Oct 11, 1996

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Volume 6 Number 6 • October

Serving Catholics in Western North Carolina in the Diocese of Charlotte

Little

Living By

Home Blossoms

MIKE KROKOS

CHARLOTTE new

people

— For some,

it is

friends they've made. Others

used to prepare each enjoy the countless activi-

talk of the care

meal.

Many

including line dancing the macarena. These amenities are indeed a part of the environment at The Little Flower, but resident Edgar Hill sums it up best: "It's home." Hill, 82, and his wife, Jerrie, 80, ties,

among the 41 residents who moved new assisted living care facility on Lawyers Road in south Charlotte nearly two months ago. They are happy to be a part of The Little Flower family. are

into the

"This should have happened 10 years ago," says Mrs. Hill. "It's so wonderful." Keith Adams and Sharon Mayfield, co-founders of The Little Flower, formed a planning committee in 1994 that included the Hills. Together, the group watched the concept of an assisted living home for Catholic seniors blossom. "The project took two years from conception to opening," says Adams. The Little Flower is geared toward

Conventual Franciscan Father Edgar Holderi sprinkles holy walei on Xaria, a Burmese python, during the Blessing of Animals held Oct. 5 at Winston Square Park in Winston-Salem. Also shown is pet owner Sequoyah Matthews, a parishioner at Our Lady of Fatima Chapel. The popular tradition of the Blessing of Animals originated with St. Francis of Assisi in the early 13th century.

Retreat Celebrates Ministry JIMMY ROSTAR

— receive holy

Staff Writer

HICKORY — By

definition, they

compose

the first of three ranks of ordained ministry in the Catholic Church. Their beginnings date back to scriptural

times, and since the Vatican

II

council

they have been restored as active ministers

of the Church.

They

are deacons,

more than 60 of

whom

serve the Diocese of Charlotte.

From

Oct. 4-6, they, along with their

wives, gathered together

at the

Conference Center to focus on

Catholic

their life's

calling.

"I think

it is

good

orders and remain deacons for life. Transitional deacons are ordained as a step toward the priesthood. In both cases, they are ordained ministers of service to the Church. Historically, the permanent diaconate was suppressed between the fifth century up to the second Vatican

council.

Between

men

"full of the

and wisdom," as

Holy

explained in

is

See Deacons, page 2

work."

Throughout the weekend,

retreat

master Franciscan Father Paul Williams, from St. Anthony of Padua Church in

almost immediately after the 50-minute surgery Oct. 8 and "greeted and thanked everyone" on the medical staff, said Dr.

Francesco Crucitti,

Rome's Gemelli

the

hospital.

Crucitti said all of the pope's vital

the surgery.

He

said the

pope might get

missed from the hospital in a week or so. "It might be even sooner. But let's not forget the pope is in his 77th year," he said. Crucitti said the operation con-

irrside

2 special pages:

Vocation

Awareness

whom they serve.

Oct. 13-19

all

The diaconate as it exists in today's is made up of two com-

Catholic Church

ponents. Permanent deacons

— such

as

at the forefront.

everyday, that's the other thing."

"We

couldn't have done this Adams. "Sharon and I are more the orchestra directors that have brought in other people that have really alone," explains

made

it.

We planted the seed, but others

make it grow." Nearly 80 percent of the residents are Catholic, but the home does not discriminate. "The Catholics and nonCatholics have blended very well," notes helped to

See Flower, page 2

us to exclude, once again, the presence of other pathologies," he said.

He

Pope Speaks

4

Columns.,

5

a cause of the pope's recent flare-ups.

Crucitti expressed irritation with

recent Italian newspaper reports suggest-

more serious diswhich doctors were

ing that the pope had a ease, such as cancer,

either concealing or failing to diagnose.

time to put an end to all these we've read," he said. "There is no secret. I'm here to tell you what the situation really is, and it's exactly as we "It's

fantasies

described

it" in

previous medical state-

ments.

appendec-

tomy was performed on the pontiff. Doctors found exactly what they expected to find: that the pope's appendix had been inflamed and had developed scar

News

Briefs.

...9-10

Parish Profile

6-7

said he

could "categorically" rule out a tumor as

Crucitti said a textbook

Week

be Christ-like to

who performed

signs were normal during and following

Greenville, S.C., reminded the deacons to

needs

"The residents get to do things they haven't be able to do in years," adds Mayfield. "They get to be with people

"The regional examination allowed

The pope regained consciousness

retreat. "It's really

invigorating and beautiful to see that the faith is at

Western

In biblical times, the apostles ap-

Spirit

intellectual

symptoms of fever and nausea.

year-old pontiff.

out of bed the next day and could be dis-

pointed seven

The staff at The Little Flower makes sure physical and personal care needs are met, with social, spiritual and

serious intestinal disorder for the 76-

has experienced a rebirth. to share with

make

sure they are healthy and happy."

removed Pope John Paul IPs inflamed appendix and ruled out any more fully

operation at

ministry," said Rev. Mr. Jos Vandermeer, regional vicar and permanent deacon serving St. Eugene Church of the

then, the

responsible for their residents to

firmed what he and other doctors had diagnosed earlier this year: that the pope was suffering from recurrent episodes of appendix inflammation, which produced

Church generally ordained deacons only as a measure preceding priesthood. Since Pope Paul VPs restoration of the permanent diaconate, however, the ministry

other deacons what we're doing in our

in Asheville,

By JOHN THAVIS ROME (CNS) — Doctors success-

who attended the retreat in Hickory

those

who are basically independent but

need help with their daily living tasks. "The resident assistants are at the core," says Adams. "They are the ones who have their little neighborhood and are

Pope Has Surgery, Doctors Rule Out Serious Disorders

Permanent Diaconate By

1996

Flower Assisted

Editor the

11,

11

4-Page Supplement Propagation of the Faith

tissue.

The doctors

also

removed some

"adherences" in the area, scar tissue that sometimes develops following surgery.

The pope has been operated upon twice

See Surgery, page 3

in


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