Protecting God’s Children

First role of the Church is to ‘help the victim’

By DAVID MYERS
Southwest Kansas Register

Victims come first.

This admonition by Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta represents a change in thinking since the late 1990s.
It’s been more than two decades since Teresa Green (an alias) of Texas was sexually abused by a priest. Yet, even after fighting through the long journey to re-embrace the Church, there are still triggers that send her into a downward spiral. Sadly, these triggers can include some of the most sacred objects we see in our churches
Such is the depth of her pain -- as well as that of many other victims of clergy sexual abuse. On Sept. 26, members of the chancery staff and others in the diocese took part in a day-long session designed, in part, to review what the U.S. Catholic Church has done, and is doing, to protect children from clergy abuse.

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Vatican official visits Wichita chancery regarding

Father Emil Kapaun’s cause for sainthood

By Tim Wenzl
Diocesan Archivist
Editor’s note: Parts of this article first appeared in the Oct. 4 edition of the Catholic Advance.
Dr. Andrea Ambrosi, Postulator with the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints, was in Wichita Sept. 28 and 29 to look over some work compiled on the documentation of two alleged miracles attributed to the intercession of Father Emil Kapaun.
Father John Hotze, Episcopal Delegate overseeing the gathering of information for the cause, met with Ambrosi at the Wichita chancery. “He was here to ensure that we’ve done everything properly,” Father Hotze said, “so that when we do get all of the interviews done, we can just ship it over to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. We hope to have the interviews complete in the next couple of months.”
The Wichita diocese is investigating the alleged miraculous healings of Avery Gerleman, now a student at Hutchinson Community College, and Chase Kear of Colwich. In 2006, Gerleman, at age 12, was suffering from autoimmune disorder that left her near death; Kear recovered from a traumatic pole vaulting injury to his head in 2008.

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Benedictine College honors Brungardts with ‘2013 Family Award’

The Most Rev. John B. Brungardt, far right, is pictured with members of his family in the foreground of Benedictine College in Atchison. The family was presented the 2013 Family Award Oct. 5.

Special to the Register
Atchison -- Family Weekend at Benedictine College featured the presentation of the 2013 Family Award to the Dr. Balthasar and Mrs. Margaret Brungardt Family.  Each year the college recognizes a family that has been particularly active as alumni, as legacies, and in service to the college.  The Brungardts were honored with a presentation during halftime of the Benedictine football game versus Graceland University on Saturday, Oct. 5.  Paul (St. Benedict’s College class of 1965) and Marg (Mount St. Scholastica Class of 1966) Brungardt accepted the award on behalf of the entire family.  Paul was part of the second generation to attend the college and was the “senior” member present for the honor.

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30 years in the making

Vietnamese celebrate three decades of Catholic presence

PHOTOS

By DAVID MYERS
Southwest Kansas Register
GARDEN CITY – It was a celebration 30 years in the making for Vietnamese Catholics, who gathered Oct. 27 at St. Dominic Church to recognize three decades since the founding of the Vietnamese Catholic community in Garden City.
At a Mass preceding a dinner reception, women in colorful native garb, their husbands, children or grandchildren beside them, listened as Bishop John Brungardt bid them congratulations on their anniversary and thanked them for their contributions and faith-filled service to the Church of Southwest Kansas.

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The Four Pillars of Stewardship: Prayer

‘Soldiers for Christ’

The rosary: a tool of conversion (see the SPANISH below)

The “Soldiers for Christ” rosary group includes, back row: Jose Franco, Oscar Heredia, Aurelio Barron and Hilario Ochoa. Middle row: Osvaldo Mendez, Saul Hernandez, Oscar Franco and Amado Medina. Front row: Alfredo Alvarado, Pedro Sanchez, Father Peter Fernandez, Hector Porras and Joel Guaderrama. Not Pictured are Carlos Garcia, Jose Ibarra, Manuel Melendez, Trinidad Hernandez, and Pedro Galindo.

By DAVID MYERS
Southwest Kansas Register
Editor’s Note: This week the Register continues coverage leading to the November 17 “Stewardship Renewal Commitment Sunday” by highlighting one of the four Pillars of Stewardship: “Prayer”. The last issue of the Register highlighted “Formation.”

Each Thursday evening, several men gather in the soft light of Mary Queen of Peace Parish in Ulysses.
In their hands they each hold a rosary.
Together, they pray their admonitions to the Lord, a prayer for conversion – of families, of communities; they pray the repeated words of the rosary as God removes that outer layer of their daily lives until the world subsides and they can feel God’s presence with utter clarity.
Father Peter Fernandez started the rosary group for men, “Soldados de Cristo (Solders of Christ)” at Mary Queen of Peace Parish in March following a parish mission in which was stressed the struggle of the family in today’s society -- a society entrenched with often unhealthy distractions.

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Wedding Anniversary Mass

Bishop urges couples to pray aloud together

By DAVID MYERS
Southwest Kansas Register

(PHOTOS) Bishop John B. Brungardt urged couples who were gathered at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Dodge City Oct. 20 to “pray together daily, pouring out your thoughts and feelings to the Lord”.  
Dozens of couples from across southwest Kansas converged on the cathedral on the plains for the annual Wedding Anniversary Mass, which was followed by a dinner reception.
“We thank you, God,” the bishop said, “for your presence in these marriages. Please help them to grow ever closer to you and to each other throughout this life so they may rejoice in your love eternally.”
The couples grasped hands and renewed their love and commitment to each other: “Today, I renew my commitment to you,” they said to one another. “I promise to love you and honor you all the days of my life.”

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