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Who would have predicted it? Who would have imagined on February 23, 1977, the day of his appointment as Archbishop of San Salvador, that the highly conservative Oscar Romero — who was suspicious of the Catholic Church’s involvement in political activism — would die a martyr’s death.
And that he would die for courageously defending his people against the murderous assaults of the Salvadoran government, military, and right-wing death squads.
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First in a series of reflections by Fr. Robert Barron on the life of Cardinal Francis George.
Cardinal Francis George, who died April 17 at the age of 78, was obviously a man of enormous accomplishment and influence.
He was a cardinal of the Roman Church, a past president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the archbishop of one of the largest and most complicated archdioceses in the world, and the intellectual leader of the American Church.
A number of American bishops have told me that when Cardinal George spoke at the bishops’ meetings, the entire room would fall silent and everyone would listen.
Why do adults become Catholics? There are as many reasons for “converting” as there are converts.
Evelyn Waugh became a Catholic with, by his own admission, “little emotion but clear conviction”: this was the truth; one ought to adhere to it.
Cardinal Avery Dulles wrote that his journey into the Catholic Church began when, as an unbelieving Harvard undergraduate detached from his family’s staunch Presbyterianism, he noticed a leaf shimmering with raindrops while taking a walk along the Charles River in Cambridge, Mass.; such beauty could not be accidental, he thought — there must be a Creator.
I am most thankful this year for my astonishing discovery that traveling in Europe is still possible in your 80’s as long as you have a young and loving travel companion.
I recently did it with my 26 year-old granddaughter, Hillary, and a fun-loving group of Luxembourg Americans. There were 29 of us plus three guides.
I loved the rides on the tour bus each day because they were never too long (Luxembourg is only the size of Rhode Island) and the scenery was magnificent.
“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” is the familiar cry of Jesus on the cross.
In our own lives, we may also sometimes feel abandoned, with hope seeming to disappear. As we cope with the serious illness of someone close to us. As we face economic challenges, perhaps even the loss of our job. In the gray loneliness that follows the death of a beloved wife or husband.
And yet, in the midst of our darkness, we remember that God did not abandon His beloved Son and the suffering of Good Friday transformed into the hope of our Lord’s Resurrection. God does not abandon us.
MILWAUKEE — In a statement sent February 16 to the members of the state legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance, Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki, president of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference, addressed the rights of workers and the value of unions.
His friends in the Diocese of Madison were not surprised to hear that Pope Benedict XVI is elevating Archbishop Raymond L. Burke to the status of cardinal on November 20.
MILWAUKEE — Frigid Wisconsin temperatures hovering near single digits were a sharp contrast to the warm, festive mood inside the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist on January 4, as the Milwaukee Archdiocese welcomed its 11th shepherd, Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki.
Nearly 1,000 were on hand at the cathedral for the installation of the 60-year-old Chicago native, most recently bishop of La Crosse.
Pope Benedict XVI announced his appointment of Archbishop Listecki to lead the 10-county archdiocese and its 643,000 Catholics on November 14, 2009.
MILWAUKEE — Combining reflection on Jn 21:15-19 with a delineation of church teaching on the duties of the bishop, Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki preached his first homily as Milwaukee’s 11th archbishop during his Mass of Installation, January 4.
ST. FRANCIS — His résumé might give the impression that Milwaukee’s 11th archbishop is driven: captain of his high school tennis team, basketball coach, degrees in civil and Church law, 24 years in the Army Reserve, moral theology professor, parish priest, pastor, and bishop. But he doesn’t view it that way.
“I don’t see myself as driven; I see myself as responding to needs. I’ve been the proverbial ‘If you want something done, ask a busy man.’ A busy man or woman will find time to get it accomplished,” Archbishop-designate Jerome E. Listecki told the Milwaukee Catholic Herald Saturday, Nov. 14, the day his appointment to Milwaukee was announced.
