December 28, 2008 by Eugene Michael
So far I have received one email regarding Mass attendance at Sacred Heart Cathedral. This email linked to a story in the D&C that reported 250 people participated in Christmas Eve Mass there in 2006. The seating capacity of the Cathedral is 800.
250 worshipers sounds like a small number for a cathedral church on Christmas Eve. I also remember a news story from one or two years ago that had a photo of a nearly empty Cathedral for an Easter Sunday Mass. We also know that there has been a 25% decline in Sunday Mass attendance throughout the diocese since 2001.
Again, it would be appreciated if someone could provide a firm count that would document the apparent decline in Mass attendance at the Cathedral.
December 27, 2008 by Eugene Michael
Yesterday I ran a piece about the low attendance at the Cathedral for Mass on Christmas morning. A reader has made the point that the attendance at one Mass is not really a fair representation of the Cathedral’s overall situation. I agree.
However, I have occasionally attended Mass at the Cathedral for a number of years. This includes Masses on weekdays, Sundays, and Holy Days. In this time, I have noticed what appears to be a significant decline in Mass attendance for all these occasions.
The decline began with the reopening of the remodeled Cathedral. The recent clustering of two nearby parishes with the Cathedral does not appear to have increased attendance significantly.
The Cathedral does not publish its weekly Mass attendance numbers in the bulletin. If anyone out there can give me an actual count of weekly Mass attendance at the Cathedral then please send it via our contact page. A comparative count for the last several years would be most helpful. Thank you.
December 27, 2008 by Eugene Michael
Just last year, the diocesan school restructuring plan resulted in a dramatic reduction in student enrollment. The student population declined from about 2,000 down to 1,000 after the various schools were shuttered.
Now the DOR is running an ad campaign to encourage new students to enroll in its Catholic school system. In effect, the DOR evicted about half its student population last June. Now they want new enrollment?
Perhaps they would be better off spending the ad money on reducing tuition or raising teacher’s salaries. Or perhaps they should just admit that they really don’t know what they are doing and turn the schools back over to parish control.
December 17, 2008 by Eugene Michael
Coming in February to St. Bernard’s School of “Theology”:
Dorothee Soelle and Meister Eckhart in Conversation
This talk explores the significant impact that the Rhineland Mystic Meister Eckhart had upon the political theology of the late Dorothee Soelle. His mystical theology not only assisted Soelle in her work on the theology of God, it also gave her a focus for activist lifestyle. She learned to “live without a why” and she passes on Eckhart’s wisdom to those of us living and working in our busy times.
Date: Friday, February 6, 2009
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm (includes a buffet lunch)
Presenter: Dr. Nancy Hawkins, IHM
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December 14, 2008 by Eugene Michael
Josh and Rachelle Belokur are a young married couple with two children. Received into the Catholic Church Easter Vigil of 2007, their story is an example in perseverance, courage, and faith. While they shared their journey to Catholicism together, God called them to the Church in different ways.
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December 6, 2008 by Eugene Michael
From the USCCB’s review of the film, Milk:
Solid biographical drama about San Francisco supervisor and gay rights activist Harvey Milk (a fine Sean Penn), his tumultuous rise to office after three failed runs for city and state office, and his 1978 assassination by deranged fellow supervisor Dan White (Josh Brolin)…The film contains brief scenes of homosexual activity including male kissing and nongraphic encounters, rear male nudity, murder, suicide, and some rough language, crude expressions and profanity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling.
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