News Briefs: Founding choir member retires MADISON -- Russell Champion's hobby is singing, which is lucky for those around him who listen. But, after 30 years of singing in the Madison Diocesan Choir, Champion has retired, leaving a space in the tenor section that has not been vacant since the choir began in 1972. Retiring not only from the choir, but from his job at the state Department of Transportation as well, Champion will be moving with his wife, Annette, to a house in Chippewa Falls by the end of September. "Russell was an important part of the choir and we're certainly going to miss him," said Dr. Patrick Gorman, director of the Madison Diocesan Choir. "He's just been a stalwart member, one of the founding members, since the beginning. He's been a real leader in his presence in the choir, and he always just had a positive attitude and good work ethic." Tenors and basses are needed to fill the sections due to retirements. Interested singers, high school age and older, may call Director Pat Gorman at 608-821-3080 or e-mail pgorman@straphael.org. Beginning Experience weekend MENASHA -- If you have experienced divorce, death of a spouse, or loss of a relationship and believe that life must begin again, Beginning Experience may be for you. The weekend offers time to reflect and get in touch with yourself and God so you can move on to the future with renewed hope. Trained team members, who themselves are widowed, divorced, or separated, give personal presentations and small group sharing. A Beginning Experience weekend will be held Sept. 13 to 15 at the Mt. Tabor Center in Menasha. Cost is $125. For a brochure or more information, call Paul at 608-862-3613 or Judy at 920-733-6718. Peer support groups offered MADISON -- Peer support groups for those hurting from separation, divorce, or loss of a significant relationship are offered at two Madison parishes open to all ages and faiths. The next meeting of Friends on a Journey will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 5, at Our Lady Queen of Peace nursery, 401 S. Owen Dr. For more information, call Paul at 608-862-3613. The next meeting of New Directions will be from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12, at St. Dennis Parish Center, 505 Dempsey Rd., top floor. For more information, call Ron at 608-835-2907. Support group for aftermath of abortion MADISON -- Hope is available for those who suffer from the aftermath of abortion. Whole Heart, a post-abortion ministry, will offer a 14-week bible study and support group for women beginning Sept. 16. The facilitators of the group are here to walk with women on their journey to healing. A workbook titled "Forgiven and Set Free," which offers scripture reflections and exercises, is used for the support group. During the 14 weeks, the topics of relief, denial, anger, depression, grief, guilt, repentance, forgiveness, and healing are covered. Facilitators provide a compassionate, safe, and confidential setting. Women have expressed relief in knowing they are not alone. Facilitators have received training from Project Rachel and PACE (Post-Abortion Counseling and Education), which is a ministry of national Care Net. The Whole Heart team networks with Project Rachel and makes referrals to other post-abortion groups and resources. For additional information about the 14-week group or the Whole Heart Ministry of Care Net Pregnancy Center in Madison, call Cassie at 608-259-1605 by Sept. 9 to register for the support group. Care Net also offers individual help to women and men who are suffering. All services are free and confidential. Job and Volunteer Expo MADISON -- The public is invited to attend the Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups Job and Volunteer Expo on Monday, Sept. 9, from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Alliant Energy Center, Madison. The Alliant Energy Center is located at the intersection of Rimrock Rd. and John Nolen Dr. It is fully handicapped accessible. Admission to the expo and parking at the Alliant Energy Center are free. A free workshop for older jobseekers on how to do a job search will be offered at 8:30 a.m. The workshop, "Employee Workshops: Jobs 101," will also discuss how staffing services have changed and where current job opportunities are found. A special workshop for employers only, "How to Recruit and Retain Employees in Today's Changing Workforce," will begin at 8 a.m. and last until 9:30 a.m. Exhibits will open at 9 a.m. and will remain open throughout the day. A keynote address by Barbara Quirk, columnist for The Capital Times, will begin at 11 a.m. and last until 11:45 a.m. Quirk has a special interest in older people and focuses her columns on their special needs. Another free workshop, "Employee Workshop: Volunteerism," is from 1 to 1:45 p.m.

UW football program:
O'Connor Center best facility for pre-season college camp

By Mary C. Uhler
CATHOLIC HERALD STAFF

(See also front page photo and related story below.)

MADISON -- The Badger football team will be ready to play at the season opener against Fresno State on Aug. 23 at Camp Randall Stadium - thanks to an intensive pre-season training camp held at the Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center in Madison.

Key to team's success

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Badgers have been coming to the diocesan center (former Holy Name Seminary) since 1972. UW coaches believe the camp has been a key to the team's success.

"There's not a better facility in the country for a college football team," said John Chadima, assistant athletic director and director of football operations, in describing the O'Connor Center.

"It has everything: football fields, meeting space, dining room, kitchen, swimming pool, and sleeping rooms. It's absolutely the best facility in the country!"

Chadima points out that the O'Connor Center is far enough away for the players to be free from distractions (the center is located on the far west side of Madison on High Point Rd.). "But it's close enough for emergencies," he noted.

Team lives at center

The Badger football team moves into the O'Connor Center for the duration of the 16-day camp. This includes 105 players (the NCAA limit) plus over 40 staff: coaches, trainers, student managers, and graduate assistants.

The players' car keys are collected when they check in at the camp, although they are allowed some nights off. Cell phones are restricted to the players' sleeping rooms.

Players get a wake-up call at 6:30 a.m. and often go until 9 p.m., with a break in the afternoon. "We keep them going all day," noted Chadima.

Chadima started with the UW program in 1990, the same year Barry Alvarez became head coach. Chadima said this year "it's been an outstanding camp. Barry says the most important thing that happens at the camp is to build chemistry, leadership, and relationships."

When asked about this season, Chadima could only say, "Coach Alvarez is excited about this team."

Appreciate renovations

Chadima said the Badgers like the renovations made at the O'Connor Center in the past five years. This has made the training camp run even more efficiently.

"It's been tremendous," Chadima said of the upgrading of the facilities, which has included adding air-conditioning to the dining room and meeting rooms. "There used to be no relief from the heat," Chadima recalled. "We used to bring in portable air-conditioners."

The Badgers do want their players to get conditioned to playing in hot weather, however. Their second game will be played Aug. 31 in Las Vegas, where the temperatures are expected to be plenty warm.

Bishop impressed

Diocesan staff and priests who live and work at the O'Connor Center have been impressed by the behavior of the players. Bishop William H. Bullock said, "It's always reinvigorating to see the athletic talent of young men on the football team and the kind of regimen they accept in training procedures.

"Our diocesan staff here always enjoys having them - they're real gentlemen. We're impressed with the kind of discipline it takes to produce winning teams," said the bishop. "We do welcome them each year - it's good for them and good for us."

Priests reminisce

Priests who served on the former Holy Name Seminary faculty remember the early days of the training camp. Msgr. Mike Burke, former seminary rector and now pastor of St. Maria Goretti Parish in Madison, agreed that Alvarez and the UW football program believe it's one of the best college training centers in the country. "They think the world of it," Burke said.

Burke has become well acquainted with UW football players and coaches over the years. He has even been asked to officiate at weddings and baptisms.

When Holy Name Seminary was operating, the seminary football team held its pre-season camp at the same time as the Badgers. Fr. Kent Schmitt, business manager and teacher from 1982 to 1987, remembers the teams were called the "Little Badgers and Big Badgers."

Schmitt, now pastor of St. Dennis Parish in Madison, coordinated the work of eight students who helped with the UW camp each summer. He recalls they would empty about 40 garbage cans three times a day. "The students took care of the Badgers," said Schmitt, who said the program was run on a professional basis then and continues to this time.

It takes teamwork:
On and off the field

By Julianne Nornberg
CATHOLIC HERALD STAFF

(See also front page photo and related story above.)

MADISON -- It takes teamwork - on and off the field - to ensure a successful fall training camp for the Badgers football team, who make the Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center their home for three weeks in summer.

The O'Connor Center staff works with the Badgers' staff to ensure that things run smoothly. For example, the Badgers supply some of the fertilizer, grass seeds, and a water wheel for the fields they use during practice, and the center provides all the labor to keep the fields in shape.

"It takes a joint effort to keep it looking like it is," said Tom Murphy, director of engineering/custodial services at the O'Connor Center. He explained that the fields are fertilized in May, and then center staff begins watering them in June. Center staff must also mow the fields twice a day "in order to have the quality fields we have," he said.

Five different fields are used during the Badgers' camp: the baseball outfield, main field, triangular practice area, and two lower fields - one used for offense and one used for defense.

"We just want quality fields for them," said Murphy. "The Badgers are guests just like anyone else. Other guests of the center may want a conference room cleaned - The Badgers' priority is the fields."

The efforts do not go unnoticed, either. Murphy said one of the Badgers' coaches told him the fields were in "tip top shape."

Meeting needs

Dave Endres serves as the Diocese of Madison liaison who works with the Badgers and maintenance and housekeeping, for example, to make sure the Badgers' needs are met. During the Badgers' camp, he lives with the football players. Endres is on hand in order to deal with problems that may arise, such as fire alarms going off or the power going out.

This is Endres' seventh year serving as liaison for the Badgers' camp.

"It's enjoyable," said Endres. "They're great kids. It's fun to work with them because they are well-mannered and well-meaning guys. When I say, 'good morning,' they say 'good morning, sir.'

"They use a good part of the building," including the weight room, gym, dining room, meeting rooms, ground floor, the whole back of the building, and the grounds. "I'm very impressed with all the things housekeeping, kitchen, and maintenance do to get ready for the camp," said Endres. "It's quite an effort and takes planning."

"It's amazing how well both sides work together," meaning the center staff and the Badgers' staff, he said. For instance, during the camp, the center's kitchen staff has to share the kitchen with the Badgers' kitchen staff, making freezer and counter space.

Our staff has done an excellent job working with the university staff, said Dan Solberg, center administrator.

The camp keeps the center staff busy with setting up, meeting needs during camp and transitioning afterward, he said. For instance, housekeeping cleans all the rooms, gets them ready, and makes sheet exchanges, said Endres.

Ideal facility

The O'Connor Center is a great facility for the Badgers because everyone is together and there is no way anyone can be late to anything because it's all just a short walk away - to the fields, to the dining room, to the rooms, said Endres. Being able to have everyone together in one spot helps with teamwork, he said.

"There aren't many schools where you can pick up the whole team and put them in one place," he said.

"The Badgers have expressed their gratitude for having an idyllic facility," said Solberg. "They said it gets them away from the distractions of being downtown. They've also said there's not a better fall camp facility in the country. We in turn are grateful they're using the facility."

Solberg said he is impressed with how respectful and quiet the players are. "They are extremely disciplined and well-behaved," he said. "They're a very easy group to work with."

Other uses

The Badgers aren't the only ones who use the O'Connor Center and its grounds. According to Solberg, during the year, about 40 groups use the indoor facilities such as the gym and pool; 12 groups use the outdoor facilities for football, soccer, baseball, and track. For instance, during the week following the Badgers' camp, the O'Connor Center will be the site of a retreat and camp for the Verona High School football team.

Thousands of people during the year use the facility for retreats and other events, and hundreds of groups make use of the guest rooms. The center is also the site for the annual Relay for Life.

"People are really using the facility year-round," said Solberg.

Three to be ordained transitional deacons

MADISON -- Three men will be ordained to the transitional diaconate for the Diocese of Madison on Friday, Aug. 23, at 7:30 p.m.

Bishop William H. Bullock will ordained Diego Otoniel Cuevas, James Matthew (Jay) Poster, and Brian Joseph Wilk to the transitional diaconate during a Mass in the Bishop O'Donnell Holy Name Memorial Chapel at the Bishop O'Connor Catholic Pastoral Center in Madison. Priests of the diocese will concelebrate.

Following is information on the men to be ordained:

Diego Otoniel Cuevas

Diego Otoniel Cuevas is the son of Luz and Jose (deceased) Cuevas. He attended public schools in New York City and Puerto Rico and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to entering the seminary, he worked in the field of mechanical engineering. His home parish is St. James, Madison.

He will be starting the fourth year of theology studies at Mundelein Seminary in Illinois this fall. His internship was at St. Bernard Parish, Madison, and he did his clinical pastoral training at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.

James Matthew (Jay) Poster

James Matthew (Jay) Poster, son of the late Rosellen and Fred Poster (both deceased), attended St. Raphael Catholic School, Edgewood High School, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, all in Madison. He worked in the field of journalism prior to entering the seminary. His home parish is St. Mary of the Lake, Westport.

This fall he is beginning his fourth year theology studies at Blessed Pope John XXIII National Seminary, Boston, Mass. This summer he has served at SS. Anthony and Philip Parish, Highland, and St. Thomas, Montfort.

His clinical pastoral education was completed at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Boston and he has worked at St. Patrick's Manor in Boston. His deacon assignment will be at St. Ann Parish, Somerville, Mass.

Brian Wilk

Brian Wilk is the son of Rita and John Wilk. He attended St. Mary School, South Milwaukee; South Milwaukee Public High School; and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He worked in the field of government and education administration prior to entering the seminary. St. Dennis Parish, Madison, is his home parish.

Like Poster, this fall he will be beginning his fourth year theology studies at Blessed Pope John XXIII National Seminary, Boston, Mass. This summer he has served at Sacred Hearts Parish, Sun Prairie.

His clinical pastoral education was completed at Metro West Medical Center in Framingham, Mass., and he was a chaplain at Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass. His deacon assignment will be at St. Michael Parish, North Andover, Mass.

Second allegation against priest

By Bill Brophy
OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS

MADISON -- A second allegation of inappropriate sexual conduct has been leveled at Fr. Kenneth Klubertanz, pastor at St. Patrick Parish in Lodi, Bishop William H. Bullock announced Aug. 16.

Klubertanz, who was put on administrative leave June 9 following the allegations of an inappropriate incident with a minor 27 years ago, has denied both allegations.

Bullock said he has referred both allegations to the recently-formed diocesan Review Board on Sexual Abuse. The five-member board, named by Bullock July 31 and chaired by retired Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Roland Day, is expected to meet for the first time shortly and will take up the allegations surrounding Klubertanz, who was ordained a priest in 1966.

The most recent allegation, received by Bullock earlier this month occurred in 1968 when the young man was 16 years old. At the time of the allegation, Klubertanz was an associate pastor at Sacred Heart Parish in Reedsburg. The man who made this most recent allegation has asked not to be identified. Klubertanz also denied the allegation.

In June, Bullock said he was following the Diocese of Madison's policy on sexual abuse of minors by a priest in putting Klubertanz on leave, pending an investigation by the diocese. The man who made the allegation also has asked not to be identified and thus the diocese has not turned his name over to civil authorities. He was 13 years old and Klubertanz was an associate pastor in Janesville when the alleged incident occurred.

Bullock met with Justice Day last week to discuss goals of the diocese's sexual review board, which will conduct an investigation into allegations against Klubertanz. In responding to the U.S. Bishops' Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, Bullock established a board which includes four other members besides Day.

"The purpose of the board is threefold," said Bullock. "First, to review at least every two years the diocesan sexual abuse policy and recommend to the Bishop of Madison appropriate modifications. Second, to assess allegations of sexual abuse of children or minors by any priest or other Church personnel and to advise the Bishop of Madison as to whether the allegations appear to be credible.

"Third, the board will develop an appropriate methodology for implementing the charter and norms (established by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Dallas in June) for the Diocese of Madison."