July 11, 2010, ET Catholic by Diocese of Knoxville

CNS PHOTO/ERIC VIDAL, REUTERS

Belgian raid on the Church Policemen stand outside the home of the archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels in Belgium on June 24. Investigators searched the Belgian Church’s headquarters and the homes of the archbishop and a cardinal as part of an investigation into alleged priestly sexual abuse. page 10

THE EAST TENNESSEE

Volume 19 • Number 21 • July 11, 2010

The

N E W S PA P E R

of the D I O C E S E of K N O X V I L L E w w w. d i o k n o x . o r g

‘Roundtable’ will help streamline ‘business’ of DOK he Diocese of Knoxville recently joined the National Leadership Roundtable on Church Management, which assists parishes and dioceses on best practices in finances, human resources, and more. The roundtable was founded in 2005 as “an organization of laity, religious, and clergy working together to promote excellence and best practices in the management, finances, and human-resource development of the Catholic Church in the United States through the greater incorporation of the expertise of the laity.” The diocese can be a member of the group as long as it chooses, and membership is free. Leaders of Fortune 500 companies “who happen to be Catholic and who believe they can offer best practices and professional services in these areas to the Catholic Church” helped form the roundtable, said Marcy Meldahl, diocesan director of Employment Services & Benefits. Ms. Meldahl is a member of the National Association of Church Personnel Administrators, which is part of the roundtable. “A group of Catholic CEOs came together with bishops, Catholic college presidents, and other high-level officials to talk about offering services that meet the temporal needs of the Church,” she said. “Specifically, they focus on church management, finance, and human resources, and they don’t in any way get involved in doctrinal matters. They exist to disseminate best practices in parishes and dioceses and Catholic nonprofits.” Roundtable partners take a self-assessment to see where they stand, said Ms. Meldahl. “You see the areas you need to work on. The roundtable also has a members-only section where you can get best examples of things such as bylaws, accounting practices, performance-appraisal forms for human re-

‘A grand occasion for giving thanks’ Many friends join the St. Cecilia Dominicans for their 150th-anniversary celebration. By Dan McWilliams

Roundtable continued on page 2

Harper, Columba Dittoe, Philomena McDonough, and Frances Walsh arrived in Nashville in 1860 to establish a girls school, they surely had no vision of the scene that would take place 150 years later. The St. Cecilia Congregation of the Dominicans capped its sesquicentennial celebration June 25 with a Mass and dinner that drew clergy from across the Atlantic and Pacific as well as bishops, priests, men and women religious, and laity from all walks of life. More than 1,300 attended the Mass, held in a large air-conditioned tent. Some 1,200 filled three rooms later that evening for the anniversary dinner at the Sheraton Music City hotel. “A jubilee is a grand occasion for giving thanks, and that’s what this is all about: thanking God for his goodness to us, and you are part

DAN MCWILLIAMS

Dominican W hen Sisters Lucia

The St. Cecilia Schola sings during the prelude at the congregation’s 150thanniversary Mass in Nashville. The Dominicans moved the liturgy from the motherhouse chapel to a large tent on the grounds to accommodate the large numbers attending. A handbell choir also performed in the prelude. MILESTONE FOR THE DOMINICANS

of that goodness,” said Mother Ann Marie Karlovic, OP, mother general of the St. Cecilia Dominicans, at the dinner. Two guests traveled from Rome to celebrate the anniversary with the sisters. Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, was the prin-

cipal celebrant at Mass. Father Carlos Azpiroz Costa, OP, Master of the Order of Preachers, was among the concelebrants. Bishop Anthony C. Fisher, OP, of Parramatta, Australia, was the dinner keynoter. “For the particular gift of the Holy Spirit given to the

foundresses of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia and faithfully received and fostered by their daughters in religion for 150 years, I express my heartfelt congratulations,” said Archbishop Burke in his closing remarks at Mass. Host Bishop David R. Choby of Nash-

ville was joined by his fellow Tennessee ordinaries, Bishop Richard F. Stika of Knoxville and Bishop J. Terry Steib of Memphis. Three more archbishops—including Knoxville’s second shepherd, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky.— 150th continued on page 6

Pope creates new pontifical council for evangelization The new organization will help combat the profound crisis caused by secularization and help people rediscover the value of faith, Benedict says. BY C IN D Y WOODEN

the perennial truth of the Gospel” in regions where secularism is smothering church practice. Leading an evening prayer service June 28 at Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul

CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Pope Benedict XVI announced he is establishing a pontifical council for new evangelization to find ways “to re-propose

‘RENEWED EVANGELIZATION’ Pope

Benedict XVI stops in front of the tomb of St. Paul as he arrives for an evening prayer service at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome on June 28. That night the pope announced he is establishing a pontifical council for new evangelization.

Outside the Walls, Pope Benedict said in some areas of the globe that have been known as Christian for centuries “the process of secularization has produced a serious crisis” in people’s sense of what it means to be Christian and to belong to the church. “I have decided to create a new organism, in the form of a pontifical council, with the principal task of promoting a renewed evangelization in the countries where the first proclamation of faith has already resounded and where there are churches of ancient foundation present, but which are living through a progressive secularization of society and a kind of ‘eclipse of the sense of God,’” he said. The challenge, he said, is to find ways to help people rediscover the value of faith. Pope Benedict made the announcement at the basilica built over what is believed to be the tomb of St. Paul, who dedicated “his entire existence and his hard work for the kingdom of God,” the pope said. The Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry, established by Pope John Paul II in 1985, was the last pontifical council created. On June 30 the Vatican announced Council continued on page 10

letters to the

EDITOR

Reader supports Archbishop Sheen’s cause

For several years we traveled down a two-lane highway to bring our children to and from college at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. We chose to travel this road when truck traffic on the interstate was particularly heavy. Some of the towns had only stop signs; larger ones had signalized intersections. El Paso, Ill., was larger than some, with depth both east and west of the north–south highway, and embraced a population providing services for the comfort and convenience of the mostly rural populace living on nearby farms. We only recently learned that El Paso was the birthplace of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the noted host of the radio program The Catholic Hour (1930–50) and the television program Life Is Worth Living. The latter program won many awards and was watched by millions in the 1950s. Archbishop Sheen’s brilliance was demonstrated not only through his presence on the television but also by his scholarly background. He received doctoral degrees from the University of Louvain in Belgium and the University of Rome. That such a small farm town in south central Illinois could produce such an amazing person is truly a blessing and a tribute to his parents. His studies for the priesthood took him to St. Louis and the Chicago area and other places, which must have whetted his appetite for learning. Fame followed him on The Catholic Hour, and he was noted for the conversion to Catholicism of many famous and not-so-famous persons. Now we understand that Archbishop Sheen, who died in 1979, is a candidate for sainthood. I am delighted to know this honor is contemplated, and I offer my support for the cause. Perhaps we can offer some human insights into his considerable influence on the ordinary people who watched or listened to the programs he hosted. ■ —Harry Hogan Knoxville Editor’s note: More information about Archbishop Sheen’s cause may be found online at www. archbishopsheencause.org/. Letters should be 350 words or less and will be edited for grammar, style, clarity, and length. Submit them by e-mail or mail: news@dioknox. org, 805 Northshore Drive Southwest, Knoxville, TN 37919. Letters to the editor reﬂect the opinions of their authors and not those of the editorial staff or the publisher.

Want to try online delivery? he East Tennessee Catholic offers online delivery for those who would prefer to read a digital copy and to discontinue the print edition. If you would rather read the ETC online, visit bit.ly/subscribe-online to sign up. If you decide online delivery isn’t for you, you can return to a print subscription at any time. If you have questions, e-mail mhunt@dioknox.org. ■

Diocese offers ongoing Virtus child-protection training sessions he Diocese of Knoxville’s program for the protection of children and youth—a three-hour seminar called “Protecting God’s Children”—is offered regularly throughout the diocese. The seminars are required for parish and school employees and regular volunteers in contact with children or vulnerable adults and recommended for parents and grandparents. The following training sessions have been scheduled: ■ Chancery, 6 p.m. Monday, July 12 (session will be conducted

in Spanish) St. Stephen Church, Chattanooga, 6 p.m. Monday, July 19 ■ St. Alphonsus Church, Crossville, 6 p.m. CDT Tuesday, July 27 (session will be conducted in Spanish) ■ All Saints Church, Knoxville, 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 7 (session will take place in the parish hall) ■ St. Mary Church, Johnson City, 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 21; 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 15 (sessions will be held in St. Ann’s Hall). To register, visit virtusonline.org. ■ ■

Diocese of Knoxville procedure for reporting sexual abuse Anyone who has actual knowledge of or who has reasonable cause to suspect an incident of sexual abuse should report such information to the appropriate civil authorities first, then to the bishop’s office, 865-584-3307, or the diocesan victims’ assistance coordinator, Marla Lenihan, 865-482-1388.

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JULY 11, 2010

living the

READINGS

BY FATHER JOSEPH BRANDO

A great question The scholar in Luke 10 gave a perfect response to Jesus’ teaching.

Home has been cleverly defined as the place where, when you go there, they have to take you in. This saying implies a certain bond that ties everyone who lives and grows in the same home. That bond creates in our hearts a necessity to care for all in our family, even if there are problems between us. In today’s Gospel, Jesus defined “neighbor” in much the same way. A scholar of the Mosaic law asked Jesus a friendly question. He wanted to find out whether Jesus was capable of offering any deep insights into Scripture that would mark him as someone special. The scholar’s question was,

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus turned the question around, inviting him into a dialogue. The man responded by perfectly reciting what Jesus had been preaching: loving God and our neighbor will lead us into eternal life. Not having learned anything new, the scholar refined his question and asked, “And who is my neighbor?” By continuing his dialogue with Jesus, the scribe got an answer that advanced our knowledge of how God wants us to live. Jesus answered with the story of the Good Samaritan. The story ends with a crucial question: “Which of the three men [who saw the half-dead robbery victim on the road] was neighbor to him?” The scholar did not answer “the Samaritan.” Samaritans were despised. Instead, he insightfully an-

swered, “the one who treated him with mercy.” Other translations read, “the one with compassion.” Jesus ends the enlightening discussion by saying, “Go and do likewise.” In effect, Jesus said that a neighbor is one who cannot pass you by when you’re in trouble. He or she is a person who is bound to you by mercy or compassion. To put that bond into action is to attain eternal life. Paul goes one giant step further in our second reading. What the Samaritan did for the victim in the Gospel story, God does for us: “[In Christ] God reconciles all things, making peace by the blood of his cross.” There’s a bond between God and us that motivated God to send his Son to save us. If we can find the same bond of merciful compassion in ourselves and use it, we will be like God and inherit eternal life. ■ July 11, 15th Sunday in ordinary time Deuteronomy 30:10-14 Psalm 69:14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36-37 Colossians 1:15-20 Luke 10:25-37

The other side of the story

by the very next words of Luke’s gospel, which happen to be today’s Gospel. It’s the story of

The account of Martha and Mary should be read together with that of the scholar.

t’s risky to take one passage of Scripture and make a case based solely on that selection. An example of that danger can be found in the relationship between

last week’s Gospel passage and today’s. Take a glance at the column above and recall that the exchange between Jesus and the scholar of Mosaic law was about how to

get to heaven. It seems there is a divine imperative to go out and start doing what the Samaritan did. If you did so, however, you’d be rudely contradicted

Readings continued on page 3

July 18, 16th Sunday of ordinary time Genesis 18:1-10 Psalm 15:2-5 Colossians 1:24-28 Luke 10:38-42

WEEKDAY READINGS Monday, July 12: Isaiah 1:10-17; Psalm 50:8-9, 16-17, 21, 23; Matthew 10:34–11:1 Tuesday, July 13: Isaiah 7:1-9; Psalm 48:2-8; Matthew 11:20-24 Wednesday, July 14: Memorial, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, virgin, Isaiah 10:5-7, 13-16; Psalm 94:5-10, 14-15; Matthew 11:25-27 Thursday, July 15: Memorial, Bonaventure, bishop, doctor of the Church, Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19; Psalm 102:13-21; Matthew 11:28-30

Friday, July 16: Isaiah 38:1-6, 2122, 7-8; Isaiah 38:10-12, 16; Matthew 12:1-8 Saturday, July 17: Micah 2:1-5; Psalm 10:1-4, 7-8, 14; Matthew 12:14-21 Monday, July 19: Micah 6:1-4, 6-8; Psalm 50:5-6, 8-9, 16-17, 21, 23; Matthew 12:38-42 Tuesday, July 20: Micah 7:14-15, 18-20; Psalm 85:2-8; Matthew 12:46-50 Wednesday, July 21: Jeremiah 1:1,

4-10; Psalm 71:1-6, 15, 17; Matthew 13:1-9 Thursday, July 22: Memorial, Mary Magdalene, Jeremiah 2:1-3, 7-8, 1213; Psalm 36:6-11; John 20:1-2, 1118 Friday, July 23: Jeremiah 3:14-17; Jeremiah 31:10-13; Matthew 13:1823 Saturday, July 24: Jeremiah 7:1-11; Psalm 84:3-6, 8, 11; Matthew 13:2430 ■

Roundtable continued from page 1

lot of employees—not just priests but everybody else— and it handles a lot of money.” New procedures put in place by Bishop Richard F. Stika already had the diocese on track toward roundtable membership, said Ms. Meldahl, who had known about the group for some time before recommending membership to the bishop and receiving his approval. Perhaps the chief money-handling responsibility, at least at the parish level, is the offertory collection. The roundtable has procedures to ensure the security of the money from the collection plate to the counting table, such as making sure it goes into sealable bags, so that parishes preserve the integrity of the procedure and don’t have “baskets floating with cash” around, said Ms. Meldahl.

Videos and workbooks from the roundtable can help parish councils, finance councils, and staff “evaluate their own efficiency and usefulness and see where they can be of assistance to the pastor,” said Ms. Meldahl, who has used some roundtable materials in two or three parishes. “They have been very well received there,” she said. Elsewhere in the country, the roundtable has helped the Archdiocese of Boston get its finances in order and make them more transparent, and the group helped the Archdiocese of New Orleans open its schools a year before the city’s public schools could do so following Hurricane Katrina. To learn more about the roundtable, visit TheLeadership Roundtable.org. ■

sources, and those kind of things. The high-level, wellknown people who formed it also work with appropriate professional associations like the National Association of Church Personnel Administrators, which is primarily for human resources, and the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference. “They have access to resources that we probably could not afford to have access to and pay for on our own.” Applying business practices within the Catholic Church might be seen as an off-label use for them. “Some people believe the two should remain completely separate,” said Ms. Meldahl, “but they will say the Church is a business in the sense that it has a budget of billions and a

Bishop Richard F. Stika Publisher Mary C. Weaver Editor Dan McWilliams Assistant editor

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TH E E A S T TE N N E S S E E C ATH OLI C

he dwells

AMONG US

BY BISHOP RICHARD F. STIKA

Truth and freedom Liberty is more than a political ideal: above all, it is spiritual.

History fascinates me, and every year as Independence Day approaches, my thoughts turn to the events that formed us as a nation. Of course, I love to celebrate baseball and hotdogs—two things that have come to define us as Americans—but there is something unique about our country and our liberty that sets us apart as a nation. The first visit of Pope John Paul II to the United States in 1979 is etched in my memory. I had recently graduated from St. Louis University and was discerning God’s calling to the priesthood. I could not have imagined then that in 20 years’ time I would be in charge of coordinating the pope’s last visit to the United States, when he came to St. Louis in 1999. I still recall the words of John Paul II when he visited Ellis Island, standing beneath the Statue of Liberty where these words are inscribed: Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempesttossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Commenting on this great

once upon

A TIME

symbol of our nation and these words of hope, John Paul II challenged us not to forget that without the truth that comes from God alone, liberty loses its foundation— and that it is Christ who truly sets us free (cf. John 8:32). Traveling to Philadelphia that same day, John Paul II highlighted the words of our Declaration of Independence, which he called a most “remarkable document” in the history of man: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Although this is the most commonly quoted part of the Declaration, I am struck by the words it closes with, expressing the commitment of the 39 men whose signatures would immediately follow: “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” Unfortunately, our nation has not always been committed to applying these rights to all people. Two examples in our history are the Dred Scott decision of 1857 and Roe v. Wade in 1973. As any student of history can see, some of the most tragic events in the world have been preceded by an abandonment of the sacred truths about man and his re-

BY MONSIGNOR XAVIER MANKEL

Choosing the see city A Nashville priest prepared a 49-page proposal for establishing the diocese.

Those who ignore or are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat its mistakes. We are so blessed to have at the flip of a switch or the push of a button or key wholesome access to the stories of our families: our human families, our political families, and our church families. Some of this history is very well known already, and some of it needs further elucidation. Last time (“Setting the parameters,” June 6 ETC) we gave a very brief overview of the development of our diocese by going back to the ordination of Bishop John Carroll in England in 1790, the beginning of the church’s English-speaking hierarchy in Baltimore, and the 1808 formation of the dioceses of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Bardstown (now Louisville). The Diocese of Nashville was formed in 1837 and included all of Tennessee. Memphis came in 1971 and Knoxville (the 36 counties of eastern Tennessee) on Sept. 8, 1988. Today’s installment will relate some of the story that led to the announcement of the Diocese of Knoxville in June 1988. In December 1987 the annual gathering of the presbyteral councils of the province of Louisville, which met on a round-robin basis (at that time there were five dioT H E EA S T TE N N E S S E E C AT H OL IC

ceses in our province: Louisville, Covington, Owensboro, Nashville, and Memphis), gathered in Memphis. A special meeting of the presbyteral council of the Nashville Diocese (Middle and East Tennessee) was convened by Nashville’s Bishop James Daniel Niedergeses, D.D., to share a report prepared substantially by Father Stephen A. Klasek of Nashville, entitled “A New Diocese in Eastern Tennessee: Proposal and Rationale.” The 49-page document included the following: ■ population projections ■ distances to be traveled in networking parishes with a diocesan see ■ a proposed area of a new Diocese of Knoxville (formed completely from counties of the eastern half of the Diocese of Nashville) ■ the economic status of East Tennessee counties at the time ■ the Catholic population by county [in 1985 the Catholic population of Anderson County was 3,280; Hamilton, 8,852; Knox, 11,234; Sullivan, 1,750; Washington, 1,700; and Bledsoe, Fentress, Grainger, Hancock, Jefferson, Johnson, Meigs, Monroe, Pickett, Sequatchie, Unicoi, and Union—the last 12 having “no countable Catholics of record” (Catholics living in those counties attended Mass in nearby counties that had at least a mission parish)!] ■ parish size (Sacred Heart Parish in Knoxville listed 4,000 persons; St. Mary in Oak Ridge, 3,000; St. Jude in

lationship with God. Sadly, the Civil War, the most costly war in our nation’s history, with more casualties than all of our other wars put together, followed in the wake of the first court decision. How I pray that we will be spared a similar fate of deadly division as a result of the second court decision. In one of the great ironies of history, Robert E. Lee, who commanded the Confederate forces during the Civil War, first turned down an offer extended by President Lincoln to command the Union Army. Two years later, on July 4, 1863, General Lee withdrew his forces from Gettysburg, following the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. Many saw in this event what they believed was a divine sign that our nation would once again be united. But though at this time of year we celebrate the struggles and sacrifices, both political and of the battlefield, that have helped preserve our freedoms, we mustn’t forget that liberty is above all spiritual and involves a constant struggle against what truly enslaves: sin. On those Sundays of the Fourth of July weekend when we often close Mass with the hymn “America, the Beautiful,” I try to make a special prayer of one particular verse, when we sing, “America! America! God mend thine every flaw, confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law!” I pray also that all of us may experience the freedom that best helps us to be the face of Jesus. ■ BISHOP STIKA’S SCHEDULE July 12: 5 p.m., Mass and banquet at Morgan County Correctional Complex ■

Chattanooga, 4,210; St. Dominic in Kingsport, 1,608; and St. Mary in Johnson City, 1,650) ■ Catholic schools—total enrollment 2,602 ■ the number of priests and seminarians in the proposed territory ■ Catholic institutions other than parishes ■ financial information ■ parish debts (at that time St. Dominic in Kingsport, had the largest—$1,114,238—followed by St. John Neumann in Farragut, $878,163; Sacred Heart in Knoxville, $663,452; St. Jude in Chattanooga, $552,004; and Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Chattanooga, $534,976) ■ a table of the annual ordinary income of the parishes ■ and a comparison of present and future situations projected for a new diocese. The now-famous page 49 was headed “The Proposed Cathedral and See City.” I quote: A. The See City 1. The See City of the Diocese of Knoxville will be the city of Knoxville (Knoxvillensis). The certified 1986 population of the city of Knoxville was 175,045 people. 2. There are five parishes in Knox County (Knoxville). In 1986 they had a combined parish census of 10,493. (This apparent decline from the 1985 census of 11,234 is due to the difficulty in reporting the population of John XXIII Parish, which is located at the University of Tennessee. In 1985 the parish included students for a parish of 1,500, but in 1986 they omitted the students for a parish report of 600.) 3. Knoxville is the best Mankel continued on page 6

www.d ioknox.org

from the bishop’s

OFFICE

Bishop Stika announces new assignments for two Paulist parishes ffective Aug. 1, Father Joe Ciccone, CSP, the pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Knoxville, will begin a new assignment as director of the St. Thomas More Newman Center at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Father Ciccone has served as IC’s pastor since 2005. “I am grateful for his dedication and ministry these past five years, and I wish him well and pray that he will be blessed with God’s grace as he begins his new ministry,” wrote Bishop Richard F. Stika in a July 1 memo. In the memo the bishop announced further pastoral assignments for IC and Blessed John XXIII Catholic Center (also in Knoxville), the diocese’s two Paulist-run parishes. ■ Father Charles Donahue, CSP, will continue to serve as pastor of Blessed John XXIII. Father Donahue will become the local Paulist superior. ■ Effective July 15, Father James Brucz will serve as associate pastor of John XXIII. Father Brucz was associate pastor for IC from January 2002 till July 2005. ■ Father Ronald Franco will serve as IC’s pastor, effective Aug. 1. ■ Effective July 1, Father Gerard Tully, CSP, began serving as associate pastor for IC. “Please join me in congratulating these Paulist Fathers and offer your prayers as they begin their new ministry,” wrote the bishop. ■

Corrections n the June 6 edition the article on the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation’s 150th anniversary listed several sisters who came from the Diocese of Knoxville. That list also should have included Sister Imelda Garrison of Chattanooga and Sister Mary Reginald Lane of Clinton. Also in the June 6 issue, Bishop Richard F. Stika’s column stated that Dominican Sisters will come to both Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga and St. Joseph School in Knoxville this fall; in fact, the newly arrived sisters will serve only at NDHS. ■

Take note of ETC deadlines e welcome submissions about parish and community events. Send notices by e-mail (news@dioknox.org), fax (865-584-8124), or mail (805 Northshore Drive Southwest, Knoxville, TN 37919). To make sure we receive information about upcoming events in time for publication, please submit it by the following deadlines: ■ Monday, July 12, for the July 25 issue ■ Monday, July 26, for the Aug. 8 issue ■ Monday, Aug. 9, for the Aug. 22 issue ■ Monday, Aug. 30, for the Sept. 12 issue ■ Monday, Sept. 13, for the Sept. 26 issue ■ Monday, Sept. 27, for the Oct. 10 issue. When submitting photos or information about past events, please keep in mind that we have a backlog of submissions. ■

Readings continued from page 2

Martha and Mary. Martha, who is busy being a good neighbor to Jesus, asks him to remind her sister to start doing likewise. It is a lesson she needs to learn. After all, Mary is doing nothing but talking to their guest. That’s not going to get the food cooked or presented to Jesus. Mary is being a terrible hostess as well as a bad neighbor. Does she not care for her guest? Jesus responds by defending Mary and rejecting Martha’s premise. But doesn’t that contradict the moral of the story of the Good Samaritan. It is not enough to feel compassion. One is obliged to act on it. The problem is that many do not recognize one of the best ways the Bible teaches. The Scriptures often present apparent contradictions. When one verse contradicts another, it does not mean one is wrong. Rather, we are challenged to dig deeper to find the truth that reconciles the two passages. Luke is using that technique here. To the Torah scholar, Jesus says, “Go and do something” to enter eternal life. To Martha, he says, “Stop working, sit down, and listen to me.” Really, the Lord is telling us to do both. We must act but only after we develop a deep personal relationship with him. Luke is teaching the Church that both contemplation and action are needed in the kingdom. Neither is to be disparaged. Paul demonstrates both values in the second reading. He tells us he is man of action who has suffered for Christ as well as a mystic who has penetrated the mystery hidden from generations past. We can and should do likewise. ■ Father Brando is pastor of St. Mary Parish in Gatlinburg. JULY 11, 2010

■

BY TONI PACITTI

■ The young-adults group attended the “Faith and Family Night at Riverbend” on June 15.

St. Augustine, Signal Mountain ■ High school youth from St. Brigid

St. Mary, Oak Ridge

Parish in Jones Creek, Ga., and Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga provided more than 220 hours of labor to the parish. The students were among nearly 460 high schoolers who participated in the “Alive in You” Catholic services camp hosted by Notre Dame. The youth made improvements to the St. Augustine columbarium, grounds, and sanctuary. ■ The vacation Bible school pinch-pot sale raised more than $350 for the parish’s sister school in Haiti. ■ Volunteers are needed to cook dinner on Wednesday evenings at the UTC Catholic Student Center for the upcoming school year. Call Andrew Bird at 423-886-4359.

■ The summer garden group needs

St. Catherine Labouré, Copperhill ■ First communicants: Angel Sanches, Josh Blanche, Olivia Jabaley, Xenn Buenavista

St. Jude, Chattanooga

tomato cages and stakes, hoses with a nozzle or sprinkler, and a few shovels and rakes for the vegetable garden. Take supplies to the ministry center. ■ A traditional Irish breakfast will be served from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday, July 17, in the church cafeteria to benefit the Ulster Project. Tickets are $5 with a maximum of $20 per family. Contact John Hough at 865-405-5929 or Jhough20@comcast.net.

St. Thomas the Apostle, Lenoir City ■ Volunteers are invited to help with

Five Rivers Deanery

Holy Trinity, Jefferson City

the Schola Cantorum, which sings during the 12:15 p.m. Mass. Call Nancy Fisher at 423-842-6768. ■ Father Charlie Burton celebrated the monthly vocations Mass on June 28. The new officers for the Knights of Columbus were installed during the liturgy. ■ The Council of Catholic Women has a new website at stjudeccw.org.

■ A patriotic rosary was prayed in June and July for U.S. troops. ■ Anniversaries: Peter and Agnes McEwen (53), Vinnie and Katherine Clossey (52), James and Margaret Ray (51), James and Beatrice Hibbard (40), Bob and Pam Rowland (25) ■ Baptisms: Christopher Eli Mynuk, son of Chris and Stacy Mynuk; Miles Christopher Weatherbie, son of Chris and Michele Weatherbie

■ Sissy Aparicio-Rascon, a member

Notre Dame, Greeneville

of St. Mary since 1994, has been hired as the new parish secretary.

■ Youth participating in the summer

St. Stephen, Chattanooga ■ The family-life committee spon-

sored “Pray Me a Story” on June 23, a morning with story time, prayer, crafts, snacks, and play time for small children. ■ Technicians are needed to help support the parish website. Call Paula Reiland at 423-400-6508 or Ray Powell at 488-3686. Cumberland Mountain Deanery

All Saints, Knoxville ■ Thirty-six high school youth and sev-

en adults attended a Catholic HEART Workcamp in Chicago to perform service work. ■ All Saints youth and adults will go on a mission trip to Colombia from July 13 to 28. Contact Annie Nassis or Father Antonio Giraldo at 865-531-0770 or annieatallsaints@yahoo.com. ■ Musicians are needed for an “All Parish Mass” to be held Sunday, Aug. 29. Call Sandy Seffernick at 675-1788. Rosaries and prayer cards in English or Spanish are needed for the mission.

Blessed Sacrament, Harriman ■ The parish CYO is inviting all CYO

members of the Smoky Mountain and Cumberland Mountain deaneries to a “Swimming Under the Stars” event from 8 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, July 21, at the Kingston Community Center’s outdoor pool. Admission is free. E-mail Susan Roberts at robertss101@ comcast.net for more information. ■ The Council of Catholic Women served a Father’s Day breakfast after Mass on June 20 in the parish hall.

St. Alphonsus, Crossville ■ The crafters guild will sponsor a

“Christmas in July” craft fair and bake sale at the church from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, July 30; 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, July 31; and after all Masses. The craft fair will offer wreaths and décor for all seasons, as well as gifts for men, women, and children. The Council of Catholic Women will hold the bake sale.

St. Francis of Assisi, Fairﬁeld Glade ■ The book club will meet at

10:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 21, in the conference room to discuss Stones Into Schools (Viking Adult, 2009) by Greg Mortensen. ■ Father John Dowling will begin a Bible study on the Book of Revelation from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Mondays beginning Aug. 2 and continuing through September. ■ Anniversaries: Al and Kathleen 4

■

JULY 11, 2010

Christ the King Parish turns 20 Christ the King Parish in Tazewell celebrated its 20th anniversary with a picnic at the Lincoln Memorial University campus in Harrogate on May 15 and a reception after Mass the following day. The church, established as a mission in 1985, was dedicated May 13, 1990. Known in its mission days as the Claiborne County Catholic Community, the church held Mass in a storefront on Main Street in New Tazewell. The church is now on Blue Top Road, and Father Joe Campbell (above, with a hand on the chair at right) is the pastor.

various events for the fall festival. Contact Tanny Williams at 865-4588022 or trwilliams1416@charter.net. ■ The parish is seeking a public-relations coordinator to assist ministries with promotional efforts in newspapers and parish bulletins. E-mail Nancy Howard at nancyhoward@tds.net.

■ Tenors and basses are needed for

St. Mary, Athens

COURTESY OF EDWINA BOOTH

OLPH, Chattanooga

Evans (60), William and Janette LaRou (55), Larry and Reva Lanzerotti (54), Kenna and Marianna Layfield (54), Bernard and JoAnne Bunyak (50), William and Ellen O’Brien (25), Ed and Judy Ostrowski (20)

service program cleaned out parish kitchen cabinets, delivered meals on wheels, and worked at the Humane Society. High school youth are invited to attend the 8 a.m. Mass every Tuesday and then participate in service projects until 3 p.m. Opportunities vary each week, and lunch is provided. Call Susan at 423-639-9382. ■ The dedication of the new building at Notre Dame will be held Sunday, Aug. 15, beginning with Mass at 11 a.m. ■ The St. Catherine’s Guild met July 1 to plan for the year. The guild is accepting donations of handmade craft items to sell to benefit its crafting activities, the kitchen fund, and Council of Catholic Women activities. Call Mary Lou Lamb at 638-2882 or Wendy Hankins at 639-6329. ■ Anniversaries: Bill and Mary Herrell (61), Richard and Edna Nojeim (56), Landon and Marlene Wilds (56), Kenneth and Patricia Fay (35), Danny and Susan Collins (30), Jack and Aimee Place (25)

St. Dominic, Kingsport ■ Children between 3 and 11 are invit-

ed to attend a new summer camp from 7:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. weekdays through Aug. 6 at St. Dominic School. Call the school at 423-245-8491 for more information. ■ Anniversary: Martha and Robert Kirk (50)

St. Elizabeth, Elizabethton ■ Volunteers prepared and served

meals for 359 homeless and elderly June 26 at St. John Episcopal Church. The next opportunity to help with Food for the Multitude is Saturday, Aug. 7. ■ Anniversaries: Daniel and Teresa Bellar (50), Jeanie and Billy Walker (40), Kent and Coleen Schneider (30)

SCOTT MAENTZ

Chattanooga Deanery

Youth at St. Mary in Athens receive first Holy Communion Children at St. Mary Parish in Athens celebrated their first Holy Communion on May 16. Adults pictured with them are catechists (from left) Emily and Rafael Frank and Lee Ann Moates, St. Mary pastor Father William Oruko, AJ, and catechist Wanda Redding.

Bullocks celebrate 60 years of marriage dward and Joan Bullock of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Fairfield Glade celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary April 29. They were married at St. Matthias Church in New York City. The Bullocks have four children—Kevin Bullock of St. Louis; Kathleen Smith of Woodbridge, Va.; Susan Bullock of Houston; and Keith Bullock of Conroe, Texas—and three grandchildren. Mr. and Mrs. Bullock retired from the Exxon Co. in Houston and moved to the Glade in 1985. They enjoy reading, fishing, woodworking, crafts, and travel. ■

COURTESY OF ROSEANN STRAZINSKY (2)

NOTES

Joan and Edward Bullock

Gerlachs of Fairﬁeld Glade mark golden anniversary ichard (Dick) and Helen Gerlach of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Fairfield Glade celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary Feb. 27. They were married at St. Ferdinand Church in Chicago with Father Francis S. Guistolise officiating. They have had five children, Anita Holland, who is deceased; Kim Davis of Lawrenceville, Ga.; Shelley Harris of Mount Juliet; Jeffrey of Goshen, Ind.; and Scott of Carrollton, Ga.. The Gerlachs have eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Mr. Gerlach retired from the Ludwig Drum Co. in Monroe, N.C., and Mrs. Gerlach was a dental assistant. They moved to the

Dick and Helen Gerlach

Glade in 2003. The couple celebrated their 50th with a cruise and a tour of the Hawaiian Islands. ■

Smoky Mountain Deanery

Immaculate Conception, Knoxville ■ After months of fundraising, the

parish recently purchased a new piano for the sanctuary. The piano donated by Mildred Warden and Thelma Ryan has been moved to the parish hall and will be used for events there.

Our Lady of Fatima, Alcoa ■ The parish hosted a Renew: Why

Catholic? retreat with the theme “Living the Beatitudes” on June 19.

St. Albert the Great, Knoxville ■ Seminarian Colin Blatchford be-

gan his summer assignment June 26 at St. Albert the Great and will serve the parish through Sunday, July 25. ■ www.d ioknox.org

COURTESY OF DANA HOGAN

parish

Guild holds fundraiser at St. Thomas the Apostle Ceramic pins are being offered as a fundraiser by the women’s guild of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Lenoir City. Available in six designs, the pins are made by Lucinda Yates, a formerly homeless person whose goal is to bring attention and financial support to nonprofit organizations. The pins cost $14 each. To purchase pins, contact Jean Gondoly at 865657-9317. Shown with a display of the pins, which first went on sale at the group’s spring card party, are Mrs. Gondoly (left) and guild chair Lil Pendergast.

TH E E A S T TE N N E S S E E C ATH OLI C

BY TONI PACITTI

The annual diocesan Youth Leadership Institute will be held July 25 through 29 at The Oaks Retreat Center in Greeneville. This year’s theme is “LOL2: Live Out Loud, Laugh Out Loud.” YLI’s focus is helping young people develop an understanding of Christian leadership and the principles of effectively serving the Church. Youth can hear speakers, attend Mass, take part in a ropes challenge course, swim, and lodge in air-conditioned cabins. Cost is $225. For more information, contact deanery coordinators Donna Jones at djones6029@gmail.com (Chattanooga), Deacon Jim Fage at djim5rivers@charter.net (Five Rivers), or Deacon Dan Hosford at djh2@com cast.net (Cumberland and Smoky Mountain), or e-mail diocesan Youth and Young Adult Ministry director Al Forsythe at aforsythe@dioknox.org. East Tennessee Catholics are invited to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and Jordan from Nov. 7 through 20 with spiritual directors Fathers David Boettner, Michael Woods, and Jim Harvey. Pilgrims will visit Jerusalem, Tiberias, Nazareth, and Cana, including the Mount of Olives, the Church of St. John the Baptist, the Church of the Visitation, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Mount of Beatitudes. Pilgrims also may follow Jesus’ Palm Sunday route and the Via Dolorosa. Cost is $2,899 (cash) or $3,078, plus $599 in airport fees (from Atlanta), a $55 border-crossing fee, and a $25 Jordan visa fee. There is a $400 deposit. Sister Albertine Paulus, RSM, is the pilgrimage coordinator. For a brochure and registration form, contact her at 865207-4742 or smaevang@yahoo.com. The annual Altar Server Day in the Smokies is set for Saturday, Aug. 28. Altar servers can attend Mass with Bishop Richard F. Stika as principal celebrant at 3:30 p.m. at Holy Trinity Church in Jefferson City. A picnic at 5 p.m. and a Tennessee Smokies baseball game will follow at 6:15 p.m. at Smokies Park in Kodak. Registration forms will be sent to all parishes. Servers interested in attending should speak to their pastor, youth minister, or altar-server coordinator. A free two-hour seminar on the annulment process will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 18, at the Chancery in Knoxville and at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 24, at Notre Dame Church in Greeneville. Father David Carter will be the presenter, and simultaneous Spanish translation will be available. Contact Marian Christiana at 423-892-2310 or mchristiana@dioknox.org. St. Stephen Parish of Chattanooga’s Family Golf Outing will be held Saturday, July 10, at Brainerd Golf Course. Golfers should arrive at 7:30 a.m., and the tournament’s shotgun start is set for 8. The format is best ball. Anyone living in the Chattanooga Deanery is welcome to attend, and level of golf skill does not matter. The tournament will raise funds for St. Stephen’s parish-hall kitchen renovations. Cost is $85 (includes lunch and two drinks). To register, volunteer, or become a tournament sponsor, call Rusty at 423240-3143 or Roland at 499-3045. Registration is under way for Diocese of Knoxville young people who plan to attend World Youth Day in Madrid in August 2011. Total cost is $3,321 per person, which includes accommodations (double occupancy), daily American buffet breakfasts, WYD fees, and airline taxes and fuel TH E EA S T TE N N E S S E E C AT H OL IC

charges. A second option offers simple accommodations on school-gym floors but includes everything else above, at a cost of $2,299. A deposit of $250 is needed to hold a reservation. Second and third payments of $500 each are due by Oct. 31 and Feb. 15, with the final payment due no later than May 15, 2011. For more information, contact Al Forsythe, diocesan director of Youth and Youth Adult Ministry, at 865584-3307 or aforsythe@dioknox.org, or Lucille of Regina Tours at 800CATHOLIC, extension 208. Obtain information online at www.dioknox.org. Knoxville Catholic High School will host a cross-country distance-running clinic from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 21, at the school track or (if raining) gym for rising sixththrough eighth-graders. Cost is $35. Contact Erin Chady at echady@ knoxvillecatholic.com. KCHS will also have a volleyball camp for hitters and setters on the weekend of July 23 through 25 in the gym. Middle and high school students may attend. Costs are $65 for hitters and $125 for setters. Contact Mike Jones at vb jones13@comcast. net. Visit www. knoxvillecatholic.com/athleticssummercamps.asp to download a registration form for the cross-country clinic or a flyer for the volleyball camp. Anyone who has ever been on a Search retreat is invited to gather on the weekend of July 16 through 18 at All Saints Academy in Chattanooga for a Re-Search 2 retreat. Cost is $50 and includes food, snacks, and a T-shirt, plus $15 for Sunday-afternoon events (a picnic lunch and canoeing at Greenway Farms in Hixson). Pick up a form from a youth minister or contact Donna Jones at 423-267-9878 or djones6029@gmail.com for more information. St. John Neumann School in Farragut is holding summer sports camps for rising first- through eighth-grade boys and girls. Remaining camps and their dates and costs are as follows: volleyball, July 19-22, $40; and baseball and softball, July 26-29, $75. Contact Jeni Sompayrac at jsompayrac@sjncsknox.org, or call the school at 865777-0077 for more information.

COURTESY OF DEACON SEAN SMITH

Bishop Richard F. Stika will host a bilingual celebration at St. Dominic Church in Kingsport at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 31, to honor married couples and their commitment to the sacrament of marriage. The celebration will include Mass, an opportunity to renew wedding vows, and a luncheon for couples and their family and friends following the liturgy. Mass will begin at 11 a.m. To attend the luncheon, RSVP by Monday, July 26, to Marian Christiana of the diocesan Marriage Preparation and Enrichment Office at 423-892-2310 or mchristiana@dioknox. org or Karen Byrne at 865-584-3307 or kbyrne@dioknox.org. Couples who RSVP should indicate how long they have been married.

Bishop, deacon meet cardinal in Poland In Kraków during the diocesan pilgrimage to Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany in May, Bishop Richard F. Stika and chancellor Deacon Sean Smith broke away from the group for a short visit with Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz. The cardinal was a member of the Prefecture of the Papal Household and served as the private secretary to Pope John Paul II for 39 years. Cardinal Dziwisz is the author of a memoir, A Life With Karol: My Forty-Year Friendship with the Man Who Became Pope (Doubleday Religion, 2008).

Cathedral holding 17th children’s consignment sale he 17th annual Sacred Heart Cathedral Children’s Consignment Sale is set for Friday and Saturday, July 23 and 24, in the school gym. The sale is sponsored by the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Guild and is open to everyone. The merchandise includes items for newborn to teenage children, along with maternity items. Cribs, car seats, bikes, toys, games, and sports equipment will be sold, along with clothing and shoes. Organizers accept and sell only items in good clean condition. “What started out as a fundraiser for our guild 17 years ago has grown beyond our wildest dreams,” said sale co-chair Tricia Sellers. “I think much of that success is because we are careful about the items we take in. Our shoppers know they are going to find a lot of name-brand items,

Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga has several more summer camps on the schedule through July 30. Remaining camps include baseball, cooking, dance, and adventure camps. A “jump start” camp to help freshmen transition from middle school to high school is also set, from July 26 through 30. View a brochure at myndhs.com for dates, times, costs, and eligible age groups for each camp. Call the school at 423-624-4618 or e-mail summer camp@myndhs.com for more details.

good quality, and fair prices.” All sale proceeds stay in the Knoxville area. Local consignors receive 70 percent of their asking price with the remainder going to education grants for the teachers at Sacred Heart Cathedral School and Knoxville Catholic High School. The sale helps hundreds of people in the community purchase gently used, necessary items at a fraction of their original cost. Any items that do not sell are returned to their original owner or donated to the Ladies of Charity thrift store. “We’re here once a year to raise money for a good cause,” said sale co-chair Kirstin Kropilak, “and we’re grateful for the community that’s supported our event for 17 years.” For more information, visit exchange.shcathedral.org or call 865-692-2044. ■

COURTESY OF DEACON MICHAEL NESTOR (3)

CALENDAR

Townsend church has new signs, more The church of and property surrounding St. Francis of Assisi in Townsend have a new look, helped by donations to the parish’s beautification fund. At left above is a new stone sign, funded by a private donation. The church also has its first stained-glass window, depicting its patron. Bill May Studios in Pigeon Forge made the window. The parish also placed its old Stations of the Cross along the river outside (left) and purchased new Stations for the inside. The old Stations were built by Willard and Irene Seyle and Michael O’Brien. The same three also made a new Mass-schedule sign for the church.

The July calendar at Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga includes a seminar on weight-loss procedures for those 100 pounds or more overweight set for 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 13, in the community rooms. Make reservations at 423-495-2245. An AARP driver-safety program will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, July 16, in the Home Health office. Register at 495-CARE [-2273]. Cancer, heart, and diabetes patients should call 495-7778, 495-7764, or 4957970, respectively, to learn about events for them scheduled this month. Alexian Brothers Senior Ministries has numerous fitness, educational, social, and creative-arts events planned in coming weeks. A flexibility and balance class will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, July 22, at the Alexians’ Senior Neighbors building at 250 E. 10th St. Classes are held every second and fourth Thursday. A Senior Neighbors ballroom-dance party will take place at 7 p.m. July 22 at the same location. Visit www.AlexianBrothers.net to view the new “Alexian Chat” newsletter and a calendar of events. Alumni, faculty, staff, and friends of the former St. Mary’s Seminary in Pennsylvania are invited to a threeday reunion July 30 to Aug. 2, hosted by the school’s current owners, Mercyhurst North East (Pa.) college. Some 2,100 men graduated from the seminary, which was open for 106 years Calendar continued on page 9

COURTESY OF CINDY KEDROWSKI

on the

Chattanoogans for Life sets up booth at J-Fest Chattanoogans for Life had an educational booth at the J-Fest Christian music festival June 5 and 6 in Chattanooga. Above are Jaqui (left) and Justin King and Gerri Toeller. Chattanoogans for Life members talked about life issues as they gave away flyers, candy with development facts on the packages, and small models of 12-weekold unborn babies.

www.d ioknox.org

JULY 11, 2010

■

PARACLETE

BY BETHANY MARINAC

‘Yuletide season’ continues in July hristmas in July continues at The Paraclete, and we’re discounting hundreds of items. Our offerings include a sidewalk sale, while supplies last. We are also discounting different sections of the store on Super Tuesdays: look for our coupons when you visit. If you’re looking for a great gift for one of the many birthdays you will celebrate this summer, look no further. We have a large stock of beautiful new coffee-table books. The Life of Christ (Time Home Entertainment, 2008), prepared by the editors of the American Bible Society, is a colorful and educational explanation of our Savior’s day-today life. The Vatican (Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2008) is a historical account of the history of the papacy and a unique look at the Vatican’s art and architecture. Works of Love Are Works of Peace (Ignatius Press, 1996) is

a heartfelt and inspirational look at the work done by Mother Teresa of Calcutta and the Missionaries of Charity. An illustrated edition of Jesus of Nazareth (Rizzoli International, 2009) by Pope Benedict XVI includes reproductions of classic works of art from all over the world and essays written before Benedict’s election to the papacy. Angels (Little, Brown and Co., 2009) is a beautifully illustrated pop-up book that examines the rich history of angelic lore. Splendors of the Magnificat (Magnificat) is an art book and CD combination with the traditional Catholic canticle in four languages as well as music for meditation. The book is illustrated with the kind of beautiful art found on cover of the monthly publication. It includes advice for living a prayerful life. ■ Call the store at 865588-0388 or 800-3332097.

Mankel continued from page 3

choice for the See City for a number of reasons. The primary reason is its central location as shown on pages 8 and 9 of this report. The two major interstate highways which serve the entire eastern third of the state of Tennessee (I-40 and I-75) intersect in Knoxville, and this makes it the most accessible city in the entire proposed diocese. Knoxville and Knox County both have the largest populations of any city or county in the area being studied. Knoxville is also the location of the main campus of the University of Tennessee.

B. The Cathedral It is proposed that Holy Ghost Church be named the cathedral of the Diocese of Knoxville. Holy Ghost is a Norman Gothic structure built approximately 50 years ago, and it is one of the largest and most attractive Roman Catholic churches in East Tennessee. Despite being in a transitional neighborhood, the Holy Ghost parish has remained viable, with a substantial parish size of 2,100 persons in 1986. . . . C. The Chancery and Episcopal Residence 1. It is likely that land or a building near the Holy Ghost Church will be available for purchase for the purpose of a Chancery and an episcopal residence. Recently, on an adjoining block, the Catholic Social Services of the Knoxville Deanery built a new office building, and this suggests the feasibility of having the administrative center in close proximity to the Cathedral. 2. Location of the episcopal residence will be left to the new bishop.

In the next column: What happened? ■ Monsignor Mankel is a vicar general of the Diocese of Knoxville and the pastor of Holy Ghost Parish in Knoxville.

150th continued from page 1

concelebrated with eight additional bishops. Among those were Knoxville native Bishop James Vann Johnston Jr. and former Nashville Bishop Edward U. Kmiec. Priest concelebrants from across the state and beyond included many from East Tennessee. “This afternoon we come together to celebrate the manifold gifts of God as received and lived out in this community of Dominican sisters,” Bishop Choby said in his homily. Nashville’s bishop told of the “heroic witness to Gospel values” as St. Cecilia sisters traveled to Memphis in the late 1870s and “offered their very lives in ministry to those battling yellow fever.” Archbishop Burke recounted the “many tests and trials” the sisters have faced in 150 years. “But they have overcome them, and through the struggle have grown stronger by responding faithfully to the Dominican charism of contemplating Christ to worship in prayer, and handing on to others what, or more exactly, him who has been contemplated.” At the dinner Mother Ann Marie thanked family members of the St. Cecilia Dominicans. “You have given the greatest gift that you can give: your daughter.” Father Costa at the dinner stated that “without any exaggeration” he could say the congregations of Dominican sisters helped build America. The 86th successor of St. Dominic as master general said that the three utterances of the phrase “the Lord be with you” at Mass can apply to the Dominicans. When the celebrant says those words a second time for the reading of the Gospel, it signifies that Dominicans “contemplate the word of life, and [that] also we make profession to the word of life because Jesus is our bread, the way, the truth, the life, and the only one and truly master,” said Father Costa.

DAN MCWILLIAMS (2)

from the

Bishop Richard F. Stika (second from right) and Bishop J. Terry Steib, SVD (right), of Memphis were among the concelebrants at the Dominican Sisters’ 150th-anniversary Mass. Bishop David R. Choby of Nashville was the homilist.

TENNESSEE BISHOPS

Bishop Fisher led a retreat for the sisters at the Nashville motherhouse in 2006, then invited three St. Cecilia Dominicans to assist him as he coordinated World Youth Day in 2008 in Sydney, when he was an auxiliary bishop. The congregation still serves Down Under. Bishop Fisher’s talk recalled the Dominican priests and St. Cecilia sisters who have gone before. “The protomartyrs of North America were three Dominicans, led by Luis Cancer, OP,” who was killed by Native Americans in 1549 in Florida. “Passion for the Gospel and the people carried them across the world.” The St. Cecilia sisters braved the Civil War, bankruptcy, epidemics, and more through the 1860s and 1870s. “The subsequent history is one of survival, sometimes of growth, but always of fidelity to Christ and his Church, to our holy Father Dominic and his order,” said Bishop Fisher.” The bishop called the St. Cecilia Dominicans “the fastestgrowing congregation in the United States, and I predict it will soon be the fastest growing in Australia also.” Bishop Fisher concluded by saying, “It seems to me that those who have forgotten or despise their history . . . lack historical sense, gratitude, piety, awe. And that means they lack what is needed to

have a future.” East Tennessee’s two Catholic high school principals sat side by side at the dinner. St. Cecilia Dominicans will return to Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga this fall. “Everybody sees it as a great situation not just for Notre Dame but also for the Chattanooga Deanery,” said principal Perry Storey. The gigantic anniversary celebration is “very typical of the Dominican sisters,” he said. “Everything they do, they do well.” His KCHS counterpart agreed. “When you come to this celebration, you see how farreaching their impact has been,” said Dickie Sompayrac, whose first year as principal in 2005 coincided with the sisters’ arrival at KCHS. “They’ve been a great addition to Knoxville Catholic,” he said. “I grew up in Chattanooga, and so many Dominican Sisters influenced me in my childhood education.” Bishop Johnston now leads the Diocese of Springfield– Cape Girardeau, Mo. He came to know Dominican Sisters just after his priestly ordination. “My first assignment was at St. Mary’s in Oak Ridge, and the Dominicans had been there for a long time,” he said. “I got to be very good friends with the sisters there. Sister Mary George Barrett was the principal,

NFP continued from page 8

Questions for reflection ■

Do we pray as a couple regarding God’s will for us regarding the transmission of new life? If not, can we begin praying together? If we do pray about this issue, have we recently discussed what we believe is God’s will for us? ■ What is our greatest challenge regarding NFP? Is it our age or season of life? Do we lack support? ■ What do we know about NFP and the various methods available? ■ What is our understanding of the Church’s teaching on openness to life? Together, review the Church’s teachings. For information about Church’s teachings and various NFP methods, contact nfp@usccb.org, or visit bit.ly/nfp2010, the U.S. bishops’ natural family planning page. To contact a teaching couple in your area, visit bit.ly/marriage-prep. ■ Mrs. Christiana is coordinator of the diocesan Marriage Preparation and Enrichment Office. 6

■

JULY 11, 2010

Sister Anne Catherine Burleigh, OP, a former principal of St. Mary School in Oak Ridge, chats with Monsignor Philip Thoni during the anniversary dinner. Monsignor Thoni is retired and living at St. Francis of Assisi in Fairfield Glade. www.d ioknox.org

and over the course of my two years there I met many other wonderful teaching sisters. . . . “Later on, as the sisters came to Knoxville Catholic, I got to work with a number of them. I’ve come to really admire them and their goodness, and the charism that they bring is very infectious wherever they go.” Archbishop Kurtz attended a November 1999 bishops meeting and met Mother Christine Born, the St. Cecilia mother general at the time. “As soon as I arrived in Knoxville the next month, it did not take me long to see the great charism of the Dominican Sisters. . . . With visits to the motherhouse, I found that the next 10 years would have me grow only more deeply in my admiration and friendship.” His Knoxville connection sat well with many St. Cecilia sisters from East Tennessee, said Archbishop Kurtz. “Every time I visited the motherhouse, they proudly announced to me and to all in earshot that they were from East Tennessee.” Archbishop Kurtz saw the sisters come to Knoxville Catholic during his East Tennessee days. “It was a special joy when, through the prayers and urgings of many—with me high on the list of petitioners—the Lord led the sisters to make two sisters available for Knoxville Catholic High School. The plan at that time was for their return to Notre Dame also. I was thrilled when Bishop Stika shared with me the great news of their return to their roots at Notre Dame, the high school they were so instrumental in establishing in the 19th century.” Archbishop Kurtz said he will be pleased to return to Nashville on Aug. 8 for the first profession of Sister Scholastica Neimann of Oak Ridge. “I am also pleased that Sister Mary Hendershott is 150th continued on page 9

TH E E A S T TE N N E S S E E C ATH OLI C

catholic

SCHOOLS

Reuniting in May were (from left) Gene Foster Dunn, Roger Richards and wife Catherine, Dottie Calhoun Elmquist, Helen Mabry Connor, George Willard and wife Mary Catherine, Bob and wife Julia Driscoll Schriver, Charlie Shipp and wife Sally, and Chickie Mary Gettelfinger.

COURTESY OF JULIA SCHRIVER (2)

MIKE CLARY

CLASS OF 1946

ERIK’S EAGLE Erik Kropilak is pictured with his parents, Kirstin and Dr. Michael Kropilak.

Knoxville Catholic High School classes of 1946 and 1947 reunite

rik David Kropilak of Sacred Heart Cathedral recently earned his Eagle Scout award, Boy Scouting’s highest honor. Erik became a Cub Scout in first grade and continued in Scouting until joining Troop 20 as a Boy Scout. He has been in Troop 20 for five years, earned 32 merit badges, and served as quartermaster, chaplain aide, and assistant senior patrol leader. Erik attended the National Youth Leadership training at Camp Buck Toms in 2008. For his Eagle project he designed and constructed an arbor for the historic Ramsey House in Blount County. Erik is a rising sophomore at Knoxville Catholic High School, where he also plays football and baseball. He is also a member of Columbian Squires Circle 2655. ■

Class of 1947 members joined the class of ’46 for the reunion. From left are Sue and husband Art Clancy, Bobbie and husband Jim Mabry, Marie Brabson, Rita Holder, Mary Jane Fox Morgan, Sam Woody, Teresa Cianciola Carter, Jody Willard Woody, and Bobby and wife Josie Kennedy.

The classmates learned that, just before the reunion be-

drowned along with her husband in the Nashville floods. ■

Eagle award presented at All Saints William Coulter attained the rank of Eagle Scout in a ceremony recently held at All Saints Church in Knoxville. He is pictured with his parents, Tom and Mindy Coulter. William designed and constructed a set of stairs in the parking lot of Knoxville Catholic High School for his Eagle service project. His Scoutmaster was Thomas Pendelton.

COURTESY OF KATHIE ETHERTON

Brownies’ cookie proceeds benefit Haiti St. Jude Parish recently sent a sea container of needed items to its sister parish in Haiti. Third-grade Brownie Troop 88 Scouts elected to use part of their cookie proceeds to help their fellow students and children in Haiti and contribute to the container. This group of shoppers in training spent 15 minutes at a local store and spent almost $600 on health and personal-care products, art supplies, recreational items, and school supplies. The Scouts are pictured with their leaders, Kathy Martin (left) and Mandy Mroz.

gan, Martha O’Conner England of the class of ’46 had

Knoxville Catholic graduate among class of Haslam Scholars at UT

Trio of graduates from Notre Dame High School signs with colleges hree graduated seniors at Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga will continue in their sport at the collegiate level next year. Andy Helms has signed a letter of intent to play soccer for Bryan College. Andy was a four-year starter at Notre Dame. He received the rookie-of-the-year award his freshman year, was named to the all-district team as a sophomore, was selected to the Best of Preps team his junior year, and served as a team captain as a senior. He is the son of Katy and Mac Helms of St. Jude Parish

in Chattanooga. Kyle Wittler has signed and committed to play golf at Lipscomb University. He was a member of the Notre Dame golf team for four years. In his junior and senior years the team placed first in the district and region championships. Kyle was selected as the 2009-10 player of the year in golf in the Best of Preps honors awarded by the Chattanooga Times Free Press. He finished his senior year earning first place as an individual in the district tournament. Kyle is the son of Kenneth and Molly Wittler of St. Au-

gustine Parish in Signal Mountain. Kayla Butler signed a letter of intent to play softball for Wesleyan College. She was a four-year starter for the Notre Dame softball team as a shortstop and center fielder. At her signing party, Kayla thanked the Notre Dame faculty and staff for making her high school experience memorable. “Notre Dame has made me the person, student, and athlete that I am today,” she said. Kayla is the daughter of Johnny and Hala Butler of Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Chattanooga. ■

athleen Connelly of Knoxville Catholic High School is one of 15 incoming freshmen named to the 2010 class of Haslam Scholars at the University of Tennessee. Selection criteria included scholastic achievement, leadership potential, maturity and seriousness of purpose, and special talents. Haslam Scholars Program benefits include a $1,500 laptop computer and a study-abroad experience valued at $4,000, as well as up to $5,500 to support the student’s honors thesis research and travel to present his or her work. In addition, each Haslam Scholar will receive a scholarship package that totals $15,300. Kathleen plans to major in philosophy, pursue advanced degrees, and be a writer. She is an alumna of the Governor’s School for International Relations. She plays piano, speaks French, and was one of two Tennesseans chosen to participate in Girls Nation in Washington, D.C. ■

COURTESY OF PAM RHOADES

COURTESY OF VIRGINIA THOMPSON

COURTESY OF TOM COULTER

he classes of 1946 and 1947 from Knoxville Catholic High School held joint reunions May 15 and 16, starting with a Saturday-night dinner and social. On Sunday the classmates attended Mass at Holy Family Church in Seymour at the invitation of Father Ragan Schiver, the pastor, whose mother, Julia, is a member of the class of ’46. The group ate a catered lunch at the new Holy Family life center next door. Members came to the reunion from California, Florida, Alabama, Pennsylvania, and Nashville.

Sacred Heart’s Erik Kropilak earns Eagle Scout award

Sacred Heart students turn out in large numbers for Charities walk Sacred Heart Cathedral School students who participated in the Kids Helping Kids Walk stand in front of the cathedral. The 12th annual Catholic Charities fundraiser was held May 16 at All Saints Church in Knoxville. TH E E A S T TE N N E S S E E C AT H OL IC

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St. Dominic students win art awards Annika Cleven and Will Fletcher, rising fourth-graders at St. Dominic School in Kingsport, have won prizes in Pentel’s 40th International Children’s Art Exhibition. Annika won a bronze medal and Will a Pentel award. About 1,000 entries were submitted from the United States and more than 200,000 from other countries around the world. The contest’s purpose is to reach a goal of greater understanding and communication through the honesty and creativity of children’s art. JULY 11, 2010

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ENRICHMENT

Experience the gift of NFP BY M A RI A N CHR I ST I ANA

he U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has named July 25 through 31 as Natural Family Planning (NFP) Awareness Week. The bishops’ national education campaign focuses attention on NFP methods and Church teachings supporting their use in marriage. The dates highlight the anniversary of the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae (July 25, 1968), which articulates Catholic beliefs about human sexuality, conjugal love, and responsible parenthood. The dates also mark the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne (July 26), the parents of the Blessed Mother. This month’s suggested date reflects on the gift of NFP. Below is a personal testimony by Judi Phillips, an NFP instructor in our diocese. Mrs. Phillips is a parishioner of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Chattanooga. She and her family moved to Chattanooga two years ago from Indiana, where she was NFP coordinator for the Diocese of Lafayette. Mrs. Phillips is a fertility-care practitioner/instructor in the Creighton Model System of family planning. She is also a licensed professional counselor with a private practice. She and her husband, John, have been married for 19 years, and they have three children. Plan a quiet setting for your date. Read Mrs. Phillips’s testimony together. Then discuss the questions for reflection.

The gift of natural family planning I was baptized and raised Catholic, attended 12 years of Catholic school, and even took a Catholic morality class as an undergraduate in college. But if I had been told 20 years ago that I would consider natural family planning and the Catholic Church’s teaching on openness to life a gift, I would have laughed. I was certain I knew and understood all of the Church’s teachings. I knew that using contraception was wrong. I knew the Church wanted Catholic couples to have as many children as they could possibly have. (Right? After all, Catholics aren’t allowed to use contraception.) I believed that natural family planning did not work: every couple I knew who used the method had numerous children (which to me meant more than three). I also knew many of these couples had conceived when they were not “planning” to— evidence that NFP didn’t work. So as my husband, who was not Catholic then, and I went through marriage preparation, I decided we could not use NFP. We heard a 20-minute presentation about NFP and its benefits. The woman who spoke about NFP had seven children and was in her forties. What a joke, I thought. There’s no way the Catholic Church is going to tell me what to do on this matter in my marriage! During the first 10 years of our marriage, my husband and I did not follow the Church’s teaching on openness to life. I am thankful for God’s patience and forgiveness. I am also grateful for the gift of his Holy Spirit. My husband and I have come to realize that there was selfishness in our relationship. Each of us was focused on self, not only in married intimacy but also in daily life. I now realize how unhappy each of us was and how distant we were from each other. But God pursued me and my husband. My conscience was continually nagging me. So after the birth of our second child, we agreed we would look into the possibility of NFP. Initially I was told by my doctor that I couldn’t use NFP because of irregularities in my cycle. After further checking, I found this simply was not true. NFP can be used in any situation. We began charting. My husband did the charting at the end of the day while I became aware of the daily signs. Coming together at the end of the day allowed us to touch base, giving us an opportunity to discuss the day’s fertility and to stay connected to each other. Through these conversations and the shared method, I no longer felt that acts of intimacy were only about the biological need to experience what feels good. My husband and I were becoming one and sincerely cared about each other. We began to explore other ways of expressing affection outside the marital act. I began to feel loved both inside and outside the bedroom. My husband and I felt a renewed excitement between us and a deeper level of intimacy. When we conceived our youngest son, we experienced the excitement that occurs when using the method to conceive a child and being granted the gift of being co-creators with God in the transmission of new life. I realized then that having multiple children doesn’t indicate the failure of NFP but rather couples’ openness to the possibility of new life. The method did not fail them: it served them well in celebrating the gift of children. I encourage you to consider the gift of NFP. If you are a couple who practices NFP, please share with others the benefits of NFP for your marriage, your family, and your life. If you’re hesitant about NFP, seek further information about the different methods, and consider attending an introductory session. Trust God enough to try NFP. You will not be disappointed. Our God desires only goodness for us, and this is one gift you don’t want to miss! NFP continued on page 6

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JULY 11, 2010

obsessions

BY GINGER HUTTON

Mother Teresa’s ‘cloak’ She radiated joy but said her cheerfulness covered ‘emptiness and misery.’

My long-suffering spiritual director was explaining patiently that love was never a waste, even if the results were frustrating and painful. I wasn’t buying it. Skeptically, I started to argue. “I’ve always thought that, but . . .” “I don’t care what you think,” he roared. “That’s simply the truth. Oh, I’m glad to hear you agree with the truth, but it’s not like that changes it.” I had to laugh at that blunt but deeply appreciated reminder of the need to avoid caring so much about what one thinks that one becomes immersed in those thoughts and emotions as if they were the whole of reality. True freedom requires detachment from self: the ability to judge one’s experiences in the light of supernatural truth. Such detachment is without a doubt a gift of God’s grace, but it can be received only by souls who choose to cooperate with that grace and struggle to believe and act in accord with it. Few saints exemplify this more than Mother Teresa. All who met her described her as a person who radiated joy and faith, a person whose intensity at prayer was tremendously attractive. Aware of this, she once

wrote: “They think my faith, trust, and love are filling my very being and that the intimacy with God and union to his will must be absorbing my heart. Could they but know how my cheerfulness is the cloak by which I cover the emptiness and misery” (Come Be My Light [Doubleday, 2007], page 187). This—not the bliss people saw—was for decades her experience of prayer: “When I try to raise my thought to Heaven, there is such a convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives and hurt my very soul. Love—the word—it brings nothing. I am told that God loves me, and yet the reality of darkness and coldness and emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul” (page 187). Her inner life, almost from the moment she accepted God’s call to found the Missionaries of Charity, was unremitting darkness. She was tormented by the sense of being utterly rejected by God. She felt herself a hypocrite because she proclaimed a faith that she felt was completely absent in her. Had she trusted her feelings and thoughts, she knew she would have despaired. Instead, she trusted the truth that came to her through the Church. She remained faithful to her religious vows and to the private vow she had made to refuse Jesus nothing. She was obedient to her su-

periors even when it cost her a great deal. She was absolutely faithful to prayer when those very prayers were a source of torment. What people saw in her and she could not see in herself was a faith that moved mountains, faith beyond the need for consolation, evidence, or success. Faith based totally in God, who is too great for our minds to comprehend. Her intense inner suffering, far from being a rejection by God, was one of his greatest gifts to her. Seeing no goodness in herself, she attributed all her successes to God. She was spared from the pride and self-importance that so often accompany fame. Eventually her spiritual directors came to see and persuade her that her torture was the spiritual side of her work as foundress of the Missionaries of Charity. Rather than a punishment for her sins, as she believed, it was in fact reparative. God had given her the gift of being so completely identified with those abandoned people she served that she experienced even their separation from God. This is why she could love them so profoundly and see Christ in each one of them. This knowledge did not decrease her suffering, which remained terrible, though always carefully hidden by her constant smile. But it did bring her to love the darkness as God’s gift. None of us is Mother Teresa, but we can imitate her fidelity to the Church and her willingness to smile and cling tenaciously to the faith, whatever may be happening inside or outside of us. Then God can make us the saints he calls us to be. ■ Miss Hutton is a member of Holy Ghost Parish in Knoxville.

Knoxville Serrans install new ofﬁcers BY DA N M C WI L L I A M S

he Serra Club of Knoxville heard both a homily and a keynote talk from its new chaplain at its annual Mass and dinner June 24 at Our Lady of Fatima Church in Alcoa. The Serrans’ mission is “to encourage and affirm vocations to priesthood and vowed religious life,” as stated in their prayer for the canonization of namesake Blessed Junipero Serra, whose memorial was July 1. Father Pat Garrity of St. John Neumann in Farragut installed the new Serra officers for 2010-11. Ferrel Smith is the new president. Also installed were Mary Ramsey, president elect; Florence and Leo Holland, vice presidents for communication; Dee Dutkosky, vice president for membership; Mona Manning, vice president for programs; Harriet Keener, secretary; Joe Orzechowski, treasurer; and Hazel Brimi and John Smith, trustees. Father Garrity is the new chaplain for the Knoxville Serrans, succeeding Monsignor Al Humbrecht after the longtime Sacred Heart Cathedral pastor was reassigned to Holy Spirit in Soddy-Daisy in February this year. Bishop Richard F. Stika recently appointed Deacon Dan Alexander of St. Albert the Great in Knoxville as the Serra Club deacon. Father Garrity celebrated the Mass with Deacon Alexander assisting. “With Serra, part of our mission and ministry is to pray for those who announce the presence of God, to pray for bishop, priests, and deacons,” said Father Garrity in his homily. “And in a special

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DAN MCWILLIAMS

marriage

New officers for the Serra Club of Knoxville are (from left, front row) Dee Dutkosky, Jeanne Orzechowski, Mona Manning, and Hazel Brimi and (back row) Mary Ramsey, Joe Orzechowski, Leo and Florence Holland, and Ferrel and John Smith. Mrs. Smith is the club’s president for the coming year.

ELECTED FOR 2010-11

way, to pray for those who are discerning their vocation. Our prayer and our job at Serra should be to help point the way to Jesus, to help others see that call of Jesus in their life.” The dinner was catered by Our Lady of Fatima parishioners Tony Britz and Paul Mares of The Casual Gourmet. At the dinner Mrs. Smith presented outgoing president Mrs. Brimi with a spiritual bouquet and told her that the Mass just celebrated was offered for her. The Mass also had a special intention for all deceased Serrans in the diocese. Mr. Orzechowski presented Father Garrity with the club’s annual financial gift for seminarians. The Serrans prayed both the canonization prayer and the club’s prayer for vocations at the dinner.

Dinner speaker Father Garrity updated club members on diocesan seminarians. Ten will be returning to school this fall. Two more seminarians have been accepted for this fall, with four more in process. Father Garrity recalled his childhood in Kansas and one of his earliest memories of a priest. When the young Pat Garrity crawled under a church pew during Mass, his father told him not to do that. The future priest promptly crawled under a pew again, then was told he was in for a spanking and taken outside. The tall priest at the church soon loomed over the two and told Mr. Garrity, “You’re not going to spank him, are you?” The punishment didn’t happen, and the occasion provided both a fond memory for the younger Garrity and an Serrans continued on page 9

TH E E A S T TE N N E S S E E C ATH OLI C

our

PRIESTS

Bristol parish seeks youth minister

BY MARGARET HUNT

Father Flaherty ‘loves liturgy, period’ In young adulthood the Holy Cross pastor didn’t attend Mass ‘for a while’ but is now a priest of 25 years.

ather Jay Flaherty has been the pastor of Holy Cross Church in Pigeon Forge for 19 years. He was ordained May 11, 1985, by Bishop James D. Niedergeses at St. Joseph Church in Madison. The son of the late Vinson and Louise Flaherty, he was raised in Gallatin and is the third of four children. He owns a sheltie named Laddie and four exotic birds. In his spare time he enjoys target practice and visiting the countryside and the mountains.

Father Jay Flaherty Is there anyone in particular who said you should be a priest? Yes, Linda Nelson. She’s on the tribunal in Nashville. I’d been out of the church for a while, and when I started going back, I’d see her at daily Mass at St. Joseph in Madison. I hadn’t seen her in years, and she came over to me and said, “I always thought you would have been a priest.” I’d been out of church for six or seven years without even going to Mass, and then I had a conversion. Things had gotten kind of down in my life, and I was reaching out for something. My older sister said, “Jay, you always wanted the Lord with you, but you wanted him in the back seat.” That night on my way to work, I thought about that, and I told God, “OK, you take over and wherever you lead me, that’s where I’ll go.” Then I started going to Mass during the day. I worked in the hotel business in Nashville and lived in Gallatin, and the halfway point was St. Joseph in Madison, so I went to Mass there. Father Joe Brando was the associate pastor at the time, and he asked me who I was. I said if I could do anything, to let me know. He said, “I have a softball team you could coach,” and I said I’d do it. I thought because it was a grammar school it would be sixth- or seventh-graders, and when I found out they were high school kids, my heart just jumped up in my throat because there was no way I could pull the wool over their

eyes. I admitted I didn’t know a whole lot, but I’d be there to help them, and that’s how I got involved. Through that experience, I started thinking about the priesthood. I had seen a deacon who worked for St. Joseph, and he had died, so I went to talk to Father Brando about being a deacon. He said, “Why don’t you study for the priesthood?” So I went and was interviewed. For some reason it didn’t work out that time. I went on working with the kids and working at the motel, and I said, “This is ridiculous. I can’t work the night shift at the hotel and work with the kids all day; something’s got to go.” Lo and behold, Michael Sweeney took me out and bought me a steak dinner and convinced me I should try again to study for the priesthood. He was a deacon at the time at St. Joseph. He was still in the seminary, and he was around while I was working with the kids. Describe your typical week. Every week is different. I say that working in the hotel business prepared me for the priesthood. You meet different people and different situations, and it’s the same here. I get up at 5 a.m. and drink my coffee and say my prayers and start with nine o’clock Mass, but after that there could be somebody in my office with a problem. You get a call to go to the hospital or the nursing home. I travel around with a eucharistic ministry we have

here at Holy Cross, and I sometimes go with the chairperson to visit the sick and to anoint them. Then I could come back and prepare somebody for a wedding, or next thing a funeral’s coming up, then there are the meetings I hate so much. That part I don’t like at all. It keeps me from doing what I want to do. There could be nothing going on one day, or it could be a day that I wake up at five o’clock and go to bed at midnight, and I’ve worked solid all the way through. It keeps life very interesting. Tell me about your radio program. It’s called “One in the Spirit.” Louis Kahl is the co-anchor. He’s the music minister here at Holy Cross. We go to his studio, and they record all my weekend sermons, and then we’ll begin by explaining the teachings of the Catholic Church because we’re in an area where there are a lot of misgivings about the faith. We talk about what we believe and how we’re alike in certain ways and how we’re different and what’s going on in the world. Then they’ll play the sermon from the Sunday before or a couple of Sundays in the past. Do you have a favorite Scripture verse? The Gospel passage about the prodigal son. It’s my lifeline. I consider myself a prodigal son, having been outside the church and having gotten myself into living an un-Christian life and then the conversion aspect of it and being accepted and knowing God’s love. So when I look at somebody else who may not be living the perfect life, I understand. I’ve been there, done that, and I know there’s a better life. God is a forgiving, loving God. Which sacrament do you most enjoy celebrating? The Mass, the liturgy. I love liturgy, period. That’s one of the highlights of my priesthood—being able to offer the Flaherty continued on page 10

Father Fiedorowicz dies at 62 BY DA N M CW I L L I AMS

ather Joseph Fiedorowicz, 62, a native of Poland who became a priest for the Diocese of Knoxville in 1993, died Wednesday, June 16, in Orlando after a long battle with cancer. Father Fiedorowicz died at the home of his cousins and caretakers, Eliasz and Donna Grodzki. He served as associate pastor of Notre Dame Parish in Greeneville in 1992 and ’93 and then as pastor of St. Mary in Athens. In 2000 Father Fiedorowicz was released for service in the Diocese of Oakland, Calif. The future Father Fiedorowicz was born to Joseph and Stepania Fiedorowicz on April 9, 1948, in Sokolki in eastern Poland. In 1952 the family moved to Poznan in western Poland, where the younger Joseph Fiedorowicz began his education. When he completed high school, he told his pastor that he wanted to become a priest, but the pastor told him to go back to school and learn a trade, he told The Greeneville Sun in 1992. He studied to be a builder for

TH E EA S T TE N N E S S E E C AT H OL IC

Father Joseph Fiedorowicz

two years, then on a second try successfully persuaded his pastor of his vocation for the priesthood. Father Fiedorowicz felt the call to the priesthood long before his adult years, he told the Sun. “From my childhood, I thought about it,” he said. He attended the seminary of the Society of Christ for Immigrants and was ordained a priest for the order May 14, 1975, in Poznan by Bishop Marian Przykucki. Father Fiedorowicz left his homeland in 1980 to serve the Polish population in Lon-

don. For more than a decade, he served in parishes in or near London, Nottingham, and Manchester. Having enjoyed visits to the United States and his family members in Orlando and Miami, Father Fiedorowicz made plans to continue his ministry in America. He met the Diocese of Knoxville’s first shepherd, Bishop Anthony J. O’Connell, in 1990 in Orlando, the Greeneville newspaper reported. The two discussed Father Fiedorowicz’s moving to America. The Poland native came to Knoxville in 1991, then studied several subjects at Sacred Heart Seminary in Hales Corners, Wis., for six months. He began his Greeneville assignment in May 1992. Father Fiedorowicz will be buried in Poland next to his parents. In East Tennessee, Father Fiedorowicz found a region where only about 2 percent of residents were Catholic. “In my opinion about this area, there are many ways to one God,” he told the Sun. “We’re all brothers and sisters, all children of one God.” ■ www.d ioknox.org

t. Anne Catholic Church in Bristol, Va., seeks a full-time director of youth ministry/campus ministry. The director develops and implements a comprehensive ministry to promote Catholic Christian formation for parish youth in grades 7-12, in coordination with the director of Christian formation. Specifically, this includes catechesis, evangelization, community building, social activities, liturgical experiences, social-justice action, and advocacy for youth. The director is also responsible for sacramental preparation for confirmation for teens who have already been baptized and received first Communion. The director also serves as Catholic campus minister for Virginia Intermont College and King College. Candidates must be practicing Catholics. Qualifications: The successful candidate will have youth-ministry experience and significant training in Catholic faith and doctrine beyond parish catechesis. Preferred academic background includes Catholic college education and a degree in religious education. Visit www.richmonddiocese.org/human to see a full job description. Applications accepted until position is filled. To apply, mail cover letter, resume, and diocesan application to Father Tim Keeney, St. Anne Church, 350 Euclid Ave., Bristol, VA 24201, or e-mail stannes@stannes-bristol.org. ■

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now in the community. Thus, the legacy of the Dominican Sisters and East Tennessee continues, and the Church is enriched.” Mother Ann Marie gave a final exhortation at the dinner. “Let’s be united in gratitude,” she said. “There is a springtime in the church. Be part of it. It’s wonderful. It’s filled with grateful people who thirst for God. Let’s all get on that wagon.” ■

Serrans continued from page 8

admiration for the priesthood. His parents looked up to the priests at his childhood church, said Father Garrity. “I never heard my parents say a disparaging word about any of our priests,” he said. “They really respected the office of the priesthood. That made a great impression on me.” Father Garrity told of the help he provided for a family when he was the first person to arrive on the scene after they had an accident on the interstate. The family was Catholic, and Father Garrity’s help was such a strong influence on the family’s young son that he has now become one of the four seminarians-inprocess for the diocese this year. “I think it’s important to realize the impact we have in pointing people toward a vocation,” said Father Garrity. ■

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before closing in 1987. Visit smsreunion2010.com for a schedule of events and registration forms, or contact reunion coordinator Jack Breslin at jbreslin@ iona.edu or 914-632-9805. A Seekers of Silence Contemplative Saturday Morning will be held Saturday, July 17, at Blessed John XXIII Catholic Center in Knoxville. Dr. Ruth Queen Smith will give a talk titled “The Contemplative Nature of Scripture.” Coffee and tea will be served at 8:30 a.m.; the workshop will run from 9 a.m. to noon. Bring a bag lunch. To RSVP, call 865-523-7931. Holy Resurrection Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Mission has Divine Liturgy celebrations at 3:30 p.m. Sundays at Holy Ghost Church, 1041 N. Central St. in Knoxville. Call Father Thomas O’Connell at 865256-4880. The St. Thomas the Apostle Ukrainian Catholic Mission celebrates Divine Liturgy at 10 a.m. Sundays in the chapel at the Chancery. Call Father Richard Armstrong at 865-584-3307. The Community of Sant’Egidio is a Catholic lay ecclesial movement that focuses on prayer and service to the poor. Currently there are two Sant’Egidio groups meeting in the Diocese of Knoxville, in Knoxville and Johnson City. For more information on the Knoxville group, call Ellen Macek at 865-675-5541. Call Father Michael Cummins at 423-926-7061 for more details on the Johnson City group. All of the faithful are welcome to attend. Mass in the extraordinary form (“traditional Latin”) is celebrated at 1:30 p.m. each Sunday at Holy Ghost Church in Knoxville, at 3 p.m. on first and third Sundays at St. Thérèse of Lisieux Church in Cleveland, and at 3 p.m. on second and fourth Sundays at St. Joseph the Worker Church in Madisonville. Visit www.knoxlatinmass.net for details. Upcoming events for Catholic Singles of Greater Knoxville (40 and over) include the following: ■ Sunday, July 11: Farewell dinner for Pattie B. at Altruda’s, 6 p.m. RSVP to 865-399-7617 or gbraunsroth@charter.net by July 10. ■ Friday, July 23: July birthday celebration at Azul Tequila in Farragut, 6:15 p.m. Hosted by Sandra J. RSVP to 504-913-1610 by July 22. ■ JULY 11, 2010

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from the

WIRE

Long, hot summer

CNS PHOTO/ST. LOUIS REVIEW

The Vatican faces a series of external and internal challenges. By John Thavis

Cardinal Justin F. Rigali, the archbishop of Philadelphia, will serve as keynote speaker for Diocesan Day on Aug. 21. The daylong event will be held at Sacred Heart Cathedral.

HEADED FOR KNOXVILLE

Cardinal Rigali to speak at Diocesan Day on Aug. 21 iocesan Day returns this summer with Bishop Richard F. Stika and longtime friend Cardinal Justin F. Rigali scheduled to speak. Sacred Heart Cathedral will host Diocesan Day 2010 on Saturday, Aug. 21. The program will begin at 9:30 a.m. and end at 3:30 p.m. The cardinal, the archbishop of Philadelphia and a member and former chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Pro-Life Activities Committee, will speak twice for this year’s event. “Cardinal Rigali will give the keynote as well as an afternoon reflection on the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, with a question-and-answer period,” said Paul Simoneau, director of the Diocesan Office of Justice and Peace and the coordinator of Diocesan Day. “The timing is appropriate because there’s hope that John Paul will be beatified this October.” Bishop Stika will be the homilist for the Diocesan Day Mass, which will begin at 11:30 a.m., and he will provide a reflection after the lunch break. This year’s theme is “Feed My Sheep,” and the cardinal will base his keynote talk on the Scripture readings for the memorial of Pope St. Pius X. The focus of the day, said Mr. Simoneau, is the teaching role of the bishop in union with the pope. The event will begin a half-hour later than normal to allow travelers from the farther reaches of the diocese more time to reach Knoxville. Proceeds of the day will benefit Catholic Charities’ Pregnancy Help Services as well as Catholic Relief Services. Mr. Simoneau encourages East Tennessee Catholics to register during “the early-bird special,” which will save them $5 and make matters easier for Diocesan Day organizers. Registration is $20 through July 21 and $25 from July 22 through Aug. 16 (lunch included). Registration after Aug. 16 costs $25 but does not include lunch. Student registration is $10. Priests and religious may attend free but must register. Register online at dioknox.org (select Events, then Event Registration) or visit bit.ly/Diocesan Day2010. For details, call Mr. Simoneau at 865584-3307. ■

VATICAN CITY (CNS)—Early July is when things usually slow down at the Vatican, as Church officials wrap up loose ends and prepare for vacation. But the mood at the Vatican this year is anything but serene. Pope Benedict XVI and his key advisers are facing a series of external and internal conflicts that threaten to make this a long, hot summer of problemsolving and strategizing. Indeed, it’s difficult to remember a time when so much bad news has landed at the Vatican’s doorstep. The Belgian police raid on the archdiocesan headquarters and residences near Brussels June 24 left Vatican officials stunned and illustrated how much the sex-abuse crisis has reduced the Church’s standing in some civil authorities’ eyes. The country’s bishops were held for nine hours as police confiscated files, computers, and cell phones. The ultimate affront came when police drilled into the tombs of two dead cardinals and inserted cameras to look for supposed hidden documents—which were not found. The police action brought sharp criticism from Pope Benedict, who was careful, however, to defend the right of civil authorities to investigate priestly sex abuse. The problem is that the Church also has a responsibility to investigate such abuse according to Church law. In the Vatican’s view, Church and civil responsibilities are parallel, but in Belgium they collided head-on. Police confiscated more than 400 files belonging to an investigating commission created by the Church, prompting members to resign, saying they could no longer do their work and that victims’ privacy had been violated. Belgian officials dismissed that argument. Their presumption seemed to be that because of their inaction in the past, Church leaders cannot be trusted to act in the public interest on sex-abuse allegations. This is a huge issue for the Church, and Vatican diplomats will now work with Belgian authorities to try to restore some autonomy for bishops’ handling of sex-abuse cases. The fear is that other countries may take similar action. Four days after the Belgian raid, the U.S. Supreme Court

let stand a lower court ruling that said the Vatican, even as a sovereign foreign state, did not have immunity from potential liability for the actions of a priest accused of sexual abuse. Although the case hinges on a peculiarity of Oregon employment law, which is unlikely to affect lawsuits elsewhere, the action allows a lawsuit against the Vatican to go forward, raising a series of difficulties. One is a basic public-relations problem: The Vatican will be going to court against an alleged victim of sexual abuse by a priest. It will also emphasize that priests and bishops are not “employees” of the Vatican—an argument that may leave the impression the Church is trying to distance itself from the actions of pastoral ministers rather than assume responsibility. That’s not how Vatican officials see it. “We need to explain what the universal Church is and what the role of the Holy See is, with its various levels of responsibility, and show that it’s a mistake to try at all costs to involve the Vatican in juridical responsibilities that it does not have,” Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, told Catholic News Service. In Italy, meanwhile, Italian Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, a former Vatican official, was placed under investigation by judicial authorities in connection with a corruption scandal. Cardinal Sepe, currently archbishop of Naples, headed the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 2001 to 2006, and has denied all wrongdoing. In Italy, being investigated is not like being charged with a crime. But the headlines left many Italians presuming guilt, not innocence. It also left some inside the Vatican wondering how much oversight there was over the evangelization congregation’s financial activities, which range from funding missionary projects to managing real estate in Rome. For centuries the congregation has enjoyed a certain financial autonomy. The developments in Italy, Belgium, and the United States all posed new challenges in the Church’s relationship with civil law and civil authorities. But the most shocking—and surprisingly public—conflict at the Vatican in recent days was an internal matter between two cardinals.

In May, Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna told journalists that Italian Cardinal Angelo Sodano, former secretary of state, had once blocked an investigation of sexual abuse and had offended victims by calling their complaints “petty gossip.” On June 28 Cardinal Schonborn met with Pope Benedict to “clarify” his statements on these and other issues, including priestly celibacy. Then Cardinal Sodano and the current secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, joined the meeting—in what must have been a fascinating exchange. The statement issued afterward chastised Cardinal Schonborn, saying essentially that a cardinal does not level accusations against a fellow cardinal—that’s something to be handled by the pope. It also tried to put Cardinal Sodano’s “petty gossip” remark in context. Cardinal Sodano is not just any cardinal. He is dean of the College of Cardinals, the prelate who, in the case of papal death, would preside over the funeral and lead the Church through the interregnum. It was therefore inconceivable to many in the Roman Curia that Cardinal Schonborn’s fingerpointing would be allowed to go unchallenged. Vatican officials said that in bringing together the cardinals and publishing an account of their meeting, the pope was demonstrating his direct and more transparent approach to problems and his determination not to let such wounds fester. Likewise, they said, his meeting July 1 with German Bishop Walter Mixa, who resigned after being accused of hitting students and financial impropriety, was a remarkably open treatment of a problem that in the past would have been a strictly closed-door affair. The Vatican published a lengthy statement after the encounter, as the pope sought to turn a potentially divisive moment for the Church in Germany into an occasion of unity. As he faces these and other challenges, Father Lombardi said, Pope Benedict has tried above all to be a “protagonist of reconciliation.” ■

the evening service on the universal aspect of the church, the pontiff recalled how Pope John Paul II had repeatedly used the phrase “new evangelization” to describe the need for a new commitment to spreading the Gospel message in countries evangelized centuries ago and the need to find new ways to preach the Gospel that correspond both to the truth and the needs of modern men and women. The pope said the social and religious challenges of the modern world cannot be met by human strength and ingenuity alone. In fact, he said, he and other church leaders often feel like the disciples of Jesus who were faced with a hungry crowd but had only a few fish and a couple of loaves of bread to divide among them. “Jesus showed them that with faith in God, nothing is impossible and that a few loaves of bread and fish, blessed and shared, could sat-

isfy everyone,” he said. “But there wasn’t—and there isn’t—only hunger for material food: there is a deeper hunger, which only God can satisfy,” the pope said. Men and women today want “an authentic and full life. They need truth, profound freedom, unconditional love. Even in the deserts of the secularized world, the human soul thirsts for God,” he said. Welcoming a delegation from the Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople, the pope said the task of new evangelization also is tied to the commitment to working for Christian unity. “May the intercession of Sts. Peter and Paul obtain for the whole church an ardent faith and apostolic courage to announce to the world the truth we all need, the truth that is God,” the pope prayed. ■

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Mass and to make it as reverent and as spiritual as I can, and of course, I love to preach. That is the talent God has given me. I like the sacrament of reconciliation the most. On a Saturday afternoon, I might not want to go and hear confessions, but I walk out of there higher than a kite after seeing people come and have their sins forgiven and be back in good relationship with God. I can go in there grouching and come out praising the Lord. What would you tell someone discerning a vocation to the priesthood? To really give it some thought and pray about it and to remember that priests are human beings. We have our good times and our bad times; we have our highs and lows; and we have our sinfulness and our saintliness. Don’t ever think you’re not worthy to be called to the priesthood because none of us is. It’s allowing ourselves to let Jesus to work through us to be that instrument. And to consider it. It can be a very challenging life, and sometimes you think, “I must have been crazy.” But most of the time, it’s “Thank you, Lord, for calling me.” ■

Mrs. Hunt is administrative assistant for the Media Office. 10

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JULY 11, 2010

that Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, 58, would head the new council, to be called the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization. More details about the council and its tasks were to be announced in early July, Vatican sources said. Archbishop Fisichella served as an auxiliary bishop of Rome from 1998 to 2008. He taught theology at the Pontifical Lateran University, where he was named rector in 2002, a position he continued to hold until his latest appointment. He is a member of Vatican congregations dealing with doctrine and saints’ causes. Since 2008 Archbishop Fisichella has headed the Pontifical Academy for Life. The June 28 evening prayer service marked the vigil of the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the Vatican’s patron saints and the symbols of the church’s unity and universality, Pope Benedict said. Saying he wanted to focus www.d ioknox.org