An image of Servant of God Julia Greeley in a parish. / Credit: Screenshot/Colorado Capuchin FranciscansCNA Staff, Jul 20, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).A new, short documentary tells the story of Servant of God Julia Greeley, also known as Denver's Angel of Charity, who was born into slavery near Hannibal, Missouri. "Julia Greeley: Servant of the Sacred Heart" features interviews with Father Blaine Burkey, OFM Cap, who wrote a book on Greeley's life; Mary Leisring, president of the Julia Greeley Guild; Father Eric Zegeer, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Denver, Greeley's parish; and Jean Torkelson, executive director of the Julia Greeley Home, a Denver nonprofit that serves women in need.In the 13-minute documentary, interviewees discuss Greeley's deep faith, her acts of charity, and her courageous response to the challenges presented throughout her life. When she was a child, while her master was beating her mother, his whip caught Greeley's right eye and destroyed it. Aft...
An image of Servant of God Julia Greeley in a parish. / Credit: Screenshot/Colorado Capuchin Franciscans
CNA Staff, Jul 20, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
A new, short documentary tells the story of Servant of God Julia Greeley, also known as Denver's Angel of Charity, who was born into slavery near Hannibal, Missouri.
"Julia Greeley: Servant of the Sacred Heart" features interviews with Father Blaine Burkey, OFM Cap, who wrote a book on Greeley's life; Mary Leisring, president of the Julia Greeley Guild; Father Eric Zegeer, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Denver, Greeley's parish; and Jean Torkelson, executive director of the Julia Greeley Home, a Denver nonprofit that serves women in need.
In the 13-minute documentary, interviewees discuss Greeley's deep faith, her acts of charity, and her courageous response to the challenges presented throughout her life.
When she was a child, while her master was beating her mother, his whip caught Greeley's right eye and destroyed it. After she was freed in 1865, she spent her time serving poor families, mostly in Denver.
In 1880, Greeley entered the Catholic Church at Sacred Heart Parish in Denver. She attended daily Mass and had a deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Blessed Virgin Mary.
She joined the Secular Franciscan Order in 1901 and was known for her dedication to the people in her community, bringing them things they needed. Despite having arthritis, she walked countless miles to collect and distribute alms and to spread devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Greely died on June 7, 1918, and her cause for canonization was opened by the Archdiocese of Denver in 2016.
Father Blaine Burkey, OFM Cap, who wrote a book on Servant of God Julia Greeley's life. Credit: Screenshot/Colorado Capuchin Franciscans
Burkey is a retired priest in the Archdiocese of Denver. A scholar and expert on the life of Greeley, in an interview with CNA he described her as "a very zealous person."
"Despite all the problems people gave her, she turned it around and didn't spend time worrying about that," he said.
The priest also highlighted that among Greeley's many charitable deeds, "every time she had money leftover to take care of herself, she [instead] took care of the poor," and "she didn't spend her life trying to get even or [seek] vengeance or anything like that."
He said he hopes the faithful are "encouraged by that message that you shouldn't be concerned with vengeance but with mercy."
"Julia Greeley: Servant of the Sacred Heart" can be viewed for free on YouTube.
Members of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Ethiopia say the situation currently in Ethiopia "calls more than ever" for a unified voice. / Courtesy of CBCEACI Africa, Jul 20, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).In a statement shared on July 13 following its 58th plenary assembly, members of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Ethiopia (CBCE) said the current situation in Ethiopia calls "more than ever" for a unified voice."The Church, as a mother, always longs and grieves for her children to enter into peace," the bishops said, encouraging the people of God in the country to continue praying, fasting, and working earnestly for peace.In March, Bishop Tesfasellassie Medhin of the Catholic Eparch of Adigrat, which covers the Tigray region in Ethiopia's northernmost territory, warned of "a very bloody confrontation" that could involve Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea.He confirmed at the time that tensions were continuing to escalate in the region following an internal split within the Ti...
Pope Leo XIV greets a young woman along the streets of Albano, Italy before offering Mass in the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Pancras near Castel Gandolfo on July 20, 2025. / Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Jul 20, 2025 / 07:05 am (CNA).Pope Leo XIV encouraged people on Sunday to embrace the summer season as a time to deepen their relationship with God through silence, reflection, and time spent with others."Summer can be a providential time to experience the beauty and importance of our relationship with God, and how much it can help us to be more open and welcoming to others," Pope Leo said during a homily at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Pancras in Albano, a town about 16 miles south of Rome.The pope, who is spending two weeks on summer holiday at the papal estate in nearby Castel Gandolfo, reflected on the example of Martha and Mary in the Gospel of Luke of how service and listening can be "twin dimensions of hospitality." "We should set aside moments of silence, moments ...
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa (L) and a members of a Christian visit the Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City on July 18, 2025. / Credit: OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty ImagesWashington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 19, 2025 / 11:30 am (CNA).Bishop William Shomali, the auxiliary bishop for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, said this week the community has been "very distressed" following the bombing of Holy Family Church in Gaza, with the prelate calling for the protection of nearby Chirstian villages. On July 17, the Israeli military bombed the only Catholic parish in Gaza. The strike killed three and injured nine, including the parish priest Father Gabriel Romanelli. The Israel Defense Forces subsequently apologized for the strike, stating that "fragments from a shell fired during operational activity in the area hit the church mistakenly." Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa later seemed to imply that the strike was intentional, telling an Italian newspa...
An image of Servant of God Julia Greeley in a parish. / Credit: Screenshot/Colorado Capuchin Franciscans
