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NATION
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Sister Simone Campbell, a longtime advocate for economic justice and health care policy, and late labor leader Richard Trumka received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, in a White House ceremony. President Joe Biden presented the award to 15 others as well July 7. “For so many people and for the nation, Sister Simone Campbell is a gift from God. For the past 50 years she has embodied the belief in our church that faith without works is dead,” Biden said of the woman religious whose career has focused on advocating for poor and voiceless people. Sister Campbell, a California native and a member of the Sisters of Social Service, stepped down as executive director of Network, a Catholic social justice lobbying organization, in March 2021 after serving for 17 years. Biden particularly noted her role in passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, a complex law which expanded access to health care for millions of people. He also cited a series of annual “Nuns on the Bus” nationwide tours that Sister Campbell led touting health care as a right and that federal budgets were moral documents that must reflect the priorities of serving poor and marginalized people.
“Compassionate and brave, humble and strong, today Sister Simone remains a beacon of light. She’s the embodiment of a covenant of trust, hope and progress of a nation,” Biden said. Trumka was president of the AFL-CIO from 2009 until his death in August 2021. The faith of Trumka, a Catholic born to a Polish father and an Italian mother, helped shape a lifelong career in the labor movement.

CHICAGO (CNS) – Saying he watched “in horror” news reports in the aftermath of a mass shooting during a suburban Fourth of July parade, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago offered prayers for the victims. Authorities said seven people died – five on the parade route and two later in the hospital – and 30 others were injured when a gunman opened fired on people lining the parade route. “What should have been a peaceful celebration of our nation’s founding ended in unspeakable tragedy,” Cardinal Cupich said in a

A tricycle is seen near the scene of a mass shooting in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park, Ill., July 4, 2022. (CNS photo/Max Herman, Reuters)

statement released hours after the tragedy by the archdiocese of Chicago. Pointing to the victims, who authorities said ranged in age from 8 to 85, Cardinal Cupich said, “Weapons designed to rapidly destroy human bodies have no place in civil society.” Law enforcement authorities charged Robert E. Crimo III, 21, of suburban Chicago with seven counts of murder after the shooting in Highland Park in Chicago’s affluent North Shore. Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said the suspect would receive a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole if convicted of the charges. He also said other charges were pending. The man was apprehended without incident on a busy highway in a nearby suburb after briefly fleeing officers. Highland Park police said witnesses reported seeing a man with a long gun indiscriminately firing dozens of rounds from a rooftop at parade spectators, sending marchers and viewers scurrying for cover.

WASHINGTON (CNS) – In a 6-3 vote June 27, the Supreme Court ruled that a former high school football coach had the right to pray on the football field after games because his prayers were private speech and did not represent the public school’s endorsement of religion. “The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike,” said the court’s majority opinion, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch. Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented. The court’s majority opinion also emphasized that “respect for religious expressions is indispensable to life in a free and diverse Republic – whether those expressions take place in a sanctuary or on a field.” It said the case focused on a government entity seeking to “punish an individual for engaging in a brief, quiet, personal religious observance doubly protected by the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment” and that the “Constitution neither mandates nor tolerates that kind of discrimination.” Joseph Kennedy, former assistant coach at Bremerton High School, outside of Seattle, said his postgame prayers on the field cost him his job. The coach had been told by school district officials to stop these prayers on the 50-yard line, and he refused. When his contract was not renewed, he sued the school for violating his First Amendment rights.

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis said the goals he has achieved in more than nine years as pope were simply the fruit of the ideas discussed by the College of Cardinals prior to his election. In an interview with Argentine news agency Telam published July 1, the pope said that objectives, such as the reform of the Roman Curia, were “neither my invention nor a dream I had after a night of indigestion. I gathered everything that we, the cardinals, had said at the pre-conclave meetings, the things we believed the new pope should do. Then, we spoke of the things that needed to be changed, the issues that needed to be tackled,” he said. “I carried out the things that were asked back then. I do not think there was anything original of mine. I set in motion what we all had requested,” he added. The apostolic constitution reforming the Roman Curia, titled “Praedicate Evangelium” (“Preach the Gospel”) went into effect June 5. In the document, the pope said the purpose of the constitution was to “better harmonize the present exercise of the Curia’s service with the path of evangelization that the church, especially in this season, is living.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Before celebrating the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis is asking Catholics around the world to dedicate time in 2023 to studying the documents of the Second Vatican Council. Presenting the official logo for the Holy Year June 28, Archbishop Rino Fisichella also announced the pope’s plan for helping Catholics prepare for the celebration: focusing on the four constitutions issued by Vatican II in 2023; and focusing on prayer in 2024. The four Vatican II constitutions are: Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (“Sacrosanctum Concilium”); Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (“Lumen Gentium”); Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (“Dei Verbum”); and Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (“Gaudium et Spes”). Archbishop Fisichella, whom the pope appointed to coordinate planning the Holy Year, said, “A series of user-friendly resources, written in appealing language, are being produced to arouse curiosity in those who have no memory” of the council, which was held 1962-65. Details about the 2024 year of prayer and spiritual preparation for the jubilee are still being worked out, the archbishop said. The Vatican already had announced that Pope Francis chose “Pilgrims of Hope” as the theme for the Holy Year.

WORLD
HONG KONG (CNS) – The Chinese Communist Party is seeking to expand its apparatus to monitor and curb religious activities in cyberspace through training and deploying hundreds of “auditors” across the country, triggering concerns from rights groups. Under the guidance of the Communist Party, the Ethnic and Religious Commission of Guangdong Province in southern China held a test for the first group of auditors for the state-run Internet Religious Information Services in early June, the China Christian Daily reported. The Internet Religious Information Services agency was formed in March after China’s State Administration for Religious Affairs announced the “Administrative Measures for Internet Religious Information Services” late last year. The measures have been formulated by several state agencies in line with existing legislation in China such as the “Cybersecurity Law of the People’s Republic of China,” “Administrative Measures for Internet Information Services,” and the revised “Regulations on Religious Affairs.”

Even with successes, charter seen as a document
that must adapt over time

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By Dennis Sadowski
WASHINGTON (CNS) – When Mike Hoffman decided to contact Archdiocese of Chicago officials in 2006 about how he was sexually abused by a priest for four years while a teenage altar server, he wasn’t sure how his story would be received.

“I wrote one letter and got an immediate letter back and we set a date (to talk),” Hoffman, now 57, told Catholic News Service. “In telling my story, I was not met with confrontation or difficulty. Although I felt anxious, my anxiety was that they would question me and question my character.”

“I was met with compassion, decency and professionalism,” he said.
For that response, Hoffman credits the procedures set up by the archdiocese under the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”

This is the logo for a series of CNS stories on the 20th anniversary of the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.” (CNS logo)

The landmark document, adopted 20 years ago during a widely watched U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops assembly in Dallas, established minimum standards for dioceses and eparchies to follow in response to the clergy sexual abuse scandal that exploded in 2002.

“My experience was modeled after and by and through and within the charter,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman’s encounter with the archdiocese continues nearly 16 years after he revealed his story. He said that while he no longer undergoes therapy paid for by the archdiocese, he continues to receive support from its victim assistance ministry. He chairs the archdiocese’s Hope and Healing Committee, participates in special Masses for survivors, and works with parish-based “peace circles,” discussion groups open to anyone wanting to respond to abuse.

“I still need connection with our local church,” he said, “and they’re doing that, I can faithfully say.”
The archdiocese’s efforts to respond and educate about clerical sexual abuse have touched Hoffman’s family as well. As active members of their Chicago-area parish, he and his wife have undergone safe environment training. His now adult children received age-appropriate training throughout their time in Catholic schools.

The charter – and the accompanying norms approved by the Vatican that govern its provisions under canon law – has been mandated for use by dioceses and eparchies throughout the U.S. It encompasses 17 articles that prescribe specific actions in response to abuse allegations.

The document promotes healing and reconciliation with survivors abused as a minor; identifies procedures for responding to an abuse allegation; sets standards for ministerial behavior and appropriate boundaries; mandates transparency in communicating with the public; requires the permanent removal from ministry of any priest or deacon when an abuse allegation has been substantiated; and establishes of safe environment programs. The charter also launched the bishops’ Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People to coordinate the response to clerical sexual abuse.

In addition, the bishops established the Secretariat for Child and Youth Protection and arranged for an annual audit to be conducted to measure diocesan and eparchial compliance with the charter.
Journalist Jason Berry, whose investigative work into clerical abuse in Louisiana began in 1985 and continued for more than two decades, described the charter as an important step for the church.

He credited those bishops who have “been sensitized to the plight of survivors” and took extraordinary action to meet “with people they would have not met with before” after the scandal widened.
Despite such positive outcomes, Berry noted that the charter failed to cover bishops, who under canon law come under the purview of the pope when it comes to disciplinary measures for wrongdoing.

It took Pope Francis’ 2019 “motu proprio” “Vos Estis Lux Mundi” – which established procedures for reporting allegations of sexual abuse and for holding accountable bishops, eparchs and religious superiors who protect abusers – to prompt steps toward broader accountability on sexual abuse.

In March 2020, the Catholic Bishops Abuse Reporting Service began. It allows for confidential sexual misconduct allegations against U.S. bishops and eparchs to be made through an online portal or via a toll-free telephone number.

The experience gained under the charter over the past two decades has allowed church leaders to better respond to abuse and the needs of survivors, said Deacon Bernie Nojadera, executive director of the USCCB secretariat.

The church has moved forward in collaborating more closely with survivors and their families and has integrated the expertise of “competent laypeople” in its response to sexual abuse, he said.

Deacon Nojadera described how under the charter, church ministers and employees have been empowered with skills and resources. “If there is an allegation that comes forward,” he told CNS, “it is the ongoing, consistent and competent training that will allow us a church to respond in a manner that is courageous, compassionate and trauma-informed.”

In the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the charter’s provisions are seen as “minimal requirements” for any church entity to follow, said Susan Mulheron, chancellor of canonical affairs.
“We’ve really gone beyond the charter,” Mulheron said, explaining that the archdiocesan review board also hears allegations of clergy misconduct beyond sexual abuse. “There’s a lot of benefits that we’ve found to that practice.”

She added, “Our review board, they’re fantastic. They’re an essential tool for us in the archdiocese. They bring that diverse expertise. And it also helps us keep honest and accountable.”

Following the Dallas meeting, the bishops also introduced the lay-led National Review Board, which collaborates with them in their response to abuse. It continues to provide updates to the bishops on progress in addressing abuse and recommendations for charter improvements.

Francesco Cesareo, who is retiring June 30 as president of Assumption University in Worcester, Massachusetts, chaired the National Review Board from 2013 to 2020. His tenure was the longest of the eight laypeople who have held the post throughout its 20-year history.

He helped craft the most recent update of the charter in 2018, a process that took five years to complete because of a lengthy legal and canonical review.

The changes tightened requirements for all individuals working with children while clarifying language in several articles.

Cesareo credited the charter for setting standards for dioceses in their response to abuse allegations. NRB members, he said, wanted to partner with the bishops to ensure that the response to allegations was effective and consistent.

For all the good accomplished under the charter, the NRB continued to urge that language be made more prescriptive and less ambiguous in some areas, Cesareo said. The concern focused on how bishops could interpret some sections of the charter differently and have their dioceses still be found in compliance with it.

Cesareo pointed to the need for diocesan review boards to investigate all allegations rather than just those referred by a bishop and that such boards be required to meet regularly rather than only when a bishop forwarded an allegation. The NRB also wanted to introduce specific language pertaining to boundary violations and clarity on safe environment training, he said.

“The NRB was pushing the idea that the charter was a living document and just like a living document it needs to evolve based on the experience of the church and based on what the bishops were confronting because otherwise the charter was not going to address new realities,” Cesareo told CNS.

Another update of the charter has begun. The bishops’ voted during their fall general assembly in November to begin the process this year rather than wait until 2025.

Bishop James V. Johnston Jr. of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, chairman of the Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, told the assembly that several factors necessitated the new timeline.

They include changes in the Code of Canon Law regarding penal sanctions in the church that took effect in December; Pope Francis’ “motu proprio”; and the case of former cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

Discussions began in May, Deacon Nojadera said.

Mulheron, the St. Paul and Minneapolis archdiocesan official, said that in talking with other diocesan chancellors and bishops, she has found they are taking the charter’s provisions seriously, are committed to compliance during annual audits and want to do what’s best for abuse survivors.

She said the check-the-box mentality seems to arise from frustrations in the audit process because of imprecise language in the charter, a point to which Cesareo, the past NRB chairman, agreed.

“It’s not fair to say dioceses are simply checking the box in terms of a commitment to a safe environment for children. I can’t conceive of a diocese that doesn’t believe in that and doesn’t take it seriously,” Mulheron said.

She called for the charter to “raise the bar” on how dioceses commit to supporting and engaging their review boards, based on her experience in St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Hoffman, the abuse survivor from Chicago, invited Catholics – leaders and people in the pews alike – to review the charter and examine what it means to the life of the church.

“Major anniversaries are an important time to retell a story and to revisit and renew the commitment,” Hoffman said.

“We literally do evolve as people and we do evolve as church. So I’d like our priests and all other staff and all of us to evolve together. … Twenty years later, we’re not the same people we were when this thing (the charter) was published,” he continued.

“To keep evolving is where we should focus.”

New days of ordinary time

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ON ORDINARY TIMES
By Lucia A. Silecchia

June 24, 2022. In the life of a nation – as in the life of each person – days come to face past failings and take steps to correct them. That always begins with an honest admission of prior error.

When the Supreme Court did just this in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, my first reaction was not, and could not be, unfettered joy. Of necessity, reversal of Roe v. Wade, brings to mind the over sixty million unique, irreplaceable lives lost in the United States alone since Roe was decided nearly half a century ago. Moreover, contrary to furious public discourse, Dobbs does not end abortion in America. Rather, it returns the question to individual states. It is incongruous to me that whether someone’s very life is legally protected is now a function of where his or her mother happens to be. When abortion supporters proclaim that fundamental rights should not depend on the state in which someone is located, I agree with them entirely – except, of course, that we differ on which fundamental right and whose fundamental right is at issue.

Lucia A. Silecchia

I hope for the day, not yet here, when the law of our land offers a shield to protect the lives of those in the wombs of their mothers.
Yet, I still found myself grateful on June 24. Although Dobbs does not provide a shield to protect innocent human life, after 49 years the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution can no longer be used as a sword to strike efforts to defend that life. For that, I am grateful.
I am grateful as a lawyer pained to see the enormous power of law used to deny the humanity of my youngest sisters and brothers.
I am grateful as a woman who knows well that the adult that I am has grown entirely uninterrupted from the vulnerable single cell I once was.

I am grateful as an American who cheers any step – large or small – that sees the law of the republic that I love become more protective of those least able to defend themselves.

I am also grateful for the fortuitous date, June 24, on which we will remember this landmark. In important matters, I believe there are no coincidences. There is something about June 24 that speaks to the two ways in which we might best shape the post-Roe world with which we are now entrusted.

Due to a quirk in the 2022 liturgical calendar, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus fell on June 24. The heart was made for love. As I watch the explosive reaction to Dobbs, see the crude, vulgar signs carried through city streets and sense the deep fear and profound anger that rages, I am reminded by this feast day that the first response to the times in which we find ourselves must be radical love.

This love, in a post-Dobbs world, should be tangible. This is the time for renewing material, emotional and spiritual help to mothers in need; lending a hand to those caring for infants; supporting mothers in their workplaces, schools, universities and homes; adopting children with open arms and giving hearts; consoling mothers who grieve in the aftermath of abortions; reminding men of their obligations to their children and the women who carry them; caring for those in the midst of difficult pregnancies; comforting those facing frightening pre-natal diagnoses; and engaging abortion advocates with the peaceful confidence that comes only from a wellspring of deep-seated love.

The pro-life advocates I greatly admire pursue the defense of life with great, gracious love. This love – which I have seen in action – belies angry accusations that those who are pro-life care only for children before they are delivered into the world. This love has deep roots planted not in the shallow soil of politics but the deep soil of loving hearts.

The days and years ahead will need this great response of love. We now have a less fettered opportunity and sacred responsibility to find loving ways to welcome new life, cherish that life through all its stages, and support women who carry that life within them – often in difficult, lonely situations that demand great self-sacrifice.

Usually, however, June 24 is the Solemnity of the Nativity of John the Baptist. So, it will be in the years ahead when we mark the Dobbs anniversary. This suggests the second crucial part of a response to Dobbs.

John the Baptist was a prophet, proclaiming both the need to turn away from wrong and the promise of something greater to come. He died for his courageous witness but was undeterred. As battles for life itself are waged now in statehouses across the land, at medical facilities, and across dining room tables, we need prophets who continue to speak with conviction about the dignity of human life at all stages and in every condition. We need prophets who confront attacks on life wherever they are found and have the courage to defend it.

We need prophets who use their gifts to build a culture of life, advocate for just laws, and prevent innocent life from being discarded in a “throwaway culture.”

We need prophets who challenge us to reform our adoption and foster care systems, improve pre- and post-natal physical and mental health care for mothers and their children, and encourage all that can be done to improve the safety of pregnancy and delivery. We need prophets who demand that women be treated with equal dignity and that those who violate or assault them be brought to justice.

We need prophets who speak about the sacredness of sex, the obligations of men, and the dignity of those born with disabilities. We need prophets who remind us of all that a woman with a child can do and can be. We need prophets who proclaim the promise of something better than the violence of abortion.

Dobbs is but one step forward. It was, undeniably, an important one, but a far from final one. A better future now lies in the hands of all who have the strength to be loving prophets in these new days of ordinary times.

Lucia A. Silecchia is a Professor of Law at the Catholic University of America. “On Ordinary Times” is a biweekly column reflecting on the ways to find the sacred in the simple. Email her at silecchia@cua.edu.

Catching God at the ballfield

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FAITH AT HOME
By Laura Kelly Fanucci (CNS)
As a mother of five boys, I have spent countless nights at baseball fields, but never have I glimpsed God in the dugout until tonight.

Can I confess that I was bored by my own son’s game – bored only because his team was winning and he’d finished pitching, so my attention wandered for a moment, long enough to catch a shout I’d never heard from the sidelines on the next field.

“I love you! I’m so proud of you! You’re doing it!”

What shocked me was that such enthusiasm came not from a fellow parent in the bleachers, but a coach hanging on the backstop.

Laura Kelly Fanucci writes the “Faith at Home” column for Catholic News Service. (CNS photo/courtesy Laura Kelly Fanucci)

“I love you!” he called again through the chain-link fence, this time to another player stepping up to the plate. “I see you! I’m here for you!”
The dad sitting next to me heard it too. He turned around, startled by the strangeness. Youth sports is now the thorny terrain of adult tantrums and parental outbursts – not often pure outpourings of love or grace.

But grace it was, ball cap slung backward, sunglasses shading the setting sun, thick arms hanging on the backstop, enthusiasm pouring on every 8-year-old like it was Game 7 of the World Series.

Cynic that I am regarding youth sports, I figured the first inning cheers would fade from heat and exhaustion (if not defeat) as the game went on. Instead surged the opposite.

In inning two, the coach hollered to a kid who got tagged out at second, “That was hard! But I’m proud of you. You did a hard thing!”

In inning three, he confirmed an ump’s tough call and shouted to his team’s opponent on first base, “That was a great hit! Way to go.”

In inning four, he lined up his players by batting order on the bench and ran down the row, high-fiving each one, then reeled around and yelled, “No, that’s not done; I’m coming back!” and ran right back down the line of stretched-out hands, every kid erupting in laughter.

“Now you need to be there for each other,” he cheered. “Be the team we need to be!”

Here’s the best part: I couldn’t tell which player was his child. It must have been one of them; a father’s love had surely brought him there; this truth was clear as the bright blue sky on that warm summer night.
But his child could have been any player on the team – or all of them at once, so wide and embracing was his enthusiasm.

Often we picture God like an umpire: crouching down whenever we step up to the plate, waiting to call strikes and outs, watching for the least infraction. But ours is a God of justice and mercy. Not simply the judge with the rulebook and the last word, but also love incarnate, calling each of us by name, rejoicing in all we can be.

The word “enthusiasm” means to be inhabited by God, the delightful indwelling when divine love and joy spark to life within us, electric with possibility. I saw enthusiasm personified on the ballfield tonight, and it was contagious.

The dad next to me let out a low whistle of admiration. “Wish I’d had a coach like that when I was a kid.” The grandparents to my left nodded too. “We need more of that these days.”

“Christ plays in ten thousand places,” wrote the Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. He might never have meant the Little League dugout, but I caught a glimpse of God tonight on the sidelines and I will not soon forget such rare and unceasing joy.

(Fanucci is a writer, speaker and author of several books, including “Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting.” Her work can be found at laurakellyfanucci.com.)

“My Lord and my God” – A review of Untimely Christianity

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BOOK REVIEW
By James Tomek, Ph.D
“Untimely Christianity: Hearing the Bible in a Secular Age” by Michael Edwards. Fortress Press (Minneapolis, 2022) 174 pp. $28.00.

“My Lord and my God.”

I was taught to say these words at my First Holy Communion Mass at the Consecration. When the priest raised the Host consecrating it as the Body of Christ, we were to respond silently “My Lord and My God”– the words of our doubting Thomas when Jesus revealed to him the truth of his Resurrection. Biblical scholar and poet Sir Michael Edwards, in Untimely Christianity, translated by John Dunaway, professor of Comparative Literature, praises Thomas’s response as the greatest expression of Faith in Jesus Christ as God in Scripture. (11)

James Tomek, Ph.D

Let’s explore this Faith, hopefully giving some insight in how to read the Bible with Jesus as our guide. Father Kent Bowlds, in Cleveland, is starting a Wednesday scripture study (call (662) 588-2956). I hope these thoughts will inspire us to join.

Knowing Faith for Us Doubting Thomases: An Ars Poetica for Bible Reading
It is “faith above all with all the rest being vague reassurance.” (40)

Translator John Dunaway, himself, a specialist in French literature, tells us that this is an ironic play on words from a Paul Verlaine poem Art poétique.
An ars poetica (Latin) is usually a “direction” on how to compose a work of art – a poem. Here, Verlaine prefers a music feel, letting the reader focus on an adventure of a major human experience. “All the rest is literature” – the curtain line – means all the rest, other than poetry, is just superficiality. Untimely Christianity is an ars poetica on reading and hearing the “Word of God,” redefining our Christianity by treating the Bible as the sacrament of Jesus. Rather than looking for dogma, we follow Jesus as a major poet or artist of God’s “Word” and how his lived incarnate life can be ours. For “knowing” Jesus, the verb connaître may fit better. Savoir is about knowing facts (I know that …). Connaître is more an “acquainted with” or “feel” type of knowledge. Edwards puts “faith” into a connaître type of knowing – more with a feel than a proof – more associated with Verlaine’s music rather than a theologian’s prose essay. A synonym of this “faith” is the grace that God gives us. (31) Doubt is helpful. It is the oxygen needed to get to the way of truth. (40) Jesus helps us doubting Thomases.

Poetry vs Prose – Knowing the Right Time

This is the book cover of “Untimely Christianity: Hearing the Bible in a Secular Age” by Michael Edwards. The book is reviewed by Jim Tomek. (Photo courtesy of Fortress Press)

Art, or poetry, is a tactic where we can bring Hope into our Faith by creating new spaces. (92-3) The new words that we bring into poetic representation can point us in the right social justice directions. With these “transfigural” visions, we must go back down the mountain to help. Dunaway translates Edwards’ title, Pour un christianisme intempestif: savoir entendre la Bible, to Untimely Christianity: Hearing the Bible in a Secular Age. “Untimely” here means that true Christianity is out of step with profit driven societies of Western Culture. Can “eternal,” meaning outside of time, be a substitute for “untimely”? We live in a prosaic linear time, getting things done Monday-Friday, but there is a more important poetic time where we stay on a vertical line pondering our existence. The Beatitudes sound vertical over the linear legalistic defined Commandments.

A major chapter on joy has Shakespeare’s Tempest as a background. A tempest is a major windstorm that gives the characters time to think. (41-5) Tempest has “temps” in it – meaning time and weather. All these words play on the title intempestif. A tempestuous, timely, untimely time to temper our thoughts while listening to the Bible, inspired by the Holy Spirit – the windstorm Trinity advocate.

Transfiguring Jesus as Poet and Teacher of His Prayer

With the Transfiguration, “eternity” changes Jesus into himself. (9-10) Dunaway notes that this is a citation of a Mallarmé poem “The Tomb of Edgar Poe,” where we hear that Poe’s works have stood up against blasphemies (accusations that his inspiration was from drugs). Time, “untimely” during his life, has helped us see his poetic transfiguration. Jesus, also, will be transfigured as my God. Jesus is a poet teaching us how to pray. Poetry requires a more sustained attention between poet and reader. (69) Between the poet and reader, we don’t really have one poet. There is another speaking that Edwards describes as the voice of the Holy Spirit. (69) A ghost writer? The “Our Father” transforms everything from the Fall of Humankind to the end of evil. (70) Word will become flesh. There is no “I” in Jesus’s teaching here. We need to be impersonal – to leave our egos, avoid temptation and help others. (73)

Jesus: Translator of God’s Transcendence

Since translation is such a major component of Scripture, we have to add it to the art of reading the Bible. The effective translator is also a writer, who, guided by love, helps us interpret meanings. Roland Barthes distinguishes between a readerly text, where one reads for information, and a writerly text (Bible included here) where the reader is active. (107) When reading or watching a thought-provoking-film, I always take notes and add my thoughts, which keeps me in the right disposition to interpret honestly.

Inspiration: Joy and the Transfiguration of Suffering
Edwards remarks that inspiration, theoretically and timewise, can only come from the early Hebrew and Greek texts. How then can we discern if a passage is from the Holy Spirit? “Delectation” is a word suggested by our “two translators.” In experiencing the Paschal Mystery of Death and Resurrection, Joy has to be mingled with sadness. We need to hear with our hearts. (157) Why do I prefer Good Friday to Easter? I should not, but it is while listening to Isaiah’s suffering servant and the Passion of Christ, followed by pondering the Cross that I enter in Communion with all my loved ones who have loved me when it was inconvenient to do so.

Faith above the law (without good works) is an idea of the Devil – not St. Paul. (25) We need to feel our way to God. (157) Doing the law does not necessarily mean knowing just the words. “You would not be seeking me if you had not found me.” (156) We are advised to hear with our hearts and to act as one cannot! (165) – acting as a responsible human for others and not self-seeking animals. God, through Pascal, puts these words in a convert’s mouth. “You would not be seeking me if you had not found me.” (156)

Joyful Rehearsal of our Mission at Mass
The word “joy” jumps across the Bible. It can mean charis that can mean both grace and thankfulness. There is a reflexive relation of Jesus and all us faithful as Jesus gives us grace to be good while we thank Jesus for this gift. (52) The Eucharist, or Mass, is the more definitive place where we carry on this thanking and then transfer our prayers to the real world. Michael Edwards and John Dunaway’s concept of God may be a little too “immanent” (near?) for me to relate to. However, the exposition of Jesus as the Sacrament of God allows me to be very comfortable and repentant at Mass. When asking for mercy and what to do, I pray these words, “My Lord and my God.”

(James Tomek is a retired language and literature professor at Delta State University who is currently a Lay Ecclesial Minister at Sacred Heart in Rosedale and also active in RCIA at Our Lady of Victories in Cleveland.)

IHM Greenwood statue returns home for feast day

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GREENWOOD – The Mary statue that was severly damaged in January by a vandal is now restored and is back in her proper place at Immaculate Heart of Mary parish.

FROM THE ARCHIVES
By Mary Woodward

JACKSON – Some of you may recall the sad story of Greenwood Immaculate Heart of Mary Church being vandalized back in late January. During that unfortunate incident, the 100-year-old statue of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was damaged severely.

I chronicled this in an article about the statue’s journey to Jackson with me to be delivered to local artist and restorer, Eyd Kazery. Eyd and I both were hopeful he could use his artistry to replace the shattered face of the plaster-based image, but we both had a tinge of doubt as to the success of this endeavor.

Parishioners had expressed that they would rather have this image back patched together than replace it with a new one. Making it clear to them this process would take a long time, I was surprised to receive a call from Eyd in late May asking me to come see his progress. When I arrived at his workshop in rural Hinds County, I could not believe my eyes.

Eyd had completely restored the face that had been in pieces on the floor of the church when she was found. He also had repaired the deep stress cracks across the midsection of the bodice. It was no less than a miracle.

JACKSON – Eyd Kazery attends to the statue he so carefully restored before she made the return trip to Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Greenwood with Chancellor Mary Woodward. (Photos courtesy of archives)

Eyd relayed to me how he had worked until late at night off and on for the past several months; and in the past two weeks he had worked every night. He had become entranced by his quest and stirred by the Blessed Mother.

Looking at his work, I could feel that same influence emanating from the image. As we stood there in the workshop in the summer heat, a heavenly warmth counteracted the sauna atmosphere in the workshop. We deliberated over the best way to return her to her Greenwood home. I contacted the parish mid-June and eventually we decided I would drive her back up to Greenwood to complete the circle of my journey with her.

On Friday, June 24, the Feast of the Sacred Heart, I headed back down to the workshop with most every blanket and quilt from my house, plus several stadium cushions representing two SEC Universities, two travel neck pillows and one cat bed offered by my 22-year-old Bella the Miracle Katrina Cat. The cat bed served as a lovely cushion for the Blessed Mother’s detachable hands.

Eyd and I carefully placed her on the pallet and secured her with the cushions of two college world series champions and a neck pillow beneath her restored head. After some parting photos with the restoring artist/miracle worker and his opus, the Blessed Mother and I set out for the Delta to complete our circle.
The drive to Greenwood is not a difficult one, in fact it is rather enjoyable. It is one of the entryways to the Delta, one of my favorite places on earth. The soul of America seems to resonate from the soil there.

As I pulled up to the back of IHM Church and opened the tailgate, out came Jerome Little and Sam Abraham, who had been inside preparing the pedestal for the statue’s return. Soon we were joined by Phil Ellis, who had happened to come by to check on church flower beds. They gently carried her up the ramp and into the church.

The pedestal built by Justin Nicholson wasn’t quite finished, so there were many photo opportunities beside the statue as she stood happily on the floor back in the sanctuary. It was a joy to see their exuberance in having the beloved image home.

After dropping her off, I headed a few blocks down to my oasis in the Delta and checked in for a quiet evening away from the thoughts of chancellor projects. At dinner, I paired a glass of Basil Hayden’s with a nice steak as a reward for finishing several weeks of intense coursework in records and information management, plus several other brain-taxing projects.

As I mulled over the day, it suddenly dawned on me that the beloved image had returned home just in time for her feast day the next morning. as the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary follows the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

(Mary Woodward is Chancellor and Archivist for the Diocese of Jackson.)

The will of God isn’t rocket science

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By Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
The parable of the Good Samaritan, last Sunday’s Gospel from the tenth chapter of St. Luke, arose from the question asked of Jesus, “who is my neighbor.” Pope Francis often refers to this biblical masterpiece (Luke 10:25-37) as the divine image of the church’s mission in this world.
Across many lands and nations, the church does serve as a field hospital encountering and caring for those who are battered, bruised and beaten and left half dead on the side of the road.
The corporal and spiritual works of mercy are testimony to the fidelity of the church’s ministries. Jesus concluded the parable with his own question. “Who was neighbor to the man who fell in with robbers?” The answer was obvious and echoes through time, “the one who treated him with compassion.” “Go and do likewise” are the final words of Jesus addressed to the doctor of the law and to us.
The ultimate Good Samaritan, of course, is Jesus Christ who demonstrated the heart of service when he washed his disciples feet at the Last Supper. He concluded this astounding action with the mandate, “If I then your Lord and teacher have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that as I have done, so you must do.” (John 13: 14-15).

Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz

Our Lord’s actions, teachings, and parables ultimately point to the Cross and flow from it, where in the shedding of his blood he seeks to lift up all people who are assaulted by sin and remain half dead, or half alive on the margins of life. He is the divine physician and the church is his living body in this world, led by the Holy Spirit, to give freely of the gift of the Lord’s love that we have received.” (Matthew 10:8)
Moses, the great teacher of the Old Law, spoke blatantly to the Israelites in the first scripture reading from last Sunday, a teaching in accord with the Good Samaritan narrative. “This command that I enjoin on you today is not too mysterious and remote for you … It’s not up in the sky that you should say who will go up to the sky to get it for us. Nor is it across the sea. No, it is something very near to you, already in your mouths and in your hearts; you only have to carry it out.” (Deuteronomy 30:10-14)
To apply a well-known and likely over-used modern rendering of Moses’ words, the will of God is not rocket science, fellas; rather it is patient, kind and persevering and secured in the Lord’s instructions “to love one another as I have loved you.” (John 13:34)
As an aside, at this time one million miles from earth, after a six-month journey, the James Webb telescope is spreading its wings to probe into the depths of the universe, past and present, in ways hitherto impossible to imagine. Women and men will take another giant step forward to unfold the mysteries of God’s creation, because this telescope, 25 years in the making, is 100 times more powerful than the Hubble telescope which ruled the roost since 1990, but only 340 miles above the earth’s surface.
Telescopes are absolutely essential to explore the mysteries of the physical universe, and it’s exciting to anticipate the pending discoveries. But they have no worth when exploring the mind and heart of Christ. As Moses said, we don’t have to go up into the sky to discover the will of God for our lives. We know it; we only have to carry it out.
On this weekend at our Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle, we will celebrate Christ the Servant with the ordination of six men to the permanent diaconate who will serve in various parishes throughout our diocese. Specifically, the ministry of the deacon is a labor of loving service at the table of the Word of God, at the Altar of Sacrifice, and at the table of charity or compassion in daily life. The heart and soul of the diaconate is the call to make visible the love of Christ.
We give thanks to God for the deacons, spouses and families who have sacrificed these past five years in preparation for this ministry that has its roots in the apostolic life of the early church. But let us keep in mind that we are all called to fulfill our baptismal promises, the call to holiness, and the Lord’s mandatum to serve with his mind and heart because the risen Lord is in our midst “as one who serves.” (Luke 22:27)
The ugliness of this world regularly gets the headlines, and well before and during our Lord’s time, there were robbers and muggers around, but then and now we give thanks for the Good Samaritans of our lives who are vigilant in their care for others. May the Lord strengthen our resolve to be a light in the darkness at every turn in the road.

La voluntad de Dios no es ciencia espacial

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Por Obispo Joseph R. Kopacz, D.D.
La parábola del Buen Samaritano, evangelio del domingo pasado del capítulo 10 de San Lucas, surge de la pregunta que se le hace a Jesús: “¿quién es mi prójimo?” El Papa Francisco a menudo se refiere a esta obra maestra bíblica (Lucas 10:25-37) como la imagen divina de la misión de la iglesia en este mundo.
En muchos países y naciones, la iglesia sirve como un hospital de campaña que encuentra y atiende a aquellos que son maltratados, magullados, golpeados y dejados medio muertos al lado del camino.
Las obras de misericordia corporales y espirituales son testimonio de la fidelidad de los ministerios de la iglesia. Jesús concluyó la parábola con su propia pregunta. “ ¿cuál de esos tres te parece que se hizo prójimo del hombre asaltado por los bandidos? La respuesta fue obvia y resuena a través del tiempo, “El que tuvo compasión de él”. “Pues ve y haz tú lo mismo.” son las últimas palabras de Jesús dirigidas al doctor de la ley y a nosotros.

Obispo Joseph R. Kopacz

El último Buen Samaritano, por supuesto, es Jesucristo, quien demostró el corazón de servicio cuando lavó los pies de sus discípulos en la Última Cena. Concluyó esta asombrosa acción con el mandato: “Pues si yo, el Maestro y Señor, les he lavado a ustedes los pies, también ustedes deben lavarse los pies unos a otros. 15 Yo les he dado un ejemplo, para que ustedes hagan lo mismo que yo les he hecho.” (Juan 13:14-15)
Las acciones, enseñanzas y parábolas de nuestro Señor apuntan en última instancia a la Cruz y fluyen de ella, donde en el derramamiento de su sangre busca levantar a todas las personas que son asaltadas por el pecado y quedan medio muertas, o medio vivas en los márgenes de la vida. Él es el médico divino y la iglesia es su cuerpo vivo en este mundo, guiada por el Espíritu Santo, para dar gratuitamente del don del amor del Señor que hemos recibido. “Sanen a los enfermos, resuciten a los muertos, limpien de su enfermedad a los leprosos y expulsen a los demonios. Ustedes recibieron gratis este poder; no cobren tampoco por emplearlo. “(Mateo 10:8)


Moisés, el gran maestro de la Ley Antigua, habló descaradamente a los israelitas en la primera lectura de las Escrituras del domingo pasado, enseñando de acuerdo con la narración del Buen Samaritano. “Este mandamiento que hoy les doy no es demasiado difícil para ustedes, ni está fuera de su alcance. No está en el cielo, para que se diga: ‘¿Quién puede subir al cielo por nosotros, para que nos lo traiga y nos lo dé a conocer, y lo pongamos en práctica?’ Tampoco está del otro lado del mar, para que se diga: ‘¿Quién cruzará el mar por nosotros, para que nos lo traiga y nos lo dé a conocer? Al contrario, el mandamiento está muy cerca de ustedes; está en sus labios y en su pensamiento, para que puedan cumplirlo. (Deuteronomio 30:10-14)


Para aplicar una interpretación moderna muy conocida y probablemente usada en exceso de las palabras de Moisés, la voluntad de Dios no es ciencia espacial, amigos; más bien es paciente, bondadosa y perseverante y segura en las instrucciones del Señor de “amarnos unos a otros como yo los he amado”. (Juan 13:34)


Aparte, en este momento a un millón de millas de la Tierra, después de un viaje de seis meses, el telescopio James Webb está extendiendo sus alas para sondear las profundidades del universo, pasado y presente, en formas hasta ahora imposibles de imaginar. Las mujeres y los hombres darán otro gran paso adelante para revelar los misterios de la creación de Dios, porque este telescopio, que lleva 25 años fabricándose, es 100 veces más potente que el telescopio Hubble, que gobernó desde 1990, pero a solo 340 millas sobre la superficie terrestre.


Los telescopios son absolutamente esenciales para explorar los misterios del universo físico y es emocionante anticipar los descubrimientos pendientes. Pero no valen nada cuando exploran la mente y el corazón de Cristo. Como dijo Moisés, no tenemos que subir al cielo para descubrir la voluntad de Dios para nuestras vidas. Lo sabemos; solo tenemos que llevarlo a cabo.


Este fin de semana en nuestra Catedral de San Pedro Apóstol, celebraremos a Cristo Siervo con la ordenación de seis hombres al diaconado permanente que servirán en varias parroquias de nuestra diócesis. Específicamente, el ministerio del diácono es una labor de servicio amoroso en la mesa de la Palabra de Dios, en el Altar del Sacrificio y en la mesa de la caridad o compasión en la vida diaria. El corazón y el alma del diaconado es el llamado a hacer visible el amor de Cristo.


Damos gracias a Dios por los diáconos, cónyuges y familias que se han sacrificado estos últimos cinco años en preparación para este ministerio que tiene sus raíces en la vida apostólica de la iglesia primitiva. Pero tengamos en cuenta que todos estamos llamados a cumplir nuestras promesas bautismales, el llamado a la santidad y el mandato del Señor de servir con la mente y el corazón porque el Señor resucitado está en medio de nosotros “como el que sirve”. (Lucas 22:27)


La fealdad de este mundo ocupa regularmente los titulares, y mucho antes y durante el tiempo de nuestro Señor, había ladrones y asaltantes, pero entonces y ahora damos gracias a los buenos samaritanos de nuestras vidas que están atentos al cuidado de los demás. Que el Señor fortalezca nuestra determinación de ser una luz en la oscuridad en cada recodo del camino.

Padre Mike se jubila después de 50 años

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Por Mónica Walton

JACKSON – El pasado 20 de junio, con motivo de su 50 aniversario de ordenación y jubilación, el padre Mike O’Brien cerró el círculo y celebró su última Misa como párroco en la misma parroquia donde comenzó.

Tenía solo 35 años cuando se mudó por primera vez a Sacred Heart en Canton en 1983. Qué apropiado que ésta sea la ubicación de su asignación final en Magnolia State.

“He tenido una vida maravillosa”, reflexionó el padre Mike durante su homilía. “Me encanta ser sacerdote y estoy muy bendecido de tener estos dos mundos: Mississippi e Irlanda.” Mientras recapturó los aspectos más destacados de los muchos recuerdos que vivió durante su infancia y sacerdocio, señaló que este fue el sermón más largo que había dado en todos sus 50 años. Pero se aseguró de proclamar esta verdad: “Siempre supe que Dios estaba conmigo, especialmente en los tiempos difíciles, desde el incendio de nuestra iglesia en Starkville, el huracán Katrina y las redadas de ICE”.

Pero, ¿cómo este irlandés, nacido en Roscommon y ordenado en Kilbegnet, terminó en Jackson, Mississippi? “Fue el Espíritu Santo”, dice. “Sabía que quería una aventura. Mi primo iba a ser sacerdote en Mississippi. Sabía que era un río, pero él dijo: ‘¡También es un estado!’ Entonces, le pregunté: ‘¿Hablan inglés allí?’. Él respondió: ‘Bueno, algo así…'”

CANTON – La Misa de retiro del Padre Mike O’Brien fue celebrada el lunes 20 de junio, concelebrada por el Padre Gerry Hurley párroco de St. Paul Flowood y asistidos por el diácono John Mc Gregor, en la que estuvo acompañado por el obispo Joseph Kopacz, miembros de su familia provenientes de Irlanda y un centenar de parroquianos en celebración multicultural, quienes llegaron a dar muestras de gracias y despedida (Fotos de Berta Mexidor)

La pequeña iglesia se llenó de risas, repleta de fieles de las muchas parroquias y ciudades donde el Padre Mike ha servido. Varios de los que vinieron a honrarlo tuvieron que ver la Misa en monitores en el Centro Parroquial por falta de asientos, pero no les importó. Estaban felices de estar allí para despedir a este sacerdote que había tocado sus vidas de una manera tan especial.

La velada fue una hermosa mezcla de culturas, tal como debe ser la iglesia, con lecturas, canciones y comida que representaban el estilo inglés, español y, por supuesto, irlandés. Quince miembros de la familia del padre Mike viajaron de Irlanda a Mississippi para esta ocasión tan especial. “El padre Mike ha sido un gran sacerdote de sacerdotes, así como un gran servidor para la gente”, dijo su amigo cercano, el padre Gerry Hurley, quien también es oriundo de Irlanda. “Los compañeros sacerdotes siempre pueden buscar a Mike en busca de aliento, dirección y asistencia. Es una representación clásica de todas las cosas buenas de Irlanda y las esperanzas del seminario que lo envió”.

El padre Mike O’Brien dedicó un agridulce “slán agat” (adiós) a su Amado Mississippi, ¡pero con la seguridad de que volverá! Echaremos mucho de menos a este sacerdote fiel y humilde con un corazón muy tierno y una sonrisa entrañable. ¡Vaya con nuestras oraciones sinceras, amor y bendiciones, Padre Mike!

(Mónica Walton nació y se crio en Luisiana, ama su herencia cajún y sus LSU Tigers. Tiene una licenciatura en Periodismo/LSU. Ha trabajado en medios impresos, televisión & radio en Luisiana, Georgia y Mississippi. Mónica vive en Brandon desde 1993 y tiene cuatro hijos.)

Obispos de Mississippi visitan Misión de San Miguel en Saltillo, México

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Por Terry Dickson
SALTILLO, MÉXICO – El obispo Louis F. Kihneman de Biloxi y el obispo Joseph Kopacz de Jackson viajaron a la Misión de San Miguel del 6 al 10 de junio.

Los dos obispos estuvieron por última vez a Saltillo en 2019 con la intención de regresar al año siguiente. Sin embargo, la pandemia de COVID-19 se los impidió.

Junto a los obispos estaban Mons. Michael Thornton, quien sirvió en Saltillo de 1973 a 1977 y de 1997 a 2004; el Padre Adam Urbaniak, director de Vocaciones de la Diócesis de Biloxi y párroco de la Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de las Victorias en Pascagoula; el Padre Sergio Balderas, párroco de la Parroquia St. Elizabeth Seton en Ocean Springs y nativo de Saltillo; el Padre Lincoln Dall, Vicario General de la Diócesis de Jackson; el padre José Krafft; director de Formación Pastoral en el Seminario de Notre Dame en Nueva Orleans y el diácono Adam Frey.

SALTILLO – (i-d) Obispo Louis F. Kihneman de Biloxi, Padre David Martinez, pastor de la Misión de San Miguel y el obispo Joseph Kopacz de Jackson. (Foto de Terry Dickson/Diocesis de Biloxi)

El diácono Frey, a quien el obispo Kihneman ordenó al diaconado de transición el 7 de mayo, pasará los próximos cuatro meses en San Miguel como parte de su pasantía diaconal. “La meta es que él aprenda tanto español como pueda, conozca a la gente, continúe enamorándose de la gente como lo ha hecho con la comunidad hispana en la Parroquia del Sagrado Corazón en Hattiesburg, aprenda la cultura y comparta la fe con la gente”, dijo el obispo Kihneman.

El diácono Frey ayudó al obispo Kopacz, al obispo Kihneman y al obispo Hilario González García, de Saltillo, en las Misas, incluidas tres confirmaciones leyendo el Evangelio en español y sirviendo como diácono del altar. También ha oficiado varios bautizos. “Espero salir con una mejor apreciación de dónde proviene la gente de nuestra diócesis y conocer sus experiencias y sus luchas,”dijo el diácono Frey, .
El 9 de junio los dos obispos de Mississippi celebraron la confirmación de 86 jóvenes. El Padre Urbaniak tiene la esperanza de que el diácono Frey pueda aclimatarse a la cultura mexicana, “Creo que será una bendición para él ver: conocer a la gente, ver el gozo de la gente, experimentar su hambre por Cristo y ver la belleza de la Iglesia, que es tan vívida aquí en Saltillo,” dijo el Padre Urbaniak.

Una parte del trabajo del Padre Krafft como director de formación pastoral en el Seminario de Notre Dame es visitar a los seminaristas durante sus prácticas. “La pasantía del diácono Adam es única”, dijo el padre Krafft.

“Hemos tenido otros seminaristas que han hecho ministerio en otro país, pero nada como esto donde es por varios meses.“La realidad del sur de los Estados Unidos es que la población hispana está creciendo y la mayoría de esa población es católica.

Para que podamos servirles bien, tenemos que conocer no solo su idioma sino también su cultura. Esto le dará a Adam la oportunidad de profundizar en el aprendizaje de ambas cosas”.

Según la Jerarquía Católica (www.catholic-hierarchy.org), a partir de 2020, la población total de Saltillo, México, era 1,437,122. De eso, 1,358,600 o el 94.5 por ciento eran católicos. En ese momento, había 193 sacerdotes, 150 diocesanos y 43 religiosos, lo que equivale a aproximadamente 7,039 católicos por sacerdote. Además, las estadísticas mostraban que solo había un diácono permanente sirviendo en la Diócesis de Saltillo.

El Padre Patrick Quinn, un sacerdote nacido en Irlanda de lo que entonces era la Diócesis de Natchez-Jackson, comenzó la misión en Perpetuo Socorro en 1969 y sirvió allí hasta su muerte en 1997. Está enterrado en Perpetuo Socorro. En 1998, la misión se trasladó a San Miguel.

Los sacerdotes de San Miguel, el padre David Martínez y el padre Antonio Medel, atienden 17 ranchos en las comunidades rurales y siete en las afueras de la ciudad. Los dos curas visitan mensualmente los ranchos rurales, pero algunos de ellos tenían Misa todos los domingos, antes del Covid. Ahora tienen Misa cada dos domingos.

El próximo año, los obispos esperan regresar a Saltillo para celebrar el 25 aniversario de San Miguel. “Los eventos que organizaron para esta visita fueron extraordinarios. La confirmación en la última noche de la visita con más de 80 candidatos y una iglesia llena fue un verdadero punto culminante”, dijo el obispo Kopacz.

Este fue el cuarto viaje del Padre Dall a Saltillo. Había visitado tres veces anteriores con grupos de jóvenes. “ Siempre me llama la atención, habiendo hecho trabajo misionero en Sudamérica y África, que la gente no tiene mucho pero dedican mucho tiempo y esfuerzo para una cálida bienvenida. Siempre me conmueve eso”.

(Terry Dickson, es el director de comunicaciones de la Diócesis de Biloxi)

SALTILLO, MÉXICO – Esta fue la sexta visita del obispo Kopacz a Saltillo. Dijo que era bueno estar de regreso después que la pandemia detuviera los viajes durante los últimos dos años. El obispo Kopacz expresó su alegría de poder volver a Saltillo y restablecer esa conexión.
SALTILLO – La Misa de Confirmación en San Pedro, de 80 candidatos y con una iglesia llena, fue lo más destacado del viaje, según el obispo Kopacz. (Fotos de Terry Dickson, Diócesis de Biloxi)