From our May 1988 issues (25 years ago). Cost: 60 cents each
- Senate abortion bill fails twice by just one vote (bill would have made abortion illegal in Arizona)
- Papal news
-One headline reported the bishop was scheduled to lead a tour of Rome that September following his ad limina visit.
-The pope traveled to Portugal, Uruguay, Bolivia and Peru in May that year.
-The pope also named Capuchin Father Charles J. Chaput as the second Native American bishop. His first assignment was in Rapid City, South Dakota. Chaput’s bio and other info.
- Ordinations
Fr. John Coleman, current pastor of St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in Chandler, was one of three men ordained to the priesthood that year. He was 41 at his ordination with a career in the Navy and as a businessman (communications and computer system analysis, design and implementation) plus work in religious education already on his resume.
- Priestly news
-Nationally, a newswire story reported that a bishop and clergy were arrested in a New York abortion protest. At least 10 priests and four women religious were among the demonstrators.
-The bishop was scheduled to attend a silver jubilee for Fr. Joe Hennessy at St. Andrew the Apostle in Chandler.
-The bishop was scheduled to attend three 50th anniversary of ordination celebrations (Fr. John O’Malley, Fr. Sharpe and Msgr. Bernard Gordon at St. Gregory)
-Fr. Joseph Krijnen, pastor of St. Mary in Chandler retired. The Dutch priest also served at St. Catherine of Siena, St. John Vianney and Holy Family.
- Seminarian is volunteer member of park group
This brief (unbylined article) notes then seminarian “Donnie Kline” as being honored for the U.S. Department of the Interior for his volunteer work with the National Park Service. He was part of the seminary’s woodchop committee which was responsible for cutting and delivering firewood for the needy in southern Indiana. Fr. Kline now serves as pastor of St. Joan of Arc Parish and preschool. - 83 nuns meet at first convocation (attendance was 70 percent). A separate headline for a vocations piece read “Lawyer, parish manager typify sisters’ roles.”
- Students — teens and adults
-MaryBeth Mueller, then vice principal at Seton, was announced that she would take a new diocesan curriculum post in August. She remains the current superintendent.
-A short article said 21 graduates would be the first to finish a four-year program through the diocesan Kino Institute which offers ongoing adult faith formation and certification. It was developed in response to student interest. The latest graduates from Kino Institute will receive their certificates May 29 at St. Mary’s Basilica.
-711 students graduated from local Catholic high schools (including Gerard)
-Gerard administration was to be handed to Augustinians. At the time, the campus was the only diocesan high school not under the management of a religious order. I don’t think the leadership transition occurred before the school closed due to low enrollment in June 1989.
- Parish statue
A photo depicts a 7-year-old placing flowers on a new St. Elizabeth Seton statue at her namesake parish in Sun City. A parishioner commissioned a Sister of Charity in New York to create the piece. - Luau to help Radio Rosary (it was the fourth summer benefit)
From our May 2003 issues (10 years ago) Cost: 75 cents each
- Gallup poll finds 84 percent of American adults believe in sin
- The Diocesan Pastoral Center and Guadalupanas
-The issue included a two-page spread welcoming Catholics and those who work in administrative offices for the diocese to their new home at 400 E. Monroe Street.
-A separate article reported on the historic meeting at the Diocesan Pastoral Center. It was the first time local Guadalupana groups — 12 showed up — came together in more than 50 years. The headline read “Servants of Nuestra Virgen convene as one at new pastoral center.” Guadalupana groups have come together at the Diocesan Pastoral Center every year since 2006 for a diocesan Honor Your Mother celebration. - Sacred move
A standalone photo and caption of a lector setting the lectionary in place at St. Benedict’s new sanctuary, which was then located on Del Rio Road in Chandler. The parish is now at its permanent Ahwtaukee home. - New cemetery coming soon to Verde Valley
All Souls Cemetery in Cottonwood, which opened the year following this headline, is a 17-acre facility that still has a lot of room to grow. Only three acres are developed offering lawn crypts in turf and desert burials. - Sainthood cause begins for American who founded Christ Child Society
Mary Virginia Merrick, “Miss Mary,” founded the organization dedicated to helping underprivileged children in 1887. Phoenix’s chapter was chartered 25 years ago in 1988. There are more than 40 chapters nationwide. - ‘Byzan-Teens’ work to comfort less fortunate kids a world away
Highlights efforts of youth group from St. Thomas the Apostle Byzantine Parish in Gilbert and its efforts to assemble relief kits for children in Iraq. Their goal was 16,000 and they were half-way there at press time.
