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Pope Francis appoints Montana priest as coadjutor bishop of Great Falls-Billings diocese

April 19, 2022 Catholic News Agency 0
A bishop’s pectoral cross. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA.

Vatican City, Apr 19, 2022 / 04:50 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has named a priest of Helena, Mont., Father Jeffrey Fleming, coadjutor bishop of the state’s other diocese, Great Falls-Billings.

Fleming, 56, has been Chancellor and moderator of the Curia of western Montana’s Diocese of Helena since 2020. He has been a priest of the diocese for almost 30 years.

As coadjutor bishop, Fleming will serve alongside the current bishop of Great Falls-Billings, Michael Warfel, and will automatically succeed him upon his resignation.

Warfel, 73, has led the eastern Montana diocese since January 2008.

The Diocese of Great Falls-Billings covers over 93,000 square miles, the eastern two-thirds of Montana. It has 50 parishes and serves 31,813 Catholics. The total population of the diocese is 427,358.

Coadjutor bishop-elect Fleming was born in Billings, Mont. in 1966. He studied religious education and theology at Carroll College in Helena and completed his priestly studies at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon, where he also received a master’s degree in theology.

He holds a license in canon law from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

In his nearly 30 years as a priest, Fleming has been parochial vicar and pastor at various parishes in the Diocese of Helena. He was also director of campus ministry at Carroll College.

In addition to his duties as chancellor of the diocese, since March, Fleming also serves as pastor of St. Mary Catholic Community in Helena.

[…]

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Pope Francis: ‘Come out of the tomb of fear’

April 18, 2022 Catholic News Agency 2
Pope Francis led the “Regina Caeli” on Monday, April 18, 2022, at St. Peter’s Square. / Daniel Ibáñez | CNA

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 18, 2022 / 10:40 am (CNA).

Fear is like a tomb that can “bury us,” Pope Francis said Monday, but the Risen Lord’s words to the women who were the first to announce his resurrection apply to us, as well: “Be not afraid.”

Jesus knows that “our fears are our daily enemies” and that “our fears hide from the great fear, that of death: fear of fading away, or losing loved ones, of being sick, of not being able to cope further,” the pope said.

But Easter marks the day that Jesus conquered death, he added, “so no one else can tell us in a more convincing way: ‘Do not be afraid.’”

Pope Francis led the "Regina Caeli" on Monday, April 18, 2022, at St. Peter's Square. Daniel Ibáñez | CNA
Pope Francis led the “Regina Caeli” on Monday, April 18, 2022, at St. Peter’s Square. Daniel Ibáñez | CNA

Pope Francis spoke Monday afternoon to a large crowd in St. Peter’s Square on La Pasquetta, or “Little Easter,” a national holiday in Italy. The day’s Gospel reading, from the twenty-eighth chapter of Matthew, records how Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary” encounter Jesus while running to bring the news of his rising to his disciples.

“Brother, sister, who believe in Christ, do not be afraid! Jesus says: ‘I tasted death for you, I took your pain upon myself. Now I have risen to tell you: I am here with you forever. Do not be afraid!'” Pope Francis said.

The Holy Father noted that the Lord gives the women another instruction: “Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Fear “closes us in on ourselves,” the pope said, but we can overcome fear by answering Jesus’ call to proclaim the resurrection to others.

Pope Francis led the “Regina Caeli" on Monday, April 18, 2022, at St. Peter's Square. Daniel Ibáñez | CNA
Pope Francis led the “Regina Caeli” on Monday, April 18, 2022, at St. Peter’s Square. Daniel Ibáñez | CNA

We may doubt our ability to share that news, but it is important to note that “the women were not perhaps the most suitable and prepared to proclaim the resurrection” either, the pope said. Nevertheless, “that did not matter to the Lord.”

Jesus cares only that “we go forth and proclaim … because the Easter joy is not to be kept to oneself,” he said. 

“The joy of Christ is strengthened by giving it, it multiplies sharing it,” Pope Francis added. “If we open ourselves and bear the Gospel, our hearts will open and overcome fear. This is the secret: We proclaim and overcome fear.”

In addition to fear, there is another obstacle to sharing the Gospel, the pope noted: falsehood.

Falsehood can be seen in the “counter-proclamation” of the soldiers who guarded the tomb and lied saying that Jesus’s body was stolen by his disciples, the pope said.

“The Gospel says [the guards] were paid ‘a sum of money,’ a good sum, and received these instructions: ‘Tell people, “His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep”’’” Pope Francis said.

But there is a contradiction: If the soldiers were sleeping, how did they see the disciples steal Jesus’ body? The payment they received explains their contrived narrative. Money is “the other lord that Jesus says we must never serve,” the pope said.

“Before the Risen Lord, there is another ‘god’ – the god of money that dirties and ruins everything, that closes the door to salvation,” Pope Francis said. “This is present everywhere in daily life with the temptation to adore the god of money.”

Pope Francis said that when deceit and lies are discovered by the media within the lives of people, it causes scandal. 

“But let us give a name also to the obscurity and falsehoods we have in ourselves! And let us place our own darkness and falsehoods before the light of the Risen Jesus,” he said. 

Jesus wants to “bring hidden things to light to make us transparent and luminous witnesses to the joy of the Gospel, of the truth that will make you free,” he said. 

He then asked “Mary, Mother of the Risen One,” to “help us overcome our fears and give us passion for the truth.”

[…]

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Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Square for Easter 2022

April 17, 2022 Catholic News Agency 1
Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Square for Easter 2022 / Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, Apr 17, 2022 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Sunday celebrated Easter Mass for around 50,000 people in St. Peter’s Square — the first Easter Mass with the public after two years of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

On a sunny and windy morning in Rome, Pope Francis also participated in the “Resurrexit,” an ancient rite honoring an icon of the Holy Savior.

Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. Peter's Square for Easter 2022. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Square for Easter 2022. Daniel Ibanez/CNA

The ritual sequence, sung in Latin, recalls how the apostle Peter, of whom the pope is the successor, was one of the first witnesses to Christ’s resurrection, after St. Mary Magdalene.

While the “Resurrexit” was sung, deacons opened the panels of the icon of the Holy Savior next to the altar.

Pope Francis then sprinkled holy water before proceeding with the rest of Mass.

Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. Peter's Square for Easter 2022. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Square for Easter 2022. Daniel Ibanez/CNA

For Easter 2022, the Vatican’s altar was decorated with flowers from the Netherlands, the continuation of a 37-year tradition.

Pope Francis concelebrated the Easter Sunday Mass with 280 priests, 25 bishops, and 23 cardinals. Students from the North American College Seminary in Rome were ministers at the pope’s Mass.

The Gospel reading, John 20:1-9, was proclaimed in Latin and Greek. The passage recounts the moment in which Mary Magdalene and the apostles Peter and John found the empty tomb after Jesus’ resurrection.

Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. Peter's Square for Easter 2022. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Square for Easter 2022. Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Instead of giving a homily after the Gospel, following a custom of the last few years, Pope Francis kept a silence of several minutes for prayer and reflection.

After the Mass, he greeted the crowds in St. Peter’s Square and the street outside from the Popemobile, before going to the Hall of Blessings.

[…]