CHARLOTTE — The U.S. bishops of the Southeast are scheduled to meet with Pope Francis in early February for their “ad limina” visit, the time when bishops visit Rome and the “threshold of the Apostles” Sts. Peter and Paul to give a report on the state of their dioceses.
The Diocese of Charlotte and Archdiocese of Atlanta are offering a joint pilgrimage for people to join the trip to Rome in solidarity with the bishops. The eight-day trip, set for Feb. 7-15, 2020, will include tours of churches and historical sites in Rome as well as excursions to Loreto, Lanciano and San Giovanni Rotondo.
In Loreto, pilgrims will visit and tour the Marian Shrine of Loreto and visit the Holy House of Nazareth. After learning about this Marian site, pilgrims will depart for San Giovanni Rotondo with a stop in Lanciano to visit the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano.
In San Giovanni Rotondo, pilgrims will visit the shrine of St. Padre Pio, the Shrine of Our Lady of Grace, which is the second-most visited Catholic shrine in the world.
Mass will be celebrated at the tomb of St. Padre Pio. Pilgrims will then tour the shrine, the old church and the crucifix from which St. Padre Pio received the stigmata in 1918. A visit to the Grotto of St. Michael the Archangel is also planned.
In Rome, pilgrims will visit the ancient St. John Lateran Basilica, the Basilica of St. Mary Major, and the Holy Steps climbed by Christ.
Pilgrims can also attend the papal audience in St. Peter’s Square (pending the Holy Father’s final schedule) and take a tour of the Scavi, ending at the tomb of St. Peter himself.
Also planned are a visit to the Basilica of San Clemente for Mass and a tour of the catacombs, and a tour of ancient Rome including the Coliseum, Capitol Hill, the Roman Forum and the Circus Maximus.
An optional walking tour of historic Rome will include the Caravaggio churches, the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and Trevi Fountain.
During the ad limina pilgrimage, pilgrims will also go to Mass at the tomb of St. John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica and enjoy a guided tour of the Vatican, including the Vatican Museums and a visit to the Sistine Chapel.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
For more info
The Diocese of Charlotte/Archdiocese of Atlanta Ad Limina Pilgrimage is organized through Corporate Travel Service Inc. Cost is $2,615 per person for double occupancy, plus airfare.
For complete itinerary and pricing information, visit “Italy Ad Limina Pilgrimage". If you book online, the trip code is 43785 and the group code is 5489. Questions? Call Corporate Travel Service Inc. at 888-468-1420.
‘Jubilant praises’
Divine Redeemer Church celebrates 15th anniversary of dedication
BOONVILLE — Members of Divine Redeemer Parish celebrated the 15th anniversary of the dedication of their church Aug. 15 with the bishop who originally consecrated it: Bishop Peter Jugis.
Divine Redeemer was one of the first churches Bishop Jugis dedicated after being installed as the fourth Bishop of Charlotte. Fifteen years later, he returned to the church and recalled the words he had prayed during the dedication Mass – worshiping the Lord “with jubilant praises” and asking Him to sanctify the church so that it could be used for the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in which the people could in turn be sanctified through the reception of the sacraments.
Bishop Jugis noted, “How good it is to return today to celebrate, on the solemnity of our Blessed Mother Mary, to this house of prayer, the church of the Divine Redeemer, where the love of God has been celebrated for 15 years and the love of God is still present today through the presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Mass.”
“Jubilant praises,” he said, referring to the prayer of dedication, are what he heard at the church’s dedication 15 years ago and what he heard again that day. “Jubilant praises, with the whole community singing jubilant praises to God.”
“May God increase in us His love that we celebrate here because, as St. John Paul II has said, opening one’s heart to the love of God also opens us to love our brothers, and we grow as a Christian community of faith, holiness and love,” he said.
Bishop Jugis concelebrated the Mass with Father Enrique González, pastor; Father Fidel Melo, vicar of Hispanic Ministry; and Father Eulogio Álvarez. Deacon Michael Langsdorf assisted and seminarian Camilo Salas-Bowen also served.
After Communion, Father González led the congregation in praying, in Spanish and in English, a prayer of thanksgiving expressing gratitude to God for His blessings over the 15 years parishioners have “lived together as family.”
After Mass parishioners enjoyed a traditional Mexican potluck called a “compartir,” with the festivities seasoned with Mariachi music.
For Jaime Ruiz, one of the oldest parishioners at the parish, the community has grown tremendously over the years. “We started with eight people and now we are a very large community, thank God and our Blessed Mother.”
Juana Silva de Rodríguez, another founding member of the parish, said the community grew due to the interest of parishioners like her who were “calling families one by one to integrate.”
Divine Redeemer Church’s roots run deep in Yadkin County. In the 1980s, a significant number of Hispanics arrived in the area, northwest of Winston-Salem, as migrants working in the tobacco industry.
They were predominately Catholic, and the Diocese of Charlotte responded by establishing a migrant ministry, eventually named Cristo Rey (“Christ the King”), in Yadkinville in the summer of 1982 to serve families in Yadkin and south Surry counties. The four Catholic parishes of Winston-Salem – Our Lady of Mercy, St. Leo the Great, St. Benedict the Moor and Our Lady of Fatima – founded the ministry in a joint effort.
In 1985, La Iglesia del Sagrado Corazon de Jesus (“Sacred Heart of Jesus Church”) was established 20 miles north in Dobson. The local community converted a former housing facility for migrant workers into a church. Although the structure had no running water and relied on kerosene heater for warmth, it was utilized as the church for eight years.
Father Joseph Waters, a pioneer in ministry to Hispanics in the diocese, was appointed director of diocesan migrant ministry in 1982. He led a search for Spanish-speaking priests to celebrate Mass for the Hispanic communities in the western Piedmont.
By 1986, the growth of Hispanic Catholics in the area prompted the diocese to buy a former hardware store just south of Yadkinville to provide a permanent pastoral center.
Father Joseph Mack, then-pastor of St. Joseph Church in Asheboro, celebrated the first Mass in the hardware-store church in 1990. In December then-Bishop John Donoghue blessed the facility, giving it the name Cristo Rey (“Christ the King”).
The number of migrant families permanently settling the Yadkinville area continued to rise, and by 1995, Sunday Mass attendance was so high that some worshipers were forced to stand outside.
A second location was found south of Dobson and the building was converted into a church in 1994. Soon, the Hispanic population outgrew both the Sagrado Corazon de Jesus and Cristo Rey facilities.
Both communities launched a plan to unite and build a new church between the two existing centers of worship for all of Yadkin County’s Catholics.
Twenty acres were purchased in Boonville, at the midpoint between Dobson and Yadkinville, and in 2003 an 18,000-square-foot, $1.5 million building was constructed to serve as a worship, educational and gathering space. Named “Divino Redentor” (“Divine Redeemer”), the church features traditional Mexican architecture, stucco and a red tile roof to pay homage to the heritage of the founding Catholics of the community. The sanctuary’s crucifix and altar were also crafted in Mexico.
Father Melo, among the first native Spanish-speaking priests to serve the community, said the church was designed so that parishioners, mostly who emigrated from Mexico, can feel at home.
“We have a great responsibility to make felt the strong presence of the Catholic Church, especially by demonstrating our identity as Christian Catholics,” he noted.
— César Hurtado, Reportero hispano
