The Catholic Spirit - September 14, 2023

PAGETWO

Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis will visit his home state of Pennsylvania as principal celebrant and homilist at the 54th annual Red Mass Sept. 29 at St. Vincent Archabbey Basilica in Latrobe, sponsored by the Diocese of Greensburg in Pennsylvania, the St. Thomas More Society and St. Vincent Archabbey, College and Seminary. According to the archabbey’s website, the Red Mass is celebrated each year in more than 25 U.S. cities “to invoke God’s blessing on members of the bench and bar at the start of the legal year.” Its name reflects that European celebrants in the 13th century “were vested in red, and the lord high justices of the day dressed in scarlet.”

The National Council of Catholic Women held its 103rd annual convention Aug. 24-26 in Salt Lake City. About 50 women from the Province of St. Paul and Minneapolis attended, which includes Catholic women and spiritual advisers from Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Of those, 19 were from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Besides voting for new officers, convention topics included the Eucharist, capital punishment and the Walking with Moms in Need program. To learn more about the national convention, look for a special, convention-focused newsletter expected to be online by Sept. 20 at the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women website, accwarchspm org. Click “resources.”

9/11 NEW YORK CITY ANNIVERSARY Retired police officer Sam Pulia places flags at the 9/11 Memorial in New York City Sept. 11, the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. Pulia lost a cousin in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 — New York firefighter Thomas Casoria from Engine 22. More on the anniversary can be found in Headlines on page 8.

The Minnesota Historical Society awarded Mendota Heights-based The Catholic Cemeteries a Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Small Grant. Funds will be used to hire a historian to complete an evaluation to determine Calvary Cemetery’s eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Founded in 1856, Calvary overlooks downtown St. Paul and includes the resting places for local families and “nationally renowned families and individuals,” according to The Catholic Cemeteries, which also oversees Gethsemane in New Hope, Resurrection in Mendota Heights, St. Anthony in Northeast Minneapolis and St. Mary’s in Minneapolis.

A new offering at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul is taking place. “Fire on the Hill,” which launched Sept. 9 and will be held the second Saturday of each month going forward, is an opportunity for praise and worship following the 5:15 p.m. Saturday Mass. Father Michael Becker, pastor of Sts. Joachim and Anne in Shakopee and vicar of charisms for implementation of the Archdiocesan Synod, said prayer ministry for healing and prophetic encouragement are also part of “Fire on the Hill.”

St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul introduced a new logo Sept. 8 with white letters “SJV” emblazoned on a blue shield. A cross embedded in the letter “J” shaped like a sword symbolizes Men in Christ and Men for Others, while a steeple-shaped peak on the shield symbolizes Men of the Church. The seminary has also updated its website at sjvseminary org

SCARECROW CONTEST Angie Burnes of St. Patrick in Oak Grove checks out an entry in the scarecrow contest Sept. 10 that took place during the annual parish festival Sept. 8-10. Called Charlotte’s Web, this entry was created by parishioners Neil and Lori Gast and their four daughters. It was the second year of the contest, with the Gasts winning both years. Burnes is one of six festival co-chairs.

Group seeking property for youth camp stops pursuit of Stillwater-area site

By Barb Umberger

The Catholic Spirit

A nonprofit group of private donors in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has withdrawn its offer to purchase 600 acres north of Stillwater from the St. Paul-based Wilder Foundation for a Catholic youth camp.

The decision was made earlier this month due to “difficulty obtaining local approvals for the camp based on the ongoing misinformation campaign being conducted by a small number of vocal opponents,” according to a statement released by the Minnesota Catholic Youth Partnership, led by Tim and Helen Healy, parishioners of Holy Name of Jesus in Medina.

“This outcome is a shame — a true loss for the community, especially for those who want to see the Wilder property preserved and

protected and, of course, for the kids,” the group’s statement read.

The partnership intended to keep the property in its natural state and bring out the beauty of nature for young people to enjoy, Tim Healy said. “Our goal all along has been to work with youth and eliminate the noise of the outside world, including social media, and help them through nature, God’s creation, hear God’s voice.”

The partnership remains committed to “seeing this dream become a reality,” according to the statement. It is evaluating a couple of other properties, with hopes of making a decision in the near future, Healy said.

“We appreciate the Wilder Foundation and the many, many people who have supported our work in May Township and who encouraged us to continue that work,” Healy said.

St. Joseph in New Hope and Plymouth is launching its second year of Bible study using the multi-season television drama “The Chosen” based on Jesus’ life and teachings. This year will include watching one episode of the second season each week. Two sessions will be offered each Wednesday from Oct. 4 to Dec. 13; the first runs from 9:30 a.m. to noon, the second from 6-8:30 p.m. Inspired by seeing the first season of the show, parishioner Dwight Ettel, 59, volunteered and was picked as an extra for an episode of the third season of “The Chosen” about Christ’s feeding of the 5,000. Ettel is leading the Bible study. He and fellow parishioner Gene Bakke suggested the Bible ministry. Dean Rademacher, parish director, is providing staff support. A study guide and a light meal are included, with a request for a freewill offering. Learn more at stjosephparish com/thechosen

St. Pius X in White Bear Lake is inviting all first responders wearing their uniforms, their loved ones and the broader community to a Blue Mass honoring law enforcement, fire officials, medics, corrections officers and dispatchers. The Mass will be held at 6 p.m. Oct. 11.

PRACTICING Catholic

On the Sept. 8 “Practicing Catholic” radio show, host Patrick Conley interviewed Emily Dahdah, director of educational quality and excellence in the archdiocese’s Office for the Mission of Catholic Education, who discussed Lumen accreditation for Catholic studies and some of the details involved. Also featured were Gina Ashley, principal of Divine Mercy in Faribault, who described what “back to school” is like from a principal’s perspective; and Josiah Klas, a chapter leader for St. Paul’s Outreach at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, who discussed how SPO brings Christ to college campuses. Listen to interviews after they have aired at practicingcatholicshow com or anchor fm/practicing-catholic-show with links to streaming platforms.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

OSV NEWS | ANDREW KELLY, REUTERS

ONLY JESUS | ARCHBISHOP BERNARD HEBDA

FROMTHEARCHBISHOP Building fraternal communion among bishops

The bishops of our ecclesiastical province (consisting of the 10 dioceses of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota) recently gathered for our annual August meeting, hosted this year by the Diocese of Winona-Rochester. While there is always a business element to the gatherings, there are also opportunities for the bishops to pray together and to spend time together in a way that enables us to build the fraternal communion that the Church expects of her bishops.

Our province is somewhat unusual, given that so many of the bishops are relatively new to our assignments. Since 2020, I have had the privilege of ordaining or installing all the other bishops in Minnesota as well as the two bishops in South Dakota. That is pretty remarkable. Only our two brothers in North Dakota have been here longer than I have. In this context, our time together becomes a golden opportunity for building relationships to serve our local Churches. I always find it both helpful and inspiring to learn what is going on in the other dioceses, as we together recognize both the uniqueness of our individual dioceses and the threads of common experience that unite us as a province.

We were blessed this year by two excellent presentations. The first, by Msgr. Kieran Harrington of the Diocese of Brooklyn, focused on the importance of diocesan support for the four Pontifical Mission Societies: the Society for the Propagation of the Faith (supporting the evangelization needs of fledgling Churches around the globe); the Society of St. Peter

Construyendo una comunión fraterna entre los obispos

Los obispos de nuestra provincia eclesiástica (que consta de las 10 diócesis de Minnesota, Dakota del Norte y Dakota del Sur) se reunieron recientemente para nuestra reunión anual de agosto, organizada este año por la Diócesis de Winona-Rochester. Si bien siempre hay un elemento de negocios en las reuniones, también hay oportunidades para que los obispos oren juntos y pasen tiempo juntos de una manera que nos permita construir la comunión fraternal que la Iglesia espera de sus obispos.

Nuestra provincia es algo inusual, dado que muchos de los obispos son relativamente nuevos en nuestras asignaciones. Desde 2020, he tenido el privilegio de ordenar o instalar a todos los demás obispos de Minnesota, así como a los dos obispos de Dakota del Sur. Eso es bastante notable. Sólo nuestros dos hermanos de Dakota del Norte han estado aquí más tiempo que yo. En este contexto, nuestro tiempo juntos se convierte en una oportunidad de oro para construir relaciones para servir a nuestras Iglesias locales. Siempre encuentro útil e inspirador aprender lo que está sucediendo en las otras diócesis, ya que juntos reconocemos tanto la singularidad de nuestras diócesis individuales como los hilos de experiencia común que nos unen como provincia.

Este año fuimos bendecidos con dos excelentes presentaciones. El primero, de Mons. Kieran Harrington, se centró en la importancia del apoyo diocesano a las cuatro Obras Misionales Pontificias: la Sociedad para la Propagación de la Fe (que apoya las necesidades de evangelización de las Iglesias incipientes en todo el mundo); la Sociedad de San Pedro Apóstol (que apoya la formación de sacerdotes y seminaristas de países de misión), la Asociación de la Santa Infancia

the Apostle (supporting the training of priests and seminarians from mission countries), the Holy Childhood Association (awakening a sense of mission in children around the world) and the Missionary Union of Priests and Religious (aiming to make all of our priests, deacons and religious more knowledgeable about the work of missionary service). As a creative, eloquent and hard-working national director, Msgr. Harrington seems to be a worthy successor to the Venerable Bishop Fulton Sheen, who directed the Mission Societies from 1950 to 1966.

Here in the archdiocese, the four Mission Societies are ably supported by Deacon Mickey Friesen and the Center for Mission. While I am very proud of their work in promoting the annual World Mission Sunday collection and for all that the center does to increase interest in the missions and the work of spreading the Gospel, it’s clear that the Holy Father and the Churches in our mission lands are all counting on us to increase our generosity in this area. I know that we respond generously whenever there are special collections for humanitarian needs around the globe, but we cannot forget the importance of assisting the Holy Father in providing basic necessities to all of the Church’s missionary dioceses so that they might spread the faith.

The second major presentation to the bishops, by Archdiocesan Archives Program Manager Allison Spies, summarized the work that has been undertaken by Catholic archivists to improve accessibility to the materials that are found in diocesan archives and the archives of related Catholic entities that touch upon the Church’s involvement in the government-financed Native American boarding schools, beginning at the

(despertando un sentido de misión en los niños de todo el mundo) y la Unión Misionera de Sacerdotes y Religiosos (con el objetivo de hacer todos nuestros sacerdotes, diáconos y religiosos más conocedores de la labor del servicio misionero). Como director nacional creativo, elocuente y trabajador, Mons. Harrington parece ser un digno sucesor del Venerable Obispo Fulton Sheen, quien dirigió las Sociedades Misioneras de 1950 a 1966.

Aquí en la arquidiócesis, las cuatro Sociedades Misioneras cuentan con el hábil apoyo del diácono Mickey Friesen y el Centro para la Misión. Si bien estoy muy orgulloso de su trabajo en la promoción de la colecta anual del Domingo de las Misiones y de todo lo que el centro hace para aumentar el interés en las misiones y la labor de difundir el Evangelio, está claro que el Santo Padre y las iglesias en nuestras tierras de misión están todos cuentan con nosotros para aumentar nuestra generosidad en esta área. Sé que respondemos generosamente cuando hay colectas especiales para necesidades humanitarias en todo el mundo, pero no podemos olvidar la importancia de ayudar al Santo Padre a satisfacer las necesidades básicas de todas las diócesis misioneras de la Iglesia para que puedan difundir la fe.

La segunda presentación importante a los obispos, realizada por la Gerente del Programa de Archivos Arquidiocesanos, Allison Spies, resumió el trabajo que han realizado los archiveros católicos para mejorar la accesibilidad a los materiales que se encuentran en los archivos diocesanos y en los archivos de entidades católicas relacionadas que afectan a la Iglesia participación en los internados de nativos americanos financiados por el gobierno, que comenzó en la época de la Guerra Civil y se extendió hasta bien entrado el siglo XX. Dado que los estudiantes internados en las escuelas de Minnesota a menudo procedían de Dakota del Norte y del Sur, fue útil ...

Lea una versión más larga de esta columna en español en TheCaTholiCSpiriT Com

time of the Civil War and extending far into the 20th century. Given that the students who boarded at the schools in Minnesota often came from North and South Dakota, it was helpful to have a discussion with all the bishops in the province on this important topic. I am so grateful for the research undertaken by our archivists and for the sensitivity they bring to this important work.

While few of the bishops in our province are native to the area, I was amazed by the depth of their knowledge of this part of our history. It is telling that a number of our bishops serve on the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Subcommittee for Native American Affairs, presently chaired by Bishop Chad Zielinski of the Diocese of New Ulm. Also significant is the particular strength in our province of the devotion to Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk, a Lakota lay catechist whose cause is being promoted by the Diocese of Rapid City.

In the remainder of our time in Winona-Rochester, we had the opportunity to tour the Mayo Clinic and the exquisite chapel at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester. We also met with the new seminarians at Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Winona and prayed at the Chapel of St. Mary of the Angels in downtown Winona and at the co-cathedrals in Rochester and Winona. We even went looking for eagles (with great success) from a boat on the Mississippi. We also visited Lourdes High School and the site of what will become the new pastoral center of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester once the diocesan offices move from Winona to Rochester. While all those activities would have been worthwhile on their own, they were particularly welcomed as opportunities for episcopal fraternity. My hat goes off to Bishop Robert Barron and his staff for a wonderful few days.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda has announced the following appointments in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis:

Effective August 1, 2023

Deacon Patrick Evans, granted status of retired deacon. Deacon Evans has served this archdiocese since his diaconate ordination in 1999, most recently at the Church of Saint Joseph in Red Wing.

Effective August 17, 2023

Reverend Peter Ly, assigned as parochial administrator of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Saint Paul. This is in addition to his assignment as pastor for the Church of the Presentation in Maplewood.

Effective September 1, 2023

Reverend Doug Ebert, assigned as parochial administrator of the Church of the Annunciation in Hazelwood (Northfield). Father Ebert is a retired priest of the Archdiocese.

Reverend Louis Floeder, assignment as parochial administrator of the Church of the Annunciation in Hazelwood (Northfield) ends. His assignment as parochial administrator of the Church of Saint Dominic in Northfield continues.

Reverend Patrick Grile, C.Ss.R., assigned as priest in residence at the Church of Saint Alphonsus in Brooklyn Center. Father Grile is a priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, Denver Province.

Reverend Scott Katzenberger, C.Ss.R., assigned as parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Alphonsus in Brooklyn Center. Father Katzenberger is a priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, Denver Province.

Reverend Gary Lauenstein, C.Ss.R., assigned as priest in residence at the Church of Saint Alphonsus in Brooklyn Center. Father Lauenstein is a priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, Denver Province.

Reverend Stefano Motta, FSCB, assigned as parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Peter in North Saint Paul. Father Motta is a priest of the Priestly Fraternity of the Missionaries of Saint Charles Borromeo, North American Regional Delegation.

Reverend Tuan Nguyen, C.Ss.R., assigned as missionary in residence at the Church of Saint Alphonsus in Brooklyn Center. Father Nguyen is a priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, Denver Province.

Reverend Paul Treacy, assigned as temporary parochial administrator for the Church of Saint Pascal Baylon in Saint Paul while the pastor, Reverend John Mitchell, is on sabbatical. This is in addition to his current assignment as pastor for the Church of the Assumption in Saint Paul.

Effective November 16, 2023

Deacon Peter Loving, released from his assignment at the Church of the Assumption in Richfield in order to retire from active ministry. Deacon Loving is a deacon of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston who has served this archdiocese since his diaconate ordination in 1990.

Kilkenny connection

Joe Malone, mayor of the city of Kilkenny, Ireland, lays a wreath on the grave of Archbishop John Ireland, first archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Sept. 8 at Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul. Six people from Kilkenny came to visit their Minnesota sister city of Kilkenny, about 50 miles south of the Twin Cities. This is the 11th annual trip to Minnesota, and the first time it included a visit to the grave of Archbishop Ireland.

“It’s an honor to be here in this graveyard and lay a wreath on behalf of the people of Kilkenny city and county,” Malone said. Also at the grave were, second from left, Andrew McGuinness, former mayor of Kilkenny, Ireland; Father Chris Collins, vice president for mission at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul; John Collins, fire chief of Kilkenny, Ireland, city and county; David Gardiner, director of the Center for Irish Studies and Clinical Faculty at the University of St. Thomas; Father John Ubel, rector of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul; Dick Warren of the Cathedral and the Ancient Order of Hibernians; and Eoin Hennessy of Kilkenny, Ireland, who organized the trip and added the visit to Calvary Cemetery. Their trip also included visits to the University of St. Thomas and St. Peter Claver in St. Paul, both of which Archbishop Ireland founded, and a visit to St. Canice in Kilkenny, a parish of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis founded by a native of Kilkenny, Ireland.

American Indian Ministry leader retires, successor will accompany community

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit

Shawn Phillips, the director and pastoral minister of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ American Indian Ministry and the parish central to that ministry, Gichitwaa Kateri, recently retired. His successor, Robert Haarman, said he is ready to walk with the community in its challenges and opportunities.

“I want to be present to stewarding a space that says, ‘We care about you, and we’re learning more and more,’” said Haarman, 54, who has been a member of the Minneapolis parish for 10 years and a part-time administrator there for one year. Phillips, 65, led the ministry for six years. He has been a parishioner for 35 years and a lay ecclesial minister for 40 years, including working with youth in drug and alcohol recovery, youth ministry, pastoral ministry and faith formation.

Just prior to ministry with Gichitwaa Kateri, Phillips was pastoral minister for 11 years at St. Timothy in Blaine. Over the years, he has served with task forces and networks including a state gang task force, the Youth Ministers Network of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the Association of Coordinators and Religious Educators and the Association of Pastoral Ministers.

He also has been an advocate for victims of clergy sexual misconduct and a trainer in Virtus safe environment practices regarding children and vulnerable adults in Catholic parishes, schools and other entities.

In retirement, Phillips said, he plans to spend more time with his wife, Vicky, who retired from nursing in January, as well as their two children and their granddaughter, who is in kindergarten. Phillips said he and his wife belong to Ascension in Minneapolis, where they look forward to participating in ministry together.

“Ministering at Kateri has provided an opportunity to see the face of Christ in another culture,” Phillips said. “It has been a blessed journey.”

Phillips grew up on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation in Idaho, where his father, Clinton, worked in the logging industry. His mother, Catherine, was a devout Italian Catholic. He attended a Catholic elementary school staffed by Benedictine sisters, but left the Church disillusioned.

Later involved with alcohol and drugs, he said he entered treatment 43 years ago and emerged energized to “connect with a higher power.” He found an example in Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota medicine and holy man who converted to Catholicism, died in 1950, and whose cause for sainthood was opened by the Diocese of Rapid City, South Dakota, in 2016.

“Black Elk is the core to my spirituality,” Phillips said, noting Black Elk’s integration of Catholicism with

Celebrating in faith and thanksgiving.

Lakota spirituality.

Haarman, who stepped into the leadership role Aug. 1 under the new title of community minister, grew up in Sauk Rapids and attended Catholic elementary, middle school and one year of high school there and in nearby

St. Cloud. Interested in sports, music and the performing arts, he plays the drums and guitar, has a bachelor’s degree in dance and is an accomplished ballet, jazz and modern dancer who has performed

This month, the Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota (CCF) honors and prays for the members of CCF’s Legacy Society. We celebrate the positive, real impact your perpetual gifts make for the parishes, schools, and charities in our local Catholic community. You inspire us.

Today and forever, thank you.

PHOTOS BY DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT Shawn Phillips, retired director and pastoral minister of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ American Indian Ministry and Gichitwaa Kateri in Minneapolis, stands in the parish’s chapel.

ROBERT HAARMAN

Physical, emotional, and spiritual care with kindness rooted in our Catholic identity.

UST’s Center for Catholic Studies going strong for 30 years

Stories by Maura Keller For The Catholic Spirit

With more than 1,600 alumni, including 225 priests and religious and hundreds living their lay vocations, the Center for Catholic Studies program at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul has been educating and forming future leaders “to see Christ in all that they are and in all that they do” for the past 30 years.

As the first and largest of its kind, the Catholic Studies program at UST seeks to embody the impact of the Incarnation on human thought and culture by encapsulating the interdisciplinary exploration of art, history, theology, science, literature, philosophy and the professions.

“Catholic Studies didn’t start off with a strategic plan or some type of agenda. It started off with faculty thinking in terms of the question of the mission and culture of what a place like St. Thomas in particular — and Catholic universities in general — should be about,” said Michael Naughton, professor and director of the center.

“Education should do three things. It should pass on the best of the culture; it should draw out the best in the students; and it should prepare the students for the world in which they’re living,” Naughton said.

In the 30 years since its inception, the Catholic Studies program has been mindful that the rich traditions of the Church and the deep reflections on the human condition by people

like Shakespeare and Dante, St. Augustine and St. Aquinas, don’t often get passed along in traditional university settings.

“When we started this program we were wrestling with key questions like, ‘How one should run a business within the Catholic tradition, how do we help students feel that call within the culture that we’re living in?” said Naughton, one of the earliest faculty members. “These ideas often get suppressed because we don’t talk about religion. We don’t talk about meaningful things. In our program we strive to create the condition to allow students to be more open to the grace in using their minds. And in using their hearts to defend those ideas.”

During its 30-year history, the Center for Catholic Studies has collaborated extensively with other parts of the university and its affiliates, including undergraduate and major seminaries, the philosophy and theology departments and the various professional schools. They have also created multiple institute programs, collaborating globally with many of the 1,800 Catholic universities worldwide.

“Our biggest accomplishment is our students. The second biggest accomplishment is that we were the first Catholic Studies program founded and since that time, there have been over 60 Catholic Studies programs initiated throughout the country, attempting to renew, in their particular way, what it means to be a Catholic institution,” Naughton said. The program helps students “to see Christ in all that

CELEBRATING 30 YEARS

The Center for Catholic Studies’ 30th anniversary celebration will include an alumni event Sept. 21 at O’Shaughnessy Distilling Co. in Minneapolis, and a special Mass Sept. 23 with Archbishop Bernard Hebda followed by a dinner featuring a keynote speech by renowned art historian Liz Lev.

they are and in all that they do.”

John Boyle, a professor who also taught some of the first courses and now is chairman of the center, said the reason the Catholic Studies movement has been such a success for 30 years at St. Thomas and nationwide is because of its fundamental intellectual insight.

“We are interdisciplinary because the Incarnation touches everything in human culture,” Boyle said. “It’s not just theology, or just philosophy, or just history, but our goal is to bring those together. So why have students been coming to us for 30 years? I think the answer is because the human mind is made to put things together. We live in a culture in which education is specialized. But Catholic Studies develops a habit of mind so that what you think and learn will be integrated and interdisciplinary. To have a place

CATHOLIC STUDIES CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Three Sisters of Life who took final vows last month among graduates of Catholic Studies

Sister Fidelity Grace, who took her final vows Aug. 5 with the Sisters of Life in New York, was a Center for Catholic Studies undergraduate student at the University of St. Thomas from 2008 to 2012.

“I still stand in shock that the Lord allowed this gift,” Sister Fidelity Grace said of her vocation. “This is a tremendous testimony to the personal spiritual formation that accompanies the intellectual formation of Catholic Studies.”

While in high school, Sister Fidelity Grace, who grew up a member of St. Peter in North St. Paul, first heard about a weekend campus visit called “Faith at UST” that highlighted Catholic Studies and the campus ministry opportunities at St. Thomas. She stayed with a Catholic Studies student in a dorm and attended Mass, classes and a concert.

“Seeing the faith lived so vibrantly by these students and hearing about the Rome study abroad opportunity really captured my attention,” said Sister Fidelity Grace, the daughter of Ken and Mary Ann Thelen, also of St. Peter. “I loved the interdisciplinary approach to learning about Catholicism as it relates to art, history, literature, philosophy, theology and science. I had come to fall in love with Jesus through camps and youth events in high school and was eager to learn more about the faith that I loved and to teach it to others one day.”

Catholic Studies forms a unique Catholic culture among students at St. Thomas — a culture where daily Mass and regular confession is common, Friday nights are often spent together in adoration, and vocational discernment is normative.

“The Catholic living communities I experienced in the dorm, (in) a campus household, and at the Rome campus were excellent preparation for the communal aspect of religious life,” Sister Fidelity Grace said. “Through my Catholic Studies courses I was introduced to a Christian anthropology and came to understand the significance of the Church’s contributions to the world. Catholicism is infinitely more than a set of rules or program for life. It is a lens through which to see the world. Everything is different when viewed through the eyes of faith. In the sacramental worldview, the invisible becomes visible through the physical. This way of looking at life is not unlike the ‘contemplative outlook’ Pope

St. John Paul II describes in ‘Evangelium Vitae’ — that we as Sisters of Life strive to practice as we encounter each human being.”

Sister Fidelity Grace is one of three Catholic Studies graduates who entered the Sisters of Life in the same month and year (September 2015) and professed final vows Aug. 5. The others are Sister Zélie Maria Louis, who was raised in Waterloo, Iowa, and Sister Ann Immaculée of Sacred Heart in Owatonna. As Sisters of Life, they are consecrated for the protection and enhancement of the sacredness of human life.

Derrick Diedrich attended St. Thomas as an undergraduate from 2017 to 2021, majoring in business leadership and management with a minor in Catholic Studies. Now, Diedrich is a graduate student in the Catholic Studies Master of Arts program who attests to the strength of the center.

“Catholic Studies provides students with a way of looking at the world and contextualizing their other areas of study with the thinking of the Church,” Diedrich said. “It is a lens that has helped me view the world, and especially the business world, in a new light; compelling me to integrate principles of my faith into my personal and professional life.

“Coming into college, I knew I wanted to get a degree, to get a job and have fun,” he said. “This thinking was transformed by Catholic Studies. I now see the value of education and the way in which it changes me, allows me to think more clearly and make good decisions to positively impact the world around me, and relate and integrate my faith better in a variety of settings. After seeing this change in myself, I knew I had to take advantage of more than just a minor.”

Diedrich has been part of the master’s program since last year, alongside his work as a self-employed consultant working in strategic project management and program development at NET Ministries in West St. Paul. Before that, Diedrich worked in consulting as a project manager at Cargill in Wayzata.

“Being in the program has allowed the thinking of the Church to continue to take root in my heart and mind and has been a constant means of integrating my life as a young professional,” Diedrich said. “Catholic Studies created a better way for me to conceptualize my work and see the responsibilities the Lord has bestowed upon me to support the common good.

“This thinking has pushed me to do better work and take on more responsibility when I am able,” Diedrich said. “By working diligently and supplying good work to society, I can participate in the creative nature of God and respond to genuine human needs. This not only gives me a deep sense of purpose in the work I do but inspires me to promote good work to those around me as a means of building up ourselves and the human community.”

MICHAEL NAUGHTON

JOHN BOYLE

COURTESY THELEN FAMILY

From left, Sisters of Life Fidelity Grace, Ann Immaculee and Zélie Maria Louis pose Aug. 9 at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul. All three graduated from the Catholic Studies program at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

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where students can come and think in a unified, disciplinary way is absolutely essential for a Catholic institution like St. Thomas.”

As part of Catholic Studies celebrating its 30th anniversary, Archbishop Bernard Hebda will celebrate Mass at the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas at UST on Sept. 23, followed by a reception and dinner featuring keynote speaker Liz Lev, a world-renowned art historian who has been part of the Catholic Studies’ Rome program since 2010.

“When I originally started working with the program, my task was to create an art history course and help the students take advantage of their Italian experience within the program’s study abroad in Rome,” Lev said. “The course is intended to completely immerse students in the fact that the Catholic Church has a very rich tradition of artistic beauty, and the process that the Catholic Church engages with the world and the process of evangelization really takes advantage of all these different means of communication and engagement. The artistic beauty is meant to propagate the faith, to evangelize, to uplift and to make us understand more what it means to be Catholics.”

Having been part of the Catholic Studies program for nearly 14 years, Lev said she has developed a great love and respect for the program, including the various professors, many of whom she considers close friends.

“However, what excites me the most about the program are the students,” she said. “The students are extraordinary and are unlike any students I’ve taught in any other program. And I’ve taught a lot of different programs in Rome. There’s something about these Catholic Studies students and their willingness to work to understand as well as their curiosity, their appreciation for and their openness to wonder, and their own personal witness,” Lev said. “These students have taught me about my faith and how I should live my faith. Many of these students have become my friends, people that I look forward to seeing. It’s an amazing group of people.”

One of six stops for St. Jude relics is St. Jude of the Lake

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit

Father Chad Van Hoose, pastor of St. Jude of the Lake in Mahtomedi, said being one of six sites in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to host relics of St. Jude the Apostle is historic.

Having the relics of the parish’s patron saint present Sept. 20, “let alone one of the Twelve Apostles … is unbelievable,” he said. According to Treasures of the Church, a nonprofit ministry of the Church, it is the first time the relics have left Italy.

The tour comes to a nation “still reeling from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic,” with many grieving lost loved ones and others suffering effects of “long-COVID,” long-term isolation and economic hardship, said Father Carlos Martins, director of Treasures of the Church.

“The apostle’s visit is an effort by the Catholic Church to give comfort and hope to all who need it,” he said.

Each tour stop at a parish, which begins Sept. 18, will include:

uPublic veneration of the relics from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.

uA Mass celebrated in St. Jude’s honor at 7 p.m.

Father Van Hoose said since he has been at the parish, some “big pushes” have been made to invite parishioners to learn more about St. Jude. The parish logo, for example, was rebranded when Father Van Hoose arrived three years ago; now it is “the saint’s apostolic symbol, which is the ship,” he said.

The parish installed a mural of St. Jude on the building’s exterior last

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summer — original art “printed on tiles.” And a parishioner built a new shrine around the parish’s statue of St. Jude in the gathering space, Father Van Hoose said.

“And now I feel as if he’s coming to bless us,” he said.

The relic that will soon be displayed and venerated at all six parishes is “an arm” of St. Jude, Father Van Hoose said.

Bones from the arm are housed inside a “wooden, arm-shaped reliquary in the gesture of giving a blessing,” according to the website maintained by Treasures of the Church. The arm was separated from “the greater portion” of the saint’s remains “several centuries ago” and placed in the reliquary, according to the website. It was last opened during the time of Cardinal Francesco Marchetti Selvaggiani, vicar general for the Archdiocese of Rome from 1931 to 1951. His red seals enclose it.

The reliquary is inside a glass case for protection and security.

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, St. Jude traveled “throughout Mesopotamia, Libya and Persia with St. Simon, preaching and building up the foundations of the early Church,” according to the website for the National Shrine of St. Jude. It describes him as the patron saint of hope and impossible causes.

“Jude gives hope to those in adversity, affliction and anxiety,” according to the website. “Millions have found solace after seeking his assistance and finding their prayers answered.”

Accounts of St. Jude’s martyrdom vary but indicate he was either shot with arrows, beaten with clubs, thrust with a lance, stabbed with a halberd or crucified.

According to Treasures of the Church, his body was buried in Beirut and later transferred to a crypt in the original St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Today, his remains are housed in the current basilica below the main altar of St. Joseph, within a tomb containing the remains of the Apostle Simon.

For more information on St. Jude,

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TREASURES OF THE CHURCH

Six parishes will host relics of St. Jude the apostle this month. Bones from an arm of the saint are housed inside a wooden reliquary with a gesture of giving a blessing.

SIX PARISHES

Sept. 18, Holy Family in St. Louis Park

Sept. 19, Epiphany in Coon Rapids

Sept. 20, St. Jude of the Lake in Mahtomedi

Sept. 21, St. Joseph in West St. Paul

Sept. 22, St. Michael in St. Michael

Sept. 23, All Saints in Lakeville

visit shrineofstjude org/saint-judethaddeus-lazano

The relics travel next to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. For more details on the tour, visit apostleoftheimpossible com

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Pope prays Ulma family will inspire people to care for those in need

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

Risking and ultimately losing their lives to shelter Jews persecuted by the Nazis, “the martyrs Józef and Wiktoria Ulma and their seven children” were models of “evangelical love,” Pope Francis said.

As the Mass for the beatification of the family was ending in Markowa, Poland, Sept. 10, the pope spoke about them to an estimated 20,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the midday recitation of the Angelus prayer.

The entire family was “exterminated by the Nazis on March 24, 1944, for sheltering some Jews who were being persecuted,” the pope said. The Ulma family’s eight guests — Saul Goldman and his sons Baruch, Mechel, Joachim and Moses as well as Golda Grünfeld and her sister Lea Didner and young daughter Reshla — also were executed.

Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, also read the names of the Jewish family as he presided over the beatification Mass. Poland’s Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich attended the liturgy.

Pope Francis told those gathered at the Vatican that the Ulma family “countered the hatred and violence, which characterized that time, with evangelical love.”

He prayed that “this Polish family,

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uPope sends prayers after flooding kills thousands in Libya. After a severe storm set off flooding that breached dams in eastern Libya, leading to the deaths of thousands of people, Pope Francis sent his condolences and prayers. “His Holiness Pope Francis was deeply saddened to learn of the immense loss of life and destruction caused by the flooding in the eastern part of Libya, and he sends the assurance of his prayers for the souls of the deceased and all who mourn their loss,” said a telegram sent Sept. 12 to Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-Fai, the nuncio to Libya. “His Holiness also expresses heartfelt spiritual closeness to the injured, to those who fear for their missing loved ones and to the emergency personnel providing rescue and relief assistance,” said the telegram signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state. Tamer Ramadan, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Libya, told reporters the death toll is likely to be “huge,” the BBC reported Sept. 12. The number of people reported missing is about 10,000 and the number of people confirmed dead already was 1,500 and expected to rise sharply. The rains from Storm Daniel, which made landfall in Libya Sept. 10, led to two dams bursting near the city of Derna, unleashing torrents of water that wiped out a huge section of the city.

uPope Francis calls for solidarity and concrete assistance for all those affected by a devastating earthquake in Morocco.

According to the Associated Press, at least 2,900 people were killed and more than 5,500 people were injured after an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 struck central Morocco

which represented a ray of light in the darkness of World War II, would be for all of us a model to imitate in striving for goodness and in the service of those in need.”

“Let us applaud this family of blesseds,” he said, leading the clapping.

“And following their example, let us feel called to counter the force

of weapons with that of charity, the rhetoric of violence with the tenacity of prayer. Let us do this especially for so many countries suffering from war,” the pope said. “In a special way, let us intensify our prayer for the tormented Ukraine.”

While the feast day of Catholic martyrs usually is the day of their death, the feast day chosen for the Ulma family is July 7, Józef and Wiktoria’s wedding anniversary. The Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life noted the decision on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying the couple “lived their ‘domestic church’ with the sacrament of marriage at the center: openness to life of others in need and of their children.”

Only six of the beatified children were mentioned by name at the Mass: Stanislawa, Barbara, Wladyslaw, Franciszek, Antoni and Maria. The Dicastery for the Causes of Saints said the seventh child was born during the massacre and that eyewitnesses reported that Wiktoria’s body was found with the baby’s head and part of its chest delivered.

Cardinal Semeraro said at the beatification Mass that “without ever having uttered a word, today the little blessed cries out to the modern world to welcome, love and protect life, especially that of the defenseless and marginalized, from the moment of conception until natural death.”

near Marrakech Sept. 8 shortly after 11 p.m. local time. “I wish to express my proximity to the dear people of Morocco, stricken by a devastating earthquake,” the pope said after praying the Angelus with visitors gathered in St. Peter’s Square Sept. 10. The pope thanked rescue workers and “those who are working to alleviate the suffering of the people; may concrete help on the part of everyone support the population at this tragic time. Let us be close to the people of Morocco!” The pope also expressed his sadness, prayers and “deep solidarity” with the nation’s people in a telegram sent by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, Sept. 9. The pope offered his “encouragement to civil authorities and rescue services” and invoked God’s blessings on everyone “as a token of comfort.”

uSurviving 9/11 attacks left “no questions about the reality of God,” says deacon. For an Archdiocese of Newark deacon who survived the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the real battle — a search for God — began after reaching the ground. Now-Deacon Paul Carris was a 46-yearold civil engineer working in the World Trade Center’s North Tower when al-Qaida hijackers slammed American Airlines Flight 11 into the building. The deacon, who described himself as a rather indifferent Catholic layman at the time, accompanied a fellow floormate with severe health issues down 71 flights of steps to safety, even as the building burned and the South Tower was struck by a second plane. The pair were among the last to safely exit the building before it collapsed. In the following days and weeks after the terrorist attacks, he wrestled with anger and frustration that

pointed to an unfulfilled hunger for a deeper relationship with God. Over the years, he immersed himself in faith formation and social outreach, eventually discerning a call to the permanent diaconate. Now assigned to Corpus Christi Parish in Hasbrouck Heights, he told OSV News that surviving 9/11 gave him “a rock of a foundation, knowing that God is here. I have no questions about the reality of God and the reality of God in everybody’s life. But unfortunately, we sometimes have to go through tragedy to wake us up to open that door. If there’s a theme to my preaching, it’s ‘get out of your comfort zone, and you’ll find the Holy Spirit.’”

uLawmaker, bishop urge action as 120,000 Armenians face “ethnic cleansing.” A U.S. lawmaker and a Catholic bishop are calling for action to end a months-long blockade that has left some 120,000 ethnic Armenians at risk of what he and other experts are calling “genocide by starvation.” “It’s now a three-alarm fire that’s getting worse by the moment,” said Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, speaking as he chaired a Sept. 6 emergency hearing of a bipartisan congressional human rights commission. For the past nine months, Azerbaijan has closed the only road leading from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh (known in Armenian by its ancient name, Artsakh), a historic Armenian enclave located in southwestern Azerbaijan and internationally recognized as part of that nation. The blockade of the three-mile (five-kilometer) Lachin Corridor, which connects the roughly 1,970-square-mile enclave to Armenia, has deprived residents of food, baby formula, oil, medication, hygienic products and

fuel — even as a convoy of trucks with an estimated 400 tons of aid is stalled at the single Azerbaijani checkpoint. Expert witnesses at the hearing included Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who served as the first chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court from 2003 to 2012; and David Phillips, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and director of Columbia University’s Artsakh Atrocities Project. Both stressed the need for urgent action to end the blockade as well as atrocities committed by Azerbaijan against ethnic Armenians. Bishop Mikael Mouradian of the California-based Armenian Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Nareg (who did not attend the hearing) told OSV News that with the area surrounded by Muslim-majority Azerbaijan, the blockade amounts to “a pure and simple religious (and) ethnic cleansing. If the Armenians of Artsakh were Muslims, they wouldn’t be treated as they are now.” He also said Congress “should without any delay put up a bipartisan human rights act … a law that should be put directly in practice to prevent yet another Armenian Genocide. That is inevitable if things continue like they are now.”

uDocument found detailing convents in Rome that hid Jews from the Nazis. Catholic and Jewish institutions announced Sept. 7 the discovery of a previously unpublished list of several thousand people, mostly Jews, who were hidden in Catholic convents and monasteries in Rome during the Nazi occupation of the city. The documentation regarding 4,300 people — including 3,600 of whom are named — given refuge by

CNS PHOTO | JUSTYNA GALANT

Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, uses incense to bless the relics of Józef and Wiktoria Ulma and their seven children, during their beatification Mass Sept. 10 in Markowa, Poland. Pope Francis prayed the family, killed for hiding Jews during World War II, would be an example to all Christians of goodness and service to those in need.

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CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

women’s and men’s religious congregations was found in the archives of the Jesuit-run Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, also known as the Biblicum. The registry was compiled by Jesuit Father Gozzolino Birolo, bursar of the Biblicum, between June 1944 and the spring of 1945, immediately after the liberation of Rome by the Allies, according to a press release. Scholars from the Biblicum, the Pontifical Gregorian University, the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, the Historical Archive of the Jewish Community of Rome and the Department of Cultural Heritage and Cultural Activities of the Jewish Community of Rome discussed the documentation at a closed-door meeting Sept. 7 at the city’s Shoah Museum. “The list of 100 women’s and 55 men’s religious congregations that offered hospitality, together with the numbers of the persons who were accommodated by them, had already been published by the historian Renzo De Felice in 1961,” the press release said, “but the complete documentation had been considered lost.”

uAmericans are talking about labor issues, unions more now than in recent past, experts say. As Americans heated the backyard barbecue for celebratory Labor Day cookouts Sept. 4, news headlines daily shout about the cooling down of the U.S. job market. On Aug. 30, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, “Unemployment rates were lower in July than a year earlier in 192 of the 389 metropolitan areas, higher in 176 areas, and unchanged in 21 areas.” The country’s unemployment rate currently stands at 3.5%, representing 5.8 million total unemployed. Daniel Graff, director of the Higgins Labor Program at the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Social Concerns, said, “Coming out of the pandemic — and with the rise of labor organizing we’ve seen the last couple of years — it’s clear that Americans are talking about labor questions more than in the recent past.” The first half of 2023 witnessed a sharp uptick in labor union activity, including strike actions. The right to unionize and seek workplace equity — and to strike, if

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in New York, Oregon and the Twin Cities. He made a living cooking along with the dancing.

Haarman and his wife, Jeanne Bain, have two grown children.

He first visited Gichitwaa Kateri for an outdoor Mass with Minneapolis parish St. Francis Cabrini about 10 years ago.

“As soon as I came, I was like, wow, this is it,” Haarman said.

“It wasn’t always easy to come into the space or to feel welcome,” he said. “There are still some who have a great disdain for white people and with obvious reasons. And I stayed. There’s an awareness of someone’s presence and commitment and building trust through relationships, being together and participating. I soon felt welcome to ask to do more.”

“That led to learning, and helping with catechetical and youth programs,” Haarman said. The parish’s ministries include anointings, sacraments, funerals, meeting requests for transportation of deceased tribal members to reservations as many as 400 miles away, monthly gatherings to honor tribal elders, Alcoholics Anonymous gatherings and Taco Bingo to help offset registration fees to the annual Tekakwitha Conference.

necessary — is fundamental to Catholic social teaching. However, the famously rugged spirit of American individualism, labor historians say, can sometimes complicate U.S. labor organizing efforts.

uPope personally thanks homeless in Rome for helping with aid to Ukraine. If someone can be called “the pope’s team,” a group of homeless men surely can: They helped to unload a truck full of supplies for Ukraine Aug. 30, and Pope Francis personally thanked them Aug. 31. “I asked them whether they’ll come again today and so they came all dressed in their work clothes. Instead of work, we surprised them with the Holy Father personally thanking them,” Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, papal almoner and prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, told OSV News. “The pope knew they worked hard,” he said. The trucks were unloaded next to the Ukrainian Catholic Basilica of Santa Sofia in Rome, the main hub for distribution of aid for the war-torn country. The homeless men from Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Italy, Dominican Republic and Congo stay temporarily in Palazzo Migliori, a palace-turned-shelter, located right next to the famous Bernini

Colonnade. Known for his support for Ukraine, the Polish cardinal was asked by OSV News for his reaction to the pope’s remarks in a video call Aug. 25 to a youth gathering in St. Petersburg, in which the pontiff praised the country’s past empire and urged young people to “never give up this heritage.” “During the war such speeches are difficult, it’s like a minefield,” the cardinal said.

uEucharistic miracle science may bolster, but should not distract from, faith say experts. The alleged March 5 duplication of the Eucharist at St. Thomas Church in Thomaston is now under investigation by the Holy See’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith as a potential Eucharistic miracle. If authenticated, it would join about 100 Church-recognized Eucharistic miracles, including a miracle in rural Honduras approved in July by Bishop Walter Guillén Soto of Gracias. Four others have been recognized in the 21st century, according to the Californiabased Magis Center, which aims to connect faith and science. While some recognized Eucharistic miracles involve circumstances such as multiplication, others involve the Eucharistic host taking on characteristics of blood or flesh. Within the last 10 years, three

such miracles — two in Poland and one in Mexico — have been recognized by bishops overseeing the dioceses where they occurred. Experts emphasize the most important miracle is the transubstantiation that occurs at every Mass — the bread and wine becoming truly Jesus Christ in his body and blood, soul and divinity. “We don’t really need these (other) miracles to be true in order for us to believe in the Real Presence,” said Stacy Trasancos, a Catholic with a doctorate in chemistry, who cautions people from basing their faith solely in these miracles. “Our faith in the real presence ought to be primarily based on our faith in Jesus Christ.”

uPope urges young Russians to sow seeds of peace. Although Russia’s continuing war on Ukraine may make peace seem an impossible dream, Pope Francis urged young Russian Catholics to sow seeds of reconciliation and peace however they can. “I wish you, young Russians, the vocation to be artisans of peace in the midst of so many conflicts, in the midst of so much polarization on all sides, which plague our world,” the pope said during an hourlong video call Aug. 25 with 400 participants in a Russian Catholic youth festival.

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From hurt to healing

How restorative justice practices align with the Catholic faith and have expanded locally, globally

By Rebecca Omastiak The Catholic Spirit

“Restorative justice for me starts at home,” Michael Hoffman said.

A member of St. Mary of the Woods in Chicago, Hoffman said his primary act of recovery as a clergy abuse survivor happened in 2006.

He told his wife, Kathy, about the abuse after reading a Chicago Tribune article about his abuser that included the names of other children he knew at the time.

Hoffman said he came forward about 30 years after the abuse, which happened for four years starting when he was 12.

Hoffman, now 58, grappled with questions of, “Do I tell my wife? Is she going to think differently of me? Is she going to question who I am as her husband or who I am as a provider or father to our kids? I was anxious,” he said.

Her response of “compassion and love and understanding” was Hoffman’s “first moment of feeling heard and believed and treated well. And I cherish that moment.”

Now executive director of the National Catholic Restorative Justice Initiative (NCRJI), Hoffman works with a Twin Cities priest, Father Daniel Griffith, to advocate for abuse prevention and healing; “translating what great people, like Father Dan (Griffith) are doing, translating that into the real-life experience on the ground.”

Through his own work within, and outside, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Father Griffith sees the Catholic faith as not only complementing restorative justice but enhancing it. In the past decade, emerging restorative justice practices local Church leaders and laity have used to guide the archdiocese through pain on a path toward healing have become a model for other groups seeking to do the same.

Though restorative justice as a practice is not new, Father Griffith — pastor of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis and founding director of the University of St. Thomas School of Law’s Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing (IRJH) — said what is being newly explored is the alignment of these principles with the Catholic faith.

“This is where I’m absolutely convinced that this is God’s will, that restorative justice and healing so powerfully align with Catholic social teaching and the healing mission of Christ: In such a short time, we’ve been able to connect with all these groups nationally and now internationally where we’re just starting to see this confluence of, and a movement toward, this Catholic embrace of restorative justice,” Father Griffith said.

Restorative justice invites practitioners to respond to harm and encourage accountability and healing by accompanying people as they recount their experiences.

It’s an emerging area of expertise for Father Griffith. He served as archdiocesan delegate for safe environment in 2013 and 2014, when he was pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis. Discernment between Father Griffith and Archbishop Bernard Hebda led to the archbishop appointing Father Griffith in 2019 as archdiocesan liaison for restorative justice and healing, a role he continues to this day. Restorative Justice and Healing is a course among those he teaches at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis.

“I was just feeling this call to get into this work more formally,” Father Griffith said of his early discernment over restorative justice. “The Lord was really putting this on my heart.”

Local roots

Local restorative justice efforts sprang from the pain of the clergy sex abuse crisis in the archdiocese.

“We all lived through the (clergy) sexual abuse trauma,” said Janice Andersen, director of Christian life at the Basilica who helps support restorative justice efforts at the parish. “It just fractured our Church. … And the people, of course, who were directly impacted, it was incredibly traumatic.”

Susan Mulheron was part of an archdiocesan team that worked to address local harm.

“It was a deeply formative experience for all of us, very difficult and challenging,” said Mulheron, who was appointed as interim chancellor of canonical affairs in May 2013 and officially named to the position in September 2013. “Over the course of it, I think we all learned so much, bonded together, and I think that that really was helpful as the archdiocese moved through everything that was to come.”

From 2013 on, amid increasing claims of clergy abuse that spanned decades, the archdiocesan team began utilizing restorative justice principles in acknowledging the harm.

“Restorative justice calls us to recognize (the harm), value that person’s experience, and seek a way to address that harm,” Mulheron said. She said it’s a model of valuing the vulnerability of those harmed who come forward, as well as “valuing the responsibility of those in leadership to take that seriously.”

In May 2018, the archdiocese reached a settlement with a committee representing clergy abuse survivors, offering $210 million for restitution to 442 victimssurvivors.

“I recognize that the abuse stole so much from you — your childhood, your innocence, your safety, your ability to trust, and in many cases, your faith,” Archbishop Hebda said to victims-survivors during a news conference to announce the settlement. “Relationships with family and friends, relationships in your parishes and communities were harmed. Lives were forever changed. The Church let you down, and I’m very sorry.”

Father Griffith said it was Ramsey County Attorney John Choi’s “master stroke to really push for restorative justice” through the settlement agreement with the archdiocese; in part, he said, requiring the archdiocese to convene a restorative justice and reconciliation conference for accountability and healing, and to select an independent ombudsperson to assist victimssurvivors and their families.

To those ends, a restorative justice pilot program was implemented at the Basilica, Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove. Julie Craven, associate director of the IRJH, was named in February 2023 as ombudsperson for clerical sexual abuse within the archdiocese — a position filled by two predecessors: Tom Johnson, then Victoria Newcome Johnson.

The pilot program facilitated Father Griffith and Craven’s work using restorative justice principles; the program provided opportunities to talk about peripheral harm and explain what restorative justice is, Father Griffith said.

“After I was appointed liaison (for restorative justice and healing), we went out to different parishes,” Father Griffith said. “Sometimes I would preach at all the Masses and on restorative justice and then we would hold healing circles. And it was a time for people to just air what was on their heart and mind. … It gave them an opportunity to say, ‘All right, somebody’s listening.’”

“What Julie (Craven) and I have found is people are really moved and feel affirmed when somebody is there and the sole reason for being there is to listen and accompany,” Father Griffith said. “Victims-survivors will say that that’s deeply affirming and, in many cases, it was the opposite that occurred when they (first) told their story — they weren’t believed or, in some cases, blamed.”

Hoffman said that kind of experience can create additional harm — “feeling minimized or kicked to the corner — many other abuse survivors have had that experience.”

It’s the collective commitment to addressing harm that has made — and can make — a difference.

“It wasn’t just one person’s problem to solve,” Mulheron said, reflecting on her work with the archdiocesan group.

Archbishop Hebda — whom Pope Francis named as apostolic administrator in 2015, later naming him as archbishop — has been “so committed” to this effort, Father Griffith said.

“He’s been there, at the (healing) circles, he has been present,” Father Griffith said. “I’ve never seen a church minister more present in so many different settings.”

Father Griffith and Craven began taking their knowledge of restorative justice principles beyond the archdiocese — Duluth; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Bismarck, North Dakota; San Antonio, Texas; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Wheeling, West Virginia, were among their visits.

Father Griffith said he vividly remembers, during the Duluth visit, a man saying to him about the Church,

Father Daniel Griffith and Julie Craven stand outside the University of founding director of the Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing,

“Father, there cannot be restorative justice without accountability.”

Word began spreading about how restorative justice practices were assisting in healing a wounded Church, both Father Griffith and Craven said.

A similar pattern

“It was interesting to see how word got out,” Craven said. “It didn’t take long before Catholic organizations, parishes (and) dioceses in other parts of the country knew that this work was happening in Minneapolis.”

When she and Father Griffith were asked to share programming at other locations, Craven said, “what we saw was a real similar pattern every time: There’s a situation, people kind of knew that something isn’t right, but they didn’t really do anything, charges were brought, bankruptcies were filed, and it broke the heart of the faithful.”

Father Griffith reflected on restorative justice programming in Wheeling in February 2020: “That

diocese had been through a trifecta of harm and were really, really wounded and kind of bowed down. And people came to the first session, it was (on) Ash Wednesday, and it was so powerful. We thought nobody would show up, or a few people would show up, because … it was sleeting. And it was a packed room. One person, a mother of a seminarian, said to Julie (Craven): ‘We finally have hope.’”

Craven sees restorative justice as providing “the ‘now what?’ The ‘what are we going to do about it?’”

“We know from this work that nothing gets to sit — it has to be dealt with, it has to be named,” Craven said. Father Griffith agreed: “The harm that is not healed is dispersed.”

There is an ongoing need to heal this harm, Father Griffith and Craven said.

“We can almost tell now from the (news) headlines (from) where we’re going to get a call,” Craven said. “Because when there’s media coverage of something that’s just happened in a particular diocese … we can typically expect to hear from somebody in that diocese.”

When those calls do come in, she said they often include the questions of “‘How did you do it?’ ‘What did you do next?’ ‘How did you talk about it?’”

“I think we’re hoping we’ll get to the point where it doesn’t have to be a crisis,” Craven said.

Initiatives and dialogue

The experiences and conversations Father Griffith and Craven had led to Father Griffith and his law school colleague Hank Shea proposing the IRJH to Rob Vischer — then-dean of the University of St. Thomas School of Law, now president of the university — who supported the vision. Launched in 2021, the IRJH is grounded in Catholic tradition and the law school’s social justice mission in its efforts to teach students and members of the legal community how to implement restorative justice practices.

Mulheron, who is on the IRJH advisory board, described the initiative as a way to “institutionalize restorative processes.”

The same year the IRJH launched, roughly two dozen individuals — among them were victims-survivors of clergy abuse, restorative justice practitioners, psychologists, scholars, bishops, priests and deacons — met at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana; the following year, the meeting was held at the University of St. Thomas.

Out of those consultations — sponsored by a grant from the president’s office at the University of Notre Dame and with support from the University of St. Thomas School of Law — grew the NCRJI.

Father Griffith said consultation attendees talked about how to implement “a more robust truth and reconciliation process with regard to the harm of clergy abuse in the Church, including peripheral harm.”

Hoffman described his colleagues at the NCRJI as “a wonderful, wonderful group of people.”

Hoffman said that currently, members of the NCRJI are working on four proposals: Developing a national center with experts and practitioners to inform the Church on restorative justice practices, particularly healing circles; developing a national healing garden as a site of prayer and accompaniment for victimssurvivors of clergy abuse as well as for broader Church healing; instituting an Annual Day of Prayer and Penance for Healing and Reconciliation for broader Church healing and for victims-survivors of clergy abuse; and leading trauma-informed training for clergy, seminarians, lay leaders and ministers, and parishes to be able to accompany victims-survivors.

Meanwhile, Father Griffith said his work as archdiocesan liaison for restorative justice and healing runs on a parallel track with the work of Paula Kaempffer, outreach coordinator for restorative justice and abuse prevention with the archdiocesan Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment (MSSE).

“Paula (Kaempffer) has done a lot of work online during the (COVID-19) pandemic and a lot with victims-survivors,” Father Griffith said. Mulheron agreed, saying Kaempffer “does incredible work with her outreach.”

In a March 2023 interview with The Catholic Spirit, Kaempffer said people worldwide have attended MSSEoffered presentations from experts on topics geared toward victim-survivor healing, such as safety advocacy, trauma-informed care techniques, and creating a

trauma-informed Church.

“I hear from people all over the country, I get emails from people after they’ve attended presentations thanking us at the diocese for putting these presentations on, for the work that we do with victims-survivors, for trainings that we do,” Kaempffer said at the time.

In addition to MSSE work garnering international interest, Father Griffith notes others from around the world have reached out to him and Craven regarding the restorative justice programming they lead.

“Somebody doing a dissertation on restorative justice in Israel reached out,” Father Griffith said.

He and Craven will also meet with “people who are doing international restorative justice work” in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and Dublin ahead of a Northern Ireland and Scotland pilgrimage Father Griffith is leading in October.

Ongoing education

Upper-level law students are packing the Restorative Justice and Healing course offered at the University of St. Thomas School of Law, Father Griffith and Craven said.

“They’re excited about (the concept that) there’s a different way to approach law,” Father Griffith said. “A lawyer can be a source of healing. That doesn’t mean that you’re not going to zealously advocate for your client. But you can do so also being mindful that your client walks in the door in some harmful situation and that you can listen, you can get some of the skills that restorative justice fosters and be a better lawyer.”

Father Griffith said restorative justice education encourages the development of what he calls “big-picture lawyers.”

“You can see this generation of lawyers being formed in a way that they’re going to be more humane, they’re going to be more compassionate, and they’re going to be more intricately healed because they’ve dealt with some of their own trauma. Students are being formed and they are owed ... a lot of tools in their toolbox.”

Father Griffith added there are plans for 2025 to launch a restorative justice externship program for law students who have completed the course. Continuing education opportunities on the topic of restorative justice for interested lawyers are also in the works.

Mulheron sees the value of ongoing restorative justice education in practicing law — her experience in canon law has informed her perspective on how to use restorative justice principles to navigate conflict. Conflict resolution through a restorative justice lens, Mulheron said, is about “always looking for what is the real source for conflict — and it’s never about canon law. It’s always about the human experience and relationships.”

Mulheron said she has shared what she has learned about restorative justice in presentations that she has given to colleagues in canon law.

“In my work, I use that philosophy in everything I approach,” she said.

‘Life-changing’ when properly implemented

“What has won me over … is restorative justice is incredibly effective,” Father Griffith said. “It’s adaptable, it can be used in multiple different ways and it’s consistent with human nature and the desire for healing.”

Mulheron agreed: “I’ve seen it be very successful. And by successful, I mean life-changing for people.”

However, “it’s not a panacea,” Father Griffith said. “It has to be really carefully discerned because it isn’t applicable in every setting.”

Mulheron emphasized that conditions must be right for restorative justice practices to be effective.

“You have to have all the right elements present,” she said. “When you’re missing one of those, it can make things worse. So, you have to be very careful with it.”

Restorative justice practices also require patience, Mulheron explained, particularly with preparatory work. “It can take a year to encounter this restorative process or longer. And you have to have that long-range view.”

“Survivors are in relationship with the Church; that’s that long-range view,” Hoffman said.

Ultimately, restoration is part of the Catholic faith. “This type of work is the work of the Church; this is what the Church is about — reconciliation, healing wounds,” Mulheron said. “This is what it means to be Christ to others.”

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis. Father Griffith is the and Craven is its associate director.

Father Griffith addresses students Sept. 6 in the Restorative Justice and Healing course he teaches at the University of St. Thomas School of Law.

COURTESY ST. THOMAS

Restorative justice fosters hope, healing

By Rebecca Omastiak

The Catholic Spirit

Responding to harm and encouraging accountability and healing, restorative justice is a worldwide movement that has gained a foothold and has strong proponents in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The University of St. Thomas School of Law’s Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing (IRJH) website states restorative justice “practices are used successfully in a variety of settings and professions, including education and law. Restorative justice invites practitioners to enter the wound of another by accompanying them as they tell their stories. And it finds an able and potent partner when grounded in and informed by the Catholic intellectual tradition.”

“That really is what restorative justice is; it’s entering into somebody else’s story and their wound through accompanying, through active listening,” said Father Daniel Griffith, pastor of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis and founding director of the IRJH. “When people are wounded, they’re yearning to be healed and accompanied.”

Father Griffith said “the link between restorative justice and the Catholic worldview, Catholic spirituality, is really strong because both are oriented to human flourishing and healing and justice.”

Susan Mulheron, chancellor of canonical affairs for the archdiocese, said restorative justice is “such an appropriate way for the Church to approach dealing with harm in relationships. We’re a community, we’re a family.”

Janice Andersen, director of Christian life at the Basilica who is involved in restorative justice programming through the parish, agreed that restorative justice “resonates so deeply with our Catholic social teaching, our faith; this whole idea of addressing harm and building community.”

CONFERENCE IN MINNEAPOLIS

Washington, D.C.-based Catholic Mobilizing Network — which seeks to uphold the dignity of all life and end death penalty practices — and the Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing (IRJH) at the University of St. Thomas School of Law are co-hosting the National Catholic Conference on Restorative Justice.

The conference is set for Oct. 5-7 and will be held in Minneapolis, primarily at the University of St. Thomas School of Law.

With a theme of Journeying toward Restoration, the conference will specifically touch on the topics of “criminal legal system transformation,” “clergy sexual abuse and healing,” “racial injustice and healing,” and “harms against Native peoples,” according to the conference website.

Julie Craven, ombudsperson for clerical sexual abuse within the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and associate director of the IRJH, said the conference will approach the topic of restorative justice “from different standpoints.”

“There’s really nothing else like this ... that’s one of the exciting things about it,” Craven said.

Over two dozen experts in areas of advocacy, education, law and the Catholic Church will speak at the conference, including Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

“It’s a great lineup of (speakers) and we’re excited about getting people in the same room together and inspired,” said Father Daniel Griffith, pastor of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis and founding director of the IRJH. Conference details and registration information can be found online at catholicsmobilizing org/rj-conference-2023

— Rebecca Omastiak

FOUR NCRJI PROPOSALS

Michael Hoffman, executive director of the National Catholic Restorative Justice Initiative (NCRJI) and a clergy abuse survivor, said members of the NCRJI are currently working on four proposals, which are in different stages of development.

Andersen said what she has learned in restorative justice workshops has been “a way to bring my faith into action in a profound and new way.”

She said the workshops covered the process of healing circles. Healing circles originated from Indigenous and First Nation peoples in North America, Australia and New Zealand with a focus on addressing harm. A talking piece is passed around the circle; while the person holding it speaks, the rest of the circle participants are to listen attentively and with care.

“Circles can be done to build community, they can address conflict, they can be spaces for healing, or they can support those impacted by a crime,” Andersen said. “It was very exciting to see this other way of justice that’s not really all about punishment, getting what you deserve, so to speak, but rather about making something right and restoring what has been destroyed and healing the wounds not only personally but with the community.”

Healing circles have taken place at the Basilica through different programs, Andersen said. Roughly 20 people have been trained as circle keepers.

Restorative justice “is a tool that helps restore, that helps build community, that helps heal, and there’s so much division in our society and so many barriers to breaking through that this is … a gift from the Holy Spirit,” Andersen said.

Michael Hoffman, a clergy abuse survivor, a member of St. Mary of the Woods in Chicago, and executive director of the National Catholic Restorative Justice Initiative, said restorative justice is about relationship.

“Heart to heart, human to human moments are what restorative justice is trying to get to,” he said.

Hoffman also said, “There is hope for healing. Healing is, in fact, possible and it is, in fact, happening.”

One proposal is developing a national healing garden as a site of prayer and accompaniment for victims-survivors of clergy abuse as well as for broader Church healing. The project has received funding and is in development with the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and The Catholic University of America for inclusion on the university’s campus in Washington, D.C.

The national healing garden is meant to offer a “warm and welcoming and inviting” environment for those seeking healing outside of a church, archdiocesan building or pastoral center, said Hoffman, a member of St. Mary of the Woods in Chicago who also helped develop a healing garden within the Archdiocese of Chicago. It’s also meant for “all survivors of any kind of abuse,” Hoffman said.

Prayer services, survivor-led healing circles and prayer vigils all “can, and should, happen” at the healing garden, Hoffman said.

“That’s where the healing comes — not just in simply having space, but utilizing the space as a resource,” Hoffman said.

The garden is expected to be completed and dedicated in 2025, Hoffman said.

A second proposal is instituting an Annual Day of Prayer and Penance for Healing and Reconciliation for broader Church healing and for victimssurvivors of clergy abuse.

The day of prayer and penance has been implemented at the local level, within some archdioceses, Hoffman said. There is interest at the NCRJI in encouraging its recognition at the national level, which Hoffman acknowledges is “longer term; that takes time to get to the USCCB (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops) level.”

A third proposal is leading trauma-informed training for clergy, seminarians, lay leaders and ministers, and parishes to be able to accompany victimssurvivors.

Hoffman said that work at the diocese level is ongoing, led in part by Father Daniel Griffith — pastor of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis and founding director of the University of St. Thomas School of Law’s Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing — who is a member of the NCRJI.

A fourth proposal is developing a national center with experts and practitioners to inform the Church on restorative justice practices, particularly healing circles.

Working on these proposals and with other members of the NCRJI, Hoffman said, is “healthy; it’s healing.”

— Rebecca Omastiak

JOE RUFF | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT Feb. 1, 2019, at St. Odilia in Shoreview, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, left, talks with Father Daniel Griffith, foreground, then-pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis, and Mark Umbreit, center, founding director of the Center for Restorative Justice and Peacemaking at the University of Minnesota. The session at St. Odilia was designed to help people share the pain caused by the clergy sexual abuse crisis and to promote healing and restoration of trust in the Church

Raising a blind boy and walking by faith

By Christina Capecchi For The Catholic Spirit

The 17th annual Twin Cities VisionWalk is Saturday, Sept. 23, at the Lake Harriet Bandshell in Minneapolis — a free, familyfriendly event including a bounce house, face painting and balloon animals, and culminating with a walk around the lake. Designed to raise money for vital research on vision loss, it is chaired by Sarah Bertram, 38, a member of Mary, Mother of the Church in Burnsville, along with her 7-year-old son, Matthew, who was born with a rare retinal disease called Leber’s congenital amaurosis. The mother-son duo set an ambitious fundraising goal under the team name “Move for Matthew” for the Foundation Fighting Blindness.

Advocating for those with vision loss has been a family effort that flows from their faith, said Bertram, a government employee who, along with her husband, Joe, has two boys.

Q How did you first process the news that Matthew has Leber’s congenital amaurosis?

A I remember those days like it was yesterday. A lactation consultant told us that we should have someone look at him because she noticed that something was atypical with his eye movement. Once I told our doctor and she suggested we get him checked out, that began a wild goose chase of tests and electrodes.

Finally, when Matthew was 10 weeks, we met with a med student at the Lions Children’s Eye Clinic at the University of Minnesota who just laid it out: “Oh, your kid has LCA. Your son’s blind.”

We got genetic testing done, and it confirmed that he did have it. We were stunned.

We mourned it about a week. But then I told Joe, “You do not need to have good eyesight to go to heaven. You don’t need it to be a good person or to be happy.”

That snapped us out of it. And we pivoted: “OK, we can’t do anything about this. Let’s learn about it and refocus. This is the new normal. This is our journey.”

Q What helped you move forward?

A You get a diagnosis, and then you look at your little baby, and they’re so perfect,

they’re so happy. You think: “There’s nothing wrong with you. I’m so blessed to have you.”

I did receive a gift from God because I was so fearful. I was thinking, “He’s never going to see my face, he’s never going to see a rainbow.” I heard loud and clear: “Don’t worry about tomorrow. Only focus on today.” I’m a planner. So, the fact that I received that phrase so clearly was powerful. It’s exactly what I needed.

Q Tell me about Matthew, who just started second grade.

A Joyful. That’s the word that encompasses him. Chatty, math-minded, musical. He’s always had great rhythm. He’s in piano and drum (lessons). He is a great helper. He is empathetic. He’s very clever — and also bossy. He is the man with the plan.

Q Has being the parent of a child with vision loss changed you?

A Yes. It’s made me more compassionate and more patient, especially with children. I really like the way that kids will ask questions to Matthew and of him. I realize that every stare is not a negative thing. It’s

actually an opportunity. So, when kids ask, “What’s that stick?” we say, “This helps me see. My brother likes to hit kids with it; you better watch out.”

I feel more awareness toward differences. If I see somebody, I definitely want to get to know their story. My favorite phrase is, “How can I support you?” — whether that’s a girlfriend who got an autism diagnosis for her kid or if my kid notices someone in a wheelchair. Sometimes people shy away from things they aren’t familiar with and make assumptions. I tell my kids, “Why don’t you go ask, ‘What’s that like?’ Let’s talk to them!”

Q You don’t want people to feel sorry for Matthew, as if he’s a charity case

A Matthew doesn’t believe anything is wrong with him, and neither do we. When people say, “I’m so sorry,” I tell them: “There’s nothing to be sorry for. This is the way he is.” I truly believe that we all have something that is our struggle. It might not be as obvious as a white cane and braille, it might not show up on an ultrasound, but we all have something that we have to work through. We figured it out at 10 weeks. It was a gift — we got to prepare.

When I was pregnant with our second son, I told God, “I’ll take another blind child. I’m so happy you gave him to me. I feel like I was called for this.” And then I got a sighted child — and he’s way more work! He’s a wild 3-year-old.

Q How cool that you recognize this is your calling.

A We all have that in us; we just don’t know we have it until we have to use it. I was at confession last weekend and the priest reminded me that parenthood is a vocation. I really needed that. It can be so overwhelming.

Parenthood is a vocation. This is just more pronounced because I have to work a little harder to help my son meet needs: for health care, for education, for haircuts, when we get in and out of the car — everything’s a little extra, and I’m just trying to make it all happen.

Q How has your faith informed your response to this?

A When I felt like I was flailing with the diagnosis and didn’t know where to turn, my faith was instrumental. I don’t know how you would get through something like that without that foundation. I was raised pro-life, and I really made the intentional decision to be firmly prolife when I had Matthew. He would be, perhaps, not alive. There are so many examples of where he might have been left to die in other countries. You hear about babies that are abandoned if they’re born with a disfigurement or cleft palate. But everybody has a purpose and can contribute.

Q You’re pro-life to the core!

A Every day, more and more. I’m not silent anymore. I love seeing all these secular pro-life groups that are popping up. This isn’t just a religious issue. It’s a human rights issue. And I love seeing this uprising.

Q Is your faith deeper now?

A Oh yeah. And that comes with age, too. I’m seeing everything as a gift versus, “Why would this ever happen?” I was

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DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT Sarah Bertram with her son, Matthew.

Catholic Eldercare celebrates 40 years in Northeast Minneapolis

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

Ann Gibney continues to live an active life at age 91. She likes to spend as much time as she can keeping her body in motion.

Except when she’s sitting in a pew during Mass, which she does five days a week. The opportunity to do this is why she chose Catholic Eldercare as her residence in December 2021.

“The first thing we knew is, it was a good Catholic place, and when I heard there are five Masses a week and a good priest to say them, that clinched it for me,” she said.

Gibney is a resident of MainStreet Lodge, an assisted living facility that sits on one of two campuses of Catholic Eldercare, which opened 40 years ago in Northeast Minneapolis. Its four founders wanted to have a senior living center that would serve the many Catholic residents of the neighborhood, many of whom were poor and struggling to afford housing. Today, there are about 450 residents living on the two campuses, with about 45 more people in the neighborhood participating in the adult day programs. There are people of many faiths who call Catholic Eldercare home, with about 60% of them Catholic.

It all started when one of the founders, Tom Glodek, who grew up in Northeast Minneapolis, was trying to find a place for his elderly grandmother. He approached his friend, Al Hofstede, who served as mayor of Minneapolis for two terms during the 1970s and also grew up in Northeast.

“I was sitting on a ski lift with Al Hofstede in Vail, Colorado, after he just won the mayor’s race,” said Glodek, 86, the only founder still living. Glodek belongs to St. Hedwig, which is just a few blocks away from the main Catholic Eldercare campus. “I said, ‘Al, we’ve got to build a nursing home.’”

He explained his grandmother’s need to find a place to live. He said to Hofstede: “Let’s get going.”

They did. As they worked on procuring $5 million to build a facility, they recruited

Bob Hannah, another friend from Northeast, and approached Archbishop John Roach, who appointed Sister Ruth Roland, a Sinsinawa Dominican, to work with them. They faced some stiff challenges, including high interest rates to secure financing. But their faith led the way, beginning with Sister Ruth.

“Sister Ruth said, ‘You know, Al and Tom, God’s going to take care of us,’” Glodek recalled. “She looked at me and said, ‘Trust me.’ I said, ‘What do you say to that, Al?’ He said, ‘We’ll do it (go ahead with the project).’ That was the birth of Catholic Eldercare right there, that statement: God will take care of us. And he certainly did. He truly did. It’s a great facility.”

Glodek served on the board of directors until he left in 2014. He and the other board members, including the other three founders, oversaw the building of the second campus, called RiverVillage (three miles north of the original campus), in the 1980s, and the attachment of St. Anthony of Padua church to Catholic Eldercare via an addition. This allows residents of the original campus to go to Mass without having to walk outside.

The two campuses offer a wide range of services and residency types, ranging from independent living to full nursing and memory care. John Gillespie lives at Catholic Eldercare’s Wyndris senior apartment complex, which is kitty corner from the main campus. He moved there in 2021, seven months after he moved

his wife, Jackie, to Catholic Eldercare’s Memory Care unit. They both had lived in Golden Valley, but her medical needs became more than he could handle. After her move, he eventually moved to Wyndris so he could be close to her. She died in April of this year, and the care and support they both received have him committed to staying at Wyndris.

“It was just one of the best decisions I ever made,” said Gillespie, 79, whose cousin is Father Joe Gillespie, a Dominican priest who served as pastor of St. Albert the Great in Minneapolis and is now retired. “Wyndris has been great. I’ve made a lot of friends there.”

He called the medical staff who cared for Jackie “just terrific” and said she received “tremendous care.”

“They were just so kind and nice to her, and I could tell they liked her,” said Gillespie, who noted that his mother lived on the same memory care floor as Jackie in the 1990s. “And that made me feel good.”

Leading Catholic Eldercare today is CEO Greg Baumberger, who started as COO 6 1/2 years ago and became CEO in 2020. Before arriving, he had done some consulting with Catholic Eldercare while employed by another organization, and liked what he saw.

“Getting to know the staff and the culture here, I found it really resonated with me personally,” said Baumberger, 53, who belongs to Holy Spirit in St. Paul. “I’ve really enjoyed being here because the culture really fits me — the faith culture,

the smaller organization culture where I can get to know the employees and residents and families.”

He said the culture of Catholic Eldercare “starts with really just adhering to the core principles of Catholic social teaching. It’s about meeting the needs of the poor and powerless. It’s about finding those opportunities that people need in their faith life, to have chaplains and others available to them, having religious services for all denominations, as well as our Catholic Mass.”

In addition to drawing people from the Northeast community to live there, it also draws people to work there. Roxy Tietz, 46, director of adult day services and an LPN, lives just a few blocks away from the original campus. A native of Albert Lea, she moved to the Twin Cities in 2003 and has lived in Northeast for the last 10 years.

Prior to joining Catholic Eldercare in 2018, she would get asked if she worked there as a nurse. Those questions, plus six months of working at Eldercare’s MainStreet Lodge part time, planted a seed.

After being hired as a nurse in the day program, she eventually was promoted to director. She describes the floor where the programs take place as “a fun environment.”

“We’ve got activities going on all day,” she said. “It’s a high-energy place for them to be for a few hours (every day).”

The need for senior care and living facilities is growing, Baumberger said, and that has initiated conversations about expansion. There are no formal plans yet, but that could change.

“It’s in the strategic stage,” he said. “We are looking at opportunities as they arise. And yet, we’ve not really gone to the planning stage of actually saying we’re going to build somewhere.”

Whatever happens in the future, Baumberger never wants to deviate from the original mission of serving the elderly in Northeast Minneapolis. It’s a mission Glodek and others will celebrate at a 40th anniversary party Sept. 27.

“Catholic Eldercare has just been a fun part of my life,” said Glodek, who continues his long-time career as a funeral director, with his son Mark now serving on the Eldercare board. “It’s moving in different directions now, and it’s exciting to see the things that they’re doing and what they’re accomplishing in Northeast Minneapolis.”

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Roxy Tietz, center, director of adult day services at Catholic Eldercare in Northeast Minneapolis, talks with program participants Robert Burkhart, left, and Ronald Frank Aug. 31.

FOCUSONFAITH

Find freedom in forgiveness

Dante is a master at illustrating the effects of sin.

In his “Inferno,” the punishments of hell are presented as physical manifestations of the spiritual realities of sin. An example from this text pertinent to this weekend’s readings occurs when he descends into the fifth circle of hell: (Dante) stood intent upon beholding, Saw people mud-besprent in that lagoon, All of them naked and with angry look. They smote each other not alone with hands, But with the head and with the breast and feet, Tearing each other piecemeal with their teeth. Said the good Master: “Son, thou now beholdest The souls of those whom anger overcame; And likewise I would have thee know for certain Beneath the water people are who sigh And make this water bubble at the surface, As the eye tells thee wheresoe’er it turns. Fixed in the mire they say, “We sullen were In the sweet air, which by the sun is gladdened, Bearing within ourselves the sluggish reek; Now we are sullen in this sable mire.”

This hymn do they keep gurgling in their throats, For with unbroken words they cannot say it.

(Inferno VII.109-126)

This is the place where the wrathful and sullen are punished, both manifestations of anger. The wrathful spent their lives attacking their neighbor and now are doomed to eternal assault.

FAITH FUNDAMENTALS | FATHER MICHAEL VAN SLOUN

A union of equals

Over the years, as I have assisted couples preparing for their wedding liturgy, I have observed that the most chosen wedding Gospels by engaged couples are two parallel texts in Matthew 19:3-6 and Mark 10:6-9, and for good reason. In these texts Jesus explains his ideals for marriage. Moses taught that divorce was allowable (Dt 24:1; Mt 19:7; Mk 10:4), but Jesus taught that marriage is to be permanent, “What God has joined together, no human being must separate” (Mt 19:6; Mk 10:9; see Gn 2:24). Furthermore, ancient society was thoroughly patriarchal, holding that men are superior to women and everyone else. But Jesus taught that “the two become one flesh” (Mt 19:5; Mk 10:8), and if wife and husband are made of the same flesh (see Gn 2:2123), identically the same substance, one is not better than the other. They are the same — equal.

Ancient society had a definite pecking order. It was a caste system. There were four rungs or tiers on the social ladder. Men were on the top rung. Women were on the second. Children were on the third. Slaves were on the fourth.

And there was a property right. Men were privileged and superior to women. A husband exercised a property right over his wife; he owned his wife, and she was his possession, a thing. A husband and wife were superior to their children, and together they exercised a property right over their children; the parents owned their children. And finally, a free family was superior to their slaves, and they exercised a property right over them; they owned their slaves.

Jesus rejected this social hierarchy. According to Jesus, no person or social caste is automatically better than someone else,

The sullen repressed their anger deep within, allowing it to slowly fester and boil; now they spend eternity bubbling underneath a swamp. As Sirach notes in our first reading this weekend, Wrath and anger are hateful things, yet the sinner hugs them tight.

The vengeful will suffer the Lord’s vengeance, for he remembers their sins in detail…

If one who is but flesh cherishes wrath, who will forgive his sins?

Remember your last days, set enmity aside; remember death and decay, and cease from sin!

(Sir 27:30-28:1, 5-6)

Dante depicts the spiritual consequence of cherishing wrath. Unfortunately, it can be all too easy to fall into this ourselves. How often can we hold onto a grudge against someone who has wronged us? How often can we become enraged as we watch the news or scroll through social media? All too often we can fool ourselves into thinking that remaining angry and stewing in anger will serve us. Yet, it is nothing but a poison for our soul. It corrodes our spirit and can impede our own reception of mercy.

Our Lord reminds us that the way to life, freedom, peace and joy is not through wrath but through forgiveness. He exemplifies it for us first and foremost by going to the cross and offering his life for the forgiveness of our sins. The consequence of this perfect act of love is the Resurrection. If we desire to participate in that gift, then we must be mindful of Christ’s response to Peter this weekend and forgive “not seven times but seventy-seven times” (Mt 18:22). In other words, we must always be ready to let go of wrath and bestow mercy. In the life of the Church, we learn this through our participation in the sacrament of confession. There, we leave at the feet of Jesus the many ways we offend him through our sins and receive his merciful embrace. Grace is offered to us there so that we can be merciful to others just as God is merciful to us. May we not allow ourselves to become mired in anger and vengeful in wrath, but may we find freedom and peace in practicing forgiveness toward our neighbor.

Father Froehle is pastor of St. Michael in Farmington.

and no one owns another person. Women, who were oppressed, disregarded, mistreated, demeaned, exploited and used in ancient culture, were overjoyed with Jesus’ counter-cultural Gospel message. In their society and religion, women were supposed to be subservient to men. Jesus had a better way. Jesus wants wives and husbands to be equal partners in marriage. In those days no one spoke like this. The teachings of Jesus were new, exciting, encouraging and empowering for women, and a challenge to men’s understanding of their relationships with others.

Sometimes people sidestep Jesus’ radical new approach, quoting St. Paul who wrote, “Wives should be subordinate to their husbands” (Eph 5:22), as if a husband should be the head of his wife, his children, and his home, and continue the patriarchy of ancient times. But this takes St. Paul out of context. St. Paul also wrote that husbands and wives should “Be subordinate to one another” (Eph 5:21a). There is no patriarchy in subordinating oneself to one’s spouse; only mutual respect, concern and equality.

St. Paul continues, “The husband is the head of his wife just as Christ is head of the church” (Eph 5:23). Jesus, as head of the Church, gave his life for the Church (see Jn 15:13; 19:30), and a husband should give his life for his wife, and conversely, a wife should give her life for her husband. Jesus had authority and power, and he used it to love and serve others. Whatever authority and power a husband may have, it is to love and serve his wife, and conversely, whatever power and authority a wife may have, it is to love and serve her husband. Husbands and wives are equal leaders of the home and their children. Jesus wants marriage to be a loving partnership of equals.

Father Van Sloun is the director of clergy personnel for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. This column is the last of 28 in a series on the sacrament of marriage. The next series on the seven sacraments will address holy orders, starting in October. Past series can be found under Commentary at TheCaTholiCSpiriT Com

DAILY Scriptures

Sunday, Sept. 17

Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sir 27:30–28:7

Rom 14:7-9 Mt 18:21-35

Monday, Sept. 18 1 Tm 2:1-8 Lk 7:1-10

Tuesday, Sept. 19 1 Tm 3:1-13 Lk 7:11-17

Wednesday, Sept. 20

Sts. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, priest, and Paul Chong Ha-sang, and companions, martyrs 1 Tm 3:14-16 Lk 7:31-35

Thursday, Sept. 21 St. Matthew, apostle and evangelist Eph 4:1-7, 11-13 Mt 9:9-13

Friday, Sept. 22 1 Tm 6:2c-12 Lk 8:1-3

Saturday, Sept. 23 St. Pius of Pietrelcina, priest 1 Tm 6:13-16 Lk 8:4-15

Sunday, Sept. 24

Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Is 55:6-9

Phil 1:20c-24, 27a Mt 20:1-16a

Monday, Sept. 25 Ezr 1:1-6 Lk 8:16-18

Tuesday, Sept. 26 Ezr 6:7-8, 12b, 14-20 Lk 8:19-21

Wednesday, Sept. 27 St. Vincent de Paul, priest Ezr 9:5-9 Lk 9:1-6

Thursday, Sept. 28 Hg 1:1-8 Lk 9:7-9

Friday, Sept. 29

Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, archangels Dn 7:9-10, 13-14 or Rv 12:7-12ab Jn 1:47-51

Saturday, Sept. 30 St. Jerome, priest and doctor of the Church Zec 2:5-9, 14-15a Lk 9:43b-45

Sunday, Oct. 1

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Ez 18:25-28

Phil 2:1-11 Mt 21:28-32

KNOW the SAINTS

PIO OF PIETRELCINA (1887-1968) Born in an Italian farming village, Francesco Forgione gained worldwide fame as Capuchin friar Padre Pio, who bore the stigmata, or wounds of Christ, invisibly from the time of his ordination in 1910 and visibly from 1918. As his renown as a confessor grew, the Vatican investigated the genuineness of his stigmata and ministry of prayer and healing. At San Giovanni Rotondo, he built a hospital to treat patients using prayer and science, as well as a pilgrimage and study complex. Shortly before his death, the stigmata disappeared. He was canonized in 2002. His feast day is Sept. 23.

SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER NICHOLAS FROEHLE

St. Paul’s East Side holds legacy of Christ Child Society

Four hundred Catholic women from across Minnesota gathered for a banquet at the St. Paul Hotel on Thursday, Nov. 5, 1931.

This was the conclusion of two days of presentations and prayer in St. Paul with a focus on ways women could serve their communities.

As delegates at the 11th annual meeting of the Minnesota Council of Catholic Women, they represented over 40,000 members from across the state who were part of women’s groups in their local communities. In their local parishes, these women were part of groups called the Daughters of Isabella, Women’s Catholic Order of Foresters, Catholic Big Sisters, Joan of Arc Club, Sodality of Our Lady, and many others.

The Christ Child Society in St. Paul was one such group. A national organization of Catholic young women interested in social work, the St. Paul chapter had 350 members in the 1930s. Their main project was a settlement house in the Railroad Island neighborhood where they supported medical and dental clinics, knitted layette sets for newborns, conducted classes and raised funds for kids to go to summer camp. In addition to service, regular society meetings and fundraising events provided plenty of opportunities for socialization among the young women. Teas and bridge parties were regular group events, and guest speakers shared information on topics of interest. One such presentation was on “the news of the day” by Minneapolis reporter Val Bjornson (an Icelandic Lutheran).

While the women of the society were generally welloff and came from across St. Paul, the Christ Child Settlement House at 515 Partridge Street (near what is now the intersection of Payne Avenue and Kenny

How to travel lightly: the great declutter

My next-door neighbors have been packing up to move for the last month. The empty nesters are downsizing, and I’ve watched their weeks-long purge with a mix of horror and admiration.

High-school letter jacket? Give away.

Handmade desk? Give away.

Barbie clothes sewn by Grandma? Give away. Almost everything had to go. There was no longer space nor, it turns out, need. They’ve raised their kids, retired from their careers. So, they handpicked recipients for special items that no longer serve them and donated the rest.

Yesterday, when the moving truck pulled up, their garage became the graveyard for the final bits: a wooden Santa, a large clock, potting soil and a box labeled “rags.”

That’s what it had come down to: the rags.

I could see a lightness in the wife’s face. Sure, the past month had been grueling — endless sorting, boxing, lifting, lugging. But she had eliminated all the

Road) served the locals — mostly recent immigrants from Italy who attended the nearby Italian mission parish, St. Ambrose. Children at the settlement house played basketball in the gym in their stocking feet because they could not afford shoes, and they spoke in English because they could not understand each other’s Italian.

The Settlement House had programs for the whole family, too. At the conclusion of World War II, the neighborhood gathered there to celebrate. Children prepared a “Victory Program” with the girls dressed as Red Cross nurses and the boys in military uniforms. The children presented folk dances from all the allied nations, and the mayor came to honor the neighborhood’s seven “four-star mothers,” each of whom had four sons in the war. Altogether, the Christ Child House served about 1,200 neighbors with food, medical care and entertainment, as needed.

In 1961, the Christ Child Society broke ground on a new building in the neighborhood at 715 Edgerton St. and chose a new name for the building — Merrick

unnecessary stuff in her life and, with it, a tremendous psychological weight.

She is ready for the next chapter, and she has put in the work so she can travel lightly.

I want to do the same. I just don’t know if I’m ready.

For guidance, I’ve been reading Laraine Bennett, the Catholic author best known for her writing on temperaments. Bennett’s latest book explores the spiritual underpinnings of our consumerist culture. It draws inspiration from St. Thérèse of Lisieux, who wrote: “Happiness has nothing to do with the material things that surround us; it dwells in the very depths of the soul.” It is titled: “The Little Way of Living with Less: Learning to Let Go with the Little Flower.”

The book begins with Bennett’s account of selling almost everything to move to Germany with her husband and two young children. They settled in an old farmhouse with a tiny kitchen and miniature stove. Their American-size box spring wouldn’t fit through the stairs, so they made do with a mattress on the floor and fleas from the barn animals next door.

“This discomfort opened up a space where there was a possibility of spiritual awakening, an encounter, a surprise,” Bennett writes. “God is the God of surprises, Pope Francis says. But when you are too comfortable, too content with the status quo, you rarely step out of your cozy cocoon to encounter the surprise.”

In lieu of the frantic Christmas shopping she’d witnessed in the United States, the young mom participated in a neighborhood tradition: hiking through snowy woods to a mountaintop where

Settlement House. This new name recognized Mary Virginia Merrick, the founder of the national Christ Child Society. Merrick had wanted to join the Sisters of Charity but was rejected because she used a wheelchair. She thought of the babies and mothers she could help and started her own service organization instead.

Today, Merrick Community Services is still serving individuals and families in poverty on St. Paul’s East Side, from its headquarters at 1669 Arcade St. in Maplewood, near Phalen Regional Park. However, it officially separated from the national Christ Child Society in 1990 and is no longer affiliated with the Catholic Church. The settlement house at 515 Partridge no longer exists, but the one at 715 Edgerton in the Railroad Island neighborhood near Swede Hollow Park is home to other organizations still serving the area.

Luiken is a Catholic and a historian with a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. She loves exploring and sharing the hidden histories that touch our lives every day.

snow began to fall just as St. Nicholas appeared, with bishop’s miter and staff in a horse-drawn carriage.

“When our hearts are filled with our earthly loves, our creature comforts and our material possessions, we have less room for God,” Bennett writes.

Ultimately, we need very little. But the line between want and need has never been blurrier in the age of Amazon. We buy for so many reasons: because we can, because it brings a momentary thrill or distraction, because it was recommended by an influencer.

It can be difficult to examine our motives, especially when the period from idea to acquisition spans a matter of seconds.

This year I’ve tried to slow that down. What I discovered is that sometimes — embarrassingly — I already had the thing I was about to buy, or something similar. I could get by.

Before a party, I could dig through my “Rainy Day Bin” and find a gift that would suffice. I’ve become more honest about the recipient’s needs. I picture a cluttered house and busy schedule and opt, instead, for a handwritten card paired with a jar of honey or box of tea.

Buying less isn’t fun, but I can feel virtue building — patience, prudence, peace. It feels good to be resourceful, more easily contented.

I want to travel lightly, unencumbered, with my arms and heart open wide, ready to be surprised.

Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights.

TWENTY SOMETHING | CHRISTINA CAPECCHI

ECHOES OF CATHOLIC MINNESOTA | REBA LUIKEN

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT Merrick Community Services is still serving individuals and families in poverty on St. Paul’s East Side.

ALREADY/NOT YET | JONATHAN LIEDL

‘Hitting rock top’

We all know that hitting rock bottom is one of the surest ways of recognizing our need for God. When every other sense of security, comfort and competence has been stripped away, we are more able to see the stark reality that was and is and has always been the case: At the end of the day, God is all we have.

But interestingly enough, the opposite sort of experience — that of realizing the highest heights of natural joy and satisfaction — is also often an occasion for realizing our need for God. Why? Because when we experience great fulfillment on a natural level, we also realize that it’s not enough to completely satisfy us; it points to something beyond it. We “hit rock top,” and realize there must be something more.

Joseph Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) wrote about this phenomenon in his “Introduction to Christianity,” noting that “both the poverty of human existence” but also “its fullness point to God.”

“Where men have experienced existence in its fullness, its wealth, its beauty, and its greatness, they have always become aware that this existence is an existence for which they owe thanks,” he wrote. Furthermore, these kinds of experiences awaken a yearning for something beyond what the world can provide, which “has always prevented man from resting in himself, made him sense that he is not self-sufficient but only comes to himself by going outside of himself and moving toward the entirely Other and infinitely greater.”

This isn’t just a theological theorem. It’s a truth borne out in compelling personal testimony, as well as in the most credible works of literature.

For instance, Servant of God Dorothy Day’s conversion to Catholicism was precipitated by such an experience of hitting rock top: the birth of her daughter, Tamar.

“Such a great feeling of happiness and joy filled me that I was hungry for Someone to thank, to love, even to worship for so great a good that had been bestowed upon me!” the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement wrote of the experience of motherhood.

In C.S. Lewis’s “Till We Have Faces,” the same conclusion is approached from a different angle.

SIMPLE HOLINESS | KATE SOUCHERAY

A synthesis of faith and culture

When I first read the phrase “life is synthetic,” all I could think of was polyester.

That is not what that author intended, but rather, that Catholics must strive for a synthesis of faith and culture. We are called to create a just world in which our faith informs the culture. A challenge for many Catholics is uncertainty about primary beliefs in this unstable and mercurial quarter-century mark of the new millennium. We have had plenty of people to help us understand our values. There is no lack of books, articles, podcasts and videos to help us know what is expected of faithful Catholics. If we put our heads in the sand to avoid confrontation with the culture, it is due to our own hesitation or lack of initiative. If we have chosen not to read the documents designed to help us decide our role at this turbulent time in history, that may be due to our own cowardice. Perhaps we don’t want to rock the boat. We would rather fit in than challenge people. Well, that is called lukewarm. It is choosing not to be hot or cold but somewhere in the middle. John

Standing atop a beautiful mountain vista, the character Psyche reflects: “It was when I was happiest that I longed most … the sweetest thing in all my life has been the longing — to reach the Mountain, to find the place where all the beauty came from.”

The connection between natural contentment and supernatural longing explains another apparent paradox: why men and women called to radical vocations often decisively recognize this call in the midst of an otherwise good and contented romantic relationship. One example of this, recalled by Zena Hitz in her new book “The Religious Life,” is the tale of Doña Casilda. After enjoying a pleasant day with her fiancé, the 16th century Spanish noblewoman realized that even this great good was ultimately not enough on its own, and she resolved to enter the convent.

The point of hitting rock top isn’t that we’re all supposed to abandon the world and become a cloistered contemplative. The point is this: Literally nothing will satisfy us apart from God. Not the best relationship, the best job, the best house, nor the best piece of tiramisu.

Just like hitting rock bottom, hitting rock top is a unique opportunity to embrace this truth. To seek God alone, above all else.

In a seemingly ironic way, seeking God above all else is actually the only way to save and secure those great

of Patmos, author of the Book of Revelation, states “because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Rev 3:16). What an image.

As Catholics, we must educate ourselves about what it means to be a Catholic and then be willing to stand firmly for our beliefs, which will likely be unpopular, or even detestable, to others. Our identity as Catholics begins and ends with respect for all life, from the moment of conception to natural death, and is referred to as “a consistent life ethic.” We fight for the dignity and preservation of all life.

Our Catholic identity is a gift to guide us through the decisions we make each day. The better we understand and embrace our identity, the more we help create a just society. Our identity is guided by Catholic social teaching and the guiding principles are: dignity of the human person, common good and community, preferential option for the poor and vulnerable, rights and responsibilities, role of the government and subsidiarity, economic justice, stewardship of God’s creation, promotion of peace and disarmament, participation, and global solidarity and development. Through a clear understanding of these guiding principles of our faith, and our daily alignment with these precepts, we help create a just world. According to Msgr. James Shea, a life characterized by the love of God and others “lived as a member of the new humanity, no matter how troubled by suffering, no matter how obscure or difficult or filled with seeming failure, is a triumphant success that will end in a crown of blessedness and beauty.”

The courage of one person, standing firmly for the

human joys and accomplishments and satisfactions we experience here below. Because on their own, they don’t last and they’re not enough. They’re not proportionate to the human heart’s desire for love and goodness and beauty that lasts forever.

But when these good things — our relationships, our work, our joys and sacrifices — find their proper place in our relationship with God, then they are transformed with eternal worth and value.

Perhaps, as Servant of God Luigi Giussani understands it, this is what Christ means when he says that those who have given up earthly treasures for the sake of God will not only inherit eternal life, but will receive “a hundred-fold” here below. The “hundred-fold” isn’t necessarily material prosperity. Instead, it’s a new way of looking at reality that sees everything as a gift and allows us to embrace the good things in a fuller, more pure way.

And whether it takes us hitting rock bottom or hitting rock top, that’s a good place to get to.

Liedl, a Twin Cities resident, is a senior editor of the National Catholic Register and a graduate student in theology at The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul.

ACTION PLAN

uRead about Catholic social teaching. Find one area to act in and have the grit to follow through.

uRead about the life of a saint to learn about difficulties that person faced. Realize we are called to similar courage and holiness.

message of Christ, can influence the decisions of many others to act in accordance. Ours is not, and has never been, the faith of the weak and faint of heart, but rather one of courage. If we look to the saints, we find thousands of examples of human beings, just like us, who challenged the leadership of their day and made decisions that aligned with the Catholic faith rather than with the culture.

This is our time to stand firmly for what we believe. Our task is to educate ourselves about the foundations of our faith and stand firmly on the core of those beliefs. If we do this, we can expect ostracization and ridicule. Do we have the mettle to withstand such treatment? Will we choose to be like the saints, or will we compromise and collapse our values? Will we contribute to the synthesization of our faith and culture?

Soucheray is a licensed marriage and family therapist emeritus and a member of St. Ambrose in Woodbury. Learn more at her website ifhwb com

iSTOCK PHOTO | PHILIPP BEREZHNOY

The point of hitting rock top isn’t that we’re all supposed to abandon the world and become a cloistered contemplative. The point is this: Literally nothing will satisfy us apart from God. Not the best relationship, the best job, the best house, nor the best piece of tiramisu. Just like hitting rock bottom, hitting rock top is a unique opportunity to embrace this truth. To seek God alone, above all else.

“Who do you say that I am?” welled up inside me as I stood at the foot of Mount Hermon, in the Caesarea Philippi region of the Holy Land, where our Lord asked this question of his Apostles. It was a pivotal “God moment” for me in January of this year, not only because I was overwhelmed by the fact that I was there, on hallowed ground, but also because it was precisely my answer to this question that kept me from converting from Islam to Christianity for nine years.

I was born in Iran and raised in the Shia tradition of Islam. I came to the United States as a high school exchange student. Because of the revolution in Iran, I was not able to return to Iran for many years. I was initially attracted to Catholicism because of the Church’s teaching on marriage as an exclusive and permanent covenant, a holy sacrament. This doctrine resonated as truth to me.

Because I wanted my children to know God, I continued to explore Catholicism. I noticed a lot of important commonalities. I believed in one loving, merciful, omniscient, omnipotent Creator. I believed that God “breathed on Mary” and she became pregnant with Jesus. I was taught to honor Mary and to revere Jesus as a perfect, pure, sinless prophet. I was taught about the importance of discipline of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. I believed in eternity after death, the existence of heaven and hell, resurrection of the body on judgment day, and was taught that I could rely on the intercession of angels and saints and to pray for the dead. The use of water, incense and candles was familiar to me.

However, there were major departures from my beliefs; the most troubling one was the Catholic insistence on the divinity of Jesus. In my mind, the mystery of the Trinity did not compute and was a major obstacle to my conversion. I was very young and did not have robust apologetics against the divinity of Christ, but it felt as if it was an insult to the almighty Creator to become a mere creature. It seemed impossible, unnecessary and absurd. The more I thought about this, the surer I became that it was not good logic; “three in one, one in three is just bad mathematics,” I would exclaim arrogantly. This intense intellectual acrobatics was happening during one of the darkest, most desperate times of my life. I had been brought to my knees, overwhelmed with life’s struggles and needed God, but I could not cross the threshold to knowing him on my own.

Why I am Catholic

In the ninth year of RCIA (now OCIA), in my desperation, I felt a shift from “I know Jesus cannot be God” to “OK, I give up! I don’t know who Jesus is, but I long to know.” I realized years later, that because God honors our free will, he restrains his own power and doesn’t impose. My surrender was the invitation he had been waiting for. The answer to my prayer came as a dream in which I saw Jesus and I begged him to tell me what to do. He put his hand on my head and heat went through my body as he said, “it’s so simple, just believe in me!” The next day, I called my priest and told him that I believed in Jesus and that I wanted to be baptized into the Church at Easter Vigil, on March 25, 1989.

I am deeply grateful to God for my Islamic formation, which taught me to worship God and love the Blessed Mother and look up to Jesus. I join the Church in acknowledging “the rays of truth” and holding Islam “with esteem,” as a monotheistic, fellow Abrahamic faith. I am passionate about interfaith dialog.

I still don’t fully grasp the mystery of the Holy Trinity, but who does? I have grown to believe that God is perfect love; his essence is relationship; God is one, but not alone. He is a Triunity. He is transcendent, but, out of sheer goodness, chooses to humble himself and be accessible.

Who do I say that Jesus is? He is my savior. He walks with me closely and saves me daily in the details of my life. He shows me to seek to live in the Father’s will; he teaches me to not be afraid of, but rather to be a friend of, the cross. There is no crown without the cross. This gives meaning to my suffering. Jesus is my trusted friend, he is in my corner, wants the best for me, and calls me to be holy, a saint.

Why am I Catholic? It’s simple: Jesus, the Son of the living God, established this Church and personally invited me to believe in him.

Roughead, 63, has four children and six grandchildren. A member of Holy Name of Jesus in Medina who is active in small group ministry there, she is retired from a career in corporate research and development and is a Gallup-certified professional coactive coach.

“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 SPIRIT

Fariba Roughead

CALENDAR

PARISH EVENTS

Fall Speaker Series: Corporal Works of Mercy — Sept. 21, 27 and Oct. 4, 11, 25: 6–7 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. MercyTalks on respect for life, poverty, homelessness and mission. guardian-angelS org

Rummage Sale — Sept. 21-23 at Holy Name, 3637 11th Ave. S., Minneapolis. 4–7:30 p.m. Sept. 21 (Preview Sale, admission $1 per person); 9 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Sept 22; 9 a.m.–noon Sept. 23 (Bag Day, $2/ bag day). Sale includes books, clothing, furniture, household items, jewelry and toys. ChurChoftheholyname org

Women’s Club Garage Sale — Oct. 4-6 at St. Thomas the Apostle, 20000 County Road 10, Corcoran. 1–8 p.m. Oct. 4; 9 a.m.–8 p.m. Oct. 5 (50% off 4–8 p.m.); 9 a.m.–1:30 p.m. Oct. 6 ($5/bag day). Garage sale includes clothing, baby items and household items. ChurChofStthomaS org

Polka Mass and German Dinner — Oct. 8: 11 a.m.–3 p.m. at St. Boniface, 633 Second St. NE, Minneapolis. Polka Mass at 11 a.m. followed by dinner (serving noon–3 p.m.) featuring roast pork, potato dumplings, sauerkraut, red cabbage and dessert. Takeout available. Silent auction. Music by Rod Cerar Orchestra. Tickets: $15 per adult, $10 per senior/child.

WORSHIP+RETREATS

Sand, Symbol and Source: Developing Your Inner Knowing — Sept. 29-30 at The Benedictine Center of St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, St. Paul. Bring a question or challenge as you explore your life purpose or a significant transition. benediCtineCenter SeCure retreat guru/ program/2023-09-29-Sand-Symbol-and-SourCe/

Q&A CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 chosen for this. I was given him, he was given to me.

Q You’re a busy person — was it hard to commit to this big volunteer role of chairing the VisionWalk?

A We’ve got a lot going on, but this is a big part of our lives. The kids love it, and it’s a great way to connect with this community. The Foundation for Fighting Blindness is wonderful, and they’re very forthcoming with their fiscal responsibility.

Q There is hope that Matthew’s vision could be restored, at least partly. How do you live with that hope and also be realistic about his limitations?

Hope-Full Women: Past, Present and Future — Oct. 6-7 at The Benedictine Center of St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, St. Paul. Guest speaker: Sister Paula Hagen, OSB. Learn, pray and share with other women. benediCtineCenter SeCure retreat guru/program/2023-10-6hopeful-women-paSt-preSent-and-future

When Bad Things Happen ... The Book of Job for Troubled Times — Oct. 13-14 at The Benedictine Center of St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. Guest speaker: Peter Watkins. benediCtineCenter SeCure retreat guru/program/when-bad-thingS-happen-the-book-of-job-fortroubled-timeS/

CONFERENCES+WORKSHOPS

Women with Spirit Bible Study — Oct. 3–April 2: 9:30–11:30 a.m. at Pax Christi, 12100 Pioneer Trail, Eden Prairie. This Bible study explores Wisdom books and Catholic epistles. One-hour lectures by biblical scholars followed by small group discussion. Tuition $100. Registration requested by Sept. 21.

paxChriSti Com/eventregiStration

Prison Ministry Workshop — Oct. 7: 8 a.m.–1:30 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. Discover how you can become involved in prison ministry activities. tCpriSonminiStry Com/workShop-at-guardian-angelS-ChurCh/

Iconography Workshop of St. Joseph — Oct. 16-20: 9 a.m.–5 p.m. at St. Michael, 423 Fifth St. S., Stillwater. Instructor Nicholas Markell teaches Eastern iconography from a Western perspective in the ancient technique of egg tempera painting and 24k gold during this week-long workshop. StCroixiConography org

A It’s tricky. Joe is the one who always says “when Matthew can see” — not “if.” And he’s not the optimist like I am. He is the realist, so for him to say that is pretty major.

We want research to advance so we could have that option — help his vision come back or see colors. We’re not expecting him to be able to drive a car, and we’ve been very honest with him.

Q You exude peace! You must be proactive about wellness. Do you have limits on social media?

A My husband and I decided to get off Facebook when Matthew was born. I felt like it added drama to my life. When I quit, I was still checking my phone at stoplights, which was a bad habit. After day three, I have never once wondered about it. I felt a freedom. It gave me a lot of peace and saved me a lot of mental energy.

SPEAKERS+SEMINARS

The Basilica Landmark Presents: The Rebirth of Notre-Dame — Sept. 14: 5–8 p.m. at the Basilica of St. Mary, 1600 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis, in the Teresa of Calcutta Hall (ground level). Dedicated to raising funds to accelerate the restoration of the Paris cathedral, Michel Picaud has served as president of the Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris since 2016. 5 p.m. reception; 7 p.m. presentation and Q&A. thebaSiliCalandmark org/notredame

How to Make Persuasive Pro-Life Arguments — Sept. 20: 6:30–8 p.m. at Our Lady of Grace, 5071 Eden Ave., Edina. Emily Albrecht of the Equal Rights Institute is a nationally known speaker. olgpariSh org/olg-newS-eventS/ peS-volunteerS-2023-fnyrh

OTHER EVENTS

Catholic Studies Alumni Event — Sept. 21: 5–8 p.m. at O’Shaughnessy Distilling Company, 600 Malcolm Ave. SE, Minneapolis. Catholic Studies alumni from the classes of 2013-2023 and their guests are invited to celebrate 30 years of this life-changing program. Jonathan Liedl (2016 CSMA) will moderate a panel of special guests. Registration is required. Limit two tickets per person. CaS StthomaS edu/departmentS/areaS-of-Study/CatholiCStudieS/30th-anniverSary/index html

Blessing of the Animals — Oct. 1: 1–2 p.m. at St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. Bring your pets leashed or crated for an ecumenical blessing at the monastery. StpaulSmonaStery org/eventS

I use Instagram just to follow friends or groups I’m passionate about. I’m selective about what will enhance my life and what will make it more crowded or noisy.

Q When do you feel close to God?

A When I see my kids. And any time I

CALENDAR submissions

DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, 14 days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication. We cannot guarantee a submitted event will appear in the calendar. Priority is given to events occurring before the issue date.

LISTINGS: Accepted are brief notices of upcoming events hosted by Catholic parishes and organizations. If the Catholic connection is not clear, please emphasize it in your submission. Included in our listings are local events submitted by public sources that could be of interest to the larger Catholic community.

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Calix Society — First and third Sundays: 9–10:30 a.m. First Sunday via Zoom, third Sunday in person hosted by Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul. In Assembly Hall, Lower Level. Potluck breakfast. Calix is a group of men, women, family and friends supporting the spiritual needs of recovering Catholics with alcohol or other addictions. For the Zoom meeting link, call Jim at 612-383-8232 or Steve at 612-327-4370.

take a minute to re-center. Mornings, especially. I try to be intentional about that, to start the day in gratitude.

Editor’s note: To donate to Matthew’s team or learn more about VisionWalk, visit: give fightingblindness org/ moveformatthew

Trojack Law Office, P.A.

We offer tailor-made, client-focused estate planning and related services from a Catholic Perspective

Resurrection Cemetery: 2 side-by-side niches inside the chapel mausoleum. $10,915/ea. To be sold as a pair. Call or text: 651-426-3131.

St. Mary’s: 2 lots; Mkt: $2530/ea; Sell: $4750/pr.

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HANDYMAN

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Woman’s date with future husband and history at March on Washington

By Mark Zimmermann OSV News

Sixty years ago, when she was a student at George Washington University, Diane Patterson met her future husband, Gerry Tolson, in economics class. After the first day of classes, he asked for her phone number. She had been raised in the Baptist faith and had earlier graduated from St. Gabriel School and Sacred Heart Academy in Washington. He had grown up attending St. Martin of Tours Parish and had graduated first in his class from Mackin Catholic High School in Washington. “He was a good Catholic boy,” she said.

They began dating and got married in the fall of 1963. But that summer, they had a date with history while attending the March on Washington, where they saw and heard the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. give his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

In an interview a few days before the 60th anniversary of that historic event, Diane Tolson — a longtime parishioner at St. Martin of Tours in Washington who is now 80 and lives in suburban Columbia, Maryland — reflected on her experience at the Aug. 28, 1963, march.

“We went to the march together with a couple more Black students from GW. We took the streetcar down. I lived on the streetcar line,” she said. “When we got downtown, it was unbelievable how many people” there were, she told the Catholic Standard, Washington’s archdiocesan newspaper.

Once there, “we walked and walked and walked,” Tolson said, adding that since they were young, they were able to make their way through the crowd and get near the Lincoln Memorial.

“I saw Martin Luther King. … Just being a young person, I never thought I’d see Martin Luther King. We actually saw him,” Tolson said, remembering how he was wearing a suit on that hot day.

At the time, “I had no clue to the magnitude of this” event, or that “he’d be dead in a few years,” felled by an assassin’s bullet April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.

The couple stayed to the end of the march and heard all the speeches and the music.

“It was overwhelming, just so many people. What impressed me, people were sitting in trees, people were all around the Reflecting Pool. … Who would think there would be that many people, and it was very orderly. It was amazing,” Tolson said.

Reflecting on the march’s impact, she said, “Things changed after that.”

Tolson noted how her parents, Chalmers and Lula Belle Patterson, had come to Washington from small towns in South Carolina and North Carolina. “More opportunity, that’s what my folks always wanted,” she said. Her father was a World War II Army veteran who got a government job working at Walter Reed Hospital, caring for laboratory animals. Her mother worked as a

ABOVE Diane and Gerry Tolson are shown in an undated photo. They were married for 55 years before his death about five years ago. The couple attended the March on Washington together in August 1963 and got married that fall.

RIGHT This combination photo shows Diane Tolson in 1963, left, and in 2023. A longtime member of St. Martin of Tours Parish in Washington, Tolson attended the March on Washington Aug. 28, 1963.

OSV NEWS | COURTESY PHOTOS VIA CATHOLIC STANDARD

secretary at the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Diane and Gerald Tolson were married for 55 years until his death about five years ago. They have three sons and adopted two daughters, all of whom later served in the military, and they have five grandchildren. Later, the Tolsons also served as foster parents and adopted four siblings from a Hispanic family who had lost their mother.

“We try to give back,” Diane Tolson said.

Gerald Tolson had a management position with IBM. Over the years, Diane Tolson worked making travel reservations for Trans World Airlines and later operated her own travel agency, Columbia Travel. For more than 20 years she managed St. Martin’s Travel, planning trips for parishioners that raised funds for that city parish. Over the years, she and her husband traveled to Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, and her favorite travel spot was Alaska.

During her interview about the March on Washington and its 60th anniversary, Diane Tolson noted that Black Americans since then have “had a lot of successes, a lot of breakthroughs, and a lot of opportunities. The Black community is very proud of that, and very thankful for that.”

But she noted that challenges remain for the nation’s African Americans, including lifting people out of poverty and addressing issues like violence and drug abuse impacting families and communities.

“The work (of the march) continues,” Tolson said.

• Branson, MO Queen Esther Nov 30 Dec 3 2024

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• Ireland Pub/Pew (Fr. Peter/Fr. Popp) April 2 12 Optional Scotland extension April 12 15

• Sold out Holy Land (Fr. Fitz/Fr. Clinton) April 11 22

• Eucharistic Revival/IN (St. Cloud Diocese) July 17 21

• Poland August

• CA Mission/Wineries (Fr. Binsfeld) October

• Branson Miracle of Christmas Dec 5 8 2025

• Italy Jubilee Year (Fr. Fitz) April 1 11

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