Marking the 50th anniversary of March on Washington
10 August 29, 2013
Newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
The Catholic Spirit News with a Catholic heart
14 - 17 TheCatholicSpirit.com
Pope Francis denounces ‘atrocious acts,’ in Syria
All are welcome Mass celebrates gifts people with disabilities bring to archdiocese
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
By Dianne Towalski The Catholic Spirit
Debi and Dan Moffatt were wondering earlier this summer if their 16-year-old special-needs triplets would have the opportunity to be confirmed. They were trying to decide if they should enroll them in confirmation classes at their parish, St. Patrick in Edina, when Debi received an email from her sister, who has a daughter with autism, asking her what the family was planning to do for confirmations. Debi said she knew about the annual Mass for Persons with Disabilities that is celebrated at the St. Paul Seminary chapel, and she told her sister she would do some digging to see what might be offered for her niece and for her own teens. Debi did her research and found out about the confirmation program offered through the Outreach to Persons with Disabilities office of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The program started in just two days, and the Moffatts might have missed the opportunity had it not been for the email from Debi’s sister. Enter Deacon Sean Curtan, who runs the disabilities office as part of the Office of Marriage, Family and Life with the help of his wife Joan. “I emailed right away, and Deacon Sean called me back within a half hour,” Debi said. “Everything just fell into place so
It’s back-to-school time
Dianne Towalski / The Catholic Spirit
Debi Moffatt helps her daughter Jennifer prepare for confirmation class. Jennifer and her brothers Patrick and Daniel will be confirmed Sept. 8 at the annual Mass for Persons with Disabilities.
Want to go? What: Annual Mass for Persons with Disabilities. When: Sept. 8, 3 p.m. Where: St. Paul Seminary, St. Mary's Chapel, 2260 Summit Ave. St. Paul.
Prayers for peace
This year’s celebrant will be Bishop Lee Piché. A sing-along will begin at 2:30 p.m. and a social with light refreshments will follow the Mass.
smoothly,” she said. The Moffatts’ triplets — Patrick, Daniel and Jennifer — have varying degrees of cerebral palsy. Daniel, whose condition is very mild, could have taken classes at the parish but opted for this program so he could be confirmed with his brother and sister. The Curtans facilitate the classes — two Saturday mornings for two hours. “Deacon Sean really emphasized, like
Pope Francis called again for an end to the fighting in Syria, denouncing the “multiplication of massacres and atrocious acts,” including the suspected chemical weapons attack that left hundreds dead. As U.N. weapons inspectors received permission from the Syrian government Aug. 25 to visit the site of the alleged attack, Pope Francis said the “terrible images” of the dead, including children, “push me once again to raise a voice so that the roar of the weapons would stop.” “It is not clashes, but an ability to meet and to dialogue that offers prospects for a hope of resolving the problems,” the pope said after reciting the Angelus with visitors in St. Peter’s Square.
we believe in this house, that everyone has something to give,” Debi said. “Sometimes even if it’s just a smile or a hello, that can really brighten other people’s lives.” “He really stressed that all of the candidates are members of the body of Christ and they have a right to be able to go to church and be part of that community,” PLEASE TURN TO CONFIRMATION ON PAGE 24
Once again the pope asked the crowd to join him in praying that Mary, queen of peace, would intercede to stop the fighting that has raged in Syria since March 2011 as rebels try to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. “From the depths of my heart, I want to express my closeness in prayer and solidarity with all the victims of this conflict (and) all those who are suffering, especially the children, and ask them to keep their hopes for peace alive,” the pope said. PLEASE TURN TO CHURCH ON PAGE 9
Catholic Spirit to launch redesign of newspaper, website Every so often, a newspaper looks in the mirror and decides it could use a makeover. For the last several months, the staff of The Catholic Spirit and the Communications Office of the archdiocese have been working on a redesign to better serve readers. The new look will debut with the Sept. 12 issue. It’s been seven years since the last time we assessed the layout, content and readability of the newspaper, and we had three goals this time around: ! First, we wanted to make it easier for readers to find what they’re looking for and include more of what they have told us really matters to them, especially local stories and inspirational stories of our faith being lived out here in our archdiocese. ! Second, we wanted the design and new content to increasingly appeal to youth and young adults. The redesign
includes a page designated specifically for young writers and topics of interest to them. ! Finally, we really wanted to use this opportunity to ramp up the ways we integrate what we do in the newspaper with our online presence on THECATHOLICSPIRIT.COM, our CATHOLICHOTDISH. COM blog and social media. That also will assist us in more successfully reaching younger audiences that get nearly all of their news and information online. To this end, THECATHOLICSPIRIT.COM is undergoing a redesign that also will launch Sept. 12. Currently, the newspaper and website don’t tightly align visually or from a content flow perspective. In addition, the website is a bit PLEASE TURN TO CATHOLIC ON PAGE 2