Robert W. McElroy, Archbishop of San Diego speaks with participants through the fence during the 23rd Posada Sin Fronteras where worshipers gather on both sides of the US-Mexican border fence for a Christmas celebration, at Friendship Park and Playas de Tijuana in San Ysidro, California on December 10, 2016. / Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images.
Denver Newsroom, May 29, 2022 / 13:50 pm (CNA).
Archbishops José Gomez of Los Angeles and Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco both welcomed the announcement Sunday that Bishop Robert McElroy of San Diego is to become a cardinal.
“By naming Bishop Robert McElroy as a cardinal, Pope Francis has shown his pastoral care for the Church in the United States. I have known and have had the privilege of working with Cardinal-designate McElroy for many years,” Gomez said May 29.
“As brother bishops, we’ve worked together on many issues and initiatives in service to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, as well as the California Catholic Conference. His strong faith and the pastoral concern for the faithful he has shown in his diocese will serve the global Church well. Please join me in praying for the continued ministry of Bishop McElroy.”
Cordileone noted that McElroy “is a native San Franciscan” and said, “We send congratulations to Cardinal-elect McElroy.”
Pope Francis said announced he will create 21 cardinals at a consistory to be held Aug. 27. Of the 21, 16 will be cardinal electors.
McElroy, 68, was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of San Francisco in 1980. He appointed auxiliary bishop of the same see, and consecrated, in 2010. He has been Bishop of San Diego since 2015.
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Diane Mahoney’s original composition “We Do Believe, O Lord” has been selected as the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress’ official theme song. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Diane Mahoney
CNA Staff, Nov 13, 2023 / 13:30 pm (CNA).
Sheet music was made available online last week for the official hymns of the upcoming National Eucharistic Revival, which were chosen from among hundreds of entries in a contest last summer.
“The goal of this contest was to give voice to the truths of our faith in a way that only music can, inviting us to participate more deeply in the reality of the miracle present before us,” the National Eucharistic Revival announced in a Nov. 6 blog post, noting that the sheet music is free to download and use.
“Please share this with your parish’s music director and any musicians you know. We look forward to hearing these beautiful hymns in parishes throughout the country in the coming months!”
The National Eucharistic Revival is the U.S. bishops’ three-year initiative to inspire belief in and reverence for the Eucharist. The decision to embark on the initiative followed a 2019 Pew Research study that suggested only about one-third of U.S. Catholics believe the Church’s teaching that the Eucharist is truly the body and blood of Jesus Christ. As part of the revival, a National Eucharistic Congress will be held July 17–21, 2024, and is expected to draw at least 80,000 Catholics to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
The winning hymn and theme song, which were chosen from among some 177 entries, were announced in August. Composers Diane Mahoney and Kathleen Pluth both earned a cash prize of $2,500 and the opportunity to have their compositions professionally performed and recorded in both English and Spanish.
Kathleen Pluth has been writing hymns for 20 years. Her hymn, “Let the Earth Acclaim Christ Jesus” has been selected as the official hymn for the Eucharistic Congress to be held July 17–21, 2024 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Credit: Photo courtesy of Kathleen Pluth
Entries were evaluated, the organizers say, on such criteria as poetry, musicality, creativity, theological and doctrinal soundness, beauty, appropriateness for liturgical use, and expression of the mission of the National Eucharistic Revival. Father Dustin Dought, associate director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Divine Worship, served as the nonvoting chairperson of the committee of judges.
Mahoney’s original composition, “We Do Believe, O Lord,” was selected as the Congress’ official theme song and is “appropriate to be sung at Mass, adoration, and any other gathering of Catholics where music might be used,” the organizers said.
Mahoney, a longtime church organist and occasional composer, told CNA in August that she entered the contest with “very little hope” that she’d actually win but with an openness to God’s will. She said her song is based on the passage from Mark’s Gospel in which a man tells Jesus: “I do believe. Please help my unbelief.”
Mahoney said she has wanted for years to use that passage in a Communion setting because, she said, receiving the body of Christ can help people recover their belief in him.
“I wanted it to be strong, something you would sing as you’re processing to Communion,” she told CNA.
The winning entry in the hymn category was “Let the Earth Acclaim Christ Jesus,” written by Kathleen Pluth. Her prizewinning lyrics were originally set to the 19th-century tune known as “Hyfrydol,” which many churchgoers will recognize better as the tune to “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus” or “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.”
In addition, the National Eucharistic Revival shared sheet music with the “versatile” lyrics set to the tune known as “Nettleton” — which Massgoers will recognize from the hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” — and also to the famous “Ode to Joy” tune by Beethoven.
Pluth, who has a licentiate in sacred theology, told CNA in August that she sought to use her theological knowledge to write deep meaning into the lyrics that will hopefully help the hymn to stand the test of time.
“I have a theology background, so maybe this is biased, but I feel that the more doctrine, the more Scripture, the more of these kinds of basic but deep truths of our religion can be worked into hymns, the better,” Pluth said.
“And I think when we look back and see which hymns have had staying power over the centuries, they have this rich doctrine.”
Links to download the sheet music, available in English and Spanish for both compositions, can be found at the National Eucharistic Revival’s blog post.
Alasdair MacIntyre in March 2009. / Credit: Sean O’Connor/Flickr via Wikimedia (CC BY 2.0)
CNA Staff, May 23, 2025 / 16:30 pm (CNA).
Alasdair MacIntyre, a towering figure in moral philosophy and a Catholic convert credited with reviving the dis… […]
Portland, Maine, May 31, 2018 / 04:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After the Maine Council of Churches changed its decision-making process earlier this year, the Bishop of Portland was forced to withdraw from the group, the Portland Press-Herald reported Tuesday.
The council had previously required unanimous agreement before advocating on a public policy issue, but in February adopted a simple majority vote. This meant that continued membership in the group could have forced the Diocese of Portland to be represented by views at odds with Catholic teaching.
“As the Bishop of the Diocese I find this unfortunate, but I see no alternative. Our continuing participation could result in me advocating for two different, and even contradictory, positions,” Bishop Deeley wrote, according to the Press-Herald.
“What I advocate for cannot be simply determined by a majority vote. It is expected that my advocacy is grounded in the teachings of the Church. Any other position would be contrary to my responsibility as the bishop of Portland.”
The bishop added that “As we do with the many activities of our parish communities and, of course, the tremendous good done by Catholic Charities, we will be working to serve the needs of the poor, the disadvantaged and the migrants among us, and keep before the people of our state the need to serve the common good through our care for one another.”
The members of the Maine Council of Churches, found in 1938, “act as one voice to advocate for the disenfranchised, the downtrodden and the protection of God’s creation,” according to the organization’s website.
The Maine Council of Churches currently says it has seven member denominations: Episcopal, Unitarian Universalist, United Church of Christ, United Methodist, Presbyterian Church (USA), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the Quakers.
The Diocese of Portland had joined the council in 1982. The Press-Herald reported that its membership will officially end June 30.
Jane Field, executive director of the Maine Council of Churches, told the Portland Press-Herald that the decision to change the council’s decision-making process came amid disagreements over LBGTQ issues. Field is a minister at a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.
During debates over same-sex marriage, the council would not take a stand, “in order to keep everyone at the table,” she said. “When it came to certain areas, in particular issues affecting the LGBTQ community, they would invoke this practice (of staying silent)”.
In a March 14 letter to the editor in the Portland Press-Herald, Field wrote, in her capacity as executive director of the Maine Council of Churches, that “Sexual orientation and gender identity are a gift from God – not a condition that needs treatment, not a choice that needs conversion, not something broken that needs repair.”
Field said there is a “deep sadness” over the Portland diocese’s decision to leave the council, “but at the same time, I feel the council still has a vital role to play in the state. I believe we will find ourselves side by side with the diocese on certain issues like hunger and human trafficking.”
The Catholic Church is the largest religious institution in the state. In 2010, the Diocese of Portland included 203,000 persons, while there were nearly 94,000 mainline Protestants in Maine.
Sure. Gomez and Cordileone get to “congratulate” McElroy. Gimme a break.