Alaska’s lawmakers reconvened Jan. 19 in Juneau for the second session of the 2015-2016 legislative season where they face myriad bills of concern to Alaskan Catholics. Below is a summary of pending legislation the Catholic Anchor has identified that would affect the protection of human life, marriage, religious freedom and parents’ rights.
For me, how do I measure this man’s influence in my life? He ordained me. He assigned me to various parishes in the Anchorage Archdiocese. He came to help me in some moments of crisis, which all priests go through. And he eventually blessed “the call within the call” of my priesthood to come here to Far East Siberia and pray in the former Communist prison camps.
No one knew the late Anchorage Archbishop Emeritus Francis Hurley like the person who served as his secretary for 53 years. In White’s words, he was a dynamic priest “who got his work done with a flourish,” but it was also true that he was a visionary not always hung up on details. White kept a sharp eye on those details. In her gentle but firm voice, she dealt with every phone caller and every visitor. Friends describe her as the picture of discretion. “I learned so much from him about seeing good in people — about quiet, charitable giving,” White said. “He did so much of this: helping to pay families for children’s college tuition or mortgages during bad times, gas and electric payments that were overdue, food.”
Archbishop Hurley was personally vested in reaching those experiencing homelessness, single-parent families, families who experience disabilities, young adults and refugees. Many guests at Brother Francis Shelter or other of our services, met and spent time with Archbishop Hurley. They recount his kindness and humor. Archbishop Hurley gave the gift of his time to others and was very present — this was a great gift.
During his two-minute prayer he beseeched God to guide senators amid a world increasingly fraught by acts of terror.
“In these troubling times when misguided people use religion to commit the greatest crimes against humanity, by stabbing and murdering innocent men, women and children, in the Middle East, in Europe in Israel, in the US…may you grant, Almighty God that the members of this honorable body have the wisdom and the courage to embody the universal values of the seven commandments which you Almighty God issued to Noah and his family after the great flood, the foremost of which is not to commit murder.”
When something significant happens — something of historical note — we take notice. The death of Archbishop Francis Hurley, along with the prayers, rituals, funeral and finally his burial at the Cooper Landing cemetery of St. John Neumann Parish, was certainly one of those moments. It is the first time that the Archdiocese of Anchorage witnessed the death and bid farewell to its retired archbishop through the church’s rituals and liturgies.
Late Anchorage Archbishop Emeritus Francis Hurley was renown for his ability to connect with Alaskans of all stripes. From the elevated wielders of political power to the down and out on the streets of Anchorage, Archbishop Hurley walked easily, and generously, into the lives of his fellow Alaskans. The following tributes are just a few of the many memories Alaskans have shared following Archbishop Hurley’s death on Jan. 10.
A few weeks after his installation, the archbishop called and we met at Merrill Field for the first flight. I was pleasantly surprised to find him such a normal, down-to-earth person who had a natural ability for flying. We hit it off immediately. Me being born in Ireland, like the archbishop’s mother, helped.
Archbishop Hurley had a gift for involving others in the things that he was passionate about, to engender in others that same zeal and to see, that in common purpose, each of us have possibilities we never knew we possessed. It is rare to have a friend or a leader who can engender in others such confidence and purpose.
A state commission empowered to enforce ethical standards for Alaska teachers has just mandated that all state-certified educators comply with new policies on gender identification. The change happened during a Jan. 27 meeting in Anchorage.