Read Bishop Kinney's pastoral letters: His pastoral letter on social justice "As I have done for you..."    His pastoral letter on the sacrament of Marriage "Marriage in Christ: The Sacrament of Faithful, Lifelong Love"     © 2003-2006 Diocese of St. Cloud. All rights reserved.

(scroll down for archived letters & columns)

April 13, 2006 Bishop Kinney's Easter Column . . .

Three days, one great liturgy of death and resurrection
I am writing this column in the midst of Holy Week.  It is the most graced week of the Church year!  Last Thursday, people from all parts of our diocese gathered together to pray and worship God as the oils were blessed and consecrated for the coming year's celebration of the sacraments.  In the midst of the liturgy, it seemed as though God's very love and life became tangible in the glistening of the Chrism and the other oils of sacramental anointing.  Those blessed oils flow into our lives from the very death and resurrection of Christ.

The Palm Sunday liturgy has been celebrated in our parishes.  In the liturgy, our hearts moved from the excitement of the Procession of Palms recalling Jesus' entry into Jerusalem to the very solemn and somber reading of the Passion Narrative from the Gospel of Saint Mark.  At that moment we were called to grasp once more that the greatest gift of God's generous love for us is Jesus and his passion and death on the cross.  We could not escape questioning our own serious resolve as Jesus' disciples when we pondered how Peter and Judas wavered as disciples.  Peter responded with conversion; Judas gave up hope!

Palm Sunday, my thoughts and prayers were with the immigrants to our country and the many demonstrators as they prayed and marched from Cathedral to Capitol in St. Paul in favor of legislation that would welcome, not penalize, peoples who have come to our country to better their lives.  My ancestors, perhaps yours also, came to our borders for the very same reasons.  I pray for welcoming legislation on this issue.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week usually seem normal as we go about the usual schedules in our lives and in our regular routines. But once Holy Thursday comes, everything begins to change.

As we begin the Thursday Evening Mass of the Lord's Supper it is as if the next three days coalesce together into one sacred Liturgy and one action of the Body of Christ.  The Evening Mass begins at sunset on Holy Thursday; the Celebration of the Lord's Passion is during the afternoon hours on Good Friday; the quiet waiting then begins in vigil and prayer through Holy Saturday; at sunset Saturday the celebration of the Easter Vigil commences when we joyfully receive new Christians into the Body of Christ; the celebration continues throughout Sunday, it is all one great liturgy of the death and resurrection of the Lord!  Those three days become one day of salvation in our lives! Finally, as sun sets Easter evening, the Church prays Evening Prayer and the Triduum concludes.

We celebrate Christ in this great feast, Christ who once died for us but who now lives in glory for ever.  The risen Christ continues to break forth in our lives!  Christ always gives us hope, strength, and eternal life.

It is my prayer that these days will be for all of us a true celebration of our new life in Christ and our gratitude that the very first gift of the Risen Christ to us is the Holy Spirit.

A blessed Easter to all of you.

+ John F. Kinney
Bishop of Saint Cloud

© 2006 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved.

February 9, 2006
Defending marriage is a matter of 'elemental truth'
With my fellow Minnesota bishops, I have asked our parishes in the Diocese of St. Cloud to conduct a postcard campaign on the weekend of February 11/12 to forward the cause of the Minnesota Marriage Amendment. I believe it is important, as faithful citizens and for the common good, to urge our state senators to allow the people of Minnesota to vote on this amendment to the state constitution in November. This amendment would affirm that marriage can exist only between one man and one woman. This fundamental truth must be protected and preserved to ensure that marriage remains the basis of society. Defending marriage as it has always been understood recognizes the exceptional and necessary contribution marriage makes to the common good.

Marriage witnesses to the physical, psychological and spiritual complementarity of men and women. Their enduring mutual commitment of life and love plays an irreplaceable social role. Research consistently shows that no alternative secures the same benefits as the traditional marriage and family structure. Marriage expands the commitment to love through the natural potential of the spouses to become parents – to beget new life through their love. This responsibility requires an increasingly unselfish response that models self-giving generation to generation.

This very lofty view of marriage may not always be the experience of all in our society. Social institutions like marriage, as long history attests, endure to validate and foster patterns of behavior that serve the common good. When marriage – as an institution or for an individual couple – suffers a time of crisis, it is most helpful to strengthen what is weak rather than undermine it further. My brother bishops and I believe that redefining marriage itself would further fray the already fragile social fabric.

As Pope Benedict XVI said of this issue, “It is not a question of specific norms of Catholic morals but of elementary truths that concern our common humanity: respecting them is essential for the good of the person and of society.” (Address to the Members of the Administration of Rome and Lazio, Pope Benedict XVI, 12 January 2006)

Some may worry that human rights will be denied because of this amendment, such as housing, employment, inheritance, healthcare access, etc. Others would say we are indeed discriminating against persons with same-sex attractions. However, the sole motivation for this amendment is to protect the definition of marriage. By upholding traditional marriage, we are not denying basic rights. In fact, such rights do not depend on marriage, but are already secured under a variety of laws and statutes.

The Church strives to show unconditional love to all human persons as well as to proclaim uncompromising truth. Part of our responsibility as faithful citizens is to treat each person with the respect and dignity they deserve as children of God. While this issue will generate strong feelings, any form of discrimination or hostility toward persons with same-sex attractions is wrong.

I ask you to prayerfully support this campaign, to sign and mail the postcard this weekend to your Minnesota State Senator and to continue encouraging them to place the Marriage Amendment on the November ballot.

+ John F. Kinney
Bishop of Saint Cloud

© 2006 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved.

September 9, 2005
Disaster calls us to generous response
It has been several months since I have written a column for you. The election of Pope Benedict XVI afforded me my last opportunity to write in the spring. Now, with the fall season of the year upon us, it seems a good time for me to resume these occasional messages.

First, I must thank all of you for your constant prayers for me during these months. So many of you have written or verbally assured me of your prayers for my health during this time, and I am very happy to report that the combination of prayer, good medical treatment and therapy have helped me turn a very important corner in my physical well-being. At least for the time being, I am able to set aside walking supports and move on my own confidently. The physical condition is still with me, but I am feeling so much better than I was several months ago. I thank all of you for your continued prayer and support.

Turning to current events in our country, as you know, I have often written in the past of the plight of the world's poor. Often I have visited refugee camps in distant lands. The images of the suffering people in the coastal areas of our own country in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina have mirrored for me dramatically many of the scenes I have witnessed elsewhere. Often in the past I have asked for your generous help to alleviate the misery of the world's poor. Now I plead for your great, generous spirit to assist the people of our own southern coast.

During September, our parishes will be taking a special collection for all the affected areas in the South. Funds will be immediately sent through our diocese to Catholic Charities USA to assist in the recovery efforts. Catholic Charities nationally as well as in local dioceses is well equipped and poised to resond. I urge all of us to assist in this massive need.

In addition, some of the evacuees from the devastated areas will be housed here in our diocese during the next weeks. I would ask our communities, Catholic, ecumenical and civic, to provide whatever is possible to make these brothers and sisters a bit more comfortable and at home in our midst.
I was especially moved to hear of an 11-year-old girl in one of our parishes, celebrating her birthday this week, who called her friends back to ask them to make donatons to the relief effort rather than bring gifts to her party.

If images and pictures are not enough, Jesus' vivid description of the judgment scene is all the incentive any of us need to respond! "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in, naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me."
(Matthew 25:35-36)

Thank you for your generous and early response.

+ John F. Kinney
Bishop of Saint Cloud

© 2005 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved.

Bishop Kinney's homily for April 20 noon Mass at the Cathedral of St. Mary for Pope Benedict XVI

April 20, 2005

"Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" This question of Jesus in the Gospel was woven throughout Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's moving homily at the funeral Mass of Pope John Paul II. Perhaps this same Gospel passage was read yesterday at the conclusion of the Conclave when the Holy Spirit selected Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as our new Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"

With the Church all over the world, we are filled with joy at the selection of our new pope. Just as Jesus formed St. Peter and the other apostles into a unique apostolic collegium, a "college", so the successor of Peter, the Holy Father, and the bishops, successors of the apostles spread over the world, are so related with and to one another in a bond of unity, charity and peace. The Lord gave a new name to Simon; he named him Peter, the "rock" of the Church. Jesus gave to Peter the keys of binding and loosing, and established him as shepherd of the whole flock. Thus, Pope Benedict XVI, Bishop of Rome and Pastor of the Universal Church, is at once the visible source and foundation of unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful of the Church.

At Mass earlier today in the Sistine Chapel, our new Holy Father sai: "I turn to everyone with simplicity and affection, to assure them that the church wants to continue to build an open and sincere dialogue with them, in the search of the true good of man [humanity] and society... . I want to forcefully affirm the strong desire to continue in the task of implementing the Second Vatican Council."

We thank God for our new Holy Father and we pray for him strength, grace and peace so that he can be "the rock on which everyone can lean with assurance."

Today, the Risen Christ turns to us and again asks: "Do you love me more than these?" With full hearts we respond: "Yes, Lord, you know everything, you know that we love you." Jesus says to us, "Feed my sheep."

+ John F. Kinney
Bishop of Saint Cloud

© 2005 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved.

Bishop Kinney's statement on the election of Pope Benedict XVI

April 19, 2005
Statement of Bishop John F. Kinney on the election of Pope Benedict XVI:

Dear Friends in Christ,

"Give thanks to the Lord, for God is good, God's love is everlasting." (Ps. 118:1) Today, along with the Universal Church and our entire world, the people of the Diocese of St. Cloud and I give thanks to God for the election of our new Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. May the Holy Spirit bless and strengthen him for his mission as the successor of Peter.

Tuesday morning, at eleven o'clock our time, we learned the new pope had been elected. Jorge Cardinal Medina Estevez, the senior cardinal deacon, appeared at the balcony window of St. Peter's Basilica to intone to the waiting world "Habemus Papam! We have a pope ... ." He continued: "His Eminence, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger."

This is an amazing moment of grace in the life of the Church! After commending Pope John Paul II to God, the whole world has watched the process of electing a new Holy Father, culminating in our Holy Father's selection by the Holy Spirit.

Over my years as bishop, especially during Ad Limina visits in Rome, I have on several occasions had opportunities to meet with Cardinal Ratzinger. He is truly a man of Christ, a priest and bishop who has devoted his entire life to the service of the Church.

I am thankful to God and filled with personal feelings of joy as we begin a new moment in union with our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.

I want to add words of gratitude to all of the people of our diocese who have been praying for a new Holy Father. Also, I am deeply grateful for the splendid coverage by our friends in the media these past weeks.

+ John F. Kinney
Bishop of Saint Cloud

Mass for Pope John Paul II at the Cathedral of St. Mary, St. Cloud
Homily (based on Luke 24)
April 8, 2005
+ John F. Kinney

On this day of the Mass of Christian Burial for our beloved Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, we affirm our hope in Jesus Christ, died and now risen from the dead. We do believe in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins and in life everlasting. We pray our dear Pope sees God now face to face, and will be with God, the Risen Christ, and the saints forever.

Here, in our Cathedral, we do not celebrate this Eucharist alone or separate from the rest of the Church. This is our praise, thanksgiving, sacrifice and meal of the people of God gathered here. But we are also united to all other communities that celebrate the Eucharist all over the world. Thus, though distanced by miles and time changes, we celebrate this Eucharist with the millions gathered in Rome for the Holy Father’s funeral earlier this day. In the Eucharist, the Church does become present as the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church!

This fellowship also reaches beyond this world and even beyond this life, linking the living with the dead. We believe in the communion of saints! Thus we reach into the great fellowship of Mary and the saints and into the very heavenly liturgy at this moment. This very Eucharist and the Church of all ages and all places come together. The Eucharist is truly a “sign of unity and a bond of love.” (Sacrosanctum Concilium # 4)

So we cannot be sad. Although we feel a great personal loss, Pope John Paul has gone home. He belongs there. So do we! We commend him to God because he served us well and loved us!

On Easter Sunday he could not speak, but these are the words of Pope John Paul’s last Urbi et Orbi blessing, to Rome and to the world.

Stay with us, Lord!
With these words, the disciples on the road to
Emmaus invited the mysterious Wayfarer
to stay with them, as the sun was setting
on that first day of the week
when the incredible had occurred.

According to his promise, Christ had risen:
Nevertheless, the words spoken by the Wayfarer
along the road made their hearts burn within them.
So they said to him: “Stay with us”.
Seated around the supper table,
they recognized him in the “breaking of bread,”
and suddenly he vanished.
There remained in front of them the broken bread.
There echoed in their hearts the
gentle sound of his words.

Dear brothers and sisters,
the Word and the Bread of the Eucharist,
the mystery and the gift of Easter,
remain down the centuries as a constant memorial
of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ! . . .
together with all Christians throughout the world,
we too repeat those words:
Jesus, crucified and risen, stay with us!
Stay with us, faithful friend and
sure support for humanity
on its journey through history!
Living Word of the Father,
give hope and trust to all who are searching
for the true meaning of their lives.
Bread of eternal life, nourish those who hunger
for truth, freedom, justice and peace.

Stay with us, Living Word of the Father,
and teach us words and deeds of peace:
peace for our world consecrated by your Blood
and drenched in the blood of so many innocent victims:
peace for the countries of the
Middle East and Africa,
where so much blood continues to be shed;
peace for all of humanity,
still threatened by fratricidal wars.
Stay with us, Bread of eternal life,
broken and distributed to those at table;
give also to us the strength to show
generous solidarity
towards the multitudes who are even today
suffering and dying from poverty and hunger,
decimated by fatal epidemics
or devastated by immense natural disasters.
By the power of your Resurrection,
may they too become sharers in new life.

We, the men and women of the
third millennium,
we too need you, Risen Lord!
Stay with us now and until the end of time.
Grant that the material progress of peoples
may never obscure the spiritual values
which are the soul of their civilization.
Sustain us, we pray, on our journey.
In you do we believe, in you do we hope,
for you have the words of eternal life.
Mane nobiscum, Domine! Alleluia!

Joannes Paulus II
(L’Osservatore Romano, March 30, 2005)

Thank you, loving God, for giving us Pope John Paul II. Take him close to your heart. May he rest in peace. Amen.

+ John F. Kinney
Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud

© 2005 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved.

Today, we know the Risen Christ is in our midst as we assemble here. As in the Gospel, Christ gives us peace and breathes on us, and the entire Church, the gift of the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins and new life. With the disciples of the Gospel, today from our hearts we proclaim, "We have seen the Lord." In the Eucharist, we join the Risen Christ in the great sacrifice and prayer to the Father and the sacred meal of the Body and Blood of the Lord. Christ stays with us! We pray in faith" "My Lord and my God!"

Today, with tears and with sadness in our hearts, we sing, "Give thanks to the Lord forhe is good, for his love is everlasting." Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, has died and has gone home to God. We feel a great sadness in the parting and the loss. We sing, because God has given this wonderful pope to us for twenty seven years. As a "holy father" to us, John Paul led us with faith, blessed us lovingly, encouraged us to be holy, taught us the truth of God's love and the dignity of each and every human being, challenged us to love and care for the poor and the weak. He visited us and almost every place in our world. He always prayed with us and for us. He showed us how to live and, in these last months and days, he has showed us how to die.

I believe in everything Pope John Paul II did, whether he was addressing moral issues about life, social concerns, political and economic systems, or teaching us the truth of doctrine, his deepest desire was always for the well being of humanity, for us individually and for the whole human race. He believed in us, in humanity. He believed we want what is good and just. He believed that we are capable of eliminating what is evil, what is sinful, what is unjust, what is oppressive. He believed people are capable of choosing goodness, for themselves, for their families, their countries and the global community. He personally faced and lived through the evil of Nazism and Communism. He knew, first hand, man's inhumanity to man. But he also knew and believed in the redemptive power of Jesus Christ. He knew that we can do better. So he became a roving ambassador of hope, an apostle, an evangelist, a missionary to the whole world. He asked us to be the same. "Duc in altum!" He urged. "Cast your nets out into the deep!"

Even as we mourn the loss of Pope John Paul, we profess our faith in the resurrection and eternal life. We rejoice with our John Paul II that his earthly suffering has ended. In one of his poems, he wrote, "Sliding into death I unveil the awaiting, my eyes fixed on one place, the resurrection." We pray he now sees God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, face-to-face.

"Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love is everlasting."

+ John F. Kinney,
Bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud

© 2005 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved

Those born after his election to the papacy in October 1978, and even those born during the few years before then, have never known any other Holy Father. Many of these young people, including hundreds from the Diocese of St. Cloud, had the opportunity to see and hear him in person because of his presence at World Youth Days, one of which was held in Denver. Many other Catholics of the Diocese of St. Cloud had the opportunity to travel to Iowa in 1979 when the pope offered Mass at the Living History Farms near Des Moines. No doubt, because of his extensive travels, this pope was seen in person by more Catholics than any previous pope. These pastoral visits contributed to the great affection that Catholics had for him.

Most of my own years as a bishop have coincided with John Paul’s years as pope. Karol Wojtyla was elected to the See of Peter just two years after Pope Paul VI named me as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis. It was Pope John Paul II who, in 1982, appointed me bishop of the Diocese of Bismarck and, in 1995, as bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud.
Five times during my episcopacy and John Paul’s papacy, I met with him at the Vatican as part of my ad limina visits which are required of each bishop every five years. I was impressed by his energy and athleticism during my earlier visits, and I admired his serenity and grace in my most recent visit, which was just this past December when he was already struggling with illness. I admired his willingness to keep in the public eye even as he aged. He was willing to be old and frail before the whole Church and the whole world. For most of us, that is not easy.

The death of Pope John Paul II is a loss not just for Catholics. For the past 27 years, he has been the world’s most prominent and consistent spokesperson for the dignity of every human being. In retrospect, it seems to me there was a single theme underlying his entire papacy. Whether he was addressing moral issues, social concerns, political and economic systems, or doctrinal matters, his deepest desire was for the wellbeing of humanity, as individuals and as a whole. He believed humankind capable of eliminating war, oppression, and poverty. He believed people capable of choosing goodness, for themselves, their families, their countries, and the global community. This is remarkable given his firsthand experience of the evils of Nazism and communism. He witnessed man’s inhumanity to man and rather than despair he became an ambassador of hope. This can only be explained by his firm belief in the redemptive power of Jesus Christ.

But even as we mourn the loss of Pope John Paul II, we rejoice with him that his earthly suffering has ended and he has met face-to-face the God he served so well.

+ John F. Kinney,
Bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud

© 2005 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved

Bishop Kinney also offered prayers for the health of Pope John Paul II.  Vatican officials reported today that the pope is fighting an infection and high fever.

"Withholding water and nutrition ended her life," said Bishop Kinney about Schiavo's death.  "We must uphold the dignity and sanctity of human life, even in grave suffering.  It is not all about our decisions around the quality of life, it is about the sanctity of life at all stages, from conception to natural death."

The Catholic Church teaches that food and water are ordinary means of care.  Bishop Kinney noted that withholding food and water in Schiavo's case constituted "euthanasia by omission."

"People in the last stages of life have much to teach us and unique gifts to share," said Bishop Kinney.  "It is not ours to decide when a human life is no longer worth continuing."

Bishop Kinney pointed to the example being set by Pope John Paul II.  "The Holy Father has given us a powerful and poignant example of how to live in the midst of personal suffering and diminishment," he said.  "The pope is giving witness to the dignity and sanctity of human life which he has championed his entire papacy."

© 2005 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Beginning at sundown on Holy Thursday, the Church commences the Paschal Triduum. It is the heart of the entire liturgical year. The Second Vatican Council taught us:

Christ the Lord achieved his task of redeeming humanity and giving perfect glory to God, principally by the paschal mystery of his blessed passion, resurrection from the dead and glorious ascension, whereby “dying, he destroyed our death and rising, he restored our life.”
(Sacrosanctum Concilium, 5)

A later document, “The General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar,” emphasized:

“Therefore, the Easter Triduum of the passion and resurrection of Christ is the culmination of the entire liturgical year.”
(18)

Throughout our diocese and over the entire world this week, Christian people assemble together in parish communities. In the liturgy of these sacred three days, we pray and ponder as a community of believers, recalling the remarkable events of our salvation, how God is doing everything possible to save humankind.

The Thursday evening liturgy focuses on the Scriptures, the washing of the feet in humble service, and the sacrificial supper of the Eucharist of the Lord.

On Friday, usually during the hours when tradition indicates Jesus hung on the cross, the Church comes together again, very quietly, to hear Scripture readings and the sacred proclamation of the passion from St. John’s Gospel, to pray for the needs of the world and the Church, to reverence the holy cross on which hung our Savior, and to receive the body of Christ in communion.

Friday and Saturday are meant to be days when we free ourselves, as much as possible, from all other concerns in our lives. Free from work, free from food, free from noise and distractions, these are days when we are meant to be silent.

It is a relief to be quiet. As we ponder the death and resurrection of the Lord, there is not much else we really need to say to one another until the Easter Vigil. This Saturday is a “Blessed Sabbath.”

The Easter Vigil is called the “mother of all vigils.” We keep watch through the night, celebrating the resurrection of Christ in the sacraments.
The catechumens are baptized and other candidates, already baptized, are received into full communion with the Church. God lavishly pours forth the Holy Spirit on these Christians in confirmation.

We join with the entire Church in renewing our baptismal promises. Then, as one Body of Christ, we celebrate the Eucharist, proclaiming that “Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again.”

The Vatican II renewal of the liturgy for Holy Week has truly enriched the entire Church. This is my favorite week of the Church year. I believe my life along with yours is being transformed a little more each year during Holy Week.

Truly celebrating the Paschal Triduum, in liturgy and in our own silence, helps us remember what Christ has called us to be in our lives.

If you have not had the opportunity to participate in the Easter Triduum liturgies lately, I invite you to come to a parish church near you. You will experience the death and resurrection of Christ. These liturgies will change your lives.

May you be filled with the joyful hope Christ gives us throughout this Easter season.

+ John F. Kinney
Bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud

© 2005 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved.

March 17, 2005
Some are fasting and abstaining this Lent,
not by choice

As Lent began five weeks ago, we heard the piercing words of Isaiah the prophet:

Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bond of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house,
when you see the naked, to cover them,
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
(58:6-7)

Last week, the bishops of Minnesota gathered to hear testimony from people of our state who have been severely impacted by the budget cuts imposed for the past two years. To read statistical reports about those of our neighbors who are suffering because of fiscal cuts is one thing; to see the faces of real people in suffering is quite another.

Sheila spoke to us of how she copes with her medical bills and co-payments after her MinnesotaCare health insurance coverage for low-income workers was reduced. An estimated 38,000 individuals lost health care coverage as a result of changes in income eligibility criteria for MinnesotaCare.

David spoke of his struggle to find affordable housing after catastrophic illness rendered him physically disabled, homeless and unemployed. He struggles to survive on $400 per month. Meanwhile, there are proposals to cut nearly 20 percent of state funding for housing-related programs this year.

Judith shared her husband's and her experience as parents of a disabled child. Previously available grants to assist parents of disabled children in caring for their children at home have been cut, in some cases significantly, while fees for services for these children have been raised substantially.

A former priest-chaplain at a state correctional institution, terminated from his position because of budget cuts, shared how pastoral care for the incarcerated is now severely limited, impacting the human and spiritual well-being of the inmates.

There are countless other stories of real people facing real challenges.

Recently, the bishops of Minnesota wrote a pastoral statement, “Sharing Our Blessings and Our Burdens.” For the benefit of so many people living “on the edge,” we bishops encouraged consideration of a just and equitable increase in taxes for the common good of all the people of Minnesota.

Our ancestors were willing to invest taxes that built the roads, that fostered education, that brought beauty and convenience to our lives. I believe we should be willing to consider an equitable tax increase that will appropriately fund the many programs that assist our people in need. To quote the bishops: “Because human needs require it and other resources are not available to meet these needs, we believe that it is right and proper to raise income taxes justly and equitably.”

These days, we are embracing our Lenten practices of fasting, abstinence and mortification voluntarily as a suitable preparation for Easter. Many of our neighbors have no choice but to fast and abstain and be mortified by the conditions in which they live. I believe Isaiah the prophet is speaking to us this Lent.

* * *

I cannot let this column conclude without expressing my appreciation to some members of our diocesan staff who are leaving the employment of the diocese. I want to thank Sister Nancy Bauer OSB, the vice chancellor; Sister Catherine Kallhoff SSND, the director of Catholic Education Ministries; and Mr. Joe Towalski, the editor of the St. Cloud Visitor. They have served our diocese with great distinction and devotion. I will miss them. On your behalf, and personally, I thank them and pray that God’s blessings will be with them as they accept new responsibilities.

+ John F. Kinney
Bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud

© 2005 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved.

Building up the body of Christ in our diocese

February 3, 2005

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

During this Year of the Eucharist, the theme of our Annual Diocesan Appeal is “One Bread, One Body.” In his document on the Eucharist, “Stay With Us, Lord,” Pope John Paul II reminds us that “it is the one eucharistic bread which makes us one body. ... In the mystery of the Eucharist, Jesus builds up the church as a communion.” My recent ad limina visit with the Holy Father in Rome was a time to reaffirm our communion with the universal Church.

As members of the one body of Christ, we share together the hope of the Gospel. We are also united in service and love for one another as we reach out and share what God has given us. I witnessed this generosity in your response to the victims of the South Asia tsunami, and I thank you for your efforts to help them.

There are different needs right here in central Minnesota. Now in its 29th year, our Annual Diocesan Appeal has a strong tradition of providing ministries that assist parishes and reach out to all people of the diocese: children and teens, couples, single people, community elders and families.

You may have already received benefits from one or more of these vital ministries. Our Vocations Office, for example, assists people in their discernment to the priesthood, diaconate or religious life. The diocesan Planning Office assists parishes in preparing for the future. The Multicultural Ministries Office helps parishes to welcome people of all cultural backgrounds.

Your financial gift to the Annual Diocesan Appeal also helps fund the Office of Marriage and Family, which provides marriage preparation and enrichment opportunities to help people plan for and sustain their vocation of married life.

Every parish also has ill and elderly people unable to attend church for Sunday Mass. A financial gift to the Annual Appeal helps make it possible to locally produce a TV Mass each week that reaches many who are homebound.

These Annual Appeal ministries extend the work of Jesus Christ in our world today in ways that a parish on its own cannot. To support these works, I ask you to join me in making a financial gift to the Annual Diocesan Appeal that is proportionate to your income so that we may meet the many needs of our brothers and sisters, “all members of the body of Christ,” throughout the 16 counties of our diocese.

Your generosity provides the support necessary for these ministries to continue and grow. I pray your circumstances will enable you to make a financial commitment to support these ministries as part of your stewardship of God's gifts for 2005. A more detailed brochure and pledge card will be mailed to you by “Commitment Weekend,” Feb. 5-6.

+ John F. Kinney
Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud

© 2005 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved.

Bishop Kinney's Christmas message . . .
Christ is with us!

December 23, 2004

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

The feast of Christmas is upon us. We have been preparing all Advent for the coming of Christ, the light of the world. Now, our hope is fulfilled. Emmanuel has come! Let us rejoice and adore him!

During the hustle and bustle of this holy and joyous season, it is important to set aside time to reflect on the Christmas mystery: God chose to enter human existence in order to redeem humankind.

The Creator made his presence known under the humble appearance of a baby born in a Bethlehem manger. I wonder what it would have been like to be among the shepherds in the field at the time of Jesus’ birth, and to hear the angel of the Lord proclaim the divine presence by announcing “good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10).

Some of us may be tempted to despair that we were born 2,000 years too late to pay homage to the Messiah. But, thankfully, this is not the case. We can still have a personal encounter with the Lord today because Christ continues to be present to us in a variety of ways.

This Year of the Eucharist provides a special opportunity to reflect on the Christmas mystery. Just as we acknowledge the presence of God hidden under the appearance of the baby in the manger, we also adore the real presence of Christ hidden under the appearance of the bread and wine at Mass.

As Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the papal household, puts it, “The Eucharist is the real Nativity scene, the place where it is possible to adore the incarnate Word not in an image, but in reality.”

God also continues to be “hidden” but nonetheless present in other ways in our world today. Christ is present in the people we see each day: in our spouse and children, in our co-workers, in the faces of those lined up at the local food shelf, in the soldier serving overseas, and in the families residing in refugee camps to escape violence and death.

When we serve family members, friends and strangers, we serve Christ. Likewise, we pay homage to Christ in the manger when we fulfill Jesus’ command, “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).

Dorothy Day, who ministered to those in need through the Catholic Worker Movement, once told a poignant story about St. Peter Claver, a Jesuit missionary sent to South America in the early 1600s, where he ministered to African slaves. One day, Peter Claver gave an ill man his bed and slept on the floor at his side. When those who were assisting Peter ran from the room fearful of the man’s sickness, Peter responded, “You mustn’t go. You mustn’t leave him — it is Christ.”

This Christmas, I urge us to pay homage to Christ both in the Eucharist and in our family members, friends and those in need around the world.

During my “ad limina” visit, Pope John Paul II gave the apostolic blessing to all the people of the Diocese of St. Cloud. May you and your family enjoy a blessed Christmas season.

+ John F. Kinney
Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud

© 2004 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved.

October 28, 2004

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I’ve been thinking about two topics making much news recently: the upcoming U.S. elections and Pope John Paul II’s letter on the Year of the Eucharist.

Next week, each of us will perform a very sacred civic duty — we will exercise the right to vote for the leaders of our country. In preparation for this national election, the Administrative Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a document entitled, “Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility.” In it, the bishops note, “One of our greatest blessings in the United States is our right and responsibility to participate in civic life. Everyone can and should participate. Even those who cannot vote have the right to have their voices heard on issues that affect their communities.”

After months of reading about and listening to the candidates — and yes, being inundated with ads and sound bites — I am ready to cast my vote! “Faithful Citizenship” lists some very important questions that helped me to prepare to enter the voting booth:

• How can we build not only a safer world, but a more just, secure, peaceful and respectful world?
• How will we protect the weakest in our midst, and how can we keep our nation from turning to violence to solve difficult problems — abortion to deal with difficult pregnancies, capital punishment to combat crime, euthanasia and assisted suicide to deal with age and sickness, and war to address international disputes?
• How will we address the tragedy of 30,000 children dying in our world daily because of hunger and disease?
• How can our nation help parents raise their children with respect for life, sound moral values, a sense of hope and an ethic of stewardship and responsibility?
• How will we address the growing number of people without health care?
• How will our society combat continuing prejudice and heal the wounds of racism, religious bigotry and other forms of discrimination?
• How will our nation pursue the values of justice and peace in our conflicted world?
• How can we work together in our society to overcome poverty, pursue the common good, care for our creation and overcome injustice?
• When should our nation use, or avoid the use of, military force?
• How can we join with other nations to lead our world to greater respect for human life and dignity, religious freedom, democracy, economic justice and care for God’s creation?

I urge you to reflect on these questions and, come Tuesday, Nov. 2, to exercise your right to vote.

Year of the Eucharist
“Stay with us, Lord, for it is almost evening.” According to the Gospel of Luke, this is the plea of the two disciples who were on their way to Emmaus when they encountered the Risen Savior.

With these same words, Pope John Paul II invites us to begin our celebration of the Year of the Eucharist. In his apostolic letter, “Mane Nobiscum Domine” (“Stay With Us, Lord”), which inaugurates the October 2004 to October 2005 commemoration, the Holy Father notes that the Master stayed with the Emmaus disciples, even when he departed from them physically. He remained “hidden in the ‘breaking of the bread’ which had opened their eyes to recognize him.” He remains with us in the same way, and we recognize him in the same way.

Recently, I asked a confirmation group, “What is it that Catholics do best?” One young woman responded immediately, “We celebrate the Sunday Eucharist.” That is who we are. We are people of the Eucharist. As those early African martyrs exclaimed on the way to their deaths: “We cannot live without the Eucharist.”

Dioceses around the world will be celebrating the Year of the Eucharist in different ways. In this diocese, I am asking pastors and the faithful to focus on enhancing Sunday Eucharist in our parishes, and to set aside some time for adoration of the reserved Blessed Sacrament. More specifically, I am asking the following:

• That every meeting held in parishes and Catholic institutions during the Year of the Eucharist begin with 10 minutes devoted to reading and reflecting on a portion of “Mane Nobiscum Domine,” and that this period always conclude with the question: “What does this meeting have to do with the Eucharist?” The apostolic letter is accessible on the following Web sites: Diocese of St. Cloud (www.stclouddiocese.org), the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (www. usccb.org) and the Vatican (www. vatican.va).

• That pastors and parish councils discuss and develop plans to increase attendance at, and active participation in, the Sunday Eucharist. In “Mane Nobiscum Domine,” the Holy Father writes, “I would be happy if everyone would reflect once more on my words in the Apostolic Letter, ‘Dies Domini’: ‘At Sunday Mass, Christians relive with particular intensity the experience of the Apostles on the evening of Easter when the Risen Lord appeared to them as they were gathered together.’ ”

• That on April 10, 2005, which is the third Sunday of Easter and the Sunday on which the story of Emmaus is proclaimed, all the faithful observe a “Diocesan Eucharistic Day.” On this day, the Blessed Sacrament will be exposed in parish churches after the last morning Masses for the purposes of adoration and contemplation, with scheduled periods of communal prayer. On this day, we will stay with the Lord in a special way until the evening hours, just as he stayed with the disciples on the way to Emmaus and remained with them ever after in the breaking of the bread.

The Holy Father does not ask us to do anything extraordinary during the Year of the Eucharist, “but rather that every initiative be marked by a profound interiority.” With him, I pray that this year will enkindle in us a more lively and fervent celebration of the Sunday Eucharist in our parishes which will, in turn, enable us to lead Christian lives that are increasingly transformed by love.

+ John F. Kinney
Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud

© 2004 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved.

Ordinary people, extraordinary love

(Following is the homily delivered Sept. 11, 2004, by Bishop Kinney at the annual convention of the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women held in Henning. The convention theme was “Living Chalices for Christ.”)

According to our liturgical calendar, today is Saturday of the 23rd week in Ordinary Time. But today is also “9-11,” and, as of 2001, there will never again be anything ordinary about this date.

It’s true that most of us got out of bed on Sept. 11, 2001, expecting it to be just another ordinary day. We got dressed, ate breakfast and headed to work. We planned to be our ordinary selves and do our ordinary things. It was Tuesday of the 23rd week in Ordinary Time.

By mid-morning, of course, we knew this was no ordinary day for anyone anywhere in our country. Two airplanes had downed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York; another had smashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.; and another had crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. The death toll was in the thousands, and the word “terrorist” inserted itself into our daily conversation and remains there three years later.

9-11 was an extraordinary day, marked by extraordinary acts of evil. But it was also marked by extraordinary acts of goodness, bravery and self-sacrifice, most of them performed by people who, on 9-10, appeared to be quite ordinary: business men and women, secretaries, receptionists, cooks, janitors, moms, dads, uncles, aunts.

The media were filled with stories of these ordinary people doing extraordinary things on 9-11. Some lost their lives as they attempted to escape the World Trade Center because they paused to help a friend, or a co-worker or a stranger. Some were emergency personnel who lost their lives when they went into the collapsing buildings to help others escape. And, who can forget the passengers on the flight over Pennsylvania who made sure their hijacked plane crashed into a field instead of another building filled with people.

Perhaps the most poignant story to emerge from the rubble in New York was that of Father Mychal Judge, the Franciscan friar who was a chaplain for the New York City Fire Department. Father Judge rushed to the site of the Twin Towers to provide spiritual assistance to firefighters.

When debris from the falling buildings fell on Father Judge, he collapsed and died. His final ministry in life was to administer the sacrament of anointing to the injured and dying -- a very ordinary thing for a priest to do, except that, in this case, he had to endanger his own life to do it. Here was an ordinary priest demonstrating extraordinary love.

What happened next was also an act of ordinary people expressing extraordinary love. The firemen picked up the body of their fallen chaplain, solemnly carried it to a nearby church, went up the center aisle with it, draped it in a white sheet and rested it at the foot of the altar along with his priest’s stole and chaplain’s helmet. Later, a delegation of New York City firefighters would travel to Rome and present Father Judge’s white helmet to Pope John Paul II.

The Gospel of John tells us there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for a friend. What kind of love must it be to lay down one’s life for strangers? It must be an extraordinary kind of love indeed.

But it seems to me that this kind of love doesn’t automatically kick in during extraordinary times if it isn’t there in Ordinary Time. It seems to me there had to be something extraordinary about all of the 9-11 heroes even before 9-11. I think these people, ordinary as they seemed, had extraordinary love in their hearts all along. It fact, it was actually ordinary for them to act with extraordinary love on 9-11 because they were doing what came naturally to them; they were doing what they had always done in Ordinary Time -- they were responding to people with self-sacrificing love.

Again, Father Judge is an example. He was known to go about New York City in his squeaky sandals and brown Franciscan habit spontaneously blessing people -- the homeless, the aged, quarreling couples. When others feared to touch a dying AIDS patient, he held the man’s hands, kissed him on the forehead and comforted him in his final days. According to one of his friends, “There were no boundaries to Mychal’s love.” Another friend described it another way: “He was a living example of Jesus Christ.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us that a good tree does not bear rotten fruit, nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit; likewise, a good person out of the store of goodness in her heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil. In other words, what is in a person’s heart, will determine how the person acts both in ordinary and extraordinary circumstances. A person who stores only goodness and love in her heart is incapable of responding to people and events other than with goodness and love — whether the people are her own family members and the event is preparing dinner for them, or the people are strangers and the event is a national tragedy.

This is what it means to be a living chalice for Christ. It means to keep Christ in our hearts at all times, so that what pours forth from our hearts at all times is Christ. It means to keep only love in our hearts, so that our only possible response to friend and stranger is love.

Most of our days are ordinary days, thank God. Most of our opportunities to express love are ordinary, everyday events -- kissing the children goodbye as they trot off to school, chatting with a co-worker, visiting an elderly parent or running an errand for a busy neighbor.

So far, today is an ordinary day. It is Saturday of the 23rd week in Ordinary Time. However, any old day can suddenly become extraordinary, as did Tuesday in the 23rd week of Ordinary Time in 2001. But it does not much matter to those who have stored only goodness in their hearts. They will respond to an ordinary day and an extraordinary day in the same manner. They will respond with extraordinary love.

+ John F. Kinney,
Bishop of the Diocese of St. Cloud

© 2004 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved

May 27, 2004

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

“Oh Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.”

Each of us prays those words at every Mass before receiving Holy Communion. In recent months, however, some Catholics have been asking whether some others are so “not worthy” that they should be denied the sacrament. It has been suggested, for example, that bishops refuse to offer Communion to pro-choice politicians, or to legislators who favor same-sex marriage, or cloning, or stem cell research, or capital punishment, or the war in Iraq, or . . . the list seems to grow longer every day. It has also been suggested that Catholics who vote for politicians who hold certain views on these issues should not present themselves for Communion.

In addition, bishops have been encouraged to deny Communion to members of groups known to oppose Church teaching on various matters of faith and morals. On the parish level, priests are sometimes urged to withhold the sacrament from individuals in the community who are rumored to be “living in sin.”

The question of who should and who should not receive Communion is not only on the minds of people in the pews. The bishops of the United States have established a task force to study what kind of response ought to be made to Catholic politicians who publicly oppose Church teachings. The Vatican has announced that the next Synod of Bishops will focus on the Eucharist, including the circumstances under which Communion should be denied. Thankfully, the task force will not conclude its work until after the general election in November and the synod does not convene until 2005, thereby avoiding accusations of political partisanship.

You may be wondering about my position on the question of denying Communion to various categories of people. I want you to know that I refuse to allow the Eucharistic liturgy to become politicized. What I mean is that I will not allow Holy Communion to be used as a weapon in ongoing political and ideological battles. For this reason, it is not my intention to reject anyone who comes forward in a respectful manner to receive the Body and Blood of Christ.

At the same time, I uphold Church law which states that a Catholic who is conscious of grave sin may not receive Communion without previous sacramental confession, unless there is no opportunity to confess. The Church recognizes that it is for each individual to examine his or her own conscience in this regard, and I assume that those who come forward to receive the Body and Blood of Christ have done so and honestly believe they are not in a state of grave sin.

I want to emphasize that no human is capable of judging someone else’s relationship with God. While I admire efforts to preserve the integrity of Holy Communion, I caution against allowing the Communion procession to become an occasion for pointing out the supposed sins of others.

I return to the prayer with which I began. Note that it says, “Oh Lord, I am not worthy.” It does not say, “Oh Lord, my neighbor is not worthy.”

+John F. Kinney
Bishop of Saint Cloud

© 2004 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved.

Easter triduum: Coming face to face with the risen Christ

April 8, 2004

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

During my high school years in Minneapolis, the touring company of the Black Hills Passion Play came to the Lyceum Theater for a two-week run of performances. The call for "extras" went out and a friend and I applied and joined the troupe.

During those two weeks, I played many scenes as a Roman soldier at the scourging, one of the angry crowd yelling, "Crucify him," and even a non-speaking apostle at the Last Supper. The Passion play was superbly and reverently acted by Mr. Josef Meier and the professional cast, and I was personally and spiritually moved to play a "bit" part in the production for those two weeks.

We are in the midst of the sacred triduum of the church, the holiest and greatest feast of the liturgical year and of our lives. These Sacred Three Days form one feast, the Christian community's memorial of the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

During this feast, in the reading of the Scriptures, including the sacred reading of the Passion of St. John's Gospel, and the resurrection narratives, the community of the church listens again with both faith and resolve to the proclamation of the revealed word of God about how Jesus suffered, died and rose for our salvation.

Remembering the Black Hills Passion Play and having recently seen the movie, "The Passion of the Christ," I know how vivid and inspiring those presentations can be for us. Certain scenes from the movie still come back to my memory and have helped me realize the depth of suffering the Lord endured for our sins.

However, I believe there is a quantum-leap difference between sitting in a theater watching a Passion play or a movie -- even as a family, group of friends or church group -- and the experience of a congregation of baptized believers gathered by God in the liturgy of the church, listening to the reading of the Gospel:

"Christ is always present in her liturgical celebrations. He is present in the Sacrifice of the Mass not only in the person of his minister, 'the same now offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly offered himself on the the cross,' but especially in the eucharistic species. ... He is present in his word since it is he himself who speaks when the holy scriptures are read in the Church. Lastly, he is present when the Church prays and sings, for he has promised 'where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them' " ("Sacrosanctum Concilium," #7).

I do not mean to put down or demean the wonderful work of artists in portraying the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the people who attend these performances, or even our long-standing Catholic tradition of making the Stations of the Cross. What I am saying is that there is an essential difference between a portrayal, however dramatic or vivid, and a liturgy. It is the liturgy that brings us face to face as a community with the risen Christ. It is the liturgy of the church that transforms us into a new creation, this new Christian life.

Finally, whenever we listen to the reading of the Passion in the Gospels, we reflect on our role in the death of Jesus. In that regard, on April 10, 1998, Pope John Paul II gave this Good Friday meditation on the First Station of the Cross:

JESUS IS CONDEMNED TO DEATH
"Pilate said to them, 'Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?' All of them said, 'Let him be crucified!' Then he asked, 'Why, what evil has he done?' They shouted all the more, 'Let him be crucified!' So he released Barabbas for them, and after flogging Jesus, he handed him over to be crucified. (Matthew 27:22-23, 26)."

MEDITATION
" 'Crucify him!' The cry, reinforced by the blind passion of the crowd ... echoes throughout history.

"It echoes throughout this century which is coming to a close, ashes of Auschwitz and ice of the Gulag, bloodied waters of the rice fields of Asia, of the lakes of Africa -- paradises massacred.

"So many children denied, prostituted, mutilated. Oh no, not the Jewish people, crucified by us for so long, not the crowd that will always prefer Barabbas, who he repays evil with evil, not them, but all of us, each one of us, because we are all murderers of love.

"See how the Living One, in whom was not sown any seed of death, is condemned to death. The whip lacerates the body in which breathes the Spirit. They lead him out to be crucified" (Cfr. USCCB, "The Bible, The Jews And The Death of Jesus," p. 88)

This Easter we again sing:

"Christians, to the Paschal Victim
"Offer our thankful praises! . . .
"Christ indeed from death is risen,
our new life obtaining.
"Have mercy, victor King, ever reigning"
("Victimae Paschalis").

May you have a blessed Easter triduum and paschal season.

+ John F. Kinney
Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud

© 2004 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved.

Assessing diocesan abuse statistics in light of national study

February 26, 2004

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In January, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops released the results of an independent study on the extent to which dioceses had implemented the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” adopted in 2002 in Dallas. In that study, the Diocese of St. Cloud was reported to be in compliance with the norms of the charter and, in addition, received several commendations.

On Feb. 27, a related study will be released. The “Study of the Nature and Scope of Sexual Abuse by Catholic Clergy in the United States” was commissioned by the National Review Board of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York. The “John Jay Study,” as it is often called, is a compilation of the number of incidents, offenders and victims of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy in the United States between 1950 and 2002.

Data for the John Jay Study were collected from all dioceses, eparchies and religious orders of men in the United States. The study was conducted in such a way that the researchers did not know the names of victims and offenders. Therefore, the report will provide a sense of the nature and scope of the problem without breaching confidentiality.

The statistics will represent national figures and will not be broken down diocese by diocese. For that reason, dioceses have been encouraged to report their own statistics before the release of the John Jay Study. I reported our diocesan statistics in my column of July 17, 2003. Now, I would like to review and update those statistics so you can assess them in light of the national study.

The first record the diocese has of a report of clerical sexual abuse of a minor dates to 1982. From 1982 through the end of 2003, there were reports of sexual abuse of 49 minors. These reports regarded incidents that occurred as early as 1950.

From 1950 to the end of 2003, parishes and other institutions of the diocese, such as hospitals, nursing homes, and diocesan and parochial schools, were served by 403 priests. This number represents 302 diocesan priests incardinated in the Diocese of St. Cloud and 101 religious order priests. The reported allegations involve 19 of these diocesan priests and seven of the religious order priests. There have been no allegations of sexual abuse of minors by bishops or permanent deacons who have served in the diocese.

Financial records related to these cases are available only from 1991 to the present because earlier financial records did not distinguish amounts related to sexual abuse. The following summary sets forth the costs to the diocese of sexual abuse of minors by clergy:

• Between 1991 and the end of 2003, the Diocese of St. Cloud paid $466,246 in settlements to victims.
• During this same period, the diocese paid $72,139 for therapy and counseling for victims.
• Additional payments were made to some victims through the insurers of the diocese. The insurance premiums paid by the diocese for sexual misconduct coverage from 1995 through 2003 totaled $235,693. Prior to 1995, amounts paid for sexual misconduct coverage were not itemized separately by the insurance company.
• From 1991 to the end of 2003, the diocese paid $123,422 for attorneys’ fees and expenses in these cases.

None of these monies were derived from the Annual Diocesan Appeal (formerly Opus Dei), the Living the Promise Campaign, the Time to Remember Campaign or parish assessments. The amounts specified above came from other sources of income, such as the proceeds of diocesan investments and rental income.

With the upcoming release of the John Jay Study, I again encourage all of us to pray for our church and its members, especially those harmed by sexual misconduct. The abuse of even one person is deplorable and intolerable. I regret that so many of God’s people have been hurt in this way. I continue my urgent appeal for anyone who has been a victim of sexual misconduct by a member of the clergy or representative of the church to come forward in any way you feel is appropriate so we can seek justice and healing.

+ John F. Kinney
Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud

© 2004 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved.

Marriage: Between man and woman

February 19, 2004

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

As you know, there is a growing movement to recognize unions of same-sex couples as the legal equivalent of marriage. Sometimes, those who favor this development present their arguments in such a way that it seems discriminatory or intolerant to disagree. The Catholic Church sees it differently.

The church begins by reflecting on the nature and purposes of marriage, and then asks whether unions of same-sex couples correspond to that nature and fulfill those purposes. The bishops of the United States take this approach in their new pamphlet, "Between Man and Woman: Questions and Answers about Marriage and Same-Sex Unions."

According to "Between Man and Woman," marriage is a "faithful, exclusive, lifelong union of a man and a woman joined in an intimate community of life and love." This definition is derived from the natural order and Scripture. A husband and wife, while equal as human beings, are different and complementary as man and woman. Among other things, their complementarity enables them to be sexual partners for the purposes of strengthening the bond between themselves and transmitting human life.

Scripture affirms what is obvious by human reason. According to the Book of Genesis, God fashioned both male and female in the divine image, blessed them and commanded them to "be fertile and multiply" (Genesis 1:27-28). Jesus repeated the teachings of Genesis when he said, "But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh' " (Mark 10:6-8). Thus, we know from reason and faith that the nature and purposes of marriage require the sort of complementarity that exists only between males and females.

Some will argue that, even though the church does not recognize same-sex unions as equivalent to marriage, there is no harm in states recognizing them as the legal equivalent of marriage. But marriage is a personal relationship that has public significance. Nearly every culture regards marriage as the foundation of the family, and the family, in turn, as the basic unit of society. States recognize marriage as a public institution in their laws because it makes a unique and essential contribution to the common good. In every society, people form many kinds of relationships, but no society recognizes every relationship as a marriage.

Some proponents of same-sex marriage point out that the institution of marriage is so marred that it can no longer be called the foundation of the family. It is true that many families suffer from instability, but the solution is not to change the definition of marriage by admitting same-sex couples. The solution is better preparation and support for marriage on the part of church and society.

(The complete text of "Between Man and Woman" is posted on the following Internet address: www.usccb.org/laity/manandwoman.htm.)

+ John F. Kinney
Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud

© 2004 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved.

Days of sadness, days of joy
February 5, 2004

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

These are days of sadness for me and all the priests and faithful of the Diocese of St. Cloud. With the death of Bishop George Speltz, we have lost a spiritual leader who touched us and taught us through his great personal kindness, his steadfast faith in Jesus Christ, and his affection for the local and universal church. For some of us, the death of Bishop Speltz also means the loss of a true friend.

But these are also days of grace and blessing, and, yes, even joy. Although Bishop Speltz was a man of physical health and great mental acuity during the decades of his active ministry, he suffered diminishment of body and mind in recent years. His death marks his release from the confines of mortality and his rebirth into eternal life. As Christians and Catholics, we rejoice with him as the angels and martyrs welcome him into paradise and usher him into the presence of God.

These are also days of sadness and blessing for the larger church. I was reminded of Bishop Speltz's contributions and ongoing influence beyond the borders of Minnesota when I attended the most recent meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in November 2003 in Washington, D.C.

The bishops were discussing a proposed document entitled, "For I Was Hungry and You Gave Me Food," a compilation of Catholic reflections on "food, farmers and farmworkers." One of my brother bishops rose to pay tribute to Bishop Speltz for his lifelong leadership in promoting rural life and family farming. In the mid-1980s, it was Bishop Speltz who successfully insisted, despite sturdy opposition, that the conference's highly-publicized pastoral letter on economic justice include a section on food and agriculture. Even in his retirement, Bishop Speltz studied and wrote on agricultural issues.

Here in the diocese, we owe special gratitude to Bishop Speltz for his courage and leadership in implementing the decisions of the Second Vatican Council. Bishop Speltz attended sessions of the council as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Winona. He became coadjutor bishop of St. Cloud in 1966 and then bishop in 1968. These years immediately following the close of the council were exciting and turbulent times to be a bishop in the church. The wise manner in which Bishop Speltz introduced changes no doubt accounts for the widespread acceptance of the council in this diocese and the current vitality of our parishes.

Let us pray for the repose of the soul of Bishop Speltz, and for each other during these days of sadness and joy as we reminisce about his life as a priest, bishop and friend. And on behalf of all the people of the diocese, I extend condolences to Bishop Speltz's family, who experienced him as brother and uncle.

+ John F. Kinney
Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud

© 2004 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved.

Recent news of a $500,000 settlement in a most serious case of clergy sexual misconduct involving our diocese has raised questions about the diocese's commitment to help abuse victims heal. Others are understandably concerned about the source of the settlement money.

We have a long record of helping in the healing of victims of abuse. In 1991, the diocese promulgated a formal sexual misconduct policy incorporating victim advocates whose exclusive function is to help victims begin a process of justice and healing. The Diocese of St. Cloud has for decades provided caring, healing and support for victims of abuse of all kinds through Caritas Family Services and other agencies. We strengthened our diocesan efforts toward healing of victims and prevention of abuse with the July 1 release of our revised sexual misconduct policy, and we have added the advice and oversight of a Diocesan Review Board to hold us accountable.

While money does not equate to healing, the diocese has also helped victims financially. Settlements and payments for care of victims have come exclusively from insurance payments and from the proceeds of diocesan investments, rental income and unrestricted gifts from individuals. As I stated in my July 17 column in the St. Cloud Visitor, no money has come from the Annual Diocesan Appeal (formerly Opus Dei), the Living the Promise Campaign, the Time to Remember Campaign or from parish collections or assessments.

I assure you the diocese has been and remains firmly committed to justice and healing for anyone who has suffered abuse at the hands of our clergy or others representing the church. I will in no way tolerate sexual misconduct. Our first priority is the protection of the young and vulnerable, and the care of survivors of abuse. I continue to urge any victim to come forward so we can begin a process of justice and healing.

We are continuing to address the issue of sexual misconduct, to reach out to victims and to prevent further abuse. All of us are called to lives of holiness and prayer. All of us must continue to pray for our church and its members, especially for those who have been tragically harmed by sexual misconduct. Please continue to pray that all of us will live our vocations with faithfulness and integrity.

+ John F. Kinney
Bishop of the Diocese of Saint Cloud

© 2003 Diocese of Saint Cloud. All rights reserved.

"I also pray for Seth Bartell, for his life and full recovery. My prayers go also to his family."

"I also extend my prayers and blessings to the entire Rocori High School community -- students, parents, teachers, administrators and friends. Any violence, especially among our young people, shocks us all with pain and grief, and makes us question how this could happen."

"Our young people are most precious to us. We must do all we can to protect and care for them."

"No more violence. Never again."

+John F. Kinney
Bishop of Saint Cloud

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