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March 3, 2010

Salesianum names Florida priest new principal

By Mike Lang
The Dialog

WILMINGTON — Oblate Father J. Christian Beretta, a former teacher at Salesianum School who is currently a high school principal in Florida, will become Salesianum's new principal on July 1, the school announced Wednesday.
He will replace Oblate Father William McCandless, whose term expires after this year.
Father Beretta is in his seventh year as principal at Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers, Fla., and served as director of campus ministry before that. He is the only Oblate of St. Francis de Sales remaining at the school. He had informed parents there in January that he was leaving at the end of the school year for Salesianum and that the Oblates would no longer staff the school, as they have since 1982.
"As a Catholic school steeped in the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales, Salesianum represents and educational tradition and spiritual legacy that has no equal," he said. "It is tremendously exciting to return, but very humbling to be named principal. I already feel I owe so much to Salesianum."
Father Beretta taught at Salesianum as an Oblate seminarian from 1991-93 and again as a newly ordained priest from 1997-99. "I've already experienced firsthand the difference Salesianum makes in the lives of the students, and for that matter, the difference the school community made in my own life as an Oblate."
He also coached basketball at Salesianum, and is the current varsity girls' coach at Bishop Verot.
A 1991 graduate of Allentown College of St. Francis de Sales (now DeSales University), Father Beretta holds master's degrees from the DeSales School of Theology, the University of Maryland and the University of Notre Dame.
A companion announcement from the Oblates was the appointment of Michael Hassler as principal of Nativity Preparatory School, a tuition-free middle school founded by the Oblates for boys from low-income families. Hassler has been serving as the interim principal since November and assumes the permanent role immediately.
Oblate Father James Greenfield, the provincial of the Wilmington/Philadelphia Province of the Oblates, said he was "delighted" that Fr. Beretta and Hassler were beginning their positions at roughly the same time.
"Nativity Prep was born out of the centennial celebration of Salesianum, and I look forward to their collaboration to help both schools benefit from their common Salesian missions," said Father Greenfield, also chairman of the board of trustees at Salesianum and chairman of the board of members at Nativity.
According to Father Greenfield, Father Beretta was selected for his commitment to the mission of Salesianum, dedication to the faith development of young people and experience in leading a Catholic school.
Hassler, a licensed clinical social worker, said he is looking forward to the opportunity for growth at Nativity. "There is so much potential for bigger and better things. We have the ability to think outside the box. We can be creative in education. And we can individualize instruction to better allow our students to succeed at schools like Salesianum," he said.
Before becoming interim principal, Hassler was Nativity's graduate support director, a post he assumed in February of last year. He is also a graduate of DeSales University and has master's degrees from DeSales School of Theology and Catholic University of America.

Feb. 25, 2010

Maryland bishops oppose recognizing same-sex unions from other states

By Catholic News Service
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Maryland's Catholic bishops took "strong exception" to a Feb. 24 opinion by Maryland's attorney general stating that state agencies should recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.
"We trust our legislature and the people of Maryland will also object, and will act accordingly to counteract this opinion," said a joint statement released Feb. 24 signed by Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien of Baltimore, Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington and Bishop W. Francis Malooly of Wilmington, Del., whose dioceses all include parts of Maryland.
The statement was released by the Maryland Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the state's bishops, based in Annapolis.
Attorney General Douglas Gansler issued the opinion on same-sex marriage in response to a legislator's request he look into a question some say in unclear in state law.
Maryland is one of 41 states with a statute that defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. Measures to allow same-sex marriages in Maryland have failed, although the state's lawmakers have extended some benefits to same-sex couples.
Although it will not change state law, Gansler's opinion can guide Maryland officials. The attorney general's office, for example, can defend a state agency in court for recognizing a same-sex marriage from another state.
Legislation stating that Maryland would recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states has not made it through the General Assembly.
The state's bishops noted that the General Assembly has "repeatedly and explicitly upheld Maryland's definition of marriage 'between a man and a woman' even as certain limited benefits have been extended to same-sex couples."
They said the attorney general's opinion "chips away at our society's foundational institution" and demonstrates a "fundamental disregard for the nature and purpose of marriage and its impact on society, as well as for the expressed will of the legislature and previous attorney general opinions."
"We urge lawmakers, the governor and the courts to uphold the definition of marriage through all appropriate means," the bishops stressed.
The bishops said they "respect the dignity of homosexual persons and roundly reject all unjust discrimination against them," but noted that Maryland's marriage statute reflects the "convictions of Maryland's citizens and their legislators."
They noted that marriage between a man and a woman is not "merely a fact of religious faith or an institution established by civil authorities" but is "invariably reserved to the union of one man and one woman because of their unique ability to bring children into the world, thus forming a stable and secure foundation for our society."
"Allowing the decisions of out-of-state jurisdictions or courts to dictate public policy in Maryland undermines the proper role of the legislature and the citizens they represent," the bishops added.

Feb. 19, 2010

Catholic youth, Bishop Malooly to carry cross through Wilmington

WILMINGTON – Catholic youth will join Bishop Malooly and carry a wooden cross through the streets of Wilmington on the day before Palm Sunday as part of the diocese’s first Take Up Your Cross/Toma Tu Cruz Pilgrimage on March 27. Sponsored by the Office of Catholic Youth Ministry, the event also will feature prayer, a lunchtime rally and concert, the sacrament of reconciliation, eucharistic adoration and Mass.
Participants will park at Frawley Stadium on the riverfront and be shuttled to St. Ann’s Church on Union Street, where an opening prayer will be held at 9:30 a.m. At 10:50, they will leave for St. Anthony of Padua Church at Ninth and Dupont streets, where they will have a brown-bag lunch, a concert featuring local bands and Catholic speaker Steve Angrisano. The pilgrims start marching to St. Paul’s Church, Fourth and Jackson streets, at 1:15 p.m. and will have eucharistic adoration, the rosary and other prayers there.
They continue on to St. Elizabeth Church on Cedar Street at 3:30 p.m., with Mass scheduled at 5. Optional evening activities include dinner at St. Elizabeth and a concert at St. Elizabeth High School.
During the day, youth will take turns carrying the 10-by-6 foot wooden cross through the streets.
“The pilgrimage is a chance for young people, specifically those in grades six through 12, their families and young adults in the diocese to commemorate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and his own pilgrimage to Calvary on Good Friday,” CYM director Patrick Donovan said.
More information about Take Up Your Cross/Toma Tu Cruz is available at www.cdow.org or by calling 658-3800.


Feb. 12, 2010

Lobby Night in Annapolis canceled

The Maryland Catholic Conference has canceled Lobby Night, scheduled for Monday (Feb. 15) in Annapolis "out of concern for the safety of participants and the conditions of roads and sidewalks."
The Feb. 11 announcement from the MCC asked Catholics to visit the conference Web site, www.mdcatholiccon.org, for updates on alternative plans for contacting legislators. The MCC said this year was only the second time in 26 years Lobby Night was canceled. This year's event was to include a prayer service by Maryland's bishops, briefings on key state issues, and face-to-face meetings with state lawmakers and a dinner reception with lawmakers.

Feb. 9, 2010

Snow canceled Masses at some parishes, including at Holy Family in Newark.

No ordinary Sunday
As parishes prepared for more snow, here's how some felt the impact of last weekend's storm

Dialog staff report

As The Dialog went to press Tuesday afternoon, Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland were bracing for another major snowstorm, the second (and in some areas third) storm to dump significant amounts of snow in two weeks.
Last weekend's snow played havoc with routines for Massgoers, schoolchildren, and parish staffs, who were preparing for more of the same this week.
Here are a few of the reports The Dialog tracked down from parishes as they regrouped from last weekend's storm and awaited this week's.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Bear
While canceled Masses, blocked driveways and icy conditions kept a lot of adults from going to church last weekend, nine infants made it to their baptisms at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church on Sunday.
Father Roger DiBuo, pastor of the Bear parish, said all the children and parents made it to two baptisms at the 11 a.m. Mass, four christenings at the 12:30 liturgy, a baptism of twins at 1:30 in the church and a 2:30 baptism.
"The families had things planned and they decided they could pull it off and they did," Father DiBuo said. "It was amazing."
"There was no way we were canceling; I told them we weren't canceling this christening," said Karen Steen, the proud grandmother of Anthony Joseph Steen, son of Tamara Brown and John Steen. Anthony Joseph was baptized at 2:30.
Steen estimated that about 25 family and friends also made it to church for the ceremony and more came to her home in Woodcrest near Newport for Anthony Joseph's christening party. "We were calling it a christening/Super Bowl," Steen said.
Amy Lowe, the mother of twins Natalie Olivia and Claire Noelle, born Nov. 25, said her family "just left a little earlier" to make it to the Bear parish in time for the 1:30 baptisms Sunday. But in Lowe's and her husband Nathan's case, earlier also meant coming up to Amy Lowe's parents' house in Newark from their home in Columbia, Md., outside Baltimore on Friday to beat the arrival of the snowstorm.
Lowe gave no thought to canceling the baptisms. "We have some guests in from California," she said, namely Nathan's parents.
Despite the snowy conditions and distances traveled, the twins were fine Sunday, Lowe said. "They didn't know the difference."
Father DiBuo estimated there were 37 people at the 7:30 a.m. Sunday Mass in Bear, 160 at the 9:15 a.m. and about 275 at the 11.
In addition to the determined baptism parties who made it to church, Father DiBuo said the parish's Latino Committee made sweets and brought them in for a social after each Mass on Sunday; Brother Chris Posch, director of Hispanic ministry for the diocese, preached at each liturgy about the U.S. bishops' support for immigration reform.

St. Elizabeth, Wilmington
In Wilmington, Father Norm Carroll, pastor of St. Elizabeth's, said nine people made it to the 5 p.m. Mass on Saturday during the height of the storm. The Sunday congregations drew about 25 people at the 7 a.m. and about 60 each at the 9 and 11 a.m. The church seats about 900.
"We have a number of people who live right in the area and can walk," Father Carroll said.
While the parish collections took a hit during the storm, parishioners have been "really good making it up" in future collections, he said. "A lot of people send their offertory envelope in the mail or bring it back next week."

St. Helena, Wilmington
At St. Helena's, "Three of our nuns and two lay people" attended the Saturday night Mass, said Father Stanley Russell, pastor of the parish on Philadelphia Pike in Bellefonte. The parish's convenient location near I-95 probably helped bring Sunday's attendance at the 11 a.m. Mass to 200 people, the pastor said. An estimated 75 people combined had attended the two earlier liturgies that day.

St. John the Beloved, Wilmington
St. John the Beloved Church in Wilmington followed Delaware's state of emergency on Saturday and canceled Masses, said Father Charlie Brown, the pastor. That meant postponing a first penance service until Feb. 27 in addition to the two Saturday night liturgies.
Sundays Masses drew relatively large congregations given the snow conditions, with congregations of 400 and 300 and the last two liturgies.
After a contractor plowed the property on Saturday, St. John the Beloved Athletic Association members along with maintenance staff shoveled the grounds to prepare for Sunday, the pastor said.
While weekend collections take a hit during bad weather, Father Brown noted the parishioners "were very generous" making up the missed donations after December's storm, and he's encouraging them to do so again, in light of the thousands of dollars in snow removal costs.

St. Joseph’s, Middletown
At St. Joseph Church in Middletown, Masses were canceled due to the record-setting storm, said Father Steven B. Guiliano, pastor. The new church's parking area had been plowed but there was no place to go with the snow and only a single lane left for getting in and out of the lot. Plus, there's a long walk to the church from the lots and with ice all over, "We had to cancel everything."
Having lost weekend collections in December and now during the first week of February when a lot of parishioners make their monthly offerings, Father Guiliano said, "We're just going to ask people if they're able to help make up for the loss."

St. Luke’s, Ocean City, Md.
At St. Luke's parish in Ocean City, blizzard conditions forced cancellation of Saturday Masses. "I was going to have Mass," Father Richard Smith, the pastor said, but only one person came; he was my sacristan."
Seven people got to St. Luke's 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, and about a total of 160 at the next to Masses.
"What's killing us is the loss of collections and plow costs," said Father Smith. The Ocean City parish doesn't budget snow removal as an annual expense. It's been about six years since any significant snowfall has hit the parish.
The parish had to cancel a Communion service at Brandywine Assisted Living on Sunday. "We couldn't get there," Father Smith said, the roads in nearby Delaware weren't as clear as the Ocean City area of the parish.
But a couple of homebound parishioners were taken care of, he added. "Thankfully, I have a four-wheel drive truck.”
On Monday, two doors to the church were still blocked by the heavy snowfall. "The way the roof is sloped, it's about 8 feet deep. It will take us until about Easter to dig out."

St. John Neumann, Berlin, Md.
On Monday, Father Thomas Protack, pastor of St. John Neumann in Berlin, Md., was still shoveling snow at his church, cleaning up the spots the big plows couldn't reach.
"I called up some of the confirmation class and asked 'why don't you come help your pastor?'" he said.
Saturday's storm was the second in a week to hit St. John Neumann and other nearby churches. Father Protack estimates about $25,000 will be needed to make up for the loss of collection revenue and snow removal costs. That was without the snow complications expected from this week's predicted Tuesday and Wednesday snow.
The parish does have a contractor on call for snow removal. "I'd called him once in seven years," the pastor said, "then three times in the past week."
"It's painful for a pastor to transfer operating out of reserves," Father Protack said. "Just this morning I had to transfer money."
However trying the weather has been, the priest said, "on the spiritual side, there's something wonderful about snowfall. It lets us know we're not in charge of everything."
Although power was out at the parish for six or seven hours on Saturday, Father Protack said he never thought of complaining. "Not when you think of what the folks in Haiti are going through or in other parts of the world." The snow makes you appreciate your blessings, he said. "It's a time for us to slow down and reprioritize." Come to think of it, he said, "We need snow days in July."

St. Peter Cathedral, Wilmington
Father Joseph Cocucci, rector of the Cathedral of St. Peter in Wilmington, said he canceled all Masses over the weekend because the neighborhood around the cathedral was not dug out until Sunday afternoon.
"We are dependent on street parking," he said. "I can only think of one parishioner who lives in the neighborhood who can walk."
Daily Mass resumed Monday at 12:10 p.m.
Father Cocucci said his parishioners will make up for the missed week, but he does not dwell on the financial aspect of the weather.
"I miss seeing the people. It's a big part of my weekend, Saturday night and Sunday morning," he said. "That was the worst part of it."

Immaculate Conception, Elkton, Md.
At Immaculate Conception in Elkton, Md., the Saturday vigil Mass at 5 p.m. drew 11 "hardy souls," said pastor Father Joe Piekarski. About 250 people attended three Masses on Sunday. "Many of the ministers couldn't show up so everybody participated," he said. "The main concern was the safety of the people. Here in Elkton, even though some live in the immediate area, many live out in the farms, so they didn't get plowed out until Monday."
There was no Mass at Immaculate Conception's mission church, St. Jude in North East.
According to Father Piekarski, clearing the parking lots at the Elkton church cost approximately $3,000 last weekend and $2,000 the week before, when inclement weather also kept many parishioners home.

Immaculate Conception, Marydel, Md.
Things were cozy at Immaculate Conception in Marydel, where Father Michael Roark counted eight people at the 11 a.m. Mass on Sunday. About 50 showed up Sunday night for the Spanish Mass, a third of the normal attendance, he said. The Marydel parish is in a mostly rural area, with lots of farms, the pastor said, so parishioners were snowed in and also could have been tending to their animals, which are their livelihood.
Father Roark hates to think about the lost offertory collections, too, but snowy Saturdays and Sundays make a tight budget even tighter.
"If the Lord wants to keep us in business, he has to stop sending this stuff on weekends," he said.

Good Shepherd, Perryville, Md.
There were no Masses at all at Good Shepherd in Perryville, Md., or its missions, St. Agnes in Rising Sun and St. Teresa of Avila in Port Deposit. Father Jay McKee, the pastor, said the parking lot at Good Shepherd was not cleared until Monday, and he could not drive to the mission churches.
The pastors said the loss of offertory envelopes was not their main concern, but they are hoping their churches are able to recoup the lost revenue over the next few weeks.
Father McKee said Good Shepherd's finance committee will be looking at the budget following multiple weekends this winter that required snow removal. "Hopefully, people will be generous during the course of Lent."

St. Mary Magdalen, Wilmington
Bill Hayes, the business manager at St. Mary Magdalen in Wilmington, didn't have numbers for Mass attendance but "it was significantly down."
Masses were held Sunday as the parking lots were cleared in time. "We've been pretty lucky the past couple years, but we're paying for it this year."
The school and church roofs are an area of concern at St. Mary Magdalen, according to Hayes. There have been minor leaks in the past following heavy snowfalls. As of Monday, he noticed no problems, but as the snow melts, he will keep an eye on the situation.

Holy Spirit, New Castle
The weather made for some intimate Masses at several parishes.
Father Tim Nolan, pastor, said total attendance at all Masses was less than 100. At Saturday's vigil Mass at Holy Spirit in New Castle, Joe Mullen was a congregation of one.
"It was like a test," said Mullen, 59. "I had to answer for the congregation."
Mullen had been on standby at Goodwill Fire Company in New Castle in case of an emergency during Saturday's storm. When it was time for Mass he drove to Holy Spirit, where Father Tim Nolan, pastor, had shoveled his way from the rectory to the church. The homily, Mullen said, was "short but it was sweet."
During December's snowstorm Mullen again drove from the fire station to Holy Spirit, where he was one of three people at Mass. "If I can get out, I figure I should be able to make it to Mass," said Mullen, a Holy Spirit parishioner for about 30 years.

St. Catherine of Siena, Wilmington
Black ice on the parking lot at St. Catherine of Siena in Wilmington prompted Father John Hynes, pastor, to cancel Sunday Masses at 7 a.m.
But people still showed up “so we had some nice, intimate Masses,” he said. “I had one profound conversation afterward with a young man that is new to the parish, that probably would not have happened otherwise” when more people wait to chat with Father Hynes.

St. Paul, Wilmington
At St. Paul's at Fourth and Jackson streets in Wilmington, weekend Masses were held as scheduled but attendance was about 10 percent of normal, said Father Todd Carpenter, pastor. "It's hard to justify canceling any Masses since I live right next to the church and there are parishioners within walking distance," he said.
Even when entrances and walkways are clear, Father Carpenter said, the poor road conditions in the city and lack of parking make getting to church and the parish school tough. "St. Paul's does not have a parish parking lot so it's all street parking." City efforts to clear the streets of snow are "poor," he said, especially the unplowed side streets near the church.

St. Polycarp, Smyrna
Masses were canceled Sunday at St. Polycarp in Smyrna but people made it to the church grounds that afternoon anyway.
They came to sled down a hill that was built on church property for a storm water management pond. "One of the biggest hills in the area is in my back yard," said Father Tom Flowers, pastor. "At least they're coming to God's property. God sent the snow, so they come to God's house and enjoy the snow."

St. Edmond, Rehoboth Beach
Father Ray Forester of St. Edmond's in Rehoboth Beach said this is an unusual year. The last storm that required the parish to pay for snow removal was two years ago, he said. "A year ago I don't think we even needed the money budgeted" for snow removal. "This year it is probably shot," even before this week's predicted storm had hit.

Corpus Christi, Elsmere
While parishioner Joe Skipski plowed the parking lot at Corpus Christi in Elsmere, Father Greg Corrigan used a snow blower he received from a brother-in-law to handle the finishing touches. “The height of the snow on the pavement along New Road was above my knee,” he said, “but that blower did the job.”
Skipski, who was married at Corpus Christi during a December snowstorm, has an agreement to plow the parish parking lot. “It’s a bargain,” Father Corrigan said. “My first winter at Corpus Christi (2002-03) was also very snowy. That winter we spent more than $16,000 on snow removal; it was a killer.”
About 30 people attended each of the two Sunday morning Masses; usually those Masses attract a total of about 400. “We had a few visitors from Resurrection Parish (in Wilmington’s Pike Creek neighborhood) since they had canceled their Masses.”
All Masses were canceled after the December storm, meaning the parish had no collections -- its main source of income -- that week. “The next week people brought two envelopes with them,” Father Corrigan said. “It was as if we hadn’t missed a collection at all.”

Feb. 3, 2010

WILMINGTON — Padua Academy, which has established itself as a power in indoor track in Delaware, has withdrawn from the team competition of the state championship for violating a Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association rule.
The school competed in 12 events this season, one more than the maximum number allowed by the DIAA, Padua announced in a press release. The violation was self-reported. All future meets for the season also have been canceled.
The Pandas are currently ranked third in the state. They won the state indoor title in 2004, 2006 and 2008.

Feb. 3, 2010

January 2010
Haiti Log
Geoffrey Gamble
Vice President
Malteser International
Order of Malta Worldwide Relief

2010-01-20 Wednesday Santo Domingo
Arrive Santo Domingo 2230. Greeted by HE Hans Rothe, Ambassador of Malta to Haiti. Bob Branand, KM, had already arrived from San Juan. Bob had time to locate the UN Liaison [Norwegian, I never got his name]. He gave Bob a number to call to see if we could get a ride to Port au Prince (PaP). We discovered that it is not so easy to get there. Options are public bus overland 190 miles taking 8 to 14 hours or some kind of a flight. Ambassador Rothe dropped me off at Hilton Hotel.

2010-01-21 Thursday Santo Domingo
Found out that instead of busses leaving every hour for PaP, which was the schedule before the earthquake, they only left at 1100 daily. They would not take reservations. One has to get to the station early and line up. Turns out that today is a national holiday [Nuestra Senora de Alta Gracia] and most stores closed. We finally found an open food market and loaded up on supplies. We were warned by the Ambassador that we must bring in to PaP our own water and food. I bought 18 power bars at 240 calories each - enough for three per day for 6 days and some apples.
Spent afternoon at hotel trying to get on USG flight. We were discouraged that we might not be able to get to PaP at all. Talked to Fr. Jacques Beaudry, a French-Canadian priest who has lived in Haiti for 40 years. He was going back to his residence at the Communite de St Marie in PaP. Tried to see if we could get a ride with him and his armed escort. No room. Bob was amazingly persistent and after many calls and voicemails to the U.S. Embassy in Santo Domingo managed to get us on the manifest of a Homeland Security helicopter leaving the next day. At hotel met several people from the German logistics firm of Kuehne und Nagel [Tim Smith; Rud Lynge]. They can supply fuel via Miami if we need it. We also met several Lions Club representatives who were taking tents to the border. They are another possible source of supplies. We spent the evening in the Zona Colonia [Historic District] and attended the Mass and procession of Nuestra de Alta Gracia celebrated by the Dominican cardinal.

2010-01-22 Friday
0700 — Found taxi and made our way to San Isidro Dominican Military Base with backpacks and food bag for Malta team. Totally dark and no one around. At last saw hanger with some activity. Met by USN Lt. Cmdr. Flores, who had our names on the manifest.
0830 — Boarded Homeland Security ICE Blackhawk and took off for PaP. Turns out pilot was with my old Marine unit, the First Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company -- of course, he wasn't even born when I was with the 1st ANGLICO in Vietnam. He gave me the starboard gunner seat. My job was to look out for anything coming at us from 1 to 5 o'clock. Open port. No window. Spectacular views east to mountains. Reminded me of flying in Vietnam in an old Huey, one leg in and one leg out 41 years ago. Smiled to myself thinking that someone born when Franklin Roosevelt was president should be doing this. Trip uneventful.
0930 — Landed on grounds of U.S. Embassy in PaP. Ground crew greeting us shouted "Welcome to Hell." On street side of embassy thousands of Haitians waiting to get in with some connection to USA to see if they could be evacuated. Wait to be interviewed for them by U.S. authorities was 30 hours. Looked for my DuPont colleague, Suzanne James, outside the fence to see if I could get her in. but impossible with the crowds even to see her. [She had been doing volunteer work at a convent in Les Cayes when the quake struck].
The Homeland Security people very kindly offered to take Bob and me by armed escort a couple of miles to the PaP airport to meet Cesar Russo, an Argentinean logistician working with Malteser International whom we hoped would be there in the airport parking lot, but since we had no way of communicating with him, we couldn't be sure. This was our first look at the chaos and devastation. At the airport, the parking lot was in complete disorder. We were dropped off and took it on faith that somehow we would find the Malteser car. We had no idea as to their temporary location or address. Even if we knew, there was no transportation to get there. A crowd of locals gathered around us. After repeated and unsuccessful attempts to reach Cesar by cell phone, we spotted the Maltese Cross on a vehicle. Great relief.
1030 — We took off driving to the town of Leogane, about 26 kilometers west of PaP near the coastline and also directly over the epicenter of the earthquake. It was 90 percent destroyed. En route, Cesar received a call that the rest of the Malteser team was out of gas on the road ahead of us. We stopped at an open gas station, bought two empty five-gallon plastic water containers and for US$200 filled them with diesel. Unfortunately no tops to containers. We took some Malteser bumper stickers and made tops and resumed our journey. One of the plastic jugs had a leak in the bottom and the floorboards became covered in diesel. Very dangerous. The smell of diesel covered up the stench of rotting bodies.
Usually newscasts present a disaster worse than it actually is. This time it is different. Thousands of collapsed buildings and dwellings. Most all built of concrete with flat floors and roofs. Houses mostly one story, some two. Buildings maybe four to seven stories. Cinder blocks inferior, crumble at the touch. No rebars, or if there, going wrong way. Thousands of bodies still entombed. Structures collapsed one level upon the other like a layer cake or some hideous baklava of people sandwiched between slabs. Impossible to get them out without heavy equipment. Bodies rotting. Some covered with white powder. Some not. Roads unpaved. Dust. Many buildings that were not destroyed or severely damaged are on verge of collapse with next tremor or aftershock. People utterly afraid to go into any buildings. They are living on street in complete squalor. Mountains of filth and garbage in front and behind them. Their look is dazed and sometimes hostile. We move further out into the suburbs. Not open land or fields, but more space between buildings. Damage seems less. People more friendly.

1200 — After an hour and a half trip we reached Leogane. The rest of the team was waiting along the road near a field hospital run by the Cubans. We introduce ourselves [Malteser team: Dr. Georg Nothelle, Beate Maass, Arnette Waechter-Schneider. U.S. medical team from Miami sent by Dr. Jose Centurion: Armando Garcia, MD, a cardiologist; Scott Crane, MD, an emergency and trauma specialist; Matt Malkert, a medical student and public health specialist. Creole-speaking nurses, U.S. citizens of Haitian descent, also from Miami: Sulotte Amilcar, Rachelle Alin and Medgine Colin]. Sulotte was born in Leogane, and her father was once the mayor. She is a valuable source of information about the area and should be closely questioned before she departs.
Creole speakers are essential. My impression is that while most Haitians can understand French, even if they cannot speak it, it is extremely difficult even for fluent French speakers to understand Creole. Thus, an American medical team with English/Creole-speaking nurses is at least as effective, if not more so, than a French-speaking team without Creole-speaking support.
We move on to proposed site for our field hospital post. It is on a road that branches off to the right of the main road going west along Haiti's southern peninsula about a kilometer past the Cuban medical facility. It is located just behind the UN outpost compound. This compound is presently occupied by Sri Lankan troops. They are cordial but not overly helpful. Their mission is to stay put, I guess. The site consists of a fairly large concrete gymnasium adjacent to the road [which the Haitians will not enter for fear of collapse]. Behind it is some sort of a decaying basketball court. Beside it is about half to three quarters of an acre of open land. Not a great deal of room, but enough.
When we arrived, we found the Argentines there with several tents, one of which was serving as an operating tent. Contact is Senor Esteban Chala, consultor, Comision Cascos Blancos, Ministry of Foreign Relations, Republic of Argentina. Their plan is to be there for another 7 to 10 days and then withdraw. We also found the Johanniter Order from Germany there working with a small outpatient clinic during the day. Again, they plan to withdraw soon as well. They spend their nights back at the PaP airport in a tent with no electricity or water, and commute each day to Leogane. This is not sustainable for them.
After negotiating collaboration and then takeover arrangements, we went in to the city of Leogane. It is largely destroyed. The parish church, St Rose of Lima, is completely destroyed. We were told that to take up the facility and create a hospital post, we must consult with the mayor of Leogane, the pastor of the church, and also the head village voodoo man. Such is life in Haiti. One building, about five stories that seemed to survive the quake was the St Croix Hospital. This was built by the Episcopal Church, but they abandoned it three years ago. The only people left are the American caretaker of the adjoining guesthouse and his wife. The guesthouse was destroyed, and they are sleeping on its collapsed roof. We were warned that the hospital was totally unsafe and could collapse at any time. We went in anyway and made our way to the operating rooms.
All of the equipment is still there -- gurneys, medical instruments, surgical gowns. The caretaker mentioned that the Canadians had gone through and taken some of it, but much remains. Too bad the building is unsound. It would have been perfect for our purposes. In any event, no Haitian will enter it. Here I ran into Doug Lane of Project Hope. I know his father, Bill Lane, in D.C. Small world. Doug has offered us through Project Hope pediatric antibiotics and other medicines if we need them. They are already in PaP on the tarmac. I put Cesar in touch with him.
Back at our soon-to-be Leogane facility, our medical team began treating patients alongside the Argentines on the basketball court. A dressing and medication table was created from old boards and a large wooden cable spindle that served as the legs. One woman had suffered from a broken pelvis for six days and was in agony. We erected tarps and clothes to shield patients from the sun, which blazed overhead. Many children had severely infected wounds. Word began to spread that we were there and more patients and their families showed up. In addition to being sick, they were desperate for water. We shared what we had and promised to find more. Potable water is more valuable than gold in Haiti.

1630 — Time to go. There is a curfew from 1800 to 0700 in PaP. It gets dark at 1800 and it is extremely dangerous to be out on any street after that. To ensure a safe return, one must depart no later than 1630. Return uneventful.

1800 — We reach the house on the Rue des Freres in the foothills on the eastern side of PaP that Georg found and rented. It is owned by Jean-Baptiste Gerald -- a Haitian American whose family is in Miami. The house is substantial by Haitian standards and undamaged by the quake. There are four bedrooms upstairs and one or two rooms downstairs that could accommodate more people. There is also a rather large covered porch in back that, if enclosed in mosquito netting, could accommodate several people. In PaP, houses that survived have both advantages and disadvantages. There was running cold water [not more than a trickle] and when the generator works, some electricity. There was also a working electric stove. On the other hand, one must exit rapidly at the slightest aftershock or risk the concrete roof collapsing. The alternative is a tent at the airport. Enclosed garage is being used to hold supplies, medical and otherwise.

1930 — Electricity fails. Pitch black. I brought a bottle of scotch along with the food from Santo Domingo. All had a pleasant evening. No tremors but lots of gunshots during the night. That would wake the rooster next door, and his crowing would wake the 500 dogs in the neighborhood.

2010-01-23 Saturday
Medical team went back to Leogane at 0700. Curfew does not allow them to depart before then since the drivers for our vehicles must travel from where they live to the Malta house.
We thought of trying to attend the funeral of Archbishop Joseph Miot, who was killed when the earthquake threw him from a balcony, and Msgr. Charles Benoit, the vicar general who was crushed when the cathedral was destroyed. Our good friend, Father Andrew Small, director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Latin America Office, is attending as well. The funeral is to be conducted by Archbishop Bernardito Auza, papal nuncio to Haiti.
However, we decided that it was more important to try to find the Daughters of Charity in Cite de Soleil, who have a relationship with the Order of Malta through the Federal Association and see how they made out. I was informed that Cite Soleil was the most dangerous slum in PaP, and that the 4,000 prisoners who escaped from jails when the quake hit had gone there to reform their gangs. It was also badly damaged by the quake. I was advised to bring with me only $100 in cash in my pocket. Otherwise, no watch, no cell phone, no passport -- nothing. If accosted, I was to give them the cash without hesitation. This trip was against Malteser security policy and I took full responsibility for it.

1100 — We arrived in the area and turned off the main road into a rabbit warren of back alleys and small streets. Everyone seems to be familiar with the nuns and their facility and where it was, but we kept being directed further and further into the slum. Finally, it became clear that we were close to being trapped with very hostile people in front of us, and another group beginning to gather behind us. (I learned many years ago in Iran that you always sit in the shotgun seat by the driver, because, if he bolts, you can jump over and floor it). Time to beat a hasty retreat, which we did. (He didn't bolt.) I regret not being able to get to the good sisters. Conclusion: there are only two alternatives to get to them for the time being: one is to go with an armed guard; the second is to contact the nuns by phone when the phones work and get them to come to the edge of this slum and escort us back to their place.

1300 — We next went to what was left of the UN compound near the airport. We met up with the Malteser team, which attends what are known as UN "cluster meetings" each day. There is a separate cluster for water, for food, for medicines, for equipment, etc. At this point, there are two primary occupations for relief workers in PaP: either (1) hands-on medical care for those injured or in need of care, or (2) attending meetings like the cluster meetings. Each is essential and takes all day, and one cannot do both. While the Malteser team attended the cluster meetings, Bob and I [actually Bob] managed to persuade those guarding the UN Commissary that we, although not Un employees, would be great customers. So we went in and with our US dollars bought food and supplies for the whole Malta team back at the House. Also met Roberto Rubio of AECID [This Spanish organization can supply medicines, medical equipment, and maybe tents]. I gave his coordinates to Cesar.

1600 — Returned to house. Medical team returned from Leogane at 1800 with the news that they delivered two babies that day which made us all very happy. Malteser team additions Dr. Alfred Kinselbach [an old friend from Uganda] and Wanda Welker arrived by bus in evening from Santo Domingo. We were all briefed by Georg Nothelle. Very good briefing. Food -- creole -- good tonight washed down with UN Commissary beer and wine. Bathing a challenge. I anoint myself with Purel followed by a dusting of Gold Bond medicated powder - an effective if ghostly substitute for a normal routine.
A point about water. Whwn it is in short supply, your mind always wants to drink. My backpack contained a bladder which held a half gallon of water. This gave me a feeling of security about dehydration. I never had to use it, but the thought that it was there made life much easier.

2200 — To bed with rooster, gunshots, and dogs. No tremors.

2010-01-24 Sunday
0700 — Medical team departed for Leogane. Goodbyes all around.
0800 — Bob, Annette and I departed for rendezvous with UN Humanitarian Air Service plane to see if we could hitch a ride back to Santo Domingo. Getting in and out of PaP is very iffy. No guarantees. Had some trouble locating the rendezvous point. Annette had a handwritten piece of paper that looked like a buried treasure map. Everyone who examined it pointed us in a different direction. Finally, we realized that the right location was very close to the main terminal of Touissant L'Ouverture Airport near the access runway.
As we waited, I noticed across a ditch from us a US Coast Guard unit. I went over to talk to them. These are great guys and wanted to help in any way that they could. I told them that we were in desperate need of water out in Leogane. They pointed me to their leader, Chief Petty Officer Ortiz who was up on top of a container trying to fix a tarp for shade. I explained our need, and he jumped down and told me to follow him. He led me to a palate of bottled water and said to get our vehicle over to it. I raced back and got Bob and off we went. We had to go onto the runway a bit, but got there. We had just started filling the Malteser van with cases of water, when armed guards from the US Army appeared. Our Coast Guard friends quickly came up and told them we were "with them." The Army men looked at us and said, "All right, we are going to turn around and walk away for 10 minutes and forget we ever saw you. Don't do this again. We are supposed to shoot people doing what you're doing. Don't come back again." We loaded up the van with more than 2000-plus bottles, sent it off to our thirsty patients in Leogane, then boarded our plane. Such is life in PaP.
As we departed, one of the Coast Guard sailors waved his cap and shouted, "God bless you guys." It put me in mind of our arrival in PaP -- "Welcome to Hell". Even at the mouth of Hell God makes his presence known.
Flight back to Santo Domingo uneventful.

1700 — Went to Mass at cathedral to thank God for a safe trip and to pray for the Haitians, good sweet people who have suffered so much. Santo Domingo Cathedral built in 1521. It is the oldest church in the Western Hemisphere, but the Divine Presence illuminated by the flame in the small red candle glass on the altar is as new as the babies just born in Leogane.

2010-01-25 Monday
0830 — Departed for Santo Domingo Airport. While waiting for plane noticed a young Haitian boy, maybe 18 years old, sitting by himself in a wheel chair. Broken bones and a bad infection on his arm. After staring at him across the waiting area for some time, I noticed that he was shivering and in utter misery. I walked over and put my raincoat around him. No sacrifice for me. He was skinny and cold. I am fat and perpetually hot. In any event, I feel sure I'll see the raincoat again on Judgment Day when he pleads for me before the throne of God.
Rest of trip uneventful.

Jan. 19, 2010

Sisters of Charity await return trip to Haiti

By Gary Morton
Staff reporter

Sisters of Charity Dianne Moore and Cecilia McManus, who work at Catholic Charities' Seton Center in Princess Anne, Md., had planned a vacation to Haiti starting Jan. 28, where they have provided medicine and ministered to the poor since 1985. They don't know for sure if they are going next week, but their airline hasn't canceled the flight yet.
"Eventually we will get there," Sister Dianne said.
As they wait, they have kept up with agencies where they have worked or stayed over almost three decades, including the Matthew 25 House in Port-au-Prince, the Ministry of Presence program in Duval Roche about five miles east of the Port-au-Prince airport, and Partners in Progress that works with Haitian organizations in the mountains south of the capital.
"We have a lot of connections in Haiti," Sister Dianne said.
Two good acquaintances, Sister Mary Finnick of the Grey Nuns of the Sacred Heart in Yardley, Pa., and Father Ron Joseph who co-founded the Ministry of Presence, are OK, Sister Dianne said.
The two nuns first went to Haiti to learn about the homeland of many migrant workers they met through the diocese's rural and migrant ministries. Their work with migrants in Somerset County grew into Seton Center, which became part of Catholic Charities.
They continued the trips to learn Creole, which primarily draws from the French language as it's spoken in Haiti, and to minister to the poor.
"The people of Haiti, for us, have been a real inspiration as far as their faith and their total trust in God," Sister Diane said. "Every time we leave, we come home the better for what they've taught us."

Oblates react quickly, hope to inject 'normalcy' back into students' lives
Two seminarians perish in quakc

By Gary Morton
Staff reporter

Only days after its Haitian mission house toppled in the Jan. 12 earthquake, killing two Oblate seminarians, an educational and food ministry headed by Father Tom Hagan, of the Wilmington-Philadelphia Province of Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, began efforts to continue its work.
"Our goal is to inject some normalcy back into the lives of our 6,700 students as quickly as possible, even if the classes and feeding take place under tents," Doug Campbell, executive director of the Hands Together ministry, wrote in a report on the Hands Together Web site.
Campbell and Father Hagan were in the mission house in the Delmas section of Port-au-Prince when the earthquake struck. "The force of the quake violently knocked us to the floor and we crawled under a sturdy metal office table near the front window," Campbell wrote. "Our residence had collapsed into a pile of cement rubble."
Four of 21 volunteers who lived at the house were trapped; two of them, both seminarians, perished. "Without heavy equipment our efforts were useless against the three collapsed floors of concrete," Campbell wrote.
Throughout the city he found the damage staggering. "Words fail to communicate the horror," Campbell wrote. A staff member pointed to one pile of debris and said, "There is my 3-year-old daughter and her mother. They are dead."
The Hands Together ministry plans to inventory its eight school campuses and to use them for feeding, clothing and hygiene programs; providing food, shelter and emergency grants to those in greatest need, and use of its backhoe and dump trucks to help clear debris and rebuild.
The local Oblate community will do what it can to help in the recovery, said Father James J. Greenfield of Wilmington, the provincial who had visited Port-au-Prince the week before the disaster. Some Oblates have volunteered to go to Haiti to help. Parishes and schools operated by the Wilmington-Philadelphia Province of Oblates — including St. Anthony of Padua Parish and School and Salesianum School in Wilmington — will hold special collections or raise money in other ways, and the Oblates' Web site will accept donations for Haitian relief.
Father Greenfield said he felt a bit guilty after the Jan. 12 earthquake because one of his first thoughts was "I'm glad I was there last week (he flew home Jan. 8) and not this week; I'm glad I got out" when so many Haitians could not.
"Now," he said, "there's this desire to go back and help."


Jan. 12, 2010

CNS/Susan Walsh, pool via Reuters

President Barack Obama consoles Vice President
Joseph Biden Tuesday at Immaculate Heart of Mary
Church. The president, first lady, cabinet members
and congressional leaders traveled to Wilmington for
the funeral of Biden's mother, Jean.


Homily by Msgr. J. Thomas Cini
At funeral Mass for Jean Biden
Immaculate Heart of Mary Church
Wilmington, Delaware
Jan. 12, 2010

Dear Mr. Vice President, Dr. Jill, Valerie and Jack, Jimmy and Sara, Frankie, and all the grandchildren and great-grandchildren. As you come here in this beautiful place of worship you do so, I am sure, with a mixture of feeling and emotion. The overriding one, of course, is one of grief and loss as you commend to the Lord this lady who loved you, nurtured you, corrected you, supported you and sacrificed for you so often.

But you also must feel a sense of gratitude for her as you remember her as the choicest of God’s blessing in your lifetime. She was not only the mother who brought you into this world and gave you life, but she was also your strength and your rock, your safe harbor in time of challenge and trouble. She was the wind beneath your wings, and as has often been commented these days by yourselves and also your friends, she inspired you as well as cared for you deeply.

And even in the midst of this mixture of feelings there is yet a quiet sense of joy promoted by your faith and your deepest belief that while you know she has ended her earthly pilgrimage, she has now passed on to that new place of joy and peace where she is reunited with her husband, her siblings and all her relatives. You can imagine the Irish feast that’s going on right now – and she’s leading them.
That joy that you have is expressed here in this great prayer of thanksgiving as we gather together to celebrate Eucharist.

We join you in these emotions to the extent that we can, and we extend to you our deepest sympathies and our promise of prayers for you as we pray for and remember this practical, down-to-earth lady you called mother.
Her genius was in her motherly ways. She never stepped out of that role, mother or grandmother, even when she interacted with friends or political luminaries. She always had advice, a warm smile, sometimes a reproof, but always, always a kind heart and joy. God grant her peace.

Many people have died and there are so many people alive on this tiny planet on the edge of the universe not quite sure where they came from, why they’re here and whence they might go forth. Still they laugh and cry and feel and love. But that’s not the case with the believer, and especially the Christian believer. We too laugh and cry and feel and love, but we have a firm belief in the certain answers to the ultimate questions. And with regard to death we believe that in it life is changed, not ended, and when this earthly body of ours lies in death we gain an everlasting place in heaven. That theme will be sounded again as we say our prayers of Eucharist today

And so even in the darkest of times we believe there is a purpose to life and that purpose somehow has to do with love. We believe that God is as Jesus taught us to be, and that in Jesus we see God. And in the face of God’s love we find even the unbearable moments bearable.

And then it becomes perhaps not easy but possible to live through the challenges and sometimes the storms of life and even things we don’t understand. These beliefs increase our laughter, diminish the anguish of our cries; they heighten our feelings, our hopes; they deepen our resolve and our loving. And the highest tribute we can pay to one who has passed from our midst is not grief over our loss but gratitude – gratitude for her having been and a certain sense of joy that the sadness of death gives way to the promise of immortality. These sentiments are the themes in … this celebration of Jean “Mom-Mom’s” life as we gather in this holy place to be with one another and with the Lord.

The Gospel reading that was chosen for this Mass of Resurrection is taken from the several chapters of John’s Gospel, as we told you, that describe the Last Supper and that last night Jesus spent with his most trusted friends, those whom he loved. For the disciples the Last Supper turned out to be a time when their world was collapsing, for among other things the Lord would tell them that he would leave them to return to the Father, the one who because he loved us gave us his beloved savior.

At such times there is only one thing to do and that is to hold on to one’s trust in God. And that’s what Jesus said to his disciples: You have faith in God, have faith also in me. Faith is the conviction of the Christian in the world. It’s how we live. Jesus tells his disciples that while he is leaving he would return to his Father’s house. In that house there are many dwelling places, he said, and I go to prepare a place for you, his final assurance that his departure is in order that we may live through him forever.

And here as always Jesus leads and beckons us to follow him. He goes out in front; we follow. He chose to die so that he might free all people from death. And in him the world is saved, humanity is reborn, the dead are raised to everlasting life. And the Lord promises that after preparing a place he will come back and take us so that where I am you also may be.

So for the Christian heaven is where Jesus is. No need to speculate about what it will be like; it is enough to know we shall be with him forever. But it’s not an unfamiliar feeling, is it? For when we love anyone with all our heart, life really begins when we are together with the other. As the poet put it, “I love you not only for what you are to me, but what I am when I am with you.” Sentiments the family, I’m sure, expressed often to “Mom-Mom.”

It’s only in the company of those whom we love and who love us that we become completely ourselves and fully alive. If that be true of the company of one another, then how magnificent it must be in the company of the savior.

You know, you and I look at death from the backside. And given that limitation, that perspective, we can only see it as a departure. It’s like a friend or family member who’s moving to some faraway place. Her bags are packed, she’s on the plane, and as it travels down the runway she’s headed for a great new adventure. But we’re the ones left standing in the airport. We wave goodbye as the airliner disappears into the clouds.

Jesus, however, looked at death from another perspective, the perspective he asks us to share. He saw it not as a departure but an arrival. As we said, on the night before he died he gathered his friends for the Last Supper. He spoke to them about many things, his love for them, the love they must have one for another. He spoke of the oneness between him and the Father, and the spirit who would teach us all things. He spoke of his Father’s house and indicated he was going there.

For him, death was a welcoming home. And you know I suspect most of us have had that feeling of coming home. We have a sense of what it’s like. We’ve come home perhaps from college or a long trip, or maybe we’ve lived someplace in the world that our job has taken us, or maybe we’ve been in the military. We’ve come home. Home is where we belong, and upon arrival our hearts are filled with joy. It’s our place. We don’t a need a visa to get in. We don’t even have to knock at the door; we just walk in. We have a place at the table, a place to sleep. The family didn’t build a special room for us; it was already there.

Jesus spoke of death in just these personal ways. I’m going to get your rooms ready, he said, and I shall come back and take you with me so that where I am, you also may be. What a wonderful way to think of death, not the end, but the beginning of something grand and new. As he speaks to his disciples, Jesus continues. Where he’s going they know the way. The way is a sacrificial death, a model that we all must copy who follow him. That is what we’re really about: gift of self to one another, people of service, reaching out in loving service, sacrificing for one another. And where do we find that example most beautifully and completely in a human than in a mother?

Jesus says to us, I am the way, the truth and the life, and like the sheep gate to which he compared himself he is the way. He’s not just the stranger that gives us the direction, he delivers us to the destination. And he is the truth because he is the revelation of truth in both word and person.
And he is the life, and in the final analysis what is it that we’re looking for in all the places that we search but life. He is the source of life.

Mom-Mom lived her life following the way, the truth and the life, who is Jesus. Even as her family and friends gather with sadness at her passing it’s shot through with a deep serenity and deep gratitude. And when you say before God that you’re thankful for having her so great a part of your life, and having loved her, you are thanking God for revealing something of himself in yet another human form. It’s only in Christ Jesus that we saw the glory and the goodness of God fully shining through a human face, and yet it is also true that in the goodness of every human person there’s another different revelation of God – incomplete, flawed to be sure, but nevertheless the mirror of him who is love.

And so your missing her today is mingled with quiet gratitude because you possessed in your Mom-Mom someone who helped you glimpse God. We’re here in this life to echo the life of Christ — to grow in wisdom and age like him, to reach out in healing to the wounded, to love children, to have compassion on the weak and the suffering, to make our hearts known to one another, to bear our crosses, to forgive and be forgiven, and the litany could go on. But these facets of Christ himself are alive for you today because you saw them in the struggling life and love of your mother and grandmother. Struggling because like all of us, she was imperfect and yet struggling, because through a long life she learned from the Lord to let herself go, to live for you and others.

And so your consolation today comes from your gratitude for her and also that faith that looks through death, and in the hope that she shares the way that Christ opens to us who follow him, who is the way, the life and the truth. We know that God grants her peace. May he grant you consolation.

Jan. 12, 2010

A Catholic funeral
familiar and uncommon

Rites for Jean Biden draw
Washington dignitaries
to IHM church

By Joseph Ryan
Assistant editor

WILMINGTON — It was a funeral Mass like all other funeral Masses, with prayers of hope for the soul of the faithful departed, in this case an Irish-Catholic matriarch.
It was also a Mass of Christian Burial like the Diocese of Wilmington has never seen.
Catherine Eugenia Finnegan Biden, who died last week at 92, was the mother of a daughter and three sons. Since one of those sons happens to be Vice President Joe Biden, the rites Tuesday at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church for Jean “Mom-Mom” Biden drew family and friends from Delaware and the White House, from Wilmington’s Ministry of Caring and the Congress of the United States, from Archmere Academy and the U.S. military.
Those in the pews included the current president of the United States and a former president. The uncommon congregation, however, did not distract from the sense of the day and the theme of the funeral Mass.
At the start of his homily, Msgr. J. Thomas Cini, a longtime Biden family friend and the main celebrant of Tuesday’s Mass, acknowledged the family’s grief but said they also must feel a sense of gratitude for the life of their mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.
“You remember her as the choicest of God’s blessings in your lifetime,” said Msgr. Cini, a vicar general of the diocese. “She was not only the mother who brought you into this world and gave you life, but she was also your rock, your safe harbor in time of challenge and trouble.”
In the midst of grief, he said, “there is a quiet sense of joy promoted by your faith and your deepest belief that while you know she has ended her earthly pilgrimage, she has now passed on to that new place of joy and peace where she is reunited with her husband” and relatives. “You can imagine the Irish feast that’s going on right now — and she’s leading them.”
Msgr. Cini recalled that Christ at the Last Supper told his apostles he was leaving them, returning to the Father “to prepare a place for you, his final assurance that his departure is in order that we may live through him forever.”
Christ’s death is a sacrificial one, Msgr. Cini said, a model we all must copy in life. “That is what we are really about: gifts of self to one another, people of service, reaching out in loving service, sacrificing for one ano-ther. And where do we find that example most beautifully and completely in a human than in a mother?”
Seven other priests concelebrated the Mass: Brother Ronald Giannone, director of the Ministry of Caring; Father Michael T. Collins, of Archmere Academy, Joe Biden’s alma mater; Msgr. Clement P. Lemon, pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary; Msgr. Joseph Rebman, vicar general and pastor of St. Joseph on the Brandywine, the home parish of Jean Biden and Joe Biden; Msgr. Michael Szupper, retired director of campus ministry at the University of Delaware; Father Joseph McLaughlin, headmaster of Archmere; and Father William Byron, former president of Catholic University of America, who knew the Bidens in Scranton, Pa.
Bishop Malooly was present in the sanctuary for the Mass. In an interview Tuesday afternoon, the bishop called the liturgy a celebration “of a very dedicated, committed woman. That came through very clearly in the comments the vice president and his sister, Valerie, made about their mother.”
Before delivering his eulogy, Vice President Biden thanked the priests present on the altar, especially Msgr. Cini. “You’re a good friend, Tom. You’ve been there for all the important moments.” He also thanked Msgr. Lemon and the people of IHM “for allowing Mom to come back to the church where she was from 1955 on. She was here when the cornerstone was laid” when the family lived in the north Wilmington development of Mayfield. Biden recalled that his two brothers went to grade school at IHM and that his two sons were baptized in the church.
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama were seated immediately before the start of the 11 a.m. service. Other government dignitaries in attendance included former President Bill Clinton, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, many cabinet members, and Delaware Senators Tom Carper and Ted Kaufmann, Congressman Mike Castle and Gov. Jack Markell.
The church was surrounded by security before the Mass because of the president’s attendance. The congregation passed through metal detectors to enter the church after 9 a.m.
Msgr. Lemon said Monday that the 750-seat church had been selected for the funeral Mass because St. Joseph on the Brandywine wasn’t large enough to accommodate the invited congregation. St. Elizabeth’s and St. Anthony’s churches were briefly considered before the Bidens picked IHM.
Brother Ronald said following the Mass that he has known the Bidens since 1977, when in the early days of his Ministry of Caring, Valerie Biden Owens invited him to the family Super Bowl parties, where he often cooked for the guests.
Biden recalled his mother as “the spirit and essence of what it meant to be an Irish American mother.” He said all four of her children “wanted her to raise our children and grandchildren.”
His mother taught the family “you are defined by your sense of honor and you are redeemed by your loyalty,” the vice president said.
“Mom is back in dad’s embrace where she belongs and we are all at peace.”
After Mass, the family traveled to St. Joseph on the Brandywine cemetery for a private burial.

Dec. 21, 2009

Committee named to plan for high school's future

Dialog report

Members of Ss. Peter and Paul Parish and representatives from the Diocese of Wilmington have been named to an eight-member committee formed by the diocesan Office of Catholic Schools to develop a five-year sustainability plan for Ss. Peter and Paul High School in Easton, Md. The high school faces an uncertain future because of enrollment declines.
The committee members, announced by the diocese, are Michael Andrew, a business owner, graduate of Ss. Peter and Paul High and parent of a current student at the parish elementary school; Paul Capano, a chemist and member of the Board of Catholic Schools for the diocese; Angela Case, a retired university administrator and member of the Board of Catholic Schools; Christopher Castagno, business development leader, real-estate agent and past member of the Board of Catholic Schools; Carol Cook, chairperson of the Ss. Peter and Paul Parish Finance Committee; Mary Ellen Hrutka, executive director of the Mid-Atlantic Catholic Schools Consortium, based in Annapolis; Deacon Bradley Taylor, a civilian naval administrator who is in ministry at the parish; and John Wafer, a retired technology executive and longtime member of the parish.
Wafer will chair the committee, while Case will be the co-chiar. Carol Ripken, assistant superintendent of schools for the diocese, will facilitate the committee’s work. Its first meeting will be held this month, and Bishop Malooly will attend. The committee will meet monthly and intends to have the five-year plan ready next fall.
The future of the 51-year-old high school was thrown into doubt in October when parish advisory groups recommended that it close in June. The groups expressed concerns about enrollment and facilities. Father Robert Coine, pastor of Ss. Peter and Paul Parish, notified parishioners and parents in an Oct. 8 letter that the school’s future was in jeopardy because of “the ever-increasing expense of the high school, its yearly debt, its annual-needed parish subsidy, a drop in student enrollment, an out-of-date and inadequate teaching facility, along with the challenging economic times."
Father Coine announced in early November that the high school would remain open through the 2010-11 school year “and hopefully beyond.”
Ss. Peter and Paul, the only Catholic high school on Maryland's Eastern Shore, currently enrolls 190 students. The parish also operates an elementary school on the same campus as the high school. The pre-kindergarten to eighth-grade elementary school, with about 500 students, is self-supporting and not in danger of closing, parish officials said.
According to the parish, over the past seven years, Ss. Peter and Paul High School has received an average of $316,597 a year from the parish to help cover expenses. The school’s debt was listed at $250,242 for last year and $183,494 the previous year.
After a meeting later in October, a group led by parents and alumni formed the Next 50 Years Committee to help preserve the school’s immediate and long-term future. The committee has laid the groundwork to recruit and retain students, have proposed a capital campaign to enlarge and renovate the existing high school, and suggested that the school become an independent Catholic institution.

Oct. 20, 2009

‘Painful decision’
Bankruptcy filing is best path to fair compensation for victims of priest sex abuse, says Bishop Malooly

By Joseph Ryan
and Jim Grant
The Dialog

The “painful decision” to have the Diocese of Wilmington Inc. file for bankruptcy is “the best path to achieve healing, reconciliation and fair compensation for all the victims of child sexual abuse by clergy of our diocese,” Bishop Malooly said Monday.
Speaking at a press conference the day after settlement negotiations broke down with representatives of eight victims of abuse whose trial was scheduled to begin this week, the bishop said he had hoped and prayed that Sunday’s Chapter 11 reorganization filing under bankruptcy law was a decision he would never have to make. “[But] we have a finite amount of resources” and it became clear from the dollar amounts being discussed in possible early settlements that the diocese “would never get through to 142 claimants in any fair or equitable way.” The filing of bankruptcy freezes lawsuits against the diocese.
Most of the 131 civil cases filed against the diocese came during a two-year window (July 2007 to July 2009) opened by Delaware’s 2007 Child Victims Act, which allowed individuals to file suits previously barred by the statute of limitations.
“Our hope is that Chapter 11 proceedings will enable us to fairly compensate all victims through a single process established by the Bankruptcy Court,” the bishop wrote in a letter to the people of the diocese. He also said the filing presents a way for the diocese “to continue our charitable, educational and spiritual missions and the ministries associated with them.”
The filing came on the eve of a trial in Dover involving suits against former diocesan priest Francis DeLuca.
The bishop said the filing “is in no way intended to dodge responsibility for past criminal misconduct by clergy — or for mistakes made by diocesan authorities. Nor does the bankruptcy process enable the diocese to avoid or minimize its responsibility to victims of abuse. Instead, the Chapter 11 filing will enable the Diocese to meet its obligations head-on and fulfill its responsibility to all victims.”
Tony Flynn, the diocesan lawyer who attended the press conference, characterized the bankruptcy as “a settlement negotiation” that will result in a plan to distribute compensation to all the 142 victims.
The diocese becomes the seventh Catholic diocese in the country to seek bankruptcy protection since the priest sex abuse scandal broke in 2002, joining dioceses in Portland, Ore., Tucson, Ariz., Spokane, Wash., Davenport, Iowa, San Diego, and Fairbanks, Alaska.
On Monday the diocese filed a list of the “book value” of assets including the bishop’s residence on Bancroft Parkway ($128,801), the chancery office on Delaware Avenue ($243,535), the education offices on North Union Street ($213,610), and the Newman Center at the University of Delaware ($313,195). It also listed other assets with a book value of just under $50 million, including just over $42 million in "pooled investments."
In May, Bishop Malooly reported that since the late 1980s, the diocese has settled 19 cases out of court. Eleven were settled for $1.6 million before the national abuse scandal was reported in 2002. Between 2002 and last May, eight more cases were settled for $6.2 million, with insurance paying for $475,000. In total, settlement costs have been $7.8 million.
Parishes, schools not part of process
At the press conference and in his letter, Bishop Malooly emphasized that only the corporation the Diocese of Wilmington Inc. is seeking reorganization, not parishes, schools, religious orders or other organizations that have their own corporate identities. “Parishes in the Diocese of Wilmington are set up civilly and by state statute as separate corporations,” he wrote. Catholic Charities, Catholic Cemeteries, Catholic Youth Ministry, and other separately incorporated church entities are not included in the bankruptcy filing. The bishop repeated his assurances about parishes and schools in a letter to priests, saying that parochial schools are part of parish corporations and that diocesan high schools (St. Mark’s and St. Thomas More Prep) and “inter-parochial” schools (Christ the Teacher, Corpus Christi, Most Blessed Sacrament, and Pope John Paul II) are part of a diocesan schools corporation.
Superintendent Cathy Weaver also sought to assure parents of students in Catholic schools. “The school your child attends should not be impacted by the filing,” she wrote in a letter addressed to parents and sent to principals Tuesday for distribution. “We remain committed to educating our young people in the light of Jesus Christ. School curriculum, activities and events will continue unaffected throughout our schools.”
Weaver also assured parents that any settlement payments to date have been paid from diocesan investment reserves and insurance and not from parishioner donations or student tuition. “We intend to continue to pay both settlement monies and legal fees incurred through investment accounts and leave our charitable funds, school budgets and building programs intact.”
In a note to diocesan employees Bishop Malooly said the diocese does not anticipate any impact on its employees as a result of the Chapter 11. “We have sought and expect to receive court authority to continue paying employee wages and benefits based on current programs.”
The process
The Chapter 11 process now will play itself out in bankruptcy court, said Bob Brady, a bankruptcy attorney for the diocese. “One of the advantages to all creditors in the bankruptcy is the financial transparency. All the diocese’s finances will be laid bare and everyone will be able to see what’s available to creditors.”
“That’s another reason why this seemed like a good approach,” Bishop Malooly said Monday. “This way everything will be put on the table and it will be clear what we can do and what we can’t.”
The diocese in federal court will now have the obligation “to put forth a plan on how it proposes to compensate all its creditors, including the victims of sexual abuse,” Brady said. There will be a committee of creditors, he added, that will probably be who the diocese negotiates with to try to reach resolutions on diocesan payments to creditors and present that to the court.
“We hope to do it as quickly as possible,” Brady said. The debtor — in this case the diocese — has exclusive right to file a plan within the first 120 days, he said.
The bankruptcy process in other dioceses has taken as little as a year.
Noting the victims will have a right to petition to have their case continued in court, Brady said, “Our hope is that we offer them a more efficient and cost-effective way to resolve their claims as part of the bankruptcy. In the end, the judge’s determination will be what assets are available to pay all the creditors, including the victims.”
When asked if the diocese had segmented its assets behind firewalls to prevent loss in the lawsuits, Brady said the structure of the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington was set up many years ago without any knowledge of potential abuse claims.
Bishop Malooly also said parishes wouldn’t be asked to help contribute to compensation distributed through the Chapter 11 process. “We’re talking about a much greater need for resources than parishes would be able to provide for us.”
Needs of the victims
The bishop said his overarching concern has been how to address the needs of the victims.
“It is our moral obligation to make reparations and otherwise see to the healing of legitimate abuse victims and to try to restore the faith that in many cases has tragically been lost,” he wrote in his letter announcing the decision. “But our moral obligations do not end there. We also are obliged to continue our charitable, educational and spiritual missions and the ministries associated with them. In order to do that, this Diocese must survive. Some see a tension between the claims of those victims who have suffered so greatly at the hands of people in whom they had placed their trust and the need of the Diocese to continue its other necessary works. We believe not only that both goals are compatible but that, with God’s help and yours, they will be achieved.”



Oct. 18, 2009

Catholic Diocese of Wilmington Inc.
Files for Chapter 11 Reorganization

WILMINGTON, DE -- Oct. 18, 2009 – The Most Rev. W. Francis Malooly, Bishop of the Diocese of Wilmington, today issued the following statement to the Catholic community of Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore:

My Dear People: I am today announcing that the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington Inc. has filed for Chapter 11 reorganization under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. This is a painful decision, one that I had hoped and prayed I would never have to make. However, after careful consideration and after consultation with my close advisors and counselors, I believe we have no other choice, and that filing for Chapter 11 offers the best opportunity, given finite resources, to provide the fairest possible treatment of all victims of sexual abuse by priests of our Diocese. Our hope is that Chapter 11 proceedings will enable us to fairly compensate all victims through a single process established by the Bankruptcy Court.

It has always been my and my predecessor, Bishop Saltarelli’s, highest hope and fervent desire to settle all claims against the Diocese of Wilmington through a mediation process. Our past record as detailed in my May 7, 2009, letter outlines the number of past cases we have settled and the aggregate amount of money the Diocese has paid in settlements. Some months ago, we petitioned the Superior Court to order an Alternative Dispute Resolution process so that a global, equitable settlement for all 142 claimants would be negotiated with the assistance of a court-appointed mediator. On October 6 the court ordered such an ADR process for all cases without long-standing trial dates. Thirty of the 131cases filed against the Diocese have been scheduled for trial, with a set of eight cases to begin trial on Monday, October 19. As has been our policy, we were engaged in negotiations, with the assistance of a mediator, to settle these eight cases. These negotiations continued until today, but we were unable to achieve a settlement.

Our concern throughout the negotiations was that too large a settlement with these eight victims would leave us with inadequate resources to fairly compensate the other 133 claimants, and continue our ministry. It is our obligation to ensure that all victims of abuse by our priests are fairly compensated, not just those fortunate enough to secure earlier trial dates.

The Chapter 11 filing is in no way intended to dodge responsibility for past criminal misconduct by clergy – or for mistakes made by Diocesan authorities. Nor does the bankruptcy process enable the Diocese to avoid or minimize its responsibility to victims of abuse. Instead, the Chapter 11 filing will enable the Diocese to meet its obligations head-on and fulfill its responsibility to all victims.

The Diocese of Wilmington is committed to pursuing the truth because truth heals. Three years ago Bishop Saltarelli, whom we buried here last week, released the names of 18 Diocesan priests who had admitted, corroborated or otherwise substantiated allegations of abuse of minors. It was one of the most detailed voluntary disclosures of its kind in the United States. In all of those cases, the Diocese shared information about abuse allegations with law-enforcement authorities. All eight of the priests who were living at the time of Bishop Saltarelli’s announcement previously had been removed from any ministerial duties, and for all eight priests, the Diocese has initiated or completed the process of laicization, or removal from the priesthood – the harshest punishment that the Church can impose on a priest, short of excommunication. Moreover, the Diocese has never sought to seal depositions of priests accused of sexual abuse, and it consistently has supported the unsealing of such records. The Diocese also has never sought to seal the priest files it has produced in discovery in the lawsuits. The Diocese itself has publicly corroborated many of the incidents of abuse, and has provided more details about what actions were taken – or, sometimes tragically, not taken – by our officials. All such information is in the court records of the cases scheduled for trial on October 19, and we believe that no significant new facts would have emerged at trial.

My decision to file for Chapter 11 reorganization also was agonizing because it meant that, apart from the psychological and spiritual toll on the abuse victims, there will be significant financial losses for creditors who have faithfully supported us for years. The possibility of such losses has been present from the time that the scope of the claims against us first became clear, but the filing unfortunately makes it a certainty.

As regards the parishes and other institutions of the Diocese: It is only the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington Inc. that is seeking reorganization under Chapter 11, not parishes, schools or related church entities which have their own corporate identities. Parishes in the Diocese of Wilmington are set up civilly and by state statute as separate corporations. It is our moral obligation to make reparations and otherwise see to the healing of legitimate abuse victims and to try to restore the faith that in many cases has tragically been lost.

But our moral obligations do not end there. We also are obliged to continue our charitable, educational and spiritual missions and the ministries associated with them. In order to do that, this Diocese must survive. Some see a tension between the claims of those victims who have suffered so greatly at the hands of people in whom they had placed their trust and the need of the Diocese to continue its other necessary works. We believe not only that both goals are compatible but that, with God’s help and yours, they will be achieved.

Most Rev. W. Francis Malooly
Bishop of Wilmington

A press conference to discuss these events will be held Monday at 11 a.m. at the Diocesan Office of the Diocese of Wilmington, 1626 North Union Street, Wilmington, DE 19806.  

 
Oct. 8, 2009

Bishop Saltarelli dead at 77
Steered diocese through period of significant growth and challenges

Dialog report

Bishop Michael A. Saltarelli, the New Jersey-born priest who guided the people of the Diocese of Wilmington through 12 years of significant growth and unprecedented challenges, died early Thursday in Christiana Hospital, where he had been staying since undergoing colon surgery Sept. 29. He was 77 and had battled health problems including bone cancer and heart disease since retiring as eighth bishop of Wilmington in July 2008.
"Bishop Saltarelli loved the Lord, loved the church and loved the Diocese of Wilmington, and the people of the diocese returned that love," Bishop Malooly, his successor, said in a statement. "He was a wonderful shepherd to his flock and a great friend to me. He will be greatly missed by us all, but we are comforted knowing that he is with God, whom he served so well throughout his life. His ministry embodied his episcopal motto, 'Obedience to Jesus Christ.'"
During Bishop Saltarelli's tenure the diocese expanded from 164,000 to 233,000 Catholics, including thousands of Hispanic immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, and elsewhere. Catholics continued to migrate from the city of Wilmington and its suburbs to southern New Castle County and the resort areas of southern Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The bishop responded to the population shift by authorizing the creation of three new parishes and two regional Catholic elementary schools and the closing or merging of six underpopulated schools in and around Wilmington.
The bishop also pushed hard for priestly vocations, ordaining 23 men, and expanded the permanent diaconate by ordaining 47 men. He reached out to Hispanic immigrants and black Catholics through increased ministries, and in 2003 he and leaders of the Diocese of San Marcos, Guatemala, established a solidarity partnership in response to the arrival of Guatemalan immigrants to the southern parts of the diocese.
The bishop's tenure in Wilmington coincided with the clergy sexual abuse scandal that exploded throughout the U.S. church in 2002 with revelations of sexual abuse of minors by clergy dating back 50 years. In January 2003 he accepted the resignations of two diocesan priests and removed a third from active ministry after a lay-led diocesan review board concluded that the three had sexually abused minors. Three years later the bishop released the names of 18 priests of the diocese and two from other dioceses "about whom we have received admitted, corroborated or otherwise substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of minors."
He also authorized creation of "For the Sake of God's Children," a program to create safe environments for the young people of the diocese through background checks and education on preventing sexual abuse.
In accordance with church law, Bishop Saltarelli offered his resignation as bishop of Wilmington to Pope Benedict XVI when he turned 75. On July 7, 2008, the pope accepted the bishop's resignation and appointed Bishop W. Francis Malooly as his successor. Bishop Saltarelli then served as administrator of the diocese until Bishop Malooly's installation.
In the past 15 months the bishop faced health challenges that limited his activity. He was hospitalized for treatment of cancer in August 2008 and underwent emergency heart bypass surgery in early April. After a brief stay at the Little Sisters of the Poor's residence in Newark he moved to his new permanent home, Vianney House, the diocese's residence for retired priests on the grounds of St. John the Beloved Parish. He continued to lead services and make appearances, sometimes walking with aid of a cane. In August he was on the altar as his former aide Msgr. John Barres was ordained and installed as bishop of the Diocese of Allentown.

Born in Jersey City
Michael Angelo Saltarelli was born Jan. 17, 1932, in Jersey City, N.J., one of seven children of Michael A. and Caroline (Marzitello) Saltarelli.
The future bishop attended Holy Rosary Elementary School and Ferris High School, both in Jersey City. After receiving a bachelor of arts degree in 1956 from Seton Hall University, South Orange, N.J., in 1956, he entered Immaculate Conception Seminary in Darlington, N.J. (In 1975 he received a master's degree in religious studies from Manhattan College in New York.)
Ordained to the priesthood May 28, 1960, in Sacred Heart Cathedral, Newark, by Archbishop Thomas Boland, Father Saltarelli served at Holy Family Church in Nutley, N.J., until 1977, when he was appointed pastor of Our Lady of the Assumption in Bayonne, N.J.
Newark Archbishop Peter L. Gerety appointed him executive director for pastoral services for the Archdiocese of Newark in 1984, the same year Father Saltarelli was named a monsignor by Pope John Paul II.
In 1985, Monsignor Saltarelli was appointed pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Church in Cedar Grove, N.J., and in 1987 Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick, one of the bishop's spiritual mentors, appointed him vicar for priests. He was also a member of the archdiocesan school board and a president of the priests' personnel board.

From New Jersey to Wilmington
Pope John Paul II named Monsignor Saltarelli an auxiliary bishop of Newark on June 12, 1990. The new bishop - who picked the motto "Obedience to Jesus Christ" -- became rector of Newark's Sacred Heart Cathedral while remaining the vicar for priests, becoming the national episcopal moderator of the Holy Name Society and serving as New Jersey state chaplain of the Knights of Columbus. It was as rector of the cathedral that Bishop Saltarelli greeted Pope John Paul II when he visited Newark in October 1995.
It was just a month later, on Nov. 21, 1995, that Pope John Paul named Bishop Saltarelli the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Wilmington.
"I am excited about the new mission entrusted to me, in that somehow, mysterious Divine Will brings me to the Diocese of Wilmington," Bishop Saltarelli said the day his appointment was announced. Wilmington's new shepherd succeeded Bishop Robert E. Mulvee, who had been named coadjutor bishop of Diocese of Providence, R.I., in February 1995 after serving for 10 years in Wilmington.
Bishop Saltarelli was installed as bishop of Wilmington Jan. 23, 1996, in St. Elizabeth's Church.


Sept. 8, 2009

A letter from Bishop Malooly:
What should and should not be included
in any health care legislation

Congress and the administration are currently engaged in an effort to create a health care reform bill. It is a teaching of the Catholic Church that society has the duty to provide care to those who cannot help themselves. The bishops of this country have clearly stated that government has a responsibility to assure access to basic health care for all people.
While the bishops do support health care reform, we do not support any specific health care bill or health care plan. However, we bishops have taken a clear stand on what should and should not be included in any health care reform legislation.
First, whatever health care plan is developed must assure there is access to basic health care for all people. Additionally, any plan must assure that the poor and the vulnerable have easy access.
Second, any health care plan cannot include any direct or indirect funding for abortion. Currently the law of the United States under the Hyde Amendment prevents the federal government from funding abortion except in certain limited circumstances. Any health care reform bill that passes must contain a similar limitation providing that no insurance plan that receives any money from the federal government may fund abortion. In addition, no one should be required to pay for health care insurance that pays for abortion. These restrictions need to be expressly stated in any health care reform legislation.
Third, there must be assurances that the legislation does not include any direct or indirect funding for activities that encourage the withdrawal of medical procedures or assistance for the purpose of causing death. Catholics reject both active euthanization, which means taking steps that will cause death, as well as passive euthanization, which means withholding treatment for the purpose of causing death.
Finally, any health care reform bill must expressly support the right of health care professionals and institutions to refuse to perform, participate in, or refer patients for procedures that violate their individual or institutional consciences. No health care professional or institution should be required to have anything to do with abortion, euthanasia of any type, or any other practice or procedure that violates conscience.
I urge you to contact your senators and representatives to ask them to assure that any legislation they consider respects life, has easy access for the poor, and respects conscience. As we make our voices heard in Washington, I ask you to join me in prayer that the Holy Spirit will guide our legislators in creating a true health care reform.

Most Rev. W. Francis Malooly
Bishop of Wilmington


James P. Collins, longtime
diocesan attorney, dies

By Joseph Ryan
Assistant editor

James P. Collins Sr., a Wilmington attorney who was legal counsel to the Diocese of Wilmington for 37 years and was active in many church and civic groups, died Monday, three days before his 91st birthday.
Collins is remembered for his generosity and his gentlemanly ways, for winning a high-profile case for the diocese in the 1970s, and for his role in establishing Wilmington’s Ministry of Caring network for the needy.
“There are more than just a few people out there for whom Jim did pro-bono work who can amply testify to his goodness and kindness,” Monsignor J. Thomas Cini, vicar general of the diocese, said Tuesday. “I do remember my first encounter with him as our attorney while I was principal at St. Mark’s in 1972. I was impressed by his gentle and Christian way of approaching a disconcerting and contentious problem — we had a roof that failed and the building was only three years old. That gentlemanly, kind manner was Jim’s hallmark all his life.”
Collins began work as the diocesan attorney in 1968 when he was a partner at Healy & Collins. When his firm was dissolved in 1998 he became in-house counsel for the diocese until he retired in 2005.
He won a landmark Delaware case for the diocese in the mid-1970s when he argued before Chancery Court and on appeal to the state Supreme Court that Father Michael Szupper had a right to say Mass in a common area of the University of Delaware campus. The university had opposed the liturgy on school property, citing separation of church and state. The Delaware decision was later cited by the U.S. Supreme Court in a similar case. “I was always tickled with that,” Collins said in 2005.
When Collins retired four years ago, Bishop Michael Saltarelli called him one of “God’s special gifts” to the church. “He has influenced us in our efforts to be fair and just in the various challenges that we faced. His own strong faith, his love for the church, his devotion to family, his uncompromising witness in all that he does stands as a beacon of light in a sometimes darkened world.”
In the late 1970s Collins helped Brother Ronald Giannone establish the Ministry of Caring, serving on its board for decades, including as president from 1978 to 1988. He helped found several of the ministry’s projects.
In 2005 Brother Ronald called Collins “the most wonderful person on earth I ever met. He was one of the pioneers of the ministry. He’s been a backbone, and he’s never taken a penny from us.”
Collins was instrumental in founding the local chapter of the St. Thomas More Society, a Catholic organization for members of the legal profession. His legal expertise on the board of Catholic Ministry to the Elderly helped it develop Marydale, a complex of apartments for the elderly and handicapped. He organized the first corporate board for Archmere Academy, his alma mater, and was a member of its board of trustees. He was also an active board member of the National Council of Christians and Jews in Delaware. He supported Birthright of Delaware and Bayard House, which serve pregnant women in need, and chaired fund drives at St. Mary Magdalen and Corpus Christi parishes.
In 2005 he was awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Cross, a papal honor for service to the church.
He remained modest deSpite the accolades. “I’ve tried to be a tiny pebble in the church’s rock foundation,” he said.
Born in Wilmington, Collins attended St. Paul School, Archmere, Villanova and Harvard Law. He served in the U.S. Army and Air Force from 1942 to 1947 and was recalled to the Air Force during the Korean War, serving at the Pentagon from 1951 to 1953, when he was discharged as a lieutenant colonel.
Survivors include his wife, Katherine “Kay” — they would have been married 66 years on Sept. 11 — seven children, 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
Visitation is scheduled for Friday from 10 to noon at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Shipley and Weldin roads, Wilmington, with the Mass of Christian Burial to follow at noon. Burial will be in St. Joseph on the Brandywine Cemetery, Greenville.
Donations can be made to the Ministry of Caring, 506 N. Church St., Wilmington, DE 19801-4812 or at www.ministryofcaring.org.



Aug. 25, 2009

Archmere names first
non-Norbertine headmaster
St. Edmond's Marinelli to return
to alma mater in July 2010

By Mike Lang
The Dialog

CLAYMONT — When Michael A. Marinelli was a student at Archmere Academy, one of his English teachers was Norbertine Father Joseph McLaughlin. Beginning next July, Marinelli will return to campus as Archmere’s 10th headmaster, taking over for his former teacher.
Marinelli’s appointment, announced Monday, is a historic one for the private co-ed high school; he will become the first non-Norbertine in the 77-year-history of Archmere to hold the post.
The 51-year-old Marinelli has been headmaster of St. Edmond’s Academy in north Wilmington since 2003, a position he will retain through this school year. He said several factors influenced him to change schools.
He is a 1976 graduate of Archmere and served as its director of development and public relations from 1984 to 1996. “There is a lot of emotion you go through when you think of coming back,” he told The Dialog on Monday.
He described his experience at Archmere as “life-changing” and said he looked forward to leading his alma mater. In addition, he likes the sense of community among Archmere students, graduates and supporters, is drawn by St. Norbert’s missionary zeal, and is excited to work with young people during the next stage of their lives.
“We’re trying to educate them to make life decisions based on a set of values,” Marinelli said.
He said the high school students he will encounter next year are similar to the 4-14-year-olds at St. Edmond’s in that they have the same fundamental values, but there are significant differences between the age groups.
“(High school) is a pretty transformational time for them,” he said.
Marinelli has a long history in Catholic education. After leaving Archmere in 1996, he worked at the Delaware Art Museum for two years before returning to education as associate headmaster of the all-boys St. Edmond’s.
Anthony A. Latini Jr., chairman of Archmere’s board of trustees, cited Marinelli’s work in Catholic education and his ties to Archmere.
“We chose a candidate who has committed his career to Catholic education,” Latini said in a statement. “His relationship-building skills, experience with a headmaster-principal administrative model, and educational background make him the ideal candidate to lead Archmere into the future.”
Archmere adopted the headmaster-principal model of leadership in January 2007. The principal — since July 2008 it has been William J. Doyle — is responsible for day-to-day educational operations, while the headmaster focuses on alumni relations, fund-raising, mission and heritage. The headmaster is also the public presence of Archmere in the community, according to the school.
Father McLaughlin initiated the move to the new model upon his return as headmaster in 2006. The priest is in his second stint as headmaster at Archmere. He served from 1983-96 then became the school chaplain in 2001. He has spent most of his life as a priest at Archmere. In 1970, several months after his ordination, he arrived at Archmere and was a teacher or chaplain until becoming headmaster.
The school’s student life center, which opened in 2006, is named after him and fellow Norbertine Father Timothy Mullen, who was headmaster from 1996 until his death in 2004.
Father McLaughlin, 66, said he plans to stay at Archmere, “to continue to serve in some capacity.” He and Marinelli said the school needs to ensure that it will retain the spirit and philosophy of the Norbertine priests who staffed it for so long. This year, there will be three Norbertines at Archmere; last year there were two, the fewest in school history.
Although he has not delved into details yet, Marinelli said the general challenges facing Archmere include keeping education accessible and affordable; maintaining diversity; keeping the charism of the Norbertines; and making the Norbertines’ philosophy “a part of what we do every day.”
Tuition and fees for the upcoming school year are $19,375. The school awards a number of scholarships and grants based on academics and need.
Marinelli has a degree in business administration from the University of Delaware, an MBA from Widener University and a doctorate in education from Wilmington University. He and his wife, Diane, are members of St. Joseph on the Brandywine Parish in Greenville, where he is director of liturgy and music. They have a son in college and a daughter who will be a junior at Padua Academy this year.
In a letter to the St. Edmond’s community, Holy Cross Brother Thomas A. Dziekan, superior of the order’s Eastern Province of Brothers, thanked Marinelli for his years of service and wished him well in his new position. He said St. Edmond’s will follow a search process used by all Holy Cross-sponsored schools in choosing Marinelli’s successor.





Bishop John O. Barres blesses the faithful after his ordination as fourth Bishop of Allentown on Thursday, July 30. Behind him are Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia (left) and Archbishop Pietro Sambi, papal nuncio to the United States. View photo gallery from Bishop Barres's ordination and installation.


Bishop Barres seeks “new springtime of evangelization” for Allentown

By Gary Morton
Staff reporter

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Bishop John Barres vowed to lead the Diocese of Allentown toward Pope Benedict XVI’s vision of a “new springtime of evangelization” by emphasizing religious education for young and old, the sacrament of reconciliation, and a “rekindling of eucharistic amazement.”
He outlined his vision in remarks at the end of a three-hour Mass on July 30 at the Cathedral of St. Catharine of Siena during which he was ordained a bishop and installed as head of the Allentown diocese. He is the diocese’s fourth bishop, succeeding Bishop Edward P. Cullen.
Last October, Pope Benedict called for Catholics to “study and pray the scriptures daily,” Bishop Barres said. “He told us that if each of us commits deeply to the word of God, there will be a new springtime of evangelization.”
Catechesis — the ongoing religious education and formation of Catholics — forms the heart of such evangelization, the new bishop said.
He used President Abraham Lincoln as a model for how the church should act: “He was approachable and loved to understand the daily concerns and trials of the average American. And he was magnanimous and generous in his forgiveness and pursuit of the common good.”
Lincoln’s second inaugural address discussed “binding up the nation’s wounds,” Bishop Barres said. “We Catholics in the Diocese of Allentown recommit ourselves to binding up the wounds of the Church and the world — the wounds of the poor and those suffering from the financial crisis, the stranger, the alienated and inactive Catholic, the unborn and the elderly, the victims of clergy sexual abuse and all forms of abuse, and those on death row.”
He committed the diocese to helping build a culture of life “in which the life of every human being is precious from conception to natural death and which understands that the right to life cannot be denied, ignored or compromised away because it the foundation for all other human rights.”

Eucharist and reconciliation
Bishop Barres drew sustained applause during a call for eucharistic devotion and increased use of the sacrament of reconciliation. He mentioned how St. John Vianney, known as the Cure of Ars and who is a focus of the church’s current Year for Priests, “would sit for hours every day hearing confessions.” He said he would join the priests of the diocese to hear confessions at churches and schools around the diocese. “The Diocese of Allentown is not, and will not be, resigned to empty confessionals,” he said emphatically.
“We remember today that the Road to Ars symbolized by the sacrament of penance is also the road to Damascus and life-changing conversion,” he said in a reference to St. Paul.
He described the 21st century as “a time for holiness and heroism in the priesthood” and told the priests of his new diocese that “it’s going to be a joyful experience to learn of your holiness and heroism.”
Bishop Barres also cited young people for their “heroism in embracing the truth of the gospels and church teaching and resisting negative peer pressure.” Their faith, he said, helps to “rekindle the faith of the generations that go before you.”
Catholics should “rekindle our eucharistic amazement” and “take personal responsibility to promote Catholic marriage, family life and the gospel of life, and vocations to the priesthood and religious life,” he said. “To that end, I will ask all young — and many not so young — Catholics to listen to the Holy Spirit and discern whether they have a vocation to the priesthood or religious life.”

To Hispanics
In Spanish, Bishop Barres reached out to the Hispanic community. “For my Hispanic sisters and brothers who are carrying the cross of sorrow and pain in any way, know that I want to be with you in your carrying of the cross,” he said.
He noted that he has visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City; that apparition is deeply revered by Hispanics, especially those of Mexican and Central American descent. “It will give me great happiness to pray before the statue of the virgin at Immaculate Conception Church in Allentown, which is, I understand, one of the best copies of the original in the world. As St. Juan Diego was surprised as he opened his tilma and found the image of Our Lady emblazoned with beautiful roses, may you and I have the joy of constantly being surprised by God’s graces as we work together to evangelize the Diocese of Allentown and all of the Americas.”

Family ties
Adding to the poignancy of the ordination and installation was the presence of the new bishop’s parents, Oliver and Marjorie Barres, convert Protestant ministers who met each other at Yale Divinity School and entered the church in 1955. They joined his four sisters, brother, and there families, including several of the bishop’s nephews and nieces.
Bishop Barres cited his father’s family ties to the Diocese of Allentown, specifically Bethlehem, Pa. He used his great-grandfather Thomas Ritter to help describe how he hopes to serve the people of Allentown. Ritter, a night watchman for the Bethlehem Businessmen’s Protective Union, was quoted in a newspaper article as saying, “I have never taken any vacation and am just as happy as ever. I have been walking (as night watchman) on an average of 14 miles every night for 38 years.”
“My hope,” Bishop Barres said, “is that I may be as vigilant a shepherd and nightwatchman for the Church of Allentown as Tom Ritter was for the businesses in Bethlehem.”
In his remarks Bishop Barres referred to his nephew and godson John Oliver Cotter, who died in a swimming accident last year at age 25. Cotter “is especially remembered at this ordination Mass,” he said. Then, turning directly to his family: “We always remember that he is close to us in the Eucharist, and he is close to us in our belief in the communion of saints.”
Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, as head of the Philadelphia Province that includes the Allentown diocese, was the ordaining bishop. When he asked a prescribed series of questions during the rite of ordination, Bishop Barres answered with a series of strong, confident “I dos,” promising among other things to preach the Gospel with constancy and fidelity, guard the deposit of faith, build up the church, and show obedience to the pope.
Bishop Malooly and retired Bishop Michael A. Saltarelli, under whom Bishop Barres served as chancellor in the Diocese of Wilmington since 2000, were co-ordaining bishops. Bishop Robert E. Mulvee, former bishop of Wilmington who accepted John Barres as a seminarian for the diocese and ordained him to the priesthood in 1989, also attended; he is now retired from the Diocese of Providence, R.I.
About 300 clergy — three cardinals, four archbishops, about 30 bishops, and many priests and deacons — took up almost half of the 650-seat church. About a half-dozen priests of the Diocese of Wilmington concelebrated from the pews; a handful of lay people from Wilmington also attended.

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