July 21, 2017

S E RV I N G C H R I ST A N D C O N N EC T I N G C AT H O L I C S I N W E ST E R N N O R T H C A R O L I N A

J u ly 2 1 , 2 0 1 7

Having a ball this summer More photos: 10-11

St. Matthew Church hosts area’s largest collection of food and supplies 3 INDEX

Contact us.......................... 4 Events calendar................. 4 Our Faith............................. 2 Our Parishes................. 3-11 Scripture readings............ 2 TV & Movies.......................12 U.S. news...................... 14-15 Viewpoints................... 18-19 World news.................. 16-17

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High school expansion, college seminary work among projects under way this summer 3

‘We must listen to Jesus, who calls to you today’ Two monks make final profession of vows to Benedictine community

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Our faith 2

catholicnewsherald.com | July 21, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

A saintly life

Catholic Q&A

Sts. Joachim and Anne

Q: How should a Catholic reply to the question, “Have you been saved?”

A: This question is answered in our tract “Assurance of Salvation?”, which suggests the following reply: As the Bible says, I am already saved (Rom. 8:24, Eph. 2:5-8), but I’m also being saved (1 Cor. 1:8, 2 Cor. 2:15, Phil. 2:12), and I have the hope that I will be saved (Rom. 5:9-10, 1 Cor. 3:12-15). Like the apostle Paul, I am working out my salvation in fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12), with hopeful confidence in the promises of Christ (Rom. 5:2, 2 Tim. 2:11-13).

— Jim Blackburn of Catholic Answers

Feast day: July 26 On July 26 the Church commemorates the parents of the Virgin Mary, Sts. Joachim and Anne. The couple’s faith and perseverance brought them through the sorrow of childlessness, to the joy of conceiving and raising the immaculate and sinless woman who would give birth to Christ.

The New Testament contains no specific information about the lives of the Virgin Mary’s parents, but other documents outside of the Biblical canon do provide some details. Although these writings are not considered authoritative in the same manner as the Bible, they outline some of the Church’s traditional beliefs about Joachim, Anne and their daughter.

The “Protoevangelium of James,” which was probably put into its final written form in the early second century, describes Mary’s father Joachim as a wealthy member of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Joachim was deeply grieved, along with his wife Anne, by their childlessness. “He called to mind Abraham,” the early Christian writing says, “that in the last day God gave him a son Isaac.”

Joachim and Anne began to devote themselves to rigorous prayer and fasting, in isolation from one another and from society. They regarded their inability to conceive a child as a surpassing misfortune, and a sign of shame among the tribes of Israel.

As it turned out, however, the couple were to be blessed even more abundantly than Abraham and Sarah. An angel revealed this to Anne when he appeared to her and prophesied that all generations would honor their future child: “The Lord has heard your prayer, and you shall conceive, and shall bring forth; and your seed shall be spoken of in all the world.”

After Mary’s birth, according to the Protoevangelium of James, Anne “made a sanctuary” in the infant girl’s room, and “allowed nothing common or unclean” on account of the special holiness of the child. The same writing records that when she was 1 year old, her father “made a great feast, and invited the priests, and the scribes, and the elders, and all the people of Israel.”

“And Joachim brought the child to the priests,” the account continues, “and they blessed her, saying: ‘O God of our fathers, bless this child, and give her an everlasting name to be named in all generations’ … And he brought her to the chief priests; and they blessed her, saying: ‘O God most high, look upon this child, and bless her with the utmost blessing, which shall be forever.’”

The Protoevangelium goes on to describe how Mary’s parents, along with the temple priests, subsequently decided that she would be offered to God as a consecrated virgin for the rest of her life, and enter a chaste marriage with Joseph.

St. Joachim and St. Anne have been a part of the Church’s liturgical calendar for many centuries. Devotion to their memory is particularly strong in the Eastern Catholic churches, where their intercession is invoked by the priest at the end of each Divine Liturgy. The Eastern churches, however, celebrate the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne on a different date, Sept. 9.

— Catholic News Agency

Q: If concupiscence is a result of original sin, and baptism erases original sin, why are we still inclined to evil after baptism?

A: While baptism removes the condition of being separated from God, it does not remove the other consequences of original sin (e.g. suffering, death, sinful inclinations, etc).

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (405) states: “Although it is proper to each individual, original sin does not have the character of a personal fault in any of Adam’s descendants. It is a deprivation of original holiness and justice, but human nature has not been totally corrupted: it is wounded in the natural powers proper to it, subject to ignorance, suffering and the dominion of death, and inclined to sin – an inclination to evil that is called ‘concupiscence.’

Baptism, by imparting the life of Christ’s grace, erases original sin and turns a man back towards God, but the consequences for nature, weakened and inclined to evil, persist in man and summon him to spiritual battle.”

— Catholic Answers

“The Holy Family,” featuring grandparents Sts. Joachim and Anne with the Christ Child, the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, by the Belgian artist Joseph Paelinc, painted circa 1820

Your daily Scripture readings JULY 23-29

Sunday: Wisdom 12:13, 16-19, Romans 8:26-27, Matthew 13:2443; Monday (St. Sharbel Makhluf): Exodus 14:5-18, Exodus 15:16, Matthew 12:38-42; Tuesday (St. James): 2 Corinthians 4:715, Matthew 20:20-28; Wednesday (Sts. Joachim and Anne): Exodus 16:1-5, 9-15, Matthew 13:1-9; Thursday: Exodus 19:1-2, 9-11, 16-20, Daniel 3:52-56, Matthew 13:10-17; Friday: Exodus 20:1-17, Matthew 13:18-23; Saturday (St. Martha): Exodus 24:3-8, John 11:19-27

JULY 30-AUG. 5

Sunday: 1 Kings 3:5, 7-12, Romans 8:28-30, Matthew 13:4452; Monday (St. Ignatius of Loyola): Exodus 32:15-24, 30-34, Matthew 13:31-35; Tuesday (St. Alphonsus Liguori): Exodus 33:7-11, 34:5-9, 28, Matthew 13:36-43; Wednesday (St. Eusebis of Vercelli, St. Peter Julian Eymard): Exodus 34:29-35, Matthew 13:44-46; Thursday: Exodus 40:16-21, 34-38, Matthew 13:47-53; Friday(St. John Vianney): Leviticus 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34-37, Matthew 13:54-58; Saturday (The Dedication of the Basilica of St. Mary Major): Leviticus 25:1, 8-17, Matthew 14:1-12

AUG. 6-12

Sunday (The Transfiguration of the Lord): Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14, 2 Peter 1:16-19, Matthew 17:1-9; Monday (St. Sixtus II and Companions, St. Cajetan): Numbers 11:4-15, Matthew 14:13-21; Tuesday (St. Dominic): Numbers 12:1-13, Matthew 14:22-36; Wednesday(St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross): Numbers 13:1-2, 25, 14:1, 26-29, 34-35, Matthew 15:21-28; Thursday (St. Lawrence): 2 Corinthians 9:6-10, John 12:24-26; Friday (St. Clare): Deuteronomy 4:32-40, Matthew 16:24-28; Saturday (St. Jane Frances de Chantal): Deuteronomy 6:4-13, Matthew 17:14-20

Our parishes

July 21, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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High school expansion, college seminary work among projects under way SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

Photos by Tara Heilingoetter | Catholic News Herald

St. Matthew Church hosts area’s largest collection of food and supplies to help combat hunger CHARLOTTE — St. Matthew Church held its 15th Annual World Hunger Drive July 15, with 1,500 volunteers packaging 341,280 meals weighing more than 50,000 pounds to feed the hungry in Haiti and Jamaica.

With the 2017 theme “Feeding the Body, Mind & Spirit,” the annual drive also provides items of sustainability such as funding for education, irrigation, a tilapia farm, chickens, physical therapy and more to those in need in Haiti and Jamaica. Food products and packed meals are also shared with local food banks.

Over the years, 1.5 million meals have been packaged by World Hunger Drive volunteers at the Meal Packing Event. This year’s event exceeded its goal of packaging 300,000 meals over the course of four shifts. Volunteers have donated more than 33,000 service hours to the event over the past six years.

The event is conducted with the help of Servants With a Heart, a local non-profit that has packed more than 11.6 million meals working with 71,000-plus volunteers in the past seven years.

The annual drive has flourished under the leadership of Monsignor John J. McSweeney, who recently announced his retirement after 42 years of priestly ministry. An anonymous donor made a gift of $250,000, in honor of St. Matthew’s longtime pastor, to establish an endowment for the World Hunger Drive that will sustain the charitable work for years to come.

Mark Creasser, parish volunteer coordinator for the drive, said the event is unique for the parish in that it brings together people from all generations to pack the meals. “Believe it or not, people schedule their vacations around it,” he said.

St. Matthew Parish has current goals of collecting one truckload of meal packages and four truckloads of food and supplies for Haiti, two truckloads of food and supplies for Jamaica, and more than 15,000 pounds of food for local pantries. In addition, oneand-a-half virtual truckloads of sustainability items such as farm products and irrigation supplies are to be sent overseas to those in need.

— Catholic News Herald

CHARLOTTE — With the summer months comes the opportunity for improvements to be made at many facilities, particularly schools, in the Diocese of Charlotte. This summer, the diocesan Properties Office is overseeing a tremendous to-do list of more than 80 maintenance projects for the Catholic schools alone, besides additional capital projects for the new St. Joseph College Seminary, historic Old St. Joseph Church in Mount Holly, Western Carolina University Campus Ministry and Christ the King High School.

School maintenance projects under way range from carpet and tile replacement, to painting and ordering replacement classroom furniture and equipment for the coming school year.

At Christ the King High School, a two-story classroom expansion project has begun, with approximately 27,000 square feet of new construction. The expansion includes a new cafeteria, large multipurpose room for drama and band, a fabrication shop, three science classrooms and eight general purpose classrooms. There will also be a parking lot expansion that will add 53 new spaces and tie into a new loop road that will connect Crusader Lane to Shiloh Church Road for a new secondary entrance to the campus.

The project is expected to take a year to complete, with a cost estimate of $11 million which will be funded by the Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools capital fee.

Among other notable maintenance projects at the diocesan schools are the replacement of the gymnasium floor at Our Lady of the Assumption School in Charlotte and the refinishing of the stage floor at Holy Trinity Middle School in Charlotte.

At St. Joseph College Seminary, a home on nearby Hillside Avenue has been purchased and is being renovated to house up to 10 additional seminarians until a permanent seminary can be built in the diocese. This fall, the college seminary expects to have 16 students – seven seminarians continuing their studies from last year housed at the current residence behind St. Ann Church, and nine new seminarians housed at the second house. The two houses are close to each other, with the church located between them.

Diocesan officials hope to close in mid-September on a 50acre site in Mount Holly for the college seminary’s permanent location. Once the property has been purchased, fundraising efforts to construct the seminary building will continue outside the diocese. Concentrated fundraising efforts can begin in the diocese in the fall of 2018. The second house next to St. Ann Church will later be sold as an investment property.

In addition, Old St. Joseph Church in Mount Holly had a structural and restoration analysis completed this summer. Over the coming months, bids will be accepted to help renovate the 174-year-old church to fix the roof, floors and other architectural weaknesses in the historic structure. This project is expected to cost $100,000 to address the most critical issues. Additional funds will be needed to finish the restoration. Fundraising efforts in the community will take place later in 2018 to raise these additional funds.

Old St. Joseph Church was built in 1843 for and by Irish immigrants, who had come to mine for gold along the Catawba River. It is the oldest Catholic Church still standing in the state and is an official state and U.S. historical site. Today it is used only for special occasions such as the feasts of St. Patrick and St. Joseph in March.

The original Our Lady of the Assumption building on Shenandoah Avenue in Charlotte has been sold to a local Christian church. The diocese had been using the old building for storage, but diocesan officials are in the process of purchasing a more appropriate storage facility on Rozzelles Ferry Road in Charlotte.

At Western Carolina University, the old Campus Ministry building has seen a $125,000 remodel of the chapel, kitchen, bathrooms and general improvements to the 2,400-square-foot facility.

Extensive Campus Ministry summer projects at four universities over the past two years have been funded by the 2014 diocesan-wide “Forward in Faith, Hope, and Love” campaign. A total of approximately $480,000 from the FFHL campaign has been used for these improvements.

UPcoming events 4

catholicnewsherald.com | July 21, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following upcoming events:

July 21, 2017 Volume 26 • Number 21

1123 S. Church St. Charlotte, N.C. 28203-4003 catholicnews@charlottediocese.org

704-370-3333 PUBLISHER: The Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis, Bishop of Charlotte

July 22 – 9:30 a.m.

Consecration of St. Mary’s Syro-Malabar Catholic Church Charlotte

July 28 – 6 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation (Latin) St. Ann Church, Charlotte

Aug. 12 – 2 p.m.

Holy Mass for Marian Rosary Congress St. Gabriel Church, Charlotte

July 24 – 6 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation for St. Benedict the Moor Church and Good Shepherd Mission Good Shepherd Mission, King

Aug. 10 Conferral of the Ministry of Acolyte for Deacon Candidates and Affirmation of Ordination Promises for Permanent Deacons St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

Aug. 16-18 Diocese of Charlotte Priests’ Convocation Charlotte

100th anniversary Fatima Peace Pilgrimage Come along on a Fatima Peace Pilgrimage with the Catholic News Herald’s senior reporter SueAnn Howell July 20-Aug. 1. This annual pilgrimage to Fatima, Portugal, is organized by the Te Deum Foundation, which brings seminarians to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima every summer so the men can develop or deepen their devotion to Mary as part of their preparation for the priesthood.

This year’s pilgrimage promises to be special, as it marks the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima. Pilgrims and clergy from the Diocese of Charlotte, as well as others, will be making the journey.

Pope Francis recently canonized Sts. Francisco and Jacinta Marto, two of the shepherd children of Fatima. Pilgrims will tour their home and visit their parish church and have an opportunity to venerate these young saints. A stop at the Carmelite convent where the late Sister Lucia, the

oldest of the visionaries, lived as a cloistered nun is also planned.

Come with us as we grow closer to the saints of Fatima and Our Lady, Queen of Peace, on this 13-day pilgrimage during the centennial anniversary of Fatima and this Marian Year in the Diocese of Charlotte.

Follow SueAnn’s blog at: www.fatimapeacepilgrimage. tumblr.com

STAFF EDITOR: Patricia L. Guilfoyle 704-370-3334, plguilfoyle@charlottediocese.org

Diocesan calendar of events

ADVERTISING MANAGER: Kevin Eagan 704-370-3332, keeagan@charlottediocese.org

ENTERTAINMENT

SENIOR REPORTER: SueAnn Howell 704-370-3354, sahowell@charlottediocese.org Online reporter: Kimberly Bender 704-808-7341, kdbender@charlottediocese.org GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Tim Faragher 704-370-3331, tpfaragher@charlottediocese.org COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANT/CIRCULATION: Erika Robinson, 704-370-3333, catholicnews@ charlottediocese.org

The Catholic News Herald is published by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte 26 times a year.

NEWS: The Catholic News Herald welcomes your news and photos. Please e-mail information, attaching photos in JPG format with a recommended resolution of 150 dpi or higher, to catholicnews@charlottediocese.org. All submitted items become the property of the Catholic News Herald and are subject to reuse, in whole or in part, in print, electronic formats and archives.

ADVERTISING: Reach 165,000 Catholics across western North Carolina! For advertising rates and information, contact Advertising Manager Kevin Eagan at 704-370-3332 or keeagan@charlottediocese.org. The Catholic News Herald reserves the right to reject or cancel advertising for any reason, and does not recommend or guarantee any product, service or benefit claimed by our advertisers.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: $15 per year for all registered parishioners of the Diocese of Charlotte and $23 per year for all others.

POSTMASTER: Periodicals class postage (USPC 007-393) paid at Charlotte, N.C. Send address corrections to the Catholic News Herald, 1123 S. Church St., Charlotte, N.C. 28203.

Free Concert: 7:15 p.m. Sunday, July 23, at Holy Cross Church, 616 S. Cherry St., Kernersville. Performers will be students from the Eastern Music Festival. All are welcome.

For details, call the parish office at 336-996-5109.

Lectures Family honor’s ‘leading & Loving’: Two-part series starting Friday, July 28, 6:45-9 p.m. and Saturday, July 29, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at Sacred Heart Church, 375 Lumen Christi Lane, Salisbury. “Leading & Loving” is a Catholic program that helps parents respond to children’s questions about the meaning of God’s gift of sexuality. This program presents the beautiful truths of human sexuality, family life and virtue cultivation through the lens of St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. Seminar is for parents of young children, newborn through early teens. Childcare provided. To register, visit www.familyhonor.org or call 803-929-0858.

NATURAL Family Planning NFP Introduction and Full Course: 1-5 p.m.

Saturday, July 29, at St. Vincent de Paul Church, 6828 Old Reid Road, Charlotte. Topics include: effectiveness of modern NFP, health risks of popular contraceptives and what the Church teaches about responsible parenting.

Sponsored by Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte.

RSVP to Batrice Adcock, MSN, RN, at 704-370-3230.

PRAYER SERVICES & Groups Pro-Life Rosary: 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 5, at 901 North Main St. and Sunset Drive, High Point. Come and help us pray for the end of abortion, and invite anyone else who would support this important cause. Anyone who would have difficulty standing for 15-20 minutes is welcome to bring a folding chair. Outdoors, rain or shine. For details, contact Jim Hoyng at 336-882-9593 or Paul Klosterman at 336-848-6835.

Retreats Seventh Annual Marian Rosary Congress: 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 12, in the Ministry Center at St. Gabriel Church, 3016 Providence Road, Charlotte. Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Peter Jugis.

Speakers include Father John Eckert (English track) and Father Robin Antonio Mora Casanova (Spanish track).

For details, contact Tammy Harris at 704-519-7901 or tmharris1217@gmail.com.

Rachel’s vineyard weekend retreat: Oct. 20-22 in the Greensboro area. Rachel’s Vineyard can help men and women who have experienced abortion begin their healing journey. It creates a healing environment of prayer and forgiveness. The retreat works to reconnect people to themselves, their friends and family after having an abortion. For details, contact Jackie Childers at Jack-ie.childers1@gmail.com.

6th Annual Polish Mass: 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 27, at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, 1400 Suther Road, Charlotte.

The Congregation will be able to venerate the first-class relic of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska and a relic of St. John Paul II. Polish Father Matt Nycz will be celebrant and Deacon James Witulski will assist. The Mass will be said in Polish, but the homily will be in both English and Polish.

Confessions in Polish and English will be heard beginning at 1 p.m. A Polish choir will provide music. Anyone owning traditional native Polish attire is encouraged to wear it to the Mass. Reception after Mass. For details, call Mary at 704-290-6012.

East Meets West Retreat – ‘The Medicine of Words,’ St. John Chrysostom’s ‘On the Providence of God’: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday-Friday, Aug. 17-18, Immaculate Conception Mission, 42 New Found St., Canton.

Everyone welcome to join for talks that will provide insight into St. John’s treatise and how it may help us endure in the faith and evangelize others during our own perilous times.

For details, call the church office at 828-456-6707.

Centennial Anniversary of Fatima: 7:30 p.m. the 13th of each month from May to October, at St. Michael the Archangel Church, 708 St. Michael’s Lane, Gastonia.

All are invited to the recitation of the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, outdoor candlelight procession and small reception. For details, call the church office at 704-867-6212.

Healing Mass and Anointing of the Sick: 2 p.m. every third Sunday of the month, St. Margaret of Scotland Church, 37 Murphy Dr., Maggie Valley. Individual prayers over people after Mass by Charismatic Prayer Group members.

For details, call the church office at 828-926-0106.

Evening Novenas: Every Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Christ the King Church, 1505 East Kivett Dr., High Point. All are invited to pray the Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Join them in praying for the needs of your families and for our hurting world. For details, call the church office at 336-883-0244.

SAFE ENVIRONMENT TRAINING “Protecting God’s Children” workshops are intended to educate parish volunteers to recognize and prevent sexual abuse. For details, contact your parish office. To register and confirm workshop times, go to www.virtus. org. Upcoming workshops are: ARDEN: 9 a.m. Saturday, July 22, St. Barnabas Church, 109 Crescent Hill Dr. Charlotte: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1, Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 4207 Shamrock Dr.; 9:30 a.m.

Saturday, Aug. 5, St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy.

YOUNG ADULTS Scripture Study ‘Word & wisdom’: 7-9 p.m.

Sundays, June 4-Aug. 6, in the Family Life Center at St. Patrick Cathedral, 1621 Dilworth Road East, Charlotte. All college-age and young adults are welcome. For details, email youngadult@stpatricks.org.

July 21, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com

OUR PARISHESI

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Diocese of Charlotte Foundation awards $73,211 in grants this year SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

CHARLOTTE — Feeding the hungry, helping people in a financial emergency, funding faith formation programs and supporting evangelization efforts are just some of the ways recipients of this year’s Diocese of Charlotte Foundation grant award winners will help others across the diocese.

The annual awards are given out based on need and the impact the funds are expected to have on their local communities.

This year $73,211 was awarded to 21 parishes and missions, six diocesan outreach ministries and six food pantries. Three direct assistance grants were also awarded to diocesan ministries. Four faith formation initiatives and a parish-sponsored pro-life outreach to local families also received grants.

The foundation grants ranged from $2,000 to $5,000. Since 2001, the foundation has awarded 335 grants totaling $838,489.

Some of the recipients of this year’s grants are the diocesan African Affairs Ministry office; Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Charlotte; Our Lady of the Mountains Mission in Highlands; and Catholic Charities’ Respect Life office.

“It is my immense pleasure to express our gratitude to the Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte for granting funding for two projects to our church and to support a social service organization close to our hearts – the Smoky Mountain Pregnancy Care Center,” said Father Francis Arockiasamy, parochial administrator of Our Lady of the Mountains Mission in Highlands.

The Smoky Mountain Pregnancy Care Center provides free pre- and post-natal care and education for individuals and families in a two-plus county area in western North Carolina. Its mission is to advocate for life, and to make the choice to bear a child the reasonable, moral and attractive choice for those who otherwise are considering abortion.

“This grant, for $4,883, will significantly enhance the important educational support available for those who come to the Pregnancy Care Center. We are pleased to have a part in the fulfillment of its mission for life,” he said.

Father Arockiasamy expressed that the Highlands faith community is small, primarily fulfilling the spiritual needs of retired families. “Ours is a summer mountain resort town, and the majority of our congregation consists of seasonal parishioners and visitors. Balancing our uneven income with the requirements to maintain a year-round church is sometimes challenging.”

“This (second) grant, $4,428 for repairs and additions to our church-wide lighting system, will make a significant difference to our older communicants, enabling a more active participation in the liturgy. In addition, our ongoing expenses for lighting should be reduced to a more manageable level due to the efficiencies in the improved system,” he explained.

Joseph Purello, director of Social Concerns and Advocacy for Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte, also expressed thankfulness for the grants the agency received, especially the $2,500 award for the Respect Life office to offer a Spanish language program.

“Catholic Charities is very grateful to the Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte for this grant,” Purello said.

“With these funds, Catholic Charities will work in the coming year with the diocesan Hispanic Ministry Vicariates to expand access to Respect Life related educational events and resources. The grant-funded project ‘Evangelizing for Life – Evangelizar Para Toda la Vida’ will assist Catholic Charities as it witnesses to the sanctity of human life and proclaims that all human life is to be respected.”

For more information about Diocese of Charlotte Foundation grants, contact Ray Correia, diocesan director of planned giving, at 704-370-3364 or recorreia@ charlottediocese.org.

2017 Diocese of Charlotte Foundation grant recipients African American Affairs Ministry Black history, cultural awareness and educational programs Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte Respect Life education program, Spanish language program Catholic Charities Central Regional Office Provide baby clothes, diapers and equipment for eligible families Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Office Provide interpreters for the Refugee Cultural Orientation Program Charlotte Vicariate Hispanic Ministry Faith formation program Greensboro Vicariate Hispanic Ministry Fund formation programs for laity, update office equipment Holy Redeemer Church in Andrews Replace front entry doors Our Lady of the Annunciation Church in Albemarle Food for Stanly Community Christian Ministry food pantry Our Lady of Consolation Church in Charlotte St. Martin de Porres food pantry Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro Thanksgiving Baskets program to feed hungry in Greensboro Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Charlotte Emergency aid for families separated from a deported parent Our Lady of the Mountains Mission in Highlands Lighting repairs and additional lighting Our Lady of the Mountains Mission in Highlands Funding for life-affirming local outreach to empower pregnant families Queen of the Apostles Church in Belmont In-home Bible study program St. Aloysius Church in Hickory Hickory Soup Kitchen St. Barnabas Church in Arden St. Vincent de Paul ministry, provide emergency rent money to those in critical need St. Eugene Church/St. Lawrence Basilica/St. Joan of Arc Church in Asheville Financial assistance for those in crisis St. Francis of Assisi Church in Jefferson Food for mobile food pantry St. Helen Mission in Spencer Mountain Parish evangelization program St. Lucien Church in Spruce Pine Ave Maria food pantry, update facility St. Joseph Church in Kannapolis Update equipment/purchase food for two local food pantries St. Thérèse Church in Mooresville Provide Thanksgiving Day community meal for those in need

$5,000 $2,500 $3,500 $2,500 $2,500 $2,500 $4,900 $2,500 $5,000 $2,500 $2,500 $4,428 $4,883 $3,000 $2,500 $2,500 $5,000 $2,500 $5,000 $3,500 $2,000 $2,000

National NFP Awareness Week will be held July 23-29 WASHINGTON, D.C. – “It’s Time! Say ‘Yes’ to God’s Plan for Married Love” is the theme of this year’s Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, a national educational campaign of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to celebrate God’s design for married love and the gift of life and to raise awareness of Natural Family Planning methods.

“NFP,” as the U.S. bishops have written, is supportive of Catholic beliefs about married love because it “respects the God-given power to love a new human life into being.” This year’s theme invites a reflection on how “now” could be a very good and acceptable time to learn more about NFP and the Church’s beautiful teachings about marriage and God’s plan for married love. Echoing the words of Pope St. John Paul II: “The moment has come for every parish and every structure of consultation and assistance to the family and to the defense of life to have personnel available who can teach married couples how to use the natural methods.

For this reason I particularly recommend that bishops, parish priests and those responsible for pastoral care welcome and promote this valuable service” (“Address to Teachers of Natural Family Planning,”

Dec. 7, 1996).

The dates of Natural Family Planning Awareness Week (July 23-29) highlight the anniversary of the papal encyclical “Humanae Vitae” (July 25) which articulates Catholic beliefs about human sexuality, conjugal love and responsible parenthood. The dates also mark the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne (July 26), the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Natural Family Planning is an umbrella term for certain methods used to achieve and avoid pregnancies. These methods are based on observation of the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of a woman’s menstrual cycle. Couples using NFP to avoid pregnancy abstain from intercourse and genital contact during the fertile phase of the woman’s cycle. No drugs, devices, or surgical procedures are used to avoid pregnancy.

NFP reflects the dignity of the human person within the context of marriage and family life, promotes openness to life, and recognizes the value of the child. By respecting the love-giving and life-giving natures of marriage, it can enrich the bond between husband and wife.

Locally, the Diocese of Charlotte’s

Natural Family Planning program director, Batrice Adcock, recently trained as an instructor with a new method of fertility awareness called FEMM (Fertility Education and Medical Management).

FEMM is a comprehensive women’s health program that teaches women to understand their bodies and how to recognize hormonal and other vital signs of health. FEMM provides support through its free FEMM Health App to track health and reproductive goals.

FEMM also has a strong program for teens that teaches and encourages healthy living. Adcock will be providing workshops around the diocese for teenaged girls and their parents.

She is also completing a certification program through the Theology of the Body Institute (www.tobinstitute.org) and aims to combine FEMM’s program for healthy living, which makes use of fertility awareness, with concepts of the feminine genius and Theology of the Body.

“Feminine genius” is a term attributed to St. John Paul II, who discussed it in depth in his 1988 apostolic letter “Mulieris Dignitatem” (“On the Dignity and Vocation of Women”).

For details, contact Batrice Adcock, MSN,

Natural Family Planning Program Director for Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte, at bnadcock@charlottediocese.org.

— Catholic News Herald. USCCB contributed.

More online At www.ccdoc.org/services/familyenrichment/natural-family-planning: Get information in English and Spanish about NFP, including a schedule of free, one-day NFP courses around the diocese; a list of NFP supportive physicians in North Carolina; and detailed information about various NFP methods and other basics.

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catholicnewsherald.com | July 21, 2017 OUR PARISHES

(Top) Benedictine Brother George Rumley (left) and Brother Anselm Cundiff (right) make their solemn profession July 11 at Mary Help of Christians Basilica at Belmont Abbey.

(Above) Abbot Placid Solari clothes Brother George in the cloak, the final garment of his Benedictine habit during the solemn profession rite.

(Right) Both monks lie prostrate during the ceremony.

Photos by SueAnn Howell | Catholic News Herald

‘We must listen to Jesus, who calls to you today’ Two monks make final profession of vows to Benedictine community SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

BELMONT — “Today you have come to bind yourselves to run on the path of God’s commandments, your hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love; to faithfully observe His teaching in the monastery until death, so that through patience you may share in the sufferings of Christ so as to deserve also to share in His kingdom.”

Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari of Belmont Abbey addressed these words to Brother Anselm Cundiff and Brother George Rumley as they professed vows to the Benedictine community on July 11, the feast day of St. Benedict.

The two monks have spent four years discerning a call to the monastic life and will now reside for the rest of their lives at Belmont Abbey. They made their solemn, or final, profession of vows during Mass at the abbey’s Mary Help of Christians Basilica.

One of the unique vows of Benedictine monastic life is the vow of stability, by which the monk commits himself to the prayer, life and work of his community for a lifetime.

They join one community and remain with it.

“The teaching and example of all who have led you to this day have, I trust, given you a more profound understanding of the first word of the Rule of our Holy Father (St.) Benedict: ‘Listen…and incline the ear of your heart.’ It is, I hope, an understanding which will become yet more profound with each passing year in the monastery,” Abbot Placid said.

“For each of us here, if we can remember back to the first faint whisperings, faintly perceived, which have led us into the paths of life in which we find ourselves, we can perhaps appreciate the truth of this episode in the life of Elijah, which has been part of our instruction from the Word of God today,” he continued, referring to the day’s reading from 1 Kings, in which God speaks to Elijah in the whisper of the wind.

“For our monastic life is generally not an exciting,

More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: See more photos from the July 11 Mass and profession of vows at Belmont Abbey dramatic life. It falls, rather, into a repetitive pattern of the same schedule, the same place, the same people. We do not expect to hear God’s voice in earthquakes, raging wind or fire. We expect, rather, to hear it in contemplative silence, where we can ponder God’s Word and, in light of that Word, interpret God’s provident actions in the world.

“That is our way of evangelization, our way of bearing witness to the world the Word of Life.”

Abbot Placid enjoined the men to remember that “ultimately, we must listen to Jesus, who calls to you today, who called to the whole Church just this past Sunday, ‘Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.’ It is Jesus’ voice that we hear in all the Scriptures. It is that voice, speaking through the Apostle, which outlines clearly for you this day the work you are taking up.”

“Most of all, on this day on which you generously offer your lives in obedience to the call from Jesus you believe you have received, it is all the more important that we listen to His words again: ‘Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.’ For we may be tempted, with all good intention, mistakenly to assume that we are preparing to do something for Christ, as though He needed something from us. But really, the discipline of monastic life is meant to open us to the possibility of Jesus to do something for us.

“It is He who, as He as promised, will fill us with the Holy Spirit, so that we may one day become that which we were created to be – namely, the image and likeness of God. If, by God’s grace, we are one day so transformed, then we will find that we will have become the image of Christ, for He is the true image of the unseen God, in whose image we were created. It is He who is the very imprint of the Father’s being.

“It is Jesus, who, by the grace of God which is the

Spirit, will so transform us into His image that we become true sons of the Father, who will then share with us that eternal life and perfect love which, as the Scriptures teach, make us partakers of the divine nature.

“This is our salvation.”

During the one-and-a-half hour Mass, Brother Anselm and Brother George participated in the solemn profession rite. This included lying prostrate during the chanting of the Litany of the Saints, signing their oath of profession at the altar, and kneeling and receiving the final piece of their Benedictine habit: a long, voluminous black cloak which Abbot Placid helped place over their heads.

Brother Anselm (formerly Daniel) Cundiff, 36, is from Nocona, Texas. He is the son of Donald and Barbara Cundiff. The youngest in his family, he has two older brothers. Brother Anselm has a doctorate in philosophy and has been teaching courses at Belmont Abbey College.

Going forward, he has accepted a tenure track faculty position in the Philosophy Department and will continue to be heavily involved in the college. He also serves the community as its master of ceremonies.

Brother George (formerly Benjamin) Rumley, 35, is from the Randolph County town of Ramseur. He is the son of Richard and Leisa Rumley. The oldest in his family, he has a younger brother and a younger sister. Brother George is currently working on a master’s degree in theology at the University of Dallas, which he anticipates completing in the spring of 2018. Afterwards, he has plans for doctoral studies so that he may also teach at Belmont Abbey College. He currently serves the community as one of its cantors.

In his final remarks to the newly professed monks, Abbot Placid said, “And so, Brother Anselm, Brother George, our Holy Father Benedict now addresses you with the concluding words of his Rule: ‘Are you hastening toward your heavenly home? Then with Christ’s help, keep this little rule that we have written for beginners. After that, you can set out for the loftier summits of the teaching and virtues we mentioned above, and under God’s protection you will reach them.’”

July 21, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com

OUR PARISHESI

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Father Coleman installed as pastor of St. Mary, Mother of God Parish Della Sue Bryson Correspondent

SYLVA — Two joyous occasions, the installation of a new pastor and confirmation of 21 young people, brought together Bishop Peter J. Jugis, several priests and many parishioners July 11 at St. Mary, Mother of God Church.

Bishop Jugis presided over the installation of Father Casey Coleman as pastor of the Sylva parish, and administered the sacrament of confirmation to what is the parish’s largest-ever group of confirmandi.

Father Coleman, who was ordained in 2015, most recently served as parochial vicar at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Charlotte. This is his first assignment as pastor, and he succeeds Father Joshua Voitus, who has been named pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church.

“We gather this evening for the joyful celebration of confirmation for the young people of our parish, and we are also gathering this day for the joyful celebration of welcoming your new pastor, Father Casey Coleman,” Bishop Jugis told the congregation.

During the installation rite at the start of Mass, Bishop Jugis described the duties and responsibilities of a pastor – primarily teaching, sanctifying and governing the faithful under the authority of the bishop.

The official letter of appointment was read aloud by Deacon William Shaw.

“There is a lot in that letter of appointment,” Bishop Jugis noted. “It is a lot to do, but he is not going to do it by himself, because he has all of you to assist him in all of his various duties of shepherding St. Mary, Mother of God Parish.”

Father Coleman was then invited to the altar to make his profession of faith

Father Casey Coleman was installed as pastor of St. Mary, Mother of God Church in Sylva July 11.

Photos by Della Sue Bryson | Catholic News Herald

and the oath of fidelity. The official appointment documents were then signed by the bishop and Father Coleman in the presence of the congregation, and witnessed by Dr. David Ramsey.

During his homily, the bishop welcomed everyone who had come to St. Mary, Mother of God Church for the occasion.

Former pastor Father Voitus, newly ordained Father Christian Cook, Holy Redeemer Church’s administrator Father George David Byers, and Dominican Father W. Becket Soule were among the clergy present. The bishop then encouraged the

youth who would receive the sacrament of confirmation, emphasizing the importance of the gift of the Holy Spirit.

“The Lord loves us so much that He gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit that we might continue the work He did of bringing the Gospel message, and Gospel life and love, with us – through the power of the Holy Spirit that we received through confirmation – to all the world,” he said.

At the end of the Mass, Father Coleman thanked everyone and asked for their support and prayers.

“Through your prayers I will do all I can to love you all,” he said. “You are my family now and I look forward to spending as many years as His Excellency allows me to stay here to be your pastor, to love you, and to lead you closer to Christ.”

… WHEN do I start talking to my child about virtuous living and authentic love? … WHAT should I say? … HOW do I let my child know that they are made in the image of God with inherent dignity? … WHERE do I begin to teach them that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit?

Family Honor will answer these questions and more during Leading & Loving, our new adult-only program for any parent or guardian of a child from infant to early teens.

Leading & Loving is a unique Catholic program that will help you become more confident and competent in how to raise virtuous children and how to respond to your young child’s questions about the truth and meaning of God’s gift of sexuality. This program presents the beautiful truths of human sexuality, family life and virtue cultivation through the lens of Pope Saint John Paul the II’s Theology of the Body.

John Cosmas | Catholic News Herald

Admitted to candidacy CHARLOTTE — Seminarian J. Miguel Sanchez, who is studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, was admitted to candidacy for holy orders by Bishop Peter J. Jugis during Mass July 7 at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte.

Sanchez’s home parish is St. Francis of Assisi Church in Lenoir. He is pictured with his family who were in attendance for the Mass. The Rite of Admission to Candidacy for Holy Orders is celebrated when a seminarian, usually in his second year of graduate study, has reached a maturity of purpose in his formation and has demonstrated the necessary qualifications for ordination. In the presence of the bishop, he publicly expresses his intention to complete his preparation for holy orders and his resolve to fully invest himself to that end, so that he will serve Christ and the Church.

Join other parents in this unique opportunity!

Sacred Heart Catholic Church 375 Lumen Christi Ln. Salisbury, NC Friday, July 28th 7:00 pm to 9:15 pm Saturday, July 29th 9:00 am to 2:00 pm Register online at www.FamilyHonor.org (select PROGRAMS: Programs Schedule) There is no charge for this program and childcare is provided.

Providing and promoting a family-centered Catholic approach to chastity education

www.FamilyHonor.org | 803-929-0858

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catholicnewsherald.com | July 21, 2017 OUR PARISHES

Charlotteans urged to build bridges of dialogue in immigration debate Lisa Geraci Correspondent

CHARLOTTE — About 50 parishioners of St. Peter Church attended a recent discussion on immigration led

by Jesuit Father Sean Carroll, executive director of the KINO Border Initiative in Nogales, Ariz. Father Carroll, visiting Charlotte’s Jesuit-staffed parish in June, updated people about the work of KBI as well as the impact of U.S. immigration, detention and deportation policies on the U.S.-Mexican border.

St. Peter parishioners have been supporting the KBI initiative for a while, with a delegation even going on an “immersion visit” to the Nogales area last summer to get an up-close view of the impact of U.S. border policies. The parish has also formed teams to accompany and mentor migrants and refugees in the Charlotte area.

Father Carroll described the Nogales area, where KBI’s Mexico and U.S. facilities lie only five miles apart from each other, as a place that contains tragedies of lost hope, triumphs of gained freedom, the darkness of inhumane abuses and the light of “a helping hand.” KBI serves as a refuge for immigrants who find themselves on either side of the border.

“Our goal is to make a path leading to light. We do not condone building a wall, but a bridge,” he said, echoing the words of Pope Francis.

“People flee the home countries due to economic need, family separation, violence, disaster and war. The ultimate goal is to create no need for migrants to flee. (There needs to be) a humane and reasonable path to citizenship so people do not dwell in the shadows and feel vulnerable.

Targeted economic development with a viable way of life and peace (is the long-term goal),” he explained.

“A lot of migrants flee due to violence,” he continued.

“For example, Nya and her 8-year-old grandson Kevin were accused by gang members in Honduras for telling on them to the police. Nya came home to find her house being burned down by gang members. She held her grandson’s hand tight and knew that it was time to get out. Their escape was difficult because they had to take the cargo train ‘La Bestia’ from Central America through Mexico.

With the help of the Missionary Sisters of the Eucharist, it was amazing to see the transformation in Nya after only a couple of weeks. She became brighter and more confident. Eventually, Nya and Kevin were able to make arrangements to reunite with Kevin’s mother in Dallas, Texas.”

According to Ivette Fuentes, director of development and outreach for KBI, women and children are helped by providing them refuge in one of the six apartments the mission operates in Mexico. These women and children are in the process of asylum or in a transitional process. They are given meals and housing, and they make necklaces and bracelets to sell so they can find a bit of financial independence. However, these women and children do not represent the majority of the mission. The majority is mostly men who are deported back to Mexico from federal detention centers.

Father Carroll noted, “Right now we have six apartments we are using in Mexico. One is a shelter for women and children, one is where we serve meals, an advocacy office, donations area, group activities, and a place to host visitors. Our facilities are small and we are

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in process of buying a building for around $800,000 to $1,000,000. This building will help house 50 to 60 women and children instead of eight.”

Carroll described the average day at the KBI center in Nogales: “In the morning people lineup, around 40 (it used to be 80). They are greeted and seated and we pray with them. We create a home feel because a lot of these people come in feeling humiliated, like they don’t matter. They are then given a meal. They are able to make phone calls to loved ones. They are able to cash checks. A lot of them are given first aid due to injuries endured. They come in weak and dehydrated. Abuses are documented and recorded. The Mexican consulate comes to help with bus fare for Mexican citizens to return to their town of origin in Mexico. They are given clothes and dinner and leave (uplifted) in a humane manner.”

During his presentation, Father Carroll stressed the importance of dialogue in the immigration debate.

“Dialogue opens a path to consensus, which creates deeper solidarity. Deeper solidarity leads people to become more committed and finally change. Only then are solutions pursued. But the most important thing is to get the conversation going. Dialogue between party lines is crucial, especially at this time,” he said.

He also encouraged parishioners to write to their federal representatives, advocate on behalf of asylum-seekers, and pray. People may also donate items to help those KBI assists, especially shoelaces, men’s sneakers, men’s pants, women’s clothes, backpacks, Neosporin and travelsized toiletries. To conduct a “Kino drive,” contact Ivette Fuentes at 520-287-2370. Packages can be UPS delivered to P.O. Box 159, Nogales, AZ 85628-0159.

Charlotte Area | Training – Retreat

Lord Teach Me To Pray I G N AT I A N P R A Y E R S E R I E S

Catholic Conference Center

CCDOC.ORG

1551 Trinity Lane Hickory, NC 28602 August 11 - 12, 2017 Friday 6:30 p.m. - Saturday 4:00 p.m.

www.lordteachmetopray.com Learn how to deepen your prayer life and help others deepen theirs!

Donate Your Car Make your car go the extra mile.

Donate your car to Catholic Charities to help fund programs for those in need. All vehicle makes, models and years welcome.

Truck, boat, RV and motorcycle donations accepted.

855.930.GIVE (4483) www.ccdoc.org/CARS Catholic Charities relies on your direct support to help fund its various ministries.

Mrs. Carol Weiler

carolweiler@cox.net or 504-439-5933 Father Marty Gleeson

mgleesonop@gmail.com or 504-717-8770

CCDOC.ORG Catholic Charities Regional Office Director (Charlotte, NC) Catholic Charities seeks energetic and innovative administrator/manager to lead multiservice and multilingual main service location in Charlotte, NC. Ideal position for leader with a graduate degree, significant cross-cultural awareness, at least 5 years of human services supervisory experience, and ability to cultivate close working relationships with local Catholic parishes and schools.

Cover letter and resume (2 pages maximum) must be submitted electronically by 5 p.m. on Friday, July 28, 2017 to ahloesch@charlottediocese.org. No telephone calls, please.

Job description at ccdoc.org/jobs.

July 21, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief Deacon assigned to Kannapolis parish KANNAPOLIS — Deacon Bernardino “Wilson” Velez has been assigned by Bishop Peter Jugis as a permanent deacon at St. Joseph Church in Kannapolis, effective May 22.

Deacon Velez and his wife Maritza recently moved from Hazelton, Pa., where he served at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in West Hazelton.

Having grown up in Puerto Rico, he and his wife now live in Landis and are enjoying the milder winter months. He was ordained Nov. 27, 1999, for the Diocese of Scranton, Pa. Deacon Velez brings with him more than 17 years of experience as a permanent deacon serving Velez at two different parish assignments. His service as a deacon has been extensive in the area of Hispanic ministry. As Bishop Joseph Bambera of the Diocese of Scranton said of him, “In his parish diaconal assignments, Deacon Velez carried out a vibrant apostolate to the Latino community.” Deacon Velez hopes to do the same in his assignment at St. Joseph Church.

— Catholic News Herald

Parents invited to free chastity education program SALISBURY — Parents who would like information on how to talk to their children about sexuality, the vocation of marriage, and the virtue of chastity are invited to attend “Leading & Loving,” a free program for any parent or guardian of a child from infant to early teens that will be held July 28-29 at Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury.

Leading & Loving is a unique Catholic program that will help parents become more confident and competent in how to raise virtuous children and how to respond to their child’s questions about the truth and meaning of God’s gift of sexuality. This program presents the truths of human sexuality, family life and virtue cultivation through the lens of St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.

Organized by Family Honor, which promotes a family-centered Catholic approach to chastity education, “Leading & Loving” will be presented at two times: 7-9:15 p.m. Friday, July 28, and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, July 29.

Sacred Heart Church is located at 375 Lumen Christi Lane. The program is free and child care will be provided. Register online at www. familyhonor.org.

Volunteers needed for Eucharistic Congress CHARLOTTE — More than 300 volunteers are needed for the Diocese of Charlotte’s 2017 Eucharistic Congress Sept. 8-9 at the Charlotte Convention Center. Volunteer jobs are only for a few hours, and the rest of the time they are free to enjoy the Congress.

All volunteers receive free parking, a thank you luncheon on Friday, and volunteers for the youth tracks and ushers receive a shirt, not to mention the abundance of grace in giving of their time.

Specific volunteer needs are: n Children’s Track Volunteer: 11:45 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Saturday

n Procession Volunteer: 8-10:30 a.m.

Saturday n Greeter: 6-9 p.m. Friday; 8-10 a.m., 10a.m.noon, noon-2 p.m., or 2-4 p.m. Saturday n Book Sales: 6-9 p.m. Friday; 10a.m.-noon, noon-2 p.m., or 2-4 p.m. Saturday n Usher: 6:30-9:30 p.m. Friday; 9-11:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. or 4-6 p.m. Saturday It takes one minute to sign up as a volunteer.

Go to www.goeucharist.com, and click on “volunteer.” All volunteers are required to have a current background check on file with the diocese, and most positions also require “Protecting God’s Children” certification.

OUR PARISHESI

Please join Our Lady of Grace for a summer ice cream social Everyone is welcome!

Event Schedule: 4:00pm Mass - 4:45pm Ice cream social 5:30pm Mass - 6:15pm Ice cream social Our Lady of Grace - 7095 Waxhaw Highway - Lancaster, SC 29720 Contact the church office for more details (803) 283-4969 or gracewepray.org

Carolina Catholic Family Day coming up July 30 CHARLOTTE — All Catholic families are invited to enjoy a day of faith and fun at Carowinds Theme Park on Sunday, July 30. The event will include Mass, an all-you-can-eat meal and fun in the theme park. The cost is only $55, which includes free parking (a $20 per vehicle savings). Go online to www.catholicnewsherald. com to sign up.

Upcoming Marian Rosary Congress will celebrate Fatima anniversary CHARLOTTE — The seventh annual Marian Rosary Congress will be held Saturday, Aug. 12, in honor of the 100th anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima’s appearances in Fatima, Portugal.

All are welcome to attend the free event, which will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m at St. Gabriel Church and Ministry Center, located at 3016 Providence Road in Charlotte. The day will include recitation of the rosary, talks in English and Spanish, and an outdoor Marian procession.

Mass will be offered by Bishop Peter Jugis, and speakers will include Father John Eckert (English track) and Father Robin Antonio Mora Casanova (Spanish track).

For questions, contact Tammy Harris at tmharris1217@gmail.com or 704-519-7901.

St. Philip Neri Catholic Church in Fort Mill, South Carolina is a vibrant, growing parish of 2500 families.

We are a Catholic Community united to form a church family dedicated to continuing the ministry of Christ.

We have the following Employment Opportunities available: Parish Communication Coordinator Maintenance Technician For complete job descriptions go to our parish website www.saintphilipneri.org Send all resumes, references and inquiries to businessmanager@saintphilipneri.org

Holy Land and Petra Jordan Tour with daily Mass

Knights of Columbus officers installed in Forest City FOREST CITY — Knights of Columbus Council 12266 installed new officers July 9 at Immaculate Conception Church. Grand Knight Brian Cilone and the new leadership team were installed by District Deputy Joe Bolick, supported by Field Agent Jim Welter. Council Chaplain Father Herbert Burke presided and provided a blessing for the officers and the council. Pictured are (back row, from left): David Martin, Financial Secretary; Ed Jacunski, Trustee; James Cilone, Trustee; and Pete Siviglia, Recorder; (front row, from left): Brian Cilone, Grand Knight; Deacon Andrew Cilone, Chancellor; Father Herbert Burke, Chaplain; Dennis Puntel, Deputy Grand Knight; Clem Suhy, Guard; Wilson Mancipe, Warden; Ron Kreeger, Guard; and Robert Capaldo, Trustee.

— Giuliana Polinari Riley, correspondent We welcome your parish’s news! Please email news items to Editor Patricia L. Guilfoyle at catholicnews@ charlottediocese.org.

Holy Land and Petra Jordan Tour with daily Mass November 3 thru November 15, 2017 $3,995 per person, double occupancy / singles add $900 $500 deposit due at time of registration Tour includes: round trip air, admission to all sites, Catholic tour guide, lodging in 4 & 5 star hotels, breakfast and dinner daily, visas, transfers to hotels and airport, gratuities for guide, bus driver, hotel porters and staff. Tour is escorted by the staff of Phoenix Travel Group.

Local Information Contact: Tom Trueman | 828-264-8769 | treumant@yahoo.com Tour Registration Contact: Dean McWilliams, President – Phoenix Travel Group | 623-544-1818 | deanmcw@cox.net | 14827 W. Arzon Way, Sun City, AZ 85375

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iiiJuly 21, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com

FROM TH

Having a ball at ch

Photos via Facebook

KING — Children at Good Shepherd Mission had fun during their summer Vacation Bible School, which had as its theme “Marvelous mystery – The Mass comes alive!”

Photo provided by Darby McClatchy

CHARLOTTE — More than 150 children campers and 80 adults and teen volunteers celebrated a fun and faith-filled week of Vacation Bible School “Country Theme RoundUp!” at St. Gabriel Church June 19-23. Music, crafts, games, Bible stories and snacks were enjoyed each day with “Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly with God” (Micah 6:8) as the week’s theme. VBS also included a daily food collection – peanut butter, macaroni and cheese, cereal, rice and canned meat – which was delivered to the food pantry at Catholic Charities after the week’s song and dance finale.

Photo provided by Nicole Witten

WINSTON-SALEM — St. Leo the Great Parish held “Maker Fun Factory” Vacation Bible School June 19-23.

HUNTERSVILLE — (Above and left) Summer Life Teen and other summer new rising freshman class to a luau, shaving cream kickball and water s

HE COVER

July 21, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.comiii

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hurch this summer

Photos provided by MaryAnn Luedtke

GREENSBORO ­— Children at St. Pius X Church enjoyed “Maker Fun Factory” Vacation Bible School in June, where they made bird houses and played hopscotch, among other activities.

Photo provided by Connie Ries Photo provided by Amy Burger

youth programs are under way at St. Mark Church, where the high school ministry began the summer by inviting the slide bowling.

STATESVILLE — St. Philip the Apostle Parish held its annual Vacation Bible School June 19-22 with lots of fun activities, dinner and celebrations. Each day celebrated the life of a saint, including St. Joan of Arc of France, St. Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio of Mexico and St. Josephine Bakhita of Africa. Children also learned about Our Lady of Fatima during this centennial anniversary year of Our Lady’s apparitions. The children studied the saints and their cultures, worked on crafts, learned music and ate food from the saint of the day’s country. The last day culminated with water balloons, great fun on a giant water slide, and dessert and popsicles.

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catholicnewsherald.com | July 21, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

For the latest movie reviews: catholicnewsherald.com

In theaters

Local author’s newest release grapples with the gift, burden of free will Annette K. Tenny Correspondent

‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ Vibrant comic-book adaptation follows the double life of seemingly ordinary high school student Peter Parker (Tom Holland) as he struggles to keep his extra-curricular crime-fighting activities as Spider-Man concealed from his easily worried guardian, Aunt May (Marisa Tomei). In this reboot for the franchise, industrialist Tony Stark, aka Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), makes Peter his protege, and tries to keep him focused on thwarting petty misdemeanors. But Peter, who yearns to secure a place among the elite Avengers, finds an irresistible target when he stumbles across the dangerous schemes of mechanically winged villain Adrian Toomes, aka the Vulture (Michael Keaton). Director and co-writer Jon Watts crafts a lively and satisfying action adventure, showcasing both loyal friendship (Jacob Batalon plays Peter’s best pal) and restrained romance (Laura Harrier portrays the schoolmate for whom he pines). Yet, while the combat is kept virtually bloodless, some of the dialogue puts this off-limits for the many youngsters who would otherwise likely enjoy it. Possibly acceptable for older adolescents. Much stylized violence, including gunplay and a beating, a single gruesome image, brief sexual humor, a couple of mild oaths, two implied but unspoken rough terms, a few crude and several crass expressions, an obscene gesture.

CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: PG-13

‘War for the Planet of the Apes’ Monkey business turns deadly serious in this climactic installment of the rebooted film franchise based on the work of French science-fiction author Pierre Boulle (1912-1994) and directed in 3-D by Matt Reeves. An epic battle is under way between the super-sentient simians and what’s left of the human race after a devastating epidemic. When the erudite ape leader (Andy Serkis) suffers a personal tragedy, he puts aside his peace-loving ways to seek revenge on the leader (Woody Harrelson) of the human army. Accompanying him on his journey are a trusted orangutan adviser (Karin Konoval), a mute human girl (Amiah Miller), and a clownish ape (Steve Zahn). Regrettably, the spiritual messages are mixed; while the apes espouse winning Christian values of peace, love, and family, there’s an anti-Christian theme in the evil human leader, who wears a cross around his neck, displays one in his quarters, and gleefully announces that he is waging a “holy war.” Frequent stylized violence, two uses of profanity, and a subtle anti-Christian message.

CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: PG-13

‘The House’ Dim-witted, cash strapped parents (Will Ferrell, Amy Poehler) of a collegeage daughter (Ryan Simpkins) team with a friend (Jason Mantzoukas) to start an illegal casino in his house so they can pay for her tuition. But their scheme spirals down into a series of bad decisions and gruesome events. A lengthy gory sequence, frequent rough and crude language.

CNS: 0 (morally offensive); MPAA: R

‘Wish Upon’ Low-budget Faustian fable has a teen girl (Joey King) coming into ownership of a Chinese “wish box” that can grant her seven wishes, enabling all her dreams of wealth and popularity to come true -- but at the price of grisly deaths for all the friends and relatives she holds dear. Director John Leonetti and screenwriter Barbara Marshall make the best of what they have, but each plot point and their resolution are telegraphed so blatantly, there’s no suspense, and the lead character is not so much morally bereft as she is dimwitted. Fleeting gore, fleeting rough language.

CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: PG-13

CHARLOTTE — In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a description of free will begins with the words: “God created man a rational being, conferring on him the dignity of a person who can initiate and control his own actions” (1730). Freedom, responsibility, salvation, sin – this is all heady stuff for most adults, as it requires the ability to see beyond oneself and the present moment.

For teenagers, who have limited life experience and a shorter-term outlook on life, the concept of free will can be even more challenging to understand.

Buckman In local author Michelle Buckman’s latest novel, “Turning in Circles,” teen sisters Savannah and Charleston, growing up just outside a sleepy coastal town, are at the age when actions and consequences can reverberate well into a future not measured in hours but in years.

The story is told from Savannah’s point of view, reflecting on and recounting events that occurred several years previously. Like most of us, Savannah understands intellectually that free will is a gift from God. She knows that each of us must choose for ourselves the voices we listen to and the actions we take, and that each of us is responsible for our own lives. Whether we choose to listen to and be guided by Holy Spirit is up to us. Our lives however, are intertwined with others, so our choices sometimes help the people around us or, just as often, become a burden for others. For Savannah, the burden is heavy indeed.

“You have to force yourself to let go of certain things,” Buckman said when asked about her hopes for this novel.

“Yes, you can influence people but you can’t change the nature of who they are,” she said. “In the end, what they do is their decision. I hope that (this story) helps some people understand that.”

Some people carry around a great deal of guilt, Buckman said, and “Turning in Circles” is about the realization that we are not guilty of something that someone else has done.

“God has given us this free will to make our choices,” she said.

“Even though we interact, we love and influence the people around us, we cannot force someone to do something against what their nature is telling them to do, and if God’s not going to force them then we can’t force them.”

“Turning in Circles” is listed as Southern fiction and not written specifically for teens, but like all good books it is a great “discussion book.” It’s perfect for summer youth groups or parents or godparents and the teens in their lives, Buckman said.

“It’s a great book for discussing with teenagers about their life choices,” she said. “How they let those outside forces influence them the groups that they’re hanging out with, the friends they choose and how they let them influence, for or against things, they know in their heart are the right thing to do.”

Buckman was born in New York, raised in Canada and now lives near the Carolina coast with her husband and five children. She is the author of seven novels, several of which have won awards both in Catholic fiction and in the secular markets. She is an international speaker, writing instructor, conference speaker and editor.

She is available to lead group discussions for parish youth groups or high school (secular and Catholic) classes. She can be reached at MichellePBuckman@gmail.com and her website is www. michellebuckman.com.

Upcoming book signing Michelle Buckman will sign copies of her latest novel, “Turning in Circles,” from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 15, at the Gaston County Library – Main Branch, located at 1555 E. Garrison Blvd., Gastonia, NC 28054.

On TV n Saturday, July 22, 8 p.m.

(EWTN) “Saint Bridget of Sweden: The Early Years.” A two-part EWTN original docudrama on the life and works of St. Bridget of Sweden. Part 1. n Saturday, July 22, 8 p.m.

(EWTN) “Saint Bridget of Sweden: Towards Rome.” A two-part EWTN original docudrama on the life and works of St. Bridget of Sweden. Part 2. n Tuesday, July 25, 1 p.m.

(EWTN) “The Temple of the Stars.” The history behind the construction of the cathedral that enshrines the remains of St. James the Greater and the popular pilgrimage route that stretches over 450 miles to it. n Tuesday, July 25, 6:30 p.m. (EWTN) “El Camino: The Way of St. James.” Young American men between the ages of 17-22 make a pilgrimage on the historic route in Spain known as the Way of St. James. The men explain their decision in taking part and the crosses to bear along the way. n Wednesday, July 26, 4:30 p.m. (EWTN) “Michael the Visitor.” Narrated by Stockard Channing, this charming fable is an adaptation of Tolstoy’s classic tale about a lost young man with an amazing secret. n Saturday, July 29, 8 p.m. (EWTN) “Poveda.”

Courageous and innovative, Father Pedro Poveda Spanish fought tirelessly against social injustices until the moment of his death at the onset of the Spanish Civil War. n Sunday, July 30, 10 p.m.

(EWTN) “Tshimangadzo: The Story of Benedict Daswa.”

Details surrounding Blessed Benedict Daswa’s life as a beloved husband, father and devout Catholic who was martyred for denouncing the ritualistic killings being done in South Africa. n Tuesday, Aug. 1, 10 am.

(EWTN) “For Greater Glory: The True Story of the Cristeros.” An inside look at the history of the Cristero War with interviews from Jean Meyer, Director Dean Wright, Producer Pablo Barroso, Cardinal Juan Sandoval, Archbishop Jose Gomez and Carl Anderson. n Friday, Aug. 4, 8 p.m.

(EWTN) “Angel of Biscay.”

This film tells the story of the “Fatima priest” Father Aloysius Ellacuria, CMF, and traces his fascinating life journey from his Basque home in northern Spain to the United States, Mexico and Portugal, illustrating the character, mission and spirituality of this remarkable priest who changed the lives of so many.

Let’s keep talking.

July 21, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

This is artwork for Catholic Extension’s Camp Catholic, an online summer camp for Catholics of all ages.

Registered campers receive weekly email messages that feature a Gospel passage paired with interactive content including activities and “Catholic Questions” that can be shared with friends and family. Gospel reflections are from seminarians who are supported by Catholic Extension.

CNS | Catholic Extension

Catholic Extension launches online summer camp for Catholics of all ages Catholic News Service

CHICAGO — Catholic Extension has launched its virtual Camp Catholic, an online summer camp for Catholics of all ages.

The virtual camp is designed to keep Catholics engaged in their faith during the lazy days of summer, “when most of us are enjoying vacations, splashing in the pool and celebrating the kid in all of us,” said a news release from the Chicago-based organization.

Camp Catholic offers campers weekly email messages that feature a Gospel passage paired with interactive content

including activities and “Catholic Questions” that can be shared with friends, family parish and school – all delivered to participants’ inboxes after they sign up at www.catholicextension.org/join-campcatholic-2017.

Catholic Extension is the leading supporter of missionary work in poor and remote parts of the United States.

Each week of the 12-week email series covers a different theme – from vocations to the sacraments to the saints. The messages contain Gospel reflections from seminarians who are supported by Catholic Extension as well as educational content offering catechesis and explanations

behind Catholic teachings and traditions.

Each week, campers also can expect a “Weekly Challenge” encouraging them to share their faith with others and engage with Catholic Extension on social media.

“Featuring engaging infographics and fun activities, Camp Catholic is a perfect way to ensure that you don’t take a vacation from your faith this summer,” said the release.

Catholic Extension ran the series last summer and more than 3,000 people participated. To date, there are already more than 1,300 virtual campers connecting with their faith through Camp Catholic.

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13

Our nation 14

catholicnewsherald.com | July 21, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

12th National Black Catholic Congress Braxton: Justice, love must be ‘written in our hearts’ and daily actions ORLANDO, Fla. — The theme of the 12th National Black Catholic Congress July 6-9 in Orlando focused on a passage by Micah, known as the prophet of social justice, whose warnings and criticism of political corruption and urging of caring for the poor still ring true 2,700 years later. The more than 2,000 attendees at the congress gathered against the backdrop of Micah’s words to do justice, love goodness and walk humbly with God. Bishop Edward K. Braxton of Belleville, Ill., told the attendees in his July 8 address that the prophet would not be satisfied with those words solely emblazoned on T-shirts, banners and bags.

“Micah would demand to see these words written in our hearts, in our daily actions when we leave Orlando and return to our dioceses, neighborhoods, parish communities and families,” said the bishop, who has written extensively on the racial divide in America from a theological and pastoral perspective. Among his writings are two pastoral letters, “The Racial Divide in the United States: A Reflection for the World Day of Peace 2015” and “The Catholic Church and the Black Lives Matter Movement: The Racial Divide in the United States Revisited,” issued in 2016.

Engage young adults, support Black Lives Matter, bishops told ORLANDO, Fla. — A standing-room-only crowd of young black Catholics in a frank session that lasted more than two hours told bishops, priests, and women and men religious why they stay in the Church, what threatens to drive them away and that they want a stronger voice from Church officials for the Black Lives Matter movement.

As the National Black Catholic Congress got underway in Orlando July 6 with more than 2,000 attendees, some 120 participants discussed ways to keep young adult black Catholics engaged in their parishes and the Church – and raised criticism of, and an apology for, the Church’s silence regarding the movement spawned by the killings of unarmed blacks by police. Among the bishops attending Congress XII was Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Discussion centered on key themes: Why young black adult Catholics stay in the Church; why they leave; how they live out their faith; how to foster more vocations; and the state of race relations in the U.S. “How do we respond as people of faith to issues of race that have always been going on in society but especially in light of the Black Lives Matter movement? And in a lot of the police killings, a lot of people feel that the church has been almost silent in its response,” Stacy Allen, one of the facilitators, said toward the end of the session.

“The Church is very vocal on a myriad of issues – immigration for instance – which are important,” Allen said. “But specifically on the issues of race, especially from the perspective of a young adult black Catholic, what should the Catholic response be?”

That prompted Auxiliary Bishop Fernand Cheri III of New Orleans to stand. With a bow to those in the room, he said, “To the black youth, I apologize to you as a leader of the Church because I feel we have abandoned you in the Black Lives Matter movement and I apologize.

“Partly, I didn’t understand it, and by the time I did understand it, it was too late – the moment was gone,” he said. “I’m very proud of you – you stood up and said enough is enough. As a leader, I want to say that to you – thank you.”

— Catholic News Service

Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, center, celebrates the opening Mass July 6 of the 12th National Black Catholic Congress in Orlando, Fla. The theme of the congress was drawn from words of the prophet Micah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me: Act justly, love goodness and walk humbly.”

CNS | Andrea Navarro, Florida Catholic

Black Catholics at congress urged to ‘listen, learn, think, act and pray’ Jean Gonzalez Catholic News Service

ORLANDO, Fla. — United by the words of the prophet of social justice, Catholic Church leaders urged black Catholics to become active, just disciples of Christ.

More than 2,000 converged on Orlando July 6-9 for the 12th National Black Catholic Congress where speakers – clergy, lay and religious – addressed a variety of topics and concerns facing black communities and families, while urging those present to take an active, enthusiastic role in living out the Gospel as just disciples of Christ.

During his homily at the opening Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe, Father Patrick Smith, pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Washington, spoke about the “ridiculous power of the Christ on the cross” and how our own suffering can be offered up to God as a source of healing for others.

It is important the community does talk about its struggles, the priest said, but it also must talk about the redemptive power of God on the cross. He added while “racism ultimately leads to death ... a spiritual suicide in our souls,” the truths of the Gospel sets lives free.

“That is our anger, but also our source of hope,” he said. “You and I cannot appreciate the good news unless we first face and acknowledge the bad news.”

The roots of the Black Catholic Congress stem from 1889 with layman and journalist Daniel Rudd, who brought together 100 black Catholic men to exchange and discuss questions affecting their race for not just Catholic blacks, but blacks across the country, and unite for a course of action while standing behind the Catholic Church and its values.

The group met with President Grover Cleveland during its first congress. In meeting and uniting, Father Smith said the Church demonstrated and voiced how “black Catholic lives mattered,” just as other groups have done as they convened when a group has suffered, such as with the pro-life groups who proclaim unborn lives matter.

“Black Catholics are born from the same womb of the baptismal font,” Father Smith said, adding that those gathered for the congress did not convene to achieve higher status, but rather to insist on “inclusion” because black Catholics are equal members of the Body of Christ.

“And also, more importantly, (we gather) to exhort and

challenge ourselves to do our part and accept the responsibility in our role in the Church that God has given us. ... We gather to see how to effectively evangelize because eternal life is way too important.”

Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, offered the opening keynote address that focused directly on the theme of the congress taken from the prophet Micah – “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me: Act justly, love goodness and walk humbly with your God.” His first point reaffirmed the united community of disciples of Christ and the need of inclusion of all “children of God.” “When Pope Francis speaks, he doesn’t speak to nations, races and tribes; he speaks to humanity invited to be disciples of Jesus.

And we respond first and foremost to this,” Cardinal Turkson said. “For there is no Gospel for Africans. There is no Gospel for Americans. There is no Gospel for Italians or Europeans. There is one Gospel for all of us created in the image and likeness of God we seek to respond to. ... God’s children all belong together.

None are set aside, none should live on the periphery and none are excluded.”

To demonstrate the power of being a disciple of Christ, Cardinal Turkson spoke about the story from Exodus of the Israelites following Moses in the desert. He asked those gathered to envision facing the Red Sea with the waters parted and a path sandwiched between two walls of water.

The cardinal joked “water is never concrete” and some might have questioned what would happen if there was a really big wind.

But the example of the Israelites who choose to follow Moses and trust God to hold up the walls of water demonstrates the courage and attitude that modern-day Christians must hold to be baptized in Christ and become just disciples of Christ.

“That is what baptism is. It is not a nominal celebration. It is a decision to live dependent on making Jesus your everything,” Cardinal Turkson said, borrowing the words of St. Paul who said after his conversion, “The life I live now is no longer mine.”

“Anyone baptized lives that life. ... It is not until you surrender your life to Jesus that you will live as a just disciple of Christ.”

Justice, reconciliation and peace are tantamount to unite the church family of God. While Cardinal Turkson said challenges such as tribalism in Africa and racism and discrimination in America present struggles, the Catholic Church family is invited to live beyond divisions and live in communion as children of God. “In this family of God we need to live justly,” he said. “When we respect the demands of our relationships, we are just.”

July 21, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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In Brief House members approve measure to repeal D.C. assisted suicide law WASHINGTON, D.C. ­— The House Appropriations Committee voted July 13 in favor of an amendment to repeal the District of Columbia’s assisted suicide law. The day before the vote, New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan sent a letter to members of the committee urging them to “nullify the D.C. City Council’s deceptively named ‘Death with Dignity Act’ that legalizes the dangerous and unethical practice of doctor-assisted suicide.” The amendment to the fiscal year 2018 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill looks to repeal the assisted suicide law, which went into effect this past February. It was introduced

by Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., who told the committee there is “nothing dignified about suicide” in his opinion. Harris also called the act “bad policy” and said that “physicians were playing God” by prescribing lethal medications to terminally ill patients who want to end their lives. The legislation permits physicians in the District of Columbia to legally prescribe lethal drugs to patients who have been deemed mentally competent and who have received a terminal diagnosis of six months or less.

In his July 12 letter to House Appropriations Committee members, Cardinal Dolan said the law was “seriously flawed” and said it “poses the greatest risks of abuse and coercion to those who are poor, elderly, disabled, members of a minority group, or without access to good medical care.”

Catholic, Lutheran leaders lament refugee entry cap being reached WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amid a federal judge ordering the government to broaden the exemptions to the immigration travel ban partially upheld by the Supreme Court, Catholic and Lutheran leaders lamented that the immigration cap had been reached for refugees without such exemptions for the 2017 fiscal year. The federal government suspended travel July 12 for refugee immigrants without close family connections after confirming that 50,000 refugees – the limit imposed by President Donald Trump in a March 6 executive order – had arrived on U.S. soil. “We remain deeply troubled by the human consequences of the revised executive order on refugee admissions and the travel ban,” said Bishop Joe S. Vasquez of Austin, Texas, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Migration, in a July 13 statement.

“Resettling only 50,000 refugees a year, down from 110,000, does not reflect the need, our compassion, and our capacity as a nation,” Bishop Vasquez added. “We have the ability to continue to assist the most vulnerable among us without sacrificing our values as Americans or the safety and security of our nation.”

House passes anti-trafficking bill; measure goes to Senate WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House passed a bill July 12 that puts more than $500 million over the next four years into efforts to fight labor and sex trafficking both in the United States and abroad.

The bill – named after Frederick Douglass, who escaped slavery and became an abolitionist – now goes to the Senate. “According to the International Labor Organization, nearly 21 million people in the world are enslaved – most of them women and children,” said Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., author of the bill, during House debate. “Every human

life is of infinite value. We have a duty to protect the weakest and most vulnerable from harm. The majority of underage trafficking victims are girls in foster care, where the average age of a girl entering into sex trafficking is 12,” said Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., a co-sponsor of the bill. “One of the major reasons girls cannot escape is because they do not have housing. This is a good step forward and required at every level of government to stop and prevent child sex trafficking.”

Health care prescription?

Regroup, cooperate, Catholic health leaders say WASHINGTON, D.C. — After efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act collapsed late July 17 in the U.S. Senate, Catholic health care leaders said they hope Congress will work together, in small steps, to fix flaws in the current legislation. Four days earlier Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, Fla., chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, had said the measure, a revision of an earlier draft, still did not have “enough improvement to change our assessment that the proposal is unacceptable.” “The Catholic Health Association is pleased that the bill in the Senate will not go forward,” said Sister Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity, who is president and CEO of the association, adding: “It would have had incredibly negative consequences for so many Americans.”

Dr. Steven White, a pulmonary specialist in Ormond Beach, Fla., and chairman of the Catholic Medical Association Health Care Policy Committee, said because of the complexity of the heath care legislation, he hopes people would see what happened – when the Senate failed to secure the necessary votes for the health care repeal – as a setback, not a failure.

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Pope Francis appoints bishops to head Cleveland, Juneau dioceses WASHINGTON, D.C. — Pope Francis has named Auxiliary Bishop Nelson J. Perez of Rockville Centre, N.Y., to head the Diocese of Cleveland.

The pope also has named Vincentian Father Andrew Bellisario, currently serving in the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska, to head the Diocese of Juneau, Alaska. Bishop Perez, 56, succeeds Bishop Richard G. Lennon, who resigned in December at age 70 citing health reasons. Bishop-designate Bellisario, 60, succeeds Bishop Edward J. Burns, now head of the Diocese of Dallas.

— Catholic News Service

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15

Our world 16

catholicnewsherald.com | July 21, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Economic solutions need broader vision, pope tells G-20 leaders Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — World leaders attending the Group of 20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany, must reflect on the repercussions their decisions may have on the entire global community and not just their own countries, Pope Francis said.

While it is reasonable that the G-20 is limited to a “small number of countries that represent 90 percent of the production of wealth and services worldwide,” a multilateral approach in solving economic problems must be made “for the benefit of all,” the pope said.

The pope’s message to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, host of the July 7-8 leaders’ summit, was dated June 29 and released July 7 at the Vatican.

“Those states and individuals whose voice is weakest on the world political scene are precisely the ones who suffer most from the harmful effects of economic crises for which they bear little or no responsibility,” the papal message said.

“This great majority, which in economic terms counts for only 10 percent of the whole, is the portion of humanity that has the greatest potential to contribute to the progress of everyone,” he said.

The members of the G-20 are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.

Citing his apostolic exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”), Pope Francis proposed four

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CNS | Luong Thai Linh, EPA

Bird collectors and traders sit at a coffee shop in Hanoi, Vietnam, July 2. In a message sent to world leaders attending the Group of 20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany, July 7-8, Pope Francis said they must reflect on the repercussions their decisions may have on the entire global community, not just their own countries. principles “for the building of fraternal, just and peaceful societies.”

Reflecting on the principle that “time is greater than space,” the pope said the migration crisis, which is “inseparable from the issue of poverty and exacerbated by armed conflict,” requires an effective solution spread over time with a clear “final objective.”

“In the minds and hearts of government leaders, and at every phase of the enactment of political measures, there is a need to give absolute priority to the poor, refugees, the suffering, evacuees and the excluded, without distinction of nation, race, religion or culture, and to reject armed conflicts,” he said.

He also urged world leaders to promote economic policies where “unity prevails over conflict.” Economic differences, he said, cannot be resolved if leaders are not committed to “substantially reducing levels of conflict, halting the present arms race and renouncing direct or indirect involvement in conflicts.”

“There is a tragic contradiction and inconsistency in the apparent unity expressed in common forums on economic or social issues, and the acceptance, active

or passive, of armed conflicts,” the pope said.

G-20 leaders, he continued, must follow the example of past world leaders who were guided by “the primacy of the human being” and turn away from “new ideologies of absolute market autonomy and financial speculation.”

“In their tragic wake, these bring exclusion, waste and even death,” the pope said.

Pope Francis said to resolve today’s economic problems and challenges, the G-20 leaders must first “consider the eventual repercussions on all countries and their citizens, while respecting the views and opinions of the latter.”

He also expressed his hope that the meeting would be led by “the spirit of responsible solidarity that guides all those taking part.”

“I ask God’s blessings upon the Hamburg meeting and on every effort of the international community to shape a new era of development that is innovative, interconnected, sustainable, environmentally respectful and inclusive of all peoples and all individuals,” the pope said.

July 21, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief Former Vatican hospital officials indicted for illegal use of funds VATICAN CITY — Vatican magistrates have formally indicted two former officers of the Vatican’s pediatric hospital on charges of illegally using funds to help finance the remodeling of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone’s apartment. Giuseppe Profiti, who was president of Bambino Gesu hospital until 2015, and Massimo Spina, the former treasurer, will be called to appear before Vatican judges beginning July 18, the Vatican press hall announced in a statement July 13. If the two men do not present themselves to the court on the opening trial date, they will be charged with contempt, the Vatican statement said. After a morethan-yearlong Vatican investigation, Profiti, Spina and their lawyers were notified of the charges June 13 and had until July 11 to supply evidence for their defense. Giuseppe Dalla Torre, president of the tribunal of Vatican City State, will not be part of the trial proceedings because he is a member of the Bambino Gesu hospital’s board of directors, Greg Burke, Vatican spokesman, told reporters. According to the Vatican announcement, Profiti, 55, and Spina, 57, were being charged with illicit use of funds belonging to the Bambino Gesu Foundation to pay Gianantonio Bandera, an Italian contractor, to refurbish an apartment belonging to Vatican City State and used as the residence of Cardinal Bertone, former Vatican secretary of state.

Former doctrine chief denies false account of papal meeting VATICAN CITY — The former head of the Vatican’s doctrine office denied reports claiming he was dismissed by Pope Francis due to differences in doctrinal matters. In a story in the German Catholic newspaper Die Tagespost, journalist Guido Horst said Cardinal Gerhard Muller “could not believe his eyes” upon reading the claims written by Maike Hickson on the online journal OnePeterFive. “’This is not true; the conversation had been quite different,’” Horst reported that Cardinal Muller said. OnePeterFive cited a “trustworthy German source” who quoted an eyewitness “who recently sat with Cardinal Muller at lunch in Mainz, Germany” and allegedly heard the cardinal’s account of the meeting with Pope Francis. The article claims the pope asked the cardinal’s stance on women’s ordination to the diaconate and priesthood, the repeal of celibacy, the exhortation on the family “Amoris Laetitia” and the dismissal of three employees of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Reformed churches sign agreement adopting justification doctrine VATICAN CITY — Signaling a turning point in ecumenical relations with the Catholic Church, the World Communion of Reformed Churches signed an agreement on a key issue that divided Catholics and Protestants for centuries. In an ecumenical ceremony July 5 in Wittenberg, Germany, the city where Martin Luther nailed his “95 Theses” that marked the beginning of the Reformation, the Reformed churches adopted the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification. The agreement, which explains how people are justified in God’s eyes and saved

by Jesus Christ, was first signed in 1999 by Catholics and Lutherans. The World Methodist Council adopted the doctrine in 2006. The Reformed Churches represent an estimated

80 million Christians in Congregational, Presbyterian, Reformed, United, Uniting and Waldensian churches around the world. In a statement published July 4, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity referred to the event “as another important milestone on the journey toward the full visible unity of Christians; not yet the end of the road, but a significant stage on the way.”

Pope approves new path to sainthood: heroic act of loving service VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has approved a fourth pathway to possible sainthood – giving one’s life in a heroic act of loving service to others. In a new apostolic letter, the pope approved new norms allowing for candidates to be considered for sainthood because of the heroic way they freely risked their lives and died prematurely because of “an extreme act of charity.” The document, given “motu proprio” (on his own initiative) went into effect the same day of its publication July 11, with the title “Maiorem hac dilectionem,” which comes from the Gospel according to St. John (15:13): “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Archbishop Marcello Bartolucci, secretary of the Vatican Congregation for Saints’ Causes, said the addition is meant “to promote heroic Christian testimony, (that has been) up to now without a specific process, precisely because it did not completely fit within the case of martyrdom or heroic virtues.”

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Vatican asks bishops to ensure validity of matter for Eucharist VATICAN CITY — Bishops should look at ways to help verify and guarantee the validity and worthiness of the bread and wine used for the celebration of the Eucharist, the Vatican said in a recent document. Because bread and wine for the Eucharist are no longer supplied just by religious communities, but “are also sold in supermarkets and other stores and even over the internet,” bishops should set up guidelines, an oversight body and/or even a form of certification to help “remove any doubt about the validity of the matter for the Eucharist,” the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments said. The recommendations came in a circular letter, “On the bread and wine for the Eucharist,” sent to diocesan bishops “at the request of the Holy Father, Pope Francis.”

Dated June 15 – the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ – the letter was made public by the Vatican July 8. The letter was signed by Cardinal Robert Sarah, congregation prefect, and Archbishop Arthur Roche, secretary.

Because the Church requires certainty regarding the conditions necessary for the validity of the sacraments, the congregation offered some suggestions so that bishops can continue to “watch over the quality of the bread and wine” as well as “those who prepare these materials.”

Priest, 71, murdered in Mexico by robbers MEXICO CITY — A 71-year-old priest was found murdered July 5 in suburban Mexico City, marking another attack on clergy in a country with a soaring homicide rate. Father Luis Lopez Villa, pastor of the St. Isidro Labrador Parish in the rough municipality of Los Reyes La Paz, was discovered in his home, his hands tied and stabbed in the neck. The Diocese of Nezahualcoyotl, which serves the suburbs founded by squatters on the east side of the national capital, confirmed the attack in a July 6 statement. The Mexico state prosecutor’s office said assailants had entered the parish residence to commit robbery. Father Lopez was the 18th priest murdered since December 2012, according to a count by the Catholic Multimedia Organization.

— Catholic News Service

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catholicnewsherald.com | July 21, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Silence and the meaning of the Mass

Bishop Robert Barron

‘The Mass is the act by which the Son of God, in union with His mystical body, turns toward the Father in worship. Through our “full, conscious and active participation” in this right praise, we become more rightly ordered, more completely configured to Christ and more thoroughly directed toward the Father.’

C

ardinal Robert Sarah’s recent book “The Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise” explores a number of themes both theological and spiritual, all centering around the unhappy role that noise has come to play in our culture and more specifically in the Church. His observations are most trenchant in regard to the liturgy, which should come as no great surprise, given his role as head of the Vatican Congregation devoted to liturgy and sacraments. As I read the sections of his book dealing with the importance of silence during Mass, I often found myself nodding vigorously.

I came of age in the period immediately following the Second Vatican Council, when an enormous stress was placed, quite legitimately, on the conciliar call for “full, conscious and active participation” in the Mass. That famous phrase, derived from the ground-breaking work of the theologians of the liturgical movement of the early and mid-20th century, was a clarion call to the laity to assume their rightful role as real actors in the liturgy and not mere spectators. But in its practical application this came too often to imply that the laity must be continually stimulated into action during the Mass: processing, standing, singing, responding, clapping, etc. It was as though the directors and leaders of the liturgy felt they must be constantly grabbing the congregation by the shoulders and shaking them into conscious participation.

Silence, accordingly, tended to be

Protecting God’s Children We proclaim Christ to the world around us by our efforts to provide a safe environment for all people, especially the young and the vulnerable.

In 2002, the bishops of the United States issued the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The charter addresses the Church’s commitment to respond effectively, appropriately and compassionately to cases of abuse of minors by priests, deacons or other church personnel.

DIOCESAN REQUIREMENTS FOR REPORTING MINISTRY-RELATED SEXUAL ABUSE OF A MINOR 1. Any individual having actual knowledge of or reasonable cause to suspect an incident of ministry-related sexual abuse is to immediately report the incident to the Chancery.

2. The Chancery will then report the incident to the proper civil authorities. The individual reporting the incident to the Chancery will be notified of the particulars regarding the Chancery’s filing of the incident with civil authorities.

3. This reporting requirement is not intended to supersede the right of an individual to make a report to civil authorities, but is to ensure proper, complete and timely reporting.

Should an individual choose to make a report to civil authorities, a report is still to be made to the Chancery.

The charter can be found on the diocesan website, Charlottediocese.org, click on the tab, “Safe Environment.”

construed as the enemy, for it would lull the people into inattention and boredom.

Hardly anyone in the post-conciliar liturgical establishment appreciated that silence could be a sign of heightened, even enraptured, attention on the part of the congregation, a deeply contemplative entry into the mystery of the Mass. And what several decades of this in turn has produced, especially among the young today, is the impression that the Mass is a sort of religiously-themed jamboree, during which our fellowship is celebrated and at which lots and lots of sound is indispensable. I will confess that during many years as a priest, and now as a bishop, I have often wondered whether our hyper-stimulated congregations know exactly what they are participating in.

They know that they are active, but active precisely in what?

The Mass is the act by which the Son of God, in union with His mystical body, turns toward the Father in worship.

Through our “full, conscious and active participation” in this right praise, we become more rightly ordered, more completely configured to Christ and more thoroughly directed toward the Father. We do indeed experience heightened fellowship with one another during the Mass, but this is because we are realizing, not so much our mutual affection, but our common love of a transcendent third, to use Aristotle’s language.

In this regard, one of the most illuminating rubrics under which to read the Mass is that of call and response: Christ the head, through the priest who is acting in Christ’s person, calls out to the members of His mystical body, and they respond, somewhat in the manner of the lovers in the Song of Songs. At the very commencement of the liturgy, the priest (again, operating not in his own name but in persona Christi) says, “The Lord be with you,” and the people respond, “and with your spirit.” The spirit in question here is the power of Christ dwelling in the priest through the sacrament of holy orders.

This exchange continues throughout the

Mass, Head and members conversing with one another and solidifying their communion. Jesus speaks His Word in the Old Testament readings and in the Pauline epistles, and the members of His body sing back to Him in the Responsorial Psalm; Jesus announces Himself in the Gospel, and the people chant back, “Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ;” Jesus breaks open the Word through the preaching of the priest, and the people respond with the Creed, a signal of their faith.

Having prepared the gifts (presented by the people), the priest says, “Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the Father almighty.” This line is of great significance, for it signals the moment when Christ and the members of His body are turning toward the Father in order to perform an act of sacrifice and thanksgiving. How beautifully the Preface to the Eucharistic Prayer expresses this dynamic: “Lift up your hearts!” says Christ to His people; they respond, “We lift them up to the Lord,” and then Jesus, through His priest, says, “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.” What follows is the magnificent Eucharistic Prayer, directed toward the Father and prayed by Head and members together, the latter’s many sacrifices – small and large – subsumed into the former’s definitive sacrifice on the cross. At the conclusion of the liturgy, Christ sends His mystical body, now more perfectly ordered to the Father, back into the world to effect its transformation.

Cardinal Sarah imitates his master Joseph Ratzinger in insisting that silence rightly asserts itself throughout this entire process. The silence of gathering, recollecting, listening, praying, offering, etc. There is plenty of sound in the Mass, but unless silence is cultivated therein as well, we can easily lose sight of what we are doing in this most sublime of prayers.

Bishop Robert Barron is the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries and auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He is also the host of “Catholicism,” an award-winning documentary about the Catholic faith.

July 21, 2017 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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Letter to the editor

A tale of two tributes

Fred Gallagher

Remembering the days of summer

I

remember them well! School let out and the shoes came off to stay except for on Sundays. My brothers and I left the house in the morning and usually showed back up with a few others, oh, let’s say somewhere around lunchtime. Then off again in the green and the sun and the freedom. We looked for crawdads under rocks in the creek behind St. Michael’s baseball field, we pranked each other at every turn, had dirt clod fights and played tackle football, rode bikes to the drugstore for an 18 cent orangeade (which was two orange halves freshly squeezed into a cup with syrupy sugar water and shaved ice) and, if we were lucky, we found a place to swim, preferably by a lake bank with a rope swing attached to a high tree limb, our St. Christopher medals flapping up in our faces as we landed, hopefully right side up, in the water.

At the time I had no idea how innocent we were. As a matter of fact, I was always on the brink of feeling guilty about something I had done or was getting ready to do or had forgotten to do. (I am Catholic, after all!) I didn’t know how free we were, either, us baby boomer kids in our Eisenhower summers, playing in the trenches made by the construction of new houses. We had plenty of stitches and broken bones, but that’s about all.

There was no pornography popping up randomly on computers, or F bombs dropping every few seconds from just about every character in just about every movie. There was no blood spurting in oh-so-graphic video games, or a depraved celebrity photographed holding a model of the severed head of the president of the United States. We were not forced to grow up encountering adult situations, perverse desires, “gender fluidity,” broken families. Don’t get me wrong, our world was anything but perfect, but most folks knew it was not perfect because most folks knew sin existed. Families gathered for suppers, for worship, for ball games and vacations, for weddings and for funerals, or simply because it was evening and there might have been a little breeze on the back porch.

And I recall that one summer, for some reason, I served an early morning Mass every single day. Some days a handful of people were there, but many days it was just Father Gregory Eichenlaub, a Pennsylvania German baseball player turned Benedictine monk who manned our parish for decades; my Aunt Edie, my father’s baby sister, who, upon her death at age 90 had been a daily communicant for around 75 years; and, of course, me. Father Gregory and Aunt Edie were both feisty, you-know-where-you-stand-with-them kind of people whom most children were a little uncomfortable around. But I had all summer, and I simply got over it.

I sometimes wonder if it was just some kind of religious compulsion that kept me donning cassock and surplice every morning of that summer. I don’t know what it was. I do know I remember it, and that remembrance is now a cherished gift. Perhaps because of that remembrance, today when I pass a Catholic church, I make the sign of the cross because I know Who’s in there.

But that’s what we do in any season, isn’t it? As Catholics, we remember. We do not seek to return to a bygone era. Rather, we seek to be a catechism, to infuse a wandering society with the biblical and traditional values that are fast disappearing around us. We seek to remind others that every life is sacred – be it an ethnic or religious minority, an immigrant, a person with Down Syndrome or an unborn child. We seek to remind parents that they are the primary educators of their children. We remember the importance of those core principles that once ruled our lives – as individuals, as communities, as a country.

We seek to remind families how sacred marriage vows should be and how hard we must fight to retain faith in the institution of marriage.

We remind old-timers to look back in gratitude and that with God they are not alone. We remind those left after a loved one passes that love itself has not gone anywhere but lives in the hearts of each family, and that the communion of the saints is absolutely real.

If we can, we relive the days of summer, and we try to bring back a taste of the freedom that helped us once find time to talk and break bread together, to play and to pray and to walk the leafy woods together. We attempt to find in the days of summer remnants of a life that cherished sacred bonds, that celebrated growing up and growing together and growing old. We hold the remnants of that life in our hearts and we reflect them in everything we do. And, even though the shoes stay on these days, still the days of summer are back. They are long and lush and, oh yes…worth thanking God for.

Fred Gallagher is an author and editor-in-chief with Gastonia-based Good Will Publishers Inc.

As a priest of the Diocese of Charlotte, I always look on with interest whenever a brother priest gets his name in the paper. This interest, unfortunately, sometimes turns to trepidation whenever the story of a brother priest has been told in a way that hardly befits himself or his fellows in ministry. It was precisely this sort of trepidation I felt after reading the interview with Monsignor John McSweeney written by Tim Funk in the July 9 Charlotte Observer.

Monsignor McSweeney recently retired after serving ably in a variety of high-profile capacities in his long ministry, and so tributes to him would naturally be appropriate. Such tributes have come in many forms. In its June 23 edition the Catholic News Herald published a fitting homage to the man and his work, and particularly his commitment to “servant leadership” in the diocese, which he has said is his own motto for how he approaches priesthood.

He will again be saluted in August at a Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral honoring those who celebrate significant anniversaries of ordination.

He deserves the praise he receives, having served so long and having presided at the helm of what has become the largest parish in the United States. Indeed, St. Matthew’s boasts a congregation larger than some whole dioceses.

This is a monumental task, one that he has carried out with great efficiency and in a manner that might well serve as a model for other priests with pastoral care of other similarly massive and growing congregations.

So I experienced some sadness at seeing the way in which the Observer chose to salute Monsignor McSweeney. It is apparent from the start that the reporter did not write this article so much to salute the man and his work as to push a controversial agenda. Indeed, the article’s headline was not “A Tribute to Monsignor John McSweeney” – one would have to look in the pages of this diocesan newspaper to find a piece so entitled. Rather, the piece was headlined: “Let Married Men Become Priests, says Pastor of America’s Largest Catholic Church.”

Here the reporter reminds us, and repeats throughout the article, that St. Matthew is America’s largest parish and thus presumably carries some kind of unique authority. It is probably worth pointing out that, apart from the weakness of arguments from authority, St. Matthew’s has become such a large parish because it is the only Catholic church in a very rapidly growing part of the very rapidly growing Charlotte region.

More importantly, the Observer’s headline fails one of the basic rules of headline writing, in that it isn’t truly what the story is about. For one, it is an article marking the occasion of the retirement of a long-serving pastor, and for another, many other issues are covered than simply the ordination of married men. While I did not attend journalism

school, I do know that a headline is supposed to succinctly explain what follows, and also to draw the reader in. While the latter purpose is certainly accomplished, the former is almost certainly not.

What follows then is a piece that simply uses the occasion of Monsignor McSweeney’s retirement to attack certain trends in the Church at large and in particular in the Diocese of Charlotte. Here a point-by-point rebuttal is not necessary, nor is an apologetic for each of the points which the reporter labors so mightily to attack. Rather, I feel that there is one important thing that needs to be said.

I take it personally when my brother priests show up in the paper, and I take it even more personally when their lives and their legacies are used to attack other brother priests, and to stack the deck against the way in which we might go about doing our work for the people of God. I myself am a recent graduate of the Pontifical College Josephinum, which the reporter points out is a place that is inculcating “conservative ideals” in its graduates. I am not entirely sure which conservative ideals I am supposed to have picked up there. All I really learned in seminary that sticks with me is that I need to pray always, work hard every day, and spend myself serving the people of God. To live in this way is the only thing that fulfills me. If these are “conservative ideals,” then would that all priests were conservatives!

There is a certain irony in that in the midst of his criticisms, the reporter speaks of how Monsignor McSweeney is concerned that the Church today puts “the Book of Law before the Book of Love.”

In what part of the “book of love” is found that the ap-propriate way to engage one’s opponents is to label them according to ideological divisions?

In what part of the “book of love” do we hear that love consists of pigeonholing people of a different generation because of the name printed on their diplomas? In what part of the “book of love” does one find the imperative to “lead the revolt”?

What I read in the Observer is not a fitting tribute to a long-serving pastor so much as it is a diatribe against practices and teachings of the Church that the reporter himself must struggle with. It is sad to see that he uses his position as a journalist not to tell stories so much as to mount a bully pulpit, not to engage in the exchange of ideas and legitimate dialogue so much as to attack and belittle. To use the occasion of Monsignor McSweeney’s retirement to take aim at other clergy or the Church is beyond offensive. It is divisive and counterproductive to anything that anyone of any generation or ideological leaning might be trying to do to serve the people of God. Is this really the way Monsignor McSweeney’s life and career should be remembered?

Father Cory Catron is parochial vicar at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Monroe.

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‘A weak, superficial heart is like rocky ground with little soil.’

Pope Francis

From online story: “Laziness, vices prevent seeds of Gospel from taking root, pope says” Through press time on July 19, 7,139 visitors to www.catholicnewsherald.com have viewed a total of 16,733 pages. The top five headlines in July so far have been:

n Priest assignments for 2017.........................................................................................................................................................3,116 n A tribute to Monsignor John McSweeney................................................................................................................................ 454 n Q-and-A on the Vatican’s recent instruction on bread, wine for Communion................................................................ 447 n View the current print edition of the Catholic News Herald..................................................................................................341 n Duc In Altum retreatants encouraged to ‘put out into the deep’.........................................................................................178

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catholicnewsherald.com | July 21, 2017 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

SPEND TIME IN THE PRESENCE OF

OUR LORD

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord. Luke 1:46

the 13th Eucharistic Congress September 8 & 9, 2017 Charlotte Convention Center Bishop Peter Jugis – Mass celebrant and homilist Father JeffREY KIRby “With Our Lady in Spiritual Battle ” HOLY HOUR HOMILIST – Monsignor Christopher Schreck Mario Enzler “I served a Saint ” SISTER John Dominic “Forming Children as Disciples of Christ: Education in Virtue” Anthony Digmann “Introduction to Catholic Apologetics” FRIDAY EVENING: Byzantine Vespers • Bible Study • Eucharistic Procession • College nighT • EUCHARISTIC ADORATION SATURDAY Eucharistic Procession through the streets of Charlotte Holy Hour • Confession • English and Spanish Tracks for Adults • K-12 Education Tracks for Students - Register online • Sacred Music Concerts • Religious displays • Vendors of Sacred Art • Vocation and Education info • Holy Mass – Concelebrated by Bishop Peter Jugis and the priests of the Diocese of Charlotte

www.GoEucharist.com