Catholic Extension’s 2024 Lumen Christi Award being given to Sr. Mary Lisa Renfer for her work with the St. Mary’ s Legacy Clinic
By Bill Brewer
Catholic Extension Society has named Sister Mary Lisa Renfer, RSM, as the 2024 recipient of the Lumen Christi Award, the highest honor given by the respected lay organization whose nonprofit work supports and strengthens mission dioceses across the United States.
Sister Mary Lisa is being recognized for her work with the St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic, which provides health care to low-income, uninsured residents across East Tennessee. The Diocese of Knoxville health-care ministry logs more than 1,500 patient visits annually through its 40-foot mobile medical van. Patients served by the clinic do not have to be of the Catholic faith, and the vast majority are not.
Sister Mary Lisa, a physician
whose order is the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Mich., serves as medical director for the St. Mary’s
Feeling the presence of Jesus
Diocese of Knoxville pilgrims experience National Eucharistic Congress in Indy
By Gabrielle Nolan
Holy God, we praise thy name; Lord of all, we bow before thee.”
More than 50,000 Catholics sang these words during eucharistic adoration at the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis July 17-21. Over 80 years had passed since the last Eucharistic Congress, which was held in Minnesota in 1941.
The congress was a key part of the three-year National Eucharistic Revival, an initiative of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that aims to increase knowledge and reverence of the true presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
The revival, which began in June 2022, will formally conclude in 2025.
As its name implies, the National Eucharistic Congress drew pilgrims from around the country, including more than 170 pilgrims from the Diocese of Knoxville.
Father Doug Owens, pastor of All Saints Parish in Knoxville, blessed the pilgrims before their departure. Three charter buses carried youth and adults from Knoxville Catholic High School to Indianapolis, where congress events took place at Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center.
Deacon Jim Bello, director of the
Legacy Clinic.
In describing Sister Mary Lisa, Catholic Extension Society said:
“Sister Mary Lisa Renfer, a Religious Sister of Mercy, earned her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Michigan State University. This unique fusion of a medical degree and a religious vocation prepared Sister Mary Lisa to become the medical director of St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic (SMLC), a mobile clinic that serves the poor in eastern Tennessee.
“The clinic covers a lot of ground. Last year it traveled over 11,000 miles. SMLC has 10 practice sites and will see over 1,500 patients this year with the help of a network of 100 health-care professionals who lend their medical expertise to the mission. Seventy-two percent of patients live in extreme poverty and lack insurance and basic health care. Sister Mary Lisa attends to the spiritual needs of her patients
Lumen
Bishop Beckman sets out for parishes, schools following ordination, installation
The East Tennessee Catholic
Bishop Mark Beckman has hit the ground running following his July 26 ordination and installation as he visits parishes and schools, celebrating Mass and getting to know the Catholic faithful of East Tennessee.
In his remarks to parishioners and students, Bishop Beckman is telling them he is beginning his episcopate by first “looking, listening, and learning” as he gets to know the Diocese of Knoxville.
He plans to spend his first year as the diocese’s shepherd learning as much as he can about the Church in East Tennessee
His bishopry so far has taken him to all four deaneries, where
he has celebrated Mass in the Tri-Cities, Chattanooga, and the Cumberland Plateau, and greeted parishioners in Morristown, Alcoa, Farragut, and Oak Ridge Two months into his new ministry, the bishop already has visited schools in the Five Rivers and Chattanooga deaneries, with more visits scheduled around the diocese. Along the way, he has attended a performance by the Hillbilly Thomists at the Bijou Theatre and the Irish Fest at Immaculate Conception Church in downtown Knoxville and sat down with Catholic students at the University of Tennessee. Parishioners around the diocese say they are looking forward to Bishop
celebrating Mass at their
Masses continued on page A15
Christi continued on page A22
Office of Christian Formation
SPIRIT OF THE LORD IN EAST
Shining the light of Christ Sister Mary Lisa Renfer, RSM, is the 2024 recipient of Catholic Extension Society's Lumen Christi Award.
Beckman
The source and summit The holy Eucharist in the monstrance is the centerpoint of the eucharistic procession in downtown Indianapolis on July 20. Thousands of pilgrims from around the country took part in the procession as part of the five-day Natonal Eucharistic Congress. Photo by Gabrielle Nolan
Thumbs up Members of the church choir who sang for Mass at Our Lady of Fatima in Alcoa and Bishop Mark Beckman exchange their approval as they met following the service. Bishop Beckman celebrated a Smoky Mountain Deanery Mass at the Blount County church. Photo by Emily Booker
For converts to Catholicism, RCIA is now OCIA
What’ s behind the change? The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops explains
By Daniel Meloy Catholic News Service
For anyone interested in becoming Catholic, wishing to complete the sacraments, or wanting to learn more about what the Church teaches, the answer for decades was “join RCIA.”
The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, the process by which the Church brings in new converts and educates catechumens and candidates, has been a staple in Catholic life and lingo for years.
But in November 2021, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops changed the name of one of the best-known acronyms in the Church, reorienting the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) into the new Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA).
So, is the new answer simply, “join OCIA”?
Yes, but there’s more to it than that. The change from “rite” to “order” is in part because of a re-
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 September prayer intention for the cry of the Earth
“We pray that each one of us will hear and take to heart the cry of the Earth and of victims of natural disasters and climate change, and that all will undertake to personally care for the world in which we live.”
Pope Francis
translation of the Latin name into English, said Mercy Sister Esther Mary Nickel, director of sacred
worship in the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Department of Evangelization and Missionary Discipleship.
“(The bishops) retranslated the Order of Initiation of Adult Catechumens (Ordo Initiationis Christianae Adultorum) from Latin,” Sister Esther Mary told the Detroit Catholic , the archdiocese’s news outlet.
“When I studied in Rome, we had OCIA because it was all in Latin. All we have done is taken the ‘O,’ which is ‘ordo,’ and made it back to ‘order,’ instead of the ‘R’ for ‘rite.’ I don't want to say it was a mistranslation, but the new translation is more comprehensive.”
It might seem like semantics, but changing the process of entering the Church from a “rite” to an “order” has practical implications, Sister Esther Mary said. For one thing, rites are still part of the order but the new structure is meant to invite candidates and
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 ■
Sr. Regina
© 2024 Handmaids of the Precious Blood
OCIA continued on page A13
DLooking, listening, and learning
‘ Bishop of the Mountains’ discovering the spirit of the Lord is active in East Tennessee
ear brothers and sisters in Christ, what a joy it is to be your shepherd here in the Diocese of Knoxville! From the first moment I arrived as bishop-elect in early May, I have simply been overwhelmed by your love and hospitality.
You have been praying for many months for the arrival of a new shepherd, and since you learned my name, have been praying for me personally and for my preparation. I have felt your prayers.
Since the day I learned that Pope Francis had appointed me, I have been praying for all of you as well.
The week before I received the call from the nuncio, I was hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains with a good priest friend, with no idea that I would someday be your shepherd. I remember hearing of your need and praying for you all though.
A short time later, early in the morning of April 29, the nuncio called as I was praying. Admittedly, at first, I felt overwhelmed with fear. I shared how I must have peace in order to respond with a yes, and the nuncio gave me the time needed to receive that peace.
In these initial weeks, I have hit the ground running. I have traveled from the Tri-Cities to Chattanooga,
celebrating the Eucharist in many parishes and visiting many of our schools. The greatest memory I carry in my heart from the deanery Masses, Mass with the Spanish-speaking community, and the meals shared with our priests are all of your faces!
The joy and love with which you have welcomed me have been overwhelming. You excel in hospitality. You are a true gift from the Lord to me, and I pray that I may be so for you. It has been a delight to pray with you in the eucharistic liturgy and to experience the gift of our parishes.
During lunch with Knoxville Catholic High School student leaders in August, I was struck by their profound questions. One of the students wanted to know what my plan was for this first year as bishop. “Two things,” I replied. “First, I am here to look, listen, and learn. I want to meet the people of this diocese and to hear from you. Together I want us to listen to where God is inviting us as a Church to go. Secondly, I have been sent to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. That is why I chose as my episcopal motto Jesus Christ: Yesterday, Today, and Forever! Every bishop, as successor of the Apostles, is ‘ sent to proclaim the Gospel.’”
(Incidentally, another good friend reminded me just before my instal-
‘A t aste of heaven’
lation that I was a successor of the Apostles and asked if that made me nervous. “Yes!” I replied. He reminded me of what the first Twelve were like with all of their faults and failings. I laughed. That brought me comfort, very aware that I am still unfinished.)
I have enjoyed opportunities to also laugh with great priests of this diocese, and ask each one a very important question: What do you love most about this Church? I am encouraged by their positive and enthusiastic responses.
They mentioned all of you, the people of God. They spoke about the warmth and community within the priesthood, about the vibrancy of this young diocese, about its energy and the many new Catholics who join this Church every year. These are signs of great life. The spirit of the Lord is very active in this place!
The priests also described the great natural beauty of East Tennessee. As you may know by now, my earliest memories of East Tennessee are many family trips to the Smokies. I have always loved the mountains here and have spent countless hours hiking, camping, backpacking, and even white-water rafting on the Ocoee River. From the highlands of Roan Mountain to the Cumberland Plateau, to the valleys around Mont-
eagle, indeed some of God’s most beautiful creation surrounds us.
In time, I may have better words to express the smile that came over me when talking with a student back in Nashville about becoming shepherd of the Diocese of Knoxville. “Yes! I am going to be the Bishop of the Mountains,” I recall humbly and proudly turning his question into a statement. Brothers and sisters, I want to thank all of you for your great “Yes!” to God. Each of us claimed by the love of God in the waters of baptism is a beloved son and daughter of the Most High. As part of this Catholic Church, we are called by the Lord to be a light in this world.
Let us be a light that brings the Lord’s Gospel of healing, peace, and love to all the people of East Tennessee. I invite you priests and deacons, seminarians and religious men and women, and the whole people of God to join me in allowing the spirit of God to guide us forward.
May the burning love of Christ for every single person flow through our hearts in love and service. We ask the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God, and all the saints as we carry on the mission entrusted to us by the Lord Himself.
Peace, love, and blessings to all of you! ■
The National Eucharistic Congress was a blessed exercise in joy-filled unity
By Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens OSV News
When I am asked about my experience with the 10th National Eucharistic Congress, I think of the comments I received from many people who attended and told me they did not want it to end.
Both young and old, laity and religious, and priests and bishops commented that the days of this gathering of the Church were so blessed and such an experience of joy-filled unity that they felt like it was a foretaste of heaven.
One religious said to me, “We had to be told three times (twice by Cardinal Tagle and once by Bishop Cozzens) to go! Or we would have never left.” Then she added, “But we need to go to share what we have received.”
The two most powerful moments for me personally were when I got to carry Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and lead people in prayer before Him. Both the opening Holy Hour and Saturday’s eucharistic procession were moments of experiencing the Lord’s profound love and delight for His people.
To see 60,000 people the largest procession in this country in almost 50 years gathered to show their love and honor for Jesus Christ was powerful. It was as if the whole Church was in procession toward heaven: various orders of Knights and Ladies, the first Communion children, over 900 women religious (most of them young!), hundreds of seminarians and deacons, over 1,200 priests (also mostly young!), and 200 bishops.
As we processed through the streets, to see the people singing and praying, many of them with tears, it was overwhelming. And as we continued, the people joined the procession until all 60,000 of us ended up at the memorial where we had Benediction.
What a gift to show our love for Jesus Christ in this way and to experience that He does in fact walk with us on our own pilgrimage to heaven.
I believe that one of the reasons the event was so special was that it was a congress and not a conference. A congress is a gathering of
"What made the National Eucharistic Congress so powerful? When the Church is centered on Jesus and proclaiming His salvation, when the Church prays and honors the incredible gift of Jesus Christ truly present in the Eucharist, God reveals His power."
the Church for worship, centered on the experience of the liturgy and prayer before the Eucharist.
The purpose of the congress is to express our love and gratitude to the Lord for the gift of the Eucharist and to grow in that love. This is why we had the beautiful focus on repentance and conversion of heart, so we can all grow deeper in union with the Lord.
I was so grateful for the way the speakers kept the kerygma, the proclamation of the Good News of salvation, at the center, inviting all to repentance and also showing how the Eucharist is central to this proclamation of the redeeming love of Christ. I believe it helped us see how the Eucharist, the source and summit of our Christian life, is also the source and summit of evangelization.
The congress was an expression of the two themes that have marked
the National Eucharistic Revival, which came from Pope Francis’ exhortation Evangelii Gaudium: encounter and mission.
We said from the beginning of the Eucharistic Revival that we wanted to inspire a movement of Catholics across the United States who are healed, converted, formed, and unified by an encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist and who are then sent out on mission “for the life of the world.”
We experienced these things at the National Eucharistic Congress. We saw both physical and spiritual healings, we saw hearts being more deeply converted to Him, we had incredible opportunities for formation, and all who came or participated virtually experienced a spirit of deep unity in the gift of the Church. What made the National Eucharistic Congress so powerful? When the Church is centered on
Jesus and proclaiming His salvation, when the Church prays and honors the incredible gift of Jesus Christ truly present in the Eucharist, God reveals His power. For me, it was a new and deeper experience of God’s desire to bless His Church. I found myself repenting for my lack of faith that God can work so deeply in my heart and in the hearts of others. It made me wonder just how beautiful eternity will be.
I am keenly aware that many people shouldered incredible sacrifices for this event to be so spiritually fruitful. Most of those sacrifices were made by a dedicated, missiondriven team of laypeople, led by National Eucharistic Congress CEO Timothy Glemkowski.
Without the hard work, spiritual depth, and incredible gifting of these people, the event would have been very different.
Tim has decided to leave the NEC and go back to his first love, parish renewal. He will now lead the Amazing Parish apostolate. The NEC will be led by Jason Shanks, formerly of Our Sunday Visitor, going forward. We are grateful to Tim for his incredible leadership, which shaped this event so profoundly. As we made clear at the end of the congress, the mission is just beginning. The mission happens when those of us who have been touched by this National Eucharistic Revival decide to take up Jesus’ call to share it.
In this third year of the revival, we must take this message and experience of love outside the walls of the Church to those who need it most. I hope that many will join the call to help evangelize through our “Walk with One” initiative. Learn more and find resources at www.eucharisticrevival.org/ walk-with-one
If you missed the congress or would like to see more of the talks and videos, they are all available here: www.eucharisticcongress.org/ streaming ■
Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens is
bishop of the Diocese of Crookston, Minn., and chairman of the board of National Eucharistic Congress Inc.
OSV NEWS PHOTO/BOB ROLLER
The Real Presence Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens of Crookston, Minn., chairman of the board of the National Eucharistic Congress Inc., kneels in prayer before the monstrance during eucharistic adoration at the July 17 opening revival night of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens
The thirst for freedom from addiction
Catholic Extension-funded iThirst program begins to have an impact in
By Gabrielle Nolan
Drugs. Alcohol. Sex. Gambling. Addiction comes in many forms, whether it’s substance abuse or behavioral addiction.
Addiction not only affects the addict, but also their family members, friends, and communities.
Providing support for all involved in the sphere of addiction is a program called iThirst, which is an initiative of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity. This religious community of priests and brothers focuses on serving the poor and abandoned.
According to its website, the iThirst initiative “empowers dioceses, parishes, and communities to become a resource for those suffering from addictions and their families.”
The executive director of iThirst, Keaton Douglas, wrote the book The Road to Hope: Responding to the Crisis of Addiction, which was published by Our Sunday Visitor in 2023.
Ms. Douglas leads Zoom classes online for clergy, religious, and laypeople to receive a Spiritual Companionship Certification with Seton Hall University.
Paul Simoneau, vice chancellor of administration for the Diocese of Knoxville, contacted Deacon Tim Elliott, former diocesan director of the diaconate and deacon formation, about utilizing the iThirst program within the diocese.
“The program was funded through a grant offered by the Catholic Extension Society,” Mr. Simoneau said. “When I learned of the initiative that Catholic Extension was offering grants through, I communicated with the diaconate office seeing the obvious value in such training for those of our deacons involved in parish ministry.”
Deacon Elliott said that deacons are “called to a life of service.”
“We are servants of the Word, altar, and charity,” he said. “All of these are highlighted in a call to serve those who have fallen into dependencies. Being the hands and feet of Jesus, bringing the needs of the neighborhood to the altar and the Church to the neighborhood, the program seemed natural.”
“Coming out of the pandemic, I knew from experience that there were many still coping with the
aftereffects of the isolation and mental-health issues that led to dependencies on drugs and alcohol,” Deacon Elliott continued.
“Also, there has been an increase in dependencies that are manifesting in the communities of East Tennessee.”
Deacon Elliott selected deacons for the iThirst initiative based on their predisposition to service with the homeless and local communities in need, such as the poor and underserved, as well as those interested in the areas of recovery and mental health.
“Deacon Robert Rust is a mentalhealth professional in the Knoxville area and serves the community though counseling and charitable opportunities in St. Vincent de Paul,” Deacon Elliott shared.
“Deacon Wade Eckler was similarly chosen in the Chattanooga area. His interests are with the underserved in the Chattanooga area.”
The deacons’ online classes ran from February to April of this year,
putting in six hours a week for eight weeks.
By engaging in the iThirst program, participants do the following:
n Study the spiritual dimension of the disease of addiction, including its devastating physiological and psychological effects.
n Learn pastoral-care strategies appropriate for this population and motivational interviewing and listening techniques.
n Receive Spiritual Companion Certification through Seton Hall University in New Jersey along with an official iThirst companion
card to promote their service to their community
n Receive 4.8 continuing education units.
n Understand how to effectively work with those suffering from addictions and their families.
n Know how to assist their pastors in establishing a parish recovery ministry.
The program highlights the spiritual dimension to addiction as well as the physical.
“Those elements both need to be addressed in any recovery program,” Deacon Elliott said. “The Catholic Church has a long history of social action and response to societal issues. It is only natural that the Church would come to assist in this need as well. It all has to do with recognition of the dignity of the individual and responding to the person offering that dignity defined by God: to be created in His image. Answering not only the physical needs but also the spiritual guidance and comfort to addiction issues is an important role for the Church.”
Counseling for the mind and for the soul
Deacon Rust serves at All Saints Parish in Knoxville, where he also operates his counseling practice, Bosco Counseling, inside All Saints Church.
He has had previous experience working with the addicted at the homeless shelter at Knox Area Rescue Ministries (KARM).
“The vast majority of people there are either in the midst of addiction or they’re trying to get over an addiction, trying to recover. And so virtually everyone that I worked with there at KARM … the major issue was addiction. So, I had a ton of that; I had like a year-plus of that,” Deacon Rust said. He described the iThirst program as “very interactive.”
iThirst continued on page A14
Job Posting for Director of Worship and Music Ministry
Epiphany Catholic Church in Louisville, KY seeks a creative and energetic individual for the full-time position of Director of Worship and Music Ministry. Epiphany is an active and engaged parish community known for its dedication to meaningful, community-involved worship and a vibrant music ministry.
We are situated on a picturesque 18-acre wooded campus in eastern Louisville.
The Director of Worship and Music’s responsibilities include the planning of liturgical and sacramental celebrations, fostering spiritual wellbeing through prayer and worship experiences, and the direction of the liturgical music program (over 50 ensemble musicians/singers, and a bell choir).
The successful candidate must be familiar with Roman Catholic liturgy and have demonstrated vocal and/or piano/keyboard proficiency. Competency or fluency in Spanish is a plus. More parish information and a full job description can be found online at EccLou.org. The position comes with a competitive salary and benefits including medical/dental insurance and matching 401k. We will provide a relocation stipend to help with the transition to Louisville. Interested candidates should submit a letter of interest, a resume, and list of references to:
apply@ecclou.org or Pastor, Epiphany Catholic Church 914 Old Harrods Creek Road, Louisville, KY 40223
Faith-based healing Deacon Robert Rust, who serves at All Saints Parish in Knoxville, also provides counseling through his office at the parish and is a proponent of counseling for the mind and soul. BILL BREWER
Mr. Simoneau
Deacon Eckler
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Evangelization new and old
Holy Cross Parish ’s faithful outreach is attracting Catholics and non-Catholics
By Bill Brewer
he Church in East Tennes-
Tsee is larger by a dozen new Catholics who officially became members of Holy Cross Parish in Pigeon Forge on Aug. 25.
Father David Mary Engo, OFM, celebrated the Mass that featured the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and first Holy Communion.
The candidates and catechumens, young adults to older adults, have been going through the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, formerly the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, for several months.
They join 17 parishioners who entered the Church at Holy Cross at Easter last spring.
When Deacon David Anderson called their names, the 12 candidates and catechumens responded “present.”
Their godparents and sponsors were then asked by Father Engo if they consider the candidates worthy of the sacraments of Christian initiation, to which each responded, “I do” and acknowledged being prepared to help the new Catholics to serve Christ in word and by example.
Father Engo then prepared them for the sacraments of Christian initiation and prayed in thanksgiving for their faith and asked God to look favorably on them as they begin their new lives of faith and let God’s loving purpose be fulfilled within them.
Father Engo then led the candidates in the Penitential Act.
Father Engo delivered a bilingual homily, in which he preached about the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
He noted that even as Jesus informed his followers that when they accept the Eucharist, they are accepting His body and blood.
“Jesus means this literally, but they don’t understand how they could possibly eat His flesh and drink His
Sacraments of initiation Above: Father David Mary Engo, OFM, pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Pigeon Forge, prepares candidates and catechumens for receiving the sacraments of initiation on Aug. 25. Assisting is Deacon David Anderson. Below: The catechumens, cloaked in their baptismal robes, receive the light of Christ during the Mass with Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.
blood. In their confusion, they see Jesus only as a man, only as a prophet, only as a holy person. And so at the end, they walk away. They leave Him. They no longer follow Him. They say, ‘This is too difficult. How can we follow this?’ And they leave Our Lord,” Father Engo said.
The pastor pointed out that Jesus then asked Peter and the Apostles if they were going to leave Him, too.
“Peter said to Him, ‘You have the Words of eternal life. To whom else shall we go?’ That’s the beautiful part of this Scripture, Peter proclaiming that Jesus has the Words of life. ‘To whom else shall we go?’ Where am I going to go? To whom am I going to go to? Where else am I going to find truth? Where else am I going to find life? Where else am I going to find everything that my heart has been
desiring except in Christ Jesus?’
“And so in many ways, those of you who are coming into the Church today, you are kind of saying what St. Peter said, ‘To whom else shall we go?’
“You have the words of eternal life. You are coming into the Church proclaiming the truth that Christ has the answers, that Christ is the way, is the truth, is the life.
“And by entering into the Church, each of you is saying, ‘I want that life, I want that truth, I want everything that You want to offer to me. I want eternal life,’” Father Engo said
The pastor then referenced the second question in the Baltimore Catechism, why did God make me?
“God made you to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him in this world so as to be happy with Him forever in the next.
“During the process of your RCIA, during your process of education, you are becoming to truly know God. And in knowing Him, you are wanting to love Him, and in loving Him you want to serve Him. But you want to be with Him forever in heaven, so you say to the Lord, ‘What must I do to know You better? What must I do to love You better? What must I do to serve you better?’ The Lord responded, Be baptized. Receive the divine right. Receive the bread of life and be nourished by Our Lord. Receive the gift of confirmation, and be strengthened in your bond with Christ Jesus so that you could never leave Him, and you will always be close to Him.’”
Father Engo said the beautiful grace of the Mass of Rite of Christian Initiation is the reception of divine life given to the catechumens through the waters of baptism, and the gifts of Holy Communion and confirmation to the catechumens and candidates.
“Be strengthened in the Lord. Unite to Him with great force, with
Sacraments continued on page A13
Performance by Dominican friars band benefi ts the Chesterton Academy Hillbilly Thomists bring bluegrass and Bible to Bijou
By Emily Booker
The Hillbilly Thomists, a band of Dominican friars, shared their blessed, soulfi lled sound to a packed Bijou Theatre in Knoxville on Aug. 3.
The concert, part of their Marigold Tour through the South, was a fundraiser for the Chesterton Academy of St. Margaret Clitherow, a Catholic high school located in Knoxville.
The Hillbilly Thomists was formed at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., while the eight members were all studying or serving in the nation’s capital around 2010. They began playing bluegrass music together during their free time.
Their eponymous debut album was released in 2017 and quickly topped the bluegrass charts.
The eight members of the band belong to the Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Joseph and include Fathers Justin Bolger, Timothy Danaher, Peter Gautsch, Joseph Hagan, Austin Litke, Jonah Teller, Simon Teller, and Thomas Joseph White.
They now serve as pastors and chaplains in different cities, with two band members currently living in Rome, but they gather for a few weeks each year to collaborate on their music and go on tour. Their fourth recording, “Marigold,” was released this summer.
The band combines a bluegrass and Americana sound with the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas to share the message of God’s invisible grace present in the visible world. They use their musical talents to joyfully praise God and preach of His grace with others.
The name Hillbilly Thomists comes from author Flannery O’Connor, who described herself as a hillbilly Thomist. The Dominican fathers adopted the name to
refl ect their Southern gothic, oldtime sound, in which they share a mix of seriousness and humor.
The group Fiddling Leona and the Johns opened the weekend show. Leona Mathes, a native of Japan who came to East Tennessee to study bluegrass, has performed
Pope Francis travels to Southeastern Asia on
11-day, 4-country
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
The faith that sustained the hope of the people of TimorLeste in their struggle for independence should be a resource now as the country tries to cope with social, economic, and environmental problems, Pope Francis said. Landing in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste, on Sept. 9, the pope was welcomed at the airport by both President José Ramos-Horta and Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão, as well as two children who offered him flowers, customary for when he arrives in a country, but also a “tais” a traditional scarf.
Tens of thousands of people, young and old, lined the streets from the airport into the Southeast Asian city to see Pope Francis as he rode by in an open popemobile. Many people took shelter from the sun under yellow and white umbrellas featuring the logo of the trip as well as the flags of Timor-Leste and the Vatican.
After an hour’s rest at the new, “green” Vatican nunciature, where he was staying, Pope Francis went to the presidential palace, where he received more flowers, another tais, and hugs from the three girls chosen to give him the gifts.
Of the four nations the pope was visiting Sept. 2-13, Timor-Leste was the only one with a Catholic majority. According to Vatican statistics, close to 96 percent of the population is Catholic.
After Timor-Leste was granted independence from Portugal in 1975, Indonesian troops invaded; after more than 25 years of struggle and the deaths of as many as 100,000 people, Timor-Leste became an
visit
"You remained firm in hope even amid affliction and, thanks to the character of your people and your faith, you have turned sorrow into joy."
Pope Francis, in a message to the people of Timor-Leste
independent, democratic nation in 2002.
“You remained firm in hope even amid affliction and, thanks to the character of your people and your faith, you have turned sorrow into joy,” Pope Francis told government officials and leaders of civil society.
While the “dark clouds” of war have cleared, he said, the nation has “new challenges to face and new problems to solve. That is why I want to say: May the faith, which has enlightened and sustained you in the past, continue to inspire your present and future,” particularly with “principles, projects, and choices in conformity with the Gospel.”
Poverty, underemployment, crime, and emigration all are signs of the need for change and a commitment to working together for the common good, the pope said.
The president told Pope Francis that the government is working to fight “multi-dimensional poverty, hunger and food insecurity, maternal-childhood malnutrition, violence of any kind, different forms of exclusion, and social marginalization.”
“Infants, children, and youth have a right to a better world, where they can develop their potential in a peaceful, dignified, and
Pope continued on page A20
all over the world. Her set was full of humor and toe-tapping tunes. She also performed a rendition of “The Tennessee Waltz” in
Japanese. After a brief intermission, the Hillbilly Thomists took the stage.
ELEYANA NAHIGIAN (3)
Hillbillies in the house Top: The Hillbilly Thomists perform songs from their new recording, "Marigold," during an Aug. 3 concert at Knoxville's Bijou Theatre. Left: Fans of the Dominican friars show off the band's autographs.
Above: Bishop Mark Beckman visits with the friars backstage.
Thomists continued on page A18
A journey to the priesthood
Father Vick marks silver jubilee with international flavor at St. Bridget
By Dan McWilliams
More than 50 parishioners of St. Bridget in Dayton helped pastor Father Jim Vick celebrate his 25th anniversary of priestly ordination at a potluck supper on June 15.
Father Vick, who earned a doctorate in dentistry in 1984, was ordained a priest by Bishop Anthony J. O’Connell on June 10, 1999, at Sacred Heart Cathedral in his native Knoxville.
Among those attending his anniversary celebration were Sister Maria del Pilar Hinojosa Aguilar and Sister Eloisa Torralba Aquino of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus “Ad Gentes” from Chattanooga, who minister to St. Bridget’s large Hispanic community.
“The 25th anniversary was a small parish celebration with a potluck gathering attended by both the English-speaking and Spanishspeaking communities,” Father Vick said. “The dinner followed the 5:30 p.m. Mass in the parish hall. The potluck was an ‘international’ feast followed by conversations in two languages!”
Father Vick expressed gratitude to Knoxville’s first bishop, longtime executive secretary to the bishop Andrea Cox, Monsignor Al Humbrecht, and Sister Albertine Paulus, RSM, former longtime director of evangelization for the diocese.
“The day of ordination, June 10, is also my mom’s birthday, so it was on a Thursday. Andrea Cox helped to open some doors. Bishop O’Connell was gracious enough to expand the Saturday tradition!” Father Vick recalled. “Monsignor Al’s friendship-mentorship, hospitality, and expertise made the celebration a memorable occasion. Sister Albertine Paulus volunteered to prepare all the invitations as well as being a friend and the best guide through
all the planning.
“Father Tony Mullane from St. Peter’s in Big Pine Key, Fla., my friend and mentor, was there with many friends, and Connie and crew from St. Peter’s in Big Pine Key, my other home parish. Monsignor Al’s and Father Tony’s compassion and priesthood taught me what being a priest could be.”
James Leo Vick was born at St. Mary’s Hospital in Knoxville and grew up in Immaculate Conception Parish downtown. One of six children in his family, he attended St. Mary School at IC, which was staffed by the Sisters of Mercy for the last several decades of its existence until its closure in 1970. He attended the old South High School in Knoxville, graduating as valedictorian in 1974.
“St. Mary’s School was a great school for me, grades one through six,” he said. “Sister Mary Janice in first grade and all the Sisters of Mercy of Cincinnati had mercy
A new incorruptible?
Diocese finds Sr. Wilhelmina ’s remains have not decomposed
By Megan Marley OSV News
Bishop James V. Johnston Jr. of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., released results of the investigation by medical experts into Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster’s incorruptibility in a press release on the diocesan website on Aug. 22, the feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
“The body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster does not appear to have experienced the decomposition that would have normally been expected under such previous burial conditions,” stated a news release on the official diocesan investigation of incorruptibility into the late Catholic nun who founded the Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, in Gower, Mo.
According to the release, Bishop Johnston commissioned a team of local medical experts in May 2023 to conduct an examination and evaluation of Sister Wilhelmina. A doctor of pathology led the team, assisted by two other medical doctors and a former Missouri county coroner. In addition to examining and evaluating the body, the team inspected the casket and conducted interviews with eyewitnesses to the events immediately preceding Sister Wilhelmina’s burial in 2019 and the exhumation in April 2023.
According to the release, the final report said the investigative team examined Sister Wilhelmina’s body and found its condition lacked detectable features of decomposition. Although the casket’s lining had completely deteriorated, Sister Wilhelmina’s habit and clothing had no such features of
breakdown. It also noted the circumstances of Sister Wilhelmina’s death and burial did not suggest anything that could be expected to protect her body and clothing from decomposition.
The release said the investigative team’s examination was limited but still concluded “the condition of her body is highly atypical for the interval of nearly four years since her death, especially given the environmental conditions and the findings in associated objects.”
Additional tests were conducted on the soil in which the burial took place, according to the release, which stated that nothing unusual was found that could explain the condition of Sister Wilhelmina’s body upon its exhumation.
“The Catholic Church does not have an official protocol for determining if a deceased person’s body is incorrupt, and incorruptibility is not considered to be an indication of sainthood,” the press release noted. “There is no current plan to initiate a cause for sainthood for Sister Wilhelmina.”
However, Bishop Johnston in the release stated that he prayed Sister Wilhelmina’s story “continues to open hearts to love for Our Lord and Our Lady.”
Sister Wilhelmina of the Most Holy Rosary died in May 2019 at age 95. On April 28, 2023, her body was exhumed from her grave to move it to a tomb in the monastery’s chapel. Despite her body not being embalmed, damage to her wooden coffin, and water sitting on her grave—all elements that should have contributed to her body’s decomposition—her body
on me! As an integrated school, I met and learned with students from different backgrounds. All we ever saw were our friends. Mr. Bill—I do not remember his whole name—the custodian, always looked out for us. Parking-lot battle ball toughened us up—in a good way.
“I then became a South High Rocket, seventh to 12th grades, another world and another adventure.”
The young Mr. Vick received a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and in 1984 earned his medical degree in dentistry from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis.
After graduation, he managed a dental clinic at the Memphis-Shelby County Health Department for several years. The department was in downtown Memphis, one of the poorest areas of the state.
Father Vick recalled his time at
the clinic.
“The professional people there taught me compassion for the poor and for immigrants—at that time it was the ‘boat people’ from Vietnam,” he said. “In the clinic, we worked with multiple cultures: African-American, North and South Vietnamese, Laotians, the Hmong, and Cambodians. Different traditions and languages kept us very busy. I learned how the world is experienced from many different perspectives—unless you live there, you cannot know how life can be there. Walking in other people’s shoes is essential to me.”
The dentist and future priest never forgot his Catholic upbringing. He remembered Father Francis Shea, later Monsignor Shea and after that bishop of Evansville, Ind., who was pastor of Immaculate Conception in his youth, as well as IC associate pastor Father Sterling McGuire, later founding pastor of St. John XXIII Parish in Knoxville. Both IC and St. John XXIII came under the care of the Paulist Fathers in 1973.
“The Catholic kid, me, kept going to Mass. It was what we did at home, so I went,” Father Vick said. “I had considered the priesthood since high school, after Father Shea—who in elementary school we thought might be ‘God,’ or so it seemed to us—and Father McGuire left. The Paulist Fathers arrived at IC, and I met many dynamic and pastoral priests.”
After Mr. Vick opened a private practice in Knoxville and worked there for a few years, he moved to Summerland Key, Fla., to open a practice with another doctor. That brought him to St. Peter Parish in Big Pine Key.
“I encountered Father Tony Mullane and Bogie, a Lab [Labrador Retriever] with a big heart who kept the kids calm in Mass,” he
Embracing the religious life Father Jim Vick, pastor of St. Bridget Parish in Dayton, is joined by Sister Maria del Pilar Hinojosa Aguilar, MAG, left, and Sister Eloisa Torralba Aquino, MAG, at his 25th-anniversary reception
COURTESY OF JANET SPRAKER
Father Vick continued on page A23
N.J. diocese, priests sue federal government
Religious worker visa rule change is at issue as parishes face clergy exits
By Gina Christian OSV News
ANew Jersey diocese and several priests are suing the federal government over a rule change in religious worker visas in a case that highlights the perfect storm created by the nation’s shifting immigration policies and the Catholic Church in the United States’ increased reliance on foreign-born clergy amid a downward trend of domestic vocations to the priesthood.
The Diocese of Paterson, N.J., and five of its diocesan priests filed the lawsuit on Aug. 8 in the U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J. Four of the priests Father Regin Nico Dela Cruz Quintos, Father Joemin Kharlo Chong Parinas, Father Armando Diaz Vizcara Jr., and Father Joseph Anthony Aguila Mactal are citizens of the Philippines. The fifth priest, Father Manuel Alejandro Cuellar Ceballos, is a Colombian national.
Named in the suit as defendants are the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, along with their respective heads, Secretary Antony Blinken, Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and Director Ur Mendoza Jaddou.
The suit alleges that the agencies and their leaders have placed the priests in the position of having to “count the days until they have no lawful choice but to abandon their congregations” in the United States.
At issue is what the diocese’s legal counsel described in an Aug. 16 statement as an unlawful and unconstitutional alteration of how visa availability is calculated for certain noncitizens, which creates “profound immigration delays for noncitizen religious workers.”
Under U.S. immigration law, two types of visas are available
Addressing the issue Bishop Mark J. Seitz of the Diocese of El Paso, Texas, left, gestures on June 13 during a news conference at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Spring Plenary Assembly in Louisville, Ky. At right is Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president of the USCCB and head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services.
for religious workers. The employment-based EB-4, or special immigrant religious worker visa, permits qualified religious workers to immigrate to the United States on a permanent basis and to potentially become citizens.
The R-1 visa, by contrast, allows religious workers to enter the country on a temporary basis and to perform services for up to five years.
However, in March 2023, the State Department announced a sudden change in the allocation of EB-4 visas, thereby significantly lengthening for most applicants the time required to qualify.
In an explanatory note about the revision on its website, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops observed, “One indirect impact of this change is that many more religious workers on a nonimmigrant religious worker (R-1) visa, who might otherwise have sought adjustment of status under the EB-4 category, will be forced to leave the United States upon reaching the maximum five-year
Vatican approves devotion at site of Marian apparition in Spain
By Justin McLellan Catholic News Service
Devotions at a Marian shrine in Spain that communicate Mary’s “close and affectionate presence” can and should continue, the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said.
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, dicastery prefect, authorized the local archbishop to issue a document so that the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows of Chandavila can “continue to offer to the faithful who wish to approach it a place of interior peace, consolation, and conversion.”
The cardinal’s letter, titled “A Light in Spain,” was approved by the pope during an audience on Aug. 22 and was published on the dicastery’s website on Aug. 23.
The devotion began after World War II, when two girls, 10-year-old Marcelina Barroso Expósito and 16-year-old Afra Brígido Blanco, separately had similar spiritual experiences in which they said they encountered Mary where the shrine now stands in La Codosera, Spain,
Remains continued from page A8
was found remarkably intact, the community’s sisters said at the time.
The Sisters laid their foundress’ body in the main chapel and protected her skin with wax. As word spread, Catholics from the region and then around the country began to flock to see her.
The Sisters allowed visitors to press holy items against Sister Wilhelmina’s body to create relics should the foundress ever formally be declared a saint.
along the country’s border with Portugal.
The Vatican dicastery did not make a ruling about the nature of the apparitions themselves but said, “there is nothing one can object to in this beautiful devotion, which presents the same simplicity that we can see in Mary of Nazareth, our Blessed Mother. Many positive aspects indicate an action of the Holy Spirit in so many pilgrims who come, both from Spain and Portugal, in the conversions, healings, and other valuable signs in this place.”
The story of the alleged apparitions holds that Marcelina saw a dark shape in the sky that she identified as Our Lady of Sorrows, “with a black mantle full of stars, on a chestnut tree,” the cardinal’s letter said. “More than the vision itself, this girl had the profound experience of feeling the embrace and the kiss that the Virgin gave her on her forehead.”
Months later, Afra claimed to have had a similar experience.
While “this assurance of Our
Marian continued on page A22
In the month and a half following the removal of their foundress from her previous resting place, Mother Abbess Cecilia Snell of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles gave a conservative count of 10,000 to 15,000 regarding the number of pilgrims who flocked to her abbey in rural Missouri.
Sister Wilhelmina’s body was placed behind glass in a small St. Joseph shrine within the abbey church in late May 2023, just to the right inside the main doors. ■
period of stay allowed for an R-1 visa.”
In March, President Joe Biden extended the EB-4 non-minister special immigrant religious worker program through Sept. 30, although those entering the United States solely as ministers, along with their spouses and children, are not affected by the sunset date.
In its legal filing, the New Jersey diocese noted that the R-1 visas for four of the priests will expire in May 2025, while that of a fifth will lapse in April 2026.
The diocese alleges the rule change by the federal government was “arbitrary, capricious, misguided, unlawful, conducted without notice or comment, and … an incorrect interpretation of the Immigration and Nationality Act.”
The complaint also holds that the federal government’s “implementation of immigration law discriminates against religious employers and favors nonreligious employers,” explained the
diocese in its Aug. 16 statement. Violations of the Administrative Procedures Act, the Congressional Review Act, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the free exercise clause of the First Amendment, and the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fifth Amendment are all alleged in the lawsuit.
“Our Catholic communities rely on our international clergy to shepherd our flocks and nourish their spiritual journey,” said Paterson Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney in the diocese’s statement. “The State Department’s change to the regulations threatens our mission to serve our communities.”
Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, who chairs the USCCB’s Committee on Migration, said during the U.S. bishops’ spring 2024 general assembly in Louisville, Ky., that the religious worker visa issue “is only expected to worsen with time, if not addressed” especially since close to 90 percent of the nation’s Catholic dioceses rely on foreign-born clergy and religious.
“This is simply not sustainable for our ministries and it is especially devastating for parishes that will be left without a pastor when he is forced to depart the country at the end of his R-1 visa,” Bishop Seitz told the bishops assembly.
Bishop Seitz said the USCCB’s Department of Migration and Refugee Services conducted a survey of Catholic institutions to learn more about “their reliance on foreign-born religious workers,” and the results confirmed “this situation is only expected to worsen with time, if not addressed.”
At the USCCB assembly in Louisville in June, Bishop Seitz said only Congress can provide a long-term solution. He urged the bishops to press their own congressional delegations to address the issue. ■
Deum & Stabat Mater
Soloists: Maria Natale, Diana Salesky John Overholt, Stephen Morscheck
Conductor: Howard Skinner Amadeus Chamber Ensemble Choir & Orchestra
Sunday, September 29 at 5:30 p.m.
Celebrating the Eucharist Top left: Father Doug Owens, pastor of All Saints Parish, leads prayer and blesses the Diocese of Knoxville pilgrims as they prepare to depart for Indianapolis on July 17. Top right: The Indianapolis Convention Center welcomes the National Eucharistic Congress. Second row left: Papal nuncio Cardinal Christophe Pierre addresses National Eucharistic Congress pilgrims at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Second row middle: Pilgrims make their way through the Indianapolis Convention Center. Second row right: Lauren Moore, co-founder of the Catholic Music Initiative, performs for the National Eucharistic Congress in Lucas Oil Stadium. Third row left: Beth Parsons, who manages the Diocese of Knoxville Office of Vocations, is all smiles as she takes in the National Eucharistic Congress inside Lucas Oil Stadium with the Diocese of Knoxville contingent. Third row right: Pilgrims fill the streets of downtown Indianapolis as they participate in a eucharistic procession as part of the National Eucharistic Congress. Bottom row left: popular Catholic speaker Father Mike Schmitz from the Diocese of Duluth, Minn., speaks at a press conference for the National Eucharistic Congress. Bottom row right: Adoration at Lucas Oil Stadium. Photos by Gabrielle Nolan Congress continued from page A1
for the diocese, led the pilgrimage. Assisting him were Kelly Deehan, assistant director of Christian Formation, and Lisa Morris, a parishioner at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus who also organizes pilgrimages for the diocese. Sister Madeline Rose Kraemer, OP, who serves as religion department chair and teaches religion at Knoxville Catholic High School, led the group of youth on the trip.
“This pilgrimage to the NEC can best be described as holy,” Deacon Bello shared. “After two years of planning and hoping, the people of our diocese showed up. We filled all of our available space with pilgrims eager to follow our eucharistic Lord. It was incredibly special to board our buses each day with the sound of joyful pilgrims being moved by the Holy Spirit. Upon our return to the hotel each day after about 16 hours of intense prayer and adoration, we saw God’s faithful children abso -
lutely worn out but still filled with great joy and love for one another. It seemed that nothing could interrupt the movement taking place in the hearts of those who attended. Also special was knowing how our brothers and sisters in our diocese were lifting us up in prayer and following us online.”
‘Bring others to the Eucharist’
The three emcees for the event included Montse Alvarado, the president and chief operating officer of EWTN News; Sister Miriam James Heidland of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT), who is an author, speaker, and retreat leader; and Father Josh Johnson of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, La., who is known for his Ascension Presents videos, podcast, and books.
The Eucharistic Congress consisted of daily prayer, including recitation of the rosary and Mass in different rites. The processions for the Masses lasted over 20 minutes, as more than 1,600 priests,
bishops, and seminarians took part.
Across the street from the Indiana Convention Center was perpetual adoration at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, where pilgrims could visit Jesus present in the Eucharist at any time of day.
An entire conference room at the convention center was dedicated to the sacrament of reconciliation, where priests volunteered to hear thousands of confessions.
Keynote speakers such as Bishop Robert Barron, Father Mike Schmitz, Chris Stefanick, Sister Josephine Garrett, Sister Bethany Madonna, and Gloria Purvis graced the main stage throughout the week.
In addition to keynotes, there were various impact sessions throughout the week featuring more speakers such as Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers, Chika Anyanwu, Lisa Brenninkmeyer, Dr. Scott Hahn, Curtis Martin, and Cardinal Daniel DiNardo.
Praise and worship sessions
were led by Catholic musicians such as Matt Maher, Sarah Kroger, Dave and Lauren Moore, and The Vigil Project, among others.
An exhibition hall featuring Catholic businesses, schools, and programs was available for attendees to walk through each day of the congress. The exhibition hall also hosted musical groups and meet-and-greets with authors and speakers.
Deacon Bello’s favorite speakers from the congress were Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart, who is founder and servant mother of the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth, and Bishop Barron.
“This beautiful consecrated religious Sister knows first-hand the terror of war, pain, and intense suffering, yet [Mother Olga] seeks to bring the faithful together, understanding that our Lord walks with us and unites us in our suffering,” he said. “To see 50,000 pilgrims captivated by the experience of this tiny, faithful, and bold
Lifting up the Eucharist Top left: Lucas Oil Stadium is filled with people attending the National Eucharistic Congress. Top right: Pilgrims wear their hearts on their sleeves and hoodies. Above left and center: Sister Miriam James Heidland, SOLT, and Bishop Robert Barron meet and greet pilgrims at the congress. Above right: Deacon Jim Bello and Sister Marie Andre of Sacred Heart in Taftville, Conn., share a moment in front of the camera. Right: Pilgrims from the Diocese of Knoxville attending the National Eucharistic Congress gather for a group photo outside of Lucas Oil Stadium. Photos by Gabrielle Nolan.
continued from page A11
Sister was likely the most memorable for me. Of course, Bishop Barron was perfectly Bishop Barron. His call to all the faithful to proclaim the Good News with great obedience in a way contrary to popular culture was a cornerstone of pondering our mission going forward.”
Ron Martinez, a parishioner at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Knoxville, attended the pilgrimage with his wife, Jean.
“I wanted to experience it. It looked like it was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” he said.
Mr. Martinez said he was struck by the tens of thousands of pilgrims who were showing reverence in receiving the Eucharist.
He described his own relationship with the Eucharist as “very reverent, very close.”
“I have a great love for the Eucharist; I have a great love for Jesus, but this experience kind of blossomed that a lot more. I have a deeper understanding of my love for Jesus and why I love Him,” Mr. Martinez shared.
With plans to retire next year, Mr. Martinez said the congress gave him inspiration.
“I’m looking for what the Lord wants me to do next, and this gave me a lot of guidance in that I need to go out and bring Jesus to people, bring the Eucharist to people, through the way I live, through the things I do, and how I carry myself,” he remarked.
Deacon Bello said that his heart was “filled with gratitude to overflowing.”
“We are each loved by Christ more than we could ever love ourselves,” he said. “He became one of us, suffered and died, and rose because of that love. He gives Himself in the Eucharist to share that love. Now, He asks us to love one another as He loves us, sharing our experiences of both joy and suffering to bring others to the Eucharist.”
‘I found meaning in my identity’
Sister Madeline Rose was inspired to take youth with her to the Eucharistic Congress back when the revival was first beginning.
“Bishop Andrew Cozzens is a good friend of my community,” she said. “He told us about his dreams and prayers for the Eucharistic Congress when the revival was in the early planning stages. As he described what a significant moment he wanted this to be for the Church, I knew I wanted our youth to be there.”
Sister Madeline Rose shared that the Eucharist is the center of her life.
“It was such a joy to draw near to Him surrounded by so many people. It was an indescribable encounter between Christ and His Church,” she said.
“All of the speakers at the congress were excellent, but my favorite ‘speaker’ was listening to Our Lord speak to our hearts during eucharistic adoration,” Sister Madeline Rose continued. “There was a profound grace of peace poured out during each Holy Hour.”
Sister Madeline Rose was “deeply moved by the receptivity and faith of our young people” as she chaperoned the youth on the pilgrimage.
“They witnessed to me by their joy and enthusiasm, asking me to pray rosaries with them as we walked to and from lunch, encouraging their friends, and opening their hearts deeply in prayer during eucharistic adoration. For me, it was an experience of how powerfully Christ is at work in His Church, and it deepened my trust in Him. He is with us, and He is working all things together for our good and the good of His whole Church,” she remarked.
Skyler Hay, a parishioner at St. John Neumann in Farragut and a junior at Knoxville Catholic High School, was among the nearly 40
youth who attended the congress as part of the diocesan pilgrimage.
“I recognized the need for a eucharistic revival in our country, and I wanted to be a part of it,” she said. “I, myself, needed to learn and understand more about how and why the body and blood, soul and divinity of the Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith as Catholics. I came into the congress with an emptiness about me, but I went to confession and really allowed Jesus to work in me and left on fire for the Lord!”
Skyler said that Brian Greenfield was her favorite speaker at the congress because “he really knew how to reach out to the youth.”
“For me, he was a big part of what made me realize I want to be on fire for the Lord because he is so passionate about what he does. It makes you want to listen and soak in every bit of information you can,” she continued. “I could just tell that he has a good relationship with the Lord, and he told us that it was going to be hard, but I saw how happy and full of the Holy Spirit he was, and I recognized that I wanted that no matter the suffering!”
Skyler shared that she felt the presence of Jesus at the Eucharistic Congress.
“Before I attended the Eucharistic Congress, I saw the accidents of [the Eucharist] and not the true substance of what it was,” she said. “I did not fully believe that the Eucharist is truly Jesus' body, but once I participated in eucharistic adoration and really opened my heart to Him, I felt His presence in the Eucharist and something in me could just tell that it was really Him. The feeling I got when I let myself believe, that is something I never want to go away!”
“During the pilgrimage I realized that living on top of the mountain was a feeling greater than any other, but now that I have come down, I need to live differently than I did before,” Skyler continued. “I want people to look
at me and see Jesus, and I need to live as He did in order for that to happen. It is a scary thing, and it requires sacrificing worldly things to be closer to Him, but I am ready. I found meaning in my identity as a daughter of the King.”
Xavier Flores, a parishioner at St. Mary in Oak Ridge and a junior at Knoxville Catholic High School, was another pilgrimage attendee.
“I attended the NEC to meet new people and grow closer to God,” he said. “I had a great experience because I was able to get closer to God along with my friends.”
His favorite speaker was Paul J. Kim because “I felt that I could relate to him in a lot of his situations that he had when he was my age.” Xavier said that the Eucharistic Congress taught him to treat the Eucharist as God.
“Seeing the people I care about in my life getting closer to the Eucharist alongside me was the most meaningful thing to me,” he shared.
At the final Mass of the National Eucharistic Congress, Bishop Cozzens of the Diocese of Crookston, Minn., announced that the next Eucharistic Congress is planned for 2033, the Year of Redemption, observing 2,000 years since Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection.
Leading up to the National Eucharistic Congress, pilgrims from around the country took part in the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage that processed its way through all sections of the country to Indianapolis. Four pilgrimage routes traversed the United States May 17-July 16 as part of the National Eucharistic Revival. One of the routes, the St. Juan Diego Route, went through Chattanooga in the Diocese of Knoxville.
While in Chattanooga, the traveling pilgrims took part in Mass at the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul and a eucharistic procession that went from the basilica, through downtown Chattanooga, to the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Newman Center. ■
Congress
In thanksgiving, back to where it all began Bishop Beckman returns to Lawrenceburg for Mass at home church
By Katie Peterson Tennessee Register
One beautiful Saturday evening, 34 years ago, then-Father Mark Beckman celebrated his Thanksgiving Mass as a new priest at his home church of Sacred Heart in Lawrenceburg.
On Sunday, Sept. 1, he once again joined this community of faith for a Mass of Thanksgiving, this time as Most Rev. J. Mark Beckman, fourth bishop of Knoxville.
“It is a great day in Lawrence County to have you back,” said Father Andrew Forsythe, pastor of Sacred Heart Church. “Welcome home.”
“It feels wonderful to be home,” Bishop Beckman reiterated.
“Way back in the 1800s, as most people know, German immigrants arrived here in a new land, Lawrence County, and the new group of German settlers founded this church of Sacred Heart here in
Lawrenceburg,” Bishop Beckman said during his homily, noting the founding of Sacred Heart Church in Loretto and St. Joseph Church in St. Joseph by the same immigrants.
great strength,” Father Engo told the catechumens and candidates.
He delivered the same message in Spanish to the Hispanic members of the congregation.
Father Engo encouraged those being baptized, confirmed, and receiving the Holy Eucharist for the first time to continue seeking a deeper relationship with Christ Jesus.
“This is why we pray. Continue to pray, continue to seek that deep prayer with Him. This life is about being one with Christ. Life is about intimacy with God,” he said. “Life is about seeking the One who has loved us unto death. Our Lord has loved us unto death and has given us life through His death. So now we seek to live in Him, and with Him, and through Him.”
The catechumens, one by one, then stepped into the sanctuary, where Father Engo baptized each one. As they prepared to enter the sanctuary, he told them, “The Lord is waiting for you now, and He’s anxious for you.”
After their baptism, the catechumens then cloaked themselves in Christ by donning white baptismal robes, and they each were given the light of Christ, a baptismal candle lit from the Holy Cross Paschal candle to keep the flame of faith alive in their hearts.
Deacon Anderson then called out the names of the candidates, who have previously been baptized in the Christian faith, and they responded “present.”
Father Engo then confirmed each candidate and catechumen, sealing them with the gift of the Holy Spirit, before celebrating the Liturgy of the Eucharist and then distributing their first Holy Communion.
Father Engo pointed out that one of the adult catechumens who entered the Church on Aug. 25 has an infant son who was recently baptized.
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catechumens into a continuous process of spiritual formation as opposed to fixed checkpoints on the path to baptism, first Communion, and confirmation.
Ideally, those interested in joining OCIA would not have to wait until the fall to do so, Sister Esther Mary said.
“We want to propose and help people institute in Families of Parishes (parish clusters) an ongoing catechesis and formation so people can come into the Church more frequently and not necessarily wait to begin the process of faith formation as disciples. That will be the big difference of a yearlong catechesis and accompaniment,” she explained.
The catechumenate is meant to be an ongoing formation process in which the initiated are invited to become involved in the parish, attend Mass and OCIA classes, and work with catechists in delving into topics such as creation, salvation, the sacraments, the Church, and the four “last things” (death, judgment, heaven, and hell).
Still part of the OCIA process are rites such as the Rite of Entrance to the Catechumenate and the Rite of Sending, which both occur at the parish level, and the Rite of Election, which occurs at the cathedral with the bishop, said Amy Wyss, associate director of sacred worship at the archdiocese.
“Following that is a series of rites called the scrutinies, and af -
“Their own hands helped make the bricks that form this church, and the carvings that are on the altars, and so this place that surrounds us was built by hands that
“Your little one came into the Church the week before you. It’s very beautiful to see that God is answering your prayers and bringing the families together in faith in a beautiful witness,” the priest said.
Sheryl DeTullio, a Sevierville resident, grew up in the Jewish faith and is now a member of the Catholic Church and Holy Cross Parish.
“I was born into the Jewish faith. ... When I married my husband, who was Catholic, he brought me into the Church. I felt I should know more about our faith and help him by becoming more religious with him. It’s something else that we can share together,” Mrs. DeTullio said.
She described the Mass with the sacraments of
brought the faith of Christ to this new land,” he added.
Referring to the second reading from the Letter of St. James, he continued, “It reminds us to humbly welcome the Word of God that has been planted in you, that is able to save your souls, be doers of the Word, and not just hearers of the Word. And I would propose that those beginning German immigrants who arrived here back in the 1800s humbly welcomed God’s Word, and they let that Word bear rich fruit.
“This community of faith has nurtured faith, hope, and charity for more than 150 years, and that incredible gift has also given to us incredible vocations,” he said with a smile. “I am still humbled that Pope Francis asked me to be a bishop, but I’m deeply moved that I’m from the same parishes as Bishop James Niedergeses,” whose crosier he now uses and brought with him
Christian initiation as very moving.
“It was fabulous. It was a beautiful ceremony. I was very touched by it,” she shared.
Father Engo is grateful to God for the faith of the people of Holy Cross and the growth of the Church in Pigeon Forge.
“In the Hispanic community, the significance of people coming forward wanting to be confirmed in their faith is their desire to be more deeply in union with God, so they are seeking that intimate communion with Him. And through the sacrament of confirmation they are realizing it’s time now to step forward to really fully embrace their faith. So, the significance of those members of the Spanish community is that they say yes, I was baptized, but now I want to enter more deeply into my faith,” Father Engo explained.
“Among the American community, it’s such an incredible gift because you have former Baptists, former atheists, former Methodists, a former Jew who were all part of that group,” he noted. “It just shows the beauty of the Catholic faith. The Catholic faith is never outdated. As St. Augustine called it, it’s ever ancient, ever new. It’s the newness of the faith, the life of the faith. And to see people responding to the faith is the work of the New Evangelization and the Old Evangelization to bring people back to the faith.
Father Engo said those receiving the sacraments also reflect the growth of Holy Cross Parish.
“We’re growing. Our parish at Holy Cross is very much alive. We teach the faith well. We pray the Mass well. We speak the truth boldly without fear but yet with great love. That is drawing people to Holy Cross Parish, and it’s drawing people back home to the Catholic faith, and it’s drawing non-Catholics to it,” he concluded. ■
ter that are the Rites of Initiation,” Ms. Wyss explained.
These rites are not new to the Church, but by making the entire process an “order,” the candidate or catechumen understands the rites received in church or at the parish are just one part of the ongoing journey of discipleship that will culminate with baptism and confirmation usually during the Easter Vigil but will continue throughout their lives.
Catechumens (those who have yet to be baptized) and candidates (those yet to be confirmed in full communion with the Catholic Church) will not progress to the next rite in the OCIA process until they are ready, Ms. Wyss said.
“It’s about a relationship with Jesus Christ. It’s about coming to
knowledge of Jesus Christ and then bringing my life into conformity with His teachings. Yes, we have these beautiful experiences in the liturgy that are integrally part of this. But what is happening is the process of coming into relationship with our Lord,” she said.
A major benefit is that people can enter the OCIA process at any time in the calendar year and can receive the sacraments of initiation at any time, not just during Easter.
“For those coming into the catechumenate, it’s not a straight line where everyone is doing the same thing or on the same path,” said Tina Kovalcik, director of religious education at Immaculate Conception Parish in Ira Township, 40 miles northeast of
Detroit. “If they are not ready to go through to the next step, we don’t push them. It is up to the catechumens and the pastor, and if they are not at the level of faith yet, we don’t go through with the next rite. Likewise, others really catch onto it and are ready almost immediately.”
The OCIA process encourages candidates and catechumens to take charge of their faith education, ask questions of catechists, and explore the answers.
Most catechumens and candidates will still be received into the Church during the Easter Vigil, but OCIA encourages them to get involved in the parish community even before they receive the sacraments, sowing seeds of discipleship that will grow well beyond confirmation, said Matthew Hunt, director of religious education at St. Thecla Parish in Clinton Township near Detroit.
In some cases, a person might be spiritually ready to join the Church before Easter, and that’s an option, Mr. Hunt said.
“Instead of just waiting, if a person has the conviction in their heart, if they are ready, they can join the Church quicker than waiting for the Easter Vigil,” Mr. Hunt said. “For a lot of people, the waiting sometimes is the downfall. You have to wait and go through the process, and some people need that. But at any point a priest can get a special dispensation to do confirmation.” ■
Welcome back Bishop Mark Beckman gives the homily at Sacred Heart Church in Lawrenceburg, the church he attended with his family as he was growing up in Lawrence County.
KATIE PETERSON/TENNESSEE REGISTER
Religious instruction Tina Kovalcik, religious education director for Immaculate Conception Parish in Ira Township, Mich., teaches an Order of Christian Initiation of Adults class at the parish in November 2022.
CNS PHOTO/DANIEL MELOY, DETROIT CATHOLIC
Lawrenceburg continued on page A22
Sacraments continued from page A6
Water of life Father David Mary Engo baptizes Sheryl DeTullio at Holy Cross Church on Aug. 25.
BILL BREWER
Building fraternity
International Eucharistic Congress begins in Ecuador with a strong call
By Eduardo Campos Lima OSV News
The 53rd edition of the International Eucharistic Congress began on Sept. 8 in Quito, Ecuador, with a strong call to build fraternity as a way of healing the wounds of a world full of fractures and violence.
The opening celebration included a message sent by Pope Francis, in which he emphasized that “we’re one, and only in such unity can we serve the world and heal it.”
The encounter, which concluded Sept. 15, was planned to promote in line with the eucharistic invitation human brotherhood, despite many divides, under the theme “Fraternity to Heal the World.”
Fraternal support Archbishop Andrés Carrascosa of Elo, Spain, left, walks with Cardinal Baltazar Porras Cardozo and Archbishop Alfredo Espinoza to the opening Mass of the International Eucharistic Congress in Quito Sept. 8.
Archbishop Alfredo Espinoza of Quito said in his homily during the opening Mass that the city
iThirst continued from page A4
“It was not like we just sat there and had information dumped on us,” Deacon Rust explained. “We got to learn from each other almost as much as we got to learn from the iThirst presenter, Keaton Douglas. … She is super passionate, super passionate about addiction and trying to help. She really wants to see more and more resources available to people who are addicted coming from the Church, she really wants to see a lot more of that. She’s very passionate about helping this particular population.”
Deacon Rust commented that the Catholic angle or lens is not as common in the counseling industry, but the iThirst program was infused with Catholicism.
“So, being able to call on the Holy Spirit for joining these people talking in that moment, being able to call upon saints, asking for their intercession, that’s something that’s just not in the current thinking, if you will, of people who are in the counseling or psychological world. So, having that added to it, I thought, was great. It was a very nice aspect to the iThirst spiritual companionship piece,” he said.
Deacon Rust believes the spiritual component is an essential part when working with someone in addiction recovery.
“I believe if you leave out the spiritual component … it leaves a lot to be desired because if you’re not including the spiritual element, there’s parts of the person that are not being addressed, and then if you don’t address those parts they will still be there after you’ve done the work. And so, the person is going to have a much better chance at recovery when you include the spiritual aspects in the process,” he said.
“Our pain and our suffering can have meaning, and that’s one of the wonderful aspects of the Catholic faith,” Deacon Rust added.
The iThirst program also shared the importance of talking about addiction with a trusted family member, friend, or counselor.
“I always did agree that people just talking to other people will be a huge help for them when it comes to their addiction issues, just being able to speak what’s going on with them and to be heard and understood is a huge help,” Deacon Rust shared. “Whenever I’m working with people who are dealing with similar issues, I look for people in their lives who they can talk to in general as a way to just kind of help the therapeutic process. And so, to some degree, this program did affirm that this is a really good way for people to heal, is just connecting with someone and being able to share what’s going on inside of them.”
Deacon Rust noted that for many individuals, they wait until hitting rock bottom to ask for help.
“People seem to wait until they essentially have no other option before they get help, like everything has to completely blow up in their life before they get help,” he said. “If people are seeing that things are headed downhill, it would be great
became “a great eucharistic tent,” and people from all over the world
and
if they could seek help before things become completely unmanageable. If things are headed in a bad direction, please start asking for help before you’re forced to do it … while you still have the choice.”
While a stigma may still exist around mental-health issues, Deacon Rust said that he does not see hostility towards those who “need help with addiction.”
“There might be, in their heads, some sort of shame or something like that that they need help with this particular issue, but my perception is that when people actually go to get the help, they don’t have nearly the negativity around them that they anticipated,” Deacon Rust explained.
‘You are dependent on God for everything’
Deacon Eckler serves at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Chattanooga.
After participating in the iThirst program, he now has hopes to begin a group in Chattanooga.
“There’s no iThirst, and if you look at the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting schedule, there are zero meetings in Chattanooga at a Catholic parish,” he said.
“They’re at AA buildings and at other denominations. I would like to start a group, I don’t know where, but I would like to start a Catholic group because I think that it’s
needed. It wouldn’t replace Alcoholics Anonymous; that’s not the goal. There’s a group called Catholics in Recovery that has chapters around the country, and they are not present in Chattanooga either. My thought was to get with them and have them help me set something up in Chattanooga so that a Catholic group is available to help. I’ve been to some AA meetings in Chattanooga … there really isn’t much of a spiritual emphasis at all, let alone Catholic. That’s missing. The community is great I think it’s necessary for people but I really would like to start a group to give people the opportunity to be part of a group that helps support a sober Catholic lifestyle,” he continued.
Deacon Eckler said he has a better understanding of addiction and “how it affects a person, physically, mentally, spiritually.”
“It gave me a lot of insight into maybe some of the traits and characteristics of a person who is struggling with something more than just the normal work or family responsibilities,” he pointed out.
“Somebody who is struggling with an addiction, it affects how they see themselves, and inevitably it’s going to have an effect on how they see God and how they perceive God sees them,” Deacon Eckler added. “I think that may be the most profound thing, especially from our perspective, coming at it
will think about a mystery that “challenges us to be real builders of fraternity so to heal the world’s wounds,” in a time “full of violence, death, and wars.”
The opening Mass took place in Quito’s Bicentennial Park in the presence of thousands of people and dozens of bishops. To make the celebration even more joyful, 1,600 children received their first Communion during the Mass. Cardinal Baltazar Porras Cardozo, retired archbishop of Caracas, Venezuela, also was present as pontifical legate for the congress.
For Bishop José Adalberto Jiménez of the Aguarico Vicariate in the Ecuadorian Amazon, the combination of the perspective of adoration brought by the Eucharist with the Ecuador continued on page A22
from the spiritual side and being expected to be able to help people with the spiritual struggle that comes with it, and they seem to go hand in hand. That the recovery needs to include—almost a recovery of yourself and your spiritual self. I think that’s one of the reasons why we may know of people in recovery or gone through this process of dealing with an addiction, they will frequently have this reawakening, this kind of renewal of their spiritual life because it’s something that gets suppressed or forgotten, I think, when somebody is actively in an addictive lifestyle.”
Before the iThirst classes began, Deacon Eckler read Ms. Douglas’ book on addiction and learned more about her and her passion for helping the addicted.
“One of the things I find interesting about her: it was a divorce that got her into this work,” Deacon Eckler noted. “And at first, I thought, well that’s kind of weird, but after going through the classes and listening to other classmates who probably half of them were either in recovery or had been at some point—I’m convinced that it’s brokenness, it’s a fallenness that we all have to some extent. And for her … her divorce brought it out, and she channeled this into helping other people who were broken as well but needed a special, a different kind of help. While she wasn’t an addict, she has a great deal of compassion for people, and that was my biggest takeaway from her … there’s no judgment from her. She knows that people for any number of reasons can fall and become less than they were meant to be, and she’s willing to help them. I found her very encouraging.”
Deacon Eckler believes that addicts striving for sobriety have something to teach Christians.
“This one guy told me, he said, ‘it helps me to help you.’ He said, ‘it helps me to be sober by helping you to be sober.’ Their attitude towards sobriety, in my mind, is the attitude we should have toward Christianity, toward our faith, toward life in general,” Deacon Eckler shared.
“But we don’t do that, and I think it’s the same thing why typically people who live in this land of plenty tend to forget where their next breath comes from. And we, the addict, knows. The addict that’s in recovery is that person who’s poor in spirit, and they live that way. And I think we would all benefit from reflecting on that more, how dependent we are on each other and God, and to be that person who is willing to spend time with somebody because you could say me helping you be a better man makes me a better man,” he noted.
“You shouldn’t have to hit the bottom of anything to realize that you are dependent on God for everything and to want to share that with other people. I think if we all realized, if we all treated our brokenness and our sin the way addicts treat their addiction, again, the ones who are in recovery, we would have a thriving faith community,” he concluded. ■
Called to a life of service Deacon Tim Elliott, in his office at All Saints Church, has led efforts to utilize the iThirst program within the Diocese of Knoxville as a way to combine mental health
spiritual health in counseling.
A spiritual approach Deacon Robert Rust, in his counseling office within All Saints Church in Knoxville, is active in treating people seeking help with addictions. Deacon Rust incorporates the iThirst program as part of his mentalhealth counseling practice.
churches. All of the Masses he has celebrated have been well-attended, and those in attendance have enjoyed looking at, listening to, and learning about the new bishop as well.
And as part of his visits to the four deaneries, Bishop Beckman has shared a meal with the priests of each deanery to look, listen, and learn.
Bishop celebrates the first Mass at his new home parish
On July 28, when Bishop Beckman celebrated his first Mass at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus since being installed as the fourth bishop of Knoxville, the bishop felt a sense of familiarity, even as he embarked on a new chapter.
“Sixty-one years ago, I was baptized at Sacred Heart Church in Lawrenceburg, Tenn. So, to be here today at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus feels like a homecoming,” he said. “And all of you have warmly welcomed me to this beautiful cathedral and this beautiful Diocese of Knoxville. Thank you for your welcome.”
The 9 a.m. Mass was standing room only as the bishop took his place in the mother church of the diocese.
Concelebrating the Mass were Father David Boettner, rector of the cathedral, and cathedral associate pastors Father Martin Gladysz, Father Jhon Mario Garcia, and Father Danny Herman. Assisting at the Mass were Deacon Walt Otey and Deacon Mike Mescall.
“The chair in your cathedral has been empty for 13 months, hasn’t it?” he said, indicating the cathedra, the seat of the bishop, that sits adjacent to the altar.
“So today, you have a bishop,” he said. “And it is a day I know you all have been praying for for a long time. When I came to visit a couple of months ago, I celebrated Mass here with Archbishop [Shelton J.] Fabre, and I saw the prayer card that you all had been praying for me over the last year. And many times since then, people have sent me photographs of the card you have been praying since it’s been announced who the bishop would be at this Diocese of Knoxville. And I have felt your prayers.
“I did not know that I would be called when you were praying for me. I was here in this diocese the week before I got the phone call, hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains with my good friend, Father Joe McMahon, and he said to me, ‘Would you be content retiring at St. Henry as pastor?’ and I said, ‘Sure, of course.’ And the following Monday, the telephone rang, and Pope Francis, and the Lord Himself I suppose, had other thoughts in mind for my future. And since then, I have been praying for all of you,” Bishop Beckman shared.
The Gospel reading for the day was Jesus feeding the 5,000. Bishop Beckman said it was a piece of Scripture he prayed over while on retreat preparing for his episcopal ordination and installation.
“I was praying with the Word of God, and one of the Gospels that I prayed with was the very Gospel that we proclaimed this morning: how Jesus crossed over the sea, walked up to the top of a mountain, and looked out and saw the hunger of God’s people. He knew they were hungry. And he said to Philip, ‘Philip, what are we going to do about this?’ And what did Philip say? ‘I don’t know; it’s a big crowd out there.’
“I wonder how many times in life we respond that way. We are aware that our world needs help. It needs hope. It needs love. The human heart must be fed. And we see the greatness of the challenge,” the bishop said.
Bishop Beckman then noted how Andrew responded by looking for a solution and how a little boy in the crowd responded by offering up his meal.
“This morning, I want to challenge all of you to become like Andrew. Not only be aware of the hungers of the world but be looking around you for solutions.”
“And…the little boy. He is the one who held the loaves and fishes and said, ‘I’ve got some. You can have my
lunch. You can take it.’ I wonder if Jesus, when He looked at that child and saw that love in the boy’s eyes, if He didn’t recognize this child is willing to let us be nourished with his small gifts.
“He saw in that child a reflection of His own love and the gift of Himself on the cross, willing to give all of Himself for you and for me. And so, the little boy becomes for us the great sign of God’s kingdom.”
The bishop said that when Jesus calls us to be like children, to think of the little boy who offered his small meal that, through Christ, fed thousands.
“I want to challenge every single one of us, myself included, in this cathedral church today, and everyone who’s listening on live stream or will hear it later, I want to challenge all of you: become that child,” Bishop Beckman said.
“Say yes to giving what you have to the Lord and let Him use it to feed the hungers of our world. Our world needs us. It needs each one of you. And every single one of you has something that no one else has to give, unique gifts that the Lord has given to you. And if you bring them to Jesus, He will bless them. He will share them to feed the hungers of the world.”
“Are you all ready to be little children again? I hear them in the church, the cathedral church,” he said, to laughter as the sounds of several small children in the congregation were noticed. “My friend Father [Pat] Kibby is here today, and he said, ‘Oh, it’s a typical 9 o’clock Mass. There’s lots of children.’ There are lots of children. Good news for the kingdom of God!”
“What a blessed day this is. A new beginning for this Diocese of Knoxville and also for me, your shepherd. Thank you. Thank you.”
The cathedral parish held a reception for the bishop in the cathedral hall following Mass, where Bishop Beckman met with parish families. First of four deanery Masses Bishop Beckman’s first deanery Mass was on July 30 at St. Patrick Church in Morristown in the Five Rivers Deanery.
A standing-room-only congregation braved a severe summer storm and flash-flooding on an early Tuesday evening to greet the bishop, who was genuinely grateful for their attendance and support.
Concelebrating the bilingual Mass were Father Miguel Vélez, pastor of St. Patrick; Father Michael Cummins, pastor of St. Dominic Parish in Kingsport; St. Dominic associate pastors Father Andrew Crabtree and Father Bede Aboh; Father Joseph Kuzhupil, MSFS, pastor of Notre Dame Parish in Greeneville; Father Neil Pezzulo, GHM, pastor of St. John Paul II Catholic Mission in Rutledge; Father Tom Charters, GHM, associate pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Erwin; Father Dustin Collins, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Johnson City; Father Zach Griffith, parochial vicar of St. Mary Parish in Johnson City; Father Jim Harvey, pastor of Holy Trinity Parish in Jefferson City; Father Pontian Kiyimba, AJ, parochial administrator of Church of the Good Shepherd in Newport; and Father Emmanuel Massawe, AJ, Church of the Good Shepherd parochial vicar. Assisting at the Mass were Deacon Jim Fage of St. Patrick, Deacon Humberto Collazo of St. Dominic, and Deacon Hicks Armor, who serves at the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul.
In his homily, Bishop Beckman described the images of weeds and wheat as well as two wolves, one noble and the other destructive.
Father Vélez translated the homily remarks into Spanish.
The bishop compared the images to the goodness that God places in everyone’s heart.
“Have faith in the goodness that God has planted in your hearts. Let what God has sown in you grow and bear fruit,” Bishop Beckman said. “You are the children of the kingdom, the seed that God is going to plant in the world. So, may the Lord, who has begun this beautiful work, bring it to fulfillment.”
Father Kibby is a senior priest in the Diocese of Nashville who serves at St. Henry Parish, where Bishop Beckman formerly served before being named a bishop.
At the conclusion of Mass, Bishop Beckman thanked the Diocese of Knoxville and the cathedral parish for the warm welcome he had received.
“The priests of the cathedral, they have welcomed me with extremely warm hearts. They are good shepherds, aren’t they?” he asked.
Parishioners responded with loud applause.
“What a gift. Thank you. Good shepherds. All the way from one of the newly-est ordained all the way to Father Boettner. Your deacons, the women and men who are part of your ministries here, the hospitality at the receptions. My family and friends told me the whole city of Knoxville has welcomed them so warmly. What a gift. You all are so wonderful.”
He acknowledged that many members of his large family had stayed in town all weekend and were attending Mass that morning. He asked them to stand, to which the parish responded in applause.
Bishop Beckman also thanked his friends and former parishioners who traveled to Knoxville to celebrate with him.
“I’m so grateful for their presence here, and they have prepared me well to be your shepherd,” he said. “Their love and their goodness have helped me to become better day by day.
“And all of you all are going to help me become a better bishop day by day. So be patient with me when I make mistakes, and we will be great journeyers together toward the kingdom of God.
In his closing remarks, Bishop Beckman thanked the faithful of St. Patrick and the deanery priests and deacons.
He said that during dinner with the priests before Mass, he asked the priests what they loved the most about the Diocese of Knoxville.
“One common answer was all of you, God’s people, and the beautiful country in which we live, and this exciting new beginning in a young diocese full of energy. So, thank you,” he added.
Following the Mass, the parish held a reception for the bishop in the parish hall.
‘Bishop of the Mountains’ celebrates Mass in the Smoky Mountain Deanery Bishop Beckman celebrated Mass for the Smoky Mountain Deanery at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Alcoa on July 31.
Kim Adamson and Margarita Audette provided the harp and clarinet musical prelude before the Mass began. The parish choir provided the music during the liturgy.
Luis Ramos, high school and young adult ministry coordinator for Our Lady of Fatima, translated the bishop’s remarks for the Spanishspeaking parishioners.
In his homily, Bishop Beckman spoke of the Gospel reading: “The kingdom of God is like a man who discovers a buried treasure. When he finds it, he sells everything to acquire that treasure.”
“Jesus Christ is the treasure that our hearts are made for, and they will not be at peace until we rest in Him,” the bishop said. “However, several years ago I was praying with this very Gospel. And I heard the Lord
Just like a homecoming Bishop Mark Beckman celebrates Mass at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on July 28 in his first cathedral Mass as the new shepherd of the Diocese of Knoxville.
Nice to meet you Bishop Beckman greets people who attended his first Mass at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on July 28. The bishop has been celebrating Mass in parishes around the Diocese of Knoxville.
A Five Rivers celebration Bishop Beckman celebrates Mass for the Five Rivers Deanery at St. Patrick Church in Morristown on July 30. A dozen diocesan priests concelebrated the Mass, which was the first of four deanery Masses Bishop Beckman has celebrated.
EMILY BOOKER EMILY BOOKER
BILL BREWER
Around the diocese Top left: Bishop Mark Beckman gives Communion to a faithful young girl at St. Patrick Church. Top right: Bishop Beckman gives the homily for the Cumberland Mountain Deanery Mass at St. John Neumann Church. Middle left: Bishop Beckman is joined at the altar by priests of the Cumberland Mountain Deanery at St. John Neumann. Middle right: Bishop Beckman meets the faithful at a reception at St. John Neumann following the Cumberland Mountain Deanery Mass. Above left: Bishop Beckman is joined by priests of the Smoky Mountain Deanery following Mass at Our Lady of Fatima Church. Above right: Our Lady of Fatima Parish faithful take advantage of a photo opportunity with Bishop Beckman. Right: Bishop Beckman receives the gifts during Mass for the Hispanic community at All Saints Church.
say to me, ‘No, Mark, you are the buried treasure. I sold everything for you.’
“You are the buried treasure that Christ came to give all to acquire. You belong to Him, and the joy He has and your yes—our joy is but a small mirror of that. You are the pearl of great price to God. It’s mutual.”
Priests concelebrating the Mass included Father Peter Iorio, pastor of Our Lady of Fatima; Father Joseph Austin, Our Lady of Fatima parochial vicar; Father Bill McNeeley, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Seymour; Father David Mary Engo, OFM, pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Pigeon Forge; cathedral priests Father Boettner, Father Gladysz, Father Garcia, and Father Herman; Holy Ghost Parish pastor Father John Orr; Father Valentin Iurochkin, Holy Ghost associate pastor; Father Antonio Giraldo, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Townsend; Father Chris Michelson and Father Patrick Garrity, who are retired from active ministry; Father Tim Sullivan, CSP, and Father Jim Haley, CSP, associate pastors at Immaculate Conception Parish; and Father Elijah Cirigliano of the Benedictines of Divine Will.
Clergy assisting at the Mass included Deacons Hicks Armor, Bill Jacobs, and Leon Dodd.
Bishop Beckman thanked the priests and deacons from the Smoky Mountain Deanery. He also expressed his thanks for all who attended.
“It is so good to be with you this evening, to see your faces, to drive out here this evening and see the mountains in the distance and to see this beautiful church,” he said.
Bishop Beckman has made known his love of hiking and the mountains. He told the members of the Smoky Mountain Deanery how excited he is to serve in such a naturally beautiful region.
“When I was in Nashville, one of the students at our elementary school, when he found out I was coming to be your bishop, he said, ‘Are you going to be the bishop of the mountains?’ And I said, ‘Yes, I am!’”
The anecdote drew appreciative laughs from the congregation.
Following Mass was a large reception in the parish hall.
Our Lady of Fatima parishioner Greg Ward said he was happy to help welcome Bishop Beckman to the diocese.
“I was part of the music ministry, so I was glad to participate,” Mr. Ward said. “We had people from all over that helped. Different parishes came in and helped in all different kinds of ways. It was just a wonderful celebration.”
“We’re just so thankful to have Bishop Mark here with us now. I didn’t get to go to the ordination, but I heard he said this is about Christ. And that’s what Father Pete [Iorio] came back and told us. You can tell that he’s just a humble man of God,” he added. “I think he’s going to be a great thing for our diocese. We need somebody who can help lead us in the right way and help really move things along and bring Christ to East Tennessee.”
Our Lady of Fatima parishioner Liz McCachrin agreed. Her first impressions of the new bishop were positive ones.
“He’s so thoughtful and calm. It just inspires prayer. His presence
inspires prayer and the feeling that God is with us,” she said.
Mass with the Cumberland Mountain Deanery
Bishop Beckman celebrated Mass for the Cumberland Mountain Deanery at St. John Neumann Church in Farragut on Aug. 1.
In his homily, Bishop Beckman reminded the people that God is always in control.
“We experience a whole mixture of realities as we journey through life, don’t we? Some of them wonderful, joyful, delightful. Some of them very difficult and painful things that we would never choose for ourselves. Yet all of them somehow are part of the great mystery of life,” he said. “We are clay in the hands of God, an image worth pottering. Every event of our lives, every experience, no matter how painful or broken, gives shape to who we are.
“I’ve come to believe through years of praying with folks in moments both good and bad alike that God Himself is the faithful potter in our lives, that we’re the clay in the hands of God. And His fingers are at work, shaping us, forming us, creating us into something of great beauty for Himself.
“I know that this diocese has been through a great variety of experiences,” the bishop said. “You all have been waiting for a bishop for 13 months. I heard Archbishop [Shelton J.] Fabre say that several times—13 months. But God was holding you in His hands. His fingers shape who we are. And our job in a sense is to let the hands of God shape us. He’s creating something incredibly beautiful. And moments we don’t understand the most are when we’re very close to
Bishop Beckman thanked the priests, deacons, altar servers, musicians, and all who made the Mass possible.
Concelebrating the Mass were Father Joe Reed, pastor of St. John Neumann; St. John Neumann associate pastors Father Michael Maples and Father Bo Beaty; Father Sam Sturm, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in LaFollette and Christ the King Parish in Tazewell; Father Adam Royal, associate pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Lenoir City; Father Ray Powell, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Oak Ridge; and Father Neil Blatchford, associate pastor of St. Mary-Oak Ridge.
Assisting at the Mass were Deacons Hicks Armor, David Lucheon, and Shawn Ballard.
Father Reed thanked Bishop Beckman for coming and celebrating Mass.
“Thank you, Bishop, for being here,” he said. “You’re a breath of fresh air and just a great joy, and we all have a great hope with you.”
Bishop Beckman also shared how it was a joy to get to know the priests of the deanery better over dinner that evening.
“The beauty of listening to the priests of this deanery speak about what they love most about this Diocese of Knoxville was truly aweinspiring to me. You, the people of God, you are an inspiration to them. The love that they have for each other, their priestly fraternity, the zeal and energy in a young diocese like this Diocese of Knoxville. So, I am so grateful to be with them in this presbyterate and with all of you in this beautiful Church of the Diocese
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His heart.”
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of Knoxville. And we have beautiful days ahead of us,” he said.
Following Mass a reception was held in the St. John Neumann School gym.
Ending at the beginning
Bishop Mark Beckman concluded his series of deanery Masses by celebrating a liturgy for the Chattanooga Deanery on Aug. 2 at St. Jude Church
Nearly every priest of the deanery came to the Mass at the Chattanooga church, including host pastor Father Charlie Burton and St. Jude associate pastors Father Alex Waraksa and Father Adam Kane, who concelebrated.
Thirteen priests and eight deacons attended the Mass. Deacon Butch Feldhaus was deacon of the Word, and Deacon Frank Bosh was deacon of the altar. Both deacons serve at St. Jude. St. Jude’s Emmaus group provided music for the liturgy, for which the church was filled. Deacon Hicks Armor was master of ceremonies at all four of Bishop Beckman’s deanery Masses. Concelebrating priests included Monsignor Al Humbrecht, pastor of Holy Spirit Parish in Soddy-Daisy; Father Mike Nolan, pastor of St. Thérèse of Lisieux Parish in Cleveland; Father Jim Vick, pastor of St. Bridget Parish in Dayton; Father Jerry Daniels, pastor of St. Catherine Labouré Parish in Copperhill; Father Michael Hendershott and Father Alex Hernandez, parochial vicars of the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul; Father John Dowling, pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Signal Mountain; Father Christopher Manning, parochial administrator of St. Mary Parish in Athens; Father Nick Tran, pastor of the Vietnamese St. Faustina Public Association of the Faithful; Father Mike Creson of St. Thérèse of Lisieux; Father Manuel Perez, pastor of St. Stephen Parish in Chattanooga; and Father Matthew Donahue, associate pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Chattanooga.
After he celebrated Mass and greeted many members of the faithful for more than an hour in the parish life center, Bishop Beckman reflected on the four deanery Masses.
“I have absolutely loved meeting the people of God in these deaneries,” he said. “The warmth and the welcome have been overwhelming. It’s been beautiful.”
His episcopal ordination and installation Mass on July 26 was an event for the whole diocese, but the deanery Masses were “more intimate gatherings,” Bishop Beckman said.
“It’s been great to gather with the priests and the small groups in the deaneries and to listen to what they love about the diocese,” he said. “It’s also been great to experience the Masses and the parishes and the music ministries in each unique parish. There’s something beautiful about that.”
In his opening remarks at the St. Jude Mass, Bishop Beckman said he was on familiar territory. Then-
Father Humbrecht was pastor at St. Augustine in Signal Mountain in 1986 and pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Chattanooga in 1987 when seminarian Mark Beckman served consecutive summer assignments at the two parishes.
“This evening, I want to take a moment to say how grateful I am to be here with you in this deanery at St. Jude Church,” Bishop Beckman said. “I feel in a way that I’m coming home, and the reason I feel that way is that when I was a young seminarian many years ago, I was with Father Al Humbrecht. My first summer assignment was in Signal Mountain, Tenn., right here in Chattanooga, and my second summer assignment was at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Chattanooga.”
Bishop Beckman also taught at Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga during his seminarian days.
“As many of you all know by now, I came back and taught one year of high school at Notre Dame, and I taught freshmen, sophomores, and seniors. Is there anybody here who was a student when I was there?”
A few hands went up in response to the bishop’s question.
“I came up to visit St. Jude back in those days when I was very young, but it’s my first time back to this parish in a long time,” Bishop Beckman said. “I feel like God has really called me back to the place that really began my ministry with you people of God.
“I did say to Deacon Hicks one of the evenings this week, ‘Can you have a favorite deanery?’ and he said, ‘You can have one, but you can’t say it out loud,’” the bishop added as the assembly laughed. “I said, OK. It’s like having favorite children, right? They’re all your favorite. It is good that we are here tonight to give praise and thanks to God, to listen to the Word of God and to be nourished by it.”
In his homily at St. Jude, Bishop Beckman reflected on the Gospel reading from Matthew 13:54-58, in which Jesus—despite growing up in Nazareth—reflected on His townspeople there taking offense at Him after His public ministry began, saying that “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and in his own house.”
Bishop Beckman said Jesus’ early life as a carpenter went “unnoticed” for many years.
“When Jesus returns, full of the Spirit of God, and begins to perform mighty deeds, the people are shocked. Matthew says today ‘astonished,’” the bishop said. “They did not accept that Jesus Himself was the Son of God. I find this powerful because God became so intimately connected to our human world, our human lives, and lived so intimately with us that He blended in so well that He was unnoticed for all those years. Stop and think about that for a moment.”
At the end of Mass, Bishop Beckman thanked the “beautiful priests and deacons who have gathered here
with you tonight in the church.”
“I thank Father Charlie for your warm welcome to this parish. What a great pastor you are here at St. Jude. Thank you for your service,” the bishop said as the assembly applauded their pastor of 15 years. “All of the priests here in this deanery and beyond, our deacons—what a blessing they are.”
St. Jude usher Paul Trudel said the Mass with the bishop “was very nice.”
“It was nice to see all the priests in choir as they were. Almost all of the deanery priests were here except for one or two who were sick,” Mr. Trudel said. “I would have guessed there were 500 people here, give or take. The people, you could tell, enjoyed it.”
Mr. Trudel said it was “a positive” that Bishop Beckman knew priests of the deanery in his seminary days.
OLPH parishioner Kathy Mahn said the deanery Mass “was so very special.”
“I felt the Holy Spirit and just a nice energy,” she said. “It was wonderful. I didn’t think about all our deanery priests being here—of course they would be. That was very special, too, to see all of them gathered.”
Ms. Mahn went to St. Henry Parish in Nashville, Bishop Beckman’s last assignment as a pastor before he was named shepherd of the Diocese of Knoxville, although her time there did not coincide with the future bishop’s. She said she was “not at all” surprised that the vibrant parish produced a bishop.
Bishop Beckman is a native of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., also the hometown of former Nashville Bishop James D. Niedergeses, who was pastor of OLPH for many years as a diocesan priest.
“I did feel very attached because he came from Lawrenceburg, where Bishop Niedergeses came from. He was my parish priest at OLPH,” Ms. Mahn said.
Nancy Harvey, a parishioner at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Knoxville, was a student of Bishop Beckman at Notre Dame High School. Her maiden name is Monteith, and she graduated from NDHS in 1992.
“He was my best religion teacher,” Mrs. Harvey said. “I’ve just always remembered how wonderful his classes were, and he was so inspiring. It was my first year at Notre Dame, as a sophomore, and I was shy and awkward—his classes just really meant a lot to me.”
Mrs. Harvey mused on whether great things were expected of the young seminarian Mark Beckman then.
“You never know, but I’m not surprised at all,” she said.
Deacon Armor talked about emceeing Bishop Beckman’s deanery Masses.
“It’s always an honor to serve with him. He’s wonderful,” he said. “He is so charismatic. People love him. He loves every deanery, so he’s had a great, great week, and I think the people are seeing a truly spiritual man as
our bishop.”
Mass with the Hispanic Community Bishop Beckman celebrated Mass with the Hispanic community of the diocese at All Saints Church in Knoxville on Aug. 3. Parishioners from as far as Kingsport and Chattanooga attended. Musicians from St. Thomas the Apostle in Lenoir City led the music liturgy for the Mass. Deacon Fredy Vargas, who serves at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, translated the bishop’s comments.
“It is so good to be with you,” Bishop Beckman said. “I’ve had the blessing of being all over the diocese this week, and I’ve seen the beautiful diversity of this diocese everywhere I’ve been. So, it’s good to be with you today.”
Bishop Beckman thanked the priests and deacons present and also took the opportunity to thank all the clergy he spent time with throughout the week.
“It has been such a joy all week to spend time with my brother priests in all the deaneries. Also, with the deacons; what a gift we have here in Knoxville, a great multitude of deacons,” he said.
In his homily, the bishop spoke about the importance of listening to God.
“Today, I would like to invite all of you to begin a great journey together of listening to God’s Word and allowing that Word to grow richly among us. As I begin each morning in prayer, my favorite part is stillness with God, listening, asking God to speak and then quiet listening. And the morning that I was called to become your bishop I needed quiet stillness to listen for God. God, is this Your will for me? I needed to listen to God. I am so grateful that I was able to hear God calling me to be your shepherd. So, together, let us listen as we go forward on the journey ahead,” Bishop Beckman said.
Following Mass, there was a reception in the parish hall. The All Saints Renovación Carismática Católica (Catholic Charismatic Renewal) group provided the food. Several groups performed cultural songs and dances, including dances from El Grupo de Arte, Cultura y Folclore San Miguel (Group of Art, Culture and Folklore, St. Michael) of All Saints Parish, a Guatemalan dance from women and girls of the Basilica Sts. Peter and Paul in Chattanooga, and a Colombian dance from parishioners of the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Blanca Primm, director of the Office of Hispanic Ministry, presented Bishop Beckman with a gift on behalf of the diocesan Hispanic community: a vestment featuring an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. ■
story.
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DAN MCWILLIAMS
Getting to know the faithful Top left: Bishop Mark Beckman, left, gives the homily during the Mass for the Hispanic community at All Saints Church as Deacon Fredy Vargas translates. Top right: Bishop Beckman leads the Liturgy of the Eucharist at St. Jude Church during Mass for the Chattanooga Deanery. Above left: Parishioners young and older enjoy a moment with the bishop at St. Jude. Above right: Bishop Beckman is part of the group at St. Jude for a photo.
Emily Booker, Gabrielle Nolan, Dan McWilliams, and Bill Brewer contributed to this
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Helicopter heroes
Nearly 150 rescued from Haiti violence thanks to Florida Knights of Columbus
By Elisha Valladares-Cormier Columbia Magazine
As Anthony Marinello guided his helicopter into Haitian airspace under the cover of night, he thought about the unknown dangers awaiting him and the other team members aboard.
It was just after 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 12. Thirty hours earlier, Mr. Marinello had been in Florida, heating his dinner and preparing to enjoy his Sunday evening. Now, he was flying into a volatile region exploding with violence. Could they be shot down by the gangs who had taken control of much of Haiti over the previous week? Would they return home to their families?
But even when his Sikorsky S-76 aircraft broke through the clouds, revealing the fires and billowing smoke of ruin in the nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince, Mr. Marinello remained resolute.
“I’ve captured hundreds of criminals by helicopter, operated thousands of medevac flights, and this was the most intense thing I’ve ever done,” said Mr. Marinello, a law enforcement pilot for more than 20 years. “We risked our lives, but it was up to us to get this thing done.”
Mr. Marinello and his co-pilot, Benny Matos, both Knights of Columbus in Florida, flew three helicopter rescue trips to Haiti last spring. Over five weeks, they brought 143 people, mostly Americans, out of the troubled nation to safety.
“Our code—and anyone else who’s served in law enforcement— is that we respond when someone’s in trouble,” said Mr. Matos, a longtime New Jersey state trooper who is now a Knights of Columbus field agent and deacon. “It didn’t matter if it was average Joes or corporation presidents. All we knew was that people needed to be saved, and that was enough for me.”
Lucky 13
Mr. Marinello was eating dinner at his home near Fort Lauderdale, Fla., when his phone rang around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 10.
“I’m calling from the office of Congressman Cory Mills. Can you fly a mission to rescue Americans in Haiti? You’d need to leave tonight.”
Mr. Marinello’s first thought was this had to be a joke, a friend calling to pull his leg. His helicopter air medical service, Tropic Air Rescue, had just started operating March 1. There’s no way he’d get a call like this so soon, he thought.
But the staffer assured him the request was real. Gangs of violent rebels had forced the airport in Port-
au-Prince, Haiti’s largest city, to close, and hundreds of Americans were effectively trapped. Among them were Mitch Albom, a bestselling author based in Michigan, and nine other visitors to the orphanage Mr. Albom established in Port-auPrince. A member of the group contacted U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan for assistance, who looped in Rep. Mills.
A U.S. Army veteran, Rep. Mills had rescued Americans from dangerous situations before: He brought a woman and her three children out of Afghanistan in September 2021 and helped shuttle out more than 250 Americans from Israel in October 2023.
Now, the congressman needed a pilot crew to evacuate the Americans in Haiti. Mr. Marinello was the 13th pilot his office had contacted— the first 12 were unable, or unwilling, to help.
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The band expressed excitement in finally getting to play their song “Heaven or Tennessee” to a Tennessee audience. The crowd responded with eager applause. The line “In Knoxville they glorify the Lord” received another enthusiastic, assertive response.
Playing songs from across all their albums, the tunes ranged
from traditional picking to folksy to more rock ’n’ roll sounds while maintaining a cohesive, praiseful vibe. From the twangy “Bourbon, Bluegrass, and the Bible,” to the rockin’ “Saved on a Saturday Night,” to the reflective “Amos,” the Hillbilly Thomists shared deep, theological truths and praise of the Lord through relatable stories and tunes.
“My ‘yes’ was instant after that.”
As Mr. Matos began the hourlong drive from his home in West Palm Beach to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, Mr. Marinello and his staff began making plans and preparing the helicopter.
The four-man crew—Mr. Marinello, Mr. Matos, Rep. Mills, and Brian Young, a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran—departed from Fort Lauderdale around 10:30 p.m. for the Dominican Republic, where they would make a final assessment before carrying out the mission. Stopping for gas in the Bahamas and in Turks and Caicos, they finally arrived in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, early Monday morning.
The rising sun prevented a covert operation to Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, and the crew didn’t want to risk drawing the attention of insurgent gangs. So, they took the day to rest and draw up new plans after deciding on a new, secret pickup location with Mr. Albom. They also communicated with the U.S. State Department and Dominican foreign ministers to ensure they had permission to fly to Haiti. That evening, they flew to the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo to fuel up and waited for darkness to fall.
Before leaving Santo Domingo, Rep. Mills asked Mr. Matos, who serves as a deacon at Our Lady, Queen of the Apostles Parish in Royal Palm Beach, Fla., to offer a prayer and blessing for the group.
“I thought about it for a minute, and I said, ‘Yeah, I think we can do that,’” said Mr. Marinello, a member of John A. Hill Council 4955 in Pompano Beach, Fla. “So, I put my food in the fridge and headed to the airport.”
But first, he called Mr. Matos, his close friend and colleague of more than two decades. Mr. Marinello and Mr. Matos served together in the New Jersey State Police for many years, and both moved to Florida when they retired from law enforcement. No Mr. Matos, no mission. At first, Mr. Matos wasn’t sure about going, until he heard who needed to be rescued.
“When he said these Americans were serving an orphanage, the first thing I thought about was Father McGivney and his care for orphans,” recalled Mr. Matos, who had attended a Knights of Columbus exemplification that afternoon.
“The four of us joined hands and bowed our heads,” Mr. Marinello recalled. “When we looked up, we saw the entire terminal—practically every person in the building—had stopped to watch us pray. They didn’t know exactly what we were going to do, but they knew something was happening.”
‘Everybody in? Go!’
Around 2 a.m., the crew began the 30-minute flight from Santo Domingo to the new pickup location. Given the sudden change, Mr. Marinello had only a satellite image of the location—he would be landing almost sight unseen. To help him find the spot, he instructed the evacuees to listen for the helicopter and then “blink every light in the house like a Christmas tree.”
The helicopter flew over the Dominican-Haitian border and between two mountain ridges before breaking through the clouds.
“That’s when the seriousness of what we were doing really set in,” Mr. Matos recalled.
The band brought out Father Chris Masla, a priest from the Diocese of Richmond, Va., to join in a few numbers. Father Masla, in his clerical shirt and collar, joked that he was the black sheep among the white-robed Dominicans. The diocesan priest first played with the band while studying at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
After two encores, the Hillbilly Thomists closed the festive, harmonious evening in prayer. Among those in attendance at the concert was Bishop Mark Beckman, who only eight days earlier was ordained and installed as the Diocese of Knoxville’s fourth bishop. Bishop Beckman was able to visit with the performers backstage. ■
String quartet Four members of the Hillbilly Thomists harmonize on a song they played during their concert at the Bijou Theatre in Knoxville on Aug. 3. The band of Dominican friars who gave the concert played several fan favorites, including "Heaven or Tennessee."
The sounds of friars Fans of the Hillbilly Thomists from around the Diocese of Knoxville were treated to one of only a few concerts the band is giving this year in support of its latest release, "Marigold." The band took the stage on Saturday night, Aug. 3, at the Bijou Theatre.
DAVID GONZÀLEZ
Rescue squad Deacon Benny Matos (left) and Anthony Marinello stand in front of the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter they flew to rescue Americans in Haiti last March and April.
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Flight from Haiti Deacon Benny Matos and Anthony Marinello gather on the tarmac at Cap-Haïtien International Airport in Haiti with 14 U.S. citizens they rescued during their second mission trip on March 20.
COURTESY OF ANTHONY MARINELLO
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They soon spotted the blinking house lights. The pilots were trained to always fly a few reconnaissance circles when approaching an unfamiliar landing zone, especially at night, to detect wires or trees that could endanger the landing. But Mr. Marinello decided they didn’t have enough time for that—Port-au-Prince was essentially a war zone. They were going in blind.
As Mr. Albom later wrote in the Detroit Free Press, Rep. Mills and Mr. Young jumped from the helicopter as soon as it touched down, yelling a series of commands: “All 10 here?” “Everybody in?” “Everyone OK?” “Everyone got passports?” “GO!” The rescue, from touchdown to liftoff, took just 67 seconds.
With 14 people now aboard, Mr. Marinello flew back to the airport in Barahona, Dominican Republic. From there, the evacuees would take a three-hour shuttle to Santo Domingo and fly back to the United States. Before that could happen, however, they were stopped by Dominican airport security.
“We had told them we were on a diplomatic mission,” Mr. Marinello said. “But when we got back and a dozen people poured out of the helicopter, their eyes got as big as saucers, and they started pulling out their radios.”
Several enforcement agencies arrived to question the group. But thanks to Mr. Matos’ translation efforts, any confusion was cleared up.
The exhausted crew returned home the next morning, but their respite was short-lived. Within a few days, the Florida state government reached out to Mr. Marinello about doing a second rescue mission, this time coordinated with Haitian officials. The state estimated an additional 400600 Floridians were still trapped in Haiti. Mr. Marinello and Mr. Matos jumped back into their flight suits and headed to Cap-Haïtien International Airport on Haiti’s northern shore—about 80 miles north of Port-auPrince—on March 18.
Once they landed, however, Haitian officials refused to let them take off again due to paperwork problems, Mr. Marinello said. The situation went on for two more days before they were allowed to leave, departing for a daytime rescue of 14 people from a United Nations landing zone in Port-au-Prince.
There, the pilots experienced a taste of the violent chaos that had enveloped the city. An armed group of Haitians tried to prevent them from taking the people to be evacuated. Security guards connected to the evacuees pushed back. Helping people into the helicopter, Mr. Matos—unarmed because it was a civilian operation—was stuck in the middle.
“I had to push one guy and punch another just to get back into the helicopter,” he said. “I basically jumped into the helicopter and told Tony to go. I didn’t even have a seat belt on when we took off.”
The helicopter returned to Cap-Haïtien for the evacuees to catch a U.S.-bound jet. But, once again, the rescue crew wasn’t allowed to return home. They had taken off without permission, Haitian flight officials claimed, and needed to pay a $3,000 fine immediately. Mr. Marinello paid, only to be told, just as they were ready to take off, that they hadn’t paid enough.
“I looked at Benny and was like, ‘Yeah, OK,’” Mr. Marinello said with a chuckle. “So, we just took off.”
Answering the call
After waiting several days in the Dominican Republic, the pilots returned to Florida on March 24—Palm Sunday—to allow lawyers time to work out the necessary permits for additional rescue flights. It was not a moment too soon for Mr. Matos, who arrived just in time to fulfill his diaconate duties for the Holy Week and Easter liturgies at his parish.
He and Mr. Marinello waited on standby for the next two weeks as permits were filed, and permission was eventually given for a third trip. This time, they’d be part of a small fleet of helicopters assisting with evacuation efforts.
Arriving in Cap-Haïtien on April 8, the duo made three to five missions to Port-au-Prince each day over the next week, picking up groups of eight to 10 people, most of whom were humanitarian aid workers. This time, things went smoothly. By April 19, more than 700 people had been evacuated from the capital. Mr. Marinello and Mr. Matos, who flew until April 14, were personally responsible for rescuing 143 of those people over their three rescue trips.
When news of Rep. Mills’ first rescue mission broke on March 12, photos of Mr. Marinello and Mr. Matos were often included in the coverage. But the two Knights eschewed the fanfare and downplayed their heroism.
“When you get the call, you have to go,” Mr. Marinello said. “Some jobs are just more dangerous than others.”
One honor they did accept was an invitation from John A. Hill Council 4955 to be recognized at the council’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration. It was only after arriving that they realized that their chief mechanic, Richard Sill Jr., is also a Knight. While Mr. Sill didn’t fly to Haiti, he maintained the helicopter and was responsible for preparing it before each mission.
“We all played our part,” Mr. Marinello said. “A lot of people behind the scenes kept us moving.”
Mr. Marinello said his wife questioned why he took on these dangerous missions.
“She’d ask me, ‘Why must you help those people? Why do you put yourself at risk?’” he recalled. “Because, I told her, who’s going to help them if I say no? I was the 13th helicopter company they called. The 12 in front of me all said no. So, at what point do you say yes? Sometimes you have to sacrifice and put your life on the line for others.” ■
Elisha Valladares-Cormier is the associate editor of Columbia magazine and a member of Sandusky (Ohio) Council 546. This article appeared in the June 2024 issue of Columbia magazine and is reprinted with permission of the Knights of Columbus, New Haven, Conn.
About the Hybrid Model
A hybrid cooperative program walks alongside homeschool families, providing support and a classroom experience for students 2 days a week. Students attend formal classes in traditional brick-and-mortar style classrooms for part of the week with peers, while working from home the remainder of the week.
General Information
Location: Alcoa Area
Curriculum Used: Mother of Divine Grace
School Calendar: Aug 19, 2024 - May 22, 2025
Tuition: $3,000/ year (plus material and registration fees)
Website: www.immaculateheartknoxville.com
On Campus Days: Monday & Thursday
Class Size: Up to 12 students per classroom
Interested in Teaching?
Immaculate Heart of Mary Hybrid Cooperative is looking for part time teachers to join our program. Teachers will be responsible for teaching core subjects in their assigned grades as well as jointly teaching 2-3 elective classes per semester. Teachers will be required to be on campus two days per week (Monday/Thursday) from 8:15-3:15.
Safely aboard A group of people sit in Anthony Marinello’s helicopter after being evacuated from Port-au-Prince on April 14, the final day Mr. Marinello and Mr. Matos flew rescue missions. Photo courtesy of Anthony Marinello
balanced family environment,” President Ramos-Horta said.
Timor-Leste also is struggling with what the pope called “social scourges, such as the excessive use of alcohol and the formation of gangs by young people. These gang members are trained in martial arts, but instead of using this knowledge in the service of the defenseless, they use it as an opportunity to showcase the fleeting and harmful power of violence.”
The prime minister extended a ban on martial arts instruction in the country during the visit of Pope Francis as part of security measures for the pope; different martial arts groups have been known to engage in street fighting.
Pope Francis also spoke of children and adolescents whose dignity has been “violated,” and said, “We are all called to do everything possible to prevent every kind of abuse and guarantee a healthy and peaceful childhood for all young people.”
It was unclear whether Pope Francis’ general comment also was meant to refer to the case of former Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo of Dili, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 with President Ramos-Horta for nonviolent resistance to Indonesia’s occupation of his homeland, but who has been accused of sexually abusing boys.
Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, confirmed on Aug. 30 that the restrictions imposed on Bishop Belo in 2020 after a Vatican investigation continue to be in force, including a prohibition from him returning to Timor-Leste. He is living in Portugal.
With some 65 percent of TimorLeste’s population being under the age of 30, Pope Francis insisted it is essential for the nation to invest in education and in supporting families.
The pope promised that, as it has done for centuries, the Catholic Church will contribute to that process through its schools and its efforts to educate Catholics in morality and in the social teaching of the Church.
“Looking at your recent past and what has been accomplished so far, there is reason to be confident that your nation will likewise be able to face intelligently and creatively the difficulties and problems of today,” the pope said. “Trust the wisdom of the people.”
Building enthusiasm for living and sharing the Christian faith is not a matter of “techniques” but of being joyful and serving others, Pope Francis said.
In an afternoon devoted to the Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea on Sept. 7, the pope visited with some of the most vulnerable members of society, the Catholics who care for them, and with the country’s bishops, priests, religious, seminarians, and catechists.
He started at the Caritas Technical Secondary School in Port Moresby, meeting some 800 students as well as children who were living on the streets and children and adults with disabilities who are assisted by the Callan Services network. Clemens, who cannot hear and signed while his sister, Genevieve, spoke, said to the pope, “Holy Father, I would like to ask you, first: Why do we have to suffer with our disability? Two: Why am I not able like others? Three: Why this suffering? Four: Is there hope for us, too?”
A young girl said that just having the meeting showed how much the pope loves the street children, “even though we are not productive, sometimes we are troublemakers, we roam around the streets and become (a) burden for others.”
“I would like to ask you, Holy Father, why we do not have opportunities like other kids do and how we can make ourselves useful to make our world more beautiful and happy even if we live in abandonment and poverty?” she asked.
Calling the children’s questions “challenging,” the pope responded that every person is unique, and each has talents and difficulties, but
God has a mission for each person based on loving others and knowing how to accept love.
“To give love, always, and to welcome with open arms the love we receive from the people we care about: this is the most beautiful and most important thing in our life, in any condition and for any person even for the pope,” he told the children.
“None of us are a ‘burden,’ as you said,” the pope responded. “We are all beautiful gifts from God, a treasure for one another!”
Pope Francis ended the afternoon at the city’s Shrine of Mary Help of Christians by listening to Church workers share the joys and challenges of their ministries, including efforts to help people usually women or children who endure torture and even face death after being accused of witchcraft.
Sister Lorena Jenal, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Divine Providence, told Pope Francis about one of the 250 women her House of Hope has helped.
“Maria came to us in 2017,” Sister Jenal said. “She was so badly tortured and burnt that we did not know if we could save her life.”
But, she said, “today, she is working in our team, standing up for human rights and the dignity and equality of women. She witnesses to the importance of love and forgiveness among all people.”
Father Emmanuel Moku, a selfdescribed “late vocation” who was ordained 12 years ago at the age of 52, told the pope that “my clan expects a man to become a father and to work and feed his people. As a
said, those who truly want to be missionary disciples of Jesus must start at “the peripheries of this country” with “people belonging to the most deprived segments of urban populations, as well as those who live in the most remote and abandoned areas, where sometimes basic necessities are lacking.”
“I think, too, of the marginalized and wounded, both morally and physically, by prejudice and superstition, sometimes to the point of having to risk their lives,” the pope said. “The Church desires especially to be close to these brothers and sisters, because in them Jesus is present in a special way.”
Traveling on an ITA Airways plane, Pope Francis set off on the longest foreign trip of his papacy on Sept. 2.
The plane carrying the pope, top Vatican officials, and about 75 journalists took off from Rome’s Fiumicino airport on a 13-hour flight to Jakarta, Indonesia, the first stop on the pope’s four-nation apostolic visit.
The 87-year-old pope was expected to cover more than 20,000 miles during his visit to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Singapore.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, proprefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization and a member of the papal entourage, told Fides, his dicastery’s news agency, that the pope is not trying to set a record or prove a point about his stamina.
Rather, he said, subjecting himself to the rigors of such a long trip “is an act of humility before the Lord who calls us an act of humility and obedience to the mission.”
Pope Francis “wants to encourage Catholics in all the contexts in which they find themselves,” the cardinal said in the interview published on Aug. 27. “Asia is home to two-thirds of the world’s population. The majority of these people are poor. And there are many baptisms among the poor. Pope Francis knows that there are many poor in those areas, and among the poor there is an attraction to the figure of Jesus and to the Gospel, even in the midst of war, persecution, and conflict.”
seminarian, I was therefore viewed as unfruitful. This made me feel hopeless.”
But after ordination his family was proud to have a priest in the clan, he said. “Only then was I relieved of the pressure of my cultural norms.”
Grace Wrakia, a laywoman who is a member of the Synod of Bishops on synodality, told the pope that she is not sure how long it will take for the Church in Papua New Guinea to become truly synodal.
“But it would only take a few men in a strongly paternal society such as mine to believe in and support a woman in order to see her rise above her traditional status in society and bring about change,” she said.
“I want to see change where women are partners and cooperators, where young people are not ignored or neglected but received with open hearts and minds, where priests and religious work as partners and not as competitors, where priests and consecrated men are not regarded as ‘big men’ but as servant leaders,” she said.
Pope Francis encouraged all of them to hold fast and keep trying, inspired by the missionaries who arrived in Papua New Guinea in the mid-1800s. “The first steps of their ministry were not easy. Indeed, some attempts failed. However, they did not give up; with great faith, apostolic zeal, and many sacrifices, they continued to preach the Gospel and serve their brothers and sisters, starting again many times whenever they failed.”
More than anything, the pope
Interreligious dialogue, care for creation, and the fair treatment of immigrants are expected to be issues the pope touches on in each of the four countries. He is also likely to call on local Catholics to pick up the missionary mantle, building on the work of the missionaries who first shared the faith and, in many cases, built networks of schools and hospitals.
Indonesia is a predominantly Muslim nation, and Catholics account for only about 3 percent of the population. Almost all the people of Papua New Guinea are Christian, and about 30 percent of them are Catholic. Timor-Leste is the only nation on the itinerary where Catholics are the majority.
In Singapore, Buddhists make up the largest religious group about 31 percent followed by 20 percent of the population claiming no religious belief; Christians account for almost 19 percent of the population, and Muslims about 15 percent.
Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister, told the Italian magazine L’Espresso that the trip “incarnates” Pope Francis’ constant call for Catholics to go out to the “peripheries.”
The trip to Asia and Oceania, he said, does so “certainly from a geographical point of view, but also in light of the great cultural and religious diversity of the countries he will visit. From this perspective, the trip represents the concern and closeness of the Holy Father to everyone Catholics and non-Catholics based on the conviction that we are fratelli tutti all brothers and sisters.
Care for creation was another big theme of the visit, he said, particularly because all four countries are island nations exposed to the dangers of rising sea levels. In fact, Indonesia is building a new capital city to replace Jakarta, which is known as “the fastest-sinking megacity on the planet.” ■
Arriving in Indonesia Pope Francis is greeted by Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta during a welcome ceremony at the presidential palace in Dili, Timor-Leste, on Sept. 9.
Gifts of faith Pope Francis receives the wine from women in traditional Indonesian dress during the presentation of gifts as he celebrates Mass in Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sept. 5.
CATHOLIC NEWS PHOTO/LOLA GOMEZ
CATHOLIC NEWS PHOTO/VATICAN MEDIA
Comfort and compassion Pope Francis offers comfort to an individual during a meeting with a group of the sick, people with disabilities, and the poor, supported by various charitable organizations, at the Indonesian bishops’ conference headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sept. 5.
CATHOLIC NEWS PHOTO/LOLA GOMEZ
Diocese mourns loss of deacons
The diaconate ’s Mike Gouge, Ben Johnston served parishes in Farragut, Knoxville
The East Tennessee Catholic
The Diocese of Knoxville is mourning the deaths of two longtime permanent deacons—Mike Gouge and Ben Johnston— who served their parishes with faith and distinction during years of service to God and His Church in East Tennessee.
Deacon Gouge passed away on July 11 after battling Parkinson’ s and Lewy body disease. He was 72. Deacon Johnston died on Aug. 22, the feast of the Queenship of Mary, at the age of 83.
Deacon Mike Gouge
A funeral Mass for Deacon Gouge was celebrated on July 23 at St. John Neumann Church, where he served as deacon. The Mass celebrant was Father John Dowling, pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Signal Mountain. Father John Orr, pastor of Holy Ghost Parish in Knoxville, concelebrated the Mass. Priests and deacons of the diocese were also present.
Michael Joseph Gouge was born on Sept. 17, 1951, at the naval hospital in San Diego. After graduation from high school in Jacksonville, Fla., he accepted an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, where he graduated third in his class in 1973 with a bachelor s degree in physics. He taught an undergraduate physics class at the Naval Academy following his graduation.
Deacon Gouge was commissioned an ensign in the U.S. Navy upon graduation and spent the next five years (1973-1978) in active duty. He was stationed in Charleston, S.C., serving as an engineering officer on the U.S. George Bancroft, a nuclear submarine.
In November 1975, Deacon Gouge married his wife, Anita, and they enjoyed their first years of married life in Charleston.
Deacon Gouge then began his civilian career in Atlanta, where he worked as a senior reactor inspector for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. While in Atlanta, he began his graduate studies in physics at Georgia State University. In 1980, he pursued an opportunity to do research in Oak Ridge. He received his Ph.D. in plasma physics at the University of Tennessee in 1984. From 1980 to 1986, he was program manager and project physicist for the U.S. Department of Energy, and from 1986-2011, he was senior research scientist and leader of the Applied Superconductivity Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
During that time, he re-entered the U.S. Navy in reserve officer status, in which he served proudly until his retirement as a captain in 2004.
Deacon Gouge discerned a new call in his life for service in the Catholic Church. He served in the Knights of Columbus at Sacred Heart Cathedral, and in 1989 he founded a conference of the St.
Vincent de Paul Society at the cathedral. He was known for his passionate love and care for the poor, those in need, and his unfailing support of the dignity of human life in all stages.
He began studies for the permanent diaconate in 2003 and was ordained a deacon of the Catholic Church in 2007. In 2007, he also began a St. Vincent de Paul conference at St. John Neumann Parish in Farragut. He served as the first spiritual adviser of this charitable lay organization for the Diocese of Knoxville.
His passion for learning prompted him to earn a master’s degree in theology from the University of Dallas in 2014. The title of his thesis was, “Time, the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and Paul’s Letter to the Romans.”
In addition to academic awards, Deacon Gouge was named “Engineer of the Year” in 2000 by ORNL and also received from the lab the “ORNL Science and Technology Group” award in 2006. He also received Navy Meritorious Service and Navy Commendation medals for command of two naval reserve units.
Deacon Gouge was a man of many interests, because he never stopped being in wonder of all of creation. His tenacity for truth and learning were exhibited in questions that were incisive. He devoured books and learned all his life, even in his last months, when so many abilities had been lost.
He was a man of details. One of his greatest pleasures was sailing, from his years as a midshipman, to later years with his own sailboats. He also loved to recite poetry. His attentiveness to details and task management were balanced by a corny sense of humor, a strong appreciation of family, and a humility that grew in him over the years.
Deacon Gouge deeply loved his wife, Anita, and their four children. Among his and Anita’s varied experiences together was attending the beatification of Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin in France.
Mike never lost his trademark trait of being fully engaged, curious,
and thinking one step ahead. His last new book was a recently published edition of science and faith.
Even in his decline through years of suffering with Parkinson’s and Lewy body disease, he held on to his dignity and vocation of being husband, father, grandfather, and brother, with remarkable rootedness in faith and deepening love with humble perseverance. He was greatly blessed in his very difficult last two years with the amazing outpouring of visitors who stopped by, and no matter how he felt, giving ever more blessings.
Deacon Gouge was preceded in death by his parents, Floyd W. Gouge (from Erwin, Tenn.), and Violet C. Gouge. He is survived by his devoted wife of 48 years, Anita, and their four children: Kevin Gouge, Lenore (John) Pacitti, Daniel (Christina) Gouge, and Tim (Chelsea) Gouge. He is also survived by his grandchildren: Dominic, Rosemary, and Cecilia Gouge; Claire, Nicholas, and Lucy Pacitti; and his siblings and spouses, Susan (Bill) Carter, Sandy White, Sharon Gouge, and David (Lynn) Gouge.
Charitable donations in Deacon Gouge s memory may be made to: St. Vincent de Paul Society, Franciscan University of Steubenville, St. John Neumann Catholic Church Faith Formation or Building Fund, or another charity in the Diocese of Knoxville.
Deacon Ben Johnston
A funeral Mass for Deacon Johnston was celebrated on Aug. 30 at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, where he served for years.
Bishop Mark Beckman served as the Mass celebrant, with Father David Boettner, rector of the cathedral, and cathedral associate pastors Father Martin Gladysz and Father Jhon Mario Garcia concelebrating along with Father Arthur Torres, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Chattanooga.
Priests and deacons of the diocese were also present.
Benny “Ben” E. Johnston Jr., a beloved figure in the community, was born on Sept. 16, 1940, in Smelter-
ville, Idaho. Deacon Johnston was a husband, father, brother, uncle, grandfather, great-grandfather, physical therapist, and entrepreneur, but he was happiest when on the water. He spent his life enriching the lives of those around him with his unwavering kindness, generosity, and humor.
Deacon Johnston received his bachelor’s degree from Washington State University. Following graduation, he moved on to Stanford University, where he received a degree in physical therapy. He was a pioneer in private practice physical therapy in Tacoma, Wash. He also became a leader of the American Physical Therapy Association and was elected president of the Private Practice Association. Deacon Johnston served as a management consultant, owner of physical therapy clinics, and an innovative mentor who was widely respected in the physical therapy profession.
Deacon Johnston went on to build a successful career in data collection regarding physical therapy functional outcomes as a co-founder of Focus on Therapeutic Outcomes (FOTO). His work in the area was pioneering, and his colleagues often spoke of his dedication, work ethic, and his ability to inspire those around him.
Deacon Johnston’s greatest pride was his family. He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Mary Jo Marino Johnston, and his children, Benny (Beth), Julie (Brian), David, William, and Anthony along with eight grandchildren.
Deacon Johnston, who was a beloved brother to Allan (Trish), was preceded in death by his parents, Ben Johnston Sr. and Norma Johnston, and his brother, Cecil. Outside of his professional life, Deacon Johnston was a devoted family man and a pillar of his church community. He was an active member of the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, where he served as deacon for several years and was known for his warm and welcoming nature.
Deacon Johnston was vital in developing and organizing the Haiti Outreach Program at the cathedral, which has grown and is an important ministry in the Diocese of Knoxville.
Deacon Johnston will be remembered for his boundless generosity, his incredible patience, and his ability to make every person he met feel special. His legacy lives on through the countless lives he touched with his kindness and compassion. He will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him. His spirit of generosity and love will continue to inspire those who knew him.
Donations in Deacon Johnston’s memory can be made to the Haiti Outreach Program at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Knoxville. ■
Marie Cirillo, Appalachia community development pioneer, dies
The East Tennessee Catholic
Marie Cirillo, an almost larger-than-life figure in community development initiatives in rural Appalachia and a friend and mentor to the family of President John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy, died peacefully in her home in Clairfield, Tenn., on July 4.
Ms. Cirillo, who was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Nov. 16, 1929, spent summers in Kentucky with her grandparents. At age 19, she joined the Home Mission Sisters of America, better known as the Glenmary Sisters. In 1966, she left Glenmary and joined the Federation of Communities in Service (FOCIS).
Ms. Cirillo had worked in Chicago in an area where many people from
the Appalachian Mountains had migrated when coal mining could not support making a living. In 1967, she went to Clairfield to perform community development work with a $3,000-a-year stipend and a car from Bishop Joseph A. Durick of the Diocese of Nashville.
In the Clearfork Valley, residents were trying to overcome hardships created by coal mining, where the land was owned by absentee corporate owners and stripped of resources. Ms. Cirillo was drawn to live and work in this picturesque land with its people.
For Ms. Cirillo, community development was never about imposing answers on people but rather listening to the needs and desires of the people who lived there. It was about
acknowledging the communities’ strengths for developing economic self-sufficiency and restoring the land and people’s livelihoods.
Ms. Cirillo listened and discovered that one of the first things the local people hoped for was health-care services. At that time, the obvious place to look for funds was from the government’s war on poverty.
Ms. Cirillo organized a group of locals to travel to Nashville and meet their senator. There they were told the state had developed a plan for “Model Cities,” so therefore there were no funds for the rural areas.
On the way home, the group was quiet and discouraged. When one of the women shouted, “Oh, heck, if they can have a model city, we can have a model valley!” So, the Model
Valley Development Corp. was born. Ms. Cirillo and the residents formed the Model Valley Development Corp., which developed into a town center. First, there was a building that housed health services with nursing students and medical volunteers from Vanderbilt University. Then came a thrift shop, including craft groups, and classes in typing and bookkeeping.
One resident built a general store with a gas pump. The post office relocated across the street. The community also wanted to address the water problem, since water was contaminated from coal mining. Churches from Knoxville partnered in providing money to dig a well with a spigot for locals to fill their Marie continued on page A23
Deacon Mike Gouge DEACON PATRICK MURPHY-RACEY (2)
Deacon Ben Johnston
alongside their physical ailments. She never separates the healing of the body from the ministry to the soul.”
The mobile clinic, staffed by volunteers, visits sites each week in Cumberland, Grainger, McMinn, Meigs, Scott, Sevier, and Knox counties, where patients are treated by a team of doctors, nurses, and support staff on a regular basis. The clinic van travels, on average, more than 200 miles per week.
Sister Mary Lisa is thankful to Catholic Extension Society for its “kind and generous support of our ministry at St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic and for its support of the Church on mission.”
“You are a blessing to us, and it is an honor for our clinic to receive this award! I feel abundantly blessed to be a part of an amazing and generous team of staff and volunteers that make this ministry possible, and I know that this award is a recognition of the kindness and generosity that each of them bring to this ministry,” she said.
Sister Mary Lisa feels blessed to be a part of “this beautiful healing ministry” in holy obedience as a Religious Sister of Mercy.
“Our prayer and our goal are to bear Christ’s love and mercy to each person we encounter at St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic. It is a beautiful gift to receive this award, recognizing the ‘light of Christ’ that shines through our staff and volunteers, and also from our patients. The support we will receive from Catholic Extension because of this award will also help us to continue this healing ministry to the poor and the sick, who Christ loves so dearly,” she said.
Bishop Mark Beckman is grateful to Catholic Extension Society for recognizing the ministry that helps so many in need.
“The words Lumen Christi mean the light of Christ. It is so clear to me that the light of Christ shines through Sister Mary Lisa beautifully, and especially in the ministry she is doing, the healing ministry of St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic,” Bishop Beckman said. “I’m so delighted that she has been recognized and that this honor is going to help to spread
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call to a living exercise of faith was noticeable in Pope Francis’s message to the congress, which the pontiff sent along as he’s crossing the globe for his farthest and longest apostolic trip to date to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and East Timor.
that healing love of God, the light of Christ in the world, even more profoundly.”
“And great gratitude to the Catholic Extension Society for its generosity in supporting so many good aspects of God’s light shining in the world, especially right here in the Diocese of Knoxville,” the bishop noted.
Lumen Christi Award finalists are selected for their outstanding work that represents the Catholic Church and shows the face and hands of Jesus. The award is accompanied by a monetary grant that supports the recipient.
Award finalists receive $10,000 to support and enhance their ministry. From among these finalists, the Lumen Christi Award recipient is selected and given a $25,000 grant, along with an additional $25,000 grant for the nominating diocese.
Bishop Beckman has said the full $50,000 will go to St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic.
First given in 1978, the Lumen Christi Award is presented to individuals and groups that “radiate and reveal the light of Christ present in the communities where they serve,” according to Catholic Extension Society.
Father Jack Wall, president of Catholic Extension Society, said that finalists for the award bring about confidence, joy, and faith within the communities they serve. The society selected seven finalists for the 2024 Lumen Christi Award. This year, 37 dioceses served by Catholic Extension Society submitted nominations for the award.
“This year’s Lumen Christi Award finalists have each found a way to play their part in making a difference in the lives of others,” Father Wall said. “They are helping to build up a better nation, where people care for one another and where the pain of others does not fall on deaf ears. They feel called to be a blessing in places where there is no shortage of trouble and tribulation.”
Martin Vargas, executive director of the St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic, called the award a great honor for Sister Mary Lisa and her vocation that truly reflects the light of Christ. He expressed his sincere thanks to Catholic
Extension Society for the award.
“It also is the recognition of the commitment to extending the healing ministry of Jesus Christ in East Tennessee by the Religious Sisters of Mercy, the Diocese of Knoxville, the team at St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic, including its staff and over 100 volunteers, and the many supporters funding the ministry,” Mr. Vargas said. “It also honors how we provide care, which is person to person, one patient at a time. It is the model of Christ that He set forth during His earthly ministry.”
Mr. Vargas continued, “So grateful are we for this honor and excited for the life work that it reflects of Sister Mary Lisa.”
St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic was established in 2013 and began seeing patients in January 2014. The clinic gets its name from St. Mary’s Hospital in Knoxville, which was founded in 1930 under the leadership of the Sisters of Mercy.
Paul Simoneau, Diocese of Knoxville vice chancellor and director of the Office of Justice and Peace, advocates for diocesan ministries with Catholic Extension Society. Sister Mary Lisa and the St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic is the first Lumen Christi Award recipient he and the diocese have nominated.
“When I think about the incredible works of mercy being accomplished through the St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic, I can’t help but marvel how God has blessed the medical mission in East Tennessee through the consecrated lives of the Religious Sisters of Mercy,” Mr. Simoneau said. “It began in 1930 when St. Mary’s Hospital opened in Knoxville under the leadership of the Sisters of Mercy, after a group of Knoxville doctors petitioned the Diocese of Nashville (which covered the state at the time) to open a Catholic hospital.
“In 2011, as a result of the sale of St. Mary’s Hospital, and with money negotiated from that sale, the Diocese of Knoxville established the St. Mary’s Legacy Foundation to provide support for the continuation of the healing ministry of the Mercy Sisters in East Tennessee with the purchase of the St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic vehicle as well as its initial operating funds. And since
the clinic’s first operational year in 2014, the Catholic Extension Society, in addition to assisting the mobile clinic with a salary subsidy grant for a nurse manager, has recognized two Sisters of Mercy, both who have served as the clinic’s medical director, as finalists for the Lumen Christi Award—Sister Mariana Koonce, RSM, MD, and Sister Mary Lisa Renfer.”
Sister Mariana Koonce was the clinic’s founding director and also served as its first physician.
The clinic’s first site was Crab Orchard in Cumberland County in 2014. That year also saw the clinic travel regularly to Washburn in Grainger County, Athens in McMinn County, and Decatur in Meigs County. Then in 2015, the clinic began visiting Rutledge in Grainger County. The addition of Gatlinburg was in 2017, and then in 2022 Helenwood in Scott County and Knox County were added. Crossville in Cumberland County joined the roster, and a second Sevier County location, Pigeon Forge, is now being added. The clinic partners with the communities it serves, and in several locations the clinic is hosted by Diocese of Knoxville churches such as the Church of Divine Mercy in Knoxville, St. Mary in Athens, St. Jude in Helenwood, St. John Paul II Catholic Mission in Rutledge, St. Mary in Gatlinburg, St. Alphonsus in Crossville, and Holy Cross in Pigeon Forge.
The clinic, often referred to as a “family doctor’s office on wheels,” provides care for both urgent health needs such as acute illnesses and minor injuries and chronic conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes. It offers telehealth visits between in-person appointments and connects patients to additional services through clinic partners.
“Most importantly, St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic treats each person with dignity and respect and aims to provide a compassionate environment for everyone we encounter. As a Catholic ministry, St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic follows the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, which promote the dignity of each person,” according to the clinic. ■
“The pontiff invited us to be on the side of those who suffer and do so with concrete gestures. That idea of a proactive fraternity greatly impacted me,” Bishop Jiménez emphasized, adding that the pope pointed out that simple actions should “lead us to a new world, a fairer and more humane one.”
Marian continued from page A9
“We have to touch the wounds of the social reality, tainted by social injustice caused by political luke-
Lady’s close and affectionate presence is perhaps the most beautiful message,” the cardinal continued in his letter, “what stands out the most is the presence of the Virgin that instills consolation, encouragement, and confidence.”
When Mary asked Marcelina to walk toward her on her knees through dry, prickly chestnut husks, thorns, and stones, “she does not do so to cause her suffering,” the letter said. “On the contrary, she asks for her confidence in the face of this challenge: ‘Do not be afraid; nothing will happen to you.’”
The story said that Mary placed a carpet of reeds and grass over the treacherous terrain as
Lawrenceburg continued from page A13
to celebrate the Mass.
“Beyond that, this community has produced rich vocations also to religious life and to the priesthood. And it is also rich in married life and the single life,” he noted. “I remember those folks who have never been married in here praying before and after Mass. So, this community has been handing on that faith for all these years, and you all are the next generation. We’re here to hand on that gift now to the next generation.
“Humbly welcome the Word of God into your heart. Jesus in the Gospel today speaks about all the afflictions that touch the human heart, those things that separated us from God. We all must wrestle with these things, but the solution is the presence of the Lord Himself, and
warmness and corruption,” as well as “deaths provoked by immigration” and poverty, “by criminal gangs, by the violation of the prisoner’s rights, by the pain of the families of alcoholics and drug addicts,” and by “the illegal mining that is destroying the Amazon,” Bishop Jiménez told OSV News, pointing to painful realities that are present in the region. “The congress was preceded by a theological symposium (Sept. 4-7) that gathered more than 600 theologians from all parts of the world. Their scholarly reflections will now be followed by a more pastoral and catechetical approach,” Father Juan Carlos Garzón, secretary-general of the congress, said. ■
the girl walked across it on her knees, and that Mary then asked that a chapel be built on that spot in her honor.
“This call of the Virgin, to trust in her love, gave this poor and suffering girl hope, and also the experience of feeling dignified,” Cardinal Fernández wrote in his letter. “Is that simple mantle, made of reeds and grasses with which Our Lady protected the girl’s knees, not a beautiful expression of Mary’s tenderness?”
The cardinal also noted that the two young women “led a discreet and inconspicuous life” after their alleged visions; Marcelina, the younger woman, became a religious Sister and joined a convent.
that’s why it’s important to humbly accept the Word of God.”
The community of Sacred Heart in Lawrenceburg has done that well, he pointed out.
“This community has always been doers of God’s Word. You don’t simply listen. You put it into practice,” he said. “Another place you do that is in this wonderful Catholic school next door. Many generations of young people have learned about the faith in that environment. I’m so grateful for my eight years there. I was shaped and formed by many of those teachers.”
“So, today is a day of gratitude to the Lord for the grace of His abundance in this community,” Bishop Beckman concluded. “Open your hearts humbly and receive the Word of God. Be doers of the Lord and not just hearers.” ■
Writing to Archbishop José Rodríguez Carballo of Mérida-Badajoz, the archdiocese where the shrine is located, Cardinal Fernández told him the dicastery approved granting the devotion a nihil obstat a permission to continue and promote devotion without issuing judgment on the validity of an event’s supernatural status. Since the dicastery issued new guidance on the discernment of alleged supernatural phenomena in May, it has released statements on eight different Marian devotions; in two cases one involving alleged apparitions in Amsterdam and another in Trevignano Romano, Italy the dicastery said the apparitions did not have a supernatural origin. ■
A day of gratitude Bishop Mark Beckman celebrates Mass on Sunday, Sept. 1, at Sacred Heart Church in Lawrenceburg, which has served as his family's home church. Concelebrating the Mass is Father Andrew Forsythe, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish and School.
Lumen Christi
First Polish Heritage Festival at cathedral cheered as a success
By Kasia Golec
The Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus hosted Knoxville’s first Polish Heritage Festival on Aug. 3 in a milestone that was long-awaited and embraced by the Polish community.
The festival’s high point was a performance by the Zaradni Highlander Group from Chicago. Zaradni, founded in 2007, brought 80 youths, including the Little Zaradni and Big Zaradni troupes, to the festival. The performers’ lively dancing, singing, and music captivated attendees.
The centerpiece of the festival was Mass celebrated by Father David Boettner, rector of the cathedral, and concelebrated by cathedral associate pastors Father Martin Gladysz and Father Jhon Mario Garcia. Deacon Walt Otey assisted at the Mass.
Following Mass, the Zaradni Highlander Group entertained attendees with their vibrant attire and melodies.
The Highlander group was present at Mass, bringing the gifts to the altar. Group members shared traditional Polish gifts like Polish bread, bottled wine, sausage, and Oscypek, a traditional Polish cheese made in the highlands. The Mass was enriched by the colorful, traditional Highlander attire.
Father Boettner and Father Gladysz received beautiful Highlander vestments as a token of the Polish community’s gratitude.
“This festival will certainly remain in our memory for a long time, and we will cherish it for years to come," local group members said about the festival’s impact.
A particularly moving moment occurred when the local Polish group, including Chris Lyszczarczyk, Jolanta Didenko, Iza Ostafilczuk, and Wacek Konieczny, performed “Bo wszyscy Polacy to jedna rodzina” (“Because all Poles are one family”). Many in the audience were moved to tears by this touching and heartfelt performance.
“We are thrilled to report that we served between 800-1000 people, a testament to the incredible teamwork and preparation that went into this
jugs with clean water. Eventually, they formed the Clearfork Utility District, which to this day supplies clean water to more than 500 homes.
Ms. Cirillo knew that one way for individuals to gain economic security was to own their own home, which was a great difficulty in the mountains because so much of the land was owned by corporations run by absentee landlords. Providentially, some land came up for sale, and Ms. Cirillo and residents cobbled together finances to purchase a tract, and the Woodland Community Land Trust was founded.
Gradually as mining companies let go of the depleted land, more land was for sale, purchased, and added to the Land Trust. Local people were able to build and own a home in the community they loved. Currently, the Land Trust is being managed to build a sustainable community of homes, businesses, and projects with a permaculture approach.
Ms. Cirillo saw young people as the hope of the future, and she invited college students and youth groups from urban areas to visit and interact with local young people. Not only would the local youth broaden their experiences, but Ms. Cirillo stressed to them that they could share experiences that would enrich the volunteers. This interchange between rural and urban young people brought understanding and connectedness.
One volunteer who received special attention was President and Mrs. Kennedy’s daughter, Caroline, who was 15 at the time. Reflecting on her experience, she said, “Outside my family, Marie is one of the most powerful inspirations to me. She made my faith real … and people’s lives better.”
Ms. Cirillo attended Caroline’s wedding and the baptism of her first child.
event. Our heartfelt thanks extend to our generous sponsors and everyone who made monetary donations, used Venmo, or contributed delicious traditional dishes. Your support was crucial in ensuring there was an abundance of food, with additional supplies brought from Chicago by our local business, Alphaland Excavation, including exclusive Polish beer,” Polish Heritage Festival organizers said.
The organizers added that the festival’s success also was due to the dedication of volunteers.
“Their tireless efforts were essential in making this event possible. We are deeply grateful to Iwona Montgomery, Mariola Cieslik, Renata Morgan, Anna
Ms. Cirillo believed that a rural-urban association was very important and also that the women in Appalachia were strong and capable. She knew women had a vital role to play in the growth and development of the community. This led to their involvement in the National Congress of Neighborhood Women.
Then in 1995, Ms. Cirillo and women from the mountain community attended the Fourth World Women’s Conference in Beijing, China. Later, she was asked to be a government representative for rural women at a United Nations meeting in Kenya.
After Ms. Cirillo retired, the Clearfork Institute, which had been in an abandoned school building, continued to operate with an all-local staff. Jobs, computer classes, homework space and support,
said. “Father Tony asked me to teach RCIA, and it worked—desperation is a good teacher. Father Tony’s example of being a people’s priest and the support of the St. Peterites—my teachers of Vatican II in live action—was an excellent education. Then it was off to seminary, and here I am.”
Father Vick was ordained a deacon by Bishop O’Connell on Dec. 29, 1998, at St. Peter in Big Pine Key. The silver-jubilee priest has served as associate pastor of Our
Zorawski, Patrycia Leja, Marta Nicole Rodzen, and Chris Lyszczarczyk for their hard work and unwavering support. Special thanks also go to Piotr Bryja, Krystyna Solarz, Andrzej and Ela Bryja, and Dawid Fafrowicz for preparing 80 pounds of sausages, a true highlight of the festival. Mark Morgan, our kitchen manager, and Zofia Glashauser, who managed kitchen operations and food service, played crucial roles in ensuring everything ran smoothly. We also appreciate Kuba Wiktor for his diverse contributions, Carly Couch and James Tidwell for their fantastic work in beer sales, and Mickey, who traveled from Chattanooga to help with setup and stayed until the end to assist with various tasks,” the organizers added.
The organizers also expressed gratitude to volunteers who helped serve food, distribute brochures, and sang.
“We were thrilled to see people coming from other cities and states, including South Carolina, which underscores the festival's significance and appeal. And we look forward to building on this success and hope to see even more community support in the future. Thanks to everyone who participated and helped make this festival a memorable and cherished celebration of Polish heritage,” the Polish Heritage Festival organizers noted, encouraging those interested in participating in the festival to contact them at PLknoxville@gmail.com ■
community activities, and a regularly published newsletter are important resources provided by the institute. The people have created a community that has been shaped by their values and will continue to be a good place to live.
“What Marie did is beyond what most of us will ever do! For over 50 years, Marie gave her life to the people of this community. They became her family and friends. Marie loved the people in her mountain community home and was proud of them. She shared their joys and sorrows and saw their strengths and goodness. She said, ‘These are my people. This is where I belong. This is where I will stay,’” friends of Ms. Cirillo shared.
Ms. Cirillo is preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Nancy Rapier Cirillo, sister Margaret Carroll, and brothers-in-law Hugh Carroll and Matthew Ruggiero. She is survived by sisters Nancy Cirillo Ruggiero, Francesca Cirillo Smith, and brother-in-law Geddeth Smith, 12 nieces and nephews, 23 great-nieces and great-nephews, and 13 great-great nieces and great-great nephews.
Family and friends of Ms. Cirillo gave a special thanks to Ginny and Charlie Pittman for their faithful, loving care of Ms. Cirillo for the past four years.
A simple burial service was held at the cemetery near Roses Creek, Tenn., on July 27, with Rev. Adam Gulley officiating.
A celebration of life for Ms. Cirillo was held in Abingdon, Va., at the Jubilee Retreat Center on Aug. 31.
Donations in Ms. Cirillo’s memory can be made to the Model Valley Economic Development Corp., P.O. Box 6, Clairfield, TN 37715 or the Woodland Community Land Trust, 469 Roses Creek Road, Clairfield, TN 37715. ■
Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Chattanooga and coordinator of Hispanic Ministry for the Chattanooga Deanery, as pastor of St. Mary in Athens, and as pastor of OLPH Parish.
“Each parish is special and unique,” Father Vick said. “The people have been wonderful teachers and fellow pilgrims on the journey. I enjoyed them all, and I thank them all for allowing me to walk with them. There are, of course, many wonderful stories of heart and heartbreak.” ■
COURTESY OF KASIA GOLEC
Father Vick continued from page A8
A St. Bridget celebration Father Jim Vick, standing left, is the priest of honor during a reception at St. Bridget Church in Dayton to mark the 25th anniversary of his priestly ordination.
Marie continued from page A21
COURTESY SCHUMACHER CENTER FOR NEW ECONOMICS
Marie Cirillo
Colorful and creative The Zaradni Highlander Group entertains during the Polish Heritage Festival on Aug. 3 at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
COURTESY OF JANET SPRAKER
