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Southern Cross, Page 2
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Thursday, April 30, 2020
“As I head out of the Cathedral of Savannah, I leave with joyful memories
and many new friends.” Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer OFM Conv. Above
Bishop Hartmayer leaves the sacristy following Mass at The Cathedral of
Saint John The Baptist, Savannah. Photograph by Father Pablo Migone.
20% of church entities that
applied received SBA loans
to keep staff
CLEVELAND (CNS)
he federal small-
business loan program
created in response to
the coronavirus pandemic
has allowed the Diocese of
Nashville, Tennessee, to keep
all of its part-time employees
on board. For that, school
superintendent Rebecca
Hammel is grateful. She told
Catholic News Service that
10 schools received loans
under the Small Business
Administration-administered
Paycheck Protection Program.
Loan amounts ranged from
$89,900 to $1.95 million and
allows the school to continue
paying part-time workers even
though they are not reporting
to work, Hammel said. The
remaining six diocesan schools
are in line to receive loans once
new legislation replenishing
the program takes effect, she
added. “It’s just been a blessing
to our schools,” Hammel said
of the program. The House of
Representatives April 23 passed
legislation already approved by
the Senate that would allocate
an additional $310 billion
into the Paycheck Protection
Program. President Donald
Trump signed the legislation
April 24. The funding is part of
a $484 billion emergency relief
measure developed in response
to the economic fallout caused
by the spread of COVID-19,
the illness caused by the novel
coronavirus.
CARA study on new
ordinands spots trends
worth watching
WASHINGTON (CNS)
he annual survey of
seminarians scheduled for
priestly ordination this
year reveals continuing trends
and suggests potential trends
in the making. “We’ve been
consistent over the last 20 years
in terms of the age of men being
ordained to the priesthood. It
continues to hover into the low
to mid-30s,” said Father Luke
Ballman, executive director of
the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat
for Clergy, Consecrated Life
and Vocations. “Consistently
over the last 20 years, the
age has slightly decreased
each year such that we’re
seeing a slight reduction by a
couple of years in terms of the
average age of the man being
ordained,” Father Ballman
said. “One of the things we
have studied is cultural
ethnicity and vocations where
you have different immigrant
groups, cultural groups, (with
a) disproportionately high
number of vocations,” said
Jesuit Father Thomas Gaunt,
executive director of the Center
for Applied Research in the
Apostolate at Georgetown
University in Washington,
which conducts the survey
each year. “Vietnamese, I don’t
even think, is a percent of
population, but they make up
several percent (of new priests).
The same thing with Nigerians,
Colombians,” Father Gaunt
added. “We’ve been looking
at that question. The family
dimensions that are essential in
discerning vocations.”
Bishops criticize
immigration restrictions,
say they will hurt families
WASHINGTON (CNS)
he president of the U.S.
Conference of Catholic
Bishops and two other
Catholic bishops criticized
President Donald Trump’s
April 22 executive order to
temporarily restrict some forms
of immigration during the
pandemic, saying it could “fuel
polarization and animosity.
While we welcome efforts to
ensure that all Americans are
recognized for the dignity of
their work, the global crisis
caused by COVID-19 demands
unity and the creativity of
love, not more division and the
indifference of a throwaway
mentality,” the prelates said
late April 23. They also said
they are “extremely concerned”
about how the proclamation
will impact immigrant families
“looking to reunify” as well
as religious workers. Issuing
the joint statement were
Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of
Los Angeles, USCCB president;
Washington Auxiliary Bishop
Mario E. Dorsonville, chairman
of the USCCB’s Committee on
Migration; and Bishop Jaime
Soto of Sacramento, California,
chairman of the board of
directors of the Catholic Legal
Immigration Network Inc., or
CLINIC. The executive order
will be in effect for at least 60
days and will be reviewed 50
days from the effective date of
April 23 to determine if it needs
to be continued or modified.
Trump issued it as part of
his administration’s response
to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump said the restriction
on immigration is necessary
because of the pandemic’s
pressures on health care and its
widespread negative impact on
the economy, and he cited “the
impact of foreign workers on
the United States labor market,
particularly in an environment
of high domestic unemployment
and depressed demand for
labor.”
Southern Cross
(USPS 505-680)
is published bi-weekly,
26 issues per year.
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additional mailing offices.
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Publisher: Most Rev Gregory J.
Hartmayer, ofm conv., dd
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