From the Editor
By Victoria Cessna
Communication Director & Editor of The Good News

I’m not a saint but I almost played one in real life. The highlight of Mrs. Meagher’s third grade religion class was the plays we did on the lives of the saints. As an aspiring nine-year-old actress I was obsessed about the plays. I always had my eye on the lead but week after week I was cast as the villager, the older sister or (yawn) the shepherd’s wife.
But then finally my dream was realized. I was given the lead for the play about Saint Bernadette. I’d love to say I was captivated by her innocence; her devotion to Mary. Or that I was enthralled to learn more about the healing powers of the grotto at Lourdes but honestly I was more excited to wear the costume — particularly the bandana.
          I threw myself into the role as I was prepared to give the best performance ever in the history of St. Pat’s third grade saints plays. I practiced earnestly the scenes of merrily skipping along with my little bundle of wood. I worked hard to perfect my look of piety.
But through it all I was keeping a secret. I had the chicken pox. When Mrs. Meagher asked me point blank (with the intuition reserved for such great teachers and of course knowing three of my siblings were already infected) I denied it. Oh, not at all I said as if I hadn‘t a clue why she would ask such a thing. My debut was too important to me to let a little case of chicken pox derail my budding acting career. Needless to say Mrs. Meagher called my mom and as soon as I got home my secret was discovered. I was quarantined and forced to relinquish my lead to my undeserving (at least I thought so at the time) understudy, Katie Hobbs.
          I honestly hadn’t thought about “the Bernadette’s experience” as I like to refer to it for ages until I began to be inundated with information on the 150th anniversary of Saint Bernadette visions of Mary. I haven’t been to Lourdes and know a little bit more about Bernadette than I did when I was nine, however, her life is inspirational and she left a rich legacy. I believe we can learn a lot from the lives of saints — both those canonized and those we believe are still walking among us. Beginning next month The Good News will launch a new feature profiling a saint. In addition, we’ll begin to profile one of our own saints among us in the diocese — ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

Growing Awareness
By Mary Jane Doerr
Director of Diocese of Kalamazoo
Safe Environment Program




Pope Benedict’s visit to the US was filled with much excitement. While many in the media have said he was not as charismatic as John Paul II, I found him to be every bit as inspirational. His outreach to all faiths, his concern for human rights everywhere, his moral guidance as well as his comments on the sexual abuse scandal, were impressive.
          Coverage of his message to victims of childhood sexual abuse and to the members of the Church was both inspirational and frustrating. Inspirational because Pope Benedict affirmed in a very visible way what bishops across the country have been doing since 1992 when they first agreed to how they and the church would deal with clergy sexual abuse. Since then many bishops have met with thousands of victims giving them support and understanding. Offending priests were removed and background checks started being done. Sadly and sometimes with horrifying results — most notably in Boston — not all bishops did what they said they would do. And so, in 2002 the bishops were faced with the clergy sexual abuse scandal. They met in Dallas and heard from survivors the pain that abuse had caused them. The bishops restated what they would do, how they would do it and this time added an audit so they would know who was doing what they agreed to do and who was not. That document, known as the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, has been the guiding principle for dioceses across the country and as well as here in Kalamazoo.
          It also was frustrating because the commentators didn’t mention all the things the Church in America has been doing. All night long the survivors were asked whether Pope Benedict’s meeting with them meant the Church was finally ready to do something about the scandal. If you know me, you know I was shouting back that, in fact, the Catholic Church has launched the most robust response to child protection in the history of the U.S.
          Since 2002 the Catholic Church has removed over 700 offending priests from ministry; they have trained 1.8 million clergy, employees and volunteers and more than 5.6 million children. They have checked the background of 1.8 million clergy, employees and volunteers. They have reached out to more than 3,000 victims/survivor and their families.
          Child welfare workers know that a child has a greater chance of being abused by a family member than by a Catholic priest. With that in mind, the bishops of the United States went beyond stopping clergy abuse in the Catholic Church and have attempted to stop it no matter who the offender is. The Diocese of Kalamazoo is working very diligently to implement the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.
          Nowhere did I see these facts reported. While we as a church continue to heal from this scandal it’s important for all Catholics to know and be able to convey what is being done. We are proud of our efforts to create safe environments in all our parishes, schools and communities. It is a job we take seriously and will not stop. I am very happy to see the support Pope Benedict XVI has given this most important cause.