By Barb Arland-Fye The Catholic Messenger DAVENPORT — Dan Ebener was a college sophomore when he witnessed Catholic Worker co-founder Dorothy Day, now on the path toward sainthood, accept the Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award in 1972 in Davenport. On Sept. 13, Ebener emceed the ceremony during which Atiya Aftab and Sheryl Olitzky, co-founders of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, an international movement that builds relationships between Muslim and Jewish women, received the Pacem in Terris award. Gail Karp and Lisa Killinger, who co-founded a local chapter of Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, received the One Among Us Justice Award. The event took place at St. Ambrose University.
Gail Karp, who is Jewish, called her longtime friend Lisa Killinger, who is Muslim, to talk about the possibility of forming a local chapter of Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, which builds relationships between Muslim and Jewish women. Lisa loved the idea. “Salaam” is the Arabic word for peace and “Shalom” is the Hebrew word for peace.
SAVE THE DATE: Iowa Catholic Youth Conference 2024: We are happy to announce that the 3rd annual Iowa Catholic Youth Conference (ICYC) which targets those in grades 6-8 and their parents is set for Sunday, March 24, 2024. Mark your calendars! The event will take place at Regina Education Center in Iowa City and will feature nationally-known Scally Brothers Band (https://www.thescallybrothers.com/). More information will be available later this Fall.
OTTUMWA — Choosing life can be a difficult decision for women experiencing an unplanned pregnancy. Heartland Pregnancy Center hopes to ease the decision by providing services and resources during pregnancy and afterwards, accompanying mothers as their children grow. “We want to walk through this with them,” said Becky Dalyrmple, the center’s longtime director. “None of these choices are easy.”
From hosting Ecological Way of the Cross liturgies to raising money for clean water projects overseas, Catholics in the Diocese of Davenport are finding ways to observe the upcoming Season of Creation. “We are all called to care for creation and also be courageous and creative,” said Deacon Kent Ferris, diocesan director of Social Action.
On Sept. 4, the U.S. will celebrate Labor Day, a 129-year-old federal holiday that pays tribute to the American worker. How are workers faring in 2023, as the nation moves toward a renewable energy economy? The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops believes that “the most effective way to build a just economy is to make decent work at decent wages available for those capable of working …” (https://tinyurl. com/2ytxu7em). The Catholic Messenger interviewed the director of the University of Iowa Labor Center and two labor leaders in southeast Iowa for their perspective on the well-being of Iowa workers.
By Barb Arland-Fye Editorial: Lorri Walker laughs when a journalist suggests that work has changed quite a bit at the rubber-manufacturing plant where she began work 35 years ago. The plant, which opened in 1915 to produce tires for the Ford Model T, changed hands over the years and in 2007 became Henniges Automotive, which supplies weather-strips for the automotive industry.
Schein suggests that we live in a culture of “do and tell,” where we try to do everything by ourselves (instead of leading others). If we do involve others, we usually tell them what to do. In a world that is rapidly changing and increasingly complex, leaders need to listen to the people who are closest to the problems we are facing.
The question now on people’s minds: Who will be the next Bishop of the Diocese of Davenport and when will the successor of Archbishop-elect Thomas Zinkula take office?
Pope Francis’ call for a Synod on Synodality has produced a lot of talk about listening, i.e. synodal listening. But is anyone really listening? What does it mean to really listen? How can we open our eyes to see and ears to hear new things? How can we open our minds to consider new ideas and our hearts to empathize with the emotions of our conversation partners? How can we open our will to change our behavior based on what we understand?
Our intentional focus on welcoming and belonging is not about keeping things the way they are in a positive-maintaining-the-status-quo kind of way. We need to live deeply into questions that bring the state of things as they are into focus. Are we collectively prepared to come to terms with areas that we need to grow in?
Previously we saw how an annulment case is started and evidence is gathered. We also heard from some people about their own experience in this process. In concluding our series, I thought it would be helpful to hear from me, as a judge, how the case is deliberated and how anyone can come to a conclusion about something as important as the sacramental nature of a marriage.
Editor’s note: The Catholic Messenger is publishing a series on the Tribunal of the Diocese of Davenport. This is the fourth article, written by Father Paul Appel, the diocese’s judicial vicar.
Tom and Sharon Hegewald first walked down the aisle together in 1978 — as a groomsman and bridesmaid — at the wedding of Tom’s brother and Sharon’s girlfriend. Neither remembered each other until 22 years later when they met for the second time, on a date. Both had been married and divorced and took time getting to know each other before walking down the aisle as husband and wife on March 23, 2002 in a Christian church in Williamsburg.
Editor’s note: The Catholic Messenger begins a series on the Tribunal of the Diocese of Davenport. The following introduction provides a compelling explanation of the Tribunal, based on an interview with Father Paul Appel, the diocese’s judicial vicar.
In the first article from the Tribunal, we took a look at some prevailing trends in Chris¬tian marriage. Unfortunately, not every marriage succeeds. People seek divorce for innumerable rea¬sons, but before we look at some of these I would like to dispel some misguided notions about separation and divorce.
Editor’s note: The Catholic Messenger is publishing a series on the Tribunal of the Diocese of Davenport. This is the second article, based on an interview with Father Paul Appel, the diocese’s judicial vicar.
“Mission,” the third dimension, “is intended to enable the Church to better witness to the Gospel, especially with those who live on the spiritual, social, economic, political, geographical, and existential peripheries of the world,” Pope Francis said.
The Tribunal of the Diocese of Davenport exists to assist the bishop in deciding matters of law within the diocese. Canon 1420 §1 states: “Each diocesan bishop is bound to appoint a judicial vicar, or officialis, with ordinary power to judge, distinct from the vicar general.”