Archives for May 2021

May 28, 2021 by Jennifer Schack

Release Date: May 28, 2021

New Executive Director for the Catholic Conference of Ohio

The Catholic Conference of Ohio, to which Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr is the chair, released the following announcement today:

CATHOLIC CONFERENCE OF OHIO

May 28, 2021

For Immediate Release

For Information: Carolyn Jurkowitz, Executive Director

614-224-7147

Jerry Freewalt named Executive Director for the Catholic Conference of Ohio

The Board of Directors of the Catholic Conference of Ohio is pleased to announce the appointment of Jerry Freewalt as the Conference’s new Executive Director.

Jerry comes to the Conference from the Diocese of Columbus, where he currently serves as Director of the Office for Social Concerns, a post he has held since 2018. During his twenty-six years in the Office for Social Concerns, Jerry has been engaged in public policy at the local, state, and national levels. He has a strong background in advocacy and programming related to respect for life, poverty, hunger, agriculture, immigration, prison ministry, human trafficking, death penalty, persons with disabilities, international assistance, care for creation and other issues related to charity and social justice.

Freewalt was an integral advocate for the Multi-System Youth Custody Relinquishment Fund that was enacted in the 2019-20 state budget and is currently advocating for the establishment of the OhioRISE Medicaid managed care program in Ohio’s next state budget. When approved, this $1 billion program will assist 60,000 youth with complex behavioral health needs.

Jerry serves on the OhioRISE Advisory Board, the Ohio Children’s Behavioral Health Prevention Network Stakeholder Group, and the Advisory Board of J.O.I.N. (Joint Organization for Inner-City Needs). He previously chaired the Board of the Directors for the National Catholic Partnership on Disability, as well as the Catholic Conference of Ohio’s Department of Social Concerns.

He has a master’s degree in Public Policy and Management from the Ohio State University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Xavier University in Cincinnati. He and his wife, Karen, have three children. They are members of St. Margaret of Cortona Parish in Columbus.

In announcing the appointment, Archbishop Dennis Schnurr stated, “Jerry’s dedication and experience in service to the Church have been recognized nationally, statewide, and throughout the Columbus Diocese. The Bishops of Ohio look forward to his leadership as the Conference’s new executive director.”

“I am honored to have the opportunity to use my gifts as executive director,” said Freewalt. “I look forward to living out my vocation in this new role as a voice for the Church in advancing the common good.”

Jerry succeeds Carolyn Jurkowitz, who is retiring from the Conference after thirty-four years. He will assume his new position on August 1.

The Catholic Conference of Ohio is the official representative for the Catholic Bishops of Ohio in matters of public policy.

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The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati is the 44^th largest Catholic diocese in the country, with more than 440,000 Catholics, and has the fifth largest Catholic school system in terms of enrollment with more than 40,000 students. The 19-county territory includes 211 parishes and 111 Catholic primary and secondary schools.

May 28, 2021 by Jennifer Schack

W H A T | Memorial Day Observance: Wreath Laying and Mass

W H E N | Monday May 31, 2021

10:30 a.m. Veteran Speech & Wreath Laying | 11 a.m. Mass

W H E R E | Gate of Heaven Cemetery

11000 Montgomery Rd. Cincinnati, OH

Release Date: May 28, 2021

Memorial Day Observance at Gate of Heaven Cemetery

The annual Gate of Heaven Cemetery Memorial Day Field Mass will be celebrated on Monday, May 31. The outdoor wreath laying ceremony and Mass have been celebrated at Gate of Heaven Cemetery for more than five decades. After being unable to hold the Mass in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this annual tradition that gathers hundreds of families, is back for 2021. This event has become a family tradition spanning several generations for many who gather each year. American flags have been placed by more than 100 volunteers throughout the cemetery on veteran gravesites.

At 10:30AM a U.S. Marine Veteran will begin the ceremony with a few words honoring the deceased military with a wreath laying ceremony. Following the wreath laying, at 11 A.M. Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr will celebrate Mass outdoors on the cemetery grounds. In the event of rain, the Mass will be moved indoors to Good Shepard Church, 8815 East Kemper Rd. The cemetery grounds will be open through the day.

For more information about Gate of Heaven Cemetery please visit www.gateofheaven.org.

May 15, 2021 by Jennifer Schack

Release Date: May 15, 2021

Seven priests ordained for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati joyfully celebrated the ordination of seven new priests on Saturday May 15, 2021. The men were ordained to the priesthood for service to God and the Church. Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr celebrated the Mass. Within the course of the ordination rite, the archbishop laid his hands on the men, invoking the authority given by Christ to the apostles to make new priests.

The seven new priests will contribute to the growing trend of men being ordained priests over the last decade. The seven men being ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, this year, is in line with the seven men ordained in 2009 and 2016. The largest recent class were nine men ordained to the priesthood in 2019.

The seven new priests have served as transitional deacons for the last year. Their ministry has included baptizing, assisting at marriages, and preaching at Mass. The men graduated on May 12 of this year from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology after at least seven years of formation for the priesthood.

Parish assignments for the new priests were announced at the ordination:

Father Elijah Puthoff, parochial Vicar at St. Joseph and St. Raphael, Springfield; St. Teresa of the Child Jesus, Springfield; St. Bernard, Springfield; St. Charles, South Charleston.

Father Louis Jacquemin, parochial vicar at St. Henry, St. Henry; St. Aloysius, Carthegena; St. Bernard, Burketsville; St. Francis, Cranberry Prairie; St. Wendelin, St. Wendelin.

Father Edward Hoffmann, parochial vicar at St. Julie Billiart, Hamilton; St. Joseph, Hamilton; St. Peter in Chains, Hamilton.

Father Scott Morgan, parochial vicar at St. William, Price Hill and St. Teresa of Avila, Price Hill.

Father Anthony Marcelli, parochial vicar at St. Margaret-Saint John, Fairfax; St. Cecilia, Oakley; St. Anthony, Madisonville.

Father Aaron Hess, parochial vicar at Holy Angels, Sidney and chaplain and faculty at Lehman High School.

Father Michael Kapolka, parochial vicar at the Fort Recovery Cluster: Mary, Help of Christians, Fort Recovery, St. Joseph, St. Joseph, St. Paul, Sharpsburg, St. Peter, St. Peter.

View the Priesthood Ordination Video 2021, here.

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May 14, 2021 by Jennifer Schack

May 14, 2021

The Catholic Conference of Ohio has released a statement (found here) regarding the lifting of the dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday and Holy Day Mass. In line with that statement Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr has decreed that for the faithful of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati the obligation to attend Sunday and Holy Day Mass is reinstated, beginning with the Sunday Masses of June 6, 2021 (including the vigil anticipatory Mass on Saturday, June 5).

In addition, since our guidance throughout this pandemic has been to follow the regulations of public health authorities, with regards to masks/face coverings, the archdiocese will follow the public health orders given by the State of Ohio (wording updated on May 19).

– May 14 Statement by Gov. DeWine concerning New CDC Mask Guidance

The latest information about COVID-19 protocols for churches in the archdiocese can be found here on our website.

May 1, 2021 by Jennifer Schack

It is quite fitting that Mother’s Day in the U.S. is celebrated during May, the month in which we especially honor Mary – Mother of the Redeemer, Mother of the Church and our Blessed Mother.

Mary is often called the first disciple, but she is much more than that. Mary not only follows Jesus perfectly; she leads others to Him with maternal love. Pope Francis, in his apostolic letter The Joy of the Gospel, calls her the “star of the new evangelization.” We see her evangelize in the New Testament when she points away from herself and toward God in Christ.

Any correct veneration of the Blessed Mother recognizes that, though sinless and conceived without sin by God’s special grace, she is still a human being like us. In St. Luke’s Gospel, the angel’s greeting – “Hail favored one! The Lord is with you” – understandably has her “greatly troubled at what was said” (Lk. 1:28-29). However, she ultimately steps out in faithfulness with her fiat that echoes down the centuries: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done unto me according to your word” (Lk. 1:38).

Because of her unique role in salvation history, and her special status as “full of grace,” Mary may seem too remote to be a model of faith as we struggle to do God’s will in the busyness of our lives. And yet, like her, each of us was created by God for a special purpose, and God gave us sufficient grace to accomplish that purpose. He also gave us the Church, the scriptures and the sacraments. We do not travel alone.

When St. Elizabeth says, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled” (Lk. 1:45), Mary’s response is not about herself. In immediately praising God with one of the most beautiful prayers in the Bible, the Magnificat, she is an exemplar of humility as well as faith.

In addition to seeing Mary as a role model, Christians from the earliest days have asked her to intercede with God for their needs. The perfect example of this is the wedding feast of Cana, where Mary informs Jesus “They have no wine,” and then, with perfect faith, instructs the servers, “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn. 2:3-5).

Pilgrims to the Holy Land, myself included, note that Mary’s spirit infuses Cana, Nazareth and Bethlehem. Unfortunately, over the past year, Israel, Palestine and Jordan have been closed to travelers in response to the pandemic. Now, however, comes an opportunity to participate in a Marian pilgrimage without leaving the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

Our “Radiate Christ Through Mary” pilgrimage will begin with a Mass at Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Russells Point on Sun., May 16, and end at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains when I re-consecrate the archdiocese to Jesus through Mary on Sat., June 19, the beginning of our bicentennial year. Over the course of those 33 days, pilgrims will carry a blessed statue of Our Lady of Fatima to nearly 40 parishes in every deanery of our archdiocese. In this issue of The Catholic Telegraph, you will learn more about this historic pilgrimage, the four cornerstone events that will highlight it and how you can participate.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for everyone. As we celebrate Mother’s Day, I am especially mindful of the extra burden it has placed on mothers with children at home, the heartache of mothers and grandmothers who could not be near those they love, and the sorrow of those who have lost mothers and grandmothers to the coronavirus. To all of you, I extend my prayers for a happy and blessed Mother’s Day, and for a better year ahead.

Holy Mary, Mother of God and our mother, pray for us!