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The Diocese of Saint John will be hiring a Controller with 7-10 years of experience, including work within a non-profit / charity organization.

Pope Francis reads the headlines and sees moral decay. He reads the Gospel and wishes it were alive in the hearts and minds of people. Some experts believe that Fratelli Tutti could inspire a lot of people to look at the Catholic Church in a different light, to revisit their faith. Christians around the world celebrated this weekend as Carlo Acutis was beatified, bringing him one step closer to being declared an official saint of the Catholic Church. He was beatified on October 10, 2020, at the Basilica of St. Francis, in Assisi. And during the mass, young people were urged to imitate Blessed Carlo by establishing close links with God and other people on social media. So strongly does Monsignor Bernard Rossi believe in the importance of Catholic health care, he once told a priest whose bishop dispensed him from hospital calls that if he didn’t like to visit the sick he shouldn’t be a priest.

Please view this open letter to all Canadians, and prayerfully contact your local MPs to express your concern. We are obliged to express our strong concern and opposition to Bill C-7 which, among other things, expands access to euthanasia and assisted suicide to those who are not dying. "It perplexes our collective minds that we have come so far as a society yet, at the same time, have so seriously regressed in the manner that we treat the weak, the ill, and the marginalized."

Lettre ouverte à tous les Canadiens: Nous nous devons d’exprimer notre profonde préoccupation et notre opposition la plus ferme au projet de loi C-7 qui, entre autres, étend l’accès à l’euthanasie et au suicide assisté à celles et ceux qui ne sont pas mourants. En constatant que nous en sommes arrivés là comme société, et combien nous avons régressé quant à notre façon de traiter les personnes faibles, malades et marginalisées, il y a de quoi être perplexes. Nous, soussignés, continuons de nous opposer absolument à l’euthanasie et au suicide assisté, à tuer les êtres humains de façon délibérée, qu’on appelle euphémiquement « aide médicale à mourir » (AMM), mais qui n’est en réalité, tragiquement, rien de moins qu’un meurtre, tel que reconnu par le Code criminel du Canada avant l’adoption du projet de loi C-14 en juin 2016.

In 2014 this high school student inspired a parish to create a new outreach program to support Avenue B in Saint John. Teams at both worship sites within the parish (St. Rose of Lima and St. Matthew) make individually-portioned meals that are frozen for clients which are delivered to Avenue B for pick up. Pope Francis' new social encyclical offers a vision for the world of dignity for every person around the world and promotes a call to 'build a new culture of fraternity and dialogue.' The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the Catholic Church in Canada to significantly change the way it operates. CCCB president Richard Gagnon said how the Church has had to adjust to the realities of the pandemic have been difficult for parishioners and clergy, but it has shown how important a personal connection with God and the Church is in the lives of many Canadians.

Hospital chaplains are present for some of the most intimate and vulnerable moments in a person’s life. Ministering during the pandemic has presented some unique challenges, but Father Aaron Knox continues to do whatever he can to nurture the humanity of those he serves. For the past few months on his travels around the diocese, Bishop Christian Riesbeck, CC, of the Diocese of Saint John, has been encouraging parishes to offer one tool of evangelization in their parishes this fall. And one program he recommends is Alpha. The world will not overcome the current crisis if only big businesses, financial institutions and the powerful have a voice, Pope Francis said. "Everyone must be listened to. Everyone -- those on the top, those on the bottom," he said September 23 during his weekly general audience.

From October 4 to 10, we celebrate National Catholic Health Care Week across Canada. The Week recognizes the inspiring work of Catholic health care organizations in our province and across Canada. At the heart of Catholic health care is a deep respect for the intrinsic value and dignity of every human being and an unwavering commitment to serving all people, from all backgrounds and faiths—especially society’s most vulnerable.

Faced with government restrictions and pandemic protocols, two parishes in the Saint John region have come up with innovative ways to minister to families this fall. Saying "thank you" to God is a beautiful prayer, Pope Francis told a group of children and teenagers with autism. An MP who wants Canada to adopt a law that would make it illegal to abort babies based solely on a baby’s sex thinks her biggest challenge is not to convince Canadians of the need for such a law, but instead is to convince her fellow members of parliament.

Bishop Christian Riesbeck’s call toward a renewed personal encounter with Jesus urges us toward Eucharistic devotion, evangelization, and community outreach. Please read the 2020-2021 Pastoral Year Letter here.

Veuillez lire cette Lettre pour l’Année Pastorale 2020-2021.

La Collecte pour les besoins de l’Église au Canada aura lieu les 26 et 27 septembre 2020. Cette initiative caritative annuelle aide les évêques dans leur ministère d’accompagner, d’enseigner, de guider, de sanctifier et de prendre soin de l’Église au Canada.

Bishops in all of Canada continue working faithfully throughout the current pandemic, identifying the needs of the whole Church. They advocate for the persecuted and the poor throughout the world. 
Yearly, they appeal to Canadian Catholics to support them financially in these efforts. We continue to pray for them in this work carried on in union with the Successor of Peter. Please consider publishing their messages and intentions in your parish bulletins, websites, and social media.

Students at the University of New Brunswick (UNB) Fredericton will have a strong Catholic presence on their campus this fall. Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO) has sent Mary-Anne Ruggles, CCO Connect Leader, to establish a ministry at the university. David Rioux is serving on a pastoral internship year with Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Saint John. Church services and mass online cannot compare to or replace the in-person participation of the faithful, the head of the Vatican's office for divine worship told the world's bishops. As soon as circumstances permit, however, it is necessary and urgent to return to the normality of Christian life.

The Fredericton Catholic Young Adults are a group of friends in the Fredericton area who have a thriving Catholic social life. During his summer travels, Bishop Christian Riesbeck, CC, of the Diocese of Saint John, has not only shared wisdom with the faithful — he has also given some homework. A plea by Pope Francis to better protect the environment, respect indigenous communities around the globe and listen to the concerns of young people is resonating with Catholics and non-Catholics alike in Canada, where religious and social justice groups are promising to make environmental justice initiatives the focus of a month-long celebration of creation.

Bishop Riesbeck shepherding among the parishes throughout the diocese, installing pastors, and calling on the faithful to live out their missionary call. The Atlantic Service Committee annual summer conference went online to host their Atlantic Charismatic Renewal. Knights of Columbus founder Father McGivney to be beatified October 31.

As churches began to re-open this summer, Bishop Christian Risebeck, CC travelled throughout the Diocese of Saint John visiting various parishes celebrating mass, administering the Sacrament of Confirmation, installing new pastors and most importantly, meeting parishioners. The movie Fatima is being released later this month, with limited theatre release in Canada, though premium video on demand, such as Apple iTunes and Amazon Prime will feature the film.

Diocesan churches continue to safely welcome more faithful back to Mass and into mission. A Catholic Youth Ministries Project and Alpha Youth help youth ministers to help diocesan youth share the Faith within their parish and beyond, despite the pandemic. The New Freeman revisits its 1918 coverage of the Spanish influenza.

Pastors continue to guide parishes to re-opening access to the Sacraments. Juno-winning Steve Bell joins diocesan youth in Saints in Training. Altar murals restored for the 200th anniversary of St. Mary’s Cathedral Basilica in Halifax.

Diocesan parishes and faithful adapting to pandemic protocols, as the Steubenville conference for youth and young adults adapts by going online this summer.

Clergy assignments for the Diocese of Saint John have been announced for August 1, 2020.