By Catholic News Service LOUISVILLE, Ky. (CNS) – Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre, the newly appointed archbishop of the Archdiocese of Louisville, celebrated a Mass at Holy Family Church Feb. 8, saying to the congregation that his prayer for the archdiocese – his new home – is that “we will grow in our love for God and grow in our love for each other. To do so is a response to God who is laboring in every moment to love us first,” said Archbishop Fabre.
During the liturgy, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz – who has led the archdiocese since 2007 – welcomed Archbishop Fabre, calling the news of his appointment “joyous.”
Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre speaks to members of the media Feb. 8, 2022, at the Archdiocese of Louisville Pastoral Center about his appointment as the fifth archbishop of Louisville. Pope Francis named the prelate, who has headed the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, La., since 2013, to succeed Louisville Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, 75, whose resignation was accepted by the pope the same day. (CNS photo/Ruby Thomas, The Record)
Archbishop Kurtz said he has known Archbishop Fabre for many years. “He’s a good friend of mine and he will be a good friend of yours,” said Archbishop Kurtz.
During the homily, Archbishop Fabre shared that between leaving his Louisiana home and coming to Louisville, his heart is divided.
“It delights me to be here today to greet this new home that is mine. It’s my honor and privilege to serve you, the good people of the Archdiocese of Louisville,” he said.
“I welcome this opportunity to meet you and yet my heart is divided for my family in Thibodaux who is learning today of the news that I am not with them. So my heart is divided today and I acknowledge that.”
Archbishop Fabre is not only leaving the members of the clergy, religious and faithful in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, which he has led since 2013, he’s also leaving his siblings, he said.
Following the Mass, Archbishop Fabre held a news conference at the Archdiocese of Louisville Pastoral Center, where he spoke to members of the media and answered questions. He will be installed as the fifth archbishop of Louisville March 30 at the Kentucky International Convention Center in downtown Louisville.
By Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) – Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, and appointed as his successor Bishop Shelton J. Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux in southeastern Louisiana.
Archbishop Fabre, 58, is one of 12 of the U.S. Catholic Church’s African American prelates and he will be the first Black archbishop of Louisville. The newly named archbishop has headed the Louisiana diocese since 2013. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans from 2006 to 2013. He is chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism.
Archbishop Kurtz turned 75 Aug. 18, 2021, and as required by canon law, he turned in his resignation to the pope when he reached 75. He has headed the Louisville Archdiocese since August 2007.
The changes were announced Feb. 8 in Washington by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio. Archbishop Fabre’s episcopal motto is “Comfort My People,” which he chose when he was ordained a bishop in 2007 as an auxiliary of New Orleans. He helped with rebuilding efforts that followed the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Eight years later, he was appointed the bishop of Houma-Thibodaux. In August 2021, his diocese and other parts of southern Louisiana suffered devastation wrought by Hurricane Ida.
Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., left, and Bishop Shelton J. Fabre of Houma-Thibodaux, La., are seen in this composite photo. Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Archbishop Kurtz Feb. 8, 2022, who is 75, the age at which canon law requires bishops to turn in their resignation to the pope, and named Bishop Fabre to succeed him. (CNS composite; photos by Tyler Orsburn and Bob Roller)
Regarding his motto, he said in a Feb. 8 statement that the words “are dear to my heart because they capture what I have always desired to do as a bishop, as a pastor of souls. I sincerely believe our Lord is communicating these words to his people right now.”
Shelton Joseph Fabre was born Oct. 25, 1963, in New Roads, Louisiana, the fifth of six children. He graduated in 1981 as valedictorian of Catholic High School of Pointe Coupée, Louisiana. He entered St. Joseph Seminary College in St. Benedict, Louisiana, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in history in 1985.
He continued his studies in Belgium at the American College in Louvain, a seminary that was affiliated with the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He earned a bachelor of religious studies degree in 1987 and a master of religious studies degree in 1989 from the Catholic university.
He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Aug. 5, 1989, and went on to serve as a pastor and associate pastor. He also served as a chaplain at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, defender of the bond for the diocese’s marriage tribunal and dean of the diocese’s Northwest Deanery.
He also served on the diocesan priests’ council, college of consultors, school board and clergy personnel board. He was chairman of pastoral planning and director of the Office of Black Catholics.
As chairman of the bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism, Archbishop Fabre led the writing of “Open Wide Our Hearts – The Enduring Call to Love,” approved by the body of bishops in 2018.
In March 2021, Archbishop Fabre discussed the pastoral with about 150 people in the Archdiocese of Louisville when he led an Archdiocesan Leadership Institute on the subject.
During the event, conducted online due to the pandemic, he centered his talk on “witnessing to the dignity of the human person as an antidote to the grave sin of racism.”
The following month, he and Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development in a joint statement urging Catholics to “join in the hard work of peacefully rebuilding what hatred and frustration has torn down.”
“This is the true call of a disciple and the real work of restorative justice,” Bishop Fabre and Archbishop Coakley said. “Let us not lose the opportunity to pray that the Holy Spirit falls like a flood on our land again, as at Pentecost, providing us with spiritual, emotional and physical healing, as well as new ways to teach, preach, and model the Gospel message in how we treat each other.”
The two chairmen’s statement followed the jury’s April 20, 2021, verdict finding former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty in the death of George Floyd.
Archbishop Fabre is a former chairman of the USCCB’s Subcommittee on African-American Affairs and currently serves on the board of Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops’ overseas relief and development agency.
As the archbishop of Louisville, he will shepherd about 156,000 Catholics in 24 counties of central Kentucky, from the Ohio River to the Tennessee border. The archdiocese, which dates to 1808, has 110 parishes that cover 8,124 miles. About 20,000 students are served by 48 schools from kindergarten to high school.
(Contributing to this story was Marnie McAllister, editor of The Record, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Louisville.)
Reflections on Life By Melvin Arrington Of all the saints across the Christian centuries one had a special meaning to my father, who by the way, wasn’t even Catholic. That was Polycarp (d. 155 or 156 A.D.), an early church leader whose feast day is celebrated on Feb. 23. What really made an impression on Daddy was the account of the saint’s death.
Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna (now the city of Izmir, located on the western coast of Turkey), was considered a person of great holiness. In his youth, he had been a disciple of St. John the Evangelist. As a mature adult, he took Irenaeus of Lyon as one of his own disciples, became friends with Ignatius of Antioch, and wrote an epistle to the church at Philippi in Macedonia.
Polycarp was an old man when, during the Roman persecutions of Christians, he was arrested and taken to the arena in Smyrna for trial. Three days before the arrest he had a vision in which he saw his pillow engulfed in flames. In this manner it was revealed to him that his fate was to be burned alive. Some friends persuaded him to go into hiding, but a young servant, after being tortured, betrayed his master by revealing the location of the hiding place.
Melvin Arrington
When the saintly bishop refused to deny his faith in Jesus Christ, the governor first threatened to throw him to the wild beasts, but Polycarp remained steadfast; he simply would not recant. Next, they tried to tie him to the stake and burn him, but the flames surrounded him forming a protective wall in such as way that the fire did not touch him. Finally, one of the governor’s henchmen came forward and stabbed him to death. The centurion then gave the order for the body to be burned. Afterwards, the bishop’s fellow believers collected his bones, conserving them as relics. Fortunately, the written narrative of Polycarp’s death has survived; it is the earliest extant document detailing the martyrdom of a Christian.
At some point during his studies for the ministry Daddy must have read a description of these events. For almost 15 years, he and my mother served as Baptist missionaries in the Amazon Basin region of Bolivia. They spent most of those years living along the banks of the Chapare River ministering to the Yuracarés (Yuras), the indigenous peoples of that area. Mama was a registered nurse. She set up a clinic and provided much-needed medical care for the Yuras. Daddy, in addition to his duties as pastor, made various survey trips into some of the most remote jungle regions searching for nomadic tribes who lived far from what we know as civilization. This was dangerous work, but he felt God had called him to go there, so he went. I believe Daddy thought he might be killed like the Protestant missionaries who, after venturing into the jungles of eastern Ecuador, suffered violent deaths at the hands of the Auca tribe. This may explain, at least in part, why he was drawn to Polycarp and the details of his martyrdom.
Shortly after Daddy returned from the mission field he passed away. He has been gone almost 40 years now, but I can still remember how on several occasions he made references in his sermons to the death of Polycarp. I wish I could have a conversation with Daddy right now about this martyr. In fact, I wish I could talk to him about my conversion to Catholicism and a million other things, including the meaning of martyrdom in the world today.
In our time, more so than ever, Christians in far away parts of the globe are being persecuted and killed for their religious beliefs. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen spoke of a distinction between “wet” and “dry” martyrs. The former, like those in the early centuries of Christianity, shed their blood for the faith; the latter, more typical of our era, have suffered brainwashing and other forms of mental torture at the hands of their Communist or terrorist oppressors. Sheen claims that those in the wet category die only once, while the dry ones die a thousand times.
Here, in this country the persecution hasn’t reached that degree of intensity, and maybe it never will. But those who live according to the teachings of the Gospel will, in some sense, become martyrs, which means “witnesses” in the original Greek. As we go about our lives, we will all have to carry a cross and endure some form of suffering. By taking up that cross daily and bearing it faithfully, we will surely undergo a martyrdom of sorts. Pain, suffering, and sorrow are inevitable in this life. How we react to these trials, be they large or small, is what makes all the difference.
Nobody likes the word “mortification” but that’s what is required. It involves slaying the ego, denying ourselves, giving up something, or perhaps doing something we normally would not be inclined to do, such as taking on an extra burden in order to lighten the load of someone else. Clearly, as St. Josemaría Escrivá says, our attitude should be one of “welcoming generously the opportunities for small, daily sacrifice.” This type of martyrdom confounds the materialists and skeptics of our day because it runs contrary to the spirit of the age, which tells us possessions and prestige are what lead to happiness.
Our sacrifices certainly can’t compare with the sufferings of Polycarp. But we can still be “witnesses” by proclaiming Christ to the culture and by living to serve others rather than ourselves. As Lent approaches, now is the time to start thinking and praying about things we can do, such as performing good works and practicing self denial, to help advance the Kingdom of God.
(Melvin Arrington is a Professor Emeritus of Modern Languages for the University of Mississippi and a member of St. John Oxford.)
Can a lazy lack of creativity ever be good for the soul? Normally, I would answer no – unless you asked me during Lent when I was 19 years old.
That was a Lent I intended to take more seriously than I had before. A growing realization that, ready or not, adulthood was dawning led me to reflect more thoughtfully on that sacred season. Even then, I understood that in the wisdom of the church’s ancient calendar, forty days is a perfect length of time for a season of preparation.
I know that number has its origins in sacred traditions. But, as is true with so many things, the sacred tradition is beautifully matched with human nature. Forty days devoted to preparation is a season that is short enough that a commitment to something ambitious is less frightening than it might otherwise seem. Yet, it is long enough that a new practice or habit of the heart and soul has a chance of becoming more permanent.
In spite of my good intentions, when the Sunday before that long-ago Ash Wednesday rolled around, I had not yet decided what I could do so that my 19th Lent might be the season I hoped it would be. There were three days left, and nothing of note had crossed my mind.
Lucia A. Silecchia
Fortunately for me, that Sunday I was blessed to hear a homily that changed my life. It was filled with practical suggestions about Lenten practices that seemed especially intended for those of us who had not planned ahead. One that caught my ear was the simple, obvious invitation to attend Mass during the week during Lent. I had rarely given that any thought. Unless it was a special occasion, I was on the Sunday plan.
However, to my practical mind, this was a do-able Lenten suggestion. Conveniently, I walked past my parish church every morning on the way to my college classes. The three Masses celebrated every day meant no early wake-up was required. It was merely a half-hour time commitment. Most importantly, although I did not know the exact words from the Catechism at the time, I knew in my heart that Mass was “heart and summit of the church’s life.”
Thus, for want of another plan, I very casually began a practice that has lasted, with varying degrees of regularity, to this day – decades after that long ago Lent drew to a close.
I found that I began to treasure this weekday celebration, secure in the happy knowledge that around the world in tiny remote chapels, grand urban cathedrals, crumbling city churches, secluded mountain monasteries, far-flung military bases, parochial school auditoriums, and quiet convents, countless others were doing the same. A weekday morning Mass is the Eucharist at its simplest. Without distractions, it is a quiet, intimate start to the day and a cherished oasis before the hectic pace of life begins anew.
I love a grand liturgical celebration. Whether it is celebrated with an enthusiastic student choir, or majestic organ music shrouded with incense, or, yes, even the felt banners and tambourines of my childhood years, such celebrations fill the heart with awe. A large Sunday crowd gathered to praise the same God together is a beautiful reminder that we are all part of the family of God. A stirring Sunday homily, carefully planned, and an altar reverently adorned with flowers all point the way to God in a powerful celebration. The sometimes-too-rare moments of silence in a large Sunday crowd offer a chance to offer praise, petitions, apologies and thanks in the company of an extended parish family.
Yet, when I have the wisdom to make time for it, I also treasure those quiet celebrations during the week when two or three or more of us gather in God’s name, bringing Him the hopes, happiness, worries and woes of the day and receiving far more in return. I am grateful for the silence before and after this celebration, the way this time of the day reminds me that the journey through the day is never traveled alone or without sustenance.
I am grateful for that chance invitation years ago that introduced me to the sacredness of the simple, daily Mass. Now, I share that invitation with you. Come and share this beautiful prayer of ordinary times.
May your journey through Lent be filled with blessings this year.
(Lucia A. Silecchia is a Professor of Law at The Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America. Email her at silecchia@cua.edu.)
Synodality in Mississippi? A meeting concept to seek basic truths. In line with the synodality listening sessions designed to give all us Catholics a voice, Father Nick Adam organized a workshop, led by Father Jim Wehner, a seminarian rector in New Orleans, for priests, deacons and lay ministers, to help them/us review ministry tactics in order to become better disciples, helping all parishioners talk about what the church needs to do to become better in the major vocation areas of priest, prophet and king. With the goal of voicing all our concerns to Pope Francis, parishioners in the diocese are meeting to discuss how the church can respond to biblical situations, renewing our Good Samaritan status.
Two major questions: what essential action should the church take? What is most important to you about what the church offers? Father Jim presented sessions where he took on subjects: the essence of the church; the New Evangelization of unchurched former Catholics; the meaning of discipleship, with examples from the Bible; and, finally, how the Eucharist is our defining “Sacrament” for exploring and creating missionary and ministry tactics. A good preparation for the Synodality sessions.
Father Jim starts, citing Jesus asking “Who do you say that I am?” to Peter. The “I” is really Jesus as the church. Peter says that Jesus and the church have words of everlasting life. The “enemy,” in various forms, causes confusion and separates us from Christ and the church. How do we respond to the enemy’s tough questions? Peter advises us to give answers in reverence and gentleness (1Peter 3:15).
James Tomek, Ph.D
Father Wehner takes us to the 17th and 18th centuries, where philosophers Hobbes and Locke promoted individual rights over the common good. While respecting individual rights, our discussion leader insists that the overall concern of the church and Jesus is the common good. We are all friends of Jesus, and no longer servants, in this struggle together. The “enemy” would prefer rugged individualism and no communion. Apathea is a virtue of detachment and a positive impersonal value where we leave our egos to support our neighbor, above any personal concerns. Our ego is the enemy. What specific vocational gift do I have to help and combat the enemy of self interest?
In the next session, Father Jim explains the new evangelization movement, where the church tries to get back former Catholics who have left the church, as well as the unchurched in general. The “enemy” here is further defined as “metaphysical disorientation.” We have privatized the important concerns of discernment. Our individual views take precedent over the community’s will. All our sacraments need to be community minded. Our mission is to act in unity as we, all lay people included, are invited to priesthood. By studying our institutions, like marriage, hospitals, education and so on, we need to rearticulate them with our current world.
Next session – discipleship. When did I become a disciple? Can we lose discipleship? What grace or gifts do we need to this discipleship? We find the gifts, or offices, of priest, prophet, and king in Luke when Jesus reads from Isaiah (Lk 4: 17-28).
Father Jim glosses these offices: the priest offers himself as victim sacrificing for others; the prophet teaches and proclaims truths; while the “king” takes care of others. Some hold these offices formally, but we all practice these ministries by our baptism.
An example of becoming a disciple is seen in the Magi when they come to witness Jesus’s birth. They became ministers, especially when they go back a different way, showing that they have changed their lives after witnessing Jesus. This session ends with a healing sentiment. Jesus cures Bartimaeus by opening up his ears – and our ears, as we train to listen better to each other.
In the final session, Father Jim shows how the Eucharist/Mass is the ideal place and order for things to happen. What is polarization? Two sides of an issue. Right or wrong? Win an argument. The wrong way. This is “Metaphysical disorientation.” Let’s be attentive to the whole story of issues.
The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Unity where we can partake in the discussion. We take the bread – taking on Jesus as our friend and model. We bless the bread – saying that it is good and worthy of our community. Then, by breaking the bread, we become wounded healers sharing our penance with the community.
The Mass means “sent” – mission – sent to do the work of the intercessions that we prayed earlier. These intercessions, like feeding the poor and being pure in our intentions, are beatitudes – those conditions that bring us closer to the Kingdom of God. Us? The Communion of Saints, including family and friends, living, and gone, whom I pray for often, offering a spot of the eternal. Why do I go to church?
(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.)
Rev. Kevin Slattery, appointed sacramental minister for St. John Parish in Crystal Springs and its mission St. Martin in Hazlehurst, effective Feb. 1, 2022.
Rev. Mark Shoffner, appointed administrator pro tempore of St. Mary Basilica and Assumption Parishes in Natchez, effective Feb. 9, 2022.
Rev. Scott Thomas, granted a leave of absence from ministry, effective Feb. 9, 2022.
By Carol Zimmermann WASHINGTON (CNS) – Lent, the spiritual season of prayer and sacrifice, has an extra pull to it this year because once again – and now for the third time – it will be under the cloud of the coronavirus pandemic.
And even though the third Lent in a pandemic can feel like a lot like a Jesus’ third fall on the road to Calvary, people who spoke with Catholic News Service focused more on the season’s path to Easter and how this year’s Lent also coincides with an optimism around COVID-19 cases dropping in the U.S.
“It’s a perfect storm: lower (coronavirus) numbers just as Lent approaches,” said Mary DeTurris Poust, former communications director for the Diocese of Albany, New York.
Poust, who teaches yoga, leads retreats and writes a blog called “Not Strictly Spiritual,” said that during recent virtual retreats she has led, it’s obvious how much people want to reconnect in person.
And maybe this Lent, which starts on Ash Wednesday, March 2, is the time to do just that, she said about being with the parish community: gathering for Mass, prayer services and also for the returning soup suppers and fish fries.
After the tremendous losses of the past two years, she said, this Lent could be a good time for a reset. “Lent is the perfect opportunity to recalculate the internal GPS” of where we’re going, Poust said, speaking about individuals but also more broadly about what parishes can do as they look to welcome people back.
So many Catholics like the ritual of Lent and all of its “bells and smells,” she said, which makes this season a great opportunity “to pull them back in the best way.”
The three traditional pillars of Lent are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. In the Latin-rite church, Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, Feb. 18 this year. (CNS graphic/Nancy Wiechec)
Jen Sawyer, editor-in-chief of Busted Halo, a Paulist website and satellite radio program, said in times of uncertainty, people “rely on muscle memory” of traditional faith practices they are used to. But this year, she thinks Lent’s usual traditions might have a different feel.
“It seems like this is the Lent we’re most prepared for; we’ve all sacrificed so much” she said. The desert experience of Lent has already been lived out and with so many people exhausted from the past two years, she said this Lent offers new opportunities to find peace, community and faith.
Paulist Father Larry Rice, campus chaplain for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, agreed, saying the church is more than ready for Lent 2022 and he hopes it will help people “respond to all the trauma we have been through.”
“We are living with long-term, low-grade trauma,” he said, adding that for many, the pain is just under the surface and he sees Lent as the antidote. “As Christian people, we believe our destination is not Good Friday. We go through that to get to Easter,” he said.
He also said this year has the added hope that “by the time we get to Easter, the pandemic we’re experiencing will look different.” And with wisdom acquired in the past two years, he also added: “There are no guarantees; there could be new (coronavirus) variants.”
The past two Lents did not have that same thread of hope.
Lent 2020 started off without a hitch with just a small number of COVID-19 cases in the country but by the second week of Lent, in early March, some dioceses urged parishes to curtail handshaking at the sign of peace and Communion from the chalice. By the third week of Lent, many dioceses lifted Sunday Mass obligations and stopped public Masses and Lenten services such as Stations of the Cross, prayer services and fish fries.
Last year during Lent, more churches were open – although many were limiting congregation sizes and requiring parishioners to sign up for Masses. Fish fries were back, as carry-out events, and in many dioceses, ashes were sprinkled over heads on Ash Wednesday.
This year, parishes are open – with differing mask regulations and social distancing in place – and the beloved fish fries are back with both in-person or carry-out options.
“These past two years for all of us have not been easy, but God has been with us,” said Mercy Sister Carolyn McWatters, a liturgist and chair of the Prayer and Ritual Committee for the Sisters of Mercy.
Sister McWatters, who lives at the Sacred Heart Convent in Belmont, North Carolina, and is involved in ministry there with the order’s retired sisters, emphasized the need to reflect on the pandemic experience this Lent. She said it’s important to recognize how we lived beyond what we could control, the inner resources we relied on and where we saw goodness and grace at work.
“The cross is never a dead end. It points to new life. Where are the signs of life for me, my community, the country, the world?” she asked.
Spiritual growth is often about relinquishing control, she said, which was certainly an aspect to pandemic life but the coronavirus also involved the hardship of isolation which was especially experienced by the retired sisters.
The convent, part of a national center for the Mercy sisters, had been a frequent spot for meetings and gatherings and many came for Sunday Masses and dinners, which was all put on hold for the past two years.
“Everybody is looking for the end,” she said.
The view of these retired Mercy sisters echoes what many are feeling, but Sister McWatters also cautions against people focusing on being victims right now and seeing the pandemic purely as “woe is me.”
Similarly, she said, Lent is not gloom and doom but should be a “joyful embrace of what will help me to grow more deeply.”
Sawyer also stressed that faith is meant to be joyful and said that Busted Halo with its “Fast Pray Give Lent Calendar” and InstaLent photo challenge aims to get that across and will continue that this Lent particularly by urging people to try something new – a new book or prayer – and to check in with others after so much pandemic isolation.
“We don’t often think of Lent as a vibrant time of community connection,” she said, adding that Catholics are “used to the desert” experience often associated with the season. But this Lent, that might change.
By Samantha Smith ATLANTA (CNS) – Under the bright lights and falling confetti, surrounded by his team, their families and thousands of fans in SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, Sean McVay raised high the Vince Lombardi Super Bowl championship trophy Feb. 13.
To win the game feels outstanding, said McVay, head coach of the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams were behind in the third quarter and most of the fourth quarter, before scoring the winning touchdown with 1:25 left in Super Bowl LVI against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Rams won 23-20.
McVay called it “poetic.”
“You talk about a resilient team, coaches, players; I’m so proud of this group,” said McVay in postgame comments. “We talk about competitive greatness all the time, being your best when your best is required.”
McVay, 36, the youngest head coach to win a Super Bowl championship in NFL history, is a graduate of Marist School in Atlanta. He gives the Catholic school a lot of credit for instilling in him many “foundational principles” he said have been instrumental in his achievements.
Marist is an independent Catholic college preparatory school owned and operated by the Society of Mary. It is the oldest Catholic secondary school in the Atlanta area.
Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay is seen at Marist School in Atlanta, his alma mater, May 22, 2021. He was the commencement speaker that day and received the school’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2020. (CNS photo/Marist School, courtesy The Georgia Bulletin)
During his five seasons with the Rams, McVay has led the team to five consecutive winning seasons, two Super Bowl appearances and now a Super Bowl championship.
As his coaching career continues to soar, he continues to hold fond memories of his time at Marist School. “Marist is a special place because of all the unique people,” McVay said to the 2021 Marist graduating class at their guest speaker. “I’ve been so fortunate and blessed because there’s so many of the foundational principles that were instilled in me from the time I got here, from seventh grade to 12th grade, that have been instrumental in a lot of the things that have been good in my life.”
The school honored McVay with the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2020. McVay gravitated to football from soccer in eighth grade at Marist, following the footsteps of three McVay generations.
His father, Tim, played football at Indiana University in Bloomington. His grandfather, John, was vice president and director of football operations for the San Francisco 49ers from 1979 to 1995 and was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame in 2013.
Alan Chadwick, head football coach at Marist for more than 40 years, described McVay as explosive, agile and competitive as a Marist player.
“He brought great intensity to his preparation, workouts and had tremendous understanding of the game,” said Chadwick.
McVay was a four-year starter and quarterback his junior and senior year while playing for the Marist War Eagles. In 2003, he led the football team to a state championship and was named the Georgia AAAA Offensive Player of the Year. McVay was the first player in the school’s history to rush and throw for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons.
Atlanta Auxiliary Bishop Joel M. Konzen, who was principal of Marist School while McVay attended, remembers him as an easygoing and friendly student.
In 2003, when Marist won the state championship, Bishop Konzen recalls McVay’s leadership.
“The team acknowledged that he was their leader,” the bishop told The Georgia Bulletin, newspaper of the Atlanta Archdiocese. “Sean gave most of the credit to his teammates for a win, making light of his own contribution. That kind of modesty was how Sean demonstrated his commitment to the Marist Way.”
After graduating from Marist in 2004, McVay attended Miami University where he played wide receiver. In 2007, he received Miami’s Scholar Athlete Award and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in health and sports studies in 2008. His NFL career began as assistant wide receivers coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After working for one year as the quality control and wide receivers coach for the Florida Tuskers of the United Football League, McVay returned to the NFL as assistant tight end coach for the Washington Redskins in 2010.
While coaching for Washington, it was apparent that McVay was going to be a good coach, said Chadwick. McVay was promoted twice, eventually becoming Washington’s offensive coordinator. In 2016, he coached the offensive unit to record breaking statistics for the franchise.
McVay was named head coach for the Los Angeles Rams in 2017. At 30, he was the youngest NFL head coach in history. The Associated Press named McVay the Coach of the Year in 2018 – the youngest head coach to ever receive the award.
Three years ago, McVay made his first Super Bowl appearance as head coach for the Rams against the New England Patriots when the game was hosted in Atlanta.
Chadwick and McVay have kept in touch over the years. After the Rams won the NFC championship game against the 49ers Jan. 30, Chadwick reached out to his former player to wish him luck in the Super Bowl.
“He’s done extremely well for himself and should continue to do that for many years to come,” said Chadwick.
(Smith is a staff writer at The Georgia Bulletin, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Atlanta.)
NATION CINCINNATI (CNS) – The Los Angeles Rams may have won Super Bowl LVI over the Cincinnati Bengals, but students in Catholic schools in both archdioceses are winners as well. Donors contributed more than $22,000 – and counting as of Feb. 17 – for tuition assistance scholarships as part of a friendly wager between Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles and Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr of Cincinnati over the game’s outcome. The donations to each archdiocese’s Catholic Education Foundation came as the archbishops invited supporters to become involved in their good-gesture wager through the Bishops Big Game challenge. In the Feb. 13 game, the Rams were behind in the third quarter and most of the fourth quarter, before scoring the winning touchdown with 1:25 left, beating the Bengals 23-20. With the Rams’ victory, the Los Angeles foundation will receive 60% of the funds raised, while the Cincinnati foundation will received 40% of the money donated.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CNS) – From partaking in the sacrament of reconciliation to fasting to choosing what to give up, Lent is full of traditions that Catholics around the world take part in as they prepare to celebrate Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. But there’s another sacred tradition that dates back to the early days of the Crusades; one that allows them to “walk” the Via Dolorosa with Christ: the Stations of the Cross. The Stations of the Cross are a mini-pilgrimage, taking believers through the steps taken by Jesus on Good Friday, from his condemnation to his burial. The stations are a “way of prayerfully uniting oneself to the sacrifice of the Lord and his love for us,” said Father Eric Fowlkes, pastor of the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville. “It’s also an invitation for us to place ourselves within that journey.” The Stations of the Cross date back to the Middle Ages during the religious wars between Christians and Muslims, known as the Crusades. “The Crusades awakened an interest in Europe in the places associated with Christ in the Holy Land. For the first time, Europeans were traveling there regularly and wanted to see the holy places where the biblical events took place,” said Father Bede Price, pastor of Church of the Assumption in Nashville.
The Los Angeles Rams celebrate their Feb. 13, 2022, win over the Cincinnati Bengals at the Super Bowl parade at Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles Feb. 16. (CNS photo/David Swanson, Reuters)
VATICAN VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis advanced the sainthood cause of Argentine Cardinal Eduardo Pironio, the prelate who organized and oversaw the first six international celebrations of World Youth Day. The pope also approved a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of Capuchin Poor Clare Sister Maria Costanza Panas of the Italian monastery of Fabriano. She was born Jan. 5, 1896, and died May 28, 1963. In addition to recognizing the miracle that clears the way for her beatification, the pope approved decrees recognizing that four candidates for sainthood heroically lived the Christian virtues; the decrees were signed during an audience Feb. 18 with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes. The four candidates, who are now “venerable,” included Cardinal Pironio, who had served in numerous offices in the Roman Curia from 1975 until his retirement in 1996. St. Paul VI called him to Rome as pro-prefect of the Vatican congregation for religious. When St. John Paul II named him to head the Pontifical Council for the Laity in 1984, the late pope instituted the annual celebration of World Youth Day, including huge international gatherings presided over by the pope every two years and organized by the laity council.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – As part of ongoing measures to reform the Roman Curia, Pope Francis has approved restructuring the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the oldest of the congregations. Once comprised of a doctrinal office, a discipline office and a marriage office, the new structure will see the doctrinal and discipline offices become their own special sections led by their own secretaries; the marriage office will become part of the doctrinal office. The two secretaries will serve under the congregation’s prefect. Spanish Cardinal Luis Ladaria, who has been prefect of the congregation since 2017, will celebrate his 78th birthday April 19. The heads of Vatican offices are required to offer their resignations to the pope when they turn 75. In “Fidem servare” (Preserving the Faith), published “motu proprio,” (on his own initiative) Feb. 14, Pope Francis said the main task of the congregation has been to safeguard or “keep the faith.” The changes went into effect the same day. Over time, the congregation has seen modifications to its areas of responsibilities and how it is configured, and now, Pope Francis said, further change is needed “to give it an approach more suited to the fulfillment of its functions.”
WORLD SÃO PAULO (CNS) – The Diocese of Petrópolis and the city’s parishes have opened their doors to assist victims of the torrential rainstorm that flooded the historic city of Petrópolis. Bishop Gregório Paixão Neto asked that priests and parishioners take in people whose houses were affected by the Feb. 15 mudslides and needed shelter. “This moment is one of solidarity, and we of the Catholic Church are deeply united and in solidarity with all families,” Bishop Paixão said in a video message released on social media. “I ask you to welcome your relatives, your friends and those who are in despair, looking for a place to stay. I, myself, already have a family staying in my house,” he added. The mid-February storm is considered one of the worst in city in the past 70 years, with rainfall surpassing 10 inches in six hours, a volume greater than expected for the entire month of February. As of early Feb. 17, 104 deaths had been recorded, and dozens were still missing under the mud and rubble. The Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro, through Caritas, launched the SOS Petrópolis campaign, asking for donations for families affected by the rains.
IQUITOS, Peru (CNS) – Oil spills on opposite sides of Peru – one near Lima, the coastal capital, and the other in a remote Indigenous village in the Amazon – brought together Catholics in the two regions for simultaneous Masses Feb. 13. They prayed for those suffering from the pollution caused by both spills as they marked the second anniversary of “Querida Amazonia,” (Beloved Amazonia), the papal exhortation issued by Pope Francis after the 2019 Synod of Bishops for the Amazon. The liturgies, accompanied by video messages exchanged by Bishop Miguel Angel Cadenas of Iquitos and Archbishop Carlos Castillo Mattasoglio of Lima and played at each of the Masses, formed the first such joint initiative between bishops in Lima and the Amazon. In January, similar disasters struck the two regions. A ship offloading oil Jan. 15 at a coastal refinery spilled about 6,000 barrels of oil into the Pacific Ocean, fouling at least 30 miles of shoreline. On Jan. 20, vandals cut an oil pipeline in a small Amazonian village, contaminating the river that people depend on for water for drinking, cooking and bathing. In his homily, Archbishop Castillo said, “We have a commitment – our city of Lima and our entire coast – to our Amazon region.”
VICKSBURG – On Saturday, Feb. 12, Vicksburg Council 898 held their 12th annual March for Life. The March began at St. Aloysius High School and ended at the Monument for Life at the Vicksburg City Cemetery. The monument was constructed by the council in the mid 1990’s on a parcel purchased from the city at the corner of Sky Farm and Lover’s Lane. Twenty marchers left St. Aloysius at 11:30 a.m. with Bishop Joseph Kopacz and Father Robert Dore joining them. Upon arrival at the monument, the Knights prayed the Rosary with the marchers. (Photos courtesy of Charles Hahn)
