U.S.

Eucharistic revival, congress called ‘occasion of grace’

INDIANAPOLIS — Before a Nov. 17 vote to approve a National Eucharistic Congress for 2024 and their choice of the city to host it, Indianapolis Archbishop Charles C. Thompson told his fellow prelates gathered in Baltimore, “If you give us the green flag to this project, we’ll be ready with the checkered flag.” The bishops voted for a three-year National Eucharistic Revival that will begin in June and culminate with the congress July 17-21, 2024. They chose Indianapolis to host it — home of the Indianapolis 500 and the iconic checkered race flag. The 2024 event could be a pivotal moment for the Catholic Church in the U.S. — if it enters fully into the eucharistic revival, Archbishop Thompson said. The eucharistic revival planned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis and approved by the bishops at their fall general assembly is scheduled to begin June 16, the feast of Corpus Christi. The first year will get underway at the local and diocesan levels with such initiatives as eucharistic adoration and processions, the development of parish teams of revival leaders and conferences on the Eucharist.

Wisconsin parishes pray for victims after SUV plows through parade crowd

WAUKESHA, Wis. — Church leaders and parishes offered prayers for those who died and were injured, including a Catholic priest, church parishioners and Catholic school students, when an SUV plowed through spectators watching a Christmas parade. “Our prayers are with the people who have been injured and killed during the tragic incident in Waukesha,” Sandra Peterson, communication director for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, said in a statement posted on the archdiocesan website hours after the incident occurred the evening of Nov. 21. Waukesha is about 20 miles west of Milwaukee and is in the archdiocese. “Among the injured are one of our Catholic priests, as well as multiple parishioners and Waukesha Catholic school children,” Peterson said. A post early Nov. 22 on the Facebook page of the Catholic Community of Waukesha, a group of four parishes, said Church leaders were monitoring “the impact of yesterday’s tragic event” and ministering to injured parishioners as well as those who attended the parade but were uninjured. “It is in our most difficult hours that we, as a community, turn to our Lord for refuge, strength and love,” the post said.

Catholics’ ‘power of generosity’ fuels annual #iGiveCatholic Giving Day

WASHINGTON — Cory Howat, president of #iGiveCatholic, is optimistic that despite setbacks in their household finances they might have because of the ongoing pandemic and now inflation, Catholics will be as generous as ever on the seventh annual #iGiveCatholic Giving Day Nov. 30. “We believe in the power of generosity. In fact, it is one of the most beautiful aspects of our Catholic faith,” he said. Donations received on that day, online or offline, will benefit more than 2,600 participating Catholic organizations, which include parishes, schools and ministries in 40 U.S. dioceses. An advance two-week giving phase that leads up to the day is currently underway. Anyone can participate in #iGiveCatholic by visiting www.igivecatholic.org and making a minimum $20 online donation to their preferred Catholic institution or organization Nov. 30 or during the advance giving phase. Last year, #iGiveCatholic raised more than $12.7 million from 48,273 donors to support schools, parishes and nonprofit ministries in dioceses across the country.

WORLD

Mass arrests in Ethiopia scare Tigrayans in neighboring countries

NAIROBI, Kenya — Amid reports of mass arrests of Tigrayans in Ethiopia, a Church source said fear has gripped those residing in the neighboring countries who fear they could be the next targets. The U.N. reported Nov. 16 that at least 1,000 people were believed to have been detained by police in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, in the previous seven days. More Tigrayans have been reported arrested in Gondar and Bahir Dar on suspicion that they were affiliated with or supporting the Tigray People’s Liberation Front. “We have received information that those arrested are being kept in camps where the conditions are extremely bad. We have also heard that every night some disappear and are not seen again,” said an Ethiopian Church source who could not be named for fear of his safety.

To fight child labor, eliminate poverty, give adults fair wages, pope says

VATICAN CITY — Extreme poverty, the lack of employment that can support a family and desperation are the major drivers of exploitative child labor, Pope Francis said. “If we want to stamp out the scourge of child labor, we must work together to eradicate poverty (and) to correct the distortions in the current economic system, which concentrates wealth in the hands of a few,” he said. “We must encourage nations and the stakeholders of the world of business to create opportunities for decent employment with fair wages that let families meet their needs without their children being forced to work,” he said Nov. 19 during a meeting with people taking part in an international conference on “Eradicating Child Labor, Building a Better Future.”

— Catholic News Service