Dec. 18, 1992

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News & Herald

Western North Carolina

in the

Volume 2 Number 16

Diocese of Charlotte

December

•

18,

1992

Dedicates Parish Center

St. Gabriel

New

JOANN KEANE

By

students as well as administration of both the school and the faith develop-

Associate Editor

CHARLOTTE room only

at the

—

new

was standing

It

St.

ment center. "There will be a strong community built within the total par-

Gabriel parish

center dedication ceremony.

The two

Ed

2,571 -family parish said,

"We

A new

Once reverts to

and fellowship and the many

center.

the

hub

night.

of activity for the vibrant parish. With

Interim director of religious education, Trish Stewart, feels the

Charlotte, parishioners of St. Gabriel

ing cements a

new facility will be abuzz with activity from morning until night.

community, while allowing expansion

Weekdays, the

structure serves

students attending St. Gabriel school.

to

Today, they

utilize

many of

(ire

Guts

Historic Church; Site

Lrchbishop Sheen's NEW YORK (CNS) — St. | urch,

Agnes

New York commuters

for association with the late ArchNhop Fulton J. Sheen, was badly damd in a fire Dec. 10. Some people were in the church en the fire began, but all got out

a J

ely.

O'Connor, who nt to the scene, commented, "I'd ier lose a church than one life." Mayor David N. Dinkins also went he burning church, where a massive Cardinal John

J.

nout of the city's firefighting person-

'

I

and equipment were engaged. The church, a Gothic building of brick with white stone trim, is near

Sand Central Station. '

It

offers a

was not used the night because of lack of heat and other temporary problems, but it came back on, and the priests expected to continue living there. The shelter and soup kitchen had to suspend services the

The

rectory

after the fire

first

night, but they

were resumed the

next morning.

Joseph Zwilling, spokesman for the Archdiocese, said Msgr. Eugene Clark, pastor of St. Agnes, hoped to resume Masses in the lower church soon, but that damage assessment had not yet been completed. Arrangements were being made with adjacent parishes for weddings and baptisms, he said. No cause of the fire had been determined yet, Zwilling said. It appeared to start in the choir loft at the back, and

New York

some speculated cuit in the organ.

there

was

a short cir-

A

popular tradition at St. Agnes Church before Archbishop Sheen' s death was his preaching of Good Friday devotions there.

to

At times the street was blocked off accommodate the crowds, who lis-

tened to loudspeakers placed outside after the

church

their

"We

pray that the

walls."

See

St.

Gabriel/Page

1

As Troops Enter Somalia, Vatican Debates Moral Criteria troops in Somalia began guarding relief

food and basic necessities reach people put in desperate conditions by

supplies for millions of starving people,

war.

Vatican officials started work on the moral criteria for deploying foreign military forces for humanitarian

that humanitarian intervention be obliga-

purposes.

The term used

describe this activity

is

that

"The conscience of humanity

. . .

asks

See Somalia/Page 2

to

"hu-

manitarian intervention."

and draws

ny commuters who work nearby, fecially on holy days. The fire, which burned through the lirch roof, caused no serious damage the adjacent rectory, nor to a former *ool behind the church that is now d as a homeless shelter and soup :hen.

Sermons

number of Masses and

•vides other ministries,

Of

deepen

Word of God will always echo from its'

VATICAN CITY (CNS)— As U.S.

known beyond its parish bounds

ministries to

KEANE

will

to live in Christ," said

Bishop Donoghue.

and style. "The total facility enhances the educational environment," said Mercy Sister, Ann Marie Wilson, principal of St. Gabriel School. The new facility houses fort

Photo by JO ANN

and adults

lic faith

commitment

9 classrooms, spreading out in com-

1

new

in the

eighth grade students studied in cramped the

for the entire parish

600 children receive instruction faith development center. "The young will learn their Catho-

500

Until last week, kindergarten through quarters.

bond

of services in the roomy facility. "We can spread out." Previous faith formation programs were scattered through three buildings. On any given Sunday,

385

Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools lease classroom space from the parish.

Meredith Quinn.

new build-

the largest congregation in the city of

guarantee the

I Gabriel Faith Formation students show Bishop John F. Donoghue one of their new srooms in the parish center. Pictured are, left to right, Joanna Murphy, Alexis Farkas,

primary intention, a parish

tion,

intensely involved."

becomes

its

Faith Formation, adult educa-

and activities for young and old, keep classrooms occupied well into the

areas that St. Gabriel parishioners are so parish center

the school bell dismisses the

students in the afternoon, the center

of our activities in education, social-

The

in January.

gymnasium, gives students a

basketball court second to none.

believe

community center will assist in the deepening of the Spirit of the Lord in ization,

ameni-

Gabriel stu-

St.

food service beginning

full

that this

all

to

A 500-seat cafeteria will enable

dents.

Sheridan, pastor of the

Marie.

level building has

unaccustomed

ties

John F. Donoghue officially blessed the 79,000 square foot center. Father

Ann

ish," said Sr.

Nearly 800 people spilled out of the new cafeteria into the foyer as Bishop

filled up.

It

involves the morally and

politically thorny questions of:

—

When

does feeding

starving masses

become un-

warranted interference in the domestic affairs of another na-

ETHIOPIA

tion?

— Who

is

SOMALIA

the competent

international authority to justify

such intervention?

— Will

create

-Mandera»j

the intervention