‘Encountering the living Christ’ for 40 years

The late pontiff’s one-day trip Sept. 14, 1987, set the tone for future priorities, events and leadership in the Phoenix Diocese while affirming past guidance.

“It was like the coming of age of the diocese,” said Fr. Tim Davern, who headed the site preparation committee for the papal visit.

Fr. Davern called it “the preeminent event” for the diocese, which marked its 40th anniversary Dec. 2. The Honor Your Mother event — which honors the patroness of the diocese, Our Lady of Guadalupe — will serve as the official celebration Dec. 6 at the Diocesan Pastoral Center in downtown Phoenix.

The pope’s visit, billed as a “time to re-member,” attracted more than just active Catholics. It invited back those who had fallen away.

A dozen non-Catholics commissioned a life-sized sculpture of the late pope. It still stands in front of the Diocesan Pastoral Center today.

The pope later called for a new evangelization, a message Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted reinforced in 2007. It marked the Year of Evangelization for the diocese.

“I think the word ‘evangelization’ has more dynamism in it and brings with it a greater sense of personal dimension,” the bishop said in a 2007 interview with The Catholic Sun. He stressed the need, as evangelizers, to spread the faith.

That meant ensuring Catholics have a solid foundation in Church teaching. Bishop Olmsted, who once worked for John Paul II in Rome, still keeps catechetical and liturgical formation among his top five priorities.

A post-Vatican II diocese

Early diocesan leadership, in response to the Second Vatican Council, set the stage for this new evangelization. Sr. Raphael Quinn, IBVM, principal of Ss. Simon and Jude School, remembers a series of lectures in the 1970s that focused on studying Vatican II documents. Priests, sisters and laity discussed their relevance and application together.

Sr. Raphael, who has been in Phoenix since 1963, also recalls greater collaboration among religious women of various orders. The sisters met regularly to share classroom successes and challenges.

“There was a wonderful sense of vision and enthusiasm,” Sr. Raphael said. The same went for parishioners who joined various ministries and sought ongoing faith formation after Vatican II.

That included the Kino Institute, a diocesan religious education program for adults, established under Bishop Edward A. McCarthy, Phoenix’s founding bishop.

Pope John Paul II had a warm welcome at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport and headed straight for St. Joseph’s Hospital to visit the sick.

All four Phoenix bishops mirrored the pope’s move to care first for the marginalized. Bishop Thomas J. O’Brien strengthened the Foundation for Senior Living, which Bishop McCarthy established.

In Bishop James A. Rausch’s four years as leader of the Phoenix Church, he lobbied for farm worker rights. Bishop Olmsted has spoken frequently on immigration issues over the years.

“We have the privilege, but also the serious responsibility of engaging our culture and doing it with confidence in God, with humility, but at the same time, courage,” he said in an interview with the Sun.

While reflecting on the 40 years, several longtime diocesan priests applauded the support local Catholics give to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. They called it one of the biggest and best in the country.

The agency’s annual fundraiser last month raised nearly $700,000 in one sitting. Some 2,200 showed up to the fundraiser, nearly doubling the expected turnout, so presenters wound up delivering separate talks to two different crowds.

“How blessed we have been with leadership from bishops, priests, religious and committed laity,” said Fr. Fred Adamson, vicar general and moderator of the Curia. “We must be grateful to God for the strength and grace provided through the years of growth.”

The Phoenix Diocese began with less than 200,000 Catholics. Now it’s up to more than 700,000 with 35 parishes opening since 1969. The youngest of the diocese’s 93 parishes is Our Lady of Czestochowa, a Polish community established last year.

Polish-singing hospital staff greeted John Paul II during his visit to the Valley. The late pontiff quickly encountered some of Phoenix’s diverse Catholic population. The diocesan Hispanic choir greeted him outside St. Mary’s Basilica and he later met with thousands of Native Americans.

Diversity is very much a priority in the local Church today with 14 recognized liturgies for ethnic communities.

“One of the big challenges is to reach out to minority groups and to be all-inclusive. At our core, we’re Catholic,” Sr. Raphael said. “Our cultures have so much to offer our Church.”

Public issues

While cultural diversity remains a chief concern for Bishop Olmsted, he also keeps a steady eye on life issues — something John Paul II spoke of when he met with the National Catholic Health Association in Phoenix. The Church’s supreme leader decried abortion and euthanasia. That message continues to resonate in Phoenix.

Bishop Olmsted released an end-of-life directive earlier this year and recently established a medical ethics board. He often prays in front of abortion clinics with local Catholics too.

But the diocese’s pro-life stance doesn’t stop there. Many parishes and schools support Maggie’s Place and other agencies that serve women in crisis pregnancies.

Gathering the faithful

The pope later met with priests, deacons, religious and ecumenical leaders while in Phoenix. Ecumenical outreach was nothing new for the diocese, but Bishop O’Brien took it to a new level in 1993 by signing a covenant with several Christian churches.

It pledged to work together to create joint opportunities for prayer and formational events. The Festival of Faith in 2000 was one result of the covenant.

Bishop O’Brien coordinated similar gathering for Catholics. Thousands showed up for each. They were modeled after the public Mass John Paul II held at Sun Devil Stadium, which packed in some 80,000 people.

“This brought people together in terms of planning, engagement and celebration,” Bishop O’Brien said.

For the diocese’s silver anniversary in 1994, more than 12,000 showed up on a rainy day at what was then called America West Arena. More than 28,000 showed up to see 3,000 teenagers confirmed at Bank One Ballpark in 1998. A eucharistic congress drew Catholics together again in 2000, and more than 20,000 turned out for the Knights of Columbus’ Guadalupe Festival this past August at Jobing.com Arena.

“I placed a great emphasis on the role of the laity,” Bishop O’Brien said. That included asking the Legion of Mary to orchestrate Rosary Sunday and make it an annual affair.

Marian devotion had waned in the late 1970s and Bishop O’Brien saw Rosary Sunday as a way to restore it. The pope’s public devotion also helped.

Youth, music

John Paul II’s youthful energy and active lifestyle also paved the way for a greater emphasis on teen outreach.

Bishop Edward A. Rausch had already ordered the formation of youth ministries in Phoenix and they became models, but the pope gave the ministry greater prominence.

The Polish pope established World Youth Day in 1986, a year after the international Life Teen program got underway at St. Timothy Parish in Mesa. Life Teen quickly reshaped Catholic youth ministry and continues to be a driving force.

Claretian Father Daryl Olds, parochial vicar of Sacred Heart Parish in Prescott, often works with the youth at Life Teen’s nearby campsite.

“It’s really amazing in the summertime to see these young people coming from all over the southwest and what a life-changing experience that is for them,” Fr. Olds said. The weeklong camps quickly sell out each year.

Life Teen liturgies featured more upbeat music like the contemporary music that came from the North American Liturgy Resources. The Phoenix-based liturgical music house attracted musicians who also played in local parishes and put on Catholic productions.

Some of them served as music directors when Msgr. Richard Moyer, now retired, was pastor of various parishes. He rattled off a handful of Catholic musicians including Paul Hildebrand, Tim and Julie Smith and Tom Booth, who were influenced by the liturgy resources’ artists.25

“If you look at the contribution that this diocese has made to the Catholic Church in the United States, it’s very significant,” Msgr. Moyer said. “The challenges and the opportunities in the next 40 years are going to be just as great as they were in the first 40 years.”

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