News stories about the Catholic faith
Brewing a heartier faith: Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry offers Theology on Tap
July 30, 2009 The Catholic Sun
By Claudia Mathis, SUN staff writer
Kitty Hoynes Pub & Restaurant, Armory Square in Syracuse was the setting for some stimulating discussion about faith and daily life on July 9.
The discussion was sparked by a humorous and animated presentation by actress/comedienne Siobhan Fallon Hogan, who recently played secretary Blanche Gunderson in the movie "New In Town." Hogan discussed some of the acting roles she has played and how she has turned down a number of roles because they conflicted with her moral beliefs.
Hogan appeared on the television series "Saturday Night Live" in the early '90s and as Elaine's roommate on "Seinfeld." The talented performer has played memorable roles in such movies as "Forrest Gump," "Men in Black," "Daddy Day Care" and "Dogville."
She was born in Syracuse, grew up in Cazenovia and graduated from Le Moyne College. After earning a master's degree in fine arts from the Catholic University of America in 1972, Hogan trained with the prestigious off-Broadway Atlantic Theater Company. She currently resides with her husband Peter Hogan and their three children, Bernadette, Peter and Sinead, in Middletown, N.J.
Her presentation was the first in the Theology on Tap series offered by the diocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry. The four-week summer program featured speakers, conversation and theology for young adults.
Bob Walters, director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, was very pleased with the turnout that evening. "I expected 25 young people to attend, but many more ended up coming," he said.
Dan Zinger, a prospective seminarian and a parishioner at St. Joseph the Worker Church in Liverpool, described Hogan's presentation that evening as "witty and very straight-forward."
"It's a secular world that we live in," said Zinger. "I wanted to see how a Hollywood star deals with standing up for her faith and values. It was nice to hear how she stands up for what she believes in."
Since its inception in the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1981, Theology on Tap has proven to be a successful vehicle for reaching young adults who are interested in learning more about their faith, coming together to share community and feeling welcomed and valued in the Catholic Church. It is a method of invitation, based on a spirit of hospitality, which creates a space for people in their 20s and 30s to explore how faith in Christ can speak to their circumstances.
The program has spread to more than 180 parishes and to other countries, including Canada, Italy, Taiwan, the Philippines, Ireland and Hong Kong.
Kristin McDermott, youth minister at St. Mary's in Minoa and St. Francis of Assisi in Bridgeport, said she brought two college-aged students with her to the event so they would have a chance to meet and mingle with other young people. "It's always good to share fellowship," McDermott said. "The atmosphere here at Kitty Hoynes and the context are good."
Hogan began her presentation by explaining how her parents raised her with great faith by setting a good example. "We always attended Mass and said the rosary, even on vacation," she recalled. "As a result, my faith has shaped the choices that I have made because it's so ingrained in me."
Hogan described how the director of her last movie, "New In Town," challenged her belief in Catholicism. At the beginning of the filming of the movie, her director asked Hogan and some of her fellow actors to meet him for dinner. When questioned by him about her Catholic faith, Hogan defended it. "I get challenged everywhere," said Hogan. "I think that people have the idea that you have to hide your faith, but I think that the more proud you are of it, people are not going to shun you or think badly of you. Don't be afraid of telling people about your faith."
She told those in attendance that her strong faith had helped her through some difficult situations. "Some crazy things have happened to me," she said. "But because of my prayer, faith, and commitment, things have worked out."
Hogan concluded her presentation by stressing the importance of following Christ in order to live a happy and simple life. "You can't help but make right decisions and your life will be easier for you," she said.
BU student finds career path through faith
Nov. 17, 2008 Press & Sun-Bulletin
Neighbors column by Valerie Zehl
Nick Rotella of Binghamton has plenty of choices in life.
Now a junior in political science at Binghamton University, Nick, 21, already has an extensive dossier: Seton Catholic Central athlete and graduate, ROTC participant, volunteer firefighter, solo European traveler, student schooling abroad.
"If I want to do it, I'll find a way to do it," he says of other travels he plans to undertake -- as well as his whole attitude about life.
He may opt for graduate studies, he says, and he's surveying career options in politics, the military and public service. But for longer than he can remember, there's one other career choice that has always been in the back of his mind -- and he hasn't ruled it out.
He's considering the priesthood.
Parents Jim and Cindy raised him to be a good Catholic, he says, and his grandparents left the imprint of their devoutness on his soul.
"Being in church around the Mass feels right," he says. He could also see himself as a Swiss guard at the Vatican — he saw Rome this year, too, in his travels — but he'd have to gain Swiss citizenship in order to qualify.
And that's not out of the question, if that's the course he chooses in life, he says.
For his confirmation name, he chose St. Sebastian, the patron saint of athletes and soldiers.
"He was a Roman soldier and showed you can be the epitome of a soldier but also be devout to God," Nick explains.
The late Pope John Paul II was a poster child for goodness, Nick says, while not pretending to be a perfect human being.
Father Robert Ours, who taught him at Seton, is someone he always looked up to, Nick says. He was accessible and understanding, and encouraged growth rather than bludgeoning students when they stumbled.
Nick's education left him more disciplined in body, mind and soul than he might otherwise have been, he says, and those qualities -- as well as the deep reverence he holds for the priesthood -- would serve him well, should he choose that path.
He's of mixed opinion on the issue of priests not being able to marry, but he doesn't think that will change any time soon, despite the scarcity of priests.
That wouldn't deter him, though. Attending Catholic schools from kindergarten forward also forged his character into that of a person who might be willing to set aside fatherhood for Fatherhood, focusing all his energy on his faith rather than a family, he says.
Neither would the scandals that rocked the church in recent years. He would expect himself to be above corruption, he says.
"As a priest, you're not just an ordinary person," he says. "You're a symbol. You can get yourself known and set an example."
He may pursue further education -- and even a career -- before he elects to wear the Roman collar. It's no longer universally recommended to enter seminary right after high school, as it was in years gone by.
And there's always the possibility, too, that he will find a soul mate before he commits to a life of celibacy.
But he sums up all his choices in one simple sentence.
"I leave that up to God to decide."
As Olympian, 'lost boy' looks to raise awareness about Darfur genocide
(NOTE: Olympic runner Lopez Lomong of Tully advanced Friday, Aug. 15, to the quarterfinals Sunday of the 1,500-meter race at the Olympics in Beijing.)
By Luke Eggleston, Catholic Sun
SYRACUSE -- In 2001, some "lost boys of Sudan" arrived in the U.S. and the first phase of their long run from the horrors of their homeland's civil war was fading in the distance.
For one boy resettled in the Syracuse Diocese, however, that year marked the beginning of a new run, both literally and figuratively.
This August, Lopez Lomong, a parishioner at St. Leo's Church in Tully, will have an opportunity to reach the pinnacle of his sport when he competes in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing Aug. 8-24.
On Aug. 6 Lomong's teammates on the U.S. Olympic team chose him to carry the U.S. flag during the Aug. 8 opening ceremonies.
Lomong qualified for the 1,500-meter run by finishing third July 6 at the Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore.
Upon qualifying, Lomong promptly called his foster parents, Barb and Rob Rogers of Tully, and told them, "When you put God first in your life, anything is possible."
When Lomong arrived in central New York, he was immediately welcomed into the home of the Rogers family.
He was one of Sudan's more than 27,000 lost boys, so called because they were driven from their tribal villages and separated from their parents during the height of their country's civil war, from 1993 to 2003. After living for years in refugee camps, about 3,800 lost boys were resettled in the United States in 2001.
Lomong enrolled in Tully High School's summer school program and shortly thereafter began running cross-country and indoor and outdoor track.
As a student at Tully, Lomong earned nine varsity letters and was named team captain during all three of his years at the school. He holds several school records in cross-country, holds a record in the indoor mile event with a time of 4:10.12 and led Tully's 4x400 and 4x800 meter relay teams to state titles.
After graduation, Lomong went to Norfolk State University in Virginia where he competed on the team's NCAA Division 1 track and field team. Lomong then transferred to Northern Arizona University because he believed the program there would improve his chances of realizing a dream of competing in the Olympics.
Beyond his athletic prowess on the track and cross-country course, Lomong's exemplary drive inspired his teammates, according to Jim Paccia, who coached him for three years at Tully.
"Lopez's drive was internal. All the other guys on the team realized that and they stepped it up," Paccia told the Catholic Sun, newspaper of the Syracuse Diocese.
When runners complained about a particularly challenging run, Paccia said he reminded them about Lomong's own struggles in Sudan.
At age 6, Lomong and other children in his village were abducted by militia but he escaped through a hole in the camp wall and fled to Kenya where he was arrested and placed in a refugee camp. Finally, at age 16, Lomong was selected for relocation in the U.S.
Paccia, a parishioner at St. Patrick's Church in Otisco, said Lomong described his escaping from the Sudanese camp and then seeing his name among those chosen to go to the U.S. as "his two signs from God."
"He thought he was dead in that camp," Paccia said. "When he saw his name on that list and knew that he was going (to a new) home, that was a turning point."
Barb Rogers said that when Lomong was abducted he lost contact with his family and presumed they had died. Recently, however, Lomong was able to contact his biological parents. Rogers said he is determined to help them now.
In addition to competing for the U.S. in the upcoming Olympics, Lomong has been a member of Team Darfur, a coalition of international athletes committed to raising awareness about the genocide occurring in the Darfur region of Sudan.
"When we were in Africa, we didn't know what was there for us as kids -- we just ran," Lomong said on his Web site, www.lopezlomong.org. "God was planning all of this stuff for me, and I didn't know. Now I'm using running to get the word out about how horrible things were back in Sudan during the war.
"Sometimes these things are not on CNN, so if I put out the word, I hope people can get the information. Right now, similar terrible things are going on in Darfur; people are running out of Darfur, and I put myself in their shoes," he said.
Pro soccer player retires
to enter priesthood
By JIMMY GOLEN, Associated Press, July 14, 2008
BOSTON — When he was playing professional soccer in Chile, Chase Hilgenbrinck would seek comfort in the churches to satisfy his spiritual needs and remind him of childhood Sundays spent at Holy Trinity in his hometown of Bloomington, Ill.
Even after moving back to the United States last Christmas to play Major League Soccer — a dream of his, but just one of them — Hilgenbrinck felt the pull of his religion.
"I felt called to something greater," Hilgenbrinck said. "At one time I thought that call might be professional soccer. In the past few years, I found my soul is hungry for something else.
"I discerned, through prayer, that it was calling me to the Catholic Church. I do not want this call to pass me by."
Hilgenbrinck accepted the calling on Monday when he left the New England Revolution and retired from professional soccer to enter a seminary, where he will spend the next six years studying theology and philosophy so he can be ordained as a Roman Catholic priest.
"It's not that I'm ready to leave soccer. I still have a great passion for the game," he said in a telephone interview. "I wouldn't leave the game for just any other job. I'm moving on for the Lord. I want to do the will of the Lord, I want to do what he wants for me, not what I want to do for myself."
A 26-year-old defender who was the captain of the Revolution's reserve team, Hilgenbrinck will attend Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. After finishing his studies, he will report to his home parish in Peoria, Ill., for assignment.
"He said it was time for him, that he had been thinking long and hard," New England vice president of player personnel Michael Burns said. "Purely from a Revs standpoint, it's too bad. But a lot of players leave the game not on their own terms. He's clearly left on his own terms, which is great for him."
Raised in a Catholic family of regular churchgoers, Hilgenbrinck played soccer at Clemson and hooked on with the Chilean first division after he went unpicked in the 2004 MLS draft.
Far from home, he began to seek out familiar surroundings.
"I fell back on what I knew, and that was the Catholic Church," he said. "I grew up as a Catholic. I was always involved in the church, went to Catholic schools. It was when I got out on my own that my faith really became mine. I really embraced it. I didn't have to go to church any more, I was free to really believe what I wanted to believe.
"I looked to strengthen my personal relationship with Christ. And when my personal life started to flourish, I couldn't turn my back on that relationship."
Hilgenbrinck was signed and cut by the Colorado Rapids before he landed with the Revolution. He played in four MLS games for New England and started in both of the Revolution's U.S. Open Cup matches this month.
Although he has felt the calling for some time, Hilgenbrinck also knew it would be easier to continue playing soccer. He tried to convince himself that he was not ready, not deserving, or not in a hurry.
"I was putting up a bunch of barriers, saying I'm not worthy to be called to something like that," he said. "But, one by one, the barriers started to come down."
With a short window in which he will be able to play professional sports, he considered postponing the priesthood until after his career was over. But he decided with the same certainty that he could not allow himself to wait.
"Trust me, I thought of that," said Hilgenbrinck, who in his studies came across the saying, "Delayed obedience is disobedience."
"We are all called to do something. I feel like my specific call is to the priesthood. So, no, it was not possible to continue with soccer. It's absolutely inevitable."
Hilgenbrinck had his initial interview for the seminary last July, followed by a rigorous application process. There were written tests, personality screenings, background checks, fingerprinting and meetings with three different psychiatrists to make sure he had the right temperament to be a priest.
At first, he told no one, lest they influence him one way or the other: "I really wanted it to be a decision between me and God," he said.
There were more tests in January, and in March Hilgenbrinck learned he had been accepted to the seminary. A few weeks ago, he met with Burns and Revolution coach Steve Nichol.
"We weren't exactly sure what he was going to say, because it's not what you usually hear," Burns said. "When he said it, I was glad. I was glad for him. This is something that he clearly wants to do, and we wish him all the best."