We Are Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 2, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Baltimore is launching a new initiative this summer to address the crisis of disaffiliation among young people in the Church through a proactive missionary “lab” program. 

“The impetus behind it is really giving tools to young people who notice things and have great ideas about how to respond to needs or opportunities in their community, and giving it a structure that allows them to practice listening, practice prayerful discernment, and implement whatever project they’re working on,” the archdiocese’s coordinator of missionary discipleship, Rena Black, told CNA. 

“When a young person is the driving force behind something, that lights a fire under people in a way that nothing else can,” she said. “So we’re trying to harness that a little bit.” 

According to Black, the Archdiocesan Youth Missionary Protagonism Lab (AYMP Lab) will serve as a “space of experimentation to discover something new” and will consist of gathering up to 10 teams of two to four young people and one to two adults from across the archdiocese who will meet monthly to work through the stages of designing projects that fill a need in their communities. 

Young people in these teams will also be assisted by their parishes and other adult mentors as they carry out their projects. 

Participation will include a special missionary discipleship training as well as monthly “synodal-style advising” among the teams via Zoom, according to the website. 

While most of the program’s meetings will take place remotely, Black emphasized that young people will “not just be passive recipients” but rather “actively engaging in the process of giving and receiving feedback to one another, sharing things they’ve learned, and things that have come up in their own prayer and reflection that might be relevant to others and other projects.” 

The purpose of the meetings, Black said, is to accompany the teams in a “synodal” style process, rather than a merely instructional one, and to incentivize young people to spearhead the initiatives while providing necessary guidance and feedback. 

The teams will also partake in an in-person retreat and send-off liturgy at the end of the program. 

The AYMP Lab was partially inspired by a program in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia called the Youth Co-Leadership Protagonism Initiative, as well as by the work carried out by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry.

Black emphasized the importance of bringing “the wisdom of prayerful design thinking into the process” and listening to the needs of the community as a key component of the program. 

Black said that to date she has received applications from “a handful” of teams but is hoping to draw in even more, particularly from underserved areas in the archdiocese. 

The program has received about $6,500 in grants from the Mark D. Pacione Foundation to kickstart its local efforts, Black said, although she said she hopes to secure more funding as the program grows.

“That’s part of my hope,” she said, “that we prepare them not just for the local micro grant but give them skills to be able to apply for even more funding.”

Groups of teens are currently invited to apply with their adult mentors to participate in the program until the application deadline on May 19.

“Special consideration will be given to applicant teams from communities without full-time paid youth ministry staff as well as teams who represent urban, rural, and culturally-shared pastorates,” the site notes. 

“It’s a wild time in our archdiocese right now,” Black said, noting the lowering of the confirmation age and the loss of its Auxiliary Bishop Bruce Lewandowski, who has been appointed to serve as bishop of the Diocese of Providence, Rhode Island. The archdiocese has also been bankrupt since 2023 following an influx of civil lawsuits that came after a state law passed ending the statute of limitations for child sex abuse cases, some of which stretched back decades. 

“It’s the time where we’re going, ‘Holy Spirit, tell us what comes next,’” Black said, “and the Church is telling us, ‘Don’t forget to listen to young people’ in that question of what comes next, because they’re the churches now, but they are also the Church of the future.” 

“So if we fail to listen to them now,” she concluded, “we are not preparing for the future.”

CNA Newsroom, May 2, 2025 / 04:22 am (CNA).

The conclave to elect Pope Francis’ successor will begin on May 7, as the Church enters the final preparatory phase for choosing its 267th pope.

Follow here for live updates of the latest news and information on the papal transition:

Feast date: May 02

Catholics honor St. Athanasius on May 2. The fourth century bishop is known as “the father of orthodoxy” for his absolute dedication to the doctrine of Christ's divinity.

St. Athanasius was born to Christian parents living in the Egyptian city of Alexandria in 296. His parents took great care to have their son educated, and his talents came to the attention of a local priest who was later canonized as St. Alexander of Alexandria. The priest and future saint tutored Athanasius in theology, and eventually appointed him as an assistant.

Around the age of 19, Athanasius spent a formative period in the Egyptian desert as a disciple of St. Anthony in his monastic community. Returning to Alexandria, he was ordained a deacon in 319, and resumed his assistance to Alexander who had become a bishop. The Catholic Church, newly recognized by the Roman Empire, was already encountering a new series of dangers from within.

The most serious threat to the fourth-century Church came from a priest named Arius, who taught that Jesus could not have existed eternally as God prior to his historical incarnation as a man. According to Arius, Jesus was the highest of created beings, and could be considered “divine” only by analogy. Arians professed a belief in Jesus' “divinity,” but meant only that he was God's greatest creature.

Opponents of Arianism brought forth numerous scriptures which taught Christ's eternal pre-existence and his identity as God. Nonetheless, many Greek-speaking Christians found it intellectually easier to believe in Jesus as a created demi-god, than to accept the mystery of a  Father-Son relationship within the Godhead. By 325, the controversy was dividing the Church and unsettling the Roman Empire.

In that year, Athanasius attended the First Ecumenical Council, held at Nicea to examine and judge Arius' doctrine in light of apostolic tradition. It reaffirmed the Church's perennial teaching on Christ's full deity, and established the Nicene Creed as an authoritative statement of faith. The remainder of Athanasius' life was a constant struggle to uphold the council's teaching about Christ.

Near the end of St. Alexander's life, he insisted that Athanasius succeed him as the Bishop of Alexandria. Athanasius took on the position just as the Emperor Constantine, despite having convoked the Council of Nicea, decided to relax its condemnation of Arius and his supporters. Athanasius continually refused to admit Arius to communion, however, despite the urgings of the emperor.

A number of Arians spent the next several decades attempting to manipulate bishops, emperors and Popes to move against Athanasius, particularly through the use of false accusations. Athanasius was accused of theft, murder, assault, and even of causing a famine by interfering with food shipments.

Arius became ill and died gruesomely in 336, but his heresy continued to live. Under the rule of the three emperors that followed Constantine, and particularly under the rule of the strongly Arian Constantius, Athanasius was driven into exile at least five times for insisting on the Nicene Creed as the Church's authoritative rule of faith. 

Athanasius received the support of several Popes, and spent a portion of his exile in Rome. However, the Emperor Constantius did succeed in coercing one Pope, Liberius, into condemning Athanasius by having him kidnapped, threatened with death, and sent away from Rome for two years. The Pope eventually managed to return to Rome, where he again proclaimed Athanasius' orthodoxy.

Constantius went so far as to send troops to attack his clergy and congregations. Neither these measures, nor direct attempts to assassinate the bishop, succeeding in silencing him. However, they frequently made it difficult for him to remain in his diocese. He enjoyed some respite after Constantius' death in 361, but was later persecuted by Emperor Julian the Apostate, who sought to revive paganism.

In 369, Athanasius managed to convene an assembly of 90 bishops in Alexandria, for the sake of warning the Church in Africa against the continuing threat of Arianism. He died in 373, and was vindicated by a more comprehensive rejection of Arianism at the Second Ecumenical Council, held in 381 at Constantinople.

St. Gregory Nazianzen, who presided over part of that council, described St. Athanasius as “the true pillar of the church,” whose “life and conduct were the rule of bishops, and his doctrine the rule of the orthodox faith.”

CNA Staff, May 2, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).

The Catholic Church on May 2 honors St. Athanasius of Alexandria, a fourth-century bishop known as “the father of orthodoxy” for his dedication to the doctrine of Christ’s divinity. Athanasius played a key role at the First Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325 and defended the Nicene Creed throughout his life.

This year marks the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, which was convened during the pontificate of Pope Sylvester I in 325.

St. Athanasius was born to Christian parents living in the Egyptian city of Alexandria in 296. His parents took great care to have their son educated, and his talents came to the attention of a local priest who was later canonized — St. Alexander of Alexandria. The priest and future saint tutored Athanasius in theology and eventually appointed him as an assistant.

Around the age of 19, Athanasius spent a formative period in the Egyptian desert as a disciple of St. Anthony in his monastic community. Returning to Alexandria, he was ordained a deacon in 319 and resumed his assistance to Alexander, who had become a bishop. The Catholic Church, newly recognized by the Roman Empire, was already encountering a new series of dangers from within.

The most serious threat to the fourth-century Church came from a priest named Arius, who taught that Jesus could not have existed eternally as God prior to his historical incarnation as a man. According to Arius, Jesus was the highest of created beings and could be considered “divine” only by analogy. Arians professed a belief in Jesus’ “divinity” but meant only that he was God's greatest creature.

Opponents of Arianism brought forth numerous Scriptures that taught Christ’s eternal preexistence and his identity as God. Nonetheless, many Greek-speaking Christians found it intellectually easier to believe in Jesus as a created demigod than to accept the mystery of a Father-Son relationship within the Godhead. By 325, the controversy was dividing the Church and unsettling the Roman Empire.

Nicaea

In that year, Athanasius attended the First Ecumenical Council, held at Nicaea to examine and judge Arius’ doctrine in light of apostolic tradition. It reaffirmed the Church’s perennial teaching on Christ’s full deity and established the Nicene Creed as an authoritative statement of faith. The remainder of Athanasius’ life was a constant struggle to uphold the council’s teaching about Christ.

Near the end of St. Alexander’s life, he insisted that Athanasius succeed him as the bishop of Alexandria. Athanasius took on the position just as Emperor Constantine, despite having convoked the Council of Nicaea, decided to relax its condemnation of Arius and his supporters. Athanasius continually refused to admit Arius to Communion, however, despite the urgings of the emperor.

A number of Arians spent the next several decades attempting to manipulate bishops, emperors, and popes to move against Athanasius — particularly through the use of false accusations. Athanasius was accused of theft, murder, assault, and even of causing a famine by interfering with food shipments.

Arius became ill and died in 336, but his heresy continued to live. Under the rule of the three emperors that followed Constantine, and particularly under the rule of the strongly Arian Constantius, Athanasius was driven into exile at least five times for insisting on the Nicene Creed as the Church’s authoritative rule of faith. 

Athanasius received the support of several popes and spent a portion of his exile in Rome. However, the Emperor Constantius did succeed in coercing one pope, Liberius, into condemning Athanasius by having him kidnapped, threatened with death, and sent away from Rome for two years. The pope eventually managed to return to Rome, where he again proclaimed Athanasius’ orthodoxy.

Constantius went so far as to send troops to attack his clergy and congregations. Neither these measures nor direct attempts to assassinate the bishop succeeded in silencing him. However, they frequently made it difficult for him to remain in his diocese. He enjoyed some respite after Constantius’ death in 361 but was later persecuted by Emperor Julian the Apostate, who sought to revive paganism.

In 369, Athanasius managed to convene an assembly of 90 bishops in Alexandria for the sake of warning the Church in Africa against the continuing threat of Arianism. He died in 373 and was vindicated by a more comprehensive rejection of Arianism at the Second Ecumenical Council, held in 381 at Constantinople.

St. Gregory Nazianzen, who presided over part of that council, described St. Athanasius as “the true pillar of the Church” whose “life and conduct were the rule of bishops and his doctrine the rule of the orthodox faith.”

This story was first published on May 1, 2011, and has been updated.

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