U.S.
Education efforts help Catholics navigate new physician-assisted suicide law in Illinois
ROCKFORD, Ill.— So far, just 13 states and the District of Columbia have legalized assisted suicide, but a mindset in favor of it is prevalent across the country, said Jozef Zalot, a bioethicist and director of education with the National Catholic Bioethics Center in the Philadelphia suburb of Broomall. In Illinois, a law allowing physician-assisted suicide took effect Sept. 12. “Many faithful Catholics don’t really know or don’t really understand what the Church teaches” about assisted suicide, Zalot said. “Or if they understand … they don’t understand why.” Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, spoke Sept. 19 at a continuing education workshop for deacons and pro-life ministers in the Diocese of Rockford on navigating the new law. He said the Illinois bishops have put out a letter through parish bulletins across the state to guide the faithful on what steps to take now that the law is enacted. Gilligan said talking to elderly parents is especially critical. (OSV News)
Canonization cause officially opens for Minnesota priest
DULUTH, Minn. — Msgr. Joseph Francis Buh has been granted the title “servant of God” with a Sept. 22 Mass opening the cause for his canonization. The Slovenian immigrant priest heroically ministered and evangelized in northern Minnesota beginning in the late 1860s until his death in 1922 at age 88. Bishop Daniel J. Felton of Duluth celebrated the Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Duluth, where Msgr. Buh’s remains were reinterred in 2024. While growing up in Slovenia, Msgr. Buh read about the ministerial adventures of his fellow countryman Venerable Frederic Baraga, who served as the first bishop of Marquette, Michigan. Ordained in Slovenia, he left in 1864 for Minnesota, where he ministered first among Ojibwa people in central Minnesota and then among recent immigrants in the northern part of the state. Over the course of his ministry, he established as many as 57 parishes. (OSV News)
WORLD
Polish priest wounded in stabbing returns to altar with message of forgiveness
WARSAW, Poland — Two days after surviving a knife attack that killed a fellow priest, Father Adrian Mantykiewicz returned to the altar at the Benedictine sisters’ abbey in Jaroslaw, Poland, with a message centered on forgiveness. Celebrating the abbey’s first Mass since the Sept. 24 attack, in which five people were stabbed, Father Mantykiewicz said: “As a disciple of Jesus Christ, in my own name, in Father Marek’s name and in Father Stanislaw’s name, I want to say very clearly that we forgive.” Father Stanislaw Zbojniewicz died of his injuries, while Father Marek Pienkowski remained hospitalized in serious but stable condition. Father Mantykiewicz, who was treated and released the same day, urged prayers for the suspect, a 31-year-old Ukrainian citizen. “I ask you to pray for our attacker and for the grace of conversion for him,” he said. “He needs this prayer most of all.” Warning against blaming an entire people for one man’s actions, Father Mantykiewicz appealed for respect and solidarity between Poles and Ukrainians, recalling the abbey’s extensive support for refugees following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Prosecutors have filed murder, attempted murder and grievous bodily harm charges against the suspect, identified as Ihor M. Funeral rites for Father Zbojniewicz were Sept. 28, with burial the following day. (OSV News)
Pope Leo sends letter to White Sox, encouraging team to ‘foster friendship, solidarity’
CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox have headed into the post-season with a bit of inspiration from Pope Leo XIV. In a Sept. 29 X post, the team shared images of a Sept. 9 letter from the Chicago-born pope, who expressed his hope the White Sox would promote peace and goodwill among people. The letter was addressed to team chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who had written to Pope Leo following the team’s pope-themed Aug. 11 game against the Cincinnati Reds at Chicago’s Rate Field. In his Sept. 9 message, Pope Leo quoted from “Life in Abundance,” his Feb. 6 letter on the value of sport, saying that “sport can truly become a school of life.” He added, “In this spirit, it is my hope that the White Sox continue to foster bonds of friendship and solidarity among people, and thus bear hopeful witness to the possibility of living and working together in peace.” The White Sox posted the letter the same day the team was in Houston to play the Astros in game one of the American League’s wild card series. (OSV News)
