Jan. 18, 2019

January 18, 2019

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

Remembering Bishop Curlin Endowment set up to help the poor; Belmont Abbey College funds Curlin scholarship 5

2018 DSA raises record $6.3M DSA 2018 recaudó cifra récord de 6.3 millones 3, 8

Hundreds join March for Life Charlotte Cientos defendieron el derecho a la vida en la Marcha por la vida en Charlotte

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INDEX

Contact us.....................................4 Español......................................... 8-11 Events calendar............................4 Our Faith........................................2 Our Parishes............................. 3-7 Schools........................................ 12 Scripture readings.......................2 TV & Movies................................. 13 U.S. news.................................14-15 Viewpoints..............................18-19 World news............................. 16-17

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Epiphany blessings

Padre Ángel Espinosa de los Monteros, legionario de Cristo y consejero matrimonial 7

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Bishop Howze dies at 95 First priest of the Charlotte diocese to become a bishop

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Our faith 2

catholicnewsherald.com | January 18, 2019 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

St. Agnes: virgin and martyr Feast day: Jan. 21

Pope Francis

Lord’s Prayer is reaching out for Father’s loving embrace

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o pray well, people need to have the heart of a child – a child who feels safe and loved in a father’s tender embrace, Pope Francis said.

If people have become estranged from God, feel lonely, abandoned or have realized their mistakes and are paralyzed by guilt, “we can still find the strength to pray” by starting with the word, “Father,” pronounced with the tenderness of a child, he said.

No matter what problems or feelings a person is experiencing or the mistakes someone has made, God “will not hide His face. He will not close Himself up in silence. Say, ‘Father,’ and He will answer,’” the pope said Jan. 16 during his weekly general audience.

The pope continued his series of talks on the Lord’s Prayer, reflecting on the Aramaic term, “Abba,” which Jesus uses to address God, the Father.

“It is rare Aramaic expressions do not to get translated into Greek in the New Testament,” which shows how special, important and nuanced “Abba” is in reflecting the radical and new relationship God has with His people, the pope said.

St. Paul, he said, wrote to the Romans that they were now “children of God, for you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’”

Jesus teaches His disciples that “Christians can no longer consider God a tyrant to be feared,” but instead feel a sense of trust growing in their hearts in which they can “speak to the Creator, calling Him ‘Father,’” the pope said.

The term “Abba,” the pope said, “is something much more intimate and moving that simply calling God, ‘father,’” It is an endearing term, somewhat like “dad,” “daddy” or “papa.”

Even though the Lord’s Prayer has been translated using the more formal term “Father,” “we are invited to say, ‘papa,’ to have a rapport with God like a child with his or her papa.”

Whatever term used, it is meant to inspire and foster a feeling of love and warmth, he said, like a child would feel in the full embrace of a tender father.

“To pray well, one must have the heart of a child, not a heart that feels adequate” or self-satisfied, he said.

People must imagine this prayer being recited by the prodigal son after he has been embraced by his father, who waited so long, who forgave him and only wants to say how much he missed his child, Pope Francis said.

“Then we discover how those words take on life, take on strength,” he said.

On Jan. 21, the Church honors the virgin and martyr St. Agnes, who suffered death for her consecration to Christ.

Eastern Catholics of the Byzantine tradition celebrate her feast day Jan. 14.

Although the details of Agnes’ life are mostly unknown, the story of her martyrdom has been passed on with reverence since the fourth century.

On the feast day of the teenaged martyr – whose name means “lamb” in Latin – the pope traditionally blesses two lambs, whose wool is later shorn on Holy Thursday and then used to weave the white pallium worn by every archbishop.

Born into a wealthy family during the last decade of the third century, Agnes lived in Rome during the final major persecution of the early Church under the Emperor Diocletian. Though he was lenient toward Christians for much of his rule, Diocletian EL GRECO COLLECTION AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, changed course in WASHINGTON, D.C. 302, resolving to Detail of St. Agnes from “Madonna and Child with wipe out the Church Saint Martina and Saint Agnes” by El Greco, 1597 or throughout the 1599. This painting and “Saint Martin and the Beggar” Roman Empire. were part of one of El Greco’s most important Agnes came of commissions. They originally hung opposite each age as the Church other, flanking the central altar in the Chapel of was beginning to St. Joseph in Toledo, Spain. St. Agnes holds a lamb, suffer under a set of with which she once appeared after her death to new laws decreed by worshipers gathered at her tomb in Rome.

Diocletian, and his co-ruler Galerius, in 303. The emperor and his subordinate called for churches to be destroyed and their books burned. Subsequent orders led to the imprisonment and torture of clergy and laypersons, for the sake of compelling them to worship the emperor instead of Christ.

Meanwhile, Agnes had become a young woman of great beauty and charm, drawing the attention of suitors from the top ranks of the Roman aristocracy. But in keeping with the words of Christ and St. Paul, she had already decided on a life of celibacy for the sake of God’s kingdom. To all interested men, she explained that she had already promised herself to a heavenly and unseen spouse.

These suitors both understood Agnes’ meaning and resented her resolution. Some of the men, possibly looking to change her mind, reported her to the Roman government as a Christian. Agnes was brought before a judge who tried first to persuade her, then to threaten her, into renouncing her choice not to marry.

When the judge showed her the various punishments he could inflict – fire, iron hooks, and the rack – Agnes smiled and indicated she would suffer them willingly. Instead, she was brought before a pagan altar and asked to make an act of worship in accordance with the Roman state religion.

When Agnes refused, the judge ordered that she should be sent to a house of prostitution, where the virginity she had offered to God would be violated. Agnes predicted that God would not allow this to occur, and her statement proved true. The first man to approach her in the brothel was struck blind by a sudden flash of light, and others opted not to repeat his mistake.

But the Roman governor’s son Procop, who had at first sought to make Agnes his own, lobbied the judge for her execution and she was sentenced to die by beheading.

The executioner gave her one last chance to spare her life, by renouncing CNS | L’OSSERVATORE ROMANO, HANDOUT her consecration to Pope Francis blesses two lambs in the Urban VIII Christ – but Agnes Chapel at the Vatican Jan. 21, 2018, the feast refused, made a of St. Agnes. The lambs are bound and placed in short prayer, and baskets to prevent them from running away. The courageously wool from the lambs is used for the pallium worn by submitted to death. archbishops.

St. Agnes, who died in 304 at about age 13, was venerated as a holy martyr from the fourth century onward. She is one of seven women saints, excluding the Blessed Virgin Mary, commemorated by name in the Eucharistic Prayer at Mass. The saint’s statue is also among those on the colonnade in St. Peter’s Square.

She is the patron saint of chastity, gardeners, girls, engaged couples, rape victims and virgins.

— Catholic News Agency

Did you know?

On St. Agnes’ feast day on Jan. 21, it is customary for two lambs to be brought in to be blessed by the pope. On Holy Thursday the lambs’ wool is removed and woven into the pallium which the pope then gives to a newly consecrated archbishop on June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, as a sign of his power and union with the pope.

Your daily Scripture readings JAN. 20-26

Sunday: Isaiah 62:1-5, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, John 2:1-11; Monday (St. Agnes): Hebrews 5:1-10, Mark 2:18-22; Tuesday (Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children): Hebrews 6:10-20, Mark 2:23-28; Wednesday (St. Vincent, St. Marianne Cope): Hebrews 7:13, 15-17, Mark 3:1-6; Thursday (St. Francis de Sales): Hebrews 7:25-8:6, Mark 3:7-12; Friday (The Conversion of St. Paul): Acts 22:3-16, Mark 16:15-18; Saturday (Sts. Timothy and Titus): 2 Timothy 1:1-8, Mark 3:20-21

JAN. 27-FEB. 2

Sunday: Nehemiah 8:2-6, 8-10, 1 Corinthians 12:12-30, Luke 1:1-4, 4:14-21; Monday (St. Thomas Aquinas): Hebrews 9:15, 24-28, Mark 3:22-30; Tuesday: Hebrews 10:1-10, Mark 3:3135; Wednesday: Hebrews 10:11-18, Mark 4:1-20; Thursday(St. John Bosco): Hebrews 10:19-25, Mark 4:21-25; Friday: Hebrews 10:32-39, Mark 4:26-34; Saturday (The Presentation of the Lord): Malachi 3:1-4, Hebrews 2:14-18, Luke 2:22-40

FEB. 3-9

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

Our parishes

January 18, 2019 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

2018 DSA campaign raises record $6.3M

‘If killing the child in the womb can be justified, then anything can be justified.’

SUEANN HOWELL SENIOR REPORTER

Father Peter Ascik

Father Peter Ascik, parochial vicar at St. Matthew Church in Charlotte, gives the keynote address in Independence Square during the 13th annual March for Life Charlotte.

PATRICIA L. GUILFOYLE | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Hundreds join March for Life Charlotte PATRICIA L. GUILFOYLE EDITOR

CHARLOTTE — “Our defense of the innocent unborn must be clear, firm and passionate.”

Those words by Father Peter Ascik, keynote speaker at the 13th annual March for Life Charlotte, described the spirit More online of the 200-plus people who marched and prayed in uptown At www.catholicnewsherald.

Charlotte Jan. 11 to give com: See photos and video witness to the dignity of all highlights from the March for human life.

Life Charlotte Echoing the words of Pope Francis to the Pontifical Academy for Life in 2018, Father Ascik encouraged everyone to “engage in clear, public pro-life witness.”

“We must be clear about the human dignity of each unborn child,” he said to the crowd gathered in Independence Square.

“Our society with all its sophistication, all its technology, all its money and power, tries desperately to erase the unborn child from our sight, from our minds, and especially from our hearts.”

“We must be firm. We must not waver in our commitment to the pro-life cause, despite all the opposition, despite all the propaganda arrayed against us,” he said.

As he talked, marchers held pro-life signs and handed out information pamphlets to people walking by on their lunch hour through Independence Square. Their mile-long march began at the Diocese of Charlotte Pastoral Center and ended at the Charles R. Jonas Federal Courthouse, where they prayed the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy in reparation for the sin of abortion.

Andrea Hines of the Silent No More campaign noted that the number of abortions continues to decline and more abortion mills are closing, but the victory is not won as long as abortion is legal and people are being duped by the many lies about abortion.

“Marchers, never give up!” Hines urged, as the crowd cheered.

Father Ascik described how seeing photos of aborted babies and seeing the brave witness of others in the pro-life movement convinced him to join the cause while he was in college – even though the subject was uncomfortable.

“I finally decided after reflecting that I was more bothered by the fact that some people might go through their time in college, might go through their life, never thinking about abortion, never thinking about the unborn child and who and what he or she is, than I was by the fact that some people might be upset by the pictures.”

During his outreach work, he said, “I saw more serious

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conversations take place about abortion in front of those pictures than I had witnessed before in my entire life. The pictures brought clarity – clarity for those passing by our display, yes – but also clarity for me because I myself had to spend some time with those images of unborn children ... see their fingers, toes, their faces, torn apart by the violence of abortion.

“I remember one image in particular: an unborn child, maybe 12 or 14 weeks, in the palm of someone’s gloved hand. That child had a spine that was probably barely thicker than a pin, and that spine had been snapped in two by an abortionist. That experience changed me.”

“As so often happens when we go out to evangelize others, it is we who are evangelized more deeply,” he said.

The defense of the unborn, Father Ascik emphasized, is a fundamental human right. “Without the right to life, no life is secure. Without the right to life, no right is secure.”

Abortion is not social welfare, he said. Instead, it’s a cause of hate and violence.

“Abortion is the greatest destroyer of love and peace because it destroys the security of all human beings. If killing the child in the womb can be justified, then killing an infant can be justified, because birth becomes simply an arbitrary legal line. If killing the child in the womb can be justified, then killing an elderly person who is ill can be justified, because they too depend totally on our love and our care. If killing the child in the womb can be justified, then killing a person with intellectual disabilities can be justified, because personhood is simply given by the powerful to those who are capable.

“If killing the child in the womb can be justified, then anything can be justified.”

That thought was echoed by Mount Holly resident Mary Ellen Schick, who is wheelchair-bound. She said she joined the March for Life Charlotte because standing up for the weak and vulnerable includes people like herself.

If babies can be killed, Schick said, “I am next. I hope people will march for my rights.”

We must have compassion for those who have been victimized by abortion, Father Ascik also noted – loving both the unborn child and the mother in need, as well as loving the post-abortive women and the fathers and siblings who also suffer.

“Love them both,” he said. “This must be the motto and the marching orders for all pro-life efforts. Love them both.”

“Loving them both, we will be compassionate witnesses of the compassion of God,” he said.

A parishioner from St. Mark Church said she came to the March for Life Charlotte because “one day I want to stand here and say MARCH, SEE PAGE 20

CHARLOTTE — The 2018 Diocesan Support Appeal campaign, “We Are Called,” raised a record-breaking $6.33 million from 16,973 donors across the Diocese of Charlotte – about 8 percent over the campaign goal of $5.87 million.

Overall, 27 percent of registered parishioners across the diocese shared an average gift of $373, up from $352 in the 2017 campaign. Sixty-four percent of parishes and missions across the diocese reached or exceeded their goal.

The annual DSA campaign funds more than 50 programs, including the core operations of 23 ministries and agencies that serve thousands of people across the diocese – most notably, Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte for its counseling, food pantries, pregnancy support, refugee resettlement, elder ministry, Respect Life and other programs, as well as the programs and ministries of the Education Vicariate. The DSA also supports multicultural ministries, seminarian education, the permanent diaconate, the annual Eucharistic Congress, and the diocese’s Housing Corporation.

“In my first year working for the diocese, it is so gratifying to see the commitment our parishioners have to serving others through their gifts to the DSA. They understand that the DSAsupported ministries change lives every day,” said Barb De Mase, the diocese’s associate director of development.

Parishioners in all 92 parishes and missions in the Charlotte diocese fund the DSA. Parishes that exceed their goal keep the extra funds they collect, while parishes that fall short of their goal in donations from parishioners make up the shortfall from their operating budgets.

Some of the parishes receiving rebate funds include: Holy Angels Parish in Mount Airy; St. John Baptist de la Salle Church in North Wilkesboro; St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Statesville; St. Bernadette Mission in Linville; St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Lenoir; St. Joseph of the Hills Parish in Eden; and Our Lady of Fatima Mission in WinstonSalem.

Holy Angels Church in Mount Airy was among the parishes that surpassed their 2018 DSA goal. Father Lawrence Heiney, pastor, said they will save the $3,678 they received for future use.

“We put it in savings for a new church,” Father Heiney said. The current church building, built in 1921 to seat only 75 people, is much too small to accommodate the current Sunday Mass attendance which averages 450 people, he noted.

The 2018 campaign continues a trend of record-breaking DSA campaigns in the diocese. The 2015, 2016 and 2017 campaigns also broke each prior year’s fundraising total and campaign goal.

UPcoming events 4

catholicnewsherald.com | January 18, 2019 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following upcoming events: JAN. 18 - 11:30 A.M. North Carolina Mass for Life Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Washington, D.C. JAN. 26 - 2 P.M. Sacrament of Confirmation St. Gabriel Church, Charlotte

JAN. 28 – 10:30 A.M. Mass for Catholic Schools Week Bishop McGuinness High School, Kernersville JAN. 30 – 10 A.M. Mass for Catholic Schools Week St. Mark School, Huntersville

FEB. 2 – 11 A.M. Mass for World Day of Consecrated Life St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

FEB. 28 – 10 A.M. Diocesan Found Board Meeting Catholic Conference Center, Hickory

FEB. 22 – 10 A.M. Diocesan Finance Council Meeting Pastoral Center, Charlotte

Diocesan calendar of events JANUARY 18, 2019

ENTERTAINMENT

Volume 28 • NUMBER 8

ART EXHIBIT, ‘MOST HIGHLY FAVORED, THE LIFE OF THE VIRGIN MARY’: Nov. 8-Jan. 31, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, 14542 Choate Circle, Charlotte.

This exhibition has been curated to help the viewer learn and explore more about this Most Highly Favored Lady and the rightful place she played in the life of Jesus and the life of the Church. If you are interested in learning more about the exhibit, including visiting hours, special events or to set up a personal tour, contact Michelle Littlejohn at 704-940-5814 or dlittlejohn@gordonconwell. edu.

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

STAFF 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 HISPANIC COMMUNICATIONS REPORTER: Cesar Hurtado, 704-370-3375, rchurtado@charlottediocese.org GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Tim Faragher 704-370-3331, tpfaragher@charlottediocese.org COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANT/CIRCULATION: Erika Robinson, 704-370-3333, catholicnews@ charlottediocese.org

THE CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD is published by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte 26 times a year.

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

ADVERTISING: Reach 165,000 Catholics across western North Carolina! For advertising rates and information, contact Advertising Manager Kevin Eagan at 704-370-3332 or keeagan@charlottediocese.org. The Catholic News Herald reserves the right to reject or cancel advertising for any reason, and does not recommend or guarantee any product, service or benefit claimed by our advertisers.

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

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

TÊT FESTIVAL: 6-11 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Feb. 1-2, and 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 3, at St. Joseph Vietnamese Church, 4929 Sandy Porter Road, Charlotte. Spectacular lion dance, live music entertainment, food, games and activities for the entire family.

MOVIES WITH A PURPOSE FEATURING ‘I AM’: 7-9:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, New Life Center Banquet Room, St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte. A Peace and Social Justice Film Series featuring the documentary “I Am” by Hollywood director Tom Shadyac, who after a serious accident went out to explore the true meaning of what it means to be human and happy. The film asks “What is wrong with the world and what can we do about it?” and documents Shadyac’s personal journey after a bicycle accident in 2007 that led him to the answers about the nature of humanity, the world’s ever-growing addiction to materialism, and human connections. Free popcorn and snacks. Limited child care is available. Reserve a spot now by calling 704543-7677, ext. 1003. The PG-13 movie is 76 minutes long and will be followed by a short talk by Father Pat Hoare.

For details about the Peace and Social Justice Ministry, email Peace.SMCC@gmail.com.

NATURAL FAMILY PLANNING NFP INTRODUCTION AND FULL COURSE: 1:30-5 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 9, St. Vincent de Paul Church, 6828 Old Reid Road. Topics include: effectiveness of modern NFP, health risks of popular contraceptives and what the Church teaches about responsible parenting. Sponsored

by Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte. RSVP to Batrice Adcock, MSN, RN, at 704-370-3230.

PRAYER SERVICES & GROUPS CCWG MORNING REFLECTION: Mass at 9 a.m. Monday, Jan. 14, St. Vincent de Paul Church, 6828 Old Reid Road, Charlotte. Coffee and a reflection at 10:30 a.m. in the Assembly Room behind the chapel. To RSVP, visit www. charlottecatholicwomensgroup.org.

10TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ST. PEREGRINE PRAYER SERVICE: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24, St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte.

Guest Father Christopher Krymski, OSM, director of the National Shrine of St. Peregrine and associate pastor at Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica in Chicago, will be present.

For details, call the parish office at 704-543-7677.

CCWG EVENING REFLECTION: 6:30 p.m. rosary Tuesday, Jan. 29, at Holy Trinity Middle School Chapel, 3100 Park Road, Charlotte. Reflection by Father Joseph Matlak at 7 p.m. To RSVP, visit www.charlottecatholicwomensgroup. org.

ANOINTING OF THE SICK MASS: 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, St. Luke Church, 13700 Lawyers Road, Mint Hill.

Anointing is typically presented to those who need healing from physical or mental illness or someone who will be undergoing surgery. Refreshments following Mass. For details, call Mary Adams at 704-545-1224.

CHARLOTTE AIRPORT SUNDAY MASS: The Airport Chaplaincy at Charlotte Douglas International Airport offers Mass at 8:30 and 10:30 a.m. each Sunday in the airport chapel. All travelers and visitors are welcome.

SAFE ENVIRONMENT TRAINING ‘Protecting God’s Children’ workshops are intended to educate parish volunteers to recognize and prevent sexual abuse. For details, contact your parish office. To register and confirm workshop times, go to www.virtus. org. Upcoming workshops are: ASHEVILLE: 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 2, St. Lawrence Basilica, 97 Haywood St. GREENSBORO: 9 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, St. Paul the Apostle Church, 2715 Horse Pen Creek Road SEMINARS & WORKSHOPS END-OF-LIFE ISSUES AND CATHOLIC MORAL TEACHING: 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15, Simmons Center at St. Pius X Church, 2208 North Elm St., Greensboro. Presented

by Father Charles Vavonese from the Diocese of Syracuse, NY. Father Vavonese is a sought-after speaker on Catholic moral teaching and end-of-life issues. He will discuss topics such as: What ordinary means should be used to preserve life? What are the ethical and religious directives regarding assisted nutrition and hydration?

Palliative care for the terminally ill, the belief of the Catholic Church on physician-assisted suicide, Do Not Resuscitate orders, living wills, Health Care Power of Attorney and Medical Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment. For details, email debritzel@gmail.com or call 336-337-5915.

RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS AWARENESS WORKSHOP: Thursday, Jan. 31, St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte. The guest speaker will be Erin Siceloff, P.A., from the Arthritis and Osteoporosis Consultants of the Carolinas. Individuals interested in attending must register by Jan. 28. To register, visit abbvie.meintl.com/IGE01-DR01-19 or contact Sandra Breakfield at 704-370-3220 or sabreakfield@ charlottediocese.org. This event is being hosted by Arthritis Services, Catholic Charities Elder Ministry and St. Matthew Church.

‘LIVING HEALTHY WITH DIABETES’ CLASSES: 1-3:30 p.m. Mondays, March 11-April 15, Our Lady of Consolation Church, 2301 Statesville Ave., Charlotte. Living Healthy with Diabetes is a Stanford University program designed

for people with pre-diabetes, diabetes or at risk for diabetes who want to better manage their health.

This workshop will provide techniques to self-manage symptoms associated with diabetes, mutual support and group interaction will boost participants’ confidence in utilizing techniques that address: depression, hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia, fatigue, appropriate use of medications, exercises for health, effective communication skills and healthy eating choices. For details and registration, contact Sandra Breakfield at 704-370-3220 or email sabreakfield@charlottediocese. org. Registration required.

WNC RESPECT LIFE MEETING: 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9, St. Barnabas Church, 109 Crescent Hill Road, Arden. Are you interested in joining other parishes from western North Carolina to come together, share ideas, encourage one another or just keep up with what is happening with prolife issues? Join Jessica Grabowski, Catholic Charities Respect Life Program Director, and Mike FitzGerald of C-PLAN to discuss collaborative regional pro-life efforts.

Please email Joanne Gregory, St. Barnabas Respect Life Coordinator at JRGDC@aol.com.

SUPPORT GROUPS DIVORCED CATHOLICS, ‘THE HEALING PROCESS OF ANNULMENTS’: 6-7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15, and Tuesday, April 16, St. Matthew Church New Life Center 206, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., Charlotte; or 6-7 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 5, and Tuesday, March 19, at St. Matthew Church Waxhaw campus, 4116 Waxhaw-Marvin Road.

After a Catholic goes through a divorce, there is so much confusion and misinformation about practicing the faith.

The truth is that your Catholic faith is the very key to healing after a divorce and is vital to living a life filled with promise, peace and joy. Join Deacon Jim Hamrlik for an insightful one-hour annulment workshop. For details, call Deacon Hamrlik at 704543-7677, ext. 1040.

YOUNG ADULTS ASHEVILLE THEOLOGY ON TAP: For Catholics in their 20s and 30s in the Asheville region. For details, check them out on Facebook, Twitter or MeetUp CHARLOTTE AREA: Groups for Catholics in their 20s and 30s, single or married, are active on MeetUp at www. meetup.com/charlottecatholicyoungadultministry GREENSBORO WAY OF CHRIST: The young adult ministry at St. Pius X Church in Greensboro: at www.stpiusxnc. com/woc, on Facebook at “wayofchrist” and Twitter @wocgreensboro or email Dan McCool at wocgreensboro@gmail.com.

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.

January 18, 2019 | catholicnewsherald.com

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Get ready for CRS Rice Bowl The upcoming 2019 Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl Program begins on Ash Wednesday, March 6. Parishes and schools which participated in last year’s CRS Rice Bowl will receive the same number of materials again for this year’s CRS Rice Bowl with no need to place an order. (Expect shipments to arrive in mid- to late January).

Parishes and schools that wish to participate for the first time, or participating parishes and schools which need additional materials, should call toll-free 1-800-222-0025 or go to www.crsricebowl.org to place an order.

Orders for first-time or additional CRS Rice Bowl materials that are requested by Jan. 31 should arrive in parishes and schools by mid-February, in time for distribution on weekends prior to the start of CRS Rice Bowl on Ash Wednesday. Twenty-five percent of the Rice Bowl collection helps fund the CRS Mini-Grant Program.

For assistance or more information, contact Joseph Purello at Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte, who serves as the CRS diocesan liaison, at 704-370-3225 or jtpurello@charlottediocese.org.

St. Peregrine prayer service coming Jan. 24 CHARLOTTE — Everyone is invited to St. Matthew Church’s St. Peregrine prayer service at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24. This is the 10th anniversary of this healing prayer service, which is held on the fourth Thursday of each month in the church, located at 8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy. in Charlotte. The service will include a blessing with a relic of St. Peregrine.

Servite Father Christopher Krymski, director of the National Shrine of St. Peregrine and associate pastor at Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica in Chicago, will lead the service. A native of Detroit, he was ordained a priest at Our Lady of Sorrows Basilica in 1983. He has a master’s in divinity from Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, and a master’s in art therapy from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. He has given many parish missions, healing Masses and retreats in honor of St. Peregrine, as well as dedicating new St. Peregrine shrines throughout the country. Father Krymski has been on radio programs speaking about healing and the St. Peregrine ministry. He has written many prayer booklets about St. Peregrine as well as a daily meditation pamphlet and the book “Jesus The Healer; St. Peregrine, OSM, The Helper.”

College students urged to ‘Give Your Heart Away’ HICKORY — College students in the Diocese of Charlotte are encouraged to take part in Catholic Campus Ministry’s upcoming service weekend, “Give Your Heart Away.”

The annual event, set for Feb. 15-17 at the Catholic Conference Center in Hickory, is a weekend of service for college students that includes prayer, theological reflection, feasting and fellowship besides a variety of community service projects. Registration costs $50 and the deadline to register is Wednesday, Feb. 6.

For more information, go online to www. catholiconcampus.com/gyha.

— Catholic News Herald

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Remembering Bishop William G. Curlin SUEANN HOWELL SENIOR REPORTER

In Brief

OUR PARISHESI

CHARLOTTE — One year after his death, Bishop William Curlin’s friends remember him with fondness and love.

Bishop Curlin died Dec. 23, 2017. Champion of the poor, comforter of the sick and the dying, friend of St. Teresa of Calcutta, Bishop Curlin preached the love of Jesus Christ during more than 60 years of priestly ministry, first in the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and 23 years in the Diocese of Charlotte.

His death during his favorite season – Christmas – was noted by many at his funeral Mass, and it continued to be a source of comfort to his friends as they marked the one-year anniversary of his passing.

During a memorial Mass offered Dec. 23, 2018, at Belmont Abbey in Belmont, near the cemetery where Bishop Curlin is interred, Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari noted that the bishop’s death at Christmas “was perhaps a special gift of divine favor.”

“Bishop Curlin loved Christmas and its celebration,” Abbot Placid said. “His garage was stuffed full of Christmas decorations, and during the holidays every inch of his house was decked out in Christmas finery. No department store Christmas display has ever come anywhere close to matching the Curlin setup!”

“We ought ask ourselves why the bishop went beyond all bounds of extravagance in his enthusiasm for the celebration of Christmas.

It certainly wasn’t to impress anyone by having the biggest or best display. It wasn’t because of gifts, because he gave everything away.

“Bishop Curlin surrounded these days with such a display because it was an outward expression of his deep love for Jesus and the profound hope and joy which that love gave him,” he said.

It was “not some naïve sentiment, but rather the expression of his conviction that God ‘destined us for adoption to Himself through Jesus Christ,’” said Abbot Placid, quoting from Ephesians 1:5.

Bishop Curlin’s love of Christmas also reflected “a memorial of God’s never-failing kindness towards lost humanity, towards each one of us sinners,” he said, “especially to the sick, the downtrodden, the homeless, the elderly, the poor and the disheartened.”

Bishop Curlin’s close friend Father Brian Cook, pastor of St. Leo the Great Church in Winston-Salem, said he was grateful to Abbot Placid for offering the Dec. 23 memorial Mass. “Bishop Curlin loved Abbot Placid, the monks and the abbey. It was very kind of them all to remember the bishop so lovingly.”

Father Cook said the one-year anniversary of Bishop Curlin’s death “was a difficult day” for him. “We all have experienced a great loss of kindness with the bishop’s passing,” he said. “Along with his transparent faith and kindness, Bishop Curlin’s legacy to the people of God will always be his unwavering devotion to the poor. He knew firsthand of the need and the responsibility of caring for the most vulnerable among us. He assured us that in caring for the poor, they would see Christ within us.”

Monsignor Anthony Marcaccio, pastor of St. Pius X Church in Greensboro and Bishop Curlin’s friend and former priest secretary, echoed Father Cook’s comments.

Bishop Curlin leaves money to aid the poor CHARLOTTE — When he died, Bishop William Curlin left money in his will to help two causes “dear to his heart”: the poor and women religious.

He gave $50,000 from his estate to an endowment created in his name: the Bishop Curlin Endowment Fund for the Poor in the Foundation of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte. Established with an initial gift of $20,000 in 2006, this endowment’s principal now totals more than $200,000.

The endowment supports the work of Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte as well as the Missionaries of Charity, the religious order founded by his close friend St. Teresa of Calcutta, and a community of Carmelite nuns in Maryland whom the late bishop had befriended.

When he learned that an endowment fund had been set up in his name, Bishop Curlin responded in a letter to the diocese, “I pray that in years to come (and long after I am gone) this fund will be able to help the poor in this diocese.

There is no finer memorial.”

Monsignor Anthony Marcaccio, pastor of St. Pius X Church in Greensboro, executor of Bishop Curlin’s estate and his close friend, noted that Bishop Curlin’s estate gift to the endowment will “endow the two ways of the apostolic life” – the active and contemplative ministries of the Church, at the local and global levels.

“Bishop Curlin knew the human face of suffering. He rarely preached without mentioning it or the sick and the poor, and the cross.” But “as often as he preached the cross, he personally loved Christmas and all that came with it: the Christ Child, the joy, the gift giving, the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Nativity,” he said.

This past Christmas, he said he considered not putting up a Christmas tree, but the memory of Bishop Curlin spurred him on.

He recounted, “During the decorating, when I was almost finished, came the task of untangling the garland which was hastily put away the year before. I decided to forgo it, but heard in the back of my head the bishop saying, ‘Put it on. Untangle it. Put it on. It gives the tree that “ole timey” Victorian and finished look.’ So I did.

“After the last box was taken up to the attic, I sat down, rather self-satisfied, and lit the tree. With that, my dog Tater came in, circled under the tree, and made a little nest in the tree skirt and sighed Curlin that all was right with the world and we were ready for Christmas. I smiled real big inside as I imagined Bishop Curlin saying, ‘See, wasn’t that worth it?’”

“So my tree is still up,” Monsignor Marcaccio continued. “Tater and I take naps and read near it nightly. Every time I walk by it in this Christmas season, I think of Father Christmas, St. Nicholas, and his spiritual son, Bill Curlin.”

Friend Rick Menze, who knew the late bishop closely through the Order of Malta, said he cannot think of Bishop Curlin without also thinking of his late mother.

The day his mother first met Bishop Curlin, Menze recalled, remains “an enduring memory.”

Bishop Curlin loved his two chihuahuas, Missy and Cindy, and he loved Frostys from Wendy’s, Menze explained. One day his mother asked Menze if she could meet the bishop, so one Sunday, they stopped at Wendy’s, picked up a couple of Frostys and went over to the bishop’s house.

“He must have heard us pull up because he met us at the back door and greeted my mom, whom he had never met, like a long lost sister,” Menze recalled. “He immediately invited her into his family room, sat her down, put Missy in her lap and said, ‘Here, you hold the white one while we talk.’

“Bishop picked up Cindy and for the next hour and a half, he spoke with her like she was the only person on Earth.”

“Bishop Curlin’s concern for and ability to connect with others is legendary – a gift that really showed that Sunday,” Menze said.

“Afterward, the only thing my mom could talk about was ‘that wonderful man!’”

More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Check out nearly-discovered archival footage of Bishop Curlin’s installation as the third bishop of Charlotte and St. Teresa of Calcutta’s historic visit to Charlotte

“One of the beneficiaries is the Carmel of Port Tobacco, Maryland, a contemplative house of Carmelite sisters that he knew well from his ministry in the Archdiocese (of Washington, D.C.), but called upon frequently as bishop of Charlotte,” Monsignor Marcaccio said. Bishop Curlin often contacted the sisters with special prayer intentions for individuals or efforts here in the Charlotte diocese, he said.

“Another beneficiary is the Missionaries of Charity, also contemplative, but most often associated with being on the front line in the field of compassion and works of mercy,” Monsignor Marcaccio said. Coupled with the aid to Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte, he said, Bishop Curlin’s estate gift supports “both work and prayer, the Martha and Mary of religious life” in the Church.

The estate gift illustrates “the bishop’s unique love, kindness and compassion,” added another of Bishop Curlin’s close friends, Father Brian Cook, who serves as pastor of St. Leo the Great Church in Winston-Salem.

“Bishop Curlin really supported the work of the foundation and saw its importance in the work of the Church,” added Jim Kelley, the diocese’s development director.

“He was always encouraging people to remember the Church in their estate plans, and he did just that with his estate plan. He was an example of how to live your life loving Jesus and an example of what you do with your financial gifts when you die. I hope more parishioners will follow his example.”

Belmont Abbey College establishes Curlin scholarship BELMONT — Belmont Abbey College is establishing the Bishop William G. Curlin Scholarship and Bishop Curlin Scholars Program.

The Belmont Abbey Board of Trustees hopes to raise an initial $2.5 million to begin the program.

The program is anticipated to assist 15 Curlin Scholars per year, up to at least 60 scholars.

Based on Bishop Curlin’s episcopal motto, “Sentire Cum Christo” (“Have in you the mind of Christ”), students who receive the scholarship will gain firsthand knowledge of what it means to know, love and serve Christ. They will participate in meetings where specific readings, lectures and speakers will integrate themes of service; work with ministries to gain firsthand experience caring for the poor, sick and suffering; participate in summer internships with non-profits; and go on mission trips to broaden their horizons.

“After listening to Bishop Curlin you felt you personally knew Mother Teresa and wanted to follow her good advice of never worrying about numbers, but instead helping one person at a time and always starting with the person nearest you. That is the reason for creating the Bishop Curlin Scholarship. It will help young men and women follow Bishop Curlin in his imitation of Mother Teresa in service to those most in need wherever they are met,” said Dr. Bill Thierfelder, president of Belmont Abbey College.

— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter

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catholicnewsherald.com | January 18, 2019 OUR PARISHES

Thanks to funding, Be Not Afraid ministry will continue SUEANN HOWELL SENIOR REPORTER

Then Father Joseph L. Howze (second from right) is pictured following his priestly ordination in Raleigh in 1959. Installed as the first bishop of the Diocese of Biloxi, Miss., in 1977, he was the third AfricanAmerican priest to be ordained a bishop in U.S. history and the first black Catholic bishop in the 20th century to head a diocese.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY DIOCESE OF CHARLOTTE ARCHIVES

Bishop Howze dies at 95 First priest of the Charlotte diocese to become a bishop

Bishop Joseph Lawson Howze, we rejoice in his life,” said Bishop Louis F. Kihneman III of Biloxi. “His was a life well lived in

More online At www. catholicnewsherald.com: Read more about Bishop Joseph Howze, including a timeline of the most significant milestones in his life and ministry

TERRANCE P. DICKSON CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

BILOXI, Miss.— Bishop Joseph Lawson Howze, the founding bishop of the Diocese of Biloxi and the first black bishop in the 20th century to head a U.S. diocese, died Jan. 9. He was 95.

Bishop Howze was also the first priest of the Diocese of Charlotte to become a bishop. When the Diocese of Charlotte was established in 1972, then Father Howze was serving as pastor of the Parish (now Basilica) of St. Lawrence in Asheville.

Soon after, he was consecrated auxiliary bishop of Natchez-Jackson, Miss., and in 1977 he became the first bishop of the Biloxi diocese.

“While we are saddened by the death of

Howze faithful service to almighty God and to the people of Mississippi, both as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson and later as first bishop of Biloxi from 1977 to 2001.”

Noting that establishing a new diocese was difficult work, Bishop Kihneman said Bishop Howze was “very proud of what he, with the help of devoted clergy, religious and laity, accomplished during his tenure” and was “forever grateful to the people of the diocese for their unfailing generosity of time, talent and treasure.”

Despite deteriorating health in recent years, Bishop Howze remained interested in events in the diocese, Bishop Kihneman said.

“He loved the Diocese of Biloxi and prayed unceasingly for its continued success. He had a genuine concern for the salvation of souls,” he added.

The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Jan. 16, 2019, at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Cathedral. Interment followed at the new Bishops’ Prayer Garden behind Nativity Cathedral.

Joseph Lawson Howze was born in Daphne, Ala., Aug. 30, 1923, to Albert Otis Howze Sr. and Helen (Lawson) Howze.

He began his school years at Most Pure Heart of Mary School in Mobile, Ala., but his first year of school was interrupted in 1928 by the death of his mother, just six days after she bore her fourth child. The eldest, then age 5, young Lawson (Joseph is his baptismal name) was shuttled back and forth between the homes of his grandparents, aunts and father, who later remarried and fathered three more children.

After graduating as valedictorian of his 1944 high school class, he graduated

with honors and as president of the senior class from Alabama State College. He had intended to study medicine, but instead earned a bachelor’s degree in science and education and began teaching biology and chemistry at Central High School in Mobile.

Bishop Howze first had been a Baptist, then a Methodist, serving as a choir director and church organist and pianist.

But while teaching at Central High School he was drawn to the Catholic faith through the example of Marion Carroll Jr., one of seven Catholic students in his biology class.

Soon he began instruction in the Catholic faith under the direction of Josephite Father Benjamin Horton.

At age 25 on Dec. 4, 1948, he was baptized a Catholic at Most Pure Heart of Mary Church in Mobile. An interest in the priesthood soon developed. After inquiring about becoming a priest with Bishop Vincent S. Waters of Raleigh, he later was adopted as a seminarian for the diocese and began studies at the Diocesan Preparatory Seminary in Buffalo, N.Y. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Raleigh diocese at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Raleigh on May 7, 1959. He was only the diocese’s second African-American priest, and his was the first ordination of an African-American priest that took place in the state of North Carolina.

His first priestly assignment was as assistant pastor of Our Lady of Consolation Church in Charlotte.

On May 10, 1959, he offered his first Solemn High Mass at Most Pure Heart of Mary Church in Mobile, the church where he had been baptized 10 years earlier.

During his 13 years of ministry in North Carolina, he served at parishes in Sanford, Southern Pines, Asheville and Durham, besides serving as assistant vocation director for the Raleigh diocese and as associate editor of the North Carolina Catholic newspaper.

On May 17, 1961, in his hometown of Daphne, Father Howze baptized his sister and her eight children, and received them into the Catholic Church.

When the Charlotte diocese was carved out of the Raleigh diocese in January 1972, then Father Howze was serving as the 12th pastor of the Parish (now Basilica) of St. Lawrence in Asheville. In November 1972, HOWZE, SEE PAGE 20

CHARLOTTE — At the end of last year, lack of funding nearly forced Be Not Afraid to shut down its ministry of helping parents carry their baby to term and not choose abortion after receiving a poor prenatal diagnosis.

But the Catholic nonprofit reached out to past supporters, parishes, families they have helped over the years, and the media, and the response was overwhelming.

To keep operating beyond 2018, BNA set a fundraising goal of $25,000. That was met with just one of the many donations the ministry received, a gift from a foundation set up by a family they had helped. A BNA family in Connecticut also made a donation of $10,000.

“Suffice to say, we believe we have raised enough money to ensure our continued operation beyond just this year,” the ministry’s co-founder, Tracy Winsor, recently announced.

Feedback they received also helped Winsor appreciate how much BNA has grown from its original mission 10 years ago in the Diocese of Charlotte as a “peer support ministry” to “a case management service” that assists parents across the U.S. and in other countries, she said.

“We no longer are just ‘talking’ to parents; now we are coordinating care, helping parents identify their needs and providing connections and referrals that seek to address their needs,” she said.

Medical professionals told BNA they consider the ministry “a partner in supporting parents carrying to term following a prenatal diagnosis,” she noted.

Since its founding by Winsor and co-founder Sandy Buck in 2008, BNA has supported over 140 families and welcomed 149 babies in 12 states as well as in Finland, Spain and Australia.

Several dioceses in the U.S. have used BNA as a model for building their own similar ministries to families who need help carrying their babies to term after receiving a poor prenatal diagnosis.

BNA also developed a free webinar for pregnancy resource centers to help them better understand the needs of parents who find themselves in this difficult situation.

And BNA has worked with the National Catholic Bioethics Center to highlight the problem of denial of healthcare to parents whose unborn children have been diagnosed with Trisomy 13 or 18 and are not expected to live long past birth.

Currently BNA is supporting 10 families in eight states, including North Carolina.

This year will be an opportunity to develop a long-term fundraising plan and seek improvements to its services, Winsor added.

“We remain blessed to have found this work through our own experiences of loss, and it is our privilege that parents continue to let us share in the lives of their often frail, but very precious babies,” she said.

“God is good.”

More online At www.benotafraid.net: Learn more about the Be Not Afraid ministry

January 18, 2019 | catholicnewsherald.com

OUR PARISHESI

7

Epiphany blessings

PHOTOS BY AMY BURGER AND MIKE FITZGERALD | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

HUNTERSVILLE — St. Mark Parish in Huntersville organized A blessing of Epiphany water, salt and chalk Jan. 5 with Father John Putnam, pastor, and Father Noah Carter and Father Brian Becker, parochial vicars, who were also joined by Christ the King High School’s chaplain, Father Paul McNulty. They were assisted by St. Joseph College Seminary student Christian Goduti and St. Mark’s sacristan Patrick Martin. After the blessing the priests then proceeded to chalk every door of the church and the parish hall, as well as St. Mark School and Christ the King High School. Each building was also blessed with holy water and censed.

Jake Goduti, Christian’s brother, assisted. They marked the door lintels with blessed chalk, writing the inscription “20+C+M+B+19.” The numbers of this inscription represent the year, the crosses represent Christ, and the letters C, M, and B represent both the names of the Magi (Casper, Melchior and Balthasar) and the phrase “Christus mansionem benedicat” which is Latin for “May Christ bless this house.” Enough chalk and Epiphany water was also blessed for all who attended Mass at St. Mark for the Epiphany Masses. More than 1,200 bags containing Epiphany water were handed out, besides more water distributed in people’s own holy water bottles. “Ask for the Lord’s presence to come and dwell in the domestic church – in your homes,” Father Becker told everyone at Mass.

CHARLOTTE — Close to 200 faithful attended a special vigil of Epiphany blessing and Mass in the Extraordinary Form (Latin) at Charlotte Catholic High School Jan. 5. The evening began with a special blessing of Epiphany holy water, chalk and salt, led by Father Jason Barone, chaplain of Charlotte Catholic High School, and was assisted

by Father Matthew Kauth and Father Matthew Buettner, rector and spiritual director of St. Joseph College Seminary, respectively. Many people brought their own supplies of water, salt and chalk to be blessed which can be used for Epiphany home blessings or at other times through the year.

The priests also dedicated and blessed a new organ gifted to the school by Drennan Thompson, the late music director of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Charlotte. The organ was recently installed in the high school’s chapel and is shown here being played by Dr. Thomas Savoy.

CHARLOTTE — St. Peter parishioners enjoyed a Family Mass Epiphany celebration last weekend. Children who performed in the parish’s Christmas pageant joined Father Jim Shea, pastor, for part of his homily.

Balthasar, Melchior and Gaspar explained their difficult journey to meet the Infant Jesus.

PHOTOS BY MIKE FITZGERALD, CORRESPONDENT, AND SUEANN HOWELL | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

PHOTO PROVIDED BY CATHY CHIAPPETTA

CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte Latin Mass Community and St. Ann Parish celebrated Epiphany with a celebration after the Jan. 6 Mass in the Extraordinary Form.

The festive event included treats, hot apple cider and Rosca de Reyes (ring of the Kings), a traditional Mexican or Spanish pastry decorated to imitate the crowns of the Three Magi and hidden inside are baby figurines to represent the Baby Jesus to symbolize when He was hidden from King Herod. Also after Mass, the Charlotte Latin Mass Community continued its annual tradition in providing Epiphany home blessing kits of blessed chalk, salt and Epiphany holy water to parishioners, which was blessed the prior evening by Father Jason Barone at Charlotte Catholic High School.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY MARKUS KUNKURO

More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: See more photos and video highlights from local Epiphany celebrations

FACEBOOK.COM/ CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD ESPAÑOL

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catholicnewsherald.com | January 18, 2019

Campaña DSA 2018 recaudó cifra récord de 6.3 millones de dólares

Eduardo Bernal

Gracias a la vida, gracias a Dios

C

omo personas de fe sabemos que todo lo que somos y tenemos se lo debemos a Dios: nuestra vida, cultura, familia, idioma, dignidad, amor, pasado, presente y futuro.

Dios es amor y se nos proclama en la primera carta de San Juan 4, 8. Ese amor que se manifiesta a través del sí de nuestras madres al saber que estaban embarazadas de nosotros y dieron un sí a la vida a pesar de la pobreza, enfermedad o inseguridad social en nuestros países; y nos recibieron con alegría y esperanza, cobijándonos en sus brazos con besos y caricias.

Ese sí por la vida nos invita a dar un gracias a Dios no solo por haber nacido y sentido el amor de nuestros padres, familiares, amistades y más, si no también por lo que hemos vivido hasta hoy, bueno o no tan bueno.

Yo vengo de un país que estuvo en guerra y por eso tuve que dejar la patria. Viví toda mi niñez con anemia y bronquitis crónica. No me crié en el mejor barrio de la ciudad. Me dio dengue más de una vez en mi niñez y juventud.

Ahora, a los 50 años de mi vida, doy gracias a Dios no por todas esas penurias y sufrimientos que tristemente son parte de la vida en muchos de nuestros pueblos, sino por la familia que tuve, por el amor que me alimentó y me dió vida, esperanza y ánimo para seguir echándole ganas.

También doy gracias a Dios por la gente pobre como nosotros que compartía su pan y techo, por la enfermera del barrio que daba consuelo a mi madre cuando ella le pedía ayuda en mis enfermedades.

Hace 28 años que llegué a este país y se acabó el hambre. Gracias a Dios ya no recuerdo cómo se siente, pero si están en mi mente todas estas personas que nos dieron la mano en nuestros momentos de necesidad.

Y tú que lees estas líneas ¿tienes personas en tu pasado a las cuales recordar con gratitud?

Yo puedo tener muchas quejas de los míos, pero qué valientes fueron al tenerme a pesar de todo. Mi madre no tuvo pena de pedir fiado en la tienda de la esquina para darnos de comer. Nunca dudó de dejar de comer para que mi hermana y yo tuviéramos algo de alimento que llevar a nuestras bocas.

Muchos de ustedes saben de lo que estoy hablando porque lo han vivido, y los que no, habrán vivido otras experiencias mejores o peores. Pero aquí estamos leyendo y recordando que cada uno tiene su historia, como mi esposa y yo tenemos las nuestras. Aquí estamos con nuestra propia familia e hijos y eso solo se puede porque alguien se encargó de nosotros en nuestra niñez y juventud.

Porque alguien creyó que si se podía y nos sacó adelante como pudo, pero nos sacó adelante.

Esos padres y familias que nos ayudaron a llegar hasta este momento de nuestras vidas no lo hicieron solos ellos. Al igual que nosotros, de vez en cuando doblaron rodilla y pidieron la ayuda divina.

La única ayuda que sabían que tenían con ellos, que recibieron y por eso aquí estamos, gracias a Dios.

EDUARDO BERNAL es coordinador del Ministerio Hispano del Vicariato de Charlotte.

SUEANN HOWELL REPORTERA SENIOR

CÉSAR HURTADO | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Más de 200 personas marcharon en el uptown de Charlotte en defensa por la Vida. Después de manifestarse en Independence Square, los asistentes llegaron hasta el edificio de la Corte del condado. Portando carteles contra el aborto y a favor del derecho a la vida, rezaron el Rosario y la Coronilla de la Divina Misericordia.

Cientos defendieron el derecho a la vida en la Marcha por la vida PATRICIA L. GUILFOYLE EDITORA

CHARLOTTE — “Nuestra defensa de los inocentes no nacidos debe ser clara, firme y apasionada”. Las palabras del Padre Peter Ascik, orador principal en la 13 Marcha por la Vida en Charlotte, describieron el espíritu de las más de 200 personas que marcharon y oraron en el Uptown de Charlotte el 11 de enero para dar testimonio de la dignidad de la vida humana.

Haciendo eco de las palabras del Papa Francisco a la Academia Pontificia por la Vida en 2018, el Padre Ascik animó a todos a “participar con un testimonio claro y público a favor de la vida”.

“Debemos tener bien claro el concepto de la dignidad humana de cada niño por nacer”, dijo a la multitud reunida en Independence Square.

“Nuestra sociedad, con toda su sofisticación, toda su tecnología, todo su dinero y poder, intenta desesperadamente borrar al niño por nacer de nuestra vista, de nuestras mentes y especialmente de nuestros corazones”.

“Debemos ser firmes. No debemos vacilar en nuestro compromiso con la causa pro-vida, a pesar de toda la oposición, a pesar de toda la propaganda en contra de nosotros”, dijo.

Mientras hablaba, los manifestantes sostenían carteles pro-vida y entregaban folletos informativos a las personas que caminaban en su hora de almuerzo por Independence Square. La marcha de una milla de extensión comenzó en el Centro Pastoral de la Diócesis de Charlotte y terminó en el Palacio de Justicia Federal Charles R. Jonas, donde se rezaron los misterios dolorosos del Rosario y la Coronilla de la Divina Misericordia en reparación por el pecado de aborto.

El padre Ascik describió cómo ver fotos de bebés abortados y los valientes testimonios de otros en el movimiento pro-vida lo convenció de unirse a la causa mientras estaba en la universidad, pese a que el tema era sumamente incómodo.

Durante su trabajo de divulgación dijo haber visto “conversaciones más serias sobre el aborto frente a esas imágenes que las que había presenciado en toda mi vida. Las imágenes aportaron claridad, claridad para los que vieron las imágenes, sí, pero también claridad para mí, porque yo mismo tuve que pasar un tiempo con esas imágenes de niños no nacidos...ver sus dedos, sus caras desgarradas por la violencia del aborto”.

La defensa de los no nacidos, enfatizó el padre Ascik, es un derecho humano fundamental. “Sin el derecho a la vida, ninguna vida es segura.

Sin el derecho a la vida, ningún derecho es seguro”. Si el asesinato de un niño en el vientre puede ser justificado, luego matar a una persona anciana que está enferma o discapacitada puede ser justificado, porque MARCHA, PASA A LA PÁGINA 20

CHARLOTTE — La campaña de la Colecta de Apoyo Diocesano 2018, “Nosotros estamos llamados” recaudó la cifra récord de 6.33 millones de dólares provenientes de 16,973 donantes de toda la Diócesis de Charlotte, un ocho por ciento sobre la meta propuesta de 5.87 millones.

En general, 27 por ciento de los parroquianos registrados en la diócesis compartieron un donativo promedio de $373, más de los $352 que ofrecieron en 2017.

Sesenticuatro por ciento de las parroquias alcanzaron o excedieron sus metas.

La campaña anual de la DSA provee fondos a más de 50 programas, incluyendo la operación principal de 23 ministerios y agencias que sirven a miles de personas en todo el territorio diocesano, con mayor notoriedad, Caridades Católicas de la Diócesis de Charlotte por su consejería, despensas de alimentos, apoyo a mujeres embarazadas, reasentamiento de refugiados, ministerio de personas de la tercera edad, Respeto a la Vida y otros programas, al igual que programas y ministerios educativos del Vicariato.

La campaña DSA también apoya los ministerios multiculturales, la educación de los seminaristas, el programa de diaconado permanente, el Congreso Eucarístico anual y la Corporación diocesana de Vivienda.

Feligreses de 92 parroquias y misiones en la Diócesis de Charlotte proveen de fondos para el DSA. Las parroquias que exceden sus metas mantienen los fondos adicionales que recaudan, mientras que las parroquias que se quedan cortas en recaudación deben aportar de sus fondos operativos para completar sus metas.

Algunas de las parroquias que reciben fondos adicionales son: Santos Ángeles en Mount Airy; San Juan Bautista de la Salle en North Wilkesboro; San Felipe Apóstol en Statesville; Misión Sta. Bernadette en Linville; San Francisco de Asís en Lenoir; San José de las Montañas en Eden; y la Misión Nuestra Señora de Fátima en Winston-Salem.

La iglesia Santos Ángeles en Mount Airy está entre las parroquias que sobrepasaron su meta de recaudación. El Padre Lawrence Heiney, pastor, dijo que ahorrarán los $3,678 que recibieron para un uso futuro.

“Pusimos el dinero en una cuenta de ahorros para la nueva iglesia”, dijo el Padre Heiney.

La campaña de 2018 continúa una tendencia de campañas de DSA sin precedentes en la diócesis. En 2015, 2016 y 2017 las campañas también rompieron los récords de cada año anterior y sus propias metas.

January 18, 2019 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

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Padre Ángel Espinosa de los Monteros, legionario de Cristo y consejero matrimonial CÉSAR HURTADO REPORTERO HISPANO

GREENSBORO — ­ El Padre Ángel Espinosa de los Monteros derrocha simpatía en cada una de las presentaciones en las que habla sobre el amor de pareja.

Utilizando un lenguaje sencillo y mucho humor cautiva a los auditorios que sienten como propios los casos y situaciones que narra. “¡Ya ves viejo!, ¡que te dije!”, se escucha murmurar en las salas que lucen repletas de parejas de toda edad que esperan un consejo que renueve, nutra y hasta salve su matrimonio.

Al terminar sus charlas, cariñoso y paciente espera hasta tomarse la última foto con los asistentes que se lo piden, o para firmar libros y material promocional que distribuye con el fin que sus recomendaciones puedan ser recordadas con facilidad.

Gracias a esa paciencia, nos permitió conversar con él al término de una sesión realizada en la parroquia Santa María de Greensboro.

CNH: Padre Ángel, ¿cómo descubrió esta vocación de orador y la desarrolló a lo largo de los años?

Padre Ángel: Yo me ordené hace 24 años, los que cumplí el pasado 25 de noviembre. Estaba trabajando en Guadalajara, llegué como diácono, y cuando llevaba unas 10 a 15 misas celebrando bodas me acuerdo que entré a una boda y vi que era la misma gente. Era una sociedad más bien cerrada, y uno piensa ¿qué les voy a decir?. Ya les dije lo de carnal, ya les dije lo del vino, ya le conté esta anécdota al otro.

No sabía ni qué decir y se me ocurrió describir el por qué el tapete, por qué las flores, por qué tanto invitado, la celebración del amor humano, cómo estaría Jesús en las bodas de Caná; si se acabó el vino es porque había un mundo de gente.

Y se me ocurrió describir el anillo. ¿Por qué decimos “recibe este anillo como símbolo de mi amor y de mi fidelidad en el nombre del Padre, del Hijo, del Espíritu Santo”? ¿Cómo un objeto tan pequeño puede ser el símbolo del amor y de la fidelidad?

Entonces empecé a describir ahí, en la misa, en ocho minutos, diez, no fue más, por qué el anillo es de oro, por qué tiene una fecha, que no es de caducidad, es el día que marca que todo comenzó y que todo terminó; por qué es de metal resistente, por qué son los dos prácticamente iguales pero con sus diferencias, por lo menos uno más grande que el otro; por qué está hecho con detalle; te lo dieron sin precio.

Y a cada una de las cosas que decía le iba sacando un contenido del amor: un verdadero amor no tiene precio; te lo dieron con una fecha implica que todo comenzó ese día y terminó tu vida pasada; metal resistente como el Sacramento, no se debe romper, puede necesitar ajustes porque me creció el dedo, se me adelgazó, igual que el matrimonio necesita ajustes.

Saliendo me agarró un señor y me dijo: “Padre usted le tiene que decir esto a muchísima gente” y yo le dije “ah.. encantado, júntame 2000 personas”. Lo dije de broma y me respondió: “yo se las junto”.

Y entonces, a los tres días, me llama y pregunta cómo se llama la conferencia. ¡No tengo ni idea!

De niño, cuando yo iba al cine, había un anuncio de una película que se llamaba “Un diamante es para siempre” y era sobre diamantes. Entonces le dije: “pues ponle el anillo es para siempre”.

Total que llegó el día y me juntó 1865 personas, la totalidad del Teatro Galerías en Guadalajara. La gente salió feliz y con bromas, “entre broma y broma la verdad se asoma” dicen por ahí, la gente al salir me decía: “¿y cuándo la segunda? ¿Cuál segunda si yo no tengo otra? Pues haga otra. Y ahí yo sentí como Dios me fue impulsando.

CÉSAR HURTADO | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Izquierda: El Padre Ángel Espinoza de los Monteros utiliza un lenguaje sencillo con argumentos claros, ingeniosos y llenos de humor. “Yo le hablo a la gente como se le habla a un amigo y le meto la verdad, la doctrina, el sentido común”, dice. Arriba: Al término de las sesiones los asistentes adquieren videos, libros y material que les recuerdan los puntos principales de las numerosas charlas que ha dictado el Padre Ángel.

Más online En Facebook.com/CNHespanol: Vea un informe sobre la entrevista que sostuvimos con el Padre Ángel Espinosa de los Monteros

CNH: ¿Usted estudió para orador o lo suyo es un talento nato?

Padre Ángel: No estudié para esto, no me preparé para esto. Más bien comencé simplemente por lo que yo escuchaba hablando con matrimonios. Y ahora sí, cuando llevaba seis conferencias, regresé a Roma hacer una licenciatura en Teología Moral con especialización en bioética.

Entonces, cuando salgo de Roma a vivir a París y después a Colombia, y después vuelvo a Roma, pero ya trabajando, empiezo a aplicar, ahora sí a meterle mucha ciencia sin perder la sencillez. Porque si a mí me preguntan cómo me describo, hablo a la gente lo más sencillo, los argumentos, los que deben ser.

Perdón por lo que voy a decir, como está hablando ahorita el Papa Francisco. El libro es complicadísimo que no lo entiende nadie. Yo le hablo a la gente como se le habla a un amigo y le meto la verdad, la doctrina, el sentido común.

Mi vida es esta, desde hace 24 años mi vida es esta.

CNH: Padre Ángel, con mucho respeto, algunas personas pueden preguntar ¿qué sabe un sacerdote del matrimonio si no está casado? ¿con qué experiencia puede aconsejar si nunca ha vivido con una pareja? ¿Qué les diría a ellos?

Padre Ángel: Mira, yo me leí muchos libros sobre el Sacramento del Matrimonio. Ahí aprendes la parte doctrinal. Pero cuando estás ahí evidentemente que alguien te dice: ‘¿ya te leíste este libro? ¿ya te leíste el otro?

Que no es doctrinal sino ya es casuística, qué aconsejar.

Y alguien me dijo: “¿ya te leíste los principios básicos de psicología?”. Total, que cuando uno estudia matrimonio termina leyéndose 30 cosas, muchas conversaciones con otros sacerdotes.

Y ya cuando salgo de teología para ordenarme y me traen a vivir a Guadalajara, yo pensé que iba a estar hablando todo el tiempo del Evangelio, de la Eucaristía, de esto y el otro y, en cambio, me llenaban de citas de gente con problemas conyugales.

Entonces mis verdaderos estudios fueron atender a unas siete u ocho personas diarias durante siete años en Guadalajara. Quítale sábados, domingos y fiestas especiales, verano, Navidad. Eran 270 días del año escuchando a seis, siete, ocho personas, dos parejas, tres parejas, gente

que se va a casar. Una problemática, y no en confesión.

En confesiones escuchas algunas cosas. En diálogo, en el despacho: me quiero casar, me quiero divorciar, quiero mi nulidad, no aguanto su carácter, por qué te casaste.

Entonces uno oye todo y, como les digo, yo tengo la ventaja sobre ustedes: yo no tengo mujer, tú sí tienes. Tú tienes experiencia con tu mujer, yo tengo la experiencia de diez mil matrimonios. No sé, ya no los he contado. Oigo la parte de la mujer, oigo la parte del hombre, los confronto, le meto un poco de psicología, le meto casuística y veo como Dios, a través de instrumentos pobrísimos, hace milagros.

CNH: Padre Ángel, si se pudiera resumir todos sus consejos a los matrimonios en una sola palabra, ¿cuál sería?

Padre Ángel: Es que esa respuesta no existe porque no hay una sola palabra. Sería “amarse”. Ámense, sí, pero es que yo más bien tendría que decirles unas 15 cositas: el diálogo, la intimidad, el perdón, la formación de los hijos si no quieren ustedes terminar lamentándolo todo y viendo cómo se echa a perder una familia. El volver a empezar, el volver a lo básico: las salidas, todas las semanas por lo menos una vez; los gestos, dame la mano, dime que me quieres. Es una serie de cositas que sí, todo cabe en el amor, pero el amor hay que desmenuzarlo y te das cuenta de que es diálogo, perdón, intimidad, compañía, cuidado, nunca se ofrendan en público, saber discutir, volver a comenzar, lo que todo el mundo dice.

CNH: Todos los días vemos la definición de amor que nos muestra el cine y la televisión. Para usted, ¿existe el amor de película, de novela, el puramente romántico?

Padre Ángel: Las películas hoy nos están engañando por todas partes. Ahora una buena película es donde él deja la esposa porque está más guapa la secretaria y está mucho más romántico. ¿Qué haces con tu esposa si está más romántico aquí?

De esas, hay diez millones de películas que son un asco.

En cambio, las verdaderas películas de amor muchas veces partieron de una historia real.

Entonces, sí existe, no lo llamo “amor de película”, lo llamo un edificado sobre la roca de Cristo. ¿Se acabó el vino?, traigan el vino bueno, el verdadero amor, el perdón, la reconciliación.

Lecturas Diarias ENE. 20-26

Domingo: Isaías 62:1-5, 1 Corintios 12:4-11, Juan 2:1-11; Lunes (Santa Inés): Hebreos 5:1-10, Marcos 2:18-22; Martes (Día de Oración por la Protección Legal de los Niños no Nacidos): Hebreos 6:10-20, Marcos 2:23-28; Miércoles (San Vicente, Sta. Mariana Cope): Hebreos 7:1-3, 15-17, Marcos 3:1-6; Jueves (San Francisco de Sales): Hebreos 7:25-8:6, Marcos 3:7-12; Viernes (La Conversión de San Pablo): Hechos 22:3-16, Marcos 16:15-18; Sábado (Santos Timoteo y Tito): 2 Timoteo 1:1-8, Marcos 3:20-21

ENE. 27-FEB. 2

Domingo: Nehemías 8:2-6, 8-10, 1 Corintios 12:12-30, Lucas 1:1-4, 4:14-21; Lunes (Sto. Tomás de Aquino): Hebreos 9:15, 24-28, Marcos 3:22-30; Martes: Hebreos 10:1-10, Marcos 3:31-35; Miércoles: Hebreos 10:11-18, Marcos 4:1-20; Jueves (San Juan Bosco): Hebreos 10:19-25, Marcos 4:21-25; Viernes: Hebreos 10:32-39, Marcos 4:26-34; Sábado (La Presentación del Señor): Malaquías 3:1-4, Hebreos 2:14-18, Lucas 2:22-40

FEB. 3-9

Domingo: Jeremías 1:4-5, 17-19, 1 Corintios 12:31-13:13, Lucas 4:21-30; Lunes: Hebreos 11:32-40, Marcos 5:1-20; Martes (Sta. Ágata de Sicilia): Hebreos 12:1-4, Marcos 5:21-43; Miércoles (San Pablo Miki y compañeros): Hebreos 12:4-7, 11-15, Marcos 6:1-6; Jueves: Hebreos 12:18-19, 21-24, Marcos 6:7-13; Viernes (San Jerónimo Emiliani, Santa Josefina Bakhita): Hebreos 13:1-8, Marcos 6:14-29; Sábado: Hebreos 13:15-17, 20-21, Marcos 6:30-34

10

catholicnewsherald.com | January 18, 2019 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Ofrecieron interesante charla sobre el duelo CÉSAR HURTADO REPORTERO HISPANO

CHARLOTTE — Los sacerdotes Gregorio Gay y Hugo Medellín ofrecieron una conferencia sobre el proceso de duelo el pasado sábado 12 de enero en las instalaciones de la parroquia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.

Para el Padre Gregorio Gay, vicario parroquial, una de las cosas que le llama la atención es “que el pueblo hispano carga mucho sufrimiento”, mayor que el de otras comunidades.

“Viene desde que las personas tienen que salir de sus pueblos de nacimiento dejando atrás familiares y sabiendo que no va a ser fácil verlos nuevamente”.

“Lo más triste es que mucha gente hispana es responsable del sufrimiento de su misma gente durante su viaje. Y al llegar a los Estados Unidos se dan cuenta que la vida no es un jardín de rosas, que hay muchas actitudes en contra de ellos y que parten, inclusive, desde la Casa Blanca, y esto causa más sufrimiento”.

CÉSAR HURTADO | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD En el duelo, señaló, tal vez Sacerdotes de la parroquia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe en Charlotte brindaron una charla sobre el duelo. Los expositores, lo más difícil es que uno tiene Padre Gregorio Gay y Padre Hugo Medellín, ofrecieron un completo panorama sobre el proceso, sus fases, factores y la lidiar con la pérdida de un ser asistencia que se puede brindar a quienes pierden un ser querido. querido. “Más aún cuando este ser querido está lejos y uno no puede vicariato por el psicólogo David Rodas cercanía que nos ligaba con la persona estar acompañando debido a su situación Orozco. fallecida. “Por ello el efecto de la muerte migratoria”.

El P. Medellín, después de definir el es muy diferente en las personas. Algunos Nosotros, dijo, “todos somos cristianos duelo, sus mecánicas, efectos, riesgos y lloran, otros aparentan indiferencia, otros y creemos que con la muerte la vida no fases, pasó a enumerar las tareas que deben se involucran solo con los procedimientos termina”. Ello está relacionado con el ocupar a los agentes de las pastorales de y procesos legales y “otras personas pasaje bíblico en el que Jesús se encuentra duelo, donde destacan el acompañamiento reaccionan a la desaparición días, meses y con la pérdida de su amigo Lázaro. Aquí se en oración, meditación, alimentación, hasta años después de ocurrida la muerte”. muestra el dolor del Señor y se entiende ejercicio, horas de sueño, con el entorno de El duelo, explicó, está relacionado que se ofrece algo más cuando ordena a trabajo y familiar, entre otras. con la aparición o empeoramiento Lázaro que salga afuera y siga con vida. de enfermedades, aumento de “Las dificultades para manejar la muerte PROCESO DOLOROSO infecciones, trastornos psiquiátricos de un ser querido son reales y no podemos Respecto a la muerte, refirió que debemos y el recrudecimiento de adicciones. solo espiritualizarlas diciendo que todo entenderla como un proceso natural y “Alcohólicos Anónimos, por ejemplo, va a estar bien porque Jesús mismo ha dijo que particularmente el duelo está advierte siempre, que no se debe beber ni resucitado. Sí es cierto (que ha resucitado), relacionado con el curso de la separación una gota para celebrar ni tampoco para pero el dolor es el dolor y tenemos que de un ser querido, “por lo que puede llorar”, resaltó. saber enfrentarlo para continuar viviendo tratarse del fallecimiento de un familiar, Respecto a la duración del duelo dijo que la vida que Dios nos ha dado”, añadió. una mascota o una separación dolorosa, es un mito que “el tiempo lo cura todo”.

“La muerte duele mucho más cuando como por ejemplo un divorcio”.

“La verdad que el tiempo del duelo está el deudo está lejos”, y “lograr aceptar, El dolor de la pérdida dijo, es biológico relacionado con muchos aspectos, como la entender es difícil”, dijo. “Pero, poco a poco, porque duele el cuerpo; psicológico porque personalidad, la relación con el fallecido, se puede llegar a aceptar la realidad de la duele la personalidad; social porque duele su cercanía, dependencia, factores de la vida de todos los seres humanos”. en la sociedad; familiar porque nos duele muerte, edad del fallecido y más”.

El Padre Gregorio felicitó al Vicariato de el dolor de otros; y también un dolor El Padre Medellín dijo que después de Charlotte por organizar este ministerio tan espiritual porque nos duele el alma. la primera fase del duelo, la negación importante. “Vamos participando en varias “Ese dolor de la pérdida no mejora a del hecho, vienen la rabia, depresión reuniones y la idea es que cada parroquia corto plazo, al contrario empeora”, señaló, y cicatrización para concluir en la organice sus propios equipos para ayudar a “y, a veces, nosotros lo empeoramos aceptación, “donde se han realizado los los fieles que han experimentado la pérdida porque le decimos a la persona ‘tienes que cambios necesarios, se ha recuperado el de sus seres queridos”. ser fuerte’. Hay que tener en cuenta que nivel de funcionamiento de la persona y Por su parte, el Padre Hugo Medellín, nosotros estamos ahí para acompañar, no ésta ha aprendido a vivir para sí misma y aclarando que no es psicólogo ni se intenta para tratar de reprimir las emociones de sin la presencia del ser querido. con esta charla ofrecer asesoría psicológica las personas que han sufrido una pérdida”.

Al término de la cita, Eduardo Bernal, porque no están autorizados para ello, La muerte, aseguró, destruye nuestra coordinador del Ministerio Hispano explicó que la presentación está basada percepción del mundo en mayor o menor del Vicariato de Charlotte, después de en una charla previamente ofrecida al medida, dependiendo de la relación y agradecer la gentileza de la parroquia Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe y los sacerdotes que condujeron la charla, invitó a los presentes a que se organicen y despierten la inquietud de llevar adelante comités eclesiales de la pastoral de duelo.

Para mayor información contacte a la Pastoral de Duelo del Ministerio Católico Hispano del Vicariato de Charlotte: Cecilia Jiménez 704-245-1403 o Eduardo Bernal 704-770-8342.

Más online En Facebook.com/CNHespanol: Vea un video sobre esta conferencia

Nuevo coordinador de Ministerio Hispano CÉSAR HURTADO REPORTERO HISPANO

CHARLOTTE — El director del Ministerio Hispano de la Diócesis de Charlotte, Padre Fidel Melo, anunció la incorporación de Sergio López como coordinador de ese ministerio para el Vicariato de Boone.

López, natural de San Luis Potosí, México, tuvo contacto desde muy joven con su iglesia local y, según asegura, el Señor lo tomó muy joven.

“He escuchado testimonios de otras personas que cuentan que ya después de haber vivido algunas situaciones riesgosas sintieron Lopez el llamado del Señor y se transformaron.

Otros también que ya en edad un poco avanzada llegaron a la Iglesia. En mi caso me tomó muy joven y me guió, me fue capacitando, por lo que siempre supe que Él tenía un propósito para mí”.

Es así que contando solo con 17 años sintió el llamado para integrarse al trabajo eclesial en México. Poco después conoció la Renovación Carismática que lo atrajo pero, debido a su viaje a Estados Unidos, se alejó momentáneamente de esas actividades.

En 2001 llegó a Mount Airy, a la parroquia Holy Angels donde, por aquella época, el ministerio hispano se encontraba en pleno apogeo y más de 300 almas asistían a las Misas en español que ahí se ofrecían.

Entusiasta, Sergio López se involucró con la pastoral musical, juvenil y de servicio laico para adultos.

Lamentablemente un cambio en la dirección de la parroquia, generó la cancelación de la pastoral hispana y todos sus programas. Triste por la noticia y falta de actividad en su idioma, López sintió decaer su servicio.

Pero, como no hay mal que por bien no venga, la comunidad de fieles católicos hispanos de Mount Airy tomó conocimiento de los servicios en español que se ofrecían en Boonville, a poco más de 20 millas de distancia.

Enterado de Boonville, López fue para allá y se integró al servicio ofreciendo su talento musical. Ya al servicio, fue testigo del establecimiento de la Pastoral Juvenil Hispana en 2005. En 2014, con la presencia del Padre Enrique González como Pastor de la parroquia Divino Redentor, recibió el encargo de dirigir la Pastoral Juvenil.

Desde hace dos años, en compañía de Santiago Aguilera y con el apoyo del P. Enrique, lleva adelante un proyecto de redes sociales llamado ‘Cristo Squad’ con el que desea “promover el fogueo de los líderes” para que luego, en el contacto cotidiano, “no tengan miedo de estar delante de una cámara o detrás de un micrófono”.

López siente que las comunicaciones en español dentro de la Iglesia Católica no están al nivel de la verdadera necesidad. “Creo que los laicos no estamos muy abiertos ni preparados para recibirla”, y señala que necesitamos más compromiso.

“Sueño con que, algún día, los programas católicos en español suplan a las telenovelas y tengan tanto éxito como ellas”, subrayó.

January 18, 2019 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

11

Piden mayor participación cívica a comunidades de fe CÉSAR HURTADO REPORTERO HISPANO

CHARLOTTE — “Las comunidades de fe deben comprometerse a una mayor participación en las actividades cívicas”, aseguró Wendy Mateo, organizadora del programa de compromiso de la comunidad latina, durante la exposición de resultados de una encuesta realizada sobre ese tema a principios de 2018.

Los datos que demuestran una baja participación de los latinos en el quehacer político nacional y local fueron expuestos en un encuentro realizado en el Centro Pastoral de la Diócesis de Charlotte, ante una convocatoria de la oficina de coordinación del Ministerio Hispano del Vicariato de Charlotte.

El sondeo realizado en el condado Mecklenburg muestra, entre otros resultados, que existe una mayor inclinación a votar en elecciones nacionales que locales (36,9 por ciento a 24,7 por ciento) y que solo uno de cada diez latinos ha firmado una petición o escrito a su representante, aunque tres de cada diez confiesan haber participado en una marcha o protesta.

Mateo adelantó que, aunque las cifras de participación latina en las elecciones de medio término han sido sorprendentes, 12.153 de un total de 32.257, aún falta trabajar mucho en el compromiso de nuestro electorado que, de participar en bloque, sería decisivo en los resultados.

La activista señaló que, aunque muchos ciudadanos no prestan atención a las votaciones locales, éstas son muy importantes por la influencia política de las decisiones que se toman en los vecindarios y ciudades. “Cuando se vota localmente

se eligen representantes que van a decidir sobre las escuelas, los impuestos, las autopistas y otros temas que te van a afectar localmente”, subrayó.

En 2017, la oficina del Censo de Estados Unidos calculó en casi 133.00 el número de hispanos en el condado Mecklenburg, para un total de 915.000 en todo el estado. El porcentaje de hispanos en el condado, según cifras oficiales, alcanza aproximadamente un 12 por ciento de la población total.

Estas cifras son para Mateo una clara indicación que la “creciente población latina no se refleja en el panorama político y cívico del condado”, una imagen que se repite en todo el estado de Carolina del Norte.

“Los latinos no están representados, o si lo están es mínimamente, en posiciones de liderazgo del condado, de las ciudades, los pueblos, gobierno estatal o federal”, dando como consecuencia que los líderes locales “desconozcan la realidad y necesidades de la comunidad latina”.

En respuesta a estas necesidades y con el objetivo de incrementar la representación latina en posiciones de liderazgo, el Centro Comunitario Camino, en alianza con otras organizaciones cívicas, ha puesto en marcha un proyecto latino de participación cívica sin costo para los interesados.

A través de este programa, grupos de participantes reciben en varias sesiones información importante sobre historia, gobierno local, estatal y federal, instituciones de la ley y organizaciones cívicas, capacitándolos además en liderazgo.

“Creo que la desinformación es la razón principal para la falta de participación

CÉSAR HURTADO | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Wendy Pascual, expositora de la charla, recibió muchas inquietudes de parte de los asistentes sobre el proceso de inclusión en la vida política de las comunidades de fe locales. Pascual señaló que el mandato cristiano nos anima a realizar cambios a favor de los más vulnerables de la sociedad. cívica latina, por lo tanto, trabajar para cambiar eso va a hacer la diferencia”, señaló Mateo.

Finalmente, añadió que “como comunidades de fe tenemos un llamado a involucrarnos y a hacer el bien en nuestra comunidad. Tenemos que participar y saber que fuera de la Iglesia hay una comunidad que necesita de nuestro apoyo. Y hacerlo como una oportunidad de mostrar el amor de Dios y que como

cristianos hacemos una diferencia en la comunidad”.

Para mayor información o participar en el programa de participación cívica puede comunicarse con Wendy Mateo a wendymateo@hotmail.com.

Más online En Facebook.com/CNHespanol: Vea un reportaje sobre este tema

Estudiantes de El Salvador visitaron la escuela Bishop McGuinness JOE BAUER, ALBAMARÍA RIVERA Y EDGARDO GONZÁLES ESPECIAL PARA CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

GREENSBORO — El Ministerio salvadoreño del Centro Franciscano y el Centro de Oración San Francisco Springs, bajo el liderazgo del Padre Louis Canino, OFM, recientemente acogió a tres estudiantes becarios salvadoreños que visitaron por cuatro días la ciudad de Greensboro.

Iris Canenguez, Roberto Arriaga and Alex Rivas, junto a la directora de programas para adultos, Nuria Monico, participan en el programa de becas y trabajo educativo comunitario que los Ministerios Franciscanos han apoyado en áreas rurales pobres desde que comenzó este programa de proyección en 1999. Esta fue la primera vez que los estudiantes salían de su país y estaban muy sorprendidos por muchas cosas que regularmente damos por normales. Fácil acceso al agua potable, servicios higiénicos modernos y una fría mañana con escarcha fueron nuevas y emocionantes experiencias para ellos.

Uno de los hechos resaltantes del viaje de los estudiantes salvadoreños fue la visita que realizaron a la escuela secundaria Bishop McGuinness en Kernersville y la cálida hospitalidad que recibieron de parte del personal, maestros y estudiantes.

Durante su visita, el grupo compartió con dos clases de religión y una de cultura e idioma español. También disfrutaron de

You are Cordially Invited FOTO DE KIM KNOX

una clase de música coral.

Los estudiantes salvadoreños estuvieron muy contentos de compartir su alegría sobre la reciente canonización de San Óscar Romero, Arzobispo de San Salvador que asesinado mientras celebraba Misa en 1980, durante la guerra civil salvadoreña.

Estudiantes y maestros se conmovieron con las historias de los visitantes.

Los Ministerios Franciscanos esperan patrocinar a más estudiantes y proveer mayores oportunidades educativas a través de este programa. Para detalles contacte a Ann Bauer del Centro de Oración San Francisco Springs, ann@stfrancissprings. com o llame al teléfono 336-573-3751.

JOE BAUER sirve en el Centro de Oración San Francisco Springs. Los estudiantes de último año de la escuela secundaria Bishop McGuinness, ALBAMARÍA RIVERA y EDGARDO GONZÁLES sirvieron como anfitriones y traductores de los estudiantes visitantes. Rivera es natural de Nicaragua y Gonzáles nació en El Salvador y tiene doble nacionalidad de su país y estadounidense.

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2019 Fruit of the Vine Award Recipient Father Francis J. O’Rourke At this complimentary event, you will be invited to make a generous gift to help raise our goal of $200k to Strengthen Families, Build Communities, and Reduce Poverty in the Charlotte area.

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Our schools 12

catholicnewsherald.com | January 18, 2019 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief Charlotte Catholic’s assistant football coach suspended CHARLOTTE — Frank Garcia, Charlotte Catholic High School’s assistant football coach, has been suspended from his coaching job after being accused of assaulting a woman.

Garcia, a former Carolina Panther football player, was arrested Dec. 8 and charged with misdemeanor assault.

He did not coach in the team’s 3A state championship game. Charlotte Catholic defeated Jacksonville in the Dec. 15 game, 17-14.

Garcia remained suspended as of Jan. 10, said Principal Kurt Telford.

Telford said Garcia’s employment at the school dated back to 2012 and his only position there was assistant coach.

Garcia has also been off the air as a sportstalk radio show since his arrest. He co-hosted the “Garcia and Bailey” show on Charlotte’s WFNZ-AM station.

Garcia played with the Panthers from 1995 to 2000, the Rams from 2001 to 2002, and the Cardinals in 2003.

grader Samuel Cook recently took first place in the Science Division of the 11th annual Gaston Regional Science and Engineering Fair at The Schiele Museum earlier this month.

Fellow student Amy Okonkwo won second place.

Cook won top overall middle school honors in last year’s competition with his project “You’ve Been Strooped,” where he analyzed the Stroop Effect and how well people of different age groups were able to say the color of a word but not the name of the word.

This year, Cook returned to the fair with his entry “The Spice is Right,” where he analyzed whether certain spices have antibacterial properties, and if so, which spices are more effective at preventing bacterial growth.

He also conducted research in a science laboratory with an instructor at Belmont Abbey College.

“I’m also trying to step it up,” said Cook, of his project this year. “It was really fun because all of the equipment (at Belmont Abbey), it’s really fun and precise to use.”

— The Gaston Gazette

Spelling bee winners

GASTONIA — St. Michael School eighth-

El Salvadoran students visit Bishop McGuinness community JOE BAUER, ALBAMARIA RIVERA AND EDGARDO GONZALES SPECIAL TO THE CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

— Catholic News Herald

Science fair winners

PHOTO PROVIDED BY KIM KNOX

GASTONIA — Connie Okonkwo and Kyra Osei-Boateng were the first-place and second-place winners, respectively, of St. Michael School’s 2018-’19 Spelling Bee Jan. 9.

Okonkwo will represent St. Michael School in the Gaston County Spelling Bee, sponsored by the Gaston Gazette. Elementary and middle school students from Gaston County Schools and students from the charter, private and home schools in Gaston County will compete for the county championship and an allexpense-paid trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

GREENSBORO — The El Salvador Ministry of the Franciscan Center and St. Francis Springs Prayer Center, under the leadership of Father Louis Canino, OFM, recently hosted three Salvadoran scholarship students during a four-day visit to Greensboro.

Iris Canenguez, Roberto Arriaga and Alex Rivas, along with their adult program director, Nuria Monico, are participating in the scholarship program and community development work that the Franciscan Ministries have supported in poor rural areas since it began this outreach program in 1999. This was the first time the students had ever left El Salvador, and they were very excited by many things that we take for granted. Easy access to safe drinking water, modern bathrooms, and a cold early morning frost were all new and thrilling experiences.

One of the highlights of the Salvadoran students’ trip was a visit to Bishop McGuinness High School in Kernersville and the warm hospitality they received

from the staff, the teachers and students. During their visit, the group spoke to two religion classes and a Spanish language and culture class. They also enjoyed participating in a choral music class.

The Salvadoran students were very happy to share their joy over the recent canonization of St. Oscar Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador who was killed by a military assassin while saying Mass in 1980.

The students and faculty were very deeply touched by the stories of the three Salvadoran students.

The Franciscan Ministries hope to sponsor more students and provide more educational opportunities through this program.

For details, contact Ann Bauer at St. Francis Springs Prayer Center at ann@ stfrancissprings.com or 336-573-3751.

JOE BAUER serves at the St. Francis Springs Prayer Center. Bishop McGuinness High School seniors ALBAMARIA RIVERA and EDGARDO GONZALES served as hosts and translators to the visiting students. Rivera is from Nicaragua and Gonzales was born in El Salvador and holds dual American and El Salvadoran citizenship.

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January 18, 2019 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

For the latest movie reviews: catholicnewsherald.com

In theaters

Catholic writer gives financial advice from a Catholic perspective KIMBERLY BENDER ONLINE REPORTER

‘Replicas’ After his wife (Alice Eve) and children are killed in a car accident, a scientist (Keanu Reeves) who has been experimenting with injecting human consciousness into robots secretly teams with a colleague who specializes in cloning to create copies of the deceased using their DNA and their mental data. He runs into a number of stumbling blocks, including the dilemma of only having the capacity to replicate two of his three kids and the pressure exerted on him by his hard-driving boss. Brief violence with little gore.

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

‘A Dog’s Way Home’ Canine cuteness abounds in this quest-based adventure. Adopted by an affectionate Denverbased medical student (Jonah Hauer-King) and his psychologically scarred veteran mom (Ashley Judd), a stray pit bull-mix puppy settles into a happy domesticated life. But a local animal control officer has it in for the pooch, and she is sent away to prevent her being impounded and euthanized. Not realizing the arrangement is temporary, she resolves to make her own way back home. Along the grueling 400-mile journey, she faces various dangers, including a showdown with a pack of wolves and an encounter with an ill-fated homeless man that are much too scary for little viewers.

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

Other movies: n ‘Escape Room’: CNS: A-III (adults); MPAA: PG-13

CHARLOTTE — Catholic financial planning? Sounds like an oxymoron when the goal of growing wealth doesn’t necessarily match up with faith practices.

Catholic author and retired financial professional Dan Gallagher tackles tips for financial planning from a faith-based perspective in a new book “The Secrets of Successful Financial Planning.”

“There’s a perception that financial planning is about maximizing your wealth, which isn’t a Catholic value,” Gallagher says. “But there’s a moral aspect of financial planning, too.”

Gallagher, a parishioner of St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte, writes fictional and narrative nonfiction. His other works include a novel, short stories and Catholic letters. Gallagher has four faith-based short stories scheduled to be published

by Millhaven Press this year, and his fiction work consistently calls readers to consider the things of God. “The Secrets of Successful Financial Planning” is perhaps the only such book with a Catholic perspective, he says. After three decades in the field, he offers bias- and agenda-free advice and the book carries the Catholic Writers Guild’s Seal of Approval.

The book’s “Catholic perspective is subtle, but appears at crucial and edifying points,” he says. “A fifth of the book is comprised of 30 dramatic but true tales of client triumph and tragedy.”

Through this book, Gallagher says he wants to help people from a wide range of economic means and situations, persuading them to consider proper stewardship and attitudes toward money.

“Money decisions almost always have a moral dimension and a relationships dimension,” he says. “Which is why this type of book from a Catholic perspective is needed.”

The book empowers readers to meet obligations to self, family, charity and posterity, Gallagher says.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY DAN GALLAGHER

By using a secular publisher, Gallagher says he hopes to reach people of all faiths, not just Catholics, to consider matters such as healthcare power of attorney versus living wills, charitable giving and tithing, the responsibility to share one’s resources and not hoard wealth, and preserving family relationships through thoughtful money decisions including disability planning.

“The Secrets of Successful Financial Planning” sheds light on “poorly knowns” that consumers and professionals alike need to understand, he says. It enables Catholics to better their understanding of these issues and realize the merit of managing their finances as they would any other blessing or talent from God. Gallagher says he has been influenced by secular financial writers and his work incorporates a Catholic conscience.

“My true love is writing fiction. I feel like I can reach people more emotionally that way, and it sticks,” he says.

“They remember what I’m trying to convey. I’m not necessarily trying to teach someone something about morals or the Bible or whatever. I’m trying to coach them to consider doing something that’s wholesome and good, and incorporate that into their lives or their philosophy.”

More online At www.authordan.com: Learn more about Dan Gallagher and read more of his work, including his latest book, “The Secrets of Successful Financial Planning”

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On TV n Friday, Jan. 18, 9 a.m. (EWTN) “March for Life.” Live and complete coverage of the most important pro-life event of the year, the annual March for Life in Washington D.C. n Monday, Jan. 21, 5:30 p.m. (EWTN) “Who Was the Real Margaret Sanger?” A documentary on the life, work and beliefs of Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood. n Tuesday, Jan. 22, 4:30 p.m. (EWTN) “Opening Mass.” Live from Panama, the opening Mass of World Youth Day 2019. n Wednesday, Jan. 23, 4 p.m. (EWTN) “Arrival.” Pope Francis is welcomed to Panama for the World Youth Day celebrations at Tocumen International Airport in Panama. n Saturday, Jan. 26, 6 p.m. (EWTN) “Vigil with Youth.” Live from Panama. n Sunday, Jan. 27, 10 p.m. (EWTN) “The Story of Saint Brigid of Ireland.” A documentary on one of the pillars of Irish Christianity, St. Brigid of Kildare, a religious foundress and tireless champion for the poor and Ireland’s people. n Tuesday, Jan. 29, 1:40 p.m. (EWTN) “Pier Giorgio Frassati: Get to Know Him.” A brief introduction to Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati: a young, joyful man, whose devotion and charity towards the poor caused Pope Francis to encourage young people to look up to him as an example of holiness. n Wednesday, Jan. 30, 5:30 p.m. (EWTN) “Australia’s First Saint.” Inspiring faith stories from Australia’s Catholics, including Australia’s first saint, St. Mary MacKillop.

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Our nation 14

catholicnewsherald.com | January 18, 2019 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Abuse report’s claim of cover-up called ‘misleading’ JULIE ASHER CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The conclusion reached by a Pennsylvania grand jury that six of the state’s Catholic dioceses acted “in virtual lockstep” to cover up abuse allegations and dismiss alleged victims over a 70-year period starting in 1947 is “inaccurate,” “unfair” and “misleading,” said a veteran journalist in an in-depth article for Commonweal magazine.

The grand jury report was based on a months-long investigation into alleged abuse by clergy and other Church workers in the Pittsburgh, Allentown, Scranton, Erie, Harrisburg and Greensburg dioceses, and it makes “two distinct charges,” said Peter Steinfels, a former editor of Commonweal, former religion writer for The New York Times and professor emeritus at Fordham University in New York.

The first “concerns predator priests, their many victims and their unspeakable acts” and is, “as far as can be determined, dreadfully true,” he said in the article posted at www.commonwealmagazine.org.

Its second charge, he said, has had the “greatest reverberations” and is not documented by the report: the explosive claim that Church leaders mishandled these abuse claims for decades, moved around many of the accused abusers to different assignments and were dismissive

of the alleged victims – all reportedly resulting in a major cover-up.

“Stomach-churning violations of the physical, psychological and spiritual integrity of children and young people” are documented in the report, Steinfels said, as well and how “many of these atrocities could have been prevented” by promptly removing credibly suspected perpetrators from all priestly ministry. It shows that some Church leaders seemed to have an “overriding concern” for protecting the church’s reputation while disregarding children’s safety and well-being, he said.

A third or more of the crimes documented in the report, he said, “only came to the knowledge of Church authorities in 2002 or after.” In 2002, the U.S. bishops approved their “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People,” which mandated automatic removal from ministry when a priest or Church worker is accused of abuse.

But Steinfels said that if one reads the full report carefully, “it is clear” that it “does not document the sensational charges contained in its introduction – namely, that over seven decades Catholic authorities, in virtual lockstep, supposedly brushed aside all victims and did absolutely nothing in the face of terrible crimes against boys and girls – except to conceal them.”

The grand jury says “‘all’ of these victims ... were brushed aside, in every part of the

state, by Church leaders who preferred to protect the abusers and their institutions above all,” he wrote. “Or as the introduction to the report sums it up, ‘Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of God who were responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it all.’”

“This ugly, indiscriminate and inflammatory charge, unsubstantiated by the report’s own evidence, to say nothing of the evidence the report ignores, is truly unworthy of a judicial body responsible for impartial justice,” he said.

This charge “is contradicted by testimony submitted to the grand jury but ignored – and, I believe, by evidence that the grand jury never pursued,” noted Steinfels.

“The report’s conclusions about abuse and cover-up are stated in timeless fashion,” he said. “Whenever change is acknowledged, the language is begrudging.”

Steinfels said his conclusions about the report do not “acquit the Catholic hierarchy of all sins, past or present” regarding the abuse crisis. “Personally, I have a substantial list,” he added.

But right now, he stated, “the important thing is to restore some fact-based reality to the instant mythology that the Pennsylvania report has created.”

He said the grand jury could have reached accurate and “hard-hitting findings about what different Church leaders did and did

not do,” but chose “a tack more suited” to society’s current “hyperbolic, bumpersticker, post-truth environment.”

Steinfels reached his assessment on the report by reading its “vast bulk,” he said.

He noted that in some PDFs of the report posted online it consists of 884 pages; but other versions include over 450 additional pages consisting of “photocopied responses from dioceses, former bishops, other diocesan officials, and even some accused priests protesting their innocence.”

He reviewed “one by one” how hundreds of cases were handled; tried to match the dioceses’ replies with the grand jury’s charges; and examined other court documents and spoke “with people familiar with the grand jury’s work, including the attorney general’s office.”

Released Aug. 14, the grand jury report was based on an investigation initiated

by Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s office. It linked more than 300 priests and other Church workers to abuse claims during the 70-year period it covered and said alleged victims numbered over 1,000.

The report made international headlines, he noted, prompting the Vatican – along with the Pennsylvania dioceses’ bishops and the U.S. Church’s national leadership – to express sorrow and shame. It has prompted attorneys general in other states to pledge the same kind of investigation; Illinois for one has begun a similar probe.

Superintendent of Catholic Schools The Catholic Diocese of Richmond, VA seeks a highly qualified, innovative and strategic leader for the position of Superintendent, Office of Catholic Schools. The Superintendent will oversee the vision and planning for 30 Catholic Schools serving over 9,000 students, located throughout the state of Virginia. All schools are accredited by the AdvancEd with 14 Blue Ribbon schools of Excellence designations.

The Superintendent serves as the chief school administrator providing day-to-day advice and consultation to pastors, presidents, principals and local school boards. This position serves as the liaison with the State Department of Education, the Virginia Council for Private Education and supervises the accreditation process, ensuring adherence to standards, policies, job performance and school objectives.

The ideal candidate should have expertise in curriculum design (secular and religious), be able to understand and coach in effective teaching strategies and should understand state and federal law as it applies to Catholic schools. In addition, the successful candidate will be student centered, welcoming of parents, approachable and visible in the school and parish community. This candidate will demonstrate a high level of communication, interpersonal, organizational and leadership skills.

The successful candidate must possess a minimum of seven to ten years' administrative experience, preferably in Catholic schools, and a Master's degree in Education or a related field. A Ph.D or Ed.D in Education is preferred. A practicing Catholic in good standing is required, as well as, an understanding of the Catholic Church at parish, diocesan and national levels.

Qualified candidates should forward a cover letter, current curriculum vitae or resume; salary history and completed Diocesan application to Sara Board, HR Coordinator, 7800 Carousel Lane, Richmond, VA 23294. Email jobs@richmonddiocese.org. All applications will be considered confidential.

January 18, 2019 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief Poll shows 75 percent of adults want abortion restricted WASHINGTON, D.C. — Just in time for the annual March for Life, an annual poll of Americans’ views on abortion shows that 75 percent want “substantial” restrictions on abortion access even as more than half of respondents describe themselves as “prochoice.” Conducted by the Marist Poll at Marist College and sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, the survey of 1,066 adults Jan. 8-10 revealed that respondents would welcome limits on abortion so that it can be performed only during the first three months of pregnancy.

Even 61 percent of “pro-choice” respondents favored such a restriction. Among Republicans, 92 percent support abortion limits, while 60 percent of Democrats and 78 percent of independents shared the same view.

Judges block expansion of religious exemptions to HHS mandate WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two federal judges temporarily blocked the government from putting into effect new rules that would expand the exemption to the federal contraceptive mandate to the Little Sisters of the Poor and other religious employers. The decisions came in cases filed in federal courts in Pennsylvania and California that challenged the expansion,

arguing that allowing some employers to not offer contraceptive coverage in health insurance plans violated provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Judge Wendy Beetlestone of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania based in Philadelphia issued a nationwide preliminary injunction the afternoon of Jan. 14, the day the policy was to take effect.

Beetlestone’s 65-page ruling came less than 24 hours after Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted a preliminary injunction sought by 13 states and the District of Columbia to stop the rules from taking effect. The decisions do not permanently block the new policy, but prevent the rules from taking effect while the legal challenges are debated in the courts.

ASSOCIATE SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS ARCHDIOCESE OF ATLANTA The Archdiocese of Atlanta, Georgia, seeks an Associate Superintendent of Schools for Curriculum and Instruction effective July 1, 2019.

The successful candidate will be a practicing Catholic in full

Trump signs law to pump $430 million into anti-human trafficking efforts WASHINGTON, D.C. — Nationwide efforts to confront human trafficking received a boost in the new year as President Donald Trump signed a bill reauthorizing federal expenditures for prevention and assistance programs.

The Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act allows $430 million in federal funds for trafficking prevention and education, victim protection and stronger government prosecution of traffickers through 2022. The president of the U.S. Catholic Sisters Against Human Trafficking welcomed the Jan. 8 signing of the law, for which it had advocated with members of Congress. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., introduced the legislation and shepherded it through Congress. Both houses of Congress overwhelmingly approved the measure. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was among supporters of the measure.

— Catholic News Service

communion with the teachings of the Catholic Church and hold a minimum of a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration or Curriculum and Instruction.

Other qualifications include: a minimum of 5 years of teaching experience and a minimum of 3-5 years as an administrator in Catholic schools; knowledge of current documents on and trends in Catholic education; ability to align resources and materials related to the development of curriculum and the methodology of teaching; skilled in working with a highly qualified and professional principal cohort; excellent written and verbal skills; and, the desire to operate collaboratively in a team environment.

Interested and qualified candidates are asked to submit a letter of interest, resume and 3 references to Diane Starkovich, Ph.D., Superintendent of Schools, Archdiocese of Atlanta, 2401 Lake Park Drive SE, Smyrna, GA 30080. Application deadline is February 15, 2019.

The Office of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Atlanta is a drug free work environment.

15

Our world 16

catholicnewsherald.com | January 18, 2019 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Pope wants abuse summit to lead to clarity, action CAROL GLATZ CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY — At the upcoming meeting on protecting minors, Pope Francis wants leaders of the world’s bishops’ conferences to clearly understand what must be done to prevent abuse, care for victims and ensure no case is whitewashed or covered up.

“The pope wants it to be an assembly of pastors, not an academic conference – a meeting characterized by prayer and discernment, a catechetical and working gathering,” Alessandro Gisotti, interim director of the Vatican press office, told reporters Jan. 16.

The Feb. 21-24 meeting on the protection of minors in the Church “has a concrete purpose: The goal is that all of the bishops clearly understand what they need to do to prevent and combat the worldwide problem of the sexual abuse of minors,” Gisotti said, reading from a written communique.

“Pope Francis knows that a global problem can only be resolved with a global response,” he said.

The pope announced in September that he was calling the presidents of the world’s bishops conferences, the heads of the Eastern Catholic churches and representatives of the leadership groups of men’s and women’s religious orders to the Vatican to address the crisis and focus on responsibility, accountability and transparency.

Gisotti said, “It is fundamental for the Holy Father that when the bishops who will come to Rome have returned to their countries and their dioceses that they understand the laws to be applied and that they take the necessary steps to prevent abuse, to care for the victims and to make sure that no case is covered up or buried.”

He acknowledged the “high expectations” surrounding the meeting and emphasized that “the Church is not at the beginning of the fight against abuse.”

“The meeting is a stage along the painful journey that the Church has unceasingly and decisively undertaken for over 15 years,” he said.

In a separate communique, the Vatican press office said the meeting’s organizing committee met with Pope Francis Jan. 10.

The committee members are Cardinals Blase Cupich of Chicago and Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India; Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; and Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, president of the Centre for the Protection of Minors at the Pontifical Gregorian University and a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

The members informed the pope about their preparations for the gathering, which will include plenary sessions, working groups and moments of common prayer and “listening to testimonies.”

Pope Francis has asked Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the former director of the Vatican press office, to moderate the plenary sessions.

The meeting will include a penitential liturgy Feb. 23 and a closing Mass Feb. 24, Gisotti said.

“Pope Francis guaranteed his presence for the entire duration of the meeting,” the communique said.

The organizing committee has already informed participating bishops that

they should prepare for the gathering by meeting with survivors of abuse.

“The first step must be acknowledging the truth of what has happened. For this reason, we urge each episcopal conference president to reach out and visit with victim survivors of clergy sex abuse in your respective countries prior to the meeting in Rome to learn firsthand the suffering that they have endured,” said the committee in a letter released to the public by the Vatican Dec. 18.

Without “a comprehensive and communal response” to the abuse crisis, the committee said, “not only will we fail to bring healing to victim survivors, but the very credibility of the Church to carry on the mission of Christ will be in jeopardy throughout the world.”

The members also had sent participants a questionnaire so they could “express their opinions constructively and critically as we move forward, to identify where help is needed to bring about reforms now and in the future, and to help us get a full picture of the situation in the Church.”

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January 18, 2019 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

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In Brief Faith is passed on at home, pope tells parents at baptism VATICAN CITY — Faith isn’t something learned just by studying the catechism but rather is a gift passed on to children by the example of their parents, Pope Francis said. Although children learn the tenets of the Catholic faith in catechism class, it is first transmitted in the home “because faith always must be transmitted in dialect: the dialect of the family, the dialect of the home, in the atmosphere of the home,” he said before baptizing 27 babies. The pope celebrated the Mass and baptisms Jan. 13, the feast of the baptism of the Lord, in the Sistine Chapel. “The important thing is to transmit the faith with your life of faith: that they see the love between spouses, that they see peace at home, that they see that Jesus is there,” Pope Francis said.

Ukrainian Catholic leader sees new possibilities for ecumenism ROME — The formal recognition of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine brings “a wind of hope” that new opportunities will be created for dialogue and concrete cooperation in the search for Christian unity, said the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, major archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, said he already has agreed with the Orthodox Church’s newly elected Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kiev to draw

up a “road map” to examine where the two churches could work together.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople formally signed a “tomos” Jan. 5 recognizing the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which was formed by members of three separate Orthodox communities, including one formally tied to the Russian Orthodox Church for more than 300 years.

Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, which oversaw the largest branch of Orthodox faithful in Ukraine, strongly objected to the move and announced in October that his church was breaking its Eucharistic communion with Constantinople.

Irish bishops urge Catholics to ‘resist’ country’s new abortion law DUBLIN — The primate of All-Ireland insisted that the country’s new abortion law that took effect Jan. 1 has “no moral force” and it “must be resisted” by Catholics. Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, Northern Ireland, who also is president of the Irish bishops’ conference, said in a message to mark the legislation that the new law “in good conscience cannot be supported. In a May 22 referendum, voters opted by a margin of 2-1 to lift the country’s constitutional protection of the right to life of unborn children. The new law will permit abortion on demand up to 12 weeks’ gestation.

It also will permit abortion up to 24 weeks on unspecified grounds for the health of the mother, and up to birth where the child is diagnosed with a life-limiting condition that means he or she may not live long after birth,” he said. Archbishop Martin urged Catholics to “continue to call and work diligently for its limitation, amendment and repeal.”

CCDOC.ORG Case Coordinator – Teen and Young Parent Support – Winston-Salem Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte seeks a full-time case coordinator to provide direct case work services for Teen and Young Parent Support program participants, their babies, and families in Forsyth County. Go to www.ccdoc.org/jobs for details.

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— Catholic News Service

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catholicnewsherald.com | January 18, 2019 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Callista Gingrich

The U.S. and Holy See in 2018: A worldwide force for good

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ne year ago, on Dec. 22, 2017, I had the honor of presenting my credentials to Pope Francis to serve as the 11th U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. It has been a privilege to serve in this important role.

The United States and the Holy See share one of the most consequential diplomatic relationships in the world today. Our partnership, built on a strong foundation of trust and mutual respect, has advanced peace, prosperity and freedom.

Over the past year, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See has worked closely with the Vatican on a number of critical global issues, including religious freedom and human trafficking.

Protecting the universal right of religious freedom is one of the priorities of our diplomatic relationship with the Holy See. In June, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See hosted a symposium on religious freedom, which included participation by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, and Cardinal Joseph Coutts of Karachi, Pakistan. And in July Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister, represented the Holy See at the first-ever Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom in Washington, D.C. Over the past year, we’ve worked closely with the Vatican to support religious minorities who are persecuted simply for professing their faith. I recently had the honor of joining President Donald Trump at the White House for the signing of the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act, which calls for humanitarian relief and other forms of assistance to religious and ethnic communities in Iraq and Syria who have suffered atrocities under ISIS. Protecting Christians and other religious minorities, particularly in northern Iraq, is a major concern for President Trump and Pope Francis. Tens of thousands of Christians have fled their ancestral homelands, as millions face pressures from violent extremist groups.

In October, the U.S. government announced $178 million in additional foreign assistance to support ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq, bringing the total amount to $300 million since 2017.

In addition to advancing religious freedom, President Trump and Pope Francis are committed to combating human trafficking and modern slavery. The United States has a long history of working with the Vatican and other Catholic Churchrelated organizations on this endeavor. These efforts have been emboldened under President Trump’s leadership.

It is estimated that more than 25 million people, many of whom are women and children, are victims of human trafficking. We see Afghan boys forced to fight for Iranian-supported militias in Syria; Rohingya refugees who flee persecution in Burma, only to be exploited by traffickers in refugee camps; and governments that routinely fail to stand up to traffickers and protect victims.

The Trump Administration is committed to ending this global crisis through vigorous domestic and international initiatives. Leveraging survivor insight and expertise is central to these efforts.

In June, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recognized Blessing Okoedion with the Department of State’s 2018 Trafficking-in-Persons Report Hero award. I’ve had the privilege and honor of working with Blessing in Rome.

Over the past year, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See has partnered with the Vatican and Catholic lay organizations to implement international programs that assist trafficking survivors. Grant programs provided by our embassy have funded anti-trafficking training programs for Catholic nuns in 36 countries.

Promoting the role of women religious leaders is another critical component of this effort. Earlier this year, First Lady Melania Trump honored Sister Maria Elena Berini with the State Department’s International Women of Courage Award. Sister Berini, a 73-year-old Italian nun, has served war-torn communities in Africa for the past four decades. The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See was proud to nominate Sister Berini for this award.

Of course, the fight against human trafficking and the advancement of religious freedom are just two of the many areas of cooperation between the United States and the Holy See. Other areas include the support of interfaith dialogue, the contribution of humanitarian assistance and the promotion of peaceful solutions to crises around the world.

When President Ronald Reagan and St. John Paul II established diplomatic relations nearly 35 years ago, they understood that together, the United States and the Vatican would act as a worldwide force for good.

The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See looks forward to continuing this enduring legacy this year.

CALLISTA L. GINGRICH is the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See.

Bobby Speers

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Book, chapter and verse

ave you read a good book lately? If you haven’t, the Gospel writer Luke, divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit, outdid himself in Chapter 10. It begins when the Lord appoints 72 men to go on a journey.

They could not bring food, money or personal belongings – just the clothes on their backs and the sandals on their feet.

These missionaries had a purpose: They were to kindle a fire in the hearts of anyone who would listen, announce that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, and call people to repentance. Verse 17 states, “The seventytwo returned rejoicing, and said, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.’” True discipleship requires faith and works. They trusted the Lord and went on the journey, no questions asked. Their tremendous faith produced an active work for the glory of God. In verse 25, a scholar of the law tries to test Jesus: “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” When was the last time you asked yourself that question? When was the last time a pastor asked his flock that question? Verse 26 tells us, “Jesus said to him, ‘What is written in the law? How do you read it?’” The scribe answered in verse 27: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

The Jewish scholar knew book, chapter and verse. He referenced Deuteronomy 6:4-5 and Leviticus 19:18. In verse 28 Jesus then graded the man’s scriptural references: “He replied to him, ‘You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.’ But the scribe read between the lines and, I think, got snarky: “But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” To me, he is saying: I love God, but my neighbor –

not so much.

Jesus responds to the scribe’s conundrum with the famous parable about the Good Samaritan, illustrating that loving one’s neighbor means treating them with heartfelt mercy and kindness.

It is commendable to believe and memorize the word of God, but James 2:14-17 tells us that faith is not enough: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,’ but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? Also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” A healthy, practicing faith continues to produce charitable works because it is alive and growing.

Reading and understanding scripture, practicing one’s faith through charitable works – to these we must add making time for prayer and contemplation.

Just as Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, setting aside the cares of the world unlike her sister Martha, we must sit at the feet of Jesus and recharge our “spiritual battery.” Do you attend adult faith formation, home Bible studies or prayer groups? Do you take time for daily personal study and prayer? Perhaps you read religious books, receive online resources delivered to your inbox or iPhone each morning, watch Catholic television, or listen to spiritual CDs? Discipleship requires us to prioritize our lives. Follow these three scriptural lessons – putting God first in your life – as you start off your new year.

BOBBY SPEERS is an author who lives in Hickory.

January 18, 2019 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

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Parish spotlight

St. Matthew supports GiGi’s Playhouse

Bishop Robert Barron

T

Tolkien, Chesterton and the adventure of mission

here is a common, and I’ll admit somewhat understandable, interpretation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy that sees the great work as a celebration of the virtues of the Shire, that little town where the hobbits dwell in quiet domesticity. Neat, tidy hobbit holes, filled with comfortable furniture, delicate tea settings and cozy fireplaces are meant, this reading has it, to evoke the charms of a “merrie old England” that existed before the rise of modernity and capitalism. As I say, there is undoubtedly something to this, for Tolkien, along with C.S. Lewis and the other members of the Inklings group, did indeed have a strong distaste for the excesses of the modern world.

However, I’m convinced that to see things this way is almost entirely to miss the point. For the ultimate purpose of “Lord of the Rings” is not to celebrate domesticity but rather to challenge it. Bilbo and Frodo are not meant to settle into their easy chairs but precisely to rouse themselves to adventure. Only when they leave the comforts of the Shire and face down orcs, dragons, goblins, and finally the power of evil itself do they truly find themselves. They do indeed bring to the struggle many of the virtues that they cultivated in the Shire, but those qualities, they discover, are not to be squirreled away and protected, but rather unleashed for the transformation of a hostile environment.

A very similar dynamic obtains in regard to interpreting G.K. Chesterton.

His stories, novels and essays can indeed be read as a nostalgic appreciation of a romantic England gone with the wind, but a close look at the man himself gives the lie to this simplistic hermeneutic. Though he enjoyed life with his wife and friends in his country home in Beaconsfield, Chesterton was at heart a Londoner, a denizen of the pubs of Fleet Street, where he rubbed shoulders with the leading journalists, politicians and cultural mavens of the time. He loved to laugh and argue with even the bitterest enemies of the religion he held dear. Most famously, over the course of many years, he traveled the country debating with the best-known atheist of the time, his good friend G.B. Shaw, with whom he typically shared a pint after their joint appearances. The point is that Chesterton didn’t hide his Catholicism away; he launched it into the wider society like a great ship onto the bounding main.

Paul Tillich was a quiet and serious student of Lutheran theology, preparing for a life as a preacher, when he was called to serve as a chaplain in the German army during World War I. In the course of five years, the young man saw the very worst of the fighting and dying. He said in one of his letters to his wife that it was like witnessing the collapse of an entire world.

In the wake of that horrific experience, he sought a new way of articulating the classical Christian faith for the 20th century, which is to say, for people whose world had fallen apart. He did indeed spend countless hours with his books, hunkering down to learn the great Christian intellectual tradition, but he insisted that the ultimate purpose of the theologian is to go out to meet the culture “mit klingendem Spiel,” which means, roughly, “with fife and drum.” Like his one-time colleague Karl Barth, who said that Christians ought never to crouch defensively “behind Chinese walls,” Tillich felt that believers in Christ ought to meet the culture head-on.

This general attitude is present from the beginning of Christianity. From the moment the Lord gave the great commission – “Go and preach the Gospel to all nations” – His disciples knew that the Christian faith is missionary by its very nature. Though it exhibits contemplative and mystical dimensions, it is, at heart, a faith on the move, one that goes out. How fascinating that the Holy Spirit first fell in the heart of a city, and that the greatest figure of the Apostolic age, Paul of Tarsus, was an urbane fellow, at home on the rough and tumble streets of Antioch, Corinth, Athens and Rome.

This, by the way, is why I have a particular affection for YouTube, on whose forums I am regularly excoriated and attacked, and Reddit, where secularists, agnostics and atheists are happy to tell me how stupid I am. Well, why not? Chesterton faced much worse in Fleet Street bars; Paul met violent opposition wherever he went; Frodo and Bilbo looked into the abyss. Good.

We Christians don’t stay in hobbit holes; we go on adventure, mit klingendem Spiel!

BISHOP ROBERT BARRON is the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries (online at www.wordonfire. org) and auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He is also the host of “Catholicism,” an award-winning documentary about the Catholic faith.

CHARLOTTE — St. Matthew Church recently made a $20,000 donation to support the opening of GiGi’s Playhouse in Charlotte. Through the L.A.M.B. Foundation of North Carolina, the parish’s Knights of Columbus also donated another $5,000. GiGi’s Playhouse is an international enterprise whose mission is to support individuals with Down Syndrome and their families with therapeutic-based programs that provide motor, developmental, fitness, speech and language, literacy, math and life skills to clients through a playhouse model. There are currently 40 locations, with the Charlotte location set to open in April. St. Matthew Church is the sponsor for the facility’s kitchen and the two learning labs.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY ST. MATTHEW CHURCH

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catholicnewsherald.com | January 18, 2019 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

MARCH

HOWZE

FROM PAGE 3

FROM PAGE 6

abortion is illegal, and that one day women will choose life and not abortion.”

A couple from Immaculate Conception Church in Forest City said they came to the March for Life Charlotte to stand up to protect the family, “which is the fiber of our faith and our nation and the world.”

“We believe in the power of prayer and witness to change the world,” they said.

Jessica Grabowski, the Diocese of Charlotte’s Respect Life coordinator, expressed gratitude and support for the army of volunteers who organize the March for Life Charlotte each January.

“It’s a great witness to be here in the city of Charlotte to show our fellow citizens how important this issue is.”

Bob Loughlin, long-time co-coordinator of the March for Life Charlotte, said the effort each January is a hopeful cause.

“The precious little ones that have no voice, and seem to be powerless in society – we’re that voice, we’re the presence of Jesus to go out and be that presence among the people,” he said. “And who knows?

Maybe out here on their lunch hour, somebody will see our presence and maybe a little life will be saved in the process. If we can get one, one little life, saved, it’s all worthwhile.”

St. Paul VI appointed Father Howze as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson. His episcopal ordination followed on Jan. 28, 1973, in Jackson. He chose “Unity of God’s People” as his episcopal motto.

Within a year, Bishop Howze accepted the presidency of the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus.

On March 8, 1977, Bishop Howze was appointed the first bishop of the newly established Biloxi diocese.

During his leadership of the Biloxi diocese, he served on several U.S. bishops’ committees focusing on justice, peace, interreligious and ecumenical affairs, and black Catholic ministry. He held several honorary degrees and was a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Peter Claver and a Third Degree member of the Knights of Columbus.

He retired May 15, 2001, after serving the Biloxi diocese for 24 years.

In his later years Bishop Howze visited his former parishes in the Charlotte diocese, celebrating an African American culture day at St. Lawrence Basilica in 1994 and saying Mass at Our Lady of Consolation Church on Jan. 1, 2012.

Capuchin Franciscan Father Martin Schratz, who was the pastor of Our Lady of Consolation Church in 2012, celebrated the Jan. 1 Mass with Bishop Howze and remembers his visit with fondness.

More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: See photos and video highlights from the March for Life Charlotte

“I remember asking if he wanted to preach and without batting an eye he said yes,” Father Schratz recalled.

“He stood at the pulpit and went on telling story after story, oftentimes looking into the congregation, seeing a familiar face, and remembering another story. He was awesome with names and dates and details. What a sharp mind he had. He ended by tying it all together to the feast of Mary, Mother of God. At the end of Mass he sat in a chair out in front of church to greet everyone. It was such a joyful day.”

“He was such a humble man with a big heart and joyful spirit,” he said.

Floyd Howze, a “close cousin” to the bishop and member of Our Lady of Consolation Church, agreed, describing him as a down-to-earth man who didn’t dwell on the groundbreaking nature of his ministry, but simply loved serving God and His Church as a priest.

He noted that Bishop Howze kept in close contact throughout his life with many of his former parishioners, remembering them in his prayers and inquiring about them often. When he returned to Charlotte in 2012, Howze said, “the people just crowded around him – they didn’t want to let him go.”

“He loved people, he loved God,” he said.

— Catholic News Herald contributed.

More online At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Read more about Bishop Joseph Howze, including a timeline of the most significant milestones in his life and ministry

MARCHA VIENE DE LA PÁGINA 8

también dependen totalmente de nuestro amor y de nuestro cuidado. “Si matar un niño en el vientre de su madre puede justificarse, entonces cualquier cosa puede ser justificada”.

Ese pensamiento fue repetido por la residente de Mount Holly, Mary Ellen Schick, quien está en silla de ruedas. Ella dijo que se unió a la Marcha por la Vida en Charlotte porque defender a los débiles y vulnerables incluye a personas como ella.

Si se puede matar a los bebés, “yo soy la siguiente. Espero que la gente marche por mis derechos”, señaló.

Debemos sentir compasión por aquellos que han sido víctimas de un aborto, anotó el padre Ascik, amar tanto a la criatura no nacida como a la madre necesitada, así como amar a las mujeres post-aborto y a los padres y hermanos que también sufren.

Bob Loughlin, uno de los coordinadores de la Marcha por la Vida en Charlotte desde hace mucho tiempo, dijo que el esfuerzo de cada mes de enero es una causa esperanzadora.

“Los preciosos pequeñines que no tienen voz y parecen ser impotentes en la sociedad.

Nosotros somos esa voz, somos la imagen de Jesús en salida y su presencia entre la gente”, dijo. “¿Y quién sabe? Tal vez alguien en su hora de almuerzo nos verá y quizás se salvará una pequeña vida en el proceso. Si podemos salvar solo una pequeña vida, todo habrá valido la pena”.

Más online En www.catholicnewsherald.com: Podrás ver un video con imágenes de la Marcha por la vida

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