By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Migrants and refugees often are “privileged witnesses of hope through their resilience and trust in God,” Pope Leo XIV said.
“Often they maintain their strength while seeking a better future, in spite of the obstacles that they encounter,” he said Oct. 2 during a meeting with participants in the conference “Refugees and Migrants in Our Common Home,” organized by Villanova University.
The Vatican dicasteries for Promoting Integral Human Development and for Culture and Education and the U.S. bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services were among the co-sponsors of the conference, held in Rome Oct. 1-3 just before the Jubilee of Migrants and the Jubilee of Missions Oct. 4-5.
Pope Leo XIV waves goodbye to participants in the conference “Refugees & Migrants in Our Common Home,” organized by the Augustinian-run Villanova University in suburban Philadelphia, at the end of an audience at the Vatican Oct. 2, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Pope Leo encouraged participants to share migrants’ and refugees’ stories of steadfast faith and hope so that they could be “an inspiration for others and assist in developing ways to address the challenges that they have faced in their own lives.”
Overcoming the widespread sense that no one can make a difference “requires patience, a willingness to listen, the ability to identify with the pain of others and the recognition that we have the same dreams and the same hopes,” Pope Leo XIV told the group.
Before the conference, Villanova held the official launch of its Mother Cabrini Institute on Immigration, which promotes programs of scholarship, advocacy and service to migrants.
Pope Leo praised the project’s goal of bringing together “leading voices throughout a variety of disciplines in order to respond to the current urgent challenges brought by the increasing number of people, now estimated to be over 100 million, who are affected by migration and displacement.”
Sister Norma Pimentel, a Missionary of Jesus and executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley in Brownsville, Texas, said migrants “are missionaries of hope to us, because their presence with us honestly sanctifies who and where we are.”
People who fear migrants and refugees or believe they are coming just to take jobs need to take the time to meet them, Sister Pimentel said. Then, “they will stop seeing them as somebody that is invading my space, but rather as somebody who I have the opportunity to be able to show the presence of God.”
Addressing the conference Oct. 1, she said that “in a world marked by fear, division and uncertainty, we are invited to be people of hope, pilgrims of hope, of that hope which comes from our trust in the Lord.” “In this Jubilee Year of Hope, we are called to find within ourselves kindness and compassion and courage, especially courage,” Sister Pimentel said.
IN EXILE By Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI Growing up in a Roman Catholic home, devotions were always a vital part of our religious diet. While our family saw the Eucharist as more important than devotions, we nourished our spiritual lives a lot on devotions, as did many Roman Catholics back then.
Among other things, we prayed the rosary every day, prayed the Angelus daily, prayed special litanies (St. Joseph in March, Mary in May and October, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus in June), prayed the Stations of the Cross each Friday in Lent, were anxious to attend Eucharist on First Fridays and First Saturdays to obtain special promises from God, and said special prayers to obtain indulgences.
Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI
As well, there were pilgrimages to Marian shrines for those who could afford them and most everyone wore medals from Lourdes or Fatima and had a special devotion to those shrines (with a special devotion in my own family and parish to Our Lady of the Cape, at Cap De Madeleine, Quebec). Devotions were a big part of our spiritual lives.
What’s to be said about devotions from a theological view and from the view of a culture that mostly distrusts them?
We might begin with the reaction of Martin Luther and the great Protestant reformers. They were fearful of two things in devotions. First, at that time, some devotions were too unbridled and were simply bad theology (famously, selling indulgences). Second, they saw devotions, not as necessarily bad in themselves, but as often displacing Jesus and God’s Word as our center and main focus. And so, they distanced themselves from basically all Roman Catholic devotions, the unbridled as well as the healthy.
For the most part that Protestant and Evangelical distrust of Roman Catholic devotions has come down right to our own day. While that distrust is breaking down today in some non-Roman churches today, it is still the prevalent attitude inside most Protestant and Evangelical circles. In brief, they distrust most devotions because they are seen not just as deflecting our focus from the centrality of Jesus and the Word, but also as potentially unhealthy contaminates, as junk food in our spiritual diet.
What’s to be said about that?
It’s a fair and needed warning to Roman Catholics (and others) who nourish their spiritual lives with devotions. Bottom line, devotions can easily ground themselves on shaky theology and can be a junk food contaminating our spiritual diet: where devotions replace scripture, Mary replaces Jesus as center, and certain ritual practices make God seem like a puppet on a string.
However, that being admitted, as Goethe once said, the dangers of life are many and safety is one of those dangers. Yes, devotions can be a danger, but they can also be a rich healthy supplement in our essential diet of Word and Eucharist.
Here’s how Eric Mascall (the renowned Anglican theologian at Oxford with C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Dorothy Sayers, and Austin Ferrar) spells out both the danger of devotions and the danger of not having devotions as part of your spiritual life: The protestant reformers (Luther, Calvin, Zwingli) were so afraid of contamination by Roman Catholic devotions, that they put us on a diet of antiseptics. When you’re on a diet of antiseptics, you won’t suffer from food poisoning, but you can suffer from malnutrition.
That’s an equal challenge to both those who practice devotions and those who fear them. The theology undergirding certain devotions admittedly can be sloppy (for example, Mary is not a co-redeemer with Jesus). However, inside many devotions (to Mary, to the saints, to Eucharist adoration, to the Sacred Heart) there can be a rich nutrition which helps nourish the center, namely, God’s Word and the Eucharist.
The late Wendy Wright in her book “Sacred Heart: Gateway to God” makes a wonderful apologia for Catholic devotional practices, particularly devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. For her, Catholic devotional practices are a tradition of the heart. While Jesus remains central and his resurrection remains the real anchor for our faith, devotions can give us something beyond just this raw essential.
Using devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as an example, she writes: “In this devotion, we, and Jesus and the saints, exist in some essential way outside the chronology of historical time. The tradition of the heart makes this vividly, even grotesquely, clear. The divine–human correspondence is intimate. It is discovered in the flesh. Our fleshy hearts are fitted for all that is beyond flesh by conforming to the heart of Jesus. That divine–human heart is the passageway between earth and heaven. That heart is the tactile tracings of divine love on the created order. That heart is the widest, wildest longing of humankind’s own love.”
The dangers of life are many and safety is one of those dangers. Devotions can deflect us from what’s more central and can take their root in some questionable theology, but they can also, in Wendy Wright’s words, be a blessed passageway for the heart between heaven and earth.
(Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser is a theologian, teacher and award-winning author. He can be contacted through his website www.ronrolheiser.com.)
By Father Nick Adam Father Tristan Stovall, Bishop Joseph Kopacz and I enjoyed a wonderful visit to Notre Dame Seminary in late September for the final faculty evaluation for Will Foggo. Will began his journey through seminary formation back at the very height of the pandemic in August 2020. I was blown away by his courage and perseverance to join the seminary at such a challenging time.
Now, five years later, Will is completing his classwork and, after his evaluation, is officially recommended to be admitted to the Sacrament of Holy Orders. He will be ordained a deacon on Saturday, Nov. 29, at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle at 10:30 a.m., and he will be ordained a priest on Saturday, May 16, 2026 after a six-month period of work as a deacon in a parish.
There are three levels of holy orders: deacon, priest, and bishop. A man must be a deacon before he is ordained a priest, and a priest before he is ordained a bishop. As a deacon, the man is blessed with sacramental grace to act in the person of Christ the servant, while the priest is ordained to act in the person of Christ the priest. The bishop receives the fullness of holy orders and acts as the shepherd of the whole diocese. Of course, bishops and priests don’t ‘stop’ being deacons after ordination. They must lead and sanctify the people with a servant’s heart, and they will need to draw on the graces of the sacrament in order to be faithful to their duty for life.
So, it was a joyful evening at Notre Dame Seminary following Will’s evaluation. We gathered in the ‘Bib,’ short for bibliotheca (Latin for ‘library’), which is the hangout area for the seminarians ‘after hours.’ Father Tristan cooked a wonderful meal that we all enjoyed, and I love seeing our seminarians, veterans and rookies, having a great time together.
I mentioned to the rector of the seminary, Father Josh Rodrigue, who joined us for the meal, that I always dreamed that we could have a gathering like this one. I cherished my time with my own diocesan brothers in the seminary, but to see so many Jackson men together and having a great time gathered around their bishop was very moving to me.
Our discernment groups are launching once again for the fall semester, and the vocation team is inviting men to take part in a group, visit the seminary, or both. My discernment group in Jackson began the first week of October, and I’m planning on taking at least three men down to St. Joseph Abbey to visit the seminary on Columbus Day weekend. Five discernment group participants from last year ended up in the seminary this year, so this is a model of accompaniment that is repeatable and works.
We are focusing this year on encouraging visits to the seminary as they seem to have the greatest impact on the men. I always remind the guys — we do not offer these opportunities to force them to become priests, but we are giving them resources to explore the call. We see potential in them, yes, but they cannot make a free choice for the Lord if they never get to speak to anyone about what priesthood is like or what the seminary entails. Please keep these discerners in your prayers and pray that the Lord continues to bless us with more seminarians who desire, like Will, to be servant leaders in our diocese.
(For more information on vocations, visit jacksonvocations.com or contact Father Nick at nick.adam@jacksondiocese.org.)
FROM THE HERMITAGE By sister alies therese Imagine, if you can, a huge pot of bright red paint – another of yellow. Now picture a pot entirely of orange made by mixing the two. A third space – the coming together of two separate things to make something brand new.
Or see a neighborhood full of people from Peru. Nearby is a neighborhood of people from Appalachia. Two miles away is a neighborhood full of folks from Appalachia and Peru, living side by side, sharing in most things. That becomes a third space – overlapping into a completely new neighborhood.
Some of the characteristics of a third space are people coming together for social connection, creativity and belonging. The concept of “third space” is attributed to sociolinguist Homi K. Bhabha, expressing a theory of identity and community realized through language, though its application has expanded over the years. Sociologist Ray Oldenburg popularized the phrase in 1989 in his book “The Great Good Place,” where he emphasized “their crucial role in civic engagement and social interaction.” In an article for the UNESCO Courier, he defined them as “informal public places where people can gather, socialize and maintain a democracy.”
We can look back in history and discover these spaces, such as trading posts, Greek agoras, Roman forums, medieval taverns or your favorite pub.
What is first or second space, you might ask? First is home; second, work or school. These are the spaces in which you live the most and hopefully find comfort, have your responsibilities and success. But a third space is critical for your well-being, especially your mental health.
These are the overlapping places where what you come from – your routines and practices – lessen, and you enter into another world, so to speak. Here, you socialize with folks unknown to you, who you would consider different from yourself. Alternative spaces are explicitly created to address unmet needs, so local community engagement at a coffee shop (often regularly) or a library lessens loneliness and encourages all people to experience a new sort of connectedness.
There are opportunities to grow in any number of ways, to experience laughter, as well as to listen to others. Community gardens or river walks – all third spaces. Parks, support groups or hairdressers are among the many different types of third places. There are running groups (or walking), book clubs, or my favorites – my place of worship, Sacred Heart Catholic Church; Koty Earl’s, where I frequently eat breakfast; and GIRLFRIENDS, where I engage in art and devotion with other women weekly.
There is, I think, yet another sort of third place, and we see it expressed in the Scriptures. It is not a physical place but a turning of the heart. Consider the stories of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:25ff) and the tender moment where Jesus from the cross invites John to take Mary into his home (Jn 19:26ff). Both of these bring us into a world of compassion from a world of hurt and challenge us to live differently.
We know both these stories and the worlds of anguish they represent; do we hear the unmet cry for compassion where all is new? Marcel Proust said, “Love is space and time measured by the heart.”
Compassion is a third place we all need to travel to, to learn to live in. We can look about in the other worlds we inhabit, those of social media and political chatter. We can become as brittle as the priest or Levite and pass by the opportunity to grow or be of service, or we can bend down like the Samaritan and discover a neighbor in distress. We can open our homes like John and at the same time receive the gift Mary has to bring.
So, what’s your favorite third space? Is it physical, digital or like compassion, from the heart? Maybe you need to create one. Where will you help connect folks so that compassion might be lived out? What are your unmet needs? What is unmet when you carefully look around?
“Compassion is another name for community. It is the mirror of relatedness that accepts the pain and weakness of another as one’s own. It is an expression of love that says, ‘You belong to me,’” wrote Sister Ilia Delio, OSF, in her book “Compassion.”
In his “Reflections on Life” column, Melvin Arrington explores the parallels between Superman and Jesus – both figures of hope and salvation. Artwork symbolizes the handshake between faith and imagination. (Illustration created using ChatGPT AI image generator)
REFLECTIONS ON LIFE By Melvin Arrington
Our world today seems overpopulated with fictional superheroes of all sorts. Humans, animals, aliens, robots – even something that looks like a monster may, in fact, be a superhero. They appear not only in comics, but also on TV shows, and on the big screen. The various media are saturated with them. What is it about these strange characters that has so captured the public imagination?
When I was a kid growing up in the 1950s, only one superhero captured my imagination, and that was Superman. In addition to being a devoted reader of comic books about the Man of Steel, I was also a huge fan of the popular TV show “The Adventures of Superman,” starring George Reeves. Whenever that program came on, you could always find me glued to the TV set. I was simply enchanted with that “strange visitor from another planet with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.”
Like many boys my age, I wanted to be like Superman; actually, to be honest, I wanted to be Superman because he could do all kinds of amazing things: he was “faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.” He could also “change the course of mighty rivers” and “bend steel in his bare hands.” But most importantly, he could fly!
I have many wonderful childhood memories of playing with friends on swings. We would all try to see how high we could go. At the highest point I would bail out and, at least for a moment, fly through the air like my hero. Somehow I survived all those “flights” without any broken bones.
Back in those days the City of Jackson also afforded me an opportunity to pretend that I could fly. Do they still send trucks into neighborhoods to spray for mosquitoes? In the 1950s, it was a regular summertime occurrence. Some would ride their bicycles behind the truck, but whenever I saw it coming down our street, I would go get a towel (my makeshift cape), tie it around my neck, dash outside, and run through all that fog with my arms extended in front of me, like I was Superman flying through the clouds. Cumulatively, over several summers, I must have breathed in a truckload of that toxic spray (it was DDT back then). It’s surely a miracle that I made it to adulthood!
So why all this fascination with flying like Superman? Perhaps it’s because that famous superhero fulfills a desire in all of us for the supernatural, a longing to reach for something beyond our grasp. We yearn to escape our earthly limitations and soar upward to God, to the Source of our being. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we all have a hunger for the spiritual, for the infinite, for God; that’s the way the Creator made us. As St. Augustine said, “Our hearts were made for Thee, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in Thee.” It’s not difficult to see how Superman can serve as a remedy for some of this restlessness. He can satisfy these cravings because he’s a kind of messianic figure, a Christ-like figure.
Superman was created by two 18-year-old Jewish boys in Cleveland, Ohio, in the late 1930s. During that decade Hitler would come to power, establish the Third Reich, and attempt to exterminate the Jews from the face of the earth. At the same time, our country (and the rest of the world) found itself mired in the depths of the Great Depression. The Jews needed a messiah, a savior, to rescue them from annihilation, and Americans needed a heroic figure, if only a fictional one, to lift our spirits. Superman satisfied both needs.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the parallels between Jesus and Superman. We know that the divine Son of God, is omnipotent; there are no limits to what He can do. We also know that the Man of Steel is a “strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.” Also, Jesus has a human nature and a divine nature, while Superman likewise has two identities: he is Clark Kent, “mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper,” as well as a superhero.
Jor-El is Superman’s father (“El” in Hebrew means “God”). Superman’s real name is Kal-El, and since he is Jor-El’s son, he serves as a type of the Son of God, Jesus, who is also God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. Moments before the planet Krypton is destroyed, Jor-El places his only son, baby Kal-El, in a small capsule and sends it out into space headed for the planet Earth. The space ship crashes in farmland in the state of Kansas. Jonathan Kent and his wife, Martha, discover the strange little boy in the wreckage, become his adoptive parents, name him Clark, and raise him in the American heartland.
In the 1978 film “Superman,” Clark is tempted to show off in front of a few kids from his high school by demonstrating some of the marvelous things he can do, but Mr. Kent advises caution, explaining to Clark that there’s a reason he has amazing powers. Clark eventually rises above these temptations, and when he becomes an adult, he leaves the farm, discovers why he was sent to Earth, and goes off to the crime-ridden city of Metropolis to fulfill his purpose: to save people everywhere from the forces of evil.
Similarly, God the Father sent His only Son, Jesus, from heaven to earth to be our redeemer. Our Lord grew up with Mary and his foster father, Joseph, in the backwater town of Nazareth.When it was time to begin His ministry, Jesus left home and went into the wilderness to fast and pray. There, Satan came and offered Him three temptations, but Our Lord refused each one because He had to accomplish the purpose for which He was sent. In Jerusalem, after overcoming another great temptation in the Garden of Gethsemane, He went to Calvary and carried out His mission: to save us from our sins by dying on the Cross, and to defeat death by rising again on the third day.
We, too, should be on a mission. But what is our task? The 4th-century theologian St. Athanasius of Alexandria said, “the Son of God became man so that we might become God.” At first glance that sounds impossible, even though we know that we came from God, and one day we hope to return to Him. Perhaps our mission has something to do with Superman. If children can pretend to be the Man of Steel, why can’t we as adults try to be more like the Son of God?
(Melvin Arrington is a Professor Emeritus of Modern Languages for the University of Mississippi and a member of St. John Oxford.)
Rev. Rickson Robert Antony appointed parochial vicar of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Oxford, effective Oct. 1, 2025.Will Foggo will be assigned as deacon to St. Joseph Parish, Starkville and its mission, Corpus Christi in Macon, effective Dec. 3, 2025, after his ordination to the transitional diaconate on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025.
NATION WASHINGTON (OSV News) – Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop James F. Checchio of Metuchen, New Jersey, as the coadjutor archbishop of New Orleans. The appointment was publicized Sept. 24 In Washington by Cardinal Christophe Piere, apostolic nuncio to the United States. As coadjutor, Archbishop Checchio will assist Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond and automatically succeed him upon retirement. Archbishop Checchio called the New Orleans Archdiocese a “faith-filled” community and thanked both Pope Leo and local church leaders for their warm welcome. As coadjutor, he is coming into an archdiocese faced with having to resolve hundreds of sexual abuse claims. A Camden, New Jersey, native, Archbishop Checchio brings to his new assignment decades of pastoral and administrative experience – including 10 years as rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome. Ordained in 1992, he has led the Diocese of Metuchen since 2016, prioritizing parish visits, child protection and accountability. Notably, the diocese said in a statement, he implemented a bishop abuse reporting system before it was required by church law. Archbishop Checchio has served on national boards, including Seton Hall and the National Catholic Bioethics Center – and once ministered as chaplain to the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles.
WASHINGTON (OSV News) – The 2026 National March for Life theme is “Life is a Gift,” The March for Life Education and Defense Fund announced Sept. 30. Jennie Bradley Lichter, who became president of the March for Life earlier this year, noted the group chooses a theme each year for the annual pro-life march in Washington as “an opportunity to focus our attention on a key message or a timely element of the prolife mission.” “We’re now at a critical moment in our country where the March for Life and what we stand for is more important than ever,” Lichter told reporters at a launch event, adding, “This year, with this theme, we really want to speak to the heart.” The 53rd annual National March for Life is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. A pre-rally concert will feature the Christian band Sanctus Real, Lichter said, and the Friends of Club 21 Choir, comprised of individuals with Down syndrome, will lead the national anthem at the event. Georgetown University Right to Life will carry the banner at the start of the March. Lichter said the group is also launching a “Marchers’ Stories Project” where they will seek video submissions from participants to document the group’s history.
VATICAN VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Loving someone who is sick requires “concrete gestures of closeness,” just like that shown in the Gospel story of the Samaritan who helps the person beaten by thieves, said a Vatican office. The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development announced Sept. 26 that Pope Leo XIV had chosen the theme for the church’s next celebration of the World Day of the Sick: “The compassion of the Samaritan: Loving by bearing the pain of the other.” The world day is celebrated annually on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes Feb. 11. A papal message for the celebration usually is published in early January.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Leo XIV announced he will proclaim St. John Henry Newman a doctor of the church Nov. 1 during the Jubilee of the World of Education. Speaking after Mass Sept. 28 for the Jubilee of Catechists, the pope said St. Newman “contributed decisively to the renewal of theology and to the understanding of the development of Christian doctrine.” The Dicastery for the Causes of Saints had announced July 31 that Pope Leo “confirmed the affirmative opinion” of the cardinals and bishops who are members of the dicastery “regarding the title of Doctor of the Universal Church which will soon be conferred on Saint John Henry Newman, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church, Founder of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri in England.” St. Newman was born in London Feb. 21, 1801, was ordained an Anglican priest, became Catholic in 1845, was made a cardinal in 1879 by Pope Leo XIII and died in Edgbaston, near Birmingham, England, in 1890.
Journalists visit a working area at outside Sagrada Familia following a news conference to announce an update on the works of the basilica in Barcelona, Spain, Sept. 18, 2025. Over a century in the making, the Tower of Jesus Christ, designed by the famed Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí, will soon crown the Basilica of the Holy Family, making it the tallest Catholic church in the world. (OSV News photo/Albert Gea, Reuters)
WORLD BARCELONA, Spain (OSV News) – The iconic Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is nearing a historic milestone: the completion of the Tower of Jesus Christ, which will make it the tallest Catholic church in the world. Designed by visionary architect and Servant of God Antoni Gaudí, the tower will stand over 564 feet tall – surpassing both the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in Ivory Coast and even Germany’s Ulmer Münster. Head architect Jordi Faulí announced that the central spire is finished, and crews are now preparing to install a massive seven-piece cross atop it. “The cross is made up of seven large pieces that are assembled here and will then be lifted with the crane,” Faulí said. The cross is expected to be in place by early 2026, aligning with the 100th anniversary of Gaudí’s death. Construction on the basilica began in 1882 and has weathered wars, pandemics and funding delays. While the main structure is on track for completion in 2026, artistic elements like statues and chapels will continue into the 2030s – bringing Gaudí’s masterpiece one step closer to completion.
By Brian Volman TUPELO – The Knights of Columbus Council 8848 at St. James Church presented a check for $11,500 to Talbot House, supporting its mission of serving those in need.
The donation marked the culmination of the Knights’ summer project, which included selling tickets to their annual charity concert and securing contributions from local businesses. Ticket sales began in May and concluded with the concert on Aug. 2 at the Catholic Life Center on the grounds of St. James.
The evening’s concert highlighted the talents of local residents and parishioners, who provided outstanding entertainment for the community.
The Knights of Columbus is a Catholic fraternal organization founded on the principles of charity, unity and fraternity. Council 8848 continues to serve the Tupelo community through faith-driven charitable works and service projects.
By Michael Horten HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – On Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025, Philip Jabour was invested with the Knight Commander Cross of the Order of the Fleur de Lis. Jabour was joined by four clergy members and eight lay commanders being invested. The investiture took place at St. Mary of the Springs Catholic Church in Hot Springs.
Knight Commander Jabour and his wife, Linda, reside in Brandon, and attend St. Paul Catholic Church. Jabour is very active in the Knights of Columbus. He created a program to donate coats for kids to Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Jackson. He also serves on the board of the Castlewoods Homeowners Association and has been a Eucharistic minister for 30 years and a member of the parish council for 10 years.
The Order of the Fleur de Lis is an organization of Catholic men incorporated under the laws of Louisiana as a not-for-profit organization. The order’s domain covers a five-state region consisting of Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.
The objectives of the order include supporting and defending the Catholic Church and its teachings; promoting patriotism and good citizenship; encouraging public morality and unselfish service to God and country; assisting and publicizing the activities of other organizations that share these goals; and honoring the memories and achievements of Catholic leaders in religion, the arts and sciences, philanthropy, education, exploration and archaeology, government and international relations, medicine, jurisprudence and other established professions.
The Order of the Fleur de Lis encourages and recognizes leadership in living the values and principles of the Catholic faith by presenting the Msgr. Joseph Susi Award of Honor to individuals who have excelled as Catholic leaders.
Other Knight Commanders in the Diocese of Jackson include Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, Very Rev. Aaron Williams, William “Bill” O’Connor and James McCraw.
MADISON – Arnold Landry, Ken Pribyla and Dennis Riecke of KC 9543 at St. Francis of Assisi in Madison install a Respect Life banner after putting crosses into the ground behind the St. Francis parking lot. The banner and crosses will be up all month. (Photo by Joe Lee)
