CNA Staff, Dec 7, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Black and Indian Mission Office in Washington, D.C., recently released two documentaries — one highlighting African American Catholics on the path to sainthood and the focusing on Native American Catholic communities in the United States. 

“Trailblazers of Faith: The Legacy of African American Catholics” tells the inspiring story of how African Americans found a home in Catholicism without abandoning their identity or culture. 

From the pioneering Oblate Sisters of Providence and St. Frances Academy to the lives of Venerable Henriette DeLille, Julia Greeley, Father Augustus Tolton, and Sister Thea Bowman, the documentary celebrates a legacy of leadership and faith.

The second film, “Walking the Sacred Path: The Story of the Black and Indian Mission Office,” uncovers the often-hidden story of Native American Catholics in the United States. The film explores the powerful intersection of faith and culture — where the beauty of Native traditions and the universality of Catholicism meet — and highlights more than 140 years of the Black and Indian Mission Office’s mission to walk alongside Native American communities. 

Father Maurice Henry Sands is the executive director of the Black and Indian Mission Office. He told CNA in an interview that these documentaries were created “to educate people about these two groups of people that a lot of people don’t know much about,” as well as “to educate people about the work that our office is doing with these two groups of people.”

The Black and Indian Mission Collection was the first national collection established at the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1884 and is still taken up yearly funding the Black and Indian Mission Office.

The United States bishops recognized the need to support missionary work among African American and Native American Catholics and since its creation the collection has allowed for grants to be given to dioceses across the country to operate schools, parishes, and other missionary services that build the body of Christ in Native American, Alaska Native, and Black Catholic communities.

Sands shared that it is important for Catholics to walk alongside these communities because “we are all part of the human race that the Lord directs his work of salvation towards.”

“It’s important that we learn how to live together and walk together because as human beings we do put up walls and barriers and we see differences among ourselves,” he said, adding that racism “has caused a lot of difficulties for the two groups of people.” 

“So, we have a fundamental call as disciples of Christ, as Catholics, as Christians, to help the Lord and his work of salvation to love one another and to have a special concern for those of our brothers and sisters who are disadvantaged and in need,” he said.

Speaking specifically to the documentary on the African American Catholics on their way to sainthood, Sands explained that the six individuals included all serve as great role models for the faithful because “each of them had very challenging beginnings but went on to be great lovers of Our Lord and were a great witness to others and helped people in need as they saw the needs of people around them and were very effective in doing that.”

He added that the early Church missionaries who served Native Americans also serve as role models in how to “help people where they are to come to know Christ, to love him, and to have a relationship with him.”

Sands said he hopes viewers will feel moved to “learn more about how they can support the ministry to these two groups of people and to learn more about how they can support the work that we are doing in our office.”

Both documentaries can be viewed on Formed.

CNA Staff, Dec 7, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A little over a year ago, Father Matthew Gonzalez, a priest in the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, had the idea to create a group for boys in grades eight to 12 that focuses on vocations and what it means to be a Catholic man in today’s world.

“The Lord has placed a strong desire for vocations on my heart. I am convinced the Lord is still calling young men today,” Gonzalez told CNA.

“A few years ago, I brought several of our parish young men to the Quo Vadis summer camp, a weeklong experience focused on authentic Christian manhood. They came home with a hunger for more — more faith, more fraternity, more service. That experience planted the seed,” he explained.

Soon afterward, Gonzalez started the Sons of Thunder, which takes its name from Mark 3:17, where Jesus gave that nickname to the apostles James and John. The group meets once a month at St. Bartholomew Church in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, and currently has 12 members who come together for prayer and fellowship.

Each monthly meeting starts with one of the boys leading evening prayer and another one handling the readings. Then the group watches a video from the Knights of Columbus called “Into the Breach,” a series on authentic masculinity that explores topics such as the importance of prayer and how to become a leader. A discussion follows the video.

Gonzalez shared that the aim of the group is to inspire the boys to model themselves after the ultimate Catholic man — Jesus.

“Every meeting always includes three pillars: prayer, faith formation, and fun. We pray together, learn together, and build brotherhood together,” he said.

The group also frequently visits the local seminary and takes part in community service projects.

“We’ve done a garden project in the rectory backyard, organized service for the needy and for religious communities, and held a beach cleanup day. Serving others is central to our mission,” Gonzalez said.

Another central focus of the group is to introduce the boys to the priesthood.

“People often say we have a vocations crisis. I don’t believe that. There is no crisis in vocations — the Lord is still calling, just as he always has. What we are facing is a crisis of meaning and purpose in our culture, and this affects young people deeply,” Gonzalez said.

“Sons of Thunder exists to help restore a sense of identity as Christian men, of purpose, and of mission. When young men know who they are and what they’re made for, they can hear the Lord’s call more clearly.”

Gonzalez recently started a new assignment as rector of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, so the Sons of Thunder will look slightly different going forward. The group’s lay leader, who has helped Gonzalez run the group since its creation, will now be taking over the responsibilities of running the group.   

“As I begin my new mission as the rector of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, I’m spending time learning the heartbeat of this parish family. But I absolutely hope to expand youth ministry here, and one way to do that is by beginning a new chapter of Sons of Thunder,” Gonzalez said. “I want the young men of this community to experience what our first group experienced.”

For members who are currently in the group, were previously in the group, or will join one day, Gonzalez said his “greatest hope is that they learn the faith is worth living — even when it demands sacrifice and self-gift. And at the heart of it all is relationship: a relationship with God and the relationships they build with one another. If they leave knowing they are loved by God and made for greatness, the mission of Sons of Thunder is fulfilled.”

Pope Leo XIV expresses his closeness and assures his prayers for the millions of people affected by heavy flooding in various parts of Southeast Asia in recent weeks.

Read all

 

Pope Leo XIV recalls his recent Apostolic Journey to Türkiye and Lebanon, saying his encounter with religious leaders teaches that peace is possible if we build it together.

Read all

 

At the Angelus prayer, Pope Leo XIV reflects on the urgency of preparing for the coming of the Kingdom of God and our encounter with Jesus, the just Judge.

Read all

 

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Dec 6, 2025 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, expressed cautious hope for peace in Gaza, calling on people of the region to combat hatred and “think differently” about one another. 

Pizzaballa, whose authority extends over Latin Catholics in Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Cyprus, also holds the office of grand prior of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. He began a four-day pastoral visit to metro Detroit on Dec. 4, celebrating Mass with the Chaldean community at St. Thomas Chaldean Catholic Church in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Detroit Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger and Chaldean Bishop Francis Y. Kalabat joined him. Throughout the visit, the cardinal offered a sober yet grounded message of hope for Christians in the Holy Land.

At a press conference on Dec. 5, Weisenburger welcomed the cardinal and praised his efforts to promote a “just and lasting peace” in Gaza. Asked by CNA what hope remains for Holy Land Christians amid what he had described as some of the worst devastation in decades, Pizzaballa cautioned against equating hope with immediate political solutions.

“Hope is a complicated word,” he said. “You must not confuse hope with a political solution, which will not arrive soon, not in Gaza, the Holy Land, or the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. If you put your hope in this, you will be frustrated.” He emphasized that both political and religious institutions must work to nurture hope.

“Hope,” the cardinal continued, “is a word that cannot remain alone. It has to put roots in something else,” namely, faith and desire. He added: “There needs to be a desire for it to be realized. A second consideration is that if institutions fail, we need people to think differently, to act differently, both Israelis and Palestinians. This may not resolve all the problems, but it says to people, ‘All is not lost.’”

Christians represent only about 1% of Gaza’s population — roughly 500 people — and about 2% of the population in both Israel and the West Bank, where there are about 190,000 and 45,000 Christians, respectively. Many continue to emigrate, raising fears about the future of Christianity in the region. Gaza has only one Catholic parish, for example.

The patriarch described the increasingly dire conditions in Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. Most infrastructure — homes, hospitals, and schools — has been reduced to rubble, he said, leaving families in tents as winter approaches and food remains scarce. During a visit after Hamas and Israel concluded a ceasefire this fall, he brought food, including chicken, to Christians sheltering at the Holy Family Parish compound. “It was the first meat they had seen in nine months,” he said. Although food enters Gaza, much of it ends up in markets, where many have no cash to purchase it, he said.

Despite the devastation, sacramental life continues. Hosting some 500 displaced Gazans, the parish has school activities and daily liturgies, including Mass, vespers, the rosary, and Eucharistic adoration. First Communions and even a wedding have taken place. The parish’s sacramental life has emboldened solidarity among those taking shelter at the church, but has been a spiritual aid, Pizzaballa said. 

“Every time I speak with them, I never hear a word of anger; never,” Pizzaballa said. “And one person, I can’t even say the name, he was the director of the hospital. One evening, in Gaza, between the bombs falling not far from the compound, he said, ‘You know, bishop, we Christians have a problem. Amidst all the violence, we are not able to hate them.’”

While Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire on Oct. 9, Pizzaballa said Gazans are only now emerging from “survival mode.” He said: “They ask, ‘What do we do now? When will rebuilding start? What governance will there be? Who will decide? What about our children?’ There was no emotional space for these questions before, but now they are coming out.”

Weisenburger acknowledged the complexity of the situation, saying it cannot be “simplified into sound bites.” He reflected on the human cost of the war: “Too many of those bombs that killed some 70,000 people, wiped their homes from the face of the earth, and destroyed their cities, schools, and hospitals, were from us. I think we in America must accept some responsibility for rebuilding.” He expressed gratitude for the cardinal’s message of hope, adding that generous Detroiters had already pledged about $500,000 for needs in the Holy Land. “By doing something, we can nurture hope,” he said.

In his homily at the Chaldean community Mass, Pizzaballa compared Isaiah’s vision of restoration to present-day devastation in the Middle East, including the suffering of Chaldeans in Iraq at the hands of ISIS. He stressed the Church’s mission of fostering peace. Regarding the Hamas attack, he said: “We have to say this very clearly: It is not acceptable at all.”

He added, however, that Israel’s “retaliation, what happened after in Gaza, is an even more difficult answer.” He emphasized: “We are not against Israel,” while insisting that “the situation will never change as long as the Palestinians are not recognized as people with their dignity and a right of self-determination.”

On Dec. 5, the cardinal visited fellow Franciscans at St. Bonaventure Monastery and prayed at the tomb of Blessed Solanus Casey. He received a first-class relic of Blessed Solanus to bring to Jerusalem. The Chaldean community also presented him with relics of four Chaldean martyrs. The next day, he visited Sacred Heart Seminary and spoke with seminarians and faculty.

About 500 people attended the Dec. 5 fundraising dinner held at St. John’s Resort, the former seminary campus dedicated to charitable hospitality. Weisenburger said the resort’s owner, the Pulte Family Charitable Foundation, donates 100% of its net profits for such events to charity.

Pilgrimages to Holy Land to resume

Holy Land Christians continue to feel the economic repercussions of the war, particularly in Bethlehem, which is located in the West Bank area of Jordan that is administered by Israel and where tourism has plummeted. Author and filmmaker Steve Ray, who has led more than 200 pilgrimages, plans to guide a group of over 50 pilgrims from Dec. 28 to Jan. 6. 

“I’ve heard that 70% to 80% of the revenue of Christians comes from pilgrims. To have all the tour buses parked for two years is financially devastating,” he said. On the question of safety, he added: “Social media blows things way out of proportion. No pilgrims have ever been hurt. We are not concerned.” He plans four more pilgrimages in 2026, including one for Ave Maria University students.

Concluding his sweep through Detroit, Pizzaballa is set to celebrate Mass at the Shrine of the Little Flower, which treasures the relics of St. Thérèse de Lisieux.

Sunday, December 7, 2025 | Second Sunday of Advent  |  Matthew 3:1–12 Friends, today St. Matthew compels us to come to grips with the great Advent figure of John the Baptist. It’s really impossible to grasp the significance...

Pope Leo XIV joins the audience at the Vatican’s “Concert with the Poor” in the Paul VI Hall and expresses his pleasure to be able to partake in the joy of listening to music, which is “not a luxury for the few, but a divine gift accessible to everyone.”

Read all

 

Intentions of this novena: For an increase in personal prayer in our parish For the success of the 150th parish anniversary celebration in 2028 For the success of With One Heart in our parish For the private intentions of the...

The rectors of Catholic and ecclesiastical universities write a letter on Polish–German reconciliation, taking a significant step towards reconciliation after the Second World War.

Read all