"Bishop Morneau’s actions exemplify those that some of you must take to restore trust and allow the deep wounds caused by the current crisis to heal." - Dr. Francesco Cesareo— Michael Warren Davis (@MichaelWTDavis) November 14, 2018
Well spotted, Phil. https://t.co/APNbixDD9H
continue at ABC17MONROE COUNTY, Mo. - The Missouri State Highway Patrol is asking the public for help finding a St. Louis woman whose vehicle was found in Monroe County.
A state park ranger found 23-year-old Rafaella Maria Stroik's unattended vehicle Monday in the Highway 107 boat ramp parking lot of Mark Twain Lake State Park, the patrol's Troop B said in a news release. No missing person report had been filed and the vehicle was still there Tuesday, the release said.
Troopers and park rangers then determined Stroik was missing. A missing person report was then filed and authorities are searching the area around the boat ramp, the release said.
The body of a missing St. Louis ballet dancer was found Wednesday morning in a rural Missouri Lake.StlToday
We just finished talking to the MSHP who tell us the body of St. Louis ballerina, 23-year-old Raffaella M. Stroik, was found here in Mark Twain Lake. No foul play is suspected. An autopsy will be done tomorrow. @ksdknews pic.twitter.com/q3KtGvWrBP— Rachel Menitoff (@RachelMenitoff) November 14, 2018
continue at CNAPope Francis Thursday approved the beatification of American Br. James Miller, who was martyred in 1982 in Guatemala.
Christian Brothers
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Br. James Alfred Miller, who was a religious brother of the Institute of the Brothers of Christian Schools (called Christian Brothers) was serving in Guatemala when he was shot to death by three hooded men in the afternoon of Feb. 13, 1982, dying instantly. He was 37.
Miller, who was born near Stevens Point, Wisconsin in 1944, took the habit of the Christian Brothers in August 1962.
He coached football, and taught Spanish, English, and religion in a high school in St. Paul, Minn. There his construction and maintenance abilities gained him the nickname "Brother Fix-It."
Miller was later sent to teach in Nicaragua, where under his leadership a school grew from 300 to 800 students and he supervised the construction of 10 new rural schools.
In July 1978 his superiors asked him to leave the country because of the danger amid the Sandinista Revolution. He returned to the U.S. and again taught high school.
He was sent to mission territory in Guatemala in 1981, teaching at a secondary school and at a center for studies for young indigenous Mayans from rural areas.
He was assassinated in February 1982, while standing on a ladder, repairing a wall of a school building.
Local authorities did not identify the gunmen.
A new high school set to open in Burnsville in the fall of 2019 hopes to serve Catholic families in the south metro of the Twin Cities. Local Catholic business leader Tom Bengtson, who helped launch Chesterton Academy in 2008, and retired NFL player and former Minnesota Viking Matt Birk are teaming up to open Unity High School at Mary, Mother of the Church in Burnsville.continue at The Compass
The school will use existing classrooms at the church, and will begin with ninth grade in the fall, adding one grade per year until it reaches 12th grade. Bengtson said a Catholic high school was needed in this part of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Archbishop Bernard Hebda has approved the beginning of a three-phase process to determine whether the school would gain official recognition as a Catholic high school in the archdiocese. If that happens, the name would change to Unity Catholic High School.
“I have known forever that the south metro — in other words … below the Minnesota River — has not had a high school, and yet it’s an area of booming population,” said Bengtson, 57, who graduated from the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield in 1979. “You’ve got lots of Catholic families down there, you have 10 Catholic grade schools down there, and yet there are no Catholic high schools.”
The auxiliary bishop of Astana, formerly bishop of Karaganda [Kazakhstan], Athanasius Schneider, has received a verbal injunction from the Vatican asking him to reduce the frequency of his foreign trips.continue at 1Peter5
This measure was taken last spring; the bishop was informed in April by the Nuncio in Kazakhstan, Francis Assisi Chullikatt, of this extraordinary restriction on his freedom.
Yet another unique aspect of this affair is that Archbishop Schneider only received a verbal notice of this restriction, which was given directly to him by the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. The Nuncio did not give him anything in writing, no document which could serve as the basis for the bishop taking any sort of legal initiative [to appeal the matter] to the Congregation for Bishops or the Apostolic Signatura which, until the advent of Pope Bergoglio, was the court of instance where lay people, priests, and bishops could make appeal against decisions of ecclesiastical authority which they believed to be unjust.
Justice is only served when a person who is accused and found innocent gets fully reinstated to his or her previous job. Those who make false and misleading statements also should be held accountable. If there is no accountability for false accusations, then the legal system no longer works.Duluth Tribune
People in positions of power, such as Diocese of Duluth Bishop Paul Sirba, should stand by those falsely accused.
I ask what justice there is when Fr. William Graham, who I believe won in court ("Split verdict in Duluth priest's suit against accuser," Aug. 25), has his career and life ruined anyway. There is none.
Kathy Olson
Duluth
The University of Wisconsin Madison is making a big GOTV push this year. In addition to hosting three early voting sites, they’re putting extra resources into providing students with the documentation they need to register and vote – all students.continue at MacIver
The two key documents are proof of residence and a photo ID. The university is making it as easy as possible to get these documents.
All students can print off a “Voter Eligibility Verification Letter” simply by going to their online university account. The process is automatic and instant.
continue at The Catholic SpiritArchbishop Emeritus John Nienstedt defended himself Oct. 24 from renewed allegations that he has engaged in sexual misconduct and that his judgment in the case of a former priest who sexually abused three boys was influenced by an “unusual social relationship” with him.
The allegations are part of a lawsuit filed against the Vatican Oct. 24 by Jeff Anderson, a St. Paul attorney. Its two plaintiffs include Jim Keenan, a sexual abuse survivor from the Twin Cities. Filed in U.S. District Court-Northern District of California, Anderson’s lawsuit is the third he’s filed against the Vatican. Courts have dismissed both of the two previous suits.
The lawsuit seeks the release of Vatican-held documents in its archives pertaining to clergy sex abuse.
The lawsuit cites the internal investigation commissioned in 2014 by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis into allegations that Archbishop Nienstedt engaged in sexual misconduct with adults prior to being named Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis. That investigation produced affidavits alleging that Archbishop Nienstedt had sexually harassed and propositioned adult males and frequented gay establishments in Canada and Detroit.
“I categorically deny all of those allegations, and I have never used my position to take advantage of anybody,” Archbishop Nienstedt said in his statement.
The Associated Press reported at the Wisconsin State Journal.
"The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Friday that the priests served in the Milwaukee Archdiocese. After they were forced out, they gained state licenses to enter professions including social work, nursing, alcohol and drug counseling, and funeral home work.
...
"On Thursday, Walker spokesman Tom Evenson said regulators with the state Department of Safety and Professional Services have lodged complaints against them and the governor thinks they should lose their licenses."
‘I died in this friary on the 18th September 1908, in cell number 4. I am still in purgatory. I need a Holy Mass in order to be freed. God permitted I come and ask you for help.’#HolySouls pic.twitter.com/w8p6msLMUt— Nicholα-Memento Moriđź’€ (@Sacraestvita) November 2, 2018
Work is underway to make more room for the faithful at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion. Attendance is growing at the only church-approved Marian Shrine in the U.S.continue at WFRB
At the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help, people gather for a blessing for a project about to begin.
“Look favorably on your children, for we have come with joy to begin work on this new construction,” prayed Bishop David Ricken of the Green Bay Catholic Diocese.
Wednesday work began on a new building here, the Prayer and Events Center, a multi-use facility able to seat up to 1,200 people.
Pope Francis has called on Catholic bishops nationwide to gather for a historic seven-day spiritual retreat at Mundelein Seminary in suburban Chicago in January as church hierarchy grapple with the ongoing clergy sex abuse scandal.continue at Omaha.com
As chancellor of the seminary, Cardinal Blase Cupich — an Omaha native and leader of the Chicago archdiocese — will serve as host of the gathering, which could include some 300 bishops from around the country. Cupich is now in Rome for a monthlong meeting of global church leaders.
Loyola University Chicago theology professor Miguel Diaz called the retreat “historically significant for American Catholics.” The concept of the gathering reflects the pope’s leadership style — his Jesuit background in particular — to address church challenges “within the context of collaborative and prayerful discernment,” said Diaz, a former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.
more at MadCatHeraldStarting the project
The ideas for the project began with Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison’s recent request that all churches in the Diocese of Madison place the tabernacle in the center of the church’s sanctuary by October of this year.
The tabernacle at St. Dennis has been located in a side chapel since the church was built in 1983.
The project grew when it was determined that in order for the altar to be centered, the sanctuary must be redesigned.
The other major portions of the project such as redesigning restrooms and doorways to comply with handicap access codes, new lighting, and parking lot improvements have been on the parish’s needs list for quite some time.
St. Dennis wanted to do as many of the improvements as they could at one time to have more efficiency in fundraising and building and grounds work.
"Indeed, it is difficult to think of a holy day more distorted by secularism than Halloween. The authentic spirit of the day has long-since been driven out of most places."
I would like to know everything about the Nacho Libre Brewers fan. #NLCS pic.twitter.com/eVizNqumrt— Mike Beauvais (@MikeBeauvais) October 21, 2018
The St. Mary’s Springs Ledgers had suffered the tragic loss of one of their teammates — No. 62 Trent Schueffner — just that morning, so Friday night's 62-13 win over Dominican held far more meaning than just a WIAA first-round playoff football matchup.continue at JS
Schueffner, a junior offensive tackle and defensive lineman on the undefeated, top-seeded football team, and son of Jon and Kerrie Schueffner, died in a duck hunting accident Friday morning in Calumet County.
....“We have the grace together today to have two Catholic schools playing against one another,” St. Mary’s Springs chaplain Rev. John Mitchell said as he addressed the stadium. “While we are fierce competitors on the field, we also have the gift of being brothers in Christ.”
During a moment of silence and "Litany of Saints" read by Mitchell, the only other sound to be heard was the faint sniffles of students remembering their classmate, teammate and friend.
A Pewaukee priest accused of groping a teenage congregant in a confessional has been released on bond and is scheduled to reappear in court in November for a preliminary hearing.continue at JS
The Rev. Chuck Hanel, 61, appeared Oct. 15 in Waukesha County Circuit Court and signed a $10,000 signature bond, court records show. He was released on condition that he have no contact with the accuser or her family, no unsupervised contact with anyone younger than 18 "in the context of his employment" and was ordered to surrender his passport.
Hanel stands accused of second-degree sexual assault of a child. A 14-year-old girl reported to police in April that Hanel touched her breast and leg in a confessional at Queen of Apostles Church in December 2017, when she was 13.
