Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Superior, which has programs for the disabled, elderly, and impoverished, argued caring for those in need is part of its religious mission. / Credit: Catholic Charities Bureau

CNA Staff, Dec 13, 2024 / 18:20 pm (CNA).

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a case brought by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Superior in Wisconsin after the Wisconsin Supreme Court in March ruled the agency ineligible for a religious tax exemption because Catholic Charities’ service to the poor and those in need was not “typical” religious activity. 

The Catholic Charities agency, which operates under the purview of the Diocese of Superior and has programs for the disabled, elderly, and impoverished, has argued that caring for those in need is part of its religious mission as a Catholic organization.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court had in March, however, ruled 4-3 that Catholic Charities’ activities are not “typical” religious activities because Catholic Charities serves and employs non-Catholics, does not “attempt to imbue program participants with the Catholic faith,” and that its services to the poor and those in need could also be provided by secular organizations. 

As a result of the ruling, Catholic Charities remains mandated to pay into Wisconsin’s unemployment system, which it has paid into ever since Wisconsin’s tax exemption for organizations “operated primarily for religious purposes” was introduced in 1972.

In August, Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Superior appealed the Wisconsin ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. The high court will now decide whether a state violates the First Amendment’s religion clauses by denying a religious organization an otherwise available tax exemption because the organization does not meet the state’s criteria for religious behavior. 

An amicus brief filed by the Wisconsin Catholic Conference (WCC) explained that the Church views service to the poor as a religious activity because it is a core tenet of the faith and a command from Christ, distinguishing this command from simple philanthropy and explaining that Christian charity is about “looking at others through the very eyes of Jesus” and “seeing Jesus in the face of the poor.” 

The Catholic Church sees this duty as “inherently religious” because it expresses love for Christ, each other, and those they help, the WCC said. Quoting Pope Benedict XVI in Deus Caritas Est, the WCC stated that the Church “cannot neglect the service of charity any more than she can neglect the sacraments and the Word.”

“Catholic Charities Bureau is on the front lines bringing love, healing, and hope to the most vulnerable members of our community,” said Bishop James Powers, bishop of the Diocese of Superior, in a Friday statement. 

“We pray the court recognizes that this work of improving the human condition is our answer to Christ’s call to serve those in need.”

Becket, the public-interest law firm representing the Catholic Charities agency, said the state of Wisconsin is “trying to make sure no good deed goes unpunished.”

“Penalizing Catholic Charities for serving Catholics and non-Catholics alike is ridiculous and wrong,” said Eric Rassbach, vice president and senior counsel at Becket. 

“We are confident the Supreme Court will reject the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s absurd ruling.” 

null / Credit: Djavan Rodriguez|Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 13, 2024 / 17:45 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Blase Cupich of the Archdiocese of Chicago in a letter published this week in the archdiocesan newspaper urged Catholics to stand while receiving holy Communion and not make gestures that draw attention to oneself.

In the letter, published in the Chicago Catholic, Cupich said “the norm established by [the] Holy See for the universal Church and approved by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is for the faithful to process together as an expression of their coming forward as the body of Christ and to receive holy Communion standing.”

The cardinal goes on to state that “nothing should be done to impede any of these processions” and that “disrupting this moment only diminishes this powerful symbolic expression, by which the faithful in processing together express their faith that they are called to become the very Body of Christ they receive.”

“Certainly reverence can and should be expressed by bowing before the reception of holy Communion, but no one should engage in a gesture that calls attention to oneself or disrupts the flow of the procession,” he added. “That would be contrary to the norms and tradition of the Church, which all the faithful are urged to respect and observe.”

The letter does not directly state what specific gestures draw “attention to oneself.” CNA reached out to the archdiocese to request clarification but did not receive a response by the time of publication. 

Although the guidelines issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) state that receiving Communion while standing is the norm, a person cannot be denied Communion because he or she is kneeling. 

“The norm for reception of holy Communion in the dioceses of the United States is standing. Communicants should not be denied holy Communion because they kneel,” according to the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. “Rather, such instances should be addressed pastorally, by providing the faithful with proper catechesis on the reasons for this norm.”

The matter is also addressed in the 2004 Vatican document Redemptionis Sacramentum, which was issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments under St. John Paul II’s papacy.

The Vatican document states that Catholics “should receive Communion kneeling or standing” and that it is “not licit to deny holy Communion” based on whether a person “wishes to receive the Eucharist kneeling or standing.”

In his letter, Cupich wrote that “we all have benefited from the renewal of the Church ushered in by the Second Vatican Council.” 

“By recognizing this relationship between how we worship and what we believe, the bishops at the council made clear that the renewal of the liturgy in the life of the Church is central to the mission of proclaiming the Gospel,” the cardinal added. “It would be a mistake to reduce the renewal to a mere updating of our liturgy to fit the times we live in, as if it were a kind of liturgical facelift. We need the restoration of the liturgy because it gives us the capacity to proclaim Christ to the world.”

“The law of praying establishes the law of believing is our tradition,” Cupich wrote. “When the bishops took up the task of restoring the liturgy six decades ago, they reminded us that this ancient principle enjoys a privileged place in the Church’s tradition. It should continue to guide us in every age.”

For centuries before the Second Vatican Council, which concluded in 1965, the norm within the Latin rite was to receive Communion on the tongue while kneeling. The council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, promulgated in 1963, did not make any changes to this norm.

Rather, in response to bishops permitting Communion in the hand while standing, the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship issued the document Memoriale Domini in 1969 to permit the practice in some circumstances but emphasized that bishops must “avoid any risk of lack of respect or of false opinions with regard to the blessed Eucharist and to avoid any other ill effects that may follow” when allowing Communion in the hand.

Pilgrims attend Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 12, 2022, to mark the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas and the unborn. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Dec 13, 2024 / 17:15 pm (CNA).

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco is launching a project to increase devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe in response to Pope Francis’ call to prepare and pray as the 500th anniversary of the Guadalupe apparition approaches.

Cordileone told EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo on “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo” of his goal of “informing people of this call of Pope Francis,” which he said is “largely unknown” to English-speaking Catholics.

To that end, the archbishop is promoting Project Guadalupe 2031, an initiative to help families enthrone Our Lady of Guadalupe in their homes. Through a new “Mass of the Americas,” which will be celebrated across the country, he also hopes to encourage a devotion to Our Lady.

Cordileone is also drawing attention to a nine-year intercontinental novena, called for by Pope Francis in 2022, that anticipates the fifth centennial of the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2031.

“We want to promote awareness of this and invite people into this novena to instill greater devotion to Our Lady because she’s the one who always leads us to the encounter with her son,” Cordileone told Arroyo. 

“We’ve planned celebrations of the Mass of the Americas that I commissioned six years ago to bring the popular music Mexican people sing to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe into the sacred music tradition of the Church,” Cordileone said. 

Composed by Frank La Rocca, Mass of the Americas is a liturgy of unity with Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the United States, and Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of Mexico and all the Americas.

Cordileone recalled an archdiocesan celebration as the spark for the idea. 

“This all was born from six years ago: Dec. 8 was on a Saturday, and we had an archdiocesan-wide celebration of Our Lady Guadalupe on the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception,” Cordileone recalled. 

“So I thought, we all love Our Lady no matter which side of the border we live on, what language we speak, what culture we come from,” the archbishop said. “So we need to look to Our Lady as the mother who unites us all into one family of God.” 

“It’s a Mass of unity,” Cordileone explained, noting that celebrations of the special Mass will be celebrated in different venues across the U.S. The culmination of this will be a celebration of the Mass on the memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary on Oct. 7, 2025, at the Basílica de Santa María de Guadalupe (Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe) in Tepeyac outside of Mexico City. 

The shrine was built at the site of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s appearance to St. Juan Diego in 1531, which led to the conversion of several millions of Aztecs. The shrine is home to the famous miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. 

The Mass of the Americas will be sung by a festival choir, featuring hundreds of singers from across the United States and led by Richard Carrillo of the University of Nebraska. Carrillo, 41, first conducted the Mass of the Americas as part of his doctoral dissertation for Miami’s prestigious Frost School of Music.

Carrillo shared about the importance of Our Lady in his life in an interview with the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner. 

Carrillo, who is of mixed Indigenous and Mexican ancestry, recalls his grandmother singing “La Guadalupana” to him when he was a young boy. 

“When I first heard the lullaby my grandmother sang to me raised into sacred music for the Mass of the Americas, I was so moved I wept,” Carrillo said. “I know Mimi continues to pray for me, with the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, from heaven.”

Carrillo credits Our Lady for his own Catholic faith. 

“It’s hard to not find her responsible for my faith and the strong faith of my family that preceded me for generations,” Carrillo said. “I have deep roots in both Mexican Indigenous and Hispanic backgrounds. It was Our Lady of Guadalupe’s original apparition that first brought my ancient ancestors to their faith — and a faith that has been passed down for nearly 500 years to this present day.” 

The festival choir will be open to people of a variety of skill levels, with the more challenging parts sung by a smaller chamber choir.  

“One of the beauties of the Mass of the Americas is that it is accessible for average singers,” Carrillo said. “If someone just loves to sing, they will be able to sing the majority of the Mass of the Americas in Mexico, and if someone is a more trained singer (has a degree in music or is a professional musician) they may be asked if they would be willing to learn two additional songs.” 

The choir itself will contribute to the ideal of unity, drawing on hundreds of voices from the Americas.

“But my hope is that we can truly put together a true cross-section of musicians from all parts of the country, from the big cathedrals and the small parish choirs to even singular cantors from smaller churches, to represent the United States in this historic celebration of the 500th anniversary of Our Lady of Guadalupe,” Carrillo said.

Anticipating the 500th anniversary of Guadalupe

In preparation for the anniversary, the Benedict XVI Institute is inviting families to enthrone an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in their homes.

The goal? One hundred thousand “home enthronements” in the next three years.

The Benedict XVI Institute’s Project Guadalupe 2031 will offer free materials for families who wish to have an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in their homes, including instructions for devotion.

The institute has commissioned a new painting by San Francisco artist Bernadette Carstensen as well as a new “Litany for Our Lady of Guadalupe and the American Saints” by the institute’s poet-in-residence James Matthew Wilson. 

“This is another part of our effort to raise awareness of the nine-year novena to enthrone that image of Our Lady of Guadalupe because that is the pivotal moment of introducing Christ into this hemisphere, and we are all a part of it,” Cordileone said.  

Cordileone shared the inspiration for this, noting that Our Lady “brought her son” to the Americas through the apparition. 

“She brought him here to us, so she’s our connection to her son,” the archbishop said. “So we enthrone her in our homes as a reminder of what she has done for us in giving birth to her son, and she continues to give birth to her son for us to lead us into that saving encounter with him.”

Pope Francis meets with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the Vatican on Oct. 9, 2021. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 13, 2024 / 16:35 pm (CNA).

Despite former speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent statement that she has appealed to the Vatican to overturn the Communion ban imposed on her because of her position on abortion, such recourse is no longer likely to be available to her, a canon law professor told CNA.

Pelosi would have needed to bring her case to Pope Francis within 30 days of San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone’s initial imposition of the ban in 2022, said Father Stefan Mückl, an ecclesiastical law professor at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.  

In an interview with the National Catholic Reporter published this week, Pelosi said she had sought intervention at the Vatican to get the ban overturned.

“My understanding, as long as Rome has the case, it hasn’t been resolved,” Pelosi told the National Catholic Reporter. “I’ve never been denied. I’ve been to Catholic churches all over the country, and I’ve never been denied.”

It is not clear when Pelosi appealed to the Vatican. The National Catholic Reporter said “she did not respond to a request to speak with her canon lawyer” and that “her spokesmen declined to comment on a personal matter.”

In a 2022 open letter addressed to the former speaker of the House of Representatives, Cordileone prohibited Pelosi from receiving holy Communion because of her public position on abortion. He cited Canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law as applying to her case.

According to Mückl, if Pelosi made an appeal under canon law to the Vatican, she would have needed to have done so within a specific time frame.

“If Mrs. Pelosi has now lodged an ‘appeal’ with the Holy See, this will hardly be a recourse in the canonical sense because such a recourse [would] clearly be out of time,” Mückl told CNA.

“At best it can be assumed that it is a ‘political appeal,’” he said. “A recourse in the technical sense would be time-barred.”

Referring to Canons 1734 and 1735 of the Code of Canon Law, Mückl explained that Pelosi would have had “10 days to seek revocation of a decree by the author [Cordileone], then 30 days for proposing recourse to the hierarchical superior [Pope Francis].”

In response to Pelosi’s comments in the National Catholic Reporter, the archbishop of San Francisco issued a statement Dec. 10 expressing his desire to speak with the politician.  

“As a pastor of souls, my overriding concern and chief responsibility is the salvation of souls. And as Ezekiel reminds us, for a pastor to fulfill his calling, he has the duty not only to teach, console, heal, and forgive but also, when necessary, to correct, admonish, and call to conversion,“ Cordileone wrote.

“I therefore earnestly repeat once again my plea to Speaker Pelosi to allow this kind of dialogue to happen,” he added.

According to Mückl, if Pelosi refuses to engage in dialogue with Cordileone, “juridically speaking she has not fulfilled her duty to cooperate.”

However, Pope Francis is “free to take the matter to himself,” Mückl told CNA. “Whether he would actually do so is difficult to predict.”

Pope Francis blessing a baby during a general audience. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 13, 2024 / 16:05 pm (CNA).

The employees who work behind the walls of the smallest country in the world will now have a day care center for their children.

According to the Vatican Governorate, this initiative represents a new stage in support for families, which responds to the needs of employees and provides them with “a safe and enriching environment for their children.”

The Vatican’s first day care center is slated to begin operating next spring and will serve up to 30 children ages 3 months to 3 years.

The aim of the new center is to help families with the growth and comprehensive education of their children. Parents will be able to leave their children with an educational team that “will help stimulate knowledge, skills, and autonomy appropriate to each stage of their development,” the statement said.

The center will be called “Sts. Francis and Clare” and will be located in a building on Via San Luca, inside the Vatican. It will be open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and activities will be held in Italian and English.

At the Vatican, more than 4,000 are employed in various functions, including religious staff, administrative employees in the dicasteries of the Roman Curia, and members of the Swiss Guard as well as workers in finance, landscaping, food service, maintenance, and health care, among other areas.

During the Christmas audience with Vatican employees last year, Pope Francis expressed his gratitude for the work of all these employees, highlighting in particular the effort they make “in the obscurity of everyday life,” carrying out tasks that, although they may seem insignificant, “contribute to offering a service to the Church and to society.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Statue of St. Lucy at the New Chapel of St. Lucy in Pampanga province, Philippines. / Credit: Judgefloro, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Vatican City, Dec 13, 2024 / 15:35 pm (CNA).

On the feast day of St. Lucy, Dec. 13, Pope Francis said that “we need women’s work and their word in a Church that reaches out that it may be leaven and light in the culture and in our lives together.”

The pontiff addressed a message to the Church in Syracuse, Italy, on the occasion of the feast of its patron saint, the Roman martyr who, according to tradition, the Lord allowed to continue seeing despite her eyes being torn out before she was killed out of hatred for the faith during the persecution unleashed by the Emperor Diocletian at the beginning of the fourth century.

As part of the Year of St. Lucy, the city of Syracuse is preparing to receive the remains of this saint, the patron saint of sight, which are currently in Venice. St. Lucy was buried in Syracuse, her hometown. However, her remains were stolen and transferred to Constantinople and, finally, after the sacking of the city in 1204, they were taken to Venice to the Church of Sts. Jeremiah and Lucy.

The relics of the saint can be venerated in Syracuse Dec. 14–26. This is the third time that her remains have been temporarily transferred. The first time was in 2004, on the occasion of the 17th centenary of her martyrdom. The second, in 2014, following an agreement with the Archdiocese of Venice that establishes this exchange every 10 years.

In his message Friday, the Holy Father celebrated this pilgrimage, “from the city that has kept her body for eight centuries to the one where her witness first shone forth, spreading light throughout the world.”

‘We need women’s work and word in the Church’

The Holy Father noted that “Lucy is a woman” and that her holiness shows the Catholic Church “how unique are the ways in which women follow the Lord.”

“From the Gospel accounts, the women disciples of Jesus are witnesses of an understanding and a love without which the message of the Resurrection could not reach us.” For this reason, Pope Francis affirmed that “we need women’s work and word in a Church that reaches out, that it may be leaven and light in the culture and in our lives together,” especially “in the heart of the Mediterranean.”

Being on the side of light exposes us to martyrdom

Pope Francis also highlighted the compassion and tenderness of St. Lucy, “virtues not only Christian but that are also political.” For the pontiff, these virtues “represent the true strength that builds the city. They give us back eyes to see, that vision that insensitivity makes us lose in a dramatic way. And how important it is to pray for our eyes to be healed!” he exclaimed.

Being on the side of light, he added, “also exposes us to martyrdom. Perhaps they will not lay hands on us, but choosing which side to be on will take away some of our tranquility.”

“There are forms of tranquillity, in fact, that resemble the peace of the cemetery. Absent, as if we were already dead; or present, but like tombs: beautiful on the outside, but empty on the inside. Instead, we choose life,” he said.

Pope Francis also explained that “choosing light” means “being clean, transparent, sincere people; communicating with others in an open, clear, respectful way; getting away from the ambiguities of life and from criminal connivances; not being afraid of difficulties.”

“Choosing this is the incandescent core of every vocation, the personal response to the call that the saints represent on our journey,” he said.

Finally, Pope Francis asked the faithful of Syracuse not to forget to “bring spiritually to their feast day “the sisters and brothers who throughout the world suffer from persecution and injustice,” including migrants, refugees, and the poor among them.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Michael P. Warsaw, chairman and CEO of EWTN Global Catholic Network, presents the 2024 Mother Angelica Award to Curtis and Michaelann Martin, co-founders of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, on Dec. 12, 2024. / EWTN

CNA Staff, Dec 13, 2024 / 13:50 pm (CNA).

EWTN Global Catholic Network presented the 2024 Mother Angelica Award to Curtis and Michaelann Martin, co-founders of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), an organization recognized as one of the most influential forces for Catholic evangelization in the United States today.

EWTN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael Warsaw presented the award to the Martins during a televised ceremony Dec. 12, the 44th anniversary of the founding of the network. (Note: EWTN is CNA’s parent company.)

The Mother Angelica Award honors people who, like the foundress of EWTN, have been witnesses to God’s providence in all they have done in service to the Church and who, by their lives and service, have advanced the cause of the new evangelization.

“Curtis and Michaelann Martin are true witnesses to God’s providence in the way they have faithfully responded to his call,” Warsaw said. “Their passion for the new evangelization, especially in reaching young people on college campuses, is a testament to the enduring power of God’s grace in their lives.” 

“Just as Mother Angelica dedicated her life to bringing souls closer to Christ, the Martins have done the same, and in doing so, they have transformed countless lives.”

Curtis Martin actually announced FOCUS’ founding in 1997 on an episode of “Mother Angelica Live.” Since its founding with just two missionaries at a single campus, FOCUS has since reshaped Catholic campus ministry on more than 200 U.S. and international college campuses.

The apostolate forms and sends young adult missionaries to run campus ministry on college campuses. More than 50,000 FOCUS alumni currently serve in parishes and communities across the world, and more than 1,000 people have entered seminary or religious life after a FOCUS encounter. 

FOCUS also organizes the annual young adult conference “SEEK,” which brought 24,000 attendees to this year’s conference in St. Louis. The next SEEK conferences will take place from Jan. 1–5, 2025, in Salt Lake City and Jan. 2–5, 2025, in Washington, D.C.

Michaelann Martin called the award “a humbling honor for both of us” but noted that “this is not about us.” 

“We are grateful to Mother Angelica for her example of faith and courage, and to EWTN for continuing her work of evangelization,” she said. “But this is not about us. It is about the countless missionaries who have given their lives to this work and the students whose lives are being transformed by the Gospel.”

Previous winners of the Mother Angelica Award include the Archbishop Emeritus of Philadelphia Charles J. Chaput, OFMCap, and former New Orleans Saints wide receiver and football coach Danny Abramowicz. 

The full award ceremony, including tributes from those whose lives have been touched by the Martins, will re-air Dec. 14 at 3 p.m. ET as well as be available for viewing on demand at www.ondemand.ewtn.com.

Father Augustus Taylor. / Credit: Diocese of Steubenville

CNA Staff, Dec 13, 2024 / 13:20 pm (CNA).

Father Gus Taylor, a U.S. priest who was key in several prominent 20th-century Black Catholic initiatives, passed away last month at 85. 

Taylor died in Los Angeles from unspecified causes on Nov. 5, the Black Catholic Messenger reported on Thursday. His funeral was scheduled for Friday afternoon at Holy Name of Jesus Church in Jefferson Park. 

Born in 1940 in Lexington, Kentucky, Taylor attended Catholic schools in Cincinnati, according to a biography at the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus. He graduated from the Athenaeum of Ohio and was ordained in Steubenville, Ohio, on Dec. 10, 1966, becoming the first Black priest ordained for that diocese. 

In 1969 he had a hand in laying the groundwork for the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana, having reportedly sketched out a vision of the program on a paper napkin at a restaurant.

That program allows Black Catholic leaders to “share Black Catholic viewpoints among ourselves and with the hierarchy, pastors, and religious women and men ministering in African American communities.” 

In 1969 Taylor founded “what was reportedly the nation’s first Office of Black Catholic Ministries, in the Diocese of Pittsburgh,” according to the Messenger. That office was also used by nearby dioceses including Steubenville and Wheeling. 

Among the parishes at which he served were St. Brigid-St. Benedict the Moor Church in Pittsburgh and St. Brigid Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. 

In his retirement, he was listed on the leadership council of the Los Angeles-based Empowerment Congress, which seeks to promote “active participation in public life, community service, and the political process to promote social justice locally and globally, while employing empathy, ethics, values, and a sense of social responsibility.”

Taylor was the eldest of seven children, including a surviving brother Father David Taylor, a priest who has served for more than 40 years in the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Pope Francis stops for a brief prayer in front of the Bethlehem Nativity in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall during its presentation and a meeting with some of the people involved in its creation on Dec. 7, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Dec 13, 2024 / 12:50 pm (CNA).

A Nativity scene made by artisans from Bethlehem was the source of controversy this week for including a Palestinian keffiyeh with the child Jesus in the manger — but according to the project’s organizer, the headscarf was a last-minute decision meant only to represent Palestinians.

The keffiyeh was visible during the presentation of the Bethlehem Nativity to Pope Francis in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Dec. 7. By Dec. 11, four days later, the headscarf, manger, and Jesus sculpture had been removed from the scene without explanation.

Amid the Israel-Hamas war, the black-and-white checkered keffiyeh has become a symbol for the Palestinian cause. But Johny Andonia, a 39-year-old artist from Bethlehem who led the project, said it is just a symbol to represent or show the “existence” of Palestinians.

Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, told CNA the Vatican follows the tradition of placing the infant Jesus in the Nativity scene on the night of Christmas Eve. It is typical for the whole scene to be first presented to the pope before the Jesus statue is then removed, leaving behind the empty manger until the official start of Christmas. 

Speaking to CNA by phone from Cyprus, where he has an art residency until May, Andonia said he did not expect the scale of the reaction to the keffiyeh, which he also signed off on, after it was approved by people at the Vatican during the Nativity’s installation on Dec. 5.

“It came about in a spontaneous way, actually, because we learned that the child baby Jesus has to be covered or even absent until the 24th of December, and [the on-the-ground coordinator] suggested to cover it with a keffiyeh,” the artist said on Dec. 13. 

“And they said no, no, not to cover him. And then he asked, can I put it then under [the child Jesus] and the people … in charge at that time accepted laying the keffiyeh under the baby Jesus, and this is how it came about.”

Andonia said he does not agree with commentary from some quarters that the keffiyeh indicates violence or the eradication of others. “It’s only about recognition,” he said. “This keffiyeh represents the people who had presented the Nativity scene.”

He added that he does not think the Vatican will put the keffiyeh back when the manger and child Jesus are returned on Christmas Eve.

The Associated Press reported that the Israeli Embassy to the Holy See had declined to comment on whether it had complained about the keffiyeh or had asked for it to be removed.

Andonia, who is a physical artist and painter, was born in Jerusalem but has lived all his life in Bethlehem. He is a teacher at Dar al-Kalima University College of Art and Culture in Bethlehem.

After being contacted in April 2023 by the Palestinian Embassy to the Holy See in Rome about the idea for a Nativity from Bethlehem to be featured at the Vatican, Andonia said he decided to reach out to local artisans to create the structure from traditional materials, which he said have deep roots in the area, especially olive wood and mother-of-pearl. 

The round, almost 10-foot-high installation, the work of over 30 artisans from Bethlehem, also incorporates stone, ceramics, glass, felt, and fabric.

Some evidence shows that the use of olive wood in Bethlehem dates back to the fourth century during the construction of the Basilica of the Nativity, Adonia said. And Franciscan monks introduced the use of mother-of-pearl in craftmaking to the area in the 17th century.

The Nativity is “a gift from the Bethlehemites,” he said.

Though not a religious person himself, the artist said being the bridge between the Vatican and the Bethlehem artisans has, nonetheless, been deeply meaningful for him. 

“Most of [the people involved] were people of faith, and having their work at the Vatican with the pope, that was something [significant] for them,” he said.

“I’ve lived my life looking at people creating Nativity scenes, and they are proud of it, so it also meant something to me to be a part of it and give that opportunity to the individuals, and to support them even financially. The project was funded by the Palestinian Authorities, so it was also kind of a [financial] help, in this current situation, for them.”

Demonstrators in support of Israel gather to denounce antisemitism and call for the release of Israeli hostages on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14, 2023. / Credit: ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Dec 13, 2024 / 12:20 pm (CNA).

Amid rising antisemitism incidents in the United States, the U.S. bishops are collaborating with a Jewish advocacy group to offer Catholics a manual of terms geared to help them recognize anti-Jewish hate. 

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) along with the American Jewish Committee (AJC) released on Wednesday “Translate Hate: The Catholic Edition,” a glossary designed to identify antisemitism in order to combat it. 

The glossary is an updated project from the original “Translate Hate,” first released in 2019, featuring additions of Catholic commentary by the USCCB.  

“Sadly, we are currently witnessing a tragic rise in antisemitic incidents both globally and here in the United States, a painful reminder that our work is not done,” Bishop Joseph Bambera of Scranton, Pennsylvania, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, said in an announcement this week.

“This project is but one example of the fruits of our collaboration that we hope will have wide-ranging impact as Catholics and Jews continue building bridges and combat antisemitism together,” the bishop said.

Antisemitism is a growing problem in the U.S. and beyond. Incidents of antisemitic harassment, vandalism, and assault skyrocketed in 2023 in the U.S., most of them following the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack in which Hamas murdered more than 1,200 men, women, and children.

The glossary offers examples of various types of antisemitism, ranging from Holocaust denial and distortion to vitriolic anti-Israel hostility. Antisemitism, the guide noted, also includes “medieval blood libel claims” as well as “present-day conspiracy theories about Jewish control of the world economy.”

“In order to combat antisemitism we must first understand it,” the glossary says. “And that means we must define it in all its forms and expressions, in ways both painfully evident and obscure.”

Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC director of interreligious affairs, called the project “groundbreaking” for Catholic-Jewish relations. 

“USCCB’s allyship and leadership in confronting antisemitism as a threat not only to the Jewish people but also to civilized society more broadly is a key part of the national whole-of-society approach we need to combat anti-Jewish hate,” Marans said in a statement.

“As Catholics and Jews, we are jointly motivated to combat antisemitism and all forms of hate by our shared belief in human beings as created ‘b’tzelem Elohim,’ in the image of God (Genesis 1:27),” Marans said. “The persecution of even one of us is the persecution of all of us.” 

The glossary follows the working definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which names it as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.” 

“Antisemitism frequently charges Jews with conspiring to harm humanity, and it is often used to blame Jews for ‘why things go wrong,’” the glossary says. “It is expressed in speech, writing, visual forms, and action, and employs sinister stereotypes and negative character traits.”

The guide also points to instances in which the Jewish people have been blamed for various disasters, from the medieval Black Death to 9/11 to COVID-19.

Bambera in announcing the guide denounced the “insidious tradition of anti-Judaism” that predominated in the Christian world before Vatican II.

“Anti-Judaism compares the faith of Israel to other religions as defective, inferior, and/or rejected by God,” the bishop said, noting that Christian anti-Judaism laid the groundwork for the rise of antisemitism.

The glossary also denounces the “deicide” charge against the Jewish people, in which Jews were labeled as “Christ-killers,” an early Christian misreading of the Gospel that blamed all Jews for Jesus’ death. 

“The Catholic Church ever keeps in mind that Jesus, his mother, Mary, and the apostles all were Jewish,” the guide notes. “The Church teaches that the Jewish people remain dear to God, whose gifts and calling are irrevocable.” 

“It is our shared responsibility to continue to combat the scourge that is antisemitism,” Bambera said this week, noting that “the scourge of antisemitism remains a troubling reality that seems to be only growing.” 

“Observing this alarming trend, the bishops of the committee remain committed to standing shoulder to shoulder with our Jewish brothers and sisters to combat this evil,” Bambera continued.

Both Bambera and Marans referenced the historic 1965 Vatican II document Nostra Aetate (“In Our Time”) that condemned antisemitism and defined the Church’s approach to the Jewish people.

“As we prepare to mark the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, it is more important than ever to renew our commitment to stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters against all forms of antisemitism,” Bambera said.