Tag: Church

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Brent King Director of Communications, Diocese of Madison

Becket Fund assists 40 Dane County Catholic sites to open at 25 percent capacity

MADISON — For three months now, the Diocese of Madison has followed the best of state and local guidelines with regard to all reasonable protocols concerning COVID-19, its transmission, and how to protect the public, especially those most vulnerable.

At the same time, and never dismissively, the Church has looked to how best to provide for the spiritual, and especially the sacramental, nourishment of the faithful. This has been a particular weight on the heart of Bishop Donald J. Hying since suspending public Masses in mid-March.

After the Wisconsin State Supreme Court reversed state-wide orders and restrictions, the diocese quickly began planning for its own very-measured reopening.

On Thursday, May 21, the Diocese of Madison shared its guidelines for parish reopening at 25 percent occupancy across the 11-county diocese. These guidelines take everything into account from social distancing, personal sanitation, omission of singing, removal of furniture and hymnals, training of ushers, and so much more.

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the Diocese of Madison

Diocese of Madison to roll out reopening plan early next week

MADISON — With the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling of May 13, which overturned Governor Tony Evers’ state-wide Emergency Order #28, i.e., the “Safer at Home” Order, Most Reverend Donald Hying, Bishop of Madison offered the following brief statement:

“I certainly appreciate the exception added to the Public Health Madison and Dane County Order of May 13th, which while continuing to list religious entities as ‘Essential Businesses and Operations’, also allows for more reasonably-sized congregations for public worship while maintaining appropriate health-related safeguards, and I look forward to seeing this exception for religious entities being adopted in our other ten counties in the Diocese of Madison, and hopefully statewide in any possible future state order.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying

The resurrection invites us to leave sin and death behind

We may be tempted to think that once Jesus had risen from the dead and sent the Holy Spirit upon the early Church, the lives of the Apostles were easy; after all, they were filled with the light and joy of knowing that the Lord had conquered sin and death; they knew that He was with them in the power of the Holy Spirit and the sacraments of the Church.

Yet, a simple reading of the Acts of the Apostles reveals that they met with immediate and violent opposition when they began to proclaim the Resurrection of Christ. Those who had conspired to kill Jesus certainly did not want Him coming back from the dead. How much easier for them if He had remained cold and lifeless in the tomb.

Proclamation of resurrection seen as subversive threat

The rising of Jesus on Easter Sunday is a clear and compelling confirmation of the truth of His identity as the Son of God and the Savior of the world. If Christ were inexplicably alive again, in a new and glorious fashion, such an astonishing fact demanded faith in Him and a devout adherence to His teachings and the truths of the holy Gospel. The proclamation of the resurrection is a subversive threat which must be silenced, in the minds of those who violently opposed the teachings of the Master during his earthly life.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying, Bishop of Madison

Go forth and make disciples!

Bishop Donald J. Hying's column

When I became a bishop back in 2011, I attended a nine-day conference in Rome for new bishops from all over the world, put on by the Vatican.

The best part of the experience was meeting the other participants, 16 other Americans, 25 from Brazil, and one bishop from Iraq whose predecessor had been murdered by terrorists. The informal conversations were often more interesting than the scheduled talks.

Dealing with declining Church

At lunch on the third day, I sat with a newly appointed bishop from a diocese in the southern Netherlands. He told me that Mass attendance there hovered at about two percent, mostly elderly people; he had no seminarians, so there was no future for the priesthood. It wasn’t so much that the Church had collapsed as that it had evaporated!

I asked him where he was going to start in such a daunting situation. How do you begin when everything seems so hopeless? What he said did not surprise me, but it has stuck with me.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying, Bishop of Madison

Freedom of religion is at risk worldwide

Bishop Donald J. Hying's column

Worldwide, Christians are being killed explicitly for their faith in alarmingly large numbers these past years. North Korea, the Middle East, and Africa are some of the top hotspots for Christian persecution.

Believers in Christ are being systematically driven out of the Holy Land through intimidation, prejudice, and lack of opportunity. Soon, there will be almost zero Christians in the country where Jesus lived. More martyrs are being born through a bloody death than any time since the early Church!

Religious freedom at risk

Here at home, we do not face such overt violence because of our religious beliefs, but some significant shifts in political praxis have put our religious freedom at risk.

The First Amendment of the Constitution guarantees religious liberty in our country. This right is not some beneficent gift from the government; it is inscribed in our human nature as an inherent right to exercise freedom of conscience. No one can either compel or restrict religious belief or practice. Faith is a sacred gift nurtured in the heart and soul.

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Mary C. Uhler Catholic Herald Staff

Church is rebuilding in former Iron Curtain countries

MADISON — The Catholic Church in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia is making “remarkable progress” in the countries formerly under the Iron Curtain, said Bishop Donald J. Hying.

The fall of communism occurred over 25 years ago, but the Church in these countries continues to struggle to rebuild after years of oppressive rule.

Bishop Hying visited the countries of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan recently as a member of the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on Aid to the Church in Central and Eastern Europe.

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Bishop Donald J. Hying, Bishop of Madison

Teaching children to know, love, and serve God

Bishop Donald J. Hying's column

As another school year begins and we lament the rapid passage of summer, I ponder the gift and blessing of our children and young people — the greatest treasure of the Church and the world.

Our Diocese pours significant resources into the formation of our children and youth, through our schools, religious education programs, and youth ministry.

And rightfully so. We want each child to know, love, and serve God. We want each young person to be a zealous disciple of the Lord Jesus. We want each person to grow up, flourishing in the abundant life of the Gospel, becoming the saint that God has called them to be.

Advocate of Catholic Schools

I have always been a big advocate of Catholic schools. Every study shows that graduates of parochial schools practice the Faith, support the Church, contribute to the poor, have a keener sense of social justice, and are more successful in their vocations than the average population.

A learning environment imbued in faith and love, permeated by prayer, and strong in Christian values becomes a blessed, formative experience that impacts the whole person — soul, body, mind, and heart.

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Kevin Wondrash

Island Church annual summer picnic

WATERLOO — The Island Church Foundation invites the public to visit the historic St. Wenceslaus (Island) Church on Sunday, July 14, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Edward Langer will speak at 12:30 p.m. about the settlers of The Island in the multi-purpose building next to the church.

Bill “HORSE” Bossingham will entertain guests on the church grounds with his one-man band from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs).

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