Tag: Christianity

The Department of Health and Human Services announced new regulations April 26 that restore Obama-era protections for patients who identify as transgender that the Trump administration rolled back in 2020. The new rule follows another controversial rule adding gender identity to Title IX protections.

The HHS regulations, scheduled to be published May 6, seek to expand civil rights protections for patients by prohibiting health care providers and insurers that receive federal funding from discriminating against patients who seek treatment related to their gender identity or sexual orientation.

Spokespersons for HHS argued the expansion would protect LGBTQ+ patients while also respecting federal protections for religious freedom and conscience.

“Today’s rule is a giant step forward for this country toward a more equitable and inclusive health care system, and means that Americans across the country now have a clear way to act on their rights against discrimination when they go to the doctor, talk with their health plan, or engage with health programs run by HHS,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “I am very proud that our Office for Civil Rights is standing up against discrimination, no matter who you are, who you love, your faith or where you live. Once again, we are reminding Americans we have your back.”

But Julie Marie Blake, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, said in a statement the regulation “is a vast overreach that turns medicine upside-down.”

“Congress never voted to redefine sex in the Affordable Care Act to add gender identity. The rule harms families and children by promoting dangerous, life-altering ‘gender-transition’ procedures that remove healthy body parts or block puberty,” Blake said. “The Biden administration’s egregious rule would alter the United States’ medical system for the worst.”

Doug Wilson, CEO of Catholic Benefits Association, said in a statement, “In the past 10 days, the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) and HHS have issued three new mandates demonstrating their determination to rule by regulatory fiat.”

“This government overreach hijacks the legislative process and enforces an ideologically driven agenda,” Wilson said, adding his group is “immersed in in-depth evaluation of each of these onerous mandates and will present our legal analysis and strategy in the days ahead.”

In an April 30 statement, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, chairman of the Committee for Religious Liberty for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said, “The human right to health care flows from the sanctity of human life and the dignity that belongs to all human persons, who are made in the image of God.”

“The same core beliefs about human dignity and the wisdom of God’s design that motivate Catholics to care for the sick also shape our convictions about care for preborn children and the immutable nature of the human person,” he said. “These commitments are inseparable.”

Bishop Rhoades added that although the USCCB appreciates “that the final rule does not attempt to impose a mandate with regard to abortion,” the regulations, “however, advance an ideological view of sex that, as the Holy See has noted, denies the most beautiful and most powerful difference that exists between living beings: sexual difference.”

“I pray that health care workers will embrace the truth about the human person, a truth reflected in Catholic teaching, and that HHS will not substitute its judgment for their own,” he said.

Earlier in April, the Department of Education also released its finalized regulations under Title IX, the 1972 federal civil rights law requiring women and girls have equal access and treatment in education and athletics. Department spokespersons argued the new regulations, which take effect Aug. 1, broaden the rules governing educational institutions that receive federal funding to ensure that no person experiences sex discrimination — based on sex stereotypes, sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics — including sex-based harassment or sexual violence at such institutions.

“For more than 50 years, Title IX has promised an equal opportunity to learn and thrive in our nation’s schools free from sex discrimination,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. “These final regulations build on the legacy of Title IX by clarifying that all our nation’s students can access schools that are safe, welcoming, and respect their rights.”

Some attorneys general, including Mississippi’s Lynn Fitch, filed suit to challenge the new regulation. They said in an April 29 press release that broadening the scope of the law could dilute its intended purpose of protecting women’s athletics.

“Title IX has been a game-changer for generations of women,” Fitch said in a statement. “For more than fifty years, it has given girls an opportunity to compete on a level playing field and offered them a fair chance to excel. The Biden Administration’s pursuit of an extremist political agenda here will destroy these important gains. What’s more, under this new rule, safe and private spaces for women to engage in healing, fellowship, and support will be torn away from them. The Administration’s legal theories are novel, at best, and they cut legal corners to push them through, and we intend to defeat this rule in the courts.”

Franciscan Father Dave Pivonka, president of Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, wrote about the new regulation in a letter to students, faculty and staff, making clear the school believes “in the inherent dignity of every human person.”

“And as a passionately Catholic institution, we believe in and follow the teachings of the Catholic Church that consider ‘sex’ to refer to the objective reality of a human person as a man (male) or as a woman (female), grounded in and determined by a person’s biology,” Father Pivonka stated.

The university president stressed what he called the need to “differentiate between behaviors that may be judged by our current cultural norms to be discriminatory or harassing (e.g., explaining Catholic teaching on sexuality) and behaviors that, in fact, violate the dignity of a person (e.g., any act of harassment or violence).”

“Violations of the dignity of a person will not be tolerated on this campus,” he wrote. “Presenting authentic Catholic teachings, which convey truth, beauty, liberty, and healing, uplift the human person in every respect. Teaching what the Church teaches is an act of charity and our duty as a Catholic university.”

Father Pivonka added that “the Title IX statute itself and the Title IX regulations state that Title IX does not apply to a religious educational institution to the extent Title IX’s requirements are inconsistent with the religious tenets of the organization.”

“Therefore, whatever effect the new Title IX regulations might have on public institutions or secular institutions, the University will not apply the regulations in any way that is inconsistent with the Catholic Church’s teaching on ‘sex’ as defined in ‘Male and Female He Created Them: Franciscan University of Steubenville Compendium on Human Sexuality,’” he said, meaning the university will continue to operate single-sex “housing, restrooms, locker rooms, and competitive sport teams.”

In guidance on health care policy and practices issued in 2023, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Doctrine opposed interventions that “involve the use of surgical or chemical techniques that aim to exchange the sex characteristics of a patient’s body for those of the opposite sex or for simulations thereof.”

“Any technological intervention that does not accord with the fundamental order of the human person as a unity of body and soul, including the sexual difference inscribed in the body, ultimately does not help but, rather, harms the human person,” the document states.

A new video featuring Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of May was produced with the help of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Every month, the Rome-based Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network releases “The Pope Video” to broadcast the Holy Father’s monthly prayer intentions. May 2024’s prayer intention focuses on the formation of men and women religious, and seminarians.

“We pray that religious women and men, and seminarians, grow in their own vocations through their human, pastoral, spiritual and community formation, leading them to be credible witnesses to the Gospel,” May’s prayer intention reads.

In the video, Pope Francis speaks about the importance of this formation for religious vocations that never really ends but is an ongoing journey, strengthened by prayer, community and service.

“Every vocation is a ‘diamond in the rough’ that needs to be polished, worked, shaped on every side,” Pope Francis said.

“A good priest, sister or nun, must above all else be a man, a woman who is formed, shaped by the Lord’s grace.”

The pope also emphasized the importance of living in a community as part of formation. Although doing so can sometimes be difficult, the pope says, it helps people grow in faith, relate to others, and view new and different perspectives.

“Living together is not the same as living in community.”

The video produced by the Archdiocese of LA and with supporting footage from Grotto Network features Los Angeles-area priests, religious sisters and seminarians participating in ministry and community life. Some of the local elements include:

• Father Michael Masteller, now associate pastor at St. Helen Church in South Gate, during his time as a seminarian at St. John’s Seminary
• Father Luis Gerardo Peña, associate pastor at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Northridge, ordained a priest in June 2023.
• The Priests vs. Seminarians basketball game played at Cathedral High School in October 2023
• Last year’s Eucharistic procession through downtown Los Angeles near Skid Row organized by the archdiocese’s Vocations Office, Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ, and Friars Poor of Jesus Christ.

The video comes weeks before the archdiocese’s annual presbyteral and diaconate ordinations. The 11 men set to be ordained priests June 1 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels is the biggest class since 2008.

“We are grateful to support Pope Francis in inviting people all over the world to pray for seminarians and women religious as they seek to discern God’s beautiful plan for their lives,” said Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez, who met with Pope Francis at the Vatican on April 29.

“Our digital team set out to personify the joy radiating from young men and women who dedicate their lives in service of God and His people,” said Sarah Yaklic, Chief Digital Officer for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. “We hope the joy of the Gospel seen in this month’s Pope Video will strengthen those in formation and encourage other young people to consider a religious vocation.”

The Pope Video can be seen on the following platforms:

pravoslavie.ru     

“As the Lord went to His voluntary Passion, He said to His apostles on the way: “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man shall be betrayed, as it is written of Him.” Come, then, and let us also journey with Him, purified in mind; let us be crucified with Him and die for His sake to the pleasures of this life” (Holy Monday Matins, Praises).

Thus the Holy Church invites us to journey, to co-suffer and be co-crucified with the Lord on these days, dedicated to the memory of His Divine Passion and death. As obedient children, you have heeded this maternal calling and entered the indicated path that leads to the Lord. And now my task is not to persuade you to obey, but, finding comfort in your obedience, to merely wish that you complete more fully and perfectly what you have already begun.

And indeed, if any of you were to ask: “So, the Church invites us to come to the Lord Who is going to His voluntary Passion—how can we do that?” there would be nothing to respond with, except perhaps: “Do what you do, only do it properly, and you will reach the Lord.” So you fast, you go to church, and you pray at home, you lay aside worldly affairs for a time and you spend more time in solitude, you have taken up pious endeavors, devoting part of your sleep time to this—whether a lot or a little. So do this. Fasting to the point where the body feels deprived of satisfaction in food and drink, prayerful labor until the flesh is weary, cutting off usual social interactions and forcing yourself to soul-saving activities, vigilance despite the inclination to sleep, and much more associated with observing the fast constitutes the first step in Five Ways to Follow Christ to His PassionAlas, not many of us know how to follow our Savior! Few people know how to properly use even those paths that the holy Church reveals and arranges for this!

“>following the Lord to the Crucifixion.

It is necessary only to take up this burden willingly, without self-pity. Man is attached to this earthly life. A slight reduction in food or deprivation of sleep, or more exertion and exhaustion than normal provoke an outcry of the flesh, and it feels like an attempt is being made on its life. Whoever now, despite this outcry, despite this seeming parting with life, not only does not succumb to self-pity, but on the contrary, with a desire for self-mortification, compels himself to undertake these labors—every time he does this, he takes a step in following the Lord. And it must be said that only such a man comes to Him in this regard. Is this the case with you? If so, then you’re at the goal. If not, take care to add to this labor, which you still bear, this merciless desire to mortify your flesh for the sake of the Lord. By doing this, you will offer to the Lord your love of life as a sacrifice, or you will carry your flesh to your co-crucifixion with Him, emulating at least a little of His ordeal in the Garden of Gethsemane.

St. Theophan the Recluse. Photo: tsargrad.tv     

Having begun this way, compel yourself and move closer to the Lord in following Him. I would like to say: As you labor the flesh, so labor the soul. Although the body and soul make up one man, often, as you know, the body does one thing and the soul another. Bring your body and soul into harmony in the works you have undertaken. In fasting with the body, make the soul also fast: cut off desires, suppress the passionate movements that arise: anger, condemnation, self-aggrandizement, greed, obstinacy, and the rest. In laboring the body by standing in prayer here in church, or at home, also labor with your soul to stand reverently before the face of the Lord in your heart, paying attention to what is being sung and read. Eliminate worldly talk and isolate yourself bodily—add to this a focused mind and concentration within yourself.

If you force the body to be vigilant, you will also arouse the vigilance of the spirit or the living striving of zeal for the Lord. If you compel yourself to spiritual pursuits, also compel your soul to develop a desire for them, of which it cannot always boast. When you do this, you will bind your soul. And the soul, accustomed to moving and acting freely, feeling these bonds on itself, will begin to languish, as in captivity, and will raise a cry of discontent. But don’t slacken your self-coercion. In this way, you will become like the Lord, when He was led bound to judgment, and consequently, you will become even closer to Him in going with Him to His voluntary Passion. The labor of both body and soul is like stepping first on one foot, then on the other, and is the most successful way to follow the Lord.

Let us draw even closer. Let us stand in judgment, like the Lord. You’ve already thought to do this. I understand your fasting with the intention of communing of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. We prepare to commune worthily by cleansing our souls from all their sins in Confession. And this is what it requires: Examine your life and compare it with the Gospel commandments, take note of all that does not conform to them, acknowledge your guilt in this and condemn yourself without self-justification.Be contrite of heart and lament everything that has offended the Lord, and confess everything, concealing nothing, with the firm intention not to succumb to sinful temptations anymore. Whoever does this properly will become like the Lord, as He was led for trial and condemnation to Ananias and Caiaphas, from them to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod, and from there again to Pilate. The difference is that the Lord was unjustly condemned and maligned, but we condemn and afflict ourselves justly. But as the Lord was unjustly condemned for our justification, so our just self-condemnation will be unto our justification, through the innocent condemnation of the Lord.

Do you want, in the end, to approach the Lord Himself and go with Him to His voluntary Passion, as if step by step? Here’s what you must do: Traverse the whole path of the Lord’s Cross with deep reflection, embrace His suffering with feeling, as far as our nature can handle it, and co-suffer with Him in your heart. Begin by praying to the Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane, in anguish and agony to the point of sweating blood; go with Him, bound, over steep slopes and through ravines to the court of the high priests; remain with Him during the unjust accusations against Him, during the mockeries of scornful servants, during Peter’s denial; follow Him to Pilate, from Pilate to Herod and back again. Hear the cry of the people and the fury of those who accuse, and the unjust verdict; carry the Cross with Him to Ascent to the Personal GolgothaThe godless authorities accused the servants of the Church of being hostile towards the soviet system, of religious propaganda, and of corrupting school children and peasants.

“>Golgotha, the Cross that is heavy enough to fall under with the noise of the blinded crowd and the taunting speeches of the triumphant elders; bear the nailing to the Cross, when nails were driven into living flesh, the raising of the Cross that tore wounds and disrupted the circulation of life, the weeping of those close by—among them the Most Pure Mother. The mockery of the foolish, the utmost humiliation to the point of saying, I thirst (Jn. 19:28), and the bowing of the head with the surrender of the spirit to the Lord. Go through all of this mentally and reproduce it more vividly within yourself, arouse sympathy for those wounds and so enter into compassion so sincerely that you yourself would suffer and accept wounds. And you will be like the women who shed tears as they followed the Lord as He carried His Cross..

Thus, step by step, you will draw nearer and near to the Lord Who is going to His voluntary Passion, and you will come to Him. Having begun with bodily labors, move from them to The Foundation of Any Ascetical LaborWise words by the holy fathers on fasting, posted at the end of the Apostle’s fast, but good to know all year long.

“>spiritual labors, and with both, undertake a self-examination: Lament and correct your faults in Confession, that you might worthily partake of the Mysteries of Christ. Finally, with deep reflection upon the Lord’s sufferings, enter into compassion and co-suffering with Him. But is that all? Do you not see that this path cannot end with this? This is how we follow the Lord, Who is going to His death. But we must not only follow Him, but also be co-crucified with Him. How so? When you embark upon the path of the true Christian life and truly begin to fulfill the commandments of Christ, then you will crucify yourself every moment for the sake of the Lord—that is, you will undergo the salvific co-crucifixion with Christ the Savior.

All of the above is only a preparation for this. In the sufferings of the Lord and enduring the Passion with Him, we have an impulse towards a virtuous Christian life. Spiritual and bodily labors aid us in this, and in Confession and Communion we lay its foundation and gain strength. Now having begun all this, it remains to truly begin living a Christian life. And how and why this life is a co-crucifixion with the Lord, you will understand from the beginning. You will feel for yourself, in fulfilling Christian virtues, how, now your hands and feet are nailed, now your heart is stricken, now your head is crowned with thorns, now your entire body is covered in wounds. I’m not going to explain how this is—you know it yourselves, or you’ll find out. I’ll conclude my word with a sincere wish for you. May the Lord bless you not only to exist for Him, but also to be co-crucified with Him. For there is no other path to salvation! Amen.

To be close to Christ is to be close to Mary.

Think, for a moment, about the fact that you have been “saved.” And what is your salvation?

Jesus has given his life to be your own, so that you have become a partaker of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). He has given you his home, heaven, so that you may live in it as your home, too. He has invited you to eat from his table and call his Father “Our Father.”

And he has given his mother to be your mother.

We cannot be Jesus’ brother unless Mary is our mother. The Church is the “assembly of the firstborn” (Hebrews 12:23), and she is mother of the firstborn.

The early Christians knew this, and they gloried in it. In the Gospels, Mary has one of the largest speaking parts. In spite of her lowliness, she is the star of the opening chapters of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Her kinfolk, Elizabeth and Zechariah, appear; but their activity is directed toward Mary’s and resolved in Mary’s. An angel appears, but he is sent to serve Mary. Joseph says not a word in the entire New Testament, but places himself at the service of Mary and the divine Child.

When John depicts the birth of Jesus symbolically in the Book of Revelation (chapter 12), once again Mary appears at the center of the drama. She is the woman who gives birth to the “male child” who is the king of all nations. Mother and Son face mortal danger and flee to the wilderness, just as we see in the infancy narratives of the Gospels. In the Apocalypse, however, we learn that the earthly events are actually a manifestation of the great cosmic war between St. Michael’s angelic forces and the serpent’s.

The woman is there, in Revelation, for the sake of her divine Son, but his presence providentially depends upon her cooperation.

The “woman” of Revelation is clearly Mary, and yet she is also the Church, the mother of “many offspring.” This is not a contradiction. It’s the way the biblical peoples thought and expressed themselves. “Israel” was a man, a historical figure, but it was also the name of the man’s offspring and their nation. In the same way, the name “David” designated Israel’s great king, but also his capital city, his household, and his descendants.

Thus, the early Church Fathers, having fed themselves on Scripture, could say such things as, “We call the Church by the name of Mary, for she deserves a double name.” So said St. Ephrem of Syria in the fourth century.

Almost two centuries earlier, St. Irenaeus had used the same maternal imagery in a poetic way, when he described Jesus as “the pure One opening purely that pure womb which regenerates men unto God, and which he himself made pure.”

The Blessed Virgin Mary is already what you and I are ever striving to be. May is a month especially dedicated to her. Let’s spend it close to her, and thus close to her divine Son.

Six years ago, on April 28, 2018, at the age of ninety-six, Archimandrite Adrian (Kirsanov), a clairvoyant elder of the Holy Protection Pskov-Caves Monastery, Pskov Cave Elder, Archimandrite Adrian (Kirsanov) reposes in the LordOn April 28, in the ninety-seventh year of his life, in the Pskov-Caves Monastery, Archimandrite Adrian (Kirsanov) reposed in the Lord.

“>reposed in the Lord. On the sixth anniversary of the elder’s death we offer readers memories of his spiritual children.

Archimandrite Adrian (Kirsanov)     

Every meeting with the elder is like a life-giving stream or a breeze that dampens the head aflame with thoughts and doubts and brings peace and calm to the soul. Fr. Adrian (Kirsanov) was a spiritual mentor of many thousands of Orthodox faithful in Russia and across the globe.

When we honor the saints, we first of all glorify the Lord, Who chose and sanctified them and dwells in them as in His temples not made by hands. And when you come into contact with the life of a saint of God (if only to a small extent and for a short while), you participate in his feat, a kind of spiritual veil is lifted before you, and the frontier between the visible and the invisible realms can disappear for a moment. The writer Nina PavlovaPavlova, Nina

“>Nina Pavlova (1939–2015) told my friend, Nun Elizaveta, about this when the latter visited her in Kozelsk where Optina Monastery is situated. Nina Alexandrovna revealed to her that when she was writing her book, Pascha of Beauty, she experienced an obvious demonic attack.

It happened when she was walking through the woods to the skete. There was nobody around. And suddenly as if out of nowhere a monk in a black cassock appeared in front of her. There was such fierce hatred in his face that Nina Alexandrovna stopped in confusion. And the “monk” stretched out his hands towards her eyes, apparently intending to put them out. She managed to make the sign of the cross. At that moment the attacker’s hands dropped, and he… vanished!

And when a series of books about Archimandrite Adrian (Kirsanov) was being prepared for publication, our small publishing team experienced attacks of invisible evil spirits as well. But all this was for our spiritual benefit, enlightenment and strengthening in faith.

“When we enjoy favor from above, not only can we avoid the slanders of the wicked, but even if wild animals attack us, we will not be troubled…” St. John Chrysostom said.

Even during his lifetime, Archimandrite Adrian’s prayer worked real miracles.

“Once he prays, everything immediately is set aright. No one understands how it happens, and you just marvel,” Nun Mariamna recalled.

For about thirty years Nun Mariamna was in obedience to Fr. Adrian, learning to cut off her will before the elder, and her heart gradually softened and learned the main Christian virtues—humility and love.

“And sometimes it was so hard that when I came to Father Adrian, I could only utter one word: ‘Help!’ And he would say to me, ‘I know, I know everything, and I pray for you!’ Yes, it was hard, but when I left batiushka I felt like I had wings on my back: I wanted to rise into the air and fly! It was such a comfort! And all my spiritual growth was associated with Fr. Adrian. The Lord sends so much grace through the elders that sometimes you cannot contain it. But then stand firm! And if you agree to endure sorrows, be patient. Therefore, not everyone can bear close contact with elders…” she recalled.

Nun Mariamna was one of Fr. Adrian’s closest spiritual children. The elder affectionately called her “my dear daughter”! But to become a “dear daughter” she had to go through a difficult “school” of spiritual development: to learn to endure sorrows, humility and obedience.

And the second book in the Through the Prayers of Holy Elders series, dedicated to the memory of Archimandrite Adrian (Kirsanov), was entitled, My Dear Daughter! By Divine Providence, its publication coincided with the fifth anniversary of Fr. Adrian’s repose.

Before its publication, Nun Mariamna had endured many trials: illnesses, troubles and unexpected sorrows that had befallen her close ones. When she was preparing to receive Communion on the eve of the feast, her leg suddenly swelled and ached so much that she had to call an ambulance—she feared she had a blood clot. She was examined at the hospital and discharged towards nightfall—there was nothing wrong with her.

When Nina Ivanovna, our editor, started working on the book manuscript, she stayed up until midnight. The village near Moscow where she lives had long become quiet, and that hot day had given way to a cool night. Nina went to bed, but half an hour later she was frightened when she suddenly heard loud male voices—apparently a tipsy gang was passing by her fence. By their voices she figured out that they were young people. But they were speaking in a somewhat strange way—it was an unknown language or, rather, mere sounds…

And then such terrible, unbearable music rang out that Nina Ivanovna recalled her youth: “It couldn’t be compared to any disco! It could probably be heard from miles away—they woke up the whole village!” The music (if it can be called that) was without words and resembled the sounds of a hurdy-gurdy. And it was so unusual that Nina finally came to her senses and began to pray. Once she made the sign of the cross in front of the window, the horrible cacophony instantly stopped!

“It seemed to me that the silence that followed was so deafening,” she recalled with a shudder. “And then I heard the stomping of feet and my iron gate being banged on loudly, as if they wanted to kick it down. And after that I didn’t hear a sound! I thought, ‘How can it be? If they turned off their tape recorder (or whatever they had) and banged on my gate, then why didn’t they say a word after that? The drunken company must have left, and I would certainly have heard it…’.”

Then, when the next night some creature screeched wildly under her window (clearly not a cat or a human being), she decided to move to her sister’s home in Moscow urgently. Thank God, after she had made the sign of the cross in front of her window with prayer, everything became quiet.

“Yes, it was not easy to work on this book,” Nina admitted. “And if I hadn’t received my father-confessor’s blessing, I wouldn’t have been able to finish it.”

And after she had prayed to Fr. Adrian, these phenomena stopped.

Our sponsor also had a remarkable dream before sending the layout to the printing house.

“I found myself in some weird, dreary place,” Larisa, our sponsor, related. “I saw bearded, stocky men in front of me, who looked very similar. There were about fifteen of them, standing by twos and threes not far from me and glaring at me furiously. And each of them had an insolent look. One of them was standing closest to me, and I asked him what he wanted from me. ‘That’s what I want!’ He jumped up to me and knocked me down. I realized that he was going to drag me down, to hell! Thank God, at that moment I remembered the elder and screamed with my last bit of strength or, rather, squeaked out a cry, since I was tightly gripped as if by an iron ring: ‘Father Adrian, help me!’ At the same moment, I woke up and, to my horror, I felt as if a heavy stone were on my chest and on my stomach. I started shaking it off, then finally realized that I could get up and ran to take some holy water and my prayer-book…”

When the newly printed copies of The Pskov-Caves Wonderworker, the first book about Fr. Adrian, were being transported to Moscow, some men from our church gathered beside the warehouse to unload them. A man was standing near them and smoking calmly: he had just taken his car to the car-wash (located next to the warehouse). But when the printing house truck drove up and the men began unloading pallets with the books, the man suddenly started barking! He was standing and barking in a bass voice, and couldn’t stop until the pallets with the books disappeared into the warehouse…

Fr. Adrian used to say that if we take one wrong step, we can fall a prey to demons. The elder battled them all his life, and the Lord gave him special grace to vanquish this ancient enemy. Once an acquaintance of mine hung the elder’s photo over her table. When her alcoholic relative called on her and came into that room, he started, exclaiming, “Who is he?” Poor man, he couldn’t stand Fr. Adrian’s photo and left very quickly! Since his death, Fr. Adrian has scorched the enemy with his very appearance, just as in his lifetime sick people felt his presence.

Fr. Adrian was endowed with special grace and power by the Lord—to fight against spiritual wickedness in high places (Eph. 6:12). With the blessing of Patriarch Alexei I of Moscow and All Russia, for over thirty years he bore the heavy cross of a rare church ministry—he performed the special prayers to exorcise evil spirits.

“It is not right for everyone to fight against the devil, but only for him who is strong in God, whom the demons obey,” Venerable Barsanuphius the GreatSaints Barsanuphius the Great and John the Prophet lived during the sixth century during the reign of the emperor Justinian I (483-565). They lived in asceticism at the monastery of Abba Seridus in Palestine, near the city of Gaza.

“>St. Barsanuphius the Great said. “If a weak person starts doing this, the demons will mock him, because he still has power over them and opposes them. How many saints forbade the devil, like the Archangel Michael, who did it because he had power? To forbid the demons is the work of great men… We, the weak, can only resort to the name of Jesus.”

The elder’s spiritual children recalled:

“He who loves God shines all over. All his love is poured out upon his neighbor, and the neighbor ‘bathes’ in this love. Therefore, it was always warm with Fr. Adrian; your soul felt peace, and your heart thawed and was filled with Heavenly joy.”

Some icon-painters, who once came to Fr. Adrian from Georgia for the first time, recalled their meeting warmly. When they went up to him for anointing, batiushka told them:

“Familiar eyes!”

“We’re icon-painters!” they introduced themselves.

“It’s clear then,” the elder smiled…

One day my acquaintances, a large family with the appetizing surname of “Abrikosov”¹, came to the elder. From the doorstep he said to them, “Oh, here are apricots, but I don’t see any fruits!” It was food for thought …

Nadezhda, the elder’s spiritual daughter, recalled:

“Father Adrian is a wonderworker. There was an incredible number of healings around him. I can say that I have been disabled since childhood and would have died long ago but for his prayers.”

When Nadezhda’s photo of Fr. Adrian started to exude myrrh, she came to Pechory and told the elder about it. Batiushka was silent for a long time, and then said pensively: “Only if these are my tears for you…”

One day a schoolteacher said to Nadezhda’s son,“I know that your family goes to Pechory to visit Father Adrian. Tell your mother to ask him to pray for my little daughter Yulechka [a diminutive form of the name Yulia.—Trans.]. She is going to have yet another kidney operation. She was cut up all over and has almost no unscarred place on her body left after so many operations!”

By that time the poor woman was completely exhausted; she understood that the doctors were unlikely to help her daughter. And like a drowning person clutching at straws, she asked for help from believers. She could not expect help from anyone, only from God.

Of course, Nadezhda conveyed her request to Fr. Adrian very soon, and he conveyed his blessing. “Let her give the girl semolina porridge.” That was his answer!

On returning home, Nadezhda immediately called the teacher: “Don’t be surprised, but the elder has blessed you to feed Yulechka on semolina porridge. Do it as obedience!” At that time money was being collected for the girl’s surgery in Israel. The mother accepted batiushka’s answer with faith and trust, as if from the hand of God, and began to give semolina porridge to the child obediently, if only a spoonful or two at a time. But she had no appetite. Because of her illness the girl was very thin and pale.

The porridge, blessed by the elder, had a healing effect on the child: soon Yulechka “came back to life”, perked up, and her appetite returned! The mother was over the moon about the recovery of her beloved child, whom she had almost lost and whom the elder had saved. And, of course, there was no question of any operation anymore…

“Whenever I remember batiushka, I always recall the words from the Gospel: He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory (Mt. 12:19–20),” Nadezhda says. “Likewise, Fr. Adrian patiently and carefully guided me with his hand from darkness towards light. And when batiushka died, there was nobody to ‘nurse’ me and ‘carry me in his arms’ anymore. I thought that I would not be able to ‘stand on my feet’ and would ‘fall down’ all the time. But Fr. Adrian is so strong in his standing before the Lord that even after his death he helps me, as if taking me by the scruff of the neck with a firm hand and saying, ‘Walk, Nadezhda! Walk on your own!’ And I try to walk, through his holy prayers…”

You could come to Fr. Adrian with any, even the seemingly most intractable problem. Everything would be sorted out at once, and you would see the shortest path to your salvation. And the elder guided you. It was not without reason that Fr. Adrian was called a “comforting batiushka”.

His spiritual children say: “He would always pity you, console you and find the right words to say to you. You would leave him as if flying on wings, not walking on the ground!”

In early April 2018, Fr. Adrian’s spiritual son, Mikhail Ivanovich T., came to him from Belarus. After the Liturgy at the church, Fr. Adrian’s cell attendant approached him and said that batiushka was waiting for him in his cell.

“When we entered the cell, the elder was very poorly, lying in bed,” Mikhail Ivanovich recalled. “Seeing me he cheered up and sat up on the bed. And suddenly at that moment both Fr. Adrian and his entire cell were lit by an extraordinary light!”

Batiushka immediately tried to “disguise himself”: “The father-superior has such good light in the monastery!” Both Mikhail Ivanovich and the cell-attendant were dumbfounded—they could hardly come to their senses, stunned by the unearthly light, the feeling of joy and grace emanating from the elder, and the extraordinary spiritual beauty of his face.

“Batiushka began to speak about various sins and then said, ‘You see, Mishenka I’m preparing for confession, and after the early service I will receive Communion!’” Mikhail Ivanovich recalled. “Then he anointed me with holy oil and said, ‘You’ll come to me on April 28, your wife’s birthday!’”

Obviously, Fr. Adrian foreknew the day of his death, because on April 28, 2018, at the age of ninety-six, batiushka fell asleep In the Lord. His spiritual children were orphaned. Their “comforting batiushka” passed into eternity, but his prayers did not stop—they became even stronger at the Throne of God, and Holy Russia received a new intercessor in Heaven.

“When I die, my prayer will be even stronger and more powerful—just turn to me, just ask!…” batiushka used to say.

St. Pius was born Michele Ghislieri, on January 17, 1504, in Lombardy. His parents were poor but of noble lineage. Michele worked as a shepherd until he was 14, when he met two Dominicans who recognized his virtue and intelligence. He joined their order, and was ordained a priest at age 24. For 16 years, Michele taught philosophy and theology, and served as prior for many houses. He was known for his penances, his long hours of prayer and fasting, and his holy speech.

In 1556, Michele was elected bishop of Sutri, and served as inquisitor in Milan and Lombardi. He then served as inquisitor general of the Church, and was made a cardinal in 1557. As inquisitor, he rigorously opposed heresies, and fought corruption wherever he encountered it.

On January 7, 1566, he was elected pope, with the influential backing of his friend St. Charles Borromeo, and took the name Pius V. Almost immediately after his election, he put a vast program of reform into action, getting rid of extravagant luxuries and giving the money to the poor, whom he gave personal care.

As pope, Pius was dedicated to applying the reforms of the Council of Trent, raising the standards of morality for the clergy, and supporting foreign missions. He revised the Roman Breviary and Missal, which remained in use until Vatican II’s reforms.

Over the course of his six-year pontificate, Pius was constantly at war with two massive enemy forces — Protestant heretics spreading doctrine in the West, and Turkish armies in the East. Pius battled the spread of Protestantism through education and preaching, with strong support for the newly formed Society of Jesus under St. Ignatius of Loyola. He excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I and supported Catholics who were oppressed by Protestant rulers.

One of the most famous successes of Pius’ papacy was the miraculous victory of the Christian fleet in the battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571. When the Turks attacked the island of Malta, nearly every man defending the fortress was killed. The pope sent a fleet to meet the enemy, requesting that every man on board receive communion and pray the rosary. Throughout Europe, he called on Catholics to pray the rosary, and ordered a 40-hour devotion in Rome while the battle took place.

Although the Christian fleet was vastly outnumbered, they demolished the entire Turkish fleet. In memory of their triumph, the pope declared the day the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, because of her intercession. Pius has also been called the pope of the Rosary for this reason.

On May 1, 1572, Pope Pius V died of a painful disease, saying, “O Lord, increase my sufferings and my patience!” He is enshrined at Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, and was beatified in 1672, canonized in 1712.

Icon of the Righteous Patriarch St. Joseph the All-Comely     

On Monday of Holy Week the Church commemorates the holy Patriarch Joseph of Egypt. His story is one of the most familiar and beloved in the entire Old Testament, and has even been portrayed frequently in secular contexts, such as in a novel cycle by the twentieth century German Nobel Prize winner Thomas Mann as well as in movies and even a Broadway musical. In the Church he is often referred to as Joseph the Fair or Joseph the All-Comely, denoting both the physical and especially the spiritual beauty he possessed. The Church recognizes in him a type or foreshadowing of Christ, for example in his being sold by his brethren much as Christ was sold for silver by a disciple, in his descent into Egypt which prefigured Christ-God coming down to Earth and taking our flesh, and in numerous other ways.¹ Thus, his commemoration at the beginning of Holy Week, when we enter deeply into Christ’s voluntary Passion, is both fitting and appropriate.

The basics of the Joseph story, as told in chapters 37–50 of the book of Genesis, are familiar enough: Joseph is the youngest son (at the time) of the aged Patriarch Jacob. He is the favorite and is gifted a beautiful coat of many colors by his doting father. He therefore becomes the object of his older brothers’ jealousy. This jealousy is intensified after Joseph relates to them a series of dreams which seem to foretell an exalted status for him. Their resentment comes to a head when they stage Joseph’s death and sell him into slavery. Joseph is taken into Egypt where he becomes the servant of an official named Potiphar. In time his brilliance and integrity and the obvious blessing of God which rests upon him leads to him being placed in charge of all Potiphar’s possessions. However, Joseph is later framed for the attempted rape of Potiphar’s wife after he had spurned her impure advances. For this he is unjustly imprisoned, and during his imprisonment he correctly interprets the dreams of two disgraced former servants of Pharaoh. He is later recalled from his imprisonment and brought before Pharaoh when the latter has some disturbing dreams which require interpretation. Enlightened by God, Joseph accurately interprets the dreams to foretell seven years of impending abundance followed by seven years of severe famine. Pharaoh is so impressed that he puts Joseph over all the land of Egypt, second only to himself. Due to Joseph’s capable administration, Egypt survives the years of famine and is even able to provide grain to other nations. During this time Joseph is reunited with his family after his brothers have come down to buy grain. In a Christ-like manner he magnanimously forgives his brothers and is tearfully reunited with his father, who for many years had thought him dead. Joseph’s family is resettled in the Goshen region of the Egyptian delta, on good and fertile land, and Israel comes to dwell in Egypt.

The Bahr Yussef, or Waterway of Joseph, a waterway anciently attributed to the initiative of the righteous Patriarch     

Here it might perhaps be both fascinating and instructive to try to “flesh out,” in a manner of speaking, our knowledge of the life and circumstances of Joseph and the Egyptian world of his time. This little essay will represent a modest attempt at getting a clearer picture of the actual historical setting of his life, using the information in Scripture in combination with current knowledge of ancient Egyptian history to establish at least a rough frame of reference for the period of Egyptian history in which he flourished. This is not presented as representing anything at all definitive; it is only meant as a (hopefully) fascinating little exercise in trying to bring out some details of the historical situation of a great and inspiring Old Testament figure.

First, some math. We can use the chronologies in Genesis to calculate approximately when the Old Testament patriarchs lived. Naturally, the Septuagint chronology will be used here in preference to the Masoretic (there is a considerable gap between them) as it of course is the authoritative version of the Old Testament.²

We are presently in the year 7532 from the creation of the world as per the Byzantine Anno Mundi (henceforth, AM) calendar. Now, we know that the Patriarch Joseph was the great-grandson of the Patriarch Abraham, the grandson of Patriarch Isaac, and the son of Patriarch Jacob. Abraham was born in 3414 AM (which corresponds to 2094 BC). His son Isaac was born when Abraham was 100, that is, in about 3514 AM/1994 BC. Isaac’s son Jacob was born when Isaac was 60, or around the year 3574 AM/1934 BC. Finally, Joseph was born when Jacob was close to age 90, so around 3664 AM/1844 BC. Thus, working from the respective ages of the Patriarchs at the time of their sons’ births as given in Scripture, we have arrived at about 3664 AM for Joseph’s approximate birth year. We can also look at it this way: 3664 AM was 3868 years before our present year of 7532 AM; converting these to our more familiar BC/AD years, we get: 2024-3868= 1844 BC. We can thus give a rough date of around 1844-5 BC, give or take a bit, for Joseph’s birth. And as we further know from Scripture that Joseph lived to be 110 (cf Gen. 50:26), we can place his repose around the year 1734-5 BC.³

Thus we have now established, it is hoped, a pretty solid (if admittedly somewhat approximate) dating for Joseph’s lifetime. This date range corresponds to the so-called Middle Kingdom of Egyptian history (c.2050-c.1700 BC).⁴ We can further narrow things down and locate his life within the thriving period of Middle Kingdom Egyptian history known as the 12th Dynasty, a dynasty considered to represent the Kingdom’s zenith. This was a time of considerable development, expansion, and cultural refinement in Egyptian history.

The 12th Dynasty was a golden age of sorts in Egyptian history. Among other achievements, it witnessed a considerable expansion of Egypt’s borders. The subjugation of parts of Nubia in the south was a significant part of this expansion. The capital was relocated from the southern city of Thebes in Upper Egypt to a new city named Itjtawy considerably further north near Fayyum. (Significantly for this discussion, that would have placed the capital in Joseph’s time far closer to Goshen where his family later migrated and settled). Administrative and agricultural reforms were also undertaken during this eventful era, changes we can see reflected in the Joseph narrative. Such, then, in a few broad strokes, was the sociopolitical backdrop of Joseph’s story.

Alabaster head of Pharaoh Amenemhat III, under whom Patriarch Joseph may have served     

It next remains to investigate the identity of the Pharaoh(s) under which Patriarch St. Joseph likely served. Based on the proposed dating of his life, it seems safe to speculate that he served under some or all of the following pharaohs: Senusret III, Amenemhat III, and Amenemhat IV. (It is the second of these, Amenemhat III, who emerges as the most plausible of the lot). Significantly, Amenemhat III is known to have allowed Semitic/Canaanite settlers into the Delta region (Goshen). This fits with the Biblical account of Joseph’s family settling in that very region (cf, Gen. 46: 28-34). Also, it was during the reigns of Senusret III (also spelled Senwosret III) and Amenemhat III that power was consolidated and centralized in the pharaoh, curbing the power of the provincial governors, or nomarchs; once again, this corresponds well to the Biblical account, in which Pharaoh’s power was greatly centralized as people sold off everything to him to avoid starvation (cf Gen. 47). As one source states: “Senwosret III initiated important administrative reforms which reduced the power of the provincial rulers and transferred it instead to a large bureaucratic organization.” This is a very important consideration and in itself suggests a strong if not overwhelming probability that this is the correct time period due to how neatly it fits the Biblical narrative. It may also have contributed to the dynasty’s ultimate end; as the same source affirms: “Towards the end of the dynasty, after the influence of the nomarchs had been severely curtailed, their property confiscated and the heredity of offices forbidden, the situation became less stable… Further, the nobility had also literally lost their wealth.”⁵ Finally, the following rather interesting fact about a man-made Egyptian waterway also tempts one toward such a conclusion: The Bahr Yussef (“Waterway of Joseph”), which has from ancient times borne the name of the righteous Patriarch, dates to the 12th Dynasty and might have been dug (per some sources) to alleviate famine due to excessive Nile flooding.

Pharaoh presents Asenath to Joseph. Illustration from “The History of Joseph and His Brethren” by Owen Jones, 1869     

Apparently there are some who try to place Joseph’s life within the so-called Hyksos period of Egypt’s history. Superficially, this might seem an attractive hypothesis. The Hyksos, after all, were West Asiatic (ie, Middle Eastern, possibly Canaanite) foreigners who managed to rule a portion of Egypt for about 100 odd years. So one can see how some might want to place an Israelite like Joseph within that category. However, based on the foregoing considerations, and the subsequent Exodus history, such a dating seems at the very least doubtful, if not untenable. The Hyksos period is simply a bit too late (1500s BC). Nonetheless, the migration of Semitic peoples from Canaan that began during Joseph’s time, as attested in the Biblical narrative, might ultimately have led later on to the Hyksos ascendancy: “Instead, Hyksos rule might have been preceded by groups of Canaanite peoples who gradually settled in the Nile delta from the end of the Twelfth Dynasty onwards and who may have seceded from the crumbling and unstable Egyptian control at some point during the Thirteenth Dynasty.”   

Icon of Patriarch Joseph in the Holy Cathedral Church of the Annunciation of the Theotokos, Alexandria, Egypt A few further considerations point towards a Middle Kingdom/12th Dynasty rather than Hyksos period dating. For one, there is the matter of Joseph being required to shave before appearing before Pharaoh. This is consistent with what is known of native Egyptian hygienic customs but is not characteristic of West Asiatic/Middle Eastern societies of the time. Perhaps even more telling however is the matter of Joseph’s wife. Though mentioned only in passing, we are given a significant detail about the wife, named Asenath, who was awarded to Joseph by Pharaoh. (cf Gen. 41:45) The narrative relates that she was a daughter of a priest of On (Heliopolis). On, or Heliopolis, was the center of the worship of Ra or Re. Indeed, her father’s name, Potipherah, means “he whom Ra has given.”⁶ This detail is consistent with what is known about Middle Kingdom religion but would not fit comfortably into the practices of the Hyksos, who centered their cult on the “deity” Set.⁷

As related in Scripture, the Patriarch Joseph prophesied that Israel would one day become captive in Egypt, but would be delivered by God from bondage. He obtained a promise from his descendants that they would transfer his body with them when that day came. His relics were, indeed, later translated to the Promised Land in the 1400s BC at the time of the Exodus, during the New Kingdom period of Egyptian history. And thus, some 400 odd years after his brothers had sold him as a slave, Joseph’s mortal remains at last left Egypt’s land for good and returned home.

  

Sources

“Genealogies of Genesis.” 2024. Wikipedia. January 31, 2024.

“Hyksos.” 2024. Wikipedia. March 27, 2024.

“Patriarchal Era: Joseph in Egypt – Part I.” Biblearchaeology.org. Accessed April 8, 2024.

“Potipherah.” 2024. Wikipedia. January 27, 2024.

“Righteous Joseph the Patriarch.” www.oca.org. Accessed April 7, 2024.

“The Global Egyptian Museum | 12th Dynasty.” www.globalegyptianmuseum.org. Accessed April 6, 2024. .

“Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt.” 2024. Wikipedia. March 19, 2024.

A foundation that promotes devotion to St. Pio of Pietrelcina, more widely known as Padre Pio, is making 10 never-before-seen photographs of the saint available to the devout for free.

The images provide personal insight into the life, attitude and spirituality of 20th-century saint, said the photographer. Some photos show Padre Pio solemnly celebrating Mass while in others he is smiling while surrounded by his confreres.

Elia Stelluto, Padre Pio’s personal photographer, stood proudly — camera in hand — before posters of the 10 new images for the presentation of the photos in the Vatican movie theater April 29.

“It’s enough to look at one image of his face” to understand Padre Pio, he told Catholic News Service. “With that you can understand so much; each photo has its own story, one must at them look one by one and that way you see so much more in his expressions.”

Stelluto photographed the saint for decades at the convent where he lived in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy.

During the photo presentation, Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Dicastery for Communication, said the new photos highlight Padre Pio’s identity as someone who was close to those around him and was filled with joy. He said that although it was not customary to smile in photos at the time, candid photos taken by Stelluto show the saint beaming broadly as he was huddled in a group.

Luciano Lamonarca, founder and CEO of the St. Pio Foundation which promotes devotion to the Italian saint and organized the publication of the photos, said many people would come to Stelluto requesting his photos for articles and books.

“I never saw any kind of availability for the people” to see the photos directly, he said. That’s why he thought, “Padre Pio is the saint of the people, we must do something for the people.”

Lamonarca, an Italian who lives in the United States, said since many people with a devotion to Padre Pio are unable to visit the areas where the saint lived and ministered, he asked himself, “how does one bring Padre Pio to them, the true Padre Pio, the most authentic form of Padre Pio?”

That’s what spurred him to partner with Stelluto to make the photos available to the public, excluding their use for commercial purposes, by being free to download via the St. Pio Foundation website.

Lamonarca said he hoped that by “looking at the image of a greatly suffering father who could also laugh,” people would think to themselves, “if he could laugh, we can laugh too.”

Stelluto described the images he had taken of Padre Pio as “mysterious,” since they always came out clearly despite dark lighting conditions.

He recalled the challenge of taking photos in a dark convent, coupled with Padre Pio’s distaste for the flash of a camera, especially during Mass, and exclusive use of dim candles to light the altar.

“It’s not that I was talented in doing this, I still don’t understand the thing,” Stelluto said during the photo presentation. “The truth is that he was the source of light.”

In a wide-ranging interview, Pope Francis’s top diplomat said a recent vote by the European Parliament to style abortion as a fundamental right constitutes a “radical attack” on human life.

“When life is attacked in such a radical way, you truly have to ask what kind of future we want to build,” said Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, adding that the situation has produced “great sadness in the depths of my heart.”

The comments came ahead of June elections for the European Parliament, when abortion rights are expected to be among the voting issues.

On other fronts, Parolin said there’s “great movement” towards an exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine, and confirmed the Vatican’s willingness to act as a mediator in that war, in the Middle East, and wherever else conflicts are underway.

Parolin, 69, spoke in an interview with Avvenire, the official newspaper of the Italian bishops; conference, while in Rimini for a national convention of Renewal in the Spirit, Italy’s leading Catholic charismatic movement.

Looking forward to the European elections, Parolin was asked about the parliament’s April 11 vote to include abortion among the fundamental rights recognized by the EU Charter.

It was considered largely a symbolic result, given that amending the charter would require the consent of all 27 member states and both Poland and Malta have already indicated that they won’t approve the change. Nevertheless, the result was fairly overwhelming, with 336 votes in favor, 163 against and 39 abstentions, and came with the backing of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Parolin expressed bitterness at the move.

“When life is attacked in such a radical way, you truly have to ask what kind of future we want to build. I feel a great sadness in the depths of my heart, and I don’t even have the words to express it adequately,” he said.

“I repeat, I feel extremely sad facing this way of approaching the situation. How can we think that abortion is a right? That it can assure a future to our society?” Parolin asked.

“I don’t understand,” he said. “I truly don’t understand.”

With regard to Russia and Ukraine, Pope Francis used his Easter Urbi et Orbi address to appeal for a comprehensive prisoner exchange. Parolin said he believes the pope’s call has had an effect.

“I don’t have precise information, but from what I’ve heard there’s been a lot of movement in this direction,” Parolin said. “The appeal of the pope, therefore, was heard and followed up.”

“We take it as a positive sign, because we believe that the project undertaken last year by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi in the course of the mission given him by the pope had great value.”

Parolin’s reference was to trips taken last year to Kyiv, Moscow, Washington and Beijing by Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, president of the Italian bishops’ conference, at the pope’s behest, in an effort to open channels of dialogue.

“Naturally, we think that concentrating on the humanitarian aspects – regarding both the prisoners and also the children – can create the conditions for arriving at negotiations, we hope, for the end of the war,” Parolin said.

He also indicated that Zuppi’s mission may not be concluded.

“I don’t believe it’s over, in the sense that he helped put in place a mechanism for the exchange of children,” Parolin said. “The mission was concentrated fundamentally on this aspect, but it remains open to whatever development might present itself.”

On the war in Gaza, Parolin reaffirmed the Vatican’s longstanding support for a two-state solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

“The Holy See has contacts at various levels. We’re moving on the diplomatic level to try to find an exit strategy. Certainly, the situation is extremely complicated,” he said.

“But it seems to me that there can be, in fact, that there are solutions. When we think of the two-state formula, there’s a concrete proposal towards which we should move,” Parolin said. “Maybe this can help find a definitive solution. Certainly, the first thing is to end the hostilities and assure at least a truce.”

Parolin also reiterated the Vatican’s willingness to act as a mediator, should its help be requested.

“We’ve always said, in every possible situation, that where the parties believe the Holy See could be useful, that her presence would be welcomed, we are and will remain available,” he said.

“I’d like to recall, for example, what the pope said at the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine, more than two years ago, explicitly offering the mediation of the Holy See. That availability is valid in all contexts of war,” Parolin said.

In less than a month Pope Francis will make his second journey outside Rome of the year, visiting the Italian city of Verona, the setting of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” where he will participate in an event dedicated to promoting peace and meet with local clergy and youth.

Francis will travel to Verona Saturday, May 18, to attend the “Arena of Peace” event, bringing together both civil and ecclesial entities and individuals to pray and call for peace in the world.

Major themes expected to be addressed include peace and disarmament, the environment, migration, issues related to labor, economy and finance, as well as democracy and human rights.

Though the pope’s visit to Verona, which marks his first trip to the northern Italian region of Veneto in his 11-year papacy, had been publicized by the local diocese, the Vatican made the formal announcement Monday, publishing the official program of the outing.

According to the Vatican’s schedule, the pope will leave the Vatican around 6:30 a.m. Rome time (12:30 a.m. Eastern) on May 18, arriving in Verona at 8:00 a.m. (2:00 a.m. Eastern), where he will be met by the Bishop of Verona, Domenico Pompili, as well as local regional leaders.

After his arrival, Pope Francis will hold a meeting with priests and consecrated persons in Verona before giving a speech to children and young people.

He will then move on to the Arena of Peace event, where he will answer questions. He will then visit a prison, where he will meet with inmates and administrators before having lunch with several inmates.

In the afternoon, Francis will celebrate Mass at Verona’s Bentegodi Stadium before returning to Roma via helicopter, arriving back at the Vatican around 6:15pm local time.

In his announcement of the pope’s visit, with the theme, “Justice and peace shall kiss,” Pompili said Verona is a “crossroads of peoples, and therefore a suitable space for discussion and dialogue.”

“This land was the birthplace of so many missionary men and women, authentic ‘social poets’ who brought the gospel throughout the world, promoting integral human development,” he said.

He noted that the date of the pope’s visit coincides with the eve of the liturgical feast of Pentecost, and falls close to the May 21 feast day of Saint Zeno, patron of the local church.

“As we find in his discourses that have come down to us, he spoke of true justice as the mother of mercy towards the poor and miserable,” Pompili said, noting that many people in Verona have embraced this spirit of charity.

To this end, he pointed to Italian theologian Romano Guardini, who was born in Verona and whose work Pope Francis studied as a Jesuit during a stint in Germany.

Guardini, Pompili said, has always “indicated the path of coexistence, discussion and dialogue.”

In reference to the event Pope Francis will attend, he said, “over the years, there has been no shortage of women and men, popular movements and associations, who have kept the theme of peace and care for creation alive, as evidenced, among other things, by the Peace Arenas that have taken place in recent decades.”

The last pope to visit Verona was Benedict XVI in 2009, for the national ecclesial conference. Prior to that, Pope John Paul II made a formal visit from April 16-17, 1988.