Newspaper Page Text
r\
nrrf m
Soft
Diocese of,
Savannah
hem
(xoss
Contents
News 1-3
Commentary 4-5
Around the Diocese 6-7
Faith Alive! 8-9
Notices 10-11
Last But Not Least 12
Vol. 79, No. 26
Thursday, July 29, 1999
$.50 PER ISSUE
iJ
Farewell
Washington (CNS)
J ohn F. Kennedy Jr.’s ashes rest in the Atlantic
Ocean along with those of his wife and her sister,
and the nation once again has mourned untimely
deaths in its most prominent Catholic family.
“The world stopped for a moment, held its breath
and whispered, ‘No, not again’,” said Boston’s
Cardinal Bernard F. Law on the death of the son of
America’s only Catholic president.
As the ashes of Kennedy, his wife, Carolyn
Bessette Kennedy, and her sister, Lauren Bessette,
were put into the sea July 22, the solemn ritual
began to bring closure to the period of waiting that
followed the July 16 crash of their private plane off
the Massachusetts coast.
It also brought nationwide attention once again to
the Catholic rituals of mourning and committal that
accompany death. As the Kennedy and Bessette
families mourned in private, television cameras fre
quently turned to memorial Masses around the
country and to religious commentators to fill in
their coverage of the tragedy.
When Pope John Paul II heard of the plane crash,
he immediately stopped and offered a prayer for the
three victims, said Vatican spokesman Joaquin
Navarro-Valls.
He said the pope, too, recalled the poignant
photo, etched in many Americans’ memories, of 3-
year-old John Jr. at the 1963 funeral of President
Kennedy, “saluting the coffin of his father.”
Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston,
Texas, president of the National Conference of
Catholic Bishops, joined numerous U.S. cardinals -
and bishops in mourning the deaths.
“The pain surrounding this tragedy is shared by
many in this nation and especially by their fellow
Catholics who join them in prayer and ask God’s
comfort for the families,” he said.
In the Diocese of Savannah, where Kennedy and
Carolyn Bessette and her husband, John F. Kennedy Jr., arrive for an awards dinner in New
York in this May 19 file photo. The couple and Bessette's sister, Lauren, were aboard a small
plane that crashed July 16 as Kennedy piloted it toward Martha's Vineyard.
Carolyn Bessette were married in 1996, Bishop J.
Kevin Boland said his prayers, too, were with mem
bers of the Kennedy and Bessette families. In a July
19 statement, Bishop Boland recalled that he had to
give special permission for the wedding to be held in
a 19th-century Baptist church on Cumberland Island
in his diocese. About six weeks after the wedding, he
said, John Kennedy phoned to personally thank him
for his help. “I was very impressed with his courtesy
in calling to express his gratitude for something that
Official Announcements
Bishop J. Kevin Boland has announced the fol
lowing appointments:
Rev. Kim Son Nguyen — Appointed Pastor of
Saints Peter and Paul Mission with residence at
Nativity of Our Lord Parish, Savannah, effec
tive September 1, 1999.
Rev. Francis C. Higgins — Appointed Pastor of
Sacred Heart Parish, Savannah, effective September
1, 1999. Father Higgins has also been designated to
offer the weekly Spanish Mass at Sacred Heart for
the Savannah Deanery.
Rev. John J. Lyons —Appointed Pastor of Saint
Joseph Parish, Augusta, effective September 1,
1999.
Rev. Robert A. Girardeau —Appointed
Temporary Administrator of Saint Joseph
Parish, Augusta, during Father Lyon’s sabbati
cal absence effective September 1, 1999 until
December 10, 1999.
Rev. Sam Zebron, OFM Conv. — Appointed
Pastor of Holy Spirit Parish, Macon, effective
September 1, 1999.
Rev. Brett A. Brannen — Appointed Pastor of
Saint Peter Claver Parish, Macon, effective
September 1, 1999.
Rev. John J. Fitzpatrick —Appointed Chairman
of the newly-constituted Commission on Worship.
was so easy to grant,” Bishop Boland said. Kennedy
also said he “appreciated very much” that the bishop
had kept the wedding plans confidential, he remem
bered. The bishop said that Kennedy, who had
learned the bishop was recovering from leg surgery,
also inquired about his health during the five-minute
call.
Bishop Boland, who was leaving later July 19 for a
seminary reunion and vacation in his native Ireland,
(Continued on page 4)
New president for
Benedictine Military School
Savannah
F ather Jude Brady, OSB, pastor of Saint Mary
Parish in Saint Marys, Pennsylvania and supe
rior of the Benedictine Priory there, has been
named president of the Benedictine Military
School in Savannah, and Prior of the Benedictine
Community, effective August 2, according to an
announcement by the Rt. Rev. Douglas R.
Nowicki, OSB, archabbot of Saint Vincent
Archabbey, which sponsors the school. He will
succeed the Rev. John F. Murtha, OSB, president
(Continued on page 1 0)
CNS photo from Reuters