’Gourma, sent a message to the priests, consecrated persons, and laypeople of his jurisdiction in which he described the attacks as “barbaric” and expressed his “sincere compassion for all the grieving families.”

He also recalled that “any threat to human dignity and life must touch the very heart of the Church” and emphasized the importance of not losing hope “for a better tomorrow.”

According to ACN, Burkina Faso has the highest level of extremist violence in the entire Sahel region as reflected in attacks such as those in Manni and Barsalogho at the end of August, where it is estimated that at least 400 people were killed by these armed Islamic groups.

However, the Catholic Church remains steadfast in its promotion of peace and fraternity between Christians and Muslims, as expressed by Poré, parish priest of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus in Rollo: “We are united and are holding many more interfaith meetings these days. When distributing aid to the displaced, the parish does not distinguish between religious groups, and this has impressed the Muslims and strengthened our ties.”

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