Gulf Pine Catholic

2 Gulf Pine Catholic • January 7, 2022 D iocesan E vents Job Opening at St. Michael BILOXI -- St. Michael Parish, Biloxi, is looking for a responsible administra- tive assistant to perform a variety of administrative and clerical tasks. Duties of the administrative assistant include providing support to our pastor, deacons, and church committees. This position requires a dedicated employee who can act as the liaison between staff and mem- bers/participants/community. Administrative assistant responsibili- ties include preparing the weekly church bulletin, communicating online with church members, updating, and main- taining our membership databases, scheduling our volunteer ministries, maintaining church calendar, managing our website and social media presence, as well as maintaining QuickBooks , log- ging deposits, preparing checks, and doing a small payroll. The ideal candidate should be orga- nized, able to complete work based on deadlines, able to work independently, have excellent written and verbal com- munication as well as the ability to han- dle sensitive and confidential informa- tion. If you have previous experience as a secretary or administrative assistant and would like to work 18-22 hours per week as part of a welcoming and sup- portive church community, we’d like to meet you. Apply at our website: www.stmi- chaelchurchbiloxi.com/job-announce- ments Donations to the Association of Priests The Association of Priests of the Dioceses of Biloxi and Jackson provide a small pension to our retired priests. As you consider your estate plans, please remember these faithful servants by making a donation or leaving a bequest to the Association of Priests. Our parish priests dedicated their lives to caring for us, their flocks. Let us now care for them in their retirement. Donations can be made payable to the Association of Priests and can be mailed to the Diocese of Biloxi, Attn: Tammy DiLorenzo, 1790 Popps Ferry Rd., Biloxi, MS 39532. Pro-Life Crosses KILN -- Annunciation Parish in Kiln has 1,000 well-maintained Pro-Life crosses. If anybody wants any crosses, please contact Annunciation Parish at (228) 255-1800 Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-12 p.m.. The crosses are free. January 11 Irish Priests Reunion PASS CHRISTIAN -- This year, the Mass for deceased priests will be cele- brated at Most Holy Trinity in Pass Christian, 9062 Kiln Delisle Rd., on Jan. 11, 2022, at 6 p.m. Father Louis Lohan will be the main celebrant at the Mass honoring all deceased Irish priests. All priests, religious, deacons, and laity are invited to attend. A reception will follow. January 16 Farewell to parish secretary BASSFIELD -- On Sun., Jan. 16, at 4 p.m. in the parish hall, St. Peter’s Catholic Church will bid farewell to our parish secretary, Mary Gail Prentice, who has served the parish for 24 years. She has faithfully greeted and assisted parishioners when they call or stop by the office. Gail has decided it is time to retire and spend more time with her family and grandchildren. While we cannot fault her for retiring, we will certainly miss her in the office and volunteering in the altar society. I won’t forget all the wonderful ways she has made a positive difference for many who have sought her assistance. I am thankful to have worked with you for three years. Your dedication and work are very much appreciated by the people and me. Thank you sincerely for being such a wonderful secretary, for your kindness, and willingness to assist many priests in their ministry in Bassfield, Carson, Prentiss, and Monticello for 24 years. You are the best secretary ever! Prentice Southern Italian diocese temporarily bans naming of godparents BY JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES Catholic News Service A second diocese in Sicily, where the Mafia has had a significant presence for decades, announced a temporary ban on the naming of godparents for bap- tisms and confirmations. In a decree that went into effect Jan. 1, Bishop Domenico Mogavero of Mazara del Vallo said the ban would be in effect “ad experimentum” (on an experimental basis) until the end of 2024. “The office of godparent in the two sacraments of baptism and confirmation has lost its original meaning, limiting itself to a purely formal liturgical pres- ence that is not followed by the accom- paniment of the baptized and the con- firmed on the path of human and spiri- tual growth,” the bishop wrote. Rather than having godparents or sponsors, he said, those being baptized, confirmed or welcomed into the church as adults will be joined by their parents or the person who prepared them for the sacrament. In October, the Diocese of Catania introduced a similar three-year ban due to the use of godparents as means to strengthen family bonds, particularly within local Mafia families, rather than as an aide in the spiri- tual development of those who are baptized or con- firmed. Mazara del Vallo was once the home of the late Sicilian mob boss Mariano Agate, who led several Mafia families in the region. It was also where mob boss Gaetano Riina -- head of the Corleone, Sicily, clan which inspired the last name of the fictional mafia family depicted in Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” -- was arrested in 2011. Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis has strongly criticized the Mafia and its use of popular religios- ity and violence to exploit the poor and the suffering. During a 2014 visit to Calabria, the pope said mem- bers of the Mafia “are not in com- munion with God; they are excom- municated.” In May, the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development also announced the formation of a working group that would aid bishops in the excommu- nication of those involved in organized crime. Anti-Mafia police, wearing masks to hide their identity, escort top Mafia fugitive Giovani Brusca as he leaves Palermo’s police headquarters to be taken to a maximum security prison, in Palermo, Italy, in this May 21, 1996, file photo. The southern Italian diocese of Mazara del Vallo, where the Mafia has a significant presence, announced a temporary suspension on the naming of godparents for baptism and confirmation beginning Jan. 1. CNS photo/Tony Gentile, Reuters