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The next Ave Explores series will focus on the health and cultural richness of Catholicism around the world. It will begin on February 21, 2021. Ave Explores is a free educational series created to help Catholics explore aspects of their faith from a variety of angles, helping them take a look at topics that are relevant to their daily spiritual life in fresh, engaging, and practical ways. It's everyday faith for everyday Catholics. While the core beliefs of Catholicism are the same everywhere, this four-week, multimedia series will focus on the diversity of practices, traditions, and the health of the Church in different corners of the world—in the Americas, Asia and Oceania, Africa and the Caribbean, and in Europe. Because Ave Maria Press is a ministry of the Congregation of Holy Cross, United States Province of Priests and Brothers, you'll get a special look at the work of Holy Cross across the sixteen countries in which its priests and brothers serve. You will also meet a new saint each week through art and the written word. Catch a sneak preview to Ave Explores: Catholicism Around the World, with two special editions of the Ave Explores podcast, Katie Prejean McGrady will talk with Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of South Africa (Feb. 17) and Archbishop Peter Comensoli of Melbourne, Australia (Feb. 19). The series runs from Feb. 21 to March 20. The Ave Explores podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Play Music, and is also located on Breadbox Media, Redeemer Radio, and Spoke Street Media. Here’s some of the content—podcasts, videos, articles, and Facebook Live events—you’ll find during the four-week Ave Explores: Catholicism Around the World series: • Week 1 highlights the Americas and features J.D. Flynn, Fr. Harrison Ayre, Mariana Pimiento, and Brenda Noriega. • Week 2 highlights Asia and Oceania and features Fr. Rob Galea, Joseph Moeno-Kolio, and Liz Hansen. • Week 3 highlights Africa and the Caribbean and features Fr. Louis Merosne and Chika Anyanwu. • Week 4 highlights Europe and features Paul Jarzembowski, Leanne Bowen, and James and Catherine McCloughlin. Sign up for limited-time, weekly emails with this series of Ave Explores content at https://www.avemariapress.com/aveexplores-series/signup.

"You must open the door to your heart so that Jesus can come inside and bring peace and healing. This door unlocks only with the keys of forgiveness and mercy." It is with great sadness that we share the news of the death of Rev. Ubald Rugirangoga, founder of the Center for the Secret of Peace in Rwanda, and author of Forgiveness Makes You Free. Fr. Ubald died in Utah on January 7, 2021, from complications of COVID-19. He had been in the United States for almost a year because of quarantine restrictions. Fr. Ubald traveled the world performing healing masses, which many attribute to their personal healing from major illnesses. He directed the Center for the Secret of Peace as a way to foster healing and reconciliation following the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. He lost more than eighty of his family members and more than 45,000 parishioners during the genocide. Calling himself "a shepherd to these sheep that have run away and are afraid to follow the shepherd’s voice," Fr. Ubald helped many of those who perpetrated the genocide reconcile with and find forgiveness from the families of those they killed. He said, "I preach it here in Rwanda, and I preach it wherever the opportunity arises elsewhere. For there are other sheep, all over the world, who need to hear this message, that forgiveness is the secret of peace." An ecumenical memorial service is planned for early February at Our Lady of the Mountains in Jackson, Wyoming, which was his home base in the United States. Later in February, Most Rev. David Ricken of the Diocese of Green Bay will preside at a service at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City, Utah. Fr. Ubald’s body will be present for the service. His body will be returned to Rwanda sometime in March and he is expected to be buried at the Center for the Secret of Peace. May Fr. Ubald rest in the Peace of Christ and may those who need healing and forgiveness find it through his intercession. "To decide to forgive, or to decide to beg forgiveness, is often very difficult. On our own, it can be impossible. There is only one sure way to find the strength to forgive those who have wounded us, and that is to decide to live for Jesus. Jesus is the one who gives us strength to forgive the impossible." Read more about Fr. Ubald in this beautiful tribute. To read more about Fr. Ubald’s work, visit his website: https://frubald.com.

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New Ave Explores Looks at the Health of Catholicism, Diversity of Practice, Traditions Around the World

Fr. Ubald Rugirangoga (May 16, 1955–January 7, 2021)