SINSINAWA — Sr. Francesca “Fran” Koller, OP, died Jan. 19, 2021, at St. Dominic Villa, Hazel Green, Wis. The funeral Mass was held at the Dominican motherhouse, Sinsinawa, Jan. 28, followed by burial in the Motherhouse Cemetery.
Month: January 2021
Recognizing Catholic school ‘heroes’
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“Not all heroes wear capes.” I’m sure that you’ve heard that saying before.
Well, it’s true, and you don’t have to go to your local hospital, fire, or police station to find them. All you have to do is look as far as your local Catholic school.
Take a look at the teachers, principals, secretaries, aides, administrative assistants, custodians, cooks, and counselors.
In Catholic schools, the heroes are everywhere.Celebrating Catholic schools
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As we celebrate Catholic Schools Week, I offer profound gratitude and praise to Michael Lancaster and our diocesan Office of Schools staff, our pastors and principals, our teachers and school staff, our parents, benefactors, religious education directors and catechists, and ultimately the students who offer the best of themselves to create Catholic communities of learning and formation, so that our precious young people grow to know, love, and serve Jesus Christ as disciples of the Gospel and as practicing Catholics in love with the Lord.
This year especially, in light of the enormous challenges of COVID, I especially applaud our school and parish leaders who have had to plan, implement, adjust, sacrifice, and give the best they have, in order to continue the formation of our young people.
Combining in-person and virtual learning as needed and possible, our teachers and catechists have striven to keep teaching Christ to our students.
I applaud the generosity, flexibility, and commitment required of all in this enormous effort.
Importance of Catholic education
Perhaps these increased difficulties shine a needed spotlight on the absolute importance of Catholic education; everyone could have easily given up this year or at least have put in just a minimum of effort, given all of the roadblocks, but, in nobly rising to the occasion, the Catholic community has generously demonstrated the high priority we place on the formation of the next generation.
The Power of Attorney for Health Care
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Death: Our Birth into Eternal life Fr. Joseph Baker |
The following article is the next installment in a series that will appear in the Catholic Herald to offer catechesis and formation concerning end-of-life decisions, dying, death, funerals, and burial of the dead from the Catholic perspective.
Last week, we began to explore the topic of advance health care planning.
This planning is necessary not only because of modern medical advancements, but most especially because we may find ourselves in a position when we are not able to express our wishes about the use of a particular treatment at the end of life.
That being said, not all forms of advance health care planning are equal.
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.Communication initiatives in new diocese
Third in a series on the 75th anniversary of the Diocese of Madison
The Milwaukee Catholic Herald Citizen had been published for many years and often included news from southwestern Wisconsin and the Madison area.
However, Bishop William P. O’Connor wanted a diocesan newspaper for the new Diocese of Madison. In the fall of 1947, the Madison edition of the Catholic Herald Citizen made its debut.
Priest named editor
Bishop O’Connor asked Fr. Andrew R. Breines (later Msgr.), a diocesan priest, to take journalism courses at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He then became editor of the Madison paper in 1948. The paper’s name was changed to the Catholic Herald in 1982.
Happy Catholic Schools Week!
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In June, it’ll mark 23 years since I graduated from a Catholic school (sorry, Mom and Dad, if that makes you feel old).
I attended Two Rivers (Wis.) Catholic Central School (TRCCS), in the Diocese of Green Bay, from 1989 to 1998, from kindergarten to eighth grade. Like some students in the Diocese of Madison, I attended school in two buildings throughout those nine years — St. Mark for grades K to four and St. Luke for grades five to eight.
Unfortunately, the school, later known as St. Peter the Fisherman, is no longer open.
Name changes and school closings are also known to some people in this diocese, so my experience was somewhat “universal” with what other Catholic school students go through all over.Sr. Bernadette (Melissa) Prochaska, FSPA, dies
Sr. Bernadette Prochaska, FSPA, 88, died Wednesday morning, January 6, 2021 of pancreatic cancer at St. Rose Convent, La Crosse, Wis. She was in the 68th year of her religious profession.
Bishop Hying’s statement on the inauguration of President Joe Biden
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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.
Bishops address COVID vaccine concerns
MADISON — Wisconsin’s Catholic bishops have issued a statement that addresses moral considerations regarding newly-developed COVID-19 vaccines.
In their letter, the bishops acknowledged the devastating impact of coronavirus infections worldwide but also lauded the efforts of nations and organizations to develop safe vaccines that will effectively diminish the impact of the virus.
Moral questions
While the promise of inoculation provides hope for the end of the current pandemic, the bishops indicated that many Catholics have raised moral questions about receiving vaccinations, especially the use of vaccines that utilize cell lines from aborted children in development and production.
There are also questions surrounding the right of conscience and the duty of all Catholics to advance the common good.