March 19, 2021

In observance of this special Year of St. Joseph, Pope Francis has given us a beautiful little letter about St. Joseph, Patris Corde, that is, “With a Father’s Heart.” In his letter, our Holy Father offers a reflection on the various ways in which Joseph fulfilled his vocation to be a father.

Pope Francis is urging priests to learn the art of fatherhood from St. Joseph by being a shepherd who only seeks the good of the flock entrusted to them. He made the exhortation on Thursday to a delegation from the Belgian Pontifical College, a hostel for priests from Belgium who study in Rome. Receiving them on the occasion of the 175th anniversary of the College, he recalled that Saint Pope John II had been a boarder there as a student priest from 1946 to 1948 

BRISTOL — In two hours, Steven Vaccaro and his seven-person kitchen crew cooked about 250 fish dinners.

“We pretty much have it down to a science, you could say,” Vaccaro said while his son, Steven Vaccaro, Jr., manned the deep fryers at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church Parish Center kitchen.

Outside, Father Henry P. Zinno Jr., the pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Bristol, greeted parishioners and others who drove up to the parish center on March 12 to pick up their Lenten Friday meal orders of fish and chips or baked fish, coconut shrimp and ice cream sandwiches.

Seeing children in Madagascar’s rural countryside communities begging for food and asking God to give them something to eat for the day is “really difficult” for Christian Marcel Ratianarivo.

“When I was a kid, I felt it, and it was really painful,” said Ratianarivo, 32, who grew up in Madagascar and returned to his home country a few years ago as a disaster reduction specialist for Catholic Relief Services.

“I can tell you that I was in that place and it’s the reason why I’m working for CRS right now,” Ratianarivo told The Rhode Island Catholic in a recent telephone interview from Madagascar, which is experiencing one of the world’s most severe food insecurity crises, due in large part to drought and other climate hazards.

During his general audience March 17, Pope Francis said to never cease calling on the Holy Spirit to aid us in our prayer.

Watch below.

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Commit to peacefully pray to end abortion, to convert hearts and minds, to speak for the voiceless in our community for Lent. Sign up to pray at 40daysforlife.com/providence.

If you have questions or would like to learn more please contact Lisa Cooley, coordinator, Office of Life and Family, 401.278.2518, lcooley@diocesofprovidence.org. Thank you!

Click here to register now or for more information!

All are invited to this family night of prayer and a special showing of the movie, "Pray: The Story of Patrick Peyton"!

PRAY is the inspiring true story of Patrick Peyton, a poor Irish immigrant who sets sail for America in 1928 with dreams of becoming a millionaire but, with the help of the most iconic celebrities of Hollywood, ends up spending his life championing the message, “The family that prays together stays together.”

Register your family here - https://forms.gle/WJJ6KV569XymdEXr6

Limited capacity, registration will close when maximum is met.

Watch the movie trailer for PRAY below:

For more information, contact the Cathedral, 401.331.2434. Download the schedule here.

For more information, contact the Diocesan Office of Catholic Cemeteries, 401.944.8383. Download the schedule here.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence

Office of Communications

One Cathedral Square, Providence, RI

the Catholic Communication Campaign. Thank you!

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