CHARLOTTE — Longtime parishioners of St. Gabriel Church, the late A. Lorraine and C. Richard “Dick” Cox, were fixtures in their parish community who, over the course of almost 40 years in the Diocese of Charlotte, contributed their time, talent and treasure to impact the lives of many people they never met.
Lorraine passed away in 1999, and Dick recently passed away March 15 at the age of 94. A retired CPA from Belk Stores, Cox and his wife volunteered in the parish office over the years, attended daily Mass and spent countless hours in the perpetual Adoration chapel at St. Gabriel Parish.
In his lifetime, Cox established three endowments with the Diocese of Charlotte Foundation: The A. Lorraine Cox and C. Richard Cox Priest Retirement Endowment Fund; The A. Lorraine Cox and C. Richard Cox Seminarian Education Endowment Fund; and The Bishop Curlin Endowment Fund for the Poor. The first two endowments were set up in 1998, the year before his wife Lorraine died. The third endowment was established in 2006 to honor Bishop William Curlin, who was a close friend.
“He was not a wealthy man but was very committed to stewardship of his time and financial resources,” said Jim Kelley, diocesan director of development. “Many of us give 10 percent of our income to church and charity. Dick gave 50 percent of his income to church and charity after his wife died.”
Kelley noted that Cox was also committed to stewardship in his gift of time to his parish and his faith.
“He really was committed to giving 10 percent of his time. So he spent two hours and 24 minutes every day doing the following things: going to daily Mass, spending time in Adoration, praying and reading spiritual books,” he said.
“During his lifetime, he gave almost $600,000 to the Diocesan Support Appeal, Catholic Charities, Seminarian Education and the three endowments,” Kelley noted. “He also gave generously to his parish, St. Gabriel, and to other Catholic nonprofits.”
Cox’s son, Rich, recalled how his father had pictures drawn by the school children of St. Gabriel School hung up all throughout his apartment in the senior living center. His dad donated flowers on the first day of school and at Christmas and the students and staff expressed their thanks by offering prayers for him.
“He really got a lot out of the spiritual bouquets (from the students). It meant a lot to him,” Rich Cox said.
He also recounted a visit to the Diocesan Pastoral Center that really affected his father.
“The Catholic Charities visit really had an effect on him. He went to see what Catholic Charities was doing. He said he had to leave the building because he was crying, he was so moved,” he said.
The Cox family’s stewardship has been a model for others, Kelley also noted. “More and more people across the diocese are following Dick’s example by giving generously during their lifetime and by setting up endowments.”
Father Frank O’Rourke, retired pastor of St. Gabriel Parish, met the Cox family in the early 1980s.
“I knew Dick primarily for his devotion to the Eucharist,” Father O’Rourke said. “He attended daily Mass and was dedicated to Eucharistic Adoration. As time went on, when he was 90, he would come three or four times a day (to spend time in Adoration).”
“I knew him to be very supportive of priests,” he said. “I was happy to have been with him in the last couple of months of his life and had the privilege to celebrate the Eucharist at his deathbed.”
Monsignor Anthony Marcaccio, pastor of St. Pius X Church in Greensboro, will be the main celebrant at Cox’s funeral Mass in Charlotte when public Masses are allowed again.
Monsignor Marcaccio noted that Cox had a deep love not only of Jesus and His Presence in the Eucharist, but of His priests.
"Dick knew Jesus Christ through a deep and abiding friendship of faith,” he recalled. “To keep their many children apprised of their comings and goings, Dick and his wife Loraine wrote a newsletter called ‘Jesus and Me’ which Dick continued after her death. In that letter Dick could and should have written ‘We’ instead of me, because he brought the presence of Christ with him into every relationship he entered – as a loving spouse, devoted parent, Christian in the marketplace, professional mentor, teacher, parishioner and friend. Dick was someone I relied on for his wise counsel and for his balanced perspective from the time of my first assignment as a priest. Dick loved the priesthood and through the endowments which he established he sought to secure the formation of our priests and to aid them in their retirement. All this he did in gratitude to us for bringing him the gift of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Whenever there was something occurring in my ministry that I thought could use the benefit of some extra prayer, I knew that I could just call him and he would make a Holy Hour daily for that intention. I think that as a former pilot Dick understood that even a priest needs a spiritual wingman. I will miss his joy, his picking at me, and his inspiring example of humble service. All of us who had the privilege of being Dick’s priest or pastor are better because of it. I feel as if I have lost a favorite uncle who was always in my corner. My consolation is our hope that he will now be helping our priests from heaven.”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
CHARLOTTE — Two civil lawsuits have been filed against the Diocese of Charlotte involving past allegations of child sexual abuse by two priests dating from the 1970s and 1980s.
The allegations involve claims of abuse formerly made against the late Father Joseph Kelleher and Father Richard Farwell, in litigation that was dismissed by North Carolina courts in 2012 and 2014.
The two lawsuits were filed in Mecklenburg County Superior Court April 13, citing a new North Carolina law that permits certain claims for childhood sexual abuse to be asserted even if they were previously barred by the statute of limitations.
Kelleher was removed from ministry in 2010 and died in 2014. Farwell was sentenced to probation in 2004 and remains permanently out of ministry. Both were named on the diocese’s Accountability webpage in December 2019.
The diocese issued the following statement in response to the lawsuits being filed:
“The Diocese of Charlotte is aware of two lawsuits, pertaining to allegations that date back to the 1970s and 1980s, filed Monday by individuals whose claims against the diocese were previously dismissed by the North Carolina courts. We disagree that the diocese is liable to the plaintiffs and will respond to the litigation in court at the appropriate time. The diocese takes allegations of child sexual abuse very seriously and remains committed to providing a safe environment for all people, especially the young and vulnerable.”
— Catholic News Herald
Purple Hat Ministry of St. Pius X in Greensboro turns needles and threads into helping support groups during pandemic
GREENSBORO — Members of a knitting ministry at St. Pius X Church and others are using their creative talents to sew fabric face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The parish’s Purple Hat Ministry typically knits purple hats for newborns and donates them to a local hospital for new parents to receive along with information about preventing Shaken BabySyndrome. Hospital visits and parenting classes have been curtailed as the community fights the coronavirus pandemic, however, ministry members have exchanged their knitting needles for sewing needles to help others in need right now.
“When all this started, I didn’t know what I could do to help,” says Mary Ellen Liebal, a middle school math teacher at St. Pius X and Purple Hat Ministry member. “In addition to staying at home, this is something I can do.”
The ministry has already sewn almost 100 fabric face masks and donated them to community groups including Room At The Inn, a pro-life maternity home in Greensboro.
“The biggest thing anyone can do right now to help the most people is to just stay at home,” says Marianne Donadio, vice president of marketing at Room At The Inn. “This often feels like we are doing nothing and we want to do more.
“The ladies from St. Pius found a way to use their talents at home to make masks to help keep our moms and children safe," Donadio says. "It's these little acts of love that help our clients feel cared about, and that makes all the difference in the world. We are very grateful.”
Hospice of Rockingham County in Reidsville also received masks for people to use when visiting their sick and dying family members.
The Purple Hat Ministry has also donated masks to:
• Alberta Professional Services, which provides mental health services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities through group homes and community-based services, and Professional Rehabilitation Consultants, a similar St. Pius X community partner that serves disabled adults in group homes.
• Triad Goodwill for its readiness effort, “Masks for Heroes.” Goodwill has already had requests for masks from High Point Medical Center, LifeSource Inc., Guilford County Schools for bus drivers delivering food and Novant Health, Inc.
“We are truly grateful to be affiliated with St. Puis X Catholic Church that values the lives of people that generally are marginalized due to society’s perception of value,” said Mashunda Famble, owner of Professional Rehabilitation Consultants. “This church breathes life into the concept of accessibility to all and truly acting in servitude which is what God requires. To some it may be just a protective mask but to us it is a lifeline.”
“In times like this, Jesus always calls us to help the sick,” says Krisan Walker, St. Pius X parishioner and chair of the St. Pius X Community Life Committee. “In times like this, when we feel hopeless, it is extremely empowering to be able to help others, which can improve our own spiritual and mental health and outlook. It is really one big circle.”
Public health officials advise people to wear a cloth mask when they must go out in public, but they also caution that face masks are not a substitute for washing your hands and social distancing in order to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. People are advised to reserve available surgical masks and N95 respirators for health care workers and others on the front lines of combatting the pandemic.
It’s not just the core members of the group from the parish – a pre-med North Carolina State student contacted the parish and expressed interest in making masks with the group.
Jenny Iruela, who is at home and completing the semester through online classes, has discovered her parents’ old sewing machine and is also pitching in.
"I have been thinking of ways I could contribute to COVID-19 prevention and community relief. I thought this would be a perfect way to contribute to my community by sewing these cloth masks and distributing them to people who are in dire need of protection," Iruela says.
St. Pius X’s pastor, Monsignor Anthony Marcaccio, says the ministry’s work is a reflection of the Church’s pro-life work.
“Mother Teresa used to advocate that little things done with great love can make the difference, in this case it’s little things done for life out of love that’s making a difference. Truly all of our preventive health measures and even our social distancing can be seen as a manifestation of our commitment to protect and defend the gift of life.”
— Georgianna Penn, correspondent.
Pictured above at her sewing machine is Nivida Murphy, a St. Pius X parishioner and retired nurse.
How you can get involved
There are many resources online for making cloth masks and donating them to groups in need. One pattern is online here:
https://www.deaconess.com/How-to-make-a-Face-Mask
CDC guidance on how to wear cloth face masks:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.htm
CHARLOTTE — The St. John Paul II Foundation, in collaboration with the Diocese of Charlotte and Belmont Abbey College, will present its “Converging Roads” health care ethics conference virtually this year.
Converging Roads is a regional conference series offering continuing education for health care professionals that equips them to practice the highest ethical and medical standards of their profession. Originally scheduled as an in-person conference, the third year of this conference is being held online.
The conference will take place online Saturday, May 9, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at a discounted rate. By joining the livestreamed conference, healthcare professionals can receive up to seven hours of continuing education credits.
For those unable to be present for the livestreamed conference, the presentations will be available for 72 hours afterwards.
“This conference is incredibly important for Catholics working in healthcare to attend so they can continuously be educated on where their faith and practice intersect,” said Jessica Grabowski, the Charlotte diocese's Respect Life program director. “The topics of the conference cover a wide variety of issues through both the lens of the Church and that of the medical practice.”
This year’s conference will focus on Catholic social teaching in medicine. Speakers will address topics such as “Care for the Sick and Dying: Rooted in Catholic Social Doctrine”; “The Secularist Attack on Religious Liberty of Medical Practitioners in the Literature and Law”; “Religious Freedom and Vaccines Compulsion: A View Through Catholic Social Teaching”; “A Catholic Response to the Opioid Crisis”; “Ethical Standards in the Pharmaceutical Industry”; “Hidden in Plain Sight: Human Trafficking in Our Midst”; and “Access to Healthcare for the Poor and Undocumented.”
For details and registration information, go to www.convergingroads.com.
— Kimberly Bender, online reporter
