Gulf Pine Catholic

Gulf Pine Catholic • November 29, 2019 3 Bishop Kihneman’s Schedule Gulf Pine Catholic (ISSN No. 0746-3804) November 29, 2019 Volume 37, Issue 7 The GULF PINE CATHOLIC , published every other week, is an official publication of the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi. Editorial offices are located at 1790 Popps Ferry Road Biloxi, MS 39532. Periodical postage paid at Gulfport, MS. —POSTMASTER— Send address changes to: The GULF PINE CATHOLIC 1790 Popps Ferry Road Biloxi, MS 39532 —PUBLISHER— Most Rev. Louis F. Kihneman —EDITOR— Terry Dickson —PRODUCTION / ADVERTISING — Shirley M c Cusker —CIRCULATION— Debbie Mowrey —PHOTOGRAPHY— Juliana Skelton —OFFICEHOURS— 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday - Friday —PHONE NUMBERS— Editor: 228-702-2126 Production /Advertising: 228-702-2109 Circulation: 228-702-2127 Photography: 228-702-2144 FAX: 228-702-2128 —EMAIL— News: tdickson@biloxidiocese.org Production / Advertising: smccusker@biloxidiocese.org Circulation: dmowrey@biloxidiocese.org Photography: jskelton@biloxidiocese.org —OFFICEAND MAILINGADDRESS — 1790 Popps Ferry Road Biloxi, MS 39532 —WEBSITE— www.biloxidiocese.org —SUBSCRIPTIONS — Subscription rate is $18.00 per year. When changing address, renewing or inquiring about a subscription, customer should include a recent address label with old address and new address. Allow three weeks for changes of address. —DEADLINES for DECEMBER 13 EDITION— News copy and photos: Due DECEMBER 5, 4 p.m. Advertising: Completed Ad and/or copy due DECEMBER 5, 10 a.m. Nov. 30- Ad Limini Visit Dec. 7 Dec. 12 Our Lady of Guadalupe Mass, Sacred Heart Parish, Hattiesburg, 6 p.m. Dec. 14 Mass Hispanic Community, Sacred Heart Parish, Pascagoula, 6 p.m. Dec. 15 Installation Mass – Fr. Wagner, St. Therese, Gulfport, 9 a.m. Update: U.S. bishops examine challenges faced by church, society BY CAROL ZIMMERMANN Catholic News Service BALTIMORE (CNS) -- During their Nov. 11-13 meeting in Baltimore, the U.S. bishops elected new officers and discussed challenges in the church and the nation. They spoke of their renewed efforts to help im- migrants, youth and young adults, pregnant women and the poor as well their steps to combat gun violence and racism. Unlike recent previous meetings, their response to the clergy abuse crisis was men- tioned but was not the primary focus. On the second day of the meeting, Nov. 12, the bishops elected Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of LosAngeles to a three-year term as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron of Detroit as conference vice president. Archbishop Gomez, the first Latino to be elected to this role, was chosen with 176 votes from a slate of 10 nominees. He has been USCCB vice president for the past three years and his new role begins at the end of the Baltimore gathering. At the start of the meeting, the bishops voted overwhelmingly on a revised set of strategic priorities to take them into the next decade. The next day, they approved add- ing new materials to complement “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” their long-standing guide to help Catholics form their consciences in public life, including voting. The addition included the statement that called abortion the preeminent social is- sue of our time. Bishops pray at Mass during the fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore Nov. 11. CNS photo/Bob Roller The second day of bishops’ meeting coincided with oral argu- ments at the Supreme Court over the fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA and bishops at the Baltimore meeting spoke up in defense of DACA recipients on the floor and in interviews with Catho- lic News Service. Bishops also heard a wide- ranging report on immigration Nov. 12, which included updates of policy, how programs to resettle refugees, including those run by the Catholic Church, have closed or reduced activity because the ad- ministration has moved to close the country’s doors to those seeking refuge, and efforts on the border to help asylum cases. After the report, Major-Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archepar- chy of Philadelphia said that no community, more than Catholics in the U.S., know what it’s like to be an immigrant in this country. The bishops’ second day of meetings also included a presentation of the pope’s docu- ment “Christus Vivit,” which was issued fol- lowing the 2018 Synod on Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment. Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of Bridgeport, Connecti- cut, who had been a delegate at the synod, urged bishops to do more to support Catholic teens and young adults and to use the pope’s apostolic exhortation as their guide. The previous day, Auxiliary Bishop Rob- ert E. Barron of Los Angeles told the bishops the church is losing young people in greater numbers and must face the challenges of how to get the religiously unaffiliated, or “nones,” particularly young people, back. He presented a three-minute video on the issue and spoke of his concerns and ideas for bringing young people back to church which involved: not dumbing down the faith and involving young people in the social justice aspects of the church. Discussion about this from the floor lasted for more than an hour with bishops from across the country agree- ing that the issue is of great concern and sharing other ideas to bring young people back which primarily involved catechism but also an increased devotion to Mary. Bishop Barron, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Cateche- sis, who is known for his website, “Word on Fire,” and for hosting the documentary se- ries “Catholicism,” initially brought up this topic during the bishops’ spring meeting. He said at the time, and reiterated Nov. 11, that this topic needs to be a priority for the church today. The bishops also heard that a new “pas- toral framework for marriage and family life” should be ready for a vote by the U.S. bishops by next November at the latest, ac- cording to Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia, chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth. He stressed that it is not a “plan,” since it is intended to be applied within par- ishes and dioceses. At the start of their meeting Nov. 11, the bishops raised pressing issues that included the priesthood shortage, gun violence and the need to provide support services for pregnant women. Archbishop Christophe Pierre, papal nuncio to the United States, mentioned some of these challenges in his opening remarks, along with the need to welcome migrants and fight racism. He also urged the bishops not just to focus on the challenges before them but to consider how they could further de- velop collegiality and collaboration with one another. In his final address as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardi- nal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Hous- ton told his fellow bishops that it has been “an honor to serve you, even in the difficult times.” The 70-year-old prelate thanked the bish- ops, whom he called brothers, for the past three years and was thanked by them in re- turn when the group gave him a standing ovation at the end of his nine-minute presen- tation. SEE BISHOPS ASSEMBLY ROUNDUP, PAGE 7