Focus on Faith

Dorian Kernytsky, a Philadelphia-area Ukrainian Catholic, has been making hundreds of rugged, stainless steel rosaries for troops in Ukraine, hoping to provide solace amid the horrors of the current war with Russia

The Vatican audience hall March 18 was filled with individuals and families from many countries at war or affected by severe humanitarian emergencies, such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria, Congo, Libya and Ukraine.

A homebound ministry for victim-survivors of clergy abuse to receive the Eucharist and a support group for employees of faith-based institutions who experienced abuse are now offered through the archdiocesan Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment (OMSSE).

This life-size and realistic image of Jesus Christ crucified during his last hours of the Passion was carved in cedar by renowned Spanish sculptor Juan Manuel Miñarro, a scholar of the Shroud of Turin and the Sudarium of Oviedo.

The service marked the start of the worldwide celebration of “24 Hours for the Lord,” a period when at least one church in every diocese was invited to be open all night — or at least for extended hours — for confession and eucharistic adoration.

The Diocese of Alleppey has more than two dozen small Christian communities, and leaders of those communities trained about 70 members of the diocesan synod team.

The visit to death row “was especially heart-wrenching, but even there, I saw a desire for a deeper spiritual life,” he said in a reflection on the March 7 visit shared by the California Catholic Conference in a March 14 email newsletter.

Parishes supply Chaplaincy rogra with items for the spiritual and temporal needs of those in the stable area at Oaklawn Park horse track.