Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • March 22, 2019 19 91. Beyond the family, neighbors, friends, the single and lonely can all be served as the family exercises the badly needed gift of hospitality and witnesses, in the unique and privileged setting of the home, to charity and respect that comes with a family centered on God. To the extent you are able, reach out to those around you that have need of a welcome. Hospitality in the domestic church is a true front in theNewEvangelization of our contemporaries. 92. Finally, there are some among you who have been blessed with tremendous marriages, stories of healing and God’s grace, virtuous openness to life, and charisms for teaching and accompanying other couples and families. You are disciples of Christ, precisely as married couples living the truth of the domestic church, and are called to become apostles to other families within your parish or in other key areas of evangeliza- tion. I urge you to greater involvement in the marriage and family apostolate which takes many forms. It is the natural course in the Church that disciples are called to be apostles! Your marriage and family are strong in this time for a reason -- and that reason may be to help oth- ers on that path to holiness as missionaries to other couples and families . 28 © 2019 The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. Read, download and share “Complete My Joy” at family.dphx.org. 28. For assistance in discerning your gifts and what opportunities exist for service to families, contact the Office of Marriage and Respect Life, or in Spanish, the Office of Hispanic Mission. Complete My Joy From page 18 Meet and Dine Spaghetti Dinner Saturday, April 6 A special thank you Spaghetti Dinner and Silent Auction will be held for Mater Redemptoris House of Formation in LaCrosse, WI, Saturday, April 6, 6-8 p.m., 733 34th Street, Gulfport. The tickets are $10 for an adult plate and $5 for a child plate. The dinner is sponsored by the Knights of Columbus Bishop Gunn 1583. Local Katherine Lingenfelder spent the past two years as an aspirant at the House discerning religious life thanks to the generosity of so many throughout the diocese! The sisters and aspirants are coming to say thank you for the countless prayers and financial generosity. All are invited to join to meet the sisters and aspirants! Money raised during the event will go directly to support the expenses of the house. While at the home, the aspirants receive formation spiritually, educationally, physically, emotionally and learn the rhythms of religious life. Tickets may be purchased ahead of time or at the door. For tickets or information, contact Katherine Lingenfelder (228) 860-5062 or k.lingenfelder@yahoo.com. Come and Chat for Women Sunday, April 7 All women 16 and up that are curious about religious life or are discerning are invited to join the Diocese of Biloxi Office of Vocations for an afternoon with the Sisters and Aspirants from the Mater Redemptoris House of Formation in LaCrosse, WI! The Sisters are from the Franciscan Sisters of the Martyr Saint George and the Aspirants are young women from around the country that are aspiring to do God’s will and discerning religious life. There will be a time to listen to them share stories and advice, ask questions, chat with others and of course prayer! It will be an after- noon of joy, laughter and maybe a few tears! Come and chat sgn-in/registration is 1-1:30 p.m. and chat will be 1:30-4:00 p.m. The location is the Diocesan Pastoral Center, 1790 Popps Ferry Road Biloxi. To register: visit http://signup.com/go/vgYO- mXj or contact Katherine Lingenfelder (228) 860-5062 or k.lingenfelder@yahoo. com. Church must follow, accept local laws on abuse, Father Zollner says BY CINDY WOODEN Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church must respect the law and accept court decisions regarding clerical sexual abuse and its cover-up, said Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a lead- ing expert in child protection. Interviewed by Vatican News March 15, Father Zollner noted that in2011, theCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made it clear to bish- ops’ conferences around the world that the church must obey civil laws regarding cases of abuse. “So, if a state -- in a durably democratic, regu- lated and legitimate situation -- arrives at the conclusion that a representative of the church, whether a deacon, priest, bishop or cardinal has committed a crime, this must not only be respect- ed, it must be accepted. This must be the norm of the church,” said Father Zollner, a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and one of the chief organizers of the summit on child protection held at the Vatican in February. In an interview looking back at the February meet- ing, Father Zollner said several bishops’ conferences already have revised or begun revising their guidelines for protecting children and handling abuse allegations. And, he said, results should be seen “soon” on proj- ects promised by the Vatican: namely, the promulgation of guidelines for Vatican City State; and a “vademe- cum” or handbook by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith explaining, step by step, how bish- ops and religious superiors should handle abuse allegations and how they should prepare the relevant documents for the doctrinal congrega- tion when an accusation is found to be credible. Father Zollner also noted how, “immediately after the meeting ended,” the Catholic Church experienced “very terrible and upsetting news” with the conviction and sentencing of Australian Cardinal George Pell on charges of sexual abuse of minors and the conviction of French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon on charges of cover- ing up abuse by a priest. The French cardinal, 68, was given a six- month suspended sentence in the case and said he would ask Pope Francis to accept his resigna- tion. The Archdiocese of Lyon announced March 14 that the cardinal would meet the pope March 18. The guilty verdicts against Cardinal Pell, who maintains his innocence and is appealing his conviction, and against Cardinal Barbarin, Father Zollner said, demonstrate that church officials, including cardinals, are “no longer untouchable” and that governments will apply the law to them as well. Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, president of the Centre for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, prays at the start of the third day of the meeting on the protection of minors in the church at the Vatican Feb. 23. CNS photo/Paul Haring