Monitor 2018 Year in Review - Jan. 10, 2019

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Newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton, N.J.

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Newspaper of the Diocese of Trenton

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Newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton, N.J.

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2018

he year that was saw the people of the Diocese of Trenton coming together in an array of special events aimed at nurturing their faith and sharing it with others. Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., decreed a Year of Youth and young Catholics answered his call by performing acts of service to the sick, poor and needy.

A pilgrimage to Mexico with the Bishop reinforced the faithful’s love of Our Lady of Guadalupe, while a procession of torches in the Virgin’s honor through Trenton lit hearts aflame.

Ordinations, Blue Ribbon school awards, and new parish communities formed through the Faith in Our Future initiative were celebrated as they A worshipper prays intently before the reliquary fulfilled a common miscontaining fragments of St. Anthony of Padua sion: to bring the love of Oct. 10 in St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, Christ to the world. On a Freehold. Vic Mistretta photo national level, faithful continued to speak up as the immigration battle continued over the treatment of migrants and asylum seekers. Catholics also forged ahead to address climate change matters and supported efforts to assist fellow Americans dealing with losses from natural disasters.

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Bishop O’Connell poses for a photo with faithful from the Diocese and beyond during the Our Lady of Guadalupe pilgrimage in Mexico Dec. 2-7. John Batkowski photo

From left, Father James R. Smith, Father Nicholas R. Dolan, Father Michael G. DeSaye and Father Christopher J. Dayton kneel on their Ordination Day. Craig Pittelli photo

Jonathan Hagmayer of Holy Eucharist Parish, Tabernacle, follows along in a program during the Year of Youth kickoff Mass Oct. 14 in St. Mary of the Pines Church, Manahawkin.

Craig Pittelli photo

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The Monitor • JANUARY 10, 2019

Immigration battles rage on as 2018 comes to an end

By Rhina Guidos Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON • The battles on the immigration front promise to continue well into 2019 and beyond.

In fact, the conflict over the treatment of migrants and asylum seekers at the U.S. southern border only ramped up at year’s end, following the deaths of two migrant children while in U.S. Customs and Borders custody, and the political grudge match between the U.S. President and Congress over money to build a barrier at the Mexican border.

“On immigration, there is no rest for the weary with this administration,” said Kevin Appleby, senior director of international migration policy at the Center for Migration Studies in New York.

One of the most dramatic immigration developments of 2018 took place around summer when then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a new policy that resulted in separating children from parents or other family members traveling with them and then placing the minors in detention centers.

But that policy was just one in a long list of what some see as attacks against refugees, asylum seekers, and other immigrants looking to make the United States their home.

In 2018, the Trump administration

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INDEFENSIBLE •

A Honduran migrant family who are part of a caravan trying to reach the U.S. run from tear gas released by U.S. border patrol Nov. 25 near the fence between Mexico and the United States in Tijuana, Mexico. CNS photo/ Kim Kyung-Hoon, Reuters

announced that the country plans to allow no more than 30,000 refugees into the U.S. during fiscal year 2019 – a record low.

It also announced a new policy requiring people entering the country without documents to present themselves formally at official ports of entry as a condition to qualify for asylum – a move that has triggered long waits, deterring most migrants from touching U.S. soil where they can file an asylum claim.

Most recently, the administration spoke of a proposal to deny permanent residency to legal immigrants who have used public assistance, often referred to as the

LIVES AT RISK • A young boy heading to the United States with other migrants from Central America is given water by Guatemalan police Dec. 19. On Dec. 24, an 8-year-old Guatemalan child detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection died at a hospital in New Mexico, the agency reported, the second migrant child to die in government custody in December. CNS photo/Esteban Biba, Reuter

“On immigration, there is no rest for the weary ...” “public charge” rule. And around Thanksgiving, it authorized the use of tear gas into a crowd that included children at the border near the U.S. and Mexico, near Tijuana.

Throughout the changes and announcements, the Catholic Church, its organizations and members have remained vigilant and active in denouncing some of the policies while also tending to those they have affected.

When the Trump administration separated approximately 2,300 children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border between May and June of 2018 as part of a new policy to deter border crossings and then later rescinded the policy, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services, Catholic Charities USA and a network of other Catholic agencies from around the country quickly mobilized to help reunite those who were separated.

They provided short-term care, such as food and shelter, transportation for some, and served as locales to bring the families together again.

With the influx of Central American migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border seeking to flee violence in countries such as Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, places such as the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley’s Humanitarian Respite Center in

McAllen, Texas, Annunciation House in the El Paso/Juarez and border region, and other temporary shelters run by the Diocese of El Paso, have been on the front lines of providing the basics, from food to clothes and temporary shelter, to the incoming crowds of migrants.

Many of those places have seen Catholic volunteers such as Margie Legowski come through their doors to help.

Legowski, a parishioner from Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Washington’s Georgetown neighborhood, traveled to the McAllen, Texas, area during Thanksgiving, to help the migrants at the Humanitarian Respite Center.

The center had “a huge influx of people,” she said, sick and exhausted from the trek, but also frustrated and sad at the rigorous process of asylum whose rules the Trump administration was seeking to change at the time.

“I saw such sadness, patience and almost giving up,” she told Catholic News Service.

There is concern for the human toll of the policies, she said, especially because the U.S. government can use its great resources, including physicians and even the National Guard, to provide assistance to the migrants and not to use its resources to antagonize them.

At the national level, bishops have voiced their support for migrants and their right to seek refuge. In July, in a highly publicized visit, top leadership from the USCCB traveled to the border region of McAllen and Brownsville in Texas to personally meet with some of them, mothers and fathers, at a Catholic-run temporary shelter. The

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In 2018, Catholics spearheaded efforts to address climate change

By Dennis Sadowski Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON • Catholic organizations called for greater personal responsibility in tackling climate change and stepped up their advocacy in opposing the rollback of U.S. environmental regulations during the last year.

Their efforts held up Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical, “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home,” which focuses on understanding how integrated human life is with all life on earth and the need to be responsible stewards of the planet’s resources.

A key effort came from the Catholic Climate Covenant, which introduced the Catholic Climate Declaration in April.

Nearly 800 declaration signers said they remain committed to the Paris climate accord despite President Donald Trump’s plan to withdraw the U.S. from the agreement.

In inviting Catholic entities to sign the declaration, Bishop Richard E. Pates, who heads the Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa, and is episcopal liaison for the effort, said the document serves as a “distinct Catholic expression” of the broader We Are Still In effort.

We Are Still In finds tribal leaders, government officials and organizations committing to address climate issues and

CLIMATE’S TOLL • The sun peeks through the smoke and burned out trees during the Carr Fire in late July in the Whiskeytown Shasta-Trinity National Recreation Area near Redding, Calif. Catholic organizations in 2018 called for greater personal responsibility in tackling climate change. CNS

photo/Kelly Jordan, USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters

following the Paris agreement despite the planned U.S. withdrawal.

The Trump administration has further vexed Catholic organizations through its two-year campaign to roll back environmental regulations. Their concern: The rollbacks are focused on helping industry boost profits at the expense of human health and safety and the environment.

Trump has said that his push to overturn some environmental and other regulations is motivated by concern the

regulations have gone “overboard,” costing coal workers their jobs and hindering use of the country’s national resources. Some GOP congressional leaders as well as business leaders support the move.

Organizations such as the Washingtonbased Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach have conducted webinars and developed educational materials about the consequences that experts project will stem from the rollbacks.

Through mid-November, at least 49

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policies related to the environment have been enacted or proposed since Trump took office, according to Harvard Law School’s Environmental Regulation Rollback Tracker.

Such efforts on behalf of the environment illustrate the widespread support in the faith community for action to protect natural resources and to address climate change that emerged with new energy in 2018.

The prayerful determination of a Pennsylvania religious order to block the use of a natural gas pipeline that was built through its land was part of the groundswell for environmental action.

After months of legal challenges, the Adorers of the Blood of Christ asked the U.S. Supreme Court in October to decide whether their religious freedom rights were violated by the construction and pending use of the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline. In a court filing, attorney Dwight Yoder, representing the congregation, argued that the sisters’ rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act were disregarded by a federal appeals court.

The Adorers’ legal appeal came a month before a major scientific report See Climate • S8

Catholic Charities strove to meet challenges of natural disasters

By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON • In the face of hurricanes, fires, floods and even an earthquake, Catholic Charities agencies across the nation did their best to help thousands of their fellow residents through some of the worst natural disasters they had ever encountered.

Some of the disasters were so severe the relief work continues.

Hurricane Michael in October, which caused $8.1 billion in damage and resulted in 50 deaths, required a yeoman effort by Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida to deliver aid to those hit.

Within two days of the hurricane, the agency was able to commandeer a large parking lot and distribute emergency aid, from food to toiletries to gasoline, according to Eva Wise, assistant executive director.

“It was pretty amazing to see how much people care. That was the positive thing out of all of this,” Wise said. The parking lot distribution site was open seven hours a day, every day, for five weeks. It required, and got, 80-100 volunteers staffing it.

Three Catholic Charities staffers lost their homes and possessions in the hurricane. Two, Wise told Catholic News Service, are still living in Catholic Charities

HISTORY-MAKING • Amid debris and destroyed homes, first responders and residents assess the damage Oct. 11 after Hurricane Michael swept through Mexico Beach, Fla. The Category 4 storm raged through the Florida Panhandle into Georgia Oct. 10 as the most powerful storm to hit the continental United States in decades, turning homes into piles of lumber and flooding subdivisions. CNS photo/Carlo Allegri, Reuters shelters.

In September, Hurricane Florence pulverized the Carolinas. It was even deadlier than Michael, with 55 deaths attributed to it, along with $13 billion in damage. “It was definitely a bigger and more drawn-out

storm than we had experienced before,” said Kelly Kaminski, director of disaster services for Catholic Charities of South Carolina.

Kaminski said the storm’s duration and magnitude “dragged out” Catholic Charities’ response time. “There were areas that

were still waterlogged. You would go in on a Wednesday, and by Thursday night they’d need to be evacuated,” she said. “There are houses that are still drying out.”

In all, the Catholic Charities response was nearly eight weeks – far longer than the two to four weeks it typically conducts relief efforts. It taxed Catholic Charities staff and volunteers. “We ended up deploying teams from across the country from Catholic Charities USA,” Kaminski said. “So many of our staff was directly impacted with their (own) houses.”

Wildfires in the West took their toll as well.

The Carr Fire in July in Redding and Shasta, California, wiped out 229,651 acres but also took out 1,604 buildings and resulted in eight deaths.

According to John Watkins, director of Catholic Charities of Sacramento, the Carr Fire was the largest natural disaster they had ever faced. “The Carr Fire was very large.

Redding is a city, it’s not countryside. It’s not a huge city, but you don’t think of these asphalt cities to be burning up like that,” he said.

And then came the Camp Fire in November. The total acreage was somewhat less – 153,336 acres burned – but the

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The Monitor • JANUARY 10, 2019

Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., and Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R, archbishop of Newark, promote teamwork and discipleship during the Region III V Encuentro.

MAJOR EVENTS AND CELEBRATIONS  Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M, celebrated a Mass of Sending in St. Robert Bellarmine CoCathedral, Freehold, Jan. 18 on the eve of the 45th annual March for Life in Washington.  On Jan. 22, dozens of all generations gathered with Bishop O’Connell for the annual Mass for Life in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton. Speaking about the U.S. Supreme Court decision, the Bishop reminded the congregation, “What is legal is not always moral.” The crowd then walked to the steps of the N.J. Statehouse for the Rally for Life to hear pro-life speakers and join in prayer.  About 185 women, men and children gathered with their godparents, sponsors and family members for the Rite of Election held Feb. 18 in St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, a milestone in their faith journeys. During the March 31 Easter Vigil, more than 600 men and women entered into full communion with the Catholic Church, 188 receiving the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist) through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults process, while the remaining 460 RCIA candidates recieving First Eucharist and Confirmation.  An estimated four million-plus viewers from around the nation tuned in to the ABC television network for a nationally televised Mass on Easter Sunday with Bishop O’Connell in St. Catharine Church, Spring Lake. The Mass had been live-recorded the preceding Nov. 30.  St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral was filled to capacity April 17 as nearly 1,000 members of the law enforcement community, along with clergy, state officials and supporters of all ages, gathered for the Diocese’s 19th annual Blue Mass. Amid the colorful and rousing presence of bagpipers, fife and drum corps and honor guards, the central message was that those who work in law enforcement are greatly appreciated, and that, with God, they are never alone.  About 355 delegates from across two states came together April 28 in St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral for the Region III V Encuentro meeting. The gathering covered the topics of Hispanic Catholic ministry, outreach, immigration, intercultural and leadership development and other as related to the New Evangelization. Ten delegates from the Diocese of Trenton journeyed to Grapevine, Texas, for the V National Encuentro in September.  Taking his next step on his journey toward the priesthood, Christopher Pinto received the Sacrament of Holy Orders and was ordained as a transitional deacon May 19 in St. Raphael Church, Hamilton, by Bishop O’Connell. Pinto is expected to be ordained a priest in 2019.  St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral was the site of a joyous Mass June 2 as Bishop O’Connell ordained four men to the priesthood: Father Christopher Dayton; Father

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Michael G. DeSaye; Father Nicholas Dolan, and Father James R. Smith.  The diocesan Department of Pastoral Care held its annual “Senior Spirituality Day and So Much More” July 18 in St. Gregory the Great Parish, Hamilton Square. More than 400 mature adults heard Msgr. Sam Sirianni, rector of St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, and members of the International Catholic Grandparents Association discuss passing on the faith from generation to generation, with heavy emphasis on mentoring youth. Mass was celebrated by Bishop O’Connell.  Thousands from around the Diocese journeyed to St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral to venerate the relics of St. Anthony of Padua Oct. 10, and St. Pio of Pietrelcina Nov. 13.  Some 350 couples celebrating one, 25, 50 or more years of marriage renewed their wedding vows and received the blessings of their Bishop during the Anniversary Blessing Masses held Oct. 7 in St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral and Oct. 21 in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral. The Monitor issued a special tribute keepsake magazine of the occasion.  Some 700 representatives from some 40 Catholic schools across the Diocese filled St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral Oct. 11 for the Diocese’s annual Catholic Schools Mass, including representatives from this year’s five Blue Ribbon Award-winning schools. In his homily, Bishop O’Connell told the assemblage, “Catholic schools help you recognize God’s gifts, help you take [them] and make them something beautiful.”  The third annual Our Lady of Guadalupe traveling torches, or “Las Antorchas Guadalupanas,” grew to include more churches and faithful. Fifteen torches were lit in St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral Oct. 27, and entrusted to parish after parish throughout

Matthew Greeley photo

the month of November. They joined as one for a procession Dec. 1 through the streets of Trenton to St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral for a Mass and celebration.  About 40 faithful from the Diocese of Trenton and beyond united with Bishop O’Connell for a pilgrimage to Mexico Dec. 2-7. Among the sites visited by the pilgrims was the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

CAMPAIGNS, INITIATIVES AND ACHIEVEMENTS  Ahead of the Church’s observances of National Marriage Week and World Marriage Sunday, the Diocese of Trenton introduced three new initiatives to celebrate the Sacrament of Marriage in parishes and Cohorts.

The programs included three-minute pulpit talks by married couples, lawn signs proclaiming the sanctity of Catholic marriage and the creation of parish core teams to conduct marriage ministry.  To date, the “Faith to Move Mountains” initiative raised more than $72 million to aid the Diocese’s future. About $45 million has been collected, with $13 million rebated to parishes. Donors to the initiative numbered 24,747.  The Annual Day of Service campaign ad-

opted the theme “Hearts to Hospitals: Hearts to Lead, Hands to Help,” urging students from Catholic schools of the Diocese to gather up more than 1,000 gift items and $13,000 in cash and gift cards for children being treated in area hospitals, as well as their families.  As part of the multi-year implementation process resulting from the pastoral planning initiative “Faith in Our Future,” Bishop O’Connell announced details related to the new parish entities of 14 individual communities. Effective July 1: The merged parishes of St. Catharine of Siena, Seaside Park, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Seaside Heights, became St. Junipero Serra Parish.

The merged parishes of St. Jerome, West Long Branch, and St. Mary, Deal, became Our Lady of Hope Parish.

The merged parishes of Assumption, New Egypt, and St. Andrew, Jobstown, became St. Isidore the Farmer Parish.

The merged parishes of St. Joseph and Jesus the Lord, both Keyport, became Our Lady of Fatima Parish.

The merged parishes of Sacred Heart and Blessed Sacrament-Our Lady of the Divine Shepherd, both Trenton, became Sacred Heart Parish.

The merged parishes of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Avon, and Ascension, Bradley Beach, became St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish.

The merged parishes of St. Mary, Bordentown, and St. Francis and St. Clare, Florence Township, became Mary Mother of the Church Parish.

PERSONNEL IN MINISTRY  Six priests joined the ranks of their retired brethren: Msgr. James J. Brady, Father Daniel G. Cahill, Father Kenneth W. Ekdahl, Father Edwin J. Mathias, Father Jerome M. Nolan and Father Michael J. O’Connor.  The diocesan Department of Catechesis Continued on • S5

Catholic school students pose for a photo outside the Chancery, Lawrenceville, after being acknowledged, along with their schoolmates, for the extraordinarily successful “Hearts to Hospitals: Hearts to Lead – Hands to Help” Day of Service campaign. Craig Pittelli photo

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Young parishioners join Father Dean Gaudio and deacons in the sanctuary for the Lord’s Prayer during Mass July 1 in Ascension Church, Bradley Beach, a worship site of the new parish of St. Teresa of Calcutta. Father Gaudio is the parish pastor. Mike Ehrmann photo Continued from • S4

welcomed Denise Contino as its new director.  Deacon David O’Connor was appointed the new diocesan director of Catholic Cemeteries.  About 160 priests spent time together in prayer and Mass and fellowship during the annual three-day convocation of priests Sept.

11-13 in Galloway. Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of the Paterson Diocese served as keynote speaker, reminding his fellow clerics, “We are the administrators of the gifts given to us by God and we are to use these gifts as a means to giving glory to him.”  Father Daniel E. Kirk, pastor, St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Cinnaminson, served as keynote speaker during the annual diocesan diaconate convocation Oct. 26-27 in Princeton.

Some 200 deacons and their wives attended the convocation marking the 50th year of the re-establishment of the permanent diaconate.

Catholics about the desire of young people to live and witness their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and to inspire parishes throughout the Diocese to welcome young people, help them to feel at home and encourage their participation in parish life.  The Bishop launched the “Young Saint Series,” profiles published in The Monitor newspaper and online that feature biogra-

A LOOK BACK

phies about young Catholics named to the sainthood.  Teens put their faith into action during the July 12-15 Mission: Jersey retreat, pitching in at the Trenton Community Garden, attending Mass with their peers, and assisting in local social service agencies. The second stage of the initiative was based at St. Theresa Parish, Little Egg Harbor.  More than 1,000 teens filled St. Mary of the Pines Church, Manahawkin, for a Mass celebrated by Bishop O’Connell and a talent show Oct. 14 to officially kick off the Diocese’s Year of Youth.

YOUTH AND YOUNG ADULTS  The Feb. 10 Diocesan Youth Conference held in Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft, invited the nearly 700 teens, youth ministry leaders, adults and men and women religious to be “Fearless 365” while celebrating their Catholic faith through song, dance, prayer and keynote speeches.  Bishop O’Connell issued a decree that July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019, shall be celebrated throughout the four counties of the Diocese of Trenton as a Year of Youth. The purposes and goals of the Year of Youth are to increase the active engagement of young Catholics in relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and help them grow in faith as missionary disciples; to celebrate the gifts of young Catholics and increase their opportunities to make a difference at home, in their school, their parish, their Diocese and the world; to challenge misconceptions about the Church and cultivate a more positive attitude among young adult

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Olivia Marino of St. Joseph Parish, Toms River, shares her singing talent with hundreds of her peers during the “DOT’s Got Talent” showcase that concluded the Diocese’s Year of Youth kickoff Oct. 14 in St. Mary of the Pines Church complex, Manahawkin.

Craig Pittelli photo

 The Diocese opened its first cremation garden on the grounds of St. Mary Cemetery and Mausoleum, Hamilton, Jan. 30.  Bishop O’Connell blessed St. Crispin House, a parish outreach center located in Red Bank, April 8. The center, affiliated with St. Anthony of Padua Parish, will be staffed by priests and brothers of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri and contains a food pantry, storage areas, a community meeting room and offices.  Clergy celebrating 50 years of service include Father Anthony Carotenuto, Msgr.

John K. Dermond, Father Michael S. Vona, and Father Harold Cullen, who was also named a Chaplain of Honor to His Holiness with the title of Monsignor.

 Priests celebrating 25 years of service include Father Joseph Hlubik and Father Eugene Vavrick.  Religious of the Diocese marking 50 years of service to the Church include Sister of St. Francis Patricia Bove, Sister of Mercy Beth Dempsey, Christian Brother Dennis Lee, Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Mary Agnes Ryan, Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister M.E. Diane Simons and Filippini Sister Elizabeth Toft.  Deacon Robert Barnes marked 25 years in the permanent diaconate.  On the sixth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, Bishop O’Connell joined staff and supporters from Seeds of Service Oct. 29 to celebrate its grand opening in Brick. The organization is a successor aid agency from the Visitation Relief Center.  The Lawrenceville-based Center for FaithJustice celebrated 10 years of service.

IN MEMORIAM  The Diocese mourned the loss of priests who served at one time in the four counties, including Father Roman Modino, Feb. 28, age 80; Father John Gibbons, Feb. 3, age 86; Msgr. John Szymanski, June 28, age 86; Conventual Franciscan Father Emmett J. Carroll, Aug. 20, age 93, and Trinitarian Father Philip A. Cordisco, Nov. 17, age 86.  Departed deacons of the Diocese included: Michael Principato, St. Monica Parish, Jackson, Feb. 24, age 75; Thomas Cater, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Whiting, Feb. 27, age 75; James McKeon, St. Gabriel Parish, Marlboro, June 7, age 82; Frank Giglio, St. Isaac Jogues Parish, Marlton, June 3, age 83; Edward Herr, St. Dorothea Parish, Eatontown, June 15, age 77; James Gonzalez, St. John Parish, Lakehurst, July 15, age 74; Normand C. Bailey, St. Rose Parish, Belmar, Aug. 25, age 86; Robert J. Klein, St. Mary Parish, Barnegat, Sept. 2, age 82; James M. Micali, St. Clement Parish, Matawan, Sept.

15, age 66; Raymond R. Rainville, Our Lady of Perpetual Help-St. Agnes Parish, Atlantic Highlands, Nov. 16, age 65, and James P. Walsh, Holy Innocents, Parish, Neptune, Dec. 14, age 78.

COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA  Marlene Lao-Collins, executive director of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Trenton, announced a new one-stop website that links the services of all five N.J. Catholic Charities agencies. The site, cchelpsnj.org, is the first of its kind in the United States.  The Monitor, newspaper of the Diocese of Trenton, was honored with five awards and an honorable mention June 15 by the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada during the 2018 Catholic Media Conference held in Green Bay, Wisc. The awards

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St. John Vianney High School students line the Holmdel campus hallways in prayer as they take part in the “National School Walkout” March 14 to show solidarity with victims of school violence in the wake of the high school shooting in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 dead. Mike Ehrmann photo Continued from • S5

included first and third-place honors for Best Reporting on Vocations and a third-place nod for Newspaper of the Year.

PARISH NEWS  St. Mary of the Lakes Parish, Medford, celebrated 75 years.  National speaker Chris Stefanick drew more than 800 faithful to St. Leo the Great School, Lincroft, April 11 for his “Reboot! Live!” presentation on how and why to become more involved in parish life.  St. Mary of the Lake Church, Lakewood, hosted Polish Archbishop Waclaw Depo, who celebrated Mass and blessed an icon of Our Lady of Guadalupe before hundreds Aug. 5.

SCHOOL NEWS  During the month of March, high school students in the Diocese of Trenton joined millions from across the United States for “National School Walkout,” an event for public and nonpublic students alike to show solidarity with victims of school violence in the wake of the high school shooting in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 dead.  In May and June, more than 1,500 young men and women graduated from 11 high schools in the Diocese, earning more than $225 million in college scholarships. In addition, 1,183 eighth-grade students graduated from the Diocese’s 31 Catholic grammar schools.  John McKenna, principal of St. Ann School, Lawrenceville, retired June 30, as did Barry Breen, president of Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville.  The Diocese of Trenton welcomed new school principals for the 2018-2019 school year: Kevin Donahue, St. Benedict School, Holmdel; Joanna Barlow, Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville; Mary Liz Ivins, interim president, Notre Dame High School; Sister of St. Joseph of Chestnut Hill Mary Helen Beirne, St. Rose of Lima School, Freehold; Salvatore

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Chiaravalloti, St. Ann School, Lawrenceville; Kimberly Cioci, interim principal, St. Paul School, Burlington; Kim O. Clauss, St. Paul School, Princeton; Theresa Craig, Our Lady of Mount Carmel School, Asbury Park; Debra Serafin, Mater Dei Prep, Middletown, and Cynthia Smith, Our Lady of Perpetual Help School, Maple Shade.  Adopting new models of educational oversight, Holy Cross Preparatory Academy, Delran, opened as a private school helmed by principal William J. Stonis, and All Saints Regional Catholic School, Manahawkin, will

Red Bank Catholic High School celebrates winning the Non-Public Group III championship game against Middletown’s Mater Dei Prep Nov. 24 at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford.

John Blaine photo

move away from its regional model and reopen in July 2019 as St. Mary Academy under the administration of St. Mary Parish, Barnegat.  Five schools of the Diocese were recognized as Blue Ribbon Schools of Excellence by the United States Department of Education and the Council for American Private Education: St. Leo the Great, Lincroft; St. Catharine, Spring Lake; St. Dominic, Brick; St. James, Red Bank, and St. Jerome, West Long Branch. This marks the second time St. Leo the Great was named a Blue Ribbon School, and brings to 13 the number of schools in the Diocese to receive this designation of excellence in academics in recent years.  The pastor of Holy Innocents Parish, Neptune, and principal of the parish school issued a joint letter Nov. 10 announcing the Catholic schools would close its doors in June 2019.

SPORTS  The St. John Vianney High School, Holmdel, girls softball team won their first state NJSIAA title in five years June 2.  Donovan Catholic graduate Alyssa Wilson made history June 15-17 by becoming the first junior woman to qualify for Team USA in three throwing events.  Mater Dei Prep, Middletown, welcomed Dennis Kazimir as the new boys head basketball coach.  Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft, clinched the NJSIAA Non-Public A boys soccer state title Nov. 11.  Red Bank Catholic won the NJSIAA NonPublic Group III football championship Nov. 24.  Barb Major, longtime head coach of varsity field hockey in Notre Dame High School, Lawrenceville, retired after 50 years.

Students from St. Leo the Great School, Lincroft, celebrate the first week of October being one of five Catholic schools in the Diocese to be named 2018 National Blue Ribbon Schools. John Batkowski photo

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Big decisions, bench changes for U.S. Supreme Court this year

By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON • The Supreme Court’s past year will probably be remembered more for the shakeup at the bench than for specific rulings.

In early July when President Donald Trump announced that Judge Brett Kavanaugh was his nominee to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, the divided nation responded accordingly.

Many praised the judge’s qualifications and were pleased that the president had fulfilled his campaign promise to nominate a pro-life judge to the Supreme Court, but the choice angered many Americans displeased that Kavanaugh’s vote as a justice could potentially reverse the court’s 1973 Roe v.

Wade decision legalizing abortion.

Kavanaugh, who is Catholic, spoke about putting his faith in action during Senate confirmation hearings. He said he regularly served meals with Catholic Charities’ St. Maria’s Meals program in Washington and that talking to the people there helps him to understand the situation that they are in. He also spoke about coaching his daughter’s CYO basketball team, and the players came in uniform to one of the hearings to show their support.

Protests about his nomination began the night he was announced as a potential replacement of Kennedy and continued until his swearing in, intensifying during Senate confirmation hearings, particularly

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the Sept. 27 hearing concerning Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations of a sexual assualt

by Kavanaugh when they were in high school, which he denied.

The Senate confirmed Kavanaugh as a Supreme Court Justice in a 50-48 vote Oct. 6, days after the Supreme Court had resumed its new term.

The court’s new session did not have the drama of high-profile cases on hotbutton issues.

Kavanaugh missed one of the court’s two death penalty cases for the current session argued Oct. 1. The second case, argued Nov. 6, was about using an alternative execution method on a death-row inmate with a rare medical condition.

Without Kennedy, often the swing vote, on the court, all eyes were on Kavanaugh in the oral arguments in this case. His death penalty views were unknown since as a federal appeals court judge he rarely heard capital punishment cases. But in oral arguments before the Supreme Court, his pointed questions to the state’s attorney indicated he might favor the inmate’s request for an alternate form of execution.

CONTROVERSIAL JUSTICE • U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh takes his ceremonial oath during his Oct. 8 public swearing-in with retired Justice Anthony Kennedy in the East Room of the White House. The Catholic judge replaced Kennedy, also a Catholic, who retired July 31. CNS photo/Jim Bourg, Reuters

YEAR OF CHANGE • Cherry blossoms are seen in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington last March. CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn

“The court’s new session did not have the drama of high-profile cases on hot-button issues.”

In an abortion-related case that could have come before the Supreme Court this term, Kavanaugh was among the majority of justices who agreed not to take it. The case was an appeal from Kansas and Louisiana on lower court rulings that have stopped those states from blocking Medicaid funds from going to Planned Parenthood. The case needed four justices to approve hearing arguments in order for it to move forward.

Pro-life leaders said they were disappointed with the court’s decision, saying that while federal funds cannot be used for abortions, Planned Parenthood should not get Medicaid funding because its facilities primarily perform abortions.

Big cases the court ruled on in its previous term earlier this year that had a specific Catholic Church interest included: the president’s travel ban, immigration, a same-sex wedding cake, sports betting, union dues, the death penalty and pro-life pregnancy centers.

Catholic Church leaders weighed in on many of these cases, submitting friend-ofthe-court briefs and issuing statements after the decisions were announced.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Catholic Charities USA and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network expressed disappointment with the court’s 5-4 decision upholding Trump’s travel ban preventing people entering the U.S. from some Muslim-majority countries.

In the case of the same-sex wedding cake, the U.S. bishops sided with the court’s 7-2 decision in favor of the Colorado baker who cited religious beliefs in declining to make the wedding cake for a same-sex couple. The narrow ruling said the baker’s

religious freedom had been violated by the state’s Civil Rights Commission, but it did not determine if a small business can invoke federal free-speech and religious-exercise rights to deny services to same-sex couples.

The Catholic bishops also sided with the court’s 5-4 ruling that a California law requiring pregnancy centers to tell patients about the availability of state-funded abortion services violated the First Amendment.

They disagreed with the court’s 5-4 decision in the case about union dues where the court overruled its previous decision allowing state agencies to require their unionrepresented employees to pay fees to the union for collective bargaining costs even if they are not union members.

One case that might have seemed under the radar for Catholic leaders was the 6-3 ruling that cleared the way for states to legalize sports betting, striking down a 1992 federal law, but editorials in at least two Catholic archdiocesan newspapers warned about some potential dangers of this decision saying it could bring about an increased addition to gambling.

In a death penalty case, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of a Texas death-row inmate, ordering a federal appellate court to reconsider his requests for funding to investigate his claims of mental illness and substance abuse.

In abortion decisions earlier this year, the justices threw out a lower court’s ruling that allowed a 17-year-old last year to obtain an abortion while she was in a detention center after an illegal border crossing. The court also said it would not hear a case against an Arkansas abortion law, thus letting the state’s restrictions on abortioninducing drugs stand.

In immigration cases, the court early in the year ruled that some immigrants detained by the government can be held indefinitely and it also declined to hear and rule on whether the administration has the right to shut down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA program, which the U.S. bishops have supported.

S8 YEAR in REVIEW

The Monitor • JANUARY 10, 2019

Church responds to immigration challenges Climate change addressed Continued from • S2

visit also included a stop at a government detention center for minors who had been separated, a converted Wal-Mart, where the bishops celebrated Mass.

U.S. Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston said then, in a July 2 news conference, that the Church supports the right of nations to protect their borders, but having strong borders and having compassion are not mutually exclusive. A solution with compassion can be found, he said.

But many worry that compassion is what’s lacking in the policy decisions that have been handed down by the Trump administration when it comes to immigration, and as long as they continue, the concern is for the men, women and children at the border who may suffer the consequences.

“I picture the ship turned away … the

Jews no one would take,” said Legowski, referencing a German ocean liner the U.S. government, under the Democratic Roosevelt administration, turned away in 1939 carrying Jewish refugees looking to escape the Third Reich. Many of them would later perish at the hands of the Nazis.

“That’s what we’re doing to people,” Legowski said. “How can we turn our backs on people? Shame on us.”

2018

A LOOK BACK

Continued from • S3

compiled by 13 federal agencies warned that dire health and economic consequences are ahead if carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are not reduced. Scientific research has pointed to the emissions as a primary cause of climate change.

Reacting to the report, several Catholic environmental experts told Catholic News Service the conclusions point to the need to put aside the desires of an individual or a single country in favor of steps that protect the common good.

In support of that, Tomas Insua, executive director of the Global Catholic Climate Movement, said Pope Francis has supported ethical financial investment. He cited the Pope’s June address to executives of fossil fuel corporations and financial firms in which he urged them to embrace a new kind of leadership that believes in building

Disasters tax Catholic Charities’ resources Continued from • S3

While no deaths or serious injuries The agency is also working to organize St. devastation was far greater: 85 deaths, and Thomas More Parish, “which is in diaspora,” were reported, schools were shut down for 18,804 buildings lost. It ranks as the most he added, as its facilities also were lost in the a week to assess damage, according to Tricia Teasley, director of community relations destructive fire since 1932, when accurate blaze. and development for Catholic Charities of records started being kept.

A May 4 earthquake in Hawaii was the So much smoke and charred soot from biggest to hit the area since 1975. The quake Anchorage.

Damage estimates are unclear so soon the fire drifted southward to San Francisco damaged many buildings, caused landslides, after the quake. First-day estimates came in and Oakland, 170 miles away, that residents and damaged a road, causing it to be shut at anywhere from $100 million to $1 billion. were walking outside wearing surgical down. A major eruption of the Kilauea Teasley said the Archdiocese of masks the day after the fire started Nov. 8. volcano occurred at the same time, sending Anchorage’s properties seemed to have Watkins gave credit to the national untold gallons of lava landward, with much survived the quake fairly well, including two Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which had spilling out into the Pacific Ocean.

Catholic Charities-run shelters. trained people on case management. There And a 7.0-magnitude earthquake hamAftershocks continue deep in the were 22 at an intake center in nearby Chico, mered Alaska’s largest city, Anchorage, Nov. Alaskan earth, but also in residents’ con“and they processed well over 3,000 people, 30. A 5.7-magnitude aftershock followed sciousness. giving out hygiene kits, gift cards,” he said. only seven minutes later.

“They got the families started in the recovery process by doing these case management techniques.”

He also lauded Catholic Charities USA. “They have an expertise in doing the relief, technical support, and money, because they collect funds on a national level in a way that we can’t,” Watkins said.

“The state wants our Catholic Charities of California to take the lead.

And we work with Catholic Charities of California,” Watkins said. “It’s complicated, but we’re really lucky as Catholics to have this infrastructure, because you need these other agencies to come and help you out.”

Catholic Charities had an auxiliary office in Paradise, California, which SURREAL SCENE • First responders stand on a collapsed roadway near the airport after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake Nov. 30 in Anchorage, Alaska. CNS photo/Nathaniel Wilder, Reuters burned down in the fire.

Water is “a basic and universal human right.” the whole human family while protecting the environment and to use alternatives to carbon-based fuels to mitigate the effects of global warming.

In other ways, Pope Francis continued to stress the importance of protecting God’s creation, calling care and protection of Earth’s water resources “an urgent imperative” and access to safe drinkable water a “basic and universal human right” in his message Sept. 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.

The Pope in July called on world governments to uphold commitments agreed upon in the Paris accord in an address to an international conference of indigenous and young activists, scientific experts, religious leaders at the Vatican. The conference was called to assess the impact of the encyclical and to discuss the best ways to act in promoting “integral ecology.”

While the U.S. moved ahead with its plan to withdraw from the Paris agreement, representatives from around the world gathered in Katowice, Poland, Dec. 2-14 to offer plans to meet their pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Catholic groups in particular promised to bring the Church’s voice to the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – known as COP24. The groups, including the 17 Catholic development agencies from Europe and North America that make up CIDSE, said growing interest in the Catholic Church as a moral leader and globally recognized authority will raise the profile of any statements member agencies make.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, and Cardinal Turkson led a delegation from the Holy See to the meeting.

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