June 7, 2018 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Four new priests u Archbishop Hebda ordains four local men at May 26 Mass. u Profiles of Fathers Aric Aamodt, Colin Jones, Toulee Peter Ly and Matthew Shireman. u Fit Fathers: Woman’s ministry helps priests, seminarians prioritize health. — Pages 1B-8B
Religious freedom U.S. Supreme Court rules in favor of baker in same-sex wedding cake case. — Page 7A
Legislative recap Minnesota Catholic Conference highlights session’s efforts, looks ahead to fall elections. — Page 10A
Saving St. Andrew Priest leads charge in asking public charter school to reconsider demolishing former St. Andrew church building in St. Paul’s Como Park. — Page 11A
Redefining fatherhood Columnist Laura Fanucci looks past greeting cards to Catholic tradition to honor fathers this Father’s Day. — Page 14A
Archdiocese reaches joint reorganization plan $210 million for survivors largest settlement of its kind By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit
I
n announcing a joint plan to resolve the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ bankruptcy had been reached with a committee representing clergy sexual abuse survivors, Archbishop Bernard Hebda expressed gratitude for the survivors who have come forward. “Without their courage and persistence, today could not be possible,” he said during an afternoon press conference announcing the agreement May 31 at the archdiocese’s central offices in St. Paul. “I’ve been humbled by their willingness to share their stories with me,” he continued. “To those of you who have done so, I thank you for that gift. I recognize that the abuse stole so much from you — your childhood, your innocence, your safety, your ability to trust, and in many cases, your faith. Relationships with family and friends, relationships in your parishes and communities were harmed. Lives were forever changed. The Church let you down, and I’m very sorry.” The joint plan offers $210 million for restitution to claimants, the largest ever reached in a bankruptcy case related to clergy sex abuse. “By means of this consensual plan, the archdiocese and its parishes bring definitive resolution to this matter in a way that avoids further litigation and expense, and that allows the local Church to carry on with its mission of spreading and living the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” Archbishop Hebda said. At an earlier press conference May 31, St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson, who represented most of the abuse survivors, also announced the settlement, calling it “a story of trauma to triumph.” “This is some affirmation, as well as accountability,” he said of the plan while standing with several sexual abuse survivors, their advocates and other attorneys, many of whom wiped away tears throughout the press conference. “This all represents hope, help, healing and ... courage in the pursuit of truth.” Speaking at Anderson’s press conference, Jamie Heutmaker, a survivor who is part of the Unsecured Creditors Committee, which represents survivors in the bankruptcy process, expressed his gratitude for people who have supported him in the nearly five decades since he was abused. “Today is a great day for us and all survivors,” he said. “There’s still work to be done, but we’ve obviously done some really good work here, which I’m really proud of.” The consensual plan includes more than $50 million in increased funding from the archdiocese’s previous plan of reorganization, which offered $156 million for restitution. The additional funds came from insurers, archdiocesan funds and parish contributions. The approximately
PHOTOS BY DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
ABOVE Archbishop Bernard Hebda speaks during a press conference May 31. Looking on, from left, is Tom Abood, Reorganization Task Force chairman; and Tim O’Malley and Janell Rasmussen of the archdiocese’s Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment. LEFT Survivor Jamie Heutmaker, right, speaks May 31 alongside attorney Jeff Anderson, who represented many survivor claimants in the archdiocese’s bankruptcy, at Anderson’s St. Paul offices. “Today is a great day for us and all survivors,” Heutmaker said. $170 million contribution from insurers is the largest contribution from insurance carriers in the history of diocesan abuse settlements, according to Anderson. Pending court approval, the plan’s $210,290,724 settlement, minus administrative expenses including unpaid attorneys’ fees, will be administered for survivor restitution through an independent trustee. As part of the plan, parishes will receive a channeling injunction that ends all litigation against them arising from this matter. The funds will be available for distribution upon its approval by Judge Robert Kressel, who is overseeing the archdiocese’s bankruptcy proceedings. Archdiocesan leaders hope the bankruptcy can be completely resolved within a matter of months.
Lengthy process The consensual plan was the result of years of mediation between the archdiocese, insurers, parishes and representatives of survivors. The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in January 2015 amid mounting claims of clergy sexual abuse going back decades against priests and others associated with the Church in the archdiocese. Archdiocesan leaders said reorganization would ensure abuse survivors would be
equitably compensated while the archdiocese continued its mission. Mediation began immediately. In May 2016, the archdiocese filed a plan of reorganization, initially offering $65 million for abuse survivor remuneration. Over the following months, that amount increased to $156 million, primarily through additional insurance company settlements. As part of its bankruptcy, the archdiocese sold its three chancery buildings on Cathedral Hill in St. Paul, as well as a fourth property it owned near Northfield. It later moved its offices to a rental property in St. Paul’s Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood. In August 2016, the Unsecured Creditors’ Committee filed a separate plan for the archdiocese’s reorganization, asserting that the assets of 187 parishes in the archdiocese’s boundaries, three Catholic high schools and the Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota should be merged with the archdiocese’s assets in a plan for reorganization. Kressel later ruled that the other organizations’ assets did not legally require consolidation. The UCC appealed the ruling twice, but it was upheld by the U.S. District Court in December 2016 and the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in April 2018. PLEASE TURN TO REORGANIZATION ON PAGE 5A
2A • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
JUNE 7, 2018
PAGETWO
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We need to deepen the close connection that exists between sport and life, which can enlighten one another.
Pope Francis in applauding the Vatican’s first document on sports released June 1 by the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life. The 52-page document highlights the Church’s positive view of the important values inherent to sport and blew the whistle on the growing threats in the sports world, including corruption, over-commercialization, manipulation and abuse.
NEWS notes
4 JESSICA FOSTER | COURTESY CATHOLIC CHARITIES OF ST. PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS
‘TOPPING OFF’ CEREMONY Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis celebrated the second phase of its Dorothy Day Place campus in St. Paul May 24 by raising a tree to the top of the building — a tradition in the construction industry — marking the last pour of the top floor of the St. Paul Opportunity Center and Dorothy Day Residence, which will include services to prevent and aim to end homelessness, and will offer an additional 177 permanent housing units. It is scheduled to open in 2019.
The number of Catholic high school softball teams from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis playing in the state tournament in North Mankato June 7-8. St. Agnes in St. Paul made the Class 2A tournament while Hill-Murray in Maplewood, BenildeSt. Margaret’s in St. Louis Park and Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield made it in 4A.
22
The date in June that kicks off the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Religious Freedom Week, aka Fortnight for Freedom, on the feast of Sts. Thomas More and John Fisher. For a list of local events, visit mncatholic.org/religious-freedom-week-events.
1968
The year that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis started hosting Cursillo retreats. Now, 50 years later, Cursillo offered its first local Vietnamese women’s retreat May 31-June 2. Active in 60 countries, Cursillo is a lay movement dedicated to forming and motivating the faithful to evangelize. Cursillo has hosted English, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese retreats in the archdiocese. Cursillo hosted a Vietnamese retreat for men in 2015.
1980
The year Dominic Lombardi graduated from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul with a history degree. The former head of the Secretariat for Catholic Life and Evangelization in the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has been named executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth. Lombardi, who is married and the father of six children, also has taught theology at several universities since 1994. He’s currently an adjunct professor of theology at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.
44 DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
RENEW ‘I DO’ Gloria and Sergio Pozuelos of Divine Mercy in Faribault renew their wedding vows during Archdiocesan Marriage Day June 2 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Bishop Andrew Cozzens celebrated Mass, which included the renewal of vows, then honored couples for marriages lasting up to 75 years. The longest-married couple attending the event was Leona and Vince Arceno of St. Pascal Baylon in St. Paul, who have been married for 75 years. Gloria and Sergio Pozuelos, married 28 years, belong to Worldwide Marriage Encounter (Encuentro Matrimonial Mundial), and served as hospitality volunteers at the Mass and reception afterward.
CORRECTION In the May 24 issue, “Going back to the land: Catholic Cemeteries to offer ‘natural burial’ option starting in fall” contained inaccurate and confusing information about the handling of unconsumed eucharistic species, especially regarding the use of the sacrarium, a special drain in a church’s sacristy that goes directly into the ground. The sacrarium is used for disposing of water that is used for purification of sacred vessels and linens that come into contact with the Eucharist. After the distribution of Communion at Mass, any consecrated hosts that are left must either be consumed by the priest at the altar or reposed in the place designated for the reservation of the Eucharist. Whatever remains of the precious blood of Christ must be consumed completely. The eucharistic species are never to be poured out or buried in the ground. The Catholic Spirit apologies for the error.
The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 23 — No. 11 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor
The age of Byzantine Jesuit Bishop Milan Lach, who will serve the Byzantine Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Parma, Ohio. St. John the Baptist Byzantine Church in Minneapolis is part of that eparchy. St. John the Baptist pastor Father Cyril Farmer said he’s excited about the new bishop’s youth and that “he can have some vision and move forward in the 21st century. I think he’s going to do well.” Bishop John Kudrick previously led the eparchy before retiring in 2016. Bishop Lach has been the apostolic administrator for the eparchy since June 2017.
in REMEMBRANCE Deacon George Nugent, 86, died June 3. He was born June 14, 1931, and was ordained a permanent deacon in 1992, serving in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for more than 25 years. He ministered at Mary, Mother of the Church in Burnsville from 1992 to 1998 followed by an assignment at All Saints in Lakeville from 1998 until early this year. He also served as All Saints’ administrator of facilities, and he helped the parish develop a partnership with a parish on the Caribbean island of Dominica, where All Saints parishioners build homes for the poor. Deacon Nugent was preceded in death by his wife, Sue. They had seven children. Visitation will be 9 a.m. June 8 at All Saints followed by a 10 a.m. funeral Mass. Burial in All Saints Cemetery will follow after a luncheon at the parish.
Materials credited to CNS copyrighted by Catholic News Service. All other materials copyrighted by The Catholic Spirit Newspaper. Subscriptions: $29.95 per year: Senior 1-year: $24.95: To subscribe: (651) 291-4444: Display Advertising: (651) 291-4444; Classified Advertising: (651) 290-1631. Published semi-monthly by the Office of Communications, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN 55106-3857 • (651) 291-4444, FAX (651) 291-4460. Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, MN, and additional post offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Catholic Spirit, 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN 55106-3857. TheCatholicSpirit.com • email: tcssubscriptions@archspm.org • USPS #093-580
JUNE 7, 2018
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 3A
FROMTHEARCHBISHOP ONLY JESUS | ARCHBISHOP BERNARD HEBDA
New priests in a changed Church
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n the morning of May 26, I had the great privilege of ordaining four young men to the priesthood: Father Aric Aamodt, Father Colin Jones, Father Toulee Peter Ly and Father Matthew Shireman. The joy in the Cathedral was palpable as we together envisioned all the good things that they would accomplish by God’s grace in this archdiocese in the years to come. I am grateful for their generosity in responding to the Lord’s call. I couldn’t help but think, however, how much things have changed in the Church since my own ordination 29 years ago. The truths of our faith stay the same, but the circumstances in which the Church is called upon to give witness to Christ can — and have — changed. In the years since my first Mass, the Church has had to come to grips with the painful reality that more than a few priests had abused their office in ways that caused unthinkable harm to children and families. While the vast majority of priests are good and faithful, sincerely desiring to pour themselves out in service like Christ the Good Shepherd, the heightened awareness of the scandalous behavior of the minority has brought about what I hope are lasting and meaningful changes in the Church landscape. The recent announcement of the settlement in the archdiocese’s bankruptcy highlighted some of those changes. While I have been regularly encouraged by the positive feedback that the archdiocese has received from the courts and from Ramsey County Attorney John Choi when we have made our periodic reports in compliance with the 2016 settlement agreement, I was still overwhelmed to read that one of the abuse survivors had told the Star Tribune that “the archdiocese is now the safest in the country,”
Nuevos sacerdotes en una iglesia cambiada
E
n la mañana del 26 de mayo, tuve el gran privilegio de ordenar a cuatro jóvenes al sacerdocio: el padre Aric Aamodt, el padre Colin Jones, el padre Toulee Peter Ly y el padre Matthew Shireman. La alegría en la Catedral fue palpable cuando juntos visualizamos todas las cosas buenas que lograrían por la gracia de Dios en esta arquidiócesis en los años venideros. Estoy agradecido por su generosidad al responder al llamado del Señor. No pude evitar pensar, sin embargo, cuánto han cambiado las cosas en la Iglesia desde mi propia ordenación hace 29 años. Las verdades de nuestra fe permanecen iguales, pero las circunstancias en las que la Iglesia está llamada a dar testimonio de Cristo pueden, y han cambiado. En los años transcurridos desde mi primera misa, la Iglesia ha tenido que enfrentarse a la dolorosa realidad de que más de unos pocos sacerdotes habían abusado de sus oficinas de manera que causaban daños impensables a niños y familias. Mientras que la gran mayoría de los sacerdotes son buenos y fieles, que desean sinceramente servir como Cristo el Buen Pastor, la conciencia aumentada del comportamiento escandaloso de la minoría ha producido lo que espero sean cambios duraderos y significativos en el panorama de la Iglesia. El reciente anuncio del acuerdo en la quiebra de la arquidiócesis resaltó algunos de esos cambios. Si bien me han alentado regularmente los comentarios positivos que la Arquidiócesis ha recibido de los
and I heard attorney Jeff Anderson state that the settlement agreement “actually advances the [cause] of child protection in a way that has never really been done in this country.” Those changes reflect in part a heightened collaboration and level of responsibility for the lay faithful in our Church. We’re blessed to have true experts in our local Church who bring their experiences as parents and professionals to the work of child protection and the assessment of fitness for ministry, and bring to the work of the Church new standards of transparency and accountability. We would have never arrived at a resolution of the bankruptcy without the generous collaboration of our lay leadership. Our four new priests are indeed beginning their ministry in a changed Church, and they would have already experienced that in their seminary formation. There would have been heightened scrutiny, for example, from psychological professionals and seminary administrators when they applied for admission to the archdiocesan seminary program, with an eye to evaluating the capacity to live a life of chaste celibacy. As seminarians, they would have had the benefit, moreover, of programs with a new and more intense focus on the “human formation” aspect of priestly preparation, complementing the program’s already strong intellectual, spiritual and pastoral pillars. It is noteworthy that at both major seminaries where they were trained, a full-time psychologist is an integral member of the formation team, something that would have been unheard of when I was a seminarian. Judge Tim O’Malley, the director of the archdiocese’s Office for Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment, moreover, has been meeting periodically with seminary students and faculty members to prompt the necessary discussions on this tribunales y del Fiscal del Condado de Ramsey, John Choi, cuando hicimos nuestros informes periódicos de conformidad con el acuerdo de resolución de 2016, todavía me sentí abrumado al leer esa información, los sobrevivientes de abuso le dijeron al Star Tribune que “la arquidiócesis es ahora la más segura del país,” y escuché al abogado Jeff Anderson decir que el acuerdo “realmente promueve la [causa] de protección infantil de una manera que nunca se ha hecho realmente en este país.” Esos cambios reflejan en parte una mayor colaboración y nivel de responsabilidad para los fieles laicos en nuestra Iglesia. Somos afortunados de tener verdaderos expertos en nuestra Iglesia local que aportan sus experiencias como padres y profesionales al trabajo de protección infantil y la evaluación de la aptitud para el ministerio y aportan al trabajo de la Iglesia nuevos estándares de transparencia y responsabilidad. Nunca hubiéramos llegado a una resolución de quiebra sin la generosa colaboración de nuestro liderazgo laico. Nuestros cuatro nuevos sacerdotes de hecho están comenzando su ministerio en una Iglesia cambiada, y ya lo habrían experimentado en su formación de seminario. Hubiera habido un mayor escrutinio, por ejemplo, de los profesionales de la psicología y los administradores del seminario cuando solicitaron la admisión al programa arquidiocesano del seminario, con el objetivo de evaluar la capacidad de vivir una vida de celibato casto. Como seminaristas, se habrían beneficiado, además, de programas con un enfoque nuevo y más intenso en el aspecto de “formación humana” de la preparación sacerdotal, complementando los fuertes pilares intelectuales, espirituales y pastorales del programa. Es digno de mención que en ambos seminarios principales donde fueron entrenados, un psicólogo a tiempo completo es un miembro integral del equipo de formación, algo que hubiera sido
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As we now begin to focus more intentionally on how we might bring post-bankruptcy healing and renewed zeal to our archdiocese, we are going to have lots of work for our new priests, who are so enthusiastic about making Christ present in this local Church.
topic. We have been assisted in that effort by a survivor who has very personally shared with our seminarians the story of his own experience of abuse and its consequences. As our four new priests begin their first assignments, they will be assisted by a program introduced last year by the Institute for Ongoing Clergy Formation that focuses on transitions in ministry and lays the foundation for healthy relationships of collaboration and support. I am excited by the programming offered this year by the Institute that helps our priests to be better preachers, more effective leaders and more comfortable team players in the parish setting. As we now begin to focus more intentionally on how we might bring post-bankruptcy healing and renewed zeal to our archdiocese, we are going to have lots of work for our new priests, who are so enthusiastic about making Christ present in this local Church. Pray for them and help them to learn. Witness in your own lives to the joy of responding to God’s call, and I am confident that our four new priests will be inspired to serve as genuine shepherds after the heart of Jesus. inaudito cuando era seminarista. El juez Tim O’Malley, el director de la Oficina de Normas Ministeriales de la arquidiócesis, además, se ha estado reuniendo periódicamente con estudiantes de seminario y miembros de la facultad para impulsar las discusiones necesarias sobre este tema. Fuimos asistidos en ese esfuerzo por un sobreviviente que personalmente ha compartido con nuestros seminaristas la historia de su propia experiencia de abuso y sus consecuencias. A medida que nuestros cuatro nuevos sacerdotes comiencen sus primeras tareas, contarán con la asistencia de un programa presentado el año pasado por el Instituto para la Formación del Clero que se centra en las transiciones en el ministerio y establece las bases para relaciones sanas de colaboración y apoyo. Estoy entusiasmado con la programación ofrecida este año por el Instituto que ayuda a nuestros sacerdotes a ser mejores predicadores, líderes más efectivos y jugadores de equipo más cómodos en el entorno de la parroquia. Ahora que comenzamos a enfocarnos más intencionalmente en cómo podemos traer sanidad después de la bancarrota y renovado celo a nuestra arquidiócesis, vamos a tener mucho trabajo para nuestros nuevos sacerdotes, quienes están tan entusiasmados por hacer que Cristo esté presente en esta Iglesia local. Ora por ellos y ayúdalos a aprender. Testifique en sus propias vidas de la alegría de responder al llamado de Dios, y estoy seguro de que nuestros cuatro nuevos sacerdotes serán inspirados para servir como genuinos pastores según el corazón de Jesús.
Priests’ new assignments — 6A
4A • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
JUNE 7, 2018
SLICEof LIFE
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REORGANIZATION CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A While 11 other U.S. dioceses had filed for bankruptcy related to claims of clergy sexual abuse between 2004 and the archdiocese’s filing, the archdiocese’s reorganization was the first to include competing plans. In March 2017, both plans were sent to creditors, including abuse claimants, for a balloting vote. Abuse claimants voted overwhelmingly for the UCC plan, while other claimants voted overwhelmingly for the archdiocese’s plan. The decision for plan approval ultimately rested with Kressel. In December 2017, Kressel denied both plans and ordered the archdiocese and UCC to return to mediation with the goal of reaching a consensual plan. In a memorandum explaining his decision, Kressel expressed concern about the eight abuse claimants who had died between then and when the archdiocese entered bankruptcy in January 2015, and about others who might die as the reorganization process “drags on.” The archdiocese, insurance carriers, parish representatives and the UCC returned to mediation, ultimately arriving at the consensual plan May 30. Speaking at the archdiocese’s press conference, Tom Abood, chairman of the Archdiocesan Finance Council and the Reorganization Task Force, said that arriving at the consensual plan required more than 18 full days of in-person mediation before final arrangements could be directly negotiated. He said the proposed plan would be finalized within the next several days, “turning this agreement into definitive documentation for Judge Kressel’s consideration.” “We will do everything we can to bring this to a formal conclusion as soon as possible,” he said. Besides the archdiocese, 14 U.S. dioceses and two religious orders have filed for bankruptcy as a result of abuse claims. Among them are the Minnesota dioceses of Duluth and New Ulm. Bishop Donald Kettler of St. Cloud announced in February that his diocese plans to file for bankruptcy.
Focus on survivors, protecting children During the archdiocese’s bankruptcy process, 453 people — 342 men and 111 women — filed sexual abuse claims against the archdiocese, according to Kressel’s December 2017 memorandum. Most claims were against priests, but some were also against religious brothers and sisters, deacons, and lay teachers and coaches. More than 67 percent of claims were from the 1960s and 1970s. Twenty people claimed they were abused in 1990 or later, with three claims of abuse that occurred after 2010. In 2013, the Minnesota State Legislature passed the Minnesota Child Victims Act, which lifted for three years the statute of limitations on sexual abuse civil suits. In December 2013, the archdiocese disclosed the names of 34 priests with abuse claims against them; 30 of the claims had been substantiated. At that time, the archdiocese was facing 14 lawsuits involving 23 claimants alleging they were abused as a minor by a clergy member who at one time had an assignment in the archdiocese. As of May 31, 2018, the archdiocese has listed 61 priests with substantiated claims of sexual abuse of a minor within the archdiocese. It also lists others who have served in the archdiocese with substantiated claims of sexual abuse elsewhere. Among the first group’s names is Curtis Wehmeyer, a former priest of the archdiocese who sexually abused three brothers in 2010-11 while assigned to Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul. He was dismissed from the clerical state in 2015 and is incarcerated in Wisconsin for charges related to the abuse. In June 2015, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office filed civil and criminal charges against the archdiocese, alleging it failed to protect children in the Wehmeyer case. Ten days later, Archbishop John Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché resigned their leadership in the archdiocese, citing the need to give the archdiocese a new beginning amid its challenges. That day, Pope Francis named Archbishop Hebda to oversee the archdiocese as an apostolic administrator, later naming him its permanent archbishop. The RCAO and the archdiocese reached a settlement agreement on the civil charges in December 2015,
LOCAL
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 5A
WHAT’S NEXT? Now that the archdiocese and Unsecured Creditors’ Committee have reached an agreement on the archdiocese’s plan of reorganization, attorneys are preparing its documentation to be filed with the bankruptcy court. Then, the plan will be sent to the archdiocese’s creditors, including survivors, for voting to accept or reject the new plan. The vote will be among the factors that influence Judge Robert Kressel’s decision to accept or deny the plan. “We will do everything we can to expedite it, we will try to encourage the court to do everything it can to economize the process,” said Tom Abood, chairman of the Reorganization Task Force. “We hope to shrink [the process] down to a few months in this coming phase.” resulting in the archdiocese fulfilling certain child protection obligations under the ongoing oversight of the RCAO. At the time, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi called the mandated child safety policies “unprecedented,” and, according to the archdiocese, they continue to be the national standard for protecting children and vulnerable adults. In June 2016, the RCAO dropped the criminal charges against the archdiocese and amended the settlement agreement. The archdiocese’s ongoing child protection efforts are being executed in collaboration with the RCAO and are reviewed every six months by a Ramsey County judge. At each review, the judge has found the archdiocese substantially compliant with the agreement, which includes routine audits of parishes employing safe environment procedures and protocols. At the most recent review in January 2018, the judge said she saw examples of the archdiocese “not only honoring the letter of the agreement, but the spirit of the agreement.” Instrumental to the archdiocese’s child protection efforts has been its Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment under the direction of Judge Tim O’Malley, who was hired to structure the fledgling office in 2014. He has worked closely with Choi, other RCAO officials and law enforcement as the archdiocese has implemented and adhered to its safe environment policies. During his press conference, Anderson commended O’Malley and his colleague, former Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension head Michael Campion, saying that their internal reviews “have never before been done in that way, with that kind of rigor.” During the archdiocese’s press conference, Archbishop Hebda thanked Kressel; attorneys, including Anderson and his colleague Mike Finnegan, and the archdiocese’s attorneys at Minneapolis-based Briggs and Morgan; Magistrate Arthur Boylan and Paul Van Osselaer, mediators in the bankruptcy process; and Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens, the archdiocese’s priests, faithful, staff and volunteers, including Abood. The resolution of the bankruptcy means another step toward providing justice to survivors, Archbishop Hebda said, but he emphasized that the archdiocese’s work to protect children is not complete. “While today marks the end of a very difficult period for many, today really signals a new beginning,” he said. “The completion of the bankruptcy process allows pursuit of a new day that has many realities — atonement, healing and restoration of trust.” He later added: “I sure hope that for those who have been harmed in the past, that this brings closure for them. We’ve been working with them really carefully to try to formulate this [plan] in a way that benefits them to the maximum. I’m hoping that it will. I know they’ve taken great comfort from the fact that we’ve done so much to do everything that we can to prevent [abuse] from happening to another young person. For most of the survivors I’ve met, that’s the No. 1 goal that they have — making sure that what happened to them never happens to another young person.” In his comments, Abood thanked Archbishop Hebda for his leadership during the bankruptcy process. “He set our course in this matter, he immersed himself in the detail, he kept us focused on a fair and just resolution to this matter,” he said. “He never lost sight of the objective of moving towards a day, another step toward healing, for both survivors and the Church.”
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Tom Abood, chairman of the Archdiocesan Finance Council and the Reorganization Task Force, speaks at a May 31 press conference announcing the joint plan. “We will do everything we can to bring this to a formal conclusion as soon as possible,” he said. During the press conference, Archbishop Hebda thanked Abood, a parishioner of St. Bartholomew in Wayzata, for giving his time and experience to reaching a resolution to the bankruptcy by supervising legal strategy, leading meetings and participating in mediation, noting that Abood “personally negotiated today’s agreement on behalf of the archdiocese.”
Reorganization process key events MAY 2013 The Minnesota State Legislature passes the Minnesota Child Victims Act, which lifted for three years the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse civil suits. JANUARY 2015 Amid mounting historic claims of child sexual abuse by priests and others associated with the Church, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis enters Chapter 11 reorganization under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code as a means to distribute assets equitably and fairly among victims. Mediation between the archdiocese, creditors’ representatives and insurance carriers begins. AUGUST 2015 The court-established deadline passes for all historic claims of child sex abuse against the archdiocese; 453 total claims are made from as far back as the 1940s. More than 67 percent of the claims are from the 1960s and 1970s. JANUARY 2016 The archdiocese sells the first of its three Cathedral Hill properties; it would also sell a residence near Northfield. The sales of all four properties totaled almost $9 million, which was included as abuse survivor remuneration in its plan of reorganization. MAY 2016 The archdiocese files a plan of reorganization, initially offering $65 million for abuse survivor remuneration. Over the course of the next months, it increased that amount — primarily through additional insurance company settlements — to $156 million. JULY 2016 After the Unsecured Creditors Committee, which represents abuse claimants in the bankruptcy proceedings, filed a motion in May 2016 for the assets of parishes, some Catholic high schools and Catholic organizations to be combined with those of the archdiocese, the bankruptcy court judge rules that their assets did not legally require consolidation. The UCC appealed the decision twice, and made its case before the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in December 2017. AUGUST 2016 The UCC files a competing plan of reorganization. MARCH 2017 Both plans of reorganization are sent to creditors including abuse claimants, for a non-binding vote. Most abuse claimants voted for the UCC’s plan. Most other creditors voted for the archdiocese’s plan. AUGUST 2017 The bankruptcy court judge hears oral arguments on objections to the competing plans of reorganization. DECEMBER 2017 The judge denies both plans, and asks the archdiocese, the UCC, parishes and insurers to return to mediation to reach a consensual plan. APRIL 2018 The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds two lower courts’ rulings that the assets of several Catholic institutions, including parishes, are separate from those of the archdiocese, and that they cannot be consolidated with the archdiocese’s assets in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy. MAY 2018 The archdiocese and UCC reach a consensual plan of reorganization, establishing a trust fund of $210 million from archdiocesan funds, insurance settlements and parish contributions. As part of the plan, an independent trustee will distribute the funds to victims/survivors, and parishes will receive a channeling injunction that ends all litigation against them arising from this matter.
6A • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
LOCAL
JUNE 7, 2018
OFFICIAL Archbishop Bernard Hebda has announced the following appointments in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis: Effective June 13, 2018 Reverend Aric Aamodt, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Hubert in Chanhassen. Father Aamodt was ordained to the priesthood on May 26, 2018. Reverend Andrew Jaspers, appointed full time to the faculty of Saint John Vianney College Seminary in Saint Paul. This is a transfer from his current assignment as parochial vicar of the Cathedral of Saint Paul. Reverend Joseph Kuharski, appointed full time to the faculty of Saint John Vianney College Seminary in Saint Paul. This is a transfer from his current assignment as parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Stephen in Anoka and as chaplain to DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis. Reverend Toulee Peter Ly, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of Saint John Neumann in Eagan. Father Ly was ordained to the priesthood on May 26, 2018. Reverend Thomas McCabe, appointed parochial vicar of the parish cluster of the Church of Saint Paul in Zumbrota, the Church of Saint Michael in Pine Island and the Church of the Holy Trinity in Goodhue. This is a transfer from his current assignment as parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Albert in Albertville and the Church of Saint Michael in Saint Michael. Reverend Michael McClellan, appointed full-time chaplain to Providence Academy in Plymouth. This is a transfer from his current assignment as parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Therese in Deephaven. Reverend Bruno Nwachukwu, appointed chaplain to North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale and parttime chaplain to DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis. This is a transfer from his current assignment as parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Hubert in Chanhassen. Reverend Mark Pavlak, appointed full-time chaplain to St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights. This is a transfer from his current assignment as parochial vicar of the Church of Saint John Neumann in Eagan and as parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Joseph in West Saint Paul. Reverend Matthew Shireman, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Stephen in Anoka. Father Shireman was ordained to the priesthood on May 26, 2018. Reverend James Stiles, appointed parochial vicar of the parish cluster of the Church of Saint Mary in Le Center, the Church of Saint Henry in Saint Henry, the Church of Saint Anne in LeSueur, the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Marysburg, and the Church of the Nativity in Cleveland. This is a transfer from his current assignment as parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Odilia in Shoreview and as chaplain of Totino-Grace High School in Fridley.
Reverend John J. Bauer, appointed pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Minnetonka. Father Bauer has been serving as parochial administrator of the same parish. Reverend Andrew Brinkman, appointed pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Saint Paul. Father Brinkman has been serving as parochial administrator of the same parish. Reverend Michael Byron, appointed pastor of the Church of Pax Christi in Eden Prairie. This is a transfer from his current assignment as pastor of the Church of Saint Pascal Baylon in Saint Paul.
Reverend William Murtaugh, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of Pax Christi in Eden Prairie. Father Murtaugh has been serving as pastor at the same parish. Reverend Matthew Northenscold, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of Our Lady of Grace in Edina and to academic studies in canon law. This is a transfer from his current assignment as parochial vicar of the Church of the Divine Mercy in Faribault.
Reverend John Paul Erickson, appointed pastor of the Church of the Transfiguration in Oakdale. This is a transfer from his current assignment as pastor of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Saint Paul and as Director of the Office of Worship for the Archdiocese.
Reverend Marc Paveglio, appointed parochial administrator of the parish cluster of the Church of Saint Rose of Lima and the Church of Corpus Christi in Roseville. This is a transfer from his current assignment as parochial vicar of the Church of Pax Christi in Eden Prairie and as spiritual director at Saint John Vianney College Seminary in Saint Paul.
Reverend Brian Fier, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Patrick in Inver Grove Heights. This is a transfer from his previous assignment as pastor of the Church of Saint Edward in Bloomington. Reverend John Gallas, appointed temporary parochial administrator of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Columbia Heights. Father Gallas will serve in this assignment until July 27, 2018, when Reverend James Peterson begins his assignment at the parish. Reverend John Gallas, appointed formator at the Saint Paul Seminary in Saint Paul. This is a transfer from his previous assignment as pastor of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Loretto. Reverend Nels Gjengdahl, appointed pastor of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin in Bloomington. Father Gjengdahl has been serving as parochial administrator of the same parish. Reverend David Haschka, SJ, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis. This is a transfer from his current assignment as parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Olaf in Minneapolis. Reverend Colin Jones, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of the Epiphany in Coon Rapids for a summer assignment until he returns to Rome for academic studies. Father Jones was ordained to the priesthood on May 26, 2018. Reverend Jonathan Kelly, appointed sacramental minister for the parish cluster of the Church of Saint Rose of Lima in Roseville and the Church of Corpus Christi in Roseville. This is in addition to his assignment as faculty of Saint John Vianney College Seminary in Saint Paul.
Reverend Joseph Zabinski, appointed parochial vicar of the parish cluster of the Church of Saint Albert in Albertville and the Church of Saint Michael in Saint Michael. This is a transfer from his current assignment as parochial vicar of the parish cluster of the Church of Saint Paul in Zumbrota, the Church of Saint Michael in Pine Island and the Church of the Holy Trinity in Goodhue.
Reverend Paul Kubista, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Jude of the Lake in Mahtomedi. Father Kubista has been serving as sacramental minister of the same parish.
Reverend James Adams, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Anne in LeSueur. This is in addition to his current assignment as parochial vicar of the parish cluster of the Church of Saint Mary in Le Center, the Church of Saint Henry in Saint Henry, the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Marysburg and the Church of the Nativity in Cleveland.
Reverend John Mitchell, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Pascal Baylon in Saint Paul. This is a transfer from his current assignment as pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Columbia Heights.
Reverend James Devorak, appointed pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Watertown. This is a transfer from his current assignment as parochial vicar of the parish cluster of the Church of Saint Rose of Lima and the Church of Corpus Christi in Roseville.
Reverend Andrew Stueve, appointed parochial vicar of the parish cluster of the Church of Saint Ignatius in Annandale and the Church of Saint Timothy in Maple Lake. This is a transfer from his previous assignment as pastor of the Church of Saint Anne in LeSueur.
Effective July 1, 2018
Reverend John Meyer, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Ignatius in Annandale. Father Meyer has been serving as parochial administrator of the same parish. This is in addition to his current assignment as pastor of the Church of Saint Timothy in Maple Lake.
Reverend Erik Lundgren, appointed pastor of the Church of Saints Joachim and Anne in Shakopee. Father Lundgren has been serving as parochial administrator of the same parish. Reverend Stanley Mader, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Joseph in Waconia. This is a transfer from his current assignment as pastor of the Church of Saint Ambrose in Woodbury.
Reverend Paul Baker, appointed part-time chaplain to Totino-Grace High School in Fridley. This is in addition to his current assignment as parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Vincent de Paul in Brooklyn Park.
Reverend Thomas Margevicius, appointed Director of the Office of Worship for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Father Margevicius will continue part time in his current assignment as faculty of the Saint Paul Seminary in Saint Paul.
Reverend Neil Bakker, appointed parochial administrator of the Church of Saint John the Baptist in Jordan. This is a transfer from his current assignment as parochial vicar of the Church of Our Lady of Grace in Edina.
Reverend Thomas McKenzie, appointed pastor of the Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Maplewood. Father McKenzie has been serving as parochial administrator of the same parish.
Reverend John Powers, appointed parochial vicar of the parish cluster of the Church of Saint Mary and the Church of Saint Michael in Stillwater. This is a transfer from his current assignment as parochial vicar of the Church of the Nativity of Our Lord in Saint Paul. Reverend Cory Rohlfing, appointed minister to clergy for the Archdiocese. This is in addition to his current assignment as pastor of the Church of Saint Jude of the Lake in Mahtomedi. Reverend Christopher Shofner, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Anne in LeSueur. This is in addition to his current assignment as pastor of the Church of Saint Mary in Le Center and the Church of Saint Henry in Saint Henry. Father Shofner is also appointed pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Marysburg, and the Church of the Nativity in Cleveland, where he is currently serving as parochial administrator. Reverend Jon Bennet Tran, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Stephen in Anoka. This is a transfer from his current assignment as pastor of the Church of Saint Joseph in Waconia. Reverend Benny Mekkatt Varghese, CFIC, appointed pastor of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Saint Paul. This is in addition to his current assignment as pastor of the Church of Saint Mary in Saint Paul. Reverend Nicholas VanDenBroeke, appointed pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Lonsdale. Father VanDenBroeke has been serving as parochial administrator of the same parish. Reverend Peter Williams, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Ambrose in Woodbury. This is a transfer from his current assignment as formator at Saint John Vianney College Seminary in Saint Paul and as minister to clergy for the Archdiocese.
WHAT’S IN A NAME? Priests’ assignment titles circulate around the local Church in the summer months as many clergy change assignments. Each title has a unique designation, based on canon law, reflecting the role for a priest in a parish or institution such as a school or hospital. Here’s a quick look at what each of the titles mean. Pastor: Under the bishop’s authority, the priest has responsibility for the pastoral care and governance of a particular parish — the sacraments, administration and teaching. The assignment is considered stable and long term, usually for six years or more. Parochial administrator: A priest temporarily placed in a parish to fulfill the role of a pastor for the sacraments, administration and teaching. The bishop determines the scope and length of the assignment. In the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, some parochial administrators move on to become pastor at the same parish, while others simply care for a parish until the pastor returns or another is appointed. Locally, parochial administrators report to a supervisory pastor, a priest with experience as a pastor who can offer guidance for the parochial administrator in serving the parish. Parochial vicar: Under the authority of the pastor or parochial administrator, the parochial vicar assists in the pastoral care of the parish. Some parishes informally call parochial vicars “associate pastors.” Sacramental minister: A priest who helps out with the sacraments at a parish. He doesn’t need to live at the parish and typically has a full-time assignment elsewhere, such as to a school or hospital. Chaplain: A priest assigned to provide regular pastoral care for a school, hospital or other non-parish entity, or specific Catholic groups, such as those who worship in a particular language. Rector: A priest in charge of an institution, oftentimes a cathedral, basilica or seminary. If the cathedral or basilica has a parish, then the rector could also serve in a dual role as pastor of the parish community. — Matthew Davis
Reverend Timothy Yanta, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint John the Baptist in Dayton. This is a transfer from his current assignment as pastor of the Church of Saint John the Baptist in Jordan.
Parroquia Jesucristo Resucitado, Puerto Ordaz, Estado, Bolivar, Venezuela.
Effective July 11, 2018
Reverend Robert Fitzpatrick, currently serving as pastor of the parish cluster of the Church of Saint Rose of Lima and the Church of Corpus Christi in Roseville, has been granted the status of a retired priest. Father Fitzpatrick has served the Archdiocese since his ordination in 1973.
Reverend Timothy Wratkowski, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Joseph in West Saint Paul. Father Wratkowski is returning to the Archdiocese after completing academic studies in Rome.
Retirements effective July 1, 2018
Effective July 18, 2018 Reverend Nicholas Hagen, appointed parochial vicar of the Church of the Nativity of Our Lord in Saint Paul, and as chaplain to Convent of the Visitation School in Mendota Heights. Father Hagen is returning to the Archdiocese after completing academic studies in Rome.
Reverend Robert Hart, currently serving as pastor of the Church of Saint Patrick in Inver Grove Heights, has been granted the status of a retired priest. Father Hart has served the Archdiocese since his ordination in 2000. Father Hart will continue in his role as minister to clergy for the Archdiocese.
Effective July 27, 2018 Reverend James Peterson, appointed parochial administrator of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Columbia Heights. This is a transfer from his previous appointment to the Archdiocesan Mission in
Reverend John Long, currently serving as pastor of the Church of Saint Stephen in Anoka, has been granted the status of a retired priest. Father Long has served the Archdiocese since his ordination in 1978.
JUNE 7, 2018
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 7A
NATION+WORLD
High court rules in favor of baker in same-sex wedding cake case By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service In a 7-2 decision June 4, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with a Colorado baker in a case that put antidiscrimination laws up against freedom of speech and freedom of religious expression. Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority, said the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had violated the Constitution’s protection of religious freedom in its ruling against the baker, who refused to make a wedding cake for the same-sex couple. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor dissented. Kennedy noted the case had a limited scope, writing that the issue “must await further elaboration.” Across the country, appeals in similar cases are pending, including another case at the Supreme Court from a florist who didn’t want to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding. The chairmen of three U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ committees said the decision “confirms that people of faith should not suffer discrimination on account of their deeply held religious beliefs, but instead should be respected by government officials.” In a statement they said: “In a pluralistic society like ours, true tolerance allows people with different viewpoints to be free to live out their beliefs, even if those beliefs are unpopular with the government.” The ruling in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission stems from the case argued before the court last December from an incident in 2012 when Charlie Craig and David Mullins asked the Colorado baker, Jack Phillips, to make a cake for their wedding reception. Phillips refused, saying his religious beliefs would not allow him to create a cake honoring their marriage. The couple filed a complaint with the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, which decided the baker’s action violated state law. The decision was upheld by the Colorado Court of Appeals. The Colorado Supreme Court wouldn’t take the case, letting the ruling stand. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case. During oral arguments at the high court, many questions came up about what constituted speech, since the baker claimed he should have freedom of speech protection. The ruling’s opinion honed in on the argument of free speech and religious neutrality, saying the baker’s refusal was based on “sincere religious beliefs
CNS | RICK WILKING, REUTERS
Baker Jack Phillips decorates a cake in his Masterpiece Cakeshop in 2017 in Lakewood, Colo. and convictions” and when the Colorado Civil Rights Commission considered this case, the court said, “it did not do so with the religious neutrality that the Constitution requires.” The court opinion also noted the delicate balance at stake in this case, saying: “Our society has come to the recognition that gay persons and gay couples cannot be treated as social outcasts or as inferior in dignity and worth. For that reason, the laws and the Constitution can, and in some instances must, protect them in the exercise of their civil rights. The exercise of their freedom on terms equal to others must be given great weight and respect by the courts. At the same time, the religious and philosophical objections to gay marriage are protected views and in some instances protected forms of expression.” But delving further, the court deemed the specific cake in question was an artistic creation, not just a baked good. It said, “If a baker refused to sell any goods or any cakes for gay weddings, that would be a different matter,” noting that the state would have a strong case that this would be a denial of goods and services going beyond protected rights of a baker. Here, the court said the issue was the baker’s argument that he “had to use his artistic skills to make an expressive statement, a wedding endorsement in his own voice and of his own creation.”
Number of immigrant kids at border growing By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service Since Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a “zero tolerance” policy for immigrants crossing illegally into the United States, resulting in children being separated from their families, the number of minors in U.S. custody has grown by nearly 2,000. At the same time, the federal government has only about 1,300 beds left before it has to tap into an existing network of 100 shelters in 14 states. “The situation is dire,” said Jill Marie Bussey, advocacy director for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network. Sessions announced the policy May 7. As of April 29, there were 8,886 migrant children in U.S. custody. By May 29, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department figures put the number at 10,773. These numbers don’t include the 1,475 children who had been placed with sponsors between October and December 2017 but cannot be accounted for by HHS. While the government made follow-up phone calls to the sponsors, not every sponsor could be contacted, or had returned a phone message. There had been alarm expressed over the Memorial Day weekend that, with the imposition of the zerotolerance policy, immigrant children arriving in the United States had been separated from their parents
and promptly lost. While that is not the case, HHS Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan said May 28, the Cabinet agency’s follow-up calls are not considered required. The HHS refugee office historically has said it is not legally responsible for children once they have been placed. Bussey disagrees “They don’t perceive themselves to be responsible for those children any longer, but the truth is we all are,” she told Catholic News Service during a May 30 telephone interview from Tucson, Arizona, where CLINIC was sponsoring a conference. Effects of the imposition of zero tolerance are being felt not just in the U.S. desert, but at ports of call, according to Jesuit Father Sean Carroll, executive director of the Kino Border Initiative, with dual offices in Nogales — Arizona on the U.S. side of the border, Sonora state on the Mexico side. “We have about 89 people at the port of entry Miguel, Sonora, waiting to be received by U.S. Customs. Most are from Guatemala. As of this morning, there were 89 people, and 57 of them were children,” Father Carroll said May 30. “Some, the majority, are with their families; some are unaccompanied [minors].” While Customs usually makes a near-immediate determination of the strength of asylum-seekers’ cases, now “people are waiting,” Father Carroll added.
in BRIEF So-called honor killing in Catholic family shocks Indian state COCHIN, India — The murder of a socially poor Dalit Catholic man who had married a woman belonging to an upper-caste Syrian Christian family has fueled protests across India’s southern state of Kerala. Kevin Joseph, 26, a member of Vijayapuram Diocese, was murdered in a so-called honor killing May 28, five days after he married 20-year-old Neenu Chacko of an affluent Christian family in Kollam district against the wishes of some members of her family, ucanews.com reported. The man was dragged out of his house in Kottayam district with his cousin and taken away by a gang allegedly hired by the girl’s family, police said. His body was later found in a stream in Kollam district. His cousin was released. The victim’s father and wife told local media they approached police soon after the kidnapping, but that officers refused to respond. Neenu named her brother Shanu Chacko and 11 people as responsible for the crime. Most gang members belong to the Democratic Youth Federation of India, a youth wing associated with Kerala’s ruling communist alliance. Police arrested some youth federation members in connection with the murder.
Two-year process to revise bishops’ protection charter nears completion NEW ORLEANS — The chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People said a two-year project to revise the charter that guides the U.S. Church in protecting minors from sexual abuse is nearly ready to be presented to the full body of bishops. Lafayette Bishop Timothy Doherty, the committee chairman, told the 13th annual Child and Youth Protection Catholic Leadership Conference in New Orleans that the proposed revisions of the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” will be discussed and voted on at the bishops’ June 13-14 spring general assembly in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Pope names Polish archbishop as apostolic visitor to Medjugorje VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has named as apostolic visitor to Medjugorje the Polish archbishop he had initially sent to the town as his personal envoy to study the pastoral needs of the townspeople and of the thousands of pilgrims who flock to the site of the alleged Marian apparitions. Archbishop Henryk Hoser, the retired archbishop of Warsaw-Praga, Poland, will be apostolic visitor to Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, for an indefinite period, the Vatican announced May 31. “The mission of the apostolic visitor has the aim of assuring a stable and continuous accompaniment of the parish community of Medjugorje and of the faithful who go there in pilgrimage, whose needs require special attention,” the Vatican announcement said. Greg Burke, director of the Vatican press office, told journalists that Archbishop Hoser “will reside in Medjugorje” and that his mission does not involve investigating the authenticity of the alleged apparitions. Archbishop Hoser’s mission “is strictly pastoral and not doctrinal,” Burke said.
More annulment processes done for free, Vatican statistics show VATICAN CITY — Implementation of Pope Francis’ abbreviated process for declaring the nullity of a marriage got off to a slow start, Vatican statistics showed, but his encouragement for making the annulment process free for petitioners fared better. Many dioceses in the United States and Canada already had been subsidizing all or part of the costs involved in the process when, in 2015, Pope Francis issued documents reforming part of the annulment processes. The documents encouraged bishops to fully fund their marriage tribunals and not charge petitioners. Pope Francis, in the same documents, introduced an abbreviated process by which a diocesan bishop can issue a declaration of nullity. — Catholic News Service
NATION+WORLD
8A • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
JUNE 7, 2018
Journalist takes aim at fake papal news By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service From the moment of his election, Pope Francis’ down-to-earth take on communicating the Gospel has led to countless front-page headlines either praising or criticizing him. But his disarming and sometimes even blunt style also has meant he has become a popular target of “fake news.” In fact, there is enough of it out there to fill a book. When the pope speaks unguardedly, “there is a risk that some of his expressions can be manipulated or interpreted incorrectly,” Italian journalist Nello Scavo told Catholic News Service. However, he added, “I absolutely think he should not change his style.” “Every priest on Sunday, when he delivers a homily, takes a risk when speaking,” Scavo said. “And the pope, in this way, acts like a pastor. In this sense, he has become a ‘global pastor.’” Despite the risk of his words being misinterpreted, the pope’s candid way of speaking brings a sense of closeness not just to Catholics, but also to people of different faiths. “In my travels I have noticed, especially in the Islamic world, a change of attitude toward Rome, toward the pope, because he is able to overcome the barriers of official communications and is able to reach all people, even the humblest ones,” Scavo said. An investigative journalist for the Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire, Scavo ran across countless stories about and doctored photos of the pope while conducting research for his 2015 book, “Francis’ Enemies.” He compiled the most popular fake news stories — and debunks them — in his new book, “Fake Pope: The False News about Pope Francis.” The book, released in Italian May 25, includes copies of digitally manipulated photos that have spread online during the five years Pope Francis has been pope. One photo shows the pope greeting the . E .. LE AT ILAB L S OO VA T T E A NEY NO PAC OUR S J ILL LL ST ON A
CNS | COURTESY SAN PAOLO
The cover of “Fake Pope: The False News about Pope Francis” by Italian journalist Nello Scavo. The Italian book compiles and debunks the most popular false news stories about the pope. crowds from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica moments after his election. In the shot, horns have been added to the pope’s shadow. Scavo’s book displays the original — obviously hornless — photo as well. “Many thought that there was truly the shadow of the devil behind the pope in the moment of his appearance in the loggia,” Scavo said. The book also has a photo, which was posted on an Instagram account claiming to be affiliated with the Vatican, that purports to be the first papal selfie. The photo made headlines and was even featured on CNN. But in reality, it was a screenshot from a video chat Pope Francis held with young men and women from around the world during a 2015 event sponsored by Scholas Occurrentes. While fake news stories and photos are often laughable, Scavo said, they also reveal “how much violence there is in the media against” the pope. When the world was introduced
to Pope Francis and people were trying to figure out who he was, several false stories and doctored photos were published. “Pope Francis’ entire life has always been marked by calumnies, slander and false information,” Scavo told CNS. To prove that statement, the Italian journalist included in his book several doctored photographs from the pope’s earlier years in his native Argentina. One claims to show a young Jorge Mario Bergoglio being held by Evita Peron standing alongside her husband, Argentine President Juan Peron. Aside from the difference in color between the child in the photo and Peron, Scavo noted that the pope was between the ages of 10-19 during Peron’s presidency, much older than the child in the photo. Another photo Scavo mentions in his book is of a priest — erroneously identified as a young Father Bergoglio — giving Communion to Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla. The picture, which was shared widely on the internet, was considered proof that the new pope supported a right-wing dictatorship responsible for the deaths and disappearance of an estimated 30,000 people. While researching his first book, “Bergoglio’s List,” Scavo gathered testimonies that proved the pope had instead saved the lives of nearly 100 people targeted by the dictatorship. With the gamut of false reports ranging from the ridiculous to distorted half-truths, Scavo told CNS that false news continues to be used as a “weapon of mass distraction” by both pranksters and groups with clear agendas not only to discredit Pope Francis but “to turn people’s attentions from the real problems.” “He is a pope that evidently bothers some people, that makes some people uncomfortable,” Scavo said. “But fake news makes money because some internet sites have greatly increased their visibility thanks to false information.”
HEADLINES
CNS | MAX ROSSI, REUTERS
Protesters hold banners on a bridge in Dublin to persuade voters as Ireland held a referendum on its law on abortion May 25.
uVoters in Ireland pave way for abortion on demand. Results from the nationwide referendum May 25 showed that 66.4 percent of citizens opted to remove the Eighth Amendment from the constitution — which protected unborn babies’ right to life — while 33.6 percent voted to retain it. Bishop Brendan Leahy of Limerick told Massgoers May 26 that the result “is deeply regrettable and chilling for those of us who voted ‘no.’” uWomen at conference speak up about #MeToo movement, sexual revolution. Drawing on the “Humanae Vitae” and on past and current events, panelists at a May 31 event in Washington offered their “second thoughts” on the consequences of the sexual revolution as manifested in #MeToo movement. uVatican asks German bishops to set aside plans for eucharistic sharing. Pope Francis has asked the Catholic bishops’ conference of Germany not to publish nationwide guidelines for allowing Protestants married to Catholics to receive Communion, but to continue having diocesan bishops judge specific situations. uCardinal: Communion cannot be shared with friends like beer or cake. Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze said any moves to give greater access to Communion to divorced and remarried Catholics and to non-Catholic spouses of Catholics represented “serious” challenges to the teaching of the Church on the Eucharist, and he implicitly objected to interpretations of “Amoris Laetitia” that would permit divorced and remarried Catholics who had not received an annulment to receive Communion in certain circumstances. uPriest: ‘Ninja’ show a way to proclaim Gospel using his God-given talents. An Arkansas Catholic priest took his ninja name “Father Flex” national as a contestant on the new season of the NBC reality show “American Ninja Warrior,” which debuted May 30. Read the stories at TheCatholicSpirit.com.
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JUNE 7, 2018
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 9A
FAITH+CULTURE
St. Paul principal awarded for welcoming disabled student By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit
O
ne Catholic school’s “yes” to a physically disabled student has made it possible for the sixth-grader to flourish this year at minimal cost to the school, while earning its principal a national award for inclusion. Pat Lofton, 52, principal of St. Thomas More Catholic School in St. Paul, received the National Catholic Board on Full Inclusion’s Dandy Award May 29 for not hesitating to enroll 11-year-old Nathan Leber, who uses a wheelchair and requires some assistance because of a spinal cord-related disability. “We can meet kids who have diverse needs, and we can do it well,” Lofton said. “But at the heart of it is love, compassion and an understanding that these kids are no different than anybody else. They may have physical or intellectual challenges, but they can be successful here, and it’s not about money.” The boy’s mother, Lisa Datta, 48, submitted Lofton’s name for the award after her lengthy search for a Catholic school yielded many “noes” from schools that told her they lacked accessible facilities or sufficient staff. While archdiocesan schools seek to accommodate most students, the support and help from St. Thomas More school’s staff and 225 prekindergarten through eighth-grade students are inspired by values of diversity and inclusion promoted by the Jesuit-led community. At the school, Leber has improved his grades and participates in extracurricular activities. The National Catholic Board on Full Inclusion is a California-based nonprofit seeking full inclusion in Catholic schools for students with disabilities. The organization’s Dandy Award is given semi-annually to a person or group showing inclusivity in Catholic
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Pat Lofton, right, principal of St. Thomas More Catholic School in St. Paul, hugs sixth-grader Nathan Leber after Leber and his mother, Lisa Datta, left, informed him May 29 that he was the recipient of the National Catholic Board on Full Inclusion’s Dandy Award. education without a formal system, guidance or financial incentives. Leber has spina bifida, a birth defect in which the spinal cord doesn’t develop correctly and is subject to damage. Nerves in his legs, bowel and bladder don’t function. He requires an elevator and a wheelchair accessible bathroom, along with some additional teacher assistance. In 2016, Datta decided to enroll him in a Catholic school because of her own
Simplify Your Giving
experience attending Catholic schools and because she wasn’t satisfied with his progress in a Minneapolis public school, despite special needs assistance. “I didn’t feel that many of the teachers were really invested in Nathan’s success,” said Datta, who also has a 4-year-old son and belongs to Assumption in St. Paul. “I think it came to a head when he was in fifth grade and he started losing assignments.” Datta contacted Catholic schools and found some were unable to make their older buildings accessible. Others seemed skeptical of the burden on staff they thought Leber could present. At St. Thomas More last spring, she met with Lofton, who was just preparing to start as principal. Datta described her situation in detail and Lofton responded immediately, “Your son will learn here, and we will learn from him.” The school didn’t need physical modifications to accept Leber, who also hasn’t required as many of the services he received in public school, Datta said. Jesuit Father Warren Sazama, St. Thomas More’s pastor, praised efforts to make Leber comfortable. “I think the way the students have accepted that young man in a wheelchair was really beautiful,” he said. “They just don’t blink. They accept him, and he’s just a really happy kid who’s very much a part of the school community.” St. Thomas More staff have helped Leber improve writing and handwriting, and he’s getting an “A” in math, Datta said. Because of brain surgeries, Leber has organization and memory challenges, and his teachers have helped with this, she said. Lofton said he’s happy to receive the award but that it belongs to the St. Thomas More community. “Obstacles are not really obstacles,” he said. “They are part of life’s journey. ... This entire community came together to serve Nate, and we’re committed to serving kids.”
FAITH+CULTURE
10A • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
JUNE 7, 2018
Citizen advocacy key to MCC’s 2018 legislative efforts By Joe Towalski The Visitor
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he work of state lawmakers may be over following the end of the 2018 legislative session. But the work of citizens concerned about human dignity and the common good must continue, particularly with an eye toward elections this fall, said Jason Adkins, executive director of Minnesota Catholic Conference. Minnesotans will elect two U.S. senators, a governor and the entire membership of the state House in November. “These are going to be decisive votes in many ways,” Adkins said. “This is a great opportunity for Catholics to get to know and build relationships with elected officials and their opponents, who may get elected this fall, and talk to them about important issues.” MCC, the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Minnesota, focused a lot of attention this session on helping Catholics to build those relationships and equipping them with the tools to educate and lobby lawmakers. It sponsored three “Capitol 101” sessions to inform Catholics about key issues and help them better understand the legislative process. And its Catholic Advocacy Network worked to keep people updated on policy topics and how to take action. Adkins credited such efforts in helping to pass a human trafficking and pornography bill — one of MCC’s priorities this session — that requires authorities to further study the connections between human trafficking cases and pornography. The measure, signed into law by Gov. Mark Dayton, also sends funds collected from child pornography convictions to the Safe Harbor program, which assists sex trafficking victims. “It was phenomenal to see the discussion about the public health epidemic of pornography at the Legislature and people on both sides of the aisle unanimously coming together to get this passed,” Adkins said. The effort illustrates the importance of citizens using their voices to create a sense of urgency on an issue, he said. And it shows that it’s possible to get something important done even when
state government is divided between a Republican-led Legislature and Democratic governor. “This is a perfect example of working incrementally to move the ball forward on key issues … to improve the common good,” Adkins said. “We didn’t ban JASON ADKINS pornography. We didn’t solve the human trafficking problem. What we did is connect the two conceptually in the public eye and lay the foundation for future action in this arena. That is an extraordinary success in my view.”
and repair existing affordable housing, according to the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition, which includes MCC. uPhysician-assisted suicide: There was no movement on this issue by proponents during the 2018 session, Adkins said, but “elections can change things so vigilance is ever required on the issue, and it will continue to be a key priority.” The MCC has worked against efforts to legalize the practice in the state, including as part of a coalition called the Minnesota Alliance for Ethical Healthcare. The future of the debate could be greatly impacted by whether the American Medical Association accepts a report by one of its subcommittees encouraging the body to retain its opposition to assisted suicide, he said. The AMA House of Delegates will consider the issue at its meeting June 9-13 in Chicago.
More work ahead Other MCC priorities faced more difficult challenges at the Legislature, but there were still successes on an educational level, Adkins noted. uCommercial gestational surrogacy: This was the first session in which people concerned about surrogacy put forward a bill to regulate the practice and ban commercial arrangements in which the surrogates and their brokers would receive compensation. “We had a lot of success in educating legislators and getting authors for our bill,” Adkins said. “We knew the governor was not going to sign it, so we really focused this session on educating people about the issue. The work on surrogacy will go on. We will continue to advocate for a strong legal framework for limiting it and especially banning the commercial aspect.” uWastewater recycling: The MCC supported a proposal to implement wastewater recycling and use so-called “gray water” in construction projects to cut down on waste and reduce the burden of wastewater recycling on local governments. A bill was introduced but did not move forward. “It’s an ongoing discussion,” Adkins said. uAffordable housing: Dayton signed a bonding bill that included $50 million in unrestricted bonds for affordable housing, $30 million for supportive housing for those with behavioral health needs and $10 million in General Obligation Bonds to protect
uSports gambling: The JRLC network was able to stop a bill from moving forward that would have expanded sports gambling in Minnesota. It will likely return as an issue in a future legislative session. “Every dollar a parent spends on gambling is something that’s not being invested for their child’s future, for the well-being of their family,” Adkins said.
Having an impact As the state looks ahead to the fall elections, Catholics interested in educating others — including legislators — on issues that promote human dignity and the common good can use the MCC’s Catholic Advocacy Network as a resource. Sign up at mncatholic.org and click on “Join the Catholic Advocacy Network.” MCC is also planning another Catholics at the Capitol event. It will be held Feb. 19, 2019, at the RiverCentre in St. Paul. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, will be among the speakers. More details will be released at a later time. Last year’s Catholics at the Capitol drew more than 1,000 people from around the state to listen to issue briefings and meet with state legislators.
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JUNE 7, 2018
FAITH+CULTURE
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 11A
Retired priest hopes to save childhood church building from demolition By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit
F
rom his dining room window, Father John Forliti has a front-row seat to the daily rhythms of the Twin Cities German Immersion School in St. Paul’s Como Park neighborhood. Two houses to the right of the playground sits his childhood home. To the left is the former church of St. Andrew, a place that was central to his formative years, and a building he is now working to save. Father Forliti, 81, has teamed with other neighbors and preservation-minded citizens to encourage the school to find a way to continue to use the former church, rather than demolish it to make way for new construction better suited to the school’s needs. St. Andrew was founded in 1895 and used two other church buildings before building in 1927 the brick, Byzantinestyle church with a colorful tile roof that became a neighborhood hub. In 1989, St. Andrew’s school merged with nearby Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s school, and in 2011, St. Andrew parish merged with Maternity of Mary’s parish. After the merger, the immersion school, a public charter school, purchased the property, which includes the former church building and school campus. TCGIS remodeled the school and church, using the latter as its “aula,” or auditorium, and gym, with a lunchroom in the basement. In March, the school’s plan to demolish the building to build more classroom space were publicized. The plan concerned some neighbors who value the building and thought they should have been consulted earlier in the process. Those neighbors and their sympathizers attended a TCGIS school board meeting May 23, many wearing orange, the color of the signs dotting yards around the school. Organized as “Save Historic St. Andrew’s,” they shared their concerns during an open forum and asked for a different solution to the school’s space dilemma. Among the speakers was Father Forliti, who said the building should be valued by TCGIS because it represented the contributions of immigrants to the Twin Cities and the achievement of the American dream. He said he wanted the school and community to work together, and he wished the school well. Save Historic St. Andrew’s supporters asked the school to push the plan off until 2020 to give time for another unforeseen option to emerge, with the hope of ultimately saving the building. The board voted to reject Save Historic St. Andrew’s petition requesting the delay, but it also paused its own process, as facility committee chairman Nic Ludwig, who has led the plan’s formation, said he was looking into a newly presented option. Ludwig declined to comment for this story. The news that another option is being explored heartened Teri Alberico, 58, who leads the Save Historic St. Andrew’s effort. A neighbor since 1986, Alberico never attended the church and isn’t motivated by spiritual nostalgia, but rather her conviction that the church gives the neighborhood its sense of place. “That church is an anchor for the community,” she said. “The building is
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Father John Forliti stands in his yard June 5 next to the concrete cross that once rested atop the former St. Andrew church across the street. much more important to the neighborhood than it is to the school. The problem is, once that building is gone, then this neighborhood is stuck with whatever they decide to put up. ... They can be part of our legacy, but they don’t have to come in and create some different legacy for this neighborhood.” For Father Forliti, the effort is personal. St. Andrew was the center of his family’s spiritual and social life in the 1940s and 1950s, at a time when families were large, and there were a lot of children in the neighborhood, he recalled. The church is where he was baptized, gave his first confession and received first Communion. As a seminarian, he worked on a summer crew to build the current school building. And, after his ordination to the priesthood in 1962, the church is where he said his Mass of Thanksgiving, consecrating wine his father had made for the occasion. Two years later to the day of that Mass, he officiated there at his father’s funeral. Now retired from full-time ministry, Father Forliti lives in the house his parents purchased after he had left home. Like Alberico, he isn’t arguing for the former church’s preservation merely for its religious significance, but for what it represents in the community’s history. He emphasized that he wants the community and school to collaborate, not fight over the former church’s future, but he has questions about how large the school needs to grow; how it expects to address existing traffic problems, especially with more students; and why it bought the former church in the first place if the building didn’t fit its needs. Father Forliti said that if the building is saved, the school retains a “magnificent architectural gem” and community “icon,” and the neighbors’ goodwill, and it will gain the gratitude from preservation-minded citizens, recognition for promoting the environment through adaption and reuse, and “the positive outcomes that result from lessons learned when the past is not destroyed but honored.” In the process, he’s reflected on the sacrifice that was required from the community to build the church. “These are common, ordinary folks, mainly immigrant,” he said of the church’s parishioners at the time it was constructed. “And it’s an incredibly beautiful building.”
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12A • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
JUNE 7, 2018
FOCUSONFAITH SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER JOHN PAUL ERICKSON
The stakes of discipleship
The Jesus of the Gospels is direct and challenging, even as the words he says are full of truth and light and grace. He is the Prince of Peace, but it is a hard peace, the price of which is too much for many — total surrender to the will of God, a will that includes the forgiveness of enemies, genuine love of the poor and a resolutely humble heart. The Lord has come to do battle with the enemy, the enemy that led our first parents astray so many years ago in the Garden of Eden, the very garden about which we hear in the first reading for June 10. The words of the Lord’s Prayer, “deliver us from evil,” express not just the existential reality of evil in the world, but evil at its most intense and hate-filled — the diabolical and demonic. The exorcisms in the Gospels describe not the ancient world’s embarrassing misdiagnosis of mental illness, but the revealed fact that Christ has come to “bind the strong man,” that is, Satan and his legion, and to rob this dreadful enemy of his spoils — the souls and destinies of men and women so very precious to the Father. But the Lord has also come to challenge those conventions and connections that we hold dear in our lives, even those conventions and connections that are by their nature good and necessary. The Lord’s troubling response to the loving concern of his mother and his brethren — all of whom have come to simply make sure he is alright despite the jeers and accusations of the crowd — is startling, and not unlike the equally troubling tone of those other words spoken by the Lord to his mother in the Gospel of John: “Woman, what does this have to do with me?” Hardly the words one would expect from a doting son, let alone the Son of God.
ASK FATHER MIKE | FATHER MICHAEL SCHMITZ
How do we find freedom amidst suffering?
Q. I don’t understand how I am free.
I didn’t choose to exist. I’m stuck here. I didn’t choose to have anxiety and depression. I’m stuck. Life is not worth it. If God is so good, why doesn’t he do something? Why doesn’t he give me an answer?
A. Thank you for writing. I want to make sure that I
communicate to you that I hear your sincerity and the amount of difficulty you have been going through. It sounds like you have been doing your best to make the efforts to get help. Further, it sounds like you have been doing your best to be patient with trying to make sense of where God is present in what you’ve been going through. Because of that, I understand that there are no easy answers. You have investigated many of them, and they are not enough. At the same time, I want to recap some things that you might already know. First, it is unlikely that you have “done something” to add to your current state of mental illness, pain and suffering. It is unlikely that this is your fault in some way. I say that with this caveat: That does not mean that you are powerless. You ask if you are free. Yes, you are, at least in the sense that you have a very powerful thing called “agency.” You are correct in asserting that you did not choose to be born, and you did not choose to have depression. There are some things that are indeed beyond your control. But that does not automatically make you a victim. When a person has been beaten up in the ways that you have, one of the most powerful temptations is toward discouragement and despair. Discouragement is most pronounced when a person has been overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness or meaninglessness. It sounds like you have been affected by both. In your letter, you said that you have tried therapy, and it hasn’t resulted in significant changes yet. Because of that, you feel helpless. You have also questioned whether God is actively involved in any of this (and that, if he is, it seems like he is merely
But Christ’s words, “Who is my mother and my brother?” are, of course, not meant to hurt his mother. They are for the sake of the crowd and for the disciples who, over the centuries, would pause at the proclamation of this scene and wonder why the Lord could not simply have gone out to say hello to his mom. It seems to me that the answer lies in the radical call given to all Christians at their baptism. We now belong to the Lord and to the family that is the Church. Our friendships and familial bonds, so deep and real and good, must always take a back seat to discipleship. This is hard, and it’s not always clear how it is best lived in the awkwardness of life and the messiness of our world and our families. We know that often times, praise God, there is no contradiction between following the Lord and being a good brother or sister or son or daughter. But, at times, conflict between obligations exists, and when faced with these challenges, the Lord and the narrow way must come first. But lest anyone get the wrong idea, this narrow way does not always just mean turning down invitations to family get-togethers or weddings that are problematic. It can also mean advocating for forgiveness when those we love seek vengeance. It can also mean lending a helping hand to the poor and weak when others try to convince us that “they” have made their own bed, and now it’s time they lie in it. And it can also mean excusing oneself early from a Saturday night party with friends and family because you know that you need to give God your best on Sunday morning. The Lord is a loving savior, but he is also deadly serious about the stakes involved in discipleship, stakes that can demand difficult decisions in our life and a willingness to put discipleship before everything else. It is hard. But with the Blessed Mother’s help, the woman who heard the word of God and believed, we, too, can crush the head of the serpent. Father Erickson is the director of the Office of Worship for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and pastor of Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul. indifferent to your suffering). Because of that, you are tempted toward meaninglessness. You have experienced real pain. What is it that you want? What I mean is: I know that you are saying that you simply want relief from the suffering. You are saying that you want answers; you want God to speak to you. I sense that, by having that relief or by having those answers, you believe that you will be able to be happy. I understand that. But there are some things that are even more important than those good things. You want to know that your life has meaning. This is the heart of your question. Even the fact that you are asking if there is such a thing as free will is connected to this essential question. When we look at it from this perspective, you reveal that you are not a victim, and you know that you are not a victim. But in the midst of these trials, it is important to receive some kind of confirmation that you are not helpless, and this is not hopeless. You are not helpless because you are not merely a victim of your situation. You have agency. You can choose. You can act. You are not free to change the past or to guarantee the future. But you do have real power. Here is a small example of what I mean. I have a friend who has been dealing with a chronic injury for a few years now. He is an active young man, and this injury has not only kept him from his normal sporting activities, but is also more or less constant. He deals with it all day, and it can even wake him up some nights. He has gone to doctors and physical therapists and has done all of his therapy as directed. But still, the pain persists. After spending so much time and effort focusing on every attempt he can to remove the pain, another friend offered him advice he found incredibly helpful. He invited my friend to let go of seeing “remove the pain” as the condition for his being able to engage with life. He invited him to reevaluate what his criteria for “happiness” was. Could he find meaning even without healing? This reoriented his thinking and his desires, and enabled him to remember that he has power, freedom, meaning and joy even in the midst of his suffering. I believe that this can be true for you as well. Yes, you experience real pain. You might have freedom from that pain. You might not. But you do have meaning. In Jesus Christ, the God who has set you free and who knows you by name and who loves you, you have real power. You have the ability to work with your circumstances and to work with God’s grace. Please do not give up, my friend. Father Schmitz is director of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Duluth and chaplain of the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Reach him at fathermikeschmitz@gmail.com.
DAILY Scriptures Sunday, June 10 Tenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Gn 3:9-15 2 Cor 4:13–5:1 Mk 3:20-35 Monday, June 11 St. Barnabas, apostle Acts 11:21b-26; 12:1-3 Mt 5:1-12 Tuesday, June 12 1 Kgs 17:7-16 Mt 5:13-16 Wednesday, June 13 St. Anthony of Padua, priest and doctor of the Church 1 Kgs18:20-39 Mt 5:17-19 Thursday, June 14 1 Kgs 18:41-46 Mt 5:20-26 Friday, June 15 1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-16 Mt 5:27-32 Saturday, June 16 1 Kgs 19:19-21 Mt 5:33-37 Sunday, June 17 Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Ez 17:22-24 2 Cor 5:6-10 Mk 4:26-34 Monday, June 18 1 Kgs 21:1-16 Mt 5:38-42 Tuesday, June 19 1 Kgs 21:17-29 Mt 5:43-48 Wednesday, June 20 2 Kgs 2:1, 6-14 Mt 6:1-6, 16-18 Thursday, June 21 St. Aloysius Gonzaga, religious Sir 48:1-14 Mt 6:7-15 Friday, June 22 2 Kgs 11:1-4, 9-18, 20 Mt 6:19-23 Saturday, June 23 2 Chr 24:17-25 Mt 6:24-34 Sunday, June 24 Nativity of St. John the Baptist Is 49:1-6 Acts 13:22-26 Lk 1:57-66, 80
JUNE 7, 2018
COMMENTARY TWENTY SOMETHING | CHRISTINA CAPECCHI
Oh, Susanna! The poetry and pro-life power of baby names
The big news from the Social Security Administration is the ousting of a champion: Liam has dethroned Noah as the nation’s most popular boy name. This was the headline of its newly released baby-name report, an annual synthesis of Social Security card applications from the past year that offers a fascinating cultural statement and doubles as a tip sheet for expectant parents. Those hoping to avoid preschool confusion and the fate of forever appending the first initial of their last name may want to eschew Emma, which secured the No. 1 spot among girl names for the fourth consecutive year, as well as Olivia and Ava, which held their ground at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Our love of a ‘v’ sound buoyed by vowels was also reflected in a few newcomers to the top 10, including Oliver (No. 9) and Evelyn (No. 9). New moms are dusting off their grandmothers’ names, but they’re threading that antique lace to red bandanna, according to the list of names that made the biggest leaps in popularity. A gust of Wild-West spunk emerged in 2017 with the likes of Oaklynn, Oaklee, Luella and Sunny, alongside fast-galloping boy names like Wells, Wilder and Ridge. Among those who read the report with great interest was a pregnant mom in upstate New York who posted the top 10 to Instagram and commented on Logan’s surge to No. 5.
SIMPLE HOLINESS | KATE SOUCHERAY
To love, to honor — and to have fun
It’s summertime, and with the longer days and warmer weather, we are reminded to have fun with our spouse. That’s not always easy. When there are financial pressures to manage, children or grandchildren to worry about, and work or other obligations that demand our time and attention, our spouse sometimes ends up at the bottom of our list. However, finding time to spend with our spouse in a fun and loving way helps sustain the closeness of the unique relationship, which was the basis for the marriage in the beginning. We would not have married someone we didn’t like or have interests in common with, but as the pressures and stresses of life build up, it seems the fun might wane, and we might forget why we are together. In the beginning, couples likely do not anticipate such a change from the fun of marriage to the responsibility. And yet, after the wedding and the honeymoon, the reality of marriage sets in. Adding children to the mix can invigorate, as well as complicate, a marriage. Unfortunately, as the length of the marriage increases, so do the issues and problems a couple faces. Hopefully, couples have the resources necessary to withstand these difficulties, and they do not succumb to the seemingly all-too-common feeling that they have nothing in common, with little reason to stay together.
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 13A
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For $50, she will contemplate a couple’s preferences, factor in names of the baby’s siblings, scan the saints, conduct research, tap into her exhaustive knowledge, examine her instincts and pray — all leading up to the formulation of at least five suggestions for each gender. i STO
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Kate Towne has a trained eye — not only because she has named six sons with her husband, but also because the 39-year-old stay-at-home mom is the preeminent Catholic baby naming consultant. Kate is paid to provide consultations for expectant parents based on her proven expertise, showcased delightfully on her popular blog “Sancta Nomina,” Latin for “holy names.” For $50, she will contemplate a couple’s preferences, factor in names of the baby’s siblings, scan the saints, conduct research, tap into her exhaustive knowledge, examine her instincts and pray — all leading up to the formulation of at least five suggestions for each gender. Until you’ve read Kate’s consultations, you can’t appreciate the value this provides to a pregnant woman scratching her head over baby names as she launders onesies and writes baby-shower thank-you cards or evicts a toddler from the nursery. There’s proof in the pudding: Countless clients have named a child with one of Kate’s picks. Her interest in names was first influenced by her mom, an Irish poet. Kate has always filed away surprising selections and winsome pairings, scrolling favorite names in a notebook at age 14. Today Kate appreciates the pro-life power of a name, personalizing a baby in utero and conferring it with dignity. She marvels over her unexpected ministry — a term she didn’t initially think in until a
ACTION CHALLENGE This weekend, talk with your spouse about having fun during the month of June. Plan a date night, even if it’s just a trip to get an ice cream cone and a walk around a lake together. Make time to enjoy each other’s company.
In light of this, marriage researcher Arthur Aron states that finding fun in marriage, through engaging in experiences with our spouse that are novel and unique, activates the reward center of the brain, helping each person in the relationship feel more connected to the other, as well as increasing his or her own sense of well-being. The month of June is a great time to participate in novel outings that can serve to unite you and your spouse by creating the very experiences that will help reignite your love for each other. You could plan a trip out to dinner that involves a carriage ride in the park, or go to an outdoor concert with food trucks that serve all sorts of delicious dinner options. You could take a drive to the country, away from city lights, and enjoy star-gazing. Or you could explore a new area together and stop for lunch at a small-town restaurant and just enjoy the scenery and quiet of each other’s company. The key, Aron states, is to do something out of the ordinary that helps you to be in the moment, not distracted by cellphones, deadlines or other interruptions, so you can enjoy each other’s company in an innovative, special way. As the reward-center of the brain lights up, the natural response infuses the marriage with a spark that reminds the couple why they fell in love in the first place. As adults, it’s important that we continue to play and involve ourselves in pleasurable activities,
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reader used it. “I’m so blessed that my funny little interest has turned into something amazing that actually helps other people and gives glory to God,” she said. It goes to show that ministries can’t be confined to a narrow box, she adds. Many of her friends also have discovered novel avenues for their God-given talents, with outcomes they’d never imagined on a timeline entirely his. She’s counting on perfect timing to decide the name of her seventh baby, due September, whose gender she’s kept unknown. Agreeing on a boy name is difficult, having already named six. Pregnancy after pregnancy, her chosen girl name has not wavered: Susanna, honoring her mom (Susanne), her grandma (Anna) and St. Susanna. Kate can refer to her new book, “Catholic Baby Names for Girls and Boys: Over 250 Ways to Honor Our Lady,” and hope for grace from the novena she’s praying to St. Gerard, patron saint of pregnant women. Ultimately, she’s confident the name will feel right, chosen for a baby to be embraced by a band of brothers, steeped in Catholic tradition and swaddled in love. Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights.
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The key ... is to do something out of the ordinary that helps you to be in the moment, not distracted by cellphones, deadlines or other interruptions, so you can enjoy each other’s company in an innovative, special way.
especially with our spouse. In doing so, we build closeness and camaraderie with this very special person in our life, as well as engage that rewardcenter of our brain. As the brain releases chemicals that help us feel good, we also provide a loving example for our children regarding the importance of continuing to have fun in marriage, as well as in adulthood in general. Think back to when you were dating and whatever your favorite activities were at that time. Talk about how you can reinvigorate your marriage by taking out your hiking boots, your softball glove or your running shoes, and then make a plan to spend some precious time together this week or weekend. Summer is finally here, and we must welcome these longer days, warmer temperatures and all the enjoyment this season offers us. Commit yourself to having fun with your spouse and reap the rewards of this very special relationship. Soucheray is a licensed marriage and family therapist and a member of Guardian Angels in Oakdale. She holds a master’s degree in theology from the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul.
14A • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
THE LOCAL CHURCH | AMY FISHER
A better way for women’s health care Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of columns exploring the content and impact of “Humanae Vitae,” Blessed Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical affirming the Church’s proscription on the use of contraception. This year marks the 50th anniversary of its promulgation. In 1960, the first birth control pill was approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Since then, physicians have been using the birth control pill and a multitude of other hormonal methods packaged as injections, implants and intrauterine devices to regulate fertility and suppress women’s menstrual cycles. These methods both separate sex from childbearing and are used to treat reproductive disease. Using hormonal forms of birth control, gynecologists can eliminate a painful or irregular period, lighten a heavy period and even eliminate periods when desired for both health concerns and social ease of life. But 50 years ago, Pope Paul VI laid out a different vision for couples in “Humanae Vitae.” To the breakthrough of science in creating effective contraception, he stated that “The Church is the first to praise and recommend the intervention of intelligence in a function which so closely associates the rational creature with his Creator; but she affirms that this must be done with respect for the order established by God.” He acknowledged that “man cannot find true happiness — towards which he aspires with all his being — other than in respect of the laws written by God in his very nature.” Finally, he echoed Pope Pius XII in asking that “medical science succeed in providing a sufficiently secure basis for a regulation of birth founded on the observance of natural rhythms.” As a practicing obstetrician gynecologist in 2018, I see that Pope Paul VI’s vision of what could be achieved while remaining true to Church teaching has revolutionized women’s health care by opening up new ways of seeing health through cooperating with the
FAITH AT HOME | LAURA KELLY FANUCCI
How to honor fathers with love
Beer. Golf. TV. Mowing. Fishing. Burping. According to greeting cards in the store aisles, this is all that modern fathers care about. Father’s Day is clogged with lowbrow stereotypes. Dad just wants to hog the remote control, crack a few crass jokes and drink a cold one. He’s not nurturing, caring or involved. He’s not devoted to his wife, children or grandchildren. But think about the fathers you know. Chances are they defy such silly typecasting. They’re washing dishes and changing diapers. They’re sacrificing to pay for college or moving to be near grandkids. Many men today are redefining what it means to father. They are intimately involved in the raising of children and the responsibilities of family life, navigating the competing demands of work and home with love. How can we as a Church support their callings? What sources of inspiration in our Catholic tradition offer ways to honor fathers? Scripture holds tender images of fatherhood. Moses reminds the Israelites that God is both fiercely protective and faithfully nurturing: “The Lord, your God, who goes before you, is the one who will fight for
COMMENTARY body to recognize and effectively manage disease. Many women, Catholic and non-Catholic, seek holistic and natural ways to manage their health and fertility. Because of the call for research by Pope Paul VI, women and families today have alternatives to what mainstream gynecology offers. An example of common concerns: Susan is a 29-yearold woman who goes to her physician seeking care for her irregular periods. She is looking forward to her wedding in six months and is wondering how this will impact her ability to have children. She has always struggled with acne and abnormal hair growth on her face. She exercises three times a week, but cannot seem to lose any weight. She also has mood swings before her periods, which are interrupting her ability to achieve her work and social goals. What can be done for her? Mishell’s “Comprehensive Gynecology” textbook — considered a classic in the field — lists multiple treatments for abnormal bleeding patterns, including hormone therapies, ibuprofen-like medications, male steroids, menopause-inducing medications and surgery. Medical treatment options are meant to treat symptoms, suppress ovulation and thereby stop the menstrual cycle. Surgery is often a last resort because of the risks compared to the “success” of menstrual suppression in treating symptoms. But for women seeking to follow Church teaching and those desiring more holistic health management, there are alternatives. In response to “Humanae Vitae,” some Catholic physicians and researchers have listened to the call for effective cooperation with natural law and with the body. They have gone beyond the basics of using natural family planning methods for achieving and avoiding pregnancy; they have created systems of reproductive health management that allow cooperation with the menstrual cycle even in cases of disease. Just as there is a large body of research into the pill and other hormonal contraceptives, there is more than 50 years of published research detailing methods that cooperate with fertility, restore regular ovulation and improve overall health. Catholic scientists drew on earlier knowledge of calendar methods, temperature charting and cervical mucus to develop natural family planning techniques that allow multiple cross checks, incorporating new technologies that monitor urinary hormones for ovulation. They have made great strides in determining both the beginning and the end of the fertile window in
you, just as he acted with you before your very eyes in Egypt, as well as in the wilderness, where you saw how the Lord, your God, carried you, as one carries his own child, all along your journey until you arrived at this place” (Dt 1:30-31). Saints give us real-life examples of fathers devoted to their families. St. Louis Martin wrote letters to his daughters that reveal a hardworking, tenderhearted parent: “If distance separates us a little, my heart is always close to you. So don’t worry and don’t be sad, my children. ... A thousand kisses to everyone in my family. (Your father who loves you.)” Sacraments bless the vocation of fathers, too. The rite of baptism offers a blessing of the father: “God is the giver of all life, human and divine. May he bless the father of this child. He and his wife will be the first teachers of their child in the ways of faith. May they be also the best of teachers, bearing witness to the faith by what they say and do, in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This Father’s Day, let us lift up the love of fathers. Just as Mother’s Day calls us to widen our prayers to include all who mother, let us pray for fatherhood in many shades and hues. Men who long to be fathers. Fathers who have lost children. Children whose father has died. All whose father was absent. Fatherhood deserves to be supported with words of love and gratitude. In contrast to the typical Father’s Day cards, Brother Mickey McGrath, of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, paints lively, loving depictions of St. Joseph with Jesus: feeding the baby in his workshop, holding the toddler Christ on his lap, backpacking to Jerusalem with teenage Jesus. Colorful, imaginative portraits that bring to life the affection of fatherhood. Next to our sons’ toothbrushes in the bathroom sits a
JUNE 7, 2018 every cycle with the least burden of necessary daily computation for a couple. This, then, has improved the ability to achieve and avoid pregnancy with great efficacy. Later research in applying new knowledge about human physiology and endocrinology has allowed for great efficacy in recognizing ovulation, making this the vital sign that can be used to monitor health in a reproductive aged woman. The Billings, Creighton, Symptothermal, Marquette and FEMM models are all methods that allow couples greater understanding of their combined fertility. These methods empower women with the knowledge and the ability to track, and when necessary restore, the health and function of their bodies. Effective treatment strategies for irregular periods, polycystic ovary syndrome, endometriosis, premenstrual syndrome and others have been developed in conjunction with modern natural family planning science. If we return to Susan, this knowledge can be used to address each of her concerns. Important lifestyle modifications to achieve regular cycles can be reviewed. She can learn how to chart her cycle to best evaluate the fertility signs that her body is currently displaying. Within a few cycles, patterns are recognized that guide evaluation of the underlying cause of her irregular periods. Lab values, directed medications and treatment options in conjunction with continued charting are used to help guide management to restore ovulation, restore regular cycles and achieve healthy functioning of the body in a holistic manner. In my surgical training, I was taught to “restore normal anatomy”; modern methods of natural family planning give us the opportunity to help restore normal physiology rather than suppress it. The call of Pope Paul VI in “Humanae Vitae” was heard by Catholic men and women of science and medicine. Over these last 50 years, they have supplied us with the knowledge and the tools to restore normal function in cases of reproductive disease, to achieve fertility in cases of infertility, and to effectively avoid pregnancy in cases of grave indication, while continuing to respect and honor the moral and natural law God has written on our hearts. Fisher practices at Allina Health Eagan Women’s Health Clinic and United Hospital in St. Paul. She and her husband, Scott, have two children and are members of St. John Neumann in Eagan.
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Saints give us real-life examples of fathers devoted to their families. St. Louis Martin wrote letters to his daughters that reveal a hardworking, tenderhearted parent: ‘If distance separates us a little, my heart is always close to you. So don’t worry and don’t be sad, my children. ... A thousand kisses to everyone in my family. (Your father who loves you.)’
card with one of these images of St. Joseph: sitting in a rocking chair, soothing the Christ child to sleep. Years ago, I placed it there in the hope it might be a quiet reminder for our boys — just like their father’s tender love for them — of what fatherhood means: everyday rhythms of love and duty, sacrifice and joy. If our sons are called to become fathers, my prayer is that their Church will nurture them just like this: in prayer and sacrament, through Scripture and saints, with honor and hope. The same ways we can support fathers today. Fanucci, a parishioner of St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove, is a mother, writer and director of a project on vocations at the Collegeville Institute in Collegeville. She is the author of several books, including “Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting,” and blogs at motheringspirit.com.
JUNE 7, 2018
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15A
CALENDAR Dining out
FEATURED EVENTS Rural Life Sunday Mass and celebration — June 24: 1:30 p.m. at Goldview Farms, 9156 Grover Ave. SW, Waverly. The event, hosted by Greg and Faye Bakeberg, and Pat and Joanna Bakeberg, along with St. Mary in Waverly, includes Mass with celebrant Father Charles Lachowitzer, lunch, music and children’s activities. Some seating will be provided, but attendees are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs. In case of rain, the celebration will be held indoors at the farm. For more information, contact the Office of Parish and Clergy Services at 651-290-1647. Faith and Freedom: Grandparents and Grandchildren Pray at the Cathedral — June 28: 1–3 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul. Grandparents are invited to bring grandchildren for a summer pilgrimage to the Cathedral of St. Paul, National Shrine of the Apostle Paul, coinciding with the U.S. Conference of Bishops’ Religious Freedom Week. The event includes a tour, brief tutorial of the Mass by Father John Paul Erickson, a prayer pamphlet to guide you through the Cathedral’s chapels and Shrine of Nations, an explanation and participation in eucharistic adoration and benediction, and refreshments afterward. Suggested donation: $10 per family. Register online at bit.ly/2LGCx48. For more information, contact Susanna Parent at 651-291-4411 or parents@archspm.org.
Knights of Columbus benefit breakfast — June 24: 8 a.m.–1 p.m. at Solanus Casey Council Hall, 1910 S. Greeley St., Stillwater.
Holy Name of Jesus annual rummage sale — June 21-23: 9 a.m.–8 p.m. June 21; 9 a.m.–6 p.m. June 22; 8 a.m.–noon June 23 at 155 County Road 24, Wayzata. hnoj.org.
CALENDAR submissions DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, 14 days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication. We cannot guarantee a submitted event will appear in the calendar. Priority is given to events occurring before the next issue date.
Retreats
Music Irish tenor Emmet Cahill performs at St. Olaf Catholic Church — June 12: 7:30–9:30 p.m. at 215 S. Eighth St., Minneapolis. emmetcahilltours.ticketleap.com. Band Together, Fight Hunger featuring musicians David Ray, Diminished Faculties and Chaunté Shayne — June 16: 6:30–9 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. guardian-angels.org. Benilde-St. Margaret’s and Beth El Synagogue Common Sound Music Festival — June 17: 4–9 p.m. at 5225 Barry St. W., St. Louis Park. besyn.org/event/common-sound. Summer Concert Series - Rivers of Delight — June 22: 7–8:30 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. guardian-angels.org.
Parish events St. George annual rummage sale — June 7-8: 9 a.m.–8 p.m. June 7 and 9 a.m.–1 p.m. June 8 ($4/ bag) at 133 N. Brown Road, Long Lake. 952-473-1247 or stgeorgelonglake.org. Thrift sale — June 14-16: 8 a.m.–7 p.m. June 14 and 15; 8 a.m.–noon ($5 bag sale) June 16 at Immaculate Conception, 4030 Jackson St. NE, Columbia Heights. 763-788-9062 or parish.iccsonline.org/news/ic-thrift-sale. 49th annual St. Nicholas Chicken Cookout with music by Charlie Sticha Band — June 17: 10:30 a.m. –3 p.m. at 51 Church St., Elko New Market. stncc.net.
Women’s midweek retreat — June 12-14 at Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, 16385 St. Francis Lane, Prior Lake. franciscanretreats.net/ womens-retreats. Widows’ Day of Reflection — June 16: 8:30 a.m.– 1 p.m. at Our Lady of Grace, 5071 Eden Ave., Edina. 952-929-3317 ext. 110 or olgparish.org. Silent retreat — June 21-24 at Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, 16385 St. Francis Lane, Prior Lake. 952-447-2182 or franciscanretreats.net/register. Directed retreat — June 22-29 at St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. benedictinecenter.org.
LISTINGS: Accepted are brief notices of upcoming events hosted by Catholic parishes and organizations. If the Catholic connection is not clear, please emphasize it in your submission. Included in our listings are local events submitted by public sources that could be of interest to the larger Catholic community. ITEMS MUST INCLUDE the following to be considered for publication: uTime and date of event uFull street address of event uDescription of event u Contact information in case of questions ONLINE: thecatholicspirit.com/calendarsubmissions MAIL: “Calendar,” The Catholic Spirit 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN 55106
Conferences/workshops Mary Logue, poet and author of “Frozen Stiff,” visits elder readers — June 13: 2–3 p.m. at Cerenity Marian of St. Paul, 200 Earl St., St. Paul. cerenityseniorcare.org. Order Franciscans Secular (OFS) — Third Sunday of each month: 1 p.m. at Catholic Charities, 1200 Second Ave. S., Minneapolis. 952-922-5523.
Other events Prenatal Partners for Life 12th Annual Benefit Dinner featuring Archbishop Bernard Hebda, emcee Paul Sadek and auction emcee Matt Birk — June 18: 6 p.m. at the University of St. Thomas,
Anderson Student Center, 2115 Summit Ave., St. Paul. prenatalpartnersforlife.org. St. Paul’s Monastery 70th anniversary with Mass celebrated by Archbishop Bernard Hebda — June 22: 1–4 p.m. at 2625 Larpenteur Ave. E., Maplewood. 651-777-8181 or tinyurl.com/sisters70th. Knights of Columbus bingo — Wednesdays: 6–9 p.m. at Solanus Casey Council Hall, 1910 S. Greeley St., Stillwater.
Marketplace • Message Center Classified Ads Email: classifiedads@archspm.org • Phone: 651-290-1631 • Fax: 651-291-4460 Next issue: 6-21-18 • Deadline: 3 p.m. 6-14-18 • Rates: $8 per line (35-40 characters per line) • Add a photo/logo for $25 ACCESSIBILITY SOLUTIONS
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
STAIR LIFTS - ELEVATORS WHEELCHAIR LIFTS FOR HOMES, CHURCHES & SCHOOLS Arrow Lift (763) 786-2780
Household Manager: The Stillwater Catholic Worker Community is seeking an energetic, compassionate woman to manage and live at Our Lady Queen of Peace House, a home for women and their children in transition. Room and board included with this volunteer position. Details available at STMICHAEL STILLWATER.ORG or by calling Kim (651) 270-1981.
Following the lead of the Holy Spirit, the parishes serving the communities of Champion, Humboldt and New Franken have committed themselves to making a new, lasting commitment to missionary discipleship. In doing so, these parishes have created a role to help lead us in reaching every soul in our mission field with the love of Jesus Christ - a role as a Coordinator of Missionary Discipleship.
ANTIQUES TOP CASH PAID For Older Furniture Rugs • Pictures • Bookcases • Pottery Beer Items • Toys & Misc. (651) 227-2469
ATTORNEYS Edward F. Gross • Wills, Trusts, Probate, Estate Planning, Real Estate. Office at 35E & Roselawn Ave., St. Paul (651) 631-0616
CATHOLIC COACHING/TRAINING Live with passion and purpose: in your work, ministry, marriage, and all of life. Redivive Coaching equipping the Catholic community. Call Rick Erisman at (651) 410-7051 or email: rickerisman@redivivecoaching.com.
CATHOLIC URNS FOR SALE
Made of all Black Walnut with Crucifix and picture of Mary. $350. Very Catholic and Christian. We must pray and respect our deceased. Call Don Dolan (612) 868-3019.
CEILING TEXTURE Michaels Painting. Popcorn Removal & Knock Down Texture: TextureCeilings.com (763) 757-3187.
Catholic Youth Minister, Saint Andrew Catholic Church, Elk River, MN. We are seeking a joyful, outgoing disciple to help establish small-group/relational youth ministry and support middle- and high-school faith formation activities in our growing parish. Must be a confirmed and practicing Catholic, pass a criminal background check and meet all other Safe Environment requirements of the Diocese of St. Cloud. Related degree and firsthand experience or training preferred. Learn more at www.saint-andrew.net/ employment. Please submit your application materials no later than Friday, June 8, to Melissa Anderson, Parish Business Administrator, at Saint Andrew Catholic Church, 566 4th Street NW, Elk River, MN 55330 or melissaa@saintandrew.net. Review of applications will begin immediately. Third Grade Teacher, Full Time, Saint Andrew Catholic Church and School, Elk River, MN. To apply, send a letter of interest, resume/transcript and three letters of recommendation by June 8, 2018 to Melissa Anderson, Parish Business Administrator, Church of St. Andrew, 566 4th Street NW, Elk River, MN 55330 or melissaa@saint-andrew. net. For more information on http:// www.saint-andrew.net/employment.
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Call The Catholic Spirit at 651-291-4444.
This individual will have demonstrated, with at least 3 to 5 years of ministry experience, the ability to engage communities through new and innovative methods of outreach while helping long-standing parishioners deepen their own relationship with Jesus and ability to grow as a community of disciples. He or she will have the astute ability to work with a variety of individuals, meeting them wherever they are in their walk of faith, helping them to move through the thresholds of discipleship and become living witnesses of the Gospel. He or she will be able to positively engage those with little or no connection to our parishes or any other organized religion in our mission field. He or she will empower individuals and families to prayerfully cooperate with the Holy Spirit in growing their homes into vibrant households of discipleship. The individual in this role is called to work directly alongside the pastor to evaluate, build and grow parish efforts to become actively engaged missionary disciples. Skill sets involved in this work include, but are not limited to: relationship-building, developing and coordinating missionary discipleship initiatives with parish staff and councils, assessing and meeting mission field needs, developing mission strategies and plans, coordinating staff discipleship efforts, and maintaining one’s own vibrant life of faith in relationship with Jesus Christ which leads to an outward-reaching Christian witness.
TheCatholicSpirit.com EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES PCA’s Wanted: MCIL seeks PCAs to assist independent consumers in their homes. If interested, email dspstaffing@mcil-mn.org / call 651-788-8424.
GREAT CATHOLIC SPEAKERS CD of the Month Club Lighthouse Catholic Media, Scott Hahn, Jeff Cavins and more! $5/month includes shipping. Subscribe online at http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia. org/cdclub Please Enter Code: 1195
HANDYMAN WE DO 1,162 THINGS AROUND THE HOME! Catholic Owned Handyman Business: We will fix/repair and remodel almost anything around the home. Serving entire Metro. Call today. Mention this ad and receive 10% off labor. Handyman Matters (651) 784-3777, (952) 946-0088. www.HandymanMatters.com.
HARDWOOD FLOORS
Sweeney’s Hardwood Floors
IT’S SPRING! Spruce up your home with new or refurbished hardwood floors: 10% off labor. Sweeney (651) 485-8187.
KITCHEN DESIGN SERVICES Call Melissa (952) 922-2825 KOHLER Signature Store, Edina by First Supply. kohlersignaturestoreedina.com
PAINTING
If you believe that you are called to this leadership role in our parishes, please send your resume and references to: job. opportunities@stthomashumboldt.com
For painting & all related services. View our website: PAINTINGBYJERRYWIND.COM or call (651) 699-6140.
St. Joseph, St. Kilian & St. Thomas the Apostle Parishes Champion, New Franken & Humboldt, Wisconsin
Merriam Park Painting. Professional Int./ Ext. Painting. WP Hanging. Moderate Prices, Free Estimates. Call Ed (651) 224-3660.
Ask a our 3 bout t speciaime l! PAINTING
Michaels Painting. Texture and Repair. MichaelsPaintingllc.coM. (763) 757-3187. Dennis Heigl Painting Interior/Exterior Serving Mpls. & suburbs. Free Estimates. (612) 819-2438.
PRAYERS Thank you St. Jude, Lord Jesus and Blessed Virgin Mary for prayers answered. EG NOTICE: Prayers must be submitted in advance. Payment of $8 per line must be received before publication.
RELIGIOUS ITEMS FOR SALE Redeeming Love shirts, religious items. Call for brochure: Kaye (651) 330-9744
RUMMAGE & CRAFT SALES St. Odilia CCW JEWELRY & CRAFTS SALE June 23-24, Sat 9 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. Sun 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Blizzard interrupted April sale! Amazing selection. Next-to-new necklaces, earrings, pins, etc. Craft supplies, quilts, collectible, religious & vintage items. St. Odilia Catholic Church Gym 3495 N. Victoria St. Shoreview 651-484-6681 www.stodilia.org Men’s Club Rummage Sale, Blessed Sacrament Church; 2119 Stillwater Ave., St. Paul. June 21 & 22: 8 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. and Saturday, June 23 8 a.m. – noon. Call Parish Office (651) 738-0677 if you have questions or need directions to the parish.
VACATION/FAMILY GETAWAY Knotty Pines Resort, Park Rapids, MN. 1, 2 & 3 bdrm cabins starting at $565/week. www.knottyPinesresort.coM (800) 392-2410. Mention this ad for a discount!
WANTED TO BUY Estate & Downsizing: I buy Van Loads and Bicycles. Steve (651) 778-0571.
16A • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
JUNE 7, 2018
THELASTWORD
PHOTOS BY DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Archbishop Bernard Hebda injects humor into his remarks to students at St. Joseph’s Catholic School in West St. Paul during a live broadcast of “Go Ask Your Father” at the school May 30.
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ighth-grader Becca Tuvey was curious as to why people say, “You have a new guardian angel in heaven” when someone dies. So, she asked Archbishop Bernard Hebda about the expression during his visit to St. Joseph’s Catholic School in West St. Paul May 30. “I think that people are speaking poetically,” Archbishop Hebda said, making a distinction between angels and humans. “What they’re saying is that if we’ve lived faithful lives and we find ourselves in the heavenly court, ... then we’re going to want to intercede for those we’ve left behind.” Archbishop Hebda responded to a variety of questions from middle school students, and he asked them a few, too, during Relevant Radio’s live edition of its “Go Ask Your Father” show. The hourlong weekday program with the national Catholic radio network occasionally is broadcasted from Catholic schools, with a priest fielding questions from students. Having Archbishop Hebda host the show provided St. Joseph’s sixth-through eighth-grade students the chance to meet and speak with the archbishop. “I really liked getting to know him more personally,” said eighth-grader Hannah Allen, who noted that Archbishop Hebda had celebrated Mass at their school before the show. “Now we actually got to ask him questions, and we told him a little bit about ourselves.” Questions prepared by the students ranged from the personal to deep theological queries. Teachers and the radio station selected the students to ask the questions and answer the archbishop. Archbishop Hebda asked a few students about their experience at St. Joseph, and he asked each student at the microphone to share a bit about themselves. Seventh-grader Joseph Elskamp asked whether or not it’s a sin to question the faith. “I thought really deeply about something I might have to ask for him and something that would connect to me, as well as him,” he said about preparing to ask the question. “It wasn’t too long ago that Pope Francis talked about this,” Archbishop Hebda said in response to Elskamp’s question. “He says that sometimes when we have that sense of questioning in our hearts that it’s really a reflection of that fact that we want to know more, that we want to go deeper, that we want to be closer to Christ. “Where there’s sin that might be involved is when we don’t try to resolve those doubts or those questions,” Archbishop Hebda added. “We have such great
Sixth-grader Nate Rohrer of St. Joseph’s Catholic School asks Archbishop Hebda about his vocation to the priesthood. Reacting to his question are eighth-graders Becca Tuvey, front left, Theresa Schmitz and Madelyn Kobbermann.
LIVE from
St. Joseph Students go on national radio show ‘Go Ask Your Father’ with Archbishop Hebda By Matthew Davis • The Catholic Spirit resources as Catholics, so we’re able to look at sacred Scripture. We’re able to go and speak to our priests to get their reactions to those questions that we have. We have the great ‘Catechism of the Catholic Church.’” Eighth-grader Keeley William asked the archbishop whether it’s OK to use a smartphone in church. She later explained her question in an interview: “I just have always wondered it because people have used their phones for Scripture, and I don’t know if that was ever wrong or right.” The archbishop said Scripture and breviary apps are appropriate, “but basically, we want to make sure that we’re not doing anything that’s disrespectful.” He said that he uses a breviary app on his phone for prayer. Sixth-grader Nate Rohrer asked Archbishop Hebda how he chose the priesthood. The archbishop shared his journey from childhood, when he first felt the call, to law school, where he ultimately chose to answer the call to priestly ministry. Allen said she was surprised to learn that the archbishop said he knew as early as the second grade that he wanted to become a priest and that he had obstacles to pursuing priesthood early on.
“The more that I was in the presence of the Lord in the Eucharist, the more that I had a sense that the work of the priest was so important in the life of the Church because it’s the Eucharist that forms us as a community,” Archbishop Hebda said. The archbishop was also asked why there is a difference between men and women’s roles in the Church. He said that “there’s a complementarity between the gifts that God has given to women and to men, and we see that God calls both to serve the Church in different ways, but always of equal importance.” In asking the students questions, Archbishop Hebda learned about some of the students’ roles in their recent school musical, “Mary Poppins.” Eighth-grader Marta Pursley, who played Jane Banks, shared about the play and her favorite song, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” which she also spelled for the audience. Students also sang the hymn “As I Kneel Before You” for a segment of “Go Ask Your Father.” Though not present at the event, St. Joseph’s elementary students had artwork on display in the front of the room. Archbishop Hebda asked sixth-grader Nathan Schaffer about the school’s STEAM — science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics — classrooms. Schaffer talked about the water bottle rocket he made with a group, his favorite STEAM project. “I like it because you have to use teamwork and design the rocket as light and as aerodynamic as you can get,” he told the archbishop. The Aim Higher Foundation, a St. Paul-based nonprofit that supports Catholic schools through tuition assistance scholarships, sponsored the event with St. Joseph and Relevant Radio. St. Joseph’s Principal Greg Wesely said Aim Higher has been a big supporter of the school, helping students’ families afford a Catholic education. “The questions were so heartfelt,” Wesely said about the students. “I thought that was really special, I’m sure, for the archbishop.” Archbishop Hebda said he enjoyed visiting with the students both on air and during the show’s breaks. “I was really impressed by how articulate they were [and] about how faith-filled they were and excited about the possibilities for evangelization through the mass media,” he said. To watch the May 30 edition of “Go Ask Your Father,” visit The Catholic Spirit’s Facebook page.
ORDINATION JUNE 7, 2018 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 1B
Four homegrown priests called to be apostles in their cities, archbishop says By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit
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o clergy responsible for vocations had to look far to find the new priests in the latest ordination class of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. All four ordinands grew up in the Twin Cities. Archbishop Bernard Hebda ordained the men — Fathers Aric Aamodt, Colin Jones, Toulee Peter Ly and Matthew Shireman — to the priesthood May 26 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. “It really is a beautiful reflection on this local Church that we would have these four men who came to know Christ here, who were native to our area,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda said to the capacity crowd at the Cathedral during his homily. “Certainly it’s a testament to the many prayers that are offered by the faithful of this archdiocese for vocations [and] all of the work that all of you do to sustain our vocations.” Archbishop Hebda tied in the Church’s celebration of St. Philip Neri’s feast day, May 26, in giving the new priests an example to imitate and assurance to the people that the Lord provides the Church with shepherds. St. Philip Neri was a priest in Rome during the 1500s, and he is a patron of humor and joy. “At a time when many were leaving the Church, and many of those who had stayed were corrupt ... Philip’s authentic and humble and steady witness to Christ the high priest, that gentle and joyful high priest, sowed the seeds of true renewal in Rome,” Archbishop Hebda said. “Four-and-ahalf centuries later, St. Philip is still recognized as the apostle of Rome.”
“He [God] knows that we need not only an apostle of Rome, but [also] an apostle of Anoka and an apostle of Coon Rapids and an apostle of Eagan and an apostle of Chanhassen,” he added, referring to the men’s assignments. After the Mass, Father Jones noted the archbishop’s mention of the assignments, saying, “I guess I get to be the apostle of Coon Rapids, so that’s pretty cool.” Father Jones will serve at Epiphany in Coon Rapids, while Father Aamodt will serve at St. Hubert in Chanhassen. Father Ly has been assigned to St. John Neumann in Eagan, and Father Shireman to St. Stephen in Anoka. Archbishop Hebda exhorted the new priests to faithfully exercise their priestly duties in their new assignments and beyond, as St. Philip Neri did. The archbishop also noted St. Philip Neri passed on a lucrative career and inheritance to serve the Lord. “While all four of these men would be free to choose another path and would undoubtedly be successful in whatever they chose [and] whatever they pursued, down deep, they know the only real path for them is the one that Christ has chosen for them — that of the loving Good Shepherd,” Archbishop Hebda said. Father Aamodt said he experienced a sense of being touched by Christ during the laying on of hands by fellow priests in the ordination rite — a sign of the priests’ union with the bishop, who solely ordains the priests with the laying on of hands. “I was kind of reflecting on it. These are all of the ways that Christ reaches into our world to touch our lives,” Father Aamodt said. “Some are very soft, some are very firm, some are
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
From left, newly-ordained Fathers Aric Aamodt, Colin Jones, Toulee Peter Ly and Matthew Shireman wear their priestly vestments for the first time as they stand in the sanctuary of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul during their ordination Mass May 26. joyful, [and] some are serious. It’s all the way that Christ reaches into our lives, and it was awesome.” Father Jones said he enjoyed participating in the eucharistic prayers with the archbishop and fellow priests the most. Father Shireman said it felt different from their practice liturgies in seminary. Father Aamodt and Father Ly both mentioned the significance of individual priests having a part in their ordinations. Vesting Father Aamodt with the stole and chasuble was Father Nels Gjengdahl, pastor of Nativity of Mary in Bloomington, who once asked if Father Aamodt had considered the priesthood, planting the idea he couldn’t shake. Father Joseph Johnson, pastor of Holy Family in St. Louis Park, vested Father Ly. He was Father Ly’s former pastor at St. Vincent de Paul in St. Paul. Archbishop Hebda also took time to recognize the ordinands’ families and the people who helped form them on their journey to the altar. Mothers of the priests receive an extra sign of appreciation in the “manutergium,” the
cloth used to wipe the holy oil off of each ordinand’s hand during the ordination rite. “It was kind of a surprise,” said Meghan Jones, the mother of Father Jones and a parishioner of St. Patrick in Oak Grove, adding it was an emotional moment. “That’s pretty powerful. I can’t really describe it.” The liturgy also marked the final ordination class for Msgr. Aloysius Callaghan, rector of the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul since 2005, who will conclude his tenure as rector this summer. “I had Monsignor for all seven years of my seminary [formation],” Father Shireman said. “What a model of priesthood there. I feel honored that I was able to get ordained under his watch.” Along with priests from across the archdiocese, concelebrating the Mass were Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens and Chorbishop Sharbel Maroun, pastor of St. Maron Maronite church in Minneapolis.
Ordination of first U.S.-born Hmong-American priest a milestone
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mong-American Catholics came in large numbers to the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul May 26 dressed in native attire to celebrate the first U.S.-born Hmong-American to be ordained a priest. Though a Twin Cities native, Father Toulee Peter Ly drew Hmong-American Catholics from around the country — including California, Colorado, Iowa and Wisconsin — to the ordination, where he received holy orders with three other men. “I think there’s going to be a new spring in the Hmong Catholic community across the entire United States,” said Long Her of Fresno, California. Her read the first reading at the ordination Mass in Hmong. “In a special way, it was a nod just to the community here to kind of inspire them … just that our Lord came to save all nations, and that means everyone in the Church,” Father Ly said about the reading, excerpted from the Book of Isaiah.
Her noted that priestly celibacy poses a huge cultural obstacle for the Hmong because the people place high value on a family’s son to “carry on the name.” “For his family to allow this sacrifice, it’s a huge, gigantic step,” Her said of Father Ly. “It reflects the growing faith of the Hmong Catholic community.” After California, Minnesota is home to the largest population of Hmong-Americans in the U.S., and St. Paul has the nation’s largest Hmong-American population per capita, with about 30,000 Hmong, a little less than half of the state’s Hmong population. The Hmong American National Catholic Association is based in St. Paul and develops Hmong faith formation materials, trains Hmong-American catechists and helps parishes welcome Hmong families. In October, the organization’s recent president became an adviser on Hmong ministry for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’
subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Island Affairs. In Minnesota, the Hmong community once had a French-born, Hmong-speaking missionary pastor, but in recent years it has relied on priests of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to learn to celebrate the Mass in its language. Those priests, however, can’t speak the language conversationally. That means Hmong Catholics depend on infrequent visits from a Hmong priest ministering in Thailand for confession and spiritual direction. About 150 Hmong people regularly attend Mass at St. Vincent de Paul, with another 35 at St. Patrick, another St. Paul parish with a Hmong population. Parishioners from both parishes attended the ordination and expressed pride in Father Ly. “He’s setting the path for everyone else to start,” said Arthur Ly, Father Ly’s nephew, a St. Patrick parishioner. — The Catholic Spirit
2B ORDINATION
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • JUNE 7, 2018
Priest’s question sparked Father Aamodt’s vocation journey By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit
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s a teenager attending St. Odilia in Shoreview during the late 2000s, Father Aric Aamodt was approached following Mass by then-parochial vicar Father Nels Gjengdahl. “Have you ever thought about being a priest?” he recalled Father Gjengdahl asking him. “I laughed at him and said ‘no,’ but that question was the seed. Once it was there, I could never get it out of my head.” The question led him to wrestle with the thought of priesthood in prayer. He said the question would even annoy him. “Eventually, I just reached a deal with God,” Father Aamodt said. “I said, ‘God, I don’t really want to be a priest, but if you want me to be a priest, let me know, and I’ll do it.’” He thought he got off the hook when he didn’t get any clear sign during his senior year at Mounds View High School in Arden Hills. He continued with his plans to attend the University of Minnesota Duluth for pre-medical studies and then go to medical school to become a doctor. Then, he had a profound spiritual experience on a trip to the North Shore during the summer before his freshman year at UMD. He went with a group to Split Rock Lighthouse during the trip, a retreat that required time for silence. Father Aamodt stood on a rock on the edge of Lake Superior to pause and enjoy the scenery — the clouds and the crashing waves. He felt inspired to pray. It started with simply thanking God for the beauty of creation around him, but then moved to a strong sense of needing to ask the Lord directly about his plan for his life. “Once I asked that question, I felt this overwhelming presence just completely surrounding me and completely filling me,” Father Aamodt said. “I can’t
describe what the presence was like other than it was this amazing resonance. And in the midst of this presence, I both felt and heard the quietest whisper come across my right ear, and the sound of the whisper cut straight to the depth of my heart, and all the whisper said was ‘yes.’” Surprised, Father Aamodt then remembered his vocation prayer in high school: “Let me know, and I’ll do it.” He said he decided to accept God’s call and say, “OK, I’ll do it.” “Then right after that, I was filled with just an immense joy and an immense peace, like I actually started to laugh I was just filled with such joy,” Father Aamodt recalled. Father Aamodt described seminary as a time to “give myself over to formation.” After a year at UMD, he attended St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul where he earned undergraduate degrees in philosophy and Catholic Studies at St. Thomas. He then earned a master of divinity at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul. Father Aamodt’s college seminary formation took him to Rome for a semester with the University of St. Thomas’ Catholic Studies program. He said Jesuit Father Joseph Carola in the Rome program had a great influence on him. Father Aamodt said his transition to major seminary at the St. Paul Seminary was challenging because he was first asked to complete a spirituality year, during which he focused more on human and spiritual formation and less on academics. It also meant joining a new ordination class. His year concluded with a “life-changing” eight-day silent retreat at Creighton University’s priestly formation program in Omaha, Nebraska. “All the work that I had done in formation leading up to that summer, the Lord just took it and ran with it and just completely transformed my mind and my heart,” Father Aamodt said. “Through the challenge came a great
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DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
In the midst of this presence, I both felt and heard the quietest whisper come across my right ear, and the sound of the whisper cut straight to the depth of my heart, and all the whisper said was ‘yes.’
grace because through that sort of passion came a wonderful resurrection moment.” Beyond his studies, Father Aamodt served at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Minnetonka for the teaching parish program and had summer assignments at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings. He also learned Spanish at Divine Mercy in Faribault, which includes a Latino community. Spiritually, Father Aamodt said he likes Ignatian meditation but also feels drawn to Carmelite contemplation. He said the imagination of Ignatian meditation draws him into the events of Christ’s life, and Carmelite contemplation helps him converse with the Lord. Father Aamodt looks forward to hearing confessions and celebrating Mass. A retreat experience with Father Carola while studying in Rome helped him to appreciate administering the sacrament of reconciliation in particular. “He just opened up the awesomeness of the priestly life — just the fact that the people of God entrust themselves to us to
lead them to Jesus [and] to give them Jesus’ grace,” Father Aamodt said. Because of his previous public speaking experiences, Father Aamodt looks forward to preaching more homilies. He competed at state level in speech and debate while at Mounds View, coached high school speech while at UMD and had major roles in the seminary’s theater productions, such as playing the part of Hamlet. “I’ve gotten a lot of great reviews for my homilies,” he said. “I love preparing homilies, spending the time in prayer. I love giving the homilies. It’s one of the areas where I feel most alive.” In his free time, Father Aamodt enjoys hiking, playing guitar and piano, writing, acting, music, movies and sports — especially soccer and broomball. He also played and umpired baseball. He avidly reads J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, adding that he’s on his ninth reading of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. His father, Michael, lives in Shoreview. His mother, Lu’Anne, died a couple days after Father Aamodt’s birth. He has two older siblings.
Congratulations Fr. Matthew Shireman
on your Ordination to the Priesthood! Thank you for your ministry to our parish. May your priestly service be pleasing to God and bring lasting good to Christ’s church.
St. Stephen’s Catholic Church, Anoka
ORDINATION 3B
JUNE 7, 2018 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Father Jones credits vocation to family, SJV come-and-see weekend By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit
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t was a Vianney Visit that tipped the scales for Father Colin Jones, motivating him to enter seminary. He had been thinking about the priesthood since he was a boy, but as college drew closer, he had pushed the idea aside, considering it too daunting. Then a friend invited the 17-year-old to accompany him for a weekend visit to St. John Vianney College Seminary at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, and he left the weekend feeling confident that he wanted to apply. The visit’s schedule included a 6:15 a.m. Holy Hour on Friday, and Father Jones remembers being struck by seeing the men at prayer at what he considered an early hour. And he felt at peace. “It was kind of a life-changing event,” he said. “It wasn’t like a lightning bolt kind of thing, but it was really special. I think for the first time in my life, it showed me something that I could be passionate about and something I could give myself to — namely, a life with the Lord and a life that’s sacrificial in some sense and dedicated to something higher.” Although he had also been considering an engineering career, Father Jones’ decision to enter seminary wasn’t a surprise to his family or others who knew him. The oldest of Gavin and Meghan Jones’ six children, he became an altar server at his childhood parish, St. Charles
Borromeo in St. Anthony, while in fifth grade. (His family has since moved to Oak Grove, where they attend St. Patrick.) His dad later took him to Team Vianney events, which SJV hosts to encourage boys to consider the priesthood. People had also told him they thought he might be called to priesthood, and he had thought maybe they were right. “Big Catholic family, good Catholic parents, home-schooled — I mean, that’s kind of the recipe for thinking about vocations,” he said with a grin. “If people asked me, I would have probably said, ‘I want to be a priest when I grew up.’” Now 26, Father Jones was homeschooled through 10th grade through a ministry at St. Paul in Ham Lake, and then he started a Postsecondary Enrollment Options program, taking college courses at Anoka-Ramsey Community College in Coon Rapids. He enrolled in SJV and St. Thomas, completing a triple major in philosophy, Catholic Studies and classical languages in 2014. Then he continued his seminary studies at the Pontifical North American College, the U.S. seminary in Rome. He had spent a semester in Rome with the Catholic Studies program and was grateful for the opportunity to return. The four years Father Jones spent in Rome were rich, with challenges and consolations as he’s prepared for his priestly ordination. He studied at the Pontifical Gregorian
FATHER COLIN JONES DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
University. His apostolates included visiting people, the elderly in particular, door-to-door in Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood. That experience tested not only his Italian skills, but also his ability to listen and be present to others. He also served for two years as a chaplain to students of Providence College in Rhode Island studying in Rome, and he spent one summer serving in a rural diocese in Tanzania. He spent the past two summers serving at Epiphany in Coon Rapids, where he will continue to minister this summer. Although deacons have authority to baptize and preside over funerals and weddings, Father Jones has yet to do any of them, and he admits that he also has less preaching experience than his fellow ordinands who studied at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. As his
priestly ordination approached, he wrestled with the realization that he has yet to figure it all out, and he’s not sure what being a priest will really be like. However, he is most looking forward to having a “front row seat” to see what God is doing in people’s lives, he said, and he trusts that the Lord will show him how to be a priest. Ordinands get a lot of advice, he said, but among the best he’s received is that the priesthood will be more difficult than he imagined, but it’s also going to be more joyful than he could imagine. And, “just to let the Lord lead, and let the Lord dictate the terms and let him speak. It’s his priesthood that we participate in, so let him be in charge,” he added, “and when that happens, it’s amazing what kind of adventures the Lord lets us take with him and his people.”
Congratulations Fr. Matthew Shireman, Fr. Toulee Peter Ly and Fr. Aric Aamodt
www.saintpaulseminary.org
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It really is a beautiful reflection on this local Church that we would have these four men who came to know Christ here, who were native to our area. Archbishop Bernard Hebda
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1. From left, Fathers Matthew Shireman and Colin Jones join the recessional at the end of the priest ordination Mass May 26 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. 2. From left, Fathers Shireman, Aric Aamodt, Toulee Peter Ly and Jones give each other hugs during the Mass. 3. Now-Father Aamodt gives a thumbs-up before the ordination Mass. At left are Deacon Rip Riordan and now-Father Colin Jones.
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4. From center, now-Fathers Aamodt, Jones, Ly and Shireman stand during the Gospel reading surrounded by priests of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. 5. Blia Yang, mother of Father Ly, wipes away a tear during the ordination Mass. 6. From left, Fathers Aamodt, Jones, Ly and Shireman pause for a brief moment of silence after receiving blessings from other priests. 7. The ordinands lie prostrate during the Litany of Supplication. 8. Now-Father Jones makes his pledge to Archbishop Bernard Hebda during the Promise of the Elect. PHOTOS BY DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
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s sweltering heat baked the Twin Cities May 26, four men pledged their obedience to Archbishop Bernard Hebda and received the sacrament of holy orders at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. The four new priests — Fathers Aric Aamodt, Colin Jones, Toulee Peter Ly and Matthew Shireman — all grew up in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. As the men and a contingent of bishops, priests and deacons gathered on the steps of the Cathedral before Mass, the temperature already was at 80 degrees, on its way to a record-breaking high of 93. The men pushed aside the heat, exchanging jovial comments, giving hugs and even singing “Happy Birthday” to a fellow seminarian as they waited for the processional. Their joy lasted throughout the 2 1/2-hour Mass, with exuberance on their faces as they recessed at the end of Mass to the Marian chapel for an ordination class photo with the three bishops present, along with Msgr. Aloysius Callaghan, outgoing rector of the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, before receiving lines of family members, friends and well-wishers eager for the priests’ first blessings. — Dave Hrbacek
6B ORDINATION
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • JUNE 7, 2018
Father Ly anticipates ministering to Hmong community as a priest By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit
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he seeds of Father Toulee Peter Ly’s priestly vocation were sown while he was attending the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities. During those days, he was asked to work with the youth group at the parish of his upbringing, St. Vincent de Paul in St. Paul. But, there was a problem. “Church was never a big part of my life,” said Father Ly, 35. “I went [to Mass] on Sundays to accompany my mom because my mom and dad were divorced, so my mom was just going to church on her own.” Although his faith life was “pretty shallow,” he felt the need to step up and help the young people in his parish. He did that for nearly five years. Along the way, while trying to help others grow in their faith, he ended up growing in his. Helping that process was getting to know priests who served at his parish, first Father Joseph Johnson and, later, Father John Paul Erickson and thenFather [now Bishop] Andrew Cozzens. “Having those three priests in my life was huge,” Father Ly said. “They helped me really establish a faith life, a deeper faith life.” During that time, priesthood had not yet entered his mind. That changed in 2008, when he felt God was calling him
to “do a little reflecting on life.” He was working at Thomson Reuters in Eagan, and he liked his job. That summer, he had a dream one Sunday morning that he had gone to St. Vincent looking for a priest but couldn’t find one. He awoke and went to Mass that morning, and during the Mass Father Erickson announced to the congregation that he had been reassigned and was leaving the parish. Father Ly continued to reflect on the dream, and, eventually, he asked God a question: “Are you calling me to do something more with my life?” Part of the answer came when he examined what brought him joy in life. He had a good, meaningful job, but he came home exhausted every night after sitting in front of a computer all day. What he really looked forward to was the weekend — Friday with the youth group, and Saturday and Sunday with Mass and the various parish projects he took on. Another consideration was his Hmong ancestry. Growing up, he was well aware that for most of its existence, the Hmong Catholic community at St. Vincent had been without a priest who spoke the native language. Some of the elderly members speak little or no English, making the sacrament of reconciliation difficult, even impossible. “I want there to be someone to minister to the [Hmong] people, for sure,” said Father Ly, who learned his
FATHER TOULEE PETER LY DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
ancestral language growing up, as it was spoken by his mother and eight siblings. His thoughts all seemed to add up to entering the seminary, which he did that summer. He enrolled at St. John Vianney College Seminary in the fall. “At that point, it just seemed like things were leaning that way,” he said. “It just felt like a natural thing [to do].” His 10-year path included getting a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, plus taking two years off for more discernment after studying at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. During that time away, he got a job and continued to meet with a spiritual director to discern his vocation. Eventually, he realized that “God is really calling me to the priesthood,” he said. “That’s also where my heart was
calling me to.” After leaving the seminary in 2014, he returned in spring 2016 and picked up where he left off. “Those two years I was gone really brought me a lot of peace about where I’m supposed to be,” he said. “There’s been no looking back.” As he begins his ministry as a priest, he looks forward to “just being on the journey with the people,” he said, “to accompany them in their faith life in growing closer to Christ.” He plans to keep in mind something Father Johnson said to him during spiritual direction. “The Lord is never outdone in generosity,” he recalled the priest saying. “I like that advice just because it helps me to learn to trust and have more faith in him.”
Congratulations,
Fr. Matt Shireman!
We thank God for His call to you and for your “yes.” May the Holy Spirit guide you in your ministry.
Deephaven
Congratulations
Fr. Matthew Shireman on your ordination to the holy priesthood!
Your friends at St. Victoria Parish Family
ORDINATION 7B
JUNE 7, 2018 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Father Shireman turns down engineering career for priesthood By Jessica Trygstad The Catholic Spirit
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iscovering his gifts as an engineer made answering a call to the priesthood all the more difficult for Father Matthew Shireman. As a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, he was affirmed in the good work he likely would have done in his career when a professor pulled him aside to tell him how well he had scored on an exam. But he was “feeling drawn more and more to the beauty of the Church and the faith,” said Father Shireman, 31. But, “I’m still wired as an engineer,” he added. Father Shireman believes he’ll especially bring his creativity and problem-solving skills to administrative tasks in his ministry. Father Shireman grew up in Minnetonka with his parents, Mark and Annette, his brother, Andrew, and his sister, Molly. He attended Minnetonka public schools while a parishioner of St. Therese in Deephaven. There, he was involved in the choir, summer camps, mission trips and taught catechism with his father for one year. In 2004, he enrolled at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. During that time, some of his friends were discerning the priesthood and religious life. That’s when he thought about the priesthood for the first time. “Every Catholic young man should
consider it, at least,” Father Shireman said. Being involved in campus ministry at Marquette, he got to know “joyful priests” and first discovered daily Mass and eucharistic adoration, which became more important during his college years. For the last two years of college, he lived in an intentionally Catholic household, and at one point he explored becoming a Jesuit. He describes his discernment to the priesthood as a gradual process. After graduating from Marquette with a degree in civil engineering, Father Shireman considered applying to seminary, but felt more drawn to graduate school, which he began in 2009 at MIT. The following year, he attended a discernment weekend retreat in the Archdiocese of Boston and attended the next year as well. “It was helpful to see that seminarians weren’t too different from myself,” he said. After graduating from MIT with a master’s of science in transportation, he got a job in Cleveland, Ohio, scheduling buses and trains. At the same time, he was applying to seminary. Recalling the retreat experiences solidified his desire to enter seminary, which he began in fall 2011 at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul. “I truly believe that [seminary rector] Msgr. [Aloysius] Callaghan and other priest formators and the staff there, they really care about us,” he said. “They really want what’s best for the Church and for us.”
Congratulations! Fr. Aric Aamodt
On your priestly ordination. Many blessings as you continue the journey God has planned for you!
From your home parish,
Congratulations
Father Toulee Peter Ly
As you begin your priestly ministry Tu es sacerdos in aeternum From the parishioners of the Cathedral of Saint Paul and St. Vincent de Paul campus
FATHER MATTHEW SHIREMAN DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
During seminary, he spent a month teaching English at a Catholic university in South Korea, where he said he saw a “vibrant and growing Church.” He also spent a week in Guadalajara, Venezuela, to sharpen his Spanish-speaking skills. Locally, he served at Holy Family in St. Louis Park and did door-to-door evangelization at St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony. Father Shireman said the greatest lesson he learned from his classmates was how to be a good friend. With Fathers Paul Baker, Nicholas Froehle, Matthew Quail and Benjamin Wittnebel — all ordained last year — they recently started a clergy fraternity group that meets monthly for prayer, conversation and meals. “To be proactive about maintaining and strengthening friendships, especially with friends who are priests or will be priests” [is important], he said.
Delaying his priestly ordination for a year — he was ordained a transitional deacon in 2016 — allowed him to spend a “pastoral year” working at St. Stephen in Anoka, an experience he said has been the most influential in preparing him for the priesthood. Regularly, he’d help people who came to the church from off the street seeking assistance. He also taught sixth-grade religion class at the parish school. His pastoral work has extended beyond the parish to include ministering to people with disabilities, people in troubled marriages, the elderly and the homebound, “who have given a lot to the Church but can feel isolated,” he said of the latter. He most looks forward to administering the sacraments of reconciliation and anointing of the sick, and celebrating daily Mass.
8B ORDINATION
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • JUNE 7, 2018
Healthy and holy Weight loss program guides clergy on fueling their ministry with diet and exercise By Jessica Weinberger For The Catholic Spirit
I
n seminary formation, future priests and deacons delve into theology, philosophy, ethics and more, but not the healthy eating and fitness principles that will sustain them physically, emotionally and spiritually in their ministry. That’s where Susan Torborg comes in. Torborg, 47, has brought her successful R3 weight loss program to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, meeting with more than 30 seminarians at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul and a dozen area priests on Saturdays to set goals focused on losing fat, overcoming sugar addictions and developing lifelong healthy habits. Her program, which helps nearly 19,000 clients Read Susan Torborg's through 10 tips for weight loss at social TheCatholicSpirit.com. media in the United States, Canada and as far as Australia, is based on her 25 years of experience in personal training and weight loss techniques. Early in her career, Torborg dreamed of using her exercise science degree from Arizona State University to become the next Jane Fonda or Denise Austin, but she found her niche in large health clubs and corporate fitness programs. Later living in Fairfield, Pennsylvania, just 2 miles from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, she planned to combine her passion for wellness and her Catholic faith by implementing her program at the seminary. “Wherever I lived, I would always help our parish priest lose weight and get really healthy,” said Torborg, a wellness coach and weight loss specialist who is also a lay Carmelite. “If they came over for dinner, I would cook them healthy meals — chicken and salads — and teach them [how to eat healthier]. The last priest lost 90 pounds.” When her husband was offered a job in his home state of Minnesota, they relocated to Shakopee in August 2017 with their five children and joined the parish of Sts. Joachim and Anne. Weeks later, Torborg connected with Bishop Andrew Cozzens at a fundraiser, and she emerged as “a natural fit” for one of the needs identified in the 2016-2017 clergy support initiative and through the St. Paul Seminary’s Institute for Ongoing Clergy Formation — to help priests, deacons and seminarians nurture their
physical health. “Because we are composite body and soul, in order to serve as the Lord wants us to serve, we have to seek to be healthy, so we can be who Jesus wants us to be and carry out our mission,” Bishop Cozzens said. After meeting with Bishop Cozzens and later touring the St. Paul Seminary, Torborg planned a Saturday workshop in February and met individually with seminarians and clergy to share details about her program, R3. Through R3 (www.r3weightlossplan. com), participants set attainable goals and journey through three two-week stages — reset, reintroduce and real life — aimed at switching from fat storage to fat burning, learning portion control and choosing foods for increased energy. There’s no counting calories, weighing foods or purchasing expensive meal replacements. Instead, the program teaches healthy habits that can be applied to real life, including in religious ministry where heavy comfort foods and treats are often available in the parish office or rectory. “R3 teaches freedom and healing. It teaches healing of sugar and carb addictions, healing of your body. When your body is nourished properly, you have more energy,” Torborg explained. “Priests go to galas, parties, celebrations and are eating at people’s homes, and that’s OK. But if they can follow this 80 percent of the time, they will make the shift. It’s not about perfection.” Torborg walks with the seminarians and clergy through the process, meeting initially every few weeks and then monthly to check their progress and provide encouragement. She attends Mass with the participants regularly and prays for them daily as part of her vocation as a Carmelite. Father Rolf Tollefson, 47, is the pastor of St. Hubert in Chanhassen and has worked with Torborg to lose the extra pounds he’s gained in middle age. Through Torborg’s program, he’s learned to drink more water, reduce his carbohydrate intake and eat more foods with protein. He now opts for yogurt, meat or eggs for breakfast and has become “best friends” with broccoli and kale. In the first month, he lost more than 12 pounds of fat and more than 11 inches. “I do feel like I have more energy,” Father Tollefson said. “Our days are so long, and there’s so much to do all of the time. My mind is clearer because there’s not as much of a sugar fog.” Doughnuts after Sunday Mass now give him a headache because of the
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Susan Torborg talks about her R3 weight loss program with Father John Klockeman during an appointment at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul. sugar, signaling a recalibration to prefer healthier food choices — an internal change that spills into the spiritual life. Father Tollefson has always been active with biking and cross-country skiing, and now he’s added sit-ups, push-ups and planks to his workout routine. He also prays the rosary when he runs on the treadmill. He’s still searching for practical workarounds for eating healthy in the midst of a busy schedule, but he feels encouraged by the simple tenants of the program. “Our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit, so we don’t want to haul a bunch of junk into the temple of the Holy Spirit with Cheetos, Doritos and all of those ‘good’ things,” he said. Deacon Andrew Zip, 25, has trimmed nearly 5 percent of his body fat and
gained more than 3 pounds of lean muscle since starting the program in February. Through the support of Torborg and his classmates at the St. Paul Seminary, he feels motivated to make better nutrition choices while maintaining a realistic lifestyle that still fits within the R3 program. “To have one big meal, or to have a meal with a bunch of bread or more sugary foods, it’s easy to be, like, OK, I just won’t have bread tomorrow or any sugar,” he said. Deacon Zip was recently ordained a transitional deacon and will serve at Holy Family in St. Louis Park this summer. He knows that the influx of energy and better sleep will help him in his ministry. “Knowing how to eat healthy is going to help me maintain this energy and to have energy to serve the people of God,” he said.
Congratulations SJV Alumni Fr. Aric Aamodt, Fr. Colin Jones and Fr. Toulee Peter Ly from the seminarians, priests and staff of Saint John Vianney College Seminary
www.vianney.net • (651) 962-6825 • sjv@stthomas.edu