CHARLOTTE — A Catholic fraternal association for business leaders has launched a chapter in Charlotte.
Legatus, founded by former Domino's Pizza CEO and Catholic philanthropist Tom Monaghan, is aimed at top-level executives and their spouses. Named from the Latin word for "ambassador," its mission is to enable like-minded CEOs, company presidents, managing partners and business owners to become "ambassadors for Christ" in their personal and professional lives. Legatus has more than 5,000 members spread throughout 95 chapters in the United States, Canada and Ireland.
The Charlotte chapter was inaugurated during a Mass June 30 at St. Patrick Cathedral, celebrated by Bishop Peter Jugis. It is the first Legatus chapter in the Diocese of Charlotte and in North Carolina.
Sharon Kucia, president of Mission Advancement Services for The Pelican Group, is president of the local Legatus chapter. Kucia first joined Legatus in the Diocese of Savannah, where she often traveled for work. As the Charlotte diocese grew, she realized the value in starting a Legatus chapter for Catholic business leaders in the Charlotte area, and worked with Legatus' regional leaders to establish the chapter.
"There is a real need for something like this in Charlotte," Kucia said.
Praying and spending time with other Catholic business leaders through Legatus has "touched her heart," she said, and she hopes the new chapter will enable more opportunities for such fellowship among Catholic professionals in the Charlotte area.
The Charlotte chapter has grown to 21 member couples since meetings began last fall, including some members who were active in Legatus chapters elsewhere before moving to Charlotte. Its chaplain is Benedictine Abbot Placid Solari of Belmont Abbey.
Other local officers are: David Piejak, vice president; Mary Beth Soignet, director at-large; Rick Caron, program chair; Billy Hughes, membership chair; and David Anderson, membership vice chair.
Legatus chapters meet monthly for Mass, followed by fellowship and dinner, where they hear from speakers about how to live their Catholic faith in their families, their businesses and their philanthropic efforts, especially in an increasingly challenging and secularized environment. They also network with fellow Catholic business leaders who have committed themselves to the Legatus mission to "study, live and spread the Catholic faith in their business and personal lives."
Legatus is chartering another chapter for the Greenville, S.C., area this month.
Membership is by invitation only, and specific business criteria apply. Learn more at www.legatus.org.
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, Editor
CHARLOTTE — It remains unclear how the Charlotte City Council's move to enshrine rights of "gender expression" and "gender identity" in its anti-discrimination ordinance might affect the 13 Catholic churches and five Catholic schools located within the city.
Diocesan officials said the ordinance's possible impacts on Charlotte churches and schools are unknown, and for now they are taking a wait-and-see approach.
On Feb. 22, City Council members voted 7-4 to expand the Charlotte's anti-discrimination ordinance to include "marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression" alongside existing protections for race, gender, age and disability beginning April 1.
The decades-old law governs access and services for all public property, nearly all businesses including restaurants and retail stores, taxi services, and city business contracts. It contains no exemption for churches or religious facilities. Violators could be reported to the city council and could face legal action from the city attorney.
The city council's move follows a failed vote last March on the same measure, when opponents successfully rallied against it. The city council's decision came at the end of a contentious council meeting and a rally organized again by hundreds of opponents outside the Government Center in Charlotte.
Religious leaders, business people and many city residents said they were alarmed at the ordinance which now allows, among other things, people to choose a public restroom or locker room corresponding to their sexual orientation, "gender identity" or "gender expression." For example, men who identify as women can use a women's bathroom or public shower.
The city's anti-discrimination ordinance previously exempted public bathrooms, showers "and similar facilities which are in their nature distinctly private."
Many local religious leaders, including Bishop Peter Jugis, called the proposal a threat to public safety and decorum.
"God made men and women biologically different. As a society we must respect that difference, and continue to maintain separate public bathrooms for men and women for the sake of modesty and safety," Bishop Jugis said in a statement Feb. 22.
N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory, a former mayor of Charlotte, also expressed opposition to the ordinance, saying changes to restroom access could "create major public safety issues."
Before the city council vote, McCrory warned in an email to council members that there could be "immediate state legislative intervention" to block the ordinance.
Some conservative state lawmakers led by House Speaker Tim Moore said Feb. 23 that they were "exploring legislative intervention to correct this radical course."
But it is uncertain when and how state legislators could override the city ordinance. The Legislature does not convene until April 25, and the city ordinance takes effect April 1.
Besides intervention by the Legislature, courts might eventually declare the ordinance void on the grounds that it exceeds the authority granted the city in its charter or that it violates the state's building code and law against indecent exposure, said local attorney Robert Potter Jr.
Legislators could also put the issue on the ballot for a referendum, as Houston did last fall when its city council passed a similar ordinance to protect "gender identity." Residents there voted overwhelmingly in November to repeal the measure, 61 percent to 39 percent.
Meanwhile, the city ordinance conceivably could impact public and athletic events held at Catholic schools, public events and meetings held at parish halls, and at the Eucharistic Congress held each September at the city-owned Charlotte Convention Center. But for now, diocesan leaders are waiting and watching how the political battle might unfold.
"Since there are indications that the state legislature may change or eliminate the ordinance, we are waiting to see what happens," said diocesan spokesman David Hains.
Catholic churches and schools located within the city limits are: Our Lady of the Assumption Church and School, St. John Neumann Church, Our Lady of Consolation Church, St. Ann Church and School, St. Gabriel Church and School, St. Patrick Cathedral and School, St. Peter Church, St. Vincent de Paul Church, St. Thomas Aquinas Church, St. Matthew Church and School, St. Joseph Vietnamese Church, St. John Lee Korean Church and Our Lady of Guadalupe Church.
Whether the anti-discrimination ordinance applies to churches and church activities hinges on how the ordinance's use of the term "public accommodation" is interpreted, noted Potter. Federal laws on public accommodations contain a specific exemption for religious institutions, he said, but the Charlotte ordinance does not.
The city code currently defines "public accommodation" as "a business, accommodation, refreshment, entertainment, recreation, or transportation facility of any kind, whether licensed or not, whose goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages or accommodations are extended, offered, sold or otherwise made available to the public."
The ordinance may more likely apply "the farther you get from actual worship" – to non-church related activities, Potter said.
"Even if the ordinance does not apply to churches themselves," he said, "it may apply to schools and activities like fairs, bingo, athletic events or other activities where the public is invited. If a church rents its activity center to the public, then the ordinance may apply there."
He added, "Certainly, if the diocese rents the Charlotte Convention Center for the Eucharistic Congress, then it should be aware that the city will apply this new policy to all of its own facilities."
Hains said the convention center staff told him they are meeting next week to evaluate the ordinance and as yet do not have any guidance for the diocese or its plans for the Eucharistic Congress this September.
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor
Read the anti-discrimination ordinance
BELMONT — Belmont Abbey recently hosted for the first time the General Chapter of the American-Cassinese Congregation of Benedictine Monasteries. Meeting every three years, the General Chapter is the governing body for the 19 abbeys of the American-Cassinese Congregation of Benedictine Monasteries – most of which, including Belmont Abbey, trace their histories back to the first permanent Benedictine monastery in the United States, St. Vincent Archabbey in Pennsylvania.
Although Benedictine abbeys are self-governing and largely autonomous, most of them are members of congregations, which enable them to offer each other mutual assistance and safeguard the integrity of their monastic life. Among other things, the General Chapter is responsible for drawing up the constitutions for the member monasteries; electing the president of the congregation and his council, who coordinate the mutual support among the member monasteries; and discussing other matters which strengthen their monastic communities.
The superiors and one elected delegate from each monastery, a total of 47 people, attended the June 19-24 meeting, as did the president of the congregation and his council; and the Abbot Primate of the Benedictine Confederation from Rome, Benedictine Abbot Notker Wolf.
At the meeting, Benedictine Father Elias Lorenzo of St. Mary's Abbey in Morristown, N.J., who had served as prior of the international Benedictine Collegio Sant'Anselmo in Rome, was elected president of the congregation. He succeeds Abbot Hugh Anderson of St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle, Ill.
— Photo provided by Rolando Rivas, Belmont Abbey College
ASHEVILLE — Father Joseph Koterski knows a thing or two about teaching the Ignatian spiritual exercise known as the “Examen” in an approachable way.
A Jesuit priest and philosophy professor at Fordham University in the Bronx, he shares living quarters with 150 freshmen each year.
Among his many other duties, he leads student discussions for about an hour most nights beginning at 10 p.m. When he finally gets ready for bed, it is the same Examen he teaches his students that helps him fall asleep with a peaceful conscience.
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Charlotte sponsored Father Koterski’s presentation on the Examen to a packed room Aug 24 at St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville. Similar talks were also held that same week at St. Barnabas Church in Arden, St. John the Evangelist Church in Waynesville, and St. Eugene Church in Asheville. The event at St. Eugene was offered in both English and Spanish.
The Examen is a prayerful 10-minute daily examination of conscience that is no less useful today than in the 16th century when St. Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits, originated the spiritual practice. Father Koterski tweaked the five steps by using the word “G-R-A-C-E” to help recall the Examen as one reviews the day.
Pictured: Jesuit Father Joseph Koterski conducted several talks in the Diocese of Charlotte last month. His reflections on the Ignatian Examen were sponsored by Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte. (Giuliana Polinari Riley | Catholic News Herald)
“G” stands for gratitude. “Think of something we are grateful for, or something we know we ought to be grateful for and give thanks to God for it. This is not just another self-help exercise,” Father Koterski emphasized. “It’s a prayerful exercise, directed to Jesus.”
He noted that his own practice includes sitting on the floor in the dark after his long day is over. “It can be done anywhere, but I would suggest not doing it lying down,” he quipped.
“R” stands for a request for light. “We need light in our homes and skies, “ he explained. “We need interior light, too. It may be general or specific – a spotlight God uses or something like those little red penlights that museum docents use to illuminate something not so apparent in a painting or sculpture. Sometimes there are things we don’t want to look at, or never even think to look at. So, we ask to see what God wants us to see.”
“A” stands for an account of actions and attitudes. “I ask the Lord to help me choose and look more deeply at one or two out of my day,” he explained. “I may focus on something that went poorly – a conversation or a class. It may also be something that went well and I want to learn from it. It’s not just analyzing myself in my own voice. No embellishment or hiding details. It’s a prayer to Jesus. I’m telling this to someone I trust who really knows me and can help me see and evaluate.”
He emphasized the importance of dealing with anger from our day, avoiding a preoccupation with one’s negative thoughts and actions. “That tape (which continually replays in our brains) usually tries to rationalize or justify our actions and viewpoints,” he said. “We need to push the stop button, give it to our guardian angel as many times as necessary, and save it for our Examen when we may be more objective. The goal is to get some truth. It’s not just to build us up or tear ourselves or someone else down.”
“C” stands for charting one’s course. If things are going well, continue on course; if not, correct it, he said. “If there’s sin, there could be need for an Act of Contrition or the need to prepare for confession,” he said. He suggested looking for patterns of temptation and sin.
“E” represents entreating the Lord for energy and enthusiasm to carry out one’s course. “It can be as simple as the Lord’s Prayer.”
He concluded, “I look forward to this 10 minutes. It’s an acquired taste. But, for me, it’s like clearing my desk at night. It’s saying, ‘Lord, it’s your world, You take care of it, and I did my best today, but now I want to look and make sure that’s true.’ It’s important to have some time to sit in the dark and ask for light.”
— Beth Searles, Correspondent
BELMONT — The Sisters of Mercy-South Central Community has elected a five-member Community Leadership Team, comprising sisters currently serving in leadership. The election took place June 24 during the community's assembly in Concord, with some 275 sisters from 18 states, Guam and Jamaica attending.
Members of the leadership team, who will begin their next term Sept. 1, are (pictured at right): Mercy Sister Jane Hotstream, elected to a second term as president; Mercy Sister Mary Rose Bumpus, elected as the new vice president and currently serving as a team member; Mercy Sister Patricia Coward, team member; and Mercy Sister Linda Falquette and Mercy Sister Deborah Kern, team members.
Sister Mary Rose, Sister Patricia, Sister Linda, and Sister Deborah are currently on the leadership team. Before her election, Sister Mary Rose taught Christian spirituality at Seattle University. Sister Patricia is former assistant principal, coach and Holocaust educator at St. Vincent's Academy in Savannah, Ga. Sister Linda, a former math teacher, served as tuition and payroll coordinator at Notre Dame Academy in Toledo, Ohio, before her election. And Sister Deborah, a social worker, was executive director of Day Spring Inc., which serves adults with intellectual disabilities in Louisville, Ky.
At their assembly, the community also paid tribute to Mercy Sister Paulette Williams (pictured at right), whose term as vice president ends Aug. 31, concluding 24 years in elected leadership with the Sisters of Mercy. A native of Concord, Sister Paulette is former principal of Charlotte Catholic High School.
The Sisters of Mercy dedicate their lives to God through vows of poverty, chastity, obedience andservice.
For more than 150 years, motivated by the Gospel of Jesus and inspired by the spirit of their founder, St. Catherine McAuley, the Sisters of Mercy have responded to the changing needs of the times.
Through prayer and service, the sisters address the causes and effects of violence, racism, degradation of Earth and injustice to women and immigrants. The sisters serve in more than 200 organizations that work with those in need in the U.S., Central and South America, Jamaica, Guam and the Philippines.
— Photos provided by Beth Thompson, Sisters of Mercy-South Central Community