News from around the 11 counties of the Diocese of Madison.
MADISON — The Serra Club of Madison held its annual Bishop’s Dinner on May 22 at the Bishop O’Connor Catholic Pastoral Center.
All priests of the diocese were invited to join Serrans, their spouses, and guests at the annual dinner.
Msgr. James Bartylla, club chaplain and diocesan vocation director, introduced all the priests present, noting especially two golden jubilarians attending: Frs. Henry Kalscheuer and Roger Nilles.
Madison attorney David R. J. Stiennon, 45, was announced as the new president of St. Ambrose Academy, a grade six to 12 Catholic school on Madison’s west side.
The Catholic Multicultural Center (CMC) of Madison, recently closed due to budget cuts in the Diocese of Madison, has been given a ray of hope, according to officials with Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Madison.
Fr. Brian Dulli, parochial vicar at Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Parish in Sun Prairie, bears the Eucharist during a procession on the Feast of Corpus Christi, June 14, leading parishioners through the streets of Sun Prairie.
MADISON — The day Fr. Jason Hesseling, United States Army Chaplain, left Alaska for his posting in Afghanistan, he prayed the Liturgy of the Hours and read the passage: “When O Lord, will I come to the end of my pilgrimage and enter the presence of God!”
“Kind of funny to read that on that day,” he wrote in his newsletter to friends back home. “Not sure I would term my time in Alaska as a pilgrimage, and I certainly wouldn’t say that Afghanistan is the presence of God. But it did kind of put a good spin on the flight and the next 12 months of my life.”
Commencement ceremonies are often bittersweet events and this was no exception.
MADISON — Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Madison has begun coordinating efforts for the future reopening of the Catholic Multicultural Center (CMC).
The Diocese of Madison handed over keys to the center to Msgr. Kenneth Fiedler, pastor of the parish, on June 8. The diocese had closed the center on Madison’s south side on May 29 as part of diocesan cutbacks due to economic difficulties.
Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish is researching and studying the use and programs of the Catholic Multicultural Center. “We have dialogued with former staff of the CMC, diocesan priests (all priests were invited to a meeting held at the parish on June 19), members representing civic organizations, Edgewood College, St. Mary’s Hospital, St. Vincent de Paul, LaSup (Latino Support Network), the City of Madison, and the Dane County Executive’s Office,” reported the parish.
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) will issue $50,000 term life insurance policies to benefit children of eligible working families in the Madison area, at no cost to the families. MassMutual pays the premiums.
Christ the King Parish in McFarland will join with Madison area parishes in raising funds to reopen the Catholic Multicultural Center by contributing 10 percent of the profit from King Fest, the annual parish festival.
REEDSBURG — Campers and parents are being notified this morning that Camp Gray (a Catholic youth summer camp) will be closed until Sunday, July 5, after one staff member was confirmed as positive for the H1N1 (swine flu) virus, late Monday. Immediately upon learning of the confirmed case, camp directors decided to close the camp, for the health and well-being of the campers.
