Digital Edition - January 12, 2023

‘Trusting the Church’

Bishop-elect Izen thanks loving family, trusts God’s call as he accepts new role

By Rebecca Omastiak The Catholic Spirit

Meeting Archdiocesan Catholic Center staff in St. Paul for the first time as bishop-elect, Father Michael Izen said he’s approaching his new role with humility and trusting in the Church as he embarks on a new chapter of his vocation.

“I don’t think it’s false humility, I don’t know if I have all these gifts, but I’m trusting the Church,” Bishop-elect Izen said.

In an announcement made public at 5 a.m. Jan. 5, Pope Francis named Bishop-elect Izen, 55, pastor of the Churches of St. Mary and St. Michael in Stillwater, as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

His episcopal ordination and installation are scheduled for April 11 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.

At a news conference and gathering of staff at the ACC the same day, Archbishop Bernard Hebda described Bishop-elect Izen as “a man of great pastoral gifts” and noted his “exceptional leadership.”

Several of Bishop-elect Izen’s siblings and other family members came to the news conference, joining members of the ACC.

In his remarks, Bishop-elect Izen offered his thanks to God. He thanked Archbishop Hebda for his words and encouragement, Pope Francis for his trust in him, and he thanked his family for their support, including his siblings for their generosity and guidance over the years.

He said his interest in the priesthood came from being “blessed with such a great family.” He noted the faith-filled home he grew up in, as the youngest of six children — he has

three sisters and two brothers. He teared up as he shared how his parents, the late John and JoAnna Izen, were “super examples of love” and set “a holy example.”

“Seeing them love each other, and being the youngest (of the children), I got to see that in my last few years of high school, when I was the only one in the house, just how much my dad loved my mom and my mom loved my dad.”

Bishop-elect Izen said his parents loved their faith. Books his father read about the faith are now in Bishop-elect Izen’s office. His mother, he said, “was very devotional” and loved the Church, prayer, Mass and the rosary.

Bishop-elect Izen attended St. John’s University in Collegeville and went on to work for Maplewood-based 3M for nine years as a systems analyst.

“But throughout that, the Lord never left,” he said. He began thinking more about his vocation and said, “the priesthood never left my heart.” He entered the seminary at the age of 31. Since his ordination as a priest May

28, 2005, “there’s been a good sense of peace,” he said.

While ministering at Divine Mercy in Faribault right after his ordination, he said he followed the example of Father Kevin Finnegan, who was the pastor.

“I remember he told me at coffee and doughnuts once, he said, ‘Izen, you have to go say ‘hi’ to every table before you sit down and have a doughnut.’ And so, I still do that today.” Bishopelect Izen said his time at Divine Mercy was “a great first assignment, great families there.”

In 2007, Bishop-elect Izen was assigned as pastor of St. Timothy in Maple Lake and “loved the people there.” In 2012, he was named pastor of St. Raphael in Crystal, where he remained until being assigned to the parish in Stillwater in 2015.

Bishop-elect Izen said those parish assignments “turned out to be the best possible beginnings of my priesthood.”

Bishop-elect Izen also is the parochial administrator of St. Charles in Bayport and the canonical administrator of St. Croix Catholic School. He said he’s

media and those gathered for a news conference Jan. 5 at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center in St. Paul to talk about his appointment as the next auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

enjoyed spending time with students through the years, most recently in Stillwater. Taking on the ministry of bishop will mean a change in those relationships, he said, and it will take some sacrifice on his part.

“I love the schools,” he said. “All four of my assignments have been blessed to have a school and I’ve gotten to know the kids.”

Bishop-elect Izen’s sister, Geri Izen Martin, 64, of Pax Christi in Eden Prairie, seated with other members of her family, said of her brother, “I feel like Mike is so humble as an individual and as a priest. He relates to all people, and he really does light up with kids.”

Bishop-elect Izen knows nearly every student’s name at St. Croix Catholic School, she said.

Bishop-elect Izen’s niece — Gabi Izen, 21, who is studying nursing at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph — expressed surprise at the thought of her uncle as a bishop. “I already thought it was cool enough he was a priest,” she said. “I never thought this would happen. It’s amazing.”

Bishop-elect Michael Izen addresses

After announcement, Bishop-elect Izen celebrates Mass at his Stillwater parish

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit

Celebrating his first Mass as bishop-elect, Father Michael Izen addressed parishioners at St. Michael church in Stillwater, in the parish he has served the last seven years.

“I am just so honored and grateful” for Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s confidence, “because I would not have thought of myself as a candidate for this,” Bishop-elect Izen said before the daily 7:30 a.m. Mass started Jan. 5, only hours after his appointment as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis was announced.

Anticipating activities scheduled for later in the day, Bishop-elect Izen said, “I think what I’ll say today at the press conference is I would have never expected this, and would have never

Archbishop Bernard Hebda noted in his homily at St. Michael in Stillwater that the day Father Michael Izen was introduced as a bishop-elect coincided with “powerful readings” about the call of the Apostle Philip, “and indeed, to recognize how it is that even 2,000 years later, Jesus continues to enter into our lives and to say, ‘follow me.’

“In a very particular way, for those like Bishop-elect Izen, who are being called to be successors of the Apostles, that call from Jesus is so critical,” the archbishop said. “We can only ever say yes to that because of our knowledge of God’s great love. That’s what we heard about in the first reading.

“We’re really reminded of how important it is that we know that love that comes from Jesus,” Archbishop Hebda said. “And when we know that love, everything else falls into place.”

Jan. 5 was the feast of St. John Neumann, a bishop of Philadelphia, Archbishop Hebda said, adding that “we hope” that as Bishopelect Izen grows into his role, he will keep close the example of that saint and “be committed to always pursuing holiness in the midst of all of the other responsibilities that he’s given.”

St. John Neumann believed he would be more suited to being a bishop in a place with coal mines and farms than in Philadelphia, Archbishop Hebda said, “and yet, trusting in God’s love, that love that we heard about in the first reading, he was able to do whatever it is that the Lord asked him to do. It wasn’t because he proposed himself for that work, but rather, because the Lord recognized in him the gifts that would be needed for him to be an instrument in the lives of the people of Philadelphia.

“So, we hope and pray that Bishop-elect Izen, who certainly would have never proposed himself for what’s occurring in his life this day, that he, too, would come to experience the wonderful way in which God’s love grounds him in his new ministry,” the archbishop said. “And how it is that it’s that love of Jesus that then has to be poured forth from his heart, as it was from the heart of St. John Neumann.”

pursued it, but I also would never say no to the Church.”

Those attending the Mass faced treacherous travel conditions to get there, as crews cleared roads and highways of more than a foot of snow. Archbishop Hebda introduced the bishop-elect to the congregation of about 90 people, eliciting sustained applause.

“What wonderful news that our Holy Father has named your pastor, Father Izen, as the next auxiliary bishop of this archdiocese,” the archbishop said. “It’s a wonderful sign of confidence, not only in Bishop-elect Izen’s capabilities, but also in the wonderful presbyterate that we have here in the archdiocese. I’m so grateful to our priests of this archdiocese, and most especially the priests who have served here in Stillwater.”

Bishop-elect Izen’s appointment follows Auxiliary Bishop Joseph

Williams’ appointment to the archdiocese one year ago. Bishop Williams, a native of Stillwater, also celebrated the Mass with Archbishop Hebda and Bishop-elect Izen, and the three will serve a 12-county area that encompasses the Twin Cities and includes about 725,000 Catholics.

Stephen Horan, a longtime friend and former supervisor of Bishop-elect Izen when the two worked together at 3M, attended the Mass after receiving a call from his friend shortly after the 5 a.m. announcement, the time when Bishopelect Izen was able to divulge the secret he had kept since Dec. 18.

“‘Are you sitting down?’” Bishopelect Izen had asked Horan. “I said yes, I am laying down, I’m sleeping. Why are you calling so early?”

Horan said his friend has “such a pure heart. He really does. I think we Catholics need that.”

Some parishioners at St. Michael in Stillwater hadn’t heard their pastor’s news until the start of that day’s Mass, as evidenced by a dropped jaw or a side-glance shared in a pew. Others, like Horan, received word before Mass. Father Austin Barnes, parochial vicar, was told only minutes after 5 a.m., and said the news was “very exciting for the parish.” Parishioners he spoke with that morning were “excited but sad,” he said. “I think that’s a real testament to his pastorate here, and how he’s impacted people and shown the love of the Lord.”

Bishop-elect Izen’s brother, Paul, 57, a parishioner of St. Ambrose in Woodbury, said after Mass he wondered what his late parents would be thinking.

“He’s been blessed with such faithful parents,” and with his priestly

(1Thes. 5:18)

In all circumstances, give

ANNOUNCEMENT

assignments, too, Paul Izen said, calling the three parishes his brother served “such strong, faith-filled communities” that influenced him, as well as his influence on the parishes.

After his May 28, 2005, priestly ordination, Bishop-elect Izen served at Divine Mercy in Faribault (20052007) and was pastor of St. Timothy in Maple Lake (2007-2012) and St. Raphael in Crystal (2012-2015) before moving to Stillwater in 2015, where he also is canonical administrator of St. Croix Catholic School in Stillwater and parochial administrator of St. Charles in Bayport.

Paul said his brother will bring humility to his new role and an ability to relate to youth. “He always wanted to have a school because he really connects with the young children.”

Dr. Gary and Mary Williams, parents of Bishop Joseph Williams, heard about Bishop-elect Izen’s appointment

at 5:10 that morning. After Mass, Mary recalled the 5:05 a.m. call she and her husband received Dec. 10, 2021, when they learned the same news about their son. “I’m sharing the joy of Bishop-elect Izen’s family at this time,” Mary said.

Beyond Father Izen being “a wonderful shepherd to his people in Stillwater, who helps everyone grow in their love of the Lord,” Gary Williams said he was not surprised that God chose Father Izen for this role in the Church. “We miss him, but it’s a gift to the Church and to this diocese that he’s our new bishop,” he said.

Several hours later, with family members in attendance, Bishopelect Izen addressed employees of the Archdiocesan Catholic Center and members of the news media in St. Paul. He shared details about his “great family,” to whom he gave credit for his interest in the priesthood. The youngest of six children, Bishopelect Izen paused with emotion as he described his late parents as “super examples of love” who set “a

holy example.”

Because of the weather, the weekly, school Mass for St. Croix Catholic was rescheduled from 9:20 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. That allowed just enough time for Bishop-elect Izen to return to Stillwater and celebrate the Mass with

Congratulations,Bishop-Elect Michael Izen!

the students.

Bishop-elect Michael Izen, right, reacts to applause at the end of Mass Jan. 5 at St. Michael in Stillwater, hours after the Vatican announced that he will be ordained an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. At left are Archbishop Bernard Hebda, front, and Bishop Joseph Williams.

DAVE HRBACEK THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Children in their school uniforms and others nearly filled the church. During the Mass, the bishop-elect engaged children by name, and as the students left Mass, he greeted them, exchanging high fives and smiles.

NUNCIO

CALLING

Bishop-elect Michael Izen let his phone ring when it lit up with a call Dec. 18 from Washington, D.C. A telemarketer, he thought, and turned back to watching Minnesota Vikings’ highlights of the team’s NFL record comeback win against the Indianapolis Colts, 39-36 in overtime.

He had missed the game’s second half the day before, hearing confessions while assuming the Vikes had lost.

But on this Fourth Sunday of Advent, his phone rang again — with the same number. Now, he thought, maybe this is a member of the Churches of St. Michael and St. Mary in Stillwater, where he is pastor, needing help in Washington. He answered the phone and heard the apostolic nuncio to the United States, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, introduce himself.

“I stepped out of the room for privacy,” Bishopelect Izen said. He had a friend, Stephen Horan of St. Ambrose in Woodbury, at the rectory watching the Vikings game highlights with him. “I thought this might be something big.”

More thoughts ran through Bishop-elect Izen’s mind — perhaps the archbishop was seeking advice on a candidate for bishop … But Archbishop Pierre explained that Pope Francis had appointed him as the next auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Bishop-elect Izen said he replied with something to the effect of: “I would have never thought that I would be bishop material.”

He and the archbishop spoke fondly for a moment about Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams’ reply to his appointment in the archdiocese just one year prior, that he would pray about it, and Archbishop Pierre replying to Bishop Williams: first you say yes, then you pray.

There was a pause. Bishop-elect Izen realized the archbishop was still waiting for him to say yes. Which he did. The conversation turned to a few details and ended.

“I went back to watching football,” Bishop-elect Izen said. “My heart was racing a little bit. But my friend was over. Thankfully, he didn’t ask about the call.”

Bishop-elect Izen said he’s giving himself time and working with Archbishop Bernard Hebda as he prepares for his new role. One thing he is sure of, he said: “I will support the archbishop.”

— Joe Ruff

Thank you for your pastoral service! You will be greatly missed. Please know of our continued prayers for you in this new mission.

From everyone at the Churches of St. Michael and St. Mary Stillwater, St. Charles Catholic Church Bayport, and St. Croix Catholic School Stillwater.

Church of Saint Charles

Bishop-elect Izen engages students at Mass — by name

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit

After Bishop-elect Michael Izen finished listening to the Gospel at a school Mass the afternoon his appointment as the next auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis was announced, no one was surprised when he left the lectern and walked down the main aisle, discussing messages from the reading with school children.

Each child he talked to, he addressed by name.

Knowing and greeting St. Croix Catholic School’s approximately 350 students by name is something he does every day. The school is located next to St. Michael church in Stillwater, where he is pastor.

“He knows everyone in the school, and he calls them by name, just how Jesus calls us by name,” said eighth grader Lauren Hoffman, 14. “It reminds me how much he does care for us and how he wants to help us and get to know us individually and help us with our role, like Jesus’ role in our lives, helps us do that by just knowing us and knowing that God made us to be us.”

“He knows every child in the school,” added Sam Nelson, who has four children at St. Croix Catholic. Almost every school-day morning, Bishop-elect Izen is out front with Sister Maria Ivana, school principal, greeting the students as they arrive, Nelson said. “It’s such a gift to have a priest who really cares about each individual child,” he said. “He’s been a huge blessing to the school.”

Sam and his wife, Beth, both 34, have Catherine at the school, a fifth-grader; Henry, a third-grader; Jane, a second-grader and Willa, who is in kindergarten. The parents attended the school Mass with their youngest, 1-month-old Mae.

When Beth heard the news that morning that Father Izen would be elevated to bishop, she was surprised and excited “but then so sad to lose him, or probably to lose him.” She said those she had talked with about the news felt a sadness “that comes with that great calling.”

“I was tearing up watching him walk down the aisle,” she said. “He’s an amazing pastor.”

Their children agree, Beth and Sam said, sharing the example of Henry walking by Bishop-elect Izen at school one day as he worked on a homily. Henry asked if he needed some help with his homily, and Bishop-elect Izen “used a line or two from Henry,” Sam said. The children, he said, feel the priest is “totally

approachable.”

When young altar server Henry heard the news about Bishop-elect Izen’s new role, his immediate reaction was to ask his parents if he could serve at the ordination. “I’m sure he (Henry) has already asked him,” Beth said.

A member of the school board, Sam said the bishopelect is attentive to parish needs expressed by different groups. He said he sees Bishop-elect Izen at board meetings and hears from parish council members that “he’s so attentive to what people’s opinions are, the feedback from people, and he wants to make sure that everybody’s voice is heard.”

Having Bishop-elect Izen know students and families so well makes the school feel like home, said secondgrade teacher Fran Romportl, 59. With second grade a big year to learn about sacraments, Bishop-elect Izen sometimes discusses the sacraments in the classroom, she said. She also noted his sense of humor, which brings “a lot of joy in the hallways and wherever he’s at.”

Sister Maria Catherine Rethwisch, a member of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, has served in religious life nearly 18 years, and teaches seventh- and eighthgrade English literature and history, and sixth-grade religion at St. Croix Catholic. Bishop-elect Izen’s deep love for Jesus shows as he brings that love to students in a tangible way “because he’s so present to them,” she said.

She also praised his strong support for Catholic education. He has scheduled time in classrooms but also “pops in to lunch” at least once a week with students, she said. He plays basketball and other sports with students at recess and participates in talent shows, playing piano and drums. “It’s a joy that other people now get to experience his pastoral presence and his embodiment of being an instrument of Jesus, the good shepherd,” she said.

Bishop-elect Izen is a strong supporter of the school living out its mission as an evangelizing arm of the parish and “really seeing the school as a place for children and families to encounter Jesus,” Sister Maria Catherine said. “He really helps support the principal and the teachers in making the school a place of an excellent seeking of truth, goodness and beauty, but above all, a place where Jesus is met and encountered, and families feel the love of Jesus in the school and then want more of that.” And they come to the Church, she said. “Father Izen has very much made that a priority and supported that in every way.”

Eighth grader Bennett Davis, 13, said Bishop-elect

Izen spreads positivity and that his homilies are understandable and relatable to children’s lives, from the younger to the older children. Davis’ classmate, Grace Williams, 13, said it felt “surreal” to have two bishops associated with St. Croix Catholic School, as Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams attended the school.

In addition to education, Sister Maria Catherine values Bishop-elect Izen’s support for religious life, whether by visiting the mother house and getting to know “the whole community,” or being present when Sisters take final vows “and coming to prayers with us,” she said. She said he says Mass at their convent “and makes sure we always have the Blessed Sacrament.”

“He does everything he can to help us to live fully in this parish, which is just a huge gift,” she said.

Sister Maria Ivana, also a member of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, and principal of St. Croix Catholic, said she has never known a pastor who was “so supportive, so present in a Catholic school.”

“He knows the name of each child, he visits with teachers and staff throughout the day, he is a good shepherd who leads the flock to the Good Shepherd,” she said.

Sister Maria Ivana said she spoke with Bishop-elect Izen the morning of his appointment — saying it was a joy for the Church that still was tinged with some sadness for “our school and parishes.” Bishop-elect Izen told her it would be a change to “not have a school.”

Sister Maria Ivana said she has no doubt that the bishop-elect’s leadership “will now be a blessing and a support to all 91 schools in the archdiocese.”

At the end of Mass, Assistant Principal Eric Trygstad announced school dismissal information from the lectern and added a challenge for students. Referencing comments students heard Bishop-elect Izen make earlier that day about his childhood — when after supper, before he went outside to play, he prayed a rosary with his family — Trygstad challenged the students to do the same.

After supper that night, “as kind of a little thank-you for the influence Father has in our lives, please ask your family and say a rosary together,” Trygstad said. “I think that would be just a very well-spent time together as a family, and also a great way to get roughly 300 rosaries said for our bishop-elect here as he moves forward into the challenges ahead.”

As students left Mass and walked through an adjacent atrium, many stopped to give an enthusiastic high five to Bishop-elect Izen. He never stopped smiling.

Bishop-elect Michael Izen gives high fives to students of St. Croix Catholic School in Stillwater after a school Mass Jan. 5 at St. Michael church.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

The archbishop said the proposal would put an end to the fear families face that a traffic violation might end with an undocumented person’s potential deportation, separating them from their loved ones.

ON THE COVER In this file photo from 2022, people march from the Cathedral of St. Paul to the State Capitol, both in St. Paul, Jan. 22 following a pro-life prayer service at the Cathedral, as they take part in the annual MCCL March for Life. Although Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in 1973, was overturned in June, the march and prayer service (this year it will be a Mass because the Roe v. Wade anniversary takes place on a Sunday) will continue this year and beyond.

TWO NEW columnists

The Catholic Spirit is pleased to have two new columnists join its ranks in the Commentary pages this year. Deacon Mickey Friesen, director of the Center for Mission serving the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, will help illuminate the link between Catholic global mission and faith connections here at home in his column, “Bridging Faith.” Colin Miller, director of Pastoral Care and Outreach at Assumption in St. Paul, will help us see that living out Catholic social teaching is an integral part of all human life and culture, including economics and politics, in his column, “Catholic — or nothing.”

Beginning Jan. 26, Miller’s column will appear in the second issue of each month. Beginning Feb. 9, Deacon Friesen’s column will appear in the first issue every other month, rotating with Reba Luiken’s “Echoes of Catholic Minnesota.”

NEWS notes

After serving NET Ministries in West St. Paul for 25 years, David Rinaldi has been named the organization’s new president, replacing Mark Berchem, who founded the Catholic youth ministry in 1981 and has served as its president since then. Berchem will help with the transition and serve as a strategic adviser. Most recently, Rinaldi has served as vice president of mission, leading the training of 1,500 missionaries over the last 10 years. He also is a national Catholic speaker who has given more than 1,400 presentations, and holds a master’s degree in theology. “Serving with NET for the past 25 years has been an incredible gift,” he said. “Over the past 40 years, we’ve brought the Gospel to 2.2 million young people. I’m excited to reach another million over the next six years as we implement our strategic plan.”

Archbishop Bernard Hebda will preside at a 10 a.m. Feb. 11 Mass at Transfiguration in Oakdale marking the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and World Day of the Sick. All are invited to attend the Mass, a blessing with Lourdes holy water and a reception, all dedicated to the sick, caregivers, chaplains and health care workers. At the reception, Father Andrew Jaspers, chaplain for North Memorial hospital in Robbinsdale and the Curatio Apostolate for health care workers, will give a talk on “Finding Hope in the Sacred Heart.”

Archbishop Samir Nassar — who leads the Archdiocese of Damascus in Syria — is scheduled to visit the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis at the end of January. The two archdioceses formed a partnership in 2017, after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops requested U.S. dioceses come to the aid of suffering and persecuted Christians in war-torn parts of the Middle East. Archbishop Nassar’s visit will include events with local Catholic organizations as well as the celebration of Mass at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis and the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.

Patrick Felicetta, who has been serving as interim president of DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis, has been named the school’s new president, the school announced. He will be installed in July. A 2001 graduate of the school, he came on board in 2007 as an English teacher. He worked his way up to administration, reaching the role of executive director of development in 2020 before being named interim president. Under his leadership, the school endowment increased from $3.2 million to $11 million. He also was a member of the 2022 Strategic Planning Committee that has worked to articulate the school’s direction for the next five years.

PRACTICING Catholic

On the Jan. 6 “Practicing Catholic” radio show, host Patrick Conley interviews Michele Beeksma, a member of St. Lawrence in Duluth, about the 2023 Tekakwitha Conference in the Twin Cities — a chance to pray with and learn about Native American Catholics. Also featured are Father Tom Wilson, a Relevant Radio spiritual director, who discusses masculine spirituality, and Nancy Schulte Palachek, family and laity outreach coordinator with the archdiocesan Office of Marriage, Family and Life, who describes Totus Tuus as its coordinator. She appears with Martin Gawarecki, a senior at St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul, who describes his experience with the ministry’s efforts, which include young adults teaching and evangelizing youngsters and youth. Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingcatholicShow com or anchor fm/Practicingcatholic-Show with links to streaming platforms.

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REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher

TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher

JOE RUFF, Editor-in-Chief

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT DRIVER’S LICENSES FOR ALL Archbishop Bernard Hebda delivers remarks of support at the State Capitol in St. Paul during a news conference Jan. 3 for a proposed bill, HF 4, in the Minnesota Legislature known as Driver’s Licenses for All. The measure would allow an individual to obtain a Minnesota driver’s license or state identification card without needing to show proof of citizenship or lawful presence in the United States. The archbishop called the proposal an “urgently needed remedy for the approximately 90,000 undocumented people in our state.”

COURTESY TOM KEARNS

ROSE BOWL PARADE Faith Kearns of St. Joseph in Rosemount prepares for a performance at the annual Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. She is part of the Rosemount High School marching band, which was invited to perform in the parade that takes place before college football’s Rose Bowl game. The parade stretches more than 5 miles. Penn State won the Jan. 2 game, defeating Utah 35-21.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

— The Catholic Spirit

ONLY JESUS | ARCHBISHOP BERNARD HEBDA

The power of prayer

I’m writing this week from the Marian Servants of Divine Providence Retreat Center, where I am making my annual retreat. Even in silence, it is a blessing to be with the bishops of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota and to be guided by Archbishop Alfred Hughes, the archbishop emeritus of New Orleans. At 90 years old, Archbishop Hughes has a great deal of wisdom to share with us, the fruit of his reflection on his more than six decades of ministry as a parish priest, seminary professor and bishop.

I’m so grateful that the Church requires bishops and priests to make an annual retreat and I wish that all Catholics would have this opportunity for extended prayer and listening. The experience makes me especially grateful for the retreat houses and spiritual renewal centers in our archdiocese and the many resources we enjoy for those interested in deepening their capacity to pray. If we’re going to be witnesses “called and sent from the upper room” as envisioned in our pastoral letter, we have to be women and men who are grounded in prayer.

We have recently been hearing a lot about prayer, even from unexpected sources. Just this past Saturday afternoon, I encountered three sports networks discussing Damar Hamlin, and each contemporaneously focusing on the power of prayer. While we expect archbishops to talk about prayer, we don’t always expect that from coaches, players and sports commentators. They rightly noted that when faced with situations beyond our control, it’s “instinctive” to turn to prayer. The image of the Buffalo Bills on their knees is one that few of us will soon forget. As a native Pittsburgher, I’ve been fervently praying for Damar Hamlin, even though he is an alumnus of the “other” Christian Brothers High School there (even old rivalries must give way at times like these).

El poder de la oración

Les escribo esta semana desde el Centro de Retiros Marianas Siervas de la Divina Providencia, donde estoy haciendo mi retiro anual. Incluso en silencio, es una bendición estar con los obispos de Minnesota, Dakota del Norte y Dakota del Sur y ser guiado por el arzobispo Alfred Hughes, arzobispo emérito de Nueva Orleans. A sus 90 años, el arzobispo tiene mucha sabiduría para compartir con nosotros, fruto de su reflexión sobre sus más de seis décadas de ministerio como párroco, profesor de seminario y obispo.

Estoy muy agradecido de que la Iglesia requiera que los obispos y los sacerdotes hagan un retiro anual y deseo que todos los católicos tengan esta oportunidad de orar y escuchar por más tiempo. La experiencia me hace sentir especialmente agradecido por las casas de retiro y los centros de renovación espiritual en nuestra arquidiócesis y los muchos recursos que disfrutamos para aquellos interesados en profundizar su capacidad de oración. Si vamos a ser testigos “llamados y enviados desde el aposento alto” como se prevé en nuestra carta pastoral, tenemos que ser mujeres y hombres que estén cimentados en la oración.

Recientemente hemos estado

As I reflect on all that has transpired since my last retreat, I have no doubt that prayer is powerful. For nearly 50 years, Catholic parishes prayed that Roe v. Wade and its recognition of a constitutional right to the termination of a human life would one day be overturned. While political and legal analysts can point to all sorts of factors to explain how this past year’s Dobbs decision came about, I am convinced that those five decades of prayers had an impact. As we are reminded in Psalm 9, the Lord hears the cry of the afflicted. Knowing that there are still many hearts and minds to change on the issue of abortion, as discussed elsewhere in this edition of The Catholic Spirit, I hope that the prayers will continue.

The power of prayer, moreover, has been very evident to me as I recall the experience of our Synod. I will

escuchando mucho acerca de la oración, incluso de fuentes inesperadas. Justo el pasado sábado por la tarde, me encontré con tres cadenas deportivas que hablaban de Damar Hamlin, y cada una de ellas se centraba al mismo tiempo en el poder de la oración. Si bien esperamos que los arzobispos hablen sobre la oración, no siempre esperamos eso de los entrenadores, jugadores y comentaristas deportivos. Señalaron con razón que ante situaciones que escapan a nuestro control, es “instintivo” recurrir a la oración. La imagen de los Buffalo Bills de rodillas es una que pocos de nosotros olvidaremos pronto. Como nativo de Pittsburgh, he estado orando fervientemente por Damar Hamlin, a pesar de que es un ex alumno de la “otra” escuela secundaria Christian Brothers allí (incluso las viejas rivalidades tienen que ceder en momentos como estos).

Mientras reflexiono sobre todo lo que ha ocurrido desde mi último retiro, no tengo ninguna duda de que la oración es poderosa. Durante casi 50 años, las parroquias católicas habían estado rezando para que Roe vs. Wade y su reconocimiento del derecho constitucional a la terminación de una vida humana algún día fueran anulados. Si bien los analistas políticos y legales pueden señalar todo tipo de factores para explicar cómo se produjo la decisión de Dobbs del año pasado, estoy convencido de que esas cinco décadas de oraciones tuvieron un impacto. Como se nos

always be grateful for the prayers offered by so many of you that the Synod Assembly would be fruitful and that we would be able to discern a path for implementing the aspirations of the nearly 500 representatives who gathered last Pentecost for that historic event. I have no doubt that the pastoral letter is the fruit of your prayers and I’m counting on your intercession once again for the work of implementation that is now beginning in all our parishes. Please keep the newly formed parish Synod Evangelization Teams in your prayers.

I’m always grateful when people ask me how they can pray for me. While I often ask them to pray for the health of our excellent Catholic schools, or for strong families in our archdiocese, or for the Church’s efforts to provide for the homeless and the hungry, or that our young people would hear God’s call and respond, many of you know that I have recently been asking for prayers that the Holy Father would bless us with another excellent auxiliary bishop. Most of you will remember that the archdiocese has historically had two auxiliaries; but for the last seven years, we’ve had only one (first Bishop Cozzens and then Bishop Williams). While I am grateful that both of those extraordinary bishops have been able to do the work of two, I’m delighted that your prayers were recently answered with the appointment of Bishop-elect Michael Izen. Out of the many talented and capable priests of this archdiocese, Pope Francis chose the pastor of Stillwater for this new role. A superb pastor and joy-filled priest, Bishop-elect Izen is truly an answer to many prayers. As was true when Bishop Williams was ordained almost a year ago, I’m looking forward to seeing how in particular the Holy Spirit will be blessing this local Church through the ministry of Bishop-elect Izen. I know that God has a plan for us, and the appointment of this new auxiliary bishop is an important part of that plan. Please join me in praying for Bishop-elect Izen as he prepares for his upcoming ordination and for the parishioners of Stillwater and Bayport in this time of transition.

recuerda en el Salmo 9, el Señor escucha el clamor de los afligidos. Sabiendo que todavía hay muchos corazones y mentes por cambiar sobre el tema del aborto, como se discutió en otra parte de esta edición de El Espíritu Católico, espero que las oraciones continúen.

El poder de la oración, además, me ha resultado muy evidente al recordar la experiencia de nuestro Sínodo. Siempre estaré agradecido por las oraciones ofrecidas por tantos de ustedes para que la Asamblea sinodal sea fructífera y podamos discernir un camino para implementar las aspiraciones de los cerca de 500 representantes que se reunieron el pasado Pentecostés para ese evento histórico. No tengo ninguna duda de que la carta pastoral es fruto de vuestras oraciones y cuento una vez más con vuestra intercesión para el trabajo de implementación que ahora se inicia en todas nuestras parroquias. Por favor mantenga en sus oraciones a los Equipos Parroquiales de Evangelización del Sínodo recién formados.

Siempre estoy agradecido cuando la gente me pregunta cómo pueden orar por mí. Si bien a menudo les pido que oren por la salud de nuestras excelentes escuelas católicas, o por familias fuertes en nuestra arquidiócesis, o por los esfuerzos de la Iglesia para ayudar a las personas sin hogar y hambrientas, o para que nuestros jóvenes escuchen el llamado de Dios y respondan, muchos de ustedes saben que recientemente

he estado pidiendo oraciones para que el Santo Padre nos bendiga con otro excelente obispo auxiliar.La mayoría de ustedes recordará que históricamente la arquidiócesis había tenido dos auxiliares; pero durante los últimos siete años, hemos tenido solo uno (primero el obispo Cozzens y luego el obispo Williams). Si bien estoy agradecido de que estos dos obispos extraordinarios hayan podido hacer el trabajo de dos, estoy encantado de que sus oraciones hayan sido respondidas recientemente con el nombramiento del obispo electo Michael Izen. De los muchos sacerdotes talentosos y capaces de esta arquidiócesis, el Papa Francisco eligió al párroco de Stillwater para esta nueva función. Un excelente pastor y sacerdote lleno de alegría, el obispo electo Izen es verdaderamente una respuesta a muchas oraciones. Como sucedió cuando el obispo Williams fue ordenado hace casi un año, espero ver cómo el Espíritu Santo bendecirá en particular a esta Iglesia local a través del ministerio del obispo electo Izen. Sé que Dios tiene un plan para nosotros y el nombramiento de este nuevo obispo auxiliar es una parte importante de ese plan. Únase a mí para orar por el obispo electo Izen mientras se prepara para su próxima ordenación y por los feligreses de Stillwater y Bayport en este momento de transición.

If we’re going to be witnesses ‘called and sent from the upper room’ as envisioned in our pastoral letter, we have to be women and men who are grounded in prayer.

iSTOCK PHOTO | BOY WIRAT

Zucchetto tutorial

For the first time, Bishop-elect Michael Izen puts on a zucchetto, signifying his appointment as the next auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. As he did so, in the sacristy of St. Michael in Stillwater Jan. 5 before 7:30 a.m. Mass, he got a few pointers from Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams, right, who received his zucchetto just over a year ago. At 5 a.m. that morning (noon in Rome), the Vatican announced Bishop-elect Izen’s appointment, which he had been told about 18 days prior but was under strict confidentiality to not tell anyone. A small crowd at the Mass was able to see him wear both his zucchetto and a pectoral cross, borrowed from Archbishop Bernard Hebda, with some in attendance not knowing the news when they came into the church. Later, the bishop-elect will have his own pectoral cross, miter, crosier and ring.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Synod implementation: School of Discipleship is an engine of evangelization

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit

A young couple from Holy Cross in northeast Minneapolis says the School of Discipleship — which Archbishop Bernard Hebda is encouraging people to participate in as the archdiocese begins to implement the pastoral letter “You Will Be My Disciples” — was the key to starting the engine of their evangelization.

“It kicked in when I realized Jesus picked the disciples he thought could learn to be like him,” Joe Wistrcill said. His wife, Angela, seconded that, saying, “It became so real that each of us is called to be a follower versus a fan. If you’re a fan, you might attend a show at Target Center. If you’re a follower, you are accompanying (Jesus), doing what he did.”

The sevenweek experience, followed by a 40-Day Discipleship Challenge and a special day of inspiration and celebration with all participants, is offered through The St. Paul Seminary’s Archbishop Flynn Catechetical Institute in St. Paul and led by Jeff Cavins, director emeritus of the institute, and author and creator of the Great Adventure Bible Study Series and the Bible in a Year podcast with Father Mike Schmitz.

As part of Synod implementation, each pastor in the archdiocese is expected to form a Synod Evangelization Team of about 12 people, all of whom will participate in the School of Discipleship as a first step in their ministry.

In addition, everyone in the archdiocese is invited to participate in the School of Discipleship sessions at Our Lady of Grace in Edina, which will be held 7-8:30 p.m. Tuesday evenings Feb. 7 through March 21.

Wistrcill, 31, who was raised Lutheran and married Angela, 30, a cradle Catholic, in 2020, said taking the course

PARTICIPATION

Seven Tuesdays, 7-8:30 p.m., Feb. 7 to March 21 in person at Our Lady of Grace in Edina, and livestreamed to satellite sites for Synod Evangelization Teams.

A 40-Day Discipleship Challenge with a journal. Activated Disciple Seminar 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 20, including Mary Healy, an author, speaker and professor of Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Jeff Cavins, Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams and others.

Register at activateddisciple2023.eventbrite. com. Synod Evangelization Team members will be given a separate link.

Deadline Feb. 1.

in 2021 had such an impact it led to his conversion to the Catholic faith. He joined the Church in April 2022.

“I didn’t expect to convert,” he said. “I didn’t expect to agree with the Catholic Church. But it kicked in when I knew I had been picked to be a disciple, to be like Jesus. This isn’t earning salvation. It is Jesus’ will that we become like him.”

Michaela Schulz, 28, said she participated in the School of Discipleship, at first reluctantly, after signing up for a session that was offered in the fall of 2019. She was encouraged to attend, but she was not excited about the $125 cost and thought, “another Catholic thing; I will be the youngest person there … fine. I will do it.”

“I look back on that now and I think, OK, who can I sponsor? I would have given up anything to have that course. I would have paid any amount,” said Schulz, a member of St. Michael in St. Michael.

Why?

“It’s the grace and wisdom and understanding the Lord gave me,” Schulz said. “It was truly the moment when my heart was opened to ‘everything happens for a reason.’ It was the first point in my life that I went all in. Jesus ignited something inside of me that turned the faucet on.”

Never one to talk about her faith prior to the course, Schulz said after the course she found herself on an airplane seated next to an older couple, both of whom were visibly uncomfortable.

“It was put on my heart, ‘ask her where she’s from,’” Schulz said. And out from the woman poured the couple’s experience of traveling from their home in Florida to Minnesota to see their son after a motorcycle accident that “broke every bone in his body,” Schulz said. “I told her, ‘I can’t imagine how your heart feels as a mother.’ And she wept and

PLEASE TURN TO

WHAT OTHERS SAY

Jeff Cavins, 65, said the School of Discipleship, which has been experienced by more than 3,000 people, strives to explain that being a disciple of Jesus means acting on his will. It is serving others, not simply learning about and agreeing with Christ’s teaching.

“A disciple is chosen and called to become like Jesus,” Cavins said. “It’s not CDs and reading. The shape of people’s day changes.”

The course outlines daily disciplines of being a disciple, including prayer and sharing the faith with confidence, and it emphasizes the good news of Christ: God loves us, repent, be baptized, be open to the Holy Spirit, be part of the Church, go out to evangelize, Cavins said.

Father Joseph Johnson, pastor of Holy Family in St. Louis Park, said his parish hosted the School of Discipleship in 2021. More than 100 people came and more participated online. The course’s goal, he said, is to get beyond five minutes of enthusiasm to reach a “deep, meaningful relationship with Christ.”

“I think Jeff Cavins is a very talented teacher,” Father Johnson said. “He’s always engaging people. He’s deeply rooted in Scripture. He shares the historic context of Jesus’ coming and what it meant.” Bishop Joseph Williams said he asked members of St. Stephen and Holy Rosary in south Minneapolis to participate in 2021, when he was serving as pastor there. About 60 Latinos and others agreed to attend the sessions. “It was beautiful,” Bishop Williams said. “I didn’t know how this presentation would work in a different culture, a different generation. And these Latino young adults, they really ate it up. And it wasn’t just inspiring, a kind of a ‘rah rah, let’s be witnesses.’ It was to be chosen, to be called, to be formed. More than that, it was a daily encounter with Jesus, or these daily disciplines that Jeff Cavins focuses on. It really gives you practice with the most important thing of the Christian life, which is walking with Jesus, listening to his voice.”

Congratulations Karen McCann

Saint

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2022 St. John Paul II Champions for Life Award Recipient

Agnes School thanks you, Karen, for your tireless advocacy for the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death Your faithful commitment inspires our school community, and now, our Archdiocese. May God continue to bless you in your work!

JEFF CAVINS

MICHAELA SCHULZ

JOE AND ANGELA WISTRCILL

Families First Project is at the heart of MCC’s legislative focus

By Gianna Bonello The Central Minnesota Catholic

As the state Legislature opened its 2023 session Jan. 3, the Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC), the official public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Minnesota, put families at the top of its advocacy strategy for the year.

“Oftentimes in the public arena, we’re stuck dealing with the downstream challenges of family fragmentation, poverty, addiction. We thought it would be prudent to think about going upstream in the policy ecosystem and think about, how do we promote and strengthen the well-being of families?” said Jason Adkins, executive director and general counsel of MCC.

In addition, with the push from some legislators to remove limitations on abortion, Adkins stressed that “if we’re going to have a permissive abortion policy in Minnesota, we also want to make Minnesota the best place to have a child, raise a child, and help that child flourish.”

In light of this goal, MCC will promote a Families First agenda — a series of bills and policies designed to promote the economic and holistic prosperity of families.

“We want to lower barriers to family formation and having a child,” Adkins said.

To date, there are 13 different policy proposals as part of the Families First Project. Among them are a “lifetime state income tax exemption for women who have four or more children;” a “Minnesota Minivan Act,” which would create a grant program to offer $5,000 to families with three or more children to buy a larger vehicle; and a “paid caregiver leave policy.”

The centerpiece, Adkins said, is the child tax credit, which is a fully refundable per-child tax credit that would offer $1,200-$1,800 a year.

“We think it’s a matter of what we call tax justice and tax fairness to families,” he said.

Adkins said the Families First Project “transcends”

partisan and ecclesial divides.

“It can both strengthen families … and encourage family formation and childbearing, but it also can help economically support those most disadvantaged,” he said. “It’s tailored toward low- and middle-income families.”

Adkins believes the project can give Catholics a cause to rally around. He stressed the importance of the family as the building block of society and a mirror of the Trinity.

“We’ll be focusing on about five or six (proposals) from the standpoint of our staff this session,” Adkins said.

“But we’ll also be encouraging Catholics and giving them the tools on our website to advocate for these bills themselves,” he said.

He noted the Catholic call to faithful citizenship, saying the tools MCC provides are not just advocacy resources, but catechetical tools as well.

“We want to help Catholics understand how Catholic social teaching applies in a variety of contexts,” he said.

Achieving the goals of the Families First Project will take time, Adkins said.

MCC hopes to get the majority of bills tagged by the project passed by the end of the 2026 legislative session.

Adkins encouraged Catholics to join and rally for the cause. As faithful citizens, it’s not just about showing up to vote every couple of years, but about being an “advocate for policies that impact human dignity and the common good,” he said.

“Pick a policy, educate yourself about it and the potential impact; we give you the tools on the website, and then go talk to your legislator,” he said.

This could be done through parish groups, such as a respect life committee or social concerns group. He said the project is “a powerful opportunity to come together and advocate for good legislation.”

MORE ISSUES

Legalization of recreational marijuana: “We will take a strong opposition to the legalization of recreational marijuana, which is not simply decriminalization,” said Jason Adkins, executive director and general counsel of Minnesota Catholic Conference. “We think there could be reforms to sentencing laws and other things that have a social and racial justice impact. But oftentimes people are using the need to do sentencing reform and criminal justice reform as an excuse to create a commercial and recreational marijuana business, and we think that’s definitely the wrong approach.”

Education savings account and school choice: MCC will continue to advocate for education savings accounts as a different paradigm for education finance, Adkins said. “Education dollars should follow students, and not systems. School choice is a positive alternative to simply putting more money into the system as a balm for addressing persistent achievement gaps, the presence of very divisive curriculum, and underperforming schools that for whatever reason aren’t serving some students’ well-being.”

Technology access reform: “I don’t think (some) people fully grasp the way in which technology companies are targeting our children,” Adkins said. “Some of the things we’ve already been supporting was a bill last year that limited the use by tech companies of certain algorithms that target and seek to pull in children and young people to their social media platforms. There also needs to be some consideration given to allowing parents to approve whether or not their child uses social media apps.”

Immigrant driver’s licenses: “We’re forming our coalition and working on provisional immigrant driver’s licenses,” Adkins said. “It’s back on the table, so we’re looking forward to finally perhaps getting that across the finish line.” The measure would improve the situation of immigrant families and protect public safety, according to MCC.

Human services and homelessness: “We’ll continue to work on homelessness issues and making sure that our human services programs are protected and that there are relative cost-of-living adjustments when appropriate,” Adkins said.

JASON ADKINS

At funeral, pope remembers Benedict’s ‘wisdom, tenderness, devotion’

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service

Pope Benedict XVI “spread and testified to” the Gospel his entire life, Pope Francis told tens of thousands of people gathered Jan. 5 for his predecessor’s funeral Mass.

“Like the women at the tomb, we too have come with the fragrance of gratitude and the balm of hope, in order to show him once more the love that is undying. We want to do this with the same wisdom, tenderness and devotion that he bestowed upon us over the years,” Pope Francis said in his homily.

The Mass in St. Peter’s Square was the first time in more than 200 years that a pope celebrated the funeral of his predecessor. Pope Pius VII had celebrated the funeral of Pius VI in 1802 when his remains were returned to Rome after he died in exile in France in 1799.

Pope Benedict, who had retired in 2013, had requested his funeral be simple; the only heads of state invited to lead delegations were those of Italy and his native Germany.

However, many dignitaries — including Queen Sofia of Spain and King Philippe of Belgium — and presidents and government ministers representing more than a dozen nations were in attendance, as were most of the ambassadors to the Holy See.

Members of the College of Cardinals sat on one side of the casket, while, on the other side, sat special guests, including the late pope’s closest collaborators and representatives of

the Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Protestant and U.S. evangelical communities. Jewish and Muslim organizations also sent delegations.

Pope Francis presided over the Mass and Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, was the main celebrant at the altar. Some 120 cardinals, another 400 bishops and 3,700 priests concelebrated. The vestments and stoles were red in keeping with the color of mourning for deceased popes.

Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, who turns 91 Jan. 13, was allowed to leave China to attend the funeral of Pope Benedict, who had made him a cardinal in 2006. The retired cardinal was arrested in May and fined in November together with five others on charges of failing to properly register a now-defunct fund to help antigovernment protesters.

More than 1,000 journalists, photographers and camera operators from around the world were accredited to cover the funeral in St. Peter’s Square.

An estimated 50,000 people filled the square for the Mass, and a number of visitors told Catholic News Service that banners and flags were being confiscated by security upon entrance. Of the few flags and banners that did make it past security was a white cloth with “Santo Subito” (“Sainthood Now”) written in red and a “Thank you, Pope Benedict” in German, written in light blue.

Just as Pope Benedict dedicated his pontificate to directing the faithful’s focus to the person of Christ, Pope Francis dedicated his homily to Christ’s

loving devotion and suffering witness as the “invitation and the program of life that he quietly inspires in us,” rather than on a summary of his predecessor’s life.

Pope Francis spoke of Jesus’ grateful, prayerful and sustained devotion to God’s will and how Jesus’ final words on the cross, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit,” summed up his entire life, “a ceaseless self-entrustment into the hands of his Father.”

“His were hands of forgiveness and compassion, healing and mercy, anointing and blessing, which led him also to entrust himself into the hands of his brothers and sisters,” he said.

“Father into your hands I commend my spirit,” the pope said, is the plan for life that Jesus quietly invites and inspires people to follow.

However, he said, the path requires sustained and prayerful devotion that is “silently shaped and refined amid the challenges and resistance that every pastor must face in trusting obedience to the Lord’s command to feed his flock.”

“Like the Master, a shepherd bears the burden of interceding and the strain of anointing his people, especially in situations where goodness must struggle to prevail and the dignity of our brothers and sisters is threatened,” said the pope.

“The Lord quietly bestows the spirit of meekness that is ready to understand, accept, hope and risk, notwithstanding any misunderstandings that might result. It is the source of an unseen and elusive fruitfulness, born of his knowing the One in whom he has placed his trust,” he said.

“Feeding means loving and loving also means being ready to suffer. Loving means giving the sheep what is truly good, the nourishment of God’s truth, of God’s word, the nourishment of his presence,” Pope Francis said, quoting his predecessor’s homily marking the start of his pontificate April 24, 2005.

“Holding fast to the Lord’s last words and to the witness of his entire life, we too, as an ecclesial community, want to follow in his steps and to commend our brother into the hands of the Father,” he said of Pope Benedict. “May those merciful hands find his lamp alight with the oil of the Gospel that he spread and testified to for his entire life.”

“God’s faithful people, gathered here, now accompany and entrust to him the life of the one who was their pastor,” the pope said. “Together, we want to say, ‘Father, into your hands we commend his spirit.’”

“Benedict, faithful friend of the Bridegroom, may your joy be complete as you hear his voice, now and forever!” he concluded, as the crowd prayed in silence.

Among the people in the crowd was Georg Bruckmaier who traveled nearly 10 hours by car to come to the funeral from his home in Bavaria, not far away from where the late pope was born.

Wearing a Bavarian flag around his back, he told CNS, “There are a lot of Bavarians here today, I’ve seen people I know from university. I wanted to be

CNS | VATICAN MEDIA

Pope Francis presides over the funeral Mass of Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Jan. 5.

Grief, gratitude for his gifts mark passing of Pope Benedict

By Joe Ruff and Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

Bishops, priests and others in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis recalled Pope Benedict XVI’s gifts for theology, Scripture, doctrinal clarity and music, as well as his profound humility and concern for the Church.

“He’s a man of such virtue, always striving to do what was right,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda told Fox 9 KMSP in Eden Prairie from Florida, where he was visiting family, shortly after learning of Pope Benedict’s Dec. 31 death. “I was certainly, personally saddened by the news, yet at the same time I gave thanks to God for a life that was so well lived.”

The retired pope died at age 95, in his residence at the Vatican. Pope Francis, who sought prayers for the late pope in the days before his death, celebrated his predecessor’s funeral Jan. 5 in St. Peter’s Square. Pope Benedict was given the anointing of the sick Dec. 28.

One sign of the late pope’s humility, observers said, was his decision in 2013 to resign, the first pope to do so in almost 600 years, to what he said would be a life of prayer and study.

A 5:30 p.m. Mass Jan. 4 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul for the repose of the soul of the late pope was postponed because of heavy snow and icy roads. The Twin Cities and much of southern Minnesota were blanketed with more than a foot of snow Jan. 3 and Jan. 4, with hundreds of spinouts and crashes on roads and highways statewide.

Other commemorations of Pope Benedict XVI in the archdiocese included 3 p.m. vespers Jan. 1 at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. The Basilica also held a requiem Mass at noon Jan. 5 in the St. Joseph Chapel.

At St. Joseph in West St. Paul, a tribute to the late pope was placed in the church, with a photo and an inscription quoting Pope Benedict that read, in part, “The source of Christian joy is the certainty of being loved by God, loved personally by our Creator.”

Douglas Bushman, director of formation and mission at the parish, said the display was intended as an act of thankgsiving to God, especially for the late pope’s ministry as a successor of St. Peter.

“For the nearly eight years of his pontificate, he was mentioned by name in every Eucharistic Prayer in the celebration of the Mass,” Bushman said. “The Church’s unity, for which Christ prayed at the Last Supper and for which the Eucharist is offered, is a truly incarnational, historical, visible unity, with the pope its visible principle and foundation. It is only fitting that we should thank God for Pope Benedict’s faithful fulfillment of this office of unity.”

Archbishop Hebda said he met and worked with then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict, many times over the years in Rome, first as a seminarian and later working in the Vatican as a young priest.

As a seminarian, the archbishop said, when he visited Bavarian restaurants with friends, they would sometimes see Cardinal Ratzinger and order him a stein of beer. “He was always very grateful,” the archbishop said. It was also Pope Benedict who named him as a bishop, the archbishop said.

Among other attributes, the late pope will be remembered for his strong morality, doctrinal clarity and personal kindness, Archbishop Hebda said.

Reaction to the pope’s death came quickly, with Father Joseph Taphorn, rector and vice president of The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul, noting sadness but also the opportunity to celebrate the ministry of Pope Benedict, which he said will be felt for generations.

“We thank our Heavenly Father for a Holy Father who staunchly upheld and articulated the teachings of the Catholic faith, empowering scores of priests, deacons and lay leaders to proclaim the Good News throughout the world,” Father Taphorn said in a statement. “We are particularly indebted to Pope Benedict for his influence on seminary formation and emphasis on nurturing joyful, holy, healthy priests. Pope Emeritus Benedict should also be remembered as a faithful successor to St. Peter who encouraged and affirmed Catholics seeking to grow and share their

faith in an increasingly post-Christian society.”

Father Taphorn said, “We are confident of the power of the Lord’s grace in his life and pray that he may now hear these words spoken to him in eternity: ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant... Come, share your master’s joy’ (Mt. 25:23).”

In the days leading up to Pope Benedict’s death, Jeff Cavins — director emeritus of the seminary’s Archbishop Flynn Catechetical Institute and an author, creator of the Great Adventure Bible Study Series and the Bible in a Year podcast with Father Mike Schmitz — recalled meeting then-Cardinal Ratzinger in 2005, shortly before he became pope, outside St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

“I greeted him briefly,” Cavins said. The late pope asked questions, speaking quietly and with great attention, he said. The late pope was blessed with humility as well as profound theological and scriptural insights, Cavins said.

Bishop Emeritus Richard Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, met Pope Benedict in 1984 while serving as rector of St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul at the University of St. Thomas. Then-Cardinal Ratzinger accepted an invitation by Archbishop John Roach to come to Minnesota to celebrate the 15th anniversary of St. John Vianney and to receive an honorary doctoral degree from St. Thomas.

The cardinal was making a visit to Texas, and Bishop Pates — then Father Pates — suggested to Archbishop Roach that he ask him to come to Minnesota. To both their surprise, Cardinal Ratzinger accepted the invitation and spent three days at SJV, including a Monday morning talk given to a packed auditorium full of college students. Bishop Pates especially remembers what happened immediately after the talk, when Msgr. Terrence Murphy, president of St. Thomas at the time, presented the cardinal with the honorary doctorate.

“He (Ratzinger) took it and marched from one end of the stage to the other, just holding this up for people to see,” said Bishop Pates, who is now living in the Twin Cities. “That’s a typical practice of the Germans. That’s what they do because they find it so significant.”

The cardinal still remembered that moment nearly two decades later, when Bishop Pates went to the Vatican with Archbishop Harry Flynn, who was serving as the leader of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis when the two made an ad limina

visit to Rome and met with Pope St. John Paul II. During their visit, not long after Bishop Pates’ episcopal ordination in 2001 as an auxiliary bishop for St. Paul and Minneapolis, they met with Cardinal Ratzinger, who recalled vividly his experience at St. Thomas, when the students yelled and cheered while he walked on the stage with his honorary doctoral degree.

Bishop Pates saw in Cardinal Ratzinger a warmth that stood in contrast to the stoic image many had of the cardinal and future pope. Another attribute Bishop Pates noticed was the cardinal’s musical talent. During the 1984 visit, Bishop Pates was invited to a Saturday evening dinner at Archbishop Roach’s residence featuring Cardinal Ratzinger. Upon entering, Bishop Pates heard piano music coming from one of the rooms inside. Moments later, he entered that room and saw the cardinal seated at a grand piano playing classical music.

“It was a beautiful Mozart (piece),” Bishop Pates recalled. “I said to Archbishop Roach, ‘You don’t hear that very often here.’ ... He was the equivalent of a concert pianist. He was good.”

Bishop Pates described Pope Benedict XVI as “very reserved, very quiet,” but also very engaging. “He had a great sensitivity,” Bishop Pates said. “He listened very carefully, and he smiled when he talked to you.”

Cavins said Pope Benedict’s gifts to the Church, through his theological and scriptural insights, need to be seen in the context of the wider Church. For example, St. John Paul II preceded him with a gift for philosophy and Pope Francis succeeded him, taking the faith to the streets and rolling up his sleeves to serve those on the margins.

“St. John Paul II and Benedict were the one-two punch the Church needed, and one we may never see again,” Cavins said.

Pope Benedict knew who he was, in honest humility, with God and among people, Cavins said. “He was honest enough to say, ‘my time has come,’” when he retired as pope, Cavins said.

Pope Benedict “was an expert and a master at going back into the Old Testament and showing how Jesus fulfilled every aspect of Israel’s journey with the Lord,” Cavins said. The late pope’s multivolume, “Jesus of Nazareth,” was an example of his profundity, he said.

“He understood the deep truths of the Church,” Cavins said.

COURTESY BISHOP RICHARD PATES

Bishop Richard Pates is greeted by Pope Benedict XVI during an ad limina visit to Rome after he became bishop of Des Moines in 2008.

here for the atmosphere.”

“People felt very close to him, because he is a Bavarian, so this is a really big event to be here,” Bruckmaier said, adding that being able to pay his last respects before the pope’s remains in St. Peter’s Basilica, “is a different thing than seeing it on television. It’s something I won’t forget in my whole life.”

Fiona-Louise Devlin told CNS she and her companions were wearing scarves from the late pope’s visit to Scotland in 2010. She said they traveled to Rome from Scotland specifically for the funeral, booking their flight the day the pope died.

“He’s the pope of our generation. Like, how so many people say that John Paul II was their pope, he (Pope Benedict) was mine. I’ve traveled around the world to go to celebrations that he’s been a part of, so I wanted to be here for this,” she said.

As the day began, the thick morning fog obscuring the cupola slowly began to lift as 12 laymen emerged from the basilica carrying the pope’s casket. The crowd applauded as the cypress casket was brought into the square and placed before the altar.

The pope’s master of liturgical ceremonies, Msgr. Diego Giovanni Ravelli, and Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the late pope’s longtime personal secretary, together placed an opened Book of the Gospels on the casket. The simple casket was decorated with his coat of arms as archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany, which depicts a shell, a Moor and a bear loaded with a pack on his back.

The Bible readings at the Mass were in Spanish, English and Italian, and the prayers of the faithful at the Mass were recited in German, French, Arabic, Portuguese and Italian.

The prayers included petitions for “Pope Emeritus Benedict, who has fallen asleep in the Lord: may the eternal Shepherd receive him into his kingdom of light and peace,” followed by a prayer “for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and for all the pastors of the church: may they proclaim fearlessly, in word and deed, Christ’s victory over evil and death.”

The other prayers were for justice and peace in the world, for those suffering from poverty and other forms of need, and for those gathered at the funeral.

At the pope’s funeral, like any Catholic funeral, Communion was followed by the “final commendation and farewell,” asking that “Pope Emeritus Benedict” be delivered from death and “may sing God’s praises in the heavenly Jerusalem.”

Pope Francis prayed that God have mercy on his predecessor, who was “a fearless preacher of your word and a faithful minister of the divine mysteries.”

While the funeral was based on the model of a papal funeral, two key elements normally part of a papal funeral following the farewell prayer were missing: There were no prayers offered by representatives of the Diocese of Rome and of the Eastern Catholic churches, since those prayers are specific to the death of a reigning pope, who is bishop of the Diocese of Rome and is in communion with the leaders of the Eastern-rite churches.

A bell tolled solemnly and the assembly applauded

for several minutes — with some chanting “Benedetto” — as the pallbearers carried the casket toward St. Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Francis blessed the casket and laid his right hand on it in prayer, then bowed slightly in reverence before it was taken inside for a private burial in the grotto of St. Peter’s Basilica, in the same tomb that held the remains of St. Pope John Paul II before his beatification.

The evening before the funeral Mass a small assembly of cardinals, officials of St. Peter’s Basilica and members of the late pope’s household gathered in St. Peter’s Basilica to witness Pope Benedict’s body being placed into a cypress casket and closed. The ceremony took place Jan. 4 after about 195,000 people had paid their respects to the pope over three days of public viewing.

The “rogito,” a document rolled up and placed in a tube, was placed in the casket with the body. In addition to containing his biography, the legal document, written in Latin, also attested to his death and burial. Medals and coins minted during his pontificate also were placed in the casket.

Archbishop Gänswein and Msgr. Ravelli extended a white silk cloth over the deceased pope’s face. The pope was wearing a miter and the chasuble he wore for Mass at World Youth Day in Sydney in 2008; between his clasped hands were a rosary and small crucifix.

After the funeral Mass, the pope’s casket was taken to the chapel in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica where he was buried in what looks like a continuation of pontifical legacy. Pope Benedict was buried in the crypt

where his Polish predecessor, St. John Paul II, was first buried. St. John XXIII also was buried there prior to his beatification.

The place of burial is meaningful for many who knew the fond relationship of St. John Paul and Cardinal Ratzinger. The two popes had a unique intellectual friendship throughout John Paul’s papacy. And even if their characters seemed a world away, Cardinal Ratzinger was similar to St. John Paul II in many aspects as pontiff. The Holy See Press Office predicted the crypt would not be open to the public until Jan. 8.

Although the burial was private, images supplied by Vatican Media showed Cardinal Re leading prayers and blessing the remains during the burial rite attended by a small number of senior cardinals, the retired pope’s closest aides and others.

The cypress casket was wrapped with red ribbon, which was affixed to the wood with red wax seals, then placed inside a zinc casket soldered shut and put inside a larger casket made of oak. The tops of both the zinc and oak caskets were decorated with a simple cross, a bronze plaque with the pope’s name and dates of birth, papacy and death, and his papal coat of arms.

His tomb is located between the only two women buried in the grotto under the basilica: the 15th-century Queen Charlotte of Cyprus and the 17th-century Queen Christina of Sweden.

— Contributing to this story were Justin McLellan at the Vatican and Paulina Guzik, OSV News

Tens of thousands pay last respects to Pope Benedict in St. Peter’s Basilica

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service

Tens of thousands of people streamed through St. Peter’s Basilica to pay their last respects to the late Pope Benedict XVI.

While Rome authorities had predicted between 30,000 and 35,000 visitors a day, some 65,000 people filed past the pope’s body Jan. 2 — the first of three days dedicated to public viewing.

Another 70,000 people paid their respects Jan. 3, the Vatican said, and 60,000 people on the final day, Jan. 4.

A damp chill hung in the air at 9 a.m. when the doors of the basilica opened to the public on the first of three days to view the pope’s body. Outdoor

souvenir sellers were well-stocked with rosaries Jan. 2, but they seemed to have been caught off guard with a plethora of touristy tchotchkes and few to no images or mementos of the late pope.

A quiet hush covered the vast expanse of St. Peter’s Square each day even though it was filled with thousands of people slowly winding their way around the colonnade into St. Peter’s Basilica.

Special accommodations, however, were made for cardinals, bishops, current and retired Vatican employees, and dignitaries who were allowed access from the back of the basilica and offered a place to sit or kneel on either side of the pope’s body, which was laid out in red vestments on a damask-

covered platform.

Before the doors opened to the general public, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the archpriest of the basilica and papal vicar for Vatican City State, accompanied Italian President Sergio Mattarella and his entourage and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and other government ministers to pay homage to the late pope. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán paid his respects early Jan. 3.

Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, said that by early afternoon Jan. 3 some 600 journalists, photographers and camera operators from around the world were accredited to cover the funeral.

The first people in line outside the

basilica Jan. 2 was a group of religious sisters from the Philippines, who said they got there at 5:30 a.m.

People kept slowly arriving before sunrise, including a group from Duluth and Superior, Wisconsin, led by Father Richard Kunst of Duluth. The priest told Catholic News Service that he was leading a tour of Rome the day Pope Benedict died.

Being able to see and pay homage to the late pope made the group part of “a really incredible piece of history,” he said.

Father Kunst said he was “a big fan” of Pope Benedict and “not sad at his passing” since the 95-year-old pope had lived a long life and “this is what he lived for — to be able to be with God.”

CNS | PAUL HARING

Pilgrims wave Bavarian flags in the fog in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican before Pope Francis’ celebration of the Jan. 5 funeral Mass of Pope Benedict XVI.

BENEDICT

Pope Benedict’s spiritual testament: ‘Stand firm in the faith’

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

Retired Pope Benedict XVI’s final message to Catholics around the world was: “Stand firm in the faith! Do not let yourselves be confused!” Less than 10 hours after informing the world that the 95-year-old pope had died Dec. 31, the Vatican press office released his spiritual testament, a statement of faith and of thanksgiving.

Unlike St. John Paul II’s spiritual testament, Pope Benedict’s included no instructions for his funeral or burial and made no mention of what should happen to his belongings.

“To all those whom I have wronged in any way, I ask forgiveness from my heart,” Pope Benedict wrote. Written in German and dated Aug. 29, 2006 — in the second year of his almost eight-year pontificate — Pope Benedict wrote with great affection about his parents, his sister and his brother, the beauty of Bavaria and his faith in God.

“If at this late hour of my life I look back over the decades I have been living, I first see how many reasons I have to give thanks,” he wrote in the document when he was 79 years old.

“First of all, I thank God himself, the giver of every good gift, who gave me life and guided me through various moments of confusion; always picking me up whenever I began to slip and always giving me the light of his countenance again,” he said. “In retrospect I see and understand that even the dark and tiring stretches of this path were for my salvation and that it was in them that he guided me well.”

Born in 1927, Joseph Ratzinger was raised in a Germany struggling to recover from the first World War; Adolf Hitler came to power when the future pope was only 7.

In his testament, he offered thanks to his parents, “who gave me life in a difficult time and who, at the cost of great sacrifices, with their love prepared a magnificent home that, like a clear light, still enlightens my days.”

“My father’s lucid faith taught us children to believe, and as a signpost it has always stood firm in the midst of all my academic achievements,” he said. “My mother’s profound devotion and great goodness are a legacy for which I cannot thank her enough.”

Pope Benedict thanked God for the many friends, both men and women, he had had by his side, and for his teachers and students — many of whom he continued to meet with late in his life.

A pope known for his concern for the environment,

he thanked God for the beauty of his Bavarian homeland, “in which I always saw the splendor of the Creator himself shining through.”

“I pray that our land remains a land of faith,” he wrote before pleading with his fellow Germans to let nothing draw them from the faith.

“And, finally,” he wrote, “I thank God for all the beauty I experienced at every stage of my journey, especially in Rome and in Italy, which became my second homeland.”

Addressing the whole Church, Pope Benedict urged Catholics to hold fast to their faith and to not let science or research shake the foundations of their belief.

“It often seems as if science — the natural sciences on the one hand and historical research, like the exegesis of Sacred Scripture, on the other — are able to offer irrefutable results at odds with the Catholic faith,” he said.

But he assured those reading the document that throughout his life he had seen science offer “apparent

certainties against the faith” only to see them vanish, “proving not to be science, but philosophical interpretations only apparently pertaining to science.”

At the same time, he said, “it is in dialogue with the natural sciences that faith too has learned to better understand the limit of the scope of its claims, and thus its specificity.”

In 60 years of theological study and observation, he said, he had seen “unshakable” theses collapse, including those offered by the “Marxist generation” of theologians.

“The reasonableness of faith has emerged and is emerging again,” he wrote. “Jesus Christ is truly the way, the truth and the life — and the church, with all its inadequacies, is truly his body.”

In the end, Pope Benedict wrote, “I humbly ask: pray for me, so that the Lord, despite all my sins and inadequacies, may receive me into his eternal dwelling.”

Archbishop Hebda, Bishop Williams mark the passing of Pope Benedict XVI

The Catholic Spirit

In the hours after the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams of St. Paul and Minneapolis shared prayers for, and memories of, the retired pontiff.

United in prayer with Pope Francis and the shepherds and faithful of the Universal Church, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis mourns the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a faithful servant of Christ and his Church.

I was in St. Peter’s Square the evening that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected as successor of St. Peter and I recall his amazement that the cardinals gathered in conclave had chosen to elect a “humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.” I had already personally experienced his exceptional kindness and had long admired his world-class intellect but my love and respect for him grew as the world came to know him as a humble and selfless shepherd, with a unique gift for proclaiming the truth with love. It was only my confidence in

his discernment that led me to say “yes” when I was named by him in 2009 to serve as a diocesan bishop. I will always be grateful for his magnanimity and example.

Please join me in praying that the Good Lord will now mercifully welcome the Pope Emeritus to the heavenly banquet table.

Archbishop Hebda

Iwas saddened to hear of the passing of our Holy Father, Benedict XVI, but I rejoice in the gift that his life was to the Church. Few things in this world have given me greater delight than meditating on his writings. Surely, I was experiencing the joy of having found Christian truth so clearly and beautifully expressed in our modern world, and I know that I shared this joy with countless believers throughout the world. Together we owe a debt of gratitude to Jesus for gifting us this faithful “coworker in the truth.” May he rest now from all his labors in the house of the Father.

Bishop Williams

CNS | PAUL HARING

Pope Benedict XVI acknowledges pilgrims during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Nov. 4, 2009.

COURTESY ARCHBISHOP BERNARD HEBDA

Archbishop Bernard Hebda is greeted by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the Vatican in June 2015.

Pro-life leaders regroup after post-Dobbs ballot initiative losses

By Kate Scanlon OSV News

After voters in states across the U.S. last November either rejected ballot measures meant to restrict abortion, or voted to codify measures protecting the procedure, some pro-life leaders have called for the movement to regroup.

Voters in California, Kentucky, Michigan, Montana and Vermont either rejected adding new limitations on the procedure or approved adding legal protections for it. In August, voters in Kansas rejected a ballot measure that would have stripped existing protections for abortion from the state’s constitution.

The measures marked the first votes on the issue following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in June that overturned prior rulings by the high court making abortion access a constitutional right. The losses, some pro-life leaders told OSV News, should prompt the movement to increase its focus on persuasive campaigns surrounding these initiatives.

Emily Albrecht, director of education and outreach at Equal Rights Institute, a group that trains pro-life advocates on debating abortion, told OSV News that while the reality of abortion does not change, the culture does, and opponents of abortion should adapt to cultural changes with evolved arguments.

The pro-life movement, Albrecht said, should focus on “helping people to truly understand what the prolife movement is advocating for and what the pro-life movement is not advocating for.”

Albrecht noted that some abortion advocates argue that some in the pro-life movement support the criminalization of miscarriage — an argument pro-life

uWith the House Speaker race over, here’s what Catholics can expect from the next Congress. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was elected Speaker of the House on Jan. 7 after a tumultuous process that stretched across the first week of the new term. The 118th Congress began in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 3, and will continue for the two remaining years of President Joe Biden’s current term in the White House. The new Congress will likely be marked by significant partisanship, as Republicans take control of the House for the first time in Biden’s presidency and as the 2024 presidential campaign begins in earnest. During its tenure, the next Congress is also likely to offer a mixed bag of legislative results on issues of importance to Catholics. Some of those issues, including abortion and immigration, are cornerstones of increasingly partisan national debates.

uUnder Russian missiles, U.S. military archbishop visits Ukraine’s military chaplains, sees “catalysts for rebuilding” war-torn nation. Ukraine’s Catholic military chaplains will eventually be “catalysts for the rebuilding” of their war-torn nation, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and head of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, told OSV News. During a Dec. 27-29 visit to Lviv and Kyiv, the archbishop met with chaplains as well as Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, and leaders of Ukraine’s military chaplaincy, including Jesuit Father Andriy Zelinskyy, coordinator of chaplains for the Ukrainian Catholic Church. Archbishop Broglio also concelebrated at a funeral for three Ukrainian soldiers killed in action, extending gratitude for their sacrifice. The archbishop told OSV News he hopes Ukraine’s military chaplains will “have a role in advising the commanders and political leaders” in their nation’s “reconstruction and

people often dismiss rather than respond to.

“A lot of people are terrified that miscarriage for example, is going to become illegal,” Albrecht said. “That’s a really common narrative I hear from prochoice people a lot. I tell pro-life people that, and they’re often shocked, like, ‘well, of course miscarriage wouldn’t be illegal. That’s not what I’m advocating for. That makes no sense.’ But that isn’t obvious to most pro-choice people.”

Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa, founder and president of New Wave Feminists, said her pro-life feminist group has gotten feedback from supporters that the bills on the ballots last fall “seemed very general” to voters and that they were without appropriate language reflecting grave medical circumstances like a maternal mortality risk. Herndon-De La Rosa said “vague language” in some of the measures may have prevented otherwise pro-life voters from supporting them.

“I think all pro-life legislation right now should be some of the most thorough and the most specific bills that we’re seeing,” Herndon-De La Rosa said. After the Dobbs ruling, the country is “seeing the fallout of when exceptions aren’t being made for very specific medical cases.”

OSV News obtained a draft letter New Wave Feminists circulated to its supporters for them to send to state lawmakers arguing that “pro-life laws need to be written to specifically target elective abortions.”

“While I have your attention, I think it’s prudent to remember there are things that can be done to help make abortion unthinkable in our state and country,” the draft letter states. “A pregnant person needs resources, support, and healthcare so they don’t have to question if they can support themself and their child. Some of these burdens can be relieved through

rebuilding,” and urged Catholics to continue to pray for Ukraine.

uFDA permits retail pharmacies to dispense abortion drugs, prompting criticism from Catholic, pro-life groups. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will allow retail pharmacies to offer abortion pills in the United States for the first time, the agency announced Jan. 3, prompting criticism from Catholic and pro-life groups. The Biden administration’s rule change comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision last year in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which struck down its previous ruling in Roe v. Wade and prompted many states to either try to restrict or expand access to abortion. The regulatory change will allow the retail sale of mifepristone, the first of two drugs used in a medication or chemical abortion. The drug could previously only be dispensed by some mail-order pharmacies, doctors or clinics. The new FDA rules will still require a prescription but will permit a wider range of pharmacies to sell the drugs. “We decry the continuing push for the destruction of innocent human lives and the loosening of vital safety standards for vulnerable women,” Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Va., chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said in a statement. “This week’s action by the FDA not only advances the obvious tragedy of taking the lives of the preborn, but is also harmful to women in need.”

uPope reorganizes Rome vicariate to be more collegial, accountable. With the same spirit and aims that were behind his recent reform and reorganization of the Roman Curia, Pope Francis, as Bishop of Rome, has overhauled the Vicariate of Rome. The vicariate, too, is called “to become more suitably channeled for the evangelization of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation” and to be at the service of a Church that reaches out to everyone, evangelizing in word and deed, embracing human life and “touching the

the provision of universal healthcare, eliminating food deserts (in communities), and requiring paid parental leave.”

A sense of fear about the unintended consequences from restricting abortion could prevent even some people who identify as pro-life from supporting those ballot measures if they do not feel the proposed legislation narrowly targets elective abortion, pro-life advocates said.

“It has become this real tangible thing (to them) that we are debating,” Albrect explained, “as opposed to just some sort of legal theory.”

Other pro-life leaders believe ballot measures currently are a more difficult prospect for the movement, suggesting that pro-life advocates instead put more effort into electing pro-life candidates.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a group that works to elect pro-life candidates, told reporters on a Nov. 9 post-midterm press call that the pro-life movement benefits from “candidates debating the issue” over ballot initiatives.

“The value of an advocate during a campaign can’t be underrated,” Dannenfelser said. “It’s why we’re so focused on the presidential race moving ahead and will be involved in Senate and congressional races again.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ pro-life committee has called on Catholics in the United States to increase both their prayer and advocacy in the fight against abortion. A nationwide pro-life vigil, with diocesan holy hours, starts at 5 p.m. on Jan. 19 and concludes on Jan. 20, the day of the national March for Life in Washington, with an 8 a.m. Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

suffering flesh of Christ in others,” the pope wrote in a new papal instruction. Of the many changes, the pope created two new bodies: an office dedicated to safeguarding minors and vulnerable people; and an independent supervisory commission of papally appointed experts who monitor the work and administrative and economic affairs of the vicariate. The changes, which go into effect Jan. 31, were released Jan. 6 in the new apostolic constitution, “In Ecclesiarum Communione” (“In the Communion of Churches”).

uOn New Year’s Day, pope calls for taking the risk of changing the world. The best way to usher in a truly “new” year is to stop waiting for things to get better on their own, and instead recognize what is essential and reach out now to help others, Pope Francis said. “Today, at the beginning of the year, rather than standing around thinking and hoping that things will change, we should instead

Theology Day Events 2022-2023

who are seeking a deeper understanding of their faith and its place in their everyday lives to learn from and interact and Seminary.

ask ourselves, ‘This year, where do I want to go? Who is it that I can help?’” he said. “So many people, in the Church and in society, are waiting for the good that you and you alone can do; they are waiting for your help,” he said at Mass Jan. 1, the feast of Mary, Mother of God, and World Peace Day.

uSupreme Court temporarily leaves in place Title 42 immigration policy criticized by U.S. Catholic bishops. The U.S. Supreme Court announced Dec. 27 that Title 42, a federal public health rule invoked by the Trump administration to permit immigration officials at the border to bar migrants seeking asylum from entry during the COVID-19 pandemic, would remain in place until they consider legal challenges to the policy. The policy has been criticized by some Catholic groups, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which has argued that it harms migrants, particularly asylum seekers.

— OSV News

Find

Emmaus Hall events are synchronous. Webinar events are live Participation is FREE, but registration is required. Go online to CollegevilleMN.com/Theologyday or call 320-363-3560.

from Scienti c Analysis?

Thriving Where You’re Planted: Benedictine Stability in a Rootless Time

by Michael Rubbelke, Ph.D.

Michael will examine what Saint Benedict taught about the virtue of stability and how it can be a gift for contemporary American Christians on:

Friday,

by Fr. Cyprian Weaver, OSB Join Fr. Cyprian as he discusses the history, interpretations, and controversy of the Shroud of Turin along with the evolving use of scientific methods to validate and/or further challenge the legitimacy of the shroud on: - 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m

January 20

The Shroud of Turin: What Can We Determine Emmaus Hall, Saint John’s University (Synchronous)

Thursday, January 26 - 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m Saint Frances Cabrini, Minneapolis

Pro-life community

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit

Despite the June 24 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that there is no right to abortion found in the U.S. Constitution — overturning 1973’s Roe v. Wade — the pro-life community is not sitting still. Advocates for the unborn and their mothers and fathers know that challenges continue, including in Minnesota, where abortion remains legal.

Two time-honored marches attended by large numbers of people from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will continue to take place later this month: one Jan. 20 in Washington, D.C., and one in St. Paul Jan. 22.

About 180 people, including 140 high school students and young adults, are preparing to journey on four chartered buses to the nation’s capital for the annual March for Life. Thirteen seminarians from The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul will be on board to serve as group leaders for the young people and gain insight into youth and youth ministry, which can help their future outreach at parishes, said Madeline Larson, assistant marriage preparation and youth ministry coordinator for the archdiocese’s Office of Marriage, Family and Life.

Having young people accompany those preparing to give their “entire lives to Christ” as priests can encourage them to think more deeply about their faith lives and their relationship with God, Larson said. The trip also helps young people see that “it’s not just my pro-life club at school,” Larson said, but participants across the country advocating for the unborn.

“I’m really excited to watch conversions take place, and I’m very excited for hearts to change on this trip,” Larson said. Young people can enjoy all aspects of the trip and everyone will see “what the Lord has in store for us,” Larson said.

The national march’s website lists featured guests this year, including Tony Dungy, an author and former NFL coach in the pro football Hall of Fame, and actor and director Jonathan Roumie, perhaps best known for his role as Jesus in “The Chosen.” To learn more, visit marchforlife org

Now that the June 24 U.S. Supreme Court decision passed abortion issues back to the states, Larson said she believes passion will build for considering “how we are taking care of unplanned pregnancies,” mothers in need, the elderly and those at the end of life.

The pro-life issue extends from conception to natural death, Larson said. “We have ended abortion on the national level … but now, how can we live this out and how can we make abortion seem unthinkable in our society?”

The president of the National March for Life announced in July that the march in D.C. will continue going forward, but no decision has yet been made as to whether the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will transport marchers next year. Larson expressed excitement for working with schools and churches in the future to create “great experiences and great learning opportunities” locally.

Diane Moravec, 79, a parishioner of St. Peter in Forest Lake, believes the 2023 Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life March for Life Jan. 22 in St. Paul will be her

Home gatherings, social events mark first steps of Minnesota’s

By Rebecca Omastiak The Catholic Spirit

Arich, respect-life history began in Minnesota with family, friends and neighbors gathering in dining rooms, at social events and in parishes.

As the nation marks the first March for Life in Washington, D.C., since the June 24 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion across the country, three pioneers of the pro-life movement in the land of 10,000 lakes spoke about their experiences then and now, as well as their hopes for the future.

Ann Dickinson said she views the late 1960s and early 1970s as a “maelstrom of activity” for pro-life. A member of St. Joseph in West St. Paul, Dickinson, 82, said at that time some states had begun moving toward legalized abortion. Pro-life Minnesotans “knew that something was in the air, so a group of people just started talking about it and started MCCL, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life,” Dickinson said.

“It was apparent that the threat of legalized abortion was looming over us,” said Jo Tolck, 78, who lives in New Hope and is a member of St. Raphael in Crystal.

Early stages of the pro-life movement in Minnesota began with MCCL — founded by Darla St. Martin and David Osteen in 1968 — and with statewide chapters of Birthright — founded by Louise Summerhill in 1968 in Toronto.

Both organizations remain active today. Birthright chapters offer maternal and baby items as well as medical and counseling referrals, while MCCL chapters use education, legislation and political action to carry out the organization’s mission to protect life at conception and

through natural death.

As time marched on, other prominent pro-life organizations began forming and had a national influence. In 1977, Minneapolis-based Human Life Alliance (HLA) was founded to reach people through education, and 1981 saw the formation of St. Paul-based Pro-Life Action Ministries and prayer circles outside abortion clinics. Minneapolis-based Pro-Life Across America was founded in 1989, and it continues to put up billboards for life across the country.

“It was a bunch of people; we all knew each other, and we talked to each other,” Dickinson said. “We all thought we had the answer to what the pro-life movement needed, and it was good because then we just concentrated on what our little job was for God.”

A desire to be involved was sparked in Dickinson when she read an article about Birthright in the Minneapolis Tribune in 1968. She joined a local chapter of the organization in 1969 and worked there as a counselor until 1973.

After abortion became legal across the country in 1973, Dickinson noted that in Minnesota, it was less expensive for a woman to have an abortion than it was for her to deliver her baby. Dickinson founded Cradle of Hope, then known as Project Life, to help women offset the cost of delivery, primarily through fundraisers Dickinson helped organize.

Dickinson hosted meetings at her home and planned fundraising efforts around the dining room table. When she and her family — her husband and then-five children (her sixth and seventh arrived in 1978 and 1982) — moved to a larger home in 1976, meetings continued in her basement. Employees of an insurance agency near Dickinson’s home took note of the gatherings and offered

the group rent-free office space, which “made all the difference in the world,” Dickinson said. A lawyer she knew helped set the organization up as a nonprofit and an accountant she knew helped organize the finances. Priests and Knights of Columbus members helped at meetings and fundraisers.

Dickinson recalled being aware of Twin Cities doctors performing abortions “as soon as the law changed in 1973.” She said she would meet them at social events she attended with her husband, who had a medical practice in St. Paul. Though she refrained from publicly arguing about abortion, Dickinson said “I went about my business of helping pregnant women the best way I knew how: by raising funds to help them financially.”

To this day, Dickinson’s Cradle of Hope, based in Roseville, offers financial support to women and families in crisis situations.

Like Dickinson, Tolck’s launch into the pro-life movement came through Birthright, where she helped organize baby clothing and furniture donations to give to mothers in need in north Minneapolis. For a time, her former parish — the now closed St. Austin — allowed her to store those items. “They were very generous in letting us stay there, that parish was,” Tolck said.

Tolck — who has two living children and two children “with Jesus” — said her children helped her in those days. It was a good lesson for them, seeing ways to help those in need, Tolck said. “They always wanted to put more in” the collections of clothing and accessories for newborns, she said.

In the early 1970s, Tolck met friend Ann Olson during a

ANN DICKINSON

community stays on the move

Minnesota’s pro-life movement

meeting with an MCCL chapter for Minneapolis’ northside. They both lived in the area at the time. Olson said the chapter gatherings “were gratifying because a lot of people would come out to events; we’d have videos or movies and speakers at the local park, and we’d have a couple hundred people show up for events.”

Olson — a 70-year-old Chisago City resident and parishioner of St. Joseph in Taylors Falls — said of her and Tolck’s pro-life efforts: “We’ve been working together on one thing or another ever since.”

Olson’s more active role in the pro-life movement began when she learned she was pregnant with her firstborn son in 1974 at a northside Minneapolis clinic. The memory stands out, she said, because “the first thing the nurse said when she came back (after assisting with Olson’s pregnancy test) was, ‘You’re pregnant, do you want to keep it?’” At the time, Olson said she found the interaction “so disturbing,” especially as she considered what could happen with women who weren’t exactly sure how to proceed with their own pregnancies.

At that point, Olson talked with other MCCL members about doing more with the pro-life movement. She connected with Sister Jean Therese, who started University Life Care Center, the state’s first crisis pregnancy center. Sister Jean Therese became an adviser to Olson, and in 1976, Olson and Tolck co-founded Northside Lifecare Center, now Abria Pregnancy Resources.

Through the years, Olson has worked with HLA, and with Options for Women of Chisago County since 1991. Tolck, in addition to co-founding the pregnancy center

48th. She remembers hearing a physician give a talk in early 1973 at then-College of St. Thomas in St. Paul about the ramifications of Roe v. Wade. After hearing that, she decided “this (issue) is something we want to be part of.”

At her first march, she recalls feeling “Wow, we’re not the only ones who are concerned about this. It was that camaraderie and that there are others who are also working for the unborn and the vulnerable.”

And while she may have missed one or two marches because of illness, the March for Life became an annual event. She said what keeps her coming back is the belief that “human life is a gift from the Lord.”

“We are made in his image and likeness. And also on the human rights side, this is a violent denial of the most basic of human rights, to have your life taken,” Moravec said. “Those are the two main things that keep me going.”

Moravec often went to the march in St. Paul with her husband or friends. Years ago, she rode a bus to the march with sixth graders and teachers from St. Peter Catholic School in Forest Lake.

Another memorable and powerful march was the year she stood next to a group of women holding signs who regretted their abortion, and men who regretted being part of one, she said. One year, she thanked a young woman for being there, and Moravec received a hug in return. “It was just like ‘we’re together and supportive of moms and babies,’” she said.

The MCCL March for Life has become “very much a part of my life,” Moravec said.

This year’s event starts at 2 p.m. on the State Capitol grounds instead of the more traditional noon, to better accommodate participants’ Sunday morning commitments, including church, said MCCL spokesman Paul Stark.

At press time, the main speaker had not yet been named. Scott Fischbach, MCCL president and the new executive director of National Right to Life, will deliver a welcome message. And Cathy Blaeser, co-executive director of MCCL alongside Don Parker, will serve as emcee. Stark said he expects “a lot of legislators” to attend.

Stark didn’t predict crowd size or energy, but said “it will be interesting to see because it’s the first march post-Roe.”

“But the fact that we still have abortion on demand in Minnesota means that we’ve got a lot of work to do here,” he said. Stark said it’s probably never been more important for pro-lifers to come to the State Capitol for the MCCL march and “give a public witness to the importance of protecting life and standing in opposition to what some lawmakers are trying to do.” With Democrats now controlling the Minnesota House, Senate and governor’s office, some state legislators have talked about placing abortion rights into state law this legislative session to further protect access to the procedure. Stark said he believes there’s a good chance a bill could be introduced with a “no limits,” fundamental right to abortion, meaning abortion at any time during pregnancy.

with Olson, worked with HLA, including spending 15 years as its director. Tolck also co-founded Healthcare Advocacy and Leadership Organization (HALO), based in Minneapolis.

“Minnesota was the national leader in the pro-life movement,” Olson said, confirming Dickinson’s assessment of the maelstrom of activity in the pro-life movement in the state in the 1960s and 1970s. “There are many unsung heroes who have worked countless hours to save preborn babies.”

Tolck echoed that sentiment. “The ones here in Minnesota that stand outside Planned Parenthood through PLAM ministries (Pro-Life Action Ministries) and that, those are heroes,” Tolck said. “They’re out there in the cold, helping one baby at a time.”

Tolck and Olson said that going forward, the pro-life conversation also needs to center on end-of-life issues, a mission they have been dedicated to in recent years. “Respect for life, it’s not just at the beginning but the end,” Tolck said.

In talking about their hopes for the pro-life movement in the future, Dickinson, Olson and Tolck said the movement needs unified action, and progress depends on new generations. It also needs volunteers and prayer, they said. “(The movement) should be more unified, and we should all work together,” Dickinson said, referring to the need for local pro-life organizations to band closer together after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, returning the issue of abortion to state and federal lawmakers. Dickinson said she thinks pro-life Minnesotans “are feeling a little burnt out and a little depressed, maybe, because they thought this would change everything, but

certainly not in Minnesota, it hasn’t at all, because we’re going to be an abortion destination state.”

Olson echoed the call for a more unified approach, saying, “There has to be more unity in the people that work together in the ‘full-life’ movement.”

As to future generations, Olson said she’s encouraged to see MCCL offering pro-life leadership camps for young adults. The Life Leadership Camp offers pro-life education, training and activities. Olson said about half of the roughly 30 participants in last year’s conference are now volunteering at different organizations in Minnesota. She and Tolck said it is heartening as well to see families involved in the pro-life movement.

“I’m always encouraged when I see people out there with their children,” Tolck said of attending various pro-life events, including marches in Minnesota and Washington, D.C.

Dickinson said she hopes active participation will push the pro-life movement into the future. “You’ve got to get off your duff and get out there and do something,” she said. “And you can do anything. You could give money or support a fundraiser or bring diapers to the local life care center or volunteer there. You’re just kind of giving up if you don’t do something. Even if you just pray.”

Tolck agreed, “We need a lot of prayer.”

People also need to hear the respect-life message from the pulpit, Olson said, including teachings on the theology of the body and the dignity of each person. “We need our priests to preach the gospel of life. It takes courage,” she said.

In addition to clergy, the Catholic laity need to show courage, Olson said. “We as Catholics need to stand up and speak out. We have to be courageous and tell the truth. It’s not just about the movement, it’s about people’s souls.”

JO TOLCK

ANN OLSON

LEFT Participants hold signs at the State Capitol during last year’s annual MCCL March for Life Jan. 22. This year will feature a Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, followed by the march. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

award winners

Two women, youth group recognized for pro-life work

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit

pro-life youth group, a woman who has served the pro-life cause in many ways for more than 20 years, and an attorney and law professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law will be honored Sunday, Jan. 22, at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul with St. John Paul II Champions for Life Awards. The attorney, Teresa Collett, has been defending the unborn and their mothers since the late 1990s.

Collett, 66, a parishioner of St. Mark in St. Paul, believes abortion is “the most important human rights issue of our times,” recalling that more than 63 million unborn children have been killed in the U.S. That is more than 40 times the number lost in all wars involving the U.S., she said. “This is truly horrifying to me.”

Much of her work has been pro bono.

“I believe this work is a major reason God has blessed me with a tenured faculty position that allows me to read and think about these things as a part of my daily job, and do much of the legal work for free,” she said, adding “a few generous donors” to the Prolife Center at St. Thomas help cover expenses like student researchers and printing costs.

Among qualities named by Collett’s nominator is her cofounding of the Prolife Center about 15 years ago “to train students and lawyers to defend life in the law.”

The nominator also noted Collett’s 2009 appointment by the late Pope Benedict XVI to the Pontifical Council for the Family, where she served for seven years, and her role in coauthoring three

amicus briefs in “the recent Dobbs case which overturned Roe v. Wade.”

“With these amicus briefs, Collett helped free our entire country from the chains of Roe v. Wade,” the nominator wrote. “The many lawyers she has trained can now work towards a pro-life, pro-family America.”

Collett moved to Minnesota from Texas, where she taught at a secular law school and worked with Govs. George W. Bush and Rick Perry on pro-life issues. “We came to Minnesota because I felt called to serve the Church by teaching at a Catholic law school,” she said. “To receive an award from this diocese for my pro-life work here, work far more challenging than my work in Texas, is very affirming.”

Five people nominated Karen McCann, 55, a member of Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul, for her approximately 30 years of pro-life work.

One mentioned McCann’s volunteer work at pro-life center Birthright in St. Paul since the early 1990s, where she now is director and has served as a counselor. She often promotes pro-life causes, such as 40 Days for Life, hosts a pro-life book club and led her parish’s respect life initiative.

McCann is the pro-life director at Nativity and regularly prays outside Planned Parenthood clinics. She started a monthly newsletter sharing respect life updates such as webinars, conferences,

fundraisers, rallies, meetings, talks, prayer vigils and other local pro-life events; and serves on the board of directors for Philomena House in St. Paul for homeless women in crisis pregnancies.

One nominator wrote, “She has the heart of a true pro-life warrior and sees value in every life, knowing that we are all made in the image and likeness of God.”

McCann said she is honored and humbled by the award because she knows of “so many people that also have worked so hard and so tirelessly for so many years.” She said she felt this call since she was “really young” and “I need to keep on track and not give up.”

The St. Gianna Club, a pro-life youth group of 10-15 seventh- through ninth-graders at Sacred Heart in Robbinsdale, is the third award winner. Members of the club have either graduated from or are current students at Sacred Heart Catholic School.

Club adviser and award nominator Morgan Leisgang, 28, said she has been impressed with the students’ commitment to the pro-life movement “and how active and involved they want to be, and to be those witnesses with their young ages.” Leisgang also serves as faith formation associate at the parish.

Club members have toured the Robbinsdale Women’s Center, Leisgang said, where they learned about this pregnancy resource center’s services, and saw detailed ultrasounds, enabling them to later describe fetal development in a presentation to their peers, and they have prayed outside the Chapel of the Innocents, located next to an abortion clinic in Robbinsdale.

“I’m just really impressed by their desire to continue their work in the pro-life movement and to speak out to their peers and be witnesses to help with prayers and service,” Leisgang said.

TERESA COLLETT KAREN MCCANN MORGAN LEISGANG

Leaning into winter: father of five builds igloo, embraces trials

When Joe and Shea Olson welcomed their fifth child, Clement, last November, he came with a surprise Down syndrome diagnosis.

“We are so blessed by this diagnosis!” Joe wrote in an Instagram post a week after Clement’s birth. “He has changed our family and marriage for the better already.” The 38-year-old dad, who belongs to St. Agnes in St. Paul and works as admissions director at the school, reflected on this season of change and their new son, who is now 8 weeks old.

Q You and the kids are building an igloo in your backyard with the plan of sleeping in it overnight. I love how you embrace winter!

A It’s an opportunity to be creative. During the winter Olympics we built a luge. We snow-plowed a pile of snow next to the garage and put a ladder on the side of the roof and the kids were sliding down from the top. Winter is an opportunity to be creative! It’s a framework for the rest of our lives. We’re going to encounter difficult things. Rise above!

Q You also had an impromptu hockey game with a group of St. Agnes kids who happened to meet the Dominican Sisters of Mary from the school at the Groveland rinks.

A They were bruised after the game. They were going so hard. It was the coolest thing ever. Now it’s an annual thing, where the Sisters skate with us.

Q It must be easy to sell the school as an alumnus and a current parent. How’s enrollment?

A Last year was the 15th consecutive year of increased enrollment. The word’s out. This used to be the bestkept secret, and word of mouth has turned the corner for us.

Q How did you and Shea meet?

A We met in Rome. We were on the same semester with the Catholic Studies program (at the University of St. Thomas).

Q How romantic! How did you know she’s The One?

A I just didn’t have any questions. It felt natural. There was a sense of peace that you know what to do next.

Q As life has gotten busier, you’ve actively sought out fraternity with other Catholic men and helped found a group called Exodus 90.

A It just happened. We found out that the best time to meet was at 5:30 in the morning on Fridays and then we followed that up with 6:30 a.m. Mass at St. Agnes. We had eight the first year, 12 or 14 the next year, 28 the following year and this last year, 46 guys did it. It’s been transformative! Men being vulnerable with each other is so countercultural — and to get men in the room where, it’s not unheard of to be crying together, you say the worst, deepest, darkest thing and you’ve got

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

half of the guys in the room nodding and saying, “Yeah, me too.” I got my guys there. We post prayer needs and have “Help a Brother Out.” We’re helping people move or help drywall someone’s basement.

Q And there’s athletics?

A We lift on Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. and play basketball at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday in the St. Agnes gym. The Wednesday night was initially a running group. We’d start at the Cathedral with a rosary, praying by the large Nativity. One of those shepherds is jacked! He’s got some guns!

Q Inspiration!

A Seriously.

Q Let’s talk about Clement.

A We’re still shell-shocked. I cried so much when he was born. It wasn’t sad or tears of joy, it was this overwhelming sense of: I am unworthy and I am unable to do this journey I’m about to go on. You have a lot of pride in your parenting. We had a template. Now we don’t. It was trying to come to terms with something I don’t know anything about.

Q How long did it take to recognize that he’s extra special — born with “extra love,” as Shea put it?

A Maybe four, five days. The community we’re part of is so wonderful in helping us frame this as a true blessing from God. The number of times I heard: “There’s not a better family that could have him.” You start to believe it after a while.

Q Clement spent 25 days in the Woodwinds NICU, where you and Shea shared your faith.

A Those nurses are angels! Divinely inspired. We heard from nurses who said, “No one has affected us as much as your family has. How is Clement? We miss him so much.”

Q The day after Clement was discharged, thanks to a last-minute set-up, he was baptized.

A It was awesome! Everybody cried.

Q You didn’t need an elaborately planned party.

A We could focus on the sacrament. It was a true

representation of how unbelievably rich we are. The most important thing in life is bringing our children to the Church and ultimately getting them to heaven. And we were able to do it because of the community we’re part of in one of the most simple and profound ways.

Q Looking back, do you see how God prepared you for Clement?

A Yes! We didn’t see this coming, but it totally makes sense. Our friends, our family, our community, the dispositions we each have, the love languages that Shea and I have that are complementary. All of a sudden, my life is getting harder. But it’s like — it’s not harder, it’s just deeper. This is the puzzle piece we needed at this point.

Q Are you amazed by the community support, which includes a GoFundMe fundraiser?

A Apparently, people stored up all this generosity, and Clement released the valve. We’re not good at accepting help. We’ve got a meal train that’s two months long, and we’ve got these school moms saying, “Hey, can I come clean your bathroom?” Someone purchased a doula service. The support has been profound.

Q I noticed you’re making a point to give Shea credit in Instagram posts, which is important at this vulnerable time. Did someone give you that advice?

A No one told me to do that. I’ve just come to the realization that I would not have this life without her, and I’m eternally grateful to her. We can’t be selfish in this moment. We can’t hide things anymore. We have to shine a light on our emotions. We’re fragile right now. Clement’s come along and he’s like, “You better talk to each other!”

Q You’re being proactive about guarding the mental health of all your family members with outings over the High Bridge from your west side home. What does that bridge do for you?

A Walking across that bridge — every time it gets more beautiful, whether it’s the leaves changing or the eagles flying over or a flock of birds flying under the bridge or a crew team on the river or the wake of some pontoon or a sunrise toward the Oakdale area or a sunset right by Minneapolis. It’s a chance to process things and to enjoy God’s beauty, understanding we’re just a small piece in the whole puzzle.

Q You’ve inspired many people by what you’ve shared since Clement’s birth.

A I’ve been praying about the pro-life cause. For a long time, I didn’t know where I fit in with it, and I’m terrified of getting to the pearly gates and hearing, “There is a slaughter going on, and what did you do about it?” Now I have this story to tell.

Q What do you know for sure?

A God is good. He loves us, and he wants to spend eternity with us, and he gives us snippets every minute of the day of what that looks like, if we just open our eyes and look.

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Catholic Spirit

Benedict’s nearly eight years as pope capped ministry as teacher of faith

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

Retired Pope Benedict XVI, who had an impressive record as a teacher and defender of the basics of Catholic faith, is likely to go down in history books as the first pope in almost 600 years to resign.

He died Dec. 31 at the age of 95, nearly 10 years after leaving the papacy to retire to what he said would be a life of prayer and study.

Pope Francis celebrated his predecessor’s funeral Jan. 5 in St. Peter’s Square. Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, said the funeral rites were simple in keeping with the wishes of the late pope.

As the retired pope neared death, he was given the anointing of the sick Dec. 28 in his residence, Bruni said.

His body lay in St. Peter’s Basilica Jan. 2-4 so that people could pay their respects and offer their prayers.

Immediately after the pope died at 9:34 a.m., Bruni said, his personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, phoned Pope Francis, who went immediately to the late pope’s bedside to pray and to offer condolences to those who had cared for him in the last years of his life.

Several media outlets reported that “Jesus, I love you” were Pope Benedict’s last words, spoken or at least mouthed in German, since he had had difficulty speaking at least since November.

A close collaborator of St. John Paul II and the theological expert behind many of his major teachings and gestures, Pope Benedict came to the papacy after 24 years heading the doctrinal congregation’s work of safeguarding Catholic teaching on faith and morals, correcting the work of some Catholic theologians and ensuring the theological solidity of the documents issued by other Vatican offices.

As pope, he continued writing as a theologian, but also made historically important gestures to Catholics who had difficulty accepting all of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, particularly about the liturgy. In 2007, he widened permission to use the “extraordinary” or preVatican II form of the Mass and, a short time later, extended a hand to the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X. Besides lifting the excommunications of four of the society’s bishops who were ordained illicitly in 1988, he launched a long and intense dialogue with the group. In the end, though, the talks broke down.

His papacy, which began when he was 78, was extremely busy for a man who already had a pacemaker and who had wanted to retire to study, write and pray when he turned 75. He used virtually every medium at his disposal — books and Twitter, sermons and encyclicals — to catechize the faithful on the foundational beliefs and practices of Christianity, ranging from the sermons of St. Augustine to the sign of the cross.

Pope Benedict was the first pope to meet with victims of clerical sexual abuse. He clarified Church laws to expedite cases and mandated that

bishops’ conferences put in place stringent norms against abuse.

Although he did not expect to travel much, he ended up making 24 trips to six continents and three times presided over World Youth Day mega-gatherings: in Germany in 2005, Australia in 2008, and Spain in 2011.

On a historic visit to the United States in 2008, the pope brought his own identity into clearer focus for Americans. He set forth a moral challenge on issues ranging from economic justice to abortion. He also took Church recognition of the priestly sex-abuse scandal to a new level, expressing his personal shame at what happened and personally praying with victims.

While still in his 30s, he served as an influential adviser during the Second Vatican Council, 1962-65, and as pope, he made it a priority to correct what he saw as overly expansive interpretations of Vatican II in favor of readings that stressed the council’s continuity with the Church’s millennial traditions.

Under his oversight, the Vatican continued to highlight the Church’s moral boundaries on issues such as end-of-life medical care, marriage and homosexuality. But the pope’s message to society at large focused less on single issues and more on the risk of losing the basic relationship between the human being and the Creator.

Surprising those who had expected a by-the-book pontificate from a man who had spent so many years as the Vatican’s chief doctrinal official, Pope Benedict emphasized that Christianity was a religion of love and not a religion of rules.

The German-born pontiff did not try to match the popularity of St. John Paul, but the millions of people who came to see him in Rome and abroad came to appreciate his smile, his frequent ad-libs and his ability to speak from the heart.

Some of Pope Benedict’s most memorable statements came when he applied simple Gospel values to social issues such as the protection of human life, the environment and economics. When the global financial crisis worsened in 2008, for example, the pope insisted that financial institutions must put people before profits. He also reminded people that money and worldly success are passing realities, saying: “Whoever builds his life on these things — on material things, on success, on appearances — is building on sand.”

He consistently warned the West that unless its secularized society rediscovered religious values, it could not hope to engage in real dialogue with Muslims and members of other religious traditions.

In his encyclicals and in his books on “Jesus of Nazareth,” the pope honed that message, asking readers to discover the essential connections between sacrificial love, works of charity, a dedication to the truth and the Gospel of Christ.

The retired pope looked in-depth at his papacy and resignation, his relationships with St. John Paul and Pope Francis and a host of other issues in “Last Testament,” a book-length interview with journalist Peter Seewald

published in 2016.

In the book, Pope Benedict insisted once again that he was not pressured by anyone or any event to resign and he did not feel he was running away from any problem. However, he acknowledged “practical governance was not my forte, and this certainly was a weakness.”

Insisting “my hour had passed, and I had given all I could,” Pope Benedict said he never regretted resigning, but he did regret hurting friends and faithful who were “really distressed and felt forsaken” by his stepping down. Pope Benedict moved to the papal summer villa at Castel Gandolfo Feb. 28, 2013, the day his resignation took effect. He remained at the villa south of Rome for two months — a period that included the conclave that elected Pope Francis as his successor and the first month of the new pope’s pontificate. The retired pope moved back to the Vatican May 2, 2013, living in a monastery remodeled as a residence for him, his secretary and the consecrated women who cared for his household before and after his resignation.

On his only post-retirement trip outside of Italy, he flew to Germany in June 2020 for a five-day visit with his ailing 96-year-old brother.

Answering questions from reporters on a flight back from Brazil in July 2013, Pope Francis spoke with admiration of the retired pope’s humility, intelligence and prayerfulness. The unusual situation of having a pope and a retired pope both living at the Vatican was working out very well, Pope Francis said. Having the retired pope nearby to consult with, or ask questions of, Pope Francis said, was “like having a grandfather at home — a very wise grandfather.”

By the time Pope Benedict had been retired for a year, his daily routine was set. Archbishop Ganswein said his days began with Mass, morning prayer and breakfast. Although mostly hidden from public view, he was not cloistered, but continued welcoming old friends

Pope Francis greets retired Pope Benedict XVI at the retired pontiff’s Vatican residence Dec. 23, 2013.

and colleagues, engaging in dialogue or offering spiritual counsel. He spent hours reading and dealing with correspondence before a 4 p.m. stroll in the garden and recitation of the rosary.

In the early days of his retirement, to the delight and surprise of pilgrims and cardinals, Pope Benedict appeared at major events with Pope Francis, including the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 8, 2015.

At a June 2016 celebration in the Apostolic Palace, where Pope Benedict once lived and worked, Pope Francis, top officials of the Roman Curia and a few friends gathered with him to mark the 65th anniversary of the retired pontiff’s priestly ordination.

Pope Francis told Pope Benedict that with him in residence, the monastery in the Vatican Gardens “emanates tranquility, peace, strength, faithfulness, maturity, faith, dedication and loyalty, which does so much good for me and gives strength to me and to the whole Church.”

Pope Benedict replied to Pope Francis, “More than the beauty found in the Vatican Gardens, your goodness is the place where I live; I feel protected.”

CNS | VATICAN MEDIA

CNS | PAUL HARING

Pope Benedict XVI arrives to celebrate Mass on New Year’s Eve Day in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Jan. 1, 2010.

BENEDICT OBIT

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He prayed that Pope Francis would continue to “lead us all on this path of divine mercy that shows the path of Jesus, to Jesus and to God.”

Mercy was a prominent topic in an interview Pope Benedict gave in 2015. The Catholic focus on mercy really began with St. John Paul, the retired pope told Belgian Jesuit Father Jacques Servais in the written interview, which was not released until March 2016.

From his experience as a youth during World War II and his ministry under communism in Poland, St. John Paul “affirmed that mercy is the only true and ultimately effective reaction against the power of evil. Only where there is mercy does cruelty end, only there do evil and violence stop,” said Pope Benedict, who worked closely with the Polish pope for decades.

“Pope Francis,” he said, “is in complete agreement with this line. His pastoral practice is expressed precisely in the fact that he speaks continuously of God’s mercy.”

Pope Benedict had said he planned to live a “hidden life” in retirement — and to a large extent he did. But when he did make contributions to public discussions, they became headline news. In April 2019, for instance, what he described as “notes” on the clerical sexual abuse crisis were published; and, in January 2020, an essay he wrote on priestly celibacy was published in a book by Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments.

In the text on abuse, which the retired pope said was motivated by the February 2019 Vatican summit on the crisis, Pope Benedict traced the abuse crisis to a loss of certainty about faith and morals, especially beginning in the late 1960s. To address the crisis, he wrote, “what is required first and foremost is the renewal of the faith in the reality of Jesus Christ given to us in the Blessed Sacrament.”

The 2020 text on celibacy became the center of a media storm, not only because of its content, but also because Catholics were awaiting Pope Francis’ official response to the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon and suggestions made there that in remote areas the Church could consider ordaining some married men to take the sacraments to Catholics who usually go months without.

Since marriage and priesthood both demand the total devotion and self-giving of a man to his vocation, “it does not seem possible to realize both vocations simultaneously,” Pope Benedict wrote in his essay.

The retired pope’s contribution to the discussion became even more controversial when Archbishop Ganswein informed media and the original publisher that while Pope Benedict contributed an essay to Cardinal Sarah’s book, he did not want to be listed as co-author of the volume.

Joseph Ratzinger was born April 16, 1927, in the Bavarian town of Marktl am Inn, the third and youngest child of a police officer, Joseph Sr., and his wife, Maria. Young Joseph joined his brother, Georg, at a minor seminary

in 1939.

Like other young students in Germany at the time, he was automatically enrolled in the Hitler Youth program, but soon stopped going to meetings. During World War II, he was conscripted into the army, and in the spring of 1945, he deserted his unit and returned home, spending a few months in an Allied prisoner-ofwar camp. He returned to the seminary late in 1945 and was ordained six years later, along with his brother.

After a short stint as a parish priest, the future pope began a teaching career and built a reputation as one of the Church’s foremost theologians. At Vatican II, he made important contributions as a theological expert and embraced the council’s early work. But he began to have misgivings about an emerging anti-Roman bias, the idea of a “Church from below” run on a parliamentary model, and the direction of theological research in the Church — criticism that would become even sharper in later years.

In 1977, St. Paul VI named him archbishop of Munich and Freising and, four years later, Pope John Paul called him to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, where he wielded great influence on issues such as liberation theology, dissent from Church teachings and pressure for women’s ordination. Serving in this role for nearly a quarter century, then-Cardinal Ratzinger earned a reputation in some quarters as a sort of grand inquisitor, seeking to stamp out independent thinking, an image belied by his passion for debate with thinkers

inside and outside the Church.

As the newly elected pope in 2005, he explained that he took the name Benedict to evoke the memory of Pope Benedict XV, a “courageous prophet of peace” during World War I.

Like his namesake and his predecessors, he was untiring in his appeals for an end to violence in world trouble spots and for dialogue as the only true and lasting solution to conflict. Another key to building a better world, he said repeatedly, is to respect the right of each person to seek and to worship God. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States and amid reports of rising religious-inspired violence in various parts of the world, Pope Benedict also repeatedly and clearly condemned all violence committed in the name of God.

One of the biggest tests of his papacy came after a lecture at Germany’s University of Regensburg, in 2006, when he quoted a Christian medieval emperor who said the prophet Muhammad had brought “things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

Protests in the Muslim world followed, and Pope Benedict apologized that his words had offended Muslims, distancing himself from the text he had quoted. Soon after, he accepted the invitation of an international group of Muslim scholars and leaders to launch a new dialogue initiative, “The Common Word,” looking at teachings that Christians and Muslims share.

FOCUSONFAITH

FATHER LEONARD ANDRIE

A person of communion SUNDAY SCRIPTURES |

For the next month and a half, our Sunday lectionary will make its way through the first three chapters of St. Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians.

Corinth was not only a large city but also quite wealthy. Along with this wealth came immorality, especially sexual immorality. There was a stereotype at the time in which someone became “Corinthianized” or “lived like a Corinthian.” In some sense, it was the “sin city” of its day.

Along with cultural problems, the Church in Corinth faced major theological problems. In short, the Church was a mess. Here are just a few of the many problems Paul mentions in his letter:

uThere were divisions in the Church; some were saying, “I follow Paul,” while others were saying, “I follow Apollos”;

uChristians were taking their fellow Christians to secular courts;

uSexual immorality was tolerated in the name of gospel freedom;

uThere were abuses at the Lord’s table in that some were getting drunk and others were left hungry;

uSome devalued marriage given they believed that the Lord would return soon;

uSome denied that there was even a resurrection.

Poor Paul! Put yourself in his shoes for a moment. Imagine you were called to care for this broken community. We have to hand it to Paul that he did not run for the hills.

Paul begins his letter by saying, “Paul, called to be an apostle

The 50-50 marriage myth

Many couples are proud of the fact that they cooperate well together. I have heard couples say in a self-congratulatory manner, “We are good at give and take. We compromise very well. We go 50-50 on lots of things. It goes my way about half the time. It goes my spouse’s way the other half. It is workable. It is practical. We are getting along just fine.”

This is problematic. If one spouse goes halfway and the other spouse goes halfway, they meet in the middle, and if they meet in the middle there is no overlap, and if there is no overlap, they are not living a shared or common life. It approaches marriage backwards. Underneath the 50-50 approach is the person’s viewpoint toward their union. It asks, “What can I get out of this marriage?” rather than “What can I bring to this marriage?” It looks out for self. It is spiritually flawed because it is individualistic and selfish.

Jesus wants the couple to love each other as he loves us. He loves us so much that he emptied himself (Phil 2:7). He gave himself as a total gift. As he looked ahead to his cross, he said, “I lay down my life” (Jn 10:17). “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own” (Jn 10:18). He gave himself knowingly and willingly. It was given without strings attached. He did not expect repayment. He would like us to love him in return, but he does not demand it.

As Jesus gave himself as a total gift to us, the wife is to give herself as a total gift to her husband, and the husband is to give

KNOW the SAINTS

of Jesus Christ by the will of God …” Right away, he asserts that God has called him to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. In other words, he is letting them know that he has been given the authority to watch over them. As their father, not only must he encourage them, but he must correct errors that tear at the Church’s unity.

Additionally, Paul stresses the importance of unity by addressing his letter to the “church of God that is in Corinth.” Notice that he does not say “churches in Corinth” but rather the “church of God.” There are not multiple churches in Corinth, but rather a singular Church. Paul, then, wants them to move beyond their interests to build up the one Church. And notice that it is not just any Church, but the Church of God. The Church belongs to God, of which Paul is a minister. In short, the phrase “my church” is completely foreign to Paul’s vocabulary. Finally, Paul reminds the Corinthians that they are “sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be holy.” In other words, by virtue of their baptism, they are consecrated or set apart for the Lord. All of Paul’s ethical exhortations, which follow later in the letter, flow from this critical truth. By virtue of their baptism, the Corinthians are set apart and therefore, called to be holy. In some sense, Paul is saying, “Corinthians, remember your dignity. Become what you are. Live in accordance with your baptism.”

While our second reading is quite short, there is much we can learn from it. First, there is something quite comforting about knowing that we are not the only ones who live in challenging times. Like the Corinthians, the Church today experiences much division among parishioners and even whole parishes.

In this light, ask yourself, “How am I a person of communion, i.e., a person who builds relationships?” “Where can I build bridges?” “Even if I may be right on a certain point, how can I be charitable?” As a Christian, find ways to look beyond your interests (self-sacrifice) to help build up the Lord’s Church. In doing so, our Lord will greatly reward you!

Father Andrie is pastor of St. Therese in Deephaven. He can be reached at fr andrie@st-therese org

himself as a total gift to his wife. It is not part way but all the way. It is not 50-50 but 100-100. It does not meet in the middle but is total overlap.

In St. Paul’s reflection on the love between wives and husbands, he wrote, “Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her” (Eph 5:25b). Christ handed over everything without holding back. As Christ loves the Church, so spouses are to love each other. Each spouse hands over the gift of self to the other without holding back. It is a free and total gift. Unlike Jesus, it is fair for spouses to expect love in return because married love is mutual love.

Quoting the previous verse, the Council Fathers at Vatican II continued, “The spouses love each other with perpetual fidelity through mutual self-bestowal” (The Sanctity of Marriage and the Family, “Gaudium et Spes,” The Church in the Modern World, 48.5). Mutual self-bestowal is the Council’s term for the total gift of self in marriage.

When a bride and groom are “all-in” spiritually, an adapted version of the wedding promises might go something like this: “I give my life to you as a gift. All that I have is yours. I pledge to be good to you. I will pay attention to your preferences and put them above mine. I will do everything in my power to please you and make you happy.” This does not mean that one spouse must always give in or let the other person have their way all the time. When both spouses make the total gift of self to each other, it would be unthinkable for either to be forceful or controlling. When love is mutual, the pronouns shift from “I” and “me” to “we” and “us,” and the questions shift to “What would we prefer? and “What would make us happy?”

When spouses go 50-50, they have a partial outcome. When spouses imitate Jesus and give the total gift of self, it leads to authentic mutual love and a joyful marriage.

Father Van Sloun is the director of clergy personnel for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. This column is part of a series on the sacrament of marriage.

Sunday, Jan. 15 Second Sunday in Ordinary Time Is 49:3, 5-6 1 Cor 1:1-3 Jn 1:29-34

Monday, Jan. 16 Heb 5:1-10 Mk 2:18-22

Tuesday, Jan. 17 St. Anthony, abbott Heb 6:10-20 Mk 2:23-28

Wednesday, Jan. 18 Heb 7:1-3, 15-17 Mk 3:1-6

Thursday, Jan. 19 Heb 7:25—8:6 Mk 3:7-12

Friday, Jan. 20 Heb 8:6-13 Mk 3:13-19

Saturday, Jan. 21 St. Agnes, virgin and martyr Heb 9:2-3, 11-14 Mk 3:20-21

Sunday, Jan. 22 Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Is 8:23—9:3 1 Cor 1:10-13, 17 Mt 4:12-23

Monday, Jan. 23 Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children Heb 9:15, 24-28 Mk 3:22-30

Tuesday, Jan. 24 St. Francis de Sales, bishop and doctor of the Church Heb 10:1-10 Mk 3:31-35

Wednesday, Jan. 25 Conversion of St. Paul, Apostle Acts 22:3-16 Mk 16:15-18

Thursday, Jan. 26 Sts. Timothy and Titus, bishops 2 Tm 1:1-8 Mk 4:21-25

Friday, Jan. 27 Heb 10:32-39 Mk 4:26-34

Saturday, Jan. 28 St. Thomas Aquinas, priest and doctor of the Church Heb 11:1-2, 8-19 Mk 4:35-41

Sunday, Jan. 29 Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Zep 2:3; 3:12-13 1 Cor 1:26-31 Mt 5:1-12a

ST. ANTHONY OF EGYPT (251-356 A.D.) Associated with the beginnings of monasticism, Anthony gave his inherited lands and wealth in Egypt to the poor. From the age of about 20 until his death at 105, he lived as a hermit in remote hilltop and desert locations. What is known about him comes from a life written by St. Athanasius of Alexandria. Around 306 he began to accept disciples, founding his first monastery as a collection of hermits’ cells. He cultivated a garden, wove rush mats, and fought many temptations and demons. Visitors sought his wise counsel, collected in the sayings of the “desert fathers,” and the bishops of Alexandria summoned him at age 87 to help refute Arianism. He is the patron of basket and brush makers, butchers and gravediggers. His feast day is Jan. 17. — Catholic News Service

FAITH FUNDAMENTALS | FATHER MICHAEL VAN SLOUN

ECHOES OF CATHOLIC MINNESOTA REBA LUIKEN

St. Francis statue at Como Conservatory

A friend and I were enjoying a balmy walk through the Como Conservatory on a cold winter day. While strolling among the tropical spices of the North Garden, we came upon a white statue of a man nestled among the plants. He is wearing a Franciscan habit, sporting a tonsure, and presiding over the pond. My friend (a non-Catholic) wondered aloud why it was there, so I explained that it was St. Francis, the patron saint of ecology and a person commonly represented in garden statues. Of course, that was only part of the answer. I didn’t know why a saint was frequenting a secular public space in St. Paul.

The statue was created by Donald Shepard, a 24-year-old artist in Paris who was originally from St. Paul. Before Donald and his mother, Saidee, donated the statue to Como Park, it was on display at the Salon des Artistes Française, an annual French art exhibition, where it won honorable mention. After making the trip to St. Paul in May 1936, the statue was installed alongside a stream near the zoo’s new monkey island to allow St. Francis to preside outdoors over birds and animals. Thousands of people viewed it in its first week, and according to St. Paul Parks Superintendent W. Lamont Kaufman, who served from 1932 to 1965, “St. Francis of Assisi’s love of nature has had the effect of developing many

COMMENTARY | FATHER JOHN UBEL

The chicken or the egg? Universal vs. particular Church

Editor’s note: Father Ubel published this essay Dec. 4 in the parish bulletin of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, where he is rector. It has been edited and reprinted here with his permission.

The Church in Germany is embroiled in a controversial multiyear consultative process (the Synodal Path) to engage laity in the future of the Church. Lost in the discussion is the degree to which the rancor may be due to the unique relationship between Church and state in Germany. Government funds (i.e., taxes) significantly support religious bodies, be they Catholic, Protestant or Jewish. The origin stems from historical payments (i.e., endowments) made to compensate for valuable farmlands and properties confiscated centuries ago, whether during the Reformation or Napoleonic times. The Archdiocese of Munich alone received $665 million in 2020! Dependence on these funds may factor into these proposals, as the Church is pressured to conform to modern sensibilities. Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg defends calling for broad reforms of Church doctrine, insisting that no departure from Catholicism is intended. Rather, “we want to be Catholic in a different way.” My translation — “we want Catholicism on our terms.”

During the German bishops’ recent ad limina visit, Cardinal Luis Ladaria of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith summed up the Synodal Path

agenda in blunt terms: “abolition of compulsory celibacy, ordination of viri probati (i.e., older married men), access of women to the ordained ministry, moral re-evaluation of homosexuality, structural and functional limitation of hierarchical power, reflections on sexuality inspired by gender theory, major proposed amendments to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.” Hamburg, we have a problem! The German Synodal Path should in no way, shape or form be confused with the Synod in our archdiocese. Our process here fully embraces the vision of the universal Church for diocesan synods as outlined in canon law. Archdiocesan priorities are totally in line with magisterial teaching, as we seek to form missionary disciples for a future filled with hope.

My frustration with the Synodal Path is rooted in the relationship between the “universal” and “particular” Church. The word universal is not to be construed as referring solely to the pope and curia, but rather the entire college of bishops in communion with the pope. The word “particular” typically refers to an individual diocese. In Vatican II’s Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, the bishop receives his office of government (munus regendi) directly from Christ through the sacrament of ordination (Lumen Gentium, 21). It is equally true that no local bishop exercises governance of a particular diocese unless he is duly appointed by canonical mission and remains in hierarchical communion with the college of bishops and its head, the bishop of Rome (cf. LG, 24). This is a core principle of our Catholic ecclesiology. Considering the active participation of the German bishops in the process, it appears the resolutions of the Synodal Path are aimed at changing Catholic doctrine on a universal scale. This tension between the Vatican and the Germans reminds me of the age-old question posed by the ancient Greek philosopher Plutarch: “Which was first, the bird or the egg?” That is, which is first, the universal or particular Church? Centuries ago, the Church confronted Gallicanism, a movement originating in France in which the monarch limited the authority of the pope, asserting state power in certain areas of ecclesiastical governance. Later

groups outside of the Catholic church who honor his memory for the interest he created in birds and animals.”

Still, why did Shepard create a statue of St. Francis? The entire Shepard family seems to have been Protestant. However, Donald was likely Catholic as an adult; he was not at the statue’s unveiling because he was being married in a Catholic church in Paris that same week. Cardinal Baudrillart presided over Donald’s marriage ceremony to a woman who taught Catholic catechism classes for much of her adult life. When Donald died in Maine in 1996, a service was held in his honor at the local Franciscan Monastery, so perhaps he was particularly fond of the Franciscans, too. As the founder of a local animal welfare society in Maine, he appears to have shared a fondness for animals with St. Francis.

And finally, why did Donald send the statue to St. Paul? It must have involved his family’s connections among the city’s elite. His father, David C. Shepard II, was a banker in town. His greatgrandfather, David C. Shepard I, was a railroad builder who worked for James J. Hill and lived on Summit Avenue. However, after venturing to Paris in the 1930s, Donald never returned to live in St. Paul. When World War II began in 1939, he moved with his wife to Connecticut and made a home in New England for the rest of his life. There, he contributed to the war effort by employing his sculpting skills to create military gliders before a long career in historic preservation.

In the end, we will likely never have a complete answer for why St. Francis stands in the Como Conservatory. But he makes a lovely friend to visit on a cold January day in a place where it is easy to contemplate the beauty of creation.

Luiken is a Catholic and a historian with a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. She loves exploring and sharing the hidden histories that touch our lives every day.

movements (e.g., Conciliarism) asserted the authority of a Church council over that of the pope. What both shared is the assertion of authority in a body other than the pope and the college of bishops in union with him. Theologically, we cannot conceive of a local (i.e., “particular”) Church absent a simultaneous reference to the universal Church of which the local Church is a part.

While one may speak of the Catholic Church in Germany, it is by nature linked and preceded ontologically by the universal Church. The distinction between the “German Catholic Church” and the “Catholic Church in Germany” is deeper than semantics. A 1992 letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith noted that the universal Church “is not the result of a communion of the churches, but in its essential mystery it is a reality ontologically and temporally prior to every individual particular church” (no. 9, emphasis added). Vatican II emphasized that individual bishops “exercise their pastoral government over the portion of the People of God committed to their care, and not over other churches nor over the universal Church. But each of them, as a member of the episcopal college and legitimate successor of the apostles, is obliged by Christ’s institution and command to be solicitous for the whole Church” (LG, 23).

By governing well their own dioceses or jointly coordinating initiatives among dioceses of a nation, bishops effectively contribute to the welfare of the entire Mystical Body of Christ. Conversely, by separating from the pack so to speak, grave harm is done to the unity of the Church. Vatican II did much to clarify the role of the individual bishop. Not a mere “branch manager” of the “corporate” Church structure, he exercises authority of his own from Christ, but always in communion with the pope and the others in the college of bishops. Similarly, our baptism incorporates us into the Catholic (universal) Church, not simply into our neighborhood parish or diocese. It is not easy steering a large ship and this is no time for “Mutiny on the Bounty.” As Catholics, like it or not, we’re all in this together!

GUEST

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

This statue of St. Francis of Assisi by Donald Shepard can be found at the Como Conservatory in St. Paul.

TWENTY SOMETHING | CHRISTINA CAPECCHI

On snow and silence: learning to listen in a noisy world

I have loved photography for years. And I think I finally found my niche: snow photography. Every time it snows — which is frequently in Minnesota — I grab my phone, slip into my boots and start snapping.

Some prefer their trees laced with pink apple blossoms or blazing with red maple leaves. Me? I’ll take an evergreen drooping with snow.

Fresh snow renders the world new again, lifting a two-dimensional scene into 3D, illuminating every branch on every tree. Had that underbrush been there all this time? Was the backyard always so dense and layered?

Purple shadows stripe the white canvas like strokes of watercolor paint.

Adding to the sense of mystery: the silence. There is a lull after a snowfall — before the snowplow grinds in, before shovelers and shoppers venture out, before a single footprint breaks its smooth surface. The world stands still.

And it is quiet.

This is nature’s acoustics. It’s not our perception, not simply a lack of traffic or the buzz of neighborhood activities brought to a halt. There’s scientific proof that a few inches of freshly fallen snow absorbs sound. Everything sounds muted, padded.

In our modern world, where it can be nearly impossible to turn off all the noise, this quiet feels like a gift from above.

St. John of the Cross said, “God’s first language is silence.”

This is how he first speaks to us — before the

SIMPLE HOLINESS | KATE SOUCHERAY

A new year to grow in our Catholic faith

We have a new year upon us! If you are reading this, you have survived a turbulent time. We all experienced a, hopefully, once-in-a-century pandemic; an unprecedented election cycle that may still be unresolved; and an economy that has shaken us to our core. Our faith may feel as if it is the only constant we can lean on and find predictable. But do we have a strong faith life? This may be the year to invest yourself in becoming a stronger Catholic Christian.

If this is something you feel the Holy Spirit is prompting you to explore, today is the day to begin investigating the available opportunities. This can be a scary endeavor for a Catholic, because even though we are also Christian, we have often been encouraged to follow the lead of those who have been trained and are skilled at interpreting Scripture and explaining its meaning to us. We have not always been encouraged to develop a personal relationship with Jesus, as so many of our Protestant brothers and sisters have. We may not even understand what that is or what it means.

Developing a stronger faith life provides comfort

priest reaches the pulpit, before the tulips bloom, before the newborn cries.

But we cannot hear his voice if we don’t intentionally seek out silence. It takes discipline to shut off the channels. Not all the noise is negative. But taken together, it is definitely too much.

If you want a fresh start in 2023, make space for silence. This is how life was intended before busyness became a badge of honor and before the advent of social media, with names like the noise they make: Twitter, TikTok. Every second can be filled with sound.

When silence washes over us, we can open our minds and hearts. What am I afraid of? What am I ignoring? What is God asking of me?

These questions can be uncomfortable. Quiet time helps us grapple with them.

I’ve recently taken up painting. I set up shop in our unfinished basement, spreading butcher paper across the ping pong table and playing the “Mamma Mia!” soundtrack.

At first it energized me. Then I switched to instrumental music, which felt better. Finally, I turned it off altogether, and that felt best of all. I could listen to the house — the steady hum, water whooshing through it, the groans and creaks. At times, they were surprisingly loud. It almost felt like being in conversation with the house, learning it by listening.

Maybe we avoid silence because stimulation delays contemplation, because we fear emptiness. But silence is not empty or devoid. It contains layers of information — often subtler and richer.

I want these ordinary days to reflect my highest priorities. Setting aside my hunger for external validation will help me get there.

I’m planning to begin this new year by seeking quiet. I’m hoping it will help me connect to God and see the beauty in my midst. I want to operate with a sense of place: this groaning house, this patch of sunlight in the basement, this old oak at my side.

Tomorrow we’re expecting 7 inches of snow. I’ll be out there, tiptoeing under the canopy of white — breathing in, looking up, listening for God’s first language.

Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights.

for us when we are unsure of what awaits us in a situation. It also challenges us when we are hesitant to speak up and would prefer to hold back and play it safe, for fear of recrimination. Our Catholic Christian faith encourages us to know Jesus as a person of history and to love him and his ways as the Christ, or the anointed one of God. Our faith teaches us that Jesus is present in the Eucharist, which means that when we come to Mass and celebrate this communal meal with the priest, Jesus is present among us. When we participate in Communion and we eat his body, we become a means of his presence in the world.

Our belief in this reality should change our personal world and how we interact with others, as well as our collective world and the many ways we can influence what is happening around us. For you see, when we have partaken of Communion with the Christ, we have said “yes” to the Holy Spirit’s touch in our lives. We have opened ourselves to his grace, or his presence, in our mind, heart and soul. We have affirmed that we are willing to be a positive agent of change in our world.

If we do not have a strong faith life, we may go through the motions of attending Mass on the weekend, taking Communion, and going back to our world the moment we walk out of the church doors. We are not changed or transformed, and we are not becoming salt and light to a troubled world. St. Justin Martyr — who was an early apologist, or advocator, for Christianity — stated: Christians, “because of their high moral principles, they are really the best of citizens.”

We must each ask ourselves if this is true of us. Do we have a strong faith life that transforms us

ACTION PLAN

uTake a leap of faith this year. Begin where you feel comfortable and go one step further.

uLook for ways to actively engage with others who are exploring their faith and trust that the Holy Spirit will only give you what you can handle.

and our decisions, so that we have high moral principles? Are we prepared to transform the world, even in small ways, that can initiate a ripple effect and influence the world for good?

This is the time to begin exploring your faith and responding to the voice of the Holy Spirit, encouraging you to be open to deepening your faith life. Ask what your Church is offering regarding a Bible study or a small group faith exploration. Look online and take a class that interests you about the history of our faith. Purchase a reading/journal book and invite a friend or family member to take a journey of faith with you, so that you can both grow deeper in your faith this year.

Remember that Jesus will not ask more of us than we are able to handle at one time. He will take our faith and grow it, just like the parable of the mustard seed. All he needs is our permission.

Soucheray is a licensed marriage and family therapist emeritus and a member of St. Ambrose in Woodbury. Learn more at her website

iSTOCK PHOTO | OLEG

But silence is not empty or devoid. It contains layers of information — often subtler and richer.

something far deeper: his sincere, intense and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.

LETTERS

Death penalty and abortion

OTECT LIFE & MAN DIGNITY

For someone who would end up being one of the most influential figures in my Catholic life, my relationship with Pope Benedict XVI got off to an inauspicious start.

It was 2005 and he had just been elected pope. News coverage was playing on the TV in my high school’s mezzanine. I, a teenager who was Catholic in the sense that someone might prefer a certain brand of frozen pizza because it’s just what their family ate, took one look at the elderly German prelate, and concluded that the only noteworthy aspect of him was that he bore a striking resemblance to Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars.

students 22 -and -under FREE! lunch included with

And yet, God works in mysterious ways. As the Lord guided my Catholicism from a mere tribal family ritual to more of a unified vision of life, and then further, something rooted most fundamentally in relationality with Jesus Christ, it was Benedict XVI whom he used as his instrument.

It was Benedict XVI’s line in “Deus Caritas Est” that provided an opening for my own relationship with the Lord to become something more than just an intellectual exercise, helping connect the head and the heart. “Being a Christian,” Benedict taught, “is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and decisive direction.” That person, of course, is Jesus Christ.

The encounter with Christ was the heart of Benedict XVI’s entire theological project, because it was the heart of his life. It undergirded the way he taught about morality, the liturgy and sacraments, ecclesiology and the development of doctrine. To miss this is to fundamentally misunderstand the man — which, sadly, so many people in the secular media, but even in the Church, apparently did and continue to do.

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See the newly renovated State Capitol!

At first, I was compelled by his intelligent and piercing criticisms of modern, secular culture. His insight that the privatization of faith had practically reduced the role of God in our lives to that of “a God with nothing to do”; his criticism of the ironic stunted narrowness of materialistic rationalism, which denied the “full breadth of reason”; his relentless condemnation of the “dictatorship of relativism.”

But eventually, I came to see that Benedict XVI was far more than just a social or cultural commentator. Or rather, that his social and cultural criticisms flowed from

When I visited Benedict in St. Peter’s Basilica this past week, where his body lay until the funeral the following day, I experienced a twinge of sadness that I had never been in his presence while he was still alive. A dead body, separated from the soul, is not the same as a living person, after all. How much I would’ve loved to be in the presence of this man who had been such an influence upon me through his writing and his witness from afar.

But if Benedict is not here with us on earth, then we have good reason to hope and believe that he is in (or at least on his way to) heaven. And from this place of being, fully united with the Jesus he loved so much while on earth, he can be more influential and impactful upon my life, the lives of all who love him, and indeed the whole Church and the world, then he’s ever been before.

Liedl, a Twin Cities resident, is a senior editor of the National Catholic Register and a graduate student in theology at The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul.

economic stability as they bring their children into this world. The state child tax credit is the centerpiece of our Families First Project, details of which can be found at familiesfirstproject.com.

Pursuing a consistent ethic of life also means creating conditions in which people can flourish. Unfortunately, the legislature’s DFL majority is poised to pass legislation that would put the flourishing of the marijuana industry ahead of the common good by fully legalizing — and commercializing — all forms of recreational marijuana (HF 100, Stephenson).

I am disappointed that the archdiocese would mention that Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon commuted the sentence of 17 death row inmates to life in prison, quoting her, “justice is not advanced by taking a life and the state should not be in the business of executing people,” but failing to mention she is pro-abortion. She is hypocritical at best. (Dec. 22, page 7). She is also gay. Both practices prohibited by Catholic teaching. I want to be clear. I don’t believe the death penalty should be used if at all possible. We have ways to incarcerate people convicted of capital offenses. Keeping in mind it is also not prohibited under canon law. Which was also not mentioned. I also believe someone who is gay is loved and is one of God’s children, but her sin is not loved. This is clearly someone’s agenda and should not be used in a Catholic publication that goes out to a whole archdiocese. We, meaning the Catholic Church, continue to send mixed messages to the flock. You have a responsibility to mention all the facts not just the ones that fit someone’s agenda.

Jim Anderson

St.

Michael, Prior Lake

Politics and faith

There was a recent response written by Karen of Wayzata (“Questioning a column,” Letters, Dec. 22) to the “Your Heart, His Home” column (“The ‘red wave’ we really need is not on a map,” Nov. 24). The response takes the position that the Church should not be involved in politics. Gospel authors have clearly demonstrated that the clergy should educate people to be “Good Catholics” by commenting on spiritually unhealthy and immoral practices. That should include condemning political candidates, Republican or Democratic, who promote abortion and economic policies that erode family integrity. The Church has repeatedly and adamantly condemned abortion as a mortal sin. Therefore, abortion is a spiritual issue, and the Church is clearly bound to oppose it. Karen is welcome to her opinion that you’re not a good Catholic if you don’t support universal health care, parental leave and childcare assistance. But it is a contentious opinion; tax-imposed charity is not a part of Church doctrine.

Maria Boecker Guardian Angels, Chaska

More support for marriages

Day one of the session, Jan. 3, brought with it a bill that is viewed as a direct attack on the fundamental right to life. MCC continues to voice strong opposition to HF 1 (Kotyza-Witthuhn), the “Protect Reproductive Options Act,” which would further enshrine into Minnesota law the legal killing of the unborn and potentially bring with it a host of other consequences, such as taxpayer-funded fertility treatments and a commercial surrogacy market. After submitting written testimony for the bill’s first hearing, MCC also supported a news conference held by the Moms Offering Maternal Support (MOMS) Association. MOMS is working to intervene in a Minnesota court case that stripped the health and safety protections of women seeking an abortion.

Instead of focusing on so-called “reproductive freedom,” we must urge lawmakers to enact policies that support expectant mothers and children, such as the Positive Alternatives grant program and 12-month post-partum Medicaid funding for women, the enactment of which MCC supported last year.

Another proposal to help ensure Minnesota is the best place to raise children is to enact a state child tax credit. By doing so, expectant moms will have a bit more

Because of the shortsightedness with which this issue is being driven, the Minnesota Catholic Conference has helped form a coalition with business and public safety groups called Minnesotans Against Marijuana Legalization; which is not backing down. On day one of the session, MAML held a press conference to highlight the many issues that must be addressed as the Legislature attempts to move this bill forward without regard for the common good. Among the items that need to be addressed are traffic safety, public safety, workplace safety, industry regulations, and the many social and community impacts. MCC’s Ryan Hamilton later joined Vineeta Sawkar on WCCO radio to share this message with the broader community.

MCC has been a key advocate for many years of Driver’s Licenses for All, which would prevent deportation of undocumented immigrants for traffic violations and promote public safety by helping them get training and requiring car insurance when on the road. It would also facilitate better collaboration with local law enforcement on accidents and crime. As Archbishop Bernard Hebda stated in a news conference held Jan. 3 by supporters of the bill, people are living with a broken immigration system that Congress must address. But in Minnesota, “we can do something meaningful and important for thousands of immigrants in our midst by shielding law-abiding residents from family separation while also promoting public safety and the common good,” the archbishop said.

“Inside the Capitol” is a legislative update from Minnesota Catholic Conference.

In reading the archdiocese financial report in the Dec. 22 issue of The Catholic Spirit, the description of the “Office of Marriage, Family (and) Life” gives a breakdown of where the funds go supporting their ministry. I am a bit concerned that there is no mention of supporting marriage. While yes, the archdiocese does a good job focusing on marriage preparation, it falls short in providing marriage enrichment programs. With the divorce rate still hovering around 50% of marriages, I feel more emphasis should be put toward sustaining healthy, loving relationships. While pre-marriage preparation is vital in beginning a new life with your spouse, most if not all, married couples would agree that the actual living in a spousal relationship can at times be challenging. I feel that marriage enrichment programs could be very beneficial in helping married couples get through the ups and downs of everyday life.

In closing, I would like to see the Office of Marriage/Family Life in the archdiocese do more to promote/support marriage enrichment programs for married couples.

Richard Hruby

St. Wenceslaus, New Prague

Share your perspective by emailing TheCaTholiCSpiriT@ arChSpm org Please limit your letter to the editor to 150 words and include your parish and phone number. The Commentary pages do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Catholic Spirit. Read more letters from our readers at TheCaTholiCSpiriT Com

GLORIA PURIVS Black Catholics United for Life ARCHBISHOP BERNARD HEBDA

BISHOP ANDREW COZZENS Archdiocese of Saint Paul & Minneapolis

Why I am Catholic

By George Wilson

even years into our marriage, my wife, Mary, and I were dissatisfied with our faith life. I offered to consolidate it by entering the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) process, to explore joining the Catholic Church. Up to that point, we had attended both Lutheran and Catholic services together each weekend and were involved in each faith community. Yet, for the sake of our 2-year-old child (and any future children), and to deepen our involvement in a faith community, I wanted to “consolidate” to a single church.

Mary eagerly agreed to be my sponsor and we joined the RCIA group at St. Joseph in New Hope. While many Catholic teachings were similar to my Lutheran background, it was good to go through them as an adult and have adult discussions. While Mary is a cradle Catholic, she also learned a lot. I appreciated having the ability to back out any time before the Easter Vigil.

Incredibly soon it was Palm Sunday, and I still hadn’t decided. That afternoon, I locked myself in our basement and began to pray in earnest. I called some of my Catholic brothers-in-law and asked them questions, but in the end, I asked God: “What do you want me to do?” As I searched my heart, I found peace in the answer — “I want you to practice and live out your faith at St. Joseph.” I said “Yes” and haven’t regretted my decision.

Several years later, my devout Lutheran mother asked me why I had rejected my Lutheran faith. I told her I didn’t feel I had rejected my Lutheran faith; I had just decided to practice my faith in the Catholic Church. That seemed to satisfy her.

At our home reception, the night of my initiation, one of my wife’s “very Catholic” aunts asked me why I had finally decided to join the

Catholic Church. Jokingly, I told her, “So we could have lots more kids!” Fittingly, the next time we saw her, a couple months later, we reported that Mary was pregnant with our second child.

Mary and I have made good on our desire to deepen our involvement in the parish. We’ve been Sunday school teachers; Mary has coordinated the Sunday nursery, volunteered with the Social Service Representatives for more than 35 years and is a Mass coordinator and eucharistic minister. Together, we’ve been on the Lenten Renew Core Team and pre-marriage mentors. I’ve lectored; led Renew small groups for close to 40 years; led the Building Committee; and am a member of our Parish Council, the Peace and Justice Commission, and the Parish Synod Evangelization team. I am a eucharistic minister, and I break open the Word.

But perhaps what Mary and I are most happy about, because of our Catholic partnering, is that each of our four children have their own personal faith, and are practicing Catholics.

I am Catholic because I felt called to practice my faith here. God has been good.

Wilson, 65, and his wife of 43 years, Mary, are members of St. Joseph in New Hope. The father of four children and five grandchildren, Wilson is a retired supplier development engineer who enjoys swimming, bicycling and kayaking. He also enjoys traveling with his wife to visit national parks and heading south for a month or two during the winter.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

“Why I am Catholic” is an ongoing series in The Catholic Spirit. Want to share why you are Catholic? Submit your story in 300-500 words to CatholiCSpirit@arChSpm org with subject line “Why I am Catholic.”

PRAYER/RETREATS/WORSHIP

Respect Life Mass — Jan. 22: Noon at the Cathedral of St. Paul, 329 Selby Ave., St. Paul. Commemorates the millions of lives lost to abortion and recognizes those who exemplify pro-life work in local communities with the St. John Paul II Champions for Life Awards. Replaces the annual Prayer Service for Life. Sponsored by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office of Marriage, Family and Life. arChSpm org/reSpeCt-life-maSS Pro-Life Memorial Mass — Jan. 27: 6 p.m. at St. Charles Borromeo, 2739 Stinson Blvd., St. Anthony. Join Prolife Across America for this Memorial Mass. Celebrant will be Father Paul Shovelain. Social hour with refreshments will follow.

prolifeaCroSSameriCa org

Help for Struggling Couples — Feb. 2-5: at Best Western Dakota Ridge Hotel, 3450 Washington Dr., Eagan. Retrouvaille is a lifeline for troubled marriages. Since 1977, over 40,000 marriages have been saved worldwide. Couples learn the tools to rediscover each other and heal their marriage. 100% confidential. helpourmarriage org

Mothers’ Day of Renewal — Feb. 4: 7:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. at Holy Family, 5900 W. Lake St., St. Louis Park. Guest speaker will be Alyssa Bormes, discussing “Love In Order.” Cost is $25, includes a continental breakfast and lunch. Sponsored by Holy Family Home Educators. hfCmn org

Married Couples Weekend Retreat — Feb. 10-12 at Franciscan Retreat and Spirituality Center,

wept and wept. We ended up just praying together.”

Schulz and the Wistrcills said a great strength of School of Discipleship is empowering people to gently be with people, to be open to pain and heartache, joy and celebration, as Jesus was. It’s not pushy, or man on the street corner thumping the Bible, they said. And it is understanding and accepting that many encounters will be just one step in other people’s journeys toward Christ.

“God wants his love and mercy to enter the world,” Angela Wistrcill said. “We are his hands and feet. He wants us to connect with people. It’s not who I want to connect with. It’s who Christ wants to touch.”

A week after he and his wife took the course, Wistrcill said, he was purchasing a car and somehow the

16385 St. Francis Lane, Prior Lake. Nourish your marriage for the weekend. Theme: “Belonging; Connections of the Heart.” Four talks explore how human traits challenge our ability to trust God. Blend of scheduled time and open time. Confession, anointing, Mass, Holy Hour, prayer sessions and renewal of vows. franC SCanretreatS net

CONFERENCES/WORKSHOPS/ SEMINARS

Smarter Ways to Address Mental Illness and Public Safety — Jan. 28: 1 p.m. at the Basilica of St. Mary, 88 N. 17th St., Minneapolis. Leaders in the Twin Cities will discuss what needs to be done to work toward positive outcomes, improve public safety and cut the cost of incarceration for people with mental health issues. Registration is requested. mary org/SmarterwayS Womens’ Day of Reflection on Mary, Mother of All: Culture and Devotion — Feb. 18: 8:00 a.m.–2 p.m. at St. Alphonsus, 7025 Halifax Ave. N., Brooklyn Center. Mark Wyss, from the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, will be the presenter. Cost $20, includes continental breakfast and lunch. Women and girls over 13 invited. Spanish translation upon request. StalSCCw wildapriCot org WINE: Catholic Women’s Conference — Feb. 18: 8 a.m.–3:30 p.m. at St. Bartholomew, 630 Wayzata Blvd. E., Wayzata. “A Spiritual Spa: Come to the Living Waters” includes Mass with Archbishop Bernard Hebda, inspirational talks, confession, adoration, shopping, prayer teams, laughter and joy. An optional evening “Gathering in the Vineyard” on Feb. 17 is open to all.

conversation with the financial expert at the dealership turned from finances to faith. “We got deep,” Wistrcill said. “He told me things he’d never shared with anyone before.”

How did that happen?

“It was my mindset,” Wistrcill said. “I decided I’m going to start with genuinely investing in people and caring about them.”

Serving people as well, Angela Wistrcill said. She and her husband now carry care packages for people in need they encounter on the street: warm

More information, pricing and tickets at wineConferenCe org/ConferenCe-info-Copy

MUSIC

Luminous Night of the Soul — Jan. 21: 7 p.m. at the Basilica of St. Mary, 88 N. 17th St., Minneapolis. Featuring the Basilica of St. Mary Cathedral Choir: Hannah Peterson, flute; Jacob Benda, piano; Samuel Holmberg, organ; and the String Quartet. Directed by Teri Larson. In partnership with the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas at the University of St. Thomas. mary org

SPEAKERS

Voices in Education: How the History of Catholic Education Can Help Guide Us Toward the Future — Jan. 26: 5–8:30 p.m. at the University of St. Thomas, 2260 Summit Ave., St. Paul. Join The St. Paul Seminary Institute for Catholic School Leadership and Michael Naughton, director of the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas, for a discussion of how Catholic education’s past can help us shape its future. RSVP for this free event. tnyurl Com/yja8wCuS

OTHER EVENTS

MCCL March for Life — Jan. 22: 2–3 p.m. at the State Capitol, 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul. Abortion on demand continues in Minnesota. The march will commemorate the devastation of abortion and call for protection for unborn children and support for their mothers. mCCl org

socks, granola bars, hand sanitizing wipes and a personal note: “We’re thinking about you. We care about you. God loves you.”

Schulz said she wants to share the fullness of the Catholic faith.

“I desire all to know the Lord,” she said. “Through the sacraments, adoration and the Mass. That is what I pray for. But I can’t control it. I meet people wherever they are, in humility, and I trust the Lord to do the rest.

“Evangelizing,” Schulz said, “is seeing someone.”

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.

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Life-altering injury doesn’t keep Totino-Grace High School graduate down

By Rebecca Omastiak The Catholic Spirit

Matt Olson is on a new path and it’s one he never expected.

The 26-year-old Isanti native said he’s not letting a life-altering injury affect his future as community support carries him through challenging times and his trust in God helps him forge a new perspective on life.

In February 2016, a junior hockey game left Olson, 20 years old at the time, paralyzed from the chest down. Olson was chasing a breakaway player on the opposing team and as Olson circled the net, he lost his edge and crashed into the boards headfirst at full speed.

“I knew right away something was wrong,” Olson said. The thought of paralysis crossed his mind when he noticed he couldn’t feel anything. He tried getting up and couldn’t.

That night, Olson — raised Lutheran and a 2014 graduate of Totino-Grace High School in Fridley — prayed.

“I just kind of said in my head to God, ‘I know you have a plan and it’s kind of a crazy plan, I think, but I know you gave me this challenge and plan for a reason, and you knew that I’ll be able to handle it.’”

It was a long road to recovery for Olson, who spent 199 days at three locations during his rehabilitation. He dealt with pneumonia and fevers and was placed on a ventilator.

“I couldn’t communicate verbally or eat anything or drink anything for quite a while, so that was definitely very challenging,” said Olson, who remains confined to a wheelchair.

More hard work followed with acute rehabilitation and inpatient care as Olson worked to regain strength and as much movement as possible. Olson said he focused “on trying to get better at something each day” and worked on building a positive mindset.

His parents, Doug and Sue Olson, built a new house adapted to his needs, including wheelchair access, on the same property on which his family’s former house sat, Olson said. He and his parents live there now. Olson said his experience has been “a whirlwind and life-changing.” Support from family and his community helped, including the Totino-Grace community rallying around him, he said.

Craig Junker, a parishioner of St. Odilia in Shoreview, has been the president of Totino-Grace for the past nine years after having spent five years as a school superintendent in Lake City.

Reflecting on Olson’s time at TotinoGrace, Junker said, “Matt was a great leader at our school. He was just one of those kids that always wanted to be on the ice, always wanted to be skating. He just loved his teammates; he loved his pals. He loved coming to school, loved playing sports.”

A former hockey player himself, Junker said learning of Olson’s injury was “numbing.” But the Totino-Grace community responded, “just the way you would think a Catholic school community would,” Junker said. “We immediately had people that wanted to

reach out. ‘How is he doing?’ ‘How are his parents?’ ‘What does he need?’”

The Totino-Grace community held a fundraiser for Olson and his family to assist with medical expenses. Junker said students, their families, Olson’s former teammates, and former National Hockey League players attended the event.

“It’s one of those things where once you’re an Eagle, you’re always an Eagle,” Junker said, referencing the Totino-Grace mascot. “Catholic schools don’t say goodbye to kids when they graduate. They want to know them. They want to cheer them on.”

Junker has a photo of Olson in his Totino-Grace hockey uniform in his office and says he prays medical advancements can help Olson, and that he continues to persevere.

“I don’t know how you can get through something like that without having a faith life,” Junker said. “And maybe you get angry at God sometimes. But maybe God can handle that, and maybe it makes you stronger in the end. I don’t know how you can get through that without somehow having faith that there’s a reason behind it.” Junker added, “(Olson’s) got a life to live and now he’s got to live it the best he can and with so much courage and self-determination. I’m just amazed.”

When former North Stars hockey player Doug Johnson learned of Olson’s injury, he helped organize fundraising benefits for Olson after the accident. Johnson had a contact with the Minnesota Vikings and reached out on Olson’s behalf. In 2019, Olson went to the Vikings’ practice facility for a tour. It was there Olson met quarterback Kirk Cousins. The two talked about Olson’s experience. Cousins commended Olson on his hard work and positive attitude, while Olson told Cousins he admired him as a football player and as a philanthropist. The two talked about faith and how they enjoy the outdoors.

The conversation inspired and stayed with Cousins, who in December gave Olson an all-terrain wheelchair, which has special features including an electric tilt mechanism and wide treads that can cross uneven terrain.

“Perspective is so important, and seeing somebody like Matt gives you perspective,” Cousins told Vikings staff reporter Lindsey Young in a report published on the Vikings’ website. “It allows you to be very grateful for what you have and what God’s given you.” Cousins added, “It’s truly more blessed to give than to receive, so it’s fun to hopefully bless him, his family and his future.”

Olson, who said he feels “fortunate to call (Cousins) a good friend of the family” said he was completely shocked and had no idea about the chair before receiving it.

Olson toured the Action Manufacturing facility in Marshall, where the chair is being built, and provided feedback on the type of chair controls that would suit his needs. He’s awaiting the finished design.

“I’m super excited about it, it’ll give me a lot more independence and going off-roading more,” he said. For Olson, who enjoys hunting, that is ideal. “Now I’ll be able to go farther and enjoy the

outdoors, which I really love.”

Olson said his parents share in his gratitude for the gift. “They felt blessed that someone like Kirk Cousins was willing to take time for me and help give me more opportunities.”

Junker, too, was pleased to learn about Cousins’ gift to Olson. “The more I find out about (Cousins), the more I realize that there’s a big picture about him that wants to make a difference and use resources to make a difference in other people’s lives,” Junkers said. “That (all-terrain wheelchair) from him and the Vikings is changing Matt’s life and helping him be better, giving him opportunity.”

Though Olson’s vision of excelling at hockey changed “in a split second,” he said he sees new opportunities. He graduated from Anoka-Ramsey Community College in the fall with an associate degree in environmental science and plans to transfer to St. Cloud State University in the fall of 2023 to pursue a bachelor’s degree. After that, he’s interested in working in the environmental sciences field. He hopes the new all-terrain chair will better equip him for fieldwork.

With his focus on the future, Olson said his family’s encouragement helps him keep a positive attitude.

“If I’m frustrated or something and

they can see it, they’ll just say, ‘You can still do things, you know, and it might look different, it might take longer, you might have to go a different way about it than what you really want to do.’”

He also continues to rely on his faith, as he did that first night after the accident in 2016, calling it “the driving force” behind his positive mindset.

“I wasn’t going to let this situation ruin the rest of my life,” Olson said. “I have a long life to live and a lot to look forward to, so I’m not going to let my accident, what happened, and my disability hold me back from the things I do.”

PHOTOS COURTESY MATT OLSON

Matt Olson poses with Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell, left, and Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, who is giving Olson an all-terrain wheelchair.

Olson with his parents, Sue and Doug Olson.