Author Archives: Tereza Ma

King anniversary recalls bishop’s desegregation efforts in Mississippi

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(Editor’s note: A story about this research project appeared in the March 23 edition of Mississippi Catholic.)
By Tim Muldoon
CHICAGO (CNS) – When Pope Francis addressed the U.S. Congress Sept. 24, 2015, he pointed to the witness of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., suggesting that a great nation “fosters a culture which enables people to ‘dream’ of full rights for all their brothers and sisters.”
As we remember the 50th anniversary of his assassination, it is important to recall the hard work of social change that helped bend our nation in the direction of greater justice. The integration of Catholic parishes and schools in Mississippi provides an important window into the moral struggles that existed inside the church’s own institutions, and offers us lessons for today.

JACKSON –The August 6, 1964 letter issued by Bishop Gerow to be read at all parishes announcing that Catholic schools would accept all children, regardless of race, resides in the Diocese of Jackson archives. (Photo by Tereza Ma)

In the decade between 1955 and 1965, Mississippi was a hotbed of racial unrest, and Catholic schools and parishes were not immune. It was a period sandwiched between two racially motivated murders that drew national attention: the murder of the 14-year-old boy Emmett Till in 1955 and the Freedom Summer (or “Mississippi burning”) murders of three young civil rights activists in 1964. In Catholic parishes, groups of whites threatened blacks attending Mass at St. Joseph in Port Gibson; Sacred Heart in Hattiesburg; St. Joseph in Greenville; and many others.
Bishop Richard Oliver Gerow, head of what is now the Jackson Diocese, had been nurturing hopes for desegregation of his parishes and schools for years, keeping meticulous files of racial incidents. A realist, he understood that episcopal fiat could not undo generations of racial prejudice, and so worked slowly to develop collaborators.
One example in 1954 was in Waveland, where a parishioner threatened black priests sent by Father Robert E. Pung, a priest of the Society of the Divine Word, who was the rector of St. Augustine Seminary, the first black seminary in the United States. Father Pung composed a strongly worded letter to the man:
“And what did the priest come to your parish to do: just one thing – to celebrate Mass and bring Christ down upon your parish altar and to feed the flock of Christ with his sacred body. And that the majority of the parishioners looked upon the priest celebrating holy Mass as a priest of God and not whether he was colored or white is evident from the fact that last Sunday over three Communion rails of people received holy Communion from his anointed hands.”
He assured the man that these same priests would be praying for him.

Bishop Richard O. Gerow, pictured in an undated photo, headed what is today the Diocese of Jackson, Miss., from 1924 to 1967. He was a strong advocate of desegregation for Catholic parishes and schools in his diocese but in such racially charged times he promoted incremental change, to protect black priests and parishioners from retaliation. (CNS photo/courtesy Diocese of Jackson Archives via Catholic Extension) See RACIAL-DESEGREGATION-MISSISSIPPI April 6, 2018.

Bishop Gerow kept an extensive file including this and many other racial incidents. In an entry from November 1957, he shares the advice he gave to a group of Catholic men who were distressed at the ill treatment of black parishioners. He wrote:
“We are facing a situation in which we as a small minority are up against a frantic and unreasonable attitude of a greater majority of the community. If we attempt to force matters, we are liable to do injury not only to ourselves but also to those whom we would wish to do help, namely, the Negroes. Imprudent action on our part might cause them very serious even physical harm.”
His position on desegregation was a delicate one, which attempted to balance a complex array of factors and forces:
• First, there were the pastoral needs of black Catholics in the region, some of whom had to travel to celebrate the sacraments and who sometimes faced verbal or physical threats.
• Second, there were the established parishes comprised mostly of whites, themselves a minority in a region that was dominated by Protestants.
• Third, there were men in both state and local government, not to mention law enforcement, who were sometimes hostile even to white Catholics, and so the presence of blacks in Catholic congregations was a further potential danger.
• Fourth, there were a growing number of organizations supporting the cause of integration: organizations such as the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, as well as Catholic organizations, like the National Catholic Welfare Conference and the National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice, or NCCIJ.
In 1963, Henry Cabirac Jr. of the NCCIJ began to force the hand of Bishop Gerow, when Cabirac called for integration of schools at meetings in Mississippi City. Responding to Cabirac’s advocacy that black families apply for admission to white Catholic schools, Bishop Gerow wrote in his diary of July 1 the following:
“My point is this: School integration is going to come in the course of time, but at present we are not ready for it. I feel that the first step is to create a better relationship between the two races.”
He wrote guidelines for sermons to be preached throughout the diocese on the moral demand of integration, but remained convinced that school integration would be dangerous for black parishioners. Nevertheless, only two days after this entry, on July 3, the bishop wrote that he had received letters from two black families requesting admission of their children to schools “which we have considered white.” He laments being in an embarrassing position, feeling that “a bit more preparation of our whites is prudent.”
No doubt the bishop was sensing great tension in the air. Only two weeks earlier, the field secretary for the NAACP, Medgar Evers, had been assassinated, and once again the nation’s attention was on Mississippi. The immediate aftermath of the assassination saw Gerow in a political role to which he was naturally averse.
He had been active in drawing together white ministers in the various churches in Jackson for some time, and in fact had arranged for a meeting that included black ministers only five weeks earlier. The groups had hoped that their combined voices might thaw the icy relationship between blacks and the Jackson Chamber of Commerce. But after the assassination, the bishop felt compelled to make a public statement which he shared with the press.
The opportunity to act decisively happened one year later, July 2, 1964, when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act. Bishop Gerow issued a statement to the press the next day.
“Each of us, bearing in mind Christ’s law of love, can establish his own personal motive of reaction to the bill and thus turn this time into an occasion of spiritual growth. The prophets of strife and distress need not be right.”
On Aug. 6, the bishop published a letter to be read in all churches the subsequent Sunday (Aug. 9), indicating that “qualified Catholic children” would be admitted to the first grade without respect to race. He called on all Catholics to “a true Christian spirit by their acceptance of and cooperation in the implementation of this policy.” In a letter to his chancellor, Bishop Gerow describes this move as “more in accord with Christian principle than of segregation.” The following year, he desegregated all the grades in Catholic schools.
In recent months, we also have seen tragic examples of racially motivated hate crimes. Later this year, the U.S. bishops plan to release their first pastoral letter on racism in nearly 40 years. Mindful of the gifts that people of all races bring to the community of faith, and of the need to work towards a just social order, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, said at the launching of the racism task force last August, “The vile chants of violence against African-Americans and other people of color, the Jewish people, immigrants, and others offend our faith, but unite our resolve. Let us not allow the forces of hate to deny the intrinsic dignity of every human person.”
For ore than a hundred years, Catholic Extension has been serving dioceses with large populations of the poor, the marginalized and people of color, and have sent millions of dollars to ensure that they have infrastructure and well-trained church leaders that will form them for positive social change. Our dream is that these leaders will, in the words of Pope Francis, “awaken what is deepest and truest” in the life of the people, and ultimately be the catalyst of transformation in their communities.
During this 50th anniversary of Rev. King’s assassination, we are mindful of all those Christians who have gone before us in the struggle for a more peaceful and just society, so that we may be inspired by their example to confront and struggle with the pressing questions of our day. Bishop Gerow’s extensive efforts to chronicle the important period of his episcopacy remind us that we, too, live in the midst of a history that others will remember and judge in the light of God’s call to live justly.

(Tim Muldoon is director of mission education for Catholic Extension. Contributing to this article was Mary Woodward, chancellor of the Jackson Diocese, who assisted with the Bishop Gerow archive.)

Reflection – Renewal – Remembering

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Sister Dorothea Sondgeroth took a turn riding a camel during her trip.

By Sister M. Dorothea Sondgeroth, O.P.
Lent 2018 has significant meaning for me as I began this holy season while on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I was privileged to be invited to join the Knights and Dames of the Holy Sepulcher who financially support the Holy Places in the Holy Land, especially the University of Bethlehem. The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem is the only lay institution of the Vatican State charged with the task of providing for the needs of the activities and initiatives which are necessary to support the Christian presence in the Holy Land.
One of the Order’s principle goals is to sustain and aid the Catholic Church in the Holy Land. Without their membership as well as their support of and contributions to the upkeep of these sacred sites in the Holy Land, pilgrimages would not be possible for Christians, especially Catholics. The pilgrimage included the Shell Ceremony for the members of the Equestrian Order who have made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
The pilgrimage began as I joined up with Bishop Joseph Kopacz and 40 other friends departing from Newark for an overnight flight to Israel. Arriving in Tel Aviv, Israel’s center of culture, we set out on a life-changing journey in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus which offered a geography of our faith. The well versed tour guide made the scriptures come alive as we stopped at significant sites in the life of Jesus for the next ten days.
In Jaffa, the biblical port-town, stands St. Peter Church where the apostle had his vision which led to the first preaching of the gospel of Christ to the Gentiles. It was from here that Jonah set sail on his journey to Nineveh. We traveled on to the sparkling port city of Haifa and ascended Mount Carmel, home of the prophets Elijah and Elisha, to visit Stella Maris.
Each day offered opportunities for REFLECTION with the highlight of celebrating Eucharist with Bishop Kopacz as the main celebrant at holy places, first being at Mount Carmel in Haifa.
Continuing on to Cana of Galilee, where our Lord performed the first miracle of changing water into wine at the wedding feast, provided an occasion for the renewal of marriage vows by the pilgrim couples following a Eucharistic celebration. The pilgrimage took us to the city of Nazareth to visit the Basilica of the Annunciation, where the Angel Gabriel announced to the Virgin Mary that she would bear a child, and here Jesus spent his childhood with his parents, Joseph and Mary. Here marks the start of the Christian era. The drive to the summit of Mount Tabor offered time for scripture reading and a magnificent view of all the lower Galilee. Mt. Tabor is the “high mountain apart” which Jesus ascended with Peter, James and John and where He was transfigured before them.
Overlooking the Sea of Galilee, the Mount of Beatitudes provided a perfect setting for reflection time. There was found in the Sea of Galilee a wooden boat from the time of Jesus and people call it, the “Jesus Boat.” Following our excursion on the Sea of Galilee, we each received a certificate verifying that we sailed and prayed on a replica of the “Jesus Boat.”
On we traveled to Capernaum, home of Jesus during his ministry. Here Jesus met his first disciples, all fishermen who worked on the Sea of Galilee and where Jesus performed many miracles including the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law. After visiting the Synagogue and St. Peter’s house, the drive took us to the Church of the Primacy where Jesus appeared to the Apostles after His Resurrection and Tabgha, the site of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes. Leaving Galilee, our pilgrimage took us through the Judean wilderness to Jerusalem to the site on the Jordan River where we celebrated the RENEWAL of our Baptismal promises.
That day Eucharist was celebrated in the shepherds’ field offering more time for reflection and renewal. A visit to the Nativity Church in Bethlehem, the city of David, built by the Emperor Constantine in the fourth century over the traditional grotto of Jesus’ birth, the Manger, grotto of St. Jerome, the Church of St. Catherine and the Milk Grotto were inspiring sites giving pause for reflection and thanksgiving.
The creamy-white Church of the Milk Grotto is a Franciscan Chapel built over the cave in which the holy family sheltered during the flight to Egypt and where Mary nursed baby Jesus. The Via Dolorosa led to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and there we visited Golgotha and Jesus’ tomb, a powerful and moving experience. A drive to the top of the Mount of Olives afforded a spectacular view of Jerusalem where we visited the Church of Pater Noster, Ascension and walked the Palm Sunday road to Dominus Flavit where Jesus wept over Jerusalem.
We proceeded to Gethsemani to visit the Church of All Nations and the Garden of Olives. A drive through the New City of Jerusalem to Ein Karem, the city of Judah, is associated with the life of St. John the Baptist. Here Zachariah, St. John’s father had his summer home and here the Virgin Mary visited her cousin, Elizabeth. The pilgrimage took us to the Visitation Church where Mary proclaimed her famous “Magnificat.”
From the Wailing Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem we saw a powerful view of the Dome of the Rock. The pilgrimage took us to Bethany to visit the site of the house of Mary, Martha and Lazarus and the tomb of Lazarus. There we celebrated the Eucharist with hearts filled with thanksgiving and praise to God for this pilgrimage. We continued through the Judean wilderness and along the Dead Sea to Qumran to see the caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. A stop in Jericho, the oldest known city in the Western world, offered beautiful views of the rich valley with lush green plants, trees, fruits and camel rides.
This Holy Land pilgrimage was a powerful, moving experience immersing us in the Scriptures that offered time for REFLECTION on our faith, RENEWAL of our faith and REMEMBERING the privilege of having walked in the footsteps of Jesus, the source of our faith for which we can say, Praise God from Whom all blessings flow! Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

(Sister Dorothea Sondgeroth, O.P., is the associate Executive director of St. Dominic Health Services Foundation.)

 

JORDAN RIVER – Bishop Joseph Kopacz sprinkles water from the Jordan River on the pilgrims from the Diocese of Jackson after they all renewed their Baptismal promises during a trip to the Holy Land. (Photos courtesy of Sister Dorothea Sondgeroth, OP)

Called To Serve: Confirmation retreat welcomes 200 youth

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By Fran Lavelle
CLINTON – The day began like a normal Saturday morning in the late winter. There was a chill in the air, but the sun was shining. The possibilities of what one can do on any given Saturday literally are endless but high school youth from around the diocese had one destination in mind, the Diocesan High School Confirmation Retreat (DHSCR). Nearly 200 young people attended the DHSCR at Camp Garaywa in Clinton. The weekend was filled with opportunities for our Confirmation candidates to grow closer to God and affirm their decision to be confirmed. In addition to the adult catechist and chaperones who accompanied the youth, a group of college students were also present to lead group activities and serve as small group leaders.
The theme for the retreat was “Called to Serve.” Leaders challenged students to consider how they are being called to serve in their homes, community and in the world. Using the example of the Holy Family, Father Rusty Vincent encouraged the youth to serve with the heart of Mary. Father Rusty reminded the youth that, “From what we are able to determine, Mary was 15-18 years old when she said ‘Yes’ to be the Mother of Jesus.” We learn by example and Mary provides us all with an example of selfless service.
The youth were asked to write a letter to someone who has modeled service and thank them for their witness.
Bishop Joseph Kopacz celebrated Mass Saturday evening. He shared with the youth how important the letters they write him really are and that he reads them all. In addition to asking to be confirmed, the letters often describe the individual journey to deepening their faith. Bishop Kopacz also encouraged the young people to use their voices to be the change in the world that we desperately need. He shared a story from his recent visit to the Holy Land about being where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, commonly known as the Beatitudes. In them, Jesus unveils the foundations and character of life in the Kingdom of God. Bishop Kopacz used the example of the young people in Florida who are challenging local, state and national leaders to enact sensible gun laws. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” he reminded them, “for they will be called the sons of God.”
Saturday night John Finch, a native of Pearl River, Louisiana, led the youth in praise and worship through his gift of music and song.
Sunday, Brent and Kristin Lape of Gluckstadt St. Joseph Parish shared how they were called to service. The couple met at Mississippi State University where they were both active in campus ministry. They fell in love and after college got married. The birth of their first child, Lily, totally changed the trajectory of this young couple’s lives as they came to understand Lily’s Down Syndrome. Together they began “Running Up for Downs” an annual race in metro-Jackson. They have used this journey as a platform to help spread awareness and acceptance for people with Down Syndrome within our community. They invited the young people to find something they are passionate about and use their particular gift. The youth were asked to share a service to the community that they found to be particularly meaningful.
John Finch rounded out the retreat with a talk on service to the world. He described his own journey of faith and how he was able to take ownership of his faith through Confirmation. His talk was reminiscent of a Mother Teresa quote, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” The young people were asked to consider the ways their actions create ripples around the world. They examined international aid organizations like Catholic Relief Service which provide for the marginalized and the poor around the world.
At the end of the weekend it was quite apparent that service is at the heart of the gospel. The youth were challenged to make service an integral part of their lives going beyond building a resume for college or getting confirmed. “The Simple Path…Silence is Prayer, Prayer is Faith, Faith is Love, Love is Service, The Fruit of Service is Peace.” – Mother Teresa

(Fran Lavelle is the director of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Jackson.)

Deanery Youth Day in Meridian

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MERIDIAN – On Saturday, March 3, Catholic Youth from Kosciusko, Philadelphia and Meridian enjoyed a fun-filled day that included volleyball, basketball and dodgeball at the St. Patrick Family Life Center in Meridian.Additionally the youth enjoyed a pizza lunch along with snacks and drinks throughout the day. DJ, Frank Polizzi, provided music and special effects during each of the games. Special thanks to Father Augustine Palimattam (Holy Cross) and the adults who chaperoned the event and made the day happen. (Photo by John Harwell)

St. Joe Alumna directs ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ at her Alma Mater

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By Leila deGruy
MADISON – St. Joseph Catholic School alumna Leslie Ann Harkins is leading the theater department’s production of Bye Bye Birdie, which she starred in as a student in 2004. The show opens Thursday, April 5, with performances at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday, April 7. We asked Harkins about her role as a teacher and director, and how the production has changed since her high school days.
Q: What made you want to teach theater at St. Joseph?
A: I had a lot of great memories and mentors growing up in Mississippi, especially in the theatre world. I could not think of a better way to give back to the place that gave me so much than to return to my alma mater and work with students who are as passionate about the arts as I am.
Q: What is Bye Bye Birdie about?
A: Bye Bye Birdie is a story that is based on the pop-star Conrad Birdie. His character is very much like Elvis Presley. He goes into the army, and the story shows how that decision impacts his manager, his manager’s girlfriend, his manager’s mother and this whole town of Sweet Apple, Ohio.
Q: What can you tell us about this year’s production of Bye Bye Birdie?
A: This is by far the largest production I have put together at St. Joe. There are 78 people involved including 14 student and professional musicians in our live orchestra, six backstage crew members, eight working on lighting and sound, and the rest make up our student cast. The majority of our cast and crew are students at the school. We are very fortunate to have talented performers, musicians and technical crew as part of our student body.
Q: How will this year’s production be different from 2004, when you played the role of Helen?
A: When I played the role of Helen while in high school at St. Joe, the show was performed in our school gym. The most significant difference between our 2004 show and this year’s show comes in the form of our Fine Arts facility that was built nine years ago. The facility offers a professional and state-of-the-art experience for both the actors and the audience. To see this production on the “big stage” versus the gym floor is a very exciting thing for me.
Q: Can you tell us about your students and what makes this year’s Bye Bye Birdie cast and crew so special?
A: The theatre experience at St. Joe is very special for a number of reasons. First, our cast and crew are comprised of students from seventh to 12th grade. It is one of the few opportunities that all students have to come together and represent the entire student body. The younger students not only get the opportunity to experience the entire audition, rehearsal and performance process, they also get to benefit from strong mentorship from the older students who also have spent years on the stage. This inclusive process is very special and somewhat unique in high school theater.
To purchase tickets for Bye Bye Birdie, visit www.stjoetheatre.booktix.com. For more information visit www.stjoebruins.com or call 601-898-4800.

(Leila deGruy is a junior at Madison St. Joseph School.)

New Testament prof sorts out plausible, implausible in new ‘Paul’ movie

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By Mark Pattison
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Don’t take everything you see in the new movie “Paul, Apostle of Christ” as, well, gospel. Even the filmmakers have said much of what is on screen is conjecture.
Compared to today’s information-saturated age, little is definitively known about St. Paul and St. Luke, the film’s two main characters. A bit more is known about the time of Roman Emperor Nero, under whose rule the movie is set.
Even the identity of those credited with writing more than half of the books of the New Testament is up for grabs, according to Dominican Sister Laurie Brink, an associate professor of New Testament studies at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
How much of Paul’s letters can be attributed to him “depends on who you ask,” Sister Brink told Catholic News Service in a March 7 telephone interview. “There are disputed ones and undisputed ones.”
In the undisputed category are Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians, Galatians, Philippians and Philemon. The others, she said, are “variously dated much later than we know Paul lived,” although they originated “from a later Pauline community.” Scholars can make that distinction, Sister Brink said, based on vocabulary, sentence structure and the topics that are addressed.
As for the Gospel according to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, both of which are attributed to St. Luke, “that’s a larger question,” she said. “Who was St. Luke? Tradition has the person named as Luke, and tradition suggests he was a companion of Paul, from a citation based on Colossians.” But beyond that, the trail grows murky.
“In order to understand the historical author of any of our texts, the only thing we have to go by is the texts themselves. What can we know about this person based on what they wrote?” said Sister Brink, adding that learning about a person based mainly on their writings is akin to “looking at it in a mirror.”
“The person who wrote Luke is very well-educated,” Sister Brink said. “He’s Greek, his diction is very good, his use of the language is very good. He improves on Mark’s Gospel, which he uses as his source. He seems to be familiar with the patron-client system.” Theophilus, who is mentioned in both Luke and Acts, was Luke’s patron.
“Paul, Apostle of Christ,” which is to be released in theaters nationwide March 23, has Luke visiting Paul in a prison in Rome. “That makes good cinematography, but since we don’t know the identity of Luke – we just know that tradition has named him that. We don’t see that (prison visit) in the text,” Sister Brink said.
Paul is jailed in the movie after having been accused of setting the blaze that destroyed a good chunk of Rome.
The fire in Rome, according to Tacitus, a Roman historian, was likely started by the minions of Nero, who had his eye set on a particular piece of property,” Sister Brink said. “But everybody already had all that property. The only way to get that was to burn the property, accuse the Christians, make them scapegoats, and acquire the property.”
Another fire-related element in the film is solid fact: Christians were burned alive to bring light to the dark city. “Yes, that is true!” Sister Brink told CNS. “They were crucified and they were set on fire. They were like lamplights on the side of the road. Now, this is according to Tacitus, and Tacitus didn’t like Nero.”
A small, beleaguered Christian community is shown hiding in an otherwise-deserted Roman compound in “Paul, Apostle of Christ.” One thing of which moviegoers can be sure, Sister Brink said, is that they didn’t live in the catacombs.
“That’s a long trope that the Christians were hiding in the catacombs,” she said. “None of that is true. Christians were buried in the catacombs and they often had worship there,” Sister Brink added, but they did not use it as a hideout from the Roman Empire.

Joanne Whalley as Priscilla, Jim Caviezel as Luke and John Lynch as Aquila are seen in the film “Paul, Apostle of Christ.” In an interview with Catholic News Service, Dominican Sister Laurie Brink, an associate professor of New Testament studies at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, sorts out the plausible and the implausible in the movie, to be released nationwide March 23. (CNS photo/Sony Pictures) See PAUL-BRINK March 9, 2018.

But by this point in history, though, one plot point in the film rings true: “The Our Father would have been known to this community,” according to Sister Brink.
Some scenes in the film mimic events elsewhere in the Bible.
Luke’s healing of the Roman prison warden’s daughter, while not miraculous, is reminiscent of Jesus’ healing of Roman centurion Jairus’ daughter. The warden and Paul, by this point a condemned prisoner, have an extended chat in the warden’s courtyard; by the end of Acts, Sister Brink said, “Paul is under house arrest. He is staying in some rental property, and there is a soldier guarding him.”
“They didn’t have prisons” as we know them today, she noted. Also, a band of younger, agitated Christians stages a raid on the prison to free Paul, but he refuses to leave; in the New Testament, an earthquake wrecks Paul’s jail, but he declined to escape.
Sister Brink, who had not seen the film at the time of the interview, said, “Some of this (drama) is probably coming from ‘The Acts of Paul and Thecla’ and ‘The Martyrdom of Paul.’ They are not canonical texts but they are great reads. They’re kind of like early Christian novels.”
Still, she gave the filmmakers credit. “Even if it’s not biblically or historically accurate, it gives people an opportunity to think about Paul, to know about Paul,” Sister Brink said. “For too long, Catholics have not paid any attention to Paul. Catholics have been Jesus-focused, and that’s good, but the apostle of Paul is a pretty significant figure in our faith history. So good on them for trying.”

(Follow Pattison on Twitter: @MeMarkPattison.)

Labor Unions are Prophets for Our Time

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Father Jeremy Tobin

Millennial reflections
By Father Jeremy Tobin
Pope Francis clearly is a pope for our time. He has been the voice of those with no voice, the advocate for those on the margins. From the very beginning of his papacy he has urged the church to “Go to the margins, to the outcast…” He urges clergy to immerse themselves in the struggles of their people saying “shepherds should smell like the sheep.” He has blasted clericalism as a new idolatry.
Recently he spoke to the Italian equivalent of the AFL-CIO. He refocused labor and those who advocate for workers in the frame of Pope John Paul II, seeing the social as well as the human dimensions of work, even creativity in doing any work. No job is just a job, it should be the expression of the worker. Further he sees the necessity of leisure. “Leisure is not laziness,” said the pontiff. It is a necessity to fill out the rest of the worker’s life.
He sees work as the product and expression of the worker, not merely tasks to be done for profit. The advent of robotics used to replace human workers only amplifies the problem of profit being the exclusive motive for work. One might surmise companies who choose robots over people have no social purpose other than amassing wealth for their shareholders and owners.
Pope Francis is a firm critic of capitalism. In some circles to criticize capitalism is to espouse Marxism and immorality. This is not the focus of Pope Francis’ criticism. The negative aspects of a Marxist-based economy is to further reduce people to things, not agents of their own destiny. Marxism and predatory capitalism both gouge workers.
In addressing the Italian labor unions he firmly states, “Labor unions are prophetic and innovative.” Unions are prophetic when they give voice “to those who have none, denounce those who would ‘sell the needy for a pair of sandals’ (Amos 2:6) unmask the powerful who would trample the rights of the most vulnerable of workers, defend the cause of the foreigner, the least of the discarded.”
Today labor unions, together with the Church, have been speaking up for immigrants, joined in their struggle for equality and inclusion The leadership of the AFL-CIO under Richard Trumka the labor movement recognized it was not immigrants stealing workers jobs, it was the exploitation of immigrants that drove down wages. It is the ongoing “race to the bottom” that has split groups who should be allies.
A powerful way to combat this is through solidarity. We can go back to the glory days of early 20th Centuries organizing with that hymn, “Solidarity Forever” and chants liker the “Mighty, mighty Union!! The truth is, the works are the union. More than the chief officers away in offices. They can direct, inspire and mobilize, but the union is on the ground. It is the workers, organized and holding management accountable.
Pope Francis’ concept of solidarity is expansive. Unions represent all workers not just their members. True solidarity is respect for the workers, the company’s respect for the larger community. Today these are pitted against each other solely for profit. Today we hear speakers denounce balancing budgets on the backs of the poor. These denunciations often fall on deaf ears.
Our teaching on labor, like so much other issues, is the focus on the human person. From this lens it is people, communities that come before profits. It is seeing workers with respect, not as human machines.
Pope Francis emphasis on the prophetic role of unions is inclusive, reaching outward. He says, “Prophets are sentinels, who watch from their lookout. The union, too, must keep vigil over the walls of the city of work, like a watchman who guards and protects those who are inside the city of labor, but also guarding and protecting those who are outside the walls.” He continues saying, ”Your vocation is also to protect those who do not have rights., those excluded from work who are also excluded from rights and democracy.”
This is why I often write that our Catholic teachings on labor and social justice are well kept secrets. They should not be. At a time when so many people are being attacked and exploited in so many ways we should be preaching and teaching social justice from the housetops.
(Father Jeremy Tobin, O.Praem, lives at the Priory of St. Moses the Black, Jackson.)

New Year offers chance to dedicate time to service

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Kneading Faith
By Fran Lavelle
I got a text from our great nephew Drew the other day inquiring, “How would I request Billy Graham as a saint?” He is 11 years old and a cradle Catholic. But growing up in Mississippi he has had his fair share of friends of all faith traditions. His simple question really stirred my thinking.
I have avowed for many years that young people are telling us their truth. We saw it recently with the school walk out. The question is as adults, catechists, teachers, pastors and parents are we able to hear them? In Matthew 19:14 Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” I think of the young people in my life. I think about how they are yearning for authenticity, meaning and purpose.
All generations are a product of the family and the culture. As catechists and adults responsible for the faith formation of our young people, we are called to engage and inspire our youth to live the Gospel. Hopefully they are being shaped and formed to reflect the love of God on Earth. It baffles me that adults make generalizations about an entire generation without reflecting on their own youth. Sometimes we speak of young people like they were delivered by an alien spaceship and we don’t quite know what to make of them. Or they attribute these generalizations to the “culture.” Guess what folks, we formed these young people and we are part of the culture.
That takes me back to our great nephew Drew. Drew is all boy. He goes 100-miles an hour and stops for air, food and sleep only when necessary. He loves visiting his grandparents in the country. He loves fishing, playing sports and hanging out with his family. But he is also very deeply introspective, funny, thoughtful, and smart.
A few years ago, before he made his First Communion, we were at the family pool and I asked him to tell his Opa what the epiclesis is. Without skipping a beat, he placed his hands in the proper posture and said, “It’s when the priest calls down the Holy Spirit to change the bread and wine into Jesus.” He was very matter of fact about it. But, in his casual reply you could tell that he not only knew this intellectually, he perceived with the eyes and heart of faith.
To his parents’ credit all three children are bright, kind, caring and faith filled young people. It is obvious that somewhere in their day they find time to think about important questions, have thoughtful conversations and are present to one another. After all, he was inquiring if I knew how one goes about getting Billy Graham canonized. This kind of thoughtfulness comes from a place where questions and inquiry are encouraged. He has not grown up in a place where everyone he meets is Catholic, far from it. And, because of that, it is entirely possible for him to see people of other faith traditions as good, holy, and virtuous examples of faith.
In my response to Drew I told him that the formal process of canonization took quite a long time and is a very detailed process. While a non-Catholic has not been formally recognized as a saint it is far from me to say it could never happen. What is most telling about his inquiry is that Drew did not question if a Southern Baptist preacher could be a saint, he wanted to know how we could go about making it happen. I assured him that the Church recognizes countless people who are uncanonized saints, those faithful Christians who have entered into the presence of God for all eternity. We see this clearly referred to in Revelation 7:9, as the “great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.” We have reason to hope that we know a lot of souls in the canon of saints. I think of my Dad and my grandparents as saints. Billy Graham too.
Drew, as well as his siblings and parents, remain in my prayers of thanksgiving. They remind me that we are not lost as long as we keep seeking God in all things, asking good questions, and looking for truth with the eyes of faith and love. “Dear young people, please, don’t be observers of life, but get involved. Jesus did not remain an observer, but he immersed himself. Don’t be observers, but immerse yourself in the reality of life, as Jesus did.” — Pope Francis, July 27, 2013 Youth Prayer Vigil at Rio. Keep asking good questions, Drew. It’s one of the best ways to stay immersed in the reality of life.

(Fran Lavelle is the director of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Jackson.)

Sr. Thea researcher spreads her story

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By Maureen Smith
JACKSON – Redemptorist Father Maurice Nutt barely had time to get settled in his new office in the chancery before he was called upon to share his knowledge of Sister Thea Bowman, FSPA. Sister Thea is one of five women being honored by the Connecting the Dots foundation at their annual Women of Courage and Strength banquet on Saturday, March 24. As part of the banquet, each honoree is invited to submit a video to tell their story. A local non-profit called Spark-O-Matic offered to produce the video about Sister Thea.
On Tuesday, March 13, three Spark-O-Matic students took time out of their spring break to interview Father Maurice at Medgar Evers Library in Jackson. The group is made up of local college and high school students who want to learn more about digital literacy. They have a robotics team and have learned about audio and video production, have gotten lessons in photo editing and have already produced a documentary that will be featured at the Crossroads film festival.
The students had never heard of Sister Thea before they started on this project. They watched a video of her addressing the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and read stories about her life. Using photos of Sister Thea, quotes from her writings and Father Maurice’s interview, they plan to produce a video to introduce her to the banquet audience and for use on the diocesan website.
One student, Angel Walton said she was inspired when she watched Sister Thea addressing the bishops. Sr. Thea was in the last stages of her cancer and used a wheelchair by that time, but still spoke with energy and challenged the bishops to stand, link arms and sing “We Shall Overcome.”
Father Maurice is investigating Sister Thea’s life in hopes that the diocese can open a cause for her canonization. He lives in New Orleans, but will travel between his home and the chancery as well as the motherhouse for the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Wisconsin to complete his research.

Diocesan archives offer rich resource for researcher studying school integration

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Bishop Oliver Gerow

By Maureen Smith
JACKSON – Catholic Extension is usually lending a helping hand to dioceses, parishes and schools, but this year, the Diocese of Jackson was able to offer its own help to the organization. Timothy Muldoon, director of mission education for Extension, spent a couple days in Mississippi doing research in the diocesan archives for a project on the work of the Church in the Civil Rights Movement.
He is working on a written treatment of “the process that led to the desegregation of Catholic Schools.” His project focuses on the late 1950s through 1964. He came to Mississippi for two reasons, its preeminent place in the history of the Civil Rights Movement and the rich detail offered in the archives here. “My interest is in the fact that the Diocese of then Natchez-Jackson was a place where we had the high-profile murders of Emmett Till and Medgar Evers that cast a spotlight on the state and the diocese,” said Muldoon.
During that time, Bishop Oliver Gerow shepherded the diocese. Bishop Gerow was a photographer and historian as well as being the leader of the local church — keeping a daily diary of his activities and thoughts and creating an index of diocesan history from the founding of the diocese up to his episcopacy. “He had, clearly, a keen sense of preserving history. This is not somebody who did it in a catch-as-catch can way. He was very meticulous,” said Muldoon.
Bishop Gerow worked to unite other faith leaders at the time to soothe racial tensions and bring about reform without violence. Archivist Mary Woodward said his files are some of the most popular among researchers. “We have had several people come and do this topic so we know where everything is so it’s easy. Bishop Gerow has an index that goes all the way up through his time, 1966. His diary has an almost daily account of what went on and in there is a lot of history you don’t get in the history books such as the early efforts of the Episcopal, Methodist and Catholic bishops trying to do something in Jackson to address the racial divide. Meeting with black pastors in different places – having lunch at the Walthall and how Rabbi (Perry) Nussbaum got involved. A lot of that is the flavor behind the history that we have because of Bishop Gerow,” said Woodward.
Researchers are welcome in the archives, but they need to submit a written request to Woodward and they should be working on a specific project, usually an academic one. Genealogists are not able to access these archives, although there is someone families can pay to look up sacramental records. Many of the documents here are originals and not for public viewing. Woodward usually pulls exactly what a particular researcher will need before they arrive to save time and preserve the precious documents.
Bishop Gerow carefully planned and executed school integration in Catholic schools throughout the state. “Bishop Gerow had this sense that you can’t just have a mandate to integrate,” explained Muldoon. “He was concerned with the safety of black congregants. He didn’t want to issue a fiat. He said ‘we have to move carefully,’” Muldoon added. While he was pastoral, Bishop Gerow did sometimes have to draw the line. “We had several incidents of parishioners not being as friendly as they should be and (the archives show) how the bishop reacted to them in terms of telling them ‘this is how it is and if you are going to make people feel unwelcome you can’t receive communion until you go to confession to me,’” said Woodward.
This research is “the perfect focal point for telling the broader story of what was happening in the Catholic Church at that time and what was happening in the nation at that time,” said Muldoon. He explained that examining the phenomenon of segregated parishes can be politically charged so putting it in context is important. There is a difference, he explained, between a segregated parish and a segregating parish. “Individual parishes provided a point of integration into the larger church for many immigrant communities,” he said. Muldoon spoke to Mississippi Catholic from an office in Chicago just a few blocks from four or five different parishes with separate ethnic communities attached to them.
“Initially, parishes provided an integrating community of like-minded people. Black parishes provided cover, for shelter,” he said. He also pointed out that cultural differences do not make parishes less Catholic. “There is a critical difference between homogeneity and Catholicity. It is not about making everyone the same or making them do the same thing,” he said.
Muldoon hopes to complete his writing and find the right spot to publish it in the next few weeks. Watch Mississippi Catholic for publication details.
While he was in the state, he took the opportunity to visit several parishes supported by Extension, including Camden Sacred Heart, Newton St. Anne and a stop at Sister Thea Bowman’s home in Canton. He posted a reflection called “11’o clock on Sunday Morning” about the vibrant community in Camden on the Catholic Extension Website here