Bishop Foys launches new website www.covdio.org

Transcription

February 27, 2015
In This Issue
MESSENGER
Serving the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky since 1926
Special Section:
Marriage and
Weddings
pages 11-18
2
Bishop Foys Decree
Norms for Catholic Weddings
2
Deanery Pastoral Council
Extraordinary meetings in
action
2
Ash Wednesday
Distribution of ashes
3
Bishop Foys visits
Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker
3
Pro-Life ambassadors
Regency Valentine’s Day party
3
Cathedral Concert Series
J.S. Bach’s 330th birthday
6
Lent
CRS Rice Bowl and
local ministries
7
‘We Choose Life’
Blessed be God, who calls you by name, holy and chosen one!
In two separate ceremonies on Feb. 22 at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption,
Cooley photos
Covington, 81 catechumens and 113 candidates from the parishes and missions across the Diocese of Covington were presented to Bishop Roger
Foys as this year’s elect. The Rite of Election takes place on the first Sunday of Lent each year. The word “election” refers to the idea of a name
being formally announced among God’s chosen people. The elect will enter into full communion with the Church at the Easter Vigil, April 4.
Bishop Foys launches new website www.covdio.org
10 Serra Club for Vocations
Bishop’s Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
People and Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Saint for the Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Shopper’s Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
News Briefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Cooley photos
Bishop Roger Foys (above left) called an all-staff meeting, Feb. 20, for
a preview of the newly updated diocesan website — www.covdio.org.
Laura Keener, editor for the Messenger, (center) gestures as Shannon
Bosley, technology and curriculum coordinator for the Department
of Schools, (center left) navigates through the new site. (right) The
new website is pictured on desktop and mobile devices.
Bishop Roger Foys called an all-staff meeting, Feb. 20, for the preview showing of the newly updated diocesan website. Laura Keener,
editor for the Messenger, and Shannon Bosley, technology and curriculum coordinator for the Department of Catholic Schools, led Bishop
Roger Foys and the Curia staff on a quick navigation through the new
site. The new site, with a new address — www.covdio.org — was
launched following the meeting.
This is the first major overhaul of the website since September 2004
when CatholicWeb was contracted to create and host the site. At the
Sept. 11, 2014, synod implementation planning meeting Ms. Keener and
Tim Fitzgerald, communications director, had identified updating the
website as their goal for Year 8, July 2015–July 2016. The project was
accelerated when, six days later, CatholicWeb notified the diocese that
they would be discontinuing its webhosting services as of Feb. 28, 2015.
“I told the Deanery Pastoral Councils at our meeting in January
that, while the new website will be completed and launched before they
will have an opportunity to respond to the plan, their input is still needed. Any suggestions or comments that the DPC provides will be considered and possibly included in later updates,” said Ms. Keener.
A website committee was quickly established to identify a new web-
host and to collect information from the existing website and prepare it
for transfer to the new site. Members included Ms. Keener, Mr.
Fitzgerald, Ms. Bosley, David Cooley, assistant editor, and Alice Saner,
IT coordinator. The committee worked under the supervision of Father
Daniel Schomaker, vicar general, and the direction of Bishop Foys. The
committee would also train 15 staff members who would work with the
director of their office to develop and maintain the website for their
office. The website committee met for the first time Oct. 2 and met weekly until the launch.
Bishop Foys instructed the committee that the website offer an efficient way for offices to update information and to create a site that is
clean, attractive, easy for users to navigate and mobile-compatible.
The committee contacted several dioceses and parishes for advice
and recommendations, and researched six webhosting and design com(Continued on page 21)
2 February 27, 2015
Messenger
ROGER JOSEPH
BY THE GRACE OF GOD
AND THE FAVOR OF THE APOSTOLIC SEE
BISHOP OF COVINGTON
Decree
The Diocese of Covington Synod 2006 decreed that the diocesan norms and directives for the Celebration of the
Sacrament of Marriage be revised and updated in accord with the General Instruction of the Roman Missal 2002,
Redemptionis Sacramentum 2004 (Instruction on the Eucharist), and the Rite of Marriage 1970.
This revision has been carried out by the Diocesan Office of Worship and Liturgy, the Presbyteral Council, and
the Diocesan Worship Commission. Upon review, I have approved these norms and directives, and hereby direct
that they be published to replace any and all diocesan directives currently in use.
These norms and directives are effective, and to be implemented on Sunday, February 22, 2015, the First Sunday
of Lent.
Anything to the contrary notwithstanding.
From the Chancery Office, Covington, Kentucky, Monday, February 9, 2015.
Mrs. Jamie N. Schroeder
Chancellor
Most Reverend Roger J. Foys, D.D.
Bishop of Covington
The diocesan norms and directives for marriage liturgies are published beginning on page 13.
Ash Wednesday begins the season of
Lent — a time of transformation
Monica Yeamans
Editorial Assistant
“Here we are: the few, the brave, the Catholic — Ash
Wednesday,” said Bishop Roger Foys as he began his homily
Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18, at the Cathedral Basilica of the
Assumption. An early morning snowstorm
dumped five inches of fresh snow on an
already six inches of frozen snow in Northern
Kentucky. The Curia was closed as well as all
Catholic schools due to the weather. Bishop
Foys thanked the three Covington Latin students who braved the cold and snow to serve
at Mass even though school had been cancelled.
“Remember that you are dust and to dust
you shall return. We hear those words spoken
every Ash Wednesday as ashes are imposed
on our foreheads,” said Bishop Foys. “Those
words ‘we are dust and to dust we shall
return’ are not meant to frighten us but are
meant to remind us that our time here on
earth is limited. We all know people who were
with us last year at this time but are not with
us this year. They have gone on to the next life
and we pray for their eternal reward. Perhaps next year one
or another of us will have been called to our eternal reward,
we don’t know. We don’t have to worry about it or be concerned or be afraid if we live every day in God’s presence.
“The season of Lent is a time of transformation. … It’s not
just about giving this up or that up or certainly not making
ourselves miserable. … The sacrifices we make during Lent
are meant to make us better. The Gospel that is read every
Ash Wednesday lays out the plan for us — prayer, fasting and
almsgiving.
“Prayer — come to Mass. Come to Mass one day of the
week besides Sunday when there is the obligation to go. Come
to Lenten devotions, Stations of the Cross. Make prayer a
habit. Ten to 15 minutes a day to spend in some quiet place
with the Lord.
“Fasting — abstaining from those things that perhaps
occupy our time too much and takes us away from the Lord.
“Almsgiving — give what we have for the good of others.
Keener photo
Deanery Pastoral Councils hold
extraordinary meetings
Father Mark Keene, pastor, St. Agnes Parish and
dean for the Northern Kenton County Deanery,
led, Feb. 19, a meeting of the Northern Kenton
County Deanery Pastoral Council (DPC). It was
one of six extraordinary meetings of the DPC
aimed at gathering responses for the upcoming
October Synod of Bishops of the Family in
Rome.
Bishop Roger Foys asked each dean to convene
an extraordinary meeting of the DPC between
Feb. 13–27 to review, discuss and respond to the
46-question lineamenta prepared by the General
Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. Father
Ronald Ketteler led a similar meeting at Thomas
More College. Women religious of the five local
motherhouses were also asked to discuss and
offer responses to the document.
The deans will present their responses at their
March meeting with Bishop Foys. All responses
will be included in a single response from
Bishop Foys to the United States Conference of
Catholic Bishops and, ultimately, the Synod of
Bishops.
Bishop’s
Schedule
Feb. 27
Diocesan staff enrichment/
recollection day, St. Anne
Retreat Center, Melbourne,
9 a.m.–2 p.m.
St. Joseph Drama Club
presentation, St. Joseph Parish,
Cold Spring, 7 p.m.
Mar. 1
Mass, Cathedral Basilica,
Covington, 10 a.m.
It’s not just giving
money to the
Church and other
charities but also
Yeamans photos
giving of our
time. Visit a homeless shelter or visit a food pantry; help serve
the hungry. Go to a school and read to the children. There are
all kinds of things we can give of ourselves.”
In closing Bishop Foys cautioned on taking on too much.
“Don’t take on too much. … Focus on one of two acts of
prayer, penance or almsgiving. We don’t need to burden ourselves so much that we accomplish nothing.”
Mar. 4
Thomas More College Board of
Trustees Executive Committee
meeting, 7:30 a.m.
Individual meetings, 10 a.m.,
2 p.m.
Mar. 5
Episcopal Council meeting,
9:30 a.m.
DPAA kick-off dinner, Maysville,
6:30 p.m.
Mar. 2
YOUTH 2000 meeting, 10 a.m.
Mar. 6
Individual meeting, 9 a.m.
Meeting at St. Anne Retreat
Center, 2 p.m.
Permanent Diaconate
candidates, 10 a.m.
Cathedral Parish Council
meeting, 6:30 p.m.
Mar. 7
Villa Rama, Villa Madonna
Academy, 6 p.m.
Mar. 3
Individual meetings, 10 a.m.,
11 a.m.
Diocesan Finance Council
meeting, 1:30 p.m.
DPAA kick-off dinner, Erlanger,
6:30 p.m.
Mar. 8
Mass, Cathedral Basilica of the
Assumption, Covington, 10 a.m.
February 27, 2015 3
Messenger
Celebrating women
religious
Mother Mary Christina
Murray (right of bishop)
and the Sisters of St.
Joseph the Worker,
Walton, invited Bishop
Roger Foys for dinner
Feb. 19. Mother
Christina said that the
sisters invite the bishop
every year as kind of
“belated Christmas gift.”
She describes the meal
as “nothing fancy, just a
time to relax, talk and
enjoy each other’s
company.”
Pro-Life Ambassadors host Valentine’s Day party for Regency residents
“Monica Yeamans
Editorial Assistant
Over 20 Pro-Life student ambassadors representing several diocesan high schools and Thomas More College
recently held a Valentine’s Day party for the residents at
the Regency Manor North, an assisted living residence in
Covington.
Gifts had been collected for the residents and bags for
each resident were assembled with snacks, personal care
products, puzzles and games. A few high school Pro-Life
clubs brought Valentine cards to distribute to the residents. Faye Roch, diocesan director of the Pro-Life Office,
organized the party and made sure every resident who
attended the party had a gift.
Mary Wurtz, a junior at Villa Madonna Academy, donated gift cards she had requested for her birthday, which in
turn purchased the fried chicken for the dinner.
“What was amazing to me,” said Mrs. Roch, “when I
pulled up in the parking lot at the Regency I had everything in my car. I opened the back of my van then all these
young people came over and unpacked my car so by the
time I parked my van and went inside the students were
already putting tablecloths on the tables and decorating
the room.” The party was held in the Providence Pavilion’s
cafeteria.
When everything was ready the students walked up to
the second floor to get the residents. According to Dawn
Royce, manager of the Regency Manor, by 10 a.m. several
residents were waiting near the elevator they were so
excited. The party was scheduled to begin at 5 p.m.
The Pro-Life Ambassador students helped in the food
serving line; helped residents with their trays of food;
served the beverages; and sat with residents while they ate.
After dinner the residents played bingo. Numbers were
called until everyone had won something.
“It was so neat for me to see those people who are so different from the young people and see the young people
standing around with them praying before the meal,” said
Mrs. Roch. “This is the only church these people will see.
They are truly the hands of Jesus. The (students) treated
the (residents) with dignity and respect. It’s a challenge
(for the young people) and takes courage to step out of
their comfort zone. Many of the young people had never
been to the Regency before this party.”
“I loved doing this,” said Maura Baker, junior at
Covington Latin School. “The beautiful smiling faces and
pure kindness of the Manor and its residents gets me
every time. Overall if Valentine’s Day is made to share the
love then together we have fulfilled it.”
“It was great to see how happy all of the people were to
be there. Watching the residents play bingo was really awesome because several of them gave their prizes to other
people. It was a really nice experience overall,” said Katie
Schroeder, senior at Covington Latin School.
Several people besides the students attended the party
including the entire Martini family (daughter Catherine is
a Pro-Life Ambassador at Villa Madonna Academy) and
several members of the Curia staff.
“When our offices were at Providence Pavilion we
developed relationships with the people on the second
floor,” said Jamie
Schroeder, diocesan
chancellor
and
mother of Katie,
“They would join us
for Mass. They (the
residents) are people
in need of companionship and for people to show them
kindness. We can be
the face of Christ for
them. It’s the least I
can do to go and help
brighten their day
with some holiday
celebrations.”
“It’s a gift for me
to be involved,”
added Mrs. Roch
referring to the Pro
Life Ambassadors
and the residents of
the Regency Manor
North.
Pro-Life student ambassadors from Thomas More College
and several Catholic high schools — Covington Latin School,
Covington Catholic, St. Henry District High School and Villa
Madonna Academy — hosted a Valentine’s Day party, Feb. 12,
for the residents of Regency Manor, Covington. (above) Maria
Seifert, Thomas More student, assists a resident with his
meal. (top right) Two residents pose for a picture at the celebration. (right) St. Henry students, Liz Roch and Jillian
Fields, distribute cupcakes.
Cathedral Concert Series will celebrate
Johann Sebastian Bach’s 330th birthday
The Covington Cathedral Concert Series will celebrate Bach’s 330th birthday, March 8, as the 39th season
continues. Organist Kim Heindel
re-creates a momentous 1840 program given by Felix Mendelssohn.
The concert begins at 3 p.m. at the
Cathedral
Basilica
of
the
Assumption, Covington. All are
welcome.
More than any other musician of the 19th century,
Felix Mendelssohn was responsible for reintroducing
the long-forgotten music of Johann Sebastian Bach to
the musical public. The so-called Mendelssohn Program
of Bach organ works was performed by the composer in
1840 at the famous St. Thomas Church in Leipzig.
There, Bach served as music director from 1723 until
his death in 1750. The recital included some of Bach’s
most beloved works for the King of Instruments, such
as the “Passacaglia” and the “Toccata in D Minor”.
Mr. Heindel’s music career has spanned four
decades. His three recordings and his organ and harpsichord performances have all received critical acclaim.
Mr. Heindel has also been teaching and sharing his
extensive musical knowledge with students for 35 years.
There is no admission charge. A freewill offering
will be accepted. For information visit cathedralconcertseries.org.
4 February 27, 2015
Messenger
COMMENTARY
Christ and nature
Numerous groups and individuals today are challenging us in regards to our relationship to mother earth.
From Green Peace, from
various environmental
IN EXILE
groups, from various
Christian and other religious groups, and from various individual voices,
comes the challenge to be
less blind, less unthinking,
and less reckless in terms
of how we relate to the
earth. Every day our newscasts point out how, without much in the way of
serious reflection, we are
polluting the planet, stripFather Ron Rolheiser
mining its resources, creating mega-landfills, pouring
carbon dangerously into the atmosphere, causing the disappearance of thousands of species, creating bad air and
bad water, and thinning the ozone layer. And so the cry
goes out — live more simply, use fewer resources, lessen
your carbon footprint and try to recycle whatever you’ve
used.
That challenge, of course, is very good and very
important. The air we breathe out is the air we will eventually inhale and so we need to be very careful about
what we exhale. This planet is our home and we need to
ensure that, long term, it can provide us with the sustenance and comfort of a home.
But true as this is, there’s still another very important
reason why we need to treat mother earth with more caution and respect. Namely Christ, himself, is vitally boundup with nature and his reasons for coming to earth also
include the intention of redeeming the physical universe.
What’s implied here?
Let me begin with an anecdote which captures, in
essence, what’s at stake. The scientist-theologian, Pierre
Teilhard de Chardin, in conversation with a Vatican official who was confused by his writings and doctrinally
suspicious of them, was once asked, “What are you trying to do in your writings?” Teilhard’s response: “I am
trying to write a Christology that is wide enough to incorporate the full Christ because Christ is not just an anthropological event but he is also a cosmic phenomenon.”
Simply translated, he is saying that Christ didn’t just
come to save people — he came for that, yes — but he also
came to save the planet, of which people are only one
part.
In saying that, Teilhard has solid scriptural backing.
Looking at the Scriptures we find that they affirm that
Christ didn’t just come to save people, he came to save the
world. For example, the Epistle to the Colossians (1: 15-20)
records an ancient Christian hymn which affirms both
that Christ was already a vital force inside the original
creation (“that all things were made through him”) and
that Christ is also the end point to of all history, human
and cosmic.
The Epistle to the Ephesians, also recording an
ancient Christian hymn, (1: 3-10) makes the same point,
while the Epistle to the Romans (8:19-22) is even more
explicit in affirming that physical creation, mother earth
and our physical universe, are “groaning” as they too
wait for redemption by Christ. Among other things these
texts affirm that the physical world is part of God’s plan
for eventual heavenly life.
What’s contained in that, if we tease out its implications? A number of very clear principles. First, nature —
not just humanity — is being redeemed by Christ. The
world is not just a stage upon which human history plays
out. It has intrinsic meaning and value beyond what it
means for us as humans. Physical nature is, in effect,
brother and sister with us in the journey towards the
divinely intended end of history. Christ also came to
redeem the earth, not just those of us who are living on
it. Physical creation too will enter in the final synthesis of
history, that is, heaven.
Second, this means that nature has intrinsic rights,
not just the rights we find convenient to accord it. What
this means is that defacing or abusing nature is not just a
legal and environmental issue, it’s a moral issue. We are
violating someone’s (something’s) intrinsic rights. Thus
when we, mindlessly, throw a Coke can into a ditch we are
not just breaking a law we are also, at some deep level,
defacing Christ. We need to respect nature, not, first of
all, so that it doesn’t recoil on us and give us back our
own asphyxiating pollution, but because it, akin to
humanity, has its own rights. A teaching too rarely
affirmed.
Finally, not least, what is implied in understanding the
cosmic dimension of Christ and what that means in
terms of our relationship to mother earth and the universe is the non-negotiable fact that the quest for community and consummation within God’s Kingdom (our journey towards heaven) is a quest that calls us not just to a
proper relationship with God and with each other, but
also to a proper relationship with physical creation.
We are humans with bodies living on the earth, not
disembodied angels living in heaven, and Christ came to
save our bodies along with our souls; and he came, as
well, to save the physical ground upon which we walk
since he was the very pattern upon which, and through
which, the physical world was created.
Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, theologian, teacher, and
award-winning author, is President of the Oblate School of
Theology in San Antonio, Texas.
Cultural confusion and the Theology of the Body
--For more than half a century, the prevailing forces in
society have been telling people that personal fulfillment
lies in sexual fulfillment. And sex sells. So mainstream
media is saturated with sex.
We are bombarded with ads and graphic language on
how to extend one’s sex life in the senior years. Marriage,
through no-fault divorce, in the eyes of many has become
almost meaningless. Young people, at increasingly
younger ages, are being pressured to identify themselves
as a particular orientation or gender (there are 56 according to Facebook) so that they can realize their sexual fulfillment. The sexual revolution is now basically a sexual
anarchy and the wreckage of confusion, alienation and
brokenness is piling up beyond our imagination.
For more than a quarter century now, Pope St. John
Paul II has been trying to tell people that personal fulfillment lies in the gift of self — love. In 1979, John Paul II
began a series of Wednesday audiences, which has
become known in the United States as the Theology of
the Body. In the rest of the world, these Wednesday
Audiences have become known as the Catechesis on
Human Love, which I think better captures the wide
breadth of John Paul’s teaching.
Throughout the Wednesday audiences, John Paul II
kept emphasizing in different ways one passage from
Vatican II, “Man is the only creature on earth which God
willed for itself, [and he] cannot fully find himself except
through a sincere gift of himself.” (“Gaudium et Spes,”
24) This makes sense if we think about the origin of the
human person. Man and woman are made in the image of
VOL. 85
MESSENGER
NO.8
Official newspaper of the Diocese of Covington
1125 Madison Ave. • Covington, Ky. 41011-3115
Telephone: (859) 392-1500 E-mail: [email protected]
www.covingtondiocese.org
God. (cf. Gen 1:27) We have to remember that God is a loving communion of three persons. In fact, the actual
words in the Bible are “Let us make human beings in our
image, after our likeness.” (Gen 1:26) So we are made in
the image of love between persons. This is why John Paul
II repeatedly stressed the
human person is made
DOMESTIC CHURCH
from love, for love and
called to love.
The Second Person of
the Trinity shows us what
true love is. He gave himself completely in his
Passion and death to
redeem us. In fact, he gave
his body to do this.
Moreover, he continues to
give his body to us in the
Eucharist so that we can
imitate his act of love.
This is the very core of
Theology of the Body. We
Mo Woltering
are meant to realize personal fulfillment through love, which is only true when it
is a gift of self. It’s only when we have the primacy of love
in the hierarchy of human values that we can properly
orient the dimension of sexuality in the human person.
Acknowledging love as self-gift is not a denial of sexuality, but rather it allows sexuality to be a beautiful gift integrated into the whole of the person.
You can really see this if you get a chance to spend
some time with a religious sister or brother or a priest
who has made an offering of their sexuality through a
vow or promise of celibacy. Many times you can see their
inner peace and joy. They have chosen to integrate their
sexuality into a vocation and their offering of self is
fruitful in so many ways. They are the best examples of
how love requires an integration of sexuality and how
that love leads to personal fulfillment.
It’s too bad that the word chastity is made fun of today.
Chastity is seen as prudish and archaic by most people
today. However, when chastity is properly understood, it
is a powerful concept that effectively orients everything
we have been talking about. Here’s a definition. Chastity
is the successful integration of sexuality in the vocation
to love according to one’s state in life.
Chastity is not something just for people who have
vowed or promised celibacy. Married men and women are
called to live chastity in their marriages, particularly
through their exclusive gift of self and openness to life.
Single people, including teens, are called to chastity.
We know that young people are capable of chastity,
because young people are capable of love.
St. John Paul II continues to be a beacon of hope today.
Slowly, more and more people are hearing his message in
the Catechesis on Human Love. Despite society’s preoccupation with sex, the human person is fulfilled only
through a sincere gift of self.
Mo Woltering is the headmaster of Covington Latin
School. He and his wife are parents of five children.
(UPS-403-650) Published by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington, Ky.; 44 issues a year
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Bishop Roger J. Foys................................................................................ Publisher
Rev. Ronald M. Ketteler ..............................................................Episcopal Liaison
Laura Keener ................................................................. Editor, General Manager
David Cooley ..................................................................................Assistant Editor
Monica Yeamans........................................................................Editorial Assistant
Michael Ifcic.................................................................Advertising Sales Manager
Laura Gillespie .......................................................................Production Designer
February 27, 2015 5
Messenger
COMMENTARY
‘You are
your father’s son’
The readings for the second Sunday of Lent — Cycle
“B” are: Genesis 22:1-2, 9, 10-13, 15-18; Romans 8:31-34;
and Mark 9:2-10.
“You are your father’s son!” my mother once remarked to
me. The incident that occasioned my mother’s comment was
not that important, just another one of those episodes in
which I unwittingly was imitating my dad’s habits and
tastes. But it served to once again remind me that the relationship between parent and child is often a lot more extensive than we imagine.
All three readings of
EIGHTH DAY
this Sunday’s liturgy dwell
upon the father-son relationship. All three serve to
remind us of the extent of
God’s love for us and the
depth of commitment we
are called to make in our
relationship with God.
The first reading from
Genesis immediately tells
us of the special quality of
relationship between
Abraham and his son,
Isaac. God informs us that
Father Daniel Vogelpohl
Isaac is the “only” son, the
“one whom you love.” Many of the details of the story are
left out of today’s reading. Those details serve only to make
more vivid in our minds the loving relationship between
Abraham and Isaac. Nevertheless, Abraham is instructed to
“take [his] son Isaac ... and go to the land of Moriah. There
[he] shall offer him up as a holocaust ...”
The whole idea of sacrificing a child probably sounds
more gruesome to us than it did to Abraham. He lived
among the Canaanites who regularly sacrificed children to
their gods. It is almost understandable then that Abraham
might think he could offer his God no less than the
Canaanites offered theirs. Of course, the whole incident
comes to a happy conclusion as God intervenes to point out
to Abraham that total dedication and offering of one’s all to
God is what it important.
The second reading from Romans invites us to refer back
to the example of Abraham and his love for his son. This
time, however, the focus is on God and his love for his son,
Jesus. “Is it possible that he who did not spare his own Son
but handed him over for the sake of us all will not grant us
all things besides?”
The point is simply this. Just as Abraham, “our father in
faith,” (Eucharistic Prayer I) was totally dedicated to God in
all things, so too is God equally dedicated to us, his children.
God’s commitment to us is manifested in his own willingness to sacrifice his own son.
That son is the same one who is revealed to us in the
transfiguration scene of today’s Gospel reading. The words
of the voice coming from the cloud echo the words spoken in
the first reading about Abraham’s son Isaac. “This is my
Son, my beloved.”
The impact of today’s Scriptures call us to a realization
of love and dedication in our relationships with others
(especially sons, daughters, parents, etc.) and with God. We
strive for a love and commitment that is willing to give all.
We also cannot forget that we are in the midst of the season of Lent. Lent is designed primarily to prepare for baptism
or, in the case of the already baptized, to prepare to renew baptism. If we lose sight of baptism, we lose sight of Lent.
If we keep baptism in mind, part of the transfiguration
scene of the Gospel assumes a little more significance for us.
“He was transfigured before their eyes and his clothes
became dazzlingly white — whiter than the work of any
bleacher could make them.” There is a connection with this
spectacle and the white robes of baptism.
Throughout the Scriptures, white clothing is an apocalyptic sign of the divine realm, the heavenly kingdom. Thus
in his transfiguration, Jesus appears appropriately dressed.
Baptism is our transfiguration, our transformation. By baptism and the total commitment it represents, we become the
beloved daughters and sons and so we too put on the white
garment of the kingdom.
Father Daniel Vogelpohl is pastor of Blessed Sacrament
Church, Ft. Mitchell.
Make your hearts firm
Lent is a time of renewal for the whole Church, for each
community and every believer. Above all it is a “time of
grace” (2 Cor 6:2). God does not ask of us anything that he
himself has not first given us. “We love because he first has
loved us” (1 Jn 4:19). He is not aloof from us. Each one of us
has a place in his heart. He knows us by name, he cares for
us and he seeks us out whenever we turn away from him. He
is interested in each of us;
his love does not allow him
LENTEN MESSAGE
to be indifferent to what happens to us.
Usually, when we are
healthy and comfortable, we
forget about others (something God the Father never
does): we are unconcerned
with their problems, their
sufferings and the injustices
they endure… Our heart
grows cold. As long as I am
relatively healthy and comfortable, I don’t think about
Pope Francis
those less well off. Today, this
selfish attitude of indifference has taken on global proportions, to the extent that we
can speak of a globalization of indifference. It is a problem
which we, as Christians, need to confront.
When the people of God are converted to his love, they
find answers to the questions that history continually raises.
One of the most urgent challenges which I would like to
address in this message is precisely the globalization of
indifference.
Indifference to our neighbor and to God also represents a
real temptation for us Christians. Each year during Lent we
need to hear once more the voice of the prophets who cry
out and trouble our conscience…
As individuals … we are tempted by indifference. Flooded
with news reports and troubling images of human suffering,
we often feel our complete inability to help. What can we do
to avoid being caught up in this spiral of distress and powerlessness?
First, we can pray in communion with the Church on
earth and in heaven. Let us not underestimate the power of
so many voices united in prayer! The 24 Hours for the Lord
initiative, which I hope will be observed on 13-14 March
throughout the Church, also at the diocesan level, is meant
to be a sign of this need for prayer.
Second, we can help by acts of charity, reaching out to
both those near and far through the Church’s many charitable organizations. Lent is a favourable time for showing this
concern for others by small yet concrete signs of our belonging to the one human family.
Third, the suffering of others is a call to conversion,
since their need reminds me of the uncertainty of my own
life and my dependence on God and my brothers and sisters.
If we humbly implore God’s grace and accept our own limitations, we will trust in the infinite possibilities which God’s
love holds out to us. We will also be able to resist the diabolical temptation of thinking that by our own efforts we can
save the world and ourselves.
As a way of overcoming indifference and our pretensions
to self-sufficiency, I would invite everyone to live this Lent as
an opportunity for engaging in what Benedict XVI called a
formation of the heart (cf. “Deus Caritas Est,” 31). A merciful heart does not mean a weak heart. Anyone who wishes to
be merciful must have a strong and steadfast heart, closed to
the tempter but open to God. A heart which lets itself be
pierced by the Spirit so as to bring love along the roads that
lead to our brothers and sisters. And, ultimately, a poor
heart, one which realizes its own poverty and gives itself
freely for others.
During this Lent, then, brothers and sisters, let us all ask
the Lord: “Fac cor nostrum secundum cor tuum”: Make our
hearts like yours (Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus). In
this way we will receive a heart which is firm and merciful,
attentive and generous, a heart which is not closed, indifferent or prey to the globalization of indifference.
It is my prayerful hope that this Lent will prove spiritually fruitful for each believer and every ecclesial community. I
ask all of you to pray for me. May the Lord bless you and
Our Lady keep you.
An excerpt from Pope Francis’ 2015 Lenten message. To
read his entire message visit www.vatican.va.
Lent: the time is now
Somewhere along the way, I looked up the word “Lent” in
a World Book dictionary. I found the definition to be less
than impressive or inspiring, i.e., the 40 weekdays between
Ash Wednesday and Easter, observed in many Christian
churches as a time for fasting and repenting of sins;
Quadragesima … the first Sunday of Lent.
Please don’t yawn …
there’s much more to it than
ALONG THE WAY
that.
Not now, but sometime
during the next few days —
try to expand that definition
of Lent in your own words.
Draw from past experience
and from what you are experiencing as a Christian right
now.
Define it in a prayer or in
a series of words that come
to mind, one after another,
e.g., sacrifice, silence, sorry,
Ray Smith
giving, grace, appreciation,
loving, caring, seeking, fear,
indecision, pain, sin, stubbornness, forgiveness. Don’t let me
put words in your mind or in your personal notes. It’s a love
task for you and the Holy Spirit.
What needs work in your life right now? What nagging
habit, doubt or destructive attitude has crept in that you
would love to see out? That might be answered in the spontaneous words that travel from your mind to pen or keyboard.
Don’t be discouraged if nothing gets on your page at first
sitting or during that first walk you take with a handy
notepad. If something comes to mind while driving, please
pull over to a safe spot before trying to write it down or to
record it. Heaven can wait.
Is there someone you know, stranger or loved one, who
needs your prayers or a smile or a helping hand right now?
Is there a grudge or an unforgettable disagreement with
someone that never has been resolved or settled in peace
that weighs heavier and heavier each day? Is it time for a
special reconcilement that is long overdue? A dear friend’s
father has had three heart attacks recently. His life is in danger. They have been estranged and out of touch for six long
years. That daughter regrets that it took a serious health
threat for her to take that first step toward their reunion, but
is so grateful for the resulting relief.
The beauty of Lent is that it can work wonders, but it
needs our attention and cooperation. The sooner the better,
because as you probably have noticed, it arrives quickly and
flies away just when we were about to get into it.
Are you, no doubt, too busy with life and responsibilities
to make the effort this time around? Of course! Is that a
legitimate excuse to pass up this simple exercise this Lent?
No. Need a little help, a nudge? Life happens. All struggle.
Thomas Merton once prompted my Lentercize with this
unconditional surrender in his “Thoughts In Solitude: My
Lord God”:
“I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road
ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I
am following your will does not mean that I am actually
doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in
fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am
doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that
desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the
right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I
will trust in you always though I may seem to be lost and in
the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and will never leave me to face my perils alone.”
The time is now, dear reader and friend…
“Every saint has a past … every sinner has a future.” –
Oscar Wilde
Ray Smith is a commissioned Lay Pastoral Minister for the
Diocese of Covington.
6 February 27, 2015
Messenger
CRS Rice Bowl, and local, stories of hope during Lent
Since 1975 Catholic Relief Services has invited people to participate in its annual Rice Bowl program for
Lent raising funds to support its programs internationally. Dioceses that participate keep 25 percent of revenues raised for local needs.
Over the next six weeks the Messenger will feature
information from CRS’ Rice Bowl program. This year
the Messenger will also feature local outreach ministries that receive funds either from CRS Rice Bowl or
the Diocesan Annual Appeal or that serve the local poor
and are sponsored by Catholic organizations.
This week CRS takes readers to Nicaragua, and the
Messenger takes readers to Centro de Amistad.
Loving God, help us to care for all that you have
created.
to plantings so the family isn’t relying on one crop for
Melvin Sánchez Ramírez makes his living as a coffee
their livelihood. And, by joining a CRS-supported savfarmer in one of the poorest regions of Nicaragua. For
ings group, Melvin is preparing for the future with othhim, his wife and son, it has always been a challenge,
ers in his community.
but they’ve managed to get by. Then came coffee leaf
By planning ahead and working together, families
rust. The fungus killed off so many of Melvin’s plants,
like Melvin’s are making sure they have bountiful
he had no coffee to sell.
farms and better futures.
Catholic Relief Services is helping farmers like
Visit crsricebowl.org to watch a video and learn
Melvin learn how to protect their plants from leaf rust.
about Nicaragua.
We’re also teaching them to grow
other crops, like plantains and
Recipe from Nicaragua: gallo pinto
sweet potatoes. Not only do these
crops add nutritious variety to fam1 large onion, diced
In a large pot, sauté onion, bell
ily meals, they bring vital diversity
pepper and garlic in oil. Stir in rice.
1 bell pepper, diced
Cook, stirring often, until onions
3 garlic cloves, minced
are soft. Add water and cook,
4 T fair trade olive oil
covered, until most of the water
2 c rice
has been absorbed. Add beans and
4 c water
bay leaf. Mix well and cook over
and ask for help,” she said. “They
2 16-oz cans red beans, drained
medium heat for 15 minutes. Serve
call needing this or that and I never
hot with cheese or fried egg.
1 bay leaf
say ‘no.’ I love working with people
and I love helping people.”
Salt and black pepper to taste
Makes 4–6 servings
There are usually three volunFried egg or cheese (optional)
teers that help Sister Juana with
this ministry. Two help out with the
naturalization classes and a third
person helps to answer
the phone.
“It is important that
the Hispanic community knows we, as
Catholics, are here to
support them in their
journey.”
Recently a ministry
of Cristo Rey Parish,
Bishop Foys has now
designated Centro de
Amistad as an office of
the diocese.
“I really appreciate
Keener photos
what Bishop Foys has
Charity Sister Juana Mendez, director of
done, especially in supHispanic Ministry, (left) meets with a client
porting this office,”
at Centro de Amistad (Center of Friends),
Sister Juana said. “I
Florence. The center offers a myriad of
know there are a lot of
services for the Latino community including
people,
a
lot
of
English, GED and citizenship classes and also
Hispanic people, who
homework help for young students.
really appreciate what
he is doing. I tell the
“I am very grateful for the ministry of
people who come here
Sister Juana to our Hispanic brothers and
that Bishop Foys has
sisters,” said Bishop Foys. “Sister provides
made this place possible.”
a vital link between the diocese and the Hispanic comThe center is located at 10136 Dixie Hwy, Florence,
munity. She is the face of Christ to them and performs
and, for those interested, is always in need of voluna vital and essential ministry. We are blessed to have
teers who speak Spanish, are VIRTUS trained, and are
Sister Juana on our diocesan staff.”
willing to come in and serve for a few hours.
Centro deAmistad a‘vital link between
diocese and Hispanic community’
David Cooley
Assistant Editor
Sister of Charity Juana Mendez, who has been
appointed as the diocesan director of Hispanic
Ministry by Bishop Roger Foys, has been working with
the Hispanic community in the Diocese of Covington
for 14 years. “I was hired at the Cathedral Basilica back
in 1999,” said Sister Juana. “There used to be a Spanish
Mass on Sundays at 4:30 and the house across the street
was a facility where we would host English classes,
GED classes and citizenship classes.”
That is how the Centro de Amistad, now located in
Florence, came to be. “Among other things,” Sister
Juana said, “it is a place for people to gather and talk
about their families and meet other people.”
Translated into English Centro de Amistad means
“Center of Friends” and ministers to about 25-30 people
on a daily basis for various reasons. The Diocese of
Covington currently serves the Hispanic community by
offering English classes, programs for taxes, immigration, citizenship and health promotion.
“We are essentially a social service ministry,” said
Sister Juana. “I do a lot of immigration work. I also fill
out forms from hospitals or schools. I work as an interpreter and I translate when needed. I guess I do whatever is needed — it is a great variety of work. We also have
a naturalization class that we do here twice a week for
those who are ready to become U.S. citizens.”
Sister Juana has even held meetings at Centro de
Amistad with representatives from the Kentucky
Commission of Human Rights, Frankfort, to help people who were struggling with housing issues.
Sister Juana said the Diocese of Covington is helping people with immigration work basically free-ofcharge. “I know that a lot of these people have to work
two jobs just to survive and it is important for them to
know that there is someone who cares for them.”
Those in need of this ministry find Sister Juana and
the Centre de Amistad by word-of-mouth. “They call
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February 27, 2015 7
Messenger
We
Choose
Life
Pro-Life
Office
of the Diocese of Covington
Mission Statement
The Pro-Life Office of the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Covington, guided by our Bishop,
promotes the sanctity and legal protection of
human life from conception to natural death
through prayer, pastoral care, public policy
and education.
Respect life
“What is urgently called for is a general
mobilization of consciences and a
united ethical effort to activate a great
campaign in support of life. All
together, we must build a new culture
of life.”
– John Paul II, The Gospel of Life
Actively promoting respect for human
life is the responsibility of every
Catholic. In response to the “Pastoral
Plan for Pro-Life Activities” established
by the U. S. Bishops in 1975, each
parish is invited to form a parish
Pro-Life Committee to organize
respect-life activities that raise
awareness and educate on behalf of
life issues within the parish.
Glorify God in your body: Are you ‘in a relationship’?
Father Nick Rottman
Pastor, Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Burlington
In 1979, Pope St. John Paul II began a series of talks for the Universal
Church now known as “the Theology of the Body.” In this diocese, high
school students study the Theology of the Body, and a grade school program was recently launched in an effort to teach the younger generation
this illuminating way of understanding human sexuality and our role in
the world.
Today many adult Catholics still have not heard of the Theology of the
Body. Yet it is a crucial teaching for parents (even of adult children),
grandparents and godparents, all of whom are responsible for helping to
raise children in the Catholic faith.
If we want to start to understand the
Theology of the Body, St. Paul has summed it up
for us nicely, “The body is not for immorality, but
for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body.” (I Cor
6:13b)
What does that mean, that our bodies are
designed “for the Lord” and vice versa? To
answer that question, the Theology of the Body
takes us back to the beginning, to our earliest
parents — Adam and Eve.
The Book of Genesis teaches us that we are
made in the image and likeness of God —
meaning a community of persons — Father, Son
and Holy Spirit — the Holy Trinity. Thus, we too
are made for relationship. Like the divine relationship, we are meant to give ourselves away.
Indeed, as true lovers know, it is only in giving
the gift of self to another — in love, in relationship — that we discover who we are and what it
really means to be human.
According to the Theology of the Body,
Genesis teaches us the importance of the divine
gift of relationship in two ways. First, God created Adam on his own, alone, in what St. John
Paul II calls the “Original Solitude.” Discontented
by himself, Adam felt incomplete. He wanted a
suitable companion but could not find one
among all the animals. Like each human being
in every age, Adam yearned to be in relationship.
The second way that Genesis brings the centrality of relationship
home is when God creates Eve. Adam instantly understands that she and
he were made for each other: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and
flesh of my flesh.”
Surely Eve’s physical flesh helped Adam see so quickly and clearly that
they were made for each other. After all, your own body does not make
sense by itself. You’re not made for yourself, but for another — it’s
stamped right into your body.
Being made in the image of God, it was natural that Adam and Eve
would come together as the first husband and the first wife in that first
marriage. And as is still true for every husband and wife, their relationship,
their love — even down to the physical expression of marital intimacy —
is a reflection, a sign, a making present of God’s love in the world. This is
why St. John Paul II called marriage the “primordial sacrament” — long
before Christ instituted the seven sacraments, marriage was by its very
nature an expression of divine love.
Can you imagine how different the world would be today if the average Christian walking down the street (let alone the average non-
Christian) had some notion of the Theology of the Body? That the human
body is sacred? That marriage and human sexuality are an expression of
God’s love?
If one understands that relationship, then all of sudden the Church’s
teachings on sexual morality make perfect sense. We “get” her teachings
on lust, pornography, masturbation, fornication, adultery, divorce, samesex marriage, contraception, in vitro fertilization — all of these actions in
one way or another contradict the divine love that marital intimacy naturally contains.
Notice that all these truths are simply natural law, not Christian teaching. The natural complementarity of men and women is a biological fact.
Likewise, the importance of a lasting marriage to children’s wellbeing is a
societal truth — not some religious
imposition. The union called marriage
not only satisfies our deep yearning,
but also protects the children born
from that relationship. Imagine if
every child were cherished as the
beloved “natural and organic” fruit of a
marital union.
Of course, neither St. Paul nor St.
John Paul II was content to stick to the
realm of the natural. They moved on
to the supernatural — the Christian
view. “Do you not know that your
bodies are members of Christ?” St.
Paul asked, reminding us, “…You have
been purchased at a price. Therefore
glorify God in your body.”
The Theology of the Body says the
same thing: “For those baptized into
Christ, the love that exists between
Christian spouses is not merely a symbol of God’s love for us, but very
specifically a sacrament of Jesus
Christ’s love for his Church, his Bride
(as he continually calls his people
Israel in the Old Testament). God
wants to wed us to himself.”
This is why Christians do not just
enter into marriage, but enter into the
sacrament of holy matrimony. This is
why St. John Paul II further spoke of the “nuptial meaning of body,” that is,
every time husband and wife renew the vows of their marriage by an act
of marital intimacy, they become a symbol of the Wedding Banquet of
the Lamb, a foreshadowing, a prediction, a prophecy of heaven itself.
This is the Christian understanding of human love, of the body, of
marriage and of human sexuality. We are given bodies with hands and
feet and voices in order to touch the world for good. Our job, once we
have understood this teaching ourselves, is to pass on this good news to
our neighbors, our friends and all those who haven’t heard.
It’s the new evangelization called for by St. John Paul II, where we
speak the Gospel message to the world in a fresh way that invites others
to listen.
Clearly, the right understanding of human sexuality is a hugely important part of the Gospel message that our world today needs to hear. As
we study the Theology of the Body, as we share God’s goodness with the
world, let us also take time to pray for our own relationships, especially
our marriages. May we strive to become more and more a reflection, a
sacrament, of the love of Christ, both in our personal lives and in the
world.
For more information about the Pro-Life Office or to be added to our e-mail newsgroups,
visit us online at www.covdio.org/prolife/ or call (859) 392-1500.
8 February 27, 2015
Messenger
PEOPLE AND EVENTS
Newsworthy
Happy birthday to Deacon Michael Keller, St. Cecilia Parish,
Independence, Mar. 9; Father Robert Rottgers, pastor, St.
Philip Parish, Melbourne, Mar. 11; and Deacon Paul Yancey,
All Saints Parish, Walton, Mar. 12.
Saint
for the Week St. Katharine Drexel
Feast day: March 3
The following students from the Diocese of Covington have
been named National Merit Finalists. Covington Catholic
High School: Adrian Neff; Covington Latin School:
Constance Obermeyer, James Rahner; Notre Dame
Academy: Hannah Ziegelmeyer; St. Henry District High
School: Kendyll Kraus, Anna Rowland; Villa Madonna
Academy: Eric Baugh.
The weekly TV Mass from the Cathedral Basilica of the
Assumption will be broadcast on Sunday, 5–6 p.m. on station
Me TV WLWT, on channels: over the air 5-2; Time Warner
Cable 188 in Kentucky and Cincinnati Bell 23 or 291.
Have something to list in “People and Events”? The deadline for event notices is nine days prior to the desired publication date. E-mail [email protected] no later than the
Wednesday before the week you would like the information
to appear.
In September, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia will host the
World Meeting of Families. To prepare for this historic
event, Ruah Woods is offering “Love is Our Mission” lecture
series. This dynamic series of seven talks will blend Theology
of the Body, cutting edge psychological science, personal and
clinical experience. Friday evenings, once a month, 7:30–9
p.m., at Ruah Woods New Evangelization Center, Cincinnati.
Feb. 20, Mar. 27, Apr. 24, May 29, June 26, July 24 and Aug. 28.
$10 per person, live streaming at www.ruahwoods.org.
St. Joseph Drama Club, original musical comedy, “Now You
See It…” presented in Memorial Hall, St, Joseph Church,
Cold Spring, Feb. 27, 28 and Mar. 6 and 7, at 8 p.m.All proceeds go to St. Joseph Parish. Visit
www.sjdramaclub.com/sjdc_reservations.htm.
Gave up an inheritance of $7M to enter religious life
■
Foundress of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in 1891
■
Created a system of Catholic schools for African Americans
“Let us open wide our hearts. Press forward
and fear nothing.”
Kelsey Sucher, a junior at Notre Dame Academy, achieved a
perfect composite score of 36 on the ACT. Her accomplishment is significant and rare. On average, less than one-tenth
of 1 percent of all test takers earns the top score.
St. Henry District High School announced theses student
scholarships based on high school placement test results.
Leah Hext, St. Paul School; Gabriel Haverkos, St. Lawrence
School; Kameron Kraus, Blessed Sacrament School;
Veronica Thomas, St. Paul School; Patrick Cummings,
Immaculate Heart of Mary School; Liam Sweeney, Blessed
Sacrament School; Maggie Tagher, St. Paul School; Robert
Blasingame, St. Henry School; Hayden Norris, St. Paul
School; Katie Glaser, Immaculate Heart of Mary School;
Emily Terrill, St. Lawrence School; Anna Warshak,
Immaculate Heart of Mary School; Natalie Pope, St. Joseph
School, Crescent Springs; Paul Deis, home school; Zoe
Robles, St. Henry School; Hannah Ubelhor, home school
■
–St. Katharine Drexel
To learn more visit www.saintsfortheweek.com
“Living with Suffering and Loss: How faith and prayer
can transform the pain,” a Lenten reflection by Deacon
Timothy Schabell, Mar. 2, 7 p.m. at St. Joseph Parish, Cold
Spring, with personal testimonials and music by St. Joseph
women’s choir. Free and open to all.
Newport Central Catholic High School annual mulch
sale — black platinum, colored black platinum, colored red
platinum and pine straw. Cost $4–$7.50 per bag. Mulch delivery begins Mar. 28 or orders can be picked up at NCCHS, 9
a.m.–3 p.m. Visit nccmulch.com or call 292-0001 through
Mar. 6.
Catholic Charities, NeighborWorks, learn how to buy a
home. Certified housing counselors will walk you through
the process, answer your questions and give you information. Mar. 7 and Apr. 1, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Class is free.
Father Jo Joy will celebrate
Mass followed by an
Inner Healing Prayer
Service at St. Joseph
Parish, Crescent Springs,
March 9, 7 p.m. All are welcome.
All Saints Parish, Walton, is
hosting Rita Marker, executive director of Patients
Rights Council, public
speaker & educator on end
of life issues, Mar. 11, 7:30
p.m. in the lower church
hall. No admission charge;
free will offerings accepted.
Call 823-2626.
St Therese Mother’s Club,
annual Ladies’ Spring
Social, Mar. 13, 6:30–10:30
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p.m. Pasta dinner catered by Pompilio‘s, drinks, bingo,
music by DJ Rockin’ Ron and many raffles. Advance tickets
$20. E-mail [email protected] or [email protected] or call 6305662 or 652-2075.
The Covington Catholic Boosters Association, Colonel
Stag, formerly SportsFest, Mar. 14, 7–11 p.m. in the
Covington Catholic gym. A Texas Hold’Em tournament
begins at 5 p.m. ($100 Buy-in; Limited to 100 Players). Tickets
available at covcath.org/stag or by calling 448-2247, ext. 3.
Father Joseph Mary Wolfe, local vicar and chaplain of
EWTN and one of the founding members of the
Franciscan Missionaries will be speaking at St. Catherine
of Siena Church, Ft. Thomas, Mar. 15, 7 p.m. His talk is
entitled “Union with God, the Heart’s Deepest Longing.”
No fee to attend. Call 441-3438 or 441-1069.
February 27, 2015 9
Messenger
PEOPLE AND EVENTS
Fish frys
Holy Cross High School,
Fridays, Feb. 20–Mar. 27,
5–8 p.m.
St. Benedict/Holy Name,
Covington — Fridays,
Feb. 20–Mar. 27, 4:30–7 p.m.
Knights of Columbus,
Fr. Bealer Council,
Fr. Bealer Hall, Elsmere,
Feb. 20, 4 p.m.–8 p.m. and
lunch 11 a.m.–2:30 p.m.
St. Bernard, Dayton,
5–7 p.m.
Knights of Columbus,
Fr. Kehoe Council, 828
Elm Street, Ludlow, Fridays,
Feb. 20–Apr. 3, 4:30–
7:30 p.m.
Fryers blessed and dedicated
Throat blessing
Mrs. Cesco’s preschool class at Immaculate Heart
of Mary School, Burlington, receives a blessing of
their throats by Father Michael Norton on the
feast of St. Blaise.
With the Lenten, and the fish fry, season beginning Bishop Roger Foys, Father Ian
McDole, vice chancellor, and Father Daniel Schomaker, vicar general, visited St. Joseph
Parish, Camp Springs, Feb. 20, for its first Friday fish fry of the season. The parish
recently replaced its fryers and Bishop Foys blessed the new fryers. Pictured with Bishop
Foys are John Gubser, fish fry co-chair (left), and Msgr. William Neuhaus, pastor (right).
Bishop Brossart High School, Healthier Mustang
Extravaganza, Mar. 23, 5:30 p.m. This event provides parents
with relevant and timely information on topics including:
teen suicide, stressed teens, substance abuse, health and fitness information, and ways to help teens put Christ at the
center of their lives. Call 635-2108.
Holy Cross High School annual mulch sale, $4.25 per bag;
includes free delivery. Delivery begins April 10. Order online
www.hcmulch.com or call 291-8588.
Thomas More College’s 2015 Hillenmeyer Lecture, Mar.
19, 7 p.m. in Steigerwald Hall, will focus on authentic leadership. Ed Monahan, public advocate for the Department of
Public Advocacy, Frankfort, will speak on “The Meaning of
Life is to See: The Vocation of the Public Leader.” The lecture is free and open to the public.
The St. John Passion Play will take place at the University
of Mt. St. Joseph, Cincinnati, Mar. 21, 7 p.m. and Mar. 22, 3
p.m., Mar. 28, 7 p.m. and Mar. 29, 3 p.m., and Apr. 3, 7 p.m.
ST. JOSEPH ACADEMY
FISH FRY
St. Joseph Academy, Walton, Ky,
will host a Fish Fry
every Friday night beginning
at 4:30pm to 8:00 pm
on February 20th & 27th,
March 6th, 13th, 20th & 27th.
Adult dinners
Senior/Children dinners
New this year — Father Trinity’s Authentic Cajun Gumbo
We offer a drive-thru option.
Guests who join us for dinner all 6 weeks will qualify for
a $500 cash drawing (both inside and drive-thru).
Directions to the school are: from I-75 (North or South)
take the Walton Exit, turn toward the BP gas station.
We are located directly across from the Walton Kroger
Super Store at 48 Needmore Street.
Visit our website at www.saintjosephacademy.net
859-485-6444
St. Catherine of Siena,
Ft. Thomas, Fridays,
Feb. 20–Mar. 27, 4–7 p.m.
St. Edward, Cynthiana,
5–7 p.m.
St. Francis Xavier,
Mary, Queen of
Falmouth,
Fridays,
Heaven, Erlanger, Fridays,
Feb. 20–Mar. 27, 4–8 p.m. Feb. 20–Mar. 27, 4–7:30 p.m.
Our Savior, Covington,
March 27, noon–7 p.m.
St. Joseph, Camp Springs,
4–7:30 p.m.
St. Agnes, Ft. Wright,
Feb. 20, 27 and Mar. 6, 13,
5–11 p.m. (Food service
stops at 9 p.m.)
St. Joseph Academy,
Walton, Fridays, Feb. 20–
Mar. 27, 4:30–8 p.m.
St. Augustine, Covington,
every Friday in Lent,
Feb. 20–Apr. 3, 4–7 p.m.
St. William, Williamstown,
5–8 p.m.
St. Barbara, Erlanger,
4:30–8 p.m.
10 February 27, 2015
Messenger
Serra Club forVocations,Northern Kentucky serves God’s servants
The Serra Club for Vocations, Northern Kentucky, is
made up of laymen and laywomen, priests, deacons and
women religious who know that a calling to a Church vocation is an important endeavor. They want to enthusiastically help their friends, neighbors and
members of their community to discover if
God is calling them to ministerial service in
the Church. They know that a spiritual
calling is difficult to live in today’s world,
so they work also to affirm and support
those who choose to answer God’s call of
service to the Church.
The local Serra Club Chapter was chartered in 1961. Throughout its 54 years of
service in the Diocese of Covington, the
Serra Club for Vocations, Northern Kentucky,
has worked to foster and promote vocations to
the ministerial priesthood, diaconate and religious
life in the Church, as well as support a ministry of service.
They also assist members to recognize and respond in
their own lives to God’s call to holiness in Jesus Christ and
through the Holy Spirit.
“Members of the Serra Club have a deep appreciation
of those who have heard and responded to the call to religious life. As such, we see great value in spending our time,
talent and treasure in offering support to those who serve
Christ — making Serra an organization dedicated to serving God’s servants,” said Matthew Zeck, president of the
Serra Club for Vocations, Northern Kentucky.
The local club, led this year by Mr. Zeck and
Father Gregory Bach, chaplain, maintains a
very busy schedule. In the spring the club
hosts the Servers’ Awards Program to
recognize the dedication of seventhgrade Mass servers by presenting them
with a crucifix to be worn at the altar
while serving Mass. Serra also hosts a
priest appreciation dinner for diocesan
priests in the month of November and
sponsors the College Connection
Program, which helps to connect high
school seniors with college campus ministers before they begin classes at their chosen
institution.
Summer activities include the annual picnic for women
religious, the seminarian cookout, and in the fall Serrans
provide desserts for the annual deacons’ picnic.
The organization conducts a golf outing every October
and sponsors a night at the Florence Freedom Ballpark to
raise money in support of its activities throughout the
year.
The patron of Serra Club for Vocations, Northern
An Independent View
On The Purchase
Of Insurance
By Frank Gross, President
Gross Insurance Agency, LLC
Getting Married? Just as your lifestyle will change, so will your
insurance needs. Here are a few hints:
1) If both of you have cars, you should combine them under one policy
with one company. Your premiums will be lower. Also, if your driving
distance to work changes, or if you’re commuting or carpooling, you may
earn a discount.
2) If you‘re buying a home or condominium, shop around for a homeowner’s policy. You’ll probably be combining valuable possessions, so
make an inventory and see that you have proper coverage.
3) Consolidate your life insurance policies. You probably will want to
change coverage limits and/or beneficiaries. If children figure in your
plans, of course you will want to reassess your life insurance, savings
plans and investments.
4) If both of you work, compare your employee benefit programs.
One may be better than the other. Make sure you know what members
of your family the benefits provide for. Is it possible, for example, to
include children under the health/hospitalization plan at work?
5) Essentially, you and your new spouse shouldn’t waste dollars
by buying too much insurance. But you don’t want to skimp either.
Have a frank talk with an insurance professional.
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Kentucky, and its parent organization, Serra
International, is Blessed Junipero Serra. Blessed Junipero
was a Franciscan friar who served as a priest and missionary in early California. Born in Majorca, an island off the
coast of Spain, he served 17 years in missions in Mexico
before he was assigned to mission work in Baja,
California. In the next 15 years, he founded the first nine of
21 missions in what is now the state of California.
Beatified in 1988, Brother Junipero will be canonized by
Pope Francis during his visit to the United States in
September 2015.
Northern Kentucky’s Serra Club currently has 64 members and meets the first and third Tuesdays of every
month. During the fall, winter and spring months, the
group meets for breakfast at 7:30 a.m. on the first Tuesday
of every month at Colonial Cottage, Erlanger.
The group also gathers at 11:45 a.m. every third
Tuesday of the month for lunch at Thomas More College.
During the summer months, the group meets at 7:30 a.m.
for breakfast meetings at Colonial Cottage on the first and
third Tuesday of the month.
To learn more about the Serra Club for Vocations,
Northern Kentucky, visit the club’s website at www.serranky.org. For information on joining the Serra Club, contact membership chair Mike Murray by phone (859) 392-1500
or by e-mail [email protected].
Morality clauses are about
upholding mission of Church
Catholic News Service
SAN FRANCISCO — Archbishop
Salvatore J. Cordileone told a group of
California legislators that he respects their
right “to employ or not employ whomever
you wish to advance your mission” and
expects the same in return.
The San Francisco archbishop’s comments came in a Feb. 19 letter to five state
Assembly members and three Senate members after they urged him to remove
Catholic sexual morality clauses that have
been added to handbooks for teachers in the
four archdiocesan high schools.
The lawmakers told Archbishop
Cordileone in a letter they feel the clauses
would “foment a discriminatory environment” and “send an alarming message to
youth.”
But the archbishop told them before
making a judgment, they should have as
complete information as possible about
what the archdiocese is proposing and he
directed them to various documents and
videos on the archdiocesan website,
www.sfarchdiocese.org, to dispel misinformation, “such as the falsehood that the
morality clauses apply to the teachers’ private life.”
The Archdiocese of San Francisco also is
proposing three new clauses to contracts for
teachers in archdiocesan Catholic high
schools to further clarify that Catholic
schools — as the first clause states — “exist
to affirm and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus
Christ as held and taught by his Catholic
Church.”
The archdiocese is adding detailed statements of Catholic teaching on sexual morality and religious practice — taken from the
Catechism of the Catholic Church — into
the faculty and staff handbooks of the four
archdiocesan high schools. The handbook
additions will take effect in the 2015-16
school year and are not part of the contract.
The statements cover Church teaching
on abortion, same-sex marriage and artificial contraception, and other tenets of the
faith.
The handbook and contract changes reiterate more strongly the responsibility of
teachers and staff not to contradict Catholic
teaching in school and in their public lives,
said Maureen Huntington, archdiocesan
Catholic Schools superintendent, when the
changes were announced.
According to Huntington, they do not
contain anything essentially new and are
intended to clarify existing expectations
that Catholic teachers in their professional
and public lives uphold Catholic teaching.
In his letter, Archbishop Cordileone
asked the lawmakers: “Would you hire a
campaign manager who advocates policies
contrary to those that you stand for, and who
shows disrespect toward you and the
Democratic Party in general?”
The main authors of the lawmakers’ letter were Democratic Assemblymen Phil
Ting of San Francisco and Kevin Mullin of
San Mateo.
“If you knew a brilliant campaign manager who, although a Republican, was willing to work for you and not speak or act in
public contrary to you or your party —
would you hire such a person?” Archbishop
Cordileone continued. “If your answer to
the first question is ‘no,’ and to the second
question is ‘yes,’ then we are actually in
agreement on the principal point in debate
here.”
He asked if that Republican campaign
manager they had hired began “speaking
critically of your party and favorably of
your running opponent,” would they be likely to fire that person?
If so, “would you have done this because
you hate all Republicans outright, or
because this individual, who happens to be a
Republican, violated the trust given to you
and acted contrary to your mission? If the
latter, then we are again in agreement on
this principle.”
“I respect your right to employ or not
employ whomever you wish to advance your
mission,” he said. “I simply ask the same
respect from you.”
MARRIAGE and WEDDINGS
SPECIAL SECTION OF THE MESSENGER
FEBRUARY 27, 2015
Messenger
MARRIAGE AND WEDDINGS
Getting ready for your marriage in the Diocese of Covington
YOU’RE ENGAGED!
Congratulations! Because the Catholic Church and
your diocesan community wants couples to form
strong, lasting marriages, all engaged couples wishing
to marry in the Diocese of Covington are required to:
1. Contact the parish priest at least nine to 12 months
before your wedding to set an initial appointment and
to start your marriage preparations.
2. Attend one of the listed marriage preparation programs three to six months prior to your wedding. Since
marriage preparation programs often fill quickly, it is
wise to register two to three months before the program
date.
3. Attend a certified Natural Family Planning course.
It is preferable to attend this course after attending
your marriage preparation program, if possible. NFP
courses require a three-month commitment and fill
quickly, so register early.
Need-based scholarships are available for all programs. A letter of request or financial aid application
may be required.
Special notes: There are certain situations in which
the Church believes engaged couples could benefit from
more intensive preparation. These include pre-marital
pregnancy and extreme youth (one or both partners age
19 or under). In such cases contact your pastor or
Catholic Charities (859-581-8974) for individualized premarital counseling.
If you are divorced or widowed, discuss with your
priest/deacon what preparation program would be best
for you.
Evenings For The Engaged
A small group of engaged couples meet in the home
of a marriage ministry couple one evening per week for
five weeks. This combines sharing by the lead couple
with small group discussions. You must be able to make
all five sessions. Please e-mail to check availability.
Time: Usually 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Dates: Jan./Feb., April/May, July/Aug., Sept./Oct.
Cost: $50 per couple
E-mail [email protected].
Living Marriage As Sacrament
This program is held on two consecutive Saturdays
with large-group presentation, private couple interaction, and small-group discussion. The focus is on a couple’s relationship and the beauty and importance of the
sacrament of matrimony. Time: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Dates and locations:
2015
June 20, 27, St. Timothy Parish–Brodnick Hall
Sept. 12, 19, St. Pius X Parish–parish meeting rooms
To register visit www.covdio.org, print and mail a
registration form. (Payment and mailing instructions
are found on the form.) Questions? E-mail Eric and
Lauri Nienaber, [email protected], or call
(859) 907-0994. Confirmation will be e-mailed to you
within 7–10 days.
Cost: $85 per couple.
Natural Family Planning
Natural Family Planning courses consist of
three classes spaced one month apart. For an up-to-date
schedule and to register for a course, visit www.ccli.org
or call Couple to Couple League at (513) 471-2000. The
cost is $140 per couple.
Engaged Encounter
The two-day, one-night weekend retreat offered by
the Diocese of Covington’s Catholic Engaged
Encounter (CEE) ministry offers couples a unique
opportunity to look at their commitment to each other
in a deeper way as they prepare for marriage. Free from
the pressure and distractions of the outside world, couples are given 30 plus hours to honestly and intensively
dialogue about their prospective lives together. Two
married couples make up the presenting team and
share brief stories about their marriages and the
impact of the sacrament of matrimony on their lives,
with the goal of encouraging participants to explore
their own attitudes and expectations. The team also
offers couples ideas on how to continue to love each
other, even amid the pressures of the world. The
engaged couples should anticipate discussing each
other’s strengths and weaknesses, desires and ambitions, as well as their attitudes about money, sex, children, family and the role of the Church and society in
their future marriages. Our motto is “A wedding is a
day, a marriage is a lifetime.” Most people spend huge
amounts of money and many months planning for their
wedding. CEE is about preparing for what most hope
will last 50 or 60 years—your marriage.
Dates for 2015:
April 25-26
Oct. 3-4
Time: Saturday 8 a.m. – Sunday 3 p.m.
Location:
St. Anne Retreat Center
5275 St. Anne Drive
Melbourne, Kentucky 41059
To register, visit www.covingtonengagedencounter.org or
e-mail [email protected].
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February 27, 2015 13
Messenger
Updated marriage guidelines demonstrate sacramental nature of bond
Father Ian McDole
Messenger Contributor
The Diocesan Synod 2006 called for the Office of Worship
and Liturgy to look at the various guidelines and procedures
to see what needed to be updated and changed in order to have
conformity with the current liturgical books and decisions
regarding the sacraments and the liturgical life of the
Church. Among these guidelines are those referring to the
sacrament of marriage and weddings in particular.
The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern
World of the Second Vatican Council (“Gaudium et spes”)
describes marriage with these words:
“The intimate partnership of married life and love has
been established by the Creator and qualified by His laws, and
is rooted in the conjugal covenant of irrevocable personal
consent. Hence by that human act whereby spouses mutually
bestow and accept each other a relationship arises, which by
divine will and in the eyes of society, too, is a lasting one. For
the good of the spouses and their offspring as well as of society, the existence of the sacred bond no longer depends on
human decisions alone. For, God Himself is the author of
matrimony, endowed as it is with various benefits and purposes.”
Marriage is a sacred bond and covenant, and the Church,
the means through which God gives people his grace, seeks to
promote and foster that ideal from the beginnings of a particular marriage.
The Church through the centuries has adapted its rites for
weddings to fit with the cultures and traditions of particular
people, but she has never wavered from manifesting the wedding as a sacred moment and graced time for the couple and
the communities in which they will live out their married
lives. Modern society often wants to separate marriage from
religion or even from faith. One often forgets that the marriage itself is not something particular to the couple, but is
rather a part of the society in which we live.
For Christians, and for Catholics in particular, marriage
belongs to the Church as a society of Christians striving to
live out the Gospel. It is not about the bride and the groom in
and of themselves, but rather what the bride and groom will
offer for the good of society through their union with each
other.
The Church’s rites for marriage express this ideal in its
actions and words. Marriage is sacred — Christ himself has
“raised marriage to the dignity of a sacrament.” It is the “one
grace that was not forfeited by original sin or washed away in
the flood.” The new Guidelines for the Celebration of the Rite
of Marriage for the Diocese of Covington looks at the ways in
which Catholics through the centuries have celebrated weddings. While each individual couple will bring their own
unique personalities to their wedding, they are once again
reminded that what they are entering is something that is
greater than they.
In promulgating these guidelines, the faithful of the
Diocese of Covington are called to look at marriage in a new
and different way. They are called to remember that the wedding is not a ceremony particular to the couple, but rather the
beginning of a sacramental life in the Church that is called
for and blessed by God.
Father Ian McDole is vice chancellor and director for the
Office of Worship and Liturgy, Diocese of Covington, Ky.
GUIDELINES FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE WEDDING LITURGY
Diocese of Covington, Kentucky
Introduction
1. The diocesan guidelines are used by priests, deacons and
musicians in assisting couples to plan the celebration of their
wedding liturgy. Each parish is required to have guidelines
for the celebration of the sacrament of marriage in a parish
church. Parish guidelines can be more specific, but parish
guidelines must be in conformity with the diocesan guidelines.
Basic Requirements
2. The desired date of the marriage ceremony cannot be
confirmed until the engaged couple has an initial meeting
with the priest or deacon who will witness the marriage. At
this meeting the priest or
deacon will explain the
diocesan
requirements
(below) as well as the parish
guidelines to the engaged
couple. The pastor of the
parish where the wedding
will take place should also
meet with the engaged couple to review the diocesan
and parish wedding guidelines. The engaged couple
must:
a) Contact the parish
priest at least nine
(9) to twelve (12)
months before the
wedding to set an initial appointment to
begin the marriage
preparations.
At this first meeting the
priest or deacon will explain the Prenuptial Investigation
Paperwork. The priest or deacon who will witness the marriage must establish that the bride and groom are free to
marry in the Catholic Church. Their freedom to marry using
the Prenuptial Investigation Paperwork must be established
before a date for the marriage ceremony is selected.
b) Attend one of the three listed marriage preparation
programs (Engaged Encounter or
Living Marriage as a Sacrament or Evenings for the
Engaged) prior to the date of the wedding ceremony.
c)Attend a certified Natural Family Planning course
prior to the date of the wedding ceremony.
3. Additional requirements may be determined by the
priest or deacon who prepares the engaged couple for marriage.
The Rite of Marriage
4. Within the Rite of Marriage there are three different
rites that may be chosen.
Marriage between two Catholic Persons
5. Normally the celebration of marriage between a
Catholic man and a Catholic woman takes place within the
Mass using the Rite for Celebrating Marriage During Mass.
However, for various reasons a Catholic couple or the priest/
deacon may choose to use the Rite for Celebrating Marriage
Outside of Mass for the ceremony. A reason could be that one
of the parties is a convert to the faith and his/her family is
non-Catholic, or when the majority of the assembly will be
(Continued on page 14)
7668
Messenger
Marriage Guidelines
(Continued from page 13)
non-Catholic.
Marriage between a Catholic and a baptized
non-Catholic
6. In a marriage between a Catholic and a baptized person
who is not Catholic, the Rite for Celebrating Marriage Outside
of Mass should be used. The Catholic party must request permission to marry a baptized non-Catholic person from the
Bishop or the Vicar General of the Diocese of Covington. All
priests and deacons assisting the couple in preparing for marriage can assist them in obtaining this permission.
Additionally, the proper pastor of the Catholic party can also
grant this permission if he is a priest of the Diocese of
Covington; however, no other priest may grant this permission.
Marriage between a Catholic and a Person who is
not Baptized
7. In a marriage between a Catholic and one who is not
baptized, the Rite for Celebrating Marriage Between a Catholic
and an Unbaptized Person must be used. A Catholic must
receive a dispensation from the diriment impediment of disparity of worship when he/she wishes to marry an unbaptized person. The one preparing the couple to marry can
assist the Catholic party in obtaining that dispensation from
the Bishop or the Vicar General of the Diocese of Covington.
No other priest may grant this dispensation.
Planning the Celebration
8. The proper place for the celebration of the Mass and
other liturgical celebrations is the church building. This is
true for the Catholic Wedding Mass as well as the liturgy that
celebrates the Rite of Marriage outside of Mass. In the
Diocese of Covington it is not permitted to celebrate a wedding ceremony outside of a church or chapel. An outdoor
wedding ceremony is prohibited.
9. For a wedding Mass that occurs on a Saturday evening
(after the anticipatory Mass) or a Sunday afternoon the wedding Mass (with the proper prayers) may be used without
change (see Rite of Marriage, no. 11).
10. The sacrament of marriage may be celebrated during a
regularly scheduled parish Mass. In this case, “if the marriage is celebrated on a Sunday or solemnity, the Mass of the
day (including the proper prayers and at least the first reading
and Gospel reading of the day) is used with the nuptial blessing and, where appropriate, the special final blessing.” (no. 11)
The second reading may be chosen from the readings For the
Conferral of the Sacrament of Marriage (Lectionary for
Ritual Masses).
Liturgical Ministers
Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion
11. If extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion are
needed to assist the priest in the distribution of Holy
Communion at the wedding Mass, the person(s) chosen must
have been appointed by the Bishop of Covington for service in
a particular parish of the Diocese.
12. An extraordinary minister of Holy Communion who
has been appointed to serve in another diocese may serve in
this ministry in the Diocese of Covington for the one-time
occasion of a wedding Mass with the approval of the local
pastor where the wedding occurs.
Lectors
13. The person(s) who proclaim the Word of God during
the celebration of the sacrament of marriage must be
Catholic and must have completed a diocesan education for
lectors and been commissioned by their pastor. A commissioned lector should be asked to proclaim the Word of God
during the wedding liturgy. On the rare occasion when a commissioned lector, either from the parish or the family of the
bride and groom is not available, a Catholic member of the
parish or of the family may be asked to proclaim the readings.
14. A lector who has been commissioned to serve in another diocese may serve in this ministry in the Diocese of
Covington for the one-time occasion of a wedding Mass with
the approval of the local pastor where the wedding occurs.
The Witnesses
15. The witnesses, of which there must be two (c. 1108),
observe the exchange of marital consent by the bride and
groom so that, if needed, those witnesses can testify to the
manner, place and persons of that very exchange of marital
consent.
16. Having a large number of persons in the wedding party
CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz
can detract from the sacred nature of the ceremony. Limiting
the size of the wedding party can be a difficult decision, but
must be considered carefully.
Children in the Wedding Party
17. The inclusion of young members of families of the
bride and groom in the wedding as junior attendants or
flower girl / ring bearer is possible. Very young children are
sometimes quite overwhelmed at the ceremonial element of
the wedding liturgy. Children age seven (7) and above are permitted to participate in the wedding party. Younger children
may participate with the approval of the pastor. Children may
be placed with an adult during procession and remain seated
during the ceremony.
Music Guidelines for the Wedding
Celebration
18. The primary purpose of music for the wedding liturgy
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is to help those in attendance to pray. Congregational singing,
therefore, is encouraged, even though a vocal soloist or choir
may be appropriate at certain times before and during the
liturgy.
19. The parish organist, cantor and even choir are the best
choice to insure that things go smoothly. The parish musician
(or his or her delegate) should serve as organist and/or principal musician at weddings, and must oversee selection and
planning of the music for the wedding liturgy.
20. In the Diocese of Covington, sung music is chosen from
the vast repertory of sacred and liturgical music. The text of
the music must be religious and liturgical. Popular songs that
happen to mention God in an incidental manner do not qualify as sacred music. Secular or popular songs are not considered appropriate before, during or after the ceremony. Those
songs would be better served at a different time. This applies
also if the songs would be played as instrumental music.
21. The pastor or his delegate, normally the parish musician or music director, must approve all music chosen for the
wedding liturgy. Further and more detailed guidelines and
information may be obtained from the parish.
Liturgical Elements and Other
Items
The Procession
22. The groom and his parent(s) as well as the bride and
her parent(s) may be part of the entrance procession, along
with the other ministers of the liturgy (Rite of Marriage, no.
20). An opening hymn may be sung by all as a fitting way to
gather the assembly for the celebration.
Prayer of the Faithful
23. Intercessions are ordinarily composed by the
priest/deacon in accordance with the General Instruction of
the Roman Missal which states, “As a rule, the series of intentions is to be: a) for the needs of the Church; b) for public
authorities and the salvation of the whole world; c) for those
burdened by any kind of difficulty; d) for the local community.” (no. 70) Intercessions for the newly married and other
intercessions may be added to this list. If another person composes the intercessions they must be approved by the
priest/deacon.
24. “It is the deacon himself who normally announces the
intentions of the Prayer of the Faithful from the ambo.”
(GIRM, no. 177) If there is no deacon present at the celebration then “the cantor, the lector, or another person announces
the intentions from the ambo.” (GIRM, no. 138)
Presentation and Preparation of the Gifts
25. If the wedding celebration occurs during Mass, bread
and wine as well as money or other gifts for the poor may be
brought up in the presentation of the gifts. The purpose of
this procession is to present gifts that will be offered in sacrifice to God.
The Altar
26. As the symbol of Jesus Christ, the altar stands alone
and is used only for the celebration of the Eucharist.
Therefore, nothing may be placed on top of the altar, including flowers or extra candles.
The Sanctuary
27. The sanctuary of the church is the place where the
sacred mysteries are celebrated, including the proclamation
of the Word of God from the ambo and the Eucharistic sacrifice on the altar. Nothing may be added or removed from the
sanctuary area without the permission of the pastor where
the wedding liturgy is celebrated.
Marian Devotion
28. It is to be hoped and encouraged that a couple has a
spiritual devotion to the Blessed Mother as part of their married life together. The practice of bringing flowers to the
Marian shrine, however, is not part of the Catholic wedding
liturgy. It is more than just placing flowers by the statue of the
Blessed Mother. It should involve the couple praying to the
Blessed Mother to intercede for them and for their marriage.
If the Marian devotion is included in the ceremony, it takes
place either before or after the Post Communion Prayer.
Unity Candle & Other Symbols of Unity
ital consent between the bride and the groom brings marriage
into being (c. 1057, §1). Other symbols, like the unity candle,
distract from this. Therefore, use of the unity candle and
other secular symbols of unity during the wedding liturgy
are discouraged. If one desires to use these symbols, one
might consider making them a part of the wedding reception
along with other cultural rituals, like the throwing of the bouquet. If these symbols are included in the ceremony, they can
be used either before or after the Post Communion Prayer.
Decorations
30. Since the wedding ceremony is sacred, the liturgy must
take precedence over any decorations. Therefore, they should
enhance participation (by not blocking the view or movement), be genuine and not overwhelming. Decorations to be
used must be approved by the pastor or his delegate. To avoid
any hazard to safety and to minimize custodial work, the
throwing or dropping of rice, birdseed, confetti or flower
petals is not allowed inside or outside the church.
31. The General Instruction of the Roman Missal states that
“during Advent the floral decoration of the altar should be
marked by a moderation suited to the character of this season, without expressing prematurely the full joy of the
Nativity of the Lord. During Lent it is forbidden for the altar
to be decorated with flowers. Floral decorations should
always be done with moderation and placed around the altar
rather than on its mensa.” (no. 305)
32. When a marriage is celebrated during the Christmas or
Easter season, existing decorations should remain in the
church. Ordinarily during these seasons new flowers or decorations should not be added for the purposes of the marriage
ceremony.
Photography and Videography
33. The use of flash photography at any time during the
ceremony is prohibited. Flash photography interrupts the
solemnity of the occasion. No additional lighting may be
brought into the church.
34. Photographers and videographers may not enter the
sanctuary at any time. Their equipment must also be clear of
the sanctuary space and all other places of movement, such as
the aisle ways, at Communion. Photographers, videographers, and their equipment must remain discrete and unobtrusive. Posed photographs before or after the ceremony are
permitted in church assuming that all members of the bridal
party and photographers maintain a respectful atmosphere
in the sacred space.
Office of Worship and Liturgy,
Diocese of Covington, 2015
29. Neither the unity candle nor other symbols of unity are
a part of the Catholic wedding liturgy. The exchange of mar-
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The pleasure of your company
In today’s society the concept of proper etiquette seems
to have gone right out the door. Even though we all have
free will and the right to do as we please, sometimes we
should step back and follow some old-time etiquette.
Marriage is a holy sacrament and in the planning
process keeping this in mind will help your planning to
stay in perspective. Invitation etiquette as well as wedding
planning are quite simple and follow etiquette in general.
Following (3) simple components such as common sense,
courtesy and usage will always help you make the correct
decisions.
Etiquette is founded on common sense. Following this
will help you determine whether or not you are giving
your guest what they need as far as information, or
whether it seems right or wrong.
With keeping this in mind, courtesy is considered to be
the spirit of etiquette. It is the ingredient that makes for
gracious and rewarding relationships. A key thought to
keep in mind is that etiquette is proper only when its use
facilitates and strengthens relationships.
The third component of etiquette is usage. Etiquette
evolves with time — what was considered proper etiquette
100 or even 50 years ago maybe considered old-fashioned
and do not necessarily fit the needs and expectations of
people today. Etiquette will continue to evolve but keeping
the core principles in mind seems to keep us grounded. As
old customs become obsolete, new ones take their place.
So what does this mean? Using common sense in situations such as not wanting to
include someone because you just
don’t care for them seems so
childish, but you have to look at
the longterm picture. Will your
decision build a bridge or burn
one down? You are starting a new
chapter in your life; think before
you act. Taking the high road will
make you feel better in the end.
What does courtesy have to do
with anything? Being a bride is
something every young girl has
dreamed of her entire life. Your
dream is coming true so now is
not the time to turn into
“Bridezilla.” Planning a social
event can be stressful, but planning properly with scheduling
and budgets help you stay in control. Being courteous to those trying to help you along the way will
CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz
pay off in the end and you will be a happier you.
Usage. There was a time in society when, upon receiving an invitation to a social event, it was your responsibility to hand-write a response accepting or declining the
invitation. As life has evolved and we are so busy the
response card became a necessary part of an invitation
ensemble. For years we filled out the cards and mailed
them back, letting those who have invited us know if we
were able to join them or not. Many of us have seen this
custom evolve once again with computers; responses are
now accepted by e-mail and websites. This part traces back
to common sense: if the ages of your guests are older and
may not have computers, sending the good old response
card with a stamp may be your best choice.
When it is time to choose that perfect invitation it
seems ever so difficult to figure out how the wording
should read. What is the difference between using “the
honour of your presence” and “the pleasure of your company”? This phrase in your invitation is determined by
where you are being married. If you are being married in
a house of worship then “the honour of your presence” is
to be used, as it is an honor to be present in the house of
our Lord. When you are being married outside the Church;
at home, in a garden, at a venue “the pleasure of your company” is to be used.
If you are having a nuptial Mass then additional verbiage is added to your invitation such as:
At the Nuptial Mass uniting and in the Sacrament of
Holy Matrimony.
Remembering these three simple concepts — common
sense, courtesy and usage — will help you with decisions
throughout your wedding planning and life as well.
This article, provided to the Messenger, was written by
Karen Franxman, owner, Always & Forever Wedding
Service, LLC.
Messenger
Pope: spouses make each other better
or worn out,” he said.
Pope Francis also offered practical advice for dealing with marital
discord.
“It is normal for a husband and
wife to argue,” he said. “It always
happens. But my advice is this:
never let the day end without having first made peace. Never. A small
gesture is sufficient. Thus the journey may continue.”
Speaking three weeks before the
start of an extraordinary Synod of
Bishops on the family, the pope
emphasized the importance of the
institution based on marriage.
“It is impossible to quantify the
strength and depth of humanity
contained in a family: mutual help,
educational support, relationships
developing as family members
CNS photo/Paul Haring)
mature, the sharing of joys and difPope Francis celebrates the marriage rite for 20 couples during a Mass in
ficulties,” he said. “Families are the
St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Sept. 14.
first place in which we are formed
as persons and, at the same time,
Francis X. Rocca
the bricks for the building up of society.”
The newlyweds ranged in age from 25 to 56 and representVATICAN CITY — Presiding over the wedding of 20 coued a variety of situations, with some already having children
ples, Sept. 14, in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis celebrated
or having lived together before marriage.
marriage as the union of a man and woman playing compleCohabitation, though not a canonical impediment to marmentary roles during their common journey through life.
riage, violates the Catholic Church’s teaching on marriage
“This is what marriage is all about: man and woman walkand sexual love. Pastoral ministers helping Catholic couples
ing together, wherein the husband helps his wife to become
prepare for the sacrament are urged to encourage them to regever more a woman, and wherein the woman has the task of
ularize such situations prior to marrying.
helping her husband to become ever more a man,” the pope
At the start of the papal wedding Mass, the brides, wearing
said. “Here we see the reciprocity of differences.”
traditional white gowns, were accompanied up the aisle of the
The pope spoke during a wedding Mass for couples from
basilica by their fathers or other male relatives. The grooms
the diocese of Rome.
entered with their mothers. The pope called out each couple’s
In typically frank style, Pope Francis admitted married
names as he read the rite and then each couple, groom and
life can be tiring, “burdensome, and often, even nauseating.”
bride, separately, responded “si.”
But the pope assured the brides and grooms that Christ’s
As a thank-you present to the pope, the couples jointly conredemptive sacrifice would enable them to resist the “dangertributed to an educational and recreational center for disadous temptation of discouragement, infidelity, weakness, abanvantaged youth in a suburban neighborhood of Rome, to be
donment.”
established by the local branch of Caritas.
“The love of Christ, which has blessed and sanctified the
The ceremony was the first public papal celebration of a
union of husband and wife, is able to sustain their love and to
wedding since 2000, when St. John Paul II joined in marriage
renew it when, humanly speaking, it becomes lost, wounded
eight couples from different parts of the world as part of the
Jubilee for Families. He also
publicly presided over
another joint wedding for a
group of couples in 1994 as
part of his celebration of the
for Children's Communion, Christening, Flower Girl,
International Year of the
Family.
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Natural Family
Planning
What does the Catholic Church teach about married love?
Marriage is an intimate, lifelong partnership in which
husbands and wives give and receive love unselfishly. The
sexual relationship expresses their married love and
shows what it means to become “one body” (Gen 2:24) and
“one flesh” (Mark 10:8, Matt 19:6). The sexual union is
meant to express the full meaning of a couple’s love, its
power to bind together “the unitive aspect of marriage
“and “its openness to new life,” the procreative aspect.
What does this have to do with contraception?
The Church believes that God has established an inseparable bond between the unitive and procreative aspects of
marriage. The couple has promised to give themselves to
each other, and this mutual self-giving includes the gift of
their fertility. This means that each sexual act in a marriage needs to be open to the possibility of conceiving a
child. “Thus, artificial contraception is contrary to God’s
will for marriage because it separates the act of conception from sexual union,” (United States Catholic
Catechism for Adults, p. 409).
A couple need not desire to conceive a child in every act
of intercourse. But they should never suppress the life-giving power that is part of what they pledged in their marriage vows.
Are couples expected to leave their family size
entirely to chance?
No. Serious circumstances — financial, physical, psychological, or those involving responsibilities to other
family members — may affect the number and spacing of
children. The Church understands this, while encouraging couples to take a generous view of children.
What should a couple do if they have good reason
to avoid having a child?
A married couple can engage in intercourse during the
naturally infertile times in a woman’s cycle, or after childbearing years, without violating the meaning of marital
intercourse. This is the principle behind Natural Family
Planning (NFP).
How can we learn to use NFP?
The best way to learn NFP is from a qualified instructor — one who is certified by an NFP teacher-training program. Your diocesan offices can help you to find an NFP
class in your area. (See page 12.)
To learn NFP in a correspondence course or online, see
the NFP provider list available at www.usccb.org. The U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops maintains a list of additional correspondence courses.
This article is from the United States Conference of
Bishops’ website www.foryourmarriage.org
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Messenger
Annual weeklong observances celebrate, support marriage
Nate Madden
Washington — While the week leading up to St.
Valentine’s Day had many thinking about candlelit dinners
and those chalky candy hearts, some people were taking a
more serious approach by celebrating matrimony.
National Marriage Week was first celebrated in the
United States in 2002, originating from Marriage Week
International, and now serves as an annual call to strengthen marriage and the family across the country and around
the world.
The organization behind the week, National Marriage
Week USA, says on its website that the “social science is
clear that all children are best served when they grow up
with both a mother and father. It is critical to strengthen the
bonds of marriage to best support marriages so that they
can survive and thrive.”
In a letter sent to all U.S. bishops Jan. 16, Bishop Richard
J. Malone of Buffalo, New York, chairman of the Committee
on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth of the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops, hailed National Marriage
Week USA, this year Feb. 7-14, as an opportunity “to celebrate the gift and blessing of marriage and to affirm and
support engaged and married couples.”
World Marriage Day, started in 1983 by Worldwide
Marriage Encounter, was observed Feb. 8.
Celebrating marriage “is important because marriage is
under siege in this country,” said Matt Franck, director of
the Simon Center on Religion and the Constitution at the
Witherspoon Institute. “So celebrating it any way that we
can is important,” he told Catholic News Service.
He pointed to “soaring divorce rates, high out of wedlock
birthrates and a massive effort to redefine the meaning of
marriage to something that has nothing to do with the natural, conjugal relationship between a man and woman and
that has nothing to do with childbearing or child rearing,”
he said, adding that “marriage has become a political issue
when it shouldn’t be; it’s the most important of our pre-political institutions.”
“Marriage is in crisis, this is true in the United States as
well as around the world,” professor Robert P. George told
CNS when asked about the importance of National
Marriage Week. “And when marriage is in crisis, society is
in crisis.”
“Societies depend upon the traditional institution of
marriage,” said George, a Catholic, who is a professor of
jurisprudence at Princeton University. He also is director of
the university’s James Madison Program in American
Ideals and Institutions.
“All other institutions of a society, economic, civic and
legal, vitally depend on marriage. They rely on people being
decent, law-abiding citizens who are willing to do their part
for the common good,” he said, “so they depend on the institution of marriage because they (society’s institutions)
require the kinds of people that they themselves are not able
to generate.
“If such people are to form a society, they must first be
generated, formed and developed by the family, based on
marriage.”
In November, George attended a Vatican-sponsored conference on the “Complementarity of Man and Woman,”
along with the Rev. Rick Warren, senior pastor of
Saddleback Church in California, and Archbishop Charles J.
Chaput of Philadelphia.
In his opening remarks at the conference, Pope Francis
called for preserving the family as an institution based on
marriage between a man and a woman, which he said is not
a political cause but a matter of “human ecology.” He noted
that “marriage and the family are in crisis.”
The complementarity of man and woman ... is at the root
of marriage and the family,” he said. “Children have the
right to grow up in a family with a father and mother capa-
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For Your Marriage, a USCCB initiative, says that “marriage is a gift from God to men, women, children, and society.
... Marriage is the foundation of the family, which is the primary place where we all learn to love and be loved, to live in
community with others, and to care for the most vulnerable.”
The movement for revitalizing marriage in the United
States is seeing a youthful growth similar to that currently
seen in the pro-life movement.
Brittany Crippen, outreach and programs officer at the
Love & Fidelity Network, told CNS that “it’s been a slower
growth, mainly because we haven’t had as much time as the
pro-life movement, but the movement is definitely growing.”
Her organization works to “equip college students with
the resources, support and arguments they need to uphold
the institution of marriage, the special role of the family
and sexual integrity.”
She added that “the fervor is definitely increasing; college students are getting bolder about speaking up and
defending the need for a healthy culture of marriage.”
“Marriage is America’s most effective anti-poverty program,” according to Sheila Weber, executive director of
National Marriage Week USA.
In February 2013, citing supporting data and the economic benefits of marriage, Weber issued a call to action of sorts
in an op-ed piece. “If we can change the public’s thinking
and habits on recycling, smoking, exercise and healthy eating,” she wrote, “how much more does America need a campaign to improve the public’s thinking and actions about the
benefits to our country of encouraging healthy marriage?”
National Marriage Week this year concluded on the feast
day of St. Valentine, a third-century martyr and the patron
saint of affianced couples, love and happy marriages.
Messenger
Protecting God’s Children for Adults
For all employees and volunteers of the Diocese
of Covington who in any way provide a safe
environment for children:
copy will be mailed to the address you provided. ■ Bishop Brossart (Hegenauer Hall), Alexandria
If an individual stays in compliance with VIRTUS
Monday, April 27, 6–9:30 p.m.
this background check will be valid until you ask
Attention parents and volunteers: Every
to be marked inactive.
Step 1: Complete the
parish, school and institution has a VIRTUS
volunteer application and acceptance forms
Step 4: Choose and attend a class. Parents and contact person. Introduce yourself to the school
at your parish or school after reviewing the
other interested persons are most welcome. No or institution administrator so that you can be
Diocesan Policies and Procedures for Addressing children, please.
added to the certified volunteer list for school
Sexual Misconduct with your supervisor.
functions or sport programs. Sign up for a
■ St. Barbara Parish Hall, Erlanger
VIRTUS account www.virtus.org and follow the
Step 2: Register at www.virtus.org. To
Saturday, Feb. 28,
instructions to register and attend training.
register, visit www.virtus.org and click on
9 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Bulletins will begin only after you have complet“registration” and follow the prompts.
ed your live training and been processed. You
Step 3: After registering your account you will ■ Blessed Sacrament Blees Center (Bldg between will receive e-mail notices that say
Church & School),
go to your Toolbox Tab in the green column and
[email protected] unless your computer
Ft. Mitchell Tuesday,
double click on Selection.com Background Check
program blocks them.
Mar. 24, 7 p.m.–10:30 p.m.
to process your background. The results will go
Access your bulletins (12 per year).
directly to the Diocese Safe Environment and a
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Bulletin:
■ February bulletin: posted Feb. 1; due March 3.
Bulletins need to be read every month before
the deadline posted. If not read an individual’s
account will go into suspension. The individual
will need to contact their primary location to
get their Training Tab back and account
unsuspended.
If you cannot access your account at all, contact
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If you are having difficulties with the program,
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St. Pius X School, the guiding principle is to provide
a high-quality Catholic education by embracing the
Gospel message of Jesus Christ in order to promote
the spiritual, academic and personal growth of the
whole child. A student enrollment of over 600
students in grades K through 8 is served by 58
certified and classified staff members who strive to
provide differentiated instruction with an emphasis
on the use of technology. In addition to the core
curriculum, students receive instruction in Art,
Music, Physical Education and Spanish, along with
the services of a Counselor and Resource Teachers.
Candidates for school administration in the Diocese
of Covington must be actively practicing Roman
Catholics. By March 2, 2015, interested individuals
should e-mail, FAX or mail a letter of interest along
with a comprehensive resume or C-V, a recent baptismal certificate showing sacramental history and
at least five references to Stephen Koplyay, SPHR,
1125 Madison Avenue, Covington, KY
41011-3115, FAX 859/392-1589,
or [email protected].
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Updated website
(Continued from page 1)
panies. Bishop Foys accepted the committee’s recommendation to contract T2Design, Florence, as its new webhost and
designer. Tom Tally, creative director for T2Design, identified
a WordPress template that he felt would meet Bishop Foys’
requirements and over the course of a just a few months the
new site was launched.
“We really like that Tom is local and has been able to sit
down with us face-to-face in developing the website,” said Ms.
Keener.
Visitors to www.covdio.org will still be able to read Bishop
Foys’ message and they will find that “finding” a parish,
priest or one of the local motherhouses much easier. By clicking on “News” visitors will be directed to the Messenger’s
page where they can download the current and archive copies
of the Messenger as well as browse the online photo albums.
A direct link to the Safe Environment web page is still easily
available. A new “How Do I” feature directs visitors to specific areas of the website for information — like “How do I order
sacramental records?” — often requested by visitors but were
previously difficult to find.
In addition to accessing useful information provided by
each office, visitors to the new website will have the opportunity to get to know the Curia staff a little better. Each office’s
“About Us” page features photos of the staff along with their
title.
“While there are some areas of the site that are still under
construction most of the information that visitors are looking for is available,” said Ms. Keener. “We were able to bring
this together so quickly because the members of the committee, diocesan directors and the office web coordinators understood the urgency of the project and were very excited to
redevelop their web presence to include a fresh look and to
adapt to visitors’ needs.”
See for yourself. Visit www.covdio.org.
“Hot Tub Time Machine 2” (Paramount) This
inane comedy sequel finds a crass business tycoon, his
resentful son and his best pal attempting to transport
themselves into the past once again using the device of
the title. Instead they end up 10 years into the future
where, together with the offspring of a character from
the first outing,
they
encounter
such theoretically
Movie
humorous cultural developments
Capsule
as a television
game show on
which contestants
can be compelled to engage, via virtual reality, in
unwanted sex acts. Director Steve Pink’s follow-up to
his 2010 original is as glaringly stupid as it is vile.
Occasional gory violence, strong sexual content,
including an aberrant situation, graphic nonmarital
sexual activity and full nudity, drug use, a few
instances of profanity, pervasive rough and crude language. CNS: O; MPAA: R.
For full reviews of each of these films — go to www.covingtondiocese.org, visit the Messenger page and click on
www.catholicnews.com or call 1-800-311-4CCC.
Catholic News Service (CNS) classifications are:
• A-I — general patronage;
• A-II — adults and adolescents;
• A-III — adults;
• L — limited adult audience (films whose
problematic content many adults would
find troubling);
• O — morally offensive.
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NEWS BRIEFS
National/World
Pope: Liberty, equality can turn
selfish, unfair without brotherly love
VATICAN CITY — Liberty and equality are not enough for the
well-being of a nation, there must also be a strong sense of brotherhood that is first developed and nurtured in the family, Pope Francis
said. Without seeing each other as brothers and sisters, a nation’s citizens may distort these values, letting freedom and equality “be filled
with individualism and conformity,” he said at his general audience
Feb. 18. The pope continued a series of talks on the family by focusing
on the importance of brothers and sisters, and how Christianity
places special emphasis on the fraternal ties that unite the whole
human family. Speaking to more than 9,000 people gathered in St.
Peter’s Square, the pope said, “The bond of fraternity that forms in a
family among brothers and sisters, if it happens in an atmosphere of
learning to be open to others, is the great school of freedom and
peace. It is precisely the family that introduces fraternity to the
world” because it is in the family that siblings learn “the human coexistence that one must live out in society,” he said. Thanks to the affection and values experienced in the family, he said, this “fraternal style
radiates out like a promise onto all of society.” God, through his son
Jesus, brings further graces upon this natural bond, making it something that can “surpass all national, linguistic, cultural and even religious differences,” he said. In fact, it is the Christian sense of brotherhood that lets people who are otherwise vastly different see and love
each other as brother and sister, he said.
Bishops put high priority on fighting
moves to allow assisted suicide
ALBANY, N.Y. — As New York lawmakers began to consider a bill
to legalize physician-assisted suicide, the New York State Catholic
Conference launched a new website “to offer Catholics moral clarity
and guidance on the Church’s teachings regarding end-of-life decision-making. Talking about death and dying can be difficult and
uncomfortable, yet perhaps no conversations are more profound or
necessary for all of us,” says the “About” section of the site,
www.catholicendoflife.org. “The fact is that most of us will face challenging decisions regarding treatment and care at the end of life,
either for ourselves or our family members.” Developed with a grant
from Our Sunday Visitor, the site provides links to resources,
Church teaching, advance directives and a variety of Catholic
sources all across the country. The Catholic Church teaches that
physician-assisted suicide is immoral and unethical. In a Feb. 9
interview with the Daily News, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New
York said he and the state’s other Catholic bishops have put a high
priority on fighting any effort to legalize physician-assisted suicide.
Others opposed to assisted suicide include evangelical Christians,
Orthodox Jews and Mormons.
Jesuit’s kidnapping forces JRS to
reassess operations in risky areas
ROME — The kidnapping of Jesuit Father Alexis Prem Kumar
has made Jesuit Refugee Service reassess the way it operates in
many high-risk countries, said an agency official. Staff have been
getting training from experts who have worked for the United
Nations or who have military experience to learn how to “monitor
and evaluate the security situation” in the places they are working,
said James Stapleton, the agency’s international communications
coordinator. This might include “how to get to a safe place in time of
crises, where to go, who to talk to,” he told Catholic News Service.
This new step in training was important because local staff “tend
not to pay attention” to the security aspects of being on the ground,
concentrating as they are on the social and humanitarian situation,
Stapleton told CNS in a phone interview Feb. 23, the day after Father
Kumar was freed and returned to New Delhi, more than eight
months after being kidnapped in Afghanistan. At the time of his kidnapping, Father Kumar headed JRS in Afghanistan. Just as the situation changed rapidly in Afghanistan, resulting in Father Kumar’s
kidnapping, it has been changing in other volatile countries where
JRS operates — like Syria and northern Iraq.
Pope tells Ukraine’s bishops to unite
against unfolding tragedies
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis urged Ukraine’s Catholic bishops
to focus on the social and human tragedies unfolding in their country and avoid politicizing their role as Church leaders. He asked
bishops from the nation’s Eastern- and Latin-rite traditions to work
together and be a clear moral voice calling for peace and harmony
as well as strong defenders of families, the poor and weak. “The
sense of justice and truth is moral before being political, and such a
task is entrusted to your duties as pastors, too,” he said in a written
address. The pope met Feb. 20 with bishops from Ukraine’s
Byzantine- and Latin-rite communities, who were in Rome Feb. 16-21
for their “ad limina” visits to report on the state of their dioceses.
The Vatican said the pope had his two-page written speech handed
out to the bishops rather than read aloud. The pope assured the bishops of his prayers and concerns about the “serious conflict” in their
nation and the numerous innocent victims and suffering it has
caused.
Catholic justice leaders condemn
Europe’s growing racism, nationalism
OXFORD, England — Catholic leaders condemned “racism and
xenophobia” in Europe and urged religious communities to speak
out against a growing “nationalism of exclusion” of the type that
preceded both world wars. The Conference of European Justice and
Peace Commissions called it a “matter of serious concern” that
“elections at regional, national and European level have shown a
new rise of parties advocating the supremacy of narrow national
interests over universal human values, international commitments
and obligations. The Christian vision of universal justice and peace
does not allow for any kind of chauvinism — it calls for solidarity
and respect for all,” the conference said in a Feb. 18 report. The
appeal was issued amid growing concern at the rise of nationalist
and populist parties in Europe and a spate of violent attacks on religious and ethnic minority targets. It said Catholic social teaching
stressed the rights of “nations, cultures and minorities within existing nation-states” and believed “nothing can be said” against strong
attachments to languages and places of birth. However, it added that
many parties were now seeking power by demanding “unilateral
national measures, if necessary to the detriment of other peoples.”
Religious leaders urge action to
combat climate change
WASHINGTON — Religious leaders from across the faith spectrum gathered Feb. 20 at the Capitol to seek action to combat climate
change and to mitigate its effects, whether it be at the federal level or
in local communities. The ongoing buzz about the forthcoming
encyclical from Pope Francis on the environment was addressed by
Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.
“This is the first time a pope has addressed the issue of the environment and climate change with an encyclical — and for us Catholics
and not only for Catholics, this is a big deal,” Archbishop Wenski
said, noting, “Encyclicals are an important way for popes to exercise
their teaching office.” Archbishop Wenski added, “Although I am not
privy to what the pope will say, I think he will insist that the ‘natural
ecology’ is inseparably linked to ‘human ecology.’ In other words, we
have to recognize the interrelatedness of the various social, economic, political or environmental crises that confront the human family
today.” The archbishop made the comments as part of a panel sponsored by the National Religious Partnership for the Environment
and held in a meeting room at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center in
Washington.
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Bibles • Books • Gifts
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(859) 392-1500
Please Give Generously • March 7-8, 2015
Or send your donation to the Office of Stewardship and Mission Services,
Diocese of Covington, 1125 Madison Ave., Covington, Ky 41011-3115

Bishop Foys launches new website www.covdio.org

Transcription

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