A three-year initiative of the U.S. bishops, the National Eucharistic Revival. is nearing its midpoint. It began in June 2022 with the feast of Corpus Christi. The first year focused on diocesan revival, inviting bishops, priests and diocesan leaders to deepen their relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist. The Year of Parish Revival began in June 2023, with emphasis on reaching Catholics in the pews.
Nation
Two years ago over the course of a Friday night Dec. 10-11, a series of tornadoes struck western Kentucky, killing 57 with additional fatalities in Illinois, Arkansas, Tennessee and Missouri and damaging and destroying several thousand residences as well as nearly 200 commercial buildings. Just one day before area residents officially observed the outbreak’s second anniversary, tornadoes ripped through middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky inflicting another weather disaster Dec. 9 just weeks before Christmas.
The National Eucharistic Revival is inviting everyday Catholics to personally participate in the nationwide movement by asking God to transform and renew their hearts through prayer.
The University of Notre Dame has selected a new president who said he hopes to position the school as an “ever-greater engine of insight, innovation and impact.” The Catholic university’s board of trustees announced Dec. 4 that Holy Cross Father Robert A. Dowd has been named Notre Dame’s 18th president, effective July 1.
Efforts to meet climate goals must heed both the “cry of the earth” and the “cry of the poor,” said two U.S. Catholic bishops leading committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Most U.S. dioceses will take up an annual collection Dec. 9-10 to help approximately 24,000 elderly religious sisters, brothers and religious order priests pay for retirement necessities, including health care.
Former first lady Rosalynn Carter passed away Nov. 19 at her home in Plains, Georgia, according to a statement from The Carter Center.
Despite his Sept. 25 retirement as a Chicago auxiliary, Bishop Joseph N. Perry may continue to serve as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, completing the term he began in May.
Father Isaac Hecker was a Catholic convert, a religious community founder, a missionary and a pioneering Catholic publisher. He also may one day be recognized as a Catholic saint.
Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, led his brother bishops in prayer for wisdom as they began their fall plenary assembly in Baltimore Nov. 13 with a Mass for peace.