The theme of the XXXI World Youth Day is: ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy’ (Mt 5:7). St. Faustina and St. John Paul II are the patrons of the upcoming WYD in Krakow, Poland, July 26-31.
John Paul II
Polish Bishop to Accompany WYD Pilgrims to Krakow
Brooklyn Auxiliary Bishop Witold Mroziewski, a native of Poland, is going to World Youth Day (WYD) with 400 pilgrims from Brooklyn and Queens, as well as Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio and Auxiliary Bishop Octavio Cisneros. The bishop sees a deep connection between the Year of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis and celebrating World Youth Day in Krakow, a city rich in history in the southern part of Poland.
Father Mark Bristol
For Brooklyn-born Father Mark Bristol, 31, the call to priesthood flowed and ebbed while in the U.S. Navy. Ultimately, he discerned God was calling him to be a fisher of men.
Father Jaroslaw Szeraszewicz
Four days before his 36th birthday, Father Jaroslaw Szeraszewicz will follow in the footsteps of his hero, Pope St. John Paul II, and be ordained to the priesthood.
Modern-day Popes Meet the Press
The first pope in modern history to do an interview with a reporter was Pope Leo XIII in 1892.
Pilgrimage from Miami
Miami Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski, who is leading a Sept. 18-21 pilgrimage from Miami to Havana in support of Pope Francis’ historic visit to the island, prays at the Church of St. Marta
Francis’ Speech at UN Will Be Fifth by a Pope
Pope Francis’ three predecessors who spoke to the General Assembly – Blessed Paul VI, St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI – addressed issues reflecting the great social and political challenges of their era.
John Paul II and ‘America’
IN THE YEARS PRECEDING the Great Jubilee of 2000, John Paul II held a series of continental synods to help the Church in different locales reflect on its distinctive situation at the end of the second millennium, and to plan for a future of evangelical vigor in the third. These Special Assemblies were easily named in the case of the Synods for Africa, Asia and Europe. But when it came to the Synod for the western hemisphere, John Paul threw a linguistic curveball that made an important point.
Our Popular Pope
As we prepare for the Papal Visit to the United States, and in particular to New York, during the next several months, it might be well to focus on the Pope whom we will welcome.
The ‘Tyranny of the Possible’
Ten years after his death, Pope St. John Paul II looms even larger than he did a decade ago. What seems most memorable was that he refused to accommodate to the “tyranny of the possible.”