Pope Francis appealed to countries at war to release prisoners and offered special prayers for those who have endured torture.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Exercising the virtue of temperance is not a recipe for a boring life, Pope Francis said, but rather it is the secret to enjoying every good thing.

If one wants "to appreciate a good wine, savoring it in small sips is better than swallowing it all in one go. We all know this," the pope said April 17 at his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square.

Continuing a series of audience talks about vices and virtues, the pope focused on temperance, which the Catechism of the Catholic Church defines as "the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods."

Temperance is "the virtue of the right measure" in what one does and what one says, the pope said. "In a world where so many people boast about saying what they think, the temperate person prefers instead to think about what he or she says."

"Do you understand the difference?" Pope Francis asked people in the square. It means "I don't say whatever pops into my head. No, I think about what I must say."

A temperate person does not allow "a moment’s anger to ruin relationships and friendships that can then only be rebuilt with difficulty," the pope said. Temperance with words is especially important in families to keep "tensions, irritations and anger in check."

"There is a time to speak and a time to be silent, but both require the right measure," he said.

Being temperate, he said, does not mean never getting annoyed or frustrated, Pope Francis said, but he kept repeating the phrase with "the right measure" and "the right way."

For example, "a word of rebuke is at times healthier than a sour, rancorous silence," he said. "The temperate person knows that nothing is more uncomfortable than correcting another person, but he or she also knows that it is necessary; otherwise, one offers free reign to evil."

A temperate person "affirms absolute principles and asserts non-negotiable values," the pope said, but he or she does so in a way that shows understanding and empathy for others.

In other words, he said, a temperate person has the gift of balance, "a quality as precious as it is rare" in a world given to excess.

"It is not true that temperance makes one gray and joyless," Pope Francis said. On the contrary, it increases "the joy that flourishes in the heart of those who recognize and value what counts most in life."

 

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe is back in bankruptcy court after an abuse survivor has filed a motion alleging church officials are violating a key non-monetary agreement of their recent $121.5 million settlement with survivors.

Though campus conversations about food are often students griping about dining hall meals, an April 9 panel discussion at St. Mary's College in Indiana explored the issues of food waste and the future of food.

The Cook Political Report states that there are 11 toss-up races in which the Democrat is the incumbent and 11 in which the Republican is, notes NCR columnist Michael Sean Winters. 

The bishop leading the U.S. Catholic Church's response on migration issues said that both major political parties are participating in anti-immigrant sentiment in the country. 

After an early morning fire April 4 reportedly set by a resident damaged the sanctuary of Our Lady of the Lake Church in Verona, the church could reopen its doors for Mass the weekend of April 20-21, said Father Peter G. Wehrle, pastor.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis and his international Council of Cardinals continued their discussions about the role of women in the church, listening to women experts, including a professor who spoke about how culture impacts women's roles and status.

The pope and the nine-member Council of Cardinals invited women, including an Anglican bishop, to make presentations at their meetings in December and in February as well.

The council met April 15-16 in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the pope's residence, the Vatican press office said.

On the first day, Sister Regina da Costa Pedro, a member of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate and director of the Pontifical Mission Societies of Brazil, shared "concrete stories and the thoughts of some Brazilian women," the press office said.

Stella Morra, a professor of theology at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University, "examined the role cultures have in the recognition of the role of women in different parts of the world," the press office said.

A priest and two women made presentations at the council's December meeting and published their papers in Italian in a book with a foreword by Pope Francis, "Smaschilizzare La Chiesa?" ("De-masculinize the Church?).

During the preparation for the synod on synodality and during its first assembly in October, the pope wrote in the foreword, "We realized that we have not listened enough to the voice of women in the church and that the church still has a lot to learn."

"It is necessary to listen to each other to 'de-masculinize' the church because the church is a communion of men and women who share the same faith and the same baptismal dignity," he wrote.

At the February meeting, the pope and cardinals heard from: Bishop Jo Bailey Wells, deputy secretary-general of the Anglican Communion; Salesian Sister Linda Pocher, a professor of Christology and Mariology at Rome's Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences "Auxilium"; and Giuliva Di Berardino, a consecrated virgin and liturgist from the Diocese of Verona, Italy.

Bishop Bailey Wells said she was invited to "describe the Anglican journey in regard to the ordination of women, both in the Church of England and across the (Anglican) Communion."

At the April meeting, the Vatican said, the second day began with a report about the ongoing Synod of Bishops on synodality by Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, and Msgr. Piero Coda, secretary general of the International Theological Commission.

The meeting concluded "with reports from each cardinal on the social, political and ecclesial situation in his home region," the press office said.

"Throughout the session there were references -- and on several occasions prayer -- dedicated to the scenarios of war and conflict being experienced in so many places around the world, particularly in the Middle East and in Ukraine," the statement said.

"The cardinals -- and with them the pope -- expressed concern about what is taking place and their hope for an increase in efforts to identify paths of negotiation and peace," it said.

The council will meet again in June.

The members of the council are: Cardinals Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state; Seán P. O'Malley of Boston; Sérgio da Rocha of São Salvador da Bahia, Brazil; Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India; Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, president of the commission governing Vatican City State; Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg; Gérald C. Lacroix of Québec; Juan José Omella Omella of Barcelona; and Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of Kinshasa, Congo. Bishop Marco Mellino serves as the council's secretary.

 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Humanity must have more direct contact with nature to counter the modern lifestyles that are destroying the planet, Pope Francis said.

Respecting and loving the earth as well as seeking direct contact with nature "are values that we need so much today as we discover ourselves increasingly powerless before the consequences of irresponsible and short-sighted exploitation of the planet," he told members of the Italian Catholic Movement of Adult Scouts.

Meeting with the members, dressed in their scouting uniforms, at the Vatican April 13, the pope said people in modern society are "prisoners of lifestyles and behaviors that are as selfishly deaf to every appeal of common sense as they are tragically self-destructive; insensitive to the cry of a wounded earth, as well as to the voice of so many brothers and sisters unjustly marginalized and excluded from an equitable distribution of goods."

"In the face of this, the Scouts' sober, respectful and frugal style sets a great example for all," he said.

Pope Francis highlighted the group's recent charitable efforts, such as donating an incubator for infants to an emergency care center in Lampedusa, Italy, a landing point for migrants coming into the country.

The incubator, he said, " symbolizes the joy of a child coming into the world, the commitment to ensure that he or she can grow well, the expectation and hope for what he or she may become."

"We live in a time of a dramatically falling birthrate," the pope said, noting that the median age in Italy is 46 while the median age in nearby Albania is 23. The falling birthrate shows that humanity "seems to have lost its taste for creating and caring for others, and perhaps even its taste for living," he said.

Sending the incubator to the Lampedusa reception center "further underlines that love for life is always open and universal, desirous of the good of all, regardless of origin or any other condition.

The scouts also helped build a nautical carpentry workshop in Zambia which he said is aligned with the human vocation of transforming God's gifts "into instruments of good," particularly in a world "where there is so much talk, perhaps too much, about producing weapons to make war."

Citing his 2015 encyclical "Laudato Si', On Care for Our Common Home," the pope encouraged the scouts to "take charge" of the current climate crisis and from there, to deeply consider "the specific place that human beings occupy in this world and their relations with the reality that surrounds them."

WASHINGTON – A newly-released study from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University, surveyed men who will be ordained to the priesthood in 2024. The data shows that families continue to be the seedbed of religious vocations: of the 392 respondents, 95% were raised by their biological parents, and 88% were raised by a married couple who lived together.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations (CCLV) released The Class of 2024: Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood in anticipation of the 61st World Day of Prayer for Vocations on April 21. This annual commemoration occurs on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. Pope Francis has expressed his gratitude for “mothers and fathers who do not think first of themselves or follow fleeting fads of the moment, but shape their lives through relationships marked by love and graciousness, openness to the gift of life and commitment to their children and their growth in maturity.”

Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing, chairman of the CCLV committee, echoed Pope Francis stating, “Mothers and fathers, united in marriage, are the first witnesses to love for their children. It is within the family that children are taught the faith, learn the meaning of love, and grow in virtue. This year’s study of ordinands underscores the fundamental role that families, in particularly, parents, play in building up the kingdom of God. It is through the love and support of the family that children develop into the men and women God calls them to be.”

Of the 475 men scheduled to be ordained this year, 392 completed the survey for an overall response rate of 83%. These ordinands represent 128 dioceses and eparchies and 29 distinct religious institutes in the United States. Some of the major findings of the report are:

• On average, respondents first considered a priestly vocation when they were 16 years old. The youngest age reported was three years old and the oldest was 53 years old.
• The average age at ordination was 34 years old. Since 1999, the average age was 35 and ranged between 33 and 37.
• Most respondents are White/Caucasian (67%), followed by Hispanic/Latino (18%), Asian/Pacific Islander (11%) and Black/African American (2%).
• Of those who are foreign-born (23%), the most common countries of origin are Mexico (5%), Vietnam (4%), Colombia (3%), and the Philippines (2%).
• Of those who worked full-time before entering seminary (70%), the most common fields of employment were education (21%), business (16%), and Church ministry (13%).

The full CARA report and profiles of the Ordination Class of 2024 may be accessed here: https://www.usccb.org/committees/clergy-consecrated-life-vocations/ordination-classes.

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