Ordaining, installing our fourth shepherd Diocese readies for Bishop-elect Beckman and a historic moment
By Jim Wogan and Emily Booker
“The Bishops, established by the Holy Spirit, succeed the Apostles. They are ‘the visible source and foundation of unity in their own particular Churches. Helped by the priests, their co-workers, and by deacons, the bishops have the duty of authentically teaching the faith, celebrating divine worship, above all the Eucharist, and guiding their churches as true pastors.”
— Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Diocese of Knoxville is abuzz as the ordination and installation of Bishop-elect James Mark Beckman is only days away.
Catholic faithful and others from across East Tennessee are making plans to attend the historic Mass that will ordain the Diocese of Nashville priest as the fourth shepherd of the Diocese of Knoxville.
Bishop-elect Beckman will be ordained and installed at 2 p.m. Friday, July 26, at the Knoxville
Convention Center.
The consecrator for the Mass of ordination and installation will be Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre of the Archdiocese of Louisville. Co-consecrators will be Bishop J. Mark Spalding of the Diocese of Nashville and Bishop
James V. Johnston Jr. of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.
Archbishop Fabre has been serving as the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Knoxville since Bishop Richard F. Stika retired on June 27, 2023.
The diocese’s three previous ordinations and installations were for Bishop Anthony J. O’Connell on Sept. 8, 1988, at the former Knoxville Convention and Exhibition Center on the World’s Fair site; for Bishop Joseph E. Kurtz
Bishop continued on page A10
Diocese ordinations highlight vocations growth
3 new priests join the East Tennessee presbyterate, deacon to follow next year
By Dan McWilliams
Three new priests and a new transitional deacon joined the ranks of Diocese of Knoxville clergy on June 8 as Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre ordained the quartet at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Bo Beaty, Danny Herman, and Michael Willey became priests and A.J. Houston a transitional deacon at the Mass.
The day marked the first time in diocesan history that priestly and diaconate ordinations took place at the same Mass. Fathers Beaty, Herman, and Willey bring to 62 the number of priests ordained for service in the Diocese of Knoxville since its founding in 1988. Including the latest ordination, the diocese has seen three or more priests ordained on the same day six times.
Archbishop Fabre, apostolic administrator for the diocese, presided at the ordination. Bishop-elect Mark Beckman and Bishop F. Richard Spencer, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, were principal concelebrants along with the new priests themselves, cathedral rector Father David Boettner, and All Saints pastor Father Doug Owens. Bishop Spencer was present to support Deacon Houston, who will become a military chaplain after his priestly ordination following a time of ministry in East Tennessee.
More than 45 priests and 25 deacons attended the ordination Mass. Deacon Joe Herman, dad of Father Herman, served as deacon of the Word. Deacon Houston served as deacon of the altar. Deacon Hicks Armor and Deacon Walt Otey were masters of ceremonies.
A cathedral filled with family and friends of the ordinands also included many women and men religious as well as a Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus honor guard composed of men from throughout the diocese.
“My dear friends in Christ, we gather on this joyful day for the Dio-
cese of Knoxville in a very special way,” Archbishop Fabre said in his opening remarks. “I greet the parents and family members of those to be ordained. Thank you so very much for sharing your sons with the Church.”
The archbishop welcomed Bishop Spencer and Bishop-elect Beckman. His mention of the diocese’s soonto-be-ordained fourth shepherd
drew a round of applause as well as a quip from the archbishop, who has performed double duty since last summer as he leads both his own Archdiocese of Louisville and the Diocese of Knoxville.
“I know you’re excited, but you’re not as excited as I am,” Archbishop Fabre said. “Thank you all very much on this wonderful celebration for this local Church.”
The unusual ordination of a deacon and priests at the same liturgy proceeded on simple lines: each segment of the rite was performed first for the diaconal candidate and then for the priestly ordinands. Only for the Litany of the Saints did all four men take part together.
The rites of ordination began with the calling forth of the candidates. Lt. Houston was called first by diocesan chancellor Deacon Sean Smith and responded “present.” Father Arthur Torres, assistant diocesan director of vocations, stated to Archbishop Fabre that “holy Mother Church asks you to ordain this man, our brother, to the responsibility of the diaconate.” The archbishop replied, “Do you know him to be worthy?” Father Torres stated, “After inquiry among the Christian people and upon recommendation of those concerned with their formation, I testify that he has been found worthy.” The archbishop said, “Relying on the help of the Lord God and our savior, Jesus Christ, we choose this our brother for the order of the diaconate.”
Deacon Smith then called forward the candidates for priesthood, who responded “present,” and Father Torres confirmed their worthiness to the archbishop, who formally chose “these, our brothers, for the order of the priesthood.”
Archbishop Fabre began his homily by welcoming on behalf of the local Church all those gathered “in joyous celebration to ordain three men, Bo, Danny, and Michael, as priests and one man, A.J., as a deacon. I welcome you, dear brothers, here this morning. This is a momentous occasion, as each of you will receive the grace of the Holy Spirit uniquely, marking your dedication to priestly and diaconal ministry. It is a privilege to be here with your parents, families, friends, with Bishop Spencer, with Bishop-elect Beckman, with the priests, deacons, religious, seminarians, and lay faithful of this great Diocese of Knoxville, as we honor the
BILL BREWER
The will of God Ordinands Michael Willey, Bo Beaty, Danny Herman, and A.J. Houston lie prostrate before the altar during the Rite of Ordination at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 8.
Welcome to the diocese Newly ordained priests, from left, Michael Willey, Bo Beaty, and Danny Herman are shown with Bishop-elect Mark Beckman following the Mass of Ordination on June 8 at the Cathedral of the Most Sa-
Heart of Jesus.
Pope: Open the Church ’ s doors to evangelization
Holy Father addresses new archbishops during Mass at St. Peter ’s Basilica
By Justin McLellan Catholic News Service
While Jesus entrusted St. Peter with the keys to the kingdom more than two millennia ago, and his modern-day successor conferred apostolic authority to newly appointed archbishops on June 29, it is ultimately God who holds the power to open the Church’s doors and lead the Christian community forward in its mission of evangelization, Pope Francis said.
Refl ecting on the Apostle Peter’s liberation from prison after an angel opened his cell, the pope said God “is the one who sets us free and opens the way before us” in his homily during Mass for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul on June 29.
He noted that the Christians Peter sought out after his liberation did not believe he was knocking at their door, mistaking him for an angel.
“This point is significant: the doors of the prison were opened by the Lord’s strength, but Peter then found it hard to enter the house of the Christian commu-
The Handmaids of the Precious Blood this year celebrate the 77th year since their founding in 1947; more than three-quarters of a century of prayer and sacrifice for priests. To receive weekly cartoons and short reflections and news from the Handmaids of the Precious Blood, visit their website, nunsforpriests.org, and sign up for the FIAT newsletter.
A July prayer intention for the pastoral care of the sick
“We pray that the sacrament of the anointing of the sick confer to those who receive it and their loved ones the power of the Lord and become ever more a visible sign of compassion and hope for all.”
Pope Francis
nity,” he said. “How many times have communities not learned this wisdom of the need to open the doors!”
Before 33 newly appointed
archbishops gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica to receive their palliums woolen bands worn by archbishops to symbolize their pastoral authority and unity with the pope Pope Francis underscored the model of St. Paul as one who “discovers the grace of weakness.”
“When we are weak, he tells us, it is then that we are strong, because we no longer rely on ourselves, but on Christ,” the pope said
Yet he explained that relying on Christ “does not lead to a consoling, inward-looking religiosity like that found in a few movements in the Church today,” noting instead that St. Paul’s encounter with God ignited within him “a burning zeal for evangelization.”
Both Sts. Peter and Paul “witnessed first-hand the work of God, who opened the doors of their interior prisons but also the
How to sign up and qualify for Diocese of Knoxville’s safe-environment program
The Diocese of Knoxville has implemented the CMG Connect platform to administer the Safe Environment Program, which replaces the former Safe Environment Program (VIRTUS “Protecting God’s Children”).
CMG Connect is a web-based platform that will assist in ensuring that all employees and volunteers who are in a position of trust with children and vulnerable adults within Diocese of Knoxville schools and parishes are trained to recognize behavior patterns of potential abusers and provide pro-active measures for preventing abuse in any context.
“Safe Haven-It’s Up to You” is a three-part video that provides vignettes of real-life situations to educate the viewer about methods of grooming, desensitization, bullying, and neglect, all of which can lead to abuse.
Each part of the video is immediately followed by a brief questionnaire to further develop understanding.
Education is a key
element of the Safe Environment Program
All clergy, employees, contracted school personnel, volunteers, members of groups and organizations over the age of 18 who work, volunteer, or participate in any capacity are required to complete the diocesan Safe Environment training and a criminal-background check before they can begin employment, volunteer, or participate with ministries, groups, and organizations affiliated with the Diocese of Knoxville.
In addition, the mandatory renewal training must be completed every five years and a new background check submitted before the five-year expiration of prior training.
The Diocese of Knoxville Safe Environment compliance training and renewal training is a condition of employment and for volunteer ministry in the Diocese of Knoxville.
The CMG Connect
platform contains all three elements of the Diocese of Knoxville’s Safe Environment Program: n Annual review of the Diocese of Knoxville’s Policy and Procedures Relating to Sexual Misconduct; n CMG Connect Safe Haven training program to be completed every five years; n Criminal background check to be completed every five years.
In compliance with the Diocese of Knoxville’s Safe Environment Program, all affiliates require that volunteers and employees complete the requirements prior to working and/or volunteering in a parish, school, The Paraclete, or through Catholic Charities and/or St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic
Go to https:// dioknox.org/safeenvironment on the Diocese of Knoxville website for more information ■
Sts. Peter and Paul in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on June 29.
Germany ’ s Catholic Church is shrinking
Report: more than 400,000 people left the faith in Deutschland in 2023
By OSV News
The Catholic Church in Germany continues to shrink, a new study has found.
More than 400,000 people in the European country left the Church in 2023, according to statistics presented by the German bishops’ conference in Bonn on June 27.
The day after the results were published, German bishops were summoned to the Vatican to discuss changes in the so-called Synodal Council and the limits of the body overseeing decisions of bishops.
The exact number of people leaving the Catholic Church 402,694 is down from 522,821 the previous year but is still the second-highest figure so far.
Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, president of the German bishops’ conference, expressed concern when speaking of the results.
“The figures are alarming. They show that the Church is in a wideranging crisis,” Bishop Bätzing said. His own diocese saw 13,000 people leave the Church in 2023 2,000 fewer than a year earlier, the Associated Press reported.
At the same time, the bishop called for reforms, saying these alone would not solve the Church crisis, German Catholic news agency KNA reported.
“But the crisis will worsen without reforms,” Bishop Bätzing said.
The statistics do not indicate the formal rejection of Catholic faith, but signing off from the Church tax system, which helps finance Church structures in addition to the regular taxes the rest of the population pays, is apparently a factor. If members of the Church register their departure with local authorities, they no longer have to pay the Church tax.
The country’s Catholic Church had around 20.35 million members at the end of 2023. The bishops’ conference didn’t detail reasons for the departures, but according to commentators the abuse crisis and ideological rifts
A
A
an
in Germany
in
Germany, on June
" The figures are alarming. They show that the Church is in a wide-ranging crisis. ... But the crisis will worsen without reforms."
— Bishop Georg Bätzing, president of the German bishops' conference
chaplains (in 2022 there were 6,069).
Archbishop Stephan Burger of Freiburg, commenting on the survey, announced that the Church will continue to change, including structurally.
“But as long as we are on the side of the people, the Church will continue to exist in a largely secular world,” Archbishop Burger said. The numbers are alarming for German faithful.
Dominik Blum, parish representative in the Catholic parish community of Artland in the Diocese of Osnabrück, wrote in his katholisch.de editorial that even if the results of the survey are published in the threshold of summer vacation, “there are problems that don’t get any smaller during the holiday season.”
“Three quarters of the Catholic respondents tend to leave the Church. Three quarters! For heaven’s sake, we can’t just accept that,” he said in the June 26 editorial.
Pointing to “anger and annoyance” as main reasons to leave the institutional framework of the Church, Mr. Blum said the Catholic community is often too busy to ask people ahead of time what their concerns are.
are to blame.
For Winfried Wingert from the Diocese of Hildesheim in northern Germany, it’s the abuse crisis that made him sign out in the local registry office. Since 2018, the dimension of the crisis “shook” him, he told KNA.
For 40 years, the 71-year-old from Bad Nenndorf, who once considered a vocation to the priesthood, worked as a pastoral counselor for the Catholic Church, but today he feels “homelessly Catholic,” quoting a book title by Regina Laudage-Kleeberg that has since become a catchphrase.
Mr. Wingert knew the former Bishop Heinrich Maria Janssen of Hildesheim, who died in 1988 and was accused not only of covering up abuse but also of sexually abusing children. The fact that he was an
alleged perpetrator was something “I would never have expected,” Mr. Wingert said.
His appointment at the registry office took less than five minutes, the former pastoral counselor said as he resigned from his commitment to paying Church taxes. “I’m still Catholic, I can’t let that go,” Mr. Wingert said. But he is no longer interested in the institutional Church, nor does he think it can be reformed.
“Leaving … was the right thing to do,” he said.
The number of Catholic parishes in Germany also is declining, falling from 9,624 in 2022 to 9,418 in 2023.
The current statistics also show fewer priests, with 11,702 priests in Germany in 2023 (compared with 11,987 in 2022), of which 5,971 are parish
“Of course, only after the people have left (we ask), ‘Oh, we’re sorry, what’s wrong? Have we done something wrong? Why don’t you get in touch with us,…’” and the “response is zero,” he pointed out, calling for more dialogue before the faithful leave.
“We must prepare ourselves for the fact that several hundred thousand people will leave the Church in the coming years," said Irme Stetter-Karp, president of the lay-run Central Committee of German Catholics.
Along with the committee, the German bishops led a three-year reform process, the Synodal Way, marked by tensions between progressive and conservative wings of the Church— and drawing open opposition from the Vatican. Its final assembly in 2023 called for the church to approve bless-
Germany continued on page A12
Catholic Church is growing rapidly in the South
South Carolina is cited as an emerging hotbed for
By Gigi Duncan Catholic News Agency
While parish closures and consolidations have made headlines across the United States, a lively community of devout Catholics dedicated to deepening its faith has flourished in the South, particularly in South Carolina.
“Being in the Bible Belt, or a predominantly Protestant area, can be a challenge in our faith and causes us to have to know why we believe what we believe,” Father Rhett Williams, vocations director of the Diocese of Charleston and chaplain at the University of South Carolina, said.
“The beauty of the Catholic faith is the more you get into it, for whatever reason, the more you come to love it. In the Southeast, people are moving for different reasons, finding a vibrant community that intrigues them.”
In South Carolina, the Diocese of Charleston traces its history to its establishment on July 11, 1820, by Pope Pius VII. Originally encompassing three states, the diocese now covers just South Carolina and consists of 95 parishes, 21 missions, and 32 diocesan schools, with Charleston as its see.
When compared with other areas in the 1980s, South Carolina was found to be the least Catholic state in the country—only 2 percent of its population identified with the religion. However, this number shot up following Pope John Paul II’s 1987 visit to the University of South Carolina as part of an ecumenical conference.
Addressing 60,000 people gath -
Catholicism in the U.S.
ered in a football stadium, John Paul expressed his hope for attendees to embrace “great love for truth—the truth about God, the truth about man, and the truth about the world. I pray that through truth you will serve humanity and experience real freedom. In the words of Jesus Christ: ‘You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”
Since then, South Carolina has seen its Catholic community grow to over 218,000 registered Catholics, or 4.07 percent of the state’s current population, according to the Diocese of Charleston. This number represents a more than 200 percent increase from the state’s Catholic population in 1987.
According to statistics shared with Catholic News Agency by the Diocese of Charleston, there has been a registered-parishioner
increase of 14 percent in the last decade. While this is in large part due to the influx of converts and individuals moving to the South from various regions, it is also due to the strong rise in Catholicism among the state’s younger population.
This trend is mirrored in other southern states, including Tennessee.
Numerous colleges and universities throughout South Carolina have witnessed heightened involvement in both campus ministry and FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) programs.
“This is my fourth year [at St. Thomas More Catholic Church], and in the last few years, pretty much every metric for campus ministry has tripled or quadrupled,” Father Williams said. These metrics consist of attendance at
Masses, retreats, and other activities put on by campus ministry.
Having to account for these growing numbers, St. Thomas More implemented an additional Mass to its weekend schedule.
“There was one priest and four Masses: A vigil, two morning ones, and one evening Mass. What we found pretty soon was that we didn’t have room anymore, so we added a 9 p.m. Mass, still with only one priest,” he explained.
“Now, the 9 p.m. Mass averages about 70 percent capacity during the year and is still filling. At USC, we are trying to find donors to help us build a new church because we simply can’t fit the students into our current chapel.”
Reflecting this demand for increased Catholic involvement among younger adults, South Carolina will open its first Catholic college this coming fall in Greenville. Rosary College will offer students a two-year liberal arts education in the Benedictine tradition, spearheaded by Catholic scholars and prominent author and convert Father Dwight Longenecker.
Greenville, renowned for its robust Catholic community, stands out as one of the Palmetto State’s foremost hubs of Catholicism in recent years.
The area boasts multiple parishes—Prince of Peace, St. Mary Magdalene, St. Mary’s, and Our Lady of the Rosary, among others—where Masses often overflow with faithful, young families.
In fact, many families from all over the country have moved to the Greenville area for the excellent Catholic churches and
South continued on page A12
Growing the faith Bishop Jacques Fabre-Jeune is shown alongside many of the priests of the Diocese of Charleston at a recent ordination. The diocese has seen a recent surge in vocations and parishioners.
seismic shift
man leaves
empty church
Bonn,
12, 2020. The Catholic Church
continues to shrink, according to a new report released June 27 by the German bishops' conference. The latest statistics show that more than 400,000 people left the country's Catholic Church last year.
Addressing transgender issues
St. Gianna Guild sponsors presentation by Religious Sisters of Mercy physician
By Gabrielle Nolan
Concerns about transgenderism and gender ideology are at the forefront of social issues within the United States and around the world.
As secular institutions more commonly perform sex reassignment surgeries and provide puberty blockers to children, how do Catholic medical professionals engage with adults and adolescents who struggle with gender dysphoria? How do those in health care keep their conscience clear while navigating the social pressures of “gender affirming care?”
The St. Gianna Guild of the Catholic Medical Association in Knoxville focused on these issues with a research-based presentation on May 18 titled “Addressing Transgender Issues as a Catholic Health-care Professional.”
The presentation was led by Sister Mara Lester, MD, a Religious Sister of Mercy of Alma, Mich. Sister Mara, a psychiatrist, attended medical school at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and was in residency at Washington University in St. Louis. She currently serves at the Sacred Heart Mercy Health Care Clinic in Alma.
“This talk is something I’ve given, with many iterations I can say, over many years since residency and onward to different groups, and I’ve been updating it through time,” Sister Mara explained. “I was first introduced to this topic when I was a med student on an endocrinology rotation for just a week or two, and I had a patient present who asked for testosterone because she wanted to be a male because she was in a relationship with another woman and considered herself heterosexual.”
“When I was in residency, I had encountered some adult transgender patients, as well as some 14-year-old twin girls that wanted to transition when I was on my child/adolescent psychiatric rotations,” she continued. “So, there were just a lot of circumstances that I personally encountered that I just questioned significantly. So, it’s kind of put me on a pursuit to read much about this through time.”
Sister Mara began her presentation with a list of definitions to provide clarity around the subject.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines sex as “either of the two major forms of individuals that occur in many species and that are distinguished respectively as female or male especially on the basis of their reproductive organs and structures.”
Gender is defined as “the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex.”
Sister Mara mentioned there is now common usage of the phrase “gender identity,” where an individual refers to himself or herself as a male, female, or other category.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, defines gender dysphoria as “a
general descriptive term that refers to an individual’s affective/cognitive discontent with the assigned gender. There is a marked incongruence between one’s experience/ expressed gender and assigned gender, of at least six months duration.”
The text defines transgender as “the broad spectrum of individuals who transiently or persistently identify with a gender different from their natal gender.”
“Often there is distress that accompanies the incongruence that the person experiences,” Sister Mara said.
Published in 2013, The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition, cited that gender
Owensboro Diocese, Catholic Charities assist Afghan fighter pilot and her family
Government couple granted asylum
By Elizabeth Wong OSV News
At age 33, Hasina Omari has survived familial disapproval of her career choices (becoming Afghanistan’s first female fighter pilot), nearly 370 flight hours of night and weekend missions, and expecting a baby while escaping the Taliban’s takeover of her home country.
Today, she is happy to live with her family in Owensboro, Ky., where they have been assisted by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Owensboro while resettling in the United States, safely out of danger.
Ever since she was a child growing up in Afghanistan, Ms. Omari wanted to become a jet pilot. And throughout her childhood, her family and friends affirmed this idea.
Until she grew up and the encouragement stopped.
A few Afghan women have become pilots in recent history including Niloofar Rahmani, the first female fixed-wing pilot for
the Afghan air force however, it was still not seen as a socially acceptable role for women in Afghanistan.
“But I didn’t give up,” Ms. Omari told The Western Kentucky Catholic , Owensboro's diocesan newspaper. “I tried to convince my family for seven years. … They weren’t convinced, especially my mom and my big brother.”
She said her twin brother supported her, and her older sister tried to help her get admitted to a pilot school in India, but it proved too expensive.
“But I tried and tried,” Ms. Omari said.
Finally, “my father said OK” but told her “that I must be like Mustafa Qahraman!” she said, in reference to a famous pilot in Afghanistan history. “My father loved him.”
Her mother continued to struggle with the idea of Ms. Omari becoming a pilot. “I told my mother this is my wish; this is what I want to do. … My mother finally accepted this is what I want to do,” Ms. Omari said.
Pilot continued on page A10
dysphoria affects 0.005-0.014 percent of natal adult males and 0.014 percent of natal adult females.
“This has seemingly been increasing through time,” Sister Mara said, noting that a recent estimate stated 0.4 percent of U.S. adults identify as a gender that does not correspond to their biological sex.
“Does childhood gender dysphoria persist?” Sister Mara questioned. “In looking at the research that’s been out there, especially in Canada, 70-95 percent of cases resolve, that the child accepts their gender identity that is congruent with their biological sex.”
However, there has been an increase in referrals to gender clinics.
“In years past, it was often a biological male who presented to become a transgendered female, but since the mid-2000s there’s been a huge uptick in young women, specifically adolescent women, being referred to gender clinics,” Sister Mara stated.
“There’s also a question, is this gender dysphoria kind of a catchall diagnosis for anything that an adolescent has disturbance with?” she continued. “It’s a disturbing time to go through puberty and all of the social changes and everything. It’s not easy, and so is this something more readily thought of at this point in time?”
While no single cause for gender dysphoria has been found, Sister Mara suggested that gender dysphoria could be more of a symptom.
Several factors in an individual’s life could play a role: biological factors, such as genetics, prenatal sex hormones, or temperament; family dynamics, such as abandonment, attention-seeking, or insecure attachment relationships; adverse childhood experiences or trauma, such as sexual abuse; a primary mental-health diagnosis, such as autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, depression, social anxiety, or borderline personality disorder; bullying from peers for atypical areas of interest; inherent distress; or coping with negative feelings about self or behavior.
“I find in my work there’s just a lot of opportunity to improve coping for young persons and persons in general,” Sister Mara said. “They don’t necessarily have the stability Transgender continued on page A11
A topic of interest Sister Mary Lisa Renfer, RSM, president of the St. Gianna Guild, introduces guest speaker Sister Mara Lester, RSM, via Zoom for the audience of health-care professionals on the Sacred Heart Cathedral campus.
Leading the guild Dr. Phil Hanneman, vice president of the St. Gianna Guild, and Dr. Mallory Trevino, guild communications manager, are joined by Sister Mary Lisa Renfer, who is medical director of the St. Mary's Legacy Clinic
Mr.
Hanks/O'Hara Family
The Hannel Family
The Hargett Family
Lin and Bob Helsel
Marli Hillesheim
Nick and Amy Iverson and Family
The Gerard Jabaley Family
Kelly and Kathy Kearse
Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey Keenan
The Koelsch Family
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Jim and Mary Kois
Ron and Delores Kopp
The David J. Koss Family
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Chris Leach
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Lynne Liddington
Ann Lindwall
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Greg and Mary Jane Locke
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Maggie MacDonald and Family
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Julie McCleary
Margaret McGivney
Brenda McGonigal
The
Orthodox Church
Calvary Knoxville Church
St. Joseph Catholic School
Grace Lutheran Church
Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Jefferson City
Oak Ridge Baptist Church
Knights of Columbus Council 3832, Our Lady of Fatima
Catholic Church
St. Mary Catholic Church of Oak Ridge CCW
St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church Lenoir City
St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church, Madisonville
Berean Bible Church
Our Lady of Fatima Church Respect Life Committee
Knights of Columbus Council 3175, St. Mary Catholic Church
The Ciaccia Family
Susan Ciancio
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Art and Sue Clancy Family
Mr. and Mrs. Art Clancy III
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Felisa De La Cruz
Martin and Jane Cumpston
Frank and Mary Dale and Family
Jo Davis and Pete Kilmartin
Ginger Davis
The Despard Family
Lorenzo DiGiacomo
Duane and Debbie Donahoo
In Honor of Katie and Eddie Wagner by Ruth Dorman
Ruth S. Dorman
Daniel, Mary Amber, Samuel and Peter Dunn
Sarah Dunn
Thomas Dunn
The Ellsworth Family
Jerry and Suzanne Erpenbach
Familia Espinoza
Ginger Fisher and Randall
The Flood Family
Nadine Freeh
Helen Freeh
Gaertner Family
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Lorena Gonzalez
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Graybeal Family
Maurice and Jeanne Guinn
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Varga Family
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The Webster Family
Bill and Mary Wilson and Family
Dylan, Rachel, Edie, Sarah Katherine and Henry
Wolfenbarger
Lylia Yanez
Juan and Maura
Terry Kirksey and Isabel Zuniga
In Honor of Frances Danos by Janel Bell
In Honor of Helen Freeh by Kathy Bracic
In Honor of Pearl Bush by Mark
In Honor of Joan DeGroff by her children
In Honor of Mary Dunn by Mark & Rita Cook
In Honor of the Cortese Children by Carol Akerman
In Honor of All Birthmothers who placed their baby in an adoptive home
In Honor of My Daughter Courtney, I chose LIFE by Ginger Davis
In Honor of Pregnant Moms and babies by El Chibani Family
In Honor of Grandma Murphy by the Ewan Family
In Honor of Greg, Mark and Kevin Fine by Barbara Fine
In Honor of the Goswitz Family by Frank Goswitz
In Memory of Laura Baker Blalack by Debbie Donahoo
In Memory of Lucille Curran Donahoo by Duane Donahoo
In Memory of Rachel Donahoo-Wiggins by Mom and Dad
In Memory of Charles Hunter, Shaun Dorman by Ruth S. Dorman
In Memory of Paul T. Dunn III by Marieta Dunn
In Memory of Paul T. Dunn Jr. & Paul Theodore Dunn III by Mary K. Dunn
In Memory of Paul Dunn, Jr. & Paul Dunn III by Bill and Stacy Dunn
In Memory of Paul Dunn Jr. & Paul Dunn III by Peter, Susannah & Thomas Dunn
In Memory of Ruth and Therese by Mary Ellen Eron
In Memory of Gertrude Pittinger & Dot Erpenbach by Jerry & Suzanne Erpenbach
In Memory of Robert J. Esnes by Janet Esnes
In Memory of Helen and Andy Fadnek by Elaine Fadnek
In Memory of Josie Fine by Barbara Fine
In Memory of Alexander and Harriet Odor by Helen Freeh
In Memory of Luella Grace by Sons and Daughter
In Memory of Herman L. Hannel by wife Jean Hannel
In Memory of Lois Harkenrider by Jerry Harkenrider
In Memory of Mary Gayle Iverson by Mary Iverson
In Memory of James Vann Johnston, Sr. by Patricia Johnston
Matthew and Krista McGrath and Family
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Dominican Sisters elect leadership for next 6 years
Prioress General, congregation general offi cials selected at June meeting
The East Tennessee Catholic
During their General Chapter on June 18, the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation elected Mother Anna Grace Neenan, OP, as the prioress general of the congregation to lead the religious community for a second six-year term from 2024 through 2030.
Through Mother Anna Grace’s prayerful and capable leadership, the last six years have been marked by stability and solid growth built on the Dominican Sisters’ rich heritage, the Dominican Sisters said in a statement.
“I am grateful to God, for in the last six years I have discovered what a joy it is to support our Sisters, who are so full of faith and zeal to serve the Lord through the Church we love,” Mother Anna Grace said.
Mother Anna Grace also serves as the chairperson of the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious (CMSWR), a group of major superiors and their vicars from 116 member communities of women religious in the United
Leading the Congregation Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation in Nashville have selected the Sisters who will lead them for the next six years.
Left to right are Sister Lucia Marie, secretary general; Sister John Thomas, fourth councilor; Sister Catherine Marie, second councilor; Mother Anna Grace, prioress general; Sister Anne Catherine, vicaress general; Sister Mary Veronica, third councilor; and Sister Mary Thomas, bursar general.
States.
In addition to Mother Anna Grace’s election as prioress general, six other Sisters were elected to serve as the congregation’s general offi cials, including:
n Sister Anne Catherine Burleigh, OP, vicaress general;
n Sister Catherine Marie Hopkins, OP, second councilor;
n Sister Mary Veronica Keller, OP, third councilor;
n Sister John Thomas Armour, OP, fourth councilor;
n Sister Lucia Marie Siemering, OP, secretary general;
"I am grateful to God, for in the last six years I have discovered what a joy it is to support our Sisters, who are so full of faith and zeal to serve the Lord through the Church we love."
Mother Anna Grace Neenan, prioress general of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation
n Sister Mary Thomas Huffman, OP, bursar general.
In 1860, the Congregation of Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia was established in Nashville, where its motherhouse is located. The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia are dedicated to the apostolate of Catholic education.
The community of just over 300 Sisters serves in 53 schools throughout the United States, including in the Diocese of Knoxville, with mission houses in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; Vancouver, Canada; Rome and Bracciano, Italy; Elgin, Scotland; Sittard, The Netherlands; and Limerick, Ireland. ■
Archbishop: No priests left in Russian-occupied Ukraine
By Gina Christian OSV News
Russian forces have driven out all Greek and Roman Catholic clergy from the occupied areas of Ukraine, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church said.
“Our Church was liquidated in the occupied territories,” said Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk in a June 25 interview with media outlet Ukrinform. “In fact, there is not a single Catholic priest in the occupied territories today either Greek Catholic or Roman Catholic.”
As part of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022 and continuing attacks initiated in 2014 Russia has systematically suppressed a number of faith communities, including Catholic, Christian, and Muslim. Churches and worship sites have been destroyed or seized, with clergy of various faiths imprisoned, tortured, and in several cases killed.
Two Ukrainian Greek Catholic priests, Redemptorist Father Ivan Levitsky and Father Bohdan Geleta, were released from a year and a half of Russian captivity on June 28, having been seized by Russian forc-
Father Chris Michelson retires as pastor, will still serve diocesan schools
The East Tennessee Catholic
Father Chris Michelson, pastor of St. Albert the Great Parish since 2007, has retired as an active pastor but will continue to serve the Diocese of Knoxville as president of St. Joseph School and as special adviser to the president of Knoxville Catholic High School.
Father Michelson’s 44-year vocation to the priesthood included teaching at Father Ryan High School in Nashville and serving as an associate pastor at four parishes there. He later became pastor of St. Mary Parish in Oak Ridge, his home parish, and was the founding pastor of All Saints Parish in Knoxville before moving to his most recent parish, St. Albert the Great, where he also was the founding pastor.
Father Michelson oversaw the sale, relocation, funding, and design of the new Knoxville Catholic High School and the “rejuvenating and stabilizing” of St. Joseph School beginning in 2010.
“I can clearly see how the Holy Spirit brought talented people into my life as mentors and friends,” Fa-
ther Michelson said in a letter to St. Albert parishioners. “As I move on to the next phase of my life, I will be trying to provide an affordable and stable financial future for our Catholic schools. I know the Holy Spirit will give me the strength to accomplish whatever tasks are in store for me.”
Father Michelson's retirement became effective on July 1. Father Christopher Floersh was appointed parochial administrator of St. Albert the Great, which is in Knoxville. ■
es from their church in Berdyansk in November 2022.
Both priests had refused to leave their parishioners following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, which continued attacks launched in 2014 against Ukraine.
Shortly after Father Levitsky and Father Geleta were captured, Major Archbishop Shevchuk said he had received “the sad news that our priests are being tortured without mercy.”
Father Levitsky and Father Geleta both of whom had appeared gaunt and weary were among 10 prisoners who had been returned
to Ukrainian authorities on June 28. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recognized “the Holy See’s efforts to bring these people home.”
Major Archbishop Shevchuk noted in the Ukrinform interview that Russian officials in the occupied portion of the Zaporizhzhia region formally banned the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church by written decree, as well as the Knights of Columbus and Caritas Ukraine, part of the universal Church’s Caritas Internationalis global network of humanitarian aid organizations. ■
Father Chris Michelson
Embracing the priesthood for 25 years
Father Dennis Kress marks silver jubilee in celebration at St. Joseph -Norris
By Gabrielle Nolan
Aforecast of rain could not stop St. Joseph Parish in Norris from throwing a party.
After the parish was without an assigned pastor for more than a year, Father Dennis Kress arrived in July 2023. After the community celebrated its reception of a pastor, they also wanted to celebrate the pastor himself in recognition of his 25 years of priesthood in the Catholic Church.
Young and old alike gathered in the parish hall for an evening of fellowship and dinner on June 9.
“Today we celebrate and honor Father Dennis, who has dedicated his life to the service of God and his faith community,” said Karen Thompson, who has been a parishioner at St. Joseph for 17 years.
“Although you’ve only been with us for just about a year, you’ve served the Lord in a most special way. Over the past 25 years, your ministry has impacted countless lives and left indelible marks on the hearts and souls of those you have served. And as you know, we waited a long time for you and are thankful for the blessing of Father Dennis. We ask God to continue to bless you, reward you, protect and guide you. Never forget that God is always with you. We pray He provides you with the strength to continue His mission. Congratulations and good wishes, and may the days ahead be filled with many blessings,” Ms. Thompson continued.
Father Kress was presented with a gift of a framed canvas image of St. Joseph Parish.
The diocesan pastor described St. Joseph Parish as a “very vibrant community.”
“There’s a whole lot that’s going on,” he said. “This is a relatively small church; there’s probably 130 families here, but they’re so active
A lot to celebrate Father Dennis Kress, right, enjoys a silver-jubilee reception in his honor with St. Joseph-Norris parishioners on June 9 in the parish hall.
Many of the participants wore St. Joseph 75th-anniversary T-shirts.
in everything. And I find that kind of refreshing.”
Father Kress reflected that the past 25 years have gone by “relatively fast.”
“I would have to say that the biggest blessings I’ve had are people,” he shared. “I’ve met a whole lot of people over the last 25 years and in five parishes, and I truly feel like I’m the one who’s benefited from
that. Each and every one of you has been truly a blessing to me, and I do hope and pray that I truly will continue to journey with you.
I really have found all of you to be very, very special, so thanks to you all.”
Karen Meiring, who has been a St. Joseph parishioner since 1996, attended the celebration.
“Father has been very friendly,
A full house St. Joseph-Norris parishioners turned out en force on June 9 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Father Kress' priestly ordination. They gathered for a dinner and fellowship to mark the occasion.
Holy Spirit memorial Mass celebrated for Fr. Glennon
By Bill Brewer
Fellow priests and deacons, friends, and loved ones gathered on June 20 at Holy Spirit Church in Soddy-Daisy to remember Father Bertin Glennon, ST, during a memorial Mass celebrated by Monsignor Al Humbrecht, pastor of Holy Spirit.
Father Glennon, a longtime priest in the Diocese of Knoxville who was a member of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity religious order, passed away on May 21. He ministered in Chattanooga during much of his priesthood.
Among Father Glennon’s roles in the diocese were as parochial vicar of the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul and clinical director and founder of the Center for Individual and Family Effectiveness in Chattanooga.
A funeral Mass for Father Glennon was celebrated on May 28 at St. Joseph Church in Fort Mitchell, Ala., where the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity have long had a presence.
Concelebrating the memorial Mass at Holy Spirit were Father David Hamm, ST, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Fort Mitchell; Father David Carter, rector of the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Chattanooga; and Father Jim Vick, pastor of St. Bridget Parish in Dayton.
Father Hamm also served as the homilist.
Assisting at the Mass were Deacon Hicks Armor, who served as deacon of the Word, and Deacon Jim Bello, who served as deacon of the altar.
And Dr. David Rose, a Chattanooga clinical psychologist who was a colleague of Father Glennon and a close friend, delivered a eulogy.
In his homily, Father Hamm said he first met Father Glennon in 1962. “Some of you might remember 1962,” he said in a lighthearted ref-
erence to the older memorial Mass attendees. “I was a freshman in high school. He was a freshman in college. We both became Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity. So, even though we did not live together, except for seminary and the past year and a half at Holy Trinity in Alabama, our paths crossed often at community meetings, retreats, and so forth.”
“I want you to know that I once replaced Father Bertin. I say that knowing that replacing such a unique person is an impossibility. But I did it,” he added with a sense of pride … and relief.
He explained that when Father Glennon was assigned to Manchester, Ky., in 1975, he was sent to Kiln, Miss., “to replace” Father Glennon.
“You know how engaging Father Bertin was. He was always friendly and making friends. He always had his greeting, ‘HOW ARE YA?’ And he really did want to know how you were doing. He had become friends with some of the young adults at Annunciation Church in Kiln. They would periodically go visit him. … They would drive to Manchester, Ky., almost 10 hours away, stay the weekend, and then drive home to be back at work on Monday,” Father Hamm shared.
He used that example to show that people were drawn to Father Glennon as a young priest and then through his entire priesthood.
“As you know, God gave him the gift of a life for 80 years. And Father Bertin was full of life. Indeed, in our faith we know that we come from God and are going to God. And times like this, the death of someone we know and love, help us to remember just how precious life is, how precious Bertin’s life was, and how precious is each and every life,” Father Hamm said.
very accepting of the things that we have, the traditions that we have, very open to talking with people and hearing what they have to say,” she shared. “I’m on the parish council with him, and so he’s very supportive of us and doing our traditional things. … We feel that we have a say in things, and he just complements our parish very well, I think.”
Born in Pittsburgh in 1951, Father Kress is the oldest of four children: two brothers and one sister (deceased).
“I grew up there for the early part of my life; my family moved around Pennsylvania and New York a little bit, and I ended up here during my high school years,” Father Kress recalled.
When his family relocated to Cleveland, Tenn., he attended Cleveland High School and Cleveland State Community College.
Work took Father Kress to live in California, Alabama, and back to Tennessee. He previously worked as an office manager, a bookkeeper, and a paymaster for an industrial construction company.
Raised Lutheran, he converted to the Catholic faith in 1990 at St. Thérèse of Lisieux Parish in Cleveland.
Eventually, someone submitted his name to a Called by Name program for interest in the priesthood.
“It ultimately found its way to Bishop [Anthony J.] O’Connell, who responded by giving me a personal invitation. I met with him for dinner one night in Chattanooga,” Father Kress shared. “It took me six months to decide. At that point I was 42 years old; I wasn’t real sure I wanted to start my life over.”
But he made the decision to enter seminary in 1994, where he attended Conception Abbey in Missouri and Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology in Wiscon-
Including Mont St. Michel, Beaches of Normandy, Lisieux & Avila with Fr. Steve Pawelk
12 Days June 16-27, 2025
Jubilee continued on page A23
Vatican announces excommunication of Archbishop Viganò
By Courtney Mares Catholic News Agency
The Vatican has officially excommunicated Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith announced on July 5.
Archbishop Viganò was found guilty of the canonical crime, or delict, of schism, or the refusal to submit to the pope or the communion of the Church, at the conclusion of the Vatican’s extrajudicial penal process on July 4.
The Vatican’s doctrine office announced the latae sententiae excommunication (automatic excommunication) on July 5, citing Archbishop Viganò’s “public statements manifesting his refusal to recognize and submit to the Supreme Pontiff, his rejection of communion with the members of the Church subject to him, and of the legitimacy and magisterial authority of the Second Vatican Council.”
The former papal nuncio to the United States is now excommunicated, the most serious penalty a baptized person can incur, which consists of being placed outside the communion of the faithful of the Catholic Church and denied access to the sacraments.
The ruling comes after Archbishop Viganò defied a Vatican summons to appear before the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith to face charges of schism.
The former Vatican diplomat— who garnered headlines in 2018 for alleging that senior Church officials covered up abuses committed by former cardinal Theodore McCarrick—has repeatedly rejected the authority of Pope Francis since then and has called on him to resign.
In a lengthy statement shared on social media on June 28, Arch-
bishop Viganò accused Pope Francis of “heresy and schism” over his promotion of COVID-19 vaccines and his overseeing of the 2018 Vatican-China deal on the appointment of bishops.
He also said he has “no reason to consider myself separate from communion with the holy Church and with the papacy, which I have always served with filial devotion and fidelity.”
“I maintain that the errors and heresies to which [Francis] adhered before, during, and after his election, along with the intention he held in his apparent acceptance of the papacy, render his elevation to the throne null and void,” Archbishop Viganò wrote.
Archbishop Viganò, who has been in hiding for years, announced on social media June 20 that he had been summoned to Rome to answer formal charges of schism.
The specific charges outlined against Archbishop Viganò, according to a document he himself posted, involved making public statements that allegedly deny the fundamental elements necessary to maintain communion with the Catholic Church. This included denying the legitimacy of Pope Francis as the rightful pontiff and the outright rejection of the Second Vatican Council.
In response to the charges, Archbishop Viganò said in a June 21 statement that he had not sent any materials in his defense to the Vatican, noting that he did not recognize the authority of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith “nor that of its prefect, nor that of the person who appointed him.”
Archbishop Viganò’s excommunication can only be lifted by the Apostolic See. ■
Francis to visit Asia, Belgium in September papal travels
Catholic News Service
In a sign that Pope Francis is determined to accomplish the longest trip of his papacy by visiting four Asian nations in September, the Vatican released the themes chosen and logos designed for each stop.
During the 12-day Asian tour, the 87-year-old pope intends to visit: Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, Sept. 3-6; Port Moresby and Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sept. 6-9; Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste, Sept. 9-11; and Singapore Sept. 11-13.
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The bishops of Indonesia have chosen “Faith Fraternity Compassion” as the overarching theme for the pope’s visit in two months.
“The main element of the logo features the image of Pope Francis with his hand raised in blessing in front of the emblem of the golden ‘Garuda,’ a sacred eagle,” Pope continued on page A22
The last papal trip outside of Italy announced by the Vatican a visit to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 1-3, for the United Nations climate conference was canceled three days before Pope Francis was scheduled to leave from Rome because the Holy Father was suffering from bronchitis.
Archbishop Carlo Viganò
Ms. Omari began working with the Afghan air force and went to the Czech Republic in March 2016, where she studied fixed-wing aircraft. She received a scholarship and financial aid for her studies from the United States. After 15 months of training, she returned to Afghanistan. She and one other woman were the only females in the program.
Ms. Omari applied to fly fighter aircraft, which took nine more months of study. Before too long, Afghanistan’s first female fighter pilot was doing “day and night missions, weekend missions; I worked hard,” she said.
She ended up flying nearly 370 hours in missions.
She did not limit herself to her work as a pilot, either. Ms. Omari also helped with Afghan women’s equality and education initiatives, assisting as an interpreter, and spreading awareness about drug abuse.
When she married her husband, their families especially her inlaws argued that she should quit her job and become a housewife like other Afghan women. With her husband’s support, however, Ms. Omari pressed on with her professional calling.
Then they began receiving threats from the Taliban.
After about eight months into her role with the Afghan air force, her husband, who worked in Afghanistan’s government, received a message from the Taliban wanting him to work for them. They also wanted Ms. Omari to quit her job and stay home as a housewife. Otherwise, the Taliban’s message said, they would kill them.
Ms. Omari and her husband ignored this threat and continued with their government jobs until a family member of her husband received a letter from the Taliban threatening to kill Ms. Omari and her husband.
Her husband’s family had already experienced the death of several relatives at the hands of
Bishop continued from page A1
First in flight A Blackhawk helicopter flies above a parked A-29 Super Tucano aircraft at Kandahar Air Base in Afghanistan on Oct.7, 2017. Afghanistan’s first female fighter pilot had to be evacuated from her country, with her husband, after they received death threats from the Taliban. Now resettled in Owensboro, Ky., Hasina Omari and her family are safe from danger.
After about eight months into her role with the Afghan air force, her husband, who worked in Afghanistan’s government, received a message from the Taliban wanting him to work for them. They also wanted Ms. Omari to quit her job and stay home as a housewife. Otherwise, the Taliban’s message said, they would kill them
the Taliban, and they knew to take this threat seriously.
Ms. Omari and her husband received help in evacuating from Afghanistan and traveled around to several countries in hope that a moving target would be harder for the Taliban to discover.
Not long after the evacuation, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. This came after the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan in August 2021.
According to Global Conflict Tracker, despite initial promises “to respect human rights,” the Taliban steadily reimposed its strict interpretation of sharia-based law on the country.
“When Afghanistan fell, I was seven months pregnant,” Ms. Omari said.
Ms. Omari and her husband, together with approximately 150 other U.S.-supported Afghan pilots and their personnel, had to make an emergency landing in Ta -
on Dec. 8, 1999, at the Knoxville Convention and Exhibition Center; and for Bishop Stika on March 19, 2009, at the Knoxville Convention Center.
Tickets to Bishop-elect Beckman’s ordination and installation are required to attend and are being distributed on a first-come, first-served basis through the Diocese of Knoxville website, dioknox. org/episcopalordination
The website provides information on ticket registration; hotel information and discount rates; a parking map and shuttle schedule; a bishop, priest, and VIP parking map; a Knoxville Convention Center map; and how to view the ordination and installation of Bishop-elect Beckman via livestream on DioKnoxTV
jikistan. The Afghan pilot group's devices were confiscated, and they were detained in a sanatorium in a rural Tajik region.
“It was a really bad journey,” Ms. Omari said. “We were not allowed to talk to our family, even to tell them we were OK. It was really, really tough.”
She said of the 150 pilots, she and one other woman were the only females present.
Thankfully, “my husband was there with me, but the other girl was on her own,” Ms. Omari noted.
The tension continued to rise as international governments debated what to do with the Afghan pilots.
“They made my pregnancy political,” Ms. Omari said. “They were telling people that I couldn’t be moved, that I was in pain, but it was all lies. Everyone was blaming me; it was hard.”
In not being able to leave, “I
5,000 attendees inside the Level 1 Exhibition Hall, where the Mass will take place. The convention center will allow for a comfortable, safe, and joyful celebration.
The Knoxville Convention Center is located at 701 Henley St. in downtown Knoxville. Doors to the convention center will open at 11:45 a.m. The music prelude for the Mass will begin at 1 p.m., and it is asked that all attendees be seated by 1:30 p.m.
The Mass will begin at 2 p.m. EDT and will last approximately two and a half hours.
Despite the large space provided by the Knoxville Convention Center, attendance is expected to be high, which is why tickets are required for entry into the convention center.
Once individuals register for a ticket online, they will receive a confirmation via their e-mail address. This confirmation e-mail is required to enter the Knoxville Convention Center on the day of the Mass. The e-mail confirmation can be printed or presented on mobile phones.
Those not receiving an e-mail confirmation should re-register using an active e-mail address. The ordination and installation is an occasion of joy for the entire Catholic Church, and all are invited. The diocese expects attendees from East Tennessee and the Diocese of Nashville, as well as visiting bishops and dignitaries from around the United States and outside the country. The convention center can accommodate more than
was really worried about my baby while I was there,” she said.
Eventually, Ms. Omari obtained a mobile device, with which she secretly texted her American flight instructor that she was, in fact, healthy and safe.
“In my ninth month of pregnancy, the U.S. Embassy withdrew us,” said Ms. Omari, explaining that they were flown to the United Arab Emirates. “They had me say I was seven months pregnant, or else I would not have been allowed to travel!”
Her child was born nine days after they landed.
After seven months in the UAE, their family of three was flown to the United States and taken to Virginia, where they stayed for 21 days. Next, they were sent to Evansville, Ind., where they lived for seven months.
Then with the help of Khaibar Shafaq of Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Owensboro, they applied for asylum. They moved to Kentucky in November 2022 with help from Catholic Charities and the International Center of Owensboro.
Ms. Omari is grateful for the slower pace of life in the small Kentucky city. She and her husband have welcomed a second child, and in December 2022 they were granted asylum.
“There are more Afghan families here in the community,” said Ms. Omari, adding that she appreciates “talking with each other, giving to each other, and I even have American friends, too!”
Down the road, Ms. Omari is open to considering future aviation opportunities, but that will be a while since she is still working on obtaining her green card. For now, she is happy to be safe with her family.
No matter where their paths lead them, “all women are great women,” Ms. Omari remarked.
“Whether doing big things for society or staying at home with children, I appreciate all women,” she added. ■
After considering multiple options, the convention center was selected because its capacity allows the greatest number of faithful from the Diocese of Knoxville and the Diocese of Nashville and beyond to attend this historic event in person. The convention center also offers ample space for the ancillary events. Also, being in the heart of downtown Knoxville, it is in close proximity to hotels and restaurants.
The Mass will be professionally livestreamed on the Diocese of Knoxville’s YouTube page, DioKnoxTV. The broadcast will begin at approximately 1:45 p.m. on July 26.
Unfortunately, child care will not be available at the Mass. Those attending are asked to make plans accordingly.
Courtesy shuttle buses will operate from 11:15 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. between the 11th Street and White Avenue parking garages and the convention center’s main entrance. Both garages offer free parking. Shuttles will run from the end of the Mass until 5:45 p.m.
Knights of Columbus will be present at each shuttle stop to assist with questions.
The Locust Street Parking Garage is not free, but it is a short walk across the Sky Bridge to the convention center. Points of entry for the garage are on Locust Street and Walnut Street. There will not be a shuttle stop at this location. Bishops, priests, and VIPs can park at 906 Poplar St. near the Convention Center Level 2 entrance. Vesting for clergy will be on Level 2.
Attendees are asked to enter the convention center through the main entrance facing Clinch Avenue through the doors according to the first letter of their last names. This is where the shuttle buses will drop attendees off and pick them up.
Once an attendee’s ticket has been confirmed, he or she will be directed to the escalators and
to Level 1, where the ordination will take place. There are several hotels in Knoxville close to the convention center with special rates for ordination attendees. Hotel booking links are available at dioknox.org/episcopal-ordination Among the other clergy expected to attend the Mass are Archbishop Augustine Obiora Akubeze, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Archdiocese of Benin City, Nigeria; Bishop Robert J. Baker, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Birmingham; Archbishop Fabre; Bishop Johnston; Bishop Joel M. Konzen, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta; Archbishop Emeritus Joseph E. Kurtz of the Archdiocese of Louisville; Bishop Michael T. Martin of the Diocese of Charlotte; Bishop William F. Medley of the Diocese of Owensboro; Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi of the Archdiocese of Mobile; Bishop Spalding; Bishop David P. Talley of the Diocese of Memphis; Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger of the Diocese of Tucson; Bishop Emeritus J. Terry Steib, SVD, of the Diocese of Memphis; Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv., of the Diocese of Lexington; and Bishop John C. Iffert of the Diocese of Covington. Bishop-elect Beckman has announced deanery Masses and a Mass in Spanish that he will be celebrating in the Diocese of Knoxville following his ordination and installation.
n On Tuesday, July 30, Bishop Beckman will be at St. Patrick Church in Morristown in the Five Rivers Deanery for a 6 p.m. Mass; n On Wednesday, July 31, he will be at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Alcoa in the Smoky Mountain Deanery for a 6 p.m. Mass; n On Thursday, Aug. 1, he will be at St. John Neumann Church in Farragut in the Cumberland Mountain Deanery for a 6 p.m. Mass; n On Friday, Aug. 2, he will be at St. Jude Church in Chattanooga in the Chattanooga Deanery for a 6 p.m. Mass.
And at 1 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3, Bishop Beckman will celebrate Mass for the Hispanic community in the Diocese of Knoxville at All Saints Church in Knoxville. ■
Archbishop Fabre
Bishop Spalding
Bishop Johnston
Transgender continued from page A4
or learn the mechanisms to work with stress, to work with confusion, and this would be advantageous.”
Sister Mara referenced significant psychiatric comorbidities for transsexual youth, including increased risk for depression, anxiety disorder, suicide ideation, suicide attempts, and self-harm, and increased inpatient and outpatient treatments.
“Probably the most comprehensive study, back in 2011, by the Karolinska Institute in Sweden actually followed a good number of patients,” Sister Mara said.
“These individuals actually underwent sexual reassignment surgery and then were followed for many years out … like 10 to 20 to 30 years out. And what they found was there was still a 19-fold suicidal mortality risk with this population. Their mental-health concerns actually didn’t change much. They still had depression or low quality of life and increased risk of psychiatric hospitalizations,” she added.
As for contemporary approaches of care toward people with gender dysphoria, Sister Mara said “many have supported more cautious care, that we try to understand and address underlying psychosocial morbidity… trying to investigate underlying factors, and then provide psychological counseling and support.”
She noted that she has “great concern” about society’s approach to gender dysphoria, which includes a “gender affirmation” approach.
“There’s much more of a contemporary ‘gender affirmation’ approach that many try to support and encourage affected patients to adopt a social role in accord with gender identity irrespective of their biological sex, social transitioning with preferred pronouns, cross dressing, etc. The efforts to identify psychological approaches to mitigate dysphoria with or without desistance have largely been abandoned, I think, up unto this point,” Sister Mara said. She highlighted that medical terms are changing with health-care practices. Gender reassignment surgery can be called gender “affirming” or “recognition” surgery, and natal sex can be reworded to sex “assigned” at birth. Disorders of sexual development are now called “differences” of sexual development. And, perhaps most commonly, forms notating sex as male or female may now contain options such as “gender nonconforming,” “transgender,” or “bisexual,” among others.
For men and women who transition, there are different transitioning phases, which range from reversible to partially reversible to irreversible.
Reversible actions include acquiring preferred gender hairstyles, clothing, and play, and adopting a new name. Partially reversible actions include cross-gender hormone therapy for ages 16 and younger, such as estrogen, spironolactone, and testosterone.
There are many surgical procedures that are irreversible that individuals may choose to undergo for their transition. These might include vaginoplasty, labioplasty, tracheal shave, liposuction, breast implants, jaw shaping, orchiectomy, mastectomy, construction of neoscrotum, metoidioplasty, phalloplasty, hysterectomy, and oophorectomy.
“There's a lot of suffering here, I think on all sides, especially the children and adolescents who are kind of caught in this for whatever the reason, whether they have gender dysphoria or whether they're concerned about it or scared or confused, to all the providers who are swept up in this discourse or pressures ”
— Sister Mara Lester, RSM, MD psychiatrist, specialist on transgenderism
“There’s all these different things that people do, from male to female or female to male,” Sister Mara said.
“You’re trying to adjust the physical look of the body so that it looks like the opposite sex, but obviously it does not function in that capacity.”
“Sex hormone therapy is not benign, and honestly, puberty blockade is not benign,” she continued.
“We don’t know the long-term effects of this, and this is largely experimental. We don’t know how ultimately it impacts bone development … as well as a lot of brain development. Those hormones do a lot for that.”
Sister Mara noted that there are several risks associated with sex hormone therapy, such as breast cancer, coronary artery disease, thromboembolic disease, cerebrovascular disease, liver dysfunction, hypertension, uterine cancer, and more.
Although the long-term risks of sex hormone therapy have not been fully established, some possibilities can include decreased bone density, cardiovascular risk factors, and sterilization or loss of fertility.
“Persons pursuing this are often given or recommended to give reproductive-sparing modalities. Obviously, we have moral, ethical concerns with that as Catholics,” Sister Mara said.
“But basically, you’re sterilizing these individuals, and do they understand at the time that they’re undergoing this what this means? What this means for their body or for their future? And I think if any of us think back to the time when we were 12 or 14 or 16 or 17, do we really think about what our life trajectory is going to bring forth? How many children we might have? What we think about our sexuality or relationships? So, there’s a lot to be said here about how wellinformed or how can the adolescent brain think about this and how is informed consent actually occurring? There’s great concerns,” she noted.
Another side to address, Sister Mara mentioned, are the individuals who detransition.
“I’m so grateful that more of these individuals are coming forth to tell their stories,” she said. “There’s just such agony and difficulty in these persons’ lives. They’re really suffering, truly suffering. And what I found the most horrendous when I was reading on this, persons can tragically commit suicide because of the distress that they’re under.”
There also has been backlash in the trans community when individuals detransition, with death threats and name calling such as “traitor” or “transphobe.”
Sister Mara noted that individuals detransition for a variety of reasons: they become more comfortable with their natal sex; they have medical concerns about transitioning; or they realize their gender dysphoria was caused by another issue, such
as abuse or trauma.
At the end of her presentation, Sister Mara recommended for all present to “have compassion for people who are suffering.”
“There’s a lot of suffering here, I think on all sides, especially the children and adolescents who are kind of caught in this for whatever the reason, whether they have gender dysphoria or whether they’re concerned about it or scared or confused, to all the providers who are swept up in this discourse or pressures,” she said. “I think we really need to appropriately address psychiatric comorbidities, and I can speak to my own personal experience of just barely touching on a couple of patients that I just had grave concern about their comorbidities and how they were being handled.”
Sister Mara also recommended building up sexual education and Theology of the Body, especially within the home.
“Not just the physiological understanding of the body, but what does that mean relating to identity, to just comfort with one’s own sexual experiences or drives or just within the relations we’re called into in order and love and beauty and God, or giving up for the sake of the kingdom for those who are called to celibacy,” she said.
Lastly, Sister Mara posed the question of “how do we affirm children, adolescents in their personhood, their talents, their giftedness?”
“There’s a great need for strong female and male role models in a child’s and adolescent’s life,” she said.
After the presentation, she encouraged those in attendance to address any questions.
One health-care provider asked the religious Sister how to handle other professionals promoting gender ideology and performing sexchange surgeries.
“It’s happening, but I also question … how are you giving informed consent from just a basic level?
From a moral perspective, I disagree with what they’re doing. I think it’s causing more harm than any good. From a Christian-Catholic perspective, it’s an aberration of the human person. We’re just not allowing the human person to flourish,” she said. “I think we need to be strong, and let your yes be yes and your no be no, as Scripture says. And very gently and firmly but confidently to know you’re standing up for truth and not compromise that.”
“I think there’s multiple levels you can engage with providers on either a professional or personal perspective just to promote a questioning of their stances and hopeful engagement with really what is truth or what is the evidence or lack thereof that is out there,” Sister Mara continued.
Another question related to how to address using an individual’s preferred pronouns when they do
Listening with interest
Left: Health-care professionals join Father Adam Royal, who is the St. Gianna Guild chaplain, and Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Mich., for a presentation on transgender and gender dysphoria issues. The presentation was led by psychiatrist Sister Mara Lester, RSM. Right: Sister Mary Lisa Renfer, RSM, a doctor of osteopathic medicine, introduces Sister Mara, who is shown on the screen in the background. Sister Mara has extensively researched gender dysphoria and transgenderism.
not correspond with the individual’s natal sex.
“I think as a Christian, you’re there to be a kind, loving presence of truth and care and concern and openness without compromising the understanding of male and female,” she said. “I personally think the pronouns argument just gets kind of into the weeds and really messy often, so if one can ask what a person’s name is, or what they would like to be called, I think addressing the person by their name and being very direct and kind and looking them in the eye and being as kind as you would to any other patient means something.”
“You’re connecting with them and their humanity in that moment and supporting them and asking if they have any concerns. Or whether you say, ‘I’ll pray for you’ at the end or, ‘I hope you have a good day,’ I just think those little things speak a lot often to individuals. I would try, personally, to avoid the pronoun thing, because if they’re pushing it so much there’s a reason there, but if they could highlight a name or a nickname, at least that’s something you can connect with their humanity,” Sister Mara said.
For further reading, Sister Mara recommended the book The Detransition Diaries, published by Ignatius Press in January. Both a personal and historical account, the book shares stories of seven individuals who sought out “gender affirmative care.”
“I thought it was a great read from a sense of understanding the historical development, bringing up the ethical considerations, just being aware of some detransition stories, and also the ongoing questions about why is there such a rise in the young female population,” Sister Mara said.
Another recommended read was Dignitas Infinita, a declaration from the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which was released in early April.
The declaration on human dignity addresses gender theory in paragraphs 55-59 and sex change in paragraph 60.
Paragraph 57 of the document states “regarding gender theory, whose scientific coherence is the subject of considerable debate among experts, the Church recalls that human life in all its dimensions, both physical and spiritual, is a gift from God. This gift is to be accepted with gratitude and placed at the service of the good. Desiring a personal self-determination, as gender theory prescribes, apart from this fundamental truth that human life is a gift, amounts to a concession to the age-old temptation to make oneself God, entering into competition with the true God of love revealed to us in the Gospel.”
The text continues in paragraph 58 to say that “another prominent aspect of gender theory is that it intends to deny the greatest possible difference that exists between living beings: sexual difference. This foundational difference is not only the greatest imaginable difference but is also the most beautiful and most powerful of them. In the male-female couple, this difference achieves the most marvelous of reciprocities. It thus becomes the source of that miracle that never ceases to surprise us: the arrival of new human beings in the world.” ■
GABRIELLE
NOLAN (2)
Pope: Indifference is ‘cancer of democracy’ Holy Father calls on Catholics to be active participants in political life
By Justin McLellan Catholic News Service
Catholics are called to be active participants in political life and be a force against the decline of democracy worldwide, Pope Francis said.
“In today’s world, democracy let’s be honest is not in good health,” the pope told some 1,200 participants at an event during Italian Catholic Social Week in Trieste, Italy.
The pope traveled to the northern Italian city for a one-day visit on July 7 to participate in the fourday conference organized by the Italian bishops’ conference on the theme “At the Heart of Democracy.” The Vatican published his talk the same day.
Speaking in the Generali Convention Center in Trieste, Pope Francis said that “just as the crisis of democracy cuts across different realities and nations,” Christians everywhere are called to develop an “attitude of responsibility toward social transformation.”
The pope criticized the effects on democracy of the “throwaway culture” present in global society in which “there is no place for the poor, the frail, the sick, children, women, the young, the old.” Such a culture makes government structures “incapable of listening and serving people.”
“Whenever someone is marginalized, the whole social body
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schools.
One such family is the Billings. Troy and Kathleen Billings, who relocated from Chicago to Greenville in the summer of 2020, described their move as a “leap of faith.”
“At the time, [Greenville] was just beginning to grow as a Catholic community, and it has now grown tremendously within the last four years,” Kathleen Billings said. “We felt that the Lord was calling us here, so we made that leap of faith. And come to find out, many other families have felt that same calling.”
Since settling in Greenville, the Billings have witnessed firsthand the Church’s presence in the region: “Our Masses are beautiful,
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ings of same-sex unions.
Commenting on the results of the survey, Bishop Peter Kohlgraf of Mainz said the reason for the high number of people leaving is a growing alienation between churches and society “Many people in our society lack nothing: They are content without God, without a church, and without any religious faith,” the bishop remarked.
On June 27, only a day after the Church in Germany published the results of the survey, the Vatican asked
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actual prisons into which they were thrown because of the Gospel,” he said, as well as the “doors of evangelization, so they could have the joy of encountering their brothers and sisters in the fledgling communities and bring the hope of the Gospel to all.”
After the entrance procession, deacons brought out the palliums from the tomb of St. Peter for Pope Francis to bless them. The palliums, made from the wool of lambs blessed by the pope on the feast of St. Agnes who is often depicted with a lamb to symbolize purity emphasize the role of the archbishop as a pastor who guides and protects his flock.
Pope Francis remained seated during the Mass Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, was the main celebrant at the altar but stood during the sign of peace to
suffers,” he said, comparing the current crisis of democracy to a “wounded heart,” which is hurt by the various forms of exclusion.
Pope Francis explained that democracy does not merely entail voting putting aside his speech to voice his concern about declines in voter turnout and said “it demands that we create the conditions for everyone to express themselves and participate.”
He added that people must be “trained” in democratic participation from a young age and develop “a critical sense regarding ideological and populist temptations.”
the churches are packed, and the community is incredible.”
As a way to remain active within this Catholic scene, the Billings started a monthly rosary ministry at their home. With 20 people at its first meeting four years ago, the ministry now averages “250350 participants monthly, drawn from all of the Catholic churches in the Upstate [region of South Carolina].”
Similarly inspired by this burgeoning community, Michael Sandifer relocated with his family from Wisconsin to Greenville five years ago.
As the pastoral associate of adult faith formation at Prince of Peace Catholic Church, Mr. Sandifer shared that one of his responsi -
the representatives of the German Synodal Way to change the name of the Synodal Council that would permanently oversee the Church in Germany.
The joint June 27 statement of the German bishops and the Holy See said that “with regard to the position of this body, there is agreement that it is not above or equal to the Bishops’ Conference,” referring to the Synodal Council.
At the request of the Vatican, the committee responsible for preparing the new body in Germany is now to work closely with the relevant Holy
greet Orthodox Metropolitan Emmanuel Adamakis of Chalcedon, who attended the Mass as part of a delegation from the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople.
The pope invited the metropolitan to sit next to him when he distributed the palliums to the archbishops, who each shook his hand after greeting the pope.
Among the 33 archbishops were Archbishop Christopher J. Coyne of Hartford, Conn., and Archbishop Thomas R. Zinkula of Dubuque, Iowa. Both U.S. archbishops brought members of their families with them to Rome to witness them receive their palliums from the pope.
After the Mass, Archbishop Zinkula told Catholic News Service that receiving the pallium is a “huge symbol” of the archbishops’ unity with the universal Church and the pope, which he said is
The pope warned of the “seductive” nature of ideologies and urged that society cultivate a sense of solidarity to combat them. “Everyone should feel part of a community project; no one should feel useless,” he said.
Departing from his prepared remarks, Pope Francis said that the welfare state alone is “the enemy of democracy, the enemy of love for neighbor,” statements that were met with strong applause by the crowd in the convention center. Certain approaches to welfare and social assistance “that do not recognize the dignity of people are
bilities consists of working “with people who come into the Church and are interested in learning and knowing more about the Catholic faith.”
“Every day, we’ll get a phone call or e-mail saying, ‘I am new to the area, we are looking into Prince of Peace,’” he continued. “It’s been a huge uptick that isn’t surprising but definitely rewarding.”
Echoing this growing interest, the Diocese of Charleston has seen a surge in vocations.
This past year, two men were ordained to the priesthood and four to the transitional diaconate. With 28 in formation for the 2024-25 year, the diocese now has more seminarians than ever before in its recent history.
Compared with other regions
See authorities. The joint press release also specified that future drafts of documents from the German side must be formally reviewed and approved by the Vatican.
The June 27 meeting was kept on the highest personnel levels of the Vatican and the German Church.
The Holy See was represented by Cardinal Víctor Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith; Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity; Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state; Cardinal
especially important in light of a growing sense of division in the United States at large and the U.S. Catholic Church.
A member of the North American Synod team, Archbishop Zinkula said that discussions on tensions arose in many Synod listening sessions throughout the country, and that the responsibility for overcoming such feelings of division fall to the Church’s pastors.
“If we’re going to be effective in evangelizing in our increasingly secular culture, we’ve got to be together as a Church, and that bishop is at the heart of that,” he said, stressing the need for people to seek refuge in the sacraments and particularly the Eucharist “to heal us and help us grow in our faith and love.”
The archbishop said the Church needs to address its own sense of division, but that it should also
social hypocrisy,” he said, reading again from his text. “And what is behind this distancing from social reality? There is indifference, and indifference is a cancer of democracy, a non-participation.”
To combat indifference and heal the heart of democracy requires widespread participation in political life, the pope said.
A “healed heart” of democracy requires creativity, he said, citing examples of how the Holy Spirit has been at work in economics, politics, and society to strengthen a sense of community. The pope highlighted in particular the inclusion of people with disabilities in the workforce; communities promoting renewable energy practice; policies that increase birth rates, jobs, education, accessible housing, and mobility; and the integration of migrants.
Such issues, he said, cannot be addressed on a political level without people’s participation in politics.
Political participation requires courage “to think of oneself as a people” rather than solely as “myself, my clan, my family, my friends,” the pope said, which he specified is different from populism.
Pope Francis also urged the participants not to be deceived by easy solutions to society’s problems but rather to prioritize the common good.
“As Catholics, in this regard,
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in the United States, the South— which includes South Carolina—currently hosts the highest percentage of Catholics (29 percent). Meanwhile, former Catholic stronghold states in the Northeast, such as Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, have experienced a rapid decline in their Catholic populations over recent decades.
“There are so many families here doing their best to live faithfully, and clergy who love to love the Lord and serve His people. All of that speaks volumes to what God is doing here,” Mr. Sandifer said. “I foresee the Church in South Carolina having an influence on our neighboring communities, and I am excited to witness how it continues to grow.” ■
Robert Francis Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops; and Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
The German bishops’ conference was represented by Bishops Bätzing, Stephan Ackermann of Trier, Bertram Meier of Augsburg, and Franz-Josef Overbeck of Essen, as well as Beate Gilles, lay theologian and secretarygeneral of the conference.
According to KNA, both sides have agreed to meet again after the World Synod on Synodality in October. ■
play a role in “helping to dissipate that larger tension in society.” Archbishop Coyne also acknowledged increased societal division that “finds its way into the Church,” but said that the chair of St. Peter remains as a “symbol of unity” for Catholics, “regardless of who sits in it.”
As a result, the Church’s pastors are called to be “unifiers,” the archbishop told Catholic News Service. “People are feeling isolated, that’s why we want to bring them to communion; people are feeling angry and feel they have meaningless lives, that’s why we want to have them know the full meaning of life, which is in Jesus Christ.”
“Everything we do as Christians, especially as Catholics, should never be anything that leads to division, anger,” but rather action that “brings us together as brothers and sisters,” he said. ■
Pro-democracy pontiff Pope Francis speaks at the Generali Convention Center in Trieste, Italy, for an event during Italian Catholic Social Week on July 7. Also shown in the photo are Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian bishops’ conference, sitting left, and Archbishop Luigi Renna of Catania, Italy, sitting right. CATHOLIC
In thanksgiving to God
Diocese's newest priests celebrate Mass where the seeds of vocation were sown
By Bill Brewer
Father Michael Willey, one of the Diocese of Knoxville’s three newest priests, was in good company for his second Mass at St. Thérèse of Lisieux Church in Cleveland on June 9. And so were St. Thérèse parishioners.
Father Willey was one of three Father Mikes celebrating the liturgy as he led the congregation during his Mass of thanksgiving.
Also at the altar were St. Thérèse of Lisieux pastor Father Mike Nolan and Father Mike Creson, who is retired from active ministry and serves at St. Thérèse of Lisieux. Deacon Steve Ratterman served as deacon of the altar.
But all eyes were on Father Willey, who chose his home parish for his first Masses as a priest. The first service Father Willey celebrated on June 9 was the early Mass for the Hispanic community. The new priest is fluent in Spanish.
Father Willey also was one of three priests to join the presbyterate in East Tennessee on June 8.
The sacrament of holy orders was conferred on Father Willey, Father Bo Beaty, and Father Danny Herman by Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, and they are the 60th, 61st, and 62nd priests ordained in the diocese since it was established in 1988.
Just as the thanksgiving Mass was about to begin, Father Nolan remarked that the “Three Mikes” would be leading the celebration.
“Today is the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time, but it’s not an ordinary day for Father Michael Willey of our parish, who celebrates his second Mass of thanksgiving. His first Mass was at 8 a.m. in Spanish. We are very thankful for the gifts and the talents that he brings to our diocese,” Father Nolan said in introducing his young colleague.
“Frankly, Father Mike (Creson) and Father Mike (Nolan) wish that Father Mike would be assigned here. But his assignment begins July 1 at All Saints in Knoxville. May we give thanks for his vocation and promise to continue to pray for him in his priestly service,” the pastor added, receiving laughs at his “Three Mikes” reference. In his homily, Father Willey said that despite the attention a large ordination Mass draws, the ordination of three priests is about one person: Jesus Christ.
“It’s a great honor and joy for me to be with you all this morning for the first time as a priest of Jesus Christ. These last couple of days, yesterday (June 8) especially, have been a whirlwind, and it will take me a while to unpack everything that has happened. But my ordination as a priest, in spite of all the pomp and celebration, is not primarily about me. And if I thought it was, then I really would be missing the point of all of this,” Father Willey said.
“Because it’s not about me, but rather as St. Paul says to the Corinthians, ‘everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God,’” he added.
Instead, Father Willey let the congregation know that his priesthood is to be the hands, feet, and heart of Jesus.
“The reason that I have been ordained a priest
By Dan McWilliams
St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Mountain City likely never saw such a sight as what presented itself June 9.
The Mass of thanksgiving celebrated by Father Danny Herman following his priestly ordination the day before featured 10 priests, surely a record for the parish in the diocese’s northeastern-most corner.
And the family and friends of Father Herman, who filled three vans that traveled from Mountain City to Knoxville for the ordination, turned out in full for his first Mass as a gathering of 200 overflowed the nave and filled the narthex behind.
Concelebrants along with Father Herman were host pastor Father Jesús Guerrero, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua; homilist Father Rory Traynor of the Diocese of Manchester, N.H.; Father Alex McCullough of the Diocese of Springfield, Ill.; Father Matthew Millay of the Archdiocese of Louisville, Ky.; Father Anthony Armbruster of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis; Father Tony Cecil of the Archdiocese of Louisville; Father Guerric DeBona, OSB, and Father Jonathan Fassero, OSB, both of St. Meinrad Archabbey in Indiana; and Diocese of Knoxville priest Father Michael Maples.
Father DeBona and Father Fassero are monks at St. Meinrad and served as formators for Father Herman, who finished his studies for the priesthood at St. Meinrad School of Theology.
Deacon Joe Herman, father of the new priest, assisted at his son’s first Mass. Father Herman’s mom, Lucia, also attended, and both parents received a special presentation at the end of Mass.
“My brothers and sisters in the Lord, it is a joy to be with you all today as we give thanks to almighty God for the gift of the priesthood and certainly most especially for Father Danny Herman’s priesthood. We thank almighty God for that,” Father Traynor said to begin his homily.
Father Herman spoke at the end of Mass, his voice breaking several times as he talked about not only his family but also his fellow priests attending and the parishioners of St. Anthony of Padua who have known him since childhood. He began his talk by quoting baseball legend Lou Gehrig, who in his farewell speech to fans at Yankee Stadium called himself “the luckiest man on the face of this earth.”
“Today, my friends, I consider myself the most blessed man in all Christendom, because today I’m surrounded by all the people I love most in the world,” Father Herman said. “And what brings us together, as Father Rory said in his homily, is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Our Lord in the tabernacle.”
Father Herman went to the microphone with a slip of paper.
“Traditionally, the first Mass is always considered a Mass of thanksgiving, and that’s why I have a list here to make sure I don’t forget anybody,” he said to laughter.
He thanked all those who made their way to the Johnson County seat that Sunday.
“First of all, I want to thank all of my friends and loved ones who either aren’t Catholic or have never even heard of Mountain City before in their life if they are Catholic and who drove all the way here,” he said. “Thank you so much. It shows me
By Bill Brewer
Father Bo Beaty debuted his priesthood in Jamestown a day after his June 8 ordination at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The seat of Fentress County is where one of the Diocese of Knoxville’s three newest priests celebrated his first Mass.
The picturesque 90-mile drive to the Diocese of Knoxville’s northwestern-most parish, St. Christopher, leads to Father Beaty’s hometown and the rural area that informed him as a young man of faith searching for a deeper relationship with his Lord, Jesus Christ.
That years-long journey would lead him from Jamestown to the cathedral by way of CarsonNewman College, St. Patrick Church in Morristown, and St. Meinrad Seminary.
And along the way, there were people instrumental in his formation as a priest, including Monsignor Patrick Garrity, Father Michael Sweeney, as well as his father, Donald Beaty, and mother and stepfather, Marsha and Tim Dillard.
During his Mass of thanksgiving at St. Christopher, Father Beaty spoke of his joy and thankfulness for his vocation, something he holds with the greatest respect.
“My brothers and sisters in Christ, it is with a heart overflowing with joy and gratitude that I stand here before you today to celebrate this holy Mass, my very first as a newly ordained priest. Just yesterday (June 8), I knelt before the archbishop, answered God’s call, committed myself to serving His Church and His people for the rest of my life,” he said. “And now, through the unfathomable grace of God, I have the immense privilege of leading you in the most sacred of celebrations.”
The young priest told an enthusiastic and proud congregation at St. Christopher that he stands in awe of Jesus Christ, who can “rebuke the forces of sin and darkness that enslave and torment humanity. And yet this same Jesus and His infinite humility and love chose to walk among us, to dwell in our midst.”
“As I stand before you today, newly ordained to serve as an ambassador of this very same Christ, I am very keenly aware of my own weakness and unworthiness. We all face forces in our lives that try to drag us down, whether it’s anxieties, or temptations, negativity, sin no doubt, perhaps they are internal struggles, or maybe they are external struggles. But remember that our Gospel reminds us that Jesus isn’t just powerful, He sees right through us. He sees the good and the not so good in each one of us,” Father Beaty said.
He encouraged those attending his first Mass to open themselves to the transformative power of the Holy Spirit and to remember that Jesus came to save, not condemn.
“He wants to heal us. He wants to save us, to set us free and empower us to live as His disciples. Yet, our Lord has seen fit to call me, to equip me with His grace, to entrust me with the awesome responsibility of proclaiming His Word and administering His sacraments. My dear friends, as I embark on this new chapter of my life, I ask for more continued prayers as I con-
Father to father Deacon Joe Herman assists his son, Father Danny Herman, during the new priest's Mass of thanksgiving at St. Anthony of Padua Church on June 9. Photo by Dan McWilliams
The Mike trio Father Michael Willey, center, is joined by Father Mike Creson, left, and Father Mike Nolan before the new priest's Mass of thanksgiving on June 9. Photo by Bill Brewer
Giving thanks Newly ordained Father Bo Beaty, left center, celebrates a Mass of thanksgiving at his home church, St. Christopher in Jamestown, on June 9. Photo by Bill Brewer
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God bless you Father Bo Beaty gives a blessing to faithful who attended his June 8 ordination. A reception for the new priests was held in the Cathedral Hall at Sacred Heart. Photo by Bill Brewer
Looking up to a new priest Father Danny Herman gives a blessing to a young family during a reception for new priests in the Cathedral Hall at Sacred Heart on June 8 . Photo by Bill Brewer
First blessings Father Michael Willey gives a blessing to Father Michael Woods during a reception for the new priests in the Cathedral Hall at Sacred Heart on June 8. Photo by Bill Brewer
are and that you will embody as ordained priests and deacon.”
The archbishop said he could recall many times in his life before and after his own priestly ordination when he “felt a movement of the Holy Spirit in my heart. Maybe it was to make a particular decision; perhaps it was to reach out to a friend or a family member that I had not spoken to in a while, or maybe it was to make a particular comment in a pastoral conversation. It is that little, almost inexplicable tug at my heart to act or to speak in a certain way that I somehow know God is inviting me to take a step in trust and in faith. Now, I can think of many times when I responded to that moment in faith and trust, even though I may not have been able to see where it would end up. I can also think of many times when, for whatever reason, I did not follow that tug at my heart given by the Holy Spirit.”
Archbishop Fabre said his own encounters with the Holy Spirit reminded him of God’s “unwavering faithfulness.”
“When I heeded that gentle tug,” he said, “God worked wonders in my life and, through me, in the lives of His people. Even when I faltered and failed to respond, God never stopped guiding me through the Holy Spirit’s movements. This steadfastness of God’s love and guidance, I believe, will also be your anchor, dear brothers, as you embark upon your journey in ordained ministry.”
The archbishop told the four ordinands that the Holy Spirit brought them to the cathedral that day, “the Spirit that has stirred your hearts, prompting you to dedicate your lives to Jesus Christ in the service of His Church. Jesus has chosen you, each and every one of you, with your own distinctive gifts and by way of your unique journey to this day. I’m sure that it is in response to the call of God, to the movement of the Holy Spirit in each of your hearts, that you now find yourselves in this cathedral church, present, as you stated, and ready to be ordained. Your individual responses to God’s call have been distinct and shaped by your own encounters with the Lord, your own unique experiences of answering the call He has placed in your heart, and how you felt His presence in your lives.”
The readings from Numbers 3 and Romans 12 along with the Gospel from John 17 all spoke of the closeness of God, and His Son, to His people, the archbishop said.
“Our readings remind us that Jesus draws close to us by dwelling in our hearts through the presence of the Holy Spirit and how those little interior movements reveal and remind us of just how close Jesus has already drawn to us,” he said.
Those ordained as priest or deacon “are called in appropriate ways to draw close to others, just as God has drawn close to each of you,” Archbishop Fabre said.
The archbishop quoted Pope Francis in an address the Holy Father made to priests in Rome in February 2022.
“Pope Francis spoke of the reality and importance of this closeness in ordained ministry. In his reflections, Pope Francis mentions four forms of closeness essential for the one living a life of ordained ministry. Dear brothers, I lift these pillars today for you as you embark on this new stage in life and ministry.”
The first form of closeness mentioned by the Holy Father is “to the people whom you serve,” Archbishop Fabre said.
“The identity of ordained ministry receives its fullest meaning in connection to the people of God,” he said. “As Jesus did in His earthly ministry, you are called to draw close to people’s real lives—their joys, sufferings, hopes, desires, successes, failures, fears, and worries—to reveal God’s presence. In a society more electronically connected but personally disconnected than ever, people long to be known, to know that God and the Church have a place for them, and to be loved unceasingly.”
Ordained ministers “are set apart for ministry and service to the people of God. Notice I say ‘set apart’
and not ‘set above,’” the archbishop stressed. “While you are indeed set apart for ministry, this does not universally make you any better or any more important than those you will humbly serve. You must remember this important distinction, ‘set apart’ but not ‘set above,’ as you embark upon your priestly and diaconal ministry. Deacons, priests, and bishops who recognize this reality of the call to humble service alongside the faithful build on a firm foundation in their ministry.
“In contrast, those who forget this reality can veer off into concerns and things that make their ministry not as effective as it could be in both their lives and the lives of others. Brothers to be ordained, in appropriate ways, enter into people’s lives and follow the movement of the Holy Spirit, trusting that God’s grace can genuinely provide as He reveals His presence through you.”
The second form of closeness is to other priests and deacons, the diocesan administrator said.
“This life and mission cannot be lived on our own, all alone, separated from the community of priests and deacons in this diocese,” he said. “Fraternity among those ordained cannot be imposed from without but must be a deliberate choice to pursue holiness together, with others, not by yourself. Pope Francis wonderfully quotes an African proverb: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go with others.’ Dear brothers, to be ordained, it might feel slow. It will try your patience. It might even seem easier and faster to go alone. But to go far in ministry, Bo,
will be a wonderful bishop. He will soon be ordained to serve you as bishop. May God bless and strengthen the relationship between you and Bishop Beckman.”
The “fourth, final, and most crucial closeness” that Pope Francis mentioned “is to God,” Archbishop Fabre said.
“Without a close, vulnerable intimacy with the Lord, everything that I have mentioned thus far is impossible,” he said. “Many crises in ministry and ordained life are traced back to a lack of intimacy with God and the reduction of the spiritual life to mere religious practice, to use Pope Francis’ words. Closeness to the Lord, the intimacy born of prayer, sustains us in dark moments and keeps us confident in His presence with us.
“Bo, Danny, Michael, and A.J., nothing can come before this closeness with God because, as Jesus says, we can do nothing without Him. The inner room of your hearts is the place of intimacy that only God can enter—you must always choose to be close to Him there, especially in poverty and pain. Because there, our hearts are enlarged and transformed into channels of the mercy of God that we encounter ourselves. The closer we are to God, the more we grow in the other forms of closeness.”
The archbishop concluded his homily by saying that as the four men “go forth from here ordained to the service of the Church as priests and deacon, notice how the Spirit calls you to draw close—to the people, the bishop, priests, and deacons in the diocese, and God. God is always calling all of us to draw ever closer and experience greater intimacy with Him.
“I will celebrate my 35th anniversary of ordination as a priest this year in August. As I am filled with memories of my ordination on this day of your ordination, I pray that your priesthood will bring you even more grace than the abundance of grace my time in service to the Lord has brought into my own life. I ask the four of you, please pray for me, and be assured of my daily prayers for you. May God, who has begun such good work in each of you, bring it one day to completion. Amen.”
The rites of ordination continued as the four men made the promises of the elect.
Danny, Michael, and A.J., you need your brother priests and your brother deacons. In fraternity with others ordained, we all need to bear one another’s burdens, to suffer with each other, and to hold each other up as we pursue the life of ordained ministry to which God has called us.”
Closeness to the bishop is the third form, the archbishop continued.
“Among other things, the bishop should primarily seek to be a father, especially to the priests with whom he serves,” he said. “As I always state, obedience to the bishop, which you will soon promise or promise again, is not about the power of one person over another but has at its heart an authentic concern for the portion of the Lord’s vineyard where the deacon, priest, and bishop are to provide pastoral ministry together. I hope that at the heart of the relationship between bishops and those ordained is found authentic prayer together, open and honest dialogue, respect, fraternity, care for the ministry of Jesus Christ, which is shared, and genuine concern for one another.”
The bishop is a sign of unity in the diocese but does not alone bring unity, the archbishop said.
“The best bishop in the world cannot bring unity if the priests and people do not promote it and work for it alongside the bishop,” he said. “We wholeheartedly rejoice that your bishop-elect, Mark Beckman, joins us here today. Brothers to be ordained, all deacons, all priests, remain close to Bishop Beckman. He is a good man, and I know he will serve you as a father. He will love you, and he
Lt. Houston resolved “to be consecrated for the ministry of the Church through the laying on” of the archbishop’s hands “and the gift of the Holy Spirit.” He promised “to discharge with humble charity the office of the diaconate” and “to hold fast to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience . . . and to proclaim this faith by word and deed according to the Gospel and the Church’s tradition.” Lt. Houston promised “to embrace the celibate state” and “to keep this commitment perpetually as a sign of the dedication of your life to Christ the Lord for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, in service to God and others.”
Lt. Houston then promised “respect and obedience to your ordinary.”
“May God, who has begun the good work in you, bring it to fulfillment,” the archbishop said. The soon-to-be Fathers Beaty, Herman, and Willey promised “to discharge unfailingly, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the office of priesthood in the presbyteral rank, as trusty co-workers with the order of bishops in feeding the Lord’s flock”; “to carry out the ministry of the Word worthily and wisely in the preaching of the Gospel and the teaching of the Catholic faith”; “to celebrate the mysteries of Christ reverently and faithfully according to the tradition of the Church, especially in the sacrifice of the Eucharist and the sacrament of reconciliation, for the praise of God and the sanctification of the Christian people”; “to implore with us the mercy of God for the people entrusted to you, with zeal for the commandment to pray without ceasing”; and “to be united more closely each day to Christ the high priest, who offered Himself for us to
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as a pure sacrifice,
Joining the diaconate Seminarian A.J. Houston stands during the Mass of ordination at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 8. He was ordained a deacon, a final step before he is ordained a priest next year.
A diaconal promise Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre lays hands on seminarian A.J. Houston during Lt. Houston's ordination to the transitional diaconate. Lt. Houston serves in the U.S. Army and is on course to become an Army chaplain.
Invoking the Holy Spirit Diocese of Knoxville priests lay hands on the newest members of the diocesan presbyterate, kneeling from left, Fathers Bo Beaty, Danny Herman, and Michael Willey, during their ordination to the priesthood on June 8 at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Taking part in the Rite of Ordination from left are Father Michael Woods, Father Neil Blatchford, Father David Carter, Father Mark Schuster, and Father Peter Iorio
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and with Him to consecrate yourselves to God for the salvation of all.” They also promised “respect and obedience to your ordinary.”
The four men then prostrated themselves before the altar for the Litany of the Saints as the cathedral choir and those assembled sang the invocations and responses.
Afterward, Lt. Houston knelt before the archbishop, who placed his hands upon the candidate’s head and prayed the prayer of ordination. Deacon Shawn Ballard vested Deacon Houston with his stole and dalmatic. Deacon Houston then received the Book of the Gospels from Archbishop Fabre.
“Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you have become,” the archbishop said. “Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.”
The three priestly candidates then knelt before the archbishop, who laid his hands on and prayed the prayer of ordination for each. Father Beaty was vested with his stole and chasuble by Monsignor Patrick Garrity, Father Herman by Father Jesús Guerrero, and Father Willey by Father Mike Nolan.
Archbishop Fabre anointed the hands of each new priest with holy chrism.
“May the Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and power, guard and preserve you, that you may sanctify the Christian people and offer sacrifice to God,” the archbishop said.
He placed the bread and a chalice in the hands of Fathers Beaty, Herman, and Willey as they knelt before him.
“Receive the oblation of the holy
people, to be offered to God,” Archbishop Fabre said. “Understand what you will do, imitate what you will celebrate, and conform your life to the mystery of the Lord’s cross.”
The archbishop gave a greeting of peace to the new priests and new deacon. Bishop-elect Beckman, Bishop Spencer, and all the other priests also greeted the trio as the deacons present greeted Deacon Houston.
The new deacon then assisted at the altar for the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Fathers Beaty, Herman, and Willey concelebrated with Archbishop Fabre.
At the end of Mass, the new priests bestowed first blessings on their parents, the Archbishop, Bishop Spencer, and Bishop-elect Beckman.
The archbishop closed with a reminder that the appropriate diocesan offices are always open to new vocations.
“If this celebration has moved your heart, maybe God is speaking to you,” he said. “Maybe you are hearing Him calling you to priesthood or to the permanent diaconate or to consecrated religious life as a religious Brother or Sister. If so, please know that the Office of the Permanent Diaconate and the Vocations Office of the Diocese of Knoxville stand ready to discuss that possibility with you.”
Father Beaty talked after Mass about how the new title before his name sounds.
“Very overwhelming in a very good way,” he said. “On the one hand, it’s an extreme blessing, and I’m so very grateful for it, and at the other end of it, you know, it’s very intimidating as well.”
Father Beaty, who calls St. Christopher in Jamestown his home parish,
will serve his first assignment as an associate pastor of St. John Neumann in Farragut.
“I am (looking forward to it). I can’t wait to get started there,” he said. “I was very blessed to see how many people came today, both from my home parish and my future assignment at St. John Neumann.”
The ordination capped many years of prayer and study.
“On the one hand, it seems like it’s been forever, especially as there were certainly some tough times and questioning, and then on the other hand it has flown by,” Father Beaty said. “One of the things that really resonated with me during the archbishop’s homily was when he told us that Jesus chose us. The only reason I’m here is that He chose me, and it’s nothing I’ve done.”
When asked what the most moving part of the ordination Mass was for him Father Beaty mentioned the entirety of the event as well as something specific.
“From the moment I walked in to the moment I left, I was kind of teary-eyed the whole time,” he said. “I think the thing that really impacted me was the laying on of hands. I don’t know how to explain it. I can’t put it into words—it was just a very special moment.”
Father Beaty’s family is not Catholic, but that did not stop them from turning out in full to support him on his special day. They included his parents, Marsha Dillard and Donald Beaty, and stepfather Tim Dillard.
“I had quite a few family members. My parents were here and some aunts, and then I had a lot of people from my parish and family and friends as well,” he said.
Faithfully recording the Mass on
her cellphone was the new priest’s aunt, Eva Beaty, of Jamestown.
“She has been very, very supportive,” Father Beaty said.
Father Herman said his new title is “very humbling and very much a responsibility that I feel blessed to receive, and through the grace of God I’ll be able to carry out Jesus Christ’s mission on earth.”
Having his father, Deacon Joe Herman, present at the Mass “meant the world to me because the father is the one who teaches you about mercy and justice, and through the lessons that he’s taught me and through the lessons that I’ve continued to learn, I pray that I can be an instrument of mercy and justice for God’s people,” Father Herman said.
Deacon Joe Herman and his son “actually began discerning” their vocations “at similar times,” the latter said.
“He entered diaconate formation a year before I entered seminary formation,” Father Herman said. “He’s been an absolute, incredible resource. He’s a hero because no one loves the sacraments as much as he does, and I’ve been incredibly blessed.”
Deacon Herman, mom Lucia Herman, and Father Herman hail from St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Mountain City.
Father Herman said that finally seeing ordination day come “was overwhelming, but it was just a joy, and I was able to—just really by the grace of God and by everybody pitching in—to enjoy it. I didn’t have to think about anything—I could just enjoy the graces that God bestowed upon me.”
Some 20 or 30 of Father Herman’s family as well as a large contingent
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Images of an ordination Top left: Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre gives the homily during the Mass of ordination for Father Michael Willey, Father Bo Beaty, Father Danny Herman, and Deacon A.J. Houston. Top right: Bishop-elect Mark Beckman participated in the ordination Mass as he prepares to become the Diocese of Knoxville's fourth shepherd. Middle left: Deacon Shawn Ballard vests Deacon Houston with a chasuble during the Rite of Ordination for the diaconate. Middle right: Priests and deacons of the diocese gathered on June 8 to witness the ordination of three diocesan priests and a deacon. The Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus was nearly full for the ordination. Lower left: Bishop-elect Beckman lays hands on the ordinands. Lower right: Archbishop Fabre addresses Lt. Houston.
from St. Anthony of Padua, the most distant parish from Knoxville and one located in the diocese’s northeast corner, came to the Mass.
“Our community is very special. The Johnson County Community Center allowed us to use buses at no cost to bring as many people from St. Anthony as possible because it’s a two-and-a-half-hour drive, and I was very blessed that they would come,” Father Herman said, adding that three 15-person passenger vans brought the group to Knoxville.
The most moving part of the Mass to him was easy to name, Father Herman said.
“What really got me, and I think the pictures will show, is I was really breaking down once I was receiving the laying on of hands from not only Archbishop Fabre but also all the priests in my presbyterate,” he said. “Through my six years of seminary, I was very blessed to be able to get to know many of the priests, and even though I couldn’t see their faces, I could feel their prayers, and it was very humbling that they were there praying for me and bestowing their priesthood upon me.”
Bishop-elect Beckman “was very gentle and very courteous” as he greeted the new priests, Father Herman said, “and he looked at us and said that he’s looking forward to our priesthood and to joining that priesthood with us.”
Giving a blessing to his parents at the end of Mass “was very hard, to utter those words that I’ve practiced hundreds of times, but it was truly humbling because I said their names, when usually I call them Mom and Dad, but as their spiritual father I call them by their first names. It was very humbling,” Father Herman said.
“In the blessing I said, ‘through the imposition of my hands, in the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of God, St. Joseph, and St. Lucy, may the blessing of almighty God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, come down upon you and remain with you forever.’”
Father Herman will serve his first assignment as an associate pastor at the cathedral.
Father Willey said his new title “is odd because you expect it for a while because you’re working toward this, and then after the prayer of ordination, you get up and it’s like, ‘Huh, I’m a priest now,’” he said.
Father Willey’s parents are dad Richard from Madison, Tenn., and mom Tammy from Cleveland, Tenn., where the new priest’s home parish of St. Thérèse of Lisieux is.
The most moving portion of the liturgy “was just processing in, with the music the way it was and the sense that ‘Oh, this is real now. This is happening now,’” Father Willey said.
The Litany of the Saints “was very powerful. That was something that was really powerful last year at my diaconate ordination and this year as well,” he said.
Having ordination day come after years of prayer and study left him unable to describe it, Father Willey said.
“You’re doing all that work, and this day’s always somewhere there in the distance, and you know that it’s going to get there at some point, but now that it has, it feels really good,” he said.
Father Willey’s family came to the Mass “from Arkansas and Ohio and all over the place. I had people come in from out of the country even,” he said.
All Saints in Knoxville will receive a new associate pastor in Father Willey. He is “quite looking forward” to his first assignment, he said.
“There are good priests there, and I’ll be close to my newly ordained
brothers who will be within a couple of parishes nearby,” he said.
The three new priests went to St. Meinrad School of Theology for the last four years.
“For the last four years of seminary, we’ve been together,” Father Willey said.
Deacon Joe Herman said that seeing his son ordained a priest “was emotional and hard to contain. I’m just very, very proud.”
Although Father Herman at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus will be a long way from Mountain City, where Deacon Herman serves at St. Anthony of Padua, the father plans to see his son often.
“I plan on it. He’s actually a lot closer to home than he has been for the last eight or nine years,” Deacon Herman said.
Calling his son “Father” will “take some getting used to, but I’m very proud to do it,” Deacon Herman said.
Deacon Houston said his new title “sounds great,” adding that “I’ve spent the last couple of weeks at home praying, and the Lord has told me it’s time. I felt ready.”
Seminary for him began in 2019, “so I’ve finished five years,” Deacon Houston said. “In the middle of it, it just seemed like it would never end, but now it’s flown by, and I’m super grateful.”
Deacon Houston is co-sponsored by the Military Archdiocese.
“After ordination to the priesthood next year, God willing, I’ll serve as a priest here in the Diocese of Knoxville for three years, and then I’ll be released to the Army to serve as a chaplain,” he said. “My minimum contract is five years, and after that it can be renewed, or I might come back to the diocese.”
Deacon Houston served as an active-duty soldier in the U.S. Army in El Paso, Texas, before discerning his
vocation. He holds the rank of first lieutenant.
His parents, Charles and Heidi Houston, were among the family attending his ordination Mass.
Deacon Houston will serve at All Saints this summer before returning to seminary.
“I’m super excited,” he said of his assignment. He said that “it was an honor to have” Bishop Spencer present at his ordination.
Bishop Spencer said the ordination of Deacon Houston “is a great day of joy in which somebody comes forward to say yes to God and yes to country. We’re very thankful that he’ll be eventually coming to serve our men and women in uniform as a Catholic chaplain.”
The number of chaplains for the military is small, “right now . . . a little over 400,” Bishop Spencer said, “to serve our military and the DOD, Department of Defense, but that also includes veterans’ hospitals, and also all of our U.S. embassies, so when we say 400 it’s actually not very many. We need many more.”
Sharing Deacon Houston with the Diocese of Knoxville before he goes to the Military Archdiocese “will be like on-the-job training,” Bishop Spencer said, “so, it’ll be three years here in the diocese, and then he’ll come full-time to the military.”
Beth Parsons, diocesan vocations office manager, attended the ordination Mass. She has worked with all four men over the years and said she was glad to see ordination day arrive.
“It’s been fantastic. This is my sixth year in the vocations office, and Father Danny was the first seminarian that I ever signed up to go to seminary, so it’s just a special day to have all three of them be ordained
and A.J. on the same day as a
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beautiful,” she said.
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Presbyteral celebration Top left: The newly ordained priests are vested. Assisting Father Bo Beaty is Monsignor Patrick Garrity, assisting Father Danny Herman is Father Jesús Guerrero, and assisting Father Michael Willey is Father Mike Nolan. Top right: The new priests are welcomed into the priesthood by fellow Diocese of Knoxville priests. Middle left: Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre is assisted during Communion by Fathers Willey, Beaty, and Herman. Middle right: the three new priests kneel before Archbishop Fabre. Bottom left: Deacon A.J. Houston incenses the congregation. Bottom right: the new priests bless their parents.
is not because I am particularly worthy of some kind of honor, or because I am especially or uniquely holy. But rather it is that I have been called to receive this graceful order so that I, in turn, might become an instrument of God’s grace for all of you, so that God’s grace might then be abundantly poured out upon all of us so that together, as a single body, we might offer to God an overflowing thanksgiving and praise,” he continued.
One of the diocese’s newest priests then put his priesthood in the perspective of God’s grace and His gift of the Eucharist.
“Personally, this is an immensely humbling thing, as it means that everything that I have personally gone through, all of the classes and the assignments, all of the retreats, and everything else that has made up these last six years of seminary formation, all of it was for the sake of what we are about to do here at this altar as we offer to God the most humble gifts of bread and wine that will astoundingly, through the words that I will pronounce, become the flesh and blood of our Lord, Jesus,” he explained.
Humility was a theme in Father Willey’s Mass of thanksgiving, just as it was in Father Beaty’s and Father Herman’s first Masses on June 9.
“Again, I don’t say any of that to put myself on a pedestal. There is really nothing special about me. I am a sinner just as much as the next person. And if I have done anything, it is only, in so far as I can, to try to listen to what seems to be the will of God and to do it. And that is no more and no less than what we are all called to do as Christians,” Father Willey said.
Father Willey, who completed his studies at St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology this past spring, encouraged the congregation to be open to God’s will.
“So, if I can say a word of exhortation beyond the constant exhortation to give praise and glory to God, then I would encourage you all to listen with attentiveness to the will of God, especially those of you who are young, to follow that calling
Acclaiming the Gospel Father Michael Willey celebrates the
with boldness,” he said. “While it is doubtless that there are many callings here, some callings being more common than others, I encourage you to be bold in the sense that God may be calling you to a way of life that is, perhaps, a little less ordinary. Because it is also doubtless that I am not the only one who God is calling to serve Him at His altar.”
He also urged the faithful to live not for today but for a heavenly future.
“For what is seen is transitory. But what is unseen is eternal. In
other words, as Christians our lives should only make sense in the light of eternity. As St. Paul says in another place, if for this life only we have hoped in Christ, then we are of all people the most to be pitied. To live a Christian life, to follow a Christian vocation is to live in such a way that only makes sense in light of what endures, which given the transience of this life is in the end the only sensible way for anyone to live.
“When we live in this way; when we live not for that which is seen but rather for that which is unseen
Answering the call
and eternal, then we can discover that boldness that enables us to fearlessly follow the vocation that God has given us. Since we know that our earthly dwelling in time shall be destroyed, that we have a dwelling from God, a dwelling not made with hands that is eternal in heaven.
“So, again, if I want something for myself and my priesthood, it is only that—toward the end of my course, to be welcomed by God into His heavenly dwelling. And if my priesthood is of any benefit for you, I desire only that it might be an instrument of your sanctification so that the one who has raised the Lord Jesus will raise you also and place me with you in His presence when our earthly pilgrimage is over,” he shared.
He thanked the congregation for its attendance at his Mass of thanksgiving.
“It’s a great honor and a great privilege. Please continue to pray for me as I continue in this new part of my life, and I will be praying for you,” he concluded.
The congregation then gave Father Willey an ovation.
Father Willey’s dad, Richard Willey, was impressed with his son’s first Masses.
“It’s just a very amazing experience to see him and all of his hard work finally come to fruition. I’m very proud of him,” said Mr. Willey, who lives in Madison, Tenn., in the Diocese of Nashville.
Mr. Willey also attended his son’s first Mass at St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and he was equally impressed.
“He did it well; I just didn’t understand anything in Spanish. In the English Mass, I thought his homily was excellent. He did a really good job,” he noted.
Father Nolan is looking forward to seeing his former parishioner as they serve in the Diocese of Knoxville together.
“Our diocese has certainly been blessed, not only with Father Michael Willey but with the other two men who are now my brothers. May they guard, guide, and grace us in our journey as together we grow closer with Christ. Amen,” Father Nolan said. ■
Archdioceses mark largest ordination classes in years with joy, prayer, full pews
By Mark Zimmermann OSV News
The crowd filling the pews and aisles of the largest Catholic church in the United States witnessed the largest ordination class in the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., in 64 years.
Cardinal Wilton D. Gregory ordained 16 new priests for the archdiocese during a June 15 Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
It is the archdiocese’s largest ordination class since 1960, when 17 men were ordained the year that John F. Kennedy was elected as the nation’s first Catholic president.
Besides the Washington Archdiocese, other U.S. archdioceses have seen record ordination classes this spring, including the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, with 13 new priests, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles with 11, and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee with nine.
As the joyful ordination Mass began in Washington, Cardinal Gregory greeted the thousands of people at the National Shrine, saying, “From the heart I welcome you to this wonderful celebration of the Eucharist, wherein the Archdiocese of Washington will receive 16 new priests. We gather as God’s people.”
The 16 men ordained range in age from 25 to 64 and include a survivor of the 1994 civil war and genocide in his home country of Rwanda, a former emergency-room physician, a former District of Columbia police officer, a former supervisor of commercial construction projects, and veterans of the U.S.
Navy, Marines, and Army, including now-Father Stephen Wong, 62, who came to the United States from Jamaica when he was 17 and served with the U.S. Army for four decades in active military service and then as a civilian.
In his homily, Cardinal Gregory noted that priestly vocations develop over a lifetime, with the encouragement of family and friends, and he thanked them for helping the men about to be ordained to hear and respond to God’s call.
The cardinal said priests must continue to develop and deepen that vocation, centering their lives on prayer and the sacraments. The priesthood, he said, reflects the mystery of how “God loves each of us unconditionally and calls us into
his friendship.”
He encouraged the new priests to “surrender your lives in imitation of the One who poured out His life for us” and told them that “your most important encounter with God’s people will be through the Eucharist.”
The cardinal also underscored the importance of the new priests offering the sacrament of reconciliation to their people, bringing them Christ’s mercy and forgiveness, and availing themselves of that sacrament. He also encouraged the new priests to offer people the sacrament of the anointing of the sick “with a tenderness that assures them that Christ Himself is present.”
At the Cathedral of St. Paul in
St. Paul, Minn., roughly 3,500 people packed the pews and filled the aisles to witness Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis ordain 13 men to the priesthood, the most since 15 were ordained in 2005.
Ranging in age from 26 to 48, the men entered the priesthood with a variety of backgrounds and talents, the archbishop noted in his homily May 25.
Father Brent Bowman, 44, for example, was in marketing, business development, and product innovation; Father Philip Conklin, 36, was in the Air Force; and Father Derek Gilde, 44, had a 15-year career in social work and mental health.
“How God has prepared us is beyond our imagining,” Archbishop Hebda said. “It might still not be clear why the Lord led you to be engineers or air traffic controllers or social workers. It may not be clear why He gave you a love of diving, running, or science. It might not be clear why He gave you a gift for languages or a soulful voice or a gift for Latin and classical languages.
“But I bet that God is going to use them all all of those gifts. You bring all of that, all of your history with you today to the altar, and you offer it to the Lord so that He can remind this church of His superabundant love, so that He can feed his flock in abundance.”
Referring to a passage in the last chapter of John’s Gospel that was read for the Mass when the risen Jesus prepares a breakfast of fish for the Apostles and asks St. Peter Vocations continued on page A22
Father Willey
Liturgy of the Eucharist during a Mass of thanksgiving on June 9 at St. Thérèse of Lisieux Church in Cleveland. Concelebrating the Mass are Father Mike Nolan, right, and Father Mike Creson. Assisting is Deacon Steve Ratterman.
In Communion Left: Father Michael Willey gives Communion to his father, Richard Willey, at St. Thérèse of Lisieux Church in Cleveland. Right: Father Willey blesses a young man attending the new priest's Mass of thanksgiving on June 9.
Acting on faith Thirteen men being ordained to the priesthood during a May 25 Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, Minn., lie prostrate during the Litany of the Saints.
OSV NEWS PHOTO/DAVE HRBACEK, THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
your love, and I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”
Father Herman also expressed gratitude to the servers at Mass: Diocese of Knoxville seminarian Eli Holt, longtime St. Anthony of Padua parishioner Lily Berger, his cousin Froy Romo, and his brother Josh Herman, “who I love very much.”
“I want to thank my concelebrants, my brother priests,” he added. “I was telling them as we were proceeding in that I don’t think that St. Anthony has seen this many priests in the sanctuary at one time.”
He did not forget his formators, Father DeBona and Father Fassero.
“For four years, these men were my confessors, primarily. They were there to pick me up in my worst moments and put me back together and remind me that that was then, and this is now,” Father Herman said.
He gave special thanks to Father Traynor.
“You win. Last year, I had a chance to preach at his parish. He said that I did a great job, but he won today,” Father Herman said.
The new priest also thanked Father Guerrero.
“He has been our pastor for less than a year. He has been an incredible source of guidance for our parish moving forward, and the beauty of the liturgy has never been brighter at St. Anthony’s since I’ve been here,”
Father Herman said. “It is absolutely incredible, the things that he’s done in such a short amount of time.”
Father Herman saluted “my St. Anthony of Padua family” and remembered the parish’s founding pastor, Father Tom Vos, OFM, and his successor, Father John Milewski. He also mentioned a former St. Anthony parishioner who traveled a long distance to see his first Mass.
“I was talking to a few of my brother priests, and they were asking me earlier, ‘What was there to do in Mountain City?’ I said, ‘We played sports. We played sports, and we also went to church,’” he said. “For the longest time, I’ve looked out and I see a lot of faces that I’ve seen since I was a little boy serving on this altar with Father Tom and Father John. I want to thank Rosemary Anderson, especially, for making the trip all the way from Michigan. She knew me when I was a little boy.”
Family members and friends also came to Mountain City from California, Mexico, Arizona, and Alabama for Father Herman’s first Mass.
“I want to thank all my family members, especially those who traveled all the way from Arizona and California. It’s not a quick trip,” he said. “Thank you, all of you.”
He also remembered family members who have passed away.
“We miss them a lot. We know that they were here with us in the Eucharist,” Father Herman said.
He also thanked Javier Valles, a seminarian from El Paso, Texas, who was master of ceremonies for his first Mass.
“He’s a brother to me,” Father Herman said. “My mantra this entire weekend was, I’m not going to worry about it because Javier’s there. And it was absolutely true. … If you enjoyed today’s liturgy, it’s all him. He did a wonderful job.”
Father Herman told the filled church that “you might be thinking there are two people I may have forgotten, but I promise you I’ve not forgotten them.”
He then called forward Deacon Herman, his father.
“Yesterday, when Archbishop [Shel-
ton J.] Fabre ordained me to become a priest, he bestowed upon me the authority of Jesus Christ to confect the Eucharist and celebrate the sacraments,” Father Herman said. “A symbol of that authority given to me is a stole. A priest will wear a stole for every liturgical act that he does. It represents authority. It represents the authority granted to me to celebrate the sacraments. It also represents the yoke of Christ, because Jesus tells us that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. This is because He helps us along the way in doing His work, and His help comes from the graces we receive in the sacraments, as Father Rory was saying in his wonderful homily.
“One of the sacraments I get to celebrate as a priest is the sacrament of reconciliation, confession. In that sacrament, I act in the person of Christ as both merciful father and judge, not in a judgmental tone but as a way of reconciling a sinner to God.”
Mr. Valles then presented a purple
of a newly baptized person’s head to mark the person as being consecrated. Chrism is used for confirmation, and the walls of [new] churches are anointed with it as well. My hands were also anointed with sacred chrism, and afterward I walked to the back of the sanctuary.
“I wiped off the oil, and I had to wipe off a few tears as well. And that article I wiped my hands on is called a maniturgium, which quite literally just means ‘hand towel’ in Latin. I wiped my face, like she did for me for many years. The tradition is that a newly ordained priest gives this maniturgium, which still has the chrism on it, to his mother, and it’s because a man’s mother is the first person on earth to know him and love him, both in the womb and throughout his life. It was your hands that cared for me, that fed me and nurtured me. Because of this, a mother is to safeguard the maniturgium she receives and is to be buried with it. And when Our Lord asks, ‘I have given you life— what have you given me?’ She says, ‘I gave you my son.’”
Each presentation to his father and mother was followed by a round of applause.
Father Guerrero said after Mass that Father Herman’s family “is wellknown here in town. His family is very devout. He is well-known in the parish itself. Since he was a little boy, he was an altar server here, so everybody knows him.”
St. Anthony of Padua has about 100 families, Father Guerrero said.
“This is such a small parish,” he said. “That gives this parish a family feeling. Pretty much, everybody knows each other. Father Danny is part of everybody’s family.”
Deacon Herman said it was “emotional at different points” to serve at his son’s first Mass.
“I just tried to hold it together,” he said. “It was special. I think the words that he said to his mom and I at the end of Mass meant a lot, especially what he said to his mother because she is such a wonderful and beautiful wife, but she’s been a wonderful mother. The stole of his first confession, when I pass away, that will be in the casket with me.”
Deacon Herman talked of the emotion his son showed in his talk at the end of Mass.
stole to Father Herman.
“This was the stole I wore when I heard my first confession, and traditionally this is a gift to the father of a newly ordained priest,” Father Herman said. “And the reason why is because a priest’s father is the man who teaches him to love justice and love mercy. You taught me many things. You taught me how to make a three-point stance. You taught me how to swing a bat and swing a golf club. You taught me how to be a man. But overall, Dad, you taught me how to be merciful and just and loving.”
He then presented the stole to Deacon Herman. When Deacon Herman passes away, that stole will be buried with him.
Father Herman then made a gift to his mother.
“Yesterday when I was ordained, the bishop anointed my hands with sacred chrism. Chrism is used by the Church to consecrate things that are set aside for sacred use,” he said. “In baptism, chrism is put on the crown
Honoring thy parents
Left: Father Danny Herman is embraced by his mother, Lucia, as he presents her with the maniturgium from his ordination to the priesthood on June 8.
Right: Father Danny Herman presents his father, Deacon Joe Herman, with the stole from his ordination that he wore in hearing his first confession.
“Danny—excuse me, Father Danny—is a very loyal person,” he said. “That’s his personality. He loves people. I mean, he is strictly business when he’s doing things, but he has a kind heart and a kind soul, and it showed when he was speaking about his brother priests.”
Celebrating his first Mass was “very humbling,” Father Herman said. “I had to rely upon the formation I had and to truly trust in prayer and trust that my emcees and my family had everything prepared for me here.”
He added that he was “very blessed” to have priest friends from seminary, his formators, Father Guerrero, and Father Maples with him at the Mass. He then spoke of the emotion he showed during his talk at Mass.
“It was very powerful because I’m nothing without God, and I’m nothing without the people He’s put in my life,” he said. “I wanted to make sure that I had an opportunity to give them thanks. When I was looking out from the pulpit to see all of them, it was truly humbling that not only would they show up but that they would drive multiple hours to a small, crowded church that is often forgotten, and that they would be there with smiles on their faces because of the love.” ■
Father Herman
Prayers of the priesthood Father Danny Herman celebrates a Mass of thanksgiving at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Mountain City on June 9, a day after his ordination. Assisting him is his father, Deacon Joe Herman.
DAN MCWILLIAMS (5)
Concelebratory atmosphere Father Danny Herman celebrates a Mass of thanksgiving on June 9. From left are Father Alex McCullough, Father Matthew Millay, Father Anthony Armbruster, Deacon Joe Herman, Father Tony Cecil, Father Herman, Father Guerric DeBona, OSB, Father Jonathan Fassero, OSB, Father Michael Maples, Father Jesús Guerrero, and Father Rory Traynor.
Heartfelt faith Father Jesús Guerrero, right, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Mountain City, blesses the faithful attending Father Danny Herman's first Mass, which was a Mass of thanksgiving on June 9 following Father Herman's ordination on June 8. Father Herman is distributing Communion to the left.
tinue to pray for you,” he said in his homily.
“Pray that I may always remain faithful to the promises that I have made, that I may never lose sight of the immense privilege and sacred duty that has been entrusted to me. Pray that, like Christ, I may have the courage to speak the truth in love, to challenge sin and injustice, to bring the light of the Gospel into the darkest corners of the world, and to bring His love and hope to those who are in most need of it,” he continued.
Father Beaty, as he began the Liturgy of the Eucharist, noted that the chalice and paten he used during his Mass of thanksgiving were given to him by Monsignor Garrity, who had the special role of vesting Father Beaty during the ordination Mass the day before. Father Beaty said he will continue to use those sacred vessels during his priesthood.
Father Beaty then asked Monsignor Garrity to place the chalice and paten on the altar. Assisting at the Mass were Deacon Vic Landa, who serves at St. Christopher, Deacon Michael Ghattas of the Diocese of Charleston, S.C., who is a friend from seminary, and Diocese of Knoxville seminarian Nicholas Hickman, who also has attended St. Meinrad Seminary with Father Beaty.
Before Mass concluded, Father Beaty gave special recognition to his mother, father, and stepfather.
He explained that on the occasion of a priest’s first Mass, it is tradition that the newly ordained priest presents gifts to his parents.
“One of the main duties of a priest is to celebrate the sacraments for the people of God. When a priest celebrates a sacrament, he usually wears a piece of cloth around his neck called a stole. This stole has two meanings to it. First, it is a symbol of the sacramental authority of a promise of the priesthood. It shows that God has given the priest the authority to celebrate the sacraments. Secondly, it also represents the yoke of Christ. Jesus tells us that His yoke is easy and His burden light. This is because He helps us along the way in doing His work. And His help comes from the graces we receive in the sacraments.
“One of the sacraments that I have the privilege to celebrate as a priest is the sacrament of reconciliation. That frees people from the sins that burden them, showing them the infinite mercy of God. When a priest sits in the confessional, he acts in persona Christi, in the person of Christ as both judge and the giver of mercy.
“So, there is a tradition that a newly ordained priest gives his father as a gift the stole he wore when he heard his first confession. This is because a man first learns both justice and mercy from his father. The tradition is that when the priest’s father dies, he is buried with the stole so that all in heaven and on earth will know that he was the father of a priest. And when he arrives at the gates of heaven, he is escorted to our Lord, who will ask him, ‘I have given you life. What have you given me?’ So, he hands our Lord the stole and responds, ‘I have given you my son as a priest.’
“And with these words, Jesus grants him entry into paradise. Unfortunately, it’s only been one day. So, I haven’t quite got any confessions in (to laughter in response). But this will be my stole from my first confession. As soon as that is done, I will give that to my dad. Thank you very much, Dad, for everything
“One is great. Two is even better. So, for my second confession that I will make in the future, I have another stole just like it that I would like to give to my second dad, my stepfather, Tim Dillard, who also I have learned justice and mercy from. Thank you for all of your support,” Father Beaty shared. He then turned to his mother and explained his gift to her.
“When I was ordained, the archbishop anointed my hands with sacred chrism, which smells re-
Diocese of Knoxville Vocations
ally good, and he uses a lot of it. Chrism oil is used by the Church to consecrate things, to set them aside for sacred use. In baptism, chrism is used to mark the person being consecrated for the Lord. Chrism is also used at confirmation to mark the newly confirmed that they have been sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit. The walls of our church not that long ago were also marked for the celebration of the sacraments. So, my hands were anointed because they are now set apart for sacred use by Jesus Christ to bring His grace in the sacraments.
“Afterward, with all of the oil on my hands, I went to wipe the excess off using what is called a maniturgium, which is Latin for hand towel. The tradition is that a newly ordained priest gives this maniturgium, which still has the chrism on it, to his mother. This is because a man’s mother is the first person on earth to know him and to love him, both in the womb and throughout his life.
“It was my mother’s hands that cared for me, fed me, and nourished me. Now, it is through my hands that Christ will care for, feed, and nourish His people. Because of this, a new priest’s mother safeguards the maniturgium she receives until the day she dies. Then she is buried with the maniturgium so that all in heaven and on earth will know that she is the mother of a priest. When she arrives at the gates of heaven, she is escorted to our Lord, who will ask her, ‘I have given you life. What have you given me?’ She hands over
The new priest’s parents were visibly moved and expressed thanks and pride for what their son has accomplished.
“I am so proud of him that he is walking in the calling that God has for him, and to see his face (at the ordination and Mass of thanksgiving) and the joy that just comes from him. To me, that is confirmation to me that yes, God has definitely called him to the priesthood,” Mrs. Dillard said.
“It’s been a long road, but I’m really proud of him. It is amazing to see what he has become. I can’t be more proud,” Mr. Beaty said.
The priests who concelebrated Father Beaty’s Mass of thanksgiving are excited about what is ahead for their young colleague, whose first assignment is as an associate priest at St. John Neumann Parish in Farragut.
“I think Bo will make a wonderful priest. He’s going to be a blessing to the people of God. And the people where he has been assigned at St. John Neumann are going to be thrilled that he’s there. I think he will do a wonderful job for them,” Monsignor Garrity said.
Monsignor Garrity recalled that he was pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Morristown several years ago when Father Beaty arrived at St. Patrick one day as a college freshman and asked to see the priest.
“I brought him into my office, it was May, and he said he had been coming to church and wanted to know about becoming Catholic. He had just finished his freshman year in college. I gave him three books to read over the summer, and I told him when he is home in Jamestown to make sure and see Father Sweeney.
“Then I said if you are still interested when you come back to school, come and see me. Then you can go to RCIA. Of course, you never know if you’re going to see people like that again. Sure enough, come August here comes Bo wanting to know about joining RCIA. Not only that but he brought another boy from Carson-Newman and a girl from Carson-Newman with him. All three of them went to RCIA. I brought all three of them into the Church at Easter Vigil Mass the next spring when they finished RCIA,” the monsignor said. He recalled that Father Beaty would bring groups of CarsonNewman classmates with him to St. Patrick and give them tours of the church.
the maniturgium to our Lord and responds, ‘I have given you my son as a priest.’
“I have no doubt that with these words Jesus will grant her entry into paradise,” Father Beaty said.
He then presented his mother with the maniturgium, and they embraced.
Father Beaty went on to explain that he received two maniturgia that he used on his ordination day. He wanted to present the second one to someone he described as being instrumental in bringing him into the Church and assisting him on his journey to the priesthood.
“Someone who has truly been a spiritual father to his son, someone who has cared for, fed me, and nourished me. … I certainly would not be standing before you today as a Catholic priest if it wasn’t for him. And I have no doubt that when he arrives at the gates of heaven and our Lord asks him, ‘I have given you life. What have you given me?’
And he hands our Lord the maniturgium and in response says, ‘I have given you one of my sons as a priest.’ With those words, Jesus will surely grant him entry into paradise,” Father Beaty said. “I would like to present this second one to Monsignor Patrick Garrity.”
Father Beaty then singled out Father Sweeney, giving the pastor of St. Christopher, Blessed Sacrament Parish in Harriman, and St. Ann Parish in Lancing special recognition and thanks for showing him spiritual fatherhood.
Then, the following year he brought another student to St. Patrick to go through RCIA, and that student entered the Church.
“Bo was a recruiter, and the oils weren’t even dry on his baptism yet. He was very excited to be in the Church,” said Monsignor Garrity, who noted that Father Beaty expressed interest in attending World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, in July 2008 as a young student. Donations from parishioners and the parish, along with two garage sales Father Beaty held in the church basement, raised enough money for him to attend.
Father Sweeney said it was very special that Father Beaty’s Mass of thanksgiving was in his home parish
“We’re very proud of him,” Father Sweeney said. “Father Bo is one of the finest men that I know of. He’s going to be a magnificent priest.”
Father John Orr was pastor of St. Mary Parish in Athens when thenseminarian Bo Beaty served at the McMinn County parish during the summer. Father Orr now serves at Holy Ghost Parish in Knoxville.
“I’m so happy to be here with Father Bo on his first Mass day. He served at St. Mary Parish in Athens while I was there when he was in seminary. He served to great aplomb. There were parishioners at his first Mass from St. Mary and Holy Ghost, which is my new assignment,” said Father Orr, who attended Father Beaty’s Mass of thanksgiving in choir. “He’ll be a great priest wherever he serves. He loves the Lord, and he loves the Church.” ■
Father Beaty
Giving thanks Father Bo Beaty, center, offers a prayer in the sacristy of St. Christopher Church in Jamestown before he celebrates a Mass of thanksgiving on June 9. Joining in the prayer are, from left, Deacon Vic Landa, Monsignor Patrick Garrity, seminarian Nicholas Hickman, and Deacon Michael Ghattas.
Source and Summit Father Bo Beaty celebrates Mass at St. Christopher Church in Jamestown on June 9, a day after his ordination to the priesthood. Concelebrating the Mass is Monsignor Patrick Garrity. Assisting are Deacons Michael Ghattas and Vic Landa, and seminarian Nicholas Hickman. Father John Orr participated in the Mass in choir.
Priestly actions Left: Father Bo Beaty embraces his mother as he presents her with the maniturgium from his ordination. Right: Father Beaty gives a blessing to a kneeling Deacon Michael Ghattas in the narthex of St. Christopher Church.
BILL BREWER (4)
He noted that the congregation was gathered at the memorial Mass, which was a memorial for Jesus Christ giving His precious life for Father Glennon and everyone.
Father Hamm shared that Father Glennon struggled with Parkinson’s disease for over a decade.
“It obviously affected him, but it did not define his life. He continued to work at the clinic here in Chattanooga, to help out in the local parishes until a year and a half ago, and then he came to Holy Trinity, where I am, not to retire but to help. And he did until he fell in church on Holy Thursday,”
Father Hamm said.
Father Hamm pointed out that Father Glennon celebrated Mass every Sunday, and sometimes Saturday, too, and he heard confessions at parishes in the Fort Mitchell area for Lenten and Advent penance services.
“And they wanted him to come back, which is an interesting thing. They never asked me to come back,” he joked, drawing laughs. “The priests asked me to come back, but the people never asked me to come back.”
Father Hamm shared that as Father Glennon was receiving medical attention for his disease during the spring, Father Hamm asked Father Glennon what the retired priest wanted.
“His answer was, ‘To help you out.’ That was the answer,” Father Hamm said.
The St. Joseph pastor informed the congregation that Father Glennon desired to be a priest from an early age. He said Father Glennon followed that dream by going to Holy Trinity in Alabama in 1958, where the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity have a presence.
“Through his formation over 13 years, his goal was not to be a priest and say, ‘Hey, look at me. I made it.’ Rather, his goal was to be a priest for those in need, and to reach out and touch people’s lives for the Lord Jesus,” Father Hamm said.
Father Hamm, whose homiletic refrain was from John 15:16, “It is not you who chose Me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,” looked out over the congregation and exclaimed, “Here we are. Some of the fruit. Some of the fruit of Bertin’s work, his life, his ministry.”
Father Hamm said that although Father Glennon resided and ministered in Chattanooga for about 30 years, he was part of the lives of many more people in other parts of Tennessee and the country.
The Holy Trinity priest said he was amazed at the amount of mail Father Glennon received from well-wishers around the country who were impacted by his ministry.
“From the time Father Bertin started helping here in Holy Spirit Parish, the people welcomed him as he immediately made himself part of our parish family. We were blessed to host in 2021 the golden jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood. His laugh was recognizable and infectious.”
Monsignor Al Humbrecht pastor, Holy Spirit Parish
He also pointed out that “Bertin was not a monk. He loved being out with people,” and his life experiences included fishing, hunting, brewing, kayaking, dining, talking about dogs, and meeting people.
“There is one other thing I want to mention. Father Bertin was thankful. He was very thankful and appreciative of anything that you did for him. I would take him to the store, and when we got back, he would always say, ‘Thank you.’ I took him to the doctors, and it was, ‘Thank you.’ I fixed his phone, which really was just putting it back to the home page. ‘Thank you…,’” Father Hamm noted.
“So, we come together this evening, and we are thankful for the gift of Father Bertin. He touched our lives. Now, we are to follow his example and touch others with the gifts God has given us,” he added. “Father Bertin leaves a legacy for us to appreciate and follow. Now he is with the risen Lord, where in our faith we say, ‘Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it so much as dawned on man what God has prepared for those who love
Him.’ God bless you, Father Bertin.”
Monsignor Humbrecht then offered a concluding prayer before the eulogy, “Having received the sacrament of salvation, we implore your kindness, O Lord, for Father Bertin, your servant and priest, that as you made him a steward of your mysteries on earth, so you may bring him to be nourished by their truth and reality as unveiled in heaven. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.”
In his eulogy, Dr. Rose said he first met Father Glennon in 1999 in the basement of All Saints Academy, a former school building and former home to ministries of the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, where Father Glennon started his nonprofit counseling ministry.
“We hit it off pretty well,” Dr. Rose recalled. “A friend of mine in the Department of Children’s Services said, ‘You need to meet this man. He is our saving grace. He helps people. He is trusted. He is reliable. And he can help us with families that no one else can help. And he did.’”
Dr. Rose said Father Glennon served people with no voice and no hope and often helped them find a way out of their troubles.
Father Glennon was a counselor with advanced degrees in psychology who was clinical director and founder of the Center for Individual and Family Effectiveness, where he served for 20 years.
Dr. Rose pointed out that the nonprofit agency Father Glennon founded saved many lives, and its reputation was widely renowned.
“We helped a lot of people change their lives. His guidance was the vision, the understanding, and the influence on patients and the people he brought in under his wing to train and assist them in their learning,” Dr. Rose said. “He was the philosopher, and I was the translator.”
He said the Holy Trinity priest’s expertise was counseling people to make choices that benefit their lives.
Monsignor Humbrecht, who noted that Father Glennon was close to the Knights of Columbus during his ministry, said the longtime priest of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity religious order will be missed by many who knew him and were served by him. A Knights of Columbus Fourth Degree Honor Guard was part of the memorial Mass.
“From the time Father Bertin started helping here in Holy Spirit Parish, the people welcomed him as he immediately made himself part of our parish family. We were blessed to host in 2021 the golden jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood. His laugh was recognizable and infectious,” Monsignor Humbrecht said. ■
Father Bertin Glennon, ST
DAN MCWILLIAMS
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Father Charles E. Cunniff, CSP
Father Charles E. Cunniff, CSP, entered eternal life on May 2.
Father Cunniff died at the Paulist Center in Boston after struggling for several years with prostate cancer. He was 72.
Father Cunniff, who had been a member of the Paulist community for 46 years and a priest for nearly 41 years, was a Catholic campus minister, parish priest, and Catholic Information Center staff member.
He was born Oct. 22, 1951, in Boston, the eldest of seven children of Charles E. Cunniff Jr. and Constance Jewett Cunniff. He grew up in Meriden, Conn. He earned an undergraduate degree in 1973 from the University of Connecticut, where he met the Paulist Fathers through the university’s Catholic campus ministry.
He entered the Paulist novitiate in 1977, made his first promises on Aug. 12, 1978, and made his final promises on Aug. 22, 1981. Father Cunniff earned a master’s degree from the Washington Theological Union in Washington, D.C., and was ordained a priest on May 21, 1983.
In his first priestly assignment, Father Cunniff served on staff of the Catholic Information Center in Toronto through August 1984. From 1984 to 1989, he was a campus minister at St. John XXIII University Parish at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He then moved to Austin, Texas, where he was an associate pastor of St. Austin Church for five years.
He returned to campus ministry in 1994 as director of the Catholic Center at Boston University through 1999. In 2000, he became the associate director of the Catholic Information Center in Grand Rapids, Mich. That was followed by 13 years back in campus ministry at the St. Thomas More Newman Center at The Ohio State University in Columbus from 2004 to 2014 and at St. Luke University Parish at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich., from 2014 to 2017.
He then served for one year as an associate pastor at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Grand Rapids, Mich., before returning to Boston in 2018 to become associate director of the Paulist Center. From 2019 to 2022, he also served as superior of the Paulist Fathers based in Boston.
Father Cunniff was preceded in death by his parents. In addition to his brother Paulists, he is survived by his sister, Pat Tencza, and her husband, Jim; his brother, Jack Cuniff, and his wife, Maureen; his brother, Paul Cunniff, and his wife, Julie; his sister, Mary Rogalski, and her husband, Dave; his sister, Meg Price, and her husband, James; his sister, Kate Jonkman, and her husband, Hank; 13 nieces and nephews; and 13 great-nieces and great-nephews.
A funeral Mass for Father Cunniff was celebrated on May 11 at the Paulist Center in Boston. Father René Constanza, president of the Paulist Fathers, was the principal celebrant, with Father Rick Walsh, CSP, serving as the homilist.
Helen Klueh
Helen Louise Klueh, age 87, passed away Feb. 10. She was a member of St. Mary Parish in Oak Ridge, where she was active in guilds and the Council of Catholic Women.
Mrs. Klueh, who was born in Huntingburg, Ind., on Sept. 25, 1936, to William A. and Eva Marie (Bayer) Kays, married Ronald Klueh in Huntingburg on Sept. 7, 1959.
Mrs. Klueh, who was a loving wife, mother, and grandmother, moved to Tennessee in 1966 with her family. She demonstrated her creativity by becoming an accomplished painter and produced paintings and other objects in an assortment of media.
She enjoyed woodworking, sewing, traveling, and cooking, and she also enjoyed preparing her husband’s favorite meals. They often shared candlelight dinners and date nights, when he would call from work to ask her out for dinner and dancing.
Mrs. Klueh will be greatly missed by her family and her many friends.
She was survived by her husband, who died March 23; her daughter, Rona Klueh, of Portland, Ore.; son, Kevin (Kathy) Klueh; granddaughter, Zoey Klueh, of Boulder, Colo.; grandson, Ethan Klueh, of Orlando, Fla.; and sister, Marjorie Johnson, of Duluth, Minn.
She was preceded in death by her parents, brother William A. Kays, Jr., sister Mona Bredhold, and sister Glenda Miller.
A funeral Mass for Mrs. Klueh was celebrated at St. Mary Church in Oak Ridge on Feb. 15, with Father Ray Powell serving as the celebrant.
Donations in Mrs. Klueh’s memory may be made to St. Mary School in Oak Ridge or the Transplant Clinic at Methodist Transplant Institute, P.O. Box 42048, Memphis, TN 38174-2048.
Faithful Departed
Ronald Lloyd Klueh, age 87, passed away on March 23.
Dr. Klueh was born on Oct. 23, 1936, in Ferdinand, Ind., to Gilbert and Virginia Klueh. He married Helen Kays Klueh at St. Mary Church in Huntingburg, Ind., on Sept. 7, 1959. They met when they were in high school, and they were loving companions for 64 years of marriage until Mrs. Klueh’s death on Feb. 10.
The Kluehs enjoyed traveling, good food, and friends, but they especially enjoyed spending time with each other.
Dr. Klueh served in the U.S. Army for two years, then he continued on to college. Despite, or more likely in spite of naysayers, he pursued his education, graduating with a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University. He then went on to earn a master’s degree and his Ph.D. in metallurgy and material science from Carnegie Mellon University.
Dr. Klueh’s professional life began at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 1966 as a research metallurgist. While at the lab, he published over 220 scientific and technical papers. He was well known and respected in his field in the United States and abroad.
Dr. Klueh had a love for writing. In addition to technical writing, he wrote two techno-thriller novels: Perilous Panacea and The Pittsburgh Stealers Those were followed by his latest work, which tells a coming-of-age story of a young man during the Korean War era. His passion for telling wellcrafted stories lasted more than 50 years. His family recalls hearing the rat-a-tat-tat of his manual typewriter during the 1970s that lasted well into the night. Thankfully he was an early but somewhat reluctant adopter of the personal computer.
Dr. Klueh is survived by his daughter, Rona Klueh, of Portland, Ore.; a son, Kevin (Kathy) Klueh, of Orlando, Fla.; a granddaughter, Zoey Klueh, of Boulder, Colo.; a grandson, Ethan Klueh, of Orlando, Fla.; a sister, Imogene, of Ferdinand, Ind.; and a brother, Ken, and sister, Maureen, of Joshua Tree, Calif.
A funeral Mass for Dr. Klueh was celebrated on April 2 at St. Mary Church in Oak Ridge, with Father Ray Powell serving as the celebrant. Donations in Dr. Klueh’s memory can be made to St. Mary School in Oak Ridge or the Transplant Clinic at Methodist Transplant Institute, P.O. Box 42048, Memphis, TN 38174-2048.
Gail Salatka
and Brandon Thomas; stepson, Anthony Salatka of New Castle, Del.; cousins, Georgia Lichner of Joliet, Ill., Kenneth (Kate) Lichner of Lewisburg, Ky., Nancy (Bill) England of Burr Ridge, Ill., Steven (Ellen) Lichner of Tinley Park, Ill., Diane Lichner of Vernon Hills, Ill., and Tracy (Lichner) Pierce; her godchild of Oak Forest, Ill.; the KaiserSaturday family, especially Mary Ann SaturdayTaylor of Michigan City, Ind.; the Staszewski families of Indiana; the Pinkowski families of Indiana; and cousin Linda Therriault of Frankfort, Ill.
A funeral Mass for Mrs. Salatka was celebrated on June 1 at St. Jude Church in Chattanooga. An inurnment service in the St. Jude columbarium followed the Mass.
Donations in Mrs. Salatka’s memory may be made to the Chattanooga Room in the Inn, 230 N. Highland Park Ave., Chattanooga, TN 37404, or go to chattanoogaroomintheinn.com
Margaret Ann Jeswald
Margaret “Maggie” Ann Jeswald, 77, of Loudon, passed away peacefully on May 29 with her family by her side.
Mrs. Jeswald was born in Pittsburgh on July 31, 1946, to the late Samuel and Anna (Catazone) Profeta and grew up in the town of Brookline, Pa. She attended Elizabeth Seton High School and Duff’s Business Institute of Pittsburgh, where she began her career at the stock brokerage firm of Babbitt, Meyers & Waddell in Pittsburgh.
Mrs. Jeswald, who also had a strong love for animals and later worked as a veterinary technician for many years, was happily married to her best friend, Jim, for over 53 years. She also enjoyed spending time with her family, friends, and grandchildren. After retirement, the Jeswalds moved to Tellico Village in 2010, where they enjoyed boating, bowling, traveling, and volunteer groups. They have been members of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Lenoir City.
Mrs. Jeswald is survived by her loving husband, Jim; her daughter, Samantha (Dan) Higgs; her grandchildren, Avery and Aiden Higgs; and many dear cousins, nieces, and nephews.
A memorial service for Mrs. Jeswald was held at St. Thomas the Apostle Church on June 7. A celebration of life will be held at a later date in Pittsburgh. Memorial contributions in Mrs. Jeswald’s name may be made to the organization very near and dear to her heart: Smoky Mountain Service Dogs, 8380 Fairview Road, Lenoir City, TN 37772.
Jeanne Elizabeth Marx Young
Gail Marie Gajownik Salatka passed away on May 19 at the age of 73, surrounded by her loved ones. Mrs. Salatka was born in Chicago on April 27, 1951, to Renetta and Stanley Gajownik. She attended St. Joseph Elementary and St. Francis de Sales High School in South Chicago through her junior year. She graduated from Wylie E. Groves High School in Beverly Hills, Mich., in 1969.
After moving to Chattanooga in 1969, Mrs. Salatka continued her education in nursing school at Piedmont Hospital School of Nursing in Atlanta, graduating in 1972 as a registered nurse. She began her nursing career at Parkridge Hospital in Chattanooga after graduation. After a few years, she moved to Erlanger Medical Center to begin a lifelong career in adult critical-care nursing. She went on to receive her BSN and Adult Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN) certifications, and she specialized in cardiac care. She was pursuing her MSN in nursing from Southern Adventist University. She was most known for her position as the adult critical-care nursing educator at Erlanger, where she excelled in the interpretation of EKGs and the ability to train nurses in the interpretation of EKGs.
As an adult critical-care nursing educator, Mrs. Salatka impacted hundreds of nurses and medical professionals in the Chattanooga area. Her knowledge, teaching, and personality were most admired and cherished by her students and her colleagues. Mrs. Salatka retired in 2017 after nearly 40 years of Erlanger service. She completed her career as the principal trainer for the EPIC EMR System during its inception at Erlanger Medical Center.
Mrs. Salatka was an avid reader and cherished the books from her childhood that she enjoyed collecting over the years. She enjoyed cross-stitching, making flower arrangements, and completing all kinds of crafting projects for her friends and family. She also was an accomplished figure skater in the 1970s, participating in many events with the Chattanooga Ice Skating Club and in regional competitions. She was loved dearly by her family and friends, who remember her for her positivity, kindness, and compassion.
Mrs. Salatka was preceded in death by her parents, Stanley and Renetta Gajownik, and her grandparents, Anthony and Sally Lichnerowicz. She is survived by her husband, Albert Salatka Sr.; her son, Albert, Jr.; sister, Gloria Marie Gajownik; stepson, Jeffrey (Nena) Salatka, of White Lake, Mich.; and grandchildren, Alexis Thomas
Jeanne Elizabeth Marx Young, age 96, passed away peacefully in her sleep on July 4.
Mrs. Young was born in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 3, 1928, to Loretta Broderick Marx and Oscar Edward Marx, as the oldest of their three children. She graduated from Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia and received a master’s degree in social work with a specialty in psychiatric casework from Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and worked as a clinical social worker.
As a psychiatric caseworker, she was employed at Philadelphia General Hospital, University of Michigan Hospital, and the Veterans Administration hospital in Houston, and served as a supervisor of casework at Catholic Charities in Houston.
After marriage to Dr. Vernon H. Young and moving to Knoxville, Mrs. Young volunteered at several agencies. She was chairman of Child and Family Services, past president and board member of the Knoxville Academy of Medicine Alliance, a board member of the American Lung Association, involved with the KAMA suicide prevention program, chaired the Benefits Gala of the American Lung Association, was a Ladies of Charity volunteer, a group leader with outpatients at Overlook Mental Health Center, and a member of Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish Council.
Mrs. Young devoted her life to her family and raising her five sons, for which she always reflected was her greatest pride and joy.
She is preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Dr. Vernon H. Young, infant daughter, Mary Margaret Young, and sister Kathleen Marx Sharp. She is survived by her sister, Carol Ann Marx Wickersham; her five sons and daughters-in-law, Dr. Christopher and Vanessa Young, Gregory and Kathy Young, Patrick and Melissa Young, Dr. Richard Young, and Broderick and Heather Young; and grandchildren Julia, Madeline, Eric, Chloe, Willow, Piper, Ann Claire, Hutton, and Evelyn.
A funeral Mass for Mrs. Young was celebrated on July 10, at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, with interment following at Berry Highland Memorial Cemetery. Memorials for Mrs. Young may be made to Sacred Heart Cathedral School, the Ladies of Charity, or a charity of your choice. ■
Ronald Klueh
Fr. Cunniff
Dr. Klueh
Mrs. Klueh
Mrs. Jeswald
Mrs. Young
Mrs. Salatka
Making a difference
New book details the influential role of Catholics in overturning Roe v. Wade
By Kate Scanlon OSV News
In the nearly 50 years separating Roe v. Wade from the Supreme Court’s June 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that reversed the high court’s previous abortion precedent, abortion opponents argued against the Roe ruling many of them saw as judicial overreach.
But the demise of Roe largely took place in the last decade of its existence, New York Times journalists Elizabeth Dias and Lisa Lerer write in their new book, The Fall of Roe: The Rise of a New America
The book delves into the history behind the fall of Roe v. Wade, including the role of many Catholics in that effort.
Ms. Dias told OSV News in an interview that to chronicle the events of the final decade with Roe on the books, they examined “the behind-
Pope continued from page A8
said the explanation published by the Vatican press office on May 8.
The logo also features a map of Indonesia, “an archipelago characterized by a great variety of ethnic and social groups, languages, cultures, and religious beliefs,” it said.
“Pray” is the theme chosen by the bishops of Papua New Guinea, and the word is written vertically alongside a cross. The logo is predominantly in shades of orange and yellow to evoke the sunrise and sunset, and the design features a bird of paradise with the colors of the national flag on its wings.
In Timor-Leste, the papal trip will be centered on the theme, “Let your faith be your culture.”
The center of the logo features a photo of Pope Francis giving his blessing “to symbolize the protection that the Timorese people will receive from God” during the pope’s visit, according to the explanation distributed by the Vatican. Behind the papal photo is an image of the globe and on top is a map of Timor-Leste.
The logo for the Singapore visit features the two-word theme in bright yellow letters: “Unity” and “Hope” separated by a starburst cross “inspired by the star that guided the Magi, by the Eucharist, and by the five stars of the flag of Singapore.”
The Church in Singapore, led by Cardinal Wil-
Democracy continued from page A12
we cannot be content with a marginal or private faith,” he said. Yet bringing one’s faith into the public sphere means “not so much to be heard, but to have the courage to make proposals for justice and
three times whether Peter loves him
Archbishop Hebda said Peter’s affirmative response is met with Jesus telling Peter to “feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep.”
“Those statements reveal Jesus’ priority that His beloved flock would always be cared for, that they would be fed,” the archbishop said. “I’m not surprised that the Church would give us that Gospel on the occasion of an ordination.”
“Jesus is the paradigm for what it means to be a shepherd, a pastor, to be pastoral,” the archbishop continued. “Jesus, the Good Shepherd, we hear in the Gospel today, wanted to make sure that His beloved sheep would always be fed. And so, He instituted on Holy Thursday both the Eucharist and the priesthood. They go together. They’re intimately connected.”
It was providential, the archbishop said, that the ordination was happening during the U.S. Church’s National Eucharistic Revival, “and indeed, as one of the four National (Eucharistic) Pilgrimages crosses through our archdiocese” on the way to the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis.
In Los Angeles on June 1, Archbishop José H. Gomez ordained 11 new priests at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels. More than 3,500 invited guests and 260 priests attended the ceremony.
It’s the largest number of new priests the archdiocese has had “in several years,” according to Father Peter Saucedo, the archdiocese’s director of the Office for Vocations,
the-scenes, inside strategy of the anti-abortion movement, especially women activists, conservative women who’ve made it their life’s work to fight abortion in America, and we chronicle their
liam Goh Seng Chye, said “unity” was chosen to express the hope for “communion and harmony among believers, both within the Church and in the context of society and family relations,” while “hope” expresses a prayer that the pope’s visit will bring hope to Christians in the region, “especially for those who experience discrimination.”
Pope Francis intends to travel to the tiny European nation of Luxembourg and neighboring Belgium less than two weeks after his scheduled four-nation tour of Asia, the director of the Vatican press office said.
“Accepting the invitation of the respective heads of state and Church authorities, the Holy Father Francis will make an apostolic journey to Luxembourg Sept. 26 and to Belgium Sept. 2629, traveling to Brussels, Leuven, and Louvain-
peace in the public debate.” Catholics, he said, “have something to say, but not to defend privileges. No. We must be a voice, a condemning and proposing voice in a society that is often mute and where too many have no voice.”
rise, which was a bit behind the scenes to a lot of people, especially at the time.”
“We also weave in the story of liberal women who support abortion rights, of the leaders of groups like Planned Parenthood, NARAL, etc., and sort of track these two different storylines,” she added.
The book, a nonpartisan chronicle of the last decade of Roe, features interviews with relevant players on both sides of the abortion debate, including those who sought to protect or undo Roe It argues that through a combination of strategy and luck, abortion opponents used legal and political means to unravel Roe, all while abortion advocates largely failed to convince their allies on the left that the fall of Roe was imminent.
In one portion of the book, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reflected on her 2016 presidential loss, which came as a surprise to many, and features prominently in the story, as pro-life
la-Neuve,” Matteo Bruni, the director, said in a statement on May 20.
Details about the trip “will be published in due course,” he added.
The main focus of the trip to Belgium, which is just a two-hour flight from Rome, is to mark the founding of the oldest Catholic university still in existence in the world, the Catholic University of Leuven, which celebrates its 600th anniversary during the 2024-25 academic year.
Founded in 1425 with a decree by Pope Martin V, today the university is split into the Dutchspeaking KU Leuven, located in Leuven, and the French-speaking UCLouvain, which was moved to Louvain-la-Neuve.
Brussels serves as the de facto capital of the European Union, hosting the headquarters of the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the formal seat of European Parliament, and the European Council.
The last time a pope visited Belgium was in 1995 when St. John Paul II went to Brussels for the beatification of St. Damien De Veuster.
St. John Paul also visited the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in 1985.
The trip to Belgium and Luxembourg in two months would come less than two weeks after what would be the longest trip of Pope Francis’ papacy, the trip to Singapore, Papua New Guinea, and Timor-Leste. ■
The pope asked Christians to develop “politics of love” and to move beyond polarization, which “does not help to understand and confront challenges.”
Rather, the role of the Church is to engage people with hope, Pope
and 260
which hosts the ceremony.
The men range in age from 28 to 40, and like their peers in Washington, D.C., and St. Paul, they come from varied backgrounds. Among them is a former caterer, a former therapist, a former football player who was a coach and a teacher; three were born in Mexico; one is the only child of Vietnamese immigrants; another is the oldest of two sons of immigrant parents from South Korea; and another, the son of Croatian immigrants.
“More and more I am convinced of the need for people to encounter Jesus Christ; with the many challenges that we encounter in life, people are seeking something more, and these men with their diverse backgrounds and experiences are
excited to bring them the only thing that could truly fulfill that desire,” the priest said in a statement ahead of the ordination Mass. “We ask for your prayers for these men, that they might inspire young people to encounter Christ and consider their vocation.”
In his homily, Archbishop Gomez told the 11 men, “As His priests, you will be Christ’s servants, stewards of this great mystery of love, which the Father is working out in salvation history. Love is the reason God created the universe. Love is the reason God created you and me and every one of us here today. And love, my dear brothers, is the reason for your priesthood.”
Quoting St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests, he said,
Francis said, “because without it we administer the present but do not build the future.”
“Without hope we would be stewards, balancers of the present, and not prophets and builders of the future,” he said. ■
“The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus.”
“In the heart of God there is a deep longing,” the archbishop said. “The Father longs for every man and woman to share in His love and to become sons and daughters in His family, in the kingdom of love that He is building here on earth in His Church.”
Archbishop Gomez said the new priests “are going to be the leaders of the eucharistic revival in our times. I think we all recognize that there is something happening in the world today, something exciting. There’s a new movement of the Spirit. ... What an exciting time to be a priest!”
On May 18, Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki of Milwaukee ordained nine men to the priesthood at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.
“Through your actions as priests and the celebration of the sacraments, the preaching of the Word, and your acts of charity, God’s grace will shape and form the communities you serve,” the archbishop said in his homily. “Our Catholics need the shepherding of ordained priests to support and direct them, for you know as I do that true happiness can never be achieved apart from God, and we know who is the way, the truth, and the life that has been given to us.”
The Catholic Herald, Milwaukee's archdiocesan news outlet, reported that the archbishop concluded his homily with seven words “he promised would assure them happiness in their priesthood: ‘Faithfully serve Jesus Christ in His Church.’” ■
Vocations continued from page A17
The circle of faith Eleven men lie prostrate during their ordination Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles on June 1. More than 3,500 invited guests
priests attended the ceremony featuring the largest priest ordination class in the archdiocese since 2008.
Impactful Catholics Pro-life demonstrators in Washington, D.C., celebrate outside the Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, as the court overruled the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision.
OSV NEWS PHOTO/EVELYN HOCKSTEIN, REUTERS
Dobbs continued on page A23
advocates sought to fill roles, and judicial nominations, in the ensuing Trump administration.
Mrs. Clinton criticized her party for underestimating abortion opponents and being “taken by surprise” by the landmark Dobbs decision.
“We didn’t take it seriously, and we didn’t understand the threat,” Mrs. Clinton said in the book about her political party.
The book also notes that Catholic pro-life activists played prominent roles in the legal and political efforts to overturn Roe. One pro-life activist featured prominently in the book is Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which works to elect pro-life candidates to public office.
The book says Ms. Dannenfelser, feeling as if other prominent figures on the right were blaming social issues for Republicans’ loss in the 2012 election, shifted her groups’ strategy to secure political and legal influence for the pro-life cause.
Asked about her thoughts on the book, Ms. Dannenfelser said, “The grassroots groundswell for 50 years leading up to the defeat of Roe's culture of death is a testament to the unwavering dedication and tireless efforts of the pro-life movement, propelled by the deeply held belief in the inherent value and dignity of every human being.”
“The pro-life movement’s ability
volumes about the resilience and determination of our movement,” she said. “We worked together to overturn Roe by persisting in our mission to protect the unborn and support mothers, seizing every opportunity to refocus, strategize, and renew our commitment to transform culture and policy.”
ensuring that the voices of the most vulnerable are heard and heeded in the ongoing struggle for human dignity and justice. Now, we must use this same persistence and dedication in this post-Roe era until every child is saved and every mother is served.”
Ms. Dias said Catholic figures are a central part of the story of the fall of Roe
“There’s an idea that actually it was evangelicalism that pushed this through, but actually, evangelicals were really late to the anti-abortion movement, and the role of Catholics, especially white Catholics, white conservative Catholics, ended up being completely pivotal in the overturning of Roe,” Ms. Dias said. “Almost all of the main players who we document and share their stories are Catholic.”
Ms. Dias added that the book “is a political story, but we really wrote it as a personal story, too.”
The book features interviews with staff and volunteers at pro-life pregnancy resource centers as well as abortion clinics.
to defy the odds, even when facing political pressures and attempts to sideline pro-life issues, speaks
sin. Father Kress received his master’s degree in divinity.
Father Kress was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop O’Connell on June 12, 1999, at St. Thérèse of Lisieux Church.
Father Kress has held assignments at St. Dominic Parish in Kingsport, St. Elizabeth Parish in Elizabethton, and St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Mountain City, and is currently assigned to St. Therese Parish in Clinton and St. Joseph in Norris.
On his days off, Father Kress enjoys a good book and exploring what the Clinton-Norris area has to offer.
“I’m a reader. I like fiction. Unfortunately, I like to waste my time reading a good novel, so that’s what I do generally on my days off,” he shared. “Lately, I’ve been kind of exploring this area because this part of the state I’m not really familiar with. I’ve been going up to Norris and up into Campbell County to see what I can find.”
As the years have gone by, Father Kress said he has become “much more comfortable” in his role as a priest.
“I was always very quiet, sort of a reserved person. I’ve learned to get out and enjoy it, enjoy the priesthood and be a part of it,” he said.
For the diocese’s three newly ordained priests, Father Kress has a bit of advice.
“Embrace it for all it’s worth,” he said. “My first pastor was Father Charlie Burton, who basically said this ministry is yours to make it what you want. Up there in Kingsport I mostly became involved with the school; I really had never worked with children. I enjoyed it. But, yeah, to embrace it and really take it in. Those three that
“The defeat of Roe v. Wade,” she continued, “is a historic victory for the pro-life movement, giving life a winning chance and
were ordained [on June 8] I don’t think are going to have any problem.”
In addition to St. Joseph Parish celebrating its pastor’s 25th ordination anniversary, the community also celebrated their sole deacon.
“Yes, this is an investigation, and it looks at these big political changes, (but) this at heart is a story about people, exploring questions about what it means to be human, and what it means to be a woman,” she said. “And it’s an intimate story.”
The second anniversary of the Dobbs decision was June 24. ■
Deacon Dan Hosford was celebrating his 17th ordination anniversary. He was ordained a deacon at All Saints Church in Knoxville in 2007.
“What 17 years means to me is actually, I guess it’s a trust and a growing,” Deacon Hosford said. “The journey has been adventurous, and sometimes there’s ups, sometimes there’s downs, but it’s been a tremendous journey, especially journeying with other people. Being an introvert, it’s been a challenge, but I’ve learned how to, sometimes forcefully, open up and be part of a community. Seventeen years I’m looking forward to more. It’s become comfortable in some ways, uncomfortable in other ways. Always learning and discovering that there’s always something else, a new experience, a new way of looking at things through God’s eyes, hopefully.”
Deacon Hosford was happy to celebrate Father Kress and his milestone, sharing that he appreciated him.
“I appreciate his guidance, the freedom that he gives me to do my ministry, and I know that he gives that to each and every one of you as well,” Deacon Hosford said to the parishioners in the parish hall. “I can see the joy in your faces and hear the laughter in your voices, and Sundays are something I look forward to because I get to spend it with all of you.”
“[Father Kress] is such a quiet presence at most times,” he continued. “He’s very understanding of where people come from. He’s very reassuring. … So, we all love him, and I enjoy his humor, enjoy his insights, and he’s just like one of the guys in some ways. He’s quiet-spoken, but his presence brings a sense of family and a sense of belonging and a sense of community to the parish.” ■
Jubilee continued from page A7
GABRIELLE NOLAN
Show and tell Father Dennis Kress was presented with a gift of a framed canvas photo of St. Joseph Parish, which he evidently was very pleased with, for his 25th anniversary as a priest.
Happy anniversary! Top: Pro-life supporters rallied on June 23 at the Tennessee Right to Life prayer garden in Knoxville to celebrate the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Bottom: Pro-life supporters in Chattanooga share their message with passing motorists.
