Archbishop Schnurr dedicated the new church at St. John the Baptist in Harrison on June 1. In conjunction with the One Faith, One Hope, One Love campaign, the parish conducted a special capital campaign to raise funds for the new church. Here is the bulletin article from Fr. Jeff Kemper that was published the weekend of the dedication.

One Faith One Hope One Love has been instrumental to the ministry of Catholic Charities. The total value for services delivered in 2018 was $941, 100!

Problem Recognition and Resolution

Patricia had been with her partner for quite some time, enduring years of persuasive abuse and other traumas.  Coming from a family and cultural background where this was very common, Patricia struggled to recognize that she was a victim of the cycle of abuse.  Through resilience, she took a very important first step and decided to move past and get help.  She reached out to Catholic Charities to connect with a counselor for support.

An intake specialist helped connect Patricia to an individual counselor, who evaluated symptoms and treatment needs.  Patricia realized validation after being diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  Patricia’s counselor implemented a trauma-informed care model including WHO (World Health Organization)-recognized best-practice treatments for PTSD.  Over the past year, Patricia has been empowered to break the cycle and make healthy choices for establishing safety and recovering from traumas. She has also been able to work through the stigma of taking medication for mental health symptoms, and was connected through her counselor to the agency psychiatrist for appropriate medication management interventions.

She has been regularly meeting with a counselor at Catholic Charities for over a year now.  She has made significant progress in her ability to set healthy boundaries in order to establish safety for herself and her children.  She uses the knowledge she has obtained and a range of coping skills in order to manage acute stress symptoms such as trauma triggers and flashbacks.

Catholic Charities provides trauma-informed care, including individual and family therapy and psychiatric services as needed, to many clients like Patricia, including those from diverse cultural backgrounds.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
Parish Outreach – $44,200

Enlightenment Series: 6,432 participants    

Parish Connections: 115 Parishes

Catholic Charities Parish Outreach works with clergy and laypeople to bring services to those in need. Parishes and schools prepare welcome baskets and host coat drives to assist clients.

Also, Catholic Charities connects with congregations of all faiths through the Enlightenment Series. Staff experts and renowned external speakers are featured. Last year, Catholic Charities co-sponsored a presentation by Andrew Fisher addressing issues such as food insecurity, mercy and migration.

Hunger Reduction $299,800 

Second Harvest Food Bank: 1.7 million meals through Springfield Pantry and mobile pantries

Food for All: 401,000 meals through pantries and school backpack programs

Catholic Charities assists people struggling with hunger by assessing all their needs to better coordinate and advocate for services that lift families out of poverty. One initiative is Catholic Charities Food for All that partners with social service agencies and churches in rural areas across the eastern counties of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati to address hunger in food deserts.  This initiative has grown to include providing school-based pantries and student “power packs” in Catholic schools in Cincinnati. Services include counseling and case work.

Next, the Second Harvest Food Bank provides meals to people struggling to avoid hunger in Clark, Champaign and Logan Counties through its Springfield Food Pantry and mobile pantries.  Second Harvest also provides emergency assistance for rent, utilities, and a variety of other needs to the poor and vulnerable.

Family Services $20,600               

Parenting: 395 adults

Early Childhood Mental Health: 1,005 children

Catholic Charities serves at-risk children and their families through individual counseling and classroom experiences designed to repair relationships, correct behavior and teach skills that bring families closer together.

From toddlers to teenagers, Catholic Charities works closely with pre-school to high school students, teachers and parents to identify the root causes of social and behavioral issues and to develop interventions.

Health and Education Programs $155,400

Su Casa / Neighborhood Health Outreach: 3,079 served

Medical Homes: 900 served

Su Casa Combined Education Program: 498 adults, 110 children

Su Casa serves Hispanic/Latino immigrants who are seeking a better life for themselves and their families. Some undertake the dangerous journey to migrate to the U.S. in search of a better future. Services include education and fitness classes, health fairs, screening, referrals and emergency assistance.

Behavioral Health $312,900    

Receiving service: 1,308 served

Sessions provided: 5,418

Catholic Charities provides behavioral health services to all who are in need regardless of faith or income. The counseling program is certified by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and the staff consists of licensed professionals who adhere to high standards of practice and ethics.

Our team supports individuals and families, children to seniors, to manage life issues.

Volunteer Programs $56,200

Volunteers: 4,254

Volunteer Hours: 185,272

To be a volunteer with Catholic Charities is to bear witness for Christ to those in need regardless of religion, ethnicity, race or age. In a society marred by divisions between rich and poor, our tradition recalls the Gospel of Matthew (25:31-46) and instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.  Catholic Charities empowers Christian disciples and people of goodwill to answer the call to serve and work for justice.

Refugees Resettlement:  $52,000  

Resettled:  62

Employed:  84

Catholic Charities serves refugees who come to the United States through the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Refugees come from extreme poverty, violence, or religious and political persecution in their homelands; seeking a better life for themselves and their families.

One would be hard pressed to guess the century, much less a particular decade or year, watching the group of four young men engaged in quiet conversation walking across the timeless campus. Their cassocks softly sweep at the ground as the fireforged yellows and reds of the setting sun give way to a still and calm twilight blue that settles like a veil. Perhaps they are headed to Bar Jonah, the Athenaeum of Ohio’s inhouse pub reserved for the seminarians and priests who keep room and board onsite. Or maybe they are going to the library to study for an exam after vespers.

Yet, it is clear that wherever this meandering gait leads them for the evening, they have their sights set on a goal significantly beyond this moment. They are searching out their holy orders. Specifically, they are there to be formed into our new priests.

As tranquil and eternal as the Athenaeum of Ohio’s facade appears, there is an energized current of potential and momentum that is palpable even in the evening calm. During the work day, the site is not at all quiet. The Athenaeum, specifically the seminary division,  Mount St. Mary of the the West,  is bursting at the seams.

Archbishop Schnurr introduced the Prayer for Vocations (2011) which we now say at every Sunday Mass in all the archdiocese parishes. Fr. Ben O’Cinnsealaigh— former seminary rector and Athenaeum president for 7 years— labored with a dogged determination aided by grit, charm, and keen acumen to grow enrollment and draw new seminarians. Fr. Brausch succeeded Fr. O’Cinnsealaigh in 2018 as rector and president of the Athenaeum. While new to his current position, he has been instrumental in the blossoming and growth now taking place having served as vice- rector and director of both the seminary and the permanent diaconate program since 2011. It is under his current leadership that the Archdiocese of Cincinnati expects to ordain its largest class of priests in over 40 years.

The electric spark of hope in the air is not composed only of prayer and fine leadership, indispensable as they are. It is also constructed and nourished by bulldozers, hardhats carpenters and engineers.

It is the  funds provided by the faithful, by generous donors, that bring to fruition God’s plans in the most practical and concrete of ways. It enables the faith to bring more into the fold and build the future of the Church, quite literally, one stone at a time. The record breaking classes of seminarians streaming into the Athenaeum has brought to a head a much welcomed problem. More room is needed! Construction for a new seminary residence hall, Fenwick Hall, is currently underway so when the 90+ seminarians immerse themselves into their formation process becoming our next generation of priests, we will have made them welcome in their new home. The Athenaeum conducted a separate capital campaign to fund the project.

The construction has been thoughtfully designed to keep within the style of the current architecture. The stone and tenor remain the same— timeless in beauty and the purpose served. This thoughtful and forward looking stewardship which has brought us this far will continue to bear fruit far into the future. It is easy to imagine this time to come. Seventy, eighty, or maybe even a hundred years from now— long after most of us are gone— there will be a group of young men walking across the grounds. Their black cassocks will sweep noiselessly along the walkways as they return from evening prayer. Maybe they are on the way to study in the library.  Or maybe they are going to Bar Jonah for rousing theological conversation over a pitcher of good beer, part of an eternal line of an eternal order. Let us pray for all the priests and seminarians. And let us also pray for all of those who made their path possible.

Written by: Rebecca Sontag

Photos by: Margaret Swensen

Bethel means, “House of God.” True to its name, the small hamlet of Bethel found in rural Clermont County is home to many churches, most a mere stone’s throw from one to the next. Yet, St. Mary’s Catholic Church— built from 1941 to ’42— is not among them.

The very same year a young John F. Kennedy was volunteering for wartime service in the US Navy, this small Catholic community in Clermont County was denied permission to build their much wanted church within the village limits. They had demonstrated their need for the church. They had procured the funding and the bishop’s blessing. But they did not have permission from the town. At that time, they were simply not welcome. That is why this particular “house of God” is, to this very day, located just outside the official village limits.

Feeding the Body of Christ

Scott Stephens knew of St. Mary’s in Clermont County through his work with Catholic Charities of Southwestern Ohio (CCSWO) as Director of Parish Outreach. He visited parish after parish— beautiful rolling farmland, forests, villages, suburbs, towns and cities— listening to their stories. Hearing firsthand of the particular struggles and joys shared in the recounted experiences, hunger was a frequently mentioned theme in many rural counties, too. Limited employment opportunities, transportation difficulties, food deserts, poor health and illness, human tragedy, bad luck: the struggles revealed were many and varied. Yet, with all those struggles, hunger and food insecurity was an ever-present and looming threat.

From this, “Food for All,” a mobile food pantry, was born some three years ago. Funding supplied by the  “One Faith, One Hope, One Love” (1FHL) capital campaign provided Catholic Charities of Southwestern Ohio the ability to serve residents in need. The pantry makes regular monthly stops in the counties of Adams, Brown, Highland, Clinton and Clermont to distribute a week’s worth of shelf-stable goods, produce, eggs, meat and other fresh foods for the families they serve.

Even with the generous funding of 1FHL, Catholic Charities can’t do this alone. Debbie DePuccio, the office manager at St. Mary’s, helps coordinate other volunteers from the parish when it is time for the pantry to make its monthly Bethel visit. And most of the volunteers Debbie wrangled together are from Bethel with a good showing from the parish. But they’re not all from St. Mary’s. Some of the volunteers are from the Methodist Church in town. Folks from the Nazarene Church and others can be counted on to help, too. Friends, neighbors, and strangers alike— churched and unchurched— come through the well-organized operation, choosing from a wide variety of high quality and healthy foods to help them feed their families.

The environment provided is upbeat and fun. The mood is positive and encouraging. In Clermont County it’s at St. Mary’s. But in Brown County, the pantry sets up at the Methodist Church, while the Clinton County stop is at the Morningview Apartments. Regardless of the particular location for the day, the coordinator from Catholic Charities will be working alongside the parish point-people and all the volunteers there to help: unloading the truck, setting up the tables, collecting the boxes, handing out numbers and lending an ear. Through their efforts and with the generous support from the 1FHL campaign, furrowed brows and slumped shoulders turn into smiles and fellowship. Volunteers carry boxes of food to the cars of their client families with a week’s worth of food all packed up and ready to go. This extension of corporal mercy not only cultivates discipleship, but strengthens community as well. Kindness is given, dignity is respected and the love of Christ is expressed and freely given.

Those seventy-eight years since St. Mary’s was obligated to build outside the village limits has brought much change both locally and to the wider world. That dashing young Catholic serviceman from the Navy became a war hero and was elected the first Catholic president of the United States. St. Mary’s grew so much they needed to enlarge the church as they came to be a vital and life giving presence in the community, regardless of property lines. And “Food for All” has provided hundreds of thousands of meals for these local families. Knowing this, the unofficial slogan of CCSWO seems all the more true as they state, “We don’t serve you because you are Catholic; we serve you because we are.”

For more information, please visit: https://www.ccswoh.org/food-for-all-pantry/

Written by: Rebecca Sontag

A tall man with a long beard stood by the banks of the Jordan River this past June with a ball cap perched on his head blocking the wash of white sunlight from his eyes while clutching a bible in his hand. Before him were the pilgrims— faculty and staff from Catholic schools from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati— listening intently as John Leyendecker, the man in the cap, led them in reflection at one of Christendom’s most holy sites. They collectively pondered and considered the Baptizing of Jesus by John the Baptist as they sat together at the edge of that sacred location. The group leader, Mr. Leyendecker addressed the pilgrims as they attentively listened while the river water flowed past only yards away. And though all ears were tuned in to Mr. Leyendecker, it was impossible to ignore the poignant backdrop of a group of young men garbed all in white being Baptized that very day in those very same waters which washed over our Lord those 2000 or so years ago.

The School of Faith (first established by Archbishop Naumann of Kansas City, 2005) was invited to minister to the Archdiocese of Cincinnati by way of invitation and endorsement from Archbishop Dennis Schnurr in 2015 and now receives sustaining funding from the “One Faith, One Hope, One Love Campaign.” The purpose and mission of the School of Faith is to:

…Provide doctrinal and spiritual formation for Catholics through catechetical programs that stress the call to prayer, virtue, and holiness of life, with a particular emphasis on mentoring those who have the responsibility to teach the faith to others, with the goal of renewing the culture of our Catholic schools and individuals.

And that is what Mr. Leyendecker, Cincinnati Mission Director for the School of Faith, was doing that day as he led educators in prayer, meditation and reflection as they walked the very ground once tread by Jesus, His Holy Mother and the Apostles.

It is little wonder that the pilgrims, that is, our local Catholic school teachers and catechists, return saying things such as, “Life changing!” and “Transformational!” after having come home from the 9-day trip to Israel.

Christina Riggins, assistant principal at St. James School in White Oak writes, “This experience makes all you have ever know about your faith and the life of Jesus Christ come to life and become so real.” It is this reality of Jesus, Jesus who is alive and present, that an energized Mrs. Riggins brings back to her students.

Lisa Fletcher, of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, shares with us in a video of “Pilgrimage Reflections,” her striking insights regarding the rewards of the trip:

Jesus is loving relationships… Jesus is self-sacrifice… Everything that I think that Jesus is, always comes back to relationship.

And:

            This pilgrimage, this whole thing is critical for our schools: to live as a disciple and to bring this back, to live it, to be a role model.

The strangers being Baptized that day last June waited their turn to be born anew as children of God while standing chest high in the River Jordan. The concentric circles and little lapping waves their bodies made intersected and rippled far beyond their small group. Soon would come the moment when the sacrament would be performed thereby beginning their new lives in Christ.

Likewise, the contingent of faculty and staff in attendance from our Archdiocese schools were preparing to begin a journey along the same theme. They, too, would be leaving that holy site to begin their new lives as disciples whose faith and spiritual selves had been set aflame by the experience. And with that new fire came a renewed calling, not to keep this transformative growth to themselves, but to bring it to their colleagues, their students, their families and neighbors. It was time for them to take what they had learned back across the water to their own shores, schools, and homes.

This newly kindled purpose set alight in these educators is not left to sustain itself.  They gather within their particular schools for follow-up sessions and small group discussions led by Mr. Leyendecker. They meet with other program participants for fellowship and sharing witness to the ripples of positive change they’ve brought forth to themselves and those around them. They share their struggles and their successes. But most importantly, they share their faith.

Thank you to the generous donors for continuing to support the “One Faith, One Hope, One Love Campaign” which makes this incredibly valuable and worthwhile program possible.

For more information on the “School of Faith,” please visit http://www.catholiccincinnati.org/ministries-offices/one/school-of-faith/

or contact: john@schooloffaith.com.

Written by: Rebecca Sontag

The Beginning of the Road

The elegantly grand and solidly constructed stone buildings of St. Boniface Parish sit aloft a terraced slope keeping an ever-steady and unwavering watch over the prettily painted Victorian homes pressed right against the foot of the hill. Sundays, holy days, and all days in Northside, a bustling and eclectic Cincinnati neighborhood, St. Boniface has served as a spiritual home for its parishioners generation upon generation. Countless families have celebrated the Holy Sacraments under the red clay-tiled roof since its completion in 1927.

(The exterior of St. Boniface Church. Catholic Telegraph Photo by E.L. Hubbard)

Still today, you can find older life-long parishioners who were Baptized as infants at St. Boniface back when it still smelled of new construction and before the days of hospital births. Dependably and carefully, albeit a pace slowed by age, arthritis and time, they can be witnessed navigating the steps and making the climb to enter the church that has overseen their Confirmations and Marriages. It’s where these men and women came for the funeral Masses of their parents. It’s where their own children, grandchildren and great grandchildren were Baptized, Married, and Confirmed. The 1934-built school, where they and their loved ones were educated by the Sisters of Charity, still provides careful spiritual formation and a quality education. Both parish children and the wider neighborhood as well, over 90% of whom are at or below poverty level, benefit greatly from St. Boniface School offering an exemplary alternative to the poorly rated public-school option.

St. Boniface Parish has a long and dedicated history, stretching over 150 years, of meeting the changing needs of her parishioners. In the 1850s, when Northside was just a small village known as Cumminsville, there came an influx of Catholic immigrants. A good number of them were Irish and had no place to worship. Railways, a booming local economy and employment opportunities made the area a perfect fit for these new Americans who where seeking better lives for themselves and their families. All that was missing was a place to participate in and receive the Holy Sacraments, to practice and live the faith. In 1853, Archbishop Purcell approved the building of the small church on Delaney St. allowing Cumminsville to become, for these immigrants, a place where one could make a home— a place to put down roots, to truly live.

Of course, the Irish weren’t the only large group of immigrants who found a home in Cincinnati during the 1800s. German-Catholic immigrants were hugely influential in Cincinnati’s development, growth, and forming of cultural identity in the 19th century. These German immigrants began moving in large numbers to Cumminsville right alongside the Irish. The young parish, known then as St. Aloysius, could no longer accommodate the rapid increase in numbers. Archbishop Purcell formed a new parish to serve the crush of parishioners who no longer fit into the overflowing church on Delaney Street. Their needs had changed.

Change in Direction

As a group, the parish decided to divide along ethnic lines. Drawing lots, the Irish ended up staying where they were and changed the parish name to St. Patrick. The German-Cincinnatians were given $1500 by the Archdiocese to help them on their path for building their new parish church. They started on Blue Rock, there were rectories, sacristies, other school buildings and additions and a residence for the Sisters. St. Boniface Church’s growth was so substantial that two additional new parishes sprang forth to satisfy, again, the changing needs of the people. In 1921, the land for the current location was purchased. And in 1927, at the peak of the “Roaring 20s,” the current rectory and church were completed.

So many things have changed since 1927. St. Patrick Church reunited with St. Boniface in 1991. The school, first started by the Sisters of Charity, became a ministry of the Sisters of Mercy. Many long-standing families moved out of Northside in favor of the suburbs and its expansive lawns. In 1927, ninety-one years ago, there were a grand total of 15 million cars that had been sold in the United States, and the state of Ohio did not even require a driver’s license. Today, there are more than 276 million vehicles that are legally registered in addition to an untold number which are not. And we are living a lot longer, too. The average life expectancy for Americans in 1927 was around 60. Though the total average American life expectancy is currently about 78, once you’ve made it to age 65, you can expect to live about another 20 years. Again, St. Boniface is prepared to meet the ever changing needs of the parish.

Destination Stays the Same

With allocated funds from the One Faith, One Hope, One Love campaign, St. Boniface Parish is building a brand new parking lot to accommodate its parish body and their still-changing needs. No longer will church goers need to circle the block down the hill for street parking. Nor will they have to park up the hill in the school parking lot. Getting to church 45 minutes early will no longer be necessary to procure one of only two handicap parking spots which are currently available. The current church-level parking will be increased from 30 spaces to 69, ten of which will be designated as handicap parking. The people of St. Boniface know that meeting the needs of the people is not always new buildings, new schools, or new parishes. It’s really just helping bring souls to Jesus. Sometimes, it’s a place to park.

Written by: Rebecca Sontag

The Catholic Education Foundation for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati is offering more than $2 million in needs-based tuition assistance to Catholic school students for the 2019-2020 school year. Families can apply for tuition assistance of up to $1,000 per student.

For elementary school (K-8) tuition assistance, the application period deadline is January 31, 2019.

If you have questions, please call Pam Jaspers at 513-421-3131, etx. 2713 or e-mail cef@catholicbestchoice.org

Catholic Education – The Best Choice!