Bishop Robert Barron

Friends, the readings for this Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time are interwoven with each other in a very interesting way.

ROME (CNS) -- The Catholic News Service team in Rome won 12 awards from the Catholic Media Association, which were announced during the 2024 Catholic Media Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Incorporated in 1911, the Catholic Media Association is an organization of publishers and media professionals for a total of about 355 member organizations, which include 890 media professionals.

Catholic News Service has been providing complete, in-depth coverage of the popes and the Vatican for more than 70 years. Its six-person team is made up of three full-time reporters, one photographer, one multimedia journalist and one administrative assistant.

CNS took home four first-place awards with the following comments from the judges:

-- Cindy Wooden, Carol Glatz, Robert Duncan, Paul Haring and Justin McLellan: Best In-Depth News/Special Reporting by a National Newspaper or Wire Service for "Pope Francis' 10th anniversary."  

"This extraordinary team effort exploring various aspects of Pope Francis’ 10th  anniversary combines thought-provoking interviews, memorable writing and significant context to provide a comprehensive picture of what the pope has accomplished and what lies ahead."

Click through to see the stories and photos in this winning series:

10 years as pope: Pushing the church to bring the Gospel to the world

Pope from 'ends of the earth' brings new style to Rome

Pope brings Latin American Catholic experience to the universal church

Pastoral and practical: Francis seeks healing, hardline against abuse

Pope's anniversary sees Curia reform complete, financial reform ongoing

Around the world in 10 years: Pope's 40 trips reflect his priorities

-- Carol Glatz: First place for Best Coverage, Ecumenical and Interfaith Issues for the following series of stories on the Vatican archives and Catholic-Jewish relations.

"Excellent analysis and writing about an important issue."

Click through to see the stories and photos in this series:

Silent no more: Vatican archives give voice to wartime tragedy

Despite prejudices, many Catholics helped rescue Jews in Nazi-occupied Italy

Study, not blame or shame, needed with pope's wartime record, scholar says

-- Lola Gomez: First place for Best Photograph, Immigration/Migration for "Pope Francis prays at migrants monument." 

"A stunning image of contrasts. The Pope and his light-colored vestments stand out against the dark statue. Seemingly deep in prayer, the image captures the Pope with a look of concern among the sullen faces of those that make up the statue."

 

-- Lola Gomez: First place for Best Photograph, Scenic, Still-life or Weather Photo for "Sunrise at Fatima, Portugal."

"Astonishing image with the shrine perfectly framed by the columns and using the colorful sky as the contrasting backdrop. Top-notch photo."
 

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CNS took home a second-place award with the following comment from the judges:

-- Lola Gomez, Justin McLellan and Robert Duncan: Best Multimedia Package for Seasonal for "Pope celebrates feast of the Immaculate Conception."

"Nice work taking audience to a place they may not be able to travel."

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CNS took home two third-place awards:

-- Robert Duncan: Best Video, Catechesis for "WYD pilgrims experience God’s mercy."

-- Cindy Wooden, Lola Gomez and Robert Duncan: Third place for Best Coverage, Papal Trips for "Pope Francis visits Mongolia." With the following comment from the judges:

"This is a great set of articles that allows the reader to experience the full papal visit, day to day. The detail in the stories helps to give the reader a feel for the impact of the papal visit and the hope for the future for a still-nascent mission in an exotic part of the world with diverse and numerous religious challenges. These articles help the reader to understand the importance of ecumenicism."

Click through to see the stories and more photos in this winning series on Mongolia:

Message from 'heart of Asia': Pope's words go beyond Mongolian borders

Pope, Mongolian religious leaders vow to promote harmony, shun violence

Pope encourages little Mongolian flock in faith, unity, witness

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CNS also won five honorable mention awards:

-- Lola Gomez: Best Photograph, Holy Days/Liturgical Seasons for "Children bring flowers to baby Jesus at papal Mass."

 

-- Carol Glatz, Lola Gomez and Robert Duncan: Honorable mention for Best Coverage, Papal Trips for "Pope Francis' trip to Marseille."

Click through to see the stories and more photos in this series on Marseille and migration:

Message in Marseille: Welcoming the 'stranger' is a global mandate

People have a duty to save migrants in danger of drowning, pope says

Pope laments closing ports to migrants, fueling fears with false alarm

-- Justin McLellan, Lola Gomez and Robert Duncan: Honorable mention for Best Coverage, Papal Trips for "Papal trip to World Youth Day in Lisbon."

Click through to see the stories, videos and more photos in this series on World Youth Day in Lisbon:

Pope to young people at WYD: God calls your authentic, not virtual, self

Awaken the 'weary' church by becoming 'restless,' pope says in Portugal

Don't be afraid to change the world, pope tells youths at WYD closing Mass

 

-- Robert Duncan: Honorable mention for Best Video, Feature for "Vatican Nativity scene highlights St. Francis, Holy Land."

-- Carol Glatz, Lola Gomez and Robert Duncan: Honorable mention for Best Multimedia Packages, News for "Pope encourages children to work for peace."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Political discourse in the United States has devolved into people shouting at and not listening to each other, showing a need to promote respectful dialogue despite political differences, said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

In an interview with Vatican News, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services said, "One thing that all of us can do is to remember and to promote the dignity of the human person."

"Even if someone disagrees with me, he or she is still created in the image and likeness of God. And therefore, has a dignity that I have to recognize and that I have to respect," he said in the interview posted online July 16.

If people were more aware of their common-held dignity, he said, "then we might be able to discuss as rational human beings, the problems and the disagreements that we have, and perhaps come to some solutions."

"But it's tragic that political discourse in this country has reached a point where people just shout at each other, and there's no space to listen to the other. And I think that's something that Pope Francis has urged us constantly to recognize, this basic human dignity and to respect it in every way that we can," he said.

"This tragic event is really a call to action to all of us to measure our discourse and to move forward in pathways of peace and reconciliation and (for) an honest assessment of whatever political differences there are and however we can work together to find solutions," he said. 

The archbishop was asked to comment on the recent assassination attempt of former U.S. President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13. Gunfire killed one attendee, Corey Comperatore, and injured three others including Trump, whose right ear was grazed by a bullet. The suspected gunman was killed and his possible motives were still under investigation.

In his interview with Vatican News, Archbishop Broglio expressed his sympathy and condolences to the Comperatore family and his "promise of a prayer" for the repose of the deceased man's soul. "And also to those who were wounded, including former President Trump, a message of consolation and the assurance of my prayers, and (I) assure the prayers of all of the faithful of the United States."

He said his initial reaction to the event was "one of horror that violence would take place in what is supposed to be a democratic society, that we're not able to talk to one another." That someone was able to make an attempt on Trump's life, he added, is "certainly very, very tragic."

When asked, as president of the U.S. Bishops' Conference, what bishops could do to foster peaceful dialogue or coexistence, he said, "I think all of us in our dioceses can certainly promote the importance of dialogue, the importance of respect for the other."

The commitment to protect human life, he said, "is based on this notion that the human person is worthy of our respect from the moment of conception until the moment of death. And I think we have to be constant in that."

Archbishop Broglio noted the importance of the National Eucharistic Congress being held July 17-21 in Indianapolis, Indiana, saying, "I think that will be a great opportunity for us to promote dialogue and reconciliation."

"In Jesus Christ, we find our salvation, and we also find a way forward. Obviously in the person of Christ, we find a code of conduct and I think the more we do to promote that, the better off our society will be," he said. "We can't do it all by ourselves, but we can certainly lay a foundation and urge those that we're responsible for to promote this dignity and this dialogue."

WASHINGTON - In June, the bishops on the subcommittees that oversee the various national collections met to review and award grants that support pastoral care, evangelization, and social ministry. The bishops awarded 453 grants totaling over $10.5 million that will be put to use here in the United States and in three global regions, all made possible through the generosity of U.S. Catholics.

The grants are supported through the following collections:

• The Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe
• The Collection for the Church in Latin America
• The Bishops’ Emergency Disaster Fund
• The Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa
• The Catholic Home Missions Appeal

“These collections are a powerful way of following Jesus’ commands to seek the lost sheep and to care for ‘the least of these,’” said Bishop James S. Wall of Gallup, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on National Collections. “They are one way in which Catholics in dioceses across the United States can show solidarity and act together to provide tangible love and assistance to our neighbors in need, in this nation and around the world.”

Participating dioceses take these collections on designated dates, and #iGiveCatholicTogether also accepts funds for the individual programs. Three of the collections mentioned underwrite international ministry, while the other two have both domestic and international reach. The Catholic Home Missions Appeal assists dioceses and eparchies of the United States and its territories that are too poor or too small to provide ministry without outside help. The Bishops’ Emergency Disaster Fund allows dioceses to take special collections after major crises such as hurricanes and tornadoes and directs those gifts to the designated responses of Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities USA, and to repair and rebuild Church properties in dioceses struck by disasters.

The national collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe helps to rebuild the Church and restore the faith in this region after decades under communist rule. Grants from the collection will assist children and teens impacted by war in Ukraine through a day camp and a weeklong summer camp in the Diocese of Lutsk. Open to youths of all faiths, the camps are a ministry of St. John Paul II Parish in Rivne. With the support of a $15,000 grant from the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, these camps help young people build spiritual and emotional resilience through prayer, worship, sports, music, art and cultural activities. At camp they can relax for a time and experience joy, freed from the immediate threat of bombs. This program is just one of 241 grants totaling more than $5.8 million approved by the subcommittee for ministries in over 25 countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

The national collection for the Church in Latin America awarded 163 grants totaling more than $3.2 million, which includes assistance to two dioceses with long term recovery from disasters. One of the dioceses has also received assistance through the Bishops Emergency Disaster Fund, which provided nearly $233,000 to complete the reconstruction of two churches in Havana, Cuba, that were heavily damaged by a devastating tornado in 2019. More than $28,000 was provided to finish rebuilding a Catholic radio station and related buildings of the Dominican Priests and Brothers in the Dominican Republic that were destroyed by Hurricane Irma in 2017. The bulk of the grants for the Church in Latin America, more than $2.9 million, financed pastoral projects, such as training leaders for culturally sensitive evangelization of the Indigenous Garifuna people of Honduras. This outreach focuses on communicating the Gospel within the Garifuna worldview, connecting with their ancestral values and emphasizing dialogue, listening, environmental stewardship and conflict resolution.

The national collection for the Church in Africa awarded 48 grants from the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa totaling $1,399,100 to bishops’ conferences in Africa to support pastoral activities of the conferences, member dioceses, and religious communities across the continent. With a grant of $21,100, the Daughters of Mary Immaculate, an order of women religious, will be able to launch a far-reaching re-evangelization campaign among 12,500 Christian families and their children in the Archdiocese of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. The sisters are training 20 lay evangelists, equipping them with bicycles to reach beyond their immediate communities, and preparing them to teach others to also become evangelists. Their campaign includes many creative kinds of outreach, including a Christian band and street theater.

Through a special grant of $146,000, the Catholic Home Missions Appeal is enabling 19 home mission dioceses and Eastern Catholic eparchies to host the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage as it traverses four paths across the nation on its way to Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress. To accommodate the pilgrims, many parishes are hosting picnics and fiestas for hundreds of people, as well as feeding and housing the perpetual pilgrims who are making the journey to Indianapolis. These perpetual pilgrims are a small group of young adults who are traveling one of the four routes in its entirety, from May through July through countless communities across the nation. This grant helps ease the financial burden on mission dioceses and eparchies, and their parishes, so they can provide hospitality, as well as extra security, rental equipment, gasoline for diocesan vehicles, insurance riders, and other pilgrimage-related expenses.

“The value of all of these grants is far more than financial,” Bishop Wall said. “Each of them represents the love that followers of Jesus have for one another – especially those who are poor or marginalized. Lives and hearts are transformed forever as the Holy Spirit works through the ministry that these grants provide.”

For more information on the work of USCCB National Collections, please visit: https://www.usccb.org/committees/national-collections.

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Bishop Robert Barron

As secularism has gripped so many, summer provides a greater opportunity to pray, rest in the Lord, consider the higher and deeper things. 

Bishop Robert Barron

Friends, today Jesus declares judgment on the towns of Galilee that did not believe in him and repent.

Michael Humpherys

We can reduce the evil of usury and witness to the dignity of borrowers. Economic exchange does not have to be a matter of profit.

Dr. Matthew Petrusek

During a Word on Fire Institute member event in London, Bishop Barron reflected on five animating sensibilities for evangelization.

Bishop Robert Barron

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus lays down the conditions for discipleship: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me

Bishop Robert Barron

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus sends the Twelve on their mission to announce the nearness of the kingdom.