The primate of the Serbian Orthodox Church has responded to a violent incident that occurred in Belgrade yesterday.
A 20-year-old student protester was hospitalized in Belgrade after being hit by a car during Thursday’s anti-government demonstration. The 38-year-old driver has been arrested and faces attempted murder charges.
The incident is part of ongoing student protests against President Vučić’s government, sparked by concerns over civil liberties and corruption. Despite government attempts to discredit them, the protests continue to draw large crowds.
In response to the lamentable incident, His Holiness Patriarch Porfirije of the Serbian Orthodox Church stated:
I am deeply shaken by today’s event in Belgrade, when a law student was hit by a car and severely injured. I expect those responsible for this act to answer before the law. I pray to the Lord the Healer for Sonja’s quick recovery from her injuries. Again and again I warn that aggression and violence will bring no good to anyone, and I call on everyone for peace and mutual respect.
“Our mothers, wives, and sisters are sacred”—Serbian Patriarch against domestic violenceThe Church has always given the highest of honor to women, as evidenced most of all by the veneration of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Patriarch writes.
“>In October 2022, His Holiness released a statement against domestic violence, and Serbian Patriarch’s condolences for tragic school shootingA tragedy unfolded in Belgrade yesterday when a 13-year-old boy opened fire at his school, killing seven girls, one boy, and one security guard and seriously injuring another six children and one teacher, who had to be hospitalized.”>in May 2023 he issued a statement of condolence in response to a school shooting.
In the months leading up to Christmas 2024, the facades of Rome’s churches were draped with tarps and hidden by scaffolding. Crews scrubbed the ancient walls and repaired the crumbling plaster. Indoors, canvases by the great masters were draped for cleaning. Tourist itineraries were rerouted as popular sites became construction zones.
The reason? Rome is expecting to see a record-breaking 30-35 million visitors in 2025 — nearly triple the numbers from 2023.
Hordes of pilgrims are coming for the Church’s Jubilee, also known as the Holy Year.
“While a Pope can call a jubilee any time he wants, ordinary jubilee years are held every 25 years,” said Joan Watson, author of “Opening the Holy Door” (Ave Maria Press, $15.95). Jubilees, she told Angelus, are meant “to be particular moments of grace in the life of the Church.”
The custom of marking a jubilee every quarter-century dates back to the year 1300, when Pope Boniface VIII declared a Church-wide celebration and urged Christians to make pilgrimage to Rome.
But the roots of the observance go much deeper. Jubilee is integral to biblical religion, commanded by God, and observed by his chosen people. In the Book of Leviticus, chapter 25, God commands: “And you shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants; it shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his family.”
God outlines a clear agenda for healing of families and tribes who were divided and scattered. Families would be reunited, slaves set free, debts forgiven.
The jubilee was to be a homecoming, a year of liberation — a renewal and reenactment of the freedom won by Israel’s exodus from slavery in Egypt. Yet it was more than this, said Old Testament scholar John Bergsma.
Jubilee year celebrations are steeped in biblical foundations, bringing a year of liberation modeled in the freedoms from Egypt and in the Garden of Eden. (Victor Alemán)
It was “a restoration of an earlier state of freedom — the freedom of our first parents in the Garden of Eden. They lived in a state of perfect freedom — being without sin, there was not yet the need of redemption and reconciliation with God.” Bergsma, a professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville, is author of “Jesus and the Jubilee: The Biblical Roots of the Year of God’s Favor” (Emmaus Road, $17.95)
Israel’s prophets alluded to the practice of the jubilee, and they foretold its fulfillment in a great “year of the LORD’s favor” (Isaiah 61:1–2) inaugurated by the Messiah. Jesus quoted this passage from Isaiah at the launch of his public ministry, when he preached at the synagogue in Nazareth. He announced that the Spirit had sent him “to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18–19).
And then he said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
Christians have always seen the time since Jesus as a jubilee — a period of perpetual grace and mercy.
Nonetheless, it’s good to be reminded, and it’s good to honor God by celebrations.
The word jubilee comes from the Hebrew jobel — which is the ram’s horn (better known as a shofar) used to proclaim a time of rejoicing. Through a happy coincidence the Latin word jubilare, which has all the same consonant sounds, means “to cheer” and “to shout.”
Thus, Bergsma told Angelus, “the proper response” to a call for jubilee “should be joy, hope, and excitement.”
“Lived well,” he added, “this jubilee can be a moment of miracle and grace for all of us, a kind of yearlong spiritual Christmas Season, in which we daily awake to open the gifts of grace that God our Father gives us so lovingly.”
A traditional part of every jubilee celebration is the practice of granting indulgences. An indulgence is the remission before God of the temporal punishment that is due for sins already forgiven. The Church grants indulgences by drawing from the treasury of merit, the abundance of graces that belong to Christ and his saints. In the Book of Exodus, Moses similarly won forgiveness for Israel by reminding God of the fidelity of the patriarchs: “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self” (Exodus 32:13).
A visitor touches the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Day, Dec. 25, 2024, after it was opened by Pope Francis during Christmas Mass the night prior to mark the start of the Holy Year 2025. (CNS/Lola Gomez)
(InSpes Non Confundit [“Hope Does Not Disappoint”], the document by which Pope Francis decreed the Jubilee, he provides a good explanation of the doctrine of indulgences, as well as a brief history of the jubilee.)
In a jubilee year the Church attaches indulgences to certain charitable actions or practices of piety. The most characteristic is the simple act of walking through the Holy Door at St. Peter’s — or one of four other designated doors in Rome.
Indulgences may be applied to oneself or to others, even to deceased family members and friends.
Such actions are outward signs of an interior faith. Jesus prescribed such simple devotional actions that resulted in profound healing. (See, for example, John 9:7, when Jesus sends a blind man for a ritual washing of his eyes.)
Bergsma observed: “We need to realize that the Jubilee is not an ‘extra’ or an ‘add on’ to the Christian faith, but actually lies at the very center of Scripture, salvation history, and Jesus’ mission as the Messiah.”
Yet Christians will find reasons to grumble even about gifts, graces, and mercies, said the author Joan Watson, who is also pilgrim formation manager for Verso Ministries based in South Bend, Indiana. She noted that already people are complaining on social media about the pilgrim traffic in Rome.
“I’m trying to look at it like Christmas Mass,” she told Angelus. “We should be happy so many people are going to have this opportunity for grace.
“We can look at it as an inconvenience and we can judge their intentions, or we can give gratitude to God that so many have come — in the footsteps of pilgrims of the last 725 years — and trust the Lord is going to work miracles.”
Matadi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, January 17, 2025
Photo: exarchate-africa.ru
More than a dozen people received Holy Baptism last week at a new parish of the Russian Orthodox Church’s African Exarchate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
On January 9, the chairman of the Exarchate’s Missionary Department Fr. George Maximov (who is Patriarchate of Alexandria rules to defrock two Russian priestsThe priests were tried in absentia. Fr. Andrei has already returned to Russia, while Fr. George remains in Africa but did not appear at the trial.
“>considered defrocked by the Patriarchate of Constantinople for his activity on its canonical territory) and local Exarchate cleric Hieromonk Kleonik (Madudu) celebrated the first Divine Liturgy for the community of St. Cyril, the Equal-to-the-Apostles, in Matadi, the Exarchate reports.
The priests also baptized and chrismated 19 new Orthodox Christians.
On January 11, the clerics and a delegation from the Foundation for the Support of Christian Culture and Heritage visited the Oran la Force Orthodox Orphanage, which is cared for by the Archangel Raphael Church in Kinshasa.
Multiple mass Baptisms celebrated in Uganda during holiday seasonA series of mass Baptisms were celebrated in Uganda during the Nativity season.
“>OrthoChristian recently reported on a series of mass Baptisms celebrated by the Patriarchate of Alexandria in Uganda during the holiday season.
Starting at 4 p.m. on Jan. 19, crowds of Israelis arrived at what has become known as Hostages Square in the center of Tel Aviv to support the hostage families and watch the release screened on the giant screen in the square.
They hugged, cried and cheered as they watched the women being transferred from Hamas to Red Cross representatives.
In the West Bank, scenes of joy were delayed but the streets erupted in cheers as the first 90 prisoners, mostly women and teens, freed from Israeli prisons, were brought home in white Red Cross buses after midnight Jan. 20 as in the Gaza Strip first caravans of those displaced by 15-month war attempted return to their homes — of which scores are flattened — and first 600 trucks of aid entered the strip.
The first Israelis to be released from Hamas captivity were Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, both of whom were taken from their homes in Kibbutz Kfar Gaza along the Gaza border in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, and Romi Gonen, 24, who was among the 40 people kidnapped from the Nova dance festival that same day. Some 250 people were taken hostage in total on Oct. 7, and 1,200 were killed, according to Israel.
Almost 47,000 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing war, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health in Gaza, which does not distinguish between civilian and combatant deaths.
Videos released by Israel showed the family of the released hostages breaking out in tears of joy as they privately watched the live broadcast of the release. In one recording Gonen’s brother asked his grandmother if she could believe her release was actually happening and the grandmother responded that the belief that Gonen would come home alive was the one thing that had kept her alive.
One TV report showed Damari’s friends celebrating ecstatically and singing in her home as they waved flags, with one friend shouting “Emily, come home! We have waited for you, my life!”
Palestinian videos showed a stream of Gazan civilians returning through rubble to their homes in northern Gaza and armed Hamas militants celebrating perched in white pick-up trucks driving through throngs of cheering Palestinians also amid rubble.
The Israeli women appeared gaunt but were able to walk on their own. Videos showed the women being transferred from Hamas hands to the Red Cross representatives surrounded by armed Hamas gunmen and amid a shouting throng of Gaza civilians.
The Red Cross representatives then drove them to the border with Israel where they were met by elite units of the Israel Defense Forces who took them to the initial reception point on the Gaza border area inside Israel where they met with their mothers and underwent initial medical evaluation. They were then transferred by helicopter to hospital where other family members awaited them.
In one released photo, Damari is shown smiling and speaking with her family on a mobile phone as she holds up her bandaged left hand with her two middle fingers apparently missing.
“After 471 days Emily is finally home. I want to thank everyone who never stopped fighting for Emily throughout this horrendous ordeal, and who never stopped saying her name. In Israel, Britain, the United States, and around the world. Thank you for bringing Emily home,” said Mandy Damari, mother of British-Israeli Emily Damari in a statement.
She said, “Emily’s nightmare in Gaza is over,” but “for too many other families the impossible wait continues. Every last hostage must be released.”
Freed Palestinian prisoner Nidaa Zaghebi embraces her mother-in-law and son after her release from an Israeli jail in Jenin, West Bank, Jan. 20, 2025, as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel. (OSV News photo/Raneen Sawafta, Reuters)
Pope Francis expressed his gratitude for the announced ceasefire in Gaza in his Jan. 19 Angelus prayer and thanked the mediators for their efforts toward peace and in assisting to arrange the long-awaited ceasefire in Gaza after 15 months of war. The agreement will allow for the slow release of the first group of 33 Israeli hostages over the next six weeks, flow of international aid into Gaza and the release of 90 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
“I also thank all the parties involved in this important result. I hope that what has been agreed will be respected immediately by the parties, and that all the hostages may finally return home and embrace their loved ones. I pray a lot for them and for their families. I also hope that humanitarian aid will reach the people of Gaza, who so urgently need it, even faster and in large quantities,” he said.
The agreement calls for all the hostages, both alive and dead, to be released in three phases, in exchange for 1,900 Palestinian prisoners. Hamas is still holding 94 captives, with reports varying on how many of them are still alive, which Hamas did not confirm to Israel.
According to the Israelis Hamas is to give the names of the hostages to be released in the following weeks. Among those to be released in the first stage are Americans Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen as well as the Bibas family including their now-2-year-old and 5-year-old-son. Some 1,167 of the Palestinians to be released are from Gaza and were detained after Oct. 7, 2023, under emergency laws permitting arrest without charge or trial.
President Joe Biden spoke on Jan. 19 in Charleston, South Carolina, and said”Today the guns in Gaza have gone silent,” adding that”this is one of the toughest negotiations I’ve been part of.”
Meanwhile, during a Jan. 19 rally in Washington ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration, President-elect Donald Trump took credit for the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal and said that in what was a “beautiful” event, “we achieved an epic ceasefire agreement as a first step toward lasting peace in the Middle East. And this agreement could only have happened as a result of our historic victory in November,” Trump said.
In the first phase of the three-phased agreement, fighting will pause for the first 42 days, with Israeli forces withdrawing to a buffer zone from “all” populated areas of Gaza, displaced Palestinians returning home, and increased aid deliveries.
In the second stage, the remaining hostages including men and foreign nationals from Thailand and Tanzania will be freed, more Palestinian prisoners released, and Israel will fully withdraw from Gaza. The Rafah crossing will open for the sick and wounded, though its control is unclear. The third phase, possibly lasting years, will address the exchange of bodies of the remaining hostages who are dead and Gaza’s reconstruction.
U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher highlighted the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza following the ceasefire Jan. 19.
“As the ceasefire entered into force today, humanitarian aid moved into Gaza as part of a prepared surge to increase our support to survivors. More than 630 trucks with humanitarian aid entered Gaza today, with at least 300 of them going to the north,” he said.
As joy intertwined with trepidation both in Israel and in the Palestinian territories, Pope Francis said that both Israelis and Palestinians need “clear signs of hope,” as he trusted that their political leaders with the help of the international community would yet be able to reach “the right solution” for the two states.
“May everyone be able to say: yes to dialogue, yes to reconciliation, yes to peace. And let us pray for this for dialogue, reconciliation and peace,” he said.
The clergy and faithful of the Orthodox Church in America’s Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Kodiak, Alaska, rejoiced in the Baptism of more than 10 people in the days leading up to Nativity.
The cathedral is home to the relics of St. Herman of Alaska, and his feast on December 13/25 “served to strengthen the community and extended a special grace to the catechumens in preparation for Holy Illumination,” the Diocese of Alaska reports.
The Baptisms began on the Sunday before Nativity, with one infant being reborn in the waters. Then on the Eve of Nativity, nine adults and children were baptized.
“Sharing in this joy of the growing community gave new energy to the joyous proclamation, Chris is Born! Glorify Him!”
And during Vespers on the evening of Nativity at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Jeneau, Fr. Maxim Gibson made several new catechumens from a nearby island.
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston and named as his successor Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin, Texas.
Cardinal DiNardo has headed the Texas archdiocese since 2006, and a year later Pope Benedict XVI elevated him to the College of Cardinals. On May 23, 2024, he turned 75, the age at which canon law requires bishops to submit their resignation to the pope. The cardinal is a former president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Archbishop Vásquez, 67, has headed the Diocese of Austin since 2010. Additionally, he served as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Tyler, Texas from November 2023 to December 2024.
The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington Jan. 20 by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
“I am delighted by the appointment of Bishop Vásquez as the next Archbishop of Galveston-Houston,” said Cardinal DiNardo in a statement. “I give gratitude to the Holy Father for naming an experienced, prayerful, and humble Shepherd to lead this local Church.”
His successor expressed gratitude to God “for bestowing this responsibility on me and I am humbled by this appointment. With God’s grace, I pledge to serve the needs of this local church to the best of my ability.”
He will be installed as Galveston-Houston’s ninth archbishop March 25 at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston. Of Mexican American descent, Archbishop Vásquez is one of 26 active Hispanic Catholic bishops in the U.S.
His episcopal motto is “Sigueme,” Spanish for “Follow me,” in reference to Jesus’ words to Peter in the Gospel of St. John.
Pope Benedict appointed him the fifth bishop of the Diocese of Austin on Jan. 26, 2010. The central Texas diocese is home to more than 700,000 Catholics across 25 counties.
Before his appointment to Austin, the newly named archbishop was an auxiliary of the archdiocese he will now head. He was named auxiliary bishop of Galveston-Houston Nov. 30, 2001, by St. John Paul II and ordained early the following year. At the time of his episcopal ordination, he was the youngest bishop in the United States.
The eldest of six children, Joe Steve Vasquez was born in Stamford, Texas, July 9, 1957. He attended the University of St. Thomas in Houston, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in theology, and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he earned a licentiate in sacred theology. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas, in 1984.
After his ordination, Bishop Vasquez served from 1985-87 as associate pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Odessa, Texas, and from 1987-97 as pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Fort Stockton, Texas. In 1997, he was named pastor of St. Joseph Parish, San Angelo, where he served until his appointment as a Galveston-Houston auxiliary.
An Ohio native who was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, Cardinal DiNardo succeeded Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza as Galveston-Houston’s shepherd on Feb. 28, 2006. Two years earlier he had been named coadjutor bishop (later coadjutor archbishop) of Galveston-Houston in January 2004.
On Dec. 29, 2004, St. John Paul elevated the Diocese of Galveston-Houston to the status of a metropolitan archdiocese, creating a second archdiocese in Texas. Archbishop Fiorenza was named the first archbishop of Galveston-Houston, and then-Bishop DiNardo became the coadjutor archbishop.
Before his Texas appointment, Cardinal DiNardo was the bishop of Sioux City, Iowa. He was appointed coadjutor bishop of Sioux City and ordained there as a bishop in October 1997. As his episcopal motto he adopted: “Ave Crux Spes Unica,” meaning “Hail the Cross, Our Only Hope.” He succeeded retiring Bishop Lawrence D. Soens as head of the diocese in November 1998.
The Galveston-Houston Archdiocese covers over 8,880 square miles and has over 2 million Catholics out of a total population of 7.1 million.
Zaporozhye, Zaporozhye Province, Ukraine, January 20, 2025
Photo: amazonaws.com
The Zaporozhye Diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is asking for help to restore the St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Zaporozhye that suffered serious damage over the weekend.
The roof, dome, ceilings, windows, and classrooms at the church were damaged by shelling on Saturday morning, January 18, reports the Information-Education Department of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
Photo: Facebook
At the same time, a large icon of St. Andrew the First-Called, painted by nuns of the St. Nicholas Convent in Patras, Greece, survived almost completely undamaged.
The icon also contains particles of the relics of St. Andrew and particles of the cross he was crucified on.
His Eminence Metropolitan Luke of Zaporozhye writes mournfully:
It pains the heart to look at our wounded cathedral, which was damaged on the eve of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord: The roof has collapsed, the ceiling has fallen in, windows are shattered, and the murals are damaged. We remember the words of Holy Scripture: For Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people (Is. 56:7). And today, this house needs our collective help. St. Andrew’s Cathedral is not only a cultural treasure for the residents of our city but also a center of prayer and grace, a place where we can share the joy of Eucharistic communion and unite in Christ.
Through today’s tragedy, the Lord tests our faith, for He knows that in the last days faith will weaken. And what do we see when we look at what’s happening? The Gospel tells us: Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone (Jas. 2:17). But instead of confirming their faith through good works and helping to restore the cathedral, some express anger, seek revenge, turning to the Lord not with requests for mercy, but asking for one thing only—punishment.
Photo: amazonaws.com
Thank God, among us there are many people whose faith is manifested not in pronouncing curses, but in doing good. Currently, parishioners are cleaning the church premises and surrounding territory, however, for full restoration, help is needed in the form of construction materials for repair work. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7).
Addressing you, my dear ones, I ask you to confirm your faith not by word but by deed, your love for our Lord Jesus Christ, and contribute to the godly cause of restoring St. Andrew’s Cathedral! May all your donations—whether a penny or labor—be a blessing for you, and may the Almighty Lord send His grace upon everyone who responds to the call to restore our holy church!
Remember that only those who believe sincerely, truly, and not just “in their soul” will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.
Details for donations towards repairing St. Andrew’s Cathedral:
Cathedral’s PrivatBank card: 5169335100176581
Or to its account:
Recipient name: RO RG UOC ST. ANDREW’S CATHEDRAL (РО РГ УПЦ СВЯТО-АНДРІЇВСЬКОГО СОБОРУ) Recipient code: 20523831 Recipient account: UA113133990000026003010201822 Bank name: Zaporizhzhia RB AT KB PrivatBank (Запорiзьке РУ АТ КБ “ПриватБанк”)
At last year’s OneLife LA event, it rained so much that attendees were thoroughly soaked. At this year’s event, participants prayed for even a few drops to fall — anything to help combat the still-burning wildfires that had ripped through so much of Southern California.
The specter of the lingering wildfires hung in the air as thousands gathered at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on Jan. 18 for the 11th annual OneLife LA celebration and Requiem Mass for the Unborn.
“Our people have suffered many trials by fire this week,” Bishop Joseph Brennan of Fresno, formerly an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said in his opening prayer. “But after this trial by fire, we know that we rise from the ashes to new life and to a hopefulness that can only come from you and being absolutely convinced of your love for us and the power of that love to change us and transform us and sustain us.”
(Victor Alemán)
OneLife LA is an annual pro-life event that celebrates “the beauty and dignity of human life from conception to natural death” while speaking out on threats to life including abortion, human trafficking, and assisted suicide.
Typically held outdoors in downtown LA, the fires still burning in LA County prompted organizers to move this year’s event indoors to the cathedral amid concerns over unhealthy air quality and strained public resources.
The change of venue — and circumstances behind it — gave the event a different, more somber tone.
Rather than a one-mile walk through downtown LA, there was a small procession. Gone were the festival portion’s food trucks; stations were set up where women religious joined those who needed prayer. Instead of music and dancing on a large stage, a band played in front of the presider chair on the cathedral’s altar.
But rather than mourn what was lost, OneLife LA speakers focused on what was gained.
“In times like this we realize life is precious, but life is also fragile,” Archbishop Jose H. Gomez said in his opening remarks. “What we have, we could lose in an instant. So, we should live for God, enjoy every moment, and never take anyone or anything in our lives for granted.
“In this moment,” the archbishop said, “the Lord is calling us to be good friends and good neighbors, to bring his love to those who are suffering.”
(Victor Alemán)
Two Catholic families that lost their homes in the Eaton Fire — the Magallons and the Gonzalezes — were invited to take part in the event. During the opening procession, Rodrigo Gonzalez clutched the cross while his wife, Diana, and their children, Isaac and Penelope, walked behind a OneLife LA banner. George Magallon, along with his wife, Jennifer, and their children, Sophia and Diego, carried a statue of the Virgin Mary that survived the fire that burned down their home.
Speaking to the crowd, Jennifer Magallon described the pain of seeing her home reduced to ashes, and the strength she drew from seeing the Virgin Mary statue sitting nearby unscathed.
“It was a moment of peace, grace and divine love I felt at that moment,” Jennifer said. “She gave me hope and strength in one of the most difficult moments of my life. I often pray to her and ask her for strength and guidance. This time, she came to me before I even asked.
“This beautiful statue of the Virgin Mary will always be a reminder of everything I have, and not what I lost.”
In her remarks, Diana Gonzalez said the last thing the family did in their home was have it blessed by a priest. She said they didn’t know it at the time, but their home was about to be an offering for God.
“We gave our home and all of our belongings back to God,” Diana said. “We didn’t know what would happen, but we trusted his plan, even as we said goodbye to the life we had built. It is our faith that has held us together in this time of loss.”
Her husband, Rodrigo, said his experience offered a new perspective on the difficulties faced by vulnerable expectant mothers.
“There’s a lot of women and children, unborn and born, that suffer in silence,” Rodrigo said. “In one week, we were flooded with clothing, flooded with prayers, flooded with offers of shelter. And we know there’s a lot of people out there who are considering what to do with the life in their womb that are not getting a single call.
“We need to show up for them as people are showing up for us.”
(Victor Alemán)
For Noel Díaz, founder of the Los Angeles-based El Sembrador-Nueva Evangelización (ESNE) media apostolate, seeing the salvaged tabernacle from the incinerated remains of Pacific Palisades’ Corpus Christi Church was a “model example” of how nothing can destroy Jesus Christ’s love and protection for us.
“Everything was burned, but the tabernacle where Jesus was is alive,” Diaz said. “You can lose everything in your life, but if you have your faith in God, you have the treasure that no one can burn. If you have God in your life, you have everything.”
True to OneLife LA’s roots, there was plenty to advocate for beyond the fires.
One of the speakers, Sister Maria Goretti, a member of the Sisters Poor of Jesus Christ, shared her experiences of ministering to the homeless on Skid Row since her order was invited to minister in the archdiocese in 2018.
“We have walked with many brothers and sisters who live in the darkness of homelessness, addiction, material and spiritual destitution, violence and mental health crises,” Goretti said. “But in these years, we’ve also witnessed the transformative power of hope, even amidst circumstances that seem completely lost, irreparable and despairing.”
One of the emcees of the event, Nora Placencia, chronicled her painful journey of ectopic pregnancy and pushed for support for expectant mothers, while event speaker Desiree Gentile, a catechist at St. Anthony Church in Oxnard, relayed her experience of being put up for adoption by her 17-year-old mother.
“Reflecting on it now, I know that I’m an abortion survivor,” Gentile said. “My mom, she chose life. As we reflect on young people today that are surrounded by all the different circumstances, including considering abortion, choose life.”
(Victor Alemán)
Of the thousands who chose to attend this year’s OneLife LA — some first-timers, others who come year after year — their reasons for showing up covered a wide spectrum.
Marta Loza, a parishioner at Nativity Church in Torrance, has attended One Life LA for about the past eight years.
Loza says at 23 she discovered she was pregnant with her third child, and her partner coerced her into having an abortion.
Since then, Loza says experienced repentance and healing, and has dedicated her life to encouraging pregnant women to choose life.
Loza broadcasts live from One Life LA on her Facebook account each year to help pregnant women see that there is a community that loves and supports them. She said she’s saved two babies’ lives through these transmissions — including one who went on to become her godson.
“Never abandon a mother who is suffering alone,” she said. “We should always open a door for them because God will go the extra step and will open thousands. We will keep opening doors and touching hearts so that these children can continue to be born.”
Ricardo Manriquez, of Holy Family Church in Artesia, has been involved in pro-life ministries with his wife and was concerned about the prevalence of euthanasia in our society.
“Everyone deserves dignity, from the conception of life to the end of life and everything in between,” Manriquez said. “When God takes them, it’s their time. We don’t believe in injections or any type of things they have out there now to assist in an early death.”
(Victor Alemán)
Zulema and Fernando Flores attended One Life LA for the first time this year, along with their 5-month-old daughter, Eden Marie.
The couple, parishioners at St. Didacus Church in Sylmar, say they suffered six miscarriages over 15 years and were “overjoyed” to be able to participate in this year’s event with their baby girl.
“We are so grateful to God that we have her, so we just want to be here to support life,” Zulema Flores said.
Wendy McGrail attends annually representing St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Temple City and was inspired by the testimonies from fire survivors.
“It’s one thing to read about them in the news, but it’s another to hear about them in person,” McGrail said. “The family where Our Blessed Mother was still standing after the fire, that was their witness to life.”
Anna Serrano came with family members, all wearing matching T-shirts for their parish, Holy Name of Jesus Church in Redlands. Serrano was encouraged by the spirit of solidarity displayed at the 2025 OneLife LA event.
“Sometimes as a Catholic in this world, you think you’re alone,” she said. “So being able to come here and see all these people support your beliefs is really beautiful.”
Those who wish to donate to help fire victims can visit angelusnews.com/howtohelp or text “WILDFIRE” to 213-786-6908.
All of creation is fallen and defiled by sin, thus all of creation requires cleansing, which requires repentance, the Ukrainian primate said in his homily on the eve of Theophany.
The great prophet St. John the Baptist preached repentance and thereby prepared the people to receive the Messiah. The baptism that he performed served as a sign of the people’s repentance, His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine explained, reports the Information-Education Department of the UOC.
The Metropolitan preached:
Many different people came to John the Baptist. Pharisees and scribes came… Simple people came to be baptized, as well as soldiers. And they asked what repentance means. And he said that soldiers shouldn’t slander anyone and should be content with their wages. The prophet also said that whoever has two garments should give one to the poor, and whoever has abundant food should do the same. This is how he taught what repentance is. Repentance isn’t just words, but deeds. When a man did something wrong but instead begins to do good—this is the fruit of repentance.
The archpastor explained that according to Tradition, just before their immersion in the water, people would confess their sins to the Baptist. But when the time came and the Lord Jesus Christ entered the waters of Jordan, the Forerunner immersed Him in water immediately, because the Savior had no sins; He came to be baptized not for repentance, but to “fulfill all righteousness.”
His Beatitude also spoke about the significance of holy water:
In honor of the Baptism that the Lord received from St. John, today the holy Church celebrates the Great Blessing of Water. Holy Theophany water has great power. It drives demons away from people. It cleanses us from the filth of flesh and spirit. And it’s necessary for everyone to drink this water themselves, bring it home and, if possible, invite a priest to read a prayer and sprinkle the dwelling with holy water.
“Everything needs cleansing,” Met. Onuphry continued, “Our sins defile everything: ourselves and everything around us, where we live and what surrounds us. And holy water cleanses and sanctifies what we defile with sin, because every creation needs the grace of the Holy Spirit.”
In conclusion, the Ukrainian primate wished the faithful to lead their earthly life worthily and bear fruits of repentance, so that we might be filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit in this age and be deemed worthy of salvation in the future age.
The Vatican laid down some guidelines for how Catholics could receive the plenary indulgences announced by Pope Francis as part of the 2025 Jubilee Year:
Go to confession and get those sins forgiven.
Go to Mass and receive Communion.
Truly repent. Pledge to be detached, with God’s help, from all sin.
Pray an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be for the intentions of the Holy Father.
Once those first requirements are filled, do one of the indulgences devotions suggested by the pope, including:
Make a pilgrimage to one of the designated churches in Rome or elsewhere. (Many are in Italy and the Holy Land, but the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., was the only national site designated by U.S. bishops.)
Perform an extraordinary work of mercy — give a generous gift to the poor, or visit a nursing home or prison.
Participate in local devotions or visit a local cathedral, shrine, or other special church designated by your bishop for obtaining the Jubilee indulgence.
Fast at least one day a week from “futile distractions” such as social media, TV, video games, or entertainment apps.
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