CU6£-66SZ2 ON
U00C-8C
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