This Thursday, Oct. 7, is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. In my childhood years, my family prayed the Rosary every night after supper, 365 days a year.
Category: Bishop
Fully embracing God’s creations
This past Sunday, I had Masses and parish visits in Boscobel and Muscoda, followed by another Mass at Camp Gray for young adult retreatants.
Who are we in this world?
As this world feels more frenzied, divided, and distracted, I find myself tempted to idealize the seemingly simpler ways of ages past.
What’s new in the Office of Worship
After serving generously and effectively as the director of the Office of Worship for our diocese for 26 years, Dr. Patrick Gorman has recently retired, due to health concerns.
God is real
I recently read in the news that the newly-appointed head chaplain at Harvard University is an atheist. As the bastion of liberal, secular, American intellectualism, Harvard veered away from traditional Christian faith of any kind long ago, despite its historical roots as a religious institution founded to educate Protestant ministers.
Llegando a la comunidad Hispana
En un futuro cercano, la mayoría de los católicos en los Estados Unidos serán de origen hispano. La rica cultura hispana, la profunda espiritualidad, el respeto por la vida y el amor a la familia son dones tremendos mediante los cuales millones de feligreses en todo nuestro país contribuyen a la vitalidad de la Iglesia local.
Reaching out to the Hispanic community
In the near future, the majority of Catholics in the United States will be of Hispanic origin. Hispanic’s rich culture, deep spirituality, respect for life, and love of family are tremendous gifts by which millions of parishioners throughout our country contribute to the vitality of the local Church.
Contemplating eternity
One of my favorite newly-discovered places in our diocese is Natural Bridge State Park in Sauk County. I often take visitors there because of the beautiful drive, the opportunity to take a short hike in the woods, and to explore the wonder of the natural bridge carved from centuries of wind and rain.
Statement on Bishop Robert C. Morlino’s health
On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Bishop Robert Morlino was undergoing planned medical tests and had a cardiac event.
Ongoing vigilance against abuse takes the form of action in diocese
Faced as we are with the ongoing specter of sin and even crime on the part of some priests, religious, and bishops of the Church, Bishop Robert Morlino has given clear direction that in the Diocese of Madison we will do all we can to continue to strengthen our efforts in the protection of children and vulnerable persons, to expand our work in oversight and transparency, and to increase our focus on rooting out sin at every level.
To that end, the following additional actions have already gotten underway in the past several months, with a great deal still to come:
• Prayer, sacrifice, reparation — Prayer alone cannot suffice where there is clear need for concrete and decisive action. However, the grace of God is essential in achieving any good and our prayers do have an effect. The Church has been wounded through the terrible sins of her members and her ministers, and there must be spiritual as well as practical efforts made to repair the wounds.
To this end, the bishop himself has undertaken added prayer, sacrifice, and reparation for the purification of the Church and the healing of victims. He has also called for the faithful in the diocese to join with him in these prayers.
• Review of all files — As many dioceses are now doing, the Diocese of Madison is in the process of scheduling a full, independent review of all priest personnel files. This will serve to make absolutely certain that not only have past cases been properly handled, but that historical instances of abuse are identified, even where no current victims might be known.
• Added work hours devoted to Safe Environment and Victim Assistance — Responsibilities have been shifted among diocesan personnel and work hours have been added through the separation of the previously combined roles of “Director of Safe Environment” and “Victim Assistance Coordinator.” This separation of roles has already allowed for greater focus on both the constant improvement of safe environment processes and on caring for the needs of victims and accusers.