April 8, 2025 // National

News Briefs: April 13, 2025

OSV NEWS

Pope Prays People Stare Less at Screens, Connect More Face to Face

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Technology should be used to improve people’s lives and to connect people as members of one human family, Pope Francis said. However, often “the screen makes us forget that there are real people behind it who breathe, laugh, and cry,” the pope said in a video message to present his prayer intention for the month of April: “For the use of new technologies.” “How I would like for us to look less at screens and look each other in the eyes more!” he said. “Something’s wrong if we spend more time on our cellphones than with people.” In the message, released on Tuesday, April 1, Pope Francis said: “It’s true, technology is the fruit of the intelligence God gave us. But we need to use it well. … We should use technology to unite, not to divide. To help the poor. To improve the lives of the sick and people with different abilities,” he said. “Use technology to care for our common home. To connect as brothers and sisters. … Let us pray that the use of the new technologies will not replace human relationships, will respect the dignity of the person, and will help us face the crises of our times,” he said.

USCCB Ends Agreements with U.S. Government

WASHINGTON, D.C. (OSV News) – Officials with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said the organization would not renew its cooperative agreements with the federal government related to children’s services and refugee support after its longstanding partnerships with the federal government in those areas became “untenable.” Earlier this year, officials with the Trump administration suspended a federal refugee resettlement program as part of its broader effort to enforce its hardline immigration policies. The ensuing halt in federal funding for the USCCB’s refugee resettlement services is the subject of ongoing litigation, and it prompted leaders at the conference to lay off about a third of the staff in its Migration and Refugee Services Office in February. Anthony Granado, associate general secretary for policy and advocacy for the USCCB, told OSV News, “This situation has been brought to us by the decisions of the government.” Despite decades of partnership with the USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services, across administrations of both parties, Granado said, “We’ve been placed in an untenable position now, and it is clear that the government has decided that it wishes to go about doing this in a different way that doesn’t include us, and so we were kind of forced into this position.”

Cincinnati’s New Archbishop Encourages Faithful

CINCINNATI (OSV News) – During his installation Mass on Thursday, April 3, Archbishop Robert G. Casey, the new shepherd of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, tied a story of learning to swim as a boy, “attempting to float but sinking like a rock,” to embracing the journey into the “deep water” of faith. Archbishop Casey recalled that boyhood challenge in the homily during Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains, succeeding Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr, 76. A congregation of approximately 1,000 filled the cathedral for the two-hour liturgy, with Archbishop Casey as the principal celebrant and Archbishop Schnurr, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago ,and Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the U.S., also presiding. Archbishop Casey was 10 and his younger brother was 8 when they took swimming lessons at the local high school. While he struggled to even float in the shallow end, “there in the deep end of the pool” was his brother “leaping off the high dive.” The archbishop finally did learn to swim. As believers, he asked, “How do we go from being rocks that sink to living stones rising to our call?” He told the faithful, “Our journey in these days of Lent is another attempt for us to learn to swim.”

Pope Sends Almoner to Deliver Ambulances Funded by U.S. Catholics

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, was driving one of four ambulances donated to Ukraine with the help of U.S. Catholics. With Easter approaching, Pope Francis wanted to make a concrete gesture to show his closeness to “tormented Ukraine,” officials with the dicastery said in a news release on Monday, April 7. The pope wanted to send his papal almoner to Ukraine to deliver four ambulances that are fully equipped with medical instruments needed to save lives, the release said. The ambulances, which bear the coat of arms of Vatican City State, “will be destined for war zones.” The cardinal was assisted by three other drivers who came from Ukraine. It will be the Polish cardinal’s 10th mission to the war-torn nation as a special envoy sent by Pope Francis, and he was to remain in Ukraine for a few days “to be with the people so tried by the conflict, to pray with them and to be an expression of the pope’s closeness.” The ambulances were purchased with donations provided by U.S. Catholics through Cross Catholic Outreach, Father Eloy Rojas, a missionary of mercy and hospital chaplain in the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, told Catholic News Service in late March.

Peace, Care for Creation Are Linked, Dicastery Says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – “Seeds of Peace and Hope” is the theme for the World Day of Prayer for Creation, which will be celebrated on September 1. Officials with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development announced the theme chosen by Pope Francis on Monday, April 7. The metaphor of the seed “indicates the need for long-term commitment.” The World Day of Prayer for Creation marks the beginning of the ecumenical Season of Creation, which concludes on October 4, the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology. The theme of the season for 2025, the officials said, is “Peace with creation.” “Peace and care for creation share a close link,” they said. And “there is also a strong connection between war and degradation of our planet, which is seen in the waste of resources through destruction and armaments.” The officials invited Christians to pray for the right conditions to be created for peace – that is, “a lasting, shared peace that gives rise to hope.”

Disgraced Former Cardinal McCarrick Dies at 94

DITTMER, Missouri (OSV News) – Theodore E. McCarrick, the former cardinal whose clerical career ended in disgrace amid decades of abuse allegations, has died at age 94. McCarrick’s attorney confirmed his death to OSV News. According to multiple sources, he died on Thursday, April 3. Once a prominent figure in the U.S. Catholic Church and a skilled Vatican fundraiser, McCarrick served as archbishop of Washington, D.C., from 2001 to 2006. His downfall began in 2018, when the Vatican removed him from ministry following a credible abuse allegation involving a minor. Further reports revealed long-standing accusations of abuse against both minors and adults, including seminarians and priests, with some cases resulting in settlements. In 2019, Pope Francis laicized McCarrick after a canonical trial found him guilty of abusing power and committing sexual abuse. A 2020 Vatican report detailed systemic failures that allowed McCarrick’s rise despite warnings. Facing criminal charges in two states, McCarrick was deemed unfit for trial due to dementia. At his death, he was residing at a Missouri treatment facility. In a statement, the current archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Robert W. McElroy, said he is “especially mindful of those who he harmed during the course of his priestly ministry. … May we remain steadfast in our prayers for them and for all victims of sexual abuse.”

People pray at the tomb of St. John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican April 2, 2025, the 20th anniversary of his death. Born Karol Wojtyla, he was the first pope from Poland and the first non-Italian pope in 455 years, and his pontificate of more than 26 years was the third longest in history. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)