Xavier chosen for Fulbright program

Jesuit-run Xavier University in Cincinnati is one of two Catholic colleges that has been selected to participate this fall in a new exchange program aimed at promoting interfaith cooperation and community action among diverse groups.

Only 10 universities were chosen nationwide to take part in the Fulbright Interfaith Community Action Program, created by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The program will provide a multinational group of religious leaders, scholars and community leaders from diverse backgrounds with a semester-long U.S. exchange period. The aim is to challenge participants to find solutions that promote cooperation among faiths and create peaceful communities across religious boundaries.

ARCHDIOCESE

COURTESY PHOTOS

James Magee

At its 76th Biennial Ohio State Convention, the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) and Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians (LAOH) elected officers and set the direction for the Order for the next two years.

Carol Sheyer

The convention resolved to support and encourage pro-life legislation at both the State and Federal levels respecting life, prohibiting abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, fetal tissue experimentation and human cloning

CATHEDRAL DEANERY

Sacred Heart holds annual celebration

The Fuscaldesi Femminile Society held its annual San Francesco di Paola celebration at the Sacred Heart Italian Church in Camp Washington last month. This feast day is usually observed around July 14 to parallel the same feast held in Fuscaldo, Italy, birthplace of many of the society’s members and of Vienna di Fuscaldo, the mother of San Francesco.

This year’s event, however, was especially significant because the community joined devotees worldwide in commemorating the 500th anniversary of San Francesco di Paola, founder of the Order of the Minims.

Following the celebration of Mass, Frank Perrotta placed a new silver and gold halo on the statue of St. Francis, replacing the original wooden one. The idea of this new halo was conceived on a trip back from Paola, Italy, where Perrotta participated in the feast of the saint in his native town. A master jeweler, Perrotta crafted the crown as a mariner’s compass, recalling that St. Francis di Paola is patron saint of seafarers.

Following the Mass, an annual breakfast was offered by the Mazzei family.

SIDNEY DEANERY

Lehman Hall of Fame induction event Aug. 18

Tickets are available for the first annual Lehman High School Hall of Fame induction scheduled to take place on Saturday, Aug. 18, at the school in Sidney. Activities begin with a Mass celebrated at 5:15 p.m. in the school’s Elizabeth Ann Seton Chapel. A social will follow at 6 p.m., with dinner at 6:30 and induction ceremony at 7:30 p.m.

Inductees to be enshrined are Richard Frantz (Holy Angels ’45), the late Charles Marion Koon (Piqua Catholic ’68) and the late Robert Heil, who was a Lehman coach and faculty member. Inductees into the Hall of Fame were selected based upon their excellence in professional achievements, community service, their service to the Lehman High School community, or the Catholic community at large.

The evening is sponsored by the Lehman Alumni Association. For ticket information, call development director Sharon Semanie at 937-498-1161. The ticket price is $35 per person.

DAYTON DEANERY

New statue of Mary on UD campus

The University of Dayton (UD) will mark the Feast of the Assumption on Aug. 15 by dedicating a new 11-foot bronze statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The statue of Mary at the Feast of Cana will be blessed and dedicated at 10 a.m. on the northwest lawn of Marianist Hall, UD’s newest student residence hall. The ceremony is open to the public.

The American Society of Ephesus provided the funding for the statue and worked with the university and members of the Society of Mary (Marianists) to determine the design and location of the statue. "The campus needed something to define it as a Christian university based on the Catholic faith. You can walk past the chapel on campus and not go in. But you can’t walk past the statue and not see it" said Joe Quatman, a 1938 UD graduate, whose family founded the society.

The statue was created by artist Robert Lepo of Lepo Works studio in Lima, Ohio. The nearly one-ton statue portrays Mary in the context of the wedding at Cana. The exhortation, "Do whatever He tells you" is inscribed on the statue base, along with the Scripture reading describing the wedding at Cana, from John 2:1-11.

"We see the statue as expressive of the Marianist spirit and meaningful to the campus population," said the Marianist Father Johann Roten, director of the International Marian Research Institute at UD. "It is a depiction of Mary that is younger, active and more present." The statue will stand at a busy crossroads of student pedestrian traffic, close to the bookstore, credit union, a food emporium, the Chapel of the Marianist Martyrs and the RecPlex.

ST. LAWRENCE DEANERY

Sisters of Charity make Italian pilgrimage

Twenty-one Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati and two associates traveled to Italy in June to walk in the footsteps of the foundress of their Order, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American-born saint, canonized in 1975.

On their pilgrimage they visited the lazaretto, a quarantine station for maritime travelers in the port of Livorno where Elizabeth, her husband William, and their eight-year-old daughter Anna Maria were quarantined for 30 days in 1803 because William suffered with tuberculosis. William Seton died shortly after the quarantine period in the town of Pisa, another stop on the pilgrimage.

Livorno is also the home to the parish dedicated to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton where the Cincinnati pilgrims were warmly welcomed by the pastor, Don Gino Franchi and members of the parish.

In Florence, the pilgrims appreciated many of the historic sites St. Elizabeth Ann Seton visited in the early 19th century, including the Boboli Gardens, the San Marco Museum housing many Fra Angelico paintings, the Academy of Fine Arts, where Michelangelo’s David resides, and the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.

COURTESY PHOTO

Pilgrims pause for a photo during their visit to Italian sites important in the life of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.