November 8, 2018 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
New school to open for south metro Catholics
Virgins ‘betrothed mystically to Christ’
By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit
Three local women have become consecrated virgins this year, but the rare vocation remains largely unknown within the Church. Exploring the call during National Vocation Awareness Week. — Pages 10-11
A new high school set to open in Burnsville in the fall of 2019 hopes to serve Catholic families in the south metro of the Twin Cities. Local Catholic business leader Tom Bengtson, who helped launch Chesterton Academy in 2008, and retired NFL player and former Minnesota Viking Matt Birk are teaming up to open Unity High School at Mary, Mother of the Church in Burnsville.
Ministry to alcoholics rewarded in Africa A Uganda treatment facility is named for Father Bill Whittier, who dedicated ministry to international addiction outreach. — Page 5
Asking ‘Contraception: Why Not?’ in 2018
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Bishop Peter Esterka greets Czech Heritage Junior Royalty after Mass at St. Wenceslaus in New Prague Oct. 28. Gathered around Bishop Esterka are, second from left, program directors Deb and Arnie Ziskovsky, Hailey Dunkel, Marissa Gare, Caitlyn Gare and Kayla Kubinski. Bishop Esterka, who was born in Czechoslovakia, celebrated the Mass in Czech.
Speakers explore various facets of “Humanae Vitae,” including how society has realized St. Paul VI’s predictions. — Page 6
Czech bishop celebrates Mass during heritage fest in New Prague
New sisters in town
By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit
Four members of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist are teaching classroom and life lessons as newest faculty at St. Agnes School in St. Paul. — Page 12
Supporting retired religious Retirement Fund for Religious contributors often give their support as a “thank you” for the difference a sister, brother or religious order priest made in their lives. — Page 13
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ozens of people greeted Bishop Peter Esterka, who grew up in Czechoslovakia and is a Czech Republic bishop, after he celebrated Mass in Czech at St. Wenceslaus in New Prague Oct. 28. Some of them conversed with the retired bishop in Czech, the language of their ancestors. “You don’t hear Czech spoken … very often anymore, so it was really cool for us to just experience that, as well as [have] our Catholic faith mixed into it,” said Rianna Doyle, a high school senior who attends Most Holy Redeemer in Montgomery. Doyle, the Montgomery Kolacky Day Queen, was among the Miss Czech Slovak Minnesota Pageant royalty and Catholics who made a point to meet the 82-year-old bishop following the Mass, which was part of a two-day festival celebrating the 100th anniversary of Czechoslovakia’s formation. St. Wenceslaus hosted the event, which was organized by the New Prague Czech Heritage Club. “It means an awful lot to me because we have a strong Czech identity,” said Jim Simon, 65, a St. Wenceslaus parishioner. “I grew up with the Czech language in our house. My folks observed the Czech traditions.” At the celebration, Simon displayed his collection of artifacts from Czechoslovakia. It was one of multiple exhibits reflecting Czech history and culture. Other festivities at the parish’s activity center included Czech food, Czech bands and folk dancers. The festival also commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Prague Spring Reform — a significant era of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia — and the 25th
anniversary of the formation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Immigrants from Bohemia, now the Czech Republic, first came to the United States, including Minnesota, in the 1850s. According to George Mikiska, a Czech Heritage Club member and chairman of the festival’s Czech Mass, some immigrants who had been traveling along the Mississippi River arrived in the New Prague area by accident. They had intended to go to St. Cloud, but took a left at Pike Island and instead followed the Minnesota River to Jordan. The new immigrants were welcomed by Anton Phillipp, a German settler from Bohemia, who first settled the area at the recommendation of Bishop Joseph Cretin, Mikiska said. Phillipp encouraged the Czechs to stay when he saw they shared the same Catholic faith, particularly when he saw them making the sign of the cross at meals. The city of New Prague formed in 1856, the same year its founders established St. Wenceslaus, which they modeled after the Church of St. Wenceslaus in Prague. St. Wenceslaus, the patron saint of the Czech people, was the Duke of Bohemia from 924-929 and was known for his strong leadership and devotion to Christ Drawn by the opportunity to farm, Czech immigrants also populated the nearby communities of Lonsdale, Montgomery and Veseli. Locals call the towns the “Bohemian Triangle.” “We’re reminded that our religion is central to our identity as a people of Czech heritage,” said Father Michael Skluzacek, the homilist for Mass. “Our ancestors came to this country as a people of faith, and we’re reminded today that we need to renew that heritage of faith.” PLEASE TURN TO CZECH ON PAGE 7
The school will use existing classrooms at the church, and will begin with ninth grade in the fall, adding one grade per year until it reaches 12th grade. Bengtson said a Catholic high school was needed in this part of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Archbishop Bernard Hebda has approved the beginning of a three-phase process to determine whether the school would gain official recognition as a Catholic high school in the archdiocese. If that happens, the name would change to Unity Catholic High School. “I have known forever that the south metro — in other words … below the Minnesota River — has not had a high school, and yet it’s an area of booming population,” said Bengtson, 57, who graduated from the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield in 1979. “You’ve got lots of Catholic families down there, you have 10 Catholic grade schools down there, and yet there are no Catholic high schools.” He estimates there are as many as 70,000 Catholic high school students in the archdiocese, and he said about 7,300 of them attend Catholic high schools per year. He said there is room for another Catholic high school without threatening enrollment at the existing ones. The closest Catholic high school to Mary, Mother of the Church is Academy of Holy Angels, just under 9 miles away. The site is slightly more than 9 miles from Convent of the Visitation and St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights. The school will provide an emphasis on Catholic teaching and virtue. The founders chose the name “Unity” because they believe all local Catholic schools should work together. The school will offer weekly “real world Wednesdays,” in which students will learn life skills like changing the oil in a car and working on a personal budget. An open house will be 6:45 p.m. Nov. 27 at Mary, Mother of the Church. For more information about the school, visit unityhighschoolmn.com.