Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church

Devout Catholic and pro-life advocate Congressman Chris Smith will be honored at the 2025 National Catholic Prayer Breakfast held in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 28. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the office of Rep. Chris Smith

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 13, 2025 / 15:20 pm (CNA).

Devout Catholic and pro-life advocate Congressman Chris Smith will be honored at this year’s National Catholic Prayer Breakfast held in Washington, D.C.

The New Jersey representative will receive the organization’s annual Christifideles Laici Award at the 20th National Catholic Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 28. Previous recipients of the award include religious freedom advocate Jimmy Lai; legal scholar Helen M. Alvaré; attorney and policy expert Mary Rice Hasson; and former U.S. Attorney General William Barr.

The Christifideles Laici Award was founded in 2019 by the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast to highlight the “good works” of those in service of the Church, according to the organization’s website. The award itself is an original work commissioned by the organization from the classical artist Isaac Dell and is inscribed with the words “In Honor and Gratitude for Fidelity to the Church, Exemplary Selfless and Steadfast Service in the Lord’s Vinyard.”

Smith is currently in his 22nd term in the U.S. House of Representatives for New Jersey’s 4th Congressional District, serves on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and has been a tireless defender of those suffering from religious persecution and human trafficking.

A staunch advocate of the pro-life cause, Smith is among the confirmed speakers at the March for Life this year along with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Live Action Founder Lila Rose.

Late last year, Smith told CNA in an interview following a Mass celebrated in the U.S. Capitol that he and his wife, Marie, share a particular devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe and that his office “places all of our pro-life and human rights work under her mantle.” 

“I do a lot on the human rights issue,” he said at the time, “and every bit of it, we turn to her and pray, you know, and ask her for guidance.” 

Smith told CNA he has a life-sized replica of the tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe hanging in his office. “I’m amazed at how many people I meet — because I meet with diplomats all the time because of my human rights work and my committee assignments — they always take note of [the tilma].”

“I find there’s such devotion, particularly with the Latin Americans who come in — they look at [the tilma] and it’s instant,” he said. “And so this is, of course, a celebration of her, [and] the whole story of Juan Diego, and the whole story of, you know, 8 to 9 million people converting from human sacrifice and worshipping gods is such an amazing story of conversion and repair of souls.”

Devout Catholic and pro-life advocate Congressman Chris Smith will be honored at the 2025 National Catholic Prayer Breakfast held in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 28. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the office of Rep. Chris Smith

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 13, 2025 / 15:20 pm (CNA).

Devout Catholic and pro-life advocate Congressman Chris Smith will be honored at this year’s National Catholic Prayer Breakfast held in Washington, D.C.

The New Jersey representative will receive the organization’s annual Christifideles Laici Award at the 20th National Catholic Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 28. Previous recipients of the award include religious freedom advocate Jimmy Lai; legal scholar Helen M. Alvaré; attorney and policy expert Mary Rice Hasson; and former U.S. Attorney General William Barr.

The Christifideles Laici Award was founded in 2019 by the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast to highlight the “good works” of those in service of the Church, according to the organization’s website. The award itself is an original work commissioned by the organization from the classical artist Isaac Dell and is inscribed with the words “In Honor and Gratitude for Fidelity to the Church, Exemplary Selfless and Steadfast Service in the Lord’s Vinyard.”

Smith is currently in his 22nd term in the U.S. House of Representatives for New Jersey’s 4th Congressional District, serves on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and has been a tireless defender of those suffering from religious persecution and human trafficking.

A staunch advocate of the pro-life cause, Smith is among the confirmed speakers at the March for Life this year along with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Live Action Founder Lila Rose.

Late last year, Smith told CNA in an interview following a Mass celebrated in the U.S. Capitol that he and his wife, Marie, share a particular devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe and that his office “places all of our pro-life and human rights work under her mantle.” 

“I do a lot on the human rights issue,” he said at the time, “and every bit of it, we turn to her and pray, you know, and ask her for guidance.” 

Smith told CNA he has a life-sized replica of the tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe hanging in his office. “I’m amazed at how many people I meet — because I meet with diplomats all the time because of my human rights work and my committee assignments — they always take note of [the tilma].”

“I find there’s such devotion, particularly with the Latin Americans who come in — they look at [the tilma] and it’s instant,” he said. “And so this is, of course, a celebration of her, [and] the whole story of Juan Diego, and the whole story of, you know, 8 to 9 million people converting from human sacrifice and worshipping gods is such an amazing story of conversion and repair of souls.”

The New York State Capitol in Albany, New York. / Credit: Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Jan 13, 2025 / 14:50 pm (CNA).

New York’s Catholic bishops are supporting a proposal from Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul to increase the state’s child tax credit — an effort to address New York’s stubbornly high child poverty rate, which has exceeded the national average for over a decade.

In an announcement last week, Hochul proposed an annual tax credit of up to $1,000 per child under age 4 and up to $500 per child from 4 through 16, roughly doubling the average credit disbursed by the state to families from $472 to $943. The existing state credit provides up to $330 per child.

Kristen Curran, director of government relations for the New York State Catholic Conference, expressed support on behalf of the state’s Catholic bishops for the proposal, saying it would provide “important relief” to an estimated 1.6 million families.

“For more than 20 years, the New York State Catholic Conference has championed the issue of child tax credits. This initiative is a powerful way to walk with moms in need, support working families, and help lift children out of poverty,” Curran said in a Jan. 7 statement.

“Working class families will be better positioned to navigate the cost-of-living crisis and provide for their children. It is critical that the child tax credit apply to babies, starting at birth. We are glad to see that coverage as part of this proposal.”

In 2022, the latest year figures are available, the child poverty rate in New York was nearly 19% — a figure that exceeds the national average and has since 2011. The figure is also at least six percentage points higher than any state it borders and ranks New York in the top 10 nationwide for child poverty, according to the state comptroller. 

Curran urged lawmakers to pass the increased child tax credit, framing it as a vital step toward strengthening the community and state.

“Now more than ever, it is imperative that we address the affordability crisis to help parents as they raise their children. We urge all lawmakers to support this initiative,” she concluded.

“When we join together to lift up the most vulnerable, we are strengthened as a community and as a state. The governor can count on the strong support of the New York State Catholic Conference for this pro-family proposal.”

At the federal level, the current child tax credit allows parents and guardians to claim their dependent children on their tax forms, granting a tax break of up to $2,000. Up to $1,600 of that credit may be “refundable,” meaning taxpayers can receive cash payments for the credit.

A bipartisan effort to increase the tax credit from the current refundable amount of $1,600 to $2,000 per child in 2025 failed to pass the Senate in August. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been a staunch advocate for the bill’s passage, sending a message ahead of the vote encouraging the faithful to urge senators to vote in favor of the measure.

The 2021 American Rescue Plan briefly expanded the credit to $3,600 and made it fully refundable; that law also allowed parents to claim half of the refundable sum in advance monthly payments. Those new rules expired after that year.

The New York State Capitol in Albany, New York. / Credit: Beyond My Ken, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Jan 13, 2025 / 14:50 pm (CNA).

New York’s Catholic bishops are supporting a proposal from Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul to increase the state’s child tax credit — an effort to address New York’s stubbornly high child poverty rate, which has exceeded the national average for over a decade.

In an announcement last week, Hochul proposed an annual tax credit of up to $1,000 per child under age 4 and up to $500 per child from 4 through 16, roughly doubling the average credit disbursed by the state to families from $472 to $943. The existing state credit provides up to $330 per child.

Kristen Curran, director of government relations for the New York State Catholic Conference, expressed support on behalf of the state’s Catholic bishops for the proposal, saying it would provide “important relief” to an estimated 1.6 million families.

“For more than 20 years, the New York State Catholic Conference has championed the issue of child tax credits. This initiative is a powerful way to walk with moms in need, support working families, and help lift children out of poverty,” Curran said in a Jan. 7 statement.

“Working class families will be better positioned to navigate the cost-of-living crisis and provide for their children. It is critical that the child tax credit apply to babies, starting at birth. We are glad to see that coverage as part of this proposal.”

In 2022, the latest year figures are available, the child poverty rate in New York was nearly 19% — a figure that exceeds the national average and has since 2011. The figure is also at least six percentage points higher than any state it borders and ranks New York in the top 10 nationwide for child poverty, according to the state comptroller. 

Curran urged lawmakers to pass the increased child tax credit, framing it as a vital step toward strengthening the community and state.

“Now more than ever, it is imperative that we address the affordability crisis to help parents as they raise their children. We urge all lawmakers to support this initiative,” she concluded.

“When we join together to lift up the most vulnerable, we are strengthened as a community and as a state. The governor can count on the strong support of the New York State Catholic Conference for this pro-family proposal.”

At the federal level, the current child tax credit allows parents and guardians to claim their dependent children on their tax forms, granting a tax break of up to $2,000. Up to $1,600 of that credit may be “refundable,” meaning taxpayers can receive cash payments for the credit.

A bipartisan effort to increase the tax credit from the current refundable amount of $1,600 to $2,000 per child in 2025 failed to pass the Senate in August. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been a staunch advocate for the bill’s passage, sending a message ahead of the vote encouraging the faithful to urge senators to vote in favor of the measure.

The 2021 American Rescue Plan briefly expanded the credit to $3,600 and made it fully refundable; that law also allowed parents to claim half of the refundable sum in advance monthly payments. Those new rules expired after that year.

The Dominican House of Studies has a bell in its Washington, D.C., priory for the first time in 120 years. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Dominican House of Studies

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 13, 2025 / 14:20 pm (CNA).

The Priory of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., celebrated an exciting new addition this past weekend.

One hundred and 20 years after its founding in 1905, the Dominican House of Studies finally has a bell for its tower.

The friars celebrated the blessing of their new bell on Sunday morning in the Academic Courtyard of the priory. A Mass for the Baptism of the Lord followed the blessing, according to the priory’s website.

The roughly 980-pound bell was cast in 1929 in Watervliet, New York, by the Meneely Bell Foundry, according to Father Gregory Schnakenberg, OP, and is set to be installed in the coming weeks.

“Whether friars thought it unnecessary (we do live across the street from one of the most beautiful bell carillons in America) or we simply lacked the resources, today we dedicated our new bell,” Father Patrick Mary Briscoe, OP, wrote in a post on Instagram. 

Briscoe also revealed in the post that the new bell has been named after St. Gabriel and is inscribed with the words “I sing to the honor of St. Gabriel the Archangel, who announced the Word of God to the Immaculate Virgin Mary.”

“During the blessing ceremony, Father Gregory pointed out that we need the bell today more than ever, to call us out of our distractions and summon us to prayer and contemplation,” Briscoe recalled, adding: “I couldn’t agree more! Bells are evangelizers, calling us all to the joy and hope that the Gospel alone brings.”

The Dominican House of Studies’ next major project will be the restoration of its St. Catherine of Siena and St. Rose of Lima altars, which are both located in the main chapel. 

The Dominican House of Studies has a bell in its Washington, D.C., priory for the first time in 120 years. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Dominican House of Studies

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 13, 2025 / 14:20 pm (CNA).

The Priory of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., celebrated an exciting new addition this past weekend.

One hundred and 20 years after its founding in 1905, the Dominican House of Studies finally has a bell for its tower.

The friars celebrated the blessing of their new bell on Sunday morning in the Academic Courtyard of the priory. A Mass for the Baptism of the Lord followed the blessing, according to the priory’s website.

The roughly 980-pound bell was cast in 1929 in Watervliet, New York, by the Meneely Bell Foundry, according to Father Gregory Schnakenberg, OP, and is set to be installed in the coming weeks.

“Whether friars thought it unnecessary (we do live across the street from one of the most beautiful bell carillons in America) or we simply lacked the resources, today we dedicated our new bell,” Father Patrick Mary Briscoe, OP, wrote in a post on Instagram. 

Briscoe also revealed in the post that the new bell has been named after St. Gabriel and is inscribed with the words “I sing to the honor of St. Gabriel the Archangel, who announced the Word of God to the Immaculate Virgin Mary.”

“During the blessing ceremony, Father Gregory pointed out that we need the bell today more than ever, to call us out of our distractions and summon us to prayer and contemplation,” Briscoe recalled, adding: “I couldn’t agree more! Bells are evangelizers, calling us all to the joy and hope that the Gospel alone brings.”

The Dominican House of Studies’ next major project will be the restoration of its St. Catherine of Siena and St. Rose of Lima altars, which are both located in the main chapel. 

Knights of Columbus process with the new Knights of Columbus Sacred Heart Pilgrim Icon during a Mass and Sacred Heart Holy Hour at St. Mary Church in New Haven, Connecticut, Jan. 3, 2025. / Credit: Paul Haring

CNA Staff, Jan 13, 2025 / 12:20 pm (CNA).

For more than 45 years, the Knights of Columbus Pilgrim Icon Program has brought sacred images to Catholic parishes around the world for prayer and devotion. On Jan. 3, the Knights launched a new Pilgrim Icon of the Sacred Heart of Jesus program during a Holy Hour at St. Mary Church in New Haven, Connecticut.

During the Holy Hour, an icon depicting the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus painted by Pompeo Batoni in 1767 was displayed. This reproduction of the original image is one of more than 300 icons, each bearing the apostolic blessing of Pope Francis, that are now traveling around the world as part of the Knights’ Pilgrim Icon Program.

The original image is currently venerated in the Church of the Gesú in Rome.

The prayer service to launch the new icon included readings from Scripture and reflections from Pope Francis on the Sacred Heart as well as the Divine Mercy Chaplet, prayers to the Sacred Heart, and time for prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

The launch of the new icon program coincides with the release of Pope Francis’ fourth encyclical, Delixit Nos, which is devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

“In many ways, Dilexit Nos can serve as a mission statement for the Knights of Columbus in today’s world,” said Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly in a press release. “The pope observes that we live in a fragmented and divided society, but the heart of Christ is a unifying center. It is the source of truth and goodness that we all need.”

Kelly met with Pope Francis in a private audience on Dec. 20, 2024. During their meeting, Kelly presented the Holy Father with an icon and booklet for the Sacred Heart Holy Hour and shared updates on notable activities of the Knights of Columbus in the past year. 

Both the Knights’ new Pilgrim Icon Program and the Holy Father’s encyclical coincide with the Catholic Church’s commemoration of the 350th anniversary of the visions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, the French nun who received the 12 promises of the Sacred Heart and the First Friday devotions. 

Founder of the Knights of Columbus Blessed Michael McGivney had a deep devotion to the Sacred Heart. The McGivney family had a devotional plaque of the Sacred Heart in their home that is still in the Knights’ possession. Additionally, it was discovered that McGivney was buried with a cloth image of the Sacred Heart when his body was exhumed in 1981.

The Knights’ Pilgrim Icon Program has allowed more than 23 million people to honor Our Lord, Our Lady, and the saints through 191,000 prayer services featuring icons including Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Holy Family, and St. Joseph. The Sacred Heart of Jesus icon is the 20th icon venerated through the program since 1979.

Kelly has called upon the Knights to “bring reproductions of this beloved image to parishes around the world and invite their families — and all families — to consecrate their homes and themselves to the Sacred Heart.”

Knights of Columbus process with the new Knights of Columbus Sacred Heart Pilgrim Icon during a Mass and Sacred Heart Holy Hour at St. Mary Church in New Haven, Connecticut, Jan. 3, 2025. / Credit: Paul Haring

CNA Staff, Jan 13, 2025 / 12:20 pm (CNA).

For more than 45 years, the Knights of Columbus Pilgrim Icon Program has brought sacred images to Catholic parishes around the world for prayer and devotion. On Jan. 3, the Knights launched a new Pilgrim Icon of the Sacred Heart of Jesus program during a Holy Hour at St. Mary Church in New Haven, Connecticut.

During the Holy Hour, an icon depicting the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus painted by Pompeo Batoni in 1767 was displayed. This reproduction of the original image is one of more than 300 icons, each bearing the apostolic blessing of Pope Francis, that are now traveling around the world as part of the Knights’ Pilgrim Icon Program.

The original image is currently venerated in the Church of the Gesú in Rome.

The prayer service to launch the new icon included readings from Scripture and reflections from Pope Francis on the Sacred Heart as well as the Divine Mercy Chaplet, prayers to the Sacred Heart, and time for prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

The launch of the new icon program coincides with the release of Pope Francis’ fourth encyclical, Delixit Nos, which is devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

“In many ways, Dilexit Nos can serve as a mission statement for the Knights of Columbus in today’s world,” said Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly in a press release. “The pope observes that we live in a fragmented and divided society, but the heart of Christ is a unifying center. It is the source of truth and goodness that we all need.”

Kelly met with Pope Francis in a private audience on Dec. 20, 2024. During their meeting, Kelly presented the Holy Father with an icon and booklet for the Sacred Heart Holy Hour and shared updates on notable activities of the Knights of Columbus in the past year. 

Both the Knights’ new Pilgrim Icon Program and the Holy Father’s encyclical coincide with the Catholic Church’s commemoration of the 350th anniversary of the visions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, the French nun who received the 12 promises of the Sacred Heart and the First Friday devotions. 

Founder of the Knights of Columbus Blessed Michael McGivney had a deep devotion to the Sacred Heart. The McGivney family had a devotional plaque of the Sacred Heart in their home that is still in the Knights’ possession. Additionally, it was discovered that McGivney was buried with a cloth image of the Sacred Heart when his body was exhumed in 1981.

The Knights’ Pilgrim Icon Program has allowed more than 23 million people to honor Our Lord, Our Lady, and the saints through 191,000 prayer services featuring icons including Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Holy Family, and St. Joseph. The Sacred Heart of Jesus icon is the 20th icon venerated through the program since 1979.

Kelly has called upon the Knights to “bring reproductions of this beloved image to parishes around the world and invite their families — and all families — to consecrate their homes and themselves to the Sacred Heart.”

The beatification cause of Sister Clare Crockett, an inspirational young Irish religious sister who died in 2016, formally opened Jan. 12, 2025, with a ceremony at the Cathedral of Alcalá de Henares in Madrid, Spain. / Credit: Courtesy of Servants of the Home of the Mother

Vatican City, Jan 13, 2025 / 11:50 am (CNA).

Crockett, who died in a 2016 earthquake in Ecuador at the age of 33, is now titled “servant of God,” the first step in the Catholic Church’s path to sainthood.

The beatification cause of Sister Clare Crockett, an inspirational young Irish religious sister who died in 2016, formally opened Jan. 12, 2025, with a ceremony at the Cathedral of Alcalá de Henares in Madrid, Spain. / Credit: Courtesy of Servants of the Home of the Mother

Vatican City, Jan 13, 2025 / 11:50 am (CNA).

The beatification cause of Sister Clare Crockett, an inspirational young Irish religious sister who died in 2016, formally opened Sunday with a ceremony at the Cathedral of Alcalá de Henares in Madrid, Spain.

The ceremony marked the beginning of the diocesan phase of the process, in which an elected tribunal will investigate her life, virtues, and reputation for holiness. 

Crockett, who died in a 2016 earthquake in Ecuador at the age of 33, is now titled “servant of God,” the first step in the Catholic Church’s path to sainthood.

More than 100 people traveled from her hometown of Derry, Northern Ireland, to attend the event, including Bishop Donal McKeown. South American Cardinal Fernando Chomalí Garib, the archbishop of Santiago de Chile, also attended.

In Derry, approximately 500 people gathered at a movie theater to watch the ceremony broadcast live.

“The people of Derry are so proud of her,” McKeown told The Irish News. Crockett’s story “is a very striking example of someone who had a conversion experience and dedicated their life to Jesus.”

Crockett was born on Nov. 14, 1982, in Derry. As a charismatic and fun-loving teenager, she had a gift for acting and was contracted to present a television show on Channel 4 in the U.K., attracting interest from Nickelodeon. Already in her early teens she was frequently partying, drinking, and smoking.

But her life changed when she attended a Holy Week retreat in Spain at the age of 17 with the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother, a community founded in 1982 with a focus on the Eucharist, Marian spirituality, and outreach to youth.

She recalled later in her personal testimony that when she arrived in Spain she was “very superficial and a wild child.” But that began to change when she took part in the Good Friday adoration of the cross, kissing the feet of Jesus. 

“I do not know how to explain exactly what happened. I did not see the choirs of angels or a white dove come down from the ceiling and descend on me, but I had the certainty that the Lord was on the cross, for me,” she remembered. 

“And along with that conviction, I felt a great sorrow … and prayed the Stations of the Cross. When I returned to my pew, I already had imprinted in me something that was not there before. I had to do something for him who had given his life for me.”

It was the start of a long journey of conversion and healing that led to her joining the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother.

Despite initial struggles to leave behind a life of “superficiality and sin,” she entered religious life in 2001 in Spain, making her first vows in 2006 and her final vows in 2010. 

Known for her infectious joy and dedication to others, she served in Spain, the United States, and Ecuador.

Sister Clare died on April 16, 2016, when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the school in Playa Prieta, Ecuador, where she was teaching music. Five postulants also lost their lives in the collapse.

A documentary about her life, “All or Nothing: Sister Clare Crockett,” has amassed over 4 million views on YouTube in Spanish and English, and her story continues to inspire vocations and deepen faith worldwide. 

In the years since her death, stories of graces and miracles attributed to Crockett have poured in from around the world, according to Sister Kristen Gardner, the postulator of her cause. 

“Desperate souls on the verge of suicide have regained hope, university students lost in vice have found strength to return to the Lord,” Gardner said during the ceremony on Jan. 12.

“There is a very characteristic common note in the messages received,” she said, “and that is that many describe Sister Clare as their friend, even without having met her, she is their friend.”

Her family, present at the ceremony, expressed pride and gratitude for the recognition of Sister Clare’s life. 

“Never in a million years did we think she was going to be a nun, never mind make her way to sainthood,” Shauna Gill, Crockett’s sister, told BBC News in Northern Ireland.

More than 13,000 people had watched the livestream of the ceremony on YouTube within 24 hours of the event.  

The opening of the beatification process is the first step in what could be a long journey toward sainthood. Bishop Antonio Prieto Lucena of Alcalá de Henares, who presided over Sunday’s ceremony, noted that the process will examine Crockett’s heroic virtues and any graces or favors attributed to her intercession. 

According to Gardner, the sisters have received “messages and mail from more than 50 countries” with testimonies of how Crockett’s story has inspired, including from young people who have decided to embrace religious life after learning more about her life. 

“Countless seminarians and religious have said that Sister Clare has saved their vocation, just when they were thinking that they had no other option but to turn their backs on God,” Gardner said.

The postulator added that Crockett’s overflowing joy and coherence of life has led many souls “to discover that true happiness is found only in God.”

The opening of her cause “is not motivated by human reasons but by the desire to give glory to God, which is manifested in the testimony of dedication to Christ that shines in the lives of his servants,” she said.