Vol. 3, No. 15 Wednesday, April 22, 2020 Wednesday, April 22, 2020

                   
Please note: T he Diocese of Tucson and St. Augustine Cathedral Parish offices are closed until further notice because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
While our offices are closed, Pastoral Center employees are checking email messages and voice mail hourly. When you call a Pastoral Center employee,  please leave a message with your phone number so your call can be returned.
 
 
Windows at Cathedral, Marist College Apartments and cars at Cathedral Square vandalized

A vandal used rocks to break treasured stained-glass windows at St. Augustine Cathedral Monday evening.
 
The same person is suspected of also breaking windows at the nearby Marist College Apartments, located at the back of Cathedral Square, 192 S. Stone Ave. In addition, windows on three cars in the apartment building parking lot, and the Foundation for Senior Living (FSL) van also were broken Monday evening. FSL operates the apartments.
 

The Tucson Police Department made an arrest in connection with this crime, and as of Tuesday the person was in custody.
 
We are still working on getting estimates to repair the damage to these beautiful 123-year-old windows. Stained-glass windows affected were on the north and south sides of Cathedral. Although the windows were protected on the exterior by plexiglass. The thrown rocks still were able to smash holes into the windows. The holes ranged from about 8 to 12 inches in circumference. There also were smaller holes.
 
Nearly all of the windows in St. Augustine Cathedral were made in 1897, the same year the church was built. John Shaheen, director of property and insurance for the Diocese, said parts of the windows are finely detailed and include uniquely patterned glass that will be difficult, if not impossible, to replace.
 
 
Did you know?
The church now called the Cathedral was built by Bishop Peter Bourgade in 1897. The original plans called for a Gothic structure, but the spires were never completed.  In 1928 that the brick structure was transformed into the Mexican baroque style presently on the Cathedral, including the cast stone façade.
A restoration project from 1966 to 1968 demolished and rebuilt the cathedral except for the towers and façade. That work was done during the 100-year anniversary of the completion of the Cathedral built by then-Father Jean B. Salpointe in 1866 in what is now known as Veinte de Agosto Park.
The last restoration of the Cathedral was started in 2008 and completed in 2012.
 
HOPE fund update:
For the last several weeks, the Update, along with our diocesan website and the Catholic Foundation have been promoting online giving to parishes, to help the parishes receive the weekly donations needed to keep operating.
First, thanks for your generosity! Elizabeth Bollinger, executive director of our Catholic Foundation, reports that the online giving site has received almost $30,000 for our HOPE fund ( Helping Our Parishes Endure). The first distribution went out last week. Remember, you can make contributions specifically to your parish.
 
If you have wondered how you can help during this pandemic, I urge you to consider making your weekly  or monthly donation or other contribution to your parish online. Even though Masses are not taking place at your parish, it is likely that other services, such as Masses online or livestreaming, parish meetings via Zoom, or even telephone discussions with parish staff or your pastor are still being done.
 
If you would like to give, visit: https://app.mobilecause.com/form/ZXM8yQ?vid=6kwx4
 
My thanks for your support!
 
 

Pandemic stay-at-home rules affect ordination plans in mission dioceses

By Catholic News Service
 
Editor’s note: Although not mentioned in this story, the Diocese of Tucson also is a mission diocese. As the other dioceses in the story, our diocesan seminarians also have returned home to complete studies online. 
 
About 100 ordinations were scheduled to occur this year in the nation's 87 mission dioceses supported by Catholic Extension, but the coronavirus has changed everything and left a cloud of uncertainty.
 
Dioceses around the U.S. anticipate that state pandemic-related lockdown measures will extend into May and are pushing back their plans, while others are still weighing their options.
 
Many seminarians in the mission dioceses have returned home. Some students have no home to return to and have struggled to find a location to shelter-in-place during this time of social distancing. Many have been continuing their studies with online courses.
 
"I have spoken with a few of the men regarding the online courses and they would much rather be in an actual class. This is especially true for those set to graduate this year, who typically relish these last weeks of fraternity with their classmates," said Father Felipe Pulido, who is vocations director for the Diocese of Yakima, Washington.
 
Yakima is one of mission dioceses supported by Chicago-based Catholic Extension, which has been supporting the work and ministries of these mission dioceses since its founding in 1905.
 
Catholic Extension raises and distributes funds to support U.S. mission dioceses, many of which are rural, cover a large geographic area, and have limited personnel and pastoral resources. In the past five years alone, the organization has helped poor dioceses support the education of nearly 500 seminarians across the country by contributing more than $12 million.
 
The Diocese of Yakima will not postpone its two ordinations this May, which includes Deacon Edgar Quiorga, a fourth-year seminarian, as a priest, and Michael Kelly as a transitional deacon. But, Father Pulido explained, this will not be a normal ceremony.
 
"Ordinations will comply with the regulations that are in place," requiring social distancing and gatherings of fewer than 10 people, he added. "Both ordinations will include the immediate family of the seminarian playing a role in Mass and both will be livestreamed."
 
In the Diocese of Juneau, Alaska, which also is a mission diocese and has had few ordinations in recent years, church leaders told Catholic Extension they are trying to decide how to proceed with the ordination they were "joyfully anticipating" this year.
 
The lone 2020 candidate for priestly ordination, Deacon James Wallace, is at home with his family in Los Angeles, far from Alaska, as he finishes up his semester online.
 
"At this point everything is on hold for him and his presbyterial ordination," said Father Michael Galbrath, Juneau's diocesan vocation director. "We will have to see how the state of Alaska does in opening things up before we can make a final decision on the date of his ordination. We originally had it planned for June 19, but we will leave that up to the bishop to decide if we postpone or go ahead with this date."
 
He added, "I would like to thank Catholic Extension for all the help it has provided for all seminarians, especially with James Wallace. Because we are a mission diocese, it would be difficult to support our seminarians without all of the help and support that Catholic Extension provides."