MARCH 25, 2022
mississippicatholic.com
Regional Synod listening sessions invite Catholics to share "dreams" BY JOANNA PUDDISTER KING
JACKSON – The Catholic community in the Diocese of Jackson is continuing Pope Francis' call for the Synod on Synodality, a period of listening and dialogue to rejuvenate the church. After Bishop Joseph Kopacz opened the synod in October 2021, parishes across the diocese conducted listening sessions to hear from people who fill the pews and thoses who no longer feel connected to the church. From those sessions the Synod advisory council reviewed every submission from each parish that participated and identified core issues on the minds of those across the diocese. On March 21at St. Francis Madison, at the first of ten regional synod listening sessions with Bishop Kopacz, Fran Lavelle, director of faith formation and chair of the Synod advisory council, reviewed the things that were heard in the Synod listening sessions. These included the need to create community outreach opportunities, both within the church and the larger community; a need for healing with regard to marriages, annulments, LGBTQ, racial and ethnic divisions and the sexual abuse scandal; a need for unity; a way to be inclusive of all cultures and diverse communities; increased formation and education of lay leaders; increased faith formation opportunites for adults; the need for more evangelization ef-
MADISON – Bishop Joseph Kopacz passes out "brainstorming" sheets to those present at the regional Synod listening session held at St. Francis parish on Monday, March 21. After a cursory review of the major themes from the local listening sessions held at parishes all across the diocese, Bishop Kopacz is seeking out concrete ways to advance ideas from those local sessions at regional sessions being held throughout the diocese. (Photo by Joanna Puddister King)
forts; ways to reach the young church; among others. "What we really want to do is focus on those areas that came up that we can address within the struture of the diocese," said Lavelle. During the regional sessions participants are asked to discern three core priorities and how these can be addressed at the local level, giving concrete examples of how the church can successfully address them. Lavelle asked all to "dream" as Pope Francis in his book, Let us Dream: The Path to a Better Future. The remaining regional sessions include: – Tuesday, March 29 at St. Jude Pearl (Spanish) from 6:30-8 p.m. – Wednesday, March 30 at St. Mary Basilica Natchez (English) from 6-7:30 p.m. – Thursday, March 31 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Greenwood (English) from 5:30-7 p.m. – Thursday, March 31 at St. Francis Greenwood (Spanish) from 7:308:30 p.m. – Monday, April 4 at St. Patrick Meridian (English) from 6-7:30 p.m. –Tuesday, April 5 at St. James Tupelo (English) from 6-7 p.m. – Tuesday, April 5 at St. James Tupelo (Spanish) from 7-8 p.m. –Wednesday, April 6 at St. Mary Batesville (English) from 6-7:30 p.m.
Charities seeks foster families for refugee children BY JOE LEE
thirty years in Hinds, Madison and Rankin counties,” said program director Ebonye Debose-Moore. “The goal is to assist unaccompanied refugee minors in developing skills to enter adulthood and achieve economic self-sufficiency. Our services include youth therapy, cultural orientation, translation services, assistance with obtaining U.S. residency and more. “We place teens from age fifteen until their seventeenth birthday. They can re-
MADISON – Can you imagine meeting your future foster son or daughter at a soccer match? That’s what happened to Joey Luse of Brandon and his family, as the young Afghanistan native who joined them and one of Luse’s biological sons were on the same travel soccer team. After inviting the teen to their home a couple of times and getting to know him, the family held a surprise birthday party for him and popped the question on their minds. “We said we wanted him to be part of our family as INSIDE THIS WEEK long as he wanted,” Luse said. “It was a little awkward at first, but as we were getting to know him, he said, ‘I am really glad to be here. I miss being part of a family.’” Luse is one of many Jackson-area parents who’ve had teens from The Catholic Charities Unaccompanied Refugee Minor program (URM) placed in their homes. URM, through funding from the Office of Refugee Resettlement, places minors in therapeutic foster homes, group homes, or independent living arrangements appropriate to developmental needs. All URM youth must enter the legal From the archives custody of the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Woodward delves further Services prior to their eighteenth birthday. into war “The URM program has been active for more than
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Service Appeal 17 Where is your parish in reaching their goal?
Youth Youth activities from around the diocese
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