Father Cahill CHARLOTTE — Bishop Michael Martin, OFM Conv., announces the appointment of Father Patrick Cahill to the Diocese of Charlotte’s College of Consultors, effective Nov. 18.
Father Cahill is pastor of St. Eugene Parish in Asheville, administrator of Asheville Catholic School, and director of the diocese’s Mission office. He succeeds the late Monsignor Anthony Marcaccio, who passed away in July.
“It’s a lot of responsibility and an honor to serve the people of our diocese in this way. I pray for God’s wisdom,” Father Cahill said.
A College of Consultors is a group of 6-12 priests drawn from the larger Presbyteral Council who advise and assist the bishop in governing the diocese, particularly on significant decisions related to administering the diocese’s temporal goods. Every diocese is required to have a College of Consultors.
Members serve five-year terms. The current term of College of Consultors runs from Jan. 14, 2021, to Jan. 14, 2026.
The other members are: Monsignor Roger Arnsparger, vicar of education for catechetical formation and pastor/rector of St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville; Father Julio Dominguez, vicar of Hispanic Ministry; Father
Christopher Gober, vocations director and pastor of St. Leo the Great Parish in Winston-Salem; Father John Putnam, judicial vicar and pastor of St. Mark Parish in Huntersville; and Monsignor Patrick Winslow, vicar general and chancellor of the diocese.
— Catholic News Herald
CHARLOTTE — As Advent quickly approaches, so does a day of great generosity. Reserve some money from shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday to give to Catholic-related charitable efforts on Tuesday, Dec. 3.
The Tuesday after Thanksgiving has become known as “Giving Tuesday.” Catholics can focus their charitable giving on this day in numerous ways.
Campaigns such as #iGiveCatholic, originally launched in 2015 as a 24-hour fundraiser to benefit the Catholic Community Foundation of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, have grown into a broader social media movement that resonates with people who want to combat the commercialization and consumerism that have attempted to overtake the true meaning of Christmas.
This year the Diocese of Charlotte is highlighting 21 opportunities to give through the website www.igivecatholic.org, including:
Canongate Catholic High School
Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte
Charlotte Catholic high School
Christ the King Catholic School
Diocese of Charlotte Campus Ministry
Holy Angels
Holy Trinity Catholic School
Our Lady of Grace Catholic School and Parish
Our Lady of Mercy Catholic School
Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic School
Sacred Heart Catholic School
St. Ann catholic School
St. Joseph College Seminary
St. Leo Catholic School
St. Mark Catholic School
St. Matthew Catholic School
St. Michael Catholic School
St. Patrick Catholic School
St. Pius x Catholic School
Veterum Sapientia
Young Catholic Professionals
There are several other local Catholic-related charitable efforts you can consider giving to this season, too.
This year St. Joseph College Seminary is hoping to raise $35,000 toward a bronze statue of St. Joseph and the Child Jesus that will go atop a pillar above the main doors of the seminary. To learn about the college seminary, visit www.stjcs.org.
Also consider Holy Angels in Belmont, whose mission is to provide compassionate, dependable care and opportunities to people with intellectual developmental disabilities and delicate medical conditions. Find out more at www.holyangelsnc.org/donate.
Another option is the Airport Chaplaincy at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. While the chaplaincy is non-denominational in its mission to serve airport travelers and employees, deacons of the diocese are closely involved in its work. Chaplains provide support and assistance to thousands of people who travel and work at the airport, one of the nation’s busiest. Consider donating to this ministry at www.cltairportchapel.org.
— Kimberly Bender
Other options to ‘give Catholic’ on Giving Tuesday include:
Catholic Campus Ministry
Catholic Schools
Catholic Conference Center improvements
Charlotte Catholic High School’s capital campaign
Christ the King High School’s capital campaign
2024 Diocesan Support Appeal (DSA)
Eucharistic Congress
Priests’ Retirement and Benefits Collection
Seminarian Education
Donate a one-time gift or set up a recurring gift to your parish
At www.charlottediocese.org/giving: Find these and other links to donate
Let us ‘see each other anew’
CHARLOTTE — Bishop Michael Martin offered the following comments Wednesday following Tuesday’s elections:
It has been said: “When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
The conclusion of this election cycle last night gives us the opportunity to place the hammers aside for a moment and to see each other anew, to see each other as something more.
More than losers or winners, Democrats or Republicans or Independents, conservatives or liberals or moderates. When these are the only ways to see the people with whom we share this planet, we may miss the opportunity to more fully appreciate the person behind the nail.
That person has many of the same concerns and joys as we do, even if we disagree on some of the most fundamental issues of our lives. The failure to value all people as children of the same God is an afront to the dignity of the human person that Jesus came to show us.
That is our challenge this morning. Are we willing to see each other anew, beyond what the hammer may suggest?
Our political system certainly has its flaws, and yet it continues to be a place to serve the common good. Let that be the plow that we all place our hand to this morning.
May we see in one another not simply a political opponent, but rather a person with whom I am called to live in communion, seeking first to understand them than to be understood by them. May the olive branch be the only wood we hold onto today, bearing the refreshing news that the destruction of the storm of an election is over, and that there is common ground upon which all of us can walk this earth in peace. May God continue to send us the Holy Spirit to unite us as one in Him!
+ Most Rev. Bishop Michael T. Martin, OFM Conv.