Category: Around the Diocese

News from around the 11 counties of the Diocese of Madison.

On
Patrick Gorman, For the Catholic Herald

Rite of Election on February 21

Rite of Election
A catechumen in 2019 signs the Book of the Elect during the Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion. This year’s event will take place on Sunday, Feb. 21, at St. John the Baptist Church in Waunakee with safety measures in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash)

WAUNAKEE — The Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion will be held on Sunday, Feb. 21, at St. John the Baptist Church in Waunakee.

Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison will preside.

In this Church season of Lent, its primary purpose intensifies the time of preparation for those seeking Baptism.

Now that Lent has come upon us, it’s time to start this sacred work.

A call to join the Church

The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (no. 64), which was promulgated during the Second Vatican Council, called for a revision of several of the rituals of our Church.

Part of this included the Baptismal rites for adults and children.

In 1988, an adult ritual was promulgated called the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults which is commonly called RCIA.

Since that time, some or all of the RCIA has been used in parishes throughout the world.

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On
Carolyn Averill, For the Catholic Herald

An exciting start to the new year for St. Ambrose Academy

MADISON — The trials and challenges of a pandemic can’t stop the growth and joy of Catholic community, and spring 2021 is shaping up to be a season of exciting happenings at St. Ambrose Academy (SAA).

New home in the making

After dozens of property searches by a team of professionals and numerous conversations with potential partners, the Academy first shared in December 2020 at the interactive, virtual See the Joy Benefit Dinner news of great joy: A site for a permanent school home is being finalized.

The centrally located Fitchburg development will be an ideal home for the first Catholic school building project in the diocese in over 50 years.

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On
Angela Curio, Catholic Herald Staff

Fr. Donald Lange publishes book

PLATTEVILLE — “I think it was in the late 1970s that I submitted a few articles to the Catholic Herald,” said Fr. Donald Lange, speaking about how his column — “Seeing with Jesus’ Eyes” — got started. His new book Seeing with Jesus’ Eyes — A Seasonal Reader was just published in December of 2020. “At first, I wondered in the Catholic Herald would accept my articles, but gradually, they did.”

What began as an occasional guest column eventually became something more regularly published in the paper.

“After I retired, Pam Payne asked me if I would offer a name for the column,” he said, speaking of the Herald’s now retired associate editor. “That was about 14 years ago.”

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On
the Diocese of Madison Office of Stewardship and Development

Support your Church through the Annual Catholic Appeal

ACA artwork

In one way or another, every Catholic in the Diocese of Madison benefits from the Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA).

From your Baptism into the Catholic faith, through childhood, adulthood, and beyond, many of the things that have helped form you were enhanced or made possible because of someone’s generosity to the ACA.

In this special edition of the Catholic Herald, we highlight some of the ways the ACA has impacted lives.

Please take a moment to read these stories.

Then make a gift to ensure that these ministries will continue throughout these uncertain times.

Enclosed in this issue is an envelope; we invite you to fill it out and make a gift.

If you prefer, you can go to www.MadisonDiocese.org/acagive and donate online.

We also invite you to follow @madisondiocese on Facebook and Twitter.

There you will see updates on the impact of your donation — who it is helping, and the good it is doing.

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On
Catholic Herald Staff

2021 MDCCW convention to be virtual

WAUNAKEE — Women of the diocese are asked to save the date of Saturday, June 12, 2021, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for an abbreviated virtual convention of the Madison Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (MDCCW).

In announcing the shortened virtual event to replace the annual convention, the planning committee said, “The West Dane Vicariate is looking forward to welcoming you to our 2021 conference this summer. We missed seeing you last June, but promise to make 2021 a conference to remember as we celebrate 100 years (actually 101 by now), safe from COVID-19, and thanking God for who we are and what we do.”

Online event

The online event “is geared to be uplifting and encouraging while celebrating all that women have done in the Madison diocese to make our world a better place,” said Rosa Ropers, president of the West Dane Vicariate CCW (Council of Catholic Women), this year’s host.

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On
the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, District Council of Madison

Grants offer food pantry workers shelter

MADISON — The generosity of the Madison Community Foundation (MCF) and other major donors means that staff and volunteers at the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry in Madison are finding shelter from the worst of what Wisconsin winter doles out, even as they continue to serve drive-through clients outdoors.

Helpful support

In November, the Madison Community Foundation awarded the Society of St. Vincent de Paul a $12,500 grant to support winter outdoor food distribution in order to meet pandemic safety requirements.

To protect all involved in distributing much-needed food, the St. Vincent de Paul Pantry has been operating on a drive-through basis since March 16.

“Madison Community Foundation is proud to support the critical work of St. Vincent de Paul and other major food pantries during this pandemic, explained Tom Linfield, Madison Community Foundation vice president.

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On
Catholic Herald Staff

Bishop Hying’s statement on the inauguration of President Joe Biden

January 20, 2021

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

On this inauguration day, we offer prayer for our new president, Joseph Biden and his incoming administration. I pray that the Lord give him wisdom, courage, and grace to lead our country, help heal our wounds, and to work for the common good. As our rich history shows, Catholics stand ready to work with our brothers and sisters to build a civilization of life and love, and to seek the transformation of society and culture so that every human person may realize their immeasurable human dignity, given to us by God.

Together, Americans need to continue to seek solutions to the pandemic, poverty, unemployment, and the immigration question. The Catholic Church will seek to work with the new administration on issues where we find convergence. Regarding the difficult issues of divergence, such as abortion, contraception, religious freedom, and gender, the Church will challenge our leaders to embrace the full vision of the human person, as revealed by God and inscribed in the human heart through the natural law.

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On
Laura Karlen, For the Catholic Herald

Former Planned Parenthood manager to kick-off Madison 40 Days for Life campaign

MADISON — Abortion facilities are dark, desolate places. Former Planned Parenthood Manager Sue Thayer knows this personally from her 17 years on the job at the Storm Lake, Iowa, Planned Parenthood.

Something happens, though, when peaceful volunteers show up to pray on the sidewalk in front of Planned Parenthood. “With just one person out there, you bring the light of Christ,” said Thayer.

But, “chaos reigns inside,” she added.

According to Thayer, staff are already stressed out to meet the quotas that Planned Parenthood sets for each service, including abortion.

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On
Kevin Wondrash, Catholic Herald Staff

New book highlights local pro-life victories, area family’s journey

MADISON — “When abortion ends and it’s in the history books, those history books are going to look back on Madison, Wis., as a turning point.”

Those words are one reason why Steve Karlen chose to share his story and experiences in the new book This is When We Begin to Fight.

The book, written by the Madison resident, tells the story of the fight to stop a late-term abortion center from opening on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus as well as other challenges his young family faced in life and in love.

The preceding quote was spoken to Karlen during a national pro-life leaders meeting a few years after the Madison Surgery Center dropped its plans to offer late-term abortions more than a decade ago.

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