St. Maria Goretti Parish

In a telegram, Pope Leo XIV offers his condolences for the passing of Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, Archbishop Emeritus of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

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Pope Leo encourages the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and the Sisters of Our Lady of Apostles to continue their mission in difficult regions across the globe and amongst those most in need.

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As the Church observes the First Sunday of Lent, Fr Luke Gregory reflects on the theme, "Strength in Temptation: The Wilderness Experience."

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Students, residents, and civic and religious authorities remember the Allied air raid of February 10, 1944, which claimed the lives of more than 500 people who had taken refuge inside the papal residence.

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In a message sent to Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, Pope Leo XIV sends greetings to the 70th Los Angeles Religious Education Congress taking place in Anaheim in the US state of California and reiterates that "deepening your relationship with Jesus and being faithful and joyful disciples" makes religious education teachers authentic and effective.

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WASHINGTON - Newly released details show how the Administration plans to double federal immigration detention capacity, spending an estimated $38.3 billion from last year’s reconciliation bill to implement a new detention model by the end of Fiscal Year 2026. This amounts to nearly fifty times the annual budget for the entire immigration court system and almost five times the funding provided this year to operate the federal prison system. The plan partly entails opening eight “mega‑centers,” each of which would be capable of detaining 7,000 to 10,000 people. Aside from the internment camps used to incarcerate Japanese Americans in the 1940s, such facilities have no precedent in American history.

In response, Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration, urged the Administration and Congress to pursue a more just approach:

“These plans are deeply troubling. The federal government does not have a positive track record when it comes to detaining large numbers of people, especially families, and the proposed scale of these facilities is difficult to comprehend. The private prison industry is who stands to gain the most from this supercharging of immigration detention. 

“Last November, my brother bishops and I unequivocally opposed the indiscriminate mass deportation of people and raised concerns about existing conditions in detention centers. We specifically highlighted a lack of access to pastoral care for detainees. On many occasions, we have also opposed the expansion of family detention, recognizing its harmful impacts on children in particular. 

“The thought of holding thousands of families in massive warehouses should challenge the conscience of every American. Whatever their immigration status, these are human beings created in the image and likeness of God, and this is a moral inflection point for our country. We implore the Administration and Congress to lead with right reason, abandon this misuse of taxpayer funds, and to instead pursue a more just approach to immigration enforcement that truly respects human dignity, the sanctity of families, and religious liberty.”

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St. Peter’s Basilica is inaugurating a new Way of the Cross on Friday afternoon. The Via Crucis created by the young Swiss artist Manuel Andreas Dürr who was selected following an international competition that received over a thousand submissions.

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An international symposium gathers scholars and practitioners to reflect on the transformative impact of digital media on religion and culture across Southeast Asia.

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Pope Leo XIV answers four questions from priests of the Diocese of Rome and gives wide-ranging responses touching on spiritual guidance, indications for ministry and pastoral work, the internet and more.

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In its message for the month of Ramadan, the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue highlights this year’s overlap with Lent, expressing hope that the two holy periods might “become a catalyst for a renewed world, where the weapons of war give way to the courage of peace.”

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