Reaching Everybody!
Presorted Standard U.S. Postage Paid St. Joseph Newsleader St. Joseph, MN 56374 Permit No. 21 ECRWSS Postal Customer
Newsleader St. Joseph
Friday, Dec. 13, 2013 Volume 24, Issue 49 Est. 1989
Town Crier
Great River Chorale presents ‘Gloria’
Great River Chorale will perform its 13th annual holiday concert “Gloria” in collaboration with the Concert Choir and Choristers of the Cantabile Girls Choir Program. The concert will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15 in St. Mary’s Cathedral, 25 8th Ave. S., St. Cloud. It features seasonal music, audience carols and narrations, and will conclude with John Rutter’s Gloria for choir, brass, percussion and organ. General admission tickets may be purchased in advance online at www.greatriverchorale.org or by phone at 320-515-4472. For more information, www.thenewsleaders.com and click on Criers.
Stuffed animal drive set Dec. 15 at fire hall
St Joseph Girl Scout Troop 758 will collect new/gently used stuffed animals to be donated to the Salvation Army from 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14. These stuffed animals will be distributed to homeless children as they check into the shelter, and will be theirs to cuddle with and keep.
‘Christmas in the Barn’ set Dec. 23, 24
Discover the Christmas story in a new way this year at the seventh annual “Christmas in the Barn” service at 7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, Dec. 23 and 24. This unique experience offers a simple narration and re-enactment of the Christmas story with familiar hymns, handmade ice candles and hot apple cider in the rustic, relaxed atmosphere of an old barn, located at the Chad and Amy Leither barn, four miles south of St. Joseph on CR 2. Signs are posted. Attendees are encouraged to dress appropriately and bring blankets if needed, as the barn is not heated. For more information, visit www. peacelutherancoldspring.com and click on “Christmas in the Barn” or call Peace Lutheran Church at 320-685-7656.
Postal Patron
Sisters celebrate 150th anniversary by Cori Hilsgen news@thenewsleaders.com
The Sisters from the Order of St. Benedict recently celebrated its 150th anniversary of moving from St. Cloud to St. Joseph. The nuns recently hosted parishioners to cinnamon rolls and coffee at a post-Mass reception in the Church of St. Joseph Heritage Hall. Two nuns shared how they joined the convent. Sr. Joyce Iten grew up on a farm near Luxemburg. She often came with her parents to visit her aunts, who were nuns and who worked in the convent kitchen. She was impressed with their religious garb, the spirit of prayer and silence. She spent several days with them while she was growing up. One day when she was 7, she told her father she wanted to become a Benedictine Sister when she grew up. “It seemed to my young
heart that God was very present at the monastery and, for the rest of my life, I wanted to be where God was,” Iten said. She also had Benedictine nuns as grade-school teachers. When she was in seventh grade, she said she knew she wanted to attend St. Benedict’s High School because she intended to join the monastery after graduation. “I loved the Sisters’ way of life,” Iten said. “I loved to pray, sing and chant the daily prayers. I had come to appreciate daily Mass, and the Sisters’ regular, common life appealed to me, although I had to get used to living with lots of different personalities over the years.” Iten entered the monastery in 1956 and attended the College of St. Benedict. She became an elementary teacher. “My dream was to teach second grade for the next 50 years and get a medal,” Iten said.
For additional criers, visit www.thenewsleaders.com and click on Criers.
Sr. Joyce Iten makes coffee at the post-Mass reception celebrating the Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict’s 150th anniversary of moving to St. Joseph. “My dream was short-lived, however, when I was assigned to teach various grades in various parishes over the next 18
years. Although I loved teaching, I became restless and was looking for a new challenge.” Sisters • page 4
Abbey releases list of 18 ‘credibly’ accused clergy by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com
A list of 18 St. John’s Abbey priests or monks, living and deceased, has been released by the Abbey. All men on the list, which was released Dec. 9, are those who have been “credibly” accused of sexual misconduct. The list’s release was in response to a lawsuit filed recently against a former monk who is accused of repeatedly molesting boys years ago. Part of the lawsuit called upon St.
John’s Abbey to release a list of “credibly” accused monks and priests, past or present. The monk, Fr. Francis Hoefgen, is accused by a man known as “Doe 27” of sexually abusing him when he was a boy in the Hastings Catholic parish. In 1983, Hoefgen, who was serving in Cold Spring’s St. Boniface at that time, was accused of abusing a boy in that city. No legal proceedings followed that charge. Hoefgen is no longer a priest or monk and lives in Minneapolis.
The release of the list by St. John’s Abbey came just a week after the Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis released a similar list containing 34 priests. The names of three former St. John’s Abbey priests were on that list: Hoegfen, Cosmas Dahlheimer and Brennan Maiers. The names on the lists do not mean necessarily that those men sexually abused young people. Rather, the lists’ names are those of priests or monks who have been “credibly” ac-
cused of such illegal conduct. Some had been accused of watching pornography via the Internet or of having improper behavior with another adult. St. John’s Abbey, again under pressure, years earlier released the names of priests and monks back in 2002 and again in 2011. Brother Aelred Senna, a spokesman for the abbey, said the list is the best effort to identify those who “likely” made offenses against minors, even Abbey • page 3
Grinch has change of heart, returns figurines by Dennis Dalman news@thenewsleaders.com
Community meal available Dec. 21
A community meal of hot chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and a cookie will be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21 at Resurrection Lutheran Church, 610 CR 2, St. Joseph, or at the Avon City Hall, 140 Stratford St., Avon. Delivery is also available. If you know of someone who could benefit from this service, please call Angela at 320-845-7789, or the Revs. Linda at 320-363-4232 or Jeff at 320-356-9220. Help us spread the cheer!
contributed photo
contributed photo
This photo of the creche figures, which were recently stolen, was taken a few years ago.
There is at least one meanspirited grinch up to no good in St. Joseph this pre-Christmas season. But there is hope, because the grinch or grinches apparently had a change of heart. The figurines of Mary, Joseph and three sheep were stolen from the traditional nativity scene in front of St. Joseph Catholic Church. They were taken sometime Thursday, Dec. 5, according to the church’s pastor, the Rev. Jerome Tupa. On Thanksgiving Day, a figurine of a shepherd was also stolen, Tupa noted. And a shepherd, a cow and a donkey were
www.thenewsleaders.com
noticed missing Dec. 3, said Sandra Scholz, the church’s business manager. The good news is all of the figurines were returned earlier this week, placed where they had been taken. However, a cow figurine remains missing, according to a parish office person. Fr. Mathias Spier, OSB, purchased the crèche when he was the assistant pastor in St. Joseph from 1986-96. The figures were stolen the first year they were put out and then were replaced with the current ones. The value of the figurines is about $1,000, according to a report submitted to the St. Joseph Police Department.