Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in a 2021 file photo. / Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Foundation
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 20, 2022 / 10:30 am (CNA).
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will join with Pope Francis and the bishops of the world in praying… […]
Pope Francis, during his Angelus address on March 20, 2022, called on the world’s leaders to end the “abhorrent” war in Ukraine. / Vatican Media
Boston, Mass., Mar 20, 2022 / 08:34 am (CNA).
Jesus implores us not to blame God for misfortunes and points us instead to conversion as a solution to evils which oppress us, Pope Francis said Sunday.
“We must be careful: When evil oppresses us, we risk losing our clarity and, to find an easy answer to what we are unable to explain, we end up putting the blame on God,” Pope Francis said to crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his March 20 Angelus address. “And so often the very bad habit of using profanities comes from this.”
“How often we attribute to Him our woes and misfortunes in the world, to Him who instead leaves us always free and hence never intervenes imposing, but only proposing; He who never uses violence and instead suffers for us and with us,” he said.
Pope Francis’s comments included reflections on Sunday’s reading from the thirteenth Chapter in the Gospel of Luke.
In that reading, the pontiff said, Jesus “refuses and contests strongly the idea of blaming God for our evils: Those persons who were killed by Pilate and those who died when the tower collapsed on them were not any more at fault than others, and they were not victims of a ruthless and vindictive God, which does not exist!”
When bad things happen to us, we should not blame God, he said. Jesus tells us “we need to look inside ourselves,” he added. “It is sin that produces death; our selfishness can tear apart relationships; our wrong and violent choices can unleash evil.”
The Lord offers a “true solution,” Pope Francis said, which is “conversion.” Citing the Gospel reading, he said, “If you are not converted, [Jesus] says, you will all perish in the same way.”
God can never be the source of evil, he said, because, citing Psalm 103, God does not treat us according to our sins, but according to his mercy.
Mercy is God’s “style,” Pope Francis said. “He can’t treat us otherwise. He always treats us with mercy.”
Pope Francis offered an invitation to “turn from evil,” to “renounce the sin that seduces us,” and to “open” ourselves to the “logic of the Gospel.”
Where “love and fraternity reign, evil has no more power,” he said.
Pope Francis said that converting is not easy and Jesus knows this. Jesus wants to help in this conversion, he added.
Jesus knows that, oftentimes, “people repeat the same mistakes and the same sins,” and that can bring discouragement,” Pope Francis said.
“Sometimes our commitment to do good can seem useless in a world where evil seems to rule,” he added.
But Jesus encourages us by telling a parable that shows God’s patience, he said. Jesus “offers the consoling image of [a] fig tree that does not bear fruit during the accorded season, but it is not cut down. Jesus “gives it more time, another possibility,” the pope observed.
Pope Francis told the crowd that he enjoys “thinking that a nice name for God could be ‘the God of another possibility’: God always gives us another opportunity, always, always.”
God does not “cut us out of his love” nor does he “lose heart or tire of offering us again His trust with tenderness,” he said. “God believes in us! God trusts us and accompanies us with patience, the patience of God with us. He does not get discouraged, but always instills hope in us.”
Pope Francis said that “God is Father” and “looks after you like a father,” while noting that God does not look at the “achievements you have not yet reached” but rather “encourages your potential.”
“He does not dwell on your past, but confidently bets on your future,” he said. “This is because God is close to us.”
A group of people in St. Peter’s Square hold a Ukrainian flag during Pope Francis’ Angelus on Sunday, March 20, in Vatican City. / Vatican Media
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 20, 2022 / 05:28 am (CNA).
Pope Francis continued to call for an end to the war in Ukraine Sunday, calling the violence against innocent Ukrainians “inhuman and sacrilegious.”
Without mentioning Russia by name, the pope said, “The aggression against Ukraine has not ceased. Violent acts of aggression occur each day. There is no justification for this. I appeal to the world to put an end to this.”
The pope spoke about the situation in Ukraine from his balcony above St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, following the recitation of the Angelus, a Catholic Marian prayer.
During his remarks he recalled the Ukrainian refugee children he met during his surprise visit to Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital in Rome on Saturday.
The children suffering from cancer, neurological diseases, and other illnesses were brought to Italy for medical treatment during the first days of the war in Ukraine. Some had serious blast wounds from the war, a Vatican spokesman said.
“I went to visit the young children who are here in Rome who have been wounded in the war. Young, innocent children. One had an amputated arm. One a wound to the head,” the pope reflected.
“I think about the millions of Ukrainian refugees who have had to leave everything behind, and those who do not even have the possibility to leave,” the pope said.
“All of this is inhuman and sacriligeous, because it goes against the sacredness of human life.”
Pope Francis also called on the faithful to join him on March 25 in praying for the consecration of Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. EWTN will broadcast the consecration ceremony at 12 noon EST.
The pope also praised the “solidarity and closeness” demonstrated by the pastors and other priests and church leaders in Ukraine who have remained with their people during the crisis.
The pope specifically mentioned the Vatican’s representative in Ukraine, Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, who revealed in an interview March 17 with Raymond Arroyo on “The World Over” that he has not left the nunciature in Kyiv because the situation outside is too dangerous.
Kulbokas said in the interview that while it is logistically feasible for the pope to travel to Kyiv, such a visit is unlikely to happen because continued Russian missile and artillery attacks on the city make it impossible to have public gatherings.
“I know that Pope Francis wants to do all that is possible for him in order to contribute for peace, so I know for sure that he is evaluating, he is thinking about all the possibilities,” the nuncio said.
Douglas Ernst’s “Soulfinder” series of graphic novels follows the adventures of combat vets-turned-exorcists. / ICONIC Comics
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 20, 2022 / 05:00 am (CNA).
Father Patrick Retter kept his wits about him as he faced the giant, red-eyed cobra slithering out of the possessed woman’s mouth.
“In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti,” he chanted the Sign of the Cross in Latin, as he thrust a bottle of holy water at the demon.
The woman bit his hand with her teeth — emitting a loud crunch — but the priest kept going. Clutching his wooden cross, he declared, “I cast you and every satanic specter out — in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! It is he who commands you.”
So begins one of the many action-packed scenes in the “Soulfinder” graphic novel series about a fictional “special forces of exorcists” within the Catholic Church.
“‘Soulfinder’ is about a major order of combat veteran exorcists who are recruited to engage in spiritual warfare with a demon called Blackfire until the end of time,” Douglas Ernst, the writer and creator of the series told CNA.
The 42-year-old writer began the series to fill a void in today’s comic-book world — and in the culture.
“The heroes that I grew up reading are often unrecognizable because the creators at Marvel and DC are activists posing as serious storytellers,” he explained. “I created ‘Soulfinder’ because I wanted to give people solid stories and artwork that also imparts something good, true, and beautiful.”
Together with a team of artists — Timothy Lim, Brett R. Smith, Matthew Weldon, and Dave Dorman, to name a few — Ernst brings to life characters who dedicate themselves to serving God after serving their country. They apply their experience of fighting in the physical world to, now, battling in the spiritual realm.
The series is already saving souls, both inside and outside of its pages.
“I love it when someone writes me and says that reading the books brought them back to the Catholic Church after they drifted away,” Ernst revealed. “Perhaps they haven’t gone to Mass in years, but something in the stories rekindled the flame of faith.”
Stories of selfless service
A Catholic veteran himself, Ernst shares something in common with his protagonists. He served as a mechanized infantryman in the ‘90s, leaving before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He saw many of his friends go to war — and never return.
Ernst brings this background to his books, which follow the adventures of Retter (an Iraq/Afghanistan war veteran), Father Reginald Crane (a Vietnam veteran), and Detective Gregory Chua.
“My hope is that I’ve done right by the military community,” he said. “Selfless service and the willingness to lay down one’s life for another is a crucial component of the series.”
Ernst, who previously worked as a journalist in Washington, D.C., now splits his time between Reno, Nevada, and Missoula, Montana, while focusing on his graphic novels.
His first two — “Soulfinder: Demon’s Match” and “Soulfinder: Black Tide” — greet readers with vivid colors and rich Catholic symbolism. The second book, available in hardcover, shimmers with gilded pages — and even a glow-in-the-dark monster.
There is a dramatic reality at the core of these works of fiction. The series illustrates Catholic priests not only as courageous heroes but also as imperfect human beings — men who may fall, but always pick themselves back up, driven by a desire to do the right thing. Along the way, their personality (and sense of humor) shines through the narrative.
Available through ICONIC Comics, the first two volumes also appear on Amazon Kindle. In January, both made No. 1 on Amazon’s list of new releases in “Religious Graphic Novels.”
Inspired by Catholic writers
Ernst — who learned to read by devouring the adventures of Spider-Man, Iron Man, Daredevil, and Captain America as a boy — began his series after encountering mainstream comic books filled with moral relativism.
“Where are the Catholic creators who will attempt to pick up where G.K. Chesterton and J.R.R. Tolkien left off?” he asked. “That’s a tall task, but the culture will continue to drift into dangerous waters if Catholic writers and artists do not enter as many creative places as possible.”
Ernst shared what he did to prepare for the books, to ensure that they were theologically sound.
Being a “cradle Catholic” helped, he admitted, in addition to consulting with other Catholics, including a priest. His stories, he said, have been inspired by the works of St. Francis de Sales, Father Gabriele Amorth, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Catherine of Siena, and others.
Ernst began the series after organizing a hugely successful crowdfunding campaign. He also credits his success to working with talented artists and to Word on Fire, Bishop Robert Barron’s media ministry, which has featured his work in blog and YouTube interviews.
A ‘PG-13’ advisory
Teenagers and adults seeking classic storytelling with “good vs. evil” seem to enjoy Soulfinder, Ernst said of his series, which he rates as “PG-13.” This is because, among other things, the series addresses a dark subject matter.
In his first book with artist Timothy Lim, also a practicing Catholic, a black mass scene involves a naked woman.
“She is nude, but there’s shadows where there needs to be shadows,” Ernst pointed out the strategic shading over her body. “It’s also shown as a bad thing.”
While the series is for more mature readers, it offers content for Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
“Most Catholic characters in modern comics and in Hollywood tend to be cartoonish version of the Faith,” he said.
His series, he emphasized, is different.
“It makes me incredibly happy when readers who are not Catholic say that these stories show a side of our faith that they have never encountered before.”
Third book on the way
Ernst told CNA the third installment of the series is in production.
“‘Soulfinder: Infinite Ascent’ takes our heroes to the other side of the world to apprehend a rogue member of the CIA who has evaded capture through supernatural means,” Ernst told CNA. “The U.S. government was so impressed with Father Retter and his friends regarding their success in ‘Soulfinder: Black Tide’ that it returns to them once again to clean up a global network of occultists.”
While there is no official release date yet, Ernst expects the book to be colored and lettered in March. From there, it will be sent to the printer.
“The story, at its core, focuses on the loss of loved ones, grief, and the need for forgiveness,” Ernst hinted. “The key to saving the day hinges on one character’s ability to forgive others for their trespasses against him.”
The volume will include a bonus story, “Soulfinder: War Cry,” which takes place at Arlington Cemetery.
In the end, Ernst hopes that these books will bring him, and his readers, closer to heaven.
“I know that one day I will stand before my Creator and I’ll have to give an account of what I’ve done with the talents I’ve been given,” he said. “I hope that my creative team has done its small part in saving souls while simultaneously entertaining readers.”
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Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 22, 2016. Credit: Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk. / null
Vatican City, Mar 19, 2022 / 13:00 pm (CNA).
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Pope Francis visited Ukrainian refugee children being treated in the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital in Rome on March 19, 2022. / Vatican Media
Vatican City, Mar 19, 2022 / 11:30 am (CNA).
Pope Francis made a surprise visit on Saturday to Ukrainian refugee children being treated in the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital in Rome.
The children suffering from cancer, neurological diseases, and other illnesses were brought to Italy for medical treatment during the first days of the war in Ukraine.
Some of the hospitalized children suffer from serious blast wounds from the war, according to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.
Pope Francis stopped in the hospital rooms to visit all of the children staying in the ward on the afternoon of March 19, the Solemnity of St. Joseph, before returning to the Vatican.
In total, 50 Ukrainian children have been treated in Rome since the outbreak of the war, 19 of which were in the hospital ward on the day of the pope’s visit.
Earlier this week, Pope Francis prayed ahead of his general audience for “all the children who are living under the bombs, who see this terrible war, who have no food, who must flee, leaving home, everything.”
“Lord Jesus, look upon these children, these children, they are the victims of the pride of us, the adults. Lord Jesus, bless these children and protect them. Together we pray to Our Lady to protect them,” Pope Francis said.
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St. Joseph and the Christ Child, by Guido Reni / Public domain
Vatican City, Mar 19, 2022 / 08:45 am (CNA).
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