CNS/GIAMPIERO SPOSITO, REUTERS
The pope at Pentecost Pope Benedict XVI gives a blessing during Pentecost Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on May 31. The pope said that just as the body is threatened by polluted air, the soul is threatened by images and ideas that glorify violence or the exploitation of others.
THE EAST TENNESSEE
Volume 18 • Number 19 • June 7, 2009
The
N E W S PA P E R
of the D I O C E S E of K N O X V I L L E
CNS/COURTESY OF ST. JOHN’S SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY
www.d ioces eof kn ox ville.or g
MR. AMBASSADOR?
Miguel Diaz, a prominent Catholic theologian and professor, has been nominated as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.
Theologian Diaz nominated for Vatican post
Father Charlie Burton
Father Joe Brando
Father Mike Nolan
Father Eric Andrews, CSP
New assignments for 24 clergy A retirement and the moves of several longtime pastors will bring new faces to many parishes. By Dan McWilliams
B Y PATR I CI A ZAPOR
WASHINGTON (CNS)—President Barack Obama has nominated prominent Catholic theologian Miguel Diaz to become ambassador to the Vatican. In a May 27 statement the White House announced Diaz’s nomination, along with nominees for ambassadors to the United Kingdom, France, Japan, India, and several other countries. Diaz, 45, is a professor of theology at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, both in Collegeville, Minn. He is a board member of the Catholic Theological Society of America and former president of the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States. His wife, Marian, is an adjunct instructor at St. Benedict and St. John’s. Diaz served as a member of Obama’s Catholic advisory team during the campaign and was a regular campaign spokesman on Obama’s behalf, particularly in the Spanish-language press.
wo veteran priests with more than a decade as pastor at their current parish will begin leading new flocks this summer, and a third will retire from active ministry. Those were among the numerous assignment changes announced by Bishop Richard F. Stika on May 20. The reassignments involve 23 priests and will bring new faces to 15 parishes, both diocesan high schools, and one diocesan office. Three priests will become pastors for the first time. All changes, unless noted below, take effect Aug. 1. A 24th priest, Father Eric Andrews, CSP, pastor of John XXIII in Knoxville, has been reassigned by the Paulists. He has been appointed president of Paulist Productions in Pacific Palisades, Calif., and his service in the diocese will end June 30. Bishop Stika in his
memo announcing the diocesan assignment changes “expressed gratitude on behalf of the entire Diocese of Knoxville” to Father Andrews, who has been the John XXIII pastor since 2000. “Father Eric’s leadership these past nine years in the Diocese of Knoxville has been a tremendous blessing to the faithful he has pastored, the University [of Tennessee] students whom he has served, and his brother priests who have enjoyed working together with him,” the bishop said. “Father Eric knows he always has a home in the Diocese of Knoxville, and we hope we will see him again.” (Watch for a story on Father Andrews in an upcoming issue.) In the near future Bishop Stika expects to receive word from the Paulist Fathers regarding Father Andrews’s successor, who will
then be given faculties in the Diocese of Knoxville. Father Charlie Burton has been pastor of St. Dominic in Kingsport since 1995 but will assume the same role at St. Jude in Chattanooga this summer. Father Burton was ordained a priest at St. Jude in 1980 and served in the parish as a seminarian. St. Jude’s pastor of four years, Father Joe Brando, is retiring from active ministry effective July 1 and will serve as parochial administrator of St. Jude through July 31. His ETC column of 14 years, “Living the readings,” will continue. The new pastor of St. Dominic will be Father Mike Nolan, who has been pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Chattanooga since 1997 and dean of the Chattanooga Deanery since 2005. A priest of 21 1/2 years, Father Nolan will serve outside the deanery for the first time.
Father Jim Vick of St. Mary in Athens will follow Father Nolan as OLPH pastor. He has led the Athens parish for two years. Father George Schmidt of Sts. Peter and Paul in Chattanooga will become a dean for the first time as he succeeds Father Nolan in that role. Father William Oruko, AJ, the associate pastor of St. Mary in Oak Ridge since 2006, will assume his first pastorate at St. Mary in Athens. His place in the Oak Ridge parish will be filled by Deacon Jorge Cano following his priestly ordination June 13 in Pereira, Colombia. Deacon Cano’s appointment is effective July 1. Father David Boettner, pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle in Lenoir City since 2002 and moderator of the curia since early last year, will be able to serve full time as moderator. He will
Father Jim Vick
Father George Schmidt
Father William Oruko
Deacon Jorge Cano
Father David Boettner
Father Christian Mathis
Father Tony Dickerson
Father Michael Woods
T
Assignments continued on page 6
Diaz continued on page 2
Want to try online delivery? he East Tennessee Catholic is offering online delivery for those who would prefer to read a digital copy and to discontinue the print edition. If you would rather read the ETC online, visit snipr.com/onlineETC to sign up. If you have questions, call 865584-3307 or e-mail mary@diocese ofknoxville.org. ■
T