southerncross.diosav.org - The Southern Cross

Parish Center dedicated at Saints Peter and Paul

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:50:33 -0500

Right: Bishop J. Kevin Boland is surrounded by parishoners and guests as he blesses those gathered inside for the dedication in the nearly completed 9,000 square foot parish center at Saints Peter and Paul Parish at Nativity of our Lord Church, Savannah.
(Photo links to slide show of additional images.)

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One new priest, 24 new deacons ordained in past three weeks

Wed, 28 May 2008 13:03:29 -0500

Pictured above are the permanent deacons, their wives and Bishop J. Kevin Boland on the steps of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist shortly after the May 31, 2008 Diaconate Ordination Mass in Savannah.
Clicking the photograph will link to a slide show of the ordinations held in the diocese on May 24, May 31, and June 7. The slides will change every 10 seconds or you may use the scroll bar to select images in the presentation as you wish.
Photo by; Paul H. Camp

Ordinations were
held in the
diocese on
May, 24,
May 31, and
June 7.

Bishop J. Kevin Boland ordained seminarians Matthew Ericksen and Luis Fonseca to the transitional diaconate at Sacred Heart Church, Warner Robins, on Saturday, May 24 at 10:00 a.m.

On Saturday, May 31 at 10:00 a.m., at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, the bishop also ordained 22 men to the permanent diaconate. They are:
J. Brian Bergeron, Our Divine Saviour, Tifton;
John D. Blaha, Saint Augustine, Thomasville;
Columbus Carter, Jr., Saint John the Evangelist, Valdosta;
Tirso A. Castillo, Immaculate Conception, Dublin;
Gerald R. Clark, Saint Frances Cabrini, Savannah;
Donald R. Coates, Saint Joseph, Macon;
Kerry C. Diver, Saint Teresa of Avila, Grovetown;
Thomas J. Eden, Saint Joseph, Macon;
Peter H. Falkenhausen, III, Saint John the Evangelist, Valdosta;
Richard A. Halbur, Saint Stephen, First Martyr, Hinesville;
David V. Hayden, Saint Joseph, Macon;
Robert J. Kepshire, Saint Teresa of Avila, Grovetown;
David L. Kriegel, Saint Michael, Fort Gordon;
James F. Lloyd, Saint Joseph, Augusta;
Kenneth R. Maleck, Saint Mary on the Hill, Augusta;
Michael J. McGrath, Saint Matthew, Statesboro;
Patrick F. Mongan, Most Holy Trinity, Augusta;
Reinaldo Morales-Morales, Saint Joseph. Augusta;
Bienvenido Perez, Jr., Hunter Army Air Field, Savannah;
James D. Roberge, Jr., Saint Patrick, Kathleen;
Joseph S. Soparas, Saint Teresa of Avila, Grovetown;
Albert J. Sullivan, Jr., Saint Mary on the Hill, Augusta.

Bishop Boland ordained Deacon Mariusz K. Fuks to the priesthood on Saturday, June 7 at 10:00 a.m.

Five diocesan priests named monsignors

Thu, 01 May 2008 10:18:31 -0500

On April 24, Bishop J. Kevin Boland announced the following: “Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has appointed Reverend John A. Kenneally, vg, and Reverend Lawrence A. Lucree as Prelates of Honor and Reverend Fred J. Nijem, Reverend P. James Costigan and Reverend Christopher J. Schreck as Chaplains to the Holy Father. All five honorees will carry the title of Monsignor. There will be an official installation ceremony at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist on a date yet to be determined.”

“These papal honors are obviously a special recognition for the nominees, but at the same time a moment of joy and recognition for the great work that is done by our presbyterate,” Bishop Boland said. “The nominees represent the different spectrums of ministries in the church. Within the context of these five nominees the retired priests are recognized for their continuing contributions; the ministry of academia is also recognized together with church administration and the ongoing pastoral ministry which is the lifeblood of every diocese. In honoring and congratulating these men, we honor the total presbyterate of our diocese.”

The bishop added, “The recent pastoral visit of our Holy Father to the U.S. recognized the vitality of the Church, and an integral part of that vitality is the ministry of priests. The Diocese of Savannah is blessed in the service of the honorees but also blessed in the service of all who belong to our diocesan presbyterate.”

Monsignor John Anthony Kenneally, vg., a native of Cork City, Ireland, was educated at Little Island National School, Saint Finbarr’s College, University College, Dublin, and All Hallows Seminary, Dublin. Father Kenneally was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Savannah on June 15, 1969, at All Hallows.

He has served as Chancellor of the Diocese of Savannah, Pastor of Holy Spirit Parish, Macon, and Saint James Parish, Savannah, as well as Dean of the Savannah Deanery. He currently serves as Diocesan Personnel Advisor, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia. He is also Pastor of Saint William Parish, Saint Simons Island.

Monsignor Lawrence Aloysius Lucree, a native of Savannah, was educated at Cathedral Parochial School and Benedictine Military School in Savannah, and Saint Bernard’s College, Cullman, Alabama and Saint Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore, Maryland.

Father Lucree was ordained on May 7, 1960 at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, Savannah. Twice Rector of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist (1967-70 and 1974-76), he has also served as Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, Augusta, Saint Teresa Parish, Albany, Saint Joseph Parish, Jesup, Saint Matthew Parish, Statesboro, Saint John the Evangelist Parish, Valdosta, and its missions, Queen of Peace Parish, Lakeland, Saint Mary Parish, Americus, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Columbus, and Saint Theresa Parish, Cordele, as well as dean of three deaneries. He lives in retirement in Andersonville.

Monsignor P. James Costigan, a native of Roscrea, Ireland, was educated at Saint Cronan’s National School, Saint Flannan’s School, Mount Melleray Seminary and Saint Patrick Seminary, Carlow. Father Costigan was ordained for the Diocese of Savannah on June 8, 1968 at the Carlow Cathedral. He has served as Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, Savannah, Saint Mary on the Hill Parish, Augusta, Saint James Parish, Savannah, as well as Dean of the Augusta Deanery. He is currently Pastor of Saint Michael Parish, Tybee Island.

Monsignor Frederick Joseph Nijem, a native of Valdosta, was educated at Saint John’s School and Valdosta High School, Valdosta, Saint Bernard’s College, Cullman, Alabama, Saint John’s College, Little Rock, Arkansas, Saint Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore, Maryland, Valdosta State College and Loyola Graduate School of Education, Baltimore, Maryland.

Father Nijem was ordained on May 25, 1968, at Saint John the Evangelist Church, Valdosta. He has served as Pastor of Saint Benedict the Moor Parish, Savannah, Saint Teresa Parish, Albany, and Holy Trinity Parish, Augusta, Pastor, and as Dean of two different Deaneries, Director of Camp Villa Marie and Director of Saint Piux X Center, Savannah. He is currently Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, Warner Robins.

Monsignor Christopher Joseph Schreck, ssl, std, phd, a native of Savannah, was educated at Saint John Vianney Minor Seminary, Savannah, Saint John Vianney Minor Seminary, Richmond, Virginia, the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, Italy, the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome, Italy, and the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. Father Schreck was ordained a priest on July 9, 1977, at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, Savannah.

After serving at Saint James Parish, Savannah, and in the diocesan vocations office, Father Schreck taught at Saint Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, Boynton Beach, Florida, and Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was Academic Dean, Vice President for Educational Affairs and Vice Rector. He currently teaches at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio.

Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Port Wentworth, opens doors to blast victims, families

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 07:10:27 -0600

Photos by Father Michael J. Kavanaugh
Medical workers use Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Port Wentworth as a triage center for victims of a devastating explosion at the Imperial Sugar Refinery on February 7. Bags of saline fluid hung in pear trees on the front lawn of the church. As of February 14, seven workers were confirmed dead, one was missing, and 29 had been received at Memorial Medical Center, 20 of whom were transferred by helicopter to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctor’s Hospital, Augusta. As of the same date, 17 remained hospitalized in Augusta.

By Father Michael J. Kavanaugh

Most of us have seen on television images of family groups huddled together in a large room, anxiously awaiting word about their relatives and friends who have been involved in some catastrophic accident such as a ship lost in a storm or a mine or cave-in.

That scene was repeated in the parish hall at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Port Wentworth, Georgia, last Thursday night and Friday morning following the devastating explosion and fire that nearly demolished the Imperial Sugar Refinery (formerly known as Dixie Crystals), located just across the street from the Church, shortly before 7:00 p.m. on February 7.

I had been sitting at my kitchen table writing a few notes when the powerful explosion happened. So loud was the “boom” that I ended up on the floor, either from fright or from some reflexive attempt to protect myself. After a second or two I ran out the back door of the rectory, expecting to see either the church or the parish hall in ruins from a gas explosion. Since we are just 3 miles from the Savannah airport, the possibility of a plane crash also flashed through my mind. Finding the parish buildings intact, I looked across the highway toward the sugar refinery and saw a huge cloud of smoke rising rapidly with burning debris sailing through the air, resembling fireworks. I hurried to the front of the church to be able to tell if the explosion was at the creosote plant, on the left of Oxnard Avenue, or the sugar mill which is on the right. Realizing that the explosion was at the mill, I ran back into the house, grabbed my keys and a flashlight, and seeing my neighbors Mary and Bill Chant in their back yard, I ran to tell them what I had seen.

Almost immediately we heard sirens, so we went to the front of the church to see four or five police cars turning from the highway down toward the mill. A few moments later the Port Wentworth fire department trucks came screaming to the rescue, and within a few minutes police and fire equipment from every municipality in the region were arriving. Joyce and Alan Baker, members of our parish, had been attending a meeting just a few blocks away at Port Wentworth City Hall and were the first to reach the scene down at the mill. Joyce Baker said on TV how as they arrived they saw many of the injured staggering away from the wrecked and burning buildings.

Realizing that this was going to be an enormous effort involving many people, I opened the church and turned on the lights, then went to do the same in the parish hall. As police cruiser after police cruiser arrived, some began turning into our parking lot. One of the first officers actually asked politely if they could use the church grounds for a staging area. We told them we would help in any way we could. The police mobile command center arrived and parked in front of the grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes, next to the highway, and facing the sugar mill. As emergency response personnel began to fill the front yard of the church, we began bringing chairs out onto the lawn for the wounded to use. The medical teams used the yard as their triage location, giving initial exams to the injured, many of them badly burned, and determining how they would be transported to the hospitals. About 30 minutes into the response the first evacuation helicopters began to land on the ball fields of Port Wentworth Elementary School, located next door to the church.

Within an hour a police officer asked if we had a place where family members of those who had been working in the mill could gather. Since they could not come down the highway which had been barricaded, we laid out a path through the Chants’ backyard into our parking lot. In groups they began to arrive, virtually everyone involved in an agitated cell phone conversation. Neighbors came asking how they could help, so we began making coffee and offering whatever food we could find to those arriving. The Salvation Army canteen truck arrived on the scene to provide food and drink to the police officers and fire fighters, and Red Cross personnel came in with bottled water and food for the families.

By 10:00 p.m. the rush of activity was over and a long, long night of waiting had begun. The police did everything they could to keep the family members informed, providing all the information they had about individual mill employees, saying which hospital they had been taken to or, in many cases, if the employee was uninjured. The briefings took place about every 45 minutes with new information being added. After several hours, however, those whose names had not been added to the list were referred to as “those not accounted for.”

Administrative personnel from the mill moved into our parish office to use our computer and fax machine since the explosion had knocked out the electric power in the refinery. Calling the home office of Imperial Foods in Texas, the local team received by fax the list of names of those known or thought to be working in the mill that evening. A complication to this part of the process was that there were a few contractors working in the mill area and the refinery team did not have access to their personnel data. The police used these lists to track down the location of those who had been taken by ambulance or helicopter to the hospitals and relayed this information to the families.

By sunrise on Friday, most of the families had gone to Savannah area hospitals to be with those injured who were being cared for locally. Many began the trip to the Joseph Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta where the badly burned had been taken. At approximately 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Savannah Chatham Metropolitan Police Chief Michael Berkow informed the families that the operation was changing modes from a “rescue” to a “recovery” operation. This announcement unleashed a flood of emotion as people realized that those who had been among the “not accounted for” were now presumed dead. Police chaplains and Red Cross disaster relief team members did what they could to comfort those who now knew their father or mother, brother or sister, husband or wife, had perished in the explosion and fire.

A candlelight memorial service was held on Saturday, February 9, at 6:00 p.m. on the front lawn of our parish church, the same location that had been used to treat the injured just 36 hours earlier. port Wentworth Mayor Glenn Jones, several local ministers, and I led the service, praying for those who had died, for those who had been injured, for their families, and offering thanks to the dozens of police officers, fire fighters, and medical professionals who worked so bravely to rescue and care for the injured. Currently, there have been six confirmed deaths at the sugar mill and two individuals remain “unaccounted for.” We keep their families in our prayers, along with those who are still hospitalized in Savannah and in Augusta.

Father Michael J. Kavanaugh is pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Port Wentworth.

From palms to ashes

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:17:29 -0600

By Alice Scavullo Atchison

Kindergarten through fifth grade students watched as palms were burned at the Savannah school on January 30 in preparation for the Ash Wednesday Mass, celebrated on the first day of Lent. Father Mark Ross, pastor, presided over the service. The palms from last year’s Palm Sunday were brought from students’ homes for the special service.
The ashes will be used for Ash Wednesday, the day on which ashes are imposed on the foreheads of participants to show all who see them that they know that they are not perfect and are willing to undertake the six-week period of prayer, fasting and almsgiving called “Lent.”
The prayer at the service called on God to “look upon us as we enter these forty days bearing the mark of ashes, and bless our journey through the desert of Lent to the font of rebirth. May our fasting be a hunger for justice: our alms a making of peace; and our prayer, the chant of humble and grateful hearts.”

Protecting our children from the Internet

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 10:13:37 -0600

www.commonsensemedia.org offers advice to parents on all manner of media; the page above presents a short video covering social
networking online.

More web resources for parents
http://www.virtus.org/virtus/
http://www.pta.org/parent_resources.html
http://www.usccb.org/ocyp/
http://diosav.org/childyouthprotection

Diocesan Offices,
Schools 912-201-4121
Religious Education 912-201-4042
Protection of Children 912- 201- 4073
Youth and Young Adults 912 201-4056

“Child pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide and consumers of child pornography are primarily Americans. The victims are becoming younger. It is estimated that 56 percent of the children are pre-pubescent and 3 percent, infants. Sadly, producing child pornography is not even a crime in 95 countries, and its possession is not a crime in 136 countries.”
—”Promise to Protect” Program of the Catholic Communication Campaign

By Ormonde E. Lewis
In recent years, parental concern regarding pornography has shifted from television to the Internet. Bishop J. Kevin Boland has been very clear in his directives that he recognizes the potential sexual abuse dangers posed by the Internet, and that the Diocese of Savannah needs to continue to educate the diocesan faithful in this arena. Consequently, the diocese is stepping up its efforts to help parents protect their children from pornography on the Internet. The diocesan offices of Catholic Schools, Religious Education, Child and Youth Protection and Youth and Young Adult Ministry are working together on strategies, materials and programs that will combat this growing problem.

“Pervasive” is how Sister Rose Mary Collins, Superintendent of Schools, describes the problem of child pornography in today’s society. She believes parents have to be more proactive regarding this issue. “Parents have to stay on top of things. They may want to consider getting their own ‘MySpace’ and ‘Facebook’ accounts on the Internet. The only way to understand how dangerous these sites are is to go there. No matter how I look at this and many other situations that threaten the safety of our youth, it comes back to family. Children of all ages need guidance and the home is the most important place for educating their spirits and their minds.” Sister Rose Mary stresses “family time, family rules and family support.” Simply put, parents have to spend sufficient time with their children, set parameters on what can be done and keep communication lines open in all situations. Collins said diocesan school teachers will get opportunities to participate in conferences and discussions on this issue at their annual staff development conference in February.

Ann Pinckney, Director of Religious Education, also believes we need more parental involvement in attacking this problem. “We have to have educational programs for parents to help them recognize the dangers children face on the Internet. Parents have to monitor what their children are viewing on television and the computer monitor.” Pinckney said the diocese has strict requirements for those who work with and around children. All personnel who do so must have VIRTUS Training and have a background check. All parishes have access to new resources and materials for use by parents to inform them about the issue of child pornography. Both Pinckney and Sister Collins attended the Promise to Protect Seminar, sponsored by the Catholic Communications Campaign and the U.S. Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C. in September to learn the latest information regarding child pornography.

Stephen B. Williams, who directs the Office for the Protection of Children and Young People, says, “There is no greater potential sexual abuse danger posed to our youth than improper use of the Internet. This includes chat rooms, social networking sites, and the predators who frequent them.” With this in mind, Williams has again asked international law enforcement consultant on child pornography, Robert Farley, to make presentations at the Diocesan Education Institute and for the general community, both to be held at Saint James Church in Savannah in February 2008. Farley was well-received at a similar presentation in 2006 in Augusta. Details regarding Farley’s up-coming visit to Savannah will be announced in the Southern Cross.

Chuck Frost, diocesan director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, hopes that parents and parish youth groups will use the new PowerPoint presentation on Internet safety that he developed: “We are living in a MySpace age, so to speak, where many youth are forming their identity online. And of course, in process, they can be exposed to information and images that are destructive and often not by choice. To address that issue, I came up with a presentation that teaches parents how to protect their children from online dangers which I’ve used in a few parishes already.” Frost can be contacted at 912- 201-4056 for information on the presentation.

Additional programs, speakers and materials will continue to be screened and assessed by diocesan offices to identify the best possible resources for parishes, schools and homes. Williams stressed the high priority of this issue when he said, “Whatever the final product(s), the diocese is serious about continuing to educate the diocesan faithful on the necessity to be vigilant to the potential sexual abuse dangers of the Internet.”

Gartland Awards conferred on the Feast of Christ the King

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 10:17:58 -0600

J. Brenda Collazo, of Saint Teresa of Avila Parish, Grovetown, receives the Bishop Francis X. Gartland Service Award from Bishop J. Kevin Boland at the special Mass on the Solemnity of Christ the King, November 25.

The photo above links to a photo gallery of the presentation service.
Click on the shield to see the portrait gallery and read brief biographies of the 2007 Gartland Award recipients.

The Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist was filled to capacity on November 25, the Solemnity of Christ the King as Bishop J. Kevin Boland conferred the Bishop Francis X. Gartland Service Award on over 70 members of the Savannah diocesan family. Several other honorees were unable to attend the ceremony and will receive their medals later.

Bishop Boland instituted the Gartland Service Award, named after the first Bishop of Savannah (1850-54), during the diocese’s sesquicentennial celebrations in 2000. The award recognizes long-standing service to the Catholic Church in south Georgia. Pastors may nominate up to two honorees each year.

Among this year’s honorees was J. Brenda Collazo of Saint Teresa of Avila Parish, Grovetown. She was honored along with her husband Carlos. Brenda currently serves on the parish’s Stewardship Committee and was also heavily involved in organizing the parish’s first Harvest Festival at the church’s new property. She has been a part of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults team with Sister Laura Ann Grady, CSJ, for six years, serving as sponsor for three new Catholics. Along with her husband, she became a Eucharistic Minister this year.

Another honoree was Mary Alice Garvin, who has served as the full-time organist at the Church of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Savannah, for the past 29 years. Garvin said that she was “surprised and shocked” to learn of the honor, as she has been a member of Epworth United Methodist Church since 1939. “Mary Alice is a very giving, selfless person who has been so gracious to us in terms of being there for us so many times for funerals and for unexpected times,” Blessed Sacrament’s pastor, Father Jeremiah J. McCarthy told the Savannah Morning News. Garvin concedes she has grown so familiar with the music in a Roman Catholic Mass that she likely knows it better than many parishioners.

Good Samaritan Clinic opens in Garden City

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:56:37 -0600

Carola Stone, RN, checks Patricia Izmodes’ pulse at the clinic. Izmodes was one of 13 patients seen on November 7, the clinic’s third session.

On Wednesday, October 24, a free medical clinic, staffed by volunteers and established to serve the needs of the poor and uninsured in West Chatham County, opened in Garden City. The Good Samaritan Clinic / La Clinica Buen Samaritano is co-sponsored by Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Port Wentworth, the Georgia Department of Community Health, and Saint Joseph / Candler Health Systems. The clinic operates in the Saint Joseph / Candler building at 4707 Augusta Road in Garden City, across the street from Groves High School.

Planning for The Good Samaritan Clinic / La Clinica Buen Samaritano began almost one year ago. Patricia Adamcak, Regional Volunteer Coordinator of the Georgia Department of Community Health, contacted Father Michael J. Kavanaugh, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Port Wentworth.

The Port Wentworth/Garden City area has a large concentration of low income uninsured people in need of medical care. One measure of this need was established after the success of an after-church vaccine distribution at Our Lady of Lourdes Church on January 14, 2007, made possible by the affiliation of Saint Joseph’s / Candler with the Catholic Pastoral Center.

Sister Margaret Beatty, RSM, Vice President for Mission Services of Saint Joseph / Candler Health Systems, Jeannine Dueño, Hispanic Ministry Coordinator for the Savannah Deanery, and Father Kavanaugh led the planning effort which included identifying the volunteers, securing a location, developing procedures and protocols, writing a mission statement, and incorporating the clinic as a non-profit organization under the laws of the State of Georgia.

Through the Georgia Department of Community Health, volunteers in the clinic will be free from legal liability as they work to care for the basic medical and health needs of those served in the clinic.

Over seventy individuals have volunteered to staff the clinic, which will be open on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. The volunteers include physicians and physician assistants, nurses and nurse practitioners, medical technologists, administrative workers, and interpreters. Dr. Carol Gaines will serve as the medical director, Jeannine Dueño will be the clinic director, and Melissa Majeski will coordinate the schedule of volunteer workers.

On the first night of service 13 individuals received medical care from the volunteers. “I was terribly impressed with the volunteers” said Father Kavanaugh, “I was almost moved to tears by the great things they had done.” To date the clinic has served 35 people. Sister Beatty recalled being “ very energized and uplifted to be among the volunteers each night.”

To be eligible for the medical services of the clinic, a person’s household income must be between 100% and 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines. For example, if a person lives in a household of four individuals and the household income is below $3,441.67 per month, persons in that household will be eligible for medical care in the clinic.

Not only will the clinic help to improve or maintain the health of its clients, it will also help to reduce the number of uninsured individuals who currently use hospital emergency rooms, which are not designed as primary care facilities and which are extremely expensive, as their initial source for treatment of simple illnesses.

The clinic name—The Good Samaritan / La Clinica Buen Samaritano—comes from the tenth chapter of the Gospel of Saint Luke and embodies its purpose, that is, to serve the basic medical needs of the clinic’s neighbors without counting the cost. Father Kavanaugh said, “The crisis in access to health care in our country and the presence of more than 40 million uninsured persons makes the work of this free clinic all the more important and all the more needed in our community.”

As a non-profit organization, the clinic welcomes donations to help support its work among the poor and uninsured. Anyone wishing to volunteer—and there is always a need for doctors and nurses—is asked to contact Father Michael J. Kavanaugh at 912-964-0219.

“It was a good day!” Day of Reflection held in Augusta

Fri, 09 Nov 2007 15:01:44 -0600

click picture to visit gallery

Father Edward Branch interacts with Rakeem Simmons and other youth from Resurrection of Our Lord Parish, Savannah, and Saint John the Evangelist Parish, Valdosta.(Photo by Ormonde E. Lewis) See more photos in the gallery at http://southerncross.diosav.org.

By Ormonde E. Lewis

“It was a good day!” said Betty Simmons of Savannah’s Sacred Heart Church as she and a busload of representatives from Savannah Deanery parishes returned from the annual Day of Reflection, sponsored by the Office of African-American Ministry, held November 3 in Augusta.

It was a good day, indeed, as more than 100 people from six of the seven deaneries of the Savannah Diocese met in Saint Patrick’s Hall of the Church of the Most Holy Trinity for discussions, fellowship and group work.

It was also a good day to worship as the participants joined others from the Augusta area for Mass in the historic Church of the Most Holy Trinity. November 3 is the feast of Saint Martin de Porres, the first Black saint of the Americas.

Father Robert E. Chaney, Director of the Office of African American Ministry for the Diocese of Savannah, planned the day-long event with assistance from the Black Catholic Ministry of the Augusta Deanery.

According to Chaney, the day’s theme: “A Look Back to See the Way Forward,” indicates that “Black Catholics and Catholics in general need to have an awareness of the Black Catholic contribution to the church.” The day also served as a follow-up to the Tenth National Black Congress held this past summer in Buffalo and attended by Chaney and over 25 delegates from the Diocese of Savannah. Assisting Father Chaney and the participants in the Day of Reflection’s “look back” was Father Edward B. Branch, Chaplain and Director of Lyke House, the Catholic Center at Atlanta University Center. Father Branch took the participants on an informative journey through Biblical and Church history to point out the important roles of those of African descent. He also talked extensively about the role of the sacraments in the daily lives of Catholics, the need to catechize young people and to “live what we believe” through good deeds and evangelization. He admonished all who take pride in their rich Black Catholic history: “We must be clear in what we are celebrating. Are we celebrating ourselves or are we celebrating God’s goodness to us?”

The Day of Reflection ended with a communal Penance service and a reaffirmation of Baptism vows. Father Chaney said he hoped the activities of the day would remind participants of their Baptismal call to take ownership of evangelization, personal and communal evangelization.

The 2008 Day of Reflection will be held in Savannah. For more information, contact the Office of African American Ministry at 912-201-4100.

2007 Gartland Award recipients announced

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 14:04:25 -0500

Bishop J. Kevin Boland will confer the Gartland Service Award on 73 members of the Savannah diocesan family at Mass celebrated in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist on the Solemnity of Christ the King on November 25. Bishop Boland instituted the Bishop Francis X. Gartland Service Award, named after the first Bishop of Savannah, during the diocese’s sesquicentennial celebrations in 2000. The award recognizes long-standing service to the Catholic Church in south Georgia. Pastors may nominate up to two honorees each year. The recipients are listed below by deanery and parish.

Albany Deanery
Walter B. Cowan, Lucile Ussery
Saint Teresa, Albany

Beverly E. Barter
Saint Teresa, Cordele

Irisan F. Manalo
Saint Michael, Montezuma

Joseph Rodriguez, Ana Rodriguez
Immaculate Conception, Moultrie

Jeannie Ceccacci
Saint Augustine, Thomasville

Augusta Deanery
Deacon Greg Bernard, Janice E. Mousseau
Saint Joseph, Augusta

Carlos J. Collazo, J. Brenda Collazo
Saint Teresa of Avila, Grovetown

Columbus Deanery
Marta Quinones
Our Lady of Lourdes, Columbus

Bob Seguin, Gerry Seguin
Saint Anne, Columbus

Sister Mildred Morrissey, FMM, Don Taylor
Christ the King, Pine Mountain

Macon Deanery
Noni Broadbooks, James Caldwell
Immaculate Conception, Dublin

Deacon Kenneth Hutnick, Evelyn Hunt
Saint Juliana, Fort Valley

Patrick Filholm, Joanne Tabach Fast
Saint Patrick, Kathleen

Ernest Bailey, Angela Cardenas
Saint Peter Claver, Macon

Flynn Andrew, Dr. Wendy Lockwood
Saint Joseph, Macon

Robert Waller, Ellen Waller
Sacred Heart, Warner Robins

Patricia Blaha, Duffie Lawler
Holy Spirit, Macon

Savannah Deanery
Romanda Talley,
Our Lady of Lourdes, Port Wentworth

Robert McGrath, Debra Ramsey
Saint Anne, Richmond Hill

Mary Clark Rechtiene, Dick Rechtiene
Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, Savannah

William Vail Bennett, Mary Alice Garvin
Blessed Sacrament, Savannah

Robert Lee Farley, Leola Lamar Farley
Resurrection of Our Lord, Savannah

Anthony B. Purdy
Sacred Heart, Savannah

Yvonne C. Williams, Anne M. Antol
Saint Benedict the Moor, Savannah

June C. Rich
Saint Frances Cabrini, Savannah

Eleanor Farkas, Sister Camille Collini, CSJ
Saint James, Savannah

Carolyn Groover, Craig Groover
Saint Peter the Apostle, Savannah

Denise Curtis, Deborah Rafter
Saint Boniface, Springfield

Marilyn C. Price
Saint Michael, Tybee Island

Statesboro Deanery
Marie Driggers, Jose Ramirez
Saint Christopher, Claxton

Maria G. Ramirez
Saint Christopher, Claxton

Janice Simpson, Joe Simpson
Holy Family, Metter

Mary Shuman, Russ Shuman
Holy Cross, Pembroke

Cruz Castro
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Sand Hill

Jerri Pierce
Saint Matthew, Statesboro

Patti Tramontana
Holy Trinity, Swainsboro

Johnny Whitley
Holy Trinity, Swainsboro

Valdosta/Brunswick Deanery
Jeannine Dovers, Ignacio Escobar Romero
Saint Paul, Douglas

Charles B. Clark, Melissa K. Sirmans
Saint William, Fitzgerald

John Rourke, Lou Andruzzi
Saint Jude, Hinesville

Bonny Carreker, Dr. Jan Schrum
Saint Stephen, First Martyr, Hinesville

Lee Vierly
Saint Mary, Nashville

Valerie Hiott Ackerman
Our Lady, Star of the Sea, Saint Mary’s

Barbara Pelletier
Saint William, Saint Simons Island

Sue E. White, Shirley McKinnon
Holy Family, Willacoochee

Grace enough for the here and now

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 10:05:57 -0500

Last week, our seven-year-old had an accident at school. He slammed into a tree while running full-force as he was looking over his shoulder. He was deep in the throes of Ball Tag, and the real indignity of it all was that he was tagged by the ball just as he hit the tree.

The accident was terribly unnerving for many of the children on the playground; Charlie took most of the force on his forehead, and the head is very vascular. The impact threw my boy to the ground and he was immediately dazed and drenched in blood. By the time I got to the school, ten minutes later, Charlie had some color and was making jokes. But it was still scary and also a mess.

That afternoon, we spent several hours in the emergency room. This was not our first trip to the ER with one of the boys, but it was our first for such a large cut. When it was all said and done, Charlie had a severely bruised knee (X-ray showed no injury), several hearty scrapes and four stitches. Not nearly as bad as things initially seemed they would be.

Throughout this ordeal, I had a sense of calm about the situation. There was grace on it. While I had been marginally worried there would be unsuspected injuries, the doctors were quick to assess and minimize the damage.

During our time at the hospital, however, the longer we were there, the more fearful I became. While I wasn’t worried about the immediate situation, I started to fret about the reality of my life, of being a mother of boys, and specifically five boys with an incredible zest for life. Here I was dealing with one boy with one injury. How could I handle this times five over the course of X number of years?

I started to let my imagination get the better of me. I have a list of things I worry about, my little Rachel’s Top Ten of things I fear will happen to my children. Running full-force into an ancient oak tree isn’t even on the list. How, I started to wonder, could I control all the scary and bad things that could possibly happen? How could I stop them from happening? I used to think worrying would help, but now I’m not so sure.

For a brief moment, in that hospital room, I started to doubt God’s wisdom in giving me all these boys. And I was afraid—afraid of the future, of other injuries and trips to the emergency room and situations that could be worse than this. How could I handle all that, I wondered. I’m simply not strong enough.

And then I realized—I don’t have to be.

In the midst of all my fear and doubt, I somehow felt a wave of calm. God, in his infinite mercy, revealed himself. He gently reminded me of his unending love and his unfailing grace.
There wasn’t grace for any of those other situations—things which may or may not ever happen —because all I could do was deal with right now. I had to stop worrying about the future and focus on this boy and this wound. There was grace for the here and now, and that was all the grace I needed.

A few days earlier, I had been reading the book of John and found a beautiful reminder of God’s love for us. “Let not your heart be troubled,” writes John, “neither let it be afraid.” God really does desire perfect freedom and happiness in each of our lives.

Rachel Swenson Balducci is a freelance writer, wife, mother of five sons and a member of Most Holy Trinity Parish, Augusta.

On the virtues of standing in line

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 10:04:12 -0500

When I lived in England twenty years ago, one aspect of British life was very appealing to me—the queue. I loved the orderly way in which the British lined up for buses or to purchase tomatoes (to-mah-toes) at the greengrocer. Patiently, with great decorum, the English wait in line. It is an art form.

This queuing up, as they call it, fills a deep need of mine. In most areas of my life, I am notoriously untidy, scattered. But when it comes to waiting in line, I can become militaristic. There’s comfort in a well-ordered queue. Even if you find yourself near the back, you feel confident that if you follow all the rules, waiting patiently for the bus or the clerk to wait on you, your patience will be rewarded. There’s no anxiety, or concern that somehow you’ll be overlooked. You take your place and wait with quiet confidence.

In England, if someone broke a queue, you could almost be sure the person was a foreigner. I don’t recall ever witnessing a Briton disrupt a perfect line. When I was there the British were too polite to call attention to a line-breaker. They may “tsk tsk” quietly, but I never saw anyone raise a ruckus over a broken queue. It was as if the line-breaker, just by virtue of having committed this grave social sin, had condemned himself. Nothing need be said.

Prior to England, I lived in Italy, and the Italians had no regard for queues. When a bus arrived at the stop, they flooded through the door. I was virtually swept into the bus in a tide of bodies. There was no pretense of a line, and, because of that, I didn’t feel much anxiety. When there are no hard and fast rules, there’s also less concern about injustice. Interestingly, though it was chaotic, we all seemed to make it through the line.
Most disconcerting to me is waiting in line in the U. S. Perhaps because we’re a melting pot, we seem to have no consistent standard of waiting in line, no clear and fast rules. Sometimes, we’re like the British, patient and orderly. Sometimes, we’re like the Italians, a mad rush of bodies. Most times, we’re somewhere in between.

Waiting in the cafeteria line in high school is one of my bad memories. The line was always long, and lunch time short. What I found most troubling was the attitude of some of the more popular kids. If one popular kid was in front of the line, a flock of their peers would suddenly appear and cut in front of the rest of us, those who lacked status in the schoolyard. Sometimes, they wouldn’t even bother to acknowledge us; occasionally, one would smile our way, and say, “you don’t mind, do you?” We never voiced our objections. But inside I seethed.

Like me in the cafeteria line decades ago, many of us become indignant when people break the established norms and expect special treatment. Those of us who are willing to wait patiently in line may consider ourselves more civil, more sensitive to inequality, more considerate of others. However, we reserve our indignation only for “average” Americans like us. Celebrities are not expected to wait in line.

In fact, many of us wait in line for hours just to see them. Typically, people willing to wait in line are almost always considered inferior in status to the privileged. And that distinction is becoming increasingly more pronounced. Waiting in line may soon become an activity strictly for the economically disadvantaged. Disney World, for one, has developed a system that if you buy a special pass (for a fee prohibitive to the average American) you can avoid the long lines for its attractions. There are other ways that the more privileged among us, not celebrities per se, can bypass lines—through “first” or “business” class status on airlines, in hotels, etc. These days, it’s becoming common for the wealthier among us to pay others to stand in line for them.

Standing in line in the U. S., and elsewhere, is rarely just. Indeed, those who are downtrodden find themselves most frequently in long lines—for a bed in the homeless shelter, a bag of groceries in the food pantry, or a vaccination at the health clinic.

In developing countries, waiting in line for scarce goods and services is a fact of life.

The injustice of lining up runs the gamut from the trivial (my high school cafeteria) to the profound (lines of refugees awaiting care for their most basic needs).

Jesus showed great concern for those who couldn’t make it to the front of the line. He noted the grave injustices he witnessed. Indeed, he stated clearly that in God’s kingdom, the first would be last, and the last would be first. When it comes to the world’s resources, we Americans are among the most privileged, the first in line.

When serious about building God’s kingdom, Christians seek justice for those who are, economically, socially, and politically forced to the back of the line.

Mary Hood Hart lives with her
family in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. She can be reached at mhhart@diosav.org.

On faith and reason—again

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 09:59:34 -0500

A little over a year ago, Pope Benedict XVi delivered his now-famous lecture, “Faith, Reason and the University. Memories and Reflections,” at the University of Regensburg. In that unprecedented papal academic lecture, the Holy Father argued the need for “reason and faith [to] come together in a new way,” given the growing split between the two.

Pope Benedict is concerned that forms of non-rational and even irrational faith, on the one hand, are proliferating in some parts of the world, while forms of faithless reason are prevailing in others. Both pose real dangers to humanity. This week’s editorial will address some dangers of non-rational approaches to faith. A later editorial will address the perils of rationalism divorced from faith.

As an example of faith deprived of the leaven of reason, the pope instanced the militaristic strain of Islam. This instance garnered headlines around the world and provoked riots and bloodshed in the Middle East, inadvertently proving the pope’s point. He might well have instanced Christian fundamentalism as well, for it too contains the seeds of irrationality and hence of violence.

This week’s “Faith Alive” section (pages 8-9) discusses fundamentalism as a world-wide phenomenon found in various religions, especially those with sacred texts. In all its forms, fundamentalism regards its sacred texts not just as divinely inspired but virtually as divinely dictated, with little or no “input” from its human authors. It follows, then, that these texts are to be taken “literally,” without the interference of the human activity of interpretation. “The text says what it says,” declares the fundamentalist. But here’s the problem: interpretation is necessary if the reader is to extract any meaning from the text.

The Catholic tradition has pondered these matters for nearly two millenia. As a religion based on belief in the Incarnation of the Word of God, the divine logos (word, reason, logic) in the man Jesus of Nazareth, Christianity in fact proclaims the “marriage of the divine and the human” in him. Hence the classic Catholic tradition has always had room for human reason, for example, philosophy, in formulating its theology, which is an attempt to understand faith. Fides quearens intellectum, wrote Saint Anselm—”faith is seeking understanding.” And so, often with difficulty, the Catholic tradition has sought to understand the sacred texts of our faith, especially the Old and New Testament using the tools of reason in its analysis of the details of the sacred texts in its interpretation of their meaning. The Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum), codified the Church’s developing understanding of the Scriptures by affirming that the inspired human writers of Scripture were “true authors,” along with the Holy Spirit, who brought to their task their human gifts, understanding and talents. Through their human words, the eternal Word of God is expressed. To “decode” that Word, the human words must be analyzed, translated and interpreted by human beings so that human beings of different times and places may understand them and, ultimately, the divine Word that they incarnate.

Such a task is daunting and requires enormous scholarship on the part of many. It also frightens the fundamentalist, whose movement (in the sense of Protestant fundamentalism properly so-called) began in 19th Century America, as a reaction to the uncertainties seemingly posed by the “higher criticism” of the Bible, which was just then beginning to prevail.
In its extreme form, fundamentalism can lead to everything from snake-handling to a rejection of science and technology. It can lead and has led to the condemnation of those who think differently and, as Edward P. Hahnenberg points out (see page 8), “What all fundamentalisms share is a negative view of the world and the claim to have direct access to God.”

At its basis, Catholic Christianity rejects both the utterly negative view of the world and the claim of direct access to God. Although our world is fallen, it is not so negative that God has given up on it. Indeed, Jesus tells us that “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (John 3:16). It is that world that the incarnate Word of God has redeemed by coming into it as a man, “like us in all things but sin,” taking on our human nature, suffering even death for our sins and rising for our justification.

Nor does the Catholic tradition teach that believers have immediate or “direct access” to God in that fundamentalist sense. Rather, it takes seriously the mediation between God and man effected in the God-man, Jesus Christ. It understands that God’s grace is mediated through him, and comes to us indirectly, as it were, through sacraments and sacramentals, which are actions of Christ through his Church, his Mystical Body. And it has come to understand that the Word of God is addressed to us in the human words of Scripture that we must try to understand, using our God-given tools of reason, analysis and interpretation, reading these texts carefully, in their proper historical contexts and in conformity with the lived tradition and living Magisterium of the Church.

While such is the general trajectory of the development of Catholic teaching on Scripture, Pope Benedict noted at Regensburg that there have been counter tendencies since the late Middle Ages that would “sunder” the synthesis “between the Greek spirit and the Christian spirit,” for example the nominalism of John Duns Scotus that cast doubt on the human mind’s ability to understand God’s Word.

Such tendencies are not entirely absent among Catholics. There can be, as Hahnenberg points out, Catholic forms of fundamentalism, in which certain elements of the tradition, certain Magisterial documents of the past, or even reports of private revelations are taken out of context and read without the careful analysis and interpretation that they too require.
Such tendencies evince the kind of dichotomy or split between faith and reason that the logic of the Incarnation excludes.
A year ago Pope Benedict called for reason and faith to “come together in a new way.” The Catholic tradition offers a way and a context for such a coming together—provided that the Catholic people can avoid the twin temptations of fundamentalistic faith and rationalistic secularism.

—DKC

Zambia Fact Finding Tour

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 08:11:58 -0500

click picture to visit gallery

Mothers and grandmothers - Care givers for children orphaned by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Zambia statistics
97 ---- CRS Zambia Staff
10,000,000 ---- Total population
16% ---- Of adults (15-49) with HIV/AIDS
961,000 ---- AIDS affected orphans (1998)
40% ---- Of households hosting AIDS
orphans
60% ---- Of households living on $1 a day or less
(Source: CRS/Zambia Advocacy Delegation — 2007)

Text and Photos by Sister Jackie Griffith, SSJ
A delegation of 14 people from across the United States started out on September 9 for a journey to Zambia in southeast Africa. The Catholic Relief Services (CRS) regional offices sent eight people, and six of the regional offices selected one person from their regions. As a part of that delegation, I represented the southeast region of the United States. After meeting up in London the delegation made a 10-hour flight to Lusaka, the capital of Zambia. We arrived in Zambia about 6:00 a.m. Lusaka time and, after collecting baggage and getting through immigration, we were whisked off by CRS drivers and land cruisers to the Taj Pamodzi Hotel in downtown Lusaka. I remarked to our driver Maxwell that every house and piece of property appeared to have an eight-foot tall concrete or brick wall around it. “So no one can see what you have,” he remarked. The high walls gave a “compound-like” look to the area—not just gates but non-see-through walls.

Several weeks prior to my CRS-sponsored trip to Zambia, I began to pray for the people of that country, honoring my trek to Africa as a spiritual journey as well as a fact-finding endeavor. The purpose of the trip was to learn as much as I could about the plight of the people affected by the pandemic of HIV/AIDS and the lack of food in the region and to discover the myriad of ways that CRS is responding. As with any trip of this magnitude, I expected to be changed as a result of the people I met, the stories I heard and the lives that touched some deep place inside me.

Our time in Zambia ended with the Liturgy in Lusaka at the Catholic Secretariat's small chapel. Upon entering the room my imagination was captured by the wall hanging behind the altar. It was the scene of the Last Supper—people indigenous to Zambia gathered around a table with Jesus sharing the bread and wine of life. Somehow for me this simple hanging and simple scene encapsulated the very heart and soul of the trip—we are the body of Christ nourished and sent forth to be Jesus for others.

For my complete report and additional photos go to:
http://diosav.org/node/779

Sister Jackie Griffith, SSJ is Director of Catholic Social
Services in the Diocese of Savannah.

October is Georgia Archives Month

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 09:53:17 -0500

Archivist Gillian Brown retrieves a file from the rolling stacks located in the diocesan archives vault.

By Gillian Brown
“Georgia History – Stay Tuned” is the theme of Georgia Archives Week this year. Throughout the State, schools and community groups will be celebrating the value of the past and recognizing those who maintain our community’s historical records.

Following are some suggestions for parishes and schools:
Create a display area at your church or school, with photos from the past. Look for family photos as well as those showing milestones (laying a corner stone, blessing a building, celebrating an anniversary) and the day to day life of a community.

Prepare a bulletin board photo gallery with photos of current and former pastors, assistant pastors, parish staff and volunteers, principals, students and teachers.

Search the attic: Look for letters and diaries, scrap albums, programs, newspaper cuttings and yearbooks. Share during class discussion or contribute to parish archives.

Look for treasures of Catholic life: Assemble a collection of those rosaries and statuettes, scapulas, mantillas, crosses and crucifixes, medals and devotional books which were used by grandparents and great-grandparents. Display during October.

Rescue newspapers: Over the years people cut out newspaper articles and keep them until they turn yellow and fall apart. Instead, encourage parishioners or students to copy these on a photo copier, adjusting the exposure to minimize the dark background.

Date each item and note the paper or periodical in which they first appeared.

Plan a preservation workshop: Invite an expert to present a talk on how to maintain the treasures of the past safely. Materials such as paper and fabric will quickly deteriorate in hot and humid conditions. Photos need the protection of folders which are chemically stable and acid-free.

Interview older family members about the early days. This is a great activity for students, who can capture memories of their grandparents and older family members on tape.

Prepare a digital presentation with photos of your church or school and its neighborhood over the years.

Gillian Brown is Archivist of the Diocese of Savannah.
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