U.S.
First-ever Deaf Eucharistic Congress inspires people to greater love of Jesus
EMMITSBURG, Md. — In a moment that some thought might never come, Deaf Catholics from across the country stood side by side, hands raised in prayer, signing in unison — worshipping in their own language at the first-ever Deaf Eucharistic Congress. Held April 4-6 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, the historic event attracted more than 230 people from 25 states and two countries. Pews were filled as Father Michael Depcik, an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales and chaplain for Deaf Ministry in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, welcomed all. “Jesus loves you and wants to meet you every Sunday. So come meet Jesus and consume Him in the Eucharist,” he said. It was a watershed moment for a community that has long faced barriers to participating fully in the life of the Catholic Church. The idea for the congress, the priest explained to the gathering, started less than two years ago. (OSV News)
Ukrainians wounded, weary but have hope, says U.S. bishop after visit
WASHINGTON — With Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine now in its fourth year, Ukrainians are deeply wounded but nonetheless have hope, said a Kansas bishop who chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe. “I don’t know how many Ukrainian people told me, ‘We believe in God, so we have hope,’” said Bishop Gerald L. Vincke of Salina, Kansas. “They kept on saying that over and over again.” Bishop Vincke traveled with a delegation to Ukraine March 12-19 to discuss pastoral needs and the impact of the USCCB’s humanitarian and spiritual support. The trip — which centered on the city of Lviv in western Ukraine and the country’s centrally located capital, Kyiv — included meetings with bishops, clergy, religious and aid workers. Bishop Vincke noted the steep toll Russia’s war has taken on Ukrainians and said the effects of such trauma and grief will be felt for years, requiring sustained, long-term support. (OSV News)
WORLD
Nicaragua cracks down further on Church during Holy Week
MANAGUA, Nicaragua — In Nicaragua, Catholics celebrated Palm Sunday under intense government scrutiny, as police and paramilitaries surrounded Managua’s cathedral and restricted Holy Week activities to church grounds. The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo has banned public religious processions for the third straight year — allowing exceptions only for clergy aligned with the government. Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes of Managua led Mass inside the cathedral, focusing his homily on forgiveness despite the visible intimidation. Meanwhile, exiled Bishop Silvio Báez assured the faithful online that the government “cannot prevent the crucified one from revealing His victory” through acts of justice and solidarity. Church leaders report increasing harassment. Over 220 religious have been exiled or blocked from returning. (OSV News)
Sudan needs world’s attention, funding, peace, faith-based groups say
VATICAN CITY — Sudan, which is experiencing the world’s largest and most serious hunger and displacement crises, needs urgent and consistent attention from the international community, the head of Caritas Internationalis said. “Funding for relief efforts is not a gesture of goodwill but an indispensable lifeline to those caught in the crossfire of violence and displacement, who will die in millions otherwise,” Alistair Dutton, secretary-general of Caritas Internationalis, said in a press release April 15, the two-year anniversary of conflict in Sudan. Currently, more than 30 million people, which is more than half of Sudan’s population, “now require urgent assistance,” the press release said. (CNS)
Pope orders renewal of academy that trains nuncios
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has raised the status of the Vatican’s diplomatic academy to an institute of higher learning that will issue academic degrees while also strengthening its focus on evangelization. The pope’s changes to the status of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy were set out in a document signed by him and released at the Vatican April 15. The Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy was founded by Pope Clement XI in 1701 to prepare young priests to enter the diplomatic service of the Holy See, serving as nuncios, in the Vatican Secretariat of State and in other roles around the world. The academy will offer its students — still all priests — degrees equivalent to a master’s and a doctorate in “diplomatic sciences.” (CNS)
Pope advances sainthood cause of famed Spanish architect, five others
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis advanced the sainthood causes of one woman and five men, including Antoni Gaudí, the Spanish architect who designed the Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona, Spain. The Vatican announced that the pope authorized the decrees during an audience at the Vatican April 14. Among the decrees was the approval of a miracle attributed to Indian Sister Eliswa Vakayil, founder of the Teresian Carmelites, who lived 1831-1913; the approved miracle clears the way for her beatification. The pope also recognized the heroic virtues of Antoni Gaudí, a Spanish architect and designer who was born in Catalonia in 1852. Among the other decrees approved April 14, Pope Francis also recognized the martyrdom of Father Nazareno Lanciotti, an Italian priest born in Rome in 1940 who was killed “in hatred of the faith” in São Paulo, Brazil, Feb. 22, 2001. (CNS)
Peru-based Catholic movement formally suppressed by the Vatican
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has ordered the suppression of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a Peru-based lay movement active across Latin America and the United States, and three related lay movements following decades of abuse allegations and internal investigations. “At the conclusion of an investigation ordered by Pope Francis on July 5, 2023, it was decided to suppress both the Societies of Apostolic Life of the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae and of the Fraternidad Mariana de la Reconciliación (Marian Community of Reconciliation), as well as the Associations of the Faithful Siervas del Plan de Dios (Servants of the Plan of God) and Movimiento de Vida Cristiana (Christian Life Movement),” the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life said in a statement April 15. The suppression decrees were confirmed by Pope Francis, the dicastery said. (CNS)
