News - May 2025 RSS Feed

On Monday we observe Memorial Day, though given over to picnics and kicking-off the summer season, this is a solemn occasion when we remember the service men and women who have died defending our country and promoting peace throughout the world. Please take a moment on Monday to remember and pray for them, and for the more recent victims, and their loved ones as well. As Catholics it is our prayer that is our strongest and more important offering for their intentions. If you are able,Mass is celebrated at 9am on Monday (as it is every weekday). Read more.

Today is the formal inaugural Mass of Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican City. We join our prayers with the church throughout the world for his health, his wisdom, his courage, his safety, and for the guidance and consolation of the Holy Spirit upon him and those whom he chooses to serve as his collaborators in the Petrine ministry. Yes, all of us were a bit surprised that the Cardinals would elect a White Sox fan and Villanova graduate to the papacy, but the Holy Spirit does does seem to have a sense of humor. The few people I know who have known the now Pope Leo during their seminary days with the Augustinians are universally effusive in their praise for his intelligence, personal integrity, commitment to justice, and his sense of humor. Pope Leo said that he chose the name to reflect the significance of the last Pope, Leo (XIII) who issued the monumental encyclical Rerum Novarum, in 1891. In that seminal document, Pope Leo began the development of Catholic social teaching reflecting the challenges of the late industrial revolution. This was the time in history when concerns for the rights of workers to decent working conditions, hourly wages, and days of vacation and rest sparked the labor union movement. The pope then spoke out courageously demanding that workers received just compensation and had the right to form unions. He also gavea clear condemnation of child labor and their exploitation in the industrial age. Read more.

As I write this letter, we are just hours away from the first vote of the conclave, so I am not able to intelligently address any of the issues around the election of the 267th pope in the life of the church. Read more.

I am writing this letter from the pilgrimage in Paris, though I will be back in the parish by the time you read this letter anyway. This morning the bishop and priests on the pilgrimage concelebrated Mass at the recently restored Cathedral-Basilica of Notre Dame. Having been there previously, it is simply amazing the work they have done — and continue to do — in restoring the landmark from the fire of 2019. The cathedral masonry is bright, the artwork restored, and the appointments are beautiful. Although, the more modern altar of sacrifice and the presidential chairs perhaps do not fit into the thirteenth century so well. Read more.