PAGETWO

Cluster munitions cannot discriminate between civilians and fighters. Unexploded bomblets may kill civilians weeks, months, or years after a battle.

Mary Ellen O’Connell, a professor at Notre Dame Law School who specializes in international law and conflict resolution, telling OSV News that “the Catholic Church is in full support of the total ban on cluster munitions” due to its effects on civilians, including long after the conflict. President Joe Biden recently defended what he called a “very difficult decision” to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion of that country. O’Connell suggested that the U.S. and its allies dig deeper into their own stockpiles of artillery shells, because an “unlawful weapon is never permissible to use because of military necessity.”

NEWS notes

Archbishop Bernard Hebda celebrated a Mass June 29 for the repose of the soul of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. An ice cream social was held afterward. The Mass was originally scheduled for Jan. 4, but was postponed due to a snowstorm. The Mass included a piece of music composed by Jacob Flaherty, director of sacred music at Holy Family in St. Louis Park, that was inspired by Pope Benedict’s reported last words: “Lord, I love you.” After several musical performances Dec. 31, the day the pope died, Flaherty set to work composing a piece to pay tribute.

BASKETBALL SKILLS Transitional Deacon Christopher Yanta shows his basketball skills to participants of a basketball camp offered this summer by St. Vincent de Paul Catholic School in Brooklyn Park. The students pictured will enter first or second grade this fall. Deacon Yanta, whose home parish is St. Timothy in Maple Lake, is serving St. Vincent de Paul this summer. He was ordained May 13 at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis.

Set for July 19-23 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Bloomington, the theme of the 84th annual Tekakwitha Conference is Gathering for Healing Through Living Waters and it’s expected to draw hundreds of attendees from North America and beyond. The event will feature keynote speakers and workshops that inform and facilitate healing and renewal, said Shawn Phillips, who is co-chair of the upcoming conference. Phillips said the conference is an opportunity “for everybody” to attend and learn; Michele Beeksma, co-chair of the conference, said, “It’s the idea of coming and learning and listening.”

PRACTICING Catholic

On the July 7 “Practicing Catholic” radio show, host Patrick Conley interviewed Vaunae Hansel, president of Elevate Life, who discussed recent Minnesota abortion legislation and how it impacts pregnancy resource centers. Also featured are Tom Cassidy, a registered nurse at Our Lady of Peace Residential Hospice in St. Paul, who described his 35 years caring for those in hospice; and Father Jon Vander Ploeg, director of spiritual formation at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, who provided insights on grieving. Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingcatholicShow com or anchor fm/Practicingcatholic-Show with links to streaming platforms.

Correction

In stories honoring priests celebrating milestone anniversaries in the June 29 issue, Father Kyle Etzel was incorrectly identified as a member of the Companions of Christ; he belongs to a group of priests at St. Mary in St. Paul’s Lowertown neighborhood aspiring to form an Oratory of St. Philip Neri in St. Paul. And the late Father James Zappa, Jr., was pastor of Mary, Mother of the Church in Burnsville while Father Peter Richards was an associate there, not the late Father Eugene Tiffany.

RURAL LIFE SUNDAY An estimated 350-400 people attend Mass celebrated by Archbishop Bernard Hebda June 25 to kick off Rural Life Sunday at the Amy and Tim Leonard dairy farm near Norwood Young America, which has been in Amy’s family for five generations. The event, which affirms the rural way of life, also included food, music and children’s activities, such as seeing some of the farm animals.

ON THE COVER: Brother Conrad Richardson of the Franciscan Brothers of Peace in St. Paul stands during Mass May 14 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul as religious men and women are recognized for their milestone jubilees. Brother Conrad is celebrating his 25th jubilee with the Franciscan Brothers. The Mass honored jubilarians who, over the last three years, did not come together for the event because of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.

ONLY JESUS | ARCHBISHOP BERNARD HEBDA