Jan 6, 1995

Page 1

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News & Herald L

Volume 4 Number 18 • January

Serving Catholics in Western North Carolina in the Diocese of Charlotte

On The Road.

CAROL HAZARD

They gave

Associate Editor

WADESBORO — Every $300 check arrived

month

a

Sacred Heart Mission in the name of Sarah Divine Home Sutherland. Although comatose for the last several years, Mrs. Sutherland had arranged for the money to be sent as her offertory to a mission that she and her three sisters helped build in one of the smallest Catholic

Father Frank Cancro, pastor of

Eugene Church

St.

in

Asheville

and Father

(I),

Michael Mugai, director of development services for the Archdiocese of Nairobi, set off on their journey to Catholic communities in East Africa. (See story on Page 1 3)

Catholic Leaders, Pro-Lifers

at

intolerable acts stain this

abortion clinics in the Bos-

sea-

3 1 allegedly carried out by John C. Salvi

Theodore E. McCarrick

of Hampton, N.H., have prompted a barrage of condemnations and other re-

efforts to

action from church, government and pro-

dized and diminished by the actions of

life

leaders.

Cardinal Bernard F.

Law of Boston

Archbishop

said, "All

our

defend the right to life of inno-

cent children in the

womb

are jeopar-

any individual who presumes to take from God the ultimate power over hu-

called the Brookline, Mass., shootings,

man life itself."

which two people were killed and five wounded, "reprehensible acts of violence with absolutely no justification whatso-

President Clinton, on vacation in Arkansas, ordered U.S. attorneys Jan. 2 to mobilize task forces with federal, state

ever."

and local law enforcement

Asking "those in the pro-life movement who express their commitment

address security concerns at clinics within

in

through prayerful presence

officials to

lotte.

best to be used in construction.

nothing and they

made

happen," said Father Vilkauskas. "They had a dream, hope and vision, and faith enough to invest in the future of the Church." "I express

my

it

heartfelt

and prayer-

Mrs. Sutherland and her family," said Bishop William G. Curlin. "They were magnificent benefactors to the diocese and pioneers for the Catholic Church." Bishop Curlin celebrated the funeral Mass for Mrs. Sutherland on Friday, Dec. 30 at Sacred Heart Mission. ful gratitude to

Shrewd businesswomen,

theirjurisdictions.

the

Home

operated their father' s cotton farm

In a statement, the president said,

even from peaceful protests, Cardinal Law said, "It is im-

after

while advocating violence against oth-

"Our commitment to the rule of law is being tested by those who believe that their opposition to abortion gives them the right to commit acts of violence, even

ers."

murder."

investments. Although Mrs. Sutherland's

clinics" to refrain

possible to affirm the right to life of some

The Pro-Life Office of the Archdiocese of Boston postponed its annual New

Year's Eve prayer

vigil, with director Barbara Thorp saying Dec. 30, "We feel it would be best to wait for a calmer time lest the purpose of this vigil be misunder-

stood."

Bishop Leo E. O'Neil of Manchester,

N.H., said "the killing of people

directly violates every Catholic

principle concerning life." for a

moral

He too called

temporary halt to peaceful protests

outside abortion clinics.

"My own

personal opinion

is

we

should use every means in the political arena to make our position known and teach the public about the principles of

From its Washington headquarters, Committee issued a statement condemning the clinic

the National Right to Life

make low-interest construction loans to rural parishes in the

abortion

at

Belmont, the only Catholic college in North Carolina, and Elizabeth Divine Home divided her money between the Charlotte and Raleigh dioceses. Nearly $2 million left by Virginia and Elizabeth is used, at their requests, to

in

Mrs. Sutherland, who died Dec. 27 at age 93, was the youngest of the four sisters and the last to die. Her death marked the end of an era, said Spiritan Father Ed Vilkauskas, pastor of Sacred Heart Mission, Wadesboro, and Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Monroe. Living legends, the Home sisters were devout, pioneering Catholics who planted the seeds of Catholicism in a predominantly Baptist, rural area. "They built Sacred Heart hook, line and sinker," said Father Vilkauskas.

"The Catholic Church rose out of

From Newark,

III

Her contribution

inspected every brick, allowing only the

ton area Dec. 30 and Norfolk, Va., Dec. ,

counties in the state.

their two-story family

home and all its furnishing to the diocese. Mary "Virginia" Home left her estate to the Church in North Carolina. Ann Home Little left hers to Belmont Abbey College

nearly doubled the collection.

son of peace, love and joy." N.J.,

faithfully at

"They took intense personal interest in their projects, and wanted things to be done the right way." Some say they

Anti-Abortion Violence — (CNS) Christmas

WASHINGTON Shootings

1995

Sarah Sutherland, Benefactor Of Diocese, Dies At Age 93 By

Condemn

6,

sisters

he died

in

1950 and parlayed

their

inheritances into sizable estates, said

Dudley Partrick, a close friend and retired bank executive who handled their estate has not been probated, she

and her

sisters were always generous to the Catholic

^

"Through

their gifts to the diocese,

the sisters left a legacy to the

The organization

said

it

Church so

can continue to grow," said Jim Kelley director of the Office of Development. "More and more of our parishioners are following the example of the Home sisters by remembering the Church in their wills and estate plans." Described by some as tough characters, the sisters were the daughters of James Dudley Home, a prominent Baptist businessman, and Sarah Augusta Divine Home, a Catholic woman of great culture. Only two of the four married. it

None had children. "Anyone who knew the Home sisters knew they better not fool with them," said Partrick, a Sacred Heart parishioner.

"You either had to love them or hate

them. I adored them. They knew they could say whatever they wanted to me." It is said that Mrs. Home brought the Catholic faith to late part

of the

Anson County last

in the

century and the

beginning of this century, and her daughters carried forth her conviction with passion.

Before Sacred Heart was built in 1946, the family was associated with

St.

James Church in Hamlet, one of the older parishes in the diocese. They traveled the great distance in those days of 25 plus

miles to Mass. trip

Some

say they

made

the

weekly.

Partrick said the sisters approached Bishop Vincent Waters, the late bishop of North Carolina, about building a church in Wadesboro in the backyard of their home in downtown Wadesboro. The prominent location was near two

other mainline churches.

Church.

shootings "in the strongest possible terms."

Diocese of Char-

See Sutherland, Page 2

"op-

poses any use of violence as a means of stopping the violence that has killed more than 31 million unborn children since 1973."

Religious Education At High

SchoolsTo Be Evaluated

Paige Cunningham, president of Americans United for Life, said the Chicago-based law firm and educational

recently successfully completed ah academic standards assessment by the accred-

organization "emphatically condemns all

iting

violence at abortion clinics. Violence

assessment, an evaluation of the religious education programs at both high schools will be conducted under the auspices of the Catholic Schools Office. Nationally

is

not a solution to the abortion tragedy of

Charlotte Catholic High School and Bishop

McGuinness High School have

agency, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

As a follow-up to the

fied in adding to the violent deaths of

headquarters,

unborn babies, already occurring at these clinics.... Along with abortions, such

tual arms, not physical arms, in the fight

recognized religious education authorities have been contacted by the Catholic Schools Office and will be involved in the process. Bishop William G. Curlin and Dr. Michael Skube, superintendent of schools, are confident that the evaluation will be of great value to the schools. It will point out the accomplishments of religious education, insure the Catholic identity of programs, that teachings of the faith are upheld and Christian principles are maintained. The assessment will provide the schools with challenges in planning and implementing programs to meet the present

against abortion."

and future needs of Catholic youth.

life,"

Bishop O'Neil said

Cardinal Anthony Philadelphia said,

J.

at

Mass Jan.

1

Bevilacqua of

"No one

is

ever justi-

1.5 million deaths per year."

Benedictine

Father

Matthew

Habiger, president of Human Life Inter-

from the

national, said

pro-life, pro-

family organization' s Gaithersburg, Md.,

"One should take up spiri-

See Shooting, Page 2


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