The Evergreen Visit BY BISHOP NEAL J. BUCKON
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BISHOP BUCKON (FRONT CENTER), FATHER BERNAS (REAR CENTER), WITH SAILORS AND MARINES AT BANGOR CHAPEL
t is always a joy and an honor for me to visit the Catholic Communities situated in the Evergreen State. “Evergreen” is the nickname ascribed to the State of Washington; and I visit the bases around the Puget Sound every October. I used to begin my visit with Everett Naval Station, Smokey Point Naval Support Activity, and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island. Unfortunately, the U.S. Navy is no longer assigning Catholic Chaplains to Navy Bases in the Northwest
Region; and not one priest in the U.S.A., bid on the contract for these bases when the position for a Catholic contract priest was placed on the Federal Jobs website. Although the Catholic program for these three bases closed on 1 December 2018, I returned to the chapel on Whidbey Island on Columbus Day Weekend of 2019 to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation for nine Candidates continued on page 16 CHRISTMAS 2019
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