Category Archives: World News

Missioners reflect as Glenmary era ends

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An integrated summer camp was held outside Amory in 1974 for almost 40 at-risk children. The camp was an outgrowth of the ecumenical Three Rivers Regional Ministry (TRRM) launched by Glenmary in Mississippi in 1972. TRRM was an effort to share resources, personnel, talents, ideas and finances across parish, county and denominational borders to meet local needs. (Photo courtesy of Glenmary Challenge)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Editor’s note: This article was reprinted from the Summer 2014 issue of Glenmary Challenge, the magazine of Glenmary Home Missioners, www.glenmary.org.)
When Glenmary missioners first arrived in West Point and New Albany, Miss, in 1965 to establish mission communities, 10 years had passed since the state’s school districts were ordered by the Supreme Court to desegregate, and the Voting Rights Act was about to be signed into law.
During that tumultuous time Fathers Joe Dean and Bob Rademacher (respective pastors of the new missions) worked to call together integrated faith communities in the heart of the national civil rights movement.
In the almost 50 years since those first missioners moved to Mississippi, Glenmary has established and/or staffed 12 missions in the state. Many of those missions were the first integrated congregations in their counties.
Missioners tried to meet the needs of all those living in the region, regardless of background, race or denomination.
In 1974 a summer camp was held for local youth near the Glenmary mission in Amory. The camp was one of the first in the state to be fully integrated.
Eventually, it evolved into Camp Glenmary, which continues to welcome campers every June. The two week of Camp Friendship are open to low-income kids in northeastern Mississippi, followed by two weeks of Catholic Camp, a time when Catholic young people from that same area gather as a group for the unique experience of not being in the minority.
Glenmary’s time in Mississippi came to an end on June 29, when the last three Glenmary missions were returned to the Diocese of Jackson: Houston Immaculate Heart of Mary, Bruce St. Luke the Evangelist and Pontotoc St. Christopher.
“As we leave the Diocese of Jackson, we rejoice that today, the Church is present in counties where our missioners have established Catholic communities, and numerous outreach programs are now in place,” says Father Chet Artysiewicz, president of Glenmary.
But, he adds, there is sadness in leaving a region that has been such an important part of Glenmary’s history as a missionary society.
The decision to move on to areas of mission need in other states is based on Glenmary’s strategic plan to consolidate mission efforts geographically, which enables missioners and lay coworkers to better collaborate and support each other.
Glenmary’s mission efforts in Mississippi were often groundbreaking in ways other than in the area of race relations.
In the early 1990s, lay professional coworkers were hired and trained by Glenmary to start Catholic communities in several states. In all, four missions were called together and established in Mississippi by lay leaders in Eupora, Ackerman, Ripley and Bruce.
Numerous outreach efforts such as sheltered workshops, day care centers and food pantries were begun by missioners and coworkers in Mississippi, with many still in existence. And Glenmary missioners and coworkers have been on the front lines in welcoming the influx of immigrants who have arrived in the state to find employment.
“As we leave Mississippi, I am heartened to see so many of our missions thriving and the members of those missions continuing on with Glenmary’s missionary charism of nurturing the faith and reaching out to those most in need,” said Father Atrysiewicz.

Rice Bowl donations at work in diocese

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By Maureen Smith
Many families made the CRS Rice Bowl a part of their Lenten sacrifice, but may have forgotten to actually turn in their collections. Catholic Relief Services says it’s not too late. Rice Bowl money can be submitted until August 31. Since the beginning of CRS Rice Bowl in 1975, donations have been designated to support both local and global hunger and poverty alleviation efforts. Seventy-five percent of the revenue comes to CRS to support development projects overseas while 25 percent remains in dioceses in the U.S. to support local hunger and poverty alleviation efforts. In the Diocese of Jackson, the money is distributed out of the Catholic Charities office in Vardaman. Jettie Pettit, who runs that office, shared with Mississippi Catholic the story of one family who benefitted from the generosity of its neighbors.
On May 6, Lorenzo Villanueva came to my office asking for help to pay his electric bill. Clients must fill out a form telling us what emergency left them in need of aid. When I read his response, I asked if he would tell me his story. On February 14, he was taking his wife out to eat for Valentine’s day and to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary.

They were also celebrating something else: His wife had had a miscarriage the second year of their marriage and was told that she would not be able to have a child because of damage to her womb. He said they had prayed for a miracle and God had blessed them by letting his wife become pregnant. On the night of their celebration, Selena was almost eight months pregnant and everything was looking good. As Villanueva pulled out from a stop sign, a speeding car ran into them on the passenger side. He was thrown from the car and suffered cuts, bruises and a broken arm. He tried to get his wife out of the car, but had to wait for the ‘jaws of life.’ At the hospital, doctors told him that Selena had no brain activity and was clinically dead. At this point, both he and I were crying.
The doctor detected a fetal heartbeat, so Selena was put on life support until the fate of the unborn child could be known. On February 16, doctors delivered five-pound-three-ounce Sofia and placed her in her father’s arms. Then, Lorenzo held his wife’s hand as the machines were turned off and she died. Sofia had to stay in the hospital for three weeks due to breathing problems while Lorenzo buried her mother and tried to alternate his time between a few hours work and many hours at the hospital. Due to hospital bills and minimum work, he got behind on his bills. Thanks to Rice Bowl funding, we were able to get him caught up on his utility bills. Father and adorable daughter are learning to go on with their lives.
Any family that wishes to make a donation to this year’s Rice Bowl collection can submit it to their parish or submit it directly to CRS and the agency will send the diocesan share to Catholic Charities. Find out more at www.crsricebowl.org.