I have been very struck by the address that Pope Francis gave on Easter Monday just before he prayed the Regina Caeli in the Library of the Vatican Apostolic Palace. As we are still in the Easter season for a few more weeks, I wanted us to have an opportunity to review his words again today.
Wilton Cardinal Gregory, Archbishop of Washington, celebrated a noon Mass on April 21 which was live streamed online in observance of April as National Child Sexual Abuse and Sexual Assault Prevention Month. Cardinal Gregory encourages us that “[a]s we work together to bring this darkness in our community to light, let us continue to embrace those who are suffering with such pain and respond in a way that supports healing, comfort and peace.”
I was reading a report from the Vatican News Service about recent developments in Haiti. Five Haitian and two French religious, as well as three laypersons, were kidnapped in Haiti on Sunday, April 11, as they were preparing to attend a ceremony for the installation of a new parish priest in the municipality of Croix-des-Bouquet, northeast of Haiti’s capital. Reports indicate that the kidnappers, suspected to have been part of an armed gang, have demanded a ransom for the release of the people in their custody. The local bishop, the Most Reverend Pierre-André Dumas of Mirogoâne, made the following comment after learning of the kidnapping, “This is too much. The time has come for these inhumane acts to stop.” The Haitian Conference of Religious (HCR) has expressed its deep sorrow, but also its anger at the situation. HCR noted that this kind of illegal activity has been going on for over a decade.
Today is the Second Sunday of Easter and also Divine Mercy Sunday. The feast of Divine Mercy is based on the devotion to the Divine Mercy that Saint Faustina Kowalska reported as part of her encounter with Jesus.