New Union County School 'Special, Holy'

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New Union County School 'Special, Holy' CATÓ LICO DE KENTUCKY OCCIDENTAL September 2015 l Volume 42 Issue 7 l A Publication of the Diocese of Owensboro l rcdok.org New Union County school ‘special, holy’ On Sunday, August 9 Catholics from in and around Union County gathered Español Página 16 at John Paul II Catholic School in Morganfield to witness the blessing of the brand-new school. Page 29 Vocations Page 25 Youth Page 29 facebook.com/DioceseOfOwensboro twitter.com/Owensboro1937 instagram.com/owensborodiocese CONTENTS Official newspaper of the Diocese of Owensboro Published monthly, 10 times a year at 600 Locust Street, Owensboro, KY 42301 Telephone l (270) 683-1545 Email l [email protected] Publisher l Bishop William F. Medley Interim Editor l Elizabeth Wong Barnstead Send change of address requests to [email protected] View current and archived issues at rcdok.org/ ministries/communications/complete_issues/ The Western Kentucky Catholic comes to your home as a direct use of your parish assessment dollars: “Those who exercise authority in the Church will take care to ensure that there is responsible exchange of freely held and expressed opinion among the People of God” - Pastoral Instruction of the Means of Social James Dennis becomes Communications, #116, Jan. 29, 1971. Opinions expressed in submitted columns and letters transitional deacon to the editor in The Western Kentucky Catholic may be edited for space, a lack of charity or a lack of Deacon James “Jamie” Dennis receives a hug from a clarity, and are not endorsed by the publisher or well-wisher after his transitional diaconate ordination editor. No submissions are guaranteed placement in on August 8 at his home parish of St. Joseph, The Western Kentucky Catholic. Leitchfield. Photo by Elizabeth Wong Barnstead Please politely indicate any factual errors in this Page 5 publication by emailing [email protected]. 5 Features 6 Blessed Mother Parish hopes spirits come alive with guest speakers 8 Upcoming Events Scott Hahn, John Bergsma, Allison Gingras coming to Owensboro this fall 12 Around the Diocese 23 Junipero Serra: Missionary to America 15 Anniversaries 18th-century priest to be canonized Sept. 23 16 Español 26 Meet our seminarians 21 Opinion Seven men from diocese studying for priesthood this year 25 Vocations 31 Bishop Medley’s mother, Dorothy H. Medley, dies at 87 29 Youth Numerous bishops, priests, friends attend funeral 31 Obituaries FROM THE BISHOP’S OFFICE A Word from Bishop Medley BISHOP MEDLEY’S CALENDAR l SEPTEMBER 2015 My dear people of God, This month the first American pope will visit the United States. Pope Fran- SEPT 1 9:00 a.m. l McRaith Catholic Center Staff Mass and Meeting cis was the archbishop of Buenos Aires in Argentina when he was chosen as the new Bishop of Rome in March of 2013. His election was historic in a church 6:00 p.m. l Mass, Owensboro West Deanery Faith SEPT 2 full of history. First pope from the Americas, he was also the first pope to come Formation Gathering – Precious Blood Parish from the southern hemisphere. 8:05 a.m. l School Mass – St. Joseph Catholic School, His visit will be marked by history. First of all, he comes to the U.S. by way SEPT 8 Bowling Green of Cuba, a nation long alienated from our own and where diplomatic relations have very recently been restored. He will meet with President Barack Obama 11:00 a.m. l Mass of the Holy Spirit, Opening Mass SEPT 10 at the White House. Previous popes have met with the U.S. president in the Brescia University White House, beginning with Pope John Paul II meeting with President Jimmy l Carter. The bishops of the U.S. will gather with Pope Francis for midday prayer SEPT 12 6:00 p.m. Mass – St. Anthony Parish, Grand Rivers at St. Matthew Cathedral. At the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception the SEPT 13 Mount St. Joseph Picnic – Maple Mount pope will preside at a Mass in which he will celebrate the canonization of St. 12:00-4:00 p.m. l Meeting, USCCB Committee on the Junipero Serra, the Franciscan missionary who founded the missions of Califor- SEPT 14 Protection of Children and Young People nia. I will be privileged to concelebrate this Mass. Pope Francis will address a joint session of Con- SEPT 16 8:30 a.m. l Diocesan Finance Committee Meeting – MCC gress. This is an historic first and there is much an- ticipation of the message the pope will deliver to our 9:00 a.m. l School Mass – St. John Paul II Catholic School, SEPT 17 nation in this setting. Morganfield From Washington the pope will make several stops in New York City, most notably address- SEPT 18 5:00 p.m. l VOCARE – Owensboro Convention Center ing the United Nations. Pope Francis and 4:00 p.m. l Mass, Middle School/Family Life Day – Gasper the 20th and 21st century popes who SEPT 19 have preceded him have been among River Catholic Camp the world’s most powerful voices for 2:00 p.m. l Diocesan Marriage Celebration – St. Stephen SEPT 20 peace and conciliation among na- Cathedral tions. His message here will be one 9:45 a.m. l Priest Personnel Board Meeting – MCC for the ages. SEPT 21 1:30 p.m. l Priests’ Council Meeting – MCC The pope then travels to Phila- delphia to participate in the World SEPT Pope Francis visit to the United States – Washington DC and 22-28 Philadelphia Meeting of Families. I will be partic- 6:00 p.m. l Mass, Central Deanery Faith Formation SEPT 30 Continues on page 4 Gathering – Sacred Heart Parish, Waverly September 2015 3 FROM THE BISHOP’S OFFICE A Word from Bishop Medley … poor and suffering still awaiting our kindness. Join for The Michigan Catholic, the newspaper of the Continued from page 3 me in prayer for Pope Francis and for the success of Archdiocese of Detroit. Her husband, Ian, is a his pilgrimage. teacher at Trinity High School in Whitesville. ipating in this gathering for several days. On Sun- Like most dioceses we are in the process of tak- day, September 27 the pope will meet with all the There have been several retirements and then ing a broader look at the many avenues of evan- bishops attending the conference. new additions to our diocesan staff this year. In gelization. Elizabeth will be an integral part of our The pope’s U.S. pilgrimage will conclude with particular I wish to welcome Elizabeth Wong Barn- self-examination. Welcome Elizabeth! a Mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and it stead whose presence is already seen in the pages of May God Bless You All! is expected that more than one million people will The Western Kentucky Catholic as of June of this be in attendance. year. With Mel Howard’s retirement she stepped in My prayer is that Pope Francis will speak as to see the paper continue as we evaluate our wider prophet to our richly blessed nation and its people. media efforts. I feel sure he will affirm the goodness and generos- Elizabeth comes to us as a 2013 graduate of Most Reverend William F. Medley ity of Americans, all the while reminding us of the Franciscan University. She has previously worked Diocese of Owensboro Letter from the To submit stories and articles Deadline for submissions is the 15th of the month prior to the publishing month. The Editor: Your stories Western Kentucky Catholic will take reader-submitted content into consideration but no submissions are guaranteed placement, due to space restrictions. Hello and a happy September 2015 to you all! Article guidelines: The Western Kentucky Catholic will consider your articles within a 500- For those who don’t know me, my name is Eliz- word limit pertaining to issues and events within our diocese. Please email your articles to abeth Wong Barnstead and I am interim editor [email protected] by the 15th of the month prior to the publishing month. of The Western Kentucky Catholic, the official Photo guidelines: The Western Kentucky Catholic will consider your high-resolution digital newspaper of the Diocese of Owensboro. photos showing special moments and memories from within our diocese. Photos must be a I’m fairly new to the area, having come to west- JPEG format (ending in “.jpg”) and sent via email. A description of the photo, date of photo, and name of photographer must be included. Please email your photos to wkc.editor@pas- ern Kentucky from my previous position as report- toral.org by the 15th of the month prior to the publishing month. er for The Michigan Catholic newspaper for the Archdiocese of Detroit, Michigan. When I was in college studying journalism our serving the Diocese of Owensboro – but I still I’m proud to say that I tasted my first burgoo and professor, Terry Mattingly, reminded us that “Ev- have a lot to learn about our local people and local barbeque within the early weeks of my arrival, and eryone in this city knows more stories than you Catholic Church. I am eager to get to know all of if food is any indicator, this is going to be a splendid do.” He was referring to the city of Washington, you, and to learn your stories. journey. D.C., where we were studying – but I believe this You’ll also notice that the WKC has a new look. Thanks for reading The Western Kentucky applies to any place you go. Do you like it? Dislike it? Please let us know your Catholic! ◆ I’ve been learning a lot in my few months of thoughts at [email protected].
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