Recently the people of St. Victor Parish in Monroe, and many others around the diocese gathered for the unveiling and dedication of a statue recognizing Msgr. Thomas F. Campion, founder and director of the Apostolate to the Handicapped, and the many volunteers called “Campion’s Champions.”
Day: July 15, 2010
College to sell Durward’s Glen
DURWARD’S GLEN — Magdalen College, a Catholic liberal arts college in Warner, N.H., has decided to sell Durward’s Glen, a Catholic retreat center located in the Baraboo bluffs about 30 miles north of Madison.
Top 10 tips for new (and all other) priests
Editor’s note: The following is the homily given by Msgr. James Bartylla, vicar general, at Fr. Gregory Ihm’s Mass of Thanksgiving, St. Clement Church, Lancaster, June 27.
Fr. Greg Ihm, Bishop Morlino, and my brother priests, it’s an honor to give the homily at Father Ihm’s Mass of Thanksgiving at his home parish of St. Clement in Lancaster. Ray and Sherri, you should be very proud of your son who will make an exemplary priest.
It is also a privilege to come back to my adopted home of Grant County where I spent seminarian summers and my first years of priesthood. This includes time in Dickeyville, Lancaster, Kieler, Sinsinawa, Bloomington, and Patch Grove. In fact, I first met Fr. Greg Ihm at the Kieler picnic shortly after he finished a TEC retreat and decided to enter the seminary.
Father Greg spent most of his years in the seminary with me as his vocations director. As you know, Greg, vocations directors are always prone to giving advice to seminarians and maybe even newly ordained priests. I have to say there’s a bit of that still in me as a former vocations director. So today I offer you my top 10 tips on the priesthood as we look forward to your priestly ministry.
Local CCHD funds distributed
MADISON — As the nation’s bishops continue to scrutinize the distribution of the national portion of the U.S. Church’s annual Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), Bishop Robert C. Morlino has assured the Diocese of Madison that all donations earmarked for local use will only benefit initiatives, groups, and programs consistent with authentic Catholic social teaching, as a matter of justice.
Policy making goes on even in ‘off season’
If there is an off-season in state government, summer of an even-numbered year qualifies. The campaign season is beginning and, to the extent they can, politicians will avoid controversial decisions until after the election.
But that doesn’t mean all policy work stops. In both the legislative and executive branches, our leaders are setting the stage for the debates of 2011.
That old-timers’ religion
If anyone were to evaluate our parish by the attendance at daily Mass, they might get the impression that ours was an “old timers’ religion.” It’s mostly a collection of gray heads with a few colors sprinkled in.
In my lifetime, I have witnessed that the biggest population change in our parish, however, is in committee members. This struck me most recently while attending our parish library committee meeting.
Haiti continues to need our help
It has been six months since an earthquake devastated the country of Haiti, affecting an estimated three million people and leaving more than one million Haitians homeless.
Immediately after the earthquake, people throughout the world responded generously with humanitarian aid. The outpouring of support was especially needed in Haiti, which was already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere before the quake.
Sister should have been excommunicated
To the editor: […]