Pat O'Bryan continues his work as part of the Catholic Charities Parish Engagement Team. The team is working on experiential learning opportunities that engage and involve Catholics with the reality and truth that we are all united in our mission of Christ -- as family, parish, Catholic Charities -- and how we can come to know, share, and experience this complete view of we as Catholics acting compassionately in our Diocese of Cleveland. 

 

        

    

CATHOLIC COMMISSION OF SUMMIT COUNTY,

CATHOLIC CHARITIES COMMUNITY SERVICES OF SUMMIT COUNTY, AND

SUMMIT COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF JOB & FAMILY SERVICES

  

OUR ELDERLY: CARE AND PROTECTION

  

The October 2  program was the first collaboration on such an extensive in-service. The Area Agency on Aging was also involved in order to be comprehensive in presenting isssues and resources  concerning a growing segment of our population. The first half of the day dealt with a new adult protective services model that is a collaboration between county public health and jobs and family services. With no one agency having the funds to effectively deal with the needs of the over 60 population, such county wide collaborations are more effective and more efficient. Many non-profits have joined in this collaboration to secure the safety and well-being of our elderly.

  

The Area Agency on Aging and Catholic Charities Community Services were then able to fill in with a wonderful array of resources and programs available. Among those resources were the adult daycare program and the caretakers support groups provided by Catholic Charities and the legal advocacy of the area agency on aging. Attendees learned the importance of making calls to the agencies when they think help is needed.

  

Everyone then challenged those in attendance to initiate caring communities in their churches in order to make sure those in need are covered in some way. With the separation of families over distances and the needs among struggling families, caring communities are a calling to ministry.

  

The Catholic Commission of Lake & Geauga has been heavily involved with immigration reform efforts in the last year, lead by the work of Commission Chair, Brian Rice. Commission members have met with local Congressman for U.S. House District 14, David Joyce, on three occasions on this issue and his Chief of staff Dino DiSanto on two additional occasions. On the last occasion, Kelly Davis, Director of the Catholic Commission of Lake & Geauga, joined a coalition lead by Lee C. Shapiro, Regional Director of the Cleveland AJC. We were joined by local Immigration Lawyer David Leopold, Past National President/Past General Counsel, American Immigration Lawyers Association, Judy Eigenfeld of the National Council of Jewish Women Cleveland, and Lynn Tramonte, Deputy Director of the national immigrant rights group America's Voice to push Rep. Joyce on the issue of just comprehensive immigration reform. The Catholic Commission is proud to announce that Rep. Joyce has expressed his support of comprehensive immigration reform. Our visits with Rep. Joyce's office were followed up by the Pilgrimage for Immigration Reform in Painesville, OH.

 
 

 

On Thursday, September 5th hundreds of Catholics from across the Cleveland & Youngstown Dioceses joined together at St. Mary Church in Painesville to walk two and a half miles in prayer together for just and compassionate immigration reform. The pilgrimage was organized through the Diocesan Task Force, Welcoming the Stranger chaired by Sister Rita Mary Harwood, SND and Kelly Davis, Director of the Catholic Commission of Lake and Geauga with a strong committee lead by volunteers from St. Mary Church in Painesville.

 

Besides our visits with Rep. Joyce's office and the Pilgrimage, we have also been working with the JFI (Justice for Immigrants) postcard campaign to gather postcards in support of the Bishops' immigration reform points. In the past month two more parishes in our district have agreed to collect postcards for this campaign, St. Mary Magdalene and St. Anthony of Padua. Our Commission continues to work to gather postcards from every parish in our district.

 

The Catholic Commission of Summit County participated in the prayer pilgrimage, bringing signs and walking the prayer journey in solidarity with their brothers and sisters. Many of the parishes had been participating in the post card campaign, so being able to walk in solidarity brought a deeper commitment to working for immigration reform. St. Amry, Hudson has had a vocal group of both adults and teens on the issue due to JustFaith and J-Walking groups.  

 

Before joining the pilgrimage, a delegation from Summit County parishes in David Joyce's district met with Nick Ciofani, district manager, to speak to the issue. Organized and led by Karen Leith, Fr. Paul Rosing and Judy DiNardo of Holy Family, George and Linda Sangrik of both St. Barnabas and St. Mary parishes, and Lisa Frey of Church of the Resurrection, participated in an hour discussion of why we need comprehensive immigration reform, telling stories from ministering to parishioners.

 

Sr. Kathleen Ryan and the Commission on Catholic Community Action have been encouraging pastors and parishioners to become more active on the issue. Sr. Kathleen has been helping to coordinate our efforts as a staff in speaking to the Catholic representatives from the diocese.

 

Pat O'Bryan of the Catholic Commission of Wayne, Ashland and Medina, and Rachel Schmidt of the Catholic Action Commission of Lorain participated in a Sept. 7 walk and vigil for immigration in Ashland outside the offices of Representative Bob Gibbs. Click here to see the newspaper article. About eighty people were present hailing from many areas,including Bishop Roger Gries, Sr. Mary Harwood and Jeff Stewart from IWP. Oberlin students were environmentally minded and came by way of a recycled-vegetable-oil-powered school bus.

 

 

 Ohioans to Stop Execution (OTSE) just celebrated its 25th anniversary with a promise that the next celebration will be the disbanding of OTSE because Ohio finally abolishes the death penalty. The 25th anniversary celebration took place in the atrium of the Statehouse in Columbus. You can watch the video summary of OTSE's 25 years at http://www.otse.org/. The program touched on the history and the categories of organizations of people honored through its many short speakers, finally ending with a truly inspiring speech by Sr. Helen Prejean.

 

Read the list of organizations and individuals honored and see more pictures -  

  Summit County is known as a very collaborative community. One excellent example of that is the 4 year collaboration that has been happening around emancipated youth. The first results of Summit County Children Services putting out a call to the community brought together 50 entities from government, education,and the non-profit sectors. The quarterly gatherings resulted in the purple umbrella project as well as a reource person just for emancipated youth. Purple umbrella decals are displayed all over the county wherever there is an open door so that emancipated youth can reconnect and find the help they need,whatever that is.

    

The Catholic Commission of Summit County has been an active member of this group. The Commission displays a purple umbrella decal and has introduced the idea to many of our Summit County parishes. Resource books and the phone number of the resource specialist at SCCS have been provided with the decals.

  

A special retreat was held this Fall for members of the collaboration to look at what else is needed and decide on next steps. A panel of successful emancipated youth and adults explained their experiences, what help they really needed, the feelings of isolation during holiday times, and the need to talk to others who understand what it is like. Over 50 people present then participated in structured discussions, brainstorming, prioritizing and realistic planning. The group plans on meeting more often, inviting representatives from the business community to join us and specifically working toward the priorities identified. One goal is to develop a resource center that can be a one stop place as well as a gathering place.

  

 

Pat O'Bryan, as Diocese of Cleveland Rural Life director, has initiated the development of a Catholic Care for Creation Calendar, which is now a collaboration among fellow diocesan rural life directors across Ohio as an educational and advocacy tool that links dates of patron saints for ecology, weather, harvest, farmers, gardeners, and much more, and includes national and world observances for food, water, environment, etc. year-round that can be utilized as a teaching resource for children, schools, youth, college students, and adults. This project will develop parish tool kits and resources linked on the Ohio Catholic Rural Life Conference webpage.

 

Visit the Catholic Conference of Ohio Enviromental web pages for more on the issues..

 

  

Catholic Schools for Peace and Justice 10th Annual Respect for Life Mass and Rally

On October 10, more than 300 students and faculty from 11 diocesan schools participated in a beautiful Liturgy celebrated by Bishop Lennon and homilist, Rev. Tom Woost. A large choir from Walsh Jesuit High School led the singing and provided instrumental music which guided the students to full participation. Bishop Lennon greeted the students and thanked them for the public witness they were making for Life.

At the conclusion of the Liturgy, the students formed a long line taking up half of East 9th street to walk to Public Square to continue witnessing for life. Six City of Cleveland policemen on motorcycles and cars accompanied the group. Guided by the drum beats from part of the Holy Name High School marching band, the students briskly walked to Public Square on a perfect, sunny fall day. 

 

Fourteen students from the high schools present gave a witness for life on the topics of abortion, teen suicide, poverty, death penalty, autism, what it's like to be a blind student in high school and bullying. The students chanted, "We want LIFE."

 

Read the details and see more pictures...

 

One of the commitments of the Commission on Catholic Community Action is to provide opportunities for parish leaders to come together to pray, share successes and struggles and to learn from each other. That is what happened on October 14th on the West side of Cleveland and on October 17th on the East side of Cleveland.   Over 40 parish leaders and social concerns committee members met for a light supper and energizing conversation.

 

See pictures and read about the dynamic speakers at both gatherings....

 

"The Criminal Violence of Human Trafficking: What We as Citizens Can Do About It," was presented by Sr. Anne Victory and Colene Conley of the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking at Holy Martyrs Parish on Oct. 3 before a very receptive audience. Afterwards, an initial group of people signed up for the possibility of having the S.O.A.P. Project -- which places soaps which have a '800 help-line' information for victims of trafficking in motels, hotels, etc. -- being developed in Wayne, Ashland, & Medina, as it has already been done in Summit County.

 

The Catholic Commission of Wayne, Ashland, & Medina is designing a 'pilgrimage route' with parishes and shrines along Route 3 from Our Lady of Grace Parish in Hinckley in the northeast to St. Peter's Parish, Loudonville in the southwest corner of its very large tri-county district. CCWAM 'pilgrims' would also have social teaching materials to reflect upon during their journey. This route is seen as a means to bring their large district together across county lines and offer an experience of pilgrimage and reflection similar to what recently occurred across our diocese.

 

Networking and collaborating has always been a source of energy for anyone engaged in ministry. On October 26th, about 130 women religious, young adults and lay partners in ministry gathering together at Magnificat High School to share stories, re-ignite passions and create together new hopes for future ministries.

 

The convocation - Anchors and Innovators with a Heart for Mission - was a collaborative event sponsored by Women Religious through Women with Spirit Now! (WSN), The Diocesan Social Action Office, Catholic Community Connection, Coalition with Young Adults (C-YA) and The Sisters of Charity Foundation.

 

The day began with a presentation by Jim Lindsay, the executive director of The Catholic Volunteer Network and included opportunities for large and small group interaction.

While the purpose of the day was not to have concrete outcomes, all present expressed gratitude and excitement for the conversations that happened during the day. Sharing stories is how networking begins and all present felt that the event was a great beginning.

 

     

   

Joe D'Ambrosio, a man convicted of a murder he did not commit, and the priest/lawyer who helped him be exonerated, Fr. Neil Kookoothe, told their story of D'Ambrosio's 22 years being innocent and on death row Nov. 6 at St. Peter in North Ridgeville.

Read more and see the pictures...