“Do you not know that a little yeast leavens all the dough?” 1Cor 5:6b from Easter Sunday liturgy

When I was a kid, Easter vacation meant sleeping late and playing with my friends all day.  It meant fun.  But for Blessed Sacrament School third grader, Tahara Rossi, it meant helping those who can’t help themselves.  On Easter Sunday and Monday, Tahara stood for hours on the corner collecting money to help earthquake victims in Haiti.  Inspired by her grandfather, Terri, who has been to Haiti many times to volunteer his efforts and expertise, Tahara decided she’d like to help a little too.  So, armed with a sleeping bag, umbrella, book, homemade sign and collection bucket, Tahara set up camp at 7:15am and remained for the next 7-8 hours.  She returned the next day for another 5 hours. 

Many people driving by or walking to the park stopped.  Most gave her a dollar, some $5 and two gave $20! Some of the donors she knew; many were strangers.  Tahara’s goal was to collect over $50 – she collected nearly $200 so she thinks her effort was successful. I think it was too.  And I think she shares that success with her parents and grandparents who have raised a little girl who cares more about helping others than she does about sleeping in or watching TV on her vacation.  I think they all understand that a little yeast leavens all the dough.

Glen Carbon, IL - Father McGivney Catholic High School has hired Mike Scholz as its first principal. “We are blessed to have Mike to lead our students and faculty in McGivney’s inaugural year and into the future,” said Father Tom Meyer, Faith Formation Committee Chairperson, “besides his impressive qualifications and experience in high school administration, Mike is dedicated to the vision and motto of our school - Serving the Culture of Life.”

Scholz comes to McGivney from St. Thomas More Catholic High School in Champaign, IL where he is currently the assistant principal. He has also served as the principal of Mascoutah High School and the associate principal and athletic director of Mt. Zion High School in Illinois. “I am excited to have this opportunity and look forward to being a part of McGivney. My first two priorities will be enrolling students and hiring faculty, and I can’t wait to get to work in this faith filled environment,” said Scholz.

With over 30 years of experience in education, Scholz is enthusiastic about leading the administration of Father McGivney Catholic High School. His official start date is July 1, 2010, but he plans on spending plenty of time in southern Madison County even before then, getting to know the community and local Catholic parishes and schools that will feed the new Catholic high school to open in Fall 2011.

McGivney momentum is picking up as the school continues its capital campaign and plans for initial construction work this spring. The Knights of Columbus Golf Tournament to benefit McGivney will be held May 8, 2010 at Arlington Greens. Also, McGivney made the cut for the Pepsi Refresh Project where online voters could help the school win $250,000 by voting every day in May. To find out more about these development projects and more, visit www.McGivneyGriffins.com.

Bishop Paprocki appeared AM Springfield with Sam Madonia yesterday via phone. From discussing when he knew he wanted to be a priest to following hockey, take a few minutes and listen to Sam Madonia's interview with Bishop Paprocki.

To listen to the interview on the Sports Radio 1450AM website, please click here.

Bishop Paprocki wrote an op-ed to the State Journal-Register that was published in their May 6, 2010 edition. You can view the article on the SJ-R's site by clicking here.

Thomas Paprocki: Remarks in 2007 homily clarified

I am grateful for the warm welcome and words of congratulations on my appointment as the ninth bishop of Springfield. I look forward to my installation on June 22 and to serving as shepherd of the Catholic community of central Illinois.

At the same time, I would like to address some of the points that have been raised in recent media reports about remarks that I made in a homily three years ago. These reports assert that I am “seeking to revive an ancient and now-rare legal doctrine that would protect Church officials who willfully or negligently put kids in harm’s way.” That is not true. My reference in that homily to charitable immunity, which formerly in Illinois shielded charitable institutions from liability, was only to show how the pendulum has swung from charitable immunity to charitable bankruptcy. Far from being “extremist,” in fact, I was calling for a middle ground.

In the homily that I gave at the “Red Mass” for Catholic lawyers and judges in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Oct. 15, 2007, I said, “While a full return to the complete charitable immunity of the past is neither likely nor desirable, the civil law of our land needs to reflect a more rational and reasonable balance between equitable remuneration for those who have been harmed by agents of charitable and religious institutions and protecting the charitable contributions that have been given in trust to be used for charitable and religious purposes.” Moreover, I am not trying to “protect church officials”; I am trying to safeguard works of charity and religion while compensating victims fairly.

My words have been understood by some to suggest that I was blaming victims. My homily was directed to lawyers and judges who shape the legal system, not to victims. While in the context of a homily I did say that the devil is the force behind the attack, “particularly directed against bishops and priests,” apparently I did not make myself clear that it is the sins of priests and bishops who succumbed to the temptations of the devil that have put their victims and the Catholic community in this horrible situation in the first place.

I did say in my 2007 homily that “the sexual abuse of minors is a sin that must be addressed by the Church and a crime that must be punished by the criminal justice system.”

I repeated those views in my news conference recently in Springfield. I have given these matters a great deal of thought based on my experiences for 10 years as the cardinal’s delegate to the Professional Review Board in the Archdiocese of Chicago. I think these views are quite reasonable.

The Most Rev. Thomas John Paprocki is bishop-designate of the Catholic Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.