2025 Year in Review

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Pope Francis inspired Catholics to live as Jesus’ disciples

Pope Francis lived the Gospel through his example and inspired us to do the same, Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski said at a Mass of remembrance for the Holy Father on April 21 at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis.

Hundreds of people attended the 12:05 p.m. Mass on Easter Monday, hours after the Holy Father’s death was announced at the Vatican. Pope Francis died April 21 at age 88.

“As we gather so appropriately in this Easter season, we reflect upon the Easter faith that Pope Francis has taught us over these past 12 years,” Archbishop Rozanski said in his homily. “In leading the Church in proclaiming the Gospel, Pope Francis has consistently given us the message that the poor are our brothers and sisters, that we are called to reach out to all of our brothers and sisters and to help them in any need they have.”

Pope Francis also challenged us with the Gospel, and “he made us realize that Jesus has come to transform our lives, that Jesus came to give us the fullness of the kingdom and that invitation to live as disciples in the world,” Archbishop Rozanski said. Through his writings and teachings, the Holy Father “has indeed encouraged and challenged us to live as those people who truly follow the Lord Jesus, knowing that living the Gospel is never easy in any age and particularly in our own age.”

Chicago native elected as Pope Leo XIV

After Pope Francis’ funeral on April 26, the conclave to elect his successor began on May 7 in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican. On May 8, Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, the Chicago-born prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops under Pope Francis, was elected the 267th pope and took the name Pope Leo XIV.

He is the first North American to be elected pope and, before the conclave, was the U.S. cardinal most mentioned as a potential successor of St. Peter.

The white smoke poured from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel at 6:07 p.m. Rome time (11:07 a.m. St. Louis time), and a few minutes later the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica began to ring.

A longtime missionary in Peru, the 69-year-old pope holds both U.S. and Peruvian citizenship.

As prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops for the past two years, he was instrumental in helping Pope Francis choose bishops for many Latin-rite dioceses. He met hundreds of bishops during their “ad limina” visits to Rome and was called to assist the world’s Latin-rite bishops “in all matters concerning the correct and fruitful exercise of the pastoral office entrusted to them.”

Support for residents impacted by spring tornadoes

The need for assistance remained months after tornadoes struck parts of the archdiocese over several months in the spring.

Following more than a dozen tornadoes that hit different parts of the state in March and April, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of St. Louis were among more than a dozen agencies and other organizations that participated in Multi-Agency Resource Centers (MARCs), which included recovery resources and support services for communities impacted by disasters.

“We respond to the immediate needs, but the reality is the society will still be here for them a year later,” St. Vincent de Paul executive director John Foppe said. “Because of the generosity of donors, we’re able to help with their basic needs. We often see cases come back through,” especially those who have been displaced and need help setting up once they’ve returned to their homes.

A tornado that tore across the St. Louis area on May 16 reached EF-3 intensity and a mile in width, with maximum winds up to 152 mph, according to the National Weather Service’s local forecast office. It started in Clayton and tracked for nearly 23 miles through the northern parts of St. Louis, crossing the Mississippi River and dissipating near Edwardsville.

Five people were killed, and about three dozen were injured. About 5,000 structures were hit and the initial damage estimate was about $1.6 billion. In the city of St. Louis, hundreds of homes were completely destroyed.

Catholic Charities has connected with residents to provide immediate assistance as well as long-term case management services, and St. Vincent de Paul, through its disaster committee, has helped with immediate needs and temporary housing solutions.

“Every one of these families that we are engaging need disaster case management,” Catholic Charities’ chief community officer Brian Thouvenot said. “They need someone to help them through a process that is foreign to most people.”

Jubilee Year of Hope

Christians must “abound in hope” to be credible witnesses of God’s love, Pope Francis wrote in the document announcing the Jubilee Year of Hope for 2025.

On May 9, 2024, the pope issued “Spes Non Confudit (Hope does not disappoint),” the bull of induction of the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025. The Jubilee Year of Hope began on Dec. 24, 2024, with the opening of the Holy Door at the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome, and continues until the closing of the Jubilee Year on Jan. 6, 2026.

“Hope is born of love and based on the love springing from the pierced heart of Jesus upon the cross,” Pope Francis wrote in the document.

In a world seemingly marked by war, divisions, environmental destruction and economic challenges, hope can seem hard to come by, he said. But “Christian hope does not deceive or disappoint because it is grounded in the certainty that nothing and no one may ever separate us from God’s love.”

As part of the Jubilee Year, the faithful in the archdiocese have had the opportunity to obtain a Jubilee Indulgence at nine local pilgrimage sites.

Archbishop Rivituso: A heart of mercy and service

On July 1, Pope Leo XIV appointed St. Louis Auxiliary Bishop Mark S. Rivituso as the 10th bishop and third archbishop of Mobile, Alabama.

Archbishop-elect Rivituso succeeded Archbishop Thomas Rodi, who submitted his letter of resignation in March 2024 at the age of 75, the age at which bishops are required by canon law to submit their retirement to the pope. He had served the archdiocese since 2008.

At his installation Mass Sept. 3 at the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Archbishop Rivituso said he will look to Christ with a collaborative shepherding spirit in service to others in his new archdiocese.

“With faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and with the love of God in my heart, I accept the pastoral care of the people of God in the Archdiocese of Mobile,” Archbishop Rivituso said. “I promise to serve faithfully the Church in this archdiocese, to preach the Gospel and celebrate the Eucharist.”

In the homily, Archbishop Rivituso said he was reminded of the words of Pope Leo, who in his inauguration Mass said the universal Church must “look to Christ, come closer to Him.”

“We look to Christ, we focus upon Jesus Christ, we center our life upon Jesus so that we may indeed model Jesus Christ in our very life,” Archbishop Rivituso said.

Archbishop Rozanski reflects on God’s grace through five years as archbishop

As Archbishop Rozanski reflected on his five years as archbishop of St. Louis, one word that has come up often is “grateful.”

Archbishop Rozanski was installed as the archdiocese’s 10th archbishop on Aug. 25, 2020 — the feast of St. Louis IX — at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis, celebrating with a smaller crowd than usual during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I’m just grateful to God for the call He’s given to me to serve as a priest in the Church, to serve as a bishop and leading me to places where I never expected to be — a role I never expected in my priesthood — but for the grace that He gives me to live out my life as a priest and bishop,” he said. “I’m very, very grateful for that over these five years and having the opportunity to be here in St. Louis and to serve the Church here.”

In an interview marking the first anniversary of his installation, Archbishop Rozanski summed up his top pastoral priority simply: proclaiming the Gospel and helping others to do the same.

Annual Catholic Appeal raises record $21.9 million

Catholics in the archdiocese gave a record $21.9 million in this year’s Annual Catholic Appeal to support important ministries across the archdiocese.

The appeal raised $17.4 million from pledges and endowment earnings. The appeal also received a large estate gift of more than $4 million, which will go into the Perpetual Light Society Endowment, helping provide funds for appeal grants in future years. Including that endowment gift and anticipated matching gifts, the total raised was just shy of $22 million. The 2025 goal was $16 million.

Annual Catholic Appeal funds go toward safe, stable and affordable housing; support for active and retired priests; adult faith formation and evangelization efforts; Catholic education assisting children with a sense of purpose and value; parish food pantries serving people who are hungry; housing, medical and dental care for uninsured low-income residents in rural areas; programs that teach respect for human life; vocations programs to help youth and young adults discern a vocation to the priesthood or religious life; support for youth ministry; and more. Approximately 91 cents of every dollar raised goes back to the community in direct services.

Abortions resume in Missouri

Abortions have resumed in Missouri after a judge blocked a licensing requirement for abortion facilities.

In the Feb. 14 ruling, Jackson County Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang said that the licensing requirement is “facially discriminatory because it does not treat services provided in abortion facilities the same as other types of similarly situated health care, including miscarriage care.”

Abortions resumed at Planned Parenthood in Kansas City on Feb. 16 and limited abortions have since resumed at the clinic in St. Louis.

The Missouri bishops said in a statement that they were saddened that abortions were to resume in Missouri, adding that the legalization and deregulation of abortion will harm women, children and families.

The Church “will strive to increase advocacy for policies that uphold the dignity of all human life, protect the vulnerable, provide support for those in need and continue to combat the forces behind the culture of death,” they said.

Food pantries meet the needs of clients

Several food pantry coordinators expressed their concern about the potential impact of federal funding cuts to food banks and other programs that get food into the hands of those who need it the most.

“We’re going to keep feeding people as long as we have food to give them,” Carolyn Randazzo, who manages the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry at Blessed Teresa of Calcutta in Ferguson, said. “We know that God has all these pantries and is taking care of all of them. We might be out of something and then a day or two later, here’s a cart full of whatever it is. We see that all the time.”

About $1.5 billion in cuts were expected through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including elimination of several programs that help local farmers, schools and food banks such as the Emergency Food Assistance Program, the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program and the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program.

Immigrants share personal experiences with Abp. Rozanski

Archbishop Rozanski met with about 20 immigrants from parishes in the archdiocese in September to listen to their stories of migration and their experiences in the current climate.

The overwhelming theme was fear.

A young man who said he was from Honduras shared that when he was 16, his family was going through hardship and poverty. His parents and brothers migrated to the U.S., but he was left behind with other relatives. He eventually made the journey himself.

After ending up in St. Louis alone, he found help with shelter and food through a parish community, which also connected him with a lawyer to begin the asylum process. He now has a social security card and a work permit but said he still doesn’t feel secure.

“Even though I do good things, try to stay good, I still feel fear. I don’t feel safe in the current situation, even after doing everything good — they don’t care about that,” he said through a translator. “All my effort can someday just be wiped out.”

Archbishop Rozanski listened attentively to the stories for about two hours until all present had a chance to speak.

“We need to bring to all of the body of Christ the struggles that are happening, the pain that is being caused, and the fear that is only from the devil,” he told those gathered at the end of the evening. “What I see in our country today is a motivation of fear, and that fear only drives us apart. It contributes to really the disintegration of our nation, and it blinds us to who our brothers and sisters really are.”

Conversion, invitation and ‘Eucharist FOMO’

The first time Issac Dessau and Jude Short asked their friend Seth Partney about the process of becoming Catholic, they were standing in front of a 7-Eleven drinking Slurpees after a game of pickleball.

The seeds of conversion had been planted long before. It started Seth, who exhibited a transformation that was noticed by his friends after an Encounter evening of praise and worship and the sacraments. Seth then invited his friends to Mass with him, which led to them entering the Church at Easter.

Across the archdiocese, 683 catechumens and candidates prepared to receive the sacraments of initiation — an increase of more than 30 percent over 2024.

Zomi-American Catholics reconnect with culture at national congress

Nearly 1,000 Zomi Catholics from across the United States gathered July 4-6 at St. Louis University High School for the fifth national Zomi-American Catholic Eucharistic Congress.

The congress began on Friday with a youth soccer and volleyball tournament, dinner, adoration and an opening ceremony. On Saturday, participants attended catechesis classes in the morning, followed by a Mass celebrated in SLUH’s gym and a eucharistic procession around the campus.

The first two congresses were held in 2018 and 2019 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which is home to about 10,000 Zomi people and also has the largest population of Zomi Catholics in the United States. Subsequent congresses have been held in Indianapolis and Nashville, both of which have a presence of Zomi Catholics.

About 50 Zomi families in the Archdiocese of St. Louis had been worshiping together at St. Pius V Parish in St. Louis until the community’s move to Assumption Parish in south St. Louis County in 2023.

Father Stephen Lian, a priest from Myanmar who came to the United States in 2014, offers Mass and confessions in Zomi at Assumption every Sunday. He also is an associate pastor at Good Shepherd Parish in Hillsboro, Our Lady Parish in Festus and Sacred Heart Parish in Crystal City.

Other stories

Jubilant Marriage initiative launches to help married couples recognize the gift and sacramental nature of their marriages

Movement Not Moment initiative at Cardinal Ritter College Prep continues to address issues that lead to gun violence

Angel of Harmony statue restored, reinstalled at the Cathedral Basilica by sculptor Wiktor Szostalo after vandalism damage

St. Juan Diego Parish takes shape as the newest parish for Hispanic Catholics in the archdiocese

Archdiocese and Augustine Institute introduce Missionaries of Joy program to form lay leaders to make disciples

Newly ordained priest, transitional deacon continue on vocational paths to lead others to Jesus

LifeTeen purchases former Chaumette Vineyards in Ste. Genevieve to become Camp Cana

Archdiocese launches new program to advocate for an end the death penalty

“Soul on Fire” movie tells John O’Leary’s story of everyday heroes amid tragedy

St. Dominic High School opens new building trades center

Faithful flock to the Little Flower as relics stop in St. Louis

Inclusive education for students with special needs rising in Catholic schools