Around The Diocese For September 11
Another boy, another question
Father Eugene Schmitt, pastor at St. Peter Celestine Parish in Celestine and St. Raphael Parish in Dubois, recently quoted the words of Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, in a letter to his parishioners:
“The news has been full over the last few weeks of revelations about the ‘harvesting’ of organs by Planned Parenthood from the remains of aborted children, so they can be sold for medical research.
“Most of us simply recoil in horror from this ghoulish practice. This controversy has served one very valuable purpose. It teaches us that despite over 40 years of legalized abortion, the human conscience has not been completely deadened.”
For decades, Cardinal Dolan noted, the advocates for legal abortion have minimized or denied the humanity of the unborn child, using terms such as “blobs of tissue” and “terminating a pregnancy.”
“Those tricks of misleading language are no longer viable, thanks to the Planned Parenthood staff members who were captured on these undercover videos, with their callous bluntness about what they were actually doing.”
The cardinal noted the video in which a technician exclaims “another boy!” as she handles various organs of one of the aborted babies.
“Many years ago, during the great moral crusade to eliminate the human slave trade, a medallion was used by men such as William Wilberforce to advance their cause. It depicts a slave, bound in chains, and asks a simple question — ‘Am I not a man and a brother?’
“Another boy now asks us that same question. How will we answer?”
Father Schmitt encouraged his parishioners to take part in the 54-day novena for sanctity of life for family, marriage, peace and religious freedom.
Happy Birthday!
Father Kenneth Graehler, a retired priest of the Diocese of Evansville, celebrates his birthday Sept. 20.
Deacon Wayne Hoy celebrates his birthday Sept. 23.
Deacon anniversary
Deacon Michael Morris was ordained Sept. 20, 1985.
65 years
Dorothy and Willis Williams will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary on Sept. 12th. They are members of Our Lady of Hope in Washington.
Parish secretary
Becky Westfall will serve as the parish secretary by working at Sacred Heart parish office on weekday mornings and at the Old Cathedral office on weekday afternoons; both parishes are in Vincennes.
Happy Birthday!
Sally Sternberg, principal at Holy Trinity Catholic School, Jasper, celebrates her birthday Sept. 21.
Tracey Unfried, principal at Westside Catholic School, Evansville, celebrates her birthday Sept. 21.
Anniversaries in Schnellville, St. Anthony
Congratulations to couples at Sacred Heart Parish in Schnellville and St. Anthony Parish in St. Anthony who are celebrating wedding anniversaries: Clarence and Sue Brames, 40 years; Mike and Debbie Fleck, 45 years; Dave and Jane Norman, 45 years; Larry and Andrew Wagner, 50 years; Gene and Pat Fleck, 50 years; David and Bea Recker, 55 years.
Wonderful work
“A special thank you for the wonderful work done by the members of the Altar Society and the Christ Renews His Parish,” writes Father Kenneth Walker, pastor at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Loogootee.
“This joint venture spent a total of 56 hours deep cleaning and polishing the wood of the church pews and the sanctuary. Those who helped were Donna Ader, Roberta Burch, Nancy Consley, Rachel Doyle, Vonda Elliott, Francyne Fegan, Mary Gates, Melissa Hedrick, Mary Jo Lannan, Mary Rose Mangin, Stephanie McAtee, Becky Summers, Cathy Todd, Donna Van Winkle, Elaine Wade, Linda Wickman, Donna Williams, and Vernita Williams.
“We are most grateful to to Stephanie McAtee and Elaine Wade who spearheaded this endeavor to rejuvenate our church interior.”
