Teaching them as Jesus taught Bishop leads class for young adults on ‘Mystery of Catholicism ’
By Bee Goodman
Bishop Mark Beckman is taking the solemn vow he made when ordained to be a “true and authentic teacher of the faith” to heart and soul.
In addition to his daily ministry as the Diocese of Knoxville’s shepherd, the bishop is teaching a 12-week course tailored to young people called “Mystery of Catholicism ”
Starting in September, Bishop Beckman embarked on the journey for knowledge with young adults from around the Diocese of Knoxville.
The lecture series is exploring Catholic origins and discipleship. Leaning into their curiosity, the students in attendance are asking questions and seeking advice from the diocese’s ranking theologian. With its early success, Bishop Beckman hopes to continue the lecture series in 2026.
On Sept. 9, Bishop Beckman began the educational lecture series at the diocese’s Chancery. The series invites those age 18-35 to indeed explore the mystery of Catholicism.
The course had a full audience of about 60 on the first night and is av -
Teacher continued on page A22
‘Where hope meets opportunity’
Jeremiah inspires Johnson City cafe to serve employees and customers alike
By Bee Goodman
The environment in which a student thrives is different from one to another. For some children, like those with physical or mental disabilities, this is especially true. Educational settings are incredibly important for these individuals to build skills, but post-graduation can be a challenge, too.
Jennifer and Dr. Kevin Sweet, who are members of St. Mary Parish in Johnson City, were noticing their daughter Kate having an especially challenging time in public school. She is diagnosed with autism, has a genetic disorder, and suffers from seizures. At school, Kate was academically four years behind other students her age, which was overwhelming and caused her to endure panic attacks almost daily.
Like any good mother, Mrs. Sweet couldn’t stand to see her child go through this, so she enrolled Kate in Jeremiah School.
Jeremiah School is dedicated to providing a safe and comfortable learning environment for kids requiring more attention to thrive. Its mission is to help children with autism reach their full potential.
When Kate began classes at Jeremiah School, she immediately relaxed. “For the first time, I was actually seeing her make progress,” Mrs. Sweet shared. “Also, this was the first time she’d been able to make friends.”
“They’re (Jeremiah School) helping them (students) grow socially, they do volunteer work, they try to help them be a whole human being. And they are,” she added.
For the next few years Kate began to learn and grow in a way she’d
never been able to before. But when she reached high school, the family was confronted with the future. The school explained that being an adult with autism could be challenging.
“They sat us down and said after you get out of here it’s not going to
be easy. There’s no help for you once you’re an adult. So, whatever help you’re getting now, that’s it,” Mrs. Sweet remembered.
“Traditionally what happens is they ‘graduate to the sofa.’ That
BEE GOODMAN
A cozy and inviting cafe Jeremiah Café owner Jennifer Sweet, right, enjoys a moment with employees of the Johnson City restaurant that serves its workers and customers alike with dignity, respect, and value. Dr. Kevin and Jennifer Sweet's cafe offers a menu full of food, beverages, and desserts. The Sweets are members of St. Mary Parish.
Lessons in faith Bishop Mark Beckman explains the nuances of the Catholic faith to young adults from around the Diocese of Knoxville who are gathering every Tuesday night at the Chancery to learn more about the Church and what it believes. The bishop's classes are proving popular as every session has been averaging between 50 and 60 students.
BILL BREWER
Conscience examination
Marquette poll: Americans worry about political violence but see few solutions
By Kate Scanlon OSV News
Alarge majority of Americans say political violence is a big problem, but sharp partisan differences persist on who they see as responsible, a new Marquette Law School national survey found.
The poll was released on Oct. 1, the same day the head of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference released a pastoral reflection calling on Americans to recognize each other’s human dignity and reject political violence.
Recent instances of political violence include the Sept. 10 targeted killing of Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and Turning Point USA founder, as well as two assassination attempts against President Donald Trump, but also the targeted killings of Minnesota House of Representatives Speaker Emerita Melissa
Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, and the firebombing of the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion, which is being investigated as the attempted murder of Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Marquette conducted its survey
The Handmaids of the Precious Blood this year celebrate the 78th year since their founding in 1947; more than three-quarters of a century of prayer and sacrifice for priests. To receive weekly cartoons and short reflections and news from the Handmaids of the Precious Blood, visit their website, nunsforpriests.org, and sign up for the FIAT newsletter.
An October prayer intention for collaboration among different
religious traditions
“Let us pray that believers in different religious traditions might work together to defend and promote peace, justice, and human fraternity.”
of 1,000 adults nationwide Sept. 15-24 in the aftermath of Mr. Kirk’s assassination.
An overwhelming majority (89 percent) said political violence is always unjustified and 58 percent said it is always unacceptable to
be happy about the death of a person they oppose.
A combined majority said political violence is either “a very big problem” (38 percent) or “a moderately big problem” (38 percent).
Just 19 percent of Americans called political violence “a small problem,” and only 4 percent said it was not a problem.
Asked which is a bigger problem, 27 percent of respondents said left-wing violence, while 22 percent said right-wing violence. But 51 percent of Americans said both are an equal problem.
Both respondents who identified as Republicans and those who identified as Democrats were similarly likely to blame the other side of the aisle for escalating political violence: n 57 percent of Republicans said left-wing violence is the bigger problem; n Just 3 percent said right-wing
How to sign up and qualify for Diocese of Knoxville’s safe-environment program
The 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
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
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, or through Catholic Charities of East Tennessee and/ or St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic Go to https:// dioknox.org/safeenvironment on the Diocese of Knoxville website for more information ■
We are all invited to do an examination of conscience and a conversion from the culture of death
n Thursday, Sept. 11, I celebrated Mass for the students at Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga on the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The day before, as I was thinking about how to preach the following morning, news popped up on my phone about the murder of Charlie Kirk and a separate shooting at a Colorado high school. It became clear to me what an epidemic of violence we are facing in our nation and sadly throughout the world. In my childhood and early adult years, shootings in high schools, elementary schools, churches, movie theaters, concerts, and a host of other places were unthinkable to me. All have occurred since then.
With the fall of the Berlin Wall in the late 1980s and the dawn of the new millennium, I had the sense that perhaps humanity had learned something from the painful world wars of the 20th century, and there might be an opportunity for a renewed time of peace.
That Tuesday morning 9/11/2001 — dawned with a beautiful, bright blue sky. I received news of the first plane to strike the World Trade Center from a parishioner as I walked over for Mass, and following Mass watched the television coverage
Praying for a peaceful conversion Bishop Mark Beckman prays with students at Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga on Sept. 11 on the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
as the second plane struck. Like most of the country (and most of the world, I have since learned), we all knew in that instant that the world had changed.
I remember thinking vividly that it would be a turning point in history. Two days following, on Thursday, Sept. 13, I woke angry, and thoughts of revenge filled my mind. As I opened the lectionary for morning Mass, I was greeted
Respecting life
with words from St. Paul (Colossians 3:12-17): “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving one another…as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also do….”
I thought to myself, I am not going to preach on that! I turned the page to look at the day’s Gos -
pel. I found the words of Jesus (Luke 6:27-38) greeting me: “But to you who hear I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well…you will be children of the Most High, for He Himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked….”
I realized I had a choice to hold onto the violence in my own heart that day and be directed by it, or to let God’s grace begin to change me. I preached the Gospel that day. The same readings occurred on the 24th anniversary of 9/11, and I preached the same Gospel to the young people at Notre Dame High School this year.
Only two years ago, my parish in Nashville was shaken by the senseless shooting that occurred at the neighboring Covenant School. I remember vividly thinking that if we as a society don’t take meaningful steps to address gun violence in our culture, then this kind of senseless act will continue to take innocent lives.
Sadly, we as a nation have done nothing meaningful to address this, and sadly, it has continued. Pope John Paul II warned us in
continued on page A23
USCCB official addresses abortion, immigration, Durbin, political violence
By Lauretta Brown OSV News
Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of Toledo, Ohio, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, spoke with OSV News on Oct. 1, the first day of Respect Life Month, about maintaining hope in a culture with a widespread disregard for human life and why abortion remains the preeminent issue in the “moral hierarchy” of life.
Bishop Thomas told OSV News that he saw the month in the context of the Jubilee Year of Hope since “life is a sign of hope in a world of darkness and a world of violence and the culture of death.” He also weighed in on the decision by Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., not to receive a “Lifetime Achievement Award,” scheduled to be presented in November by Chicago Cardinal Blase J. Cupich. The award was for his work on immigration issues and had met with significant opposition from several U.S. bishops due to the Catholic senator’s longstanding public position in favor of abortion.
“The first thing I would say is, thanks be to God that Sen. Durbin had the right conscience and the right understanding to turn down the award,” Bishop Thomas said. “I would say that definitively, and I’m very grateful that he made that decision.”
He referenced Pope Leo XIV’s comments on the matter hours prior to Sen. Durbin declining the award. The pontiff said on Sept. 30, “someone who says I’m against abortion but says ‘I’m in favor of the death penalty’ is not really prolife. Someone who says that ‘I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants who are in the United States,’ I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”
“So, they are very complex issues, and I don’t know if anyone has all the truth on them,” the pope continued, “but I would ask first and foremost that they would have respect for one another and that we search together both as human beings, in
Mourning victims of violence A woman reacts during a prayer vigil at the Academy of Holy Angels following a shooting earlier in the day at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis on Aug. 27. A shooter opened fire with a rifle through the windows of the Catholic school's church and struck children attending Mass during the first week of school, killing two and wounding 21 people in an act of violence the police chief called "absolutely incomprehensible."
that case as American citizens or citizens of the state of Illinois, as well as Catholics, to say that we need to, you know, really look closely at all of these ethical issues. And to find the way forward as a Church. The Church teaching on each one of those issues is very clear.”
Bishop Thomas said in response, “he says these are complex issues, but at the end of the interview I don’t know if you saw, some of the things I’ve seen, they’ve cut it off but at the end, he said, ‘but clearly, the Church’s teaching is very clear
on these issues.’”
“So, I think there is a hierarchy of truths, and I think we have to be able to go back to that question of the vulnerable,” he said. “There’s no question that people across the board are vulnerable, but who are the most vulnerable? Those are the innocent and completely vulnerable little children in the womb who cannot defend themselves. So, you know, if you are for immigration, that’s one thing. But if you are promoting the protection and the promotion of direct killing of infants
“ So, I think there is a hierarchy of truths, and I think we have to be able to go back to that question of the vulnerable. There’s no question that people across the board are vulnerable, but who are the most vulnerable? Those are the innocent and completely vulnerable little children in the womb who cannot defend themselves. So, you know, if you are for immigration, that’s one thing. But if you are promoting the protection and the promotion of direct killing of infants in the womb, I would say that that’s a very grave matter. I think we have to say there is a moral hierarchy here of life ”
— Bishop Daniel E. Thomas , USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities chair
in the womb, I would say that that’s a very grave matter.”
“I think we have to say there is a moral hierarchy here of life,” he continued.
“And that is that, for example, certainly doing one thing or another may be wrong, but the direct killing of children in the womb is the gravest of these things.”
“If you’re caring for immigrants, that doesn’t mean you’re pro-life if you are radically advancing and supporting the direct killing of babies in the womb,” he said.
He also pointed out that the award Cardinal Cupich planned to give Sen. Durbin was from the Office of Human Dignity and Solidarity and “to give a lifetime achievement award for human rights and solidarity certainly immigration, care for those immigrants is important but to completely ignore the reality of the stance of abortion that the person holds in a public forum as a Catholic, I think it would be almost impossible for reasonable people to be able to justify the two.”
“All respect-life issues are not equal,” he said. “We respect every life, no matter, but we have to ask ourselves, ‘are some lives more vulnerable than others?’”
Calling abortion the “human rights and justice issue of our time,” Bishop Thomas encouraged the faithful to promote respect for life in this month, keeping in mind that “there’s no greater vulnerability than children in the womb whose lives are threatened with direct killing.”
He said he has observed “a continuing downslide” into “disregard for human life” that St. John Paul II once termed “the culture of death.” He sees that “now playing out even more vividly” on issues that included the “rising rates of abor-
Ms. Brown
Bishop
St. Mary School-Oak Ridge Anniversary Celebration
The love of truth
St. Mary School marks 75th year in true Dominican tradition
By Bee Goodman
St. Mary School’s 75th anniversary culminated in a community-wide celebration on Sept. 10 marked by a Mass led by Bishop Mark Beckman, with Mayor Warren Gooch and other leaders joining to commemorate the Oak Ridge school’s history.
The anniversary began with an all-school Mass celebrated by the bishop as students delivered special readings. St. Mary classes offered the music liturgy, and student siblings Micheal and Mikayla Sweeney shared a special moment in singing the responsorial psalm together.
Concelebrating the Mass were Father Ray Powell, pastor of St. Mary Parish, and Father Jhon Marío Garcia, associate pastor of St. Mary. Assisting at the Mass were Deacons Gary Sega and John DeClue.
Bishop Beckman, in his homily, shared remembrances, with special recognition of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation in Nashville, who, with the Religious Sisters of Mercy, brought Catholic education to East Tennessee.
The Dominican Sisters dedicate themselves to “Love of truth: Study” and an emphasis on intellectual pursuit.
Veritas, or truth, is proclaimed by the Sisters, and they believe that to know God’s truth and allow it to affect their lives, they must study. For these reasons, the Dominican Sisters have a charism for educating children. They strive to provide a strong academic setting as well as a spiritual education. They also
Ready, set, cut! Bishop Mark Beckman cuts the ribbon to commemorate the 75th anniversary of St. Mary School in Oak Ridge. Also taking part were, from left, Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch, St. Mary School principal Sister Catherine Marie Hopkins, OP, Diocese of Knoxville Schools interim superintendent George Valadie, St. Mary School assistant principal Zachary Sizemore, St. Mary Parish pastor Father Ray Powell, St. Mary Parish associate pastor Father Jhon Mario García, Norm Nelson of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, and St. Mary School students.
“ The Dominican Sisters have continued to serve as a blessing for St. Mary but also to the hearts of many in East Tennessee. The Sisters are dedicated to a life with the Lord and to the care for these students ”
serve to change the young students into independent thinkers who will grow and continue to seek the truth of God.
The bishop also shared in the students’ excitement about the anniversary, meeting with them and exchanging high-fives.
Immediately following Mass, the bishop spoke to the young altar servers, praising them for their
Center of assistance St.
Services is located in
for
Lending a helping hand
St.
Alphonsus Community Services
provides assistance to those in need
Commentary
“Of all devotions, that of adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the greatest after the sacraments, the one dearest to God, and the one most helpful to us.”
— St. Alphonsus Liguori
In 1986, six ladies, led by Laura Brenn and Jane Aitken, established a food pantry in the basement of the old St. Alphonsus Church in Crossville.
In the ensuing decades, the scope of St. Alphonsus Community Services (SACS) has broadened to encompass residents across Cumberland County. SACS’ communityservice beginnings were small, and its facilities inadequate.
In those early years, the volunteer staff quickly found itself running out of space.
In the 1990s, the people of St. Alphonsus Parish undertook a fundraising campaign to build a new worship space. A suitable 37-acre parcel was purchased, on
which stood a circa-1880 farmhouse commonly referred to as the “Red House.” This building would better serve SACS’ needs and facilitate our helping even more people in our community.
The Red House required extensive renovation. Parishioners painted ceilings, hung wallpaper, and collected donated desks, tables, and filing cabinets.
In November 1991, the food pantry moved into its larger quarters. Under directors Bea Bartoszek and Mary Mitter, SACS continued to expand and flourish to help far more people. Every year, this once-humble outreach endeavor aids thousands of people in need, regardless of religious affiliation.
Then, after 12 years in the Red House, it was time to move again.
In 2000, construction of our new church complex began. In May 2003, we vacated our former church
SACS continued on page A8
service to the St. Mary community.
One of the students shared that it was her first time serving, a memory that likely will live with her for years to come as she recalls when Bishop Beckman presided at the school’s diamond jubilee.
The bishop remembered the school’s historic origins with the Dominican Sisters.
“The Dominican Sisters have
continued to serve as a blessing for St. Mary but also to the hearts of many in East Tennessee. The Sisters are dedicated to a life with the Lord and to the care for these students,” Bishop Beckman said before the celebratory ribbon-cutting.
St. Mary School and Parish have a special connection to Oak Ridge. In 1943, the city was closed to the public; only authorized personnel could enter the Secret City because of its role in the Manhattan Project during World War II. While Oak Ridge served as the new home the project’s relocated scientists, engineers, technicians, and their families, there was a demand for a Catholic parish.
That is when Bishop William L. Adrian of the Diocese of Nashville assigned Father Joseph Siener as the first pastor of St. Mary “proto church,” according to the St. Mary website. Father Siener offered the sacrifice of the Mass on an altar made from a plank placed upon two barrels. The school officially opened in 1950 when the St. Cecilia Congregation, founded in Nashville in 1860 under the 800-year-old Dominican tradition, sent sisters to reside in Oak Ridge and staff the school.
The 75-year-old parish also has ties to the city of Clinton, Oak Ridge’s neighboring town. In 1950, five children and their parents were represented by the NAACP in the Joheather McSwain v. County Board of Education of Anderson County court case, suing to allow African American students to attend the nearby public school, St. Mary continued on page A19
St. Alphonsus Community Service Volunteers
Alphonsus Community
this building in Crossville. The facility is the assistance center
the St. Alphonsus Parish ministry that serves Cumberland County and surrounding areas.
— Bishop Mark Beckman
St. Dominic School Anniversary Celebration
St. Dominic looks to the future as it commemorates 8 decades ‘A school of love’
By Dan McWilliams
Rosie Henderson LaMont, a student at St. Dominic School in Kingsport in the 1950s and ’60s, certainly learned many right things to do in her classes but also realized one thing not to do, at least with Sister Mary Madaleva Partenope, RSM, her teacher and a future principal there.
“For fifth and sixth grade, I had Sister Mary Madaleva. The first time we all stood up and said, ‘Good MOR-ning, SIS-ter MAR-y MAD-aLE-va,’ she told us, ‘Don’t do that anymore,’” Mrs. LaMont recalled with a laugh. “It must have taken us two minutes to say.”
That was among many memories shared at the 80th-anniversary Mass and reception for St. Dominic School held on Sept. 27. The school was founded in 1945, four years after the parish was begun, and has shaped the minds and hearts of countless students ever since.
Bishop Mark Beckman celebrated the Mass along with host pastor Father Michael Cummins and St. Dominic associate pastors Father Bede Aboh and Father Anselm Edu concelebrating. St. Dominic’s Deacons Frank Fischer and Bob Lange served as deacons of the Word and altar, respectively.
St. Dominic School students assumed many of the roles at Mass, including doing the readings, leading the intercessory prayers, and presenting the gifts. A student choir led by St. Dominic music teacher and parish music coordinator Dana Bellino sang at the Mass, performing songs that included the medley “Awesome God/Awesome Is the Lord Most High,” with 16 third-
" We have been parishioners at St. Dominic since 1976. And St. Dominic is a wonderful school. It’s not only academically great, but it has all the other the music, the religion, and everything. The teachers were wonderful. We spent a lot of time here."
through fifth-graders singing during the liturgy and a larger group presenting “They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love” at the end.
The celebration continued in the gym at the school, located three miles from the church, where alumni, past and present teachers, and staff shared memories via a timeline of St. Dominic School on the wall that could be written on, video stations to record memories and
messages, and photo books where attendees could identify those pictured and share additional notes.
Bishop Beckman had just celebrated Mass for St. Dominic students only days before the anniversary festivities.
“It is so good to be back at St. Dominic for the celebration of 80 years since the beginning of your school. What a blessing this school and the parish have been to the
Church and to this community here in Kingsport,” the bishop said. “It is good to be celebrating today in a eucharistic context. The very word Eucharist means to give thanks, and for many reasons tonight we give praise and thanks to God.”
The Gospel reading at Mass came from Luke 16 and told of Jesus telling the Pharisees about the rich man who did not help poor Lazarus at his door. Lazarus after he died was carried by the angels to the bosom of Abraham while the rich man following his death faced torment in the netherworld.
“What a powerful Gospel,” Bishop Beckman said. “I remember many, many years ago, I was on a retreat at Grand Coteau, La. The Jesuits had a retreat house down there, and Father Henry Montecino was a retired Jesuit in those days. I think he must have been already perhaps in his 80s, and Father Montecino had the task of proclaiming the Gospel we just heard, and then he began his homily.
“Of course, on a retreat you’re very still and quiet, you’re praying, and you’re listening very carefully, and Father Henry Montecino looked at all of us in the pews and he said, ‘What did that rich man do to deserve to go to hell?’ And we sat in the pews and looked at Father Montecino, and he looked back at us and he said, ‘He did nothing.’ This man at his doorstep was covered in sores, and he did nothing to help him. I will never forget the beginning of that homily.”
That brought to the future bishop’s mind his own sins of omission, “times when I had not noticed or responded to the needs of the neighbors around me. It was a call and an
St. Dominic continued on page A20
DAN MCWILLIAMS
Class picture Bishop Mark Beckman is surrounded by St. Dominic School students on Sept. 27 in the school gym as the school community joined together to celebrate the school's 80th anniversary. Bishop Beckman celebrated Mass at St. Dominic Church to mark the milestone.
Susan Woodruff,
former substitute teacher at St. Dominic School whose three children also attended the school
UT-C students engage with Bishop Beckman at Mass, dinner Staying true to your faith
By Maggie Parsons
In continuing to share his gratitude with communities around the Diocese of Knoxville, Bishop
Mark Beckman celebrated Mass at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Catholic Center on Sept. 10, preaching to the students about staying true to their faith while in college.
FOCUS missionaries, the Catholic Council for the UT-C Catholic Center, and students in attendance for Mass were excited to be with Bishop Beckman, who joined them for a dinner afterward.
Bishop Beckman’s visit encourages the students to stay connected to their diocese and lets them hear how the bishop cares for them in their faith journey.
“They need support with each other, so finding friends who are part of the community and making sure to stay connected with those key friendships are important,” Bishop Beckman said.
Those are key factors that can help college students stay strong in their faith while navigating college. Support from a community of faith can be a big part of that process.
College transitions can be intimidating as students find themselves juggling numerous activities such as classes, studying, social activities, and jobs, and they can find themselves losing the grip on their faith.
“This is the time where kids are losing their faith, so it’s almost like a make-or-break. For us and our diocese, in this beautiful city, I think it would be great if we could just liven up the young adults, and be putting more emphasis on youngadult outreach,” said Hedi Eckler, a member of the Catholic Council at the university Catholic Center.
Ms. Eckler spoke on this phase
“ The modern world has so many distractions. Think about the Internet and all the things that are on the Internet. It can sometimes absorb a person so that they lose touch with the mystery of God My hope is that many of our people, young and old, will continue to be inspired to live close to the heart of Christ.”
— Bishop Mark Beckman
people know what the Catholic Church really is,” said Noah Morais, one of the students at the Catholic Center.
Mr. Morais hopes the community will grow by further sharing God’s Word with others who don’t know what the Church is about. On a secular campus, this can be hard because many students are not familiar with the Catholic Church or how to learn more about it. The Catholic Center can be an example of the message of God, who speaks to all.
Along with having support from their university and the Catholic Center, college students need support from their parishes back home and the ones near the university.
“There is something beautiful going on in the Church where the young adults are on fire for the faith and there is a want to step out and do their own kind of parish outreach. They just need the empowerment from the parishes to step up and start leading their own Bible studies or being a part of outreach and ministry for the parish,” Ms. Eckler said.
She discussed what the support from parishes would look like for the students and with that support how they can step out and start taking action in their faith.
in the lives of young adults when their faith is put to the test and how she would like to see more outreach to help them find common ground. Students at the Catholic Center are receiving the support they need from a strong community, where they can share their beliefs with one another, not only in faith but also in fun. There are numerous activities spread out over the course of the week such as Bible studies for young men and women, Mass every Wednesday and Sunday with dinner following, group hikes, bon-
Marriage and Family Life director for diocese named
Carolyn Krings has been named the Diocese of Knoxville’s director of Marriage and Family Life, effective Oct. 1.
Mrs. Krings joined the diocesan staff in January 2023, providing assistance to the diocesan offi ces of Marriage and Family Life and Youth and Young Adults and serv-
ing as Bishop Mark Beckman’s ambassador to youth, young adults, and families from various cultures.
Mrs. Krings has a background in education from the University of Tennessee and Tennessee Tech.
She and her husband of 29 years, Kevin, are parents of two children ■
fires, and intramural sports.
FOCUS missionaries at the Catholic Center will be taking students to SEEK 2026 in Columbus, Ohio, Jan. 1-5 as well as a spring-break mission trip and a spring retreat as part of larger events. These activities offer opportunities to be a part a community where students can grow together in their faith as brothers and sisters in Christ and help break the cycle of straying from God in college.
“I’m hoping that we are able to evangelize better and truly help
“I’m just excited to see where it’s all going to go. I think it’s important for young people to step up and be involved across the board in all kinds of ministries,” said Bishop Beckman, who talked about what he is looking forward to in the growth of the young-adult population in the Diocese of Knoxville and shared the kinds of organizations they can get involved in.
“So, volunteer to be lectors, volunteer to be greeters, volunteer to be eucharistic ministers, volunteer
For over 25 years, Abbey Caskets has handcrafted elegant caskets and urns, supporting the monks of Saint Meinrad Archabbey and the formation of future priests, while helping you plan for your family’s future.
Learn about our handcrafted products, casket prepay option, workshop tours, and more at abbeycaskets.com.
Strength in numbers Bishop Mark Beckman is surrounded by University of Tennessee-Chattanooga students at the UT-C Catholic Center on Sept. 10. Also joining Bishop Beckman are Father Matthew Donahue and Deacon Wade Eckler.
UT-C continued on page A16
‘Every life is precious in His image’ Tennessee Right to Life event is a cause for celebration
By Dan McWilliams
Agathering of 400 heard a keynote talk from a pro-life Knoxville attorney and received legislative updates on life issues at the annual Celebrate Life Banquet on Sept. 30.
The event at Bridgewater Place in West Knoxville is the primary fundraiser for the Knox County chapter of Tennessee Right to Life.
Many East Tennessee Catholics were among those attending the banquet, which counted the Diocese of Knoxville and area parishes and parishioners among its many sponsors. Several Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation were also at the event.
Carol Zimmerman, president of the board of the Knox County TRL chapter, welcomed the large audience before the meal was served and the program began.
“We are celebrating life in Tennessee, where abortion is illegal. Since 2022, we are celebrating over 30,000 babies who have been saved, and moms and dads don’t have to live with the pain and suffering of abortion,” she said. “Thanks be to God for using Tennessee Right to Life and the precious people in this room. Thank you, sponsors. We couldn’t do this without you. … Over 30,000 babies thank you.”
Tomi Robb, the keynoter, spoke on the topic “Endowed by Our Creator: The Worldview of Life.” Ms. Robb is a native of Gallatin, Tenn., and is a 2021 graduate of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville College of Law. She is a media spokesperson for TRL and helps the organization create informational materials, and she is a volunteer with both Deeper Still, a Knoxville-based ministry that holds retreats to help women and men find healing from abortion, and 40 Days for Life.
Angel Brewer, executive director of the Knox County chapter and a parishioner of Holy Ghost in Knoxville, and attorney Will Brewer, the state TRL legal counsel, legislative liaison, and a parishioner of St. John Neumann in Farragut, also spoke.
Father Bo Beaty, associate pastor of St. John Neumann, gave the invocation.
“Heavenly Father, we gather before you this evening with grateful hearts, united in our commitment to honor and defend the sacred gift of human life,” Father Beaty prayed. “We thank you for the precious dignity that you bestow on every person created in your image and your likeness, from the first moment of conception to natural death. Open our eyes to see your presence in
Respect life continued from page A3
Protecting the vulnerable
Above: Celebrate Life keynote speaker Tomi Robb gives her remarks at the Bridgewater Place event center in Knoxville on Sept. 30.
Left: Father Bo Beaty, associate pastor of St. John Neumann Parish in Farragut, gives the opening prayer during the Celebrate Life banquet.
Below: Angel Brewer, executive director of the Knox County chapter of Tennessee Right to Life, introduces Abbi Floyd, a Sevierville 11th-grader. Abbi's award-winning painting is of a pregnant woman looking in a mirror that reflects her born baby
the most vulnerable among us and strengthen our resolve to be voices for the voiceless.
“Bless all those who dedicate themselves to the cause of life, the mothers and fathers who choose life in difficult circumstances, the advocates who speak truth with courage and compassion, the caregivers who serve with loving hands, and all who work to build a culture that cherishes every human life. Grant us wisdom in our efforts, charity in our words, and perseverance in our
tion and assisted suicide; the killing of innocent schoolchildren, even at prayer; the mistreatment of our immigrant sisters and brothers as they endure an environment of aggression; and political and ideological violence inflicted against unsuspecting victims.”
“The question of abortion stands as the preeminent priority for the bishops,” he said. “The overwhelming disregard for life, beginning, of course, first and foremost, with the most innocent, the most vulnerable, and that is babies in the womb.”
“Then are the next vulnerable, if you will, with the frail elderly and assisted suicide,” he continued. “And of course, this horror that we recognized recently, the killing of innocent schoolchildren, even at prayer.”
“We just see most recently in Michigan other churches, for example, the Latter-day Saints Church, where someone drives in, lights the church on fire, and kills at least four people,” he said. “These are the types of things that are a complete and utter disregard for the human person.”
He said regarding “the mistreatment of our immigrant brothers and sisters who are vulnerable, especially if they’re enduring an environment of aggression,” that while “the Church has never and will never call for open borders,” the Church “does call for treating men and women who are our brothers and sisters in a human way that respects their human dignity. And that call is across the board, no matter what color of their skin and
mission. We also ask you to bless all those who have worked to make this banquet tonight possible and to bless this food we are about to receive and the hands that have prepared it. May it nourish our bodies as we continue your sacred work. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.”
Miracle Weber, a member of Holy Ghost, sang the national anthem before Mr. Brewer introduced local and state legislators and other supporters of life attending the banquet.
Those attending included U.S.
no matter what language they speak.”
He highlighted the growing “political and ideological violence” in the United States, saying, “we don’t need to look further than the brutal assassination of Charlie Kirk. I mean, a young husband and father who clearly was an advocate against abortion. And I think all of us see that as an appalling, horrific act.”
He added that it was a “grave” problem that “people would celebrate his death.”
“We can’t just decry the violence,” he emphasized. “We also have to decry the fact that people would even go so far as to celebrate that violence. What depths have we gone to, if that is the case? There’s so much that we need to obviously bring the light of the Gospel of life to our world, the light of Christ who is our hope.”
To Catholics discouraged by the rising rates of abortion after the Dobbs decision, Bishop Thomas referenced the words of St. Paul that “hope does not disappoint,” adding the reminder that “we’re not a people of despair, we’re not a people who do not have the one reason for our hope and that is the person of Jesus, who is our hope in His very person.”
He highlighted the Walking with Moms in Need and Project Rachel ministries as “just two examples of how the Catholic Church continuously reaches out, I say, with love, compassion, and mercy to those most in need of a message of hope.”
“The sad impression that the Church is only concerned about a baby in the womb is abso-
Rep. John Rose, who is a 2026 candidate for Tennessee governor; state Reps. Justin Lafferty, Jason Zachary, Lowell Russell, and Elaine Davis; Anderson County mayor Terry Frank; Knox County commissioner Rhonda Lee; Knox County mayoral candidate Betsy Henderson; Knox County GOP secretary Barry Beeler; West Knox Republicans Club president Gary Loe; state TRL president Stacy Dunn, who attended with her husband, former state Rep. Bill Dunn; state TRL executive director Daniel Breeden; Oregon Right to Life board member Emily Harfouche; and Knox County sheriff candidate Mike Davis; and from the Diocese of Knoxville, vice chancellor Paul Simoneau, St. Mary-Athens pastor Father Christopher Manning, Holy Ghost pastor Father John Orr, St. Joseph the Worker pastor Father Julius Abuh, and Father Beaty.
Mr. Brewer complimented Ms. Harfouche.
“Thank you to her for that work. If it’s hard in Tennessee, I can’t imagine how hard it is in Oregon,” he said.
Mr. Brewer also asked those who staff or volunteer at crisis pregnancy centers to stand as well.
“Whether you are elected or a community leader or hoping to be elected or are staff or a volunteer for pregnancy centers, thank you so much for the grassroots work that you all do day in and day out,” he said. “We gratefully appreciate it, and we are glad that you are here.”
The pro-life supermajority in the Tennessee legislature is friendly to Mr. Brewer, he said.
“The folks in this room, the representatives and the senators who come here every year, year in and year out, are the ones who welcome me into their office, allow me to hang my coat on their coat rack,” he continued. “They are always the first ones to offer to sponsor or bring forth pro-life legislation, and that is so important, so, please, before you leave tonight, give them a pat on the back or a handshake and thank them for the work they do in Nashville.”
Mrs. Brewer introduced the local chapter’s high-school oratory and art contest winners, who along with other entrants could focus on the topics of euthanasia, abortion, stem cell research, or infanticide.
Abbi Floyd, a homeschooled 11thgrader from Sevierville, won the art contest with her depiction of a pregnant woman looking in a mirror that reflects her born baby. With her art set up at TRL’s display at the recent Anderson County Fair, the Knox County chapter won a first-place ribbon.
continued on page A18
lutely false,” he emphasized. “The Church is concerned about everyone around that baby as well. First and foremost, with the mother, certainly with the father, and those who are impacted by the question of abortion.”
He recalled an expression of his father’s that “the parish is where the Catholic Church’s rubber hits the road” saying, on the local level, Project Rachel and Walking with Moms in Need are in parishes throughout the country now with “teams of people who are providing assistance to mothers” and “helping mothers to navigate, for example, housing and clothing and even learning how to care for a baby.”
He encouraged Catholics to invoke St. Joseph in the USCCB’s nationwide prayer for an end to taxpayer funding of abortion every day throughout October. “He was the foster father of Jesus, and he nurtured the life of Jesus in the home at Nazareth,” he said. St. Joseph is a father figure to the universal Church, and “sadly, there is so much lack of the figure of fatherhood when it comes to the question of women who are choosing abortion,” he added. “So, Joseph becomes a tremendous patron for this intention.”
He also referenced the committee’s partnership on a Respect Life Month novena with the Hallow app taking place Oct. 22-30. He called the novena “a great gift” hoping to reach many with a different bishop each day leading the prayer. ■
Lauretta Brown is the culture editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @LaurettaBrown6.
DAN MCWILLIAMS (3)
TRL
Messengers on a mission
Diaconate candidates entrusted as lectors, permanent deacons renew their promises
By Bill Brewer
The Diocese of Knoxville has the distinction of ranking third in the United States, and possibly the world, in the number of ordained men serving as permanent deacons.
“We are per Catholic capita No. 3 in the United States, which, I believe, makes us No. 3 in the world for the number of ordained serving deacons,” said Deacon Jim Bello, who serves as the Diocese of Knoxville’s director of the diaconate and deacon formation.
It’s a significant record that
Bishop Mark Beckman had a hand in continuing on Oct. 2 when he presided at the Rite of Institution of Lectors, an important advancement in a deacon candidate’s formation.
“The diaconate here has been taken very seriously since its reinstitution. We’ve always had bishops who really supported the men who feel the call to this vocation in their lives. It’s a lot of hard work, but I think these men will all say the same thing. It is such a privilege to be able to do it. They
home, and the Red House was demolished. SACS returned to the former church school rooms. This relocation was temporary, as that building was up for sale.
Just over a year later, construction of the new SACS building began. Bishop Joseph E. Kurtz blessed and officially opened the facility in 2004. Since then under the leadership of Pat Cebe, followed by Carol Rosales, Jerry Lorenc, and now Gerald Hengel we are better equipped to serve those less fortunate in Cumberland County.
Generous financial and in-kind support from our parishioners and other benefactors has helped us further our mission to serve those less fortunate.
In 1996, an $11,000-plus bequest in a parishioner’s will gave our operating budget a tremendous boost.
A year later, Father Al Humbrecht, on behalf of parishioners of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Knoxville, presented SACS with a check for $2,300. One donor’s $500 gift was tripled by the company from which he retired, for a total of $2,000.
Each month we receive electronic transfers from folks who quietly support our efforts.
The people of the Diocese of Knoxville have been generous through their support of The Pope Francis Charitable Trust Fund that continues to support St. Alphonsus Parish’s SACS program through an annual grant of $5,000.
And when SACS needs extra financial assistance, it is amazing how God provides!
In 2010, St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Fairfield Glade officially joined the SACS family; their parishioners support this vital outreach effort with financial and physical assistance.
Our dedicated board of directors and volunteers comprising members of both parishes contributes far more than time and labor; they contribute their own money, buy extra food when we run short, and have purchased much-needed shelving to store food and other items.
We now have a dedicated team of over 30 volunteers who dispense food, and the generous monetary donations received from parishioners of both churches. A custom-designed database ensures SACS maintains accurate files.
SACS has had many inspirational stories in recent years. One volunteer spent more than four hours on the phone with a mortgage company, helping a client in dire need avoid foreclosure. We paid the mortgage, enabling the client to remain in their home. Similarly, we have enabled other families to remain in their homes through rent and utility payments.
We realize our ministry could not
talk about it very highly, and they encourage people who may have a call to seek formation,” Deacon Bello said.
Candidates for the permanent diaconate in the Diocese of Knoxville took a key step in their formation when they were entrusted with the ministry of lector during
the Mass for the diaconate.
Bishop Beckman celebrated the Mass at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus during which many of the diocese’s permanent deacons renewed their ordination promises. Many of the deacons in attendance were accompanied by their wives.
survive without the generosity of members of St. Francis and St. Alphonsus Parishes. But our intent is to provide more than financial assistance. For many of our clients, SACS represents their first interaction with the Catholic Church and it is a positive one!
So many of our neighbors are desperately in need of help particularly in the past four years. Many have lost jobs. Food-stamp allocations have been cut, and food prices have skyrocketed. But SACS’ commitment to those in need has not faltered; members of both parishes have nobly stepped up to increase their donations. We have also applied for grants from organizations such as FEMA, Volunteer Energy Cooperative, and Middle Tennessee Natural Gas Co.; many have come through with needed aid.
SACS now provides a range of services to those in need within our community. No religious affiliation is required to receive aid. SACS is open Tuesdays and Wednesdays, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Central Time). The food pantry closes at 1:30 p.m. each day.
Any resident of Cumberland County who is in need and has a photo ID (or driver ’s license) may apply for financial assistance. After verification, rent, electricity, gas, and water bills are paid directly to landlords or utility companies (no more than once every six months). Residents may also receive food from the food pantry once every eight weeks.
SACS also partners with other social-service and nonprofit organizations in and around Cumberland County to address other basic human needs. For information, call 931-4848074 to speak with one of our helpful volunteers.
SACS is now networking with all local human-service agencies and nonprofits, and we follow careful guidelines to ensure no duplication of aid. All SACS volunteers get at least a month’s training, and all interviewers are in compliance with diocesan safe-environment training.
Thirteen men are in the newest class of aspiring deacons and are in their fourth year of study. Deacon Bello said the candidates are scheduled to be ordained in June 2027. The diocese has 88 active deacons serving throughout East Tennessee. Eight deacons in the diocese are retired and are inactive.
Bishop Beckman found the day’s first reading to be especially poignant for the men serving the Church through the diaconate.
In his homily, the bishop quoted from Exodus 23: “Behold, I send my angel before you. Listen attentively to him.”
He reminded the deacons and deacon candidates that the word “angel” means “messenger,” a ministry that is so important as the deacons continue to serve the faithful and the candidates progress toward ordination.
“One who brings the message from the Lord,” the bishop emphasized.
The bishop highlighted the reading to underscore how critical it is
tion, local grocery stores provide deliveries of meat, bread, fruit, and vegetables twice a week. Nothing is wasted. Even local pigs benefit, as any spoiled food gets donated to area pig farms.
No one in need is turned away without at least a few days’ supply of food, though sometimes we have been hard-pressed to respond to the needs of all who come to us for assistance. But requests for help from our two parishes are always answered. Food-collection barrels at both churches provide canned food on a regular basis.
In 2022, we received more than two tons of food through the Stamp Out Hunger collection. In addi-
Since our inception, SACS has given out over $1 million in payments and many hundreds of thousands of meals. In our first year in the Red House (1991), we helped 68 households. Eight years later, we served 801 families and fed 1,521 people. In one recent fiscal year, we provided assistance to 2,733 households, supplying nearly 27,400 meals and $66,838.53 in rent and utility payments. This year, through the generosity of our donors, we hope to surpass those figures although our ultimate aspiration is for SACS to close its doors for lack of clients in need. But until that happens, we will continue to be the hands and heart of Christ to the communities we serve. Contact information for St. Alphonsus Parish’s charitable efforts is: St. Alphonsus Faith Community 151 Saint Alphonsus Way Crossville, TN 38555 931-484-2358
The parish website is stalphonsus@stalonline.org ■
Entrusted as lectors Bishop Mark Beckman performs the Rite of Institution of Lectors for 13 men who are to become the Diocese of Knoxville's newest deacons when they are ordained in 2027.
Deacons continued on page A13
SACS continued from page A4
Assistance in action St. Alphonsus Community Services volunteers put together food baskets for residents in need in the Cumberland County area.
COURTESY OF ST. ALPHONSUS PARISH
means there’s no place for them, so they just end up sitting at home,” she reflected.
The Sweet family took a moment to see how capable these students are, and with accommodations they were able to excel. Mrs. Sweet wanted more for these students and was driven to help. This is when the Sweets reached out to the school’s executive director, Jo Cullen.
“My husband and I feel called to help. We want to provide some sort of employment for autism. And she (Ms. Cullen) said she’d been praying for this for so long.”
Together the Sweet family and Ms. Cullen looked at what kinds of jobs would help these students. This is where they decided to create a cafe. Before this meeting, the Sweet’s had never owned a business, and had only God’s call to follow.
They decided to create the cafe as a “place where they could have a bridge to adulthood.”
“We teach them how to work. We coach them and help them along. We really hope that we can watch them leave here and get another job, any job,” Mrs. Sweet said.
Jeremiah Café is a place for these graduating and current students, and before they leave Jeremiah School’s halls, they get assistance from the school to prepare for employment right away.
They also get hands-on learning from the Sweets’ restaurant. But the employment opportunity isn’t the only thing Jeremiah Café offers.
Mrs. Sweet remembers a statement shared from Ms. Cullen: “Autism is just a different way to be human.”
In addition to hiring the school’s graduates they also have current students come in once a week for a class in the kitchen. This helps them build skills that are not normally offered in schools.
While the locations share the name Jeremiah, and are partnered in every way except financially, the cafe is not named for its connection to the school. Inspiration for the cafe’s name is the Bible verse Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Jeremiah Café seeks to create a space where all can enjoy a good bite to eat and a place to relax without extra pressure. It also creates a working environment for those who can’t get a job without accommodation. Some corporations have dedicated neurodiversity programs and aim to hire and support those who are neurodivergent.
The café also has a quiet sensory room for employees, so if they need a moment to relax there is a dedicated space just for that. The owners and managers squeeze into the back of the restaurant together so the extra room can be that dedicated space.
The restaurant is designed for those with various social and physical sensitivities in mind. It aims to create a cozy and inviting place for those diagnosed with autism. Virtually every person has been in an unforgettable setting with sights, sounds, and smells we’re sensitive to like walking into a Bath & Body Works store at Christmastime or attending a concert with 20,000 screaming fans. But for those with autism or other disorders that can cause external sensitivities, this is a daily occurrence and can easily become overwhelming, even more so in public places like loud and crowded restaurants.
Customers may think the cafe is just a quiet place for a cup of coffee. It is more. It’s also a thriving catering company that makes custom cakes for weddings, too.
Mrs. Sweet hopes to build the catering side of the business so they can take in even more students.
From August 2024 to now, the cafe has blossomed among its many blessings. The Johnson City community has shown love to the restaurant and its cause and was excited to celebrate the first anniversary of the cafe.
The cafe had a special celebration on Aug. 30 to mark its first anniversary. The joyous occasion welcomed the Jeremiah School and Johnson City communities.
Prior to Jeremiah Café, the building was occupied by a nonprofit,
Ready for customers Above: Jeremiah Café owner Jennifer Sweet, center, and employees prepare the Johnson City restaurant for customers. Below: The café serves as a lay ministry to assist men and women with autism in entering the workforce and learning skills to help them succeed on the job and in life. The cafe opened in August 2024 to bridge the gap for employees between school and the workforce while serving a variety of foods and drinks.
n Location: 603 W. Walnut Street, Johnson City, TN 37604
n Website: jeremiahcafe. com
n Phone: 423-576-0004
n Hours: Tue.-Fri., 8 a.m.4 p.m. Sat., 7 a.m.-4 p.m.
pay-what-you-can restaurant called One Acre Café. When the restaurant closed, the owners left behind tables and chairs, pots and pans, and many kitchen appliances that the Sweets would be able to keep and use.
“We could’ve been serving the next day if we wanted to," Mrs. Sweet said.
She shared how she had no prior experience in owning a business or operating a kitchen at this level.
“Basically, I became the hands and feet of the Lord. He would put the right person where I needed every step of the way. He led us to open it last year in August,” she said.
Upon walking through the door, a customer would have no idea the cafe had only been open for a year. The environment is comforting and controlled, much like a local coffee shop feels in a college town. The cafe has also become a popular spot for students at nearby East Tennessee State University.
“ETSU is in our back yard. We have students come in all the time with backpacks and laptops. It’s a good environment for them to work or have a study group. We want to support them, too.” Mrs. Sweet said.
In addition to the great food and friendly atmosphere they offer, the Sweets also host several community events like monthly meetups for adults with autism. While there aren’t many resources for students with autism, in adulthood there are even fewer. The cafe’s mission is to give real work experience and help build resumes for its employees. The Sweets hope the skills the café employees learn can be used elsewhere and show potential employers that autism doesn’t stop anyone from being able to work hard.
The staff at Jeremiah Café may have special accommodations, but that doesn’t mean they have no real job experience. They still go through an interview just like any job candidate would. They must fill out paperwork and undergo training just like any new employee would.
When she talks about her employ-
an environment to help employees learn the necessary social skills needed for the job.
Mrs. Sweet highlights one employee as an example.
“When she got here, she kept her head down and she couldn’t make eye contact. So, we put her in the back and soon she said she wanted to serve. So, we put her behind the counter to do drinks and cashier, and she’s doing great,” Mrs. Sweet shared. Mrs. Sweet mentioned how she’s seen every student she’s worked with grow exponentially from where they started. She stated repeatedly that their goal at the café isn’t to make a profit or succeed as a business but to help the students who come into the café grow and take something they learned to their next job.
The goal of the café is to create hope and a future, just as Jeremiah 29:11 says.
This fostering of hope and opportunity is a regular trait to the Sweet family. By day, Dr. Sweet works as a physician at Johnson City Internal Medicine, then he returns to the cafe in the afternoons to help however he can.
The couple’s eldest daughter, Charlotte, is studying education at Belmont Abbey in Belmont, N.C., and plans to get a master’s degree in special education to help children with autism.
“They have such a good attitude. They really want to work. They really want to learn,” she said with a certain pride. “We were afraid because in a restaurant you have to switch gears, and that’s not something that typically people with autism are good at. But they’re learning to do it; they’re learning how to cope, switch gears when they need, and help when they need.”
Something special to note is that the skills the students and employees learn at the cafe don’t expire when they leave. As a cook, a cashier, or a waiter, the skills they learn and improve upon are valuable tools, giving them real experience to carry into another job. This is especially true of social skills.
In interview settings, employers want to see sociable job candidates who can communicate well, and that’s a hurdle many people with autism struggle to face. They can have all the physical skills they need for the job, but the initial interview often closes doors before they get a chance to work.
Jeremiah Café is careful to construct
As Mrs. Sweet shared these details, her smile widened with pride. She does this when she talks about her eldest son, DJ, who is Charlotte’s twin. DJ also was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome as a child. Asperger syndrome is a category of autism. While DJ did well in school, his struggles came socially, a typical challenge for those with Asperger. Mr. and Mrs. Sweet’s youngest son, Nicholas, is only 14 and unable to help with the restaurant at the moment, but he shares his support alongside many of the cafe’s guests. The smile on Mrs. Sweet’s face as she talks of her children can be summed up in one word: love. Everything about Jeremiah Café is love. It is the love of Kate that started the journey for the Sweet family. It was God’s love that called the Sweets to build an opportunity for the students at Jeremiah School. It is the love of the community it serves that allows the restaurant to continue to grow and help its students.
Under heavenly direction, the Sweet family listened to God’s call and inspiration. “To give you hope and a future,” God declared. Jeremiah Café provides an opportunity to foster hope as well as an opportunity for a future for the students at Jeremiah School. With the support of the community, Jeremiah Café was able to celebrate a year of business and has plans to continue growing for many more to come. ■
ees at the café, Mrs. Sweet smiles.
Jeremiah Café
St. Michael the Archangel Parish pastor Father Tom Charters, GHM, led a Mass and memorial service on Sept. 26 to mark the oneyear anniversary of the devastating flooding in Erwin from Hurricane Helene and the residents who lost their lives
Photos courtesy of St. Michael the Archangel
Celebrating 75 Years!
Join us as we commemorate the Year of Jubilee, the 25th anniversary of the Our Lady of Fatima church building, and the 75th anniversary of the Our Lady of Fatima parish.
Mark Your Calendar
Tuesday, March 11
Special Bilingual Mass at 6 PM celebrating the 25th anniversary of our church building, followed by a light reception.
Tuesday, May 13
Pilgrimage and Pentecost
Wednesday, August 13
Pilgrimage and Pedagogy
Saturday, September 13
Pilgrimage and Prosperidad
Monday, October 13
Pilgrimage and Prayers
Saturday, November 22
Friday, June 13
Pilgrimage and Picnic
Sunday, July 13
Pilgrimage and Praise
75th Anniversary Mass at Our Lady of Fatima and Reception after at the Airport Hilton.
Come celebrate with us as we give thanks for the past and look forward with hope to the future!
Pope Leo XIV gives first exhortation
Love for the poor is a hallmark of faith, the Holy Father says in
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
Many Christians “need to go back and re-read the Gospel” because they have forgotten that faith and love for the poor go hand in hand, Pope Leo XIV said in his first major papal document.
“Love for the poor—whatever the form their poverty may take— is the evangelical hallmark of a Church faithful to the heart of God,” the pope wrote in Dilexi Te (“I Have Loved You”), which is an apostolic exhortation he has given “to all Christians on love for the poor.”
Pope Leo signed the document on Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, and the Vatican released the text on Oct. 9.
The document was begun by Pope Francis, Pope Leo said, but he added to it and wanted to issue it near the beginning of his papacy “since I share the desire of my beloved predecessor that all Christians come to appreciate the close connection between Christ’s love and his summons to care for the poor.”
The connection is not new or modern and was not a Pope Francis invention, he said. In fact, throughout the Hebrew Scriptures “God’s love is vividly demonstrated by His protection of the weak and the poor, to the extent that He can be said to have a particular fondness for them.”
“I am convinced that the preferential choice for the poor is a source of extraordinary renewal both for the Church and for society,” Pope Leo wrote, “if we can only set ourselves free of our selfcenteredness and open our ears to their cry.”
As he has done from the beginning of his papacy in May, the pope decried the increasing gap between the world’s wealthiest and poorest citizens and noted how women often are “doubly poor,” struggling to feed their children and doing so with few rights or possibilities.
Pope Leo also affirmed Church teaching since at least the 1960s that there are “structures of sin” that keep the poor in poverty and lead those who have sufficient resources to ignore the poor or think they are better than them.
When the Church speaks of God’s preferential option for the poor, he said, it does not exclude or discriminate against others, something “which would be impossible for God.”
But the phrase is “meant to emphasize God’s actions, which are moved by compassion toward the poverty and weakness of all humanity,” he wrote.
“Wanting to inaugurate a kingdom of justice, fraternity, and solidarity,” Pope Leo said, “God has a special place in His heart for those who are discriminated against and oppressed, and He asks us, His Church, to make a decisive and radical choice in favor of the weakest.”
That choice, he said, must include pastoral and spiritual care as well as education, health care, jobs training, and charity—all of which the Church has provided for centuries.
The new papal document includes a separate section on migrants, with the pope writing, “The Church has always recognized in migrants a living presence of the Lord who, on the day of judgment, will say to those on his right: ‘I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.’”
The quotation is from the Gospel of Matthew 25:35, which is part of the “Judgment of the Nations,” in which Jesus clearly states that His followers will be judged on how they care for the poor, the sick, the imprisoned, and the foreigner.
He has loved us
Above: Pope Leo XIV signs his first apostolic exhortation,
Dilexi Te ("I Have Loved You"), in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican on Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, as Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the substitute secretary for general affairs at the Vatican Secretariat of State, observes. Below: A woman asks for alms on the street. The Holy Father's exhortation concentrates on love and care for the poor.
“The Church, like a mother, accompanies those who are walking” in search of a better, safer life for themselves and their families, Pope Leo wrote.
“Where the world sees threats, she (the Church) sees children; where walls are built, she builds bridges,” he continued. “She knows that her proclamation of the Gospel is credible only when it is
United States Postal Service
translated into gestures of closeness and welcome.”
The Church knows, he said, “that in every rejected migrant, it is Christ himself who knocks at the door of the community.”
In his exhortation, Pope Leo went through biblical references to the obligation to love and care for the poor and cited saints and religious orders throughout history
Statement of ownership, management, and circulation
Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685
1. Publication title: The East Tennessee Catholic
2. Publication number: 0007-211
3. Filing date: Sept. 29, 2025
4. Issue frequency: Monthly
5. Number of issues published annually: 12
6. Annual subscription price: $15
that have dedicated themselves to living with the poor and assisting them.
A section of the papal document focuses on the “fathers of the Church,” the early theologians, who, he said, “recognized in the poor a privileged way to reach God, a special way to meet Him. Charity shown to those in need was not only seen as a moral virtue, but a concrete expression of faith in the incarnate Word,” Jesus.
Of course, for Pope Leo, an Augustinian, St. Augustine of Hippo was included in the document. The saint, “the Doctor of Grace, saw caring for the poor as concrete proof of the sincerity of faith,” the pope wrote. For Augustine, “anyone who says they love God and has no compassion for the needy is lying.”
And while the pope wrote that “the most important way to help the disadvantaged is to assist them in finding a good job,” he insisted that when that is not possible, giving alms to a person asking for money is still a compassionate thing to do.
“It is always better at least to do something rather than nothing,” Pope Leo wrote.
Still, according to the Holy Father, Christians cannot stand idly by while the global economic system penalizes the poor and makes some people exceedingly wealthy.
“We must continue, then, to denounce the ‘dictatorship of an economy that kills,’” Pope Leo said, quoting a phrase Pope Francis used.
“Either we regain our moral and spiritual dignity, or we fall into a cesspool,” he wrote.
“A Church that sets no limits to love, that knows no enemies to fight but only men and women to love,” Pope Leo said, “is the Church that the world needs today.” ■
7. Complete mailing address of known office of publication: 805 S. Northshore Drive, Knoxville, Knox County, TN 37919-7551
8. Complete mailing address of headquarters or general business office of publisher: Same
9. Full names and complete addresses of publisher, editor, and managing editor: publisher, Bishop Mark Beckman, Diocese of Knoxville, 805 S. Northshore Drive, Knoxville, TN 37919-7551; editor, Bill Brewer, 805 S. Northshore Drive, Knoxville, TN 37919-7551; managing editor, Dan McWilliams, 805 S. Northshore Drive, Knoxville, TN 37919-7551
10. Owner: Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville, 805 S. Northshore Drive, Knoxville, TN 37919-7551
11. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities: None
12. Tax status (for completion by nonprofit organizations authorized to mail at nonprofit rates): Has not
to deliver God’s message to the faithful.
“And our guardian angels surround us always. Listen attentively to the Word of God, which is why we are called to listen attentively to them,” the bishop advised.
He said it was providential that the reading from Exodus would be shared on the day the candidates become lectors.
“I find for us who proclaim the Gospel, including all of our deacons who preach the Word of God, that the Word of God is meant to shape our hearts and our lives. The only way that I believe we can become effective preachers of the Word is if we let that Word first speak to us. What is the Lord saying to me in the Gospel?” the bishop asked.
He encouraged the deacons and deacon candidates to ponder that mystery and let the Word speak first to their hearts.
“Learn to listen to that Word, and being still with the Lord is so important. I begin every day alone with God, first listening to God’s Word, and then being still with that Word in silence. I allow God, and the Word of God, to shape my heart for the day,” Bishop Beckman said.
“And I believe there is nothing more important that we can attend to as the day begins,” he added.
Bishop Beckman could relate to the deacons and candidates as they are greeted first thing every morning with news messages on their cellphones, but the bishop has discovered that being inundated with news first thing in the morning may not be conducive to hearing God’s message for the day.
“That does not shape our hearts well. It’s only after we’ve soaked in God’s Word that we have an ear and a heart ready to see the world with a new set of eyes,” he said.
“So, this evening, I ask the holy angels of God to surround us always and to lead us to an attentiveness for the Word of God that will help to shape the rest of our lives. That is what we humbly ask the Lord tonight,” Bishop Beckman noted. “We, the servants of His Word, send as messengers of that Word to God’s people.”
Deacon Bello then called the candidates forward, where Bishop Beckman administered the Rite of Institution of Lectors. Taking part were Mark Calvert, Antonio Da Silva, Mark Dye, Brendan Foley, John Gensheimer, Rigoberto Gonzales, Paul Heuton, Hugo Linares, Jim MacDougall, Conor Martin, David Morais, Pedro Palacios, and David Quinn.
“Brothers and sisters, let us ask God our Father to bless these servants who have been chosen for the ministry of lector. Let us pray that they may be faithful to the work entrusted to them, proclaim Christ to the world, and so give glory to our Father in heaven,” Bishop Beckman said.
“Lord God, source of all goodness and light, you sent your only Son, the Word of Life, to reveal to mankind the mystery of your love. Bless our brothers who have been chosen for the ministry of lector. Grant that as they meditate constantly on your Word, they may grow in its wisdom and faithfully proclaim it to your people. Through Christ our Lord. Amen,” he then prayed.
The bishop held the Book of the Gospels and instructed each candidate, one by one, to “Take this book of holy Scripture and be faithful in handing on the Word of God, so that it may grow strong in the hearts of His people.”
Each candidate, with his hands on the book, then responded, “Amen.”
Bishop Beckman then turned his attention to the permanent deacons and led them in the renewal of their ordination promises.
As the deacons stood, the bishop asked them: n “Do you resolve to remain consecrated for the ministry of the Church you received through the laying on of hands and the gift of the Holy Spirit?”
n “Do you resolve to continue to discharge with humble charity the office of the diaconate, so as to assist the priestly order and to benefit the Christian people?”
n “Do you resolve to continue to hold fast to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience, as the Apostle says, and to proclaim the faith by word and deed according to the Gospel and the Church’s tradition?”
n “Do you resolve to continue to guard and increase the spirit of prayer proper to your way of life, and, in keeping with this spirit and the circumstances of your life, to celebrate faithfully the Liturgy of the Hours, with and for the people of God and indeed for the whole world?”
n “Do you promise respect and obedience to me and my successors?”
Each deacon responded “I do” after each of these six questions.
And lastly, the bishop asked, “Do you resolve to continue to conform your manner of life always to the example of Christ, whose Body and Blood you will handle at the altar?”
After this question, each deacon responded, “I do with the help of God.”
The bishop then concluded, praying, “Attend to our petitions, O Lord, and in Your kindness be pleased to bless these your sons, who desire to continue to devote themselves in sacred ministry to your service and to the service of your people, so that they may persevere in their vocation, and clinging to Christ the Priest with sincere charity, may be able to take up apostolic office worthily. Through Christ our Lord.”
Following the liturgy of the Eucharist, Bishop Beckman congratulated the diaconate candidates who have now received the ministry of lector. And he thanked the permanent deacons for their continued service and their wives who support them so selflessly.
Deacon Bello praised the candidates for answering the call to serve and he expressed gratitude to the Diocese of Knoxville’s deacons who serve throughout East Tennessee.
“It was so special to see our deacons renew their ordination promises and reaffirm that they are here to serve God’s people, to pray for God’s people, to carry out the Word of God in our diocese, coupled with this installation as lectors for these deacon candidates who now begin their fourth year of formation toward, God willing, ordination. This Mass is something that was started a couple of years ago by Archbishop (Shelton J.) Fabre, when he said let’s do these as combined rites and bring the deacons together with the candidates so the candidates can start to get to know those deacons who have already been in service as ordained men,”
Deacon Bello said.
“It’s really been a beautiful thing to watch all of these men come together. We’ve had other joint events with the deacons and the candidates, but to do this in the setting of the Mass brought this full holiness to it as we celebrated the Eucharist together and heard Bishop Beckman’s beautiful words about being surrounded always by our angels. Certainly in the ordained diaconate, and as these men work their way toward ordination, it’s very important that we recognize the help of our angels because it is often very obviously necessary. I’m thankful for this night, and I’m thankful for all of these men. Its’ a privilege to walk alongside of them and to accompany them on his lifelong journey,” Deacon Bello added.
Deacon candidate Mark Calvert said he is delighted to be installed as a lector because he has enjoyed being a lay reader at Mass.
“We’ve been through a little over three and a half years, and we have a little less than two years to go. This is a humbling experience. I feel very honored to be in the program,” Mr. Calvert said. “Now I have that additional something for proclaiming the Word of God. I appreciate the opportunity to pursue this vocation.”
Dr. Humberto Collazo, who serves at St. Dominic Church in Kingsport, is in his third year as a permanent deacon.
He said joining the diaconate has been a faithaffirming experience for him and he is excited to see more men answering the call.
“It’s exciting seeing these new guys come on. I feel the company. I feel God is with me, so I won’t be alone,” Deacon Collazo said.
Deacon Collazo appreciated Bishop Beckman’s wise words about being God’s messengers, and he is grateful at being able to serve the Church in East Tennessee through the permanent diaconate.
“It has been an amazing blessing. Every year I learn more about what it really is to be a deacon. Every year you explore it further, and God opens up endless possibilities in the process,” he said. ■
Preparing for the diaconate Bishop Mark Beckman leads candidates for the diaconate in the Rite of Institution of Lectors on Oct. 2 at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The rite is a key step in the candidates' formation, allowing them to have a more active role in the liturgy at Mass. The 13 men are scheduled to be ordained as deacons in June 2027. Also during the special Mass for the diaconate on Oct. 2, permanent deacons of the Diocese of Knoxville renewed their ordination promises.
A community of deacons Permanent deacons serving the Diocese of Knoxville and deacon candidates gather with their wives following a special Mass for the diaconate celebrated by Bishop Mark Beckman at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on Oct. 2.
Ready to proclaim Christ Deacon candidate Mark Calvert lays his hands on the Book of Gospels and responds "Amen" as Bishop Mark Beckman administers the Rite of Institution of Lectors
The impact of Catholic converts
Diocese of Knoxville is among U.S.
By Christine Rousselle Aleteia
In 2023 (the most recent year for which data is available), there were a total of 619,775 people who entered the Catholic Church in the United States in the country’s 178 Latin-rite dioceses, according to the 2024 edition of The Offi cial Catholic Directory
While the vast majority—480,905—of those new Catholics were infant baptisms, there were still nearly 150,000 others who entered the Church either as a non-infant minor or as an adult, or who were received into full communion. Those people who have already been validly baptized as a Christian do not receive baptism again, but will receive the Eucharist and, depending on their age, confirmation.
leaders, directory reports
These people were not distributed evenly across the United States. Here’s a look at the top five dioceses in the United States that received the most non-infant baptism conversions in 2023, accord-
ing to the Catholic directory:
By raw numbers
1. Archdiocese of GalvestonHouston: In 2023, the Arch-
diocese of Galveston-Houston recorded 9,489 new non-infant Catholics. This includes 7,512 minor baptisms (the most in the country), 1,346 adult baptisms, and 631 receptions into full communion.
2. Diocese of San Bernardino, Calif.: In 2023, the Diocese of San Bernardino recorded 7,095 new non-infant Catholics. This figure includes 4,819 minor baptisms, 438 adult baptisms, and 1,838 receptions into full communion.
3. Archdiocese of Los Angeles: In 2023, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles recorded 5,249 new noninfant Catholics. This includes 2,223 minor baptisms, 1,117 adult baptisms, and 1,909 receptions into full communion.
4. Diocese of Phoenix: In 2023, the Diocese of Phoenix recorded 4,427 new non-infant Catholics, including 3,379 receptions into full communion—the most in the
continued on page A16
School Spotlight
chool S
St. Jude School
St Jude School honors 9/11 with special remembrance, hosts Freedom Flag and World Trade Center artifacts
t h Scho
On Sept 11, St Jude School gathered as a community to honor and remember one of the most significant and somber days in American history
The school held a special remembrance ceremony to mark the 24th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that shook the nation in 2001
With reverence and respect, students, faculty, staff, and families came together to reflect on the lives lost, the heroes who emerged, and the values of freedom, unity, and resilience that continue to inspire generations
g ificant d e tacks na th resp st, eme g nerations is eedom artifac
This year’s remembrance carried particular significance, as St Jude School is once again hosting the Freedom Flag and artifacts from the World Trade Center For the second consecutive year, the school has been chosen for this profound honor, making St Jude only the second school in Tennessee to host the memorial pieces and the very first elementary school in the state to do so
The Freedom Flag with its red and white stripes blue field and symbolic emblems is a universal tribute to the lives lost and the unity of the nation after the terrorist attacks Its display at St Jude School was more than ceremonial, also representing a teaching opportunity
Students are learning not only the historical significance of the attacks but also the values of empathy, compassion and service to others The World Trade Center artifacts and pieces of steel that once supported the towers bring the reality of the tragedy into sharp focus For many young students these items serve as a tangible connection to an event they were not alive to witness but are nonetheless called to understand and remember
During the ceremony, prayers were offered for the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives as well as for the families who continue to carry their memory Special attention also was given to the first responders firefighters police officers paramedics and countless others who rushed toward danger that day in acts of bravery and sacrifice
By honoring those who gave their lives, students are encouraged to live with courage, kindness, and integrity The gathering included moments of silence, readings, music, and reflections from staff and students
Teachers and administrators emphasized that remembering 9/11 is not just about looking back but also about looking forward with hope and responsibility
Joshua Overton, principal of St Jude, shared that hosting these memorials is not only an honor for the school, but also an opportunity to inspire young people to understand their place in history and their duty to be active participants in building a better future In addition Mrs Cammie Hunt helped students connect the events of 9/11 to the school’s monthly Friendzy theme, Better Together
We had discussions that offered a meaningful opportunity for students to reflect on how, even in the face of tragedy, people can come together to support one another and create positive change,” Mr Overton and Mrs Hunt commented
Parents and community members in attendance expressed gratitude that St Jude School continues to place such importance on remembrance and civic responsibility Many remarked that the ceremony offered both a solemn pause to honor the past and a hopeful vision for the future
Mr Brian Albus, music teacher at St Jude School who participated in the ceremony, said, Music has a way of speaking when sometimes words fall short Being able to use my music gifts to help set the mood for our community to honor and remember those who lost their lives on 9/11 was truly special ”
As the ceremony concluded, the Freedom Flag stood tall alongside the United States flag and the Tennessee state flag, symbols that serve as both a reminder of loss and a call to action: to live lives rooted in faith compassion and service
As eloquently stated by St Jude eighth-grade student Baylor Bradshaw, “The adversity we, as a nation, have faced from the 9/11 attacks did not only make our country resilient, it motivated everyone to unite as one to represent America
This sentiment was echoed by Finn Allen, an eighth-grader at St Jude, who said, “Even though America has gone through tough times like the attacks on 9/11 we have always united as a country
Though the goal of the terrorists that day was to hurt America, we found a way to unite as one.”
Therefore, in this essence, the ceremony was more than a commemoration It was a testament to the enduring spirit of remembrance, freedom, and hope for the future
THE EAST TENNESSEE CATHOLIC ARCHIVE PHOTO
Welcome to the Church Bishop Mark Beckman baptizes a young man during Easter Vigil Mass April 19 at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Diocese of Knoxville is among U.S. leaders in Catholic converts.
Converts
Pope Leo: Church must not be silent on immigration
Pontiff meets with U.S. bishop, expresses solidarity with immigrant community
By Kate Scanlon OSV News
Pope Leo XIV expressed solidarity with the immigrant community in the United States and urged the Church to be a united voice on their behalf during an Oct. 8 private audience with immigration advocates.
Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, told OSV News that in the brief meeting with the pontiff, they were able to tell him about “our present situation and get his advice and hopefully his words of support, which I think we did.”
Bishop Seitz, who chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, said Pope Leo “encouraged a conference of bishops to speak together and presumably individually as well, about this issue.”
“We want to stay as much as we can above the political fray,” he said. “We want to speak to the Gospel and we want to continue our work as leaders in the Church, and he was very much, I think, in agreement with that, that we stay rooted in the Gospel and the teachings of the Church.”
In a post on X, Bishop Seitz said it was a “great honor” for his group from El Paso to meet with the pope “and be able to bring with us the stories and fears of our immigrant sisters and brothers from across our country.”
Dylan Corbett, executive director of the Hope Border Institute, a group that works to apply the perspective of Catholic social teaching in policy and practice to the U.S.Mexico border region, told OSV News, “We found the Holy Father very attentive to the message that we had brought to him from the immigrant community, particularly the Catholic immigrant community in the Catholic Church in the Unit-
ed States, from across the country.”
“We brought in messages from California, from Texas, from Iowa, from New Jersey, from New York, from Florida, communities across the country,” Mr. Corbett said. “The majority of the messages that were given to the Holy Father were from people who were undocumented or people who were in mixed families, and so they conveyed concerns and anxieties about their situation, given that we’re in a moment of mass deportations.”
Mr. Corbett noted that Pope Leo’s comments to them were “very clear.”
“He said that the Church cannot remain in silence. He called what’s happening with respect to the campaign of deportations an injustice, and he said that the Church cannot remain silent,” he said.
“Today,” Mr. Corbett stated in his own X post, “we met with Pope Leo to share the pain, fear, and hopes of the immigrant community in the U.S. at a time of mass deportation. ‘You stand with me,’ the pope said. ‘And I stand with you.’”
Bishop Seitz said Pope Leo “was so moved by the whole experience, but he spoke again, very movingly about all he’s learned from immigrants, about what they’ve taught him and the impact that they’ve had upon his life.”
“So, Pope Leo did assure us of his continued willingness to speak to this issue, his concern about what’s happening, particularly in the United States.”
Catholic social teaching on immigration balances three interrelated principles: the right of people to migrate in order to sustain their lives and those of their families, the right of a country to regulate its borders and control immigration, and a nation’s duty to regulate its borders with justice and mercy.
Many immigrants in the United States today are living with the same fear people experienced under the “tyrannical” communist governments of the past, Bishop Seitz said.
“We have made people who have fled for their lives now live in even greater fear” than they faced in
their homelands, the bishop said the day before he met Pope Leo. Pope Leo had tears in his eyes reading some of the letters, Bishop Seitz said after meeting the pope.
“He was very affirming of the work that we are doing in the United States, especially our work directly with immigrants,” the bishop said, and he asked the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to continue speaking “strongly on this issue.”
“The Church, through our Holy Father, the vicar of Christ, is very personally concerned about these matters,” Bishop Seitz said.
Mr. Corbett said Pope Leo told them, “The Church cannot stay silent before injustice. You stand with me. And I stand with you.”
Bishop Seitz had celebrated Mass on Oct. 7 for members of the National Catholic Council for Hispanic Ministry’s “Pilgrimage of Hope” to Rome and the Vatican.
Members of the pilgrimage met Pope Leo briefly that evening. Before blessing the pilgrims, the pope told them, “You have in your hands a very important task: to accompany those who are deeply in need of a sign that God never abandons us: the smallest, the poorest, the foreigner everyone.”
“In the pastoral service you offer,” he told them, “you are clearly this testimony, which is so important, perhaps especially in the United States, but also throughout the world.”
Speaking to Catholic News Service and to the Reuters news agency on Oct. 7, Bishop Seitz said he thinks that in many ways the fear being experienced by immigrants in the United States is compounded by the fact that “they had put all their hope in thinking that they had found safety at last.”
The support of Pope Leo and all Catholics is crucial, Bishop Seitz said. ■
Speaking out Honduran migrant Luis Acosta carries 5-year-old Angel Jesus through the Suchiate River near Tapachula, Mexico, on Oct. 29, 2018.
Pilgrims wanted — Apply here
Young Catholics invited to join 2026 national pilgrimage with Jesus in the Eucharist
By Gina Christian OSV News
Young Catholic adults are invited to apply for a “oncein-a-lifetime” journey with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist across the nation.
Eight perpetual pilgrims are being sought for the 2026 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, which takes place May 21 to July 8.
Those selected will accompany the Blessed Sacrament for the full length of the pilgrimage, forming a core group that will participate in eucharistic processions through towns and cities while attending daily Mass and Holy Hours. They will also carry out both service and evangelization in local communities along the entire route.
The effort is not for the faint of heart, according to the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage’s website.
“Serving as a Perpetual Pilgrim is an extraordinary call and a serious commitment,” said its perpetual pilgrim application page. “This journey is demanding spiritually, mentally, socially, and physically yet it is also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to walk in the footsteps of the Apostles.”
Applicants must be baptized and confirmed Catholics ages 19-29, who are “rooted in the sacraments ... faithful to the teachings of the Church, and committed to daily prayer,” the website said.
UT-C continued from page A6
Perpetual pilgrims needed Four young adult Catholic “perpetual pilgrims,” who accompanied the Blessed Sacrament on the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage's St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Eastern Route, bring up the offertory gifts during the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage Mass June 9, 2024, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.
In addition, pilgrims must be “flexible, resilient, and ready for communal team life on the road,” as well as “physically able to walk long distances,” which can stretch up to 15 miles on some days.
Perpetual pilgrims will engage with those they encounter along the way through faith sharing, witness talks, and media interviews, and will stay in local host homes during their journey.
Training will be provided to assist the pilgrims in fundraising for mission expenses, and a spiritual director will guide the pilgrims be-
to be catechists, join parish organizations like the Knights of Columbus, the women’s group, the men’s group, you know, get involved because we need every generation,” Bishop Beckman added. He believes in the importance of the youngadult population being involved, to help every generation be a part of the growth of the Church.
There are many things that can distract a college student from staying the course in their relationship with God: technology, workload, tragedy in the world around them. The bishop spoke of one of the struggles that a college student can come across.
“The modern world has so many distractions. Think about the Internet and all the things that are on the Internet. It can sometimes absorb a person so that they lose touch with the mystery of God,” the bishop pointed out.
Bishop Beckman brought to light one of the many things that young adults encounter: the dangers associated with technology. In life, students must persevere to build that relationship that God desires.
“Just making the commitment to say, ‘I know this is good for my soul.’ Just like people say, ‘I know that exercise is good for my body,’ making the commitment to do it even when you don’t want to,” Bishop Beckman shared, noting that it is so important to make that commitment to God
Converts continued from page A14
country. An additional 771 minors and 277 adults were baptized in the Diocese of Phoenix that year. 5. Archdiocese of Boston: In 2023, the Archdiocese of Boston recorded 3,665 new non-infant Catholics. The majority of these were 2,668 minor baptisms. There were an additional 715 adult baptisms and 282 receptions into full communion.
While every new Catholic and every baptism is cause for celebration, raw numbers are not the end-all-be-all of statistics. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, for instance, has a higher number of Catholics than some entire U.S. states have in total population. So, let's dig a little deeper.
By comparison with the total Catholic population
In 2023, the median diocese in the United States had one non-infant reception into the Church for every 413 Catholics living within the diocese's territory, said calculations from The Offi cial Catholic Directory published by Catholic World Report.
This median diocese, per those calculations, was the Diocese of Charlotte, which ranked 88th of
fore, during, and after their trek. Applications are due toward the end of October.
An in-person pre-pilgrimage retreat for the perpetual pilgrims will be held Jan. 23-25, and weekly formation meetings will be conducted via Zoom on Monday evenings throughout the spring ahead of the anticipated May 21 pilgrimage start date.
The pilgrimage continues a key component of the National Eucharistic Revival, the 2022-2025 effort by the U.S. Catholic bishops to rekindle devotion to Jesus in
because taking care of our soul is just as important as exercising for our body.
Young adults and college students alike are
the Latin Rite dioceses in the United States for this metric.
But in North Carolina ’ s other diocese, the Diocese of Raleigh, the data is much different.
Here are the top fi ve dioceses for new, non-infant Catholics, relative to the total population.
1. Diocese of Raleigh: In 2023, the Diocese of Raleigh led the nation with one non-infant reception into the Catholic Church for every 71 Catholics living in the diocese.
2. Diocese of Lexington, Ky.: Not far behind, the Diocese of Lexington recorded one new non-infant Catholic for every 84 Catholics in 2023.
3. Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph: The Missouri portion of Kansas City recorded one new non-infant Catholic for every 99 Catholics in 2023.
4. Diocese of Knoxville: Continuing the south of the Mason-Dixon line theme, the Diocese of Knoxville recorded one new non-infant Catholic for every 108 Catholics in the diocese in 2023.
5. Diocese of Tulsa: The Diocese of Tulsa in Oklahoma came in fifth nationally with one new non-infant Catholic for every 134 Catholics living in Oklahoma’s eastern diocese. ■
the Eucharist. The initiative was sparked by a 2019 Pew Research Center report showing that only one third of the nation’s Catholics believed that Jesus Christ is truly present in the Eucharist.
Major highlights in the revival included the 10th National Eucharistic Congress, which took place in July 2024 in Indianapolis, and the 2024 and 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimages.
National Eucharistic Congress Inc., a nonprofit organization in a partnership with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, expects to continue to build on the revival’s work through its annual National Eucharistic Pilgrimages as well as diocesan, regional, and national eucharistic congresses.
Organizers hope to hold the next National Eucharistic Congress in 2029, a proposal on which the U.S. bishops are expected to vote when the USCCB meets again in November.
In the meantime, the upcoming 2026 pilgrimage will “bring the healing presence of Christ across our nation, renewing the Church through encounter,” said pilgrimage organizers on the application website.
Information on the 2026 pilgrimage and the application process can be found on the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage website at www.eucharisticpilgrimage.org/ perpetual-pilgrim-application ■
not the only generation who need the support, who may be tempted to stray from God, who have to fight to keep that relationship with Him. However, they are the rising generation, the ones who must take what they have learned in their communities from the older generations and take action to always keep God close.
“My hope is that many of our people, young and old, will continue to be inspired to live close to the heart of Christ,” Bishop Beckman remarked.
He would like to see everyone in the community be able to always grow close to God no matter the walk of life and to stay inspired by Him in every generation.
There is a real hope growing from faith communities on college campuses, where students are taking the initiative to say yes to God by continuing to grow in their faith despite the struggles they encounter along the way.
Growth of the young-adult population in the Church is happening and will continue if young people will follow the lead set by others in the faith, such as priests, missionaries, and even the university upperclassmen they interact with daily.
All generations are needed for the growth of the Church, and all are called. So, building that community of faith with one another is one of the beautiful ways God works in each person’s life. ■
Reaching a new generation Bishop Mark Beckman gives a homily during a Mass with University of Tennessee-Chattanooga students at the campus Catholic Center on Sept. 10. Bishop Beckman celebrated Mass for the students and joined them for dinner.
The beauty of authentic love
Holy Father celebrates Mass to commemorate the Jubilee of Consecrated Life
By Gina Christian OSV News
Consecrated men and women, who abandon themselves “like children into the arms of the Father,” spread “the ‘fresh air’ of authentic love throughout the world,” Pope Leo XIV said in his homily during Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 9, marking the Jubilee of Consecrated Life.
Thousands of men and women religious, monks, contemplatives, members of secular institutes, consecrated virgins, hermits, and people belonging to “new institutes” came to Rome from all over the world for their Jubilee celebrated Oct. 8-9.
God is “the fullness and meaning of our lives,” said the pope, who joined the Augustinian religious order in 1977 and served as its leader, or prior general, for 12 years in Rome
“For you for us the Lord is everything,” he said. “Without Him, nothing exists, nothing makes sense, nothing is worthwhile.”
“He is everything in different ways: as Creator and the source of existence, as love that calls and challenges, as the strength that impels and inspires us to give,” he said. “Living out your vows means abandoning yourselves like children into the arms of the Father.”
The Catholic Church “entrusts
rything, you help the brothers and sisters you meet to cultivate this friendship themselves,” he said.
“After all, history teaches us that an authentic experience of God always gives rise to generous outpourings of charity.”
Some people believe that “it is vain to serve God,” he said
“This way of thinking leads to a genuine paralysis of the soul,” the pope said. “We end up settling for a life made up of fleeting moments, superficial and intermittent relationships, and passing fads things that leave a void in our hearts,” and do not lead to true happiness.
“ Instead, we need consistent, lasting, and healthy experiences of love,” he said, and members of consecrated life have a role to play in that through their example.
“Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord, to whom you have given everything, has rewarded you with such beauty and richness, and I would like to urge you to treasure and cultivate what you have received,” Pope Leo said.
“Do not seek to be numbered among the ‘learned and clever,’” he said, quoting St. Paul VI’s 1971 apostolic exhortation Evangelica Testificatio
“Be truly poor, meek, eager for holiness, merciful, and pure of heart,” he said, quoting the late pope. “Be among those who will bring to the world the peace of God.” ■
you with the task of being living witnesses to God’s primacy in your
lives,” the pope said.
“By stripping yourselves of eve-
Hands to heaven Above: Pope Leo XIV greets visitors after celebrating Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Oct. 9 as part of the Jubilee of Consecrated Life. Thousands of men and women religious, monks, contemplatives, members of secular institutes, consecrated virgins, hermits, and people belonging to "new institutes" came to Rome from all over the world for their Oct. 8-9 Jubilee. Below: Pope Leo XIV greets two women during Mass in St. Peter's Square as part of the Jubilee of Consecrated Life.
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO/VATICAN
“Stacy and Carol and I are always talking about looking behind us to say, ‘Is there anybody young following us? Is there anybody coming up behind us?’ Well, we don’t have to look behind us today. We just have to look in front of us,” Mrs. Brewer said. “Abbi is the daughter of Brie and Ryan Floyd, and we’re very proud of them as parents for raising this beautiful young lady, and we’re very proud of Abbi.”
The winner of the oratory contest, Helen Liulevicius, a senior at Knoxville Catholic High School at the time of her contest entry and now a freshman at Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina, presented her more than 6-minute speech on assisted suicide via video at the banquet. She is the daughter of Kathleen and Vejas Liulevicius of St. John Neumann Parish.
“It’s very powerful. This is the next horizon for us: the end of life. It’s in many states already and it’s coming, and we’re already having to fight it,” Mrs. Brewer said.
Helen also won the state TRL oratory contest in Nashville in May and advanced to the national contest in Kansas City during the summer and placed second in the United States.
Mrs. Brewer also announced a Hometown Hero Award given by the TRL chapter in the spring to art teacher Heather Reynolds of Concord Christian School.
“She has shown exemplary leadership in teaching her children this issue and not only asks and encourages her children to get involved but she makes a unit out of it and teaches them about this cause,” Mrs. Brewer said.
Before providing legislative updates on life issues going through the Tennessee General Assembly in Nashville, Mr. Brewer said that non-election years for state office like 2025 often have “controversial hot-button bills that we might be opposed to” introduced. “This is a year of defense,” he said.
After the Dobbs decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022, state Republicans in the winter 2023 legislative session took a disappointing direction on life issues, Mr. Brewer said, as many who “we had endorsed and vouched for their entire elective tenure turned against us and tried to weaken our pro-life laws, and it was a battle. … We were able to fight back those efforts and maintain the strongest pro-life law in the country. That was the big test.”
In the 2024 election year, “they backed off a little bit,” Mr. Brewer said, although he added that one state lawmaker from Knox County “tried to add a multitude of exceptions to make abortion almost on demand. We were able to combat that once again, and our pro-life law stays intact.”
Mr. Brewer also addressed what he called the “tricky issue” of in vitro fertilization, noting that a state senator from Knox County has sponsored a bill to create a statutory right to IVF and contraception.
“This is an issue that in the past Tennessee Right to Life has not waded in on,” he said.
That was before an IVF facility in Alabama had its frozen embryos destroyed by a patient who breached security and the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that “yes, those embryos are life and therefore should be treated with the same dignity and respect as any other human life … which is a viewpoint that everybody in this room can get behind,” Mr. Brewer said.
“Our intent is to regulate the IVF industry so that these babies cannot be disposed of, killed off, thrown in the dumpster at will,” he added.
Mr. Brewer quoted a doctor who said that IVF embryos in Tennessee are disposed of by mothers and doctors 90 percent of the time if genetic testing shows an abnormality, with embryos also being disposed of if families cannot afford the storage costs for them.
TRL “fought that bill,” Mr. Brewer said. “We tried behind the scenes to amend it, to make it better, to create regulations, but that bill passed” unanimously in the Senate and 5446 in the House. “Our effort in next year’s session is to come back to that bill and either revoke it completely or amend it so that it creates the dignity and respect that those embryos de-
serve,” he added.
IVF is “a highly technical and highly medical issue” that is “hard to debate,” Mr. Brewer acknowledged.
The state TRL office worked with Gov. Bill Lee’s office to make sure that a $20 million allocation two years ago for pregnancy resource centers as part of the Strong Families initiative was maintained, the Knoxville attorney said, thanking Gov. Lee and the House and Senate for backing it.
“We hope that $20 million is the floor. We want that number to increase every year,” Mr. Brewer said. “The proposal two years ago was $100 million, and I would have taken that, but we’ll deal with $20 million for now.”
State Rep. Gino Bulso has introduced a measure to strengthen Tennessee’s law prohibiting abortion pills from being shipped to the state from other states or nations, Mr. Brewer said.
“There are hardly any consequences for violating either the federal or the state law,” he said, “so Rep. Bulso created a bill to really add teeth, to add civil-lawsuit liability, increase the statute of limitations, increase the money damages that you can get if you are shipped an abortion pill from out of state. We supported that wholeheartedly. It passed the Senate easily. It is still in the process in the House. It has passed the House judiciary committees.”
The bill “needs to get on the House floor and governor’s desk,” Mr. Brewer noted. “This is the next front line: the abortion pill.”
Mr. Brewer closed by mentioning the late Brian Harris, state TRL president from 1997 to 2020, who died in August, as well as conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA who was assassinated on Sept. 10.
“(Mr. Harris) was a friend to many of us in this room. He was a mentor to me. He died at the age of 57, and he had so many other years left to give to this cause,” Mr. Brewer said. “But with the life he was given by the good Lord, he came into this state and revolutionized Tennessee Right to Life, the state organization. He laid the groundwork, ran the campaign, and got us past the Amendment 1 finish line in 2014, which nobody thought was possible, but we were able to create respect for life in our state constitution. He did that with a vision and an effort and a zeal that many of us in this room were a part of and party to, and he will be greatly missed.”
The Dobbs decision was a “big battle” win for the cause of life, Mr. Brewer said, “but we also kicked a gigantic hornet’s nest, and those hornets are buzzing. I ask you, get involved.”
Ms. Robb cited the Christian roots of America.
“The Declaration of Independence gave us the philosophy of our nation, and the Constitution gave it its structure,” she said. “John Adams famously said, ‘Our Constitution was made only for a moral and a religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.’ A nation that does not believe that our life comes from God cannot function properly under our Constitution. James Madison said, ‘We have staked the whole future of American civilization upon our capacity to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.’”
Ms. Robb made several references to neonatal specialist Dr. Robin Pierucci, who worked with an expectant mother who was told by a genetic counselor that her baby, Aurora, “at 16 weeks had a severe heart defect and would not survive pregnancy.”
But the baby, “Roe,” was born at 38 weeks and two days.
“Roe spent 58 days in the NICU, had three open-heart surgeries, and today is a smiling 3-year-old girl,” Ms. Robb said to a round of applause.
“Her mother says the future we were never promised wakes up every morning and greets each new day with a smile. Why was her mother told with such certainty and authority that her baby had no chance for life, when that was never true? Why is this story not unique?
He again requested crisis pregnancy center staff and volunteers to stand.
“Talk to these folks. These folks are on the front lines day in and day out,” Mr. Brewer said. “They are talking to these women. They are giving them the resources that they need to take care of their babies when they are frightened and don’t know where to turn. They’re handing out diapers, formula, and baby clothes, and they are doing it across the state, and they are doing an amazing job. They are saving lives and evangelizing in the process, and they are doing the Lord’s work.
“This battle is still raging. We have not won. We are far from winning. As many abortion pills as are coming into this state day in and day out, we have not won. There are abortionminded women in Bristol, Tenn., who can drive five minutes to Bristol, Va., and get an abortion. There are people in Memphis who can drive a few hours to Carbondale, Ill., and get an abortion and make it back in one night without so much as a hotel stay. We have not won this war.”
Ms. Robb quoted the Declaration of Independence at the start of her talk.
“What is the line that immediately precedes ‘we hold these truths to be self-evident’?” she asked, “It says, ‘A decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.’ Meaning what comes next are the reasons we must separate, found a new nation, built upon the principles we hold.
“‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’ Then they built a nation meant to secure those rights. The pursuit of happiness in the minds of the Founders involved the pursuit of virtue. Somewhere along the way, we lost that. We lost it so completely that in 1973, our Supreme Court gave us Roe v. Wade. In 1992, they gave us Planned Parenthood v. Casey.”
Abortion is “the intentional pursuit of the death of an unborn child. It is always that, and it is never anything other than that,” Ms. Robb said.
Alluding to the title of her talk, she said “when I ask your thoughts on abortion, I’m really asking you something more. I’m asking your worldview. I’m asking what you think life is, what you think it’s for, and where you get that answer. The biblical answer that our life comes from God, that it bears His image, and that understanding what that means is what life is for, is what our Founders would have called the pursuit of virtue, the pursuit of what makes men happy.”
“Dr. Pierucci has an answer for that. She says it’s because prenatal testing is the road to death. She says it has its face planted in a culture of death. Does that sound shocking?”
St. John Paul II “warned of the same thing” in Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life) in 1995, Ms. Robb said, quoting the Holy Father from section 14 of the encyclical.
“He said ‘prenatal diagnosis, which presents no moral objections if carried out in order to identify the medical treatment’ for a child in the womb ‘all too often becomes an opportunity for proposing and procuring an abortion. This is eugenic abortion, justified in public opinion on the basis of a mentality … which accepts life only under certain conditions and rejects it when it is affected by any limitation, handicap, or illness.’”
God “personally and individually crafted every one of us, and Scripture tells us over and over how intimately involved God is with life in the womb,” Ms. Robb said. “God cares deeply about life, and simply by saying every life is precious and made in His image, and we should honor it in every way that we can, we would already be on the right side of all these things without any of this knowledge. The only knowledge we ever needed was a knowledge of God, which is what our Founders expected us to pursue, that it would be a tradition with which we would never break.”
“Biblical principle will always land you on the right side of reality and truth, and the more advancements we make, the more we should be reminded that our Creator was always right about the things He made, and because our Founders looked to Him, they were right about it, too, that men were endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, and that is why abortion is unthinkable,” Ms. Robb concluded.
Mrs. Brewer said the state TRL has introduced a billboard campaign about abortion-pill reversal.
“This sign tells the culture of death that we’re not going to stand for it. We’re going to fight. We’re going to do something,” she said.
For the closing prayer, Mrs. Brewer introduced a video of the late Rev. John Schulz, a Lutheran pastor in Knoxville and longtime TRL board member. Pastor Schulz, who died March 12 at age 92, was seen in the video giving a benediction where he served, First Lutheran Church.
“We know that he is in heaven praying for us tonight, so we are grateful to him for his many years of service,” Mrs. Brewer said.
To receive legislative and other updates, sign up on the state TRL site at www.tnrtl.org. The abortion-pill billboard may be viewed at www.tnrtl. org/billboard_campaign. The Knox County chapter website is prolifeknox.org ■
A pro-life fraternity Above: From left, Father John Orr, Father Julius Abuh, Father Bo Beaty, and Father Christopher Manning represent their parishes at the Celebrate Life banquet. Below: Tennessee Right to Life legislative liaison Will Brewer addresses the 400 people attending the banquet.
DAN MCWILLIAMS (2)
Clinton High (now Clinton Middle School), rather than take a bus to the Black-only school approximately 20 miles away from home and outside of Anderson County.
Prior to Brown v. Board II (1955), the plaintiffs argued that the denial of integration was justified under the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling, arguing that segregation was legal because select students also took a bus to get to school in Clinton. They described this as “separate but equal.”
Because of Brown’s (1954) overruling of Plessy, the group sought an appeal. The suit was taken to the Federal Courts in 1950 to appeal the decision by Anderson County. But until Brown II, the federal court could not enforce desegregation unless a school board was petitioned to do so or taken to federal court in the failure of the previous notion.
Upon Brown II in 1955, the Tennessee case was sent back to district court. In January of 1956, Clinton High School was ordered to integrate, “not later than the beginning of the fall term of the present year of 1956.”
On Oct. 5, 1958, the high school (now Clinton Middle School) was bombed in a violent response to the Clinton 12 public school racial integration. No one was injured but it forced a halt in their education, and as a result many students of the school were temporarily located to Oak Ridge High School to continue their education until the school could be reopened.
Upon the bombing, on Oct. 12, Bishop Adrian visited St. Mary School to dedicate the school’s outdoor peace statue, named Our Lady of Oak Ridge, in the Clinton school’s honor.
Eight years prior to the bombing, the Catholic school opened its doors with a policy of racial integration. The parish involved itself in the local movement of racial reconciliation throughout the civil rights movement.
Now, the parish extends its arms and love to another minority community by supporting immigrant families and enrolling their children in the school. The parish also extends into its local community with a thrift store and food pantry, open to anyone in need the area.
Being tied to the history of the Secret City, St. Mary Parish and School have offered a home for the faith of many, including some prominent faces
Cecilia Klemski was one of the original parishioners, who was in attendance for the parish’s first Mass. Ms. Klemski moved to Oak Ridge to work as a secretary for the U.S. State Department within the Manhattan Project.
Before her passing in 2016, she was noted in the book, The Girls of the Atomic City by Denise Kiernan, where she recalled taking encoded and unencoded messages from Gen.
Diamond Jubilee Above: Bishop Mark Beckman is joined by Father Ray Powell, Father Jhon Mario García, Deacons Gary Sega and John DeClue, and St. Mary School students during Mass at St. Mary Church in Oak Ridge to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the school. Below: St. Mary School principal Sister Catherine Marie Hopkins, OP, shows items from the school's time capsule that was buried in 2010 as, from left, Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch, Bishop Beckman, diocesan schools interim superintendent George Valadie, and St. Mary School students watch. Bottom: Time-capsule keepsakes are displayed.
Leslie Groves (Manhattan Project director), or “GG,” despite having no knowledge of what the Manhattan Project was aside from helping with the war effort.
Mrs. Klemski also devoted several years to the St. Mary School cafeteria, where she enjoyed getting to provide meals to the children. Upon her death, many remembered her strong dedication to the school and parish
Another prominent parishioner is current Lt. Gov. Randy McNally,
who has served as a Republican state senator since 1987 and was elected lieutenant governor in 2017.
Sen. McNally is the first Catholic to hold the second-highest position of authority in state government. He also is the state’s second Republican Senate speaker in modern history and the first from Anderson County in nearly 150 years.
Sen. McNally spearheaded Senate Joint Resolution 227 (SJR 227) from the 114th Tennessee General Assem-
bly, which he sponsored to officially recognize and honor St. Mary’s 75th anniversary.
Along with those familiar faces, the school welcomed a new administration this year, with Sister Catherine Marie Hopkins, OP, serving as principal and Zachary Sizemore as vice principal.
Sister Catherine Marie addressed the school and its guests at the ribbon-cutting ceremony in the Marian Courtyard.
“Though I have only been here a short time, I can see how special this celebration is for us. God has blessed us with this time from the very beginning of St. Mary’s history,” Sister Catherine Marie said.
Sister Catherine Marie and Mr. Sizemore shared in the anniversary joy with the students on Sept. 10. Sister Catherine Marie also took great joy in participating in different selections from the school’s time capsule. Students’ contributions to the 15-year-old time capsule included crafts and cards, a turtle shell and a snakeskin, and many other treasures that were locked away in the capsule back in 2010 during the school’s 60th anniversary.
After the capsule was opened, a young student approached Sister Catherine Marie. Holding his wooden rosary in hand, he asked her if he could give his rosary for the new time capsule the school is planning. The sweet request left a smile with Sister Catherine Marie, who politely told the students that they will be collecting items for the new time capsule at a later time.
When pictures of the capsule’s opening were shared on Facebook, some commenters posted that they remembered making things to include in the locked chest.
Oak Ridge Mayor Gooch attended the school’s celebration and spoke of the beautiful “connection of St. Mary and Oak Ridge, before it was Oak Ridge.”
Mayor Gooch also shared that the school and parish have provided many blessings to the city, and he was happy to share in their special celebration of 75 years and hopes for “the future of Oak Ridgers and Tennessee to be long and well.”
“St. Mary has been a blessing to the city of Oak Ridge and the community here. I know it will continue to be, and Oak Ridge is happy to have them,” the Oak Ridge mayor said St. Mary School found much to celebrate on the September day. Bishop Beckman celebrated Mass and remembered the school’s historic origins with the Dominican Sisters. Mayor Gooch shared his hopes for the students’ future at the school. And many young student faces screamed with excitement while unlocking the time capsule from years before.
The school has much to celebrate now and will find itself celebrating other special anniversaries in years to come. ■
BEE GOODMAN (3)
invitation to respond to the grace of God.”
“Father Montecino went on to say, ‘You know, even after the rich man died and is in flames, he still doesn’t see the humanity of Lazarus. He sees him as a servant,’” the bishop recalled, quoting Luke. “‘Send him to dip some cold water on my tongue, send him to my brothers,’ and so forth. Always an instrument, a person to be used, not to be loved, respected, or cared for.”
Bishop Beckman said “one of the great gifts” of St. Dominic Parish and School is that they are “a school of love.”
“God is giving us eyes to see our neighbors and needs. God is giving us a heart to love them. God is giving us hands to reach out to them,” he said. “Every time we come to the table of the Lord in this place, the Lord feeds us with Himself, and by nourishing our souls, He’s inviting us to become love itself, to have an active concern for the well-being of each brother and sister.
“It really is a school of love—that is what the eucharistic community is all about, and that’s the most important thing that our Catholic schools do: they help us to become like Jesus, who came to us in pure unbounded love and reached out to us, when we were lying in our misery and needed compassion. If we’ve experienced the goodness of God in our regard, then we have to be good to each other. We have to love the neighbor, and that’s the great blessing today.”
The bishop quoted a hymn he heard children sing, “Open My Eyes.”
“How many of you all have heard that one? ‘Open my eyes, Lord. Help me to see your face. Open my ears, Lord. Help me to hear your voice. Open my heart, Lord. Help me to love like you.’ Let’s pray indeed that the grace of God will move us tonight to say yes,” he said.
Father Cummins read announcements at the end of Mass but expressed his gratitude to the bishop first.
“Bishop Beckman, thank you for being here with us and our St. Dominic community as we celebrate eight decades of the ministry of St. Dominic School. As you said, it is the school of love,” the pastor said.
Roni Banayot, a representative of Bethlehem Christian Families, a ministry supported by St. Dominic Parish for two decades, spoke at the end of Mass.
Bishop Beckman made closing remarks.
“What a blessing tonight as we’re celebrating 80 years of the school of St. Dominic,” he said. “I loved the children singing tonight. Their enthusiasm when I celebrated Mass with them last week was equally rivaled tonight in your beautiful songs, so thank you all for that beautiful gift of music, which raises our hearts and minds to God. There are great reasons to be grateful to the Lord tonight, aren’t there?”
Father Cummins after Mass called it “a wonderful day” for the school.
“We’re celebrating 80 years, eight decades of Catholic school here in Kingsport. Just to know that the humble beginnings of this school and how it’s continuing to grow and how it continues to transform lives is beautiful,” he said.
St. Dominic, with 116 students in pre-kindergarten through fifth grade, is small but has shown growth from its former double-digit enrollment.
“It has kept on going,” Father Cummins said. “The parish has again and again demonstrated their commitment to the school and their desire to keep the school going. It has grown, and we hope it keeps growing. That’s where we’re at right now, and it’s good. We’re happy.”
Mrs. Bellino is an alumna of St. Dominic and an 11-year member of the staff as music teacher, and she has additional family ties to the school with her late mother.
“My mom was Debbie DePollo. She was principal here for 17 years. I went to school here in fourth and fifth grade, and my three boys went to school here. They’re all alumni
St. Dominic School Anniversary Celebration
from here as well, and now I’m music teacher here,” she said.
The anniversary “is really special to me,” she added, “especially because I know that tonight a lot of my former teachers are here. I’m really looking forward to being able to catch up with them and seeing the rich traditions that this school has here.”
Bonnie Saleh is principal of St. Dominic and said, “It’s so amazing to just see the longevity of this Catholic school in East Tennessee and how far we’ve come from really a small house that was the school originally to this wonderful place we have now that we continue to grow.”
The enrollment at St. Dominic “has definitely grown over the years, and even with people moving every year, we just really seem to gain more and more attention and people realize what a loving and necessary place this is,” she said.
Mrs. LaMont, 74, started in first grade at St. Dominic in fall 1956 and
drew a picture, and they taped them all together. It was very sweet.”
The Sisters were her primary teachers, she said.
“I had mostly Sisters of Mercy. In third and fourth grade, I had Mrs. Stallard. She taught here for a long time. She was a really good teacher,” Mrs. LaMont said.
Sister Mary Linus was her principal in fourth and fifth grades, she added.
“She took me in this teachers’ room, and we had this model of the solar system, and you turned a crank and all the planets moved around the sun. I was quite impressed,” Mrs. LaMont said.
The first school building at St. Dominic, located on Center Street, was dedicated in 1951. Previously, students met in the basement of the original St. Dominic Church nearby on Crescent Drive before moving to a house. That first church was destroyed by fire in February 1983. The school then hosted all Masses and other parish events until the new church was completed in 1987.
“All of my older brothers and sisters were in the first classes when they built the new school,” Mrs. LaMont said. “The school was good. I had Sister Mary Vernon in seventh grade, and I had Sister Mary Grace in eighth grade. We had Mass every day.”
The original church was on a hill above the school.
“Every morning we had Mass, then we all marched down the hill and lined up, boys and girls, and then if there was anything else to do, we’d march back up,” Mrs. LaMont said with a laugh.
After living on the west coast, Mrs. LaMont moved back to Kingsport in 2020 and is a parishioner at St. Dominic. She recalls Father Thomas Woodley, who became the first resident pastor at St. Dominic in 1948, as well as the next two pastors, Father Ed Elliott and Father Carl Fassnacht.
The latter did not possess the best singing voice, she said.
“That was when priests always sang the Mass,” Mrs. LaMont said. “He did his best, though.
One of St. Dominic School’s longest-serving staff members, Joy Mullen, attended the anniversary celebration. She served as music director from 1978 to 2015.
Asked at the reception in the gym for her favorite memories, she said. “Oh, my goodness. That’s a big question.”
The first St. Dominic Church hosted all of the school Masses, she said.
“I had the first Christmas program there, which was a mistake because it wasn’t big enough, and there wasn’t room for all the people to be in there. That was in 1978,” Mrs. Mullen recalled.
The fire at the old church did spare one item, which soon found a spot on the stage at one end of the gym.
went through eighth grade at the school, at a time when it had middleschool grades. Speaking in the school gym at the reception, she recalled what used to be on that spot before additions to the campus were made.
“Our first- and second-grade recess was underneath this building, where this building stands. We had great big swings. It was asphalt with big swings with 10-foot chains, and you could go super high. There were seesaws with big 10-foot boards,” she remembered.
The Sisters of Mercy served as principals and teachers at St. Dominic from its beginnings into the 1980s. Lay teachers have been a part of the school from the start as well.
“I had Sister Mary Lillian for first grade. I didn’t get along with her quite well, but mostly I did,” Mrs. LaMont said. “When I was in first grade, I got hit by a car walking home from school. She had all the kids make a TV for me. It was a box with two rollers, and everybody
“They were able to save the organ from the balcony. The whole roof came down, but the organ was saved,” Mrs. Mullen said. “They brought it in the school here on the left-hand side of the stage. And for [more than] three years, the church had everything, all of the Masses, and all of the committee meetings, and all of the social events, right here in this room while they built the new church. I would play the school Masses on the organ.”
School Masses continued to be held in the gym after the new church was dedicated.
“They took the organ up to the new church,” Mrs. Mullen said.
That organ is still in use at St. Dominic Church.
St. Dominic School offered grades one through six when Mrs. Mullen arrived in 1978, she said. She had to teach her young students how to read music and came up with a distinctive method using a small instrument.
“I decided one of the best ways is to make the business of reading notes mean something. I started using recorders, which are like a little song flute, so they learned how to play the recorder and also read the notes,” she said. “Later on,
we got
St. Dominic
DAN MCWILLIAMS
Lifting their voices to heaven Above: St. Dominic School music teacher Dana Bellino leads her students in song during Mass at St. Dominic Church on Sept. 27. The school was commemorating its 80th anniversary. Below: St. Dominic students give the readings during Mass as Bishop Mark Beckman, Father Michael Cummins, Father Anselm Edu, Father Bede Aboh, and Deacons Frank Fischer and Bob Lange listen. Bottom: St. Dominic students bring the gifts to the Bishop Beckman during the Mass.
St. Dominic continued on page A21
BILL BREWER
BILL BREWER
BILL BREWER
History in the making St. Dominic students, parents, and alumni get a glimpse into the 80-year history of the Kingsport school
St. Francis of Assisi tomb to be opened
Exposition
By ACI Stampa
Fof saint's remains will take place Feb. 22-March 22
or the first time, the body of St. Francis of Assisi will be visible to all, from Feb. 22 to March 22, 2026. This religious and historical event was announced on the memorial of the saint of Assisi (Oct. 4) and will coincide with the eighth centenary of the death of St. Francis in 1226.
The announcement was made from the Loggia delle Benedizioni by Fray Giulio Cesareo, director of the press office of the Sacred Convent, following Mass celebrated in the Upper Basilica of the Umbrian city, presided over by Monsignor Camillo Cibotti, president of the Episcopal Conference of Abruzzo and Molise, along with Cardinal Ángel Fernández Artime, papal legate for the papal basilicas of Assisi, the bishop of Assisi, and the general and provincial ministries of the Franciscan families.
In his homily, Monsignor Cibotti emphasized the “newness of life” that Francis presents to the world. “A new way of feeling, of thinking, of living Christ,” Monsignor Cibotti noted. The mayor of L’Aquila, Pierluigi Biondi, lit the votive lamp of the Municipalities of Italy, representing the Italian people during the celebration.
The first part of the celebration for the feast of St. Francis, patron saint of Italy, concluded with speeches from the authorities from the loggia of the Sacred Convent. Reference was also made to the reinstatement of Oct. 4 as a national holiday in that country.
“In recent days, Parliament approved the law making Oct. 4 a national holiday,” declared the custos of the Sacred Convent, Friar Marco Moroni, OFMConv, at the beginning of the celebration in the basilica. “This is not just a tribute to the patron saint of Italy, but a recognition of values
larger recorders so that we could play ensemble. Also, we got what I call chime bells. Some people call them bars, but they have to read notes in order to play the bells, too.”
Mrs. Mullen then began teaching music appreciation two days a week, taking her students through the entire history of music.
“In order to do that, I needed to start in third grade. We started way back with cavemen, worked up through everything, talked about different nations and their music. By the time they get to fifth grade—they finally moved sixth into the public school—they had a pretty good background, not only of listening to music but understanding how music evolved,” Mrs. Mullen said. “That got so busy for the two days a week that I talked with the principal, and we decided that we could have a chorus, rather than trying to teach singing in the classroom with everything else. So, we formed a chorus of third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students.”
Mrs. Mullen also had operettas at St. Dominic and began writing her own in 1998.
“That was a lot of fun—a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun.”
When St. Dominic added prekindergarten as well as art classes, Mrs. Mullen had to move from her music room at the school into the former Sisters of Mercy convent. She recalled the Sisters who served at the school in her early years there.
“When I first came, I had a nun for principal. I had Sister Clarice and Sister Madaleva next,” she said.
Sister Madeline MacDougall, a Sister of Notre Dame, was pastoral associate at St. Dominic in those days.
“When [the Mercy Sisters] left and we started getting other principals, Sister Madeline was at the church, and she played the organ up at the new church,” Mrs. Mullen said. “She also came down and accompanied for me for the chorus, which was
that speak to everyone. For this celebration to be truly fruitful, everyone must draw concrete consequences from it: our communities with their daily lives; local governments with their choices
for justice and inclusion; Parliament and the government with laws and policies consistent with what is proclaimed today; each of us with sober and fraternal lifestyle choices.”
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, also present at the celebration, addressed Italy from the loggia of the Sacred Convent: “The devotion of Italians to St. Francis is strong, authentic, and visceral, which can be seen in the faces of the pilgrims present here. Today the Italian people turn their gaze here, to Assisi, because St. Francis is one of the founding figures of the Italian identity. Francis of Assisi was a man of action, extreme but not extremist. Today we celebrate Francis not because he needs us, but because we need him.”
At the celebration, the exposition of the remains of St. Francis in 2026 was also announced. The press release from the Sacred
great.”
The music teacher recalled former St. Dominic pastors, including the late Monsignor Bill Gahagan and current St. Jude-Chattanooga pastor Father Charlie Burton.
“Father Gahagan was very nice. I was very fond of him,” Mrs. Mullen said. “Then Father Charlie—I
Convent of Assisi stated: “This exposition, rooted in the evangelical theme of the seed that dies to bear fruit in love and brotherhood, invites us to consider the life of the saint, who continues to bear fruit after 800 years and to inspire all humanity on the path of peace, brotherhood, service to the least, joy, and care for creation.”
“The eighth centenary of the death of St. Francis, in 2026, is a time of remembrance and renewal. We do not celebrate death, but, recognizing it as a ‘sister’ to St. Francis, we celebrate the life that blossoms from the gift and offering of self,” the statement continued.
“It is in this spirit that, thanks to the approval granted by the Holy Father, Leo XIV, through the Vatican Secretariat of State, the public display of his mortal remains will take place,” the statement said.
The body of St. Francis will be moved from his tomb, located in the crypt, and placed at the foot of the papal altar in the lower church of the Basilica of St. Francis. The tomb’s history itself holds significant historical and religious significance: after the death of the Poverello saint, “the body was made inaccessible,” the press office of the Sacred Convent explained, “beneath the basilica’s high altar to prevent any possible theft. It remained hidden for centuries, until, after a long and arduous search, it was finally discovered on the night between Dec. 12 and 13, 1818.”
The first official recognition took place in 1819, confirming the identity of the remains of the saint of Assisi. There are also other recognitions, such as the one in 1978, in preparation for the 750th anniversary of his death, and the most recent one in 2015.
For more information, go to: www.sanfrancescovive.org ■
associate at St. Dominic before he became pastor.
“I started there with Father Woodley and Sister Mary,” Mr. Hagey said. “There were three Sisters down there at the school in the house before they built the (current) school in ’51.”
Mr. Hagey served in the safety patrol at the school and shared one classroom with three other grades besides his own.
“We had the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade all in one room,” he said.
Susan Woodruff was a substitute teacher at St. Dominic from 1990-96. And her three children, who now are 45, 42, and 40, attended the school from 1985-96.
“We have been parishioners at St. Dominic since 1976. And St. Dominic is a wonderful school. It’s not only academically great, but it has all the other the music, the religion, and everything. The teachers were wonderful. We spent a lot of time here,” Mrs. Woodruff said.
Bishop Beckman praised the St. Dominic community for its faith and dedication to the church and school.
“I am delighted that this school is celebrating its 80th anniversary. The presence of the children at Mass, especially the way they sang together, shows the great gift this school is to the whole community and to the parish. Hopefully it will continue to grow for many years to come, at least another 80 years,” the bishop said.
“It’s a gem of a school. The school I studied at, Sacred Heart in Lawrenceburg, was about the same size as St. Dominic. This is a beautifulsized school for kids to grow up in and study in.”
didn’t call him Burton, I called him Charlie.”
St. Dominic School has celebrated anniversaries in the past, including its 50th and 65th. At the latter event in 2011, Marvin Hagey Jr., one of the original students as a firstgrader in 1945, remembered Father Woodley, who had served as an
Bishop Beckman wanted parents who may be considering St. Dominic for their children to know they couldn’t find a better school. “If their kids are entrusted to the care of this school, they will have a great experience. I experienced the gift of a small Catholic school. It’s a great gift.”
Exposition is scheduled Above: The tomb of St. Francis of Assisi is seen at the Papal Basilica and Sacred Convent of St. Francis of Assisi in Assisi, Italy. Sacred Convent has announced that the remains of St. Francis will be on exposition for the first time Feb. 22-March 22. Below: A statue of St. Francis of Assisi is seen on the grounds of Our Lady of Ostrabama Church in Cutchogue, N.Y., on Oct. 5.
■
DAN MCWILLIAMS
Looking with interest Above: St. Dominic Parish pastor Father Michael Cummins, center, marvels at the memories of St. Dominic School as parishioners share in the historic written content. Below: Former St. Dominic School music teacher Joy Kaufman Mullen, center, is with, from left, former St. Dominic substitute teacher Susan Woodruff, St. Dominic principal Bonnie Saleh, and Mrs. Mullen's son, Tim Mullen.
St. Dominic continued from page A20
eraging between 50 and 60 students each lecture. With such great interest in the bishop-led course, attendees must RSVP to the class beforehand. However, no one will be turned away if they come in person without the prior registration.
Bishop Beckman has made youth and young-adult outreach an important thrust of his ministry.
“I believe engaging our young adults is so important for the Church, and since I love teaching, I thought this would be an important contribution I could make,” the bishop said following a recent class
That first night of class, Bishop Beckman introduced Catholicism with the creation and the Book of Genesis, which was apropos.
He took a moment to ponder God’s creation of everything, and he reviewed that in the beginning, God first created light, and when he was satisfied, he rested. This creation includes each grain of sand, the beat of every heart, and each flux of electricity.
“We believe, and this is a very Catholic way of looking at it, that this entire cosmos, the whole universe, is all part of God’s creation. And God sustained it in being and positively willed it into being. And therefore, everything about the universe as God created it, has a fundamental goodness about it,” the bishop told his students.
The course covers a variety of topics in Catholicism, including the origins of the faith itself, discipleship, and the structure of authority in the Catholic Church. Continuing with the origins of Catholicism, Bishop Beckman began with the root of the word itself: katholikos , Greek for universal or whole, or as the bishop explained, “everyone.”
He continued to share how Catholicism as a whole is only some 2,000 years old, starting officially at the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He explained that though Catholicism is relatively new, its roots go back thousands of years with the Jewish faith.
“We have a very special bond with our Jewish brothers and sisters. They are our ancestors in the faith, and we should never forget that Christ was born in the Jewish faith. The original Apostles were all Jewish. Christianity was born in Judaism.”
Following the origins of the Catholic faith, Bishop Beckman took the class through its second lecture of the series, discussing other Christian denominations and how they’ve changed from their original Catholic roots to what they are today. Going through history, he shared details of the medieval times, Martin Luther, and King Henry VIII’s separation from the Roman Catholic Church to become the Church of England. He also briefly explained the formations of the Methodist, Baptist, and Church of Christ denominations.
There are seven classes in the lecture series, which ends in December. The course has had no issues with attracting students. Some are deferred to a waitlist so that if a seat becomes available for the next class they can attend in person. Because of the large demand for the lecture series, Bishop Beckman collaborates with the diocese’s communications team to share videos of the lessons online where any one can participate or review. When launching the first lecture, Bishop Beckman remarked how he loved teaching during his time serving at a Catholic school, and he was excited to be back in a classroom, even if it is within the bounds of the Chancery building just down the hall from his office.
He pointed out that he has a particular interest in engaging with young adults “because they are curious and ask a lot of great questions.”
The bishop acknowledged that the young adults are still figuring out life and what they seek in it, and he “wants to offer them advice and guidance in a confusing time.”
A majority of the attendees are in their early 20s and still in college, not married, and childless. And they are figuring out who they want to be.
The in-depth conversations about Catholicism offer the women and men a kind of road map to life, using faith as a compass.
Some who are attending the class said they had belonged to other Christian faiths growing up and wanted to explore Catholicism. Others expressed the reverse: they are lifelong Catholics who want to understand the differences and similarities with Protestantism.
The curious environment allows questions that Bishop Beckman is pleased to answer and build upon.
It’s a lot to cover in a series of short classes. Each lasts about two hours. But the bishop is able to break down the content into a simpler image while still providing insight that provokes the students’ curiosity.
“I grew up going to Mass sometimes, only when I visited my grandmother. I knew the basics of being a Catholic, but I don’t have any knowledge of why we believe what we believe. He (Bishop Beckman) has done a good job of offering some of the knowledge I’ve been missing,” he said.
Another attendee said she and her husband rotate who attends the classes each week so they both can benefit from the lectures.
“This was my first class, but I already think it’s beneficial because it’s good to cover this stuff with people my age who think similarly to me,” she said after the bishop’s lecture.
Beyond the origins of Catholicism and its historical references, Bishop Beckman explores other topics like what it means to be human, the mystery of God, an exploration of the Gospels, understanding Scripture, and the mission of the Church.
In addition to the lectures hosted at the Chancery, which is adjacent to the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, one of the classes will include a tour of the seven-year-old cathedral.
An unspoken lesson is also taught to the attendees and online viewers: what it means to be a good Catholic versus being good at being Catholic.
The bishop quizzed his students, asking them, “if a person came to you and asked, ‘You’re a Christian. Why do you follow Jesus?’ What would you say?”
Along with the Bible being a source of Bishop Beckman’s teachings, he often uses other sources that he shares with the classes. In a recent class, he passed around the first volume of John P. Meier’s A Marginal Jew . As they discussed the identity of Jesus, this book challenged the historical view of Jesus and the origins of different ideas.
When the first series of courses ends, the bishop would like those in his classes to be growing deeper in the Catholic faith.
“I hope they are inspired to think more critically about their faith and to deepen their commitment to Christ and His Church,” he said.
And what does leading young people in a course on Catholicism mean to him personally as the bishop of East Tennessee?
“It is a joy for me to teach, especially theology, and to have a regular community of learners that I am getting to know,” Bishop Beckman said.
So, does the bishop have plans to teach additional courses? “That is my hope,” he said.
In addition to the continuing lecture series, other young-adult events from the diocese are on the horizon.
St. John Neumann Parish will be hosting a discussion covering St. John Paul II on Nov. 1 at 5:45 p.m.
Many of them take notes and write down questions, and several admit that they later returned to the lesson through the videos provided on YouTube via the diocesan website, dioknox.org
With the first lecture series wrapping up just before Christmas, attendees will celebrate with a greater understanding of Catholicism and the significance of the birth of Christ. While dates could come later for the sequel series, it may also occur before other major Christian celebrations, including Ash Wednesday, Lent, Holy Week, and Easter.
If participants are to attend both series, it's likely the holidays will be served with a greater compassion and understanding for the Eucharist.
A parishioner from Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Chattanooga shared how he felt the class offered an understanding of the faith he missed growing up.
The Southeast Regional Encounter & Southeast Catholic Cup-Atlanta 2025 is Nov. 7-9. The diocese’s Pastoral Juvenil Hispana will be attending that event and invites Hispanic young adults to join for a weekend in Lilburn, Ga. The event is a “faith-filled encounter with conferences, eucharistic adoration, and opportunities for spiritual growth.”
Coming Nov. 8 is a gathering with the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma. The Sisters invite women aged 18 to 35 for discussion to learn more about the religious life over tea and cookies. Holy Hour will take place at 5:10 p.m., with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and the rosary, followed by dinner with the Sisters. RSVP by contacting knoxville@almamercy. org
Anyone interested in attending Bishop Beckman’s classes can register at https://dioknox.org/ mystery-of-catholicism-updates Videos for Bishop Beckman’s courses can be found in “ The Mystery of Catholicism” playlist on YouTube, or by searching https:// www.youtube.com/@DioKnoxTV/ playlists ■
JOHN MECKLENBORG
Captivated audience Above: Bishop Mark Beckman engages with a student attending his class on the "Mystery of Catholicism" at the Chancery. Below: The bishop checks in with smaller groups of young adults as part of the course he is teaching. The students are deepening their faith in Christ and knowledge in the Catholic Church.
Continuing education Above: Bishop Mark Beckman shares a one-onone moment with a young man taking the bishop's class on the "Mystery of Catholicism." Each class in the 12-week series is attracting between 50 and 60 young adults from around the diocese. Below: Bishop Beckman is surrounded by students taking part in his series of classes at the Chancery.
News agencies have ‘crucial role’ in sharing truth
By Kristina Millare Catholic News Agency
Pope Leo XIV on Oct. 9 said news agencies have the responsibility to uphold principles that protect a person’s right to access “accurate and balanced” information while avoiding “degrading” practices such as manipulation and “clickbait.”
In a private meeting at the Vatican with participants of the Oct. 9–10 MINDS Conference in Rome, the Holy Father expressed his desire for greater collaboration between producers and consumers of news content to create a “virtuous circle” that benefits society as a whole.
“Information is a public good that we should all protect,” Leo said. “For this reason, what is truly productive is a partnership between citizens and journalists in the service of ethical and civic responsibility.”
The Holy Father said people are not destined to live in a world where “truth is no longer distinguishable from fiction ” and called for vigilance to guarantee technology and algorithms do not “replace human beings” or remain “in the hands of a few.”
“Communication must be freed from the misguided thinking that corrupts it, from unfair competition, and from the degrading practice of so-called clickbait,” he added. While encouraging people to “value and support professionals and agencies that demonstrate seriousness and true freedom in their work,” the Holy Father said media professionals should uphold the values of transparency, accountability, quality, and objectivity, to earn the trust of citizens. During the meeting, the Holy Father also spoke of his high regard for countless journalists, particularly front-line reporters in conflict zones, who work to ensure information is not “manipulated for ends that are contrary to truth and human dignity.”
Bishop continued from page A3
1995 in “The Gospel of Life” about the developing “culture of death.” He was prophetic. As wars have broken out in the Holy Land, in Africa, and with the invasion of Ukraine, we are witnessing the culture of death at work in our world. Now there have been shootings during Mass at a Catholic school in Minnesota, an attack on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and so many more that it almost seems “normal.” Such thoughts have been on my mind as we celebrated the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. God’s response to human violence was to give Himself for us on the cross, for “God so loved the world….” I believe we are all being invited to do an examination of conscience and
Poll continued from page A2
Asked which is a bigger problem, 27 percent of respondents said left-wing violence, while 22 percent said rightwing violence. But 51 percent of Americans said both are an equal problem. Both respondents who identified as Republicans and those who identified as Democrats were similarly likely to blame the other side of the aisle for escalating political violence A majority across the board 63 percent of Republicans, 72 percent of Independents, and 73 percent of Democrats believe political violence will increase.
violence is more of a problem; n 50 percent of Democrats said right-wing violence is the bigger problem;
n Just 4 percent said left-wing violence is the bigger problem.
n 87 percent of Independents say they see leftand right-wing violence as an equal problem; n Just 4 percent of Independents say the left is a bigger problem;
n 9 percent of Independents say the right is the bigger problem.
Meanwhile, the Jesuit school’s poll also found Americans are “pessimistic” about reducing intense political conflict and violence.
Thirty-one percent of respondents said they think a path to reducing such instances can be found, but 69 percent said the country is so divided that they think the conflict and violence will escalate.
A majority across the board 63 percent of Republicans, 72 percent of Independents, and 73 percent of Democrats believe political violence will increase.
The same day the survey was released, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, released what the conference called “an invitation for reflection” to mark the fifth anniversary of Fratelli Tutti , Pope Francis’ encyclical letter on fraternity and social friendship, in which he condemned political violence.
“I ask every American to reflect on the value of every human life. I beg you to see Christ in every person, even those whose politics you oppose,” Archbishop Broglio wrote.
He called for all Americans to examine their consciences, recognizing that “decent people of every political persuasion continue to fall victim to this deadly trend,” and to take concrete actions to mend a wounded society.
The USCCB also said it would provide Catholics with a variety of resources to help implement the vision of Fratelli Tutti on its fifth anniversary, available at its website, usccb.org
This includes information on its CivilizeIt initiative, the Fratelli Tutti Study Guide , resources on Catholic social teaching, and the corporal works of mercy ■
“In times such as ours, marked by widespread and violent conflicts, many have died while carrying out their duties,” he said. “They are victims of war and of the ideology of war, which seeks to prevent journalists from being there at all.”
“We must not forget them! If today we know what is happening in Gaza, Ukraine, and every other land bloodied by bombs, we largely owe it to them,” he continued.
Addressing concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on communications media, the Holy Father said people are not destined to live in a world where “truth is no longer distinguishable from fiction”
to a conversion from a culture of death.
There are great organizations like the bipartisan SaferTn.org that are advocating for concrete ways to address gun violence here in Tennessee.
Following the events of 9/11, our nation acted
and called for vigilance to guarantee technology and algorithms do not “replace human beings” or remain “in the hands of a few.”
“The world needs free, rigorous, and objective information,” he insisted.
“In this context, it is worth remembering Hannah Arendt’s warning that ‘the ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced communist but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist,’” he said, citing the German American philosopher’s book The Origins of Totalitarianism
Urging news journalists to “never sell out your authority,” Leo XIV told those present at the morning audience that their “patient and rigorous work” can be a pillar to bring “civility” back into society.
“You can act as a barrier against those who, through the ancient art of lying, seek to create divisions in order to rule by dividing,” he said ■
in meaningful ways to prevent another such attack. I pray that we as a country will take meaningful action to address the violence in our culture, in the ways we communicate with each other, and in our minds and hearts. We don’t have to live this way. ■
Fr. James N. Miller
Father James Norman Miller, a retired priest of the Diocese of Nashville who served as the pastor of St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows Church in downtown Nashville for 31 years, died on Oct. 5 in Nashville at the age of 92.
A funeral Mass, celebrated by Bishop J. Mark Spalding of Nashville, was held on Oct. 13 at the Cathedral of the Incarnation. A burial service at Calvary Cemetery followed the Mass.
Father Miller was born in Nashville on March 26, 1933. He attended the Cathedral School as a child. He was a 1951 graduate of Father Ryan High School. Later, he attended St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa, and St. Bernard Seminary in Cullman, Ala.
Father Miller was ordained by Bishop William L. Adrian on May 23, 1959, at the Cathedral of the Incarnation. He served as a priest in Middle, West, and East Tennessee for 66 years.
In addition to serving as pastor of St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows Church (1981-2012) until his retirement from parish administration, Father Miller's assignments included associate pastor of Holy Name Church in East Nashville (1959), associate pastor of the Cathedral of the Incarnation (1967-1971), pastor of St. Philip the Apostle Church in Franklin (1971-1973), and associate pastor of Christ the King Church (1973-1981). He also had assignments in Chattanooga and Memphis (1959-1967).
Father Miller served as chaplain at Park View Hospital (1977-1983), West Side Hospital (1977-1983), Parthenon Pavilion Hospital (19771983), and Veterans Administration Medical Center (1983-2014).
Faithful Departed
Harold Goans
Katherine Kon, age 102, of Deer Lodge, passed away comfortably in her sleep on Oct. 5 at Life Care Center of Wartburg.
Ms. Kon was born in Lancing on Dec. 25, 1922. She was always honored to share the same birthday with Jesus.
In life, she enjoyed putting puzzles together, playing with her birds and cats, and spending time with her family. Talking about the good days, especially the days she spent on the family farm. All her life she loved the Catholic Church and was very active in her faith.
Ms. Kon is preceded in death by her parents, John Joseph and Bronislawa Barbara Kon; brothers, Walter, Mike, and Frank Kon; sisters, Mary Kon and Anna Waschevski; nephews, Frank and John Waschevski; and a niece, Tressa Prado.
Ms. Kon is survived by her cousins, Franciszek, Jan, Tadeusz, Antoni, and Kazimierz Michalik; Maria Klek and Maria Wieloposka, Jan Ryczek, Kazimierz Olbrych, Anthony and Teresa Samotis, and Krystyna Michalik; nieces, Sharon Waschevski and Tracy Waschevski; great-nephews, Justin and Wendy Waschevski, Johnathan and Mari Beth Waschevski, and Cody Waschevski and girlfriend Ruby Pukin; great nephew, Jaxon Waschevski; great nieces, Madeline, Abigail, and Bella Waschevski; dear friend Lynn Pemberton; and a cousin, Anthony Samotis.
A funeral Mass for Ms. Kon was held on Oct. 9 at St. Ann Church in Lancing, with Father Mike Sweeney serving as the celebrant. A funeral service followed at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Deer Lodge.
Harold “Hal” Goans died peacefully at his home in Oak Ridge on Sept. 4.
Brittany Matthews, (Kevin), and Riley Burn; great-grandchildren, Grady Matthews, Cormac Matthews, Rory Matthews, and Chloe Parker; and his sisters, Linda Benedict and Bonnie Davis.
Mr. Goans was born on May 25, 1936, in Clinton to the late Charles and Lillian Goans. He served in the U.S. Air Force for four years. He met and married his wife, Rita, in 1958 during his time in the military. After his service ended, he worked for the Air Force as a civilian and traveled to several states with his family until they settled in Oak Ridge.
Mr. Goans worked as an electrician at the Department of Defense Y-12 plant in Oak Ridge for 30 years until his retirement.
Mr. Goans was an active member of St Mary Parish in Oak Ridge for more than 50 years. He served in a variety of roles through the years.
In the community, Mr. Goans held many titles in his life such as coach, referee, umpire, teacher, election worker, and handyman. But his favorite titles were dad, gramps, grandpa, and great-grandpa.
Mr. Goans was always there for his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, whether it was driving his daughters on cold mornings to deliver newspapers, cheering his kids and grandkids at sporting events, helping with school projects and homework, or being the chauffeur to all events. Whatever title was used to describe him, Mr. Goans was the cornerstone of the family and he will be terribly missed.
Mr. Goans was preceded in death by his wife of 58 years, Rita; his parents, Charles and Lillian Goans; his sister, Carolyn Wright; and his brother, Paul (Louie) Goans.
Mr. Goans’ survivors include his daughters, Pamela Goans, Pat Parker (Leon), and Pennie Elkins; grandchildren, Brett Parker (Tommy), Joe Parker (Melanie), Connor Parker,
A funeral Mass for Mr. Goans was celebrated on Sept. 23 at St. Mary Church, with Father Michael Woods serving as the celebrant.
Donations in Mr. Goans’ memory may be made to Friends of Oak Ridge Animal Shelter, 111 Claymore Lane, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, or any local animal shelter or rescue organization.
Jane Fraker Fisk
Jane Fraker Fisk, age 82, of Knoxville, went to be with the Lord on Sept. 20.
Mrs. Fisk was a member of St. John Neumann Parish in Farragut. She was the former vice president of Fraker Sales Company Inc. and a former personal shopper for Proffitt’s department store.
Mrs. Fisk was a lady with a generous heart who led by example during a life of integrity.
She is preceded in death by her dear parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Lee Fraker Sr.; brother, Edgar Lee Fraker Jr.; and the love of her life, Robert A. Fisk.
Mrs. Fisk is survived by her loving and devoted friends, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Tracy Flynn, Mr. and Mrs. Richard McNabb, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Chapman, Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Palladino, Mr. and Mrs. Darren Burkey, Mr. and Mrs. Phil Henderson, and too many others to name.
A funeral Mass for Mrs. Fisk was celebrated on Sept. 25 at St. John Neumann Church. A burial service followed at Lynnhurst Cemetery in Knoxville. ■
