Laura Keener
Editor
Announced in June 2024 by Bishop John Iffert, the Diocese of Covington, as part of its pastoral plan, has embarked on a three-year Campaign of Mercy. In year one, parishioners are asked to identify and make a corporal or spiritual work of mercy their own, incorporating that work of mercy into their life through service to others. In year two, the work of evangelization begins by inviting another Catholic person who is not active in the life of the Church to join in that work of mercy. Finally, in year three, the ask to join in that service work is extended to someone who is unchurched, eventually with an invitation to praying together.
In support of the Campaign of Mercy, each month the Messenger has been highlighting a corporal or spiritual work of mercy and ways to connect to that work through service with either a diocesan or local social service organization, a parish group or as an individual. This month the highlighted work of mercy is bearing wrongs patiently.
Bearing wrongs patiently is not an acceptance of injustice or hurts, but a realization that change is slow and requires prayer and persistence. It is also an invitation to healing and forgiveness, two other processes that require time. Project Rachel, a ministry of the Diocese of Covington, welcomes women who have had an abortion to experience God’s healing mercy and forgiveness.
After decades of carrying the guilt of an abortion, one woman began the process of reconciliation and healing as she was preparing to the enter the Church through RCIA. After entering the Church, she learned of Project Rachel from a witness talk during Christ Renews His Parish.
That witness, “was my catalyst to make the call,” she said about finding the courage to join a Project Rachel series. Due to the sensitive nature of abortion and out respect for the confidentiality of the Project Rachel program, the Messenger agreed not to identify the woman who was interviewed for this article.
Project Rachel is a confidential, 8-session program for women of all, or no, faiths. Project Rachel is a listening and sharing ministry consisting of two leaders — one woman who has had an abortion and one woman who has not — and just a few new participants. To facilitate the process of healing, women are encouraged to share their story, but no one is coerced to share or do anything that makes them uncomfortable. The program is offered through the Diocese’s Pro-Life Office at no cost to participants.
“It’s extremely difficult to make the call,” she said. “Statistically, women will have many touches before they’re ready or are able to talk about their abortion with someone else. If someone is sharing that experience with you, it’s so important to be empathetic and to listen to them and to encourage them. We know of Jesus’s promise to us that we’re forgiven, but oftentimes it’s them forgiving themselves that’s impossible,” she said.
In addition to being a mentor for Project Rachel, the woman interviewed also works at a local pregnancy care center helping vulnerable or abortion-minded women to take the time to recover from the shock of learning of an intended pregnancy and encouraging them to choose life for their baby. According to statistics provided by the Guttmacher Institute, one in four women will have an abortion during their lifetime. Also, from the Guttmacher Institute, in 2020, 42 percent of abortion patients reported having a prior abortion. For these women coming into the pregnancy care center, she shares the healing she experienced through Project Rachel.
“I spoke to a woman today, her priest gave her the card with the number for Project Rachel and encouraged her to try to make that call,” she said. “For her, that was a step toward her being able to forgive herself; she’s willing to try. She’s suffering in that violence of abortion, but she is wanting healing. She’s willing to walk that walk with someone else, through the Church, through the healing power of Christ and with the Holy Spirit to get there.”
Abortion, she said, is the sin that never seems to go away. Reminders are everywhere — in the crosses of the Cemetery of the Innocents displayed at parishes, during homilies, at political marches and during political campaigns, in discussions at small prayer groups and sometimes among family members. What’s important to remember, she said, is that when talking about abortion, to be aware that at least one woman in the room has probably had an abortion and that it is of the greatest importance for her to hear that healing and forgiveness is available through the Church. If your conversation leads a woman to disclose her abortion to you, don’t be afraid of that conversation. And don’t be afraid to revisit the conversation later, discreetly of course.
“Be open to being able to have that conversation. Love the person in front of you as Jesus would, hear her story and be able to help get her to a place where she’s willing to seek healing. Help her, help guide her to that, it’s so important,” she said. “The Church has that healing and forgiveness and it’s readily available. Just make sure that those touches are out there.”
While she admits that the journey to healing is long, with many stops and starts along the way, bearing that hurt patiently doesn’t mean putting off seeking forgiveness or from encouraging someone to seek forgiveness.
“If someone has a person in their life that’s come to them or shared their story, don’t be afraid to talk with them. Don’t be afraid to bring it back up again,” she said. “It might cause tears, and you might be afraid of the pain. Don’t be. Don’t be afraid to check in with them and see where they are. Oftentimes they’re not going to make that call the first time, so don’t be afraid to follow up and check back in with them. Pray with them about making the decision to make the call and step into healing.”
When a private choice becomes a secret burden, reach out for help and healing after an abortion. Call the Project Rachel confidential phone number at (859) 392-1547.
For more information on the Campaign of Mercy visit www.covdio.org/mercy.
Project Rachel— walking with post-abortive women on the road to forgiveness
/in Campaign of MercyLaura Keener
Editor
Announced in June 2024 by Bishop John Iffert, the Diocese of Covington, as part of its pastoral plan, has embarked on a three-year Campaign of Mercy. In year one, parishioners are asked to identify and make a corporal or spiritual work of mercy their own, incorporating that work of mercy into their life through service to others. In year two, the work of evangelization begins by inviting another Catholic person who is not active in the life of the Church to join in that work of mercy. Finally, in year three, the ask to join in that service work is extended to someone who is unchurched, eventually with an invitation to praying together.
In support of the Campaign of Mercy, each month the Messenger has been highlighting a corporal or spiritual work of mercy and ways to connect to that work through service with either a diocesan or local social service organization, a parish group or as an individual. This month the highlighted work of mercy is bearing wrongs patiently.
Bearing wrongs patiently is not an acceptance of injustice or hurts, but a realization that change is slow and requires prayer and persistence. It is also an invitation to healing and forgiveness, two other processes that require time. Project Rachel, a ministry of the Diocese of Covington, welcomes women who have had an abortion to experience God’s healing mercy and forgiveness.
After decades of carrying the guilt of an abortion, one woman began the process of reconciliation and healing as she was preparing to the enter the Church through RCIA. After entering the Church, she learned of Project Rachel from a witness talk during Christ Renews His Parish.
That witness, “was my catalyst to make the call,” she said about finding the courage to join a Project Rachel series. Due to the sensitive nature of abortion and out respect for the confidentiality of the Project Rachel program, the Messenger agreed not to identify the woman who was interviewed for this article.
Project Rachel is a confidential, 8-session program for women of all, or no, faiths. Project Rachel is a listening and sharing ministry consisting of two leaders — one woman who has had an abortion and one woman who has not — and just a few new participants. To facilitate the process of healing, women are encouraged to share their story, but no one is coerced to share or do anything that makes them uncomfortable. The program is offered through the Diocese’s Pro-Life Office at no cost to participants.
“It’s extremely difficult to make the call,” she said. “Statistically, women will have many touches before they’re ready or are able to talk about their abortion with someone else. If someone is sharing that experience with you, it’s so important to be empathetic and to listen to them and to encourage them. We know of Jesus’s promise to us that we’re forgiven, but oftentimes it’s them forgiving themselves that’s impossible,” she said.
In addition to being a mentor for Project Rachel, the woman interviewed also works at a local pregnancy care center helping vulnerable or abortion-minded women to take the time to recover from the shock of learning of an intended pregnancy and encouraging them to choose life for their baby. According to statistics provided by the Guttmacher Institute, one in four women will have an abortion during their lifetime. Also, from the Guttmacher Institute, in 2020, 42 percent of abortion patients reported having a prior abortion. For these women coming into the pregnancy care center, she shares the healing she experienced through Project Rachel.
“I spoke to a woman today, her priest gave her the card with the number for Project Rachel and encouraged her to try to make that call,” she said. “For her, that was a step toward her being able to forgive herself; she’s willing to try. She’s suffering in that violence of abortion, but she is wanting healing. She’s willing to walk that walk with someone else, through the Church, through the healing power of Christ and with the Holy Spirit to get there.”
Abortion, she said, is the sin that never seems to go away. Reminders are everywhere — in the crosses of the Cemetery of the Innocents displayed at parishes, during homilies, at political marches and during political campaigns, in discussions at small prayer groups and sometimes among family members. What’s important to remember, she said, is that when talking about abortion, to be aware that at least one woman in the room has probably had an abortion and that it is of the greatest importance for her to hear that healing and forgiveness is available through the Church. If your conversation leads a woman to disclose her abortion to you, don’t be afraid of that conversation. And don’t be afraid to revisit the conversation later, discreetly of course.
“Be open to being able to have that conversation. Love the person in front of you as Jesus would, hear her story and be able to help get her to a place where she’s willing to seek healing. Help her, help guide her to that, it’s so important,” she said. “The Church has that healing and forgiveness and it’s readily available. Just make sure that those touches are out there.”
While she admits that the journey to healing is long, with many stops and starts along the way, bearing that hurt patiently doesn’t mean putting off seeking forgiveness or from encouraging someone to seek forgiveness.
“If someone has a person in their life that’s come to them or shared their story, don’t be afraid to talk with them. Don’t be afraid to bring it back up again,” she said. “It might cause tears, and you might be afraid of the pain. Don’t be. Don’t be afraid to check in with them and see where they are. Oftentimes they’re not going to make that call the first time, so don’t be afraid to follow up and check back in with them. Pray with them about making the decision to make the call and step into healing.”
When a private choice becomes a secret burden, reach out for help and healing after an abortion. Call the Project Rachel confidential phone number at (859) 392-1547.
For more information on the Campaign of Mercy visit www.covdio.org/mercy.
Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption updates digital tour, with North window in high def
/in Featured Stories, Jubilee 2025Maura Baker
Staff Writer
In 2010, Msgr. William Neuhaus, at time the rector of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington, published a 360-degree digital tour of the cathedral using panoramic photography. Now, more than 10 years later, the digital tour has been updated with new imagery of Covington’s iconic cathedral.
“I decided that with some of the recent enhancements and additions over the last 10 years that we re-conducted that tour,” said Father Ryan Maher, the cathedral’s present rector.
Father Maher said that part of the parish’s pastoral plan priorities is to “continue to be a welcoming community,” and the up-to-date tour serves as a “kind of way to welcome people virtually to the cathedral.”
The new tour was put together by Ron Rack Photography, out of Cincinnati, and features beautifully detailed and colorful photos of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption and many of its windows, artwork and features. Various buttons allow for easy navigation and allows visitors to see details they would otherwise not be able to view in person. Notably, the tour features a large-scale, high-definition image of the Cathedral’s North window that can be zoomed in upon.
The release of the updated tour also coincides timely with the jubilee, offering a pilgrimage option to the sick, incarcerated and those who otherwise cannot visit the pilgrimage site in person. For the purpose of obtaining indulgences, according to the Decree on the Granting of Indulgence during the Ordinary Jubilee Year 2025 called by His Holiness Pope Francis, 13.05.2024, “The faithful who are truly repentant of sin but who cannot participate in the various solemn celebrations, pilgrimages and pious visits for serious reasons (especially cloistered nuns and monks, but also the elderly, the sick, prisoners, and those who, through their work in hospitals or other care facilities, provide continuous service to the sick), can obtain the Jubilee Indulgence, under the same conditions if, united in spirit with the faithful taking part in person.” Digital spaces can serve as ways to help facilitate this relationship for those who cannot visit in person, with full information on obtaining an indulgence available online at www.usccb.org/jubilee2025 or at https://covdio.org/jubilee/.
Catholic Education sows the seeds of God’s word
/in Featured StoriesBella Bailey
Multimedia Correspondent
Catholic Schools Week is a long-standing tradition and national celebration of Catholic education. As a student, it means pajama days and pizza parties, as a teacher it means small tokens of appreciation. The highlight of the week is the annual Catholic Schools Week Mass, where students, faculty and staff from all Catholic schools in the Diocese gather and celebrate Catholic education with Bishop John Iffert and the Catholic Schools Office. From St. Patrick High School in Maysville, to Prince of Peace School in Covington, there were representatives from each school in attendance at the January 29 Mass.
In opening remarks from Kendra McGuire, superintendent of Schools, she said, “That is why we are here, to celebrate Catholic Schools Week as the same faith community. This is one week that we pause each year to appreciate the education where Jesus is the focus. A time to where we thank our parents, for sacrificing to send us to Catholic schools. To the principals and teachers, who work so hard to educate us. The volunteers, who give so much of their time, their talents and their treasures to ensure that we can walk with more and more students to learn about Jesus each day. To our priests, who walk with us each day inviting us to grow in our relationship with Jesus, especially in the sacraments.”
In his homily, Bishop Iffert recalled a story which took place over many decades. As a child he attended a summer camp, at this camp they took a hike to Packentuck waterfall. Bishop Iffert said that the hike to the waterfall was relatively easy the first time he went as there was a paved path. Upon his return year after year however, the pavement started to crack, roots begin to poke out of the pavement, and vegetation from the surrounding woods begin to encroach. Before long, Bishop Iffert said, the path was unrecognizable, life had grown and blossomed in a place where it was seemingly impossible.
“Those little cracks in the pavement, seed fell down there and lived and died and lived and died and broke open those little cracks and ford first sediment, then sand, then soil … 40 years after my first visit, you can’t recognize there was ever a road there, the forest has reclaimed it,” Bishop Iffert said. The seed of the word of God can work in you, Bishop Iffert said, the same way that the seeds of the forest worked in the paved path to Packentuck.
“You are more than a couple of trillion cells and an electric charge finding your way through the world. Instead, you are that noble, loving, heroic person you sense yourself to be … Catholic Education exposes you first of all to the faith, of God, so that you know your life is more than just a bunch of cells and an electric charge, that you are an eternal spirit, you are an eternal spirit enfleshed in this magnificent creative body. Being that creature of flesh and spirit, God has made you to sense his ways in the world and respond to them and to become that noble person you know yourself to be and are capable of becoming,” Bishop Iffert said.
Catholic education, which is celebrated Catholic Schools Week, instills and sows the seeds of God’s word into the hearts and minds of students, so that in 40 years, when they look back, they will see God’s work in their life.
Bishop Iffert thanks consecrated persons for witness, faithfulness, trust and most especially joy
/in Featured StoriesBella Bailey
Multimedia Correspondent
Religious brothers and sisters throughout the Diocese of Covington gathered in celebration, Feb. 1, with Mass and breakfast for the World Day of Consecrated Life. Bishop John Iffert was the celebrant with Deacon Eric Ritchie assisting at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Covington.
The gospel reading, Mark 4:35-41, is well known; the apostles awaken Jesus, who is asleep in the stern of a boat, to quell the stormy seas, allowing for the safe passage of the apostles and himself. Mark writes of this event, but Mark was not there to witness it, rather, he receives the story from the apostle Peter. Bishop Iffert says in his homily, “Mark of course is considered by many to be a disciple of Peter, who accompanied Peter for years as a secretary and coworker. The Gospel is included among apostolic writings because it is believed that Mark received the teaching from peter and that he received that teaching, and he remembered it well.”
“Remember,” Bishop Iffert continued, “it was a difficult thing to be a Christian in the times when Mark wrote. It was a challenging reality to be a Christian. If you were a Jewish Christian, you were likely alienated from family, from profession, from the honor that attaches to family. You were likely alienated from synagogue, from community.”
Mark was writing during the dawn of a new institution, Bishop Iffert said, the institution of the Catholic church. “This little community in Rome that had been considered an outcast was beginning to grow as a result of the witness of those martyrs and beginning to realize that they could not go on to think of themselves as a sect of Judaism, but that they were becoming something new.”
“In that sense,” Bishop Iffert said, “I believe the … vocation of Mark writing his Gospel, is very much like the vocation of consecrated people in this world. There are lots of folks who do not understand consecrated life. There are lots of folks who do not understand how we can make the decisions that we make, how we can make the sacrifices that we make.”
Making the devotion to consecrated life in today’s world can be difficult, Bishop Iffert said, it is not like the consecrated life of generations before. “You are consecrated religious at a time too late to be laid to rest by those armies of young, consecrated men and women coming behind you. You are consecrated religious at a time when you are selling off your mother house, at a time when you are embracing the language of right sizing, at time when you are struggling to figure out who is going to lead the institutions you have created and bring them into the future.”
Much like Mark, unsure who will take the helm of their new institution, being a member of consecrated life at a time where the numbers are shrinking rather than growing, lends to a feeling of unsureness. But, Bishop Iffert said, there is an assurance, “I know your life is filled with sacrifices to the Lord, but it is a joy to join Jesus on his cross. It is a joy to live in the assurance of God, it is a joy to let that promise direct everything in our lives.”
“Thank you,” Bishop Iffert said, “for your witness, and your faithfulness, and your trust and most especially your joy.”
The history and future of our Catholic schools
/in Catechesis & EvangelizationBy David Cooley.
Catholic Schools Week is a wonderful time to celebrate the history of Catholic schools in the U.S. and contemplate the future of our schools.
Historically speaking, the relationship between Catholic schools and the rest of the country has always been a complicated one. From the very beginning, in the colonial period of North America, Catholics were not tolerated very well. Anti-Catholic sentiments and suspicions ran deep throughout the budding culture.
They were also very outnumbered. In 1790 there were only about 35 thousand Catholics in a population of 4 million. And by 1820 the number of American Catholics was still no more than 200 thousand.
However, in the mid-1800s, there was a deluge of Catholic immigrants from Ireland, Germany, Italy, and Poland, fleeing from the turmoil in their homelands.
At the same time, beginning in the 1830s, the U.S. saw the dawn of schools owned and run by the government, funded by taxes, free from tuition, and available to all children. These were the common schools (now called public schools), and they were not secular or areligious institutions.
The common schools instilled in their pupils a general Protestant understanding of Scripture and Christian morals. These schools were not only used as tools to convert the children of Catholic immigrants but were also historically biased and explicitly anti-Catholic in instruction.
Because of this the emerging Catholic community began to modestly build their own schools. The rest, as they say, is history. By 1920, 6,551 Catholic elementary schools enrolled 1.8 million students taught by 42 thousand teachers. Enrollment continued to climb reaching an all-time high of 4.5 million students by the mid-1960s.
Despite the odds against them, Catholic schools experienced a great deal of success and growth – thanks in large part to the blood, sweat, and tears of faithful priests, women religious, and devout faithful who were willing to sacrifice a lot for the education of children. Today, Catholic schools comprise the largest parochial school system in the world and many successful people can trace their roots back to their Catholic education.
Catholic schools are centered on Christ, and, because of that, they thrive in holistic education and the pursuit of the truth. Catholic schools teach virtue and truth and hold out holiness as the vocation of all students.
While the common schools over time have evolved into secular entities, the core mission of Catholic schools remains the same as it always has: to provide an integrated education to young men and women – knowledge and virtue combined, a formula for forming outstanding citizens and, most importantly, disciples of Jesus Christ.
Today we celebrate all that has been done, and the Catholic schools that still thrive in an ever-changing, challenging environment. But we can’t rest on our laurels. Future students and families depend upon us to take what we have been given, improve where we can, and hand on to the next generation. It is time for us to double down on the Catholicity of our schools and reaffirm our unwavering faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
Turning Dresses into Dreams!
/in Missionaries of MercyBishop John Iffert invites pilgrims to shrine of Indiana saint
/in Jubilee 2025Maura Baker
Staff Writer
As part of the celebration of the 2025 Jubilee Year, “Pilgrims of Hope,” Bishop John Iffert is inviting people to join him on a set of four regional pilgrimages throughout the year. The first of these pilgrimages is upcoming March 1, where a motorcoach of pilgrims will be headed to the shrine of St. Mother Theodore Guerin in Saint Mary-of-theWoods, Indiana.
St. Mother Guerin, born in France in 1798, came to the United States as a missionary with the Sisters of Providence. Although she struggled with various health issues throughout the entirety of her life, her and her fellow sisters established a school in the so-called “new world,” and helped serve the influx of Catholic immigrants to the Americas.
The pilgrimage will invite pilgrims to explore not only the history of Mother Guerin, but grant them time of prayer in the woods of Indiana. Tours and presentations will be part of the day trip, as well as visits to the wood’s chapels and churches.
“I think this is a unique place,” said Jim Hess, director of the Office of Stewardship and Mission, who is organizing the pilgrimage, “Not many people know about, first, that this even exists, and, curious, they may want to go. This is the one of the four pilgrimages Bishop is the most excited about taking people to.”
The pilgrimage, which costs $270 per person, includes travel by motorcoach from Campbell County to Indiana, and back the same day, as well as a buffet lunch and box dinner. Financial assistance is available, and those interested are encouraged to contact the Stewardship Office at (859) 392–1540 to request it.
“I want to stress that this is something we’re doing for the jubilee year,” said Mr. Hess, “It is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We only have two busses, so space is limited, so we’re encouraging early sign-ups for anyone who wants to participate.”
Interested parties can contact the Stewardship Office, or visit https:// covdio.org/jubilee/ to learn more about the pilgrimage and what the Diocese of Covington is doing to celebrate the 2025 Jubilee Year.
March for Life returns to Frankfort for a second year — here’s how to participate
/in Featured StoriesMaura Baker
Staff Writer
Feb. 12 marks the second year for the March for Life in Frankfort, Ky. — organized by the Kentucky Right to Life organization, this statewide event brings the message of life, from natural conception to natural death, to the state capitol.
Since the first event, organizers have gained a little bit more experience, said Faye Roch, director of the Diocese of Covington’s Pro-Life office. This year, they’re hoping for less rain and less hiccups as the date of the March approaches.
The gathering begins at 9:30 a.m. with Mass at Good Shepherd Church, Frankfort, with marchers meeting at the front steps of the capitol at 11:30 a.m. for music, prayer and a rally before walking from the steps to the Memorial for the Unborn in Frankfort’s cemetery.
Currently, the Diocese of Covington has chartered three buses to take individuals interested in participating from Covington and Florence to Frankfort. Among the participants will be students of diocesan high schools, as well as from Thomas More University and Northern Kentucky University’s Newman Club.
Last year, according to Mrs. Roch, the Diocese of Covington had a recorded attendance of around 200. This year, she hopes to double that number.
“We have this battle within our state,” she said, “and we need to come together in the state of Kentucky to show our legislators the importance of respect for life, especially at conception.”
Transportation to the March for Life via the buses will be free of cost, although space is limited. Interested parties are encouraged to contact the diocesan Pro-life Office at (859) 392-1545 for information.
Father John Judie speaks on racism past and recent at annual MLK Breakfast
/in Featured StoriesBella Bailey
Multimedia Correspondent
Our Savior Parish, Covington, upheld a long-standing tradition by once again hosting the annual Martin Luther King Discussion Breakfast. The yearly gathering of parishioners and community members boasted a crowd large enough to fill the parish hall. Father John Judie, humanitarian and retired priest from the Archdiocese of Louisville, was the keynote speaker.
Father Judie is well known for his speaking engagements both in the Archdiocese of Louisville and in various countries throughout Africa. His primary ministry, however, is Father John Judie Ministries Inc., which works to provide humanitarian aid to economically undeveloped areas of Africa.
“It is wonderful to be here with all of you,” Father Judie began, “I always look forward to the opportunity when I can come to Covington. Most of the time it is celebrating the Mass and preaching but it is just so wonderful to see everyone today,” he said addressing the crowded parish hall.
“We know so much about Dr. King and his work, and his ministry, and the influence and the impact he had on this country. Raising people’s level of awareness about racism and particularly the injustice that has been rendered against people of color for years and years and years. Part of honoring him and his ministry and his life, we have to really take a look at the larger picture that he recognized and was clearly focused on at the end of his life and ministry. That means we have to go back a lot further than Dr. King and his ministry,” said Father Judie.
His presentation, entitled “Racism Yesterday and Today,” focused on the history of racism and its origins in the United States, as well as modern racism in society today.
The origins of racism in the United States, Father Judie said, began as soon as European settlers stepped foot in and took over the modern-day United States of America.
“Racism has been labeled as Americas original sin. Since there was an America before the Europeans came, it is more accurate to say that racism is the United States of America’s original sin, there is a difference. The indigenous people of this land inhabited it for more than 12,000 years before the Europeans and other settlers showed up,” said Father Judie.
While racism is deeply rooted in the history of the United States, it permeates through society today. Father Judie turned the attention of those in attendance to the language used for immigrants. Today, when someone would like to immigrate to the United States of America, they must apply for Resident Alien Status.
“Why would we call any human being on this planet an alien,” Father Judie said, posing the question to the crowd. “You can see how the lie continues. Alien means you don’t belong here. You came from some outer space; therefore, we don’t know anything about you, so we fear you and we’ll treat you that way. Why would anybody want to be labeled, or have your loved ones labeled, as an alien? We ourselves have to be aware.”
The audience participation portion of the breakfast gave way to personal testimonies of those in the audience who have experienced racism or racial injustice in the Northern Kentucky area and beyond. Racism is not an alien issue; it effects people close to home.
Father Judie encouraged people to look inward and reflect on racism in their own lives as a first step.
“It occurs to me; we may need to dig more deeply into the essential elements of racism at work in our own lives and in our involvements with others,” he said. “We can always talk about something not there, but we need to bring it home, we need to deal with it at home. We have to recognize it first and then know how we are prepared to respond to it once we encounter it in our everyday interactions with others.”
Pope Francis to celebrate Jubilees for communications, and many other vocations throughout the Jubilee Year
/in Jubilee 2025Maura Baker
Staff Writer
With the opening of the 2025 Jubilee Year, the Papal Bull by Pope Francis announced the year to be marked by the “hope that does not fade, our hope in God. May it help us to recover the confident trust that we require, in the Church and in society, in our interpersonal relationships, in international relations and in our task of promoting the dignity of all persons and respect for God’s gift of creation.”
This hope is especially highlighted as part of the Jubilee Year’s theme, “Pilgrims of Hope,” which likewise highlights our collective role as pilgrims.
As part of the Jubilee Year, the Holy See has declared special Jubilees through the holy year — each of which promote a different vocation, a different stage of life or a particular theme of the Jubilee. Notably, one of the first jubilees celebrated will be the Jubilee of the World of Communications, celebrated January 24–26. This jubilee will open with a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis, followed by cultural meetings, dialogues and round tables all in celebration and correspondence with the role of media and communications professionals as they relate to the Jubilee — a pattern that will repeat for each special jubilee throughout the year.
Jim Hess, director of Stewardship and Mission Services, describes these jubilees as a way that the “Church is celebrating different vocations and pathways we take in the world,” he said. “The jubilees celebrate holiness in these different stages of life.”
Following the Jubilee of the World of Communications, the next jubilees to join in the celebration are the Jubilees of Armed Forces, Police and Security Personnel, Feb. 8–9, and of Artists, Feb. 15–18. The faithful are encouraged to take moments of prayer and celebration during their respective jubilees, and to offer prayers in support of loved ones during theirs.
A full list of jubilees can be found on the jubilee calendar online at https://www.iubilaeum2025.va. For more information on jubilee celebrations in the Diocese of Covington, visit https://covdio.org/jubilee/.