{"id":253187,"date":"2026-04-05T19:19:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T19:19:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/253187\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T19:19:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T19:19:19","slug":"fresno-catholic-bishop-urges-hope-and-inclusion-this-easter-amid-divisive-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/253187\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresno Catholic bishop urges hope and inclusion this Easter amid \u2018divisive world\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

This Easter, Bishop Joseph V. Brennan of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno says it\u2019s especially important to have hope, courage and faith in the teachings of God amid widespread sentiments of despair in \u201ca chaotic, divided and divisive world.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview with The Bee ahead of Holy Week and Easter, Brennan acknowledged the Iran war and a polarizing political climate has left many people looking for answers and clarity in their faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in a world where people are so uncivil to each other, and the public discourse is foul and filthy and sometimes violent,\u201d Brennan said.<\/p>\n

Brennan will celebrate Easter Sunday Mass at 10 a.m. at St. John\u2019s Cathedral in Fresno.<\/p>\n

For Brennan, 72, Holy Week is one of the busiest times of the year. As the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno, he presides over a diocese that spans 35,239 square miles and serves over 1 million Catholics. The Diocese of Fresno has 87 parishes and 21 Catholic schools in Fresno, Kern, Inyo, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Tulare and Kings counties.<\/p>\n

\"Fresno<\/p>\n

Fresno Bishop Joseph V. Brennan of the Diocese of Fresno is interviewed at The Shrine of Saint Therese Catholic Church Wednesday, April 1, 2026 in Fresno.<\/p>\n

(ERIC PAUL ZAMORA\/ezamora@fresnobee.com)<\/p>\n

As part of the Catholic tradition commonly known as \u201cThe Washing of the Feet,\u201d Bishop Brennan and other priests washed the feet of community members during the Mass of the Lord\u2019s Supper on Holy Thursday at St. John\u2019s Cathedral. The tradition symbolizes Jesus\u2019s mission of service and the humility and continues through the ministry of Catholic priests.<\/p>\n

On Good Friday, Brennan attended the morning live reenactment of the Passion of the Christ \u2014 the story of Jesus\u2019s crucifixion known as the Stations of the Cross \u2014 at St. Anthony-Mary Claret church in Fresno.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the significance of Easter and resurrection, Brennan said that while Christmas celebrates the fact the Jesus Christ came into the world and took on human nature, \u201cEaster is why he came. It is the feast. It is the core of our faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is at the very center of everything we do. It\u2019s our destiny, and it\u2019s part of this journey that we call life, that hopefully we align ourselves with a God who loves us so much that He sent his own son to be one of us,\u201d Brennan said. \u201cSo that we might become like Him and live, live our life faithfully, diligently, beautifully, joyfully, and allow that to lead us to our true home. And that\u2019s life everlasting.\u201d<\/p>\n

To those feeling despair due to current global and national issues such as war and attacks on immigrants Brennan offers hope and courage, drawing inspiration from his parents\u2019 resilience during wartime.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all impacted by all of those things going on around us,\u201d Brennan said.<\/p>\n

\"Fresno<\/p>\n

Fresno Bishop Joseph V. Brennan of the Diocese of Fresno is interviewed at The Shrine of Saint Therese Catholic Church Wednesday, April 1, 2026 in Fresno.<\/p>\n

(ERIC PAUL ZAMORA\/ezamora@fresnobee.com)<\/p>\n

Brennan recalled how his parents, who got married in 1939 at the start of World War II began and end of the Great Depression, talked about still wanting to have children amid chaotic times.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey believed in a future full of hope in the midst of all of that pain and suffering. And I think we can too,\u201d Brennan said. \u201cYou can hold on to hope. You can be really, really courageous,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can have doubts, you can have fears, you can have all the range of human emotions and still act from the heart. And that\u2019s what my mom and dad did,\u201d Brennan said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I encourage people to do now in the midst of very serious and very real situations and issues and threats and fears.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brennan said he encourages his priests, deacons and the faithful to uphold an inclusive stance, regardless of sexual orientation.<\/p>\n

Brennan said the church\u2019s stance is clear that it does not judge people based on their orientation but on their actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe maintain open doors and open hearts,\u201d Brennan said. \u201cThere might be outliers, there might be kind of rebellious people who would denigrate someone because of their however they identify, because of their gender, their orientation. But it\u2019s not that\u2019s not Church teaching. It\u2019s not.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fresno<\/p>\n

Fresno Bishop Joseph V. Brennan of the Diocese of Fresno is interviewed at The Shrine of Saint Therese Catholic Church Wednesday, April 1, 2026 in Fresno.<\/p>\n

(ERIC PAUL ZAMORA\/ezamora@fresnobee.com)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This Easter, Bishop Joseph V. Brennan of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno says it\u2019s especially important to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":253188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[57687,112321,112320,87982,51128,112,114,113,112322,112323],"class_list":{"0":"post-253187","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-bishop-brennan","9":"tag-bishop-joseph-v-brennan","10":"tag-catholic-priests","11":"tag-catholic-tradition","12":"tag-diocese-of-fresno","13":"tag-fresno","14":"tag-fresno-headlines","15":"tag-fresno-news","16":"tag-roman-catholic-diocese","17":"tag-significance-of-easter"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}