Tag: Bishop Robert C. Morlino

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Joseph Baker to be ordained in Rome

joseph baker
Joseph Baker

Joseph Baker, a seminarian for the Diocese of Madison, will be ordained as a transitional deacon on Thursday, Oct. 1, at 9:30 a.m. at the Altar of the Chair at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York will be ordaining Baker and 39 other men from around the United States. A transitional deacon has completed his third year of theology studies and intends to be ordained as a priest.

Baker will participate as a deacon in a Mass of Thanksgiving celebrated by Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison on Friday, Oct. 2, at 8 a.m. in the Chapel of the Presentation at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Baker is the son of Kay and Mark Baker, members of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Chippewa Falls. His “home parish” is St. Paul’s University Catholic Center at the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison.

A graduate of Catholic schools in Chippewa Falls, Baker attended UW-Madison from the fall of 2006 to the fall of 2007. He then enrolled at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota/Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Winona from the spring of 2008 to the spring of 2009.

He was selected as a Basselin Scholar at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., which he attended from the fall of 2009 to the spring of 2012. He has attended the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome from the fall of 2012 to the spring of 2015.

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

Holy Father proclaims the joy of the Gospel

Dear friends,

What a blessing it has been this amazing and eventful week as we’ve enjoyed the visit of our Holy Father, Pope Francis.

I had the privilege to be in Washington, D.C., for the activities of last Wednesday, including of course, the meeting of the Holy Father with the Bishops of the United States.

The loving support of the Holy Father for his bishops and of us for him, is altogether more than refreshing.

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Chris Lee

St. Maria Goretti Parish in Madison hosts tour of saint’s relics

st maria goretti
St. Maria Goretti’s remains are encased inside a glass-sided casket. Inside the casket is a wax statue, which contains her skeletal remains. Her body is not incorrupt, and none of the sacred remains are visible. Nevertheless, the skeleton is complete save for small fragments that have been taken for placement in altars and for use in the Church’s ministry. (File photo)

MADISON — St. Maria Goretti Parish is one of more than 50 sites in the United States to host the major relics of its patron saint, St. Maria Goretti, as part of the “Pilgrimage of Mercy: The Tour of the Major Relics of St. Maria Goretti.”

The relics will be brought into the church at 5313 Flad Ave. on Friday, Oct. 16, at 8 a.m. and lie in repose there for public veneration beginning at 9 a.m. that day until 5:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17.

Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison will celebrate a Solemn Mass at 7 p.m. on Friday evening.

Hundreds of pilgrims are expected to walk past the reliquary during the 22-hour period. October 16 is St. Maria Goretti’s 125th birthday.

Fr. Carlos Martins, CC, a Custos Reliquiarum (ecclesiastically appointed curate of relics) and director of Treasures of the Church, will lead the tour of the United States with the sacred remains of St. Maria Goretti. She is an immensely popular saint, and this is the first time her body travels to the United States and only the second time she has left Italy.

The youngest canonized saint in the Catholic Church, the 11-year-old Maria Goretti died July 6, 1902, after being stabbed 14 times in an attempted rape.

Her last words on her deathbed were of mercy toward her 20-year-old attacker: “I forgive Alessandro Serenelli . . . and I want him with me in heaven forever.”

The unrepentant Serenelli famously reported receiving an apparition of his victim within his prison cell, some six years into his 30-year sentence. That occasion began his dramatic transformation from being a violent and ruthless man to that of a gentle and renewed soul intent on spreading devotion to God and his saintly victim. In his words, “Maria’s forgiveness saved me.”

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Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

What God has joined together, no man must separate

This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop.

Dear friends,

Marriage matters. Marriage matters on all levels. Marriage matters to the men and women joined together in it, to children, to families, to communities, to our nation, and to the Church. Marriage is foundational to the stability of humankind, to the health and welfare of nations, and to our future.

All of that can be stated without recourse to theology, Sacred Scripture, or to 2,000 years of Church teaching. The fact that marriage matters has been known by human beings since before Jesus Christ was born.

It’s been known since the very beginning, because it is inscribed on the hearts of rational man and woman. Not only can the natural reproductive function of human anatomy be clearly seen, but the natural benefits of a stable, fundamental unit of society, made up of father, mother, and child, can be immediately realized.

God’s plan for marriage

Beyond that, however, we as Christians believe that, in His love for humanity, God has revealed his plan for marriage time and time again. From the creation of Adam and Eve, through the giving of “the law” as recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures, to the creation of a “new law,” in Jesus’ words to the Pharisees, to the elevation of Holy Matrimony to an inviolable Sacrament, God Himself has made clear in extraordinary ways that marriage matters.

Since the time that there was a Church (and before), marriage has been between one man and one woman, for one lifetime, with openness to children. It is for this reason (particularly in defense of the marriage bond) that St. John the Baptist, St. Thomas More, and so many others spoke truth to power at the expense of their own lives; it is for this reason (particularly in defense of the fruitfulness of marriage) that Blessed Pope Paul VI made clear, in the face of much dissent, that human procreation must not be stymied by artificial means of birth control; and it is for this reason in our own day (particularly in defense of the reality of marriage between one man and one woman), that the Church and her faithful have taken such abuse for saying (with love) that there is no such thing as “gay marriage.”

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald Staff

Chancellor Kevin Phelan retires, prompts changes in chancery

Kevin Phelan
Kevin Phelan Eric Schiedermayer William Yallaly

MADISON — Effective August 28, Kevin Phelan retired as chancellor of the Diocese of Madison, a position he has held since 2004.

Before he came to Madison, Phelan served as chancellor of the Diocese of Helena, Mont., for two years. In both dioceses he served as the sexual abuse victim assistance coordinator.

While thanking Phelan for his “faithful lay service,” Bishop Robert C. Morlino said “his departure both necessitates and allows for other changes at the diocesan level.”

The bishop said, “In order to address some of our current needs, as well as to bring our office in closer alignment with the curial structure provided in the Code of Canon Law, two major changes will take place at this time”:

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Kevin Wondrash, Catholic Herald Staff

Bishop Morlino, pro-life leaders support ban of selling fetal body parts

MADISON — “People can never be reduced to things,” said Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison as he concluded his testimony before the State Assembly Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety on August 11.

Bishop Morlino spoke in support of Assembly Bill 305 (AB 305), which would make it illegal to sell and use fetal body parts from an abortion in the state of Wisconsin.

The bill was authored by State Representatives André Jacque (R-DePere) and Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc) with support from State Senator Duey Stroebel (R-Saukville) and other state lawmakers.

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Mary C. Uhler, Catholic Herald

SSM Health gives major gift to seminarian campaign

MADISON — SSM Health has pledged a major gift of $250,000 to the Diocese of Madison’s Priests for Our Future: The Church Is Alive!” campaign to educate seminarians.

Damond Boatwright made the gift on behalf of SSM Health as one of his first acts as the new regional president/CEO of Hospital Operations in Wisconsin. SSM Health is the parent company of St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison, St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo, and St. Mary’s Janesville Hospital.

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Kevin Wondrash, Catholic Herald Staff

Diocese of Madison welcomes six new priests

It was more than just the biggest night of their lives — it was a special night for their families, the Diocese of Madison, and the Church as a whole.

No moment symbolically externalized the work of the Holy Spirit more than the thunderous applause for six men who had just presented themselves to Bishop Robert C. Morlino to be ordained to the priesthood.

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