During and after his election as pope in March 2013, he was a man of many firsts. 

The election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergolio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, made him a man of multiple firsts: a pope from South America, ordained a priest after the end of Vatican II, a Jesuit, and someone who had never studied in Rome or worked there full-time. Having once worked as a chemical technician and a bouncer, he also loved to dance the tango. 

On February 11, 2013, the cardinals in Rome had gathered for a seemingly very ordinary event: the approval of three candidates for canonization. After Pope Benedict XVI finished that business, he shocked them and the whole world by announcing that, effective at the end of that month, he was resigning as pope after his eight-year ministry as bishop of Rome. 

Before the conclave began, cardinals over and under the age of 80 gathered for a week of general congregations to assess the needs of the Church. Because there was no funeral to plan, there was much more time for sharing their concerns. 

Cardinal Bergoglio, one of the last ones to speak, warned his brother cardinals about “spiritual worldliness” and “a self-referential Church,” one excessively focused on its rights and reluctant to engage people on the peripheries. The Church, he said, is like the moon—having no light of its own because it simply reflects the light coming from Christ. 

During his first meeting with people in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis spoke in a very conversational tone, saying: “We take up the journey, bishop and people. This journey of the Church of Rome which presides in charity over all the Churches. A journey of fraternity, of love, of trust among use. Let us always pray for one another.” He shocked many people when, before giving his blessing, he first asked the people for a moment of silence to bless him. He later ended all his public talks with a request that those present pray for him. 

Once at work, he promptly appointed eight cardinals from around the world to advise him on two matters: the reform of the Roman Curia and the governance of the universal Church. To Preach the Gospel, a 2022 apostolic constitution, addressed the first task; work on the second task continues. 

Pope Francis visited Rome’s parishes, schools, hospitals, and prisons; traveled widely in Italy; and made 47 apostolic journeys outside Italy, many to countries with small Catholic populations. Pope Francis brought the peripheries into the center by appointing cardinals from almost 30 countries that never had a voter in a papal conclave. 

Living Up to His Namesake 

Three days after his election, Pope Francis told several thousand journalists that, after his election, Cardinal Claudio Humes, OFM, a longtime friend, leaned over and urged him not to forget the poor. Bergoglio’s bold decision to take the name Francis ensured he would always remember them. After describing St. Francis of Assisi as a man of poverty, a man of peace, and someone who wanted to protect creation, Pope Francis added, “How I would like a Church that is poor and for the poor.” 

At the chrism Mass on March 28, 2013, he asked priests to be “shepherds with the smell of their sheep.” In late August that year, Father Antonio Spadaro, SJ, interviewed him for more than six hours on behalf of Jesuit publications around the world. After Pope Francis said, “I am a sinner,” he explained that he began considering a priestly vocation after making a life-changing confession at the age of 17. He also described the Church as a “field hospital” for wounded people. 

On October 4, 2014, he visited Assisi and the old cathedral’s new Chapel of the Renunciation, recalling St. Francis’ returning his clothes to his father. Speaking to poor people, immigrants, and those seeking employment, Pope Francis gave a resounding no to the question: “Can we make Christianity a little more human without the cross, without Jesus, without renunciation?” 

Travels, Meetings, Interviews, Phone Calls 

His first major trip in Italy was to Lampedusa, an island off Sicily’s coast, where he denounced the “globalization of indifference” shown to refugees, many of whom had drowned while seeking freedom on that island. Among the 68 countries he visited, no recent pope had ever visited 37 of those countries, especially in Asia and Africa. 

He also visited individuals and groups of survivors of clerical sexual abuse, appointing one of them, Juan Carlos Cruz, to the papal commission for the protection of children and vulnerable adults. 

At the end of his 2015 address to a joint session of the US Congress, he said: “A nation can be considered great when it defends liberty as [Abraham] Lincoln did, when it fosters a culture which enables people to ‘dream’ of full rights for all their brothers and sisters as Martin Luther King sought to do; when it strives for justice and the cause of the oppressed, as Dorothy Day did by her tireless work, the fruit of a faith which becomes dialogue and sows peace in the contemplative style of Thomas Merton.” 

Critics, Autobiography, Final Chapter 

Pope Francis frequently denounced clericalism. Not all bishops’ conferences agreed with his 2018 decision to revise the Catechism of the Catholic Church by withdrawing its acceptance of the death penalty. Similarly, not all episcopal conferences agreed with his 2023 defense of civil unions for same-sex couples—without describing them as marriages. 

In October 2023 and 2024, Pope Francis held monthlong meetings at the Vatican, including bishops and large numbers of laypeople and members of religious communities—all with votes. He gave new meaning to the terms collegiality and synodality, pointing out that these apply in various ways to all levels of the Church. 

In 2024 he published Life (HarperCollins), the first autobiography written by a pope still in office. He died on April 21, 2025, at his Casa Santa Marta residence at the Vatican. Five days later, after a funeral at St. Peter’s, he was buried at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome. 

In the 2025 pre-conclave general congregations, cardinals again described the Church’s needs and, in general terms, the gifts of the next bishop of Rome, building on the legacy of Pope Francis. 

Chronology

• Born (1936) in Buenos Aires, eldest of five children; his parents and grandparents had emigrated from Italy; enters the Society of Jesus (1958), ordained a priest (1969), served as Jesuit provincial in Argentina (1973–79).
• Served as rector of San Miguel Seminary (1980–86) before studies in Germany (1986), teaches in Buenos Aires (1986–90), worked as confessor and spiritual director in Cordoba, Argentina (1990–92).
• Named auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires (1992), its coadjutor archbishop (1997), archbishop of Buenos Aires (1998), and cardinal (2001). In October 2001, he was appointed relator at a world synod of bishops when Cardinal Egan returned to New York City after 9/11
• Cardinal Bergoglio chaired the 2007 drafting committee for the Fifth General Council of CELAM (the Latin American bishops’ council).
• Elected pope on March 13, 2013; chose to live in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta instead of in the nearby apostolic palace; in an empty St. Peter’s Square, livestreamed a prayer service for the end of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020); began a five-week hospitalization for double pneumonia and other respiratory complications (February 14, 2025).

By the Numbers

• 68 countries and territories visited as pope
• 938 people canonized in Rome
• 1,541 people approved for local beatifications
• 4 encyclicals: Light of Faith (mostly by Pope Benedict XVI), 2013; Laudato Si’, (on climate change), 2015; Fratelli Tutti (on social friendship), 2020; He Loves Us (on the Sacred Heart of Jesus), 2024
• 7 apostolic exhortations
• 110 cardinals named
• 3 women appointed to head Vatican offices previously run by men
• 5 ordinary assemblies of the synods of bishops, including the family (2013–14) and synodality (2023–24)
• 2 declarations signed with Muslim leaders (one on caring for our common home and the other on respecting all human cultures)

We are trying to do the same thing here at Franciscan Media. We are a virtual company, so there is nothing to physically rebuild. But we work hard to carry out the message of San Damiano and offer stones upon which you can build—or possibly rebuild—your faith life. For some, that may mean starting from the ground up to restore a broken or run-down faith. For others it may be more of a shoring up process. 

Each month, this magazine helps with that process through columns and articles that demonstrate how people and organizations are helping to rebuild God’s Church. This month’s cover story (“A New Perspective on Christian Parenting,” by Carie Moore) tells of one mom’s experience with a new kind of Christian parenting that advocates for the dignity and rights of children and against domineering parental control. 

But you don’t have to wait until your issue of the magazine arrives to dive deeper into your faith. There are an abundance of resources, including daily news, Saint of the Day, and additional Ask a Franciscan questions and answers on our website at FranciscanMedia.org. Together, let’s rebuild.

Contrary to traditional adult-child relationships, this mom presents a gentle parenting method rooted in child liberation theology, which calls for respecting and empowering children. 

It had been one of those days. Nothing was going right. The house was a mess, I had a headache, the day had been long, and my husband, Zach, was having to work overtime that evening. Bedtime was up to me, and I was at the end of my rope. 

I was rocking Savannah, my 1-year-old, while Sophia, my 3-year-old, was supposed to be slipping on pajamas but got distracted playing with her dolls. Pajamas still in a wad on the floor beside her, I felt the anger, frustration, and exhaustion that had been simmering in me all day finally bubble to the surface. I harshly reminded my toddler to get into bed. 

I instantly felt guilt, but the rage didn’t dissipate until Sophia looked at me, and with nothing but compassion in her sweet, blue eyes said, “Mommy, you are using an unkind voice. Is something wrong? Here, let’s take deep breaths together.” And with her little toddler hands—not even half as big as my own—she grasped my hand and started to breathe deeply. 

How had my 3-year-old not only remained calm in the midst of my chaos, but also recognized that I was struggling and needed to regulate my own body and emotions? Whenever she was experiencing big feelings, she wasn’t punished or shamed for it. Zach or I would instead help her regulate her emotions through hugs, deep breaths, sitting with her through it, and eventually talking it out. We tried our best to approach tantrums and outbursts with curiosity and compassion, and now that I was, in a sense, having my own tantrum, Soph reacted in the same way. 

This particular incident was a turning point for me where I realized that gentle parenting was more than another strategy of behavior modification. It was a way of being with children that respected them as a whole person in such a way that they would naturally learn respect and empathy for others. 

When the norm in a household is kindness, respect, grace, gentleness, and compassion, children are equipped to be confident in their own worth and the worth of others, even if a member of the family temporarily steps outside of the household norms. My daughter wasn’t afraid of my outburst, nor was she afraid to let me know that I was speaking “unkindly” to her. She knew she deserved respect while also respecting me in the midst of my own big emotions. 

But there is even more to it than that. We shouldn’t just teach children respect because it models empathy and kindness. We shouldn’t just respect children because their brains are still developing. Ultimately, it all boils down to this: We should respect kids because it is their right to be respected. 

A Different Message 

Yet, almost every time I picked up a book on Christian parenting, a very different instruction was given. In some way or another, most of these Christian parenting books communicated a similar message: 

• Your children are corrupt and sinful from the moment of birth. 

• You must teach your children instant obedience to your every command. 

• Children must be punished, often through pain, in order to learn right from wrong. 

• God commands children to respect the authority of their parents, and parental authority gives parents the right to rule over their children. 

These messages deeply disturbed me, even when I was only beginning to learn the ropes of parenthood. It seemed to me that the messages being communicated to Christian parents were those of power and control, not ones that revolved around the fruits of the spirit. 

I’ll never forget the first time I read the widely popular Christian parenting book To Train Up a Child, by Debbie and Michael Pearl, originally published in 1994. As I turned each page, I felt more and more astonished at what the authors touted as genuine Christian parenting. In one memorable chapter, the authors state: “Prove [to the child] that you are bigger, tougher, and more patiently enduring and are unmoved by his wailing. Defeat him totally. Accept no conditions for surrender. No compromise. You are to rule over him as a benevolent sovereign. Your word is final.” It was at this point that I put the book down to process what I had just read as the words of Christ echoed in my head over and over: “Whatever you do for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you do for me.” 

Could I imagine “defeating” Christ? Would being “unmoved” by the wailing and crying of Christ be right? Would I “rule over” Christ “as a benevolent sovereign”? If I could not fathom treating Christ in this way, how could I rightly act this way toward my children? Are children not also included as the brothers and sisters of Christ? 

As I read those words, it became incredibly clear to me: Much of what has been popularized as proper Christian parenting doesn’t actually have a lot to do with Christ, but rather, it has a lot to do with power. This worship of power by the parents is antithetical to the message of Christ—of a God who willingly forsook power and glory for the sake of all humanity. I knew in my heart that there must be another way. My Christian parents did not raise me this way. I did not want to raise my children this way. Christian parenthood did not have to look like this. In fact, I deeply believed that honoring Christ meant running far from this punitive model of parenthood. That is when I discovered the concept of child liberation. 

Child Liberation Theology 

When I first stumbled upon the term child liberation theology, I was immediately intrigued. I had heard of the liberation theology of Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez in which he emphasized the Christian duty to the poor and suffering, and Christ as the redemptive figure of the marginalized. I had also heard of various other liberation theologies, including Black liberation theology, womanist liberation theology, Indigenous liberation theology, LGBTQ+ liberation theology, and more. But I had never once heard of or even considered a theology of liberation for children. 

When I first picked up the book Suffer the Children: A Theology of Liberation by a Victim of Child Abuse by Janet Pais, I could not put it down. My eyes scanned each page as my body was filled with a feeling of excitement and purpose. Finally, while not a parenting book by any means, here was a book that addressed the topic of parenting and children from a Christian perspective that advocated for the dignity and rights of the child and advocated against domineering parental control. Through her theology of liberation for children, Pais affirmed the dignity of children as made in the image of God and challenged the norms of how children are treated by adults. 

As I learned more about this, I wondered, “How does this line up with Franciscan theology?” At the time, my evenings after my children went to bed were spent studying, reading, writing, and completing assignments for my master’s degree in Franciscan theology. My day-to-day life was often filtered through a Franciscan lens as I studied and applied what I was learning to what I was experiencing. This was no different. I became engrossed in the topic of child liberation, and the more I considered it, the more I realized that it aligned with the Franciscan vision of the call to, as Francis proclaimed, “follow in the footsteps of Christ” in all that we do. 

There are several fundamental beliefs held within child liberation theology: 

1) Children are born good, not tainted with evil or original sin. 

This fits with the positive view of humanity held in Franciscan theology—that God intended for every human being to exist, that existence is only born out of divine desire and the outpouring of God’s overflowing love, and that sin does not change the fundamental goodness of humanity. Yes, human beings sin (children included!), but sin does not change who we are at our core: good creations made by a good creator. How could assuming the goodness of children affect our interpretation of their behavior? 

2) Children deserve dignity and respect and should be empowered instead of oppressed. 

This goes right along with the Franciscan commitment to uplifting the poor, marginalized, and oppressed. Sts. Francis and Clare were committed to this. If children are being oppressed, then addressing and challenging this oppression is deeply Franciscan. How could a deep, Franciscan commitment to challenging oppression move us to examine how our actions may perpetuate oppression in our own homes, schools, and elsewhere in our society? 

3) Adults must critically examine how adult power is misused in order to control children in unnecessary ways. 

St. Francis, like Jesus, modeled a voluntary giving up of power for the sake of the other because Francis believed that all people are called to follow in the footsteps of Christ. It is this voluntary giving up of power and control that must be committed to for the sake of child liberation. We must replace a “power-over” mindset with a “responsibility-toward” mindset. What would it look like to counterculturally lay down our own power for the sake of our children like Francis did for the sake of the most vulnerable in his life? 

Honor Children, Honor God 

Ultimately, child liberation theology includes the radical idea that the misuse of power by adults over children not only dishonors children who are all made in the image of God, but also dishonors God. Just as Sts. Francis and Clare believed that we honor God by honoring those around us, the same is true of the way we treat children. To honor God, we must honor children, and to truly honor children, we must examine the ways that we may, knowingly or unknowingly, cause them harm and treat them as less than. 

Each time a parent chooses to respond to children in a respectful way—getting on their level, seeing the world through their eyes, being mindful of their developmental capabilities, and showing them grace and love—they are leaning into the reality of the Gospel. When a parent stands against the cultural norms that say a child must suffer in order to learn and instead chooses to teach the child in a way that honors their humanity and stage of development, that parent is modeling the countercultural nature of both Jesus and Francis, who likewise affirmed the dignity of the most vulnerable. 

To parent according to the truth of the Gospel is to parent in a way that respects the dignity of the child and to recognize that the child is just as worthy of respect, grace, and love as any adult. The Gospel invites us to reconsider our views on punishment, status, and power, and likewise invites us to live into the reality of the love through which we were created. If we are to parent in light of the Gospel, we must rethink the traditional adult-child relationship and work to cultivate relationships with the children who have been entrusted to us based on mutual respect and truly unconditional love. 

Parenting That Is Christlike 

In the widely circulated Gospel Coalition article “Is Gentle Parenting Biblical?”, the claim is made that gentle parenting, while having some good qualities, ultimately is not biblically based. The author states, “If we want to produce gentle children, we’ll need more than gentle methods—we’ll need biblical ones.” 

To parent with the fruits of the spirit with unconditional love, patience, gentleness, and self-control is to parent biblically. To lay down our power, to refuse to use harsh punishments for every mistake, to refuse to exert our strength to cause physical pain to the child, to refuse to shame and isolate, and to refuse to treat the child as a piece of clay that can be molded however we desire is to model our parenting after the humility and vulnerability of Christ. So yes, I do believe that gentle parenting is not just biblical, but Christlike. 

Every time I think back on the story of my daughter, I am reminded that gentleness can indeed foster gentleness. Sophia showed me that day that children will emulate what is modeled. She displayed the fruits of the spirit far better than I did on that night, which is not something that can be ordered or forced in any genuine way. She was gentle, patient, and loving in her response to my outburst. She gave me the opportunity to practice humility and repair, and she gave me the gift of forgiveness. There was grace amid hurt, growth amid mistakes, and patience amid tension. 

In a faith that prizes forgiveness, grace, and vulnerability, I must ask: What could be more Christian than that?

Another mass shooting, another spate of thoughts and prayers. A group of sisters and their supporters are working to reignite a sense of urgency in the face of America’s gun violence epidemic. 

The prayer service began with a litany of the names of the fallen: 

• Damarion Bailey, 15, Homestead, Florida, allegedly shot by his 18-year-old friend for reasons that remain unclear 

• Isaac Rodriguez, 15, Milwaukee, allegedly murdered by shooters who rode by via scooter, killing Isaac and a friend who were walking down a city street 

• Justin Robinson, 16, Madison, Tennessee, shot during a dispute between two groups of youths at a community center 

• and, among 11 in all, infant Andre Lanns III of Deerfield Beach, Florida, a victim of an attempted murder-suicide. 

Cobbled together from local news reports, the listing of those young people murdered by gun violence represented the casualties of just another early summer week in America. 

But this virtual prayer service featured more than appeals to God to stop the violence. Those praying on a Zoom call were members of Nuns Against Gun Violence (NunsAgainstGunViolence.org). These religious sisters and their friends believe fervently in the power of prayer, but with a caveat that action is needed. The litany served not only as an appeal to the divine but also as a jolting reminder that gun violence is too much a part of American life. For Nuns Against Gun Violence, thoughts and prayers are a beginning, not an end. 

From Apathy to Action 

The group was formed in 2023 to overcome apathy surrounding gun violence. Members want to galvanize action against guns, particularly in the Catholic community, promoting an urgency about an issue that for too many Americans has become the norm. 

While some mass shootings still generate media attention, the steady drumbeat of individual killings largely goes unnoticed. Many involve young people whose lives, such as those in the litany, never had a chance to get started. 

The Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that tracks incidents of gun violence in the United States, reported 43,069 gun-related deaths in 2023, compared to 47,452 the previous year. The numbers show a decline, but the sisters believe that progress has not been swift enough. 

Mass shootings increased from 644 in 2022 to 656 in 2023. In 2024, mass shootings—defined as incidents where four or more people are killed or wounded—continued to number more than one every day. 

A Trusted Voice 

There is no lack of groups opposed to the epidemic of guns in a country where there are now more firearms than people. But Ursuline Sister Sheila Marie Tobbe of Cleveland says Nuns Against Gun Violence provides a unique perspective. 

“Sisters taught us our faith. We trust you,” relays Sister Sheila Marie about the laypeople she hears from, nearly 30,000 via social media and personal contact among alums of the schools sponsored by her community as well as others attracted by the congregation’s advocacy for social justice. Via prayer, letter-writing campaigns to public officials calling for more gun control, and massive billboards—including those in Cleveland and other cities in Ohio—Nuns Against Gun Violence embraces anyone who wants to get involved, whether vowed religious or not. 

“We are getting the message out in every way we can,” says Sister Sheila Marie. 

Sister Sheila Marie knows the impact of gun violence firsthand. Reflecting on her ministry in El Salvador and urban Cleveland, she can count more than two dozen incidents of people who have died from shootings, most of them youths. They include a top-flight graduate from a Cleveland parochial school, just barely a teenager, murdered in a car, apparently by a drug dealer; Cleveland police officer Derek Wayne Owens, shot in 2008 while pursuing a suspect; and a young man in El Salvador murdered on the streets after returning from that country’s long civil war, an apparent act of vengeance carried out by a warring party unable to accept a truce. 

She has seen up close young men in Cleveland and El Salvador brandishing weapons in shows of bravado. Those displays rarely end well and need to stop, she says. “Anyone who cares about human beings needs to fight this issue and get guns under control,” she says. 

A Challenge to Catholics 

The group’s message is backed by the Church hierarchy. The litany of mass shootings known by shorthand of Parkland (Florida), Sandy Hook (Connecticut) and Las Vegas (Nevada) generated swift calls for gun control from local bishops. And the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has noted that the right to bear arms should not be an unqualified license for anyone to own guns. 

Pope Francis has been direct. In his response to the 2022 killings of 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, he pleaded, “Enough to the indiscriminate trafficking of guns.” In response to that same tragedy, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago, urging gun control, wrote on Twitter that the constitutional right to bear arms did not come from God on Mount Sinai and should be open to change. 

In a letter to Congress a week after the Uvalde shootings, leading US bishops urged action that “addresses all aspects of the crisis, including mental health, the state of families, the valuation of life, the influence of entertainment and gaming industries, bullying, and the availability of firearms.” They called for “the passage of reasonable gun control measures,” echoing the plea of Pope Francis that “it is time to say ‘no more’ to the indiscriminate trafficking of weapons.” 

While the Church’s position is clear, Nuns Against Gun Violence remains frustrated that so many Catholics either oppose gun control measures or are content to stay on the sidelines, offering prayers and thoughts after each tragedy. 

One goal of the group is to spotlight the issue in parishes and Catholic institutions. Homilies, publications, and calls for action on gun violence need to become a part of Catholic life, says the group. 

“When was the last time you heard a homily on gun violence?” says Angela Howard-McParland, a laywoman and a social justice advocate for the Sisters of Mercy and a founding member of Nuns Against Gun Violence. She says that relatively few churchgoing Catholics hear much in their parishes about what Nuns Against Gun Violence considers a primary pro-life issue. Too few Catholics, she says, connect their faith commitment to the cause of what she calls “common sense, evidence-based” controls on guns. 

Franciscan Sister Maria Orlandini works in Washington, DC, with the Franciscan Action Network, a Catholic social justice advocacy group. She is an original member of Nuns Against Gun Violence and part of the group’s steering committee. 

Sisters, she says, can provide a missing voice in the debate: “Our Catholic Church needs to talk more about it. We are trying to give it a bigger voice. A faith voice in our world is needed.” 

Advocating for Common Sense Gun Control 

Formed during the 2023 national Leadership Conference of Women Religious meeting in St. Louis, the group began with about 40 congregations of religious communities. That number has increased to 60. The goal is to unify and multiply advocacy among sisters of various congregations. 

While enthusiasm to curb gun violence is high among sisters, politically the issue regularly runs into dead ends, both in Congress and in statehouses. The United States is one of few nations in the world to have written the right to bear arms into its Constitution. Gun ownership is a part of the national DNA. And groups such as the National Rifle Association continue to flex their muscle in opposing curbs, organizing gun owners to vote against political leaders who support gun controls, and providing campaign funds for its supporters. 

While the issue generates controversy, there is widespread consensus on measures that could help, even if they sometimes run afoul of pro-gun rights groups. Nuns Against Gun Violence is advocating for legislation that would address issues such as: 

• Suicide, with shootings as the number one cause of death. Proponents of curbs on guns argue that guns are a reason so many suicide attempts are successful, with those who use them succeeding 90 percent of the time in killing themselves, far more than any other method. According to the Centers for Disease Control, six out of every 10 gun-related deaths are suicides. The sisters view gun violence as a public health issue. 

• Curtailing deaths of young people. Gun violence is now the number one cause of death among youths under 18, surpassing disease or car accidents. 

• Gun security. Ethan’s Law, now languishing in Congress, would mandate that gun owners safely secure their weapons in a bid to lower the rate of accidental shootings. Millions of American children are raised in homes with firearms. 

• Red flag laws, which prevent those with mental health or criminal records from owning guns. Groups such as Nuns Against Gun Violence want to increase their breadth, making sure that those with serious mental health issues are denied guns. 

• Placing more restrictions on exports of guns. While much attention is placed on guns that come north from Mexico into the United States, Nuns Against Gun Violence notes that the traffic is actually heavier in the other direction. Weaponry produced in the United States fuels much of the gang and drug wars in Latin America and the Caribbean, they say. The sisters support a lawsuit by the Mexican government against American gun manufacturers. Some congregations are part of an effort to invest in gun companies such as Smith & Wesson and present shareholder resolutions that question their policies. 

The investing sisters’ groups regularly push Smith & Wesson to stop marketing guns to children via video games and to change production methods to make guns harder to modify, which can make them even more deadly and rapid-fire. 

These efforts are relatively piecemeal. Still it remains difficult to enact many of these measures, in statehouses as well as Congress. More ambitious plans have generated even greater opposition. Perhaps the most important gun control issue is a proposed ban on automatic weapons, which was in place for 10 years beginning in 1994 until Congress let it lapse. 

Proponents of gun control blame the lapse of what was called the Brady Bill—named for James Brady, the late press secretary for Ronald Reagan, shot in the assassination attempt on the president—as a prime reason why mass shootings continue to afflict America. They say that weapons of war are used to kill scores of innocent people, including schoolchildren, concertgoers, and office workers. During the time of the assault weapons ban, mass shootings went down but have increased markedly since. 

Fasting and Prayer 

While advocacy remains a focus, the sisters say that spirituality plays a key role in their efforts. The group sponsors anti-gun Lenten programs focusing on fasting and prayer. Other times of the year the sisters promote campaigns to wear orange, a symbol of the anti-gun movement. Fasting against gun violence is a spiritual practice promoted by the sisters, who would like to see it become a part of American parish life. 

Nuns Against Gun Violence says that in fasting, those who participate are offering “a small sacrifice in solidarity with all those suffering from gun violence.” Last Lent, members began their fast on Ash Wednesday with a noon online prayer, Scripture reading, silence, and a reflection, a practice they will continue. 

Fasting is “a public prayer that purifies not only the one fasting but the entire community, preparing us to stand our ground against the powers and principalities,” the group noted in a 2024 press release. Whether via prayer, social action, or both, the sisters remain committed to overcoming the apathy and indifference about what they see as a clear and present danger in our midst. In its appeal for their Lenten fast against killings, Nuns Against Gun Violence asks those participating to do more than pray. “The loss of life and continuous toll of grief and trauma on individuals, families, and communities compel us to take action to change our society to protect life,” the group noted. 

By combining prayer with action, Nuns Against Gun Violence’s hope is that, one day, prayers will no longer be needed to mark the deaths of youths and that the listing of victims in any routine week in America will be empty. The sisters have a long way to go. 

She is beloved for her unshakable faith in her son, Jesus. But this Franciscan writer argues that Mary had a deeper understanding of his mission than we realize. 

If the mystic is one who experiences in an extraordinary way the intimacy with God offered to everyone, then Mary is the model and pattern of the mystical life. She literally carried God in her womb and gave birth to him. Spiritual impregnation, gestation, and giving birth are the initial stages of the mystical life. God invades our lives, usually when we are not expecting it; we embrace that gift. Even if we are tempted to hoard it as ours alone, God will be born from us; we will serve others as a result of God’s own indwelling love. 

Imagine Mary, a young girl at her prayers or perhaps performing her tasks or simply sitting and watching people pass by her window. Suddenly, there is a rush of wind like a flutter of wings, or a flash of light, and there is one like an angel addressing her: “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you” (Lk 1:28). 

There it is: The Lord is with you. What can this mean? Gabriel, as if knowing her thoughts, continues, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.” (Lk 1:30–31). Mary asks, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” (Lk 1:34). And the angel responds in the next verse, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” 

‘Behold, I am the Handmaid’ 

All mystics wonder what is happening to them when the Holy Spirit asks them to believe the seemingly impossible notion that God wants to enter their lives. They can, of course, refuse out of fear or doubt, and it is the glory of Mary that she does not refuse but says yes. Each true mystic who says yes to God at some point is sent forth into the world as the Father sent the Son to announce and build up the kingdom. 

For Mary, this moment comes almost immediately when the angel announces that her aged cousin Elizabeth is in her sixth month of pregnancy (for nothing is impossible with God). 

Mary says to the angel, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). 

And Mary sets out into the hill country to minister to her cousin Elizabeth. There God will be revealed in Mary’s deep charity, as God had been revealed in her deep prayer. For when she enters Elizabeth’s house, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb leaps, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cries out, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. . . . Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Lk 1:42, 45). 

Mary Magnifies God 

Mary’s decision and the truth of the angel’s message are confirmed, not when Mary is in contemplation, but when she is doing charity. The truth of the mystic’s visions and intimacy with God is proven in the selfless charity of the mystic’s life. Mary’s response to Elizabeth, her canticle, the Magnificat, distills the mystical life: 

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed. The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him. He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart. He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.  

“The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy, according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever” (Lk 1:46–55). 

As with every true prayer, the Magnificat does just that: It magnifies the Lord, focuses on the almighty, who does great things among us, the One whose name is holy. 

As though already letting the child in her womb speak through her, Mary does more: She presages the major themes of Jesus’ future preaching and ministry. William Barclay, in his meditations on the Gospel of Luke, says that Mary ends her canticle with a moral, social, and economic revolution. The moral revolution is indicated in the line that God “scatters the proud in the plans of their hearts.” 

We begin to change when our own plans scatter us, bring us down; God’s plans replace them—God’s plans, in the case of the mystic, are revealed in a vision or a voice speaking to the soul. God’s plans work a revolution in our lives. We begin to change because of what we have seen and heard. 

The social revolution is heralded in the line, “He has brought down the powerful from their thrones / and lifted up the lowly.” The mystic sees what the world does not see, that the lowly are the real authority, for they represent the kingdom of God in its fullness. Jesus says in the first words of his first sermon, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:3). Jesus does not say, “Theirs will be the kingdom of heaven,” but “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” 

This is a now promise. Where there is poverty of spirit, the real kingdom happens. How different this is from the kingdoms of earth that happen where there is power, not lowliness and littleness. How powerless the mystics are in terms of human power, how powerful in things of the spiritual kingdom within. The economic revolution is foretold when Mary says, “He has filled the hungry with good things, / and sent the rich away empty.” 

Our Mother’s Canticle 

The kingdom Jesus will preach and that his disciples will model distributes wealth to the poor, embracing poverty as the fast track into the kingdom. “If you wish to be perfect,” Jesus says to the rich, young man, “go, sell your possessions, and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Mt 19:21). 

The medieval mystic Francis of Assisi will become the personification of this kind of gospel poverty, having been a rich young man who knew all too well that it is “easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Mt 19:24). 

Mary’s life, like that of her son, will be a living out of her own canticle. She will enter into the mysteries of Christ’s life. Like the Christian mystics after her, she will participate in a more intense way in the very mystery that she is sharing. 

As the model of intimacy with God, Mary will enter into the death and resurrection of her son. She will stand beneath the cross of his dying; she will rise with him body and soul in the mystery of her Assumption into heaven.  

Catholic Extension Society seeks to erect more than 600 churches and schools in storm-torn Puerto Rico. It is believed to be the largest rebuilding and recovery project in the history of American Christianity. 

“I saw this series is called ‘Rebuild My Church,’” says Catholic Extension Society chief mission officer Joe Boland as he settles in for his interview with St. Anthony Messenger. The series title hearkens St. Francis of Assisi’s call from God: “Rebuild my church, for as you can see it is fallen into ruin.” As goes the famous story, Francis immediately began rebuilding the small wayside San Damiano chapel, not realizing his divine call meant more than stacking stones. Boland laughs, “Well, like Francis, we have always taken that call very literally.” 

Since its founding in 1905, Catholic Extension has helped rebuild or repair more than 13,000 churches. “That’s almost as many [as] Starbucks stores in the United States,” Boland laughs, “but only if you don’t count the Starbucks shops in airports and Target stores.” 

Today, the Catholic Extension Society (CES) continues to “stack stones” as Boland spearheads an ambitious project to repair and rebuild more than 600 churches and schools in Puerto Rico. It is believed to be the largest rebuilding and recovery project in the history of American Christianity. 

Railways into the Margins  

Throughout its history, the mission of Catholic Extension (CatholicExtension.org) has unfolded on the “peripheries,” a central theme in Pope Francis’ pontificate that emphasizes the importance of the Church serving on the margins—where people are overlooked, excluded, or underserved by society. In other words, where the poor and forgotten are, the Church should be. 

The society was founded by Father Francis Clement Kelley at the turn of the century; he sought to bring the sacraments to remote communities across the United States. Priests began traveling by railway to rural frontier towns, where Mass would be celebrated with locals from the back of railcars. In 1910, Pope Pius X made Catholic Extension a papal society, meaning that it was under the direct authority of the Holy See. 

As the society grew and evolved, it continued to travel on these proverbial railways into the margins. It would build and repair thousands of churches in disadvantaged areas, develop leaders and fund ministries that serve under-resourced communities, and equip social outreach ministries that enrich the lives of those who need it most. Catholic Extension, for 120 years, has essentially served as a conduit for the Church’s evangelization efforts to the marginalized in the Americas. 

“Our founder understood that there were new territories that were coming under the American flag and really worried that if the Church wasn’t taking care of its own, it would be very easy for them to lose their language, their culture, and ultimately their Catholic faith as well,” Boland reflects. “And so, there was always a very intentional solidarity with places like Puerto Rico, the US-Mexico border, the Bering Sea Coast in Alaska, other island protectorates like Guam, Samoa, and even the Philippines back in the day. So that was the purpose of CES: awaken the mission spirit in America and really understand where the missionary frontiers were in our own country.” 

Boland, who has worked at Catholic Extension Society for 16 years, has no shortage of stories from the peripheries. He remembers Catholic Extension providing much-needed support to the Navajo Nation in 2020 as COVID-19 ravaged their reservation, or paving the way for Latin American sisters to earn a pastoral education in the United States—50 sisters have since gone through the program and returned to Latin America to serve approximately 300,000 people—or equipping a network of churches in a poor, rural Montana town with a large homeless population to routinely bring the community together by grilling world-famous cheeseburgers and offering free meals before rodeos. In a polarized age, where places like Appalachia or the US-Mexico border are reduced to political flashpoints, Catholic Extension digs deeper. 

“We invite people to see through the Church’s lens—human dignity, not narratives,” Boland says. On the margins, divisions melt away. Common humanity becomes clear. A Lakota elder once told Boland that their word for God is “grandfather”—higher than father. “That’s the beauty we encounter,” he says. “Faith speaking through culture, teaching us. We have a front-row seat to the Church at her best.” 

Island of Hope and Devastation  

Perched atop a Puerto Rican mountain is a small mission chapel. This chapel was a vessel for healing amid the destruction of Hurricane Maria in 2017, one of the most catastrophic natural disasters in the island’s history; over 95 percent of the island’s 1.5 million homes suffered damage. Maria obliterated Puerto Rico’s electrical system, knocking out the entire grid for months and, in some rural places, the entire year. But with power lines down and roads blocked by mudslides, the chapel was used for cooking meals for nearby residents and packaging and delivering water to the elderly. Not unlike the Portiuncula, the tiny church at the base of Assisi that became the crux of the Franciscan mission as they served the lepers and the poor during the Middle Ages, this unassuming chapel and others became symbols of hope and Catholic Extension’s longstanding commitment to the island. 

“When FEMA couldn’t get to them and emergency workers couldn’t get to them, the Church was able to go check on people and care for people,” Boland shares. 

Catholic Extension says it was the first organization to wire money to Puerto Rico in the wake of Maria, equipping the Church to respond to humanitarian needs as Puerto Ricans floundered in the dark. Three months later, an unexpected US Supreme Court decision permitted houses of worship to receive rebuilding money from the federal government. Catholic Extension acted quickly, organizing an island-wide initiative that ultimately resulted in proposing the rebuilding of more than 610 Catholic churches, chapels, and schools. 

“We invested the upfront costs in order for them to make their case to FEMA that they’d be eligible for this funding,” Boland shares. “They were found to be eligible for what would end up being a nearly half-billion dollar rebuilding project. And now we are supporting and organizing the largest building and recovery projects in the history of American Christianity.” 

But planning and rebuilding on this magnitude has not been seamless. 

Two years after Hurricane Maria’s devastation, earthquakes further traumatized an island that was already wary of government support and its ability to address people’s needs. Again, the power grid was knocked out, resulting in an estimated $3.1 billion in financial losses to the island. 

“This is why rebuilding is so crucial,” Boland shares. “We need more resilient structures for when the next natural disaster comes, so that these places might be able to shelter and save more lives.” 

When it came to Catholic Extension’s ambitious rebuilding and recovery program, the organization faced plenty of pushback. Naysayers said that the Church in Puerto Rico could never pull off a program of this scale. They said FEMA would never approve the grants for damaged churches. They said the Puerto Rican government would never cooperate with CES on this level and that the Department of Housing and Urban Development would never support such a project. They said Catholic Extension could never find the professionals to support the Church’s construction efforts, or that the dioceses of Puerto Rico could never work together toward a common goal. Shares Boland: “Yet, we’ve proven that none of these pessimistic predictions of failure came to pass, thanks to hard work, constant communication, and commitment to succeed among the various stakeholders inside the Church, government, and within the broader community. 

“St. Francis understood that there’s power in and from the margins,” he says. “Going back to the Portiuncula, the way we see our work is that we’re trying to help build up the Church. That’s our mission statement: Build up the Church, in and among the poor in the poorest regions. Our belief is that if you do that, there is powerful renewal from the margins that seasons the rest of the Church and will make its way back to the heart of the Church. . . . One of the best lines I’ve ever heard while working at CES is that we don’t provide these services because these people we’re serving are Catholic. We’re doing it because we’re Catholic, and this is what our faith calls us to do.” 

From Rome to San Juan  

When the Catholic Extension Society delegation visited Rome in 2018, Pope Francis thanked members for their continued work in Puerto Rico. He then blessed two Puerto Rican flags. One hangs in the office of the archbishop of San Juan, whose archdiocese oversees the historic Cathedral of Old San Juan, which suffered $12 million in damages from Hurricane Maria. The other flag hangs in Boland’s office, proudly situated on-screen during his interview with St. Anthony Messenger. 

“The flag is a daily reminder to me of Catholic Extension’s 120 years of solidarity with the island, but also that the work we are doing now to restore Catholic churches and schools has so much potential to transform the future of Puerto Rico,” Boland shares. “The flag also reminds me that when you work closely with people, as we do with Puerto Rico, they change you.” 

It has been a long road, but on March 31 a groundbreaking ceremony was slated (this story went to print five days before) at the Cathedral of Old San Juan, a 500-year-old structure that is a major historical site in Puerto Rican society and one of the oldest churches under the American flag. At the ceremony, scaffolding was to go up as a sign of progress and hope to Puerto Ricans as they were joined by Catholic Extension Society’s chancellor, Cardinal Blase Cupich—who has supported this recovery program from the very beginning with the backing and blessing of Pope Francis. The ceremony kicked off a new wave of recovery efforts on the island as Catholic Extension continues its commitment to rebuild 600 churches and schools. Boland shares, “This is just the start.” 

He planned to be in attendance as well, shaking hands and saying something he has grown accustomed to sharing with locals over the years: Soy Boricua de corazón. 

“I’m Puerto Rican at heart.”