News of the Diocese

Mom doesn’t want life support; is that OK?

Q. My mother has instructed us not to use life support if she becomes ill. Is that morally acceptable? A. This is such a complex and difficult issue. It’s a good thing that you are working through this now so that, when the issue becomes more immediate, you are able to clearly navigate these troubled waters. To all who are worried about &...

Bishops want to build bridges, not walls

Cleveland Bishop Nelson Perez was among 10 Hispanic bishops who spent nine days – Jan. 18-27 – in the Holy Land on a pilgrimage for peace. The trip, coordinated by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, was to help them understand the situation there and to advocate for brid...

Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Bishop Nelson Perez offers the following message on the observance of the 50th anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

It was on April 4, 1968 that an assassin’s bullet ended the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Fifty years later, we use this sad day in American history to remember his legacy of bravery and leadership which marks him for generations as a champion of positive societal change. On the day before he died, Dr. King delivered his famous “...

‘What appeared to be an end is just the beginning,’ Bishop Perez tells faithful on Easter Sunday

Bishop Nelson Perez began his Easter Sunday homily with a humorous story during the 10:30 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. He said three people went to a wake and made observations. The first man said the deceased was compassionate; the second said he was a good husband and father. ?Look, he?s moving,? said the third, as the...

Bishop Perez leads Good Friday procession through Cleveland’s West Side

The weather was cold, dry and overcast as several hundred faithful gathered at midday Good Friday at St. Michael the Archangel Church on Scranton Road in Cleveland for the annual procession. Temperatures hovered in the mid-30s at noon as Bishop Nelson Perez said the opening prayer. Led by a contingent of Cleveland police cars, an honor guard comp...

Christ left us two gifts on Holy Thursday: the Eucharist and the priesthood, bishop says

During the evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, Bishop Nelson Perez talked about the human side of Christ – about how he must have felt the weight of the world on his shoulders, knowing what was about to happen to him. He said Jesus told the apostles to prepare for his last Passover, which he said would be “the mo...

Easter triduum celebrates Christ’s Passion, death, resurrection

The summit of the liturgical year in the Catholic Church is the Easter triduum, which runs from the evening of Holy Thursday to the evening of Easter Sunday. Although three days chronologically, the triduum is one day liturgically, as it unfolds the unity of Christ?s paschal mystery from the Last Supper through his Passion, death and resurrection. ...