Archives for August 2022

August 10, 2022 by Jennifer Schack

Deacon Paul Richardson, a Deacon of the Archdiocese, died on Sunday, August 7, 2022 at the age of 87. Deacon Paul was ordained with the very first ordination class in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, on September 25, 1976. He was assigned to St. Paul Catholic Church, Yellow Springs, upon his ordination and served there ever since. In June, 2004, he was also assigned to St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in South Charleston. He has served the Archdiocese as a permanent deacon for forty-five years.

Deacon Paul served for 10 years as President of the National Association of Black Catholic Deacons and in 2005 was recognized with the Fr. Joseph Davis Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2013, he was among 6 Black Catholics honored for service to the Archdiocese with the prestigious Ministerial Award from Archbishop Schnurr.

Deacon Paul leaves his wife, Juanita, to whom he had been married for 65 years. Also surviving him are his daughters Natasha and Tonia, two grandsons, two brothers, three sisters and many nieces and nephews.

August 9, 2022 by Jennifer Schack

Reverend James R. Collins died on Friday, August 5, 2022, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was born on July 8, 1942, in Cincinnati. He did his preparatory studies at St. Gregory Seminary and studied theology at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary of the West in Norwood. He was ordained on May 25, 1968, at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral in Cincinnati by Auxiliary Bishop Edward A. McCarthy.

Father Collins received his first assignment on June 21, 1968, as assistant at St. Luke Parish, Dayton and to teach full time at Archbishop Alter High School, Dayton. On August 26, 1971, he was appointed assistant at Immaculate Conception Parish, Dayton, and to continue teaching at Archbishop Alter High School. On June 19, 1974, he was appointed assistant at St. Raphael Parish, Springfield and Principal of Catholic Central High School, Springfield. On June 15, 1977, he was appointed pastor of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish, Reading. He was appointed pastor of St. Dominic Parish, Cincinnati on July 1, 1986. On November 30, 1994, Father Collins was appointed Dean of the St. Lawrence Deanery for a four-year term. He was appointed pastor of St. James of the Valley Parish, Cincinnati, effective July 27, 1998, and appointed to another six-year term as pastor of St. James of the Valley Parish, commencing on July 28, 2004. Father Collins retired from active ministry on July 1, 2007.

August 9, 2022 by Jennifer Schack

Reverend Raymond C. Kellerman died on Sunday, August 7, 2022, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was born on April 12, 1947, in Cincinnati. He did his preparatory studies at St. Gregory Seminary and studied theology at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary of the West. He was ordained on June 2, 1973, at St. Peter in Chains Cathedral, Cincinnati, by Archbishop Joseph L. Bernardin.

Father Kellerman received his first assignment on June 20, 1973, as assistant at St. Cecilia Parish, Oakley, and teacher at Purcell High School, Cincinnati. On December 27, 1977, he was appointed resident associate at St. Clare Parish, College Hill, while continuing on the faculty of Purcell High School. On July 1, 1979, he was appointed to the faculty of Our Lady of the Angels High School, St. Bernard, while continuing as resident associate at St. Clare Parish. On July 1, 1982, he was appointed associate at St. Susanna Parish in Mason, Ohio and then on November 12, 1984, Father Kellerman was appointed pastor of Nativity of Our Lord Parish in Pleasant Ridge (Cincinnati). In 1992 he was appointed to Graduate Studies in Canon Law and on June 1, 1994, he was appointed Judge in the Tribunal Office and to provide ministerial help at St. Bartholomew Parish, Springfield Township (Cincinnati). On September 1, 1995, Father Kellerman was appointed to the office of Adjutant Judicial Vicar for the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati; commencing in February 2001, he then continued to work with the Tribunal in a volunteer capacity and as Judge on the Appeal Court. On July 1, 2000, he was appointed pastor of Holy Trinity Parish, Norwood, where he served until his retirement in 2019. During his years of ministry, Father Kellerman also served as temporary administrator of the following parishes: St. Richard of Chichester, College Hill (1990), St. Bartholomew (1999), and Our Mother of Sorrows, Roselawn (Cincinnati) (2007); and as temporary associate pastor of the following: St. Therese, Little Flower, Mount Airy (1992) and St. Bartholomew (1992).

August 1, 2022 by Jennifer Schack

Growing up has always had its difficulties, but young people today face a particularly challenging environment in our country – rising violence, such as riots and horrific school shootings; civil discourse that is increasingly uncivil; and a secularist culture that continues to push faith to the margins as weekly religious practice declines.

In previous generations, American society, while far from perfect, generally reinforced the important values and virtues taught in Catholic homes and Catholic schools. That is often no longer the case. Therefore, faithful and effective Catholic schools and religious education programs are needed more than ever. They are essential partners with students’ parents, who remain the primary religious educators of their children.

St. John Baptist de la Salle, patron saint of teachers, put into words what the Church has long understood, that instruction in the faith is done largely by the witness of discipleship – living the Gospel and not just teaching it. In a reflection to his teachers, he wrote: “In your teaching, the [children] in your charge must see by the way you teach that you are true ministers of God, full of true charity and sincere in carrying out your task. It is most important for you to realize that you are ministers not only of God but also of Jesus Christ and the Church.”

Pope St. Paul VI echoed the importance of personal witness in his 1975 apostolic exhortation, Evangelii nuntiandi, in which he wrote: “for the Church, the first means of evangelization is the witness of an authentically Catholic life, given over to God in a communion that nothing should destroy and at the same time given to one’s neighbor with limitless zeal. . . . Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses” (EN 41).

The charge to Catholic teachers is thus to educate students for this life and prepare them for the next by instruction and by example. The very nature of authentic Catholic education is the search for goodness, beauty and truth and the cultivation of wisdom and virtue under the guidance of the Church. The various arts and sciences are pathways for growing closer to God since students learn in these the endless wonders of His creation. A passion for learning is a passion for Jesus Himself, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Catholic schools play an important role in forming disciples to know, love and follow Jesus. The teacher-ministers, principal-ministers and support staff of Catholic schools reflect this every day as they not only teach, but also model, the faith for our more than 40,000 students in this archdiocese. For that I am very grateful.

Although not all our students are Catholic, it is the mission of our schools to be Catholic in every classroom, lunchroom, hallway and gym. They are Christ-centered communities rooted in the Gospel message. At the same time, as I have frequently noted, Catholic schools are everybody’s schools because they form students into leaders who will help to make the world a better place – more peaceful, more civil, more faith-filled.

Please join me in keeping all students, parents and school principals, faculty and staff in our prayers as this new school year begins.