Faithful across the Diocese of Charlotte gathered Sunday, Oct. 6, to kick off Respect Life Month and form “Life Chains” as a public witness for the dignity of all human life, from conception to natural death.
Catholic Health Professionals of Charlotte group forms
Catholic Health Professionals of Charlotte is a new organization to support Catholic health professionals and to uphold the Catholic faith in the field of science and medicine. It’s open to Catholic physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, PAs, dentists, medical students and other health professionals in Charlotte and throughout western North Carolina.
The mission is to provide Catholic health professionals with an opportunity to network both socially and professionally, as well as to grow in their Catholic faith. The patron is St. Gianna Molla, wife, mother and doctor.
The group plans various activities throughout the year including: seminars/educational events on Catholic faith or medicine; spiritual events including Masses, reflections and retreats; and social and professional networking opportunities.
The Catholic Health Professionals of Charlotte event will be held Friday, Oct. 4, at St. Vincent de Paul Church with an evening of prayer, fellowship and a presentation by Dr. Paul Scherz of The Catholic University of America on “Bioethics: Emerging Technologies and the Catholic Faith.”
The Oct. 4 event begins at 6 p.m. with Eucharistic Adoration in the chapel, followed by a happy hour at 6:30 p.m. in the parish hall. Dinner presentation begins at 7:15 p.m. and is $25 per person and $15 per student. The event is open to all Catholic healthcare workers and their spouses.
Register at catholichealth.eventbrite.com. For details, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
CHARLOTTE — Catholic health care workers from around the Diocese of Charlotte gathered after work Aug. 16 at Dilworth Neighborhood Grille to meet and learn more about the newly formed Catholic Health Professionals of Charlotte.
Over 50 health care professionals including several physicians attended the organization’s inaugural event. Among the attendees were the founding doctors of the group: Dr. Matt Harrison, Dr. Meghan Lemke of St. Mark Parish, and Dr. Julia Saluke of St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Gastonia.
“It was heartwarming to see so many Catholic health professionals from varied specialties and geographic locations come together. We were blessed with an excellent turnout which affirms the desire within our healthcare community to connect and support one another through our shared spiritual beliefs,” Lemke said.
Harrison agreed. “It was a great opportunity to reconnect with old colleagues and to meet new ones who are not only dedicated to the delivery of quality and compassionate health care, but also in deepening their Catholic Faith. We look forward to the growth of this vibrant group of professionals and hope others will join throughout the diocese.”
Also present at the event was the group’s new chaplain, Father Cory Catron, parochial vicar of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Charlotte, who recently obtained a degree in bioethics from the University of Mary.
Father Catron remarked at the importance of the event, “I was excited and encouraged by the great turnout for the event. It was amazing to see not only a full house, but one full of such a diversity of health care practices and specializations. What we see here is the beginnings of a great force for good for serving the needs of Catholic professionals in the healthcare field in the region, and in turn support for them to provide greater service through their vocation to care for others.”
Before the evening concluded, the group paid a special tribute to their new patron, St. Gianna Molla, a wife, mother and doctor who died in 1962 from complications after the removal a tumor that endangered her unborn baby’s life. She died a few days after giving birth and was canonized by St. John Paul II in 2004.
Catholic Health Professionals of Charlotte is designed to support Catholic health care workers both professionals and spiritually and to promote the Catholic faith in the fields of medicine and science. It is open to all Catholic physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, dentists, medical students, and other health care workers in the diocese.
The group will host its next event, a dinner presentation, on Oct. 4 at St. Vincent de Paul Church. To learn more, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
— Jessica R. Grabowski, Special to the Catholic News Herald. Jessica R. Grabowski is the Respect Life Program Director for the Diocese of Charlotte.
CHARLOTTE — As Planned Parenthood prepares to open Charlotte’s newest abortion facility this summer, prolife groups are responding by organizing prayer rallies and sidewalk vigils in front of the facility, and by generating awareness of abortion among local Catholics.
Among these groups, one has a unique focus in mobilizing Catholics from an often overlooked demographic: Catholic teenagers. This group is called E.P.I.C. and stands for “Each Person Is Cherished.”
Founded in 2014 by St. Patrick Cathedral parishioner and pro-life teen activist Molly Rusciolelli – now professed with the Franciscan Daughters of Mary in Kentucky – the group is open to Catholic teens from ages 13 to 19 and its members participate in a variety of prolife activities.
E.P.I.C. coordinates a monthly prayer vigil at the Latrobe abortion facility, organizes pro-life conferences, and hosts social and educational events. This past spring it organized a pro-life movie night during which teens viewed and discussed “Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer,” a documentary about convicted abortionist Kermit Gosnell. They also hosted a speaker from the national group Students for Life to empower the teens to engage in pro-life conversations with their peers.
Prayer and fasting is also a key component to E.P.I.C.’s activities as it also runs a prayer and sacrifice sign-up page where members are asked to offer prayers and small penances each month. Recognizing that many teenagers are dependent on their parents for transportation, this offers an option to help end abortion without leaving home. The group also has an e-mail list to keep members updated on upcoming activities.
With Charlotte’s fourth abortion facility set to open, E.P.I.C. is renewing its efforts to engage Catholic teens and invite them to participate in pro-life advocacy.
Mary Ohlhaut, a 17-year-old St. Ann parishioner and cousin to Rusciolelli, now leads the group, supported and mentored by her parents Dan and Beth Ohlhaut.
“Abortion is a defining moral issue among my generation, and teens have shown their enormous interest in ending abortion by participating at the March for Life in D.C. each January,” said Ohlhaut. “We want to let them know there is an outlet at home where they can continue that momentum and enthusiasm for prolife work for the rest of the year – that place is E.P.I.C.”
To engage more Catholic teens in the pro-life cause, E.P.I.C. is seeking to form a leadership team of teens and parents to expand its reach and activities. The team would focus on social media, e-mail communications, publicity, event organizing, hosting an annual conference, coordinating prayer efforts and fundraising.
The goal is to have one to two teens per task along with a parent or other adult to support them. No prior experience is required and the roles would only take a few hours a month. With a team in place, Ohlhaut believes E.P.I.C. can hold more pro-life events and activities – thereby enabling teens to help end abortion in Charlotte.
“My generation of pro-life teens, which has grown up in the climate ofeasy access to abortion, wants to make it illegal and unthinkable. We want to help mothers and their babies. “We want to make reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the outrages committed against Our Lord and Our Lady in the abortion facilities in our city. And we want to inspire one another to not grow tired of fighting this spiritual battle,” Ohlhaut said.
“E.P.I.C. is the place where we can do this, while growing in leadership and team-working skills that will prepare us for a lifetime of involvement on this issue of great national and moral importance.”
— Mike FitzGerald, Coorespondent
Get involved
To kick off the new school year, E.P.I.C. is holding a back-to-school event at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, at St. Ann Church in Charlotte. The recently released movie “Unplanned” will be shown and discussed.
RSVPs are strongly encouraged.
To join E.P.I.C. or to learn more about the group, contact Mary Ohlhaut at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Asheville Catholic School exceeds $620,000 with largest amount distributed
CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte Foundation recently reached a milestone: giving out more than $10 million from its endowments.
The foundation provides a means for people and organizations to provide long-term financial stability for the diocese and more than 181 recipient parishes, schools and ministries. It now tops $55 million in assets with 268 endowments.
An endowment is a permanent fund in which the principal is never touched, but the income from it can be used according to the wishes of the donor organization or individual. Endowments provide a way to generate income and help sustain the long-term strength and viability of the diocese and its parishes, schools and ministries.
The $10 million was distributed from 146 of these endowments. For the other 122 endowments, distributions will be made when the recipients have a particular need.
The Asheville Catholic School Endowment Fund, established in 1997 with an initial gift of $395,000, has given out $620,000 over the past 22 years – the largest amount distributed to a single recipient. The endowment has grown to $605,000 and will continue to provide distributions every quarter, depending on how financial markets grow or decline.
“We have been blessed to receive so much support from this endowment,” said Principal Mike Miller.
“The donors who have been so generous in helping to create and grow our endowment have helped hundreds of students over the last decade at Asheville Catholic School. The disbursements have gone to subsidize tuition assistance, fund professional development for our teachers, and provide a high quality education for all of our students,” he said.
“The Asheville Catholic School staff have been good stewards of these funds in making sure they were utilized for the greatest benefit to our students. This is the best way we can show our appreciation to those who generously gave to Asheville Catholic through this endowment,” he said.
The school has five other named endowments that have been established over the years.
Jim Kelley, diocesan development director, said that to date, more than 1,100 people in the Diocese of Charlotte have notified his office that they are making an estate gift to a diocesan entity in their will or estate plan.
Since the foundation was established in 1994, Kelley has seen endowment gifts range from the thousands to the millions of dollars, and donors will continue supporting the Church through endowments as a way to keep giving long into the future.
Kelley said he is gratified to see these endowments being put to good use for the benefit of parishes, schools and ministries throughout the diocese.
“These distributions provide funds that change people’s lives. This is all done because individuals or entities established endowments because they love the Church and they want to provide for its future here in western North Carolina. It’s a wonderful gift, people making these endowments,” he said.
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
Learn more
Interested in setting up an endowment? Individuals can establish an endowment in the diocesan foundation by leaving a bequest in their 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 about setting up an endowment to benefit the Church in western North Carolina, contact Gina Rhodes at 704-370-3364 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..