The Catholic Spirit - June 18, 2015

Bishops on racism 10 • Pro Ecclesia Sancta 14-15 • Mary in mosaics 19 June 18, 2015 Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

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‘Not our Church, but Christ’s Church’ Archbishop Nienstedt, Bishop Piché resign; Catholics look to future of archdiocese

Archbishop John Nienstedt, right, addresses the media during a press conference Jan. 16 announcing that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis had filed for Chapter 11 Reorganization. At left is Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché. Both resigned June 15. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

Eco-encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ to be released June 18

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit

I

n confirming the resignations of his fellow bishops June 15, Bishop Andrew Cozzens pledged to work closely with the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ new apostolic administrator “to bring our archdiocese into a new day so that the work of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which we have done here for almost 165 years, may continue.”

Speaking to media outside the chancery offices, Bishop Cozzens called the resignations of Archbishop John Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché “a painful process” and said that the transition to new leadership leaves “many unanswered questions.”

The questions are expected to linger as leadership of the archdiocese is transferred from Archbishop Nienstedt to Archbishop Bernard Hebda, 55-year-old coadjutor archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, whom Pope Francis appointed temporarily to the helm of the Minnesota archdiocese.

The Holy See announced June 15 that Archbishop Nienstedt and Bishop Piché had resigned.

National commentators have called the double episcopal resignation “unprecedented.”

In a statement, Archbishop Nienstedt said he submitted his resignation to Pope Francis “in

order to give the archdiocese a new beginning amidst the many challenges we face.”

“The Catholic Church is not our Church, but Christ’s Church, and we are merely stewards for a time,” he said in a statement. “My leadership has unfortunately drawn away from the good works of his Church and those who perform them. Thus, my decision to step down.”

On June 5, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office filed criminal and civil charges against the archdiocese as a corporation alleging it failed to protect three boys who were sexually abused in 2008-2010 by Curtis Wehmeyer, a former priest of the archdiocese, while he was pastor of Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul. No individuals were charged June 5.

Wehmeyer was convicted of the abuse and is serving a five-year Please turn to ARCHBISHOP on page 4

O International leaders share expectations • 16 O John Allen on four ways the media will spin it • 17 O Local experts provide context • 18

ALSO inside

‘Facts must lead the way’

Milking cows, planting faith

More is better

Ramsey County Attorney’s Office files criminal and civil charges against archdiocese.

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Lonsdale family to offer a glimpse into farm life for Rural Life Sunday June 28.

— Page 6

Local artist works to bring church namesake to life at St. Thomas More in St. Paul.

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Page Two

2 in PICTURES “Dear parents, your children need to discover by watching you that it is beautiful to love another.”

Pope Francis, speaking to families preparing for sacraments and their catechists June 14 in St. Peter’s Square

NEWS notes • The Catholic Spirit

Archdiocese to host Fortnight for Freedom events To recognize the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ annual Fortnight for Freedom June 21 to July 4, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis plans to host the following events:

• “Building Babylon’s good without bending to its gods”: 7 p.m. June 24 in the chapel of St. Paul Church, 1740 Bunker Lake Boulevard NE, Ham Lake

MESSAGE OF HOPE About 200 Catholics of all ages processed with the Eucharist in Minneapolis from the University of St. Thomas Law School Chapel to the Basilica of St. Mary June 7 on the feast of Corpus Christi, which celebrates the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Tim Regan, a parishioner at St. Thomas the Apostle in Minneapolis, said he wanted the procession to send a message: “There’s hope.”

Maria Wiering/The Catholic Spirit

Jason Adkins, executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, will speak about how Christians can be faithful citizens through prudential engagement in the political arena and in greater society.

The event is free of charge, and apple pie will be served following the program. Sponsored by Light for Freedom, a ministry of St. Paul Church. For more information, email lightforreligiousfreedom@ inbox.com.

• Holy Hour and Mass for Religious Freedom: 6 p.m. holy hour, 7 p.m. Mass June 27 at the Cathedral of St. Paul.

The USCCB’s Fortnight for Freedom is a time when the Church’s liturgical calendar celebrates a series of great martyrs who remained faithful in the face of persecution by political power — St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher, St. John the Baptist, Sts. Peter and Paul, and the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome. The theme of this year’s Fortnight will focus on the “freedom to bear witness” to the truth of the Gospel. For more information, visit www.archspm.org/sections/fortnight-freedom/.

Carondelet Village coordinator receives award Kathleen Conrad, pastoral care coordinator at Carondelet Village in St. Paul since 2012, received the Sister Mary Mulheron Ministry Award. Conrad was part of a committee that created the Ministry to Vulnerable Adults program used in parishes throughout the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. She has served on the board of the Association of Pastoral Ministers for seven years, including one as chairwoman. The award was established in the name of Sister Mary Mulheron, a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet, to recognize the importance of pastoral ministry in the Church.

Champions for Life Awards seeking nominations PRIESTLY HELP Father Khalil Jaar, right, talks with Iraqi Christian refugees, who fled Islamic State attacks, at his church near Amman, Jordan. CNS/Courtesy Father Khalil Jaar

WHAT’S NEW on social media

CORRECTION

Father knows best — readers’ Facebook posts share advice from their fathers.

Cathryn Sprynczynatyk Anderson wrote: “My father always told me to marry a man with whom I could be friends. When my husband asked for my hand in marriage, my dad asked him what is important in a good marriage. My husband told him, ‘friendship.’”

Read the latest news about the local and universal Church by following The Catholic Spirit on Twitter @CatholicSpirit.

The Catholic Spirit is published bi-weekly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 20 — No. 12 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher United in Faith, Hope and Love

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is seeking to honor Catholics who have demonstrated “outstanding service and commitment to the Gospel of Life” with its annual St. John Paul II Champions for Life Awards. Honorees will be recognized at a luncheon Oct. 8. To make a nomination, visit www.archspm.org. Deadline is Aug. 1.

MARIA WIERING, Editor

A story in The Catholic Spirit (June 4, 2015) about the priests who are retiring July 1 incorrectly reported that Father Richard Villano at St. Helena in Minneapolis was the only priest who had served as pastor of the same parish longer (38 years) than Father Theodore Campbell (31 years) at Good Shepherd in Golden Valley. Father John Clay holds that distinction, continuing to serve as pastor of St. Stanislaus in St. Paul as he has for 40 years, having been named St. Stanislaus pastor in 1975. Father Campbell is retiring. Fathers Clay and Villano continue as pastors. The Catholic Spirit apologizes for the error.

Materials credited to CNS copyrighted by Catholic News Service.

All other materials copyrighted by The Catholic Spirit Newspaper.

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3 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I am humbled by Pope Francis’ decision to appoint me to serve as apostolic administrator for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. I am grateful for his confidence, and I look forward to working with Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens and the leadership of the archdiocese.

I pray that I will be able to be of some service to you, the priests and faithful of the archdiocese, as you prepare for the appointment of a new archbishop.

Fondly recalling my years as a bishop in northern Michigan, where I first came to know the vibrancy of the faith shared by Catholics of the upper Midwest, I am hopeful that there will be opportunities to meet many of you in the weeks ahead. Mindful of Pope Francis’ challenge to bishops to be true shepherds who walk in the midst of the flock to the point of developing “ears open to listening to the voice of the sheep entrusted to their care,” it is my intention to be as available as possible, while still fulfilling my responsibilities as the Coadjutor Archbishop of Newark. As the Universal Church prepares to embark on a Year of Mercy, I look forward to getting to know this local Church and experiencing in a new context the marvelous ways in which the Lord works through his people to make his grace and healing presence known and felt, even in the most challenging of times.

APOSTOLIC Our loving God frequently finds ways to remind us that even those who exercise ADMINISTRATOR leadership in the Church do so as laborers and not as the Master Builder: The Church Archbishop is not ours but Christ’s. While it is always true that we are merely stewards for a time Bernard Hebda

“As the Universal Church prepares to embark on a Year of Mercy, I look forward to getting to know this local Church and experiencing in a new context the marvelous ways in which the Lord works through his people to make his grace and healing presence known and felt, even in the most challenging of times.”

Archbishop Bernard Hebda

in a vineyard that is not our own, the role of an apostolic administrator is particularly temporary. The law of the Church reminds us that an administrator is not to introduce change, but rather to facilitate the smooth continuation of the ordinary and essential activities of the Church, while advancing those positive initiatives to which the archdiocese is already committed. It is my hope that I might be able to be faithful to that vision so that whenever a new archbishop is appointed, he will find in this local Church a vibrant community of missionary disciples that is growing in its knowledge of the love of Jesus and in its shared commitment to the Gospel.

For this to happen, I realize that I will need the prayers and support of you, the priests, deacons, religious and laity of the archdiocese. In this time of transition, please join me in asking for the intercession of Our Lady of Mercy. May she not only seek God’s blessings for those who have given themselves to the service of this local Church in the past, but also draw us ever closer to the heart of her Son so that we might more perfectly radiate his healing love in the days to come.

From the Apostolic Administrator

New apostolic administrator aims to be of service

El nuevo administrador apostólico desea servir a esta Iglesia local Estimados hermanos y hermanas en Cristo, Siento mucha humildad por la decisión del Papa Francisco de nombrarme a servir como administrador apostólico de la Arquidiócesis de St. Paul y Minneapolis. Estoy agradecido por esta confianza y espero trabajar con el Obispo Auxiliar Andrew Cozzens y los líderes de la arquidiócesis. Ruego para que pueda ser capaz de brindarles un servicio a ustedes, a los sacerdotes y a los fieles de la arquidiócesis, mientras se preparan para el nombramiento de un nuevo arzobispo.

Recordando con cariño mis años como obispo en el norte de Michigan, donde por primera vez llegué a conocer la vitalidad de la fe compartida por los católicos del centro del país, tengo la esperanza de que, en las próximas semanas, haya oportunidades para conocer a muchos de ustedes. Consciente del desafío del Papa Francisco a los obispos a ser verdaderos pastores que caminan en medio de la multitud, hasta el punto de desarrollar “oídos abiertos

para escuchar la voz de las ovejas confiadas a su cuidado,” mi intención es estar tan disponible como sea posible; mientras cumplo todavía con mis responsabilidades como arzobispo coadjutor de Newark. Así como la Iglesia Universal se prepara para embarcarse en el Año de la Misericordia; yo estoy deseando conocer esta iglesia local y experimentar, en un nuevo contexto, las formas maravillosas en las que el Señor trabaja a través de Su pueblo, para hacer sentir y conocer Su gracia y Su presencia curativa, incluso en los tiempos más difíciles.

Nuestro Dios amoroso encuentra con frecuencia formas para que recordemos que, incluso aquellos que ejercen el liderazgo en la Iglesia, lo hacen como obreros y no como el Maestro: la Iglesia no es nuestra sino de Cristo.

Mientras que siempre es cierto que somos simplemente corresponsables en una viña que no es nuestra, el papel de un administrador apostólico es temporal. La ley de la Iglesia nos recuerda que un administrador no llega para hacer cambios, sino más bien para facilitar la

continuación de las actividades comunes y esenciales de la Iglesia, mientras avanzan las iniciativas positivas que la Arquidiócesis ya está comprometida a hacer. Tengo la esperanza de poder ser fiel a esa visión, de manera que, cuando se nombre a un nuevo arzobispo, él encuentre en esta iglesia local una comunidad de discípulos misioneros que está creciendo en su conocimiento del amor de Jesús y en su compromiso con el Evangelio.

Para que eso suceda, me doy cuenta que necesito de las oraciones y el apoyo de ustedes, los sacerdotes, los diáconos, religiosos y laicos de la Arquidiócesis. Por favor, en este periodo de transición, únase a mí pidiendo la intercesión de Nuestra Señora de la Misericordia. Que ella no solo busque las bendiciones de Dios para aquellos que se han entregado por completo al servicio de esta Iglesia local en el pasado, sino que también nos lleve cada vez más cerca al Corazón de su Hijo, para que podamos irradiar más perfectamente Su amor sanador en los días venideros.

OFFICIAL His Excellency, the Most Rev. John C. Nienstedt, has announced the following appointments in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. (Editor’s note: Appointments were made before Archbishop Nienstedt resigned June 15.)

Effective July 1, 2015 • Reverend James Adams, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Michael in West Saint Paul and the Church of Saint Matthew in Saint Paul. This is in addition to

his appointment as pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Saint Paul, starting July 1.

• Reverend Stephen Adrian, appointed canonical administrator of Community of Saints Regional Catholic School in West Saint Paul. Father Adrian is a retired priest of the Archdiocese.

• Reverend Albert Backmann, appointed temporary parochial administrator of the Church of Saint Therese in Deephaven. This is a transfer from his current appointment as parochial administrator of the Church of Divine Mercy in Faribault and the Church of

Saint Michael in Kenyon.

• Reverend Andrew Brinkman, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Saint Paul, the Church of Saint Michael in West Saint Paul, and the Church of Saint Matthew in Saint Paul. This is a transfer from his current appointment as parochial vicar of the Church of the Nativity of Our Lord in Saint Paul.

• Reverend Patrick Kennedy, appointed chaplain to Cretin-Derham Hall High School in Saint Paul. This is in addition to his current appointment as pastor of the Church of Saint Olaf in Minneapolis.

• Reverend Leo Schneider, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Leonard of Port Maurice in Minneapolis. This is in addition to his appointment as parochial administrator of the Church of the Holy Name in Minneapolis.

Retirements Effective July 1, 2015 • Reverend Douglas Dandurand, released from his assignment as pastor of the Church of Saint Therese in Deephaven and granted the status of a retired priest. Father Dandurand has served the Archdiocese as a priest since his arrival in 1992.

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

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Archbishop Nienstedt asks for prayers for future leaders, himself, following resignation of office Continued from page 1 prison sentence. He was dismissed from the priesthood in March 2015.

Archbishop Nienstedt, 68, was appointed coadjutor archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 2007, and installed as its archbishop in June 2008. He succeeded Archbishop Emeritus Harry Flynn, who retired in 2008. Prior to taking the helm of the archdiocese, Archbishop Nienstedt was bishop of New Ulm, Minnesota, from 2001 to 2007, and auxiliary bishop of Detroit from 1996 to 2001.

“It has been my privilege the last seven years to serve this local Church,” Archbishop Nienstedt said in a statement. “I have come to appreciate deeply the vitality of the 187 parishes that make up the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. I am grateful for the support I have received from priests, deacons, religious men and women and lay leaders, especially those who have collaborated with me in the oversight of this local Church.”

He added: “I leave with a clear conscience knowing that my team and I have put in place solid protocols to ensure protection of minors and vulnerable adults.”

Archbishop Nienstedt requested prayers for “the well-being of this archdiocese and its future leaders.”

“I also ask for your continued prayers for me,” he said.

Bishop Piché, 57, was ordained a bishop for St. Paul and Minneapolis in 2009. A former pastor of St. Joseph in West St. Paul, he oversaw Wehmeyer from 2001-2005, while the former priest was an assistant priest of the parish.

“The people of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis needed healing and hope. I was getting in the way of that, so I had to resign,” he said in a statement. “It has been a privilege to serve this local Church, and I will continue to

Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis addresses the media outside the chancery June 15 as he announces the resignations of Archbishop John Nienstedt and Bishop Lee Piché, the other auxiliary bishop for the archdiocese. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit hold everyone in the archdiocese in my prayers.”

Bishop Cozzens, ordained in December 2013, is now the only auxiliary bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The archdiocese filed in January for Reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code amid mounting claims of clergy sexual abuse. In 2013, the Minnesota Legislature lifted the civil statute of limitations on claims of child sexual abuse for a three-year period.

In February, the archdiocese announced that it would sell archdiocesan buildings, including the archbishop’s residence, as part of the Reorganization.

Upon learning the news of the bishops’ resignations, Catholics across the nation took to social media with varying reactions. On

The Catholic Spirit’s Facebook page, several commenters said they were praying for the bishops and expressed appreciation for their ministry.

In a phone interview, Mary Ann Kuharski told The Catholic Spirit she was heartsick when she heard that Archbishop Nienstedt and Bishop Piché had resigned.

Kuharski, the founder of Prolife Across America and a parishioner of St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony, is also the mother of a young priest, Father Joseph Kuharski, who was ordained in May 2014.

“As a mom with a son ordained a year ago, I was in tears,” Kuharski said. “But we are a people of joy, we are a people of hope, and we are a people of faith.

“You know, St. Paul says good comes from all things, so something good will come from

this,” she added. “This is God’s Church and he’s never let it down in 2,000 years. Our Lord said, ‘I will be with you always.’ Let’s watch for miracles now.”

“The whole thing is very sad and confusing,” said Paul Bernabei, a Twin Cities educator and parishioner of Nativity Of Our Lord in St. Paul.

“I think this is going to send us deep into what’s important,” he said. “At the heart of my belief is that Jesus took death and transformed it into life. We can make this worse by denying or by getting locked into blame or judging.”

Instead, he said, Catholics need to ask themselves how they can be “Christ’s presence in this story.”

“If we are and can be,” he said, “the Church will rise up out of the ashes and will be something beautiful.”

Following criminal charges, archdiocese restates commitment to protecting children

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit Officials of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis affirmed its commitment to protect children and pledged to continue to work with an ongoing investigation after the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office criminally charged the organization for failing to protect children. The charges, filed June 5, allege the archdiocese contributed

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

to the harm of three minors sexually abused by former priest Curtis Wehmeyer.

“We all share the goal of protecting children,” said Judge Tim O’Malley, the archdiocese’s director of ministerial standards and safe environment, speaking to the media June 5 alongside Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens outside of the archdiocese’s chancery. “To that end, the archdiocese will continue to work

with the St. Paul Police Department and the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, as well as our private and public sector partners, to accomplish that goal.”

The charges include six gross misdemeanors: three counts of contributing to the need for protection or services for a minor, and three counts of contributing to a minor’s status as a juvenile petty offender or delinquency. The charges are against the archdiocese,

not against any individual.

The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office also filed a civil petition against the archdiocese related to the same conduct as the criminal complaint. The civil petition “is intended to seek legal remedies to prevent the archdiocese from allowing this behavior to ever happen again,” said Ramsey County Attorney John Choi at a Please turn to ARCHDIOCESAN on page 26

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New apostolic administrator brings wide pastoral experience to new role

By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit The archbishop appointed by Pope Francis to oversee the governance of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis until a new ordinary is named has an impressive background, a collaborative style of leadership and “is always looking to bring people into the conversation,” a spokesman from the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, told The Catholic Spirit.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda, 55, coadjutor archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, and now apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis upon Pope Francis’ acceptance of the resignation of Archbishop John Nienstedt, is Harvardeducated and a Columbia Law School graduate who worked as an attorney for a year before entering the seminary.

A native of Pittsburgh, he studied there and in Rome before being ordained for his home diocese in 1989.

As a priest he ministered in parishes, a college and the chancery for six years before being recalled to Rome for seven years to serve on the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts.

In 2009 he was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Gaylord, which covers the top one-third of lower Michigan.

In 2013 he was named coadjutor to Archbishop John Myers in Newark, which, like the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has had to address issues of clergy sexual misconduct.

As coadjutor in the northern New Jersey archdiocese, one of the country’s 10 largest, Archbishop Hebda would automatically succeed Archbishop Myers upon his retirement or death.

As apostolic administrator of St. Paul and Minneapolis, he has the typical responsibilities of the ordinary of a diocese until a new archbishop is appointed.

In the two years Archbishop Hebda has served in New Jersey he has been “extremely active,” according to James Goodness, vice chancellor and director of communications and public relations for the Newark archdiocese.

He’s been working on the revamping of the Catholic elementary school and parish religious education programs, evangelization and development, Goodness said.

“Those of us who have worked with him over these past two years have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for him,” he added.

“Everyone in St. Paul-Minneapolis is going to find him someone who is looking out for the best interests of the people.”

Archbishop Hebda last week was elected chairman of the Committee on Canonical Affairs and Church Governance by his fellow bishops at the spring meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in St. Louis.

Coadjutor Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Newark, New Jersey, smiles Nov. 5, 2013, as he addresses the congregation at the end of his Mass of welcome at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark. Pope Francis has named Bishop Hebda apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis June 15. CNS

Archbishop Hebda eager to listen, learn as he takes charge of archdiocese

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit Archbishop Bernard Hebda is the first to admit he has a lot to learn about the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Asked what he thinks the archdiocese needs right now, he replied, “I’m not sure yet. I don’t know the situation that well,” noting that he wants to support priests and lay leaders. “I hope to help the faithful of the Twin Cities to get back to the point of being the joyful missionary disciples that Pope Francis has asked us to be.”

Pope Francis named Archbishop Hebda the archdiocese’s apostolic administrator June 15 in the wake of the resignation of Archbishop John Nienstedt, who had served as its leader since 2008.

Bishop Lee Piché, auxiliary bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, also resigned June 15. Both cited the need to step down in order for healing to begin in the archdiocese, where some leaders are facing accusations of mishandling cases of child sex abuse by clergy.

With the abrupt change in leadership, Archbishop Hebda, 55, is assuming responsibility for an archdiocese in Reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and facing criminal and civil charges alleging it failed to protect children.

Despite the challenges, Archbishop Hebda doesn’t see himself as primarily a crisis manager or legal advisor — although he has a background in civil and canon law — but as a pastor. He hopes Catholics in the archdiocese can keep the perspective of faith in the changeover.

“It’s important to remember that the Church belongs to Christ, and he certainly works through his shepherds, even though all of us have weaknesses and strengths,” he said. “The Lord is going to be with the people of the archdiocese as they go through this transition, and as they prepare for their next archbishop. It’s out of his compassion for his flock that he’s going to make sure he can find those leaders who can provide the care they need.”

He added: “I know that Catholic leaders have already been doing wonderful things to help the Church emerge from this difficult time.”

As apostolic administrator, Archbishop Hebda has governing authority over the archdiocese until Pope Francis names a new leader, a process that could take months. The Pittsburgh native and Harvard and Columbia alumnus retains his responsibilities in Newark, where he is positioned to succeed Archbishop John Meyers, 73, upon his retirement.

Speaking with The Catholic Spirit on the evening of his appointment, he was uncertain how his time would be divided between New Jersey and Minnesota, but expected to devote most his efforts to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

“The archdiocese has been suffering something difficult and shocking, and it would make sense to give [it] the bulk of time and energy at this point,” he said. “There are still a few things I would need to clear in Newark, but I’m hoping to be really present in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to be able to work with the leaders.”

Prior to June 16, when he visited St. Paul to meet with archdiocesan leadership, his experience in Minnesota was limited to the airport and a visit to the Mall of America in Bloomington, he said, but he has friends in the area who have provided a local perspective.

Many logistical aspects of his leadership, such as where he might live in the Twin Cities given that the archbishop’s residence is listed for sale, have yet to be determined, he said. However, he said he hopes to be a visible presence in the archdiocese and come to understand its needs from speaking in person with priests and lay people, his preferred way of learning.

“I do much better [communicating] one-on-one, face-to-face, heart-to-heart,” he said. When 19 months ago he was named coadjutor archbishop of Newark after serving four years as bishop of Gaylord, Michigan, he didn’t know anything about that archdiocese either, he said, but has made an effort to visit parishes and listen to priests and lay leaders.

“The experience I bring is of being a bishop who has concretely experienced the Lord working in the Church,” he said. “That includes seeing the gifts people bring, their ability to bounce back from challenges and their response to what the Lord is asking them to do.”

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

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Rural Life Sunday a time to celebrate farming’s blessings

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit

When Ray Pieper talks about creation, he illustrates a certain wonder, humility and vulnerability before it.

“How can a human being just happen?” mused Pieper, 65. “There are so many elements, how can they work together perfectly?”

He feels the same way about seeds sprouting, bird migration and flowers blooming. Farming, he said, gives him an intimate perspective.

“Creation is everywhere. God just takes care of it, some way, somehow,” he said.

Ray and his wife, Bridget, and six of their 10 adult children run Metogga Lake Dairy farm, located six miles west of Lonsdale and nine miles southeast of New Prague.

Parishioners of Most Holy Trinity in nearby Veseli, the Piepers are hosts of this year’s Rural Life Sunday June 28, sponsored by the “The biggest Archdiocese of St. Paul and responsibility a Minneapolis.

Seated at a long parent has is to wooden table in their kitchen, the Piepers prepare their described the rhythm of daily life on a dairy children for farm. Milking begins shortly after 4 a.m. and everlasting lasts until 10 a.m. Late morning and early happiness. The afternoon are for other chores: cleaning barns, farm kind of planting and harvesting crops, tending to helps us do machinery and repairs.

At 4 p.m., the Piepers that.” return to the barns for Ray Pieper, Lonsdale the evening milking, farmer and host of this finishing around 9:30 year’s Rural Life Sunday p.m. with his wife, Bridget Ray grew up on a dairy farm near Jordan, but a dairy farm of their own was Bridget’s idea, he said. She grew up in Bloomington before moving to Jordan as a Archdiocesan Rural teenager and dreamed of Life Sunday owning a dairy farm.

The couple purchased their farm shortly before June 28 at Metogga they were married at Lake Dairy, 6565 Kent Most Holy Trinity.

Ave., New Prague What started as a small operation now has • 1:30 p.m. Mass 880 Holsteins; about featuring the Veseli 400 are milked daily.

Ho-Down Choir and Their milk is trucked to Band a creamery and sold by St. Paul-based Land • Lunch of hot dogs, O’Lakes. They regularly potato salad and ice win awards for low cream to follow somatic cell counts, an indicator of quality milk • Music, kids’ games and and their cows’ good activities, seeing the health. Last year, their animals cows produced about 1.23 million gallons of • Free-will offering will milk. be accepted. Please Both Ray and Bridget bring lawn chairs. are semi-retired; their children share the

If you go

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Bridget and Ray Pieper will host the 2015 Archdiocesan Rural Life Sunday June 28 at their farm, Metogga Lake Dairy, near Lonsdale. Maria Wiering/The Catholic Spirit responsibility for most of the farm’s daily operations. All of their children — who range in age from 40 to 19 — are farmers or are studying agriculture-related fields.

Did they encourage their kids to farm?

“We didn’t discourage them, but we don’t know what we did that they all want to be involved in farming somehow,” said Bridget, 62.

“The only thing mom encouraged us was to be a priest, and she didn’t get any of us,” quipped Nick, 29, who had joined his parents at the long table with a mid-morning sandwich and tall glass of milk.

Bridget laughed. “That’s not true,” she said. “I just encouraged them to practice their Catholic faith.”

Faith and farming Rural Life Sunday has been celebrated annually in the archdiocese for more than five decades, and is designed to bring people together for prayer and to celebrate the blessings of the rural life and special culture of rural Catholics, said Dale Hennen, a member of the archdiocese’s parish services team.

“Farming . . . is an important aspect of our society because of the food that’s produced in providing food security for people,” he said, “but also providing the utilization and protection of our natural resources so that the land can continue to be fertile and produce.”

This year’s Rural Life Sunday Mass will be followed by food, music,

kids’ games and visits to the cows.

Father John Lapensky, pastor of Most Holy Trinity, said a host of volunteers with leadership from the parish council, altar society and men’s club have been key to organizing the upcoming Rural Life Sunday. He said he hopes visitors get “a sense of God’s blessings that come through rural life.”

“Farmers feed the world, and farmers work hard and are inadequately rewarded for the hard work they do,” he said. The event “gives a chance to show the life of a farm, at least a little.”

From the time between planting and harvest, Mass at Most Holy Trinity includes an annual prayer for farmers’ success, Father

Lapensky said.

“There’s a very deep faith life out here,” he said. “The people I know who farm, and the people in the community around us who don’t, all share in that. I think you have to have faith to be a farmer.

Farming involves a certain amount of gamble.”

The Church has long honored the relationship between creation and the farmer, one that’s expected to receive new emphasis with the highly anticipated June 18 release of Pope Francis’ encyclical on ecology and the environment.

For Ray, that connection between faith and farming has been expressed in raising his children well. He sees farming as a way to model responsibility, cooperation and hard work. Watching his adult children work together gives him deep satisfaction.

“The biggest responsibility a parent has is to prepare their children for everlasting happiness,” he said. “The farm kind of helps us do that.”

In the Piepers’ kitchen, a portrait of St. Therese of Lisieux hangs next to prints of Holsteins and farmrelated awards. Bridget insisted on decorating with devotionals and farm art, she said — that, and naming their kids after saints.

As Catholics, the Piepers approach their work with prayer, especially when it comes to the weather. “You depend on good crops and everything, and God is there looking down, and you pray that you get good crops,” Bridget said. “Not that you always get good crops.”

“But you survive,” Ray added.

“God takes care of it.”

7

Artist-parishioner depicts St. Thomas More with family in prayer

By Maria Becker For The Catholic Spirit St. Thomas More Church in St. Paul has commissioned a painting of its patron saint, 16thcentury martyr Sir Thomas More.

Artist Mary Klein, a parishioner of St. Thomas More for more than 20 years, was at Sunday Mass four years ago when Father Joseph Weiss announced the planned commission.

“I turned and whispered to my husband, ‘I can do that!’” Klein recalled.

Father Weiss, a Jesuit, said the parish was going to hire a company to paint their patron, but he changed his mind when he saw Klein’s work, calling it “astounding.”

Using oil paint on canvas, Klein began work on the piece in July 2014. She hopes to finish the painting before Father Weiss leaves for a new parish assignment next summer.

For the project, Klein chose to depict St. Thomas More’s family gathered in prayer. It is based on a

painting completed circa 1527 by Hans Holbein the Younger, a German artist. Fire destroyed the original, but the sketch survived and served as the basis for a 16thcentury reproduction by Rowland Lockey, an English painter. Both are the foundation for Klein’s version, which she works on in the church basement.

Selecting a scene of St. Thomas More’s family rather than his portrait highlights Christian family life.

“I think the painting will help people appreciate who St. Thomas More is,” Father Weiss said.

Because prayer was a central aspect of St. Thomas More’s household, Klein said she aims to make the More family appear as if its members are taking time to pray together in the midst of a chaotic day — hence the inclusion of 10 people, two dogs, a monkey, books and typical household items. Two figures in the background are a teacher and a student.

The teacher is modeled on Father Weiss, who oversaw the 2008 merger of St. Luke and Immaculate Heart of Mary — both on Summit Avenue and then already sharing a pre-kindergarten to eighth-grade

Local

Painting expected to deepen parish’s appreciation for patron

Artist Mary Klein, a parishioner of St. Thomas More in St. Paul, works on a painting of the parish’s patron that will be displayed in the lunette above the church’s shrine of the 16th-century martyr. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit school — into St. Thomas More. The project comes on the heels of the parish’s 125th anniversary, tied to St. Luke’s 1888 founding.

Klein, who teaches at the Art Academy in St. Paul and Holy Family Academy in St. Louis Park, intends to dedicate the summer to the lunette project, the first she has done for a church. Measuring 10 feet wide by 6 feet tall, it is also her largest. Donors are funding its $20,000 cost, Father Weiss said.

When finished, the painting will be installed at the top of an arched niche framing a statue of St. Thomas More on a side aisle in the church.

Who was St. Thomas More?

An advisor to King Henry VIII of England, Thomas More served as Lord Chancellor from 1529-1532. He resigned after the king severed ties with the Roman Catholic Church in order to divorce the queen and remarry. After Thomas More refused to sign an oath of allegiance to the king as the head of the Church of England, he was beheaded in 1535.The patron of lawyers, St. Thomas More’s feast day is June 22 and shared with St. John Fisher, a fellow martyr under King Henry VIII. He is the patron of the Fortnight for Freedom, the U.S. bishops’ initiative promoting education, prayer and activism for religious liberty June 21-July 4.

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Local

8

Pine Island parish to host summer camp for girls

By Jessica Trygstad The Catholic Spirit

Saints are coming to camp at St. Michael in Pine Island this summer.

The Little Flowers Girls’ Camp Retreat, slated for July 10-12 at the southern-most parish in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, is one of three national camps hosted as part of the Little Flowers Girls’ Clubs. In the clubs, girls ages 5-11 meet regularly throughout the year to learn about virtues through Scripture, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and saints’ biographies.

The camps serve as a continuation of fostering faith and relationships for the motherdaughter groups, and help them meet other members from across the country.

Joan Stromberg of the Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky, and one of the national organizers, said girls don’t have to be part of a group to attend any of the camps, which also will be held in Indiana and Pennsylvania, and participants will have the option of indoor or outdoor sleeping arrangements.

With the theme, “Mary’s Garden Party,” the three-day event will include earning patron-saint badges, praying the rosary around a campfire, adoration and, of course, camp Little Flowers Girls’ staples — skits, songs and Summer Camp s’mores.

Mary’s Garden Party Carol Nelson, a parishioner of For Catholic girls ages St. Michael, 5 and older, and their wanted her mothers 9-year-old daughter, Annabelle, to be July 10 -12 involved in a at St. Michael Church, group like Girl 451 Fifth St. SW, Pine Island Scouts.

When she • Check-in begins 3 p.m. July 10, learned of the Little Flowers camp ends following 10:30 a.m.

Girls’ Club at Mass July 12 St. Agnes in • $50 per person (all inclusive) St. Paul, she • For more information and to decided to start register: visit Beholdpublications. one with a com/SummerCamps, or contact woman from a joan@beholdpublications.com or nearby town.

(866) 305-8362 What she likes about the Little Flowers Girls’ Club is that it’s not about earning more and more badges. Rather, “it teaches girls virtues that are important to them that are valuable into adulthood: hope, love and love of God,” said Nelson, who will attend the camp with her daughter for the first time.

Since each virtue is attached to a saint, it gives the girls an

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Event aims to help widows of all ages and stages

By Jessica Trygstad The Catholic Spirit

Members of the Little Flowers Girls’ Club of St. Michael parish in Pine Island stand in front of the shrine of St. Therese of Lisieux at the Cathedral of St. Paul. Jim Bovin/For The Catholic Spirit opportunity to put into practice what they learn.

“I feel like I can learn how to be a saint,” Annabelle said.

The club at St. Michael is in its third year and has 10 girls.

Stromberg said there are 11 registered clubs around the Twin Cities area.

In addition to meetings where the girls and their mothers learn more about their faith, the group participates in a variety of events and is involved in parish life. It hosts a St. Joseph’s altar during Lent, mother-daughter teas, a May crowning, and visits to shrines and religious communities.

Nelson said the group appreciates how St. Michael’s pastor, Father Randal Kasel, is involved in almost everything it does.

“It’s really important that a pastor is a spiritual director of the group,” she said, adding that St. Therese of Lisieux, aka the “Little Flower,” is the group’s patroness and that they emphasize prayer.

For their monthly meetings, the group receives materials from Louisville-based Behold Publications, which Stromberg operates. Both Stromberg and Nelson said the resources are inexpensive and flexible so that groups can tailor activities to their own needs.

“I cannot say enough good about this group — how much it’s good for the girls and good for the moms to be able to get together . . . to foster a love of God, love of Mary and love of each other,” Nelson said.

Registration for the camp at a lower rate ends June 30, but people can register as late as July 5.

Children younger than 10 must have an adult registrant with them.

Isolation, loss of purpose and self-pity are feelings Cheryl Broich experienced after the death of her husband, Deacon Richard Broich, who had served in hospital ministry in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Broich, a parishioner of Our Lady of Grace in Edina, was 60 years old when her husband died in 2009 and said every part of her life changed — from sleeping to eating to finances.

She found the most dramatic difficulty was the least tangible.

“You lose your dreams,” she said. “Your hopes and dreams kind of drive you through life, and then they’re all gone. I had never been like that. I had always had lots of ambitions. Then all of a sudden . . . if I want to take a trip someplace, I don’t have anyone to go with me.”

When she became a widow, all of her friends were still working and traveling with their families.

“It wasn’t easy to find widows my age,” Broich said. “They were out there, I just didn’t know where.”

Sundays were especially difficult, as she attended Mass and usually spent the rest of the day alone.

That’s when God moved her to reach out to widows, she said.

What started as a fellowship group for widows at her parish has turned into an annual day of Widows’ Day of Reflection reflection that the archdiocese 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. June 27 sponsors. It’s an opportunity for Our Lady of Grace, widows of all ages to come together 5071 Eden Ave., Edina for encouragement, whether one has been a widow for a few months Featured speaker: Father or decades.

Francis Hoffman, aka Father “It’s not to sit around and cry. It’s Rocky, executive director of to say, ‘Here we are,’ ” Broich said.

Relevant Radio “These are women of value. For our Event includes: Mass, coffee archdiocese, they’re a treasure of and donuts, presentation, lunch the Church.” and a testimonial That message is one Father Francis Hoffman, aka Father Rocky, Pre-registration is required. executive director of Relevant For more information, contact Radio, plans to deliver at the fifth Our Lady of Grace parish office annual Widows’ Day of Reflection. at (952) 929-3317 or The event is from 8:30 a.m. to 1 abigailsaffert@olgparish.org p.m. June 27 at Our Lady of Grace in Edina.

“A lot of people have come and just been so comforted by all the widows there,” Broich said, adding that one year, each attendee made a list of what helps her the most, and then event organizers compiled the lists and shared them. “It’s like they’re not alone. There’s a young mother from Fargo who comes every year. There are a variety of ways they minister to each other just by talking.”

Broich likens the event to an annual booster shot that reminds the women they’re valuable, which is important because many widows don’t feel like they’re making a difference, she said. This is where she thinks the Church can be intentional in asking widows to share their gifts.

Broich acknowledged that widowers need support, too, but she believes the groups function better and with greater authenticity when women and men have separate groups. She encourages people to contact her about starting a group in their parishes at (952) 831-2656.

“All you need is a coffee pot,” she said.

The widows group at Our Lady of Grace meets once a month, and there’s a personal invitation for new widows to join. Members of the group often will attend parish events and Mass together, helping them feel more a part of the parish community.

“The beautiful thing that’s happened is now we know who one another is,” Broich said.

To help parishioners whose spouse has died, Broich shares this advice: “Say hello to people you see coming alone to church. It’s important for those people to be acknowledged.”

If you go

9

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA In re: The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Case No. 15-30125 YOU MAY HAVE A CLAIM AGAINST THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SAINT PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS On January 16, 2015, The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis filed for protection under Chapter 11 of Title 11 of the United States Code.

The last day to file a SEXUAL ABUSE CLAIM, GENERAL CLAIM, or GOVERNMENT CLAIM against the Debtor is August 3, 2015.

• If you were sexually abused by any person connected with the debtor, then you must file a claim by August 3, 2015. Sexual abuse, as used in this notice, includes molestation, rape, undue familiarity, sexually-related physical, psychological or emotional harm, or contacts or interactions of a sexual nature between a child and an adult, or a non-consenting adult and another adult.

• If you are a person, entity, or Governmental Unit (as defined by Bankruptcy Code § 101(27)), and claim any right to payment or to an equitable remedy for breach of performance if such breach gives rise to a right to payment, then you must file a claim by August 3, 2015.

YOU MUST ACT NOW TO PRESERVE YOUR RIGHTS For more information on how to obtain and file a proof of claim and associated documents please: (a) visit the debtor’s website at http://information. archspm.org/; (b) visit the website of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota at http://www.mnb.uscourts.gov; (c) call the Debtor’s toll-free hotline at 866-868-4808; or (d) call the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors appointed in this case at 612-335-1407.

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

U.S. & World

10

Archbishop: Church must take action to help end racism, promote justice Catholic News Service The U.S. bishops join with other religious leaders and civic leaders “in pledging to work for healing and reconciliation” after a series of racial conflicts “that have taken place around our beloved country,” said Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky.

The archbishop, who is the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, made the comments June 10 as he opened the bishops’ spring general assembly in St. Louis with a statement on race relations.

In the statement, approved by the bishops, he highlighted that the spring meeting was taking place close to Ferguson and that the bishops’ November general assembly will be in Baltimore — two places roiled in past months by protests, violence in the streets and looting following the deaths of two young African-Americans after confrontations with white police officers.

Archbishop Kurtz said efforts to address current racial tensions “must address root causes of the conflicts.”

Demonstrators march to City Hall to protest the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore April 25. CNS He suggested concrete ways the Catholic community can work to end racism and promote justice for all people, including making “a sincere effort” to encounter people of different racial backgrounds and being “truly welcoming” in parishes and neighborhoods of families of different racial and religious backgrounds. People also should get to know their community’s law enforcement officers, he said.

A grateful Cretin-Derham Hall community thanks

President Richard Engler on 25-years of faithful service to our school.

Congratulations and best wishes in retirement!

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

He noted that in the Archdiocese of St. Louis in 1947, Cardinal Joseph Ritter integrated Catholic schools, well before a unanimous Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 that state segregation of black schoolchildren was unconstitutional.

Cardinal Ritter’s action “shows the Catholic Church can be at the forefront of promoting justice in racial tensions. It is time for us to do

it again,” Archbishop Kurtz said.

“We mourn those tragic events in which African-Americans and others have lost their lives in altercations with law enforcement officials,” Archbishop Kurtz said. “These deaths have led to peaceful demonstrations, as well as violent conflicts in the streets of our cities.

In every instance, our prayer for every community is that of our Lord in St. John’s Gospel, ‘That they all may be one.’”

Last August, the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who was black, by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, who is white, gave rise to weeks of protests, violence in the streets, and looting and vandalism of Ferguson businesses.

A grand jury decided not to indict Wilson.

West Baltimore was rocked by hours of rioting April 27-28 in response to the case of Freddie Gray.

He died a week after he was seriously injured while in police custody. A grand jury indicted six police officers on a variety of charges; one officer was charged with several counts, including second-degree depraved-heart murder.

Quebec Archdiocese reshapes itself as Mass attendance falls Catholic News Service With the decision to close one of its largest and most important churches, the Archdiocese of Quebec is sending a clear message: The future of even the most majestic churches cannot be guaranteed.

On May 24, one last Mass was celebrated in renowned St. John the Baptist Church. Dedicated to the patron saint of French Canadians, the church stands among the high-profile churches of both the archdiocese and Quebec province. Built in the 1880s, it is recognized as a major heritage church.

Its seating capacity of 2,400 compares to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York.

But such a marvel comes with a steep price: It needs renovations estimated at $10 million, a gargantuan amount for a parish that has been accumulating deficits for years. The Catholic Church of Quebec simply doesn’t have that kind of money. Not anymore.

Over the past decade, the dioceses of the Quebec province had to close churches in response to the new secularized reality: less faithful, less money, yet too many churches. But still, some of the buildings were considered “untouchable.” With the closing of St. John the Baptist, parishioners realize change is afoot.

“It’s sad, obviously,” said Quebec Auxiliary Bishop Gaetan Proulx. “It’s the signal that we’re moving towards something else, with smaller communities. The model for our Church

Despite being a heritage site, St. John the Baptist Church in Quebec City is being closed because of dwindling membership and the need for massive repairs. CNS is changing.”

Bishop Proulx compared St. John the Baptist to a lighthouse because its high steeple can be seen from all around the city. “It was the symbol that the Catholic faith is well established here,” he said.

“But it also symbolizes a legacy.

Churches are to the province of Quebec what castles are to France.”

11

Catholic News Service

A newly married couple hold hands as they arrive for Pope Francis’ general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican May 27. CNS

Nation’s bishops meet, hear report on Church’s efforts to defend marriage

By Jennifer Brinker Catholic News Service As the institution of marriage faces unprecedented challenges, the Catholic Church continues to promote and defend marriage as being between one man and one woman, said Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco.

As chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, Archbishop Cordileone gave bishops at their spring general assembly in St. Louis an update on the U.S. Supreme Court’s impending decision whether same-sex marriage should be made legal nationwide, as well as related public policy and the Church’s catechetical efforts.

The Supreme Court is considering two issues: whether the Constitution should require a state to license a civil marriage between two people of the same sex and whether it requires a state to recognize a same-sex marriage when it was lawfully licensed and performed in another state.

The court is expected to make a decision by the end of its session in late June.

“Nothing the court says can change what marriage truly is, and we will continue to promote and defend it,” said Archbishop Cordileone, who received sustained applause from his brother bishops at the end of his talk.

“We may have to suffer this lie about marriage in the law, but we must not participate in it or keep silent about it.

“The importance of responding to this challenge with truth and compassion remains paramount,” he later added.

Currently, 36 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territory of Guam recognize same-sex marriage.

The status of same-sex marriage in a 37th state, Alabama, remains unclear because of conflicting state and federal rulings.

Those who advocate for the Catholic Church’s support of traditional marriage will be increasingly marginalized under the law and within society, Archbishop Cordileone said.

Depending on the rationale, they would be viewed as proponents of discrimination and targeted with discrimination themselves.

Pope Francis has approved new procedures for the Vatican to investigate and judge claims of “abuse of office” by bishops who allegedly failed to protect minors and vulnerable adults from sex abuse.

The procedures will include a new “judicial section” within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that has a papal mandate to “judge bishops with regard to crimes of the abuse of office when connected to the abuse of minors,” the Vatican said in a written statement June 10.

The announcement came at the end of a series of consultations the pope had with his international Council of Cardinals, which met at the Vatican June 8-10.

U.S. Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, a member of the so-called C9 group of cardinal advisers and president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, presented to the council and the pope a number of proposals for greater accountability of bishops in dealing with cases of clerical sexual abuse.

Originally prepared by the protection commission, the proposals were later expanded and given unanimous approval

by the Council of Cardinals and the pope June 8, the Vatican said.

While the Code of Canon Law already stipulates that bishops hold certain responsibilities, there had been no permanent system or trained staff to deal with reporting, evaluating and judging claims that a bishop had failed to fulfill his responsibilities linked to handling suspected and known cases of sex abuse, said a source familiar with the discussion.

Previously, the Congregation for Bishops would send out a different ad hoc group to investigate each case, the source added.

Now a specific “procedure is defined for how to deal with these cases,” which also will allow for an investigation and judicial process to be carried out in a more timely manner, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters.

The new process also means people who want to make a claim — and anyone can do so — will know more clearly whom to go to if a serious crime of negligence is suspected, the source told Catholic News Service.

Cardinal O’Malley gave the council and Pope Francis a full report about the proposed procedures, but the Vatican released only a list of the “five specific proposals made to the

Holy Father,” which subsequently received his full approval and can be considered to have gone into effect.

The Vatican statement said the three Curia offices that have oversight of the world’s bishops — the congregations for Bishops, for the Evangelization of Peoples and for Eastern Churches — were now authorized “to receive and investigate complaints of the episcopal abuse of office.”

“There is the duty to report all complaints to the appropriate congregation,” it said.

The pope mandated the doctrinal congregation be in charge of judicial procedures regarding charges of “abuse of office” and that it establish a special section with the proper staff and resources to carry out its work.

The pope was to appoint a secretary of the new judicial section and to authorize the appointment of the personnel needed for “penal processes regarding the abuse of minors and vulnerable adults by clergy.”

The pope still would have to approve the removal of a bishop from office if he was found by the tribunal to have been negligent in his duties, Father Lombardi said.

The new procedures will be reviewed in five years and may be amended, the statement said.

U.S. & World

Pope OKs plan to investigate, judge bishops who fail to act on abuse

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Give a GOOD Catholic boss a thumbs UP!

Tell us about a really good Catholic business owner, manager, supervisor, boss, and we’ll tell everybody else.

Every year for the past 13 years, The Catholic Spirit has honored people in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for bringing their faith to the marketplace.

More than 100 business leaders — owners, executives and managers — have received The Catholic Spirit’s Leading With Faith Award.

Tell US who’s next!

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Nominating is easy.

Go to: thecatholicspirit.com/LeadingWithFaith Contact Mary Gibbs with questions, 651.251.7709 or gibbsm@archspm.org DO IT NOW: DEADLINE extended to June 26, 2015 The Leading With Faith Awards luncheon is AUGUST 13, 2015 at St. Catherine University

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13

At 75, Immaculate Conception School still at Columbia Heights’ heart

By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit When the eighth-graders at Immaculate Conception School received their diplomas June 2, it was the 75th time commencement exercises had been held at what I.C. principal Jane Bona calls “a beacon” of Columbia Heights.

Over that three-quarters of a century, Immaculate Conception has educated some 6,397 young people and served as a vital part of the first-ring Minneapolis suburb, she said.

“Immaculate Conception is a focal point in the center of Columbia Heights,” Bona said. “It’s a beacon and an essential place for the community. You never drive by without seeing cars in the parking lot.”

I.C.’s values of faith, academics and service make the school a “community builder,” Bona added.

Immaculate Conception School has been celebrating its 75th anniversary throughout the school year. There was a breakfast for alumni in October, and at least 500 toured the school and relived grade school memories at the all-class reunion in March. For 55 of those 75 years, the school was served by the Sisters of St. Francis from Sylvania, Ohio.

teacher, Debbie Blake, is still at Immaculate Conception, teaching kindergarten and computer class.

During the growth years of Columbia Heights, Immaculate Conception School’s enrollment peaked at 1,223. In 1966 the graduating class numbered 120. In 2015, I.C. graduated only six.

As the suburban community’s demographics changed, the school was down to only 73 pupils in 2011.

There are many elderly in the parish pews, Bona said, and the population of Columbia Heights is far more diverse than it had been in the past.

But there’s been a turnaround.

Moving forward again Enrollment at the K-8 school was 137 this past term, with an increase of better than 10 percent.

“We’ve made a lot of progress,” principal Bona said, “and that says a lot about who we are as a community.”

The student body is fairly evenly split with one-third African, onethird Latino and one-third Caucasian.

“What’s exciting for me is that most are the children of immigrants,” Bona said, adding that African immigrants in particular seek a Catholic school education for their children.

“They want the experience they had from their homeland in Africa, where they attended Catholic schools. That tradition we have in the U.S. is an international tradition,” Bona said.

I.C. implemented the blended learning model throughout its curriculum in 2014. The

partnership with the Alliance for Catholic Education at the University of Notre Dame has meant an increase in technology use in the classrooms and a great boost for teachers’ professional development, she said.

Immaculate Conception School

A new mural inside Immaculate Conception School in Columbia Heights depicts the sacramental life of a student and the parish history. The school commissioned the mural by artist Carole Bersin in honor of its 75th anniversary. Photo by John P. Ashmore

“I think what all this is saying is that 1940: First graduating class of Immaculate we are a strong Conception School, Columbia Heights and sustainable Courtesy Immaculate Conception School school,” Bona added, “and we’re 75 years old, too.”

Congratulations to Immaculate Conception School, Columbia Heights, on its 75 year anniversary!

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Satisfied with the results Jami Bridgeman sees the impact that an Immaculate Conception School education has had on her three children.

“Nine years here prepared them for high school with good study habits,” said Bridgeman, a longtime volunteer who now handles special projects for the parish and school.

“They’ve grown into such cool people. The faith-based tradition was important, and they have a sense of always doing their best.”

Although the Bridgemans lived closer to another Catholic school, they’d heard good things about I.C. from a neighbor who was best friends of an I.C. teacher.

Although the Bridgeman children are now in their 20s, that

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June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Consecrated Life

14

‘For the Holy Church’

At St. Mark, men’s and women’s religious communities focus on family

S

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit

ix years ago, a priest and two brothers from a religious community based in Peru arrived at St. Mark in St. Paul, determined to grow dedication to the Sacred Heart and evangelize youth and families. Three years later, in 2012, two professed sisters joined them, opening the community’s first convent of sisters outside Peru.

Today, its St. Paul members include two priests, one “They have so much transitional deacon, two joy living for the Lord brothers, three professed and promoting this sisters and two postulant sisters. ideal of holiness and They oversee St. Mark’s parish reminding all of us that and school, we are called to be holy, outreach at the nearby University and we are called for of St. Thomas and youth more.” ministry at Our Lady of Grace in Sister Eileen Leon Edina. Called Pro Ecclesia Sancta — “For the Holy Church” — the community is transforming a pocket of the Twin Cities, drawing college-age men and women to the priesthood and consecrated life and attracting lay members from around the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

“What is happening is people are starting to see the neighborhood, because of the parish and the school, to be a place for them to buy a house and raise their families,” said Father Humberto Palomino, St. Mark’s pastor and local Pro Ecclesia Sancta superior.

“There is growth and also trust in the school and in the parish.”

Recent founding Pro Ecclesia Sancta was founded in Lima, Peru, in 1992 by Jesuit Father Pablo Menor. It is recognized by the Church as an “ecclesial family” in which male and female branches follow the same way of life.

Along with its motherhouse in Lima, Pro Ecclesia Sancta has communities in other parts of Peru, Ecuador, Spain, Minnesota and

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

California and approximately 30 priests, 70 religious brothers and 70 religious sisters.

Most of the brothers go on to study for the priesthood.

Father Menor promoted a vocation to holiness and perfection for Catholics in all states in life with the goals of renewing, expanding and strengthening the Church to glorify the Trinity through the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Members dedicate themselves to the Sacred Heart, a centuries-old devotion that the Church particularly emphasizes in June.

Pro Ecclesia Sancta members attribute their establishment in the Twin Cities to providence. During a visit to Minnesota, a Pro Ecclesia Sancta priest met Archbishop John Nienstedt, who later invited the community to expand its apostolate at St. Mark. In August 2009, Father Palomino, then-Brother Alvaro Perez (who was ordained to the priesthood in May) and Brother Adam Tokashiki (now a transitional deacon) arrived at the parish.

“We’re called to bring life back to the Church through constant renewal and expansion,” said Deacon Tokashiki. The spirituality of the Sacred Heart — to love, repair and save souls — places emphasis on eucharistic adoration, the sacraments and consecrating families to the Sacred Heart.

All Pro Ecclesia Sancta members strive to embrace their community’s charism to live and promote holiness in the Church by following its spirituality, said Sister Emy Ychikawa, its local superior. “Our founder envisioned the vocations together, so [with] priests, sisters, brothers but also lay families.

We’re all able to share this vocation to holiness.”

The foundation for Pro Ecclesia Sancta’s spirituality are seven points that constitute its program for life. They include practices such as daily prayer, self denial, frequent reception of the Eucharist, devotion to Mary, daily examination of conscience, spiritual guidance and frequent confession, study of the faith with emphasis on the Gospel, and annual retreats.

Shared mission The sisters, priests and brothers work in concert; the consecrated religious ensure the priests can focus on providing the sacraments, Sister Emy said.

“Because we are a family we work together,” added Sister Eileen Leon. “There

are things the sisters can do but the priests can’t. We are all able to combine our qualities to better serve the Church.”

When it comes to its work with youth and family, 80 percent of Pro Ecclesia Sancta’s efforts are in formation, Father Palomino said. Its members organize family First Fridays, Bible studies, retreats, spiritual direction, and seminars on Catholic social tradition and history. St. Mark’s parish motto is “A Strong Family United in Christ.”

Pro Ecclesia Sancta’s first aim is to instill in Catholics a desire for holiness and challenge them to go beyond their comfort zone in their faith, Sister Emy said.

For her, that means “that they’re not just meant to be comfortable with being good Catholics, going to Sunday Mass or learning the catechism, [and] sending the kids to Catholic school, but letting them know that they are called to really be a saint.”

As a result, St. Mark is growing. More than 130 of its 867 parishioners joined last year, Father Humberto said. He attributes the growth spurt, in part, to a reverent liturgy, noting that Catholics come from other parishes for formation activities.

Sister Eileen first encountered Pro Ecclesia Sancta as a 16-year-old in Peru and was attracted to the community’s attitude and invitation to live the ideals of the faith.

“They have so much joy living for the Lord and promoting this ideal of holiness

and reminding all o to be holy, and we a said.

Two Minnesota m Pro Ecclesia Sancta n this summer two M go there to enter th this fall, several mor live at St. Mark with communities to con vocation to priestho

Sister Laura Holup the St. Mark parish postulant year. “It w PES was assigned he life,” she said. “It’s e other people come c the order and now t family.”

Lay Catholics hav Advance, Pro Eccles movement. There a Advance members i Starr, a St. Mark par two years ago to gro She follows Pro Eccl practices and receiv in a women’s group member, “I was pray with him [Jesus],” sh walking with him ra the pew.”

15

Photos by Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

3

2

1

of us that we are called are called for more,” she

men are finishing the novitiate in Peru, and Minnesota women will he novitiate. Beginning ore Americans plan to h its men’s and women’s ntinue discerning their ood and religious life.

pchinski grew up in and is finishing her was a great blessing when ere, and it changed my exciting to see so many closer to God through to be a part of the

ve joined Catholic sia Sancta’s lay are about 60 Catholic in the archdiocese. Cindy rishioner, joined about ow closer to the Lord. lesia Sancta’s spiritual ves spiritual formation p. Before becoming a ying more at him than he said. “Now I’m ather than just sitting on

5

4 1 2 3 4 5

Pro Ecclesia Sancta Brother Cesar Valencia prays during eucharistic adoration in the chapel at St. Mark in St. Paul June 3. Members of the community worked with eighth-graders at St. Mark School on a daylong retreat that featured games, talks and adoration.

Brother Cesar, left, and Sister Kathya Salas oversee eighth-graders making drawings during the retreat.

Father Alvaro Perez helps eighth-graders Bennett Theisen, center, and Roderick MacDonald play a game.

Sister Kathya, right, and Sister Emy Ychikawa offer some encouragement and a helping hand to eighth-grader Claire Little during a game.

Sister Emy prays during eucharistic adoration.

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Analysis

16

Climate encyclical expected to send strong moral message to the world

By Barbara J. Fraser Catholic News Service

Connection to the poor

Adding ‘moral dimension’ “What the pope brings to this debate is the moral dimension,” said Anthony Annett, climate change and sustainable development adviser to the Earth Institute at Columbia University and to the nonprofit Religions for Peace. “His unique way of looking at the problem, which is deeply rooted in Catholic social teaching, resonates with people all across the world.”

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

The Catholic Spirit The name for Pope Francis’ encyclical, “Laudato Si’” means “praised be” in medieval Latin and is taken from an introductory phrase repeated in St. Francis of Assisi’s famous prayer, “The Canticle of the Creatures.”

St. John Paul II referenced the canticle in his 1979 proclamation of St. Francis as patron of those who promote ecology.

“Among the holy and admirable men who have revered nature as a wonderful gift of God to the human race, St. Francis of Assisi deserves special consideration,” he said. “For he, in a special way, deeply sensed the universal works of the Creator and, filled with a certain divine spirit, sang that very beautiful ‘Canticle of the Creatures.’ Through them, Brother Sun most powerful and Sister Moon and the stars of heaven, he offered fitting praise, glory, honor and all blessing to the most high, all-powerful, good Lord.”

The 13th-century hymn’s text, from a translation used by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, is as follows:

Pope Francis’ upcoming encyclical on ecology and climate is expected to send a strong moral message — one message that could make some readers uncomfortable, some observers say.

“The encyclical will address the issue of inequality in the distribution of resources and topics such as the wasting of food and the irresponsible exploitation of nature and the consequences for people’s life and health,” Archbishop Pedro Barreto Jimeno of Huancayo, Peru, told Catholic News Service.

“Pope Francis has repeatedly stated that the environment is not only an economic or political issue, but is an anthropological and ethical matter,” he said. “How can you have wealth if it comes at the expense of the suffering and death of other people and the deterioration of the environment?”

The encyclical, to be published June 18, is titled “Laudato Si: On the Care of Our Common Home,” which translates “praised be,” the first words of St. Francis’ “Canticle of the Creatures.”

Although Archbishop Barreto was not involved in the drafting of the encyclical, he worked closely with then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio in 2007 on a document by the Latin American bishops’ council that included an unprecedented section on the environment.

The encyclical is not expected to be a theological treatise or a technical document about environmental issues, but a pastoral call to change the way people use the planet’s resources so they are sufficient not only for current needs, but also for future generations, observers said.

The document “will emphasize that the option for stewardship of the environment goes hand in hand with the option for the poor,” said Carmelite Father Eduardo Agosta Scarel, a climate scientist who teaches at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina and the National University of La Plata in Buenos Aires.

“I think the pope wants us to What is an encyclical? become aware of this,” said Father Agosta, who was Meaning “circular letter,” an involved in preparatory encyclical is a pastoral consultations about the document written by or with encyclical. “He is aiming at a the authority of the pope on change of heart. What will save us is not technology or science. moral, doctrinal or What will save us is the ethical disciplinary issues. transformation of our society.”

Encyclicals can be directed to The pontiff probably clergy in a certain region, but foreshadowed the encyclical during his first public Mass as in modern use they typically pope on March 19, 2013, Father are addressed to the Agosta said. In his homily, he universal Church or, said, “Let us be ‘protectors’ of creation, protectors of God’s beginning with St. John XXIII, plan inscribed in nature, “people of goodwill.” protectors of one another and of the environment.”

Although the document will be published in the wake of a seminar on climate change April 28 at the Vatican, it will not be limited to that issue and will probably focus on the relationship between people and their environment, Archbishop Barreto said.

Encyclical name inspired by St. Francis’ prayer

Pope Francis holds a dove before his weekly audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican May 15, 2013. His first encyclical, “Laudato Si,” focuses on caring for creation. CNS Annett called the timing of the encyclical “extremely significant.”

A month after it is published, global representatives will meet at a conference on financing for development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

In September, the pope will address the United Nations at a session that is likely to see the approval of a new set of global development objectives, the Sustainable Development Goals, which include environmental criteria.

And in December, negotiators and world leaders will converge on Paris to finish hammering out a treaty aimed at reducing the emission of greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.

Some politicians have already questioned the pope’s credentials for wading into the issue of climate change, but that is only one of several environmental problems the pope is likely to address, said David Kane, a Maryknoll lay missioner in Joao Pessoa, Brazil, who works with Maryknoll’s Faith-Economics-Ecology Program.

The pope has spoken out in the past on the “throwaway culture, both of material goods that we buy and use for a few months and then throw out, and also throwaway people,” he said.

Kane hopes the encyclical will help people understand that overusing resources, from forests to fish to water, results in scarcity that can both increase and be exacerbated by climate change. He expects Pope Francis will remind people of the responsibility of caring for God’s creation.

“Whether you think climate change is a problem or not, you cannot deny that running out of fish, oil, water and other resources is a really big problem. The solution is a radical change in our concept of what makes a person happy. We need to move away from the idea that the more things we have, the happier we’ll be,” Kane said.

O most High, almighty, good Lord God, to you belong praise, glory, honor, and all blessing!

Praised be my Lord God with all creatures, and especially our brother the sun, which brings us the day and the light; fair is he, and shining with a very great splendor: O Lord, he signifies you to us!

Praised be my Lord for our sister the moon, and for the stars, which God has set clear and lovely in heaven.

Praised be my Lord for our brother the wind, and for air and cloud, calms and all weather, by which you uphold in life all creatures.

Praised be my Lord for our sister water, which is very serviceable to us, and humble, and precious, and clean.

Praised be my Lord for brother fire, through which you give us light in the darkness; and he is bright, and pleasant, and very mighty, and strong.

Praised be my Lord for our mother the Earth, which sustains us and keeps us, and yields diverse fruits, and flowers of many colors, and grass.

Praised be my Lord for all those who pardon one another for God’s love’s sake, and who endure weakness and tribulation; blessed are they who peaceably shall endure, for you, O most High, shall give them a crown!

Praised be my Lord for our sister, the death of the body, from which no one escapes. Woe to him who died in mortal sin!

Blessed are they who are found walking by your most holy will, for the second death shall have no power to do them harm.

Praise you, and bless you the Lord and give thanks to God, and serve God with great humility.

17

John ALLEN

Editor’s Note: John L. Allen Jr., a wellrespected Vatican journalist, spoke at the University of St. Thomas June 3 on the opening evening of a three-day conference on ecology.

At the beginning of his presentation, Allen joked about being invited to comment on an event that had yet to happen — the June 18 release of the papal encyclical “Laudato Si: On the Care of Our Common Home.” Instead of analyzing what he expected to be in what he

By John L. Allen Jr. Crux/The Boston Globe On Wednesday I was at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, to talk about Pope Francis’ feverishly anticipated encyclical letter on the environment. In effect, I was asked to deliver some predictions about what to expect.

As I said that night, the great thing about predicting the future is that in the moment you do it, you can’t possibly be wrong. Futurology is like what Bob Dole once said of the vice presidency: It’s a great gig, because it’s indoor work and there’s no heavy lifting.

The anticipation is nonetheless understandable. As veteran Catholic writer Russell Shaw recently observed, probably no papal document in recent history has been subjected to such intense dissection and reaction before it appears. In some ways the release, now officially set for June 18, may feel almost anti-climactic.

Rather than another set of forecasts about the encyclical’s content, here I’ll offer four predictions about how it’s likely to be spun and miscast in the early round of insta-analysis.

described as “the most anticipated, commented upon, digested, dissected papal document in recent memory before its release,” he shared four ways he expected media to spin its message.

The conference, “Human and Natural Ecology: Economic, Political and Cultural Implications,” brought together scientists, theologians, nongovernmental organization officials and Church leaders to the St. Paul

theology. The chief concern will be the common good, asking how someone of conscience should behave both toward others and toward the environment.

As a result, it’s probably inaccurate even to describe this as an encyclical “on the environment,” and certainly not as the pope’s “climate change encyclical.”

It will be a theological meditation taking its point of departure from biblical teaching on God’s creation, in which climate change is an important, but secondary, extrapolation. The pope’s intended audience won’t be political gatherings, at least in the first place, but individual people, among other things calling for simpler and more sustainable lifestyle choices.

The ambition of the document, in other words, won’t be to change the political landscape, but rather individual hearts. The underlying conviction will be that if you re-orient lives and attitudes, the politics will take care of itself.

Spin No. 2: The encyclical is a dramatic break with Catholic tradition

2 1

Spin No. 1: The encyclical is a political manifesto

Headlines on Day One are likely to read, “Pope backs strong limits on greenhouse gas emissions.” The impression will be that Francis has issued a political manifesto aligning himself with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, if not Greenpeace.

That take won’t be entirely wrong.

Francis is indeed likely to accept the scientific consensus that global warming and climate change are real, and that human activity is the main cause. He’ll almost certainly call on nations to take strong action to address it.

He already said as much to reporters aboard the papal plane from Sri Lanka to the Philippines last January, asserting that it’s “mostly” human beings who have “slapped nature around.” He said he wanted the encyclical to come out this summer so it could influence a U.N. summit in Paris later this year, calling for “more courageous” choices.

No doubt there will also be a strong emphasis on poverty, including the argument that the world’s poor often bear the most severe consequences of climatic disruption. That, too, is a point with a political edge.

Nonetheless, the encyclical will not be primarily a political call for action.

Instead, “Laudato Si,” the reported title of the encyclical (meaning “Praised Be”), will almost certainly be a work in moral

The problem with Francis’ reputation as a maverick is that people are tempted to think absolutely everything he says or does is a novelty. In fact, this encyclical is not a reversal of tradition — it is the tradition.

One could go all the way back to this pope’s namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, and his famous canticles to “brother sun” and “sister moon” to find a deep green streak in Catholic teaching and spirituality.

More recently, St. John Paul II devoted a 1990 message for the World Day of Peace entirely to environmental themes, applauding a growing ecological awareness and asserting that the greenhouse effect “has now reached crisis proportions.”

In 2002, John Paul signed a common ecological declaration with Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, the first among equals of Orthodox prelates, calling on humanity to “repent” for its mistreatment of the environment.

As for Benedict XVI, his statements on ecology were so voluminous he was dubbed the “Green Pope.” In a 2010 message on the subject, he insisted there will be neither justice nor peace without strong environmental commitment.

Not only did he teach on the subject, he also walked his own talk — signing an agreement that made the Vatican Europe’s first carbon-neutral state, and installing solar panels atop the Vatican’s main audience hall.

(I still recall the opening of my story the day those panels went online: “For two millennia, the Catholic Church has claimed to draw on the power of the Son.

Seminary School of Divinity at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

It was sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas, and the Center for Theological Formation at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity.

On June 5, Allen summarized his presentation for Crux, the Boston Globe’s Catholic news site.

As of today, however, it’s also drawing on the power of the Sun.”) Under Benedict, the Pontifical Academy for Sciences released a 2010 report on climate change recommending that world leaders cut carbon dioxide emissions, reduce existing pollution, and prepare for the inevitable impacts of a changing climate.

In other words, Francis isn’t overturning previous popes. He’s carrying their legacy forward.

Spin No. 3: The encyclical represents a reconciliation between religion and science

3

For a prediction-within-a-prediction, my forecast is that the second most common proper name you’ll hear in coverage of the encyclical is Galileo, as pundits insist that Francis is reversing the Church’s traditional animus for science.

While the Galileo episode reflects real tensions that have arisen periodically, the truth is that few institutions on earth have been greater promoters of scientific inquiry than the Catholic Church.

The Pontifical Academy for Sciences, for instance, is one of the oldest and most august bodies around, tracing its roots back to a fabled Italian scientific academy founded in 1603. The Vatican Observatory likewise has fostered cuttingedge research, and demonstrates the Church’s interest in discovery.

One could go on cataloging examples, such as the fact that the father of modern genetics was a 19th-century Augustinian monk, but the point should be clear: As long as science doesn’t try to scrub God out of the equation, the Church is actually a big fan.

We had sort of a trial run on this point last October, when many media outlets breathlessly reported an about-face in papal teaching when Pope Francis said that “evolution in nature is not inconsistent with creation.”

Peeling back the onion, it became clear that conditional support for the theory of evolution went all the way back to Pope Pius XII’s encyclical “Humani Generis” in 1950, and that John Paul II had referred to it in 1996 as “more than a hypothesis.” Francis wasn’t breaking new ground, but harvesting a crop planted long ago.

Bottom line: By embracing the majority opinion in climate research today and harnessing the resources of the Church to do something about it, Pope Francis is not engaging in a kiss-andmake-up exercise with science. Instead, he’s writing another chapter in the story of a long relationship which, over the centuries, has seen more ups than downs.

Analysis

Getting ahead of the spin on the pope’s environmental encyclical

Spin No. 4: The encyclical confirms Francis as a leftist

4

Impressions of Francis as a left-wing radical have proven stubbornly resistant to correction, even when he says or does things that clearly cut in a different direction.

For instance, Francis has used language on abortion from which even some of the most outspoken U.S. anti-abortion activists might shrink, calling it “horrific.” He’s defended marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and has denounced what he calls the “ideological colonization” of the developing world by Western powers attempting to compel it to adopt liberal secular values.

There’s also the towering point that he’s been pope for more than two years, and has yet to change a single comma in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, including a firm “no” to female priests.

In a soundbite, he’s not Che Guevara in a cassock.

Yet narratives often live on long after evidence suggests they’re unsatisfactory, and that’s likely to be the case with the new encyclical, too. Given that ecoactivism is more strongly associated with the left in most Western nations, the encyclical probably will be seen as further proof of the pope’s ideological credentials.

As part of that picture, many commentators probably will underscore the document’s language on climate change while ignoring another likely point of emphasis: A culture that disrespects human life, for instance through abortion, cannot be relied upon to cherish other forms of life or the natural environment.

In truth, Francis is neither a political conservative nor a liberal, which are Western categories that arose during the French Revolution. If you asked, he’d probably tell you he comes out of the moderate wing of Argentina’s Peronist movement. (I have yet to meet anyone, however, including any of the Argentines I know, who can clearly define what exactly that means.)

Basically, Francis appears to sees himself as a Latin American pastor who takes Church teaching and tradition for granted, and who tries to bring it to bear on situations of suffering he’s seen with his own eyes.

Attempting to read his agenda, including “Laudato Si” as a boost for any political alignment thus is destined to get him wrong.

Allen is associate editor of Crux, a publication of the Boston Globe, where this analysis first appeared. It is reprinted with permission.

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Analysis

18

Encyclical a hoped catalyst for conversation, change

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit Long overdue but a potential catalyst for change is how Christopher Thompson characterized Pope Francis’ widely anticipated encyclical on the environment, which was to be released June 18.

Mainstream environmentalism is five decades old, he said, but the encyclical could re-frame the conversation by outlining — for the first time — a comprehensive Catholic vision of caring for creation.

The dean of the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul and a theologian who works in the area of human and natural ecology — God and man’s relationship to the natural world — Thompson said the Christopher encyclical is expected to THOMPSON draw from Church tradition that honors creation, but could also address how people should apply those teachings to their daily lives.

“Typically, an encyclical is written as a summative statement about a long discernment, but this encyclical is going to be at the

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

beginning of the conversation,” he said. “I think that’s why it’s generating so much attention — because Catholics are not clear and the general public is not clear about what the Church thinks on the environment. Therefore, there’s this kind of intellectual free-for-all and intellectual storm brewing, because everybody thinks they have some idea of what the encyclical is going to say.”

Titled “Laudato Si: On the Care of Our Common Home,” the encyclical is Pope Francis’ second. A draft in Italian leaked to media June 15, but the U.S. bishops said they would stick to the June 18 embargo.

The Catholic Spirit went to press June 16, two days ahead of its official release.

“The encyclical is both the fruit of the cultural experience and ecclesial discernment, and is catalyst for conversations for generations to come,” said Thompson, who spoke with The Catholic Spirit in April.

He acknowledged it was likely the encyclical would be interpreted as a political document, even by some Catholics. Far ahead of its publication, it was already being touted as endorsing certain environmental causes and, in other circles, criticized for some of its anticipated claims.

James Ennis, executive director of Catholic Rural Life, at his Roseville home, where he has planted native grasses.

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit Right, a statue of St. Francis, patron of ecology, at St. Catherine University in St. Paul. Courtesy St. Catherine.

“So many of the issues that are circulating around the environment are policy matters, and policy means politics, so it’s inevitable on a certain level,” Thompson said. “At the same time, I hope the encyclical is a catalyst for an examination of conscience on the part of every Catholic concerning his or her posture before lower creation. That’s what I think needs to be elevated, healed, challenged, evangelized. It would be fantastic if the encyclical could accomplish that.”

James Ennis, executive director of St. Paul-based Catholic Rural Life, is collaborating with Thompson and Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and one of the encyclical’s early drafters, on a document on the idea of the vocation of the agricultural leader.

He also worked with Cardinal Turkson’s chief of staff, Thompson and other scholars and Catholic entities to host the symposium “Faith, Food & the Environment” last November at the University of St. Thomas.

Ennis, president of the International Catholic Rural Association, said the idea of people being stewards of the environment is at the basis of Catholic teaching, and it has implications for issues including food scarcity, water use, biotechnology and consumerism.

He expects Pope Francis to address the issues outlined in the encyclical when speaking to Congress and the United Nations during his September trip to the U.S. “His focus on this is excellent; it’s been needed,” Ennis said. Prior to his position with Catholic Rural Life, he worked in sustainable agriculture. He remembers reading St. John Paul II’s writings known as the Theology of the Body in the mid-2000s, and thinking he would really like to read a theology of the environment.

“Just like the Theology of the Body really helped me understand human sexuality and joy and

“ I hope the encyclical is a catalyst for an examination of conscience on the part of every Catholic concerning his or her posture before lower creation. “ Christopher Thompson

dignity of being a human person, I really need to understand the theology of the human person in the midst of greater creation,” he said. “I know the Church has much to say on this, but it needs to be articulated and re-articulated to make it accessible to the masses, and not just a group of theologians.”

That desire has driven his work, including collaborations with Thompson to explore people’s “right relationship” to the land.

“Many Christians have seen their faith as something personal and something that’s a part of who they are, but [have] not seen material matter necessarily as [having] a calling to care for [it]. They saw creation as a resource to be used. It’s more than that. God said it was good.”

Therefore, Ennis said, the question is: “How do I care for it in a way that really does values it? Just as you care for the dignity of the human person, [how do] you care for all creation because of its goodness?”

19

By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit Creating mosaics is a form of prayer for St. Paul artist Kathy Mellin Grubbs. The bits and pieces that she uses are all different, but “together they make fascinating art. Like life, yes?” she asked.

An exhibit of Grubbs’ collection, “Mary in Mosaics,” runs through July 12 in a gallery at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis.

Grubbs, a basilica parishioner, works with traditional broken stone and fine poured Italian glass, but also other materials and some found and reclaimed objects — especially statues of Mary — in the formation of her work.

Although her work touches on a variety of subjects, many, like the mosaics of Mary, are religious.

“More often than not, the topic of the art I create comes out of a spiritual place,” Grubbs noted in an email interview. “I pray often throughout the day. I read the Bible for a few minutes almost every day. I have religious art in my home. I suppose that has an influence. Creating mosaic art is a

Detail from “Our Lady of the Trees,” a 2013 mosaic by St. Paul artist Kathy Mellin Grubbs. Bob Zyskowski/The Catholic Spirit form of prayer for me. It’s creative, methodical and patient.”

She said she approaches her art from a place of reverence and respect, and her motto is “pick up the pieces and make something beautiful.”

Calling her adult life “often tumultuous,” she finds metaphors

in the creation of mosaics that apply to life. “Through faith and courage, and the help of a lot of earthly angels, I picked up the pieces and rebuilt my life,”Grubbs explained.

“Creating mosaics was therapeutic and joyful. I came to see that many parts of my past

were not all bad. If I used and reshaped the good, valuable, lovely parts and rearranged them in my new life, I found I could go forward every day.”

She has a devotion to Mary, she acknowledged, a gift from her own mother, and said she has witnessed the power of the rosary in her life.

“In the last 10 years, it has come out in my mosaics.”

The figures of Mary that pop out of many of her works come from hunting thrift stores and estate sales for “cool objects” to use in her mosaics, and she gives them new life.

“When I find Mary statues, plates, etc., I feel heartbroken that they have been abandoned because they may be chipped or slightly damaged,” Grubbs said. “I try to keep the image of Mary intact as much as I can. When Mary is three dimensional, you can’t help but feel her talking to you somehow.”

Faith & Culture

‘Mary in Mosaics’ artist picks up pieces, creates beauty

Read the full interview online at www.thecatholicspirit.com/news/ local-news/q-a-with-artist-of-mary-inmosaics/

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This Catholic Life • Commentary

20 FAITH IN THE PUBLIC ARENA Jessica Zittlow

The dead end of gender theory Pope Francis has been talking a lot lately about what he is calling “gender theory.” He has called it an “anthropological regression” that “does not recognize the order of creation.”

But what is gender theory and why does it matter?

In short, it is a rejection of the reality that we are each created male and female — our bodies being an expression of that reality — and a claim that our identity can be made or remade in any way we choose. Gender theory has enormous public policy consequences and will be at the heart of the religious liberty debate for the foreseeable future.

the many new gender identities regularly emerging, because who they are is determined by their subjective sense of their self, not by the objective reality of being created male or female.

With this view of the human person, the body becomes the enemy of personal freedom when it does not reflect what one feels is his or her inner identity (“my truth”).

There are many different strains of “gender theory,” but all of them seek to liberate the person from the reality of the body and how we are created.

Embracing a fiction

Gender theory is quickly becoming social dogma. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the media stampede to recognize a “he” as a “she.”

The cultural and linguistic revolution also has companion legislation that seeks to eliminate any opposition to gender theory and the freedom to choose one’s identity.

Though discrimination based on sex and gender (including gender identity) is already prohibited

Originally, gender theory was connected to feminism and sought to eradicate traditional gender roles for men and women based on the view that how we perceive gender is merely a social construction.

More recent theories posit that gender is what the person believes him or herself to be. According to this view, people should be able to identify as male, female or one of

Enemies of freedom

GUEST COMMENTARY Chiara Dowell

Stewardship of creation begins at home In the spring of 2014, my husband and I sold our 40-acre grass farm in southwest Wisconsin where we raised cheviot sheep. I still remember the moment I realized we were going to buy our current “river’s edge garden farm.” It was not exactly love at first sight of the 100-year-old farm house and overgrown six-acre lot.

“Do you think we could do community supported agriculture here?” I asked my husband doubtfully, eyeing the buckthorn and the woods and the damp soil.

We were standing in a grove of hard and soft wood trees. Maples, oak, pine, honey locust and even black maples encircled us. Logging was not something we had learned in the last six years of our small-farming adventures.

“Yep. I think we could right here in this very spot,” he said slowly and soberly.

After moving in, we felled trees, skidded out logs with our team of Norwegian Fjord horses and piled

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

brush. The goats were fenced in to eat the buckthorn, and the sheep attacked the lawn. Slowly, our “Valley of Wormwood” was turning into a “Clairvaiux.”

All through last year’s efforts, I thought of St. Bernard and the founding of his community. In the beginning, the land available to the brothers was low, undrained soil. They subsisted on hard, dense barley bread, barely being the only crop they were able to grow in the waterlogged fields.

After much toil and living out the good, the bad and the ugly of the psalms day in and day out in a brutally tangible way, they were soon able to breathe easier and feast on the rewards of rich and fertile well-drained farm land.

My husband and I have always admired the monastic traditions when it comes to regular hours of work, prayer, study and gardening. But how to live that out within the context of the family? How to pursue hospitality, prayer and work with toddlers in tow?

The concept of community-supported

under Minnesota law, some activists and legislators are proposing to amend the Minnesota Constitution to mandate gender equality (HF 165/SF 62).

Rather than simply ensuring that men and women are treated equally, as some proponents claim the amendment will do, it will essentially operate as a blank check in a multitude of contexts to eradicate what gender theorists perceive as discrimination.

Some potential legal outcomes of the amendment include statefunded sex-change operations; state-funded assisted reproductive technology, including surrogacy arrangements; curriculum mandates in schools; and a multitude of employment mandates.

Perhaps most troubling, such an amendment could also erode the religious liberty protections Minnesotans enjoy in both state statute and in our state constitution. Those who refuse to go along or comply with a mandate listed above would be punished, monetarily and legally, as enemies of “freedom.”

Our response: male and female he created them Shortly after this article goes to press, Pope Francis will release an encyclical about the environment.

One expected theme is that all of creation is a gift over which we are stewards, and which has natural and moral limitations we must respect.

agriculture is a simple one. Your local community buys into the farm as members and shares in the dividend of produce from it — shared interest, shared responsibility. This model makes small farms viable. Without it, we would not be able to do what we do.

When our small herd of dairy goats kidded this spring, I contacted local cheese fans and asked if they’d be interested in participating in a herdshare program. They buy into a share of the herd for a chosen amount of time and receive a weekly dividend of cheese from the herd. The response has been generous and keeps me at the traditional methods of hand-milking and small-batch cheese making, crafts that my 6- and 9-year-old daughters are learning alongside me.

Community-supported agriculture has become a bridge between my family and many who I would not otherwise have much contact with, given cultural and religious differences. Food is a unifying thing. It’s no wonder our Lord instituted the great sacrament of the Eucharist with a meal.

The farm has become an occasion for evangelization simply by being an attempt to steward creation in keeping with the natural and intrinsic order for the purpose of living more fully our life as a family.

Today, a half-acre garden is thriving where we once stood in a tangle of trees and brush. It is a place of healing and

Respecting creation includes respecting human nature reflected in our bodies, which may seem to some like an arbitrary limitation.

But as Catholics we know that true liberation comes when we live according to God’s wise and loving plan for us.

That means embracing the reality of being created male and female, and offering authentic love, concern and care for those who are struggling with this reality.

“The complementarity of man and woman, the crown of the divine creation, is being questioned by gender ideology in the name of a freer and more just society,” the pope said June 8 at the Vatican’s Santa Marta hall.

He went on to say: “The difference between man and woman is not meant to stand in opposition, or to subordinate, but is for the sake of communion and generation, always ‘in the image and likeness of God.’” We need witnesses to the reality of being created male and female because it is a life-giving truth.

Living the truth in word and deed could have personal consequences if social developments such as the constitutional amendment are embraced in the political sphere.

But as disciples, our mission is to live by and share with others God’s loving plan for us all.

Zittlow is associate director for communications for the Minnesota Catholic Conference.

hope. Ultimately, it’s a place to grow humility. However, when I arrogantly sow seeds, I am always awed by the increase and growth, which is the evident work of a master craftsman far above me.

Stewardship of creation begins in your home and yard. You do not have to own an acreage to start a communitysupported agriculture venture.

Maybe it’s as simple as sharing space for a garden with neighbors, or building a mutual composting spot on your culde-sac. You could raise rabbits for meat, or petition your city to allow hens in the backyard. It might start with changing your detergent so as to safeguard the micro-organisms that process our sewage waste.

Consider how our precious resource of water is something we cannot own individually. It wends where it wills.

The chemicals we use on our lawn will end up in the watersheds down the road and in the wells of our neighbors.

Taking care of the earth is something everyone is born to do. It was one of the first tasks our heavenly Father gave us. It is something we share with everybody, no matter our religious, racial or class difference. It is work that fills the heart.

Dowell farms with her husband, Shane, at Little Flower Farm near Scandia, and worships at St. Peter in Forest Lake, and St. Mary and St. Michael in Stillwater.

21

Deacon Michael Daly

When life’s storms rage, seek Jesus and Mary

DAILY Scriptures

The Sea of Galilee is below sea level, within a bowl of hills, and very subject to unpredictable storms. After a hard day’s preaching, Jesus, who governs the universe, is stretched out, asleep in a boat during a violent storm. The apostles’ maritime skills were not enough to endure the waves, so as a last resort, they turn to Jesus to calm the sea.

The disciples’ question is odd.

They do not ask, “What are you going to do?” Rather, they inquire about the disposition of his mind and heart: “Do you not care?” It suggests that if we are sure how

Jesus feels about us, if we are certain of the Lord’s unfailing love for us, we can meet any adversity.

Sometimes the storm arises around us or within us, and it seems that our frail craft cannot take any more. The waves are breaking over us: personal weaknesses, professional or financial difficulties that are beyond our management, illness, problems with children or parents, a hostile environment, slander, the list goes on. But if you live in the presence of God, high above the storm clouds, the sun will always shine on you. And deep

Sunday, June 21 Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time Job 38:1, 8-11 2 Corinthians 5:14-17 Mark 4:35-41 Monday, June 22 St. Paulinus of Nola, bishop; Ss. John Fisher, bishop, and Thomas More, martyrs Genesis 12:1-9 Matthew 7:1-5 Tuesday, June 23 Genesis 13:2, 5-18 Matthew 7:6, 12-14

Wednesday, June 24 The Nativity of John the Baptist Isaiah 49:1-6 Acts 13:22-26 Luke 1:57-66, 80 Thursday, June 25 Genesis 16:1-12, 15-16 Matthew 7:21-29 Friday, June 26 Genesis 17:1, 9-10, 15-22 Matthew 8:1-4

“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new

Tuesday, June 30 The First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church Genesis 19:15-29 Matthew 8:23-27

Sunday, June 28 Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24 2 Corinthians 8:7, 9, 13-15 Mark 5:21-43

Wednesday, July 1 Blessed Junipero Serra, priest Genesis 21:5, 8-20a Matthew 8:28-34

Monday, June 29 Ss. Peter and Paul, apostles Acts 12:1-11 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 17-18 Matthew 16:13-19

Father Kenneth Doyle

Saints in the Old Testament; retirement for priests are never referred to as saints. Were there no saints in those days?

A. It is true that, in the Catholic Church, Old Testament figures have not been formally canonized and given the title of “saint.” I suspect that this has to do with the historical process by which that title came to be assigned.

In the earliest centuries of the Church, only those who had been martyred for their faith were commemorated liturgically on their anniversaries.

St. Martin of Tours, who died in 397, was probably the first non-martyr assigned a feast day. Since then, sainthood has generally been ascribed to people who provided outstanding examples of lives modeled after the teachings of Jesus,

Deacon Daly is in formation for the priesthood at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. His teaching parish is Divine Mercy in Faribault. His home parish is Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul.

Saturday, June 27 St. Cyril of Alexandria, bishop, doctor of the church Genesis 18:1-15 Matthew 8:5-17

SEEKING ANSWERS

Q. Figures from the Old Testament

heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.”

The lesson Christ teaches is simple: When he is with us, we are safe. If the winds of temptation arise, we can fix our eyes on the star of the sea, Mary, who holds the Christ within her heart, within her womb. She will not leave us for an instant. With her for a guide, we will not go astray; while invoking her, we will never lose heart. So long as she is in our minds, we are safe from deception. If she holds our hands, we cannot fall.

which would exclude those who lived before Christ.

Does that mean that we cannot pray to Old Testament figures or seek their intercession? By no means. The word “saint” is commonly taken to mean someone who followed the will of God and is now in heaven. Surely, Moses and Elijah are safely there, since they appeared with Jesus on Mount Tabor at the Transfiguration.

Catholic churches of the Eastern rite (Greek or Byzantine, for example) do, in fact, celebrate specific feast days for Old Testament figures: Joshua and Moses, Daniel, the seven Maccabee brothers, etc.

The “Roman Martyrology,” a compilation of those honored as saints, includes such notable Old Testament figures as Isaiah, Abraham and King David. The Catechism of the Catholic

Focus on Faith

SUNDAY SCRIPTURES

below the roaring and destructive waves, peace and calmness will reign in your soul.

As Jesus intervened to calm the sea, peace entered the hearts of those frightened men. Jesus’ mission was to quiet a very different raging storm — the chaos of our sin. And he tamed it in his death on the cross, which indeed removes him from all human standards and leaves us really asking, “What kind of man is this?”

The following prayer is attributed to 16th-century English sea captain Sir Frances Drake:

Thursday, July 2 Genesis 22:1b-19 Matthew 9:1-8

Church also has this to say in No. 61: “The patriarchs, prophets and certain other Old Testament figures have been and always will be honored as saints in all the Church’s liturgical traditions.”

So, the great figures of the Old Testament, though never formally canonized by the Latin-rite Church, are worthy of our devotion and our imitation.

Q. With all due respect to my Catholic faith, there is one thing that I question. Many, many devout Catholics have contributed over the years to special collections for the benefit of retired priests. After all these collections and all the beautiful retirement homes for priests that now exist, shouldn’t we be doing more instead for the poor? The very ones who have contributed to build these homes cannot afford the comfort and the luxury that priests now enjoy.

A. As a diocesan priest for 49 years who will soon face retirement, I took a particular interest in your question — and I almost wish that things were as you describe them. In fact, most dioceses do not have retirement homes for their priests, and following retirement (in our diocese, it has been optional at 70, mandatory at 75) a priest is on his own

Friday, July 3 St. Thomas, apostle Ephesians 2:19-22 John 20:24-29 Saturday, July 4 Genesis 27:1-5, 15-29 Matthew 9:14-17 Sunday, July 5 Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Ezekiel 2:2-5 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Mark 6:1-6a

financially.

Some priests may have inherited a family home, but that is by far the exception. Most retirees wind up renting an apartment. (Retired priests generally decline to remain in the rectory where they served as pastor even if it’s offered; they do not want to compromise the work of a new pastor by dividing the loyalties of parishioners.)

The monthly retirement stipend from our diocese (for those retiring at 75) is $1,900. If a priest has contributed to Social Security over the years (some opted not to), he is eligible for a second monthly check — but since his lifetime earnings were minimal, that check is generally not substantial. Retirees, if their health is good, might also help with Masses at a parish, for which they would receive a stipend (perhaps $25 for a weekday Mass, $75 on a weekend). From this income, a retired priest is responsible for his expenses — rent, food, transportation, extraordinary health costs, etc.

These figures would tend to show that most retired diocesan priests, while not living in poverty, don’t live in luxury either. And yes, I would agree with you that our primary fundraising efforts should be on behalf of the truly poor, who may not have enough to live anywhere at all.

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Senior Living

22

St. Paul retirees find meaning helping mothers in need

By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit Margee Adrian remembers it was a very nice, heavy-duty baby crib, one that she guessed probably cost $1,000, that a man wanted to donate to the Highland LifeCare Center in St. Paul.

A volunteer there, she had to tell him no.

Due to liability issues with unsafe cribs and car seats that have been recalled, the pregnancy resource center was no longer accepting donations of cribs or car seats.

In fact, no one was. The man had been to three thrift stores, and none would take the crib.

“He said, ‘I guess I’ll just burn it,’ ”Margee recalled. “I said, ‘Don’t do that. Put it in my van.’ ” That was the first of more than 500 cribs that Margee and her husband, Denny, have rescued, refurbished, delivered and even set up for needy families all across the Twin Cities metro area since 2012, some 250 just in the past year.

“And car seats, too,” Margee said. “We give out as many of those as the cribs.”

Home repurposed Denny, 65, is a retired Minnesota

crib headboard in the living room.

There is a crib set and mattress in the computer room, a car seat in the kitchen and a back porch stuffed with cribs and car seats.

On the second floor there’s more of the same, plus crib sheets, baby blankets, mattress pads and bouncy seats.

But wait, there’s more.

Out in the one-car garage there are more crib sets, plus a changing table, extra rails and boxes of wheels and crib hardware — the spare parts Denny uses to make repairs.

“We don’t park our van in here,” Denny deadpanned.

Evident need Margee Adrian and her husband, Denny, spend their retirement rescuing, refurbishing, delivering and even setting up baby equipment for needy families across the Twin Cities metro area. Bob Zyskowski/The Catholic Spirit state trooper.

Margee, 64, worked as a bank teller, classroom assistant and as a home day-care provider until she retired the same day Denny did.

They live in the West Seventh neighborhood in St. Paul, just three houses away from the Palace Avenue side door of St. Francis de Sales Church.

It’s the house they’ve lived in for all of the 46 years they been

married. Once chock full as they raised their six children, now it’s chock full of all kinds of items that will be shared with pregnant women and families who have nowhere else to turn for the many things babies require.

There are cribs and bed springs and car seats on the Adrians’ front porch.

There are crib mattresses in the hallway, cribs in the TV room, a

They find the cribs and other baby items at garage sales, thrift stores and on Craigslist.

“I’m a very good shopper,” Margee said without a hint of pride. “I’ll see a crib on Craigslist for $30 and I’ll talk them down to $20, and then when I tell them what we do with the cribs they’ll say, ‘Just take it.’”

The Adrians also accept donated cribs and car seats, often from grandparents like themselves whose grandchildren have Continued on the next page

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June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

23 Continued from the previous page

Pro-life purpose For the Adrians, it’s all about being pro-life.

Margee and her daughter Denise Koontz started the pro-life committee at St. Francis, and Margee has chaired it ever since.

“We’re committed to the pro-life cause,” Denny said matter of factly, “and not just anti-abortion.

“When we started all this I wanted to help the poorest of the poor because it was a pro-life thing to me, to give a car seat and a crib to someone who needed it for their baby.”

Margee uses the word “ministry” to describe what they do.

She said,“For me it comes down to this: Are you going to ignore them, or are you going to do the things God wants you to do?”

Contagious concern What has surprised the Adrians is how their actions have spurred others’ generosity.

Margee puts two crib sheets and a blanket in every crib they deliver.

She’ll buy some things at thrift stores, but one woman sends her handmade baby quilts, another baby blankets and yet another sews baby bibs.

A man gave boxes of crib hardware to Denny.

A man who once slipped them a couple of twenties now is writing them increasingly larger checks, money Margee uses to purchase more baby items.

“It’s catching,” she said. “People want to be part of it.”

Denny would prefer to keep what they do low-key and small.

He’d prefer to shun publicity, and he really isn’t looking for help.

He’s not mechanically inclined, he admitted, but now he knows a lot about all varieties of baby cribs.

“I learned in my lifetime,” he said, “but I still have the Holy Spirit guiding me.”

Reciprocating gratitude The Adrians get rewarded in at least two ways.

Margee pulled out thank you cards from grateful moms, including one with a handwritten note that said, “You are both angels!”

Some families insist they sit down and share the family’s meal, often one from a different culture.

The Adrians said they’ve learned to accept those acts of gratitude, and doing so has helped them understand the many different immigrant groups that now call the metro area home.

“When you are immersed in another culture you can understand and be kind and love them even more,” Denny said. “It’s

softened my heart.”

Denny recalled getting down on his knees to set up a crib for a family in Frogtown with two little boys whose father was in prison.

He was surprised when one of the boys came up behind him, crawled on his back and hugged him.

“If you got the hugs and the tears of gratefulness we get,” he said, “you’d see why we do this. It’s a mission that just fell into our hands. I’m grateful to the Lord for putting it in front of us.”

Margee talked about seeing Jesus in every person she and Denny work with.

Once when they delivered a crib, a woman asked Margee if she was a Christian. “When I said yes, she said, ‘I could see the light of Jesus in your eyes.’”

The Adrians are involved in other activities at St. Francis de Sales. Margee is a eucharistic minister and runs the games at the parish festival, among other things. Denny helps count the collection, which he dismisses as nothing much.

“Without getting mushy,” Denny said, “over the years I’ve become more faith-filled.

“I feel like the Lord’s been pouring graces on me, and I try to spread them around. I almost get guilty with all the personal satisfaction I get.”

Senior Living

outgrown the items.

Once the Adrians gave away that first crib, word-of-mouth spread the news. Referrals come from social workers, nurses and hospital staff, the Missionaries of Charity and organizations like Bridging, Inc. and Birthright, Margee said.

Staff members at Joseph’s Coat, the St. Paul drop-in center, got so tired of repeating where needy people could get baby items that they had business-size cards printed that read “Baby Equipment” and list the Adrians’ contact information.

Margee flipped through some two dozen slips of paper with names and addresses of people on a prioritized waiting list.

“We’ll get a call from a nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital that a woman who has had a baby is leaving the hospital today and doesn’t have a car seat, so we run one down there,” Margee explained.

When they pick up a used item or one is donated, the first thing they do is clean it up. Margee will put the cover of a car seat through the wash; Denny will touch up a crib’s woodwork with stain or replace broken or missing parts.

Their living room is the test facility where Denny sets up cribs to make sure they are ready for use.

“I want to be sure they are safe,

something we would put our own grandkids in,” he said.

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

24

Senior Living

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Chuck Romportl, second from left, talks with Eileen Quigley, left, Kristin Jamison and Wayne Hoops at St. Gabriel the Archangel in Hopkins, where he serves as the director of faith formation. At the end of June, Romportl will retire after 43 years as a parish employee. Read more about Romportl at www.TheCatholicSpirit.com. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

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25 Dining out

Music and entertainment “The Prince and the Pauper” — June 17-19: 7 p.m. June 17 and 19; 2 p.m. June 18, Class Act Theatre (youth theater group), St. Joseph, 8707 36th Ave. N., New Hope.

Donations accepted.

National Catholic Youth Choir sacred music concert — June 28: 2:30 p.m., St. Michael Church, 22120 Denmark Ave., Farmington.

Midwest tour of 25 high school students ages 15-18 from 11 states. Information and other stops on the tour: www.CatholicYouthChoir.org.

Parish events Thrift sale and craft sale — June 18-20: June 18-19, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; June 20 ($5 bag sale), 8 a.m. to noon. Craft sale June 18-19 only.

Immaculate Conception Church & School, 4030 Jackson St. NE., Columbia Heights. Information: (763) 788-9062 or www.ICCSonline.org.

Summerfest at St. Stephen, Anoka — June 19-20: June 19, 6-8 p.m. Chicken dinner; 7-9 p.m. Rock It Man dueling pianos; 9:30 a.m.

June 20 5K Sun Run/Walk, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

Food, crafts, entertainment, bingo, games.

525 Jackson St., Anoka. Information: www. ststephenchurch.org.

Chicken Cookout Festival — June 21: 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., St. Nicholas, 51 Church St., Elko New Market. $12 adults, $6 children under 12.

Take-outs available. Games, bingo, crafts, etc., Information: (952) 461-2403 or www.stncc.net.

Garage sale — June 24-27: 5-8 p.m. early bird sale June 24 ($3 admission); 9 a.m.-8 p.m.

June 25-26; 9 a.m.-2 p.m. June 27 ($5 bag sale), St. John the Baptist, 4625 W. 12th St., Savage.

Information: (952) 890-9465 or www.stjohns-savage.org.

Rummage sale — June 25-27: 9 a.m.-8 p.m.

June 25; 9 a.m.-6 p.m. June 26; 8 a.m.-noon June 27, Holy Name of Jesus Church, 155 County Road 24, Wayzata.

Live Auction in the Big Red Shed — June 27: 10 a.m., Mary Queen of Peace, 21304 Church Ave., Rogers. Information: mqpcatholic.org — click on auction.

Our Lady of Guadalupe parish festival — June 27: Noon-8 p.m., 401 Concord St., St. Paul (Hwy. 52 and Concord St.). Live Latino music, food, dancing, silent auction, games.

Cathedral Centennial Softball Tournament — June 27-28: times TBD at the Dunning softball fields, 1188 Concordia Ave., St. Paul. Men’s and co-recreation D/E, slow-pitch, USSSA, double elimination. $200 fee per team due before game play. To register, send team name, manager’s name, address, email address and telephone number with check made payable to “Cathedral of St. Paul” to 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul, MN 55102. For more information, contact Deacon Phillip Stewart at (651) 271-7138 or pstewart1396@gmail.com. Profits donated to Project Home.

St. Mary/St. Henry church festival — June 28: 10 a.m. polka Mass followed by dinner; outdoor activities and food court at St. Mary Church, 165 N. Waterville Ave., Le Center.

Speaker on elder abuse, issues — July 19: 12:30 p.m. at St. Joan of Arc, 44537 Third Ave. S., Minneapolis. Iris Freeman, director of the Minnesota Elder Justice Center, specialist in area of abuse, neglect and financial exploitation of elders and vulnerable adults. Free.

St. Jerome 75th anniversary — Aug. 9: 1-4 p.m., St. Jerome, 380 E. Roselawn, Maplewood.

Music, food, beverages.

Retreats Summer silent directed retreat — June 22-28: At Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, 16385 St. Francis Lane, Prior Lake.

Directors include Father Jim Van Dorn, OFM Conv., Kris Joseph, Debbie Koop and Corrine Kindschy. Details and reservations: (952) 4472182 or Secretary@FranciscanRetreats.net.

Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend — July 17-19: At Christ the King Retreat House, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. Information: www. twincitieswwme.org or Kelly Griffin, grif0232@ aol.com or (651) 306-3830.

Calendar

Father’s Day pancake breakfast — June 21: 8 a.m.-1 p.m., KC Hall, 1910 Greeley St., Stillwater. Stillwater Knights of Columbus in partnership with St. Mary’s and St. Michael’s Bi-parish Respect Life Committee. Adults $8, Children 5-12 $4. Under 5 free.

Nate Woodford benefit — July 11: 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. at Mary, Mother of the Church, 3333 Cliff Road, Burnsville. Silent auction, music, games, entertainment and door prizes. $10 for 13 and older, $5 12 and younger. All proceeds go toward medical costs for Nate Woodford’s cancer treatment.

CALENDAR submissions DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, 14 days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication. Recurring or ongoing events must be submitted each time they occur.

LISTINGS: Accepted are brief notices of upcoming events hosted by Catholic parishes and institutions. If the Catholic connection is not clear, please emphasize it in your press release.

ITEMS MUST INCLUDE the following to be considered for publication in the calendar: • Time and date of event.

• Full street address of event.

• Description of event.

• Contact information in case of questions: EMAIL: spiritcalendar@archspm.org. (No attachments, please.)

MAIL: “Calendar,” The Catholic Spirit • 244 Dayton Ave. • St. Paul, MN 55102.

Other events Tim McGuire author event and book signing — June 25: 7 p.m., St. Joseph Church, 8701 36th Ave. N., New Hope. McGuire, former editor of the Star Tribune and former St. Joseph parishioner, will discuss and sign his book, “Some People Even Take Them Home: A Disabled Dad, A Down Syndrome Son and Our Journey to Acceptance.” Free. Information: Anne Saevig, (763) 544-3352 or asaevig@stjosephparish.com.

Art exhibit — July 3-Sept. 2: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Benedictine Center, 2675 Benet Road,

Maplewood. Art of Maggie Thompson, native American textile artist, part of “Art & Spirituality” series.

Cathedral Centennial Works of Mercy blood drive — July 10: 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Cathedral of St. Paul parking lot, Summit and Selby Aves. Cosponsored by students of St. Agnes Service Club during the month of the Precious Blood of Jesus.

Marian Pilgrimage Tour to Fatima, Lourdes, Paris — Sept. 7-18: Led by Father Mark Pavlik.

Information: Tony or Lisa Schmitz, (651) 2459451 or LMS.totustuus@gmail.com.

More events online The CatholicSpirit. com

Separated/divorced retreat — July 24-26: Sponsored by St. Michael Parish, St. Michael, at Christ the King Retreat House, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. $160. Information: Rene Blaeser (763) 497-8278 or rmblaeser@gmail.com or Deacon Greg Steele (763) 263-2450.

Summer camp Little Flowers Girls — July 10-12: St. Michael, Pine Island. For girls age 5+ and their mothers. One of three national summer camps for Little Flowers Girls Clubs. $50 per person.

Information and registration: joan@beholdpublications.com or (866) 3058362.

Young adults Outdoor sports night — every Friday evening through September: 6 p.m. to dark, Rahn Park, Eagan. Ultimate Frisbee, volleyball, soccer and other games. Ages 18 to 39 are welcome. Begin and end each night with prayer, continue fellowship at a nearby restaurant afterward.

Theology on Tap — Wednesday evenings June 17-July 22: 6:30 p.m. social hour, 7:30 p.m. speakers on faith and contemporary issues that directly affect young adults. Meet at O’Gara’s, 164 Snelling Ave. N., St. Paul. Sponsored

by Cathedral Young Adults. Information: www.cathedralsaintpaul.org/cya.

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June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

26

Archdiocesan official: ‘The truth is always in the details’ Continued from page 4

which merged into Blessed Sacrament in 2011.

news conference following the charges.

The archdiocese reported allegations of child sexual abuse against Wehmeyer to the St. Paul Police Department and removed him from ministry in June 2012. He was dismissed from the priesthood in March 2015.

‘About accountability’ Former pastor of Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul, Wehmeyer pleaded guilty in Ramsey County in November 2012 to sexually abusing two minors and possessing child pornography, and was convicted in February 2013. In November “We deeply 2014, Wehmeyer was charged in Chippewa regret the abuse County, Wisconsin, with sexual assault of that was suffered a third minor victim in 2011. He remains by the victims of incarcerated.

Curtis Wehmeyer, and are grieved for all victims of sexual abuse.”

Ordained in 2001, Wehmeyer served as an associate pastor of St. Joseph in West St. Paul 2001-2006 and parochial administrator of Blessed Sacrament 2006-2009. In 2009, he was named pastor of Blessed Sacrament and nearby St. Thomas the Apostle,

Bishop Andrew Cozzens

Ramsey County Attorney’s Office’s criminal complaint alleges that the archdiocese failed to monitor Wehmeyer properly after instances of sexual misconduct with adults, did not alert his parishioners of his misconduct with adults, and did not take action when Wehmeyer violated church policies, including taking camping trips alone with minors.

Each count carries a maximum sentence of a $3,000 fine, one year in prison, or both. Because the archdiocese is not a person, only the fine would apply if it were convicted, Choi acknowledged.

The criminal charges and civil petition are “about the accountability,” Choi said. “Much can be gained, especially in a situation like this, when there’s an admission that the corporation did wrong. I think that will go a long way with respect to what victims

need, what our community needs.

Through this process we hope to achieve that.”

conference, O’Malley repeated one of Choi’s promises, that “facts must lead the way.”

Choi said the June 15 resignations of Archbishop John Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché don’t affect the charges against the archdiocese.

“Truth is always in the details,” said O’Malley, who was named to his post last August. “We join [St. Paul Police] Chief [Thomas] Smith in thanking those who have courageously come forward and to help to find that truth and, in turn, Tim protect children. We O’MALLEY also join the county attorney and chief in encouraging anyone with information to contact the St. Paul Police Department. The more complete the information, the more likely justice will be served.”

“As we have said, the goals of our action are to hold the archdiocese accountable, seek justice for the victims and our community, and to take appropriate steps to ensure that what we have alleged and intend to prove about the past conduct of church officials will never be repeated,” he said in a June 15 statement. “Today’s resignations do not directly accomplish those goals, but I believe that is an affirmative step toward a new beginning and much needed reconciliation.”

Ongoing investigation The charges have come from a 20-month, two-phase investigation conducted by the St. Paul Police Department and Ramsey County Attorney’s Office. The offices’ investigators have interviewed more than 50 witnesses and obtained approximately 170,000 pages of documentation.

At the archdiocese’s news

Bishop Cozzens spoke of his concern for victims and survivors of clergy sexual abuse.

“We deeply regret the abuse that was suffered by the victims of Curtis Wehmeyer,” he said, “and are grieved for all victims of sexual abuse.”

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By Kristi Anderson For The Catholic Spirit Christian and Tamara Breczinski, parishioners of St. Ann in Wadena, will celebrate 10 years of marriage in August. They adopted a piece of wisdom early in their relationship that keeps them grounded and helps them persevere through tough times.

“We recognized early on that by getting married, we were not two individuals committing our lives to each other, but were two individuals coming together on a journey, committing to something much larger than the sum of our two lives,” Christian said. “We were being converted by God, daily, to the married way of life.”

Christian is the director of student development services at Minnesota State Community and Technical College in Wadena, and Tamara is a spiritual director and works at home raising their three children, Andrew, 7, John, 6, and Sophia, 3, with a fourth child expected in late fall.

“Parenting is a vocation in and of itself but is always subject to our vocation of marriage,” Tamara said.

“We view this endeavor as a joint effort, one in which we need to be a team. As in any sport, if the team is not strong, the game goes poorly.

Parenting is a fruit of the marriage vocation.”

Christian grew up near Marshall, and Tamara’s father was in the Navy, so she had many places around the globe to call home, she said. Since they live far from their natural families, they rely on their parish, local community and friends for support.

“Knowing you are not going it alone and understanding that the community can rejoice and suffer along with you has been a real blessing,” Tamara said.

Like most young families, the Breczinskis say their children are not always quiet at Mass. Their priest encouraged them not to worry about distracting others but to feel

Want to go?

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For details, visit www.archspm.org/WMF

whether we agree or not with their politics, personal choices or piety,” Christian said. “There is a greater context that goes beyond these worldly things. Mass becomes a ‘family reunion’ each Sunday where we put petty differences aside and focus on more important matters.”

Christian and Tamara Breczinski with their children Andrew, left, Sophia, center, and John, right. Submitted photo free to get up if necessary and move around with their kids.

“We may not be ‘getting’ as much from Mass attendance as we did before children,” Christian said, “but we are demonstrating to our children that attending Mass is worth the effort.”

The Breczinskis pray together often — for instance, before meals, at bedtime and when they hear emergency sirens. But most of all, they bring spiritual awareness into daily interactions.

“We highlight how their lives are intermingled with the sacred presence of God,” Tamara said. “For example, when our son was struggling with telling the truth, we spoke about temptation and how God’s angels will help us to overcome those. The next day he came to us and told us that he was being tempted, but then he was able to step away from it. We took that moment to thank God for his grace to help him overcome that.”

The Second Vatican Council called

the family a “domestic church,” saying that parents are the first to preach the faith to their children.

The Breczinskis try to let no teachable moment pass them by.

“We talk to our children about what is happening during the Mass and answer their questions when they ask us about it,” Christian said.

“We help them participate by pointing out the parts in the missal or hymnal. We are both eager to study the faith, and we use this zeal to communicate to our children the truths we have come to own.”

They are grateful that their children ask questions about the faith and say it is humbling to find the answer and also be comfortable in saying, “I’m not sure.”

“Then we explore the answer together through prayer, community discussion and study of the catechism,” Christian said.

The parish as a “family of families” is a notion that the Breczinskis say calls them to be welcoming.

“We are bound to family by love,

World Meeting of Families

?

Parenting is a fruit of marriage for Wadena couple

27

“Blood is thicker than water,” he added. “The phrase is often used in the context of how families stick together in challenging times, but it can also be viewed through the lens of Christ’s sacrifice.”

“This is most readily experienced in our parish community,” Christian said. “Whether this be in the form of Communion to the homebound, delivering meals or a welcome smile and an earnest sign of peace, the embrace of the larger community is vital to the support of the family — the ‘little church’ — which then builds back the ‘big Church.’ ” Anderson is a reporter for The Visitor, newspaper of the Diocese of St. Cloud.

Sixth in a series: Creating the Future In partnership with the publications of all Minnesota dioceses, The Catholic Spirit is featuring an 11-part series on families based on the World Meeting of Families’ 10 themes.

Parents hold great responsibility in forming faithful children

By Christine Codden The first commandment God imparted to us is in the book of Genesis: to be fertile and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it (Genesis 1:28). From the moment of creation, we have understood that marriage is not just a biological function, only to co-create with God the next generation. It is also meant to provide for the spiritual lives of our children, to bring them to holiness.

In marriage, this promise is stated on our wedding day as we declare our intentions. The presider asks each couple to affirm that they will “accept children lovingly from God and educate them according to the law of Christ and his Church.” From the moment of the assent to this intention, married couples begin to build their domestic church.

Since this is such an important job, great care is taken during marriage preparation to highlight steps and ideas on how to achieve this goal, among them: how to pray together, the importance of frequenting the sacraments, and being challenged to love as Christ does — unconditionally, with trust in God, forming our consciences to the will of God.

This prepares couples to bring these practices to the next generation. In this way, they realize the great responsibility they have accepted to strive to meet their ultimate goal of forming their children with faith and fostering a deep relationship with God. In modern terms, we call this building up our “domestic church,” creating our homes as a school of faith, forming a community of life and love. While grandparents, godparents and others can assist in formation, it is the parents’ responsibility as primary educators of the faith to carry this out because children will not learn if they are not taught.

Pope Francis, in a general audience in May, said: “It is time that fathers and mothers return from their exile — because they have exiled themselves from the education of their children — and reassume fully their educational role. We hope that the Lord will give parents this grace: not to exile themselves from the education of their children. And only love, tenderness and patience can do this.”

As Pope Francis said, couples are not asked to do this in isolation. The community of believers — the parish — is also involved. That is why each parish is called a

“family of families,” a place where the church of the home intersects with the world. It is in this way that each family can reach out to fulfill its baptismal call of hospitality and generosity. It is in the parish that the domestic church can fulfill its mission of service, sacrifice, trust and openness to God’s generosity.

A parish, to live out its role as “family of families,” is called to serve the family as the family is called to serve the parish. It is in these acts of service that the family grows and thrives. And it is in these acts of service through the local parish that parents teach their children how to be in the world without belonging to the world.

The relationship that is nurtured in the domestic church and in the “family of families” provides necessary balance. It allows families to open their doors to those in need, isolated or struggling, and to show Christ’s love and mercy. And it teaches children to embrace the values, virtues and character that are so needed in the world today.

Codden is director of the Office of Marriage and Family in the Diocese of St. Cloud.

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

The Last Word

28

From

Frogtown to Godtown

Vivian Clebs, left, invites a woman to St. Vincent de Paul’s Hmong Summer Festival.

Clebs led a group of parishioners June 10 on their first experience as evangelists.

Bridget Ryder/For The Catholic Spirit

Evangelization efforts help transform St. Paul community

By Bridget Ryder For The Catholic Spirit Geu Vu and Khmasy Yang stood over two vats of boiling oil under a tent in the parking lot of St. Vincent de Paul Church in St. Paul’s Frogtown neighborhood June 13.

The two men were frying the spring rolls women of the parish had been filling all morning. Just after 3 p.m., the first pans of food came out for the party. The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Hmong parish had invited their neighbors for a Hmong Summer Festival.

One of the first guests to arrive was Becky Dzlubak.

“They [parishioners] came to the door, and we thought we’d come out and bring the kids,” she said.

Dzlubak, her sons Marquis Beasley and Malik Davenport, and her partner, Mark Beasley, made the rounds of the free activities — a dozen carnival-style mini challenges from basketball to a duck pond.

There was elaborate face painting and hair coloring, too.

Parishioners had been going door to door in the days before the festival as part of a mission in conjunction with Godtown, a revitalization and evangelization effort in Frogtown started by John Tolo, who attends Mass at St. Vincent de Paul, formally a campus of the Cathedral of St. Paul after a 2012 merger.

On the evening of June 10, parishioners of St. Vincent de Paul and members of Godtown gathered for an hour of eucharistic adoration and dinner. Then, Tolo explained the evening’s outreach. In groups of four to five, they would go door to door on the blocks surrounding the church, invite people to the festival on Saturday and ask if they had anything they would like them to pray for.

“When you’re sharing your faith, you’re sharing good news,” Tolo

explained. “We’re going to go to our neighbors and say, ‘We’re having a party for you. Wouldn’t you like to come?’”

Vivian Clebs, a veteran in street evangelization who has worked with Tolo for years, led a group of St. Vincent parishioners on their first experience as evangelists. At the first house, parishioner Eric Ly spoke in Hmong to a woman who happily accepted the flier. A few houses later, a young mother in a backyard full of children took the flier with interest and asked for prayers for a good summer for the children. With heads bowed, Clebs offered a brief, spontaneous prayer.

From Dinkytown to Frogtown

John and Jen Tolo and their three children moved into the heart of Frogtown in 2011 after running a successful mission coffee shop in Minneapolis’ Dinkytown called Hotspot. Seeking college students, Tolo and other volunteers would hit the streets and invite people in for free coffee. The shop functioned as a safe, sober refuge for young adults where they could also learn about Christ. One day a woman came into the café and told Tolo he should start a coffee shop in Frogtown because the gangs and drug dealers ran out every other Christian group that had tried to work in the neighborhood.

“I felt like if we lived like God wanted us to live, there could be visible evidence of transformation,” Tolo said.

Tolo wanted to change the neighborhood from Frogtown to Godtown, the name he gave his new mission. Tolo and his wife bought an abandoned house on Charles Street that had been used for drug dealing. Tolo rounded up volunteers to help make the house habitable again and found donations for construction materials.

Seeing a joyful group of volunteers working together in a place that once harbored crime was already a spark in the neighborhood.

Father Michael Becker and John Tolo attend the Hmong Summer Festival hosted by St. Vincent de Paul in St. Paul. Father Becker and “When people walk by Tolo have led its evangelization efforts in the Frogtown this house they are neighborhood. Bridget Ryder/For The Catholic Spirit already seeing evidence

June 18, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

of visible transformation,” Tolo said.

Tolo also started a community garden in an empty lot nearby. The lot belongs to the city, leased to Tolo for $1 a year. Within a year, gardeners had transformed the crime-ridden, half-empty complex into a safe community with a waiting list.

Tolo then took to the streets. He had mapped out a 55-block area, and he and other volunteers walked through it praying, blessing each house, picking up trash and talking to neighbors.

“Part of the focus is how can we be relevant to people that have no connection with the Church?” Tolo said. “We try to find a variety of ways to initiate a conversation and look for ways to pray for people.”

One of the best ways has been delivering groceries. Godtown gets regular donations from Lund’s and Byerly’s and Kowalski’s that they distribute in the neighborhood.

“It’s amazing when you say you’re bringing groceries, everything comes out,” Tolo said. “When we have a problem, it’s actually an opportunity to get Jesus involved.”

This is at the heart of Tolo’s understanding of his apostolate.

“The role of the Church is to confront these issues,” Tolo said of the problems facing Frogtown — poverty, drugs, broken families, violence and sex trafficking. Tolo said the Church bringing the Gospel and the grace of God is what makes his efforts in Frogtown work.

Seeing the transformation Since 2011, Godtown’s ministry in Frogtown has grown. Other families and young adults have joined Tolo and his family on Charles Street and the nearby blocks. Today, Godtown consists of five single-family rehabilitated homes — two for male missionaries, one for female missionaries, a home for single-mother families with a youth center, and a former bar that will headquarter a crime reduction project called SafeCity. A model that, according to Tolo, has worked in other communities, the initiative identifies criminal offenders and seeks to address their needs, from addiction to housing. The City of St. Paul also is partnering with SafeCity.

Tolo has also helped 20 women in Frogtown escape from sex trafficking, he said.

As part of its community outreach, Godtown also hosts events, like a street party June 12, a day before the festival. Troy Williams, 53, came with his cousin, Robin Black, and her five young children. Williams has lived in Frogtown since he was 14.

“It has improved a lot,” he said of the neighborhood over the last few years. “What I’m most grateful for is that safe house they have over there for the children.”

That safe house is the Godtown house first renovated by Tolo.

Jeff Cavins, director of the archdiocese’s Office of Evangelization and Catechesis, and longtime friend of Tolo, said what Tolo is doing is fruitful on a number of fronts.

“One, he’s taking the Gospel seriously and going out among the poor, attending not just to physical needs; he’s mixing it with the Gospel, and he’s telling them why he’s doing it — the love of God,” Cavins said. “[Tolo] has a very big ecumenical heart,” said Father Michael Becker, rector of St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul. “His deepest desire is to see Christians united, and he rejoices at success in every denomination.”

It was Father Becker who connected Tolo with St. Vincent de Paul. Father Becker, who frequently celebrates Mass at the church, joined Godtown in street evangelization last summer and was impressed with the Hmong people he met while knocking on doors. He learned from parishioner Peter Ly that the parish had only one Sunday Mass and no parish activities during the week. Father Becker thought priests from St. John Vianney could help with the pastoral ministry. As part of the effort, last winter he asked Tolo to host a program that connects basic Christian teaching with daily living. Then Tolo suggested the summer festival and outreach.

Ly, a longtime parishioner, saw the parish grow thanks in part to Tolo’s efforts.

“What I’ve seen is revitalization for the parish, a sense of joy and purpose coming in,” he said.

“Outreach is new and scary, but it’s a good reminder for us why we’re here, why we’re Christian.”