What is the Church doing to deal with the scandal of priests and bishops acting against their promise of celibacy and those that have covered up the scandalous actions of those involved?
Tag: priests
National Vocation Awareness Week is November 4-10
Seminarians from the Diocese of Madison are pictured with Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison and Fr. Gregory Ihm, vocations director for the diocese, right. (Catholic Herald photo/Kevin Wondrash) |
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Catholic Church in the United States will celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week, November 4-10.
This annual event is a special time for parishes in the U.S. to foster a culture of vocations for the priesthood, diaconate, and Consecrated Life.
Pope Francis, in his message for the 2018 World Day of Vocations, emphasized that it is at the loving initiative of God, and by His personal encounter with each of us, that one is called.
National Vocation Awareness Week, sponsored by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations, is designed to help promote vocation awareness and to encourage young people to ask the question: “To what vocation in life is God calling me?”
Parish and school communities across the nation are encouraged to include, during the first week in November, special activities that focus on vocation awareness and provide opportunities for prayerful discernment.
Bishop Morlino to celebrate annual Requiem Mass November 2
MADISON — Bishop Robert C. Morlino will celebrate the annual Requiem Mass on All Souls Day, Friday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m. in the Bishop O’Donnell Chapel at Holy Name Heights, 702 S. High Point Rd.
November is the month when Catholics pray in a special way for the repose of the dead and, by God’s will, for the rapid entrance into heaven of the Poor Souls.
Bishop Morlino, with the help of many clerical and lay ministers, will celebrate the Solemn Pontifical Requiem Mass for the intention of all the deceased priests and bishops of the Diocese of Madison.Extraordinary men
To the editor:
Almost seven years ago I wrote a tribute to Msgr. Felix Oehrlein, pastor at St. Cecilia Parish in Wisconsin Dells, who had passed away. I called him “An Extraordinary Ordinary Man.”
When I wrote it, I realized that I had singled out one man and ignored a great many others. I resolved to address that oversight when the time was right.
Extraordinary men
To the editor:
Almost seven years ago I wrote a tribute to Msgr. Felix Oehrlein, pastor at St. Cecilia Parish in Wisconsin Dells, who had passed away. I called him “An Extraordinary Ordinary Man.”
When I wrote it, I realized that I had singled out one man and ignored a great many others. I resolved to address that oversight when the time was right.
Bishop Robert C. Morlino’s letter to the faithful regarding the ongoing sexual abuse crisis in the Church
August 18, 2018
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ of the Diocese of Madison,
The past weeks have brought a great deal of scandal, justified anger, and a call for answers and action by many faithful Catholics here in the U.S. and overseas, directed at the Church hierarchy regarding sexual sins by bishops, priests, and even cardinals. Still more anger is rightly directed at those who have been complicit in keeping some of these serious sins from coming to light.
For my part — and I know I am not alone — I am tired of this. I am tired of people being hurt, gravely hurt! I am tired of the obfuscation of truth. I am tired of sin. And, as one who has tried — despite my many imperfections — to lay down my life for Christ and His Church, I am tired of the regular violation of sacred duties by those entrusted with immense responsibility from the Lord for the care of His people.
The stories being brought into light and displayed in gruesome detail with regard to some priests, religious, and now even those in places of highest leadership, are sickening. Hearing even one of these stories is, quite literally, enough to make someone sick. But my own sickness at the stories is quickly put into perspective when I recall the fact that many individuals have lived through them for years. For them, these are not stories, they are indeed realities. To them I turn and say, again, I am sorry for what you have suffered and what you continue to suffer in your mind and in your heart.
Bishop ordains three priests
In his homily, Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison welcomed three new priests — Frs. Peter Lee, Drew Olson, and Grant Thies — to what he called a “beautiful life.”
Three to be ordained to the priesthood
Deacons Peter Lee, Drew Olson, and Grant Thies will be ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison on Friday, June 29, at 7:30 p.m. at St. Maria Goretti Church in Madison.
Bishop celebrates Chrism Mass; calls on priests to preach to the ‘spiritually poor’
“Go forth, the Mass is ended.”
As Transitional Deacon Grant Thies proclaimed those words at the end of the Chrism Mass on March 27 at St. Maria Goretti Church in Madison, he meant more than just a dismissal.
Pope Francis speaks to priests
I write these words from the Nuremore Hotel in Monaghan, Ireland, where I am conducting a retreat for the good priests of the Dublin Archdiocese.
As I look out at these men, I am reminded of so many of my own relatives on both sides of my family (“Gosh, he looks like Uncle Charlie” and “That one is the spitting image of my cousin Terry”), for I am Irish all the way through. Many of the priests who are making the retreat are retired, and it is edifying to see so many who have bravely borne the heat of the day. Do say a prayer for them.
The theme that I have chosen for my talks is “Pope Francis Speaks to Priests.” I have culled a number of motifs from the pope’s numerous talks, sermons, and lectures to priests, seminarians, and bishops. Allow me, in the course of this brief article to say just a few words about each one.