Feb. 6, 2022, ET Catholic, A section

February 6

| 2022

VOL 31 NO 6

IN THIS ISSUE SPLASH GIFT OF LIFE B7 GATORADE B1CELEBRATING A8 THE Knoxville Catholic High CATHOLIC EDUCATION St. John Neumann School staffer's organ gift saves lives

Diocese of Knoxville schools shine

School has 2 Gatorade Players of the Year

He dwells among us ......................... A3 Columns ..........................................B2-3 Parish news ....................................... B4 Diocesan calendar ............................ B5 Catholic schools ..........................B7-10 La Cosecha ............................Section C

Marches for life attract supporters of all ages Events in Chattanooga, Knoxville attract hundreds of supporters

National march official: pro-life marchers’ energy, enthusiasm is ‘palpable’

By Gabrielle Nolan

By Kurt Jansen Catholic News Service

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Local march continued on page A15

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GABRIELLE NOLAN

ultiple March for Life events took place across the state of Tennessee as Jan. 22 commemorated the 49th anniversary of Roe v. Wade legalizing abortion throughout the United States.

Knoxville and Chattanooga held marches for participants to walk through their communities holding anti-abortion signs while joining in prayer and community to give witness to the pro-life cause. This year’s theme was “Equality begins in the womb.”

The annual marches are sponsored by Tennessee Right to Life (TRL), a nonprofit and non-sectarian pro-life advocacy organization that is affiliated with the National Right to Life Committee in Washington, D.C. Local chapters throughout the state give volunteers an opportunity to advance pro-life events and messages within their own communities.

Monica Irvine, a board member for the Knox County TRL chapter, spoke at the opening presentation before the Knoxville march on Sunday, Jan. 23, at the Knoxville Convention Center on Henley Street.

“It feels good to be here with you. It feels good to know, today, we did something for the unborn,” Mrs. Irvine said. “They need us.

All of the babies who deserve to

In lockstep for life East Tennessee students take part in the Knoxville March for Life on Jan. 23 in the Fort Sanders neighborhood. More than 600 people of all ages and from all faiths took part in the march that began with a prayer service at the Knoxville Convention Center.

ne aspect of the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., that never changes is the loud cheering when the lead group, carrying the banner, arrives in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.

That tradition was sustained Jan. 21 as groups from Christendom College in Front Royal, Va., and Immanuel Lutheran School in Alexandria, Va., joined by Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, Va., arrived from the pre-march rally held in subfreezing temperatures on the National Mall.

The march up Constitution Avenue to the court had taken them slightly more than two hours.

The crowd, not quite the more than 100,000 who attended in 2020 when President Donald Trump addressed the rally in person, nonetheless appeared robust and easily was within the estimate march organizers always give as being in the tens of thousands.

And that was just fine with Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund.

“Every year is unique,” she told Catholic News Service before the rally began. “But the energy and enthusiasm of the marchers is palpable.”

Ms. Mancini wouldn’t speculate National march continued on page A16

‘At home and secure’

St. John XXIII Parish volunteers assist refugees, including Afghans, relocating to East Tennessee “I will forever be grateful to my welcoming team of volunteers from St. John XXIII. It is true that Bridge received me

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and the kids, but this journey wouldn’t have been the same without the St. John XXIII love and support since February 2018 until now, because they’ve never left us.”

Theresa, Congolese mother

magine you must flee your home country. All you can take with you is what you are able to carry on your back and in your hands, if it doesn’t get lost or stolen, that is.

Perhaps you are leaving relatives and friends behind, and you wonder what may happen to them.

Now, imagine you arrive in a foreign country where you do not know the language. You are unfamiliar with the climate, the foods, the cultural traditions. And yet, you hope your new life will bring safety and stability to you and your family, so you endure the challenges that come your way.

This is the life of a refugee.

Dozens of refugees come to East Tennessee each year through Bridge Refugee Services, the only resettlement Refugees continued on page A12

COURTESY OF AL PEARSON, ST. JOHN XXIII UNIVERSITY PARISH

By Gabrielle Nolan

Welcome to America Theresa and her children arrive at Knoxville’s McGhee Tyson Airport at midnight and are greeted by the refugee welcoming ministry from St. John XXIII University Parish in Knoxville.

Welcoming the young family are Geri Mulligan and Janet Pearson. Theresa and her children had just traveled from Namibia in Africa on Feb. 20, 2018.

Paraclete bookstore makes contribution to educate seminarians

By Jim Wogan

The Paraclete

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What: Seller of Catholic books, cards, rosaries, crucifixes Bibles, sacramental gifts, clergy attire, candles, and more.

When: Monday-Friday, 9-6; Saturday, 9-5 Where: 417 Erin Drive, #110, Knoxville, TN 37919 https://paracletecatholic.org 865-588-0388 Sara’s leadership and post-COVID, we have been able to do it.”

The Paraclete, located on the campus of the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, underwent significant operational changes in 2019—right before the COVID pandemic struck.

Deacon Otey was appointed by Bishop Stika to oversee the transition, and Ms. Lauer was hired as the store manager.

“We stay on top of the numbers all year, every month,” Deacon Otey said. “We saw a good year coming together.”

One significant change to the

Sr. Regina

© 2022 Handmaids of the Precious Blood

JIM WOGAN

he Paraclete Catholic Books and Gifts store, a ministry of the Diocese of Knoxville, made a significant contribution to the life of the Church in January.

Store manager Sara Lauer and business consultant Deacon Walt Otey presented Bishop Richard F. Stika with a check for more than $65,000 to help fund the education of diocesan seminarians.

The gift fulfilled the promise of the Paraclete when the business was donated to the diocese a decade ago.

“The mission of the Paraclete has been to fund seminarian education.

For the first time we are presenting a check to the bishop that almost completely funds the cost of educating a seminarian for one year,” Deacon Otey said.

The funds come from income the store earned in the 2021 calendar year.

“The intent has been to fund seminarian education. The Paraclete has never made a profit, so it has never been able to do that,” Deacon Otey added. “But this year, with

In support of diocesan seminarians Bishop Richard F. Stika accepts a check for $65,571 from Sara Lauer, manager of The Paraclete Catholic Books and Gifts store. The funds are from Paraclete revenue in 2021 that the longtime diocesan retail store for the first time is able to give to seminarian education. Standing beside Mrs. Lauer is Deacon Walt Otey, who serves at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and also serves as a diocesan business adviser to the Paraclete. Standing beside Bishop Stika are Father Christopher Floersh, director of vocations for the Diocese of Knoxville, and Beth Parsons, vocations office manager with the Diocese of Knoxville.

Paraclete business model was the creation of a website that now accommodates online sales. While

online business currently accounts for about 5 percent of overall sales, Seminarians continued on page A18

How to sign up and qualify for Diocese of Knoxville’s safe-environment program

T Did you know you can receive weekly cartoons and short reflections and news from the Handmaids of the Precious Blood? Visit their website, nuns for priests.org, and sign up for the FIAT newsletter. You also can learn about praying for priests and adopting them.

February Prayer Intentions “We pray for religious sisters and consecrated women, thanking them for their mission and their courage; may they continue to find new responses to the challenges of our times.”

–– Pope Francis

“We pray for the sacrament of marriage. We pray that this joyful union of a man and a woman in holy matrimony never withers in a world that appears determined to erase the beauty and strength of our sacraments and faith traditions. We pray for those who are already married and for those approaching marriage, that these couples continue to share love and respect for each other, and that they always keep God at the center of their union. Amen.”

–– Bishop Stika

DIOCESE PROCEDURE

FOR

OF

KNOXVILLE

REPORTING

SEXUAL

ABUSE

Anyone who has actual knowledge of or who has reasonable cause to suspect an incident of sexual abuse should report such information to the appropriate civil authorities first, then to the bishop's office 865.584.3307, or the diocesan victims' assistance coordinator, Marla Lenihan, 865.482.1388.

he Diocese of Knoxville has implemented the CMG Connect platform to administer the Safe Environment Program, which replaces the former Safe Environment Program (VIRTUS “Protecting God’s Children”).

CMG Connect is a web-based platform that will assist in ensuring that all employees and volunteers who are in a position of trust with children and vulnerable adults within Diocese of Knoxville schools and parishes are trained to recognize behavior patterns of potential abusers and provide pro-active measures for preventing abuse in any context.

“Safe Haven-It’s Up to You” is a three-part video that provides vignettes of real-life situations to educate the viewer about methods of grooming, desensitization, bullying, and neglect, all of which can lead to abuse.

Each part of the video is immediately followed by a brief questionnaire to further develop understanding.

Education is a key

FOLLOW US

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element of the Safe Environment Program.

All clergy, employees, contracted school personnel, volunteers, members of groups and organizations over the age of 18 who work, volunteer, or participate in any capacity are required to complete the diocesan Safe Environment training and a criminal-background check before they can begin employment, volunteer, or participate with ministries, groups, and organizations affiliated with the Diocese of Knoxville.

In addition, the mandatory renewal training must be completed every five years and a new background check submitted before the five-year expiration of prior training.

The Diocese of Knoxville Safe Environment compliance training and renewal training is a condition of employment and for volunteer ministry in the Diocese of Knoxville.

The CMG Connect

STAY CONNECTED

WATCH UPDATES

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A DVERTISE IN THE EAST TENNESSEE C AT H O L I C

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platform contains all three elements of the Diocese of Knoxville’s Safe Environment Program: n Annual review of the Diocese of Knoxville’s Policy and Procedures Relating to Sexual Misconduct; n CMG Connect Safe Haven training program to be completed every five years; n Criminal background check to be completed every five years.

In compliance with the Diocese of Knoxville’s Safe Environment Program, all affiliates require that volunteers and employees complete the requirements prior to working and/or volunteering in a parish, school, The Paraclete, or through Catholic Charities and/or St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic.

Go to https:// dioknox.org/safeenvironment on the Diocese of Knoxville website for more information. ■

CHECK US OUT knoxdiocese

> CONTACT US AT 865.584.3307 OR bbrewer @ dioknox.org.

> FIND US AT dioknox.org.

NEWS FROM THE DIOCESE OF KNOXVILLE PUBLISHER

EDITOR

Bishop Richard F. Stika Bill Brewer COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

bbrewer@dioknox.org ASSISTANT EDITOR

Jim Wogan Dan McWilliams

jwogan@dioknox.org THE EAST TENNESSEE CATHOLIC (USPS 007211) is published bi-monthly by The Diocese of Knoxville, 805 S. Northshore Drive, Knoxville, TN 37919-7551. Periodicals-class postage paid at Knoxville, TN. Printed by the Knoxville News Sentinel. THE EAST TENNESSEE CATHOLIC is mailed to all registered Catholic families in East Tennessee.

Subscription rate for others is $15 per year in the United States. Make checks payable to The Diocese of Knoxville.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE EAST TENNESSEE CATHOLIC, 805 S. Northshore Drive, Knoxville, TN 37919-7551.

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TH E EA S T TEN N ES S EE C ATH OLI C

He dwells among us

by Bishop Richard F. Stika

The sign of God’s favor We adore You O Christ, and we praise You. Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world “Behold, I have given you the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy…”

— Luke 10:19

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aking a hint from God. Perhaps it was a sign. If so, God has a great sense of humor.

In my column last month titled, “The best part of waking up,” my intent was to encourage a deeper appreciation of the spiritual significance and incredible power of the Sign of the Cross prayer, and the importance of beginning our morning, as we should all things throughout the day, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

But after writing it, I happened upon a quote (author unknown) that seemed to question the success of my efforts: “The best part of waking up is still a mystery to me.”

I took this as God’s way of encouraging me to offer a further reflection upon the sign of the cross, particularly with the approach of Lent.

Embarrassed by the cross. “The Church’s darkest days come when she runs away from the cross.”

Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen is said to have penned these words in his personal journal after visiting a Catholic institution that had no crucifixes upon its walls as it was felt to be too alienating and negative of an image. And such is the darkness we experience when we do not embrace the cross of Christ.

A sign of death and life. Two thousand years ago, there was no greater symbol of fear, suffering, and death than that of the cross of crucifixion. And yet, by embracing the cross and offering His life blood upon it for our salvation and rising from the dead, Christ transformed the greatest sign of evil into the symbol of God’s greatest triumph of love and mercy over sin and death.

For good reason, then, would St. Paul declare, “The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). The cross is still a sign of death, but to sin and the power of darkness, as St. Paul so beautifully exclaims: “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:19-20).

How important, then, should the sign of the cross be to us?

The sign as a shield. Consider the importance of signs in salvation history. After Cain slayed his brother, Abel, and is banished to be a wanderer in sterile lands, God placed a “mark” upon him as a shield of mercy so that his guilt might not be further punished by others (Genesis 4:15).

Though we know nothing about the nature of this mark, I wonder if God sealed Cain with his own brother’s innocent blood, a foreshadowing of the blood of Christ “that speaks more eloquently than

that of Abel” (Hebrews 12:24). For if “life is in the blood” (Leviticus 17:14), then eternal life is found in the blood of Christ that was shed for love of us upon the cross.

The sign of salvation. In the Exodus account, when the Israelites, in obedience to God’s command, marked the posts and lintel of the door of their homes with the blood of a sacrificed lamb as a sign that they belonged to God, they were delivered by the Lord’s Passover from the deadly enslavement of the Egyptians (Exodus 12:7-13).

And it is by the blood of the Lamb of God upon the beams of the cross that we are set free from the slavery of sin and death. In every Mass, we are encouraged to invite the “Lamb of God” to sprinkle His Blood upon the doorposts of our heart and enter: ”Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof....”

A healing sign. When the Israelites grew weary of the journey and longed again for the food of Egypt over that of the manna, “the bread of heaven” (cf. John 6:32), they complained, “We are disgusted with this wretched food.”

As a result, they suffered in their bodies the deadly poison of their sin through the bites of seraph serpents.

But God provided the remedy, instructing Moses to make an image of the serpent and to mount it upon a pole, so that all who repented of their sin and looked upon it would be healed of the deadly poison (Numbers 21:5-9).

In the cross of Christ, we have our healing, and in every confession Christ pronounces those beautiful words, through the voice of the priest as the sign of the cross is made over us: “… I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.”

May these words also increase our hunger for the “Bread of Life,” the Eucharist, “the source and summit” of our life in Christ.

The choice between two signs.

In Ezekiel’s vision, God commands an angel to mark the foreheads of the few remaining faithful people in Jerusalem with a sign (resembling a cross) to set them apart from those who had desecrated the temple with perverse idolatries (Ezekiel 9: 3-7). And in John’s apocalyptic vision, the faithful who received the “seal of God” upon their foreheads are set apart from those who worshiped the beast and were signed with his mark (Revelation 7:3; 9:4; and 14:1, 9-11).

Whose mark do we want to bear each day?

The condition of discipleship.

Because each day is a journey along a path of unknown ways, it must

begin with a firm decision. And this decision necessarily requires us to embrace the cross.

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

This is why we must begin our day, as we should all things, with the sign of the cross. Otherwise, how quickly our day can grow dark.

Letting in the light. Upon awakening, there is no easier, nor better, way to pull back the curtains of our heart to the divine illumination than by making the sign of the cross with those most powerful words of our baptismal faith.

And when we briefly pause to make the sign of the cross in the various moments and events of our day, we “awaken” our memory to God’s love and mercy and call Him into our present moment to bless us, to illuminate our heart, and sanctify our activities. In doing so, we heed the caution of Christ: “Take care, then, that the light in you not become darkness” (Luke 11:35).

In union with Christ’s sacrifice.

Baptism imprints upon our soul an indelible spiritual sign (which confirmation completes) and consecrates us for the true worship of God. That worship includes the cross. Christ crucified and risen is the High Priest of every Mass, and through our baptismal priesthood we offer and are offered in His sacrifice of the cross to the Father in the heavenly liturgy that we participate in.

And to live our Mass throughout our day and week, the sign of the cross helps us to consecrate our actions as a spiritual sacrifice pleasing to God. Pressed into service. Because we do not get to choose our crosses, we are in many ways like Simon of Cyrene, who was “pressed into service to carry [Jesus’] cross” (Matthew 27:32).

But when we embrace our cross with Christ, it becomes lighter and invested with divine light. In Father Lawrence Scupoli’s 16th-

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century classic, “The Spiritual Combat,” he offers beautiful and practical counsel for spiritual living, including these strong words: “Do not be a coward! Do not turn from a cross placed upon you, not by an ordinary person, but by your Father who art in heaven!”

The cross we share in. In our struggles, our prayers often resemble that of the psalmist who prays, “Show me the sign of your favor, that my foes may see to their shame that you, O Lord, give me comfort and help” (Psalm 86:17).

But the sign of God’s favor is in fact the very cross of Christ that we share in! But within the cross of Christ there is power.

Weakness transformed. The cross above all, reminds us that we are weak and powerless before the mystery of evil and suffering.

The cross of Calvary is “the mystery of God’s apparent powerlessness,” and our share in it at times gives us to echo Christ’s words upon the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 27; Mark 15:34).

But as St. Paul learned, the cross we share in is “the power of God and the wisdom of God.” As we grow to accept this truth, we learn to say with St. Paul, “Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10).

The scepter of power. The psalm that the Church prays in its “Liturgy of the Hours” on the evenings of Sundays and solemnities highlights a beautiful truth about the cross: “The Lord will wield from Zion your scepter of power: rule in the midst of all your foes” (Psalm 110:2).

In ascending to heaven, where He sits at the right hand of the Father, Christ bears His royal scepter: His cross.

In “the mystery of God’s apparent powerlessness,” Jesus brought our weakness and sin to be nailed with Him to the cross. By triumphing over sin and death, He transformed the weakness of the cross into the scepter of His power.

And as members of His Mystical Body through our baptism, He wants us to offer our weaknesses and sufferings to Him that He might wield His scepter of power in us. How well Father Scupoli understood as expressed in his prayer: “O Cross, made for me from the beginning by divine Providence; Cross that the love of my crucified Jesus makes sweeter to me than the greatest of pleasures; place me upon thee that I may be united to Him who became my Redeemer when He died in your arms!”

Lift high the cross. Just as Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen said that “the best way to have our prayers answered is to pray for the intentions of others,” so, too, the best way to fall in love with your cross is to offer it up in Christ for the blessing of others. ■

Public schools can display crucifix when decided democratically, Italy court rules

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service

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taly’s highest court of appeal has ruled that public-school classrooms can approve the presence of the crucifix because it does not discriminate against anyone.

The Rome court specified, however, that all religious symbols can also be “welcomed” as long as it is decided in a democratic, civil, and “gentle” manner by students and faculty together.

That means, it said, all decisions regarding their presence must never be imposed and must seek “reasonable accommodation” between the different positions or convictions of people in the school community, TH E EAST T E N N E S S E E C AT HO L I C

including respecting a person’s freedom of and from religion; in essence, decisions cannot come by a “tyranny” of the majority or the veto power of one individual.

Italy’s Supreme Court of Cassation — the country’s court of last resort — released its 65-page brief explaining its Sept. 9 decision concerning an appeal against the display of the crucifix in the classrooms involving an Italian high school teacher whose claims were first rejected in a lower court in 2013 and in a court of appeals in 2014.

The full-time Italian literature teacher said his freedom of conscience was violated, and he wanted the freedom to teach without the presence of a crucifix on the wall be-

hind him.

According to court proceedings, the teacher would enter the classroom, take the crucifix down from the wall for the duration of his lesson and then rehang it when he was done teaching.

The teacher also claimed he was discriminated against for not accepting the presence of the crucifix when the school principal suspended him without pay for 30 days. The suspension came for not following a mandate issued by the principal ordering all teachers to respect the presence of the crucifix in the classroom in question because it had been a decision approved of by the majority of the students during an assembly.

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The Supreme Court said it took on the appeal because it represented an issue of “paramount and particular importance,” that is, what is the best way to “balance” a number of freedoms and rights in a public classroom, particularly in a secular nation where church and state are separated.

The case was also different from other preceding but similar cases involving the presence of a crucifix because a group of students wanted it displayed, not government authorities or school administrators, and the aggrieved party was not a student or parent, but an employee of the school.

In its final decision, the court Crucifix continued on page A13 FEBRUARY 6, 2022 n A3

State Knights of Columbus first with evangelization position Diocese of Knoxville parishioner Jimmy Dee to lead efforts to bring men into organization

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ANDY TELLI/TENNESSEE REGISTER (4)

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n its ongoing efforts to become more Christ-centered, the Tennessee Knights of Columbus have become the first jurisdiction in the international fraternal organization of Catholic men to create the position of director of evangelization and faith formation.

The effort began more than four years ago with past State Deputy Tracy Staller of Holy Family Parish in Seymour and has continued under immediate past State Deputy Michael McCusker of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Cordova, Tenn., and current State Deputy Fred Laufenberg of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Fairfield Glade.

“We were going to have to change the way we were doing things” to continue to attract men to the order, said Mr. Laufenberg, a member of Council 16088 at St. Francis of Assisi. “We need to get stronger in our faith.”

In the last year, the Supreme Council of the Knights created a new Department of Evangelization and Faith Formation. Mr. Laufenberg followed by naming Jimmy Dee, a member of Council 16523 at Holy Ghost Church in Knoxville, as Tennessee’s director of faith formation and evangelization.

“Jimmy has been a strong mentor for me and others in our faith,” Mr. Laufenberg said.

Mr. Dee has been helping lead several outreach programs for the state Knights.

“We are working to transform our brothers, who have been incredible emissaries of charity out into the world, into active evangelizing disciples of Christ,” Mr. Dee said.

That was part of the vision of Blessed Michael McGivney, the priest who founded the Knights of Columbus in 1882, Mr. Dee noted.

“His call to all Catholic men to become holy is our call to all men today,” he said.

Mr. Laufenberg noted that the number of Catholics leaving the Church is growing.

“We have to learn our faith so we can go out and ask and share and try to get them back in the Church,” and encourage them to attend Mass and receive the sacraments, the State Deputy said.

Mr. Laufenberg said the Tennessee Council makes four promises to every Knights of Columbus member: n To help all men grow closer in their relationship with Jesus Christ. n To provide opportunities for men to serve Christ in His Church. n To provide opportunities for men to serve those most in need in their community and around the world in the name of Christ. n To do everything in its power to help prevent Catholic families from experiencing financial hardships due to the loss of the primary breadwinner or an underfunded retirement plan.

The state leadership is making faith formation resources available for councils to share with their members and their fellow parishioners, such as the “Into the Breach” video series produced by the Supreme Council that seeks to answer the question of what it means to be a man and how to live as a man in today’s world.

Councils in Tennessee also are being encouraged to sponsor more faith-based events, such as eucharistic adoration and retreats that are open to everyone in their parishes, as well as helping members strengthen their prayer life, Mr. Laufenberg said.

On its Facebook page, the Tennessee council posts daily reflections from Father John Dowling, pastor of St. Augustine Church in Signal Mountain, to help Knights “focus for just a minute or two on their faith life,” Mr. Laufenberg pointed out.

At recent statewide meetings, like the Mid-Year Meeting held Jan. 8 in Nashville, the Tennessee Council has included faith formation retreats or workshops. At the 2021 Mid-Year Meeting, the typical business was replaced by the “Men of the Cross” retreat, which was livestreamed and shared with the rest of the order and

Directing faith formation, evangelization Jimmy Dee addresses the Tennessee Knights of Columbus Mid-Year Meeting in Nashville in January. Mr. Dee was named to the first position of its kind within the Knights of Columbus.

Pastoral guidance Tennessee Knights of Columbus state chaplain Father Bart Okere, pastor of St. Henry Parish in Rogersville, leads prayer during the Mid-Year Meeting of the state Knights in Nashville.

Praying to the Blessed Mother Tennessee Knights of Columbus District Deputy J.J. Wilder says the rosary during the Mid-Year Meeting of the state Catholic men’s organization.

has been viewed by people in 46 states and eight countries, Mr. Dee said.

“We have created new programs that will help parishes re-energize the faithful and openly invite lost sheep back to the flock,” Mr. Dee added. “We have been proud to serve our order as the test kitchen for so many new and wonderful ideas.”

The Tennessee council is “planning a first-of-its-kind Knights of Columbus discipleship training event,” Mr. Dee said. “We are likening this event to vocational training for lay faithful who wish to carry their cross, deny themselves, and follow our Lord Jesus Christ in discipleship.”

The effort to make the order more Christ-centered is already having an impact, according to Mr. Laufenberg.

“We have seen an amazing transformation across our councils and parishes over these past several years thanks to the rekindling of our faith within our daily lives,” he said during his opening remarks at this year’s Mid-Year Meeting. “Our growth alone over the past two years has been astonishing considering that it has occurred in one of the most challenging times in our history.”

Since beginning this initiative, Tennessee Knights have attracted younger new members, Mr. Laufenberg said. While new members might not have time to be involved with all of a council’s charitable, fraternal, and faith formation activities,

“young families today do have time to sit down and pray for a few minutes, to go to Mass together, for time to do a retreat. This resonates with young families,” he added.

“It also resonates with old guys,” he said. “We realize the shortcomings we’ve had in our lives. How do I communicate my faith, my hope, and my dreams to my children?”

Mr. Laufenberg likes to remind Tennessee Knights, “I love you, God loves you, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Also attending the Mid-Year Meeting was Father Bart Okere, chaplain for the Tennessee Knights of Columbus who is pastor of St. Henry Parish in Rogersville. Diocese of Nashville Bishop J. Mark Spalding celebrated Mass for the Knights during their meeting.

No matter their age, the goal is the same for all Knights, Mr. Laufenberg said. “All Catholic men are on a journey to get to heaven.”

Tennessee Knights of Columbus present top awards

During the Mid-Year Meeting held Jan. 7-8, Tennessee Knights of Columbus presented several of its top awards, including Knight of the Year and Family of the Year.

The awards typically are presented during the annual state convention held in the spring. But because of the COVID-19 pandemic, last year’s convention was held virtually, and the presentation of the awards was postponed until it could

Listening intently Tennessee Knights of Columbus State Deputy Fred Laufenberg and his wife, Donna, attend the Mid-Year Meeting in Nashville on Jan. 8.

The Laufenbergs are members of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Fairfield Glade. www.di o k no x .o rg

By Andy Telli/Tennessee Register be done in person.

The award winners included: n The Dan and Michelle Schachle family of Dickson County were named Family of the Year. Mr. Schachle is the general agent for the Knights of Columbus insurance program in Tennessee and several other states.

In 2020, Pope Francis announced that the cure of the Schachles’ son, Michael, was a miracle attributed to the intercession of Father Michael McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus. The proclamation of the miracle by the pope led to the beatification of Blessed McGivney. If a second miracle is attributed to his intercession, he will be eligible for canonization as a saint.

Mr. Schachle also has been an active member of Council 8241 at St. Christopher Church in Dickson and is a member of the parish council.

He also is active in the community as a supporter of the Civil Air Patrol wing in Dickson and the local crisis pregnancy center, CareNet. n Kevin Perry, a member of Council 14079 at Holy Spirit Church in Soddy-Daisy, was named Knight of the Year.

Mr. Perry is deputy Grand Knight and program director for his council and leads its efforts to raise funds to purchase an ultrasound machine for a local crisis pregnancy center.

Under Mr. Perry’s leadership, the council raised $24,000, far exceeding its goal of $18,000.

The additional funds were shared with a council in Memphis that was beginning its ultrasound campaign.

Mr. Perry also helped organize the council’s Coats for Kids program and designed a recruitment brochure for the council.

Mr. Perry and his wife, Erika, have seven children. n Patrick Casey, a member of Council 7170 at St. Ann Church in Bartlett, received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mr. Casey has been a Knight for 47 years, during which time he has served in every office and every committee chairmanship for his council and for his Fourth Degree assembly. He also has served as a district deputy and the State Retention chairman.

For 30 years, Mr. Casey has chaired his council’s Bartlett Police and Fire Appreciation Breakfast and helped start the parish’s Veterans Day Luncheon. He also has been active in his parish and community in a variety of roles. n Tom and Marie Kimball are the first recipients of a new award from the State Council: the Mary Bernadette Kimball Pro-Life Award, named for their daughter who died at age 22 in 2016. The award recognizes an individual’s contributions to the respect for life movement, which Mary Bernadette Kimball was dedicated to during her life.

Tom Kimball is the current prolife chair for the Tennessee State Council. He currently lives near Jasper and is the past Grand Knight of Council 10010 at St. John Vianney Church in Gallatin.

State Knights of Columbus ready for Supreme Convention

Nashville will host the Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention in August at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Hotel.

The Tennessee State Council is asking Knights from across the state to serve as volunteers during the convention, which is expected to draw more than 100 cardinals and bishops from around the world and as many as 3,000 people.

Volunteers are needed to help in a variety of roles, including: registration; Fourth Degree honor guard; welcome and transportation for Church hierarchy attending the convention; hospitality support; information technology support; staffing the Tennessee Country Store; tours; and the Welcome Party.

Two hundred volunteers are needed. Knights seeking more information or to register as a volunteer can visit kofc-tn.org. ■ TH E EA S T TEN N ES S EE C ATH OLI C

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FEBRUARY 6, 2022 n A5

St. Jude School-hosted Eucharistic Miracles Exhibit touches all lives Touring display, created by Blessed Carlo Acutis, is being shown at Diocese of Knoxville locations

By Janice Fritz-Ryken

JANICE FRITZ-RYKEN (2)

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arents often complain that teens’ lives are run by computer technology, and yet one inspirational teenager in Italy used the computer to evangelize Christ and create an exhibit that is still drawing people to Christ 16 years after his death.

Freezing rain and the threat of black ice over the long Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend Jan. 15-17 did little to stop hundreds of faithful Catholics from visiting St. Jude School in Chattanooga to see the awe-inspiring exhibit of eucharistic miracles displayed in the school’s cafeteria.

The exhibit was at Knoxville Catholic High School Feb. 5-6.

The exhibit, created by the recently beatified Blessed Carlo Acutis, did not disappoint those who made the trek through the blustery weather, especially those closer to the age of the possible saint.

One such visitor was Eric Higgins, a sixth-grader at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Chattanooga. When Eric learned the exhibit was coming to town, he told his mom, Kristy, they had to go see the miracles. Eric was especially interested in the young man who was not much older than he is right now when he created the exhibit.

“Eric really wanted to be here. It was important to him,” said Kristy Higgins. “He studied about the saints and the miracles in class and felt drawn to it, perhaps because he is preparing to be confirmed later this year.”

Eric said his favorite miracle happened in Buenos Aires, where a priest placed a defiled host found on the floor of his church in water to dissolve it in August 1996. Within a few days, not only did the host not dissolve, but it grew in size and developed real blood. After much scientific vetting, the Vatican has now recognized this as a true eucharistic miracle, and the host still is on display today.

“The blood just can’t be explained scientifically. It’s real; the host has never spoiled or dissolved, and they can’t explain it away as a scientific thing. It’s a true miracle,” said Eric, who noted that the images on dis-

Did you know that? Two women study stories of miracles that are part of the Eucharistic Miracles of the World Exhibit at St. Jude School in Chattanooga.

Show and tell Students are captivated by stories of miracles that are part of the Eucharistic Miracles of the World Exhibit at St. Jude School in Chattanooga. play helped him to visualize the real presence of Christ in Communion.

Looking at the panels and photographs of the bleeding host, he said,

Carlo Acutis: Cyber-apostle of the Eucharist

“It makes me feel closer to Jesus.

I hope my friends come see this because I know it will help them to believe even more.”

The Catholic Church teaches that when the words of consecration are spoken at Mass, bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ, but typically they retain the appearance of bread and wine. The Blessed Carlo Acutis exhibit focuses on those extraordinary historical instances when the bread and wine have inexplicably been physically changed into human flesh and blood in a manner that has baffled scientists and proves what Catholics believe…that Jesus is really and truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.

For three days, people flocked to visit the large, colorful panels of illustrations, photographs, and historical descriptions of 140 eucharistic miracles that were scientifically vetted and are recognized by the Vatican. Many said it felt like a virtual tour of the places where the miracles occurred.

“It’s as if you’ve been on a worldwide pilgrimage,” said Sandy Leffew, a parishioner of St. Jude who helped organize the exhibit. Ms. Leffew said she marveled at the lines of people filtering in and out all weekend, despite the warnings of freezing weather. Many visitors even came more than once.

“The entire exhibit is a lot to take in, and the stories are all so amazing. People said they didn’t expect it to be so big. Many were overwhelmed and needed more time to see it all,” Ms. Leffew said. “But everyone who came said it was worth the risk. We hope this deepens peoples’ love of the Eucharist and shows the many ways in which the Lord shows His face.”

This was definitely the case for Pat Crowe, a retired military veteran and St. Jude parishioner from Hixson, who said the display greatly affected him even after he’d gone home. He felt called to return.

“It was absolutely incredible,” Mr. Crowe said. “I was here all morning reading about the miracles, looking at the images. Then I went home and took a nap. I actually dreamt about the miracles, so as soon as I woke up I went back because after my dream I suddenly wanted to see the Lanciano miracle.”

The Lanciano Miracle tells the Exhibit continued on page A17

Help Save Lives from March 2 – April 10, 2022

By Janice Fritz-Ryken “All people are born as originals but many die as photocopies.”

— Blessed Carlo Acutis

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CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO

he Eucharistic Miracles of the World Exhibit was originally the brainchild of a young man deeply devoted to the holy Eucharist who died of leukemia before reaching adulthood, but not before using technology to make sure people of his generation knew about the miracles of Christ’s Body and Blood.

That young man, Carlo Acutis, was born May 3, 1991, to Italian parents working in England at the time of his birth.

Raised in Italy, Carlo was an ordinary teenager with a special love for Jesus.

He played soccer, enjoyed practical jokes, and had a love Blessed Carlo Acutis of all things computers, especially playing computer games.

Though his parents were not originally very religious, Carlo became devoted to the Eucharist from the day he made his first Holy Communion, and he insisted on attending daily Mass for daily Communion.

One of his favorite places was Assisi, and Carlo went there often. In the tradition of St. Francis of Assisi, he used his money to buy sleeping bags, which he distributed to the homeless living on the streets.

His devotion to the Eucharist led Carlo to become fascinated by the many stories of euCarlo continued on page A17

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With God, all things are possible!

With these words as our prayer,

Knoxville will again join hundreds of other cities for our 14th 40 Days for Life campaign, which will be held during Lent from March 2 to April 10, 2022. Our campaigns offer a witness of love and hope that are prayerful, peaceful and law-abiding.

Since 2007… … the 40 Days for Life has become worldwide movement of 64 nations … over 1,000,000 volunteers and 20,000 churches have participated … 20,689 babies have been saved during 40 Days for Life vigils … 229 abortion workers have quit after experiencing conversions … 114 abortion facilities have closed their doors 40 Days for Life features three components:

1. PRAYER AND FASTING 2. PEACEFUL VIGIL Stand for life in a peaceful public witness outside of KNOXVILLE CENTER FOR REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH ABORTION CENTER 1547 Clinch Ave Knoxville, TN 37916 Mar 2 to Apr 10 3. COMMUNITY OUTREACH

CONTACT Paul Simoneau – Diocese of Knoxville psimoneau@dioknox.org Lisa Morris – lccte@bellsouth.net t www.di o k no x .o rg

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Catholic Charities finds alternative office space after fire Diocese of Knoxville agency is operating in new downtown development where Regas Restaurant was located

By Dan McWilliams

JIM WOGAN (2)

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atholic Charities of East Tennessee has found a new Knoxville headquarters after an arson fire Nov. 28 at its Dameron Avenue building forced the agency to move.

CCETN has relocated its administrative offices and several programs, including the Pregnancy Help Center, to the Regas Building on North Gay Street near downtown.

Lisa Healy, executive director of CCETN, was just settling into the new site on Jan. 24, having had phones installed and other necessities put in place within the last few days.

“We looked at a lot of different spaces around town,” she said.

“Jim Staley [of Coldwell Banker Real Estate] worked with us to really go out and look at spaces.

We probably looked at 15. The opportunity we ran into is that there were spaces available, but they couldn’t be ready in a reasonable amount of time. This space here at the Regas Building is for nonprofits. Richard Consoli, my vice president of the board, had mentioned this space, that Big Brothers Big Sisters were in this space and they were going to be leaving, so we came over to take a look at it.

“It’s been really a great space because we can accommodate pregnancy, administration, and then desks for our other programs such as Columbus Home Assisting Parents [CHAP], a Hope Kitchen desk, as well as Community Supportive Housing.”

The fire occurred at the end of Thanksgiving weekend. Police discovered the blaze when responding to an alarm at the building at about 10:30 p.m. Firefighters discovered a gasoline can and a matchbook near the window the perpetrator broke to gain entry.

Fire gutted much of the building’s interior, and there was extensive smoke and water damage. The interior was deemed a total loss.

Mrs. Healy, who also credited Cory Bond of OfficeWorks in Knoxville for helping with the office furniture in the move, said Catholic Charities likes its new space “a lot because it really allows us to operate together like we were at Dameron. Everyone’s together. It allows us then to have our clients who come to see us, including clients who were in our actual neighborhood to come down here and visit with us, so we’re not spread out all over town.

We’re still at the same place together serving customers through our programs. It’s really helpful

A new lease on ministry Lisa Healy, executive director of Catholic Charities of East Tennessee, stands in front of the Regas Building at 318 N. Gay St., Suite 100, in downtown Knoxville, where the Diocese of Knoxville social services ministry has relocated. not to be spread out. In between the fire and this building, we occupied a small conference space, it was probably about a 12-by-16 room, over on Division Street. We had all these people sitting around one conference table for a month.

It was difficult, but it served while we found this space.”

CCETN expects to be at the Regas Building, which is only about a mile or more from Dameron Avenue, “between 12 and 18 months,” Mrs. Healy said.

“We’re a few blocks down from where we were before, which is really helpful for us to continue serving clients,” she said. “For those clients who can’t get down here, especially for Pregnancy Help, we take the van over to Dameron twice a week and we deliver diapers and wipes to those clients to continue service.”

The Regas Building dates back some 130 years, having been

constructed around 1891 and originally known as the Caswell & Harris Building and later as the Harris Building. It was home to the Watauga Hotel for a number of years before Greek immigrants Frank and George Regas, who had opened a café near Summit Hill in 1919, moved their eatery to the Watauga Hotel site in 1922. The Regas Restaurant would serve the Knoxville area for 88 years, closing in 2010. The popular gathering place’s staffers in the 1940s included a young Dave Thomas, who later founded the Wendy’s restaurant chain.

Catholic Charities is looking forward to returning to its Dameron location.

“The building on Dameron is now really just a cleanup and restoration, and then we’ll get ready for a remodel,” Mrs. Healy said.

“The exterior footprint will be the same, but we will remodel inside

New digs Lisa Healy, center, stands with members of the Catholic Charities of East Tennessee team: Elizabeth Sullivan, Judd VanSickle, Ernestine Meiners, Sherrill Vasicek, and Sandi Davidson in their temporary office space.

so we can better meet the needs of Catholic Charities and the capacity of the programs that we have today. They’re still doing the cleanup, and then of course to rebuild.

The [Dameron] building is about 6,400 square feet, which sits directly across from the Knox County Health Department, which is really a great partner with Catholic Charities. It’s a great location for us, so we want to get back there.”

Speaking Jan. 24, Mrs. Healy told of the still-in-flux move to the Regas Building.

“We have been seeing clients in the pregnancy area. We really just got—you can see I don’t have a desk yet. I’m still working off my pet grooming foldout table from my house,” she said. “They finished putting furniture up on Friday. We got desks last week, and we got office phones Thursday, and they finished the cubicles on Friday. Today is like the first day that Elizabeth [Sullivan, of CHAP] is in here. We got a coffeepot machine today. We’re official now.”

The agency’s phone, 865-5249896; website, ccetn.org; and emails remain the same.

“We’ll have 18 in this building, plus volunteers,” Mrs. Healy said.

“Pregnancy Services, the administration, which is bookkeeping, development, communication/ marketing, programs, HR, so that’s here, and then we have CHAP here. The CHAP program really goes out and does case management in homes. So, [Ms. Sullivan] offices here and then goes into homes in Knox County. Then Community Supportive Housing, which is Annette Beebe—she has a desk here, and then she works in our affordable-housing homes that we have in the Knoxville area.”

CCETN has had a whirlwind three months since the fire, which came at a key time of the year for the agency.

“There’s a lot of work to do,” Mrs. Healy said. “It was particularly difficult—the blessing is that nobody was hurt, so that was really good, but it’s very inconvenient because the fire was the weekend of Thanksgiving, and so what happens between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is really just a lot of activity around Christmas and giving to the community as well as donors giving to us. All that development and all that activity that we do around clients and community really was difficult to do—although we did it, it was very difficult.

Truly, we’re just getting the mail straight. Just getting mail has been difficult. Last week I was opening envelopes that were put in the mail CCETN continued on page A13

Pope prays for peace, urges unity as he looks toward Olympics

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he “true gold medal” at the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games in China goes to everything that helps the global community be more welcoming and accepting of all people, Pope Francis said.

At the end of his general audience Feb. 2, the pope focused on the bonds that unite all people in one human family as he prayed for the people of Myanmar, spoke about the upcoming 2022 Beijing Olympics and Paralympics, and anticipated the International Day of Human Fraternity.

For more than a year, “we have watched with pain the violence staining Myanmar with blood,” the pope said. A coup Feb. 1, 2021, ended the country’s experiment with democracy and set off protests and repression, death, and detention.

Joining an appeal launched by the country’s bishops, the pope called on the international community “to work for reconciliation between the parties involved. We cannot look away from the suffering of so many of our brothers and sisters. Let us ask God, in prayer,

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CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO/FLORENCE LO, REUTERS

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

Spirit of the Olympics The Olympic rings are seen at the Shougang Park ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. The Olympic & Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing are being held Feb. 4-20 and March 4-13. Pope Francis hopes the games will promote fraternity around the world. for consolation for that tormented population.”

Pope Francis also noted that Feb. 4 was the second celebration of International Day of Human Fraternity, a U.N.-declared observation to promote interreligious dialogue and friendship on the anniversary of the document on human fraternity signed in Abu Dhabi in 2019

by Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmad

el-Tayeb, grand imam of Al-Azhar in Egypt.

Fraternity, he said, “means reaching out to others, respecting them and listening to them with an open heart. I hope that concrete steps will be taken together with believers of other religions and people of goodwill to affirm that today is a time of kinship, avoiding fueling clashes, divisions, and closures.”

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“Let us pray and commit ourselves every day to living in peace as brothers and sisters,” he added.

As the Winter Olympics opened Feb. 4 in Beijing, followed March 4 by the Paralympics, Pope Francis also focused on the power of sport to draw people together.

“Sport, with its universal language, can build bridges of friendship and solidarity between people of all cultures and religions,” he pointed out, which is why he said he appreciated the International Olympic Committee’s decision in July to add another word to the Olympic motto.

“To the historic Olympic motto, ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ — Faster, Higher, Stronger — the International Olympic Committee has added the word ‘Communiter,’ that is, Together, because the Olympic Games can make a more fraternal world grow,” the pope said.

Looking at the Paralympics, the pope said humanity “will win the most important medal together if the example of athletes with disabilities would help everyone overcome prejudices and fears and make our communities more welcoming and inclusive. This is the true gold medal!” he said. ■ FEBRUARY 6, 2022 n A7

Making a difference in someone else’s life The gift of life from St. John Neumann School’s director of admissions saves the lives of four people

By Matt Batcheldor Vanderbilt University Medical Center

But by that time, the stranger on Facebook no longer needed a donor. Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s living kidney donor coordinaary Marlowe couldn’t have known it at tor, Kaylin Centanni, RN, told Mrs. Marlowe she the time, but her decision in January 2021 could donate to a different stranger who needed a to give a kidney to a total stranger set off compatible kidney, one whose story she wouldn’t a chain reaction that would result in four people know. She agreed. getting kidneys in one week in September at VanMrs. Marlowe went through a months-long batderbilt University Medical Center. tery of tests to ensure she was in good health to The transplants, which took place on Sept. 14, donate and her kidney would be a good match for 15, and 16, became VUMC’s first four-recipient someone. These tests included blood tests, urine kidney transplant chain. tests, blood pressure readings, an electrocardioThe chain was made possible by Mrs. Marlowe gram (EKG), chest X-ray, diabetes screening, and and three other donors who, after discovering they CT scan of the abdomen. were not able to donate to the person they origiLiving kidney donor coordinator Denise Lipnally intended to, decided to donate to a stranger pard, RN, in collaboration with Ms. Centanni, in return for their loved one being matched with created the four-way chain. Once the chain was an organ from another incompatible pair. The determined, the living donor team was able to process, called paired donation, usually results in communicate with all parties and schedule the just two people getting a kidney transplant at once surgeries.

—two donors and two recipients, or a two-person “It is amazing to see all the pieces come together chain. from one person’s generosity,” Ms. Lippard said.

In this case, it became a four-way chain—four Kidney donations can come from either dedonors and four recipients. Three of the recipients ceased or living donors. Because people are born Donor-friendly Mary Marlowe holds a sign of enwere waiting for a living kidney transplant with with two kidneys, living donors can live a normal couragement for the future recipient of her kidney an approved but incompatible donor, and one relife with only one. Many recipients receive a comafter climbing Mount LeConte in the Great Smoky cipient was on the wait list for a deceased kidney patible kidney from a friend or family member, a Mountains National Park. Her donation set off a donor. It’s the largest chain at Vanderbilt since a relatively quick process. But patients who don’t chain of donations that resulted in four transplants three-way chain that occurred in 2019. have a compatible and willing friend or family —a first for Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

“I think it’s such an extraordinary way for this member are placed on a waiting list, and the wait person who wants to donate to one person to accan be very long, potentially years. tually allow four people to receive a transplant,” daughter, Reagan. She and her family are memRecipients who have an approved incompatible said Dr. Rachel Forbes, associate professor of bers of St. John Neumann Church. donor are placed in the Kidney Paired Exchange surgery and chief of the VUMC Division of KidWhen Mrs. Marlowe told her family she wanted Program, which not only includes pairs at VUMC, ney and Pancreas Transplantation in the Departto give away one of her kidneys to a stranger, they but also national matching programs, including ment of Surgery. “When you think about these were surprised. Mr. Marlowe wasn’t too excited at the National Kidney Registry, Alliance for Paired incompatible chains or domino chains, the power first, she said.

Donation, and United Network for Organ Sharing. of one donor to be able to save so many lives is “But I said to him, ‘I feel like this is something In this case, the paired donations were able to take incredible.” that I’m being called to do, and I feel like if I don’t place exclusively from the VUMC paired donation Dr. Forbes and all four other surgeons on her at least give it a try and see if I’m eligible, then list. team participated—Dr. Kareem Eid, Dr. Bernard I’m always going to wonder, what if? And I don’t In the transplant world, Mrs. Marlowe is conDuBray, Dr. Laura Hickman, and Dr. David want to live with that,’” she said. sidered an altruistic, or non-directed, donor. Her Shaffer. Participating anesthesiologists were Dr. Mr. Marlowe supported her decision, and Mrs. generosity not only allowed three pairs of living Michael Mantian, Dr. Lauren Siemer, Dr. Kara Marlowe registered to be a donor at Vanderbilt. donor-recipient pairs to accomplish their goals, Siegrist, and Dr. Kevin Furman. but she allowed Betty Johnson of It all started when one of Mrs. Murfreesboro to end her six-year Marlowe’s friends on Facebook wait for an organ offer from the posted that someone the friend deceased donor wait list. The call knew from high school needed that Ms. Johnson received was for a kidney, and he was looking for a living donor offer, something a living donor. The man, who she could not have expected. was waiting for a transplant at “I was excited and couldn’t Vanderbilt, was a young father believe it,” said Ms. Johnson, who felt it necessary to reach out who spent six years on dialysis to strangers for an organ, Mrs. waiting for a kidney. “Everything Marlowe said. went well.”

The man’s story kept tugging at Mrs. Marlowe said she’s doing her heart. well with her remaining kidney.

“I read his story, and honestly After some pain after the opI would think about him all the eration, she returned two weeks time and just cry,” she said. later to her job as admissions “COVID really helped remind director at the Diocese of Knoxme of how precious life is and of ville’s St. John Neumann School all the blessings that we have. So, in Farragut.

I started thinking, ‘Gosh, is this She says she feels back to norsomething that I could do?’ I remal and has no regrets. ally prayed about it and thought “Just knowing that I potentially about it for about a month.” made a difference in someone Mrs. Marlowe lives in Knoxville Family support The Marlowe family: Steve, Reagan, Mary, and Mason. After a else’s life, that was the best rewith her husband, Steve; 13-year- family discussion, all were on board with Mrs. Marlowe’s decision to donate a ward I could ever ask for,” Mrs. kidney for transplantation at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in September. old son, Mason; and 11-year-old Marlowe said. ■ COURTESY OF THE MARY MARLOWE FAMILY (2)

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What is Catholic Church teaching on organ donation?

By Catholic News Service

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hat is the Catholic Church’s position on donating body parts for medical science?

The answer can be divided into two parts: post-mortem transplants and those from living donors.

Gifts from a donor who has clearly died, either to a living recipient or to scientific research, is the easier part.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says: “Organ donation after death is a noble and meritorious act and is to be encouraged as an expression of generous solidarity” (No. 2296). The Church does teach that the remains, after organ donation or medical research, should be treated with reverence and should be entombed or buried.

As to gifts from living donors, such as bone marrow, a lung, or a kidney, this is morally permissible so long as it is not life-threatening to the donor and does not deprive the donor of an essential bodily function and provided that the anticipated benefit to the recipient is proportionate to the harm done to the donor.

In his 1995 encyclical The Gospel of Life, St. John Paul II called organ donation an example of “everyday

A8 n FEBRUARY 6, 2022

heroism.” And in 2014, Pope Francis told the Transplantation Committee for the Council of Europe that organ donation is “a testimony of love for our neighbor.”

To offer clearly and accurately the Catholic Church’s positions on organ donation, abortion, contraception, genetic engineering, fertility treatments, vaccines, frozen embryos, and other life issues, the Vatican has released an expanded and updated guide of the Church’s bioethical teachings.

The New Charter for Health Care Workers is meant to provide a thorough summary of the Church’s position on affirming the primary, absolute value of life in the health field and address questions arising from the many medical and scientific advancements made since the first charter was published in 1994, said Monsignor Jean-Marie Mupendawatu.

The monsignor, who has been the secretary delegate for health care in the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, said the charter “is a valid compendium of doctrine and praxis” not only for those directly involved in providing medical care, but also for researchers, pharmacists, administrators, and policymakers in the field of health care.

The charter “reaffirms the sanctity of life” as a gift from God and calls on those working in health care to be “servants” and “ministers of life” who will love and accompany all human beings from conception to their natural death, he said.

While the charter does not offer a completely “exhaustive” response to all problems and questions facing the medical and health fields, it does add many papal, Vatican, and bishops’ pronouncements made since 1994 in an effort to “offer the clearest possible guidelines” to many ethical problems facing the world of health care today, said

www.di o k no x .o rg

the charter’s preface, written by the late-Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry.

The council and three others were merged together to create the new dicastery for human development.

One issue partially dealt with in the charter is vaccines produced with “biological material of illicit origin,” that is, made from cells from aborted fetuses.

Citing the 2008 instruction Dignitas Personae from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and a 2005 paper from the Pontifical Academy for Life, the charter said everyone has a duty to voice their disapproval of this kind of “biological material” being in use and to ask that alternatives be made available.

Researchers must “distance” themselves by refusing to use such material, even if there is no close connection between the researcher and those doing the illicit procedure, and “affirm with clarity the value of human life,” it said.

However, the charter doesn’t specifically address the situation of parents who are often obligated to consent to vaccines for their children that use human cell lines from tissue derived from aborted fetuses.

When asked for clarification of Organ donation continued on page A14 TH E EA S T TEN N ES S EE C ATH OLI C

Medical facility OK’d for former St. Mary’s Hospital campus City of Knoxville, Knox County move ahead with behavioral-health, urgent-care facility next to new Safety Complex

By Eric Vreeland City of Knoxville

BILL BREWER (2)

COURTESY OF THE CITY OF KNOXVILLE

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t’ll be a few years before it’s designed and developed, but local officials are excited that a part of the former St. Mary’s Hospital campus will continue to be devoted to providing specialized medical treatment.

In October, Knoxville City Council — on Mayor Indya Kincannon’s recommendation — voted to approve an interlocal agreement with Knox County to turn the 25,000-squarefoot former St. Mary’s Ambulatory Surgery Center at the corner of East Woodland Avenue and St. Mary Street into an urgent-care and behavioral-health facility.

This building, at 1515 St. Mary St., will be jointly owned by the city of Knoxville and Knox County, who will contract with medical service providers such as the McNabb Center.

McNabb Center CEO Jerry Vagnier said the behavioral health portion of the facility is needed.

Mr. Vagnier pointed out that psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, therapists, and others on staff would be able to offer care after hours, helping people when they need the help without requiring next-day visits or appointments.

More than 8,500 people in the Knoxville metropolitan area in 2020 wound up going to a hospital emergency room for lack of another option, according to Mr. Vagnier.

Mayor Kincannon applauds the pending creation of the behavioralhealth facility as well as a new North Knoxville urgent-care center, where people can get treatment for bodily injuries like sprained ankles or broken bones.

“It was important to many community neighbors and to members of the Diocese of Knoxville that St. Mary’s legacy as a care provider continue at this historic place,” Mayor Kincannon said.

“So we looked, with our partners in the community and with Knox County government, at where the need was the greatest. One resource that was in especially short supply was urgent care for people in crisis with behavioral-health issues. The city is pleased to be building capacity for this specialized care,” the mayor added. “We’re also very proud of the community unity in moving forward with this. Knox County is an enthusiastic supporter and recognizes the acute need for a facility like this.”

Tennova, the hospital company that acquired the former St. Mary’s Medical Center, deeded the mostly vacant hospital campus to the city of Knoxville for $1, and city contractor crews for more than a year have been repurposing the site for use as

The St. Mary’s legacy Top photo: city of Knoxville and Knox County officials have announced plans to convert this building on the campus of the former St. Mary’s Medical Center into an urgent-care and behavioralhealth facility. Middle photo: The city of Knoxville is preserving the historic 1929 Building (left) as part of the city’s new Public Safety Complex. This 93-year-old building served as the original St. Mary’s Hospital. The Magdalen Clarke Tower at right now is the home of Lincoln Memorial University’s nursing school. Bottom photo: Newer wings of the St. Mary’s Medical Center, including, from left, the Professional Office Building, Central Wing Annex, and the Women’s Pavilion at right, are being converted into administrative offices for the Knoxville Police and Fire departments as well as City Court, Pension System offices, and some E-911 operations. a Public Safety Complex. The reconstruction project is expected to be completed in late 2022.

But the 1515 St. Mary St. building remained under lease to a private

company through 2049, and the company had the right to renew the lease through 2099.

In June, Knoxville City Council voted to approve a sale and ground

lease termination agreement to buy out the lease for almost $1.8 million.

The city and county are splitting the buyout cost.

The urgent-care facility won’t be the only reminder of St. Mary’s long legacy as an iconic hospital that faithfully served generations of families.

The stately and spectacular 1929 Building, the original marble-accented hospital building, has been carefully preserved and protected by the city and its contractors. It will be repurposed as an anchor when the north end of the former hospital campus is privately redeveloped.

And nursing education had been at the core of St. Mary’s mission since the hospital opened. So it was fitting that Lincoln Memorial University in early 2021 began offering nursing programs in Magdalen Clarke Tower, the tallest building on the site.

As the new year began, construction on the Public Safety Complex was making progress toward the late-2022 completion deadline.

The city is investing $57.2 million to reconstruct vacant office buildings on the former Tennova hospital site off Broadway, next to Fulton High School, to serve as a combined complex for the Knoxville Police and Fire departments, Pension System, and City Court operations.

The city is converting the vacated Professional Office Building, Central Wing Annex, and Women’s Pavilion into new office space to house the city’s police and fire administration, City Court, Pension System, and some E-911 operations. Work on renovation of the vacated hospital site hit its 100th week in January.

Separate from repurposing five buildings on the former St. Mary’s Hospital site, the city has invested $6.5 million to clear the northern end of the former hospital campus and raze the obsolete buildings there so that the tract is ready for reuse as part of future private redevelopment.

That redevelopment will include the historic 1929 Building — the original St. Mary’s hospital building, which the city and its contractors have preserved and safeguarded.

In 2021, Lincoln Memorial University began offering nursing programs in the Magdalen Clarke Tower on the campus. LMU also plans to launch a dental school here.

The Knoxville Police Department and City Court operations will be housed in the eight-story Professional Office Building on the site.

The Central Wing Annex will house police department and Pension System operations.

And the former St. Mary’s Women’s Pavilion will house the Knoxville Fire Department’s administration operations. ■

Benedict XVI, Cardinal Marx faulted in report on abuse

By Catholic News Agency

A

long-awaited report on the handling of abuse cases in Germany’s Archdiocese of Munich and Freising has faulted Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Cardinal Reinhard Marx.

The study issued Jan. 20 criticized the 94-year-old retired German pope’s handling of four cases during his time in charge of the southern German archdiocese. Media reports had previously focused on his handling of a single case, that of a priest named Father Peter Hullermann.

Pope Benedict XVI, who has strongly denied cover-up allegations, sent 82 pages of observations to investigators compiling the report.

However, Pope Benedict XVI has apologized for mistakenly saying that he did not attend a disputed meeting in 1980 while serving as archbishop of Munich and Freising.

In a statement published in the German Catholic weekly Die Tagepost on Jan. 24, the retired pope said that the mistake was the result of an editing error, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s

TH E EAST T E N N E S S E E C AT HO L I C

German-language news partner.

Benedict XVI initially told investigators that he was not present at a meeting of archdiocesan officials on Jan. 15, 1980.

But in the statement, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Benedict XVI’s private secretary, said that the pope emeritus “would now like to make it clear that, contrary to what was stated during the hearing, he took part in the ordinariate meeting on Jan. 15, 1980.”

Westpfahl Spilker Wastl, the law firm that produced the report, presented the conclusions of the more than 1,000-page text at a live-streamed press conference on Jan. 20, CNA Deutsch reported.

The study’s official title is “Report on the Sexual Abuse of Minors and Vulnerable Adults by Clerics, as well as [other] Employees, in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising from 1945 to 2019.”

The report covers 1977 to 1982, the period that the future Benedict XVI led the archdiocese, as well as the tenures of Cardinal Friedrich Wetter, who succeeded him, and Cardinal Abuse continued on page A17

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FEBRUARY 6, 2022 n A9

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Why Water? — Understanding the Importance of Providing Safe Water to Haiti’s Poorest Families

In Haiti’s rural communities, water is often collected from murky ponds or other contaminated sources. It can be tainted with animal waste or teeming with bacteria and harmful parasites. For the poor, who must rely on this water, one drink can lead to serious illnesses, and infants and very young children are at the greatest risk.

Few of us think much about water. We want some, and we turn a tap. We drink it, and we expect to feel refreshed. Water isn’t something we worry about, and with good reason. We are blessed to have safe, clean water at our fingertips.

Unfortunately, millions of families in the developing countries of the world — Haiti among them — are far less fortunate. For them, water must be found, it is rarely clean, and it can pose serious dangers if precautions aren’t taken before drinking it.

This is because poor families often rely on collected rain or murky streams — water sources that are almost inevitably contaminated with parasites and disease.

“That is why Father Glenn Meaux has made providing safe water to the people of Kobonal, Haiti, a priority,” explained Jim Cavnar, president of Cross Catholic Outreach, one of the largest Catholic charities serving in Haiti. For years, Cavnar’s ministry has partnered with Kobonal missionary Fr. Meaux to address the plight of the poor in Haiti by funding feeding programs, housing projects, educational outreaches, water projects and more.

“It may surprise some American Catholics, but providing safe

water can literally be a lifesaving measure in a remote community.

In fact, one of the first projects we did with Fr. Meaux involved capping a spring to bring clean water to a town that had lost a tragic number of children to illnesses caused by contaminated water,” Cavnar said. “Fr. Meaux had seen them carrying a child’s coffin down the hillside and was shocked to learn local families were losing babies and toddlers to unsafe water every month.

He contacted us to see whether something could be done, and we rallied support from American Catholics to fund the water project he needed. This gift to the community has probably saved dozens of lives since then.”

The impact of unsafe water goes further, impacting older children and adults too, according to Cavnar.

“When an older child becomes ill, he or she often misses school, and sick adults can find it difficult to work steadily and secure a stable income. These may not seem like serious problems, but as sick days mount, the impact can be devastating. Children fall behind in their class work or drop out of school entirely, losing the opportunities for advancement that an education can bring. Their

parents struggle to make ends meet, sometimes even finding it impossible to provide food each day. Once that downward spiral begins, it can lead to families falling into despair — and a real sense of hopelessness.”

Fortunately, modern technology can provide a solution if funding is available. Well-digging rigs can be secured to reach safe water sources underground, and hand or solar pumps can be used to make water stations effective even when electricity isn’t available.

“We have had a lot of experience solving water scarcity problems and developing water delivery systems in remote areas,” Cavnar said. “The technology and skills are available if we can get the funding for the project work involved. That is why we are seeking support from American Catholics to help Fr. Meaux with his latest project — his plan to install two new freshwater wells and to repair several other wells in his area.” (See story on opposite page.)

As Cavnar has said, managing major water projects is one of Cross Catholic Outreach’s areas of expertise, and he remains confident Fr. Meaux’s wells will be built, benefitting the communities he serves.

“I believe we’ll succeed because

Catholics in America often rally to accomplish missions of mercy like this,” he said. “They are eager to help others, particularly those with an urgent need. What matters to them is that their donations are used wisely and will produce an important, tangible benefit for the poor. They support water projects such as this one because they understand the value of safe water. They would want that for their own families, and their hearts go out to poor parents who must give their sons and daughters contaminated water to drink. I believe they will want to end that suffering and support a committed Catholic leader like Fr. Meaux.”

Readers interested in supporting Cross Catholic Outreach water programs and other outreaches to the poor can contribute through the ministry brochure inserted in this issue or send tax-deductible gifts to Cross Catholic Outreach, Dept. AC01877, PO Box 97168, Washington, DC 20090-7168. The ministry has a special need for partners willing to make gifts on a monthly basis. Use the inserted brochure to become a Mission Partner or write “Monthly Mission Partner” on mailed checks to be contacted about setting up those arrangements.

Cross Catholic Outreach Endorsed by More Than 100 Bishops, Archbishops Cross Catholic Outreach’s range of relief work to help the poor overseas continues to be recognized by a growing number of Catholic leaders in the U.S. and abroad.

“We’ve received more than 100 endorsements from bishops and archbishops,” explained James Cavnar, president of Cross Catholic Outreach. “They’re moved by the fact that we’ve launched outreaches in almost 40 countries and have undertaken a variety of projects — everything from feeding the hungry and

A10 n FEBRUARY 6, 2022

housing the homeless to supplying safe water and supporting educational opportunities for the poorest of the poor. The bishops have also been impressed

by Cross Catholic Outreach’s direct and meaningful responses to emergency situations, most recently by providing food, medicines and other resources to partners in Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala impacted by natural disasters.”

Bishop Ronald W. Gainer of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, supports this mission. He writes, “What a

joy it is to be part of the Lord’s redemptive work and to manifest his mercy on Earth by caring for our neighbors in need.”

In addition to praising CCO’s accomplishments, many of the bishops and archbishops are encouraged that pontifical canonical status was conferred on the charity in September 2015, granting it approval as an official Catholic organization.

This allows CCO to participate in the mission of the Church and to give a concrete witness to Gospel charity, in collaboration with the

www.di o k no x .o rg

Holy Father.

“Your work with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development is a strong endorsement of your partnership with the work of the Universal Church,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco said.

“By providing hope to the faithful overseas by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, delivering medical relief to the sick and shelter to the homeless, and through self-help projects, you are embodying the papal encyclical Deus Caritas Est.

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RIGHT PAGE

PAID ADVERTISEMENT

American Catholics Rally to Provide Poor Families With Safe Water Through Fr. Meaux’s Kobonal Haiti Mission

ABOVE: In Haiti’s rural communities, poor families are often forced to collect drinking water from unsafe sources, and they can suffer serious illnesses from waterborne parasites and diseases as a result. BELOW: Fr. Meaux has a plan to provide safe water, and American Catholics can support his efforts through contributions to Cross Catholic Outreach.

When Father Glenn Meaux and his missionary team arrived in Kobonal, Haiti, in 1989, he was deeply disturbed by the magnitude of poverty he saw there. Hardly anyone in the village owned the land their fragile huts occupied. No one grew gardens or raised animals.

Very few employment opportunities existed for the unskilled, uneducated population, so very few families were able to earn money to buy food.

“There was no agriculture, there was no irrigation system — there was literally no hope at the time.”

Fr. Glenn Meaux, Haiti Kobonal Mission

During the rainy season, the women and children would gather water from the plentiful streams and rivers — but the water was obviously tainted. During the dry season, people resorted to digging holes in the sand in order to find water.

In addition to suffering hunger and thirst, the people were also

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starving for spiritual guidance.

Entrenched in superstition and occult practices, few had ever heard the name of Christ.

“There was no agriculture, there was no irrigation system, there was literally no hope at the time,” Fr. Meaux recalled. With this sense of hopelessness, it is easy to see how Kobonal earned its reputation as the “darkest corner of the Diocese of Hinche.”

This is the challenging ground on which the Kobonal Haiti Mission took root, and in the three ensuing decades, the mission has worked marvels, helping hundreds of families improve their lives.

Still, Fr. Meaux’s heart breaks every time he sees a mother or child living in a dilapidated shack or gathering water from a murky stream.

“Fr. Meaux has already given the best years of his life to the people of Haiti (see story on opposite page), but he always has his eyes forward, looking for the next thing he can do to help relieve the people’s suffering and increase their opportunities

in life,” explained Jim Cavnar, president of Cross Catholic Outreach, a leading Catholic relief and development ministry that has partnered with Fr. Meaux for more than a decade and a half. “Many people are aware of the wonderful things he’s done to address the people’s urgent needs, but his ultimate goal is to break the cycle of poverty in this part of Haiti and forever change the fate of the families he serves.”

Fr. Meaux stated his objectives even more simply.

“As Catholics, we must extend our hands to help our brothers and sisters in need,” he said.

Currently, one of the mission’s primary project goals is to bring clean water to the people of Kobonal, ending the need for families to collect unsafe water from remote sources.

“Women and children are often tasked with finding and collecting water, and the murky streams they draw from aren’t fit for animals, much less people,” Cavnar said. “At Cross Catholic Outreach, we work on many projects like this, obtaining donations from U.S. Catholics to pay for the equipment and organize the construction efforts involved.

Our current goal is to help Fr. Meaux put in two clean-water wells, build a community distribution point and repair five existing wells. If we can accomplish this, it will serve the daily needs of about 616 adults

and 2,152 children who currently face the greatest challenges to their health and well-being. The people in these villages will not only use the water for drinking and cooking, but also to sustain important gardens they depend on for food and income.”

According to Cavnar, the wells will make use of freestanding hand pumps, and the families in each community will choose a leader to oversee and perform maintenance on the equipment.

Each well will have a cement wall around it for security and be available daily during specific hours of operation. The water will be free, but the benefiting families will be encouraged to contribute a token amount to a community fund that can be tapped if repairs are ever needed on the wells.

Contributing in this way will give villagers a sense of ownership and pride in their community.

“Anticipation is mounting for this project, and volunteers have already stepped forward to offer their help with the construction of the wells. Now, all that’s needed are the funds for drilling, purchasing pumps, constructing a pump house to store supplies and training community members to handle maintenance of the new facilities,” Cavnar said. “Our goal now is to make American Catholics aware of the project and gain their support.”

How to Help To fund Cross Catholic Outreach’s effort to help the poor worldwide, use the postage-paid brochure inserted in this newspaper or mail your gift to Cross Catholic Outreach, Dept. AC01877, PO Box 97168, Washington, DC 20090-7168. The brochure also includes instructions for becoming a Mission Partner and making a regular monthly donation to this cause.

If you identify an aid project, 100% of the donation will be restricted to be used for that specific project. However, if more is raised for the project than needed, funds will be redirected to other urgent needs in the ministry.

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FEBRUARY 6, 2022 n A11

Resettling refugees The refugee resettlement team at St. John XXIII Parish includes (back row) George Simler, Charlie Mulligan, Leslie Nassios, John Platfoot, Deidre Diener, Geri Mulligan, Al Pearson, and (front row) Susie Simler, Jae Resendes, Rosey Mattson, Carey Chambers, and Janet Pearson.

A12 n FEBRUARY 6, 2022

and obtaining a driver’s license; obtaining their Social Security cards; receiving medical shots; applying for food stamps; and learning the public transportation system.

“I have to admit that I was illprepared for the whole thing in dealing with health clinics and things like food stamps and all that kind of stuff,” Mr. Pearson said. “I wish I had a primer on that before I started.”

In addition, volunteers give of their time and expertise to help with babysitting, teaching technology, cooking new foods, and acquiring funds for things such Stocking the fridge Volunteers from St. John XXIII Parish’s as children’s summer camps or refugee welcoming ministry stock the refrigerator and pantry with adult education.

One of the parish volunteers ap- the groceries they bought for an Afghan family on the day of the family’s arrival. Bridge Refugee Services provides a grocery list proached Bishop Richard F. Stika to inquire about utilizing the Pope depending on the country the refugee family is coming from to its Community Assistance Teams like the one from St. John XXIII. Francis Charitable Trust Fund, which exists to support charitable Forever grateful outreach at the parish level in the “I will forever be grateful to my welcoming diocese. team of volunteers from St. John XXIII,” Theresa Bishop Stika approved “$1,000 toward [Theresa’s] classes at UT, the online course for dental said. “It is true that Bridge received me and the kids, but this journey wouldn’t have been the assistant,” Mrs. Mulligan shared.

Mrs. Mulligan noted that their team cannot do same without the St. John XXIII love and support since February 2018 until now, because everything, but they do what they can based on they’ve never left us.” what their volunteers are able to offer.

“These people have made us feel at home “You don’t have to do everything,” she asand secure,” she continued. “They are always sured. “Bridge asks you, what do you want to around making sure we go forward. They have do? And so we check, well we want to provide the first meal, we want to go shopping, we want been a source of happiness and blessings in so to drive, those kinds of things. If you say, I don’t many ways. We love and appreciate them.”

St. John XXIII parish’s refugee ministry not want to drive, we don’t have anybody… Bridge only provides community for the refugees, but will do that with other volunteers.” also within the parish among the volunteers.

Other community members pitched in to as“What I enjoy the most is the camaraderie sist Theresa and her children, as well. Members with the other members,” Mr. Pearson said. “We of the local refugee community who had previenjoy each other’s company, we always feel like ously gone through the same challenges were we can count on each other, and we have a good present to offer advice and guidance, such as time when we do it.” with tax preparation or child-care laws.

“Everybody we met in that first group, I don’t Theresa also found and joined a local Penknow that I knew any of them before,” Mrs. tecostal church, whose members not only Mulligan noted. “And it was so wonderful to welcomed her into a faith community but also meet our own parish people, you know, who helped supply furniture for her apartment. had the same concern.”

Bridge accompanies the refugees for six The most recent surge in Bridge’s resettlemonths, and in that time assists them in findments came after the August 2021 evacuations ing housing and a job. After the six months, the of Afghans from the Kabul airport, after U.S. individual or family is on its own. But for the St. troops withdrew from the country and the TaliJohn XXIII team, the parish’s involvement conban reclaimed power in Afghanistan. tinued on.

Currently, Bridge has helped resettle 35 “I would say we had pretty heavy involveindividuals in Knoxville from Afghanistan, ment for about 18 months. So, it would have and many of those individuals make up large been the middle of 2019 that we sort of wound families. down,” Mr. Pearson said.

And for one of these Afghan families, a mix of new and old parish volunteers from St. John XXIII is back in action to provide ongoing assistance.

“After we felt that [Theresa] was pretty settled, we thought well maybe it’s time, and Bridge was asking us,” Mrs. Mulligan explained.

“We have seven people in this team, and the same kind of process happened.”

As before, the team greeted the arriving family at the Knoxville airport on Oct. 22.

“It was a wonderful experience, and [we] provided little presents for them, little backpacks,” Mrs. Mulligan explained. “In the backpacks, it was all for the kids, so there were stuffed animals for the girls and cards for the boys and socks and handwipes and things like that, just small things. They loved it.”

Because the family first arrived in the United States at a military base, many of their requirements were completed prior to coming to Knoxville.

“They had done a lot of their paperwork at the base, so we didn’t have to do that with them,” Mrs. Mulligan pointed out. “In the first case, we had to go to everything, like food stamps, Social Security, health. Here, we really didn’t have to because they had their health checks [at the Resettling in East Tennessee An Afghan fambase], and you know, got their shots and all that ily arrives at Knoxville’s McGhee Tyson Airport on kind of stuff we usually do with regular refuOct. 22. The family was greeted by St. John XXIII gees coming through.”

Parish’s refugee welcoming committee.

Refugees continued on page A13 COURTESY OF PETER GREEN, BRIDGE REFUGEE SERVICES

Mr. Green trains groups to work as Community Assistance Teams and partners them with newly arrived refugees.

These Community Assistance Teams provide a support network in addition to the services at Bridge so that refugees have the help and resources they need around the clock. Individual volunteers also provide a helping hand, especially when teams are lacking for families or individuals.

“I’m trying to bring resources and volunteers to Bridge to support our refugees and support our case workers,” Mr. Green said.

“My focus right now is faith-based groups,” he explained. “That’s a place you can find groups of people, and usually they want to do outreach, to come alongside families that are coming here and help us support those families.”

One such group is St. John XXIII University Parish, located in Knoxville on the University of Tennessee campus.

It was in 2017 that parishioners Charlie and Geri Mulligan began working with Bridge and put a notice in the parish bulletin inviting others to learn more about helping refugees.

“It was a time when there was sort of a highlighting of anti-refugee and anti-immigrant opinion in the world,” Mr. Mulligan said. “At the same time, we had Pope Francis, who was saying that the responsibility for immigrants is a particular religious and Catholic responsibility.”

“So, what a few of us thought of was… instead of debating in our heads, why not act with our hands and hearts and welcome a refugee family, because Bridge was bringing in refugees,” he explained.

The pair stood outside after Masses trying to gain interest and also gathered names at a parish ministry day.

“We were willing to try anything to get people to sign up,” Mrs. Mulligan said. “We asked them to just come to a meeting to see what it was about and see if they really were interested, and then we ended up with 14 people, which for us in a small parish we thought was amazing.”

Parishioner Al Pearson, who had long had the plight of refugees on his heart, decided to join the group of volunteers.

“For several years… I was really aware of the refugee situation and always wondered what could I do to help,” Mr. Pearson said. “When a member of Bridge came to talk to people in the parish who were interested in the refugee effort, I viewed that as an opportunity to kind of fulfill an ambition I had.”

After a St. John XXIII group was established, the volunteers signed the necessary paperwork to become a Community Assistance Team.

In February 2018, the group was assigned its first family: a single mother, named Theresa, with two young children who were Congolese refugees coming from a camp in Namibia.

To prepare for the family, Bridge found available Section 8 housing, and then volunteers set up the apartment with furniture and decorations, much of which was donated, and also went grocery shopping to stock the refrigerator and cupboards.

Volunteers go shopping based on a list that Bridge provides, which varies depending on the country from which the refugee family comes and what types of food they traditionally eat.

Mrs. Mulligan and other volunteers waited at the airport to welcome the family to Knoxville on Feb. 20, 2018.

“They came at something like midnight, they walked in, and it was just wonderful to see them. And then we worked continuously with that family,” she said. “[We] showed up to greet them and went to the house with them and everything. It was really exciting.”

Often with refugees, the language barrier can add the complication of needing a translator.

However, Theresa was fluent in English, as well as French and Swahili.

“One of the easy things was she spoke English, and that made it really easy for everybody to contribute and to be part of it,” Mrs. Mulligan explained. “And of course, the kids were born in the refugee camp in Namibia, and Namibia is an English-speaking African country. So they spoke English from the beginning, which made their transition to school very easy, as well.”

In the process of accompanying a refugee family, the parish volunteers step into the nitty gritty aspects of daily life. Tasks most Americans accomplish throughout a number of years, refugees have to immediately get done in a matter of days or months.

Such examples include learning how to drive

COURTESY OF GERI MULLIGAN, ST. JOHN XXIII PARISH

Community Assistance Teams

COURTESY OF FRED O’HARA, ST. JOHN XXIII PARISH

Refugees continued from page A1

agency for the area, with offices in Knoxville and Chattanooga.

According to Bridge’s website, it has “resettled more than 2,400 refugees from Africa, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Central and South America, and the Middle East” over the past decade.

The organization, founded in 1982, averages 90 arrivals per year, many of which are families.

“So, there’s always work to do,” said Peter Green, a volunteer and co-sponsorship manager at Bridge.

www.di o k no x .o rg

TH E EA S T TEN N ES S EE C ATH OLI C

Paulist Fathers name next president for four-year term Father Constanza will succeed Father Andrews, who served at St. John XXIII in Diocese of Knoxville

COURTESY OF THE PAULIST FATHERS

T

he Paulist Fathers have announced the election of Father René Constanza as the next president of the missionary society of Catholic priests. In June, he will succeed Paulist Father Eric Andrews, who is completing his second four-year term as president.

Father Constanza has served since 2018 as rector of the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Grand Rapids, Mich., as well as superior of the Paulist Fathers in that city. He also is director of the Catholic Information Center in Grand Rapids, a position he has held since 2016.

“I am deeply humbled and honored by the overwhelming support I have received from my Paulist brothers. Despite the challenging and exciting task ahead, I feel a pervading sense of peace knowing that the Holy Spirit is the one in charge of our community and its mission. It also is comforting to continue trusting in God, who has always placed wonderful and talented people around me in every leadership role I have had,” Father Constanza said in a message to his parishioners in Grand Rapids.

A native of Belize, Father Constanza is the son of Silvino Constanza Sr. and Dionicia Constanza Tillett.

He earned his undergraduate degree at Spalding University in Louisville, Ky., where he studied biol-

Father René Constanza ogy and secondary education. He holds a master’s degree in higher education administration from the University of Louisville, and a master of divinity degree from Catholic University of America.

Prior to joining the Paulist Fathers, he was founding principal of Bishop Martin High School in Orange Walk Town, Belize.

Father Constanza was ordained a priest on May

19, 2012. From 2012 to 2016, he was associate pastor of St. Austin Parish in Austin, Texas. Since 2018, he has been a Paulist General Council member.

Established in 1858, the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle was the first society of Catholic priests founded in the United States.

Paulist Fathers serve in missions, media, campus ministries, parishes, downtown centers, the arts, and other areas spreading the Catholic faith. The society’s media ministries include: nPaulist Press, the oldest Catholic publishing firm in the United States; nPaulist Productions, an Emmy Award-winning creator of films and television programs; nBusted Halo, a website and radio program on SiriusXM’s The Catholic Channel.

Paulist Fathers lead Catholic campus ministries at the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at Los Angeles, Ohio State University, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

In addition to Grand Rapids, the community leads parishes in New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Rome, Austin, Horseshoe Bay, Texas, and at Immaculate Conception in Knoxville. ■

its people to be allowed to express or practice their own beliefs, including atheism, in the public sphere and respect that right for all others.

What is key in this decision-making process, the court said, is that it be an open, respectful, and “goodnatured” process of discussion and discernment that involves the entire school body and provides “reasonable accommodation” for all positions.

This is why the court determined that even though the teacher did not face discrimination by the presence of the crucifix, the mandate and sanctions issued by the principal were illegitimate because it was a mandate based on a majority vote that failed to take all sides into ac-

count—particularly the dissenting teacher’s.

Freedom of and from religion does not call for forbidding religious symbols from classrooms, it said, however, explaining that “the public space cannot be occupied by just one religious faith, even if it is in the majority.”

At the same time, the crucifix is part of Italy’s vast cultural patrimony and is a part of its history and popular tradition, it added. As such, the cross and the passion of Christ have come to also represent some universal values such as human dignity, peace, fraternity, and solidarity, for nonbelievers, too, it said.

The school community can and

must come together and decide, “from the grassroots” and in full autonomy from state influence, which symbols it chooses to welcome and in a way that promotes the fruitful and respectful coexistence of people of different faiths and beliefs, the court said.

State neutrality does not mean “negating or misunderstanding the contributions religious values can bring to the growth of a society,” it said; it is being open and inclusive to — not canceling — different cultures, religions, and beliefs, and it seeks to guarantee their equal place and dignity.

In fact, it said, any “request for eliminating every element or representation that does not coincide with an individual’s personal religious belief is a demand that suffers from rigidity.”

The public school must be “an open place that fosters inclusion and promotes the encounter between different religions and philosophical convictions, and where students can learn about their and others’ beliefs and traditions,” it said. Allowing the display of different religious symbols in a classroom through civil dialogue and deliberation, it added, teaches everyone how vital and fundamental reciprocal respect is.

It teaches how a democratic society requires a constant and mutual “balancing” of principles and rights to come up with concrete solutions in ways that avoid falling into a “tyranny of the majority,” the chaos and conflict of competing values, or the veto power of one or a strong minority, it said. ■

were without a copier or scanners.

Just little simple things—we went to write a letter, and we had to go buy stationery, and then we were like, ‘Oh, we don’t have any stamps to put a letter out.’ It just is kind of crazy—no paper, no envelopes, you just don’t have anything.

“We’ve rebuilt here a little bit, but at first it was difficult. Then when we were all in one room, it became difficult to operate, so we had a lot of people who worked at home, and some weren’t used to it.

Elizabeth said today, ‘I’m so glad to have a space here Monday morn-

ing so I can have my crafts table back at my house.’ Everybody just burrowed in where they needed to just to keep the mission going.

A couple times, you could catch me and [grant administrator] Ada [Hernandez-Bell] meeting in the kitchen of the [Chancery] because the conference rooms were booked there, so there’s a little table in the corner of the kitchen, and we found ourselves meeting there a couple times, just to have a place that was quiet where we could get some things done,” Mrs. Healy noted.

CCETN is growing as it settles

into its temporary base on Gay Street.

“We’re in the middle of a lot of program growth, with pregnancy expansion, ultrasound and adoption opportunities,” Mrs. Healy said.

“We just started in the fall a relationship with Covenant Homecare, with respite care for the homeless, over at Samaritan Place, keeping those activities going. Just keeping regular activities, and then the expansion activities that we’re working on become a little more difficult when you’re not in the environment you’re used to operating in.” ■

CCETN continued from page A7

in mid-December. There was a lot of difficulty around that.”

Mrs. Healy said, “It’s amazing, even though the administrative activity you do to manage the mission doesn’t change, but when you break up the routine and processes, it becomes very difficult.”

“We were really helped a lot by the development team in the diocese, just so we could get letters out or get our donations in the system or postmark our envelopes. We had to go to the diocese for that. All of our equipment got burned up. We

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO/TONY GENTILE, REUTERS

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rejected one part of the teacher’s appeal, saying the presence of a crucifix in a classroom is not a “discriminative act” against a person of no or a different faith. The court cited the 2011 ruling by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights on Lautsi v. Italy, which determined nations are free to regulate religious symbols as they deem fit as long as state authorities are not seeking to indoctrinate or violate basic rights with their decisions.

The court also reiterated that the crucifix does not indoctrinate because it is “a passive symbol” in which there is no evidence its presence has any influence on impressionable students, much less an adult teacher.

The supreme court noted that there is no actual legislation that provides for or mandates the presence of a crucifix in public schools, and it would be unconstitutional for any public “power”—official or entity—to make it obligatory.

What does exist is a series of decrees issued during Italy’s fascist period in the 1920s, which includes the crucifix among a list of recommended school furnishings and decorations.

The supreme court said such norms can still be interpreted in a way that does not go against the current constitution guaranteeing religious freedom by allowing the school community—not a government or public institution—to decide what symbols are displayed. The state must be neutral in regard to different faiths, but it is legitimate for

A sign of salvation A crucifix is pictured on the wall of a classroom at a school in Rome. Italy’s highest court of appeal has ruled on the permissibility of hanging the crucifix in public school classrooms. The court said the same freedom applies to all religious, cultural symbols, and it must be decided democratically by students and faculty.

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Because this family did not speak English, parish volunteers drive them to the Center for English for daily lessons, which will be crucial for the father to obtain a job.

“They’re going to emphasize English first, because your options if you don’t speak English, at least basically, are few and not well-remunerated,” Mr. Mulligan said.

“We’ve had a lot of outpouring about people wanting to support Afghans, and it’s been really great,” Mr. Green said. “It’s really made my job easy, that people have been volunteering or you know, wanting to do a Community Assistance Team, wanting to house them in their homes.”

Reaching out to churches

In addition to Afghanistan, other countries from which refugees in Knoxville have come TH E EAST T E N N E S S E E C AT HO L I C

from include Syria, Iraq, Burundi, South Sudan, and Myanmar, with 95 percent of Bridge’s refugees arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “A lot of these refugees who are coming in and have come since 1982 have very similar stories [to the Afghans],” Mr. Green said. “I would like to see that support carry over to a lot of our other refugees.”

“We’re always looking for volunteers to help out. Transportation is always a big need; obviously when they come they don’t have a driver’s license, they don’t have a car,” Mr. Green added. “If there are churches that would like to be a Community Assistance Team, they definitely could reach out to me here in Knoxville.”

The volunteers at St. John XXIII Parish attest to the important work of accompanying refugees and invite others to do the same. www.di o k no x .o rg

“The many different ways, the little ways, in which a community is pre-formed around an arriving refugee family, the many ways they can help is just life-giving,” Mr. Mulligan shared. “It’s wonderful. It’s better than money.”

“Pope Francis, for years, has been talking about the need to welcome people and to welcome immigrants and refugees, and it’s a passion of his,” he continued. “It’s important to honor the tradition, the immigrant tradition of our Church in welcoming the immigrants of the present.” “[Theresa] can’t say enough about what a difference it made in her life and in her coming, and she wishes every refugee family had that, too. We do, too,” Mrs. Mulligan said.

For parishes interested in learning more about Bridge Refugee Services’ Community Assistance Teams, contact Peter Green at pgreen@bridgerefugees.org. ■ FEBRUARY 6, 2022 n A13

Parishes hold listening sessions as Synod process moves forward

cember and were also provided with a link to an online survey that allowed Catholics and non-Catholics to answer 46 questions covering a host of issues. There also was room for essay-style answers that required more detailed responses.

The online survey closed on Jan. 31 with 4,816 responses of which 4,581 identified as Catholic, 229 as non-Catholic, and 25 people responded as homeless.

“During the survey period, we asked our group leaders to make sure they reached everyone possible, including those living in crisis situations,” Deacon Sean Smith said. Deacon Smith was assigned

by Bishop Stika to help lead the diocesan Synod effort along with Catholic Charities of East Tennessee executive director Lisa Healy.

“Catholic Charities of East Ten-

nessee and a few other groups connected with people that they serve—the homeless, those living in our shelters, and asked how they felt. This fulfilled two purposes. First, it gave these people a voice and a genuine sense that they matter in society. It also gave us some perspective on how those living on the fringes feel, or don’t feel, about certain issues,” Deacon Smith added.

With the online, anonymous survey now completed, parishes and Catholic groups in the diocese have had the option of holding in-person meetings or listening sessions.

All Saints Parish in Knoxville started that process a few weeks ago. The parish plans a total of four listening sessions, including an online version using Zoom.

“We have held one listening session so far. That session had a small attendance, but it was a great opportunity for the team to learn from the process and for parishioners to hear from one another what a great opportunity the listening session can be,” said Carrie Manabat, Synod group coordinator at All Saints.

“Parishioners who attended were excited to share their thoughts, open to hearing from

one another, and able to disagree respectfully,” she said.

Humberto Collazo is a Synod group coordinator at St. Dominic Parish in Kingsport, where plans also call for multiple meetings.

“Meetings were set up to give opportunities to different groups, and therefore (they will be held at) different times of the day,” Mr. Collazo said. “We expect some small ones, with one major meeting. The meetings will be led by our parish team with help of our parish council and our pastor,” Mr. Collazo added.

Listening sessions aren’t required, but several parishes in the diocese have elected to conduct them.

The Synod is meant to serve the universal Church, but Mr. Collazo acknowledges that parishes will also benefit. The feedback “may impact future programs and direction of resources,” he said.

Parishes and other Catholic groups participating in the Synod are required to have their one-page report submitted to Deacon Smith, who serves as the Diocese of Knoxville’s chancellor and chief operating officer, by March 1.

The diocese will submit a report to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops by April 1. ■

the doctrinal congregation’s 2008 instruction on “certain bioethical questions,” such as the immorality of: human cloning; artificial reproduction and contraception; freezing of human embryos or of human eggs; use of human embryos and embryonic stem cells for research or medical use; preimplantation diagnosis leading to the destruction of embryos suspected of defects; and therapy that makes genetic modifications aimed at transmitting the effects to the subject’s offspring because it may potentially harm the offspring.

Other guidelines mentioned in the new charter include:

n Organ transplantation must be at the service of life and involve free consent by the living donors or their legitimate representatives. Ascertaining the death of the donor must be diagnosed with certainty, especially when dealing with a child’s death. n Research in transplanting animal tissues into humans is licit as long as it does not affect “the identity and integrity” of the person, it does not carry “excessive risks” to the person, the animals involved are not subjected to unnecessary suffering, and no damage is done to biodiversity. n Not all human organs can be transplanted, such as the human brain,

testicles, and ovaries, which are organs inseparably tied to a person’s unique and procreative identity. n Ovarian tissue banking for cancer patients with the aim of restoring fertility with the woman’s own tissue “does not seem to pose moral problems” and is, “in principle, acceptable.” n Ectopic pregnancy can lead to “serious danger” to the life of the woman, and the embryo usually does not survive. “Directly suppressive measures” against the embryo are prohibited, while procedures exclusively aimed at saving the life and health of the woman are justified. ■

By Jim Wogan

I

f your parish seems especially chatty this month, the voices you hear might be coming from special listening sessions or town hall meetings organized to gather opinions on the Church and its mission.

The 2023 Synod of Bishops, commissioned by Pope Francis, is calling on every diocese in the world to offer feedback to the Vatican on issues they consider important— anything relating to the Church and the Catholic faith.

When the call went out in early September, it sounded impossible.

How does the Church reach nearly 1.3 billion people and compile feedback and data for the bishops and the Holy Father to review and maybe even act on in just over a year from now?

“It seemed like an impractical thing to do, but we have come a long way in just a short period of time,” Bishop Richard F. Stika said.

“The participation of our parish leaders, and leaders of other Catholic organizations in the diocese, has helped keep this process on track. It’s been a very good effort.”

Parishes and Catholic organizations in the diocese were offered information and training in DeOrgan donation continued from page A8

the Church’s position, one of the experts who helped revise the charter — Antonio Spagnolo, a medical doctor and bioethics professor at Rome’s Sacred Heart University — said, “there is an acceptable distance” from cooperating with the original evil of the abortions when people use the vaccines to prevent the “great danger” of spreading disease. He said the Vatican academy’s Moral Reflections on Vaccines Prepared From Cells Derived From Aborted Human Fetuses made the Church’s position clear.

Many of the issues added to the updated charter were dealt with in

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PHOTOS BY GABRIELLE NOLAN, BILL BREWER AND COURTESY OF ORVILLE FISHER, DEB MAUPIN, MADISON SCHUTTER, DONNA JONES

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live, need us, and you have met the call today.”

Mrs. Irvine invited the crowd to pray for U.S. Supreme Court justices as the nation awaits the decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case arguing the constitutionality of a Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks.

“The adversary has a strong, loud, determined voice today,” she said. “He speaks through many voices, many organizations, many elected officials. He says things like, ‘We have a right to privacy,’ ‘The right to control my own body,’ ‘The right to choose whether my baby lives or dies.’ Today, the adversary encourages women to shout their abortions and to be proud of choosing to take the life of their child.”

“May you and I never forget that it is the still, small voice that calls to you and to I,” Mrs. Irvine continued.

“It is the Savior’s voice that asks us to be His hands, His feet, and His voice.…May you ask the Lord to direct you to what He would have you do, to be His voice.”

Mrs. Irvine shared a story of when two young women approached her as she volunteered at a TRL pro-life booth at the Tennessee Valley Fair.

“They were ready for a fight,” she said. “The first words out of one of their mouths were, ‘So, we assume that you’re one of those people who believe that abortion is wrong no matter what.’”

But after 45 minutes of questions and discussion, the women’s stance softened, and they became more receptive to the pro-life arguments.

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“They left our booth with a few important comments,” Mrs. Irvine recounted. “One said, ‘This has been the most informative conversation regarding abortion I have ever had. Thank you for listening to us. You have given me many things to consider that I have never thought of before and I can’t wait to share this discussion with my friends.’”

“If we ever believe that this work is anyone’s work but God’s, we will fail in our efforts to protect life,” Mrs. Irvine said. “But when we remember that protecting life, the life that God gives, is His work and His glory, then we don’t have to be afraid of tough questions, of family and friends who disagree, of uncomfortable interactions with others. We just have to show up, and be willing to stand and testify of truth. That is what you are doing today.”

The number of participants was reported at just over 600 on the chilly and sunny afternoon.

Participants carried homemade signs and banners with many creative and unique designs, and Tennessee Right to Life provided signs expressing statements such as “Choose life,” “Stop Abortion Now,” and “Follow the Science.”

“Those who attended this year’s march were filled with the hope that this may be the year that Roe v. Wade is finally overturned,” said Stacy Dunn, president of Tennessee Right to Life and executive director of TRL’s Knox County chapter.

The march began at the Convention Center, making its way through World’s Fair Park and Fort Sanders to the corner of 16th Street

and Clinch Avenue, where the local abortion clinic, Knoxville Center for Reproductive Health, is located on the corner.

Orville Fisher, a parishioner at St. Mary Church in Athens, attended the national March for Life in Washington, D.C., and the local march in Knoxville.

“It’s just important that we make a presence,” Mr. Fisher said. “It’s important that everyone in the prolife movement realizes that it takes everyone, that it can’t just be about a few leaders or about the legislature. So, when they have the March for Life here, it’s important that everybody be represented, and so I make a point of it.”

Greater Chattanooga Right to Life, another affiliate of TRL, hosted its first-ever march in downtown Chattanooga on Saturday, Jan. 22.

Participants met at Walker Pavilion at Coolidge Park on River Street and marched across the iconic Walnut Street Bridge.

Among the 300-plus participants were several youth and young adults from local Catholic groups.

“There is an irony in our current culture that, I believe, needs to be resolved,” said Hannah Morais, a sophomore at Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga.

“We are told to be bold, to be brave, to face our fears... except when it comes to the fear of bringing a new life into the world,” Miss Morais said. “We’re told to never give up and to keep persevering, even when things get hard... except in the case of an unexpected pregnancy. We’re told to follow the science... except the scientific fact

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that life begins at the moment of conception.”

“While it’s wrong to downplay the fear and uncertainty of women experiencing unplanned pregnancies, the hypocrisy of the culture is also wrong,” she continued. “I marched to raise awareness of the true sadness and violence of abortion, and to show that there are alternatives to abortion that hold greater benefits for both the mother and the child.”

Donna Jones, the Chattanooga Deanery coordinator for youth and young adult ministry and a youth minister at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, didn’t know what to expect from the city’s first-ever March for Life.

“I have always been to the march in Washington, D.C., every year, but I was blown away by the turnout!” she said. “We had over 300 people show up, and a great Catholic presence! The whole group felt connected to our purpose!”

Ms. Jones noted that Chattanooga is the largest U.S. city without an abortion clinic.

“We worked really hard years ago to have it closed and continue to work on keeping Planned Parenthood out,” she explained. “We feel blessed here in Chattanooga that we don’t have an abortion clinic, but we still feel the need to march to make our pro-life beliefs known.”

“This (Chattanooga TRL) chapter is working hard to keep its city free from an abortion facility as Planned Parenthood has hired staff in the area,” Mrs. Dunn said. “Having Local march continued on page A16 FEBRUARY 6, 2022 n A15

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a successful March for Life was a strong witness of how people are coming together to protect their community from Planned Parenthood’s deadly agenda and the devastation of abortion.”

After the march, members of the Catholic Charities Pregnancy Help Center spoke to the youth about what they can do to help and what they can say to a friend A16 n FEBRUARY 6, 2022

in the Blessed Sacrament, preparing for the next day’s events to mark the 49th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. Jan. 22 also was the National Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children in the Catholic Church. While the Walk for Life West Coast was the public witness through the streets of San Francisco, the prayer surrounding the walk was just as critical to the event. The vigil Mass and eucharistic adoration in churches across the city provided an opportunity for an encounter with Christ’s love and mercy, so adorers could then go out and be the face of Christ to others. Shows of support Top photo: pro-life advocates attend the annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21.

Teens and young adults from the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and Bottom photo: pro-life supporters in San Francisco are seen other dioceses from around the country during the 18th annual Walk for Life West Coast on Jan. 22. faced frigid early-morning temperatures to gather at the Cathedral of St. Matthew years. In commenting on the debate over aborthe Apostle to pray, sing, and voice their support tion, Father Conroy called choice “an American for life. Several hundred young people attended value” that “happens to be a Catholic value, too.” the archdiocesan-sponsored 33rd Youth Rally and “A good Catholic in our system could be sayMass for Life Jan. 21 that occurred prior to the ing: Given women in our system have this conannual March for Life in the nation’s capital. Bestitutional right, our task as fellow Christians, or cause of the continuing pandemic, the rally and as Catholics, is to make it possible for her to optiMass had limited seating and offered a scaledmize her ability to make the choice,” he said. down version of previous gatherings for the secResponding in his RealClearReligion colond year in a row. umn, Archbishop Lori said approaching the is“It is a special joy to welcome each of you, the sue “solely as a constitutional question is very youth of our archdiocese ... (and) all those jointheoretical.” ing us via livestream from all across the country,” Quoting Pope Francis that “realities are greater Washington Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory said than ideas,” the archbishop said that “abortion is as the event started. Noting that it is God alone not merely an idea, but a tragic reality that takes “who has the power to grant the breath of life,” innocent lives and often leads to a lifetime of rethe cardinal prayed that “we stay constant in gret for women.” safeguarding the dignity of every human life.”

The Church’s response is “not merely an abCardinal Gregory was the principal celebrant stract discourse about rights” but is “a call to act at the Mass, and Father James Morrison, pathat is rooted in the reality that every human life rochial vicar at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in is a sacred gift from God,” Archbishop Lori said.

Bethesda, Md., was the homilist. Concelebrants An estimated 5,000 Catholics attended Mass at included Washington auxiliary bishops Mario E. the basilica, where Archbishop Lori preached the Dorsonville and Roy E. Campbell Jr.; Archbishop homily. He also was the principal celebrant of the Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United liturgy, which was the opening Mass of the anStates; and about a dozen priests. nual National Prayer Vigil for Life.

While every year thousands of Catholics and Noting the more than 60 million abortions that other abortion opponents march in Washington have taken place since its legalization nationally, in January marking the anniversary of the 1973 he said it was “a matter of fundamental justice ...

Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal to protect in law the lives of the unborn, society’s nationwide, the 2022 march was accompanied by most vulnerable and defenseless members.... a hot debate on whether Catholics themselves can And we must redouble our efforts to accompany support legalized abortion. women and couples who are facing unexpected On the day of the march, Baltimore Archbishop or difficult pregnancies, offering them loving and Lori, who chairs the U.S. bishops’ pro-life comcompassionate care.” mittee, published an op-ed column on the webDuring the Mass, Catholics for Choice projected site RealClearReligion declaring that “the Church onto the basilica facade slogans supporting a has been consistent about the reality of abortion: right to abortion, including “Pro-Choice Catholics It is wrong.” Archbishop Lori was taking to task You Are Not Alone” and “1 in 4 Abortion Patients the recently retired chaplain of the U.S. House of is Catholic,” a statistic attributed to the GuttRepresentatives, a Catholic priest who had told macher Institute.

The Washington Post that a “good Catholic” can In his statement condemning what he called support access to abortion. “pranks,” Cardinal Gregory said that “the true On the eve of the March for Life, a group called voice of the Church was only to be found within Catholics for Choice projected slogans supporting the basilica. ... There, people prayed and offered a right to abortion on the exterior of the Basilica the Eucharist, asking God to restore a true reverof the National Shrine of the Immaculate Concep- ence for all human life.” tion, while thousands of pro-life Catholics were On Twitter, Catholics for Choice posted a picattending Mass inside. The action earned a strong ture of the basilica with the slogans and the caprebuke from Cardinal Gregory. tion “Catholics for Choice has a message for the “Those whose antics projected words on the so-called #MarchForLife: you don’t speak for us. outside of the church building demonstrated by #LiberateAbortion #AbortionIsEssential.” those pranks that they really are external to the San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. CordileChurch,” he said. one subsequently tweeted: “The attempted desThe controversies began with a Jan. 5 interview ecration is enormous. Diabolical. Mother Mary, in the Post with Jesuit Father Pat Conroy, who pray for them, now and at the hour of death. had served as chaplain to the U.S. House for 10 Amen.” ■ CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO/DENNIS CALLAHAN

on the future of the national march if, later this year, the U.S. Supreme Court effectively overturns the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision by upholding the Mississippi abortion law in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

But there’s one plan in place if that occurs.

Overturning Roe would return all abortion restrictions to the states. So, Ms. Mancini said the plan is to have statewide marches established in all 50 states over the next seven years. There are currently a handful of state marches, an effort that began six years ago.

Jeff Hunt, director of the Centennial Institute, a think tank attached to Colorado Christian University, said he thought legalized abortion was a nonstarter with the young people who have dominated the March for Life for many years.

“Many of them grew up with their brother’s or sister’s sonogram taped to the refrigerator door,“ he said. “I think that’s shaping the idea that a child is not a bunch of cells you can kill.” He thought this generation of young people is “naturally more pro-life than previous generations.”

Marianne Hofer, coordinator of the student pilgrimage from the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D., said, “We’re extremely excited.

We’re very honored to be here at a time when Roe could be overturned.” The university sent 230 students. Ms. Hofer estimated that about half were at their first March for Life.

The march was briefly delayed after it got underway when members of Patriot Front, known as a white nationalist hate group, attempted to march alongside. They were quickly dispersed.

“March for Life promotes the beauty, dignity, and worth of every human life by working to end the violence of abortion. We condemn any organization that seeks to exclude a person or group of people based on the color of their skin or any other characteristic,” Ms. Mancini told Catholic News Service later in reaction to Patriot Front’s effort to join the march.

“Such exclusion runs counter to our mission, which recognizes that all human lives are equal from the moment of conception: equality begins in the womb,” she said.

In a statement issued ahead of the march, Bishop Burbidge said the March for Life “is a powerful witness to essential truths that unite us: All of life is sacred and, thus, the life of the unborn child must be protected from the horror of abortion, and life at every stage must be revered, cherished, and treasured.”

“We march peacefully each year in our nation’s capital to give witness to these truths to a nation in which many in public office and others throughout our communities continue to reject them. Yet we will never despair nor tire of proclaiming the Gospel of Life, with firm belief in the power of God to transform hearts,” he added.

He echoed what Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori said in his homily at a Jan. 21 vigil Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception: that the Church stands ready through its many pastoral ministries “to assist parents who choose life and need support and care.”

Speakers at the Washington, D.C., March for Life spoke of a likely tipping point in the current protest against legalized abortions in the United States, but they also urged the crowd to remain vigilant in their advocacy and support for the pro-life movement. Speakers at the 90-minute rally, held under cloudy skies with temperatures in the 20s, were faith leaders, members of Congress, pro-life advocates, including women who had or almost had abortions, and actors.

Many of the speakers acknowledged that those in the crowd, bundled in winter coats and hats and standing close together, had to be cold, but they also commended their continued dedication in coming to the event each year to protest the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 legalizing abortion. Ms. Mancini, who served as the rally’s emcee, said this was her 10th March for Life at the event’s podium: “I am pretty sure I have never seen such an excitable crowd as you are; and I am so grateful....We are hoping and praying that this year, 2022, will bring a historic change for life.”

And the city of San Francisco was abuzz late Jan. 21 with groups of young Catholics and Walk for Life West Coast pilgrims joyfully headed to the city’s North Beach neighborhood to pray. Entering into a dimly lit Sts. Peter and Paul Church, the pews were filled with the faithful, a majority of whom were young people, for all-night “Adoration for Life.” Across the city at St. Dominic Church, attendees of a Walk for Life vigil also were spending their evening adoring the Lord

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who may experience an unplanned pregnancy.

“As I work with the youth, I realize that they are being told very loudly all the pro-choice arguments, so we need to continue to teach our youth to follow the science, what the Church teaches, and to stand up for the most vulnerable, the unborn,” Ms. Jones said. “I do believe our younger generation is becoming more and more pro-life, which gives

me hope. The youth that showed up Saturday are strong in their beliefs for the pro-life stance.”

The event concluded with a rosary at the National Memorial for the Unborn, located on the site where the former abortion clinic stood nearly 30 years ago. Letters and gifts from parents are left beside the brass plates bearing the names of those children lost to abortion.

More than 60 million lives have

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been lost to abortion in the United States alone since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, statistics show.

Data from the Tennessee Department of Health reports that 10,880 abortions took place in the state in 2018. Since 1973, over 652,487 babies have died from abortion in the state of Tennessee.

For more information about Tennessee Right to Life, visit www. tnrtl.org. ■ TH E EA S T TEN N ES S EE C ATH OLI C

JANICE FRITZ-RYKEN (4)

Inspired by Blessed Carlo Acutis Chattanooga faithful take in the spellbinding stories of miracles that were part of the Eucharistic Miracles of the World Exhibit at St. Jude School Jan. 15-17. The exhibit was created by Blessed Carlo Acutis, an Italian boy with a deep Catholic faith in God who began compiling the stories at a young age. Carlo died of leukemia in 2006 at the age of 15, and on Oct. 10, 2020, he was beatified in Assisi, Italy, for his strong faith and for using technology and media to bring people to Christ.

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story of one of the first miracles that took place in eighth-century Italy, when a monk celebrating Mass had a quiet doubt about whether it was the real presence of Jesus in the host.

As he pronounced the consecration of bread and wine, he suddenly saw the consecrated bread turn in to Flesh and the wine into Precious Blood. The exhibit shows the pictures of the actual Flesh and Blood still on display in Lanciano, Italy.

For Alan and Teresa Robinson of Ooltewah, the familiar story of St. Bernadette in Lourdes, France, was just one panel they stopped to read.

“You grow up learning of the more popular saints and their stories, like with St. Bernadette, and it’s nice to revisit the stories. Life can get busy, Carlo continued from page A6

charistic miracles that have taken place through the centuries. Using his computer skills to document the miracles, Carlo spent four years cataloging them and developing a website to share these stories with the world.

While battling leukemia, Carlo offered his suffering up for the pope and the Catholic Church. After he died in 2006 at the age of 15, Carlo’s eucharistic miracles website project Abuse continued from page A9

Reinhard Marx, who has served as archbishop of Munich and Freising since 2007.

In addition to criticizing the future pope’s handling of four cases, investigators said that Wetter had mishandled 21 cases and Marx two cases.

The report identified at least 497 victims of abuse, but investigators said that the true figure was likely to be higher. They said that 247 victims were male, 182 female, while the gender of 68 victims could not be determined. They added that they had found 235 alleged perpetrators, including 173 priests.

Around 60 percent of suspected crimes were committed against children between the ages of 8 and 14.

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and sometimes we focus on the difficult things and you forget these stories you heard growing up. When you see all of the miracles lined up side by side, it’s truly incredible,” Mr. Robinson said.

St. Jude parishioner Paul Trudel said in reading through the exhibit he managed to generalize the stories of the miracles into four categories: n Priests who either didn’t believe or lost their belief in the true presence, in which case the host bled or turned to flesh; n People who received Communion and then the host bled or turned to flesh; n Stolen hosts. The hosts could not be hidden; they became so heavy they could not be carried or they became suspended in the air or

illuminated; n Several stories where certain people were sustained by the Eucharist alone for decades, proving that Christ is the true sustenance.

Teresa Slaughter, a St. Jude parishioner, said people with any feelings of doubt had hundreds of examples of Christ’s existence to strengthen their faith through this exhibit.

“I’ve been a believer my entire life,” Ms. Slaughter said. “But if I had any doubts, this exhibit would restore my faith, and more importantly I know it would strengthen the faith of our younger generation.”

To Ms. Slaughter, the story behind the exhibit is as important as the exhibit itself.

“You can’t talk about the exhibit without talking about Carlo,” she

said. “He was a regular kid with so much faith. He played soccer; he enjoyed being on his computer; he was an ordinary kid who did holy things.

Carlo resonates with our youth. He’s someone the younger generation can relate to and someone who used technology to draw others to Christ.

He inspires younger people to sainthood. I’m so grateful this young man took the time to put this exhibit together in his short life.”

Laquada Florek agrees. “Witnessing bread and wine turning into Jesus’ true Flesh and Blood is a true miracle. Any unbeliever will surely have a change of heart. It was exhilarating, and I will have even more love, respect, and devotion the next time I receive Jesus in the Holy Communion.” ■

was made into a traveling exhibit. It has been displayed in countless parishes and dioceses and has received praise throughout Europe and the United States.

On Oct. 10, 2020, Carlo was beatified at a special Mass in the city of Assisi, putting him just one step away from sainthood. His famous quote, “All people are born as originals but many die as photocopies,” is inspiring to teens around the globe. Nicknamed the “Cyber-apos-

tle of the Eucharist,” Blessed Carlo Acutis is being hailed as the “First Millennial Saint.”

Pope Francis called Carlo a good role model for young people today as well as a model of holiness in the digital age. The Holy Father suggested that Carlo’s use of the computer resembles the efforts of the first disciples, who traveled on foot to bring the Good News of Christ to people.

“Carlo was well-aware that the

whole apparatus of communications, advertising, and social networking can be used to lull us, to make us addicted to consumerism and buying the latest thing on the market, obsessed with our free time, caught up in negativity,” Pope Francis wrote after Carlo’s’ death.

“Yet instead, he used the new communication technology to transmit the Gospel, to communicate values and beauty,” the Holy Father noted. ■

Lawyer Martin Pusch, an author of the report, said, “In a total of four cases, we concluded that the thenarchbishop, Cardinal Ratzinger, can be accused of misconduct.”

He said that in two of the cases, clerics committed abuse while Cardinal Ratzinger was in office. While they were criminally sanctioned by secular courts, they continued to perform pastoral duties, he said, and no action was taken against them under canon law.

In a third case, a cleric convicted by a foreign court worked in the Munich archdiocese. Mr. Pusch suggested that Cardinal Ratzinger knew of the priest’s history.

A Vatican spokesman said on Jan. 20, “The Holy See considers that ap-

propriate attention should be paid to the document, whose contents are presently unknown. In coming days, following its publication, the Holy See will be able to give it a careful and detailed examination.”

“In reiterating shame and remorse for abuses committed by clerics against minors, the Holy See expresses its closeness to all victims and reaffirms the efforts undertaken to protect minors and ensure safe environments for them.”

Claims that the future pope covered up an abuse case in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising resurfaced earlier in January, more than 10 years after the Vatican firmly rejected the allegations.

The allegation related to the arch-

diocese’s handling of the case of Father Hullermann, who is accused of abusing at least 23 boys aged 8 to 16 between 1973 and 1996.

The priest, identified in German reports only as “H.”, was suspended from his duties in the Diocese of Essen in 1979 over allegations that he abused an 11-year-old boy.

He was moved in 1980 to the Munich Archdiocese. Father Hullermann was found guilty of molesting boys in a parish of the archdiocese in 1986.

After leaving the Munich archdiocese in 1982, Cardinal Ratzinger served as prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith before his election as pope in 2005.

He retired in 2013 and has since lived in relative seclusion at the Vatican. ■

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FEBRUARY 6, 2022 n A17

First laywoman named director of Southeast Pastoral Institute

By Florida Catholic-Miami

T

he Southeast Pastoral Institute has appointed Olga Lucia Villar as its new executive director, the first laywoman to take that leadership position.

Ms. Villar had been acting director and had previously served as SEPI’s director of formation and programs.

SEPI is the educational branch of the U.S. bishops’ Southeast Regional Office for Hispanic Ministry, and serves 30 dioceses in the southeastern United States, including the Diocese of Knoxville.

The central office for SEPI is located in the Archdiocese of Miami.

The executive director is appointed by the member bishops of SEPI. Ms. Villar was proposed by the executive committee of the board—Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans, Archbishop Thomas Rodi of Mobile, and Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville—at its semiannual board meeting on Nov. 11, and was subsequently confirmed by the member bishops.

Ms. Villar was first associated with SEPI as a teenager involved in Pastoral Juvenil (youth ministry). Since then, she has lived a life of commitment to ministry, earning both a master ’s degree and a doctorate in Hispanic Ministry.

She has taught courses at SEPI for 22 years and served as director of Hispanic Ministry in the

Seminarians continued from page A2

Deacon Otey said it is 5 percent more than they had before, and that the online business will continue to grow.

“These are sales that we would have never been able to capture,” Ms. Lauer said. “We are getting orders from California and Montana, just to name a few. Churches are calling and saying, ‘I need this liturgical book and we see it on your website,’ and then I get to talk to that church. We are adding churches from other states that will start purchasing their goods from us. It’s creating additional relationships that are not just local,” she added.

Forming seminarians is one of the largest expenditures in the diocesan budget. The diocese currently has 13 men studying for the priesthood.

Bishop Stika has said that that number may grow this year.

“The cost of forming a seminarian for one year is more than $40,000, and that’s just for his education and room and board,” Bishop Stika said.

“We fund formation through many

Archdiocese of Mobile, Ala., leading the diocese in the process of the V Encuentro with great commitment and passion. She Ms. Villar was part of the Southeast Regional leadership team for the V Encuentro and currently teaches in SEPI’s master ’s program in Hispanic Pastoral Ministry and its School of Ministries.

She has led SEPI’s Pastoral Accompaniment Program for Hispanic families in the Diocese of Jackson, Miss., in partnership with the Catholic Extension Society as well as the pilot program for the permanent diaconate in the Diocese of Biloxi, Miss.

During the past year, she has served as director of Formation and Programs at SEPI as well as acting director. She is credited with having good working relationships with the dioceses that participate in SEPI as well as the national organizations of Hispanic ministry.

In her role as director of Formation and Programs and later as acting director, Ms. Villar was intimately involved in the development of a strategic plan that will continue to advance the mission of SEPI in alignment with the needs of Hispanic ministry in the 30 dioceses served by SEPI. ■ different sources, including the Bishop’s Appeal and the Catholic Foundation of East Tennessee, but it doesn’t cover our full cost. I am grateful to Sara and Deacon Walt for their hard work getting the Paraclete in a position that it can now fulfill its purpose—by providing Catholic books and liturgical materials and gifts at a very fair price— with any profit to be offered for the education of our future priests.”

Deacon Otey expects the Paraclete’s success to continue.

“This is really significant. To go from losing money to being able to fund a seminarian is a big jump,” Deacon Otey said. “This is a sign of things to come.”

“It’s a little store, but it’s got a big purpose,” Ms. Lauer said. “The customers are constantly saying that they appreciate us being here. It’s getting that clientele back and really showing the friendly faces. We are just here to help.”

The Paraclete Catholic Books and Gift store can be reached online at paracletecatholic.org. ■

East Tennessee Catholic Briefs Funeral Masses held in Knoxville, Memphis for Msgr. Kirk Monsignor Thomas D. Kirk, age 78 of Memphis, died on Dec. 22 in his hometown of Knoxville. Monsignor Kirk was a parish priest of the Diocese of Memphis for 52 years. He was a graduate of Knoxville Catholic High School, class of 1961, before completing seminary at St. Bernard College in Cullman, Ala., and St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore.

He was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Nashville in 1969. After his ordination, Father Kirk was Msgr. Kirk sent to St. Theresa The Little Flower Church in Memphis during the civil rights movement to help bring calm and establish a place of peace to the city. He also served at St. Joseph, Sacred Heart, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, St. Mary’s in Savannah, Tenn., and St. Mary’s in Jackson.

Monsignor Kirk also served as bishop liaison of ecumenical relations and most recently as chaplain of Memphis Catholic High School.

His dedication to the people was unmatched, and he served the community in various capacities, helping establish schools and programs throughout the city. He also traveled extensively, and his impact was felt abroad as well.

He leaves a legacy of love and light and will be remembered for his dedicated faith to the Lord and the parishes and people he served.

Monsignor Kirk was preceded in death by his parents, Stephen L. and Anna Mae Billington Kirk; sister, Mary Kirk Bassett Montgomery, and nephew, Ambrose Bassett. He is survived and will be deeply missed by his brothers, Stephen L. Kirk. Jr. (Gerry), Joseph Billington Kirk (Helen), Father John L. Kirk, Philip Anthony Kirk (Suzanne); sisters, Anne Gallegos (Eloy), Joan Lyttle (Russ); 30 nieces and nephews; and other extended family and friends.

A funeral Mass was held on Dec. 28 at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Father John Kirk served as celebrant, with Bishop Richard F. Stika and Father Martin Gladysz serving as concelebrants.

A funeral Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Memphis, interment at Calvary Cemetery in Memphis, and a memorial Mass at St. Mary’s Church in Jackson, Tenn., were planned for January.

Sacred Heart Cathedral seeks accounting professional The Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, founded in 1956, is home to the Cathedral Church and Sacred Heart Cathedral School and serves approximately 2,300 registered families.

The cathedral is seeking a full-time person to work in accounting. The primary purpose of this position is to support the major responsibilities for the overall financial management of the cathedral parish. In addition, the role includes management of the stewardship of fiscal resources in support of the mission and goals of the cathedral and overseeing all financial and related functions of the parish, including payroll, budgeting, accounting, real estate and facilities, and contracted benefits. The cathedral is an $8 million non-profit organization that promotes the spiritual growth of all members of the parish community through its mission to worship, teach, and serve.

Our employees enjoy a business casual work environment, opportunities for development, and a way to impact the lives of others in a positive manner. Qualifications are a bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, or business administration; master’s degree in accounting, finance, or a master’s in business administration (MBA) preferred. Certified Public Accountant or Certified Management Accountant preferred; minimum 10 years of progressively responsible experience for a major company or nonprofit or division of a large corporation or nonprofit organization; experience in financial management, reporting, and analysis preferable; demonstrated interpersonal and communication skills; proficient with information technology; demonstrated organizational and planning skills; strong ability to think and act independently; must be able to pass a background check successfully.

To apply, e-mail or mail a cover letter of application, resumé, and three current letters of recommendation to: Mary Mac Wilson Director of Parish Operations Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus 417 Erin Drive, Suite 120 Knoxville, TN 37919 mwilson@dioknox.org

Sacred Heart Cathedral seeks maintenance supervisor The Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is looking for a maintenance supervisor. This role will provide cleaning and related maintenance services as assigned by the facilities administrator. Interested candidates can submit a resumé at the parish or contact Tom Greer at tgreer@shcknox. org or 865-558-4108 for more information.

Specific duties and responsibilities include supervising and confirming as directed completion of assigned tasks to all outside contractors, report needed facilities repairs or requests to the facilities administrator, must be able to read and interpret written and oral instructions and to communicate clearly with faculty, visitors, and supervisors, must be able to carefully follow all safety and personnel rules and regulations, be able to be fully accountable for building keys and badge access cards, perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications sought are previous experience with janitorial tasks including floor care, kitchen and bathroom cleanliness, window cleaning, trash removal, and other means of ensuring the cleanliness of facilities preferred; ability to perform light electrical, plumbing, landscaping, painting, and HVAC tasks as assigned; thorough knowledge of cleaning materials, equipment, and techniques and their safe application; must possess a high school diploma or equivalent; must be able to work nights and weekends as needed; must possess a valid Tennessee drivers license; must be able to pass a background check successfully.

Also, candidates must be comfortable working at heights and in confined spaces; must be able to lift 80 pounds and complete repetitive tasks, and must be able to walk the Sacred Heart Cathedral property several times daily.

Longtime Blessed Sacrament Church secretary, Ann Pio, dies Virginia Ann Pio, 77, of Kingston passed away on Nov. 30 at Parkwest Medical Center in Knoxville. She retired from 26 years of working as the secretary at Blessed Sacrament Church in Harriman.

She is preceded in death by her son, Clay McCloud; parents, Millard and Bonnie Owens; and brother, Raymond Owens.

She is survived by her husband, Bob Pio; children, Floyd McCloud, Serena (Gerald) Sarten, and Shamus Pio; sister, Sissy Coffelt; five grandchildren, Summer and Sam Butler, Michael and Kellie Tapp, Zachary and Talen Burkett, Quinton and AnMrs. Pio den McCloud, and Dylan McCloud; and six great grandchildren, Tristyn, Keegan, Sophia, Hudson, Ben, and August.

Mrs. Pio was remembered for being a loving mother, family member, and friend, as well as a wonderful example of Christian love. ■

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