Supplements

Story by Rafe Middeke Photos by Liz Quirin
Messenger staff

Parishes and institutions marked milestone anniversaries in 2009. St. Mary Parish in Sesser and St. Lawrence Parish in Lawrenceville celebrated centennials; Camp Ondessonk celebrated 50 years of camping; Holy Angels Shelter in East St. Louis completed 25 years of its ministry. Individual journeys of faith marked milestones too in jubilee celebrations, adoption decisions, retirements and changed ministries and ministry commitments as volunteers locally and internationally.

Included in recognitions of individual commitments of faith and ministry were: Catholic Social Services Christian Service awards; The Messenger’s Faith in the Marketplace awards; youth activities at the annual Catholic Youth Conference and school and parish service projects — and a commitment to build a library in a Kenyan village.
Holy Rosary School in Fairmont City closed its doors at the end of the school year. For Shirley Curre the closing ended 41 years as a teacher and principal at the school.

The experiences of individuals, their joys and their sorrows, were, as always, often kept in memories and hearts, addressed in silence with prayer and reflection.

January
Vocation memories and vocation-inspired activities provided the background for reflections in The Messenger’s Jan. 9 issue.

Two mothers, Mrs. Pauline McGuire and Mrs. Mary Hitpas, talked about their children’s decision to pursue church vocations — Kathleen McGuire as an Adorer religious and Bill Hitpas as a diocesan priest.
Mrs. McGuire lives with the pain of her daughter’s assassination in Liberia. Msgr. Hitpas is the pastor of St. Nicholas Parish in O’Fallon.

The vocation section also personalized the individual experiences of two senior service projects at diocesan Catholic high schools. Recalling her experiences in Honduras, Jenna Smith, Althoff Catholic High School senior, said: “They will affect my ideas for the rest of my life.”
Bishop Edward K. Braxton published a tribute to Avery Cardinal Dulles, who died Dec. 12, 2008 at the age of 90.

Also reported in January:
• The parish creche at St. Paul Parish in Johnston City grows each year, with the Knights of Columbus adding a new Fontanini figure since 1980. The spirit of Christmas is continued by St. Paul parishioners who volunteer each month to fix and serve a meal at the local homeless shelter.

• Father John Myler published a commentary on the fiftieth anniversary of the call of Vatican II by Pope John XXIII.
• A gathering of Hispanic ministry participants met to review and clarify a plan to respond to Latinos who may face actions by immigration officials.

February
The theme changes, but the celebration of a unique American Catholic institution — parish and diocesan Catholic schools — is a February tradition. In The Messenger’s annual Catholic Schools Week supplement the “Celebrate Service” theme came to life with some of the schools’ activities and students’ names and comments. Service projects included mission carnivals at St. Agatha’s in New Athens and Holy Childhood in Mascoutah, food drives in a number of schools, the 25th annual rummage sale for a number of causes at SS. Peter and Paul in Waterloo, Mater Dei seniors supporting a Habitat for Humanity project, etc. The week’s experience from students’ comments: service was a celebration, not a chore.

Service was also the operative word for a group of Catholic Urban Programs’ backers who organized a benefit Mardi Gras Bash.

Also reported in February:
• Pro-life demonstrators returned after participating in the annual Washington March for Life and advocating for legislative support for pregnant women.

• The annual Martin Luther King anniversary was celebrated at St. Augustine’s in East St. Louis Jan. 18. Parishioner Abbie Martin, 93, reminisced on her transition from the former segregated St. Augustine’s parish to the white St. Joseph’s parish.

• February obituaries: Msgr. James Jansen; Sister Mary Patrick Power, ASC; Mary Rose Margason.

March
Welcome was the message at the annual Rite of Election on March 1 at St. Peter Cathedral in Belleville. Bishop Braxton greeted more than 100 catechumens and candidates beginning the final weeks of their journeys to the Easter Vigil to be baptized and/or welcomed into the church.

Included in the March 19 issue was the annual El Mensajero en espanol insert with news of Hispanic presence in the diocese and inviting a welcoming attitude to our Latino brothers and sisters.

Welcomed to the diocese by Bishop Braxton was Sri Lankan Father Pattinkuttige Kingsley Nonis who appointed him chaplain at the Newman Center at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and sacramental minister at Holy Spirit Parish in Carterville. He also welcomed as a seminarian for the diocese the Rev. Mr. Ronald Weber, a Chicago native.

Not welcomed was the diocesan announcement that due to the downturn in the economy the jobs of three full-time and four part-time diocesan employees would be terminated and three other full-time staff would be reduced to part-time.

Also reported in March:
• Bishop Braxton reported on the Catholic Conference of Illinois’ “Catholics at the Capitol,” with 5,000 Illinois Catholics participating to make their voices heard on a broad range of issues.

• The diocese began its annual Catholic Service and Ministry Appeal with a $1.75 million goal.

• Early staffers recounted experiences as part of the diocesan Camp Ondessonk’s 50-year anniversary observance.
• St. Joseph, Freeburg parishioner and University of Illinois student Mike Schaefer spent spring break as part of a two-man biking team to raise awareness and finances for two pro-life organizations in Illinois.

• Madelyn McGlynn, Our Lady Queen of Peace, Belleville eighth-grader was named as a top youth volunteer by the Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.

• Editor Liz Quirin reported on a Kenyan diocese’s alternative rite of passage for girls in lieu of the traditional rite of female circumcision.

• March obituaries: Brother David Schell, OMI; William E. “Bill” Friedman.

April
The celebration of Easter anchors the church’s spirituality. Bishop Braxton published An Easter Meditation for reflection on the personal significance of the paschal mystery and the hope-filled Easter season.
The Messenger welcomed the catechumens and candidates who became members of the church in parishes throughout the diocese during the Easter Vigil liturgy.

With the theme “Rooted in Christ” over 500 diocesan youth celebrated their faith at the annual Catholic Youth Conference March 28-29. Yemi Akintoye from St. Francis Xavier Parish in Carbondale received the Karen Raymond-Robben Spirit Award.
Bishop Braxton was the principal celebrant April 19 of the eucharistic liturgy as St. Mary’s in Sesser celebrated the parish’s 100th anniversary. A dinner-dance concluded the parish’s celebration.
The Ondessonk “family” continued its 50-year anniversary celebration with an April 18 dinner and auction at Our Lady of the Snows shrine.

Also reported in April:
• The annual spring farm blessing was held April 16 at the Frank and Joan Dall farm in Aviston.

•More than 350 people participated in the annual charity breakfast for the Catholic Social Services’ Carbondale regional office, with a focus on adoption and foster care experiences.

• The American Province of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ elected Sisters Nora Hahn, Virginia Kampwerth, Kathy Haas and Marlene Ann Lama as their new leadership team.

• The Spring Senior Living supplement included articles on elder abuse and the volunteering legacy at Aviston’s Countryside Manor Nursing Home.

• Editor Liz Quirin‘s reporting on her Kenya trip included an update on Debbie Schachner’s six-year goal to build a library in Timau, Kenya, where she had been a volunteer for the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging.

Schachner also arranged CFCA sponsorships for a family of four orphans. Quirin also reported on the construction of a “Peace Road,” after the post-election violence in Kenya.

April obituaries: Francis Mateyka; Marie Schaefer.

May
With graduates closing a door and opening another, The Messenger’s May 28 issue included its annual graduation supplement, congratulating graduates from the diocese’s three Catholic high schools and Catholic graduates from public high schools throughout southern Illinois.

Williamson County sheriff’s twin sons, Matthew and James Condiff, graduating from Herrin High School, planned to continue their education at different colleges. The featured family are members of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Herrin.
Saluted were the 39 valedictorians, salutatorians and summa cum laude graduates.

For Holy Rosary School in Fairmont City a door was not only closed but also locked; the parish school would not reopen in the fall. For Shirley Kurre, teacher and principal at Holy Rosary for 41 years, the closed door had special significance.

Seven diocesan Catholics earned masters’ degrees in pastoral studies as graduates from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis.

The Newman Center at SIU in Carbondale hosted an end-of-the-school-year appreciation dinner for the many volunteers who support the center throughout the year.

Also reported in May:
• In a Health and Fitness section in the May 14 issue Marilyn Wise talked about her 40-year career as a nursing assistant at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Belleville. Also celebrating 40-year careers were Peggy Daubach, Nancy Lechien, Elizabeth Lobos and Sharon Reiher. Representatives at St. Joseph’s in Breese and St. Mary’s/Good Samaritan in Centralia and Mt. Vernon talked about outreach programs for youth and seniors.

• A Memorial Day tribute to veterans included a focus on Ridgway and Murphysboro families of two diocesan young men deployed to Iraq, Chief Warrant Officer James Neumann and PFC Nicholas Aholt, and on the Rains family from Marion, whose son Adam, a Navy lieutenant, is assigned to the USS Boxer involved in response to Somali pirate actions. Veteran Herman Aydt, 90, a resident at the Veterans’ Home in Marion and Dahlgren native, talked about his World War II experiences.

• Recognized at Catholic Social Services’ Christian Service Awards 19th annual awards and benefit dinner were: Ruth Lager, St. Francis Parish, Aviston; Michael Kish, Immaculate Conception Parish, Columbia; and Dennis Dengler, St. Augustine’s, Belleville.

• The bell tower at St. Joseph Parish in Marion was reduced to stones by a May 8 “inland hurricane,” which resulted in significant damage in a number of southern Illinois communities.

• May obituaries: Msgr. Bernard Voss; Sister Euphrasia Buettner, ASC; Sister Jacqueline Briegel, SSND.

June
Priesthood jubilee celebrations, priest retirements, and diaconate ordinations highlighted pages of The Messenger’s June issues.

Celebrating 50-year anniversaries of their ordinations were Bishop Stanley Schlarman and Father Joseph Trapp; Father James Voelker celebrated the 40th anniversary of his ordination.

Bishop Schlarman talked about his ministry as a diocesan priest and auxiliary bishop in Belleville, bishop of Dodge City in Kansas, post-retirement ministry in Joliet and continuing prison ministry in southern Illinois.

Father Trapp celebrated his anniversary June 14 with family, friends and parishioners at St. Joseph’s in Benton, where he is continuing as the pastor.

Father Voelker’s anniversary celebration was held June 7 at St. Michael’s in Paderborn, where he is continuing as the resident sacramental minister after announcing his retirement. Also retiring was Father Richard Mohr, pastor of St. Joseph’s in Marion.

Celebrating his 50-year anniversary was Father Jim Jeffrey, a priest of the Fargo, N.D. diocese, who has been involved in Hispanic ministry in the Belleville diocese for a number of years. A jubilee fiesta was held June 21 at St. Damian’s in Damiansville after the 10:30 a.m. Mass.

Bishop Braxton ordained four transitional and one permanent deacon May 30. Ordained as a permanent deacon was Gerald Bach, a St. Mary’s, Belleville parishioner. Abraham Adejoh, Dale Maxfield, Joseph Oganda and Sean Palas were ordained transitional deacons.

Archbishop Valerian Okeke of Onitsha, Nigeria visited the diocese June 20-21. Four priests from his archdiocese are currently on loan to the Belleville diocese.

Also reported in June:
• Beginning with current pastoral changes, Bishop Braxton initiated a policy of six-year terms for pastors in the Belleville diocese.
• St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Belleville hosted a town hall meeting to talk about health care.
•Juan and Yvonne Reyes, members of the Guatemala sister parish of St. Clare of Assisi in O’Fallon, were on a team presenting St. Clare’s weekend retreat.
• The Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel at St. Teresa’s in Belleville celebrated its 10th anniversary.
• June obituaries: Brother Francis Haug, SM; Sister Claritus Hartke, SSND; Malinda Wienhoff.

July
A feature about a family’s faith and a baby — and a southern Illinois parish’s support of a parish in Uganda — highlighted a dramatic journey of relationships. The journey continues with Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parishioners Steve and Tabatha Stone and family adopting Ugandan orphan Benja and supporting his five orphaned siblings in Uganda. The Herrin parish’s parishioners of all ages continue to support their adopted faith community. The summer feature tells of a journey that is not seasonal.

The month of July featured traditional picnics: Ministry to the Sick and Aged’s picnic for nursing home residents and Catholic Urban Programs’ summer picnic for seniors; and the traditional parish picnics famous for dinners and quilt bingos.

Six new (at least for the school) parish school principals were introduced, presaging the opening of a new school year. They were: Dr. Kay Bennett, St. Peter Cathedral, Belleville; Sandra Kabat, St. Bruno, Pinckneyville; Linda Putz, St. Mary St. Augustine, Belleville; Kevin Spiller, St. John the Baptist, West Frankfort; and Kimberly Ruef, St. Joseph, Freeburg.

Also reported in July:
• Bishop Braxton introduced Nigerian Father Martin Edward Ohajunwa, the 17th international priest. He was assigned as administrator of St. Stephen Parish in Flora.

• Bishop Braxton celebrated a special liturgy at St. Peter Cathedral June 7 for couples celebrating 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th and 70th anniversaries.

• The July 23 issue included a letter from Bishop Braxton on Pope Benedict XVI’s new encyclical Caritas in Veritate.
• Catholic Social Services was recognized as first in the state for foster care performance by the Department for Children and Family Services.

•Seventeen diocesan youth participated in Our Lady of the Snows shrine’s annual Youth Sing Praise performance of “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

• St. Louis University graduate and St. Joseph, Freeburg parishioner Jessica Trout signed on as a Jesuit Volunteer and will teach high school at Chuuki Academy in Micronesia.

•A statue in Mt. Carmel Cemetery, Belleville’s newest section, St. Joseph’s Garden, is a tribute to and honors Joseph Hubbard, the cemetery’s volunteer director.

• July obituaries: Sister Mary Norine Picolotti, ASC; Brother John Klein, SM; Sister Jean Marie Schwarz, OSF; Deacon David J. Bigham; Clare Schaefer.

August
The Aug. 20 issue of The Messenger, in its annual Religious Jubilees supplement, congratulated 73 women and men religious celebrating anniversaries of their religious professions and ministries. Featured in the supplement were Sister Elizabeth Kolmer, ASC and Father Tom Hayes, OMI.

Sister Kolmer, celebrating her 60th anniversary, began her ministry as an elementary school teacher, completed a 40-year career as a professor and administrator at St. Louis University in St. Louis and is a volunteer for social outreach at her parish. Father Hayes, an army veteran, celebrated his 50th anniversary as an Oblate of Mary Immaculate. He was director of King’s House Retreat and Renewal Center in Belleville, a pioneer AIDS minister in San Francisco, inner city pastor and is currently a chaplain at Our Lady of Snows shrine’s Apartment Community.

A centennial anniversary celebration was begun Aug. 9 by St. Lawrence Parish in Lawrenceville with a prayer service and ice cream social.

Also reported in August:
• Althoff Catholic High School in Belleville completed Phase 1 of a $2.6 million renovation project.

• The diocesan Agency Allocation and Accountability Committee reported on the use of Appeal Funds by agencies and institutions receiving funds from the Catholic Service and Ministry Appeal.

• Volunteers, family and friends of Teressa Wright, first time homeowner, gathered to bless the Family Center’s 12th home built in the neighborhood.

• Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Herrin eighth-grader Jaylen Hollis Jones reported on her visit to the Illinois Holocaust Museum where she accepted a $750 savings bond for placing second in a poetry contest and met Holocaust survivors.

• August obituaries: Sister Benna Henken SSpS; Sister Ambrosia Haller, ASC; Sister Flavia Buersmeyer, SSND; Father Lloyd Misho.

September
Two supplements in September issues of The Messenger — Senior Living and Parish Religious Education — highlighted beginning journeys of faith and well traveled journeys.

Senior Sister Ann Connolly, ASC, 82, retired Aug. 31 from her 25-year ministry at Catholic Urban Programs — where she wore many hats for which she will be long remembered. A liturgy and dinner at St. Henry Parish in Belleville honored her ministry and blessed her future.

Senior Living features focused on Adult Day Care activities and a grandparent/grandchildren “Grand” day at St. Bernard’s in Albers and St. Damian’s in Damiansville.

The 90 parish religious education programs began a new year. In a supplement feature parents and students gathered for an information and kickoff evening at SS. Peter and Paul in Waterloo. PRE features included a look at educational sessions addressing the maze of internet offerings for young people.

The St. Liborius youth group received a Compassion in Action Award from the African Library Project. With the help of other parish youth groups they collected and shipped over 6,000 books for African libraries — including in a village in Lesotho, Africa where Allison Schmale, sister of current youth members is a Peace Corps volunteer.

Also reported in September:
• Catholic high school freshmen gathered with their families at St. Peter Cathedral Sept. 3 for a special liturgy celebrated by Bishop Braxton.

• The St. Vincent de Paul Society teamed up with the Catholic & Community Credit Union to offer small low-interest loans to working poor.

• Worldwide Marriage Encounter held an enrichment day Sept. 19 at Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Belleville.
• September obituaries: Msgr. Maurice F. Driscoll; Father G. Robert Aaron, OMI; Father Edmond J. Perjak.

October
The dignity of life and life supported and treated with dignity were themes of October features in The Messenger.
In a Respect Life section a feature focused on the Dorothy and Dr. Owen Eisele family decision for at-home Hospice care after Dorothy, accepting her terminal illness, declined more cancer chemotherapy. Dr. Lynne Nowak, a Hospice medical director, talked about her role as a home visitor.

Life chains, with hundreds of people across the diocese standing in silent vigil for an hour, witnessed to the value of every life.

Commentary and advertisements expressed gratitude for priests throughout the diocese on Priest Appreciation Sunday. Featured in a special section was Father Thomas Flach, grateful for his ministry at St. Joseph’s in Marion after a long and continuing recovery process from Guillian-Barre Syndrome.

The Oct. 2 issue included the recognition of eight parish, community and business leaders for the witness of their faith in the marketplace. They were recognized Oct. 17 at The Messenger’s second annual Faith in the Marketplace dinner. Honored were: Mike Doll, St. Joseph Parish, Olney; W. Charles and Barbara Grace, St. Francis Xavier Parish, Carbondale; Danny Krausz, Holy Childhood Parish, Mascoutah; Percy and Judy Menzies, St. Clare Parish, O’Fallon; Francis Rehkemper, St. Dominic Parish, Breese; and Paul Wilhelm, St. Joseph Parish, Lebanon.

Also reported in October:
• St. Peter Cathedral in Belleville celebrated the 150th anniversary of the presence of the School Sisters of Notre at the parish at an Oct. 4 Mass of Thanksgiving.

• Bishop Braxton announced the beginning of a series of Parish Pastoral Visitations.

• With a theme of “Sharing Faith Through Action,” the Belleville Diocesan Council of Catholic Women hosted its 83rd annual convention Oct. 14 at St. Mary Parish in Eldorado.

• Diocesan Catholic High Schools put in place a plan to respond to the H1N1 flu.

• Responding to The Messenger’s invitation, Father Robert Zwilling and Msgr. Don Eichenseer submitted Year of the Priest personal commentaries on the priesthood.
• Knights of Columbus councils in Columbia, Hecker and Waterloo sponsored a “Harvesting Hope” breakfast to benefit Catholic Social Services of Southern Illinois and Catholic Urban Programs.

• The annual Harvest Blessing was held at the Schaefer farm in Ruma.

• October obituaries: Sister Germanus Bauer, SSND; Father Harry Thomas Stout; Father Robert O’Shea; Father J. Vincent Fitzgerald, OMI.

November
Thanksgiving — from Bishop Braxton’s annual Prayer of Praise, to grade-schoolers reasons for giving thanks, to a hospital’s centennial celebration — filled pages of The Messenger’s Nov. 26 issue.
Children’s responses created a kaleidoscope of gratitude from family, Jesus, and friends to pets, including fish, turtles and a lizard.

St. Mary’s Hospital in Centralia celebrated its 100 years of healing ministry at an Oct. 13 liturgy. The hospital’s mission began appropriately on Thanksgiving Day in 1909.

Mental illness in the context of a support group for family and friends of the mentally ill and a family’s personal experience was the focus of a Nov.12 feature. Jeff and Anita Toth, SS. Peter and Paul, Waterloo parishioners, talked about family life with their son, Michael, 11, diagnosed with mental illness at age 6. The Toth family includes four younger daughters.

In a Rite of Admission to Candidacy on Nov. 22 Bishop Braxton admitted14 men as candidates to the Belleville diocesan permanent diaconate.

A “strange journey,” leading to the formation of “Oddwalk Ministries,” the music and story ministry of Shannon Cerneka and Orin Johnson, continued with participation in the Nov. 19-21 National Catholic Youth Conference in Kansas City, Mo.

Also reported in November
• St. Peter Cathedral announced a neighborhood redevelopment project to create a new senior living community near the cathedral.

• The diocese distributed $9,700 from available Catholic Campaign for Human Development funds; requests from agencies and institutions totaled $54,000.

• Home town girl — Astronaut Sandy Magnus and St. Peter Cathedral native — returned to her roots Oct. 15 and talked to students from St. Peter Cathedral, St. Teresa’s, both in Belleville and Immaculate Conception in Columbia.

• St. Liborius Parish in St. Libory recognized the 50 years of service of Harry Rutter as the parish’s organist at the 8:30 a.m. liturgy Nov. 29.

• Father Brian Barker, pastor of St. Bruno’s in Pinckneyville, released his third CD. Also featured on the CD are 18-year-old St. Bruno parishioner, Alex Fisher and Father Benedykt Pazdan, a Chicago priest. Proceeds of over $35,000 from two previous CDs have been donated to various charities.

•November obituaries: Sister Charlette Hess, PHJC; Sister M. Leogene Weber, SSND.

December
December issues of The Messenger were a reminder of the annual journey toward the celebration of Christ’s birth and his continuing rebirth in the faith lives of Christians.

Close to 1,000 youth responded to The Messenger’s “Spirit of Christmas” essay contest. The winners, whose essays were published in the Dec. 24 issue, were: Marie Prindiville, grade 1, Immaculate Conception School, Columbia; Mary Kate Porath, grade 5, St. Clare School, O’Fallon; Tyler Knutson, grade 8, St. Mary School, Mt. Vernon; and Ellen Maue, Mater Dei High School, Breese. The Dec. 24 issue also included the winners of the Knights of Columbus “Keep Christ in Christmas” poster contest.

Dec. 24 issue included Bishop Braxton’s reflections and commentaries on the feast of Christmas.

Christmas reflections and Christmas greetings of peace and blessings from organizations and advertisers filled the pages of the annual Christmas supplement.

The Dec. 10 issue included The Messenger’s annual Advent recipe section. Readers shared favorite recipes and memories, many handed down for generations.

Also reported in December:
• A report commented on Bishop Braxton’s Parish Pastoral Visitation at St. Augustine Parish in Belleville.

• Rose Hall reminisced about her family’s celebration of Christmas in 2008 via an audio and video feed with her daughter, Sandy Hall Magnus, who was orbiting the earth on the international space station.

• Holy Angels Shelter in East St. Louis, celebrating its 25th anniversary, is struggling financially to meet the needs of the area’s homeless women and children.

• Gibault Catholic High School’s students and faculty supported a mission program to build needed wells near a Nigerian high school.

• December obituaries: Father Rene DuFour, OMI; Father Frank Ryan, OMI.