April 25, 2014

April 25, 2014

catholicnewsherald.com charlottediocese.org S E RV I N G C H R I ST A N D C O N N EC T I N G C AT H O L I C S I N W E ST E R N N O R T H C A R O L I N A

Monsignor Joseph Kerin, Charlotte diocese’s second chancellor, passes away, 3

INDEX Contact us.......................... 4 Español............................12-13 Events calendar................. 4 Our Faith............................. 2 Our Parishes................. 3-11 Schools......................... 16-18 Scripture readings............ 2 TV & Movies...................... 20 U.S. news..................... 22-23 Viewpoints.................. 26-27 World news................. 24-25

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Out of the darkness God’s mercy shows ‘we are not forgotten,’ sin ‘doesn’t have a chance,’ Bishop Jugis preaches INSIDE: Full coverage of Holy Week and Easter, 6-13

Catholic Charities Week 2014

Strengthening families, building communities, reducing poverty, 14-15

Our faith 2

catholicnewsherald.com | April 25, 2014 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

St. Athanasius: ‘Founder of orthodoxy’ Feast day: May 2

Pope Francis

The risen Jesus, not money or power, is the source of life

T

oo often people are fixated on material things, money, power or status – none of which can give life and joy, Pope Francis said.

Christians need to examine their lives with the question the angel asked the women who went to the tomb to anoint the body of the buried Jesus: “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” the pope said.

At his weekly general audience April 23, Pope Francis had the tens of thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square repeat the angel’s Easter question three times.

Sometimes, the pope said, people act as if “a dead Jesus would be less of a bother than a living Jesus,” yet His victory over death is the source of Christian hope and the assurance that we, too, will live with Him. When “we close ourselves up in any kind of selfishness or self-satisfaction, when we let ourselves be seduced by earthly power and the things of this world, forgetting God and our neighbor; when we put our hopes in worldly vanity, money and success,” he said, that is the time people must ask themselves the angel’s question.

Although it did not rain during the pope’s audience, the sky was gray. To keep the sick and people with disabilities warm and dry, the Vatican had them wait in the Paul VI audience hall. Pope Francis went to the hall before the audience and spent more than half an hour greeting the people gathered there.

Talking to people in St. Peter’s Square about Easter and the joy that should mark the lives of all Christians, the pope said, “too often we seek the living among things that are dead, among things that cannot give life, among things that exist today and are gone tomorrow.”

Christians are called to fight “the temptation to keep looking back,” the pope said, and instead move toward the future. “Yesterday is the tomb of Jesus and the tomb of the Church,” but Jesus is alive and so is His Body, the Church.

He keeps it alive and moving forward.

When people feel like hiding after some kind of failure, when they feel unable to pray or feel alone or abandoned, even by God, when they feel “imprisoned by sin,” Pope Francis said, they need to ask themselves again why they are focused on the tomb of a dead man rather than on the life-giving victory of the Risen Lord.

“Look, brothers and sisters,” he said, “He is alive and is with us!

Don’t go to those tombs that promise something, but in the end give nothing.”

Catholics honor St. Athanasius on May 2. The fourth century bishop, Father of the Church and Doctor of the Church is known as “the father of orthodoxy” for his absolute dedication to the doctrine of Christ’s divinity.

St. Athanasius was born to Christian parents living in the Egyptian city of Alexandria in 296. His parents took great care to have their son educated, and his talents came to the attention of a local priest who was later canonized as St. Alexander of Alexandria. The priest and future saint tutored Athanasius in theology, and eventually appointed him as an assistant.

Around the age of 19, Athanasius spent a formative period in the Egyptian desert as a disciple of St. Anthony in his monastic community. Returning to Alexandria, he was ordained a deacon in 319, and resumed his assistance to Alexander, who had become a bishop. The Catholic Church, newly recognized by the Roman Empire, was already encountering a new series of dangers from within.

The most serious threat to the fourthcentury Church came from a priest named Arius, who taught that Jesus could not have existed eternally as God prior to His historical incarnation as a man. According to Arius, Jesus was the highest of created beings, and could be considered “divine” only by analogy. Arians professed a belief in Jesus’ “divinity,” but meant only that He was God’s greatest creature.

Opponents of Arianism brought forth numerous scriptures which taught Christ’s eternal pre-existence and His identity as God. Nonetheless, many Greek-speaking Christians found it intellectually easier to believe in Jesus as a created demi-god, than to accept the mystery of a Father-Son relationship within the Godhead. By 325, the controversy was dividing the Church and unsettling the Roman Empire.

In that year, Athanasius attended the First Ecumenical Council, held at Nicea to examine and judge Arius’ doctrine in light of apostolic tradition. It reaffirmed the Church’s perennial teaching on Christ’s full deity, and established the Nicene Creed as an authoritative statement of faith.

The remainder of Athanasius’ life was a constant struggle to uphold the council’s teaching about Christ.

Near the end of St. Alexander’s life,

he insisted that Athanasius succeed him as the Bishop of Alexandria. Athanasius took on the position just as the Emperor Constantine, despite having convoked the Council of Nicea, decided to relax its condemnation of Arius and his supporters. Athanasius continually refused to admit Arius to communion, however, despite the urgings of the emperor.

A number of Arians spent the next several decades attempting to manipulate bishops, emperors and popes to move against Athanasius, particularly through the use of false accusations.

Athanasius was accused of theft, murder, assault, and even of causing a famine by interfering with food shipments.

Arius became ill and died gruesomely in 336, but his heresy continued to live.

Under the rule of the three emperors who followed Constantine, and particularly under the rule of the strongly Arian Constantius, Athanasius was driven into exile at least five times for insisting on the Nicene Creed as the Church’s authoritative rule of faith.

Athanasius received the support of several popes and spent a portion of his exile in Rome. However, Emperor Constantius did succeed in coercing one pope, Liberius, into condemning Athanasius by having him kidnapped, threatened with death, and sent away from Rome for two years. The pope eventually managed to return to Rome, where he again proclaimed Athanasius’ orthodoxy.

Constantius went so far as to send troops to attack his clergy and congregations.

Neither these measures, nor direct attempts to assassinate the bishop, succeeded in silencing him. However, they frequently made it difficult for him to remain in his diocese. He enjoyed some respite after Constantius’ death in 361, but was later persecuted by Emperor Julian the Apostate, who sought to revive paganism.

In 369, Athanasius managed to convene an assembly of 90 bishops in Alexandria, for the sake of warning the Church in Africa against the continuing threat of Arianism. He died in 373, and was vindicated by a more comprehensive rejection of Arianism at the Second Ecumenical Council, held in 381 at Constantinople.

St. Gregory Nazianzen, who presided over part of that council, described St. Athanasius as “the true pillar of the Church,” whose “life and conduct were the rule of bishops, and his doctrine the rule of the orthodox faith.”

— Catholic News Agency

More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Read more about the Doctors of the Church and the Fathers of the Church

Your daily Scripture readings APRIL 27-MAY 3

Sunday (Divine Mercy Sunday): Acts 2:42-47, 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31; Monday (St. Peter Chanel, St. Louis Grignion de Montfort): Acts 4:23-31, John 3:1-8; Tuesday (St. Catherine of Siena): Acts 4:32-37, John 3:7-15; Wednesday (St. Pius V): Acts 5:1726, John 3:16-21; Thursday (St. Joseph the Worker): Genesis 1:26-2:3, Matthew 13:54-58; Friday (St. Athanasius): Acts 5:34-42, John 6:1-15; Saturday (Sts. Philip and James): 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, John 14:6-14

MAY 4-10

Sunday: Acts 2:14, 22-23, 1 Peter 1:17-21, Luke 24:13-35; Monday: Acts 6:8-15, John 6:22-29; Tuesday: Acts 7:51-8:1, John 6:3035; Wednesday: Acts 8:1-8, John 6:35-40; Thursday: Acts 8:26-40, John 6:44-51; Friday: Acts 9:1-20, John 6:52-59; Saturday (St. Damien de Veuster): Acts 9:31-42, John 6:6069

MAY 11-17

Sunday: Acts 2:14, 36-41, 1 Peter 2:2025, John 10:1-10; Monday (Sts. Nereus and Achilleus, St. Pancras): Acts 11:1-18, John 10:1118; Tuesday (Our Lady of Fatima): Acts 11:1926, John 10:22-30; Wednesday (St. Matthias): Acts 1:15-17, 20-26, John 15:9-17; Thursday (St. Isidore): Acts 13:13-25, John 13:16-20; Friday: Acts 13:26-33, John 14:1-6; Saturday: Acts 13:44-52, John 14:7-14.

Our parishes

April 25, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

‘A true priest’

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief

Penilla named ‘Homeless Hero’ CHARLOTTE — St. Gabriel parishioner Wally Penilla received the David Brock Homeless Hero Award during the Men’s Shelter of Charlotte’s “Homelessness Ends Under Our Roof” fundraiser April 10.

Penilla has been a long-time meal service volunteer at the Men’s Shelter of Charlotte.

He is the meal service leader for his parish on Friday nights each month, and he and his meal group often reimburse the agency for the meals they serve. In addition to providing the men with a wonderful Friday night meal, Penilla has been instrumental in securing needed kitchen equipment. Most recently, he encouraged St. Gabriel Church to purchase a new double oven for the shelter’s kitchen.

— Jennifer Coates

Sueann howell | catholic news herald

Charlotte Bishop Peter J. Jugis served as the main celebrant of the funeral Mass for Monsignor Joseph A. Kerin, the diocese’s second chancellor. Bishop Emeritus William G. Curlin and nearly two dozen diocesan priests concelebrated the Mass held April 22 at St. Mark Church in Huntersville, one of two parishes Monsignor Kerin helped build during his service to the diocese.

Funeral held for Monsignor Kerin, Charlotte diocese’s second chancellor Catholic News Herald

St. Pius X Knights witness to sanctity of life GREENSBORO — On April 10 the St. Pius X Knights of Columbus Council 11101 Right to Life Committee joined with the “40 Days for Life” campaign in a prayerful street-side demonstration to arouse public awareness to the tragedy of abortion. Locating themselves at the entrance to the Piedmont Carolina Medical abortion clinic on Randleman Road in Greensboro, the attendees carried their signs to enlighten the public as they prayed the rosary. Pictured from both groups are (from left): Susan Russell, John Russell, Bobby Singleton (the local director of the 40 Days for Life campaign), Pat Perreira, Warren Duhaime and Diane Rzewnicki.

— John Russell

Third Order Carmelite group forming at St. Mark HUNTERSVILLE — Adults aged 18-69 who are interested in Carmelite spirituality are invited to come learn more about a new Third Order Carmelite group forming at St. Mark Church. An information session will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, April 28, in the Monsignor Kerin Family Center. Come and see if God may be calling you to a deeper prayer life through Carmelite spirituality. Call Donna Fodale at 704-237-4820 for details.

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HIGH POINT — Monsignor Joseph Aloysius Kerin, the second chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte and the founding pastor of the diocese’s two largest parishes, died Monday, April 14, 2014, at Pennybyrn at Maryfield in High Point. He was 82.

Several hundred people attended the Solemn Mass of Christian Burial on April 22, 2014, at St. Mark Church in Huntersville, where Monsignor Kerin had formerly served as the first pastor. The Mass was celebrated by Bishop Peter J. Jugis and concelebrated by nearly two dozen priests of the diocese, including Bishop Emeritus William G. Curlin and many priests Monsignor Kerin had served alongside or had mentored through the years. Interment was at Belmont Abbey Cemetery in Belmont.

Monsignor Kerin served as chancellor from 1979 to 1986 under the leadership of Bishops Michael J. Begley and Bishop John F. Donoghue, but his legacy of priestly service, first in the Diocese of Raleigh and then in the Diocese of Charlotte, spanned 57 years. He was the founding pastor of two of the largest parishes in the diocese – St. Matthew Church in south Charlotte and St. Mark Church in Huntersville – and he served as a teacher and Catholic school principal, Presbyteral Council member, and director of the Hispanic Catholic Center, among many other responsibilities.

OBEDIENT FAITH

Monsignor Kerin was born Nov. 15, 1931, in Mount Vernon, N.Y., to the late Thomas F.

and Helen Gertrude Murnane Kerin and he grew up in a faithful Catholic family of nine children.

He gave thoughtful prayer to becoming a priest in his youth and after discerning he was called to go to college and not seminary, he attended Niagara University in Niagara Falls, N.Y., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1953.

“By the time I got to college, I was confident I had really considered a vocation and that I didn’t have it,” Monsignor Kerin said in a 2012 interview with the Catholic News Herald.

“I was confident God wasn’t calling me. But after I graduated, during that summer, the thought came to me: ‘You are running from something.’”

His sister was a Dominican nun working at a school in Raleigh at that time, so he applied to work that summer in the Home Missions set up by Raleigh Bishop Vincent S. Waters, before he planned to enter law school that fall. But he never got to law school. Instead, he answered God’s call to the priesthood, and Bishop Waters sent him to The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., to study theology.

He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Waters on May 30, 1957. As was the custom at that time, Bishop Waters assigned him to the Missionary Fathers Apostolate as an assistant at St. John Baptist de la Salle Parish in North Wilkesboro, from 1957 to 1958. He spent the summer of 1958 with the apostolate’s “trailer chapels,” which served Catholics in rural areas of North Carolina where there were no KERIN, SEE page 21

CHARLOTTE — As soon as people learned of the passing of Monsignor Joseph Kerin April 14, they began paying tribute to this pioneering priest with the hearty laugh and kind spirit who served the Church in western North Carolina for more than 50 years.

Bishop Peter Jugis extolled the priestly model of Monsignor Kerin at the conclusion of the annual Chrism Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral April 15.

During the annual Chrism Mass on Tuesday of Holy Week, priests renew their priestly promises and witness the blessing of the holy oils used for sacraments.

“What a marvelous inspiration he was for all of us through his dedication to the mission of the Church here in North Carolina, and the example of his priestly presence,” Bishop Jugis said.

Other tributes: “Monsignor Joe Kerin was a wonderful priest. It was the greatest honor of my life to count him among my friends. He was most welcoming to me as I began my pastorate at St. Mark. I always looked to him for advice and he helped me in many situations as I turned to him. He was one of those who served as a wonderful model for many priests in this diocese. I will miss him, but know he has earned his eternal reward.

He will be listed as one of the great builders of our diocese, both physically and spiritually.”

— Monsignor Richard Bellow, retired, who succeeded Monsignor Kerin as pastor of St. Mark Church in Huntersville “Each day when I walk into the Monsignor Kerin Center at St. Mark’s Parish, I am greeted by the picture of Monsignor with his typical joyful smile. It is a smile which I saw when I met him, a smile indicating the peace and joy of one who loved Our Lord and His Church. As the founding pastor of the parish, Monsignor Kerin gave a strong foundation to the fledgling and growing parish community here at St. Mark. The parish and the diocese have been blessed and will continue to be blessed by his priestly ministry.”

— Father Roger K. Arnsparger, diocesan vicar of education and current pastor of St. Mark Church in Huntersville “He was always very faithful and he worked very hard and he was successful in his work.”

— Monsignor Joseph Showfety, first chancellor of the diocese “He was a dedicated missionary in the mission of North Carolina.

The priesthood meant so much to him in living out his daily life as a servant leader.”

— Monsignor John McSweeney, pastor of St. Matthew Church in PRIEST, SEE page 21

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catholicnewsherald.com | April 25, 2014 OUR PARISHES

Diocesan calendar of events ARDEN ST. BARNABAS CHURCH, 109 CRESCENT HILL DR. — National Day of Prayer: 12:15-12:45 p.m., Thursday, May 1 at the outdoor Picnic Shelter. Hosted by St. Barnabas Ecumenism Commission. Everyone welcome.

Bishop Peter J. Jugis Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following events over the coming weeks: April 25 – 3:30 p.m.

Priesthood Ordination of Brother Elias Correa-Torres, O.S.B. Belmont Abbey, Belmont April 27 – 11 a.m.

Mass celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Dedication of the Church Our Lady of the Highways Church, Thomasville.

April 29 – 7 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation Holy Cross Church, Kernersville

QUEEN OF THE APOSTLES church, 503 North Main St. — Women’s Evening of Retreat: 5-9 p.m. Sunday, April 27. Sister Mary Hugh will lead the evening with a reflection and sharing on “Who is God in Your Life?”.

Build a Salad Supper will be available. Bring a topping to share. For details, call Tracy at 704-853-0654.

— Ministry of Mothers Sharing: 9-11 a.m. Tuesday, April 29. Meetings are for moms with children of all ages. Ministry is intended for fellowship and study for spiritual growth. For details, email Marianne at marianne@gcube.com

— Men’s Faith Group: 7 p.m. Monday, May 5. Men of the parish 45 and older are invited to reflect on God’s Word. For details, call Roger Duncan at 412-289-9147.

May 5 – 7 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation St. Francis of Assisi Church, Franklin

CHARLOTTE OUR LADY OF CONSOLATION CHURCH, 2301 Statesville Ave.

May 7 – 7 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation Immaculate Conception Church, Forest City May 9 – 7 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation St. Ann Church, Charlotte May 12 – 9:00 a.m.

Mass for Charlotte Catholic Women’s Group St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

— Community Shredding Event Fundraiser: 9 a.m.noon, Saturday, May 10. Have your personal and confidential documents shredded and recycled and help raise money for energy efficiency projects and environmental stewardship. Event partner PROSHRED Security will destroy your documents in a mobile shredding truck while you watch. Bring paper items only. Donations requested.

St. Matthew church, 8015 BALLANTYNE COMMONS PKWY. — Lecture on Africa, “Cell Phones, Gorillas, and the Forgotten War in the Congo”: 2 p.m. Sunday, April 27, in the New Life Center. Presented by Dr. Beth Whitaker. Free, no registration. For details, call the parish office at 704-332-2901.

May 13 – 11 a.m.

Presbyteral Council Pastoral Center, Charlotte May 14 – 7 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation St. John the Evangelist Church, Waynesville

— Divine Mercy celebration: 2:45 p.m. Sunday, April 27, in the church. Light refreshments will follow in the Banquet Room.

— Adult Faith Formation video series, “Meeting the St. Paul You Never Knew”: 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 30, in the Banquet Room. No registration. For details, call Michael Burck at 704-541-8362.

Correction

In the April 11 article “Bishop’s Lenten Youth Pilgrimage a day of hope, happiness,” Chris Beal’s name was misspelled. We regret the error.

April 25, 2014 Volume 23 • Number 14

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

— Called to be Mom Support Group: 10 a.m.-noon, Thursday, May 1. For details, call Kerry Long at 704243-6319.

— Healing Mass and Service: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, with Father Joseph Lionel from Bangalore,

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 Hispanic communications reporter: Rico De Silva, 704-370-3375, rdesilva@charlottediocese.org

St. Patrick Cathedral, 1621 Dilworth Road East — First Saturday Devotion: 8 a.m. Holy Mass with a rosary procession immediately following, May 3. For details, visit www.charlottecatholicwomensgroup. org. Hosted by CCWG. Everyone welcome.

BELMONT

— Protecting God’s Children Workshop: 9 a.m.-noon, Saturday, May 17, in Room D/E of the Education Building. All volunteers, in any capacity and program, must complete this training. To sign up, visit wwww. virtus.org or call Sue Sforza at 704-370-3357.

May 1 – 7 p.m.

Sacrament of Confirmation Holy Spirit Church, Denver

India. Healing may be spiritual, physical, emotional or generational. For details, contact Janet Garbison at JanetAAICW@aol.com or 704-661-7849. Everyone welcome.

— Annual Spring Luncheon: 9 a.m. Monday, May 12, in the Family Life Center. Bishop Peter J. Jugis will celebrate Mass. The meeting and lunch will follow in the Family Life Center. All ladies of the diocese are invited to attend. Details at www. charlottecatholicwomensgroup.org.

St. Vincent de Paul CHURCH, 6828 Old Reid Road — Natural Family Planning Introduction and Full Course: 1- 5 p.m. Saturday, April 26. Topics includes: Effectiveness of modern NFP, health risks of popular contraceptives and what the Church teaches about responsible parenting. Sponsored by Catholic Charities. RSVP to Batrice Adcock, MSN, RN, at 704370-3230.

CLEMMONS

HENDERSONVILLE Immaculate Conception Church, 208 Seventh Ave. West — Divide Mercy Devotion: 3:30 p.m. Sunday, April 27, in the Main Church. Singing of the Chaplet, along with Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction. Father Robert Williams will lead the service in English and Spanish.

HUNTERSVILLE St. Mark Church, 14740 Stumptown Road — Divine Mercy Celebration: 1:45-4:30 p.m. Sunday, April 27. For details, call Donna Fodale at 704-237-4820.

— Charlotte Athletes for Christ Youth Ministry: 7-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 30. The ministry provides an evening of fun, athletic activities, a great meal, and featured speakers who address faith and athletics.

For details, call Tim Flynn at 704-948-0231.

— Adults aged 18-69 who are interested in Carmelite spirituality are invited to come learn more about a new Third Order Carmelite group. The information session will be held April 28 at 7 p.m. in the Monsignor Joseph Kerin Family Center. For details, call Donna Fodale at 704-237-4820.

LINVILLE St. Bernadette CHURCH, 2085 State Hwy. 105 S.

HOLY FAMILY CHURCH, 4820 KINNAMON ROAD — Divine Mercy Sunday: 1:30- 3:30 p.m. April 27.

Includes singing of the Chaplet, as well as Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction.

— Charismatic Prayer Group: 7:15 p.m. Mondays. All are welcome.

GASTONIA St. Michael Church, 708 St. Michael’s Lane — Holy Happy Hour: 7 p.m. Saturday, April 26 at Nick’s Steak & Tap-house, 182 S. South St., Gastonia. Join Father Matthew Buettner on the discussion, “What the Heck is the New Evangelization?” Open to adults aged 21 years and older. For details, email st.michaelsholyhappyhour@gmail.com.

— Divine Mercy Celebration: 11 a.m.-1:15 p.m. Eucharistic Adoration and Procession, followed by the Divine Mercy Chaplet. For details, call 828-898-6900.

LENOIR St. Francis of Assisi Church, 328 B Woodsway Lane — The rosary, led by Father Gabriel Meehan, is prayed every Monday evening at 7 p.m., in the Our Lady of Guadalupe Chapel. All are welcome.

MAGGIE VALLEY ST. MARGARET OF SCOTLAND CHURCH, 37 Murphy DR. — Life in Spirit Seminar: 7-8:30 p.m. April 30-June 4 — Healing Mass: 2 p.m. Sunday, May 18

GREENSBORO

MOORESVILLE

ST. PIUS X Church, 2210 N. ELM ST.

St. ThÉrÈse of Lisieux church, 217 Brawley School road

— Senior Mass and Luncheon: 11 a.m. Tuesday, May 13, in the Kloster Center. For details, call the parish office at 336-272-4681.

HIGH POINT — Pro-Life Rosary for the Month of Our Blessed Mother: 9 a.m. Saturday, May 3 at 901 North Main St. and Sunset Drive, to pray for the end of abortion. For details, call Jim Hoyng at 336-882-9593 or Paul Klosterman at 336-848-6835.

Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 4145 Johnson St. — International Club is sponsoring an Immigrant Story Contest to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their International Festival. All submissions must be in English. A $500 award will be given to the winner.

Deadline is April 30. For details, visit www.ihmchurch. 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,

— Poverty Simulation: 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, May 3, in the Parish Life Center. The free simulation experience is designed to help participants begin to understand what it might be like to live in a typical low-income family trying to survive from month to month. For details, go to www.sainttherese.net/poverty or call Carmen SanJuan at 704-664-7762.

MURPHY ST. WILLIAM CHURCH, 765 ANDREWS Road — Grief Support Group: 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays in the conference room. “Embracing Your Grief” should be helpful for those mourning the recent loss of a loved one.

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.

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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April 25, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

Love our brothers and sisters in need

Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte has been the heart and hands of service to the people of western North Carolina for more than 40 years. These hands touch the lives of nearly 20,000 refugees, immigrants, disadvantaged people, and others each year. Expanding charitable outreach is one of the five strategic goals of the Forward in Faith, Hope, and Love campaign.

Your financial contribution will help strengthen the hands of love and charity across our diocese – embracing and uplifting thousands more of our brothers and sisters in need.

Forward in Faith, Hope, and Love is being conducted in all 92 parishes and missions to address the most pressing needs in the diocese.

The programs, services, and facilities supported by these funds will With a campaign goal of $6 million, funds will be used to establish an significantly influence the scope of our mission well into the future. The endowment to help Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte go above challenge is great, but so too are the faith, hope and love of the people of and beyond its current capabilities in programs that strengthen families, the Diocese of Charlotte. We invite you to be a part of this effort and to build communities, reduce poverty, distribute donated foods to the needy, help us enhance the future of the Catholic Church in central and western administer emergency assistance, and assist those seeking foster care, North Carolina. adoption or pregnancy services.

Learn more about the campaign:

www.forwardfaithhopelove.org

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catholicnewsherald.com | April 25, 2014 FROM THE COVER

The Easter bonfire is lit outside St. Elizabeth of the Hill Country Church in Boone before the start of the Easter Vigil Mass April 19.

Amber Mellon | Catholic News Herald

(Far right, top to bottom) Children hold their Easter candles during the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte. Bishop Peter Jugis baptizes Terrell Felder at the Easter Vigil Mass.

Deacon James Atkinson holds the Pascal candle for Father Carmen Malacari at the start of the Easter Vigil Mass at Holy Spirit Church in Denver.

Photos by Patricia L. Guilfoyle and Doreen Sugierski | Catholic News Herald

Bishop Jugis: Sin ‘doesn’t have a chance’ because God loves us David Exum Correspondent

CHARLOTTE — In his Easter Vigil homily at St. Patrick Cathedral, Bishop Peter J. Jugis preached that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ reveal God’s overwhelming love for us, and that His divine love defeats sin and overcomes death.

“Christ’s love redeems us and overwhelms our sins,” said Bishop Jugis.

The Easter Vigil Mass began with the blessing of the Paschal fire and lighting of the Easter candle – symbolic of the Risen Christ as the Light of the World. The ritual is usually done outside followed by a candlelight procession into the cathedral, but this time it was moved inside the narthex because of rain. The liturgy began in darkness but ended in light, marking the close of the penitential season of Lent and the beginning of the joyful season of Easter. For several minutes after the singing of the Gloria, chimes rang out and horns sounded triumphantly to mark the resurrection of Christ. As the bells rang,

the lights were turned on, and the entire cathedral glowed through the darkness.

“The light in this church is only but a pale reflection of the beauty of that divine light of our Lord and Savior,” Bishop Jugis said. “We fix our eyes upon Jesus in His resurrected glory. He is beautiful and radiant in His divine light.”

In his homily, Bishop Jugis also explained that baptism is similar to Christ’s resurrection, because it delivers us to Him. Baptism brings “the freedom and joy” of becoming Catholic, he added.

“We have been taken up into the new life of His resurrection when we are baptized.

We become Children of God. We become sons and daughters of our heavenly Father.

We become temples of the Holy Spirit. We really come to life in the Risen Christ.”

In contrast with Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection, “the two greatest enemies of the human race are sin and death,” he continued. No matter what the conditions of a person’s life may be, sin and death are inevitable.

“We may think we have many enemies, but the two biggest things we just cannot

conquer or overcome by ourselves are sin and death,” he explained.

He entreated parishioners to be mindful of sin – how it can separate us from God and lead to spiritual death.

“But by His suffering, His death and His resurrection, Jesus took all of the sins of the human race upon Himself. From the beginning of time (Genesis 1:1-2:2), until the end of time, Jesus overwhelmed those sins by His love.

Bishop Jugis added that the love Jesus has for us all redeems us and overwhelms all of our sins. Despite how many times we sin, despite how many times we forsake God, God’s love for us is stronger.

“Think of sin as saying ‘no’ to God. Jesus takes it upon Himself to provide an eternal ‘yes’ to God our Father. Saying ‘no’ to God has no chance – it is always purged and turned into an eternal ‘yes’ to God. Sin is overwhelmed by God’s love. It doesn’t have a chance – and that is such an encouraging and hopeful message to all of us.”

The resurrection of Our Lord conquers death, he noted, opening up for us eternal life with our Father in heaven.

More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: See lots more photos from Holy Week and Easter observances across the Diocese of Charlotte At www.facebook.com/ catholicnewsherald: Share your family’s favorite Easter photos with us

“Jesus defeated death by rising from the dead. Christ is life, God is eternal life.

Death does not have a chance because it is absorbed into Christ – life will just overwhelm death.”

“It is in the immense ocean of His love that graces us all. Sin and death just don’t have a chance. Jesus takes it all on Himself and conquers it. He buries it, once and for all.”

April 25, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com

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Parishes across the Diocese of Charlotte performed elaborate and dramatic Via Crucis pageants on Good Friday. At far left is a scene from the Via Crucis staged by parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Monroe. At left is depicted a moment from the Via Crucis drama at Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury.

Photo provided by Carlos Cruz; Bill Washington | CAtholic News Herald

Patricia L. Guilfoyle | Catholic News Herald

Hundreds of Catholics lined up to venerate the cross during the Good Friday liturgy at St. Patrick Cathedral April 18.

God’s mercy shows ‘we are not forgotten’ Hundreds gather for Good Friday liturgy at St. Patrick Cathedral David Exum Correspondent

CHARLOTTE — In observance of Good Friday, Bishop Peter J. Jugis told an overflowing crowd of parishioners at St. Patrick Cathedral about the importance of God’s endless mercy.

In his homily, Bishop Jugis told parishioners that no matter the depth of our sins, God is always at our door to offer His mercy and forgiveness.

“He has not abandoned us, He has not forgotten us – and this is the way it will be until the end of time,” Bishop Jugis said.

Despite man’s decision to crucify God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Bishop Jugis reminded parishioners that our Lord remained merciful to those who crucified Him. “Jesus remained merciful, even to the very end of His life. He would not turn back ... and showed us His love for us by His death on the cross.”

In the Good Friday service, the Passion narrative from the Gospel of John was read, followed by veneration of the cross. Hundreds of people filed up to the cathedral’s altar to kiss the simple wooden cross that contains a fragment

of the True Cross.

Bishop Jugis’ homily also touched upon God’s awareness of human suffering, frailty and affliction.

“God delivers His mercy to us” when we experience suffering, he said, and when we sin, God offers us His healing and forgiveness.

“God forgives and wants all of us to know that we are not forgotten, and not forsaken or doomed to live out our lives with a guilty conscience.”

Through the power of prayer, God offers us salvation and answers the call of the sick, the distressed and the weary, he said.

“We know that when we bring the sick to Jesus – as in the anointing of the sick – Christ, as peace, comes to that sick person. Christ, as strength, comes to that sick person, and also His healing comes.

“God is always merciful – and He will continue to give that gift to us.”

God’s mercy and forgiveness go beyond physical and spiritual ills, Bishop Jugis noted. God is also always there to forgive and redress the moral ills of society. “Spiritual ills, physical ills, moral ills – He is still with us. ‘I am with you,’ He says, and in this (Good Friday) service, He is with

More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: See more photos of Good Friday liturgies and Via Crucis pageants from across the diocese

us in the Eucharist.”

And God’s devotion is endless, Bishop Jugis reminded the faithful. God tells us, “I will not forget you. I will never abandon you. I am with you every hour of every day until the end of time. That is a sign of His mercy for us. God has answered our prayers and will continue to answer our prayers. Jesus is the answer, and Jesus is with us.”

Bishop Jugis also spoke passionately about the Blessed Virgin Mary, calling her the “Mother of Mercy.”

“She stood there at the cross with her beloved Son, and she will stand there with us. She will stand with us through our ills, through our afflictions, and through our sins. She is merciful and she will bring her mercy to the world.”

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catholicnewsherald.com | April 25, 2014 FROM THE COVER

Mike FitzGerald | Catholic News Herald

(Above) Father Roger Arnsparger washes the feet of 12 men during Holy Thursday Mass at St. Mark Church in Huntersville.

(Left) Father Carmen Malacari and Deacon James Atkinson lead Eucharistic Adoration at the altar of repose following Holy Thursday Mass April 17.

Doreen Sugierski | Catholic News Herald

(Far left) Father Christopher Roux, rector and pastor, celebrates the Holy Thursday Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral April 17, while an altar server swings the clapper (used in place of the altar bells during Lent).

SueAnn Howell | Catholic News Herald

‘The greatest sacrament after baptism is the sacrament of Our Lord’s Body and Blood’ SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: After Holy Thursday Mass in Charlotte, a group of Catholic pilgrims follow the tradition of the Seven Churches Visitation

CHARLOTTE — Jesus gave up His life in service of His disciples, and we as Catholics should emulate this powerful sacrifice. That was the message from pastors across the diocese as Catholics observed Holy Thursday with the celebration of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.

The Mass of the Lord’s Supper recalls Jesus’ institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, His washing the feet of His disciples in an act of humble service, His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, and His betrayal and arrest.

At St. Patrick Cathedral, Father Christopher Roux, rector and pastor, celebrated Mass in place of an under-the-

weather Bishop Peter Jugis.

In his homily, Father Roux reminded the faithful that we can all find ourselves enslaved to sin and held bound by it.

“But Our Lord came to free us from that sin. You and I went through the waters of baptism to be set free from sin,” he said.

The Church was entrusted by Jesus with the giving us the sacraments, and “the greatest sacrament after baptism is the

sacrament of Our Lord’s Body and Blood.”

By giving us His Body and Blood in the Eucharist, Father Roux said, Jesus continually feeds us and strengthens us on our spiritual journey.

“You and I never have to sin again! We never have to give ourselves back over to Satan.

We can be saved, saved from sin!”

Eastern rite Catholics mark Good Friday with procession CHARLOTTE — St. Basil Eastern Catholic Mission celebrated “Great and Holy Friday” with Great Friday Vespers liturgy and a solemn procession and veneration of a shroud icon April 18 at the chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas Church.

The chanting of Great Friday Vespers included readings from Exodus, Job, Isaiah, Corinthians and the Passion narrative from the Gospels of Matthew, Luke and John. The prayers (hymnography) together with the readings gave special emphasis to the paradox of God, the immortal Creator, experiencing physical death as a human creature, and to Joseph of Arimathea, who took the initiative to prepare and bury the sacred body of Jesus.

After the homily given by Father Christopher Riehl (parochial vicar of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Charlotte) focusing on the gifts Christ left for us during His Passion, a cloth icon representing the burial shroud of Christ was processed from the altar to a table or “tomb” surrounded with flowers in the center of the chapel. Called “the Laying out of the Shroud,” those present were then able to venerate the burial shroud icon with the traditional three prostrations to the ground and a kiss on the icon as it lay on the tomb. This beautiful liturgy contemplates not only Christ’s Passion and the awesomeness of what it means for the incarnate God to have experienced physical death, but also the events and characters involved in those dark hours after Jesus’s body was taken down from the cross.

Gretchen Filz | Catholic News Herald

April 25, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com

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SueAnn Howell | Catholic News Herald

(Right) Father Timothy Reid, pastor, blesses people during the Palm Sunday procession prior to Mass St. Ann Church in Charlotte April 13.

Photo provided by the Maronite Mission of Charlotte

(Far right) Maronite Catholics gathered at St. Matthew Church in Charlotte on Palm Sunday to celebrate Christ’s entry into Jerusalem and mark the start of Holy Week. In the Maronite Catholic Church, Holy Week is considered an independent liturgical season inside the season of Lent. It starts with “Naheero” or the “Coming to the Harbor” on Palm Sunday evening and concludes on Easter Sunday. One week seems to be too short to be considered an independent season. However, the intensity of ceremonies and celebrations, and the deep spirituality found in the ancient Syriac texts, prayers and hymns for that week make it worthy to be the most important week of the year.

Rico De Silva | Catholic News Herald

(Below) Father Vincent Finnerty, Pastor, blessing children at Our Lady of Guadalupe on Palm Sunday.

Vickie Dorsey | Catholic News Herald

Father Joshua Voitus, pastor, celebrates Palm Sunday Mass April 13 at St. Mary, Mother of God Church in Sylva.(left) Fr. Vincent Finerty,,CM, Pastor, blessing children during Palm Sunday Mass at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Charlotte.

Bring God’s mercy to others, Bishop Jugis preaches CHARLOTTE — “Our eyes are fixed on Jesus this week,” said Bishop Peter J. Jugis at the start of his homily on Palm Sunday, the commemoration of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem before His Passion and death on a cross, and His Resurrection on Easter.

The liturgy reminds us of God’s mercy, Bishop Jugis noted, and that should remind us of our call to be merciful to others.

The Palm Sunday liturgy at St. Patrick Cathedral April 13 began with songs of joy and ended with an expectant stillness.

At the start of Mass, Bishop Jugis blessed palm branches outside on the grounds of the cathedral, near a new Marian grotto that was framed by blooming dogwoods in the bright morning sun. Hundreds of faithful, singing and waving palm branches, then processed a short distance along Dilworth Road East up the new staircase of the cathedral to begin Mass, which featured the Gospel of Matthew’s account of the Last Supper, Jesus’ agony in the garden and His arrest, His trial before Pontius Pilate, His crucifixion and His death on the cross. The Gospel ended with Jesus being laid in the tomb, and the Palm Sunday liturgy itself ended in silence, without the usual recessional hymn.

In his homily, Bishop Jugis reminded people that Jesus is present at every Mass, and the Gospel account that people had just heard is re-presented at every Mass.

As Jesus entered Jerusalem, riding on a donkey in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy, the crowds shouted, “Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” That same acclamation prepares us to meet Jesus, as we pray the Sanctus during the start of the

Patricia L. Guilfoyle | Catholic News Herald

Bishop Peter Jugis leads the Palm Sunday procession through the grounds of St. Patrick Cathedral and up the new Bishop Curlin staircase for the start of Mass April 13.

Liturgy of the Eucharist, he said.

The Eucharistic sacrifice itself is an unbloody representation of Jesus’ death on the cross, in which the Lamb of God is sacrificed for the salvation of God’s holy people. Then we receive Jesus in Holy Communion and the Risen Lord commissions us, just as He commissioned the Apostles before His Ascension into heaven, to go forth from Mass in the name of Christ to serve others and share

the Good News, he said.

“Jesus is here now, the same Jesus about whom we just heard in this Gospel,” Bishop Jugis said. “He shows us the mercy of God,” in His Passion, death and Resurrection.

Likewise, just as we receive God’s mercy, we should strive to bring the same mercy to one another, he said.

— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor

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catholicnewsherald.com | April 25, 2014 FROM THE COVER

‘My brothers, we cannot talk enough about Jesus in our ministry, in our homilies, in our counseling, in our sacramental preparation sessions with the faithful, because our people are hungry to know Jesus and to know His mercy in forgiving their sins, in walking with them in their sorrows or sickness or disability, or standing with them in their poverty and their distress.’

— Bishop Peter J. Jugis

SueAnn Howell | Catholic News Herald

More than 80 priests from across the Diocese of Charlotte gathered for the Chrism Mass with Bishop Peter Jugis on April 15. In the liturgy celebrated during Holy Week, the priests renew their priestly promises and witness the blessing of the sacred sacramental oils which are administered during priestly ordination, the rite of initiation, baptism and the anointing of the sick.

‘We priests are instruments of the mercy of Christ’ Bishop Jugis, priests celebrate annual Chrism Mass April 15 SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

CHARLOTTE — One of the highlights of Holy Week is the Chrism Mass celebrated at St. Patrick Cathedral. This annual Mass brings together priests from around the Diocese of Charlotte to renew their priestly vows and witness the blessing of the sacred sacramental oils which are administered during priestly ordination, the rite of initiation, baptism and the anointing of the sick.

This year, more than 80 priests from around the diocese processed under the dogwood trees on the campus of the cathedral and up the newly dedicated Bishop Emeritus William G. Curlin memorial staircase into the cathedral on April 15.

The standing-room only Mass is a favorite for the faithful of the diocese, who come to see their bishop, pastors, deacons and seminarians all gathered under one roof. It is especially meaningful, as the priests of the diocese renew their priestly promises during the Mass.

Charlotte Bishop Peter J. Jugis, during his homily at Mass, spoke of the theme of the season of Lent which the Church has been

celebrating since Ash Wednesday.

“During this season of Lent we have been directing our attention to the mercy of God,” Bishop Jugis said, “from the very first day of Lent on Ash Wednesday when we cried out in the Responsorial Psalm, ‘Be merciful O Lord, for we have sinned.’ Ever since then, all of our readings have directed us, through repentance, to know and experience the mercy of our loving God.” He explained that as the Church comes to the culmination of Lent this week, we celebrate “mercy’s perfect deed” as the prayer says: the suffering, death and resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

“So in this context of Holy Week and all of Lent which we just celebrated, we bless oils and consecrate chrism that will be used to extend the mercy of Christ beyond this season, beyond this week through our ministry – our ministry to catechumens, that they may experience the mercy of our loving Lord; His mercy to those who are being baptized; to those who are being confirmed; to the sick and the dying; and to those being ordained priests.

Bishop Jugis reminded his brother priests, gathered to renew their promises, “We priests

More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: See more photos and video highlights from the Chrism Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral

are instruments of the mercy of Christ.”

“The Gospel reminds us today of Christ’s mission of mercy to bring glad tidings to the poor, liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and to let the oppressed go free.

We are instruments of God’s mercy to the people of God, through the sacraments that we celebrate and also through our very lives as living images of Christ the merciful high priest. At every moment, we act and live in the person of Christ and demonstrate His mercy.”

He enjoined all gathered to remember that Lent is a time to ask for mercy and celebrate the mercy of our wonderful God. He cited a quote from Blessed Pope John Paul II’s second encyclical, “Dives in Misericordia,” which PRIESTS, SEE page 11

April 25, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com

FROM THE COVERI

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PRIESTS: FROM PAGE 10

gives a beautiful, concise description of mercy: “when God’s love comes into contact with human misery or frailty, we experience it as mercy.”

Bishop Jugis, speaking from the altar of the cathedral, reminded the priests that in every aspect of their priestly ministry they are instruments of God’s mercy.

“So for us priests, when we pronounce absolution in confession to repentant sinners who are hoping for God’s mercy, and they then experience the forgiveness and the healing and the peace of Christ, we have been instruments of the mercy of Christ.

“Or when we comfort and anoint the sick who are hoping for God’s mercy, and they through our ministry experience some relief or comfort or healing from their distress, we have been the instruments of the mercy of Christ.

“Or when we bring the light of Christ to those who are trying to find their way through the darkness and confusion, we have been instruments of the mercy of Christ.”

He explained that in the Chrism Mass, “Jesus is bringing us back to the very source of our priesthood which is Jesus Himself.”

“So when we renew our fidelity to the responsibilities of the priesthood, we are renewing our fidelity to Jesus Himself, the High Priest, who permits us to participate in and share ministerally in His merciful priesthood.

“My brothers, we cannot talk enough about Jesus in our ministry, in our homilies, in our counseling, in our sacramental preparation sessions with the faithful, because our people are hungry to know Jesus and to know His mercy in forgiving their sins, in walking with them in their sorrows or sickness or disability, or standing with them in their poverty and their distress.”

He acknowledged that the priesthood is a life spent in great acts of self-giving, a life of modeling oneself on the sacrifice that they offer. And he stressed that the care of souls which all priests undertake is an awesome responsibility, which serves people on their way to eternal salvation.

Bishop Jugis thanked them for being instruments of God’s mercy and said, “I thank you for your devotion to the priestly ministry.”

Later on during the Mass, as Bishop Jugis performed the rite of the blessing of the oils, the priests stood during the consecration of the sacred chrism with hands outstretched, joining him in prayer. The chrism oil is used in the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and holy orders.

Bishop Jugis stirred balsam into the chrism to give it a sweet perfume and breathed the “breath of the Holy Spirit” over the chrism.

He also blessed the oil of catechumens and the oil of the sick during the Chrism Mass.

In his closing remarks, Bishop Jugis recognized Bishop Emeritus William G. Curlin, 86, who was in choir at Mass, for his 20th anniversary of being named Bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte in 1994. This was met with resounding applause from the faithful.

In addition to the priests of the diocese, also in attendance at the Chrism Mass were Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari of Belmont Abbey; Monsignor Mauricio West, vicar general and chancellor of the diocese; Father John Putnam, judicial vicar and vicar forane for the Salisbury vicariate; and Father Roger K. Arnsparger, current pastor of St. Mark Church and vicar of education for the diocese.

In his final remarks to his brother priests, Bishop Jugis said, “May this Chrism Mass bring us back to the source of our priesthood, to Jesus Himself, our merciful High Priest.”

SueAnn Howell | Catholic News Herald

At the beginning of the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday evening, the faithful enter a darkened St. Ann Church processing behind the newly-lit Easter candle. Charlotte seminarian Michael Carlson (left) holds the candle aloft as Father Timothy Reid, altar servers, choir and faithful process into the church April 19.

Rico De Silva | Catholic News Herald

(Above) Vietnamese Redemptorist Father Vang Cong Tran baptized two Vietnamese and six Burmese catechumens at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Charlotte during the Easter Vigil Mass.

Bill Washington | Catholic News Herald

Children pray during Easter Vigil Mass at Sacred Heart Church in Salisbury.

(Left) Bishop Jugis blesses the congregation during the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral April 19.

Patricia L. Guilfoyle | Catholic News Herald

Before they left for Easter break, the kindergarten class at Our Lady of Mercy School in WinstonSalem put on their Easter best for the annual Easter Bonnet Parade through the school. Then they enjoyed an Easter egg hunt in the school cafeteria.

Photo provided

catholicnewsherald.com | April 25, 2014 12

El Padre Philip Scarcella, Párroco de la Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción en Charlotte, confirmando con la ayuda del Diacono Luis Flores, a uno de los 29 Hispanos que hicieron su Primera Comunión y fueron confirmados durante la Misa de Vigilia Pascual la noche del 19 de Abril.

Sergio Lopez | Catholic News Herald

El Padre Enrique González-Gaytán, Parroco de la Parroquia del Divino Redentor en Booneville durante la celebracion del Domingo de Ramos en esa parroquia.

Foto proporcionadas por Rigo Trejo

Vía Crucis en vivo en la Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe en Charlotte el Viernes Santo.

Rico De Silva | Catholic News Herald

Los fieles de Nuestra Sra. de Guadalupe en Charlotte recibiendo la Comunión el Domingo de Pascua.

BILL WASHINGTON | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Vía Crucis en vivo en la Parroquia del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús en Salisbury el Viernes Santo.

April 25, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

30% Of NC Seniors Live Alone Without Caregivers Or The Money To Pay For Care.

Carolina Comfort Coalition is a non-profit organization that operates NC’s only comfort care homes – Serenity House of Mooresville and Serenity House of Huntersville.

Join us at an upcoming Lunch & Learn to hear about the unique role of the comfort care model and the valuable work being done in your own community.

Every Thursday from 12 to 1 pm (Lunch will be provided) RSVP to: suzanne@carolinacomfortcoalition.org carolinacomfortcoalition.org

Foto proporcionadas por Carlos Cruz

Fieles de la Parroquia de Nuestra Sra. de Lourdes en Monroe, durante el Vía Crucis en vivo el Viernes

El padre Vicente con dos buenos amigos después de la Misa del Domingo de Pascua

Los Candidatos de Nuestra Sra. de la Asunción recibiendo su Primera Comunión durante la Misa de Vigilia Pascual la noche del 19 de Abril.

The Te Deum Foundation

cordially invites you to attend a Mass in honor of

Our Lady of Fatima May 13, 2014 Cathedral of Saint Patrick

1621 Dilworth Road, East Charlotte, North Carolina 28203 Homilist - Father Peter J. Shaw Rosary - 5:30 p.m.

Mass - 6:00 p.m.

7:00 p.m. - Fundraising Dinner in the Family Life Center (Dinner $50 per person. RSVP)

For information call The Te Deum Foundation 336-765-1815 or E-mail TeDeumFoundation@gmail.com

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iiiApril 25, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com

FROM TH

Catholic Cha P

April 27-May 3: Strengthening families, b

ope Emeritus Benedict XVI reminded us in his first encyclical, “Deus Caritas Est,” that charity is core to our faith, just as the Sacraments and the Word. Deepening in the Word, celebrating the Sacraments, and putting charity into action is who we are as people of faith. Because of the central role charity plays in our lives, Pope Benedict said charity must be organized so that the faithful keep it at the forefront of their lives. This is the foundation for Catholic Charities

agencies across the country.

Together Catholic Charities agencies serve more than 10 million people each year. Here in the Diocese of Charlotte, Catholic Charities provides services to more than 18,000. In addition, we host events, lead presentations and advocate on a broad range of social concerns to promote a greater respect for human life and the dignity of the human person. We also promote and support the annual Marches for Life in Charlotte and Washington, D.C. All of this is made possible through the support of the diocese, our donors, volunteers, and our partnering parishes and agencies. It is our hope that the following stories demonstrate the impact your generosity creates behind the numbers. We thank you!

‘Let us lea place at o a place f who lack t who are — Pope

Counseling/Pregnancy support

Teen Parenting program

food pantry

Maria: “When my husband left me and we were dealing with custody issues, I didn’t know how to deal with myself. I had a daughter and was pregnant. I was out of balance. I came to Catholic Charities for counseling.

“I was not able to meet our needs. Even though I was working, it just was not enough. My counselor referred me to Mishaun for pregnancy support. Catholic Charities helped me with everything!

Now I realize how much I am worth, how much a life is worth. I am much better. It’s hard, but I am getting there.

“If you want a new start, go to Catholic Charities. They’re going to help you. They’ll tell you that you can do it, and you can.”

A teen mom in the parenting program, Janice, ran into a crisis when her mother told her she and her son had to leave home. She had nowhere to go and no idea about life on her own. Catholic Charities helped her find an apartment and taught her how to sign a lease, get her electricity turned on, and make a money order. They taught her how to budget, make deposits and pay bills. They helped her arrange daycare for her child so she could work. Now Janice is working part-time and going to college part-time. She is determined to make the best life she can for herself and her toddler, with Catholic Charities close by to help her through life’s roadblocks.

Parrish: “If you are financially stressed, you have to pay your bills first ... and sometimes you go without food. My wife came home from the hospital with hospice care, and they sent me here for food.

(Catholic Charities) understands; they make it easy. I’d starve to death without Catholic Charities.”

In 2013 Catholic Charities provided 110 pregnancy support services and 2,414 counseling sessions.

In 2013 Catholic Charities provided help to 61 teen moms with parenting classes, support groups, and resources for their babies.

A homeless man came for food recently. He had not eaten in a coupl a table with a placemat and table service. He just stood there, looking a stammered that no one had ever treated him with such kindness.

In 2013 Catholic Charities fulfilled 32,500 requests for food, distribu

Each year, Catholic Charities serves more than 18,000 people adoptions, burial assistance, case coordination for families in crisis, counseling, elder ministry, legal immigration assistance, marriage preparation, material assistance, natural

HE COVER

April 25, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.comiii

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arities Week

building communities, reducing poverty

ave a spare our table: for those the basics, e alone.’

How to reach Catholic Charities ccdoc@charlottediocese.org 800-227-7261

CATHOLIC CHARITIES BY THE NUMBERS IN 2013:

Francis

15,484 people with food and personal care items (clients may come once per month.)

388,024 pounds of food and personal care items distributed 2,414 counseling sessions 1,221 legal immigration services 661 teen parenting services 598 volunteer mentoring services 189 youth-crisis case coordinations 110 pregnancy support services 65 adoption services 120 people buried with dignity 794 refugees received employment, case coordination, translation, and other services 307 refugees resettled from 17 countries 370 couples in marriage preparation workshops 572 seniors in elder ministry events 333 people in natural family planning information and training sessions

Asheville

Greensboro

Murphy

50 Orange St. Asheville, N.C. 28801 828-255-0146

2311 West Cone Blvd., Ste 145 P.O. Box 10635 Greensboro, N.C. 27408 336-288-1984

27 Hatchett St. Murphy, N.C. 28906 828-835-3535

Charlotte 1123 South Church St. Charlotte, N.C. 28203 704-370-3262

Winston-Salem 627 West Second St. P.O. Box 20185 Winston-Salem, N.C. 27101 336-727-0705

Learn more about Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte www.ccdoc.org

CCDOC

CatholicCharitiesDioceseofCharlotte

CCDOCharlotte

Visit your app store to download the free CCDOC app for mobile devices and tablets

EMERGENCY assistance

burial assistance

Nancy: “I am so grateful for this place. I lived in my van, held together with tape, for 4-5 years. We’d still be there if it weren’t for Catholic Charities. I will always be eternally grateful.” (Nancy and her dog Lola)

Thelma: “Losing a loved one is hard enough, but when you have the added problem of inadequate means, that makes it doubly sad for the family. It was such a relief when we learned that Catholic Charities would help bury my niece.”

le days. Staff packed him some food and prepared a hot meal, setting at the table setting, with tears streaming down his cheeks. He

uting 183 tons of food and 11 tons of personal care items.

In 2013 Catholic Charities helped 120 families bury their loved ones with dignity.

refugee ASSISTANCE Catholic Charities’ afterschool program for refugee children helps the children succeed in school and acculturate to life in the United States. Parents express gratitude because they cannot help their children with their homework due to the language barrier.

Catholic Charities also helps parents communicate with the schools.

Teachers and parents note improvement in academics and behavior.

Elementary and high school students in the program were exposed to different careers during Career Month. Here elementaryschool children show off their stethoscopes with volunteer Cindy.

As a result of the medical field presentation, a high school student decided she wants to be a nurse.

In 2013 Catholic Charities provided employment assistance, case coordination, translation, and other services to 794 refugees, including 307 new arrivals from 17 countries.

people across western North Carolina, providing these services: natural family planning, pregnancy support, refugee resettlement and assistance, respect life, social concerns and advocacy, teen parent services, and youth-in-crisis assistance.

Our schools 16

catholicnewsherald.com | April 25, 2014 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Photos by Doreen Sugierski | Catholic News Herald

(Above) Derek Febo works with aviation teacher Bill Fountain.

(At left) Christ the King High School student Matthew Marenna uses the flight simulator in the high school’s state-of-the-art aviation classes.

(At top) Evan Hendrickson studies during one of Fountain’s classes.

Learning to fly Aviation classes at Christ the King High School help students take flight SueAnn Howell Senior reporter

HUNTERSVILLE — For students at Christ the King High School, dreams of soaring high in the sky are taking flight, thanks to two state-of-the-art aeronautics classes.

Teacher Bill Fountain, who served in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years and is now a member of the Civil Air Patrol, teaches the two courses, Introduction to Aviation and Aeronautical Sciences. Fountain is a Federal Aviation Administration certified flight instructor and uses an FAA-approved flight simulator.

The introductory course is meant to give a basic understanding of aerodynamics, airplane systems, aeronautical charts, pilot communications and basic navigation skills. The Aeronautical Sciences course is a cross-curricular exploration of math, physics, engineering, weather, history, anatomy and physiology.

One of the primary tools students use in the class is the Redbird TD G-1000 Basic Aviation Training Device

– a flight simulator equipped with a yoke, rudders and a throttle quadrant, giving them the experience of flying a small plane.

“We were awarded a $6,000 grant from the MACS Education Foundation in 2012 to help purchase the $8,000 simulator,” Fountain said. “I try to give the students as much time as I can in the simulator so they can actually, taxi around an airport, take off, fly a certain altitude and land at that airport or another one on the simulator.”

Students who complete the introduction course and then successfully complete the advanced class have a lot to look forward to, he said.

“The Aeronautical Sciences course is designed to further understanding of the wonder and science of flight.

Students completing this course are fully prepared to take the FAA Private Pilot Knowledge Exam.”

This is great news for students interested in pursuing solo flight opportunities, because they can begin as early as 16 years old and be a licensed pilot as early as 17.

Junior Matthew Marrena said, “The whole point of this class is so that by the time we graduate we can get our private pilot’s license. Our simulator helps us fly because we can’t go flying every weekend.”

Derek Febo, a sophomore, said he enjoys the class because “it gives you the opportunity to experience something most schools don’t. It’s really fun. We learn not just how to fly, but the science of it.”

Both aviation courses offer ample field trip opportunities – literally. Fountain makes it a priority to take his students

to nearby air fields so they can witness aviation close up and talk to professionals in the field.

“It’s a lot of fun for the students,” he said. “I try to take a field trip once a month, so we make at least five field trips during the semester.”

Bradley Hlebak, a sophomore, said he likes “being able to get out and fly. And I like that the simulator helps us to get our pilot’s license. I’ve thought about going into the military and flying in the Air Force.”

Fountain likes to keep the class size small so the students can get ample time on the simulator.

Sophomore Evan Hendrickson said, “It provides us with a unique opportunity. Not many kids our age can take classes even remotely close to this. Having a smaller class is beneficial because it also allows us opportunities that we wouldn’t normally have.”

“We are just beginning on the simulator,” Fountain explained. “There are a lot of growth parameters on the simulator that we haven’t even touched yet. We can use it for logging actual hours for pilots. There’s the possibility of adding a course for instrument flying.”

He enjoys sharing his love of flying with his students and also hopes to bring the Civil Air Patrol to the high school. He has taken many of his students up in a small plane to experience the joy of flying firsthand.

“Sharing your passion with other people is a kick in itself. You have fun doing things you enjoy and sharing that with other people. I enjoy sharing that. I’ve been doing that most of my life.”

April 25, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

17

Open Coaching Positions

Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School has the following coaching positions open for the 2014-2015 school year.

Head JV Volleyball Coach - Assistant Football Coach Assistant Varsity Girls’ Volleyball Coach Charlotte Catholic lacrosse midfielder Natalie Wallon recently scored her 200th career-goal.

These are paid stipend positions. If interested, please contact Jeff Stoller at js@bmhs.us

Photo provided by Randy Rimland of Carolina Sports Photography

Lacrosse player doesn’t take playing for top-ranked Charlotte Catholic lightly David Exum Correspondent

CHARLOTTE — Charlotte Catholic High School girls’ lacrosse player Natalie Wallon is a shining example of a selfless studentathlete. When asked to recall scoring her 200th career-goal earlier this season, the junior midfielder credits her teammates.

“Playing lacrosse to me isn’t about statistics,” says Wallon. “It’s more about being on a team and that’s why I enjoy lacrosse, because it’s like having a whole set of sisters.

It’s not really an individual thing. It might not be like that on other teams, but for us, we all strive to make each other better.”

Making each other better is certainly something the Cougars do well. For instance, the team, coached by Denise Bier, is currently undefeated in conference play at 7-0 and 13-1, overall. The team has also won six straight games and are nationally ranked as the top team in the state by Laxpower.com.

Wallon, who recently made a verbal commitment to Syracuse University, says her success is due to her strong Catholic faith.

While she and her family are parishioners at St. Matthew Church in Charlotte, Wallon didn’t attend Catholic school during her formative years, but once she enrolled at Charlotte Catholic as a freshman, she knew this was where she wanted to be.

“Honestly, it has been such a great experience for me,” says Wallon. “It’s awesome to be able to go into school and know that you can pray before every class. It really has brought me so much closer to God, and everyone there is so much like a family. It’s such a great feeling to wake up in the morning and think, ‘This friend is going to be there, and that friend is going to be there.’ It’s also great that everyone can unite around one another (in terms) of having the same faith.”

Playing for Charlotte Catholic is uniquely special to Wallon, and the aspiring sports broadcaster doesn’t take it for granted.

“It means a lot to have Catholic across your jersey and it’s something we all truly try to represent,” says Wallon, who first started playing lacrosse as a third-grader and plays club lacrosse for Midwestern Force.

Wallon’s father says he is extremely proud of his daughter’s accomplishments, including her modesty.

“I’ve had people tell me that you wouldn’t even know Natalie has scored that many goals,” says Ray Wallon. “She’s done well at Charlotte Catholic.”

Although Wallon will be away from home for the first time in her life when she attends Syracuse in the fall of 2015, she already has a number of relatives in the area who are

looking forward to seeing her play.

“Both my wife and I grew up in Syracuse, so for her to go to Syracuse is terrific,” says Ray. “We have a large amount of family in Syracuse. We’re very proud not only for her athletic accomplishments, but for also all of what she’s accomplished at (Charlotte Catholic). The whole way it all played out – we couldn’t ask for anything better for her.”

Before verbally committing to play at Syracuse, Wallon was highly recruited from numerous colleges across the country to play lacrosse. It came down to either the University of Notre Dame or Syracuse.

“When I went up to Syracuse, I immediately realized this was the place I needed to be,” says Wallon. “My family is up there and the lacrosse is played at the kind of intensity that I wanted. I’m more than excited to be able to play for Coach (Gary) Gait – he’s such an inspiration.”

Another big factor concerning her decision to play at Syracuse was definitely the family-type atmosphere she received from the players, she adds.

Wallon doesn’t take for granted that she needs to continually work on her game.

Despite her numerous accolades and statistical accomplishments at Charlotte Catholic, Wallon is a student of the game and is always looking for ways to improve.

“The goalies are getting better and better and I have to keep working on my shooting,” she says. “I love re-defending and chasing somebody down for the check.”

Bier has also been instrumental in not only improving Wallon’s play on the field, but also in the classroom. Bier also teaches math at the school.

“Coach Bier is one of the most influential people that I have had in my entire life,” says Wallon. “When you show up for practice, you don’t want to goof around. You want to be there because she’s giving her time to you, and we all understand that. She’s somebody you never want to let down. I’m always thinking, ‘What would Coach Bier do in this situation?’”

Even though Wallon still has a year to go at Charlotte Catholic, she is extremely grateful to her parents, teammates, fellow students, friends and teachers. Wallon is also appreciative for the friendship and guidance she’s received over the years from senior mid-fielder and co-captain Emma Jette.

“Ever since I’ve been on the team, she’s kind of taken me under her wing,” says Wallon. “Emma has always been there for me and supported me. She made me feel comfortable on the team in my freshman year. When you’re a little freshman on the varsity team, it can be kind of scary, and she really made it more comfortable for me.”

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18

catholicnewsherald.com | April 25, 2014 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief

food items and turkeys in preparation of Easter food baskets for families in need.

Pictured are (from left): Annabel Knapke, Ashley Pritchett, Isaac Kohl, Marco Errichiello, Lindsay Truong, Phoebe Meadows, Dallas James, Clifford Thomas, Kerry Garner and Kaitlin Stone.

— Jean Navarro

fifth- through eighth-grade students showcased their basketball talents. Pictured from left are Sienna Arnold and Coach Kristin Shelton.

— Jean Navarro

Battle of the Books GREENSBORO — The St. Pius X School Battle of the Books Team placed second in this year’s district Battle of the Books competition.

— Jean Navarro

Stations of the Cross come alive at St. Mark’s

St. Leo students perform living Stations WINSTON-SALEM — The eighth-grade class at St. Leo School presented Living Stations of the Cross on April 16. Students from varying grades, representing the 12 Apostles, reenacted the Last Supper, and then the eighthgraders depicted each Station for the entire student body, teachers and staff, parents and grandparents.

Jumping rope for heart health

SPX choir performs National Anthem

GREENSBORO — St. Pius X School recently held a Jump Rope for Heart/Hoops for Heart assembly to support the American Heart Association. Kindergarten through fourth-grade students performed jump rope routines, and the

GREENSBORO — The St. Pius X School Choir performed the National Anthem on March 6, during the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament played in Greensboro.

— Jean Navarro

— Donna Birkel

SPX collects food for Easter baskets GREENSBORO — St. Pius X School students recently participated in a parish-wide Easter stewardship project by donating non-perishable

HUNTERSVILLE — Fifth-grade students at St. Mark School presented the Stations of the Cross on April 16 at St. Mark Church. The cast included: Joseph Sides as Jesus; Connor Milligan, narrator for Jesus; Sarah Imhoff as Mary; Sophia King as Veronica; Eric Buchsbaum as Simon; Joshua Angell as Joseph; Charlie Boone as Pontius Pilate and as John; Timothy Connery, Alec Hubbard, Ian Woodworth and Charlie Edmiston as Roman soldiers; Julia Fishbaugh, Kaeden Frino, Sydney Burke, Jacquelyn Wignot, Madison Francis, Elise Ippolito and Grace Griffith as narrators; Kaitlyn Hull, Cara Setzer, Alexa Camatcho, Bethany Jackson and Maria Bohn as the weeping women; and Ellie Burger, Julie Pugh, Anne Hillman, Emily Kramlick and Caroline Edwards as members of the crowd.

— Amy Burger

“Everything we needed in terms of our faith was right here.”

—Joe and Helen Drozd, Pennybyrn residents

This beautiful community captures the heart and soul of the Catholic faith.

“We looked at a number of communities,” says Helen Drozd, “and came to see Pennybyrn because it was Catholic. As soon as we arrived we realized it was where we wanted to be.”

The Sisters of the Poor Servants of the Mother of God founded what would later become Pennybyrn at Maryfield. Today, Mass is celebrated daily, two Catholic chapels grace the community and several retired priests reside here. “We feel this is holy ground,” says Helen.

“We were also looking for a continuum of care,” noted Joe, “because my mother had been living with us, and she needed a higher level of care.” Pennybyrn allowed the three of them to move to the community together. “Joe’s mom had probably the best three years of her life here,” says Helen.

Pennybyrn’s location is ideal for the couple. They appreciate the amenities, and love the ambiance and beauty of the 71-acre campus, with its well-kept grounds and winding paths. “I attend swimming classes, and Joe uses the fitness center,” says Helen. “There are concerts and activities all the time, and at dinnertime we have our choice of venues, with a friendly wait staff and an expansive menu.”

“We chose to move to Pennybyrn because it simply felt unlike any other community we visited,” says Helen.

Call 336-821-4050 to receive the popular Planning Guide for Seniors or details about one of our Discover Pennybyrn events.

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CNH

April 25, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

Where are you going?

QUO VADIS DAYS II

JUNE 23-27, 2014 * Belmont Abbey College A camp for Catholic men ages 15-25 to learn more about the priesthood, deepen their faith, and help discern God’s call in their lives.

www.charlottediocese.org/vocations

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Mix 20

catholicnewsherald.com | April 25, 2014 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

issues of religious belief and doubt. A few scenes involving illness and a painful accident might not be suitable for the littlest moviegoers; an unspoken innuendo between husband and wife will sail well over their heads.

CNS: A-I (general patronage); MPAA: PG

In Brief

‘Draft Day’

‘Heaven Is for Real’ After coming close to death during an operation, a 4-year-old boy (Connor Corum) startles his Wesleyan minister father (Greg Kinnear) and choir-director mother (Kelly Reilly) by announcing that he visited heaven and met Jesus as well as two deceased family members. But his matter-of-fact statements about paradise stir controversy in his family’s smalltown Nebraska community and, ironically, provoke a crisis of faith for his dad. Director and co-writer Randall Wallace’s adaptation of Todd Burpo’s bestselling account of his son Colton’s experiences is substantial and moving, thanks in large part to the mature way in which it grapples with fundamental

Producer-director Ivan Reitman tackles the National Football League draft in this rather parochial sports drama about the extreme measures professional teams will take to sign the top players coming out of college. The film centers on the fictitious general manager (Kevin Costner) of the real-life Cleveland Browns who’s beset by troubles as the annual process begins. His colleague and girlfriend (Jennifer Garner) has announced she’s pregnant. His acerbic mother (Ellen Burstyn) is a mess, grieving the death of her husband, the former Browns coach. The present occupant of that job (Denis Leary) has threatened to quit. And the owner (Frank Langella) is expecting big results from the draft. Things begin to look up thanks to a deal with a rival team involving the rights to a star quarterback (Josh Pence), but the bargain seems too good to be true. Ultimately, “Draft Day” is for confirmed football fans. Others will wish they had a rulebook to follow all the complex regulations as well as a guide to the many cameo appearances by celebrity players and sports announcers. A premarital situation, frequent profanity and rough language.

CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: PG-13

Additional reviews: n ‘Oculus’: CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: PG: R n ‘Rio 2’: CNS: A-I (general patronage); MPAA: G

Divine Mercy Sunday Celebrate Canonization of Divine Mercy Saints: Saint John Paul II and Saint John XXIII

On TV n Saturday, April 26, 10 p.m. (EWTN) “Pope John Paul II Canonization Celebration and Vigil.” Live from the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez leads an evening vigil of song, praise and worship in honor of Blessed John Paul II’s canonization. n Sunday, April 27, 5 p.m. (EWTN) “Living Mercy.” Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church’s amazing impact on the Baton Rouge, La., community, through their devotion to the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. n Sunday, April 27, 7 p.m. (EWTN) “Holy Mass and Canonizations of Blessed John XXIII and Blessed John Paul II.” From Vatican City, Pope Francis canonizes his predecessors John XXIII and John Paul II. n Monday, April 28, 10:30 a.m.

(EWTN) “Pope John XXIII: The Saint.”

A documentary on the incredible contributions of John XXIII to the Church and to the world, featuring historic footage from the Vatican Archives and interviews with many on his legacy including his grand-nephew, Marco Roncalli. n Wednesday, April 30, 5:30 p.m. (EWTN) “Super Saints: St. Catherine of Siena.” Go to Siena and St. Dominic’s Church where she went into ecstasy. Walk through her home where she was mystically married to Jesus; see the cross where she received the Stigmata. Go to Avignon, France where she convinced the pope to

return to Rome. n Thursday, May 1, 10 p.m. (EWTN) “In the Footsteps of John Paul the Great.”

A walking pilgrimage with Joanna Bogle and Clare Anderson through the villages and cities in Poland where Karol Wojtyla was born, studied, hid from Nazis and lived as Archbishop of Krakow. n Thursday, May 1, 11 p.m. (EWTN) “Defending Life: Recall Abortion.” Janet Morana and Father Denis Wilde look at why abortion is a hazardous product and that the federal government should remove it from the marketplace. n Friday, May 2, 7 a.m. (EWTN) “Chaplet of St. Michael.” Mother Angelica and the Nuns of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery ask for the intercession of the Prince of the Heavenly Hosts and the nine Choirs of Angels, as they pray the chaplet of St. Michael. n Sunday, May 4, 6 a.m. (EWTN) “Regina Caeli with Pope Francis.” Pope Francis recites the glorious prayer to Our Lady Queen of Heaven: The Regina Caeli. n Monday, May 5, 2:30 p.m. (EWTN) “Super Saints - St. Peregrine.” Bob and Penny Lord visit Forli, Italy, to trace the life of St. Peregrine, who was a member of the Servite order and is the patron of cancer patients. n Monday, May 5, 6:30 a.m. (EWTN) “God in Tibet.” Examine life in Seisong, Tibet, a village of 600, where more than 80 percent of the families are Catholic.

Due to Communism, there are no priests available to lead the faithful.

Divine Mercy Sunday On Divine Mercy Sunday April 27, 2014 April 27, 2014 2:45pm Honoring Canonized 2:45pmasHonoring Canonized Popes Advocates of Mercy Popes as Advocates of Mercy 3:00 pm Hour of Great Mercy 3:00pm Hour of Great Mercy

3:00pm Hour of Great Mercy includes Prayer, Exposition of The Blessed Sacrament, Singing of The Chaplet of The Divine Mercy, Veneration of The Divine Mercy Image and Benediction Light Refreshments will follow in the Banquet Room

St. Matthew Catholic Church 8015 Ballantyne Commons Parkway, Charlotte NC 28277, 704-543-7677

April 25, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

21

KERIN: FROM PAGE 3

Catholic churches.

From 1958 to 1960, he served as a teacher and counselor at Notre Dame High School in Greensboro, and then from 1960 to 1966 he served simultaneously as pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Tryon and as administrator and principal of Asheville Catholic High School. In his 2012 interview with the Catholic News Herald, Monsignor Kerin recalled that he “thoroughly enjoyed” working in the schools.

He became pastor of Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Charlotte and volunteered to join the Charlotte diocese when it was created in 1972.

Then, Charlotte Bishop Michael Begley sent him to Mexico City for two years to serve at a mission jointly operated by the Raleigh and Charlotte dioceses. It proved to be an invaluable experience for the non-Spanishspeaking priest, he recalled.

“It was another new experience that really was a great help to me,” he said. “It was a growing experience being thrown into a totally different culture.”

BUILDING UP THE CHURCH

Upon his return in 1975, he served briefly as administrator of St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte, then he became pastor of Our Lady of Mercy Church in WinstonSalem and vicar of the Winston-Salem Vicariate. In 1977 he returned to Charlotte as rector of St. Patrick Cathedral.

Starting in 1977 he also served as director of the Centro Católico Hispano (Hispanic Catholic Center) in Charlotte, where he helped lead efforts to serve the growing Hispanic Catholic community over the next decade.

He also served as state chaplain of the Knights of Columbus from 1977 to 1979.

In 1979 Bishop Begley asked him to succeed Monsignor Joseph Showfety as the second chancellor of the diocese, where he was responsible for the diocese’s day-to-day operation.

He greatly enjoyed being a “pastor to the pastors” for seven years, he recalled. Those associated with the diocese at its beginning use words like “exciting” and “awesome” to describe what life was like. There was a pioneering sense of starting something new. The diocese was also small enough for most priests to know one another, and the diocese’s administration consisted of the bishop, his secretary, the chancellor and his secretary and one bookkeeper.

In his 2012 interview, Monsignor Kerin described the atmosphere as friendly and informal.

“There was a sense of a North Carolina spirit of the Church. The lay people and the priests had a sense that they were missioners,” he said.

He found being chancellor was an interesting job and considered his role primarily to help pastors do their jobs, he said.

“It was a most pleasant time for me. The diocese was growing. We started out as a relatively large diocese (geographically), and I was able to see the continuing development of it.”

In addition, after Pope Paul VI approved the U.S. bishops’ request to revive the permanent diaconate in 1968, Monsignor Kerin chaired the diocese’s planning committee to study the potential for a Permanent Diaconate Program here. That effort bore fruit in 1983, with the ordination of the diocese’s first deacons.

PRIEST: FROM PAGE 3

Charlotte and third chancellor “Monsignor Kerin was appreciative of the deacons who served him. Even at the Maryfield Chapel he was kind to those of us who assisted him at Mass. He was a cheerful man whose first advice to all was ‘smile at people and be happy’ – and that is how he lived.”

— Deacon Ron Steinkamp, director of the diocese’s permanent diaconate program “I was fortunate to have been a charter member of both St. Matthew and St. Mark

sueann howell | catholic news herald

During the recessional at the conclusion of the funeral Mass for Monsignor Joseph Kerin, Monsignor Joseph S. Showfety bid farewell to his longtime friend, touching the casket as he left the church. Monsignor Kerin succeeded Monsignor Showfety as chancellor of the Diocese of Charlotte in 1979.

ST. MATTHEW AND ST. MARK PARISHES

After Monsignor Kerin expressed a desire to return to parish ministry in 1986, Bishop Donoghue named him the first pastor of the newly established St. Matthew Parish in south Charlotte. The parish is now the largest in the diocese and one of the largest in the country with more than 28,000 parishioners.

In 1996 he was granted a request for a sabbatical to attend the Vatican II Institute in Menlo Park, Calif. Shortly after his return to the diocese, Bishop William G. Curlin named him pastor of the newly formed St. Mark Parish in Huntersville. It has grown to become the second largest parish in the diocese.

Monsignor Kerin served St. Mark Parish until his retirement in 2003.

parishes under the guidance of beloved Father Kerin. He was a wonderful pastoral leader ... tough, yet kind and generous. It didn’t surprise me when I learned that he had been an educator earlier in his priesthood – his homilies always contained practical lessons to help us in our journey toward sainthood, and often resonated long after Mass was over. Our diocese was truly blessed to have had such a wonderful priest.”

— Linda Spagnolo Mitchell “I attended Asheville Catholic High School, 1960-1964, when Father Kerin was principal. I remember vividly a bus trip to the Piedmont for the girls’ and boys’ basketball teams to play our Catholic conference foes. On the return, late at night, Father Kerin and some of the boys, including Gene Gray, our only African-American player on the trip, walked into a diner with anticipation of

Both St. Matthew and St. Mark named their parish centers in his honor.

Blessed John Paul II named him a Prelate of Honor in 1988.

“I feel I have been blessed with a very rich experience in this life,” Monsignor Kerin said in his 2012 interview. “I loved getting into things that were new. That was always exciting. Coming down here has been a great blessing.”

Monsignor Kerin is predeceased by his eight siblings: Dominican Sister Gertrude Mary Kerin, Dominican Sister Thomas Mary, Thomas F. Kerin Jr., Marian Kerin, Theresa Kerin, Evelyn J. Kerin, Lorraine Kerin Hoyt and James Kerin.

Harry & Bryant Co. was in charge of the arrangements.

ordering late night snacks for everyone on the bus. Next thing I remember is the whole group reboarding the bus after the owner refused to serve Gene Gray. Father Kerin made the decision that intolerance would not be tolerated. It was my first awareness of racism. It was a life lesson learned from Father Kerin, and I think of it often.”

— Ann Garrity “I was one of the original ‘St. John’s Boys,’ those of us who left home at an early age to live at St. John Vianney Hall at Asheville Catholic High School. Father Kerin came to be a surrogate father to me. He provided me with a grounding in what was good and necessary to become a man. He was a true priest.”

— Pete Harmatuk “Some 20-plus years ago I helped a

recently arrived Mexican girl prepare for first reconciliation and first Holy Communion at St. Thomas Aquinas. Father Kerin came all the way up just to hear her first confession in Spanish.”

— Margie McGinley Henry “If it weren’t for Monsignor Kerin, I would not have been able to adopt my daughter from China. He then also baptized my daughter. My life has been forever changed because of his kindness and guidance.”

— Bernadette Zello Simpson “His go-to phrase for all spiritual direction: ‘This, too, shall pass.’ His patience and steadfast faithfulness helped me through a great many dark times in my life. He will be missed!”

— William S. Griffith IV

Our nation 22

catholicnewsherald.com | April 25, 2014 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

White House Easter event tempers somber events with Christian hope WASHINGTON, D.C. — An Easter prayer breakfast at the White House April 14 started on a somber note as President Barack Obama acknowledged the deaths the day before of three people who were killed by a gunman at two Jewish facilities in Overland Park, Kan. The breakfast, a tradition begun by Obama and held around Easter each year, brings together Christian religious leaders from across the country.

In his remarks, the president quoted Pope Francis, with whom Obama met at the Vatican March 27. He said he felt the spirit of the hope of the Resurrection and of following Jesus when he met Pope Francis.

“Those of us of the Christian faith, regardless of our denomination, have been touched and moved by Pope Francis,” Obama said. “Some of it is his words – his message of justice and inclusion, especially for the poor and the outcast.

He implores us to see the inherent dignity in each human being. But it’s also his deeds, simple yet profound – hugging the homeless man, and washing the feet of somebody who normally ordinary folks would just pass by on the street.

He reminds us that all of us, no matter what our station, have an obligation to live righteously, and that we all have an obligation to live humbly.

Because that’s, in fact, the example that we profess to follow.”

— Catholic News Service

Killings at Jewish community center mourned; Catholic woman among dead Catholic News Service

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Outpourings of grief and support came in response to the murder of three people at two Jewishrun facilities in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park April 13, the day before the Jewish feast of Passover began.

Although none of the three dead were Jewish, local police and the FBI labeled the killings a hate crime the day after the shootings. A former Ku Klux Klan leader with a history of anti-Semitism was charged in connection with the killings.

One of the dead was a Catholic woman, Terri LaManno of Kansas City. She was at Village Shalom, where Frazier Glenn Cross, according to police, headed after allegedly shooting a doctor and his teenage grandson at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City a mile away.

LaManno was a member of St. Peter Parish in Kansas City. Her mother lives at Village Shalom, an assisted living residence near the community center.

The married mother of two collegeage children, LaManno, 53, worked an occupational therapist at the Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired, according to the Kansas City Star.

The newspaper reported that a rosary

was said for LaManno after Mass April 14.

“I express my deepest condolences to the Jewish community for the unspeakable act of violence that occurred on their campus on Sunday,” said Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City in an April 13 statement.

“Our prayers also extend to the Methodist Church of the Resurrection for the loss they feel as a congregation, and to all the families who have experienced pain, sorrow and loss because of this event,” Archbishop Naumann added. The other two victims, Dr. William Lewis Corporon, 69, and 14-year-old Reat Griffin Underwood, were members of that congregation.

“I will remember all of you as we enter this prayerful time of remembrance – Holy Week and Passover,” Archbishop Naumann said.

The American Jewish Committee lamented the killings in an April 13 statement.

“Our hearts go out to the victims of this heartbreaking tragedy,” said AJC executive director David Harris.

“As we await more details on the attack and its motive, we join in solidarity with the entire Kansas City area community, both Jewish and non-Jewish, in expressing shock, sadness and dismay,” Harris added. “We

can’t help but note that this attack comes on the eve of Passover, a celebration of Jewish freedom from oppression and violence.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Washington-based Muslim advocacy group, said U.S. Muslims “stood in solidarity” with American Jews in the wake of the attacks, which also critically wounded a 15-year-old boy.

Cross, 73, who also has used the name Frazier Glenn Miller, or simply Glenn Miller, was caught by a television camera shouting “Heil Hitler!” inside a police car after his arrest.

An April 15 AP story said that Cross was charged with one count of capital murder for the deaths of the 14-year-old and his grandfather and one count of first-degree premediated murder for the killing of LaManno. Cross was being held on $10 million bond and was to appear in court the afternoon of April 15.

When he heard about the Overland Park shootings, Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik said, “I felt sick: Not again. Not ever again.” For the Pittsburgh area, he said, the news was “doubly painful,” because southwestern Pennsylvania was still reeling from the stabbing rampage at an area high school just days earlier.

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In Brief Abortion bill opponents called ‘extreme’ dies in Colo. Senate DENVER — A day after more than 1,000 pro-lifers joined Denver’s archbishop in a prayer rally to oppose a bill that would have established abortion as a “fundamental right” in Colorado, Democratic senators in the state Legislature late April 16 tabled a vote on the measure indefinitely, effectively killing it for the session.

At the rally Denver Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila told the crowd, “The main concern many have about this bill is that it is both extreme and dangerously ambiguous. Contrary to what some reports may have tried to pass off as factual, this legislation does indeed open the door to challenge existing regulations, particularly through the court system. Anyone who claims that this law will have no material effect is either naive or disingenuous,” he said.

The bill, S.B. 175, was introduced by state Democratic Sens. Andy Kerr and Jeanne Nicholson. On April 10, the measure passed on a 4-3 party line vote by the Democratic-majority Senate Health and Human Services Committee and went to the Senate floor. A hearing scheduled for April 15 was postponed because a legislator went home ill and was rescheduled for the next day. Late the night of April 16 a couple of Democrats were undecided on the bill, so it was tabled.

Catholic Mutual Group marks 125th anniversary OMAHA, Neb. — From its founding 125 years ago by six Midwestern bishops looking to obtain reasonably priced insurance on their churches, Omaha-based Catholic Mutual Group has grown to become the primary provider of property and casualty coverage for the Catholic Church in North America. And this year, the not-for-profit organization, owned by the Catholic Church, is celebrating its anniversary by honoring founding and current members and employees, and by building on accomplishments that began when the first coverage was written Feb. 1, 1889.

“Our success is predicated on the support we get from our member dioceses and religious orders,” said Michael Intrieri, president and CEO. “Without them, we wouldn’t have the success we have today.”

That support comes from across North America, as Catholic Mutual Group provides coverage and other services, such as comprehensive risk management, claims administration and an employee benefit buying alliance program for 111 dioceses in the United States (including the Diocese of Charlotte), 17 dioceses in Canada and more than 200 religious orders and Catholic institutions. Those Catholic organizations are served by about 250 Catholic Mutual employees, including 150 in Omaha and about 100 employees in 35 service offices from New Orleans to Toronto, said Intrieri.

Va. bishops: Health care must protect everyone, ‘born and unborn’ RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia’s two Catholic bishops have urged the state’s lawmakers to enact health care reforms “that cover everyone and protect everyone, born and unborn.” An April 11 statement issued by Bishops Francis X. DiLorenzo of Richmond and Paul S. Loverde of Arlington was prompted by the Virginia General Assembly’s ongoing debate over health care reform during a special session on the state budget.

According to AP, one of the issues facing law makers is what to do about Medicaid expansion, which has resulted in an impasse, delaying passage of a state budget. Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe and the Democrat majority in the Senate, with the support of three Republicans, want to expand Medicaid eligibility to about 400,000 low-income residents. House Republicans oppose the Senate’s proposal.

“The current debate over health care and the state budget is, at its heart, about Virginia’s poorest and most vulnerable people,” said Bishops DiLorenzo and Loverde. “For this reason, it is one we bishops care about deeply, and are actively engaged in through our Virginia Catholic Conference.” The conference is the public policy arm of the Catholic Church in Virginia.

The bishops said their advocacy on the issue of health care “is informed by the Church’s teaching that, first, everyone has the right to life, and second, health care is a right – not a privilege – that flows from the right to life itself. This understanding transcends the categories of left and right, liberal and conservative, Democrat and Republican,” they said. “It applies to all members of the human family – born and unborn, affluent and poor, insured and uninsured.”

Miss.Catholic advocates win victories in legislative session JACKSON, Miss. — Catholic advocates scored a few victories in Mississippi’s 2014 legislative session, including passage of the criminal justice reform bill and a ban on abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. Other issues, such as Medicaid expansion, again languished. The criminal justice reform bill was signed into law April 1 by Gov. Phil Bryant and will go into effect July 1.

The bill includes the opportunity for addicts to go to drug courts and get treatment instead of just serving jail time. It provides new guidelines on the minimum amount of time served and offers other options to prevent jailing people with probation violations.

The bill saw many revisions during the legislative process, but advocates are pleased with the start of what they hope will be more comprehensive reforms to come. Andre de Gruy, a member of the Criminal Justice Task Force that wrote the bill, said it will “lead to tremendous improvement in the criminal justice system but it is just a beginning.” For example, the law will significantly expand eligibility for drug courts but the funding for the expansion has not been provided.

USCCB releases resource guide on Girl Scouts for Catholics WASHINGTON, D.C. — Responding to concerns about Catholic involvement with Girl Scouts, a U.S. bishops’ committee released key points from its dialogue with Girl Scout leaders outlining major concerns of Church leaders and the national organization’s responses.

The aim of the resource, issued April 2 by the bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, was not to support or oppose Catholic involvement with Girl Scouts of the USA, known as GSUSA, but to provide local bishops, pastors, youth leaders and parents with necessary information to determine their level of involvement. Catholics have been affiliated with Girl Scouts for 100 years and there are an estimated 400,000 Catholic girls among the nation’s 3 million Girl Scouts.

In the past few years, questions about the organization have sparked online discussions, boycotts of Girl Scout cookies and the ousting of troops from Catholic parishes. Concerns have been raised about the Girl Scouts’ relationship with Planned Parenthood and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, known as WAGGGS. There also have been questions about the organization’s policy on human sexuality and contraception and its program materials and resources.

— Catholic News Service

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catholicnewsherald.com | April 25, 2014 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Easter proclaims that love gives life, pope says; share it with others Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis urged Christians to remember how they first encountered Christ and to share His love and mercy with others, especially through acts of caring and sharing.

Proclaiming the good news of Jesus’ resurrection means giving concrete witness “to unconditional and faithful love,” he said April 20 before solemnly giving his blessing “urbi et orbi” (“to the city and the world”).

Celebrating the second Easter of his pontificate, the pope told at least 150,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square and on adjacent streets that evangelization “is about leaving ourselves behind and encountering others, being close to those crushed by life’s troubles, sharing with the needy, standing at the side of the sick, elderly and the outcast.”

Whatever is going on in one’s life, he said from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, Jesus’ victory over sin and death demonstrates that “love is more powerful, love gives life, love makes hope blossom in the wilderness.”

Overlooking the square where he had just celebrated Easter morning Mass surrounded by hundreds of flowering trees and bushes and thousands of daffodils, tulips and roses, Pope Francis said Christians proclaim to the world that “Jesus, love incarnate, died on the cross for our sins, but God the Father raised Him and made Him the Lord of life and death.”

In his Easter message, the pope prayed that the risen Lord would “help

us to overcome the scourge of hunger, aggravated by conflicts and by the immense wastefulness for which we are often responsible.” He also prayed that Christians would be given the strength “to protect the vulnerable, especially children, women and the elderly, who are at times exploited and abandoned.”

The pope offered special prayers for those facing serious difficulties and threats in various parts of the world: for victims of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa; the victims of kidnapping; migrants and refugees; and for the victims of war and conflict in Syria, Iraq, Central African Republic, Nigeria, South Sudan and Venezuela.

In his “urbi et orbi” message, the pope offered special prayers for peace in Ukraine, a country with various Orthodox, Eastern Catholic and Latin-rite Catholic communities.

The pope prayed that all sides in the current political tensions would avoid violence and, “in a spirit of unity and dialogue, chart a path for the country’s future.”

In his homily Pope Francis, who often tells people to look up the date of their baptism and commemorate it each year, urged people to remember and reflect on the first moment they really recall having encountered Jesus.

Referring to the Easter account from the Gospel of St. Matthew, Pope Francis noted how the women who went to Jesus’ tomb were told first by the angel and then by the risen Lord to await Him in Galilee and tell the disciples to go as well.

“After the death of the Master, the disciples had scattered; their faith had been utterly shaken, everything seemed over,” the pope said. Yet they were told to go back

CNS | Paul Haring

Pope Francis celebrates the Easter Vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican April 19. to Galilee, the place they first met Jesus.

Returning to Galilee, he said, means re-reading everything – “Jesus’ preaching, His miracles, the new community, the excitement and the defections, even the betrayal – to re-read everything starting from the end, which is a new beginning,” one that begins with Jesus’ “supreme act of love” in dying for humanity’s sin.

“Have no fear. Do not be afraid. Have the courage to open your hearts” to the Lord’s love, he said. Returning to Galilee “means treasuring in my heart the living memory” of “the moment when His eyes met mine.”

“Where is my Galilee?” the pope urged people to ask themselves. “Have I forgotten it? Have I gone off on roads and paths which made me forget it?”

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In Brief At Easter, Mideast patriarchs call for peace, especially in Syria BEIRUT — Catholic patriarchs in the Middle East, in their Easter messages, appealed for peace in Syria and expressed hope that the region would experience a resurrection.

Melkite Catholic Patriarch Gregoire III Laham, who was born in Syria, said his country has “entered upon the fourth year of its way of the cross” but “will one day soon, we hope, reach resurrection joy. I want Damascus and the whole of Syria to live again the joy of (St.) Paul when he met Christ, risen from the dead, at the gate of Damascus,” the patriarch said in his Easter message, issued ahead of the April 20 feast.

On Easter, he visited the ancient city of Maaloula, Syria, with Orthodox Patriarch John X of Antioch and all the East. “We don’t want any more martyrs,” Patriarch Laham said in his message.

“We don’t want any more orphans! We don’t want more widows and more mothers losing their children! We don’t want any more millions of children traumatized! Enough wounded!

Enough handicapped, mutilated or disfigured!

Enough of people haunted by fear, hatred and bitterness! Enough kidnappings and extortions!” the patriarch said.

He appealed to the world “in the name of the poor, weak, widows, victims, mortally wounded, mutilated, disfigured, displaced persons, refugees, homeless, hungry, children, the elderly, pregnant women, handicapped, all those in despair, pain and discouragement – such as I often encounter at the Syrian-Lebanese border when travelling from Beirut to Damascus, or during my visits to families of victims and disaster-stricken people. They are burdened by fear about the future and the fate of their families, children and young people.”

Pope: Easter should last all week VATICAN CITY — Trusting that people took his Lenten advice and either downloaded a Bible app or bought a pocket-sized edition of the Gospels, Pope Francis encouraged Christians to re-read the accounts of the Resurrection during Easter week.

“Remember this week to pick up the Gospels, find the chapters about the Resurrection and read them – a passage from those chapters each day. This would do us good,” the pope said April 21, Easter Monday.

At midday on the Italian holiday, the pope led the recitation of the “Regina Coeli,” the Marian prayer used from Easter to Pentecost. With thousands of visitors gathered in St. Peter’s

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Square, Pope Francis stood in the window of the papal apartment he chose not to live in and urged those in the square to let their Easter joy be evident in the way they think and interact with others.

“Let us allow the joyful awe of Easter Sunday radiate in our thoughts, gazes, attitudes, gestures and words,” he said before leading the prayer.

Telling the crowd that they could wish each other Happy Easter all week long, “as if it were just one day, the great day the Lord has made,” he said Christians can learn Easter joy from Mary and the other women who mourned Jesus’ death and were transformed with joy at His rising from the dead.

Pope apologizes for clerical sex abuse VATICAN CITY — “I feel called to take responsibility for all the evil some priests – large in number, but not in proportion to the total – have committed and to ask forgiveness for the damage they’ve done with the sexual abuse of children,” Pope Francis said.

“The Church is aware of this damage” and is committed to strengthening child protection programs and punishing offenders, he told members of the International Catholic Child Bureau during a meeting April 11 at the Vatican.

The remarks appeared to be the pope’s first apology for the abuse scandal, following earlier statements affirming the Vatican’s work investigating and punishing perpetrators, and encouraging bishops to support abuse victims.

The pope also has said the Church deserves to be forced to make monetary settlements to victims. In December, Pope Francis established a Vatican commission to promote improved child protections policies throughout the Church.

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catholicnewsherald.com | April 25, 2014 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

The ethic of life and the death penalty The St. Thomas More Society The St. Thomas More Society Inc. is an independent charitable organization sponsored by members of the North Carolina Bar. We believe that the legal profession is a high calling in which the principal objective of every lawyer should be to promote and seek justice in society.

Ultimately, we believe that the duty of a Christian lawyer is to remain faithful to Jesus Christ and His Church at all times regardless of the personal consequences.

Through fellowship with like-minded lawyers, we strive to support and to assist individual members of the St. Thomas More Society in their own efforts toward incorporating spiritual growth, Christian principles and the pursuit of truth in their spiritual and professional lives.

We look to the example and ideals of St. Thomas More in our pursuit of the highest ethical principles in the legal profession generally and, in particular, in the community of Catholic lawyers. In addition, we encourage interfaith understanding and community, in part through sponsorship of an annual Red Mass to invoke the assistance of the Holy Spirit for the judiciary, lawyers, law enforcement, and other members of the legal community.

I

n November 1998, I sat in a small room at Central Prison in Raleigh, my knees up against the chair in front of me. Less than eight feet away lay my friend and client, John Noland, strapped to a gurney so that he could not move. He turned to look at me, and told me not to worry. The State of North Carolina then injected him with lethal drugs. I watched as he lost consciousness, heaved, convulsed and gasped for more than 10 minutes before he died. Noland, who had a history of psychiatric illness, had killed his father-in-law and sister-in-law in an act of senseless rage 20 years earlier; the State of North Carolina acted with no rage or emotion in deliberately taking his life that November morning. It was an act that I called then, and still believe to be, a deliberate act of madness.

Those who advocate for the death penalty cite one or more of three reasons: (1) to prevent a murderer from killing again, (2) to prevent others from killing, and (3) as necessary justice for the victims. These reasons neither justify the death penalty nor are correct.

In North Carolina, murder is defined by categories: first-degree murder, which is punishable by death, is the unlawful killing of another human being with premeditation and deliberation, or a murder which occurs during the commission of a felony. Since 1994, any person convicted in this state of first-degree murder is automatically sentenced to imprisonment for life without parole. Put simply, there is no parole for those who commit first-degree murder. If convicted of first-degree murder, that person will die in prison. This is, of course, the best preventative. If it is true that killing a person will prevent that person from killing again, putting that same person in prison for life accomplishes nearly the same objective, as the homicide rate in prison is vanishingly small.

There are those who observe that the death penalty frees up otherwise scarce resources that would be spent on warehousing those convicted of first-degree murder.

This argument, however, is false in two ways. First, it equates human life with a simple cost – an argument that can inexorably rationalize a host of actions that violate the ethic of life, including the killing of those who are mentally or physically disabled. In addition, the fact is that the opposite is true: the machinery of death created by North Carolina is actually more expensive that imprisonment for life.

Nor does the death penalty deter other potential murderers. After 30 years of investigating and defending homicides, it is clear to me that murder is not a premeditated choice in which an individual weighs the consequences of his act against the odds of being caught and put to death. It is a crime of emotion, occurring in the heat of argument or passion, typically fueled by mental illness or drugs, and when a deadly weapon (usually a gun) is easily within reach.

Two statistics bear this out. First, there has not been an execution in North Carolina since 2006, and during those eight years, the homicide rate (and the crime rate in general) has dropped across the state. Second, all of the states with the highest homicide rates have the death penalty, while all of the states with the lowest homicide rates do not have the death penalty. Put another way, if consistent and repeated imposition of the death penalty deters murder, then Texas would be the safest state in the country. Needless to say, homicides continue to occur on a regular basis in Texas, and at a rate that is no lower than the national average.

Finally, the death penalty is often justified as justice for the victims, both dead and living. This notion flies against the very essence of Christianity. It denies the possibility of redemption and gives voice to the emotion of revenge. The gospels record Christ feeding the hungry, healing the lame and the sick, and forgiving sinners. His only recorded act of violence was in driving the moneychangers from the temple. And He attended one death penalty trial: that of a woman caught in adultery. Despite the clear dictates of Mosaic law that the adulteress was to die by stoning, Christ moved a mob to forgive her and then did so Himself. In His 33 years, He did not kill. There is simply no room in a consistent Christian ethic of life for retribution as an excuse for taking human life, even when cloaked with the phrase of justice.

More than 30 years ago, Cardinal Joseph Bernadin spoke of the “consistent ethic of life.” Describing the teaching of the Church on issues of life as a “seamless garment,” Cardinal Bernadin wove together opposition to abortion and nuclear war with anti-poverty advocacy and opposition to the death penalty. The seamless garment that embraced each of these issues was, at its core, a statement on human dignity.

Cardinal Bernadin’s formulation eventually found its way into the Catechism of the Catholic Church, most prominently on the death penalty. The Church’s teaching recognizes the legitimacy of the death penalty, but only in the context of “legitimate defense” – that is, a defense necessary to save a life. However, the Catechism also contains this observation and quote from Blessed Pope John Paul II: “Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm – without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself – the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity ‘are very rare, if not practically nonexistent.’”

There are two simple truths in Cardinal Bernadin’s formulation and the teachings of the Church: an authentic ethic of life requires opposition to any act to end life from its conception to its natural end, and there are no circumstances in the modern world which meet the moral definition of “legitimate defense” sufficient to justify judicially imposed death. Both are hard truths, but necessary for one to be truly “pro-life.”

James Cooney is a lawyer in Charlotte and a member of St. Ann Parish. He has defended accused in death penalty cases for 30 years.

Letters to the editor

We should all be concerned about teaching the Catholic faith As a Catholic and a father, I have deep concerns for the Diocese of Charlotte and the state of Catholic education here after recent events at Charlotte Catholic High School. With two daughters currently enrolled there and another who recently graduated, I attended the parents meeting to discuss Sister Jane Dominic Laurel’s lecture on human sexuality.

What transpired at that meeting is tragic, and it was no less than a powder keg that erupted and left all of us wounded.

In my allotted time to speak at the meeting, I was not given the opportunity to share my opinions. Many irate people shouted over my words so that I could not be heard. For the first time in my life, I felt persecuted for my Catholic faith – and this at a Catholic school – as parents joined their children in openly rejecting Church teaching in favor of a secular worldview on homosexuality.

Unfortunately, they are not alone. Many Catholics have come to reject Catholic teachings on same-sex “marriage” and contraception. Under the catch-phrases of “alternative lifestyle” and “God is love,” many Catholics openly accept freewheeling fornication for everyone, with anyone, heterosexual and homosexual alike. While we could blame our society, we should really attribute such disobedience to the poor catechesis we Catholics have received for so many years. This should give us all great cause for concern.

God loves all of His children. All of us, whether heterosexual or homosexual, should be loved, respected and treated with dignity. However, the Church teaches that sexual activity outside the sacrament of marriage is sinful. A Catholic school’s job is to transmit this teaching, along with all of the eternal teachings of Christ and His Holy Church. Yet the transmission of our faith is not the priority of some parents who send their kids to Catholic schools, who instead seek out these institutions for their college application possibilities.

This incident at Charlotte Catholic indicates that we have reached a tipping point in this diocese. The time is now for families, faculty and faith formation directors in every parish to embrace Christ’s teachings. We must be willing to endure suffering as we re-educate others in the deposit of faith that we Catholics share. Most of all, we must pray for the Divine Physician to mend the division that has existed for too long in the Church.

Joseph Warwick lives in Charlotte.

Compassion isn’t the same as tolerance “Be compassionate as my Father is compassionate” (Luke 6:36) is all too often twisted into something tantamount to offering people a license to sin. Christ is often called the compassionate One. But He is never referred to as the “tolerant one.”

Christ came into the world to save sinners. He didn’t come to make sinners feel good about themselves or to instruct us how to blur the distinction between good and evil, based on current trends or personal preference.

Some people attempt to justify themselves or society’s wrongdoings by saying, for example, that Jesus refused to condemn the woman caught in adultery. Jesus’ words to the adulterous woman, “Neither do I condemn you” (John 8:11) are filled with forgiveness, not tolerance. She knew her own sin, He knew that she did, and He forgave the woman. Jesus did not say “Go follow your feelings, celebrate diversity, and try not to hurt anyone.” He said, “Go and sin no more.”

If you want to be like Jesus in showing compassion to sinners, invite them to repent. Nothing is impossible with God, not even fidelity to the teachings of the Catholic Church. But it will cost much. Eternal salvation is not a minor issue, and Christ warned us that the way is narrow and difficult. Ultimately, however, nothing else really matters. If you lose your soul, you lose everything.

Salvation is worth the price of faithfulness to the word of God. True compassion is encouragement to pay it.

Margaret Nogy lives in Indian Trail.

April 25, 2014 | catholicnewsherald.com catholic news heraldI

The Poor Clares

Allison Schumacher

A beautiful exchange

Forming beauty: Raising women of God

A

s women, when we are born, we carry the bodily marks of femininity as designed by God, and the attributes of soul which are the natural characteristics of the female sex. But if we believe that our womanliness is a “given” as a result, we are misunderstanding the responsibility of our call.

Each woman has been entrusted with the vocation of reflecting the image of God through a feminine human nature. As with every aspect of our lives, fulfilling a call from God requires a cultivation of the virtues and gifts we are privileged to bear.

Our souls must be formed and educated into true womanhood. This process of formation is not an imposing of outside elements, but a recognition of the strengths and weaknesses we find in ourselves in relation to the ideal of womanhood.

God has given us the loveliest image and model imaginable in the person of His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. Truly “blessed is she among women,” and blessed will we be if our womanhood is entrusted to her hands and molded after her Immaculate Heart.

Could we desire anything more? What more pleasing gift can be offered back to our Creator than a life lived in reflection of the woman who in her sinless, humble beauty, ravished the heart of the Holy Trinity? That He may find in us an echo of her perfect womanhood would be a life well-spent, indeed.

For St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, or Edith Stein, the pursuit of pure womanhood in the image of Our Lady was a passionate goal. Her desire was to explore the keys to the education of women through her writings and to give women the tools they need for this formation.

Drawing from her categorization of five feminine personality types – the maternal, sexual, romantic, practical and intellectual – Stein writes about the graces, strengths, pitfalls and struggles for women who identify with one or several of these types.

In this commentary, let us focus on the maternal type.

A young girl of this type will be the one who likes to play with dolls, or plays house. She is “mommy’s big helper” and delights in caring for younger brothers and sisters, particularly babies.

Teaching will probably be a very early interest of hers, whether her pupils are Barbie dolls or siblings.

Self-confidence and security are earmarks of the maternal type, as well, for the ability to exercise authority over those younger than oneself, and a natural ease in commanding discipline, presuppose a certain strength of character and a certain selfassurance, a comfort in one’s own skin.

The only vocation that is exclusively feminine is that of motherhood, and so those who are most disposed to the maternal gifts are bearers of the strongest gifts of womanhood. However, with strengths come also pitfalls.

We most easily trust those who show us love – particularly unconditional love. The love of a mother is probably the greatest consolation and purest form of human love possible this side of heaven. Nothing draws more upon the heart than our ties to our mothers and our desire to please them. We have a natural faith in their goodness.

Even in Old Testament times – when, so we have been told, the dignity of women was at an all-time low – we are presented again and again with the praise and honor accorded to mothers. In fact, the condition of sterility was considered a curse from God. Proverbs 31 lays out an image for us of a woman whose motherhood literally overflows the bounds of her own home. She cares for her children, she clothes the needy and the poor, she is a treasure of wisdom to all she meets, and she is the heart of her husband who trusts in her. In her household she is truly a queen.

Any queen, though, could become a dictator.

The powerful gifts of motherhood could, like any good thing, be misused – to the detriment of the woman’s own femininity. An overemphasis on personal preference might develop, and a desire to “possess people” for oneself. Her sway over the hearts entrusted to her could be turned into an overbearing, domineering authority. She might try to control her children’s lives and sabotage their attempts at independence and becoming mature adults. She might feel threatened at the thought that one day her kids will no longer “need” her.

Edith Stein reveals to us the remedy: “Were we to present in contrast the image of the purely developed character of spouse and mother as it should be according to her natural vocation, we must gaze upon the Virgin Mary. In the center of her life stands her Son. She awaits His birth in blissful expectation; she watches over His childhood; near or far … she follows Him on His way. But not as her action does she do all this: she is in this the Handmaid of the Lord; she fulfills that to which God has called her. And that is why she does not consider the Child as her own property: she has welcomed Him from God’s Hands; she lays Him back into God’s Hands by dedicating Him in the temple and by being with Him at the crucifixion.”

A mother is called to give her children true care and encouragement as they develop their own Godgiven talents. When her role is fulfilled, she is able to quietly withdraw because she sees each of her children as a gift sent from God for His purpose, not her own. Her motherhood is a vocation which is carried out for His sake, and truly on His behalf.

When her motherhood is thus surrendered to God’s plan, a woman will find that she is always needed, cherished and sought after by – not only her own children, but by people she meets in every part of her life who draw strength and hope from her gifts of empathy and compassion.

Our daughters will form their own image of motherhood directly from their own experience of a mother’s love. Perhaps more than any of the other feminine qualities, the keys to raising our girls to be good mothers depends on our own formation and behavior in this area. Example is worth a thousand words. We cannot give what we do not have. When we ourselves are truly living this vocation, that will be the most effective means of conveying it.

Coupled with this living pattern should be a sharing of the beauty of “ministering love.” This is the heart of motherhood: an assistance lent to all creatures in order to lead them toward perfection.

Where else do we find this attribute of love, but in the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit?

No wonder the Virgin Mary is often referred to as “Spouse of the Holy Spirit”! Devotion to the Divine Guide of our Souls, and meditation upon His hidden potency and power over hearts, is a wonderful aid to forming the maternal gifts.

The qualities of motherhood found in the heart of every woman are priceless jewels from the treasures of God’s goodness – jewels often sadly undervalued or neglected in our culture. But, despite the relentless attacks upon it, motherhood remains one of the most powerful forces for good in our world. As women, let us go before Our Lady, and place the strengths and weaknesses we find in our own maternity within her loving hands. May we learn from her example to cherish and embrace the authentic beauty of our call to motherhood in her image.

Sister Marie Thérèse of the Divine Child Jesus is professed with the Poor Clare Nuns of Perpetual Adoration St. Joseph Monastery in Charlotte. Learn more about the Poor Clares at www. stjosephmonastery.com. This is part two of her commentary about Edith Stein’s writings on women. Read part one online at www. catholicnewsherald.com.

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ast fall the Diocese of Charlotte sent 22 seminarians off to school.

For most it was a return to their academic studies, spiritual formation and human development. For eight it was the beginning of their first year, an introduction to seminary life and its challenges, demands, joys and trials. For all of them, it was an invitation from Christ the Good Shepherd to deepen their relationship with Him. Our men go to seminary to learn what life as a priest means, what responsibilities it entails, what personal transformation it involves, and what it means to be an intimate friend of Christ, the Eternal High Priest. It is a time of self-giving, in which these men make a formal decision to converse with Our Lord and to discover if He is indeed calling them to dedicate the entirety of their lives to the Church through the priesthood. For some, this discernment may lead to another vocation within the Mystical Body of Christ, founded on the strong formation received through the discernment process in the seminary; others will eventually find that their seminary discernment and formation has led them to prostration on the cathedral floor on the day of ordination, and ultimately to union with the Sacrifice of the High Priest on Calvary – for the rest of their lives.

We know that priestly vocations come from the beneficence of our Father in Heaven. In turn, those called must respond generously to the beckoning of God to leave everything behind to follow Him. It is a divine invitation, calling forth a radical response of supernatural charity.

It is also evident in Scripture that we, the laity, bear a tremendous responsibility to pray for vocations. Jesus urged His disciples, “Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:38). Prayer is efficacious, and through prayer we have been blessed by a growing number of vocations in our diocese.

But just as in a natural family, each member needs the support and love of the other members, so the vocations of our young men require continual nurturing, support and love from the flock they will one day serve. This forms a beautiful exchange that can and should continue throughout the generations of our diocesan family.

In addition to the natural family, the Church “recognizes the supernatural family of the diocese…whose members are to cooperate for the upbuilding of the Body of Christ” (“Decree on the Bishops’ Pastoral Office,” 34; and “Dogmatic Constitutions on the Church,” 43). Therefore, we in our diocese are supernaturally bound to each other in a very real and beautiful way – and just like members in the natural family, we each have our roles to fulfill.

What does this mean regarding our seminarians, as they respond to Christ’s invitation to “Come and See”?

The spiritual bond that we share as a diocesan family means that we are called to spiritually back up our young men through prayer, sacrifices, encouragement and support.

Practically, this includes fasting, praying the rosary, and spending time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament on their behalf. It means taking a genuine interest in their welfare and getting to know them during their summer assignments at our parishes.

Generously contributing to vocation awareness and seminarian support programs also assists toward reaching out to our young people and inviting them to “Come and See” where Our Lord might be calling them.

Finally, individually leading lives of authentic holiness produces that ripple effect of conversion and transformation within our diocesan family that increases the harvest of good fruit.

Vocations are indeed a gift from God. Let us thank God for those He has chosen to work in the vineyard as His priests. Let us support our men through prayer, sacrifice and love. Let us continue the beautiful exchange between God and the members of the Mystical Body of Christ.

As the diocese approaches its second annual Quo Vadis Days on June 23-27, it is a time not only to pray for our seminarians and priests, but also to unite as a diocesan family in praying for all of our young men as they consider spending a week to “Come and See” what Our Lord may be asking of them.

Allison Schumacher is a freelance writer who works with MiraVia in Belmont.

This is the first in a series of commentaries highlighting the importance of discernment, and the role a retreat like the Diocese of Charlotte’s Quo Vadis Days means for young men who may be called to a priestly vocation.

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catholicnewsherald.com | April 25, 2014 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Please join us in celebrating Catholic Charities Week April 27-May 3, 2014 One year ago Catholic Social Services became Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte to more clearly identify the agency as a ministry of charity of the Church. Catholic Charities follows in a long line of biblical and historical outreach to the poor and marginalized in our society. Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte is a member of Catholic Charities USA, whose member agencies combined serve 10 million people in poverty each year.

We recognize and thank our donors, volunteers and staff that helped Catholic Charities to serve more than 18,000 people last year. Your financial donations and volunteer hours make it possible to continue the mission to strengthen families, build communities, and reduce poverty across the diocese of Charlotte.

Through your support, you heed Pope Francis’ call to “leave a spare place at our table: A place for those who lack the basics, who are alone.”

We thank you and encourage your continued support this year. For more information about the services Catholic Charities provides and ways you can offer support visit ccdoc.org.

CCDOC.ORG