This week, I’ll give you a quick update on the summer meeting of the United States Bishops and the latest developments on implementing reforms in response to the clergy abuse scandal.  As you might recall from news reports (and bulletin columns) earlier in the year, Bishops from all over the world met with Pope Francis in February to have an unprecedented meeting to discuss this issue.  Shortly after that meeting, the Pope issued a document with new laws concerning reporting of clergy sexual abuse, as well as accountability measures for bishops who commit or cover up abuse (click here for more).  He gave the bishops a year to create the offices and procedures necessary to enforce this law.

Many of the things that were required of this law were already in place in the United States as a result of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People (a.k.a the “Dallas Charter”) adopted by the bishops in 2002, which called for mandatory reporting, zero tolerance and Safe Environment training programs.  At their June meeting, they adopted some more measures to build upon the Charter and deal with some of its inadequacies and loopholes.  Specifically, they did the following:

Expanded the Dallas Charter to include bishops.
Authorized the development (by May 31, 2020) of a third-party system for receiving reports of possible violations by bishops.
Established protocols for imposing limitations and restrictions on bishops who were removed from office for any abuse of power.
Presented a plan for implementing the rest of the reforms mandated by Pope Francis.

I think it’s important for all Catholics to stay up-to-date on what is being done in this area.  We all felt shock and pain at the revelations of […]

This year our school introduced a new school service program.  The School Board, along with other dedicated parent volunteers, spent a year forming this program, and each grade partnered with a local service agency with whom they worked throughout the year.  So many good things happened this first year that I wanted to make sure the whole parish knows about them!

Kindergarten & Pre-K:  Wellbrooke

Kindergarten and Pre-K visited Wellbrooke at different times of the year to deliver crafts for Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day, as well as to sing Christmas carols.  In the classroom, the teachers taught children about the aging process so that they understood more about the needs of the elderly.  They remembered the residents of Wellbrooke every day during prayer intentions, and they dedicated decades of the rosary to the residents and staff of Wellbrooke.  They also introduced a Christmas service project by collecting over 100 puzzles and delivering them to the residents.

1st Grade:  St. Joseph County Soil & Water Conservation District

First graders learned about care for the environment as an important part of service.  The District’s Education Coordinator came into the classroom several times to talk about soil and composting, and waste vs recycling. She taught the students how to set up and maintain a compost with red wiggler worms in the classroom.  Then in culmination, they joined her for a day at the Mishawaka Reservoir, where they examined the outdoor environment for signs of decomposing matter and also signs of a healthy environment, including microinvertebrate life in the river.

2nd Grade:  LOGAN Center

This year, second graders went to LOGAN in December and performed Christmas songs for the clients.  A LOGAN representative come into the classroom in October to enlighten them on what LOGAN […]

Today is the Solemnity of Corpus Christi (the Body and Blood of Christ), which means that today is the feast day for our sister parish, Corpus Christi Parish in Jalchatra, Bangladesh.  We’ve had a sister parish relationship with Corpus Christi for the last 10 years, and it’s truly been a blessing to all of us.

Bangladesh is a very poor country about the size of Wisconsin, but with a population of over 160 million.  Jalchatra is in the northern part of the country, and the Catholics there are members of the Garo tribe.  In an overwhelmingly Muslim country, where fewer than 1% of the population is Catholic, the parishioners are both a religious and ethnic minority.  This creates many challenges on a daily basis.

In the face of such challenges, the faith of our brothers and sisters in Jalchatra is inspiring.  Corpus Christi is a vibrant parish that serves more than 5000 Catholics.  Since parishioners are so spread out – and since travel can be very difficult – parish life looks a lot different than it does in the States.  There are many outpost chapels that serve people who can’t travel to the main church, and when a priest is unable to make it to those chapels, then trained catechists take responsibility for prayer and religious education.  There are also several schools as part of the parish, including some boarding schools, and other ministries in fields such as health care, vocational training and social justice.  The parish does an incredible job of ministering to the spiritual and material needs of its parishioners with very limited resources.

While our relationship with Corpus Christi is more about prayer and solidarity than it is about financial assistance, the humble funds that […]

Today is the Groundbreaking Ceremony for our new addition!  I hope you can all join us for the ceremony this weekend right after the 12:15pm Mass.  We’ll pray for good weather, but we’ll be out there rain or shine!

Many of you have told me that you can’t believe that this day is finally here, and I feel exactly the same way.  It’s hard to think that, when I moved into Christ the King four years ago, my office was completely empty except for a rolled-up document that Fr. Neil left me, along with a note saying “good luck”.  So much has happened since then to get us to this point.  First came over two years of planning, with a terrific committee of parishioners helping us refine our design and assess the feasibility of a capital campaign.  Then came our campaign, which we announced about a year ago.  Under the leadership of an incredible group of parish volunteers, we planned an ambitious $5 million campaign.  The response from all of our parishioners was absolutely amazing.  Not only were we able to reach our goal before the end of the calendar year, but the goodwill and enthusiasm that I saw throughout the campaign reminded me daily why this is such a special parish.  And since the close of the campaign, we have spent the last several months getting ready for groundbreaking.  After signing Majority Builders as our contractor, we’ve been working to finalize our design and make sure that our total project cost stays under $5 million.

Now the day is finally here, and we’re ready to break ground!  I know there will be a lot of headaches and inconveniences over the next 14 months, as the construction […]

In a previous bulletin column, I mentioned that Pope Francis had gathered bishops from all over the world in February for a conference on the sexual abuse crisis.  This month, Pope Francis has followed this up with the first Church-wide law requiring the reporting of clergy sexual abuse.  This includes accountability for bishops who commit or cover up abuse.  The law was issued in a document (a “motu proprio”) entitled You Are the Light of the World, which goes into effect on June 1st.  The full text of the letter can be found here.

The Pope has given all bishops’ conferences a year to create the offices and procedures necessary to enforce this law.  In the United States, this task will be taken up by the U.S. bishops’ at their next meeting in June.  I think that the response of the U.S. bishops to Pope Francis’ letter is particularly helpful, so I’m including part of it below.  The full text can be found here.

“… Pope Francis ordered a worldwide response to the evil of sexual abuse. It calls for the establishment of easily accessible reporting systems, clear standards for the pastoral support of victims and their families, timeliness and thoroughness of investigations, whistleblower protection for those making allegations, and active involvement of the laity. It also leaves latitude for national bishops’ conferences, such as the USCCB, to specify still more to account for their local circumstances. We receive … You Are the Light of the World as a blessing that will empower the Church everywhere to bring predators to justice, no matter what rank they hold in the Church. It also permits the Church the time and opportunity to bring spiritual healing …
In […]