San Antonio, Texas, Aug 23, 2018 / 02:13 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Before being allowed to celebrate Mass for families housed at a migrant detention center in south Texas, a local priest was made to sign a confidentiality agreement promising that he would n… […]
Newark, N.J., Aug 23, 2018 / 10:10 am (CNA).- Seton Hall University has announced an independent review of accusations of sexual abuse and harassment against seminarians. The university is sponsored by the Archdiocese of Newark, and is home to Immacula… […]
Bismarck, N.D., Aug 23, 2018 / 03:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Earlier this year, St. John parish in Lansford, N.D., was formally transferred from the Diocese of Fargo to the Diocese of Bismarck. The bishops of both dioceses said Mass at the church on Sunday to mark the change and to celebrate with parishioners.
“The fraternal love of Catholics of North Dakota is symbolized in this wonderful parish,” Bishop David Kagan of Bismarck said during his homily at the Aug. 19 Mass.
“There’s a beauty to this demonstrating the friendship and respect between two bishops who were friends and priests of the Fargo Diocese before being named bishop … This historical day is a sign of our mutual love and respect for one another and abiding love and faith in our Almighty God.”
Priests of the Bismarck diocese had been serving the parish since 1949.
Sonia Mullally wrote in the August issue of Dakota Catholic Action that “After the change, which officially took effect on May 20, approximately 255 square miles were added to the Bismarck Diocese.”
Lansford is located in Bottineau County, 140 miles north of Bismarck.
When the Bismarck diocese was established in 1909 out of territory of the Fargo diocese, Fargo retained Bottineau County.
After the transfer of St. John’s parish and its territory, most of the county remains part of the Diocese of Fargo.
The Diocese of Bismarck serves western North Dakota, while the eastern half of the state is included in the Fargo diocese.
“In truth, not much changes for the members of St. John. As usual, they will see Fr. Adam Maus at the altar each week. Many of them possibly didn’t even realize that they were a Fargo Diocese parish being served by their neighboring diocese,” Mullally wrote.
The change is rooted in the acknowledgement in 1949 by the pastor of St. Andrew parish in Westhope, Bottineau County, that as he aged, he could no longer manage the travel to Lansford, “especially during the long North Dakota winters.”
The then-bishops of Bismarck and Fargo agreed that priests of the Bismarck diocese “would take over providing for the pastoral and sacramental needs of the parishioners of St. John in Lansford.”
For more than 60 years, priests from Minot served St. John’s; more recently, the pastoral care has been taken over by those at St. Jerome in Mohall.
The anomaly was noted by Bishop Kagan in 2012.
At the time, he was also serving as apostolic administrator of the Fargo diocese, following the transfer of Bishop Samuel Aquila to the Archdiocese of Denver.
When Bishop John Folda was appointed to Fargo the next year, Bishop Kagan informed him of the situation.
“A few years later, a more formal conversation began and got the ball rolling to make St. John an official parish of the Diocese of Bismarck,” according to the Bismarck diocese.
The discussion took 18 months, and paperwork for the transfer was submitted to the Congregation of Bishops. The congregation approved of the change in boundaries Jan. 13.
Lansford became a station in 1902, with Masses said in homes. St. John’s was build in 1906, and dedicated the following year. A new church was built in 1963.
Portland, Ore., Aug 23, 2018 / 12:34 am (CNA).- Catholic Charities Oregon is hoping to expand a program that offers financial classes and coaching for low-income workers in the state.
The Save First Financial Wellness program is part of the Family Suc… […]
Denver, Colo., Aug 22, 2018 / 07:00 pm (CNA).- By the time he passed away, death was familiar to Joe Doak.
Doak was a devout Catholic, and a veteran, who died July 29 at 96 years old. But before his own death, Doak had spent days and nights sitting beside dying men and women in a hospice, offering them a word of comfort and the encouragement of prayer.
In 2011 Doak became a vigil volunteer for Hope-West hospice in Grand Junction, Colorado. There, he would comfort the dying with prayers, hymns, discussions, or just the consolation of his silent presence.
A devout Catholic, Joe told the Daily Sentinel in May that he wanted to be a source of hope, letting those patients know that someone would be with them during their last hours.
“The main thing is to tell them that they’re not alone. They’re not dying alone,” he said. “I just hope that I’ve comforted and consoled them and given them hope,” he added.
Doak was an electrical engineer and raised six children with his wife Phyllis, getting married about 10 years after World War II, when he served as a communications officer in the United States Navy.
His family eventually moved to Gunnison, Colorado, where Doak owned an electronic store specializing in computers. He then moved to Montrose, where the Catholic engineer spent a large portion of his retirement time volunteering.
He volunteered in a variety of community activities – he taught seniors computer skills, he aided immigrants in their English, and he helped children with their reading skills. He was also a driver for Meals on Wheels.
“That is the makeup of my dad. He wants to help people, wants to comfort people that may be alone. He is a very religious person, so I think this played into him being a devoted Catholic,” his son, Roger Doak, told Colorado Public Radio.
Doak was inspired to hospice ministry after caring for his wife Phyllis during a seven-year struggle with Alzheimer’s. After she died in 2011, he saw an ad for the vigil volunteers and decided to use his experience with Phyllis for other people.
Each time Doak received a call about a person dying, he would go to introduce himself, usually to a complete stranger. Doak would sit with patients, offering his hand, making conversation, and singing Christian hymns. A favorite of his was “Open my Ears” by Jesse Manibusan, the Daily Sentinel reported.
Roger Doak told Colorado Public Radio that his father had most likely died alone, but expressed hope that the people he comforted were there to receive him in the end.
“I’d like to think that all those people that my dad had comforted when they died, were actually there with him when he died.”
St. Paul, Minn., Aug 22, 2018 / 04:56 pm (CNA).- More than 100 young adults in Saint Paul, Minnesota, gathered this week to pray for the healing of sexual abuse victims and for a purification of the Church in the face of recent scandals.
An estimated … […]
Dublin, Ireland, Aug 22, 2018 / 01:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- God’s plan for the family may sometimes feel countercultural, but it is nevertheless part of the Church’s “good news” for society and for the world, said Archbishop Eamo… […]
Pittsburgh, Pa., Aug 22, 2018 / 12:46 pm (CNA).- The Diocese of Pittsburgh has received about 50 new allegations of abuse, and a state abuse hotline has received more than 500 calls after the Aug. 14 release a Pennsylvania grand jury report detailing a… […]
Gary, Ind., Aug 22, 2018 / 11:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Monday morning’s assault of a priest of the Ruthenian Eparchy of Parma is being investigated as a hate crime, a police official has told the Chicago Tribune.
A statement attributed to the eparchial chancery said Fr. Basil Hutsko “was attacked and knocked unconscious” in the altar server’s sacristy at his parish after celebrating the Divine Liturgy.
Fr. Hutsko, 64, is pastor of St. Michael parish in Merrillville, Ind., immediately south of Gary.
The priest was choked and his head slammed to the ground, making him lose consciousness.
According to the statement, the attacker said, “This is for all the kids” as he assaulted the priest Aug. 20.
“All clergy are now targets and need to be vigilant. However it must also be clear that Fr. Hutsko was a random target. He is NOT guilty of any sex abuse,” read the statement, which was signed by Fr. Thomas J. Loya, who is pastor of Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church in Homer Glen, Ill.
Jeff Rice, spokesman for the Merrillville police, said the local force alerted the FBI because “it is considered a hate crime” given the attacker’s words, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The attack comes in the wake of the release of a Pennsylvania grand jury report on clerical sex abuse of minors which discussed abuse of more than 1,000 minors by some 300 priests in the mid-Atlantic state.
Fr. Hutsko was attended to by medics at St. Michael’s, and was then examined at a nearby hospital. Rice said that the priest was “definitely bruised and banged up.”
Fr. Steven Koplinka of St. Nicholas Byzantine parish in Munster, Ind., told the Chicago Tribune that the priest was “attacked from the back and he didn’t see who it was.”
“It’s just like they’re targeting the wrong guys, you know?” Fr. Koplinka said. “The rest of us try our best to be good priests and unfortunately this happened.”
Depending on the circumstances, in addition to a civil crime, the attacker could have committed a delict under canon law.
If the attacker were a Latin Catholic, he could have violated CIC 1370.3, which says that “A person who uses physical force against a cleric or religious out of contempt for the faith, the Church, ecclesiastical power, or the ministry is to be punished with a just penalty.”
Were the attacker an Eastern Catholic, he would be subject to CCEO 1445.2, which says one who uses physical force against a cleric “is to be punished with an appropriate penalty.”
Pittsburgh, Pa., Aug 21, 2018 / 04:28 pm (CNA).- A Catholic high school named after Cardinal Donald Wuerl was vandalized Monday, following continued criticism of the cardinal’s handling of sex abuse allegations during his time as bishop of Pittsb… […]
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