March 11, 2025 // National

News Briefs: March 16, 2025

OSV NEWS

Young Adult from Diocese Chosen for National Pilgrimage

DENVER (OSV News) – Eight young adults, including Johnathan Silvino Hernandez-Jose from Fort Wayne, have been selected to embark on the second National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, traveling from Indianapolis to Los Angeles from May 18 to June 22. The group, which includes college students and young professionals from various states, will journey along the Drexel Route – named for St. Katharine Drexel – visiting 21 dioceses across 10 states. Their mission is to accompany the Eucharist and engage in Mass, Eucharistic processions, adoration, prayer, and service. According to his bio on the pilgrimage’s website (eucharisticpilgrimage.org), Hernandez “helps run his family’s construction company, and his family is one of the greatest joys and gifts that God has given him. He has a heart of service and helps in his diocese through teaching first-year confirmation at his parish, assisting with young adult groups, and helping with a ministry called Luchando Por Un Corazón Puro FWSB.” Additionally, Hernandez’s bio said: “To have a chance to share Jesus’ message of salvation and His love is second to none. With Jesus so close every step of the way, Johnathan knows he will witness Jesus’ great glory and see a revival in people’s hearts that will stay with him his whole life.”

Pope Is Out of Danger but to Remain in Hospital

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis is no longer considered in imminent danger from his lung infection, but he will remain in Rome’s Gemelli hospital for several more days to continue receiving medical treatment, Vatican officials said. The improvements in the 88-year-old pope’s condition recorded in the previous days “have been further consolidated” and were confirmed by the results of blood tests and his positive response to drug therapy, Vatican officials said in an evening medical bulletin on Monday, March 10. Doctors had previously noted “a good response to therapy” on Saturday, March 8, adding that his gas exchanges – the intake of oxygen and output of carbon dioxide – had improved and that blood tests showed his condition to be stable. However, due to the severity of the infection and the complexity of his condition, doctors determined that “it will be necessary to continue, for additional days, medical drug therapy in a hospital setting,” the bulletin said. Meanwhile, the pope followed by video parts of the Roman Curia’s Lenten retreat both March 9 and 10, the bulletin said, and he received the Eucharist before praying in the chapel of his hospital suite. “In the afternoon he again joined the Curia’s spiritual exercises, following by video connection,” it said. “During the day he alternated between prayer and rest.” No new images of the pope have been seen in more than three weeks, but Vatican officials shared an audio message from the pope on Thursday, March 6, in which, with labored breath, he thanked the faithful for their prayers for his health.

Amid Foreign Aid Freeze, Rice Bowl Founder Touts Program

PHILADELPHIA (OSV News) – At the beginning of Catholic Relief Services’ 2025 Rice Bowl initiative, the program’s founder, Monsignor Robert Coll, a retired priest of the Diocese of Allentown, Pennsylvania, reflected on the program as it marks its 50th year. Rice Bowl, he said, “mixed the physical with the spiritual,” adding that “it was never intended to be a collection” but “an informative experience for the family.” Amid the U.S. government’s current suspension of foreign aid, Monsignor Coll said Rice Bowl could be in “its strongest moment, because the more funds you receive from the people, the greater pressure you put on governments to assist in a variety of ways.” He continued: “For example, even if I could buy 100 tons of wheat, I wouldn’t have enough money to transport it across the United States into Africa and then truck it throughout Africa. So that’s where you say: ‘Look, we have the initiative to pay for these programs. It won’t cost you a cent. All we need is (to buy) the commodities.’” To donate to the CRS Rice Bowl program, visit crsricebowl.org.

South Carolina Carries Out Execution by Firing Squad

COLUMBIA, South Carolina (OSV News) – As officials in South Carolina prepared to carry out the first execution by firing squad in the United States since 2010, Catholic activists against the death penalty had sought clemency from that state’s governor. But Brad Keith Sigmon, who was convicted of the 2001 murders of Gladys and David Larke, his ex-girlfriend’s parents, was executed on Friday, March 7, and was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m. Sigmon, who chose the firing squad over other means of execution, admitted to killing the Larkes. Faith groups, including Catholic Mobilizing Network, had filed petitions asking Governor Henry McMaster for clemency. “Whether someone is shot, electrocuted, injected, or gassed, each and every execution extinguishes a God-given life with inherent dignity and worth. Each and every execution is a blatant act of state sanctioned violence,” said Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, Catholic Mobilizing Network executive director.

Catholic Center in Myanmar among Latest Bombing Casualties

NAN HLAING, Myanmar (OSV News) – A Catholic pastoral center in northern Myanmar was recently bombed by the country’s military junta. Located on the grounds of St. Michael’s Church in Nan Hlaing, in the Diocese of Banmaw, the center was hit by two aerial bombs, officials with Fides, an online Catholic news agency, reported on Wednesday, March 5. Jesuit Father Wilbert Mireh, the parish priest, reported no injuries but emphasized the destruction of essential services in the area, including electricity and communication, which have been cut off since July of 2024. Father Mireh shared that Masses are now said outdoors due to safety concerns, but the faithful continue to pray for protection and strength. “We will continue to live for good, truth, and justice,” he said. Despite precarious conditions, “the faith and spirit are strong,” the Jesuit priest said. “The faithful pray every day that the Lord, through the Archangel Michael, continues to grant his protection and watch over us.”

Church Leaders Condemn Violence in Syria

AMMAN, Jordan (OSV News) – Syria’s top Christian leaders have condemned recent violence that has left hundreds of Alawite civilians dead or wounded. The killings began on Thursday, March 6, primarily in the northwest coastal regions of Tartus, Banias, Jabla, and Latakia, areas tied to former President Bashar Assad’s regime. The violence, which escalated after an Alawite insurgency, has targeted civilians, including women and children, and has sparked widespread destruction. In a joint statement, senior Christian leaders, including Archbishop Youssef Absi, Melkite Greek Catholic patriarch of Antioch and All the East, condemned the massacres and called for an end to the brutality. Pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need issued an urgent appeal for prayers. According to reports, more than 600 people, including members of the Alawite and Christian communities, have died.

A woman joins Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, in reciting the rosary for Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican March 8, 2025. Cardinals living in Rome, leaders of the Roman Curia and the faithful joined the nighttime prayer. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)