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Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz, prelate of Opus Dei, in Rome. / Credit: Courtesy of Opus Dei/Flickr

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 24, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).

The Catholic personal prelature Opus Dei has significantly reduced the scope of its two-week general congress that began this week due to the death of Pope Francis two days before the assembly’s scheduled start date.

Opus Dei had planned to revise its statutes to conform them to Pope Francis’ motu proprio Ad Charisma Tuendum. Essentially, the pontiff’s directive subjected Opus Dei to the leadership of the Dicastery for the Clergy rather than the Dicastery for Bishops and ended the practice of elevating the prelate of Opus Dei to the role of a bishop.

The pope had also directed Opus Dei to revise its statutes to reflect this new structure, which was meant to be accomplished during the general congress. The revision would have then been submitted to the Holy See for approval after its adoption by the general congress.

Monsignor Fernando Ocáriz, the prelate of Opus Dei, announced on April 21 that those statute revisions will be delayed and the general congress will only focus on the administrative tasks of renewing positions in the general council and the central advisory, which are appointed or renewed every eight years.

“The other questions that were to be dealt with at the congress … will be studied later,” Ocáriz said in a statement. “Now is a time of mourning, prayer, and unity with the whole Church.”

Ocáriz wrote that he decided not to delay the renewal of those positions because many of the participants had already arrived in Rome. Yet, it will be “reduced to the minimum necessary.”

“Let us take advantage of these days to live in communion with the whole Church during the mourning and funeral rites for the Holy Father,” Ocáriz said. 

In addition, Ocáriz issued a separate statement to commemorate the life and the papacy of Francis, saying: “In these moments of sorrow, together with the whole Church, we address our prayers to the Lord for the soul of our beloved Pope Francis.”

“The pope had great faith in the mercy of God and one of the main orientations of his pontificate has been precisely to announce it to the men and women of today,” he added. “By his example, he urged us to accept and experience God’s mercy, who never tires of forgiving us; and, on the other hand, to be merciful to others, as he tirelessly was himself, with so many gestures of tenderness that are a central part of his witnessing magisterium.”

Opus Dei had also planned to study ways to further their apostolic work in light of the conclusions of regional assemblies, but this will also be postponed.

As he does one day each month, the Rev. Robert Turner hit the road from his home in Baltimore last week and traveled — on foot — 43 miles (69 kilometers) to Washington.

He arrived by evening on April 16 outside the White House, carrying a sign that called for for “Reparations Now.”

This time, Turner added another stop on his long day’s journey — the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Turner knelt in prayer and laid a wreath at the entrance of the museum in support of its mission, which incurred President Donald Trump’s criticism alongside other Smithsonian Institution sites. In a March 27 executive order, Trump alleged that Smithsonian exhibits had disparaged the nation’s history via a “divisive, race-centered ideology.”

Turner wanted to show support for the museum, which opened in 2016 and received its 10 millionth visitor in 2023. The museum tells the history of chattel slavery, Jim Crow segregation and its lingering effects, but it also highlights the determination, successes and contributions of Black Americans and Black institutions.

“I laid my wreath down there to show solidarity with the museum and the history that they present every day,” said Turner, pastor of Empowerment Temple African Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore.

He said his church has committed to becoming a museum member, and he’s encouraged church members to do the same. Membership costs start at $25 per year, according to an online form on the museum site.

His church is not alone, as other predominantly Black congregations are taking similar steps.

Clergy calls for support

Turner said he got the idea from the Rev. Otis Moss III of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, whose church also joined the museum and who urged members to do the same. “For only $25 a year, you can protect Black history,” Moss told his church.

Two other Black pastors told The Associated Press they also supported the effort.

One was the Rev. Jacqui J. Lewis, senior minister at Middle Church in New York City — home to a multiracial congregation affiliated with the United Church of Christ.

“We belonged to the museum since its opening, and we just made another donation to them in light of this administration’s policies,” she told the AP. The gift, she said, was a $1,000 “Easter Love donation.”

Bishop Timothy Clarke of the First Church of God in Columbus, Ohio, said he would be emulating Moss in making an appeal to his predominantly African American congregation.

“Our grandson is in DC on a field trip,” Clarke said in an email. “The highlight of his trip has been the visit to the Museum.”

Trump’s order didn’t specifically talk about budget cuts, though it tasked Vice President JD Vance, a member of the Smithsonian Board of Regents by virtue of his office, to lead the effort to purge “improper ideology” from such institutions. He pledged to “restore the Smithsonian Institution to its rightful place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness.” Critics say he’s trying to force a distorted national narrative that glosses over slavery and other historical wrongs.

Pastor marching for reparations

Turner said he has been making his walk to Washington one day for each of the past 31 months. He’s calling for the U.S. to make reparations for the legacy of slavery, Jim Crow segregation and other systemic suffering inflicted on Black people, ranging from housing and medical discrimination to mass incarceration. When he was previously a pastor in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he similarly demonstrated for reparations for the 1921 race massacre.

Turner said when he arrived last week outside the White House, a crowd of visitors was milling about, and one child who noticed his sign asked a parent, “What is reparations?”

“That to me is a perfect manifestation about why we need to be teaching more true history of America, and not taking away certain subjects because they make people feel uncomfortable,” Turner said.

Moss, in a social media post, held out hope that the museum could continue its current course, noting that Vance is just one member of the board.

Trinity has long been socially active with a wide array of community outreaches, and Moss describes it as “a church that is unashamedly Black and unapologetically Christian.”

Former President Barack Obama had been a member of Trinity but resigned during the 2008 campaign, citing the “divisive” statements of its previous pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, while affirming the Black Church tradition of speaking out against injustice.

Democrats criticize executive order

The African American museum, one of 21 Smithsonian museums, has also seen a recent shake-up in leadership. Shanita Beckett, who was previously the head of operations at the museum, has been widely reported to be serving as interim director.

Kevin Young, a poet and scholar of African American history, left his role as museum director in early April, following a leave of absence, according to a notice to staff. The museum did not return the AP’s requests for comment this week.

On Friday, Democrats on the House Administration Committee, which has oversight over the Smithsonian Institution, expressed concern over the executive order in a letter addressed to Vance.

“This flagrant attempt to erase Black history is unacceptable and must be stopped,” said the letter signed by Reps. Joseph Morelle of New York, Terri Sewell of Alabama and Norma Torres of California.

“The attempt to paper over elements of American history is both cowardly and unpatriotic,” the letter said.

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Associated Press writers David Crary and Aaron Morrison contributed to this report.

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Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

From recovering the dead at Kibbutz Be'eri to healing survivors of Oct 7, Israeli artist Tomer Peretz is creating room for raw truth.

The post Print Issue: Tomer Peretz Goes All In | April 25, 2025 appeared first on Jewish Journal.

ATLANTA (AP) — The pastor of a Georgia megachurch who led a nationwide 40-day “fast” boycott of Target stores over the retail chain’s commitment to diversity initiatives is now calling for that effort to continue as a “full Target boycott.”

The Rev. Jamal Bryant said this week that the Minneapolis-based retailer has not met all of the boycott effort’s demands. Among them: Restoring its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion principles and pledging money to Black-owned banks and businesses.

Target announced in January that it would phase out a handful of DEI initiatives, including a program designed to help Black employees build meaningful careers and promote Black-owned businesses. Conservative activists and President Donald Trump have sought to dismantle DEI policies in the federal government and schools.

Bryant is the pastor of one of the South’s largest churches, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, just outside Atlanta. The 40-day “fast” of Target stores coincided with the beginning of Lent on March 5, and other faith leaders endorsed the protest.

“Until Target comes to the table with serious, concrete proposals to meet our four demands, we will remain in this posture,” Bryant said on a website dedicated to the boycott effort.

“Silence and delay are no longer acceptable,” he added. “Our communities deserve action, not platitudes. Our demands are not radical — they are righteous, reasonable, and long overdue.”

In a statement Wednesday, Target said, “we have an ongoing commitment to creating a welcoming environment for all team members, guests, and suppliers.”

“It’s core to how we support and grow our business,” the company said. “We remain focused on supporting organizations and creating opportunities for people in the 2,000 communities where we live and operate.”

Target operates nearly 2,000 stores nationwide and employs more than 400,000 people.

Pope Francis meets with inmates in a surprise visit to the Regina Coeli prison on Holy Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Rome. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 24, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Prisoners always held a special place in Pope Francis’ heart, and he demonstrated his love for them throughout his pontificate.

He visited them in the various countries he traveled to and even, for the Jubilee of Hope, decided to open a Holy Door himself at the Rebibbia prison for the first time in history.

During his first Holy Week after being elected pontiff in 2013, he went to the prison to wash the prisoners’ feet, a gesture he repeated every year until his final Holy Thursday, four days before his death.

On April 17, the ailing pontiff visited the prisoners at Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven) prison near the Vatican, a testament to his tireless defense of human dignity and his predilection for castoffs.

Father Raffaele Grimaldi, who oversees the work of Italian prison chaplains, emphasized in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, that the initiative by the Holy Father is a sign that “his attention to the least and the poor was evident until his very last day.”

Pope Francis passes this task to us

“When he went to Regina Coeli, a few days before returning to the Father’s House, he wanted to leave us with a great message of ministering to the incarcerated,” he noted.

As Grimaldi sees it, “Pope Francis left this earthly world, passing on to us a task: to continue his work alongside the imprisoned.” 

Despite his poor health, the Holy Father met with 70 prisoners at the onset of the Easter Triduum. During the encounter, the pontiff explained the reason for his visit, linked to Holy Thursday and the traditional act of washing feet: “I like to do every year what Jesus did on Holy Thursday, the washing of feet, in prison.”

“This year I can’t do it, but I can and do want to be close to you. I pray for you and your families,” the pontiff told the prisoners in a weak voice.

After a moment of prayer, Pope Francis personally greeted each of the inmates and blessed them individually.

Grimaldi noted that each prisoner has a story to share: “Stories of suffering, of loneliness, of abandonment, but also a story of sin.”

“Pope Francis, when he washed feet on Holy Thursday in various Italian prisons over the years, wanted to make it understood that, [kneeling] in front of their feet, he had no prejudice, not even toward those who had committed serious crimes. Thus, the detainee feels accepted, without being judged; he feels uplifted by the pope’s words and gestures,” he added.

‘Why them and not me?’

Upon leaving prison last Holy Thursday, Pope Francis recalled the question that arose within him every time he visited a penitentiary: “Why them and not me?”

Grimaldi recalled that, during his encounters with inmates, “he frequently repeated this expression in order to say that within our penitentiary institutions there are also innocent people.”

“Because you can easily end up in prison,” the priest noted, “because you were convicted by human beings, which can also be an erroneous conviction by human beings who can make mistakes.”

“He planted a seed, and his message must be carried forward,” Grimaldi said.

I grew up in a church that made me deathly afraid of the wrath of God—but soon outgrew that fear. Lately, though, the fear of God has begun to seem...

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