Category: Diocese of Scranton News

WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Final regulations for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act will grant workers protections for time off and other job accommodations for pregnancy-related medical conditions like miscarriage, stillbirth and lactation – but also for abortion, which was opposed by many of the bill’s supporters.

The regulations govern the implementation of the bipartisan legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden in December 2022, and went into effect the following June. The law prohibits employment practices that discriminate against making reasonable accommodations for qualified employees due to their pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.

But a rule proposed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in August 2023 governing the implementation of that law contained broad language including abortion among “related medical conditions,” and the potential circumstances for which employers may have to grant workplace accommodations, such as time off for medical appointments or additional rest breaks.

The EEOC issued a notice on April 15 that the final rule will be published in the Federal Register on Apr. 19.

The EEOC noted in its final rule that it had received 54,000 comments against, and 40,000 comments for, the inclusion of abortion in the regulations. Regarding abortion’s ultimate inclusion in the regulations governing the workplace anti-discrimination law, it stated “the type of accommodation that most likely will be sought under the PWFA regarding an abortion is time off to attend a medical appointment or for recovery.”

In an April 15 statement, EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows said, “The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act is a win for workers, families, and our economy.”

“It gives pregnant workers clear access to reasonable accommodations that will allow them to keep doing their jobs safely and effectively, free from discrimination and retaliation,” Burrows said.

Burrows said the EEOC has assisted women who have “experienced serious health risks and unimaginable loss” for the simple reason that they could not access reasonable accommodations.

“This final rule provides important information and guidance to help employers meet their responsibilities, and to jobseekers and employees about their rights,” she said. “It encourages employers and employees to communicate early and often, allowing them to identify and resolve issues in a timely manner.”

Dr. Verda J. Hicks, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said in a statement that the legislation “plays a critical role in protecting the health and improving the lives and well-being of people during and after pregnancy and in ensuring that people are able to continue working without jeopardizing their health.”

Hicks said the “broad, compassionate application of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act will ensure that fewer workers are subject to unfair treatment, recrimination, or retaliation as a result of or after a pregnancy.”

But in a statement, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, said the rule “goes well beyond EEOC’s authority.”

“The PWFA was intended to ensure employers provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant employees,” Foxx said. “The PWFA does not apply to abortions. The term ‘abortion’ is not once mentioned in the law. Instead of following congressional intent, the Biden administration is using the regulatory process to advance radical policy goals.”

Many pro-life organizations, as well as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, backed the passage of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, but have criticized the Biden administration’s inclusion of abortion in regulations implementing the law.

Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, chair of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said in August 2023 the bishops supported the bipartisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act because it was “pro-worker, pro-family, and pro-life.” He called it “a total distortion to use this law as a means for advancing abortion, and the complete opposite of needed assistance for pregnant mothers.”

PHILADELPHIA (OSV News) – Jesuit Father William J. Byron, known for his leadership of Jesuit institutions of higher learning and his many years of lecturing, teaching and writing on the relationship between business practices and Catholic spirituality, died at Manresa Hall, the health center of the Jesuit community at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia April 9. He was 96.

Father Byron was a former president of the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, 1975-1982, and The Catholic University of America in Washington, 1982-1992. He spent a year as acting president of Loyola University New Orleans, 2003-2004, and served as president of his high school alma mater, St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in Philadelphia, 2006-2008.

His other leadership roles for the Society of Jesus included rector of the Jesuit community at Georgetown University in Washington, 1994-2000.

A funeral Mass for Father Byron will be celebrated April 20 at St. Matthias Church in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. A viewing will take place in the church at 10 a.m. followed by the Mass at 11 a.m.

Jesuit Father Joseph Marina, current president of the University of Scranton, said Father Byron “will be greatly missed.”

“As I walked into his room at the Jesuit infirmary, Father Byron was sitting up in his chair, alert but struggling,” Father Marina said in an April 9 message to the university community. “He managed to ask if I was the president at Scranton now. When I nodded yes, he said, ‘Take good care of it.'”

“Father Byron is among those who have given greatly to build a solid foundation for our mission and success at Scranton on which we continue to flourish to this very day,” Father Marina added.

During his tenure at Scranton, among other things, Father Byron launched a multimillion-dollar capital campaign for the school. Also, a new undergraduate college, the School of Management, was created, along with new programs including nursing and physical therapy.

After serving as Scranton’s 21st president, Father Byron became the first member of a religious order to be named president of The Catholic University of America in Washington. He was the school’s 12th president.

“Father Byron was an exceptional leader in Catholic higher education,” Catholic University’s current president, Peter Kilpatrick, said in an April 9 message to the university community. “Father Byron was known for being an inspiring intellectual who had an ability to connect powerfully with people and with ideas. Alumni remember him fondly for his close relationships with students, and for his leadership.”

He tripled the university’s endowment while fundraising the first $50 million that went toward the construction of more undergraduate housing, the Columbus School of Law building and the Pryzbyla Center, a venue at the heart of the campus for concerts, live stage performances, public forums and lectures.

Bishop David M. O’Connell of Trenton, New Jersey, was a student at Catholic University in the mid-1980s when Father Byron was president. “He left an impressive mark on CUA and I was privileged to succeed him there as president in 1998,” said Bishop O’Connell, who served as president until 2010. “He was a gifted Jesuit priest and academic leader who served several universities effectively and well. … May he rest in peace.”

After helming the nation’s only papally chartered university, he became a professor at Jesuit-run Georgetown University in Washington. At the same time he was rector of the Jesuit community at Georgetown and director of the university’s Center of Advanced Study of Ethics. He then was pastor for three years at nearby Holy Trinity Church, 2000 to 2003. Next, he was acting president at Loyola University New Orleans, followed by two years as a professor of economics at Loyola Maryland in Baltimore, 2004 to 2006, the year he became president of St. Joseph’s Prep.

Before retiring from academia in 2009, Father Byron taught a graduate course in the Haub School of Business at St. Joseph’s University. In his later years, he continued writing and publishing. In 2019, he moved to Manresa Hall at St. Joseph’s University, “where he enjoyed visits with students and never missed an opportunity to sing the St. Joseph’s prep fight song,” said a news release from the Jesuits’ USA East Province, based in New York.

Whether he was serving “as an administrator, professor or parish priest,” Father Byron “always made a concerted effort to build up community with his Jesuit brothers in unassuming ways and to promote the apostolates of the Society of Jesus with a discerning, generous, and upbeat spirit,” the province said in a statement.

Father Byron was the author of more than 20 books and dozens of articles. In 2001, he became a regular columnist for Catholic News Service. The biweekly column, titled “Looking Around,” covered current issues. He wrote his last column, which ran April 18, 2017, as a “fond farewell” to “those who have enjoyed my writing over the years.”

“Writing a column is like putting a note in a bottle and tossing it into the river so it can float down and across the bay and out into the ocean. You never know whose shore it will wash up on,” he said, noting that the latest of his many books, “Growing Old Gratefully,” would be published later that year by Paulist Press.

“Old age is a gift,” he said. “I can attest to that, so why not welcome it with gratitude?”

A Pittsburgh native who grew up in Philadelphia, William James Byron was born May 25, 1927. His father, a physician, died when Bill was 1, and his mother moved with him and his older brother, Harold, to Philadelphia’s East Germantown neighborhood. Both boys graduated from St. Joseph’s Preparatory School.

After Bill turned 18, he registered for the draft and subsequently spent 17 weeks in the Army’s basic training camp near Macon, Georgia, but was never deployed overseas. After the war, he went to Germany as part of the Army of Occupation, where he joined the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division. He finished his tour of duty there in November 1946 and returned to Philadelphia.

He joined the Jesuit order in 1950 and was ordained a priest in 1961 by Archbishop Francis P. Keough of Baltimore. He held degrees in philosophy and economics from St. Louis University, two theology degrees from Woodstock College and a doctorate in economics from the University of Maryland. Over his lifetime, he received 30 honorary degrees.

Father Byron’s career as an administrator began in October 1969 as an associate professor and rector of the Jesuit community at the now-closed Woodstock College, the Jesuit seminary in New York. It was relocated to New York from Baltimore in 1969 and closed in 1974.

He served on a number of boards for Catholic entities including the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities and the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, which in 1999 bestowed on him its Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for his contributions over the years to the advancement of Catholic higher education. He was a founding director and chairman of Bread for the World, a Christian lobby group that fights hunger.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The morning after Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel, Pope Francis pleaded with nations to avoid a further escalation of the violence.

“I make a heartfelt appeal for a halt to any action that might fuel a spiral of violence with the risk of dragging the Middle East into an even greater conflict,” the pope said April 14 after reciting the “Regina Coeli” prayer with visitors in St. Peter’s Square.

According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Iran launched 330 exploding drones and missiles at Israeli military facilities late April 13 and early April 14. The vast majority of the weapons were intercepted. 

Pope Francis told thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square, “I am following in prayer and with concern, also sorrow, the news that has come in the last few hours about the worsening of the situation in Israel because of the intervention by Iran.”

“No one should threaten the existence of others,” the pope said. “Instead, all nations should take the side of peace, and help the Israelis and Palestinians to live in two states, side by side, in security.”

Israelis and Palestinians have a “deep and legitimate desire” to live peacefully and independently, he said, “and it is their right! Two neighboring states.”

Once again Pope Francis urged Israel and Hamas to stop the fighting in Gaza “and let the paths of negotiation be pursued with determination.”

“Let that population, plunged into a humanitarian catastrophe, be helped; let the hostages kidnapped months ago be freed at once,” he said, referring to the hundreds of Israelis taken hostage by Hamas in October.

“So much suffering,” he said. “Let us pray for peace. No more war, no more attacks, no more violence! Yes to dialogue and yes to peace!”

Later in his remarks, addressing children and inviting them to participate in the first celebration of World Children’s Day at the Vatican in May, Pope Francis said everyone needs young people’s joy and their hopes “for a better world, a world at peace.”

“Brothers and sisters, let’s pray for the children who are suffering because of wars — there are so many — in Ukraine, in Palestine, in Israel, in other parts of the world, in Myanmar,” he said. “Let’s pray for them and for peace.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis is planning to make the longest trip of his papacy in September, visiting Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Singapore, the Vatican press office announced.

During the 12-day Asian tour, the press office said April 12, he intends to visit: Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, Sept. 3-6; Port Moresby and Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sept. 6-9; Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste, Sept. 9-11; and Singapore Sept. 11-13.

The last papal trip announced by the Vatican — a visit to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 1-3 for the U.N. climate conference — was canceled three days before Pope Francis was scheduled to leave because he was suffering from bronchitis.

The longest foreign trip Pope Francis has made was his September 2015 visit to Cuba and the United States. Vatican News, which tracks the length of papal trips by both days and distance, said the 2015 trip lasted eight days, 23 hours and 45 minutes and covered a distance of 19,171 kilometers, which is close to 12,000 miles.

The Vatican did not mention the possibility of the 87-year-old pope extending the trip to include Vietnam.

Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, the Vatican foreign minister, was visiting Vietnam April 9-14. According to Vatican News, he discussed a possible papal trip to the country when he met April 10 with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chính, Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Son and Home Affairs Minister Pham Thi Thanh Trà.

In an Italian television interview Jan. 14, Pope Francis said, “In August I have to make a trip to Polynesia.” It was widely assumed he was referring to a trip originally planned for 2020 to Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and perhaps other countries, but plans were scrapped because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ten days later, the foreign minister of Papua New Guinea said his government had received an “official note” that Pope Francis intended to visit the country for three days in August, but the director of the Vatican press office had said plans for a trip were in the “very preliminary” stages at that point.

Pope Francis would be the third pope to visit Indonesia. St. Paul VI visited in 1970, and St. John Paul II went to the country in 1989 on a trip that also included Timor-Leste. St. John Paul II made two brief visits to Papua New Guinea in 1984 and 1995.

The Polish pope, who set an absolute record for both the number of countries he visited and the number of trips he made, had spent five hours in Singapore in 1986 during a trip that included Bangladesh, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia and the Seychelles.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Today’s “throwaway culture,” driven by “profit, efficiency and success,” marginalizes people with disabilities and threatens their God-given dignity, Pope Francis said.

Using “utilitarian and functional criteria” to decide the value of a human life can lead to “serious violations of the rights of the weakest people” and create “great injustice and inequality,” he told members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences April 11.

The academy, formed by scholars from around the globe, held a three-day plenary session on “Disability and the Human Condition” at the Vatican.

Meeting with them on the last day of their conference, Pope Francis highlighted a “less visible and very insidious” aspect of today’s culture that erodes the value of disabled persons in the eyes of society: “the tendency that leads one to consider their own existence a burden to his- or herself and to his or her loved ones.”

“The spread of this mentality transforms the throwaway culture into a culture of death,” he said.

The pope condemned the idea that certain lives are “not needed,” such as the unborn who are aborted or the elderly who pursue assisted suicide.

To combat a “throwaway culture,” Pope Francis proposed promoting a “culture of inclusion” which removes the barriers that impede all people from accessing basic rights and freedoms.

While he said such active efforts are predominantly seen in economically developed countries, the pope encouraged the international community to support the efforts of poorer nations to further include disabled persons in all fields of society, including education, culture, work and sport.

Yet Pope Francis also noted that true inclusion occurs “when people with disabilities are not passive recipients but participate in social life as protagonists of change.”

The pope underscored the injustice of people and their families being pushed to the margins of society due to disability, particular in poor countries, but he noted how even in wealthier contexts a person’s disability “is considered a ‘personal tragedy'” and not taken into consideration by the whole of society.

Jesus did not ignore or turn away people with disabilities, he said, rather he went out to meet them and “changed the meaning of their experience.”

“Indeed, for him, every human condition, even those marked by great limitations, is an invitation to weave a singular relationship with God who makes people flourish once again,” the pope said.

ROME (CNS) – Pope Francis took over the catechism classes at St. John Vianney parish on the far eastern edge of Rome to inaugurate his “School of Prayer.”

The pope went, unannounced, to the parish after school April 11 and met with about 200 children, Vatican News reported.

He spoke to them about prayer and answered their questions. He also brought them chocolate Easter eggs and rosaries.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization’s section for new evangelization, which is coordinating preparations for the Holy Year 2025, had announced the “School of Prayer” in January.

The archbishop said the project would be like the pope’s “Fridays of Mercy” initiative during the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy in 2015- 2016, when the pope visited people on the “peripheries,” including babies in a neonatal unit, a center for the blind and a housing project to illustrate the corporal works of mercy.

Pope Francis has asked Catholics around the world to observe 2024 as a “year of prayer” in preparation for the Holy Year.

The pope’s lesson for the children focused on the theme of prayers of thanksgiving, the Dicastery for Evangelization said in a statement afterward.

“It is important to say thank you for everything. For example, if you go into someone’s house and you don’t say thank you or may I or hello, is that nice?” he asked. “The first word is ‘thank you.'”

Pope Francis gave each of the children a large folder with his coat of arms on the cover and, inside, a special prayer of thanks composed for the occasion; the prayer thanked God for the gift of life, the gift of parents, the gift of creation and, especially, “the gift of your Son, our brother and savior, friend of the small and the poor.”

“You taught us to call you ‘Father,’ and with your word you call us to live as true sons and daughter, to be brothers and sisters who walk together in the grace of the faith we received with our baptism,” the text continued. “Thank you, Lord, who loves us.”

Pope Francis asked the children if they pray, and one of the youngsters said his family prays before they eat.

“You said something important,” the pope told him. They should all thank the Lord for the food they eat and for giving them families.

Alice, who is 10, asked, “How can I thank the Lord when I’m sick?”

“Even in dark times, we have to thank the Lord because he gives us the patience to tolerate difficulties,” the pope responded. “Let’s say together: ‘Thank you, Lord for giving us the strength to tolerate pain.'”

Sofia, who will receive her first Communion in a few days, said it is hard to thank God when there are wars.

Pope Francis said there is always something to thank God for, and he shared a piece of advice: “Before you go to sleep think, ‘What can I thank the Lord for?’ And give thanks.”

WILKES-BARRE – The faithful of Saint Robert Bellarmine Parish will come together in late April to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Saint Aloysius Church.

The Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving for the 125th anniversary at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 28, 2024. All are invited to attend this special liturgy.

A special 125th anniversary dinner at R & D Memories will follow the Mass.

“It is really a milestone,” Father Richard Cirba, pastor, said. “What we are celebrating is the past, the present, and the hope for the future.”

In order to prepare for the special celebration, the parish hired Robert A. Ritterbeck Painting, Inc., to paint the sanctuary area of the church. Workers recently completed the work just in time for the anniversary celebration.

“Right now, we’re brightening up the sanctuary area of the church behind the altar. The work will take a couple of weeks,” Father Cirba said. “We have a Lenten drive going on to help defray the cost of the painting.”

The faithful of Saint Robert Bellarmine parish have responded generously in the last year to stewardship efforts with the theme “Faith in the Present, Hope for the Future”, indicating to their pastor that they value their church community.

“We are nowhere without the past. We are standing on the shoulders of our ancestors and to be 125 years old, it’s amazing!” Father Cirba added. “We had a school for many years. Many people have been educated through this parish so what we’re celebrating and what we’re hoping for is that we continue to build on what we’ve been given as the torch has been passed.”

Saint Robert Bellarmine Parish – and specifically Saint Aloysius Church – are proud of the vocations to the priesthood and religious life that have been fostered within the parish community.

The parish currently has two seminarians – Andrew McCarroll and Peter Stec – discerning the priesthood. McCarroll is slated to be ordained to the Diaconate in May. Several native sons are already Diocesan priests, including Father Jeffrey Tudgay, Father Andrew Sinnott, Father James Nash, Father Richard Fox and Father John Doris.

“The seeds of a vocation come from within the parish. They come from the people, they come from the community,” Father Cirba added.

HISTORY OF SAINT ALOYSIUS CHURCH

Saint Aloysius was formed in 1899 when more than 30 families presented their case for a new parish to Father Richard McAndrew, pastor of Saint Mary’s Church of the Immaculate Conception in the city. The families had been traveling to Saint Mary’s, Saint Leo’s in Ashley, and Saint Charles in Sugar Notch to attend Mass.

Scranton Bishop Michael J. Hoban granted Father McAndrew’s petition and on April 29, 1900, blessed and dedicated the cornerstone for the new church in south Wilkes-Barre.

Father McAndrew guided the new parish until Father Thomas Brehony was appointed pastor by Bishop Hoban on Nov. 4, 1901. Due to Father Brehony’s health, Father John Griffin was appointed assistant pastor in 1903 and later rose to administrator and pastor of the parish.

Father Daniel McCarthy was appointed the third pastor of the parish in 1913 and began a 32-year era of expansion. By the end of World War I, the parish served the spiritual needs of nearly 450 families and was outgrowing the original church building.

Father McCarthy led the building project, and the present brick, Gothic church was blessed and dedicated on Nov. 24, 1927, by Cardinal Dennis Dougherty, Archbishop of Philadelphia, with more than 200 priests in attendance.

In 1938, Father McCarthy added the rectory, which still stands.

Upon the death of Father McCarthy, Father Thomas Monahan was installed as pastor in 1945. His lasting contributions were the establishment of a parish school in 1948, the establishment of a convent to house the sisters who taught there, and the construction of a school building, which was blessed and dedicated on Aug. 30, 1953.

The original convent quickly became overcrowded and Father Monahan directed the building of a new facility for the Sisters of Mercy who taught at the school. The new convent was dedicated on Aug. 18, 1963.

Father Monahan passed away in 1967, and Bishop J. Carroll McCormick appointed Msgr. Joseph Padden as the new pastor. Parochial activities grew, the parish debt was retired, and the future was bright for the parish until disaster struck five years later.

On June 22, 1972, the Agnes Flood nearly destroyed the parish complex as the Susquehanna River rose to the second floor of all the parish buildings. For several months, while the church was repaired, the Saint Aloysius congregation celebrated Mass at nearby Baptist Tabernacle Church.

Msgr. Padden directed the renovation of the church, school, convent and rectory with the assistance of federal loans, which were paid in 1992. He retired as pastor in 1982 and passed away on March 19, 1990.

Msgr. Donald McAndrews was appointed the sixth pastor at Saint Aloysius on June 22, 1982, and began a new series of improvements for the parish, which housed 1,800 families at the time.

The original pipe organ was restored, building exteriors were repaired, the rectory was expanded, and the church was made handicap accessible in a project led by a young parishioner, James Post III, and his family.

A major interior renovation of the church began in 1991. The altar, tabernacle, pulpit, and baptismal font were replaced; the interior was repainted; a new electrical and sound system and air conditioning were added; the woodwork and pews were refinished, and the stained glass windows were resealed. On Nov. 27, 1993, Bishop James C. Timlin rededicated Saint Aloysius Church.

In 2010, Saint Aloysius Church joined together with Saint Casimir’s to form the current parish of Saint Robert Bellarmine, which serves the Catholic community of both south Wilkes-Barre and the Hanover Township area. Looking to the tradition of its pastor ancestors, the parish community continues to look to the future; that through its legacy parishioners may continue to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, live as examples to a world in darkness, and be stewards to all in need.

SCRANTON – As more young professionals move into downtown Scranton, Father Jeffrey Tudgay, Pastor of the Cathedral of Saint Peter, wants to ensure faith formation and service opportunities are available to them.

At the same time, he is also hoping to engage more high school students at the second parish he shepherds, Immaculate Conception, in the city’s Hill Section.

To accomplish both tasks – Father Tudgay recently hired a new part-time Coordinator of Youth and Young Adult Ministry that will serve both parishes. Kyra Krzywicki has been selected to take on this new role.

“I’m very excited because there is a diverse group of people at these two parishes. The Cathedral has a lot of visitors and tourists who are looking at the Cathedral’s beauty, in addition to parishioners who have been there for years and there are a lot of new families,” Krzywicki said. “At Immaculate Conception, there are a lot of families in the religious education program who are hungry for more and are eager to dive deeper into their faith.”

The new Coordinator of Youth and Young Adult Ministry position is being made possible because of the generous financial support of parishioners through recent stewardship education efforts.

Last year, the Cathedral launched a ‘Cathedral Mission Forward’ initiative and has continued its efforts in 2024 with a ‘Cathedral Mission Renewed’ campaign. Immaculate Conception Parish will also be launching a similiar stewardship program in the near future.

In discussing each campaign with parishioners, Father Tudgay talked about where the parish stood with its finances, discussed the opportunities he saw, and the vision they could create together. That helped many understand the connection between their generosity and the ministries that are available.

“We tried to take a very light approach with it and people responded really well, especially to ‘Cathedral Mission Forward,’” Father Tudgay said. “We were then able to look at what we could then do with the increase in offertory that we saw.”

Krzywicki plans to “start small but dream big.” She is planning projects and programs to help both parish communities grow.

“We have a lot of goals and dreams for these parish communities and I’m also looking forward to hearing what their thoughts are as well – what they’re looking forward to – or if there is something they’ve been hoping for,” Krzywicki explained.

At the Cathedral, Krzywicki plans to continue “First Sunday” events for the young adult ministry that started last year that include celebrating Mass together and enjoying fellowship at a social.

At Immaculate Conception, the ministry focus will likely be a little different, making sure high school students remain involved in the life of the parish.

“It’s an opportunity to build some programming around that and set them up for success when they go to college, to be able to recognize that what they’ve experienced in their parish is something they will experience in campus ministry when they go to college,” Father Tudgay added.

As both parishes continue to grow together in their linkage, both Father Tudgay and Krzywicki are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.

“We want to have a very joyful atmosphere for parishioners to grow in their faith and I’m really looking forward to being a beacon for that – to hopefully help them grow in their relationship with God, with each other and with their parish community,” Krzywicki said.