Tag: Christianity

Georgian icon of St. Gabriel   

The elders are soldiers of Christ, shedding blood in prayer for their neighbors and for the whole world. Fr. Gabriel of Samtavro is called the “Great Love of the Twentieth Century,” because this amazing elder’s labor of love was beyond the understanding of the human mind.

He would walk the streets of Tbilisi barefoot, in rags, with a metal diadem on his head, peering through the neck of a broken jug looking for those whose souls cried out for help. He would cover them with prayer, like a mantle, sharing his faith and sacrificial love. And after his departure into eternity, it all continues: Fr. Gabriel still finds those who are desperate, perishing, and most in need of help.

When I took a blessing from my spiritual father to write a book about Fr. Gabriel, he gave me these mysterious words: “Of course, write, if the saint himself blesses you!” I didn’t ask again—I just took it as the will of God and waited for an answer from Heaven. Probably six months went by after that and the book was almost ready. But how was I to know if the Elder blessed it, and in general, how could he bless me? It was beyond reality…

And one evening, when I was reading one of the stories about him again, my gaze stopped on the words: “Weep not!” My heart froze, and in my soul resounded: “This is the title of your book!” And I immediately remembered what my spiritual father had said.

“Weep not!”—this is indicated by the Elder’s loving gaze and extraordinary soul-warming smile. With these words of comfort, he appeared in a dream to a woman who was on the verge of despair. And when I found out about her life, I realized that St. Gabriel had “introduced” us for a reason. After all, there are no coincidences, especially when you’re taking part in the glorification of God’s saints.

Olga Ivanovna considers St. Gabriel her friend.

“I became deeply attached to the Elder with all my soul,” she said. “I carry his icon with me. And wherever I go, I say: ‘Batiushka, let’s go!’ His icon lies next to me on the pillow, and I entreat: ‘Fr. Gabriel, bless me, pray for me!’ He feels so much like a friend, a father, a loved one, a brother—there’s no one closer. Only the Lord knows…

“And what a joy it was when some benefactors brought to my house an icon of Fr. Gabriel for Lugansk, blessed on his relics! As though he himself walked to my house! And before it was time for it to be transferred, I didn’t know where to take it—several churches asked for it. And while I was in doubt, the saint himself chose a place for it.

“When there was just a little time left before leaving for Lugansk, I begged: ‘Batiushka Gabriel, tell me, what should I do, where should I give your icon? I don’t want to offend anyone!’ I went to bed, and I had a light dream, like I wasn’t really sleeping, just dozing a bit. I saw some unfinished church being built from cinder block—the finishing wasn’t done yet. I heard people singing the Cherubic Hymn. Someone said: ‘Go up to the second floor!’ There was a staircase going straight there with no banister. I quickly went up and I saw the singers. They were standing on the left, and on the right, there was a huge icon of the The Trinity Shines Throughout the WorldBut apart from all this, each of the Three Persons of the Godhead, we can say, has placed a kind of mark of His Personal existence on all things.

“>Most Holy Trinity hanging on the wall. There was a golden lampada burning in front of it. I saw a priest with a censer coming towards me. I moved to the right to not be in his way, and I stood by the icon of the Trinity. There was an empty spot next to it. Then suddenly I saw Fr. Gabriel next to me. I heard his voice: ‘This is where I belong!’

“I immediately woke up. These words rang out as though spoken aloud: ‘Do you believe this dream or not?’ I decided not to tell anyone about it, but all I could do was think about it. I didn’t know where this church was! An hour later, a friend from Lugansk called me.

“’Olga, I heard that you want to bring us an icon of Fr. Gabriel? Maybe you can give it to us? Our rector reveres the Elder very much!’

“At first I objected: ‘No, Galina! It’s not for me to decide. I’m waiting for the priests to choose a place for the icon!’

“And then I asked: ‘Who is your church consecrated to?’

“’It’s named for St. Nestor the Chronicler. But we’re building a second floor too—we’re going to have an upper Church, named for the Most Holy Trinity.’

“It took my breath away.

“’The Holy Trinity? And is your church made of gray cinder block?’

“’Yes.’

“’And is there a staircase going up to the second floor, with no railing?’

“’That’s right, no railing. Everything’s been built, but the finishing work isn’t done yet.’

“And if we go up the steps, the kliros is on the left?’

“’That’s right!’

“’Galina, the icon’s coming to your church!’ I said, and told her about my dream.”

And when Olga arrived in Lugansk and went to this church, she was bewildered.

“It was like I was in another dimension,” she recalls, “because this was the church I had seen in my dream, down to the smallest details! The second entrance from the side of the building, the columns, the steps, the staircase with no railing, the cinder block walls, the boarded-up window over the door, which in my dream I thought was an icon. You go inside, and to the right should be a solid wall, with no windows. And so it was, everything down to a tee! I saw a large shining icon of the Most Holy Trinity, and I remembered the Elder’s words: ‘This is where I belong!’”

The Church of the Meeting of the Lord in Biryulovo (Moscow), which was “built” by Fr. Gabriel     

Indeed, Fr. Gabriel himself chooses where he should go. He chose our Moscow Church of the Meeting of the Lord in Biryulovo as well. First, his icon, brought from The Samtavro Monastery of St. NinaAfter St. Nina’s repose, the Equal-to-the-Apostles King Mirian, having returned from Bodbe, desired to build the Samtavro church: “The king and all the people went and built the upper church out of stone and finished it in the fourth year.” The participation “of all the people,” the desire of the king, and the four years of building are a sign that the church was quite large.

“>Samtavro, was placed in the temporary wooden church, and after that we began building our new stone church.

I remember when it was being built, Fr. Gabriel suddenly appeared to our benefactor, Artemy, in a dream. That day, Artemy had read an akathist to him, and that night, in his dream, the Elder took him to the market, led him to a counter where they were selling porcelain toys, and bought two—one for himself and one for him. The Elder said: “Try some!” Artemy refused, then Elder Gabriel said: “My dear, remember: Building a church is harder than eating glass! And to gather donations is to shed blood!”

And when Vladyka Thomas served with us on the thirtieth anniversary of the ordination of our rector, Fr. Dmitry, during the festive meal, Batiushka recalled how the cross was consecrated on the site of the future church.

“It was St. Gabriel who built the church for you!” said the dean. “As soon as his icon arrived, it started right away!”

And when, three years later, the church was erected through the prayers of the Elder, our benefactors ordered a large icon of Fr. Gabriel for it. So now, by the will of God, we have two revered icons of Fr. Gabriel: one brought from Samtavro and one painted in Moscow. Perhaps this is the only church where two icons of the saint reside in such an unconventional way. Grace for grace, as they say. And the blessing hand of the Elder is felt in everything, and he continues to act foolish, although it’s hard to get used to it. And everyone who has come or been brought to our church to pray at the icons of Fr. Gabriel has received what they asked for: Peace would reign in their souls as if from the blowing of a gentle breeze, all seemingly unbreakable barriers and obstacles would disappear, families would reunite, long-awaited children would be born, and those possessed by addictions would come to their senses. But most importantly, the soul would begin to feel the presence of the Creator, reaching towards eternity. And all of this through the prayers to Christ of the Fool-for-Christ Father Gabriel.

The handmaiden of God Natalia started coming to our icons of Elder Gabriel from another church. She shared the story of her misfortune with us. One fine day, she let her guard down and got into a conversation with some scammers on the telephone, and they managed to deceive her in a major way. After talking with them, Natalia rushed off to take out a bank loan for 900,000 rubles [$9,380] and immediately gave it all to the scammers. This happened last year. I remember her voice of despair: “Now I’ll be paying this huge amount back till the end of my days!”

This is probably what would have happened if she didn’t have faith and didn’t turn to God: He shall cry unto Me, and I will hearken unto him (Ps. 90:15). Natalia also enlisted the prayerful support of Fr. Gabriel.

“She often came to his icon and read his akathist,” the candle seller recalled. “I saw it. Sometimes, when there was no one here, we would read it together.”

Then suddenly some unknown man gave Natalia 150,000 rubles [$1,560]. The church also gathered about 10 or 15,000 rubles [$104–$156]. Gradually, money was brought to her and in the end, this huge loan was fully repaid. It simply disappeared before our eyes! And of course, Fr. Gabriel’s hand was felt in this incredible story.

And not too long after that, St. Gabriel was even “canonized” as one of the saints of our district. On that memorable day, a tall man walked into the church with a springy gait and said to the person on duty:

“I’m the hockey coach from the Penguins sports school. Please, who can we pray to for victory, to help the game go well?”

“To St. Gabriel of Samtavro,” the person at the candle desk replied confidently.

The coach beamed and opened the door:

“Guys, come on in!”

And a robust team burst into the church: about twenty teenagers around thirteen years old. They filled the entire candle stand at Fr. Gabriel’s icon with the largest candles.

“So, guys, we’re Orthodox, so we cross ourselves with two fingers!” the coach commanded.

“Three!” the person at the candle desk said.

“Of course, three!” the coach said, regaining his bearings. “Guys, let’s pray to Gabriel of Biryulovo. He’ll help us!”

They crossed themselves clumsily, looked at the face of Fr. Gabriel with hope, and for some reason they had no doubts that they would win: “Gabriel of Biryulovo” wouldn’t let them down!

I remember, sometime later, I went to Liturgy, and suddenly a flock of young hockey players overtook me—in windbreakers, hats, big bags behind their backs with hockey sticks poking out. Suddenly, they slowed down and stopped at the door. Silently, as if on command, they took off their hats, crossed themselves, bowed to the church, then joyfully started chattering and jogged off to the rink. Apparently, the Elder had helped them then!

And it’s probably no coincidence that my book about God’s help through the prayers of the saint became the hallmark of our Church of the Meeting of the Lord in Biryulovo. After all, Fr. Gabriel “built” it in an incredibly short time.

And when the time came to release the book, it took me a long time to choose which of two photos of Fr. Gabriel to put on the cover. We decided to turn to Metropolitan Seraphim (Jojua) of Borjomi and Bakuriani, who had given me an interview and his blessing. Vladyka hesitated: “I like both! It would be better to ask some child!”

I didn’t have to think too long about which child to ask. Of course Lazar—he was born by the prayers of the saint, after all! A year and a half before his birth, Fr. Gabriel foretold to Natalia, his mother, in a dream: “You’ll have a son. Name him Lazar!”

And this miracle happened after Natalia humbled herself before God. He showed her his mercy, and instead of the bitterness of childlessness, she received the joy of motherhood. And it was announced by a saint whom she had never even heard of before. Soon after she offered a penitential prayer at the icon of the Savior, Natalia had a dream where she and her husband had gone to some kind of covered market. They had to buy some onions. And they saw behind the counter a dark-haired man of eastern appearance, middle-aged, with a small beard and very kind radiant eyes. Natalia started picking onions when the man said, “You’ll have a son. Name him Lazar!” She thought: “Lazar? What a strange name! I’ve always wanted to name my son Mark…” And the woman froze in thought by this counter and even forgot about the onions…

Then she and her husband went to the exit, and when Natalia opened the door of the pavilion, her heart finally accepted this man’s words: “I agree, let him be Lazar! It’s a beautiful name; I like it!” And just then she woke up…

Lazar     

“Lazar? What a nice name!” said my husband, who really liked this dream. So the couple began to wait for Lazar. And Natalia also told her priest about it: “Batiushka, I had a dream: Some man said that I would have a son and that I have to name him Lazar! And if it really does come true, can we name him that?”

“Of course you can!” Batiushka said smilingly.

“We had a good laugh,” Natalia recalls, “and we forgot about it. And when after nine months I got pregnant, I immediately remembered my dream. At first, my husband and I kept it all a secret—we didn’t even tell our parents. And when the time came, I went for an ultrasound. Thank God, everything was fine! I was thirty-six then. I told one parishioner of our church about my dream when I was in my last trimester. When she heard about the man who gave me the name Lazar, she exclaimed: ‘That was Fr. Gabriel (Urgebadze) who appeared in your dream—no doubt!’ I was surprised: ‘Who is this Gabriel (Urgebadze)? I’ve never heard of him!’ So I decided to look him up and read his life. When I saw a photo of him in his youth, I was stunned. My mouth fell open: The man from my dream was looking at me! I still get goosebumps when I think about it. That’s how Batiushka Gabriel gave me the joyous news about our son!”

The man from my dream was looking at me!     

Lazar was born on January 26, on the feast of St. Eleazar of Anzer. The name “Lazarus” is the Greek form of the Hebrew name “Eleazar” (“God helps”). That is, “Lazar” is a version of the name “Eleazar.”

It turns out that the baby was born on the day of his name, although the priest named him in honor of In the Tomb of LazarusI also note that in the story of Lazarus – even in his being raised from the dead – he rises in weakness. He remains bound by his graveclothes. Someone must “unbind” him. We ourselves, having been plunged into the waters of Baptism and robed with the righteousness of Christ, too often exchange those glorious robes for graveclothes. Christ has made us alive, be we remain bound like dead men. I sat in the tomb of Lazarus because it seemed so familiar.

“>St. Lazarus the Four-Days-Dead. And Fr. Gabriel announced the will of God for this child nine months before he was conceived. So he has two Heavenly patrons, two Lazars! Although, not two patrons and intercessors, but three, counting Fr. Gabriel as well, of course!

So when we asked Lazar which photo to use for the book cover, he immediately pointed to the one where the Elder was smiling. The same thing happened when choosing the color for the cover: Lazar preferred red and white. In this amazing way, the colors on the cover matched the colors of the Georgian flag. There was no longer any doubt—we accepted it as Fr. Gabriel’s own answer.

And the title of the book, which St. Gabriel suggested, reflects the main quality of his immortal soul. “Weep Not!”—these words contain all of Fr. Gabriel, who suffered and endured so much for the sake of Christ and others. “Weep not!” his eyes say, and warmth comes to the soul. And he who has despaired and lost all hope, finds it again.

“I’ll help you!” the Elder says comfortingly, and lovingly embraces the poor lost soul. “The most important thing is not to despair, and to weep not!”

Chicago, November 4, 2024

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The October 30-31 feast of St. John Kochurov, one of the American saints and the first martyr of the Bolshevik yoke in Russia, was especially festive this year at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Chicago that he built during his ministry in America in the 19th-20th centuries.

For the first time, relics of the hieromartyr were greeted at the cathedral and placed for veneration, reports the Diocese of the Midwest of the Orthodox Church in America.

The All-Night Vigil on Wednesday evening was celebrated by His Eminence Archbishop Daniel of Chicago, cathedral dean Fr. Alexander Koranda, and clergy from the OCA, the Antiochian Church, and the Serbian Church.

domoca.org     

The Vigil litiya was served outside, with a procession around the church that St. John built in 1903. During the Polyeleos, an icon with relics of St. John was carried to the center of the church for the singing of the Magnification.

“This was the first time St. John has physically returned to this city since leaving for Russia,” emphasized diocesan Chancellor Archpriest Herman Kincaid.

The Liturgy the next day was celebrated by Abp. Daniel, again gathering clergy from the OCA and the Antiochian Church.

During his homily, the Archbishop spoke of the importance of St. John for the cathedral community: “We know St. John because his life and testimony reach out to us through the decades since his martyrdom. We know St. John because he intercedes for us. This is certainly a special day, celebrating St. John, especially since we know him and feel his presence here spiritually here at all times. We know that he worships with us in this temple.”

The celebration concluded with a festive meal in the trapeza.

***

St. John commissioned an architect in 1899 to construct what is today Holy Trinity Cathedral. It was consecrated by St. Tikhon of Moscow in 1903 and designated a cathedral in 1922.

After his return to Russia, St. John became the first clergyman to be martyred at the outset of the Bolshevik Revolution. He was buried below St. Catherine’s Cathedral in Tsarskoe Selo, Russia. The cathedral was destroyed in the 1930s and not rebuilt until 2006, during which the relics of St. John were believed to have been discovered.

He was glorified as St. John of Chicago and Tsarskoe Selo in December 1994. During the canonization, it was promised to His Eminence Archbishop Job of Chicago that were his relics to be discovered, a portion would be gifted to America. In 2006, St. Catherine’s Cathedral was rebuilt and it was believed that the relics of St. John were discovered. After an extensive complex of anthropological studies, the identity of the relics was confirmed, and a portion were gifted to His Eminence Archbishop Daniel of Chicago during a pilgrimage to Russia this past summer.

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Ahead of the general election, OSV News spoke with Jason Adkins, executive director and general counsel of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, on the importance of local as well as presidential elections.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

OSV News: Why is it important for faithful to engage in the local, as well as the presidential, election process?

Jason Adkins: In any election like ours, we have a lot of different issues. There are ballot questions. There are state elections for state races, the state house or state senate. And some of the big questions are decided at that state level.

Yet many people don’t know who their state legislator or state senator are. And so it’s very important that people get to know their legislators, and get to know who they are, and be in relationship with them.

The first step in that process is to identify the candidates and make an informed choice about those local races, because not every fundamental question in American political life is decided by the president of the United States.

So we need to retrain ourselves to understand how lawmaking works, the importance of overlapping jurisdictions in a federal system, and recognize that those state officials especially make important decisions. Officials at the local level, cities, counties, school boards also make important decisions that affect the quality of life of the people they serve.

We need to be informed about who those people are, and make good choices and not ignore those races simply because we don’t like who’s running at the top of the ticket.

OSV News: What are some practical things people can do to stay more informed of and engaged locally — not just during elections, but throughout the whole process of governance?

Adkins: I would recommend, first of all, that if your state Catholic conference has an advocacy network, sign up for that. That breaks down the barriers to participation. It helps people know what to say, when to say, how to say it, and join their voice with the voice of their bishop on important matters of public policy concern.

I would also recommend that they sign up for the emails that their state legislators send out. Most state legislators send out emails probably on a biweekly or a monthly basis to let them know what’s going on at the state house, and what issues are on their radar and how they’re responding to those issues.

And certainly that’s the case for local officials too. City council persons will also have similar systems, as will county commissioners. The easiest way to stay informed is to sign up for their information.

Most elected officials have social media pages. That’s a great way to stay informed about what your elected officials are doing and saying. People are surprised that you can actually get in touch with your elected officials. And more often than not, they want to meet with you and hear what their constituents are thinking about things.

Voting is just one day of the year. The meat of faithful citizenship really happens on the other 364 days of the year. We don’t simply wash our hands of the process after we cast a ballot.

OSV News: What are some practical ways to counter the cynicism and even despair some people, including Catholics, may feel even at the local level over the electoral and governance processes?

Adkins: We were planted in a particular corner of the vineyard, and most of us have real agency in the place that we’re planted. We know the issues, we know the problems and we should know the people who are making those decisions.

I think we have to retrain ourselves to think that the primary locus of our political agency is not in Congress. It’s not at the presidential level or the international level. It’s in our corner of the vineyard where we’ve been planted.

Alexis de Tocqueville (a 19th-century political scientist and author of “Democracy in America”) viewed local politics as a school of democracy. That’s often where our higher officials start … working on a school board, a city council or as a county commissioner.

And when you practice the politics of encounter, you understand that most people get involved because they’ve been willing to make that sacrifice, to take that step forward and serve their communities.

I think that’s the big antidote — going to those places where we don’t often get coverage in the news media, but where we’re really working together to solve important quality of life questions. I’d love to see Catholics be more engaged at the local levels. We can rebuild this community, this nation, from the ground up.

If we start local, if you build strong communities, it doesn’t matter as much what happens at the national level. That does matter, but if we had 50 million Catholics in this country working to build strong communities, using the parish as kind of a base camp and being involved at every level of politics, we could renew this nation from the ground up. So I think we really need to retrain our focus.

Obviously what happens at the presidential level — because of significant moral questions and the appointment of judges — has really attracted our attention. But if we want to make a difference, then we need to be in conversation and in relationship with our state officials, because that’s where the big questions like abortion and assisted suicide, parental choice and education are being decided. Building our communities from the ground up is going to require that we engage the local politics more intentionally.

OSV News: And that’s the Catholic principle of subsidiarity (which states that larger institutions should not overwhelm or interfere with smaller institutions, while still providing proportional assistance as needed) when you think of it, correct?

Adkins: Exactly. Subsidiarity and solidarity, the dignity of the human person, the common good — all these work together.

City council (may discuss) a lot of (simple) zoning variances, but also taxation issues, housing issues and questions like that. How do we build communities that make housing more affordable?

Everyone’s concerned about what’s going on in the schools. Well, who’s signing up to engage those school board electoral races? Who’s working to ensure our schools are places that are focused on skills and principles and not indoctrination?

A lot of those issues are decided at the county and city level.

The amount of time that we spent … on social media could be better spent sitting in on a school board meeting, or a city council meeting, or writing a letter to the editor. There’s a million things you can do.

Along with a Holy Hour, why not a “citizenship hour” every week, where we focus on a way where we can actually identify those ways that we can make a difference?

And then, be patient and persevere. Understand that we’re not going to turn the ship around in one day. It takes a lot of people working brick by brick.

Vancouver, BC, Canada, November 4, 2024

archdiocese.ca     

The Orthodox Church in America’s Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, celebrated its 100th anniversary last month.

The occasion was celebrated on October 19-20 with the All-Night Vigil, Divine Liturgy, and a festive banquet.

Both the All-Night Vigil and Divine Liturgy were presided over by His Eminence Archbishop Irénée of Ottawa and Canada.

Watch the All-Night Vigil:

Watch the Divine Liturgy:

The original Holy Resurrection Church in Vancouver, BC, was started on November 25, 1928 and consecrated on August 3, 1929, by His Eminence Metropolitan Platon. That church had to be demolished in order to build a new bridge, and the Russian Orthodox Society of Vancouver started work on a new church.

The blessing of the cornerstone in 1928. Photo: holyres.org     

Their Graces Bishops Nikon of Toronto and John of San Francisco laid the cornerstone in December 1953. The church building and hall were finished by spring 1954, with Fr. Peter Kurzemnek performing an initial blessing ceremony that May. The main consecration took place in July 1954, led by His Eminence Metropolitan Leonty along with Bp. Nikon, Fr. Kurzemnek, Fr. Paul Jeromsky from Seattle, and several other clergy from western Canada and the United States.

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When a reporter asked Archbishop-elect Jeffrey Grob of Milwaukee what he wants people to know about him, he first joked that they don’t have that much time, before letting everyone know that he is similar to a lot of Wisconsinites in how he was raised.

“I grew up twice a day milking cows, Brown Swiss. I’m not afraid to stand alongside anyone and roll up my sleeves and work,” Grob said. “That’s how I was formed, and so to stand with people unless I don’t know a particular field of study – I’m not foolish enough to go blind into a situation – but I firmly believe that we’re all in this together as citizens of the world.”

On Nov. 4, it was announced that Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Archbishop Jerome Listecki of Milwaukee, 75, and appointed Grob, a Wisconsin native who is currently an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Chicago, as his successor.

Grob, 63, is a native of Cross Plains, Wisconsin. He attended Holy Name High School Seminary in Madison and the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1992. He completed graduate studies at the University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein Seminary in 1999. He received a Doctorate of Canon Law degree from St. Paul University and a Doctorate of Philosophy degree from the University of Ottawa in 2007.

As with the appointment of Archbishop Richard Henning of Boston to succeed Cardinal Seán O’Malley the parallels between Grob and Listecki are hard to miss. Both were ordained priests, and were ordained bishops as auxiliary bishops in the Archdiocese of Chicago where they were both the episcopal vicar of Vicariate I. Both also, in addition to other degrees, hold a doctoral degree in canon law.

Grob and Listecki have also previously met. Listecki was Grob’s moral theology professor at the University of St. Mary of the Lake, Mundelein Seminary in the ‘90s.

Of Grob’s appointment, Listecki, who has led the Archdiocese of Milwaukee since 2010, said that “Pope Francis has blessed the entire southeastern Wisconsin community with his selection of Bishop Grob, whom I have known for years. He is a man dedicated to Christ and His Church.”

Grob’s installation to the archdiocese, which has about 530,000 Catholics, will take place on Jan. 14.

In an introductory news conference on Nov. 4, Grob said he is “deeply grateful” for the appointment and is “thrilled” to return to his native Wisconsin. He spoke often about his intent to listen and walk together with the clergy, consecrated, religious, and lay men and women in the archdiocese.

He also noted that the Synod of Synodality just ended, and that he will be installed in the Jubilee Year.

“That’s where I see myself coming in and trying to not necessarily bridge those but to journey forward with them in those moments of having listened, continuing to listen, but then with what we’ve learned how do we move that forward and truly be people of hope, be light in the world … to be catalysts for change,” Grob said. “We have that ability and have that power … and that has to drive us.”

Crux spoke with multiple Archdiocese of Chicago priests within Grob’s vicariate who had high praise for their former boss. Father Wayne Watts, the pastor of Saints Joseph and Francis Xavier Parish, called him a “great churchman,” and a “wonderful, faithful, humble man who will serve Milwaukee very well.”

“He’s an excellent leader. He’s a listener. He gives guidance humbly, and sometimes only when asked. He only gets involved when he has to,” Watts said. “That principle of subsidiarity I think he really appreciates, and he really raises people up and acknowledges the good work they’re doing.”

Father Jerry Boland, the pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, said that Grob was always a very “collegial and collaborative” in leading the vicariate.

“He’s worked very hard to build bridges in the vicariate,” Boland said. “He has some of the wealthiest communities in Chicago and some of the poorest and I think you would find that he’s been very effective in both elements.”

With Grob’s appointment, three of the five dioceses in Wisconsin are led by Wisconsin natives. Bishop Donald Hying of Madison is from West Allis, and Bishop James Powers of Superior is from Baldwin.

Listecki submitted his resignation to the Vatican on his 75th birthday back on March 12, as is required by Church law. Milwaukee was the third U.S. archdiocese to get a new archbishop this year – the Archdiocese of Boston and the Archdiocese of Hartford are the others –  and with the ages of other archbishops nationwide, it’s plausible other archdioceses could see changes sooner than later.

Of the nation’s 34 Latin Catholic archdioceses, 13 have an archbishop older than 74: The Archdioceses of New York, Washington, Mobile, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Detroit, Chicago, Kansas City in Kansas, Omaha, Galveston-Houston, Denver, Las Vegas, and Miami.

One of those is Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, a close ally of Pope Francis, who has seen Grob operate as an auxiliary bishop in the archdiocese for the last four years. When the news was publicized, Cupich congratulated Grob on his appointment to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.

“For more than 30 years, the Archdiocese of Chicago and the People of God have been the beneficiaries of Archbishop Jeffrey Grob’s compassion, scholarship, and commitment to service,” Cupich said in a statement. “Pope Francis has recognized Archbishop Grob’s extraordinary gifts and is returning him to his native state of Wisconsin as leader of the Milwaukee archdiocese.”

“Our deep gratitude and prayers go with him as he continues to follow Jesus and bring grace to the fortunate people of his archdiocese,” he said.

Zurich, November 4, 2024

orthodox-europe.org     

The wonderworking Hawaiian Iveron Icon of the Mother of God began its first-ever visit to Western Europe began on Friday, November 1, with a festive procession involving hierarchs, clergy, and Orthodox faithful.

His Grace Bishop Irenei of London and Western Europe of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russian warmly greeted the icon and its guardian Fr. Nectary Yangson, and a moleben was served at the Holy Resurrection Church of the Korsun Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, reports the ROCOR Diocese of Great Britain.

orthodox-europe.org     

Following the service, the myrrh-streaming icon was carried in procession throughout the city to the Church Abroad’s Holy Protection Church, where an akathist was read. Hundreds of pilgrims were present from Romania, Germany, Serbia, Ireland, Ukraine, and all across Europe. The faithful were anointed with the myrrh that streamed from the icon during the services in Zurich.

The icon will travel throughout Western Europe until November 20. See the full schedule here.

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All it took was one day, one act of abuse by a priest to send Deborah McAlpine’s life spiraling.

She was in high school when she was molested by a visiting priest after a Saturday night charismatic Mass at a parish in Norwalk in the early 1970s.

The abuse haunted McAlpine for years. She quickly lost interest in school. She ran away from home, only returning when her mother gave assurances she wouldn’t be forced to attend church. She sought relief from the pain in drugs and alcohol. She went more than 20 years without going to Mass.

“It pretty much destroyed my life for a long time,” McAlpine told Angelus.

When someone suggested looking for ways to come to terms with the abuse, she reached out to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for help identifying the priest.

Even after a thorough investigation into her story, McAlpine was never able to discover the priest’s identity. (It is likely, she found, that he was a foreign priest who soon returned to his home country.) What she did find, though, were people who listened to her, believed her, and wanted to help her heal — despite the fuzzy memories after years spent trying to bury her secret.

To her surprise, she found those people in the very same institution that had betrayed her trust all those years ago: the Catholic Church.

Stories of the suffering endured by survivor-victims like McAlpine are back in the news following recent news of compensation settlements for abuse survivors, particularly the $880 million agreement to settle historical claims of abuse announced by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles last month.

Certainly, not all who have been abused by priests and other representatives of the Catholic Church have found the same path to healing as McAlpine. But the fact that she did is a telling indicator of how much the Church — particularly in places like Los Angeles — has changed.

“It’s not my shame anymore,” said McAlpine. “I’m glad I didn’t let this priest keep me away from my faith.”

Stories like McAlpine’s are the fruit of years of long, patient work on the part of the archdiocese’s Victims Assistance Ministry. Heather Banis, the office’s coordinator, is often the first voice that survivor-victims of abuse hear when they reach out to the archdiocese to report a claim or look for information. She describes her role as one of providing “radical accompaniment.”

For McAlpine, that meant spending hours with Banis poring over historical records, including decades-old photo directories of priests, to try to identify her abuser. There were regular check-in calls from Banis, and a personal “apology visit” with Archbishop José H. Gomez. Later, a compensation package from the archdiocese included regular therapy visits.

“It’s about feeling the Church’s presence, about our willingness to do all we can to assist,” said Banis. “I think that matters as much, in some cases even more than the actual outcome. Because we do believe Debbie, we believe what she said happened.” 

Words like those from a representative of the Catholic Church would have been unthinkable a few decades ago, victims say.

Mary G. was 12 years old when she was abused by a priest chaplain assigned to the pediatric department of an LA-area hospital where she was staying. The suffering was made worse, Mary says, by the fact that even family members — including her own mother — were aware of the abuse but made excuses for it.

“It was as if I didn’t matter at all. Many people knew I was being molested by this priest, but I was just supposed to accept it,” said Mary. “He was a priest, he was going to heaven.”

After her mother died, she wrote letters to the priest whose name she couldn’t remember.

“I wanted to know the name of the priest because I thought maybe I could find him, maybe I could ask him: Why did you do it? What were you thinking?”

One day, her adult son suggested she contact the archdiocese. “He said, ‘Mom, all you have to do is explain things to them and they can get you his name.’ ”

After reaching out, officials investigated Mary’s story and found it added up. They were able to identify the priest, who had since died. But that was only the start of a delicate, sometimes painful process.

“We helped [Mary] with that really important piece of putting a name to this person, and not only listening but corroborating what she was reporting,” said Banis. “All those things that feel impossible and unreal and in the dark, it brings it all into the light. And then you can look at it differently, and say: ‘OK, now that we know this, what do you need? Counseling? Let’s get that going. Spiritual direction? Let’s get that going. And if you’re seeking a pastoral settlement, let’s get that going.”

The process brought Mary peace, healing, and even the willingness to forgive.

“I pray for this priest, I pray for him every night,” said Mary. “I pray for him because I want to be forgiven of anything I’ve done. I haven’t molested children, but heck, I hope to gosh I’ll make it to heaven. There has to be hope out there.”

Mary is frank about the consequences of the abuse, how it affected her sense of self-worth and her ability to make decisions.

“I have become a better person later in life since this happened,” said Mary. “But it’s still what happened and I’m able to face it and speak of it without shame, without somebody saying. ‘Don’t talk about that, don’t mention it!’ ”

During the healing process, Mary said a key step was understanding that the abuse was the priest’s fault, not hers.

“Now, is it the Church’s fault for covering up and letting him go on, putting him in the way of children? Yes, that’s true,” said Mary. “That is wrong. But the Church is growing, and the Church is not that way anymore.”

Likewise, McAlpine said she has a “good feeling” about the Church’s direction on abuse prevention and accountability, especially under Pope Francis. Last April, she attended a Mass marking Abuse Prevention Month at the St. Camillus Center for Spiritual Care near East LA, home of one of several “healing gardens” in the LA Archdiocese designed with the help of survivor-victim Joe Montanez as a place of prayer and meditation for survivor-victims of abuse. She admits the idea made her angry at first.

“They’re spending all this money on the healing garden to make their church look nice and pretty. But what about the people?” McAlpine remembered thinking.

But during her first visit, McAlpine found herself reading the plaques in the garden and praying a rosary on one of the benches. Her opinion changed.

“It felt very personal. I felt like this is my place, this is for me.”

McAlpine believes the gardens can be a “first step” for victims who may not feel ready to “come back” to church after what they’ve suffered.

“At least they have a place that they can go to,” she said. “If they allow themselves to forgive, because forgiving is for us, not just for the person who did it.”

Meanwhile, Banis’ office reports a slight but limited uptick in calls since the Oct. 16 settlement announcement — nothing like the days of the clerical abuse crisis’ first wave two decades ago. Banis attributes the rather muted reaction to a “change of culture” in Los Angeles.  

“I think it’s because people in the pews have a deeper understanding of the impact of clergy sexual abuse,” said Banis.  “They’ve seen how the Church continues to take accountability.”

“The numbers [of the settlement agreement] are staggering, and they may not like it,” continued Banis. “But I attribute it to our Church understanding much better what needs to happen than we did 20 years ago.”

Kiev, November 4, 2024

St. Philaret (left), St. John (right). Photo: UOC Information Center     

On October 23, the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church canonized two 20th-century saints: Archimandrite Philaret (Kochubei), abbot of Zverinetsky Skete in Kiev, and Blessed John the Wanderer, a Fool-for-Christ.

St. Philaret’s feast day is set as December 14, and St. John’s as November 25, reports the UOC’s Information Center.

***

St. Philaret was the last abbot of Kiev’s Zverinetsky Skete before its closure in 1934. On January 15, 1931, he was arrested by the Kiev State Political Directorate and sent to Lukyanivska Prison on charges of anti-Soviet agitation.

On September 14 of the same year, he was sentenced to 5 years of exile in Kazakhstan. On December 14, the sentence was reduced to 3 years in a labor camp.

He ended his earthly journey in a mass grave near Arkhangelsk. His exact date of death is unknown.

The saint’s feast day is December 14 (the day of his Heavenly patron, the day of his monastic tonsure, and the day when the final verdict was issued that determined the last, confessional milestone in the saint’s life).

***

St. John lived in the 19th-20th centuries. Nothing is known about his childhood and youth. As an adult, he went to the village of Ploske in the Kirovograd Province, presumably from the Cherkasy Province.

Choosing, by God’s will, the ascetic feat of being a Fool-for-Christ, the saint wandered from village to village, had no roof over his head, and taught people to preserve the Orthodox faith. For this, he received the nickname “Wanderer.”

Blessed John dressed poorly and walked barefoot. Only in severe frost would he wrap rags around his feet. For his gift of clairvoyance, he was also called “Seer.”

St. John ended his earthly journey as a martyr, being killed by Germans near the village of Ploske on November 25, 1943. The villagers buried the saint’s body in the local cemetery.

In May 2021, St. John’s relics were found and transferred to the Oleksandria Diocese’s Holy Theophany Convent in the village of Dikivka. Miracles of healing began to occur through his relics.

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I returned just a few days ago from the second session of the Synod on Synodality in Rome, and I will confess to feeling a tad exhausted. As I’ve mentioned before, the synod is a full four weeks long, and the workdays are intense. So, though it was, to be sure, a rich experience, I’m glad that it’s over, and I’m glad to be home. I would like to share with you some general impressions and assessments of the experience and also look at a few particular issues that were discussed in the synod’s final document.

The second session of the synod was an improvement over the first in the measure that it returned with greater focus on the topic meant to be under consideration—namely, synodality itself. The first session last October had a sort of omnium gatherum quality about it, as topics ranging from outreach to the LGBT to women’s ordination, married priests, and ecclesiastical reform were brought forward. By placing these issues aside, the pope allowed us to concentrate on the matter at hand. Many times over the past couple of years, people have asked me what “synodality” means. The discussions we had around the tables and at the plenary sessions this year helped me to clarify my own thinking on the matter. Far too often, even the advocates of synodality resort to vague generalities and clichés—“walking together,” “going to the margins,” “listening,” etc.—as they try to explain the term. When we really get down to it, we mean by “synodality,” first, the conscious and institutionally instantiated attempt to allow more of the people of God, especially those whose voices have not typically been heard, to participate in the decision-making and decision-taking process. Second, we mean the establishment of protocols for accountability and transparency in regard to the governance of the Church.

As such, synodality represents a practical instantiation of the communio ecclesiology that arose from the documents of Vatican II and the teaching of the postconciliar popes. For it is a summons for all of the baptized to take real responsibility for the life of the Church. The vast majority of the discussions and interventions at the synod had to do with fleshing out this idea. Accordingly, we spoke of parish councils, diocesan pastoral councils, finance councils, review boards, greater involvement of women in seminary formation, renewed commitment to ecumenical consultation, the holding of local synods, establishing protocols of accountability, etc. All of this, it seems to me, is healthy, and I’m glad the synod encouraged it. A point that I made frequently is that most if not all of these are already at play in the American church. So, in some ways, the synod discussions were geared toward making what we take largely for granted here more widely available around the world.

Another feature of the synod was the exposure to the bracing complexity of the Catholic Church. There were roughly four hundred people participating in the conversations, and they were from all six inhabited continents. If you were paying the least attention, it was practically impossible to remain parochial. The African style is not the Asian style; Latin Americans face very different problems than North Americans; southern Europe is decidedly not northern Europe; a Ukrainian and a person from East Timor experience the liturgy in very different ways; etc. My friend John Allen, the experienced Vaticanista, observed over dinner one night that you can tell at a glance the difference between a bishop who has attended a synod and one who has not: the former is just more attuned to the international Church than the latter. I will be for the rest of my life grateful for the opportunity to have had this vivid experience of the Church’s universality.

Without gainsaying any of the above, I would like to share some general points of concern that I had during both sessions of the synod. First, by focusing so enthusiastically on the issue of drawing laypeople into the internal governance of the Church, the synod tended to overlook the role played by 99 percent of the laity—namely, the sanctification of the world. The council fathers of Vatican II taught that the proper sphere of activity for the laity is the saeculum or the secular order—which is to say, the arenas of finance, business, entertainment, journalism, family, education, etc. Formed by the Gospel, they are to move into these areas with a Christifying intentionality, using their particular expertise to bring them into greater conformity with the kingdom of God. It is indeed good that both laymen and laywomen are included in the governing structures of the Church, but we should be, above all, concerned with forming the overwhelming majority of the laity who will do their sacred work in the saeculum—which, come to think of it, would not be a bad topic for a future synod. In accord with Pope Francis’ oft-stated priority, we should find ever-new ways to be a Church that “goes out from itself.” I had the strong impression that the preoccupation of the synod was, on the contrary, ad intra, directed toward the inner life of the Church.

A related concern had to do with the perpetuation and intensification of synodality itself. Many times over the past two years, synod members proposed that structures of synodality should be established at all levels of the Church’s life and that ever-wider consultation should be encouraged. I don’t know. At one point in the table discussions, I said, “I want to channel my inner Ratzinger,” and I shared the following story. When Joseph Ratzinger broke with the editorial board of the journal Concilium in the late sixties, he gave a number of reasons for the rupture. One of them was that the stated purpose of Concilium was to perpetuate the spirit of Vatican II, and Ratzinger felt this was misguided. Mind you, this was not because he had anything against Vatican II—after all, he was a major contributor to the conciliar documents—but rather because he felt the Church should turn from councils and synods with a sense of relief. At times, the Church must throw itself into suspense and resolve some matters of importance, but having done so, it gets back to its essential work of evangelizing, worshiping God, and serving the poor. To stay permanently in the attitude of a council—questioning, discussing, evaluating, assessing, arguing, etc.—is to fall into a sort of ecclesiastical paralysis. So, even as we acknowledge the legitimacy of certain synodal practices and structures, might we share a healthy Ratzingerian suspicion of a bureaucracy that might become overgrown and sclerotic?

Finally, I would like to address two very particular questions that were debated during the synod and that appear, somewhat ambiguously, in the final document. The first is women’s ordination to the diaconate. The proposal to allow women access to the diaconate was indeed raised in the first session of the synod but subsequently the pope consigned it to a study group and took it off the agenda for round two. Last summer, during a televised interview, Pope Francis clearly stated that women would not be admitted to the ranks of the ordained, leaving open the possibility that they might aspire to a ministry of service like in some ways to the diaconate. This determination was reaffirmed by Cardinal Fernández, the prefect for the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, at the outset of the second round of the synod. But then a number of synod delegates expressed their dissatisfaction with the cardinal’s presentation and privately urged him to allow the matter to be more fully discussed. Accordingly, in the final document, it is stated that women’s access to diaconal ordination remains “an open question.” Now, a number of us were very unhappy with this formulation, for if interpreted straightforwardly, it puts Pope Francis at loggerheads with Pope John Paul II, who as clearly as possible stated that the Church has no power to admit women to Holy Orders. Given what Pope Francis has often stated, I do not think he would ever actually go in that direction, for such a move would prompt an ecclesiological crisis. But the language gives the impression that he could, and that’s problematic. I believe that the correct interpretation of the controversial line is simply that various forms of non-ordained ministries of service, analogous to the diaconate, are still under discussion.

The second pointed issue is that of the doctrinal authority of bishops’ conferences. There were a number of advocates of the German Synodaler Weg (Synodal Way) at the synod, and to their credit, they made no attempt to conceal their intentions. One proposal was to give to local bishops’ conferences the authority, at least to some degree, to make doctrinal determinations. When this suggestion appeared in the Instrumentum Laboris for the second session, a large number of us balked, for we were fearful that chaos would follow from such a change. Would, for instance, gay marriage be permissible in Germany but a mortal sin in neighboring Poland, celebrated in Canada but regarded as outrageous in Nigeria? The final document speaks of the capacity of bishops’ conferences to articulate the one faith in a properly inculturated manner. Does this mean that they may pastorally apply the unchanging teaching of the Church, or that they can adapt that teaching to different cultural scenarios? If the latter, what would become of the Church’s unity in doctrine and practice? The very ambiguity of the formulation is what caused a number of us to be uneasy with it.

When the synodal process commenced some three years ago, some were concerned that essential moral teachings of the Church would change. None of those fears was realized. The synod, under the guidance of the Holy Father, came to certain practical determinations in regard to the way decisions are made and accountability is guaranteed—and as I said, this is all to the good. It changed nothing with respect to doctrine or morals. The reason for the synod’s stability and success is the Holy Spirit. Something that struck me during both sessions was the prominence of prayer. We prayed at the beginning of each day; we paused for four minutes of prayer every half hour or so during our discussions; we commenced each module of the synod with a solemn Mass at the altar of the chair; we had a particularly beautiful ecumenical prayer session one evening on the site of Peter’s crucifixion; and we closed with a magnificent Mass under the newly restored baldacchino in St. Peter’s Basilica. None of this was merely decorative; all of it belonged to the essence of the synodal experience. The Spirit guided us where he wanted us to go, and he prevented us from wandering from the right path.

Thessaloniki, November 5, 2024

    

Hundreds of Orthodox faithful of all ages gathered at the historic Church of St. Demetrios in Thessaloniki on Sunday, November 3, for the service of the consecration of the myrrh that streams from the relics of the city’s patron.

The service, led by Metropolitan Philotheos of Thessaloniki, concluded the liturgical and festive events in honor of the Great Martyr St. Demetrios, whose feast was celebrated on October 26, reports Romfea.

“And the Great Martyr Demetrios, receiving the supplications of those who run to him and those who invoke his sleepless intercessions, gives his own blessing with the centuries-old offering of myrrh. Emotion and awe prevailed when His Eminence unlocked the Great Martyr’s reliquary, and the myrrh miraculously gave off its fragrance in the pilgrimage church that was packed with people,” writes the Greek outlet.

“We become myrrh-collectors when our way of life aligns with the saint’s way of life, when we struggle to implement God’s will in our lives,” the Metropolitan said.

“This myrrh is offered so that through it we ourselves might change, that we might gush forth with the grace of the All-Holy and Life-giving Spirit,” he added.

At the end, the concelebrating priests distributed the myrrh to all participants of the consecration service.

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