Saint Joseph Catholic Church

Archbishop Shelton Fabre, chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chairman of the Committee on International Justice and Peace, weighed in on various aspects of the bill in a recent letter to the chairman and ranking member of the House Committee on Agriculture.

The leaders of Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Rural Life, and National Council of the United States Society of St. Vincent de Paul joined the two prelates in signing the letter.

The Pontiff will visit Monaco on March 28; make a ten-day journey to four African nations (Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea) from April 13-23; and spend nearly a week in Spain (June 6-12).

The February 25 announcement of the apostolic journeys outside Italy follows last week’s announcement of six papal trips within Italy this spring and summer.

Bishop Erik Varden, OCSO, of Trondheim, Norway, reflected on “The fall of thousands” and “Glory” in his February 25 Lenten retreat conferences to the Pope and the Roman Curia.

Referring to young people, Bishop Niall Coll of Raphoe, 63, said that “growing up (since 1995) entirely in a post-Christian, digital, morally fragmented culture, they have no inherited memory of Catholic Ireland. Paradoxically, this leads many of them to seek clarity, coherence and tradition.”

“Often converts, they are drawn to doctrinal solidity, sacramental depth and continuity with the Church’s tradition,” he continued. “For them the Church lies in truth that is intelligible in body and demanding, not adaptability.”

The prelate—named a bishop by Pope Francis in 2022—added:

If you are in a leadership position today, most people you meet are not on fire with progressive questions, and it is hard for me to say that to you. And this leads me to propose that synodality, if not anchored in Scripture and doctrine, risks endless discussion without direction.

The appointments, The Pillar noted, may presage an “end to a tumultuous period in the Pope’s diocese, which began in 2024 with Pope Francis dismissing six auxiliary bishops in just more than a year and abolishing one of the diocese’s five pastoral sectors.” Pope Leo restored the sector in November.

“Perhaps the right distinction to make is not so much between believers and non-believers, but between seekers and non-seekers of God,” Pope Leo wrote. “We are all longing for Love, we are all seekers of God. And therein lies the dignity and beauty of our lives.”

The exchange was published in Piazza San Pietro, a magazine published under the Vatican basilica’s auspices. Pope Leo has continued his predecessor’s custom of answering one letter in each issue.

The Major Archbishop recalled celebrating the Divine Liturgy in a shelter as missiles struck Kyiv. “There we realized that we had not been abandoned by God—Jesus was present with His people in the Eucharist.”

“This memory of tragedy and heroism becomes a law, a rule for our life today,” he added. “It is a law that guides and commands us: to defend our homeland, to defend human life in Ukraine, and to move forward, trusting that good will always triumph over evil. From that very first moment, we knew that Ukraine would prevail.”

The Major Archbishop concluded:

We know that the root cause of war is human sin. People start wars and then become enslaved by this demon, which destroys even those who unleashed it. But we know that the One who brings an end to war and sin is our God and Savior. Therefore, today we pray: “God, great and one, protect Ukraine!”

In a Spanish-language message to a conference in Mexico on Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pope Leo XIV reflected on inculturation and upheld Our Lady of Guadalupe as its model.