NOVEMBER 21, 2025
mississippicatholic.com
Fall Faith Formation Day gathers parish leaders for renewal, connection and new pathways for lay formation By Joanna Puddister King
MADISON – Parish leaders from across the Diocese of Jackson gathered at St. Francis of Assisi Church on Saturday, Nov. 15, for the annual Fall Faith Formation Day, a one-day workshop hosted each November by the Department of Faith Formation. This year’s theme, “Pilgrims of Hope: Journeying Together,” invited catechists, youth ministers, DREs and parish volunteers to reflect on their call to accompany the people of God with renewed purpose. The keynote presenter was Robert Feduccia, a nationally recognized speaker who grew up in Brookhaven and attributes his own call to ministry to formative experiences in the Diocese of Jackson. He opened the day with lively “would you rather” questions that had participants laughing, moving and interacting with one another before leading them into deeper conversations about the heart of ministry. Feduccia encouraged parish leaders to see themselves not as program directors who simply manage logistics, but as ministry leaders rooted in the church’s tradition and attentive to the lived reality of their parish communities. He noted that Mississippi’s Catholic population, though small and diverse, is uniquely positioned for authentic accompaniment and relationship-based ministry. He urged participants to present the faith as truly good news, helping people encounter Christ rather than focusing solely on intellectual debates MADISON – Robert Feduccia engages participants during his keynote presentation or apologetics. at Fall Faith Formation Day on Nov. 15 at St. Francis of Assisi Parish. Leaders from Sister Amelia Breton provided live translation during the key- parishes across the diocese gathered for a day of workshops, prayer and formation.
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(Photo by Joanna Puddister King)
Unity in teaching, mission, and concern for immigrants resounds at bishops’ fall assembly By Peter Jesserer Smith
(OSV News) – From the start of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ fall plenary assembly to its end, a resounding concern for the God-given dignity of immigrants, and for unity in teaching the faith clearly and renewing the country spiritually, dominated the days’ proceedings. The first order of business for the bishops, at the start of the Nov. 10-13 gathering was to invoke the intercession of the Holy Spirit. More
than 320 active and retired bishops joined the opening Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore Nov. 10. Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the USCCB and archbishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, reminded bishops in his opening homily of “their duty to be servants of truth,” and shared the story of a young airman who asked him “how to be a saint.” The fall meeting was also Archbishop Broglio’s farewell as USCCB president after leading the bishops for the past three years through a National Eucharistic Revival, its first National Eucharistic Congress in more than eight decades, the recently concluded Synod on Synodality, and the election of
the first American pope. In his final presidential address, he emphasized the need for the bishops to model unity and help “convince people to listen to each other” amid polarization. “We have to draw on our unity to illustrate that civil discourse is not only possible, but the most authentically human way forward,” he said. For Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal ambassador, it was his first opportunity to address the bishops as Pope Leo XIV’s representative to the U.S. since the pope’s election in May. On the theme of unity, he emphasized continuity between the late Pope Francis and Pope Leo’s pontificates, while encourg-
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World Day for the Poor 7 Pope assures poor they are loved by God
From the archives A trip through diocesan architecture
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Youth 11 Photos of youth activities from around the diocese