The Catholic Spirit - August 23, 2018

August 23, 2018 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

Faith and football Vikings quarterbacks coach Kevin Stefanski shared Catholic values with colleague who died right before the start of training camp.

— Page 16

Pope speaks on abuse Pope Francis addresses Catholics in letter about clergy sexual abuse and how Church leaders and laity should respond.

— Page 3

Venezuela crisis

Economic collapse leaves many hungry at archdiocesan mission parish, as pastor searches for answers and help.

— Pages 12-13

Back to school

Catholic schools adding new programs, leaders, technology as they prepare for students’ return.

— Pages 14-15

Right tool for the job A 2018 St. Thomas grad applying engineering expertise to improve farming for women in Senegal.

— Page 17

Little Sisters’ milestone

Order celebrates 150th anniversary of ministry in U.S., including 135 years in St. Paul caring for elderly poor.

— Page 18

Look for the next issue of The Catholic Spirit Sept. 13.

Follow breaking news at TheCatholicSpirit.com.

WHERE TO BEGIN? With candles on Cathedral steps, Catholic young adults offer prayers for wounded Church

PHOTOS BY DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

ABOVE About 120 young adults kneel and pray at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul Aug. 20 during a vigil called “Evening Prayer for the Survivors of Clerical Abuse and the Healing of the Church.” It is part of an ongoing effort among Catholic young adults to pray, educate, dialogue and gather together in response to recent revelations of clergy sexual abuse and the ongoing crisis in the Church.

By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit

A

s the sun set Aug. 20, about 120 Catholics gathered on the steps of the Cathedral of St. Paul to pray for survivors of clergy sexual abuse and for a cleansing of the Church.

Among them was Pennsylvania-native Corey Furdock, for whom the grand jury report issued Aug. 14 detailing clergy sexual abuse in that state hit especially close to home.

LEFT Brett and Bridget Hutchinson of St. Thomas More in St. Paul pray with other young adults gathered on the steps of the Cathedral of St. Paul Aug. 20.

PLEASE TURN TO VIGIL ON PAGE 7

Cardinal explains plan to address ‘moral catastrophe’ of abuse

By Julie Asher Catholic News Service The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Aug. 16 announced three key goals and a comprehensive plan to address the “moral catastrophe” of the new abuse scandal hitting the U.S. Church.

The plan “will involve the laity, lay experts, the clergy and the Vatican,” Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of GalvestonHouston said. This plan will be presented to the full body of bishops at their general assembly meeting in Baltimore in November.

He said the “substantial involvement of the laity” from law enforcement, psychology and other disciplines will be essential to this process.

He also said that right now, it is clear

that “one root cause” of this catastrophe “is the failure of episcopal leadership.”

In a lengthy letter addressed to all Catholics, Cardinal DiNardo laid out three goals just established by the bishops’ Executive Committee in a series of meetings held early the week of Aug. 13.

The first is a “full investigation” into “the questions surrounding” Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick, a former cardinal and retired archbishop of Washington. He said the Executive Committee will ask the Vatican to conduct an apostolic visitation into these questions “in concert with” a group of laypeople identified for their expertise by the USCCB’s lay-run National Review Board who will be “empowered to act.”

With a credible allegation that PLEASE TURN TO USCCB ON PAGE 10

CNS

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, concelebrates the closing Mass at the 2017 Catholic convocation in Orlando, Fla.

2 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

AUGUST 23, 2018

PAGETWO

“

I was overwhelmed with the truth that this man was the Vicar of Christ. ... That one experience made me rethink everything I thought of the Catholic faith ... and the rest is history.

David Rinaldi, NET Ministries program director and Catholic speaker, on his experience at the 1993 World Youth Day in Denver, which occurred 25 years ago this month. Attended

by Pope John Paul II, the event is the only World Youth Day to have been held in the U.S. and has been credited with a resurgence of faith among Catholic young adults.

It drew between 500,000 and 1 million attendees.

NEWS notes

8 SAM LUCERO | CNS

COUNTRY ROSARY A man prays the rosary on the grounds of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, Wis., prior to an outdoor Mass Aug. 15, the feast of the Assumption. Green Bay Bishop David Ricken, joined by Bishop Martin Holley of Memphis, Tenn., celebrated the Mass, which was followed by a rosary procession around the shrine grounds. In 2010, the Catholic Church confirmed apparitions of Mary that took place at the site in 1859 as “worthy of belief” by the Christian faithful.

The number of pro-life educational gatherings Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life will host at parishes around the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in September and October. MCCL aims to update citizens with the latest information on abortion, assisted suicide and other issues. Gatherings will be held Sept. 13 at Holy Trinity, Goodhue; Sept. 25 at St. Hubert, Chanhassen; Oct. 1 at Holy Family, St. Louis Park; Oct. 2 at St. Albert, Albertville; Oct. 2 at All Saints, Lakeville; Oct. 11 at St. Peter, Mendota; Oct. 15 at St. Peter, Forest Lake; and Oct. 30 at Maternity of Mary, St. Paul.

For more information, visit mccl.org or call 612-825-6831.

18

The minimum age for attending a new Theology on Tap meet-up in Farmington.

Hosted by St. Michael in Farmington, the event will be held on the third Thursday of the month, starting Sept. 20. The events will take place at the Burbon Butcher, 20700 Chippendale Ave., Farmington, and include speakers and fellowship, with food and drinks available for purchase. For more information, contact Brittney LaVigne at 651-463-5223.

1958

The class year of a group of graduates of Most Holy Trinity School in St. Louis Park who are dedicating a bench in Wolfe Park to commemorate their grade school, which closed in 2008 and was later demolished. The bench represents the “benchmark” 60 years since they graduated from the school’s eighth grade. The class, which had 34 students, holds a reunion each year. The school opened in 1945 at 3949 Wooddale Ave.

2 COURTESY CATHOLIC CHARITIES

WET PAINT Sky Phillips adds her artistic touch to a community mural at Catholic Charities Northside Child Development Center in Minneapolis. Children who attend the center painted the mural, along with local graffiti artists and Big Brothers Big Sisters’ Free Arts volunteers. The mural was unveiled Aug. 7.

MILESTONE St. Peter, North St. Paul, marking 130 years St. Peter in North St. Paul is celebrating 130 years since its humble beginnings in 1888, when Masses were celebrated at the Enterprise Building in an empty storage room with an altar built from old lumber. A year later, the predominantly German-Catholic parish purchased a former Congregational church, which served as its home until it built the present brick church in 1915. The parish merged in 2007 with Holy Redeemer in Maplewood, established in 1901 as an Italian parish. St. Peter has been celebrating its anniversary with the theme “Duc in Altum,” Latin for “Into the Deep.” Events have included a Holy Land pilgrimage, special liturgies related to St. Peter and a day of recollection. The parish will continue to celebrate with an anniversary Mass with Archbishop Bernard Hebda 10:30 a.m. Sept. 16, a fall festival Sept. 28-30 and a second Holy Land pilgrimage Nov. 6-17. For more information, visit churchofstpeternsp.org.

The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 23 — No. 16 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor

The number of local women who were among 11 religious sisters who took simple, or first, vows with the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville July 28. Sister Sofia Thomas Coulter (baptized Marie) was a parishioner of Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul. She was homeschooled through high school and is a graduate of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, where she earned bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and economics before earning a law degree at the St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis. Her parents are Gregory and Cecilia Coulter, parishioners of St. Francis Xavier in Franconia. Sister Felicity Heither (baptized Andrea) was a parishioner of St. Michael in Prior Lake. She is a graduate of Prior Lake High School in Savage and Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. Her parents are Tom and Joyce Heither, parishioners of St. Michael in Stillwater. Both sisters are studying at Aquinas College in Nashville to prepare for their teaching apostolate.

55 million

The number of abortions that have taken place in the U.S. since Roe v. Wade legalized the procedure in all 50 states in 1973. Former U.S. Senate candidate and Cathedral of St. Paul parishioner Bob Anderson met with a group of post-abortive women to learn their stories Aug. 4 at a Minneapolis park. The women were associated with Silent No More, a nonprofit organization that serves women who regret their abortions. Minneapolis-based nonprofit Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life Executive Director Scott Fishbach said post-abortive women speaking with political candidates seems like an “untapped” resource. “The women who have gone through the abortion experience and work with candidates really are incredibly important because they can speak to the issue from a standpoint that lawyers and lobbyists and other politicians can’t,” he said. Read the story at TheCatholicSpirit.com.

Materials credited to CNS copy­righted by Catholic News Service.

All other materials copyrighted by The Cath­olic Spirit Newspaper.

Subscriptions: $29.95 per year: Senior 1-year: $24.95: To subscribe: (651) 291-4444: Display Advertising: (651) 291-4444; Classified Advertising: (651) 290-1631.

Published semi-monthly by the Office of Communications, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN 55106-3857 • (651) 291-4444, FAX (651) 291-4460.

Per­i­od­i­cals pos­tage paid at St. Paul, MN, and additional post offices.

Post­master: Send ad­dress changes to The Catholic Spirit, 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN 55106-3857.

TheCatholicSpirit.com • email: tcssubscriptions@archspm.org • USPS #093-580

AUGUST 23, 2018

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 3

FROMPOPEFRANCIS

Letter from Pope Francis to the People of God Editor’s note: Pope Francis issued the following letter Aug. 20 in response to clergy sexual abuse in the Church. It comes in the wake of the Pennsylvania grand jury report issued Aug. 14 (see story on page 8), as well as recent abuse revelations in Chile and Ireland. For the Spanish translation of the pope’s letter, visit TheCatholicSpirit.com. The “Only Jesus” column will return in the next issue.

“I

f one member suffers, all suffer together with it” (1 Cor 12:26).

These words of St. Paul forcefully echo in my heart as I acknowledge once more the suffering endured by many minors due to sexual abuse, the abuse of power and the abuse of conscience perpetrated by a significant number of clerics and consecrated persons. Crimes that inflict deep wounds of pain and powerlessness, primarily among the victims, but also in their family members and in the larger community of believers and nonbelievers alike. Looking back to the past, no effort to beg pardon and to seek to repair the harm done will ever be sufficient. Looking ahead to the future, no effort must be spared to create a culture able to prevent such situations from happening, but also to prevent the possibility of their being covered up and perpetuated. The pain of the victims and their families is also our pain, and so it is urgent that we once more reaffirm our commitment to ensure the protection of minors and of vulnerable adults.

1. If one member suffers ...

In recent days, a report was made public which detailed the experiences of at least a thousand survivors, victims of sexual abuse, the abuse of power and of conscience at the hands of priests over a period of approximately seventy years. Even though it can be said that most of these cases belong to the past, nonetheless as time goes on we have come to know the pain of many of the victims. We have realized that these wounds never disappear and that they require us forcefully to condemn these atrocities and join forces in uprooting this culture of death; these wounds never go away. The heart-wrenching pain of these victims, which cries out to heaven, was long ignored, kept quiet or silenced. But their outcry was more powerful than all the measures meant to silence it, or sought even to resolve it by decisions that increased its gravity by falling into complicity. The Lord heard that cry and once again showed us on which side he stands.

Mary’s song is not mistaken and continues quietly to echo throughout history. For the Lord remembers the promise he made to our fathers: “He has scattered the proud in their conceit; he has cast down the mighty from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty” (Lk 1:51-53). We feel shame when we realize that our style of life has denied, and continues to deny, the words we recite.

With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realizing the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives. We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them. I make my own the words of the then Cardinal Ratzinger when, during the Way of the Cross composed for Good Friday 2005, he identified with the cry of pain of so many victims and exclaimed: “How much filth there is in the Church, and even among those who, in the priesthood, ought to belong entirely to [Christ]! How much pride, how much self-complacency!

Christ’s betrayal by his disciples, their unworthy reception of his body and blood, is certainly the greatest suffering endured by the Redeemer; it pierces his heart.

We can only call to him from the depths of our hearts: “Kyrie eleison” — Lord, save us! (cf. Mt 8:25)” (Ninth Station [of the Cross]).

2. ... all suffer together with it

The extent and the gravity of all that has happened requires coming to grips with this reality in a comprehensive and communal way. While it is important and necessary on every journey of conversion to acknowledge the truth of what has happened, in itself this is not enough. Today we are challenged as the people of God to take on the pain of our brothers and sisters wounded in their flesh and in their spirit. If, in the past, the response was one of omission, today we want solidarity, in the deepest and most challenging sense, to become our way of forging present and future history.

And this in an environment where conflicts, tensions and above all the victims of every type of abuse can encounter an outstretched hand to protect them and rescue them

from their pain (cf. “Evangelii Gaudium,” 228). Such solidarity demands that we in turn condemn whatever endangers the integrity of any person. A solidarity that summons us to fight all forms of corruption, especially spiritual corruption. The latter is “a comfortable and selfsatisfied form of blindness. Everything then appears acceptable: deception, slander, egotism and other subtle forms of self-centeredness, for ‘even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light’ (2 Cor 11:14)” (“Gaudete et Exsultate,” 165). St. Paul’s exhortation to suffer with those who suffer is the best antidote against all our attempts to repeat the words of Cain: “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

(Gn 4:9).

I am conscious of the effort and work being carried out in various parts of the world to come up with the necessary means to ensure the safety and protection of the integrity of children and of vulnerable adults, as well as implementing zero tolerance and ways of making all those who perpetrate or cover up these crimes accountable. We have delayed in applying these actions and sanctions that are so necessary, yet I am confident that they will help to guarantee a greater culture of care in the present and future.

Together with those efforts, every one of the baptized should feel involved in the ecclesial and social change that we so greatly need. This change calls for a personal and communal conversion that makes us see things as the Lord does. For as St. John Paul II liked to say: “If we have truly started out anew from the contemplation of Christ, we must learn to see him especially in the faces of those with whom he wished to be identified” (“Novo Millennio Ineunte,” 49). To see things as the Lord does, to be where the Lord wants us to be, to experience a conversion of heart in his presence. To do so, prayer and penance will help. I invite the entire holy faithful People of God to a penitential exercise of prayer and fasting, following the Lord’s command. This can awaken our conscience and arouse our solidarity and commitment to a culture of care that says “never again” to every form of abuse.

It is impossible to think of a conversion of our activity as a Church that does not include the active participation of all the members of God’s people. Indeed, whenever we have tried to replace, or silence, or ignore, or reduce the People of God to small elites, we end up creating communities, projects, theological approaches, spiritualities and structures without roots, without memory, without faces, without bodies and ultimately, without lives. This is clearly seen in a peculiar way of understanding the Church’s authority, one common in many communities where sexual abuse and the abuse of power and conscience have occurred. Such is the case with clericalism, an approach that “not only nullifies the character of Christians, but also tends to diminish and undervalue the baptismal grace that the Holy Spirit has placed in the heart of our people.” Clericalism, whether fostered by priests themselves or by lay persons, leads to an excision in the ecclesial body that supports and helps to perpetuate many of the evils that we are condemning today. To say “no” to abuse is to say an emphatic “no” to all forms of clericalism.

It is always helpful to remember that “in salvation history, the Lord saved one people. We are never completely ourselves unless we belong to a people. That is why no one is saved alone, as an isolated individual.

Rather, God draws us to himself, taking into account the complex fabric of interpersonal relationships present in the human community. God wanted to enter into the life and history of a people” (“Gaudete et Exsultate,” 6).

Consequently, the only way that we have to respond to this evil that has darkened so many lives is to experience it as a task regarding all of us as the People of God. This awareness of being part of a people and a shared history will enable us to acknowledge our past sins and mistakes with a penitential openness that can allow us to be renewed from within. Without the active participation of all the Church’s members, everything being done to uproot the culture of abuse in our communities will not be successful in generating the necessary dynamics for sound and realistic change. The penitential dimension of fasting and prayer will help us as God’s people to come before the Lord and our wounded brothers and sisters as sinners imploring forgiveness and the grace of shame and conversion. In this way, we will come up with actions that can generate resources attuned to the Gospel. For “whenever we make the effort to return to the source and to recover the original freshness of the Gospel, new avenues arise, new paths of creativity open up, with different forms of expression, more eloquent signs and words with new meaning for today’s world” (“Evangelii Gaudium,” 11).

It is essential that we, as a Church, be able to

acknowledge and condemn, with sorrow and shame, the atrocities perpetrated by consecrated persons, clerics, and all those entrusted with the mission of watching over and caring for those most vulnerable. Let us beg forgiveness for our own sins and the sins of others. An awareness of sin helps us to acknowledge the errors, the crimes and the wounds caused in the past and allows us, in the present, to be more open and committed along a journey of renewed conversion.

Likewise, penance and prayer will help us to open our eyes and our hearts to other people’s sufferings and to overcome the thirst for power and possessions that are so often the root of those evils. May fasting and prayer open our ears to the hushed pain felt by children, young people and the disabled. A fasting that can make us hunger and thirst for justice and impel us to walk in the truth, supporting all the judicial measures that may be necessary. A fasting that shakes us up and leads us to be committed in truth and charity with all men and women of good will, and with society in general, to combating all forms of the abuse of power, sexual abuse and the abuse of conscience.

In this way, we can show clearly our calling to be “a sign and instrument of communion with God and of the unity of the entire human race” (“Lumen Gentium,” 1).

“If one member suffers, all suffer together with it,” said St. Paul. By an attitude of prayer and penance, we will become attuned as individuals and as a community to this exhortation, so that we may grow in the gift of compassion, in justice, prevention and reparation. Mary chose to stand at the foot of her Son’s cross. She did so unhesitatingly, standing firmly by Jesus’ side. In this way, she reveals the way she lived her entire life. When we experience the desolation caused by these ecclesial wounds, we will do well, with Mary, “to insist more upon prayer,” seeking to grow all the more in love and fidelity to the Church (St. Ignatius of Loyola, “Spiritual Exercises,” 319). She, the first of the disciples, teaches all of us as disciples how we are to halt before the sufferings of the innocent, without excuses or cowardice. To look to Mary is to discover the model of a true follower of Christ.

May the Holy Spirit grant us the grace of conversion and the interior anointing needed to express before these crimes of abuse our compunction and our resolve courageously to combat them.

OFFICIAL Archbishop Bernard Hebda has announced the following appointments in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis:

Effective August 10, 2018 Reverend Mario Castagnola, PES, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Mark in Saint Paul. Father Mario is a priest of Pro Ecclesia Sancta.

Reverend Miguel Jose Velez Nieves SEMV, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Francis de Sales in Saint Paul. Father Velez Nieves is a priest of the Servants of the Holy Eucharist and of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Reverend Alex Stewart, FSSP, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of All Saints in Minneapolis. Father Stewart is a priest of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter.

Effective August 15, 2018 Reverend Monsignor Aloysius Callaghan, appointed Vicar for Retired Priests for the Archdiocese and Archdiocesan Minister to Clergy. Monsignor Callaghan is Rector Emeritus of The St. Paul Seminary in Saint Paul and will continue to serve The St. Paul Seminary part time, and also provide weekend sacramental assistance at the Church of Saint Timothy in Maple Lake.

Reverend Gerard Saguto, FSSP, appointed pastor of the Church of All Saints in Minneapolis. Father Saguto is a priest of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter. The previous pastor, Reverend Peter Bauknecht, FSSP, has been reassigned outside of the Archdiocese by his religious superior.

Effective August 16, 2018 At his voluntary request, James H. Lannan has been released by Pope Francis from all priestly obligations.

SLICEof LIFE

4 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

LOCAL

SLICEof LIFE

AUGUST 23, 2018

Faith hike

Jen Messing, right, of St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony, gets ready to take a group of girls on a hike Aug. 9 at Jay Cooke State Park near Duluth during a retreat she led Aug. 6-10. She runs the nonprofit Into the Deep, which puts on retreats, discussion groups and talks for people of all ages to help them experience God and learn about theology of the body, which is based on a series of talks by St. John Paul II. This retreat was for girls entering sixth through eighth grade, and gave them the opportunity to hear short talks by Messing while on a walk along the St. Louis River, plus ask questions about God and the faith.

Hikers are, clockwise from front, Katia Szwejbka of Sts. Peter and Paul in Loretto, Anna Vaughan of St. Patrick in Hinckley, Rylie Schoenfelder (white shirt) of Holy Name of Jesus in Medina, Olive Laguna-Ohlsen (blue hat) of All Saints in Minneapolis, Elizabeth Franzese (top of head) of Ave Maria in Wheaton, Mary Karol Schmitz of St. Thomas the Apostle in Corcoran, Claire Brackenbury of St. Patrick in Hinckley, Eva Schwab of St. Anne in Hamel and Auryn Rayller of From condos to castles, St. Maximilian Kolbe in Delano. The performance exceeds promise other adult chaperone on the trip was Steph Bona (hidden from view) Kathy Kueppers ofSelling the Cathedral for all Your Buying and Needsof St. Paul in Cell: (651) 470-0675 DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT St. Paul.

These real estate agents can help you find your Ho Call Today

kathykueppers.realtor@gmail.com

Looking for your home

sweet home?

Office 651-452-3047

Kathy Kueppers REALTOR®, CRS Owner/Broker

Cell: (651) 470-0675 Office: (651) 365-0230

kathykueppers@realtyexecutives.com

33 E. Wentworth Ave. West St. Paul, MN 55118

Named a 2009 Super Real Estate Agent by Mpls./St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business

CHARMING 2 story, hardwood floors, natural woodwork, updated kitchen, master suite, large yard. Close to St Joseph’s school, parks, easy access to shopping, West St Paul $189,900.

From condos to castles, performance exceeds promise

Janis Powers

The Powers to Move You!

Kathy Kueppers Cell: (651) 470-0675 kathykueppers.realtor@gmail.com

Call Today

With historically Low Inventory of Homes for Sale, your home may be worth more than you realize. Call Today for a Free Home Value.

Buyers are Waiting! (Bloomington and Eagan are most needed)

The Sue Johnson Team is now Good Company Realty Group

Call us today! 651-329-1264

for all Your Buying and Selling Needs GoodCompanyRealtyGroup.com

Call/Text 612.636.7436 Office 651-452-3047 APPLE VALLEY Updated 3BR split – newer kitchen & bathrooms. Hardwood floors. Across from park. Enjoy summer w/ an in-ground pool, surrounded by a gorgeous patio. The bar opens to the patio for quick and easy refreshments. $279,900 Perfect for family entertaining.

Find me on www.janispowers@edinarealty.com

5BR/4BA 3400+ sq.

2 story in Blaine. $359,900.

• Low Down Payment for Best Buyers!

Wow! Homes areftSelling like hotcakes.

Sellers Market 4BR/ 4BA 4200+ sq. ft story in Plymouth $539,000. in 14 years.

What’s Your Home Worth?

Call Janis Today.

• Free Staging for Sellers!

4BR/2BA 1800+ sq. ft 4 level split in Maple Grove $230,000.

Peggyto Langeslay If you would like advertise plangeslay@cbburnet.com on this page, please call Now is the best time to sell Advertising your home.

The Catholic Spirit For best results, call Department at 651-291-4444

651-335-8515

Looking for your first home?

Down-sizing for March any reason?

Home SELLER Seminar March 9th 7-8pm OR 25th 9-10am, Sue Sue Johnson and Team the Good Company Realty Group can help.

The Johnson 651-690-8591 Call 651-329-1264 or e-mail: suejohnson@goodcorealty.com

Steve Conlin,Peggy GRI Langeslay

Direct: (651) 686-2033plangeslay@cbburnet.com Realtor/Broker www.Steve-Conlin.com Now is the best time to

Now is the best time to sell home. sellyour your home.

For best results, call

651-335-8515

1519 Central Parkway • Eagan, MN 55121

Maple Grove 4BR 4BA, 3700+ sq ft modified 2 story, Impeccable! $429,000.

Wayzata 4BR 4BA 2990 sq ft Lake Minnetonka views! $1,195,000 Mahtomedi 4BR 4BA 4200 sq ft 2 Story Historic residence $514,900.

Top notch s large or too 612-803-430

The Edge You Need!

If you would like to advertise in this space, please call The Catholic Spirit advertising department at 651-291-4444.

61

jjoha

LOCAL

AUGUST 23, 2018

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 5

Archdiocesan leaders: Goal is to pay abuse settlement to survivors by year-end

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit Survivors of clergy sex abuse with claims against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are likely to receive payment from its $210 million bankruptcy settlement before year-end.

An attorney representing the archdiocese said during an Aug. 9 bankruptcy hearing at the U.S. Courthouse in Minneapolis that the archdiocese intends for survivors to receive remuneration as soon as possible, and that survivors have asked for payment distribution by the end of 2018.

Judge Robert Kressel, the U.S. bankruptcy court judge overseeing the archdiocese’s bankruptcy case, scheduled a Sept. 25 hearing on the confirmation of the archdiocese’s plan for reorganization, which establishes a trust for payment distribution to abuse claimants. Prior to the Sept. 25 hearing, claimants will be balloted on whether they approve of the plan, and their votes are expected to inform Kressel’s decision on the plan’s confirmation.

Because the plan was reached consensually between the archdiocese and a committee representing abuse claimants, archdiocesan leaders expect most claimants will approve the plan, said Tom Abood, chairman of the archdiocese’s Reorganization Task Force.

“By Sept. 25, we hope to have confirmation of this plan,” he said following the hearing.

The $210 million plan agreement was announced May 31. The archdiocese entered bankruptcy in January 2015 in response to mounting claims of clergy sexual abuse against it.

iSTOCK | FERRER

Hearings for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ bankruptcy case have been held at the U.S. Courthouse in Minneapolis, above.

“We’re happy that we’re moving forward, and that the [Sept. 25] date has been set, and that it was a very amicable hearing today, just hearing how the people from different sides are working together on this,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda said following the hearing.

He added that having an end in sight “has to be good news to all.”

Archbishop Nienstedt steps away from Napa Institute

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit Archbishop John Nienstedt has “stepped aside from his responsibilities” at the Napa Institute, the Irvine, Californiabased organization announced Aug. 15. According to the institute, since 2016 Archbishop Nienstedt had been an independent contractor with the Napa Institute, where he edited its conference proceedings for publication, celebrated Masses and participated in its annual conference. The institute said it had been advised that there are no restrictions on Archbishop Nienstedt’s ministry.

Archbishop Nienstedt’s connections to the Napa Institute drew criticism from The American Conservative magazine senior editor Rod Dreher, who on his blog Aug. 6 accused the institute of being inconsistent in its stance against bishops accused of mishandling sexual abuse. The institute’s founder, Timothy Busch, published an article titled “Our Great Commission: The Call of the Laity to Holiness & Reform in Times of Scandal” which, in light of the credible abuse and sexual misconduct allegations against Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, said the institute would be “turning our attention toward the appropriate and authentic response to the reform necessary in the Church.”

Dreher said that the institute could not do that credibly while retaining connections to Archbishop Nienstedt, who resigned as the leader of the

Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis along with Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché in June 2015.

Their resignations followed the filing of criminal and civil charges by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office against the archdiocese in its handling of sexual abuse perpetrated by former priest Curtis Wehmeyer in 2010-2011. After Archbishop Nienstedt’s resignation, Pope Francis assigned Archbishop Bernard Hebda to lead the archdiocese temporarily, later making the assignment permanent.

The archdiocese settled the civil charges in 2015, and the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office dismissed the criminal charges in 2016.

In a statement he gave at the time of his resignation, Archbishop Nienstedt said he submitted his resignation to Pope Francis “in order to give the archdiocese a new beginning amidst the many challenges we face” and that he left “knowing that my team and I have put in place solid protocols to ensure protection of minors and vulnerable adults.”

As Dreher highlighted, Archbishop Nienstedt was also the focus of a sexual misconduct investigation he commissioned in 2014 following allegations about his time as a priest and bishop of Detroit and New Ulm. The investigation’s report, as well as a report from a follow-up investigation, was submitted to Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, then the U.S. papal representative.

Archbishop Nienstedt, who became archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 2008, has

maintained that the allegations of sexual misconduct are false. In an August 2016 statement to The Catholic Spirit following the release of documents related to the Ramsey County Attorney’s investigation into the archdiocese, he said that he believes “that the allegations have been made as a personal attack against me due to my unwavering stance on issues consistent with Church teaching, such as opposition to so-called same-sex marriage.”

He also said that he was “sorry for the way the archdiocese, under my leadership, addressed the allegations against Curtis Wehmeyer. As the archbishop, I should have asked more questions, I should have demanded more answers, and I should have insisted those within the archdiocesan administration at the time share more information with each other.”

In its Aug. 15 statement, the Napa Institute said that Archbishop Nienstedt’s leaving was “in light of the Napa Institute’s efforts to promote a faithful lay-led reform.”

“The Napa Institute is gathering together lay leaders to chart a new way forward that is both faithful to the Church’s hierarchical structure and committed to holding Church leadership accountable,” the statement said. “These leaders are working on concrete proposals for governance changes to avoid future scandals. As part of this effort, the Napa Institute will be hosting a conference in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 2, 2018, on authentic reform and the universal call to holiness.”

GHR Foundation cuts ties with Archbishop McCarrick

By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit St. Paul-based GHR Foundation has cut ties with Archbishop Theodore McCarrick in the wake of his removal from ministry due to credible accusations of sexual abuse and misconduct earlier this summer.

“We were completely stunned and shocked at these allegations,” said Amy Goldman, chief executive officer and chair of the GHR Foundation. “The day that they first surfaced on June 20, our governance committee met and suspended his role, honorary role, as director emeritus. And then subsequently, as additional allegations surfaced, we met and did sever all ties with him.”

From 2006 to 2016, formerly Cardinal McCarrick served on the board of the GHR Foundation. A Catholicinspired nonprofit, the foundation serves health, education and global development causes. Catholics Gerald and Henrietta Rauenhorst of St. Paul, the founders of Opus Group, a group of commercial real estate companies in Minnetonka, founded the GHR Foundation in 1965.

The foundation made $225,000 in grants for Archbishop McCarrick’s “Former Archbishop’s Fund” from 2006 through 2014. The fund, founded in 2006, aided charitable causes of the Archdiocese of Washington, where Archbishop McCarrick was appointed in 2000. The GHR Foundation gave a separate $80,000 grant to the Archdiocese of Washington in 2010. The GHR Foundation also gave $1 million annually, from 2007 to the present, to the Papal Foundation to support the pope’s work. Archbishop McCarrick co-founded the Papal Foundation in 1988.

Pope Francis removed Archbishop McCarrick from ministry in June following the credible accusations of abuse. The archbishop also resigned from the College of Cardinals in July.

“Our biggest concern is empathy and sadness for the victims of this misconduct,” Goldman said. “It does not at all conform with the standards we hold at GHR.”

Former delegates to Kitui send condolences after school bus crash

By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit Condolences poured in from former Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis delegates to Kitui, Kenya, in the wake of a school bus crash that killed 10 students and injured another 27 from St. Gabriel’s Boarding Primary School in Mwingi, Kenya, Aug. 4.

Mwingi is in the Diocese of Kitui, which has been in a solidarity partnership with the archdiocese since 2004.

Men and women who have traveled to Kitui sent messages over Facebook to members of the community, according to Janine Ricker, global mission outreach coordinator for the Center for Mission in the archdiocese, which oversees the partnership.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda also sent a letter of condolence to the community.

Every other year, the Dioceses of Kitui or the archdiocese sends a delegation to visit the other. A delegation from the archdiocese last went to Kitui in 2017, and a delegation from Kitui plans to visit the archdiocese in 2019. Past archdiocesan delegates have visited St. Gabriel school.

“It is sad and unfortunate that we lost such precious lives whose dreams and visions were cut shot by human error,” Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said Aug. 9, according to the Daily Nation newspaper in Kenya. “This tragedy could have been avoided had all the concerned parties adhered to the traffic laws.”

Archbishop Anthony Muheria of Nyeri, Kenya, presided over a Mass for the students and shared similar thoughts.

According to the Daily Nation, he “told the bereaved families to take heart in understanding that there’s life after death and urged Kenyans to pray for those who survived the accident and are still hospitalized.”

Archbishop Muheria is the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Kitui.

6 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

LOCAL

AUGUST 23, 2018

From farms to freeways Rosemount parish celebrates 150 years

By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit Dick Brand, 86, believes his farm family is one of the last of its kind at St. Joseph in Rosemount, a sprawling suburban parish that began as a mission in a farming community 150 years ago.

“It’s completely different. It was all farm families,” lifelong parishioner Brand said of the 1950s. “Sunday Mass was not only an obligation. ... We did look forward to church.”

He recalls fellow farmers “talking about their crops and what they did the past week [and] if we’re going to get rain” after Mass.

“It was a social,” he said.

St. Joseph has grown from a mission parish in 1865 to a suburban parish with more than 2,000 households. In that time, five other parishes have grown out of St. Joseph: All Saints, Lakeville, in 1877; Mary, Mother of the Church, Burnsville, in 1965; Risen Savior, Burnsville, in 1970; St. John Neumann, Eagan, in 1977; and St. Thomas Beckett, Eagan, in 1990.

John Loch, a St. Joseph historian, said the new parishes “split the congregation and parish families by at least a third, if not more, and then this last time, [with St. Thomas Beckett] it came down that we’re not splitting again.”

Loch and a host of parish volunteers have been helping St. Joseph celebrate its anniversary over the past year through artwork, archives and activities. Observances began last fall with tours of its two cemeteries to learn more about past parishioners, followed by a 40-part series of bulletin articles exploring parish history. St. Joseph’s biggest celebration will be Sept. 14-16 with its Harvest Festival.

The Harvest Festival itself has a throwback feel, parish staff members said. The parish had a harvest festival

COURTESY ST. JOSEPH

for many years, but the celebration was reestablished last year after a long hiatus. In lieu of the Harvest Festival, St. Joseph hosted an annual fall dinner.

As part of its sesquicentennial, St. Joseph’s historical committee produced a DVD with interviews of longtime parishioners and a book about the parish. The committee also compiled a timeline of the history that will be displayed. St. Joseph Catholic School students and staff worked together last school year on a mosaic that will commemorate the parish history.

St. Joseph’s principal, Kelly Roche, has roots in the parish going back six generations. She said her greatgrandfather helped in the construction of its 1924 church, both she and her mother attended the school, and her grandmother will be in one of the parish history DVD interviews. Roche previously taught second grade at the school, and her children now attend it.

“I knew everybody, and I felt like I could hand my baby off,” Roche recalled about her time as a new mother in the parish. “And I still feel that [sense of community] every time I come to Mass.”

Newer and longer-term parishioners alike describe a strong sense of community in the parish, even as it has grown.

“Each year, we have a ministry fair, and it’s amazing just how many things are going on here,” said Randy Haney,

St. Joseph’s parish director.

Members of six commissions work with the parish council and pastor, Father Paul Kammen, to oversee the many facets of parish life. Parish council member Dave Berg said commissions “are a structure where you’re getting a lot of input from a large group of parishioners.”

The city of Rosemount began with Irish settlers who arrived to farm in the 1850s. German immigrants followed, but the city most visibly identifies with its Irish heritage, with Irish pubs and banners on the light poles along its main street. The high school has an Irish mascot, and the community celebrates Leprechaun Days annually.

Constructed in 2003, the current church is St. Joseph’s fourth. When the parish incorporated in 1865, its first church stood near the intersection of present-day Pilot Knob Road and Dodd Boulevard in Lakeville. It was destroyed by a tornado in 1881. One of the parish’s two cemeteries remains there.

The parish built a second church slightly north of the first, and it was the parish’s home until the 1920s.

In 1924, the parish built a third church and used it until 2003. A school followed in 1953; it was run by the Congregation of Sisters of St. Agnes until 1985.

The former church remains a major fixture on the north end of Rosemount’s main street, Highway 3.

When the parish outgrew the space, it

Parishioners of St. Joseph, Rosemount, pose in front of their church in 1911 during a ceremony to dedicate Stations of the Cross. The parish has since built two other churches, most recently in 2003. It is celebrating its 150th anniversary.

sold the church to the city, which now uses it as a community arts center, known as the Steeple Center, a nod to its impressive steeple towering over the doorway.

Prior to the explosion in Rosemountarea development in the 2000s and 2010s, the parish purchased 29 acres of land along Biscayne Avenue and constructed a new church, where the parish moved in 2003. St. Joseph’s school remained at the Highway 3 location until the 2009 completion of a new school building adjacent to the church.

As part of the parish’s anniversary efforts, volunteers are working on placing an electronic sign at the north end of Biscayne Avenue to promote the parish and school. The parish is also planning to launch a capital campaign.

“We in administration have been working with the parish life folks and the 150th committee for a year-and-ahalf to put things in place to make the anniversary have as high an impact as possible,” said John Peterson, a parishioner who serves on the administrative committee.

Haney believes the present parish and school campus will serve both long into the future, perhaps another 150 years.

He credits the parishioners who purchased and planned the current church site.

“They were visionaries, in my mind,” he said.

Church of St. Patrick’s

Fall Festival in September Inver Grove Heights, MN The Church of St. Patrick’s Fall Festival will be the weekend of Sept.13-16

Thursday’s events start with a rummage sale. Saturday will feature a taco dinner, hot dogs, bingo, silent auction and other games & activities.

Sunday begins at 11:30 a.m., after Mass, and includes a roast pork dinner, festival food court, silent auction, kid’s games, a beer tent, bingo, bottle shoppe, pull tabs, country store, cookie and bar walk.

There will also be a Classic Motor Show, from noon to 4 p.m.

All activities on the parish grounds.

3535 72nd St., Inver Grove Heights

LOCAL

AUGUST 23, 2018

VIGIL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “My childhood priest was on the list, and it [abuse] was speculated back when he was removed in 2006.

He just kind of disappeared,” said Furdock, 27, a parishioner of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis.

“It’s been really difficult,” he added. “Here, it’s a national headline that I think everyone can grieve [about], but being from there, having that relationship to the Church ... it’s painful.”

The prayer vigil included evening prayer from the Church’s Liturgy of the Hours and petitions related to abuse survivors and the scandal.

Many attendees held candles. Most were in their 20s and 30s and came from parishes across the Twin Cities.

A group of young adult Catholics have been meeting for informal discussions in the wake of recent clergy sexual abuse revelations, including the Pennsylvania report, credible allegations of abuse against Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, and accusations of sexual harassment against a former vocations director in the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, who died in 2008. Those gatherings led a few attendees to organize the Aug. 20 vigil, after discussions sparked a desire to bring people together to pray for the abuse victims and the Church.

They spread news of the event by word-of-mouth and social media.

“We don’t know where to begin. So join us for evening prayer and intercessions,” began the Facebook invitation. “It will be a simple evening on the steps of the Cathedral to pray for the Lord’s healing, mercy, justice to be made present in these dark times. It is also

an opportunity for us, as young adults, to band together and not be swayed by the evil that is so clearly present.”

“The fact that there were so many people here, I think, is a really huge sign of hope that people haven’t become so bitter that they don’t want to pray for the Church anymore,” said Jenny Lippert, 26, a parishioner of St. Paul in Ham Lake, about the vigil.

In the intercessions, the young adults prayed for healing for abuse victims, the souls of deceased victims who committed suicide, the cleansing of the Church, sorrow for sins, for righteous anger, the courage to take action, and an “end to deceit and abuse” among Church leadership. They also prayed for clergy and religious men and women to be inspired and for the Lord to inspire more holy vocations.

Tucker Moore, 26, a Basilica parishioner, wrote the vigil’s petitions.

“I thought it was especially important to pray for survivors of clerical abuse first and foremost, that being our mission as members of the Church: to open our hearts to a deeper level of compassion and understanding,” Moore said.

Jenny Lippert’s husband, Jonah, said he appreciated that the petition response was “Lord, save your people and heal your Church.”

“It wasn’t like, ‘We’re going to fix this [or] some angry mob is going to riot and force, impose their will in some vengeful way,” he said. “It was a sense of what we need is the love of God, and he’s guiding the Church, and his Holy Spirit’s going to take care of things, and we’re looking forward to that.”

Gathering for prayer didn’t negate

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 7

the feelings of pain many Catholics are experiencing in response to the recent scandals.

“It was disturbing and very disheartening to hear that it was happening ... behind closed doors in our Church,” said Katy Manders, 24, a parishioner of St. Agnes in St. Paul who attended the vigil, about sexual abuse in the Church.

Four priests, including Cathedral rector Father John Ubel, attended the vigil, as did Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who prayed in the back of the crowd. Father Paul Baker, parochial vicar of St. Vincent de Paul in Brooklyn Park, decided to attend, at the invitation of another priest, to personally offer reparation for sins committed by clergy against children and for failures in the Church to prevent abuse.

“It’s just completely tragic and awful, just to see what has gone on,” Father Baker said. “I really just think it would behoove all dioceses and religious orders just to completely come clean with what they have, so we can definitively put this behind us.”

After the prepared petitions, some young adults, including Furdock, came forward to voice their own prayers regarding the clergy sex abuse crisis. He said he believes the prayer vigil was a step the laity need to take in facing the crisis.

“It was beneficial to get together with the Catholic community here [in the Twin Cities], which is super strong,” he said, adding that he found hope in “the fact that [young adults] would put this on [and] take the time to do that out of their busy weekday schedule, and to simply offer up prayers for all those that are abused.”

49th

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Rachel Carrell of Chicago, left, talks with Julia Baier of Nativity of Mary in Bloomington Aug. 11 at the Blessed is She retreat at St. Mark in St. Paul.

Women’s retreat speakers: Go wild

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit “What’s the wildest thing you’ve ever done?”

That was emcee Laura Kelly Fanucci’s question to speakers as she introduced them during a Blessed is She retreat in St. Paul.

The theme of the retreat was “Wild,” but the leaders were clear that they didn’t mean hedonistic.

Rather, the “wild” they described was the “wildness” of God, and the wildness of a woman’s complete surrender to his love and will for her life.

The Aug. 10-11 retreat was the first one Blessed is She has held in St. Paul. It was one of seven regional retreats the Arizona-based, international Catholic women’s ministry is holding this year in the U.S. and Ireland. Held at St. Mark in St. Paul, it drew about 315 women from at least 13 states and Australia.

The retreat began Friday evening with a speaker, praise-and-worship music and eucharistic adoration, and continued Saturday with other speakers, confession, prayer, music, adoration and Mass celebrated by Bishop Andrew Cozzens.

It featured local and national speakers. Fanucci — an author, Blessed is She contributor and parishioner of St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove — shared her testimony. Other speakers included Beth Davis, Blessed is She’s director of ministry advancement, and Patty Breen, a lay minister from Michigan.

ANNUAL WILD RICE FESTIVAL AND CHICKEN DINNER

Germanfest at St. Mary’s Church

Friday, Sept. 7, 2018 Food, Beer, Music 5:00 p.m.~10:00 p.m.

21 and older Celebrate 150+ years of our German national parish on the Friday before the Wild Rice Festival outside under the tents and stars!

St. Mary’s Church

423 S. 5th St., Stillwater

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2018 Dinner served from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Adults $10 • Children 4-10 $5 • 3 & under FREE • Wild Rice • Chicken • Potatoes • Relishes • Rolls • Fruit Pie Kids and Teens Games, Crafts, Homemade Quilts, Bingo, Silent Auction

8 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

AUGUST 23, 2018

NATION+WORLD

Pennsylvania grand jury says Church was interested in hiding abuse

By Rhina Guidos Catholic News Service A Pennsylvania grand jury report issued Aug. 14 paints a picture of a Catholic Church in six of the state’s dioceses that for decades handled claims of sex abuse of minors under its care by hiding the allegations and brushing aside its victims.

More than 300 priests were linked to abuse claims and over 1,000 victims were identified, said Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro in a news conference following the report’s release.

“The main thing was not to help children but to avoid ‘scandal,’” says a biting sentence about the behavior of Church leaders and officials in the report, detailing a months-long investigation of clergy sex abuse claims in the dioceses of Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Allentown, Scranton, Greensburg and Erie.

The report of almost 1,400 pages covers a period of 70 years into the past, including information from the early 2000s, a time when news of the clerical sex abuse scandal erupted in the U.S. Before its release, some urged that the report be read keeping in mind that a lot has changed in the Church since then, and also that not all of the report’s claims are substantiated.

In the Diocese of Pittsburgh, for example, a few priests named in the report are still working there because diocesan officials could not substantiate claims of abuse made against them, Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik told local reporters Aug. 10.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper reported that Bishop Zubik said: “There is no priest or deacon in an assignment today against whom there was a substantiated allegation of child sexual abuse.” He said he would explain the process to parishioners following the report’s release.

But there are many painful claims.

In the news conference, Shapiro described allegations of a priest who physically molested a group of children by telling them he was doing a “cancer check,” one who he said “impregnated” a girl and then helped her get an abortion, others who had boys strike a religious pose naked to take pictures of them. Shapiro spoke of a “systematic cover-up” by Church officials who took information to the Vatican, who also did nothing to help victims. He also spoke of priests who “weaponized faith” and had the victims go to confession for the sins that had just been committed against them.

Some of those who testified before the grand jury were present for the release of the report. Reporter Brandie Kessler, of The York Daily Record, tweeted: “Victims and family members are being led in. I’m UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Chapter 11 Reorganization Proceeding (Case No. 15-30125) NOTICE OF (I) JOINT PLAN OBJECTION DEADLINE AND (II) JOINT PLAN CONFIRMATION HEARING PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that on June 28, 2018 The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis (the “Archdiocese”), the Debtor and Debtor-inPossession in the captioned bankruptcy proceeding and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (the “UCC”) filed a joint chapter 11 plan of reorganization dated June 28, 2018 [Docket No. 1198], (as amended, the “Joint Plan”) and a disclosure statement with respect to the Joint Plan dated June 28, 2018 [Docket No. 1199] (the “Disclosure Statement”) under Section 1125 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”). On August 13, 2018 the Bankruptcy Court approved the Disclosure Statement [Docket No. 1226]. Terms not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to them in the Joint Plan.

The Joint Plan provides the means for settling and paying all Claims asserted against the Archdiocese, including Tort Claims related to sexual abuse or misconduct. Under the Joint Plan a Trust will be established for the benefit of Tort Claimants. The Trust will be funded by contributions made by the Archdiocese, Protected Parties and Settling Insurers. The Protected Parties are defined in the Joint Plan to include the Catholic Entities (including all past and present Parishes in the Archdiocese), the Catholic Annual Appeal Foundation, the Catholic Youth Camp, the Catholic Youth Center, Benilde-St. Margaret School, DeLaSalle High School, Grace High School d/b/a Totino-Grace

seeing a few people starting to cry.”

Some bishops from the six dioceses named responded almost immediately after the release.

“I read the grand jury report on child sexual abuse with great sadness, for once again we read that innocent children were the victims of horrific acts committed against them,” said Harrisburg’s Bishop Ronald Gainer in a statement shortly after the document’s release. “I am saddened because I know that behind every story is a child precious in God’s sight; a child who has been wounded by the sins of those who should have known better.”

Bishop Lawrence Persico of Erie appeared in a news conference and took questions shortly after the report’s release, saying he wanted to address the victims and spoke of their “unimaginable pain” and suffering.

“You were betrayed by people holding themselves out as servants of God,” he said. “Each one of you has your own story with pain and grief that is unique to you I don’t presume to know … I want to assure you that you are not responsible in any way for what happened to you.”

He said he offered “sincere apologies” for each of victims.

“Because of the report, the public will begin to understand your pain in a new way,” he said, pledging that the Diocese of Erie would not “shroud abusers in secrecy no matter who they are and how long ago it took place.”

Bishop Zubik said in a statement, “We are sorry, I am sorry. I take this report to heart. It is a story of peoples’ lives.”

“No one who has read it can be unaffected,” he said, including many who are themselves victims of child sexual abuse, and its that details would reopen wounds.

But no doubt some would feel “betrayed” by the Church, too, he added.

“Today, I again apologize to any person or family whose trust, faith and well-being has been devastated by men who were ordained to be the image of Christ,” he wrote. “Ever since I first met victims of clergy child sexual abuse in 1988, I have seen the immense pain that this crime causes to its victims, to their loved ones and to the heart of Jesus. Their words break my heart. I have cried with them and for them over the damage done to them and their families by men whose lives should have been committed to protecting their souls from harm. I dedicate myself to helping them and to doing everything possible to prevent such abuse from happening again.”

He said the report points out instances in the past

when the Church did not respond effectively to victims.

“Swift and firm responses to allegations should have started long before they did,” he said. “For that I express profound regret.”

The grand jury said it found in its investigation that those who claimed sexual abuse of their own or of their children by Catholic clergy or other Church workers were “brushed aside,” and officials became more concerned with protecting the abusers because they wanted to protect the image of the Church, the report says.

Some of those named in the report had their names redacted, or blacked out, after challenging the inclusion of their identities in it without having the legal opportunity to defend themselves. They are scheduled to have a hearing with the court in September.

Some of the dioceses involved said they would release the names of those facing “credible allegations” in the report when the document was made public, and some of them did so immediately.

The Diocese of Erie added five names to its list Aug. 14 and those names were not included in the grand jury report, said Bishop Persico. Some, such as the Diocese of Harrisburg, made its list public Aug. 1, updating it Aug. 6, adding the name of an accused priest to it after receiving “additional information.”

“We again emphasize that this is a list of accusations; we did not make assessments of credibility or guilt in creating this list,” a statement from the diocese said.

Not all who are accused of sexual abuse or of covering it up in the report are priests. Some on the lists released by dioceses are deacons, some are seminarians, teachers or other Church workers, and some are no longer alive.

Some are accused of being in possession of child pornography, others of inappropriate touching, kissing, soliciting a child for sex, but most are listed as “sexually abusing a child.”

Following the sex abuse crisis in 2000, the U.S. bishops in 2002 approved procedures and protocols for addressing allegations of abuse. But Shapiro seemed to cast doubt that it was enough.

“They claimed to have changed their ways,” he said.

The development comes as the Catholic Church in the United States finds itself grappling with the late July resignation from the College of Cardinals of a formerly beloved and respected retired prelate, now-Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, 88, of Washington, following decades-old allegations that he sexually abused seminarians and at least two minors. He has been removed from public ministry, as of June 20, and is awaiting a Vatican trial.

High School, Saint Paul Seminary, St. John Vianney Seminary and all insureds under insurance policies issued or allegedly issued to the Archdiocese, the Catholic Entities, and the Seminaries by the Settling Insurer Entities. The Settling Insurers are defined in the Joint Plan to include substantially all of the insurance companies issuing or allegedly issuing insurance policies to the Archdiocese, the Catholic Entities and Seminaries. Complete lists of Protected Parties and Settling Insurers are included in the Joint Plan. IF YOU HOLD CLAIMS AGAINST THE ARCHDIOCESE, SETTLING INSURERS OR PROTECTED PARTIES, YOUR RIGHTS MAY BE AFFECTED.

BARRING ALL CLAIMS BY ANY PERSON OR ENTITY AGAINST THE SETTLING INSURER ENTITIES RELATING TO (A) ALL INSURANCE POLICIES ISSUED OR ALLEGEDLY ISSUED TO THE ARCHDIOCESE OR PROTECTED PARTIES, OR (B) TORT CLAIMS RESULTING IN WHOLE OR IN PART FROM SEXUAL ABUSE OR MISCONDUCT.

THE JOINT PLAN PROVIDES THAT ALL TORT CLAIMS RELATED TO SEXUAL ABUSE OR MISCONDUCT AGAINST THE ARCHDIOCESE, THE PROTECTED PARTIES, THE SETTLING INSURERS, AND CERTAIN RELATED ENTITIES (THE “SETTLING INSURER ENTITIES,” AS SPECIFICALLY DEFINED IN THE JOINT PLAN) WILL BE CHANNELED TO THE TRUST, MEANING THAT THE TRUST WILL BE THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE SOURCE OF PAYMENT FOR ANY SUCH CLAIMS AGAINST THE ARCHDIOCESE, SETTLING INSURER ENTITIES, AND PROTECTED PARTIES. AS PART OF THE JOINT PLAN, THE ARCHDIOCESE AND UCC WILL SEEK THE ENTRY OF AN ORDER PERMANENTLY ENJOINING AND BARRING ALL PERSONS AND ENTITIES FROM ASSERTING OR PURSUING TORT CLAIMS OR CLAIMS OTHERWISE COVERED BY THE INSURANCE POLICIES BUT FOR THE INSURANCE SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS, OR ANY OTHER CLAIM RELATED TO SEXUAL ABUSE OR MISCONDUCT AND INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR SUCH CLAIMS AGAINST THE ARCHDIOCESE, PROTECTED PARTIES AND THE SETTLING INSURER ENTITIES, AND RELEASING THE ARCHDIOCESE, THE PROTECTED PARTIES, AND THE SETTLING INSURER ENTITIES FROM ANY FURTHER LIABILITY RELATING TO TORT CLAIMS, INSURANCE COVERAGE, AND ANY CLAIMS OTHERWISE INSURED

BY SUCH INSURANCE POLICIES. IN ADDITION, THE ARCHDIOCESE AND UCC WILL SEEK THE ENTRY OF AN ORDER PERMANENTLY

Copies of the Joint Plan and Disclosure Statement are on file with the Court, 200 Warren E. Burger Federal Building and United States Courthouse, 316 North Robert Street, St. Paul, MN 55101. Copies of the Joint Plan and Disclosure Statement may be obtained by (a) contacting J. Zahler at the Archdiocese at 777 Forest Street, Saint Paul, MN 55106, email: zahler@archspm.org, phone: (651) 291-4486, fax: (651) 290-1629 during normal business hours; (b) visiting the Archdiocese’s website at: http://information.archspm.org/; or (c) visiting the website of United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota at http://www. mnb.uscourts.gov/. A PACER login and password are required to access documents on the Bankruptcy Court’s website and these can be obtained through the PACER Service Center at www.pacer.psc. uscourts.gov.

Objections to the Joint Plan must be filed with the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota and served under the Minnesota Local Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure by no later than September 18, 2018.

If objections are timely filed, they will be considered at the hearing on confirmation of the Joint Plan and approval of the Insurance Settlement Agreements to be held on September 25, 2018, at 10:00 a.m. before the Honorable Robert J. Kressel, United States Bankruptcy Judge, Courtroom 15 East, United States Courthouse, 300 South Fourth Street, Minneapolis, MN. THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SAINT PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS

AUGUST 23, 2018

NATION+WORLD

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 9

Abuse survivors say they felt hurt by ordinary Catholics’ lack of compassion

By Zita Ballinger Fletcher Catholic News Service Sexual assault victims say they were hurt not only by individual priests, but by Church officials and ordinary Catholics who treated them with intolerance and indifference.

Many of them have not been to a Catholic church in years. They say the hardhearted attitudes of diocesan officials, staff and ordinary churchgoers and an atmosphere at their parishes allowed the abuse.

“Being raised Catholic, I remember — you don’t speak out against your own church,” said Jim VanSickle, a clergy sexual abuse survivor from Bradford, Pennsylvania. “Nobody’s going to listen to you.”

Of the four survivors of sexual assaults by priests who shared their stories with Catholic News Service, several of them belonged to what they described as extremely traditional parishes and were attacked as vulnerable children. Their view of Catholicism changed when fellow believers showed them no compassion and acted to protect selfish interests.

“I’ve known others that came forward. They were ridiculed and ostracized — even by their own family members,” said VanSickle, 55. He stood next to Attorney General Josh Shapiro when grand jury findings were released to the public Aug. 14. He had suffered silently for 37 years after being sexually abused by a priest at age 16.

“We lived in a neighborhood where most of the people in the subdivision were Catholic. Everything in our lives revolved around the Church,” said Judy Larson, a survivor in Utah who is retired and in her 70s.

“To be in that kind of environment and try to say something horrible happened to you, by a person everybody thinks is a god on earth, you’re all alone.”

‘I deal with it every single day’ The abuses these survivors suffered at the hands of priests were not crimes of passion, they said, but cold exploitations of control. Most victims were not aware that their attackers were serial abusers. Each felt alone when he or she was victimized.

“I think it’s opportunistic,” VanSickle said. “I feel like I was targeted.”

“It’s a lifelong impact. I deal with it every single day,” said survivor Michael Norris, a chemical engineer in Houston. He said he was abused by a priest in Louisville, Kentucky, at age 10. After many years of struggle, he revealed the truth to his devout parents at a point when he “couldn’t take it anymore.”

When he acted to report the abuse, he and his family members were mistreated by fellow Catholics in the Archdiocese of Louisville, he said.

“They discredited me,” he said. “Probably the biggest disappointment in my life was how the Church responded to my accusations. Maybe I was naive, but I expected them to believe my story and take action.

When they didn’t do what I saw as morally right, I became more disillusioned with their teachings.”

Survivors also faced a stigma caused by sexual assault. The victims were molested at an age when they did not know about sex. Confused, they realized what happened when they grew up. Feeling disgust, anger and shame, they feared hostile reactions from their traditional communities.

“When I was growing up, we were told, ‘It would be better for you to die than lose your virtue.’ This was told to me in fourth grade,” said Larson. “I didn’t know what ‘lose your virtue’ meant.”

She was raped by a priest one year later at age 10.

After realizing the truth as an adult, she did not tell her parents. She said she knew they would not listen, since it was taboo to speak ill of a priest or nun in their presence.

Some Catholics viewed sex as scandalous and treated victims as if they were contaminated, survivors said.

“People say, ‘You’re a bad person,’ or ‘You must have wanted it,’” said VanSickle. “It’s amazing that they attack their own people. They attack their own faithful.”

‘I can’t set foot in another church’ The survivors are disillusioned with the way Church

CNS

LOCAL RESOURCES FOR SURVIVORS In the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, sexual abuse survivors’ first contact should be law enforcement, said Tim O’Malley, director of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment for the archdiocese. The archdiocese’s website, archspm.org, links to contact information for sheriffs’ offices in Minnesota, accessible under the red “report abuse” button on its main page.

“Our first advice is always to go to the police, but we have tried to open up other avenues for victims/survivors if we can be of help,” said O’Malley, who brought his extensive law enforcement experience to the archdiocese in 2014 when he took the job of overseeing its restructured safe environment, victims assistance and ministerial standards efforts.

Among the “avenues” O’Malley referred to is Tom Johnson, named by the archdiocese and Ramsey County Attorney’s Office in January as the ombudsman for abuse survivors in the archdiocese. A former Hennepin County attorney and longtime child advocate, Johnson told The Catholic Spirit that his role was to listen in confidentiality and to help survivors navigate their next steps.

“It’s most important that [victims/survivors] find someone whom they can tell their story to,” he said in January, shortly after he assumed the role, a volunteer position that does not report to the archdiocese. “Then we can figure out what to do. Maybe they need time. Maybe we can get them working with someone who can bring them further along in terms of their comfort in dealing with it. ... These are going to all be so unique. That’s why [confidentiality] is so important.”

Within the mission statement of the Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment is “helping those affected by abuse in their healing journey.”

To that end, the archdiocese also partners with Canvas Health, an independent mental heath care and human services provider in the Twin Cities, to offer 24/7 assistance at 612-379-6363. The archdiocese also offers a Victims Assistance Program, which can be contacted at 651-291-4475. “Referrals and financial support for counseling, individual or group therapy, and spiritual advising or direction are offered to help you in healing,” the archdiocese’s website states. Additionally, the archdiocese promotes, but is not involved with, several Twin Cities area groups for clergy sexual abuse survivors.

In a July 20 column, Pioneer Press columnist Rubén Rosario quoted Bob Schwiderski, a clergy abuse survivor and former president of Minnesota’s chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, who said that he’s seen improvement in the archdiocese’s response to survivors.

“The primary difference between Tim and Mike [Campion, assistant director of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment] and all the others I wrestled with at the archdiocese is they are not clerics,” he told Rosaio. “I found O’Malley to be a man of his word, a person I found I could trust.”

— The Catholic Spirit officials handle abuse cases. This disillusionment has affected their personal beliefs.

Norris is no longer Christian. “I personally can’t set foot in another church because of what’s happened and the way I was treated,” he said.

Jim VanSickle sits Aug. 20 in front of St. Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh, a church with which he would like to reconcile someday. VanSickle told a Pennsylvania grand jury that he was sexually abused by a priest as a teenager in Bradford, Pa.

Larson hasn’t been inside a church in over 50 years.

“For a lot of us, going to church is a triggering experience. It’s re-traumatizing to victims,” she said.

VanSickle said he has strong belief in Jesus and remains a Christian. His family members are Catholic.

He welcomes interactions with Catholics and wishes to be reconciled with the Church, but wants the institution to change first.

“To be away from the Eucharist in my life is a hard thing to deal with because of my belief as a Catholic,” he said. “But I can’t reconcile myself with the Church until I see change.”

They feel sorry for Catholics who are struggling with their beliefs in light of the recent grand jury report. Norris and VanSickle say they do not wish for Catholics to lose their faith.

‘Happy that this ... is coming to light’ Despite the pain caused by recent revelations, they hope change will result.

“It reopens a wound from the past for me as a survivor. But I’m also extremely happy that this information is coming to light,” said survivor Mike McDonnell, a specialist at a drug and alcohol treatment facility in Philadelphia, regarding the recent grand jury report. “It is vindication and validation for many survivors and victims.”

He believes the Church needs to stop withholding information about abuse and be honest with the public. “It will invite people back to the Catholic Church once they see that the Church is not just publicly making a statement that ‘we’re sorry,’” he said.

As the Church hierarchy considers change, Catholics can make simple changes in their homes and parishes.

According to Larson, the average age for a clergy sexual abuse victim to come forward is 42. As child victims grow into adults, they begin to realize what happened to them — and fall silent due to religious and social pressures. Ordinary Catholics can solve this problem, she said, by treating others around them with openheartedness instead of moral superiority.

“Be compassionate,” said Larson, sharing her advice to families coping with revelations of abuse. “Believe your family member. They’re in pain. And they’ve held this terrible secret for many, many years because of their fear of your reaction when they tell you.”

One of the hardest things Norris experienced in his life was the shattering effect of the abuse on his parents. They did not find out about it until they were much older. One of the last things his father expressed on his deathbed was sorrow for what had happened.

VanSickle said a family’s first responsibility is to love and believe a child who speaks out about sexual abuse by clergy.

“They need to wrap their arms around that kid and make them feel safe. That never happened for me,” he said. “You need to hug and protect your child first.

Deal with the Church after.”

McDonnell said victims recover with support from others, including fellow survivors.

“Part of the healing process is coming forward. I’m only as sick as my secrets,” he added. “Talk to somebody.”

10 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

USCCB CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Archbishop McCarrick abused a minor nearly 47 years ago and accusations of his sexual misconduct with seminarians, many have been asking how the prelate could have risen up the ranks of the Church as an auxiliary bishop, bishop, archbishop and finally cardinal.

Cardinal DiNardo described the second and third goals, respectively, as an opening of new and confidential channels for reporting complaints against bishops, and advocacy for more effective resolution of future complaints.

The three goals “will be pursued according to three criteria: proper independence, sufficient authority and substantial leadership by laity,” he said.

“We are faced with a spiritual crisis that requires not only spiritual conversion, but practical changes to avoid repeating the sins and failures of the past that are so evident in the recent report,” he added.

Cardinal DiNardo said the members of the Executive Committee “have already begun to develop a concrete plan for accomplishing these goals, relying upon consultation with experts, laity and clergy, as well as the Vatican.”

In addition to this being presented to the full body of bishops at their Baltimore assembly, the cardinal said he will go to Rome “to present these goals and criteria to the Holy See, and to urge further concrete steps based on them.”

“The overarching goal in all of this is stronger protections against predators in the Church and anyone who would conceal them, protections that will hold bishops to the highest standards of transparency and accountability,” Cardinal DiNardo explained.

He elaborated on each of the goals he described, starting with the “full investigation” of the Archbishop McCarrick case and questions surrounding it.

“These answers are necessary to prevent a recurrence,” he said, and “so help to protect minors, seminarians and others who are vulnerable in the future.”

The bishops will “invite the Vatican to conduct an

NATION+WORLD apostolic visitation to address these questions, in concert with a group of predominantly laypeople identified for their expertise by members of the National Review Board and empowered to act,” he said.

He said the second goal “is to make reporting of abuse and misconduct by bishops easier.” The third goal has to do with advocating for “better procedures to resolve complaints against bishops,” he said.

He also laid out the three criteria for pursing these goals: “genuine independence,” authority and “substantial involvement by the laity.”

“Any mechanism for addressing any complaint against a bishop must be free from bias or undue influence by a bishop,” he said. “Our structures must preclude bishops from deterring complaints against them, from hampering their investigation, or from skewing their resolution.”

Regarding authority in the Church, he said, “Because only the pope has authority to discipline or remove bishops, we will assure that our measures will both respect that authority and protect the vulnerable from the abuse of ecclesial power.”

In closing, he said, “I apologize and humbly ask your forgiveness for what my brother bishops and I have done and failed to do.”

“Whatever the details may turn out to be regarding Archbishop McCarrick or the many abuses in Pennsylvania (or anywhere else), we already know that one root cause is the failure of episcopal leadership,” Cardinal DiNardo said. “The result was that scores of beloved children of God were abandoned to face an abuse of power alone. This is a moral catastrophe.

“It is also part of this catastrophe that so many faithful priests who are pursuing holiness and serving with integrity are tainted by this failure.”

He said the U.S. bishops “firmly resolve, with the help of God’s grace, never to repeat it.”

“I have no illusions about the degree to which trust in the bishops has been damaged by these past sins and failures. It will take work to rebuild that trust,” Cardinal DiNardo said.

AUGUST 23, 2018

POPE TO MEET SURVIVORS Pope Francis will meet survivors of sexual abuse during his trip to Ireland Aug. 25-26, but it will be up to the survivors to decide whether any information about the meeting will be released, said the director of the Vatican press office.

Greg Burke, press director, told reporters Aug. 21 that from the moment the Vatican decided the World Meeting of Families 2018 would be in Dublin, it was clear that the pope would have to acknowledge the crimes committed against thousands of Irish Catholics by priests in parishes and by priests, religious brothers and nuns in schools, orphanages and other institutions.

The date, time and location of the meeting and the list of survivors invited will not be released until after the meeting, and then only with the permission of the survivors taking part, Burke said.

Pope Francis wants the trip to focus on families, Burke said, which is why he is not going to Northern Ireland on the same visit. Even the moments dictated by protocol — for example, meetings with government officials — will focus on the family, he said.

Asked whether the pope and the Vatican were concerned that with renewed media attention on clerical sexual abuse the theme would overshadow the pope’s focus on the family, Burke responded, “Any trip to Ireland was not only going to be about the family.”

In discussing the individual events on the pope’s schedule in Ireland, the spokesman also mentioned that Aug. 25 Pope Francis would begin his visit to Dublin’s co-cathedral by praying silently before a candle in the Blessed Sacrament chapel that burns for the abuse survivors.

Without providing details, Burke also said the pope would talk about abuse in at least one of his speeches during the trip.

The trip comes in the midst of allegations that a top Vatican official tried to get Irish government officials to support deals that would protect Church records of abuse allegations and limit the financial liability of the Church.

— Cindy Wooden, CNS

NATION+WORLD

AUGUST 23, 2018

HEADLINES

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 11

An Original Gospel Charism, Yesterday and Today

uPriest attacked in church; assailant cited abuse scandal. A Byzantine Catholic priest was attacked Aug. 20 in the altar servers’ sacristy of his church in Merrillville, near Gary, in the northwestern part of Indiana. The priest, Father Basil Hutsko, suffered a concussion in the attack at St. Michael Church, and was scheduled to undergo further tests to determine the extent of his injuries. According to a Facebook post, “Before going unconscious, Father Basil heard the attacker say, ‘This is for all the kids!’” — a reference to clergy sex abuse scandals that have resurfaced in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Father Hutsko, who is in his 60s, is not suspected of any abuse. uBoston cardinal apologizes for process that kept letter from reaching him. Cardinal Sean O’Malley said Aug. 20 that he takes full responsibility for office procedures that resulted in him never being notified about a June 2015 letter sent from a New York priest to his attention regarding “sexual abuse/ harassment/intimidation” allegations concerning Archbishop Theodore McCarrick. Cardinal O’Malley is president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. uMaryknoll among religious groups fighting physical, sexual violence against kids in Peru. The Catholic religious community launched efforts with interfaith groups in 12 other Latin American and Caribbean countries Aug. 16 as part of the Global Network of Religions for Children, working to reduce violence through education in values, prayer and efforts to reduce poverty. uLatin American Church leaders mark 50 years of ‘option for the poor.’ Latin American Church leaders will meet in Medellin, Colombia, Aug. 23-26 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a landmark regional bishops’ meeting that took place in the same city in 1968. The official conclusion of that conference was that the “bishops couldn’t remain indifferent given the tremendous social injustices in Latin America, which keeps the majority of our people in painful poverty, in many cases close to human misery.”

On August 30, the feast of our foundress, Saint Jeanne Jugan, we Little Sisters of the Poor will launch a jubilee year celebrating the 150th anniversary of our Congregation’s arrival in the United States.

Our pioneering Little Sisters arrived in America during a particularly painful period in our nation’s history. The nativist movement of the 1850s, the Civil War and the failures of Reconstruction left an untold human toll, vast economic devastation and a profound racial divide in their wake.

Like a healing balm, the Little Sisters of the Poor brought a much-needed infusion of humble service and merciful love to America.

The Little Sisters personified the Church’s preferential option for the poor and most abandoned. In the early decades of our nation’s history, elders depended on their children or personal wealth to assure a comfortable old age. Poorhouses, modeled on England’s “Poor Laws” sheltered the indigent elderly, but they were characterized by primitive, often subhuman conditions.

By the 1850s, benevolent societies and fraternal organizations began to organize old age homes and other forms of assistance for those able to pay monthly dues while they were young so that they could receive help in their old age. What was novel about the Little Sisters’ mission was that they came to America specifically to care for those who could not pay their own way.

The second mark of originality in the Little Sisters’ charism of hospitality was its universal embrace. In a century characterized by anti-immigrant propaganda and blatant racial discrimination, the Little Sisters opened their doors to the needy elderly regardless of race, religion or nationality — Catholic and nonCatholic, immigrant and native-born, black and white.

Third, through their compassionate care for the infirm and the dying the Little Sisters offered a powerful witness of the sacredness of every human life until the very end, regardless of personal status, ability or wealth.

CNS

uIndian Church joins relief efforts as floods wreak havoc in Kerala. Ucanews.com reported that all 41 Catholic dioceses in the southern Indian state have opened schools and other institutions to accommodate flood victims and are cooperating to send food, clothes and other relief materials to affected areas. Nearly a million people were in temporary relief camps after incessant rain since Aug. 13 filled reservoirs of Kerala’s 33 dams to the brim, forcing authorities to open sluices. This caused all 44 rivers to overflow and inundate homes, farms, and roads and railways as floodwater gushed to the Arabian Sea on the state’s western border, killing about 370 people within a week. uSouth Sudanese refugees in dire need of aid in northern Uganda. Hundreds of refugees from the South Sudan still are seeking asylum in neighboring Uganda despite a peace accord signed in June by opposing factions in their homeland. Catholic humanitarian organizations expressed concern that the refugees’ needs outstrip the ability of the agencies to respond. uAfter 100 years, Marian shrine in Alberta still draws thousands. In fall 1918, an Oblate priest proposed building a grotto in Skaro, 50 miles northeast of Edmonton, similar to the Our Lady of Lourdes grotto in France. Working in shifts of 20 to 40 people at a time, men and women used plows and scrapers drawn by horses, as well as wheelbarrows and shovels, to haul and place stones. The only mechanical equipment was a generator to operate the concrete mixer. “It brings people together,” said Helen Wilchak, 89, who grew up in the area. Her father, Martin Gabinet, helped build the grotto. People from all faiths visit “because it is such a beautiful place.”

— Catholic News Service

Read the stories at TheCatholicSpirit.com.

The Industrial Revolution had encouraged a utilitarian mindset that treated human workers as machines and erroneously associated self-worth with status and wealth. Those perceived as unproductive were cast aside.

The Little Sisters’ loving care of the poor and their accompaniment of the dying offered a counterbalance to the dehumanizing forces at work in 19th century American society.

Finally, the Little Sisters of the Poor brought to America a powerful testimony to absolute faith in God’s Providence.

They arrived with almost nothing and set up shop in empty buildings, depending on the generosity of the local community to provide all that was needed for the care of the poor.

On seeing all that the Sisters received in their first collecting rounds, the Mother Superior in one home wept as she exclaimed, “O Providence! O Providence!” The Sisters in another home expressed their sense of wonder, “Divine Providence provided according to our needs ... We were quite overcome with gratitude towards the good God; who disposed so well people’s hearts in our favor.”

These four characteristics of our Congregation’s charism, personified by our pioneering Little Sisters, brought a unique Gospel message to 19th century America: 1. The preferential option for the poor and most abandoned; 2. universal charity, without regard for race, creed or nationality; 3. profound reverence for the dignity of every human life; 4. absolute trust in Divine Providence.

These values are no less relevant today than they were in the post-Civil War era, for they also respond to the wounds in our 21st century culture and the longing in contemporary hearts for God’s merciful love.

In fact, these values might be even more urgently needed today, as Pope Francis suggests: “The thing the Church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity.

I see the Church as a field hospital after battle. ... Heal the wounds, heal the wounds … You have to start from the ground up” (Interview with America, September 2013).

The Little Sisters of the Poor have served the people of Minnesota for 135 years, since 1883.

330 Exchange Street South • St. Paul, MN 55102 • 651-227-0336

Please join us in thanking God for his Providential care of our Congregation and the many blessings of these past 150 years!

12 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

In bleak Venezuela, archdiocesan mission su

V

By Jonathan Liedl For The Catholic Spirit Visitors to La Revancha bakery in San Felix, Venezuela, are greeted by a large menu listing a wide variety of breads and baked goods. But before customers start to reach for their wallets, they need to look a little closer: Instead of a price, a “no” sticker is placed next to nearly all of the items, indicating their unavailability.

Similar sights are common throughout the city’s pharmacies, grocery stores and car part shops as well.

Once one of South America’s most prosperous countries, Venezuela’s economy has all but collapsed over the past five years due to government mismanagement and the falling price of oil, the country’s major source of revenue.

And with Venezuela’s currency crippled and GDP stunted, commercial goods aren’t the only thing in short supply.

“There’s really not much hope for the future,” said Father Greg Schaffer, pastor of Jesucristo Resucitado in San Felix, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ mission parish in the Diocese of Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela.

Dire straits Figures like Venezuela’s rate of inflation, estimated by the International Monetary Fund to reach 1 million percent by the end of this year, give some indication of the staggering challenge the country is up against. But at the parish, the crisis is measured less by economic statistics than it is by the pastoral realities Father Schaffer and his team face: families going hungry, elderly parishioners abandoned by adult children who can no longer care for them, and young men killed in escalating gang violence.

Although San Felix, which joins with neighboring Puerto Ordaz to form the metro area of Ciudad Guayana, has always had its struggles with poverty, the situation hasn’t always been so bleak.

Father Schaffer recalls that before the crisis began it was common for even the poorest families to hold a Sunday barbecue at least once a month.

Now, with products like tripe and blood sausage all but gone, such gatherings are unheard of. Locals are lucky enough to get hold of a chicken, which costs nearly as much as the monthly minimum wage.

“People tell me, ‘We used to think we were poor, but now we realize how good we had it,’” said Father Schaffer, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, who has served the Venezuelan mission for 21 years.

With the economic strain has come an increase in violent crimes. Father James Peterson, who served at Jesucristo Resucitado from August 2015 to July 2018, was held up at gunpoint during his assignment, and Father Schaffer said there have been threats to take parish employees hostage for ransom. After an attempted break-in last year, the priest added an electric fence to prevent access to the roof of the parish rectory where he lives.

Parishioners, too, are affected by the wave of violence. Shortly after her father’s car was stolen at gunpoint, parishioner Zahyra Balza was also carjacked. Those experiences, along with the murder of a close friend during an attempted robbery outside a church, leave her fearful and cautious.

“It sometimes feels like I’m imprisoned in my own country,” she said.

Venezuela’s crisis is not only making life difficult now, but it’s also robbing the country of its future. According to the United Nations, over two million Venezuelans — most of them young people — have left the country since 2014.

The same trend has played out at Jesucristo Resucitado, where Father Schaffer said a number of the parish’s most talented and reliable young people have left for countries like Chile and Colombia in recent years, making ministries like youth group more of a challenge.

Dubraska Medina, 19, an active member of the parish, is planning to move to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago for work.

She dreams of opening a chocolate shop, but doesn’t think it can happen in Venezuela.

“I love my home, but there are no opportunities here,” she said.

Challenging, but critical The crisis in Venezuela has made the work of the mission parish more challenging in recent years. For instance, a successful partnership between the mission and parishioners of St. Joseph Catholic Community in Waconia that provided start-up loans to small businesses in Venezuela was forced to shut down because the rate of inflation made it impossible to pay back the loans. Service trips from schools like Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul no longer take place, and Father Schaffer hasn’t been able to find a doctor to service the mission’s medical clinic, as many medical professionals have left the country.

But the crisis has also underscored the critical role of the mission, especially in a place like Ciudad Guayana. Located in Venezuela’s eastern “frontier,” the area has undergone significant growth in the past 50 years, but the local Church’s presence has lagged behind. The diocese is uniquely dependent on both foreign priests and foreign assistance, said Father Schaffer, who also serves as the diocesan vicar general.

The approximately 60,000 people who live within Jesucristo Resucitado’s boundaries are especially in need. Father Schaffer said that an estimated 80 percent of residents are unemployed, and less than 10 percent receive benefits and earn minimum wage. As a result, many rely upon mission ministries, such as the soup kitchen, which provides 63 people with a meal Monday through Friday.

Lab work provided at the mission is also especially important, as an increasing number of men from the area spend time working in the gold mines in Venezuela’s south, and they often return with mosquito-borne illnesses such as malaria.

But the primary mission of the parish is to provide for people’s spiritual needs, Father Schaffer said, although he adds that it can be hard to talk about a loving God when people are going hungry. He said he sees more people coming to Mass nowadays looking for hope. He’s also found that his preaching has pivoted to relate to the needs of parishioners, noting that keeping the heart free from a desire for revenge against people who have harmed family members is a reoccurring theme in both his homilies and in the confessional.

Vanessa Brito, a parishioner of Jesucristo Resucitado, delivers food to a family in need in San Felix, Venezuela.

Jesucristo Resucitado has been a mission parish of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis since 1970.

“The Lord still calls us to holiness and sanctity, no matter how much money we have and how bad things get,” he said.

Looking ahead As challenging as times are in Venezuela, Father Schaffer is exploring new ways to continue to serve the people of San Felix, in addition to help received from the archdiocesan Office of Stewardship and Development, which regularly sends money, medicine, food and supplies.

Given the number of elderly who have been abandoned during the crisis, a project he’s currently working toward is the establishment of a hospice center to help residents live with dignity during their last years.

As part of the bigger picture, Father Schaffer is looking into starting an endowment that could financially support some of the social services being offered in Venezuela, without necessarily relying on archdiocesan facilitation. Called

Misioneros de San P would maintain the connection betwee Cities and Ciudad G archdiocese would priests in the future responsibilities of Je back to its local dio

The goal would b programs like the so medical clinic finan business leaders, do volunteers the oppo mission and offer th

“If this is the mis I want to get more Father Schaffer said from Minnesota can difference down he

To learn more abo St. Paul and Minnea mission parish, Jesu make a donation, vis

AUGUST 23, 2018 • 13

upplies an increasingly rare commodity: hope Following in namesake’s footsteps led Minnesota priest to his own Latin American mission

I

n a way, Father Greg Schaffer, 53, was set up from the beginning to serve as a missionary priest in Latin America. But perhaps not in Venezuela.

The St. Paul native was named after his priest-uncle, Father Gregory Schaffer, who established the Diocese of New Ulm’s mission in San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala. He grew up listening to his uncle’s stories whenever he came home.

He made his first trip to San Lucas in the seventh grade and couldn’t wait to go back. He recalls that at some point he met martyr-to-be, Blessed Stanley Rother, who served a nearby parish. After graduating from St. Bernard’s High School in St. Paul in 1984, he entered St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul and joined the U.S. Army Reserve to pay for college.

During a leave of absence from the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul, the future priest spent two years with his uncle at the Guatemala mission from 1989 to 1991. Father Schaffer said he experienced profound peace in the midst of what was effectively a war zone. Seeing how his uncle was able to bring hope to people in such conditions gave him an image of priestly life that proved inspiring.

“That really helped solidify my vision of priesthood,” said Father Schaffer, who returned to SPS and was ordained in 1994.

Although Father Schaffer was prepared to accept whatever assignment he’d receive as an archdiocesan priest, his hope was that he’d be able to serve in Latin America ­— specifically Guatemala. But after serving for three years at Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Maplewood, he was asked to serve at the archdiocesan mission in Venezuela.

“Without skipping a beat, I said I’d like to go to Guatemala,” he recalls. “[The bishop] told me, ‘I know you do, but you can’t.’ And that was that.”

Father Schaffer accepted the Venezuela assignment, but not without another attempt at keeping his Guatemala dream alive. When classmate Paul McGee expressed interest in serving in Venezuela, Father Schaffer went to Archbishop Harry Flynn and asked that his classmate go in his place. Instead, Archbishop Flynn sent them both. Father Schaffer has been serving in Ciudad Guayana ever since.

In Venezuela, Father Schaffer said he has had to learn to rely both on God and the people around him.

“To really connect with the people and serve, you have to depend on them and listen to them,” he said.

Father Schaffer’s time in Venezuela has made him grateful for his seminary preparation, as it’s helped him work through questions that have come up in his ministry, like how to appropriately incorporate local music into the liturgy. Serving in Venezuela has also made him appreciate spiritual truths that often go unheeded in modern America — such as the dangers of witchcraft and voodoo, which are far more prevalent realities in South America.

“It’s nothing to fool around with,” he said of such practices, which are part of the Santeria religion prevalent in Latin America.

JONATHAN LIEDL | FOR THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Pablo, the organization e 48-year old en Catholics in the Twin Guayana even if the be unable to send e, handing the pastoral esucristo Resucitado ocese.

Now in his 21st year of ministry in Ciudad Guayana, the Minnesota priest admits that he never thought he’d be in Venezuela this long. But after serving as vicar general and seeing the difficulties facing local priests, he said he can’t envision leaving now.

be not only to support soup kitchen and ncially, but also to give octors and other lay ortunity to visit the heir talents.

ssion of the archdiocese, people involved,” d. “Generous people an make a huge ere.”

out the Archdiocese of apolis’ Venezuelan ucristo Resucitado, or to sit venezuela.archspm.org.

Father Schaffer has served as pastor of Jesucristo Resucitado since 2000, but he recently picked up an additional assignment: vicar general of the Diocese of Ciudad Guyana. He said it’s a humbling and “surreal” experience, which included representing the diocese at last year’s meeting of Venezuela bishops. He found that talking about baseball was an easy way to make connections with the bishops, given the success of Venezuelan players like Johann Santana and Carlos Silva, both of whom once played for the Minnesota Twins.

COURTESY JESUCRISTO RESUCITADO

Father Greg Schaffer, pastor of Jesucristo Resucitado and a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, preaches in this undated photo.

“It’d be really hard to go back to a nice, comfortable situation in the archdiocese, knowing the sacrifices the other priests are making here,” he said, adding that he feels obligated to help generous people back in Minnesota make a difference in Venezuela. “I have to take advantage of that while I’m able to.”

And if Father Schaffer is going to match his uncle’s feat of serving 48 years in the mission, he’ll need to continue to draw on the original inspiration he encountered in San Lucas all those years ago.

“It’s a humbling experience,” he said. “Being an instrument of God’s grace and love in the midst of all the struggles makes all the difference in the world.”

14 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

BACKTOSCHOOL Preserving Catholic school’s charism ‘has to be intentional’

By Katie Rutter Catholic News Service

A

lthough women religious — once synonymous with Catholic education — have been disappearing from U.S. classrooms in recent decades, many Catholic schools are taking extra steps to make sure that even as these sisters age or their numbers decrease, the charisms that infused the schools they founded will not be lost.

This was the challenge faced by the Oldenburg Academy of the Immaculate Conception in Oldenburg, Indiana. The school, founded by the Sisters of St. Francis of Oldenburg in 1852, came under laity supervision in 1994 and no longer has any women religious on staff.

Yet their spirit still lives within the walls they established 166 years ago.

“The Franciscan values have helped me to understand my role in this world,” said outgoing senior Rachel Stoll, one of the 200-plus students at the academy.

She readily reeled off three of the values held dear to the Oldenburg Franciscans: care of creation, prayer and dignity of the human person.

“One of the unique values that the religious men and women brought to their Catholic schools was a distinct charism in addition to their catechetical formation,” said John Schoenig, senior director of teacher formation and education policy for the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education.

“Your life would have been much different as a Catholic school student if you were in a school run by the Daughters of Charity than if you were in a school run by Benedictines,” he said.

“It’s because the charism would have been there.”

That notion of charism in the schools eroded as religious vocations declined and Catholic schools were staffed by lay teachers who came from many different universities, worshipped in many different parishes and had many

different approaches to education, Schoenig said.

But in recent years, Catholic schools nationwide have recognized the need to rediscover the charisms of their founding religious orders.

Barbara McGraw Edmondson, chief leadership and program officer at the National Catholic Educational Association, said this understanding is emphasized each year at annual NCEA conventions when speakers stress: “We stand on shoulders of giants.”

“And we really do,” she added, noting that it’s crucial for schools to keep that alive in any way they can because the founding orders are “such a gift and a legacy of Catholic education.”

At Oldenburg Academy, values of the Franciscan charism are emblazoned on a huge black-and-white mural of smiling women religious in the front hallway.

But as this school has discovered, preserving the legacy of its founding order requires a commitment deeper than slogans or photographic displays.

“It has to be intentional. It isn’t just going to happen. You have to make a decision to work on it,” said Oldenburg president Diane Laake, who added that the school is “doing a better job at claiming and naming and identifying the charism than we did 30 and 40 years ago.”

Now the school has a specific Franciscan curriculum in religion classes and group trips to Assisi, the Italian hometown of St. Francis. A Franciscan value is also chosen each year to define school activities. The students also have the opportunity to “adopt” a sister and eat lunch with her once every two weeks.

“It is truly a Franciscan school,” said Franciscan Sister Marjorie Niemer, who acts as a liaison between the academy and the Sisters of St. Francis of Oldenburg. “We are extremely proud of what the administration and the board of directors has been able to do to promote Catholic education, Franciscan education.”

AUGUST 23, 2018

What’s new in Catholic schools The Catholic Spirit asked principals of all of the Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to share their new initiatives, projects and leaders for the 20182019 school year. The following is a selection of their responses.

Hill-Murray School in Maplewood expects to serve 40 students from China, Korea, Spain and Vietnam through a new partnership with Nacel Open Door, an organization that runs international schools. In light of the partnership begun last year, Nacel Open Door closed St. Paul Preparatory School, which it ran in downtown St. Paul, and opened the SPP program at Hill-Murray. Hill-Murray added a new International Center, which will manage host families and communications.

St. Michael Catholic School in Prior Lake has a new principal, Mary Yamoah.

Shakopee Area Catholic School redesigned elective classes for its seventh- and eighthgrade students to complement the rapid brain development middle school students experience.

Divine Mercy Catholic School in Faribault is adding a competitive robotics program for students in grades four to eight. According to the school, “the program will allow students to experience a team-based set of activities including programming, design and construction of a robot to complete a yearly challenge.” The program is also available to sixth- to eighth-grade students at Bethlehem Academy in Faribault.

St. John Catholic School in Little Canada is adopting STEM curriculum in all of its grades, kindergarten to eight. “While any school that focuses on science, technology, engineering and mathematics can claim STEM curriculum, the unique piece of our approach is that this is fully integrated into every single subject, in every single classroom,” said Laura Haraldson, the school’s communications coordinator. “The key is the real-world applications.” The school also has a new 3-D printer to “bring the entire true-to-life application home.” Meanwhile, the school’s preschool is opening up all-year registration for ages 33 months to kindergarten. The school also has a new principal, Dan Hurley, who took the helm from Mary Kay Rowan, who retired after 22 years leading the school.

Col. Neil Hetherington is the new commander of cadets at St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights. The school also has a new chaplain, Father Mark Pavlak. This fall it begins offering new courses geared to “reflect students’ interests and societal trends,” such as one on digital media and video. It also recently launched a new website at cadets.com.

St. Agnes School in St. Paul has acquired Seton Montessori School, which was previously a separate Catholic preschool in West St. Paul. The half-day and full-day programs are for 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds. The school is also welcoming four Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, who will be teaching and living at the adjacent convent. Sisters Teresa Christi Balek, Mary Margaret O’Brien, Mary Consolata Klucik and Mary Philomena Coon are from Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Bethlehem Academy in Faribault is expanding an agricultural program that began last year to include a plant science course and two greenhouses. It is also adding a peer ministry program and expanding its Christian Service Learning program, in which its seniors serve

iSTOCK | ALEXYTRENER

children, people in nursing homes and others in need.

When a new sports dome is erected in November, Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield will be the only high school or college campus in the U.S. to have two fullsize soccer domes. The school has also expanded its robotics center, completed renovation of its college and career center, refurbished classrooms for STEM curriculum, and updated its theater lighting and seats.

Our Lady of the Lake Catholic School in Mound is launching the Responsive Classroom approach in all of its classrooms.

The teaching approach connects academic success to social-emotional learning with an emphasis on creating a positive school culture. Responsive Classroom informs a teacher’s language, classroom management, teacher modeling and learning activities.

St. Jerome Catholic School in Maplewood is beginning a three-to-five year transition to a classical school model. “We believe that a classical model is an excellent way to teach children to think and analyze and use knowledge using strong, quality literature and teaching methods. We’ll follow a historical framework that builds to the coming of Christ and follows from that,” said Principal Anne Gattman. “We are taking this transition in phases. We hope to be a feeder grade school for classical high schools in our area.”

St. Mark’s Catholic School in St. Paul and St. Raphael Catholic School in Crystal have also announced that they are exploring the classical school model.

St. Mark’s Catholic School in St. Paul welcomes a new principal, Edgar Alfonzo, who previously was principal of St. John Paul II Catholic Preparatory School in Minneapolis.

Tricia Menzhuber is the new principal of St. John Paul II Catholic Preparatory School in Minneapolis. She was previously head of school at Way of the Shepherd Catholic Montessori School in Blaine.

Thirteen schools across the archdiocese are piloting involvement in The Positivity Project movement, which aims to empower “America’s youth to build strong relationships by seeing the good in themselves and others.”

Participating schools are Carondelet Catholic School, Minneapolis; Divine Mercy Catholic School, Faribault; Faithful Shepherd Catholic School, Eagan; Guardian Angels Catholic School, Chaska; Holy Trinity Catholic School, South St. Paul; Nativity of Mary School, Bloomington; St. John the Baptist Catholic School, Jordan; St. Joseph’s Catholic School, West St. Paul; St. Joseph Catholic School, Waconia; St. Michael Catholic School, St. Michael; St. Michael Catholic School, Prior Lake; Our Lady of Grace Catholic School, Edina; and Shakopee Area Catholic School, Shakopee.

— The Catholic Spirit

BACKTOSCHOOL

AUGUST 23, 2018

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15

Keeping Catholic school tuition affordable requires creativity

By Chaz Muth and Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service

M

aking Catholic education accessible to everyone has been a mission of the Church in the U.S. for centuries, but keeping it affordable in modern times has required innovative methods.

Religious orders and parish schools labored in the 19th century to bring education to everyone, which meant keeping it inexpensive. This could be done more easily when the majority of faculty and staff were priests or women religious, and some schools were subsidized by tithing parishioners.

By the end of the 20th century, however, funding sources became scarce, the cost of education escalated, schools were staffed by the laity and tuition became almost out of reach for middle and lower-income families.

To make Catholic schools more affordable, dioceses, religious orders and individual schools are taking new steps.

Last winter, the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina, took part in its first “Day of Giving,” an event sponsored by the National Catholic Educational Association. The diocese raised more than $56,000 during a 24-hour period Jan. 30-31 for all Catholic schools within the diocese.

In total, more than $752,000 was raised nationally from 6,957 donations to 539 schools, three dioceses and the NCEA during the 2018 Day of Giving, an annual collection for Catholic schools.

St. Joseph’s School in Hazel Green, Wisconsin, tackled the tuition challenge for parents head-on by announcing plans to significantly restructure student tuition beginning with the 2018-2019 school year, essentially making it tuition free.

Under the new plan, student tuition will be 100 percent supported by the parish. Tuition for the Catholic kindergarten to eighth-grade school will be reduced to zero, and school operating costs will be covered by fundraising efforts and general parish support.

“This overhaul is something we have been working toward for a while,” said Andrew Tranel, a member of St. Joseph’s Parent Education Commission. “We are now to the point where we are able to offer a Catholic education to every family who sees the value in it, regardless of their income level. We are beyond excited

Friday, September 7

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

In this 2017 file photo, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School students Adrien Hernandez Diaz, left, and James Henry Sommer talk in a classroom at their Minneapolis school. Both will be juniors this year. to be able to do this.”

St. Joseph’s pastor, Father Ken Frisch, said if this model is successful, it could inspire more schools to follow this framework.

In the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, the Catholic Schools Department recently released a plan to sustain schools and extend a Catholic education to more families with a new fund for tuition aid.

The Catholic Schools Endowment Foundation of Oregon will seek gifts from individuals, estates, organizations and businesses who believe more children should have access to the values and success Catholic schools offer.

The separate not-for-profit foundation housed at the Archdiocese of Portland Pastoral Center now has more than $7 million, but leaders say it must grow significantly to meet the need.

Portland Archbishop Alexander Sample has told the foundation board he wants no family to be left out of Catholic schooling because of finances — something many families say keeps them away.

“Catholic education is not a privilege,” said Peter Corrado, who directs the foundation. “It is a right for Catholics. We want any parent who wants to send a child to Catholic school to be able to. If people choose public school because Catholic school is unaffordable, that is unacceptable.”

Barbara McGraw Edmondson, chief leadership and

Saturday, September 8 Teddy Bear Band Noon: Rich and the Resistors Band

$12:

Drawing

200+ Classic Cars • Rides • Games • Quality Foods Galore • Huge Craft Booth and Silent Auction Tent

program officer at the NCEA, acknowledged that cost is a big factor preventing students from attending Catholic schools, but she said it also has led to innovative fundraising efforts and alternative tuition models especially to serve urban students. She said 29 states and the District of Columbia have some sort of school scholarship program in place — meaning vouchers, tax credits or education savings accounts.

One unique alternative tuition model is offered by the Cristo Rey schools, which use a corporate workstudy program where students are required to work in the community one day a week, earning job experience and a wage that helps pay for their tuition.

It’s been 22 years since the first Cristo Rey school opened in Chicago, and three more are slated to open in 2019 in Oakland, California; Fort Worth, Texas; and Oklahoma City, putting the total at 35. The Cristo Rey school in Minneapolis opened in 2007.

Nationally, there are 38 religious communities sponsoring Cristo Rey schools; in some areas, two communities work together in the same school. The Jesuits partner with 12 Cristo Rey schools, the most of any religious community.

It costs about $13,000 a year to educate a student enrolled at the Cristo Rey New York High School in Harlem, said Bill Ford, the school’s principal.

He said the income from the student’s salary pays for the majority of the tuition. Fundraising pays for the second highest percentage, and the parents are responsible for the remaining $1,500.

“This way, everyone has skin in the game,” Ford told Catholic News Service. “We see this as a key element to the success of these students. The student is working for the tuition, making it more valuable to them, and the parents and school are also invested.”

The good news about the expansion is that the school model, started by Jesuit Father John Foley, exclusively targets students in poor communities who otherwise might never receive a college-preparatory, Catholic high school education.

The bad news is that with so many pockets of poor communities, there is no end in sight to the need for Cristo Rey schools, said Elizabeth Goettl, president and chief executive officer of the Cristo Rey Network.

Cristo Rey’s team, she said, “receives one to two calls a week” from representatives of failing schools or from community leaders desperate to find a way to help educate their children.

16 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

AUGUST 23, 2018

FAITH+CULTURE

Vikings QB coach inspired by Sparano’s faith, priorities

By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit

M

innesota Vikings quarterbacks coach Kevin Stefanski remembers going to Winter Park, the team’s old practice facility in Eden Prairie, to find offensive line coach Tony Sparano praying with his Bible in his office in the early morning before practice.

“I was with Tony for only a couple years, but it was such an impactful couple years,” said Stefanski, a parishioner of Our Lady of Grace in Edina. Sparano died July 22 at his home in Eden Prairie.

Stefanski attended Sparano’s funeral Mass at St. Bartholomew in Wayzata July 27 and was moved again by the late coach’s Catholic faith. Father Michael Van Sloun, the Vikings’ Catholic chaplain and pastor of St. Bartholomew, spoke of Sparano’s faith in the homily, and Sparano’s wife, Jeanette, reiterated the faith and principles her late husband lived by during the eulogy.

“Everyone [in football] says, ‘faith, family, football,’ but do you really live it?

Tony was an example of somebody that lived it,” said Stefanski, 36, who joined the Vikings coaching staff in 2006 and is the longest-tenured coach on the team.

Stefanski will remember Sparano and his family in prayer as the new NFL season gets underway, which began with training camp July 25-Aug. 16. The Vikings open the regular season Sept. 9 with a game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Sparano, 56, died from arteriosclerotic heart disease, which the Hennepin County Medical Examiner announced July 24.

Stefanski first heard the news of his colleague’s death when he received a call while bicycling with his sons to Mass,

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Kevin Stefanski, Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks coach, gives instruction to quarterback Kyle Sloter during practice Aug. 14 at the team’s new training facility in Eagan. and it remained on his heart throughout that liturgy.

“I’m lucky to have known the man, and I’m lucky to have seen him put his faith in practice, and I hope that I’m able to learn something from that,” Stefanski told The Catholic Spirit Aug. 14.

Stefanski grew up in a faith-centered Catholic family in Pennsylvania. Now, he and his wife, Michelle, strive to help their three children — Juliet, Gabe and Will — grow in their own faith. All three attend Catholic schools in Edina.

“I was fortunate enough to live in a family where we went to church every Sunday, and our faith was something

27th Annual Lebanese Festival St. Maron Catholic Church

602 University Avenue NE, Minneapolis Saturday, September 15 1:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Sunday, September 16 24, 2016 11:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Authentic Lebanese Cuisine, Beer and Wine, Raffle, 25, 2016 Silent Auction, Country Store, Gift Shop, Games, Cedars Dabke Dance Group and Live Music.

Fun for the whole family www.stmaron.com, 612-379-2758

that we talked about, so the lesson was set early for me,” Stefanski said. “It’s something that my wife and I really try to do with our three kids, … have our faith be a big part of who we are and what we do and set the foundation for them.”

For the Stefanskis, that means Sunday Mass, grace at meals and prayers at bedtime.

On the football field, Stefanski focuses on developing the Vikings quarterbacks’ techniques and leadership skills. That ranges from footwork to guidance on commanding attention in the huddle.

“As a coach, you’re a teacher, No. 1,

both in the classroom and on the field,” Stefanski said. “I try to do my best to encourage those guys to lead in a way, in a fashion that is consistent with who they are.”

He has a mostly new class to work with this year with the arrivals of rookie Peter Pujals, Trevor Siemian via trade, and Kirk Cousins, who signed a then-record $84 million free-agent contract. A fourth quarterback is backup Kyle Sloter, who was with the team last year. Stefanski has kept the magnitude of bringing in Cousins, and the expectations that have accompanied his arrival, in perspective.

“I think that hype is an exterior thing, and once you’re in the walls of this place, it kind of gets forgotten,” Stefanski said.

“I’m coaching him as hard as I’m coaching second-string and third-string and fourth-string quarterbacks.”

Stefanski said he has enjoyed having Cousins on board, and applauds his leadership style and the way he’s picked up the team’s playbook so quickly.

“Kirk is a pro’s pro,” Stefanski said.

“He’s really everything you want in a quarterback. He’s a leader and, not to mention, he’s a very physically gifted player.”

Stefanski also admires that Cousins is overtly Christian and the son of a pastor.

“Faith is definitely something I know is a big part of his life and he lives it, which is pretty impressive,” Stefanski said.

Experiencing the faith of others, particularly Catholics, has been a significant part of Stefanski’s time with the Vikings in recent years. Former offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur also attended Our Lady of Grace prior to taking a head coaching position with the New York Giants Jan. 22. Vikings running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu attends Our Lady of Grace as well.

“It’s a strong faith community,” Stefanski said of the parish.

AUGUST 23, 2018

FAITH+CULTURE

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 17

UST grad leverages engineering skill to help Senegalese women farm

By Anne Fredrickson For The Catholic Spirit

F

or many college seniors, the culmination of their studies is acing an exam, presenting a research paper or creating a capstone project. For 2018 University of St. Thomas graduate Bridget Gerenz, it was traveling to Senegal in May to see her engineering work in action in farm fields where women thresh millet.

Gerenz, a mechanical engineering major and peace engineering minor from Ankeny, Iowa, graduated in May. As a student, she connected with St. Paul-based Compatible Technology International, a nonprofit dedicated to helping families in developing countries access innovative farming tools that enable them to produce food sustainably and bring their crops to market.

Gerenz began working with CTI through her studies with research professor Camille George, associate dean of engineering at St. Thomas. After completing an internship, Gerenz worked with CTI during school and full time throughout summer 2017, taking on the project of improving a tool called the Ewing grinder to make it more efficient and user-friendly.

“Our goal is to improve the machines to help lighten the load for farmers and help them feed their families,” Gerenz said. “Farming in Senegal is small scale, and women do most of the agricultural work, which informed our design. Machines have to be able to be used by a woman working most of the day with a baby on her back, possibly with other children in the field. We want to make sure when we design machines, we involve both men and women, and that there is collective ownership by the whole village.”

Gerenz, 23, was responsible for drafting the drawings for the technology and communicating with manufacturing about the product. Her trip to Senegal included visiting the local manufacturers to see the changes made to the technology, and visiting farmers to learn how they experienced the tool and determine possible further improvements.

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Chapter 11 Reorganization Proceeding (Case No. 15-30125) NOTICE OF HEARINGS AND OBJECTION DEADLINES FOR MOTIONS TO APPROVE SETTLEMENTS WITH INSURERS PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis (the “Archdiocese”) and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (the “Committee”) have filed, in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota, case number 15-30125, motions to approve settlement, release and policy and certificate buyback agreements (the “Insurance Settlement and Buyback Agreements”) pursuant to 11 U.S.C. §§ 105(a), 363, & 365 and Fed. R. Bankr. P. 2002(l), 6004(c), and 9019(a) with the following entities (the “Settling Insurers”): The Catholic Mutual Relief Society of America (including certificates issued to certain parishes); The Home Insurance Company and Liquidation; State Farm Fire & Casualty Company; Employers Liability Assurance Corporation and its successors Lamorak Ins. Co, f/k/a OneBeacon America Ins. Co., and Belvedere Insurance Company; The Fidelity and Casualty Company of New York, National Fire Insurance Company of Hartford, American Casualty Company of Reading, Pa., and Continental Casualty Company; Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company, as successor to Fireman’s Fund Indemnity Company, and Interstate Fire & Casualty Company; TIG Insurance Company, as successor to International Insurance Company; Hartford Accident and Indemnity Company; American Home Assurance Company; Travelers Casualty and Surety Company (formerly known as Aetna Casualty and Surety Company), Northfield Insurance Company, St. Paul Surplus Lines Insurance Company, and St. Katherine Insurance Company PLC (now known as St. Paul International Insurance Company); Travelers Indemnity Company; St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company; United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company; and Phoenix Insurance Company; and 21st Century Centennial Insurance Company f/k/a Colonial Penn Insurance Company and Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London subscribing to Policies SL3721, SL3722, SL3723, ISL3115, ISL3116, ISL3117, ISL3675, ISL3613, ISL3614, and ISL3615; Catalina

COURTESY BRIDGET GERENZ

At right, Bridget Gerenz, a recent graduate of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, shakes a child’s hand during a meeting with women from a village near Diouroup in Senegal’s Fatick region to discuss thresher performance and their desired improvements.

Gerenz’s education and character have been assets to CTI, said Don Jacobson, the nonprofit’s technology advisor.

“Bridget prepared all the drawings for our tools, which saves us a significant amount of money and adds an engineering dimension we didn’t have before,” said Jacobson, also a St. Thomas alumnus and member of Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul.

For Gerenz, the work experience unites her passion for engineering and her strong commitment to her Catholic faith.

“As I’ve gotten older and deeper into my faith, I’m committed to the ethics of Catholic social teaching and the dignity of the human person,” she said. “It informs my personal and professional life. Especially working in agriculture, we see how God gave us the earth to nourish us and how we are part of God’s creation. Seeing the humanity in each person motivates much of my work.”

Her commitment to social justice motivated her to Worthing Insurance Ltd f/k/a HFPI (as Part VII transferee of (Excess Insurance Company Ltd and/or London & Edinburgh Insurance Company Ltd as successor to London & Edinburgh General Insurance Company Ltd)), Riverstone Insurance (UK) Limited (as successor in interest to Sphere Drake Insurance Ltd.), Riverstone Management Limited for and on behalf of Markel International Insurance Company Limited (formerly known as Terra Nova Insurance Company Limited), CX Reinsurance Company Ltd. (formerly known as CNA Reinsurance of London Ltd.), Dominion Insurance Company Ltd., Stronghold Insurance Company Limited, Tenecom Ltd. (formerly known as The Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Company of Europe Ltd. and also known as Yasuda Fire & Marine Insurance Company (U.K.)), and those insurers subscribing to Insurance Policy Nos. SLC5743, ICO4076, ICO5200, and ICO5402.

If approved, the Archdiocese will (a) sell, and certain of the Settling Insurers will purchase, all of the insurance policies and certain certificates issued or allegedly issued to or owned by the Archdiocese as described more particularly in the Insurance Settlement and Buyback Agreements, free and clear of all liens, claims, encumbrances, and other interests, and/or (b) fully release any all claims against the Settling Insurers and their related entities.

IN ADDITION, THE MOTIONS SEEK A RULING THAT SETTLING INSURERS ARE ENTITLED TO THE BENEFIT OF INJUNCTIONS, AS PART OF THE ARCHDIOCESE’S AND COMMITTEE’S CONTEMPLATED JOINT PLAN OF REORGANIZATION, PERMANENTLY BARRING ALL CLAIMS

BY ANY PERSON OR ENTITY AGAINST SETTLING INSURERS AND CERTAIN RELATED ENTITIES (THE “SETTLING INSURER ENTITIES,” AS SPECIFICALLY DEFINED IN THE JOINT PLAN) RELATING TO (A) ALL INSURANCE POLICIES AND CERTIFICATES ISSUED OR ALLEGEDLY ISSUED TO THE ARCHDIOCESE OR (B) TORT CLAIMS RESULTING IN WHOLE OR IN PART FROM SEXUAL ABUSE OR MISCONDUCT. Copies of the Joint Plan and the motions to approve the Insurance Settlement and Buyback Agreements are on file with the Court, 200 Warren E. Burger Federal Building and United States Courthouse, 316 North Robert Street, St. Paul, MN 55101. Copies of the Joint Plan, Amended Disclosure Statement, and motions to approve the Insurance Settlement and Buyback Agreements may be obtained by (a) contacting J. Zahler at the Archdiocese at 777 Forest Street, Saint Paul, MN 55106, email: zahlerj@archspm.org, phone: (651) 291-4408, fax: (651) 290-1629 during normal business hours; (b) visiting the

help restructure the peace engineering minor at St. Thomas. Although the program first attracted her to St. Thomas, she realized that the minor, which was created to use engineering to achieve social good, was not achievable as it stood.

So she worked with George and assistant professor of justice and peace studies Michael Klein to rework the program, bringing collaboration between two departments and crafting a mission statement that reflects the principles of Catholic social teaching.

Together, they created a curriculum that focuses on collaborating with the community, empowering those experiencing injustice to create their own future, and respecting the dignity and humanity of each person.

“This is how it plays out at CTI,” Gerenz said. “We focus on design to make tools efficient, but by hearing and respecting the user, respecting the dignity of the human person, we allow them to make decisions that impact their lives directly.”

Inspired by St. John Paul II, Gerenz sees her work as a vocation, not a job.

“Pope John Paul II spoke often of the dignity of work,” she said. “It helps me to think of my own work as vocation, but also to respect the labor of work that the African farmers are doing.”

Now with a diploma in hand, Gerenz is continuing her work at CTI in her new role as a technology coordinator. Her summer plans included a July wedding to fellow mechanical engineer Adam Gerenz, a member of Epiphany in Coon Rapids. The couple, who met in a calculus class freshman year, exchanged vows at the chapel on the St. Thomas campus, where they attended Mass as students. She also returned to Senegal this month.

Jacobson is thrilled to have Gerenz, whose maiden name was Carey, as a permanent member of the CTI team. “She’s an absolutely wonderful person,” he said.

“Bridget is one of the strongest Catholics I’ve ever met, yet she doesn’t preach. Her example and behavior are indicative of it. She always sees the positive and genuinely cares about her human partners. She’s sparked my faith just by being around her.”

Archdiocese’s website at: http://information.archspm.org/; or (c) visiting the website of United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota at http://www.mnb.uscourts.gov/. A PACER login and password are required to access documents on the Bankruptcy Court’s website and these can be obtained through the PACER Service Center at www.pacer.psc.uscourts.gov.

PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the hearing on motions to approve the Insurance Settlement and Buyback Agreements will occur on Thursday, August 30, 2018, at 10:30 a.m. in Courtroom 8 West, United States Courthouse, 300 South Fourth Street, Minneapolis, MN 55415. Any response or objection to motions to approve the Insurance Settlement and Buyback Agreements must be filed and served by Friday, August 24, 2018.

IF YOU HAVE A CLAIM AGAINST THE ARCHDIOCESE AS TO WHICH INSURANCE COVERAGE IS OR MAY BE AVAILABLE OR HAVE AN INTEREST IN ANY OF THE ARCHDIOCESE’S INSURANCE POLICIES OR CERTIFICATES, YOUR RIGHTS MAY BE AFFECTED. If you wish to object to any aspect of the motions to approve the Insurance Settlement and Buyback Agreements, you must file your response with the Clerk of the Court at: Clerk of the Bankruptcy Court 200 Warren E. Burger Federal Building and United States Courthouse 316 North Robert Street St. Paul, MN 55101 Any written response must reference case number 15-30125, state the specific facts upon which the objection is based, and provide proof of service that a copy of the response was served on: Richard D. Anderson, 2200 IDS Center, 80 South Eighth Street, Minneapolis, MN 55402; Robert Kugler, 50 South Sixth Street, Suite 2600, Minneapolis, MN 55402; and Office of The United States Trustee, 300 South Fourth Street, Suite 1015 Minneapolis, MN 55415.

Any written response must also conform and be served in accordance with the Local Rules for the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota.

18 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

AUGUST 23, 2018

FROMAGETOAGE

Little Sisters rely on divine providence to serve elderly poor Religious community marking 150 years in United States

FAR LEFT Little Sisters of the Poor work outside in this undated historic photo.

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit Jan Storms, 56, was pleased with her mother’s care at the Little Sisters of the Poor’s Holy Family Residence in St. Paul, but she wasn’t expecting to find other personal blessings at the nursing home.

Through divine providence — or God’s ultimate control and care, something familiar to the Little Sisters — the St. Odilia parishioner met one of the sisters after a visit with her mother last year, and the two have forged a deep friendship.

Besides the joy she’s found in that friendship, Storms has seen other miracles at the home for the elderly, including residents returning to the faith, families reconciling and the sisters nurturing residents.

“It’s more than a nursing home,” Storms said. “It really is like the person’s home.”

Since the Little Sisters of the Poor first arrived in what is now the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis 135 years ago, they have lived their congregation’s mission by caring for thousands of elderly poor as their family. This year, the Minnesota sisters are joining with sisters at 26 other U.S. homes to celebrate another milestone: the congregation’s 150th anniversary in the United States.

After the jubilee year kicks off on the Aug. 30 feast day of their foundress, St. Jeanne Jugan, the sisters in St. Paul will celebrate during September with special liturgies, an open house, a golf tournament and other events.

In 1883, six sisters arrived in Minnesota’s capital city at the request of the Diocese of St. Paul’s second bishop, Thomas Grace, and his coadjutor bishop, John Ireland, wearing long black cloaks with hoods that covered the tops of their white bonnets.

The sisters’ first U.S. “foundation” was in Brooklyn, New York, and more than a dozen were operating by the time of their Minnesota founding. Congress had recognized sisters’ ministry and authorized grants for more homes, where they cared for the elderly poor.

The sisters came to the archdiocese with little money but a desire to imitate St. Jeanne Jugan who began the ministry 44 years earlier in Saint-Servan, France, by offering her own bed to a blind, paralyzed widow. Minnesotans soon recognized the congregation’s work and welcomed them, said Mother Maria Francis, 63, the Little Sisters of the Poor’s St. Paul superior.

“Someone else was looking out for them,” she said. “When they came here they only had a dime. When people saw the work they did, they were very open and very charitably received the sisters.”

The Minnesota sisters opened their first

Your Byline Here.

COURTESY LITTLE SISTERS OF THE POOR

home in an old school building on property in St. Paul’s West Seventh neighborhood, which they purchased from the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.

Soon the Little Sisters were caring for 20 residents. In 1889, they built a new home on the property to care for 200 elderly, and in 1903, they opened another home in northeast Minneapolis.

For decades, the sisters cared for residents, maintained the homes and sought donations without employees.

Until about 1940, they made the neighborhood rounds collecting donations for the needs of the home in a horse-drawn wagon, Mother Maria Francis said.

“Jeanne Jugan, in her early days, had a great belief that we’re not just begging, that it’s part of evangelization,” she said.

“During the begging, we’re giving those who are giving a chance to offer charity.”

Benefactors have been generous, Mother Maria Francis said. During the Great Depression, they supported the sisters’ soup kitchen and homeless ministry.

Early residents told the sisters stories about their Civil War service, Mother Maria Francis said. The sisters learned later that a criminal once donated embezzled funds. And before 1900, a tall sister who collected donations at logging camps around Duluth earned the nickname “Sister Lumberjack.”

In 1977, the sisters consolidated their two Twin Cities homes into the present one, located near downtown St. Paul, which was built to comply with new healthcare regulations. Eight sisters, who now wearing shorter, white or gray habits with veils, run the home, which has 73 licensed beds and 34 apartment residents, Mother Maria Francis said.

Some of the sisters are registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, while staff help with resident care, administration and other needs. The sisters continue to collect food and resources at markets, businesses and parishes, said Sister Michael Anthony Mugan, 73, who manages the sisters’ begging and community outreach.

The sisters believe divine providence — often sought through prayers to St. Joseph — supplies miracles, such as an unexpected but needed delivery of 40 pies two years ago, complete last-minute provision for a resident and family picnic two years in a row, and a surprise donation a decade ago that paid for a bus.

The Catholic Spirit is seeking experienced, professional freelance journalists to report on Catholic life in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Interested?

Email CatholicSpirit@archspm.org

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

“Jeanne Jugan always had this belief: God will provide the house and he will look after it,” Mother Maria Francis said.

“It’s amazing some of the stories: When they were short of bread, they prayed to St. Joseph, or sometimes they put a potato in front of [a] St. Joseph [image].

This is how divine providence worked, and it’s still very active now.”

The sisters hope divine providence will also bring more vocations. Two young women are discerning whether to join the community, which is aging. “It’s not near what we need, but we’ve never been without,” Sister Michael said.

The sisters usually have an admission waiting list for their residence, although they don’t advertise that they accept the poorest candidates, Sister Michael said.

Retired priests and religious don’t receive preference, but the sisters try to help their family members in need, she added.

Collectively, the Little Sisters in the U.S. have made national headlines in

LEFT In this 2016 file photo, Mother Maria Francis helps volunteers prepare treats to celebrate Easter at the Little Sisters of the Poor Holy Family Residence in St. Paul.

recent years with their public opposition to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ mandate that employers’ health plans provide free contraceptives, sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs, all of which are contrary to Church teaching. Last fall, HHS issued a new rule exempting the sisters from the requirement to provide contraceptives to their employees, but they still face several legal challenges.

Catholics have thanked the sisters for standing up for their beliefs, Mother Maria Francis said.

Local challenges include staff turnover and building-related concerns such as their recent replacement of heating and air conditioning pipes. Their next project is refurbishing the apartments.

“It’s like the residents are part of the sisters’ life and part of their vows and part of their lifestyle, not in addition to it,” Storms said.

Number one regret of our residents: “Why didn’t we move here sooner?”

With age comes wisdom. And an opportunity to define your next chapter. At The Glenn Catholic Senior Living Communities, we’re focused on inspiring a more active lifestyle. We’re a welcoming Catholic community that provides daily spiritual support, a warm sense of family, and the ability to modify your living arrangement from independent, assisted, memory care, care suites or adult day to suit your needs.

Call or visit today!

TheGlennHopkins.com | 952-960-2921 TheGlennMinnetonka.com | 952-373-0005

!$"%

AUGUST 23, 2018

FROMAGETOAGE

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 19

Fear falling? At St. Therese, NASA has residents’ backs

By Michael P. Kassner For The Catholic Spirit

NeuroCom’s technology germinated in the 1960s when astronauts returning from extended stays in space were having trouble readjusting to Earth’s gravity.

Coordinated research by NASA and MIT scientists resulted in the development of noninvasive clinical techniques for evaluating balance-function deficiencies, which in turn led to the founding of NeuroCom International.

U

ntil recently, Phyllis Sisinni, a member of St. John in Hugo and resident of St. Therese of Woodbury, had a very real fear of falling.

It wasn’t unreasonable: She had already fallen several times. It is also why Sisinni’s doctor prescribed a balance evaluation the Catholic senior care facility began offering in March.

Just a few weeks into the therapy plan developed specifically for her, Sisinni was encouraged by her improvement. In that amount of time, she went from feeling unsteady on her feet to thinking she may one day no longer need her cane.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in four Americans age 65 or older fall each year. These falls result in 2.8 million emergency room visits, 800,000 hospitalizations and more than 27,000 deaths. According to the National Council on Aging, “A growing number of older adults fear falling, and as a result, limit their activities and social engagements. This can result in a further physical decline, depression, social isolation and feelings of helplessness.”

In 2011, physical therapy teams at St. Therese’s five metro-area senior communities became aware of just how widespread the fear of falling is when their residents expressed this anxiety to a St. Therese Foundation focus group.

“Fear of falling is a real concern for our residents,” said Amy Taylor-Greengard,

COURTESY ST. THERESE OF WOODBURY

Physical therapist Dane Bonath assesses a St. Therese of New Hope resident with the NeuroCom Balance Master system, which St. Therese of Woodbury began offering in March. executive director of rehab and wellness at St. Therese. “Falls tend to lead to serious fractures among senior citizens, which increases dependency on caregivers and, more importantly, decreases a client’s quality of life.”

Seeing a real need, St. Therese of Woodbury made plans for a new therapy program and raised more than $90,000 to fund it. Funds came largely from employees, residents, families and vendors, said Chris Hinnenkamp, St. Therese’s vice president of fund development. The donations helped

St. Therese purchase balance-evaluation equipment and test programming from NeuroCom, a subsidiary of Californiabased Natus Medical Incorporated. Two of St. Therese’s other locations in New Hope and Brooklyn Park have been using the technology since 2009, but the equipment is unique in the Woodbury area, said Katie Saleum, St. Therese’s communications director. St. Therese hopes to eventually provide the equipment at all of its locations, which also include communities in Shoreview and Robbinsdale.

Scientists at NASA and MIT determined the ability to maintain balance relies on the following: The body’s sensory systems must supply the brain with accurate body-position data relative to the surrounding environment; the brain must correctly process the data; and muscles and joints must work together to maintain balance. With that knowledge in hand, engineers at NeuroCom developed Smart Equitest and Balance Master, evaluation and rehab systems clinicians use to identify balance issues and correct them.

Both therapists and residents at St. Therese of Woodbury consider the NeuroCom evaluation and corrective therapy programs to be huge successes.

“In many cases, during an assessment, the therapist knows what the problem is before asking the person being tested,” Taylor-Greengard said.

Currently, clinicians evaluate four to five clients daily for balance issues.

Taylor-Greengard said St. Therese’s communities are expected to average 1,500 balance assessments and personalized therapy plans per year.

20 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

AUGUST 23, 2018

FOCUSONFAITH SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER JOSEPH JOHNSON

The Eucharist: mystery and invitation

“This saying is hard; who can accept it?” We start this Sunday’s Gospel (Jn 6:60-69) with an objection from those Jesus is teaching and then are told that many “no longer accompanied him.” Contrast this with the first reading, in which Joshua challenges the people to “decide today whom you will serve” and they reply “far be it from us to forsake the Lord for the service of other gods.”

Jesus had just taught that his flesh is true food and his blood is true drink. This unambiguous teaching on the holy Eucharist is what prompted the defection of so many. It is not an easily understandable doctrine. “God’s ways are not our ways” is a popular old saying. Indeed, they are not!

Do I rely more on my intelligence or the weight of God’s Word in seeking the truth? Reason and revelation don’t need to be opposed, but one must lead and the other must follow. The listeners of Joshua trusted God, having seen his miracles. The listeners of Jesus had just seen, and even eaten, the miraculous multiplication of loaves and fish, and yet many chose not to believe.

“Believe it or not?” There used to be a popular television show by that name that recounted all sorts of odd and seemingly improbable events. The show gave no judgments, just the evidence as best as it could muster from the historical record. It could be sensational at times, but it always left the verdict to the viewers.

Following Jesus is about making a choice. Actually, it involves a whole lifelong series of choices. How do I integrate my daily decisions — at work, home or even in traffic — to be in harmony with my overarching personal commitment to follow Jesus? The wristband craze “WWJD” (What would Jesus do?) was an attempt to remind us of the need to examine our individual choices each day for the sake of consistency — a life of integrity or lip service?

The collect of today’s Mass petitions is “O God, who cause the

FAITH FUNDAMENTALS | FATHER MICHAEL VAN SLOUN

The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist

The real presence of Christ in the Eucharist is a doctrine — an official teaching of the Catholic Church — and a profound mystery.

With the words of consecration, the whole of Christ is truly present — body, blood, soul and divinity — under the appearances of bread and wine.

The doctrine is based upon the words of Jesus himself when he instituted the Eucharist. Jesus took the bread and said, “This is my body” (Mt 26:26), and he took the cup filled with wine and said, “This is my blood” (Mt 26:28).

When Jesus said, “This is my body,” he declared that the bread actually is his body, and that he is really present.

We accept and believe what Jesus said as a matter of faith.

There is no scientific evidence, definite proof or factual explanation. We take Jesus at his word because he is truth (Jn 14:6), he came into the world to testify to the truth (Jn 18:37), and the words that he spoke are spirit and life (Jn 6:63). St. Cyril of Alexandria wrote, “Do not doubt whether this is true, but rather receive the words of the Savior in faith, for since he is truth, he cannot lie.”

The words of Jesus are clear and unambiguous, yet the doctrine of the Real Presence is questioned and doubted by some, and challenged, ridiculed or rejected by others. Recent public opinion polls have reported an alarmingly high percentage of those who claim to be Catholic who do not believe in the Real Presence. Other Catholics have wavered and their faith has eroded because of personal uncertainty, or because they have been swayed by the secular press, the teachings of misguided theologians or the objections of non-

DAILY Scriptures

“

Do I allow grace to draw my mind and heart into unity with the Church’s longing to be faithful to God’s commands as we seek eternal life?

Sunday, Aug. 26 Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b Eph 5:21–32 Jn 6:60-69 Monday. Aug. 27 St. Monica 2 Thes 1:1-5, 11-12 Mt 23:13-22 Tuesday, Aug. 28 St. Augustine, Bishop and doctor of the Church 2 Thes 2:1-3a, 14-17 Mt 23:23-26 Wednesday, Aug. 29 Passion of St. John the Baptist 2 Thes 3:6-10, 16-18 Mk 6:17-29

iSTOCK | WIDEONET

minds of the faithful to unite in a single purpose, grant your people to love what you command and to desire what you promise… .” Do I allow grace to draw my mind and heart into unity with the Church’s longing to be faithful to God’s commands as we seek eternal life?

What might prevent my mind from following this urging of grace? Timidity: “This saying is hard.” Discouragement: “Who can accept this?” Pride: “I know better” or “prove it to me.”

Following Jesus has never been easy, and there are plenty of “mysteries” of faith that leave us scratching our heads. Faith is not just a set of intellectual propositions to which we must give assent. Faith is an invitation to a lived relationship of trust in God. The Word of God invites me beyond my natural limits into relationship with a truth and love greater than my human capacity to receive.

Today Jesus asks for our answer: “Do you also want to leave?”

May we answer in faith with Peter: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” Father Johnson is pastor of Holy Family in St. Louis Park.

Catholic Christians.

There are a number of faulty explanations that are contrary to the Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence: that the bread and wine remain bread and wine and that there is no change; that they become the spiritual presence of Christ, not the actual presence; that they become a symbol that represents Christ’s presence; that they are a reminder, memento, or foreshadowing of Christ; that they become more significant or important spiritually; or that they are simultaneously Christ’s body and blood but also ordinary bread and wine.

Over the centuries, some non-believers have attacked the Catholic belief in the Real Presence with claims that it is impossible, ridiculous or superstition. During outdoor Eucharist processions, some spectators hurled taunts and insults, and their behaviors were so disrespectful that the processions were taken off the streets and moved back into cathedrals and churches to uphold and protect the sanctity of the Eucharist.

In the face of questions, misunderstanding and attack, the Church has defined, defended and reinforced its teaching on the Real Presence. St. Ambrose, who lived in the fourth century, wrote, “Could not Christ’s word, which can make from nothing what did not exist, change existing things into what they were not before?”

The doctrine was enunciated by the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 and reaffirmed and rearticulated by the Council of Constance in 1415. During the upheaval of the Protestant Reformation, the Council of Trent declared in 1551, “By the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord.”

In his 1965 encyclical “Mysterium Fidei,” Pope Paul VI wrote, “The presence is called ‘real’ … it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present.”

Father Van Sloun is pastor of St. Bartholomew in Wayzata. This column is part of a series on the Eucharist. To read the series, visit TheCatholicSpirit.com. Read more of Father Van Sloun’s writing at CatholicHotdish.com.

Thursday, Aug. 30 1 Cor 1:1-9 Mt 24:42-51 Friday, Aug. 31 1 Cor 1:17-25 Mt 25:1-13 Saturday, Sept. 1 1 Cor 1:26-31 Mt 25:14-30 Sunday, Sept. 2 Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time Dt 4:1-2, 6-8 Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27 Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Monday, Sept. 3 St. Gregory the Great, Pope and doctor of the Church 1 Cor 2:1-5 Lk 4:16-30 Tuesday, Sept. 4 1 Cor 2:10b-16 Lk 4:31-37 Wednesday, Sept. 5 1 Cor 3:1-9 Lk 4:38-44 Thursday, Sept. 6 1 Cor 3:18-23 Lk 5:1-11 Friday, Sept. 7 1 Cor 4:1-5 Lk 5:33-39 Saturday, Sept. 8 Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mi 5:1-4a or Rom 8:28-30 Mt 1:18-23 Sunday, Sept. 9 Is 35:4-7a Jas 2:1-5 Mk 7:31-37 Monday, Sept. 10 1 Cor 5:1-8 Lk 6:6-11 Tuesday, Sept. 11 1 Cor 6:1-11 Lk 6:12-19 Wednesday, Sept. 12 1 Cor 7:25-31 Lk 6:20-26 Thursday, Sept. 13 1 Cor 8:1b-7, 11-13 Lk 6:37-38 Friday, Sept. 14 Exaltation of the Holy Cross Nm 21:4b-9 Phil 2:6-11 Jn 3:13-17 Saturday, Sept. 15 Our Lady of Sorrows 1 Cor 10:14-22 Jn 19:25-27 or Lk 2:33-35 Sunday, Sept. 16 Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Is 50:5-9a Jas 2:14-18 Mk 8:27-35

AUGUST 23, 2018

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 21

COMMENTARY FAITH IN THE PUBLIC ARENA | JASON ADKINS

A Catholic judge?

President Donald Trump has selected Judge Brett Kavanaugh to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court left by Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement. Unless something damaging emerges from his background, Judge Kavanaugh will be confirmed.

Judge Kavanaugh has highlighted the importance of his Catholic faith in his personal life. But he will likely indicate in his confirmation hearing that his faith convictions do not and should not have an impact on his judicial decision-making. He will stipulate that when deciding cases, it is his responsibility to say what the law is, not what it should be.

His nomination raises the question of whether there can be such a thing as a Catholic judge. Or is good judging merely a matter of technical skill, like fishing, where one’s religion has no role in the task?

Transcending today’s judicial politics The Church (in the United States) does not support or oppose candidates for office, including judges. Catholics can, however, turn to Church tradition for guidance in arriving at their own conclusions about the merits of candidates. Here, as on many topics, St. Thomas Aquinas provides remarkable wisdom.

As a judge’s main responsibility is to apply the law to specific cases, the interpretive methods a judge uses to identify the applicable legal rule are paramount.

According to St. Thomas, judges should judge according to the law as written, noting that the act of judging is nothing other than rendering a decision about what is just.

The written law is an attempt to codify acts that are just by their nature or by agreement among persons.

Quoting St. Augustine, St. Thomas highlights that once a legislator establishes the law, “judges may judge no longer of them, but according to them.” In other words, ignoring the written law usurps the legislator’s role in determining what is just when the written laws are created.

But, St. Thomas continues, “[j]ust as the written law does not give force to natural right, so neither can it diminish or annul its force, because neither can man’s will change nature.” Therefore, “if the written law contains anything contrary to the natural right, it is

YOUR HEART, HIS HOME | LIZ KELLY

Letter to a weary Catholic parent

A woman emails me to tell me about her daughter: She’s 12 and has tried to commit suicide multiple times. She’s in a mental health facility, and she’s not making much progress. Would I please pray?

Another writes to tell me about her son: He wants to become female. The state in which this family lives is supporting the son in this decision, despite his being only 16, and despite the evidence compiled by his mother that sex-change operations don’t really fix “the problem,” but often increase depression and suicidal tendencies.

Another mom and dad tell me that their daughter came home pregnant recently, and she doesn’t know who the father is. They had no idea she was sexually active. Another father writes about a son who is addicted to opioids. He fell some years ago and broke his back, and during a 2-year-long recovery, he got addicted to oxycodone. His parents have tried everything: treatment centers, healing retreats, even a

Pray to end abortion

“

Is he a Catholic judge, or a judge who happens to be Catholic?

Join Catholics across the United States for nine weeks of prayer, fasting and education. The novena began Aug. 3 and continues to Sept. 28. This “Call to Prayer” initiative of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops leads up to the start of the next Supreme Court session (the first Monday in October). The focus is on prayer and fasting for an end to abortion while educating the public about how the Roe v.

Wade decision is not health care, is bad law and fails women.

Visit usccb.org/pray to receive a weekly email or text reminder to pray and fast, along with a fact about Roe to share with others including your two U.S. senators.

CNS

unjust and has no binding force.”

In cases of unjust laws, or those laws that when observed perpetrate an injustice contrary to nature in their effects, St. Thomas says that “judgment should be delivered, not according to the letter of the law, but according to the equity which the lawgiver has in view.”

Here, St. Thomas transcends all the contemporary legal debates about, for example, “originalism,” “textualism,” “legal realism” and the “living Constitution.”

Depending on their judicial office, judges are not necessarily mere legal technicians — umpires calling balls and strikes, as in Chief Justice John Roberts’ famous analogy. Judges can also be agents of equity. To do justice means that a judge must, on occasion, correct inequity, whether it is perpetrated directly by a statute, or in its effects.

To do so effectively, however, means the judge must have the character, knowledge, and wisdom to be an agent of justice and equity. The judge’s equitable power is not an invitation to lawlessness.

Kavanaugh, Catholic judge?

So where does that leave Judge Kavanaugh? Is he a Catholic judge, or a judge who happens to be Catholic?

Liberal senators and activists committed to preserving the abortion license, and intuitively grasping that judges, inevitably, impose normative values on legal rules, will grill Judge Kavanaugh about his Catholicism,

“

Mom and Dad, God remains God, and in the end, your child will not be torn from his hands.

pilgrimage to Medjugorje. But the crippling addiction continues. They’re afraid the only thing left is jail.

Children suffering depression, pornography addiction, eating disorders, mood disorders, confusion about sexual orientation, even one child who wants to identify as “a non-binary human.”

Mom and Dad, I hear you.

I am sorry for your pain and even more sorry that I have no tidy reply about why God would allow such anguish to visit your home, your precious children. I believe you when you say you’ve been faithful, you’ve prayed and fasted and done everything you knew to do. I’m guessing it’s not your fault. I’ve met a few of you in person, and I can see that you’re pretty darn normal, not crazy child abusers. You’re attentive and responsible parents who never in a million years dreamed you would be struggling with “this.”

All I can say is, the Father knows all about standing with a child who is suffering. He’s an expert in this pain. And though the philosophers will argue that “God cannot suffer, he is pure joy,” I believe the Father knows your pain intimately, personally, and he will never abandon you to it alone. He has heard and received every prayer that has emanated from your

because they fear it will threaten cherished legal victories related to, among other things, abortion and same-sex marriage.

Conservatives will howl that this is an impermissible religious test for public office. But a judge’s religion, personal convictions and background are relevant if a judge is required to authoritatively render judgments to achieve justice. Supreme Court nominees are wise to skillfully sidestep them, but the questions, rightly directed, are not out of bounds.

These questions should not, however, descend into bigotry, and politicians who overstep the bounds of civility or respect should be held accountable.

Judge Kavanaugh, like the other Catholics who have served on the Supreme Court, will have to forge his own jurisprudence and reconcile his faith commitments and role as a judge. A Catholic judge serves with virtue and does not perpetrate injustice in rendering decisions. But there is no specifically “Catholic” theory of legal interpretation, and no prescribed Catholic handbook for being a judge.

Still, Judge Kavanaugh and other Catholic jurists may consider rediscovering the wisdom of St. Thomas to transcend yet another false “either/or” dichotomy in contemporary politics.

Adkins is executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference.

broken heart. What’s more, he loves your child and has glorious plans for your child and this pain. No place exists where your child is beyond his reach.

Pope Benedict said it this way: “What [the Gospel story] is ultimately telling us is this: Despite all the horrors, human history will not be drowned in the night of self-destruction; God will not let it be torn from his hands. The divine judgments, the great sufferings in which humankind is submerged are not instances of destruction but serve the salvation of humankind. Even ‘after Auschwitz,’ even after the most tragic catastrophe of history, God remains God; he remains good with an indestructible goodness. ... the most important thing of all for human beings does exist ... we have the interventions of God’s love in history, most powerfully in the figure of Jesus.”

Mom and Dad, God remains God, and in the end, your child will not be torn from his hands. Our God is so powerful and so good, as St. Augustine reminds us, he will cause good to emerge, even from evil. It’s OK if you don’t believe that; Augustine and I will believe it for you.

And oh yes, I will pray.

Merciful Father, reveal your goodness and power to every parent in pain.

Kelly is the author of six books, including the awardwinning “Jesus Approaches” (Loyola Press, 2017), which has been chosen by the U.S. Catholic Book Club as its October 2018 selection. She is a parishioner of St. Michael in Stillwater. Visit her website at lizk.org.

COMMENTARY

22 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

AUGUST 23, 2018

CATHOLIC WATCHMEN | BEN TLOUGAN

“

Training and preparation: We all know these are needed for difficult tasks. The hardest part of running a marathon isn’t the actual marathon — it’s the hours, days, weeks and months of running that are required to prepare for it. If you try running a marathon without preparation, you will end up like the first guy who did it, and keel over dead.

But that’s a story for another time.

The Catholic Spirit recently published a number of stories on health and hard work. Over the last two months, this column has related to sports and overcoming challenges. In June, we learned about a nutritionist helping our seminarians and priests be healthier through diet and exercise, and earlier this month, we read about Father John Floeder, the weight-lifting priest. I’m continuing the theme.

St. Paul writes to Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Why does Paul compare our life to a fight or a race?

What he is trying to do is help us understand that like in a fight or a race, our spiritual fight and race

also require training. You don’t sign up for a marathon, or even a 10K, and think you can sit on your couch all summer and then show up on race day and finish strong. You don’t join the Army and assume you will simply win on the day of battle. For both, you train — hard — for months or years.

For a marathon, you run six days a week, with those runs gradually lengthening until you’ve gotten close to the 26.2 miles you’ll need to run on race day.

Meanwhile, you manage a specific diet to complement the training.

Likewise, for war, you train with your weapons, explore tactics and learn to operate on little to no sleep. You study your opponent to understand their tactics, and you train with cardio and conditioning — including carrying all your gear — to make sure you have the stamina to make it through the battle.

However, in our spiritual lives, we often think we can just go to Mass on Sundays and then we’ll be ready for whatever challenges come our way. Why is this? If you only run one day a week, it will not prepare you for the long grueling run on race day.

You have to train daily.

Just like with physical training, spiritual training is

Training for victory

You need to eat more than once a week to survive physically, and the same is true spiritually.

a discipline that has not only to do with exercise, but also with what we consume. Our “exercises” are prayer, reconciliation, eucharistic adoration and theological study. Our “food” is the Mass and reading God’s Word. You need to eat more than once a week to survive physically, and the same is true spiritually.

For any discipline, we need a training plan. Daily practices could include prayer, Bible reading and a chapter of a good, faith-based book. Weekly practices could include daily Mass (at least once a week), Holy Hour and (should include) Sunday Mass. Monthly practices could include reconciliation.

I know some will say, “I don’t have time.” However, the truth is, we have time for what is important to us.

At our judgment, do we want to say to God, “I would have worked to be stronger spiritually, but I didn’t have time”? Or do we want to let our discipline in our spiritual life speak for itself?

Don’t let another day go by wasting time on the computer, phone or TV that could have been spent strengthening your spirit.

Get up now, get moving. Rise and shine!

Tlougan is an Army combat veteran and the director of discipleship for youth, young adults and men at St. Hubert in Chanhassen. Learn about the archdiocese’s Catholic Watchmen initiative at rediscover.archspm.org/the-catholic-watchmen or facebook.com/thecatholicwatchmen.

LETTERS Breastfeeding and NFP I noticed in the July 26 issue of The Catholic Spirit in the articles discussing NFP that there was no mention of the benefits of breastfeeding and how it affects spacing of children. My mother breastfed me and all of my siblings.

The spacing of my next two older brothers and me were two years between each of us, and for the rest of my older siblings it was similar.

I don’t know how much research has been done on this subject, but it seems to me NFP discussions without including it are incomplete. As I understand it, breastfeeding delays fertile periods; I would invite comments from medical practitioners.

Gene Floersch Our Lady of Peace, Minneapolis

Elevate the dialogue I find it sad that today’s political “dialogue” has basically disintegrated to the point that Ms. Rosenwinkel felt the need to play partisan games (Letters to the Editor, July 12). I don’t think anyone or certainly very few people would disagree (at least in the Catholic Church) that JFK and RFK were both wonderful public servants who also were not perfect.

Ms. Rosenwinkel curiously reveals

her true partisan colors in her selective leaving out of criticism of any Democrat Catholic politicians. The Republican politicians she mentioned are no doubt guilty of some of the things she alleged.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, California Gov. Jerry Brown and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo are among just a few self-proclaiming Catholics who support not only unlimited abortion on demand but taxpayer funding of the murder of children as well, in addition to forcing Catholic Charities out of the adoption business, as all of these politicians I just named support destroying the family via their unlimited and unwavering support of so-called homosexual “marriage.”

So clearly the knife does cut both ways in modern politics, especially for Catholic ones? Bobby Kennedy “couldn’t get elected dog catcher” in today’s society? Please. He was from Massachusetts and later on New York.

He would get elected to statewide office today even more easily in those locations than he would then.

If Ms. Rosenwinkel wants us to put aside partisan politics and petty mudslinging, she should lead by example.

Unequal descriptions Describing a saintly woman solely as a “virgin” (for example: Aug. 11, St. Clare, virgin, in “Daily Scriptures,” July 10 edition), but never describing a man that way seems like a double standard from the last century. My Catholic Appointment Calendar issued by some churches simply names the saint of the day. Please do the same.

Michaelene Zawistowski St. Thomas More, St. Paul Editor’s response: The Catholic Spirit lists saints as they appear in the liturgical calendar of the U.S. bishops, available at usccb.org, along with their official descriptions, such as “virgin,” “martyr” or “priest.” Beginning in the New Testament, the Church has traditionally noted the virginity of some women saints to highlight the virtue of purity and draw attention to their emulation of Mary.

Share your perspective by emailing CatholicSpirit@archspm.org. Please limit your letter to the editor to 150 words and include your parish and phone number.

The Commentary page does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Catholic Spirit. Letters may be edited for length or clarity.

Never miss an issue. Subscribe online today!

Kristopher Kadrmas St. John, Little Canada

Prices starting at $2,499 ~ with Airfare Included in this price from anywhere in the USA

Several trips to different destinations: the Holy Land; Italy; France; Portugal; Spain; Poland; Medjugorje; Lourdes; Fatima; Ireland; Scotland; England; Austria; Germany; Switzerland; Turkey; Greece; Budapest; Prague; Our Lady of Guadalupe; Colombia; Brazil; Argentina; Domestic Destinations; etc.

We also specialize in custom trips for Bishops, Priests, and Deacons.

WE’D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Call us 24/7 508-340-9370 or 855-842-8001 www.proximotravel.com anthony@proximotravel.com (Hablamos Español)

Commentary/ideas/opinion? Email: catholicspirit@archspm.org

AUGUST 23, 2018

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 23

CALENDAR Music

FEATURED EVENTS Rosary for life — Aug. 25: 9–11 a.m. at Chapel of the Innocents, 3821 W. Broadway, Robbinsdale. Hosted by the archdiocese’s Office of Latino Ministry.

Day of prayer for racial justice, peace and healing — Sept. 6: 7 p.m. at St. Peter Claver, 369 Oxford St., St. Paul. Archbishop Bernard Hebda to preside over ecumenical prayer service to address racism and call for peace in the face of race-related violence. spcchurch.org.

Catholic Watchmen seminar — Sept. 8: 9–11:30 a.m. at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center, 777 Forest St., St. Paul. Mark Houck, co-founder and president of The King’s Men, will speak to men about brotherhood groups. $20 cost includes continental breakfast.

Register at rediscover.archspm.org. For more information, contact Enzo Randazzo at randazzov@archspm.org or 651-291-4483.

Holy Hour for vocations — Sept. 11: 7–8 p.m. at St. Therese, 18325 Minnetonka Blvd., Wayzata. Hosted by the archdiocese’s Office of Vocations. For more information, visit 10000vocations.org.

“Jesus Approaches” eight-week Bible study begins Sept. 17 and 18: A Monday evening study will take place 6:30-8 p.m. at Epiphany, 1900 111th Ave., Coon Rapids, Sept.

17-Nov. 12. A Tuesday morning study will take place 10–11:30 a.m. at St. John the Baptist, Savage, Sept. 18-Nov. 13. Features local author and speaker Liz Kelly and her book “Jesus Approaches: What Contemporary Women Can Learn about Healing, Freedom and Joy from the Women of the New Testament.” Childcare is available at both locations. Cost is $60. To register or for more information, visit rediscover.archspm.org or contact Susanna Parent at parents@archspm.org or 651-291-4411.

Organ recital by Ray Bannon — Sept. 16: 2 p.m. at Immaculate Conception, 4030 Jackson St. NE, Columbia Heights. iccsonline.org.

Parish events Twin Cities prison ministry fundraiser — Aug. 29: 7:30–10 p.m. at St. Joseph, 13900 Biscayne Ave. W., Rosemount. Hosted by WCCO radio meteorologist Mike Lynch. stjosephcommunity.org/prison_ministry.aspx.

“Sneak Peak” happy hour — Aug. 30: 5–7 p.m. at St. Richard, 7540 Penn Ave. S., Richfield. A look at the new social hall before its Sept. 9 grand opening. $30.

Includes drinks and appetizers. strichards.com/sneak-peak.

Highland Catholic School/Lumen Christi Catholic Community Block Party — Sept. 8: 5:30–10 p.m. at 2055 Bohland Ave., St. Paul. highlandcatholic.org.

Fiesta dinner and dance — Sept. 16: 12–3 p.m. at St. Mary, 261 E. Eighth St., St. Paul. stmarystpaul.org.

Prayer/worship Taize prayer — First Friday of each month: 7:30 p.m. at St. Richard, 7540 Penn Ave. S., Richfield. strichards.com/first-fridays.

Taize prayer — Third Friday of each month: 7 p.m. at the Benedictine Center at St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. 651-777-7251 or stpaulsmonastery.org.

National Day of Remembrance for Aborted Children — Sept. 8: 10–11 a.m. at Resurrection Cemetery, 2101 Lexington Ave. S., Mendota Heights. plam.org/events.

Patriotic rosary — Sept. 9: 6:30 p.m. at St. John the Evangelist (of Union Hill), 20087 Hub Drive, New Prague. npcatholic.org/st-john-the-evangelist.

Community of Sant’ Egidio prayer for the sick — Sept. 13: 6–7 p.m. at St. Richard, 7540 Penn Ave. S., Richfield. strichards.com/events/santegidio-evening-prayer.

Retreats Prayer shawl retreat — Sept. 7-9 at Franciscan Retreat and Spirituality Center, 16385 St. Francis Lane, Prior Lake. 952-447-2182. franciscanretreats.net/prayer-shawl-retreat.

Living and Working from the Heart of Christ retreat

— Sept. 7-9 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. With retreat master Father Andrew Jaspers. curatioapostolate.com.

Women’s midweek retreat — Sept. 11-13 at Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, 16385 St. Francis Lane, Prior Lake. franciscanretreats.net/womens-retreats.

Retreat for the grieving — Sept. 14-16 at the Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, 16385 St. Francis Lane, Prior Lake. franciscanretreats.net/retreat-for-the-grieving.

Men’s golf and faith retreat — Sept. 14-16 at Cragun’s Resort, 11000 Cragun’s Drive, Brainerd. Led by Father Nick Nelson. fr.nicholas.nelson@duluthcatholic.org.

CALENDAR submissions DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, 14 days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication. We cannot guarantee a submitted event will appear in the calendar. Priority is given to events occurring before the next issue date.

LISTINGS: Accepted are brief no­tices of upcoming events hosted by Catholic parishes and organizations. If the Catholic connection is not clear, please emphasize it in your submission. Included in our listings are local events submitted by public sources that could be of interest to the larger Catholic community.

ITEMS MUST INCLUDE the following to be considered for publication:

Conferences/workshops

uTime and date of event

Sidewalk counseling training seminar — Sept. 4: 7–9 p.m. at St. John Vianney College Seminary, 2110 Selby Ave., St. Paul. Organized by Pro-Life Action Ministries. debra.braun@plam.org or 651-797-6364.

Order Franciscans Secular — Third Sunday of each month: 1 p.m. at Catholic Charities, 1200 Second Ave. S., Minneapolis. 952-922-5523.

uFull street address of event uDescription of event u Contact information in case of questions ONLINE: thecatholicspirit.com/calendarsubmissions MAIL: “Calendar,” The Catholic Spirit 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN 55106

Singles Sunday Spirits walking group for 50-plus Catholic singles — Sundays: For Catholic singles to meet and make friends. Kay at 651-426-3103 or Al at 651-439-1203.

Singles group — Second Saturday each month: 6:15 p.m. at St. Vincent de Paul, 9100 93rd Ave. N., Brooklyn Park. 763-425-0412.

Speakers Pro-Life Gathering — Sept. 13: 7–8 p.m. at Holy Trinity, 211 Fourth St., Goodhue. mccl.org/falltour.

Young adults Friday Night at the Friary — Third Friday of each month: 7–9 p.m. at Franciscan Brothers of Peace, 1289 Lafond Ave., St. Paul. Men ages 18-35 are invited for prayer and fellowship. facebook.com/queenofpeacefriary.

Other events Knights of Columbus bingo — Wednesdays:

6–9 p.m. at Solanus Casey Council Hall, 1910 S. Greeley St., Stillwater.

Seeker Sessions — Aug. 25 and 26: 4:30 p.m.

Aug. 25; 10 a.m. Aug. 26 at St. Richard, 7540 Penn Ave. S., Richfield. strichards.com/news/rcia-seeker-sessions.

Individual directed retreat for emerging poets — Sept. 10: 9 a.m.–4 p.m. at St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. With poet Vic Klimoski. benedictinecenter.

“Living and Laughing through Grief: Coping and the Road to Recovery” — Sept. 11: 6:30–9 p.m. at Risen Savior, 1501 E. County Road 42, Burnsville. With speaker Brenda Elsagher. Sponsored by the Interdenominational Coalition of South Suburban Churches. Barb Korman at 651-452-8261 or growingthroughloss@gmail.com.

Schoenstatt Movement celebration for the 50th anniversary of Father Joseph Kentenich’s death — Sept. 15: 10 a.m.–4 p.m. at Schoenstatt Shrine and Center, 840 Prescott Ave. NW, Sleepy Eye. RSVP by Sept. 8: 507-794-7727.

Marketplace • Message Center Classified Ads

Email: classifiedads@archspm.org • Phone: 651-290-1631 • Fax: 651-291-4460 Next issue: 9-13-18 • Deadline: 3 p.m. 9-6-18 • Rates: $8 per line (35-40 characters per line) • Add a photo/logo for $25 ACCESSIBILITY SOLUTIONS

CEMETERY LOTS FOR SALE

STAIR LIFTS - ELEVATORS WHEELCHAIR LIFTS FOR HOMES, CHURCHES & SCHOOLS Arrow Lift (763) 786-2780

Resurrection Cemetery: 2 flat lots (no monuments): market value $1740/ea.; price $1200/ea. (651) 644-9981.

www.TheCatholicSpirit.com

Resurrection Cemetery: mausoleum niches. One double: market $10,760; price $8500. One single: market $5075; price $4000. (651) 303-3789.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

ANTIQUES TOP CASH PAID For Older Furniture Advertising Signs • Beer Items • Toys • Misc.

(651) 227-2469

ATTORNEYS Edward F. Gross • Wills, Trusts, Probate, Estate Planning, Real Estate. Office at 35E & Roselawn Ave., St. Paul (651) 631-0616.

Brian Flakne Criminal, family & business law 1701 Madison St NE, #101, Mpls (952) 888-9304 bflakne@flaknelaw.com

CABINETRY CABINETS, TV stands, bookcases – large and small, vanities, kitchen cabinets: White Bear Lake (651) 429-0426.

CATHOLIC COACHING/TRAINING Live with passion and purpose: in your work, ministry, marriage, and all of life. Redivive Coaching equipping the Catholic community.

Call Rick Erisman at (651) 410-7051 or email: rickerisman@redivivecoaching.com.

Calvary Cemetery: single lot. Value: $1815.00; Price: $1500.00 (952) 465-1312.

Gethsemane Cemetery: 2 lots in choice location. Value $1665/ea. Price: $1550/ea.

(763) 232-9600.

Resurrection Cemetery: 1 Duo. Lot #17, Section #13, Block #51 $1,200 – call (952) 891-2936.

Resurrection Cemetery: 3 side-by-side lots.

Value $1740/ea. Price $1540/ea.

(763) 415-0149.

CEILING TEXTURE Michaels Painting. Popcorn Removal & Knock Down Texture: TextureCeilings.com (763) 757-3187.

www.TheCatholicSpirit.com

HANDYMAN

Associate Editor of THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT Newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis: the “right hand” of the Editor/Publications Manager and assumes the role in the absence of the Editor/ Publications Manager. This person assists the editor in creating and executing an editorial plan for the newspaper. This includes, but is not limited to, news and feature writing, photography and editing the work of editorial staff members, columnists, freelancers and wire services. Other responsibilities include assigning stories and photo shoots to staff and freelancers, proofreading, editing TheCatholicSpirit.com, and assisting in page design and layout. For more information and to apply see: careers. archspm.org/jobs/associate-editor.

GREAT CATHOLIC SPEAKERS CD of the Month Club Lighthouse Catholic Media, Scott Hahn, Jeff Cavins and more! $5/month includes shipping.

Subscribe online at http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia. org/cdclub Please Enter Code: 1195

WE DO 1,162 THINGS AROUND THE HOME! Catholic Owned Handyman Business: We will fix/repair and remodel almost anything around the home. Serving entire Metro. Call today.

Mention this ad and receive 10% off labor.

Handyman Matters (651) 784-3777, (952) 946-0088. www.HandymanMatters.com.

HARDWOOD FLOORS

Sweeney’s Hardwood Floors

Ask a our 3 bout t speciaime l!

VACATION/FAMILY GETAWAY

Knotty Pines Resort, Park Rapids, MN. 1, 2 & 3 bdrm cabins starting at $565/week. www.knottypinesresort.com (800) 392-2410.

Mention this ad for a discount!

WANTED TO BUY Estate & Downsizing: I buy Van Loads and Bicycles. Steve (651) 778-0571.

IT’S SUMMER! Spruce up your home with new or refurbished hardwood floors: 10% off labor. Sweeney (651) 485-8187.

Buying Pre-1980 Sportscards & Non-Sportscards singles and collections.

Also, any other vintage sports memorabilia.

Ask for Jim (651) 356-1741.

PAINTING

WEIGHT LOSS MANAGEMENT

For painting & all related services. View our website: PAINTINGBYJERRYWIND.COM or call (651) 699-6140.

Merriam Park Painting. Professional Int./ Ext. Painting. WP Hanging. Moderate Prices, Free Estimates. Call Ed (651) 224-3660.

Michaels Painting. Texture and Repair.

MichaelsPaintingllc.coM. (763) 757-3187.

Dennis Heigl Painting Interior/Exterior Serving Mpls. & suburbs. Free Estimates.

(612) 819-2438

PRAYERS NOTICE: Prayers must be submitted in advance. Payment of $8 per line must be received before publication.

• Reset • Reintroduce • Real Life

W E I G H T

L O S S

Susan Torborg, B.S. Exercise Science, OCDS www.R3WeightLossPlan.com SusanTorborg@R3WeightLossPlan.com (717) 408-8527

catholichotdish.com

24 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

AUGUST 23, 2018

THELASTWORD

FAR LEFT Kelly Leahy pulls a batch of cheese curds from the fryer inside his food trailer during a Summer Tuesday event in Stillwater Aug. 14. In the background is his son Gabriel, who also cooks.

TOP LEFT Customers gather around the trailer to wait for their orders.

CURDS FOR CHRIST Story and photos by Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

Catholic couple truck food and faith around the metro

O

n a warm, cloudy evening at Lowell Park in Stillwater Aug. 14, the smell of frying batter hung heavy in the air as Kelly Leahy stood over a vat of oil inside his food trailer.

He pulled two metal fryer baskets from the oil, shook them vigorously and poured their contents onto a stainless steel tray.

Another order of cheese curds was ready for consumption during a Stillwater “Summer Tuesday” event. Hungry customers waited for the molten morsels at a window manned by a few Leahy family members and friends.

In the midst of the activity, a 2-foot tall statue of Mary looked on.

For Kelly; his wife, Nancy; and son Gabriel, the sweat and labor they put into events throughout the metro area during summer and fall are as much about faith as they are about food.

It begins with prayer when they arrive at a venue, and their time serving fast food is infused with an intentional evangelism that often leads to conversations about God with their customers.

All patrons need to do is ask: What do the letters “JMJ” on the white trailer stand for?

With a smile beaming through his thick beard, Kelly, who is in formation for the permanent diaconate, provides the answer: Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

The family’s journey into this fast-paced, food truck world began near the end of 2011, when Kelly lost feeling in his right arm while with a client in his parttime job as a personal care assistant.

That eventually led to a diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome, which causes weakness and, in some cases, paralysis. He was diagnosed in January 2012, and doctors initially told him he would no longer be able to work either his PCA job or his job as a driver for Quicksilver Express Courier. By that point, he couldn’t lift his right arm, and both legs were so weak he couldn’t walk.

Over the next few months, he spent hours in his living room regaining his strength, going from a wheelchair to a walker and, finally, to a cane. It gave him plenty of time for silence and prayer. He asked God to help him find a new line of work.

One day, the idea popped into his head — buy a food truck.

“I started researching it. I ordered a book,” said Kelly, 54, whose family attends Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Maplewood. “It became very serious in my prayers, and it became very serious in my thoughts, almost consuming at times.”

During Holy Week that year, he went on a retreat at Pacem in Terris near Isanti with his mother to take time away to pray and ask if the Lord wanted him to pursue food on wheels. He got a “very clear” answer the first night, he said, and he came home a few days later ready to charge full steam ahead into the new venture. Nancy’s love of cooking brought her on board easily.

The next step was finding a food truck or trailer.

Their search led them to two women who had decided to get out of the business. When Kelly and Nancy went to look at the pickup truck and trailer in summer 2012, they found a visible sign — a statue of St. Joseph on a shelf above the sink inside the trailer.

“I just smiled, and I walked out holding it up,” Kelly said. “I ... said, ‘Whose statue of St. Joseph is this?’

And, the two women that owned the trailer both looked down, and were like, ‘Well, we have a Catholic friend that said if we put that in there, it’ll sell.’”

They were right. Just two weeks later, the Leahys were at Sonshine Festival, a Christian music event then held in Willmar, selling cheese curds, chicken bites, and macaroni and cheese on a stick. They have sold food at up to 37 events a season, which runs from July through October.

The full name of the Leahys’ food truck is “JMJ Rocks, Come to the Table.” Kelly and Nancy run it as a team, with Nancy doing much of the cooking, help from Gabriel, and Kelly serving as a “gofer.” He jumps in to relieve workers so they can take breaks, and gathers product and other supplies as needed. But, he spends most of his time outside the trailer, which is where spiritual conversations can — and often, do — take place.

“I love the interaction with people,” Kelly said.

Often, it starts when customers notice the St. Joseph statue, which still resides in the trailer, or the wellworn statue of Mary, which is visible through a window. They also had a crucifix that hung above the service window. It generated plenty of comments, both positive and negative, until it was stolen in 2014.

Now, it’s mostly Mary that generates the feedback, and cheese curd lovers do not seem to mind her presence, Kelly said.

“Never had a negative [comment]” he said.

Another visible symbol are the faith messages on

MIDDLE LEFT A tray of cheese curds awaits a customer.

BOTTOM LEFT A statue of Mary sits on the counter opposite the fryer.

T-shirts they wear, often from Extreme Faith Camp.

Starting in 2002, Kelly was one of three organizers at the annual Catholic summer camp for youth held at sites in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Now, he is scaling back so he can devote more time to the food business, which is an important source of revenue for the family. Last year, food sales reached $37,000.

They now are moving more into events like parish festivals, where they give back some of the proceeds to the parishes hosting them. They also offer discounts to priests, religious, and men and women in uniform. It may reduce the bottom line, but they’re OK with that.

“We’re not in it for the money,” Kelly said. “God’s got a plan, God’s got it figured out, and he’s got it taken care of. I don’t have to worry about anything.”

As they make the final push to end the season, Nancy, who works full time as a currency wire transfer specialist, will keep trying to perfect her cheese curd batter recipe. She won’t rest until it matches the award-winning batter they now buy. They want to make sure this food item stays at the top of their list of customers’ favorites.

They feel so passionate about the curds that they turned down the chance this year to be a street vendor near the Minnesota State Fair. They were told they couldn’t make cheese curds because the vendor next to them was going to sell them. “Nancy made it clear: Cheese curds or bust,” Kelly said.

So, they now get a short break before their next event, the Transfiguration parish festival in Oakdale Sept. 8. Two more events are Stagecoach Days Sept. 14-16 near their home in Wyoming, and Stillwater Harvest Fest Oct. 13-14. They will end their season with a wedding in St. Michael Oct. 20.

As they look back on this year’s season, they will remember the impact they had not only on customers, but also on other food vendors. At one community event, a woman approached them and said, “You know, you guys are the holiest people here. ... I have to watch my mouth because you guys are holy,’” Nancy recalled. “I started to laugh.”

Kelly noted that there are many instances inside the trailer when Nancy can be heard shouting one of her favorite phrases: “Praise be to God.” This is an extension of how they start every day in the food trailer — with prayer. According to Kelly, it goes something like this: “Lord, whoever you are going to put in our path today, let us mirror you. Let us see you in each and every person who comes to each window or comes to the door. Let us see you in them. And please, let them see you in us.”