March 2009

Food, other basic necessities, top list of needs

ORLANDO | Peter Routsis-Arroyo said he thought Catholic Charities could possibly get out of the food business three years ago and focus on its other work. The economy changed that.

It’s no secret food pantries face monumental shortages during this time of great need. That makes the new Food-Diaper-Personal Hygiene Drive element of the Florida Catholic’s Lenten drives even more vital, organizers and participants said.

The campaign to help anyone in need, which also includes the newspaper’s traditional Long-Sleeve Shirt Drive for farmworkers, continues through Palm Sunday, April 5.

MORE plus links to drop–off locations and contact information.

Lynn Ramsey | 03.26.09 | Return To Top

Housing, kids’ health care top church’s funding list

TALLAHASSEE | Lobbyists for the Catholic Church in Florida have their work cut out for them as they face a May 1 deadline to try to ensure that the meek inherit some pay dirt in the new state budget year. That’s how long they have to influence Florida lawmakers as they decide how much money to put into public education, health and social services for the year beginning July 1.

The Florida Catholic Conference, which represents the state’s bishops on public policy issues, has a mission to advocate for the most vulnerable, and in this year of shortfalls and cutbacks, staffers said they will try to minimize the costs of bills they support, but also work to ensure continued funding of vital services.

Evonn Gibbs | 03.24.09 | Return To Top

War of words: Knights find top spellers

Left to right, first-place winners in the Knights of Columbus statewide spelling be finals are: Alex Brennan, Yelena Persaud and Kelly Thompson.

RANDY HALE | KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS
You didn’t have to be omnipotent to win top honors among Florida ninth– and 10th–graders at the Knights of Columbus youth contest March 7, but you did have to know how to spell it.

Kelly Thompson of Palmetto in the Diocese of Venice correctly spelled “omnipotent” to become the Level 3 winner in the spelling bee state finals, sponsored by the Knights of Columbus Florida State Council at the headquarters of Kissimmee/St. Cloud Council 6624. Here’s a look at the results from all three divisions of competition among the 17 finalists from throughout Florida and the Bahamas. MORE...

Florida Catholic Staff | 03.16.09 | Return To Top

Capitol Report, Catholic views on the legislative process

During the annual regular session of the Florida Legislature March 3 through May 1, state lawmakers will weigh many matters likely to be of interest to Catholic voters. To assist readers in answering the U.S. bishops’ call to faithful citizenship by being informed and engaged in matters of public policy, the Florida Catholic will offer frequent online reports from Tallahassee. Florida Catholic correspondent Evonn Gibbs and other contributors will offer updates on legislation related to respect for life, education, health and other vital topics, as well as insight into what Catholic Church lobbyists are doing to promote the common good in budget decisions in these tough economic times.

Read the Capitol Report Web Log HERE.

Denise O’Toole Kelly | 03.12.09 | Return To Top

Economic woes create newly needy

ORLANDO | Farmworkers and other migrant workers often bear the face of Florida’s poor. But computer programmers? Mutual-funds workers? Telemarketers?

This economic downturn does not discriminate. It tosses people from all walks of life into the ranks of the needy. It’s this reason that the Florida Catholic has expanded its Long-Sleeve Relief drive to include food, diapers and personal hygiene items. Read more here and find links for drop–off locations, flyers and contacts.

Lynn Ramsey | 03.10.09 | Return To Top

Cantini’s Stations of the Cross

Enamel artist and sculptor Virgil Cantini is known in his home city of Pittsburgh for big things. His 40–foot–by–30–foot mural “Science and Mankind” draws eyes to a wall inside a science building on the University of Pittsburgh campus with bright primary and secondary colors. His bronze–and–steel figure “Man” hangs high atop a health education building on the same campus — where Cantini is a longtime member of the art faculty — symbolizing man’s quest for knowledge.

But a collection of 14 smaller pieces of Cantini’s are no less colorful and no less symbolic. He created his Stations of the Cross enamel on copper paintings for St. Henry Church in the Arlington neighborhood of Pittsburgh. They were donated in 2005, when the church building closed and the parish was merged with another, to the John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C. To assist readers in their Lenten reflections on Christ’s Passion, Cantini’s striking depictions of the Stations of the Cross on our big picture page - in focus.

Denise O’Toole Kelly | 03.10.09 | Return To Top

Catholics’ voice in Tallahassee turns 40

TALLAHASSEE | Days are long during the regular session of the Florida Legislature for a small corps of lobbyists who work on behalf of the state’s Catholic bishops.

The professionals of the Florida Catholic Conference are few, and lawmakers’ proposals that reach into the heart of what the Catholic Church cares about —respect for life, social concerns, health and education — tend to be many.

“As an agency of the Catholic bishops (the Florida Catholic Conference) speaks for the Church in matters of public policy,” said Mike McCarron, executive director of the agency, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary as this year’s March 3–May 1 legislative session ramps up. MORE...

Evonn Gibbs and Denise O’Toole Kelly | 03.10.09 | Return To Top

Lenten meals remind cooks of family and friends

ORLANDO | When you ask people about food, they often talk about people.

The Florida Catholic’s request to readers and staff members to share their favorite meatless recipes for Fridays during Lent was answered that way – with stories less about ingredients than about family and friends.

Read the rest of this story and check out 30 meatless recipe ideas here.

Denise O’Toole Kelly | 02.26.09 | Return To Top

Farmworkers need long-sleeve shirts – and more

HOMESTEAD | Farming was once the heart of this city. Migrant workers followed the crops to an area that was the breadbasket for the east coast of the United States.

As Miami-Dade County’s growth swallows farmland, farmworkers are left to scrape daily for work in remaining fields or construction – or whatever else they can get. Drive a few blocks outside the center of Homestead, and you’ll see many Hispanic men without work.

That is the plight of the Florida farmworker – and one reason the Florida Catholic’s annual Long-Sleeve Relief Drive expanded this year to include food, diapers and personal hygiene items. Farmworkers are not the recession’s only casualties, so they will not be the only beneficiaries of the drive, which is in its fourth year. MORE, plus links to drop off locations and flyers.

Lynn Ramsey | 02.26.09 | Return To Top

Slideshow | A Monastery’s Path to Calvary

Florida Catholic projects editor, Jean Gonzalez and her sons, Carlos and Marco, recently visited St. Joseph Carmelite Monastery in Bunnell. There, members of the Carmelite community carved a path through the natural Florida landscape and, with the help of donors, created a lush rosary garden, Ten Commandments garden and the centerpiece Stations of Cross walk.

Join Gonzalez as she shares the beauty of the outdoor Stations and her children’s amazement and wonder at meeting a kindly Carmelite brother and the sacrifice of Jesus as told through the Stations.

Her slideshow story is HERE.

02.25.09 | Return To Top