CHARLOTTE — The Church in western North Carolina is growing, and these "exciting times in our diocese" are all thanks to the Holy Spirit.
That was the message from Bishop Peter Jugis during the jubilee year Mass for priests Aug. 17.
Approximately 60 priests, including Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari from Belmont Abbey, joined Bishop Jugis for the jubilee Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral.
Bishop Emeritus William Curlin was principally honored during the Mass for his 60 years of priestly ministry. Bishop Curlin, who served as the third Bishop of Charlotte from 1994 to 2002, received prolonged applause from the priests and congregation at the end of Mass.
The Mass was also offered in thanksgiving for those celebrating 25 years of ordained ministry: Father Herbert Burke, Father George Byers, Father Stephen Hoyt, Father Andrew Latsko and Father John Putnam. Monsignor John McSweeney was also honored on the occasion of his retirement.
In his homily, Bishop Jugis expressed gratitude to all of the priests for their service to Christ and His Church in western North Carolina – especially as it has grown over the past 45 years.
The Mass was offered during the diocese's annual Priests’ Convocation Aug. 16-18, which focused on the theme “Missionary Discipleship: The Art and Spirituality of Pastoring in a Culturally Diverse Diocese.”
This topic was particularly appropriate, Bishop Jugis noted, as he reflected on the growth and increasing diversity of the Charlotte diocese.
The number of Catholics living in western North Carolina has risen from just a few hundred in 1876, when the Benedictine monks founded Belmont Abbey, to more than 450,000 today.
Beyond the dramatic increase in numbers, the Catholic population has also become more diverse, Bishop Jugis noted.
"When all of us began serving in the Diocese of Charlotte, no matter what year it happened to have been, there was not the kind of diversity that we experience today," he said.
"The Holy Spirit is constantly revealing for us new dimensions of the meaning of the words 'one holy, catholic and apostolic.'"
Now, Mass is offered weekly in the Maronite rite, Ukrainian rite and Syro-Malabar rite, as well as monthly in the Ge'ez rite.
"And their bishops have even appointed priests who are here with us to live here, to better serve the faithful of our sister churches," he said.
There's also incredible diversity in the Roman rite Church, he noted, with Masses offered weekly in English, Spanish, Hmong, Korean and Vietnamese, as well as occasionally in Polish and Igbo.
"Mass in the Extraordinary Form is also offered every week," he added.
"And it's all the work of the Holy Spirit," he told the priests. "This is Catholicism … It is the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, and it's all happening right here. And you are a part of it – you are the ones making it happen."
"I must thank you and commend you, my brothers, for all that you are doing to meet the pastoral needs of this growing, diverse Catholic population. It's a lot of work, and I know that you are working hard," he said.
"I also thank you for serving with joy and with genuine love for your parishioners, because that reveals to all of us that you have a shepherd's heart."
"As we honor our brothers on their jubilees of priesthood and retirement, let us all be grateful for the opportunity the Lord has given us to serve in these exciting times in our diocese," he prayed. "May we return to Him 30-, 60-, 100-fold for all that He has given us."
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor
CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte continues to resettle refugees who have a “bona fide” relationship with refugees seeking to enter the United States from several majority-Muslim countries under the Trump administration’s temporary travel ban.
“We are still receiving cases that have a ‘bona fide’ relationship established,” said Susan Jassan, interim director of its Refugee Resettlement Office for the Diocese of Charlotte. “We expect a total of 25 individuals will arrive between Aug. 3 and Sept. 30.”
As part of his executive order instituting the travel ban, President Donald Trump capped the number of refugees this year at 50,000. That number, which was reached July 12, is down from the 110,000 set by President Barack Obama last October. In 2016, the U.S. took in 85,000 refugees.
The Charlotte diocese has resettled 255 refugees since Oct. 1, 2016. The majority have come from the Ukraine, Burma, Bhutan, Somalia and Syria. Another 54 have come from Cuba, but Catholic Charities’ resettlement and placement services aren’t the same for those individuals.
From the countries banned by the Trump administration, the diocese’s refugee office has welcomed 56 people: 28 refugees from Somalia, 21 refugees from Syria, five from Iran, two from Sudan, and none from Libya or Yemen.
The U.S. Supreme Court said last month that grandparents may be included among those who have a “bona fide” relationship with refugees seeking to enter the United States from the majority-Muslim countries under the Trump administration’s temporary travel ban.
The Supreme Court originally announced June 26 that it would temporarily allow the Trump administration’s plan to ban refugees from the majority-Muslim countries, unless those refugees had “bona fide” relationships with parties in the United States, meaning certain family members, employees or universities.
The government’s list of family members included parents, spouses, children, adult sons or daughters, sons- and daughters-in-law, siblings, fiancés, fiancées and in-law parents. U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson July 13 ordered the Trump administration to expand that list to include grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and brothers- and sisters-in-law.
With the reduction in the number of refugees expected this year, staffing changes are possible for the local Refugee Resettlement offices in Charlotte and Asheville. More than 20 people work in those offices.
“We are still waiting to make decisions on staffing changes,” Jassan said. “It will certainly be difficult to maintain our current staffing level with decreased arrivals.”
So far, the RRO has not made any staffing changes as a result of the travel ban, she said.
The travel ban and the current political climate in the United States have caused some concerns for refugees who are already here, Jassan noted.
“We heard refugees expressing fears about living in the U.S. after the first executive order was issued in January,” she said. “It is not currently an overt expression on the part of refugees, as it was then.”
The Supreme Court has scheduled Oct. 10 to hear oral arguments in the Trump travel ban case.
— Kimberly Bender, online reporter. Catholic News Service contributed.
Pictured: Somali refugees are seen after arriving in 2011 at a camp in Dadaab, Kenya.In Dadaab, the world's largest refugee complex in northeast Kenya, Somali refugees are facing the question of whether to return to their homeland or stay and risk being forced to move if the Kenyan government closes the camp. (CNS photo/Dai Kurokawa, EPA)