CatholicAnchor.org Most Alaskans have entertained a visitor for a few days, venturing out to hike, fish, camp, canoe and visit places we’ve long neglected. The outsider’s enthusiasm spurs us to take a second look at this great land we call home. In some ways Alaska is a bit like Catholicism — vast, filled with the…
In a few months I will return to Alaska. It is the bookend of another trip I took five and a half years ago when entering St. Paul Seminary in Minnesota to begin my formation as a Catholic priest for the Archdiocese of Anchorage. As this journey comes to an end it is natural to look back on this blessed time.
In the fall of 1965, Father Renner began a 15-year career teaching at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. He taught mostly German, but also he started the university’s Latin program. Over the years, he traveled extensively across Alaska gathering material for a series of books, including “Alaskana Catholica,” an encyclopedic look at the history of Catholicism in the state.
“A very diverse yet tightly-knit spiritual family has grown up around the monastery,” explained Therese Syren, a parishioner of Holy Family Cathedral, whose family was instrumental in building the monastery 30 years ago. “Any given day one can find a half-dozen nationalities represented in the congregation at Holy Mass there,” she said. The deaths of the monastery’s two eldest nuns are great losses, but their congregation’s mission is unchanged, explained Father Lilly. “Their work will definitely continue,” he said.
Why does a 15-year old Lutheran girl decide to become Catholic? When Anchorage teen Jamie Nagel began to think about joining the Catholic Church, she and her mom talked. Her mom wanted her to at least be confirmed in their family’s faith, and asked her to go through Lutheran confirmation classes, which were held in junior high. “I went to all the classes. Then I sat down and talked to her,” Nagel said.
Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz announced new parish assignments for several priests of the Anchorage Archdiocese. The new assignments affect St. Andrew Church in Eagle River and Sacred Heart Church in Wasilla.
Anchorage Archbishop Emeritus Francis Hurley celebrated his 45th anniversary as a bishop on March 19. This came just on the heels of his 88th birthday, Jan. 12. With nearly nine decades behind him, he still begins each day presiding over Mass in his Anchorage home. Those taking part are friends, visitors and his own care-givers in their uniforms, huddled close in the humble, yet richly symbolic chapel.
Anchorage Archbishop Emeritus Francis Hurley celebrated his 45th anniversary as a bishop on March 19 with a special luncheon at the Hotel Captain Cook in downtown Anchorage. Attending the gathering were Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz, Archbishop Hurley’s long-time secretary Joann White, two of Archbishop Hurley’s nephews and many of the priests of the Anchorage Archdiocese.
The Catholic Anchor welcomes letters to the editor. The following letters appear in our March issue.
CatholicAnchor.org The March and April issues of the Catholic Anchor are historically our most political, as they come out at the time when the Alaska Legislature debates scores of bills that invariably shape Alaska’s cultural landscape. As Christians, we cannot shrink from politics or view it as the purview of elected officials and political insiders….