Response to four unrelated COVID-19 cases contracted off campus
CHARLOTTE —Charlotte Catholic High School has shifted to at-home learning for the rest of this week, after consulting with local health officials in the wake of four unrelated cases of COVID-19 that were contracted off campus.
In a letter to parents Tuesday, Principal Kurt Telford said, “While we are confident in the safety measures we have in place at Charlotte Catholic, we have decided to take these extra precautions because nothing is more important than the health and wellbeing of our students, staff and families.”
Students were dismissed early Tuesday afternoon after picking up materials and instructions from their teachers to transition to prearranged remote learning plans.
CCHS received reports starting Sept. 7 that four members of the school community tested positive after separate incidents of off-campus exposure to COVID-19. In each case, Telford said, school leaders worked with the Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools’ nursing director to identify students and staff who could have come into contact with the infected individuals, and they were directed to self-isolate to prevent any potential spread at school. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control defines exposure as being within close contact (less than 6 feet) of someone with COVID-19 for 15 minutes or more.
The four positive cases represent 0.3% of the high school’s population of approximately 1,200 students. Both the health department and the school said the four cases did not meet the definition of a “cluster” – which state health officials define as at least five cases within two weeks that are linked and traced to the same location.
Telford said school officials chose to move to remote learning for the rest of this week in collaboration with the Mecklenburg County Health Department “to provide an added layer of protection so that any possible additional contacts can be identified.”
CCHS will use the time this week for further contact tracing and to monitor for any possible new cases. The school building will also receive an additional deep cleaning according to recommended protocols, Telford said.
Afterschool activities have also been canceled for the rest of the week, the school announced.
CHHS is prepared to return to limited in-person instruction as early as Monday, using a hybrid A/B schedule, with the goal of a full return to campus as soon as appropriate, Telford told the Catholic News Herald. Friday, Sept. 25, has already been set aside as a teacher work day, so there will be no classes that day.
CCHS opened for in-person instruction Aug. 31 with extensive safety protocols that include daily health screenings, frequent cleaning and handwashing, face coverings, safe distancing, protective barriers and other measures to keep students and staff healthy and safe. The measures are based on guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
“We believe, and research shows, in-person learning is best for students’ academic, social, emotional and spiritual growth,” he said. “We will continue to work closely with health officials to ensure our risk mitigation strategies are reasonable and practical while prioritizing safety as well as in-person instruction in accordance with our school’s religious and academic mission.”
In his letter to parents, Telford said, “We will keep you informed if our plans need to change based on new information or further recommendations from public health officials. As always, we appreciate your trust in our proven risk mitigation strategies, and value your collaboration in ensuring that our students are mitigating risk where possible outside of school.”
— Catholic News Herald
CHARLOTTE — Carmen Rossitch and her husband Gene lived the American dream after fleeing Cuba in 1962. They worked hard in their careers while raising a family, and they dedicated their time, talent and treasure to the building up the Church in western North Carolina.
The Rossitches and their three children were forced to leave Cuba when Fidel Castro rose to power. They found a new home in Miami, where Gene worked two jobs seven days a week.
Then Carmen, who has a doctorate in math and physics, heard from a friend about a teaching position available at Winston-Salem State University.
Believing that North Carolina offered them both better job opportunities and a good place to raise their family, Carmen accepted the job and the family headed northward to Winston-Salem, where they happily put down roots.
The Rossitches’ family grew to include two more sons. Carmen taught math at Winston-Salem State for 37 years, and Gene, who had worked as a certified public accountant in Cuba, spent 30 years with Wachovia Bank (now Wells Fargo) managing international operations and foreign exchange groups. Gene passed away in 2011.
For decades, the family was active at Our Lady of Mercy Church and the five Rossitch children attended Our Lady of Mercy School and Bishop McGuinness High School.
Carmen Rossitch now lives at Maryfield at Pennybyrn in High Point but speaks fondly of her time in Winston-Salem at Our Lady of Mercy Parish and why she and Gene wanted to give back to the Church through the establishment of three endowments: the Eugene and Carmen Rossitch Endowment Fund for Seminarian Education; the Rossitch Family Endowment Fund; and the Reverend Enrique Mendez Fund.
She explains that it was very important for them to give back and support Our Lady of Mercy Parish. “My kids all went to school there. We were involved in everything when we were young. It’s a great church. We love the people there.”
The Eugene and Carmen Rossitch Endowment Fund for Seminarian Education was established in 2006 and ensures the continued support of seminarians’ education in the diocese. The diocese now has 41 young men in various stages of formation, a successful indication of the diocese’s growth and emphasis on religious vocations.
“I think we always tried to do things for the Catholic Church, and seminarian education is one of our projects. I think we should all try to do this,” she says.
“More people like the Rossitches are establishing endowments during their lifetime and then adding to them later in their wills and estate giving plans,” noted Jim Kelley, diocesan development director. “And like the Rossitches, people with multiple interests are setting up endowments to further those particular interests in building up the Church.”
Create an endowment
Interested in setting up an endowment? Establish an endowment in the Diocese of Charlotte Foundation by leaving a bequest in a will, a beneficiary designation from a retirement plan, a gift of real estate, a gift of life insurance, cash or securities sufficient to set up an endowment, or a life income arrangement such as a trust or annuity. For details, contact Gina Rhodes at 704-370-3364 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
St. Matthew parishioners launch 18th annual Monsignor McSweeney World Hunger Drive
CHARLOTTE — St. Matthew Church is holding its 18th Annual Monsignor McSweeney World Hunger Drive starting this week and continuing until Oct. 4 – but this year’s effort will operate a bit differently.
Instead of truckloads of food donations and its traditional meal packing event, where parishioners pack upwards of 300,000 meals, this year’s Monsignor McSweeney World Hunger Drive will be a virtual one. Contributors are asked to donate online towards the parish’s $220,000 goal, which will enable the parish to buy and ship more than 240,000 pounds of food and other needed goods, as well as provide funds for education and sustainable projects.
The parish-wide effort supports the Missionaries of the Poor, a religious order that serves the very poorest in Haiti and Jamaica. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with 80 percent of the population living on less than $3 per day. The Missionaries of the Poor provide care and support for children at St. Marc’s School in Tremesse, Haiti, and at an orphanage in Venezuela.
Over the years, the campaign has provided more than 3.2 million pounds of food and supplies to those in need, as well as providing funds for education, agriculture and irrigation supplies, and stocking of tilapia and chicken farms in Haiti and Jamaica. For example, a gift of $130 through the Monsignor McSweeney World Hunger Drive feeds one child in Haiti for an entire year.
The annual campaign also enables St. Matthew Church to support local food banks such as Second Harvest and Mel’s Diner.
The south Charlotte parish has also come together to support local needs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past five months, the parish has donated a total of $250,000 to five local charitable organizations that serve the hungry and the homeless in the greater Charlotte area.
In addition to the impressive amount of food and supplies provided to the underserved, the Monsignor McSweeney World Hunger Drive has established a worldwide family with those they serve, and St. Matthew parishioners have given 41,000 volunteer hours since the start of the program.
For more information, to donate and to view an inspiring video of this campaign and its impacts, go online to the Monsignor McSweeney World Hunger Drive page of St. Matthew Church’s website at stmatthewcatholic.org/world-hunger-drive.
— Catholic News Herald
Second collection to fund priests’ retirement and benefits plans
CHARLOTTE — The weekend of Sept. 19-20, the faithful of the Diocese of Charlotte will have the opportunity to show support for retired priests who have given a lifetime of service.
The Priests’ Retirement and Benefits second collection helps to support the diocese’s retired priests and fund others’ future retirement. Currently serving the Church in western North Carolina are 84 diocesan priests and 23 religious order priests, and an additional 29 priests are retired.
“Each year, we have the opportunity to respond generously and with grateful hearts to the priests who serve us faithfully in the 92 parishes and missions throughout our diocese,” said Bishop Peter Jugis in his annual letter announcing the collection. “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, to teach the Catholic faith, to lead God’s people in love, and to celebrate the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist.”
Most retired priests actually continue serving in ministry – visiting the sick in nursing homes and hospitals, counseling inmates in prisons, filling in for priests at parishes when needed, and much more.
“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 confessions and Sunday Masses in parishes throughout the diocese,” Bishop Jugis said.
The goal to fund the priests’ retirement and benefits program for 2020 is $1.3 million. The goal is comprised of: 69 percent for pension contributions to diocesan priests’ retirement plans and retirement benefits expenses for retired diocesan priests’ health plans; 22 percent for pension contributions for religious order priests’ retirement plans; 6 percent for administrative fees; and 3 percent for fundraising costs.
The amount assessed each parish is 2.3 percent of its annual offertory income. In most parishes, the assessment amounts to 20 percent more than the weekly Sunday offertory.
Many people contribute to this second collection during the offertory at Mass, but reduced Mass schedules and seating capacities in churches because of the COVID-19 pandemic could mean fewer donations to this critical fund.
Instead, people are being encouraged to give online, mail in their donations, or drop them off at their parish offices.
“Your parish provides an envelope for this collection in the parish offertory packet it mails to you,” Bishop Jugis noted in his letter. “If you are unable to attend Mass the weekend of Sept. 20, please consider making a gift by mailing in your contribution or making a gift online.”
People can go to their parish’s website if it offers online giving, or give online www.charlottediocese.org/donate (click on “Priests’ Retirement”). Gifts made through the diocesan website will be credited to the donor’s parish.
— SueAnn Howell, Catholic News Herald