On May 15,1891, Pope Leo XIII issued an encyclical entitled Rerum Novarum, which provided the foundation for modern Roman Catholic social teaching. It set forth the late nineteenth century Catholic position on social justice, especially in relation to problems and issues caused by the Industrial Revolution. Pope Leo XIII also asserted in Rerum Novarum the church’s right to make pronouncements on social issues as they relate to social questions. Rerum Novarum is considered by many to be the first social encyclical, a pastoral letter that addresses a specific social issue. Many popes of the 20th and 21st century have issued encyclicals that expand on the teaching of Rerum Novarum. Here is a list of the social encyclicals issued in the twentieth and:

In the summer of 1997, I was a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Washington. James Cardinal Hickey, who was the Archbishop of Washington at that time, used to take the archdiocesan seminarians on a daylong tour of Southern Maryland. That summer Cardinal Hickey and his seminarians visited several parishes in Saint Mary’s County. The last church we visited that day was St. John’s in Hollywood. Cardinal Hickey was the principal celebrant at Mass there with the Pastor, Msgr. Martin P. Harris and the Associate Pastor, Father Gary R. Studniewski. After Mass the parishioners of St. John’s treated us to a fabulous picnic organized by Laverne Schaefer and Betty Johnson. Toward the end of the picnic, Father Gary announced that he was going to be an Army Chaplain and that one of the seminarians at the picnic was likely going to take his place as the Associate Pastor of St. John’s, Hollywood. I was one of four men scheduled for ordination in 1998. I turned to my classmate, David Werning, and said to him, “Well it is 50/50, that it is one of us.” A year later I found out that I was going to succeed him as the Associate Pastor in Hollywood. Once I arrived, Fr. Gary stayed for three weeks before he was to report for a duty in Chaplains’ School. Msgr. Francis Glenn, former long-time Pastor of St. Paul’s Church in Butler, and a mentor to me, died about two weeks after I arrived in Hollywood. Fr. Gary covered for me so that I could concelebrate at Msgr. Glenn’s Funeral Mass. I remain very grateful for that kindness.

On Friday, May 1, 2026, Robert Cardinal McElroy held a press conference at the archdiocesan pastoral center in which he announced that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington would be getting two new auxiliary bishops. one is Bishop--elect Gary Studniewski, and the other is Bishop-elect Robert Boxie. Cardinal McElroy also mentioned that Bishop Roy Campbell, who is currently an Archdiocese of Washington Auxiliary Bishop, will be retiring and that Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, also an Archdiocese of Washington Auxiliary Bishop, has been named the new Bishop of Wheeling Charleston WV. Bishop Mark Brennan, currently Bishop of Wheeling-Charleston, will be retiring. Many here will remember that Bishop Brennan was, for many years, Pastor of St. Martin of Tours Parish, in Gaithersburg.

The “just war” doctrine has been in the news a lot these days.  I thought it would be useful to go to a reliable source to see what the Catholic Church teaches about this.   There are six paragraphs in the Catechism of the Catholic Church which I want to cite in this column: 2307-2312.   

On Saturday, April 11, 2026, Pope Leo XIV officiated at a Prayer Vigil for Peace and preached an important message for us to consider. In my column last week, I presented the first half of the message. This week I present the rest of the Holy Father’s remarks.

Pope Leo XIV announced during his Easter Sunday Urbi et Orbi address to the city of Rome and the world, that he would celebrate a Prayer Vigil for Peace on Saturday, April 11, 2026 at 6:00 pm Rome time. I want to present the message he gave at the Prayer Vigil to you. Owing to space limitations, I need to do this in in two parts. Here is the first part for your reflection and prayer.

One of the features of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday evening was the Presentation of the Oils. I was asked after the Mass about the significance of these oils. I want to devote the column today to this important question. I am going to use a nice explanation that was printed in the back cover of the worship aid for the Chrism Mass that was celebrated by our former Archbishop, Donald Cardinal Wuerl several years ago at the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle. The blessing of the Oil of the Sick occurs during the Eucharistic Prayer, while the blessing of the Oil of Catechumens and the Holy Chrism came after Communion at that Mass. The priest present renewed their priestly promises to Cardinal Wuerl during the Chrism Mass.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He has risen indeed! Alleluia! Many years ago, I was at a family gathering occasioned by the visit of two of my grandmother’s sisters from their homes near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Grandma and her sisters reminisced about a tragic event that happened when they were children or teenagers. They had gone to Sans Souci Amusement Park in Hanover Township in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania where they witnessed a cousin drown in the pool there. Each of them talked about things they remembered on that fateful day. Then I saw something that I had never seen before. I saw someone correct Grandma! Not only one person, but two people, my grandmother’s sisters. I remember Grandma saying one thing she recalled from watching their cousin drown only to have her sister Mary challenge what she said. Then Aunt Bridget challenged something else that Aunt Mary said with Grandma telling them they were both wrong about something else. But they eventually came up with a narrative with which they all agreed.

Last week I gave the first part of Pope Leo’s Message for Lent 2026. Today I am quoting from his second and third points. Even though Lent will soon be over, the Holy Father’s points are well worth considering

In my column for today, I want to present the message that Pope Leo delivered for Lent on February 7, 2026. Here it is: Listening and Fasting: Lent as a Time of Conversion

I have been reading the Message of Pope Francis for Lent 2020. I think that it is quite good. For that reason, I want to share it with you. Because of its length I will share it with you in the next two columns. Here is the first part for your reflection and study.

Ten years ago, Emily Simpson published an article in the now defunct Our Sunday Visitor about the spiritual works of mercy. In that article she paired an individual spiritual work of mercy with a particular saint. Let me list those below *Counseling the doubtful: St. Francis de Sales *Instructing the Ignorant: St. Francis Xavier *Admonishing sinners: St. Joseph Mukasa Balikuddembe *Forgiving offenses: St. Maria Goretti *Comforting the afflicted: St. André Bessette *Bearing wrongs patiently: St. Jean Juggan *Praying for the living and the dead: St. Rose Philippine Duchesne