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March 22, 2019The Experiential Stations of the Cross that were scheduled for this Friday, March 22, have been canceled. The church will remain open for anyone who wants to come for quiet prayer or to pray the Stations on their own. We will have resources for the Stations available. Many thanks for your understanding.Read More -
March 22, 2019Read MoreLent is a great time to do something to help your relationship with God grow. This Lent we will be offering a six-week opportunity to learn about and pray with the Bible. These one-hour sessions will be held on Sunday mornings from 10:15–11:15 a.m. in the Conference Room from March 10–April 14. You are encouraged to come to all the sessions, but all are standalone sessions, so you are able to come when you can. This program will be led by Michael Twomey, a parishioner with 25 years of experience teaching courses about the Bible and biblical interpretation at Ithaca College. All are welcome! For more information and handouts and lecture material, please click here.
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March 22, 2019Our next movie night will take place on Monday, March 25. We will be watching "Won’t You Be My Neighbor?" Filmmaker Morgan Neville examines the life and legacy of Fred Rogers, the beloved host of the popular children's television show "Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood." It comes highly recommended by those who have seen it here at St. Catherine’s. The movie begins at 6:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6 p.m., and Mass, as always, is at 5:30 p.m. A $5 donation for dinner is greatly appreciated.Read More -
March 22, 2019Regal Cinemas in Ithaca is showing the movie "Unplanned" on Thursday, March 28, at 7 p.m. This movie explores the life of Abby Johnson, a Planned Parenthood clinic director who saw something that changed everything, leading her to join her former enemies at 40 Days for Life and become an advocate for the pro-life movement. This is the only local showing of this movie (although it will open in Binghamton and Syracuse later). All are invited to learn what Abby saw and how it changed her life.Read More -
March 22, 2019Many people asked about the "Love Has No Limits" t-shirts our youth wore on their trip to the Dominican Republic, so we've decided to make the shirts available to all our parishioners for a free-will donation. Please click here for an order form and pictures of the shirt. Orders are due by March 29. Many thanks for your interest!Read More -
March 22, 2019We hope you will join us on Friday, March 29, at 7 p.m. when we gather in the church for a simple evening prayer focused on the Divine Mercy of Jesus. Come and enjoy this unique opportunity for communal prayer and to focus our attention on the mercy of God for all of us. If you are coming and want to bring your own rosary (used for the Chaplet of Divine Mercy), please do so. We will have others that you can borrow.Read More -
March 22, 2019On Friday, April 5, at 7 p.m., the Lenten cantata "Portraits in Grace" will be presented at Immaculate Conception Church, 113 N. Geneva St. The cantata tells the story of Jesus’ suffering and death through song and narrative, with music based on familiar hymn tunes. Singers from Tompkins County Catholic faith communities, including St. Catherine’s, are participating and will be accompanied by chamber orchestra. Our music director, Sherry Scanza, will conduct the performance. The concert is free and open to the public. All are welcome!Read More -
March 11, 2019Read MoreAs many of you might have heard, the Jesuit Northeast Province has made known an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against Fr. Carsten Martensen, who has served in campus ministry at both Ithaca College and Cornell since 2007 and who has occasionally celebrated Mass here at St. Catherine’s. The allegation dates to the 1970s. Fr. Martensen has stepped down from all current assignments and public ministry pending completion of an investigation by the Province and recommendations by its independent Review Board. The Diocese of Rochester has never received an allegation against Father Martensen during his ministry in the Diocese. You can read the statement from the Jesuit Northeastern Province here. This raises up the issue of abuse within the church once again. Fr. Joe and staff members are available if you feel the need to talk to someone. Please call the office at 607-257-2493. Please keep all victims in your prayers. We also encourage you to pray for Fr. Carsten while the accusation is being investigated and the Campus Ministry staffs at Cornell University and Ithaca College during this time of change and uncertainty.
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February 6, 2019Read MoreFr. Joe was recently interviewed by Eric Clay, M.Div., Ph.D., on the "Made of Clay Program" on local public radio station WRFI. You can listen to the interview here. -
February 6, 2019Read MoreWe pray that the passage of the Child Victims Act brings some measure of healing to all survivors by offering them a path of recourse and reconciliation. The legislation now recognizes that child sexual abuse is an evil not just limited to one institution, but a tragic societal ill that must be addressed in every place where it exists.
Sadly, we in the Church know all too well the devastating toll of abuse on survivors, their families, and the extended community. Every Catholic diocese in New York has taken important steps to support survivors of child sexual abuse, including the implementation of reconciliation and compensation programs. We are proud that these pioneering programs have not only helped well more than a thousand survivors of clergy abuse in New York, but have also become a model for how to help survivors in other states and in other institutions.
Now, we hope that this same type of survivor-centered approach, that puts the emphasis on healing, is available to all survivors, regardless of when the abuse occurred, or who their abuser was—whether it was a priest, a coach, a teacher, a doctor, or, as is all too common, a family member. We have long called for strengthening the Child Victims Act and will continue to advocate for the elimination of the criminal statute of limitations, compensations programs for those who prefer it to litigation, and mandatory safe environment training for anyone who works with children, as we have implemented in the eight dioceses throughout New York State.
We thank the brave survivors who have told their stories of abuse in every sector of society. Their witness has moved us all. We renew our commitment to combatting the monstrous crime of childhood sexual abuse and helping all survivors find recourse and reconciliation as they heal. -
October 29, 2018Read MoreThe 2018 Catholic Ministries Appeal is underway. Please help support Catholic Charities, Catholic schools, campus ministries, and seminarian education by donating to the CMA. Please see this year's CMA video to see how your donation helps others. You can donate online with the Diocese of Rochester here; please make sure to mark St. Catherine's as your parish. Many thanks! -
October 29, 2018We invite you to match your gift to the Catholic Ministries Appeal or give a separate donation to any advocacy organization that works specifically with victims of sexual abuse by priests. Fr. Joe is matching his donation to the CMA with a donation to those who have been directly abused by priests, and he invites us to do the same.Read More -
October 29, 2018Read MoreOur parish has held a number of Listening Sessions and Courageous Conversations about the clergy sex abuse crisis in the Church. Participants included middle- and high-school aged youth, young adults, parents, and adults of all ages. We have prepared a report that puts together the main themes of these sessions, which you can access here. The report is also available in the printed and online bulletin for October 28. -
September 10, 2018Read MoreRecent revelations about the abuse of minors by Catholic clergy in Pennsylvania have once again sickened and angered our community and the Church as a whole. Please see the following links for responses to this crisis from Pope Francis, Bishop Matano, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. We have also provided links to some of Fr. Joe's homilies that addressed this crisis directly. To see the Diocese of Rochester's Office of Safe Environment site, click here. To see St. Catherine's Creating a Safe Environment page, click here. Victims of abuse should always report to the civil authorities. To report a case of possible sexual abuse and to receive help and guidance from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester, victims are encouraged to contact the victims’ assistance coordinator, Deborah Housel, at (585) 328-3228, ext. 1555; toll-free at 1-800-388-7177, ext. 1555; or email at victimsassistance@dor.org.- November, 2018: Message from Cardinal DiNardo
- Letter of his Holiness Pope Francis to the People of God
- Letter to the Faithful from Bishop Matano
- Statement from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, September 19
- Statement from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
- Bishop Robert Barron Q&A on the Abuse Crisis
- Podcast: Courageous Conversations About Sexual Abuse Scandal in the Catholic Church with Dr. Dobie Moser
- Podcast: Talking To Young People About the Scandals in the Catholic Church
- Fr. Joe's Homily from the Feast of the Assumption (August 15)
- Fr. Joe's Homily from the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 19)
- Fr. Joe's Homily from the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 26)
- Fr. Joe's Homily from the 22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (September 2)