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New life in Christ: Easter and Holy Week 2021

Profiles of new Catholics and stories on Cardinal Gregory’s Holy Week and Easter liturgies in 2021.

In this series

From Vietnam and Northern Ireland, two new Catholics are drawn to the universal Church

The April 3 Easter Vigil services around the world welcomed new Catholics in an ages-old ritual. For two of the people who came into the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of...

Historian’s journey to Catholic faith spurred by justice work at Georgetown, introspection during pandemic

Dr. James Benton admits his journey to the Catholic faith “might seem like a long story” and “not surprising for someone hanging out around Jesuits for the last 16 years or so,”...

In year marked by pandemic, man decided the time was right to become Catholic

Although he wasn’t Catholic, since Matthew Eichner married his wife Mary Ferranti in 1994 at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut, Catholicism has been a part of his life,...

Woman who journeyed from China to U.S. for college later embarked on a journey of faith to become Catholic

Taking a momentous journey is not a new experience for Jillian Shen. Born and raised in China, she moved to California to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology at UCLA and then...

In two different cities, mother and adult daughter share journey of faith to become Catholic

It’s not uncommon for children and their parents to review classwork together, especially with virtual learning during the pandemic. But Autiyonna Johnson, who is 28 and lives in...

Risen Christ offers hope to people, Cardinal Gregory says at Easter Sunday Mass

The risen Christ on Easter offers hope to people experiencing sorrows in their everyday lives and in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory said...

Church enriched by its newest members, Cardinal Gregory says at joyful Easter Vigil

One year ago in April 2020, then-Archbishop Wilton Gregory celebrated his first Easter Vigil as the archbishop of Washington, but the normally joyful Mass lacked a congregation...

Good Friday recalls Jesus’s ultimate ‘death with dignity,’ an act of faith in God’s love and mercy, cardinal says

At the somber Good Friday liturgy at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle on April 2, Cardinal Wilton Gregory focused on the idea that Jesus experienced the ultimate “death...

Text of Cardinal Gregory’s Holy Thursday homily

(This is the text of the homily by Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory, the archbishop of Washington, at the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper on April 1, 2021 at the Cathedral of...

At Holy Thursday Mass, Cardinal Gregory says Eucharist is ‘the banquet of Jesus’s love’

At an April 1 Holy Thursday Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C., Cardinal Wilton Gregory commemorated Christ's institution of the Eucharist by...

At Chrism Mass, Cardinal Gregory calls priests to be ‘God’s men, Christ’s priests, and servant ministers’

Cardinal Wilton Gregory celebrated a Chrism Mass March 29 at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C., to commemorate the founding of the priesthood, to lead...

Crowd’s shouts of ‘Hosanna’ to Jesus show words of praise are fleeting but actions matter, Cardinal Gregory says in Palm Sunday homily

The crowd’s adoring cry of “Hosanna,” as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a colt 2,000 years ago, might today be the call: “You da man!” or “You rock!” said Washington...