Pope: witness to Jesus in a life of service (Vatican News) Addressing the faithful via a live broadcast from the library of the Apostolic Palace due to a new pandemic lockdown in Italy, Pope Francis recalled the great responsibility Christians and our communities have in helping people to meet and know Jesus. The day’s Gospel reading recounts how Jesus responds to the request of the Greeks by saying “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12:23-24). The Pope said this answer shows that Jesus is “the hidden seed ready to die in order to bear much fruit” and in order to know and understand Him you look at the cross…
Former Albany bishop accused of sex abuse from 1977 (AP) The former bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany has been accused of sexually abusing a child decades ago in a lawsuit filed last week, the seventh time the retired bishop has been named as an abuser in a lawsuit filed under New York’s Child Victims Act. The lawsuit filed anonymously by a man who is now in his 50s alleges that retired bishop Howard Hubbard abused the plaintiff in 1977 when he was 11, the Times Union of Albany reports…
Bishop Conley: St. Joseph helped me through depression, quarantine (CNA) Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska opened up in a March 19 letter about how in the midst of a nearly year-long sabbatical he took for mental health reasons, learning about and consecrating himself to St. Joseph helped immensely with his recovery…
Three young Catholic women make history by becoming Eagle Scouts (CNS) Rachel and Mara Snyder, and Madeline “Maddie” Mullin are part of history, becoming part of the inaugural group of young women to become Eagle Scouts in the Boy Scouts of America. The Snyders are identical twins who are first-year students at Virginia Commonwealth University and members of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in suburban Glen Allen. Maddie, their lifelong friend, is a home-schooled high school senior and member of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart Parish in Richmond. The trio credited their families and their faith for their accomplishment…