Dec. 31, 2021

Diocese set to open 50th anniversary year 3

Diócesis abrirá el año de su 50 Aniversario 13 December 31, 2021

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

New Office of Family Life established Its mission: To accompany families, strengthen marriages, promote respect for life

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Obispo Jugis establece Oficina de Vida Familiar

INDEX

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Contact us.....................................4 Español....................................... 12-16 Events calendar............................4 Our Diocese............................. 3-10 Our Faith........................................2 Scripture readings................. 2, 16 TV & Movies..................................11 U.S. news.................................18-19 Viewpoints.............................22-23 World news............................ 20-21

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Be joyful: ‘Jesus the Savior has come to help you’ 5 Alégrense, “Jesús el Salvador ha venido a ayudarles” 10

THANK YOU!

March for life this January Local, national marches resume in 2022

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“No dejes tu misión, aunque sea difícil” Padre Juya en Misa de aniversario recordó consejo recibido 14

Judges deem N.C. law allowing lawsuits for historical child abuse claims unconstitutional 6

Our faith 2

catholicnewsherald.com | December 31, 2021 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

The Holy Innocents Feast day: Dec. 28

Pope Francis

Think of the Holy Family and pray for migrants

M

editating on the scene of the Holy Family fleeing to Egypt to escape Herod’s murderous rage, Christians cannot close their eyes to the fact that too many people in the world today also feel forced to flee their homelands, Pope Francis said.

“Herod is a symbol of many tyrants of yesterday and today; for these tyrants, people don’t matter, power matters, and if they need space or power, they eliminate people, and this is happening today. We don’t have to go to ancient history” to find such examples, the pope said Dec. 29 at his weekly general audience.

Continuing his series of audience talks about St. Joseph, the pope focused on Joseph’s courage in taking Mary and the baby Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod, comparing St. Joseph’s bravery to the courage of migrants and refugees who leave their homelands to protect and help their families.

As he has been doing since he began the series, the pope ended his talk with a prayer to St. Joseph, who “experienced the suffering of those who must flee to save the lives of those dearest to them.”

“Protect all those who flee because of war, hatred and hunger,” he prayed.

“Support them in their difficulties, strengthen them in hope, and let them be met with welcome and solidarity.”

The Holy Family experienced the same “precariousness, fear and pain of having to leave their homeland” as migrants and refugees do today. “Still today, many of our brothers and sisters are forced to live through the same injustice and suffering.

The cause is almost always the arrogance and violence of the powerful.”

Anyone can become a “little Herod,” he said – “every time we try to dispel our fears with arrogance, even if only verbal,” or do something meant to humiliate someone.

Joseph is the opposite, though, the pope said. He had the courage to follow the angel’s prompting to set out in search of safety, even if that meant going to a foreign land where a different language was spoken.

Everyone will face some adversity in life, and that can make them feel threatened and afraid, he said. But unlike Herod, who responds with violence, St. Joseph reacts “with the courage to trust in God’s providence.”

He asked people to pray for “migrants and all the persecuted, and all those who are victims of adverse circumstances, whether political, historical or personal.”

“Let’s think of the many people who are victims of wars, who want to flee from their homeland but cannot; let’s think of the migrants who set out on the road to freedom but end up on the street or in the sea; let’s think of Jesus in the arms of Joseph and Mary, fleeing, and let us see in Him each one of the migrants of today.”

The Holy Innocents are the children mentioned in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 2:16-18: “When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious.

He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi. Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more.’”

The Greek Liturgy asserts that Herod killed 14,000 boys, the Syrians speak of 64,000, and many medieval authors speak of 144,000, according to Revelation 14:3. Modern writers reduce the number considerably, since Bethlehem was a rather small town. Some estimate the actual number around 15 to 20, 10 or 12, or even only six.

This cruel deed of Herod is not mentioned by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, although he relates quite a number of atrocities committed by the king during the last years of his reign. The number of these children was so small that this crime appeared insignificant amongst the other misdeeds of Herod. Macrobius relates that when Augustus heard that among the boys of 2 years and younger Herod’s own son also had been massacred, he said: “It is better to be Herod’s hog, than his son,” alluding to the Jewish law of not eating, and consequently not killing, swine. The Middle Ages gave faith to this story, and French theologian and philosopher Peter Abelard inserted it in his hymn for the feast of Holy Innocents.

But the “infant” mentioned by Macrobius is Antipater, the adult son of Herod, who, by command of the dying king, was decapitated for having conspired against the life of his father.

It is impossible to determine the day or the year of the death of the Holy Innocents, since the chronology of the birth of Christ and the subsequent Biblical events is uncertain. All we know is that the infants were slaughtered within two years after the apparition of the star to the wise men.

Some have disputed that they should be called martyrs since they did not submit freely for the sake of Christ but were

Peter Paul Rubens, “Massacre of the Innocents,” 1611-12 “merely victims” of Herod. Nevertheless, the Church has long numbered them in her ranks of martyrs. St. Augustine says of them: “And while (Herod) thus persecutes Christ, he furnished an army (or martyrs) clothed in white robes of the same age as the Lord…. O blessed infants! He only will doubt of your crown in this your passion for Christ, who doubts that the baptism of Christ has a benefit for infants. He who at His birth had Angels to proclaim Him, the heavens to testify, and Magi to worship Him, could surely have prevented that these should not have died for Him, had He not known that they died not in that death, but rather lived in higher bliss. Far be the thought, that Christ who came to set men free, did nothing to reward those who died in His behalf, when hanging on the

cross He prayed for those who put Him to death. (Sermon 373, 3, quoted in the Catena Aurea).

The Latin Church instituted the feast of the Holy Innocents at a date now unknown, not before the end of the fourth, and not later than the end of the fifth century.

While the details are in dispute, the feast day remains an important one for the Church. Through our honoring of their sacrifice, and worship of God, we seek to atone for the many sins against human life, beginning with abortion, and including other forms of murder, euthanasia, disregard for the safety and dignity of others, mistreatment and indifference to the plight of others, and all other sins against life.

— Catholic Encyclopedia, EWTN, Monsignor Charles Pope

Daily Scripture readings JAN. 2-8

Sunday (The Epiphany of the Lord): Isaiah 60:1-6, Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6, Matthew 2:1-12; Monday (The Most Holy Name of Jesus): 1 John 3:22-4:6, Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25; Tuesday (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton): 1 John 4:7-10, Mark 6:34-44; Wednesday (St. John Neumann): 1 John 4:11-18, Mark 6:45-52; Thursday (St. André Bessette): 1 John 4:19-5:4, Luke 4:14-22a; Friday (St. Raymond of Penyafort): 1 John 5:5-13, Luke 5:12-16; Saturday: 1 John 5:14-21, John 3:2230

JAN. 9-15

Sunday (The Baptism of the Lord): Isaiah 42:1-4, Acts 10:34-38, Luke 3:15-16, 21-22; Monday: 1 Samuel 1:1-8, Mark 1:14-20; Tuesday: 1 Samuel 1:9-20, 1 Samuel 2:1, 4-8, Mark 1:21-28; Wednesday: 1 Samuel 3:1-10, 19-20, Mark 1:29-39; Thursday (St. Hilary): 1 Samuel 4:1-11, Mark 1:40-45; Friday: 1 Samuel 8:4-7, 10-22a, Mark 2:1-12; Saturday: 1 Samuel 9:1-4, 10:1a, Mark 2:13-17

JAN. 16-22

Sunday: Isaiah 62:1-5, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, John 2:1-11; Monday (St. Anthony): 1 Samuel 15:16-23, Mark 2:18-22; Tuesday: 1 Samuel 16:1-13, Mark 2:23-28; Wednesday: 1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51, Mark 3:1-6; Thursday (St. Fabian, St. Sebastian): 1 Samuel 18:6-9, 19:17, Mark 3:7-12; Friday (St. Agnes): 1 Samuel 24:3-21, Mark 3:13-19; Saturday (Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children): 2 Samuel 1:1-4, 11-12, 19, 23-27, Mark 3:20-21;

Our diocese

December 31, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

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Be joyful: ‘Jesus the Savior has come to help you’ PATRICIA L. GUILFOYLE EDITOR

CHARLOTTE — Decorations, songs and gifts help “set the tone,” but profound joy is at the heart of Christmas – joy that our Savior has come to help us and save us, Bishop Peter Jugis preached Dec. 25.

During midnight Mass to usher in Christmas celebrations at St. Patrick Cathedral, Bishop Jugis encouraged people to take to heart the angel’s words in Luke’s Gospel: “I proclaim to you good news of great joy.”

The angel’s joyful message to the shepherds – and to us – means “you are not alone. The Savior has come for you,” the bishop said. “The Savior is now here, so take courage.”

Masses at the cathedral and most churches around the Diocese of Charlotte this Christmas were being held in person and with fewer restrictions due to the pandemic than last year.

“Certainly there are many problems and difficulties, concerns More online and anxieties we face in our daily At www.catholicnewsherald.com: lives,” the bishop said, “but this day Watch Bishop Jugis’ homily from the angel announces that we are to Christmas midnight Mass have joy – despite those problems and difficulties, concerns and anxieties.”

“Jesus the Savior has come to help you and to save you. A savior has come for you, to be with you, to help you bear your burdens,” he said.

“If you are lost or struggling, take courage! You now have a savior, a savior has come for you.

“If you have suffered a family tragedy or sorrow, or your heart is heavy at this time, take courage – you now have a savior. A savior has come for you.”

As the Nativity story illustrates, Joseph and Mary experienced hardships – leaving the comfort of home to travel to Bethlehem, then having to seek shelter in a stable so that Mary could give birth to Jesus, the bishop noted.

“And yet, despite all of that, when the child is born, all those difficulties take second place to the joy that fills the hearts of Joseph and Mary at the birth of the child Jesus,” he said.

“Joy takes over. True joy erupts in a stable in Bethlehem, of all places,” he said. That joy “will eventually embrace the entire world as the Christian message spreads.”

He urged people not to let the difficulties of life crowd out Jesus from their hearts or their families. “Make room for Christmas joy and gladness – today and always,” he said, encouraging people “to be joyful for all the gifts and blessings that God has bestowed on your family; to be joyful for God’s presence in your family, and in your home.”

He prayed, “May God bless your family, and may He bless your home with Christmas joy – a joy which comes because you know and love and serve Christ the Lord, who has come to be with you, to save you, and to help you always.”

(Above) Bishop Peter Jugis incenses the manger scene at the start of midnight Mass Dec. 25 at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte.

(Left) The bishop consecrates the Eucharist during the Christmas midnight Mass.

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY JAMES SARKIS

Diocese set to open 50th anniversary year Celebrations begin Jan. 12 with Masses at cathedral, across diocese CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

CHARLOTTE — In a celebration of faith across western North Carolina, the Diocese of Charlotte will commemorate its 50th anniversary throughout 2022 – beginning in January with a special Mass and Holy Hour across its 92 parishes and missions.

The yearlong observance, themed “Faith more precious than gold” (1 Peter 1:7), will feature a variety of events and activities including 50 Acts of Charity, a Marian Pilgrimage to 100-plus sites, Catholic Family Day at Carowinds, Charlotte

Knights baseball and more.

Bishop Peter Jugis will formally open the 50th anniversary year on Wednesday, Jan. 12, at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte. A Holy Hour will be offered at 5:30 p.m., followed by the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at 7 p.m. It also will be livestreamed on the diocese’s YouTube channel, www.youtube/ DioceseofCharlotte.

In a spirit of unity and communion, parishes also will offer Masses and a Holy Hour Jan. 12. Parishioners should check their parish’s bulletin or website for details.

“Our parishes will play the most significant role in our anniversary celebration since it is our parishioners and priests, along with our

deacons and consecrated religious, who – with the grace of God – have allowed this diocese to thrive for 50 years,” Bishop Jugis told the Catholic News Herald. “With their creativity and passion, our parishes will find fitting ways to localize and acknowledge this special moment in our history, and we hope everyone will join us.”

In a recent letter proclaiming the anniversary year, the bishop noted that the celebration is particularly needed given current times.

“During the pandemic, we have lived through a period of many trials, difficulties, and obstacles,” he wrote. “By God’s mercy, we continue to prevail. After much separation and isolation, we have in God’s providence the ability to come together in celebration of our unity as one family of God. “During this year...we will celebrate in the present with joy and devotion; we will have the opportunity to recall our past and

celebrate our diocese’s history; and we will resolve to strengthen our diocesan family and look for even greater ways to glorify God.” Bishop Jugis is the diocese’s fourth and longest-serving bishop, installed in 2003, and has presided over significant multicultural growth among Catholics and communities from Greensboro to Murphy, in the westernmost tip of North Carolina. Now with more than 515,000 Catholics, the diocese is among the fastest growing in the country.

Launching in early January, the special anniversary website www. faithmorepreciousthangold.com will showcase the diocese’s history, treasured sites and communities that make the diocese what it is today.

The website will help visitors track parishes’ progress toward performing 50 Acts of Charity in their communities in acknowledgment of the anniversary and in ANNIVERSARY, SEE PAGE 17

UPcoming events 4

catholicnewsherald.com | December 31, 2021 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Bishop Peter J. Jugis will participate in the following upcoming events: JAN. 1 – 11 A.M. Mass for the Feast of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

JAN. 2 – 11 A.M. Mass for the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

JAN. 12 – 7 P.M. Mass to open the Diocese of Charlotte’s 50th anniversary year St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte

Diocesan calendar of events December 31, 2021

CONFERENCES & TALKS

Volume 31 • NUMBER 7

‘GROWTH AND EMPOWERING’ PROGRAM: 7-8:30 p.m. the last Monday of the month until March 28, St. Mark Church’s Kerin Center, 14740 Stumptown Road, Huntersville. This seven-week program for women is presented by the Healed and Restored Ministry. Through prayer, guided exercises, testimony and professional programming, women will experience the true feminine genius as God intended for each of His beloved daughters. For details, visit www.healedandrestored. org and click on “Growth and Empowering Walk” to fill out an interest form, or contact Elza Spaedy at info@ healedandrestored.org.

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

CATHOLIC MEDICAL ETHICS ON SEXUALITY AND FERTILITY: Learn about sexuality and fertility in medicine from a Catholic viewpoint, in the upcoming “Converging Roads” set for Saturday, April 2, 2022, at St. Patrick Cathedral, Charlotte. Presenters include: Father Matthew Kauth, “Understanding the Church’s Teaching on Sexuality and Fertility: The ‘Why’ Behind the ‘No’”; Dr. Marguerite Duane, MHA, FAAP, ‘The Menstrual Cycle as a Vital Sign”; Father Philip G. Bochanski, “Gender Identity Discordance: Supporting Patients and Families”; Dr. Teresa Farnan, “The Gift of the Human Person: A Christian Anthropology for Understanding Gender and Sexuality”; and more. Continuing education credits offered for health care professionals. Presented by the St. John Paul II Foundation, the Diocese of Charlotte and Belmont Abbey College. For details, go online to www. forlifeandfamily.org/converging-roads.

ESPAÑOL 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.

VIGILIA DE LOS DOS CORAZONES: 8 p.m. Viernes, enero 7, en la Catedral San Patricio, 1621 Dilworth Road East, Charlotte. Únase cada primer viernes del mes a una vigilia nocturna para honrar los Corazones de Jesús y María, orar por nuestras familias, ofrecer penitencia por nuestros pecados y pedir por la conversión de nuestra nación. Para inscribirse a una hora de Adoración, visite www.ProLifeCharlotte.org/dos-corazones.

PRAYER SERVICES & GROUPS MARY’S SONS KNEELERS: Parishioners around the Diocese of Charlotte have the opportunity to pray for our two transitional deacons, Deacon Darren Balkey and Deacon Aaron Huber, on the special Mary’s Sons kneelers that they will receive when ordained on June 18, 2022. For more information about the Mary’s Sons kneelers, go online to www.MarysSons.org. Here is the schedule for the kneelers as they are moved to parishes around the diocese this fall: DEC. 27-JAN. 4: St. John the Baptist Church, Tryon JAN. 3-10: St. James the Greater Church, Concord JAN. 10-17: St. Joseph Church, Charlotte JAN. 18 TO JAN. 25: Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, Charlotte FEB. 7-11: Charlotte Catholic High School, Charlotte FEB. 14-21: St. John Neumann Church, Charlotte FEB. 28-MARCH 7: St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Charlotte

Learn more about poverty in January JOSEPH PURELLO SPECIAL TO THE CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

As we begin a new year, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has designated January as “Poverty Awareness Month,” inviting Catholics and all people of good will in our nation to use January as a time to learn more about poverty in our communities and nation, help raise awareness of poverty, and work to end poverty.

Learn more about this poverty awareness campaign by visiting the special USCCB website, available in English and Spanish, at www. povertyusa.org. It offers resources to: encounter the lives of those who live in poverty, learn about poverty, and act to address poverty. Also on the website, you will find “The Web of Poverty” video that looks into “the complexity of poverty, how it connects to everything we do and the factors that keep so many people and families entrapped in poverty,” as well as an interactive map of the USA

that explores and compares the extent of poverty at the state and county levels (source: www.povertyusa.org/data).

How extensive is poverty in North Carolina? According to July 2021 U.S. Census data, 12.9 percent of North Carolinians live in poverty, higher than the national average of 11.4 percent.

Food insecurity often goes hand-inhand with poverty.

According to the USDA Economic Research Service, 12.1 percent North Carolina’s households face food insecurity.

An opportunity to take time to grow in awareness of the issue of poverty, and learn about the struggles of our neighbors in need, follows upon the desire of Pope Francis that we recognize that “poverty is not an inevitable misfortune: it has causes that must be recognized and removed, in order to honor the dignity of many brothers and sisters, after the example of the saints” (Pope Francis, Angelus of Oct. 15, 2017).

JOSEPH PURELLO is Catholic Charities’ Director of Social Concerns and Advocacy.

VIGIL OF THE TWO HEARTS: 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 7, St. Patrick Cathedral, 1621 Dilworth Road East, Charlotte.

An overnight vigil is offered twice each month to honor the Hearts of Jesus and Mary and to offer penance and pray for the conversion of our nation. To sign up for Eucharistic Adoration times, go to www.prolifecharlotte. org/two-hearts.

BOONVILLE: 7-10 p.m. Monday, Jan. 10, Divine Redeemer Church, 209 Lon Ave. (Español: Visitantes de otra parroquia, o del Vicariato seran bienvenidos, solo les pedimos que se registren de favor)

HOLY APOSTLE AND EVANGELIST LUKE MISSION OF THE UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH: Divine Liturgy (Mass) is offered on Sundays at 3 p.m. at St. Barnabas Church, 109 Crescent Hill Road, Arden. All are welcome.

For more information, contact ucmcanton@gmail.com.

RACHEL’S VINEYARD: Are you or a loved one seeking healing from the effects of a past abortion? Rachel’s Vineyard weekend retreats are offered by Catholic Charities for men and women in the diocese. For details, contact Jessica Grabowski at 910-585-2460 or jrgrabowski@rcdoc.org, or Lorena Hayes at 828-585-0483.

SUPPORT GROUPS

SAFE ENVIRONMENT TRAINING PROTECTING CHILDREN: “Protecting God’s Children” (“Protegiendo a los Niños de Dios”) workshops educate parish volunteers to recognize and prevent child sexual abuse. For details, contact your parish office. To register for online training, go to www.virtus.org. Upcoming workshops: ARDEN: 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, Jan. 29, St. Barnabas Church, 109 Crescent Hill Dr.

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.

December 31, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

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‘The Christian family is a communion of persons, a sign and image of the communion of the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit.’

— Catechism of the Catholic Church 2205

Bishop establishes diocesan Office of Family Life Its mission: To accompany families, strengthen marriages, promote respect for life PATRICIA L. GUILFOYLE EDITOR

CHARLOTTE — Emphasizing the importance of families to the life and mission of the Church, Bishop Peter Jugis announced Dec. 26 – the Feast of the Holy Family – that he is establishing an Office of Family Life for the Diocese of Charlotte.

“The family is the fundamental building block of society, and building up and supporting the family is at the heart of the Church’s mission,” the bishop wrote in a letter to the faithful on the feast day. The new office will “strengthen and magnify our ministry and outreach to families.”

The office will cover several program

areas previously run by Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte, including marriage preparation, Natural Family Planning (NFP) and Respect Life. Some elements of Catholic Charities’ Elder Ministry program also will move to the new office, but the agency will continue to oversee familyrelated programs requiring technical expertise in social work, such as adoption services and teen parenting support.

“With the challenges so many people face today, it is more important than ever that the Church ‘leans in’ to sustain and encourage families, especially those who are just starting out or are struggling,” the bishop’s letter said. The new office “will enable us to provide focused resources to

Keep God’s love at the center of your family, Bishop Jugis encourages families CHARLOTTE — The Holy Family is a model of how to love one another in our own families, Bishop Peter Jugis reflected in his homily for the Feast of the Holy Family Dec. 26.

“Christmas is a time when we think of family,” the bishop said, and the celebration of the Feast of the Holy Family coming within the Christmas season underscores how important family love is in our call to holiness.

The bishop offered Mass for the feast day at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte – the same day he announced the establishment of an Office of Family Life to elevate the Diocese of Charlotte’s ministries which serve families and promote respect for life.

“Family is a gift from God, and we receive tremendous support and love in our family,” he said. “In the Holy Family and our own families, we celebrate the love which bonds family members together.”

Keep God – the source of love – at the center of our families just as the Holy Family did, he encouraged people.

“God’s love is at the very heart of the Holy Family, in the person of Jesus. God’s love dwells in the very center of their home,” he said.

He urged families to remain united in love – even when apart from one another and even when faced with challenges.

“Problems and difficulties of the world can sometimes invade into the very heart of our families and homes, and threaten to undermine and weaken God’s love,” he said.

“God’s love in the heart of the family needs to be protected and nurtured.”

He prayed, “On this Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, may God bless your family and your home with His love and everything that follows from living in God’s love.

“May God bless your family with kindness, that each member shows towards the other members of the family.

“May God bless your family with gentleness in family relationships.

“May He bless your family with forgiveness of hurts or misunderstandings.

“May He bless your family with reconciliation.

“May He bless your family with unity of purpose in mind and heart.

“May He bless your family with generosity, of giving of self in service of love to other family members.

“May the Lord Jesus whom we celebrate in a special way during this Christmas season occupy the first place in your hearts and in your homes.”

— Catholic News Herald

enrich the spiritual lives of families, and to uphold and celebrate the value of families in contemporary culture.”

Father Peter Ascik will direct the new office and its three staff. Ordained for the diocese in 2017, he will continue serving as pastor of St. Mary, Help of Christians Parish in Shelby and Christ the King Mission in Kings Mountain.

The mission of the Family Life Office is to help strengthen families and promote respect for life at every stage, Father Ascik said.

Families are called to holiness, serving as an example and witness of God’s love, and the Church must do all it can to support them, he said. The Church must also help

care for and accompany families in need of healing, and to promote a culture of life in society.

“The health of our diocese will always be linked to the health of the families who are its heart,” Father Ascik said.

As the diocese prepares to launch its yearlong 50th anniversary celebration in 2022, the new office is an acknowledgment that “the growth and flourishing of our diocese is intimately linked to the life of Catholic families in our region,” he said.

The Family Life Office will operate out of the Diocesan Pastoral Center and can be reached at familylife@rcdoc.org or 704-8084507.

MEET THE STAFF: Three staff experienced in supporting families will move from Catholic Charities to the Family Life Office: Alecia C. Acquaviva, coordinator, Marriage Preparation

Batrice N. Adcock, Jessica R. Grabowski, MSN, director, Natural director, Respect Life Family Planning Office

Acquaviva has served as Marriage Preparation Coordinator since 2010.

She holds an M.A. in Theology of Marriage and Family from The John Paul II Institute at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. She oversees one-day marriage prep workshops, including developing program content, booking speakers and guiding couples through the overall process. “It is my hope that couples who attend the workshop grow closer to each other, are made aware of God’s love for them and desire to be a partner in their lives together, and know of the Church’s care and support for their upcoming marriages,” she said.

Acquaviva has been married to her husband John since 2009 and they have five children.

Adcock has worked as Natural Family Planning (NFP) program director since 2008, overseeing instruction in both English and Spanish about NFP, Church teaching on sexuality, and the benefits of menstrual cycle tracking.

She also coordinates mother/ daughter mini-retreats and an NFP weekend retreat.

“My goal is to facilitate a deeper knowledge of the beauty and practical goodness of Church teaching on sexuality, and free people to choose a path that pleases God and leads to happiness,” she said.

Adcock notes that in her own life she has struggled with reduced fertility and hormone imbalance, which has motivated her to advocate for NFP. She and her husband Adam have been married since 2008 and they have three children.

Grabowski has served as the Respect Life program director for five years.

She holds a bachelor’s degree from The Catholic University of America as well as an MBA. Her work encompasses the Rachel’s Vineyard post-abortive retreat program, pro-life events and speakers, pro-life manuals and booklets, an annual conference, as well as support for local participation in the local and national marches for life each January. “I have been constantly encouraged and uplifted by working alongside the pro-life warriors in this diocese,” she said. “Across the diocese there is a collaborative and unified effort to end abortion and to protect all life.”

Grabowski and her husband Paul have been married since 2013 and they have four children.

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catholicnewsherald.com | December 31, 2021 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Judges deem N.C. law allowing lawsuits for historical child abuse claims unconstitutional CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

SUEANN HOWELL SENIOR REPORTER

CHARLOTTE — What was once a gravel parking lot adjacent to Charlotte Catholic High School on PinevilleMatthews Road now boasts the makings of the MACS Fine Arts Center. The 47,700-square-foot facility will house a 600-seat auditorium and a high-quality performance and exhibit space for students in Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools.

Diocesan officials report that construction is progressing nicely on the $21 million project, which is now 75 percent complete.

As it stands now, construction of the building’s interior walls is complete and the bulk of the interior electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems are in place. What remains to be completed in the Fine Arts Center building: primarily interior finishes, such as paint, drywall, acoustical ceilings and flooring.

Construction of the MACS Fine Arts Center is expected

to be substantially complete by March, after which the process of installing furnishings and technology will begin.

This summer, renovation work will begin in the existing Charlotte Catholic High School building in the areas that will be vacated by classes moving to the new MACS Fine Arts Center building. The interior renovation work for the final phase of the project includes converting the stage area in the existing gymnasium into a practice court for basketball.

When completed, the MACS Fine Arts Center will also house an art room, band room, choral room, ceramics studio, dance studio, digital lab, stage and theater.

Charlotte Catholic’s visual and performing arts classes will move to the new center, freeing up space inside the high school for other classroom use as well as space for a weight room, wrestling room and more.

Charlotte Catholic High School anticipates holding classes in the new Fine Arts Center building in August 2022.

2022 Eucharistic Congress planning underway SUEANN HOWELL SENIOR REPORTER

CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte Eucharistic Congress Planning Committee is organizing the 18th Annual Eucharistic Congress, scheduled for Friday, Aug. 5, and Saturday, Aug. 6, at the Charlotte Convention Center.

After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the annual gathering to shift C I OUS PRE T E to parish-based celebrations in 2020 and 2021, it will be a blessing to gather again in person for prayer, learning and fellowship, organizers hope. The date is earlier than usual in 2022 because of scheduling conflicts with the City of Charlotte and the convention center.

18th Annual The theme for the 2022 congress Diocese of Charlotte reflects the Congress 50th anniversary of the Diocese of Charlotte: Eucharistic “Faith More Than Gold,” taken from 1 Peter 1:7.

August 5-6,Precious 2022 Charlotte Convention Center In a recent letter to pastors announcing the Eucharistic Congress theme, Bishop Peter Jugis explained that the First Letter of Peter exhorts us, “so that the genuineness GOLD

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LAWSUITS, SEE PAGE 17

MACS Fine Arts Center takes shape as construction proceeds

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CHARLOTTE — Legal cases involving decades-old allegations of child sexual abuse against defendants including the Diocese of Charlotte moved forward in court in recent weeks, as North Carolina’s two-year “revival” period for historical abuse claims comes to an end on Dec. 31.

On Dec. 20, a panel of Superior Court judges declared unconstitutional part of a new law that temporarily suspended the state’s statute of limitations to allow adults who allege they were sexually abused as children to sue in civil court.

The provision is part of the 2019 SAFE Child Act and allowed for the filing of certain claims of abuse in 2020 or 2021, even if the statute of limitations had already expired.

Claimants across North Carolina used the revival provision to file claims against alleged abusers and their employers, including the diocese and other churches, schools, YMCA, Boy Scouts, and a volunteer fire department.

But in lawsuits filed against a wrestling coach and a firefighter – and their employers – the panel of judges ruled 2-1 that the revival provision violates the state constitution’s “Law of the Land Clause.” The judges wrote that previous case law recognizes that the North Carolina Constitution gives defendants the right not to be sued after a certain period of time, and that the constitution bars the General Assembly from reopening the statute of limitations, even for “meritorious causes of action.”

The defendants’ attorneys argued it is unreasonable to try to mount a defense after a lengthy period when relevant evidence has been lost or destroyed over time, people and witnesses involved have died or otherwise become unavailable, and the memories of witnesses who are around have faded.

It is unclear what impact the ruling might have on other claims still pending in state courts, including those against the Charlotte diocese, because an appeal is expected.

In separate rulings earlier this year, judges dismissed three historical abuse cases filed against the diocese in Mecklenburg County Superior Court, after legal arguments cited a variety of flaws in the cases, in addition to the constitutionality question. All are now on appeal.

In total, seven lawsuits involving historical abuse claims have been filed against the Charlotte diocese during the two-year revival period, from January 2020 through Dec. 28, 2021. That includes the three cases now dismissed and four still in early stages.

The lawsuits accuse six clergy members of abuse ranging from 20 to 40 years ago. They also allege the diocese was negligent in its supervision of the clergy at the time. All of the accused clergy were long ago removed permanently from ministry, except one: Jesuit Father Francis P. Gillespie.

Allegations against Gillespie of abuse in the late 1990s at Our Lady of the Assumption Parish were made known by the claimant only recently, and Gillespie – who was most recently assigned to the Diocese of Raleigh – was immediately placed on administrative leave pending investigation. Details are available online at www.bit.ly/32od5NT. The other five accused in the revival lawsuits include Charlotte diocesan priests Donald Baker, Richard Farwell and Joseph Kelleher (deceased), and two others assigned to work here by their supervising religious orders: Father Robert Yurgel (New Jersey-based Capuchin Franciscans) and lay missionary Al Behm (Ohio-based Glenmary Home Missioners).

All five were included on the diocese’s accountability website published in 2019. The known allegations against them also were reported to police – and to the public.

Farwell pleaded no contest to related criminal charges, while Yurgel pleaded guilty and served time in prison.

Criminal charges were dropped in 2014 against Kelleher, who was ailing and died soon afterwards. Criminal charges were not filed in the other cases.

“We continue to pray for victims of child sexual abuse and their families and have zero tolerance for abuse in

of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7).

“Gold is recognized as a precious commodity, but even ‘more precious than gold’ is the gift of our Catholic faith, including our faith in the Eucharistic Mystery of Christ’s Presence,” Bishop Jugis said.

The Eucharistic Congress brings the diocese together as one family to celebrate our faith in the Lord’s Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist. The event also strengthens the local Church for the New Evangelization.

Plans are still being developed, but the congress is expected to include Byzantine Rite Vespers on Friday evening; Holy Mass; a Eucharistic procession through uptown Charlotte on Saturday; a Holy Hour; the sacrament of confession; speakers and programs geared especially for adults, children and college students; vendors offering Catholic merchandise and information; and more.

For updates At www.goeucharist.com: Look for updated information to be posted online as the 2022 Eucharistic Congress nears

December 31, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

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Combined Mission Collection to be taken up at Masses Jan. 15-16 KIMBERLY BENDER ONLINE REPORTER

CHARLOTTE — Catholics in the Diocese of Charlotte will join in the worldwide effort to support missions in the United States and abroad in the Combined Mission Collection that will be taken up at Masses in all parishes the weekend of Jan. 15-16.

This annual collection funds five initiatives: the Collection for the Church in Latin America, the Collection to Aid the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, the Catholic Home Missions Appeal, the United States Mission Appeal (Black and Indian Missions) and the Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa. “‘I will make you a light to the nations that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’ Words from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah continue to speak to us in our day.

We are all called to bring the Good News of salvation to the ends of the earth,” Vicar General and Chancellor Monsignor Patrick J. Winslow said in a letter to parishioners. “The 2022 Combined Mission Collection, which will be taken at Masses on the weekend of Jan. 15-16, gives each of us an opportunity to reach out to people throughout the world.”

Last year when fewer people were attending Mass because of the pandemic,

donations totaled $186,985 to this special collection. The prior year, donations totaled $272,834. Here is how donations to the Combined Mission Collection make a difference: n The Collection for the Church in Latin America funds formation programs for priests, religious, lay leaders, missionaries and pastoral workers. It also and supports the Church’s work with the poor in the poorest areas of Latin America. n The Collection to Aid the Church in Central and Eastern Europe helps to rebuild the Church in those countries where communism once prohibited public acts of religion. n The Catholic Home Missions Appeal provides funding for evangelization efforts in remote parishes throughout rural America. n The United States Mission Appeal supports evangelization programs among African Americans and Native Americans in almost every diocese in our country. n The Solidarity Fund for the Church in Africa supports the pastoral works of the Church through grants for projects such as pastoral care for the sick, evangelization, youth ministry, religious education and peace-building workshops.

Other special collection dates for 2022 n April 16-17 (Easter Sunday): Seminarian Education Collection (first of two). The Seminarian Education Program, in which 45 men are currently enrolled, is mostly funded through the annual Diocesan Support Appeal, the Friend to Seminarians Program, and this collection. n May 14-15: International/National Combined Collection. Donations received from this collection benefit five organizations: Catholic Relief Services, Collection for the Holy Land, Collection for the Works of the Holy Father (Peter’s Pence), The Catholic University of America and the Catholic Communications Campaign. n Aug. 27-28: Archdiocese of Military Services Collection. This collection, taken up every three years, will fund its co-sponsored Seminarian Program, which identifies vocations within the military and is now educating men for the priesthood and subsequent military chaplaincy. n Sept. 24-25: Priests’ Retirement and Benefits. This collection, taken up the weekend after the Eucharistic Congress, goes to support the Diocese of Charlotte’s diocesan priests actively serving the faithful of western North Carolina, and religious order priests, for whom retirement contributions will be made. n Oct. 22-23: World Mission Sunday (Propagation of the Faith). This collection supports the work of the Church in its missions around the world. n Nov. 5-6: Seminarian Education Collection: The Seminarian Education Program, in which 45 men are currently enrolled, is primarily funded through the annual Diocesan Support Appeal, the Friend to Seminarians Program and this special second collection. n Nov. 19-20: Catholic Campaign for Human Development. This collection funds the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, established by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to help break the cycle of poverty by funding organizations that help people help themselves. With its mission of improving education, housing situations and local economic development, the CCHD continues to make a positive impact in communities nationwide. Twenty-five percent of the funds from this collection are put to use in the Charlotte diocese. n Dec. 10-11: Religious Retirement. This appeal, coordinated by the National Religious Retirement Office, offers support for senior Catholic sisters, brothers and religious order priests whose communities lack sufficient retirement funding. Nationally, some 27,000 women and men religious who are past the age of 70 benefit.

Catholic Charities’ Angel Tree program helps more WNC people in crisis ASHEVILLE — Western North Carolina generosity, combined with the dedication of Catholic Charities’ Western Regional Office staff and volunteers, led to more than 300 people receiving gifts through the Angel Tree program in 2021 – a 20 percent increase over last year’s effort. Over half of recipients were children and seniors.

For families in need or in crisis, Christmas can be a challenging and stressful time. Many people are worrying about how to pay for their rent, utilities, food and more, while simultaneously trying to buy Christmas gifts for loved ones. The COVID-19 pandemic – and resulting unemployment or underemployment – has aggravated the financial problems many people in western North Carolina already endure.

The Christmas outreach was a true team effort between Catholic Charities’ Western Regional Office and surrounding parishes, including St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville, St. Margaret Mary Church in Swannanoa, St. Joan of Arc Church in Candler and St. Eugene Church in Asheville. Catholic Charities connected people facing economic hardship who needed help with donors and parishioners who wanted to lend a hand for the holidays.

The effort took nearly four months to pull off.

Kitty Tuck Murphy, a bilingual volunteer, was instrumental in collecting gift request information from Spanishspeaking families, talking with parents to gather meaningful gift requests.

Volunteers noted that many families’ requests were simple: shoes and warm clothes.

Donna Bange, Catholic Charities volunteer, digitized the requests for local parishes to access more easily.

People of goodwill purchased gifts, then dropped them off at the Western Regional Office in Asheville. Many parishioners provided financial donations. Lyndsey Parham, bilingual

case management coordinator for Catholic Charities, said, “These financial donations were invaluable to supplement gift donations and to address last-minute requests.”

Susan Loveland, another WRO volunteer, reflected, “This year it was truly a privilege to participate in the Angel Tree project. As always, the parish donors were generous and thoughtful in choosing their gifts. One donor actually made a baby quilt with symbols of Jesus and Christmas. My own special joy in the process is making sure every gift is just right for that person, and then adding a little something extra from our donations to bring a sense of Christmas joy and surprise.”

Volunteer Ellen Goodell said, “It’s always an honor to be one of ‘Santa’s helpers’ and a rewarding challenge to get the perfect gift request fulfilled.”

Catholic Charities volunteer Donna Simon worked behind the scenes to ensure that gifts were received, tracked and accounted for. The gifts were distributed to families in need over two weeks leading up to Christmas.

Catholic Charities Volunteer and Impact Coordinator Maddy Rhinehart recalled that while distributing Angel Tree gifts to participants, “Even under their masks, you could see the smiles and sincere thanks for being remembered and helped by this generous spirit of giving.”

Jesse Boeckermann, Western Region Office director, reflected, “We are so grateful for the flexibility of volunteers and donors as we worked to collect, organize and ensure families received their gifts. When the families came by to pick up their gifts, it made the whole effort worthwhile. The 2021 Angel Tree program is a testament to the community spirit so present and vibrant in the greater Asheville area and western North Carolina. The Holy Spirit was at work to ensure that over 300 people were blessed during the Christmas season.”

— Catholic Charities Western Region Office

(Above) Catholic Charities Angel Tree volunteer Ellen Goodell pauses during her work as the Western Region Office fills up with gifts.

(Left) The Angel Tree team: Donna Simon (volunteer), Kitty Tuck Murphy (volunteer), Susan Loveland (volunteer and advisory board member), Ellen Goodell (volunteer), Maddy Rhinehart (staff), Donna Bange (volunteer), Hilary Kalisch (staff) and Lyndsey Parham (staff).

PHOTO PROVIDED BY CATHOLIC CHARITIES

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catholicnewsherald.com | December 31, 2021 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

MARCH FOR LIFE 2021

The annual March for Life Charlotte draws people of all ages to the streets of uptown Charlotte to advocate for the respect of life. This year’s march will be held Friday, Jan. 14.

FILE | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

March for life this January CHARLOTTE — The COVID-19 pandemic made giving public witness to the sanctity of all human life more challenging over the past two years. Now that restrictions on larger gatherings have eased, pro-life advocates are encouraging people to attend March for Life events locally, and if possible, in the nation’s capital.

MARCH FOR LIFE CHARLOTTE

The 16th annual March for Life Charlotte will be held Friday, Jan. 14, to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion. Part prayer vigil, part public march, the event is meant to be a time of prayer to call attention to the more than 63 million lives lost to abortion since 1973, and the need to end Nebangongjoh the tragedy of abortion.

It will begin with a 9 a.m. Mass for the Unborn offered at St. Vincent de Paul Church, located at 6828 Old Reid Road in Charlotte.

The march will take place at noon.

Marchers are asked gather between 11 a.m. and noon outside the Diocese of Charlotte Pastoral Center, located at 1123 S. Church St. At noon the march will kick off from the Pastoral Center towards Independence Square at the corner of Harrison Trade and Tryon streets.

Father Ernest Nebangongjoh, parochial vicar at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte, will preach during a brief program in Independence Square.

Dr. Matt Harrison, a Catholic physician who pioneered the abortion pill reversal procedure, will also speak.

Then the rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy will be prayed to conclude the march.

See the full schedule and other details at www.

MASS AND MARCH FOR LIFE RALEIGH

The Diocese of Raleigh will host its annual Mass and March for Life Raleigh Saturday, Jan. 15. Mass begins at 11 a.m. at Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, located at 715 Nazareth St., Raleigh. The rally and march begins at 1 p.m. in Bicentennial Plaza. For details, go to www.ncrtl.org/rally-and-march-for-life.

W. TRADE ST. W. 4TH ST.

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Thousands of pro-life advocates from all over the country are expected to travel to ST. PETER Washington, D.C., for the national March for Life on Friday, Jan. 21. Organizers say W. 1ST ST. it’s the largest annual human rights demonstration in the world.

The theme for the 2022 March for W. STONEWALL Life is “Equality begins in the womb.”

A rally will be held at noon on the National Mall, then

JOHN BELK FWY.

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SUEANN HOWELL SENIOR REPORTER

INDEPENDENCE SQUARE

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Local, national marches resume in 2022

marchforlifecharlotte.org.

For inquiries, contact Tina Witt with March for Life Charlotte at marchforlifecharlotte@windstream.net or at 704-301-2531.

W. 5TH ST.

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DIOCESAN PASTORAL CENTER

at 1 p.m. participants will march up Constitution Avenue to the U.S. Supreme Court to pray.

Parishes from around the diocese are making plans to send busloads of parishioners to participate in various March for Life events Jan. 20-21.

Raleigh Bishop Luis Zarama will offer the annual Mass for Life for North Carolina pilgrims to the march, starting at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 21, at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Priests from both the Charlotte and Raleigh dioceses will concelebrate.

LYNX STATION CARSON BLVD.

More information Questions about pro-life activities happening in the Diocese of Charlotte during January? Contact Jessica Grabowski, director of the diocese’s Respect Life program, at jrgrabowski@rcdoc.org or 704-370-3229.

December 31, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

9

Greensboro parish supports Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem GEORGIANNA PENN CORRESPONDENT

GREENSBORO — Two weeks before celebrating Jesus’ birth, St. Pius X parishioners celebrated a “beacon of hope” at His birthplace, the Order of Malta Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem.

The parish hosted a dinner honoring Michele Bowe, Order of Malta ambassador to Palestine and president of Holy Family Hospital Foundation on Dec. 11, after a three-day visit and Little Town of Bethlehem Live Nativity.

“Holy Family Hospital is a beacon of hope, Catholic, teaching maternity hospital, with over 4,500 babies born yearly and 450 babies treated in their state-ofthe-art Level 3 NICU where no one is ever turned away for need or creed,” Bowe said.

“Our hospital is the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. We provide over 144,000 services for just over $5 million; that’s a miracle within itself,” she said. “I like to think of it as atonement or reparations to the Holy Family, who found no room at the inn.”

The hospital is only 1,500 footsteps away from the Church of the Nativity. It is the only hospital in the region that can deliver and save a baby born before 34 weeks gestation. Babies born before 27 weeks – who may not be considered viable by the medical community in many parts of the world, due to a lack of specialized training or equipment – are resuscitated and given lifesaving care.

If a baby is considered not viable, there is no medical obligation for care, Bowe said, but at Holy Family Hospital, the team

springs into action.

“The entire hospital stops to receive that one child. We wait and we pray,” said Bowe. “I witnessed the miracle of Baby Leah, born at 23 weeks, still, not breathing, docs quickly stepped into action. After one surgery and a five-month stay, Baby Leah went home smiling and in good health.”

She recently returned to the NICU to celebrate her fourth birthday.

“Our hospital spreads the culture of life by saving the smallest of lives and training our staff that it is indeed possible, even in a country with limited resources, to be prolife,” Bowe said.

Lindsay Sartorio, pastoral associate at St. Pius X Church, said, “Being in Bethlehem and seeing the care given to the smallest of babies there was a great ray of hope. Our parish and the diocese have a wonderful relationship with Holy Family Hospital, and it’s one of those organizations that once you learn about, you can’t help but feel deeply connected to and want to support.”

“Holy Family Hospital is a ministry that we support – not because they are Christians, but because we are,” said Monsignor Anthony Marcaccio, pastor. “I see it as an ecumenical, bridge-building enterprise for the Church. I know that parents, whether Christian or Muslim, will never forget the kindness you show their children or to them in their time of need.

This is a concrete way for us to act globally in our defense of life. Peace in the Holy Land will come when we do the work of justice, and supporting life in Bethlehem is a righteous act.”

Bowe thanked Bishop Peter Jugis, Monsignor Marcaccio and St. Pius X

PHOTO PROVIDED BY HOLY FAMILY HOSPITAL

In this recent photo of a family and their newborn child at Holy Family Hospital in Bethlehem, Michele Bowe, Order of Malta ambassador to Palestine and president of Holy Family Hospital Foundation, said, “Joy repeats itself with each new life in Bethlehem.”

parishioners for their support, calling them “clearly the three kings for the mothers and babies of Bethlehem.”

Learn more At www.birthplaceofhope.org: Learn about ways to support Holy Family Hospital Bethlehem

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catholicnewsherald.com | December 31, 2021 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Pray for new priests as Mary’s Sons kneelers come to Charlotte area DINA WILSON CORRESPONDENT

CHARLOTTE — After visiting churches in the far western part of the Diocese of Charlotte this fall, the Mary’s Sons kneelers for Deacon Darren Balkey and Deacon Aaron Huber are headed to the Charlotte area, where they will circulate among parishes until June.

In January, the kneelers will visit St. James the Greater Church in Concord, St. Joseph and Our Lady of Guadalupe churches in Charlotte, and St. Aloysius Church in Hickory. They will continue to circulate among parishes until June, when they will be given to the two new priests upon their ordination.

People are invited and encouraged to pray on the kneelers.

Father John Putnam, pastor of St. Mark Church in Huntersville, said the kneelers underscore the significant role people’s prayers play in assisting the clergy.

“Choosing priestly ordination can bring many trials and spiritual struggles,” Father Putnam said. “The devil is never

happy with the ordination of new priests.

“Prayer is the surest means of shoring up and strengthening the spiritual armor,” he said. “We pray for their vocational resolve, their personal holiness and an increase in their desire to serve the People of God with joy, love and peace.”

Bishop Peter Jugis is scheduled to ordain Deacon Balkey and Deacon Huber to the priesthood on June 18, 2022, at St. Mark Church.

Mary’s Sons is a Charlotte-area lay apostolate dedicated to praying for priests. Since 2013, it has given 19 handmade kneelers to the diocese’s new priests through its “Kneelers for Priests Pilgrimage” program, according to Director Robyn Magyar. The priests also receive a hand-sewn confessional stole and a leather journal containing well wishes and messages written by people who prayed on the kneelers as they traveled around the diocese.

“The kneelers symbolize God’s call to the laity to take these new priests into our hearts and to pray for them without ceasing,” Magyar said. “Our hope is that Kneelers for the two men expected to be ordained to the priesthood next June are currently traveling to parishes around the Diocese of Charlotte. Pictured at left, the kneelers recently visited St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Mars Hill.

Property Manager

Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina The Diocese is currently accepting resumes for the position of “Property Manager” within the Diocesan Properties & Risk Management Department. The Property Manager is responsible for the oversight, performance, operation, and facility management of all Tier 1 properties and vehicles. While maintaining a high level of expertise and professionalism, the Property Manager will address both internal and external issues impacting facility operations, including budgetary oversight, preventative maintenance, overseeing plant improvements, and responding to and resolving Diocesan/Location facility requests or concerns.

REQUIREMENTS INCLUDE: • Bachelor’s degree from accredited college/university required.

• 5+ years min. experience managing multi-building campuses and operations is preferred.

• FMA/CFM designation strongly preferred.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office products including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook • Strong proficiency in preventative maintenance/work order systems and processes.

• Ability to read and interpret Architectural and Engineering drawings.

• Strong inter-personal communication skills – both written and verbal.

• Strong critical thinking and problem solving skills.

• Ability to work both independently and with a team.

Please submit your professional resume and salary history by January 14, 2022 to: Diocesan Director of Properties & Risk Management Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte 1123 South Church Street Charlotte, NC 28203, Or email directly to PropDirector@RCDOC.org.

** The Diocese of Charlotte is an Equal Opportunity Employer **

PHOTO PROVIDED BY ROBYN MAGYAR

the kneelers provide a beautiful way to connect the faithful to our new priests and, through the many prayers offered on the kneelers, these men will be strengthened in their journey to ordination and sustained in their holy priesthood.”

The kneelers go to about half of the diocese’s 92 parishes and missions annually, including each future priest’s home parish and parishes where they served during their formation as seminarians.

The program expanded this year to reach 12 churches in the Smoky Mountain, Asheville and Gastonia vicariates that hosted the kneelers for the first time.

“Our goal this year has been to bring the kneelers to people in parishes and missions that have not had the opportunity to have the kneelers in the past, for

whatever reason – be it distance or another circumstance,” Magyar said.

Marie Cook and Bill Matthews, both parishioners at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Franklin, were instrumental in coordinating and moving the kneelers through the Smoky Mountain vicariate, with the help of members of Knights of Columbus Council 8363, Magyar said.

Matthews, who travels the region as a field agent with the Knights, said transporting the kneelers was a perfect blend of his work and his mission as a Knight.

“As Knights we are here to uphold and serve our priests and do whatever we can to support them,” Matthews said.

“These kneelers are something that the seminarians will have all of their lives, and they will remember that people all over the diocese knelt and prayed for them daily. I feel privileged to have been in a position to help.”

Cook, who is also St. Francis’ parish secretary, said she was honored to participate in the kneeler program.

“I was so happy the day that Robyn called and asked if we would like to have the kneelers at our church!” Cook said. “I think the kneeler program is brilliant – to have a physical thing, like a kneeler, which goes from parish to parish that helps us to know we are all united in praying for these same young men.

“Many of us don’t get to go to their ordination, but this is a very special way to be connected with them and to be a part of their journey to the priesthood,” she said.

Details online At www.maryssons.org: See the complete schedule of kneeler locations and more information

Mix

December 31, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

For the latest movie reviews: catholicnewsherald.com

In theaters

Podcast that aims to deepen teens’ faith finds its audience KIMBERLY BENDER ONLINE REPORTER

‘Sing 2’ Writer-director Garth Jennings’ follow-up to his 2016 animated jukebox musical finds that comedy’s ensemble of animal entertainers aiming for the big time. Led by the koala theater owner (voice of Matthew McConaughey) who brought them together in the kickoff, the singers and hoofers (voiced, among others, by Tori Kelly, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson and Nick Kroll) aspire to become headliners in a fabled, Las Vegas-like city. To do so, they’ll have to follow through on their impresario’s rash promise to a lupine media magnate (voice of Bobby Cannavale) that their show will feature a legendary lion rock star (voice of Bono, in his acting debut) who, for 15 years, has been one of the world’s most famous recluses.

Amid the wild scramble that follows, Jennings’ script deals with a series of topics, such as self-doubt and the ability to deal with setbacks as well as bullying, privilege and popularity, that may especially resonate with teens.

It also highlights themes of empathy, honesty and the means of coping with grief. Too scary for little kids, this film, fueled by familiar tunes and buoyed by enjoyable humor, is on target for most others. Characters in peril, brief mature references.

CNS: A-II (adults and adolescents); MPAA: PG

‘American Underdog’ Cheerful, lively biopic tracing the initial challenges and eventual rise to stardom of NFL quarterback Kurt Warner (Zachary Levi). Though he proves himself an outstanding player in college, Warner’s alma mater is too far down on the pecking order for any pro team to consider drafting him or giving him a tryout. Reduced to a minimum-wage job stocking supermarket shelves, he finds his way back onto the gridiron via arena football, overcoming personal problems and falling for a previously married former Marine corporal (Anna Paquin) along the way. A divorce theme, allusions to cohabitation, fleeting crass language.

CNS: A-II (adults and adolescents); MPAA: PG

‘The Matrix Resurrections’ As this third sci-fi sequel – set 20 years after the last installment – opens, the computer whiz protagonist of the series (Keanu Reeves), once a rebel against the mental enslavement by which a race of intelligent machines kept vast numbers of humans trapped in the simulated reality of the title so that, out in the concrete world, they could harvest the energy of their contentedly comatose prey, has been lulled back into submission and into a form of amnesia. While the mayhem of the struggle over which director and co-writer Lana Wachowski presides is predominantly bloodless, some is disturbing. Together with other elements, that makes this brainteaser best for grownups. Mostly stylized violence with some gore, partial nudity, profanity and crass language.

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

CHARLOTTE — St. Matthew Church wants teens to know they are not alone. “(Not) The Only One,” a podcast the Charlotte parish launched during the worst of the pandemic last fall, has taken off – providing a faith connection for teens on an open, vulnerable and Catholic journey.

Each week the 30-minute podcast tackles questions on a topic you may have thought you were “the only one” to wonder about. It has been downloaded 6,500 times, which translates to about 150 listeners a week from around the world.

The podcast is receiving encouraging feedback from the teens it targets – and, surprisingly, from adults who have been listening and learning.

“We want it to be a source of hope,” said Lauren Piercefield, high school youth minister and host of the podcast. “Our goal was to reach high school and middle school teens, but we also have a lot of adults listening to the podcast and finding it nourishing and encouraging. We don’t always know what the impact is going to be when we go in to record an episode. We have a lot of trust that whoever needs to listen to it will.”

Upcoming podcasts will feature a miniseries on what it means as Catholics to be pro-life, with testimony from someone who is attending the March for Life. Others for early 2022 include a Lenten series and a series on identity.

‘Especially now, people need to know they’re not alone in trying to live an authentic Catholic life.’

‘A WAY TO CONNECT TO OUR YOUTH’

The podcast launched in October 2020 as a way to connect to teens and families in a pandemic-changed world.

“The idea started to come about over the summer,” Piercefield said. “We were trying to figure out how to reach families still at home and those coming back to the Church. We wanted to reach them physically where they were. A podcast was suggested, and the Holy Spirit worked Lauren Piercefield quick with us.”

High school youth minister and host The equipment, name, topics and guests of the “(Not) The Only One” podcast fell into place, and it took off quickly, she said.

“It’s been a blessing to reach people, be a voice of the Church and find a way to connect to our youth regardless of where they are. The beautiful thing about our faith is that the teaching is consistent and true, but our faith looks different in every person. We see that in every episode.”

Piercefield said the podcast allows her to expand deeper, explore topics not possible to cover in weekly youth ministry and offer different perspectives.

“It’s a way to continue to teach what does discipleship really look like,” she explained. “Our biggest goal and why we chose the name we did is to let our listeners know that they’re not alone. Especially now, people need to know they’re not alone in trying to live an authentic Catholic life.”

‘A SPACE TO USE THEIR VOICE’

The podcast has featured priests, deacons and youth who answer questions and share their testimony.

“It’s a win-win. We can all benefit from hearing from the teens,” Piercefield said. “The teens think personally about their relationship with God and practice discussing their faith, while it boosts their confidence and continues to encourage them as a child of God. This gives them a space to use their voice.”

In the previous 53 episodes, “(Not) The Only One” has discussed many topics, from identity and what it looks like to be “authentic,” to vocations, honoring the Sabbath and Q&As with clergy.

One of the most popular episodes has been on friendships and loneliness, Piercefield said.

“It’s an opportunity to get people’s stories out there and glorify God in a pretty simple way – we’re just sitting around the table talking,” Piercefield said.

“It’s been really fun.”

Piercefield said her biggest hope for the podcast is that it continues to push people to take that next step in their faith. The podcast is just one tool, however.

“When the episode ends, spend time in prayer with the Lord, seek the sacraments and continue to grow with God,” she said.

More online At stmatthewcatholic.org/podcast-nottheonlyone: Learn more about St. Matthew Church’s “(Not) The Only One” podcast and find ways to listen. New episodes air every Thursday.

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On TV n Sunday, Jan. 2, noon-1:30 p.m. (EWTN) “Solemn Mass of the Epiphany.” Live broadcast from the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., as Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services celebrates the Eucharistic liturgy for the feast of the Epiphany.

n Sunday, Jan. 2, 8-9 p.m. (PBS) “Around the World in 80 Days.” First episode of an eight-part adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic 1872 adventure novel in which David Tennant stars as Phileas Fogg, the English gentleman who bets a fortune that he can circle the earth in no more than 80 days. The series continues Sundays 8-9 p.m. through Feb. 20.

A “Masterpiece” presentation. n Thursday, Jan. 6, 4-5:15 a.m. (EWTN) “Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord.”

Mass of the Epiphany with Pope Francis, broadcast live from Rome’s St. Peter’s Basilica. The liturgy will be rerun 11:30 a.m.12:45 p.m. n Sunday, Jan. 9, 3:30-5:30 p.m. (EWTN) “Solemn Mass for the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.” Live broadcast from the Sistine Chapel as the Christmas season comes to an end with the celebration of Mass and the administration of baptism. n Sunday, Jan. 9, 7-8:30 p.m. (EWTN) “Mass of the Baptism of the Lord.” Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, is scheduled to be the celebrant and homilist for this Eucharistic liturgy honoring the Baptism of the Lord at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

PRAYER TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN O Most Beautiful Flower of Mt. Carmel, Fruitful Vine, Splendor of Heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in my necessity. O Star of the Sea, help me and show me herein you are my Mother. O Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart to succor me in my necessity (make request.)

There are none that can withstand your power.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee (3 times.)

Holy Mary, I place this cause in your hands (3 times.)

3 Our Father, 3 Hail Mary, 3 Glory Be Published in gratitude for prayers answered.

Thank you, K.B.

FACEBOOK.COM/ CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD ESPAÑOL

catholicnewsherald.com | December 31, 2021 12

Padre Julio Domínguez

Feliz Año Nuevo

(Izquierda) El Obispo Peter Jugis inciensa la escena del Nacimiento del Niño Dios en el pesebre al inicio de la Misa de Gallo del 25 de diciembre en la Catedral San Patricio en Charlotte.

Q

ueridos hermanos en Cristo, Gracia y paz a todos ustedes en este nuevo año que estamos comenzando.

Pidámosle a Dios que venga cargado de muchas bendiciones para todas nuestras familias y también para nuestras parroquias.

Se que, siguiendo nuestras tradiciones familiares, han pasado una hermosa noche, disfrutando de la familia, de los buenos alimentos que sabemos preparar, de las historias que nos encantan recordar, de las sonrisas de los niños que nos acompañan y de todo el caos que como familias podemos realizar. Pero eso es lo más hermoso que nos distingue a la familia hispana y que nunca debemos perder, el sentido de pertenencia a una familia.

Me encanta ver que aquí, en Estados Unidos, ponemos en práctica el famoso dicho: ¡Mi casa es tu casa! Y gente de muchas nacionalidades abren sus puertas a otras familias o personas solas y las adoptan para que pasen un maravilloso fin de año. Esos gestos de hermandad debemos mantenerlos y celebrarlos.

Este año fue muy diferente que el año pasado, pudimos hacer lo que no hicimos el año pasado, es decir darnos abrazos a la medianoche, celebrar con alegría y gritar fuertemente Feliz Año Nuevo, mientras corrían las lágrimas por nuestros ojos recordando todo lo maravilloso que es nuestro Buen Dios por tenernos aquí en este mundo, y recordando también con tristeza a muchos de nuestros hermanos que se fueron con el azote de la pandemia, pero siempre anclados en la esperanza de que los veremos resucitar con Cristo.

Es aquí donde quiero animarlos a todos ustedes, mis queridos hermanos, a que tomemos el tiempo para ser agradecidos y darle las gracias apropiadas a nuestro buen Dios, que nos ama tanto y quiere nuestra felicidad. Ojalá que podamos participar de las Misas ofrecidas, que es el mejor modo de darle gracias a Dios.

Quiero decirles que este año viene lleno de muchas bendiciones para nuestra diócesis, desde la celebración del 50 Aniversario que comenzaremos este próximo 12 de enero, así como todo el proceso sinodal que vamos a hacer para poder crecer en nuestro diálogo como Iglesia, y también la reflexión teológica que los Obispos de Estados Unidos nos están pidiendo para profundizar en el amor a la Eucaristía.

Llenemos nuestros días de este año de mucha esperanza, confiando siempre y teniendo el entusiasmo espiritual de hacer algo bello de nuestros días. ¡Que los pesimismos salgan de nuestras vidas y demos lugar a una actitud positiva que nos lance a realizar grandes cosas en nuestra vida!

Bendiciones para todos.

EL PADRE JULIO DOMÍNGUEZ es el Vicario Episcopal del Ministerio Hispano de la Diócesis de Charlotte.

(Abajo) El Obispo Jugis consagra la Eucaristía durante la Misa de Navidad de medianoche.

FOTOS PROVISTAS POR JAMES SARKIS

Alégrense, “Jesús el Salvador ha venido a ayudarles” PATRICIA L. GUILFOYLE EDITORA

CHARLOTTE — Las decoraciones, las canciones y los obsequios ayudan a “entonarnos”, pero el gozo profundo está en el corazón de la Navidad: el gozo que nuestro Salvador haya venido a ayudarnos y salvarnos, predicó el Obispo Peter Jugis el 25 de diciembre.

Durante la Misa de Gallo, marcando el inicio de las celebraciones navideñas en la Catedral San Patricio, el Obispo Jugis alentó a los fieles a tomar en serio las palabras del ángel en el Evangelio de Lucas: “Les proclamo una buena noticia de gran gozo”.

El alegre mensaje del ángel a los pastores y a nosotros significa que “no estás solo. El Salvador ha venido por ti”, dijo el obispo. “El Salvador ahora está aquí, anímese”.

Las Misas en la catedral y la mayoría de las iglesias alrededor de la Diócesis de Charlotte esta Navidad se llevaron a cabo en persona y con menos restricciones que el año pasado debido a la pandemia.

“Ciertamente, hay muchos problemas y dificultades, preocupaciones y ansiedades que enfrentamos en nuestra vida diaria”, dijo el obispo, “pero este día el ángel anuncia que debemos tener alegría, a pesar de esos problemas y dificultades, preocupaciones y ansiedades”.

“Jesús el Salvador ha venido para

ayudarles y salvarles. Un salvador ha venido para ti, para estar contigo, para ayudarte a llevar tus cargas”, dijo.

“Si está perdido o luchando, ¡anímese!

Ahora tiene un salvador, un salvador ha venido a buscarle. Si ha sufrido una tragedia o un dolor familiar, o si su corazón está apesadumbrado en este momento, anímese, ahora tiene un salvador. Un salvador ha venido a buscarle”.

Como ilustra la historia de la Navidad, José y María experimentaron dificultades: dejar la comodidad del hogar para viajar a Belén y luego tener que buscar refugio en un establo para que María pudiera dar a luz a Jesús, señaló el obispo.

“Y, sin embargo, a pesar de todo,

cuando nace el niño, todas esas dificultades pasan a un segundo plano frente al gozo que llena los corazones de José y María por el nacimiento del niño Jesús”, dijo.

“La alegría se adueña de todo. La verdadera alegría irrumpe en un establo en Belén, de todos los lugares”, dijo. Ese gozo “eventualmente abarcará al mundo entero a medida que se difunde el mensaje

cristiano”.

El Obispo Jugis instó a las personas a no dejar que las dificultades de la vida alejen a Jesús de sus corazones o de sus familias.

“Hagan espacio para el gozo y la alegría navideña, hoy y siempre”, dijo, animando a la gente “a estar gozosos por todos los dones y bendiciones que Dios ha otorgado a su familia; a estar gozosos por la presencia de Dios en su familia y en su hogar”.

Concluyó rogando: “Que Dios bendiga a sus familias y sus hogares con gozo navideño, un gozo que viene porque conocen, aman y sirven a Cristo el Señor, que ha venido para estar con ustedes, para salvarles y para ayudarles por siempre”.

December 31, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

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“La familia cristiana es comunión de personas, signo e imagen de la comunión del Padre y del Hijo en el Espíritu Santo”. — Catecismo de la Iglesia Católica 2205

Obispo Jugis establece Oficina de Vida Familiar Su misión: Acompañar familias, fortalecer los matrimonios y promover el respeto por la vida PATRICIA L. GUILFOYLE EDITORA

CHARLOTTE — Enfatizando la importancia de la familia para la vida y misión de la Iglesia, el Obispo Peter Jugis anunció el 26 de diciembre, fecha en que se celebró la Fiesta de la Sagrada Familia, que está estableciendo Acquaviva Adcock Grabowski una Oficina de Vida Familiar para la Diócesis de Charlotte.

“La familia es el pilar fundamental de la sociedad, y edificar para enriquecer la vida espiritual y apoyar a la familia es el corazón de las familias y defender y celebrar de la misión de la Iglesia”, escribió el valor de las familias en la cultura el obispo en una carta dirigida a la contemporánea”. feligresía en el día de la fiesta. La nueva El Padre Peter Ascik dirigirá la oficina “fortalecerá y ampliará nuestro nueva oficina y su equipo. Ordenado ministerio y alcance a las familias”. por la diócesis en 2017, continuará La oficina cubrirá varias áreas sirviendo como pastor en la parroquia programáticas anteriormente Santa María Auxiliadora en Shelby y la administradas por Caridades Católicas Misión Cristo Rey en Kings Mountain. de la Diócesis de Charlotte, incluyendo La misión de la Oficina de Vida la preparación matrimonial, la Familiar es ayudar a fortalecer a las planificación familiar natural (PFN) y el familias y promover el respeto por la respeto a la vida. Algunos elementos del vida en cada etapa, dijo el Padre Ascik. programa del Ministerio de Personas Las familias están llamadas a la Mayores de Caridades Católicas santidad, sirviendo como ejemplo y también se trasladarán a la nueva testimonio del amor de Dios, y la Iglesia oficina, pero la agencia continuará debe hacer todo lo posible para apoyarlas, supervisando programas relacionados dijo. La Iglesia también debe ayudar con la familia que requieren experiencia a cuidar y acompañar a las familias técnica en trabajo social, como servicios necesitadas de sanación y promover una de adopción y apoyo para padres cultura de vida en la sociedad. adolescentes.

“La salud de nuestra diócesis siempre “Con los desafíos que hoy en día estará vinculada a la salud de las enfrentan muchas personas, es más familias que son su corazón”, dijo el importante que nunca que la Iglesia ‘se Padre Ascik. incline’ para sostener y alentar a las Tres miembros del personal con familias, especialmente a aquellas que experiencia en el apoyo a familias se recién están comenzando o enfrentan trasladarán de Caridades Católicas a la dificultades”, dice la carta del obispo. nueva Oficina de Vida Familiar: La nueva oficina “nos permitirá n Alecia C. Acquaviva – Coordinadora proporcionar recursos enfocados del programa de preparación

matrimonial. Acquaviva se ha desempeñado como coordinadora del programa de preparación matrimonial desde 2010. Tiene una maestría en teología del matrimonio y la familia del Instituto Juan Pablo II de la Universidad Católica de América en Washington, DC. El año pasado, más de 300 personas participaron en clases de preparación matrimonial en toda la diócesis. n Jessica R. Grabowski – Directora del programa de Respeto a la Vida. Grabowski ha dirigido este programa durante los últimos cinco años. Tiene una licenciatura de la Universidad Católica de América y una Maestría en Administración de Negocios. Además de coordinar el Programa de Respeto a la Vida, donde organiza eventos Provida y la presentación de oradores en toda la diócesis, supervisa el programa de Retiro post aborto Rachel’s Vineyard.

El año pasado, la diócesis llevó a cabo 57 programas de Respeto a la Vida a los que asistieron 1,135 personas. n Batrice N. Adcock, MSN, RN – Directora del programa de Planificación Familiar Natural. Adcock ha dirigido los esfuerzos de la diócesis para fomentar la educación, concientización y recursos de la PFN desde 2008. Todas las parejas que completan su preparación matrimonial en la diócesis reciben instrucción en Planificación Familiar Natural, y el año pasado otras 657 personas también recibieron instrucción o asistencia del programa de PFN. La Oficina de Vida Familiar operará desde el Centro Pastoral Diocesano y puede contactarla al correo FamilyLife@rcdoc.org o en el teléfono 704-808-4507.

Obispo Jugis animó a mantener el amor de Dios en el centro de la familia CHARLOTTE — La Sagrada Familia es un modelo de cómo amarnos unos a otros en nuestras propias familias, reflexionó el Obispo Peter Jugis en su homilía por la Fiesta de la Sagrada Familia celebrada el 26 de diciembre.

“La Navidad es una época en la que pensamos en la familia”, dijo el obispo, y la celebración de la Fiesta de la Sagrada Familia dentro de la temporada navideña subraya lo importante que es el amor familiar en nuestro llamado a la santidad.

El obispo ofreció la Misa en la Catedral San Patricio en Charlotte, el mismo día que anunció el establecimiento de una Oficina de Vida Familiar para elevar los ministerios de la Diócesis de Charlotte que sirven a las familias y promueven el respeto por la vida.

“La familia es un regalo de Dios y recibimos gran apoyo y amor en nuestra familia”, dijo. “En la Sagrada Familia y en nuestras propias familias celebramos el amor que une a los miembros de la familia”.

Mantengan a Dios, la fuente del amor, en el centro de nuestras familias, tal como lo hizo la Sagrada Familia, alentó a los feligreses.

“El amor de Dios está en el corazón mismo de la Sagrada Familia, en la persona de Jesús. El amor de Dios habita en el centro mismo de su hogar”, dijo.

Invitó a las familias a permanecer unidas en el amor,

incluso cuando están separadas o se enfrentan a desafíos.

“Los problemas y las dificultades del mundo a veces pueden invadir el corazón mismo de nuestras familias y hogares, amenazando con socavar y debilitar el amor de Dios”, dijo. “El amor de Dios en el corazón de la familia debe ser protegido y alimentado”.

Pidió que, “En esta Fiesta de la Sagrada Familia de Jesús, María y José, que Dios bendiga a su familia y su hogar con Su amor y todo lo que sigue a vivir en el amor de Dios”.

“Que Dios bendiga a su familia con la bondad que cada miembro muestra hacia los demás miembros de la familia”.

“Que Dios bendiga a su familia con dulzura en las relaciones familiares”.

“Que Dios bendiga a su familia con el perdón de heridas o malos entendidos”.

“Que Dios bendiga a su familia con reconciliación”.

“Que Dios bendiga a su familia con la unidad de propósitos en mente y corazón”.

“Que Dios bendiga a su familia con la generosidad de entregarse amorosamente al servicio de otros miembros de la familia”.

“Que el Señor Jesús, a quien celebramos de manera especial durante esta temporada navideña, ocupe el primer lugar en sus corazones y hogares”.

— Catholic News Herald

Diócesis abrirá el año de su 50 Aniversario CHARLOTTE — En una celebración de fe en todo el oeste de Carolina del Norte, la Diócesis de Charlotte conmemorará su 50 aniversario a lo largo de 2022, comenzando el 12 de enero con una Misa especial y Hora Santa en sus 92 parroquias y misiones.

La celebración de un año, con el tema “La fe es más preciosa que el oro” (1 Pedro 1: 7), presentará una variedad de eventos y actividades que incluyen una peregrinación mariana a más de 100 lugares, un Día de la Familia Católica en Carowinds, un juego de béisbol de los Charlotte Knights, 50 Actos de Caridad, y más.

El Obispo Peter J. Jugis abrirá formalmente el año del 50 aniversario el 12 de enero en la Catedral San Patricio en Charlotte. Se ofrecerá una Hora Santa de 5:30 a 6:30 p.m., seguida del Santo Sacrificio de la Misa a las 7 p.m., que será transmitido en vivo por el canal YouTube de la diócesis, www.youtube/DioceseofCharlotte.

En espíritu de unidad y comunión, las parroquias también ofrecerán Misas y una Hora Santa el 12 de enero en los horarios especificados en sus websites.

“Nuestras parroquias desempeñarán el papel más importante en la celebración de nuestro aniversario, ya que son nuestros feligreses y sacerdotes, junto con nuestros diáconos y religiosos consagrados, quienes, con la gracia de Dios, han permitido que esta diócesis prospere por 50 años”, dijo el Obispo Jugis. “Con su creatividad y pasión, nuestras parroquias encontrarán las vías adecuadas de localizar y reconocer este momento especial en nuestra historia, y esperamos que todos se nos unan”.

En una reciente carta proclamando el año del aniversario, el obispo señaló que la celebración es particularmente necesaria en razón a los momentos que vivimos.

“Durante la pandemia hemos vivido un período de muchas pruebas, dificultades y obstáculos”, escribió. “Por la misericordia de Dios seguimos prevaleciendo. Después de mucha separación y aislamiento, tenemos en la providencia de Dios la capacidad de unirnos para celebrar nuestra unidad como una sola familia de Dios”.

“Durante este año ... celebraremos en el presente con alegría y devoción; tendremos la oportunidad de recordar nuestro pasado y celebrar la historia de nuestra diócesis; y resolveremos fortalecer nuestra familia diocesana y buscar formas aún mejores de glorificar a Dios”.

Instalado en 2003, Peter Jugis es el cuarto obispo de la diócesis, el de mayor número de años de servicio, y ha presidido un crecimiento multicultural significativo entre los católicos y las comunidades desde Greensboro hasta Murphy, en el extremo más occidental de Carolina del Norte.

ANIVERSARIO, PASA A LA PÁGINA 16

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catholicnewsherald.com | December 31, 2021 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

(Izquierda) El Padre José Juya recibe el saludo de los feligreses al término de la Misa de Aniversario.

(Abajo, izquierda) El grupo parroquial de danza presentó dos bailes mexicanos en homenaje al P. Juya.

(Abajo, derecha) Los sacerdotes Lucas Rossi, Thomas Kessler y Herbert Burke, junto al P. Juya durante la celebración de la Santa Misa.

CÉSAR HURTADO | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

“No dejes tu misión, aunque sea difícil” Padre Juya en Misa de aniversario recordó consejo recibido CÉSAR HURTADO REPORTERO

GASTONIA — En compañía de parroquianos, amigos y miembros del clero con quienes ha cultivado una larga amistad, el Padre José Juya, vicario de la parroquia San Miguel en Gastonia, celebró con una Misa sus 40 años de ordenación sacerdotal, más de la mitad de los cuales han sido de servicio en la zona de Gastonia como coordinador del ministerio hispano de ese vicariato.

El 14 de diciembre, a las 6:30 de la noche, dio inicio la Misa que concelebró con los sacerdotes Lucas Rossi, párroco de la Iglesia San Miguel; el Padre Thomas Kessler, pastor de San Felipe Apóstol; y el Padre Herbert Burke, pastor de la Iglesia Inmaculada Concepción.

Durante su homilía, en la que recordó momentos importantes de su vida en relación con el compromiso adquirido con el servicio pastoral, tuvo frases especialmente sentidas para con su hermano, el Padre Filemón Juya, fallecido en junio de 2011 mientras servía en la Diócesis de Charleston, Carolina del Sur. Nacidos en Colombia, los hermanos José y Filemón Juya concluyeron sus estudios en el Colegio Calasanz en Bogotá e hicieron el noviciado en Centroamérica.

Tras regresar a Bogotá, los hermanos Juya

tomaron los votos temporales, y el 12 de diciembre de 1981, día de la celebración de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, fueron ordenados sacerdotes por Monseñor Juan Eliseo Mojíca Oliveros en la Iglesia San Rafael en Rondón.

“Fue uno de los momentos más importantes para mí, para mi historia a partir de ese momento y hasta el día de hoy, en que cuento con esta familia que sigue orando y trabajando conmigo y la Iglesia, especialmente en esta Diócesis de Charlotte”, dijo.

En 2000, fue llamado a servir a la Pastoral Hispana en la Diócesis de Charlotte, y como vicario en la Iglesia San Miguel en Gastonia ha servido también en misiones en Forest City, Shelby, Lincolnton y Belmont.

Señaló ser consciente, “de que todo ha sido obra de Dios, y consciente de que sin los auxilios divinos que proceden de la benevolencia de Dios, la vocación

sacerdotal puede perder vigor, la fuerza y la frescura con la que debe de actuar la vida del sacerdote para lanzarse a la aventura de la acción a la que Jesús llama y convoca para realizar la pedagogía que Él mismo traza hoy y siempre”.

Reconociendo que la celebración de la Santa Misa “es el don más precioso que Dios ha encargado a un sacerdote”, dijo estar presente en esta ocasión, para cantar al igual que el salmista, ‘Bueno es el Señor para con todos y su amor se extiende a todas las criaturas, que te alaben Señor todas tus obras y que todos tus fieles te bendigan’(Salmo 144:1-2).

“La clave del sacerdocio no es otra que el amor”, apuntó, “y el sacerdote debe ser testigo del amor y servidor del amor”, a través del servicio, “especialmente con los pobres y desfavorecidos, los excluidos”.

También recordó el momento en que fue

recibido en audiencia en El Vaticano por el Papa San Juan Pablo II, quien poniéndole un Rosario en las manos le dijo, “No dejes tu misión, aunque sea difícil”.

Finalmente rogó la bendición de la Virgen María para que lo asista en su misión que no concluye.

Antes de finalizar el servicio, miembros de movimientos apostólicos parroquiales dieron sus testimonios e impresiones, reconociendo el sacrificado servicio que ofrece el Padre Juya en la parroquia.

Al término de la Misa, el festejo se prolongó con el ofrecimiento de una cena, canciones, presentación de bailables y la exhibición de un video con la historia en imágenes del caminar del Padre Juya por las parroquias de nuestra diócesis.

Un momento muy emotivo fue la recepción de la llamada de saludo por video de la madre del Padre Juya, la que se encuentra en Colombia, delicada de salud.

December 31, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

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Estar solo con nosotros Todo el mundo aquí es feliz

FOTOS PROPORCIONADAS POR LAS PARROQUIAS

(Izquierda) La parroquia San María Auxiliadora en Shelby realizó un hermoso retiro que inició con una Misa celebrada por su párroco, el Padre Peter Ascik. Un momento muy emotivo fue la proyección de un video de su fallecido ex pastor, el Padre Michael, a quien la comunidad tenía especial aprecio.

(Arriba) Más de sesenta servidores y voluntarios de las parroquias San Benito en Winston Salem y Nuestra Señora del Rosario en Lexington recibieron capacitación del curso ‘Protegiendo a los Niños De Dios’ dictada por Sergio López, coordinador del ministerio hispano del vicariato de Winston Salem.

(Extremo izquierda) La parroquia San Miguel en Gastonia organizó un exitoso retiro juvenil de todo un día que se llevó a cabo en el gimnasio de la escuela parroquial.

(Izquierda) Doce servidores de la Iglesia San John Neuman fueron capacitados por el Diácono Eduardo Bernal para implementar Comunidades Eclesiales de Base y propiciar la evangelización en su comunidad parroquial. Ellos ofrecieron talleres durante las cuatro semanas de Adviento.

FOTOS PROPORCIONADAS POR LAS PARROQUIAS

(Extremo derecha) En la Iglesia Santa Teresa en Mooresville se celebró la fiesta de Cristo Rey con Misa y compartir. En la imagen, un grupo de jóvenes con el P. Bernard Oleru, vicario parroquial.

(Derecha) El Padre Jean Pierre Swamunu, párroco de Divino Redentor en Boonville, invitó al Diácono Darío García del vicariato de Hickory para que informe a los feligreses sobre las consagraciones al Sagrado Corazón de María.

FOTOS PROPORCIONADAS POR LAS PARROQUIAS

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catholicnewsherald.com | December 31, 2021 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

ANIVERSARIO

SUEANN HOWELL REPORTERA SENIOR

Lecturas Diarias 2-8 ENERO

Domingo (Epifanía del Señor): Isaías 60:1-6, Efesios 3:2-3a, 5-6, Mateo 2:1-12; Lunes: 1 Juan 3:22–4, 6, Mateo 4:12-17, 23-25; Martes (Santa Isabella Ana Seton): 1 Juan 4:7-10, Marcos 6:34-44; Miércoles (San Juan Nepomuceno Neumann): 1 Juan 4:11-18, Marcos 6:45-52, Jueves: 1 Juan 4:19, 5:4, Lucas 4:14-22; Viernes: 1 Juan 5:5-13, Lucas 5:12-16; Sábado: 1 Juan 5:14-21, Juan 3:22-30

FE M Á

CHARLOTTE — El Comité de Planificación del Congreso Eucarístico de la Diócesis de Charlotte está organizando el XVIII Congreso Eucarístico Anual, programado para el viernes 5 y sábado 6 de agosto en el Centro de Convenciones de Charlotte.

Después que la pandemia de COVID-19 obligó a cambiar la reunión anual por celebraciones parroquiales en 2020 y 2021, será una bendición reunirse nuevamente en persona para orar, aprender y compartir, esperan los organizadores.

En 2022 la fecha será previa a lo habitual debido a conflictos de programación con la Ciudad de Charlotte y el centro de convenciones.

El tema del congreso de 2022 refleja el 50 Aniversario de la Diócesis de Charlotte: “La Fe es más preciosa que el oro”, tomado de 1 Pedro 1: 7.

En una reciente carta a los pastores anunciando el tema del Congreso Eucarístico, el Obispo Peter Jugis explicó que la Primera Carta de Pedro nos exhorta, “para que la prueba de la fe de ustedes, más preciosa que el oro que perece, aunque

O RO

Ahora, con más de 515.000 católicos, la diócesis se encuentra entre las de más rápido crecimiento en el país.

También a principios de enero, el website de aniversario faithmorepreciousthangold.com mostrará la historia de la diócesis, preciados lugares y comunidades que han hecho de la diócesis lo que es hoy.

El website ayudará a los visitantes a seguir el progreso de las parroquias hacia la realización de 50 Actos de Caridad en sus comunidades en reconocimiento del aniversario, adicionalmente a su trabajo caritativo en curso. Los visitantes también pueden seguir una peregrinación Mariana que mostrará una estatua especial de María, Madre de Dios, patrona de la diócesis, que visitará parroquias, escuelas y otros lugares católicos durante el año.

Los eventos y programas a lo largo del año destacarán la fe e historia compartidas de la diócesis, así como su diversidad y progreso.

El Congreso Eucarístico 2022 será un acontecimiento relevante y está programado para el 5 y 6 de agosto en el Centro de Convenciones de Charlotte.

Iniciado por el Obispo Jugis en 2005, el Congreso sirve como una “reunión familiar” que ahora atrae a más de 10,000 católicos para celebrar la fe y la Eucaristía.

La Diócesis de Charlotte fue formalmente establecida el 12 de enero de 1972, cuando el Obispo Michael Begley fue ordenado e instalado como primer Obispo de Charlotte. La diócesis se separó de la Diócesis de Raleigh, que previamente abarcó todo el estado, dividiendo a Carolina del Norte en dos diócesis, cada una con unos 30.000 católicos en ese momento.

El obispo señaló en su proclamación: “Mis hermanos y hermanas, recordemos una vez más que todo lo que celebramos en este año aniversario es una celebración de Cristo. Todo lo que es bueno y digno de alabanza en la diócesis, que se compone de muchas ramas conectadas a la vid verdadera, proviene de Dios. Somos sus instrumentos y colaboradores en llevar Su mensaje de amor y reconciliación. Y como María, la patrona de nuestra diócesis, tan estrechamente relacionada con la obra de su Hijo por nuestra salvación, también nos acercamos a ella en este año especial de gracia. Que la mano de Cristo guíe nuestros esfuerzos, y que el manto de María siempre proteja nuestro trabajo para promover el Reino de Cristo”.

OSA E C1 IPEDRO 1:7 QUE

EL

PR

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VIENE DE LA PÁGINA 13

Planificación del Congreso Eucarístico 2022 está en marcha la Santa Misa; una procesión Eucarística en Uptown Charlotte el sábado; una Hora Santa; el sacramento de la confesión; ponentes y programas especialmente dirigidos para adultos, niños y estudiantes universitarios; vendedores de artículos católicos; información y más.

Para actualizaciones 18° Congreso Eucarístico Anual la probado por fuego, seadehallada que resulta Charlotte en alabanza,Diócesis gloria ydehonor en la revelación 5-6 (1 dePedro agosto 1: de7).

2022 de Jesucristo” Centro convenciones de Charlotter “El oro es de reconocido como un bien

precioso, pero incluso ‘más precioso que el oro’ es el regalo de nuestra fe católica, incluyendo nuestra fe en el Misterio Eucarístico de la presencia de Cristo”, dijo el Obispo Jugis.

El Congreso Eucarístico reúne a la diócesis como una familia para celebrar nuestra fe en la Presencia Real del Señor en la Sagrada Eucaristía. El evento también fortalece a la Iglesia local para la Nueva Evangelización.

Los planes aún están en desarrollo, pero se espera que el congreso incluya Vísperas de Rito Bizantino el viernes por la noche;

En www.goeucharist.com: Encuentre la información actualizada que se publicará online a medida que se acerque el Congreso Eucarístico 2022

Su contribución al DSA en acción El Congreso Eucarístico anual está financiado en parte por la Campaña de Apoyo Diocesano anual. Obtenga más información sobre la DSA y cómo donar en línea en www.charlottediocese. org/dsa.

Con Rosca de Reyes recordamos la Epifanía del Señor MONROE — El jueves 6 de enero las familias hispanas se reunirán alrededor de la rosca de reyes para celebrar la Epifanía del Señor.

Epifanía significa “manifestación”. Jesús, según sabemos, se dio a conocer en diferentes momentos a diferentes personas. Esta, la primera en su vida, es Su Epifanía ante los Reyes Magos (Mt 2, 1-12).

La rosca de reyes es un popular pan circular, conocido también como King’s Cake, que representa las coronas de los Reyes Magos, los tres sabios de oriente que llegaron a presentar sus ofrendas al recién nacido Dios hecho hombre.

Dentro de la masa del pan se encuentran pequeñas figuras del Niño Dios. Quienes las encuentren, según dicta la tradición, deberán ofrecer tamales el 2 de febrero, en el festejo de la fiesta de la Candelaria, cuando convergen la fiesta de la Presentación de Jesucristo y la de la Purificación de la Virgen María.

El “esconder” al Niño Jesús en la rosca de Reyes recuerda el episodio en que el Niño Dios fue ocultado de la vista de Herodes para que no pudiera asesinarlo. Este hecho se conmemora cada 28 de diciembre durante la fiesta de Los Santos Inocentes.

La administradora de la panadería mexicana ‘El Pariente’ en Monroe, quien prefirió no darnos su nombre, dijo que más allá de recetas, insumos, y la calidad que observan en la preparación del pan especial que muchas panaderías hacen por la fecha, está el “mantener la razón de ser de las hermosas tradiciones mexicanas y católicas que celebramos y nos reúnen en familia”.

CÉSAR HURTADO | CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

9-15 ENERO

Domingo (Fiesta del Bautismo del Señor): Ismael 42:1-4, 6-7, Hechos 10:34-38, Lucas 3:15-16, 21-22; Lunes: 1 Samuel 1:1-8, Marcos 1:14-20; Martes: 1 Samuel 1:9-20, Marcos 1:21-28; Miércoles: 1 Samuel 3:1-10, 19-20, Marcos 1:29-39; Jueves: 1 Samuel 4:1-11, 2324, Marcos 1:40-45; Viernes: 1 Samuel 8:4-7, 10-22, Marcos 2:1-12; Sábado: 1 Samuel 9:1-4, 10, 17-19; 10, 1, Marcos 2:13-17

16-22 ENERO

Domingo: Isaías 62:1-5, 1 Corintios 12:4-11, Juan 2:1-11; Lunes (San Antonio Abad): 1 Samuel 15:16-23, Marcos 2:18-22; Martes: 1 Samuel 16:1-13, Marcos 2:23-28; Miércoles: 1 Samuel 17:32-33, 37, 40-51, Marcos 3:1-6; Jueves: 1 Samuel 18:6-9; 19:1-7, Marcos 3:712; Viernes (Santa Inés): 1 Samuel 24:3-21, Marcos 3:13-19; Sábado (Día de Oración por la protección legal de los niños no nacidos): 2 Samuel 1:1-4, 11-12, 17, 19, 23-27, Marcos 3:20-21

‘La Natividad’, óleo sobre lienzo de Federico Barocci (Urbino, Las Marcas, Italia, 1535 - 1612). Imagen cortesía del Museo del Prado, Madrid, España.

December 31, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

ANNIVERSARY

LAWSUITS

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addition to their ongoing charitable work.

Visitors can also follow a Marian pilgrimage featuring a special statue of Mary, Mother of God – the diocese’s patroness – that will visit parishes, schools and other Catholic sites throughout the year.

Events and programs will highlight the diocese’s shared faith and history, as well as its diversity and progress. The 2022 Eucharistic Congress, scheduled for Aug. 5-6 at the Charlotte Convention Center, will be a central highlight. Started by Bishop Jugis in 2005, the Congress serves as a “family reunion” that now draws well over 10,000 Catholics to celebrate Christ’s Real Presence in the Eucharist.

The Charlotte diocese was formally established on Jan. 12, 1972, when Bishop Michael Begley was ordained and installed as the first Bishop of Charlotte. The diocese was carved out of the Diocese of Raleigh, which previously encompassed the entire state – splitting North Carolina into two dioceses, each with approximately 30,000 Catholics at the time.

The bishop noted in his proclamation, “My brothers and sisters, let us recall once more that anything we celebrate in this anniversary year is a celebration of Christ. Whatever is good and praiseworthy in the diocese, which is composed of many branches connected to the true vine, comes from God. We are His instruments and cooperators in carrying out His message of love and reconciliation. And as Mary, the patroness of our diocese, is so closely connected with her Son’s work for our salvation, we also draw close to her in this special year of grace. May Christ’s hand guide our endeavors, and may Mary’s mantle always protect our work to further Christ’s Kingdom.”

the Charlotte diocese,” said Monsignor Patrick Winslow, vicar general and chancellor of the diocese. “It is also important to understand that we’re dealing with abuse allegations from many years ago. We have strict child protections in place today to guard against abuse in all of the diocese’s churches, schools and facilities.”

“At the same time,’’ Winslow said, “it is critical that we hear from people who were abused by clergy – no matter when it may have occurred. It is equally important that appropriate resolutions are determined under the law so there can be healing for victims and for the Church.”

Winslow stressed that the diocese reports allegations of child sexual abuse to local law enforcement, and immediately removes from ministry any active clergy pending investigation. Since the U.S. bishops’ Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People was adopted in 2002, the diocese has spent more than $293,000 for counseling and medical treatment for victims of sexual abuse by clergy. It also has invested nearly $1.7 million in its Safe Environment training and background checks – required for all employees and volunteers to help them recognize signs of abuse and follow best practices in protecting children.

To promote healing and demonstrate transparency, the Diocese of Charlotte in 2019 commissioned an independent review of its personnel and other historical files to search for and publish credible allegations of sex

DISCOVER THE CATHOLIC DIFFERENCE

abuse by clergy. The diocese published its accountability website, www. accountability.charlottediocese.org, with abuse statistics, timetables and resources – as well as a list of clergy members who had been credibly accused of child sexual abuse since the diocese was founded in 1972.

The website also included a separate list of clergy who had served in the Charlotte diocese without reported incident but were later accused of abuse elsewhere.

Monsignor Winslow said the diocese is researching allegations made in the lawsuits and will update its accountability website where appropriate.

For example, he said, lay missionary Al Behm is included on the list of clergy accused of abuse elsewhere but would be moved to the Charlotte list if local allegations made known in a February 2021 lawsuit are found to be credible.

North Carolina was the first state in the South to pass a revival provision, also known as a “lookback window.” A number of states have adopted similar legislation, in some cases prompting dozens or hundreds of lawsuits.

North Carolina’s SAFE Child Act aims to better protect children from sexual abuse in communities and online. Its provisions include changes to North Carolina mandatory reporting requirements, new criminal penalties for abusers, prohibitions from predatory online behavior, and extended timeframes under which victims can bring criminal and civil claims for sexual abuse.

But it is the legislation’s revival provision that is at issue in most cases filed during the two-year revival period.

“Statutes of limitation are deeply embedded in our legal system to help ensure claims are brought in a timely

way and that the best evidence can be presented to a jury,” said Josh Davey, an attorney representing the diocese. “It is really difficult for any employer to go back decades to interpret records, if any exist, and in many cases there are no witnesses available to help pull together a picture of what happened and whether the employer was involved at all.”

Beyond the constitutional question, a judge in October dismissed one of the lawsuits against the diocese for negligence related to alleged abuse in the early 1980s by Behm, the lay missionary assigned to work in western North Carolina by his religious order.

Mecklenburg County Superior Court Judge Daniel Kuehnert found the revival provision allows for claims against alleged abusers, but does not open the door to claims of negligence against abusers’ employers.

In his ruling, Kuehnert wrote the SAFE Child Act “appears to this court to be narrow and limited to claims against perpetrators of child sexual abuse,” and that claims against the diocese for negligent supervision “do not fall within the scope” of the law. The case is on appeal.

The other two suits dismissed against the diocese, in January 2021, also were cases in Mecklenburg County Superior Court. Both claims of negligence by the diocese – for alleged abuse by priests Farwell and Kelleher – had been previously decided in court. Both were dismissed in 2014 because the statute of limitations had expired, but the cases were refiled under the revival provision.

In January, attorney Davey argued the revival provision does not extend to cases in which a final judgment had previously been rendered in court.

Those cases are also on appeal.

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For more information on how to leave a legacy for your parish, please contact Gina Rhodes, Director of Planned Giving at 704/370-3364 or gmrhodes@charlottediocese.org.

Our nation 18

catholicnewsherald.com | December 31, 2021 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

States, businesses, religious groups urge court to block vaccine mandate CAROL ZIMMERMANN CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Business organizations, associations, religious groups and 27 states are calling on the Supreme Court to stop the Biden administration from mandating a coronavirus vaccine or, in lieu of a vaccine, COVID-19 testing for businesses with at least 100 employees.

The objections came after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, based in Cincinnati, reinstated the vaccine mandate for employers Dec. 17.

Groups and states against the mandate filed appeals to Justice Brett Kavanaugh, whose jurisdiction covers Ohio.

Kavanaugh can ask the Supreme Court to consider these requests.

The three religious groups that filed a joint 179-page brief requesting a stay on the mandate are: American Family Association, a Christian activist organization; Answers in Genesis, a Christian apologetics ministry; and Daystar Television Network, an evangelical Christian network. The groups said the mandate violated their First Amendment rights because it did not provide religious exemptions or accommodations.

Kavanaugh asked the Biden administration to respond to the mandate challengers by Dec. 30.

In November, a three-judge panel on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, had put a stop to the vaccine mandate developed by the Occupational Safety and Health

Administration for large businesses.

In December, amid a growing number of COVID-19 cases with the highly contagious omicron variant, the 6th Circuit heard a consolidated appeal of cases – transferred to it from the 5th Circuit in November.

The 6th Circuit then overruled the 5th Circuit’s decision and described COVID-19 vaccines “an important step in curtailing the transmission of a deadly virus that has killed over 800,000 people in the United States.”

OSHA has now said it will begin issuing citations Jan. 10 to companies that do not comply with the mandate.

Currently, the Supreme Court also has an emergency request from the Biden administration asking it to lift lower court rulings blocking the vaccine mandate for workers at health care facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding.

On Dec. 13, the Supreme Court turned down emergency requests from New York health care workers seeking a religious exemption from the state’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for its health care employees.

The workers brought their case to the nation’s high court after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit refused to stop the vaccine mandate in the fall.

The groups said the “punitive treatment of religious objectors” violates the free exercise clause of the Constitution.

In October, the Supreme Court denied a similar appeal from health care workers in Maine seeking a religious exemption from the state’s vaccination requirements for its health care workers, which lower courts had rejected.

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CNS | ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC

Bishop William F. Medley of Owensboro, Ky., lifts a monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament while in flight Dec. 21 to bless the communities of his diocese affected by the tornadoes that struck Dec. 10.

In flyover, Kentucky bishop blesses his people impacted by tornadoes ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

OWENSBORO, Ky. — Owensboro Bishop William F. Medley wanted to bless his people who had been in the path of the tornadoes that struck western Kentucky during the night of Dec. 10, and with the help of a local pastor, some Knights of Columbus and an airplane, he did just that.

On Dec. 21, the bishop flew over the southern regions of the Diocese of Owensboro with a monstrance containing the Blessed Sacrament, blessing all below who had been impacted by the tornadoes.

A week before, the bishop had driven 400 miles to visit the affected locations, including Resurrection Parish in Dawson Springs, St. Joseph Parish in Mayfield, the Princeton area and the Bowling Green area.

But seeing the damage from above, “it is a different perspective. A God’s-eye view if you will,” he said. “It was staggering to see what happened to people’s lives and knowing all that would have to be rebuilt.”

The Eucharistic flyover idea was initiated

by Daniel Schachle, the general agent for the Knights of Columbus insurance program for Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and a small part of Virginia.

He has his pilot’s license and a Piper Archer plane, and did a similar flyover blessing for the Diocese of Nashville, Tenn., after tornadoes struck the region in early 2020.

One of his field agents, Leonard Walther, belongs to St. Joseph Parish in Bowling Green. “Daniel called me and said, ‘Hey, do you want to see if we could do this for the Owensboro diocese with the bishop?’”

Walther said.

He talked with his pastor, Father Ryan Harpole, who contacted Martha Hagan, the diocesan vice chancellor and assistant to Bishop Medley. The bishop agreed to the idea immediately, and the flight was scheduled for the following week.

The plane took off from Owensboro as

St. Joseph Church in Mayfield, Ky., is seen during Bishop Medley’s flight. The church is missing its bell tower because of the tornadoes.

Bishop Medley led a prayer for a safe flight, asking for the intercession of Our Lady of Loreto, one of the patrons of airplane pilots and aviation. Coincidentally, the feast of Our Lady of Loreto is Dec. 10 – the date of the tornado outbreak.

They flew over Madisonville first, where parishioners and volunteers at Christ the King Parish and School had set up a community resource center in the gym to help the displaced and suffering. Lifting the monstrance to his window, the bishop prayed aloud that “our holy Mother would watch over them and guide them in the ways of goodness and truth.”

Father Harpole said the monstrance was borrowed from Gasper River Catholic Youth Camp and Retreat Center just outside of Bowling Green, since the small size was better for traveling in the small private plane.

As he surveyed the extensive damage, the bishop gave a Eucharistic blessing while flying over Dawson Springs, Princeton and Mayfield. He also led a benediction for the inmates while flying over the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Eddyville, because “those men deserve a blessing too.” He held the monstrance against his window and prayed “may God bless them and give them grace.”

December 31, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief Drug companies urged to share vaccine tech, make vaccines in poor nations WASHINGTON, D.C. — The global North is getting not only vaccinated but receiving booster shots as well to protect against the coronavirus. Meanwhile, in poorer nations, only 6 percent have gotten as much as a first shot. If COVID-19 and its emerging variants are to be stopped, poor nations need not only the capacity to manufacture vaccines, but the technology behind those vaccines that have been proven successful at stemming COVID-19’s spread. “We would need billions of vaccines available,” said Mary Beth Powers, president and CEO of the New York-based Catholic Medical Mission Board, which provides long-term medical and development aid to communities affected by poverty and unequal access to healthcare, focusing on women and children’s health. “Production in the North is increasing, so we should have supplies that are near sufficient,” she added, “but that was before we started factoring in the boosters.”

“We should think of the COVID vaccine as a public good – not a private need,” just as with previous vaccines for measles, diphtheria, polio and pertussis, she said.

Archdiocese sues public school district over Title I funds for students LOS ANGELES — The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is suing the Los Angeles Unified School District over millions of dollars in federal funds that the public school district is legally required to share with Catholic and other private schools for assisting low-income, academically struggling students with reading, math and counseling. Attorneys for the archdiocese filed the lawsuit in the Superior Court of California Dec. 16, nearly six months after the California Department of Education issued a 58-page “investigation report” that said the school district had committed “egregious” actions in withholding Title I federal funds from scores of Catholic schools. The state gave the Los Angeles Unified School District 60 days to begin “timely and meaningful consultation” with the archdiocese and to rectify any errors in calculating student need. The lawsuit said the school district has taken no such action.

A statement from the archdiocese said the district’s inaction “continues to leave thousands of students in need without the Title I services they are legally entitled to under the federal program, which mandates assistance to lowincome and academically struggling children regardless of whether they attend public, private or religious schools, particularly during a pandemic.” The archdiocese is seeking financial damages, but did not specify the amount.

Bishops’ migration chairman says inaction on immigration reform ‘cannot stand’ WASHINGTON, D.C. — The lack of will by politicians to move forward on immigration reform is affecting the lives of 11 million people in the country and something must be done, said the head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ migration committee. In a Dec. 21 statement, Auxiliary Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville of Washington said even though there’s strong support in the country for immigration reform, “the inability of political leaders to come together and reach consensus on positive,

forward-looking immigration legislation” will have grave consequences for people and the well-being of the country. Because they couldn’t find Republican support to pass a bill to provide immigration reform this year, Democrats in Congress looked to include immigration provisions in the Build Back Better Act, President Joe Biden’s proposed social-spending legislation. Though the provisions would have stopped short of granting permanent residency, a step before citizenship, they would have allowed temporary work permits for almost 7 million people who are in the country without legal permission, prevented them from being deported and allowed them to travel. But the Senate parliamentarian rejected inclusion of immigration provisions in the proposal for the third time, saying it violated a Senate rule to include it. “While the road ahead is uncertain, the present reality remains clear: the status quo cannot stand,” Bishop Dorsonville said.

Illinois bishop: End of parental notice on abortion ‘victory’ for ‘evil’ SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield decried a new Illinois law that repeals the state’s Parental Notice of Abortion Act. By signing the repeal into law Dec. 17, Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s action “marks a dark and disgraceful moment in the history of the state of Illinois, the bishop said in a statement issued the same day. Effective Jan. 1, 2024, it repeals a 1995 law that required parents be notified of their minor daughter’s abortion 48 hours before the procedure took place. The law did not require parental consent, as many other state laws do. The notification law did not actually take effect until 2013 because of various court challenges. That year the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the law was constitutional. The repeal measure, H.B. 370, was “deceptively titled Illinois Youth Health and Safety Act,” Bishop Paprocki said. “Those legislators who promoted and voted in support of this legislation, and the governor who signed this unjust law, have granted a five-part victory to evil in our state,” he said. “First, our government has granted a free pass to sex traffickers. Those who enslave young women and girls throughout our state can now even more easily than ever before cover up their crimes with impunity.”

New group offers advice, support for priests with role in Catholic schools WASHINGTON, D.C. — Catholic priests have a “critically important” role in Catholic schools and need a source of advice and support for that role, said Father Peter M. J. Stravinskas, founder and superior of the Priestly Society of St. John Henry Cardinal Newman. To that end, he has formed a new association called the Priestly Society of Christ Priest and Teacher.

“Now more than ever before, priests are needed in our high schools as the visible presence of the Church, exercising a ‘ministry of presence,’” he said. “In addition to providing the lay leaders of the future, our high schools continue to be the most reliable sources of priestly vocations.”

The new organization, he said, is a fraternal society for priests who currently serve in Catholic secondary schools as well as for priests who have served in the apostolate, or who wish to do so in the future. Seminarians also are welcome, he added. “Over the past several years, priests either engaged in the high school apostolate or contemplating such work have sought advice and support for their unique and critically important ministry,” he said. The new society is “guided by the educational principles and example of St. John Henry Newman” and “seeks to foster fraternity and promote best practices among those priests who serve the Church in this most privileged apostolate.”

— Catholic News Service

All Saints Catholic School All Saints Catholic School (grades PreK-8), a culturally diverse, regional school located in the Northside of Richmond, Virginia, seeks dynamic and highly qualified candidates for the position of principal beginning with the 2022-2023 school year.

The successful candidate: • will be committed to fostering and maintaining a Catholic environment that is an authentic expression of Catholic faith, with the goal of producing faithful graduates where everything done in and through the school expresses love for and obedience to Jesus Christ and His Body, the Church; • will have a working knowledge of the Church’s teachings regarding Catholic identity and the National Standards and Benchmarks for Effective Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools; and, • will possess a demonstrated commitment to academic excellence, with an emphasis on innovative learning skills, teaching methods, and curricula.

Responsibilities will include: • establishing a tone that enables the spiritual growth of students, faculty, and the entire school community; • working collaboratively with the Pastor, the School Advisory Board, faculty, and parents to foster a learning environment deeply rooted in the Church’s teaching on Catholic identity, where Christ’s principles guide every dimension of the school’s life and activity; • assessing and overseeing the school’s academic programs and faculty effectiveness; • communicating effectively with students, families and the community; • representing the school in the parish community and greater community; and, • overseeing non-academic matters including, but not limited to, enrollment management, planning, budgets, development, and marketing.

The successful candidate will: • be a practicing Catholic; • possess a master’s degree in Education Administration and Supervision or a related field and five years teaching and/or administrative experience.

• hold a Virginia license in Administration and Supervision or be eligible to pursue; and, • possess excellent organizational, interpersonal, and communication skills.

Salary: Competitive and commensurate with experience.

An introductory letter summarizing the candidate’s qualifications, a resume, and a completed Diocesan application should be sent to Principal Search Committee at allsaintsprincipalsearch@richmonddiocese.org.

Review of applications will begin immediately and are due February 1, 2022. The new principal is expected to begin no later than July 1, 2022.

For more information about All Saints Catholic School, visit https://www.allsaintsric.org/

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Our world 20

catholicnewsherald.com | December 31, 2021 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Pour money into education, not weapons, wars, pope tells nations CAROL GLATZ CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY — Governments must pour more money into education and drastically reduce military spending for there to be genuine progress and peace in the world, Pope Francis said in his annual message for the World Day of Peace Jan. 1.

“It is high time, then, that governments develop economic policies aimed at inverting the proportion of public funds spent on education and on weaponry,” the pope said.

“The pursuit of a genuine process of international disarmament can only prove beneficial for the development of peoples and nations, freeing up financial resources better used for health care, schools, infrastructure, care of the land and so forth,” he said.

The pope’s message, which the Vatican sends to heads of state around the world, invited everyone to “work together to build a more peaceful world, starting from the hearts of individuals and relationships in the family, then within society and with the environment, and all the way up to relationships between peoples and nations.”

He proposed “three paths” for building lasting peace: dialogue between generations and concrete projects they can share; education aimed at building freedom, responsibility and development; and dignified labor that protects people’s rights and the environment.

“Great social challenges and peace processes necessarily call for dialogue between the keepers of memory – the elderly -- and those who move history forward – the young,” Pope Francis said.

“The global crisis we are experiencing makes it clear that encounter and dialogue between generations should be the driving force behind a healthy politics,” one that “is not content to manage the present ‘with piecemeal solutions or quick fixes,’ but views itself as an outstanding form of love for others, in the search for shared and sustainable projects for the future,” he said.

Young people, he added, also should be given respect and encouragement for their commitment to working for a more just and sustainable world.

Education helps provide the skills and setting for dialogue between generations, cooperation and sharing expertise and experiences for promoting integral human development, he said. However, “there has been a significant reduction worldwide in funding for education and training; these have been seen more as expenditures than investments.”

At the same time, he said, military expenditures “have increased beyond the levels at the end of the Cold War and they seem certain to grow exorbitantly.”

He called on governments to cut military spending, boost investment in education and do more to “promote the culture of care, which, in the face of social divisions and unresponsive institutions, could become a common language working to break down barriers and build bridges.”

Pope Francis delivers Christmas blessing “urbi et orbi” (“to the city and the world”) from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Dec. 25.

CNS | VATICAN MEDIA

Pope prays Christmas will bring yearning for peace, dialogue CINDY WOODEN CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE

VATICAN CITY — Before giving his Christmas blessing to the city of Rome and to the world, Pope Francis drew attention to the many places around the globe and within human hearts in need of Jesus, the prince of peace.

“In the cold of the night, He stretches out His tiny arms toward us: He is in need of everything, yet He comes to give us everything,” the pope told people gathered in a rain-washed St. Peter’s Square.

“On this festive day, let us implore Him to stir up in the hearts of everyone a yearning for reconciliation and fraternity,” Pope Francis said Dec. 25 before giving his blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world).

Cardinal Renato Martino, 89, the protodeacon of the College of Cardinals, announced that the solemn blessing included a plenary indulgence for the people in the square, everyone watching on television, listening by radio or following on their computers.

Jesus came into the world “like a whisper, like the murmur of a gentle breeze, to fill with wonder the heart of every man and woman who is open to this mystery,” the pope said in his Christmas message.

“The Word became flesh in order to dialogue with us,” he insisted. “God does not desire to carry on a monologue, but a dialogue. For God Himself – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is dialogue, an eternal and infinite communion of love and life.”

But all too often in too many places, dialogue is precisely what is missing, he said, as he offered specific prayers for people struggling to survive amid war or the threat of war, violence, oppression or crushing poverty in Syria, the Holy Land, Yemen, South Sudan, Ukraine, Myanmar and Ethiopia.

The impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on health care and the economy, but also on the way individuals live and interact was part of the pope’s prayer as well.

With the pandemic, the pope said, “our capacity for social relationships is sorely tried; there is a growing tendency to withdraw, to do it all by ourselves, to stop making an effort to encounter others and do things together.”

“On the international level too, there is the risk of avoiding

dialogue, the risk that this complex crisis will lead to taking shortcuts rather than setting out on the longer paths of dialogue,” he said. “Yet only those paths can lead to the resolution of conflicts and to lasting benefits for all.”

Pope Francis said he knows people get weary watching or reading the news, but attention is needed or “we risk not hearing the cry of pain and distress of so many of our brothers and sisters.”

In addition to “the continuing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians that drag on without a resolution, with ever more serious social and political consequences,” he said, people should not forget Bethlehem, “the place of Jesus’ birth, which is experiencing hardship also from the economic repercussions of the pandemic, preventing pilgrims from visiting the Holy Land and adversely affecting the life of the people.”

And, the pope said, “let us listen to the cry of children arising from Yemen, where an enormous tragedy, overlooked by everyone, has silently gone on for years, causing deaths every day.”

In a troubled world, he said, Christmas celebrates hope.

“Today, ‘the love that moves the sun and the other stars,’ as Dante says, became flesh. He came in human form, He shared in our plight, and He broke down the wall of our indifference.”

In the form of a prayer to the newborn Lord, Pope Francis pleaded not only for peace between nations at war, but for all the suffering people in the city and the world and for the suffering Earth itself.

“Eternal Word become flesh,” he prayed, “make us attentive to our common home, which is suffering from the carelessness with which we so often treat it. Inspire political leaders to reach effective agreements, so that future generations can live in an environment respectful of life.”

He prayed for women who have been victims of domestic violence, “which has increased in this time of pandemic,” for the consolation of elderly people who are alone and for the serenity and unity of families.

He prayed for the sick, those who care for them and for a greater effort to make COVID-19 vaccines available to all.

He prayed for prisoners of war and political prisoners, and for migrants, refugees and displaced people.

“O Christ, born for our sake,” Pope Francis prayed, “teach us to walk beside You on the paths of peace.”

December 31, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

For the latest news 24/7: catholicnewsherald.com

In Brief Head of papal academy: COVID-19 vaccines present ‘no ethical problem’ VATICAN CITY — The Vatican has reaffirmed its support of COVID-19 vaccines with both the head of the Pontifical Academy for Life and a Holy See communique reiterating Pope Francis’ insistence that getting inoculated is “an act of love.” The Holy See issued its written communique Dec. 22 following the publication the same day of an executive summary by the Vatican’s COVID-19 Commission and a note by the Pontifical Academy for Life; both documents were dedicated to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children. At the documents’ presentation, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the papal academy, said authorized COVID-19 vaccines present no ethical dilemma, while refusing them is irresponsible toward oneself and others.

Archbishop Paglia said the Church has long been very careful and attentive to the morality of vaccines using cell lines developed decades ago from the tissue of aborted fetuses. It has established that “there is no ethical problem” for the recipient and no cooperation with evil because of the “remoteness” of the original abortions. “Rather, the problem is the inverse.

The risk is the irresponsibility toward oneself and others” by refusing vaccination against a deadly disease, he said.

Mideast Catholic patriarchs urge Christmas hope amid misery BEIRUT — Patriarchs of the Middle East urged their faithful, overwhelmed with suffering, to hold on more tightly to hope this Christmastime. In Lebanon, collapsing since

2019 under financial and social disintegration in which nearly 80 percent of the population now lives below the poverty line, Cardinal Bechara Rai, Maronite Catholic patriarch, admonished the country’s officials for their “disdain” for their people. “If love existed … in the hearts of those responsible, the people would not be suffering under the worst tragedy in (Lebanon’s) history,” Cardinal Rai said in his Christmas message. Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan said each day brings more tragic developments and crises in Lebanon. “The (monthly) salary of the Lebanese citizen is now sufficient for only a few days, in the light of the almost complete absence of those who call themselves responsible,” Patriarch Younan said of the country’s leaders. “The electricity is out of order, the official departments are closed due to the rightful strikes of employees, smuggling at the legitimate and illegal crossings is wide open, and the medical sector is in a tragic decline, starting with the loss of medicines and medical equipment, passing through the lack of electricity to run hospitals and the emigration of doctors,” Patriarch Younan said. Melkite Catholic Patriarch Joseph Absi told people: “A decent life is a right for every individual, as is justice and equality,” and he urged Catholics “to hold more tightly to our hope.”

have asked our centers not to operate any of the FC accounts until the matter is resolved,” said Sister Prema Pierick, the congregation’s superior general, in a statement Dec. 27.

Ucanews.com reported the statement, citing additional reporting from Agence FrancePresse. In India, a license under FCRA is a must for receiving foreign donations. One newspaper said the order received around $750 million from abroad in the 2020-’21 financial year.

The Missionaries of Charity clarification came after Indian media reported that the federal government had frozen the foreign fund accounts of the congregation, ucanews.com reported.

Caritas appeals for aid after typhoon claims over 200 lives in Philippines MANILA, Philippines — Super Typhoon Rai has claimed more than 200 lives since making landfall in the Visayas and Mindanao

region, Philippine authorities said. “We now have 208 dead and 52 are still missing. As relief efforts continued following one of the deadliest typhoons to have struck Southeast Asia, we have mobilized all police forces to help the local governments in the region to find the 52 missing individuals,” Philippine National Police spokesman Roderick Alba said Dec. 20. Aid distribution was hampered by broken communication and power lines, which would take at least two weeks to be restored, Alba said. Authorities said about half the reported deaths occurred in the island province of Bohol, in central Visayas, a popular tourist destination, ucanews.com reported.

Cebu province and Cagayan de Oro city in the central part of the country also were among the most devastated areas. In response to the disaster, Caritas Philippines appealed for cash donations to bolster its efforts to send emergency aid to the region.

— Catholic News Service

India rejects Missionaries of Charity renewal request for foreign funds NEW DELHI — The Missionaries of Charity denied reports that the order’s bank accounts have been frozen but said the order’s renewal application under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act was not approved. This means the nuns in India may not use any foreign currency account “until the matter is resolved.” Critics described the action as further evidence of harassment of Christians under the Hindu nationalist government.

“We have been informed that our FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) renewal application has not been approved. Therefore, as a measure to ensure there is no lapse we

January Respect Life Events Charlotte Mass for the Unborn Friday, January 14, 2022 9 A.M. – St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church 6828 Old Reid Road, Charlotte, NC

“Get your ducks in a row!”

March for Life Charlotte Friday, January 14, 2022 11 A.M. – Assemble at Pastoral Center 1123 S. Church St., Charlotte, NC 12 P.M. – March

marchforlifecharlotte.org

Mass & March for Life Raleigh, NC Saturday, January 15, 2022 11 A.M. Mass – Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral 715 Nazareth St, Raleigh, NC 27606 1:00 PM – Rally & March Bicentennial Plaza

North Carolina Mass for Life Washington, D.C. Friday, January 21, 2022 Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception 400 Michigan Ave NE Washington, D.C. 11:30 A.M. – Mass March for Life 2022 Washington, D.C. Friday, January 21, 2022 12th St. and National Mall 12 P.M.- Rally 1 P.M.- March for Life

marchforlife.org

For more info and continuous updates check: ccdoc.org/respectlife

ncrtl.org/rally-and-march-for-life

Estate Planning | Probate WAITING COULD DEVASTATE YOUR FAMILY St. Matthew’s Parishioner

704.843.1446 www.ncestateplanninginfo.com |

6406 Carmel Road, Suite 301 | Charlotte, North Carolina 28226

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Respect Life Program Diocese of Charlotte Follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/RespectLifeDOC ccdoc.org/respectlife

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catholicnewsherald.com | December 31, 2021 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Deacon Clarke Cochran

April Parker

Hope in dark times: Moses and leadership

I

‘We live in dark times. We need leaders who can discover paths through the gloom and communicate hope.’

t’s hard not to be discouraged, even despairing, in an age growing in darkness. We hope that COVID-19 is conquered.

It roars back. A devastating earthquake strikes Haiti yet again.

Shouting matches over vaccines, masks and critical race theory fill public spaces and arouse worry about the future of our democracy.

Unprecedented wildfires and floods destroy communities worldwide.

Winter tornadoes devastate the Midwest. Evacuees from Afghanistan add to record numbers of refugees and asylum-seekers.

This is only a partial list of reasons to despair.

Yet Scripture wants us to hope: “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope” (Jer 29:11).

How is it possible for Catholics to imagine a “future full of hope”? What kind of leadership could guide us from a dark present to a hope-filled future? What does hope require of bishops, priests and deacons and religious, parish and finance councils, or faith formation directors?

One might imagine Jesus as the best example of a leader, and that would be true. However, in this strange and troubled time, I take hope from Moses, a flawed and sinful person like us.

Moses is not born a leader; quite the contrary! He had to learn, often by failing, before becoming the man described in Deuteronomy 34:10-12: “Since then no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He had no equal in all the signs and the wonders the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land, and for the might and the terrifying power that Moses exhibited in the sight of all Israel.”

It took Moses a long time to become this man. His first recorded action is violence: killing an Egyptian overseer (Ex 2:11-15). Even the people he ostensibly tries to help reject his leadership: “Who has appointed you ruler and judge over us?” Pharaoh seeks revenge, so Moses runs away.

Not an auspicious beginning.

When, after many years pass, God appoints him to bring His people out of slavery, Moses does everything he can to avoid God’s will. His goal is to make so many excuses that God will rethink the proposition (Exodus, chapters 3 and 4). “They will not believe me or listen to my voice.” Indeed, God becomes so fed up that He tries to kill Moses, whose wife Zipporah must intervene (Ex 4:24-26).

Once back in Egypt, Moses takes his first, tentative steps toward leadership – he listens to God, but does only the minimum required. Moses is primarily passive in this drama, making no independent decisions. God tells him what to tell Pharaoh. He does so. He witnesses the results. The cycle repeats 10 times (Exodus, chapters 5-15). Yet Moses learns the essential quality of Catholic leadership: listening to and trusting God.

Next, Moses’ experience during the first years of freedom teaches him that people frustrate the plans of those who attempt to lead them.

The children of Israel “grumble” about the challenges of the desert; they long for the predictability of life in Egypt. “What shall I do with this people?” Moses says. “A little more and they will stone me.”

It takes the episode of the “golden calf” to transform Moses into a leader (Ex 32). Having ascended the mountain at God’s direction, he is alone with God for 40 days. The people become anxious. They need a leader, a god they can see. Aaron (Moses’ brother and second-incommand) creates an idol to relieve their anxiety. Thus reassured, they party. In anger, God tells Moses to step aside so that He might slay them and raise up a new people from Moses’ descendants (Ex 32:10).

Moses only now becomes a genuine leader, by rejecting the temptation of his own glory (God’s offer to build Moses up into a people).

Instead, he identifies himself with his rebellious kinspeople. He persuades God not to kill, but to forgive them. For Moses, this is the decisive moment of leadership.

Yet there is more. When Moses comes down from the mountain and sees their apostasy with his own eyes, his anger blazes. He destroys the tablets of the Law and orders those most loyal to him to go through the camp and kill the rebels. Exodus reports that 3,000 died that day.

God did not tell Moses to do this. Moses makes an independent decision. Having persuaded God not to take revenge, he realizes the situation still requires decisive action. We need not approve of the killing to take the lesson in leadership. Often old ways must decisively end for new beginnings to take root.

Moses’ initiative contrasts with Aaron’s ineptitude, one of Scripture’s many examples of negative, passive leadership. Faced with a crisis, Aaron acquiesces to the people’s wish to return to their old ways. By contrast, Moses decisively rejects their hankering for the old religion and introduces something new.

Returning to the mountain, Moses now begs that he be stricken from God’s book of life if God will not forgive the people’s sin. After this radical identification with weak and sinful people, God commissions Moses a leader: “Now, go and lead the people wither I have told you” (Ex 32:34). Leaders act decisively, but only from a loving, unbreakable bond with their people.

Were the story to end here, we would have an incomplete leadership lesson. Leadership does require strength, independence and aggressive action, sometimes contrary to the desires of followers. But this is not Moses’ only lesson in leadership. There are others: n Moses sins, but learns from his failure (Num 20:212).

LEADERSHIP, SEE PAGE 23

Is your lamp lit?

Are you ready?

T

he first Sunday of Advent brought with it the gift of a wonderful homily by a visiting priest, who described our role as Christians anticipating the second coming of Christ.

After returning home from Mass, I spoke with my 12-year-old daughter about her take on the priest’s message. I asked her what we must do to prepare. I thought she’d call to mind each point addressed in the sermon (remembering, reflecting, being ready), but instead she referenced a Scripture passage not part of that Sunday’s reading or the homily: “We must all have our lamps lit when Jesus comes,” she said matter-of-factly.

I pressed her for more information, and she explained we must have our lamps lit and carry extra oil with us so that we are ready, like the virgins in the Scripture passage who were waiting for the bridegroom. They had to be ready with their wicks trimmed and their oil with them or else the bridegroom would pass them by and they would be left behind, unable to get prepared at the last minute upon his arrival.

I was amazed at her connection between the homily and this Scripture passage from Matthew, which fit rather well together.

However, I wanted to see if she could really make the connection from the passage to Advent. I continued the conversation by saying, “What you are telling me is that the virgins who had oil had made their preparations. So this oil must be pretty important. What must the oil consist of ?” We brainstormed together and came up with a concoction of kindness, joy, humility, reconciliation, thankfulness, stewardship and selflessness. “That must be some oil! Where do we get such oil?” I asked.

“Well,” she answered, “we make it ourselves.” Over a lifetime we do kind deeds, go to church, try to live holy lives like the saints, go to confession and give to the poor. She then explained to me that this is why the other virgins didn’t have time to go get their own oil and the ones who brought their oil couldn’t just simply give their own oil away. It doesn’t work like that. We each make our own oil of preparation for Christ’s return as we live our lives. When Christ returns, we will not have time to run and do all those things.

“So what should we do this Advent as a family to prepare to make our own lamps ready?” I asked.

“We should give to the poor, go to Mass, read the Bible, and not worry so much about receiving as we do about giving,” she replied, calling to mind another side conversation we recently had regarding a very long Christmas wish list.

Her child-like faith impressed me. As an adult, I tried to read deeply into this Scripture verse, but as a child, she took it literally and simply. “We need to have our lamps lit to be ready, Mom.” That sentiment struck a chord with the First Sunday in Advent readings from the Gospel of Luke: “And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Lk 21:27-28).

If we were truly ready, we would feel confident that our preparations were made, even as we strive to become holier each day. However, I worry about those closest to us who may not be ready: our friends, co-workers, neighbors, even some of our family members. Perhaps this is how our own jars are filled with oil, as we witness and encourage those around us to be ready also.

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. … Therefore you also must be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Mt 24:36-44).

This lesson can serve us well throughout the Christmas season and beyond. Are we ready? Who else can we reach out to, to help them be ready?

APRIL PARKER is a teacher, curriculum director and parishioner at St. Pius X Parish and School in Greensboro.

December 31, 2021 | catholicnewsherald.com CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI

23

Elizabeth Scalia

Slow down, stay with Christmas – it’s allowed

S

ilent night ... holy night ...

The Nativity of Christ is frequently presented to us as a silent thing, and even I’ve referred to it as such. In some longago piece, I describe it being “as if God had put His hand over the wails and sobs of a suffering world and said, ‘Sshh, it will be all right...’”

But of course, Christ’s coming was no silent affair. Between the bells of the shepherds and the angelic songs of the heralds, between the braying animals and the crackle of the veil being rent, all around, how could it be? The night was certainly holy, but it likely wasn’t silent.

Silence, of which we sing so wistfully at Midnight Mass, is at an all-time premium at Christmas. It is so difficult to find a quiet night – let alone sit within one and become immersed in it – that the possibility of a seasonal soothing of the heart, a quietening of the grief of the world, seems the stuff of illusion.

Christmas has, in too many ways, become the equivalent of an overdone theme-park vacation. By its end, one is knock-kneed with exhaustion and desperately in need of a genuine opportunity to rest.

A Christmas snow, if one is lucky enough to get one, does wonders to cull the silence.

A few inches of white powder brings an unusual and welcome softening of sound.

In such a silence, if you have turned off the television and tempted your child away from his games with a good book, you can hear other things: the chatter and call of cardinals who have found the birdseed; the crack of a log in the fire; hot coffee being poured into a cup; the ticking of your last nondigital clock; the rhythmic breathing of a tired child (or parent) who has dozed while reading; the soft thud of a book sliding to the floor.

You can hear life, forced into a slowdown; life less deliberate; life lived as it was for centuries, before the busy inventiveness of the past six or seven decades; life acquiescent to uncontrollable nature, and hunkered down.

We have allowed silence to become a gift forgotten, one we only consent to unwrap when all of our alternative bows and strings have been unraveled, and our diversions have been utterly played out.

Our inability to be silent puts our minds and our souls at a disadvantage, because it robs us of the ability to wonder.

And if we are not wondering at the impossible perfection of the world in its creation – if we are not wondering at spinning atoms and Incarnations, especially at this season – then we are lost to humility, and to experiencing gratitude.

And without gratitude, we cannot develop a reasoned capacity for joy.

One of the most attractive things about G.K. Chesterton was the unending sense of surprised delight he had for all creation, for the world and everything in it. He found newspaper ink to be as wonderful as beach glass which – it went without saying – was as marvelous to him as any good cigar. He was as awestruck and grateful for the world as a teenager in love, and he wondered about the unconditional gift of days that God had given

him, and wrote about that in his brief poem “Evening”: Here dies another day During which I have had eyes, ears, hands And the great world round me; And with tomorrow begins another.

Why am I allowed two?

“Why am I allowed two?” – a great and humbling question in an entitled and engineered age.

Chesterton was joyful because he was grateful; he was grateful because even within his busy life, he was allowed the leisure of silence, with which he was able to wonder.

And to paraphrase St. Gregory of Nyssa, only wonder leads to knowing.

If we cannot wonder, how can we presume to know the timeless and eternal God? Without wonder, how may we know ourselves? How do we remember that time is a construct to which we must not become enslaved?

By what means shall we practice wondering into knowing when we are so deeply immersed in the seasonal pronouncements of Madison Avenue, where Christmas begins in early November and ends on December 26, whence commences Valentine’s Day; when in all times and seasons the media message is a weirdly incongruous (and John Lennonesque) amalgam of “be here now” and “serve yourself.”

Well, all right then! For 2022, resolve to be here now and to serve yourself, but do it in this most excellent way: by cultivating silence and overcoming time within one of the classic disciplines of daily prayer – where the pulse of the Psalms calms the breath, the pockets of silence center the spirit, and the liturgical calendar frees us from the shackles of time.

For many Christians, this means the Liturgy of the Hours – a gift that, unwrapped and utilized, trains us in the procurement of silence and lures a time-out-of-joint into lustrous submission.

And it reminds us of the real time in which we live, or should be living.

Though the commerce-exhausted secular holiday is past for another year, Christmas is far from over. Rather, in the breviary, its prayers are continued, renewed each morning and again at Vespers: “In the beginning, before time began, the Word was God; today He is born, the Savior of the world.”

The mystery, the wonder, the gladness: it has not ended. Each day in the Octave of Christmas, the words are cast again upon the air, resonating like ripples out into the world and reclaiming time from its insistent march away, always away, from what is before us.

In the Liturgy of the Hours, we are invited to stay, and to wonder, and to marvel, and to not slip back into the rush, the illusion, the purposeful march away. In our silent wondering we find our knowing, and in our knowing, we find real joy.

ELIZABETH SCALIA is a Benedictine Oblate and author of several award-winning books. Before joining the Word on Fire team as an editor-at-large, she served as editor-in-chief of the English edition of Aleteia, and as managing editor of the Catholic section of Patheos.com. She also blogs as “The Anchoress” at www.theanchoress.com. She is married and lives on Long Island.

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LEADERSHIP FROM PAGE 22

n Moses accepts advice from wise elders. He shares leadership with others, giving them genuine decision-making authority (Ex 18:13-27; Nm 11:10-30). n Moses creates policies and procedures that channel governance (Leviticus and Deuteronomy). n Moses knows that laws are lifeless and rigid without the stories that gave rise to them Therefore, he reiterates the stories that define his people, retelling the story of Exodus while summarizing the law in Deuteronomy. n Finally, Moses surrenders his authority that others may discover their own gifts for leadership, temporarily in the case of Phinehas (Nm 25) and permanently in the case of Joshua (Dt 31:14-15; 34:9). Leadership in a settled land requires skills different from those on a march of liberation.

We live in dark times. We need leaders who can discover paths through the gloom and communicate hope. The story of Moses’ evolution through the

long arc from Exodus to Deuteronomy teaches Catholic leaders that: n Leaders listen to and converse with God. n Leadership can be learned.

Leaders can grow in skill. n Different situations demand different leadership. n Leaders identify profoundly with those they lead. n The Christian story, retold during weekly community gathering in Eucharist, grounds leadership in the past and helps leaders (and their successors) to read the signs of the times. During crises, this story communicates history and hope. n Leaders share leadership. n Leaders know when to let go.

Our best Catholic leaders imitate the intimate friendship of God and Moses.

They grow into the leaders dark times require. “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope” (Jer 29:11).

DEACON CLARKE E. COCHRAN, PhD, serves at St. Peter Church in Charlotte.

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catholicnewsherald.com | December 31, 2021 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD

Deacon Juan Miguel Sanchez St. Francis of Assisi Lenoir, NC

Deacon Joseph Wasswa Sacred Heart Salisbury, NC

Darren P. Balkey Sacred Heart Salisbury, NC

Aaron Z. Huber St. John the Evangelist Waynesville, NC

Christopher A. Brock St. Vincent de Paul Charlotte, NC

Chinonso A. Nnebe-Agumadu St. Thomas Aquinas Charlotte, NC

Peter M. Rusciolelli Cathedral of St. Patrick Charlotte, NC

Matthew W. Dimock, Jr. St. Thomas Aquinas Charlotte, NC

Christian J. Goduti St. Mark Huntersville, NC

Matthew P. Harrison II Sacred Heart Salisbury, NC

Kevin R. Martinez St. Joseph Asheboro, NC

José A. Palma Torres St. Joseph Asheboro, NC

Elliott C. Suttle St. Pius X Greensboro, NC

Kevin M. Tran St. John Neumann Charlotte, NC

John W. Cuppett St. Ann Charlotte, NC

Maximilian K. Frei St. Ann Charlotte, NC

Nicholas J. Kramer St. Barnabas Arden, NC

Luke J. Martin St. Mark Huntersville, NC

Andrew J. Templeton St. Michael Gastonia, NC

Clement I. Åkerblom St. Ann Charlotte, NC

Michael J. Lugo Immaculate Conception Forest City, NC

Peter J. Townsend St. Ann Charlotte, NC

Seminarians

James C. Tweed Sacred Heart Brevard, NC

Joseph G. Yellico St. Mark Huntersville, NC

Christopher W. Angermeyer St. Thomas Aquinas Charlotte, NC

Anthony del Cid Lucero St. Joseph Newton, NC

Kolbe R. Murrey St. John the Baptist Tryon, NC

Noé J. Sifuentes Sacred Heart Salisbury, NC

Michael P. Camilleri St. Elizabeth of the Hill Country Boone, NC

Bryan Ilagor Our Lady of the Americas Biscoe, NC

Bailey J. Van Nosdall St. Elizabeth of the Hill Country Boone, NC

Connor J. White St. Mark Huntersville, NC

Diocese of Charlotte 2020 – 2021

“Be holy.” 1 Peter 1:16

Bradley T. Loftin St. Mark Huntersville, NC

James I. Johnson IV Our Lady of Consolation Charlotte, NC

Carson T. Cannon Cathedral of St. Patrick Charlotte, NC

Patrick M. Martin St. Mark Huntersville, NC

Ronan S. Ostendorf St. Michael Gastonia, NC

Gabriel T. Lugo Immaculate Conception Forest City, NC

John T. Harrison St. Mark Huntersville, NC

Vittorio R. Iannielli St. Mark Huntersville, NC

Mateo Perez St. Francis of Assisi Lenoir, NC

Please pray for our seminarians as they discern their vocation to the priesthood.