One good reason to send your child to a Catholic school is the much higher likelihood that he or she will continue practicing the faith as an adult. (0:46)

In today's newsletter:

• Fr. Michael Peltzer passes away at age 70

• Take evil seriously, pope says at general audience

• Defend the dignity of all, especially children, pope tells volunteers

• Foundation releases never-before-seen images of Padre Pio

• Art of Dating for Catholic singles ends on April 26

• Human life a commodity with surrogacy, say ban advocates

• Students pray 800 rosaries for priests of the diocese

• Fort Scott's new church is taking shape

He studied for the priesthood at Mt. St. Mary Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, and was ordained on May 10, 1980, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Wichita.

Fr. Peltzer served as an associate at St. Patrick Parish in Wichita until Aug. 29, 1984, when he was named an associate at Christ the King Parish in Wichita. On Feb. 10, 1987, he was named the pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Eureka, St. John in Hamilton, and St. Teresa of Avila in Madison.

Father was assigned as the pastor of St. Joan of Arc Parish in Harper County on Aug. 3, 1998. He was named chaplain of the Discalced Community of Carmelites in Wichita on June 19, 2018, when he was also assigned to update the history of the diocese and priest necrology.

He was a resident of the Priest Retirement Center in Wichita.

Pope Francis kisses a Ukrainian flag carried by a group of Ukrainian children attending his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican April 10. The pope prayed during the audience for peace in Ukraine, in the Holy Land and in Myanmar. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Take evil seriously, pope says at general audience

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While intense feelings or drive -- passions -- are natural, Christians know they must be tamed and channeled toward what is good, Pope Francis said.

The virtue of fortitude, "the most 'combative' of the virtues," helps a person control their passions but also gives them the strength to overcome fear and anxiety when faced with the difficulties of life, the pope told visitors and pilgrims at his weekly general audience April 10.

Continuing his series of talks about virtues, the pope quoted the Catechism of the Catholic Church: "Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions."

Fortitude "takes the challenge of evil in the world seriously," he said, and that is increasingly rare "in our comfortable Western world."

Some people pretend evil does not exist, "that everything is going fine, that human will is not sometimes blind, that dark forces that bring death do not lurk in history," the pope said. But reading a history book or even the newspaper shows "the atrocities of which we are partly victims and partly perpetrators: wars, violence, slavery, oppression of the poor, wounds that have never healed and continue to bleed."

"The virtue of fortitude makes us react and cry out an emphatic 'no' to evil to all of this," he said.

"For the believer each person is sacred," he told volunteers from the Italian Red Cross April 6. "Every human creation is loved by God and, because of this, the bearer of inalienable human rights."

The pope addressed some 6,000 volunteers wearing red unforms for the 160th anniversary of the Italian Red Cross, which he said has performed acts of charity for people regardless of "nationality, social class, religion or political opinion" since its founding in 1864. He urged them to always uphold the "supreme value of life" and to defend society's most vulnerable, noting children in particular.

Pope Francis specifically highlighted the plight of Ukrainian children who sought refuge in Italy due to war, lamenting, "These children do not smile; they have forgotten the ability to smile," he said. "This is terrible for a child. Let us think about this."

Pope: Society is self-centered

The pope condemned today's "self-centered" society, more focused on the "I" than the "us," and asked the volunteers not to turn away or discard a person because of their physical condition, abilities, place of origin or social status.

Every person "has their own dignity and deserves our attention," he said. "I exhort you to continue to be close to brothers and sisters in need, with competence, generosity and expertise, especially at a time when racism and contempt are growing like weeds."

Pope Francis also stressed the need for global "norms that guarantee human rights everywhere, practices that nurture the culture of encounter and people capable of looking at the world with a broad perspective."

The pope thanked the Red Cross volunteers for their support for migrants and for their love of neighbor, an attitude that has no "geographic, cultural, social, economic or religious" borders.

"Your commitment, inspired by the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, independence, volunteerism, unity and universality, is also a visible sign that fraternity is possible," he told the volunteers.

After his speech, a band of volunteers played music for the pope who smiled as he put on a Red Cross cap for a photo-op.

To mark its 10th anniversary, the Saint Pio Foundation in the United States will release 10 never-before-seen photographs of Padre Pio. ( Photo courtesy of the St. Pio Foundation.)

Foundation releases never-before-seen images of St. Padre Pio

CNA Staff, April 10 – To mark its 10th anniversary, the Saint Pio Foundation in the United States is releasing 10 never-before-seen photographs of St. Pio of Pietrelcina, better known as Padre Pio, on April 29. 

The candid images show the Italian priest celebrating Mass and deep in prayer but also in lighter moments of laughter, rarely captured of the friar. The foundation’s director, Luciano Lamonarca, discovered the photos when visiting photographer Elia Saleto’s studio.

EWTN News Vatican correspondent Colm Flynn sat down with Lamonarca in a recent interview for “EWTN News Nightly” to discuss the images. One of the most surprising photos was of Padre Pio smiling. 

“One is nice because [it shows everybody] hey, Padre Pio is smiling. Yes, he was smiling because he was a man. So we always think that Padre Pio was a serious man. We know that faith is also about laughing … sometimes,” Lamonarca said.

The professional opera singer grew up in Italy aware of the giant figure that Padre Pio was in the Catholic Church but didn’t have a particular devotion to the saint until he and his wife faced the great suffering of having a stillborn baby and receiving the news that they would probably not be able to have more children. 

It was then that the couple turned to St. Pio’s intercession and, in the process, began to learn more about his life. 

Lamonarca said he learned about St. Pio’s “simplicity and humility.” 

“He was the grandfather I never had,” he told Flynn. Continue reading here.

An interview with the photographer on “EWTN News Nightly” can be viewed above. (5:50)

Introducing the Art of Dating

Heidi Jirak was part of a panel that introduced the first of a four-part Art of Dating series on Thursday, April 4, at Aroma Coffee House in Wichita. With her is her fiancé, Thomas Lydic. The second presentation of the series, An Evening at the Winery, is at 6:30 this evening at Grace Hill Winery in Whitewater, Kansas. A book study about St. John Paul II’s play, The Jeweler’s Shop, will be presented by Fr. Adam Grelinger. The remaining Art of Dating gatherings are April 18 and 26. The series is sponsored by the Office of Marriage and Family Life, the Office of Faith Formation, and Salt + Light. To register for the fourth and final event, a dance on Friday, April 26, in Good Shepherd Hall at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Wichita, click here. (Advance photo)

Praying for the priests of the diocese

Eight fourth graders under Fr. Dan Duling's spiritual care recently reached a rosary milestone. The students prayed 100 rosaries with at least one other person for the priests of the Diocese of Wichita. With Fr. Duling, from left, are Ella Schroeder, Ella Scheer, River Henson, Tyson Zoglman, Lily Richmond, Israel Moreno, and Gabe Scott. Kimber Markel was unavailable for the photo because she was at a funeral. Fr. Duling is the pastor of St. Rose Parish in Mt. Vernon and St. Louis Parish in Waterloo. (Courtesy photo) 

ROME (CNS) -- A broad cultural shift is needed to recognize surrogacy is not a "right" but a violation of human dignity and of the rights of women and children, several experts said during an international conference in Rome advocating a universal ban on surrogacy.

Surrogacy, in which a woman agrees to become pregnant and deliver a child on behalf of another individual or couple, is "basically the practice of buying babies. It's turning women into commodities" and represents the "commodification of human life," Kajsa Ekis Ekman, a Swedish journalist and author, told reporters April 5.

"Just like the West has outsourced production of goods to other countries, we are now outsourcing reproduction," she said. "The surrogate is not the person manufacturing a mobile phone to be sold. Being sold here is human life itself."

Ekman and others spoke at a news conference on the sidelines of an April 5-6 conference sponsored by supporters of the Casablanca Declaration, an appeal drawn up by lawyers, doctors and psychologists asking nations to take measures to combat surrogacy and to commit to an international convention abolishing surrogacy worldwide.

Olivia Maurel, the spokesperson of the Casablanca Declaration, was born to a surrogate mother via "traditional" surrogacy through an agency in Louisville, Kentucky. In "traditional" surrogacy, a surrogate mother is inseminated with an intended father's spermatozoa; with IVF or "gestational" surrogacy, which is the most common form of surrogacy today, the surrogate mother gestates one or more embryos that the intended parents have created with their own or with donor gametes.

"They abused the situation of a woman that needed money to feed her children and pay her bills," she said of her surrogate mother in her talk April 5, calling the surrogacy industry "greedy" and noting it is set to grow from an estimated value of $14 billion in 2022 to $129 billion by 2032.

Often the stories being told about surrogacy, she told reporters, are from the point of view of the intended parents who are happy to receive a child.

She compared surrogacy to when slavery was legal, saying, "I'm sure there were beautiful stories of well-fed, well-dressed slaves. How does that help? Does it make slavery more ethical?"

"We don't regulate a bad practice, we abolish it," she said.

In her speech, she said, "I do not blame commissioning parents, like I do not blame my parents for having used surrogacy, as they only use something that is offered to them on a silver platter. I blame the countries, the governments, that let surrogacy be legal, that do not take actions to stop surrogacy in their countries."

Ekman, who has been studying and researching surrogacy since 2007, said the women who enter into surrogacy contracts to give up the children they carry often suffer, too.

Mary Queen of Angels taking shape

The new Mary Queen of Angels Church under construction in Fort Scott is beginning to look like its "coming soon" future self. The new building will replace the structure heavily damaged by a lightning strike in August of 2022. For aerial video of the site uploaded two weeks ago, visit tinyurl.com/mqaupdate1. (Courtesy photo) 

Catholic news briefs

Papal appointments bring changes to the Diocese of Rome

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has made major changes to the Diocese of Rome, giving new positions to both Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, his vicar for the diocese since 2017, and Auxiliary Bishop Daniele Libanori, a Jesuit who has served as auxiliary for the past six years. In appointments announced by the Vatican April 6, Pope Francis named the 70-year-old Cardinal De Donatis to be the major penitentiary or head of the Apostolic Penitentiary, a church court dealing with matters of conscience. He succeeds Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, who had held the position since 2013 and will celebrate his 80th birthday in September. The Vatican announcement said Bishop Libanori, who gained international attention for his strong defense of the women who accused former Jesuit Father Marko Rupnik of abuse, will become the "assessor of the Holy Father for consecrated life." The Vatican did not explain what the assessor's duties would be. The position is not mentioned in "Praedicate Evangelium," Pope Francis' 2022 constitution on the Roman Curia.

Company’s pivot to adult diapers underscores crashing fertility rates

CNA Staff, April 10 – “Growth is anticipated.” That’s how the Tokyo-based company Oji Holdings described the Japanese adult diaper economy last week. The company announced in a press release that it would be terminating its “domestic disposal diaper business for babies” later this year. The baby diaper market in Japan is a “low-growth business,” the company indicated, though the 150-year-old company said it will not exit the diaper business altogether. The company “aims to continue … focusing its resources on the market for the domestic disposable diapers business for adults, where growth is anticipated,” the press release said. Oji’s pivot toward adult diaper manufacturing underscores an ongoing crisis facing many developed nations around the world, Japan in particular: cratering fertility rates. Continue reading here.

Catholic bishops say abortion can ‘never be a fundamental right’

CNA Staff, April 9 – Catholic bishops in the European Union on Tuesday reiterated that a right to abortion can never be a “fundamental” right ahead of a Thursday vote related to the insertion of a “right to abortion” in the European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights. A draft resolution set to be voted on April 11 would amend the EU’s charter, which first came into force in 2009, to include the assertion that “everyone has the right to bodily autonomy, to free, informed, full, and universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, and to all related health care services without discrimination, including access to safe and legal abortion.” The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), based in Brussels and made up of bishops delegated by the bishops’ conferences of the more than two dozen member states of the European Union, speaks frequently in support of Catholic values in Europe, particularly against abortion and for the protection of persecuted Christians in other countries. “The promotion of women and their rights is not related to the promotion of abortion,” COMECE said in an April 9 statement. Continue reading here.

Holy Family Camp recruiting volunteers

Volunteers being sought for this year’s Holy Family Camp. Volunteers are needed Sunday through Friday, June 2-7. Holy Family Camp is a Catholic summer experience for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities ages 14 or older.

Applications are available here. For more information contact Baylee at 316-269-3900 or holmesb@catholicdioceseofwichita.org.

‘The Bible Timeline’ starts Wednesday

The Bible Timeline: The Story of Salvation, a 24-part DVD bible study, will be offered from 10 to 11:30 a.m. April 17 through Sept. 25, at the St. Paul University Parish at Wichita State University, 1810 N. Roosevelt St. The presenter is nationally-recognized scripture expert Jeff Cavins who will explain how 14 of the bible’s narrative books tell the biblical story from beginning to end. 

The cost is $55 per person or $75 for couples using a book. The cost is $20 for those who have a workbook. To sign up or for more information contact Kathy Mietlicki 316-351-1683 or chgorootskm@gmail.com. Class size is limited. The deadline to register is April 8. 

St. Joseph Parish Mexican dinner April 20

St. Joseph Parish in Wichita will host a Mexican dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, April 20, in the school cafeteria. On the menu will be homemade enchilada, tacos, tostadas, and desserts. Proceeds will benefit St. Joseph Parish youth programs.

Next Marriage on Tap April 21

The next Marriage on Tap will gather at 6 p.m. on Monday, April 22, at The Keg in Colwich. The topic is “Negotiate Like Your Marriage Depends on It: A Catholic Hostage Negotiator Tells All.” 

The evening involves enriching conversations, a complimentary meal, and a couple of drink tickets. It sets the stage for couples entering into marriage to thrive and connect in fellowship. 

Engaged or newlywed couples married for three or fewer years are encouraged to take part in the opportunity to fortify their marriage. Reservations may be made at tinyurl.com/marriageontap4-22.

Seasoned Servant Appreciation Mass, luncheon April 23 

A Seasoned Servant Appreciation Mass and luncheon will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 23, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Wichita.

“We want to thank all retired adults who have sacrificed to give their time, talent, and treasure to build our churches and schools and make our diocese what it is today,” said Sharon Witzell, program coordinator for Senior Adult Ministries.

The office is sponsoring the event and invites adults from throughout the diocese to take part. A lunch catered by Carriage Crossing restaurant will be served after Mass. On the menu are roast chicken, German sausage, homemade pie, and all the fixings. Door prizes will be given out and an outstanding “Seasoned Servant of the Year” will be honored. 

The cost is $10. The deadline for reservations is Sunday, April 7. Checks should be made payable to the Catholic Diocese of Wichita and mailed to The Office of Marriage and Family Life, 424 N. Broadway, Wichita, KS 67202. Or sign up with a credit card at https://buytickets.at/marriageandfamilylife/1157537. There is no extra fee for using a credit card.

Fr. Daniel Lorimer leading Greece pilgrimage in July

Fr. Daniel Lorimer, a priest of the Diocese of Wichita, will be a spiritual advisor on a pilgrimage to Greece from July 12-22.

The pilgrimage, named In the Footsteps of St. Paul with Greek Isles Cruise!, will stop at sites throughout Greece such as Philippi, where Paul the Apostle delivered his first sermon, Mars Hill in Athens where he spoke to the Athenians, Corinth, and the house of the Virgin Mary in Ephesus, Turkey, where she lived until her assumption. A three-day cruise includes the Greek islands of Mykonos, Crete, and Santorini.

For details about what is included in the pilgrimage and the variety of options available, visit 206tours.com/cms/frlorimer.

Fr. David Marstall to lead pilgrimage to France in August

Fr. David Marstall, pastor of St. Anne Parish in Wichita, will be the spiritual leader for a pilgrimage Aug. 15-24 to Lourdes, Ars, and Paris. Space for the pilgrimage is limited. The deadline to register is May 18.

Those interested may contact Carl or Melanie Witte at 316-651-6032 or 316-651-3786. The cost is $4,740 per person, double occupancy; $5,780, single occupancy.

A slide show of the Easter VIgil March 30 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Wichita. Bishop Carl A. Kemme was the main celebrant. (1:58)

Pope Francis continued his catechesis series on virtues and vices Wednesday by reflecting on the virtue of fortitude. (1:03)