Several members of St. William in Fridley shared the faith this summer on separate mission trips to Guatemala and Indiana. They shared their experiences with fellow parishioners after Sunday Mass July 23 with slideshows and commentary. Gina and David Archambault with their children David, Annie, William and Peter worked in two orphanages and in the city of Yalu in Guatemala June 10-22. The family built wood stoves in five homes to relieve respiratory problems people experience from open fires in their houses. They also built beds and helped distribute food donations from international charities. From July 8-15, five young people and two adults from the parish attended a workcamp in Huntingburg, Indiana, run by Florida-based Catholic Heart Workcamp that assisted the elderly and people in need. Construction, landscaping, working in senior living facilities and cleaning and conducting repairs in homes were among projects the group worked on. Mike Casey, director of faith formation and safe environment coordinator at St. William, said the parishioners’ actions demonstrate the way “members act as the hands of Christ, in performing services for those less fortunate.”
Grammy-nominated Catholic songwriter and musician Sarah Hart planned to perform a free concert July 26 at St. Paul in Ham Lake. In addition to performing — including for Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City — the award-winning artist from Nashville, Tennessee, produces music, writes books and speaks at retreats. “To be able to do this work and offer a little bit of an oasis to people — a little time to delve in and have fun and look deeper into their faith and desire more — that’s really rewarding to me,” Hart said in a statement.
Monica Kooiman, left, stands with her parents, Roger and Jan Storms, in the produce section of the Bountiful Basket in Cologne, a free source of food for struggling individuals and families. Working with Bountiful Basket Food Shelf in Chaska, the Cologne center opened July 13 in St. Bernard parish’s former school building. Roger Storms, a member with his family of St. Bernard, said he noted the need for a food shelf, in part because there are few grocery stores in the area. Staffed by volunteers from the parish and community, the Cologne food shelf is open late afternoon Thursdays and mid-morning to early afternoon Fridays. Individuals and families can shop there twice a month.
COLOGNE
RUSSIAN ATTACK Debris surrounds the Ukrainian Orthodox Holy Transfiguration Cathedral, which was damaged in a July 23 Russian missile strike on Odesa, Ukraine. The historic cathedral (Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral) is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the damage prompted international outrage and pledges to rebuild. Amid a July 23 nighttime attack by Russia on Odesa, an X-22 anti-ship missile directly hit the central altar, partially destroying the building, including the three lower floors, and significantly damaging icons. The missile was one of 19 of various kinds launched against the city that evening in a barrage that killed one and injured 22, including four children. Since abandoning the Black Sea Grain Initiative on July 17 — a deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations to ensure vital grain supplies from Ukraine to Africa, the Middle East and Asia — Russia has relentlessly targeted Odesa, the key port for such shipments. “We cannot allow people around the world to get used to terrorist attacks. The target of all these missiles is not just cities, villages or people. Their target is humanity and the foundations of our entire European culture,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Along with the cathedral, almost 50 other buildings, 25 of them architectural monuments, had also been damaged that night in Odesa’s historic center, which as a whole forms a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Catholic young adults from around the world, including from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, are making the pilgrimage to Lisbon, Portugal, for World Youth Day 2023. The event — held every three years — was first instituted by St. John Paul II in 1985 and draws young adults from around the globe. Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams is attending WYD with a young adult cohort from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis that includes at least 16 pilgrims. More groups from parishes around the archdiocese are attending separately. Held Aug. 1-6 this year, thousands are expected to gather to celebrate the universal Church. Early estimates from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops put pilgrims from the United States at more than 28,600 people, most between the ages of 18 and 25, and more than 60 U.S. bishops.
Modern Catholic Pilgrim and the Franciscan Brothers of Peace are offering an 18-mile walking pilgrimage from St. Paul to Stillwater July 29, with a 3-mile option starting at Liberty Square in Stillwater, for the intercession and canonization of Blessed Solanus Casey. The pilgrimage will begin with an optional 6:30 a.m. Mass and breakfast at 7 a.m. at the brothers’ Blessed Solanus Casey Friary in St. Paul. It will end with opportunities for confession, personal prayer and the Sunday Vigil Mass for Blessed Solanus’ feast day at St. Michael Church in Stillwater, where Blessed Solanus was confirmed. Supper at St. Michael Parish Hall will follow. The pilgrimage is free, but a $20 donation is suggested to help cover the cost of dinner and transportation back to Liberty Square or St. Paul. Blessed Solanus, who was born in Wisconsin, was a Capuchin Franciscan friar who worked as a prison guard in Stillwater before entering consecrated life. He ministered for years in Detroit. More information and registration can be found at moderncatholicPilgrim com/Pilgrimage-calendar/bl-SolanuS. A similar pilgrimage July 29 starting at 7 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul — with several shorter routes also offered — is being organized by the Stillwater parish. More information about that walk can be found at StmichaelandStmaryStillwater org
On the July 21 “Practicing Catholic” radio show, host Patrick Conley interviewed Father David Bailey, a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Native American Advisory Board, who discussed the prevalence of missing and murdered Indigenous women. Also featured were Bob Beck, director of marketing and operations at Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center in Prior Lake, who described the types and value of retreats; and Catholic blogger Mackenzie Hunter, who discussed the importance of sharing Catholic content on social media. Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingcatholicShow com or anchor fm/Practicing-catholic-Show with links to streaming platforms.
ON THE COVER: Amber Tseabe Roy of the St. Kateri Rosary Circle in Chicago, center, dances in a powwow July 22 during the Tekakwitha Conference in Bloomington, a five-day event that drew several hundred people. Joining her were Pheji Hota-Wiya G. Cosson, right, also of the St. Kateri Rosary Circle, and Latecia Fernandez, left, of the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Ididn’t know any better. I don’t think anybody did. As a child, one of the neighborhood games was “cowboys and Indians.” Stores sold costume kits and plastic figurines to support this game. In the late 1970s, I had the opportunity to live in Devils Lake, North Dakota. I read in a tourist brochure that the name of the town and the lake came from an old Native American legend about two hunting parties on the opposite shores of the lake. One was Sioux and the other Chippewa. Both disobeyed the American Indian laws for war and in the middle of the night, both silently set out on the lake to attack the other. Because of the evil in their hearts, a great storm appeared with giant waves and drowned all of them. Thus, devil’s lake. I asked a tribal elder about the story. He laughed and said: “White man’s legend.” He told me that the Native American name for the lake meant that because of the high alkaline content, it was not good for drinking. I was just beginning to see one of the many hidden tragedies between “cowboys and Indians.”
No sabía nada mejor. No creo que nadie lo supiera mejor. De niño, uno de los juegos de barrio era “vaqueros y indios”. Las tiendas vendían kits de disfraces y figuritas de plástico para apoyar este juego.
A fines de la década de 1970, tuve la oportunidad de vivir en Devils Lake, Dakota del Norte. Leo en un turista folleto que el nombre de la ciudad y el lago provienen de una antigua leyenda de los nativos americanos sobre dos partidas de caza en las orillas opuestas del lago. Uno era sioux y el otro Chippewa. Ambos desobedecieron las leyes de los indios americanos para la guerra y en medio de la noche, ambos se lanzaron silenciosamente al lago para atacar al otro. Debido al mal en sus corazones, una gran tormenta apareció con olas gigantes y los ahogó a todos. Así, el lago del diablo. Le pregunté a una anciano tribal sobre la historia. Se rió y dijo: “La leyenda del hombre blanco”. Me dijo que el nombre nativo
In the brilliance of Thomas Jefferson’s writing of the Declaration of Independence was also his blindness toward the Indigenous peoples. In one of the lists of grievances against the king, he referred to them as “merciless Indian Savages.” Ironically, he later believed that the greatest threat to the nation was the ignorance of its citizens.
Awareness is a painful process. It is anachronistic to take today’s knowledge of human rights to judge the ignorance of the past. Whether toward Native Americans or African slaves, the worldview of European settlers is only in hindsight rightfully judged as a great evil. Today’s understanding of genocide and ethnic cleansing was unknown and led to the mistaken and horrific belief that boarding schools were more humane than eradication. During Pope Francis’ 2022 visit to Canada specifically to address the atrocities in these boarding schools, he apologized with “sorrow and shame” for the Church’s role in their operations. Archbishop Bernard Hebda has expressed the same apology for the boarding schools in Minnesota.
“We didn’t know any better” is no excuse. The truth that the sins of one’s ancestors are not
americano para el lago significaba que debido al alto contenido alcalino, no era bueno para beber. Estaba empezando a ver una de las muchas tragedias ocultas entre “vaqueros y indios.”
En la brillantez de la escritura de Thomas Jefferson de la Declaración de Independencia también estaba su ceguera hacia los pueblos indígenas. En una de las listas de agravios contra el rey, él se refirió a ellos como “salvajes indios despiadados”. Irónicamente, más tarde creyó que el mayor amenaza para la nación era la ignorancia de sus ciudadanos.
La toma de conciencia es un proceso doloroso. Es anacrónico tomar el conocimiento actual de los derechos humanos para juzgar la ignorancia del pasado. Ya sea hacia los nativos americanos o hacia los esclavos africanos, el mundo vista de los colonos europeos sólo en retrospectiva es justamente juzgada como un gran mal. De hoy se desconocía la comprensión del genocidio y la limpieza étnica y condujo a la errónea y horrible creencia de que los internados eran más humanos que la erradicación.
inherited does not mean there is no responsibility for understanding today’s issues. Likewise, justifiable anger toward the past can cause a blindness to tomorrow’s opportunities for the common good.
Anyone can divide and tear down. It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we are elevated above and beyond all that is wrong. We have been given the gifts of grace to find unity in our Communion and to heal and build up all that is broken. The mystical body of Christ is the Church that is a far greater reality than those who lead it, all those who belong to it and all the past chapters of history.
As the archdiocese hosted the Tekakwitha Conference, a celebratory vision for the future was inseparable from the pains of the past. The virtue of hope is strengthened by the graces given during times of pain and suffering. The virtue of hope is made more real when, as Jesus taught (Lk 8:17) and St. Paul wrote (Eph 5:11), the deeds of darkness are exposed and brought to the light.
The only devil in Devils Lake is the persistent ignorance of the history and stories of Native Americans.
Durante el Papa Francisco 2022 visita a Canadá específicamente para abordar las atrocidades en estos internados, él se disculpó con “tristeza y vergüenza” por el papel de la Iglesia en sus operaciones. Arzobispo Bernard Hebda ha expresado la misma disculpa por los internados en Minnesota.
“No sabíamos nada mejor” no es excusa. La verdad de que los pecados de los antepasados no son heredado no significa que no haya responsabilidad para comprender los problemas de hoy. Asimismo, la ira justificable hacia el pasado puede causar una ceguera a las oportunidades del mañana para el bien común.
Cualquiera puede dividir y derribar. Es sólo a través del poder del Espíritu Santo que somos elevado por encima y más allá de todo lo que está mal. Se nos han dado los dones de la gracia para encontrar la unidad en nuestra Comunión y sanar y edificar todo lo que está roto. El cuerpo místico de Cristo es el Iglesia que es una realidad mucho mayor que los que la dirigen, todos los que pertenecen a ella y todos los capítulos anteriores de la historia.
Mientras la arquidiócesis acoge
la Conferencia de Tekakwitha, una visión de celebración para el futuro es inseparable de los dolores del pasado. La virtud de la esperanza se fortalece con las gracias dadas en momentos de dolor y sufrimiento. La virtud de la esperanza se hace más real cuando, como enseñó Jesús (Lc 8,17) y San Pablo escribió (Ef 5,11) las obras de las tinieblas son expuestas y llevadas al Luz.
El único diablo en Devils Lake es la ignorancia persistente de la historia y las historias de los nativos americanos.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda has announced the following appointment in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis:
Effective August 15, 2023
Reverend Thomas Tuan Van Nguyen, CRM, assigned as pastor of the Church of Saint Anne –Saint Joseph Hien in Minneapolis. Father Nguyen is a priest of the Congregation of the Mother of the Redeemer.
Even if the fruits are not immediately visible, Christians are called to sow seeds of faith in the world and people around them in their daily lives, Pope Francis said.
Before praying the Angelus with some 15,000 visitors in St. Peter’s Square July 16, the pope reflected on the day’s Gospel reading from St. Matthew, in which Jesus tells his followers the parable of the sower.
In Jesus’ parable, the seed that falls on rich soil produces fruit, while seed that falls on hard or rocky ground or among the thorns does not.
“If the Word is the seed, we are the terrain,” Pope Francis said, “we can receive (the Word) or not.”
The word of God, he explained, is like a seed: “It is small, almost unseeable, but it grows plants that bear fruit” and Jesus is the “good sower” who “never tires of sowing (seeds) with generosity” and calls Christians to do the same.
As an example, the pope said that parents are called to sow seeds of goodness and faith in their children and to not be discouraged if their kids do not seem to understand or appreciate their teachings.
“The good seed remains, this is what matters, and it will take root in due time,” he said. “But if, giving in to doubt,
(parents) give up sowing (seeds) and leave their children in the hands of trends and cellphones without devoting time to them, without educating them, then the fertile soil will be filled with weeds.”
Young people, he explained, are called not only to receive seeds of faith but also to “sow the Gospel in the furrows of everyday life.”
Young people, he said, can begin by sowing the Gospel through prayer: “a small seed that is not seen, but with which you entrust to Jesus everything you live through, so he can develop it.”
Pope Francis also suggested young people spend time with people in need.
It can seem like time wasted, “but really it is holy time,” he said, “while the
and hedonism leave hands empty.”
The pope also encouraged young people to devote themselves to study, which, like sowing seeds, “is tiresome and not immediately rewarding,” he said, “but is essential to build a better future for all.”
The pope recalled the important role of consecrated religious and laypeople who preach the Gospel “often without recording any immediate successes.”
“Let us never forget, when we announce the word, that even where nothing appears to happen, in reality the Holy Spirit is at work and the kingdom of God is growing, through and beyond our efforts,” he said.
Front row, from left, Sophia Basurto of Sacred Heart in Robbinsdale, Julio Cesar Ocampo Jr. and Noah Ocampo, both of St. Raphael in Crystal, react to a skit performed by missionaries of Totus Tuus (Latin for Totally Yours) July 18 at Sacred Heart. The missionaries, which include young adults from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, lead parish-based summer catechetical programs throughout the archdiocese for elementary and high school youth. This is the third year Sacred Heart has had Totus Tuus, said Morgan Leisgang, who works at the parish and teaches religion at Sacred Heart Catholic School. “It’s been a huge gift to us,” she said of the Totus Tuus program. “The theme this year is the Sorrowful Mysteries (of the rosary) and salvation history. … The kids made a covenant to God this week that they would pray more, learn more and have fun. That’s the summary of what Totus Tuus is: praying more, learning more and having fun.”
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Father Michael Joncas said he now realizes how important a pastor is for a new priest — in his case, it was Father William “Bill” Kenney who had such an impact.
Following his ordination in 1980, Father Joncas was assigned associate pastor of Presentation of Mary in Maplewood, where he served for four years with its pastor, Father Kenney. “Bill was such a pastoral guy that he really taught me a lot about what it is to be a parish priest,” Father Joncas said. “And I still operate off of models that he gave me back then.”
Father Kenney died July 11 at 93, after serving the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis since 1956.
Father Joncas, the homilist at Father Kenney’s funeral July 22, said he had the privilege of anointing and giving Father Kenney Communion about two days before he died. Father Joncas recalled being a new priest at Presentation when Father Kenney, as pastor, invited him to dinner with friends who were deaf or hard of hearing. Everyone conversed in sign language — except Father Joncas.
“I thought to myself, ‘this is a wonderful experience because Bill is teaching me how these folks react in hearing situations (where) they could feel excluded or almost voiceless,’” Father Joncas said.
Father Kenney served, and was an advocate for, the deaf and hard of hearing in the archdiocese for decades. When Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Minneapolis was at risk of closing due to decreasing parishioner numbers, he encouraged parishioners to invite the deaf community to join them. He told The Catholic Spirit last November that serving the deaf or hard of hearing is a reminder “that we should be mindful of those who are not able to use the normal avenues to make contact with their religious faith.”
Father Joncas also remembered how Father Kenney presented himself as pastor at a new parish. Father Kenney told the congregation there were two things parishioners could count on from him: First, “I am a man of faith, I believe in Jesus, I believe in his resurrection and I will always be a man of prayer.”
And second, which Father Joncas recalled with some emotion: “I will always try to be kind.”
And “that’s exactly what I saw,” Father Joncas said, and “the model I want to live up to.” Father Kenney also had “a wonderful sense of humor,” he said, and a love for priests and the priesthood.
Joan Gecik, executive director of Mendota Heightsbased The Catholic Cemeteries, had known Father Kenney since the day in 1980 she started serving Presentation as a Sylvania Franciscan sister. She recalled the priest as friendly, personable, down to earth, “a big reader,” history buff, compassionate, someone who had a knack for getting people to feel comfortable, and someone who “always had a twinkle in his blue eyes.”
“And of course, he always loved the people he served,” Gecik said. Even after he retired, she said he kept “a special phone” so members of the deaf community he served could keep in touch with him that way.
Father Kenney also had an ability to listen
compassionately, Gecik said. “I learned a lot from him in that way, just how he interacted with people.” And he was great at helping people discern their gifts and provide direction, Gecik said.
Sharon Horgan, 78, a parishioner of St. Thomas More in St. Paul, met Father Kenney in 1977 at Presentation, a parish she said was “very traditional” then — with a “standard men’s club, women’s club, Scouts.” But the time Father Kenney served there was “transformative.”
The parish started a parish council; introduced standing committees, including one for social justice; hired a lay staff; and settled a refugee family from Vietnam, Horgan said. When Father Kenney learned of Loaves and Fishes, he told Horgan — then chair of the social justice committee — “We need to be part of that.”
Father Kenney’s service to the local Church started in 1956 with a series of four assignments as assistant pastor — St. Mary in Waverly (1956-1958), St. Peter in North St. Paul (1958-1960), St. Thomas Aquinas in St. Paul Park (1960-1965) and Immaculate Conception in Faribault (1965-1967). He also served as vicarius adjutor at Sacred Heart in Belle Plaine in 1965 and as chaplain (deaf chaplaincy) at Faribault State Hospital from 1966 to 1969. Father Kenney then served in several positions at the Chancery in St. Paul: as executive secretary for Priests Personnel from 1969 to 1973, representative for the Chancery’s Commission for Chaplains of Hospitals and Other Institutions from 1970 to 1999, and chaplain for the Office for the Deaf from 1973 to 1976.
Father Kenney also served as chaplain in Pastoral Care at then-St. Mary’s Hospital from 1973 to 1977, associate director for the Chancery’s Office for the Deaf from 1976 to 1985, pastor of Presentation of Mary in Maplewood from 1977 to 1985, director of the Office for the Deaf (1985-1999), executive secretary of Priests Personnel at the Chancery from 1985 to 1990, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Minneapolis from 1986 to 1999, and sacramental minister at Our Lady of Mount Carmel (1999-2005). Father Kenney retired Sept. 1, 1999, but returned to serve as parochial administrator of Our Lady of Mount Carmel for seven months in 2002. Father Kenney is survived by nieces and nephews, Gecik said, “and a billion friends.”
By Dave HrbacekThe Catholic Spirit
A 1964 newspaper article illustrates the qualities Father John Siebenaler brought to his priestly ministry in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. He died July 9 at the age of 88.
The Minneapolis Star published an article by Abe Altrowitz in its March 4, 1964, edition about the murder of Susan Lawson. A janitor assaulted and stabbed Lawson several times while she worked an evening shift. She was brought a few blocks to General Hospital (now Hennepin County Medical Center) in downtown Minneapolis. One of Lawson’s coworkers, who was with her and helped her after the stabbing, testified in court that Lawson said, “I am dying. Call the priest.”
The call went out to St. Olaf, just blocks away from the hospital, and Father Siebenaler responded. His brother, Father Martin Siebenaler, recalled that Father John drove his Volkswagon Beetle hastily to the hospital.
“He drove down the sidewalk to get close to the front door of the hospital,” Father Martin, 90, said, noting that his brother was “a very conscientious priest. If that was his duty, in the middle of the night, he was going to do it.”
Later, Father John told his family — his parents, Mathias and Christine, and his eight siblings, including Father Martin, the oldest. Altrowitz’s article described his search for the priest who responded to the call. He wrote that the call was made to St. Olaf at 9:23 p.m., and he later learned that Father John arrived at around 9:30. Lawson died just a few hours later.
“We were very impressed” with Father John’s quick actions, Father Martin said. “That’s why my mother saved that article. … It’s been in our scrapbook all these years.”
Father Martin was able to be by his brother’s side when he died after battling health issues and dementia in his later years. He said Father John’s virtues were formed while growing up on the family farm two miles north of New Trier. Father Martin and the second oldest brother, Father Leonard, went off to Nazareth Hall together and both were ordained to the priesthood in 1959 (Father Leonard died Jan. 16), making Father John the oldest male sibling. That made him an important part of the farming operation.
“He was always a hard worker,” Father Martin recalled. “He had to be Dad’s primary helper after the older boys left the farm for seminary. He was very faithful in his barn duties. He had that work ethic about him, and (was) very conscientious about doing what he was expected to do — and that’s the way he was as a priest.”
In 1949, he followed in his older brothers’ footsteps and came to Nazareth Hall. He was ordained in 1961 and served at the following parishes until his retirement in 1997: Christ the King in Minneapolis (1961-1962), St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony (1962-1963), St. Olaf (1963-1968), Corpus Christi in St. Paul (19681970) and St. Augustine in South St. Paul (1970-1974), all as assistant pastor; St. Thomas in St. Thomas (later merged with St. Anne in LeSueur; 1974-1977) and St. Nicholas in Elko New Market (1977-1987), both as pastor; and St. John the Baptist in Dayton, first as parochial administrator (1989-1994), then as pastor (1994-1997). He also served as chaplain at two hospitals in the archdiocese.
Father Martin noted that his brother was a good athlete, fast on his feet and fast on skates. He once ran
to catch a team of horses that had run away pulling a wagon with no rider after they were startled by the sound of a threshing machine. Father John jumped to his feet and took just the right angle to catch up to the wagon. He then hopped into the wagon and grabbed the reins, bringing the horses back under control.
“We were all amazed, that’s for sure,” Father Martin said.
The youngest sibling in the family, Bernie, was born when Father John was 14. He watched and admired his older brother’s “discipline and focus.” But there was another side to Father John that Bernie also deeply admired.
“I thought he was very kind ... how he cared for the sick — very empathetic and helpful, a good listener, polite to a fault,” said Bernie, 73. “After a big Thanksgiving dinner, everybody else would go in a room and play poker. He would help my mother (wash the dishes).”
Father John also enjoyed humor, Bernie noted. “He had an infectious laugh. When he giggled, his whole face would shake. If Father Leonard would tell a good story, he would really giggle and carry on. I remember him almost having to cover up (his mouth) because he’d get into it so much.”
The funeral Mass for Father John was held at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings, with Archbishop Bernard Hebda as the celebrant and Father Martin as the homilist. Interment was at the parish cemetery.
“My sister Donna and I were with him at 1:22 a.m. (the) Sunday morning when he breathed his last, and it was a very powerful moment,” Father Martin said. “It was a moment of peace and joy to me that he was now gone and gone home. That brought joy to Donna and me. He’s at peace and with his Lord.”
A year ago, Nicole Bettini got an email from Sister Carolyn Puccio, who at that time was the delegate for consecrated life in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Sister Carolyn, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, was planning to step away from a role she had held for 10 years, and asked Bettini to give suggestions for a replacement.
“She was turning 80 and was going to be retiring,” Bettini, 45, recalled. “And it was really important that somebody in this role have a broad understanding of consecrated life, as we just have a gift and a flowering of so many forms in our Church.”
Bettini thought about it, then two weeks later gave Sister Carolyn a list with one name on it — hers. A consecrated virgin since 2007, Bettini expressed that she would be “really open and excited” about this position. Sister Carolyn agreed, and so did Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who appointed Bettini to the position, which she started July 11. This part-time position is in addition to her full-time job as director of evangelization and catechesis at Holy Spirit in St. Paul.
Bettini’s acceptance of the position marks the first time a consecrated virgin will hold this role. Bettini hopes she will help Catholics in the archdiocese learn more about who consecrated virgins are and how they serve the Church. She anticipates “more conversation, maybe even more questions.”
“There’s a lot of Catholics that have no idea who a consecrated virgin is,” she said. That was true of her, too, all the way into her 20s, when she began exploring the possibility of a religious vocation. She had grown up in Omaha, Nebraska, and transferred from a Lutheran college to the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul in 1997, where she majored in Catholic Studies and theology.
By the time she graduated in 2000, she had decided she wasn’t being called to religious life, but still felt like God “wanted me to give myself fully to him.”
She continued to pray about a vocation, then learned about consecrated virginity while working for the archdiocese in the Office for Family, Laity, Youth and Young Adults (now called the Office of Marriage, Family and Life).
“I thought it sounded weird” at first, she said of this vocation. But, by fall 2004, she began to feel called to it, and formally applied to become a consecrated virgin in 2005. After two more years of prayer and formation, she was consecrated one month before her 30th birthday by the late Archbishop Harry Flynn.
In the meantime, she left her job at the archdiocese in 2004 to move into parish work, which she has done ever since. She has worked at several parishes over the years, including St. Peter in Forest Lake
and Maternity of Mary in St. Paul, St. John Neumann in Eagan, Annunciation in Minneapolis and St. Pius X in White Bear Lake. Her work has been in faith and sacramental formation, youth ministry and pastoral care.
“It’s taken many forms, but I like to summarize it as helping people to grow in friendship with Jesus and his Church,” she said. During that time, she also worked in a role with the archdiocesan Office of Vocations to help women discern their vocational calling. She sees all of these roles as preparation for her new task of being the delegate for consecrated life.
As she looks ahead, she has identified one primary goal she wants to pursue.
“One of the first things I would really like to do is go visit our religious communities in our archdiocese,” she said, “to learn more about them, their life
in our archdiocese, how we can support them.”
Archbishop Hebda expressed joy and hope about having Bettini as the delegate for consecrated life, saying in a statement, “I look forward to collaborating with Nicole in this role, as she takes on the responsibility of acting as my official representative in matters regarding all forms of consecrated life in this archdiocese.”
As she goes around the archdiocese to build relationships with consecrated men and women, Bettini said she also will try to carry on the work of Sister Carolyn, who was “very intentional and really supportive of the breadth of consecrated life here in our local Church. She brought such beauty (to all forms of consecrated life).”
In carrying out both of her professional roles, Bettini sees a cohesive whole of helping people in the archdiocese deepen their faith.
“More than teaching the faith, I’ve been about forming people in our Catholic faith,” she said. “That is, how to authentically live our Catholic faith. And I have done this by accompanying others to encounter more deeply Jesus Christ and his Church. … In our catechesis, we must help people grow in their own personal prayer and live the richness of our Catholic faith.”
One of the first things I would really like to do is go visit our religious communities in our archdiocese, to learn more about them, their life in our archdiocese, how we can support them.
Nicole BettiniDAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT Upon accepting the position of delegate for consecrated life in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Nicole Bettini becomes the first consecrated virgin to take that role.
Catholic Spirit
Assumption in St. Paul will be home to a new and innovative center seeking to spread Catholic social teaching across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Founded by Colin Miller — director of pastoral care and outreach at Assumption — the Center for Catholic Social Thought will host a plethora of free events.
“The center is an initiative of the Church of the Assumption with the objective of spreading the thought and practice of Catholic social teaching in the archdiocese, and specifically to the ordinary layman in the pew who has not encountered it before,” Miller said.
Miller earned his Ph.D. in theology from Duke University in 2010 and wrote his dissertation on virtue ethics and St. Paul, with an eye toward Catholic social teaching. Since then, he has devoted much of his energy to spreading that message.
It is a message that is sometimes misunderstood.
“Catholic social teaching … is primarily about what we do; not, in the first instance, about what the government does,” Miller said. Catholic social teaching, for example, does not aim to merely serve the poor, but to build Christian fellowship with the poor.
“And it’s about how all of this is vitally connected with a life of prayer, of regular Christian fellowship, and especially with the Eucharist,” said Miller, who is currently working on a book about the Catholic Worker Movement that will be published with Ave Maria Press in 2024.
Father Paul Treacy, pastor of Assumption, said he has encouraged, supported and helped guide how the center might be a resource not only for the parish, “but for the whole of the archdiocese.” Catholic social teachings provide “rich treasures of the Church,” he said.
On Aug. 31, the center will kick off its fall 2023 speaker series titled The Catholic Social Difference. Michael Naughton, chair of Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, will deliver the inaugural lecture.
Naughton said Catholic social
The Catholic Social Difference
All lectures at 7 p.m., Assumption in St. Paul
Aug. 31: “What is Catholic Social Teaching?” by Michael Naughton, chair of Catholic Studies, University of St. Thomas
Sept. 7: “Community, Poverty, and the Common Good” by Michael Goar, president and CEO of Catholic Charities Twin Cities
Sept. 14: “A Catholic Economy” by Father Daniel Griffith, pastor of the Basilica of St. Mary and director of the Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing, University of St. Thomas
Sept. 21: “Church and Politics: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” by Msgr. Martin Schlag, professor of Catholic social teaching, University of St. Thomas
All events are free. Registration is available on the center’s website at catholicsocialthought org
Thought has already accrued support from many within the archdiocese. Archbishop Bernard Hebda said he “applauded the establishment of the center and is praying for its success.”
teaching is an integrating force for Catholics.
“At the Second Vatican Council, in a document called ‘Gaudium et Spes,’ it says that one of the more dangerous errors of our time is the split between our faith and our social life,” Naughton said. Catholic social thought, he said, helps bring daily life to “a place where virtue can gow.”
The center will host classes every fall and spring. This fall, Miller will offer a five-week course on Christianity and Politics, one of several courses he has taught through Assumption since 2020. In spring 2022, he co-taught a course titled Radical Discipleship and Catholic Community with Tyler Hambley, which examined the social teaching of the Church and its practical relevance.
Linda Thain, 76, said she signed up immediately when she saw Miller and Hambley’s class advertised in the Assumption bulletin in fall 2021.
Thain, who is a parishioner of Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul and a catechesis teacher at Assumption, said her interest in Catholic social teaching led to her conversion to Catholicism in 2018 when she read the works of Dorothy Day.
“We had such wonderful discussions,” said Thain, who now works as Miller’s assistant by coordinating food drives and volunteer opportunities. “Catholic social teaching is important when … thinking of religion as not something to compartmentalize.”
On the first and third Tuesday nights of every month, Assumption will host a roundtable discussion group from 5:30-7 p.m. to discuss various topics within Catholic social teaching. The center also plans to deliver short talks by Miller or guest speakers on weekdays after the noon Mass at Assumption. The Center for Catholic Social
Father Daniel Griffith, pastor of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis and a professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law who teaches Catholic Thought, Law and Policy, said he hopes the center will be a place where Catholic social teaching is diffused into Catholic families and communities.
“I’m delighted that Assumption parish is launching this center,” Father Griffith said. “Catholic social teaching could provide a forum for respectful, informed dialogue across differences of political opinion and other societal opinions.”
The Basilica hosted a five-part series about Catholic social teaching during Lent 2021.
“All of the (in-person and online) sessions were packed,” Father Griffith said, “so I do think that there is a hunger there.”
The Catholic Spirit
After nine years directing the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment, Tim O’Malley will transition Aug. 1 to parttime assistant for special projects for Archbishop Bernard Hebda.
“I am grateful for Tim’s commitment and service to this local Church, as he so effectively built our Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment team and the Ministerial Review Board, while genuinely and compassionately walking with survivors of sexual abuse and their loved ones,” the archbishop said in a statement. “Given his many gifts, I am grateful that Tim has agreed to continue to
serve the Archdiocese, albeit in new ways.”
Replacing O’Malley as director will be Paul Iovino, the deputy director of the MSSE office for nearly three years. Iovino and O’Malley are former law enforcement officials.
“I am grateful that Paul brings to this position not only his 25-plus years in law enforcement but also his commitment to serving the Church,” Archbishop Hebda said. “I feel that we are blessed to have him as a member of our team. Please join me in praying for Tim and Paul in their new roles; may the Holy Spirit continue to bless them and their families.”
Shortly before joining MSSE in 2021,
Iovino retired from the St. Paul Police Department as community affairs chief. He started working for the department in 1995, first as a patrol officer for four years, then in numerous leadership roles. One of his jobs was commander of the Juvenile Unit/Missing Persons Unit from 2006 to 2008, which brought him into contact with abuse victims and their families.
O’Malley, a former state administrative law judge who also had served as superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and as an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, joined the archdiocese in 2014 to revamp its
safe environment efforts.
The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2015 in the wake of mounting claims of clergy sexual abuse dating back as far as the 1940s. Ultimately, 453 claims were filed against the archdiocese during the claim-filing period, most of which were related to lawsuits brought against the archdiocese during a three-year lifting of the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse claims in Minnesota.
In May 2018, the archdiocese announced it had reached a $210 million settlement. By June 2021, the archdiocese had met its financial obligations under the bankruptcy agreement, but archdiocesan leadership remains committed to vigorous abuse prevention and to programs supporting those harmed by abuse.
Argentine Archbishop Victor Fernández will not be able to forget July 2023. In a span of less than two weeks, he was named the new prefect of the Holy See’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and then cardinal.
Cardinal-designate Fernández, a 61-year-old theologian, told OSV News in a written exchange that his appointment — and those of the other 20 men (including two more Argentines) also set to become cardinals Sept. 30 — is part of a larger invitation from Pope Francis to “walk more decidedly along the lines he established in his first encyclical, ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ (‘Joy of the Gospel’), which still requires a more forceful application.”
“Who can say that ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ has been applied? It is not noticeable,” Cardinal-designate Fernández said.
Taking over the dicastery will require the cardinaldesignate to move with care, as opponents, both of his appointment and, more broadly, of the pope, have criticized the decision.
The two primary criticisms of Cardinal-designate Fernández include his handling of a case of sexual abuse of minors in the Archdiocese of La Plata, which Cardinal-designate Fernández has headed since 2018; and some past writings on the topics of marriage and sexuality.
The sexual abuse case involved Father Eduardo Lorenzo, who committed suicide in 2019 after a judge ordered his arrest based on charges “of corruption of minors and sexual abuse of at least five adolescents between 1990 and 2008,” according to BishopAccountability.org, a Massachusetts organization that runs an online archive of abuse in the Catholic Church. Critics say Cardinal-designate Fernández failed to act, despite allegations against the priest.
Cardinal-designate Fernández said the case has been presented in the media in a partial way. He said he was in “constant contact with Rome” regarding Father Lorenzo’s case because the case was under investigation by Argentine prosecutors, and he was waiting for results of the legal hearings before making a final decision.
The cardinal-designate refutes claims that he did not act. “First, I prohibited the priest from any activities with minors and then indicated that he would not exercise the priestly ministry and he was sent to live in solitude,” he said.
BishopAccountability.org published a timeline of
uPapal envoy gives Biden letter from pope, urges U.S. leaders to support peace.
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi hand-delivered a letter from Pope Francis to U.S. President Joe Biden as part of his three-day papal mission to help promote humanitarian efforts and open avenues of peace in Ukraine. The pope had sent the cardinal, who is archbishop of Bologna and president of the Italian bishops’ conference, to Washington July 17-19 for meetings with top church and government leaders, including members of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and the Senate Prayer Breakfast. Cardinal Zuppi and other members of a Vatican delegation went to the White House July 18 “where they were received by President Joseph R. Biden, to whom Cardinal Zuppi delivered a letter from the Holy Father, emphasizing the pope’s sorrow for the suffering caused by the war,” said a Vatican communique published July 19. “The meeting, which began shortly after 5 p.m. and lasted over
how Father Lorenzo’s case was handled, claiming that for one and a half years, then-Archbishop Fernandez was reluctant to believe parents, relatives and parishioners who protested the reassigning of the priest. Father Lorenzo killed himself the day after the criminal court of La Plata ordered his arrest on Dec. 16, 2019. Then-Archbishop Fernández released “a brief statement, saying that Lorenzo had taken his life ‘after long months of enormous tension and suffering,’” BishopAccountability.org said.
According to the website there were “no words of comfort to the victims, saying only that he would pray for ‘those who may have been offended or affected’ by the charges against the priest.”
Today, Cardinal-designate Fernández said he should have done more. “Today, I would have made this decision quicker, without the need for too much information. I believe that in recent years, thanks to the documents produced by (Pope) Francis and new protocols, we have more elements. And I have learned. Only a few months after Lorenzo’s death, I expelled another man from the priesthood,” he said.
Cardinal-designate Fernández said that the “wisest and most respectful” path for him in leading the dicastery, which for centuries, as the Holy Office, tracked heresy and checked on sexual morality, would be to “rely on the expertise of the disciplinary team already” in place — for instance, regarding sexual abuse.
“I will help where I can, but, for example, it would not occur to me to provide advice to (Archbishop of
an hour, took place in an atmosphere of great cordiality and mutual listening,” it said. During the conversation, assurance was made of there being a “full willingness to support humanitarian initiatives, especially for children and those who are most fragile, both to respond to this urgency and to foster paths of peace,” the Vatican said.
uSynod ‘calls us to relationships,’ says youth delegate. The universal Synod on Synodality “primarily calls us to relationships and to re-examine the way in which we build” them, a college student who will head to Rome as a voting delegate told OSV News. Julia Oseka, who will be a junior at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, has been named as one of 10 non-bishop voting members from the U.S. and Canada at the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome, which will take place Oct. 4-29. The synod, convened by Pope Francis in 2021 around the theme of “communion, mission and participation,” will conclude with a second session in October
Malta Charles) Scicluna, who is an expert and has demonstrated a great capacity in these issues and is respected around the world.”
An even thornier issue may be questions around the rigorousness of his theology. Cardinal-designate Fernández was investigated by the dicastery when then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires, (now Pope Francis) named him as rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina.
Critics brought up books, essays and newspaper columns he had written on different topics, including marriage, relationships and homosexuality.
“Years ago, the dicastery sent me some questions about three things I had written. I responded and everything was clarified. It was difficult, because with the way time passes in Rome, it took a year and a half. It was also a learning experience for me,” he said.
Especially one book written by Cardinal-designate Fernández when he was just starting out as a priest — “Heal Me With Your Mouth: The Art of Kissing” — sparked controversy worldwide. In an interview with The Associated Press, the prelate said he did not want it reprinted and wanted to “leave this in the past.”
“But well, now it’s my karma,” he told the AP.
A final issue — and one roiling the relationship between Pope Francis and more conservative sectors in the Church — concerns the use of the 1962 Roman Missal, the older usage of the Roman rite, commonly called the “traditional Latin Mass.” Pope Francis limited use of the Latin Mass in 2021, and in April, during a conversation with Jesuits in Hungary, called it “the reaction against the modern” and a “nostalgic disease.”
Cardinal-designate Fernández said that he was respectful of liturgical sensibilities, but believed a line is crossed when priests use “liturgy as a way of rejecting Vatican II ... imposing this preference above others, with doctrinal and moral obstinance.”
He said that while this issue corresponds to a different dicastery, his new office could be a space for dialogue. Dialogue has characterized Cardinaldesignate Fernández’s different roles, from parish priest to rector of the Catholic university to cardinaldesignate. Finding common ground also is something Pope Francis stressed in his letter to then-Archbishop Fernández upon his appointment as head of the dicastery.
“For differing currents of thought in philosophy, theology and pastoral practice, if open to being reconciled by the Spirit in respect and love, can enable the Church to grow. This harmonious growth will preserve Christian doctrine more effectively than any control mechanism,” Pope Francis wrote in the July 1 letter to Archbishop Fernández.
2024 following an extension announced in 2022. For Oseka, a physics and theology major, the opportunity to “bring forth the voices” of young adults in North America has inspired gratitude, humility and “a feeling of peace.”
uU.S. to provide Ukraine cluster munitions opposed by the Church as ‘inhumane.’
President Joe Biden defended what he called a “very difficult decision” to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion of that country, weapons the Holy See opposes. In an interview on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” that aired July 9, Biden said Ukraine needs the weapons to fend off Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, and that he discussed his decision both with allies and with congressional lawmakers. Cluster munitions are air-dropped or groundlaunched explosives that contain smaller submunitions, which increase the blast radius and the potential casualties and damage to physical structures. Despite Ukraine’s just cause to defend itself, one Catholic expert
said, the Church opposes cluster munitions themselves. Mary Ellen O’Connell, a professor at Notre Dame Law School who specializes in international law and conflict resolution, told OSV News that “the Catholic Church is in full support of the total ban on cluster munitions” due to its effects on civilians, including long after the conflict. “Cluster munitions cannot discriminate between civilians and fighters,” O’Connell said. “Unexploded bomblets may kill civilians weeks, months or years after a battle.” She suggested the U.S. and its allies should dig deeper into their own stockpiles of artillery shells, because an “unlawful weapon is never permissible to use because of military necessity.” In a July 14 statement, Bishop David Malloy of Rockford, Illinois, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, also raised concern about the use of cluster munitions.
The 84th annual Tekakwitha Conference July 19-23 in the Twin Cities celebrated Native American Catholics’ spirituality and traditions, and addressed difficult issues including missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and the generational trauma of American Indian boarding schools. The theme, “Gathering and Healing through Living Waters,” is reflected in the stories and photos on this page and pages 10-11.
KKathleen Mishow spent nine years praying to St. Kateri Tekakwitha for another child after she and her husband had a son 18 months after they married.
Included in Kathleen’s prayers was a promise that if she ever had a daughter, she would name her Kateri. She ultimately gave birth to a daughter and kept her promise.
“At least I had my wish with Kateri and had her for 20 years,” said Kathleen, an Ojibwe from White Earth Nation, who told her story with support from her friend Vicki Phillips, both of whom regularly attend the parish of Gichitwaa Kateri in Minneapolis. “She was really spunky. I would tell her, ‘You be careful going out,’ but she thought she was invincible at that age.”
Kateri, then 22, was last seen in 2007 leaving with a young man from the duplex where she lived, across the street from her parents.
Kathleen recounted her experience to The Catholic Spirit July 20, only moments before keynote speakers took the stage to address the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women at the 84th annual Tekakwitha Conference, held at a hotel in Bloomington through July 23. The conference, which honors Indigenous Catholics’ spirituality and traditions, drew nearly 500 people primarily from across the United States, including Alaska, and Canada.
Kathleen recalled receiving a telephone call from a friend of
Kateri’s who was in the Hennepin County Jail. The friend told her he heard people in the jail talking about Kateri, saying, “Oh, she’s not missing. She’s in the river.”
“My husband walked the Mississippi River for over a year,” Kathleen said. “Up and down. He’d go every day.”
The pain never eases, Kathleen said. “I’d really like to know one way or the other.”
Father David Bailey, a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Native American Advisory Board, told disturbing stories of missing and murdered Native women. Selling of North American Indigenous women and children has been going on since the colonial era, he said.
Native women are victims of violence on “an astronomical level,” and the vast majority of perpetrators are non-Native males, he said.
Every person is created in the image and likeness of God, he said. “All of us are entitled to be treated with dignity, to be treated with respect, to be treated with love,” he said. “And therefore, we must at all times respect life. Never compromising the dignity of anyone.”
Father Bailey said that by “shining a light on these things,” talking about them and gaining awareness, “we can shine the light into corners where evil men seek to do their evil deeds.”
Father Michael Carson, assistant director of USCCB’s Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church, emphasized the importance of getting involved in the issue. He offered 10 reasons he believes the problem is pervasive in Native communities more so than in “any other culture group.”
The first reason is poverty, which “limits choices,” he said. “And
The Catholic Spirit
Celebrating Native American Catholics’ cultures and traditions along with a special Mass with Archbishop Bernard Hebda were the focus July 22 of the 84th annual Tekakwitha Conference in the Twin Cities.
Several hundred people traveled by bus from a hotel in Bloomington, where most of the national conference was held July 19-23, to the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul for a cultural day that included a morning water ceremony with prayers and hymns honoring God’s gift of the precious resource and its life-giving importance. The day wrapped up back at the hotel with a powwow that included drumming, chanting and dancing.
Maryanna Harstad of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and program director at Gichitwaa Kateri in Minneapolis guided the water ceremony with stories, prayers and hymns. She noted that the outdoor gathering at St. Thomas was only five miles away from the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers, which in Dakota and Ojibwe spirituality is considered a place of creation and healing. Water used in the ceremony was drawn from Minnesota’s Lake Itasca, at the headwaters of the Mississippi River.
Dana Thompson, a descendant of the Wahpeton-Sisseton and Mdewakanton Dakota tribes, spoke in a nearby auditorium about her effort to re-establish Native foods to combat economic and health crises affecting Native communities.
Thompson explained the truth in the meaning of “Mother Earth.”
“We are of the earth. And the plants around us are here as teachers,” said Thompson, citing the health benefits of electrolytes found in birch syrup and protein-packed fiddlehead ferns. Thompson’s
Samuel Torres invited those listening to his keynote talk on the history of Native American boarding schools during the Tekakwitha Conference “to widen the circle.”
Addressing the effects of Native boarding schools — which includes a legacy of forced assimilation and abuse — “is going to take all of us,” a collective effort from people of every race, faith and nation, said Torres, deputy chief executive officer of the Minneapolis-based nonprofit National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS). “This is not simply a Native issue, it’s a human issue.”
Torres — who grew up in a Catholic household and is Mexica-Nahua on his father’s side and Irish Scottish on his mother’s side — acknowledged that the Native boarding school legacy has “deep roots on these lands” and that “harm is not confined to the past.” Wounds are present and they’re deep, Torres said, and he encouraged a framework of restorative justice to heal the wounds and combat a “culture of forgetting.”
During his talk July 21 at a Bloomington hotel, Torres suggested a healing framework presented by Maria Yellow Horse Brave Heart — president of the Takini Institute, associate professor of psychiatry, and the director of Native American and Disparities
work involves co-owning and helping run The Sioux Chef in Minneapolis, which includes a restaurant dedicated to Indigenous foods and the nonprofit North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems.
An author, international speaker and digital content creator who lives in Apple Valley, James Vukelich Kaagegaabaw, spoke about insights to wisdom and healthful living he gained while learning and helping create a dictionary of the Ojibwe language.
Research at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico: First, confront the trauma. Second, understand the trauma. Third, release the trauma. Fourth, transcend the trauma.
Torres said efforts along this pathway of healing have “just started.”
He said requests from Natives have included: The collection of, and access to, dispersed Native boarding school records; burial site examination using Indigenous techniques and funding to support those efforts; support for Native boarding school survivors to offer their testimony; resources so survivors can direct their own healing; education on Native boarding schools and their impact to be included in school curricula; accountability as Native boarding school information comes to light; and the restoration of land, culture and lifeways.
Jody Roy is Ojibwe and originally from Canada, from Atikameksheng Anishnawbek First Nation. She currently lives in Chicago and is the director of the St. Kateri Center in that city.
Reflecting on the keynote talk, Roy, 45, said, “The truth has to be told in order for anything to happen. We can’t heal if our stories and truth are not heard. What is there to reconcile and heal about if we’re not aware of it?”
Roy said she comes “from a line of residential school survivors.” She said a non-blood relative of hers who “was like an uncle” in that he was taken in and raised by her grandparents was “a deacon and he was a residential school survivor.” Though he died a few years ago, Roy said, “I wonder how he could have been an ally for others with similar experience(s)” and how she herself might “try to bring that healing for our people also.”
Ojibwe words with complex structures and multiple but interconnected interpretations brought him to understand the sacred nature of relationships with people and nature fed by humility, respect and love, said Vukelich Kaagegaabaw, a descendant of Turtle Mountain who has written a book about his adventures with language titled “The Seven Generations and the Seven Grandfather Teachings.”
In his homily at Mass in the auditorium, which was celebrated in English with hymns sung in
The annual Tekakwitha Conference presents opportunities for those gathered to celebrate “local Native culture” as well as the “unique subsection” of Native Catholic culture, said conference co-chair Michele Hakala-Beeksma, a member of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa and a member of St. Lawrence in Duluth.
The theme of this year’s conference was “Gathering for Healing Through Living Waters,” and as Hakala-Beeksma and co-chair Shawn Phillips — director and pastoral minister of Gichitwaa Kateri in Minneapolis and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office of Indian Ministry — indicated, healing from the personal and intergenerational trauma experienced at, and as a result of, boarding schools was central to the conference.
Torres has been working with NABS since 2019. Founded in 2012, NABS consists of more than 780 Native and non-Native members and organizations “committed to boarding school healing” through national strategies to increase public awareness of the United States Boarding School Policy of 1869 and its aftermath.
A U.S. Department of the Interior report released last year indicated Native boarding schools — many of them operated by various religious orders — sought to forcibly assimilate Native children to adopt western practices and a Christian way of life, separating children from their families and suppressing Native language and culture.
The U.S. adopted a Native boarding school policy through measures such as the Indian Civilization Act Fund of 1819 and the Peace Policy of 1869, according to NABS.
Such policies sought “Indian territorial dispossession and Indian assimilation, including through education,” the DOI report stated. Torres, during his talk, said it was a process of “utilizing education as a weapon.”
Ojibwe and English, importance of elders thanked those gathered Church and teach things “I couldn’t help the world this weekend, us to celebrate grandparents archbishop said of Day for Grandparents realized, you’ve taught and respect for family.”
The DOI reports roughly 400 Native boarding operated between 1819 received support or institution or organization, infrastructure and personnel.” have come from “Tribal those based on cessions United States,” the Per DOI research, boarding schools included with English names; discouraging the use and cultural practices; groups to perform military was part of boarding were often enforced DOI report states. The on the Federal Indian investigation’s initial Federal Indian boarding 500 American Indian, Hawaiian child deaths.”
NABS has been continuing tool — called the National Digital Archive — to for information on boarding schools. According project seeks to make survivors and their
An online list at ctah roughly 87 Catholic-run in the United States in Minnesota — was group of archivists, members.
The list includes were affiliated with were among 21 total
Father Michael Carson, assistant director of the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, gives a talk on the topic of missing and murdered Indigenous women July 20 at the Tekakwitha Conference in Bloomington. Behind him are two others who gave talks on
BY DAVE HRBACEK CATHOLICEnglish, Archbishop Hebda spoke of the elders including grandparents, and he gathered for the way they enrich the things about faith and life.
but note that today, throughout weekend, the Holy Father has asked grandparents and elders,” the Pope Francis instituting World Grandparents and the Elderly, adding, “I taught me so much about elders family.”
roughly 50% of the more than boarding schools the U.S. government 1819 and 1969 “may have involvement from a religious organization, including funding, personnel.” Funding also may “Tribal trust accounts, including cessions of Indian territories to the DOI report states.
assimilation practices at Native included renaming children names; cutting children’s hair; use of Native languages, religions practices; and organizing children into military drills. Manual labor boarding school curricula and rules enforced through punishment, the The report indicated that “based Indian Boarding School Initiative initial analysis, approximately 19 boarding schools accounted for over Indian, Alaska Native and Native deaths.”
continuing work on an online National Indian Boarding School to help Native Americans search relatives who attended Native According to NABS, the NIBSDA make records more accessible to descendants.
ctah archivistsacwr org of Catholic-run Native boarding schools States — including such schools was made available in May by a historians, Catholics and tribal eight Minnesota schools that the Catholic Church. They total Native boarding schools in
“My suspicion, brothers and sisters, is that many of you can speak not only about your parents but about a grandparent or a great-grandparent who introduced you to the faith and who helped you persevere even in difficult times; who taught you about what’s important in life,” the archbishop said. “And not just your grandparents by blood, but those elders who have been so much a part of Catholic Indian communities throughout this country and who have passed on not only the wisdom of the elders but have passed on our faith.”
After Mass, Michelle Hakala-Beeksma, an enrolled member of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in northeastern Minnesota and co-chair of the conference, gave blankets of appreciation that were placed on the shoulders of several organizers and supporters of the Tekakwitha Conference, including Archbishop Hebda. The blankets are an Ojibwe way to honor people by “wrapping them in your love and prayers,” Hakala-Beeksma said.
Minnesota, according to the DOI. The majority of those affected in Minnesota were from the Dakota and Ojibwe tribal nations, according to the list.
Allison Spies, archives program manager for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office of Archives and Records Management, said she began encountering records of the Native experience when she was a genealogy research volunteer for the archdiocese. Through professional networks, Spies worked with other archivists, historians, Catholics and tribal members to consider how to grant more streamlined public access to record information.
Spies held a workshop during the Tekakwitha Conference that provided an overview of the list published in May. In addition to explaining events leading up to the list’s creation, Spies talked about how the database can be used to locate records. She also provided information about Catholic archives and their placement in efforts to address the Native boarding school legacy.
She considered her workshop to be a complement to the talk Torres gave and told The Catholic Spirit that Catholic archives are a key component in taking steps toward truth and healing through greater transparency and access.
Torres told The Catholic Spirit after his talk that current local efforts — including the collection of Native boarding school records as well as avenues through which boarding school survivors’ experiences can be heard and shared — must continue.
“It’s policy, it’s education, it’s dialogue with our neighbors,” Torres said about what’s needed to address the Native boarding school legacy.
“We collectively can continue to put pressure on leadership if we talk about this … if we continue to be persistent in how we organize our language around what we want to see.”
if someone offers women living in poverty a better life, the offer becomes more of a temptation to get involved in trafficking,” he said.
Another reason is more isolated communities, making it more difficult “for people to talk to each other,” Father Carson said. “If somebody goes missing in one community, it’s very hard for the other communities to know about that,” he said.
Felicitas Brugo Onetti, whose background is in social work, also addressed the conference. As the anti-trafficking education and outreach coordinator for Migration and Refugee Services with the USCCB, she provided an overview on human trafficking, a crime that uses force, fraud or coercion. Reports indicate that 40% of victims in Native communities are exploited through familial trafficking by “someone they know and someone in their immediate circle.” Tactics focus primarily on manipulation and coercion, she said.
“When we talk specifically about the Native community, the historical trauma and the loss of culture is a really prevalent issue here,” she said. “Perpetrators know exactly how to target that and exactly how to … promote these empty promises and different ways in which they can … coerce you into being victimized.”
Shawn Phillips, director and pastoral minister of Gichitwaa Kateri in Minneapolis and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office of Indian Ministry, said during the conference’s opening announcements that several attendees had a small blue tag on their name tag that identified them as “trauma-informed listeners.” If any attendees had a trauma-related story in their life they’d like to discuss, they could look for the listeners, most of whom have served in religious life or as counselors or social workers, he said.
“One of the ways we can bring forth healing in our lives is by telling the story,” Phillips said. Phillips said he used to work with Jewish people who told him “the one thing that they wish would never happen is that their story would be silenced.” “So, the story needs to be told and the harm needs to be dealt with,” Phillips said. “And the only way we can deal with that harm is if we share it.”
The conference opened at 9:15 a.m. with a grand entry in a ballroom at the hotel. One person carrying a St. Kateri relic was followed by clergy, religious and military veterans, both non-Native and Native American. One man processed with a large eagle staff from Gitchitwaa Kateri. Feathers affixed to the staff represent deceased parish members, as a way to remember them.
Other groups were introduced largely by state as they processed to the front of the conference room, with Donald Blackhawk, 28, who attends Gichitwaa Kateri, drumming from the front of the room.
Holding colorful banners recognizing their home states, with some including the years a given state had hosted the annual conference, each group processed to the front of the room and turned left or right to hang their banners, which filled the length of the room to create a colorful record of those in attendance.
Bishop Chad Zielinski of New Ulm concelebrated a late afternoon Mass, followed by dinner and a healing and reconciliation service.
During the conference, it also was announced that the national Tekakwitha Conference was moving its headquarters, with at least one paid staff member, from Alexandria, Louisiana, to the Archdiocesan Catholic Center in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Being in an area with a significant Native American population and easy access to a major airport factored in the decision, officials said.
In the midafternoon, participants were invited to select from several workshop sessions that included experiencing healing stories, making Native language hymns, exploring Ojibwe cultural connections and learning to play the Native American flute. School Sister of Notre Dame Kathleen Storms and two others from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Care for Creation team helped some participants assemble a rosary-like Kateri Tekakwitha Chaplet — by stringing seven colored beads for each of seven sections that symbolize the days of creation, Sister Kathleen said. The colored beads represent what’s being honored, she said, such as blue for the sky. A medal in the chaplet honors St. Kateri Tekakwitha, patroness of the environment. Prayers said as part of the chaplet include the Hail Mary and Our Father, and participants prayed them silently and reflectively as they created their chaplets, Sister Kathleen said.
At 67, Bonnie Steele has been on a journey of discovery, converting to Catholicism, earning a college degree after becoming a mother of four, forging a meaningful career, embracing her multiracial background as a Black and Anishinaabe woman and unpacking buried trauma from her mom’s childhood.
“I’m still in the healing process,” says Steele, who is married and belongs to St. Bridget in Minneapolis. “I don’t know that it is ever complete.”
Q Your mom was 13 when she was taken from her family and brought to a boarding school, where she was forced to assimilate and endured sexual abuse, you’ve come to presume. Decades later, she never talked about the experience.
A She didn’t have the tools. I find that, today, we cousins are shedding the tears our parents could not, and we are grieving the losses they could not.
My mom has been gone five years, and I still feel her. The other day I was driving to the res (reservation) and I stopped at a lake where I’d taken my mom. Sitting in the car, I reached over to where she would’ve been and said, “Mom, it’s OK. There’s no more pain. There’s no more sorrow. No one can ever take you from your family again. You’re all together now.”
Q How does it feel to do the healing she wasn’t able to do?
A It feels like a responsibility. One of the things I’ve learned from Anishinaabe elders that I’m close to is that when one of us begins to do the work to heal, we heal the descendants that follow — seven generations out. It can set the tone for the great, great, great, great, great grandchildren I will not see in this lifetime. It paves the way for them and creates a place of peace and beauty and love, to be able to rear families in healthy, good ways.
At the same time, we heal the ancestors who did not have that opportunity. It’s a privilege to do that. There is no more important work. That is the work of our lives.
Q What does healing look like for you?
A Time. It’s being able to bring very painful stories — that others find really difficult to hear and want to rush through — and allow us to just sit with that. Even though I didn’t grow up on the res, my elders gave me an unconditional welcome that, for me, has been healing. They listen without judgment.
Q You started college at age 43, one year after your daughter began. That takes courage!
A More than you can imagine! It was one of the best things I’ve ever done.
Growing up, the people I knew didn’t go to college. My best friend’s house was in the junkyard. As a parent, I’d prepared my kids for college, but I wasn’t sure I could succeed at it. I had huge doubts. I used to sit in the
parking lot and cry before class. I would say to myself: “You have to show up for your own life. All you have to do is get in the door. Just get in the door.”
Q Did you receive a warm welcome at St. Catherine University in St. Paul?
A The Sisters of St. Joseph (of Carondelet) greeted us at this open house. They were so warm and friendly. And they are so committed to justice and serving the poor and needy. I was awed. I tucked it away, in my pocket. Later, my daughter was invited to attend the Basilica of St. Mary (in Minneapolis) for Christmas, and she was awed by what she saw. Then she invited me to go to classes with her there. I didn’t realize they were (OCIA) classes at first, but she insisted I come with. I agreed to go to the first three. But I was busy! There were 100 people in the room, and it was pretty amazing. The questions that they asked were so meaningful. They drew me in. By the third class, they had me.
Q You continued along toward the Easter Vigil, but as a lifelong Protestant, you bristled at the sacrament of reconciliation.
A I had been so skeptical. But it was one of those moments in your life where the whole room just drops away. It felt like someone took warm oil and poured it on my head and just covered me, all the way down to the tips of my toes.
Q Do you credit the Sisters of St. Joseph for your conversion?
A Absolutely!
Q You majored in chemical dependency and theology, and in your studies, you were encouraged to explore your identity.
A They gave me the space to discover who I was. I couldn’t get enough of it. I loved every minute. As part of an assignment, I went to Pipestone, where my mom was at boarding school. There’s a little historical building, and they actually let me go upstairs. It took my breath away. They had the dolls that the
children had brought with them from home. I looked at those dolls and thought of what they represented — that these children were so young and they were loved and then brought to these horrible places.
Q How do your Catholic values dovetail with your Anishinaabe values?
A They dovetail with my mother’s sense of community and care. She cared for everyone in the neighborhood, all races, from all walks of life. People would come to live with us for a while. I didn’t know that wasn’t normal.
Q She was embracing the best of Catholic social teaching without knowing it.
A Exactly. The Sisters of St. Joseph have that phrase “always moving toward the profound love of God and the dear neighbor without distinction.” That was my mom. We lived five blocks from St. Joe’s Catholic Church in Minneapolis. I listened to those bells ring every morning of my life. Decades later, when I became Catholic and completed my degree, I was hired to work at St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove. When I came in to interview, I saw an old picture of the original church, which was the one by my childhood home. Those bells had always been ringing for me.
Q Did you enjoy working there?
A I spent 11 years there as director of pastoral care. It was the most amazing experience to accompany people at the end of life, to enter into people’s lives when they’re at their most vulnerable and transparent. What a gift!
I didn’t become Catholic by accident. There were all these touchpoints in my life.
Not long after I was received into the Church, I made it my mission to find my mom’s mother. Mom had been searching for her her whole life.
I started looking at records in the St. Cloud area, and I found her. She was baptized Catholic. I drove her to the gravesite, and a gentleman who was keeping the grounds let us in the church and looked up exactly where her mother was. Those graves are very old and windblown, so you can’t read them.
I had brought my kids and a friend and we were able to sing and incense the grave and have our own little funeral for her. It felt like she knew we would come. And my mom kept saying, “Now I know where my mom is.”
Q By taking your own spiritual journey, you were able to give your mom the closure she’d always sought.
A Yes.
Q What do you know for sure?
A What I know for sure is that even when we are in pain, even when we feel lost, even when we don’t know how to even formulate the question, God — the one that is the holy Other — can reach into our lives in unexpected ways and provide what we need. And that I know without question, without a doubt.
Nativity, Cleveland Aug. 5: 5:30–7:30 p.m. Live music by “100 Years of Picking.” Cash raffle, silent auction, family yard games and kids‘ games, cash bar and Bloody Mary bar. Hamburgers, hot dogs and more (freewill donations). 200 Main St. maryschurchescom
Immaculate Conception, Columbia Heights — Aug. 4-6: 6–10:30 p.m. Aug. 4 and 5: noon–4 p.m. Aug 6. Different food each day, beer tent, pull tabs, raffle (all 3 days). Aug. 4: Xpedition tribute band to Journey, Foreigner, Kansas, Styx; Aug. 5: Rubber Soul tribute band to the Beatles.
Admission: Aug. 4 and 5 $10; Aug. 6: Family Day, bingo, kids‘ games raffle, silent auction and more. 4030 Jackson St NE. iccsonline.org
St. Raphael, Crystal — Aug. 4-5: 5:30–10 p.m. Aug. 4; 11 a.m.–10 p.m. Aug. 5. A variety of food and drink, softball and cornhole tournament, pull tabs, bingo, live band, a kids train and games. Fun for ages 1-101. 7301 Bass Lake Road straphaelcrystal.org
St John the Baptist, Dayton — Aug. 6: 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Chicken dinner served 10:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. Raffles, theme basket silent auction, flea market, country store, bingo and refreshments. 18380 Columbus St. sjbdayton.org
Immaculate Conception, Lonsdale — AugustFest, Aug. 6: 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Mass at 10 a.m. Chicken dinner, KC grill, fresh cookie stand, family fun, kids‘ games, bingo, cornhole tournament, cash raffle drawings and more. 202 Alabama St. SE. icchurch.cc
Transfiguration, Oakdale — Sunday Funday Festival, Aug. 6: noon–6 p.m. Smoked ribs and pulled pork sandwiches, eggrolls, corn on the cob, beer garden, bingo, games for all ages, music, karaoke, door prizes each hour, 50/50 raffle and more. 6133 15th St. N. transfigurationmn.org
St. George, Long Lake — Corn Days Festival, Aug. 12-13: Aug. 12: noon–10 p.m. Roasted corn, live music, Alma Folklorica dance performance, beer tent, inflatables and inflatable games, caricaturist, petting zoo, super raffle, variety of food, craft and merchandise vendors, and classic cars. 4 p.m. Mass. Parade and 5K run TBD. Aug.13: 9:15 a.m. Mass, breakfast, and Super Raffle Drawing. 133 Brown Road N. corndays.com stgeorgelonglake.org
St. Joseph of the Lakes, Lino Lakes — Summer Festival, Aug. 12-13: Aug 12: 5 p.m. Mass under the big tent, followed by pork dinner and other concessions, 6 p.m. Joe ‘s Bar, GB Leighton 7–10 p.m., fireworks afterwards. 11 a.m.– 5 p.m. Aug. 13: chicken picnic and other concessions, Joe ‘s Bar, games for all ages, bingo, live music with Saints of Swing and Java Soul, silent auction (online and in person) raffles and more. 171 Elm St. mystjoes.me
St. Wenceslaus, New Prague — Aug. 13: 11:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Highlights include two Polka Masses at 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Food trucks all day, merchandise mart, plus bingo, games, ice cream, beer garden, raffles, live music and more. npcatholic.org
Ss. Cyril and Methodius, Minneapolis — Summer Festival, Aug. 19: 9 a.m.–8 p.m. Food and beverages, live music and dancing, raffle, games. 1315 2nd St. NE. parishonline.com/ organization/ss–cyril–methodius
St. Gerard Majella, Brooklyn Park — Corn Fest, Aug. 19: noon–10 p.m: Fun, games, live music, bingo and beer garden. Food: ‘best ‘ corn on the cob this side of the Mississippi, Vietnamese and American food, hot fresh mini-donuts and more. A chance to win the grand prize of $5,000, along with other cash prizes. Also includes a silent basket auction. 9600 Regent Ave. N. st-gerard.org
Looking for fun that supports the faith, brings family, friends, parishioners and neighbors together? Place this Parish Fall Festival Guide for August to November under a magnet on the refrigerator, tack it onto a bulletin board or store it somewhere safe and accessible. With information provided by parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the guide lists fall festivals and highlights some of their offerings. Check TheCatholicSpirit.com and parish websites for updates.
— The Catholic Spirit
country store, inflatables and cake walk for the kids. Tasty food and beverages. 707 89th Ave. NE. churchofsttimothy.com
St. Mary, Stillwater — Wild Rice Festival and Germanfest, Sept. 8 and 10: 5–10 p.m. Sept 8: 11 a.m. –4 p.m. Sept 10. Sept 8: Germanfest is our 21+ event celebrating our German heritage. Enjoy German food, beer and wine, and live polka bands. Sept 10: Wild Rice Festival serves the best chicken and wild rice dinner. Enjoy games, silent auction, bingo, beer, cake walk, 2nd hand treasures and more.! 423 Fifth St. South. stmichaelandstmarystillwater.org
Holy Cross, Minneapolis — September Fest, Sept. 8-10: 5–10 p.m. Sept 8; 5–10 p.m. Sept 9; 8 a.m.–2 p.m. Sept 10. Join us for fish fry Sept. 8, Polish food Sept. 9 and 10. Live music, crafts, silent auction, pop toss, beer garden, a snack booth and more. 17th and 4th St. NE. ourholycross.org
St. Odilia, Shoreview — Sept. 8-10: 6–10 p.m. Sept. 8: Latino dancers and food, Backyard Band, and variety of food trucks; 3–10 p.m. Sept. 9: farmers market, book sales, games, silent auction, live auction (6 p.m.), music and inflatables; noon–4 p.m. Sept 10: bingo, silent auction, music, inflatables, 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Masses with festival choir. Additional Masses: 5 p.m. Sept. 8; 7:30 a.m., 1 p.m.(Spanish); 6 p.m. Sept. 10. 3459 Victoria St. N. stodilia.org
Blessed Sacrament, St. Paul — Fun Fest, Aug. 19-20: 5–9 p.m. Aug. 19: noon–4 p.m. Aug 20, Aug. 19: spaghetti dinner, music, drinks and fun. Aug. 20: food, drinks, music, Take–A–Chance, silent auction, book sale and games for all ages. 2119 Stillwater Ave E. blessedsacramentsp.org
Ss. Joachim & Anne, Shakopee, JACS JAM, — Aug. 19-20: Aug. 19: 4 p.m. Polka Mass (under tent), 5–10 p.m. live bands and festivities, food, beverage, raffles, country store, bake sale, bingo, pull tabs, adult and children‘s games. Aug. 20: 9 a.m. Mass, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. festivities include family entertainment, Czech Concertina band, silent and live quilt auctions, and famous Chicken Plop game. SJA–Marystown campus, 15850 Marystown Road. SSJACS.org
Most Holy Trinity, Veseli — Aug. 20: 11 a.m.–6 p.m. 11 a.m. Polka Mass grilled pork and dumpling dinner, continuous music, games for all, country store, silent auction, homebaked good with Czech favorites, food and refreshments. Raffle drawing, 6:30 p.m. Na Shledanou Ve Veseli! (See you in Veseli!). 4939 N. Washington St. mhtveseli.com
St. Genevieve, Centerville — Aug. 20: 11 a.m. –3 p.m. Fun, food and friends. Picnic with broasted chicken, coleslaw, corn, dinner roll and cookie. Beer tent, raffles, bingo, kids‘ games, silent auction, fellowship and fun! 6995 Centerville Rd. stgen.org
St. Thomas the Apostle, Corcoran — Aug. 20, 11:30 a.m.–4 p.m. A day of fun that includes our delicious turkey dinner, DJ music, kids‘ area, inflatables, face painting, bingo, lawn games, cake walk, beer tent, bake sale, farmer‘s market, silent auction, cash raffle and more. Join us for 7:30 a.m. and/or 10:30 a.m. Mass before the festival. 20000 County Road 10. churchofstthomas.org
Our Lady of Guadalupe, St Paul — Family Fun Festival, Aug. 25-26: 5:30–9:30 p.m. Aug. 25, 5:30 p.m. Mass; 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Aug. 26, 8 a.m. Mass. Authentic Mexican food stands, entertainment, music, dancers, children‘s
games, face painting and more. Proceeds benefit the parish. 401 Concord St. olgcatholic.org
St. Victoria, Victoria – Sunset Fest, Aug. 25-26: 5–10 p.m. Aug. 25: ‘Family Night ‘, with a talent show, outdoor movie night, hot dog, chips, water and pop for purchase, along with beer and wine for adults. 5 p.m. Mass Aug. 26: followed by food and beverages, bingo, kids ‘ games, teen zone, and beer tent with live music. Ends at 10 p.m. Check the parish website for updated information and times. 8228 Victoria Drive. stvictoria.net
St. Luke, Clearwater — Aug. 27: 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Food and beverages, games for all ages, quilt raffle, cash raffle, silent auction, quilt auction, bingo and country market, cake walk. 17545 Huber Ave. NW. churchofstlukes.com
St. Mathias, Hampton — Fun Fest, Aug. 27: 11 a.m.–until live auction ends! Food, children‘s games, country store, silent auction, bingo, rip tickets, raffle, beer wagon, pork chops, brat meals and desserts. Live entertainment 11 a.m. –2 p.m. Live auction to follow. Join us for Mass at 10 a.m. 23315 Northfield Blvd. stmathias-hampton.com
St. Bonaventure, Bloomington — Sept. 8-9: 5–10 p.m. Sept. 8, serving broasted chicken dinner from 4:30–7 p.m. 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Sept. 9: Festival fun for everyone from kids‘ activities and crafts to live entertainment, a cash raffle, games of chance, and more than 200 classic cars. Fabulous food options reflect our diverse parish, from Vietnamese egg rolls made in our very own church kitchen to fresh cut French fries with grilled burgers and a custom seasoning for our premier pork chops. 7 p.m. Mass Sept. 9. Check our website for full schedule. 901 E. 90th St. saintbonaventure.org/fall-festival
St. Timothy, Blaine Carnival, Sept. 8-9: 5–10 p.m. Sept 8: noon–10 p.m. Sept 9: Fun for the whole family that includes games, live music and dancing, bingo, beer tent, silent auction,
St. Patrick, Oak Grove — CountryFest, Sept. 8-10: 8 p.m.–11 p.m. Sept. 8: 2 p.m.–11 p.m. Sept. 9: 10 a.m.–3 p.m. Sept. 10. Sept. 8: youth block party. Sept. 9: games, bingo, country store, food and drinks, silent auction, pull tabs, scarecrow contest, barbecue RibFest contest, craft beer, wine pull, live band, fireworks. Sept. 10: games, bingo, country store, classic car show, food and drinks, live quilt auction, silent auction, raffle drawing. 19921 Nightingale St. NW. st-patircks.org stpatrcks.org/events/countryfest
Holy Family Maronite, Mendota Heights — Sept. 9: 10 a.m.–7 p.m. Mediterranean cuisine, eat in or take out, bakery, games for both adults and children, silent auction, cash raffle. No charge for entry to festival. 1960 Lexington Ave. S. holyfamilymaronitechurch.org
Our Lady of the Prairie, Belle Plaine — Sept. 9: 5–9 p.m. Raffle tickets, live raffle, silent auction, farmers market, food stand, food truck, beer stand, children ‘s games, and live music by Sean Benz. 200 E. Church St. ourladyoftheprairie.com
St. Jude of the Lake, Mahtomedi — Cornfest, Sept. 9: 3–10 p.m. Come enjoy the best corn in town! Activities include: cornhole tournament, bingo, kids‘ games, brown bag raffle, live music by GB Leighton and great food. 700 Mahtomedi Ave. stjudeofthelake.org
Holy Family, St Louis Park — Family Fun and Kickball Tournament, Sept. 9-10: noon–10 p.m. Sept. 9; noon–4 p.m. Sept. 10. Sept. 9: family fun includes carnival games, pony rides, a petting zoo, inflatables, a beer garden, bingo, corn-hole tournament, outdoor food, cash raffle, auction, and live entertainment and chance baskets at school grounds 5925 West Lake Street. Sept 10: kickball tournament with donuts, coffee and food trucks at Keystone Park 3034 Alabama Ave S. hfcmn.org
St. Joseph the Worker, Maple Grove — 2023 Family Reunion, Sept. 9-10: 5 p.m. Mass Sept. 9, then join us for activities including food trucks, games for all, live music. 10 a.m. Mass (outdoor) Sept. 10, followed by KC picnic and live music. 7180 Hemlock Lane. sjtw.net
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St. Mary, Waverly — Sept. 9-10: 5–10 p.m. Sept. 9; 4 p.m. Polka Mass, 5–7 p.m. pork chop dinner, 6–10 p.m. music by Rod Cerar and Band. Sept. 10: 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Masses, 9:30 a.m. rolls, coffee and bingo and 10 a.m. cake walk. 2 p.m. entertainment by World ‘s nuttiest DJ Chopper Lammers. Activities on both days: 10 a.m. KC food, and noon beer stand, raffle booth, silent auction theme basket, garage sale and kids‘ games. 303 N. 6th St. stmarys-waverly.net
St. Michael, St. Michael — Sept. 9-10: 2–9:30 p.m. Sept. 9; 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Sept. 10. Sept. 9: bags tournament, food trucks, craft beer, and live music. Sept. 10: food trucks, refreshments, country store, arts and crafts, kids games, silent auction, and more. 11 a.m.– 2 p.m. chicken dinner (or until gone). $10 raffle tickets: drawing Sept. 10 at 4:00 p.m. 11300 Frankfort Pkwy NE. stmcatholicchurch.org
St. Mary, Le Center — Family Block Party, Sept. 10: 1–6 p.m. Start with noon Mass, then join us for food trucks and music by Gold Star Band. Bring a lawn chair. 165 N. Waterville Ave. stmarysthenry.org
St. Stanislaus, St Paul —Fall Fest and Turkey Dinner, Sept. 10: 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Join us for bingo, wheel of fortune, cotton candy, kids’ store and games, live music, beer and hotdogs, white elephant garage sale, silent auction jar bar, bakery, ice cream truck and our famous turkey dinner with all the trimmings! 398 Superior St. ststan.org
Guardian Angels, Oakdale — Sept. 15-16: 4:45-8:30 p.m. Sept. 15; 10 a.m.-dusk Sept. 16. $10,000 raffle, kids‘ games, huge silent auction, inflatables/slides, beer and food tent, quilt and restaurant raffle. Plus live band and fireworks Sept.16. 8260 4th St. N. guardian-angels.org
Annunciation, Minneapolis — Septemberfest, Sept. 15-17: 5–9 p.m. Sept. 15; noon–10 p.m. Sept. 16. Sept. 15-16: Fun for the whole family. Live music Sept. 15: Hurricane Blaze; Sept. 16: Belfast Cowboys. Carnival games, pie shoppe, farmer‘s market, llamas, wiffleball, delicious food and beverages all weekend! Come celebrate an outdoor Mass Sept. 17 at 9:30 a.m. 509 W. 54th St. annunciationmsp.org/church
Our Lady of the Lake, Mound — The Incredible Festival, Sept. 15-17: 5–11 p.m. Sept. 15; 11 a.m. –11 p.m. Sept. 16; 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Sept. 17. Food, silent auction, carnival rides, games, beer tent, bingo and more. No entrance fees. Benefits the parish 2385 Commerce Blvd. ourladyofthelake.com
Nativity of our Lord, St Paul — The Nativity County Fair, Sept. 15-17: 5–10 p.m. Sept. 15; noon–10 p.m. Sept. 16; 10:30 a.m. Mass,11:30 a.m.–3 p.m. Sept. 17. Food and beverages for the entire family, games, live music and entertainment, bingo, amusement rides and more. Additional details online. 1900 Wellesley Ave. nativitycountyfail.org
St. Helena, Minneapolis — Autumn Days, Sept. 15-17: 6–10 p.m. Sept. 15; 10:30 a.m.–10 p.m. Sept. 16; 10:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Sept. 17. Food, cash and quilt bingo (50 handmade quilts), rides, games, silent auction, garage sale, book sale. Sept. 15: fish fry and 10 p.m. fireworks. Sept. 16: 10 a.m. parade, pig roast, Asian food. Sept. 17: car show. 3204 E. 43rd St. sainthelena.us
Divine Mercy, Faribault — Spirit Fest Fall Festival, Sept. 16: 4–9 p.m. Smoked pork and turkey drumstick dinner and food trucks. Music by Sonar Worship at 4 p.m. Mass and on our outdoor stage. There will be kids‘ games, free drive-in movie, country store, raffles, silent auction and fireworks! 139 Mercy Dr. divinemercy.cc
Holy Name of Jesus, Wayzata —Fall Fest, Sept. 16: 5–9 p.m. 4 p.m. Mass followed by amazing food options, kids’ carnival games and inflatables, sweepstakes, entertainment by Emerson Avenue, classic car show, good friends and more. 155 County Road 24. hnoj.org/fallfest
Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Maplewood —Fall Festival, Sept. 16-17: 5–9 p.m. Sept. 16: 4 p.m. Mass followed by taco dinner, pull tabs, bonfire and outdoor movie. 10:30 a.m.3:30 p.m., Sept. 17: 9:30 a.m. Mass followed by food booth, silent auction, basket booth, bingo, pull tabs, Kiddieland games. 1725 Kennard St. presntationofmary.org
St. John the Baptist, Jordan — Rock the Lot and Fall Festival, Sept. 16-17: 6–11 p.m. Sept. 16; 9 a.m. –4 p.m. Sept. 17. Sept. 16: Rock the Lot features a live outdoor band, food vendors, street dance (across the street from the church). Sept. 17: funland for kids, games, prizes, homemade chicken dinner, bingo, food stands, live music, quilt auction, raffles, pull tabs, sports lounge, jackpot drawings, and a marketplace. 313 E Second St. sjbjordan.org
St. Patrick, Inver Grove Heights — Sept. 16-17: 4:30–7:30 p.m. Sept. 16; 11:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. Sept. 17. Lasagna dinner, Sept. 16. Food trucks and kids’ games, Sept. 17. Both days: pull tabs, bingo, bottle shoppe, silent auction, beer tent, entertainment. 3535 72nd St. East. churchofstpatrick.com
St. Peter, Mendota — Sept. 16-17: 5 p.m. Mass Sept. 16, followed by concessions and a freewill offering outdoor movie featuring “The Super Mario Brothers Movie” around 7:15 p.m., silent auction and cash raffle sales. 10 a.m. Mass, Sept. 17, then 11 a.m.–2:30 p.m. Boland Family Cheese Curds, Smokin ‘ on Site and King Leo‘s Roasted Corn food trucks, freewill offering pie and coffee, bingo with cash prizes, silent auction, tours of our Historic Church, children‘s games (11 a.m.–1:30 p.m.), inflatables, country store, over 21 dice game, cake walk, corn hole tournament with cash prizes, wine raffle, and cash raffle with a $5000 grand prize. 1405 Highway 13. stpetersmendota.org
Immaculate Conception, Marysburg, Madison Lake — Sept. 17: 10:30 a.m.–1 p.m. 10:30 a.m. Outdoor Mass (weather permitting). Picnic style fare will be served from 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. Kids’ games, raffle, bake sale, and farmer‘s market. 27528 Patrick St. maryschurches.org
Immaculate Conception, Watertown — Sept. 17: 10:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Festival favorites: turkey dinner, beer tent, raffle, kids‘ games, bingo, cake walk, wine pull, silent auction, and country store. Music by Hillbilly Cadillac. 109 Angel Ave NW. iccwatertown.org
Sacred Heart, Rush City — Sept. 17: 10:30 a.m. –1:30 p.m. Fun for the whole family. Including famous Brass Rail signature chicken, kids’ games, silent auction, country store with baked goods and adult games-50/50, wine and spirits. 415 W 5th Street. sacredheartrcmn.org
St. Albert, Albertville — Sept. 17: 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Fun for the whole family. Kids‘ games (free), bingo, coffee bar, horse race pull-tabs, bean bag tournament, raffle baskets, cake walk, bottle surprise, ‘The Market ‘ and grilled food. 5700 Lander Ave NE. churchofstalbert.org
St. Margaret Mary, Golden Valley — Sept. 24: 10:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. The festivities will begin with outdoor Mass at 10 a.m. followed by adult and kids‘ games, bingo, silent auction, delicious home cooked food (pulled pork and Indian food). Win up to $2000 in cash prizes -drawing at 2 p.m. Fun and fellowship for all. 2323 Zenith Ave N. smm-gv.org
St. Mary of the Lake, White Bear Lake — Sept. 17: 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Buy tasty food from food trucks. Music by Emerson Avenue (bring lawn chairs). Marketplace: handmade mittens, pillows, décor, salsas, breads, produce, flowers and more. Buy wine to sip while shopping. Don‘t miss the jewelry sale, raffles, bingo and kids‘ games. 4690 Bald Eagle Ave. stmarys-wbl.org
St. Vincent de Paul, Brooklyn Park — Harvest Festival, Sept. 17: 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Games for kids, teens and adults, bingo, pull tabs, raffles, beer tent, pig roast and more. Drawing at 6:15 p.m. 9100 93rd Ave N. saintvdp.org
St. Ambrose, Woodbury — FallFest, Sept. 22-23: 5:30–10 p.m. Sept. 22; 11 a.m.–10 p.m. Sept. 23. Entertainment for all ages including carnival rides, games for adults and children, bingo, big ticket raffle, silent auction, bucket raffle, wine raffle, and beer garden. Talent show Sept. 23. Variety of food including pulled chicken, burgers, hot dogs, pizza, corn on the cob, Culver‘s frozen custard and more. Headliner bands: Rizer
6–10 p.m. Sept. 22 and Good for Gary 6–10 p.m. Sept. 23: 4125 Woodbury Dr. saintambrosecatholic.org
St. John the Baptist, New Brighton — FallFest, Sept. 22-24: 5–10 p.m. Sept. 22; 9 a.m.–10 p.m. Sept. 23; 10:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. Sept. 24. Traditional Booya for sale, fun run, bags tournament, live bands, car show, fireworks, bingo, food and drinks, games for both adults and children.
4:30 p.m. Mass Sept. 23: with multicultural music and 10:30 a.m. Polka Mass Sept. 24. 835 2nd Ave NW. stjohnnb.com
Sacred Heart, Robbinsdale — Family Fun Fest, Sept. 23: 4–10:30 p.m. 4 p.m. Mass, followed by bingo, raffle, kids ‘ games, face painting, bottle bash game, various food selections. Band: 45rpm from 7–10 p.m., pull tabs and some new surprises. 4087 West Broadway Ave N.shrmn.org
St. Peter, North St. Paul — Fall Festival and Market, Sept. 23-24: 5–8 p.m. Sept. 23; 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Sept. 24. Join us for bingo, live music, pancake breakfast, 40 +local artisans and crafters market, inflatables, games for all ages, cornhole tournament, food trucks, raffles, beer garden, and the Vikings game on a 15‘ video screen. 2600 Margaret St. N. churchofstpeternsp.org/festival
St. Timothy, Maple Lake — Fall Festival, Sept. 24: 9 a.m.–4 p.m. bingo, cake walk, kids’ games, raffles, dinner, KC hamburger stand, country store, kettle corn, music, and religious items and books. 8 Oak Ave N. churchofsttimothy.org
Mary Queen of Peace, Rogers — Church and School Fall Festival, Sept. 24: 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Broasted chicken dinner served 11 a.m. –1 p.m. Dinner tickets sold in advance, call the parish office: 763-428-2585. Country store, craft sales, kids‘ games, yard games, bingo and raffle for cash prizes. 21304 Church Ave. mqpcatholic.org
Most Holy Redeemer, Montgomery — Sept. 24: 10 a.m. Mass, 11 a.m.–2 p.m. Join us for an afternoon of Christ-centered fellowship with live music, country store, kids‘ games, beer stand, raffle and food vendors. 206 W. Vine Ave. West. hreddemerparish.org
St. John the Baptist, Vermillion — Sept. 24: 11 a.m.–3 p.m. Mass at10 a.m. Food, children‘s games, kids‘ tractor pull, silent auction, bingo, pull tabs, meat raffle, beer gardens, and bake sale. Cafeteria style meals featuring pork chop on a stick, brats or hot dogs with sides, and pizza. Raffle and live entertainment. 111 Main St. W. stjohns-vermillion.com
St. Michael, Farmington — Feast Day Family Fest, Sept. 24: 11:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. 22120 Denmark Ave. Visit our website for all the details. stmichael-farmington.org
St. Gregory, North Branch — Fall Festival and Booya, Sept. 25: 10:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. A Fall celebration for the whole family with the best Booya in town. Children‘s games, raffle ($1000 grand prize), bottle booth, wine booth, silent auction, prizes, hot dogs, chips and drinks. 38725 Forest Blvd. stgreforynb.org
St. Gabriel the Archangel, Hopkins — Sept. 30Oct 1: 5:30–10 p.m. Sept. 30; 11 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Oct.1. Both days include food and beverages (includes a beer garden), bake shop, country
store, inflatable, games and online auction. Sept. 30: 6–9 p.m. live music. Oct. 1: 11 a.m.–3 p.m.chicken dinner, bingo, large TV to watch football. Raffle drawing at 4:30 p.m. 1310 Main St. stgabrielhopkins.org
Guardian Angels, Chaska — Sept. 30: noon–8 p.m. Authentic Latino food, fresh-cut French fries, great burgers, brats, homemade apple crisp, beverages including beer and wine. Enjoy bingo, silent auction, cash raffle, kids ‘ games with prizes. a roll-in car show, entertainment by Ecuadorian and Mexican Dance groups, music by In The Name Worship, a group of youth ministers from our own Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, who will also provide music at the 4:30 p.m. Mass. Karaoke after Mass. 215 W. 2nd St. gachaska.org
St. Joseph, Rosemount — Harvest Festival, Oct. 7: 2–9 p.m. Concessions: beer and wine, caramel apples, chips, hot dogs, soda, water and more. 2 bingo sessions (must be 18+ to play), pumpkin painting, punch wall (for gift cards and prizes), raffle (must be 18+ to play), silent auction, wine pull, inflatable archery and other games and activities for children. 5 p.m. Mass followed by a chicken dinner. 13900 Biscayne Ave. W. stjosephcommunity.org
St. Patrick, Edina — Octoberfest Celebration, Oct. 7: 2–8 p.m. Family Fun. Live music: 3–3:45 p.m. Teddy Bear Band; 4:30–5:30 p.m. Edina High School Ensemble; 6–7:30 p.m. Deutschland Band. Concessions: food trucks, beer, wine and soft drinks. Activities: kids‘ games including bouncy room, bingo and visit with Edina Police and Fire. Adult games including bingo, pull tabs, cornhole. West Parking lot, Mahon Center and Labyrinth. 6820 Saint Patrick ‘s Lane. stpatrick-edina.org
St. Joseph, New Hope— Fall Festival, Oct. 14: 3–9 p.m. Mass and family fun activities including tasty dinners and concessions, pulled pork patio, sodas and adult beverages, live music, kids ‘ games, bottle blast, silent auction, bingo, wall of wine, bake sale, grand raffle and more. Pre-activities at 3 p.m.; Mass at 4 p.m. followed by festivities. 8701 36th Ave N. st.josephpairsh.com/fall-festival
Holy Name, Minneapolis — Oct. 15: 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Great food, live entertainment, silent auction, children‘s games, crafts, bingo and more. 37th St. and 12th Ave. churchoftheholyname.org
Our Lady of Peace, Minneapolis — Party at the Patch, Oct. 21: 11 a.m.–7 p.m. A day of free fun for all ages - petting zoo, music play for kids and more! Pet the animals, buy your pumpkins, great food, touch-a-truck, and enjoy the great Minnesota autumn weather. 5426 12th Ave S. olpmn.org/pumpkinpatch
St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Paul Park — Holiday Craft Fair, Nov. 4-5: 9 a.m.–3 p.m. Nov 4; 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Nov 5. Over 60 crafters and vendors to delight you. Check out our famous bake sale and Granny ‘s Attic. There are two levels of shopping pleasure and hourly raffle drawings for our customers to celebrate our 50th year. 92 Holley Ave. st-thomas-aquinas.com
St. Mary, New Trier — Sausage Supper, Nov. 19: noon–6 p.m. 8433 239th St. E., Hampton. stmarys-newtrier.com
Sts. Peter and Paul, Loretto — Christkindlmarkt, Nov. 25: noon–8 p.m. Live entertainment, shopping with local artisans and vendors, Bavarian grill, Viennese coffee house, seasonal snacks and drinks, kids games, silent auction and more in an authentic Old World setting. 150 Railway St E. sspap.org/christkindlmarkt
Blessed Solanus Casey (1870-1957) had a number of local connections in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
This holy Capuchin priest is best known as the “porter of St. Bonaventure’s monastery,” providing holy counsel and even miracles while living in Detroit.
Before he was a priest, Blessed Solanus lived in Stillwater, trying his hand at logging. Later, his uncle Pat Murphy helped him to get a job at the Stillwater State Prison. His other uncle (Father Maurice Murphy) was pastor of St. Michael. In that parish, as a young man, he received the sacrament of confirmation. Later as a priest, Blessed Solanus visited the then-College of St. Thomas in St. Paul to see his brother, Msgr. Edward Casey, and stayed in the red brick infirmary building that had a few rooms for visiting guests. The building still stands next to the St. John Vianney College Seminary.
Blessed Solanus’ feast day is July 30, and his life provides a great example for the day’s Gospel. The parables of the pearl, the treasure and the net remind us of the sense of urgency in seeking the
FATHER MIKE | FATHER MICHAEL SCHMITZQ I sometimes feel like a hypocrite when I say that I believe in God and am Catholic, but then I don’t always live the way I should live as a disciple of Jesus. I try to follow God, but I keep failing, and I feel like a phony.
A I really appreciate you asking about this. If we go back to the Gospels, we see that Jesus has his harshest words for those whom he calls “hypocrites.” He has incredibly strong words of condemnation for those who claim religious uprightness but who are not living that out. We hear these words at the beginning of each Lent in the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus says: “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. … When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. … When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward” (Mt 6:1, 5, 16).
To each of these behaviors, Jesus reveals the emptiness and futility of posturing. He goes even further to let us know that we continue these behaviors at our peril.
But what kind of behaviors is Jesus talking about? Is he saying that praying, fasting and almsgiving are bad? He most definitely is not, since he goes on to say, “When you pray … when you fast … when you give alms … .”
Is he saying that a Christian is a failure if someone else notices and knows that you are praying, or fasting or giving alms? Did Jesus say that you have to keep all your good works secret? Absolutely not. While Jesus does tell us to “not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” while giving alms, and to “pray to your Father in secret,” he also makes it clear that “your light must shine
kingdom of God.
Blessed Solanus was not a nervous man. Quite the opposite, he was a man of calm, kindness and an ability to be very present to those in his presence. Sometimes we equate urgency with running around in a panic. Rather, urgency in the parable is the ability to seek what is most important and set aside what is less important. The merchant recognizes the pearl of great price and sells everything to purchase it.
Blessed Solanus demonstrated this ability to focus on discovering the kingdom in the present moment by accepting his assignment. Blessed Solanus was ordained a “simplex priest.” He was not permitted to hear confessions nor preach a sermon, as his superiors did not feel he had the intellectual gifts for this. Instead, he was assigned to answer the door at the monastery as a porter. One might be tempted to be bitter over this characterization and lowly assignment. Yet Blessed Solanus embraced it with great joy as he recognized God’s work before him and the importance and urgency of that good work. Literally thousands of lives were impacted by those who came to visit the joyful porter for his wise counsel, prayer and occasional miracles.
Sometimes we can get all wrapped up in what the world dictates as important, yet the Gospel for July 30 is a reminder to look at things with new eyes. We are called to a new sense of urgency in responding to the good news. This urgency will help us to order our lives, seeking first the kingdom of God.
Father Creagan is pastor of St. Michael and St. Mary in Stillwater, canonical administrator of St. Croix Catholic School, and a chaplain for the Minnesota Army National Guard.
before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Mt 5:14-16). Our good works must become known at some point so that God may be glorified. And this is the key.
When Jesus condemns hypocrisy, we need to know what hypocrisy is. It is not striving to do God’s will and failing. Hypocrisy is pretending to be other than we are. The very term “hypocrite” comes from the Greek word for “actor,” a person who is pretending to be someone other than who they truly are. The fact that Jesus is focusing on this aspect of behavior is even more clear when we examine how he describes these actions. He outlines these actions by highlighting their motive: They “perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them.” They “love to stand and pray … so that others may see them.” “They neglect their appearance … so that they may appear to others to be fasting.”
The goal is entirely impression management. They want to have the appearance of virtue without the presence of virtue. The goal is: I want you to think that I have that which I am not willing to choose. I want you to think I am who I am not willing to become.
This is, essentially, acting — pretending. This is hypocrisy. So, let’s get back to you. You said that you feel like a hypocrite. It sounds like you are striving to follow Jesus and still find yourself not living the way Christ is calling you to live. That is not hypocrisy. That is called being a fallen human being who is striving to live by God’s grace. This is good news! You are not necessarily a hypocrite; you are just broken — like the rest of us.
Now, all of this comes with a note of caution. We do live in a day and age where hypocrisy has some clout, not when it comes to prayer, fasting and almsgiving but when it comes to the temptation toward a relatively new way of describing an old phenomenon. I mean the term “virtue signaling.”
Virtue signaling is the most modern form of hypocrisy. It is pretending to the extreme. It is the antithesis of actual virtue. Where true virtue often comes at great cost, virtue signaling costs nothing. Where real virtue demands that I may have to take an unpopular stand for my deepest convictions, virtue signaling almost always agrees with whichever opinion is most popular in a given culture.
Now, of course I can do something simply because I have been asked to do it (provided it doesn’t violate God’s law or my conscience). We all do this to some degree, and this is not
PLEASE TURN TO ASK FATHER MIKE ON PAGE 19
Sunday, July 30
Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Kgs 3:5, 7-12 Rom 8:28-30 Mt 13:44-52
Monday, July 31 St. Ignatius of Loyola, priest Ex 32:15-24, 30-34 Mt 13:31-35
Tuesday, Aug. 1 St. Alphonsus Liguori, bishop and doctor of the Church Ex 33:7-11; 34:5b-9, 28 Mt 13:36-43
Wednesday, Aug. 2 Ex 34:29-35 Mt 13:44-46
Thursday, Aug. 3 Ex 40:16-21, 34-38 Mt 13:47-53
Friday, Aug. 4 St. John Vianney, priest Lv 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37 Mt 13:54-58
Saturday, Aug. 5 Lv 25:1, 8-17 Mt 14:1-12
Sunday, Aug. 6
Transfiguration of the Lord Dn 7:9-10, 13-14 2 Pt 1:16-19 Mt 17:1-9
Monday, Aug. 7 Nm 11:4b-15 Mt 14:13-21
Tuesday, Aug. 8 St. Dominic, priest Nm 12:1-13 Mt 14:22-36
Wednesday, Aug. 9 Nm 13:1-2, 25—14:1, 26a-29a, 34-35 Mt 15:21-28
Thursday, Aug. 10 St. Lawrence, deacon and martyr 2 Cor 9:6-10 Jn 12:24-26
Friday, Aug. 11 St. Clare, virgin Dt 4:32-40 Mt 16:24-28
Saturday, Aug. 12 Dt 6:4-13 Mt 17:14-20
Sunday, Aug. 13
Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-13a Rom 9:1-5 Mt 14:22-33
STS. MARTHA, MARY AND LAZARUS Martha and her siblings, Mary and Lazarus, are Jesus’ friends in Bethany. In Luke 10:38-42, while Mary sits at Jesus’ feet, Martha is busy serving. When she complains to Jesus, he says: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. … Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” Just before Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11:1-44), Martha confesses: “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Martha is the patron of cooks and servers. The feast day of Sts. Martha, Mary and Lazarus is July 29.
ASK
Being astute in Catholic leadership is vital for parents nowadays. The need also presents significant challenges when it comes to perusing, discerning and choosing what is intellectually healthy and of redeeming value for children.
Decisions must be made about books to read, entertainment to view, smartphone usage and access, internet quantity and quality, and so forth. In part, this is the reason I remind parents when presiding at baptism preparation classes and at baptisms that they are the first and primary teachers of their children. Yes indeed, the onus is on mom and dad to rally the troops as they grow in the faith, to give the right direction — preemptively and in here-and-now moments — as each situation presents itself. Recently, a friend of mine from our men’s small
group stood as a voice for truth and ethics at a public forum. It was as much a rally as a forum about the issue of an overabundance of specific library materials and references available for children — targeting an age just a few years ahead of the infants and toddlers I would soon be baptizing. The forum was about books, e-books — so called “educational materials” — that are available in our public libraries that promote a gender ideology that smacks against Catholic teaching. Attendees included Catholic comrades and others of faith and reason who teach, believe and practice within their own families God’s design “… male and female he created them” (Gn 1:27) when it comes to the question of gender and the natural order of things. My colleagues were greatly outnumbered. Nonetheless, the event provided an interesting and fruitful discussion the next morning at our weekly small group gathering. It was a relevant time to pray about the controversial issue, where much strength, healing and transformation is needed. Compassionate and compelling voices are needed to represent the family as the vital cell of society, protecting parents’ rights to bring up their children without coercion — subtle or otherwise. Peaceful venues are important for all Catholics to take the opportunity to stand up for what we believe is in lockstep with our faith and right for our families. Yet, first and foremost, the home remains the front line for proper instruction
and upbringing. From our baptism, we are brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ the king. And as a duty of that rite, we are anointed priest (to sanctify), prophet (to teach truth) and king (to rule, guide and serve) as parents and spiritual leaders. This “royalty” is a responsibility for all of us — and especially for parents — who are the primary teachers and providers of what is good for their children. Parents help provide truths, expectations and experiences of what will help their children flourish in their sacramental life. Parents can provide God’s rich soil, which sustains each child, helping them through the formidable early years of life as “one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit that yield a hundred or sixty or thirty fold” (Mt 13:23). Rallying the troops at home for “truth discussions” starts at that age of culpability, which those closest to their children know best — mom and dad. Certainly, grandparents, godparents and family friends are at work here, as well.
In the words of St. John Paul II, given in a homily during his papacy: “As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.”
Deacon Bird ministers to St. Joseph in Rosemount and All Saints in Lakeville and assists with the archdiocesan Catholic Watchmen movement. He can be reached at gordonbird@rocketmail com
The desire to be a parent is natural and runs so deep that bearing the cross of infertility can leave couples with a devastating longing. This devastation is a reality for about 9% of men and 11% of women. Amid this painful longing, too often couples seeking answers and options are placed on the assisted reproduction track — a dangerous and expensive endeavor that generates many ethical dilemmas — with the promise that the couple can create (or even design) a child.
During the 2023 legislative session, a bill, SF1704, nearly passed that would mandate insurance coverage by large group health plans for infertility and fertility preservation services, such as in vitro fertilization for married couples who have tried to conceive naturally
for six to 12 months depending on the woman’s age, for single individuals, or for same-sex couples. No exemptions exist for companies or organizations that do not agree with these controversial practices. Fortunately, this bill did not make it to the finish line. It is bound to re-emerge in 2024. Were this bill to pass, a single person or gay or lesbian couple would be granted insurance coverage to create a family by way of technology, contrary to how God intended the family unit to grow. Obvious ethical concerns are present in these instances, such as selling sperm and egg cells, the renting of women’s wombs as surrogates and intentionally creating circumstances in which a child is separated from the parents who share the child’s DNA.
Mandating insurance coverage would impact insurance premiums across the board. It often takes three to four IVF cycles on average before a viable pregnancy is achieved. One cycle can cost between $15,000 and $30,000 depending on the clinic and the individual health needs of the patient. Multiplying that by three cycles, insurance companies are looking at a $45,000 to $120,000 price tag. But the great financial cost is just one negative facet of this bill.
The root issue is the human cost — the lives created and intentionally killed or abandoned and the disruption of the natural marital act. The Church raises ethical concerns about assisted reproduction such as IVF, which creates an excess of embryos, as written in “Dignitas Personae”:
“The process of in vitro fertilization very frequently involves the deliberate destruction of embryos ... (and) subsequent experience has shown, however, that all techniques of in vitro fertilization proceed as if the human embryo were simply a mass of cells to be used, selected, and discarded.” Concerns are also raised about genetic screening and testing so that the “best” embryo is implanted into the mother’s womb, tantamount to eugenics.
For married couples, it is good to try to overcome obstacles that may be preventing the conception of a child, and there are many incredible medical advances that are morally licit for married couples. In the document “Donum Vitae” the Church teaches that if a given medical intervention helps or assists the marital act in achieving pregnancy, then it is moral. If the intervention replaces the marital act, it is not moral.
July 23-29 is Natural Family Planning Awareness Week — a great time to learn about the morally licit means available to couples trying to overcome infertility. To learn more, visit usccb org/topics/ natural-family-planning
To stay up to date on the Minnesota Legislature’s attempts to mandate insurance coverage for unethical fertility treatments and more, join the Catholic Advocacy Network at mncatholic org/join
Five years ago, I had cancer. We caught it early and had it removed. The margins were clean so we sighed with relief and went on with living, knowing it might come back. It did.
Again, we caught it extremely early, but this time, we were more aggressive in treatment. We had hoped that by having major surgery — removing all the cancer and then some — that I might be able to avoid chemotherapy. But medicine is sometimes more an art than a science and once they got a good look at that stinking tumor under a microscope, it was determined that I would probably benefit from a few rounds of chemical therapeutics coursing through my veins.
Filled with dread, I made the appointment with the oncologist, images of a balding, nauseated me running through my head.
As I was hanging up the phone, my husband walked in the door, returning from work, and announced, “I just got laid off.”
You can’t make up moments like these.
Though it would be tempting to entertain it, one thing I know with absolute certainty: Self-pity is poison. I fear it at least as much as I fear cancer. With good reason. When I was young, I was a highly acclaimed, black belt master practitioner of self-pity. If you needed an expert witness in the effects of self-pity, you could have called me to testify. I’m not quite sure how I developed this corrosive expertise, but thank the Lord, in my 30s it lost its death grip on my heart. I experienced a definitive healing around the issue and knew, for the first time, real freedom from it.
But I still have to be on guard. It bears repeating: Self-pity is poison. It’s also the devil’s playground. If you find yourself poised to fall into the burning cauldron of self-pity, though you might have good reason to, I’d highly advise against it. Far too much of my life was given over to it and I can assure you, it
In my last column, I began introducing the Catholic Worker Movement, founded in 1933 by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. The movement is best known for its Houses of Hospitality, which, in widely various forms, offer food and shelter to the poor.
It’s easy to see these houses as a form of social services, just one more instance of our society’s efforts to meet the needs of the most vulnerable. And indeed, who can find fault with feeding and sheltering people?
But Day and Maurin’s vision for the houses was a fully Catholic vision. Meaning, although there may be some similarities, the true nature of a Catholic Worker house is quite different from institutionalized charities. I’ll unpack some of these differences here and in upcoming columns.
The first difference is that Day and Maurin envisioned “agenda-less” hospitality. In other words, everyone is worthy of food and shelter just by virtue of being a human being. You don’t have to first attain certain moral qualifications, or be “clean” or sober, or be trying to better yourself, or be looking
proffers naught but death.
A few distinctions I learned along the way might be helpful. Self-pity, according to the Oxford dictionary, is: “excessive, self-absorbed unhappiness over one’s own troubles.” (Even reading the definition gives me an interior “yuck.”) This means, mourning is not self-pity, sorrow is not self-pity, even anxiety or dread — these are not self-pity. Let’s recall that the Lord’s anxiety was so great in his agony that he sweat tears of blood. His Garden of Gethsemane moment can teach us a great deal about holy anxiety and fear. These emotions can help us to move through life’s more serious challenges. You can embrace grief, loss, anxiety, even fear in sanctity knowing that these may be steppingstones to acceptance and assent, to “not my will but yours be done.”
If Jesus can feel anxiety and dread, you can, too. But he didn’t stay locked in them. You don’t have to, either. We do not have to enjoy our crosses, but
for a job, or anything like that. And the reason is that you don’t have to do those things to deserve food, shelter and clothing. You deserve those things because you are a human being. And agenda-less hospitality simply offers them on that basis.
There are limitations, of course, to what any house can offer. No house can take in everybody, and many, including the one that I help run, are simply not able to take in particular kinds of folks. In our case, for instance, it’s because we have lots of children running around, which limits both the attention we can give each guest and the sorts of lifestyles that we can accommodate. So, we have to be selective. But this is not because a person who struggles with anger or addiction doesn’t deserve our hospitality; it’s just because certain behaviors are not a good fit for us right now.
You might think the idea that everybody — without qualification — deserves food and shelter is uncontroversial. But our culture so often combines a sort of moral puritanism with a certain work ethic that even the most tolerant of us might find ourselves quietly outraged by the thought of a person not living “responsibly” having the necessities of life doled out to them.
You’d be surprised how many times the first questions I’m asked when someone learns about our little hospitality house are: What do we require of the guests? And do we help them get jobs? It’s not about that, I explain. It’s about answering the question, as an old friend once put it to me, “Is that a person?”
Even the guests themselves feel the need to prove to us that they are “good people” or “not lazy.” We
we are asked to heroically carry them and there’s no room for self-pity in any kind of heroics, spiritual or otherwise.
God has not given me cancer or crashed the economy, but in his wisdom, he allows these trials and I pray mightily that the greatest possible good will come from every minute of them. And that he will protect me from even an ounce of yucky “excessive, self-absorbed unhappiness.”
Lord of mercy, when the cup does not pass, when the cross feels too heavy, help us to remember that one day you will “turn my mourning into dancing” (Ps 30:11) — even if, at the moment, we’re nauseated, losing our hair, and falling behind on the bills. Amen.
Kelly Stanchina is the award-winning author of 12 books, including “Jesus Approaches,” “Love Like a Saint,” and “A Place Called Golgotha.” Her website can be found at lizk org
don’t mind, of course, if people want to get jobs or just see our hospitality house as a way to get back on their feet. But what we tell them is that they can stay as long as they like, that they don’t have to prove anything to us, and that we hope for friendship more than anything else. It’s a measure of our culture that those sentiments are usually hard for them to believe.
Agenda-less hospitality is more controversial than you’d think. There is still, deep in our culture, a desire to distinguish between “us” and “them.” It’s an unspoken piece of popular American morality that because I have a job and a house I am “better,” in most cases, than those who live on the street.
This is one of our pet prejudices that the Gospel explodes. We are all sinners, none of us deserves God’s hospitality, his welcome. And yet, in Christ, we receive it, unworthy as we are. None of us receives what we deserve, and if we judge others, we are only asking God to judge us with the same harshness (Mt 7:1). If anything, riches and comfort — if our Lord’s words are any indication (Lk 6:24) — are what we ought to be concerned about; not addictions, lack of work or laziness. The Gospel, Day would often say, forever takes away our right to discriminate between the deserving and the undeserving poor.
And that’s just the first difference.
Miller is director of pastoral care and outreach at Assumption in St. Paul. He has a Ph.D. in theology from Duke University, and lives with his family at the Maurin House Catholic Worker community in Columbia Heights. You can reach him at colin miller1@protonmail com
We do not have to enjoy our crosses, but we are asked to heroically carry them and there’s no room for selfpity in any kind of heroics, spiritual or otherwise.
Being Catholic is the most important thing in my life. I cherish my faith in Jesus as he is the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father except through him. I long to join him in heaven, and what better way than to belong to the Church that he established, that traces its origins back to Peter, the rock upon whom the Church was built?
I have many people to thank in the formation of my faith. From the time I was baptized, I had two strong Catholic role models in my godparents, Uncle John and Aunt Janet. I had the Benedictine nuns of Holy Redeemer school in Evansville, Indiana, who taught me discipline and devotion to Mary. They were the ones who prepared me for my first holy Communion and chose me to crown Mary in our May crowning ceremony. Then, as my family moved to Madison, Wisconsin, I had the Dominican Sisters of Our Lady Queen of Peace who helped prepare me with the Baltimore Catechism to possibly answer a question from our bishop on the day I was confirmed. My parents sacrificed to pay for a parochial education for my siblings and me, all five of us.
As I entered high school, I became active in the Catholic Youth Organization and learned about many service activities, such as taking food to the poor when we lived in Indianapolis. And there were the social activities, like the CYO dances that I loved.
As I became an adult, all these things functioned as a firm basis for my faith, even in times when I went astray with other activities. My faith was always there, a firm rock, my fortress.
Currently, I am involved in the Council of Catholic Women. This is a wonderful organization. I have had the opportunity to meet and
work with so many strong, beautiful souls from so many different parishes within our Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and beyond. It is an inspiration to me to follow these laywomen role models and to engage in all their service activities. We are giving back to our communities and sharing in God’s graces and acting as Jesus’ hands here on earth.
Finally, my favorite time of year is Lent, and I especially love the Triduum each year. I wish everyone could know how beautiful our Catholic tradition is and how comforting it is deep in my heart to be part of a Church that Jesus himself founded so many years ago. When I smell the incense and hear the “Ave Maria” it takes me back and my soul remembers … what a gift it truly is to be Catholic!
An active member of St. Timothy in Blaine since 1972, Pontious, 72, retired last year after teaching biology to 10th graders for 15 years at Aquinas Roman Catholic Home Education Services in Lino Lakes. She and her late husband, Bob, raised six children, one of whom died in 2007, and they have 10 grandchildren. Pontious drives for Meals on Wheels and helps facilitate a weekly grief support group for people who have lost loved ones to accidental death or overdose. She is secretary on the board for Oakwood Park Single Family Homes and is involved with the Council of Catholic Women at the parish, Minneapolis deanery and archdiocesan levels. She is an avid reader, loves to cook and appreciates music of all kinds.
“Why I am Catholic” is an ongoing series in The Catholic Spirit. Want to share why you are Catholic? Submit your story in 300-500 words to CatholiCSpirit@arChSpm org with subject line “Why I am Catholic.”
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRITPARISH FALL FESTIVAL GUIDE: Turn to pages 13-14 for carnivals, festivals and other parish and school special events from late summer into fall. Find updates through the fall at T he C aT holi C S piri T C om
All Saints (Lakeville) Garage Sale — Aug. 2-5 at 19795 Holyoke Ave., Lakeville. Over 35,000 square feet of antiques, collectibles, clothing, garden and household goods, furniture, sports equipment, baby items, toys, and much more. Learn more about daily sale hours, early-bird day, half-price day, by visiting all S aint SC hur C h C om / garage S ale
Silent Weekend Retreat for Men and Women — Aug. 4-6 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo.
Presenter: Father Ronald Rolheiser, OMI.
Theme: A Theology and Spirituality of Sexuality
— Understanding the Complex Fire Within. Register online at king S hou S e C om
Help for Struggling Couples — Aug. 4-6 at Best Western Dakota Ridge Hotel, 3450 Washington Drive, Eagan. Retrouvaille is a lifeline for troubled marriages. Learn the tools to heal marriage. 100% confidential. helpourmarriage org
Special Mass for People with Memory Loss
— Aug. 10: 1:30–3 p.m. at St. Odilia, 3495 Victoria St. N., Shoreview. All are welcome, especially anyone who may be experiencing memory loss and their caregivers. Hospitality after Mass, with community resource information available. Call for additional information: 651-484-6681. S todilia org
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15
necessarily hypocritical. I pay taxes although I do not like paying them. I will go where my bishop asks me to go solely because he has asked me to go there. When I was younger, I went to school and church because my parents told me to. I did my homework not because I always had a great love of learning but
Grief to Grace MN: Healing The Wounds of Abuse — Aug. 15-20: A five-day overnight healing program for anyone who has suffered degradation or violation from physical, emotional, spiritual, clerical or sexual abuse. A trauma-informed model of care that is a safe and hopeful path to restoring dignity — a therapy for the soul. Confidential Twin Cities location due to nature of event. Address provided directly to registrants. For additional information visit grieftogra C emn org
Blessed Is She: Burn Revival — Aug. 18: 7–9 p.m. at Our Lady of Peace, 5426 12th Ave. S., Minneapolis. Women invited to join in prayer with the Blessed is She community, to worship and listen to a talk by Beth Davis. Enter into a Holy Hour with confession available. ble SS edi SS he net / produ C t S / burn - revivalfor - C atholi C - women - minneapoli S - mn
Shopping and Supper — Aug. 3: 5–8 p.m. at Holy Cross School, 6100 37th St. W., Webster. Eat while shopping. Over 30 art and craft vendors. Food trucks: Pizzeria 201, Robert’s BBQ, El Mexicano Grill, Game Day Grub. And, while not a food truck, a definite plus is Kona Ice. holy C ro SSSC hool net
Catholic Social Difference Speaker Series — Aug. 31, Sept. 7, 14, 21: 7–8:15 p.m. at Assumption, 51 7th St. W., St. Paul. Four-week series of conversations with local Catholic leaders introducing Catholic social teaching and imagining how to practice it in real life. Talks are free and open to the public. More information and registration at
because the people who had authority over me told me to.
One way to know if you or I have fallen into modern-day hypocrisy and virtue signaling is to ask ourselves these questions: Have I ever found myself saying something simply because it was expected of me … even if I didn’t believe it? Or: Have I ever found myself not saying something that I believed simply because it was unpopular?
Blessed Solanus Casey Pilgrimage — July 29: 7 a.m.–6:30 p.m. Join Franciscan Brothers of Peace at the Blessed Solanus Casey Friary, 1101 Desoto St., St. Paul, as a starting point for an 18-mile walking pilgrimage for the intercession and canonization of Blessed Solanus. End at St. Michael in Stillwater. Also, a 3-mile walking pilgrimage option. modern C atholi C pilgrim C om / bl - S olanu S
Elevate Life Golf Classic — July 31: 10 a.m.–7 p.m. at Crystal Lake Golf Course, 16725 Innsbrook Drive, Lakeville. Support “Elevate Life” and its 38 pregnancy centers and clinics in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Individual golfers and foursomes. Cost per golfer: $150. Not a golfer? Be a sponsor or donor. elevatelifeuSa org/golf
Walk for Life — Aug. 12: 10 a.m.–2 p.m. at Eastview High School (athletic field), 6200 140th St. W., Apple Valley. Raise funds for Pregnancy Choices life care center and educational materials. Fun, food and fellowship. knight S forlifemn org
“Fully Alive” Art Show — Aug. 13: 2:30–4:30 p.m. at Dunrovin Retreat Center, 15525 St. Croix Trail N., Marine On Saint Croix. Local Catholic artist, Madeline Orsinger explores the line attributed to St. Irenaeus, “The glory of God is man fully alive.” Open gallery, refreshments. Artist talk at 3 p.m. dunrovin org
Have I found myself only doing or saying a thing so that others would notice? If I have, then I need to take another look at my motivations to make sure I am not merely pretending, to make sure that I am not a hypocrite.
Father Schmitz is director of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Duluth and chaplain of the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
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PHOTOS BY DAVE HRBACEK THE CATHOLIC
By Mark Johnson For The Catholic Spirit
Recently, a visitor to a Wisconsin monastery entered a dimly lit chapel to pray. He noticed near the altar a mysterious, folded parchment in a brass reliquary with a faded wax seal. The monks seemed unsure of the reliquary’s contents or origin. The visitor’s curiosity was piqued, and the abbot gave him permission to temporarily remove and investigate the packet.
Back at his office, the visitor carefully opened the packet and discovered a minute relic. He spent hours researching this puzzling treasure and was able to decipher the wax seal as that of a patriarch of Venice. He also found the relic likely dated back to the Church’s earliest days. In the end, he came to an astounding conclusion: The relic was a tiny fragment of the body of St. John of Damascus (676-749 A.D.), the last-named Father of the Church, who was known for his strong defense of relics. The visitor cleaned and sealed the relic, set it in a new gold reliquary, and documented its millennium’s worth of history. It now sits, more visible and adorned, in the Wisconsin monastery chapel.
The monastery visitor was Sean Pilcher, 28, a member of All Saints in Minneapolis — an internationally known specialist in the identification, restoration and authentication of Catholic relics. Working out of his home in South Minneapolis, he responds to requests from parishes, religious orders and individuals from around the world to authenticate relics, return them to places of honor, and ensure their reverential treatment.
Pilcher’s work is crucial and in high demand. Traditionally, the Church required that every altar have a relic. Many relics have not been adequately preserved, in Pilcher’s view, and most eventually require repair. He estimated that last year alone, he worked on over 500 relics. While he occasionally offers informal advice on relics free of charge, he is compensated for most of his projects.
The veneration of relics reflects both human nature and core principles of the Catholic faith, Pilcher explained.
“At the core of the practice is a yearning for the good that has gone before us — especially for things that call to mind departed loved ones,” he observed, pointing to a cherished clock that belonged to his grandmother, which hangs in his living room. “It could be our child’s first shoes, a lock of hair, a piece of the Berlin Wall, a flag that flew over a pivotal battlefield. The things we hold onto tell us who we are.”
“The Church recognizes this deep longing and elevates it,” he continued, noting that St. Thomas Aquinas, who always wore a relic of St. Agnes around his neck, reminds people that the soul in heaven is incomplete until united with the body at the final judgment.
“A person present in heaven is still truly connected to his body on Earth,” said Pilcher, adding that “the work of the saints done in heaven, then, is also wrought here on Earth.”
Pilcher believes the veneration of relics should never be mistaken for mere sentimentalism.
“Veneration is, at its center, a biblical practice. In the New Testament, the faithful brought cloth to touch St. Paul to take to the ailing, and St. Peter’s mere shadow cured the sick,” he explained. “Since the earliest days of persecution, Christians have risked their own safety to recover the bones of the martyrs.”
Pilcher’s work varies widely. One day, he might research an obscure inscription or pore over historical documents to authenticate a relic found in a church sacristy cabinet. Other days, he might restore a relic for a parish or use his extensive network to find a relic for a new altar. Recently, he put a church searching for a suitable relic in contact with some Franciscans, who agreed to make available a piece of fabric from clothing worn by St. Maximilian Kolbe. He is currently restoring the relic and preparing it for placement in an appropriate reliquary.
Pilcher encounters relics of both relatively unknown saints and giants of the Church. He is currently providing a “second set of eyes” for the authentication of relics of St. Thomas Aquinas, at the request of a monk in Rome, as well as restoring relics of St. Lawrence at the request of the vicar general of Rome. He investigated and authenticated a piece of the true Cross of our Lord, at the request of a priest at the North American College in Rome.
Father Austin Barnes, parochial vicar of St. Mary in Stillwater, recently asked Pilcher to identify and restore the Church’s altar relics. “I marvel at Sean’s combination of knowledge and skill with relics and his personal Catholic faithfulness,” commented Father Barnes. “He has a sense of the great piety that should accompany such work,” and added, “most Catholics think you have to go to Rome to find this type of expertise, but we have it right in our own backyard.”
There are only about five relics experts in the United States today, and only a few in Rome, which is awash in relics, according to Pilcher. The profession requires a finely tuned understanding of relic knowledge, Latin, paleography (deciphering ancient manuscripts), artifact
restoration, Church history and heraldry. There is no school for relic work, and most of its traditions and conventions are passed down orally.
Pilcher developed his expertise while attending St. Louis University, where he majored in Catholic Studies and studied Latin, Greek, Italian, German and Russian. He gained “hands-on” experience there by assisting an elderly priest who was rapidly losing his eyesight.
Eventually, Pilcher began work on his own, and he still uses reference materials his mentor and other elderly SLU priests gave him. He also formed the apostolate “Sacra” through which he and two other American experts collaborate on various relics projects.
The appropriate presentation of relics has varied greatly through the centuries. “Standard practice now is to place a relic inside a small, round (usually metal) reliquary case called a ‘theca,’ affixing it with red threads and the wax seal of the authority who prepared it,” Pilcher explained. A label — normally in Latin and written in a “learned shorthand” — identifies it. (For example, “Ex Oss. S. Bernardi, E.D.” means “from the bones of St. Bernard, Doctor of the Church.”) The seal holds the relic in place and ensures it has not been altered or removed. Age and travel can break the threads or make the seal difficult to read. “This kind of authentication is a large part of our work,” noted Pilcher. “Documentation becomes lost, relics are borrowed (and sometimes never returned), and anything with glue eventually needs repair.”
Unfortunately, the internet age has produced a flood of relic frauds and forgeries. The Church teaches that it’s wrong to sell a relic for profit, but today on bidding sites like Ebay, “you often find a host of people driving up the price of what appears to be a valid relic, only to discover later it’s a chicken bone,” observed Pilcher.
Recently, he noted, an alleged relic of St. Pius of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) — complete with paperwork and a seal — sold for thousands of dollars on Ebay, yet “it was undoubtedly a phony.” Meanwhile, he said, a dealer on another auction site sold an unassuming yet doubtless authentic relic of an obscure Roman martyr for just the price of shipping after learning from Pilcher that profit-making is forbidden.
For Pilcher, his work is about much more than the personal satisfaction of solving relic puzzles. He noted St. Jerome’s testimony: “We honor the relics of the martyrs, so that we may adore Him whose martyrs they are. We honor the servants, so that the honor of the servants might redound to their Lord.”
Relics, Pilcher believes, root the faithful firmly on the earth, while fixing eyes on heaven.
