It’s a hard Gospel truth, this idea of Christ being with the most marginalized. The truly poor in our midst often don’t smell very good, they often make maddeningly poor choices, and they are sometimes caught up in almost irreversible webs of addiction and despair. Sometimes, all we can do is love them, not fix them, and that can be tough.
One letter this month address how abortion support among some Catholics wounds the wider church. Another letter relates the inspiration one deacon received upon reading about how Deacon Curt Luenberger faced an illness that brought him to the brink of death.
Editor’s note: The following is Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz’s Dec. 15 homily given at the ordination of Bishop Chad Zielinski as the head of the Fairbanks Diocese.
Catholics in the Fairbanks Diocese were urged to accept, love and pray for their newly ordained bishop who “has pledged to give his life to you.” This was part of the homily given by Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz before he ordained Bishop Chad Zielinski as the sixth bishop of Fairbanks.
Editor’s note: The following homily by Pope Francis’ highest ranking ambassador to the United States Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano was given in Anchorage on Dec. 12 during the elevation of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church to the status of co-cathedral for the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church was elevated to co-cathedral status Dec. 12 in a Mass featuring many ethnic cultural celebrations and attended by Alaska’s four bishops and Vatican ambassador, Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano. More than 700 people packed the largest Catholic church in Alaska and one of the state’s most ethnically diverse parishes. Several attended in traditional cultural costumes, Peruvian, Filipino, Mexican, Columbian, Samoan and Alaska Native peoples and several took part in the liturgy.
Bishop-elect Chad Zielinski will become the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Fairbanks on Dec. 15. Eight Archbishops and bishops will participate in the ordination Mass scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks. The Mass, celebrated by Anchorage Archbishop Roger L. Schwietz, will both ordain Bishop-elect Zielinski as a bishop and install him as the head of the Fairbanks diocese. More than one thousand people are expected to attend.
The Holy See’s chief ambassador to the United States, Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, visited Anchorage’s Lumen Christi High School and Holy Rosary Academy on Dec. 12, saying that such visits are part of his preferred activities when traveling the country on official duty.
Not all marriages start on equal footing. Many husbands and wives begin their union after having grown up in broken homes or with one or both parents largely absent from their childhood. Failure to grow up in a home where family meals, prayer and recreation are staples of life makes it that much harder to establish these practices in one’s own family. Never seeing your mom and dad work out differences means you have less to draw from when your own conflicts arise. Never experiencing consistent, loving discipline leaves one at a disadvantage when attempting to teach children to lead virtuous and disciplined lives.
Here is a sampling of news and upcoming events from around the Anchorage Archdiocese.