FEBRUARY 23, 2024
mississippicatholic.com
Decade of faith: Bishop Kopacz celebrates 10-year milestone By Joanna Puddister King
JACKSON – Bishop Joseph Kopacz, surrounded by priests and deacons from the Diocese of Jackson, commemorated his 10th anniversary of ordination to the episcopacy at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle in Jackson with a special Mass on Tuesday, Feb. 6. Bishop Kopacz was ordained and installed as the 11th Bishop of Jackson on Feb. 6, 2014, but he fondly remembers getting the initial call the day before Thanksgiving – in an unforgettable Italian accent – “Holy Father is directing you to be the bishop of Jackson in Mississippi.” Bishop mused to those gathered at his anniversary Mass, that “it was an offer you can’t refuse.” “These 10 years later has given me an opportunity to reflect and appreciate the call and the ongoing challenge and blessing of serving as the 11th bishop of the diocese,” said Bishop Kopacz.
– Continued on page 6 – JACKSON – Bishop Joseph Kopacz lays prostrate during his ordination as Bishop of Jackson on Feb. 6, 2014 at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle. He recently celebrated his 10th anniversary at the Bishop for the Diocese of Jackson. (Photo from archives)
St. Francis New Albany celebrates 75 years By Galen Holley
and Father Cletus Manon became responsible for making the rounds and celebratNEW ALBANY – The theological term “domestic church” expresses well the ing Mass in people’s homes. Under Father Manon’s leadership, the New Albany Catholics (consisting of less genesis of St. Francis of Assisi Parish, which began as a modest gathering of Caththan 20 adults) built their first, physical church on Cleveland Street. Bishop Richard olics who met in their homes and were ministered to by missionary circuit priests. In 1922, E.W. Viola, and Dorothy Kelso moved from Jackson, Tennessee, to New Gerow bought the land in 1948, and the construction was made possible by aid from Albany, in order to open a bakery. That’s when the first Catholic community be- the Extension Society, along with private donations, including those from Mr. and gan to take shape. Because there was no church in New Albany, the Kelsos had to Mrs. Frank Lewis, as well as Dr. Palmer Patterson, and volunteer labor, as from the drive to Oxford or Tupelo for Mass. That changed when an Irish priest, Father Pat– Continued on page 8 – rick Moran, became pastor of the already established St. Patrick Parish in Water Valley. He also assumed responsibility for St. Patrick’s missionary district, which, INSIDE THIS WEEK among 11 counties, included New Albany. The fledgling Catholic community celebrated the first Mass in Union County in the fall of 1938. It was in the Kelsos’ home, at 357 Garfield Street, with Father Moran as celebrant. The faithful used a portable altar, about the size of a card table. Dorothy Kelso joked that the table and furnishings were so modest, that, as she put it, “We often thought that only a prayer held it up.” Those present at the first Mass included Viola and Dorothy Kelso, Tom Bonner, a Mr. Flanagan, Mrs. John Tilly and her daughter, Margaret Ellen, and Mrs. Edith World Marriage Day 7 Baseball blessing 13 From the archives 10 Stone. Couples around the diocese Father Mark Shoffner Bishop Elder's diary to The following year the center of the missionary circuit shifted from Water Valley to St. John’s in Oxford, celebrate anniversaries blesses Swayze Field Bishop Brunini's yearbook