August 31, 2012 | catholicnewsherald.com
OUR PARISHESI
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Photos by Doreen Sugierski | Catholic News Herald
Polish Mass celebrated in honor of Our Lady of Czestochowa CHARLOTTE — A Polish Mass in honor of Our Lady of Czestochowa was offered Aug. 25 at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte, celebrated by Conventual Franciscan Father Jacek Leszczynski and assisted by Deacon James Witulski. Deacon Witulski and his wife Mary Witulski planned and organized this first Polish Mass at the Charlotte church. The Mass included traditional Polish hymns, and children wore native Polish attire to honor Mary. About 225 people came from all over the diocese and elsewhere to attend the Polish Mass. A reception followed in Aquinas Hall, hosted by the Polish community, featuring Polish food. At www.catholicnewsherald.com: See more photos from the Mass and celebration.
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how individual states may treat recipients of the DACA status. It’s expected that it will take a couple of months or more before the first approved participants have completed the process and receive their documents. So what will DACA do? It will grant young people two years’ reprieve from the possibility of being deported – plus the option of getting authorization to work, which could bring with it a Social Security card. Depending on the state where the applicant lives, the Social Security card could open up the chance to get a driver’s license and attend college at less expensive in-state tuition rates. Government officials emphasize that DACA “does not confer any lawful status” such as a visa or citizenship status. The application process is pretty complicated and costly at a fee of $465, so Slusser and the rest of the CSS staff are encouraging people to apply through reputable immigration professionals to avoid scams like paying extra fees to download an application (which is free online) or to expedite an application (which is not possible to do). CSS officials in Asheville and the Triad have been responding to the most inquiries so far, Slusser said. Besides five CSS staffers and three volunteers, Hispanic Ministry coordinators across the diocese, parish ministries and community organizations, and pastors are taking an active role in getting the word out about DACA and hosting workshops. One of the most helpful things churches can do is provide proof of
the five-year residency requirement, Slusser said, through parish registrations, sacramental records and ministry participation. This is all “benign evidence” for the DACA application that will not put the person at potential risk of legal trouble later on. “Kudos to all of the churches, who’ve gotten it,” Slusser said. “The clergy have gotten it, and they’re reaching out.” Who are they reaching out to? Young people, either in their teens or early 20s, who want to go to college or find jobs legally. Most came to the U.S. when they were too young to remember. “They have lived so long in the U.S., they barely speak Spanish. They were so young that they were carried across the border in the arms of their parents,” Slusser said. DACA offers these young people a chance for a reprieve – even it is brief, uncertain and filled with risk – but Catholic leaders continue to seek a more permanent fix. The U.S. bishops, including Bishop Peter J. Jugis, have long advocated that these immigrant children be allowed to remain legally in the U.S., through legislation known as the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors, or DREAM, Act. Slusser said she was talking to young people at a recent workshop in the western part of the diocese who are anxious to apply. She said she told them, “Please be patient and think about what you are doing.” She also told them that she personally thinks, “You guys deserve better than this. Keep struggling for the DREAM Act.”
‘I’ve seen things that the human eye is not supposed to look at.’
that they didn’t know was that wrong for these many years. I hope after they read my book they say they have to be a part of the solution, that they realize there is something seriously unjust about all this and we really have to stop it. CNH: You have had to counsel people and work with people who should know better. How do you deal with this?
MILLER: Abortion is a blindness. Those who believe in abortion are blind. We take the bodies out of the trash, we see exactly what the abortionist sees – and especially if it is a D&E (dilation and evacuation) abortion, he has to see every body part that he takes out. How is it that I see a human hand, a human rib cage, a human foot, but when he sees it, he sees it literally as trash? How does one go from seeing life as sacred and at least something that we should respect, to treating the exact same human remains like trash? It’s insanity, a blindness, a hardness of heart. CNH: How can people come to know the truth? MILLER: The first thing is, you have to get over your fear of having the discussion. It’s not an easy thing. You have to water this with a lot of prayer. You’re not going to die if you have a discussion on abortion. People are afraid to say something to a friend or family member because they are afraid they are not going to win the debate. You have to have some preparation before you can enter into a discussion. You have to be honest. You have to get them to recognize that the unborn child is a human being, because once you get them to that place – even if they continue to argue that the woman has the right to make this decision – they will leave the discussion a little less secure in their own justification. For details about Miller’s pro-life work, go to www.prolifesociety.com.
proposal by the Diocese of Charlotte. A week after the hotel’s public presentation of its plans, the Asheville City Council heard an update on the property and scheduled the public hearing and possible vote for Sept. 11. During the Aug. 14 city council meeting, Sam Powers, the city’s economic development director, gave a history of the project and city’s interest in developing the land dating back to 2005. The Diocese of Charlotte has offered more than $2 million to buy the city-owned land where McKibbon has proposed the hotel. The city’s Planning and Economic Development committee reviewed the Diocese of Charlotte’s proposal earlier this year and decided to recommend building the hotel instead, Powers said. The diocese has proposed using the land for a possible multistory building, along with a plaza with seating and a fountain. A rendering of the proposed St. Lawrence Plaza shows a one-to-two-story building that would bring tax revenue to the city – something city leaders have specified they want from whatever is developed on the property once they sell it. The hotel developer offered $2.3 million for the site in 2008 to build a $30 million hotel, but the proposal idled while the developer focused on another project in Asheville. After the diocese expressed its interest in the land in December, McKibbon renewed its offer, saying it was ready to proceed with its bid since its other hotel project was nearly finished. More than 850 people have signed a petition in support of the preservation of the basilica. According to an Asheville political action committee poll, 38 percent of those polled backed selling the land to the basilica and only 13 percent wanted a hotel at that location. But the highest votegetter was a city-owned park – something city council members said is not in the master plans for the land no matter who wants to buy it.