May 2, 2019 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Courageous witness Victim of clergy sexual abuse, his mother tell their stories as way to help others. — Pages 10-11
Use caution Warnings issued against online con artists posing as pastors and stealing gift cards in internet scam. — Page 5
Looking ahead New president of Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women hopes to expand organization’s diversity. — Page 6
Leadership team Benedictine sisters’ discernment process forges way forward with new prioress, leaning on gifts of each sister. — Page 7
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Dispelling the darkness The Easter Vigil begins with a roaring fire at St. Alphonsus in Brooklyn Center — and at Catholic churches throughout the world — as the season of Lent gives way to Easter. The flames signify the journey from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, as the priest reads a prayer from the Roman Missal and lights the paschal candle: “May the light of Christ rising in glory dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.” In the background, Father Don Willard, center, pastor of St. Alphonsus, prepares to light the paschal candle, held by Father Thanh Nguyen, who also serves at St. Alphonsus. Both priests are Redemptorists. For more photos of the Easter Vigil at St. Alphonsus, which included 36 baptisms, see Page 20.
Sacred spaces Vestments old and new; fire at Paris cathedral; meaning found in church objects; St. Thomas breaks ground on chapel expansion and renovation. — Pages 12-15
St. Mark’s Catholic School restructuring St. Paul school closing K-8, but preschool to remain open By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit
S
t. Mark’s Catholic School in St. Paul is restructuring due to a sharp decline in kindergarten-to-grade-eight enrollment and rising costs, its leaders announced April 26. The school will not reopen to students in kindergarten and grades one through eight in the fall. Its preschool, which has been growing, will remain open. “Over the past several months, the parish and school leadership at St. Mark’s Catholic Church have had to take a hard look at our budget,” Father Humberto Palomino, St. Mark’s pastor, said in a statement. “Because of decreasing enrollment and increasing costs, we have determined that significant budget reductions at the school are necessary.” The school will eliminate 17 positions at the end of the school year, which will force the school to close its kindergarten to eighth grades, he said. “Instead, our focus will be on our growing and thriving preschool classes,” he said. Parish and school leadership also notified teachers and staff, students’ parents and parishioners April 26. According to data provided by the school, 32 students were enrolled for the 2019-2020 academic year. Since 1998, when there were 425 students, the school’s enrollment has decreased
MARIA WIERING | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
St. Mark’s Catholic School in St. Paul will close its kindergarten through grade eight classrooms next academic year, school leaders announced April 26. Its preschool will remain open. in most years. In 2013, there were 222 students; in 2016, there were 172; and in 2018, there were 139. In the current academic year, there are 90. PLEASE TURN TO ST. MARK ON PAGE 7
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MAY 2, 2019
PAGETWO NEWS notes
“
God eventually started stripping away, piece by piece, my dream to replace it with his. And his dream is far better than anything I could have come up with on my own.
6
The number of seminarians preparing for ordination as transitional deacons May 11 at 10 a.m. at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. Archbishop Bernard Hebda will preside. All six of the seminarians will spend the coming year preparing for the priesthood, four of them for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis: Austin Barnes, Nathan Hastings, Paul Hedman and Vinh-Thinh Nguyen (Tim) Tran. Two are with the Peru-based Pro Ecclesia Sancta religious order: Brother Alfredo Yamato Icochea Oshima and Brother Cesar Alvixtur Valencia Martinez.
Archbishop Paul Etienne of Anchorage, Alaska, speaking about discovering his vocation to the priesthood. Pope Francis named Archbishop Etienne coadjutor archbishop of Seattle, meaning he will assist and could succeed Archbishop Peter Sartain in leading the archdiocese. The appointment was announced April 29. Archbishop Etienne attended St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul, graduating with a degree in business administration in 1986.
60
The state legislative district number where residents voiced their concerns to state lawmakers at an April 28 forum co-sponsored by a coalition of Minneapolis churches, including St. Frances Cabrini in Minneapolis. Speakers at the forum asked legislators to support clean energy, tax funding for Medical Assistance, affordable housing and drivers’ licenses for immigrants. “Since the Minnesota Legislature adjourns in several weeks, we want our state legislators to know that bills to create the caring, welcoming state we envision are high priorities and need to be approved this session,” said Mike Gude, a member of St. Frances Cabrini and of the parish’s justice and peace committee. State legislators in attendance included Sen. Kari Dziedzic, Rep. Diane Loeffler and Rep. Mohamud Noor, all Democrats. Hosted by University Lutheran Church of Hope, the forum was one of six held around the state April 27-28. The gatherings were co-sponsored by the advocacy organization ISAIAH and faith communities around the Twin Cities.
3
The number of Benedictine values cited as guides for life by Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ president and CEO Tim Marx April 26 as he received the Colman J. Barry Award for Distinguished Contributions to Religion and Society from his alma mater, St. John’s University in Collegeville. Marx said worship, upholding the dignity of work and serving others are important values in his life as an attorney, public official and nonprofit leader. JOE RUFF | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
VESPER PRAYERS FOR VIOLENCE VICTIMS Gary Summerville, left, an acolyte at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, lights a candle for parishioner Tim Connolly April 28 during a Divine Mercy Sunday vespers service dedicated to the 253 killed and 500 injured in the Easter Sunday church and hotel bombings in Sri Lanka. Those gathered at the Basilica also prayed for the victims and their families of recent mosque shootings in New Zealand and San Diego. The Basilica’s Schola Cantorum participated in the service, which drew more than 50 people.
75
The address on St. Paul’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Drive of the Minnesota State Capitol, which will host the Minnesota Catholic Conference’s first Advocacy Hour. The event includes visits with lawmakers and eucharistic adoration in a private room at the State Capitol. People are encouraged to drop in between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. May 7 at the Capitol’s basement Vault room to meet with MCC staff. Also available from conference staff: “Lobbying 101” presentations at 9:30 a.m.,11:30 a.m.,1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Focus issues include legislation for school choice tax credits, funding for pro-life initiatives, and proposals to help the poor and vulnerable. Links to parking and other details can be found at mncatholic.org/advocacy-hour.
26
The number of students who competed in an annual religion bee April 25 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School in Hastings. Begun in 2006 by middle school religion teacher Kathleen Gleich at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the competition branched out to all archdiocesan schools two years ago. This year, nine schools competed. The winner was seventh-grader Nathan Ward of St. Vincent de Paul School in Brooklyn Park. Second place went to sixth-grader Olivia Hanson of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, and third to seventh-grader Bridget Tabor of Holy Trinity School in South St. Paul. Ward also won last year’s religion bee. The questions in the final round included: What is the 15th station? (The Resurrection); name a synoptic Gospel (Matthew, Mark or Luke); and who did Jesus call “the Comforter”? (the Holy Spirit).
10,000 DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
STATUE DEDICATION Students, faculty and staff at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul gather behind the chapel April 24 to dedicate a new statue of Mary for Ireland Hall, replacing the previous one that had been destroyed by students in an act of vandalism at the men’s residence March 3. About 40 people prayed the rosary then processed with the new statue to Ireland Hall. “It means a lot to me” to have a new statue of Mary, said Billy Siebenaler, a senior living at Ireland Hall who carried the statue with his roommate, John Locke. “I feel like this is very good closure and a very good action of moving forward (from the vandalism).” St. Thomas Campus Ministry ordered the statue, made by Fontanini figurine company in Italy. It depicts Our Lady of Grace.
The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 24 — No. 9 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor-in-Chief
The estimated number of Minnesotans who experience homelessness every day, according to Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The organization is urging people to contact state lawmakers about continuing to increase affordable housing via a petition at cctwincities.org/advocate/take-action-now. The state faces a growing need for housing as people seek shelter in places not meant for human habitation, such as bathrooms, commuter trains and the lobbies of buildings.
9
The number of high school students from Divine Mercy in Faribault who went on an 11-day mission retreat in March to Divine Mercy‘s sister parish in Panajachel, Guatemala. The students helped build a house, immersed themselves in the Spanish language and Guatemalan culture, participated in parish activities including the Stations of the Cross and celebrated Mass with an active volcano spewing lava and ash in the background.
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
MAY 2, 2019
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 3
FROMTHEBISHOP ONLY JESUS | BISHOP ANDREW COZZENS
Blood of martyrs brings new life in Christ “T
he blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians” is the famous quote of Tertullian, a second century Father of the Church from North Africa. This sentiment has always served as a source of hope for Christians that death would bring forth new life for the Church. Tertullian expresses our faith that there is a deep connection between the sacrificial love of Good Friday and the victory of Easter Sunday. This is the faith we cling to in the face of the pain and shock we feel after terrorists killed many of our brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka who were expressing their faith in the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday morning. Our hearts are still pained from the terrorist attacks in Egypt on Palm Sunday in 2017 and again in November 2018. In certain places, the world and human hearts seem not to have changed that much since the second century, when it was known that becoming a Christian could cost you your life. All of us need to face the reality of which Jesus often spoke: that as Christians we should expect to be rejected, even hated, by the world. “The hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God” (Jn 16:2, see also Mt 10:21 and Mt 24:9). It is only our faith in the power of Christ’s resurrection that can make sense of the evil of this world. Our faith in the resurrection of Christ is twofold. First, Jesus’ resurrection makes clear to us that the true life we are seeking is not the life we have now on earth, but rather the eternal life that he offers us. This resurrected life is the life for which we were created; it is the true life, where we are promised communion with God and with all those who have died in Christ. It is life
Sangre de mártires trae nueva vida en Cristo
“L
a sangre de los mártires es la semilla de los cristianos” es la famosa cita de Tertuliano, un padre de la Iglesia del norte de África del siglo II. Este sentimiento siempre ha servido como una fuente de esperanza para los cristianos de que la muerte traería una nueva vida para la Iglesia. Tertuliano expresa nuestra fe en que existe una conexión profunda entre el amor del Viernes Santo y la victoria del Domingo de Pascua. Esta es la fe nuestra; incluso con el dolor y la conmoción que sentimos después de que los terroristas mataron a muchos de nuestros hermanos y hermanas que expresaban su fe en la Resurrección de Cristo en la mañana del domingo de Pascua. Nuestros corazones aún están dolidos por los ataques terroristas en Egipto el domingo de Ramos en 2017 y nuevamente en noviembre de 2018. En ciertos lugares, el mundo y los corazones humanos parecen no haber cambiado tanto desde el siglo II, cuando se sabía que convertirse en cristiano podía costarle la vida. Todos tenemos que enfrentarnos a la realidad de la que Jesús habló a menudo, que como cristianos debemos esperar que el mundo nos rechace, incluso nos odie: “La hora viene cuando todo el que te mate pensará que está ofreciendo servicio a Dios” ( Jn 16: 2, ver también Mt 10:21 y Mt 24: 9). Solo nuestra fe en el poder de la resurrección de Cristo puede dar sentido al
that lasts forever, where he promises that “he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away” (Rv 21:4). This eternal life of heaven is the goal of our whole Christian life. And so, although we rightly express pain, sadness and anger at the death of our brothers and sisters, we also believe that those children and families, who were seeking Jesus at that Mass, passed from the celebration of the earthly liturgy into the heavenly liturgy, from the symbolic participation of the sacrament into the throne room of God, where they could hear the angels sing “holy, holy, holy” and see the risen Lord face to face. This is a great consolation as we see their innocent bodies destroyed, “for we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor 5:1). The second truth of Christ’s resurrection is just as important: The Resurrection shows us the reason that God allows evil in the world. It is part of the mystery of redemption through Christ’s Paschal Mystery that God doesn’t wipe out evil completely from our world. In sending his Son, God could have vanquished all evil and established an earthly kingdom where there would be no more evil, sin or suffering. Jesus did not do this. Rather, he entered into evil to conquer it from within, by transforming it. He chose to suffer the evil of this world more than any other human being could, since he was both God and man. Although innocent, he submitted to death and bore the weight of our sins. In doing this he made evil an opportunity for love. He showed us that suffering, death and even sin can
mal de este mundo. Nuestra fe en la resurrección de Cristo es doble. Primero, la resurrección de Jesús nos deja en claro que la verdadera vida que estamos buscando no es la vida que tenemos ahora en la tierra, sino la vida eterna que Él nos ofrece. Esta vida resucitada es la vida para la cual fuimos creados, es la vida verdadera, donde se nos promete la comunión con Dios y con todos aquellos que han muerto en Cristo. Una vida que dura para siempre, donde él promete que “se limpiará cada lágrima de sus ojos, y la muerte no será más, ni habrá luto ni llanto ni más dolor, porque las cosas pasaron” (Rev 21: 4). Esta vida eterna del cielo es la meta de toda nuestra vida cristiana. Y así, aunque con razón expresamos dolor, tristeza y enojo por la muerte de nuestros hermanos y hermanas, también creemos que los niños y las familias que buscaban a Jesús en esa misa pasaron de la celebración de la liturgia terrenal a la liturgia celestial. , desde la participación simbólica de la Santa Cena en la sala del trono de Dios, donde pudieron escuchar a los ángeles cantar el Santo, el Santo, el Santo y ver al Señor resucitado cara a cara. Este es un gran consuelo al ver cómo se destruyen sus cuerpos inocentes: “Porque sabemos que si la tienda terrenal en la que vivimos es destruida, tenemos un edificio de Dios, una casa no hecha con manos, eterna en los cielos” (2 Cor. 5: 1). La segunda verdad de la resurrección de Cristo es igual de importante. Porque la Resurrección nos muestra la razón por la que Dios permite el mal en el mundo. Es parte del misterio de la redención a través del Misterio Pascual de Cristo que Dios no borra completamente el mal de nuestro mundo. Dios al enviar a su Hijo podría haber vencido todo mal y establecido un
ultimately be used for good. This is the truth of the Resurrection seen in light of Good Friday. There is nothing so evil that it cannot be taken up by God and made into a potential good. St. Paul expressed it this way: “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28). Really, St. Paul — all things? Even the death of loved ones? Even tragedies in my life? Even my sins and failings? Yes, in all things. This is the faith of Easter that the resurrection of Jesus Christ proclaims. All the evils we have seen in the past year: The burning of one of the most beautiful cathedrals in the world? The sins of priests and bishops? The useless slaughter of Christians? All these things can be taken up by God’s love and made into a good. How? As you and I surrender our lives to the Paschal Mystery, as you and I seek to live more and more united with Jesus in the sufferings and trials of our daily life, as the Church lives the holiness Jesus calls us to, Jesus begins to bring the resurrection to life in our world. This is how St. Paul described the sufferings of his life: “For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you” (2 Cor 4:10-12). He believed that his suffering brought spiritual life to the world. Easter Sunday shows the power of Christ’s love to transform evil into good. In this season of the Resurrection, where we still experience so much of Good Friday, may these pains in our hearts become for us opportunities to imitate the trust of Jesus as he surrenders to his Father, so that even today the blood of martyrs might be the seed of Christians.
reino terrenal donde no habría más mal, pecado o sufrimiento. Jesús no hizo esto. Más bien, entró en el mal para conquistarlo desde dentro, transformándolo. Eligió sufrir el mal de este mundo más que cualquier otro ser humano, ya que era tanto Dios como hombre. Aunque inocente, se sometió a la muerte y llevó el peso de nuestros pecados. Al hacer esto, hizo del mal una oportunidad para el amor. Él nos mostró que el sufrimiento, la muerte e incluso el pecado, en última instancia, pueden usarse para el bien. Esta es la verdad de la Resurrección vista a la luz del Viernes Santo. No hay nada tan malo que no pueda ser tomado por Dios y convertido en un bien potencial. San Pablo lo expresó de esta manera: “Sabemos que en todo Dios trabaja para bien con los que lo aman, que son llamados de acuerdo con su propósito” (Rom 8:28). Realmente San Pablo, todas las cosas? ¿Incluso la muerte de los seres queridos? ¿Incluso tragedias en mi vida? ¿Incluso mis pecados y mis fallas? Sí en todas las cosas. Esta es la fe de la Pascua que proclama la resurrección de Jesucristo. Todos los males que hemos visto en el último año: ¿La quema de una de las catedrales más hermosas del mundo? ¿Los pecados de los sacerdotes y obispos? ¿La matanza inútil de los cristianos? Todas estas cosas pueden ser tomadas por el amor de Dios y convertidas en un bien. ¿Cómo? A medida que ustedes y yo entregamos nuestras vidas al Misterio pascual, mientras ustedes y yo buscamos vivir más y más unidos con Jesús en los sufrimientos y las pruebas de nuestra vida diaria, mientras la
Iglesia vive la santidad a la que Jesús nos llama, Jesús comienza a traer La resurrección a la vida en nuestro mundo. Así es como San Pablo describió los sufrimientos de su vida: “Porque mientras vivimos, siempre estamos siendo entregados a muerte por causa de Jesús, para que la vida de Jesús se manifieste en nuestra carne mortal. Entonces la muerte está en el trabajo en nosotros, pero la vida en ti ”(2 Cor 4: 10-12). Él creía que su sufrimiento traía vida espiritual al mundo. El domingo de Pascua muestra el poder del amor de Cristo para transformar el mal en bien. En esta temporada de la resurrección, donde todavía experimentamos gran parte del Viernes Santo, que estos dolores en nuestros corazones se conviertan en para nosotros oportunidades para imitar la confianza de Jesús cuando se rinde a su Padre, para que incluso hoy en día la sangre de los mártires sea la semilla de los cristianos.
OFFICIAL Archbishop Bernard Hebda has announced the following appointment in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis:
Effective March 20, 2019 Deacon Terrence Moravec, granted a dispensation from the obligations of the clerical state, including that of celibacy (request for “laicization”). Moravec had voluntarily withdrawn from diaconal ministry in 2018 and requested this dispensation from the Holy Father.
SLICEof LIFE
4 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
LOCAL
MAY 2, 2019
Spring reflections Sophomores Ela Paske, left, and Claire Aamodt explore photo opportunities at the edge of a pond during an outdoor session of their digital photography class April 25 at Visitation School in Mendota Heights. It was the first time their full class went outdoors this spring, said teacher Charlotte Cleveland, who had her students roam the grounds near the school building to find natural photo subjects. “We just wanted to come outside today because the lighting is so beautiful and the weather’s so nice,” she said. “It’s wonderful to be outside — no jackets needed. ... This is the perfect day.”
SLICEof LIFE
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LOCAL
MAY 2, 2019
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 5
Online scam targets priests, parishioners By Doug Hovelson For The Catholic Spirit Phony email and text messages sent by con artists pretending to be priests are showing up in computers and cell phones of parishioners and parish employees in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The scammers want recipients to respond to what appears to be an urgent and poignant message from their pastor requesting help in obtaining hundreds of dollars’ worth of pre-paid gift cards to give to a sick friend. Similar schemes have been reported in dioceses across the country, including Mississippi, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nebraska. The scams require recipients to reveal the digital access codes printed on the gift cards, allowing cyber-criminals to sell the cards online or on the street, police said. Some parishioners — nobody knows exactly how many — have fallen victim to the schemes, losing money on their well-intentioned gift card purchases, said Joe Kueppers, chancellor of civil affairs for the archdiocese. A number of digital assaults have been reported in the archdiocese. Father Michael Creagan, pastor of St. Joseph in West St. Paul, said he spotted one version as many as “two or three years ago.” The archdiocese started warning parish leaders of such schemes late last summer, Kueppers said. Blog posts on the website of Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul warned of an attack in November. KSTP-TV in St. Paul reported March 21 on scammers trying to fleece parishioners at Nativity and at Our Lady of Grace in Edina. A startled and worried parishioner at St. Bartholomew in Wayzata called Kathy Salman, parish director of communications, March 30, wondering if Father Michael Van Sloun, the parish’s pastor, might really be emailing her with a request to purchase Google Play cards for an ailing friend. Father Van Sloun was not sending such emails, Salman said, after some quick digital sleuthing on her part. She verified that the parish’s website had been hacked by anonymous intruders. They harvested not only the publicly available email addresses of staff employees, but also email addresses of parishioners that were supposedly blocked from outside view. They even grabbed up parishioner names and email addresses in the parish newsletter. “I could see exactly which email addresses were tapped,” she said. “We are very careful now how we put email and even phone numbers” on the parish website. Typically, the digital con artists ask recipients to purchase Google Play or Apple iTunes gift cards available at many retail stores in amounts up to $500, based on
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MARIA WIERING
Email and text scammers posing as parish priests are requesting that people purchase gift cards or other pre-paid cards and provide the access codes. The scam has targeted parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and across the country.
REPORTING SCAMS The Federal Trade Commission has sent out alerts about scams like those experienced in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and elsewhere in the U.S. Priests and pastors will never email parishioners looking for gift cards and would never send a business email from a private account such as AOL or Gmail. “Scammers are good at convincing people there really is an emergency, so lots of people have made the trip to the Walmart or Target or CVS to buy gift cards to send these callers. And scammers love gift cards — it’s one of their favorite ways to get your money. These cards are like giving cash — and nearly untraceable, unless you act almost immediately,” wrote Jennifer Leach, assistant director in the FTC’s Division of Consumer and Business Education, in a blog post for the federal agency. She added that gift cards could never be used as payment for any kind of emergency such as a car repair or plane ticket. If someone has fallen victim to this type of scam, there is some help, but the victim has to act quickly. “If you’ve bought a gift card and lost money to someone who might be a scammer, tell the company who issued the card,” Leach said in her blog post. The contact info might be on the card, but might require some research. “Call or email iTunes or Amazon or whoever it was,” she continued. “Tell them their card was used in a scam. If you act quickly enough, they might be able to get your money back. But — either way — it’s important that they know what happened to you. And then please tell the FTC about your loss. Your report helps us try to shut the scammers down.” The bottom line, say experts, is that people should always verify in person or by phone any request involving money or personal information. Email and text messages are convenient, but anonymous and easily created by crooks. — Catholic News Service reports from various parishes. Scammers of this type usually next ask recipients to email or text — or even call in with — proof of the digital access code stamped on the cards, said Edina Police Detective Dave Lindman. Tracking down online gift card fraud is very difficult; caution and prevention is the best defense, Lindman said. Parishes are doing what they can to protect their parishioners from such scams. Everyone should know that “no priest will send out an email message asking for gift cards,” Salman said. “Please be vigilant and even be skeptical of unknown cell numbers. Even if the texter has a familiar name and even if the text uses your name,” reads in part a cautionary April 15 blog post on Nativity’s website. Nativity’s blog noted that some parishioners had received fraudulent text messages supposedly sent from the church’s pastor, Father Patrick Hipwell, that opened with: “Hi, it’s Father Patrick. Are you available to text? I
need to get an (sic) Google Play card of $500.00 for my friend going through cancer ... can you get it from any store now? I’ll pay you back.” In March, the archdiocese provided direction in its e-newsletter to parish leaders alerting them to the ongoing scam and encouraging them to contact their parish’s IT professionals if they encounter it. “The fraudulent emails are more difficult to detect on a mobile device, as it is not immediately evident in a mobile view that the ‘pastor’s’ email address is not correct,” it warned. Victims of online fraud can report the crime on a Federal Trade Commission complaint page at ftccomplaintassistant.gov. Fraud also can be reported and more information about avoiding fraud can be found at the FBI’s site ic3.gov, said Kevin Smith, public affairs officer for the Minneapolis FBI Field Office. — Catholic News Service contributed to this report.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda, center, accepts Relevant Radio’s Christ Brings Hope Award from Thomas Vorpahl, right, chairman of the board of Relevant Radio. At left is Father Francis Hoffman, aka “Father Rocky,” who served as the event’s emcee and is the network’s executive director and CEO.
Relevant Radio honors Archbishop Hebda By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s dedication to the teachings of Christ, his leadership and accessibility were recognized April 26 as Catholic talk radio network Relevant Radio presented him with its eighth annual Christ Brings Hope Award. More than 1,000 people attended the banquet, a fundraiser for Relevant Radio, at the JW Marriott Mall of America in Bloomington. The archbishop received a standing ovation. “I’m so grateful, not only for this honor, but your warmth this evening,” Archbishop Hebda said. “I love giving awards, but I am very uncomfortable receiving them. I only agreed tonight because of my respect for Relevant Radio, and my desire to see it spread in the archdiocese and indeed across the United States.” Archbishop Hebda is a member of Relevant Radio’s board of directors. The network’s programming can be heard in the Twin Cities at 1330 AM. People at the banquet donating to Relevant Radio, based in Green Bay, Wisconsin, were encouraged to pick a Twin Cities’ Catholic school of their choice to receive a dollar-for-dollar match provided by an anonymous benefactor.
in BRIEF
Bomb threat closes UST St. Paul campus April 17 ST. PAUL — The University of St. Thomas issued an “all clear” alert shortly after 4 p.m. April 17 after closing its St. Paul campus due to a bomb threat. According to a statement from St. Thomas, the university received the threat by phone to its switchboard at 9:37 a.m., but no location was given. About 30 minutes later, a second call identified McNeely Hall, home to the university’s college of business, as the location of the alleged bomb. That building and two adjacent buildings were immediately evacuated. The university later received a third call in which the caller changed the location of the threat. University officials closed the St. Paul campus around 11:40 a.m. According to university notifications, the Catholic university was working with the St. Paul Police bomb squad and consulting with the FBI in a search of McNeely Hall. No suspicious objects were discovered, St. Thomas said in its alert updates. After receiving notification that the campus was closing, students streamed out of classes. Among them was sophomore Sarah Greene, 21, who told The Catholic Spirit she was concerned when she first heard about the threat, but didn’t expect anything to come of it. “I feel like … we hear this kind of stuff (in the news) fairly often, which is unfortunate, and obviously you have to take each one seriously, but also it’s hard to know how real it is.”
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6 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
New ACCW leader looks ahead By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit As a middle-schooler, Betty Berge washed dishes for her mother’s Council of Catholic Women card parties in the basement of then-St. Lawrence Catholic School in Faribault. “I’ve been involved pretty much all my life,” said Berge, 72, about CCW. “I love to serve. I also enjoy bonding with the women.” Berge’s lifelong service with CCW has grown into her new role as president of the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The ACCW works with BETTY BERGE CCW groups across the archdiocese to “support, empower and educate all Catholic women in spirituality, leadership and service,” according to its website. CCW groups serve their parishes and communities through faith and service, such as preparing funeral lunches, supporting charitable causes and hosting parish retreats. Berge’s term as president begins with her installation at the annual ACCW convention May 3-4 at St. John Neumann in Eagan. She previously served the organization as first and second vice president, the organization commission chair and the community commission chair. She also held officer roles with the southwest deanery CCW and the Divine Mercy CCW in Faribault. She is a member of the
province board of St. Paul and Minneapolis, which serves diocesan-level CCW councils in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. “It’s been an organization that’s dear to my heart,” said Berge, a member of Divine Mercy, a parish that formed in 2002 with the merger of Faribault parishes Immaculate Conception and Sacred Heart-St. Lawrence. Outgoing president Debbie Keller said Berge’s many gifts include an ability to engage Latino Catholics. Keller, a parishioner of St. Pius X in White Bear Lake, said she hopes Berge can help increase ACCW’s cultural diversity. Berge said that at Divine Mercy, active CCW members collaborate with the Latino community to hold events such as a soup supper that drew 150 people April 15. Berge said she doesn’t speak Spanish, but sharing activities has benefited everyone involved as they learn more about each other’s cultures. That kind of sharing could take place on a larger scale through the ACCW, she said. During her two-year term as president, Berge said she also hopes to attract new members, offer fresh ideas and respond to the needs of women in the archdiocese. She will work with the ACCW executive board on events such as the annual ACCW convention, legislative day and Advent retreat. “It’s a lot of work, but there’s a very good board,” Berge said. “I think we have a good team.” Berge and her husband have three married daughters and six grandchildren.
MAY 2, 2019
FOUR WOMEN TO RECEIVE COUNCIL AWARDS Four women will receive Laywoman Volunteer Awards for involvement in their respective Council of Catholic Women groups, parishes and communities. The Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women will recognize the winners at its May 3-4 convention at St. John Neumann in Eagan.
Barb Ernster • St. Charles Borromeo, St. Anthony Barb Ernster, 57, volunteers at St. Charles, in the archdiocese and in the broader community, helping plan events and facilitate programs that evangelize and build the Church. An extraordinary minister of holy Communion, she has served as president of St. Charles CCW, president of the parish preschool religion program, co-chaired the parish festival and assisted with several parish capital campaigns. Ernster volunteers with the World Apostolate of Fatima and is president of the board of trustees for its archdiocesan division. In 1996, Ernster helped launch Minneapolis-based The Catholic Servant newspaper. She assisted with communication efforts at the Curatio Apostolate of Catholic Health Care Professionals in St. Anthony, which provides spiritual and educational support. She helps coordinate events for the independent Catholic Charismatic Renewal Office in Minneapolis. She and her husband have three children.
Bonnie Polich • St. Ignatius, Annandale The parish secretary at St. Ignatius for over 27 years, Bonnie Polich has been volunteering at her parish since 1973. She first volunteered with youth faith formation and trained altar servers. Noting a need in the parish, she and her family created a pulley system for raising altar banners in the sanctuary. Polich has served as chairwoman of various parish committees and as president of St. Ignatius CCW and the northwest deanery. She helped increase St. Ignatius’ participation in the ACCW Appalachia Papal Footprints Shoe Box Mission, which sends shoe boxes full of gifts to the poor in Kentucky. She volunteers with the Christ Child Luncheon, which raises funds for pro-life organizations. She and her husband have three children.
Jean Shields • St. Raphael, Crystal Jean Shields, 88, has volunteered in the pro-life movement since 1970. She started Pennies for Life donation baskets at St. Raphael, and she arranged busing for parishioners to participate in the annual March for Life at the State Capitol in St. Paul. She helped establish Northside Life Care Center, a women’s pregnancy center in north Minneapolis that has since merged with Abria. She participates in activities with the St. Raphael Respect Life Committee and Knights of Columbus Ladies Auxiliary. She also staffs pro-life booths at county fairs and the Minnesota State Fair. Shields served as president of a local chapter of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, continues to serve on the board and is a member of the executive board. She is widowed and has two sons, a daughter-in-law and two granddaughters.
Nancy Johnson • St. John the Evangelist, Little Canada Nancy Johnson, 64, has been president, vice president and communications liaison with St. John the Evangelist CCW. She organized her parish’s role in a Rosary Coast to Coast effort in October 2018. She volunteers in adult faith formation and Family of Faith programs at St. John, leads a monthly rosary at a senior living apartment complex, attends monthly prayer vigils outside Planned Parenthood and serves as a prayer companion for Rachel’s Vineyard, a post-abortion recovery ministry. She volunteers with Second Stork, which works with over 70 Minnesota hospitals that request material assistance for mothers in crisis. She is a graduate of the Archbishop Flynn Catechetical Institute at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. She and her husband have two sons and daughters-in-law and seven living grandchildren.
If you suspect abuse of a minor, your first call should be to law enforcement. You are also encouraged to contact the archdiocese’s Victim Assistance Program at 651-291-4475. For confidential, compassionate assistance from an independent and professional local care provider, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, contact Canvas Health at 651-291-4497.
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MAY 2, 2019
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 7
New prioress seeks to advance community’s goals By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit Following a year-long process described as visionary, democratic and a little mysterious, the 30 vowed Benedictine sisters who belong to St. Paul’s Monastery in Maplewood elected Sister Catherine Nehotte as their 12th prioress in late March. Representing what one sister called “the next perspective” in leadership, Sister Catherine, 57, and the leadership team that will assist her during her fiveyear term, will seek to meet goals developed by the community’s members, including evaluating their vocation and hospitality ministries and care of creation. The election “is truly a spiritual experience, and we have to rely truly on God for that right sister that is to be called,” said Sister Linda Soler, 58, who will serve as subprioress. Sister Catherine’s election reveals something of the inner workings of the monastery, which has faced changes since its founding in 1948, including opening land on its campus to new institutions, its sisters’ aging, an ebb in vowed vocations and growth in associate, oblate and lay involvement. At the start of the election process, which the sisters have followed for at least 30 years, they first discerned in prayer future directions for the community, said Sister Paula Hagen, the monastery’s outgoing prioress. Like other U.S. Benedictine monasteries of sisters, they elect a prioress, whereas European abbeys elect an abbess. At the end of March, the sisters identified gifts and abilities needed to accomplish their goals and recommended sisters possessing them. Nominees addressed the community and answered questions. “There’s no campaigning involved in this,” Sister Catherine said. “It’s really a lot of deep listening as far as who might have the gifts to lead us in the next term of office.” When they appeared to have a consensus, the sisters formally voted in the presence of the president of their federation, which represents a number of Benedictine communities in and outside the United States, Sister Catherine said. Installation will occur May 5 during morning
ST. MARK CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 This year’s preschool class has 38 students. Enrollment is currently open for the next academic year, and school leaders are optimistic about its numbers, said Joe Hermerding, the parish’s business administrator. “The preschool has been thriving for a long time,” he said. In an interview April 26, school leaders expressed hope that they may eventually be in a position to rebuild the school grade by grade. The parish is growing in its number of parishioners, including families with young children, Father Palomino said. But for now, he said, the parish will be grieving the loss. “It’s difficult for all of us,” said Jim Wilgenbusch, chairman of the parish finance council. “This is not something that happened overnight, but rather ... we’ve seen a decline in our student population for decades now. And sadly, that’s not unique to St. Mark’s. That’s been a pronounced national trend specifically for schools in urban areas.” Parish leaders listed several factors they believed contributed to enrollment decline, including changing neighborhood demographics, families with fewer children, Catholics less interested in sending their children to Catholic schools and competition from other schools.
Sister Catherine Nehotte, right, stands with other members of the leadership team in the chapel at St. Paul’s Monastery in Maplewood: Sisters Linda Soler, left, Mary White and Jacqueline Leiter. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
prayer. After Sister Catherine confirms her intent to serve, vowed community members will affirm and acknowledge her. Celebration of the Eucharist and an open house will follow. Sister Catherine said she was surprised and humbled by her election. “For some reason I’m being asked,” she said. “God will give the gifts needed. I totally depend on the grace of God.” A leadership team will assist Sister Catherine, and she will work with a council of sisters and the overall community, Sister Linda said. As the civil and spiritual leader within the community and president of the community’s corporation, the prioress is also “relying a lot on relationships with each sister in the community, knowing that the gifts of each are required to help the community be its best,” Sister Catherine said. A south Minneapolis native, Sister Catherine earned a business administration degree at the then-College of St. Thomas in St. Paul. During more than 30 years at the monastery, she has worked in accounting and finance, massage and in human resources at Tubman, an agency based on the monastery campus that provides safety
Closing the kindergarten-to-eighthgrade classrooms allows the parish to bring stability to its budget, which includes the school, Wilgenbusch said. Although the parish sees the school as an important ministry, it could not subsidize it with such a small enrollment, he said. “The main thing going forward is that we’re grieving. We’re grieving as a single community, as a single family here at St. Mark’s, because ... the school is not separate from the parish and has not operated that way,” he said. Father Palomino added: “It was never a burden; it was always a blessing.” Last spring, Father Palomino, a member of the Pro Ecclesia Sancta religious community, announced that the school was exploring the possibility of transitioning to a classical education model. That direction was confirmed in the fall under the leadership of a new principal, Edgar Alfonzo, who was previously principal of St. John Paul II Catholic School in Minneapolis. School leaders hoped the new curriculum model would attract new students, but it wasn’t enough to reverse the trend, Wilgenbusch said. The parish also offered a reduced tuition incentive for new students for the upcoming school year. St. Mark parish worked with the
and help to women, children and families struggling with domestic violence, substance abuse and mental health. Sister Catherine’s qualities include listening and compassion along with a commitment to Benedictine values, said Sister Paula, a community member for more than 60 years. She hopes that Sister Catherine “will be able to listen to the sisters, the Gospel and the needs of our time” and “to practice the Gospel and the rule of St. Benedict.” During her own term, Sister Paula said, she saw her role as a bridge between past and future. “There’s a spirit of being connected to the past but moving forward into responding to the needs as they are existing today.” The Holy Spirit calls the right person at the right time, said Sister Linda, citing Sister Catherine’s leadership, life experiences and compassion. The election process helps the community focus on the future, and God will work in unknown ways during Sister Catherine’s term, Sister Linda said. “There’s a reason she’s being called, and that gets discovered over the next five years between God and Sister Catherine.”
Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office for the Mission of Catholic Education as it explored the school’s future and determined its plan for reorganization, leaders said. The school is aiding the families of enrolled students in finding a different Catholic school for the fall, and it is helping teachers and faculty whose positions have been eliminated network with other area Catholic schools. “We are grateful to all our teachers and staff for their commitment to educating our students in our Catholic faith, and grateful to the community for sharing the last century with us,” Father Palomino said in his statement. The parish founded the school in 1913. It was dedicated by Archbishop John Ireland and staffed by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Enrollment hit 600 within six years, and a growing
student body prompted several building expansions over the decades. Enrollment peaked in the 1960-1961 school year at 1,534 students, according to the school’s website. The parish and school have been served by Pro Ecclesia Sancta priests, brothers and sisters since 2009. The parish does not plan to sell the school building, and its leaders plan to seek parishioner input about its use, Father Palomino said. “We never expected that the archdiocese was going to close us, (and) we never said we weren’t going to keep investing in the school. It was always about whether enough people wanted to come to the school,” said Patrick Shrake, a lifelong parishioner who graduated from St. Mark’s Catholic School in 1980 and who sent three of his children to it. “I won’t give up hope.”
THE PERFECT MOTHER’S DAY, BAPTISM OR BABY SHOWER GIFT “I Thank God for You” by Rose Duffy, is the title of this brand-new children’s book and song. Children will actually look forward to bedtime with this unique, endearing bedtime ritual of reading and singing together. It is a fun way to pray. There is a little girl version and a little boy version to choose from. Please join Rose at her book signing at St. Patrick’s Guild, 1554 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul Saturday, May 4th from 10 a.m. – Noon Rose is also holding a festive book/song release party at Mancini’s, 531 West 7th Street, St. Paul, on Sunday, May 5th. The book signing begins at 4 p.m. Scottie Miller (who played on Rose’s song) will perform from 5 – 7 p.m. Rose would love to meet you and your kids!
8 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
MAY 2, 2019
NATION+WORLD
Churches, schools close after Easter Sri Lanka attacks Catholic News Service Fears of suicide bomb attacks kept many Christians and Muslims away from churches and mosques for Sunday Mass and Friday prayers a week after Easter bombings in Sri Lanka. The Catholic Church halted Masses and Sunday schools until security improves after terror attacks killed more than 250 people Easter Sunday, April 21. The gates of churches were closed with padlocks, reported ucanews.com. Many mosques canceled Friday prayers April 26 in solidarity with churches. Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith held a private Mass in suburban Borella April 28; it was broadcast live on radio and television. “We pray for those who lost their lives and that those who were injured will recover soon after this great tragedy last Sunday,” he said during his homily. “No one has the right to kill innocent people. Stop these killings in the name of God. Human life is the most beautiful, and all of us are unique. “God has created man for others, and every person is a reflection of God, but these incidents are insults to humanity. We pray for peace and coexistence and understanding each other without
Coffins are carried during a mass burial for victims in Colombo, Sri Lanka, April 23, two days after a string of suicide bomb attacks on churches and luxury hotels on the island. CNS
division,” the cardinal said. All schools in the country remain closed after the suicide attacks. Military checkpoints and operations have become common in most villages. Public gatherings and religious services have been canceled, ucanews.com reported. Tough security measures have been adopted by public and private institutions, with security officers checking bags and vehicles.
Christians and Muslims fear they may be targeted after the military warned there could be more attacks on religious centers. Two Catholic churches, one evangelical church and three luxury hotels were targeted in the Easter attacks, for which Islamic State has claimed responsibility. Cardinal Ranjith has criticized Sri Lanka’s government for its failure to act
Curia reforms prioritize evangelization By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service The proposed apostolic constitution for reforming and governing the Roman Curia is expected to emphasize the Church’s missionary mandate with the creation of a “superdicastery” merging two offices dedicated to evangelization. “The main point of the new apostolic constitution is that the Church’s mission is evangelization. It puts it at the center of the Church and of everything the Curia does,” Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India, told Vida Nueva, a Spanish weekly publication dedicated to news about the Catholic Church. Cardinals Gracias and Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, both members of Pope Francis’ Council of Cardinals, spoke to the Spanish weekly about the final draft of reforms the council approved at its previous meeting in early April. The provisional title of the new constitution, “Praedicate Evangelium” (“Preach the Gospel”), “shows that evangelization is the number one goal, ahead of anything else,” Cardinal Gracias told Vida Nueva. “Pope Francis always emphasizes that the Church is missionary,” Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga said, which is why the new dicastery will supersede the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in importance. The new Dicastery of Evangelization will be a consolidation of the current Congregation for the
Evangelization of Peoples, which coordinates the Church’s missionary activities, and the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, which aims to promote a renewal of the faith in countries where Christian vitality has been waning. Other major changes expected, the cardinals said, include merging the Pontifical Council for Culture with the Congregation for Catholic Education; transforming the current Papal Almoner’s office, which is charged with coordinating Pope Francis’ acts of charity, into a Dicastery for Charity; and granting greater authority to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. A major focus of the constitution is to create a change in mentality and in the relationship between the Holy See and the local churches, represented by the world’s bishops, Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga said. The constitution places the Vatican dicasteries at the service of both the pope and the bishops, who are “successors of the apostles” and “are not in an ecclesiological position below those who work in the Roman Curia,” the Honduran cardinal said. The curia is meant to be at the service of both the bishops and the pope, the Indian cardinal said. The constitution also will include reforms that have already gone into effect, such as the creation of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and the Dicastery for Communication.
Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga said the new offices and upcoming reforms not only streamline the Curia, but also “emphasize the importance of the laity in the Church and for the Church” by allowing the possibility for a layperson to head a dicastery. Traditionally, congregations have a cardinal as prefect and pontifical councils have had either a cardinal or an archbishop as president. The draft has been sent to the dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the leaders of world’s bishops’ conferences, the synods of the Eastern Catholic churches, the conferences of major superiors of men and women religious and some pontifical universities for their observations and suggested improvements. The two cardinals said they do not expect major changes to come out of the consultative phase since the five-year process of drafting the constitution involved gathering the ideas and concerns of the local churches and the various Vatican offices. It is hoped each “overall assessment” will be handed in before the end of May — in time for the six-member Council of Cardinals to study the suggestions and have an amended draft to give to the pope to sign June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. If the suggestions do not come in time, the constitution’s publication would most likely be delayed until after the summer, the cardinals said. The apostolic constitution will replace “Pastor Bonus,” St. John Paul II’s 1988 constitution reforming the Curia.
on intelligence reports warning of terrorism. He said the government’s behavior was unacceptable and he would have called off Easter services if he had been warned in advance. On April 26, army troops had a gunbattle with an extremist Muslim group at a house in Kalmunai. Police said at least 15 people — including three who blew themselves up with suicide bombs — were killed. Six children and three women were among those killed. The government has banned two littleknown Islamic organizations, National Thowheeth Jama’ath and Jammiyathul Millathu Ibrahim, in the wake of the attacks. The government has also banned Muslim women from concealing their identity by wearing the burqa and the niqab. Nadeera Wickramasinghe, a Catholic teacher, said the terrible attacks were the work of a few individuals and not of Sri Lanka’s entire Muslim community. “We must always respect the wonderful diversity of Sri Lanka and fortify the culture of unity that the country needs to thrive,” Wickramasinghe said. Britain, the U.S. and India have warned their citizens to avoid traveling to Sri Lanka.
Chaput: A time of testing Christianity, not defeat By Julie Asher Catholic News Service For the past three centuries, Western societies have worked hard to “to construct a harmonious moral life through human reason alone, without God,” but “it doesn’t work,” Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput told a New York audience April 27. “It doesn’t work, because it can’t,” he said. “And the more we try, the more catastrophic the results, as the record of the 20th century clearly shows.” “Christianity is despised because it’s true,” Archbishop Chaput said. “It’s hated because, despite its age, despite the many sins of its leaders, despite its teachings that can seem so incomprehensible to the world, it knows the human person more profoundly than the world knows itself.” “Christianity speaks the truth, and the world does not,” he added in a talk titled “God and Man in an Age of Unbelief.” He delivered the Edward Cardinal Egan Lecture, named for the late archbishop of New York, who headed the archdiocese from 2000 to 2009. A copy of his prepared text was provided to Catholic News Service. The evening lecture was sponsored by Magnificat, a foundation and a weekly magazine, which has daily Mass texts and scriptural meditations. “For all our modern tools and cleverness, we’ve arrived at a point where human reason itself is the target of our cynicism,” Archbishop Chaput said. “Human nature is seen as raw material for the will; and the will is stuck inside the flawed instrument and inefficient piece of carbon we call the body. “We double down on our refusal of limits. We will not accept the indignity of being creatures. We will not acknowledge a Creator, much less serve him. Our hatred of transcendence, and the obligations we owe to Someone or something greater than ourselves that it implies, grows in direct proportion to our failures to create perfection here and now.” But this is a time of testing, not defeat, he said. “It’s a moment of privilege,” Archbishop Chaput said. “We’re becoming awake again to the measure of God’s love, the price he paid for our redemption — and the happiness, the real happiness, his sacrifice makes possible for those who truly believe.”
NATION+WORLD
MAY 2, 2019
HEADLINES Pope makes donation to help migrants traveling through Mexico. Pope Francis is donating $500,000 to assist migrants with housing, food and other necessities as Mexican officials impede them from reaching the U.S. border. Migrants traveling through Mexico also are being hindered in their attempts to apply for asylum in the United States and remain in precarious conditions south of the border. Hackers infiltrate Ohio parish’s email system, steal $1.75 million. Email hackers infiltrated the addresses of two parish staffers and ordered changes in bank wiring instructions for a construction project to steal $1.75 million from a Diocese of Cleveland parish. Father Bob Stec, pastor of St. Ambrose in suburban Brunswick, told parishioners about the loss in an April 27 letter. An investigation by the diocese, insurers and the FBI continues, Father Stec said. Justices lean toward including citizenship question in next census. During oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court April 23, the majority of justices seemed in favor of an added question about U.S. citizenship on the 2020 census questionnaire. Members of immigrant advocacy groups assembled on the court’s steps insisting the census needed an accurate count and many people would not fill out the form with the added question. Catholic bishops condemn Poway synagogue shooting. Bishops from around the U.S. were quick to condemn an April 27 attack on a Jewish community gathered at a synagogue near San Diego, which left one person dead and three others injured. “Our country should be better than this; our world should be beyond such acts of hatred and anti-Semitism,” said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in an April 28 statement.
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 9
Court: Philadelphia can bar faith-based agencies’ foster care placements
Madison’s new bishop takes up assignment with enthusiasm, gratitude. “I’m very enthused, excited and grateful to be here,” Bishop Donald Hying, the newly named bishop of Madison, Wisconsin, said at an April 25 news conference. The bishop, who has headed the Diocese of Gary, Indiana, since 2015, has relatives in the Diocese of Madison and has spent a lot of time there over the years. He will be installed June 25 at St. Maria Goretti Church in Madison.
Catholic News Service The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit ruled April 22 that the city of Philadelphia can bar Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from placing children in foster care because the Catholic agency upholds traditional marriage. “This ruling is devastating to the hundreds of foster children who have been waiting for a family and to the dozens of parents working with Catholic Social Services who have been waiting to foster a child,” said Lori Windham, senior counsel at Becket, which is representing CCS and several foster parents who have sued the city. “We’re disappointed that the court decided to let the city place politics above the needs of kids and the rights of parents, but we will continue this fight,” Windham said. In March 2018, Philadelphia’s Department of Human Services froze all new foster care placements with the archdiocese’s Catholic Social Services. At issue is a long-standing practice of CSS not to perform evaluations of the homes of same-sex couples wishing to care for foster children and instead to refer the required process to one of seven other foster agencies contracted by the city’s Department of Human Services. On average, the Catholic agency was serving 127 foster children a day who were placed with more than 100 families in the city. The city’s decision also affects foster care services provided by Bethany Christian Services, a global nonprofit that operates in 36 states. This organization and CSS have contracted with the city on foster care since the late 1990s. CSS and several foster parents who joined in the lawsuit sought a preliminary injunction to stop the city’s new policy. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania rejected the request, so the plaintiffs appealed to the 3rd Circuit. “The city stands on firm ground in requiring its contractors to abide by its nondiscrimination policies when administering public services,” the appeals court said in its ruling upholding the lower court.
Pope applauds beatification of Argentine martyrs. Pope Francis applauded the April 27 beatification in La Rioja, Argentine, of four Argentine martyrs — a bishop, two priests and a layman — who were murdered early in the country’s seven-year long “Dirty War.” After praying the “Regina Coeli” with pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square April 28, the pope said the lives of Blesseds Enrique Angelelli Carletti, Carlos de Dios Murias, Gabriel Longueville and Wenceslao Pedernera are models for those “who work for a society that is more just and based on solidarity.” Magistrate denies motion to dismiss charges against plowshares activists. A federal magistrate judge denied motions from seven longtime Catholic peacemakers to have charges dismissed on religious freedom grounds in connection with their April 2018 protest at an East Coast submarine base. Magistrate Judge Benjamin Cheesbro of the Southern District of Georgia said in an April 26 ruling that the defendants failed to show that the government violated their rights under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. In an 80-page ruling, Cheesbro determined that while the cause the activists espoused is legitimately religious and their faith is sincere, the 20-year prison term that the seven face was the government’s least coercive response to the protest. Cheesbro said the faith-based activists could have pursued other means to carry out their protest against nuclear weapons on religious grounds rather than illegally entering the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia. — Catholic News Service
Fr. Clay is Retiring. Celebrate with Church & Community! Sunday, May 19, 2019 • 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. St. Stan’s Church St. Stan’s church invites you to gather together in celebration, an outdoor picnic event on the church lawn to celebrate Fr. John Clay’s retirement and legacy and the future of St. Stan’s. Come rain or shine (church hall if rain).
St. Stanislaus Catholic Church • 398 Superior St., Saint Paul www.ststans.org • 651-224-7998
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10 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Hope after the darkness Wehmeyer survivor finds healing through faith By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit
B
en Hoffman was on a retreat in 2015 when a priest called him over. Hoffman expected small talk or a retreat-focused check-in, but instead, the priest said, “I’m sorry.” For Hoffman, those two words meant everything. Hoffman, 25, is the oldest of three brothers who were sexually abused by former priest Curtis Wehmeyer when he was leading Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul. After years of distancing himself from the Catholic Church, Hoffman has returned — with a zeal for Christ and a robust hope his story can help other clergy abuse survivors find healing and faith.
‘I had no idea what to do’ Hoffman grew up in a tight-knit, devout Catholic family. He and his eight siblings went to Mass every Sunday, and prayed together in the morning and at night. The third oldest, he was home-schooled during middle school. As a teenager, he was involved with Servants of the Cross, a Twin Cities ministry focused on presenting the living Stations of the Cross each Good Friday. One year, he portrayed Jesus. In retrospect, he said, he thinks he and his siblings were “easy targets for grooming.” His dad worked a lot, and his mom was a parish staff member, which meant the family spent a lot of time at the parish, which was near their home. He and his brothers were altar servers, volunteered at the parish festival and were involved in other parish events. From 2006 to 2012, Wehmeyer was Blessed Sacrament’s parochial administrator and then pastor. He liked to camp, and he kept a camper on the parish property. Over several years, he took Ben and two of his younger brothers camping; trips with Ben were separate from those with his brothers. In 2011, Wehmeyer and Ben camped in Wisconsin, where the priest gave the teenager alcohol and marijuana until he was incapacitated, and then sexually abused him. When Hoffman realized what had happened, he was “petrified,” he said. “I had no idea what to do.” Hoffman was 17 at the time. He felt confused and embarrassed. He wanted to forget it happened, and he told no one. He distanced himself from Wehmeyer, and he stopped going to Mass regularly. By the middle of his senior year of high school, he moved in with an older brother, largely to avoid going to his parish, he said. “I wanted to get as far away from the Church as possible,” he said. Then, in 2012, one of his younger brothers revealed that Wehmeyer had been abusing him. Then, a short time later, another brother said he had also been victimized by Wehmeyer. Hoffman remembers being angry — angry that his brothers hadn’t said anything before that point, angry that he had been keeping the same secret, and angry that he hadn’t prevented it, even though their abuse began happening before his. However, he kept his own abuse
secret for months. He remembers yelling at his mom during an argument that it had happened to him, too, and he stormed out of the house. The revelations crushed his family, he said. After his brothers’ abuse disclosures, his mother went to the police, and the allegations attracted media attention. Wehmeyer was removed from ministry and later convicted of sexual abuse. He was sentenced to prison, first in Minnesota and then in Wisconsin. In 2015, Pope Francis dismissed him from the clerical state. Wehmeyer is scheduled to be released to a treatment center May 31. His sentence expires in 2026. The Hoffmans’ case was the subject of criminal and civil charges filed against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in June 2015. The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office accused the archdiocese of failing to protect the Hoffman brothers, given Wehmeyer’s documented history of inappropriate behavior toward adults and substance abuse. The civil charges were settled in December 2015 with the archdiocese agreeing to Ramsey County’s oversight of its safe environment protocols. In July 2016, Ramsey County bolstered that agreement and dropped the criminal charges. Hoffman perceives his brothers’ experiences — both the abuse and the aftermath — as “way worse” than what happened to him. “They went through legitimate hell,” he said. Even though the three boys weren’t publicly named, everyone at their parish could “connect the dots” and knew who they were, Hoffman said. However, for Hoffman, it also “was a very dark time,” he said. “I struggled with depression, alcohol abuse, drug use, I was addicted to pornography — there were just so many different things,” he said. “I tried to find everything in the world that would make me feel better ... and I’ve never felt that empty or depressed or alone.” While his brothers were still in middle and high school when the news reports first came out, Ben had recently graduated. At work, no one connected him with the headlines. The pain motivated him to dive into his work at a Best Buy retail store, and he earned promotion after promotion, eventually moving to the company’s Richfield headquarters. “I felt like I was living my job. I was working a lot,” he said. “I was almost obsessed with work in a sense because I wanted to be as busy as possible. ... I just wanted to stay distracted because of the anger.”
‘You can feel when you’re missing something’ Hoffman wasn’t practicing his faith during those years, but he traces his eventual conversion to a night in September 2014. He was partying with friends in Winona when he met a girl named Sara. The two danced and talked, and he felt an immediate connection. Two months later, he proposed. Because they were young and hadn’t known each other long, they planned a two-year engagement. Neither was religious at the time, but Sara was raised Lutheran. With an eye to joining the Lutheran Church, Hoffman began attending Lutheran adult faith formation classes. There he experienced a sense of God’s grace, he said, but he also began to reflect more deeply on Catholic doctrine, especially the Church’s understanding of the Eucharist. “I knew it wasn’t right,” he said of the Lutheran theology. “I knew what the truth was in my heart, so I was a little frustrated by it.” He stopped attending the classes and decided to remain Catholic. Then, he accepted an out-ofthe-blue invitation to help Servants of the Cross with its annual Good Friday living Stations of
the Cross, as he had as a teenager. It was a good experience, he said, but he still felt uneasy with the Church and the faith. But, for nostalgia’s sake, he said, he decided to attend the Servants of the Cross’ summer retreat at a lake in Wisconsin. “I was starting to dive a little more into my faith, kind of half-heartedly trying to get back into it,” he said. “During that time, from (ages) 18 to 21 where I was completely lost, you can feel when you’re missing something. So I was constantly trying to find that. I was starting to unconsciously realize that it was my faith that I was missing.” He said there was no “ah-ha” moment, but “that retreat was the start of me opening myself up to the faith again.” It was at that retreat that Father Don DeGrood, who at the time was working at Blessed Sacrament with Ben’s mother, called him over from where he was hanging out on the beach. “He said, I’m sorry. I’m sorry about everything that’s happened to you, your family,” Hoffman recalled. “He just apologized.” “That’s when I truly understood and learned what the word ‘sincere’ was, because the way he said it, the look on his face, everything about that moment I will remember for the rest of my life,” Hoffman added. “He was just sorry. He didn’t do anything. It wasn’t his fault. But his compassion and his love for people was eyeopening to me.” That weekend, Hoffman went on to have a powerful experience in adoration, where he was particularly struck by the joy of the people around him. “I just felt so overwhelmed,” he said. “I felt loved again after a long time of feeling so bad about myself and bad about everything that had happened.” On the way back from the retreat, Sara told Ben she wanted to become Catholic. Her questions and excitement throughout the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults process drove him to deepen his own Catholic faith, and when she joined the Church in spring 2016, Ben felt like he had come home, too. “The healing I got from receiving the sacraments and just being around people in the faith and focusing more on my faith — it literally saved my life. There’s no other way to describe it,” he said. Married in fall 2016 by Father DeGrood, who since has become pastor of St. John the Baptist in Savage, Ben and Sara are now parishioners of Transfiguration in Oakdale and parents of an 18-month-old son, Jude. In January, after spending six years with Best Buy, Ben left the company to pursue what he describes as a yet undefined mission. “I felt a calling, or a sense that I was supposed to leave, to ... help survivors and people of the Church who have struggled with sexual abuse. That’s the one thing that I’ve known, especially with a family of my size ... is, yes, I was abused and my brothers were abused, but the effects that it has on the entire family or other parishioners of the Church ... is really eye opening. I have a strong desire right now to serve the Lord and just do his work,” he said.
‘It could have been prevented’ That’s involved sharing his story — a prospect that would have terrified him years ago when it was his deepest secret. But, at a Servants of the Cross retreat for high schoolers in Outing, Minnesota, in November, Hoffman spoke publicly for the first time about the abuse. In a talk, he described the suffering and redemption he’s experienced since the summer of 2011. He
Ben Hoffman, right, smiles with h sexual abuse survivor who was v encourage other survivors and pe
told the high schoolers that h by a priest, and, because of th faith. But ultimately, faith is w begin to heal. “I wanted people to know w Catholic after everything that said. He told Sara about the abus relationship, he said, in part t his negative behavior. He was and ashamed, and he felt gui brothers’ abuse. Since then, he’s learned mo sexual abuse and, as an adult youths, has completed VIRTU awareness training required b Learning about the signs of p and abuse was frustrating, he because of his own naiveté, b people around him didn’t rec respond to — what he sees no of Wehmeyer’s grooming beh The boys’ time one-on-one especially in the seclusion of overnight outings, violated th established safe environment struck by a line in the 2015 m which focuses on the 2002 cl and cover-up in Boston: “If it raise a child, it takes a village “At the end of the day, it co prevented,” he said. As a Catholic youth, he rem that it was a big deal when a he perceived as holy — befrie The abuse “wasn’t just one you’re looking at what abuse grooming process, the inappr inappropriate language, differ that, that’s all part of the men you’re looking at it, they (his (the abuse) longer than anybo years where we were all either being groomed for it, or abus happening.” Wehmeyer would hang out and then started giving him b He hugged him for too long, watching pornography and to inappropriately. At the time, Hoffman brush aside, dismissing it as weird fo something he wanted to call “Looking back, everything I’m just like, what the heck w what was I doing? But it’s har 18-year-old, and you’re trying adults and someone offers yo somebody wants to give you
MAY 2, 2019 • 11
‘IT’S NEVER AFFECTED MY FAITH’
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
his wife, Sara, and son, Jude, at his home in Cottage Grove April 20. Hoffman is a victimized by former priest Curtis Wehmeyer. He’s focusing on sharing his story to eople affected by the clergy abuse scandals to find their hope in Christ.
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things like that,” he said. “You have this person in your life who is supposed to be taking care of you, so you’re like, I don’t want to disappoint this person. It’s hard to talk about because it’s so messed up.” Hoffman said he’s been angry at his parents for not protecting him and his brothers. “There have been family dinners where I’ve shouted things at my mother that I can never take back,” he said. He does feel a sense of comfort in the steps the archdiocese has taken to bolster its safe environment measures. He also thinks archdiocesan leadership could better communicate what it’s doing to protect children. But, “I’m hopeful for the future, that’s for sure,” he said of the local Church. “I think we’re in a better place than we were seven years ago.” Although the abuse nearly tore his family apart, they’ve worked to find unity and peace together, and not to cast blame for what happened. After Hoffman gave his testimony about healing from abuse at the winter Servants of the Cross retreat, he called his mom. “I did start crying,” he said. “I told her, ‘This wasn’t your fault. ... None of this is on you. And I know I’ve said different things in the past and everyone has, but I want you to know, this wasn’t your fault.’” The pain lingers, he said, but his family comes together for family dinners — usually with all nine siblings, and now spouses and grandchildren — every Sunday. He hopes that his conversion inspires his siblings’ faith, too. “The way I think about my faith now ... is completely different from even where I was before the abuse happened,” he said. “It went from being my parents’ faith to being my faith and my relationship with the Lord.”
‘My life has really never been better’ Hoffman’s journey has sharpened a memory he has from middle school, before the abuse occurred. A woman known to have spiritual gifts prayed over him, and she told him that she had a vision of him in a boat moving across a river, pulling people from the water into the boat. He didn’t give the experience much credence then, but now — even though, he said, “it’s a crazy thing to say” — he interprets the boat as the Church, and his mission is to draw people back into it. It’s a mission to which he’s felt God calling him for years, but one he’s tried to resist, he said. He doesn’t like public speaking, and with no post-high school education and scant knowledge of the catechism, he didn’t feel qualified. And he was anxious about what it
would mean to step away from the comfort and dependability of his career. Part of what compels him now is hearing fellow Catholics disparage the Church in the midst of its scandal, he said. He recalled, after the Pennsylvania grand jury report was published last August, discovering a Facebook post from a former high school classmate that called the Church “disgusting” and stated he would never raise his children Catholic. “That really struck a chord with me,” Hoffman said. “I started to realize that it’s not only myself or the people who are abused who are affected by abuse in the Church. It’s a very big problem within the Church and within parishes. ... And it kind of scared me because if something like that can make you lose faith, that’s the last thing that I want. ... Something in my heart was really moved.” Conversations with fellow millennials, he added, have underscored prevalent misconceptions about the Church, even among practicing Catholics. “People have lost sight of what matters,” he
said. “It’s the relationship with Jesus. It’s the love story of everything. People get too tied up in the politics. ... That is why my focus is in ministry or mission.” He understands people being angry about the clergy abuse scandals, but he doesn’t want people hurt by it — directly or indirectly — to turn away from the Church or from God. “Don’t be mad at the source that’s going to give you salvation,” he said. “People need to understand this was done by man, not by God.” While Hoffman is convinced that he’s supposed to dedicate his life at this time to ministry, he’s not certain what form that might take. He’s making a point of telling his story. In January, he shared it with Archbishop Bernard Hebda, and in February, he gave his testimony via a video for a gathering of priests that he couldn’t attend in person. Meanwhile, he’s praying for clarity for the future. “I tell people this a lot: It happened to me, but, looking back, if I could go back and stop it from happening, I wouldn’t, because of the place that I’m at today; I’m so grateful for it,” he said. “By the grace of God, my life has really never been better than it is right now.” In April 2015, Hoffman traveled to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, with his wife and mother for Wehmeyer’s sentencing hearing. Wehmeyer was in the courtroom. “I remember they called me up, and I gave a little spiel about wanting justice, and I just felt sick about it,” he said. On the way home, he began to regret what he didn’t do: Approach Wehmeyer, shake his hand and say, “I forgive you.” “I literally pray for him every morning, that he receives God’s mercy and that his salvation can still be in play,” he said. “The only way I could have gotten from wanting to kill this guy, to (the point of) me and my wife praying for him every morning or night, is through the grace of God and through my faith, and through the sacraments. I’m not getting from Point A to Point B any other way. “And that’s where the story is: It’s the story of the work God can still do on people’s lives. People need to stop reading the Bible and acting like it’s a fictional story book. God reached out to people back then, and he still does it to this day. And I think he’s spoken to me, and I think he’s using me for whatever he’s trying to accomplish with me. But I can’t get to where I am today without my faith.”
Joy Hoffman stands outside Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul. Three of her sons were abused by former priest Curtis Wehmeyer, and it has dramatically affected her whole family. MARIA WIERING | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
“St. Monica and I have been buddies for a long while,” said Joy Hoffman, referring to St. Augustine’s mother, who prayed ardently for her son during a wayward time in his life. The mother of nine, Hoffman prays especially for her three sons who were sexually abused by Curtis Wehmeyer, a former priest and her former boss at Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul, as well as their siblings, whose lives have been dramatically affected by the abuse. In the nearly seven years since her sons first revealed the abuse, her family has been upended by their destructive behavior, therapy appointments, two sons’ multi-month stays at a therapy facility in Utah, tumultuous family dynamics and the lingering questions of “what if” — what if she had identified Wehmeyer’s friendliness to her boys as grooming, what if she had never invited him into their lives, what if she had not trusted that because he was a priest, that his intentions were good? However, those disruptions and heartaches have never included a desire to blame or leave the Church. Instead, she’s leaned on her faith to sustain her through the unimaginable difficulties, and, like her son Ben, she wants other Catholics not to blame — and not to leave — the Church over the sins, however egregious, of some of its clergy. “I know how good God is,” said Hoffman, 58. “I knew it (the abuse) had nothing to do with the Church.” A Blessed Sacrament staff member since 2005 — the year before Wehmeyer was assigned to the parish — she was the faith formation director until 2014 and is now the parish’s administrative coordinator. When Wehmeyer was assigned to the parish, Hoffman thought he was odd, but she also hoped that he might inspire her sons to consider a vocation to the priesthood. In time, he was an occasional visitor to their home, as he lived nearby. As the parish’s safe environment coordinator, Hoffman said she was diligent about ensuring staff and volunteers were screened and trained, and Church protocols were followed between adults and minors. However, she didn’t realize how often her sons were alone with Wehmeyer. Additionally, their camping trips with him were always arranged with the understanding they’d be accompanied by another adult. Only later did she find out that those other adults were often present for only part of the time. But, she said, she never imagined that Wehmeyer was dangerous, until her sons revealed the abuse. He had kept them quiet by threatening them with their mother’s job, and for years they despised her for it, she said. Today, she’s inspired by Ben’s conversion and forgiveness, and recently she, too, has begun to pray for the former priest, she said. However, she struggles with silent prayer, because there the horror her family has experienced — including flashbacks of her children’s hurt and anger — becomes deafening. She falls asleep to the TV and even installed one in her bathroom, because she dreads the quiet of the baths necessary to ease the psoriasis inflamed by her stress. She used to be a frequent eucharistic adorer, but until recently, she couldn’t bear even 10 minutes in quiet. Family life is still challenging, she said, but it’s improving. And while Ben sees his mission in the context of the larger Church, Joy tells him that God is also using him “in our little Church, our family church,” she said. She fears that the abuse scandals will drive out a generation of Catholics, and she shares her story in hope that if other Catholics see that she is still faithful, they will be, too. “How do you deal with the tragedy in your life without Christ?” she asked. “If I hadn’t been able to keep my eyes on Christ through this, I wouldn’t have been able to make it through the first week. ... It’s never, ever, ever affected my faith.” — Maria Wiering
12 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
MAY 2, 2019
WORSHIP+ENVIRONMENT
PREVENTING the from
Older liturgical textiles link to Church history, but present storage challenges
TIME
By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit
L
ittle is often known about the antique vestments and other liturgical textiles stored, sometimes forgotten, in the attics and basements of Catholic parishes and homes, but they are signs of another era experts say deserve respect for both faith and historical reasons. However, for parishes and individuals, deciding what to preserve — and how to do it — can be daunting. “Every individual item and every different material has its own [story],” said Allison Spies, archives program manager for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. “There are a whole bunch of rabbit holes you can go down, learning all the ins and outs of these things. There’s a lot of variety, and the stories are really what makes them valuable.” Regardless of the range of resources parishes and individuals could devote to preserving antique liturgical textiles, simple storage techniques can protect them from deterioration, local experts said. Some of these techniques are also appropriate for storing and protecting vestments and other textiles currently in parish use, such as altar cloths and chasubles, the priest’s outer garment worn during Mass. The archdiocese’s archives in St. Paul include about 70 boxes of liturgical textiles, including a collar and zucchetto that belonged to Pope Leo XIII, who led the Church from 1878 to 1903; an 8-foot purple “cappa magna,” or cope with a train; and a 1970s-era mitre set with turquoise, rose quartz and other stones, Spies said. In Minneapolis, the Basilica of St. Mary has more than 200 liturgical textiles in its collection, according to Kathy Dhaemers, its associate director of sacred arts. Among them are gold brocade vestments from early in the 20th century and a set of 1960s silk vestments that demonstrate the Church’s transition to simpler liturgical vestment design following the Second Vatican Council, 1962 to 1965. A variety of liturgical textiles are on display through December at the Haehn Museum at St. Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph. The exhibition celebrates the Benedictine sisters’ art needlework department, which was active from 1867 to 1968. During those years, the sisters created textiles — including chasubles, copes and altar linens — for parishes and dioceses throughout the United States, said Benedictine Sister Moira Wild, who directs the Haehn Museum and curated the exhibit. A prized piece in the sisters’ 500-piece liturgical textile collection is an 1890 cope with rose-colored embroidery, she said. “They did just exquisite work,” Sister Moira said of the sisters. Representatives of several local parishes surveyed for this story said they have older liturgical textiles, but they haven’t been taking steps to preserve them. Spies said she plans to reach out to parishes to help them better catalogue items and to introduce conservation techniques. Parishes might not be able to keep all their
Liturgical textiles from the archives of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, from top: Gothic vestments (chasuble, cope and stole) worn by Archbishop John Ireland on the feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1913; embroidered liturgical gloves worn by Archbishop John Murray; bishop’s mitre likely from the era of Archbishop John Roach; and liturgical slippers worn by Archbishop Murray. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
antique liturgical textiles, but respect for the liturgy and the Church’s history are reasons to preserve them, said Johan van Parys, the Basilica’s director of liturgy and the sacred arts. “We also have the responsibility of preserving our past with great respect because we are not just a Church of the 21st century,” he said. “We have 20 centuries of history that we will never abandon. It’s important that we care for that as best we can.” At the Basilica, some of the same storage and preservation techniques used for antique textiles are applied to caring for the 170 vestments and other textiles in current use, Dhaemers said. About four years ago, the Basilica added climate-controlled storage space in its rectory for its antique textiles and other items, van Parys said. The parish also modified sacristy storage drawers so vestments lay flat and unstacked. Vestments for other liturgical seasons are stored in individual muslin bags. Both the Basilica and archdiocese are considering organizing liturgical textile exhibits. And Sister Moira said her community might publish a book of the sisters’ textile work, which she considers works of art. “They shouldn’t just be stored in a box,” she said.
SACRED TEXTILE CARE 101 Parishes and individuals should assess whether they’ll store their textiles for archival, historical or current use, and if they want to prioritize protection, prevention or ease of use, said Beth McLaughlin, a textile conservator at the Minneapolis-based Midwest Art Conservation Center. The storage environment is critical to limiting deterioration from temperature, humidity, light and mishandling, she said. And “that can be the space within which something is stored and also the storage system that’s used within that space,” she explained. Proper storage and handling techniques remain the same for handmade and commercially made items, McLaughlin said. “Silk is silk regardless of who is making it and whether it’s machine made or handmade.” The environment impacts how long items last, added Allison Spies, archives program manager for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. “It’s easily overlooked, unfortunately, because a lot of people’s heirloom items are stored in an attic or a basement, which often has the least environmental control in your house.” Rooms where textiles are stored at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis and in the archdiocesan archives in St. Paul are climate controlled. Experts interviewed for this story recommended the following conditions for textile storage and care: uKeep storage space at 65 to 70 degrees in a middle humidity range. uLimit light exposure, especially if items are displayed, to prevent fading. uEnsure adequate ventilation with breathable materials such as cotton muslin. That’s preferable to using plastic, which locks in moisture. Dry cleaning bags also cause yellowing. uUse acid-free archival boxes and tissue paper, which are inexpensive preservation tools. Stable acid-free tissue prevents antique textiles from cracking, Spies said. Acid-free materials are important because harmful substances can migrate from other storage materials, speeding deterioration and causing discoloration, corrosion and brittleness, according to the Minnesota Historical Society. uLay textiles flat. They shouldn’t be hung on hangers unless they are strong, Spies said. “Flat is usually the ideal for most textiles, because if they’re not rigid, they’re susceptible to stretching and tearing,” she said. uUse acid-free tissue or tubes to cushion the inside of textiles that require folding, according to the Minnesota Historical Society. uWear gloves to protect both the item and the handler, because some older fabrics were treated with chemicals, advised Kathy Dhaemers, the Basilica’s associate director of sacred arts. uDon’t wash or dry-clean antique textiles. Dhaemers said she sometimes uses a vacuum with variable suction. — Susan Klemond
WORSHIP+ENVIRONMENT
MAY 2, 2019
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 13
Notre Dame Cathedral fire a reminder of need for sacred spaces By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit
FIRE CHAPLAIN HERO
J
ohan van Parys, director of liturgy and the sacred arts at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, realized tears were running down his cheeks as he watched televised coverage of Notre Dame Cathedral burning in Paris. “I didn’t realize how important that cathedral was to me until I saw the roof on fire,” van Parys said. “I thought, ‘Why am I reacting like this?’” The answer, he said, is that “the cathedral is a historical icon. It’s been there 800 years.” “That building is more than a grouping of stones on top of one another,” he added. “It’s an icon of faith.” Van Parys was not alone in his reaction. People around the world feared the cathedral would be destroyed in the April 15 fire, then were relieved to learn the flames were contained and the church would be restored. That reaction points to the importance of sacred spaces — churches, basilicas, cathedrals and other places of worship, van Parys said. Notre Dame, with its imposing French Gothic architecture, sacred relics, and dedication to the Eucharist and other sacraments, carries a particular, unmistakable weight on the faith lives of those who enter, he said. “Even those who don’t go for a specific religious reason, being in that church, it cannot but speak to them of God,” said van Parys, who grew up in Belgium and has visited the cathedral numerous times as a child and adult. “I believe that sacred architecture speaks to people of the divine nature,” he said, “and has the power to imprint on them the divine. They may not be able to articulate it, but they will come away from that visit having changed.
A hero who emerged from the Notre Dame Cathedral fire April 15 is Father Jean-Marc Fournier, chaplain of the Paris Fire Brigade who was credited with saving the Blessed Sacrament and a reliquary containing the crown of thorns from the burning cathedral. The fire chaplain reportedly demanded to be allowed into the cathedral along with firefighters to retrieve the cathedral’s relics. “Father Fournier is an absolute hero,” a member of the Paris fire department told reporters April 16, adding that the priest showed “no fear at all as he made straight for the relics inside the cathedral and made sure they were saved.” The fire destroyed much of the cathedral’s wooden structure and collapsed its famed spire. Investigators think a short-circuit caused the blaze, possibly linked to renovation work. MAE DESAIRE | COURTESY BASILICA OF ST. MARY
Johan van Parys, director of liturgy and the sacred arts at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, at the Basilica’s Altar of the Sacred Heart with a book in which people were invited to write memories and prayers of support to the people of Paris in the wake of that city’s firedamaged Notre Dame Cathedral. The book will be sent to Archbishop Michel Aupetit of Paris. That’s why it’s important that we build good, sacred buildings.” The Basilica of St. Mary and the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul carry that kind of weight, van Parys said. Such cathedrals become part of the ebb and flow of the cities in which they are built. They are places to which people gravitate in times of great sorrow and great joy, he said. “I hope seeing that cathedral in Paris on fire will make us realize, ‘Hey, wait a minute, in the Twin Cities we have a responsibility to care for them as well,’” he said. Both Twin Cities’ cathedrals tolled bells April 16 in support of the people of Paris and all of France, and the Basilica dedicated that day’s noon Mass
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to the tragedy. The Basilica also invited people to share memories and prayers in a book set out on a side altar during Holy Week that will be sent to Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit. Dozens of people filled more than 13 pages of the loose-leaf notebook, some writing in French, many recalling their own visits to Notre Dame. Several comments echoed van Parys’ reflections on the importance of sacred spaces in people’s lives, including one that reads in part: “Notre Dame, a crossroads of peace, a place of unity, a welcomer of all, a house of worship. “Even in a state of ruin, this house remains a house of God, and a beacon of love to the whole of humanity.”
So far, about $1 billion has been pledged to help restore the landmark. Father Fournier was said to be at the top, or “hot end,” of the human chain that included city workers and church caretakers who entered the burning cathedral to save irreplaceable religious items and pieces of art. French Culture Minister Franck Riester said the saved items include the crown of thorns said to have been worn by Jesus before his crucifixion and a tunic once worn by St. Louis in the 13th century. According to news reports, the fire chaplain also served with the French armed forces for seven years. He was deployed in Afghanistan, where he survived an ambush that killed 10 of his fellow soldiers. The priest also provided spiritual guidance — praying over the dead and comforting the wounded — four years ago after the terrorist attack at the Bataclan music club in which nearly 100 people died. — Catholic News Service
WORSHIP+ENVIRONMENT
14 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Seeing the sacred St. Michael parishioner explores meaning of Mass vessels, furnishings in new book Interview by Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit It was a friend’s search for a resource to teach her child, who was preparing for first Communion, about the church environment that inspired Andrea Zachman to write “The Sacred That Surrounds Us,” published in March by Ascension Press. “You see, I love ANDREA ZACHMAN to gather information,” explained Zachman, a parishioner of St. Michael in St. Michael. With the subtitle “How Everything in a Catholic Church Points to Heaven,” the book explores the meaning behind the chalice, paten, credence table and other objects used during Catholic liturgies. Zachman, 36, answered questions about the book, her first, by email. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
Q What is “The Sacred That Surrounds Us” about?
A. This is a resource, as well as a book of beauty, that allows you to see that the environment around you matters. It explains, as you are sitting in church, what everything is: the altar, tabernacle, stained glass windows, candles, even the
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pews you’re sitting in. You see it is all there for a particular reason, most of which has been in our church since the very beginning, and is found also in the catacombs and home churches in the apostolic times. Not only is it there for a particular reason, but most objects serve a very beautiful function — and the symbolism is amazing. Holy Mother Church has prepared an environment for us that allows us to enter into the divine, into heaven on earth. This resource helps people to see all the beauty, symbolism and history of each holy item.
but they are rich in history and symbolic beauty that anyone is capable of understanding.
Q. Who is your main audience? A. My audience started out as first
Q. How has writing this book affected
communicants, but when Ascension accepted my proposal it quickly turned into a book that offered more rich information, making it more suitable for teens and adults — although the information could easily still be read and delivered to first communicants by their parents or older siblings. This would be great for RCIA candidates and catechumens, teens preparing for confirmation, Bible study groups and other faith formation classes. I am reading this with my son Joshua, who is making his first holy Communion soon. He can understand some of the information very well, and his questions regarding the environment at church are easily explained using this book. He can even read most of it. So it is simple for him, yet it is rich for me, an adult.
Q. What do you hope is the book’s main takeaway?
A. The environment at a Catholic
Church is unlike anything else people will find. We cannot get any closer to God than we do at Mass, and there is no greater relationship than that of holy
Q. Do you have a favorite sacred
vessel or liturgical object? If so, what is it and why?
A. I enjoy the parts of the church such
as the nave and confessional, as they allow me to see that even the specific rooms and areas within the church are there for a reason. I also truly enjoy the credence table — the symbolism is amazing. I also love the history of the nave and tabernacle. your own prayer and participation in the Mass?
A. I will find myself in Mass thinking of
Communion. Heaven meets earth in our church, and everything is there to point us to God in heaven and help us fall in love with him who loves us.
Q. What surprised you in your research for the book?
A. That most of these sacred items have
ancient roots in Christianity. I love the early Church, and I was able to find biblical and early Church quotes for most of the book. It was like I was taken back in time to experience the Mass and the sacraments with the early Church, yet I was still in 2019. Our Catholic faith unites 2,000 years so seamlessly.
Q. What might surprise your readers? A. That there is symbolism in everything around them. These items are not just pretty or functional,
the information and appreciating this environment more and more. I find myself able to explain things to my children when they ask. I also find myself approaching the Eucharist differently. I walk down the nave towards the sanctuary, towards heaven, to approach the ciborium that holds the divine, Jesus my savior, to the Communion cup that holds the divine, the merciful Jesus, to then kneel in humility and adoration after consuming the heavenly food. It all means more than just a walk up to eat bread, and it has meant more for 2,000 years.
Q. What else would you like to add? A. I pray each reader takes what they
learn in “The Sacred That Surrounds Us” into his or her own church. We all have these sacred items in our churches, and I pray this book helps readers to fall in love with their environment. Take time to walk around, outside of Mass, in your church and truly get to know your sacred space.
WORSHIP+ENVIRONMENT
MAY 2, 2019
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15
UST’s new Center for Faith aims to be ‘the spiritual heart of campus’ By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit
S
tanding sentinel before the century-old Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas in St. Paul are an array of earthmovers and an enormous drill poised for use. For the University of St. Thomas, these are reminders that soon the landscape surrounding the chapel will have changed dramatically — in many places, from grass to glass. In November, the university unveiled its plans to expand the red-brick chapel and add a new faith center. Rather than add a substantial addition above ground, the design leverages the chapel’s position on a hill and adds space to the north and west, mostly below the current ground level. The official groundbreaking for the $12.7 million, 23,000-square-foot project was to be held May 2. Named the Iversen Center for Faith for benefactors Al and Brenda Iversen, the new space includes rooms for wedding parties’ preparation, bathrooms, a sacred art gallery, campus ministry office space, a multi-faith prayer room, banquet space and kitchen. It also improves the chapel’s wheelchair accessibility. Also planned are a new plaza in front of the chapel and an outdoor amphitheater that faces the campus’ upper quadrangle, home to several large dormitories. The project is expected to be completed in spring 2020. The design incorporates a significant use of glass — around the new building’s entrances, along corridors and in skylights. That will not only allow sunlight into the building during the day, but is also expected to light the existing church in a striking way at night — creating what Victoria Young, the chair of St. Thomas’ art history department and a member of the project’s planning team, called a “light-box pedestal” around the church. Meanwhile, the chapel will receive renovations such
COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS
A rendering of the plans for the renovation of the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas seen from the west. as air conditioning and improved lighting, amenities expected and long overdue in a building that gets so much use — not only by students, but also alumni, Young said, noting the numerous weddings and funerals held there annually. Archbishop John Ireland commissioned the chapel, which was completed in 1919. It was designed by E.L. Masqueray, the French architect who also designed the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul and the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. With the expansion, “we’re making a commitment to having this being here for another 100 years, to sustain the vision of Masqueray and Ireland,” Young said of the chapel. “It has to be the spiritual heart of campus.”
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Creating a design that complemented but didn’t compete with the chapel was a challenge, said Ernesto Ruiz-Garcia, who designed the project while at The Opus Group, the Minneapolis company building the project. That’s why his team put the expansion underground. He said that creating a “meaningful sense of arrival” for visitors was especially important. “What I’m hoping this does is that it’s transformative for the campus,” said Ruiz-Garcia, who now works for Alliance, another Minneapolis design firm. “There’s a lot of sense that this building will be good for the campus. ... I really can’t wait to see it.” Between 40 and 45 percent of St. Thomas’ undergraduates have self-identified as Catholic in university surveys, said Vineeta Sawkar, the university’s senior media relations manager, noting that the actual number of Catholics may be higher. Most people on campus profess a faith, Young said, and the chapel expansion aims to make a dedicated space for religious diversity, “finding the common good that comes from all these different faiths being together.” That’s demonstrated in the planned multi-faith prayer room, which is designed to be used not only by Christian groups on campus, but also non-Christian students. Father Larry Blake, director of campus ministry and university chaplain, said the Center for Faith provides new opportunities for campus ministry programming and connecting his team with students, especially because the center will link to adjacent dormitories. “Walking through it, they’ll (students) be able to see what we have going on there,” he said. “I do think it will allow us to be in contact with a wide range of students from diverse backgrounds. I’m very excited for this project to get underway.”
16 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
FOCUSONFAITH SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER MIKE TIX
Counting the ways we experience Christ’s love
With the month of May now here, the thoughts of many turn to Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes and the annual fishing opener. Ask someone, and I’m sure that person will have a fishing story to share. I vividly recall times fishing as a kid. We all have our stories. In the Gospel reading for Sunday, we hear a fishing story. At the Sea of Tiberias, Peter, Thomas and others do what is most natural to them: They go out to fish. And they catch nothing. While it’s always nice to be on the water, there’s nothing as frustrating as catching nothing. Adding insult to injury, we hear about a stranger appearing, asking the disciples whether they’ve caught anything, and instructing them to cast their nets to the right side of the boat. Peter and the others follow the instruction, make a sizeable catch and recognize the stranger as the risen Jesus. Quickly the disciples come to shore. One of my favorite parts of this Gospel account is the reporting of a catch of 153 fish. I always wonder who had the job of counting the fish. Some will tell us that at the time of Jesus, 153 represented the known number of people in terms of tribes and clans. In that sense, the 153 fish point to Jesus’ gift of life shared with every people, of every time and place. The risen Jesus does indeed bless us abundantly in something more than a fishing tale. The gift of God’s love is real, present and among us. The 50 days of the Easter season call us to count the ways. This Gospel story invites us to consider the many ways we experience the risen Jesus in our lives today — particularly the Eucharist, where we are fed with the body and blood of Christ as food to strengthen us in living out our baptismal call to follow Jesus and
ASK FATHER MIKE | FATHER MICHAEL SCHMITZ
How much exercise, fitness are too much? Q. I’ve recently been more and more
interested in exercise and keeping fit. I am a husband and father and want to be able to play with my kids. You seem like someone who exercises. How do I know if I am placing too much emphasis on being physically fit and when have I crossed over into mere vanity?
A. I really appreciate this question. Not only is it a question that
I return to for myself quite often, but I have been asked this by many people. I don’t want to give anything away, but I need to be up front with the disclaimer that the final answer will ultimately involve you monitoring your own behavior and interior disposition. There will not be a black and white “do this, don’t do that” answer. But there are important cues to pay attention to. First, Catholicism affirms the goodness of the body and the soul. While the body (as well as the soul) is subject to the wounds of the Fall, it retains an intrinsic goodness. St. John Paul II wrote, “The body, and it alone, is capable of making visible the invisible, the spiritual and the divine.” Your body is the “vehicle” by which you learn things, come into contact with this world, and know and express love. The body is the tool God used to redeem the world. It was precisely Jesus Christ’s willingness to live, suffer, die and rise in his body that has saved us. At the same time, the body does not have absolute value. Athletic discipline can be a help toward virtue, but there are limitations. First, there is the limitation of virtues that are developed in athletic training. I always find it interesting when people seem to automatically associate fitness with good character. While there are many character-building elements involved in physical training (things like hard work, discipline, perseverance, resilience, etc.), there are just as many vices. We admire the athlete who has worked hard and demonstrated the “triumph of the human spirit” in competition, but athletic training can just as easily foster
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In these days of Easter, we are invited to watch for the risen Jesus in our lives. Jesus is risen, alive and among us. More than counting the fish in a net, may we take the time to count our experiences of the risen Jesus in our lives. As we count these ways, may we also remember our call to let others see the risen Jesus in us.
ourselves be witnesses to the Resurrection for our time. In the latter part of this Sunday’s Gospel reading, we hear Jesus ask Peter three times, “Do you love me?” These three times come after Peter has denied Jesus three times, and point to the experience of the risen Jesus that is found in forgiveness and reconciliation. Another example for us to recall in the month of May is found in our moms as we celebrate Mother’s Day. As we recall Jesus caring for his friends on the shore of the sea, we also remember how a mother’s love reveals something of the risen Jesus in the ways that a mom cares for her children and family. Mother’s Day reminds us both of how a mom reflects the love of God to us and also our need to say thank you. We also think in May about Mary, the mother of God, who said “yes” to the angel and brought God’s love to birth in the person of Jesus. Our moms in their daily care for their families imitate that same “yes” in their lives, and in them we see an example of faith in action. In these days of Easter, we are invited to watch for the risen Jesus in our lives. Jesus is risen, alive and among us. More than counting the fish in a net, may we take the time to count our experiences of the risen Jesus in our lives. As we count these ways, may we also remember our call to let others see the risen Jesus in us. Father Tix is vicar for clergy and parish services in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
selfishness, ambition, and unhealthy comparison and competition. Second, there are dangers inherent with any good thing. You wrote that you wanted to avoid vanity, which is good. On that point, I know plenty of people who seem vain about not exercising. They will boast of this as if it were an accomplishment to sit on the couch. Vanity can creep in regardless of what we choose to do (or not do). In addition, athletes can be prone to far more serious temptations: identity and idolatry. We have a tendency to define ourselves by our “wins” or our “weaknesses.” I have met many athletes who have not merely given their thoughts over to vanity, but they have associated their worth and their identity with their fitness level. I see this all of the time with our college athletes. For each of them, the day comes when they have their last game, their last race or their last performance. And suddenly, they “used to be.” They “used to be” a baseball player. They “used to be” a cross-country runner. A lot of our athletes go through a mini-identity crisis once their time competing at a certain level has ended. This is a sign that something has gotten out of balance. Speaking of balance, the temptation to idolatry is always present among really good things. Athletics and physical training are really good things. But athletes will have to watch to make sure that God alone remains the Lord of their lives. Third, we have limited time in this life. There are so many positive benefits to physical exercise, including being able to play with your kids. Mental clarity and alertness can come with regular exercise. In our over-distracted culture, the ability to be alone with one’s thoughts while on a walk or a run can almost be a daily retreat. Exercise is often time well spent. I invite you to see it in that light: You are “spending time.” I believe that physical exercise has more inherent value than most of the things we Americans do with our time, but there will always be a point of diminishing returns. I find a lot of value in the perspective of St. Francis of Assisi. He called his body “Brother Ass,” as in a donkey. He did not despise it. He valued his body. His body could defy his will, but he trained it to obey him. St. Francis was aware that “Brother Ass” could revolt against him and get out of control, so he learned to master it. He fed it and trained it as a valuable part of himself. His sense of fitness was incredibly functional. That kind of functional fitness seems like a good thing to shoot for. 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.
MAY 2, 2019
DAILY Scriptures Sunday, May 5 Third Sunday of Easter Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41 Rev 5:11-14 Jn 21:1-19 Monday, May 6 Acts 6:8-15 Jn 6:22-29 Tuesday, May 7 Acts 7:51–8:1a Jn 6:30-35 Wednesday, May 8 Acts 8:1b-8 Jn 6:35-40 Thursday, May 9 Acts 8:26-40 Jn 6:44-51 Friday, May 10 Acts 9:1-20 Jn 6:52-59 Saturday, May 11 Acts 9:31-42 Jn 6:60-69 Sunday, May 12 Fourth Sunday of Easter Acts 13:14, 43-52 Rev 7:9, 14b-17 Jn 10:27-30 Monday, May 13 Acts 11:1-18 Jn 10:1-10 Tuesday, May 14 St. Matthias, apostle Acts 1:15-17, 20-26 Jn 15:9-7 Wednesday, May 15 Acts 12:24–13:5a Jn 12:44-50 Thursday, May 16 Acts 13:13-25 Jn 13:16-20 Friday, May 17 Acts 13:26-33 Jn 14:1-6 Saturday, May 18 Acts 13:44-52 Jn 14:7-14 Sunday, May 19 Fifth Sunday of Easter Acts 14:21-27 Rev 21:1-5a Jn 13:31-33a, 34-35
MAY 2, 2019
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 17
COMMENTARY LETTERS
TWENTY SOMETHING | CHRISTINA CAPECCHI
All the news that’s fit to print
“Wife Returned After Having Fine Funeral.” The headline of a 483-word story in the March 15, 1904, edition of The New York Times bore a sly nod to Tom Sawyer. A man named Ignacio Valente was charging the city with a funeral bill he had been wrongfully issued, according to the Times. It had all started in the kitchen: “Valente is an Italian, and about six weeks ago he quarreled with his wife, Angelico, over the way she cooked macaroni. As a result of the quarrel the wife left Valente’s home, declaring she would rather die than return.” Indeed, she did not return, and Valente eventually reported her missing to the police, who said the body of a woman matching his description of her was at the morgue. Valente identified the clothing of the dead woman but not the body. The story goes on: “‘This woman was better looking than my wife,’ Valente says he declared. ‘Death beautifies them all,’ the Morgue man is said to have replied.” Eventually Valente was persuaded, and he went on to have the body dressed in his wife’s wedding dress, a request she had once expressed. He attended her funeral and footed the bills. Notice of the event was published in Italian papers, which came to the attention of “the real Mrs. Valente,” who hurried home. Her husband arrived later and found her “rummaging about for her wedding dress.” The story proceeds: “‘Why, I buried you in it three days ago,’ Valente, in his surprise, replied. Real trouble followed this, and, when Valente had satisfied himself it was his real wife who stood before him, and that he had buried the wrong woman, he could only restore peace by promising his wife another wedding dress just like the one in which the strange woman had been buried.” According to the Times, Valente was now demanding that the city pay for his funeral expenses as well as $110 for a new wedding dress and $40 “for wages lost through grief and because of illness that followed the shock of finding his wife alive ... .” The reader is left to imagine what that illness entailed and
SIMPLE HOLINESS | KATE SOUCHERAY
Righteousness amid the busyness
I oftentimes have said that the month of May has become busier than the month of December, with sports practices and banquets, dance recitals, AP tests and the beginning of graduation parties. There are so many events and schedules to accommodate that a family could find itself easily double-booking on any given day or evening without realizing it, and then have to miss something that is truly important to them. How do we manage it all in this over-booked, stressed-out culture, as we work to raise happy, healthy children and adolescents? It is in situations like these that a family who has written a family mission statement can guide their actions by the written directive, which serves to clarify their core values and objectives. Once these values and objectives have been identified and written down, the family members discuss and decide how best to activate and articulate the lived expression of what they represent. Ultimately, the family who chooses to be guided by a well-articulated mission statement will find it has congruence and coherence in its actions and decision-making, which are marked by
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Easter once felt like news. The shock of the empty tomb. The sought-after account of the first witness. The soaring and inexplicable triumph of it all.
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which way the scale was now tilted for Valente among his mixed emotions, recovering from the “real trouble” that ensued with the macaroni maker. For all its humor, the story also has a bygone feel, harkening back to an era when the Times felt like a smalltown paper to New Yorkers. In 1904, Ignacio and Angelico’s plight had landed among “all the news that’s fit to print.” The debate over what qualifies as “news that’s fit to print” has picked up fervor in our Misinformation Age, when we tap through fake news, funny news and failing news with a single slide of the thumb. Editorials, advertorials and objective reporting. The most newsworthy stories are those we can’t stop thinking about, discussing over cubicles, fences and treadmills: the discovery of Jayme Closs, the Notre Dame fire. And yet, there is another definition for Christians: the good news. Easter once felt like news. The shock of the empty tomb. The sought-after account of the first witness. The soaring and inexplicable triumph of it all. For those who believe, it was — and remains — the biggest news of all time. To truly be Easter people, as we are called, means not only to be people of hope but people of words, with a story burning in our hearts. We’d noodle it again and again like any newsworthy story: what it means to me, what you make of it, what we do and don’t know so far, how it’s affecting us. We’d ask with wide eyes: Have you heard the good news? Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights.
consistency and clarity. Catholics, and indeed all Christians, would understand this as “right relationship,” which is also known as “righteousness,” or the right order of relationship. This is often confused with selfrighteousness, but be assured, they are not the same thing. Self-righteousness is actually self-satisfaction, pretentiousness or believing oneself to be right above all others. This is quite the opposite of right relationship, which is most aptly exhibited as humility, a virtue to which all Christians are called. Particularly when we get overly busy, it is easy to be persuaded by self-righteousness, because it’s so much easier to believe we are right than to take time to listen to others and understand their needs. By contrast, the concept of righteousness is beautifully stated in Isaiah 32:17, which contends, “The fruit of righteousness is peace, quietness and trust, forever.” The concept of righteousness is the essence of the Christian lifestyle. Imagine working toward right relationship in your family to help facilitate a sense of harmony and tranquility, stillness and calm, as well as hope and confidence with those closest to you. When we find ourselves responding to a frenetic lifestyle, particularly during the month of May, we have the opportunity to step back and evaluate what is happening and decide if continuing in the direction we’re headed is the best for ourselves and our family. But what does that actually mean? It means we can make a choice about how busy we want to be. We can say “no” to activities or to becoming involved in something that will draw us away from our family’s stated core objectives and
Driver’s licenses reflect practical need I am very sorry that you had a bad experience with an undocumented immigrant driver (“Immigration quandary,” April 4). Yes, some immigrants hit people — so do a lot of other drivers! I have a friend with a broken neck due to an American citizen flying through a red light. Did you miss the part about immigrants who get driver’s licenses needing to learn the driving rules and taking a test to get behind a wheel? That would be better than what we have now, with people getting cars to go to work, but not being able to get a license, just because of their citizenship status. We used to allow them to get licenses, and it wasn’t as bad as it is today. Apparently you haven’t ridden the light rail or a bus for quite a while — they do not go to places like Woodbury that have lots of retail and assisted living jobs, but no buses or light rail. There are rush hour buses that take Park N Ride passengers downtown to work, but none that have coverage in the other direction or go there during the hours that low-paying jobs entail, like jobs starting at 10 a.m. or at 2:30 p.m. or 11 p.m. I hope that you can have some empathy for people whose countries are embroiled in wars or other violence. They come here looking for a lot more than a “better” life — in many cases they are coming to keep themselves and their families alive! Terry Hawkins St. Pascal Baylon, St. Paul Share your perspective by emailing CatholicSpirit@archspm.org. Please limit your letter to the editor to 150 words and include your parish and phone number. The Commentary page does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Catholic Spirit. Letters may be edited for length or clarity.
ACTION CHALLENGE Consider writing a mission statement for your family. You will find several excellent guides for writing a family mission statement by searching “writing a Catholic family mission statement” online. values in life. If we have decided we want to have meals together, we may have to tell a coach that T-ball practice over the dinner hour does not work for us. We may have to decide the five invitations to parties or dinners will simply be too much, and we step back and accept some, but not all. We may decide that, because the tournament schedule prevents us from attending Mass on the weekend, we either tell the coach we’ll be late for the game or we choose not to participate. Putting our values into practice in our lives is not practice for our kids. This is the experience of life they are having as they learn about what priorities are and what takes precedence over other experiences, events or activities. Setting a good example for them by aligning your choices with your values will instill in them a sense of confidence in knowing and doing the right thing. Through establishing right relationships with others by making good choices, your children will develop a life filled with the peace, quietness and trust of which Isaiah speaks. 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.
18 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
FAITH IN THE PUBLIC ARENA | JASON ADKINS
Love your political enemies
Not every political issue is a battle between good and evil. In fact, most are not. But more and more issues at the Capitol are being framed that way because we continue to lose a sense of the dignity of our political opponents. When we do not get our way in politics, we think increasingly that it is because the other person is not only ignorant or mistaken, but that they are bad people and lack character. This is especially true as the legislative session draws to a close and people’s goals are thwarted. The result of a failure to see our political opponents as Jesus sees them is what Catholic scholar Arthur Brooks calls “the culture of contempt.” Overcoming the culture of contempt is one essential element to renewing political life and helping politics work for the common good. Responding to this challenge is a beautiful opportunity for evangelization that Christians should embrace with boldness.
Propose, don’t impose Politics, as the Church sees it, is about answering the question of how we order our lives together. The Church presumes that for this conversation to work appropriately, there must be a sense of solidarity among the people and a shared pursuit of the common good — what is also called “civic friendship.” In public life, most questions are “bread and butter” issues: roads, schools, workforce, natural resources, energy, law enforcement. In those debates, we must have a sense of humility about our own perspective and see those with whom we disagree as friends, or at least potential friends, and not enemies. It cannot be a matter of simply imposing our will and being angry when it does not prevail, but instead must be one of constructive and rational engagement. And even on the most difficult questions —
COMMENTARY
MAY 2, 2019
questions that often involve who will receive the full protection of our laws — we must remember that most political conflict is rooted in a diverse population having different perspectives about how to achieve good things, or at least perceived goods.
Five rules of engagement In his book “Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt,” Brooks offers five practical (and countercultural) suggestions for productively engaging political life: 1. “Stand up to the Man. Refuse to be used by the powerful.” In other words, don’t be beholden to ideologies that make you conform to a party line, nor be a stooge of a manipulative leader or media figure who stirs up animosity against perceived enemies. 2. “Escape the bubble. Go where you’re not invited and say things people don’t expect.” Ask yourself if you are truly hearing other perspectives and encountering others who may sharpen your thinking. Break down stereotypes people may have of those on your side of an issue. Most importantly, begin to see other people not as “other,” but as your friends and fellow citizens. 3. “Say no to contempt. Treat others with love and respect, even when it’s difficult.” This applies especially when you see your opponents as immoral. It is easy to love our friends. But we are called to love our enemies. 4. “Disagree better. Be a part of a healthy competition of ideas.” We can disagree without being disagreeable. In fact, ideas are often refined in the crucible of debate. The checks and balances in our political system are meant to encourage a long deliberative process. We are supposed to engage that process and work for something better if we are dissatisfied, especially at local levels of government. 5. “Tune out: Disconnect more from the unproductive debates.” Social media can be useful, but it is often destructive. Recognize that outside the context of a real relationship of trust, you are likely not going to change someone’s mind. Brooks’ five rules will, if practiced, foster a healthier political culture. If we embrace them, we will also evangelize other people because, unlike so many hyper-moralizing militants who poison the
FAITH AT HOME | LAURA KELLY FANUCCI
The women who stayed
The women were the ones who stayed. I regret to say that I missed this for most of my life. I don’t just mean that I missed this in Scripture, although it took me decades to realize that women stayed at the foot of the cross when almost all the men fled — or that women were the first to discover the Resurrection in every Gospel. I mean that I missed it everywhere. The truth that women’s work and witness are too often overlooked and unseen. I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t grasp this reality until I became a mother. Until the hard but holy work of parenting made me realize how much faithful love and service from women had made my life possible. How my mom sacrificed late nights and early mornings to care for her five children. How my aunts gave countless hours to tend to my grandparents at the end of their lives. How my teachers, coaches, doctors, professors and employers — women who helped to shape me into the woman I am — have done their work with the same faithful commitment. The women stayed at the foot of the cross. They did not desert Jesus. They cared for his beaten, bloody body. They went in the dark to anoint him at the
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The women of the Resurrection have led me to ask how I can stay faithful — to my family, to my work and to all the places I have been called. iSTOCK | KCKATE16
tomb with oil and spices. They stayed faithful to the daily, loving work of caring for others in body and soul. During this Easter season, the women have settled into my heart and refused to leave. Mary Magdalene and Mary his mother: bearer of good news and bearer of God. Joanna, Salome, Mary the mother of James, and all the unnamed women: the ones who stayed by the cross and the ones who went to the tomb. The women of the Resurrection have led me to ask how I can stay faithful — to my family, to my work and to all the places I have been called. Throughout human history, women have often
Expand school choice for families Minnesota’s students deserve to attend schools that meet their individual educational needs. Parents, as the primary educators of their children, need to be enabled to enroll their children in the school that they feel best meets those needs. The good news is that there is now legislation, the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit, that will help provide families with better access to the schools of their choice and ensure we have educational freedom in Minnesota. Opportunity Scholarships are generated through donations to qualified scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs). Individuals and organizations that donate to a scholarshipgranting organization of their choice receive a tax credit for their donation. The SGO, in turn, grants scholarships to low- and middle-income families to attend nonpublic schools. Let your state representative, senator and governor know that you support Opportunity Scholarships for our kids. Connect with your legislators by calling 651-296-2146 for the House of Representatives, 651-296-0504 for the Senate and 651-201-3400 for the governor. Or, to send a message, visit mncatholic.org/actioncenter. conversation, we will be offering a bold and fresh model and perspective rooted in respect for the dignity of each human person — someone with his or her own unique and valued perspective, and someone we wish to persuade, not someone who is an enemy to defeat. Loving our enemies (that is, willing their authentic good) is the best Gospel witness. And, G.K. Chesterton said, our neighbor and our enemy is often the same person. Adkins is executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Minnesota.
been in the shadows, not the spotlight. They showed up on the margins but didn’t get to write the stories. Yet every Gospel tells of their faithfulness at the end. How did I miss this? Because, quite frankly, I missed how the women stayed in my life, too. Now I’m trying to notice them everywhere. The women who stay after dinner and do the dishes. The women who stay after Mass and set the hymnals straight. The women who stay after class with the student who’s struggling. The women who stay up late with the teenager who needs to talk. The women who stay at the bedside after everyone else has left the hospital room. They are Mary and Joanna and Mary Magdalene and Salome. They are every unnamed woman in the Gospels, every friend of our Lord whose story was never told. They are the saints we know and love. They are the reason many of us have faith in the first place — because our mother or grandmother or godmother or aunt or teacher or sister taught us first. The world spins on, but the women stay. Imagine how different the story might have been if the women had not gone to the tomb while others slept, had not discovered the body gone, had not listened to the angels or had not run to tell the stunning news of Christ’s resurrection that changed everything. From birth to death, women are called to stay faithful — then and now. We would not be here without them. 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.
MAY 2, 2019
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 19
CALENDAR Dining out
FEATURED EVENTS
Breakfast buffet — May 5: 8 a.m.–1 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. guardian-angels.org.
Annual Family Rosary Procession — May 5: 2 p.m. at the State Capitol, 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul. Archbishop Bernard Hebda will lead a procession from the State Capitol to the Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul. Those who wish not to walk the route may go directly to the Cathedral to pray the rosary. archspm.org/annual-family-rosary-procession.
Madonna Luncheon — May 6: Noon at St. Genevieve Community Center, 6995 Centerville Road, Centerville. stgens.org. 2019 Franciscan International Award Dinner — May 9: 6 p.m. at The Wilds Golf Club, 3151 Wilds Parkway NW, Prior Lake. To honor Loaves and Fishes. franciscanretreats.net.
Spring Formation Day — May 9: 9:30 a.m.– 3 p.m. at St. Joseph of the Lakes, 171 Elm St., Lino Lakes. The event titled “Be Holy as God is Holy: Sabbath Time and Growing Holy in the Church” will explore how to experience the sacredness of times and seasons. The event is open to all parish clergy, staff members, and parish and school leadership. Cost $25. archspm.org/spring-formation-day-2019.
The Basilica Landmark Spark — May 18: 5–10 p.m. at The Machine Shop, 300 Second St. SE, Minneapolis. thebasilicalandmark.org.
Transitional diaconate ordination — May 11: 10 a.m. at the Basilica of St. Mary, 88 17th St. N., Minneapolis. Ordained to the diaconate will be third-year theology seminarians of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis Austin Barnes, Nathan Hastings, Paul Hedman and Vinh-Thinh Nguyen (Tim) Tran, as well as two members of the Pro Ecclesia Sancta community, Brother Alfredo Yamato Icochea Oshima and Brother César Alvixtur Valencia Martinez. archspm.org/diaconate-ordination.
May evensong/vespers and blessing of the garden — May 5: 7 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. guardian-angels.org.
Seventh annual high tea and silent auction fundraiser — May 19: 12:30–3 p.m. at The Saint Paul Hotel, 350 Market St., St. Paul. Sponsored by the Altar and Rosary Society of St. Peter Claver parish. spcchurch.org. Father John Clay’s retirement party — May 19: 11 a.m.–2 p.m. at St. Stanislaus, 398 Superior St., St. Paul. ststans.org.
Retreats
Priest ordination — May 25: 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul. Archdiocesan transitional deacons will be ordained priests at the Mass. The four ordinands are Deacons Joseph Connelly, Louis Floeder, Joseph Gifford and Andrew Zipp. The ordination will be broadcast by Town Square Television and streamed on Facebook Live. archspm.org/priestly-ordination
Prayer/worship
Holy Childhood rummage sale — May 9-11: 9 a.m.– 5 p.m. at 1435 Midway Parkway, St. Paul. holychildhoodparish.org.
Transfiguration Council of Catholic Women’s annual garage sale — May 17 and 18: 8:30 a.m.–4 p.m. May 17; 8:30 a.m.–3 p.m. May 18 at 6133 15th St. N., Oakdale. transfigurationmn.org.
Men and Women’s silent weekend retreat — May 10-12 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. “Away Grief’s Grasping and Joyless Days” presented by Father Larry Gillick, SJ. kingshouse.com. Mothers, grandmothers, daughters, sisters, friends retreat — May 11: 9 a.m.–3 p.m. at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. “Valuing and Nurturing Relationships Across Generations” presented by Susan Stabile. kingshouse.com.
DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, 14 days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication. We cannot guarantee a submitted event will appear in the calendar. Priority is given to events occurring before the next issue date. LISTINGS: Accepted are brief notices of upcoming events hosted by Catholic parishes and organizations. If the Catholic connection is not clear, please emphasize it in your submission. Included in our listings are local events submitted by public sources that could be of interest to the larger Catholic community. ITEMS MUST INCLUDE the following to be considered for publication: uTime and date of event uFull street address of event uDescription of event uContact information in case of questions ONLINE: thecatholicspirit.com/calendarsubmissions MAIL: “Calendar,” The Catholic Spirit 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN 55106
Women’s silent weekend retreat — May 17-19 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. “Be Patient in Affliction” presented by King’s House preaching team. kingshouse.com.
St. Victoria rummage sale — May 2 and 3: 7 a.m.– 7 p.m. May 2; 7 a.m.-2 p.m. May 3 at 8228 Victoria Drive, Victoria. stvictoria.net.
Annual spring style show — May 11: 11 a.m. at St. Peter, 1405 Highway 13, Mendota. Sponsored by the St. Peter Council of Catholic Women. stpetersmendota.org.
CALENDAR submissions
Ignatian women’s silent retreat — May 14-16 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. Sponsored by St. Thomas More parish. Carol at carend@morecommunity.org or 651-227-7669.
Interfaith prayer service — May 2: 7 p.m. at St. Bonaventure, 901 E. 90th St., Bloomington. Native American, Hindu, Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Sikh faiths will read/chant spiritual scriptures from their traditions. Franciscan priests will introduce the service. saintbonaventure.org.
Parish events
CSCOE Bash — May 11: 6–9 p.m. at the Hilton Minneapolis, 1001 Marquette Ave. S., Minneapolis. Catholic Schools Center of Excellence honors Catholic school principals at its annual fundraiser. Special guests include Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Bishop Andrew Cozzens. Emcee is Matt Birk. Tickets $125. Registration closes May 7. cscoebash.org.
Women’s mid-week retreat — May 14-16 at Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, 16385 St. Francis Lane, Prior Lake. “Rejoice and be Glad: Our Call to Holiness Today.” franciscanretreats.net.
Conferences/workshops Order Franciscans Secular (OFS) — Third Sunday: 1 p.m. at Catholic Charities, 1200 Second Ave. S., Minneapolis. 952-922-5523. What to Know Before You Go: Funeral pre-planning workshop — May 8: 6:30–8 p.m. at Pax Christi, 12100 Pioneer Trail, Eden Prairie. Father Michael Byron and author Scott Mueller are featured speakers. paxchristi.com. “Power, Privilege and Identity” — May 8: 6:30– 8:30 p.m. at St. Mary of the Lake, 4741 Bald Eagle Ave., White Bear Lake. Catholic Charities presents discussion and reflection on the power that comes with privilege. RSVP at cctwincities.org/privilege, email events@cctwincities. org or call 612-204-8333. Abide in My Love — May 9: 7–9 p.m. at St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. benedictinecenter.org. Intro to Centering Prayer — May 10: 9 a.m.– 2:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. benedictinecenter.org.
Speakers Lecture and lunch with Matt Birk — May 4: 11 a.m. at St. Lawrence Catholic Church and Newman Center, 1203 Fifth St. SE, Minneapolis. Catholic men ages 18 and
up are invited. Sponsored by Archdiocese Holy Name Society. Optional 8 a.m. Mass and confessions prior to event. Cain Pence at caino@cainpence.com. “The Fact of the Cross” — May 5: 2 p.m. at Holy Cross, 1621 University Ave. NE, Minneapolis. “A Church that Moves the World” conference presented by art historian Elizabeth Lev. 612-930-0860. facebook.com/events/2408683966026580. Restorative justice and healing with Janine Geske — May 6: 7–9 p.m. at St. Mary of the Lake, 4741 Bald Eagle Ave., White Bear Lake. Justice Geske will be joined by Father Dan Griffith from Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis. stmarys-wbl.org.
Other events Open House to honor Sister Catherine Nehotte — May 5: 1–3 p.m. at St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, St. Paul. Celebrating the installation of Sister Catherine and the new leadership team of Sister Jacqueline Leiter, Sister Linda Soler and Sister Mary White. stpaulsmonastery.org. Abria Life is Wonderful Run — May 11: 7:30–11 a.m. at 4135 W. Lake Harriet Parkway, Minneapolis. abria.org. St. Stanislaus youth group fundraiser — May 13: 5:15–9 p.m. at DeGidio’s Restaurant, 425 Seventh St. W., St. Paul. Italian buffet with entertainment by Comedy Sportz. ststans.org. Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver annual plant sale — May 18: 9 a.m.–4 p.m. at 265 Century Ave. S., St. Paul.
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20 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
MAY 2, 2019
THELASTWORD
Come to the water
36 baptized at St. Alphonsus Easter Vigil Story and photos by Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit
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3 1. A shley Roque Garcia reacts to the pouring of baptismal water by Father Don Willard, pastor of St. Alphonsus. Next to him is Father Aaron Meszaros, who also serves at St. Alphonsus. 2. Those who are being confirmed gather around the altar for a blessing.
he Easter Vigil Mass had an international flavor at St. Alphonsus in Brooklyn Center April 20. People of multiple nationalities filled the pews of the church and listened to prayers, songs and readings in five languages, as 36 people from at least 10 countries were baptized and welcomed into the Church, and another three who had already been baptized received the sacraments of confirmation and Communion. “This is the largest number that we have had in my memory,” said Mary Synstelien, a parish volunteer who has worked with the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults at St. Alphonsus for nearly two decades. “I think in large part it is due to the evangelization of our various immigrant communities,” she said. “All I can say is it’s awesome. It is the Church alive and well in Brooklyn Center. It is the universal Church, and we see it every day.” Readings and prayers were spoken in Vietnamese, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog (the language of the Philippines) and English. Among the baptized were people from Mexico, Vietnam and the African countries of Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Liberia and Nigeria. The parish has been reaching out to a growing immigrant population in the surrounding area since the parish was founded in 1959, said Father Aaron Meszaros, a Redemptorist priest who served as the master of ceremonies for the Easter Vigil Mass. Redemptorists have led the parish since its founding, and Father Meszaros said his religious community has a charism for ministry to immigrants. Those baptized ranged from infants to a 72-year-old Vietnamese man and included several entire families. As he witnessed the baptisms, confirmations and first Communions, Father Meszaros said he felt “a mixture of joy and laughter. And for me as a Redemptorist priest here, I’ve really gotten to know a lot of the people, so it was a really personal experience. ... I was just filled with a sense of joy at the experience that these people were going through.”
3. Austin Alan Montes Lazarin is confirmed by Father Willard. 4. Fatmata Jallah prays during Mass as she prepares to be baptized. 5. People light candles at the beginning of the Vigil. . .