September 2017

Voice Southwest of the

The Official Publication of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup | dioceseofgallup.org | Vol.57 No.2

“I’m Truly Blessed” From Ireland to Gallup, meet Fr. John Cormack, your new diocesan priest

Columns 4

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Bishop James S. Wall A conversation with Fr. John Cormack Saints for Today Hildegard of Bingen Making Sense of Bioethics Considering the options for infertile couples

News 04

Meet Your Newest Priest Fr. John Cormack ordained to priesthood in June

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Obituaries Fr. Ulric Pax & Fr. Wayne Gibbeaut

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Credibly Accused List Update 3 new names added to Diocese’s list of credibly accused clergy

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Catholic Schools Roundup St. Bonaventure basketball team receives new uniforms

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National and Local News

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Bishops’ statement on DACA; St. Francis Catholic School closure in Gallup

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Fr. Walker’s Legacy As he retires, pastor leaves behind thriving parish, new family center

OLOG Sisters Community receives new canonical status

Features 16 18 19

Calendar of Events Tekakwitha Conference Priest Profile Fr. Patrick McGuire and Fr. Francis Akano, serving Zuni and St. Anthony School

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Voice

of the

Southwest

Publisher

The Most Rev. Bishop James S. Wall

Editor

Suzanne Hammons

Advertising/Office Manager Ella Roanhorse

Contributors

Bishop James S. Wall Fr. Tad Pacholczyk Dr. Jean Lee

Email comments to:

designoffice@dioceseofgallup.org

Write to:

Voice of the Southwest PO Box 1338, Gallup NM 87305-1338

Cover Photo

Bishop Wall receives a blessing from newly-ordained Fr. John Cormack.

Photo by samanthamaryphotography

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OCT. 8TH

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From the Bishop:

Introducing Fr. John Cormack Bishop Wall recently sat down with Fr. John Cormack, the newest ordained priest for the Diocese of Gallup. The interview was conducted for Bishop Wall’s podcast, CrosierCast, which he hosts on a regular basis.

in the country, how he brought Catholicism in a very special way to the country.

Have you always had a devotion to the Apostle of Ireland?

Yeah, I think we have to get back to properly celebrating - we do properly celebrate his feast day, but it gets a bit hijacked in our culture or in our society. As I heard a priest once say, “St. Patrick came to Ireland to convert the pagans, and we celebrate his feast day by acting like pagans”. And so he’s a great saint, a great man, and I can tell you have a great devotion to him.

So you’ve told us where you’re from - do you come from a big family?

Indeed, it’s a national holiday, and even still today, despite the secularism that has crept into our country, St. Patrick is highly revered on that day. You would hear grandparents and family members continually talk about the great things St. Patrick did

I come from a family of seven - the firstborn. Four boys and three girls, and my mother is still alive. She’s only 84 young. My dad passed away some years ago - 2005, when I was studying in Rome, the Lord took him home in Eastertime.

Bishop Wall: That’s a great gift you bring to us - you’re from Ireland. What part are you from?

Fr. John Cormack: County Mayo, close to Knock Shrine, close to Croagh Patrick.

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So the firstborn, dedicated to the Lord. It’s very scriptural. You said you studied in Rome.

I studied at the St. Thomas Aquinas Pontifical University, which was a great honor and privilege. The Lord has got a great sense of humor. I never realized that as a working man coming from a farming background I would end up in Rome. In the first semester, I thought I would never survive it, but by the Lord’s grace I did and continued to thrive and do very well in my time in Rome.

Were you studying for a diocese, religious community - what were you doing?

At the time I was with a religious community called SOLT: Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity. At that time that’s where all the seminar-

Fr. John Cormack (center), newly ordained, is greeted

by Bishop Wall, priests and deacons of the diocese outside Sacred Heart Cathedral on June 24 ians would study.

Obviously you were ordained as a diocesan priest - you were incardinated in the Diocese of Gallup. So how does one go from Ireland, where you were born, to SOLT, studying in Rome, and then end up in Gallup?

When people ask me, I jokingly say “I’ve come here by plane.” They say “we didn’t mean that!” Well, SOLT is a very missionary society, and I was put in contact with them through a very good priest friend of mine, and I spent some time here with them as a novice in the United States. In the summertime we were doing pastoral placements with the society, which is a great opportunity to get to see and know the culture in a very good manner. And that’s how I ended up in the States so long. Then through the Lord’s grace I discerned to come to the Diocese of Gallup, which has been a

great grace for me.

When you did some of your ministry with SOLT, you did a little of that in the Diocese of Pueblo, just north of us, right?

We spent some time there as novices and I’d also done a pastoral placement there, and built up many graced relationships there.

So the diocese - or at least the Southwest - was somewhat familiar to you.

Very much so. On the day of my ordination, which was the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, many of them came to my ordination, which was a great joy to see.

It was, it was great, the Church was full. It was a great day and it was just very joyful. We saw lots and lots of happy people, and I

know you were very happy to be a newly ordained priest and I was very happy to be a bishop of the Diocese and have a wonderful new priest. So let’s talk a little bit about your vocation. When did you first discern or discover that the Lord was calling you to the priesthood?

I have a very fond memory of one time in my home Church of the Holy Family, when my father was assisting the priest. I was probably no more than nine or ten years of age and he said one day to the priest that I would be a priest one day. At that time, little did I realize what he was saying but as time developed it began to sink more and more into my heart. As I got involved with the Legion of Mary and parish life, people would often ask me “are you a priest?” and I would kindly say “I’m not”. Then they’d kindly ask me “did you ever think about becoming a priest?” and I said “well not reVoice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

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ally”. But then as tome progressed I pondered and discerned more and more that this was the way the Lord was calling me to, so I trusted very much in the Lord to open that door that would eventually get me to where he would want me to serve him in a most joyful way.

I think that’s a good point you bring up - people don’t give us our vocation. However, the Lord, I think, can move someone’s heart to mention something to us. I had this very same experience, that people would say “have you ever thought about being a priest?”

And this was during the time when I was in my own discernment and I didn’t think anybody knew. It was just something I was keeping to myself. But you would start to hear this over and over and over again, and I think the Lord was just placing those people in my life.

And that was one of the ways that he was making known to me that he wanted me to be a priest. You know, we don’t force a vocation on somebody but we can help foster a vocation.

Sure, yeah, people say “you should go here and go there” but one has to take that step like St. Peter, to get out of the boat and walk on the water. And it’s a matter of trusting and believing that he will eventually get you there.

Which is the case - he got me here.

So through your own discernment you were able to come to the realization that you weren’t called to religious life. And thankfully, a mutual [priest] friend that you and I both know, a member of SOLT, contacted me and said “I have this wonderful man who has been in formation and I believe he’s being called to be a priest, but I think he’s called to diocesan life”. So thankfully, he introduced you to me and we brought you to the Diocese and you’ve served in the Diocese almost three years now. Mostly working in the city of Gallup, at the Cathedral, doing a lot of work with me, too, which has been great - giving us a chance to know

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each other, serving as my Master of Ceremonies in Confirmation season, different things like that.

But after you were ordained a deacon, August 6, 2016, you were assigned to St. Mary’s parish in Farmington, which is one of our larger communities. A very large and vibrant Hispanic community.

My assignment was most blessed and grace-filled. I felt very welcome from the very moment I arrived there.

People were so supportive of my vocation, and they were so glad to have a transitional deacon going forward for ordination. And I sensed the beauty of the Catholic faith there, how people adore Our Lord 24/7. That encouraged my devotion to the Eucharist to become ever more deeper.

They have Perpetual Adoration over 30 years, about?

Which is a tremendous sign of how they live their faith. So beautiful to see. It reminded me of my time in Rome, how people truly loved their faith. It’s so alive. Great things happen there, and I do believe that many vocations are going to come of that area as a result. And it helped me in a very special way to enjoy my preparation for the priesthood, as my diaconate role proved very fruitful during that time.

Good, I wanted to make sure that was a good, positive experience for you and I know it was. Fr. Chacon, Fr. Jeff King, Deacon Frank Chavez and Deacon James Betts - great ministerial team up there and I knew that you would fit in well. And then I ordained you on the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. Where’s your next stop?

My new assignment as a priest is parochial vicar at the sacred heart Cathedral in Gallup, which is a tremendous blessing also. I never truly expected I would be sent there, and it’s going to be a great opportunity to develop my role as a priest - a good priest, a holy priest to serve the people here in this Diocese of Gallup.

One of the things I noticed as you were talking, that your home parish in Ireland is Holy Family, right? And in my own little reflection I was thinking about how a good, strong vocation is fostered in the family.

And the more that the family can try to mirror the Holy Family, the better an environment they can provide so that the children come to know their vocation - as a priest, consecrated religious, as a married person, whatever the call is. And your parents were faithful Catholics and you’ve been able to be a faithful Catholic and through that you’ve discerned your own vocation. Going forward, as a new priest, what is one way you feel you can help families that are entrusted to your care to be holy, to be like the Holy Family?

A fond memory is praying with my parents every evening together, the holy rosary. And if there’s one thing I would encourage families to do, it would be to spend time in prayer, whether through the rosary, the scriptures, spend time in prayer. Spend time with Our Lord in Adoration. And that will strengthen family life and keep families together, and also help to discern their vocation in a very fitting manner.

Well, thank you Father, and I’m so excited for you and excited for you to begin your priestly ministry here in our Diocese. We want to continue to pray for vocations, continue to foster vocations, especially to the priesthood, consecrated life, and those who are called to marriage, so we can have good, happy, healthy families.

Note: this conversation has been edited for clarity and space constraints, but you can find the full interview with Fr. Cormack, as well as podcast episodes covering a range of topics from a Bishop’s point of view, on iTunes or Soundcloud. The podcast is also hosted on our website: voiceofthesouthwest.org/podcast

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Obituaries Fr. Wayne Gibbeaut Fr. Wayne Gibbeaut, OFM, who served for years as pastor of St. Joseph Parish and its missions until his recent transfer, died on March 15, 2017.

Fr. Wayne had been hospitalized in early February, following a lingering set of illnesses which had beset him over the last few years. Despite his pain and the trials of his ill health, he had faithfully ministered until last summer to the people of Acoma and Laguna Pueblos in the Diocese of Gallup for several years and before that had most recently served in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe as Pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Pena Blanca, New Mexico with its Pueblo missions of Cochiti, Santo Domingo and San Felipe. Previously, he served the people of Tesuque, Santa Clara and San Ildefonso Pueblos as well as Jemez Pueblo, Santa Ana, Zia, San Ysidro, Canon and Ponderosa.

His last months were spent with his sister Betty Hammack, brother Sid Gibbeaut and nephew and niece, Dr. John and Ann Hammack all in his native West Virginia. Fr. Wayne traveled to West Virginia in August 2016 on vacation before becoming gravely ill.

Please remember Fr. Wayne, his family, the friars and the people with whom he ministered so faithfully for over thirty years in the Southwest in your prayers.

Fr. Ulric Pax The Diocese of Gallup received notice that Fr. Ulric Pax, OFM, died on March 25, 2017.

Fr. Pax’s first assignment in the Diocese of Gallup was as the assistant pastor at St. Joseph Indian Mission in Laguna, NM in 1961. He later served at multiple parishes across the Diocese, including St. Joseph in Keams Canyon (1975-1978), St. Francis in Gallup (19781985, 2002-2005), St. Teresa in Grants (1992-2002), and San Esteban in Acoma.

Fr. Pax also served as a community surveyor for the Catholic census in several communities of the Diocese and as Defender of the Bond for the Tribunal Office from 1997 – 2000.

May he rest in peace.

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Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

New Priest Assignments Fr. Lawrence O’Keefe has retired from his assigned duties as pastor of the parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Holbrook AZ. Fr. Raja Yeruva is assigned as Parochial Administrator of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Holbrook, AZ and St. Joseph, Keams Canyon, AZ. Fr. Clay Kilburn, CM will be leaving parish ministry to care for an ailing family member.

Fr. James E. Walker has retired from his assigned duties as Pastor of St. Mary’s Bloomfield and St. Rose, Blanco, NM. Fr. Josh Mayer is assigned as the Parochial Administrator of the parishes of St. Mary, Bloomfield, NM and St. Rose of Lima, Blanco, NM. Fr. Mayer will continue his assignment as the Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Gallup and the Spiritual Director for the SEARCH program.

Fr. John Cormack is assigned as Parochial Vicar to Sacred Heart Cathedral, Gallup NM. Fr. Nathanael Block, is beginning Canon Law studies at the Catholic University of America this Fall.

Fr. Robert Mathieu is assigned as the Parochial Administrator of the Parish of Our Lady of the Snow, Snowflake, AZ. Fr. Mohana Bathineni has completed his assignment in the Diocese of Gallup and is moving to the Diocese of Tucson, AZ. Fr. Cornelius Onyigbuo is assigned as the Parochial Administrator of Immaculate Conception, Cuba, NM, with it’s Missions, St. Francis of Assisi Lumberton, and St. Anthony, Dulce NM. Fr. Joseph Mary Kodiganti is assigned as Parochial Vicar to the Western Cibola Deanery, St. Teresa Grants.

Fr. Francis Akano is assigned as Parochial Vicar of St. Anthony Zuni with the associated parishes of San Lorenzo, Tinaja, NM, St. Patrick’s Chichiltah, NM, and Good Shepherd, Bread Springs, NM. Fr. Patrick McGuire, SMA remains Pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Zuni, and will have the additional assignment of Pastor of San Lorenzo, Tinaja, NM, St. Patrick’s Chichiltah, NM and Good Shepherd, Bread Springs, NM. Fr. Gilbert Mangampo returns to the Diocese of Gallup after an absence of several years. He will assume duties as the sacramental minister of Saint Paul in Crownpoint, NM and Risen Savior in Bluewater, NM. He will also serve as chaplain to St. Bonaventure School in Thoreau, NM. Please keep our priests in your prayers as they retire or move to new parishes to serve the Catholics of the Diocese of Gallup!

Diocese Adds 3 Names to List of Credibly Accused Clergy and Church Workers The Diocese of Gallup has added three new names to its list of credibly accused clergy and church workers. There have been credible allegations of past sexual abuse of a minor (all occurring prior to 2004) against Br. Mark Schornack, OFM, Fr. Ephraim Beltramea, OFM, and Fr. Diego Mazon, OFM. After careful investigation, the Diocese of Gallup has come to the conclusion that these names should be added to the list.

As Bishop James S. Wall has stated in his letter to the affected parishes and survivors, “When I became the Bishop of the Diocese of Gallup, I committed to ensuring that the children in this Diocese and in the Parishes, Missions or Schools that operate within the Diocese were protected. In the past the Diocese published names of those working within the Diocese against whom there were credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. That list is available on the Diocese of Gallup’s website (http://www. dioceseofgallup.org).

“The publication of additional names does not mean that our vigilance and continued investigation ends here as the investigations remain ongoing. The survivors who have come forward should be commended for their bravery and courage, and I express my deepest apologies for the actions of those who violated the trust of the survivors and the parishioners within the Diocese by committing these terrible acts. I reaffirm my commitment to protect our children and my commitment to continue to assist those who have been harmed. I call upon all the faithful to participate in our programs designed to provide a network of protection for our children from the many sources that can bring them harm. Together we can provide a safe environment for all.”

The Diocese of Gallup strongly encourages anyone harmed by the sexual misconduct of an employee or clergy within the diocese to contact law enforcement. We also welcome you to contact the Victims Assistance Coordinator of the Diocese of Gallup, at 505-906-7357.

Promise to Protect If you or someone you know has been abused by a priest, deacon or other employee or minister of the Catholic Church, please report this to: Elizabeth Terrill Victim Assistance Coordinator 505-906-7357 victimsassistance@dioceseofgallup.org

We will help.

Your confidentiality will be protected.

Their assignments were as follows: Brother Mark Schornack, OFM (deceased) Assignments: St. Michael’s Mission, St. Michaels AZ (02/1952) St. Michael’s Mission, St. Michaels AZ (09/1956) Our Lady of Guadalupe, Kayenta AZ (06/1968) Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, Fort Defiance AZ (06/1969) St. Michael’s Mission, St. Michaels AZ (01/1970) St. Francis, Lumberton NM (1978) St. Francis, Gallup NM (1979) St. Anne, Klagetoh AZ (06/1979) Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, Ft. Defiance AZ (06/1980-07/1981) Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, Ft. Defiance AZ (1983-1984) Fr. Ephraim Beltramea, OFM Assignments: St. Francis Church, Gallup NM (06/1970-05/1973) Fr. Diego Mazon, OFM Assignments: St. Joseph Church, San Fidel NM (06/1977 – 05/1980) St. Michael’s Mission, St. Michaels AZ (06/1980 – 06/1981) Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, Ft. Defiance AZ ( 06/1990-06/1994) St. Francis Church, Gallup NM (07/1994-12/2003)

Si usted o alguien que usted conoce ha sido víctima de abuso por parte de un sacerdote, diácono u otro empleado o ministro de la Iglesia Católica, favor de reportar el incidente a: Elizabeth Terrill Coordinador de Asistencia para Víctimas 505-906-7357 victimsassistance@dioceseofgallup.org

Nosotros le ayudaremos.

Su confidencialidad será protegida.

Do Háida’bił bee hodozįįł daíigi beeádee haho’dzíí’ Catholic Church dóó éé’ neishoodii yił ndaałnishi’ igíí dóó Baa ndaałah’ igíísh doo há’ atééh’ igoo da, nínįi’ yiyiiłaah’ Dóó’ oóshlí ła’ ísh ákóbí’ diiłyąą go nił beehoozin, Akohootįįngo nił beehoozin’go baahwíí’ diłníi’ Elizabeth Terrill Victim Assistance Coordinator 505-906-7357 victimsassistance@dioceseofgallup.org

Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

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Catholic Schools

St. Bonaventure Basketball Team Receives Grant for Brand-New Uniforms When thinking of needs

for a mission school, “new basketball uniforms” is probably not something that will make the list.

At St. Bonaventure School in Thoreau, nearly every middle school student joins the basketball team. On game nights, the gym is usually filled to capacity. But the school gym is in a building originally built as a roller-skating rink, then used as a cafeteria. Even after a remodel, most visiting schools are reluctant to play at the gym because it doesn’t meet regulation standards.

Despite these setbacks, something as simple as a good uniform can make all the difference to a young player, and that’s where Sr. Natalie Bussiere decided to start.

“When I was principal there I bought them for the kids through a donor, and they’re probably ten years old,” said Sr. Natalie, who now works at the St. Bonaventure Mission Office. “So yeah, they were worn out.”

One day, a friend suggested that Sr. Natalie should apply to the JJ Watt Foundation. Named after NFL athlete Justin J. Watt, a defensive end for the Houston Texans, the foundation supports after-school athletic programs in middle schools around the United States.

Connie Watt, Justin Watt’s mother, serves as the Vice President of the foundation. She recalls how important afterschool athletic programs were to the personal and professional development of her son.

“You know, you go to some games and some schools are all decked out in the most expensive uniforms, and glitz and glamour, and it’s definitely not about that at all. We try to make sure that we’re giving them basic needs and basic uniforms,” she said. “[Watt] was an athlete when he was young, and he said that he looked forward to every Friday - being able to wear his football jersey to school.

It was a pride thing, like you were proud to show that you were part of a team, you’re proud of your school. It’s just something that the kids had to feel good about, to look forward to.”

Watt refers to athletic programs as “incentives” - for students who love to

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play basketball, maintaining a certain grade point average usually goes handin-hand with a place on a team’s roster.

“Our main mission is to keep the kids in a safe and supervised environment after school, but also teaching them those different skills,” she said. “We understand that parents and teachers can teach them things, but the things that you learn from a team and being part of a team are a little bit different: learning how to lose, how to lose gracefully, the leadership qualities.”

And on a team where nearly every student participates in basketball, opportunities to teach life lessons pop up every day. For the team’s coach, Andrew Yazzie, winning comes second.

“My number one goal is for the students to learn how to be satisfied with their best effort. If they know they did their best, to me it’s a win, every time,” he said. “So that’s my goal is to not make winning the most important thing, and to love each other, on the basketball court, not to yell at your teammates when they make mistakes but to encourage them.”

Yazzie grew up in New Mexico, as a cross-country runner and basketball player, before moving to Michigan for 10 years. But he calls New Mexico his “home”, and always wanted to come back. An opening for a PE teacher at St. Bonaventure proved to be the perfect opportunity. In particular, the school attracted him because it allowed him to incorporate his faith into his teaching.

“Every class is kind of like a little family. I love being able to talk about Christ

and share Scripture with the students,” he said. “When I came Mrs. Griffin was the principal, she said ‘my number one goal is character development’. I love that because I really feel like that should be the number one goal in these students, especially from a Christian standpoint. I really believe the academics will follow if that student has good character - the academics will fall in place.”

Yazzie carries it a step further, molding faith and character on the court.

“I just got done talking with one of the classes about how God is glorified when we play our best for Him and are satisfied with the result, whether we win or lose. We don’t make winning the most important thing.”

This progression is natural in an environment where families turn out in droves to watch their children play. On a typical game night, the bleachers will be filled with parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and siblings. The spirit and pride in the game is palpable, and now that spirit can shine through the new uniforms worn by students.

Sr. Natalie believes the uniforms will carry the students through many victories, on and off the court.

“They’ll be using them year after year after year...and for the youngsters themselves, those qualities that I just mentioned that they’ll carry with them even when they graduate from our school and go on to high school, hopefully some of them will join the basketball team in high school and they’ll find some fulfillment in that.” VoSW

National and Local News Roundup

Local Bishops’ Statement on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Youth NM, AZ - In light of increased tensions and speculation over the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program (DACA), the Catholic Bishops of Arizona and New Mexico want to reiterate our strong and unwavering support for DACA youth so they do not have to live in fear of deportation.

These young people entered our country as children and should have the opportunity to remain in our country to be educated here and to have opportunities to exercise their gifts for the enhancement of our nation.

Presently, DACA protects nearly 800,000 of these young people, while allowing them to live and work in our country without fear of deportation.

Through DACA they have furthered their education, started small businesses and become integral members of our communities in Arizona and New Mexico.

While DACA is not a permanent solution, we support its continuance until a permanent solution can be found.

Image by Br. Christian Seno, OFM via Flickr Creative Commons Accordingly, we urge our federal elected officials to move forward with permanent solutions that grant relief to these young people along with the chance to earn permanent residency and eventually to seek citizenship.

We ask that all people of goodwill join us in praying and advocating for governmental efforts to protect DACA youth and for reform of our broken immigration policies.

Sincerely yours in Christ, Most Rev. John C. Wester Archbishop of Santa Fe

Most Rev. Oscar Cantú Bishop of Las Cruces Most Rev. Gerald F. Kicanas Bishop of Tucson Most Rev. Eduardo A. Nevares Auxiliary Bishop of Phoenix Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted Bishop of Phoenix Most Rev. James S. Wall Bishop of Gallup

St. Francis K-5 School in Gallup Closes Down GALLUP (July 31, 2017) – After rigorous discussion, the decision has been made to close the Kindergarten through Fifth Grade classes at St. Francis School in Gallup, effective Friday, July 28, 2017.

Detailed examination into the school’s finances has determined that numerous debts and low enrollment for the new school year have combined to make the elementary school program financially unviable.

St. Francis Preschool, which serves children from age two through age five, remains open, and continues to accept students for the new school year.

Sacred Heart Catholic School remains open as an educational option for students and their families, and offered students enrolled in St. Francis for the 20172018 school year the same tuition rates if

St. Francis School in Gallup

they decided to transfer.

The new school year began for children at both St. Francis Preschool and Sacred Heart Catholic School on Monday, August 14, 2017.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact Jeanette Suter, Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Gallup, at 505-863-4406 or jsuter@dioceseofgallup.org Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

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Retiring Priest Leaves Thriving Parish, New Family Center as Legacy

it’s impossible to miss the smile in Fr. James Walker’s voice as he outlines plans for his final retirement from ministry in the Diocese of Gallup. Not that he’s happy to leave being a pastor – on the contrary, his life as a parish priest has been a deep source of happiness for himself and those he serves. But Fr. Walker is a man who never stops moving and learning, and since his retirement date on July 1st, he’s already enrolled in classes at the Catholic University in Avila, Spain, the first item on his extensive bucket list.

Fr. Walker’s final assignment was pastor of St. Rose of Lima Parish in Blanco, NM and St. Mary Parish in Bloomfield, NM. Before that were several assignments in Gallup, at St. John Vianney Parish and Sacred Heart Cathedral. But it was in Blanco that he would face one final, decisive challenge.

Blanco, NM is a small township near Farmington with deep roots. Many of the families here can trace their local family tree back over a hundred years.

But these Catholics, who faithfully attend Mass and parish functions and give their full support to the Church, had no proper place to gather. A new parish hall was badly needed, and although a fund was set up, very little progress was made for over a decade.

Fr. Walker had served a previous assignment at Blanco, and it always

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bothered him that his parishioners hadn’t received their building.

“So when Bishop Wall asked me to return here two years ago, May of 2015, one of the first things I said to him was that I really, really needed to address the question of the hall at St. Rose,” he recalls. “Just about a year ago we started trying to determine ‘how are we ever going to raise enough money to complete the hall?’”

Then the parish got lucky – a rancher who attends the parish had an unused building shell, complete with walls and roof, sitting on his property.

After he agreed to let the parish use it for the new hall­, the parish set about raising $86,000 in four months. Most of this came through raffles for NFL games, vacation packages, and various community fundraisers.

One fundraiser in particular struck Fr. Walker for its kindness – the nearby Benedictine Sisters in Gubernador, NM, who themselves are trying to raise money to build a monastery of their own, donated proceeds from their annual Ice Cream Social in 2016.

When the nuns could not have their Social this year, St. Rose parishioners returned the favor by holding a new raffle just for the monastery.

In a mere few months, the dream of nearly fifteen years came together.

“What made the difference was

when the old hall was demolished, people realized ‘we’re finally seeing something being done here,’” Fr. Walker said. “But then of course the shell of the building went up and people were very excited. A lot of parishioners contributed in-kind help: a lot of the landscaping, some of the road work, redoing the parking lot. People all over the Blanco area were helping.

So it was not just the fundraising, but they saved us a lot of money with inkind labor.”

The final change was the name. Instead of a parish hall, the new building became the Blanco Family Center.

Below: The new Family Center stands proudly along Highway 64.

Opposite page, left: Fr. James Walker enjoys a bench built by parishioners in his honor.

Opposite page, right: Bishop James Wall blesses the new family center.

Opposite page, bottom: Marian procession outside the new family center.

The words “Familia y Fay” - “Family and Faith” are displayed prominently at the front of the building. Fr. Dan Daley, a previous pastor, first coined the phrase when Blanco celebrated its 100th anniversary.

“The community is extremely in tune with the whole concept of family, in all different ways. For that reason we decided to use Fr. Dan’s motto, if you will, and put it right on the face of the new building in quote marks. As you drive by, you can’t miss it.”

The parishioners at St. Rose of Lima finally have their gathering place, and the town of Blanco has a new community center. The parish plans to make it available for weddings, receptions, and other meetings.

“You can just see the excitement of the people. The volunteer help, and

good professional help, and the contribution of heavy duty equipment - all that, it was really a community effort, no question,” said Fr. Walker. “Just as a local church in the Diocese, that really was a very clear statement as to who the people of St. Rose of Lima parish are. Because we’re anticipating that building will be there a couple of generations at least.”

And now, as he retires, Fr. Walker leaves a thriving parish behind. Every RCIA and Sacramental class is larger.

The parish had to hold three 1st Communion Masses to accommodate all the children taking their first Eucharist. And so many adults needed to receive confirmation that Fr. Walker received delegation from the bishop to confirm some of them himself at the Easter Vigil Mass.

He is now readying for a pilgrimage to churches and basilicas on the East Coast, and then it’s off to a sabbatical program the North American College in Rome, where he will study the life and legacy of St. Peter - “The whole story of St. Peter fascinates me,” he says.

Never one to stop learning and traveling, Fr. Walker recalls his pastoral ministry fondly, thanking his staff, volunteers and parishioners for all their efforts.

“Looking back now, it certainly was very rewarding. Of course, I knew all along that my time was coming to an end as an active, full-time pastor, so without question that was one of the things that drove me to try to do these kinds of things while I still had the opportunity.” VoSW

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McGee Park Convention Center 41 Rd. 5568 Farmington, NM

lifeguarddurango@gmail.com, www.lifeguardlaplata.org www://www.youtube.com

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Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

us on Facebook

“We Serve the Poor, Whoever Comes” OLOG Sisters Officially Established in Diocese

"C

an I call you back?”

Mother Magda asks. “I have clients in our house right now.”

This is a typical request from the superior of the Sisters of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Joseph: service comes first, media attention later.

But even if they seek no accolades, they still have earned them, because Mother Magda and her sisters the sisters are now a "Public Association of the Faithful", in contrast to their former status as a "Private Association of the Faithful".

The Sisters of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Joseph (OLOG Sisters) were first established in the Diocese of Gallup in 1976 under the invitation of Bishop Jerome Hastrich. But the establishment of a new Diocesan order requires official consultation with the Holy See, according to Canon Law and The Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. The

process can take years, but within the last twelve months, much of the final paperwork and outreach to Rome was spearheaded by Bishop Wall. The order received canonical approval this year, and the Diocese held a celebration Mass on August 11 at Sacred Heart Cathedral. After the homily, the sisters of the order renewed their vows in front of the Bishop.

Most mornings, the sisters can be found working as advocates for immigrants and naturalized citizens; three of them are officially accredited with the Board of Immigration Appeals.

For newly-arrived immigrants from Central and South American countries, the Sisters’ translation and legal skills are a literal God-send. Their new canonical status now allows them to accept new applicants and grow their order’s numbers.

“The most important thing for a religious, like me, is the great joy of being a spouse of Christ,” Mother Magda said. “You want to tell the

girls also that it’s wonderful to be a spouse of Christ and serve the people of our lord, but the girls need to know that you’re approved officially by the Church.”

Several of the sisters teach locally in Gallup – the navy-and-white habit is a common sight around school halls.

For many years, the order has also run an intimate chapel of Perpetual Adoration, attached to their modest home.

But even with all the recent changes for the order – a new convent on the way, a recent anniversary of 40 years of service, and now, official recognition – the Sister’s purpose remains the same, day in and day out.

“We serve the poor, whoever comes.”

View more more photos from the celebration Mass online at our website: voiceofthesouthwest.org Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

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Calendar of Events/Classifieds October 01

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74th Annual St. Francis of Assisi Parish Fiesta Everyone is invited to the 74th annual festival! Starting with Mass at 10:00 AM, followed immediately by the blessing of the animals after mass. There will be games, food, and entertainment!

Calcutta raffle starts at 3:30 pm.

Also includes the Dirty Birds MC Benefit Run for St. Francis Parish. Registration is at 9am at Taylor Bear Flowers, 412 N. 2nd St. Riders: $20, Passengers: $5.00. Prizes and food will be provided for all riders. Last kickstand up at 11:00 AM! Place: St. Francis Parish

215 W. Wilson

Gallup, NM 87301 Time: 10:00 AM Contact: 505-863-3033 Engaged Encounter Retreat for Couples Engaged Encounter is a weekend retreat, specifically designed to give a couple planning marriage an opportunity to talk honestly and intensively about their future together.

The weekend consists of a series of presentations led by a team of married couples. The engaged couple is encouraged to talk privately with each other on many aspects of marriage, always from the viewpoint of their own relationship.

Personal reflection and discussion as a couple are the principal activities of the weekend.

Place: Sacred Heart Retreat Center

167 NM-602

Gallup, NM 87301 Info: engagedencountergallup.org

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#327 Men’s Cursillo English Cursillo with rector Bob Krakow. The fee is $60 please send in application and registration 2 weeks in advance Place: St. Joseph Parish Hall

424 N. Mesa Verde Ave

Aztec, NM Contact: gallupcursillo.com

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Catholic Women’s Conference “Catholic Womanhood: The Glory of Heavenly Jerusalem” Women are invited to join Our Lady of the Snow and Evangelista Sonja Corbitt for a day of prayer and retreat.

Sonja specializes in applying the Bible to our everyday lives as we learn to listen to Jesus, like Mary.

Place: Community Hall

Our Lady of the Snows

1655 S. Main St.

Snowflake, AZ Time: 9:00 AM- 5:00 PM Contact: 928-536-4559

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Southwest Catholic Youth Conference Lunch/Snacks/Dinner Included. The dya includes talks from prominent young Catholics, Mass, Confession and Adoration. Tickets: $25/Person Place: McGee Park

Convention Center

41 Rd. 5568

Farmington, NM Time: 10:30 AM- 9:00 PM Contact: 970-385-8451

November 01

All Saints Day Holy Day of Obligation St. Teresa Parish Fiesta

04 - Get ready for basket bingo, dime toss, a silent auction, 05 food and much more!

Place: KoC Hall

1601 Roosevelt Ave

Grants, NM Contact: 505-285-6645

Virtus Trainings October 19 VIRTUS Training at the Chancery offices.

Time: 9:00 am Contact: 505-863-4406

Classes October 21-22 November 18-19 December 16-17 Deacon and Lay Ministry Formation Program.

Several courses which may be of interest for adult religious education are Psalms, History of Christian Spirituality and Catholic Spirituality. Please phone Sr. Rene (505726-1617) for information regarding times of these classes and required textbooks.

Fundraisers Klagetoh Basketball Court St. Anne Mission in Klagetoh is holding a fundraiser to build a new basketball court for the enjoyment of the youth and people of Klagetoh.

Basketball is hugely popular, and a court where families can exercise and play together is a way for the mission to serve the local people in a healthy manner for generations to come. For more info, visit gofundme.com/f7p9azv8

Advertise With Us! Want to see your event here or online?

Send notices about upcoming events to media@dioceseofgallup.org or call 505-863-4406

Schedule of Healing Services Bishop James Wall and the Diocese of Gallup will unite in prayer for a series of healing services. We extend our invitation to attend these healing services to all who have been affected by physical, emotional, or sexual abuse in the Diocese, especially our brothers and sisters who have survived abuse by members of the Church.

Families and friends of survivors, Catholics and community members who are struggling with forgiveness or who have been affected by the sin of abuse, and all people wishing to unite and seek healing; to them we extend the invitation to attend these services as well.

The healing services will consist of prayer, scripture reading, and a reflection from Bishop Wall. The Bishop will also be available after the service to meet privately with anyone who requests it.

“To those survivors, I wish to express my sincere apologies, profound sorrow, and deepest gratitude. I am sorry, first and foremost, that you were abused and betrayed by members of the Church, and that the Diocese betrayed your trust. I am also grateful to you, for your courage in coming forward, in continuing to seek justice, even when that justice was not given for many years.” - Bishop James S. Wall If you are unable to attend, please pray, first and foremost, for survivors of abuse, and love them as Christ calls us to love. Please also pray for our Church, that we act with justice, compassion, and vigilance in protecting children and vulnerable persons from abuse.

San Rafael (San Rafael) Our Lady of Light, St. Joseph, and

St. Joseph School St. Paul and Risen Savior St. Patrick and Good Shepherd Christ the King St. Mary (Farmington) Immaculate Conception Santo Niño de Atocha St. Francis (Gallup)

Friday, October 06, 2017 at 6:00 PM Thursday, October 19, 2017 at 6:00 PM

100 Guadalupe Plz San Rafael NM Water Canyon Road, Cubero NM

Friday, October 27, 2017 at 6:30 PM Thursday, November 02, 2017 at 6:30 PM Friday, December 01, 2017 at 6:30 PM Friday, January 19, 2018 at 6:30 PM Saturday, January 20, 2018 at 3:00 PM Saturday, February 3, 2018 at 4:00 PM Friday, February 9, 2018 at 7:00 PM

268 Crownpoint Dr, Crownpoint NM 547 Cousins Rd, Vanderwagon NM US Hwy 64, Shiprock NM 2100 East 20th St, Farmington NM 6440 Main St, Cuba NM 155 Hwy 435, Aragon NM 214 W. Wilson, Gallup NM

Rescheduled Services: St. Francis (Lumberton) Sacred Heart School and Parish Our Lady of Fatima Immaculate Heart of Mary St. Jude St. John the Baptist Our Lady of the Assumption Our Lady of the Snows

Thursday, March 01, 2018 at 6:00 PM Friday, March 02, 2018 at 6:00 PM Friday, March 09, 2018 at 6:30 PM Saturday, March 10, 2018 at 6:30 PM Sunday, March 11, 2018 at 1:00 PM Thursday, March 15, 2018 at 6:00 PM Friday, March 16, 2018 at 6:30 PM Saturday, March 17, 2018 at 6:30 PM

3760 Sandhill Dr., Lumberton NM 414 N. Allen Ave, Farmington NM Navajo Rt. 7, Chinle AZ 455 S. Lake Powell Blvd, Page AZ 100 Aspen Drive, Tuba City AZ 203 E. Commercial St., St. Johns AZ 3048 Hwy 277, Overgaard AZ 1654 Main Street, Snowflake AZ

Sunday, January 28, 2018 at 9 AM Healing Service and Mass Sunday, March 11, 2018 at 8:00 AM (Same day as St. Jude Service)

#50, HC 58, Klagetoh AZ

Cibecue: Postponed due to pastor’s illness - new date will be posted on our website, dioceseofgallup.org

Newly Added Services: St. Anne, Klagetoh Our Lady of Guadalupe, Kayenta

Mile Marker 395.4, HWY 163, Kayenta AZ

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Youth from St. Mary Parish in Farmington attended the summer conference with their parents. Photo courtesy of Sr. Pat Bietsch

“Keep Your Head Up and Follow in Kateri’s Footsteps” For Native American Catholics, Annual Tekakwitha Conference is an Opportunity to Celebrate Faith and Culture “Loving one another through the spirit of St. Kateri” was the theme for the 78th annual Tekakwitha Conference, held from July 19-22 in Rapid City, South Dakota.

The Tekakwitha Conference is the largest gathering of Indigenous Catholics in the United States, named for the first Native American Saint, Kateri Tekakwitha. Tribes from across America gather for three days packed with workshops, talks, Mass, and fellowship, with many bishops from Native American populated dioceses in attendance to lead liturgies and listen to issues concerning their Indigenous flocks.

“Everything is about prayer, asking God for assistance,” said Cornell Iyua, recalling his time at the conference.

“He’s always there by us. If I were to encourage other people to go I would.”

Iyua, Clara Kinsel, and their daughters attended as part of the Kateri Family Youth Circle from St. Mary’s Church in Tohatchi, NM. Iyua, who is Navajo, recalls a time when religion played little importance in his life. But when his daughters began asking their parents to go to church as a family, he felt that he had to be a good role model and oblige them. Then the family learned the story of St. Kateri.

“Church really changed our ways,” he said. “Going to be conference for the first time in San Francisco [in 2016] really opened my eyes to how strong this little girl was, and now she’s a Saint.”

Clara Kinsel hopes that the example

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of St. Kateri will help her own daughters to grow up strong and courageous in their faith.

“She changed everything for us,” Kinsel said. “She’s a good role model for us Natives for how she suffered but made it up there. For us Native Americans, we can be acknowledged because she’s our Saint and she’s up there and we’re following in her footsteps.”

Sr. Patricia Bietsch has spent many years working on reservations in the United States. She currently oversees various parish activities and ministries at St. Mary’s Church, and remote reservation villages including Coyote Canyon and Naschitti.

“For me, it feels like faith in the Native American tradition to see them come together and to see them so proud of who they are,” Bietsch said.

“So it’s the faith experience of another culture. I’m not Native American, but I get to stand with them, to be proud as a Catholic.”

The Tohatchi group took extra time during their trip to visit prominent memorials and historical sites commemorating the struggles of northern Native American tribes. At Little Bighorn, the youth and their parents viewed the hill where a combined force of Plains Indians defeated and American Cavalry Regiment.

One of the Oglala Sioux present at that historic battle may someday become a Catholic saint. Nicholas Black Elk was 13 years old when Custer and the American military were defeated.

In adulthood, he was a prominent Oglala Medicine Man, father, and tribal leader. Later in his life he converted to Catholicism; his great moral character and skill as a catechist is credited for the conversion of hundreds of his tribesmen. Black Elk’s love of both his faith and Native culture has led his grandchildren and tribe to formally petition the bishop of the Diocese of Rapid City to nominate Black Elk for the cause of canonization.

During a time when the national debate about painful history is prominently in the spotlight, the Tekakwitha Conference embraces the history, culture and religion of indigenous peoples. Each year the conference is held in a different Diocese with a large population of Native Americans; the 2018 Tekakwitha Conference will be held in Tacoma, Washington.

“Our Catholic Native Americans – this is the only vehicle where they can all come together”, says Sr. Bietsch. “It gives them the universal understanding of the Catholic Church. And that’s the beauty of the Catholic Church, you see, because there’s other Catholics that are [Native] who also suffered and they can share their story.”

As Clara Kinsel reflects on the summer experience she shared with her family, she offers a decisive piece of advice for her fellow Native American Catholics.

“To my people, have your heads up and follow in Kateri’s footsteps.” VoSW

FR. FRANCIS AKANO

PRIEST PROFILE Priest profile

A

t first glance, Frs. Patrick McGuire and Francis Akano make an odd pairing. Tall and ruddy, Fr. McGuire is a Scotland native, a son of Barrhead, an old industrial town just outside Glasgow. Fr. Akano is a smiling priest from Imo State in the south of Nigeria. Together, they live in the rectory at Zuni and administer to four parishes in the Diocese of Gallup, and help oversee St. Anthony School.

These two priests, thousands of miles from their respective homes, share Nigeria as their common bond.

Fr. McGuire is a priest of the SMA Fathers, a missionary group which has overseen churches and schools in Africa for over one hundred years. Now retired as the order’s provincial superior, he enjoys the desert climate of New Mexico. Fr. Akano was born and raised in Isu, a city in Southern Nigeria, and his country enjoys such a surplus of priests that African bishops are happy to send their priests for service in America.

Before our interview officially begins, with the three of us seated

around the rectory’s dining room table, Fr. McGuire brews coffee and offers me a tin of cookies - “biscuits”, he calls them. Fr. Akano prefers a soda to coffee, and is happily surprised that Fr. McGuire stores them at room temperature. They share a light ribbing of United States culture: “Americans like too much ice in everything,” Fr. McGuire says.

And yet, for all the differences, they’re happy to be here. Fr. McGuire has been in the Diocese of Gallup for several years, while Fr. Akano is newlytransferred from the Diocese of Baker in Oregon. He remembers his first impression of America as very different than he had been led to believe.

“In Nigeria you have very beautiful stories about America: everywhere is just like California, Texas!” he recalls.

“The minute I came here I saw a different picture of America than I’d been hearing. Somebody was asking me, ‘I think when you go to Africa, you see a lot of lions?’. I told him ‘that’s what I thought I’d see coming to America - America is just like New York, sky-

scrapers everywhere, beautiful!’”

Instead, he found a place that, in many ways, was similar to his home country.

“I came here and, you know, saw a different picture of America. I didn’t know that you can see poverty in America, seeing people being attached, you know, to their native life or native religion - doing rituals. I thought that is something that is meant for Africans.”

For Fr. McGuire, his work in Zuni is similar to the time he spent in Africa.

“It’s quite remarkable. I’ve had two of my confreres visit me, one of our Polish priests and one of our Indian priests,” he said. “Both had the same reaction to me - that life in a Pueblo is very much like life in an African village. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what we find there - it has something to do with the values of the people and their way of life. Obviously, physically and African village looks different from a Pueblo, but we find similarities amongst the people. Really quite remarkable. And that’s why I think I’m so much at ease amongst the Native Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

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FR. PATRICK MCGUIRE

Americans. I see values in their everyday life that maybe another person might not see.”

When I ask Fr. Akano about the traditional cultures from his home, he grows reflective – almost wistful. Nigeria is divided more or less equally along religious lines – half the population is Christian and half is Muslim.

Few, he says, retain their old beliefs.

Sometimes this is due to ostracization, with families radically adopting a new faith and completely shunning the old. Persecution can play a part.

Boko Haram, a notoriously radical Islamic terror group, is based in Northeastern Nigeria. Massacres, bombings and conflict caused the government to declare a state of emergency in 2012, and at least one Catholic Diocese has reported mass killings and takeovers of churches.

In some historical cases, similar to the American Southwest, colonization contributed to the erosion of local languages and culture. But unlike some Native American communities, who have managed to preserve their traditions, Nigerians have left much of their traditional religious culture behind.

“We lost everything. We lost every kind of - our original religion and culture,” Fr. Akano says. “I think there, the idea of worshipping - Christianity

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- is more serious, where I came from than here. Every day you see people coming to Mass, young people coming to morning Mass, every day. Not here.

During morning Mass you may see one or two people. I was discussing with Father [McGuire] last time. I said ‘why did Europeans ask us to lose our culture?’ Because here, I saw something different altogether, [people] who hold on to their culture tenaciously.”

Fr. McGuire listens to this reflection, and then tells the story of St. Augustine of Canterbury, who in 595 was sent by Pope Gregory the Great to colonize the Anglo-Saxons, Fr. McGuire’s own ancestors. Augustine’s main goal was the conversion of the king of Kent, Aethelberht, a pagan, but whose wife was already Christian.

“He wrote to Pope Gregory the Great his instructions to them were to find that in the culture that you could literally baptize and use. Finding Christian values within the culture,” Fr. McGuire said. “And people in my own society - the founder - he was a bit of a radical because he didn’t just want to concentrate on the European ex-pats in Africa, he wanted to go to the Africans. The missionary now would look for Christ within a culture, and that’s what you tease out in the culture. As Father [Akano] says, here we experience that strong holding on

to the tradition, and in the school, we say ‘this is a Zuni value, and this is a Christian value’ and draw that out. We have to be very careful with it - you don’t just adopt everything, but at the same time you do not condemn everything. You find God’s presence in that culture and that’s what we try to do here.”

The two priests follow up our interview with a tour of St. Anthony, the parish school in Zuni. It’s the first week back for the students, but Fr. McGuire seems to know each of them by name. He introduces me to various members of the staff with a easy familiarity.

“We’re really blessed in that most of our staff are Zuni,” he tells me as we walk between classrooms. “They are hard-working and dedicated. From that point of view, we’re really really blessed.”

The very second he opens the door to the kindergarten classroom, a loud chorus of little voices call out “Good morning, Fr. Pat!” (Reportedly, some of the students refer to him among themselves as “Fr. Braveheart” due to his strong accent) He begins to ask the teacher what they are working on, but quickly becomes distracted when several girls sharing a group of desks proudly begin to show him their new school supplies. Fr. Akano, who has

not been assigned to a school before, and he hangs back, quietly smiling, watching and learning from the interaction.

Here in Zuni, the close-knit manner of students, teachers and parents is something familiar to Fr. McGuire after years of African ministry. He brings it up immediately when I ask him what he likes most about the Zuni people.

“The strength of family, the extended family. That would be the most obvious one. And then the sense of the divine in life. Father [Akano] can correct me, but you go to a Nigerian village - in the north you’d say ‘how

“In Nigeria you have very beautiful stories about America: everywhere is just like California or Texas! The minute I came here I saw a different picture of America than I’d been hearing.”

Fr. Francis Akano

are you?’ and they will reply ‘we thank God’, you know? If you go to people here they have that same sense of the divine active in their life, which sadly in Western culture we’re losing. If you ask anybody here what ‘goodbye’ means they’d say ‘farewell’. It doesn’t - it means ‘God be with you’. Just a wee sense of the awareness of the divine in life, and it’s something I find very, very attractive here, how they express it in the pueblos in different ways. It’s something to be explored, you know?

It’s why I feel so at home here, I think.”

We take a look at the basketball court, a hugely popular spot for all the students. One teacher, who stands observing her students play, is soon begged to join with the kids in a pickup game. Who could resist?

Fr. Akano, quiet and thoughtful, lights up when the topic of sports arises. He enjoys playing ping pong, but his great love is soccer – another pastime he has in common with Fr. McGuire. I ask about his favorite team, not knowing the local groups in Nigeria. He shrugs.

“I’m not so passionate about following a particular team now, but I love it,” he says. Fr. McGuire suddenly interjects.

“Tell the truth, it’s either Arsenal or Man United!” he recalls one night in Nigeria when he was startled by booms and shouts. “It was the West African Cup! And Nigeria had gone through to the next leg. I honestly thought a civil war was starting.”

Recalling the earlier discussion about persecutions, Fr. Akano says “The only thing that unites Nigerians is soccer.”

“Even officially in Nigeria, the religions are 49% Christian, 49% Muslim, and 110% soccer,” Fr. McGuire says.

The two priests make a good team.

In a place so like home, and yet so far from family, their common interests and history of service are a source of strength and familiarity. Fr. Akano says he misses his family every day, but calling home helps. Fr. McGuire thinks of New Mexico as his home, but if he ever needs some time to himself, when his work is done for the day, he loves to ride his motorcycle – a Harley Sportster.

“I had to get a Harley because it’s part of the culture,” he jokes.

But when it comes right down to it, what gets each priest out of bed each day their calling from God to serve the people of Zuni.

“I suppose everyone will miss home in one way or another, but there’s also a sense of - for some reason or other, which is unfathomable, God wants us to be here,” Fr. McGuire says. “It’s kind of easy to concentrate on the difficulties - but there’s the other side, too.

There’s the dignity of the people, the welcoming sense that they have, and the fun and the joy of it. Sometimes you go to bed exhausted, then you wake up and think ‘what’s going to happen today?’ but within 10 minutes the joy starts.” VoSW

Page 19: Fr. Francis Akano waves to students at St. Francis School.

Left: Young students show off their new school supplies to Fr. Patrick McGuire.

Right: Fr. Patrick McGuire speaks with “Grandma K”, who volunteers at the school most days, helping students with homework and mentoring. “Some of them need a grandma,” she says.

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Saints for Today:

Hildegard of Bingen, Doctor of the Church and Christian Mystic (1098-1179)

by Dr. Jean Lee BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bunson, Matthew and Margaret Bunson. “Encyclopedia of Saints-Second Edition.”

Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor, 2014.

Guiley, Rosemary Ellen. “The Encyclopedia of Saints.” New York, NY: Checkmark Books, 2001.

Koenig-Bricker, Woodeene.

“365 Saints-Your Daily Guide to the Wisdom and Wonder of Their Lives.” New York, NY: HarperOne, 1995.

Hildegard was born to parents of high nobility in the German village of Bickelheim, located on the Nahe River, a tributary of the Rhine. Hildegard’s father, Hildebert, was a knight of the Castle Bickelheim. The area had been heavily settled by Celts, and Celtic mystical beliefs strongly influenced Hildegard’s religious development.

The youngest of ten children, Hildegard was sickly as a child and was sent to an aunt, Blessed Jutta, a recluse, to be raised in a hermitage near Spanheim. Hildegard had religious visions from the earliest times she could remember. Because of this and her upbringing, she was drawn to the Catholic Church.

When she was eight, her parents took her to the Benedictine cloister in Disabodenberg,

where she began her religious studies. She became a nun at eighteen and advanced to prioress at age thirty-eight. Her power and influence made her one of the most important women of her time.

Hildegard was the first major German mystic and one of the greatest mystics of the Middle Ages. Her writings inspired even such influential saints as Bernard of Clairvaux. She is best known for a series of mystical illuminations, or visions, which she experienced and chronicled in mid-life and which were far in advance of the religious out-looks of her day.

Her symbolic visions dealt with relations between God and humanity.

Hildegard also built a new monastery for her growing community of nuns, she corresponded with the pope and advised not only laity but also priests. She wrote numerous letters, composed hymns and sacred plays. She considered music to be the ultimate celebration of God. In her last days, Hildegard was quite infirm, due to a long history of illnesses and to self-mortifications. She could not stand upright and had to be carried about. Nonetheless, she continued her duties with as much vigor as possible.

She died peacefully with two beams of light witnessed crossing the skies over the room in which she lay. Miracles were reported after her death, and people declared her a saint.

While efforts to secure her canonization were initially unsuccessful, from the 1400’s she was listed as a saint in the Roman Martyrology. She was given an equivalent canonization in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI, who also declared her a Doctor of the Church; she is the fourth female Doctor.

Jean M. Lee, M.A., D.Min., is a licensed behavioral health and substance abuse counselor. A Catholic revert after 32 years away from the Church, she is devout in the Catholic faith, loves the saints, and lives a deeper spiritual/religious and more joyful life since returning to the Church.

Making Sense Out of Bioethics:

Considering the Options for Infertile Couples

by Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

When Catholic couples experience trouble getting pregnant, they often seek medical help and begin to research what options are available to them. A number of moral considerations and questions generally emerge during this process: Why are techniques like in vitro fertilization (IVF) considered immoral? What approaches will the Church allow us to try? What does our infertility mean, spiritually and personally, in the face of our fervent but frustrated desire for a baby?

When a couple, after having non-contraceptive sexual intercourse for a year or more, begins to investigate whether there are issues related to infertility, some medical professionals simply encourage them to turn to the infertility industry and try IVF or a related technique like artificial insemination. These approaches, however, raise a host of moral concerns, including that they substitute an act of “production” for the act of marital self-giving, allow a third party outside the marriage to become the cause of the conception, often require masturbation, and may result in significant “collateral damage,” including embryo destruction, embryo freezing and disruptive effects on a woman’s physiology from the powerful superovulatory drugs used during the procedures.

It can be helpful to keep in mind a particular “rule of thumb” for determining whether a procedure is morally acceptable: treatments that assist the marital act are permissible, while those that replace, or substitute for, the marital act raise serious moral objections. The ideal approach to resolving infertility involves identifying the underlying causes (endometriosis? fallopian tube blockage? problems ovulating? etc.) and addressing those causes so that marital intercourse can now result in a conception.

While this may seem sensible and even obvious, many obstetricians and gynecologists today do not offer much more than a cursory workup or exam prior to recommending that the couple approach a fertility clinic and employ their services to produce a baby via IVF. Couples ought instead to look into techniques that can methodically diagnose and heal the underlying reasons for infertility, like FEMM (Fertility Education & Medical Management, https://femmhealth.org) pioneered by Dr. Pilar Vigil, or NaProTechnology (Natural Procreative Technology, see http://www.naprotechnology.com), led by Dr. Tom Hilgers. Both are Catholic ob/gyns with great track records in helping to resolve underlying infertility issues and helping couples to conceive naturally.

NaPro has been around a little longer and employs a range of approaches which may include, for example, hormonal modulation of menstrual cycle irregularities; surgical correction of fallopian tube damage or occlusions; fertility drugs to help a woman’s ovaries to release eggs; Viagra or other approaches to address erectile dysfunction; correcting penile structural defects such as hypospadias; addressing premature ejaculation; using NFP (natural family planning) to observe naturally occurring signs of fertility during the woman’s cycle to time intercourse; using LTOT (low tubal ovum transfer), in which eggs are retrieved and transplanted into the uterus or fallopian tube at a point likely to result in fertilization following the marital act; and surgical resolution of endometriosis. Dr. Hilgers has formed and trained a number of other physicians who work as independent Na-

ProTechnology specialists in the U.S. and abroad. FEMM is building a similar network.

On the other hand, a number of other widely-available techniques, instead of assisting the marital act, end up replacing it with another kind of act altogether, namely, an act of “producing” or “manufacturing” children in laboratories. These techniques — like IVF; intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI); artificial insemination; hiring a surrogate to carry a pregnancy; and cloning — obviously raise serious moral objections.

In some cases, a couple’s infertility will end up being irresolvable.

Even as a husband and wife face the grief and sorrow of not being able naturally to conceive children of their own, they can still realize their paternal and maternal desires in other meaningful, fruitful and loving ways. For example, they may discern a call to adopt a child, providing a mom and a dad to someone whose parents have died or felt that they could not care for the child. They might decide to become a camp counselor or a schoolteacher, or provide temporary foster care to a child in crisis, generously taking on an authentic parenting role.

They may become a “Big Brother/Big Sister” to youth in the community who yearn for a father or mother figure in their lives.

Although these solutions do not take away all the grief, they are a means by which God helps to draw good out of their situation. By these means, couples are challenged to “think outside the box” and enter into the mysterious designs of God within their marriage. By stepping away from a desire to conceive and raise biological children of their own, couples facing irresolvable infertility can discover new and unexpected paths to marital fruitfulness, paths that bring great blessings to others, and that can lead to abiding joy and marital fulfillment.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D. earned his doctorate in neuroscience from Yale and did post-doctoral work at Harvard.

He is a priest of the diocese of Fall River, MA, and serves as the Director of Education at The National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia.

Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

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