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/s n *** Sou Diocese of Savannah Vol. 80, No. 11 hem (Dross Contents Headline Hopscotch 2 News 3 Commentary 4-5 Around the Diocese 6 DDA 7 Faith Alive! 8-9 Notices 10-11 Last But Not Least 12 $.50 PER ISSUE Thursday, March 16, 2000 Sister Mary Frances Sobczak, CDP, dies By Barbara D. King Savannah S ister Mary Frances Sobczak, CDP, 65, recently retired diocesan superintendent of schools, died on Ash Wednesday, March 8. She had battled cancer for several years and only retired from her position when she became gravely ill in December, 1999. Sister Rose Mary Collins, SSJ, has been serving as Acting Superintendent of Schools since Sister Mary Frances’ resignation. “It’s symbolic that Sister died on Ash Wednesday. As we were beginning our Lenten journey, she came to the end of her long journey. As we put on our robes of penance, she was putting on a robe of glory,” Sister Rose Mary said. When she left Savaannah in December, Sister Mary Frances went to Holy Family Home in Melbourne, Kentucky to convalesce. Bishop J. Kevin Boland last visited her there on January 30. “She was very alert and wanted to know what was going on with all the schools and wanted me to bring her up to date on all of the projects she had been working on,” he said. Fifteen elementary schools and five high schools make up the Catholic school system in the Diocese of Savannah. In addition to her duties as Schools Superintendent, Sister Mary Frances was instrumen tal in establishing the Catholic Schools Endowment Fund, which was created to give scholarships to stu dents to attend the seven Catholic schools in the Savannah Deanery. Working with committees of lay Catholics, she initiated an annual Savannah Symphony Benefit Concert for the scholarship fund, Sister Mary Frances Sobczak, CDP which has been held at Benedictine Military School. Bishop Boland said, “Sister Mary Frances was deeply committed to her religious community; she had a great sense of loyalty to the Sisters of the Divine Providence.” “She applied for the position here”—as diocesan superintendent—“as a result of an ad she read in a diocesan newspaper. It was with great delight that she took the position. She considered it a new challenge and very different from any of the other ministries she had pursued in her life.” “In her capacity as superintendent, she developed a great rapport with the principals around the diocese. She was there to support them in the many chal lenges and stressful situations that are a day-to-day part of school life.” “Over and above her duties with the schools, she was interested in the wider picture of the diocesan church and many other aspects of ministry. On this level, she acted as executive director of an extensive study of the Savannah Deanery elementary schools and followed that up with coordination of a strategic study of all the Catholic parishes in the Savannah area. These studies established long-range plans for both the schools and the parishes.” “Even though she had a very quiet personality and she was rather subdued in demeanor, she was very persistent in following through on all the steps need ed to bring this planning about. This involved a lot of calling priests, religious and lay people to months of committee meetings and making sure they each had input into the process.” Contributions in memory of Sister Mary Frances may be made to The Catholic Schools Endowment Fund, Diocese of Savannah, 601 East Liberty Street, Savannah, GA, 31401-5196. Pope asks forgiveness for past and present sins of Christians By John Norton Vatican City (CNS) D uring a Lenten Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica rich with symbols of penitence, Pope John Paul II solemn ly asked forgiveness for the past and present sins of Christians. Divided into seven broad petitions, the unprecedented jubilee “request for pardon” included apologies for sins against Christian unity, the use of violence in serving the truth, hostility toward Jews and members of other reli gions, the marginalization of women and sins against soci ety’s weakest members. From the jubilee’s earliest planning stages, the pope has called the church to a “purification of memory” as it embarks on the third Christian millennium. “This first Sunday in Lent seemed to me a favorable occasion for the church, gathered spiritually around the successor of Peter, to implore divine forgiveness for the sins of all believers,” said the pope, wearing dark purple vestments embroidered with brilliant silver panels. Standing before a larger-than-life-sized wooden crucifix erected to one side of the altar, the pope was joined in the apology liturgy by seven top Vatican officials. Dividing the apology by categories, the pope asked for giveness for sins: —In general. —Committed in the service of the truth, introduced by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Vatican’s doctri nal congregation, which was created more than 450 years ago under a different name to run the Inquisition. “Even men of the church, in the name of faith and morals, have sometimes used methods not in keeping with the Gospel in the solemn duty of defending the truth,” the cardinal said. Christian intolerance in certain historical periods, said the pope, has “sullied” the face of the church. He prayed that God would “accept our resolve to seek and promote the truth in the gentleness of charity, in the firm knowledge that the truth can only prevail in virtue of truth itself.” — Against Christian unity, introduced by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, president of the Vatican’s jubilee commission. Contrary to Christ’s wishes, said the pope, Christians (Continued on page 11) Right: Pope John Paul II embraces the crucifix dur ing a liturgy in which he asked forgiveness for past and present sins of Christians.