Feb. 1, 2013

February 1, 2013

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Contact us.......................... 4 Events calendar................. 4 Our Parishes................. 4-14 Schools..............................24 Scripture readings............ 3 TV & Movies...................... 25 U.S. & World news....... 26-29 Viewpoints...................30-31

catholicnewsherald.com | February 1, 2013 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF JESUS Lenten Holy Land Pilgrimage March 4-11 LentHolyLand.tumblr.com Come with the Catholic News Herald and parishioners from St. Barnabas in Arden and Holy Family in Clemmons on an unforgettable journey to the Holy Land. Grow in your personal relationship with Jesus as a virtual pilgrim, following along on Facebook, Twitter and our blog as the pilgrims travel from Bethlehem and Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee and Jerusalem. Immerse yourself in the land where Jesus lived and preached through facts and interviews, photos and videos, join with us in prayer and explore the faith.

OF FAITH RY R TO CHRIST:

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“Knowledge of faith opens a door into the fullness of the saving mystery revealed by God.”

NINTH EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS DIOCESE OF CHARLOTTE, SEPTEMBER 13 &14, 2013

— His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, Apostolic letter "Porta Fidei" announcing the Year of Faith

Year of faith

February 1, 2013 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

Pope Benedict XVI

Calling God ‘father’ is statement of trust in His love

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hen the Christian creed refers to God as “father,” it is affirming a trust that the God who created the universe loves each individual and will never abandon anyone, Pope Benedict XVI said.

“It isn’t always easy” to explain to people what it means to believe in God the father, especially when today’s fathers and their children experience such difficulty communicating with each other, the pope said Jan. 30 at his weekly general audience.

“For those who have had the experience of a father who is too authoritarian or inflexible, or indifferent and not affectionate, or particularly if he is absent, it is not easy to think of God as father and let oneself trust Him,” Pope Benedict said.

In the second of his audience talks looking at statements of faith in the creed, the pope said understanding what the Church means when it calls God “the father almighty” may mean people have to set aside their personal experiences when considering the words “father” and “might.”

The Bible, especially the Gospels, “reveals the face of God as a father who loves us to the point of giving His Son to save humanity,” the pope said. The love of God is “infinitely greater, more faithful, more complete than any human love.”

“As father, God accompanies our existence with love, giving us His Word, His teaching, His grace and His Spirit,” the pope said.

Pope Benedict told the estimated 5,000 people gathered for the audience that many people today believe God can’t really be “almighty” or all powerful when there is so much evil and suffering in the world. Some people, he said, basically expect God to exercise a kind of “magic power,” immediately changing any situation they find difficult or painful.

Often, he said, “we want a divine omnipotence that coincides with our mindset and desires.”

“Creating free creatures, God renounced part of His omnipotence,” the pope said. But even giving men and women the ability to choose evil over good, His constant love means God is always there, urging conversion and offering mercy, forgiveness and salvation.

“Only one who is truly allpowerful can fully exercise the power of love,” he said.

Belief in God leads to values that can be countercultural Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — To believe in God means allowing his commandments to guide the concrete choices one makes every day, even when the values reflected in the choices are countercultural, Pope Benedict XVI said.

“To believe in God makes us bearers of values that often do not coincide” with those of popular culture and which give believers criteria for judgment that nonbelievers may not share, the pope said Jan. 23 at his weekly general audience.

“A Christian must not be afraid to go against the current in order to live his faith, resisting the temptation of conformity,” he said.

Beginning a series of Year of Faith audience talks about the creed, Pope Benedict said that “believing in God implies adhering to him, accepting his word and joyfully obeying” his commandments.

Believers today, like Abraham in the Old Testament, must show trust in the God they profess to believe, even when God’s ways appear mysterious, he said.

Pope Benedict asked the estimated 2,000 visitors and pilgrims gathered for his audience to imagine how they would have responded to a call like that God gave to Abraham, asking him to leave his home and set out for a land God would show him only later.

“In fact, he set off in the dark without knowing where God would lead him. It was a journey that required that radical obedience and trust that only faith could give him,” the pope said.

“When we affirm ‘I believe in God,’ we are saying like Abraham, ‘I trust You, I entrust myself to You, Lord,’” the pope said.

Real trust means turning to God not just “in moments of difficulty” or “a few

More inside Read a message of Christian unity from Bishop Peter Jugis. See page 8.

minutes each day or each week,” he said.

“To say ‘I believe in God’ means building my life on Him, letting His Word guide each of my days, each concrete choice, without fear that I will lose myself.”

While many in the modern world act as if God does not exist, he said, there are still people who thirst for God and who hear His Word through the preaching, sharing and lives of others.

The life of faith “is a journey that is sometimes difficult and can include trials and even death,” he said, but it leads to eternal life, “a radical transformation of reality that only the eyes of faith are capable of seeing.”

Christian cooperation key to proclaiming the Gospel ROME — Christians must work together to offer the faith they share to a world that seems to find it more and more difficult to believe, Pope Benedict XVI told Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant leaders during a Jan. 25 evening prayer service at St. Paul Outside the Walls Basilica.

“Unity is in itself a privileged means – almost a requirement – for proclaiming the faith in an increasingly credible way to those who do not yet know the Savior or who, having received the proclamation of the Gospel, have almost forgotten this precious gift,” Pope Benedict said in his homily to conclude the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Even as VALUES, SEE page 14

Toward unity “Christ bestowed unity on His Church from the beginning. This unity, we believe, subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose, and we hope that it will continue to increase until the end of time.” (Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism, “Unitatis redintegratio”) Christ always gives His Church the gift of unity, but the Church must always pray and work to maintain, reinforce, and perfect the unity that Christ wills for her. This is why

Jesus Himself prayed at the hour of His Passion, and does not cease praying to His Father, for the unity of His disciples: “That they may all be one. As You, Father, are in Me and I am in You, may they also be one in Us, ... so that the world may know that you have sent Me.” (Jn 17:21) The desire to recover the unity of all Christians is a gift of Christ and a call of the Holy Spirit.

— Catechism of the Catholic Church 820

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Online resources for your Year of Faith www.annusfidei.va The official Vatican site for the Year of Faith, this is a must-see for your own journey. Here you’ll find: – the full text of “Porta Fidei,” Pope Benedict XVI’s apostolic letter announcing the Year of Faith – the full text of all the Vatican II documents, including the four constitutions: “Dei Verbum,” “Lumen Gentium,” “Sacrosanctum Concilium” and “Gaudium et Spes” – catechetical talks by Pope Benedict on the Apostles and saints, the Church Fathers, leading Catholic women, medieval theologians, and prayer

www.usccb.org At the U.S. bishops’ website, check out a video series on the Year of Faith, download Catholic prayers and catechetical resources for free, search the Catechism of the Catholic Church, get games for kids, check out resources for families, and more.

www.vcat.org A new website featuring “Video Catechism for Teens,” produced by the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in association with Outside da Box. Besides the video series on the Nicene Creed, check out free resources geared toward youths and young adults.

www.flocknote.com/ caTechism Read the Catechism over the course of this year: Get daily reflections from the Catechism to your email inbox, for free.

www.OnceCatholic.org A general website geared for people who have left their Catholic faith behind for various reasons. Produced by the Franciscan Friars of St. John the Baptist Province in Cincinnati, Ohio. It offers resources and FAQs on Church teaching, reconnects people with local communities, and features online forums.

Year of Faith indulgence offered Catholics who participate in events connected with the Year of Faith can receive a plenary, or full, indulgence, Pope Benedict XVI has announced. An indulgence is a remission of the temporal punishment a person is due for sins that have been forgiven.

At www.catholicnewsherald.com/ourfaith: Details on obtaining the indulgence

Your daily Scripture readings SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR THE WEEK OF Feb. 3-9

Sunday: Jeremiah 1:4-5, 17-19, 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13, Luke 4:21-30; Monday: Hebrews 11:32-40, Mark 5:1-20; Tuesday (St. Agatha): Hebrews 12:1-4, Mark 5:21-43; Wednesday (St. Paul Miki and Companions): Hebrews 12:4-7, 1115, Mark 6:1-6; Thursday: Hebrews 12:18-19, 2124, Mark 6:7-13; Friday (St. Jerome Emiliani and St. Josephine Bakhita): Hebrews 13:1-8, Mark 6:14-29; Saturday: Hebrews 13:15-17, 2021, Mark 6:30-34

SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR THE WEEK OF Feb. 10-16

Sunday: Isaiah 6:1-2, 3-8, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Luke 5:1-11; Monday (Our Lady of Lourdes): Genesis 1:1-19, Mark 6:53-56; Tuesday: Genesis 1:20-2:4, Mark 7:1-13; Wednesday (Ash Wednesday): Joel 2:12-18, 2 Corinthians 5:206:2, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18; Thursday (St. Cyril and St. Methodius): Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Luke 9:22-25; Friday (after Ash Wednesday): Isaiah 58:1-9, Matthew 9:14-15; Saturday: Isaiah 58:9-14, Luke 5:27-32

SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR THE WEEK OF Feb. 17-23

Sunday (First Sunday of Lent): Deuteronomy 26:4-10, Romans 10:8-13, Luke 4:1-13; Monday: Leviticus 19:1-2, 11-18, Matthew 25:31-46; Tuesday: Isaiah 55;10-11, Matthew 6;7-15; Wednesday: Jonah 3:1-10, Luke 11:2932; Thursday (St. Peter Damian): Esther C:12, 14-16, 23-25 (Esther’s prayer), Matthew 7:7-12; Friday (The chair of St. Peter): 1 Peter 5:1-4, Matthew 16:13-19; Saturday (St. Polycarp): Deuteronomy 26:16-19, Matthew 5:43-48

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catholicnewsherald.com | February 1, 2013 OUR PARISHES

Diocesan calendar of events ARDEN ST. BARNABAS CHURCH, 109 CRESCENT HILL ROAD — Annual Women’s Lenten Program, “The Truth Will Set you Free!”: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, March 2. All women, including high school age, are welcome.

For more information, contact Marcia Torres at stbarvol@bellsouth.net.

Bishop Peter J. Jugis Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following events in the coming weeks: Feb. 2 – 11 a.m.

Mass for World Day for Consecrated Life St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte Feb. 3 – 10:30 a.m.

Pastor Installation of Father Joseph W. Mack St. Paul the Apostle Church, Greensboro Feb. 5 – 1:30 p.m.

Diocesan Building Commission Meeting Pastoral Center, Charlotte

ASHEVILLE — “Gala for Hope Dinner and Fund raiser”: Saturday, Feb. 2, Crowne Plaza Resort Expo Center. To benefit Catholic Social Services in the Asheville area.

Reserve your complimentary tickets at www.cssnc. org.

St. Eugene church, 72 Culvern st.

— Pro-Life Rosary Prayer Service: To pray for respect for life at all stages, 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4.

BELMONT

Feb. 16 – 8 a.m.

3rd Charlotte Catholic Men’s Conference St. Matthew Church, Charlotte Feb. 17 – 4 p.m.

Rite of Election St. James Church, Concord

QUEEN OF THE APOSTLES CHURCH, 503 NORTH MAIN ST. — Men’s reflection on God’s Word: 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4, in the Education Building. For more information, call Roger Duncan at 412-289-9147 SISTERS OF MERCY, 101 MERCY DR. — Pre-Lenten reflection, “Awaking the Dreamer”: 8:45 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9. Lunch will be provided.

Please RSVP by Feb. 4. For more information, contact Rita Brennan at 704-849-7077.

Feb. 22 – 10 a.m.

Diocesan Finance Council Meeting Pastoral Center, Charlotte Feb. 23 – 1 p.m.

Rite of Election St. Paul the Apostle Church, Greensboro Feb. 24 – 4 p.m.

Rite of Election St. Eugene Church, Asheville Feb. 28 – 5:30 p.m.

Partners in Hope Benton Convention Center, Winston-Salem

CHARLOTTE — Natural Family Planning classes: 7-10 p.m. Feb. 8.

Learn the effectiveness of modern NFP methods.

Sign up online at www.ccli.org. For more information, contact Joe and Kathy Hack at 704-548-1834.

— Marriage Encounter Weekend: Feb. 8-10. Renew and rekindle your marriage. Registration required. For more details, call 704-315-2144.

ST. ANN CHURCH, 3635 Park Road — Latin Mass followed by devotions to the Sacred Heart: 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1 — Latin Mass followed by devotions to the Immaculate Heart: 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 2 — Parish Pre-Lenten Mission: Sunday, Feb. 3-Thursday, Feb. 7, led by Father Shannon Collins, CPM, and Father Sean Kopczynski, CPM. Morning and evening events, Mass, catechetical lectures. For details, email stannsmission2013@gmail.com or go online to www. stanncharlotte.org.

— Lenten Evening Reflection: 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15, with Father Larry Richards and Dr. Ray Guarendi ST. BASIL EASTERN CATHOLIC MISSION, 7702 PINEVILLE-MATTHEWS ROAD (CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC HIGH SCHOOL CHAPEL) — Vespers, followed by Mass of St. John Chrysostom: 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9

— Forgiveness Vespers (Beginning of Lent for Byzantine Catholics): 4 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 10 St. John Neumann Church, 8451 Idlewild Road — Parish Lenten Challenge: Beginning on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 13, to encourage acts of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. For details, see the parish’s website at www.4sjnc.org.

ST. MATTHEW CHURCH, 8015 BALLANTYNE COMMONS PKWY. — Open discussion group for mothers, “Called to be mom”: 10 a.m.-noon, Thursday, Feb. 14. All mothers are welcome. For more information, contact Kerry Long at 704-243-6319.

ST. PATRICK Cathedral, 1621 DILWORTH ROAD EAST — Evening study, “Seven Deadly Sins & Seven Lively Virtues”: Starting 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20.

Everyone welcome. To register, contact Margaret Gustafson at jmgusto@bellsouth.net.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS CHURCH, 1400 SUTHER ROAD — Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, Morning Prayer: 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 2 — Knights of Columbus will host the Annual Charlotte Ultra Run: Saturday, Feb. 2. For more information, contact Patrick Kelleher at 704-724-1303.

— Please join us for our first “Divine Mercy Holy Hour”: Exposition and readings from the Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska: 7-8 p.m. every first Friday. For questions, contact Paul Deer at 704-948-0628.

— “Rosary for Life”: Join the Respect Life group to pray each Wednesday at 6:30 p.m., followed by Mass at 7 p.m. To participate, contact Gretchen Filz at gfilz10@ ses.edu or 704-919-0935.

St. Vincent de Paul CHURCH, 6828 old Reid road — CCWG Morning Reflection with Father Joshua Voitus: 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 4. All women invited. For more information, visit www. charlottecatholicwomensgroup.org or contact Anita Di Pietro at 704-543-0314.

— Lenten Evening Reflection: 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 15, with Father Larry Richards and Dr. Ray Guarendi

DENVER HOLY SPIRIT CHURCH, 537 N.C. 16 Business — The Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish Catholic Men fraternal organization, welcomes all men who are practicing Catholics and who are Irish by birth or descent, to attend our monthly meeting. 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 14. For more information, contact uniteire@yahoo.com.

ELKIN ST. STEPHEN CHURCH, 101 HAWTHORNE ROAD — “Marriage: Transformed by Grace,” Scripture group for women: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19. All women welcome.

For more information, call 336-835-3007.

GREENSBORO St. PAUL THE APOSTLE CHURCH, 2715 HORSE PENN CREEK ROAD — The Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians welcomes all women who are practicing Roman Catholics, and who are Irish by birth descent, who are the wife of a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, or the mother of a junior member. Meetings are first Thursdays. Contact: marylisk@aol.com.

HIGH POINT — Pro-Life Rosary Prayer Service: To pray for an end to abortion. 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, at 901 North Main St. and Sunset Drive, High Point. Parking available.

For details, contact Jim Hoyng, 336-882-9593, or Paul Klosterman, 336-848-6835.

Immaculate heart of Mary church, 4145 Johnson st.

— Free Spanish Language class: 7 p.m.-8:45 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 7

HUNTERSVILLE St. MARK CHURCH, 14740 STUMPTOWN ROAD — Parish Mission, “Open Wide the Doors to Christ”: 7-8:15 p.m. Feb. 17-20. Presented by Father Kenneth P. Paulli, OFM. For more information, contact dsmith18@ bellsouth.net.

— Catholicism: Series of seven weeks’ faith program.

Sessions begin Feb. 10. Register at www.stmarknc.org.

LINCOLNTON St. Dorothy Church, 148 St. Dorothy’s Lane — 40 Hours Eucharistic Devotion: Friday-Sunday, Feb. 1-3. Everyone welcome.

MINT HILL St. LUKE CHURCH, 13700 LAWYERS ROAD — Anointing of the Sick Mass: 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 16.

Refreshments following Mass. For more information, contact Mary at 704-545-1224.

THOMASVILLE OUr Lady of the Highways church, 943 Ballpark road — Adult Lenten Retreat: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, with Deacon David King of Maryfield. Bring bag lunch.

To pre-register, contact the parish at 336-475-2667.

WINSTON-SALEM — “Partners in Hope Dinner”: Thursday, Feb. 28, at the Benton Convention Center in downtown WinstonSalem. To benefit the work of Catholic Social Services in the Triad area. For details, contact Kristin Lennex at 336-714-3227 or Donna Kronner at 336-655-2876.

Is your parish or school hosting a free event open to the public? Deadline for all submissions is 10 days prior to desired publication date. Submit in writing to catholicnews@charlottediocese.org.

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February 1, 2013 Volume 22 • Number 7

1123 S. Church St. Charlotte, N.C. 28203-4003 catholicnews@charlottediocese.org

704-370-3333 PUBLISHER: The Most Reverend Peter J. Jugis, Bishop of Charlotte

EDITOR: Patricia L. Guilfoyle 704-370-3334, plguilfoyle@charlottediocese.org ADVERTISING MANAGER: Kevin Eagan 704-370-3332, keeagan@charlottediocese.org SENIOR REPORTER: SueAnn Howell 704-370-3354, sahowell@charlottediocese.org Online reporter: Kimberly Bender 704-808-7341, kdbender@charlottediocese.org GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Tim Faragher 704-370-3331, tpfaragher@charlottediocese.org COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANT/CIRCULATION: Erika Robinson 704-370-3333, catholicnews@charlottediocese.org

The Catholic News Herald is published by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte 26 times a year.

NEWS: The Catholic News Herald welcomes your news and photos. Please e-mail information, attaching photos in JPG format with a recommended resolution of 150 dpi or higher, to catholicnews@charlottediocese.org. All submitted items become the property of the Catholic News Herald and are subject to reuse, in whole or in part, in print, electronic formats and archives.

ADVERTISING: Reach 165,000 Catholics across western North Carolina! For advertising rates and information,

contact Advertising Manager Kevin Eagan at 704-370-3332 or keeagan@charlottediocese.org. The Catholic News Herald reserves the right to reject or cancel advertising for any reason, and does not recommend or guarantee any product, service or benefit claimed by our advertisers.

SUBSCRIPTIONS: $15 per year for all registered parishioners of the Diocese of Charlotte and $23 per year for all others.

POSTMASTER: Periodicals class postage (USPC 007-393) paid at Charlotte, N.C. Send address corrections to the Catholic News Herald, 1123 S. Church St., Charlotte, N.C. 28203.

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February 1, 2013 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

2012 DSA campaign tops $5.1M

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In Brief

Patricia L. Guilfoyle Editor

Bishop invites the faithful to Mass for religious CHARLOTTE — Bishop Peter J. Jugis invites everyone to Mass for the Celebration of the World Day for Consecrated Life at 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte. Blessed John Paul II instituted this annual observance to honor the gift of the Consecrated Life in the Church. At this Mass, Bishop Jugis will also honor all religious sisters and religious brothers who are celebrating jubilees of vows this year. All the faithful are invited to come to honor our religious sisters and religious brothers for their ministries of service to the Lord in the Charlotte diocese.

CHARLOTTE — More than 18,300 donors responded to the “Call to Serve” with contributions to the 2012 Diocesan Support Appeal, raising more than $5.1 million to support numerous ministries across the Diocese of Charlotte.

That’s 7 percent more than the annual campaign’s goal of $4,785,000 – a new record for the growing diocese. the 2013 DSA The Diocesan Support Appeal helps to kicks off Feb. 3: fund many of the educational, vocational See our special and multicultural ministries of the diocese, pull-out section as well as Catholic Social Services, the Diocese of Charlotte Housing Corp. and the annual Eucharistic Congress.

Inside

HENDERSONVILLE — Many members of various churches gathered Jan. 22 to remember the 55 million lives taken by abortion on this 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. An ecumenical “Lights for Life” service, featured in the photo above, was hosted by First Presbyterian Church in Hendersonville. The service comprised approximately 20 congregations including Immaculate Conception Church of Hendersonville.

— Capuchin Franciscan Father Martin Schratz

SJN parishioners pray for Christian unity CHARLOTTE — Nearly 200 people attended St. John Neumann Church’s third annual Prayer for Christian Unity service on Jan. 24, hosted by Father Patrick Hoare, pastor. Pastor John Mouritsen of Morning Star Lutheran Church in Matthews delivered the message of unity, addressing the theme of the evening “What Does God Require of Us?” Pastor Steve Mitchell of Morning Star Presbyterian and Pastor Leon Threatt of Christian Faith Assembly also participated in the service. Others taking part were Sarah Hollingsworth and Jean Kapturowski of Morning Star Lutheran, and Deacon Jim Gorman and Nathan Silvestri of St. John Neumann. Following the service there was a reception and fellowship in the St. John Neumann Parish Hall.

— Al Tinson

Of the diocese’s 92 parishes and missions, 66 of them – 72 percent – met or exceeded their 2012 DSA goals. That’s another record for the diocese.

Parishes that exceed their DSA goals receive that money back in rebates. This year, money returning to those parishes totaled $476,629, money they may use for local parish needs.

The parish exceeding its DSA goal by the largest percentage was Holy Spirit Church in Denver, which surpassed its goal of $47,673 by 55 percent – receiving more than $26,200 back for the parish’s use. Some of the other top parishes that exceeded their goals included: St. Mary Church in Shelby (46 percent); St. Leo the Great Church in Winston-Salem (38 percent); Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission in Bryson City (34 percent); Our Lady of the Highways Church in Thomasville (32 percent); and St. Lucien Church in Spruce Pine (30 percent).

CAMPAIGN, SEE page 14

Winston-Salem St. Matthew Church welcomes parishioner charged new priest from Nigeria with embezzlement SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

Christians gather for ‘Lights for Life’

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CHARLOTTE — Some St. Matthew parishioners may recognize their newest parochial vicar: Father Ambrose Akindele Akinwande, who visited last October as part of a parish mission.

Pastor Monsignor John McSweeney was so impressed by the Nigerian missionary priest that he asked him to think about serving at the parish, the largest in the diocese with more than 30,000 parishioners.

Father Ambrose – as he likes to be called – was officially welcomed to the Diocese of Charlotte by Bishop Peter Jugis on Jan. 18.

Father Ambrose is a priest of the Missionary Society of St. Paul of Nigeria, a recently formed order of priests that is based out of Abuja. He comes from a family of four children, two boys and two girls, and he entered the society’s seminary in Lagos in 1997 when he was 21. He was ordained on June 23, 2007.

Father Ambrose served in Nigeria for five years following his ordination. In his first year of priesthood he worked as a diocesan priest “to get into the ministry and learn some things.” After that he served as secretary to his superior general, spending four years in that role.

On Aug. 15, 2012, he came to the U.S. to the regional house in Houston, Texas, for summer orientation. He obtained a driver’s license and spent time getting used to the parish there.

“I came for a mission here (to St. Matthew Church) last October, teaching the mission at the parish,” Father Ambrose said.

He was amazed at the size of the Ballantyne-area parish.

“When I came in October, I was scared.

I have never seen such a population; even in Nigeria in a particular church.

I saw it myself because I was at all the Masses. It’s a wonderful place to come.”

He has one practical concern that he hopes will work itself out with time.

“I want people to understand my English because we are trained by the British and the Irish, too. There are some words we use in Nigeria that aren’t used here – they have Akinwande different meaning.”

Father Ambrose also said he is looking forward to offering the sacraments to the people.

“That is my work. That is what I was ordained for. I don’t think I will have a problem working with the people. I just want to understand the people – the people’s culture. That is very important to me. As time goes by, people will understand me.”

Father Ambrose credits two things in helping him on his faith journey.

“We are told in our training that prayer is very important,” he explained.

“Prayer is the only thing we have as persons. When I went to seminary, I realized my parents had given me good values. I went to the seminary to be sure.

I was well trained by my parents.”

The Missionaries of St. Paul were formed to be missionary in spirit: to spread the Word of God just as the great St. Paul did so long ago.

“We try to find a way of caring for them. We live with them. We stay with them; live the life they are living so we can identify with them. That’s the most important thing,” Father Ambrose said.

Learn more Learn more about the Missionary Society of St. Paul of Nigeria at www.catholic-church.org/ mspnigeria.

Patricia L. Guilfoyle Editor

WINSTON-SALEM — Rose Parks Hinson, 61, of 5313 Hunt Park Ct., WinstonSalem, was arrested and charged with embezzlement Jan. 25 by Winston-Salem police.

More than $4,000 was discovered missing last summer from the bank account of the St. Monica Ladies Guild, a ministry of St. Benedict the Moor Church in WinstonSalem. Diocesan Finance Office staff conducted an audit, and then WinstonSalem Police were contacted, according to Diocese of Charlotte communication director David Hains.

“We have been working with the authorities over the past few months to document the facts in this case,” Father Lucas Rossi, pastor of St. Benedict the Moor Church, informed parishioners last week.

According to Winston-Salem Police Lt. Jeff Watson, Hinson became “the prime suspect” after the police department’s Financial Crimes Unit launched an investigation in August. A warrant was issued for Hinson’s arrest, and she turned herself in on Jan. 25. She was released on her own recognizance, according to the police report, and is scheduled for a court appearance on Feb. 21.

Hinson was volunteer treasurer of the ladies guild and an active member of the parish.

Father Rossi assured parishioners in his announcement that the ladies guild funds were kept separately from the parish’s bank account, so “there will be no impact on the operation of the parish.”

“As a result of this incident and to prevent a future occurrence, I have worked with the finance office of the diocese to change some of the accounting procedures that are used in the church,” he said.

According to Hains, the parish has “placed additional controls on the accounts of organizations associated with the parish.”

ARREST, SEE page 14

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Bishop Anderson, former priest at OLC, passes away at 84 ‘A wonderful voice’ in many ways: Bishop Anderson brought black experience, traditions into Catholic worship Robert Delaney The Michigan Catholic

DETROIT — Retired Bishop Moses B. Anderson, SSE, who began life in the rural poverty of racially segregated Alabama in 1928 and rose to become an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit, died Jan. 1, 2013. He was 84.

From 1958 to 1959, thenFather Anderson served as associate pastor of Our Lady of Consolation Church in Charlotte.

A recognized leader in the inculturation of African-American traditions into Catholic Anderson worship, Bishop Anderson built bridges between African-Americans and the people of West Africa.

His work brought him recognition and honorary degrees, but despite those Bishop Anderson never forgot his humble roots, continuing to maintain that “I’m just a poor boy from Selma.”

“Bishop Anderson was led to life in the Catholic Church in his youth, and from then on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was the center of his life,” said Detroit Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron. “He was a faithful steward of our Eucharistic life all during his priestly service, especially during the years of his episcopacy here in the Archdiocese of Detroit. He was unfailingly generous in his pastoral care for us all. We will miss him greatly, and entrust him to the loving care of our Father in heaven.”

Cardinal Adam J. Maida, archbishop emeritus of Detroit, said Bishop Anderson “was a deeply spiritual and holy bishop.

He was a very faithful and dedicated churchman who loved his episcopal ministry and especially the people whom he was called to serve.”

“He was particularly dedicated in his concern and love for the poor and their struggle for justice and peace. Those of us in the Archdiocese of Detroit were blessed with his presence among us as he preached and loved the Gospel of Christ in his private and public life,” the cardinal said.

Monsignor James Robinson, a fellow Edmundite priest and former rector of Detroit’s Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, had known Bishop Anderson since high school back in Selma, Ala. He called him “a very, very faithful Catholic and a great priest, who loved the Church and always tried hard to carry out his assignments.”

Monsignor Robinson said the young Moses Anderson had become involved in the Don Bosco Boys Club, which was a part of the Edmundites’ mission to the black community in Selma. Although being a Catholic was “a mark of degradation” in the Deep South black community, the future bishop made the decision to come into the Catholic Church when he was in the 11th grade.

Bishop Anderson, who graduated high

school a year after Monsignor Robinson, also followed him to Xavier University in New Orleans a year after he started there, followed him into the novitiate of the Society of St. Edmund a year after he entered, and then to St. Michael’s College in Vermont for philosophy, St. Edmund’s Seminary in Vermont for theology, and was ordained to the priesthood on May 30, 1958 – a year to the day after his own ordination.

In his subsequent pastoral ministry, Bishop Anderson always exhibited “a great love for the Church and for his parishioners, a great preaching ability and a great ability to enhance his preaching with song,” Monsignor Robinson said.

His first assignment after ordination was as associate pastor of Our Lady of Consolation Church in Charlotte, from 1958 to 1959.

As a priest, then-Fr. Anderson continued his interest in the African heritage of his own family and of other black people in the United States. As early as 1949, he had begun calling himself a GhanianAmerican, having traced his own family’s roots to the West African nation of Ghana.

In 1983 – the same year he celebrated 25 years of priestly ministry – he was elevated to the episcopacy as an auxiliary bishop for the Detroit Archdiocese. He was consecrated a bishop by Cardinal (thenArchbishop) Edmund C. Szoka on Jan. 27, 1983.

Cardinal Szoka fondly remembered his friend and brother bishop, saying Bishop Anderson continued to serve both the archdiocese and his religious congregation with equal vigor.

“Bishop Anderson was very popular among the people of the parishes he served in his region,” Cardinal Szoka said. “He would often sing a hymn with his wonderful voice during his sermons.

Above all, he was dedicated and loyal to his vocation as a priest and bishop. He has gone to the House of the Father, where he will live in the joys of total union with Christ our Lord.”

Besides archdiocesan duties such as administering confirmations at parishes and overseeing regions of the archdiocese, Bishop Anderson also served as pastor of Precious Blood Parish in northwest Detroit from 1992 to 2001.

In 1990, his efforts to forge new bonds of friendship and support between black Americans and Africans were recognized when he was made a chief of the Ashanti, the predominant tribe in Ghana.

He also was a serious collector of African art and the works of black American artists, and later shared his extensive collection with various Catholic institutions, including Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Madonna University in Livonia, and Xavier University in New Orleans.

Father Clarence Williams, CPPS, former director of Black Catholic Ministries for the archdiocese, said Bishop Anderson’s ability to blend elements of black tradition into the Catholic liturgical experience ANDERSON, SEE page 14

February 1, 2013 | catholicnewsherald.com

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Veteran of diocesan finance council retires after 40 years More than 700 men of all ages from the Diocese of Charlotte gathered at St. Matthew Church in Charlotte last year for the second-annual men’s conference, featuring guest speakers, Mass and prayer, fellowship and the sacrament of reconciliation.

SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

Photo by Michael Boggs Photography LLC, OF Greensboro

National speakers headline third annual Charlotte Catholic Men’s Conference Feb. 16 SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

CHARLOTTE — “Fervent. Charismatic. Motivational.” These three words aptly describe Father Larry Richards and Dr. Ray Guarendi, the two headliners for the third annual Charlotte Catholic Men’s Conference to be held from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 16, at St. Matthew Church in south Charlotte.

Father Richards spoke at the inaugural men’s conference. In addition to being a motivational speaker, he is also the author of the best-selling “Be a Man! Becoming the Man God Created You to Be.” Father Richards’ second book, “Surrender! The LifeChanging Power of Doing God’s Will” will be the focus of his talk at the conference.

Dr. Ray Guarendi is a Catholic writer, clinical psychologist, humorist and father of 10 children, whose radio program “The Doctor is In” airs three days a week on Ave Maria Radio. His television program “Living Right with Dr. Ray” airs on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN).

Bishop Peter J. Jugis and Bishop Emeritus William G. Curlin will also speak at the day-long conference sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, Fathers For Good and the Catholic Men’s Fellowship of the Carolinas. The conference is designed to help attendees be better Catholic men and get more involved in their faith, families, workplaces and parishes.

“There is nothing more important that we can do as men than to love and serve our Lord and His Catholic Church,” Bishop Jugis said in a statement about this year’s conference. “There is also nothing more needed in these troubled times than for Catholic men to openly and authentically live their faith, within their families and in the public square.”

“The theme of this year’s conference, ‘Man of Prayer, Man of Action,’ serves to remind all of us that in order for our actions to be apostolic and to bear fruit, we must first be firmly grounded in a life of prayer and in a relationship with Jesus,” Bishop Jugis

added. “It is my sincere hope that forums such as this men’s conference may assist you to grow in faith, hope and love as you strive to live your Catholic faith For more information authentically and completely.” about the men’s conference Besides the talks and fellowship, and registration details, go the conference will include Mass online to www.cltcmc.org or celebrated by Bishop Jugis, email Dan Trapini at daniel_ a Holy Hour and reflection trapini@bellsouth.net. given by Bishop Curlin, and the opportunity to receive the A companion Women’s sacrament of reconciliation.

Night of Reflection In this “Year of Faith,” the will be held Friday, Feb. 15, conference program booklets will hosted by the Charlotte include several references from Catholic Women’s Group. the Catechism of the Catholic Father Richards and Church dealing with topics Guarendi will also speak particularly relevant for men in at this event. Details are today’s world. available at www.ccwg.

Bishop Curlin is serving as eventbrite.com, or call Vicki an advisor to the conference Borin, CCWG president, at organizers. He has emphasized, 704-488-6932.

“The men’s conference should be a spark that ignites men to find the fire to know and love Jesus.

Every day is a constant renewal of faith, and men should leave the conference wanting to go deeper to find the mystery of God in their lives.”

New this year, conference organizers have partnered with Catholic Social Services to help local refugees. Household donations to furnish apartments for new refugees will be collected during the conference. Also at the conference, men will be encouraged to sign up to spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration (see more information below).

For details

Adoration to be offered for Feast of St. Joseph CHARLOTTE — The Catholic Men’s Fellowship of the Carolinas, in conjunction with St. Patrick Cathedral and the Charlotte Catholic Women’s Group, invites the faithful to join them in 40 Hours’ Eucharistic Adoration for the vigil of the Feast of St. Joseph, Guardian of Families, at the cathedral from 7 p.m. Sunday, March 17, through 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 19.

“In particular, we will encourage the men of the diocese to spend an hour in Adoration praying for their families through the intercession of St. Joseph, a true model for husbands and fathers,” said Dan Trapini,

president of the Catholic Men’s Fellowship.

A Holy Hour at 7-8 p.m. March 19 will feature Father John Eckert, pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Tryon, with the reflection ”St. Joseph: Humble Model of Fearless Faith.”

A reception will follow the conclusion of the vigil at 8 p.m. in the Family Life Center.

St. Patrick Cathedral is located at 1621 Dilworth Road East in Charlotte.

For details and reception RSVP, go online to www.cltcmc.org.

CHARLOTTE — John Engler, a founding member of the Diocese of Charlotte’s Finance Council, retired in December after 40 years of service.

He is the only person to have served on the council from its inception in 1972, the same year the diocese was established.

It was also in 1972 that Engler, now a parishioner at St. Gabriel Church, moved to Charlotte. An Iowa native, he earned a degree from the University of Notre Dame and served in the U.S. Navy before going to work in the financial industry in New York and Chicago.

He put his years of experience with Merrill Lynch to work with the diocese, gladly volunteering his investing and business advice to the diocesan Finance Council over the next four decades. He witnessed the development of the diocese, watching it grow from a fledgling “start-up” into a mature “enterprise.”

Engler advised all four bishops of the Diocese of Charlotte during his tenure: Bishop Michael J. Begley, Bishop John F. Donoghue, Bishop William G. Curlin and Bishop Peter J. Jugis.

“When I look back, the most enjoyable thing for me was getting to know the bishops,” Engler said.

“They were very different (from one another), well chosen for what was going on in the diocese at the time.

“Bishop Begley set the mark for getting the diocese started. Bishop Donoghue had a strong skill set in business. Bishop Curlin was and still is a pastor who let the financial people run that aspect of things. Bishop Jugis is a combination of all of them.”

Engler noted that the diocese started out with little, but it has successfully managed its investments “thanks to the growth and the leadership of the bishops.”

He also credited the professionalism of the diocesan finance department, led by Chief Financial Officer William G. Weldon.

“Bill is talented, dedicated, remarkable. He and his staff have done a terrific job,” he said.

Engler said he greatly enjoyed being a founding member of the financial advisory board for the diocese.

“It was a privilege. Very few people get that opportunity.”

“I am grateful to Mr. Engler for the advice and counsel he has given me, serving in his capacity as a member of the Finance Council of the Diocese of Charlotte,” Bishop Jugis said.

“The many hours he has devoted to serving the diocese during these 40 years demonstrates an extraordinary commitment and love for the Church.”

Besides his retirement from the finance council, December marked another milestone for Engler: he and his wife Peggy celebrated 55 years of marriage. They have four children and eight grandchildren.

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catholicnewsherald.com | February 1, 2013 OUR PARISHES

Father John Hanic, pastor of St. John Baptist de la Salle Church, hosted an ecumenical prayer service Jan. 25 with several area pastors from North Wilkesboro and Elkin. A relic of Blessed John Paul II (pictured below) was also presented to the parish at the conclusion of the service.

Patricia L. Guilfoyle | Catholic News Herald

Bishop Peter Jugis hosted an ecumenical prayer service at St. Patrick Cathedral Jan. 23 to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Pictured with him following the service are (from left) Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster of the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church; the Right Rev. William O. Gregg, assistant bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina; the Right Rev. G. Porter Taylor, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina; Charlotte Bishop Emeritus William G. Curlin; and the Rev. Dr. Leonard Bolick, bishop of the N.C. Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity reminds us: ‘Clothe yourselves with humility’ Patricia L. Guilfoyle Editor

CHARLOTTE — Leaders of three Christian denominations gathered to pray with Bishop Peter J. Jugis and Bishop Emeritus William G. Curlin during a special Vespers service marking the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Jan. 23.

“Through Him all things were made; He holds all creation together in Himself,” went one of the antiphons at the hourlong prayer service at St. Patrick Cathedral, which featured choral music, psalms, Scripture readings focusing on the theme of unity in Christ and prayers for peace around the world.

This year’s theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity comes from the Book of Micah, Bishop Jugis noted. In Micah 6:6-8, the prophet asks, “What does God require of us?”

“Of course, we know the response that He gives him: to do the right, and to love goodness and to walk humbly with your God,” Bishop Jugis said. That theme of humility, “to walk humbly with your God, lifting up the lowly, figures very profoundly throughout the prayers this evening,” he continued.

A few years ago, Bishop Jugis recalled, a friend shared with him pictures from the Hubble telescope depicting star clusters, nebulae and other wonders of the universe that had previously been unseen, other than by God. Through scientific discoveries like these, he said, “We realize that we live on one planet, revolving around one star, in a remote part of one galaxy among millions of similar galaxies.”

The Hubble photographs showing the vastness of space may prompt us to question our significance in the universe, he said. Have these scientific discoveries diminished human dignity?

“How much are we worth, after all?” he asked.

“For the Christian, though, who in faith bows humbly before a loving God, the vastness of the universe, the incomprehensible universe, evokes awe and wonder in us,” he said. “How much He must love us, to reveal Himself to us in this way – through the beauty, the grandeur, the magnificence and majesty of creation!”

People of faith “know that we are very important to God, and that Jesus is proof,” he continued. “He came humbly Himself to seek us, to find us, to bring us back to the Father.”

Therefore, we should not only remain humble and grateful to God, but we should also act humbly in our relations with each other.

“In your relations with one another, clothe yourselves with humility,” St. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:5b-7, asking us to UNITY, SEE page 14

Photos by Patricia L. Guilfoyle | Catholic News Herald

Relic of Blessed John Paul unveiled at ecumenical prayer service Patricia L. Guilfoyle Editor

NORTH WILKESBORO — More than 150 people filled St. John Baptist de la Salle Church in North Wilkesboro Jan. 18 to pray for Christian unity, following the example of Blessed John Paul II, whose relic the parish recently received from the Vatican.

The relic, a drop of the late pontiff’s blood sealed in a gold reliquary, was unveiled to parishioners during the Prayer for Christian Unity ecumenical service, a first for the Christian communities in the area. Clergy from local Baptist and Methodist congregations joined pastor Father John Hanic in praying for Christian unity, understanding and mutual love.

St. John Baptist de la Salle Church is one of only a few in the United States so far to receive a first-class relic of Blessed John Paul, who shepherded the Church from 1979 until his death in 2005. He was beatified May 1, 2011.

A first-class relic is one that has been taken from the remains of a saint or blessed – in the modern era, that usually means drops of blood on a piece of cloth sealed in a reliquary.

This relic is especially meaningful coming to the Charlotte diocese, Father Hanic noted, as Bishop Peter Jugis was ordained a priest by Blessed John Paul in Rome, and many people in the diocese have a devotion to the late pope.

Father Hanic requested the relic in a letter to Polish Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, Archbishop of Kraków.

Cardinal Dziwisz was a longtime friend and personal secretary to the late pope and now is an ardent supporter of his beatification.

Parishioner Aleksandra Gonzalez, who is married to Temoc Gonzalez, the Hispanic Ministry coordinator in the Boone vicariate, is from Poland and knew the late pope from when she was studying in Kraków and he was the archbishop there. She went to work at the Vatican’s Propaganda Fide, now known as the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, in Rome when he was serving as pope. For the 11 years she served with Propaganda Fide she, Temoc and their three children knew the pope well.

It was Aleksandra’s idea to request the relic to inspire the people of the diocese – especially young people – to grow in their faith and follow the example of Blessed John Paul. Especially during this Year of Faith, she said, we need to focus on learning about our faith,

strengthening our faith, and following God’s will. And who better to inspire people to grow stronger in their faith and to have the courage to love than Blessed John Paul?

“We need him,” she said, to help us and our growing diocese. The late pope often said do not be afraid to love, she added. “Today we need to renew our souls and love each other – to have a better world, a better future, and to teach our children.”

In addition to Father Hanic and Sister Janis McQuade, S.S.J., of St. Stephen Mission in Elkin, the ecumenical service included Dr. Keith Franklin of First United Methodist Church in North Wilkesboro, Dr. Nelson Granade Jr. of First Baptist Church in North Wilkesboro, the Rev. Paul Hugger of Hospice of Wilkes Regional Medical Center in North Wilkesboro, and the Rev. Rebecca Husband-Maynard of First Baptist Church in Elkin.

The joyful service featured hymns, Scripture verses and prayers for Christian unity. The local clergy each took turns reading from Revelation Chapter 21, from Paul’s letters to the Philippians and the Ephesians, and from the Gospel of John. Choirs from both St. John and St. Stephen led the congregation in singing several hymns, accompanied by pianist Jake Hill from First Baptist Church in Elkin. The service ended to the enthusiastic strains of “How Great Thou Art.” After the service, everyone gathered downstairs in the parish hall for food and fellowship.

Husband-Maynard said she was very honored to have been part of the ecumenical service.

“We made history tonight,” she and Sister Janis noted. The two women work together often in serving relic, SEE page 14

February 1, 2013 | catholicnewsherald.com

Our Lady of Lourdes parish to offer feast day Masses weekend of Feb. 9, 10 SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

MONROE — Father Benjamin Roberts, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Monroe, will offer the Mass of Our Lady of Lourdes at all Masses the weekend of Feb. 9-10.

This special liturgy honors the parish’s patroness, and all people of the Diocese of Charlotte are invited to attend the special celebration.

“In accord with the ‘General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar, 58’ and the Ceremonial of Bishops 380,’ we will be celebrating the patronal feast of our parish (Feb. 11) at the Sunday Masses of the preceding weekend, Feb. 9-10,” Father Roberts explains. “That is why we can move the celebration to the nearest Sunday in Ordinary Time.”

The actual feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes is Feb. 11, which falls on a Monday this year.

Father Roberts said he hopes parishioners from across the diocese will attend the special liturgy to commemorate the appearances of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Bernadette in Lourdes, France, in 1858.

“One of the great things about our Catholic faith is the abundance of things that we have to celebrate,” Father Roberts says.

“The patronal feast of a parish is a time to celebrate the goodness of God and the protection of our patroness, and renew our

commitment to being the sign and the seed of the Kingdom of God in our location.”

He has a special devotion to Our Lady of Lourdes, which began more than a decade ago.

“Personally, I have some special memories of the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. In 2002, the year I entered priestly formation, I made my final visit to the seminary community on this feast and prayed for her intercession for my discernment.

“Also, my mentor and friend, Father Conrad Kimbrough (now deceased), was ordained a priest on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.”

Father Roberts, who became pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes last year, began a perpetual healing novena after the Friday 8:30 a.m. Mass, using prayers that he combined from several sources.

“The message of Lourdes is healing and conversion.

“When I was ordained a priest, I prayed that through my priesthood Christ would bring healing and conversion. Celebrating our parish feast, we pray that we will be healed, drawn closer to Christ through the prayers of His Mother, and will be more effectively the sign of God’s love in our community.”

Sunday Mass times at Our Lady of Lourdes Church are: Saturday Vigil, 5 p.m.

(English); Sunday,10 a.m. (English), noon (Spanish) and 2 p.m. (Spanish).

For more information, call the church office at 704-289-2773.

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief Application period opens for permanent deacons The diocesan Office of the Permanent Diaconate will soon open the application period for the next formation class of permanent deacons. Anyone interested in applying to the program will need to attend a March 9 information meeting. Applications will be distributed following this meeting.

Basic requirements for becoming a permanent deacon can be found online at www.charlottediocese.org/ministries-adepartments/permanent-diaconate. These include completion of the diocesan Lay Ecclesial Ministry program by 2014.

To attend the information meeting or get more information about the permanent diaconate, email the Director of Formation for the Permanent Diaconate, Deacon Scott Gilfillan, at sdgilfillan@charlottediocese.org, or the Director of the Permanent Diaconate, Deacon Ron Steinkamp, at rfsteinkamp@ charlottediocese.org.

Bishops applaud driver’s license decision Both North Carolina Catholic bishops, Charlotte Bishop Peter J. Jugis and Raleigh Bishop Michael F. Burbidge are applauding the ruling of North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper on the question of issuing driver’s

OUR PARISHESI

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licenses to some undocumented people.

The opinion from Cooper was issued Jan. 17.

It will allow undocumented residents who have received a two-year deportation deferral from the federal government to obtain a North Carolina driver’s license.

In June 2012, the Obama Administration put into place the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which prevents the deportation of an estimated 1.8 million undocumented immigrants who were brought to the United States as children before their 16th birthday.

To qualify for the two-year work permit, the individual must be no older than 30, be a high school graduate, attending college or university or have served in the U.S. military.

To date, more than 350,000 people nationwide have applied for the deferment.

In September 2012, the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles requested a ruling by the attorney general’s office as to the proper documents required to obtain a driver’s license in the state.

That action prevented the immigrants with deferrals from obtaining a driver’s license. The DMV wanted to be clear that granting licenses to those who have received deferrals would not be in violation of existing state law.

The letter from the attorney general states that the DMV “shall issue a driver’s license of limited duration to persons who present valid documentation demonstrating deferment and meet all other statutory requirements.”

It is estimated that approximately 18,000 young people in North Carolina may benefit from the president’s Deferred Action Program.

In addition to driver’s licenses, those who are granted deferrals receive work permits and obtain Social Security numbers, allowing them to work legally in the U.S. — David Hains, Diocese of Charlotte director of communications

Man of Prayer.

Man of Action.

Featuring:

2013 Catholic Camporee March 15-17

Dr. Ray Guarendi*

Calling all Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts!

Attend or visit the 37th annual Catholic Camporee for the Diocese of Charlotte.

Camporee will conclude on Sunday with Holy Mass celebrated at 10 am by Bishop Peter Jugis. The Bishop will recognize all Cub scouts and Boy scouts who have earned their Religious Awards.

Third Annual Charlotte Catholic Men’s Conference Sponsored by: Knights of Columbus, Fathers For Good and

For more information visit our website www.cdccos.info Piedmont Scout Reservation – Camp Bud Schiele 668 Boy Scout Road – Rutherfordton, NC 28139

Fr. Larry Richards* also Bishop Peter Jugis and Bishop William Curlin *Fr. Richards and Dr. Guarendi will also speak at the Women’s Night of Reflection February 15, 2013.

Details at www.ccwg.eventbrite.com

Saturday, February 16, 2013 St. Matthew Catholic Church '13Ad.indd 1

Find more conference details at:

www.cltcmc.org 1/7/13 1:24 PM

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catholicnewsherald.com | February 1, 2013 OUR PARISHES

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St. Mark Church to create ‘Memorial for Life’ SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

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HUNTERSVILLE — The Committee for Life at St. Mark Parish has organized an effort to create an outdoor “Memorial for Life” to call attention to the sanctity of all human life. The centerpiece of the memorial will be a life-sized replica of the statue “Mary Mother of the Life Within” by American artist Joseph DeVito.

The statue is of the Virgin Mary seated, holding the Baby Jesus in her lap. The original eight-foot statue stands in Fatima, Portugal. A few smaller replicas are in Pennsylvania and New Jersey but none are located in the South, Midwest or West.

The memorial will be located on grounds provided by St. Mark Church – adjacent to the church, the Perpetual Adoration Chapel and the Monsignor Kerin Parish Activity Center. It will be accessible 24 hours a day.

The white statue will stand at the center of the memorial area. It will be surrounded

by four marble benches, walkways, brick seating walls and landscaping, all lighted at night and watched by a security camera.

Easy visitor access and parking will be available.

Check out more photos of the memorial online at the parish’s website, www. stmarknc.org, or on Facebook at www. facebook.com/MemorialForLife.

The Committee for Life at St. Mark has raised nearly half of the $48,000 needed to complete the memorial. They hope to hold a dedication ceremony on Mother’s Day, May 12.

For information about how to support the Memorial for Life, including opportunities to make specific memorial gifts, contact Ron Haley at vucko@interserv.com or 704439-2402.

Checks should be made out to St. Mark Catholic Church with “Memorial for Life” written in the “memo” or “for” field and mailed to St. Mark Committee for Life, P.O. Box 1199, Huntersville, N.C. 28070.

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In Brief Mercy sister receives MLK humanitarian award BELMONT — Mercy Sister Bernadette McNamara received a Humanitarian Award at the 22nd annual Belmont Unity Day celebration on Jan. 21.

The award, sponsored by the Belmont Coalition for Concerned Citizens, was part of the group’s annual celebration of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The award was presented to Sister Bernadette by Father Frank Cancro, pastor of Queen of the Apostles Church in Belmont, during the Unity Day service at the Basilica on the campus of Belmont Abbey College in Belmont.

Since 2007, Sister Bernadette has served as a pastoral associate at Queen McNamara of the Apostles Church. She ministers to the sick and homebound of the parish and to people who feel abandoned. From 2001 to 2007, she served as CEO of Catherine’s House, a transitional home for homeless women and their children, located on the campus of Sacred Heart Convent in Belmont.

Father Cancro, who presented her with the award, later noted, “Sister Bernadette has been connecting people for many years here in the community. Not just in the parish, as she works here, but also in the years at Catherine’s House when she garnered volunteers and community support to assist in the lives and the care for her residents and their children. She is an example of the Gospel in action who has had a clear impact on the larger community.”

— Paul Bond, communications specialist, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas South Central Community

Pray Feb. 10 for those with autism spectrum disorders

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CHARLOTTE — On Sunday, Feb. 10, the Diocese of Charlotte will join with churches of all denominations for the International Day of Prayer for Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome.

Begun in 2002, “Autism Sunday” is a day to pray for the more than 60 million people worldwide who have autism or autism-related neurodevelopmental disorders.

Joining with Pope Benedict XVI, people are also encouraged to pray for families affected by the disorder; for scientists seeking a solution; for teachers, medical professionals and caregivers; and for tolerance and understanding toward all people with autism spectrum disorders.

One in 88 children in the United States has some form of autism, and five times more boys than girls are affected.

For prayers, resources and more information, go online to: www.autismsunday.com.

— Jan Clemens, SPRED ministry

40 Days for Life Campaign begins in three cities Feb. 13 The spring campaign of “40 Days for Life” will begin on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 13, with prayer vigils planned for outside abortion facilities in Charlotte, Greensboro and Winston-Salem.

The nationwide campaign, which runs until March 24, is a focused pro-life effort consisting of 40 days of prayer, fasting and peaceful vigil to seek an end to the evil of abortion, as well as community outreach to offer resources to expectant mothers in need.

Prayer vigils are typically held daily, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

All who support the pro-life cause are invited to take a stand and join in this campaign.

To date 2,210 40 Days for Life campaigns by 550,000 people have taken place in 481 cities, resulting in 6,749 lives saved, 75 abortion workers quitting their jobs, and 25 abortion centers closing.

For details, go online to: 40daysforlife.com.

Join other Catholics on Vacation!

National Parks Tour

Grand Canyon

George Hoffman Jr. | Catholic News Herald

Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Charlotte receives gift from Food Lion CHARLOTTE — Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Charlotte (online at www.cssnc.org) has received a $3,500 gift from the Food Lion Charitable Foundation. The Charlotte office of Catholic Social Services will use the gift to purchase healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables and shelf-stable milk for children that will be distributed by the agency’s emergency food pantry.

“We are so thankful to the Food Lion Charitable Foundation. Because of their generosity, Catholic Social Services will be able to provide families with fresh fruits and vegetables, foods many families can’t afford,” said Sharon Davis, director of the Charlotte Regional Office.

Catholic Social Services has served the needs of the vulnerable of all faiths, ethnicities and nationalities for more than 40 years. The agency provides emergency assistance, refugee resettlement services, counseling, pregnancy support and adoption services and burial assistance. In addition to these services, the agency is a key frontline responder to the growing problem of hunger. The food pantry at the Charlotte Office offers emergency food and personal care items to an average of 400 families a month.

Established in 2001, the Food Lion Charitable Foundation provides financial support for programs and organizations dedicated to feeding the hungry in the communities it serves. Since its inception, the foundation has awarded more than $9 million in grants.

Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Charlotte

of the Golden West 14 Days

OUR PARISHESI

Executive Director: Gerard A. Carter, Ph.D. (704) 370-3250 Refugee Office: Cira Ponce (704) 370-3262 Family Life: Gerard Carter (704) 370-3228 Justice and Peace: Joseph Purello (704) 370-3225 OEO/CSS Murphy Satellite Office (828) 835-3535

$1458*

from

Depart June 14, 2013

Fly into Las Vegas for one night. Then you will begin your tour and visit landmarks in NINE NATIONAL PARKS. Witness the giant Redwood trees in Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks, then be amazed at the rock formations and waterfalls in Yosemite National Park. Visit majestic Lake Tahoe and Reno, stop in historic Virginia City, Winnemucca and Wendover, Nevada. In Utah tour the world’s largest man-made excavation – the Kennecott Copper Mine plus the Great Salt Lake! Next tour the unique rocks Arches’ National Park; and Canyonlands, with enchanting vistas carved by the Colorado and Green Rivers. Next visit Capitol Reef and drive through the Dixie National Forest to Bryce Canyon National Park. Then it’s the grandest of all National Parks, The Grand Canyon, for both a day and night. Finally, try your luck in exciting Las Vegas with an included day excursion to Zion National Park. *Price per person, based on double occupancy. Airfare is extra. Other departure dates available. Seasonal rates may apply.

For reservations & details call 7 days a week:

1-800-736-7300

Charlotte Region: 1123 South Church St., Charlotte, NC 28203 Area Director: Sharon Davis (704) 370-3218 Your Local Catholic Charities Agency

Western Region: 50 Orange Street, Asheville, NC 28801 Area Director: Michele Sheppard (828) 255-0146 Piedmont-Triad: 627 W. Second St., Winston-Salem, NC 27101 Area Director: Diane Bullard (336) 727-0705 Greensboro Satellite Office (336) 274-5577

For information on specific programs, please call your local office.

www.cssnc.org

Strengthening Families. Building Communities. Reducing Poverty.

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catholicnewsherald.com | February 1, 2013 OUR PARISHES

LENT 2013 Seek reconciliation with the One who loves you

L

ent begins with Ash Wednesday, Feb. 13 – marking the start of the Church’s 40-day season of repentance with prayer, fasting and abstinence, good works, and the sacrament of reconciliation. We are preparing for the death of Christ on Good Friday and His Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Through prayer, we deepen our commitment to God, seeking to be closer to Him and expressing sorrow for our sins. By fasting, we exercise discipline and place our spiritual hunger above our physical needs.

With almsgiving and good works, we place others before ourselves, living in solidarity with the poor and following Jesus’ call to care for the least of our brothers and sisters.

Our penitential actions begin at Mass on Ash Wednesday, when we receive ashes on our foreheads – an ancient penitential practice which symbolizes our need for God’s mercy and forgiveness.

They continue with fasting and abstinence.

Catholics aged 18 to 59 who are physically able are obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

In addition, all Catholics 14 years old and older who are able must abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and all the Fridays of Lent. Fasting and abstinence aid us in striving to deepen our relationship with the Lord and in seeking penance for our sins.

In his 1966 “Apostolic Constitution on Penance,” Pope Paul VI reminded us of the divine law that each of us in our own way do penance. We must all turn from sin and make reparation to God for our sins. We must forgive and show love for one another just as we ask for God’s love and forgiveness.

Especially this year, we are being asked to seek reconciliation and forgiveness through the sacrament of reconciliation.

In “God’s Gift: of Forgiveness, A Pastoral Exhortation on the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation,” the U.S. bishops encourage us to seek the healing this sacrament provides – especially if we have not been to confession in a long time.

In their exhortation on reconciliation, they write: “Peace be with you!” With these words, the Risen Lord greeted His frightened Apostles in the Upper Room on the day of His Resurrection. They were troubled, anxious and fearful – much like each one of us at some point in our lives. Christ repeated the words, “Peace be with you.”

But then He added, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them” (Jn 20:19-23). What an extraordinary gift! The Risen Lord was proclaiming that all the suffering He had just endured was in order to make available the gifts of salvation and forgiveness. He wanted the Apostles to receive these gifts. He wanted them to become apostles of this forgiveness to others.

In the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, also called confession, we meet the Lord, who wants to grant forgiveness and the grace to live a renewed life in Him. In this sacrament, He prepares us to receive Him free from serious sin, with a lively faith, earnest hope and sacrificial love in the Eucharist.

The Church ... encourages frequent confession in order to grow closer to Christ Jesus and His Body, the Church. By the grace of the Holy Spirit, we seek forgiveness and repentance, let go of patterns of sin, grow in the life of virtue and witness to a joyful conversion.

Since the graces of the sacrament are so similar to the purpose of the New Evangelization, Pope Benedict XVI has LENT, SEE page 13

Lenten fasting rules n Catholics aged 18 to 59 who are physically able are obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. n Catholics aged 14+ who are able must abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and Fridays in Lent. n Fasting means eating only 1 full meal.

Some food (not equaling another full meal) is OK at other times of the day. n Abstinence forbids the use of meat, but not of eggs, milk products or condiments

made of animal fat. Abstinence does not include meat juices and liquid foods made from meat. Thus, such foods as chicken broth, consomme, soups cooked or flavored with meat, gravy or sauces, as well as seasonings or condiments made from animal fat are not forbidden. It is OK to use margarine and lard. n Do not be scrupulous. Observing these regulations is not the point of Lent – they are a means to an end: striving to deepen our relationship with the Lord and seeking penance for our sins.

Haven’t been to confession in a while?

Don’t worry. Here’s help: At www.catholicnewsherald. com: USCCB resources including: — Q&A: Has it been a while since your last confession? Do you wonder, “Why do I have to confess my sins to a priest?”

“Won’t the priest remember what I said?

I’m embarrassed: I don’t want him to think badly of me,” or “I’m divorced. May I receive the sacrament?

— A how-to guide for going to confession

— An examination of conscience for young adults, singles, married people

At www.charlottediocese. org: Search for a parish near you on the diocese’s interactive map or city directory.

Each parish lists times for Mass and confession, driving directions, clergy and annulment contacts, and more.

At www.catholicscomehome. org: Lots of info for anyone who’s been away from church for a while or seeks resources to help them on their faith journey.

Helpful mobile apps: “Confession: A Roman Catholic App” (iPhone, iPad, Android) features customized examinations of conscience, prayers for confession, step-by-step guide, and password protected profiles “iConfess: Confession Handbook and Guide” (iPhone, iPad, Android) has additional features including a calendar and reminder system

Let’s keep talking.

February 1, 2013 | catholicnewsherald.com

OUR PARISHESI

LENT:

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

FROM PAGE 12

In Brief

said, “The New Evangelization ... begins in the confessional!” (Pope Benedict XVI, “Address to the Annual Course on the Internal Forum Organized by the Apostolic Penitentiary”) by donations from anonymous parishioners.

Pictured from left are Knights Don Pierce, Tom Flanagan and Tony Tiller.

— Nick Norgaard

— Sources: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Knights help local veterans ASHEVILLE — The Knights of Columbus from Arden Council 8923, pictured above, have committed to regularly preparing and serving meals for veterans at the Veterans Restoration Quarters in Asheville, a ministry of the Asheville Buncombe Community Christian Ministry.

The Veterans Restoration Quarters is a converted motel where formerly homeless or addicted veterans can find hope and empowerment. Vets live there for up to two years and receive counseling, mentoring and job training in such areas as gardening, culinary arts and truck driving. There are approximately 240 beds at the facility, but there is almost always a waiting list.

The Knights were impressed by Veterans Restoration Quarters’ structured program and its mission to help men with recovering every part of their lives, from money management to family relationships.

— Bill Carter

Knights complete renovations SYLVA — Knights of Columbus from Smoky Mountain Council 9722 in Sylva recently completed another renovation project at the conference center of their parish, St. Mary Mother of God Church. The renovation enlarged one of the center’s rooms by approximately 80 square feet and included installing new flooring and electrical wiring. The project was funded

If you have not received this healing sacrament in a long time, consider attending any of the number of penance services that will be held across the diocese this Lent.

Come to the Lord and experience the extraordinary grace of His forgiveness!

A place of loving, living and learning for the differently able.

Working with children and adults with intellectual developmental disabilities and delicate medical conditions.

Direct Support Professional: Full-time, Part-time & weekend relief (every other weekend), 2nd & 3rd shifts. Provide total care support; assist with mealtime, activities, and

St. Francis Parish celebrates Adoration at Christmas FRANKLIN — Parishioners of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Franklin gathered for 24 hours of Eucharistic Adoration during the Christmas season.

Parishioner Kristin Karcher, who provided the photo above, describes it as follows: “This photo, taken during 24-hour Eucharistic Adoration at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Franklin, clearly captures the beauty of what it means to be Catholic. Only once a year during the Christmas season could the beauty of our Lord be so clearly expressed representing Christ’s life from birth through the crucifixion.

At the center, the monstrance embodies Jesus’ life as His Body is adored by parishioners during Adoration. What better visual example for us as Catholics to clearly see how God gave us His only Son as an infant and then Jesus gave His life for us on the Cross so that our sins could be forgiven?”

goals for Holy Angels residents.

Required: HS/GED; Minimum age 21; Minimum 2 years related experience.

Prefer Silver Career Readiness Certificate and supervision experience.

APPLY AT: Holy Angels 6600 Wilkinson Blvd., Belmont, NC, 704.825.4161-Send resume to hrinfo@HAngelsNC.org or apply online at www.HolyAngelsNC.org

Tour of Ethiopia and Ghana March 8-22, 2013 African American Ministry Diocese of Charlotte

Service learning

Open House:

February 7th at 9:30 a.m. (Pre-K to 8th grade) February 11th at 6:30 p.m. (Middle School)

For more information please contact: Sandy Murdock 704-370-3267 at the African American Ministry Office -orinfo@palacetravel.com 215-471-8555 Toll Free 800-683-7731

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catholicnewsherald.com | February 1, 2013 OUR PARISHES

ANDERSON: FROM PAGE 6

received national attention in 1992 when he celebrated the Easter Sunday Mass, sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, on CBS television.

Originating from Precious Blood Church, incorporating jazz and gospel elements, and employing the musical talents of such key figures in black Catholic liturgical worship as Norah Duncan IV and Carl Clendenning, the telecast showcased what a Mass incorporating black traditions could look like.

“It was so dynamic that it was rebroadcast two times, and it showed Detroit was more than just a place of conflict,” Father Williams said.

Another event of wider impact was a symposium on black Catholic history that Bishop Anderson organized.

The symposium so impressed a representative of the Lilly Endowment that Benedictine Father Cyprian Davis, one of the presenters, received the funding necessary to research and write his award-winning “The History of Black Catholics in the United States.”

John J.F. Thorne, current director of the archdiocesan Black Catholic Ministries, was still in grade school when Bishop Anderson was ordained a bishop, but he recalled the importance the event had for black Catholics.

“It came at a time when the black Catholic community was looking for something to be excited about and to celebrate within the faith,” said Thorne, who is also music director at Sacred Heart Parish in Detroit.

As a pastor, Bishop Anderson was always known to give of himself, which made him well-loved and well-respected in the black Catholic community and throughout the archdiocese, Thorne said.

“As expressed in his motto, Bishop Anderson always believed we could have great unity in diversity,” he said.

Thorne said Bishop Anderson’s special ministry to blacks throughout the country was well under way when he came to Detroit, dating from his involvement with the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University in New Orleans.

“The institute became a very important part of continuing education in the black Catholic community, and not only for black clergy, but also for others who ministered to blacks,” he said.

In 1984, Bishop Anderson participated in writing “What We Have Seen and

Heard,” the first joint pastoral letter by the country’s black bishops, on the topic of evangelization. It called on AfricanAmerican Catholics “to reclaim our roots and to shoulder the responsibilities of being both black and Catholic.”

In one of his first major speeches as a bishop, as keynoter for the 1983 Shepherds Speak series at St. James Cathedral in Brooklyn, N.Y., he warned that the United States was “going backwards” on race relations after years of improvement. He lauded the efforts of the Church, especially his fellow bishops, to speak out against racism and resist it.

At a 1995 conference near Washington, D.C., on pastoring black parishes, Bishop Anderson remarked, “Some say the parish will not survive because of the lack of priests, the lack of religious, the lack of deacons, or the lack of lay ministers. Some say the lack of good relations between the clergy, religious and lay ministers threaten the survival of the parish. …

They may threaten the survival of a particular parish, but not the Church. We must evangelize in such a manner that we live and preach the staying power of both the universal Church and the local ecclesial community.”

In addition to degrees from St. Michael’s College, Xavier University and Notre Dame Seminary, Bishop Anderson received an honorary doctorate from Saint Xavier University in Chicago in 2011 for his work in civil rights.

He was a trustee of North America College, University of Louvain, New Detroit, Madonna University, Boy Scouts of America, Habitat for Humanity, Holy Cross Youth and Family Center; member of USCCB’s Secretariat for African American Catholics, Catholic Communications Campaign, Committee for Black Catholic Affairs, Committee on International Policy, Committee for African American Catholics, Committee on Contemplative Prayer for Major Religious Superiors of Men and Women; member of Boysville of America, National Advisory Council, Society for the Study of Black Religion and Culture, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

He served the archdiocese in active ministry until Oct. 24, 2003, when he retired at age 75 as required by canon law. After retirement, he continued to serve the Church in various ways. In later years, he was a resident of Livonia.

At the time of his ordination, he was one of seven African-American bishops in the United States. At the time of his retirement, he was the senior active black bishop in the country.

— Catholic News Service contributed to this story.

RELIC: FROM PAGE 8

the Elkin community.

As the second-longest serving pope, Blessed John Paul made historic strides to foster Christian unity and dialogue with non-Christian faiths.

He organized the first World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi, Italy, in 1986, which included 160 religious leaders. He was the first pope to travel to England, where he met with the queen as head of the Church of England; and to Israel, where

VALUES: FROM PAGE 3

divided Christians continue their theological dialogues in the search for full unity, he said, “It is necessary to pursue concrete collaboration among the disciples of Christ on behalf of the cause of transmitting the faith to the modern world. In today’s society, it seems that the Christian message has a diminishing impact on personal and community life, and this represents a challenge for all churches and ecclesial communities.”

Pope says Christian divisions ‘disfigure’ the Church VATICAN CITY — The divisions among Christians have “disfigured” the Church, Pope

ARREST: FROM PAGE 5

The St. Monica Ladies Guild supports the parish by caring for the sacristy, the altar linens and other needs around the church.

St. Benedict the Moor, a predominantly

CAMPAIGN: FROM PAGE 5

Parishes falling short of their DSA goals contribute the amount of the shortfall from parish funds. This year, a total of $166,776 will be contributed by these parishes.

The diocese’s largest parish, St. Matthew Church in Charlotte, continued to see

UNITY: FROM PAGE 8

704-841-1160

South Charlotte & Union County, NC Bathing / Dressing Assistance

803-610-4200

York, Lancaster & Chester Counties, SC

follow the example of Jesus, he noted, from the day’s Scripture reading.

He concluded, “We pray during this vespers service during the Week for Christian Unity, that the virtue of humbleness always remain the foundation of our relationships with each other, in the various Christian communities, as we strive to fulfill Jesus’ prayer: ‘Father, may they all be one.’”

he made history by touching one of the holiest sites in Judaism, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, placing inside it a letter that asked for forgiveness for the Church’s past actions against Jews. He was also the first pope known to have made an official visit to a synagogue. He was the first pope in more than a thousand years to travel to Greece and other predominantly Eastern Orthodox countries, and the first pope to visit a Lutheran church. He was the first pope to meet with the Dalai Lama, and the first to pray in a mosque.

Emphasizing the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, he encouraged an ecumenical spirit to bring about reconciliation and peace.

Benedict XVI said. “The Church is the bride of Christ, who makes her holy and beautiful by His grace,” the pope said Jan. 20 before praying the Angelus with visitors gathered in the rain in St. Peter’s Square.

Even though the Church is Christ’s bride, he said, the fact that the Church is made up of human beings means that it always needs purification.

“One of the most serious faults that disfigures the face of the Church,” the pope said, is the sin “against her visible unity, particularly the historical divisions that have separated Christians and still have not been overcome completely.”

Pope Benedict said the Jan. 18-25 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was a time for all Christians to reawaken their desire and their prayerful commitment to full communion.

— Catholic News Service

African-American parish established in 1940, has approximately 120 registered families.

“The St. Monica Ladies Guild has been a source of prayer and a source of good for our parish for more than 50 years. I look forward to a continued, fruitful relationship with the guild,” Father Rossi said.

“I ask that you join me in prayer for this individual and for our parish,” Father Rossi also said.

success with raising nearly $666,000, exceeding its 2012 DSA goal by almost 7 percent. St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte, the diocese’s third-largest parish, also ran a successful campaign, raising nearly $357,000 – 24 percent over its goal.

“We’re very appreciative of the generosity of our parishioners. The DSA is absolutely vital to funding our ministries. Without this support, we would simply not be able to do the work we do,” noted William G. Weldon, diocesan chief finance officer.

The other church leaders echoed Bishop Jugis’ comments and underscored the value of LARCUM – the Lutheran, Anglican, Roman Catholic and United Methodist covenant group – in fostering dialogue, mutual understanding and Christian action. It is at prayer services like these, they said, that we are reminded of our common discipleship in Christ. The more often such gatherings can occur, the better, they said.

“Underneath any politics, we’re all called to be one,” said the Right Rev. G. Porter Taylor, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina.

The Greatest of These is LoVE 2013 Diocesan Support Appeal Diocese Of Charlotte

‘The greatest of these is Love’ CHARLOTTE — Love is more than an emotion, it is a call to act.

good stewardship of resources during what is still a challenging economy.

That is at the heart of the theme for this year’s Diocesan Support Appeal: “The Greatest of these is Love.” The DSA helps to fund many of the educational, vocational and multicultural ministries of the diocese.

The DSA campaign is a visible expression of charity and love in action.

Inspired by the second reading at Mass for Feb. 3 (the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time) from the Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians, the annual campaign encourages us to love one another by caring and acting in solidarity with those in most need. Paul reminds us that without love, we are nothing. He speaks of how love manifests itself in patience, kindness, hope and endurance. And at the end we are told, “So faith, hope, and love remain, these three: but the greatest of these is love.”

“The theme of the 2013 campaign reminds me of the words of St. Ignatius of Loyola found at the end of his Spiritual Exercises: ‘Love ought to manifest itself more by deeds than by words,’” said

Ministries such as faith formation, youth ministry, media resources and lay ministry training all provide resources that enhance parish educational programs. CSS elder ministry, marriage preparation and natural family planning provide programs and activities that extend to people in all parishes. Seminarian education and permanent diaconate formation help provide for priests and deacons to serve our growing diocese in the future. The Diocese of Charlotte Housing Corp. has helped provide housing for the poor in four areas of the diocese, and it recently dedicated a new facility, Good Shepherd Gardens, in Salisbury.

During the Feb. 3 launch of the campaign, parishioners will see a video, produced in English and Spanish, and receive materials explaining the DSA and asking for their financial support.

William Weldon, chief financial officer for the diocese, notes that cost increases in the diocese’s ministry budgets have been contained, to ensure

n View the 2013

DSA video on the Diocese of Charlotte’s YouTube channel.

n Give online or

learn more about the 2013 DSA campaign “The Greatest of These is Love” at www. charlottediocese. net/ministriesa-departments/ sdevelopment.

The appeal also provides partial funding for the housing ministry, educational ministries (providing 30-plus services), multicultural ministries, vocations and the Eucharistic Congress.

Some of these ministries provide services beyond the scope of individual parishes, and some exist for the sole purpose of assisting parishes in their own mission to teach, evangelize and serve the parishioners. Both aspects of the appeal are important.

Over the coming weeks, the faithful of the diocese will hear in their parishes how the DSA impacts so many different people, and why it is so important to the mission of the local Church: to fulfill our call to “grow ever more perfectly into a community of praise, worship and witness, and to become a leaven of service and sign of peace through love in the Piedmont and Western North Carolina.”

The 2013 DSA campaign totals $4,925,000 – 2.9 percent higher than last year’s campaign, mirroring a similar increase in diocesan offertory collections over the previous year.

such as immigration resettlement, food assistance, counseling, adoption, natural family planning, prolife action, marriage preparation, elder ministry, adoption and more. Catholic Social Services receives one-quarter of its funding from the DSA.

‘The money that’s dona we are using to service fellow brothers, who ne ‘Es une dinero que lo es poniendo para el servic de nuestros hermanos menos pueden.’

— Guillermo Anzola

Candidate for Permanent Diaconate

The DSA represents love in action, and all parishioners are encouraged to take part in supporting it, guided by the prayer for the DSA:

Barbara Gaddy, the diocese’s associate director of development. I see the DSA as a way to put deeds to our love.”

The DSA supports eight Catholic Social Services offices providing more than 13 different services,

“Keep us ever mindful of the many needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Help us recognize the presence of Your Son in them and respond to the Diocesan Support Appeal with love, compassion and generosity. May our words and actions be a response to your great love, in the name of Jesus the Lord.

Amen.”

Lights, camera, green screen! Bishop Peter Jugis prepares his on-camera remarks for the 2013 Diocesan Support Appeal video. The green screen allows for the use of visual effects in the post-production process. This year’s DSA kickoff video uses a different approach to present the DSA. To create a more spontaneous message, none of the remarks were scripted in advance. Additionally, the Spanish version of the video is a standalone project crafted to speak to an Hispanic audience. In past years Hispanic Catholics watched a video that was a simple translation from the English version.

‘We help Muslims, Bapt Catholics, Hindus. We t everyone equally.’

— Alicia Garcia

Catholic Social Services Refugee Resettlement

ated, e our eed it.’ stamos cio que

tists, treat

t Office

How You Can Share Your Gifts Pledge Make a pledge that is payable in up to 10 equal installments ending in December. You will automatically receive monthly reminders until your gift is completed.

Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) Have your monthly gift installment taken directly out of your checking or savings account. Fill out the withdrawal

‘I always knew about God, but the Lay Ministry program has helped me to know God – and that’s much more important than just knowing about Him.’ — Donna Rae Williams

Lay Ministry program graduate

‘My understanding of the diocesan priesthood, if you were to write a job description, you could put it very succinctly as: “Love the Church.”’

— Brian Becker (left)

authorization on your pledge card and be sure to include a voided check. Electronic Fund Transfers will begin on the 15th of each month once we receive your pledge card and authorization materials.

Credit Card Payment This is possibly the easiest method and may benefit from rewards on your card such as airline miles or cash back, and you can enjoy the ease of no paperwork. Fill out the credit card authorization on your pledge card. Be sure to include the type of card (Visa or Master Card) and expiration date. Credit card debits will be taken once we receive your pledge card and authorization.

seminarian

‘I could be a good speaker, or I could be good at any number of things that a parish priest is called upon to do. But if I’m not doing that with love, then where’s the real fruit of that going to be?’

‘I came into the Church on Easter of 1991. The only description that I can give is that I felt like I was walking on air.’

— Bill Stogner

Our Lady of the Assumption Church and RCIA volunteer

Corey Catron seminarian

Online Giving You can give online with any major credit card at our diocesan website. No hassle, no paperwork, no mailings… www.charlottediocese.org/donations

Stock Donation Make a donation of publicly traded securities and receive the tax benefits for giving appreciated stock. A stock donation form and instructions can be downloaded from our website at: www.charlottediocese.org/donations

2013 Diocesan Support Appeal Funded Ministries • Catholic Social Services: Providing

Office, Justice and Peace Office, Office

the following services: adoption,

of Economic Opportunity, Piedmont

Education / Evangelization, Campus /

counseling, immigration services,

Triad Regional Office, Refugee

Young Adult Ministry, Catholic Schools

direct assistance, elder ministry,

Resettlement Office, Western Regional

Office, Faith Formation,

Office

Youth Ministry, Media Resource Center,

family life, natural family planning, respect life, marriage preparation,

• Eucharistic Congress

education, youth empowerment, and

• Housing Ministry

administrative functions

• Multicultural Ministries: African

• CSS Offices: Administrative Office, Charlotte Regional Office, Family Life

• Educational Ministries: Adult

RCIA, Office of the Vicar for Education • Vocations: Seminarian Education, Permanent Diaconate

American Affairs Ministry, Hispanic Ministry, Hmong Ministry

2013 Diocesan Support Appeal Ministry Budget Catholic Social Services:

Administrative Office $274,062

Media Resource Center $98,385

Charlotte Regional Office $309,647

Office of the Vicar for Education $104,345

Family Life Office $239,233

Eucharistic Congress $114,630

Justice and Peace Office $197,954

Housing Ministry $157,407

Piedmont Triad Regional Office $311,265

Multicultural Ministries:

Refugee Resettlement Office $93,932

Western Regional Office $288,128

African American Affairs Ministry $38,511

Hispanic Ministry $684,637

Educational Ministries:

Hmong Ministry $52,623

Adult Education / Evangelization $83,784

Vocations:

Campus / Young Adult Ministry $641,787

Seminarian Education $307,662 Permanent Diaconate $129,940

Catholic Schools Office $94,902

Faith Formation $390,887

Campaign Costs: $200,475

Youth Ministry $110,804

Total DSA $4,925,000

Parish City Basilica of St. Lawrence Christ the King Christ the King Divine Redeemer Good Shepherd Holy Angels Holy Cross Holy Family Holy Infant Holy Redeemer Holy Spirit Holy Trinity Immaculate Conception Immaculate Conception Immaculate Conception Immaculate Heart of Mary Immaculate Heart of Mary Our Lady of Consolation Our Lady of Fatima Our Lady of Grace Our Lady of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe Our Lady of Lourdes Our Lady of Mercy Our Lady of the Americas Our Lady of the Angels Our Lady of the Annunciation Our Lady of the Assumption Our Lady of the Highways Our Lady of the Mountains Our Lady of the Rosary Prince of Peace Queen of the Apostles Sacred Heart Sacred Heart Sacred Heart Sacred Heart St. Aloysius St. Andrew the Apostle St. Ann St. Barnabas St. Benedict St. Benedict the Moor St. Bernadette St. Charles Borromeo St. Dorothy St. Elizabeth St. Eugene St. Frances of Rome St. Francis of Assisi St. Francis of Assisi St. Francis of Assisi St. Francis of Assisi St. Gabriel St. Helen St. James St. James St. Joan of Arc St. John Baptist de la Salle St. John Lee Korean St. John Neumann St. John the Baptist St. John the Evangelist St. Joseph St. Joseph St. Joseph St. Joseph St. Joseph of the Hills St. Joseph Vietnamese St. Jude St. Leo the Great St. Lucien St. Luke St. Margaret of Scotland St. Margaret Mary St. Mark St. Mary St. Mary St. Mary St. Matthew St. Michael St. Patrick Cathedral St. Paul the Apostle St. Peter St. Philip the Apostle St. Pius X St. Stephen Mission St. Thérèse St. Thomas Aquinas St. Vincent de Paul St. William

DSA goal

Asheville $60,826 High Point $12,102 Kings Mountain $4,518 Booneville $7,047 King $9,678 Mt. Airy $21,822 Kernersville $70,155 Clemmons $124,896 Reidsville $17,379 Andrews $4,721 Denver $49,020 Taylorsville $6,463 Canton $3,869 Forest City $26,939 Hendersonville $123,901 Hayesville $20,089 High Point $113,044 Charlotte $43,072 Winston Salem $9,060 Greensboro $120,320 Charlotte $43,341 Cherokee $3,153 Monroe $51,571 Winston Salem $66,313 Biscoe $30,680 Marion $9,064 Albemarle $29,049 Charlotte $38,372 Thomasville $17,594 Highlands $15,569 Lexington $17,265 Robbinsville $2,860 Belmont $69,917 Brevard $53,922 Burnsville $8,534 Salisbury $89,453 Wadesboro $2,349 Hickory $117,354 Mars Hill $7,208 Charlotte $79,209 Arden $82,581 Greensboro $21,436 Winston Salem $10,909 Linville $26,437 Morganton $42,366 Lincolnton $26,432 Boone $37,928 Asheville $72,439 Sparta $7,834 Franklin $26,238 Jefferson $13,751 Lenoir $26,656 Mocksville $18,584 Charlotte $292,010 Spencer Mountain $6,189 Concord $93,812 Hamlet $13,927 Asheville $19,356 North Wilkesboro $13,821 Charlotte $15,991 Charlotte $91,309 Tryon $35,146 Waynesville $25,526 Asheboro $31,989 Bryson City $5,780 Kannapolis $16,788 Newton $20,917 Eden $13,585 Charlotte $23,786 Sapphire Valley $19,028 Winston Salem $139,734 Spruce Pine $6,986 Charlotte $87,598 Maggie Valley $20,581 Swannanoa $23,192 Huntersville $207,084 Greensboro $37,052 Shelby $23,540 Sylva $15,198 Charlotte $670,455 Gastonia $70,201 Charlotte $84,430 Greensboro $117,624 Charlotte $92,092 Statesville $40,391 Greensboro $149,244 Elkin $10,004 Mooresville $134,759 Charlotte $112,178 Charlotte $108,612 Murphy $19,796

February 1, 2013 | catholicnewsherald.com

FROM THE COVERI

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THE MARCH GOES ON 40 years of abortion. 55 million babies killed. 400 women dead.

650,000 people descend on Washington to say, ‘No more!’

Pro-life crowds show endurance, passion for right to life WASHINGTON, D.C. — Participants at the National March for Life in Washington Jan. 25 demonstrated just how determined they are, not only by showing up in record numbers on a bitterly cold and snowy day, but by continuing a 40-year tradition of protesting the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision legalizing abortion.

“Forty years ago, people thought opposition to the pro-life movement would eventually disappear,” Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley told the crowd assembled on the National Mall for a rally prior to the march along Constitution Avenue to the front of the U.S. Supreme Court. “The march grows stronger every year,” said the cardinal, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.

Various media outlets put the estimate for this year’s March for Life crowd at approximately 650,000, its largest yet. And increasingly, the pro-life movement is being galvanized by young people who are becoming the movement’s new torchbearers.

Hundreds of thousands of youths were among the crowd as it marched – texting, taking pictures,

wearing pro-life stickers on their faces and carrying placards that read: “Abolish Abortion Courageously” or “I am the pro-life generation.”

Jeanne Monahan, new president of the March for Life Education & Defense Fund, is 40 – just as old as the 1973 Supreme Court decision and the movement protesting it.

Monahan described abortion a “human rights abuse” but she also said there were signs the tide is changing as more anti-abortion measures have been introduced in state legislatures and public opinions are changing. “Being pro-life is considered the new normal,” she told the cheering crowd.

Rueben Verastigui, youth activist, had a specific message for the youths who will continue marching until abortion is rejected: “You can’t just sit around waiting for change to happen; you have to get up and make it happen. Look around, we are not alone. We are not the future of the pro-life movement; we are the pro-life movement!”

— Carol Zimmermann, Catholic News Service.

SueAnn Howell, senior reporter, contributed.

COVERAGE BY SueAnn Howell, Gretchen Filz, Anthony Perlas, Ruben Tamayo, Linda Mooney and Catholic News Service

At catholicnewsherald.com: — Experience the March for Life with more stories and a comprehensive photo gallery through the eyes of many local pilgrims — Watch video testimonials from local youth, see the march through the eyes of Belmont Abbey College students and see video of Bishop Peter Jugis’ full homily from the North Carolina Mass for Life

At facebook.com/catholicnewsherald: — Watch short video clips of Bishop Jugis praying in front of the Supreme Court, Mass and March for Life highlights, comments from Father Lucas Rossi, and local faithful discussing the right to life

20

catholicnewsherald.com | February 1, 2013 FROM THE COVER

2 youth rallies attracted 25,000 energized young people.

250,000 people tweeted about the march and rallies, making #marchforlife the 7th highest trending topic Jan. 25 on Twitter.

Battle for soul of culture ‘up to you’ WASHINGTON, D.C. — Likening the 40-year struggle against legal abortion in the United States to the Israelites’ 40 years in the desert, Father Carter Griffin encouraged the more than 14,000 people attending the Archdiocese of Washington’s Jan. 25 Youth Rally and Mass for Life at the Verizon Center to be the future of the movement for life by being “a generation open to life, open to love (and) open to faith.”

“You are a force to be reckoned with! The battle for the soul of our culture is up to you. This is your moment! I promise you, if you are faithful, you will change the world!” said Father Griffin, the homilist at the archdiocese’s annual Mass for Life preceding the march.

Father Griffin, the archdiocese’s director for priest vocations and vice rector of its Blessed John Paul II Seminary, said the effort to change the hearts of people and the law of the land must begin with individuals striving for holiness, as they stand for life and seek eternal life.

“The most important thing we can do to promote a culture of life – even more important than voting, marching and speaking out – is to grow in holiness,” he said.

Another new aspect at this year’s rally was more use of social media technology, with speakers prior to the rally’s start urging participants to tweet about the rally and follow March for Life on Twitter and Facebook. Cardinal Sean O’Malley, chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, read a tweet to the crowd from Pope Benedict XVI: “I join all those marching for life from afar, and pray that political leaders will protect the unborn and promote a culture of life.”

The archdiocese also sponsored a Youth Rally and Mass for Life that morning that drew more than 11,000 mostly outof-town marchers to the Comcast Center at the University of Maryland at College Park.

— Catholic News Service

‘It’s important for them to see we’re not alone in this fight and to keep at it, to persevere.’

— Billy Griffith, youth minister at St. Aloysius Parish in Hickory

‘It was such a moving and powerful experience to serve as a witness of the hundreds of thousands of people who share in my belief in the sanctity of life. Yet, it’s heartbreaking to think we only represented a small fraction of the millions of lives lost to abortion.’

— Meghan O’Donnell, UNC-Charlotte

February 1, 2013 | catholicnewsherald.com

More than 30,000 people prayed at the basilica: including 18,500 people at the opening and closing Masses, and 5,000 at the North Carolina Mass.

FROM THE COVERI

21

Bishop Peter J. Jugis

Overcome the culture of death with God’s love D

Owen Heath admires the transcendent beauty of one of the chapels in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Owen traveled with his parents Tom and Tracey Heath and his three sisters and brother as part of the St. Vincent the Paul Parish delegation.

Another tradition for march-goers from the Charlotte and Raleigh dioceses is the North Carolina Mass for Life at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, which was celebrated before the March for Life began (above and middle). Raleigh Bishop Michael F. Burbidge was the celebrant and Bishop Jugis was homilist.

Allentown (Pa.) Bishop John O. Barres joined the North Carolina bishops in concelebrating the Mass.

‘Abortion is not a necessary evil, but simply evil.’

— Cardinal Sean O’Malley, during his homily at the opening vigil Mass Jan. 24

ear Friends in Christ, what is the message God wishes to give us today on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul?

The Scriptures tell us to have holy zeal for Jesus and His Gospel. With holy zeal, pursue the cause of Respect for the Life of the unborn child.

This is what our friend, St. Paul, teaches us today on his feast day: holy zeal for Jesus and His Gospel.

St. Paul, before his conversion to Jesus, pursued his cause of persecuting Christians with zeal, but God did not bless it. It was the cause of Saul of Tarsus, but it was not God’s cause. What was missing?

Love and humility were missing. Saul of Tarsus was not humble; he was proud and arrogant, therefore God did not bless his work. Saul of Tarsus also did not know the love of God through Jesus; he persecuted with hatred the followers of Jesus “to death” (Acts 22:4) and delivered them to prison: therefore God did not bless Saul’s work.

Saul did not realize it, but God was pursuing Saul even more fiercely than Saul was pursuing Christians, and God overtook Saul and conquered him by a love Saul had not experienced before.

Brothers and sisters, God is also fiercely pursuing the culture of death in order to conquer it with His love.

We know there are people on the other side who are absolutely convinced that what they are doing is right, as Saul of Tarsus in his own time was absolutely convinced.

But God knows what graces can be showered down from heaven even on the most hardened hearts in answer to our prayers, our prayer vigils, our fasting, days of abstinence, our loving outreach to those considering abortion, our works of mercy, public witness, and involvement in the public discussion. He can change the most hardened of hearts, and Paul is proof of that.

You know, this year we are involved in a nationwide “Call to Prayer for Life, Marriage and Religious Liberty,” made up of five parts: 1) a Eucharistic Holy Hour for this intention each month in your parish; 2) a daily family rosary for this intention; 3) special Prayers of the Faithful at all Masses, Sundays and weekdays; 4) fasting and abstinence on Fridays; and 5) a second observance of a Fortnight for Freedom in June and July this year. Please work with your pastors to implement this national Call to Prayer in your parishes.

What we wish to do is pursue the culture of death and overcome it with God’s love and His grace.

Today’s Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul is a great lesson and encouragement in the power of God’s grace to change hearts.

St. Paul the Apostle, pray for us to have a holy zeal for Jesus and His Gospel, and to be unwavering in our love for Jesus, a love which impels us to bring Our Savior’s message to others.

“Go out to all the world and tell the Good News!”

Bishop Peter J. Jugis leads the Diocese of Charlotte. He gave this homily during the North Carolina Mass for Life Jan. 25 at the Basilica of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. Jan. 25 commemorated the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.

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catholicnewsherald.com | February 1, 2013 FROM THE COVER

A joyful river of pro-lifers march through the snow WASHINGTON, D.C. — After the North Carolina Mass, the thousands of faithful from the dioceses of Charlotte and Raleigh left the basilica to board buses, vans and cars to navigate their way down to Constitution Avenue to join in the National March for Life.

As they made their way into the record crowd – over half a million strong – the river of people swelled up onto the sidewalks. They flowed like a river from Capitol Hill to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Roe v. Wade had been decided 40 years earlier.

About halfway into the march, a soft snow began to fall. But the cold temps didn’t phase the marchers – who sang, chanted, prayed and marched with even more enthusiasm.

The vast number of young people added to the palpable energy by cheering pro-life slogans such as “We love babies, yes we do! We love babies, how ‘bout you?”

After the march many groups split from the crowd and huddled together to pray the rosary or the Divine Mercy Chaplet outside the Supreme Court building.

‘The pro-life movement is getting younger and younger each year, which is exciting to me and surprising to the outside world. They expect young people to be in favor of abortion, to do whatever they want. They are surprised to see young people take this stand for life.’

— Father Joshua Voitus, parochial vicar at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Charlotte

‘To me it was amazing to look back from the front of the march and see countless people stretching off into the distance, and knowing that they were all standing up for the same thing I believed.’

— Derek Peloquin, UNC-Charlotte

February 1, 2013 | catholicnewsherald.com

FROM THE COVERI 23

Through social media, more join in the March for Life

‘One thing I learned is that you can know you believe in something and say that you believe in it, but doing something about it is what makes the difference. You may be silent in words, but your actions should never stop inspiring and speaking to those around you.’

— Nancy Wiebelhaus, St. Aloysius Parish Lifeteen

CHARLOTTE — Thousands of virtual pilgrims joined in the National March for Life online with the Catholic News Herald, sharing their support, prayers and comments.

On Facebook.com/ CatholicNewsHerald, 112 new fans “liked” the page during the March for Life.

One crowd picture of the march was shared 780 times, liked 385 times and received more than 40 comments.

On Twitter, posts from @CatholicNewsCLT and @SueAnn Howell were retweeted and marked as a favorite more than 250 times.

To see all the photos, videos and comments, visit our social media channels.

Unedited Facebook comments included: Taryn Lanczy: “What a Joy to see so many young people involved in the March for Life.....

God is good and we will overturn this horrific culture of death Roe vs Wade. Thank you for sharing and God Bless!”

Amy Tarr: “Awesome to see so many faithful people rallying for life!!!

God Bless Bishop Jugis for being among them!!!”

Debbie Shaw Flick: “We are so blessed to have such awesome faithful priests in our diocese!”

Sophia Putnam: “Open our minds and hearts Lord. Help us to do your will.”

Margie Palcher Stump: “Awesome! Can’t spot my son & daughter in that crowd of half a million peaceful marchers, though.”

Anne Arthur: “The most heart-warming fact is the number of young people who follow the TRUTH.” Crystal Meister: “We are praying for YOU!!!

Thanks for standing up for life even with bad weather!!!”

Raphael Saint-Christian Winters: “That trip was very excellent, I am glad to have gone on that bus to the march for life.”

Isabel Melby: “Our prayers are with ALL of you!”

— Kimberly Bender, online reporter

Our schools 24

catholicnewsherald.com | February 1, 2013 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Christ the King students explore human rights during ‘ Bridge Week’

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief Morlando, Jessica Pautz, Emma Flynn and David Schneider wait to enter the “America, I Am” exhibit at the Harvey Gantt Center in downtown Charlotte.

Geography Bee winners recognized at St. Michael School

Sandy Buck, volunteer coordinator at Catholic Social Services, speaks to students about the refugee resettlement process in the Charlotte area. She also discussed service opportunities for students to get involved.

Don Kpa, a Montagnard refugee from Vietnam, speaks to students about his journey to the United States.

GASTONIA — Pictured are St. Michael School’s participants in the National Geography Bee, designed to encourage the teaching and study of geography. One student represented each classroom, third through eighth grade, at the school in Gastonia Jan. 16. Pictured are (front row, from left) Schaefer Rimmer, fourth grade, and Ozi Sery, third grade; and (back row, from left) Drew Robinson “runner-up,” eighth grade, Drew Hughlett, seventh grade, Cecelia Tolbert, fifth grade, and Elizabeth Targonski, sixth grade.

Tolbert and Targonski tied for third place.

The winner, seventh-grader Drew Hughlett, will advance to the next level of competition, a written examination to determine if he will go to the state competition.

— Pat Burr

Danielle Morlando, Kaitlyn Miller and Connor McCourt research the persecution happening in different countries, while students in the background write down different reasons refugees may flee their homelands.

Learning about bullying Christ the King students (from left) Matthew White, Michael Bonen-Clark, Jack O’Malley, Jimmy Loftin, Emma Flynn and Megan Jackson read primary source diary entries, watch video clips, and discuss how the “Little Rock Nine” displayed fortitude when their dignity was challenged during the civil rights era.

Celebrating faith and reason at Christ the King High School during ‘Bridge Week’ MOORESVILLE — Faculty and students at Christ the King High School took part last week in the school’s second-annual Bridge Week. During Bridge Week, the CTK community pauses for a week between the academic semesters to explore some angle of the relationship between faith and reason during a special school-wide symposium. The exploration this year centered on the dignity of the human person.

After presentations on the theological foundations of the dignity of the human person, students and teachers then contemplated human dignity in lessons from the various disciplines. Topics included social justice issues affecting refugees, the history of slavery and the American civil rights movement, scientific models of the universe, man as artist, and more.

History teacher Valerie Byars said the cross-curricular efforts, anchored in faith and reason, made for one of the most powerful learning experiences she’s ever encountered.

“By examining the Church’s teaching on the true nature of freedom and the power

of virtue, we saw African-American history in a new light. We saw that the root of the evils of slavery and segregation stemmed from a violation of the very dignity of the human person. These horrific oppressions robbed individuals of the inherent worth that comes from being made in the image and likeness of God.” “The focus for me,” said sophomore Mary Selzer, “was individual choices. I learned that I have both an ontological and a moral dignity. My ontological dignity is always present because I am made in the image of God. However, I learned that I enhance my dignity, my moral dignity, when I make good choices, and I can actually grow to be more like God when I do so. The sessions on refugees and African-American history were really inspiring because they called on us students to consider how our society may or may not protect the dignity of our brothers and sisters in the United States and around the world.”

— Christ the King High School Christ the King students (from left) Hannah Yelanich, Megan Jackson, Danielle

WINSTON-SALEM — Students and teachers at St. Leo School in Winston-Salem attended a workshop Jan. 16 about how to prevent bullying, led by Bud Jeffries, world renowned strongman. Pictured, students and teachers are practicing and modeling the anti-bullying strategies that Jeffries presented.

— Donna Birkel

Road race, fun run for St. Leo School coming up WINSTON-SALEM — The 8th Annual 5K & 10K Road Races & Fun Run to benefit St. Leo School in WinstonSalem will be held on Saturday, March 16. USATFcertified 5K and 10K courses will offer an enjoyable, fast, yet challenging run through scenic Buena Vista, while the Fun Run provides a family-friendly shorter route. On Friday, March 15, there will be a “Lucky Leprechaun Warm Up Fun Run” and the traditional prerace pasta supper. For details, go to www.stleocatholic. com.

— Donna Birkel

Mix

February 1, 2013 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

25

For the latest movie reviews: catholicnewsherald.com

On TV

In theaters

n Saturday, Feb. 2, 11:30 a.m. (EWTN) “Vespers With Religious On The Feast Of The Presentation Of The Lord.”

From St. Peter’s Basilica, on the Day of Consecrated Life, Vespers with the members of the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life with His Holiness Benedict XVI. n Sunday, Feb. 3, 10 p.m. (EWTN) “Franciscan University Presents: John Paul II: A Teaching Pope.”

Host Michael Hernon joins theology professors Alan Schreck, Regis Martin and Scott Hahn in a discussion of Blessed John Paul II’s 14 encyclical letters.

‘The Last Stand’ Schwarzenegger’s return to leading-man roles finds him playing an Arizona sheriff who has the last chance to stop a violent Mexican drug-cartel leader from crossing the border after the gangster’s escape from federal custody. The result is meandering mayhem for the sturdy and mature only. Considerable violence, including much gunplay, occasional profanity.

CNS: L (limited adult audience); MPAA: R

‘Broken City’ Scandal, intrigue and a surfeit of bad language combine to form director Allen Hughes’ dark thriller with political overtones. Seven years after being acquitted in the suspicious shooting of a rapist and murderer, an ex-New York cop (Mark Wahlberg) is asked by the city’s mayor (a sensational Russell Crowe), who withheld evidence of the former officer’s wrongdoing, to prove that Hizzoner’s wife (Catherine ZetaJones) is two-timing him. Predictably, things are not what they seem, and the grizzled protagonist - who is also struggling with alcoholism and battling to maintain his relationship with his girlfriend, quickly finds himself caught in a web of intrigue and blackmail. Occasional graphic violence, possible cohabitation, fleeting but strong sexual imagery, brief upper female nudity, mature themes.

CNS: L (limited adult audience); MPAA: R

Additional movies: n ‘A Haunted House’: CNS: O (morally offensive); MPAA: R n ‘Mama’: CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: PG 13 n ‘Quartet’: CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: PG 13

Pope Benedict has new App-titude – App lets users follow live events Carol Glatz Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican launched a new “Pope App” on the eve of the release of the pope’s World Communications Day message, which is dedicated to social networks as important spaces for evangelization.

The new app provides live streaming of papal events and video feeds from the Vatican’s six webcams. It sends out alerts and links to top stories coming out of the Vatican’s many news outlets, and carries words and images of Pope Benedict XVI. “The Pope App” went live Jan. 23 for iPhone and iPad, while an Android version is expected to be ready at the end of February. It’s currently available in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Italian.

The Vatican has been stepping up its digital presence in recent years – the latest example being the papal Twitter feed @Pontifex, which has attracted more than 2 million followers in nine languages since its debut Dec. 12.

The new app will also allow people to follow live

broadcasts of papal events – such as the Sunday Angelus and Wednesday general audience – from any mobile device or smartphone. Users will receive an alert when an event is about to begin.

The app also shows views from any one of the Vatican’s six live webcams. Two webcams are located on the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica: one pointed at St. Peter’s Square and the other at the Vatican governor’s office. Others are located high on the colonnade around St. Peter’s Square, taking in the basilica and papal apartments; directed at Blessed John Paul II’s tomb in St. Peter’s Basilica; high on the Vatican hill, pointing toward the dome of the basilica; and aimed at the gardens of the papal summer villa in Castel Gandolfo.

“The Pope App” was launched the day before the feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron of journalists, when the Vatican traditionally releases the pope’s message for World Communications Day. The theme of this year’s message, “Social Networks: Portals of Truth and Faith; New Spaces for Evangelization,” is linked to the Year of Faith and Pope Benedict’s latest calls for a new evangelization.

Pope Benedict: Social networks need more logic, love and less ranting, rage VATICAN CITY — Social media need to promote more logic, kindness and Christian witness than bluster, starstatus and division, Pope Benedict XVI said. Given that the online world exposes people to a wider range of opinions and beliefs, people need to accept the existence of these other cultures, “be enriched by it” and offer others what “they possess that is good, true and beautiful,” the pope said.

Christians are called to bring truth and values to the whole world – online and off – remembering that it’s ultimately the power of God’s Word that touches hearts, not sheer human effort, he said in his message for World Communications Day. The theme of the 2013 celebration

– marked in most dioceses the Sunday before Pentecost, this year May 12 – is “Social Networks: Portals of Truth and Faith; New Spaces for Evangelization.” The papal message was released on the feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron of journalists, Jan. 24.

Social media “need the commitment of all who are conscious of the value of dialogue, reasoned debate and logical argumentation,” the pope said. Social forums need to be used wisely and well, which means fostering balanced and respectful dialogue and debate, he said, and paying special attention to “privacy, responsibility and truthfulness.”

— Catholic News Service

n Monday, Feb. 4, 6:30 p.m.

(EWTN) “Providence Will Provide.” A look at the life of Mother Mary Lange (17841882), who, despite cultural hostility, established the first religious community of black women in the history of the Catholic Church. n Wednesday, Feb. 6, 10 a.m.

(EWTN) “Egypt’s Christians.”

Historic Egypt has seen the Holy Family’s flight from Herod, the Desert Fathers, 4th-century monasticism, and the peaceful coexistence of Coptic, Catholic and Protestant communities. n Friday, Feb. 8, 10 p.m. (EWTN) “Healing And Miracles At Lourdes.” Since 1858, the Church has officially recognized 65 miraculous cures at Lourdes. n Saturday, Feb. 9, 8 p.m.

(EWTN) “Bakhita.” Dramatic life of Josephine Bakhita, Sudanese-born slave who became a nun in the Order of the Cannossian Sisters and was canonized by Blessed John Paul II. n Sunday, Feb. 10, 4 p.m.

(EWTN) “Isabel The Catholic.”

The life of Queen Isabel of Spain, whose zeal for Holy Mother Church and complete dependence on God transformed the corrupt kingdom she inherited into the most powerful nation of 15thand 16th-century Europe. n Monday, Feb. 11, 6:30 p.m.

(EWTN) “Bernadette – Saint of Lourdes.” The life of Bernadette Soubirous, peasant girl of Lourdes, France, to whom Our Lady appeared in 1858. The film calls us to find peace of mind and heart, as Bernadette did, even in the midst of chaos.

Our nation 26

catholicnewsherald.com | February 1, 2013 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Judge says HHS suit filed by archdiocese, other plaintiffs ‘premature’ WASHINGTON — The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Jan. 25 dismissed a lawsuit filed against the federal contraceptive mandate by the Archdiocese of Washington and its co-plaintiffs, saying the case is premature in light of the government’s “promises to amend the mandate. Importantly, this ruling was not based on the merits of our case,” said a statement issued by the archdiocese.

“In fact, the court’s ruling today places the onus squarely on the government,” it said, “to fulfill its binding commitment to address the religious freedom concerns” of the plaintiffs. “This requires the government to revise its HHS mandate in a way that truly respects our right to serve all those in need without violating our religious beliefs.”

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued the ruling, saying that “if after the new regulations are issued, plaintiffs are still not satisfied, any challenges that they choose to bring will be substantially different from the challenges in the current complaint.”

The federal government has said it will issue a final rule on the mandate before August.

The HHS mandate requires employers, including most religious employers, to include coverage for contraceptives, sterilization and some abortion-inducing drugs free of charge, even if the employer morally opposes such services.

Judge dismisses Erie Diocese’s HHS lawsuit, says not ‘ripe’ for review ERIE, Pa. — Erie Bishop Lawrence T. Persico said he was disappointed a federal judge dismissed the diocese’s case against the federal contraceptive mandate as premature but also said he found encouragement in the decision. “I was obviously hoping that the court would find our case ripe for adjudication,” Bishop Persico said in a Jan. 22 statement about the ruling issued the same day by Judge Sean J. McLaughlin of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

In his ruling, McLaughlin said the diocese’s case was not ripe for judicial review because the government said it has not issued a final rule on the mandate but plans to do so before August.

McLaughlin said diocesan officials’ “assumption that they will be subjected to the mandate in a manner that violates their sincerely held religious beliefs is, at most, a contingency which may well never come to pass.”

— Catholic News Service

Ex-ambassadors, USCCB officials urge lawmakers to act on gun violence Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two former U.S. ambassadors to the Vatican and two retired officials of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops were among more than 60 Catholic leaders urging members of Congress who consider themselves pro-life to “show greater moral leadership and political courage” in acting to cut gun violence in the United States.

“We join our bishops, the Catholic Health Association and Catholic Charities USA in calling for common-sense reforms to address the epidemic of gun violence in our nation,” said the statement, made public by Faith in Public Life, a Washington-based advocacy group, on Jan. 23, two days before the annual March for Life in Washington.

“Pro-life citizens and elected officials have a responsibility to show greater moral leadership and political courage when it comes to confronting threats to the sanctity of life posed by easy access to military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines,” the statement said. “Members of Congress who take pride in their pro-life stance and appeal to family values have no excuse for inaction, and neither do any of us who share a firm commitment to these values.”

The former ambassadors

who signed the statement were Miguel Diaz, who served under President Barack Obama, and Thomas Melady, who served under President George H.W. Bush. The former USCCB officials who signed were Francis X. Doyle, a former associate general secretary, and Timothy Collins, former director of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.

The statement named four Catholics – two Democrats and two Republicans – who call themselves pro-life but get “A” grades for their votes on firearms issues by the National Rifle Association.

The Republicans were Reps. John Boehner of Ohio, the speaker of the House, and Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, who was the vice presidential candidate on the GOP ticket last year. The Democrats were first-term Sens. Joe Donnelly of Indiana, a former congressman, and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota.

“Thousands of Catholics will gather this week for the annual March for Life in Washington to speak out against the tragedy of abortion,” the statement said. “Our faith and our Church call us to remember, as we reflect on our most recent massacres, that the defense of human dignity extends beyond protecting life in the womb.”

It said more than 900 people have been killed with guns since

INTERESTED IN BEING A PERMANENT DEACON? Ordained Minister of the Liturgy, the Word, of Charity Application Period for Permanent Deacons

The application period for the next formation class of permanent deacons will open soon: Interested men will be invited to attend the information meeting on March 9, 2013. Applications will be distributed following this meeting.

The basic norms expected of applicants can be found on the Charlotte Diocese Website (www.charlottediocese.org) Permanent Deacon page. These include completion of the diocesan Lay Ecclesial Ministry program by the year 2014. If you would like to attend the information meeting or would like more information please email.

Director of Formation, Deacon Scott Gilfillan, at sdgilfillan@charlottediocese.org or Director of the Permanent Diaconate, Deacon Ron Steinkamp, at rfsteinkamp@charlottediocese.org.

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the Dec. 14 massacre in Newtown, Conn., and that more than 70 mass shootings have taken place in the country since the January 2011 episode in Tucson, Ariz., that killed six people and critically wounded former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.

The statement also cited a Jan. 18 message from Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton, Calif., chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, who said the mass shootings of last year “pointed to the moral duty of all people to take steps to defend (life),” and referenced the U.S. bishops’ 2000 statement, “Responsibility, Rehabilitation and Restoration: A Catholic Perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice,” which called for “measures that control the sale and use of firearms” and “sensible regulations of handguns.”

Other signatories included Marie Dennis, co-president of Pax Christi International; Franciscan Sister Florence Deacon, president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious; Jesuit Father James Hug, president of the Center of Concern; Sister Simone Campbell, a Sister of Social Service who is executive director of the Network Catholic social justice lobby; and Patrick Carolan, executive director of the Franciscan Action Network.

Tilt’n B Farm February 1, 2013 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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In Brief Bishops to review handling of wrongful death suit against Catholic hospital COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The Catholic bishops of Colorado’s three dioceses said Jan. 24 they plan to review the handling of a civil lawsuit citing “wrongful death� in the case of a woman who died along with her unborn twins at a Catholic hospital. The hospital is part of the Catholic Health Initiatives network, which “has been accused by some of undermining the Catholic position on human life in the course of litigation,� the bishops said. Defense lawyers cited a Colorado law that says the unborn are not “persons,� while Catholic teaching holds that life begins at the moment of conception. “Today, representatives of Catholic Health Initiatives assured us of their intention to observe the moral and ethical obligations of the Catholic Church,� the bishops said, adding that while they could not comment on “ongoing legal disputes,� the prelates planned to “undertake a full review� of the litigation and the network’s “policies and practices.�

The case centers on Lori Stodghill, who was seven months pregnant with twin boys when she began feeling sick on Jan. 1, 2006. Her husband drove her to St. Thomas More Hospital in Canon City, which is in the Pueblo diocese.

The lawsuit states that Stodghill’s obstetrician, Dr. Pelham Staples, was on call that evening but did not answer his pager. She died of a massive heart attack shortly after arriving at the hospital. Stodghill’s husband filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Catholic Health Initiatives, arguing that Staples might not have been able to save his wife but should have tried to save the twins through a Caesarean section.

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Los Angeles clerics apologize to abuse victims as lawsuit files are released to the public LOS ANGELES — As the Archdiocese of Los Angeles released church records on clergy sexual abuse, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony again apologized to abuse victims, saying he was naive about its impact on their lives. The cardinal, who retired as archbishop of Los Angeles in 2011, also said in a statement Jan. 21 that he prays for victims of abuse by priests daily. “It remains my daily and fervent prayer that God’s grace will flood the heart and soul of each victim, and that their life journey continues forward with ever greater healing,� he said, adding, “I am sorry.�

The Los Angeles Times and Associated Press published portions of documents filed in court as part of a lawsuit against the archdiocese.

Some files showed archdiocesan officials worked to conceal child molestation by priests from law enforcement authorities in the 1980s.

MRS program looks to empower immigrants to combat human trafficking

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The Columbiettes Auxiliary of North Carolina will present a program about the Columbiettes on February 18th at 7:00 PM in St. Thomas Aquinas Hall – 1400 Suther Rd. Charlotte, NC 28213

The Knights of Columbus, Council #10505 will host the event.

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WASHINGTON D.C.— An uprising by Africans on a slave ship off the Cuba coast 174 years ago has given inspiration to a new program in the expanding campaign to end human trafficking.

Called “The Amistad Movement,� the program within the U.S. bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services will train immigrant communities in the basics of modern day slavery in the hope that they will be the eyes and ears of their communities in identifying trafficked people.

The program is grounded in the Catholic principle of accompaniment with the oppressed, explained Lauren Rymer, education and outreach specialist in the Anti-Trafficking Services Program of MRS within the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It was rolled out in January, observed as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

In fits and starts, deportation ‘Band-Aid’ for young immigrants evolves

Archbishop, others promote anti-trafficking campaign in New Orleans

WASHINGTON D.C. — As the six-month mark approaches in an administration program to defer deportation for some young undocumented immigrants, the pace of applications has slowed, but more than 150,000 people have been approved for the status that comes with a work permit and a Social Security number.

Meanwhile, states and the federal government are still settling details of exactly what it means to be approved for Deferred Action for Childhood Immigrants, or DACA, when it comes to getting driver’s licenses, in-state resident tuition rates, some kinds of jobs and other issues.

The reality is that recipients of deferred action are not in an immigration status that leads to permanent legal residency.

In Sanford, N.C., LaSalette Father Robert Ippolito, pastor at St. Stephen the First Martyr Church, has processed 574 applications for DACA for his parishioners and others in central North Carolina.

Approval means the government will not pursue deportation unless the individual breaks the law.

So far, he told Catholic News Service, none of the applications has been turned down, “although I may be on the verge of my first one.�

DACA is open to those who came to the United States before their 16th birthday and are not yet 31, have been in the U.S. at least five years, have clean criminal records, are either in school or have completed at least high school and who meet other criteria.

NEW ORLEANS — Across the world, between 100,000 and 250,000 children fall victim to sex trafficking, said Laura J. Lederer, president and founder of the Washington-based Global Centurion Foundation, which seeks to target trafficking by focusing on demand.

But the perception that the practice of selling girls for sex is restricted to Asia, Eastern Europe or Africa belies the overwhelming problem in the United States, Lederer said. “We want to help people understand that this is a problem here in the United States. We have a homegrown sex trafficking problem.�

Trafficking girls for sex is such a major concern that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Orleans has established a Human Trafficking Joint Task Force that, in advance of Super Bowl XLVII Feb. 3, has been meeting regularly with city, state and federal law enforcement authorities, faith-based groups and nongovernmental organizations. New Orleans Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond, Saints owner Tom Benson and his wife Gayle, and other city officials will air a public service announcement before the Super Bowl to raise public awareness and ask people to remain vigilant if they suspect sex trafficking. “Human trafficking, modern-day slavery, is a powerful evil,� Archbishop Aymond says in the PSA. The ad will highlight a toll-free hotline number – 888-373-7888 – which is staffed 24 hours a day by the Polaris Project of the National Human Trafficking Resource Center. — Catholic News Service

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Miles Christi 2ELIGIOUS /RDER s 0 / "OX s 0LYMOUTH -) s INFOUSA MILESCHRISTI ORG s WWW MILESCHRISTI ORG For more information and to register for these Exercises please contact Mary Jaye at northcarolina@spiritualexercises.net or at (248) 767-1669.

Diocese of Charlotte Seeks Hospitality Industry Experience The Diocese of Charlotte has a unique opportunity for persons with management experience in the hospitality industry. Qualified individuals will have managed operations providing both overnight accommodations and food & beverage service. Additionally, he/she will have sales and marketing experience and be technology savvy. Interested persons should have a strong desire to assist the Church in providing quality venues for Catholic programs, retreats and liturgies.

Please send letter of interest and resume of pertinent experience by February 22, 2013 to the Office of Chancellor at chancery@charlottediocese.org.

Our world 28

catholicnewsherald.com | February 1, 2013 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Mali’s bishops say situation has reached ‘tragic proportions’ Jonathan Luxmoore Catholic News Service

OXFORD, England — Mali’s Catholic bishops praised efforts by their acting head of state to hold the country together and backed his appeal for a “general mobilization” against Islamist insurgents.

“The situation we are living through is very grave and has reached tragic proportions in recent days,” the bishops’ conference said in a Jan. 24 letter to President Dioncounda Traore.

“Through you, as supreme head of our armies, we salute Mali’s armed and security forces in their common efforts to liberate our country,” said the letter.

The letter was published during the bishops’ Jan. 21-25 plenary in the capital, Bamako. The meeting coincided with the recapture of rebel-held towns by French-backed Malian forces.

The bishops said the Catholic Church had highlighted the plight of displaced people since the start of the 2012 insurgency, during which ethnic Tuareg rebels seeking a separate state overran northern Mali alongside Islamist fighters from Ansar Edine, which is believed linked to alQaida.

They added that they would seek a “mobilization of the Christian community” throughout Lent, which begins Feb. 13, to help secure the country’s future.

“We continue to believe a new Mali will emerge from this harsh ordeal, reconciled with itself and its values,” the bishops told Traore, who was installed after a March 2012 military coup. “These are the values of faith, fear and respect of God, sincere fraternity between its different components, love of homeland and a sense of sacrifice.”

The 200,000-member Catholic Church has six dioceses and makes up around 1.3 percent of Mali’s population of 15.5 million, nine-tenths of whom are Muslim and concentrated in the south. France intervened Jan. 11 to prevent insurgents from seizing more of the country after imposing strict Shariah law in northern towns and villages.

Malian troops, backed by French regulars, recaptured the central towns of Diabaly and Douentza, around 250 miles north of Bamako, in late January, while French air strikes were reported Jan. 25 near rebel-held Gao. However, human rights groups expressed concern after reports of atrocities against Arabs and Tuaregs by victorious Malian soldiers, who are set to be joined by 5,000 troops from neighboring African states.

In a Jan. 25 interview with Catholic News Service from Bamako, the regional information officer of the U.S. bishops’ Catholic Relief Services, Helen Blakesley, said aid agencies were worried about potential ethnic clashes as

CNS | Eric Gaillard, Reuters

A Malian soldier walks past a cross from the church seen in the background in the recently liberated town of Diabaly Jan. 24. French and Malian troops have entered Diabaly, which has been hit by a series of airstrikes and fighting since being seized by Islamist fighters in mid-January. more towns were reoccupied.

She added that they had welcomed a Jan. 18 appeal by Archbishop Jean Zerbo of Bamako for “humanitarian corridors” and said CRS was expecting a new influx of refugees to the capital from conflict-torn central areas.

“There’s still nervousness and tension in Bamako, and the humanitarian time-bomb is ticking,” Blakesley said.

“Although there’s some sense of reassurance now, and Malian and French flags are flying in the streets, no one knows which way the fighting will go.”

In an interview with the Rome-based Fides news agency, the bishops’ conference secretary-general, Father Edmond Dembele, said the bishops had visited injured soldiers and civilians in Bamako’s main hospital during their plenary and received a report on humanitarian needs from a Caritas representative.

Meanwhile, in a Jan. 24 pastoral letter to Catholics, the

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Please submit resume by February 11, 2013 to Jim Kelley, Office of Development, jkkelley@charlottediocese.org. or mail to 1123 South Church Street, Charlotte, NC 28203-4003.

bishops said they believed Mali’s year-old crisis had now entered its “crucial phase,” and they invited Catholics “to prayer, solidarity, unity and vigilance.”

“We especially appeal for solidarity toward those of our compatriots directly touched by the conflict – the displaced and refugees, the families in mourning, the armed and security forces,” the bishops said in the letter.

“The bishops’ conference has decided to launch a national mobilization for the start of Lent to collect financial and material resources to aid the conflict’s victims.”

Speaking Jan. 25 on Malian TV, the bishops’ conference president, Bishop Jean-Baptiste Tiama of Sikasso, said Church leaders had asked to meet Traore to “extend sympathy and compassion” and to discuss the civic qualities most needed for the country’s future.

“We assured him of our prayers for the dead, the wounded and their families,” Bishop Tiama said.

February 1, 2013 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief Pope to lead full slate of Holy Week, Easter liturgies VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI will lead a full slate of Holy Week and Easter liturgies in Rome and at the Vatican, keeping pace with a usually busy papal schedule.

Publishing the pope’s schedule Jan. 29, the Vatican said his Holy Week activities will begin with a procession and Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Palm Sunday, March 24.

Pope Benedict will celebrate a morning chrism Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Holy Thursday and that evening will preside over the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in Rome’s Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of Rome.

On Good Friday, he will celebrate the liturgy of the Lord’s Passion in St. Peter’s Basilica in the late afternoon, and then will lead a nighttime Way of the Cross at Rome’s Colosseum.

As a way to recall his 2012 visit to Lebanon and invite the whole Church to pray for the Middle East – its tensions and its beleaguered Christian community – the meditations read during the Way of the Cross will be written by two young Lebanese.

On Holy Saturday, the pope will preside over the Easter Vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica. On Easter, March 31, he will celebrate Mass in St. Peter’s Square and give his blessing “urbi et orbi” (to Rome and the world).

The Vatican also released the pope’s Lenten schedule. He will celebrate Mass at Rome’s Basilica of Santa Sabina on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 13, and begin his weeklong spiritual retreat Feb. 17.

Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, will preach the papal retreat this year.

The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, said the cardinal will focus on “Ars orandi, ars credendi” (the art of praying, the art of believing), looking particularly at “the face of God and the face of man in the Psalm prayers.”

The pope’s February schedule begins with a Mass Feb. 2 with men and women religious in St. Peter’s Basilica to mark the feast of the Presentation of the Lord and World Day for Consecrated Life.

Pope marks Holocaust Remembrance Day, calls for end to hatred VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI said the annual Holocaust Remembrance Day calls humanity to work to overcome all forms of hatred and racism and to respect the dignity of each human person. Praying the Angelus Jan. 27 with visitors gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the pope called attention to the international day for remembering the victims of the Nazis.

“The memory of this immense tragedy, which so harshly struck the Jewish people most of all, must represent for everyone a constant warning so that the horrors of the past are not repeated, all forms of hatred and racism are overcome and respect for the dignity of the human person is promoted,” the pope said.

Tweets and retweets: Study analyzes @Pontifex traffic ROME — In his first month on Twitter, Pope Benedict XVI sent two dozen mini-messages in nine languages, generating more than 270,000 comments and responses from other Twitter users, according to a study conducted by an Italian Jesuit magazine and an Italian newmedia consulting firm.

While some of the comments were harsh and even obscene, negative comments accounted

for about 8 percent of the total, according to the magazine Popoli and the media firm Oogo.

They published the results of their “sentiment analysis” of tweeted reactions to Pope Benedict Jan. 28.

According to the study, more than 200,000 — about 82 percent — of the responses were simply retweets or “neutral” comments on what the pope tweeted, in 140 or fewer characters, Dec. 12-Jan. 15 through his @Pontifex accounts.

Nearly 10 percent of the tweeted reactions were positive, the study found.

Stefano Femminis, the director of Popoli, told Vatican Radio Jan. 29 that Pope Benedict has said the Church must be where people are, including in social networks.

“People are there,” Femminis said. “They are there with their problems, their questions and also their criticisms. And it’s important for the Church to be there and to dialogue with those who are furthest from it or most critical of it.”

Indian bishops call for new laws to ensure safety of women THRISSUR, India — In the wake of the national outcry over the gang rape and death of a paramedical student and reports of rapes from across the country, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India has called for “comprehensive laws and effective measures to ensure the security and safety of women.”

The bishops said in a statement Jan. 23: “Instances of sexual violence against women and children have increased (at) an alarming rate, the most shockingly being the sexual gang rape and murder of a young medical student in the capital city of Delhi. This dastardly act of violence had evoked unprecedented protest ... cutting across all barriers,” they said.

The 23-year old medical student died Dec.

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29 in a Singapore hospital to which she was airlifted when her condition worsened. She was gang raped and tortured Dec. 16 by five men and a juvenile in a private bus. The young woman and her boyfriend had boarded the bus after its staff offered them lift at a bus stop. The gang rape led to massive protests in New Delhi and other cities.

“This is not an isolated incident. Hundreds of rape cases are being reported every day across the nation. ...This is indeed a very alarming situation,” said the bishops. “This (increasing sexual violence) shows that (the) essence of humanity has eroded badly in our country,” Bishop Albert D’Souza of Agra, secretarygeneral of the bishops’ conference, noted.

— Catholic News Service

Pope: Lack of faith can hurt marriage, may affect validity VATICAN CITY — A lack of faith in God can For the past 15 years it has been my pleasure to help damage marriage, even to the point of affecting its validity, Pope Benedict XVI said. the employees of the Diocese of Charlotte plan for a secure retirement.

“Faith in God, sustained by divine grace, is I would also like to be your trusted financial advisor. therefore a very important element for living in mutual dedication and conjugal fidelity,” he Retirement planning – Life – LTC – Auto & Home Insurance told members of the Roman Rota, a Vaticanbased tribunal that deals mainly with marriage Call: 704-839-3755 or email: kaltman1@metlife.com cases, on Jan. 26. While not suggesting there Member: National Association of Insurance & Financial Advisors (NAIFA) was a simple, automatic link “between the lack St. Mark Catholic Church – Huntersville of faith and the invalidity of marriage,” he said, he hoped “to draw attention to how such a lack may, although not necessarily, also hurt the goods of marriage,” given that referring to God’s plan “is inherent in the covenant of marriage.”

The current crisis of faith has brought with it a state of crisis for the Christian vision of marriage as an indissoluble bond between a man and a woman, he said.

“The indissoluble covenant between man A9R367331.pdf 1 1/25/13 11:10 AM and woman does not require, for the purpose of sacramentality, the personal faith of those to be married. What is required, as the minimum condition, is the intention of doing what the Church does” when it declares a marriage is a sacrament. While the question of intent should not be confused with the question of the individuals’ personal faith, “it is not always possible to completely separate them.”

Our Lady of

Mercy

Pope reassigns responsibility for seminaries, religious instruction VATICAN CITY — In an administrative move reaffirming his efforts to promote a Catholic revival in the West and greater adherence to Church teaching, Pope Benedict XVI has reassigned responsibility among Vatican offices for the religious education of laypeople and future priests.

According to two papal decrees released by the Vatican Jan. 25, responsibility for seminaries has shifted from the Congregation for Catholic Education to the Congregation for Clergy, and responsibility for catechesis has moved from the latter office to the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization.

The pope announced the changes in October, during the world Synod of Bishops on the new evangelization, but did not sign the decrees putting them into effect until Jan. 16.

Under the new regime, Pope Benedict wrote, the Congregation for Clergy is now in charge of the “promotion and governance of all that pertains to the formation, life and ministry of priests and deacons.” Emphasizing the need to link the preparation of seminarians with their lifelong education after ordination, the pope quoted a warning from Blessed John Paul II that any “discontinuity or even difference between these two formative phases would lead immediately to grave consequences for pastoral activity and the fraternal communion among priests, particularly those of different ages.”

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ViewPoints

catholicnewsherald.com | February 1, 2013 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK 2013

Catholic schools raise the quality of education E ach year the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Catholic Education Association cooperate in a week-long program called “Catholic Schools Week” to showcase the Catholic schools of the United States – and showcased they should be. This year’s theme is “Catholic Schools Raise the Standards.” Catholics can be justly proud of the Church’s constant commitment to the mission of Catholic education, which is to increase the learning and growth in faith of students. Catholic schools indeed “raise the standards.”

Data from the 2011-2012 school year show that 6,841 Catholic elementary and secondary schools served 2,031,455 students and 234 Catholic colleges and universities served 768,541 students. Additionally, Catholic seminaries served 3,483 people.

Last year the Diocese of Charlotte’s Catholic schools served more than 7,900 students in three Catholic high schools and 16 Catholic elementary schools.

The benefit to the individuals enhances the benefit to the entire country. Catholics of the United States can be proud of the history of the generous and sacrificial gift of Catholic schools to the country.

The daily themes of Catholic Schools Week indicate some of those higher standards that Catholic schools address: “Raising the Standards in our Community”; “Raising the Standards in

Father Roger Arnsparger

Catholics can be justly proud of the Church’s constant commitment to the mission of Catholic education, which is to increase the learning and growth in faith of students.

our Students”; “Raising the Standards in our Nation”; “Raising the Standards in our Vocations”; and “Raising the Standards in our Faculty, Staff and Volunteers.” A commitment to the ongoing formation of the students, faculty and community raises the standards of our culture by helping all to think critically, act responsibly and believe sincerely.

Catholic schools can help raise the standards of the culture because they are fundamentally places of intentional attention to the faith and reason necessary for people to be responsible citizens and witnesses to the Gospel. Archbishop Michael Miller, C.S.B., Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, has identified five “marks” of a Catholic school.

Standards of the schools themselves, these five “marks” are: Inspired by a supernatural vision, founded on Christian anthropology, animated by communion and community, imbued with a Catholic worldview throughout its curriculum,

and sustained by Gospel witness. These “marks” have formed the basis of a national initiative to raise the standards of all Catholic schools: the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools. This initiative offers guidance on a range of practices that schools should include in their policies, including those related to mission and Catholic identity, governance and leadership, excellence and operational vitality.

As Catholic schools are showcased during Catholic Schools Week, Catholics can be very proud that they and those who have gone before them have labored diligently to raise the standards of education across the nation by providing, often at great expense and effort, Catholic schools.

The efforts are worth it, as they offer students an education that encompasses “all things visible and invisible” as the Nicene Creed states; that is, students are educated holistically, with one eye on living in this world and the other focused on eternal life.

The emphasis on this standard, this truth, is what makes our Catholic schools integral to the life and vitality of the Church.

Father Roger K. Arnsparger is diocesan vicar of education and pastor of St. Michael Church in Gastonia.

Abortion in America

By the numbers

The number of abortions performed annually in the U.S. hit a high point in 1988 and has been on a decline since.

ABORTION IN AMERICA

Most-read stories on the web Catholicnewsherald.com has reached its highest montly visitior totals ever! Through press time on Jan. 30, 12,571 visitors have viewed a total of 24,595 pages. The top 10 headlines in January were:

1.59 million in 1988

n Altar desecrated at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Charlotte....7,399 n Rallying for the sanctity of life...................................................................638

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The number of abortions performed annually in the U.S. hit a high point in 1988 and has been on a decline since.

1.36

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n Hundreds walk in Charlotte March for Life............................................460

1.31 1.21

Number of abortions per year in millions

n LIVE VIDEO: Watch the Charlotte March for Life................................385 n LIVE VIDEO: Watch the March for Life in D.C. .....................................366 n View the current print edition of the Catholic News Herald...........302 n Try the Latin Mass, the Church’s ancient treasure................................141 n Greensboro pastor named VP at Pontifical College Josephinum..125

.75 1973

n North Wilkesboro church receives John Paul II relic............................110 1977

1981

1985

1989

1993

1997

2001

2005

2008

n Matthew Church welcomes new priest from Nigeria......................... 106

And don’t miss this!

Pregnancies ending in abortion in 2008

At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Page through this and past editions dating back to 2000 online or on the go at: catholicnewsherald.com/cnh-archive.

At www.facebook.com/catholicnewsherald:

18%

At the current rate, three in every 10 women will have an abortion by age 45.

Source: Guttmacher Institute

Source: Guttmacher Institute. © 2013 Catholic News Service CNS graphic | Nancy Phelan Wiechec

Join the more than 59,450 people who received Catholic stories, photos and videos in their news feed in late January by clicking “like” on facebook.com/catholicnewsherald.

At www.pinterest.com/charlottecnh: Explore vocation stories, how the diocese is fighting for life, top stories of 2012, past homilies given by Bishop Peter J. Jugis, and more on our photo-filled Pinterest boards.

February 1, 2013 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

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Letters to the editor

People’s values have changed Deacon James H. Toner

Sr. Constance Carolyn Veit

Genuine critical thinking

It’s who we are, not what we do

W

hat if we could both foster religious vocations and strengthen the Church’s presence in the world of health care? February is a great month to do both!

Each year the Church sponsors two celebrations during the month of February. The World Day for Consecrated Life is celebrated Feb. 2, the feast of the Lord’s Presentation in the Temple; and the World Day of the Sick is celebrated Feb. 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Both of these events have significance for us Little Sisters of the Poor. Together, they remind us that the care of the elderly and the sick is not merely something we do.

Hospitality to the needy and elderly is at the heart of who we are as consecrated women in the Church. The care of the elderly is so central to our vocation that it is sealed by a vow of its own – that of hospitality – in addition to the three vows traditionally made by religious women and men, namely chastity, poverty and obedience. This fourth vow of hospitality brings to perfection our gift of self to the Lord and gives it a very concrete expression in the nitty-gritty of daily life.

As Little Sisters of the Poor we are not alone in our health-related mission to the poor. For centuries the Church has counted on consecrated persons, many of them women, to assure a dedicated and prophetic presence in the world of health care. In his first encyclical, “Deus Caritas Est,” Pope Benedict wrote about the Church’s vocation to practice love through works of charity, including the care of the sick. “As a community, the Church must practice love. Love thus needs to be organized if it is to be an ordered service to the community,” he noted.

How practical our Holy Father is! Love needs to be organized if it is to be effective, and who better to organize it than the legions of women religious who have served in hospitals, homes for the elderly and other institutions down through the centuries? I am humbled to be a part of this great tradition of charity, even if I am not always as organized as I could be!

During this Year of Faith, when Catholics around the world are invited to engage in the New Evangelization with renewed enthusiasm, I am increasingly conscious of how much the Church needs consecrated persons in the field of health – not only to continue Christ’s mission of healing and mercy – but to evangelize the world of health care with the light of the Gospel of Life.

Blessed John Paul II once wrote that health care ministries staffed by religious or otherwise associated with the Church must be more than institutions where care is provided; they must be places where suffering, pain and death are understood in their human and specifically Christian meaning. This conviction is even truer today than when he wrote it nearly 20 years ago!

Furthering such understanding is one of the goals of the World Day of the Sick.

Speaking to health care workers in Rome last November, Pope Benedict emphasized that caring for others is not a career, but a mission. He underlined society’s need for “Good Samaritans” with generous hearts and open arms.

Members of religious congregations working in health care have a fundamental role to play, he said, in going beyond the clinical approach so common today “to allow the glory of the risen crucified Christ to appear in the diversified panorama of health.”

During this month when we celebrate consecrated life and offer special prayers for the sick, please join us Little Sisters of the Poor in praying for an increase of vocations to our congregation and to other health care ministries in the Church, and in praying that Catholic health care may continue to flourish in our country, despite the challenges we currently face.

Sister Constance Carolyn Veit, LSP, is director of communications for the Little Sisters of the Poor in the United States.

“Man is clearly made to think. It is his whole dignity and his whole merit; and his whole duty is to think as he ought.” — Blaise Pascal, “Pensées” (1670)

I

t is a rare college today which does not champion “critical thinking.”

The students at “Behemoth University” thus learn to see problems and pose questions and challenge authority and doubt truth claims and think outside the box – not all bad, of course, unless at its core are relativism, materialism and nihilism. If, for instance, they learn that the only thing we know is that we know nothing, or the only thing certain is uncertainty, or the only thing permanent is change, or the only thing sacred is vulgar (by which is meant the celebration of what is profane, pornographic and spiritually polluted) – then “critical thinking” is a morally corrosive fraud.

The problem is that we are so immersed in the culture of corruption that we have lost perspective – by which I mean the ability to see through the temporary to the eternal, to see beyond a certain space into what is universal, to see evil as evil, and to see sin as sin.

It wasn’t so long ago that colleges taught clear and coherent thinking in courses called “logic,” normally offered by the philosophy department. It wasn’t so long ago that (even non-religious) colleges required students to attend what was normally called “Chapel,” usually taught by the college president, ordinarily consisting of reflections about moral wisdom. It wasn’t so long ago that faculty contracts at schools and colleges had clauses concerning “moral turpitude,” meaning that teachers would be discharged for offensives which society today often applauds or encourages. It wasn’t so long ago that soldiers were required to attend classes called “character development,” usually taught by the company commander, promoting behavior consistent with good order and discipline and which would reflect credit upon the military service.

In short, it wasn’t so long ago that schools and colleges, and other public institutions, thought that the core of their curriculum concerned the development of a lady and a gentleman. There were virtues that were known and inculcated; there was frequent agreement upon what was good and true and beautiful; there were “great books” to be read, discussed and written about.

And much of this came directly or indirectly from the teaching of the Catholic Church. Long ago, when I was a junior in public high school, I recall reading, and then discussing at length in our English class, the beautiful passage found in Philippians 4:8 that tells us what is true, honorable, just, pure and lovely.

What is true, honorable, just, pure and lovely, we Catholics should know.

Such knowledge does not come from merely personal merit. Rather, it comes to us from the teaching of the Church. The Magisterium of the Church exists to “preserve God’s people from deviations and defections and to guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error” (CCC 890).

A chain of conviction: God exists. We humans sin. God has given us a Savior in His divine Son, who is truth incarnate. The Church is our Mother and our Teacher. We find peace, joy and salvation in the sacred learning and lessons of the Church. (Read more in CCC 2105, which has a clear and cogent explanation of the Church and our Christian duties.)

We know what this chain of conviction does for us: Now we see a wafer of wheat as the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. Now we see black ink on white pages as the written Word of God. Now we hear the Church speak to us with authority, as its bridegroom Jesus spoke with authority.

Now we see “authority” as good when it is consistent with Truth. Now we understand what Dante taught: “In His will is our peace.”

Now we begin to understand what education is and what it does: it helps us separate virtue from vice, good from evil, the divine from the degenerate – all this is genuine “critical thinking.” It was the great English writer and Catholic convert, G.K. Chesterton, who put it best: “To become a Catholic is not to leave off thinking but to learn how to think.”

When we see with the eyes of faith, we understand what is valuable and what is, well, not valuable (see St. Paul’s blunt term for what he had foolishly valued before Christ, in Phil 3:8). With the Mind of Christ, we learn to appreciate beauty and refuse to watch what is base or immoral.

With character informed by wise education and conscience formed by Word and Sacrament, we know that “there is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just” (CCC 1733).

That is a great deal to learn. But we have the perfect teacher and the perfect university, which is the teaching Church. Thanks be to God! Deacon James H. Toner serves at Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro.

Regarding the Jan. 18 letter to the editor “Moral decline, lack of respect are to blame,” the author is absolutely right. The appearance of some people at Mass, particularly in the summer, is simply disgraceful. We were brought up to dress respectfully for church – wearing ties, for example. Mass is a time for us to come before God and pray for our families, our church and our country.

I also cannot understand why 52 percent of self-identified Catholics voted for a president who supports abortion and free contraceptives.

I can remember the day very clearly when I went to visit my favorite nun and told her I was leaving to join the Army. She placed a beautiful rosary around my neck and said, ”This will help take care of you.” I was 18, and I helped it along with more Hail Marys than you could imagine!

Now as I sit here at age 87, I think our religious values have gone off the mark. Times have not changed, people have.

Santo Petruso lives in Pineville.

Where is the justice?

We the jury find this man guilty of impregnating this woman with an unwanted child.

We the jury find this woman guilty of conceiving an unwanted child.

We the jury find this child innocent of any wrongdoing.

We the Supreme Court sentence the child to death by chemical burning and partial dismemberment.

George LaFave is a resident of Lincolnton.

catholicnewsherald.com | February 1, 2013 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

BISHOP’S LENTEN YOUTH PILGRIMAGE 2013 9 AM - 3 PM SATURDAY, MARCH 16 AT BELMONT ABBEY COLLEGE

G OE UCHARIST.COM OF FAITH RY R TO CHRIST: O

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NINTH EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS DIOCESE OF CHARLOTTE, SEPTEMBER 13 &14, 2013

“The ‘door of faith’ is always open for us, ushering us into the life of communion with God and offering entry into His Church.

It is possible to cross that threshold when the word of God is proclaimed and the heart allows itself to be shaped by transforming grace.

To enter through that door is to set out on a journey that lasts a lifetime.”

— His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, in his apostolic letter “Porta Fidei” proclaiming the Year of Faith