Oct. 4, 2020, ET Catholic, A section

October 4

| 2020

VOL 30 NO 1

IN THIS ISSUE CHAIR' QUESTIONS A5 'THE A3 TOUGH Cathedral, bishop Bishop Stika shares his thoughts on the upcoming 2020 election

featured in new TV documentary series

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PRIESTS RELOCATE Diocesan clergy begin working in new assignments

He dwells among us ......................... A3 Parish news ....................................... B4 Diocesan calendar ............................ B5 Columns ..........................................B8-9 Catholic schools ............................. B10 La Cosecha ............................Section C

Inquiry begins into Fr. Ryan sainthood cause Basilica at center of historic moment as Bishop Stika presides in opening session

By Bill Brewer

BILL BREWER

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he cause for the beatification and canonization of Servant of God Patrick Ryan took a historic turn Sept. 28 with the opening session of an inquiry into the East Tennessee priest’s life and the installation of a tribunal to examine evidence supporting his candidacy for sainthood.

Bishop Richard F. Stika presided at the opening session of the inquiry, held at the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Chattanooga, where Father Ryan once served. In remarks to the congregation of priests, deacons, religious, lay witnesses, and other observers, Bishop Stika noted that the official examination of Father Ryan, who died during a yellow fever outbreak in Chattanooga in the 1800s, is occurring as a new virulent outbreak grips East Tennessee.

As part of the inquiry’s opening session, a volume of research into the young priest’s life that was compiled by the cause’s historical commission was officially submitted, as were many documents related both to the cause and those carrying out the inquiry.

Father Ryan was pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Parish from 1872 to 1878 when it was part of the Diocese of Nashville. He died at the age of 33 in the yellow fever epidemic of 1878 that swept

The inquiry is now open Bishop Richard F. Stika, center, and Deacon Sean Smith, right, sign documents during the opening session of the inquiry for the cause for the beatification and canonization of Servant of God Patrick Ryan as Father David Carter, standing left, observes. through Chattanooga. As thousands of residents fled the city to escape the contagion, Father Ryan remained to serve those stricken with the illness and contracted it himself.

In 1886, when his remains were reburied on Priests’ Mound, one of the largest funeral corteges ever witnessed in Chattanooga accompanied Inquiry continued on page A12

Bishop Stika ordains newest priests to the diocese Frs. Hernandez, Griffith join the Catholic presbyterate in East Tennessee, take on new assignments

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BILL BREWER

Becoming priests Ordinands Zachary Griffith, kneeling, and Alexander Hernandez, standing, approach Bishop Richard F. Stika for the laying on of hands during their ordination to the priesthood on Aug. 29 at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The young men became the 54th and 55th priests ordained in the Diocese of Knoxville.

DAN MCWILLIAMS

wo new priests entered the Diocese of Knoxville ranks Aug. 29 as Bishop Richard F. Stika ordained Father Zachary Griffith and Father Alexander Hernandez at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The ordination was postponed from June because of the coronavirus situation but took place in August before a socially distanced assembly in the cathedral.

“What a great joy it is for all of us to gather together this day,” the bishop said in his opening remarks. “It was postponed for a little bit because of the virus, which is still with us. We gather together to give praise and glory to God for our two deacons who soon will be priests of our Lord, Jesus Christ.”

The new priests were the 19th and 20th ordained by Bishop Stika in his more than 11 years as the diocese’s third shepherd, and they were the 54th and 55th priests ordained in the diocese’s history. The ceremony was the first multiple ordination of priests in the diocese since four were ordained in June 2015.

Bishop Stika presided at the ordination Mass. Cardinal Justin Rigali attended in choir. The concelebrants included cathedral rector and vicar general Father David Boettner, vicar general Father Doug Owens—and the two new priests themselves. More than 20 priests attended, including Father Hernandez’s spiritual director from Kenrick School of Theology in St. Louis, Father Mirco Socio, AVI. Both newly ordained men attended Kenrick.

Deacon Don Griffith, Father Griffith’s father, was deacon of the Word at the ordination. Recently ordained Deacon Matthew Donahue was deacon of the Eucharist. Father Griffith’s mother, Patricia, proclaimed the first reading, and Father Hernandez’s father, Juan, proclaimed the second.

By Dan McWilliams

Hearing the saints Bishop Richard F. Stika, right, and Deacon Don Griffith kneel during the Litany of the Saints as Zachary Griffith, the deacon’s son, and Alexander Hernandez lie prostrate during their ordination Aug. 29.

Before the homily, diocesan chancellor Deacon Sean Smith called forward the priesthood candidates, and each responded “present.” Diocesan direc-

tor of vocations Father Christopher Floersh declared them worthy of ordination.

“We choose these, our brothers, for

the order of the priesthood,” Bishop Stika said.

The bishop opened his homily by referring to the age-old rite of ordaining priests.

“Today we gather together not just to celebrate priesthood, but we gather together today to celebrate the Church, how Jesus Christ is indeed present in our Church,” he said. “And what has occurred for centuries, relying on the help of God—choosing these, our brothers, for service—back to the apostolic times.”

Bishop Stika joked about the long period of study for the two ordinands.

“What do I say to these two, whom I’ve known for a long time? In fact, it seems like they’ve been in the seminary for 25 years,” he said. “First of all, before I say something to them, I want to thank their parents. In a very special way, I remember Alex’s mother, who died a few years ago of pancreatic Ordination continued on page A10

Keeping vigil 40 Days for Life campaign kicks off with visit to St. Mary-Athens by founder Shawn Carney, Knoxville vigil

By Bill Brewer

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s the Diocese of Knoxville joins Catholic dioceses across the country in sponsoring the 40 Days for Life prayer vigil this month, 40 Days for Life founder Shawn Carney delivered his inspirational pro-life message to the diocese during a series of talks in Athens.

Pro-life supporters from around the diocese met Mr. Carney on Aug. 27 in the Family Life Center of St. Mary Parish in Athens and listened to his story of starting one of the leading pro-life organizations in the country. Mr. Carney addressed audiences in two talks at St. Mary before meeting with a Protestant audience in Athens also on Aug. 27.

Paul Simoneau, vice chancellor for the Diocese of Knoxville and director of the diocese’s Office of Justice and Peace, which is coordinating the East Tennessee 40 Days for Life campaign, joined St. Mary pastor Father John Orr in presenting Mr. Carney with an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the child Jesus.

Bishop Richard F. Stika inscribed a message to Mr. Carney and his wife, Marilisa, and their family thanking them for their efforts to protect the sanctity of life.

East Tennessee’s 40 Days for Life began Sept. 23 and continues through Sunday, Nov. 1, at Planned Parenthood’s East Knoxville facility at 710 N. Cherry St. Pro-life supporters are encouraged to assist in the daily vigil.

Diocese of Knoxville priests, the Knights of Columbus, the Knoxville Diocesan Council of Catholic Women, Fidelis / Fraternis, Tennessee Right to Life, and parishes like Christ the King in Tazewell, Our Lady of Fatima in Alcoa, Holy Trinity in Jefferson City, St. Francis of Assisi in Fairfield Glade, Immaculate Conception, All Saints, Holy Ghost, and the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in Knoxville, and St. John Neumann in Farragut are among the groups participating in the 40 Days vigil.

Respecting life

October is Respect Life Month, and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a statement encouraging Catholics to allow the Gospel of Christ to touch and transform hearts and the decisions individuals make.

“It is a time to focus on God’s precious gift of human life and our responsibility to care for, protect, and defend the lives of our brothers and sisters. …

Last November, the U.S. bishops reaffirmed that ‘the threat of abortion remains our pre-eminent priority because it directly attacks life itself, because it takes place within the sanctuary of the family, and because of the number of lives destroyed.’ While we noted not to ‘dismiss or ignore other serious threats to human life and dignity such as racism, the environmental crisis, poverty, and the death penalty,’ we renewed our commitment to protect the most fundamental of all human rights: the right to live,” said Archbishop

October Prayer Intentions “We pray that by the virtue of baptism, the laity, especially women, may participate more in areas of responsibility in the Church.”

–– Pope Francis “Lord, we offer thanks to You for the beauty of the world around us. You placed us here with the greatest gift of all—the gift of life.

We pray that those less grateful come to realize how precious our presence here is, and that we show our gratitude by doing all that is good. Amen.”

A2 n OCTOBER 4, 2020

–– Bishop Stika

Supporting life Volunteers begin the 40 Days for Life vigil in front of the Planned Parenthood abortion facility on Cherry Street at Washington Avenue in East Knoxville.

This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the monumental encyclical of St. John Paul II, “The Gospel of Life,” in which we are reminded that “democracy stands or falls with the values which it embodies and promotes,” most particularly that of the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.

Joseph F. Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City and chairman of the USCCB Committee on ProLife Activities.

In Athens, St. Mary Parish and Full Circle Medical Center for Women sponsored Mr. Carney, who described how he and his team of pro-life advocates have worked to make 40 Days for Life successful since its inception in 2004 in the Texas communities of Bryan and College Station.

The first campaign that year was 40 days of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion with a round-theclock, peaceful vigil outside a College Station abortion clinic. The vigil and grassroots, door-to-door outreach helped reduce the number of abortions in that area by 28 percent.

Mr. Carney went on to expand 40 Days for Life to a national and international movement. Now, 40 Days for Life has been carried out in more than 850 cities in all 50 states and 66 countries. His efforts have helped mobilize more than 1 million pro-life volunteers over the past 16 years.

Mr. Carney is an author who has written 40 Days for Life: Discover what God Has Done … Imagine What He Can Do, The Beginning of the End of Abortion, and To the Heart of the Matter, which is a pro-life devotional.

He has become a national spokesperson for the prolife movement and appears often in local and national religious and secular news publications and shows.

Mr. Carney, who is Catholic and lives in Texas with his wife, Marilisa, and their eight children, repeated the 40-day vigil in other cities, and then in 2007 he organized a nationwide 40 Days for Life campaign held in 89 U.S. cities in 33 states. Campaigns have continued annually since then.

Despite unrest across the country combined with the coronavirus and political tension, Mr. Carney believes the pro-life movement and its foundation in Christianity provide a solution to the chaos.

“There is a lot of bad news right now. A lot of bad news. One of the reasons, I think, we’re seeing, not just the events that have occurred in our country — the George Floyd event, the coronavirus pandemic — it’s our response to this. I think the pro-life move-

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ment can bring clarity to a time of chaos, because the response, I don’t think, is very creative. I think it’s the timeless battle of God versus godlessness,” Mr. Carney said.

“The unrest, the discontent, the upheaval that we see, well ‘the Lord is not in noise’ as the famous phrase goes. And when you see all that chaos, that’s not Our Lord. It’s what we get when you throw Him out of society, when we throw Him out of our families, when we throw him out of our schools. And we’re seeing that played out. Yet in the midst of all this, the pro-life movement is at its height of success,” he added.

He pointed out that the sanctity of life movement has endured since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v.

Wade decision in 1973 against all odds.

“And it shouldn’t be, right? In 1973, the Supreme Court — all men — forces abortion on us. And we’re supposed to just get over it. But that hasn’t happened.

The pro-life movement has only grown; it’s gotten younger every single year; half the abortion facilities in America have closed since 1991; because of places like Athens, Tenn., and Full Circle, pregnancy resource centers across the country outnumber abortion providers 5-to-1. That is absolutely tremendous because this battle is being won at the most important level: the local level,” he said. “We also have this exodus of converts. This is a movement of converts: women who have had an abortion, men who have paid for an abortion, doctors who have done an abortion. We have experience with abortion, and that’s why we are rejecting abortion as a nation. So many people who just generally supported a woman’s right to choose 30 years ago no longer do.”

The Texas A&M graduate emphasized that there is good news at this unsettled time as the national election nears, and that is the babies, toddlers, kindergartners, and teenagers who have been spared from abortion who grow into adulthood.

“As a movement, when you look at our culture you think ‘what time exactly in November is the world going to end because I want to plan on it?’

40 Days continued on page A14

TH E EA S T TEN N ES S EE C ATH OLI C

He dwells among us

by Bishop Richard F. Stika

Tough questions that you must answer Thus says the Lord…. Is it my way that is unfair, or rather, are not your ways unfair?

— Ezekiel 18:25

Q

uestions God Asks. God always asks hard questions of us, but only that we might further scrutinize our thoughts and better discern the decisions we must make to bring us closer to God and the way He thinks and loves. With this in mind, I will pose a number of questions that might prove very challenging to answer, but answer you must—not to me, but to God because they are moral questions, and they deal with how you will vote in the upcoming election.

End and Means. There are two foundational principles of morality that we must always be guided by in discerning our choices in life—“do good and avoid evil,” and “the end does not justify the means.” Together, these basic truths remind us that no matter how good the end is that we desire, good intentions can never excuse the use of evil means in attaining them.

Such is the lens we must use to approach the moral act of voting.

Two Paths. Perhaps you share my serious concern that the election that is upon us will decide whether the path our nation takes will be to the quickening of its ruin or not. At this crucial time in our nation’s history, I am reminded of the opening words in the ancient Christian manuscript of the first or second century, “The Didache”: “There are two ways, one of life and one of death; but a great difference between the two ways.”

Of the two political parties, which do you feel best promotes the way of life or the way of death?

Candidates and Platforms. While many are focusing solely upon the candidates and their personalities and mannerisms, and the media’s select reporting of them, it is critically important to go beyond the candidates and to actually examine each party’s political platform. For what we actually are voting for is the political platform of the candidate’s party and the means that party will employ to obtain its vision for the country and for each of you.

Read the Platform. The political platforms of both parties can be easily read online (note: Google “2016 Republican Party Platform,” as because of COVID-19 they kept their 2016 platform unchanged). Though it takes a good bit of effort to go beyond all the political rhetoric and the “pie in the sky” promises and hyperbole, you will get a much better idea of each party’s agenda.

Life Issues. An examination of the party platforms reveals starkly different positions on issues involving intrinsic evils that are never permissible or acceptable. On issues regarding the sanctity of life, the platforms are polar opposites of each other on abortion, infanticide, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia and assisted suicide, and the death penalty, as well as on the criteria they will use for the selection of judges and Supreme Court justices to defend their particular stand on these life issues.

Other Issues. The platforms also highlight each party’s position on religious freedom and conscience rights (although we must also look at the past 12 years to see the reality of their definition of these), as well as separation of church and state. The parties differ significantly on issues related to marriage and the family, gender identity, on the educational system, on sex and LGBTQ instruction in our public schools, and on school choice. They differ significantly on the size of government and socialism, taxation, more or less business and trade regulations, and on immigration reform and the rights of a nation to control its borders. They have different plans for health insurance and TH E EAST T E N N E S S E E C AT HO L I C

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO/AL DRAGO-REUTERS

When we vote, we are not voting for the candidate but for the party platform and all within it

medical care. And they differ on the best way to protect the environment.

Supporting Agendas. When you vote for a political candidate, you are in fact empowering their particular party to advance the agenda outlined in their platform. Whether I choose a candidate because of his personality or because I like his party’s stand on particular issues, we must understand that our vote supports their party’s entire agenda—you buy into the party’s entire program for our country.

Issues We Can’t Ignore. There are many issues that are a matter of prudential judgment, meaning there can be legitimate debate about which party offers the better solution on various issues. But some issues are of such moral weight that they rise above all other issues and can become the preeminent issue that decides how we cast our vote.

Questions to Ponder. Here, I wish to ask a series of questions, prefaced with some brief background, that we must seriously ponder and answer regarding our vote in this election.

Pre-eminent Issue. Not everyone believes abortion to be the pre-eminent moral issue of our time, nor of this election. But it’s hard to argue with the statistical facts that each week in our country approximately 19,000 unborn children are “surgically” aborted in the most horrific and painful way. This number would be significantly higher if the number of “chemical” RU-486 abortions was counted, which they are not. But because many are indifferent about abortion, including clergy, ask yourself the following questions.

Questions. Medical science is irrefutable in affirming that human life begins at conception. So instead of unborn children, if 19,000 Jews or Muslims, Blacks, Hispanics, or Asians were brutally executed each week in our country and their remains thrown in garbage dumpsters, would you vote for the political party that promotes and protects the right to do so?

Can you vote for a party whose platform clearly supports, promotes, and will do everything possible to protect the willful destruction of human life on a genocidal scale? Do you believe that a more just society can be built upon a foundation that considers the unborn child to be less of a person and therefore undeserving of the most basic right that our Constitution guarantees: the right to life?

A Historical Perspective. Let us look back at a time when our nation and its highest court in the land ruled that another class of people, African slaves, were “less than human” and therefore considered “property” to be used as one wished. If you were alive in the mid-1800s up until slavery’s end, would slavery have been a preeminent moral issue for you, or would it have been one issue among many others that you felt equally or more important? Would you have voted for candidates of the pro-slavery political party or would you have voted for those of the anti-slavery political party?

Tax Support. If you lived in the 1800s, would you have voted for a political party that insisted that your tax dollars should support the slave trade and its organizations the same way your tax dollars are being used today to support Planned Parenthood and the culture of death within our nation as well as globally? Would you vote for the political party if it forced you, against your conscience, to support the slave trade as a part of your health insurance premiums (had such existed back then) the way the Affordable Care Act mandated that abortion, abortifacients, and contraceptives be provided, even by the Church, in insurance packages to employees?

Another Perspective. During World War II, 6 million Jews were systematically exterminated over a six-year period between 1939 and 1945. Over each six-year period since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision to legalize abortion, approximately the same number of unborn children is exterminated in our country as the total number of Jewish people during the Holocaust. Can you vote for a political party that sees nothing morally wrong with the abortion of the unborn on a scale that repeats that of the Holocaust every six years in our country? Can you vote for a political party that has vowed to appoint judges and Supreme Court justices that support and protect the right to abortion, knowing this may result in this law becoming so enshrined and legally protected as never to be overturned?

Red Dragon. In the Book of Revelation (12:3), we find a horrible image of abortion and infanticide in its description of the “huge red dragon” ready to devour the child a woman is in labor with. The image recalls the idolatrous practice of child sacrifice to the demon deity Molech that the Israelites, in failing to follow God, practiced to their ruin. Are not abortion and infanticide the continued sacrifice of innocent life to this demon deity?

Can you in good conscience vote for a political party that promotes what God declared to be an abomination?

Care of the Environment. Do you believe that on the level of sheer magnitude, abortion is the pre-eminent moral issue of our time? Can you vote for a political party that wants to take extreme measures to protect our environment when it takes the most extreme measures to destroy life in the first environment, the womb?

Alternative Facts and Civil Discourse.

Unfortunately, we live in a time of “alternative facts”—my truth your truth, my reality your reality—that shuts down any attempt at discourse on serious issues. This is why we are beginning to see everything falling apart around us. If our nation cannot debate issues civilly and intelligently, then violence becomes the answer to solving problems, particularly that of racism. And in reality, violence never solves problems, but creates new ones.

Fears and Consequences. Are there other issues that also should be considered as a part of good governance and our vote? Absolutely. But like the

Follow Bishop Richard Stika on Twitter @bishopstika and Facebook for news and events from the diocese. w ww.di o k no x .o rg

terrible issue of slavery in the 1800s, abortion is the pre-eminent issue that stands apart and above all the other issues. If the political party that supports this gains control, I fear this evil practice will be enshrined in such a way as to never be overturned. I fear people will be forced to support this genocidal evil, and that health-care professionals, and even Catholic hospitals, will be forced to perform abortions and sterilizations against their beliefs. I fear that our priests and Catholics of good conscience will be arrested and charged with “hate crimes” for simply praying outside of abortion facilities or speaking in defense of the sanctity of marriage and the moral teachings of the Church. I fear the consequences that our nation faces, as it did because of slavery, for the shedding of so much innocent blood from abortion, a sin that cries out from the blood-soaked ground to heaven like Abel’s blood after his murder by Cain (Genesis 4:10).

Frustration. Do I disagree with the political party that supports the death penalty? Yes I do. Do I disagree with the political party that does not more compassionately balance the dignity and right of a person to migrate against a nation’s right to control its borders? Yes I do. But sadly, I am unable to reflect this disagreement in my vote because of the far greater assaults upon the sanctity and dignity of human life that one political party so unashamedly violates and protects.

Hierarchy of Values. The reason I take issue with any political party is over anything that violates the sanctity and dignity of the human person created in God’s image. In this regard, I find the hierarchy of values promoted by the Second Vatican Council a great help in prioritizing the weight of various issues. Of greatest weight and value for us to consider in voting “whatever is opposed to life itself,” followed by “whatever violates the integrity of the human person,” and then “whatever insults human dignity” (Gaudium et Spes, 27). But in this hierarchy, it is that which is “opposed to life itself” that defines the pre-eminent issue of our time and of this election.

What I Cannot Vote For. For this reason, I cannot vote for a political party and its agenda that supports the unrestricted genocide of abortion (19,000-plus human lives a week exterminated). I cannot vote for a political party that continues to erode protections of conscience rights. I cannot support the party that attacks and condemns the Catholic Church and people of faith for speaking out on matters of faith and morals. I cannot support a party that attacks the sanctity of marriage and the family, for what harms the family, harms society. I cannot vote for a party that redefines human sexuality and gender identity and wants to force its ideology driven “sex education” in our public schools in violation of parental rights. I cannot support the growing acceptance of the grave social error of socialism that the Church has condemned for over 125 years. And I cannot support any political party that pushes God out of society and its governing, for it is the Lord God who is the true King and Ruler that governments and leaders should pattern their manner of governing after.

Words to Heed. So I close with the words of Moses to the Israelites as they neared the end of their Exodus that you, too, must heed: Here, then, I have today set before you life and prosperity, death and doom….

I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the LORD, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him. For that will mean life for you, a long life for you to live on the land which the LORD swore he would give (Deuteronomy 30:15, 19-20). ■ OCTOBER 4, 2020 n A3

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TH E EA S T TEN N ES S EE C ATH OLI C

Bishop Stika, Sacred Heart Cathedral featured in ‘The Chair’

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f walls could talk, what would a cathedral say? The Diocese of Knoxville recently welcomed DeSales Media Group, a Catholic media production ministry out of the Diocese of Brooklyn to find out just that.

DeSales production crew members spent several days in August filming the features of the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus for a new TV series titled “The Chair.”

The show will feature the bishops of the United States and their cathedrals, weaving the visuals of the buildings into a look at the roles and lives of American bishops. The production hopes to reach as many dioceses in the country as possible, even after COVID-19 restrictions set them a few months behind.

The Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is the 78th cathedral filmed. Monsignor Kieran Harrington, rector of the co-Cathedral of St. Joseph-St. Teresa of Avila in Brooklyn and president of DeSales Media Group, hosts the show, which began in March 2019.

“It’s really a look at the office of bishop and the Church in the United States and the importance of the role of the bishops in the life of the Church,” he explained. “You know, a lot of people know who their pastor is, and they know who the pope is, but the bishop is just the guy who transfers their parish priest, and that’s not really what the role of the bishop is.

“The bishop is supposed to be the primary teacher in the diocese.

That’s the reason why the chair is so

prominent. It’s not because of the individual; it’s because of the teaching office of this person. The reason why the teaching office is so important is because that’s the source of unity for us as Christians. Jesus prayed that all might be one. And it’s the bishop who gathers us together as one.”

Monsignor Harrington interviewed Bishop Richard F. Stika on his life and episcopal ministry.

“The purpose of this program is…. to look at the life of those who are the shepherds, the chief shepherds, in the Church today. It was important for us to look at that and speak about it from the perspective of faith,” Monsignor Harrington said.

“It’s about the testimony of faith,” he added. “What is the witness you’re called to offer by Christ, because that is what the apostles are really called to do, right? They are called to witness to Christ and they do so, in the case of 11 of them, by the shedding of their blood. And so how is it that bishops are really called to lay down their life for their community and the different ways in which they do that today?”

Monsignor Harrington said that in interviewing bishops from dioceses all across the country, he has learned more about the diversity and leadership of American bishops.

“It has been edifying to hear stories of redemption and witness and testimony of faith. This is what I think is the key thing. Some of the bishops have had incredible experiences of faith, from murder of a parent, to divorce in their parents’ life,

Cathedral close-up Father David Boettner, rector of the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, is interviewed for the TV show “The Chair,” which highlights cathedrals and bishops across the country.

By Emily Booker

EMILY BOOKER (2)

Catholic media ministry, profiling U.S. cathedrals, bishops in TV series, also interviews rector Father Boettner

And....action! Bishop Richard F. Stika prepares for his interview with Monsignor Kieran Harrington of DeSales Media Group at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in August. DeSales spent part of a week filming the cathedral and Bishop Stika for its new TV show, “The Chair.” to real alienation, so there’s been real suffering in the lives of these men who are ministering to people who in many cases are also suffering,” Monsignor Harrington said.

“It’s looking at the brokenness of the bishop and saying, ‘OK he’s a man like any other man, beset by weakness, but they’ve been called to this great office of testifying,’ and it’s testifying in the midst of his humanity that we can come to see how Christ is at work in the life of the Church,” he noted.

A look at the cathedral provides a visual representation of the office of the bishop in his diocese. The word “cathedral” come from cathedra, which is Latin for “chair.” The chair of a bishop resides in a cathedral, and it is from there that he fulfills his duty and ministry to his diocese.

Bishop Stika oversaw the building of the new Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, dedicated in March 2018. He ensured that the church featured images to teach and inspire faith. Father David Boettner, rector of the cathedral, also played a large role in building the new cathedral and spoke with Monsignor Harrington about the process of building a cathedral and some of its features.

Monsignor Harrington noted how sacred images are more than just art; they instruct the faithful.

“Cathedrals are pedagogical tools. So when you take a look around here and look at the state-

ments [from the Litany of the Sacred Heart], that says something to us about our faith. When you take a look up at the ceiling, you see the apostles, and it’s saying something to us about the important personages, the aspirations. When you look at the rose window and you see the Sacred Heart, it’s teaching you something about your faith. The image of the Blessed Mother, placement of the tabernacle, the awesomeness of the baldacchino—this is teaching us something. It’s the office of bishop refracted through the prism of the cathedral,” he pointed out.

Monsignor Harrington and the DeSales Media Group hope “The Chair” demonstrates the diversity and humanity of the men who hold the office of bishop. It will also serve as a snapshot of the cathedrals and leadership of the Catholic Church in America today.

“We’d love to be able to get to every cathedral, and then we think that’s going to be a real treasure for the Church,” Monsignor Harrington said. “To have in one area all the visual images of the primary churches, the cathedral churches, throughout the United States, we think that’s going to be a real blessing.”

Visit www.thechair.com for more information on the series. Episodes will begin to air this month on Google Play, iTunes/Apple TV, and Amazon Prime. The episode featuring the Diocese of Knoxville will be available toward the end of the year. ■

Religious Sisters of Mercy fill important diocesan positions Office of Christian Formation, St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic ministries receive assistance from new Alma Sisters

TH E EAST T E N N E S S E E C AT HO L I C

JIM WOGAN

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ishop Richard. F. Stika has appointed three members of the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Mich., to serve key positions in the Diocese of Knoxville.

Sister Mary Lisa Renfer, RSM, DO, is the new medical director of the St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic. Sister Mary Lisa succeeds Sister Mariana Koonce, RSM, MD, who was the clinic’s medical director since its founding by the bishop in 2013. The clinic first began seeing patients in January 2014.

Sister Mariana recently was assigned to a new academic program at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. Sister Mary Lisa started her work with the clinic in July and has traveled to all six of the communities in East Tennessee where the clinic visits on a regular basis.

“I am very excited to be here.

It has been nice to meet all of our volunteers and to get to know our patients,” she said. “East Tennessee is a great community, and I see this as a huge privilege working for the mobile clinic.”

Sister Mary Lisa is a Michigan native who studied at Franciscan University in Ohio before receiving a degree from Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Prior to her arrival in Tennessee, she served a residency and taught at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa in Mason City, Iowa.

“I think the St. Mary’s clinic is an amazing facility, and it has a great

Welcome to East Tennessee Three Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Mich., arrived in the Diocese of Knoxville this summer to fill key ministry roles. They are, from left, Sister Maria Juan Anderson, Sister Mary Lisa Renfer, and Sister Joan Miriam Nelson.

“I have very positive early impressions of the Diocese of Knoxville. I have met many parishioners who really are on fire for the faith. The Church here might seem small in number, but it has a great degree of faith.

— Sister Maria Juan Anderson, RSM mission,” she added. “I hope to build on the foundation of what was established here and continue to provide good care for our patients.”

Sister Maria Juan Anderson, RSM, is the new director of Christian Formation for the Diocese of Knoxville.

She replaces Sister Anna Marie McGuan, who served in that position for four years and who has been assigned to a teaching position in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Sister Maria Juan is a native of Idaho and has been a member of the Religious Sisters of Mercy since 2012. She is scheduled to make her final vows in August 2021.

“I have very positive early impressions of the Diocese of Knoxville,” she said. “I have met many parishioners who really are on fire for the faith. The Church here might seem small in number, but it has a great degree of faith.”

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By Jim Wogan

Prior to coming to Knoxville, Sister Maria Juan was on academic assignment in Washington, D.C., studying for her licensure in philosophy.

“I really am excited to work with all of the people in the parishes of this diocese who are committed to catechizing the faithful, but also reaching out to those who do not know the Lord yet,” she said. “My goal is to support them, but also to provide faith formation as well because we all need to be fed by the Lord in order to feed others.”

Sister Maria Juan also has accepted an invitation to participate in a project started by Sister Anna Marie before her departure in July. The podcast Scripture and the Spiritual Life was created by Sister Anna Marie in 2019 and has grown in popularity since then. She will continue to host her segments from Edinburgh, with Sister Maria Juan joining her from Knoxville. The first episode was recently posted to the Diocese of Knoxville’s podcast platform, which can be found at dioknox.org.

Sister Maria Juan arrived in Knoxville in July along with Sister Joan Miriam Nelson, who is in the second year of her novitiate with the Religious Sisters of Mercy.

Sister Joan Miriam is volunteering as an administrative assistant with the St. Mary’s Legacy Clinic and has a degree in human sciences from Oklahoma State University. She is scheduled to make her first vows with the Religious Sisters of Mercy next summer in Alma. ■ OCTOBER 4, 2020 n A5

Diocese of Knoxville distributes $123,000 for charitable outreach Pope Francis Charitable Trust Fund, which offers parishes matching grants, is extended during coronavirus pandemic

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ishop Richard F. Stika has announced extended distributions of the Pope Francis Charitable Trust Fund to assist parishes in the Diocese of Knoxville with charitable community outreach during the coronavirus pandemic.

Under the Pope Francis Charitable Trust Fund, parishes are offered matching grants to support charitable programs through a single annual distribution. Due to the 2020 global health crisis, Bishop Stika extended the grant program this year to include two waves of distributions.

Parishes received a total $123,000 this year.

“This has been a very unusual year, and I felt like we needed to take unusual steps to meet the charitable needs of our communities by extending funding for programs that have historically benefited all East Tennesseans, not just those who are Catholic,” Bishop Stika said.

The diocese distributed $55,000 to parishes in May. Bishop Stika approved a second wave of distributions in June that totaled $68,000. A total of 24 parishes requested the matching grants.

“These grants offer parishes an opportunity to increase their charitable outreach at the community level.

They help fund bread pantries and offer direct assistance to help people and families in need pay for household and transportation expenses, clothing, school supplies, and in some cases even medication,” Bishop Stika said.

In 2019, the Pope Francis Charitable Trust Fund distributed $51,500.

The Pope Francis Charitable Trust Fund was created and is funded through the recent Home Campaign, a diocesan-wide capital campaign that benefited charity, education, priest retirement, parish projects, and the construction of the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The Pope Francis Charitable Trust Fund began offering matching grants to parishes in 2019.

Wave I ($55,000) n St. Albert the Great, Knoxville ($3,000): Continuation of the parish Corporal Works of Mercy committee to coordinate seasonal opportunities supporting children and families who participate in the Mountain Arts Program in Newcomb. Supplies are collected three times per year at Christmas, Easter, and back to school. n St. Francis of Assisi, Townsend ($5,000): Support for the work of the parish St. Vincent de Paul conference.

Their specific work in Townsend is to serve those with limited or no income to provide grocery assistance through the parish food pantry and holiday food baskets in addition to school supplies, and new shoes and socks for children in the local community. n All Saints, Knoxville ($5,000): Support the work of the new parish St. Vincent de Paul conference. This will provide financial help for utilities, food, transportation, shelter, and health support for those in need. n St. John Neumann, Farragut ($5,000): Support the work of the parish St. Vincent de Paul conference. Primary areas of assistance include hous-

ing and utilities, food, transportation, and life-skills development.

The parish also offers assistance to the Catholic Charities of East Tennessee Pregnancy Help Center. n Holy Spirit, Soddy-Daisy ($5,000): Support the work of the parish St. Vincent de Paul conference. While the conference assists with many local needs, it places a specific focus on rent and mortgage assistance. n Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Chattanooga ($5,000): Support the work of the parish St. Vincent de Paul conference. As the only St. Vincent de Paul conference currently serving Chattanooga, a special request was made for additional funds. n St. Mary, Athens ($1,500): Parishbased direct charitable assistance to those in need in McMinn County. n Good Shepherd, Newport ($5,000): Support for the parish St. Vincent de Paul conference to continue assistance in support of those in need in Cocke County. n Holy Trinity, Jefferson City ($5,000): Support the work of parish charity. The church offers assistance to those who visit and request help. The parish has a

By Jim Wogan

specific focus on assistance with utilities, gas, groceries, food cards, etc. n St. Dominic, Kingsport ($5,000): Continue to support the work of the parish St. Vincent de Paul conference, which offers help with basic needs, including rent, utility, gas, food, etc. n St. Henry, Rogersville/St. James the Apostle, Sneedville ($3,000): Funds will help revive the parish food pantry and ease the burden of families in the local area. Dedicated parish volunteers will assist. The parish plans to provide meats, milk, and vegetables as well as paper products, detergent, and toiletry items. n St. Mary, Johnson City ($2,500): Requested assistance for the parish food pantry. The St. Mary food pantry serves those in the Johnson City area who have limited to no income. The pantry offers great access to nutritious foods, including dairy, fresh fruit, and vegetables. n St. Patrick, Morristown ($5,000): Support for the parish St. Patrick Samaritans charitable group that offers help with basic needs, including rent, utility, gas, food, etc.

WAVE II ($68,000) n St. Francis of Assisi, Townsend ($5,000): During COVID-19, the parish requested additional support to address increased need in the community through the work of the parish St. Vincent de Paul conference. St. Francis of Assisi requested and received a Pope Francis Charitable Trust Fund grant in Wave I of 2020. n St. Joseph the Worker, Madisonville ($3,000): The parish requested matching funds to support a long-standing ministry called Feed My Sheep. It assists with utility bills, food, clothing, housing, and other critical needs in Monroe County. n St. Teresa of Kolkata, Maynardville ($5,000): The parish plans to continue its mission to offer direct assistance to the poor, especially those who have been affected by COVID-19. n St. Thomas the Apostle, Lenoir City Trust Fund continued on page A8

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TH E EA S T TEN N ES S EE C ATH OLI C

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Matthew 17:20

We have FAITH! But . . .

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OCTOBER 4, 2020 n A7

‘The miracle is to let go’ In New York, KCHS grad Brother Robert Bathe watches over those dying amid pandemic

By Kevin Armstrong/The Washington Post

Trust Fund continued from page A6

($5,000): The parish requests matching funds to assist with food, shelter, fuel, and medical needs, including hospitalizations and transportation. n St. John Neumann, Farragut ($5,000): During COVID-19, the parish requested additional support to address an increased need in the community through the work of the parish St. Vincent de Paul conference. St. John Neumann requested and received a Pope Francis Charitable Trust Fund grant in Wave I of 2020. n Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, Chattanooga ($5,000): The parish requested matching funds to provide direct assistance to families in need, particularly those in the Hispanic community who have experienced a job loss or job insecurity as a result of COVID-19. n St. Stephen, Chattanooga ($5,000): To assist families and individuals affected

by COVID-19, the parish requested matching funds to help with prescriptions, rent, utilities, food, and funeral expenses. n Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Chattanooga ($5,000): The parish St. Vincent de Paul conference requested additional support for an increase in requests for help with food, utilities, housing, and other basic needs as a result of COVID-19. Our Lady of Perpetual Help requested and received a Pope Francis Charitable Trust Fund grant in Wave I of 2020.

A8 n OCTOBER 4, 2020

DEMETRIUS FREEMAN FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

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he morning after he turned 52 in April, Brother Robert Bathe emerged from the Millennium Hotel on West 44th Street in New York. He ambled half a block into Times Square and reflected on the emptiness. A street cleaner’s whoosh broke the silence.

Dressed in a brown robe, the traditional garb of his Carmelite order, Brother Robert began his daily walk down Broadway. At 28th Street, he hooked left and continued to Bellevue Hospital, where he is a Roman Catholic chaplain and bereavement coordinator.

“Welcome to ground zero,” he said before a nurse trained a thermometer gun on his forehead and scanned for a reading.

It read 98.6. The nurse nodded.

“Normally,” he said, “the family is there with me bedside at death, and when we say the Our Father it is very emotional. Now I stare at a person that is taking their last breaths. I’m with a doctor and a couple of nurses. We’re saying goodbye.”

Brother Robert is the friar on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic.

He is a native Tennessean who was a soil scientist before entering religious life at age 27, and his Southern accent is the first voice many patients’ family members hear from the city’s oldest hospital when he calls to inquire about special needs.

Each morning, he reviews death logs.

He then walks through the emergency department and intensive care unit, where he stands behind glass and cues up music on the smartphone he keeps in his pocket. “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is a favorite selection. On Funky Fridays, as he calls them, Brother Robert mixes Benedictine chants with James Brown. If patients are awake, he flexes his biceps or pumps a fist — encouragement to stay strong.

He takes precautions when praying over the intubated, slipping on an N95 mask and face shield. In all, he ministers to more than 25 patients daily.

“Music gives a little more sense of sacredness so I don’t get distracted by nurses and doctors screaming,” he said. “I am focused on that patient, looking at that face. I know who that person is, imagine what it is like for them to be alive.”

His pager pulses with death updates. It is programmed to receive alerts for cardiac emergencies, traumas, and airway issues. Whenever a coronavirus patient on a ventilator needs attention, it comes across his screen twice. When a nurse who worked in the neonatal ICU died of COVID-19 last spring, Mary Ann Tsourounakis, Bellevue’s senior associate director of maternal child health, called pastoral care for help. A group

Reaching out Brother Robert Bathe greets people in the Mount Carmel Place courtyard near Bellevue Hospital. As the coronavirus paralyzed New York and stretched the limits of its hospital system, Brother Robert, a Knoxville Catholic High School graduate, ministered to COVID-19 patients and health-care professionals in need of spiritual healing. of nurses grieved. First to arrive was Brother Robert, who led them in prayer in a small hallway.

“One of the most healing and loving I’ve heard,” Ms. Tsourounakis said.

“People think it has to be a big production. Sometimes those moments are the moments.”

The virus paralyzed the city and stretched the limits of its hospital system. Confirmed cases have eclipsed 235,000, according to the New York City Health Department, with more than 20,000 deaths attributed to the disease.

Brother Robert’s path to New York began in Knoxville. He grew up around his grandfather’s cattle farm, went on frequent hikes as an Eagle Scout, and eyed a career as a forest ranger while a teenager, graduating in 1986 from Knoxville Catholic High School.

His mother, Linda, worked at the University of Tennessee, and she consulted with faculty members about her son’s future in forestry. Prospects were slim, and alternate paths — archaeology or agriculture — were suggested.

He didn’t see himself traveling to Egypt to unearth tombs, so he dug into agricultural studies and toiled with botany and geology as well. Following graduation, he worked for the Buncombe County environmental health agency in North Carolina.

Hired to protect groundwater, he found his release was to drop a line in honey holes for catfish, pitch a tent, and listen to bluegrass songs after dark.

One day, Brother Robert was sent to meet a man named Robert Warren to evaluate his soil so he could build a house. When Brother Robert arrived, he saw Mr. Warren slumped over in his truck. As Brother Robert approached, he said, Mr. Warren grabbed n St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Cleveland ($5,000): The parish has seen people in their community struggle to purchase food and cover the costs of basic bills during COVID-19. The parish plans to use matching funds from the Pope Francis Charitable Trust Fund to offer food baskets, assist with bills, help families this Christmas, and provide clothing when needed. n St. John Paul II Catholic Mission, Rutledge ($5,000): This mission church plans to continue offering direct assistance to the poor, especially those who have been affected by COVID-19. n Notre Dame, Greeneville ($5,000): The parish requests matching funds to assist the local community with utilities, rent, medication, groceries, and other critical needs. n St. Mary, Johnson City ($5,000): The St. Vincent de Paul Conference at St. Mary helps pay for living expenses such as rent, mortgage, or utilities, as well as diapers and food. St. Mary requested and received a Pope Francis Charitable Trust Fund grant in Wave I of 2020 to support its parish food pantry ministry. n St. Anthony of Padua, Mountain City ($5,000): The St. Anthony Bread food pantry requested continued support for the parish children’s nutrition program. The program has provided families with meat, fish, milk, yogurt, eggs, and fresh vegetables. It has seen a 35 percent increase in client numbers since the program began in 2019. ■

his hand and asked, “Would you pray with me?”

They recited the Lord’s Prayer, he said. Moments later, he was dead, Brother Robert recalled. Brother Robert accompanied him to the hospital and attended the memorial service and funeral. He believes the experience, which he wrote about for the Vision Vocation Network in 2003, led him to his true calling.

Brother Robert joined the Carmelites soon after, and in 1997 was assigned to Our Lady of the Scapular and St. Stephen’s Church, two blocks from Bellevue. Lessons followed.

One day, he said, a woman fell from her window in a neighboring building and through the church roof. He was sent up to investigate.

“First dead body I ever smelled,” he says. “Life is tender.”

Transfers are part of the friar life. He taught in Boca Raton, Fla., and served as the vocation director from Maine to Miami before returning to Manhattan nearly three years ago.

In ordinary times, Brother Robert receives a monthly allowance of $250, lives in the St. Eliseus Priory in Harrison, N.J., and rides the PATH train.

He fell ill in January, experienced the chills, registered a temperature of 101, and lost weight. He believed it was pneumonia then and self-isolated, using a back stairwell to his room. His brothers left meals outside his door, and he returned to Bellevue after convalescing. He wasn’t tested for coronavirus.

Since March 30, the hospital has facilitated his participation in a program that provides free or discounted rooms for front-line workers, first at a Comfort Inn on the west side of Manhattan and now at the Millennium, to limit his commute. Along the route to work, his bald head, eager gait, and hearty

laugh are known to mendicants and administrators alike.

He carries on the tradition of the Carmelites, who have ministered at Bellevue since the 1800s, through periodic epidemics, saying Masses from the psychiatric ward to the prison unit.

Colleagues include a new rabbi and a 20-year-old imam.

When a Catholic dies, he performs the commendation of the dead, a seven-minute service. His responsibilities range from distributing Communion to finding prayer books for patients of varied faiths to leading memorial services for staff members.

He is “staunchly against” virtual bereavement, which has become common amid the pandemic, insisting on providing a physical presence.

“People are looking for a miracle when the miracle is to let go,” he said.

“Call me too practical, but I don’t pray they leap out of the grave like Lazarus.

I think we’re meant for better. We’re meant for God.” Hospital staffers are processing what has happened since the pandemic first gripped New York, and they’re bracing for a potential second wave. Since Lorna Breen, medical director for the emergency department at NewYorkPresbyterian Allen Hospital, died by suicide in April, Bellevue has increased its support services for employees.

Questions about closure come from all mourners.

“Families ask, ‘Are we going to be able to have our loved one go to Mexico?’ ” Brother Robert said. “How are we going to do the next step, to bury our loved ones?”

On a Sunday last spring, Brother Robert stepped outside for a breather in what some people call Bedpan Alley, the East Side neighborhood that includes hospitals and a shelter on First Avenue. He checked on a homeless woman who sits in a chair facing Bellevue each day, rubbing his thumb against hers as she slept. A shoeless man was prone on the sidewalk.

Brother Robert inquired about a can collector’s economic concerns. Business was slow.

“Are you a priest?” a woman on a bench asked Brother Robert.

“No, ma’am,” he said. “I’m a friar.”

She introduced herself as Shonda.

She was anxious about a meeting with her manager.

“You want to say a prayer for me?” she said.

“Put the phone down,” he said.

Brother Robert closed his eyes and prayed.

“Breathe,” he said.

“I’m going to breathe,” she said.

As he walked back to the hospital, his pager went off. “Cardiac Arrest,” it read, “10 West 36.”

“Somebody’s dying,” he said. ■

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TH E EA S T TEN N ES S EE C ATH OLI C

Faith and football, in that order Fr. Charlie Burton marks 40th anniversary of his ordination this year by indulging his passion — the priesthood

DAN MCWILLIAMS (4)

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ittsburgh Steelers jerseys and a Terrible Towel, lion figurines, a sheet of $2 bill star notes, and a photo of a favorite singer, Jackson Browne, are in his office.

That can only mean one is in the domain of Father Charlie Burton, who is celebrating his 40th anniversary as a priest this year.

The longtime pastor of St. Jude Parish in Chattanooga and former longtime pastor of St. Dominic Parish in Kingsport has served throughout East Tennessee over the years since his ordination July 11, 1980, at St. Jude.

“Though life has changed significantly over the last 40 years, especially as we look through the eyes of a pandemic, and though various ministries have provided different opportunities and responsibilities over these years, it has always been in the back of my mind that as a priest, I am to bring the person of Christ to God’s people,” Father Burton said. “The example of Father Cooper and Father Lucas, our parish priests while I was growing up, indicated that God wants his priests, frailties and all, to use their talents and abilities in the service of his people. We are to be ministers of grace and knowledge and comfort.”

Throughout his priesthood, Father Burton has “frequently used my love for the Scriptures.

Whether it has been in preparing and giving daily homilies or preparing and offering classes, I have thoroughly enjoyed the love of the Scriptures offered to me by Father Peter Duncker and other Scripture professors at the Angelicum University. They opened up to me a marvelous world and a desire to venture into that world to gain an ongoing and fuller understanding of Christ and the Church.”

Father Burton’s other assignments over the years include Holy Ghost Parish in Knoxville, Holy Family in Seymour, Knoxville Catholic High School, Notre Dame in Greeneville, St. Henry in Rogersville, Good Shepherd in Newport, St. James the Apostle in Sneedville, and the Catholic Campus Ministry at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City.

And he is a former director of deacon formation for the Diocese of Knoxville.

“By offering Mass and my weekly Bible Study on Facebook during this pandemic, I have renewed online many friendships from over the years,” he said. “Present and former parishioners are watching, and I notice their presence. People from my tiny hometown in Western Pennsylvania are watching and participating. People from various churches in East Tennessee, where I have served, make themselves known to me. I am so grateful for their thoughts and prayers.”

St. Jude is a special place for Father Burton, as is St. Dominic.

“I have now been at St. Jude for

40 years a priest Father Charlie Burton sits in his office at St. Jude Church surrounded by mementos collected during his priesthood, including Pittsburgh Steelers and baseball collectibles, and lion figurines.

Anniversary wishes from the top Father Burton has a framed letter conveying best wishes on his 40th anniversary from Pope Francis, who also imparted an Apostolic Blessing.

The letter was dated July 17.

Go Steelers! Among the framed valuables Father Burton has hanging in his office is a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey signed by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Father Burton considers himself Pittsburgh’s No. 1 fan.

Historical record Father Charlie Burton keeps track of parishioners past and present through the Christmas cards he receives. The hallways leading to and from his St. Jude office are lined with groupings of cards by year. the last 11 years. I came here at the end of July 2009 after 14 years at St. Dominic in Kingsport. Both places are especially dear to me,” he said. “When I first came to live and work in East Tennessee in July of 1977, after visiting Chattanooga and St. Jude in the summer of 1976, Father Lu Schnupp hired me as summer help (as a janitor).

“In August, he asked me to stay and work in the school and

help with various ministries, and I agreed. I loved it. Even though previously I had been a seminarian for the Diocese of Erie, Pa., I requested that I might join the Diocese of Nashville. I was accepted and at the beginning of the next school year I returned to the seminary in 3rd theology. Two years later I was ordained a priest at St. Jude by Bishop [James D.] Niedergeses. St. Jude had become

By Dan McWilliams

my adopted home. Many of my friends of 40 years earlier were still here in July of 2009 when I returned as pastor, and that was a comfort, and the many more new ones have been a great joy. To be with children and a school has been a significant element of my priesthood. I have been connected directly to a school in 32 of 40 years as a priest.”

In 1994, Knoxville’s founding bishop sent Father Burton to St. Dominic.

“It had been my first assignment as a newly ordained priest in 1980.

I remembered St. Dominic fondly and returned there to serve them as their pastor,” Father Burton said. “It was a wonderful time devoted to change and growth and debt and building. I loved it dearly. Though I knew I had been given an extended time there (14 years) and deeply appreciated it, I was sad to go, but, at least, I was returning home to Chattanooga and St. Jude.”

Father Burton said that he has “carried several quirks with me.”

“First is my love for the Pittsburgh Steelers. As soon as the season is over, I am in preseason.

I root for them every Sunday and have their app on my phone,” he said. “Second is my love for good smoked kielbasa. For over 25 years, I have been making a fall trip to visit my sister and brother in Western Pennsylvania and pick up each year 200 or more pounds of smoked kielbasa from Urbaniak’s Meat Market in Erie, Pa. I have shared it from Kingsport to Knoxville to Chattanooga.

“Third is that I am a coin collector. It is a hobby that I have had since I was a boy, looking through my dad’s pocket change. And fourth is my love for dogs. Honey died last year, and so I am without a dog at the present time. However, since 1989 until last year, Sami, Happy, and Honey were my constant companions for over 30 years.”

The pandemic postponed Father Burton’s 40th-anniversary celebration.

“Maybe we can do something next year. Who knows?” he said.

Father Burton loves one thing above all else.

“I have always loved being a parish priest. It is my greatest joy,” he said. “I intend to continue to do that as long as I can. I am 68 years old now and I love what I do and appreciate all those who share ministry with me. The dedication of our associate pastor, of our deacons, of the church office staff, of Mrs. [Jamie] Goodhard and the school staff, of PRE [parish religious education], of youth ministry, of RCIA, of the music ministry, of the CCW, of the Legion of Mary, of the Knights of Columbus, and of all involved in ministry in any way help so much in serving the parishioners of St. Jude and their needs.” ■

Joliet bishop is installed amid enthusiasm, challenges Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos experience factors into his formation as diocesan shepherd

TH E EAST T E N N E S S E E C AT HO L I C

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO/CARLOS BRICENO

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he night before his Sept. 29 installation, Bishop Ronald A. Hicks, named July 17 to head the Diocese of Joliet, Ill., recalled a particularly painful incident as a pastor but one that made him change his approach toward the group he was serving.

While working in El Salvador with a mission project called “Our little brothers and sisters,” or Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, which serves abandoned children, a group of kids showed up to his office and told him they needed to talk to him.

He told them to wait for five minutes, but emails and other office work prolonged the wait to about 30. When he was finished with the paperwork, he went over to talk to them.

“I said, OK. How can I help you? What would you like? And one of the children, with all sincerity and with no guile, before they started their conversation, just looked at me and he said (in Spanish), ‘Padre, usted es más como un abogado que un sacerdote.’ What he said to me was, ‘Father, you are more like a lawyer than a priest.’ His words broke my heart.”

Leaning on God Bishop Ronald A. Hicks processes into the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus in Joliet, Ill., for his installation Mass.

He said that even though he was surprised and pained at what the child had said, and he had been working hard to raise money so they w ww.di o k no x .o rg

By Rhina Guidos/Catholic News Service could eat, have a roof over their head, to fight a court system to keep the children protected, he realized his primary job was as their pastor.

“I changed my life with them on that day,” he said to those gathered at St. James the Apostle Church in Glen Ellyn, Ill., for a vespers service livestreamed Sept. 28 from the Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus in Joliet. “I said I will not let one day go by without making sure that I spend real time with them, playing with them, eating with them, listening to them, just being there as their spiritual father.”

Similarly, his new post as the diocese’s sixth bishop will entail a lot of administrative work, he said, and he asked for the help of women and men religious, deacons, priests, the laity, and people of goodwill, but he said his primary role is as their pastor.

“I need God, I need to rely and lean in to God, to Christ, every single day, every single moment of my life, and I also need you, I need all of you,” he said.

He takes over a diocese that, like others, is Bishop Hicks continued on page A19 OCTOBER 4, 2020 n A9

Hicks Armor named to diocesan stewardship post Chattanooga native and Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul deacon selected by Bishop Stika for fundraising leadership role

BILL BREWER

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Diocesan steward Deacon Hicks Armor, the new diocesan director of Stewardship and Strategic Planning, is shown at the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, where he serves.

ishop Richard F. Stika only had to go as far as Chattanooga to find the Diocese of Knoxville’s new director overseeing diocesan-wide giving programs, including planned giving and development, stewardship, and strategic planning.

Deacon Hicks Armor has accepted the position of director of Stewardship and Strategic Planning for the diocese and began his new role Oct. 1. Deacon Armor is a lifelong resident of Chattanooga and has 40 years of experience in business, development, fundraising, and leadership.

He succeeds John Deinhart, who left the Chancery in August to accept the position of president and chief executive officer of NPH-USA. NPH, or Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (Our Little Brothers and Sisters), is an organization of nine homes for youth in Central and South America and the Caribbean. Mr. Deinhart had served the diocese since 2012.

Deacon Armor has emphasized that business and volunteer positions are important, but the trust placed by God in him, his wife, and his family is most important. He said the privilege of being called to the diaconate and the opportunity to serve God’s people is humbling and special.

In his new role, Deacon Armor, who was ordained to the permanent diaconate in June 2016, will be a member of Bishop Stika’s leadership team and also will serve as an ex officio member of the diocesan Finance Council, the Catholic

Education Trust Fund, and the Catholic Charities of East Tennessee board. He will be a staff officer with the St. Mary’s Legacy Foundation and serve as the executive director of the Catholic Foundation of East Tennessee.

The Chattanooga native previously served in executive positions in the health-care and insurance industries. He and his wife, Vicki, have two grown children: daughter Alex, 22, and son Hicks J., 29. He attended St. Jude School as an elementary school student and then graduated from Notre Dame High School.

The Armors are members of the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, where Mr. Armor serves as a deacon.

He intended to attend college on a swimming scholarship, but he was drafted into the Army out of high school and joined the Army Reserves, where he served for eight years. He attended and graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and then joined the Chattanooga business community.

“You hear people say, ‘I want to add meaning and purpose to my life.’ I spent 40-plus years in health care from an insurance standpoint and a provider standpoint. The meaning and purpose and passion in my life has always been volunteer work. That always brought me the most satisfaction,” Deacon Armor explained.

He learned that satisfaction at an early age when he pivoted from swimming competitively

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Proud parents Father Zachary Griffith blesses his parents during the ordination Mass for him and Father Alexander Hernandez on Aug. 29. Father Griffith’s father, Deacon Don Griffith, served as Deacon of the Word during the Mass.

Bless me, Father Father Alexander Hernandez blesses his father, Juan, during the ordination Mass for him and Father Zachary Griffith on Aug. 29 at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

DAN MCWILLIAMS

cancer. Alex stepped out of the seminary for a semester or so to be with his father to take care of his mother.

“What do I say to you today? Maybe it’s a reflection on the feast day that we celebrate today, the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. Maybe to the two of you I say this, in all sincerity: don’t let your head be separated from your heart. You spent a lot of time in the seminary learning about all kinds of things: Scripture and sacraments and preaching and dogma, prayer, reflection, priesthood, celibacy—whatever it might be. But don’t forget: don’t separate the intellect from the heart.”

The priesthood of Jesus Christ “is associated with the heart of Jesus,” the bishop said. “Our cathedral is named the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. But you also need a balance because if you go too much with your heart, you can lose a certain sense of credibility.

You might want to be just a nice guy and say yes to everything or no to everything because you don’t want to find yourself in a difficult situation.

There are so many times in pastoral ministry that you want to give a different answer, but it might be in conflict with who we are as a Church, with our teaching. That’s why it’s so important to keep that balance: the heart and the brain, the intellect and a sense of care and love.”

Bishop Stika spoke of all the sacraments the new priests would celebrate.

“You will say, ‘Take this all of you and eat of it, for this is my body.’ You will take the cup: ‘take this all of you and drink from this, for this is the chalice, not of his blood but of my blood, not of his body but this is my body, because you will act in the person of Jesus as another Christ. Never allow that to become ordinary.”

When each priest preaches, “you preach the Word of God. Don’t be afraid to preach the Word of God,” the bishop said.

Bishop Stika said “we live in complicated times. You’re entering the priesthood of Jesus in a very complicated time, when so many people deny the existence of God or look the other way or don’t feel that they need to gather together as a community to celebrate faith. There are going to be people who look at you with anger when you talk about the holiness of life and how abortion is the killing of the most vulnerable. They will look at you a little funny when you might talk about the beautiful sacrament of marriage when so many people are divorced. . . . But my brothers, Zach and Alex, you enter into this world in the person of Jesus, as another Christ.”

The bishop wore at the ordination a pectoral cross that belonged to the late Cardinal John J. Carberry, a former archbishop of St. Louis. The pectoral cross contains a relic of the true cross.

“The true cross—you will bear it in one way or another,” Bishop Stika said.

“There may be times of great happiness or joy when you look forward to

Heart to heart Bishop Richard F. Stika addresses ordinand Alexander Hernandez during the ordination Mass for the priest-to-be as Deacons Walt Otey, left, and Hicks Armor, right, listen. doing this or that, but there are also times when you carry the cross and you enter a room where somebody is dying or someone is angry or someone is lost.

“You’ll carry the cross in your own life, on the loneliness of a Sunday night when everyone is with their family, maybe, and you go home to a rectory. Or as for me, I always wanted to

get married and have kids and now grandkids—to miss the joy of having your own children and spouse. But you give this as a gift for the sake of the kingdom of God.” Priesthood “is not something that is such a difficult cross to bear, because just like Simon helped Jesus carry His cross, the love and the affection and the friendship of the people that you

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are called to serve will help you bear the burdens,” the bishop said. “So in your life, don’t be afraid to be a reflection of Jesus, because He, too, walks with you on the journey.”

The new priests are public people now, Bishop Stika said.

“Wherever you go, you are a priest,” he said. “And the more that you’re a public person, even though you might know all the people, so many will know you. Carry yourselves with dignity. Realize the potential of your holiness and know that the Church today, universally . . . living and deceased, celebrates with you, for you are given the mission of the sacraments of healing ministry and of Jesus himself.”

The bishop closed his homily by saying, “my brothers, we rejoice with you today. We rejoice with your family, living and deceased. We rejoice with your parishes that you came from and you have served. We rejoice with the Church and all the people who know you, because you give to us a gift, the gift of your life, and today the Church gives you the gift of priesthood. Continue in your journey, striving for holiness, for you now indeed will be a priest of Jesus Christ.”

The ordination rite followed and included the promises of the elect, in which the future fathers pledged in part “to discharge the office of priesthood in the presbyteral rank, as a worthy fellow worker with the order of bishops in caring for the Lord’s flock”; “to exercise the ministry of the Word worthily and wisely, preaching the Gospel and teaching the Catholic faith”; and “to pray without ceasing.”

The ordinands promised respect and obedience to Bishop Stika and his successors, then prostrated themselves before the altar for the Litany of Saints.

The bishop then, through the laying on of hands, prayed the prayer of ordination for each.

The newly ordained were then vested with a stole and chasuble, Father Griffith by Father Dustin Collins and Father Hernandez by Father Joe Reed.

As each new priest knelt before Bishop Stika, the bishop anointed his hands with holy chrism and then placed the gifts of bread and wine in his hands.

“Receive the oblation of the holy people, to be offered to God,” Bishop Stika said. “Understand what you do, imitate what you celebrate, and conform your life to the mystery of the Lord’s cross.”

After receiving a greeting from the bishop and concelebrating priests, the newly ordained took part in the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

At the end of Mass, the new priests gave blessings to their parents and to Cardinal Rigali and Bishop Stika.

Father Griffith said ordination day “has been nine years in the coming—a lot of waves in that nine years. But really, it’s great to see the beginning of your work come about. This isn’t the goal; this is the gift of God to not send idiots like me into the field unprepared,” he Ordination continued on page A11 TH E EA S T TEN N ES S EE C ATH OLI C

Distressed kayaker rescued by Paulists during lake outing Seminarians, priests at retreat aboard floating Tiki bar are lifesavers on New York’s Lake George

Catholic News Service/Catholic News Agency

COURTESY OF THE PAULIST FATHERS

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his is a typical story about Paulist Fathers, a floating Tiki bar, and a kayaker.

It all started when Greg Barrett, a captain for Tiki Tours, offered the Paulist Fathers—two fathers and five seminarians—a free, relaxing tour around Lake George, which is 60 miles north of Albany, N.Y., in August.

Paulist Father Frank Desiderio is the director of St. Mary’s of the Lake, the summer retreat for the fathers since 1875, and Mr. Barrett lives next door to the retreat’s housekeeper, Vicki Butz.

Mr. Barrett was talking with Ms. Butz one night on his back porch about taking the Paulist Fathers out on the boat, saying, “My mother was a very devout Catholic, and I said these guys need to come out on the Tiki boat.”

“He just wanted to give our guys a nice day, so he offered the free time slot,” Father Desiderio told The Evangelist, the diocesan newspaper of Albany.

The floating Tiki bar is essentially a round barge that normally holds partiers—not priests—on the popular upstate New York lake.

The seminarians and novices, who are studying at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., were staying at the retreat for 10 weeks last summer to get out of the city during the pandemic.

It was a typical day on the lake with moderate chop on the water and broken clouds, said Father Desiderio, until the group noticed a man, wearing an ill-fitting life jacket, struggling with his overturned kayak after losing his paddle.

Mr. Barrett also pointed out that after he picked up the Paulist Fathers, instead of going up the

Rescue squad The Paulist lifesavers were, from left, Father Ron Roberson; Father Paul Rospond (a former associate pastor at St. John XXIII in Knoxville), seminarians Noah Ismael, Dan Macalinao, and Chris Malano; Father Dat Tran; seminarian Ben Chisholm; and rescued kayaker Jimmy MacDonald. west side of the lake and returning on the east side, because of the weather, he went in the opposite direction. It proved to be a fateful decision as they came across the kayaker, Jimmy MacDonald, in distress.

“I noticed his paddle, that is the first thing that caught my attention,” Mr. Barrett said. “I beeped my horn to get the guy’s attention.

I thought the person at the time was not paying attention or on his phone and when we got closer, we saw the kayak flipped over and then we heard him yelling for help and we rolled over there to get him out of the water.”

Along with the deckhand, novices Chris Malano from Hawaii and Noah Ismael from Maryland helped Mr. MacDonald to safety.

They were very happy to be able to help,” said Father Desiderio, who added that another novice on board, Ben Chisholm, was captain

of the Fordham swim team.

“The first thing I said was, ‘You are in good hands, you are with priests,’” Mr. Barrett said, “and he said, ‘I am with priests?’ He asked for a prayer as soon as he got on board and I said to him, ‘Are you with somebody?’ He gets on the phone and tells his wife, ‘Guess where I am at? I am on the Tiki boat,’ and he says, ‘It gets better, I am here with a bunch of priests.’”

The Paulists’ retreat has a prominent dock and boathouse, and Father Desiderio said this was not the first time that they have helped people to safety or given them directions. In August, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office used the dock as a staging area in its efforts to search for a drowned swimmer.

“Once a year, we see someone in trouble,” Father Desiderio said.

When Mr. MacDonald found himself floundering in the Lake George waters, he thought he

might die.

He had been enjoying a relaxing August day on the lake with his family, meditating and snapping pictures. He kept his lifejacket in the boat—he didn’t think he would need it, he told Glens Falls Living.

But his kayak ended up drifting, and suddenly he found himself far from shore and from his wife and stepchildren. Despite the rough waters, he still thought he could make it back to shore, and so he waved on several boats that had stopped to offer help.

But when his kayak tipped and his hastily donned lifejacket came up to his ears, Mr. MacDonald knew he was in real trouble.

“I thought I was going to die.

I was absolutely powerless and wished I had asked for help earlier.

I was waving my hand and asked God to please help me,” he said.

God answered his prayers.

“And then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Tiki boat,” he exclaimed.

Mr. Ismael told NBC Washington that it was “a movement of the Holy Spirit” that they came across Mr. MacDonald at the right time.

Mr. Malano told New York TV station WNYT that as Paulist seminarians, they are missionaries, and “that day, that was our mission, to be present and help someone in need.”

Mr. Macdonald told WNYT that he took the rescue as a “sign from God” that his life still has a purpose on earth. He also added that he found the rescue funny, in an ironic sense. Mr. MacDonald is an addict in recovery who counsels others through addiction recovery.

“How funny is it that I’ve been sober for seven years and I get saved by a Tiki bar?” he said. ■

Scenes from an ordination Right: Father Alexander Hernandez poses for a selfie with friends following his priestly ordination on Aug. 29.

Far right: Father Hernandez blesses the parents of fellow ordinand Father Zachary Griffith following their ordination to the priesthood.

Below: Father Zachary Griffith gives first blessings following his ordination to the priesthood at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

TH E EAST T E N N E S S E E C AT HO L I C

family came to Sacred Heart from Puerto Rico, his parents’ native land.

Being a concelebrant at the ordination Mass was something that is “going to take a little getting used to, but I was happy to finally be able to do it,” Father Hernandez said.

Among the many visitors to Sacred Heart on ordination day was MaryEllen Snyder, a parishioner of Our Lady of Fatima who has known Father Hernandez since he was in the eighth grade, when his family moved to East Tennessee from Florida.

“It was a true blessing,” she said of the ordination. “I know his mother was looking down from heaven. I made a promise to her that I would watch him go through this. He’s like a brother to me. There are no words to describe it.

It’s God’s will. I’m very proud of Alex. I couldn’t be more proud of him.” ■

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said.

He said the title “Father” would sound “weird” at first.

“I think it’ll still be weirder not to try to call someone a brother instead of a father,” he said.

Father Griffith’s vestor, Father Collins, went to the same high school, David Crockett in Jonesborough, and is Father Griffith’s home pastor at St. Mary Church in Johnson City.

Father Griffith said he is looking forward to his first assignment as an associate pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Chattanooga, and he referred to OLPH’s outgoing pastor when he said, “as Father [Jim] Vick likes to call it, Our Lady of Perpetual Activity.”

On serving at the altar, Father Griffith said “it still feels wrong to be standing at some parts and not kneeling at other parts. I’ll get used to it, I’m sure.”

Father Hernandez said his new title sounds “a little surreal. I’m going to have to get used to it.”

To say he was anticipating ordination day would be an understatement.

“I woke up super early this morning because I was looking forward to it so much,” he said.

Our Lady of Fatima in Alcoa is Father Hernandez’s home parish.

Father Hernandez said his mother, who died three years ago, was looking down from heaven on his ordination day.

“Absolutely. That’s definite,” he said.

Father Reed, his vestor, is the former director of vocations for the diocese.

“He was vocations director for me for quite some time,” Father Hernandez said. “He especially took care of making sure to visit me and my mom and my dad when my mom was sick. He was there for us for quite a good time.”

Father Hernandez is bound for All Saints Parish in Knoxville as an associate pastor. He is looking forward to the assignment “very much,” he said.

As his father proclaimed the second reading, Father Hernandez said, “it took a bit for me to not get super emotional, but it was good. I loved it.”

Both new priests had plenty of family members attending the ordination. Some of Father Hernandez’s

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Coming to order Bishop Richard F. Stika convenes the inquiry flanked by Deacons Sean Smith, right, Gaspar DeGaetano, left, and Hicks Armor, behind.

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A life well lived Deacon Gaspar DeGaetano gives an account of Father Patrick Ryan’s life during the opening session of the inquiry into the cause for sainthood for the Chattanooga priest. Observing at right is Nashville Bishop J. Mark Spalding.

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DAN MCWILLIAMS

Peer review From left, Father Nick Tran, Father John Orr, and Father David Carter process into the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul for the opening session of the inquiry into the cause for sainthood for Father Patrick Ryan.

Faithful witnesses Dominican Sisters prepare to observe the opening session of the inquiry into the cause for sainthood for Servant of God Patrick Ryan.

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Father Ryan’s body to Mount Olivet Cemetery. He was remembered for his courage and selfless sacrifice in helping others.

Bishop Stika and basilica rector Father David Carter are leading the canonization cause at the diocesan level, enlisting the help of many volunteers to promote the cause.

“You might ask yourself, ‘Why all this paperwork and this ceremony following this process?’ Well, there’s a good reason for that. Millions and millions and millions of people have lived and existed throughout the centuries, people of holiness and goodness and charity and kindness, people who have followed Jesus and knew of that special relationship that their prayers were involved with, as often we pray through Christ, Our Lord. But also people need role models,” Bishop Stika said.

“So often in our present age there are sports figures, politicians, and all kinds of people who are out there and we really don’t know much about their life. We maybe know about their skill set, such as in athletics. But here we are looking at a process that is much, much deeper.

The relationship of one person to God and how they have lived their life, how they have taught the faith, both in word and in witness,” he added. “I do think it ironic that as this process has been continuing these last couple of years, we’re at this point again with a virus (coronavirus), with something contagious, with something of a mystery.

In the 1870s, not much was known about yellow fever. Maybe the causes, but not necessarily how to deal with it, just like in our day and age.

We’re still trying to ascertain that.

Maybe we can all pray, and invite others to pray for the intercession of Father Ryan, who did not abandon his people. Whether they were Catholic or Christian, believers or not, he saw in everyone the presence of God.” A12 n OCTOBER 4, 2020

Lay participation Bishop Richard F. Stika watches as Rebecca Dempsey and Jennifer Morris prepare to be sworn as adjunct notaries for the cause for the beatification and canonization of Servant of God Patrick Ryan.

Father Patrick Ryan n Pastor: Sts. Peter and Paul Parish, Chattanooga,

1872-1878 n Status: Servant of God n Born: 1845 in County Tipperary, Ireland n Died: Sept. 28, 1878, in Chattanooga during yellow fever outbreak n Buried: Mount Olivet Cemetery in Chattanooga n Cause for Sainthood: Contact Postulator for the Cause for Father Patrick Ryan, Deacon Gaspar DeGaetano, 423-266-1618, or deacongaspar@me.com “The just shall be in everlasting remembrance.” –– Inscription on Father Ryan’s grave

Also taking part in the ceremony, held in the basilica sanctuary at the altar, were Cardinal Justin Rigali, Bishop J. Mark Spalding of the Diocese of Nashville, and diocesan priests Father John Orr, Father Michael Hendershott, Father Nick Tran, Father Joe Brando, Father Moises Moreno, and Father Valentin Iurochkin.

Officials for the cause of sainthood of Father Ryan are Bishop Stika; Deacon Gaspar DeGaetano, who is the diocesan postulator; Father Carter, who is the episcopal delegate and judicial vicar for the tribunal; Father Orr, who is the promoter of justice; Deacon Hicks Armor, who is a notary; and Rebecca Dempsey and Jennifer Morris, who are adjunct notaries.

Diocese of Knoxville chancellor Deacon Sean Smith serves as a notary, too, administering the official inquiry documents. Other deacons in attendance were John DeClue and Tom McConnell.

Also present to observe were lay participants in the cause, witnesses, and the public, including Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, Knights of Columbus, and the media.

The ceremony began with the Liturgy of the Hours Mid-Morning Prayer. Hymns were sung by the

Gloria Dei Schola. After Psalms were recited and readings offered, officials for the cause of sainthood took their oaths and were sworn in.

Members of a historical commission charged with compiling the historical record of Father Ryan presented their documents, placing their bound volume of archive material on the altar.

Members of the historical commission are Brother Reginald Cruz, John Hilgeman, Michael Meehan, Mary Portera, and in memoriam Barbara DeGaetano, deceased wife of Deacon DeGaetano.

Deacon DeGaetano also gave a lengthy account of Father Ryan’s life and ministry from the pulpit.

A concluding prayer for Father Ryan was given, and Bishop Stika closed the session.

Following the session was a noon Mass for the Dead for a Priest, which was celebrated for the repose of the soul of Father Ryan. Bishop Stika was the Mass celebrant, with Bishop Spalding serving as the primary concelebrant. Diocesan priests also concelebrated. Cardinal Rigali was in choir.

Bishop Stika called the launch of the inquiry into Father Ryan’s cause for sainthood a special moment for the Catholic Church in East Tennes-

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see and the entire state. He noted that when Father Ryan served Chattanooga, he was a priest of the Diocese of Nashville.

The bishop then pointed out that Knights of Columbus founder Father Michael McGivney will be beatified by the Church this month, and the miracle attributed to his intercession involved Mikey Schachle, a son of Daniel and Michelle Schachle, who live in the Diocese of Nashville.

Mr. Schachle is the lead Tennessee agent for Knights of Columbus financial services.

“The Church holds up holy people. And the Church believes that all of us are called to holiness, to recognize in each other the presence of God, to follow the Lord, to follow Jesus, to be people of prayer, of charity, kindness, and compassion.

All virtues that Father Ryan lived,” Bishop Stika said. “We pray that as this process continues, someday soon I hope, within a year or so, the Holy Father will assent to Father Ryan’s cause. And then Father Ryan will be called venerable, for now he is a servant of God. Then, God willing, a miracle through his intercession will take place. And the city of Chattanooga will welcome a representative of the Holy Father. As tradition seems to be now, the actual beatification will take place in this city, a city that Father Ryan loved.

Then, God willing for that second miracle, someday we might rejoice with the Church throughout the world that the title of saint be added to his name.”

The cause for sainthood for Father Patrick Ryan continues moving forward. With the historical record now in the hands of the tribunal, Father Carter and Father Orr will examine them to ensure there is nothing in Father Ryan’s record that is contrary to the faith and moral teaching of the Church.

Once the record is completed, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican will review all Inquiry continued on page A13 TH E EA S T TEN N ES S EE C ATH OLI C

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Making it official Deacon Sean Smith, right, collects signed documents from Father David Carter during the opening session of the inquiry into Father Patrick Ryan’s life.

Opening the inquiry Clergy taking part in the inquiry for the cause for beatification and canonization of Servant of God Patrick Ryan process into the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Chattanooga on Sept. 28.

Historical record A case containing archive documents of Father Patrick Ryan’s life compiled by a history commission was presented for the inquiry into Father Ryan’s life.

Prayers for penance and absolution Bishops Richard F. Stika and J. Mark Spalding and fellow priests and deacons don purple vestments to celebrate a Mass for the Dead for a Priest for the repose of the soul of Servant of God Patrick Ryan. The Mass was said Sept. 28 at the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Chattanooga following the first session of the tribunal of the Diocese of Knoxville for the inquiry examining the life and holiness of Father Ryan, who served at Sts. Peter and Paul in the 1800s.

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the evidence.

Father Carter, who during the Mass was re-installed as rector of the basilica, is confident the historic record attesting that Father Ryan is worthy of sainthood is complete and accurate.

“This is a major step in the process for the diocesan cause of canonization before it goes to Rome.

We’ve had the historical commission researching all of the founts and archives available to us to tell the story of Father Ryan and find out all the pertinent information.

Now that they have made their report, they entrusted it in this first inquiry session, which was presided over by the bishop as the ordinary of the diocese. The notary was the chancellor of the diocese, Deacon Sean Smith. The members of the inquiry tribunal have been sworn in their solemn duties,” Father Carter said.

“This is the official beginning of making interviews with all the witnesses and finding out the information firsthand so we can write it down and make our report to Rome,” he continued.

Father Carter said the story of Father Ryan was already compelling, and they knew he was someone who offered his life for those suffering from communicable illness. He pointed out that the priest’s reputation has been widely reported through the years, leading to numerous media accounts of his ministry. In Chattanooga, a Knights of Columbus council is named for him as is a Knights of Columbus Fourth Degree assembly.

“The people of Chattanooga hailed him as a hero of the city TH E EAST T E N N E S S E E C AT HO L I C

for his work during the epidemic.

So we knew the cause had merit, which is why we were confident to proceed,” the cause’s episcopal delegate said. “The research has borne out our presumptions, and our hypothesis seems to have been proven. But we will do the due diligence of asking all the questions, going through the interviews of all the witnesses we have lined up to testify. Between Father Orr and I, we will arrive at the truth of the matter and write it up in the final report, which will be submitted to Rome, hopefully by next year at this time.”

Father Carter said a ceremony similar to the opening of the inquiry will be held to close the inquiry.

As for a timetable to sainthood, Father Carter believes that is for God and Father Ryan to work a miracle.

“It is on God’s time.”

Father Carter shared that the cause for Father Ryan’s canonization already has a report of intercessory power, and if it can be proven to be a miracle and then if that report is accepted by Rome, he could be beatified.

Bishop Spalding said the Diocese of Nashville shares the enthusiasm the Diocese of Knoxville has in seeing Father Ryan’s cause for canonization move forward.

“The Diocese of Nashville was the only diocese of the state up until early 1970, and then of course the Diocese of Knoxville (founded) in ’88 was the diocese of incardination for Father Patrick Ryan. We as the mother church, as Bishop Stika referenced many times throughout the ceremony, rejoice with the Diocese of Knoxville this day on this great occasion,” Bishop Spalding said.

Inquiring minds From left, Diocese of Nashville Bishop J. Mark Spalding, Cardinal Justin Rigali, Father Michael Hendershott, and Father David Carter participate in the Inquiry.

He noted that the upcoming beatification of Father McGivney in Hartford, Conn., will be a celebration for Nashville as well as the state of Tennessee because of its Diocese of Nashville connection.

Congressman Fleischmann, who is a basilica member, honored Father Ryan recently with remarks he made about the Chattanooga priest on the floor of the House of Representatives. The cause for the Servant of God’s beatification and canonization was read into the congressional record through Rep. Fleischmann’s comments.

He compared the excitement surrounding Father Ryan’s cause for sainthood to Sts. Peter and Paul Church being designated by the Vatican as a minor basilica in 2011.

“This is truly an incredible day, not only for our great Church, but also for our great city and our great parish,” Rep. Fleischmann said.

“It’s a day of spirituality. It’s a day of faith. It’s a day of recognition.

And it highlights the beauty of our Church.”

Bishop Stika on June 14, 2016, signed a decree officially establishing the Diocese of Knoxville as the petitioner in the cause of beatification and canonization of Father Ryan. The bishop requested and received endorsement for advancing Father Ryan’s cause for sainthood from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops during the USCCB’s November 2016 fall general assembly.

Bishop Stika has announced approval by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to exhume Father Ryan’s remains in Chattanooga’s Mount Olivet Cemetery and relocate them to the basilica. Father Carter has said a tomb will be built

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and placed inside the basilica to contain the priest’s remains according to canon law.

Exhumation of remains typically is done as part of the cause for sainthood to establish the identity of the sainthood candidate and ascertain the condition of the candidate’s remains. If there is no evidence of corruption of the body, as has been recorded in a number of cases, the incorrupt body adds to the cause of the candidate’s sainthood.

As the process for relocating Father Ryan’s remains to the basilica is completed and the historical report is submitted, the diocesan tribunal begins gathering testimony about the life and virtues of the Servant of God. This documentary, or diocesan, phase of the process culminates with the ultimate decision by Bishop Stika as to whether heroic virtues of Father Ryan have been demonstrated.

This documentation is presented to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, which begins the Roman phase of the process. A Vatican official is appointed to shepherd the cause through the Roman phase.

The official brings the report on Servant of God Patrick Ryan to a theological commission, which votes for or against the cause for sainthood based on the documentation. If their vote is yes, a recommendation of a Decree of Heroic Virtues is sent to the pope, whose decision is final.

Once the individual’s heroic virtues have been recognized by the Holy Father, he or she is declared venerable. The remaining step before beatification is the approval of a miracle. ■ OCTOBER 4, 2020 n A13

Amy Coney Barrett nominated for Supreme Court seat If confirmed, Catholic judge would fill seat left vacant by death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE PHOTO/TASOS KATOPODIS VIA REUTERS

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Judicial pick Judge Amy Coney Barrett of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit is President Donald Trump’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court seat left vacant by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

ight days after the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, President Donald Trump announced Sept. 26 that Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a judge on the Chicago-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, is his nominee to fill that seat.

The president said he was honored to nominate Judge Barrett, whom he described as “one of the nation’s most gifted legal minds” to the court and praised her for her loyalty to the Constitution.

This should be a “straightforward and prompt confirmation,” he added before a small crowd seated in the White House Rose Garden. “The stakes are incredibly high.”

Judge Barrett, for her part, said she was “humbled by the prospect of serving in the Supreme Court,” and said if she were confirmed, she would always be mindful she would be following in Justice Ginsburg’s footsteps.

Noting she would be in a group of nine as a justice, she said this is something she is very used to, with her husband and their family of seven children. She also stressed that if confirmed she would “assume the role to serve you,” the American public, and she has no illusions that the road ahead will be easy.

President Trump’s pick is not a surprise. The 48-year-old Catholic and law professor at the University of Notre Dame was reported to be on the president’s short list of nominees just hours after Justice Ginsburg’s, death and news outlets

By Carol Zimmermann/Catholic News Service began announcing she was the likely pick a day ahead of the official announcement.

The news drew immediate reaction from both sides of the political spectrum, and Catholics were similarly vocal in either support or alarm over President Trump’s nominee choice.

Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote, an independent political advocacy group, said in a Sept. 26 statement ahead of President Trump’s formal announcement: “Catholics are thrilled with the expected nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett and believe she represents the best choice to protect the rule of law and our constitutional rights.” He added that she “deserves a speedy confirmation process and a Senate vote as soon as possible.”

Catholics expressing concern about President Trump’s pick stressed unease with her stance on a number of issues. For example, John Gehring, the Catholic program director for Faith in Public Life, a Washington-based advocacy group, said in a Sept. 26 tweet: “Being ‘pro-life’ isn’t a single issue. Many Catholic voters are worried that Amy Coney Barrett could undermine health-care access, workers’ rights, environmental protections, and other moral issues central to Church teaching.”

Judge Barrett is not an unknown. Two years ago, she was viewed as a potential candidate for the nation’s high court after Justice Anthony Kennedy retired, in the slot that was filled by

Coming Full Circle

Julie Ladd, executive director of Full Circle Medical Center for Women, who emceed Mr. Carney’s appearance at St. Mary, observed that when boundaries establishing that abortion is wrong are removed, then there is a tendency to have no boundaries at all.

“I think that is exactly what we are seeing with infanticide,” she said.

But Mr. Carney noted that, as proabortion supporters continue trying to blur those boundary lines, the reasons to fight for life become more clear.

“We live in a time of clarity. When you redefine marriage; when you say you can show a baby on an ultrasound and say she has no rights and we will abort her, and when she survives we’ll leave her out to die on a table. That gives so much clarity in our culture.

There is not a lot of gray area any more.

In the ‘70s and ‘80s there was. It was a different time, and sometimes parents were late on seeing the curve on how bad it was getting. But these days it’s very clear, and it helps align yourself in your life with Jesus Christ. Because the alternative is not very attractive.”

Ms. Ladd pointed to the 1970s as the “blob of tissue days” before ultrasounds gave breadth and depth to the baby in the womb, prompting Mr. Carney to respond that gone are those days when pro-abortion supporters argued that a fetus is just a blob of cells.

“They now say it’s a baby but has no rights,” he observed.

“This whole conversation has shifted to it’s a woman’s right to choose. So it’s not about the baby anymore, it’s about the woman and what she wants. What we do at Full Circle is we really try to show them there are two lives here, not just one,” Ms. Ladd said.

Mr. Carney singled out the Knights of Columbus for their efforts to supply pregnancy resource centers like Full Circle with ultrasound machines.

Knights of Columbus Council 8396 at A14 n OCTOBER 4, 2020

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When you see the daily onslaught of negativity, the pro-life movement has so much good news. It’s because we are protecting the foundation of our country, but also the foundation of every community and every human life, and that is the family. And that points back to not just the scientific reality, which we do through ultrasounds for the unborn baby, but how our nature wants to take care of this baby,” Mr. Carney said.

“The more insane our culture gets, the more we realize that. The more we see people trying to legitimize infanticide, and not whackos in the street who want to legitimize infanticide, but people who dress well and supposedly are educated who are governors and politicians saying this is part of our freedom, and part of being in a sophisticated society is that we don’t help a baby who survives an abortion. That kind of insanity causes people to swing the other way. And we are definitely seeing that. We just have to endure the chaos around us,” he noted.

Preaching to parishioners Diocese of Knoxville faithful listen to Shawn Carney talk inside the St. Mary-Athens Family Life Center on Aug. 27. His talk was emceed by Julie Ladd of Full Circle Medical Center for Women.

St. Mary provided Full Circle with an ultrasound machine in May. “What’s beautiful about Full Circle is that is the easy part, right? Over 90 percent of the women choose life. But when you get them in that room and you show them that baby (on an ultrasound), it’s so much more than that.

It’s the love in which you welcome her, don’t judge her, share with her. And this is often the first time these women have experienced authentic love. You’re just somebody who is willing to help, and help for free. This is the beauty of the pro-life movement. It’s not just in principle we’re pro-life, it’s in practice and in charity, in Christian charity. That’s why we do it. As Mother Teresa said, ‘I’m not a social worker. I do this for Jesus Christ,’” Mr. Carney said.

Mr. Carney said he is originally from East Texas, and he went to a small Catholic school before attending Texas A&M. He recalled attending a pro-life service at a large Baptist church in his community when he was age 13 in the eighth grade. The rally speaker was Carol Everett, a former abortionist in Texas who became a pro-life advocate in the 1990s.

Ms. Everett’s testimony made a lasting impact on young Shawn Carney. And then as a college student he reluctantly joined his then-girlfriend, now his wife, in praying at a Planned

Parenthood facility in College Station. He watched as his peers , 18- and 19-year-old coeds, went inside for abortions, many unaccompanied by the boyfriend. That also had a major impact on Mr. Carney.

“What do we hear? Millions of women have done this through the history of our country. This is just a basic thing. That’s how the abortion industry sells it. Well, they do nearly 3,000 a day.

And yet it should be as simple as that.

But it’s not because it’s a lie. And that is written all over their faces as they come out. The first time I went out, I could see that. And even going in. No one goes in for knee surgery or brain surgery or to have wisdom teeth removed, which is the second most common surgery in America behind abortion, with the body language of somebody who goes in for an abortion. The abortion industry is always trying to normalize and make this regular,” Mr. Carney said.

“There’s a new, casual approach: shout your abortion, it’s no big deal, the abortion spas. This is the approach they have to take, that it’s just no big deal. They are disconnecting themselves from the women they claim to serve, because the body language of the women going in, and especially coming out, the relief that technically should be there, that was promised to them, is ab-

A firm resolve Shawn Carney emphasizes a point during his talk at St. Mary Parish in Athens. Julie Ladd, executive director of Full Circle Medical Center for Women in Athens, emceed the talk as part of the 40 Days for Life campaign. www.di o k no x .o rg

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solutely nowhere to be found. It is not the end, although it is certainly the end of their unborn child’s life, but there is no relief. It is very much the beginning.

That is why for 40 Days for Life it is so important that we are there before, during, and after an abortion and after the last abortion worker leaves,” he added.

He noted that the one common denominator is that no one wants to be there. Women don’t grow up wanting to have an abortion. Doctors don’t grow up wanting to be the best abortion doctor. People don’t grow up saying I want to run a Planned Parenthood abortion facility. The workers don’t want to be there. The women don’t want to be there. But the prayer volunteers do want to be there. “We ought to be there, and there is that desire to be there.”

Mr. Carney explained that 40 Days for Life has two campaigns per year, and the one currently underway is the largest it has had, with 588 cities all at once participating, “which is a great sign in 2020 because people are not timid; they’re ready to go.”

He said when 40 Days for Life was launched, the organizers wanted women to choose life, and they did. The first abortion worker encountered was in upstate New York and remarked to the 40 Days volunteers that “today is day one. When is this stupid 40 Days thing going to be over?” This same worker had a conversion of heart and by the time day 40 arrived, she was praying with the others in the vigil.

When Shawn met Abby

Mr. Carney went on to say he first met popular pro-life activist Abby Johnson when she worked at a Planned Parenthood facility in Bryan, Texas. He said he had known Ms. Johnson for eight years before her book “Unplanned: The Dramatic True Story of a Former Planned Parenthood Leader’s EyeOpening Journey Across the Life Line” was made into a movie. Their professional relationship was part of the book and movie, including an instance when she was working for Planned Parenthood and turned the water sprinkler on Mr. Carney and other 40 Days for Life volunteers. He shepherded her through her conversion.

“The woman in upstate New York was the first worker, and the workers had become very personal for me when Abby walked into my office. I had known her for eight years, and we had had many conversations through the fence. Her book, and the movie ‘Unplanned’ made from it, are very accurate. She did turn the sprinklers on us. She walked into my office on Oct. 5, 2009. She was the 26th abortion worker out of 206 abortion-facility workers that we helped through 40 Days for Life. I knew her, and that was a grace.

“There were a lot of people who didn’t believe her at all. And there were a lot of people who didn’t believe me and thought I was going to look stupid when she goes back to work at Planned Parenthood. And I probably 40 days continued on page A15 TH E EA S T TEN N ES S EE C ATH OLI C

ville chancellor Deacon Sean Smith, who is a former stewardship director for the diocese, about working for the Church in some capacity.

He then placed it in God’s hands.

After the director of Stewardship and Strategic Planning position came open in July, Deacon Smith suggested Deacon Armor consider pursuing it.

“I said, ‘God, if this is what you want me to do, I will do it,” Deacon Armor said. After going through the interview process, he was offered the position in September.

As he awaited the start date, he was a little anxious and a lot excited.

His daughter, who is in graduate school studying marine biology in Miami, sent him a devotional encouraging him to do his best each day with God in mind, and God will get him through each day.

Deacon Armor radiates when speaking of his family, offering loving descriptions and compliments of his wife, daughter, and son, sharing how they enrich his life.

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to coaching swimming.

“My satisfaction became coaching young people and seeing them reach their goals. I have always enjoyed helping people do things to make themselves better. In giving, you truly receive. The reward for me was greater in giving,” the deacon said.

His grasp of giving will serve him well in his new position, which involves managing gift programs for the diocese and the diocesan organizations he will be working with.

The business expertise he has honed over the past 40-plus years will also serve him well.

Deacon Armor was already familiar with the ministry of the Office of Stewardship and Strategic Planning, having worked with Mr. Deinhart as a member of the basilica on fundraising projects.

Deacon Armor explained that in recent years, especially during his diaconate formation and since, he has spoken with Diocese of Knox-

While his home is in Chattanooga, Deacon Armor said he will commute to Knoxville, where his office is located at the Chancery, part of each week and also will telecommute. He said Bishop Stika and diocesan leadership support him continuing to live in Chattanooga and consider that an asset.

Bishop Stika is looking forward to working with Deacon Armor.

“I’m very pleased that Hicks is joining the team, especially in leadership. He has a great love for the Church. He’s a deacon of the Church. He’s very involved in the basilica parish. He also has a wonderful skill set in terms of organization and people skills, so he will truly represent the diocese in our faith in extraordinarily good ways,” Bishop Stika said.

“He also has been very involved in the civic community of Chattanooga, whether it was with United Way or Memorial Hospital. I think he’s going to be a great blessing and asset to the diocese,” the bishop

A culture of life

Ms. Ladd told Mr. Carney she appreciated his focus on local organizations like Full Circle and she asked him what he would say to people who believe government-backed abortion is permanent and will never change.

“Local is so important. That is where America is. That is where people live.

And that’s where abortions are done.

They’re not done on the bench in the Supreme Court or in the halls of Congress. They’re done in very unassuming neighborhoods. 40 Days for Life works closest with pregnancy resource centers. We help create pregnancy resource centers. Our campaign in Napa, Calif., bought the property next door to Planned Parenthood, where a new pregnancy center is being launched.

We’ve had great campaigns there for years. That’s just the common trend,” Mr. Carney said.

“When you look at 56 million abortions every year, 56 million people die every year from other causes put together, then we abort 56 million lives every single year… I don’t think prolifers should go around saying ‘my holocaust can beat up your holocaust.’

That’s not what it is. The common thread is that you dehumanize a segment of your population. Dred Scott did it to Blacks, Roe v. Wade did it to the unborn, Nazi law did it to Jews. You dehumanize them, then you can do whatever you want with them.

“If you look at stats alone and compare it to other holocausts or genocides, there is nothing even close to abortion. It would be nice if this was a mere religious belief and we just thought we should extend dignity to this glob of cells, but science doesn’t say that. And we don’t act like that.

We don’t let pregnant women on roller coasters, and we do surgery on children in utero. It is amazing how we show dignity for the unborn,” he noted.

He said a “huge case” that will come up before the Supreme Court when it revisits Roe v. Wade is the highly publicized case of Scott Peterson, who was TH E EAST T E N N E S S E E C AT HO L I C

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would have felt that way, too, if I lived in Athens, Tenn., and I had heard about this story. Because I knew her I knew that it was authentic; I knew it was genuine. She’s incapable of hiding anything. She wears it on her sleeve. Her story is so powerful and it speaks to what Full Circle does and is the reason why 40 Days for Life works so closely with pregnancy resource centers. It’s not a cliché to say this is about hearts and minds. It really is. This is the most unnatural, barbaric act man has ever engaged in, where we are killing our own on a massive scale that no other part of human history has ever seen and couldn’t fathom. We have to speak to the heart, and the mind, and to the truth. God chips away at us or He’ll hit us with a 2-by-4, and Abby got the 2-by-4,” Mr. Carney said.

Some 6,400 abortions were performed in the facility where Ms. Johnson worked, which now is closed. That building now serves as the offices for 40 Days for Life, and the room where so many of the abortions were performed is now a memorial for those babies who were killed.

In gratitude Paul Simoneau, left, who leads the 40 Days for Life campaign for the Diocese of Knoxville, and Father John Orr, right, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Athens, present Shawn Carney with an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the child Jesus, with an inscription from Bishop Richard F. Stika to the Carney family thanking them for their efforts to protect the sanctity of life. convicted of first-degree murder in California in 2004 in the death of his pregnant wife and also was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of his unborn child. He was sentenced to death by lethal injection in 2005. His case was automatically appealed, and in August his death sentence was overturned but his conviction was upheld.

“Walking into Full Circle is polar opposite from walking into the lobby of Planned Parenthood. It’s a totally different experience. It’s not just the medical help that Full Circle provides, which through donors you’re able to do and we need to do, but it’s the love in which you provide it. That is nowhere to be found in an abortion facility,” Mr. Carney said.

“We need to be praying. We need to be fasting. We need to be drawing closer to Our Lord. Thomas Aquinas said we’re either moving closer to Him or farther away. There’s no just sitting there. In our culture, we have to gradually continue to take small steps to get closer to Christ. In our culture, which is very dark right now, that is a bright light. And it comes with joy. … And we have to trust in what happened on Good Friday. He really did die for our sins. He really did conquer death. As one great Baptist preacher once told me, ‘the world hasn’t ended yet, so God still wants something from me,” he added.

Following Mr. Carney’s talk at St. Mary, Mr. Simoneau echoed remarks that amid the current din of protests and political arguments is a perfect time for pro-life advocates to be heard.

“The culture of life has to stand up and make itself seen and heard, particular when death is the major concern of people who are worried about the coronavirus, been affected by it, and lost loved ones to it. The culture of death doesn’t take time off,” Mr. Simoneau pointed out. “Nationwide, those in that culture have gotten themselves to be counted as essential healthcare workers. We can’t let our voice die away. We are called to evangelize in season and out of season. Especially at a time of national election, that voice needs to be heard even more.”

Mr. Simoneau continued, “I don’t think, no matter how this election turns out, that the voice is going to change.

We never stop praying. We witness to life because our witness is prayer and we never stop praying. We are commanded to pray always, and pray we must. We pray in our witness and we pray in our worship. We’re not going to stop our worship of God and we’re not going to stop reverencing the mystery of life from conception to natural death.”

Mr. Simoneau said the East Tennessee 40 Days for Life campaign was off to a good start and is a strong daily witness to life.

“We know our numbers will be smaller this year, and some of that is due to concerns about COVID-19, but also the general tensions that exist in our communities now nationwide.

Our hope is to have a very successful peaceful and prayerful vigil because it’s always been about the prayer and fasting, and our hope is to have

Rosary for life State Rep. Bill Dunn, left, and his wife, Tennessee Right to Life leader Stacy Dunn, right, lead 40 Days for Life volunteers in the rosary across from the Planned Parenthood abortion facility on Washington Avenue at Cherry Street in East Knoxville. www.di o k no x .o rg

added.

Deacon Armor said his goals for the Office of Stewardship and Strategic Planning are to plan effectively for the future of the diocese, including diocesan schools.

“I believe stewardship is more than money. It’s the way we give back to God a portion of the gifts He has bestowed on us,” he said.

That involves the offering of time, talent, expertise, and treasures as well as the development of a theology of stewardship for the diocese.

“That is what I’m trying to do. It’s how I believe God wants us to look at stewardship,” he added, noting that Sister Maria Juan Anderson, RSM, the new diocesan director of Christian Formation, has introduced him to the principles of the theology of stewardship.

Catholic education is an emphasis for him.

“I want to help the diocese look to the future, such as with Catholic education. We, as Catholics, need to foster education in our faith,” he said. ■ a core team of committed Catholics and Christian people who want to pray for peace in the womb and peace in society, peace in the hearts of men and women. This is about a prayerful, peaceful presence.

“Our success is about giving hope to others, and it may be that clinic worker who feels something very wrong about what they’ve been doing and that what they believed in was helping others, that they believed truly as Abby Johnson said, ‘We thought we were doing good for women and giving them hope for their future.’ Our witness is a witness of hope, and it is augmented by our prayer. Our prayer is the soul of our witness and the hope that we convey by our presence there,” he said.

Mr. Simoneau noted that the 40 Days for Life vigil is a prayerful, quiet, peaceful presence that is a welcome alternative to the recent riots across the country.

“It has never been a protest. We’re there to be the face of Christ and to pray and offer hope to those who think their only hope is to have an abortion,” he said.

He agreed with Mr. Carney that the pro-life movement has turned an important corner in its mission to end abortion.

“The pro-life movement has only grown in numbers and it’s gotten younger. And I think that is the most incredible sign of where we are. It’s the sign of the growing numbers of people picking up the banner of the Gospel of life. It’s growing, and it’s not going to stop growing. Adversity makes us want to proclaim the Gospel even more because we know its more important in these times when evil seems to be growing at such a rapid pace,” Mr. Simoneau said.

“We’re seeing so much violence and hatred and we need that voice that says all life is sacred from conception to natural death, a child in the womb and the inmate on death row, who though he or she has committed a heinous capital crime, still retains the dignity of one created in the image of God. We allow God to be the judge, but we must exercise mercy in our witness always,” he noted.

He pointed out that lessons taught as far back as the Old Testament still apply today. And we need to continue to learn from those lessons.

“The ancient injunction in the Old Testament to love the widow, the orphan, and the foreigner — well the foreigner is all around us, and they, too, are journeying in this life. It’s not about a journey that ends in a country; it’s about a journey that ultimately should end in our heavenly reward in the kingdom of God. That’s the journey we all share,” Mr. Simoneau said. “We’re all migrant journeyers in this walk of faith. And the one language we all need to be fluent in is the language of faith, with the accent of hope and the face and heart of love. It’s the widow and orphan we forget about. Who are the new widows and orphans of our times? Single women or married women whose boyfriends or husbands have abandoned responsibility to them and the life they helped to conceive. These are the new widows and orphans of our times, and that’s why we need to be a witness of hope to them.” ■ OCTOBER 4, 2020 n A15

Cardinal Dolan hopes senators don’t grill Barrett on her faith Ginsburg “always said she faced three biases: a woman, a mother, and a Jew. Well, it seems like Judge Barrett is facing woman, mother, and Catholic (bias).”

President Trump officially nominated Judge Barrett, 48, a wife, a mother of seven children and also a law professor at the University of Notre Dame, in the Rose Garden at the White House on Sept. 26.

Cardinal Dolan said he hopes Barrett’s upcoming nomination hearings in the Senate do “not deteriorate” to the “tawdry nastiness” of the 2017 hearings to confirm Judge Barrett for the 7th Circuit Court.

Among the remarks then was one from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, DCalif., who told her: “The dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s a concern,” to which Barrett responded: “It’s never appropriate for a judge to impose that judge’s personal convictions, whether they

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some attention at the time that has now been revisited. The group, based in South Bend, Ind., has more than 1,700 members living in 22 branches in the United States, and its members are primarily Catholic.

A key aspect of the group is that many of its members sign a lifelong commitment or covenant. Massimo Faggioli, a professor of theology and religious studies at Villanova University, said the Senate Judiciary Committee should be prepared to “examine any covenant — a solemn contract binding before God” that Judge Barrett signed in the course of becoming a member of the group.

“Doing so will protect, not erode, America’s foundational value of religious liberty,” he wrote in a Sept. 24 commentary in Politico magazine.

In 2018, Our Sunday Visitor spoke with Auxiliary Bishop Peter L. Smith of Portland, Ore., who is a member of People of Praise, who said misunderstandings about the group are “a fundamental part of what’s going on in our culture and in our political system right now — where we decide we don’t like somebody, maybe they have different views from us ... so we demonize them.”

Another concern expressed by those opposed to Judge Barrett’s nomination is that she could be a vote for dismantling Roe v. Wade.

In her 2017 hearing, she said she would “commit, if confirmed, to follow unflinchingly all Supreme Court precedent,” adding: “I would not want to leave the impression that I would give some precedents more weight than others because of some sort of academic disagreement.”

As a judge, she has not ruled specifically on abortion cases, but as a member of the full appeals court she has voted in a few Indiana cases related to abortion. After several judges determined that an Indiana law requiring fetal remains to be buried or cremated following an abortion was unconstitutional, Judge Barrett

Justice Brett Kavanaugh. At the time, President Trump reportedly told advisers that he was “saving” Judge Barrett if Justice Ginsburg announced her retirement during his presidency.

In 2017, Judge Barrett, who had clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia, was nominated by President Trump to serve on the 7th Circuit Court in Chicago, and she garnered support from some for her responses to the line of questioning she received in her confirmation hearing from Senate Democrats that focused on her Catholic faith.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., told her: “The dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s a concern,” to which Judge Barrett responded: “It’s never appropriate for a judge to impose that judge’s personal convictions, whether they arise from faith or anywhere else, on the law.”

After this interaction, several Catholic leaders spoke out against pointed questions about Judge Barrett’s faith.

Sen. Feinstein had been referring to Judge Barrett’s speeches and a 1998 article she co-wrote about the role of Catholic judges in death penalty cases. The senator also questioned Judge Barrett about upholding Roe v.

Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that made abortion legal.

When Sen. Dick Durbin, DIllinois, asked Judge Barrett if she considered herself an “orthodox” Catholic, Judge Barrett said: “If you’re asking whether I take my faith seriously and am a faithful Catholic, I am. Although I would stress that my present church affiliation or my religious beliefs would not bear in the discharge of my duties as a judge.” She ended up getting bipartisan support and was confirmed with a 55-43 vote.

Prior to this vote, The New York Times reported that Judge Barrett was a member of a group called People of Praise, an ecumenical charismatic community, which gained

arise from faith or anywhere else, on the law.”

“It’s fair enough to bring up issues. The Constitution — and she (Judge Barrett) knows the Constitution — says there should be no religious test for candidates,” Cardinal Dolan said. “When you look at some of the grilling of the past, it was like they were testing her on her faith. Boy, that’s just out of bounds, folks.”

The cardinal said he is proud of

Judge Barrett. “I don’t know her.

I’ve never had the honor of meeting her,” he said. “I do know a lot of people who know her, and they just sparkle about her, even people ... who say, ‘Well I might not be that comfortable with some of her jurisprudence in the past, some of her decisions, but is she erudite, is she articulate, is she committed, is she a woman of integrity and strength and independence.’”

He added: “They all rave about her character. In my mind, that’s what’s most important. We’ve got to admit there’s a gratitude and pride that she takes her Catholic faith seriously, but that’s not why she was nominated as a justice to the Supreme Court, is it?”

“I think she is nominated because she is the best candidate around.

I hope so,” Cardinal Dolan said.

“And from what I hear she is. So, let’s hope for the best.” ■

voted to rehear the case. She also dissented when appeals court judges attempted to block an Indiana law mandating parental consent for a minor to have an abortion.

In a 2013 speech at the University of Notre Dame, she said if Roe v.

Wade were overturned, “abortion would be neither legal nor illegal throughout the United States.

Instead, the states and Congress would be free to ban, protect, or regulate abortion as they saw fit.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has vowed that President Trump’s nominee “will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate,” which Democrats have criticized since Sen. McConnell did not consider President Barack Obama’s nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, several months before the 2016 election. Sen. McConnell and other Republicans have said the situation is different this time because the same party, Republicans, control both the Senate and the White House.

Paolo Carozza, a Notre Dame law professor, said he was “conflicted” about his colleague potentially being rushed into a confirmation just weeks before the election.

He told WBEZ, Chicago public radio, that he would love to see Judge Barrett on the bench “because I think she’d be a great justice,” but he said he wished there were “more sort of harmony and less conflict in the process of creating our highest court, because in the long run, I think it really undermines the credibility of the judiciary.”

Some in the Notre Dame community said Judge Barrett would be a fair-minded justice, not guided by ideology but by her strict “originalist” reading of the U.S. Constitution.

“One thing that really stands out

is how fair-minded her scholarship is. And she doesn’t go in with an ax to grind. She doesn’t go in with an ideological sort of conclusion in search of justifications. She goes in with a genuine, open, scholarly mind, tackling a question,” Notre Dame law professor Carter Snead told the radio program.

Professor Snead also said he does not believe there is anyone in the country “more well qualified than she is to be on the Supreme Court because of her combination of brilliance, her work ethic, her openmindedness, her charitable manner of engaging with people.”

Judge Barrett has been married for more than 18 years to Jesse Barrett, a partner in a South Bend law firm who spent 13 years as a federal prosecutor in Indiana. Two of their seven children are adopted from Haiti.

She now faces the Senate process, which includes public hearings, a committee vote, and the Senate floor vote, where a simple majority, or 50 votes, is needed to confirm her as the next Supreme Court justice. The Republicans have 53 seats in the current Senate, and if needed, Vice President Mike Pence could break a tie vote.

Although the exact timeline has not been set, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has said he hopes to hold a final confirmation vote by the end of October, just days before the election.

If Judge Barrett is confirmed as a Supreme Court justice she would be the sixth Catholic justice, joining Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor.

Justice Neil Gorsuch was raised Catholic but is now Episcopalian.

Justices Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan are Jewish, as was Justice Ginsburg. ■

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ardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York recalled how the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg “was not afraid to say that the values of her Jewish faith animated how she lived and how she judged.”

“Nobody found that controversial,” he said Sept. 30 during the show “Conversation with Cardinal Dolan” on SiriusXM’s The Catholic Channel. But the deep Catholic faith of Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump’s nominee to fill the court vacancy left by Justice Ginsburg’s death Sept. 18, has come under scrutiny and much criticism, he said.

“What I admired in the accolades to Ruth Bader Ginsburg (after her death), there were a lot of articles about her deep Jewish faith,” he said.

Cardinal Dolan also noted one recent article told of how Justice

Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan

United States Postal Service Statement of ownership, management, and circulation Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685 1. Publication title: The East Tennessee Catholic 2. Publication number: 0007-211 3. Filing date: Sept. 29, 2020 4. Issue frequency: Bi-monthly 5. Number of issues published annually: 6 6. Annual subscription price: $15 7. Complete mailing address of known office of publication: 805 S. Northshore Drive, Knoxville, Knox County, TN 37919-7551 8. Complete mailing address of headquarters or general business office of publisher: Same 9. Full names and complete addresses of publisher, editor, and managing editor: publisher, Bishop Richard F. Stika, Diocese of Knoxville, 805 S. Northshore Drive, Knoxville, TN 37919-7551; editor, Bill Brewer, 805 S. Northshore Drive, Knoxville, TN 37919-7551; managing editor, Dan McWilliams, 805 S. Northshore Drive, Knoxville, TN 37919-7551 10. Owner: Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville, 805 S. Northshore Drive, Knoxville, TN 37919-7551 11. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities: None 12. Tax status (for completion by nonprofit organizations authorized to mail at nonprofit rates): Has not changed during preceding 12 months 13. Publication name: The East Tennessee Catholic 14. Issue date for circulation data below: Aug. 2, 2020 15. Extent and nature of circulation

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issue during preceding 12 months

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19,967

19,850

B. (1) Mailed outside-county paid 19,073

18,947

(2) Mailed in-county paid subscriptions stated on PS Form 3541

subscriptions stated on PS Form 3541

0

0

(3) Paid distribution outside the mails

0

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19,073

18,947

(1) Outside-county nonrequested copies on Form 3541

443

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(2) In-county nonrequested copies on Form 3541

0

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(3) Nonrequested copies mailed at other classes

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(4) Nonrequested copies distributed outside the mail

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E. Total nonrequested distribution

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I. Percent paid

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C. Total paid distribution D. Free or nominal rate distribution

16. Electronic copy circulation 17. Statement of ownership will be printed in the Oct. 4, 2020, issue of this publication.

18. Signature and title of editor, publisher, business manager, or owner: Bill Brewer, editor. Date: Sept. 29, 2020 I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits material or information requested on the form may be subject to criminal sanctions (including fines and imprisonment) and/or civil sanctions (including civil penalties).

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Illinois bishop urges Catholics to vote carefully Bishop Paprocki of Springfield appeals to parishioners in recent column for diocesan newspaper

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rawing particular attention to the Democratic Party platform’s support for “intrinsic evils” like abortion and “same-sex marriage,” Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, Ill., has said Catholics need to “think and pray very carefully” about their votes in the upcoming election.

“My job is not to tell you for whom you should vote. But I do have a duty to speak out on moral issues,” Bishop Paprocki said in his Sept. 23 column for the Catholic Times diocesan paper. “I would be abdicating this duty if I remained silent out of fear of sounding ‘political’ and didn’t say anything about the morality of these issues.”

He said that voting for a candidate who promotes actions or behaviors that are “intrinsically evil and gravely sinful” makes a voter “morally complicit” and places the eternal salvation of his or her soul in “serious jeopardy.”

There are “many positive and beneficial planks” in the Democratic Party platform, the bishop said, but some promote “serious sins.”

In 2008, he noted, the platform dropped its call for abortion to be “safe, legal, and rare” in

Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki favor of the language “safe and legal.” It now supports abortion “regardless of the ability to pay.” He said this means either taxpayer funding for abortion, mandatory insurance coverage, or coercion of hospitals to perform the procedures for free.

Bishop Paprocki added that the Democrats’ national platform supports “same-sex marriage,” deems gay rights to be “human rights,” and calls for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman in federal law.

By Catholic News Agency

The bishop noted the existence of Republicans who support legalized abortion and others who support “same-sex marriage.” He said they are “equally as wrong as their Democratic counterparts,” but their positions do not have official party support.

Bishop Paprocki also examined the Republican Party platform and found that it has “nothing in it that supports or promotes an intrinsic evil or a serious sin.”

The platform’s support for allowing courts the option of imposing the death penalty in capital murder cases is not inherently opposed to Church teaching. He cited the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s teaching that the death penalty is permissible if it is the only possible way to defend human life.

Bishop Paprocki said that party differences about the needs of the poor and the challenges of immigration are “prudential judgments about the most effective means of achieving morally desirable ends, not intrinsic evils.”

He concluded his column with a prayer that God give Catholic voters the “wisdom and guidance to make the morally right choices.” ■

Think and pray about your vote in upcoming election

By Bishop Thomas John Paprocki My dear brothers and sisters in Christ: Much attention was given at the Democratic National Convention held recently in Charlotte, N.C., to the fact that all references to God had been purged from the draft version of the party platform. After outcries of protest from outside as well as within the Democratic Party, the sentence with the same reference to God used in 2008 was restored to read, “We need a government that stands up for the hopes, values and interests of working people, and gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential.”

Before anyone relaxes and concludes that all is well now that the Democratic Party Platform contains a single passing reference to God, the way that this was done should give us pause. Convention chairman Antonio Villaraigosa had to call for the voice vote three times because each time the sound level for the “ayes” and the “nays” sounded about even, far short of the two-thirds necessary according to convention rules to amend the platform. That did not stop the convention chairman from declaring, “The ayes have it!”

What is troubling about that is the blatant disregard for the rules and for the apparent wishes of about half the delegates. The reference to God is back in the platform apparently because President Obama wanted it back in. That may be fine for now, but if a future president wants references to God taken out, apparently that can be done regardless of the wishes of the delegates if that is what The Leader wants. That does not bode well for democracy in the Democratic Party.

Even more troubling is that this whole discussion about God in the platform is a distraction from more disturbing matters that have been included in the platform. In 1992 Presidential candidate Bill Clinton famously said that abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare.” That was the party’s official position until 2008. Apparently “rare” is so last century that it had to be dropped, because now the Democratic Party Platform says that abortion should be “safe and legal.” Moreover the Democratic Party Platform supports the right to abortion “regardless of the ability to pay.” Well, there are only three ways for that to happen: either taxpayers will be required to fund abortion, or insurance companies will be required to pay for them (as they are now required to pay for contraception), or hospitals will be forced to perform them for free.

Moreover, the Democratic Party Platform also supports same-sex marriage, recognizes that “gay rights are human rights,” and calls for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal law signed by President Clinton in 1996 that defined marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman.

Now, why am I mentioning these matters in the Democratic Party Platform? There are many positive and beneficial planks in the Democratic Party Platform, but I am pointing out those that explicitly endorse intrinsic evils. My job is not to tell you for whom you should vote. But I do have a duty to speak out on moral issues. I would be abdicating this duty if I remained silent out of fear of sounding “political” and didn’t say anything about the morality of these issues. People of faith object to these platform positions that promote serious sins. I know that the Democratic Party’s official “unequivocal” support for abortion is deeply troubling to pro-life Democrats.

So what about the Republicans? I have read the Republican Party Platform and there is nothing in it that supports or promotes an intrinsic evil or a serious sin. The Republican Party Platform does say that courts “should have the option of imposing the death penalty in capital murder cases.” But the Catechism of the Catholic Church says (in paragraph 2267), “Assuming that the guilty party’s identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor. If, however, non-lethal means are sufficient to defend and protect people’s safety from the aggressor, authority will limit itself to such means, as these are more in keeping with the concrete conditions of the common good and more in conformity to the dignity of the human person. Today, in fact, as a consequence of the possibilities which the state has for effectively preventing crime, by rendering one who has committed an offense incapable of doing harm — without definitely taking away from him the possibility of redeeming himself — the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute necessity are very rare, if not practically nonexistent.”

One might argue for different methods in the platform to address the needs of the poor, to feed the hungry, and to solve the challenges of immigration, but these are prudential judgments about the most effective means of achieving morally desirable ends, not intrinsic evils.

Certainly there are “pro-choice” Republicans who support abortion rights and “Log Cabin Republicans” who promote same-sex marriage, and they are equally as wrong as their Democratic counterparts. But these positions do not have the official support of their party.

Again, I am not telling you which party or which candidates to vote for or against, but I am saying that you need to think and pray very carefully about your vote, because a vote for a candidate who promotes actions or behaviors that are intrinsically evil and gravely sinful makes you morally complicit and places the eternal salvation of your own soul in serious jeopardy.

I pray that God will give you the wisdom and guidance to make the morally right choices. May God give us this grace. Amen.

Most Rev. Thomas John Paprocki is the bishop of the Diocese of Springfield, Ill. Reprinted with permission from Catholic Times, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Springfield, Ill.

Virtual rosary Oct. 7 aims to unite Catholics in prayer for nation

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he president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has called for a “moment of prayer” to unite Catholics across the country at a time when there is “much unrest and uncertainty” in the United States, according to a Sept. 30 USCCB news release.

To that end, the USCCB will host a virtual rosary event Oct. 7, which is the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles, who is the USCCB’s president, has invited several bishops, representing the various geographical regions of the United States, to pray a part of the rosary.

The event will premiere on the USCCB’s YouTube channel and its Facebook page at 3 p.m.

EDT on Oct. 7.

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“The faithful are encouraged to join in this prayerful moment of unity for our country, to seek healing, and to ask Our Lady, on her feast, to pray for us and help lead us to Jesus,” the USCCB release said. Catholics are “encouraged to share where they are praying from, to post a photo of their rosary and to leave a prayer intention for our country,” it said.

Archbishop Gomez will deliver the introduction and call to prayer followed by the Sign of the Cross. Other bishops participating and the prayers they will recite are: Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Va., Apostles Creed; Bishop William M. Joensen of Des Moines, Our Father for the Intentions of the Holy Father; Bishop Thomas A. Daly of Spokane, prayer “for www.di o k no x .o rg

an increase in faith, hope, charity”; Bishop Alfred A. Schlert of Allentown, Pa., First Glorious Mystery; Bishop J. Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux, La., Second Glorious Mystery; Bishop Daniel F. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, Third Glorious Mystery (Spanish); Bishop Felipe J. Estevez of St. Augustine, Fla., Fourth Glorious Mystery; Auxiliary Bishop Robert P. Reed of Boston, Fifth Glorious Mystery; and Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, the final prayer of the rosary, Hail Holy Queen.

Archbishop Gomez will make the final Sign of the Cross and give closing comments. Bishop Gregor J. Mansour of the Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn, N.Y., will give a Marian prayer in the Eastern Catholic tradition. ■ OCTOBER 4, 2020 n A17

In Brief Funeral Mass for Special Olympian Jonathan Davidson of Hixson held at Holy Spirit Church Jonathan Davidson, 33, of Hixson, passed away Aug. 1 in a Chattanooga-area hospital.

Funeral services were held Aug. 7 at Holy Spirit Church in Soddy-Daisy, with Monsignor Al Humbrecht officiating. Inurnment was in Chattanooga Memorial Park.

Jonathan, who was a lifelong resident of Chattanooga, worked for and attended Orange Grove Center and was a proud graduate of Hixson High School class of 2008, where he received a standing ovation from the entire senior class after receiving Mr. Davidson the friendliest award.

Jonathan was very active selling tickets with his father for soccer, football, and wrestling, even after graduation. He loved Dr. Pepper and everything Scooby Doo. He also loved Special Olympics track and field and watching wrestling.

Jonathan was a poster child with United Way when he was 2 years old.

He never met a stranger and was very caring, wanting to send everyone birthday and Christmas cards. He loved to attend therapeutic parks and recreation activities and loved all holidays, but Halloween was his favorite.

He was preceded in death by his father, Michael Davidson; grandparents; sister, Rebecca Davidson; uncle, James Morrow; and cousin, Matthew Morrow. Survivors include his mother, Joan Morrow Davidson; two brothers, Charles L. Davidson and Patrick M Davidson, both of Chattanooga; sister, Jessica E. Davidson of Lafayette, Ga.; special girlfriend, Lisa Moore of Hixson; nephew, Dominic Davidson of Chattanooga; and several aunts, uncles, cousins, and many friends.

Memorial donations may be made to the Orange Grove Center or to Holy Spirit Church in Soddy-Daisy.

Funeral Mass held for Becky Valadie of Chattanooga Catherine Rebecca (Becky) Daniels Valadie, 87, of Chattanooga, passed away on Aug. 11.

Born in Chattanooga, she graduated from Notre Dame High School in 1951 and studied one year at Webster College in St. Louis.

After a 60-year career in the medical field, her retirement at age 80 provided opportunities to volunteer in the local Catholic community, where she gave much time to the Catholic Ladies of Charity and the St. Vincent de Paul Society as well as getting to play bridge with her many friends.

In 2018, she was honored by Catholic Mrs. Valadie Charities of East Tennessee with a Pope Francis Service Award.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ross and Katherine Daniels; a brother, Ross B. (Red) Daniels Jr.; an infant sister, Mary Anne Daniels; and her husband, Edward Joseph Valadie.

She is survived by her brother, Fletcher Daniels of New Orleans; four children, George (Nancy) Valadie, Kay Thompson, Lynn (Doug) Slabaugh, and Michele Valadie; 13 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; nephews, nieces, and many friends.

A family funeral was held Aug. 14 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, with burial at Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Donations in Mrs. Valadie’s memory can be made to the St. Vincent de Paul Society, c/o Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, 501 S. Moore Road, Chattanooga, TN, 37412, or to your favorite charity.

Frank G. Pickering of Holy Ghost Parish passes away Frank Gambill Pickering, 62, passed away Sept. 16 at his Farragut home surrounded by his family after a valiant struggle with prostate cancer.

Frank was the fourth of eight children born to Stan and Ellen Clancy Pickering of Fountain City. After attending St. Joseph School and graduating from Knoxville Catholic High School in the class of 1975, Frank attended the University of Tennessee, where he graduated in 1981 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He was a devoted lifetime follower of the Vols.

He enjoyed a long career as a professional Mr. Pickering engineer, applying his talents for Westinghouse-Savannah River, SAIC, and Leidos. He fell in love with Leticia Saldaña in 1984 while both were working at TVA as engineers, and they had been happily married for 33 years.

Faith and family were always the most important things to Frank.

He and Leticia raised their three children to believe the same.

Their children followed Frank’s example, having attended and graduated from St. Joseph, Knoxville Catholic High School, and the University of Tennessee.

Service to God and his fellow man was the hallmark of Frank’s life. He was a lifelong member of Holy Ghost Catholic Church. To know Frank was to love him and to know the love of Christ. He is preceded in death by brother John Clancy Pickering.

He is survived by his wife, Leticia, and daughter, Leticia Marie Natour (Joey); and sons Frank Jr. (Jenny); and John; and grandson Frank Gambill III. He also is survived by his parents; sisters Ellen Hunter (Bob); Judy Pickering; Angel Brewer (Bill); and Regina Lovelace (William); brothers Stanley Pickering (Kathy) and Jim Pickering (Stephanie); and a host of aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews.

A funeral Mass was held Sept. 21 at Holy Ghost Church celebrated by Father Bob O’Donnell, CSP. Interment was in Calvary Cemetery, Knoxville. In memory of Frank, the family requests that donations be made to Medic Regional Blood Center.

Archbishop John J. Myers, former bishop of Peoria, Newark archbishop emeritus, dies

By Tom Dermody Catholic News Service

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rchbishop John J. Myers was recalled as a man of faith and prayer, a scholar, a teacher, and as “a really good bishop” during the funeral Mass for him at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria, Ill., Sept. 30.

The archbishop emeritus of Newark, N.J., who was a native of Earlville, Ill., in the Peoria Diocese and a former bishop of Peoria, was interred in the Bishop’s Mausoleum at St. Mary’s Cemetery in West Peoria following the funeral liturgy.

The Mass was attended by family members, representatives of several communities of women religious, and nearly 100 clergy, including Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark and eight visiting bishops.

Archbishop Myers, who guided the Diocese of Peoria from 1990 until his appointment as archbishop of Newark in 2001, died Sept. 24 at a care facility in Ottawa, Ill. He was 79.

Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of Peoria was principal celebrant of the Mass. In opening remarks, he welcomed Cardinal Tobin — who succeeded Archbishop Myers in Newark following his retirement in 2016 — as well as a delegation of priests from the Newark Archdiocese.

Turning to the family of Archbishop Myers, Bishop Jenky said: “We share your sorrow, but most of all we share your faith in Christ’s victory over death.” He promised continuing prayers for their consolation.

The homilist was Monsignor Steven P. Rohlfs, rector emeritus of Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., and a longtime friend of Archbishop Myers.

Monsignor Rohlfs, who served the Diocese of Peoria in several leadership roles during Bishop Myers’ 11 years as diocesan bishop, including as vicar general, said the archbishop had “all of the qualities necessary to be a good bishop.”

He called him “a man of faith and prayer, honest, fair, merciful, just, tolerant, funny, discreet, a good mentor, teacher, and example.”

Vowing not to use superlatives that are often part of recalling the recently deceased, Monsignor Rohlfs drew laughter when he answered, “No,” to the self-posed question if he thought Archbishop Myers was “the best bishop.”

“I don’t think any of us have ever met ‘the best bishop,’” Monsignor Rohlfs said, drawing more laughter as he turned to Cardinal Tobin, Bishop Jenky, and other bishops present, including Peoria Coadjutor Bishop Louis Tylka, and adlibbed “No offense.”

But Monsignor Rohlfs repeatedly called Archbishop Myers “a really good bishop.” “No matter what role the archbishop played in each of our lives, all of us could probably say the same thing: He was really pretty good.”

Monsignor Rohlfs shared three humorous, yet poignant, personal stories about Archbishop Myers, including one that illustrated how “he always had the care of the priests in his heart,” said Monsignor Rohlfs, his voice cracking with emotion.

Sr. Regina

Archbishop John J. Myers

He chose to speak of Archbishop Myers in the present tense, because “he is still very much alive and existing in eternity,” and ended his homily by detailing three things the archbishop would want to say now to those gathered if he had the chance.

He summarized them as: Make sure you understand the true meaning of life, “to learn to love on earth the way they love in heaven”; devote yourselves to things that make a difference in the “really real world of heaven”; and that Archbishop Myers will see us again. “He still knows us, still loves us, and still cares about us,” said Monsignor Rohlfs.

Accompanying Archbishop Myers’ casket as pallbearers were five priests who served as his administrative assistants in Peoria as well as Monsignor Michael Andreano, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Newark.

Four nieces of Archbishop Myers had roles in the liturgy. Kathryn Niemerg and Zoe Myers gave Scripture readings, while Maribeth Hoffman and Denise Gould led the prayers of the faithful.

Those intentions were each prefaced by a corresponding trait of Archbishop Myers. For example, they noted his devotion to the Eucharist, his promotion of vocations to the priesthood and religious life, how he “walked with the Church in its suffering” after 9/11, and his concern for universities, seminaries, Catholic health care, and medical ethics. Specific related prayers were then added to each of those subjects.

Among the concelebrating bishops were Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis; Illinois bishops David J. Malloy of Rockford and Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield; and Bishop Joseph M. Siegel of Evansville; Bishop William Patrick Callahan of La Crosse, Wis.; and Auxiliary Bishop Manuel A. Cruz of Newark.

A memorial Mass for Archbishop Myers was celebrated in the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark on Oct. 7. Cardinal Tobin was the celebrant, with retired Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli of Paterson, N.J., as the homilist. Due to capacity limitations brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mass was not open to the public. Admission was restricted to immediate family members and invited lay, clerical, and religious representatives. The Mass was livestreamed to the public via YouTube, www.YouTube.com/ NwkArchdiocese, and a link also is available on the Newark Archdiocese’s website, www.rcan.org. ■ © 2020 Handmaids of the Precious Blood

Catholic Charities’ immigration services wins award Catholic Charities of East Tennessee’s Office of Immigration Services won the 2020 Latino Ally Award, which recognizes people and nonprofit organizations that stand out in supporting the emerging Latino community.

The award was presented at the annual celebration of the Latino culture during Hispanic Heritage Month.

The Office of Immigration Services has been providing low-cost, high-quality immigration legal services in the Knoxville area and throughout East Tennessee since 2005. ■

A18 n OCTOBER 4, 2020

Did you know you can receive weekly cartoons and short reflections and news from the Handmaids of the Precious Blood? Visit their website, nuns for priests.org, and sign up for the FIAT newsletter. You also can learn about praying for priests and adopting them.

www.di o k no x .o rg

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The spirit of giving: Ladies of Charity receive grants to fill food pantry

Above: Ladies of Charity Knoxville has received a $2,000 local community grant from the Walmart Foundation that will be used to stock the Ladies of Charity food pantry. The Ladies of Charity expressed gratitude to Bryan Spears, manager of the Walmart Neighborhood Market #3959 at 3120 McKamey Road in Knoxville, for facilitating the grant. Pictured from left are Cathy Foster of Walmart, Ladies of Charity board members Connie Brace and B.E. Colway, and Mr. Spears.

Above left: Ladies of Charity Knoxville has received a $2,500 local community grant from Food Lion at 1707 E. Lamar Alexander Parkway in Maryville that will be used to stock the Ladies of Charity food pantry. The Ladies of Charity expressed gratitude to Kevin Sellers, manager of the Food Lion location. Pictured from left are Anthony Cuneo, Food Lion assistant manager, Ladies of Charity board members Charlotte Dickinson and Patti Gibson, and Mr. Sellers.

Left: Ladies of Charity Knoxville has received a $500 local community grant from Akima Club of Knoxville. The grant money will be used to purchase work boots for Ladies of Charity clients. The Ladies of Charity expressed appreciation to the Akima Club management for facilitating the grant. Pictured from left are volunteer Molly Deuschel, Akima Club member LaQuinta Misner, Akima Club president Lisa Daley, and Father Tim Sullivan, CSP, associate pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Knoxville.

Bishop Hicks continued from page A9

reeling from the hurt, trauma, and financial strain of the clergy sex abuse scandal, which resulted in more than $4 million paid in settlements in 2015 to 14 men who accused some Joliet priests of abusing them as children, in addition to the economic effects of COVID-19.

He alluded to both situations in his homily at his Sept. 29 installation Mass at the cathedral, a service, that like vespers, was sprinkled with English and Spanish.

“We are called to be healers in this time of pandemic and job loss, violence, racism, injustice, and disunity, and also we are called to never turn a blind eye to the sick, the suffering the unborn, the orphaned, the abandoned, victim survivors,” Bishop Hicks said.

He spoke of a trip to Mexico a year ago with Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, and other priests, and eating homemade tortillas and fish tacos in the town of Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles (Our Lady of Angels), where they took part in the Masses for the fiestas patronales, the religious celebrations of the town’s patron saint.

The mayor told them Nuestra Señora de Los Ángeles needed a town slogan, and Bishop Flores suggested “el lugar donde la tierra y el cielo se

encuentran,” or “where earth and heaven meet.”

“That’s the Church: It is the incarnation of Jesus Christ with its humanity and divinity,” Bishop Hicks said in Spanish during his homily.

“The Church is where earth meets heaven, where Mary, the Mother of God and the archangels with their proclamation provide protection and healing.”

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, as well as Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, attended the Mass, along with a small group of Bishop Hicks’ friends and family spread throughout the pews. Bishop Hicks was appointed in 2015 vicar general of the Chicago Archdiocese, and in 2018 he was ordained an auxiliary bishop at Holy Name Cathedral. His ties to the area go back to his childhood. His parents live in a neighboring diocese.

But it’s his experience in Latin America, as a missionary, that seems clearly stamped in his identity and now in his coat of arms, with symbols of missionary work and a sprig of rosemary, called “romero” in Spanish, a reference to El Salvador’s martyred St. Oscar Romero.

But clearly, Pope Francis is a big influence.

In the installation homily, on the

feast of the Archangels Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Bishop Hicks said that just as Michael battled evil, Christians, too, are called “to defend and protect human life, the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed, the environment, and even our faith itself,” he said.

The night before, he had referenced Pope Francis’ famous saying about what he wants in his pastors, prelates who have the “smell of the sheep.”

“The Church is better off when bishops spend time with and among the people of God,” he said.

“I want to spend time with and among you, to be a good bishop.”

He said that when the announcement naming him as the new bishop of Joliet was made July 17, Internet searches began, phone calls and e-mails, text messages started, and everyone was asking the same thing: Who is he? And what is he like? Is he humble or arrogant? Is

he a conservative or liberal? Is he an introvert or an extrovert? “Is he a Cubs fan or a Sox fan?”

“Truth be told, I am a Cubs fan,” he said, jokingly. “You want to get to know me, and I want to get to know you.”

He said this time is about getting to know one another, and there will be good and not so good things they will see about him, just as the child in El Salvador pointed out to him. Sometimes he will have to deal with the “temporal realities in the administration of this diocese,” but he said he wants to focus on being close to his flock.

“I look forward to getting to know all of you and as you get to know me, I hope that one day you will be able to not only say, ‘Hey, that’s Bishop Hicks, our shepherd,’ but also I hope that one day you will be able to say, ‘Hey, that’s Bishop Hicks, our good shepherd, who has the smell of the sheep.’” ■

Funeral Mass held for bottling CEO Bernard J. Hartman

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funeral Mass was held for Bernard Joseph Hartman on Aug. 25 at the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Mass was celebrated by Father Martin Gladysz, associate pastor of the cathedral.

Mr. Hartman, 85, who died Aug. 2, was a graduate of Knoxville Catholic High School and the University of Tennessee.

After serving in the U.S. Army and graduating from UT with a marketing degree, Mr. Hartman went to work for his family’s Pepsi Cola bottling business, where he served in several positions before becoming chief executive officer.

The Hartman family founded the Hartman Beverage Co. on Magnolia Avenue in East Knoxville, which was the birthplace of the Mountain Dew beverage. Mr. Hartman’s father, Ally, and his uncle, Barney, invented Mountain Dew in 1940 as a soft drink

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to use as a mixer for moonshine.

Mountain Dew has gone on to become one of the most popular soft drinks in the world.

Mr. Hartman was a longtime pilot who continued to fly aircraft until his 60s, and he was an artist and member of the Tennessee Artists Association.

Among the charitable organizations he supported were Knoxville Area Rescue Mission, Habitat for Humanity, the Wounded Warriors Project, and the Knoxville Opera.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 55 years, Martha Jane Hartman, his brother, Anthony Aloysius Hartman, and his parents, Pauline Scholz Hartman and Aloysius Anthony Hartman.

Following the funeral Mass, Mr. Hartman was interred at Sherwood Cemetery with full military honors conducted by the Volunteer Veterans State Honor Guard. ■ www.di o k no x .o rg

OCTOBER 4, 2020 n A19

By Courtney Mares Catholic News Agency

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Carlo Acutis The October celebration of his beatification will include several youth events, including a virtual gathering of Italian young people Oct. 2 entitled “Blessed are you: A school of happiness.”

A youth prayer vigil is also planned for the night before the beatification.

The vigil, called “My Highway to Heaven,” will be led by Archbishop Renato Boccardo of Spoleto-Norcia and Auxiliary Bishop Paolo Martinelli of Milan in the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, which contains the small church where St. Francis heard Christ speak to him from a crucifix: “Francis, go and rebuild my Church.”

The beatification of Carlo Acutis will take place at the Basilica of St. Francis on Oct. 10. With tickets to the beatification itself limited due to Italy’s coronavirus restrictions, the bishop of Assisi said he hoped that the extended period of veneration and numerous events would allow many people to be close to “young Carlo.”

“This boy from Milan, who chose Assisi as his favorite place, understood, also following in the footsteps of St. Francis, that God must be at the center of everything,” Bishop Sorrentino said. ■

BILL BREWER (3)

ssisi is celebrating the beatification of computer programming teen Carlo Acutis in October with more than two weeks of liturgies and events that the bishop hopes will be an evangelizing force for young people.

“Now more than ever we believe that the example of Carlo — a brilliant Internet user who loved to help the least, the poor and the misfits — can unleash a driving force for a new evangelizing momentum,” Bishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi said at the announcement of the schedule of events.

Beginning Oct. 1, the tomb of Carlo Acutis will be open for veneration for 17 days from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. to allow as many people as possible to make a prayerful visit. Acutis’ tomb is located in Assisi’s Sanctuary of the Spoliation,

where a young St. Francis of Assisi is said to have cast off his rich clothes in favor of a poor habit.

The Oct. 1-17 period of veneration is flanked by Masses in the sanctuary, a fitting way to honor Carlo, who was known for his deep love for the Eucharist, never missing daily Mass and Eucharistic adoration. Churches throughout Assisi will also offer adoration of the Blessed Sacrament each day.

Two of Assisi’s other churches will be hosting exhibitions on eucharistic miracles and Marian apparitions, subjects that Carlo had attempted to spread devotion to by creating websites. These exhibitions, in the Cathedral of San Rufino and the Cloister of the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels respectively, will run from Oct. 2 to Oct. 16.

Carlo was age 15 when he died of leukemia in 2006, offering his suffering for the pope and the Church.

COURTESY OF CARLOACUTIS.COM

Carlo Acutis beatification will be a 17-day Assisi celebration

Familiar landmark getting a new look Demolition crews have been tearing down part of the former St. Mary’s Hospital site in preparation for construction of the city of Knoxville’s new public safety complex.

The property, bounded by Huron Street, Woodland Avenue, St. Mary Street, and Churchwell Avenue that was the home of St. Mary’s Hospital since 1930, will be the headquarters for the city’s police department, fire department, pension office, and courts. Lincoln Memorial University also will have a presence on the site.

The city began work on the property earlier this year and plans to occupy the renovated site by late 2021.

A20 n OCTOBER 4, 2020

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