Gospel, Mt 5:1-12a: When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them, saying:

Believe it or not, there are striking similarities between fantasy football and the Communion of Saints!

“We are all called to be great saints, don’t miss the opportunity!” - Mother Angelica

WASHINGTON - “With the Administration signaling a severely limited continuation of this historically bipartisan program, we urge due consideration for all those who have long awaited their opportunity for relief,” said Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration. Bishop Seitz’s remarks follow the Administration’s formal publication of the Presidential Determination on Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2026, which allows up to 7,500 refugees to be resettled over the next year. This is the lowest ceiling since the program was created by Congress in 1980. 

At the start of this year, over 100,000 people had already undergone extensive screening by the U.S. government and were conditionally approved for refugee status in the United States, including vulnerable children and those seeking to reunify with family members. However, on the first day of his second term, President Trump signed an executive order indefinitely suspending refugee resettlement. Since then, very few refugees have been permitted to travel to the United States as exceptions to the executive order, largely consistent with recent presidential actions prioritizing Afrikaners from South Africa under Executive Order 14204. 

Bishop Seitz’s full statement follows: 

“For over 45 years, the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program has been, and continues to be, a safe and secure legal pathway for people from around the world who meet the requirements for humanitarian protection. It is a vital mechanism through which our nation can exist as a beacon of hope for those facing persecution and promote respect for the sanctity of human life. What President Reagan said in 1981 about refugee policy being ‘an important part of our past and fundamental to our national interest’ very much rings true today. With the Administration signaling a severely limited continuation of this historically bipartisan program, we urge due consideration for all those who have long awaited their opportunity for relief. We also pray for the broad, indefinite suspension of refugee admissions to be lifted, and we implore the President to make the program available to those truly in need. 

“We cannot turn a blind eye to the disparate treatment of refugees currently taking place. As exemptions are considered, it is essential that they be applied consistently and without discrimination on the basis of race, religion, or national origin, in accordance with longstanding domestic and international norms. Resettlement tainted by the perception of unjust discrimination is contrary to Catholic teaching and quintessential American values, grounded in our Constitution and refugee laws, including the equality of every person from the moment of their creation by God.”

Earlier this year, the USCCB announced that it would discontinue its role as a national resettlement agency. However, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the USCCB, emphasized that the decision would not mean the Catholic Church would be walking away from helping refugees and others, but rather, that the USCCB would find other ways to uphold the Gospel’s call to do what we can for the least among us.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV encouraged an international group of young adults to reach out to their peers and invite them to be active members of a parish community rather than trying to live their faith alone.

The pope met Oct. 31 with members of the International Youth Advisory Body, a group of 20 young adults from around the world who serve three-year terms as advisers to the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life.

The North American members are Sally Yasmine from the Archdiocese of Montreal and Wyatt Olivas from the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Pope Leo had a prepared speech for the group but handed them a copy of the text rather than reading it. 

"You know that in recent years many young people have approached the faith through social media, successful programs and popular online Christian witnesses," the pope wrote. "The danger is that a faith discovered online is limited to individual experiences, which may be intellectually and emotionally reassuring, but are never 'embodied.'"

The risk, he wrote, is that those spiritual experiences "remain 'disembodied,' detached from the 'ecclesial body,'" which is the church.

Another danger, he said, is that they are not lived "alongside others in real-life situations, relationships or sharing. All too often, social media algorithms merely create a sounding board for individuals, picking up on personal preferences and tastes, and 'sending them back' magnified and enriched with appealing proposals."

In that kind of digital echo chamber, he said, "everyone remains alone with themselves, prisoners of their own inclinations and projections."

Young people are essential members of the church, the pope said, especially a church that is striving to be "synodal," listening to all members, praying and discerning together and calling on each person to contribute their talents.

"Authentic synodality leads to mission," the pope wrote. And part of that is being involved so that the church understands "how to bring the Gospel to everyone." 

"All of this requires that you, young people, have open hearts, ready to listen both to the 'inspirations' of the Spirit and the deep 'aspirations' of each person," Pope Leo wrote.

"You must look beyond appearances in order to seek the true answers that give meaning to life.  You must have hearts that are open to God's call and not engrossed in your own plans and are willing to understand and sympathize before forming judgments."

Pope Leo asked the young people particularly to help the church "hear the voices of the weak, the poor and the lonely, refugees and those who struggle to integrate into society, or to access educational opportunities."

"All too often," he said, "these voices are drowned out by the noise of the powerful, the successful and those who live in 'exclusive' realities."

Being missionary, the pope wrote, "entails freedom from fear, because the Lord loves to call us to forge new paths. In this sense, as young people, you can be leaders of creativity and courage."
 

The Roman Martyrology commemorates today St. Quentin, martyr (d. 287), a Roman, descended from a senatorial family. Full of zeal for the kingdom of Jesus Christ, he left his country, and, attended by St. Lucian of Beauvais, made his way to Gaul. They preached the faith together in that country till they reached Amiens in Picardy, where they parted. St. Quentin was seized, thrown into prison, and loaded with chains. He was condemned to the most barbarous torture. His body was pierced with two iron wires from the neck to the thighs, and iron nails were thrust under his nails, and in his flesh in many places, particularly into his skull; and lastly, his head was cut off.

Using Ouija boards is both mortally sinful and dangerous! Exorcist Fr. Dan Reehil explains why they are "unhealthy for your soul."

Daniel Mark Anderl, who died at age 20 while protecting his parents from an armed attacker, could become a saint for his heroic sacrifice.

ROME (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV's recognition of St. John Henry Newman as a "doctor of the church" will be an ecumenical celebration, a sign of esteem for the excellence and ongoing relevance of his teaching, first as an Anglican and then as a Roman Catholic, said a key figure in preparing the declaration.

Anglican Archbishop Stephen Cottrell of York, currently the ranking prelate of the Church of England, was scheduled to lead an Anglican delegation to the formal proclamation Nov. 1 by Pope Leo of St. Newman as a doctor of the church.

Father George Bowen, a priest of the London Oratory and postulator, or official promoter, of St. Newman being named a doctor of the church, spoke with journalists about the process and its implications Oct. 30.

Becoming only the 38th doctor of the church, Father Bowen said, "is not about being intelligent. It's not about being bright. It's about saying something timeless about the church's teaching, putting into words something eminent, something that stands out."

Father Bowen oversaw the compilation and submission to the Vatican of the 600-page "positio" or position paper outlining why St. Newman should be recognized as a doctor of the church. The process began almost immediately after St. Newman's canonization in 2019 and includes letters of support from bishops' conferences and individual bishops -- including many Anglicans, the priest said.

St. Newman was born in London Feb. 21, 1801, was ordained an Anglican priest, became Catholic in 1845, was made a cardinal in 1879 by Pope Leo XIII. He died in 1890. 

"Newman's journey really began as a nominal Christian, baptized Christian who suddenly found faith in the Church of England through the influence of schoolteachers," Father Bowen said. "For all of his life, he was very conscious that half his life was spent in the Church of England. And this was something that was immensely important to him," and "he always recognized as a Catholic that he brought with him all that he had learned about Christ" as an Anglican.

"So, Newman is a big ecumenical figure in the sense that he owes his faith to his upbringing in the Church of England," the priest said. In fact, later in life, St. Newman republished the works he had written as an Anglican with new prefaces and some notes, "but basically saying, 'I'm proud of all this stuff.'"

Anglican Father William Lamb, vicar of the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin at Oxford, where St. Newman had served as vicar from 1828 to 1843, was at the Vatican for the saint's canonization and returned for the proclamation as doctor of the church.

"No one can stand at the altar or preach from the pulpit from which he preached and be unaware of his legacy," he told Catholic News Service Oct. 30.

"In recognizing St. John Henry Newman as a doctor of the universal church," Father Lamb said, "Pope Leo has made a significant and gracious ecumenical gesture in acknowledging the influence of this Anglican patrimony."

After the visit of Britain's King Charles III, which included prayer with the pope in the Sistine Chapel, the Anglican priest said, "I continue to pray for positive ecumenical relations and an ever-greater commitment to seek the gift of unity in a world which is so often fractured and estranged." 

St. Newman and the "Oxford Movement" within Anglicanism "have shaped the life and spirituality of the University Church in many ways," Father Lamb said. "Every Sunday when we celebrate the Eucharist, we use a chalice that Newman gave to St. Mary's when he was the vicar."

But the saint's legacy also is broader and continues to impact the university, he said.

"Newman contributed to the reform of the tutorial system, one of the hallmarks of an Oxford education, when he was a tutor at Oriel College," Father Lamb said. "We celebrate not only his legacy as a theologian but also his contribution to the world of higher education. His 'Idea of a University' remains a key point of reference for the debate about both the value and the future of higher education."

 

The Roman Martyrology includes in today's commemorations: