Deacon Enedino Aquino is retiring after 28 years of serving in Hispanic Ministry in the diocese. Sister Joan Pearson recalled trips with the deacon to give Bibles to landscapers and construction workers.CHARLOTTE — Those who have had the opportunity to know Deacon “Nino” Enedino Aquino know of his commitment to the Church and his dedication to serving those most in need in the Hispanic community.

For 28 years, Deacon Aquino has worked in Hispanic Ministry of the Diocese of Charlotte, serving the vicariates of Winston-Salem and Greensboro. Throughout that time, those who have worked with him have come to know firsthand his heart for immigrants and his dedication to the faith.

Sister Joan Pearson, who worked with Deacon Aquino for more than two decades, said he had a gift for reaching out to those most in need.

In the early years, Sister Joan accompanied Deacon Aquino to places where immigrant workers gathered in Forsyth County. There, they shared Bibles and holy water with men who worked in landscaping and construction. For Deacon Aquino, those encounters were opportunities to evangelize.

“He was so good that we really brought the ministry to where the people lived. He explained that God was always walking alongside them,” said Sister Joan. “He showed me what a true missionary disciple looks like.”

But the man who is now recognized for decades of service did not always live this way. Aquino had to go through his own process of transformation.

Born in Tamaulipas, Mexico, on May 21, 1958, he was exposed to the faith from an early age. As a young man, he served as an altar boy and participated in his parish youth group, but over time he drifted from the Church.

After marrying his wife, María Luisa, and starting a family of four children, he immigrated to North Carolina in 1988 with a work visa under the Simpson-Rodino law. He initially worked harvesting tobacco and settled in Siler City, then later in Asheboro.

Immigration and Soccer

After two years, he got a job at a chicken-processing plant, where he was able to better support his family for the next nine years. It was then that he rekindled a passion: soccer.

With a semiprofessional refereeing license obtained in Mexico, he organized games and tournaments for a local league. He had dozens of teams and his own group of referees. His Sundays were completely devoted to soccer.

“My children loved it, because I brought them out and they ate at restaurants and had good food, and it didn’t cost me much as president,” he said.

However, his wife never stopped asking him every Sunday: “And what about the Church?”

That persistence became the beginning of his return to the faith.

“I went to church not because I wanted to, but out of conviction,” Deacon Aquino said. “My wife almost dragged me, because she would say, ‘Hey, what about the Mass?’

“I told her, look, I’m going to do one thing: one Sunday at church and three Sundays playing soccer,” he said. “Then three Sundays went by and I had to leave soccer and dedicate myself to the Church.”

Little by little, he returned to Mass and eventually began serving in his parish as a lector.

“My wife, with that holy elbow, would hit me hard in the ribs,” he explained, referring to how she insisted when volunteers were being sought. “Until one day I raised my hand, and I started reading.”

At St. Joseph in Asheboro, the future deacon took on new responsibilities: baptism preparation, men’s groups and marriage preparation.

Later, Father Finnerty, then director of Hispanic Ministry in the diocese, invited him in September 1998 to become the first coordinator of Hispanic Ministry.

In Winston-Salem, he began organizing training sessions, retreats and other events that significantly expanded the ministry.

“I was the first one he invited to work,” Deacon Aquino said. “He took it upon himself to train me, and I grew along with him.”

A call to be a deacon

At Father Finnerty’s invitation, he began discerning a call to be a deacon. He explains that the call was strong, but that it came with great challenges.

“He gave me a brochure in English, and it said that it was necessary for me to speak both languages, but Father Vicente told me, ‘Apply,’” he explained.

Because his English was very limited, Deacon Aquino faced many difficulties, and his initial application was rejected. But thanks to his daughter’s encouragement, he did not give up.

With the help of his family, and after many long hours of studying, he was ordained on Jan. 29, 2011, after four years of studying in English, a language he did not master.

“God whispers to the heart of man, and when you lend your ears to God, God tells you where He wants you,” Deacon Aquino said. “The Lord always knew where He wanted me.”

— Brian Segovia

Father Jason K. Barone was appointed pastor of the newly elevated Our Lady of the Mountains Parish in Highlands, effective Sept. 8. He had served the Catholic community there as parochial administrator since 2019.

Father Augustine O. Ogar, M.S.P., currently serving as parochial administrator of St. William Parish in Murphy and Immaculate Heart of Mary Mission in Hayesville, has been appointed pastor of the parish and mission effective Oct. 1.

Partnering with rural parishes enables Catholic Charities to reach people who may have difficulty traveling to Asheville for assistance, said Jesse Boeckermann, Catholic Charities’ Western Region official.MARS HILL — Nearly two years after Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, a small Catholic parish in Madison County is building on the relationships forged during the disaster to help local children facing food insecurity.

St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, the only Catholic church in Madison County, became an emergency relief center after Helene – distributing food, water, clothing, batteries, cleaning products and other necessities to residents regardless of faith.

The parish’s mission, Sacred Heart in Burnsville, provided similar assistance in neighboring Yancey County. Both churches are led by Father Anthony Mbanefo, MSP.

The relief effort introduced many people in the wider community to St. Andrew and led to a new partnership with Mars Hill Elementary School, said Kelly Hansen, parish secretary/assistant.

After emergency operations wound down, school officials asked whether the parish could continue helping local families. Parishioners responded by providing weekend food bags each Friday for more than 60 children identified as being at risk for food insecurity.

This school year, Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte’s Western Regional Office has joined the effort – providing reusable bags, supplemental food donations and funding for food.

A core group of about 10 parishioners, led by Vicki Fedor, gathers weekly to pack the bags. A great-grandmother and former school employee, Fedor is passionate about ensuring children have the nutrition they need to succeed in school.

The parish and Catholic Charities also partnered Aug. 12 for a back-to-school giveaway for Madison County students. A grant secured by Catholic Charities from The David and Susan Schoenholz Foundation provided new backpacks and school supplies for elementary, middle and high school students.

Hansen said the outreach grew directly from the parish’s response to Helene.

“Our two churches rose to the challenge through our relief centers,” she said. “This brought our parishioners closer together as they spent countless hours volunteering to serve those affected by Helene’s devastation.”

Partnering with rural parishes also enables Catholic Charities to reach people who may have difficulty traveling to Asheville for assistance, said Jesse Boeckermann, Catholic Charities’ Western Region director of external engagement.

“The relationship between Catholic Charities and these two rural parishes is a working example of how to support a community,” Boeckermann said.

For St. Andrew parishioners, the ministry also echoes their patron: the Apostle who brought the boy with five barley loaves and two fish to Jesus before the feeding of the 5,000.

Today, their small parish continues that legacy – bringing what it has to Christ and sharing it with neighbors in need.

— Donna Bange

Belmont Abbey College’s Family Day celebration Sept. 18 was particularly joyful this year as the college celebrated 150 years.

U.S. News & World Report also named Belmont Abbey College the 3rd-highest-ranked regional college in North Carolina, underscoring its growing national recognition. The college is the highest-ranked Newman Guide college in the region – an annual ranking of Catholic colleges created by the Cardinal Newman Society.

“These rankings affirm what we hear consistently from our students and families: Belmont Abbey’s greatest strength is the quality of the education and formation students receive here,” said President Dr. Jeffrey W. Talley. “Our faculty are deeply invested in their students, and our community challenges them to pursue excellence while preparing them to lead lives of purpose and service.”

This national recognition comes as Belmont Abbey maintains stable enrollment –its 1,693 students represent its second largest enrollment in a decade – and welcomes its largest class of traditional non-athlete students in eight years. Officials attribute the growth to interest in the college’s academic program offerings as well as its distinctive approach to Catholic higher education.

“This recognition in the U.S. News rankings validates what we see every day: that more students and families are seeking an education dedicated to forming the whole person,” said Jesse Dorman, vice president of enrollment. “The strength of this year’s incoming class reflects the appeal of a Belmont Abbey education – an education that combines academic excellence, a close-knit community, and a strong Catholic identity. We are excited to welcome these students and see how they grow during their time at the Abbey.”

The nursing program welcomed 33 students this year, including 18 direct admits and 3 honors students, bringing total enrollment in the program to 125 students. Belmont Abbey’s unique motorsport program continues to attract students –including 12 female students – with 24 new students exploring the field through an introductory course.

The program is committed to educating and graduating more female students while helping to expand opportunities for women in the motorsport industry. This momentum reflects the appeal of combining a liberal arts education with the specialized knowledge and professional skills needed to pursue careers in dynamic fields such as motorsports and nursing.

The Fall 2026 enrollment comes as Belmont Abbey celebrates its 150th anniversary, making it a milestone year for the college and its community. Founded in 1876, the college has remained committed to an education rooted in the Catholic intellectual tradition and its Benedictine identity.

— Belmont Abbey College

Country music recording artist Bradley Banning experienced commercial success in 2017, then pivoted when he realized that the lyrics of many country songs were glorifying things that went against his Catholic faith. He switched to recording Catholic country music. (MaryAnn Luedtke Photograpahy)

GREENSBORO — You don’t often see someone witness to their Catholic faith while wearing a cowboy hat, but for the past three years that’s been the goal for country music artist Bradley Banning.

Banning has songwriting in his blood. The Texas native has written songs since childhood, inspired by his songwriter father and the countless hours he spent listening to music with him.

He became Catholic in 2015 and started releasing his own music in 2016. His 2017 single “Don’t Mess with Texas” made the top 20 on charts in Texas, an indicator of future success because of the state’s huge role in the national country music scene. Over the next few years, Banning saw a divergence between mainstream country music and the message of faith he wanted to share, so he switched to overtly “Catholic country music” around 2023.

He was in Greensboro for two shows Sept. 18 and 19 – a solo show aimed at families and then a volunteer appreciation event that featured both Banning’s music and country line dance lessons led by Rick and

Trish Edwards, parishioners at Holy Cross Church in Kernersville who run a line-dance instruction company.

Banning took time during his visit to share his thoughts on making Catholic country music:

CNH: Country music is not a genre that’s known for having a lot of Catholic artists. What has the experience been like?

Banning: There are some Catholics making country. I’ve met artists like Clay Walker, who is a convert as well (Walker came into the Church in 2017), and Craig Morgan is also Catholic. I’m seeing more and more that there are Catholics in this genre, but it can be really hard to share your faith because it’s true many country artists come from Protestant or nondenominational upbringing. I’ve made a joke where you hear a lot of songs about dating or marrying a preacher’s daughter that you met at the First Baptist Church, but there’s never a song about meeting someone at Mass at St. Mary’s.

CNH: What led you to change focus in your songwriting?

Banning: I wasn’t enjoying the music business. I didn’t relate to it. I really started thinking it was all vanity. I saw a lot of country music lyrics focused on the hook-up culture, on being an outlaw and a rebel, and not in a good sense. I decided if I was going to influence the culture, I wanted to do it in a good way.

Alcohol was also talked about a lot in lyrics, not in a good way, and I wanted to address that. I’m not a big drinker, but I’ll occasionally have a couple, and I wanted to find a way to write a song about just going out two-stepping and maybe having a drink with friends, but not the kind of alcohol culture you see in some country lyrics. I started being more intentional, trying to write songs about faith, family and real life.

CNH: Have you released any sacred music?

Banning: I recorded a version of “Stabat Mater” that a friend asked me to do, and it was a very encouraging experience.

CNH: What reaction have you received since you made the change to pursuing music as a ministry?

Banning: The reception has been great overall. There are always some people who either don’t understand where I’m coming from or the message, but that’s often because they don’t know the full picture. For the most part the shows and events have gone well, and I’ve had really great response to both my testimony and my work of sharing my faith through country music.

During a volunteer appreciation event at St. Pius X Parish in Greensboro, line dancing instructors taught participants some new steps just in time for the concert.

CNH: How did you come to the Catholic faith?

Banning: I was living in Nashville and had been going to a bunch of different churches because I felt that being in church on Sunday helped my week to go smoother. One night I was invited to Mass by a friend of mine who was in the process of coming back to the Church. I knelt down on the kneeler and I knew I was home. I’m not usually a crier, but I started crying for some reason, and that was the beginning.

Over the next two years, God really stepped in in a big way. My life had been going in a different direction, and I really didn’t know if I needed to fully become Catholic or not. But over a short period of time, I was fired from my job and my girlfriend broke up with me, so I told God, “I hear you. When does OCIA start?” and I came to the Church.
I really experienced some pretty mystical things, and I had a great community of people around me who helped me enter the Church. It was all just grace from God.
CNH: What artists have been a big influence on you?
Banning: I’ve loved country artists like George Strait and Keith Urban. But I’m also a huge fan of songwriters. If I like a songwriter, I’ll look for their credits on the CDs and follow their work. Among the songwriters

I like there’s my dad, one of my major musical influences, and writers like Dean Dillon and Paul Overstreet.

(Dillon wrote many songs for George Strait and also penned the song “Tennessee Whiskey,” which has been recorded by several artists, including Chris Stapleton, and is considered a modern classic. Overstreet’s songs have been recorded by George Jones, The Judds, Randy Travis, Keith Whitley, Blake Shelton and many others.)

CNH: Do you pray before you write a song and do you have any particular saint or devotion that influences you?

Banning: A lot of times the songwriting is much more fulfilling and you write something much more intentional and Christ-focused when you pray at the beginning.

I’ve dedicated a lot of songs I’ve written to particular saints that inspired the idea, and I’ll ask the saint to pray for the people who hear the song. I do have one song, “Be a Kid,” that was inspired by St. Therese of Lisieux, and I specifically dedicate it to her.

CNH: As a Catholic musician, what would be your advice to other Catholics who want to share both their faith and their artistic talents – whether that’s through music, writing or art?

Banning: Just pray and ask God to make you the man or woman He has asked you to be and wants you to be. It’s about being intentional, using your gift and not being afraid to use it in faith. For me, it’s not about building a catalog or building a business – it’s about being a more authentically Catholic version of myself.

 — Christina Lee Knauss

More online

At www.bradleybanning.com: Listen to his music and learn more

Dr. Matthew Harrison pioneered an abortion-reversal pill in 2007. The treatment has been credited with saving countless lives and is now available in all 50 states and 86 countries.

The event, which took place Sept. 17 in Charlotte, had many local priests, deacons and religious sisters in attendance. Yet it was the father of a local priest – Father Matthew Harrison, campus minister for High Point University – who took center stage among the crowd of 200 guests.

Dr. Matthew Harrison, a local physician and father of seven, was the recipient of the 2026 Proudly Pro-Life Award – one of National Right to Life’s highest honors.

Harrison, a parishioner of St. Mark Church in Huntersville, is known for his medical breakthrough – the abortion reversal pill – which is credited with saving 8,000 babies and is available in all 50 states and more than 86 countries.

“Dr. Matthew Harrison represents the very best of the pro-life movement – courage in the face of uncertainty, compassion for a mother in crisis, and an unwavering determination to save a child’s life,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life.

“His willingness to act when a mother turned to him for assistance helped launch an effort that has given thousands of women a second chance to choose life for their babies,” she said.

Harrison discovered the reversal method in 2007, when he received an emergency call. A frantic mother had ingested a dose of the abortion pill and regretted her decision. He worked quickly, preparing a progesterone hormone that was readily available in his office.

“The abortion pill blocks the progesterone receptor,” Harrison said. “I just knew that if I gave some progesterone, it would outcompete the abortion pill and reverse the effects.”

It worked, and now that child is a living, breathing testimony at 19 years old.

The progesterone-based reversal pill can in many cases nullify the effects of the abortion pill if taken within 72 hours of the first dose.

Demand for the reversal pill is surging due to easy access to the abortion pill through clinics and by mail order, making it responsible for 75 percent of the nation’s abortions. To combat it, pro-life organizations, clinics and centers have adopted the use of the reversal pill.

“We can start right outside the abortion clinic,” Harrison said. “They can get right in the mobile unit and get them an ultrasound. We can start the reversal process immediately.”

Harrison took the award and adoringly gifted it to his 91-year-old mother, the woman responsible for stirring the courageous fight within her son.

In 1973, right after the Roe v. Wade decision, his mother lost her sixth child in her womb.

“I remember I was there in the chapel at the hospital where we were having the baby’s funeral,” he recalled. “I saw all these doctors crying and upset, and it seemed strange to me, even at 8 years old, that they were all crying for our baby, but at the same time they supported the right for a mother to end the life of another child. That planted the seed.”

The child she lost that day has now saved so many through her son, but as Tobias points out, the war continues.

“What we do matters,” Tobias told the crowd. “And National Right to Life cannot do this work from Washington alone. Our strength has always come from the partnership between the national organization and strong state affiliates.”

Elisabeth Laskowski, director of North Carolina Right to Life and a parishioner of St. Mark Church, agrees. As she commended the efforts of those praying on the frontlines at abortion clinics and thanked God for the recent closing of “A Woman’s Choice” in Greensboro, she said there is more work to be done.

“Since Roe was overturned four years ago, North Carolina is now the No. 2 most popular abortion destination in the country, unfortunately,” she said. “Plus, there has been a surge in monthly abortion pills mailed into our state. We went from 250 monthly shipments in 2023 to 750 in 2025.”

At the gala, the organization announced a campaign to combat abortion tourism and chemical abortions called “Don’t Swallow the Lie.”

Harrison’s wife, Kathleen, stood by his side. She is a fighter, too, and not only in front of abortion clinics or volunteering at pregnancy centers.

She had four priests celebrate 81 Masses as she intently prayed for her then-Protestant husband’s conversion. In 2015, following the “nine-times novena,” Harrison came fully into the faith on Pentecost Sunday.

The following year their son Matthew went to seminary. Now, Brian, their younger son, is in his second year as a seminarian in Rome. The power couple has become a great Catholic example to pro-life supporters and families around the world.

— Lisa M. Geraci 

"If someone were to ask me, am I in panic mode? No, I'm not," he said Sept. 28 following his four-day apostolic journey to France. "I sleep at night."

"I do think that the concerns raised by many of the experts, specialists in AI, should be taken seriously," he said. "I don't think that that is fake news."

Protecting human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence has been a cornerstone of Pope Leo's teaching for months. He dedicated his first encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas," to AI and its role in society, urging governments, technology companies and the public to ensure that technological development remains at the service of humanity.

The pope told journalists that the Vatican has formed its own commission on artificial intelligence, initially as a way to coordinate how AI is being used within Vatican City and to examine its risks and benefits.

Since the publication of his encyclical, however, the Vatican has been contacted by people working in numerous fields interested in the issue, he said.

"We are trying to continue to promote dialogue, study, investigation, to find ways to make sure that AI does not get to a point where it could destroy humanity or remove humanity from the conversation," Pope Leo said.

"I am relatively optimistic that that can happen," he added, saying there are enough people seriously interested in addressing the risks. But he warned against allowing questions of power, competition and the race toward artificial general intelligence to dictate its development.

"We have to keep working," he said. "We can't just sit back and pretend nothing is going to happen." 

"To simply say, 'Oh, it's not going to happen,' and close our eyes to it, I think is probably not the most responsible way to go about that," he said.

While in France, the pope repeatedly urged political and social leaders to place human dignity at the center of the development and use of artificial intelligence.

Speaking Sept. 25 at the Élysée Palace in Paris to French President Emmanuel Macron, government officials, civil society leaders and the diplomatic corps, Pope Leo warned against losing humanity amid what he called a "paradise of machines" and said ethical discernment is indispensable if technological progress is to promote integral human development.

Recent incidents involving unsupervised AI agents have intensified debates over safety measures for increasingly autonomous systems. During the in-flight news conference, Pope Leo noted reports that AI companies were working to introduce "guardrails" and limits into their systems.

"There is no one, however, that says there should be no limits placed and no government regulation," he said, calling for political leaders, technology companies and civil society to work together to examine "what is happening already and what could be down the road."

During the roughly 20-minute news conference, Pope Leo also addressed clergy sexual abuse, the rise of far-right political movements in Europe, the war in Ukraine, France's tradition of strict secularism and the housing crisis affecting many European cities.

During his visit, Pope Leo met privately with seven people who had suffered sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. Following the meeting, some of the survivors told reporters that the pope had acknowledged the systemic nature of abuse in the Church.

Asked about those accounts on the flight, Pope Leo said several of the survivors had spoken to him about systemic abuse and acknowledged that some organizations within the Church had, at times, been abusive "as a system." But he said he preferred to distinguish between those cases and sexual abuse more broadly.

"Sexual abuse is first and foremost a human problem," he said. "When it happens within the Church, it actually has another whole dimension added to it because people's lives of faith are deeply wounded and sometimes even destroyed."

"There's a particular responsibility of the Church to walk with them and to help them seek healing," he said.

The pope also responded to a question about the growth of far-right political movements in Germany and their relationship with Christianity.

Pope Leo said it would be worthwhile to examine whether there is a relationship between the decline in participation in Germany's Christian churches and the growth of far-right groups, noting that some of those movements have themselves splintered as factions become more extreme.

He particularly warned about attempts to combine far-right political views with religion, saying Catholic and Protestant leaders in Germany have spoken out against such movements as "not an authentic expression of Christianity."

The values of the Gospel, he said, "are not about hatred and division, but about understanding and compassion and accompanying."

He expressed hope that people would participate in political life and "make clear choices for the common good and not for extremist ideas that perhaps will do much more damage than we are even aware of right now."

"Again, on our part as a Church, social doctrine of the Church: talking about, teaching about, preaching about what we believe are these life-giving values and not destruction, division and hatred," he said.

Asked about France's tradition of strict secularism, known as "laïcité," and whether his repeated defense of human life during the trip had crossed the line between religion and politics, Pope Leo said he did not believe it had.

"When the Church speaks about defending life, when it speaks about questions of social doctrine, we're not entering into politics, we're applying the Gospel to people's lives," he said.

The pope repeatedly spoke against euthanasia during the trip, including during his visit to Lourdes, as France implements recently approved legislation permitting the practice under certain circumstances.

"If that's politics, I did that, but it was not to get involved in French politics," Pope Leo told journalists. "It was to teach what the Church really believes."

Pope Leo was also asked to clarify comments he made earlier in the trip that countries must have the courage to sacrifice certain positions for the greater good of peace, particularly in relation to Russia's war against Ukraine.

He reiterated the Church's opposition to violence, hatred and an escalating arms race, criticizing the enormous sums spent on weapons while hunger, health, education and other human needs remain unmet. The pope said the Church must continue to encourage negotiations even when diplomatic efforts appear to have little effect.

"I believe that the Church has a responsibility to promote these values, continually inviting the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, other countries, to come, to sit down, to dialogue, to look for how to solve problems without continuing these wars that no longer make sense," he said.

"We cannot force anyone," he added. "Sometimes it seems that it can be useless, but we are going to keep talking, we are going to keep inviting, we are going to keep announcing the Gospel."

The pope also called for greater cooperation among governments, local communities and the Church in confronting housing crises that have made it increasingly difficult for people, particularly young people, to afford homes in major European cities.

A Spanish journalist asked Pope Leo about the case of Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman with a disability who was forcibly removed Sept. 23 from the Madrid apartment where she had lived for more than seven decades.

Abascal had lived in the apartment since 1956 under Spain's old system of rent-controlled leases, but subsequent changes to national rental law restricted the inheritance of such contracts. A court ultimately ruled that her decades-old lease had expired.

Pope Leo said he was unfamiliar with Abascal's particular case but said situations like hers demonstrate the need to search for "more just solutions so that these cases don't happen."

"I think it would be a case where the neighbors, the community, the parish, the diocese or the state would have to come together and say: How is it possible for a case like this to happen?" he said. "What is the problem in the system that allows the case of an elderly woman with a disability or with some difficulty to be kicked out of her home?"

The Church speaks both about the throwaway culture and injustice, he said, but the housing crisis requires action from political leaders and public authorities as well.

"Many times we react only at the moment of emergency," he said, "but we have to see in reality what is the systemic cause of this problem and how to help."

Asked about his future travel plans beyond Latin America in November, and when he might visit Germany, Pope Leo said no date had been set.

"The only trip definitely planned is World Youth Day in Korea," he said, which is scheduled for August 2027.

— Josephine Peterson, Catholic News Service

MARION — Our Lady of the Angels may be small, but its anniversary celebration Sept. 27 was anything but.

Nearly 400 people gathered for a jubilee Mass at the little Marion church, which seats fewer than 150, to celebrate two milestones: 75 years as a faith community and 50 years in its current church.

The close-knit community is the Diocese of Charlotte’s only independent mission.

The overcrowded Mass was said in English and Spanish – a usual occurrence at the church, where 90% of the congregation is Hispanic.

Parochial Administrator Father Innocent Amasiorah’s Sept. 27 homily message started with laughter, clapping, singing and joy.

The congregation sang, “If you're happy and you know it…clap your hands…”

They clapped for Jesus. They clapped for the church. They clapped for themselves and the faith journey they started in 1945, when a small community of Catholics traveled to Mass in nearby towns before holding their first Mass at the courthouse in downtown Marion in 1951.

Building for the future

Just like the congregation, Father Amasiorah was excited, too, not just about the past or the present but the possible future of his beloved little church on the hilltop.  

The jubilee anniversary milestones were two of many to come, he said. The next two in his sights are being named a parish and building a new church.

“When they built this church, it was a big church for them, because there were only a few families,” Father Amasiorah said. “Today, it is no longer a big church. It is grown so much.”

The church began like a mustard seed and grew like one. To sustain that growth, the congregation needed to make new plans, he said.

“The people that came before us made room for us. In the next 50 years, the people who are coming after us should have enough room to stay and enough room for Jesus,” he said. “We need to make more room… We cannot grow here. We need a bigger space.”

He challenged them to fully commit themselves to the Diocese of Charlotte’s “Making Room” campaign challenge to raise the funds needed for more land.

“I put forth this challenge, like the bishop asks… It is time to make more room for Jesus,” he said.

He explained that the Church is not made of brick and mortar – but people. 

“You are God’s building. You are the temples of the Lord’s grace,” he said. “When we talk about the Church. We talk about us. We talk about Jesus. We do not talk about the physical structure –it is us.”

And, with all the people, 120 registered families and more than 400 attending weekend Masses, he instilled hope in his flock that one day they would be recognized as a parish.

“With 50 years of a church, with a number of resident-priests who have already come and gone, and we are STILL a mission church,” Father Amasiorah said. “Our mission is to become a parish…and then we will begin to move forward.”

The goal carries an enormity to it, but with Bishop Michael T. Martin’s vision of growth and  Making Room Challenge, Father Amasiorah said he was hopeful – and that hope filled the room. 

Building “the bridge”

Marlyn Allison, now 79, remembers a similar plea for a new church in 1969 when she first joined Our Lady of the Angels as a new teacher in the area. 

“Ten families met in a small house to celebrate Mass. So much has happened since then. I became a little teary-eyed in there,” she said. “If these walls could talk, there were a lot of weddings, a lot of funerals, all kinds of ceremonies.”

One of those weddings was her own 40 years ago to her husband, Keith Allison, who started coming in 1984, a Catholic convert from Old Fort. 

Father Amasiorah referred to her as “The Bridge” because she is the parish’s longest-standing member, linking the “old” church to the “new” church. 

“I was here the day that they dedicated this church,” she said. “I was the organist.”

Although the numbers steadily grew, the demographics changed, with the Hispanic population quickly doubling and tripling the numbers of parishioners.

One of the first Hispanic members, Melida Triplett, a Cuban immigrant, joined in 1986, before the rapid growth of the community started in the 90s.

“I think I was the only Hispanic in the county at that time,” she said. “I felt at home when I got to church here.” 

She and her husband were married at the church in 1987, and in the mid-90s, she became the parish translator, watching as young parishioners grew up and brought their own families. 

Although Father Amasiorah is originally from Nigeria, he feels a special bond with the flock he was assigned to in 2025. 

“I am happy to be here. They are like Nigerians in the way we worship,” he said. “They give their time, they give their talent, they are always available, they love to help, and they love to serve. This is the kind of Nigerian background I have.”

Alfonso Navarrete, leader of the parish council, believes the Catholic Church is experiencing a revitalization that is being played out within the walls of Our Lady of Angels.

“There is revitalization in this church. I came back to my faith. Now, I am a reader. I am leading retreats and am chairman of the church. It’s a big challenge, but I have been learning a lot,” he said. “Some people are moving here, but some were gone from the faith for a while, but they are coming back.” 

— Lisa M. Geraci. Photos by Troy C. Hull 

CHARLOTTE — They’ve laughed with him, prayed with him, learned from him, and on Sept. 24, parishioners from the Diocese of Charlotte joined with 50,000 Catholics to publicly venerate the television star, the American bishop, the soon-to-be saint - and the now Blessed Fulton J. Sheen.  

Archbishop Sheen left a lasting impression on this diocese through his visits to Belmont Abbey College in Belmont, St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte, and Our Lady of Grace (OLG) in Greensboro. 

Years after, the charismatic "missionary evangelist" took to the radio and television waves - with his friends Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John - his legacy still remains in the hearts of our priests, parishioners and religious.  

“He is the reason I spend an hour a day in Eucharistic adoration,” said Father Lucas Rossi, one of the five diocesan priests raised in Sheen’s hometown of Peoria, Illinois, and pastor of St. John the Evangelist and Immaculate Conception in Canton. 

The event drew pilgrims from OLG, St. Mark in Huntersville, and Charlotte parishes St. Mary Syro Malabar, St. Matthew and Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Eileen Rohan, a parishioner of OLG, who traveled to the beatification with a group of eight from her church, believed the event highlighted Sheen’s “Life Worth Living.” 

She still remembers his blue eyes and booming voice when she saw him in person during the school dedication visit in Greensboro on Nov. 14, 1976 as a child. Through the years, she watched him from her living room couch, in college and with her grandmother. She read his books as an adult, and this week traveled the 700 miles to celebrate the religious figure she looked up to most of her life.

“When they did the altar installation, revealed the official pictures of him, and brought up the relics and placed them on the altar. Then the altar was dressed in cloth. It just seemed so incredibly special,” Rohan said. “Now he is Blessed. Now it means that he could be on an altar. That we could venerate his relics - where we couldn't before.”  

Father Raymond Esuka Ekosse, parochial vicar of OLG, also went on the trip.

“When Father Raymond entered seminary, there was a Sheen explosion throughout Africa,” Rohan laughed. “He learned all about Sheen. He watched his videos and read all his books.” 

Now, wearing vestments with Sheen’s trademark, “JMJ” (Jesus, Mary, Joseph) embroidered on the back, Father Ekosse, a long way from his hometown in Cameroon, processed with clergy and religious, including Father Rajeev Valiyaveettil Philipas from St. Mary, while their parishioners watched from stadium seating. 

“Way up in the bleachers we could see the whole floor. There had to be like 1,000 priests,” Rohan said. “They were greeting each other so warmly, like it was real brotherhood, which was something that Sheen wrote about. I always enjoy processions, but this one just was wonderful and seemed endless.” 

For Rohan, those best moments continued to play out in front of her in a rapid collage of beauty. 

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle’s homily left a teaching moment.

“It seemed to address Sheen, why he's a saint, but also address the priests to show how they could embrace teachings from Sheen today,” Rohan said. “But he also told us as laity how we could act in a missionary way.”

Arn and Brigitte Vogt, also OLG parishioners in their 80s, did not let their years stop them from making the trip for the long-awaited beatification of the man they grew up listening to.

Up on the stage, a stand with a velour covering awaited, and Arn Volk knew that was where his picture would be unveiled when Sheen was formally beautified. 

“I had my video ready, and when he announced the words ‘the Blessed Fulton Sheen’ I captured it on my camera,” Vogt said. “And, oh to hear the audience, all the people in the arena’s applause and all the excitement that took place. It was just gorgeous, the sights, the music, the sounds, of it all.

David and Carissa Scibor, St. Matthew parishioners, also felt called to bring their family to the rare moment.

“We feel like the best way we can model the faith to our kids is to have them go and experience the faith. You want to talk about the richness of the faith. Go to a beatification mass,” David Scibor said. “Your heart is full. You're seeing all the greatness of the church.”

Sitting in the main aisle, they had a clear view of James Fulton Engstrom, the young boy who was alive due to Sheen’s intercessionand whose case advanced Sheen’s cause of beatification, carrying up the relics.

The celebration of Catholics felt like a family reunion of sorts, he said. 

“Being able to come together as Catholics for this event was definitely emotional. It was cool to see this moment in which the status within the Church was elevated.” 

Writer and podcaster of “Rebranding Motherhood”, Jillian Tymo from St. Mark, came to the historic moment for for her work in communications for Abby Johnson, a prolife advocate. 

Tymo said, “Something said at the beatification that stuck with me was… he was described as both a man at the dinner table and a man of the stage. I thought of the intimacy of that…I found it to be such an incredible example of aiming at telling the truth in an age of social media and having the time for me to sit and reflect on his legacy.”

The main relic she found to be appropriate and poetic. 

“The relic they used celebrating him as a communicator was his bottom jawbone. That was so telling,” Tymo said. “That was a very special moment to be able to see. There is a severe poetry that the Church tends to use, the symbols all connect in this incredible way to continue to promote just how this man glorified God.”

With her, Tymo brought a picture of her infant mother being held by Sheen in the 50s and left with new memories of the soon-to-be saint who continues to teach lessons from the heavens.

“I always had that picture of my mother because it was taken right before her father died. Her life took such a difficult turn, but my grandmother kept the faith in a very tangible way,” Tymo said. “She was so proud of that photo, and I can’t wait to celebrate with her one day.”

Expecting her sixth child which is due around Sheen’s future feast day, she felt that deep connection of faith and motherhood between her and her grandmother during the beatification. 

As Scibor noted, “Fulton Sheen was on the right path. Whether you're touching hundreds of thousands of households or you're just touching the people that come into your daily life, we are all presented with opportunities. What are we going to do to make the people around us shine a little bit brighter?

— Lisa M. Geraci. Photos provided

"Our Lady of Lourdes, the Immaculate Conception, in this blessed place you spoke with such gentleness and tenderness to St. Bernadette, a humble daughter of the French people, to convey to the world a radiant message of prayer, conversion and hope," Pope Leo said in his prayer in the grotto.

The shrine of Lourdes is one of the most visited Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world, known as a place of healing and miracles since the Marian apparition. More than 7,000 cases of healing connected to Lourdes have been officially recorded since 1858, with 72 of them officially recognized as a miracle by the International Medical Committee of Lourdes. The most recent of which was announced last year: the 2009 healing of Antonietta Raco, an Italian woman who had suffered from primary lateral sclerosis, during a pilgrimage to Lourdes.

As the sun set, the pope arrived at the Lourdes grotto for the first time in his pontificate to the singing of the traditional Lourdes hymn "Ave Maria," waving to eager pilgrims from the popemobile.

In an intimate moment of prayer in the illuminated grotto, the crowd was silent as Pope Leo knelt before the image of Our Lady of Lourdes above.

Standing, he paused to touch the rock of the grotto's wall, and received a glass of water from the site's miraculous spring, offered by Father Michel Daubanes, the rector of the Sanctuary of Lourdes. Moving his hand over the walls of the grotto, he walked to its tiered candelabra, where he lit a tall candle, placing it among the others.

He then offered a public prayer to the Virgin Mary in French. "We turn to you with trust, for you are the Mother whom Jesus has given, and you are attentive to all our needs," he said. "We pray to you, our Mother, for France, for you are her patroness and have protected her for so many centuries."

Pope Leo prayed in particular for peace and for the renewal of "the faith and fervor of Christian families."

"May they be generously open to life, and may God awaken vocations within them, especially to the priesthood and religious life," he prayed. "Grant that your Church in France may show, especially to the youngest among them, the luminous path of the Gospel, so that they may build the just and fraternal society to which they aspire."

Praying for the sick, the caretakers, the poor and the disadvantaged, the pope asked the Virgin Mary to "obtain for France wise and generous leaders, ready to make sacrifices, capable of responding to challenges, and eager to serve the common good."

"We pray that you will remove all the obstacles that still separate us from your beloved Son and that he may reign in all heart," he concluded.

After his prayer, Pope Leo offered the shrine the gift of the "golden rose," a gilded rose that conveys papal affection and is a traditional papal gift especially to Marian shrines.

Under a shining full moon in a clear autumn sky, the pope then led the crowd in singing the Lord's Prayer in Latin and then imparted his apostolic blessing before individually greeting Lourdes' chaplains.

Lourdes is the fourth most visited Catholic pilgrimage site in the world after St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, and the Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida in Brazil.

The Virgin Mary appeared to a poor and uneducated 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous 18 times in 1858. During the ninth apparition, Mary told St. Bernadette: "Go and drink at the spring and wash yourself there." That year, the miraculous spring that appeared after St. Bernadette humbly dug in the dirt with her hands resulted in the healing of a woman with a paralyzed hand in the presence of more than 1,500 people.

During the 16th apparition, St. Bernadette asked Mary, whom she had called "the Lady dressed in white," her name. Mary replied: "I am the Immaculate Conception," referring to the Catholic dogma -- long held in tradition but only promulgated four years earlier -- that she was conceived without sin.

Lourdes is the second leg of Pope Leo's four-day apostolic journey to France. On Sept. 27, the pope will offer Mass in Lourdes, where he will also meet with clerical abuse victims, visit the sick, speak to French bishops, and preside over a candlelight rosary procession.

 — Courtney Mares, OSV News

While economic uncertainty lingers and many still face food insecurity, glimmers of hope have returned as tourism begins to rebound and shuttered businesses reopen – returning jobs and opportunities.

The diocese’s Catholic Charities agency raised $13.7 million for relief efforts after the storm, thanks to donors around the world. The agency has spent $9.1 million over the past two years, initially trucking in critical food, water and funding emergency housing, then pivoting to repair and rebuild homes, offering utility assistance, and providing career and mental health counseling.

Catholic Charities has the remaining $4.6 million in relief funds slated for longer-term needs in its third year, and is planning for new approaches and partnerships that can enhance its disaster response in the future.

“People are still hurting and we will continue to accompany them in a broad variety of ways, either by providing direct assistance and services or by connecting them to organizations who can help meet their needs,” said Gerry Carter, Catholic Charities’ president and CEO. 

“As with most major disasters,” he said, “we anticipated the initial recovery process would take at least three years – and for many it will continue. Our focus now is to keep working through our more complicated cases and to extend our resources to people whose needs have not yet been addressed.” 

Since the storm that claimed 108 lives and caused more than $44 billion in damages, Catholic Charities and local parishes have been at the forefront of the Church’s response. Parishes stepped in with financial and emergency assistance, while the agency took on sweeping needs.

Catholic Charities has thus far served 2,832 households, helping with everything from getting children new eyeglasses and school supplies to repairing the roofs above their heads. As of July 2026, the agency helped repair, rebuild or replace 208 homes, and will take on at least 50 more this year.

“We said at the beginning that when the water recedes, we’ll still be there – and that’s exactly what we’re continuing to do,” Carter said. The agency’s disaster relief workers have provided assistance to individuals and families in 37 of the 39 impacted counties. 

Individual stories and varied needs

The hard work continues as the agency does its best to respond to the specific needs of each family, said Jesse Boeckermann, Catholic Charities’ western regional director in Asheville. 

“Some neighborhoods are still rebuilding, and in other places there’s food insecurity or people are struggling with the general cost of living,” Boeckermann said. “Our response is very family-specific, responding to whatever the household is going through.”

Jeff and Kathy Turner are among those who turned to Catholic Charities. Their home near Jefferson was badly damaged when the North Fork of the New River rose 26 feet. They received more than $10,000 to repair their foundation, buy new doors and windows, and address other household needs. 

In Old Fort, Sandra received help with temporary rental assistance, home repairs, and mortgage payments. Mobility issues made her situation particularly critical. Catholic Charities also replaced her vehicle, which had been destroyed in the flood.

Other families’ needs were more complicated: In one case, Catholic Charities provided 10 months of comprehensive support to help a family of five with rent, utilities, furniture and vehicle repairs.

The agency also stepped in for businesses and people who received little or no assistance from FEMA.

One woman was denied FEMA assistance due to the age of the 20-year-old camper where she lived, so Catholic Charities bought her a new one. Another woman wanted to buy her FEMA trailer but had nowhere to put it – so Catholic Charities paid the moving costs and rent for a lot where she could make a fresh start. 

Four celebrated community businesses – a Mexican restaurant in Black Mountain and an auto repair shop, barbecue restaurant and hair salon in Swannanoa – all were able to reopen with help from Catholic Charities. Each reopening served as a moment of inspiration for townspeople. 

“We’re making sure people are still connected and receiving help through whatever phase they’re at in the whole recovery process,”  Boeckermann said.  

Catholic Charities is also helping with long-term recovery on the community level. Case workers are collaborating in “long-term recovery groups” in some of the hardest hit – and most difficult to access – areas, including Chimney Rock, Gerton and Bat Cave, Boeckermann said. 

In areas such as Asheville, $250,000 went to revitalizing the economy in the River Arts District. That investment is paying off as tourism dollars begin to flow into the area. Asheville hosted the PGA Biltmore Championship in September, generating an estimated $10 million in economic impact. Across the region, the N.C. Commerce Department reported that tourism brought in $7.7 billion last year – ranging from a year-over-year increase of 14% in Cherokee County to a slight decline of less than 1% in Asheville.  

Parishes help with recovery 

Individual parishes and missions remain on the ground, working to help parishioners and communities with ongoing needs, from crucial supplies like food and baby items to funding for utility bills and home repairs. 

Parishes that run food pantries have seen a significant uptick in need, as escalating prices for food, gas and many other goods have made things worse for Helene victims. 

In Sylva,  St. Mary Mother of God parish has been operating a food pantry two Saturdays a month. It provides non-perishable food, household items, hygiene products and baby items to anyone in need. But supply lines are stretched thin, said Kevin Field, who runs the pantry, so the parish is seeking donations of canned goods and funds so it can continue to be a source of help.

In the immediate wake of Helene, the diocese’s Sister Parish Program paired parishes that were not impacted by the storm with those in the mountains to help raise funds. Two years later, St. Mary Mother of God is still receiving help from its sister parish St. Thomas Aquinas in Charlotte, which holds quarterly collections. 

At St. Francis of Assisi Church in Jefferson and its mission St. Frances of Rome in Sparta, some parishioners are still dealing with property repairs, but for the most part, recovery has been completed, said pastor Father Jacob Mlakar. Some parishioners are now turning their gratitude toward helping others in the community who are still struggling to recover from the storm. 

“Most of our parishioners are doing well, and some of them are helping out by serving on long-term recovery groups in Ashe County, and other areas,” Father Mlakar said.

In Mars Hill. St. Andrew the Apostle Church ran a massive relief effort in the months after the storm – and still is responding to needs, said parish secretary Kelly Hansen.

The parish runs a food pantry that serves about 50 people a week, and volunteers prepare about 70 “weekend bags” with nonperishable foods for students at the nearby elementary school. Hansen said much of the parish’s assistance now goes to families struggling with high fuel and grocery prices, but St. Andrew still gets requests from people hit by Helene.

“Recently we paid a storage unit bill for somebody who was struggling – they had salvaged things from the storm stored there,” Hansen said. “We’re trying to remind people that we’re still here to help.” 

— Christina Lee Knauss. Archive photos

— Josephine Peterson, Catholic News Service

A major relic of Blessed Fulton J. Sheen is displayed next to his official portrait at his beatification Mass Sept. 24, 2026, at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis. (OSV News photo/Margaret Murray)

ST. LOUIS — Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen -- the 20th-century American theologian, evangelizer, Catholic communications pioneer, teacher and preacher -- is now Blessed Fulton Sheen.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, a pro-prefect for the Holy See's Dicastery for Evangelization, pronounced the Church's declaration on Archbishop Sheen's life and witness at a Sept. 24 Mass celebrated in the Dome at America's Center in St. Louis.

The location had been selected by Archbishop Sheen's home Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, to accommodate the thousands of pilgrims on hand for the beatification and its surrounding events. Around 50,000 people were in attendance, according to organizers.

The beatification officially occurred between the liturgy's Penitential Rite and the Gloria. Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Illinois, made a formal request for Archbishop Sheen's beatification to Cardinal Tagle, the papal delegate. A short biography of Archbishop Sheen was read, followed by the formal decree of beatification from Pope Leo XIV.

With the decree's public proclamation, Archbishop Sheen is formally counted among the Church's "beati," from the Latin word for "blessed."

James Fulton Engstrom -- whose revival from stillbirth in 2010, attributed to Archbishop Sheen's intercession, was formally declared the miracle that moved Archbishop Sheen to beatification -- presented a major relic of Archbishop Sheen.

Enclosed in a special case called a reliquary, the relic is Archbishop Sheen's mandible, or jawbone, chosen because it represented the archbishop's tremendous gifts as an orator, teacher and evangelist.

With the beatification, a portrait of a haloed Archbishop Sheen was also unveiled. In the image, he is notably holding a piece of chalk, which he famously used (along with a blackboard) during his Emmy-winning television show "Life Is Worth Living."

Pilgrims arrive ahead of the beatification Mass for Venerable Fulton J. Sheen Sept. 24, 2026, at The Dome at America's Center in St. Louis. The archbishop is remembered as one of the most influential and innovative evangelists in American history. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)ST. LOUIS — From across the United States and around the world, faithful of all ages have traveled to St. Louis for the Sept. 24 beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen -- and several pilgrims described the occasion as both a "gift" and a call to be missionary disciples.

Dominique Abagi of Sydney traveled 12 hours from her vacation lodgings in Colombia to attend the celebration, which she described as a "must-go" opportunity.

"I love his writing and I love his videos," she said, speaking to OSV News after a Sept. 23 scheduled midday Mass at the Basilica of St. Louis, King of France, located near the iconic Gateway Arch.

Pilgrims filled both the pews and the confessionals at the basilica, prompting basilica rector and celebrant Father Nicholas W. Smith to quip that had he anticipated such a crowd, he would have "called in reinforcements."

Abagi said that she particularly appreciated Archbishop Sheen's ability to make the truths of the Catholic faith accessible.

"I love that he explains things that seem complex, but when he says them, I'm like, 'Oh no, that's just true,'" she said.

Fellow pilgrim and Mass attendee Carolyn Kwapich of Ave Maria, Florida, echoed that view.

"I think he speaks so clearly that he's almost a man for the common man," she told OSV News. "He's not speaking at a level that's so high that people can't relate to him. I think that you could always take something away from any of his preaching."

Archbishop Sheen's keen awareness and spiritual foresight made him "a man of our times," she said, noting that "Life of Christ" was one of her favorite books by Archbishop Sheen.

Kwapich, a self-described Catholic "revert," fought back tears as she said, "I love Fulton Sheen."

Kathleen Hastings of Phoenix, who was also at the Sept. 23 Mass, told OSV News she had an additional reason for being on hand.

"He and my grandmother are second cousins. Their grandmothers were sisters," she explained. "So I'm on the Fulton side; that's why I came."

Hastings described the beatification as "very exciting."

"We hope he becomes a saint fairly soon," she said.

Ukrainian Catholic pilgrims attending the beatification pointed to Archbishop Sheen's closeness to Eastern Catholics.

Yuriy Melnik, a western Ukrainian native who along with his wife, Helena, now lives in Chicago, noted that Archbishop Sheen had priestly faculties in the Byzantine Catholic rite.

"He was bi-ritual," said Melnik, citing St. John Paul II's metaphor of the "two lungs," Eastern and Western, which both enable Jesus Christ's Catholic Church to breathe fully.

In a homily during a 1960 Melkite Divine Liturgy in Birmingham, Alabama, Archbishop Sheen pointed to the Byzantine rite as "the door" through which the Russian Orthodox Church would enter if it ever sought full communion with Rome.

Melnik, who spoke with OSV News Sept. 23 following pre-beatification vespers at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, also stressed Archbishop Sheen's passionate opposition to communism.

"He was a fierce fighter against communism, and that's exactly what we (in Ukraine) experience in our life," said Melnik, referencing Russia's war on Ukraine. Initiated in 2014 and accelerated by Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion, the conflict has been classified as genocidal in multiple human rights reports.

"We share so much in common with Fulton Sheen," said Melnik. "That's why he is so dear to our Ukrainian heart as well."

Fellow Ukrainian Catholic Olga Salheska -- originally from Ternopil, Ukraine, and currently living in Chicago -- said that Archbishop Sheen's passion for the Gospel inspired hearts everywhere to become missionary disciples.

"We need to evangelize as much as we can," Salheska told OSV News. "It doesn't matter where we live; it doesn't matter what language you speak."

Archbishop Sheen's beatification and its surrounding events have provided pilgrims renewed energy for their own missionary journey as fellow followers of Christ.

"It's a gift to be able to come," Abagi said.

 — Gina Christian, OSV News

'Pivotal' Archbishop Sheen 'opened the door to the evangelization of the world,' says Bishop Barron

Seminarians watch as prelates process in at the start of the vespers for Venerable Fulton J. Sheen Sept. 23, 2026, at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, the eve of his beatification. Archbishop Sheen is remembered as one of the most influential and innovative evangelists in American history. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller)ST. LOUIS — Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen -- the 20th-century theologian, evangelizer and Catholic communications pioneer -- "opened the door to the evangelization of the world," said Bishop Robert E. Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota.

The bishop shared his thoughts on Archbishop Sheen in a Sept. 23 homily at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, where hundreds gathered for vespers a day before the archbishop's beatification in that city.

Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of St. Louis presided over Evening Prayer, part of the Liturgy of the Hours, the Church's continuous cycle of daily prayer at set times.

Although Archbishop Sheen's canonization cause was introduced in 2002 by his home Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, organizers selected St. Louis as the beatification site in order to better accommodate the thousands in attendance.

Cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and lay faithful from around the country -- along with Archbishop Gabriele G. Caccia, apostolic nuncio to the U.S. -- were on hand for the vespers, which took place on the memorial of St. Pius (Pio) of Pietrelcina.

Addressing the congregation, Bishop Barron said, "I consider it one of the single privileges of my life to be able to preach this homily on the vigil of Fulton Sheen's beatification."

He described Archbishop Sheen as "my model and inspiration," and as "one of the pivotal players in the modern history of the Catholic Church" who emerged amid a mid-20th-century Catholic "renaissance" that included "Graham Greene, Dorothy Day, Jacques Maritain, Henri de Lubac, Thomas Merton, Evelyn Waugh and many others."

Bishop Barron said Archbishop Sheen was "by common consensus" regarded as "the premier preacher in the English language in the 20th century."

What made Archbishop Sheen "a blessed, saintly man of God" was his friendship with Jesus Christ, said Bishop Barron.

Archbishop Sheen's description of his vocational discernment in his autobiography, "Treasure in Clay," offers "a template for anyone's relationship to the Lord," said Bishop Barron.

Citing passages from the book, Bishop Barron said three stages mark the development of that relationship: recognizing God's transcendent holiness, reckoning with one's need for redemption and the mandate for mission "as a bearer of grace to others."

Archbishop Sheen embraced "unmerited divine love," exemplified in Mary, whom he viewed in accord with Catholic theological tradition as "the prime instance of a human being receiving the unmerited love of God," said Bishop Barron.

He noted that Mary "haunts the spiritual life of Fulton Sheen, from his baptism in the Church of St. Mary to his ordination in the cathedral dedicated to Mary, to his deep devotion to the rosary, and finally to his more than 30 journeys to Lourdes to visit, as he put it, 'the woman I love.'"

Bishop Barron said that "nowhere was Fulton Sheen's rootedness in the grace of Christ more apparent than in his practically lifelong dedication to the Holy Hour -- the daily, uninterrupted, hour-long prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament."

The bishop stressed the importance of that practice in his own life, admitting he learned to embrace it from his students while he was rector of Mundelein Seminary from 2012-2015.

"I now savor the Holy Hour … in my private chapel every morning before commencing my work day," he said.

As he contemplated God's holiness, Archbishop Sheen was ready "to admit his failures, his bad judgments, his personal weaknesses," said Bishop Barron.

Through radio and television broadcasts, extensive writings, speaking engagements and missionary travels, Archbishop Sheen devoted his life to making Christ known to the world, said Bishop Barron.

"No one in the 20th century walked the great path of mission with more flair and dedication than Fulton Sheen," said the bishop.

And, he added, "I believe that Fulton Sheen is, par excellence, the saint of the New Evangelization," the Church's renewed commitment -- called for in particular by St. Paul VI and St. John Paul II -- to fulfill Christ's command to bring the Gospel to all people.

"Anyone who seeks fresh language to bring the Gospel to our culture, anyone who preaches the ancient word with a heart on fire, anyone who dares to use the media of communication available to us today, is indebted to Fulton Sheen and finds in him a powerful heavenly friend and intercessor," said Bishop Barron.

 — Gina Christian, OSV News

CHARLOTTE — People across the Diocese of Charlotte are thrilled about tomorrow’s beatification of the Venerable Fulton J. Sheen - the soon-to-be saint who has local ties.

The television evangelist was not only a familiar face on the first television screens to grace most American Catholics’ living rooms, but he also left his mark in the diocese. 

Parishes including St. Mark in Huntersville prepared for the beautification by making World Peace rosaries, St. Ann in Charlotte presented talks for youth and Our Lady of Grace in Greensboro parishioners are journeying to St. Louis to witness the beatification in person. 

Here are some fun facts about Archbishop Sheen’s links to our diocese:

1. Archbishop Sheen visited Our Lady of Grace in Greensboro 50 years ago – Nov. 14, 1976 – for the dedication of a new school building. He blessed the entire building.

2. Father William Gurnee III served as an altar boy during that visit and later became a priest. Father Gurnee is now the pastor of St. Joseph on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. and remembers the event in great detail: 

Dedication Day through the eyes of eighth grader Bill Gurnee:

“Father Christian, the parochial vicar at the time, came to me and said he needed me to serve Mass because I was one of the senior altar boys. There were probably eight of us that day.

I went home and told my dad, but I had absolutely no idea who Fulton Sheen was. He meant nothing to me as an eighth grader, but my dad was instantly thrilled. He was truly excited that Sheen was coming to dedicate our new school building. Seeing my dad’s reaction made me intrigued.

At the time, our junior high had a one-page school paper called Panther Pages. I was the editor. I asked the Father Christain if I could interview Bishop Sheen for the paper, and he replied, "Absolutely not."

The next day, he came and found me and said I was going to interview Archbishop Sheen. 

But he had some demands, 'This is what’s going to happen. You will walk into that room, and you will address him as 'Your Excellency.' You will ask him your one question. There is one question—and only one question. You ask that single question, you say, 'Thank you, Your Excellency,' and you walk out. Are we clear?'

I was so excited. When dedication day arrived, my father drove me over, and I joined the pastor and another altar boy to head inside the rectory. I had never been inside a rectory before; everything felt exciting and new. We walked into the common room, It was obvious they just finished lunch. Bishop Sheen was sitting there with three or four other priests and monsignors. I think he was smoking a cigarette. 

My pastor announced, 'This is Bill Gurnee, and he would like to ask you a question.'

Sheen clearly hadn’t been prepped for this, but he smiled and said, “Yes, what’s your question, son?'

I looked at him. I spent three days figuring out the one question I wanted to ask.

‘Your Excellency, what do you think is the importance of dedicating a new Catholic school in the Protestant South?’

He looked right at me and said, ‘That’s my whole homily! Next question.’

Well, there was no next question. I stood there completely frozen – I felt scared, I felt stupid, I had no idea what to say. Fortunately, the other altar boy jumped in with a question. I don’t recall what he asked or how Sheen answered. After that, we left. 

My column ended up being about how I froze up.

I can’t recall his exact homily word for word, but the message went something like this: Catholics could be proud of their faith. Though we were a minority in the deep Protestant South, we belonged to the mother Church, and we had a mission to evangelize. 

He had everyone fired up about the new school and the vital importance of a Catholic education. That was the gist of it."

3. Archbishop Sheen created what will be a second-class relic at OLG during his stay.  The school building he blessed will become a second-class relic upon his sainthood. Many times, when Principal Catherine Rusch walks past the railings shown in the picture above, she stops and touches the same spot, where she says a little prayer for her students and staff.

4. An OLG student was named Fulton Sheen after the soon-to-be saint. His birthday coincidentally falls on the same day of the future saint’s visit - November 14. The young Sheen is pictured with principal Rusch and Father Casey Coleman, standing on the patio of the same building Sheen blessed. To read more about the archibishop's diocesan connection, read this 2020 Catholic News Herald article.

5. The part of the school Archbishop Sheen dedicated in 1976 was renamed and blessed by Bishop Michael Martin as the “Sheen Wing” in 2025. As Father Gurnee recalled, “The whole point of Fulton Sheen coming here was to bless the new building. There was a movement at the time to get a new Catholic high school in Greensboro…they started to build slowly to see how it would go. OLG went from eight grade to nine grades, and they built a gym, and some other things, but the purpose was to build another school. The point was to build this beautiful new addition to the parish.”

6. Coincidence or intercession? Five of the diocese’s priests are from Sheen’s hometown of Peoria, Illinois: Father Matthew Kauth, Father Christopher Gober, Father Matthew Buettner, Father Lucas Rossi and Father John Eckert. Read more about the impact he had on their vocations here. 

7. Archbishop Sheen visited Belmont Abbey College on June 4, 1957, and was the keynote speaker for the 79^thcommencement address. During Sheen’s visit two of the nation’s most iconic religious leaders, the northern Catholic Archbishop Sheen and the Southern Baptist Evangelist Billy Graham, met in Belmont for the first time.

8. Although it did receive as much publicity as his other visits, Archbishop Sheen celebrated daily Mass at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte while he was in town for an ecumenical conference on March 17, 1974.

— Lisa M. Geraci

Four of them went to the same high school as Sheen, and those four also had or have a role in the diocese’s vocations program:

• Father Matthew Buettner – Former vocations spiritual director 
• Father Christopher Gober – Former vocations director
• Father Matthew Kauth – Rector of St. Joseph Seminary 
• Father John Eckert – Vocations director

They describe his impact on their own vocations in their own words: 

Father Matthew Kauth  - rector of St. Joseph College Seminary

“You could not be from Peoria and Catholic without having knowledge and affection for Bishop Sheen.  

That said, the specific influence he had, aside from his intercession, in our vocations was his clear teaching.  At a time in which catechesis was not strong, many of us young seminarians turned to him for clarity.  I read about everything he ever wrote and listen to all the recorded talks I could.  When we were in major seminary, we had a tradition on Friday that instead of our spiritual reading time we would sit together and listen to a talk or homily by Bishop Sheen.  

Perhaps the most profound effect he had on us directly which has found its way into the lives of our seminarians and newly ordained, was his absolute insistence on a daily holy hour.  That has been and remains a staple in the life of the seminary.  

I am so delighted about his canonization and for mentoring me and others across time and space.”

Father Matthew Buettner - pastor of St. John the Baptist in Tryon 

“I have a profound devotion and friendship with Fulton Sheen.  When I first entered the seminary, I listened to one of Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s talks on the importance of the Holy Hour, which immediately influenced my serious conviction and decision to make a Holy Hour every day.  

For the past 30 years, since my first week in seminary, I have maintained that practice of spending at least an hour with Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament every day.

I attribute my perseverance in the priesthood, as well as any insights, wisdom, and good preaching, teaching, and counsel to the work of the Holy Hour.
In addition, whenever I visit my family in Peoria, I always visit and pray at the tomb of Fulton Sheen at St Mary’s Cathedral asking for his intercession for our seminarians and priests. Perhaps his heavenly intercession has something to do with the remarkable growth of vocations in our diocese, but only God knows.  As the spiritual director of the seminary, I always promoted the practice of the daily Holy Hour with the seminarians and I do think that they took seriously the practice of making the Holy Hour.”

Father John Eckert -  pastor of Sacred Heart in Salibsbury and diocesan vocations director

“I am just grateful, along with my brother priests, of that personal connection to him in the fact that we went to the same high school, and we are from the same part of the world. It is a huge gift that inspires me to try to be a saint myself and to help others to do the same. 

He has always been one of my heroes…his preaching style has such a presence. His radio program and his books had an impact on me while I was going through seminary. He is kind of like one of those holy heroes I always looked up to. 

But the glorious thing is that that is the way God works. In His good providence so many things have a way of connecting - He knows what He is doing before we ever do. 

When I was given permission to come down here to visit when I was in seminary in Peoria, Father Gober was the vocations director. Those are some figurative and literal big shoes to fill. Finding out he was from Peoria as well, it was like God’s good providence. 

I still have a special place in my heart for Peoria.

Father Lucas Rossi- pastor of St. John the Evangelist in Waynesville and Immaculate Conception in Canton

“I am sure we all feel we have a different type of connection with Sheen than others because we all grew up where he did and in the diocese he served. I became familiar with Sheen in the seminary, in 2004, in the Diocese of Peoria prior to my transfer to Charlotte. 

Fulton Sheen inspired all of us in some way to consider the priesthood. He was part of our journey, where we learned about his life and prayed for his intercession. He was a good example. 

Fulton Sheen never, ever missed an hour of Eucharistic prayer, even when he traveled. He encouraged and challenged us to do the same. He kept faithful to that. That is the most inspiring thing I have taken. I am doing it everyday as much as I can. He is a reason I have kept the Holy Hour as a devotion of my life as a seminarian, and all the way into my 16 years as a priest. It’s my oxygen. If I didn’t have that daily hour with Jesus, I shudder to think what might happen. I couldn’t imagine being a priest without it. 

Having an American bishop beatified is crucial for the Church. Bishops kind of have their own intercessor, and most bishops today would know him and probably grew up listening to his shows when they were little. So, it is good, it is going to bring tremendous renewal to the Church in the United States. 

I am glad it is finally happening. We had our first American pope and now our first American-born beatified bishop.”

CHARLOTTE — God’s creatures bring us companionship, comfort and plenty of joy, and each year pet parents across the Diocese of Charlotte have an opportunity to bring their beloved animals to our sacred spaces for a special blessing.

In celebration of the Oct. 4 Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and ecology, parishes throughout the diocese will host Blessing of Animals events this fall.

Events already scheduled include:

• St. Matthew Church, 8015 Ballantyne Commons Parkway, Charlotte. Noon Saturday, Oct. 3, in the parish center parking lot. Animals should be safely secured on a leash or in a carrier/cage for the wellbeing of all attendees. Weather permitting.
• St. Gabriel Church, 3016 Providence Road, Charlotte. 10 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, at the Marian grotto (school parking lot). Short outdoor blessing; please arrive on time. Weather permitting.
• Sacred Heart Church, 375 Lumen Christi Lane, Salisbury. 8 a.m. Friday, Oct. 2, by the flagpoles.
• St. Frances of Rome Mission, 29 Highland Drive, Sparta. 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, outside at the Blessed Virgin Mary Grotto.
• St. John Neumann Church, 8451 Idlewild Road, Charlotte. 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, in the courtyard.
• St. Mark Church, 14740 Stumptown Road, Huntersville. 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, in front of the church.
• St. Francis of Assisi Church, 167 St. Francis Place, Jefferson. 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, outside on the lower level. Please don’t forget top bring any pet essentials to help keep things tidy.

• St. Francis of Assisi Church, 328-B Woodsway Lane N.W., Lenoir. 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, courtyard

• St. Vincent de Paul Church, 6828 Old Reid Rd, Charlotte, 9:45 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 5
• Our Lady of the Assumption, 4207 Shamrock Drive, Charlotte. 10:30 a.m. & 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, outside the church.

— Maria De Ugarte

Sporting his signature cowboy boots, Father Suttle was formally installed Wednesday as pastor of St. Mary Help of Christians Parish – his first assignment as a pastor since being ordained at age 50 in 2024.

“It’s an honor to be a pastor in my hometown,” Father Suttle said with his Southern drawl. “It’s great to be back in Shelby, and I think I have been well received thus far in my time here.”

For parishioners, Father Suttle seems a natural fit. But his journey home was anything but direct.

Growing up, he left his Southern roots and his Methodist faith behind, teaching in Japan and living around the country. He spent years as an agnostic before finding his thirst for truth quenched by the Catholic faith. He converted, entered seminary and was ordained a priest.

Now, at 52, Father Suttle has come full circle – serving the Catholic community in the same town where his own journey of faith began.

“Father Suttle grew up here and went to school here. He has a good understanding of Southern culture, and that’s unique,” says parishioner Brian Finnegan. “He is familiar with the locals and the town. He is pretty much the best possible option for this parish.”

Bishop Michael Martin, who celebrated the Sept. 16 installation Mass, prompted loud applause when he announced during his homily that the congregation had “won the lottery” with Father Suttle as the prize.

“You are indeed all lottery winners, not simply because you have a wonderful pastor,” Bishop Martin said. “I’m excited about what all of you will do together… That this community will be difference-making, in here and out there, if only we commit ourselves to follow Christ as true disciples.”

He asked the more than 100 parishioners attending to set aside their laundry lists of wishes for their new pastor and focus instead on their own service to the Church.

“We are called to serve and every time we do, the cross is involved,” the bishop said. “We will have to die to ourselves. We will be martyred just a little bit every time we respond.”

He encouraged parishioners to remember the needs of their new pastor, the Church and God.

“(Father Suttle) needs your love,” Bishop Martin said. “He needs to know that people are concerned about him, that people want to find ways to lighten his load. He commits himself to all that and more for you. Are you willing to do the same?”

During the installation rite, the official letter of appointment was read to the congregation, then Father Suttle made his Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity and signed the documents officially naming him pastor.

Finnegan, who attended the installation with his wife and two children, says he is already feeling lucky with his new pastor as he figures out his own role of discipleship.

“This is a very Protestant area, and with his background as an adult convert, he will definitely be able to help us evangelize,” he says. 

Father Suttle also makes parishioner Mary Ellen Barker feel like a lottery winner, though she admits God has a sense of humor. 

“He was in school and attended the same classes with my children. The interesting thing is that I have six Catholic sons, not one is a priest, but the Methodist kid around the corner becomes a priest,” Barker laughs. “God works in mysterious ways. It’s so beautiful. You have to be open to God. You have to pray and to take part in the sacraments of the Church. Faith is something to embrace.”

— Lisa M. Geraci. Photos by Troy C. Hull

Sister Joan Pearson grew up in the Diocese of Charlotte and has served here for many of the past 56 years. (File photos | Catholic News Herald)CHARLOTTE — Sister Joan Pearson looks like a jovial grandmother with her rosy cheeks, compassionate blue eyes, and warm, perpetual smile.

But don’t let that fool you.

With a black belt in karate and a passion for justice, she’s actually a fierce advocate for “her people,” that is, people living on the margins – the poor, the immigrants, the homeless, minorities – people with whom she has spent a lifetime. For 56 years, Sister Joan has ministered from big-city slums to the backwoods, along the southern U.S. border, and for the last 30 years in the Diocese of Charlotte – which until recently was considered “mission” territory by the Catholic Church.

Sister Joan has focused her work in North Carolina on the complex needs of Hispanic Catholics and communities. She tends an immense network of contacts that can reach thousands, and was instrumental in providing information during Operation Charlotte’s Web, when ICE came to town looking to arrest immigrants.

Her work has led to the creation of faith formation programs, leadership positions, retreats, and continued growth within the Hispanic community.

Now, at 74, she is preparing to retire – which actually will be more of a transition from formal fulltime work at the diocese’s headquarters to volunteering for the Church.

Currently the Assistant to the Director of Hispanic Ministry, she jokes that she wants to become a Walmart greeter “because I love people.” But if you know Sister Joan, her idea of volunteering will almost certainly exceed the demands of a full-time job.

As a Sister of St. Joseph, she embodies the mission of her religious congregation, founded in 1650 around a kitchen table in France: “Our mission is to bring all into unity with God, one another, and with all creation,” their website says. They do so by serving “the dear neighbor, standing with and for the poor and vulnerable, and by advocating for systemic change.”

“That’s Sister Joan to the core,” says longtime friend and colleague Jim Kelley, the diocese’s director of development. “She’s always taking people in power to task to make change that will help improve the lives of those who are less fortunate. Yet she does so in a light-hearted way that makes people listen.”

Monsignor Patrick Winslow, the diocese’s vicar general and chancellor, has been on the receiving end of Sister Joan’s advocacy more than once.

“She’s kind and affable – and that’s what makes her particularly effective,” he says. “She’s just a joy. You smile when you see her coming. And her delivery is always done in good humor.”

Lesson in equality

The oldest of five girls, young Joan – then called Anna – grew up in a devout Catholic family on a gravel road in Old Town, near Winston-Salem. “We weren’t poor,” she says, “but there wasn’t a lot of fluff.”

One day, when she was 6 or 8, she and her mother were examining an illustration of two girls longing to climb the stairway to heaven. The white girl, as Sister Joan remembers it, was several steps up on the staircase, on her way to heaven, while the black girl was left behind on the ground.

“That’s not right,” her mother told her. “This girl should be on the same step as this girl.”

It was a lesson in equality she never forgot and one that deepened as she came of age in the 1960s. Sister Joan also absorbed her parents’ Catholic influence: Her mother, a homemaker, was a member of the Catholic Daughters service group and a faith formation teacher. Her father, who served in the military, was a Knight of Columbus, a lector and a member of their parish council at St. Leo the Great in Winston-Salem.

A product of the Charlotte diocese, she attended St. Leo School and Bishop McGuinness High School, where the Sisters of St. Joseph would profoundly influence the trajectory of her life.

During summers, she accompanied the Mission Helpers of the Scared Heart as they went door-to-door in poor neighborhoods offering resources and evangelizing. On weekends, she spent time over at St.

Benedict the Moor, the African American church, helping with Masses and the faith formation classes.

“We didn’t consider the people there marginalized. We just saw it as a parish that needed help,” she said. “We were all in it together.”

She so loved the leadership and demeanor of the Sisters of St. Joseph that she wanted to become one.

“I wanted to be as happy as they were,” she recalls.

She entered the convent in Philadelphia in 1970 and began her career in religious life, which included serving as a group home supervisor, a clinical therapist and an elementary school teacher in the Italian sections of New Jersey, the Puerto Rican communities of Pennsylvania, and in urban areas of North Carolina.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s in counseling, and she began to pick up Spanish along the way.

Then, in the mid-1990s, while teaching at an all-Hispanic school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, she received an unusual request from North Carolina.

The Triad area was experiencing an “incredible explosion” of Hispanic Catholics, she says, and Father Jim Solari – pastor of St. Leo the Great – needed help. He requested a nun be sent down to work with the Hispanic population on outreach. 

“When he made this appeal, they thought of me because they knew I was comfortable in the South,” Sister Joan recalls. “And, at that point, my parents were elderly.”

So she moved back to the same parish where she’d received her first confirmation and gone to school and felt God’s call to a religious life of service to others.

Heart for Hispanics

The move began her new ministry in the Diocese of Charlotte, where she has been monumental in building bridges into the Hispanic community.

Just as she did in high school, Sister Joan knocked on doors of apartment complexes and trailer parks evangelizing, although this time she was the one wearing the habit. 

When her broken Spanish failed her, she communicated with body language, emotion and love, something the Hispanic community understood and embraced. 

“She has an emotional personality that is extremely sweet, and that is like honey for the Hispanics,” says Father Julio Dominguez, who worked closely with her as Hispanic Ministry Coordinator.

The Hispanic community vocalized their need for access to sacraments and faith formation classes in Spanish. They wanted to get their kids baptized and confirmed. They wanted to get married and to go to Confession. 

This was something Sister Joan greatly empathized with.

“Some of us have a ‘them’ and ‘us’ mentality,” she says. “Let us understand that we share the Church. We don’t have to divide it. We share the same faith. We share the same altar. We share the same parish.” 

Her advocacy for programs and outreach have helped Spanish speakers find a home at many of the diocese’s 93 churches. More than half of the estimated 575,000 Catholics living in the diocese are Hispanic.

She’s now fluent in Spanish and a whiz on WhatsApp, a primary method of communication for Hispanics and others with family living around the world. She helped build the diocese’s network of 10 Hispanic

Coordinators, who are paid to serve in assigned areas called “vicariates” across the western half of the state.

“She is known in many areas as a no-nonsense nun. If she sees things not working the way they are supposed to, she will let you know,” Deacon Eduardo Bernal, the Hispanic Coordinator of the Mecklenburg area, said. “You can be the pastor, you could be the bishop, you could be the chancellor, you could be whoever. She will tell you how it is.”

At the same time, you might also find Sister Joan at a Hispanic retreat, attending a baptism, hitting a piñata during the Christmas Las Posadas celebration, or at a quinceañera party.

In her retirement, she will stay in North Carolina initially, visiting with friends and family and volunteering for the Church. Ultimately, she may return to the congregation’s motherhouse in Philadelphia but says her heart resides with the Hispanic population in the diocese. 

“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to accompany so many individuals, families, and parish communities over the years,” she wrote in her retirement letter. “Working alongside the Hispanic faithful – especially the poor, the immigrant, the marginalized, has been one of the greatest blessings of my life and has strengthened my religious vocation as a Sister of St. Joseph in countless ways.

“I am sincerely thankful to all with whom I have had the opportunity to serve. I have been blessed by the guidance and support of my many colleagues whose dedication to the Gospel has inspired me throughout my ministry. Together we have shared the responsibility and joy of building up the Kingdom of God, and just in general, have had a lot of fun and adventures!!

“My heart is full of gratitude and countless memories that I will treasure for the rest of my life.”

— Lisa M. Geraci. Liz Chandler contributed

Just don’t leave your dog at home - there will be pet blessings galore across the diocese. While you’re exploring, befriend a squirrel, hug a tree or hike a trail or two. If you are feeling daring, go St. Francis style - barefoot. If you encounter a fierce wolf along the way, run first and then pray hard, but feel free to preach to the birds.

— Lisa Geraci

* In its decree for the Jubilee Year of St. Francis, the Apostolic Penitentiary announced that plenary indulgences will be granted to Catholics “under the usual conditions (sacramental confession, Eucharistic communion and prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father), to those who participate in a pilgrimage to churches named after the saint – those marked with an * are eligible. Read more online at charlottediocese.org/year-of-st-francis/

St. Francis of Assisi Church, Lenoir*

328-B Woodsway Lane NW, Lenoir
828-754-5281

Events:

• Oct. 3: 9 a.m. Mass, followed by a pet blessing and parish festival from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Oct. 4: 10 a.m. Mass (English), followed by a procession; noon Mass (Spanish), followed by a procession.

While you are there:

• Venerate first- and third-class St. Francis of Assisi relics in the church’s left chapel.
• Say a prayer for vocations in front of the St. Francis Memorial Fountain.
• Visit the old church at 1025 College Ave.

History: St. Francis of Assisi Church in Lenoir was founded by Franciscan friars who arrived in Caldwell County in 1932.

St. Francis of Assisi Church, Mocksville*
862 Yadkinville Road, Mocksville
336-751-2973

Events:

• Oct. 3: 1 p.m. pet blessing
• Oct. 4: 10:20 a.m. procession with a St. Francis of Assisi relic, Mass and blessing with the relic, followed by a festival.

Fun fact: In 1980, St. Francis of Assisi Church welcomed its first resident pastor – Friars of Atonement Father Noel McSweeney – and with him, parish status.

St. Francis of Assisi Church, Franklin*
299 Maple St., Franklin
828-524-2289

Events:

• Oct 4: Mass 9 a.m. in English and 11 a.m. in Spanish

Take the trip: Drive the scenic route to Our Lady of the Mountains Church in Highlands to visit its new Baroque-style church. Along the way stop at the seven waterfalls right off the road.

St. Francis of Assisi Church, Jefferson*
167 St. Francis Place, Jefferson
336-246-9151

Events:

• Oct. 2: 4 p.m. pet blessings
• Oct. 3: 2:30 p.m. Transitus of St. Francis with Father Jacob Mlakar and the Secular Franciscan Fraternity. (Confessions at 3:45 p.m. and Mass at 4:30 p.m.)

While you are there:

• At the church: See 34 stained-glass windows, including scenes from St. Francis’ life
• Take a hike: St. Francis walked barefoot across Europe for 20 years and thousands of miles. To honor him, take the dogs for a walk along more than 400 miles of marked trails within 90 minutes of Jefferson.

Both the Appalachian Trail and the Blue Ridge Parkway pass through Ashe County.

St. Francis Springs Prayer Center, Stoneville
477 Grogan Road, Stoneville
336-573-3751

Events:

• Oct. 3: 4 to 6 p.m. Transitus service in the St. Francis Prayer Chapel, followed by processions to the Glass Chapel and the columbarium, concluding with dinner (RSVP required).

While you are there:

• Main building: Timeline of St. Francis’ life in paintings along the hallway
• Grounds and facility: Sculptures, paintings and works of art dedicated to St. Francis and St. Clare
• Trails: Take a hike along the paths to a large mural of St. Francis atop a hill

St. James the Greater Church, Concord
139 Manor Ave. SW, Concord
704-720-0600

Events:

• Oct. 3: 11:30 a.m. Transitus service with Franciscans Father Casey Cole, OFM, and Father Roberto “Tito” Serrano, OFM.

Our Lady of Mercy Church, Winston Salem
1730 Link Road, Winston-Salem
336-723-8238

Events:

• Oct. 4: 11 a.m. Mass. Secular Franciscans will renew their promises and Sister Kathy Ganiel, OSF will renew her vows.

“Our united prayers, sacrifices and efforts to protect human life and heal the wounds inflicted by abortion remain as important as ever,” said Bishop Daniel E. Thomas – Bishop of Toledo, Ohio, and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities – earlier this year. “Let us remain steadfast in our commitment to ensure that every human life may be protected in law and welcomed in love, and that abortion may be unthinkable.”

Life Chains will take place in these communities Oct. 4. For details about these and other Life Chain events, go online to www.lifechain.org.

CHARLOTTE
8015 Ballantyne Commons Pkwy., 2-3 p.m.

7702 Pineville Matthews Rd. (Voices For Life Club at CCHS), 2:30-3:30 p.m.

CONCORD
800 block of South Union St. in front of Food Lion, 2-3 p.m.; Joe Andruzzi, 704-796-0075

GREENSBORO
Battleground Ave., 2:30-3:30 p.m.; Mark Shelly, 336-312-4810

HUNTERSVILLE
The sidewalk in front of St. Mark Church, Stumptown Road, 2-3 p.m.

MOCKSVILLE
Event is moved to 10 a.m.-noon Oct. 11.
St Francis of Assisi Parish, 862 Yadkinville Road; David Taylor, 226-406-1089

MOORESVILLE
St. Therese Parish will be joining St. Mark Parish in Huntersville

NEWTON
Meet at the Catawba County Museum of History, 30 N College Ave. They will start in prayer and walk around downtown, 1-3 p.m.

WAYNESVILLE
On the corner of Russ Ave. and Howell Mill Road on the side of the street facing Burger King, 2 p.m.

WINSTON-SALEM
Home Depot parking lot on Haines Mall Blvd., 2 p.m.; Joe Rogers, 419-944-5375

— Catholic News Herald and OSV News

“The Sisters of Mercy are committed to do our part to make life on our home, planet Earth, sustainable for generations into the future,” said Sister Judith Frikker, RSM, a member of the sisters’ institute leadership team.

The 1,152 panels were expected to be fully operational by the end of September, providing an estimated 919 megawatt hours of electricity annually, about 30% of the campus’ total electricity usage.

Belmont Mayor Joe Jordan, Belmont City Council member Jim Hefferan and City of Belmont Chief of Police Boyce “Corky” Falls were on hand for the ribbon cutting. Father Paul Buchanan, pastor of Queen of the Apostles Church in Belmont, blessed the project.

The $3 million project is the first solar panel installation project by the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas and represents a major step toward their goal of achieving complete carbon neutrality by 2045.

“We have called ourselves to align our institutional practices with actions to address the urgent climate crisis that we all face,” Sister Judith said.

“There is much that needs to be done, and that will only be effective if we collaborate in this effort.”

— Catholic News Herald

— Photos by Patrick Schneider

“In my life, the question isn't whether or not I have passion. The question is to whom is my passion directed,” Bishop Martin said in his homily for the closing Mass of the 22nd Eucharistic Congress at the Charlotte Convention Center. “I think each of us should regularly ask ourselves that question.”

The bilingual Mass wrapped up a two-day celebration that drew 13,000 people for a joyful mix of music, worship and fellowship, all centered around the Eucharist as the source and summit of the Catholic faith.

The Eucharistic Congress, themed “Called. Formed. Sent,” opened its doors Friday evening with a praise-and-worship concert headlined by the Scally Brothers.

It resumed Saturday morning with one of the largest Eucharistic processions in the nation as thousands of people sang, danced and prayed for more than 40 minutes as they made their way from St. Peter Church through the streets of Uptown. It was followed by a Holy Hour led by Father Kevin Martinez and a variety of speakers who brought a focus on youth.

"I really love the chance for young adults to be here together and that there are activities geared toward us," said Elba Moreno, who travelled from St. Eugene Parish in Asheville, the tenth time she has walked in the procession. "You saw so many young people here alongside older people, all together. It was beautiful." 

In his homily message, Bishop Martin drew from the Gospel (Luke 9:11b-17) that recalled the feeding of the multitudes to emphasize the Congress’ theme of service to others.

In that reading, the bishop explained, Jesus is “sending us a very clear message. The disciples come to him with a problem: ‘We have all these people – what are we going to feed them?’, and what is His first response? ‘Go feed them yourselves.’”

“He's trying to empower them,” the bishop said. “He is preparing the ground for the ministry that they're going to be carrying out.”

Likewise, he said, Jesus through the Eucharist “is passionate about empowering us so that we can feed the deepest hungers of the world.”

“The saddest reality of Christianity in our time is not that people have no passion for it, it's that they don't know what they really should be passionate about. They don't see examples of people whose lives have been transformed by the love of Christ, especially in the Eucharist – that's on you and me.”

“My brothers and sisters, we are called, we are formed, and we are sent,” Bishop Martin emphasized. “May we be passionate about each and may we allow the passion of our God on the cross, broken and shared on this altar, to empower us to go feed them yourselves.”

The Mass concluded with a bilingual video invitation for participants to live the theme of the Congress out in their daily lives.

“What's next?” Bishop Martin asked in the video. “I challenge you to keep going – build on what you've started here.”

Five priests from across the diocese then offered suggestions for how to do so, ranging from attending Mass and receiving the sacraments to volunteering in faith formation, campus ministry or works of charity.

Father Marcel Amadi wrapped up the message: “We need to go out to make disciples of all nations as Christ would tell us in Matthew 28. Don't keep all of these graces and blessings to yourself. go share them and bring more people into God's Church.”

— Trish Stukbauer. Photos by Jason Blanco, Liz Chandler, Edward Chaplinsky Jr., Olivia DiaGiovanni, Lisa M. Geraci, Troy C. Hull, Christina Lee Knauss, Sergio Lopez, Patrick Schneider, Brian Segovia and provided

Thousands of local Catholics gathered at 9 a.m., taking over Tryon, Brevard and College streets and transforming them into a sacred place with an extraordinary purpose – to share the Body of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament with the world. 

The monstrance, containing the consecrated host – the Body, the Blood, and the Divinity of Jesus Christ – was held up high for all to see as the mix of parishioners from diverse cultures yet united by one faith, danced, sang and prayed their way to the Charlotte Convention Center for the 22nd Eucharistic Congress.

Melony Rayala and her husband Chris traveled across the state from Cary in the Diocese of Raleigh to take part in the procession and to offer support to others through prayer. 

"It's just beautiful to see people from this diocese and other places come together to pray and show the love of Christ," Rayala said.

The procession began with clergy members incensing the crowd at St. Peter Church. Forty-five minutes later, the doors closed behind the last processors and Holy Hour began. 

Father Kevin Martinez, parochial vicar at St. Mark Church in Huntersville, delivered an inspiring Holy Hour homily explaining that everyone is “Called. Formed. Sent.” through God. Disciples of Christ are given extraordinary gifts, purpose and uniqueness by God, he said.

He referenced the Gospel of Luke 5:1-11 on the apostles’ miraculous catch, and urged modern-day disciples to “not be afraid” of catching a bigger purpose through Christ. 

Christ doesn’t just call the saints, nor only those who are ready, Father Martinez said.

“Every day the Lord calls people in all walks of life to be His voice, to be His hands, to be His presence, to be His light, amidst a world of darkness,” Father Martinez said. 

Some may think they are not special like the disciples, but the Gospel suggests otherwise, he said.

“He didn’t call them (the apostles) and approach them at the temple or the synagogue. He called them on a boat, doing their daily duties. These were ordinary men whom God called forth to live extraordinary lives,” Father Martinez said. “And He calls all of you as well to be a light to the nations.”

Father Martinez reminded the attendees that when Saint Peter claimed he was unworthy of the call, Jesus did not cast him aside but invited him to throw his net wider, saying, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 

“Formation with Messiah is not a one-time ordeal – it is a journey of walking with the Lord, day in and day out,” he said, reminding people that the same Messiah who walked the earth 2,000 years ago is still present in the Eucharist. 

“In what ways is the Lord stepping into your life and asking you, ‘Put out into the deep for a catch?’” he asked. “Once you accept being one of His disciples, the Lord will ask you to cast into the deep waters, and

He will transform your ordinary life into an extraordinary one.” 

The afternoon continued with programming in three languages before a closing Mass.

— Lisa M. Geraci. Photos by Jason Blanco, Liz Chandler, Edward Chaplinsky Jr., Troy C. Hull, Sergio Lopez, Patrick Schneider, Brian Segovia and provided

CHARLOTTE — Thousands of Catholics took to the streets of Charlotte to dance, pray, sing and carry banners representing parishes and ministries on Saturday morning.

Parishioners and group participants lined up behind more than 100 banners representing them as the faithful took part in this highly visible moment of the 2026 Eucharistic Congress set against the backdrop of the city skyline.

Bishop Michael Martin, OFM Conv., and young priests carried the Blessed Sacrament through the crowd-lined streets, where the faithful kneeled as the procession passed.

The Eucharistic Procession culminated inside the Charlotte Convention Center, where Father Kevin Martinez, parochial vicar of St. Mark Church in Huntersville, delivered the Holy Hour homily to a crowd of thousands.
— Christina Lee Knauss. Photos by Jason Blanco, Liz Chandler, Edward Chaplinsky Jr.,Olivia DiaGiovanni, Troy C. Hull, Sergio Lopez, Patrick Schneider, Brian Segovia and provided

CHARLOTTE — Music, prayer and fellowship filled the Charlotte Convention Center Friday night Sept. 11 as people of all ages came together for the first night of the 22nd Annual Eucharistic Congress.

Bishop Michael Martin welcomed attendees with words of hope that described the importance of the annual event, which draws thousands of Catholics from around the Diocese of Charlotte and beyond. He and other speakers reflected on this year’s theme: “Called. Formed. Sent.”

“I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you all are here,” he told the crowd. “Praise God that we have this opportunity here in western North Carolina to celebrate Jesus Christ, to celebrate His risen, broken Body and Blood in the Eucharist. That’s what we’re going to be focusing on this weekend – that all of us have been called, that these moments help us to be formed, all ultimately so that we can be sent.”

At the beginning of the evening, young adults from around the Charlotte area gathered for a networking session and had a chance to meet and talk with Bishop Martin. The event drew people who wanted to meet new friends and seek a deeper connection to their faith. The event was part of a distinct focus on outreach to youth and young adults at this year’s Eucharistic Congress.

“I’m new to Charlotte and wanted to meet some like-minded people,” said Jacob Strickland, who came to the convention center directly after work. “It’s been a long day but so far this evening has been great.”

Megan and Steven Arteaga, who attend Queen of the Apostles Church in Belmont, said they both became full members of the Church this past year and were drawn to the event to try to meet other young Catholics.

“I really have been wanting to get out and attend more Catholic things, especially with other young adults, and this seemed like a great idea,” Megan Arteaga said.

Ana Munley, a Catholic speaker, digital creator and host of the AfterMass podcast, offered a deep reflection on Scripture that illustrated how figures like Mary, Zachariah and others responded to God’s call. She encouraged the crowd to realize that when they receive the Eucharist at Mass, they are doing more than receiving a sacrament – they are receiving God and are called to share Him with others.

“The Christ you just received is not meant to be tucked away just for you,” Munley said. “Grace does not drag its feet.”

She encouraged the crowd to see the Eucharist as inspiration to reach out to others, whether it’s “the woman sitting alone in her pew after Mass, the friend you’ve been meaning to invite to confession for six months, the parents or the siblings you’ve been estranged from.”

The evening culminated with a concert by The Scally Brothers, a Christian pop duo from Toledo, Ohio, whose music explores themes of hope, faith and God’s love. Brothers Zach and Jake have been performing together since they were children, and have built a full-time ministry that takes them to dozens of Catholic events each year. Their music appeals to both Catholics and non-Catholics, Jake Scally said, because their ultimate goal is “to show people the love of the Lord.”

Both were excited to attend the Eucharistic Congress because of the event’s profound witness of the faith in the city streets of Charlotte and also the outreach to young adults.

“The same Holy Spirit that reached out to us years ago is reaching out to young people today. We see it on a national scale – young people are really starting to stand up for what is right,” Jake Scally said. “They’re tired of the lies and they want to stand up for the truth.”

The Scallys have performed at other Eucharistic Congress events and said being in Charlotte offers a potent witness to the strength of Catholic faith in western North Carolina.

“It’s always a blessing to see something like this because the Eucharist is the pinnacle of our faith,” Zach Scally said. “There are people walking in the street and not being afraid, saying, ‘This is what we stand for and what we believe.’”

Later in the evening Bishop Martin continued the outreach to young people by giving a talk to male college athletes from Belmont Abbey College. Guest speaker Ana Munley also spoke to a group of women from the college. 

Friday’s excitement leads right into a full day of faith-filled activities on Saturday.

Events will start with a Eucharistic procession beginning at St. Peter Church at 9 a.m. and ending at the convention center. This annual event attracts thousands of people from all around the diocese, including many parish and ministry groups that walk behind vivid banners, singing and praying.

A 10:30 a.m. Holy Hour led by Father Kevin Martinez will immediately follow. The day’s activities ranges from educational tracks with inspiring speakers to the opportunity to receive the sacrament of confession from dozens of diocesan priests. Vendors will have a variety of Catholic merchandise for sale. Tomorrow’s faith-filled day will conclude with a 4 p.m. Mass celebrated by Bishop Martin, with pre-Mass music by The Vigil Project.

— Christina Lee Knauss. Photos by Jason Blanco, Liz Chandler, Edward Chaplinsky Jr., Troy C. Hull, Patrick Schneider, Brian Segovia and provided

Find the schedule

Plan your visit at the Eucharistic Congress Saturday, Sept. 12, at https://goeucharist.com/

CHARLOTTE — Churches and Catholic schools across the diocese marked Patriot Day on Friday with prayer services, flag ceremonies, visits with first responders, and through service projects – all aimed at remembering the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and seeking to build a brighter future. 

Bishop Michael Martin kicked off the day with an early morning radio appearance reflecting on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 on WBT’s Good Morning BT with Bo Thompson and Beth Troutman.

At the time of the terrorist attacks, the bishop was principal of an all-boys Catholic school in Baltimore, just an hour away from the Pentagon, and he recounted the weight of deciding how best to care for his students on that day. The uncertainty and fear he felt in those moments mirrored what millions of Americans felt in the immediate aftermath of the attacks that killed 2,996 people in New York City, at the Pentagon and in a Shanksville, Pennsylvania, field.

“The flood of emotions in that moment were substantial,” Bishop Martin told radio listeners. “The greatest of which was, I have 600 young people here, what am I supposed to do?”

“The issue of terrorism had come home,” he recalled. In that moment, the future bishop’s school gathered in prayer over the PA system.

To mark the day this year, students at Holy Trinity Catholic Academy gathered on the athletic field to pray a patriotic rosary and watched as firefighters raised a flag atop their ladder truck. St. Gabriel School also held a flag ceremony, and St. Ann School held a Blue Mass honoring law enforcement and first responders. Students  then made prayer beads and goodie bags for four  local fire stations.

WBT took people back to that fateful day by replaying the reporting and commentary that aired on their station, and Bishop Martin noted the passage of time offers deeper perspective.

“As time progresses a little bit, then we start looking for meaning and purpose, and that's where many of us turn to a higher power,” he said. “We turn to something greater. We turn to God and say first and foremost, why and what does this mean, and we start to ask bigger questions and it challenges us.”

The trauma Americans faced collectively on 9/11 is repeated daily on a more personal level, he said.

“There will be people today who will find out that they have… weeks to live because of a medical condition, and that trauma is as real as what we experienced 25 years ago, it's just in this instance it had a communal dynamic,” he said.

After 25 years, he remains hopeful that we can take some lessons from that day.

“We talk a lot about wanting something better for our children,” Bishop Martin noted. “I think one of the ways is to show them how we can move beyond feelings of devastation, anger and hurt to get to a place of forgiveness and acceptance and again that concept of agency – that I can do things differently so that the world is a better place, that we can we can make it better with God's grace.

“There is a strength that we can find in our God who wants our good and walks with us even in our worst moments such as 25 years ago,” he said. “That needs to be the response that all of us have to consider at some point, and a day like today helps us to refocus.”

— Catholic News Herald. Photos provided

 St Gabriel School 

Across the diocese, Catholic schools and marked Patriot Day in a variety of ways. Students and parishioners attended prayer services and Mass, held flag ceremonies, heard from police and firefighters and participated in service projects to remember the past while praying and acting for a brighter future.

Holy Trinity Catholic Academy

Elsewhere in the diocese

More than 100 parishioners gathered in the chapel with Father Patrick Cahill at St. Matthew Church to pray a rosary for peace to remembered the lives lost 25 years ago on September 11, 2001.

"Twenty-five years have elapsed since that day and yet the chilling images remain etched in our minds," said the Ukrainian Catholic bishops of the U.S., led by Metropolitan Archbishop Borys A. Gudziak of Philadelphia, in a pastoral letter for the occasion issued Sept. 4.

Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in a Sept. 9 statement that "faith lifted us up and sustained us" during the attack and its aftermath.

“As conflicts intensify around the world, let us renew our commitment to be Christ’s instruments of peace in an increasingly fractured and divided world," he said.

The coordinated attacks began when four commercial aircraft were hijacked by members of the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda and crashed into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. Passengers on United Flight 93 overpowered their captors, with the plane crashing near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, rather than reaching a likely target in Washington.

In total, the attacks immediately killed 2,977, including 441 first responders. As of June 30, more than 9,000 tracked by the federal World Trade Center Health Program have died since.
So far, over 57,000 first responders and survivors had been certified to have cancers related to the attack, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

On Sept. 8, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released 170,000 pages of documentation -- part of a settlement with the independent 911 Health Watch organization -- indicating that city officials had knew toxins from the attacks remained long after the air was declared safe.

In their pastoral letter, the U.S. Ukrainian Catholic bishops called on their priests to celebrate a "panakhyda," a prayer service for the souls of the deceased, for 9/11 victims on either Sept. 11 or 13.

On Sept. 11, Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services will be the principal celebrant and homilist for the scheduled 5:15 p.m. Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington.

In its online announcement of the liturgy, which will be livestreamed at www.nationalshrine.org/mass, the shrine observed that the nation had "gathered in prayer at the Basilica" on the day of the attacks "in shock, in tears, and in prayer."

Now, said the shrine, "we gather once again to remember those who died, honor the brave first responders and members of our Armed Forces who answered the nation's call in its aftermath, and entrust to the mercy of God all affected by that tragic day."

Bishop Mark L. Bartchak of Altoona-Johnstown, Pennsylvania, will participate along with other faith leaders in a Sept. 11 commemoration at the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville. That evening, he will also offer an opening prayer for the city of Altoona's official marking of the tragedy.

Multiple Masses marking the somber milestone will be offered throughout New York and its surrounding counties, according to The Good Newsroom, the official news outlet of the Archdiocese of New York.

Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks of New York will celebrate a vigil Memorial Mass Sept. 10 at St. Patrick's Cathedral. The invitation-only liturgy, which begins at 5 p.m., will be livestreamed.

Masses will also take place at two cemeteries managed by St. Patrick's Cathedral trustees, Resurrection Cemetery on Staten Island and Calvary Cemetery in Queens. The two are the final resting places, respectively, for 61 and 16 victims of the attacks.

St. Philip Neri Church in the Bronx will honor three New York firefighters -- Lt. Mickey Conboy, Lt. Michael K. Healey and firefighter Donald J. Regan -- who responded to the 9/11 attacks. Conboy -- who survived the attacks, which claimed the lives of his two colleagues -- will be on hand as the church dedicates a plaque honoring all three.

The Good Newsroom noted that during a "terrible fire" at the parish in June 1967, Conboy, Healey and Regan had "risked their lives" to save the Blessed Sacrament. More than three decades later, Healey and Regan died at the World Trade Center on 9/11 while "saving other members of the Body of Christ," said the news outlet.

Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of Bridgeport, Connecticut -- a state that lost 161 associated individuals to the attacks -- will celebrate an evening Mass at St. Aloysius Parish in New Canaan, Connecticut, to honor 9/11 victims.

In their pastoral letter, the U.S. Ukrainian Catholic bishops said that Christians "must do more than remember" the horrors of 9/11, and reflect on its profound lessons about evil, goodness and the faith-filled choices that lie between the two.

"September 11 confronts us with the terrible reality of the capacity of fallen humanity for evil," said the bishops. "When hatred is allowed to take possession of the human heart, when another person is no longer seen as a child of God but as an enemy to be destroyed, the consequences can be horrifying."

Yet 9/11 also revealed humanity's "even greater capacity for goodness, courage, compassion, sacrifice and love," they said. "We saw strangers helping strangers. We saw firefighters climbing stairways toward almost certain death. We saw ordinary people performing extraordinary acts of courage."

They added that "one of the most important lessons of September 11" is to refuse to despair when "evil seems relentless."

"Despair is not the language of the Gospel. Hope is," said the U.S. Ukrainian Catholic bishops.

And, they said, "in the face of death, we proclaim with confidence the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal life."

 — Gina Christian, OSV News

Officers for the 2026-27 session are:

• Chairman: Father Benjamin Roberts, V.F., priest-in-charge of the Catholic Community of Waxhaw

• Vice Chairman: Father Peter Ascik, pastor and rector of St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte

• Secretary: Father David McCanless, Campus Ministry chaplain at Wake Forest University

• Treasurer: Father John Putnam, J.V., pastor of St. Mark Parish in Huntersville and judicial vicar for the diocese

Bishop Michael Martin, OFM Conv., serves as president of the Presbyteral Council.

Elected by fellow priests to serve a three-year term from 2026 to 2029 on the Presbyteral Council is Jesuit Father Mark Scalese. Re-elected to serve an additional three-year term are Father Peter Ascik, pastor and rector of St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte; Father Patrik Cahill, pastor of St. Matthew Parish in Charlotte; and Father Alfonso Gamez, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Lenoir.

Other members of the Presbyteral Council are listed on the diocese’s website, www.charlottediocese.org.

Required by Church law, the Presbyteral Council represents all priests in the diocese and is “like a senate of the bishop” (Code of Canon Law 495 §1), with about half the members elected by priests and others appointed by the bishop.

— Catholic News Herald

Father Roberts

Father AscikFather McCanless Father Putnam

The pope traveled to Genazzano, a small town about 35 miles east of Rome, to celebrate an evening Mass at the Basilica Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel on the vigil of the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The visit was the second he has made to the basilica since becoming pope. Pope Leo recalled how he previously made a surprise visit to the shrine just days after his election in the May 2025 conclave to pray before the image of the Virgin Mary to whom he has long been devoted.

"As you may remember, 'in the early days of my pontificate, I felt the duty and a deep desire to visit Genazzano, the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel, who has accompanied me throughout my life with her maternal presence, her wisdom and the example of her love for her Son, who is always the center of my faith,'" the pope said at the start of his homily, quoting words he wrote in the shrine's guest book on his first visit.

Reflecting on the birth of the Virgin Mary, which the Church celebrates on Sept. 8, the pope said that "Mary is the dawn of a new day, of our world finally freed from evil."

"Let us ask her for her Good Counsel, so that we may welcome the divine Word, keep it within us, and bring it to light through courageous and wise decisions, decisions of authentic conversion," he said.

The shrine holds special significance for Pope Leo, who visited many times prior to his election as pope. The Augustinian Province of Chicago, where then-Robert Prevost entered religious life, was dedicated to Our Lady of Good Counsel, and he has visited the Genazzano sanctuary for decades since his first visit while studying in Rome in the early 1980s.

His pilgrimages to pray before the image continued throughout his time as prior general of the Augustinians, bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, and later as a cardinal.

The shrine, entrusted to the Augustinians since the 14th century, has drawn many pilgrims over the centuries, among them several popes, including Urban VIII, Pius IX, John XXIII and John Paul II, who are depicted in frescoes on the walls of the basilica.

Pope Leo arrived in Genazzano shortly after 5 p.m. and greeted pilgrims gathered outside and inside the basilica who enthusiastically kissed his ring. He first knelt in prayer before the main altar and then visited the chapel containing the revered image of Our Lady of Good Counsel, where he prayed silently and presented a golden rose, a traditional papal gift.

Before Mass, a new fresco on the wall of the basilica was unveiled depicting the current Augustinian pope kneeling before the Marian image.

In his homily for the Church's celebration of Mary's birth, Pope Leo invited prayerful contemplation of the virtues of the Virgin Mary.

"We celebrate the birth of a little girl called to become the Mother of her Creator, the Mother of God who saves," he said. "And yet, she is born simply a child, like the daughters and granddaughters we hold in our arms."

The pope quoted St. Thomas of Villanova, a 16th-century Augustinian bishop and theologian, who pondered why the Gospels did not provide more details about Mary's life, describing this as an invitation to contemplate her holiness and virtues.

Pope Leo commented that "St. Thomas invites us to engage in this wonderful exercise of the imagination," adding that contemplative prayer is especially important today "in times of destruction and uncertainty."

St. Thomas of Villanova wrote, "Let your imagination run wild … paint in the depths of your soul a young woman who is most pure, most prudent, most beautiful, most devout, most humble, most gentle, full of every grace, rich in sanctity, adorned with all the virtues, embellished with all the charisms, absolutely pleasing to God."

— Courtney Mares, OSV News