At Lenten Penance Service, Pope Announces Holy Year of Mercy
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The CatholicWitness The Newspaper of the Diocese of Harrisburg March 20, 2015 Vol. 49 No. 5 At Lenten Penance Service, Pope Announces Holy Year of Mercy CNS/L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO VIA REUTERS Pope Francis hears confession during a penitential liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican March 28. By Cindy Wooden said with a smile. the walls, priests welcomed people to the sacrament. Catholic News Service Traditionally, every 25 years the popes proclaim a The pope removed his liturgical vestments and went holy year, which features special celebrations and pil- to confession before putting on a purple stole and ope Francis announced an extraordinary ju- grimages, strong calls for conversion and repentance, hearing the confessions of others. bilee, a Holy Year of Mercy, to highlight the and the offer of special opportunities to experience “God never ceases to demonstrate the richness of PCatholic Church’s “mission to be a witness God’s grace through the sacraments, especially con- his mercy over the course of centuries,” the pope said of mercy.” fession. Extraordinary holy years, like the Holy Year in his homily, which preceded the confessions. God “No one can be excluded from God’s mercy,” the of Mercy, are less frequent, but offer the same oppor- touches people’s hearts with his grace, filling them pope said March 13, marking the second anniversary tunities for spiritual growth. with repentance and a desire to “experience his love.” of his pontificate by leading a Lenten penance service “Being touched by the tenderness of his hand,” The doors of the Church “are wide open so that all in St. Peter’s Basilica. people should not be afraid to approach a priest and those who are touched by grace can find the certainty “I frequently have thought about how the Church confess their sins, he said. In the confessional, one can make more evident its mission to be a witness of forgiveness,” Pope Francis said at the penance ser- has “the certainty of being welcomed in the name of of mercy,” he said during his homily; that is why he vice, which featured individual confessions. It was God and understood, despite our misery.” decided to call a special Holy Year, which will be cel- part of a worldwide celebration of “24 Hours for the “The greater the sin, the greater the love, which ebrated from Dec. 8, 2015, until Nov. 20, 2016. Lord,” in which Catholic churches were staying open the Church must express toward those who convert,” The biblical theme of the year, he said, will be “Be for prayer, eucharistic adoration and confession. Pope Francis said. merciful, just as your Father is merciful,” an admoni- At each of the dozens of confessionals in St. Peter’s tion that applies “especially to confessors,” the pope Basilica, as well as in simple chairs scattered along More POPE PENANCE, page 10 Holy Infant Parish Breaks Ground for New Church On a breezy March 15 afternoon, as eagles flew overhead, the faithful of Holy Infant Parish in York Haven gathered along Conewago Creek Road in Manchester as Bishop Ronald Gainer blessed the ground where the parish’s new church will be built. For a growing parish of more than 1,750 members, the new church will double the capacity of the current one, which was dedicated in 1949 as a mission of Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in York. The joyous occasion began with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Gainer in the current church, and culminated with the Rite of Beginning the Building of a New Church and the groundbreaking at the new site less than five miles away. See page 8 for additional coverage. CHRIS HEISEY, THE CATHOLIC WITNESS Beth and Dan Reilly and their children Henry and Eamon help break ground for the new Holy Infant Church. The 2 - Catholic Witness • March 20, 2015 Cardinal Egan’s ‘Pearl of Great Price’ Described as His Faith in Jesus By Beth Griffin general intercessions, and brought the offer- Catholic News Service tory gifts to the altar. His great-nephew, Brian Hayes, eulogized the late cardinal as “a stead- At his funeral Mass March 10 in New fast bastion of all that is good.” Addressing York’s splendid St. Patrick Cathedral, Cardi- himself to “the New York side of our family,” nal Edward M. Egan was remembered as a Hayes said, “You meant the world to him.” churchman whose faith in Jesus Christ out- Hayes said his Uncle Ed appreciated dedi- shone even his considerable temporal quali- cation to a craft and especially loved Renee ties. Fleming’s voice. “I know he’s listening to all Cardinal Egan died March 5 at age 82. He of us today because she’s here,” he said with was the archbishop of New York from 2000 to a smile. At Communion, the renowned soloist CNS/GREGORY A. 2009 and was the first to retire from the posi- sang Franz Schubert’s “Ave Maria.” Her Met- SHEMITZ tion. ropolitan Opera colleague Matthew Polenzani Cardinal Timo- “His ‘pearl of great price’ was not his eru- sang Cesar Franck’s “Panis Angelicus.” Car- thy M. Dolan of dition, his love of music and art, his renown dinal Egan was an accomplished classical New York uses in canon law, his administrative acumen or pianist. incense during distinctive preaching, his bishop’s ring or Cardinal Dolan said he “snuck” into the a vigil Mass for church the night before the funeral to again cardinal’s hat, but his faith in Jesus Christ,” his predeces- offer prayers for Cardinal Egan. The church New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan told sor, Cardinal was empty except for the police honor guard the 2,500 people gathered to mourn his pre- Edward M. decessor. standing watch over the cardinal’s casket, he Egan, at St. Cardinal Egan loved the Church, the place said. Patrick’s Cathe- where he met, learned, served and was united “As I gazed upon his body ... I saw on him to Jesus, Cardinal Dolan said. “I call him a in the casket what he treasured most,” Cardi- dral in New York churchman, a term that cannot be reduced nal Dolan said. “On his chest was the cross, City March 9. to describing a man who prefers brick-and- in whose victory we trust he now shares; in Cardinal Egan, mortar, ledgers, and an aloof institution, but a his hands was his rosary, reminding me of his who was New man who sees in the Church Jesus Christ, his prayers and his trust in the mother of Jesus; on York’s archbish- lord and savior, alive in teaching, serving and his finger the bishop’s ring, telling us that he op from 2000 sanctifying,” the cardinal said. was married to the bride of Christ, the Church; until his retire- The immense bronze doors of St. Patrick’s beneath his head was his pallium, yoking him ment in 2009, swung open to begin a processional that in- to the successor of St. Peter in Rome; and all died March 5 of cluded Cardinal Dolan, seven other cardinals around him were the vestments each priest cardiac arrest. and more than 30 bishops, 250 priests, 24 wears for Mass, his most sacred duty. Those He was 82. deacons and 100 seminarians. They were met were the essentials.” by an honor guard of New York City police At the end of Mass, pallbearers carrying and firefighters and members of the Knights the mahogany coffin on their shoulders led a of Malta, Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and procession of cardinals, bishops and Cardinal Knights of Columbus. Egan’s family around the cathedral to bursts As the concelebrants filed up the aisle and of spontaneous applause. They squeezed past Cardinal Egan’s casket, the skirl of a bag- through passages narrowed by scaffolding piper on Fifth Avenue mixed with the tradi- from the almost-complete, multiyear restora- tional organ and vocal music from the soaring tion of the church and arrived at the crypt un- choir loft and briefly threatened to drown it der the main altar. out. There, Cardinal Egan was entombed along- his coat of arms, featuring the motto, “In the Bishop Sullivan said Cardinal Egan’s daily From the altar, Cardinal Dolan welcomed side his predecessors. Holiness of Truth.” hourlong, motionless, morning recollection civic and religious leaders. They included The locked crypt now holds the remains While the stonecutters worked, pallbearers before the tabernacle “was the juice of his Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the papal of 14 people, including Archbishop Fulton practiced maneuvering a coffin down the low- priestly ministry. It is what fired the rest of his nuncio to the United States, Gov. Andrew Sheen, Pierre Toussaint and Msgr. Michael ceilinged steps and made sure the 21st-centu- day.” Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio of New Lavelle, who for 60 years was rector of the ry casket would fit into the 19th-century crypt. He said the cardinal prepared his homilies York, and representatives of the Orthodox, cathedral. In its present configuration of three When a CNS reporter visited the crypt with meticulously and used his pulpit to lift up, Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities. upright ranks of seven tombs each, it has a ca- Borrero after the funeral, the freshly engraved encourage and “lead all to the mercy and in- The careful hierarchy of seating in the ca- pacity of 21. 250-pound slab had been sealed into place. finite understanding of God.” Bishop Sullivan thedral included reserved spots for Cardi- George Borrero, managing director of the Cardinal Egan’s funeral capped two days of said Cardinal Egan was “always the priest, the nal Egan’s family, trustees of archdiocesan trustees of St.