2024-04-19-eEdition

By ROBHERBST The Catholic Week MOBILE – Several priests in the Archdiocese of Mobile now have a holy hour prayed for them every day, thanks to the Seven Sisters Apostolate. Brought to the archdiocese in 2021, the Seven Sisters Apostolate consists of a group of seven women from a respective parish who each take one day a week to pray a holy hour for their respective pastor or parochial vicar. The Apostolate is now officially registered at six parishes throughout the archdiocese, with women lifting priests up in prayer at the Cathedral, Corpus Christi and St. Ignatius Parishes in Mobile, Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Student Center at the University of South Alabama, St. Philip Neri Parish in Belle Fontaine and Our Lady of the Gulf Parish in Gulf Shores. “If you strengthen the priest, you strengthen the parish and you strengthen the community,” said Susan Comeaux, who brought the Apostolate to the Archdiocese of Mobile and is anchoress (leader) of the Apostolate at Cathedral Parish. The Apostolate was founded by Ja- nette Howe in 2011 in St. Paul, Minn. According to Comeaux, Howe began to pray for her parish priest because he was supportive of her son in seminary. One day in prayer “she heard in her heart ‘Seven Sisters,’”Comeaux said. “She was going to pray the Seven Sor- rows, but again, she heard Seven Sisters. She realized she was being called to Volume 90, Number 08 Official Publication of the Archdiocese of Mobile April 19, 2024 C ൺඍඁඈඅංർ W ൾൾ඄ Tඁൾ CATHOLIC SCHOOLS I NSIDE T HIS W EEK @mobilearchdiocese Follow: Visit: mobarch.org SEVEN SISTERS APOSTOLATE Document outlines attacks on human dignity By CINDYWOODEN Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Being a Christian means defending human dignity and that includes opposing abortion, the death penalty, gender transition surgery, war, sexual abuse and human trafficking, the Dicast- ery for the Doctrine of the Faith said in a new document. "We cannot separate faith from the defense of human dignity, evangelization from the promotion of a dignified life and spirituality from a commitment to the dignity of every human being," Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, dicastery prefect, wrote in the document's opening section. The declaration, "Dignitas Infinita" ("Infinite Dignity"), was released at the Vatican April 8. In the opening section, Cardinal Fernández confirmed reports that a declaration on human dignity and bioethical issues — like abortion, euthanasia and surrogacy — was ap- proved by members of the dicastery in mid-2023 but Pope Francis asked the dicastery to make additions to "highlight topics closely connected to the theme of dignity, such as poverty, the situation of migrants, violence against women, human trafficking, war and other themes." In February the cardinals and bishops who are members of the di- castery approved the updated draft of the document, and in late March Pope Francis gave his approval and ordered its publication, Cardinal Fernández said. With its five years of preparation, he wrote, "the document before us VATICAN See DOCUMENT, Page 2 NO PRIEST LEFT BEHIND Photo by Rob Herbst/The Catholic Week Kristin Snetsinger, a member of the Seven Sisters Apostolate, prays at the Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. Women of Apostolate lifting their parish priest up in prayer every day See APOSTOLATE, Page 15 "If you strengthen the priest, you strengthen the parish and you strengthen the community." Susan Comeaux Seven Sisters Apostolate Anchoress Sr. Constance Veit, l.s.p.:The surest way to find happiness. Page 3 Bishops visitAlabama in powerful encounter - Page 14