WASHINGTON – Pope Leo XIV has bestowed the designation of “Chaplain to His Holiness” upon Reverend Michael J.K. Fuller, General Secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The pontifical honor comes with the title of Monsignor.

“In his work, Fr. Fuller has demonstrated a pastoral heart, a theologian’s mind, and a worthy steward’s deft guiding hand,” said Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the USCCB, in making the surprise announcement during the USCCB’s Administrative Committee* meeting. He continued, “Last fall my predecessor, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, along with Fr. Fuller’s ordinary, Bishop David Malloy of Rockford, desired to bring an awareness of the exemplary priesthood and work of Fr. Fuller to the Holy Father. Together it was proposed that Fr. Fuller be duly recognized for his priestly life and his service to the broader Church as a seminary formator, a theologian, and as General Secretary.”

Monsignor Fuller is a priest of the Diocese of Rockford and has served the U.S. bishops for the last decade in a variety of roles at the Conference, beginning in 2016 as the head of the Secretariat for Doctrine and Canonical Affairs, and then in the offices of the General Secretariat since 2021.

Prior to his service at the USCCB, Monsignor Fuller was associate professor and chair of the Department of Spiritual Theology at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary from 2011 to 2016. He was also editor of the Chicago Studies Theological Journal (2012-2016), and from 2002 to 2016, he served as spiritual director and instructor for the Diaconate Formation Program of the Diocese of Rockford, and as instructor for the Diaconate Formation Program of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Monsignor Fuller also served as instructor, assistant professor, and chair of the Department of Christian Life (2002-2011), at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. He taught at the Institute for Priestly Formation at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska (2004-2008); and was instructor in Health Care Ethics at Saint Anthony School of Nursing, Rockford, Illinois (1998-2000). He also served as associate pastor of St. Bridget parish, Loves Park, Illinois (1997-2000).

Monsignor Fuller holds a doctorate in sacred theology, a master of divinity, a licentiate of sacred theology and a bachelor of sacred theology from the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Rockford, in 1997. Prior to entering seminary formation, Monsignor Fuller spent two years in Swaziland, Africa, as a Peace Corps volunteer. He has written extensively in numerous scholarly publications and is the author of two books: Daily Prayer 2008 and The Virgin Martyrs: A Hagiographical and Mystagogical Interpretation.

 

*Led by the Conference president, the Administrative Committee is comprised of the USCCB’s officers, chairmen of the Conference’s standing committees, as well as a representative from each episcopal region of the United States. The committee operates as the board of directors of the Conference.

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ROME (CNS) -- Every Catholic parish needs to show that Jesus, who promises a just, true and full life, is always near, Pope Leo XIV said.

"I encourage you to ensure that parish activities are a sign of a Church that -- like a mother -- takes care of her children, without condemning them, but rather welcoming them, listening to them, and supporting them in the face of danger," he told parishioners at the Church of St. Mary of the Presentation in Rome in his homily March 8.

"As a good and caring Shepherd, the Lord always waits for us and accompanies us, wherever we live and however we are. He mercifully heals our wounds and gives himself as a gift to us, enabling us in turn to become a gift for our brothers and sisters," he said. 

Earlier in the day, before praying the Angelus at midday with people gathered in St. Peter's Square, the pope urged Catholics to be men and women of peace and charity, which the world is thirsting for.

"Let us ask Mary, Mother of the Church, to be able to serve, with Jesus and like Jesus, those men and women thirsting for truth and justice," he said. "This is not the time for opposition between one church and another, between 'us' and 'them': those who worship God seek to be men and women of peace, who worship him in Spirit and in truth."

Later in the early evening, Pope Leo made his fourth visit to a parish in Rome in the run-up to Easter. As bishop of Rome, he has been celebrating Mass and meeting with the faithful and priests in different parts of his diocese, most often in neighborhoods that face a variety of difficulties, such as poverty, violent crime and drug dealing. 

"Young people risk growing up deceived by those who peddle death or disillusioned about the future," he said in his homily. "Many are waiting for a home, a job that ensures a dignified life, safe spaces where they can meet, play and plan something beautiful together."

"Men and women arrive at this parish wounded in spirit, their dignity injured and thirsting for hope," he said. "You have the urgent and liberating task of showing them the closeness of Jesus, his desire to redeem our existence from the evils that threaten it with a proposal for a just, true and full life."

The faithful can find strength in the Eucharist, he said, "and may the Gospel, which springs forth in us as a source of truth, help each of us to open our eyes, to wisely evaluate what is good and what is evil, thus forming free and mature consciences."

Before celebrating Mass, the pope met with families and young people outside. 

"Jesus is coming to your home, in your heart, in your life. We have to be ready to open that door to find Jesus, who is waiting for us," he said.

"Jesus is close to us. Let's open our eyes!" he said, indicating the Lord can be found in those who suffer or seek help. "He asks us to bring them what we have received."

Pope Leo also urged the children to make peace with everyone in their lives as part of bringing peace to the world, which is "truly necessary today."

There is always a way to overcome disagreements and difficulties without resorting to bullying or violence, he told the children.

Before visiting the parish in the early evening on the outskirts of Rome, Pope Leo prayed the Angelus at midday at the Vatican. 

The pope highlighted the day's Gospel reading of the Samaritan woman meeting Jesus at the well (John 4:5-42). 

"According to custom, he ought to have simply ignored that Samaritan woman; instead, Jesus speaks with her, listens to her and shows her respect -- without a hidden agenda and without disdain," he said.

"How many people seek in the Church this same sensitivity, this availability! And how beautiful it is when we lose track of time in order to give attention to the person we are encountering," he said.

So many people in the world are searching "for this spiritual spring," he said, quoting the Dutch Jewish writer Etty Hillesum, who was killed at age 29 in the Auschwitz death camp in 1943: "Sometimes I am there too. But more often, stones and grit block the well, and God is buried beneath. Then he must be dug out again."

"Dear friends, there is no energy better spent than that dedicated to freeing our heart," the pope said.

WASHINGTON – Pope Leo XIV has appointed Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, Titular Archbishop of Sepino, as the new Apostolic Nuncio to the United States. Archbishop Caccia, 68, has served as Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations since 2019, and succeeds Cardinal Christophe Pierre, 80, who has held the post since 2016.

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, welcomed the March 7 appointment: 

“It is with joy that I welcome the news that our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, has appointed as his personal representative and nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Caccia. On behalf of my brother bishops, I wish to extend our warmest welcome and our prayerful support to him as he carries out his responsibilities across the United States, and we look forward to working with him.

“At the same time, I wish to express my sincere and prayerful appreciation to Cardinal Pierre, who has served as nuncio to the United States for nearly a decade. I have had many opportunities to work with Cardinal Pierre over the years, particularly over the last four months through the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Thank you, Your Eminence, for your tireless service to the Church in the United States, and on behalf of my brother bishops, I offer our heartfelt prayers and best wishes in your retirement.”

Archbishop Caccia was born on February 24, 1958, in Milan, Italy. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1983 and has served in the Diplomatic Service to the Holy See since 1991. His curriculum vitae may be found here.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- More than 50 years before the first Paralympic Games were held in 1960 in Rome, the Vatican had already hosted what might have been the very first international sporting and gymnastics event with athletes living with disabilities.

With the Winter Paralympic Games starting in Milan-Cortina March 6 and running until March 15, the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, highlighted that among the series of gymnastics and sporting events held inside the Vatican at the beginning of the last century, the "games" it held Sept. 23-27, 1908, included athletes who were hearing- and vision-impaired and amputees.

For that reason, "perhaps the Paralympics were born right in the Vatican courtyard of San Belvedere, which was transformed into an extraordinary athletics field" and stadium before a large crowd that included St. Pope Pius X, the Vatican newspaper said March 2. 

Athletes from Italy, France, Belgium, Austria, Ireland and Canada competed in the first international Catholic gymnastics and athletics competition in late September 1908, which was opened with two blasts of a trumpet.

Out of the nine vision-impaired young people competing in the high jump, the winner, known only by his last name, Cittadini, won with a leap of 1.10 meters (3-foot-6). In a short-distance race for athletes missing a limb, an unnamed Irishman won, it added, according to the newspapers' archives.

In an article dated Sept. 26, 1908, a reporter for the Vatican newspaper asked the high jump winner if he was happy with how much applause he received after his win. "I would be even happier if I could (jump as high as) sighted people," he said.

The events were "truly superb," the historic article said, conjuring up memories of "a time long ago when the Belvedere Courtyard was the stage for equestrian tournaments."

The Italian magazine "L'Illustrazione Italiana" also described the events in 1908, reporting that the hearing-impaired gymnasts watched for the nods of the director of their Catholic boarding school's club to guide them in their routine, noting the young athletes couldn't hear the enthusiastic applause from the pope and the crowd.

The international gathering ended with the athletes parading through nearby streets in Rome and an audience with St. Pius, who praised the young people for their skills and deep faith; he awarded honorary certificates to the different associations in attendance. 

According to Antonella Stelitano, an expert in the history of the popes and sports, gymnastics events inviting local oratories and parishes were held every Sunday in the Vatican's courtyards of San Damaso or Belvedere starting in 1903, and the first Italian Catholic sports conference was held in 1905 and was organized by Catholic Action.

The pope used the Sunday gatherings to catechize the young people, she wrote in 2021 in RivistaDirittoSportivo.it.

The Vatican newspaper gave ample coverage of the weekly exhibitions with rankings, commentaries, interviews and even notes from medical teams, complete with details of injuries sustained by competitors. Notices of rainouts were published as well as the schedules of the Swiss guards and Vatican gendarmes who took turns welcoming the athletes every week, including with musical fanfare from their respective bands, L'Osservatore Romano wrote.

The pope's speeches to the athletes were always on the front page, it added.

St. Pius saw the Church should encourage games, exercise and play as a wholesome and healthy outlet for adults and young people, not only to practice the virtues of fair play but also as an alternative to pressures to spend one's free time drinking or gambling, according to Stelitano.

The Vatican's special gatherings came right after Pope Pius' election in 1903. The first modern Olympic Games had just been revived in Athens in 1896 after French Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee in 1894.

According to Stelitano, de Coubertin was disappointed by the low turnout for the second and third editions of the modern Games in Paris in 1900 and St. Louis, Missouri, in 1904.

He wanted the 1908 games to be held in Rome and thought attendance would be boosted by public support from the pope, she wrote. So, the French baron went to Rome in 1905 and met with the pope's secretary of state, Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val, who also loved sports stemming from his time growing up in England and attending Eton College. 

While the Vatican was supportive of the idea, no public papal promotion would come because of the so-called "Roman question," a lengthy dispute with the Italian government over the sovereignty of the Holy See that kept popes essentially confined inside the walls of the Vatican from 1870 to 1929 after revolutionaries fought against papal control in their struggle to unify Italy.

The Games ended up being held in London in 1908 after the Italian government said it did not have enough money to host the global event and preferred to spend its resources on investing in the nation.

The pope, nonetheless, attended the Vatican's own sporting celebration in 1908, which included those living with disabilities.

It seems fitting that the first-ever Paralympic Games were held in Rome Sept. 18-25, 1960.

Today, the Vatican's own official sports association, Athletica Vaticana, includes athletes with disabilities and migrants, and it is affiliated with the Italian Federation of Paralympic and Experimental Sports and the Italian Athletics Federation.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) --The Catholic Church is both a community made up of fragile and limited human beings and a divine reality, Pope Leo XIV said at his weekly general audience.

The pope continued his series on the Second Vatican Council March 4 in St. Peter's Square, emphasizing one of its principal documents, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, "Lumen Gentium," which examines the nature and identity of the Church. 

He said the Church is "a community of men and women who share the joy and struggle of being Christians, with their strengths and weaknesses, proclaiming the Gospel and becoming a sign of the presence of Christ who accompanies us on our journey through life."

However, he added, it also has a "divine dimension." Its divine nature "does not consist in an ideal perfection or spiritual superiority of its members, but in the fact that the Church is generated by God’s plan for humanity, realized in Christ," he said. 

As proof of this coexistence, Pope Leo pointed to the life of Jesus Christ to illustrate the two dimensions of the Church. People were moved by his humanity, the sounds of his voice, as well as his message.

"Those who decided to follow him were moved precisely by the experience of his welcoming gaze, the touch of his blessing hands, his words of liberation and healing," the pope said. "At the same time, however, by following that man, the disciples opened themselves to an encounter with God. Indeed, Christ’s flesh, his face, his gestures and his words visibly manifest the invisible God."

It is through this humanity, through the struggles and fragility of the faithful that Christ's presence is manifested, the pope said.

"This is what constitutes the holiness of the Church: the fact that Christ dwells in her and continues to give himself through the smallness and fragility of her members," he said.

Pope Leo said this dichotomy is quintessential of God's love, making himself visible through the weakness of his creation and "continuing to manifest himself and to act." The faithful are called to act through communion and charity among all.

"Let us strive to be authentic witnesses of the love of Christ so that all can recognize in us and among us the charity that characterizes true Christians and builds up the Church," the pope said in his greetings to English-speakers.