OC CATHOLIC - FEBRUARY 4, 2024

FEBRUARY 4, 2024

CELEBRATING MARRIAGE

PAGE 8

THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF ORANGE ■ OCCATHOLIC.COM

JOURNEY TO LA VANG BISHOP VANN TRAVELS TO VIETNAM PAGE 6 THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF LA VANG LOCATED IN QUẢNG TRị PROVINCE, VIETNAM. PHOTO BY CHRIS TRAN/DIOCESE OF ORANGE

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FEBRUARY 4, 2024

CONTENTS

4 A LETTER FROM BISHOP VANN

Bishop Kevin Vann reflects on his trip to Vietnam and the Shrine of Our Lady of La Vang.

7 11

CONSECRATED LIFE

The religious vocation is to live one’s life as Jesus lived.

BLACK HISTORY IS CATHOLIC HISTORY

During the early 20th century white orders were called upon to accept “colored vocations”, but they resisted.

ORANGE COUNTY CATHOLIC MISSION STATEMENT The Orange County Catholic Newspaper seeks to illuminate and animate the journey of faith for Catholics within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange – building solidarity among the faithful and inviting a deeper understanding and involvement in the mission of Christ – through the timely sharing of news, commentary and feature content in an engaging, accessible and compelling format.

ORANGE COUNTY CATHOLIC

The Official Newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange Diocese of Orange Pastoral Center, 13280 Chapman Ave., Garden Grove 92840 Publisher: The Most Reverend Kevin W. Vann, Bishop of Orange Executive Editor: Monsignor Stephen Doktorczyk Editor: Patricia Mahoney, editor@occatholic.com News Ideas: editor@occatholic.com Delivery Problems: occatholicsupport@occatholic.com

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BISHOP’S COLUMN

A LETTER FROM BISHOP VANN Editor’s Note: The following letter was written during Bishop Vann’s trip to Vietnam in late January.

D

EAR BROTHERS AND Sisters in the Lord, As I compose these words I am traveling from Hue, in central Vietnam, to the Shrine of Our Lady of La Vang which is in the city of Quảng Tri, also in central Vietnam. I am here on a pilgrimage with Fr. Bao Thai from Christ Cathedral, Deacon Huy Nguyen also from Christ Cathedral and Chuong (Keith) Hoang who is from Los Angeles. Keith’s parents are from the Diocese of Bùi Chu, in Nam Dinh, Vietnam.

We have been able to visit the parish of Trieu Thong and its two missions Phuong Duc and Trieu Phuc. Christ Cathedral is journeying with the parish

Trieu Thong and its two missions in planning for some better facilities for their youth. Our visit yesterday was a chance to celebrate Mass for the parishioners and spend time with them. My visit later on with retired Cardinal Peter Nguyen and Archbishop Thien was a moment of “Ecclesial Communion” and strengthened the bonds of faith and family which unite us. Tomorrow, we head to Da Nang and Friday to Sài Gòn, and then home on Monday.

These days here are also a reminder that the lights of the Christmas season, do not finish on Christmas Day, but continue into the Lunar New Year, until Feb. 2, the Presentation of the Lord; and, looking back we really have the first sounds and signs of Christmas in September, with the arrival of the “-ber” months, where the Nativity celebra-

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AT ST. JOSEPH’S CATHEDRAL IN HANOI: FR. BAO THAI, DEACON HUY NGUYEN, BISHOP VANN AND KEITH HOANG. PHOTO COURTESY OF BISHOP VANN

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DAILY READINGS AND REFLECTIONS

AROUND CAMPUS

“

God is a father looking for children to whom he can entrust his property and his plans.

”

— Pope Francis

SAINT PROFILE

JOAN OF FRANCE

1464-1505

A

LSO KNOWN AS JOAN of Valois, this French foundress was the daughter of King Louis XI and the wife of King Louis XII, her father's cousin. She was mistreated by both men, and reportedly was physically handicapped from birth, though she may have been merely undersized and plain. Her husband sought to have their marriage annulled so he could marry Joan's sister-in-law, who inherited Brittany; he succeeded in 1498. Thereafter Joan lived in Bourges, where she devoted herself to prayer and good works, and established, under Franciscan direction, the Order of the Annunciation with 11 local schoolgirls. A year before her death, she renounced all her possessions, including her title as Duchess of Berry. She was canonized in 1950.

BLESSED SACRAMENT CHAPEL Donors: Ben and Carmela Du. Located on the east end of Christ Cathedral, the Blessed Sacrament Chapel is a serene place for personal prayer. It remains open outside of the regular operating hours of the cathedral. Circular in shape, the chapel’s centerpiece is the tabernacle. Photo by Chuck Bennett/Diocese of OrangeC

READINGS FOR THE WEEK

PHOTOS: CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE, SHUTTERSTOCK

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

1 KGS 8:1-7, 9-13; PS 132:6-7, 8-10; MK 6:53-56

1 KGS 8:22-23, 27-30; PS 84:3, 4, 5 AND 10, 11; MK 7:1-13

1 KGS 10:1-10; PS 37:5-6, 30-31, 3940; MK 7:14-23

1 KGS 11:4-13; PS 106:3-4, 35-36, 37 AND 40; MK 7:24-30

1 KGS 11:29-32; 12:19; PS 81:1011AB, 12-13, 14-15; MK 7:31-37

1 KGS 12:26-32; 13:33-34; PS 106:6-7AB, 19-20, 21-22; MK 8:1-10

LV 13:1-2, 44-46; PS 32:1-2, 5, 11; 1 COR 10:31—11:1; MK 1:40-45

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FEATURE/CATHOLIC FAMILY LIVING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6

CONSECRATED LIFE

BY JOAN PATTEN, AO

A

THE ORIGINAL LA VANG BASILICA WAS DESTROYED DURING THE VIETNAM WAR. PHOTO

BY CHRIS TRAN/DIOCESE OF ORANGE

earlier one that was heavily damaged in the Vietnam War), worship spaces, a pilgrims retreat center, two small lakes with islands, a section devoted to the Vietnamese martyrs and more.

Bishop Vann has also been to Marian apparition sites in Fátima (Portugal), Lourdes (France), Guadalupe (Mexico) and Knock (Ireland).

“Every one of them is an example of the Mother of God, speaking to all the cultures of the world,” Bishop Vann said. “That’s what I really have a sense of.”

For Bishop Vann, Our Lady of La Vang “shows me how she speaks to so many different cultures, especially the Vietnamese culture that is so, so strong in the Diocese of Orange.

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LL VOCATIONS BEGIN with discipleship. A disciple has encountered Jesus, experienced His love and call to conversion, and reorients their life to follow Him and imitate His life. In the Gospels, Jesus called His disciples to follow Him, and they spent most of their time simply being with Him (cf.

Mk. 3:14). They watched Jesus pray and learned how to love the Lord God with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love their neighbor as themselves (cf. Mt. 22:37).

Most people are called to the vocation of marriage and to pursue Heaven with their spouse. The Lord calls some to follow Him through the vocation of the priesthood. These men lay down their lives and pursue Heaven with Christ’s Bride, the Church. Others are called to totally consecrate their lives to God by professing vows in an institute of consecrated life or in a way recognized by the Church, pursuing Heaven with Jesus, their Divine Spouse and with the members of their religious institute.

Those who remain in the single state are called to deepen their baptismal vocation by generously giving themselves in service for God’s kingdom, pursuing Heaven with the community with whom they abide.

Jesus invites all His disciples to live as He lived and allow Him to live through them. The most striking characteristics of Jesus are His chastity, poverty and obedience. These are the evangelical counsels revealed in the Gospel as the necessary conduct that perfects our lives and how we love. All the baptized are called to follow the chaste, poor and obedient Christ according to their vocational state in life.

The evangelical counsel of chastity

PHOTO BY MATEUS CAMPOS FELIPE ON UNSPLASH

guides all people to live with integrity by controlling and correctly ordering their passions so as not to be ruled by emotions or inclinations. For those who are married, chastity leads the couple to be faithful to one another in mind and heart, seeking the good of their spouse and the fruitfulness of their marital union. Those who are not married are called to practice chastity by living in continence, which is avoiding all sexual activity. Chastity allows us to live with dignity and internal order.

The evangelical counsel of poverty encourages all Christ’s disciples to live simply, guarding against seeking fulfillment in material possessions and being generous to the poor. A current practice trending in the culture is “minimalistic living,” which aims to downsize one’s possessions intentionally. The wisdom of this counsel continues to provide a path of joy and freedom.

The evangelical counsel of obedience teaches Christ’s disciples to submit their will to God and all legitimate authority. All disciples are called to follow God’s commandments, the laws of the Church and the morally good laws of society. Obedience ensures that we act according to God’s will and gives us the certainty that we are doing what is right.

Consecrated Life is radical disciple-

ship because, through the profession of the evangelical counsel, consecrated persons vow to renounce earthly marriage, sacrifice the security of material possessions and surrender the right to do their own will “for the sake of the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 19:12). The evangelical counsels serve as a prophetic witness of the life to come and as an icon of how God’s grace can perfect people. The vow of chastity witnesses God’s total love for His people by making consecrated men and women available to love God and others with an undivided heart, proving that a life of celibacy and continence is not only possible but fruitful. Through the vow of poverty, consecrated persons witness the radical trust that Jesus had in His Father’s care and prove the ideal of giving up everything for the “pearl of great price” (Mt. 13:46). Through the vow of obedience, they witness Jesus’ unwavering surrender to His Father’s will, proving the that God can be trusted as His will is revealed through the Church and their institutes’ authority and rules.

Every year, on the weekend closest to the feast day of the Presentation of the Lord (Feb. 2), the Church gives thanks for the gift of consecrated life and its prophetic witness. Let us pray for the faithful perseverance of those who have responded to the call to consecrate their lives to God and ask Him to call more to willingly and freely follow Him in love and joy.C

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FEATURE

JOURNEY TO LA VANG

BISHOP VANN TRAVELS TO VIETNAM

own La Vang shrine at Christ Cathedral.

It was dedicated with much fanfare in 2021 and, while always rooted in the

BY BRADLEY ZINT Vietnamese Catholic community, the shrine has grown to become a beloved A VANG, Quảng Trị Province, site for many cultures and causes in the Vietnam — For Bishop Kevin Diocese.

Vann, his fourth trip to Vietnam “I would say, above all, I have a sense in January marked the compleof gratitude to God,” Bishop Vann said tion of a journey that began with an idea of returning to La Vang for the first time and became a dream for many. since 2019. “We have our projects, our On Jan. 18, Bishop Vann celebrated dreams, our hopes, our prayers and we Mass at the national shrine to Our Lady set forth on a journey to do them. But of La Vang, a Marian apparition said then they happen; it’s just a lesson of to occur before a group of persecuted faith.”

Catholics in 1798 in this rural corner of The faux trees covering Vietnam’s central Vietnam. In the centuries since, La Vang shrine make it resemble the Our Lady of La Vang has represented rainforest setting of the 1798 apparition. hope and promise to Vietnamese CathIts centerpiece is a Virgin Mary statue olics — and, increasingly, other ethnic depicting her holding the Baby Jesus and groups and faiths around the world. wearing a traditional Vietnamese dress A strong sense of devotion to Our and hat. The statue is the fourth in the Lady of La Vang in Orange County is site’s long history. why in 2016, after years of consideration, The shrine is the focal point of a larger Bishop Vann and the Diocese of Orange campus that also contains an under-conannounced their intention to build their struction basilica (which replaces an

L

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FR. BAO THAI AND BISHOP KEVIN VANN AT THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF LA VANG IN VIETNAM. PHOTOS COURTESY OF ELYSABETH NGUYEN.

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KEITH HOANG AND BISHOP KEVIN VANN ARE PICTURED AT THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF LA VANG IN VIETNAM.

FEATURE

CELEBRATING MARRIAGE CHRIST CATHEDRAL TO HOST MASS AND DATE NIGHT

BY MEG WATERS

T

HE VENERABLE FR. Patrick Peyton, founder of the Family Rosary Crusade, coined the phrase, “The family that prays together stays together." Despite all the pressures on marriage and family today, Fr. Peyton's recommendations are more valid than ever.

Studies show that married Catholics who regularly attend Mass have among the highest rates of successful marriages and a lower divorce rate than the average couple in the U.S. Several studies point out that if a couple wants a long-lasting marriage, putting God and their Catholic faith at the center of their relationship gives them the highest probability of success.

Catholic couples, in particular, are most likely to enjoy an enduring marriage if they practice their faith.

The Diocese has participated in World Marriage Day since the 1980s to recognize and celebrate marriage. Last year, a special Mass and dinner was held in the Chapel in the Sky atop the Tower of Hope on the Christ Cathedral campus. Approximately 50 couples attended, but the space could not accommodate many more who wished to participate.

Rafael and Nora Pintor were among the lucky attendees in 2023; they also serve as leaders for the Orange County Chapter of the Worldwide Marriage Encounter.

According to the Nora Pintor, “We recommend all couples attend this special Mass to celebrate their sacrament of marriage and be a part of marriage week.

It's a great way to focus and remember the importance of our vocations as husband and wife. And, if we bring our fam-

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NORA PINTOR AND HER HUSBAND RAFAEL ARE PICTURED ON JAN. 21 AT THEIR HOME PARISH, HOLY TRINITY IN LADERA RANCH. PHOTO BY DREW KELLEY/DIOCESE OF ORANGE

ilies, what a beautiful way to show them how families still honor marriage. Prayer is powerful, and the more couples pray, the stronger our relationships become."

This year's program, held in conjunction with the California Catholic Conference of Bishops’ "Radiate Love" theme, is designed to reflect the National Eucharistic Revival, “As a practical way to incarnate the grace of the Revival into our families and communities, the bishops of California are dedicating the 2024-2025 pastoral year to helping the Catholic faithful renew and deepen our lived experience of the Sacrament of Marriage – which is modeled on the irrevocable covenantal love of God for his

O C C A T H O L I C ■ F E B R U A R Y 4 , 2 0 2 4

people expressed in the Eucharist.”

This year, the special Mass will be held on Friday, Feb. 9 at the Christ Cathedral Arboretum beginning at 6 pm.

The Diocese hopes the attendance will return to pre-pandemic levels with 300400 couples participating. The celebrant will again be Bishop Timothy Freyer, and the ceremony will include a special blessing and renewal of vows developed by the California Bishops.

“The Marriage Celebration Mass is different from regular Mass in that it is full of faithful married couples who believe in marriage,” said Rafael Pintor.

“It is very inspiring to see. It helps to remind us that our marriage is a sacrament

and God is with us on this journey.”

Linda Ji, Director of the Office of Family Life for the Diocese, said the event is also open to engaged couples, those still discerning if they are called to marriage and couples married civilly and considering having their marriage blessed sacramentally. Her office has prepared a special “Date Night Kit” which includes prayers, a directory of nearby restaurants, discussion starters and activities for use at home or the restaurant.

“We are especially encouraging younger couples,” she said. “The Diocese will offer childcare until 9:30 p.m. after the Mass so that parents can enjoy a date

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FEATURE

NORA PINTOR HOLDS A PHOTO FROM HER WEDDING DAY, JULY 30, 1988. PHOTOS BY DREW KELLEY/DIOCESE OF ORANGE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

night."

Reservations are encouraged but not mandatory. Couples can RSVP at https://www.rcbo.org/ministry/ office-for-family-life/. There is more information on the event as well as materials to help couples celebrate every day of National Marriage Week (Feb. 7-14).

This year, after the Mass, the Pintors plan to enjoy their date night with other couples at a local restaurant.

“It is great that the Diocese organized the free babysitting for couples who have children and would like to go out and enjoy a dinner date on their own,” said Rafael Pintor.

St. Pope John Paul II often wrote about the importance of marriage as the “the family is the basic cell of society.”

In his Apostolic Exhortation, “Christifideles Laici,” the Pontiff said “The lay faithful's duty to society primarily begins in marriage and in the family. This duty can only be fulfilled adequately with the conviction of the unique and irreplaceable value that the family has in the development of society and the Church herself.”

As we look around to see disorder and chaos in every layer of society today – working to achieve a holy and Catholic marriage can be the witness to faith that just might make the world a better place, RAFAEL AND NORA PINTOR OF MISSION VIEJO SERVE AS LEADERS FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY CHAPTER OF THE WORLDWIDE MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER. one couple at a time. C F E B R U A R Y 4 , 2 0 2 4 ■ O C C A T H O L I C

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FEATURE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

And how the Gospels say, ‘Do not be afraid.’ She comes to us.

Do not be afraid to have confidence and courage in what the Lord asks us to do.”

Elysabeth Nguyen, CEO of the the Our Lady of La Vang Foundation (OLLV) and a leader in Christ Cathedral’s La Vang shrine since its beginnings, also attended the Mass celebrated by Bishop Vann on Jan. 18. She first traveled to La Vang in 2016, wanting to discover more about the apparition and her own Vietnamese roots. Despite not having an appointment, she fortuitously connected with the shrine’s pastor at the time. He was supportive of Orange County’s project and emotional when he got to see it completed. The two reconnected during her latest visit.

“I feel a sense of gratitude and relief,” Nguyen said of returning to La Vang following the completion of Christ Cathedral’s shrine. “A lot of things make more sense now. It’s a hard feeling to explain.”

Nguyen noted how Christ Cathedral’s La Vang shrine is

THE NEW BASILICA OF OUR LADY OF LA VANG IN VIETNAM IS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION. PHOTO BY CHRIS TRAN/DIOCESE OF ORANGE

FR. BAO THAI AND ELYSABETH NGUYEN ARE PICTURED AT THE SHRINE OF OUR LADY OF LA VANG IN VIETNAM.

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now multicultural, hosting events and religious observances for local Mexican, Peruvian, Filipino and Polish communities, to name a few. It also plays a central role in the Diocese’s annual Marian Days and Walk for Life and last year’s I AM Eucharistic Congress.

Vietnam’s La Vang shrine is no exception to having a wide cultural appeal. During Nguyen’s visit, it hosted visiting Chinese pilgrims and a group of Korean Catholic priests.

“I started to realize that Her presence in this origin place has impacted so many, not just in Vietnam, but the people who are visiting,” Nguy-

en said, adding that “the miracle of [Christ Cathedral’s] project has been interacting with so many people who are humble and helpful. That’s really the blessing from God. He really wants me and my colleagues to do this. Without that spiritual support, I don’t think it could be done.”

Christ Cathedral’s shrine is still under construction with its Marian Gardens portion, which are set to be completed and dedicated later this year.

The shrine will also be the subject of a forthcoming documentary, “Our Lady is the Center,” co-produced by the Diocese of Orange and OLLV Foundation. It is scheduled for release this summer. C

GUEST COLUMN

“ARE WE CATHOLIC ENOUGH?”: BLACK HISTORY IS CATHOLIC HISTORY

BY GREG WALGENBACH, DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF LIFE, JUSTICE, AND PEACE AND THE MISSION OFFICE FOR THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE

I

N HER GROUNDBREAKING historical account “Subversive Habits: Black Catholic Nuns in the Long African American Freedom Struggle,” Dr. Shannen Dee Williams shares a story which has stuck with me.

I offer it as a framework for marking Black History Month and entering the penitential season of Lent.

Dr. Williams recounts how amid the Great Migration – the 60-year period beginning around 1910 during which some six million African Americans moved out of the rural South to the urban Northeast, Midwest, and West – “white [religious] orders that expanded or adopted ministries to Black Americans in these areas experienced a marked increase in applications from Black women and girls, often their former pupils.”

However, white women religious orders (as well as diocesan seminaries and orders of men) persisted in anti-Black admissions policies. This was true even in the face of positive pressures from Church moral teaching requiring social equality and recognition of human dignity, from the desire of some white priests and sisters to maintain and spread the faith in Black migrant communities, and from belief among white Catholic interracialists that the Church’s segregationist practices would push Black converts to join the Communist Party.

“Some white priests,” writes Dr. Williams, “began to challenge white female leadership councils to reconsider their discriminatory practices.” For example,

Fr. John F. O’Brien, a white assistant pastor at Harlem’s Church of the Resurrection, wrote to all the white orders in the greater New York City area. His inquiry ended with a simple and “searing” moral question: “Is the order Catholic enough to accept colored vocations?”

The purpose here is not to pile onto women religious orders, who in many cases are leading the way in opening their history and contemporary practices to scrutiny in a desire for gospel justice.

Rather, this Lent let us sit with the question: Are we Catholic enough?

Are we Catholic enough to take some time to learn about Black history? (For example, Bishop Barron’s “Word on Fire” website has a free streaming video series called, “Gloria Purvis: Racism, Human Dignity, and the Catholic Church in America” that recounts some of that history. Williams’s book is also recommended.)

Are we Catholic enough to take time to read accounts of convict leasing and sharecropping, racial terror lynching, Jim Crow, GI benefit exclusion, redlining and sundown policies in Orange County, drug sentencing disparities and mass incarceration? Accounts that don’t try to soften these events?

In his magisterial “The History of Black Catholics in the United States,” Benedictine monk Cyprian Davis highlights the commentary of the great Alexandrian church father Origen (third century AD) on verse 5 of chapter 1 in the “Song of Songs.” The translation of the Old Testament he was using had the wording: “I am black and beautiful.” Solomon is a type of Christ and the black Queen of Sheba is a type of the Church.

Origen wrote: “She came to Jerusalem, then, to the Vision of Peace, with a single

PHOTO COURTESY OF SHUTTERSTOCK

following and in great array; for she came not with a single nation . . . but with the races of the whole world, offering moreover worthy gifts to Christ.” Are we Catholic enough to put energy into this queen’s inclusive vision?

Davis goes on to give a sense of the African roots of Catholicism, from the Catholic kingdoms of Ethiopia and Nubia, to the early Church fathers and mothers from North Africa: Tertullian, Cyprian, Perpetua and Felicitas, Augustine and Monica, and popes Victor I,

Miltiades, and Gelasius I. The complicated history of the rise and fall and rise again of Catholicism in Africa. Are we Catholic enough to celebrate the African-ness of these fathers and mothers?

El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles (LA) was built on a Black and Indian presence. Davis notes that when eleven families of settlers arrived in 1781 with their military escorts to their new home not far from the San Gabriel Mission, only two of the orig-

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PRESENTS

ESTATE PLANNING SEMINARS

PEACE OF MIND. CONCERN FOR LOVED ONES. STEWARDSHIP OF THE BLESSINGS THE LORD HAS ENTRUSTED TO US. For over 23 years, The Orange Catholic Foundation has helped individuals and families leave a legacy of love and faith, uniquely aligned with their Catholic values and beliefs. We invite you to attend our free upcoming Estate Planning Seminars

where you can learn how to protect and provide for your loved ones, avoid probate, create an estate plan, will, trust and gain a Catholic perspective on health care directives.

Seminars are held at parishes throughout Orange County in English and Spanish. To view the full list of dates, times and locations, visit OrangeCatholicFoundation.org/estate-planning.

For questions, contact Roxanna Payton, Director of Planned Giving, at 714.282.6046.

Follow the Diocese of Orange on social media FACEBOOK

facebook.com/orangediocese TWITTER

twitter.com/orangediocese

INSTAGRAM

instagram.com/orangediocese YOUTUBE

youtube.com/dioceseorange

And stay informed of news and events at Christ Cathedral FACEBOOK

facebook.com/christcathedralca

INSTAGRAM

instagram.com/christcathedralca

Scan QR code to view the list of seminars

BISHOP’S COLUMN

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tions, for the Filipinos began with hanging their Christmas decorations!

As I return to the Shrine of Our Lady of La Vang, I give thanks for your faith and generosity, and promise to pray for all of you and your loved ones.

Gratefully yours in the Lord, Bishop Vann C

To report sexual abuse by clergy or church personnel please call: 1 (800) 364-3064 Healing and Hope After Abortion: 1 (800) 722-4356 New Hope Peer-to-Peer Support Line | Mon - Fri 7:30 AM - 9:30 PM | Sat - Sun 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM: 1 (714) NEW-HOPE or 1 (714) 639-4673 BÁO CÁO LẠM DỤNG TÌNH DỤC Nếu bạn là nạn nhân bị lạm dụng tình dục bởi một linh mục/ tu sĩ hay một thành viên trong Giáo Hội gây ra, xin hãy gọi và báo cáo cho Giáo phận ở số điện thoại miễn phí sau đây: 1-800-364-3064, và đồng thời báo cáo cho nhà chức trách địa phương. 본당내의 성적학대 신고 성직자나 성당 사목을 대표하는 관리자에 의한 성적 학대의 피해자 인 경우, 교구청의 무료 신고 전화 번호, 1-800-364-3064 및 관할 지역 법 집행 기관에 전화하십시오.

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GUEST COLUMN PAGE HEADING

SISTER GERTRUDE INENACHO, THE CONGREGATION MINISTER AT THE MOTHERHOUSE OF THE FRANCISCAN HANDMAIDS OF THE MOST PURE HEART OF MARY, ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2016 IN NEW YORK, N.Y. THIS HARLEMBASED ORDER, ONE OF ONLY THREE ORDERS OF BLACK NUNS IN THE UNITED STATES, WAS ON THE BRINK OF CLOSURE IN 2014, BUT A MESSAGE FROM POPE FRANCIS KEPT THE ORDER ALIVE; THE NUNS CELEBRATED THEIR 100TH ANNIVERSARY ON MARCH 29, 2016. (JAMES KEIVOM/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS) CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8

inal settlers were white: all Catholics, over half of the adults were Black, two Spanish and the rest Indians. “Spanish California would be in large measure Afro-Hispanic in its racial heritage, Hispanic in its culture and Catholic in its faith.” Are we Catholic enough to see ourselves as co-heirs with Afro-Hispanic Catholics?

John Carroll, the first bishop of the United States, was pastor of Maryland where about a fifth of the Catholic people were enslaved persons. He founded Georgetown University. In 1838, when the Jesuit priests who ran

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the university needed money to keep the institution afloat, they sold 272 slaves to save it. This was not an anomaly. Before abolition nearly every religious order and most dioceses either held people in slavery or otherwise participated in a slave society. As Davis puts it: “American slavery existed in the United States in one of its most brutal modern forms and marked the American Catholic church in a way that no other American institution would do.”

Born into slavery, although sponsored by his mentor Irish Father Peter McGirr, freeman Augustus Tolton was refused admission to every Catholic seminary to

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which he applied. He was able to study at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome, where he was ultimately ordained. He was prepared to go to missions in Africa but instead was sent to the mission-field back in the United States, where he led a heroic ministry as the first openly African American priest. Are we Catholic enough to revere Fr. Tolton as a hero of the American Catholic Church?

The story of the United States is filled with “the joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties” (Gaudium et spes) of Black Catholics. Dr. Williams developed the hashtag #BlackHistoryIsCatholicHistory (and vice versa) to draw these con-

nections for us. As St. Paul said to the Corinthians of the Body of Christ: “If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it.” Are we prepared to stand shoulder to shoulder with our sisters and brothers? Are we Catholic enough?

[The Knights of Peter Claver Thea Bowman Council 406 serving the Diocese of Orange is hosting a virtual fundraiser “MLK to Ash Wednesday: A Journey in Social Justice and Faith” as part of its annual appeal. To learn more visit rcbo.org/claversoc. Donations are accepted at gofundme.com/f/kpc406.]C

OC Catholic Afar

James “Jim” Cruickshank catches up on OC Catholic news outside St. Brigid’s Catholic Church in Portumna, County Galway, Ireland on his birthday, Jan. 14. Jim is a parishioner at St. Cecilia’s in Tustin and prayed for everyone!

—Submitted by the Kelly Family of Tustin

We want your photos! Send your pictures of “OC Catholic Afar” — of you, family or friends visiting Catholic churches and other interesting places — to editor@occatholic.com. Please include a brief description of the photo, the name of the person(s) featured in the photo and their home parish.

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