Resist racist projects

Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, strongly criticised and condemned the government policies against migrants. He referred to acts which he described as “part of a broader, brutal, historical project in Texas to criminalise and police people who migrate” and said that “people of faith have a duty to resist these racist projects”.

He said “political leaders considered suspending our obligations to the vulnerable just because they became politically inconvenient”.

“Let me be clear. As someone who lives this reality every day, this is not just a wilful mischaracterisation, but is often part of a deliberate historical project of dehumanisation at the border.”

The future is a synodal one

In an interview with the Corriere del Ticino, Cardinal Mario Grech said that the future of the Church is synodal.

“In the Church of listening, the bishops feel the people of God, and Peter also needs to listen. The future is the synodal one: the whole people of God must be able to find a way to walk together because it brings the presence of the Holy Spirit as wealth, and only together will we be able to discern its voice.

“Once the Church succeeds in this new synodal culture, I am convinced we will be able to answer existential questions.

“I always imagine the Church as a rainbow, with the colours that are not excluded but, together, create harmony. A harmony that, of course, would be missing where there was a conflict.”

Removing a great stone block

During the Easter Vigil mass, Pope Francis compared the stone that blocked Jesus’s tomb to the stone that blocks our heart:

“There are times when we may feel that a great stone blocks the door of our hearts, stifling life, extinguishing hope, imprisoning us in the tomb of our fears and regrets, and standing in the way of joy and hope. Let us lift our eyes to [Jesus] and ask that the power of his resurrection may roll away the heavy stones that weigh down our souls.”

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)