News - June 2024 RSS Feed

Ten days ago—on June 20, 2024—we observed World Refugee Day, which serves as a reminder of the millions of individuals and families forcibly displaced from their homes and the importance of durable protection mechanisms, such as the U. S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP). On that day the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) joined with those around the world in honoring refugees and the communities that welcome them. Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration underscored the importance of refugee protection for the Catholic Church:

“A modern-day apostle of the Holy Spirit.” This is what Pope Saint John XXIII called Blessed Elena Guerra when he beatified her in 1959. On April 13, 2024, Pope Francis officially approved the miracle needed for her canonization during an audience with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro. Pope Francis also announced that he will convene a Consistory of Cardinals to deliberate the canonization of Blessed Elena Guerra, as well as Blesseds Carlo Acutis, Giuseppe Allamano, and Marie-Léonie Paradis.

Pope Francis preached a very memorable homily on Pentecost Sunday in 2020. In that homily he pointed out that the Holy Spirit brought about unity among Christ’s followers in the early Church despite the diversity of backgrounds and ethnicities that were present even at that time. Pope Francis continued by saying that today we also have our differences, such as opinions, choices, or sensibilities. But when we yield to the temptation to defend fiercely our own ideas as being good for everyone, the Holy Father said that becomes a “faith created in our own image,” “not what the Spirit wants.”

On May 26, 2024, about 50,000 children and adults gathered in St. Peter’s Square for a Mass that concluded the first World Children’s Day. Pope Francis established this world day as a “movement of boys and girls who want to build a world of peace, where we are all brothers and sisters, a world that has a future because we want to take care of the environment around us.”