CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING
The pope’s young friends Young people in St. Peter’s Square look up to Pope Benedict XVI after he arrived to lead the “Regina Coeli” prayer at the Vatican on May 16. Some 120,000 people attended the “Regina Coeli” in a show of support for the pope. page 10
THE EAST TENNESSEE
Volume 19 • Number 18 • May 23, 2010
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 w w w. d i o k n o x . o r g
National Catholic Charities network honors CCET
Nashville flood recovery continues The diocese’s schools sustain damage, and the death toll hits close to home for the Chancery family. By Theresa Laurence
CCET continued on page 3
Please pray for our priests Dear Lord: We pray that the Blessed Mother will wrap her mantle around your priests and through her intercession strengthen them for their ministry. We pray that Mary will guide your priests to follow her own words, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5). May your priests have the heart of St. Joseph, Mary’s most chaste spouse. May the Blessed Mother’s own pierced heart inspire them to embrace all who suffer at the foot of the cross. May your priests be holy and filled with the fire of your love, seeking nothing but your greater glory and the salvation of souls. Amen. St. John Vianney, pray for us. ■ Download prayers and a rosary booklet: bit.ly/priestprayers.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNS)—More than 15 inches of rain fell in some areas of middle Tennessee as May began, causing unprecedented flood damage in the area and killing at least 23 people. Among those who perished in the floodwaters was 88-yearold Joseph Formosa, father of Bishop David R. Choby’s secretary, Mary Margaret Lambert, and his wife, Bessie Formosa, 78. The floods swallowed neighborhoods, washed away roads, knocked out electricity, and surrounded downtown landmarks such as the Country Music Hall of Fame. Mayor Karl Dean said the damage caused by the flooding will easily exceed $1.5 billion. Forty-two counties have now been classified as national disaster areas. About 23,000 Tennesseans have registered with the Federal Emergency Management
A vehicle stands nearly submerged in a grocery store parking lot May 4 after flooding in Bellevue. Heavy rains caused water to pour over the banks of Nashville’s Cumberland River May 3, flooding neighborhoods and killing more than 20 people in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky. DISASTER IN THE CAPITAL
Agency, and more than $51 million in federal aid has been approved. On May 7 Bishop Richard F. Stika authorized an optional special second collection at Diocese of Knoxville parishes during the weekend of May 8-9, 15-16, or 22-23. The funds will be sent to Bishop Choby for flood-relief efforts.
For the most part, diocesan schools and parishes, including the most historic ones, escaped the floods unscathed except for minor damage. The Chancery office had water damage on the first floor, and all the carpets had to be pulled out, but no archives or valuables were damaged. All Nashville-area diocesan schools
were closed May 3, and individual ones were reopening throughout the week as they were able. Teachers at Holy Rosary Academy in Nashville reported to work May 3 to assess the damage to their classrooms, one day after the bottom floor of the school took in several inches of water. “We were lucky,”
said Mary Hart, principal of Holy Rosary, walking through the school’s hallways in a pair of galoshes. The cleaning crew quickly pumped the water out, and there was little evidence of flood damage except for a trash bin full of wet carpets, papers, and other supplies. The floodwaters sent Pope John Paul Flood continued on page 6
High school establishes Dominican Sisters’ Annual Fund Notre Dame hopes the generosity of alumni and friends will help the school upgrade a convent and provide a stipend for the sisters arriving this fall. BY DAN M C WILLIAM S
he Notre Dame High School community is excited about the return of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation this fall and is asking alumni and friends to support a fund that will cover the needs of the women religious as they begin serving again in Chattanooga. The good news of the sisters’ return was announced earlier this spring [April 11
T
ETC] and got even better when principal Perry Storey learned in the first week of May that the school will have four sisters coming instead of three, as was first thought. Nashville’s St. Cecilia Dominicans taught at Notre Dame for its first 97 years, leaving in 1973. “We are going back to our roots of the founding of the school, and I think this is really going to enhance our
Catholic identity,” said Mr. Storey. “Not that we haven’t established a strong Catholic identity—but this is going to make it stronger.” The formal announcement of the sisters’ return was made March 22 in a reception at the high school. Bishop Richard F. Stika and Mother Ann Marie Karlovic, OP, prioress general of the St. Cecilia Congregation, spoke to media at the event. Joining them was Sister
COURTESY OF GAYLE SCHOENBORN
atholic Charities USA recently recognized Catholic Charities of East Tennessee for its approach to assisting homeless families. CCET received a $25,000 award during a Centennial Leadership Summit in Nashville, part of CCUSA’s 100th-anniversary celebration and its national Campaign to Reduce Poverty. CCET’s transitional housing program, Elizabeth’s Homes, currently operates in Knox and Roane counties and in the TriCities area. Father Ragan Schriver, CCET’s executive director, said the program was created in response to the needs of first-time and newly homeless families. “Families were staying on the street or sleeping in their cars rather than entering traditional homeless shelters,” he said. “Parents didn’t want to bring their kids into a shelter environment, and some shelters have gender or age criteria that don’t allow
C
CNS PHOTO/RICK MUSACCHIO, TENNESSEE REGISTER
BY DA N M CW I L L I AMS
A panel from Notre Dame High School’s fundraising brochure depicts Dominican Sisters on the property of their Nashville Motherhouse. Four Dominicans will begin teaching at the Chattanooga high school in fall 2010. OP’S RETURN
Mary Evelyn Potts, OP, a Chattanooga native and Notre Dame alumna who will be one of the four Dominicans arriving this fall. The other three are Sister Thomas More Stepnowski, Sister Peter Verona Bodoh, and Sister Anna Wray. Notre Dame has established the Dominican Sisters’ Annual Fund, which will help provide a stipend for the sisters and repair a house that will serve as the convent. “Initially our goal for this drive is to get their housing renovated to a point that is comfortable for the sisters,” said Mr. Storey. “We’ll work with Memorial Hospital on the project. Some renovations and rehabbing are needed to bring the house up to current standards, and we want it to be a topnotch living environment for the sisters.” Parents, alumni, and students are looking forward to the sisters’ arrival, he said. “From the standpoint of NDHS continued on page 6