The CatholicWitness The Newspaper of the Diocese of Harrisburg May 1, 2015 Vol. 49 No. 8 Pope Francis Appoints Father Malesic as Bishop of Greensburg Diocese By Jen Reed in the priesthood,” he said. “It has The Catholic Witness been quite a journey so far and I suppose there is much more to Bishop Gainer’s Standing before diocesan em- come – and the people of Greens- ployees and members of the lo- burg are going to be a huge part Statement on Appointment cal media gathered at the Bishop of my journey from now on. I am I know that all of us in the Diocese of Harrisburg re- Connare Center in Greensburg, grateful to Pope Francis for plac- ceive with great joy and gratitude the announcement that Pa., on April 24, Father Edward ing his confidence in me. I do not C. Malesic said he will bring feel deserving of it, but I am ac- Pope Francis has chosen Father Edward Malesic to serve hope, faith, joy, love and kind- cepting of it. I love Pope Francis, as the next Bishop of the Diocese of Greensburg. By call- ness to his Episcopal ministry and the way he has asked us all to ing one of our own priests to the Episcopal Order and to there. examine and deepen our personal shepherd this Pennsylvania diocese, our Holy Father has Bishop-Elect Malesic, 54, relationship with God. I give him honored all the faithful – clergy and laity alike – in our who has served as a priest of the my loyalty and devotion.” local church. The Harrisburg Diocese is proud that just in Diocese of Harrisburg for 28 The Mass of Ordination and In- four years two of our diocesan priests have been chosen for years, was appointed by Pope stallation will take place on Mon- service as bishops. EMILY M. ALBERT, THE CATHOLIC WITNESS THE CATHOLIC ALBERT, M. EMILY I have known Father Malesic years before I came to Francis as bishop of the Diocese Bishop-Elect Malesic day, July 13, 2015, at Blessed of Greensburg. He will succeed Sacrament Cathedral in Greens- Harrisburg as Bishop through our mutual service as canon- Bishop Lawrence Brandt, who submitted his let- burg. His Episcopal motto, which comes from ists, especially in Tribunal ministry. Personally, I have the ter of resignation to Pope Francis last year when the beginning of Psalm 100, will be “Serve the deepest respect and admiration for him as a priest, close he reached age 75. The announcement of Bish- Lord with gladness.” collaborator and friend. op-Elect Malesic’s appointment was made in the “This is truly a joyous day for the Diocese of Father Malesic has served his home Diocese of Harris- Harrisburg Diocese by Bishop Ronald Gainer on Greensburg as we celebrate that unbroken con- burg with exceptional dedication and fruitfulness as the April 24. tinuation of God’s care for our diocese through Judicial Vicar and as pastor of Holy Infant Parish in York Currently, Bishop-Elect Malesic serves as Ju- Pope Francis, the 265th successor of St. Peter and Haven. Over the years, he has served the bishops of the dicial Vicar of the Diocese of Harrisburg and shepherd of the universal Church,” said Bishop diocese in a variety of advisory roles. He has earned the pastor of Holy Infant Parish in York Haven. Brandt. “We are deeply grateful for this provi- affection and respect of all who have been touched by his “I am both greatly honored and deeply hum- dential sign of the Holy Father’s solicitude for priestly life and ministry. When he leaves us for the Dio- bled by the decision of Pope Francis to appoint the Church of Greensburg in appointing Bishop- cese of Greensburg, we will face a significant challenge in me as the fifth bishop of the great Diocese of Elect Malesic as our new chief shepherd.” needing to provide for the offices he will vacate. We will Greensburg. This is an office that I never strove “I personally have been deeply moved and im- all miss him, his quick wit, and his exemplary commit- for nor expected – thus my shock,” Bishop-Elect pressed during my more than 11 years as Bishop ment to the mission of the Church. Father Malesic goes to Malesic said during the press conference. of Greensburg by the faith of the Catholics in our Greensburg with our deepest gratitude and the support of “But now that reality is setting in, I must thank four counties of southwestern Pennsylvania,” he our continued prayers and friendship in Christ. God who has blessed me so much in this life and More BISHOP-ELECT MALESIC, page 5 Cardinal George Remembered Remembering for Close Relationship with God the Holocaust By Michelle Martin and Joyce Duriga Archbishop Sartain spoke of the cardinal’s Catholic News Service great faith and the way his suffering from po- lio when he was 13 and cancer later in life Cardinal Francis E. George was fond of re- formed him to the cross. It was the cardinal’s minding people that their relationships with request to be buried with his leg brace, which God and with each other are what endures and he wore for more than 60 years. everything else “goes to the grave,” Seattle “He offered a life joined to the cross of Archbishop J. Peter Sartain told worshippers Christ,” said Archbishop Sartain, who was at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago during selected by the cardinal to be the homilist. the cardinal’s funeral Mass on April 23. “The crosses of Francis George transformed “The only thing we take with us when we him both exteriorly and interiorly into a man die is what we have given away,” Archbishop of compassion for all who suffered, no matter Sartain quoted Cardinal George as often say- the cause. It was with the Lord’s own love, ing. poured out on the cross, that he loved us.” Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic Cardinal George’s faith was expressed nuncio to the U.S., nine American cardinals through a “brilliant mind in love with God,” and 65 bishops and archbishops attended the giving his talks and writings a foundation of Mass, including Chicago Archbishop Blase J. clarity, creativity and the “natural interplay Cupich. between faith and reason,” the archbishop The funeral was the culmination of three said. days of services, which included an all-night “I console myself with the fact that even vigil attended by lay ecclesial movements. though I could never have written the books Cardinal George died April 17 after a long he wrote or prepared the talks he gave, I could battle with cancer. understand them,” Archbishop Sartain joked. But, he added, sometimes the afterthoughts, the off-the-cuff responses Cardinal George of- EMILY M. ALBERT, THE CATHOLIC WITNESS fered could be just as eloquent A student from Lancaster Catholic High School portrays one of the 1 million Jewish children killed during the Holocaust, his story and incisive. re-enacted along with the lives of several other children during the “What did Cardinal George one-act play, “I Never Saw Another Butterfly.” The drama club’s pre- offer to the Lord, what did he sentation was part of a daylong program at Lancaster Catholic to give away?” Archbishop Sartain observe Holocaust Remembrance Day, and included presentations from a concentration camp survivor and liberator. See page 2 for More CARDINAL GEORGE, page 8 coverage. The 2 - Catholic Witness • May 1, 2015 ‘Tell Others What You’ve Heard’ Concentration Camp Survivor and Liberator Share Horrors to Remember Holocaust By Jen Reed in line for the gas chamber, American The Catholic Witness troops stumbled upon Dachau and lib- erated an estimated 32,000 prisoners On April 29, 1945, 16-year-old Ernie there. Gross was standing in line with other “It happened so fast,” Mr. Gross said gaunt prisoners being ordered to enter of the liberation, and the realization the gas chambers at the concentration that swept over the prisoners here. camp in Dachau, Germany. He knew “We had waited in line for hours to death surely awaited him. go in and be gassed, and soon we came It had been a year since Hungarian near it. I figured in another half hour, occupiers had deported Ernie, his par- I would be dead. But I didn’t care, be- ents and his seven siblings from their cause I was too tired and too hungry.” home in Romania, first to a cramped With genuine openness, Mr. Gross, ghetto, and then on to Auschwitz, now 86, shared his story of persecu- where his parents and younger siblings tion, terror and heartache with students were gassed and cremated. and guests at Lancaster Catholic High Ernie and two older brothers were School on April 16, Holocaust Remem- put to labor at Auschwitz for nearly a brance Day. year, barely surviving on potatoes, bits of bread and meager soup before being The genocide of an estimated six mil- lion Jews at the hand of the Nazi re- EMILY M. ALBERT, THE CATHOLIC WITNESS shuttled to Dachau. Ernie Gross, a Holocaust survivor, shows a sample of a cup that carried daily food Crammed into unsanitary conditions gime occurred between 1941 and 1945. rations – perhaps thin soup or half of a potato. on a Dachau death train for several Historians also estimate the killings of days, where he watched as some pris- five million non-Jewish people, includ- al and liberation, Ernie Gross was not Mr. Greenbaum told the crowd at Lan- oners died of starvation, exposure and ing those who sympathized with the alone.