CHARLOTTE — There are 131 priests – 87 diocesan clergy and 44 clergy from nine religious orders – serving the People of God in the Diocese of Charlotte. When it comes time for them to retire, the diocese wants to ensure they are taken care of since we have been blessed by their service through the years.
Bishop Peter Jugis, who shepherds the 92 churches and missions in the diocese, is asking the faithful to respond generously and with grateful hearts to the needs of the priests who faithfully serve us by contributing to the second collection Sept. 16-17 that will be taken up in all parishes.
“With the annual collection to fund the priests’ retirement and benefits plans, we financially sustain these men who give their lives to preach the Gospel and teach the Catholic faith; to lead God’s people in love; and to celebrate the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, in 92 parishes and missions throughout western North Carolina,” Bishop Jugis stated in a message to all parishioners.
He also points out that “even through the years of their retirement, these priests will continue to serve the people of our diocese. They will visit the sick in nursing homes and hospitals. They will go to our prisons, where they will counsel the inmates.
“Retired priests pray daily for the people of the diocese, offer Mass for the intentions of parishioners, and give of their time and talent to help with weekend Masses and confessions in parishes throughout the diocese.”
The diocese’s goal for the 2017 collection for the priests’ retirement and benefits plan is $1,823,000. Each parish is assessed 3.5% of their annual offertory to support the priests’ retirement and benefits plans. This second collection defrays the amount that the parishes pay from their operating budgets.
Contributions from this collection will be added to pension plans for all active priests currently serving in our diocese, as well as the health benefits plan for active diocesan priests when they retire. For every dollar contributed, 55 cents goes to the Diocese of Charlotte Priests Pension Plan; 29 cents goes to the Diocese of Charlotte Retired Clergy Health Plan; 13 cents goes to pension contributions for religious order priests; and 3 cents goes to campaign costs.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
‘‘Humanae vitae’ 50 Years Later: Prophecy and Prescription for our Culture’
ARDEN — The Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte Respect Life office will sponsor a conference on “‘Humanae vitae’ 50 Years Later: Prophecy and Prescription for our Culture” from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, at St. Barnabas Church. Anyone interested in learning more about Church teaching on life issues is welcome to attend.
The keynote speaker will be Dr. John S. Grabowski, associate professor of Moral Theology and director of the Moral Theology/Ethics department at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Grabowski earned a B.A. in theology at the University of Steubenville and a Ph.D. at Marquette University. He has served on the faculty at Catholic University for the past 25 years.
He and his wife Claire were appointed to the Pontifical Council for the Family by Pope Benedict XVI in the fall of 2009, where they have served as a member couple. He is also serving as a theological advisor to the USCCB’s Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family and Youth. In 2015 he was appointed by Pope Francis to serve as an expert (adiutor) at the Synod of Bishops on the Family.
Grabowski has published widely in the areas of moral theology, marriage, sexuality and bioethics. His articles have appeared in scholarly journals as Nova et Vetera, The Thomist, The Heythrop Journal, and the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly as well as popular journals such as America, Commonweal, The Living Light and Share the Word.
His books include “Sex and Virtue: An Introduction to Sexual Ethics” (CUA Press, 2003) and “Transformed in Christ: Essays on the Renewal of Moral Theology” (Sapientia Press, 2017). He also wrote the foreword to the 1997 English edition of St. John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body.”
Grabowski has also taught a variety of courses for adults, catechists and lay ministers in the Washington area and has presented at conferences across the United States.
Other presenters during the Respect Life conference include Debbie Shinskie, who will address the topic of human trafficking. She has worked for a number of years as a maternal-child health registered nurse and educator for parents and professionals. She has two published textbooks in the field of human lactation.
Also active in her parishes and diocese, Shinskie has served as a parish Respect Life coordinator and master catechist with a focus in teaching Theology of the Body and RCIA topics before becoming director of the Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
Presentations by Be Not Afraid Ministry and discussions of topics such as diocesan resources, end-of-life ethics, legislative Respect Life work, post-abortion healing/Rachel’s Vineyard, pregnancy support, regional pro-life resources and USCCB pro-life updates will also take place during the conference.
To register for the conference, contact Jessica Grabowski, diocesan Respect Life program director, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 910-585-2460 or 704-370-3229.
The diocesan Respect Life office is funded in part by the annual Diocesan Support Appeal.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
MINT HILL — On Aug. 12, St. Luke Church had the honor of hosting the Knights of Columbus’ Third Degree Exemplification Ceremony. Forty-one men from 12 different councils traveled from as far as Boone to become “Knighted.”
St. Luke Church welcomed the largest contingent, with 17 new Knights – largely thanks to co-membership directors Billy Bushman’s and Fabio Revilla’s successful recruitment of Hispanic parishioners.
St. Luke’s Deacon Rafael Torres, Father Binoy Davis (priest chaplain from Knights of Columbus Council 10582) and seminarian Pablo Lopez all reached “full knighthood,” receiving the fraternal degree.
In attendance were several state officers and grand knights, including State Secretary Dan Lange, State Warden Sergio Miranda, State Family Director Fred Burton, and Regional Membership and Planning Consultant Ron Cortopassi. More than 40 Exemplification personnel and observers solemnly watched the prestigious occasion.
The Exemplification honoree was David R. Jones, who passed away last year. Jones served as past state deputy, district deputy, Third Degree captain and St. Luke grand knight. He was an example of everything the Knights symbolize, giving charity to the distressed and expressing love of God and family, unity and fraternity with the Knights, and support for the Mint Hill community. Jones hosted this very ceremony 10 years earlier, but his calling still lives on through the memories he instilled in his wife Cheryl, his brother Knights and his parish community.
Cris Caines as conferring officer and Art Mathieu as warden led the Exemplification Ceremonial Team. Alongside St. Luke’s Exemplification Leader Don Cermack, the team was able to execute the mission in only two months instead of the usual three-plus months.
“The ceremony is one of the best I have attended over the last 20 years, and I have been to a lot of them. All three did a fabulous job,” said fellow Knight Jim Strauss.
The induction date of Aug. 12 is a symbolic day for the Knights in another way. It is the birthday of the founder of the Knights of Columbus, Venerable Father Michael J. McGivney. The newly called Third Degree Knights ended with a prayer for the late Father McGivney, praying for his canonization using prayer cards blessed upon Father McGivney’s sarcophagus that had been provided by Assembly 2208 Faithful Navigator David DeBrosse. The cards will become third-class relics if Father McGivney is declared a saint.
— Lisa Geraci, Correspondent
‘The Lord has given me great peace in coming here’
‘The Lord has given me great peace in coming here’CHARLOTTE — St. Matthew Church has a new pastor: former parishioner, catechist and high school youth minister, Father Pat Hoare.
Father Hoare volunteered at the south Charlotte parish in the 1990s before a job transfer took him to Baltimore, Md., and before he discerned a call to the priesthood. He returned to the church for his ordination to the priesthood on June 2, 2007, by Bishop Peter Jugis. So what is it like coming back to his old parish as its new pastor?
“I will say that the Lord has given me great peace in coming here,” Father Hoare said. “I am a high-energy person. That’s also fed by my high anxiety. Those kind of things work together usually for good."
The south Charlotte parish that Father Hoare now shepherds has flourished since it was established in 1986, growing exponentially as the area around it has developed. The parish now comprises more than 11,000 families – by all accounts, making it the largest parish in the United States. There are eight Masses offered every weekend on the main campus, and "St. Matthew South" in Waxhaw offers three more Masses every weekend. The parish counts 7,000 volunteers in its 100-plus ministries.
Says Father Hoare, “What has been amazing is that there is so much going on, so many moving parts, so many people that I need to talk to. All of those things are happening. I really have not felt any anxiety about it, which is amazing. That certainly is a grace.
“Adding to that grace is that the staff is wonderful. The people I have met, the parishioners, have been so welcoming. They naturally miss their pastor of 18 years. There’s that ‘I wonder what this is going to be like’ kind of undercurrent.
“All I can do right now is to be present, to say hello to people and try to communicate to people as best I can that I am here to try to lead them, to love them, to pastor them as best as I can.”
“As Pope Francis says, we should have the smell of the sheep. I already smell like them (as a former parishioner), I don’t have to acquire that. I already know I smell like them!” he joked.
He said it has been a joy for him to encounter parishioners he knew years ago when he lived and worked in Charlotte and volunteered at the parish as a catechist.
“There are people here who have come up to me and asked if I remember them or their children (he taught). I do remember them. That’s kind of neat, too, to have that grounding in the parish. It’s not like I’m a complete outsider.”
Father Hoare noted that St. Matthew’s south campus in Waxhaw provides a great opportunity to do something unique for his parishioners.
“In the 21st century, when we drive to church now and parishes are spread out, the fact that it’s 10 miles away doesn’t bother me. We look at how we can use that campus as part of our mission of our church in a unique way, that responds to the needs of our parish and the local community.”
Father Hoare noted that his new assignment is going well. “It’s only been three weeks, but it’s been a great three weeks so far.
“What I am trying to discern now is, ‘OK, Lord, you put me here, so You must have some plans in mind for me and for the parish, and there must be a reason I am a part of that.’ I am just trying to discern that.”
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
CHARLOTTE — Join Catholics across Charlotte for Mass and overnight Eucharistic Adoration every first Friday-Saturday at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte to pray for the strengthening and healing of marriages and families, the conversion of our nation, and to offer reparation for the sins of mankind through prayer and penance.
Tying in the First Friday and Saturday devotions of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts together with Mass and Adoration, the vigil will begin with Mass at 8 p.m. each first Friday, followed by Adoration and scheduled prayer, and conclude with 8 a.m. Mass each first Saturday, beginning Sept. 1-2 and Oct. 6-7.
The city-wide prayer effort is being organized by the Catholic Pro-Life Action Network (C-PLAN) and local parish Respect Life ministries. For details and to sign up for Adoration times, go to www.prolifecharlotte.org.